31 OCTOBER – VIGIL OF ALL SAINTS ( ALL HALLOWS EVE)

 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Let us prepare our souls for the graces Heaven is about to shower upon the Earth in return for its homage. Tomorrow the Church will be so overflowing with joy that she will seem to be already in possession of eternal happiness. But today she appears in the garb of penance, confessing that she is still an exile. Let us fast and pray with her, for are not we too pilgrims and strangers in this world where all things are fleeting and hurry on to death? Year by year, as the great solemnity comes round, it has gathered from among our former companions new saints who bless our tears and smile upon our songs of hope. Year by year the appointed time draws nearer when we ourselves, seated at the heavenly banquet, will receive the homage of those who succeed us, and hold out a helping hand to draw them after us to the home of everlasting happiness. Let us learn, from this very hour, to emancipate our souls. Let us keep our hearts free in the midst of the vain solicitudes and false pleasures of a strange land: the exile has no care but his banishment, no joy but that which gives him a foretaste of his fatherland.

With these thoughts in mind, let us say with the Church the Collect of the Vigil:

O LORD our God, multiply your grace on us, and grant us in our holy profession to follow the joy of those whose glorious solemnity we anticipate. Through our Lord...

Let us close this month, as we opened it, by homage to Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, and Queen of all the Saints. The ancient Dominican Missals furnish us with a formula.

In the virginal garden, the young shoots of spring push forth, and burst into blossom with fruitful abundance. The frost and the winter have passed away, the snow and the rain are over, and roses spring up on earth from a heavenly seed.

The rose has produced a lily. During the whole time of her exile she gathered the produce of her Son’s garden: Joy for the just, and justification for sinners, glory for the elect, salvation for all.

The gifts Christ brought from Heaven, and the sufferings He endured on Earth, He bestowed upon the world when He overcame the world. He sheltered under the rose tree’s foliage, He was wounded by the thorns, He was crowned with its flowers. Thus does he call us, purify us, reward us.

Because of the leaves and thorns and flowers of the rose, we will enjoy the delights of that rich land where she, the fair cultivator, resides, the empress who joyfully presides over our militant companies, and over the nine choirs of the triple hierarchy.

Hail you, who by a new triumph repairs the loss we sustained when the enemy triumphed in the first combat. See how again he threatens fierce revenge. Unless you oppose him, every Christian must perish.

Hail, home of the Word, sanctuary of the Holy Ghost, daughter of the most high Father! In the various perils of this life, bring us unfailing assistance against the darts of the enemy. May lilies intertwined with roses from the garden of Heaven be our crown of victory after the combat. Amen.

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the birthday of blessed Nemesius, deacon, and his daughter, the virgin Lucilla. As they could not be prevailed upon to abandon the faith of Christ, they were beheaded on the twenty-fifth of August by order of the emperor Valerian. Their bodies were buried by the blessed Pope Stephen, and afterwards more decently entombed on this day, on the Via Appia, by blessed Pope Sixtus. Pope Gregory V translated them into the sacristy of Santa Maria Nova, together with the Saints Symphronius, Olympius, tribune, Exuperia, his wife, and Theodulus, his son, who, being all converted by the exertions of Symphronius, and baptised by the same St. Stephen, had been crowned with martyrdom. These holy bodies were found there during the pontificate of Pope Gregory XIII, and placed more honourably beneath the altar of the same church on the eighth of December.

The same day, the Saints Ampliatus, Urbanus and Narcissus, who are mentioned by the blessed Apostle St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans. They were put to death by the Jews and Gentiles for the Gospel of Christ.

At Saint-Quentin in France, St. Quinctinus, Roman citizen and senator, who endured martyrdom under the emperor Maximian. By the revelation of an angel, his body was found uncorrupt after the lapse of fifty-five years.

At Constantinople, St. Stachis, bishop, who was consecrated first bishop of that city by the blessed Apostle St. Andrew.

At Milan, St. Antoninus, bishop and confessor.

At Ratisbon, St. Wolfgang, bishop.

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

Thanks be to God.

30 OCTOBER – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Africa, the birthday of two hundred and twenty holy martyrs.

At Tangier in Morocco, St. Marcellus, a centurion, who endured martyrdom by being beheaded under the vice-prefect Agricolaus.

At Alexandria, in the reign of Decius, thirteen holy martyrs who suffered with Saints Julian, Eunus and Macarius.

In the same place, St. Eutropia, martyr, who visited the martyrs, and was so cruelly tortured with them that she breathed her last.

At Cagliari in Sardinia, St. Saturninus, martyr, who was beheaded under the governor Barbarus during the persecution of Diocletian.

At Apamea in Phrygia, St. Maximus, martyr, under the same Diocletian.

At Leon in Spain, the holy martyrs Claudius, Lupercus and Victorius, sons of the centurion St. Marcellus, who were condemned to decapitation in the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian under the governor Diogenian.

At Ægea in Cilicia, the martyrdom of the Saints Zenobius, bishop, and Zenobia, his sister, under the emperor Diocletian and the governor Lysias.

At Altino, St. Theonestus, bishop and martyr, who was killed by the Arians.

At Paris, St. Lucanus, martyr.

At Antioch, St. Serapion, a bishop very celebrated for his learning.

At Capua, St. Germanus, bishop and confessor, a man of great sanctity, whose soul, at the hour of death, was seen by St. Benedict taken to heaven by angels.

At Potenza in Basilicata, St. Gerard, bishop.

At Palma on the island of Majorca, St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, a lay brother of the Society of Jesus, who Pope Leo XII beatified and Pope Leo XIII canonised on account of his remarkable humility and constant love of mortification.

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

Thanks be to God.

29 OCTOBER – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Lucania, the holy martyrs Hyacinthus, Quinctus, Felician and Lucius.

At Sidon in Phoenicia, St. Zenobius, a priest. While the last persecution was raging, by exhorting others to martyrdom, he was himself deemed worthy of it.

The same day, the holy bishops Maximilian, martyr, and Valentine, confessor.

At Bergamo, St. Eusebia, virgin and martyr.

At Jerusalem, the birthday of blessed Narcissus, a bishop distinguished for holiness, patience and faith, who went to the kingdom of God at the age of one hundred and sixteen years.

At Autun, St. John, bishop and confessor.

At Cassiope on the island of Corfu, St. Donatus, mentioned by Pope St. Gregory.

At Vienne, the departure from this world of blessed Theodore, abbot.

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

Thanks be to God.

28 OCTOBER – SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE (Apostles and Martyrs)

 St Jude Thaddaeus

 

The Apostle Simon was called “Simon the Zealot” for his zeal for the Jewish law. Another of the Twelve, the brother of Saint James the Lesser, and therefore related by blood to Jesus as a cousin, Jude (Thaddaeus or Lebbeaus) is the author of the canonical Epistle. According to tradition he and Simon preached the Gospel in Persia and suffered martyrdom together there.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“Instead of your fathers, sons are born to you” (Psalm xliv. 17). Thus does the Church disowned by Israel extol in her chants the apostolic fruitfulness which resides in her till the end of time. Yesterday she was already filled with that loving hope, which is never deceived, that the holy Apostles Simon and Jude would anticipate their solemnity by shedding blessings on her. Such is the condition of her existence on Earth that she can remain here only as long as she continues to give children to our Lord. And therefore in the Mass of the 27th October she makes us read the passage of the Gospel where it is said: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that bears not fruit, He will take away: and every one that bears fruit, He will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John xv. 1‒7).

The pruning is painful, as the Epistle of the Vigil points out. In the name of the other branches, honoured like himself with the divine election, the Apostle there recounts the labours, sufferings of every description, persecutions, revilings, denials (1 Corinthians iv. 9‒14), at the cost of which the preacher of the Gospel purchases the right to call sons those whom he has begotten in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians iv. 9‒15). Now, as Saint Paul more than once repeats, especially in the Epistle of the feast, this supernatural veneration of the Saints is nothing else but the mystical reproduction of the Son of God who grows up in each of the elect from infancy to the measure of the perfect man (Galatians iv. 19; Ephesians iv.).

However meagre in details be the history of these glorious Apostles, we learn from their brief legend how amply they contributed to this great work of generating sons of God. Without any repose, and even to the shedding of their blood, they edified the Body of Christ, and the grateful Church thus prays to our Lord today: “O God, who by means of your blessed Apostles Simon and Jude has granted us to come to the knowledge of your name, grant that we may celebrate their eternal glory by making progress in virtues and improve by this celebration.”

Saint Simon is represented in art with a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom. Saint Jude’s square points him out as an architect of the house of God. Saint Paul called himself by this name (1 Corinthians iii. 10) and Saint Jude, by his Catholic Epistle, has also a special right to be reckoned among our Lord’s principal workmen. But our Apostle had another nobility, far surpassing all earthly titles: being nephew, by his father Cleophas or Alpheus, to Saint Joseph, and legal cousin to the Man-God, Jude was one of those called by their compatriots the brethren of the carpenter’s son (Together with James the Less, Apostle and first Bishop of Jerusalem, a certain Joseph less known, and Simeon, second Bishop of Jerusalem, all sons of Cleophas, and of our Lady’s step-sister called in Saint John Mary of Cleophas. Matthew xiii. 65).

We may gather from Saint John’s Gospel another precious detail concerning him. In the admirable discourse at the close of the Last Supper, our Lord said: “He that loves me, will be loved of my Father: and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.” Then Jude asked Him: “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” And he received from Jesus this reply: “If any one loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him. He that loves me not, keeps not my words. And the word which you have heard is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me” (John xiv. 21‒24).

Ecclesiastical history informs us that towards the end of his reign, and when the persecution be had raised was at its height, Domitian caused to be brought to him from the East two grandsons of the Apostle Saint Jude. He had some misgivings with regard to these descendants of David’s royal line, for they represented the family of Christ Himself whom His disciples declared to be king of the whole world. Domitian was able to assure himself that these two humble Jews could in no way endanger the Empire, and that if they attributed to Christ sovereign power, it was a power not to be visibly exercised till the end of the world. The simple and courageous language of these two men made such an impression on the emperor that, according to the historian Hegesippus from whom Eusebius borrowed the narrative, he gave orders for the persecution to be suspended.

We have only to add to the following brief notice of our Apostles, that the churches of Saint Peter in Rome and Saint Sernin at Toulouse dispute the honour of possessing the greater part of their holy remains.

“I have chosen you, and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain” (John xv. 16). These words were addressed by the Man-God to you, as to all the twelve, as the Church reminded us in her Night Office. And yet, what remains now of the fruit of your labours in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, in Persia? Can our Lord and His Church be mistaken in their words or in their appreciations? Certainly not, and proof sufficient is that, above the region of the senses and beyond the domain of history, the power infused into the twelve subsists through all the ages and is active in every supernatural birth that develops the mystical Body of our Lord and increases the Church. We, more truly than Tobias, are the children of saints (Tobias ii. 18). We are no longer strangers, but the family of God, His house built on the foundation of Apostles and Prophets, united by Jesus the chief corner-stone (Ephesians ii. 19, 20).

* * * * *

All thanks be to you, O holy Apostles, who in labour and suffering procured us this blessing. Maintain in us the title and the rights of this precious adoption. Great evils surround us. Is there any hope left to the world? The confidence of your devout clients proclaims you, O Jude, the patron of desperate cases. And for you, O Simon, this is surely the time to prove yourself Zealots, full of zeal. Deign, both of you, to hear the Church’s prayers and aid her, with all your apostolic might, to re-animate faith, to rekindle charity and to save the world.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, in the reign of Claudius, St. Cyrilla, virgin, daughter of St. Tryphonia, who was pierced through the throat for the faith of Christ.

In the same city, the holy martyrs Anastasia the Elder, virgin, and Cyril. In the persecution of Valerian under the prefect Probus, Anastasia was bound with chains, buffeted, subjected to fire and scourging, and, as she remained immovable in the confession of Christ, her breasts were cut off, her nails plucked out, her teeth broken, and her hands, feet and head severed from her body. Bedecked with her sufferings as with so many jewels, she went to her spouse. At her request, Cyril gave her some water to drink, and for his reward became a martyr.

At Como, St. Fidelis, martyr, under the emperor Maximian.

At Mayence, St. Ferrutius, martyr.

At Meaux, St. Faro, bishop and confessor.

At Naples, St. Gaudiosus, an African bishop, who came to Campania because of the persecution of the Vandals, and closed peacefully his holy career in a monastery near that city.

At Vercelli, St. Honoratus, bishop.

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

Thanks be to God.

27 OCTOBER – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYOLOGY:

The Vigil of the holy Apostles Saints Simon and Jude.

At Avila in Spain, the Saints Vincent, Sabina and Christeta, who were first stretched on the rack in such a manner that all their limbs were dislocated. Then stones being laid on their heads, and their brains beaten out with heavy bars, they terminated their martyrdom under the governor Dacian.

At Tilchatel, St. Florentius, martyr.

In Cappadocia, the holy martyrs Capitolina, and Erotheides, her handmaid, who suffered under Diocletian.

In India, St. Frumentius, bishop. While he was a captive there he was consecrated bishop by St. Athanasius and preached the Gospel in that country.

In Ethiopia, St. Elesbaan, king, who, after having defeated the enemies of Christ and sent his royal diadem to Jerusalem in the time of the emperor Justin, led a monastical life, as he had vowed, and went to his reward.

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

Thanks be to God.

26 OCTOBER – SAINT EVARISTUS (Pope and Martyr)

Evaristus was born in Greece of a Jewish father. Leaving his native town at a very early age, he went to Rome to study and distinguished himself by his piety and learning. When he succeeded Pope Saint Clement I to the See of Peter he ordered that marriages should be celebrated publicly and with priestly benediction, and that no bishop should preach without the assistance of seven deacons. In three or four ordinations he created 5 bishops, 6 (or according to some authors 17) priests and 2 deacons. He governed the Church 9 years and 3 months. Evaristus was martyred in 109 AD during the reign of Trajan and was interred in the Vatican cemetery near Saint Peter and his other successors.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Beloved Disciple had just received the long-promised visit of our Lord inviting him to Heaven when the Church under Evaristus completed the drawing up of the itinerary for her long pilgrimage to the end of time. The blessed period of the apostolic times was definitively closed but the Eternal City continued to augment her treasure of glory. Under this pontificate the virgin Domitilla, by her martyrdom, cemented the foundations of the new Jerusalem with the blood of the Flavii who had destroyed the old. Then Ignatius of Antioch brought to the Church that presides in charity, the testimony of his death. He was the wheat of Christ, and the teeth of the wild beasts in the Colosseum satisfied his desire of becoming a most pure bread.

* * * * *

You are the first Pontiff to whom the Church entrusted after the departure of all those who had seen the Lord. The world could then say in all strictness: “If we have known Christ according to the flesh, now we know Him so no longer” (2 Corinthians v. 16). The Church was now more truly an exile. At that period, which was not without perils and anxieties, her Spouse gave to you the charge of teaching her to pursue alone her path of faith and hope and love. And you did not betray the confidence of our Lord. Earth owes you on this account a special gratitude, O Evaristus, and a special reward is doubtless yours. Watch still over Rome and the Church. Teach us that we might be ready not only to fast here on Earth, but to resigned to the absence of the Bridegroom when He hides Himself, and not the less to serve Him and love Him with our whole heart and mind and soul and strength, as long as the world endures and He is pleased to leave us in it.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Africa, the holy martyrs Rogatian, priest, and Felicissimus, who received the bright crown of martyrs in the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus. They are mentioned by St. Cyprian in his Epistle to the Confessors.

At Nicomedia, the holy martyrs Lucian, Florius and their companions.

The same day, St. Quodvultdeus, bishop of Carthage. By the Arian king Genseric, he and his clergy were put on board of leaking boats without oars or sails, but beyond all expectations he landed at Naples and there in exile died a confessor.

At Narbonne, St. Rusticus, bishop and confessor, who flourished in the time of the emperors Valentinian and Leo.

At Salerno, St. Gaudiosus, bishop.

At Pavia, St. Fulk, bishop.

At Hildesheim in Saxony, St. Bernward, bishop and confessor, who was ranked among the saints by Pope Celestine III.

Also St. Quadragesimus, sub-deacon, who raised a dead man to life.

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

Thanks be to God.

25 OCTOBER – SAINTS CHRYSANTHUS AND DARIA (Martyrs)

Chrysanthus and Daria were husband and wife, noble by birth, and still more by their faith which Daria had received together with baptism through her husband’s persuasion. At Rome they converted an immense multitude to Christ, Daria instructing the women and Chrysanthus the men. On this account the prefect Celerinus arrested them and handed them over to the tribune Claudius who ordered his soldiers to bind Chrysanthus and put him to the torture. But all his bonds were loosed, and the fetters which were put on him were broken. They then wrapped him in the skin of an ox and exposed to a burning sun, then cast him, chained hand and foot, into a very dark dungeon. But his chains were broken, and the prison filled with a brilliant light. Daria was dragged to a place of infamy, but at her prayer God defended her from insult by sending a lion to protect her. Finally they were both led to the sand-pits on the Via Salaria where they were thrown into a pit and covered with a heap of stones, and thus they together won the crown of martyrdom.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Chrystanthus was united, in his confession of our Lord, with her whom he had won to Christianity and to the love of the angelic virtue. Our forefathers had a great veneration for these two martyrs who, having lived together in holy virginity, were together buried alive in a sand-pit at Rome for refusing to honour the false gods. Dying like the seed in the earth, they yielded the fruit of martyrdom. On the anniversary day of their triumph numbers of the faithful had gathered in the catacomb on the Via Salaria for the liturgical Synaxis, when the pagans surprised them and walled up the entrance of the vault. Many years passed away. When the hour of victory had sounded for the Church, and the Christians discovered again the way to the sacred crypt, a wonderful spectacle was presented to their gaze: before the tomb where reposed Chrysanthus and Daria was grouped the family they had begotten to martyrdom. Each person was still in the attitude in which he had been overtaken by death. Beside the ministers of the Altar, which was surrounded by men, women and children, assistants at that most solemn of Masses, were to be seen the silver vessels of the Sacrifice: that Sacrifice in which the conquering Lamb had so closely united to himself to many noble victims. Pope Damasus adorned the venerable spot with monumental inscriptions. But no one dared to touch the holy bodies, or to alter any arrangement in that incomparable scene. The crypt was walled up again, but a narrow opening was left so that the pilgrim could look into the august sanctuary and animate his courage for the struggles of life by the contemplation of what had been required of his ancestors in the faith during the ages of martyrdom.

* * * * *

I will give to my Saints a place of honour in the kingdom of my Father, says the Lord. Thus sings the Church in your praise, O martyrs. And herself following up that word of her divine Spouse, she made the Lateran Basilica your earthly home, and assigned for your resting-place the most hallowed spot, the very Confession on which rests the high Altar of that first of all churches. It was a fitting recompense for your labours and sufferings in that city of Rome where you had shared in the preaching of the Apostles, and like them had sealed the word with your blood. Cease not to justify the confidence of the Eternal City. Render her faith, which is ever pure, more and more fruitful. But your holy relics have also, through Rome’s generosity, carried your protection abroad. Deign to second by your intercession the prayer we borrow from your devout clients of Munstereifel: “O God, who in your Saints Chrysanthus and Daria enhanced the honour of virginity by the consecration of martyrdom, grant that, assisted by their intercession, we may extinguish in ourselves the flame of vice and may merit to become your temple in the company of the pure in heart.”

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the birthday of forty-six holy soldiers, who were baptised together by Pope Denis, and soon after beheaded by order of the emperor Claudius. They were buried on the Via Salaria, with one hundred and twenty-one other martyrs. Among them are named four soldiers of Christ Theodosius, Lucius, Mark and Peter.

At Soissons in France, in the persecution of Diocletian, the holy martyrs Crispin and Crispinian, noble Romans. Under the governor Rictiovarus, after horrible torments, they were put to the sword, and thus obtained the crown of martyrdom. Their bodies were afterwards conveyed to Rome and entombed with due honours in the church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna.

At Florence, St. Minias, a soldier, who fought valorously for the faith of Christ and was gloriously crowned with martyrdom during the reign of Decius.

At Torres in Sardinia, the holy martyrs Protus, priest, and Januarius, deacon, who, being sent to that island by Pope St. Caius, were put to death under the governor Barbarus in the reign of Diocletian.

At Constantinople, the martyrdom of the Saints Martyrius, sub-deacon, and Marcian, chanter, who were murdered by the heretics under the emperor Constantius.

At Rome, St. Boniface, pope and confessor.

At Perigueux in France, St. Fronto, who, being made bishop by the blessed Apostle St. Peter, converted to Christ, with a priest named George, a large number of the people of that place, and, renowned for miracles, rested in peace.

At Brescia, the birthday of St. Gaudentius, bishop, distinguished by his learning and holiness.

At Javols, St. Hilary, bishop.

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

Thanks be to God.

25 OCTOBER – CHRISTUS REX (CHRIST THE KING)

This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI in the Holy Year of 1925 to salute the Author and Founder of the Church as “King and Lord” and “King of Kings.” The Pope said that “when once men recognise, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.”

Epistle – Colossians i. 12‒20

Brethren, give thanks to God the Father who has made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light. Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins. Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature. For in Him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and in Him. And He is before all, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things He may hold the primacy. Because in Him, it has well pleased the Father, that all fulness should dwell. And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in heaven.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – John xviii. 33‒37

At that time, Pilate therefore went into the hall again, and called Jesus, and said to Him: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered: “Do you say this by youryself, or have others told it to you of me?” Pilate answered: “Am I a Jew? Your own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered you up to me: what have you done?” Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from here.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

 

24 OCTOBER – SAINT RAPHAEL (Archangel)

Raphael is one of seven archangels who stand before the Lord (Tobias xii. 15), and one of the three named in the Bible, together with Michael and Gabriel. The name Raphael means “God has healed.” In the Book of Tobias he appears at first disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself “Azarias the son of the great Ananias.”

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The approach of the great solemnity which will soon be shedding on us all the splendours of Heaven seems to inspire the Church with a profound recollection. Except for the homage she must needs pay, on their own date, to the glorious Apostles Simon and Jude, only a few feasts of simple rite break the silence of these last days of October. Our souls must be in conformity with the dispositions of our common Mother. It will not, however, be out of keeping to give a thought to the great Archangel honoured today by many particular churches. The ministry fulfilled in our regard by the heavenly spirits is admirably set forth in the graceful scenes depicted in the history of Tobias. Rehearsing the good services of the guide and friend, whom he still called his brother Azarias, the younger Tobias said to his father: “Father, what wages will we give him! or what can be worthy of his benefits! He conducted me and brought me safe again, he received the money of Gabelus, he caused me to have my wife, and he chased from her the evil spirit, he gave joy to her parents, myself he delivered from being devoured by the fish, you also he has made to see the light of Heaven, and we are filled with all good things from him” (Tobias xii. 2‒3).

And when father and son endeavoured, after the fashion of men, to return thanks to him who had rendered them such good service, the Angel discovered himself to them in order to refer their gratitude to their supreme Benefactor. “Bless you the God of Heaven, give glory to Him in the sight of all that live, because He has shown His mercy to you... When you prayed with tears and buried the dead... I offered your prayer to the Lord. And because you were acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove you. And now the Lord has sent me to heal you, and to deliver Sarah your son’s wife from the devil. For I am the Angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord... Peace be to you, fear not... bless Him and sing praises to Him” Tobias (xii. 6‒18).

We too will celebrate the blessings of Heaven. For as surely as Tobias beheld with his bodily eyes the Archangel Raphael, we know by faith that the Angel of the Lord accompanies us from the cradle to the tomb. Let us have the same trustful confidence in Him. Then, along the path of life, more beset with perils than the road to the country of the Medes, we will be in perfect safety. All that happens to us will be for the best because prepared by our Lord and, as though we were already in Heaven, our Angel will cause us to shed blessings on all around us.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Venosa in Basilicata, the birthday of the holy martyrs Felix, African bishop, Audactus and Januarius, priests, Fortunatus and Septimus, lectors. In the time of Diocletian, after having been a long time loaded with fetters and imprisoned in Africa and Sicily by the governor Magdellian, as Felix refused absolutely to deliver the sacred books, according to the emperor’s edict, they finally closed their lives by being beheaded.

At Nagran in Arabia, Felix, the passion of the Saint Aretas and his companions, to the number of three hundred and forty, in the time of the emperor Justin under the Jewish tyrant Dunaan. After them was burned alive a Christian woman whose son, five years old, confessed Christ lisping, and as he could neither by caresses nor threats be stopped, he rushed into the fire in which his mother was burning.

At Cologne, St. Evergistus, bishop and martyr.

At Constantinople, St. Proclus, bishop.

In Bretagne, the departure from this life of St. Maglorious, bishop, whose body rests at Paris.

In Campania, St. Mark, solitary, whose renowned actions have been recorded by St. Gregory.

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

Thanks be to God.

23 OCTOBER – SAINT ANTHONY MARY CLARET (Bishop and Confessor)

Antonio Maria Claret y Clara was born in 1807 at Sallent in Spain. His father was a cloth-weaver and Antonio practised this trade, studying Latin and printing in his spare time. At the age of 22 he began studies for the priesthood and was ordained in 1835. He went to Rome to enter the Society of Jesus but his poor health forced him to return to Spain. There he gave missions and retreats and assisted Blessed Joachima de Mas to establish the Carmelites of Charity. In 1849 he founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary which became known as the ‘Claretians’ after his name. Antonio was appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba and survived several assassination attempts. In 1857 he resigned his bishopric and returned to Spain to become confessor to Queen Isabella II, but after the revolution of 1868 he was exiled with her. Antonio returned to Rome and helped promote the definition of Papal Infallibility. He died in France in 1870 and was canonised by the Venerable Pius XII in 1950.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In the territory of Ossuma near Cadiz in Spain, the holy martyrs Servandus and Germanus, in the persecution of Diocletian under the lieutenant Viator. After being subjected to scourging, imprisonment in a foul dungeon, want of food and drink, and the fatigue of a very long journey, which they had to perform loaded with fetters, they at length reached the term of their martyrdom by having their heads stricken off. Germanus was buried at Merida, and Servandus at Seville.

At Antioch in Syria, the birthday of the holy priest Theodore, who was arrested in the persecution of Julian the Apostate. After being racked, after suffering many severe torments, and the burning of his sides with torches, as he persevered in the confession of Christ, he was put to the sword, and thus consummated his martyrdom.

At Granada in Spain, blessed Peter Paschasius, bishop of Jaen and martyr, of the Order of Mercedarians. He suffered on the sixth of December.

At Constantinople, St. Ignatius, bishop, who, for having reproved the emperor Bardas for putting away his wife, was subjected by him to many insults and driven into banishment. Being restored to his See by Pope Nicholas, he finally rested in peace.

At Bordeaux, St. Severin, bishop of Cologne and confessor.

At Rouen, St. Romanus, bishop.

At Salerno, St. Verus, bishop.

In Picardy, St. Domitius, priest.

In Poitou, St. Benedict, confessor.

Near Villack in Hungary, St. John of Capistran, confessor, of the Order of Friars Minor, illustrious by the sanctity of his life and his zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith. By his prayers and miracles, he routed a most powerful army of Turks and forced them to raise the siege of Belgrade.

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

Thanks be to God.

22 OCTOBER – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Jerusalem, the blessed bishop Mark, a celebrated and learned man, who was the first Gentile that governed the church of Jerusalem. His brief episcopate was rewarded by the palm of martyrdom under the emperor Antoninus.

At Adrianople in Thrace, the birthday of the holy martyrs Philip, bishop, Severus, priest, Eusebius and Hermes, who, after being imprisoned and scourged, were burned alive in the time of Julian the Apostate.

Also the holy martyrs Alexander, bishop, Heracilus, soldier, and their companions.

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

At Huesca in Spain, the holy virgins Nunilo and Alodia, sisters, who endured martyrdom by being condemned to capital punishment by the Saracens for the confession of the faith.

At Cologne, St. Cordula, one of the companions of St. Ursula, who, being terrified at the torments and slaughter of the other virgins, hid herself, but soon repenting, came forward the next day, and last of all received the crown of martyrdom.

At Hierapolis in Phrygia, St. Abercius, bishop, who flourished under the emperor Marcus Antoninus.

At Rouen, St. Melanius, bishop, who was ordained by Pope St. Stephen, and sent there to preach the Gospel.

In Tuscany, St. Donatus, of Scotland, bishop of Fiesoli.

At Verona, St. Verecundus, bishop and confessor.

At Jerusalem, St. Mary Salome, who, as we read in the Gospel, piously attended to the burial of Our Lord.

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

Thanks be to God.

21 OCTOBER – SAINT URSULA AND COMPANIONS (Martyrs)

In about the middle of the fifth century when Attila, chief of the Huns, had been defeated at Chalons in his first invasion of Gaul, he returned into Pannonia, and before crossing the Rhine he attacked the city of Cologne. From his hatred of the Catholic religion which greatly flourished there, he gave it up to sack and slaughter. The savages, burning with lust, cruelly assaulted the young virgins who were abiding there on their journey from Britain, among whom the most famous is the virgin Ursula, who exhorted her companions to endure all torments, and rather to suffer the most cruel death than to submit to the loss of their virginity.

Ursula’s band of virgins were slain by the Huns: some by the sword, some pierced with arrows, and some felled with bludgeons. Ursula, bending as a glorious victim over the piles of her slaughtered companions as over heaps of heavenly pearls, red with the bloodshed for faith and chastity, led triumphantly into Heaven the army crowned with these double crowns. After the barbarian hordes had left, the surviving residents of Cologne gathered up the bodies of the virgins and other martyrs and buried them with all honour. On the field stained with the blood of the martyrs where they were laid to rest, a Church was erected in the seventh century and was named that of the Holy Virgins.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Saint Hilarion was one of the first Confessors, if not the very first, to be honoured in the East with a public cultus like the Martyrs. In the West, the white-robed army led by Ursula adds to the glory of the holy monk who has the first honours of this day. On the 21st October 451 Cologne was made equal to the most illustrious cities by a spiritual glory. Criticism, and there is no lack of it, may dispute the circumstances which brought together the legion of virgins, but the fact itself that eleven thousand chosen souls were martyred by the Huns in recompense for their fidelity is now acknowledged by true science. From the earth where so many noble victims lay concealed, they have more than once been brought to light by multitudes, bearing about them evidence of the veneration of those who had buried them. For instance, by a happy inspiration, the arrow that had set free the blessed soul would be left, as a token of victory, fixed in the breast or forehead of the martyr.

Saint Angela of Merici confided to the patronage of this glorious phalanx her spiritual daughters, and the numberless children whom they will continue till the end of time to educate in the fear of the Lord. The grave Sorbonne dedicated its church to the holy virgins as well as to the Mother of God, and here, as in the Universities of Coimbra and Vienna, an annual panegyric was pronounced in praise of them. Portugal, enriched with some of their precious relics, carried their cultus into the Indies. And pious confraternities have been formed among the faithful for obtaining their assistance at the hour of death.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Ostia, St. Asterius, priest and martyr, who suffered under the emperor Alexander, as we read in the Acts of the blessed Pope Callistus.

At Nicomedia, the birthday of the Saints Dasius, Zoticus, Caius and twelve other soldiers, who, after suffering various torments, were submerged in the sea.

At Maronia near Antioch in Syria, St. Malchus, monk.

At Lyons, St. Viator, deacon of blessed Justus, bishop of that city.

At Laon, St. Cilinia, mother of blessed Remigius, bishop of Rheims.

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

Thanks be to God.

21 OCTOBER – SAINT HILARION (Abbot)

Hilarion was born at Abatha in Palestine (near Gaza) to pagan parents in about 292 AD. He was sent to study at Alexandria where he became famous for his talents and the purity of his morals. He embraced the Christian religion and made wonderful progress in faith and charity. He was constantly in the church, devoted himself to prayer and fasting, and was full of contempt for the enticements of pleasure and earthly desires. The fame of Saint Anthony had then spread over all Egypt. Hilarion, desirous of seeing him, went to the wilderness and stayed two months with him learning his manner of life. He then returned home but on the death of his parents he bestowed his goods on the poor, and though only 15 years old, returned to the desert. He built himself a little cell scarcely large enough to hold him, and there he slept on the ground. He never changed nor washed the sackcloth he wore, saying it was superfluous to look for cleanliness in a hair-shirt.

Hilarion devoted himself to reading and studying the holy Scriptures. His food consisted of a few figs and the juice of herbs, which he never took before sunset. His mortification and humility were wonderful, and by means of these and other virtues he overcame many terrible temptations of the evil one, and cast innumerable devils out of the possessed in many parts of the world. Hilarion gathered many disciples around him and founded many monasteries in Palestine. In 357 he visited the tomb of Saint Antony in Egypt, and afterwards, to escape from the crowds who continually thronged about him seeking the cure of their maladies, he kept travelling from country to country. He visited Egypt, Sicily, Dalmatia, and Cyprus where he died in 371. In his last agony he exclaimed: “Go forth, my soul, why do you fear? Go forth, why do you hesitate? You have served Christ for nearly seventy years, and you fear death?”

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“Monks were unknown in Syria before Saint Hilarion,” says his historian Saint Jerome. “He instituted the monastic life in that country, and was the master of those who embraced it. The Lord Jesus had his Anthony in Egypt and his Hilarion in Palestine, the former advanced in years, the latter still young.” Now our Lord very soon raised this young man to such glory that Anthony would say to the sick who came to him from Syria attracted by the fame of his miracles: “Why take the trouble to come so far, when you have near you my son Hilarion?” And yet Hilarion had spent only two months with Anthony, after which the patriarch had said to him: “Persevere to the end, my son, and your labour will win you the delights of Heaven.” Then, giving a hair-shirt and a garment of skin to this boy of fifteen whom he was never to see again, he sent him back to sanctify the solitudes of his own country, while he himself retired farther into the desert.

The enemy of mankind, foreseeing a formidable adversary in this new solitary, waged a terrible war against him. Even the flesh, in spite of the young ascetic’s fasts, was Satan’s first accomplice. But without any pity for a body so frail and delicate, as his historian says, that any effort would have seemed sufficient to destroy it, Hilarion cried out indignantly: “Ass, I will see that you kick no more. I will reduce you by hunger, I will crush you with burdens, I will make you work in all weathers. You will be so pinched with hunger, that you will think no more of pleasure.” Vanquished in this quarter, the enemy found other allies through whom he thought to drive Hilarion by fear back to the dwellings of men. But to the robbers who fell on his poor wicker hut, the Saint said smiling: “He who is naked has no fear of thieves.” And they, touched by his virtue, could not conceal their admiration and promised to amend their lives. Then Satan determined to come in person, as he had done to Anthony, but with no better success. No trouble could disturb the serenity attained by that simple, holy soul. One day the demon entered into a camel and made it mad so that it rushed on the Saint with horrible cries. But he only answered: “I am not afraid of you: you are always the same, whether you come as a fox or a camel.” And the huge beast fell down tamed at his feet.

There was a harder trial yet to come from the most cunning artifice of the serpent. When Hilarion sought to hide himself from the immense concourse of people who besieged his poor cell, the enemy maliciously published his fame far and wide, and brought to him overwhelming crowds from every land. In vain he quitted Syria and travelled the length and breadth of Egypt. In vain, pursued from desert to desert, he crossed the sea and hoped to conceal himself in Sicily, in Dalmatia, in Cyprus. From the ship which was making its way among the Cyclades he heard in each island the infernal spirits calling one another from the towns and villages and running to the shores as he passed by. At Paphos where he landed the same concourse of demons brought to him multitudes of men, until at length God took pity on His servant and discovered to him a place inaccessible to his fellow-men, where he had no company but legions of devils who surrounded him day and night. Far from fearing, says his biographer, he took pleasure in the neighbourhood of his old antagonist whom he knew well, and he lived there in great peace the last five years before his death.

To be a Hilarion, and yet to fear death! “If in the green wood they do these things, what will be done in the dry!” (Luke xxiii. 31) O glorious Saint, penetrate us with the apprehension of God’s judgements. Teach us that Christian fear does not banish love, but on the contrary, clears the way and leads to it, and then accompanies it through life as an attentive and faithful guardian. This holy fear was your security at your last hour. May it protect us also along the path of life, and at death introduce us immediately into Heaven!

20 OCTOBER – SAINT JOHN CANTIUS (Priest and Confessor)

John was born at Kenty near Oswiecim in Poland in 1412, hence his surname Cantius. His parents were pious and honourable persons, Stanislaus and Anna. From his very infancy his sweetness of disposition, innocence and gravity gave promise of very great virtue. John studied philosophy and theology at the University of Cracow and taking all his degrees proceeded professor and doctor. He taught sacred science for many years, enlightening the minds of his pupils and kindling in them the flame of piety, no less by his deeds than by his words. When he was ordained a priest he relaxed nothing of his zeal for study but increased his ardour for Christian perfection. Grieving exceedingly over the offences everywhere committed against God, he strove to make satisfaction on his own behalf and that of the people by daily offering the unbloody Sacrifice with many tears. For several years John was in charge of the parish of Olkusz which he administered in an exemplary manner. But fearing the responsibility of the cure of souls, he resigned his post and, at the request of the University, resumed the professor’s chair.

Whatever time remained over from his studies John devoted partly to the good of his neighbour especially by holy preaching, and partly to prayer, in which he is said to have been sometimes favoured with heavenly visions and communications. He was so affected by the Passion of Christ that he would spend whole nights without sleep in the contemplation of it and in order the better to cultivate this devotion he undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. While there, in his eagerness for martyrdom, he boldly preached Christ crucified even to the Turks. Four times he went to Rome on foot, and carrying his own baggage, to visit the threshold of the Apostles. In order to honour the Apostolic See to which he was earnestly devoted, and also (as he used to say), to save himself from Purgatory by means of the indulgences there daily to be gained. On one of these journeys he was robbed by brigands. When asked by them whether he had anything more, he replied in the negative, but afterwards remembering that he had some gold pieces sewed in his cloak, he called back the robbers who had taken to flight, and offered them the money. Astonished at the holy man’s sincerity and generosity, they restored all they had taken from him.

After Saint Augustine’s example, he had verses inscribed on the walls in his house, warning others, as well as himself, to respect the reputation of their neighbours. He fed the hungry from his own table and clothed the naked, not only with garments bought for the purpose, but even with his own clothes and shoes. On these occasions he would lower his cloak to the ground so as not to be seen walking home barefoot. He took very little sleep, and that on the ground. His clothing was only sufficient to cover him, and his food to keep him alive. He preserved his virginal purity, like a lily among thorns, by using a rough hair-shirt, disciplines and fasting. For about thirty-five years before his death he abstained entirely from flesh-meat. At length, full of days and of merits, he prepared himself long and diligently for death, which he felt drawing near. And that nothing might be a hindrance to him, he distributed all that remained in his house to the poor. Then, strengthened with the Sacraments of the Church, and desiring to be dissolved and to be with Christ, he passed to Heaven on Christmas Eve. He worked many miracles both in life and after death. His body was carried to Saint Anne’s, the church of the University, and there honourably interred.

The people’s veneration for John, and the crowds visiting his tomb, increased daily. He is honoured as one of the chief patrons of Poland and Lithuania. As new miracles continued to be wrought, Pope Clement XIII solemnly enrolled him among the Saints on the seventeenth of the Calends of August 1767.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Kenty, the humble village of Silesia which witnessed the birth of Saint John, owes its celebrity entirely to him. The canonisation of this holy priest who in the fifteenth century had illustrated the University of Cracow by his virtues and science was the last hope of expiring Poland. It took place in the year 1767. Two years earlier it was at the request of this heroic nation that Clement XIII had issued the first decree sanctioning the celebration of the feast of the Sacred Heart. When enrolling John Cantius among the Saints the magnanimous Pontiff expressed in moving terms the gratitude of the Church towards that unfortunate people, and rendered to it, before shamefully forgetful Europe, a supreme homage. Five years later Poland was dismembered.

* * * * *

The Church is ever saying to you, and we repeat it with the same unwavering hope: “O you, who never refuses assistance anyone, take in hand the cause of your native kingdom. It is the desire of the Poles, your fellow-countrymen, it is the prayer of even foreigners.” The treason of which your unhappy fatherland was the victim has not ceased to press heavily on disorganised Europe. How many other crushing weights have since been thrown into the balance of our Lord’s justice! O John, teach us at least not to add thereto our own personal faults. It is by following you along the path of virtue that we will merit to obtain pardon from Heaven and to hasten the hour of great atonements.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Abia near Aquila in Abruzzo, the birthday of blessed Maximus, deacon and martyr, who, through the desire of suffering, presented himself to the persecutors that sought him. After answering with great constancy, he was racked and tortured, then beaten with rods, and finally he died by being precipitated from an elevated place.

At Agen in France, St. Caprasius, martyr. As he was hiding himself in a cavern to avoid the violence of the persecution, the report of the blessed virgin Faith’s courage in suffering for Christ animated him to endure torments, and he prayed to God that, if he were deemed worthy of the glory of martyrdom, clear water might flow from the rock of his cavern. God having granted his prayer, he went with confidence to the scene of combat, and after a valiant struggle, merited the palm of martyrdom under Maximian.

At Antioch, St. Artemius, imperial officer. Although he had filled high stations in the army under Constantine the Great, Julian the Apostate, who he had reprehended for his cruelty towards Christians, ordered him to be beaten with rods, subjected to other torments, and finally beheaded.

At Cologne, the martyrdom of the holy virgins Martha and Saula, with many others.

At Minden, the birthday of St. Felician, bishop and martyr.

At Paris, the holy martyrs, George, deacon, and Aurelius.

In Portugal, St. Irene, virgin and martyr.

In the diocese of Rheims, St. Sindulphus, confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

19 OCTOBER – SAINT PETER OF ALCANTARA (Confessor)

The apparation of St. John Capistrano to St. Peter of Alcantara

Peter was born at Alcántara in Spain in 1499. His father Peter Garavita was the governor of the Alcántara, and his mother was of the noble family of Sanabia. From his earliest years he gave promise of his future sanctity. At the age of sixteen he entered the Order of Friars Minor in which he became an example of every virtue. He undertook by obedience the office of preaching, and led numberless sinners to sincere repentance. Desirous of bringing back the Franciscan order to its original strictness, he founded, by God’s assistance and with the approbation of the Apostolic See, a very poor little convent at Pedroso. The austere manner of life which he was there the first to lead, was afterwards spread in a wonderful manner throughout Spain and even into the Indies. He assisted Saint Teresa, whose spirit he approved in carrying out the reform of Carmel. And she having learned from God that whoever asked anything in Peter’s name would be immediately heard, was wont to recommend herself to his prayers and to call him a saint while he was still living.

Peter was consulted as an oracle by princes, but he avoided their honours with great humility and refused to become confessor to the Emperor Charles V. He was a most rigid observer of poverty, having but one tunic, and that the meanest possible. Such was his delicacy with regard to purity that he would not allow the brother who waited on him in his last illness even lightly to touch him. By perpetual watching, fasting, disciplines, cold and nakedness, and every kind of austerity, Peter brought his body into subjection, having made a compact with it never to give it any rest in this world. The love of God and of his neighbour was shed abroad in his heart, and at times burned so ardently that he was obliged to escape from his narrow cell into the open, that the cold air might temper the heat that consumed him. Admirable was his gift of contemplation. Sometimes, while his spirit was nourished in this heavenly manner, he would pass several days without food or drink. He was often raised in the air, and seen shining with wonderful brilliancy. He passed dry-shod over the most rapid rivers.

When his brethren were absolutely destitute, he obtained them food from Heaven. He fixed his staff in the earth and immediately came a flourishing fig tree. One night when he was journeying in a heavy snow storm he entered a ruined house but the snow, lest he would be suffocated by its falling flakes, hung in the air and formed a roof over him. Peter was blessed with the gift of prophecy and the discernment of spirits, as Saint Teresa testifies. At the age of 63, he died in Arenas in Spain in 1592, at the hour he had foretold and fortified by a wonderful vision and presence of the saints. Saint Teresa who was at that moment at a great distance saw him being carried into Heaven. He afterwards appeared to her saying, “Oh happy penance which has won me such great glory!” After many miracles he was canonised by Pope Clement IX in 1669.

Dom Proper Gueranger:

“O happy penance which has won me such glory!” said the Saint of today at the threshold of Heaven. And on Earth, Teresa of Jesus wrote of him: “Oh what a perfect imitator of Jesus Christ God has just taken from us by calling to his glory that blessed religious, Brother Peter of Alcantara! The world, they say, is no longer capable of such high perfection. Constitutions are weaker, and we are not now in the olden times. Here is a Saint of the present day. Yet his manly fervour equalled that of past ages and he had a supreme disdain for everything earthly. But without going barefoot like him, or doing such sharp penance, there are very many ways in which we can practise contempt of the world, and which our Lord will teach us as soon as we have courage. What great courage must the holy man I speak of have received from God to keep up for forty-seven years the rigorous penance that all now know! Of all his mortifications, that which cost him most at the beginning was the overcoming of sleep. To effect this he would remain continually on his knees, or else standing. The little repose he granted to nature he took sitting with his head leaning against a piece of wood fixed to the wall. Indeed, had he wished to lie down, he could not have done so, for his cell was only four feet and a half in length. During the course of all those years he never put his hood up, however burning the sun might be, or however heavy the rain. He never used shoes or stockings. He wore no other clothing than a single garment of rough, coarse cloth. I found out, however, that for twenty years he wore a hair-shirt made of plates of tin, which he never took off. His Habit was as narrow as it could possibly be, and over it he put a short cloak of the same material. This he took off when it was very cold, and left the door and small window of his cell open for a while. Then he shut them and put his cape on again, which he said was his manner of warming himself and giving his body a little better temperature. He usually ate but once in three days, and when I showed some surprise at this, he said it was quite easy when one was accustomed to it. His poverty was extreme and such was his mortification that, as he acknowledged to me, he had, when young, spent three years in a house of his Order without knowing any one of the Religious except by the sound of his voice. For he had never lifted up his eyes so that, when called by the rule to any part of the house, he could find his way only by following the other brethren. He observed the same custody of the eyes when on the roads. When I made his acquaintance, his body was so emaciated that it seemed to be formed of the roots of trees.”

To this portrait of the Franciscan reformer drawn by the reformer of Carmel, the Church adds the history of his life. Three illustrious and worthy families now form the first Order, of Saint Francis, known as the Conventuals, the Observantines and the Capuchins. A pious emulation for more and more strict reform, brought about in the Observance itself a subdivision into the Observantines proper, the Reformed, the Discalced or Alcantarines and the Recollets. This division, which was historical rather than constitutional, no longer exists, for on the feast of the Patriarch of Assisi, October 4th 1897, the Sovereign Pontiff Leo XIII thought fit to re-unite the great family of the Observance, which is henceforth known as the Order of Friars Minor.

* * * * *

“Such then is the end of that austere life, an eternity of glory!” And how sweet were your last words: “I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we will go into the house of the Lord” (Psalm cxxi. 1). The time of reward had not yet come for the body with which you had made an agreement to give it no truce in this life, but to reserve its enjoyment for the next. But already the soul, on quitting it had filled it with the light and the fragrance of the other world, signifying to all that the first part of the contract having been faithfully adhered to, the second should be carried out in like manner. Whereas, given over for its false delights to horrible torments, the flesh of the sinner will for ever cry vengeance against the soul that caused its loss. Your members, entering into the beatitude of your happy soul, and completing its glory by their own splendour, will eternally declare how your apparent harshness for a time was in reality wisdom and love.

Is it necessary, indeed, to wait for the resurrection in order to discover that the part you chose is incontestably the best? Who would dare to compare not only unlawful pleasures, but even the permitted enjoyments of Earth, with the holy delights of contemplation prepared, even in this world, for those who can relish them? If they are to be purchased by mortification of the flesh, it is because the flesh and the spirit are ever striving for the mastery, but a generous soul loves the struggle, for the flesh is honoured by it, and through it escapes a thousand dangers.

O you who, according to our Lord’s promise, are never invoked in vain, if you deign yourself to present our prayers to Him, obtain for us that relish for heavenly things which causes an aversion for those of Earth. It is the petition made by the whole Church, through your merits, to the God who bestowed on you the gift of such wonderful penance and sublime contemplation. The great family of Friars Minor cherishes the treasure of your teaching and example, for the honour of your holy father Francis and the good of the Church maintain in it the love of its austere traditions. Withdraw not your precious protection from the Carmel of Teresa of Jesus. Extend it to the whole Religious State, especially in these days of trial. May you at length lead back your native Spain to the glorious heights from which formerly she seemed to pour down floods of sanctity on the world. It is the condition of nations ennobled by a more sublime vocation that they cannot decline without the danger of falling below the level of those less favoured by the Most High.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the birthday of the holy martyrs Ptolemy and Lucius, under Marcus Antoninus. The former, as we learn from the martyr Justin, having converted an immodest woman to the faith of Christ, and taught her to practise chastity, was accused by a profligate man before the prefect Urbicius, and condemned to languish a long time in a filthy dungeon. At length, as he declared by a public confession that Christ was his master, he was led to execution. Lucius disapproving the sentence of Urbicius, and avowing freely that he was a Christian, received the same sentence. To them was added a third who was condemned to suffer a like punishment.

At Antioch, the holy martyrs Beronicus, the virgin Pelagia and forty-nine others.

In Egypt, St. Varus, soldier, under the emperor Maximinus. He used to visit and comfort seven saintly monks detained in prison, when one of them happening to die, he wished to take his place, and having suffered with them cruel afflictions, he obtained the palm of martyrdom.

At Evreux, St. Aquilinus, bishop and confessor.

In the diocese of Orleans, the departure from this world of St. Veranus, bishop.

At Salerno, St. Eusterius, bishop.

In Ireland, St. Ethbin, abbot.

At Oxford in England, St. Frideswide, virgin.

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

Thanks be to God.

18 OCTOBER – SAINT LUKE (Evangelist)

Luke was a physician of Antioch and, as is shown by his writings, was skilled in the Greek language. He was a disciple of the Apostle Paul and accompanied him in all his journeys. He also wrote a Gospel so that Paul says of him: “We have sent also with him the brother whose praise is in the Gospel through all the churches.” And again to the Colossians: “Luke, the most dear physician salutes you.” And to Timothy: “Only Luke is with me.” He wrote another excellent work, the Acts of the Apostles, in which he relates the history of the Church as far as Paul’s two years’ sojourn at Rome that is to the fourth year of Nero. From this circumstance we infer that the book was written at Rome. Consequently we class the journeys of Paul and Thecla and the whole fable of the baptised lion among apocryphal writings. For is it possible that the Apostle’s inseparable companion should know everything concerning him except this one thing? Moreover, Tertullian who lived near to those times relates that a certain priest in Asia, an admirer of Paul, was convicted by John of having written that book, which he confessed he had done out of love for Paul, and was on that account deposed. Some are of the opinion that whenever Paul in his epistles says: “According to my Gospel,” he means that of Luke. Luke, however, was instructed in the Gospel not only by the Apostle Paul, who had never seen the Lord in the flesh, but also by the other Apostles. This he declares in the beginning of his work, saying: “According as they have delivered them to us, who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word.” He wrote his Gospel then from what he had heard, but the Acts of the Apostles from he had himself seen. He lived 84 years and was never married.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“The goodness and kindness of God our Saviour has appeared to all men” (Titus ii. 11; iii. 4) It would seem that the third Evangelist, a disciple of Saint Paul, had purposed setting forth this word of the Doctor of the Gentiles. Or may we not rather say, the Apostle himself characterised in this sentence the Gospel in which his disciple portrays the Saviour prepared before the face of all people: “a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel” (Luke ii. 31, 32). Saint Luke’s Gospel and the words quoted from Saint Paul were in fact written about the same time, and it is impossible to say which claims priority.

Under the eye of Simon Peter to whom the Father had revealed the Christ the Son of the living God, Mark had the honour of giving to the Church the Gospel of Jesus, the Son of God (Mark i. 1). Matthew had already drawn up for the Jews the Gospel of the Messiah, Son of David, Son of Abraham (Matthew i. 1). Afterwards, at the side of Paul, Luke wrote for the Gentiles the Gospel of Jesus, Son of Adam through Mary (Luke ii. 38). As far as the genealogy of this First-born of His Mother may be reckoned back, so far will extend the blessing He bestows on His brethren by redeeming them from the curse inherited from their first father.

Jesus was truly one of ourselves, a Man conversing with men and living their life. He was seen on Earth in the reign of Augustus, the prefect of the empire registered the birth of this new subject of Caesar in the city of His ancestors. He was bound in the swathing-bands of infancy. Like all of His race He was circumcised, offered to the Lord and redeemed according to the law of His nation. As a child He obeyed His parents. He grew up under their eyes. He passed through the progressive development of youth to the maturity of manhood. At every juncture during His public life He prostrated in prayer to God the Creator of all. He wept over His country. When His Heart was wrung with anguish at sight of the morrow’s deadly torments, He was bathed with a sweat of blood, and in that agony He did not disdain the assistance of an Angel. Such appears, in the third Gospel, the humanity of God our Saviour.

How sweet too are His grace and goodness! Among all the children of men, He merited to be the expectation of nations and the Desired of them all: He who was conceived of a humble Virgin, who was born in a stable with shepherds for His court and choirs of Angels singing in the darkness of night “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.” But Earth had sung the prelude to the angelic harmonies. The precursor, leaping with delight in his mother’s womb, had, as the Church says, made known the king still resting in his bridal chamber. To this joy of the bridegroom’s Friend, the Virgin Mother had responded by the sweetest song that Earth or Heaven has ever heard. Then Zachary and Simeon completed the number of inspired Canticles for the new people of God. All was song around the new-born babe, and Mary kept all the words in her heart in order to transmit them to us through her own Evangelist.

The Divine Child grew in age and wisdom and grace, before God and man till His human beauty captivated men and drew them with the cords of Adam to the love of God. He was ready to welcome the daughter of Tyre, the Gentile race that had become more than a rival of Sion. Let her not fear, the poor unfortunate one, of whom Magdalene was a figure. The pride of expiring Judaism may take scandal, but Jesus will accept her tears and her perfumes. He will forgive her much because of her great love. Let the prodigal hope once more, when worn out with his long wanderings, in every way where error has led the nations, the envious complaint of his elder brother Israel will not stay the outpourings of the Sacred Heart, celebrating the return of the fugitive, restoring to him the dignity of sonship, placing again upon his finger the ring of the alliance first contracted in Eden with the whole human race. As for Judah, unhappy is he if he refuses to understand.

Woe to the rich man who in his opulence neglects the poor Lazarus! The privileges of race no longer exist: of ten lepers cured in body, the stranger alone is healed in soul, because he alone believes in his deliverer and returns thanks. Of the Samaritan, the Levite and the priest who appear on the road to Jericho, the first alone earns our Saviour’s commendation. The Pharisee is strangely mistaken when, in his arrogant prayer, he spurns the publican who strikes his breast and cries for mercy. The Son of Man neither hears the prayers of the proud nor heeds their indignation. He invites Himself, in spite of their murmurs, to the house of Zacheus, bringing with him salvation and joy, and declaring the publican to be henceforth a true son of Abraham. So much goodness and such universal mercy close against him the narrow hearts of his fellow-citizens. They will not have him to reign over them, but eternal Wisdom finds the lost groat, and there is great joy before the Angels in heaven. On the day of the sacred Nuptials, the lowly and despised and the repentant sinners will sit down to the banquet prepared for others. “In truth I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elias in Israel... and to none of them was Elias sent, but to Sarepta of Sidon, to a widow woman. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elilleus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed but Naaman the Syrian” (Luke iv. 25‒27).

O Jesus, your Evangelist has won our hearts. We love you for having taken pity on our misery. We Gentiles were in deeper debt than Jerusalem, and therefore we owe you greater love in return for your pardon. We love you because your choicest graces are for Magdalene, that is, for us who are sinners and are nevertheless called to the better part. We love you because you cannot resist the tears of mothers but restore to them, as at Naim, their dead children. In the day of treason and abandonment and denial, you forgot your own injury to cast on Peter that loving look which caused him to weep bitterly. You turned away from yourself the tears of those humble and true daughters of Jerusalem who followed your painful footsteps up the heights of Calvary. Nailed to the Cross, you implored pardon for your executioners. At the last hour, as God you promised Paradise to the penitent thief, as Man you gave back your soul to your Father. Truly from beginning to end of this third Gospel appears your goodness and kindness, O God our Saviour!

Saint Luke completed his work by writing, in the same correct style his Gospel, the history of the first days of Christianity, of the introduction of the Gentiles into the Church, and of the great labours of their own Apostle Paul. According to tradition he was an artist as well as a man of letters, and with a soul alive to all the most delicate inspirations, he consecrated his pencil to the holiest use and handed down to us the features of the Mother of God. It was an illustration worthy of the Gospel which relates the Divine Infancy, and it won for the artist a new title to the gratitude of those who never saw Jesus and Mary in the flesh. Hence Saint Luke is the patron of Christian art, and also of the medical profession, for in the holy Scripture itself he is said to have been a physician. He had studied all the sciences in his native city Antioch, and the brilliant capital of the East had reason to be proud of its illustrious son.

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The symbolical Ox, reminding us of the figurative sacrifices, and announcing their abrogation, yokes himself, with the Man, the Lion, and the Eagle, to the chariot which bears the Conqueror of Earth, the Lamb in His triumph. O Evangelist of the Gentiles, be blessed for having put an end to the long night of our captivity, and warmed our frozen hearts. You were the confidant of the Mother of God, and her happy influence left in your soul that fragrance of virginity which pervaded your whole life and breathes through your writings. With discerning love and silent devotedness you assisted the Apostle of the Gentiles in his great work and remained as faithful to him when abandoned or betrayed, shipwrecked or imprisoned, as in the days of his prosperity. Rightly then does the Church in her Collect apply to you the words spoken by Saint Paul of himself: “In all things we suffer tribulation, are persecuted, are cast down, always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus. But this continual dying manifests the life of Jesus in our mortal Your inspired pen taught us to love the Son of Man in His Gospel. Your pencil portrayed Him for us in His Mother’s arms, and a third time you revealed Him to the world by the reproduction of His holiness in your own life.

Preserve in us the fruits of your manifold teaching. Though Christian painters do well to pay you special honour and to learn from you that the ideal of beauty resides in the Son of God and in His Mother, there is yet a more sublime art than that of lines and colours: the art of reproducing in ourselves the likeness of God. This we wish to learn perfectly in your school, for we know from your master Saint Paul that conformity to the image of the Son of God can alone entitle the elect to predestination. Be the protector of the faithful physicians who strive to walk in your footsteps and who, in their ministry of devotedness and charity, rely on your credit with the Author of life. Second their efforts to heal or to relieve suffering and inspire them with holy zeal when they find their patients on the brink of eternity. The world itself, in its decrepitude, now needs the assistance of all who are able, by prayer or action, to come to its rescue. “The Son of Man, when He comes, will He find, think you, faith on Earth?” (Luke xviii. 8). Thus spoke our Lord in the Gospel. But He also said that we ought always to pray and not to faint (Luke xviii. 1) adding, for the instruction of the Church both at this time and always, the parable of the widow whose importunity prevailed upon the unjust judge to defend her cause. “And will not God revenge His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He have patience in their regard? I say to you that He will quickly revenge them” (Luke xviii. 2‒3).

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Antioch, St. Asclepiades, bishop, one of the celebrated troop of martyrs who suffered gloriously under Macrinus.

In the diocese of Beauvais, St. Justus, martyr, who, being but a boy, was put to death in the persecution of Diocletian under the governor Rictiovarus.

At Neocaesarea in Pontus, the holy and learned bishop Athenodorus, brother of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, who underwent martyrdom in the persecution of Aurelian.

In Mesopotamia, on the bank of the Euphrates, St. Julian, hermit.

At Rome, the birthday of St. Paul of the Cross, confessor, founder of the Congregation of the Cross and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who Blessed Pius IX canonised on account of his remarkable innocence of life and his penitential spirit, assigning the twenty-eighth of April as the day of his festival.

At Rome, St. Tryphonia, at one time wife of the Caesar Decius. She was buried in a crypt near St. Hippolytus.

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

Thanks be to God.