21 JANUARY – SAINT AGNES (Virgin and Martyr)

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

How rich is the constellation of martyrs which shines in this portion of the sacred cycle. Yesterday we had Saint Sebastian. Tomorrow we will be singing the name which means Victory, for it is the feast of Vincent. And now, today, between these two rich palm branches we are rejoiced with the lovely rose and lily-wreath of Agnes. It is to a girl of thirteen that our Emmanuel gave this stern courage of martyrdom which made her meet the enemy with as bold a front as either the valiant Captain of the Praetorian band or the dauntless Deacon of Saragossa. If they are the soldiers of Jesus, she is His tender and devoted Spouse. These are the triumphs of the Son of Mary! Scarcely has He shown Himself to the world, and lo! every noble heart flies towards Him according to that word of His: “Wherever the body will be, there will the eagles also be gathered together” (Matthew xxiv. 28).

It is the admirable result of the virginity of His Blessed Mother who has brought honour to the fecundity of the soul and set it far above that of the body. It was Mary that first opened the way by which certain chosen souls mount up even to the Divine Son and fix their gaze, in a cloudless vision, on His beauty, for He Himself said: “Blessed are the clean of heart for they will see God” (Matthew v. 8).

What a glory is it not for the Catholic Church that she alone has the gift of this holy state of virginity which is the source of every other sacrifice, because nothing but the love of God could inspire a human heart to vow virginity! And what a grand honour for Christian Rome that she should have produced a Saint Agnes, that angel of Earth, in comparison with whom the Vestals of paganism are mere pretences of devotedness, for their virginity was never punished by fire and sword, nay, rather, was flattered by the recompense of earthly honours and riches!

Not that our Saint is without her recompense — only, her recompense is not marred with the flaw of all human rewards. The name of this child who lived but thirteen short years will be echoed to the end of time in the sacred Canon of the universal Sacrifice. The path trod by the innocent maiden on the way to her trial is still marked out in the Holy City. In the Circus Agonalis (Piazza Navona) there rises the beautiful Church of Saint Agnes with its rich cupola. And beneath are the vaults which were once the haunts of infamy but now are a holy sanctuary where everything reminds us of her who here won her glorious victory. Further on, on the Nomentana Road, outside the ramparts, is the beautiful Basilica built by Constantine. And here, under an altar covered with precious stones, lies the body of the young Saint. Round this Basilica there are immense crypts and in these did Agnes’ relics repose until the epoch of peace surrounded by thousands of martyrs, whose holy remains were also deposited here.

Nor must we pass over in silence the gracious tribute of honour paid by Rome each year on this Feast to her beloved Martyr. Two lambs are placed on the altar of the Basilica Nomentana. They are emblems of the meekness of Jesus and the innocence of the gentle Agnes. After they have been blessed by the Abbot of the religious community which serves this Church, they are taken to a monastery of nuns where they are carefully reared. Their wool is used for making the Palliums which the Pope sends to all Patriarchs and Metropolitans of the Catholic world as the essential emblem of their jurisdiction. Thus, this simple woollen ornament, which these prelates have to wear on their shoulders as a symbol of the sheep carried on the shoulders of the good Shepherd and which the Sovereign Pontiff takes from off the Altar of Saint Peter in order to send it to its destination, carries to the very ends of the world the sublime union of these two sentiments — the vigour and power of the Prince of the Apostles and the gentleness of Agnes the Virgin.

We will now quote the beautiful eulogium on Saint Agnes written by Saint Ambrose in his Book, On Virgins. The Church gives almost the entire passage in her Office of today’s Feast and, assuredly, the Virgin of Christ could not have had a finer panegyrist than the great Bishop of Milan who is the most eloquent and persuasive of all the Fathers on the subject of holy Virginity. We read that in the cities where Ambrose preached mothers were afraid of their daughters being present at his sermons, lest he should persuade them to such love of Christ as to choose the better part. “Having resolved,” says the holy Bishop, “to write a Book on Virginity, I think myself happy in being able to begin it on the Feast we are keeping of the Virgin Agnes. It is the Feast of a Virgin: let us walk in the path of purity. It is the Feast of a Martyr: let us offer up our Sacrifice. It is the Feast of Saint Agnes: let men admire and children not despair, let the married wonder and the unmarried imitate. But what can we speak worthy of this Saint whose very name is not void of praise? As her devotedness is beyond her years and her virtue superhuman, so, as it seems to me, her name is not an appellation but a prophecy, presaging that she was to be a Martyr.” The holy Doctor is here alluding to the word Agnus, from which some have derived the name Agnes. And he says that the young Saint had immolation in her very name, for it called her victim. He goes on to consider the other etymology of Agnes, from the Greek word agnos, which means pure. And he thus continues his discourse:

“The maiden’s name is an expression of purity. Martyr, then, and Virgin! Is not that praise enough? There is no praise so eloquent, as merit that is too great to need seeking. No one is so praiseworthy as he who may be praised by all. Now, all men are the praisers of Agnes, for when they pronounce her name they say her praise, for they say ‘A Martyr.‘ There is a tradition that she suffered martyrdom at the age of thirteen. Detestable, indeed, the cruelty that spared not even so tender an age! But oh! the power of faith that could find even children to be its witnesses! Here was a victim scarce big enough for a wound, for, where could the sword fall? And yet she had courage enough to conquer the sword. At such an age as this, a girl trembles if she but see her mother angry, and cries, as though it were a grievous thing, if but pricked with a needle‘s point. And Agnes, who stands amid blood-stained murderers is fearless! She is stunned with the rattle of the heavy chains, and yet not a flutter in that heart! She offers her whole body to the sword of the furious soldier, for though she knows not what death is, yet is she quite ready to endure it. Perchance, they will take her by force to the altars of their gods! If they do, she will stretch out her hands to Jesus and, amid those sacrilegious fires, she will sign herself with that blessed sign, the trophy of our divine conqueror. And then, if they will, and they can find shackles small enough to fit such tender limbs, they may fasten her hands and neck in their iron fetters!

How strange a martyrdom! She is too young to be punished, yet she is old enough to win a victory. She cannot fight, yet she easily gains a crown. She has but the age of a scholar, yet has she mastered every virtue. Bride never went to nuptials with so glad a heart, or so light a step, as this young virgin marches to the place of execution. She is decked not with the gay show of plaited tresses, but with Christ. She is wreathed not with flowers, but with purity. All stood weeping. Agnes shed not a tear. Some wondered how it could be that she, who had but just begun her life, should be as ready to sacrifice it as though she had lived it out. And every one was amazed that she who was too young to give evidence even in her own affairs should be so bold a witness of the divinity. Her oath would be invalid in a human cause, yet she is believed when she bears testimony for her God. Their surprise was just: for a power thus above nature could only come from Him who is the author of all nature. Her executioner does all he can to frighten her. He speaks fair words to coax her. He tells her of all the suitors who have sought her as their bride. But she replies: ‘The Spouse insults her Beloved if she hesitates. I belong to Him who first betrothed me. Why, executioner, do you not strike? Kill this body which might be loved by eyes I would not wish to please.’ She stood, she prayed, she bowed down her head. The executioner trembles as though himself were going to be beheaded. His hand shakes and his cheek grows pale, to strike this girl who loves the danger and the blow. Here, then, have we a twofold martyrdom in a single victim — one for her chastity, the other for her faith. She was a Virgin before and now she is a Martyr.”

*****

How sweet and yet how strong, Agnes, is the love of Jesus, your Spouse! It enters an innocent heart, and that heart becomes full of dauntless courage! Thus was it with you. The world and its pleasures, persecution and its tortures — all were alike contemptible to you. The pagan judge condemned you to an insult worse than a thousand deaths — and you did not know that the Angel of the Lord would defend you! How is it that you had no fear? It was because the love of Jesus tilled your heart. Fire was nothing. The sword was nothing. The very hell of men’s making, even that was nothing to you, for your love told you that no human power could ever rob you of your Jesus. You had His word for it and you knew He would keep it. Dear Child, innocent even in the capital of pagan corruption and free of heart even amid a slavish race, we read the image of our Emmanuel in you. He is the Lamb and you are simple, like Jesus: He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and, like Him, you are invincible. Truly, these Christians, as the pagans said, are a race of beings come from Heaven to people this Earth! A family that has Martyrs and heroes and heroines, like you, brave Saint! — that has young virgins filled like its venerable Pontiffs and veteran soldiers, with the fire of Heaven and burning with ambition to leave a world they have edified with their virtues — is God’s own people and it never can be extinct. Its Martyrs are to us the representation of the divine virtues of our Lord Jesus Christ. By nature they were as weak as we. They had a disadvantage which we have not — they had to live in the very thick of paganism, and paganism had corrupted the whole Earth. And notwithstanding all this, they were courageous and chaste.

Have pity on us and help us, O you, one of the brightest of these great Saints! The love of Jesus is weak in our hearts. We are affected and shed tears at the recital of your heroic conduct, but we are cowards in the battle we ourselves have to fight against the world and our passions. The habitual seeking after ease and comfort has fastened upon us a certain effeminacy. We are ever throwing away our interest upon trifles. How can we have earnestness and courage for our duties? Sanctity! We cannot understand it and when we hear or read of it, we gravely say that the Saints did very strange things and were indiscreet, and were carried away by exaggerated notions! What must we think on this your Feast, of your contempt for the world and all its pleasures, of your heavenly enthusiasm, of your eagerness to go to your Jesus by suffering? You were a Christian, Agnes! Are we, too, Christians? Oh pray for us that we may love like Christians, that is, with a generous and active love, with a love which can feel indignant when asked to have less detachment from all that is not our God. Pray for us that our piety may be that of the Gospel, and not the fashionable piety which pleases the world and makes us pleased with ourselves. There are some brave hearts who follow your example but they are few. Increase their number by their prayers, that so the Divine Lamb may be followed wherever He goes in Heaven, by a countless number of Virgins and Martyrs.

Innocent Saint, we meet you each year at the crib of the Divine Babe and we delight on your Feast to think of the wonderful love there is between Jesus and His brave little Martyr. This Lamb is come to die for us too, and invites us to Bethlehem. Speak to Him for us. The intercession of a Saint who loved Him as you did can work wonders even for such sinners as we. Lead us to His sweet Virgin-Mother. You imitated her virginal purity. Ask her to give us one of those powerful prayers which can cleanse even worse hearts than ours. Pray also, O Agnes, for the holy Church which is the Spouse of Jesus. It was she that gave you to be His, and it is from her that we also have received our life and our light. Pray that she may be blessed with an ever-increasing number of faithful virgins. Protect Rome, the city which guards your relics and loves you so tenderly. Bless the Prelates of the Church and obtain for them the meekness of the lamb, the firmness of the Rock, the zeal of the good Shepherd for His lost sheep. And lastly, O Spouse of Jesus, hear the prayers of all who invoke you and let your charity for us, your exiled brethren, learn from the Heart of Jesus the secret of growing more ardent as our world grows older.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Athens, the birthday of St. Publius, bishop, who as successor of St. Denis the Areopagite nobly governed the Church of Athens. No less celebrated for the lustre of his virtues than for the brilliancy of his learning, he was gloriously crowned for having borne testimony to Christ.

At Tarragona in Spain, during the reign of Gallienus, the holy martyrs Fructuosus, bishop, Augurius and Eulogius, deacons, who, after being thrown into prison, were cast into the fire, where their bonds being burnt, they extended their arms in the form of a cross and consummated their martyrdom in prayer. On their anniversary St. Augustine preached a sermon to his people.

At Troyes, St. Patroclus, martyr, who won the crown of martyrdom under the emperor Aurelian.

In the monastery of Reichenau, St. Meinrad, hermit, who was killed by brigands.

At Pavia, St. Epiphanius, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

20 JANUARY – SAINT SEBASTIAN (Martyr)

 

Sebastian, whose Father was of Narbonne and his mother a lady of Milan, was beloved by Diocletian on account of his noble birth and his virtues. Being a captain of the Praetorian cohort, he was able to give assistance and alms to the Christians whose faith he himself followed, though privately. When he perceived any of them trembling at the great tortures of the persecutors, he made it his duty to encourage them. And so well did he do it that many would go and, for the sake of Jesus Christ, would freely offer themselves to the executioners. Of this number were the two brothers Mark and Marcellian who were in custody under Nicostratus, whose wife, named Zoe, had recovered her speech by the prayer made for her by Sebastian. Diocletian, being told of these things, summoned Sebastian before him and after upbraiding him in very strong words, tried every means to induce him to turn from the faith of Christ. But finding that neither promises nor threats availed, he ordered him to be tied to a stake and to be shot to death with arrows.

Everyone thought he was dead, and a pious woman named Irene gave orders that his body should be taken away during the night and buried. But she, finding him to be still alive, had him taken to her house where she took care of him. Not long after, having quite recovered, he went before Diocletian, and boldly chided him for his wickedness. At first the Emperor was struck dumb with astonishment at the sight, for he had been told that Sebastian was dead. But, at length, the strange event and the Martyr’s sharp rebuke so inflamed him with rage that he ordered him to be scourged to death with rods. His body was thrown into a sewer, but Lucina was instructed by Sebastian, in her sleep, both as to where his body was, and where he wished to be buried. Accordingly, she buried him at the Catacombs where afterwards a celebrated Church was built called Saint Sebastian’s.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

At the head of her list of heroes, after the two glorious Apostles Peter and Paul who form her chief glory, Rome puts her two most valiant Martyrs, Laurence and Sebastian, and her two most illustrious Virgins, Caecilia and Agnes. Of these four, two are given us by the Calendar of Christmastide as attendants in the court of the infant Jesus at Bethlehem. Laurence and Caecilia will come to us further on in our year when other Mysteries will be filling our hearts and the Liturgy: but Christmas calls forth Sebastian and Agnes. Today it is the brave soldier of the Praetorian band, Sebastian, who stands by the crib of our Emmanuel. Tomorrow we will see Agnes, gentle as a lamb, yet fearless as a lion, inviting us to love the sweet babe whom she chose for her only one Spouse.

The chivalrous spirit of Sebastian reminds us of the great Archdeacon: both of them, one in the sanctuary, and the other in the world, defied the tortures of death. Burnt on one side, Laurence bids the tyrant roast the other. Sebastian, pierced with his arrows, waits till the gaping wounds are closed and then runs to his persecutor Diocletian, asking for a second martyrdom. But we must forget Laurence today to think of Sebastian. We must picture to ourselves a young soldier who tears himself away from all the ties of his home at Milan because the persecution there was too tame, whereas, at Rome, it was raging in wildest fierceness. He trembles with anxiety at the thought that perhaps some of the Christians in the Capital may be losing courage. He has been told that, at times, some of the Emperor’s soldiers who were soldiers also of Christ, have gained admission into the prisons and have roused up the sinking courage of the confessors. He is resolved to go on the like mission and, who knows? he may come within reach of a palm himself. He reaches Rome, he is admitted into the prisons and encourages to martyrdom such as had been shaken by the tears of those who were dear to them. Some of the gaolers, converted by witnessing his faith and his miracles, became martyrs themselves. And one of the Roman Magistrates asks to be instructed in a religion which can produce such men as this Sebastian. He has won the esteem of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian-Hercules for his fidelity and courage as a soldier. They have loaded him with favours, and this gives him an influence in Rome which he so zealously turns to the advantage of the Christian religion that the holy Pope Caius calls him the Defender of the Church.

After sending innumerable martyrs to Heaven, Sebastian at length wins the crown he had so ardently ambitioned. He incurs the displeasure of Diocletian by confessing himself a Christian. The heavenly King, for whose sake alone he had put on the helmet and soldier’s cloak, was to him above all emperors and princes. He is handed over to the archers of Mauritania who strip him, bind him and wound him, from head to foot, with their arrows. They left him for dead but a pious woman named Irene took care of him, and his wounds were healed. Sebastian again approaches the Emperor who orders him to be beaten to death in the circus, near the imperial palace.

Such are the soldiers of our new-born King! But how richly does He repay them for their service! Rome, the capital of his Church, is founded on seven Basilicas, as the ancient city was on its seven hills, and the name and tomb of Sebastian grace one of these seven sanctuaries. The Basilica of Sebastian stands in a sort of solitude on the Appian Way outside the walls of the Eternal City. It is enriched with the relics of the holy Pope and Martyr Fabian. But Sebastian, the valiant leader of the Praetorian guard, is the patron and, as it were, the Prince of the holy temple. It was here that he wished to be buried as a faithful guardian near the well in which the bodies of the holy Apostles had been concealed, lest they should be desecrated by the persecutors. In return for the zeal of Saint Sebastian for the souls of his Christian brethren whom he preserved from the contagion of paganism, God has made him the Protector of the Faithful against pestilence. A signal proof of this power granted to the holy Martyr was given at Rome in the year 680 under the Pontificate of Saint Agatho.

*****

Brave soldier of our Emmanuel, you are now sweetly reposing at the foot of His throne. Your wounds are closed and your rich palm branch delights all Heaven by the freshness of its unfading beauty. Look down on the Church on Earth that tires not in singing your praise. Each Christmas we find you near the crib of the Divine Babe, its brave and faithful sentinel. The office you once filled in an earthly prince’s court is still yours, but it is in the palace of the King of kings. Into that palace, we beseech you, lead us by your prayers and gain a favourable hearing to our own unworthy petitions. With what a favourable ear must not our Jesus receive all your requests, who loved Him with such a brave love! Thirsting to shed your blood in His service, you scorned a battlefield where danger was not sure and Rome, that Babylon which, as Saint John says, was “drunk with the blood of the Martyrs” (Apocalypse xvii. 6), Rome alone was worthy of you. And there, it was not your plan to cull a palm, and hurry on to Heaven. The courage of some of your fellow Christians had wavered, and the thought of their danger troubled you. Rushing into their prisons where they lay mutilated by the tortures they had endured, you have them back the fallen laurel and taught them how to secure it in the grasp of holy defiance. It seemed as though you were commissioned to form a Praetorian band for the King of Heaven, and that you could not enter Heaven unless marshalling thither a troop of veterans for Jesus. Your turn came at last. The hour of your confession was at hand and you had to think of your own fair crown. But for such a soldier as you, Sebastian, one martyrdom is not enough. The archers have faithfully done their work — not an arrow is left in their quivers and yet their victim lives, ready for a second sacrifice. Such were the Christians of the early times, and we are their children!

Look, then, O Soldier of Christ, upon us, and pity us as you did your brethren who once faltered in the combat. Alas, we let everything frighten and discourage us and, often we are enemies of the Cross even while professing that we love it. We too easily forget that we cannot be companions of the martyrs unless our hearts have the generosity of the martyrs. We are cowardly in our contest with the world and its pomps, with the evil propensities of our nature, and the tyranny of our senses — and thus we fall. And when we have made an easy peace with God and sealed it with the sacrament of His love, we behave as though we had now nothing more to do than to go on quietly to Heaven without further trials or self-imposed sacrifices. Rouse us, great Saint, from these illusions, and waken us from our listless life. Our love of God is asleep and all must needs go wrong. Preserve us from the contagion of bad example and of those worldly maxims which gain currency even with Christian minds, because Christian lips call them rules of Christian prudence. Pray for us that we may be ardent in the pursuit of our sanctification, watchful over our inclinations, zealous for the salvation of others, lovers of the Cross and detached from earthly things. By the arrows which pierced you, we beseech you shield us from those hidden darts which Satan throws against us. Pray for us that we may be clad with the armour of God described to us by the great Apostle. May we have on the breast-plate of justice, which will defend us from sin; the helmet of salvation, that is, the hope of gaining Heaven, which will preserve us from both despair and presumption; the shield of faith, which will ward off the darts of the enemy who seeks to corrupt the heart by leading the mind into error; and lastly, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God by which we may put all false doctrines to flight and vanquish all our vices, for Heaven and Earth pass away, but the word of God abides forever and is given us as our rule and the pledge of our salvation (Ephesians vi. 13).

Defender of the Church! As the Vicar of Christ called you, lift up your sword and defend her now. Prostrate her enemies and frustrate the plots they have laid for her destruction. Let her enjoy one of those rare periods of peace during which she prepares for fresh combats. Obtain for Christian soldiers engaged in just wars the blessing of the God of Hosts. Protect the Holy City of Rome where your tomb is honoured. Avert from us, by your intercession, the scourge of pestilence and contagion. Hear the prayers which each year are addressed to you for the preservation of the creatures given by God to man to aid him in his daily labour. Secure to us, by your prayers, peace and happiness in this present life, and the good things of the life to come.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Nicaea in Bithynia, St. Neophytus, martyr, who, in the fifteenth year of his age was scourged, cast into a furnace, and exposed to wild beasts. As he remained uninjured and constantly confessed the faith of Christ, he was at last killed with the sword.

At Cesena, St. Maurus, bishop, renowned for virtues and miracles.

In Palestine, in the time of the emperor Marcian, the birthday of St. Euthymius, abbot, who adorned the Church by his zeal for Catholic discipline and the gift of miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

19 JANUARY – SAINT CANUTE (King and Martyr)

 

Canute IV, son of Swein Estrithus, King of Denmark, was conspicuous for his faith, piety and purity of life. Even from his infancy he gave proof of exceeding holiness. Having been elected by the popular vote to the throne held by his father, he at once began zealously to promote religion, to add to the revenues of the Churches, and to provide the same with costly fittings and furniture. Being also inflamed with zeal for the propagation of the faith, he refused not to enter into just war with barbarous nations which, when he had conquered and subdued, he subjected to the law of Christ. Having obtained several glorious victories and increased the riches of his treasury, he laid his regal diadem at the feet of a crucifix, offering himself and his kingdom to Him who is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He chastised his body by fasting, hair-shirts and disciplines. He was assiduous in prayer and contemplation, liberal in his alms to the poor and ever kind to all, never deviating from the path of justice and the divine commandments.

By these and other such virtues, the holy King made rapid strides to the summit of perfection. Now it happened that William, Duke of Normandy, invaded the kingdom of England with a formidable army and the English sought assistance from the Danes. The King resolved to grant them his aid and entrusted the expedition to his brother Glaus. But he, from the desire he had of getting possession of the throne, turned his forces against the King and stirred up the soldiers and people to rebellion. Neither were there wanting motives for this rebellion, for the King had issued laws commanding the payment of ecclesiastical tithes, the observance of the commandments of God and His Church, and the infliction of penalties on defaulters, all which were made handle of by perverse and wicked malcontents who began by spreading murmuring, exciting the people to revolt and, at last, to plot the death of the saintly King.

Foreknowing what was to happen, the King saw that he would soon be put to death for justice’s sake. Having foretold it, he set out to Odense where, entering into the Church of Saint Alban the Martyr as the place of combat, he fortified himself with the Sacraments and commended this his last struggle to our Lord. He had not long been there when a band of conspirators arrived. They endeavoured to set fire to the Church, to burst open the doors and to force an entrance. But failing in this, they scaled the windows and with great violence threw a shower of stones and arrows on the holy King who was on his knees praying for his enemies. Wounded by the stones and arrows and, at last, pierced through with a spear, he was crowned with a glorious martyrdom and fell before the altar, with his arms stretched out. Gregory VII was the reigning Pontiff. God showed by many miracles how glorious was His martyr, and Denmark was afflicted with a great famine and sundry calamities in punishment of the sacrilegious murder which had been perpetrated.

Many persons who were afflicted with various maladies found aid and health by praying at the tomb of the martyr. On one occasion when the Queen endeavoured during the night to take up his body secretly and carry it to another place, she was deterred from her design by being struck with fear at the sight of a most brilliant light which came down from Heaven.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The Magi Kings, as we have already observed, have been followed to the crib of Jesus by saintly Christian monarchs. And it was just that these should be represented on the Church’s Calendar during the season which is consecrated to the Mystery of His birth. The eleventh century is one of the most glorious of the Christian era and gave, both to the Church and the various States of Europe, a great number of saintly kings. Among them, Canute IV of Denmark stands pre-eminent by reason of the aureole of his martyrdom. He had every quality which forms a Christian Prince: he was a zealous propagator of the faith of Christ, he was a brave warrior, he was pious and he was charitable to the poor. His zeal for the Church (and in those days her rights were counted as the rights of the people) was made the pretext for putting him to death: he died in the midst of a sedition as a victim sacrificed for his people’s sake. His offering to the new-born King was that of his blood, and in exchange for the perishable crown he lost, he received that which the Church gives to her Martyrs and which can never be taken away. The history of Denmark in the eleventh century is scarce known by the rest of the world, but the glory of that country having had one of her kings a Martyr is known throughout the whole Church, and the Church inhabits the whole Earth. This power, possessed by the Spouse of Christ, of conferring honour on the name and actions of the servants and friends of God, is one of the grandest spectacles out of Heaven, for when she holds up a name as worthy of honour, that name becomes immortalised, whether he who bore it were a powerful king or the poorest peasant.

*****

O holy King, the Sun of Justice had risen upon your country and all your ambition was that your people might enjoy the fullness of its light and warmth. Like the Magi of the East, you laid your crown at the feet of the Emmanuel and, at length, offered your very life in His service and in that of His Church. But your people were not worthy of you. They they shed your blood as the ungrateful Israel will shed the Blood of the Just One who is now born to us, and whose sweet infancy we are now celebrating. You offered your martyrdom for the sins of your people. Offer it now also for them that they may recover the true faith they have so long lost. Pray for the rulers of Christian lands that they may be faithful to their duties, zealous for justice and may have respect for the liberty of the Church. Ask for us of the Divine Infant a devotedness in His cause like that which glowed in your breast. And since we have not a crown to lay at His feet, pray for us that we may be generous enough to give our whole heart.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

On the Via Cornelia at Rome, the holy martyrs Marius and his wife Martha, with their sons Audifax and Abachum, noble Persians, who came to Rome through devotion in the time of the emperor Claudius II. After they had been beaten with rods, tortured on the rack and with fire, lacerated with iron hooks, and had endured the cutting off of their hands, Martha was put to death in the place called Nympha. The others were beheaded and cast into the flames.

At Smyrna, under Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius, the birthday of blessed Germanicus, martyr, who, in the bloom of youth, being strengthened by the grace of God and freed from all fear, provoked the beast which, by order of the judge, was to devour him. Being ground by its teeth, he deserved to be incorporated into the true bread of life, Christ Jesus, for whom he died.

In Africa, the holy martyrs Paul, Gerontius, Januarius, Saturninus, Successus, Julius, Catus, Pia and Germana.

At Spoleto, in the days of the emperor Antoninus, the passion of St. Pontian, martyr, who was barbarously scourged for Christ by the command of the judge Fabian, and then compelled to walk barefoot on burning coals. As he was uninjured by the trial, he was put on the rack, was torn with iron hooks, and then thrown into a dungeon, where he was comforted by the visit of an angel. He was afterwards exposed to the lions, had melted lead poured over him and finally died by the sword.

At Lodi, St. Bassian, bishop and confessor, who in conjunction with St. Ambrose courageously combated the heretics.

At Worcester in England, St. Wulstan, bishop and confessor, conspicuous for merits and miracles. He was ranked among the saints by Pope Innocent III.

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

Thanks be to God.

18 JANUARY – SAINT PRISCA (Virgin and Martyr)

 

Prisca, the thirteen year old daughter of a consul, was accused of being a Christian and was ordered by the emperor Claudius II to sacrifice to idols. On her steadfastly refusing, she was beaten and thrown into prison. The next day she was again urged to sacrifice but after refusing to do so she was beaten with rods and taken back to prison. On the third day she was exposed to a lion which however crouched at her feet, doing her no injury. After being tortured on the little horse with hooks and pincers, she was led outside of Rome and beheaded. An eagle is said to have defended her body from dogs until Christians came and buried it.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Pontus, the birthday of the holy martyrs Moseus and Ammonius, soldiers, who were first condemned to work in the metal mines, and then cast into the fire.

In the same country, St. Athenogenes, an aged divine, who, on the point of enduring martyrdom by fire, joyfully sang a hymn which he left in writing to his disciples.

At Tours in France, St. Volusian, bishop, who was made captive by the Goths, and in exile gave up his soul to God.

In the same place, St. Leobardus, anchoret, a man of wonderful abstinence and humility.

In Brittany, St. Deicola, abbot, a disciple of St. Columban.

At Como, St. Liberata, virgin.

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

Thanks be to God.

18 JANUARY – SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY (THE WEDDING AT CANA)

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The third Mystery of the Epiphany shows us the completion of the merciful designs of God on the world, at the same time that it manifests to us, for the third time, the glory of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Star has led the soul to faith. The sanctified waters of the Jordan have conferred purity on her. The marriage feast unites her to her God. We have been considering, during this Octave, the Bridegroom revealing Himself to the Spouse. We have heard Him calling her to come to Him from the heights of Libanus. And now, after having enlightened and purified her, He invites her to the heavenly feast where she is to receive the wine of His divine love.

A feast is prepared (John ii). It is a marriage feast and the Mother of Jesus is present at it, for it is just that having co-operated in the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, she should take part in all that her Son does and in all the favours He bestows on His elect. But in the midst of the feast, the wine fails. Wine is the symbol of Charity or Love, and Charity had failed on the Earth, for the Gentiles had never tasted its sweetness. And as to the Synagogue, what had it produced but wild grapes? (Isaias v. 2) The True Vine is our Jesus, and He calls Himself by that name (John xv. 1). He alone could give that wine which gladdens the heart of man (Psalm ciii. 15). He alone could give us that chalice which inebriates (Psalm xxii. 5) and of which the Royal Psalmist prophesied.

Mary said to Jesus: “They have no wine.” It is the office of the Mother of God to tell Him of the wants of men, for she is also their Mother. But Jesus answers her in words, which are apparently harsh: “Woman! What is it to me and to you? My hour is not yet come.” The meaning of these words is that in this great Mystery He was about to act not as the Son of Mary, but as the Son of God. Later on the hour will come when, dying on the Cross, He will do a work in the presence of His Mother, and He will do it as man, that is, according to that human nature which He has received from her. Mary at once understands the words of her Son and she says to the waiters of the feast what she is now ever saying to her children: “Do whatever He will say to you.”

Now, there were six large water pots of stone there, and they were empty. The world was then in its Sixth Age, as Saint Augustine and other Holy Doctors tell us. During these six ages the Earth had been awaiting its Saviour who was to instruct and redeem it. Jesus commands these water pots to be filled with water, and yet water does not suit the Feast of the Spouse. The figures and the prophecies of the ancient world were this water, and until the opening of the Seventh Age when Christ, who is the Vine, was to be given to the world, no man had contracted an alliance with the Divine Word.

But, when the Emmanuel came He had but to say, “Now draw out,” and the water pots were seen to be filled with the wine of the New Covenant, the wine which had been kept to the end. When He assumed our human nature — a nature weak and unstable as water— He effected a change in it. He raised it up even to Himself, by making us partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter i. 4). He gave us the power to love Him, to be united to Him, to form that one Body of which He is the Head, that Church of which He is the Spouse, and which He loved from all eternity, and with such tender love, that He came down from Heaven to celebrate His nuptials with her.

O the wonderful dignity of man! God has vouchsafed, says the Apostle, to show the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy which had no claim to, nay, were unworthy of such an honour. Jesus bids the waiters fill them with water, and the water of Baptism purifies us. But not satisfied with this, He fills these vessels, even to the brim, with that heavenly and new wine which was not to be drunk save in the kingdom of His Father (Romans ix. 23). This divine charity which dwells in the Sacrament of Love is communicated to us. And that we might not be unworthy of the espousals with Himself to which He called us, He raises us up even to Himself. Let us, therefore, prepare our souls for this wonderful union and, according to the advice of the Apostle, let us labour to present them to our Jesus with such purity as to resemble that chaste virgin who was presented to the spotless Lamb (2 Corinthians xi. 2).

Saint Matthew, the Evangelist of the Humanity of our Lord, has received from the Holy Ghost the commission to announce to us the Mystery of Faith by the Star. Saint Luke, the Evangelist of Jesus’ Priesthood, has been selected by the same Holy Spirit to instruct us in the Mystery of the Baptism in the Jordan. But the Mystery of the Marriage Feast was to be revealed to us by the Evangelist John, the Beloved Disciple. He suggests to the Church the object of this third Mystery by this expression: “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and He MANIFESTED His glory” (John ii. 11). At Bethlehem the gold of the Magi expressed the Divinity of the Babe. At the Jordan, the descent of the Holy Ghost and the voice of the Eternal Father proclaimed Jesus (known to the people as a carpenter of Nazareth) to be the Son of God. At Cana, it is Jesus Himself that acts, and He acts as God for, says Saint Augustine, He who changed the water into wine in the water pots could be no other than the same who every year works the same miracle in the vine. Hence it was that from that day, as Saint John tells us, His disciples believed in Him and the Apostolic College began to be formed.

Epistle – Romans xii. 6‒16

Brethren, having different gifts, according to the grace that is given us: either prophecy, to be used according to the rule of faith; or ministry, in ministering: or he that teaches, in doctrine; he that exhorts, in exhorting; he that gives, with simplicity; he that rules, with carefulness; he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good. Loving one another with the charity of brotherhood, in honour preventing one another. In carefulness, not slothful. In spirit fervent: Serving the Lord: Rejoicing in hope: Patient in tribulation: Instant in prayer: Communicating to the necessities of the Saints: Pursuing hospitality. Bless them that persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that rejoice, weep with them that weep. Being of one mind one towards another: not minding high things, but consenting to the humble.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – John ii. 1‒11

At that time, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what is it to me and to you? My hour is not yet come.” His mother said to the waiters, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were set there six water pots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus said to them, “Draw put now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast.” And they carried it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not from where it came, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water: the chief steward called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man at first sets forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee: and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Saint Augustine of Hippo:

Even setting aside any mystical interpretation, the fact that the Lord was pleased to be asked and to go to a marriage shows plainly enough that He is the Author and Blesser of marriage. There were yet to be those of whom the Apostle has warned us as “forbidding to marry” (1 Timothy iv. 3) who say that marriage is a bad thing in itself and a work of the devil. Yet we read in the Gospel that when the Lord was asked, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” (Matthew xix. 3) He answered that it was not lawful, except it were for fornication. In which answer you will remember that He used these words: “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” They who are well instructed in the Catholic religion know that God is the Author and Blesser of marriage and that, whereas joining together in marriage is of God, divorce is of the devil. But it is lawful for a man to put away his wife in case of fornication, for by not keeping a wife’s faith to her husband she herself has first willed not to be wife. They also who have made a vow of their virginity to God and have thereby attained to an higher degree of honour and holiness in the Church, are not unmarried, for they are a special part of the marriage of the whole Church, which is the Bride of Christ. The Lord, being asked, went to the marriage to strengthen the marriage tie and to shed light on the hidden meaning of matrimony. In that marriage feast the bridegroom to whom it was said, “You have kept the good wine until now,” was a figure of the Lord Christ who has kept until now the good wine, namely the Gospel.

17 JANUARY – SAINT ANTONY OF EGYPT (Abbot)

Antony was born in Egypt of noble and Christian parents who left him an orphan at an early age. Having one day entered a Church, he heard these words of the Gospel being read: “If you will be perfect, go and sell all you have and give to the poor.” He took them as addressed to himself and thought it his duty to obey these words of Christ his Lord. Selling therefore his possessions, he distributed all the money among the poor. Being freed from these obstacles, he resolved on leading on Earth a heavenly life. But at his entrance on the perils of such a combat, he felt that besides the shield of faith with which he was armed, he must needs fortify himself with the other virtues, and so ardent was his desire to possess them that whoever he saw excelling in any virtue, him did he study to imitate.

Nothing, therefore, could exceed his continence and vigilance. He surpassed all in patience, meekness, mercy, humility, manual labour and the study of the Sacred Scriptures. So great was his aversion for the company of, or conversation with, heretics, especially the Arians, that he used to say that we ought not even to go near them. He lay on the ground when necessity obliged him to sleep. As to fasting, he practised it with so much fervour that his only nourishment was bread seasoned with salt, and he quenched his thirst with water. Neither did he take this his food and drink until sunset, and frequently abstained from it altogether for two successive days. He very frequently spent the whole night in prayer. Antony became so valiant a soldier of God that the enemy of mankind, ill-brooking such extraordinary virtue, attacked him with manifold temptations. But the Saint overcame them all by fasting and prayer. Neither did his victories over Satan make him heedless, for he knew how innumerable are the devil’s artifices for injuring souls.

Knowing this, he took himself into one of the largest deserts of Egypt, where such was his progress in Christian perfection that the wicked spirits whose attacks grew more furious as Antony’s resistance grew more resolute became the object of his contempt, so much so, indeed, that he would sometimes taunt them for their weakness. When encouraging his disciples to fight against the devil and teaching them the arms with which they would vanquish him, he used often to say to them: “ Believe me, Brethren, Satan dreads the watchings of holy men, and their prayers, and fasts, and voluntary poverty, and works of mercy, and humility, and, above all, their ardent love for Christ our Lord, at the mere sign of whose most holy Cross, he is disabled, and put to flight.” So formidable was he to the devils that many persons in Egypt who were possessed by them were delivered by invoking Antony’s name. So great, too, was his reputation for sanctity, that Constantine the Great and his Sons wrote to him, commending themselves to his prayers.

At length, having reached the hundred and fifth year of his age and having received a countless number into his institute, he called his monks together. And having instructed them how to regulate their lives according to Christian perfection, he, venerated both for the miracles he had wrought and for the holiness of his life, departed from this world to Heaven, on the sixteenth of the Calends of February (January 17).

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The East and West unite today in honouring Saint Antony, the Father of Cenobites. The Monastic Life existed before his time, as we know from indisputable testimony. But he was the first Abbot because he was the first to bring monks under the permanent government of one Superior or Father. Antony began with seeking solely his own sanctification. He was known only as the wonderful Solitary against whom the wicked spirits waged an almost continued battle: but in the course of time men were attracted to him by his miracles and by the desire of their own perfection. This gave him disciples. He permitted them to cluster round his cell and monasteries thus began to be built in the desert. The age of the Martyrs was near its close. The persecution under Diocletian, which was to be the last, was over as Antony entered on the second half of his course, and God chose this time for organising a new force in the Church. The Monastic Life was brought to bear upon the Christian world. The Ascetics, as they were called, not even such of them as were consecrated — were not a sufficient element of power. Monasteries were built in every direction, in solitudes and in the very cities, and the Faithful had but to look at these communities living in the fervent and literal fulfilment of the counsels of Christ, and they felt themselves encouraged to obey the precepts.

The apostolic traditions of continual prayer and penance were perpetuated by the monastic system. It secured the study of the Sacred Scriptures and theology, and the Church herself would soon receive from these arsenals of intellect and piety her bravest defenders, her holiest Prelates and her most zealous Apostles. Yes, the Monastic Life was to be and give all this to the Christian world, for the example of Saint Antony had given her a bias to usefulness. If there ever were a monk to whom the charms of solitude and the sweetness of contemplation were dear, it was our Saint. And yet, they could not keep him in his desert when he could save souls by a few days spent in a noisy city. Thus we find him in the streets of Alexandria when the pagan persecution was at its height. He came to encourage the Christians in their martyrdom. Later on, when that still fiercer foe of Arianism was seducing the Faith of the people, we again meet the great Abbot in the same capital, this time, preaching to its inhabitants that the Word is consubstantial to the Father, proclaiming the Nicene faith, and keeping up the Catholics in orthodoxy and resolution. There is another incident in the life of Saint Antony which tells in the same direction, inasmuch as it shows how an intense interest in the Church must ever be where the Monastic Spirit is. We are alluding to our Saint’s affection for the great Saint Athanasius who, on his part, reverenced the Patriarch of the Desert, visited him, promoted the Monastic Life to the utmost of his power, used to say that he considered the great hope of the Church to be in the good discipline of nonasticism, and wrote the Life of his dear Saint Antony.

But, to whom is due the glory of the Monastic Institute with which the destinies of the Church were, from that time forward, to be so closely connected as that the period of her glory and power was to be when the monastic element flourished and the days of her affliction were to be those of its decay? Who was it that put into the heart of Antony and his disciples the love of that poor and unknown, yet ever productive, life? It is Jesus, the humble Babe of Bethlehem. To Him, then, wrapped in His swaddling clothes, and yet the omnipotent God, be all the glory!

*****

We unite, great Saint, with the universal Church in offering you the homage of our affectionate veneration, and in praising our Emmanuel for the gifts He bestowed on you. How sublime a life was yours, and how rich in fruit were your works! Verily, you are the Father of a great people and one of the most powerful auxiliaries of the Church of God. We beseech you, therefore, pray for the Monastic Order, that it may re-appear in all its ancient fervour, and pray for each member of the great Family. Fevers of the body have been often allayed by your intercession and we beg for a continuance of this your compassionate aid — but the fevers of our soul are more dangerous and we beg your pity and prayers that we may be delivered from them. Watch over us, in the temptations which the enemy is unceasingly putting in our way. Pray for us that we may be vigilant in the combat, prudent in avoiding dangerous occasions, courageous in the trial and humble in our victory.

The angel of darkness appeared to you in a visible shape, but he hides himself and his plots from us. Here again, we beg your prayers that we be not deceived by his craft. May the fear of God’s judgements and the thought of eternity penetrate into the depth of our souls. May prayer be our refuge in every necessity, and penance our safeguard against sin. But above all, pray that we may have that which you counselled above all —the love of Jesus — of that Jesus who, for love of us, deigned to be born into this world so that He might merit for us the graces with which we might triumph — of that Jesus who humbled Himself even so far as to suffer temptation that so He might show us how we were to resist and fight.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Langres, in the time of Marcus Aurelius, the saints Speusippus, Eleusippus and Meleusippus, born at one birth, who were crowned with martyrdom together with their grandmother Leonilla.

At Rome, the finding of the holy martyrs Diodorus, priest, Marian, deacon, and their companions. While they were commemorating the birthdays of the martyrs in a sand-pit, the entrance was closed by the persecutors, and the vault over them broken down, and they thus obtained the palm of martyrdom in the reign of Pope St. Stephen.

At Bourges, the demise of St. Sulpicius, surnamed Pius, whose life and precious death are adorned with glorious miracles.

At Rome, in the monastery of St. Andrew, the blessed monks Anthony, Merulus and John, of whom Pope St. Gregory speaks in his writings.

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

Thanks be to God.

15 JANUARY – SAINT MAURUS (Abbot)

 

Maurus was by birth a Roman. His father Eutychius, a Senator, placed him, when a little boy, under the care of Saint Benedict. Trained in the school of such and so great a Master of holiness, he attained to the highest degree of monastic perfection even before he had ceased to be a child, so that Benedict himself was in admiration and used to speak of his virtues to everyone, holding him forth to the rest of the house as a model of religious discipline. He subdued his flesh by austerities such as the wearing a hair-shirt, night watching and frequent fasting, giving, meanwhile, to his spirit the solace of assiduous prayer, holy compunction and reading the Sacred Scriptures. During Lent he took food but twice in the week, and that so sparingly as to seem rather to be tasting than taking it He slept standing, or, when excessive fatigue obliged him to it, sitting or, at times, lying down on a heap of lime and sand over which he threw his hair-shirt. His sleep was exceedingly short, for he always recited very long prayers, and often the whole of the Psalms before the midnight Office. He gave a proof of his admirable spirit of obedience on the occasion of Placid having fallen into the lake and being nearly drowned. Maurus, at the bidding of the Holy Father, ran to the lake, walked dry-shod on the water and, taking the child by the hair of his head, drew him safe to the bank, for Placid was to be slain by the sword as a martyr, and our Lord reserved him as a victim which should be offered to Him. On account of such signal virtues as these, the same Holy Father made Maurus share the cares of his duties for, from his very entrance into the monastic life, he had had a part in his miracles. He had been raised to the holy order of Deaconship by Saint Benedict’s command, and by placing the stole he wore on a dumb and lame boy, he gave him the power both to speak and walk.

Maurus was sent by his Holy Father into France. Scarcely had he set his foot on that land than he had a vision of the triumphant entrance of that great saint into Heaven. He promulgated in that country the Rule which Saint Benedict had written with his own hand and had given to him on his leaving Italy, though the labour and anxiety he had to go through in the accomplishment of his mission were exceedingly great. Having built the celebrated monastery which he governed for 40 years, so great was the reputation of his virtues that several of the noblest lords of King Theodobert’s court put themselves under Maurus’ direction and enrolled in the holier and more meritorious warfare of the monastic life. Two years before his death, he resigned the government of his monastery and retired into a cell near the Oratory of Saint Martin. There he exercised himself in most rigorous penance with which he fortified himself for the content he had to sustain against the enemy of mankind who threatened him with the death of his monks. In this combat a holy Angel was his comforter who, after revealing to him the snares of the wicked spirit and the designs of God, bade him and his disciples win the crown prepared for them. Having, therefore, sent to Heaven before him as so many forerunners, a hundred and more of his brave soldiers, and knowing that he, their leader, was soon to follow them, he signified his wish to be carried to the Oratory where, being strengthened by the Sacrament of Life and lying on his hair-shirt as a victim before the Altar, he died a saintly death. He was upwards of 70 years of age. It would be difficult to describe the success with which he propagated monastic discipline in France, or to tell the miracles which both before and after his death, rendered him glorious among men.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Saint Maurus — one of the greatest masters of the Cenobitical Life and the most illustrious of the Disciples of Saint Benedict, the Patriarch of the Monks of the West — shares with the First Hermit the honours of this fifteenth day of January. Faithful, like the holy Hermit, to the lessons taught at Bethlehem, Maurus has a claim to have his Feast kept during the 40 days which are sacred to the sweet babe Jesus. He comes to us each January to bear witness to the power of that babe’s humility. Who, forsooth, will dare to doubt of the triumphant power of the poverty and the obedience shown in the crib of our Emmanuel when he is told of the grand things done by those virtues in the cloisters of fair France? It was to Maurus that France was indebted for the introduction into her territory of that admirable Rule which produced the great saints and the great men, to whom she owes the best part of her glory. The children of Saint Benedict by Saint Maurus struggled against the barbarism of the Franks under the first race of her kings. Under the second they instructed, in sacred and profane literature, the people in whose civilisation they had so powerfully co-operated. Under the third — and even in modern times when the Benedictine Order, enslaved by the system of Commendatory-Abbots and decimated by political tyranny or violence, was dying out amid every kind of humiliation — they were the fathers of the poor by the charitable use of their large possessions and the ornaments of literature and science by their immense contributions to ecclesiastical science and archaeology, as also to the history of their own country.

Saint Maurus built his celebrated Monastery of Glanfeuil, and Glanfeuil may be considered as the mother house of the principal monasteries in France, Saint Germain and Saint Denis of Paris, Maimoutier, Saint Victor, Luxeuil, Jumieges, Fleury Corbie, Saint Vannes, Moyen-Moutier, Saint Wandrille, Saint Waast, La Chaise-Dieu, Tiron, Cheza: Benoit, Le Bee, and innumerable other monasteries in France gloried in being daughters of Monte Cassino by the favourite Disciple of Saint Benedict. Cluny, which gave several Popes to the Church —and among them, Saint Gregory the Seventh and Urban the Second — was indebted to Saint Maurus for that Rule which gave her her glory and her power. We must count up the Apostles, Martyrs, Bishops, Doctors, Confessors and Virgins who were formed, for 1200 years, in the Benedictine cloisters of France. We must calculate the services, both temporal and spiritual, done to this great country by the Benedictine monks during all that period, and we will have some idea of the results produced by the mission of Saint Maurus — results whose whole glory redounds to the Babe of Bethlehem and to the mysteries of His humility which are the source and model of the Monastic Life. When, therefore, we admire the greatness of the saints and recount their wonderful works, we are glorifying our Jesus, the King of all Saints.

*****

How blessed was your mission, O favourite and worthy disciple of the great Saint Benedict! How innumerable the Saints that sprang from you and your illustrious Patriarch! The Rule you promulgated was truly the salvation of that great country which you and your disciples evangelised, and the fruits of the Order you planted there have been indeed abundant. But now that from your throne in Heaven you behold that fair France which was once covered with monasteries and from which there mounted up to God the ceaseless voice of prayer and praise, and now you scarce find the ruins of these noble sanctuaries — turn towards our Lord and beseech Him that he make the wilderness bloom once more as of old. Oh what has become of those cloisters in which were trained Apostles of Nations, learned Pontiffs, intrepid defenders of the Liberty of the Church, holy Doctors and heroes of sanctity — all of whom call you their second Father? Who will bring back again those vigorous principles of poverty, obedience, hard work and penance which made the Monastic Life be the object of the people’s admiration and love and attracted tens of thousands of every class in society to embrace it? Instead of this holy enthusiasm of the ages of faith, we, alas, can show little else than cowardice of heart, love of this life, zeal for enjoyment, dread of the cross and, at best, comfortable and inactive piety. Pray, great Saint, that these days may be shortened, that the Christians of the present generation may grow earnest by reflecting on the sanctity to which they are called, that our sluggish hearts may put on the fortitude of knowing and doing, at least, our duty. Then, indeed, will the future glories of the Church be as great and bright as our love of her makes us picture them to ourselves — for, all the Church needs in order to fulfil her destinies, is courageous hearts. If our God hears your prayer and give us once more the Monastic Life in all its purity and vigour , we will be safe and the evil of faith without earnestness which is now producing such havoc in the spiritual world will be replaced by Christian energy. Teach us, O Maurus, to know the dear Babe of Bethlehem and to get well into our hearts His life and doctrine, for we will then understand the greatness of our Christian vocation, and that the only way to overcome our enemy the world is that which He, our Master and Guide, followed.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Judaea, the holy prophets Habacuc and Michaeas, whose bodies were found by divine revelation in the days of Theodosius the Elder.

At Anagni, St. Secundina, virgin and martyr, who suffered under the emperor Decius.

At Cagliari in Sardinia, St. Ephisius, martyr, who, in the persecution of Diocletian and under the judge Flavian, having, by the assistance of God, overcome many torments, was beheaded and ascended to heaven.

At Nola in Campania, St. Maximus, bishop.

At Clermont in Auvergne, St. Bonitus, bishop and confessor.

In Egypt, St. Macarius, abbot, a disciple of St. Anthony, very celebrated for his life and miracles.

Also blessed Isidore, renowned for holiness of life, faith and miracles.

At Rome, St. John Calybites. For some time living unknown to his parents in a corner of their house, and later in a hut on the Tibertine Island, he was recognised by them only at his death. Being renowned for miracles, he was buried where he had died and a church was subsequently erected in his honour in the same place.

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

Thanks be to God.

16 JANUARY – SAINT MARCELLUS (Pope and Martyr)

 

Marcellus, a Roman, governed the Church from the reign of Constantius and Galerius to that of Maxentius. It was by his counsel that a Roman matron named Lucina made the Church of God the heir of all her property. He established 25 Titles, as so many districts, for the administration of baptism and penance to pagans converted to the Christian religion and for the providing burial to the martyrs. All this irritated Maxentius and he threatened Marcellus with severe punishment unless he laid down his pontificate and offered sacrifice to the idols. Marcellus heeded not the senseless words of man and was therefore sent to stables, there to take care of the beasts which were kept at the public expense. In this place Marcellus spent 9 months, fasting and praying without ceasing, and visiting by his letters the Churches he could not visit in person. He thence was delivered by some of his clergy, and was harboured by the blessed Lucina in whose house he dedicated a Church which is now called the Church of Saint Marcellus. Here the Christians assembled for prayer and the blessed Marcellus preached. Maxentius, coming to hear these things, ordered that Church to be turned into the stable for the beasts and Marcellus to be made its keeper. Sickened by the foul atmosphere and worn out by his many cares, he slept in the Lord. The blessed Lucina had his body buried in the Cemetery of Priscilla cemetery on the Via Salaria on the 17th of the Calends of February (January 16.) He sat 5 years, 1 month and 25 days on the throne of Peter. He wrote a letter to the Bishops of the Antioch province concerning the primacy of the Church of Rome, which he proves ought to be called “the Head of the Churches.” In the same letter there occurs this passage that no Council maybe rightly celebrated without the authority of the Roman Pontiff. He ordained at Rome, in the month of December, 25 Priests, 2 Deacons and 21 Bishops for various places.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The name of Marcellus is brought before us by the Calendar today — he was a successor of the glorious Hyginus in the papacy and in martyrdom, and their Feasts fall in the same season of the year. Each Christmastide shows us these two Pontiffs offering their Keys in homage to our Jesus, the invisible Head of the Church they governed. In a few days hence we will find our Christmas list of Saints giving us the name of a third Pope and Martyr — Fabian. These three valiant Vicars of Christ are like the three generous Magi — they offered their richest presents to the Emmanuel, their blood and their lives.

Marcellus governed the Church at the close of the last general Persecution. A few months after his death the tyrant Maxentius was vanquished by Constantine and the Cross of Christ glittered in triumph on the Labarum of the Roman Legions. The time for martyrdom was, therefore, very short, but Marcellus was in time. He shed his blood for Christ and won the honour of standing in Stephen’s company over the crib of the Divine Infant, waving his palm branch in his venerable hand. He withstood the tyrant Emperor who bade him abdicate the majesty of the supreme Pontificate, and this in the very city of Rome, for Rome was to be the capital of another King — of Christ — who, in the person of His Vicar, would take possession of it and her old Masters, the Caesars, were to make Byzantium their Rome. It is 300 years since the decree of Caesar Augustus ordered the census of the world to be taken which brought Mary to Bethlehem and where she gave birth to a humble babe, and now the Empire of that babe has out-grown the Empire of the Caesars, and its victory is upon the point of being proclaimed. After Marcellus, we will have Eusebius. After Eusebius, Melchiades, and Melchiades will see the triumph of the Church.

*****

What must have been your thoughts, glorious Marcellus, when imprisoned in a stable with poor dumb brutes for your companions! You thought upon Jesus, your Divine Master, how He was born in a stable and laid in a manger between two senseless animals. You appreciated the humiliations of Bethlehem and joyfully acknowledged that the Disciple is not above his Master (Matthew x. 24). But, from that stable in which the tyranny of an Emperor had thrust it, the majesty of the Apostolic See was soon to be set free and its glory made manifest to the whole Earth. Christian Rome, insulted in your person, was soon to receive an additional consecration by your martyrdom, and God was on the point of making over to your successors the palaces of that proud city which then knew not the glorious destiny that awaited her. Marcellus, you triumphed, like the Babe of Bethlehem, by your humiliations. Like Him, too, you had your cross and gave your life for your sheep. Forget not the Church of your unceasing love — bless that Rome which venerates so profoundly the spot where you suffered and died. Bless all the faithful children of Christ who keep your Feast during this holy Season, praying you to obtain for them the grace of profiting by the mystery of Bethlehem. Pray for them that they may imitate Jesus, conquer pride, love the Cross and be faithful in all their trials.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Morocco in Africa, the martyrdom of the holy martyrs of the Order of Friars Minor, Berard, Peter, Accursius, Adjutus and Otto.

At Arles, St. Honoratus, bishop and confessor, whose life was renowned for learning and miracles.

At Oderzo, St. Titian, bishop and confessor.

At Rhinocolura in Egypt, in the reign of the emperor Valens, the holy bishop Melas, who rested in peace after suffering exile and other painful trials for the Catholic faith.

At Fundi in Campania, St. Honoratus, abbot, mentioned by Pope St. Gregory.

In the monastery of Peronne, St. Fursey, confessor.

At Rome, St. Priscilla, who devoted herself and her goods to the service of the martyrs.

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

Thanks be to God.

15 JANUARY – SAINT PAUL OF EGYPT (First Hermit)

Paul, the institutor and master of hermits, was born in Lower Thebais in Egypt. He lost his parents when he was 15 years old. Not long after that, in order to escape the persecution of Decius and Valerian and serve God more freely, he withdrew into the desert where he made a cave his dwelling. A palm tree afforded him food and raiment, and there he lived to the age of 113. At about that time, he received a visit from Antony who was 90 years old. God bade him visit Paul. The two saints, though they had not previously known each other, saluted each other by their names. While holding a long conversation on the kingdom of God, a crow, which every day brought half a loaf of bread, carried them a whole one. When the crow had left them Paul said “See! our truly good and truly merciful Lord has sent us our repast. For sixty years I have daily received a half loaf. Now, because you have come to see me, Christ has doubled the portion for his soldiers.” They sat near the fountain and, giving thanks, they ate the bread. And when they were refreshed, they again returned the accustomed thanks to God and spent the night in the divine praises. At daybreak, Paul told Antony of his approaching death and begged him go and bring the cloak which Athanasius had given him, and wrap his corpse in it.

As Antony was returning from his cell, he saw Paul’s soul going up into Heaven amid choirs of Angels and a throng of Prophets and Apostles. When he had reached the hermit’s cell, he found the lifeless body: the knees were bent, the head erect and the hands stretched out and raised towards heaven. He wrapped it in the cloak and sang hymns and psalms over it according to the custom prescribed by Christian tradition. Not having a hoe with which to make a grave, two lions came at a rapid pace from the interior of the desert and stood over the body of the venerable Saint, showing how, in their own way, they lamented his death. They began to tear up the earth with their feet and seemed to strive to outdo each other in the work until they had made a hole large enough to receive the body of a man. When they had gone, Antony carried the holy corpse to the place, and covering it with the soil, he arranged the grave after the manner of the Christians. As to the tunic which Paul had woven for himself out of palm-leaves as baskets are usually made, Antony took it away with him and, as long as he lived, wore it on the great days of Easter and Pentecost.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Today the Church honours the memory of one of those men who were expressly chosen by God to represent the sublime detachment from all things, which was taught to the world by the example of the Son of God born in a cave at Bethlehem. Paul the Hermit so prized the poverty of his Divine Master that he fled to the desert where he could find nothing to possess and nothing to covet. He had a mere cavern for his dwelling. A palm tree provided him with food and clothing, a fountain gave him with which to quench his thirst, and Heaven sent him his only luxury, a loaf of bread brought to him daily by a crow. For 60 years did Paul thus serve, in poverty and in solitude, that God who was denied a dwelling on the Earth He came to redeem and could have but a poor stable in which to be born. But God dwelt with Paul in his cavern, and in him began the Anchorites, that sublime race of men who, the better to enjoy the company of their God, denied themselves not only the society, but the very sight, of men. They were the Angels of Earth in whom God showed forth, for the instruction of the rest of men, that He is powerful enough and rich enough to supply the wants of His creatures who indeed have nothing but what they have from Him.

The Hermit, or Anchoret, is a prodigy in the Church, and it behoves us to glorify the God who has produced it. We ought to be filled with astonishment and gratitude at seeing how the Mystery of a God made Flesh has so elevated our human nature as to inspire a contempt and abandonment of those earthly goods which heretofore had been so eagerly sought after.

The two names, Paul and Antony, are not to be separated: they are the two Apostles of the Desert. Both are Fathers — Paul of Anchorites, and Antony of Cenobites. The two families are sisters, and both have the same source, the My stery of Bethlehem. The sacred Cycle of the Church’s year unites, with only a day between their two Feasts these two faithful disciples of Jesus in His crib.

*****

Father and Prince of Hermits, you are now contemplating in all His glory that God whose weakness and lowliness you studied and imitated during the sixty years of your desert-life: you are now with Him in the eternal union of the Vision. Instead of your cavern where you spent your life of unknown penance, you have the immensity of the Heaven for your dwelling. Instead of your tunic of palm leaves, you have the robe of Light. Instead of the pittance of material bread, you have the Bread of eternal life. Instead of your humble fountain, you have the waters which spring up to eternity, filling your soul with infinite delights. You imitated the silence of the Babe of Bethlehem by your holy life of seclusion. Now your tongue is for ever singing the praises of this God, and the music of infinite bliss is for ever falling on your ear. You did not know this world of ours, save by its deserts, but now you must compassionate and pray for us who live in it. Speak for us to our dear Jesus . Remind Him how He visited it in wonderful mercy and love. Pray His sweet blessing upon us, and the graces of perfect detachment from transitory things, love of poverty, love of prayer and love of our heavenly country.

14 JANUARY – SAINT HILARY OF POITERS (Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church)

Hilary was born of a noble family in Aquitaine, and was distinguished for his learning and eloquence. He was married but the life he led was almost that of a monk so that later on, on account of his great virtues, he was made Bishop of Poitiers, and so well did he discharge the episcopal office as to be the object of the deepest veneration on the part of the faithful. At that time the Emperor Constantius was inflicting every sort of harsh treatment, intimidation, confiscation of their property and banishment on the Catholics who refused to side with the Arians. Hilary set himself as a bulwark against the Arians, bringing on himself all their fury. On this account they many times sought to ensnare him, and at length, by the treachery of Saturninus, the Bishop of Aries, he was banished from the Council at Beziers into Phrygia. There he raised a dead man to life and wrote his twelve books On the Trinity, against the Arians. Four years later a Council was called at Seleucia, a town in Isauria, at which Hilary was compelled to assist. Thence he set out for Constantinople, where, seeing the extreme dangers to which the true faith had been exposed, he petitioned the Emperor, by three public petitions, to grant him an audience in order that he might obtain permission to hold a controversy with his adversaries concerning matters of faith. But Ursacius and Valens, two Arian Bishops, whom Hilary had refuted in his writings, were afraid of allowing so learned a man to continue there any longer, and persuaded Constantius to restore him to his episcopal see, under the pretence of showing him honour.

Then did the Church of Gaul open her arms, as Saint Jerome says, to receive Hilary on his return from battle with the heretics. Saint Martin, who was afterwards Bishop of Tours, followed the holy Doctor to Poitiers. How much he profited by the instructions of such a master is evidenced by the sanctity of his after-life. From that time he was left in perfect peace in the government of the Church of Poitiers. He led the whole of Gaul to condemn the Arian blasphemies. He composed a great many exceedingly learned books of which Saint Jerome, in a letter to Laeta, says that they may be all read without the slightest fear of meeting any false doctrine in them. He assures her that she may run through the books of Hilary without stumbling on anything dangerous. He passed from this Earth to Heaven on the Ides of January (January 13th), during the reign of the Emperors Valentinian and Valens, in the year of our Lord 369. Hilary was called by several Fathers and Councils, an illustrious Doctor of the Church and was publicly honoured as such in certain dioceses. At length, at the petition of the Council of Bordeaux, the Supreme Pontiff Blessed Pius IX Pius, after having consulted the Congregation of Sacred Rites, declared him to have been justly called, and to be in effect, a Doctor of the universal Church and ordered that on his Feast all should recite the Mass and Office Of Doctors.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

After having consecrated the joyous Octave of the Epiphany to the glory of the Emmanuel who was manifested to the Earth, the Church — incessantly occupied with the Divine Child and His august Mother during the whole time from Christmas Day to that on which Mary will bring Jesus to the Temple, there to be offered to God as the law prescribes — the Church, we say, has on her Calendar of this portion of the year the names of many glorious Saints who shine like so many stars on the path which leads us from the joys of the Nativity of our Lord to the sacred mystery of our Lady’s Purification. And firstly, there comes before us, on the very morrow of the day consecrated to the Baptism of Jesus, the faithful and courageous Hilary — the pride of the Churches of Gaul and the worthy associate of Athanasius and Eusebius of Vercelli in the battle fought for the Divinity of our Emmanuel.

Scarcely were the cruel persecutions of paganism over when there commenced the fierce contest with Arianism which had sworn to deprive of the glory and honours of His divinity that Jesus, who had conquered, by His Martyrs, over the violence and craft of the Roman Emperors. The Church had won her liberty by shedding her blood, and it was not likely that she would be less courageous on the new battlefield into which she was driven. Many were the Martyrs that were put to death by her new enemies — Christian, though heretical, Princes —it was for the Divinity of that Lord who had mercifully appeared on the Earth in the weakness of human flesh that they shed their blood. Side by side with these, there stood those holy and illustrious Doctors who, with the martyr-spirit within them, defended by their learning and eloquence the Nicene Faith which was the Faith of the Apostles. In the foremost rank of these latter we behold the Saint of today, covered with the rich laurels of his brave confessorship, Hilary — who, as Saint Jerome says of him, was brought up in the pompous school of Gaul, yet had culled the flowers of Grecian science and became the Rhone of Latin eloquence. Saint Augustine calls him the illustrious Doctor of the Churches.

Though gifted with the most extraordinary talents and one of the most learned men of the age, yet Saint Hilary’s greatest glory is his intense love for the Incarnate Word, and his zeal for the Liberty of the Church. His great soul thirsted after martyrdom and, by the unflinching love of truth which such a spirit gave him, he was the brave champion of the Church in that trying period when Faith, that had stood the brunt of persecution, seemed to be on the point of being betrayed by the craft of Princes, and the cowardice of temporising and un-orthodox Pastors.

*****

Glorious Hilary, you well deserved that your Church of Poitiers should, of old, address to you the magnificent praise given by the Roman Church to your illustrious disciple Saint Martin: “O blessed Pontiff who with his whole heart loved Christ our *' King and feared not the majesty of emperors! O most holy soul which, though not taken away by the sword of the persecutor, yet lost not the palm of martyrdom!” If the Palm of a Martyr is not in your, yet you had a Martyr’s spirit, and well might we add to your other titles of Confessor, Bishop and Doctor, the glorious one of Martyr, just as our holy Mother the Church has conferred it on your fellow-combatant Eusebius who was but Martyr in heart like yourself. Yes, your glory is great, but it is all due to you for your courage in confessing the Divinity of that Incarnate Word whose birth and infancy we are now celebrating. You had to stand before a Herod, as had the Magi, and, like them, you feared not: and when the Caesar of those times banished you to a foreign land, your soul found comfort in the thought that the infant Jesus too was exiled into Egypt. Oh that we could imitate you in the application of these Mysteries to ourselves!

Now that you are in Heaven, pray for our Churches that they may be firm in the Faith and may study to know and love Jesus, our Emmanuel. Pray for your Church of Poitiers which still loves you with the reverence and affection of a child, but since the ardour of your zeal embraced all the world, pray also for all the world. Pray that God may bless His Church with Bishops powerful in word and work, profound in sacred science, faithful in the guardianship of that which is entrusted to them and unswerving defenders of Ecclesiastical Liberty.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Nola in Campania, the birthday of St. Felix, priest, who (as is related by bishop St. Paulinus), after being subjected to torments by the persecutors, was cast into prison and extended, bound hand and foot, on (snail) shells and broken earthenware. In the night, however, his bonds were loosened and he was delivered by an angel. The persecution over, he brought many to the faith of Christ by his exemplary life and teaching and, renowned for miracles, rested in peace.

In Judaea, St. Malachi, prophet.

On Mount Sinai, thirty-eight holy monks, killed by the Saracens for the faith of Christ.

In the district of Raithy in Egypt forty-three holy monks, who were put to death by the Blemmians for the Christian religion.

At Milan, St. Datius, bishop and confessor, mentioned by Pope St. Gregory.

In Africa, St. Euphrasius, bishop.

In Syria, in the time of the emperor Valens, St. Julian Sabas the Elder who miraculously restored at Antioch the Catholic faith which was almost destroyed in that city.

At Neocaesarea in Pontus, St. Macrina, a disciple of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, and grandmother of St. Basil, who she brought up in the Christian faith.

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

Thanks be to God.