Commemoration of St. Paul

Today is the day we think about and honor St. Paul in his travels throughout the Jewish areas, the Grecian area, and the Roman area. He converted many in all of these places. (One thing came to mind when writing this, and it concerned a friend of mind whose son was in the protestant 'ministry'. He had gone to Israel to supposedly learn Hebrew so he could read the letters written by Paul in their original language. I told my friend that those letters were written in Greek, because, why would anyone write to someone in Greece in the Hebrew language? He disagreed. I told him to look at a map of the middle East and eastern Europe and see that the cities that Paul went to were mostly in Greece. Facts surely confuse protestants.)
ANYWAY:

Commemoration of St. Paul (June 30)

Whereas the Greeks on this day are uniting in one solemnity the memory, as they express it, "of the illustrious Saints, the Twelve Apostles, worthy of all praise," let us follow in spirit the Roman people of former times, who would gather around the Successor of St. Peter and make the splendid Basilica of the Ostian Way—St. Paul outside the Walls—re-echo with songs of victory, while he offered to the Doctor of the Gentiles the grateful homage of the city and of the world.

On the 25th of January we beheld St. Stephen leading to Christ's Crib Saul, the once ravenous wolf of Benjamin (Gen. 49: 27), tamed at last, but who in the morning of his impetuous youth had filled the Church of God with tears and bloodshed. His evening did indeed come when, as Jacob had foreseen, Saul, the persecutor, would outstrip all his predecessors among Christ's disciples in giving increase to the fold, and in feeding the flock with the choicest food of his heavenly doctrine.

By an unexampled privilege, Our Lord, though already seated at the right hand of His Father, vouchsafed not only to call, but personally to instruct this new disciple, so that he might one day be numbered amongst His Apostles. The ways of God can never be contradictory one to another; hence this creation of a new Apostle may not be accomplished in a manner derogatory to the divine constitution already delivered to the Christian Church by the Son of God. Therefore, as soon as the illustrious convert emerged from those sublime contemplations during which the Christian dogma had been poured into his soul, he went to Jerusalem to see St. Peter, as he himself relates to his disciples in Galatia. "It behooved him," says Bossuet, "to collate his own Gospel with that of the Prince of the Apostles" (Sermon on Unity). From that moment, aggregated as a co-operator in the preaching of the Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles describes him at Antioch accompanied by St. Barnabas, presenting himself to the work of opening the Church to the Gentiles, the conversion of Cornelius having been already effected by St. Peter himself. He passes a whole year in this city, reaping an abundant harvest. After St. Peter's imprisonment in Jerusalem, at his subsequent departure for Rome, a warning from on high makes known to those who preside over the Church at Antioch, that the moment has come for them to impose hands on the two missionaries, and confer on them the sacred character of Ordination and Consecration.

From that hour St. Paul attains the full power of an Apostle, and it is clear that the mission for which he has been preparing is now opened. At the same time, in St. Luke's narrative, St. Barnabas almost disappears, retaining but a very secondary position. The new Apostle has his own disciples, and he henceforth takes the lead in a long series of pilgrimages marked by as many conquests. His first is to Cyprus, where he seals an alliance with ancient Rome, analogous to that which St. Peter contracted at Caesarea.

St. Paul before Sergius Paulus

The Latin inscription reads: "Sergius Paulus, Proconsul of Asia, embraced the Christian Faith at the preaching of St. Paul."


In the year 43, when St. Paul landed in Cyprus, its proconsul was Sergius Paulus, illustrious for his ancestry, but still more so for the wisdom of his government. He wished to hear Sts. Paul and Barnabas: a miracle worked by St. Paul, under his very eyes, convinced him of the truth of his teaching; and the Christian Church counted that day among Her sons one who was heir to the proudest name among the noble families of Rome. Touching was the mutual exchange that took place on this occasion. The Roman patrician had just been freed by the Jew from the yoke of the Gentiles; in return, the Jew hitherto called Saul received and thenceforth adopted the name of Paul, as a trophy worthy of the Apostle of the Gentiles.

From Cyprus St. Paul travelled successively to Cilicia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia, everywhere preaching the Gospel and founding churches. He then returned to Antioch in the year 47, and found the Church there in a state of violent agitation. A party of Jews, who had been converted to Christianity from the ranks of the Pharisees, whilst consenting indeed to the admission of Gentiles into the Church, were maintaining that this could only be on condition of their being likewise subjected to Mosaic practices, such as circumcision and the distinction of forbidden foods. The Christians who had been received from among the Gentiles were disgusted at this servitude to which St. Peter had not subjected them; and the controversy became so hot that St. Paul deemed it necessary to undertake a journey to Jerusalem, where St. Peter had lately arrived, a fugitive from Rome, and where the Apostolic College was at that moment further represented by St. John, as well as by St. James, the Bishop of that city. These being assembled to deliberate on the question, it was decreed, in the name and under the influence of the Holy Ghost, that to exact any observance relative to Jewish rites should be utterly forbidden in the case of Gentile converts. It was on this occasion, too, that St. Paul received from these Pillars, as he styles them, the confirmation of his apostolate superadded to that of the Twelve, and to be specially exercised in favor of the Gentiles. By this extraordinary ministry deputed to the nations, the Christian Church definitively asserted Her independence of Judaism, and the Gentiles could now freely come flocking into Her bosom.

St. Paul then resumed his course of apostolic journeys over all the provinces he had already evangelized, in order to confirm the Churches. Thence, passing through Phrygia, he came to Macedonia, stayed a while at Athens, and then on to Corinth, where he remained a year and a half. At his departure he left in this city a flourishing Church, whereby he excited against himself the fury of the Jews. From Corinth St. Paul went to Ephesus, where he stayed two years. So great was his success with the Gentiles there, that the worship of Diana was materially weakened (and the early converts burned their evil books—Acts 19: 19); whereupon a tumult ensuing, St. Paul thought the moment had come for his departure from Ephesus. During his abode there he made known to his disciples a thought that had long haunted him: "I must needs see Rome." The capital of the Gentile world was indeed calling the Apostle of the Gentiles.

The rapid growth of Christianity in the capital of the empire had brought face to face, in a manner more striking than elsewhere, the two heterogeneous elements which formed the Church of that day: the unity of Faith held together in one fold those that had formerly been Jews, and those that had been pagans. It so happened that some of both of these classes, too easily forgetting the gratuity of their common vocation to the Faith, began to go so far as to despise their brethren of the opposite class, deeming them less worthy than themselves of that Baptism which had made them all equal in Christ. On the one side, certain Jews disdained the Gentiles, remembering the polytheism which had sullied their past life with all those vices which came in its train. On the other side, certain Gentiles contemned the Jews, as coming from an ungrateful and blind people, who had so abused the favors lavished upon them by God as to crucify the Messias.

In the year 53, St. Paul, already aware of these debates, profited by a second journey to Corinth to write to the faithful of the Church in Rome that famous Epistle in which he emphatically sets forth how gratuitous is the gift of Faith; and maintains how Jew and Gentile alike being quite unworthy of the divine adoption, have been called solely by an act of pure mercy. He likewise shows how Jew and Gentile, forgetting the past, have but to embrace one another in the fraternity of the same Faith, thus testifying their gratitude to God through whom both of them have been alike prevented by grace. His apostolic dignity, so fully recognized, authorized St. Paul to interfere in this matter, though touching a Christian center not founded by him.

Whilst awaiting the day when he could behold with his own eyes the Queen of all Churches, lately fixed by St. Peter on the Seven Hills of Rome, the Apostle was once again anxious to make a pilgrimage to the City of David. Jewish rage was just at that moment rampant in Jerusalem against him; national pride being more specially piqued, in that he, the former disciple of Gamaliel, the accomplice of St. Stephen’s murder, should now invite the Gentiles to be coupled with the sons of Abraham, under the one same Law of Jesus of Nazareth. The tribune Lysias was scarce able to snatch him from the hands of these blood-thirsty men, ready to tear him to pieces. The following night, Christ appeared to St. Paul, saying to him: Be constant, for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

It was not however, till after two years of captivity, that St. Paul, having appealed to Caesar, landed at Italy at the beginning of the year 56. Then at last the Apostle of the Gentiles made his entry into Rome: the trappings of a victor surrounded him not; he was but a humble Jewish prisoner led to the place where all appellants to Caesar were mustered; yet was he that Jew whom Christ Himself had conquered on the way to Damascus. No longer Saul, the Benjamite, he now presented himself under the Roman name of Paul; nor was this a robbery on his part, for after St. Peter, he was to be the second glory of Rome, the second pledge of her immortality. He brought not the Primacy with him indeed, as St. Peter had done, for that had been committed by Christ to one alone; but he came to assert in the very center of the Gentile world, the divine delegation which he had received in favor of the nations, just as an affluent flows into the main stream, which mingling its waters with its own, at last empties them united into the ocean. St. Paul was to have no successor in his extraordinary mission; but the element which he had deposited in Mother Church was of such value, that in the course of ages the Roman Pontiffs, heirs to St. Peter's monarchical power, have ever appealed to St. Paul's memory as well; pronouncing their mandates in the united names of the "Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul."

Instead of having to await in prison the day wherein his cause was to be heard, St. Paul was at liberty to choose a lodging place in the city. He was obliged, however, to be accompanied day and night by a soldier to whom, according to the usual custom, he was chained, but only in such a way as to prevent his escape; all his movements being otherwise left perfectly free, he could easily continue to preach the word of God. Towards the close of the year 57, in virtue of his appeal to Caesar, the Apostle was at last summoned to the praetorium; and the successful pleading of his cause resulted in his acquittal.

Being now free, St. Paul revisited the East, confirming on his Evangelical course the Churches he had previously founded. Thus Ephesus and Crete once more enjoyed his presence; in the one he left his disciple St. Timothy as Bishop, and in the other St. Titus. But St. Paul had not left Rome forever; marvelously illumined as she had been by his preaching, the Roman Church was yet to be gilded by his parting rays and empurpled with his blood. A heavenly warning, as in St. Peter's case, bade him also return to Rome where martyrdom was awaiting him. This fact is attested by St. Athanasius. We learn the same from St. Asterius of Amesius, who hereupon remarks that the Apostle entered Rome once more, "in order to teach the very masters of the world; and by their means to wrestle with the whole human race. There St. Paul found St. Peter engaged in the same work; he at once yoked himself to the same divine chariot with him, and set about instructing the children of the Law within the Synagogues, and the Gentiles outside."

At length Rome possessed her two Princes conjointly: the one seated on the eternal chair, holding in his hands the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; the other surrounded by the sheaves he has garnered from the fields of the Gentile world. They would part no more; even in death, as the Church sings, they would not be separated. The period of their being together was necessarily short, for they must needs render to their divine Master the testimony of blood before the Roman world should be freed from the odious tyranny under which it was groaning. Their death was to be Nero's last crime; after that he was to fade from sight, leaving the world horror-stricken at his end, as shameful as it was tragic.

It was in the year 65 that St. Paul returned to Rome; once more signalizing his presence there by the manifold works of his apostolate. From the time of his first labors there, he had made converts even in the very palace of the Caesars: being now returned to this former theater of his zeal, he again found entrance into the imperial abode. A woman who was living in criminal intercourse with Nero, as likewise a cup-bearer of his, were both caught in the apostolic net, for it was hard indeed to resist the power of that mighty word. Nero, enraged at "this foreigner's" influence in his very household, was bent on St. Paul's destruction. Being first of all cast into prison, his zeal cooled not, but he persisted the more in preaching Jesus Christ. The two converts of the imperial palace having abjured, together with paganism, the manner of life they had been leading, this twofold conversion of theirs only hastened St. Paul's martyrdom. He was well aware that it would be so, as can be seen in these lines addressed to St. Timothy: "I labor even unto bonds as an evil-doer; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect. For I am even now ready to be sacrificed, and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the Faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the Just Judge, will render to me in that day." (2 Tim.)

Martyrdom of St. Paul on the 29th day of June, in the year 67, while St. Peter, having crossed the Tiber by the Triumphal bridge, was drawing nigh to the cross prepared for him on the Vatican plain, another martyrdom was being consummated on the left bank of the same river. St. Paul, as he was led along the Ostian Way, was also followed by a group of the faithful who mingled with the escort of the condemned. His sentence was that he should be beheaded at the Salvian Waters. A march of two miles brought the soldiers to a path leading eastwards, by which they led their prisoner to the place fixed upon for the martyrdom of this, the Doctor of the Gentiles. St. Paul fell on his knees, addressing his last prayer to God; then having bandaged his eyes, he awaited the death-stroke. A soldier brandished his sword, and the Apostle's head, as it was severed from the trunk, made three bounds along the ground; three fountains immediately sprang up on these spots. Such is the local tradition; and to this day, three fountains are to be seen on the site of his martyrdom, over each of which an altar is raised.


As soon as St. Paul recognized the wickedness he had committed in persecuting the Christians, and understood the divine will by a heavenly vision and by the instructions of St. Ananias, he converted himself unhesitatingly to God, and, soon after, commenced to preach fearlessly the same faith he had before so cruelly persecuted. The remaining 34 years of his life he employed zealously in the service of the Almighty and made more than sufficient amends for his past offences. He was not satisfied that he himself had become a Christian, and that he served God, but he endeavored to convert others, as well Jews as heathens, to Christianity, and to lead them to a holy life by verbal and written instructions. How great a work he had taken upon himself, and what dangers and persecutions he had to endure on account of it, may be partly seen in his Epistles.


Prayer from the Gallican Missal:

O God, who, by a voice from heaven, didst strike with terror thine Apostle Paul when raging against the holiness of the Christian Religion, and, on this the day of his Vocation, didst change him both in his heart and his name: and him, whom the Church once dreaded as her persecutor, she now rejoices in having as her Teacher in the commandments of God: whom, also, thou didst strike with exterior blindness, that thou mightest give him interior sight: to whom, moreover, when the darkness of his cruelty was removed, thou didst give the knowledge of thy divine law, whereby he might call the Gentiles: and didst thrice deliver him from shipwreck, which he suffered for the Faith, saving this thy devoted servant from the waves of the sea: grant also to us, we beseech thee, who are solemnizing both his conversion and his faith, that, after the blindness of our sins, we may be permitted to see Thee, in heaven, who didst enlighten Paul, here on earth. Amen


A hymn by St. Peter Damian:




When I converted to the Roman Catholic Faith in 1982, I took the name of Paul as my Patron saint, as I related to him in many ways. Hence, cleverly, so I thought, my name was now Jon/Paul, too. Now it doesn't seem so funny to me anymore, after seeing how things were changed, and NOT for the good, by him during his papacy (JPII).

Sts. Peter and Paul

This is the day set aside to honor the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. We know that Peter is the head of the Church on earth; however, protestants seem to think that Paul should have been the first leader of the Church. They'll never get it; the Church had been in existence for many years before Paul showed up to persecute those pesky Christians, or Nazareans, or whatever the non-believers called them. After his conversion, it was still a long time before Paul even saw Peter. He knew that Peter was the head. He even had the audacity to rebuke Peter on his statements that only circumcised people could be saved. This was and is wrong, Peter recanted, and this problem was settled. (See, if Paul could rebuke the head of the Church, we should rebuke those, even leaders, who are wrong. Make sure you have the facts straight, though.) These two were martyred on the same day in in Rome the year 67A.D. Peter was crucified like Christ. However, since he didn't want to be crucified exactly like Christ, he asked his executioners to be placed upside down. He was. Paul, being a Roman citizen, was beheaded. These two are the pillars of the early Church, and we should emulate them.


Saint Augustine of Hippo
Early Church Father & Doctor of the Church


Peter and Paul - June 29. This piece on Sts. Peter and Paul is an excerpt from a sermon (Sermo 295, 1-2, 4, 7-8; PL 38, 1348-1352) by St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, who died in the year 430AD. It is used in the Roman Office of Readings for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29 and shows that as early as the fourth century, Christians celebrated this day in honor of these two apostles and martyrs who laid down their lives for Christ in the Eternal City.


'This day has been consecrated for us by the martyrdom of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. It is not some obscure martyrs we are talking about. "Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world" (Psalm 19). These martyrs had seen what they proclaimed, they pursued justice by confessing the truth, by dying for the truth.


The blessed Peter, the first of the Apostles, the ardent lover of Christ, who was found worthy to hear, "And I say to you, that you are Peter" (Matthew 16:13-20). He himself, you see, had just said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Christ said to him, "And I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church." Upon this rock I will build the faith you have just confessed. Upon your words, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," I will build my Church; because you are Peter. Peter comes from petra, meaning a rock. Peter, Peter comes from the word for a rock in exactly the same way as the name Christian comes from Christ.


Before his passion the Lord Jesus, as you know, chose those disciples of his whom he called apostles. Among these it was only Peter who almost everywhere was given the privilege of representing the whole Church. It was in the person of the whole Church, which he alone represented, that he was privileged to hear, "To you will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven." After all, it is not just one man that received these keys, but the Church in its unity. So this is the reason for Peter’s acknowledged pre-eminence, that he stood for the Church’s universality and unity, when he was told, "To you I am entrusting," what has in fact been entrusted to all. To show you that it is the Church which has received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, listen to what the Lord says in another place to all his apostles: "Receive the Holy Spirit"; and immediately afterwards: "Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven them; whose sins you retain, they will be retained" (John 20:22-23).


Quite rightly, too, did the Lord after his resurrection entrust his sheep to Peter to be fed (Jn. 21: 15-19). It is not, you see, that he alone among the disciples was fit to feed the Lord’s sheep; but when Christ speaks to one man, unity is being commended to us. And he first speaks to Peter, because Peter is the first among the apostles. Do not be sad, Apostle. Answer once, answer again, answer a third time. Let confession conquer three times with love, because self-assurance was conquered three times by fear. What you had bound three times must be loosed three times. Loose through love what you had bound through fear. And for all that, the Lord once, and again, and a third time, entrusted his sheep to Peter.


There is one day for the passion of two apostles. But these two also were as one; although they suffered in different ways, they were as one. Peter went first, Paul followed. We are celebrating a feast day, consecrated for us by the blood of the apostles. Let us love their Faith, their lives, their labors, their sufferings, their confession of faith, their preaching.'


When the time in Rome was all for killing these Christians, Peter's followers urged him to flee the city, at least for a while. According to St. Ambrose, Peter set out along the Appian Way. Just as he reached the Capuan gate, Christ suddenly appeared to him as if about to enter the city. 'Lord, whither goest thou?' cried out the Apostle. Christ replied: "to Rome, to be there crucified again." Peter understood his Master; he at once retracted his steps, having now no thought but to await his hour of martyrdom.

According to Abbot Gueranger, Peter started to set everything in order, because he now knew his time was short. He laid his hands on Clement, whose nobility of birth recommended him to the consideration of the Romans, while at the same time his zeal and learning merited the esteem of the faithful, was the one on whom the prince of the Apostles fixed his choice. Clement, then, is the first successor of Peter. His name is mentioned in Paul's letters, as well as in the Mass.

After the Church had been established for years, this was when Paul was converted; he went around and reaffirmed the Faith who had already been converted. Protestants don't know any history. They don't realize that the Church had been around way before Paul came along. He had been a persecutor of these same believers, so the Church must have already been established. DUH! Like all the saints say: 'if anyone were to read history and realize it, they would be streaming to Rome, where Christ's Church was and is today.'

But, they still do not bow to the Holy, Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, because they think it is the whore of Babylon! IDIOTS! Hopefully they will find out and convert before they croak.


The following hymn was written by a Sicilian woman named Elpis, concerning the two great Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. The last part is attributed to St. Paulinus of Aquileia, and added by St. Pius V:

Lo! beauteous light eternal floods with sacred fires this golden day, which crowns the princes of Apostles and opens out unto the guilty a free path to heaven.

The teacher of the whole earth, as well as the doorkeeper of heaven, both of them fathers of Rome and judges of nations, each a victor of death, the one by the sword, the other by the cross: laurel-crowned, both take their seats in the senate of eternal life.

O happy Rome, by noble gore of princes twain art thou now consecrated; empurpled by the blood of such as these, thou alone dost surpass in beauty all the rest of the earth.

To the Trinity in Unity that governeth all things through ages of ages, may there be eternal glory, honour, power, and jublilation. Amen.



Here's another prayer, dedicated to these great Saints, for help in times of trouble within the Church. We can surely use their help these days:

Defend, O Lord, thy servants, we beseech thee, from all dangers both of body and soul; and, by the intercession of the blessed and glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, of blessed N., and of all thy saints, mercifully grant us the blessings of peace and safety ; that all adversities and errors being removed, thy Church may freely and securely serve thee; through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

6th Sunday after Pentecost

Before we get started I want to add something I was asked about. "How do you prepare yourself for your writing?" Mainly, I know the Faith and try to understand why we believe what we do. If I don't know the answer when asked, I look it up. I read a lot, also. I have many very good books in my library for help (mostly and primarily pre-Vatican II). And, I invoke the intercession of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of journalists, when writing and publishing the posts. I don't consider myself a journalist, but, since I'm trying to get the Word out, I ask for help and inspiration. And, since I am a convert of 34 years now, I understand the Protestant errors as well as anyone. I am hard-headed, and we need more like me to come to the Truth and then help others understand the Faith. We won't cave in to the novel ideas of these days, no matter who's teaching them. Anyway, let's move on to the teachings of this Sunday's readings:

We hear from the Gospel of St. Mark this Sunday, the 6th after Pentecost. We will hear about Jesus feeding thousands of people with a few loaves(7 to be exact). Remember this number. After following Jesus into the desert for 3 days, they are famished. Voila! 7 loaves of bread are on hand. Jesus will deliver to them another miracle, but they probably won't know it as such. They will have their fill. The number seven is significant for us. This represents the Sacraments. By utilizing them, we will be spiritually filled. By faith these Jews followed Him into the desert, and are repaid for their time. We follow by Faith, and we are filled with Himself in the Holy Eucharist, which sustains us.

St. Ambrose comments on this Sunday's Gospel. He takes notice of the number Seven. The seventh day god rested, and therefore we should also. The seven Sacraments restore us to life. The seventh beatitude in the sermon on the mount 'refers to the peace-makers, or peaceable, as deserving to be called, most truly, the sons of God. It is in them alone that is fully developed the germ of divine Son-ship, which is put into the soul at Baptism. Thanks to the silence to which the passions have been reduced, their spirit, now master of the flesh, and itself subject to God, is a stranger to those inward storms, those sudden changes, and even those inequalities of temperature, which are all unfavorable to the growth of the precious seed; warmed by the Sun of justice in an atmosphere which is ever serene and unclouded, there is no obstacle to its coming up, there is no ill-shapen growth; absorbing all the human moisture of this earth wherein it is set, assimilating the very earth itself, it soon leaves nothing else to be seen in these men but the divine, for they have become, in the eyes of the Father Who is in heaven, a most faithful image of His first-born Son.'

St. Ambrose continues: '...take notice of the condition specified in our Gospel, as necessary for those who aspire to such nourishment as that. It is not to lazy people, nor to them that live in cities, nor to them that are great in worldly honours, but to them that seek Christ in the desert, that is given the heavenly nourishment: they alone who hunger after it are received by Christ in to a participation of the Word and of God's kingdom.'

Our beloved Abbot Gueranger in 'The Liturgical Year' adds: 'All the truth, all the goodness, all the beauty of created things, are incapable of satisfying any single soul; it must have God. So long as man does not understand this, everything good or true that his senses and his reason can provide him with, so far from being able to satiate him, is ordinarily nothing more than a distraction from the one object that can make him the happy being he was created to be, and a hindrance to his living the true life which God willed him to attain.'

We are nearing the end of June, the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart, and entering into the month of July, the month dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus. Maybe we can open our hearts to be like His, which was opened on the Cross for us, and therefore do the things that please Him, instead of our own pleasures.

Like He said: "Ask, and ye shall receive." So, we ask.

The Church reminds us of the first drops of blood that flowed for our redemption on the day when Jesus was circumcised.

It is night on Mount Olivet, and the moon is shining. We see the holy face crimsoned with blood during the agony in the garden.

Unhappy, despairing Judas casts the blood-money down in the temple. "I have betrayed innocent blood!", he exclaims. (I actually used this line to a priest. I had told him that Me and my family were leaving his parish because the Truth was not in him, and that I didn't want my kids to listen to him anymore. I also told him that I thought that Judas was better than he was. He was appalled, to say the least. I then told him that at least Judas said: "I have betrayed innocent Blood.")

In the scourging chamber we see the Lord in deepest humiliation; under raw strokes the divine Blood spurts out over the floor. Christ is led before Pilate. Pilate shows the blood-covered Body to the crowds: 'Ecce homo!' We go through Jerusalem's streets following the bloody footsteps to Golgotha. Down the beams of the Cross blood trickles. A soldier opens the Sacred Side. Water and Blood, the Symbols of our redemption.

Liturgical commentary on the 6th Sunday after Pentecost and the multiplication of the loaves; a prefiguration of the Holy Eucharist.


The Church has chosen for the Gospel the account of the multiplication of the loaves, a type of the Eucharist, our viaticum. It is this second multiplication of loaves which is a more striking figure of the Eucharist, since it was performed with loaves made of wheat, the element used in the Sacrament, while in the first, barley loaves were employed.

By identifying us with the Victim of Calvary, Holy Communion not only completes the effects of baptism within us by making us die with our Lord to sin, but makes us find at the Holy Altar the strength we need to prevent us from falling back into sin and to "perfect our goings in the paths" of the Lord (Offertory).

It is in this sense that St. Ambrose comments thus on the Gospel:

"After the woman, a figure of the Church, was cured of the issue of blood, the food of heavenly grace was dispensed. The right order of the mystery was kept. First a medicine is provided to cure wounds by the remission of sins, and then the food of the heavenly table is served in abundance. Our Lord said: 'If I shall send them away fasting to their home they will faint by the way.' Full of goodness, He maintains the strength of those who follow Him. If anyone faint it is not our Lord's fault, but that of the man himself."


Christ has set within us fortifying agencies; the food He gives is strength and vigor, so, if through negligence, you have lost the strength you received, you must not blame the heavenly nourishment, which never fails, but rather yourself. Was it not through the sustenance given him, when he was about to fall by the way, that the holy Elias walked forty days after the angel's visit?

Source: Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, OSB, 1945, adapted and abridged.

Let us NOT abuse His Blood in this way, Communion in the hand. This is what happens, as well as any pieces which are on the floor getting swept us into a Hoover!

Our Lady of Good Success

Two weeks ago, we went to the 'Catholic Family News' conference in Chicago. Very good speakers, as usual. One of them, John Vennari, spoke of Our Lady appearing to a sister in Quito, Ecuador, 500 years ago. This sister, Mother Mariana of Jesus Torres y Berriochoa, was given prophecies which were given for our present time in the Church. It was meant to not be made until after her death, and they were uncovered in the 18th century. Go Figure! Anyway, read on concerning these prophecies, and be prepared to be stunned. Note: We also had a life-sized statue of the one in Quito, and it was pretty close. And, the gown had touched the real one in Quito. I know that this isn't the day for this, but this should be alongside of Fatima, Lourdes, Akita, etc. We need to make it known.


During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Our Lady of Good Success appeared in Quito, Ecuador to a Spanish nun whose little-known but extraordinary life has a direct connection with our days.

The Pope’s “infallibility will be declared a dogma of Faith by the same Pope (Pius IX) chosen to proclaim the dogma of the mystery of my Immaculate Conception. He will be persecuted and imprisoned in the Vatican through the usurpation of the Pontifical States and through the malice, envy, and avarice of an earthly monarch.”

“Unbridled passions will give way to a total corruption of customs because Satan will reign through the Masonic sects, targeting the children in particular to insure general corruption.

“Unhappy, the children of those times! Seldom will they receive the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. As for the sacrament of Penance, they will confess only while attending Catholic schools, which the devil will do his utmost to destroy by means of persons in authority.

“The same will occur with Holy Communion. Oh, how it hurts me to tell you that there will be many and enormous public and hidden sacrileges!

“In those times, the sacrament of Extreme Unction will be largely ignored.… Many will die without receiving it, being thereby deprived of innumerable graces, consolation, and strength in the great leap from time to eternity.

“The sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of Christ with the Church, will be thoroughly attacked and profaned. Masonry, then reigning, will implement iniquitous laws aimed at extinguishing this sacrament. They will make it easy for all to live in sin, thus multiplying the birth of illegitimate children without the Church’s blessing….

“Secular education will contribute to a scarcity of priestly and religious vocations.”

“The holy sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed, and despised, for in this both the Church and God Himself are oppressed and reviled, since He is represented by His priests.

“The devil will work to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every way, working with baneful cunning to destroy the spirit of their vocation and corrupting many. Those who will thus scandalize the Christian flock will bring upon all priests the hatred of bad Christians and the enemies of the One, Holy, Roman Catholic, and Apostolic Church. This apparent triumph of Satan will cause enormous suffering to the good pastors of the Church...and to the Supreme Pastor and Vicar of Christ on earth who, a prisoner in the Vatican, will shed secret and bitter tears in the presence of God Our Lord, asking for light, sanctity, and perfection for all the clergy of the world, to whom he is King and Father.”

“Unhappy times will come wherein those who should fearlessly defend the rights of the Church will instead, blinded despite the light, give their hand to the Church’s enemies and do their bidding. But when [evil] seems triumphant and when authority abuses its power, committing all manner of injustice and oppressing the weak, their ruin shall be near. They will fall and crash to the ground.

Our Lady of Good Success, Quito, Ecuador
Our Lady of Good Success who appeared to Mother Mariana of Jesus Torres y Berriochoa, a nun of the Conceptionist Order, in Quito, Ecuador.



“Then will the Church, joyful and triumphant like a young girl, reawaken and be comfortably cradled in the arms of my most dear and elect son of those times. If he lends an ear to the inspirations of grace–one of which will be the reading of these great mercies that my Son and I have had toward you–we shall fill him with graces and very special gifts and will make him great on earth and much greater in Heaven. There we have reserved a precious seat for him because, heedless of men, he will have fought for truth and ceaselessly defended the rights of the Church, deserving to be called ‘martyr.’”

“At the end of the nineteenth century and throughout a great part of the twentieth, many heresies will be propagated in these lands.…

“The small number of souls who will secretly safeguard the treasure of Faith and virtues will suffer a cruel, unspeakable, and long martyrdom. Many will descend to their graves through the violence of suffering and will be counted among the martyrs who sacrificed themselves for the country and the Church.

“To be delivered from the slavery of these heresies, those whom the merciful love of my Son has destined for this restoration will need great will-power, perseverance, courage, and confidence in God. To try the faith and trust of these just ones, there will be times when all will seem lost and paralyzed. It will then be the happy beginning of the complete restoration….

“In those times the atmosphere will be saturated with the spirit of impurity which, like a filthy sea, will engulf the streets and public places with incredible license.… Innocence will scarcely be found in children, or modesty in women.

“He who should speak seasonably will remain silent.

“There shall be scarcely any virgin souls in the world. The delicate flower of virginity will seek refuge in the cloisters.…Without virginity, fire from heaven will be needed to purify these lands.…

“Sects, having permeated all social classes, will find ways of introducing themselves into the very heart of homes to corrupt the innocence of children. The children’s hearts will be dainty morsels to regale the devil.…

“Religious communities will remain to sustain the Church and work with courage for the salvation of souls.… The secular clergy will fall far short of what is expected of them because they will not pursue their sacred duty. Losing the divine compass, they will stray from the way of priestly ministry mapped out for them by God and will become devoted to money, seeking it too earnestly.

“Pray constantly, implore tirelessly, and weep bitter tears in the seclusion of your heart, beseeching the Eucharistic Heart of my most holy Son to take pity on His ministers and to end as soon as possible these unhappy times by sending to His Church the Prelate who shall restore the spirit of her priests.”


Following is the entire story of these events.

Our Lady of Good Success—Quito, Ecuador (Feasts — January 16 and February 2)

The Convent of the Immaculate Conception was the first convent of Religious Sisters in the city of Quito, Ecuador. The Catholic nobility of the city of Quito petitioned King Philip II for this favor, so that the women of the colony might enjoy the benefits of the religious life. Five professed Sisters of the Order were sent from Spain as Founding Mothers of the new Convent. They were accompanied by a 13-year old girl, Mariana de Jesús Torres—the niece of the Mother Superior. She was to become the most well-known of the Founding Mothers, but she remained almost unknown outside of Ecuador until the 20th century. The Convent was formally founded on January 13, 1577.

The young novice made rapid advancement in the spiritual life and enjoyed many favors from Heaven. She also practiced severe penance and was chosen by God to suffer as a victim soul. Many of her sufferings were occasioned by those of her sisters in religion who were lax, and who rebelled against the austere way of life insisted upon by Blessed Beatriz de Silva and the Spanish Founding Mothers, and required by the Holy Rule of the Community. Eventually Madre Mariana was chosen to be Abbess in place of her ailing aunt, who died soon after.


First Apparition of Our Lady of Good Success

Very early on the morning of February 2, 1594, Mother Mariana was praying in the upper choir of the Convent, fervently beseeching Jesus and Mary for relief from the many severe trials the Convent was undergoing, and that many sins would be prevented. During her long prayer, she heard a sweet voice call her name. Rising quickly, she saw the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus in Her left arm. Being asked who She was, Our Lady replied:

"I am Mary of Good Success, the Queen of Heaven and Earth... As His Mother, I carry (the Child Jesus) here, in My left arm, so that together we might restrain the hand of Divine Justice, which is always so ready to chastise this unfortunate and criminal world.

"In My right hand, I carry the crosier that you see, for I desire to govern this Convent as Abbess and Mother... Satan will begin to try to destroy this work of God... But he will not succeed, because I am the Queen of Victories and the Mother of Good Success, and it is under this invocation I desire to be known throughout all time..."

The Most Holy Virgin Mary placed the Child Jesus in the arms of Mother Mariana, giving her a strong desire to suffer as a victim soul.

Our Lady Commands that a Statue Be Made

Our Lady appeared many more times to Mother Mariana. During the apparition of January 16, 1599, Our Lady commanded Madre Mariana to have a statue made depicting Her just as She appeared to the holy religious. She then bade her to measure Her height with the cord of her religious habit. Our Lady promised:

"When tribulations of spirit and sufferings of body oppress them and they seem to be drowning in a bottomless sea, let them gaze at My holy Image, which will be for them a star for the shipwrecked. I will always be there, ready to listen to their lamentations and calm their weeping. Tell them that they should always have recourse to their Mother with faith and love..."

Warnings About the 20th Century

Early in the morning of January 21, 1610, Mother Mariana was favored by an apparition of the Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael. Then Our Lady appeared and related many predictions:

"Thus I make it known to you that from the end of the 19th century and shortly after the middle of the 20th century, in what is today the Colony and will then be the Republic of Ecuador, the passions will erupt and there will be a total corruption of customs (morals), for Satan will reign almost completely by means of the Masonic sects.

"They will focus principally on the children in order to sustain this general corruption. Woe to the children of these times! It will be difficult to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and also that of Confirmation... Often during this epoch the enemies of Jesus Christ, instigated by the Devil, will steal consecrated hosts from the churches, so that they might profane the Eucharistic Species...

"As for the Sacrament of Matrimony... it will be attacked and deeply profaned... The Catholic spirit will rapidly decay; the precious light of the Faith will gradually be extinguished... Added to this will be the effects of secular education, which will be one reason for the dearth of priestly and religious vocations.

"The Sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed, and despised... The Devil will try to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every possible way; he will labor with cruel and subtle astuteness to deviate them from the spirit of their vocation and will corrupt many of them. These depraved priests, who will scandalize the Christian people, will make the hatred of bad Catholics and the enemies of the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church fall upon all priests...

"Further, in these unhappy times, there will be unbridled luxury, which will ensnare the rest into sin and conquer innumerable frivolous souls, who will be lost. Innocence will almost no longer be found in children, nor modesty in women. In this supreme moment of need of the Church, the one who should speak will fall silent."

The Apparitions Will Become Known in the 20th Century

Early on the morning of February 2, 1610, Our Lady appeared again to Mother Mariana and repeated her command to have a statue made. Then She added:

"Tell the Bishop that it is My will and the will of My Most Holy Son that your name be hidden at all costs... for it is not fitting for anyone at the present time to know the details or origin of how this Statue came to be made. For this knowledge will only become known to the general public in the 20th century.

"During that epoch the Church will find herself attacked by terrible hordes of the Masonic sect, and this poor Ecuadorian land will be agonizing because of the corruption of customs, unbridled luxury, the impious press, and secular education. The vices of impurity, blasphemy, and sacrilege will dominate in this time of depraved desolation, and that one who should speak out will be silent..."

The Statue is Finished by Angels

The sculptor of the Statue of Our Lady of Good Success was actually named for this work by Our Lady Herself. Nevertheless the work was predicted to be completed by the Angels. Mother Mariana witnessed this prodigy early in the morning of January 16, 1611. She saw in vision the Most Holy Trinity, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the Nine Choirs of Angels, and in particular the Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael, together with the Seraphic St. Francis. These last four approached the statue and finished the work which the sculptor had intended to finish that very day. Then she saw Our Lady enter into and animate the Statue. All of these facts were attested to by Mother Mariana to the Bishop, before he solemnly consecrated and installed the Statue. The sculptor, too, testified that he had not finished the Statue, and that it must be the work of Angels.

Five Prophecies for Our Times

The most important of the apparitions of Our Lady of Good Success took place near the end of Mother Mariana's life. The early morning of February 2, 1634, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, found Mother Mariana praying before the Blessed Sacrament, beseeching Him that she might be united with Him and be engulfed in that love which belongs to the Blessed. She also reminded Him to protect and preserve His daughters in this beloved Convent.

As she finished this prayer, she saw the sanctuary light extinguish itself, leaving the altar completely dark. Our Lady appeared to tell her that Our Lord had heard her clamors and would end her earthly exile in less than a year: "Prepare your soul so that, increasingly purified, it might enter into the fullness of the joy of Our Lord. Oh! if mortals, and in particular religious souls, could know what Heaven is and what it is to possess God! How differently they would live! Nor would they spare themselves any sacrifice in order to possess Him!"

The Blessed Virgin Mary then explained the five meanings of the Tabernacle light that had been extinguished before Mother Mariana's eyes.

I. The first significance is that at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century, various heresies will be propagated in this land, then a free Republic. As these heresies spread and dominate, the precious light of Faith will be extinguished in souls by the almost total corruption of customs (morals). During this period, there will be great physical and moral calamities, both public and private.

"The small number of souls who, hidden, will preserve the treasure of the Faith and the virtues will suffer an unspeakably cruel and prolonged martyrdom. Many of them will succumb to death from the violence of their sufferings, and those who sacrifice themselves for Church and Country will be counted as martyrs.

"In order to free men from bondage to these heresies, those whom the merciful love of My Most Holy Son will destine for that restoration will need great strength of will, constancy, valor and much confidence in God. To test this faith and confidence of the just, there will be occasions when everything will seem to be lost and paralyzed. This, then, will be the happy beginning of the complete restoration."

These chosen souls, who will restore the health of the Church, are described in detail as the apostles of the latter times, by St. Louis Marie de Montfort in his True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

II. The second meaning," Our Lady said, "is that My Convent, being greatly reduced in size, will be submerged in a fathomless ocean of indescribable bitterness, and will seem to be drowning in these diverse waters of tribulations." Many authentic vocations will perish, She continued. Injustice would enter even this Convent, "disguised under the name of false charity, wreaking havoc in souls." And faithful souls, weeping in secret and imploring that such dire times be shortened, would suffer a continuous and slow martyrdom.

III. The third reason the lamp was extinguished is because of the spirit of impurity that will saturate the atmosphere in those times. Like a filthy ocean, it will run through the streets, squares and public places with an astonishing liberty.

"There will be almost no virgin souls in the world," Our Lady told her. The delicate flower of virginity would be threatened by complete annihilation. However, She promised that there would always be some good souls in cloisters where it might take root, grow and live like a shield to deflect Divine Wrath. "Without virginity," She said, "it would be necessary for fire from Heaven to fall upon these lands to purify them."

IV. The fourth reason for the lamp being quenched is that the Masonic sects, having infiltrated all the social classes, would subtly introduce its teaching into domestic ambiences in order to corrupt the children, and the Devil would glory in dining upon the exquisite delicacy of the hearts of children.

"During these unfortunate times," Our Lady foretold, "evil will assault childhood innocence. In this way, vocations to the priesthood will be lost, which will be a true calamity."

Again Our Lady promised that during this time there would still be religious communities who will sustain the Church and holy ministers of the altar—hidden and beautiful souls, who will labor with valor and disinterested zeal for the salvation of souls. "Against them," She warned, "the impious will rage a cruel war, letting fall on them vituperations, calumnies and vexations in order to impede the fulfillment of their ministry. But they, like firm columns, will remain unswerving and will confront everything with the spirit of humility and sacrifice with which they will be vested, by virtue of the infinite merits of My Most Holy Son, Who will love them in the innermost fibers of His Most Holy and Tender Heart."

During this time, Our Lady foretold, "the secular clergy will be far removed from its ideal, because the priests will become careless in their sacred duties. Lacking the Divine compass, they will stray from the road traced by God for the priestly ministry and they will become attached to wealth and riches, which they will unduly strive to obtain.

"How the Church will suffer on that occasion—the dark night of the lack of a Prelate and Father to watch over them with paternal love, gentleness, strength, discernment and prudence. Many priests will lose their spirit, placing their souls in great danger."

Our Lady continued to explain the fourth reason for the extinguishing of the Tabernacle light: "Therefore, pray insistently without tiring and weep with bitter tears in the secrecy of your heart. Implore our Celestial Father that, for the love of the Eucharistic Heart of My Most Holy Son and His Precious Blood shed with such generosity... He might take pity on His ministers and bring to an end those ominous times, and send to the Church the Prelate who will restore the spirit of Her priests.

"My Most Holy Son and I will love this favored Son with a love of predilection, and We will gift Him with a rare capacity, humility of heart, docility to Divine inspiration, the strength to defend the rights of the Church, and a tender and compassionate heart, so that, like another Christ, He will assist the great and small, without despising the more unfortunate souls who ask Him for light and counsel in their doubts and hardships. Into His hands the scales of the Sanctuary will be placed, so that everything is weighed with due measure and God will be glorified."

Our Lady continued, "The lukewarmness of all the souls consecrated to God in the priestly and religious state will delay the coming of this Prelate and Father. This, then, will be the cause of the cursed Devil taking possession of this land, where he will achieve his victories by means of a foreign and faithless people, so numerous that, like a black cloud, it will obscure the pure heavens of the then Republic consecrated to the Sacred Heart of My Divine Son.

"With these people, all the vices will enter, which will attract in their turn every type of chastisement, such as plagues, famines, internal fighting and external disputes with other nations, and apostasy, the cause of the perdition of so many souls so dear to Jesus Christ and to Me.

"In order to dissipate this black cloud which prevents the Church from enjoying the clear day of liberty, there will be a formidable and frightful war, which will see the bloodshed of countrymen and foreigners, of secular and regular priests, and of religious. That night will be most horrible, for, humanly speaking, evil will seem to triumph.

"This, then, will mark the arrival of My hour, when I, in a marvelous way will dethrone the proud and cursed Satan, trampling him under My feet and fettering him in the infernal abyss. Thus the Church and Country will finally be free of his cruel tyranny."

V.The fifth reason that the lamp was extinguished is due to the laxity and the negligence of those who possess great wealth, who will indifferently stand by and watch the Church being oppressed, virtue being persecuted, and the triumph of the Devil, without piously employing their riches for the destruction of this evil and the restoration of the Faith. And it is also due to the indifference of the people in allowing the Name of God to be gradually extinguished and in adhering to the spirit of evil, freely delivering themselves over to vices and passions.

"Alas! My chosen daughter! If it were given to you to live in that tenebrous era, you would die of sorrow to see all that I have revealed to you here take place. But My Most Holy Son and I have such a great love for this land, Our legacy, that We desire even now the application of your sacrifices and prayers to shorten the duration of such a terrible catastrophe!"

Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the evils she saw and the countless souls that would be condemned during these times, Mother Mariana fell unconscious. There the Sisters found her, as if dead, except for the violent beating of her heart. All of the doctor's efforts to restore her to consciousness proved useless. In fact he said, humanly speaking, her life should have ended from the shock she had received.

The Sisters surrounded her, beseeching Heaven to leave them their great treasure, the last of the Founding Mothers, "the mainstay of observance, the column of the house." Two days later, Mother Mariana opened her eyes, encouraged her Sisters to continue to follow the Rule, and consoled them that she would remain with them yet a little longer.

Final Apparition of Our Lady of Good Success

In the last ten months of her life, Mother Mariana never fully recovered the vigor of her health and was often obliged to remain in bed. In sickness as well as in health, she edified the Community with her example. Amid her intense pains, she always maintained a smile on her lips, an admirable serenity and an imperturbable spirit, proper to a soul whose life had unfolded in the shadow of the Cross.

Late in the night of December 8, 1634, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady appeared for the last time to Mother Mariana. She was again accompanied by the Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael. After many revelations Our Lady concluded:

"In the 20th century, this devotion (to Our Lady of Good Success) will work prodigies in the spiritual as well as temporal spheres, because it is the Will of God to reserve this invocation and knowledge of your life for that century, when the corruption of customs will be almost general and the precious light of Faith all but extinguished..."

Madre Mariana de Jesús Torres died a most holy death at 3:00 p.m. on January 16, 1635—just as she had foretold.

Over and over during the last four hundred years, the prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success have been fulfilled. The 19th and 20th centuries proved the accuracy of the prophecies to be astounding. Clearly the significance of Our Lady's message, and the Devotion to Our Lady of Good Success, is now all the more important in the 21st century. As we see the world engulfed in error, heresy and sensuality, not to mention vices of all kinds, Our Lady's call to prayer, reparation and penance becomes all the more urgent. How can we not heed Our Lady's plea and daily strive to console Her Most Tender and Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart of Her Divine Son?
Let us ask for her help under the title 'Our Lady of Good Success'. The 'good success' part is, I believe, because she will conquer in the end.

St. John the Baptist

Today marks the feast day set aside for St. John the Baptist. He is considered the greatest of all the prophets of the old Testament, since he actually got to see the Redeemer in Person. All the others foretold the coming of the 'christ' and his precursor, but John actually saw Him, pointed to Him, and proclaimed in common words: "There He is, the true Lamb of the true God, Who takes away the sins of the world." Before he said this, the Jews pretty much listened to him and accepted him. But, since he did NOT say that the Jews were to be saved only, but the whole world, they now have turned against him. Behold, Jesus now makes 'all things new'.

Let's back up a few years now; back to the annunciation of St. John's conception. The angel Gabriel appears to Zachary while he is in the tabernacle (being a priest), celebrating according to the rules of the day. When he probably snickers to the announcing of the conception of a son (since both he and his wife are old). He is struck dumb. He should know that nothing is impossible with God, and still Zachary balks. People wonder what has happened to him. In a few months time, even Mary held back her Magnificat until the infant John leapt in his mother's womb at Mary's greeting when she visited to help Elizabeth. This was an acknowledgement and announcement even then the coming of God in the persona of Jesus. Back again to St. John's birth. Nine months later, he presents his new born son to the temple as was custom. In those days, sons were to named after their dad. However, when Elizabeth is told that her son is to be Zachary, she says: " His name is to be John." They then look to Zachary, hand him something to write on since he had struck dumb, and he writes: "His name is John." Now, with his the vocal chords working again, and he goes into the following canticle:


The Canticle of Zachary

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel:
because He hath visited and wrought the redemption of His people.
And hath raised up a horn of salvation to us, in the house of David His servant.
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who are from the beginning.
Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us.
To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember His holy testament.
The oath which He swore to Abraham, our father; that He would grant to us.
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve Him without fear.
In holiness and justice before Him, all our days.
And thou child, Precursor of the Emmanuel,
shalt be called the prophet of the Most High:
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare His ways.
To give unto His people the knowledge of salvation, unto the remission of their sins.
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us.
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death;
to direct our feet in the way of peace.

Following is the sequence attributed to Adam of St. Victor for this date; set aside for this great Saint:

In thine honour, O Christ, the Church doth celebrate the natal day of thy Precursor and Baptist.

The King's own praise is heralded when his herald is extolled, whom richly he hath endowed with gifts of virtue, and, sublime in office, hath exalted!

Lo! Gabriel unto the hoary sire a son doth promise. He, hesitating, anon doth forfeit power of speech.

The child is born; of the new Law, of the new King, herald, trumpet, standard-bearer he! The voice before the Word, the paranymph (ceremonial assistant) before the Spouse, the morning star before the rising sun, doth go!

The mother by word, the father by writing, the child's name doth declare; forthwith is loosed from bond the mute tongue of the father.

By heavenly oracle is John foretold; and by himself yet hidden in the womb is he fore-shown.

That in an age too far advanced, an heir should be given, that one so long sterile should become a mother, oh! mystery profound! Yea, contrary indeed to the law of flesh is this conception of John; such birth as this is produced by grace, not by nature.

The virgin in her womb holds God enclosed; the enclosed to the Enclosed doth clap applause, that narrow womb within. The voice crying in the wilderness, the heralding voice of the Word, doth point our the Lamb to open view.

Burning in faith, luminous in word, and unto the true Light leading, he teacheth many thousands. He was not the Light, but yet was indeed the lamp; for Christ is Light eternal, Light enlightening all.

Clad in garment of haircloth, girt with cincture of leather, he was fed on a banquet of locusts and wild honey.

List to Christ attesting of him: None hath arisen greater than this man, of all that are born of woman. Take good heed, however, Christ here excepts himself who of flesh did Flesh accept, yet without flesh's operation.

To capital punishment, in prison, is the just man condemned; whose head the king abhorred not to present as a gift at a banquet table.

Martyr of God! guilty though we be, nor apt unto thy praise, yet, of thy clemency, deign graciously to hear us confiding in thee and praising thee.

On this thy natal day, grant to us the promised joy; nor yet may thy triumphant martyrdom delight us less.

Oh! how many mysteries do we venerate and admire in thee! By thee may Christ grant unto us to enjoy his presence. Amen.


St. John the Baptist, pray for us, that we may know Christ when He comes.

Blessing of the fire- in honor of St. John the Baptist

The Blessing of the Bonfires

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Angelus Press

St. John bonfire

Three births are celebrated particularly in the Catholic Church: that of Our Lord, Our Lady, and St. John the Baptist. St. John, as pious belief holds, was cleansed of Original Sin upon the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin to St. Elizabeth (Luke 1:57), making him, along with Jesus and Mary, free from sin at birth. And so it is fitting that all three are commemorated with a vigil, each with distinct ceremonies, liturgies, and traditions.

The Vigil of St. John the Baptist (June 23) takes place shortly after the longest day in the northern hemisphere. Appropriately, it captures a sense of light supplanting darkness throughout its liturgy and traditions. In fact, the earliest of references of the Baptist in Scriptures brings this to bear with the Canticle of Zachary: “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt … enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death…” (Luke 1:76-79).

St. John’s humility notwithstanding, his preaching announced that hope, light, and redemption was at hand, like a beacon of light shining into the murkiness of the Old Testament world. For this reason, our Catholic ancestors (who already had a tradition of summer solstice bonfires from pagan days) lit fires on the Vigil of the Baptist’s birth.

During this night, it was a common tradition to light bonfires in honor of St. John, keeping watch through the short night and – purely practically – use the fires to dispose of the waste from winter and spring projects. Over time, liturgical rites and prayers were added, including the blessing below, performed by a priest.

In keeping with this ancient tradition, we encourage our readers to light a fire* in honor of the Forerunner of Our Lord in order to reflect on the good fortune that our own births occurred after the Redemption that St. John prepared the people for, and to enjoy a moment with family centered around Catholic tradition. It is perhaps also a night to reflect on the beauty of our liturgy, which places the birth of St. John the Baptist in the season when the days begin to shorten: ”[H]e must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

While there may not be a priest available to bless each bonfire that Catholics wish to burn on the evening of the 23rd, the head of the household could certainly recite the hymn Ut queant laxis, bringing a reminder of the reason for the fire . . . and preferably before your little ones drop their fourth molten marshmallow into the flames.



Prayer:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.

P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.
Lord God, almighty Father, the light that never fails and the source of all light, sanctify + this new fire, and grant that after the darkness of this life we may come unsullied to you who are light eternal; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

The fire is sprinkled with holy water; after which the clergy and the people sing the following Hymn: Ut queant laxis

1. Ut queant laxis resonáre fibris
Mira gestórum fámuli tuórum,
Solve pollúti lábii reátum, Sancte Joánnes.

2. Núntius celso véniens Olýmpo
Te patri magnum fore nascitúrum,
Nomen, et vitae sériem geréndae
Ordinae promit.

3. Ille promíssi dúbius supérni,
Pérdidit promptae módulos loquélae:
Sed reformásti genitus perémptae
Organa vocis.

4. Ventris obstrúso récubans cubíli
Sénseras Regem thálamo manéntem:
Hinc parens nati méritis utérque Abdita pandit.

5. Sit decus Patri, genitaéque Proli
et tibi, compare utriúsque virtus,
Spíritus semper, Deus unus, omni
Témporis aevo.
Amen.

1. O for your spirit, holy John, to chasten
Lips sin-polluted, fettered tongues to loosen;
So by your children might your deeds of wonder
Meetly be chanted.

2. Lo! a swift herald, from the skies descending,
Bears to your father promise of your greatness;
How he shall name you, what your future story,
Duly revealing.

3. Scarcely believing message so transcendent,
Him for a season power of speech forsaketh,
Till, at your wondrous birth, again returneth,
Voice to the voiceless.

4. You, in your mother’s womb all darkly cradled,
Knew your great Monarch, biding in His chamber,
Whence the two parents, through their offspring’s merits,
Mysteries uttered.

5. Praise to the Father, to the Son begotten,
And to the Spirit, equal power possessing,
One God whose glory, through the lapse of ages,
Ever resounding.
Amen.

P: There was a man sent from God.
All: Whose name was John.

P: Let us pray. God, who by reason of the birth of blessed John have made this day praiseworthy, give your people the grace of spiritual joy, and keep the hearts of your faithful fixed on the way that leads to everlasting salvation; through Christ our Lord.


Read on for more on this day.
All: Amen.

Vigil of St. John the Baptist

The Vigil of St. John the Baptist
by Abbot Dom Gueranger, 1904


There was in the days of Herod, the King of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth. And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame. And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years. And it came to pass, when he executed the priestly function in the order of his course before God, according to the custom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord; and all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an Angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zachary seeing him was troubled, and fear fell upon him; but the Angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John: and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. For he shall be great before the Lord: and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb. And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.--St. Luke, i. 5 - 17

This page which the Church reads to us to-day, is precious in the annals of the human race, for here begins the Gospel itself, here we have the first word of the good tidings of salvation. Not that man had up to this, received no knowledge of Heaven's designs for the lifting up of our fallen race and the giving of a Redeemer: but weary and long had been this period of expectancy, since the day when first the sentence pronounced against the accursed serpent pointed out to Adam and Eve a future wherein man should be healed by the "Son of the woman," and God also by him should be avenged. Age upon age rolled on, and the promise, all unaccomplished still, gradually assumed certain developments. Each generation saw the Lord, by means of the prophets, adding some new feature to the characteristics of this Brother of our race; in himself so great that the Most High would call him my Son (Ps. ii. 7); so impassioned for justice, that he would shed the last drop of his blood to ransom earth's whole debt (Is. liii. 7). A Lamb in his immolation, he would rule the earth by his gentleness (Ibid. xvi. 1); though springing from Jesse's root, yet was he to be the desired of the gentiles (Is. xi. 10); more magnificent than Solomon (Ps. xliv.), he would graciously hearken to the love of these poor ransomed souls: taking the advance of their longing desires, he is fain to announce himself as the Spouse descending from the everlasting hills (Osee, ii. 19; Gen. xlix. 26). The Lamb laden with the crimes of the world, the Spouse awaited by the Bride; such was to be this Son of Man, Son likewise of God, the Christ, the Messias promised unto earth. But when will he come, he, this desired of nations? Who will point out, unto earth, her Saviour? Who will lead the Bride to the Bridegroom?

Mankind, gone forth in tears from Eden, had stood with wistful gaze fixed on futurity. Jacob, when dying, hailed from afar this beloved Son whose strength would be that of the lion, whose heavenly charms, still more enhanced by the blood of the grape (Oh! mystery ineffable!) rapt him in inspired contemplation on his funeral couch (Gen xlix. 9-12, 18). In the name of the gentile world, Job seated on the dung-hill, whereon his flesh Was falling to pieces, gave response to ruin, in an act of sublime hope in his Redeemer and his God (Job. xix. 25-27). Breathlessly panting under the pressure of his woe and the fever of his longing desires, mankind beheld century roll upon century, the while consuming death suspended not its ravages; the while his craving for the expected God ceased not to wax hotter within his breast. Thus, from generation to generation, what a redoubling of imploring prayer; what a growing impatience of entreaty! Oh! that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down! (Is. lxiv. 1)"Enough of promises," cries out the devout St. Bernard, together with all the Fathers, speaking in the name of the Church of the expectation, and commenting the first verse of the Canticle of Canticles: "enough of figures and of shadows, enough of others' parleying! I understand no more of Moses; no voice have the prophets for me; the Law which they bear has failed to restore life to my dead (4 Kings, iv. 31). What have I to do with the stammerings of their profane mouths (Exod, iv. 10; Is. vi. 5), I to whom the Word hath announced himself? Aaron's perfumes may not compare with the Oil of gladness poured out by the Father on him whom I await (Ps. xliv. 8). No more deputies, no more servants for me: after so many messages, let him come at last, let him come himself!"

Yea, prostrate, in the person of the worthiest of her sons, upon the heights of Carmel, the Church of the expectation will not raise herself up, till appears in the heavens the proximate sign of salvation's raincloud (3 Kings, xviii. 42-46). Vainly, even anon seven times, shall it be answered her that as yet naught can be descried "arising sea-wards;" prolonging still her prayer and her tears, her lips parched by the ceaseless drought, and cleaving to the dust, she will yet linger on, awaiting the appearance of that fertilizing cloud, the light cloud that beareth her God under human features. Then, forgetting her long fasts and weary expectant years, she will rise upon her feet, in all the vigor and beauty of her early youth; filled with the gladness the angel announceth to her, in the joy of that new Elias, whose birthday this Vigil promises on the morrow, she will follow him, the predestined Precursor, running (more truly than did the ancient Elias) before the chariot of Israel's king.



PRAYER


May the prayer of Blessed John Baptist, O Lord, plead for us, that we may both understand and merit the mystery of thy Christ.

O Almighty and Eternal God, who in the days of Blessed John Baptist, didst fulfill the institutions of the Law and the declarations of the holy Prophets, grant we beseech thee, that figures and signs being ended, Truth Himself, by his own manifestation, may speak, Jesus Christ our Lord.

CRISIS IN THE CHURCH

Crisis in the Church: "The Mass, Prayer, the Rosary — nothing else can avail"

(Words from yet another convert, and this is from over 100 years ago!)

Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914)

Persecution, he said, was coming. There had been a riot or two already. But persecution was not to be feared. It would no doubt cause apostasies, as it had always done, but these were deplorable only on account of the individual apostates. On the other hand, it would reassure the faithful; and purge out the half-hearted.

Once, in the early ages, Satan's attack had been made on the bodily side, with whips and fire and beasts; in the sixteenth century it had been on the intellectual side; in the twentieth century on the springs of moral and spiritual life. Now it seemed as if the assault was on all three planes at once.

But what was chiefly to be feared was the positive influence of Humanitarianism: it was coming, like the kingdom of God, with power; it was crushing the imaginative and the romantic, it was assuming rather than asserting its own truth; it was smothering with bolsters instead of wounding and stimulating with steel or controversy. It seemed to be forcing its way, almost objectively, into the inner world. Persons who had scarcely heard its name were professing its tenets; priests absorbed it, as they absorbed God in Communion—he mentioned the names of the recent apostates—children drank it in like Christianity itself. The soul "naturally Christian" seemed to be becoming "the soul naturally infidel." Persecution, cried the priest, was to be welcomed like salvation, prayed for, and grasped; but he feared that the authorities were too shrewd, and knew the antidote and the poison apart. There might be individual martyrdoms—in fact there would be, and very many—but they would be in spite of secular government, not because of it. Finally, he expected, Humanitarianism would presently put on the dress of liturgy and sacrifice, and when that was done, the Church's cause, unless God intervened, would be over.

Percy sat back, trembling.

"Yes, my son. And what do you think should be done?"

Percy flung out his hands.

"Holy Father—the mass, prayer, the rosary. These first and last. The world denies their power: it is on their power that Christians must throw all their weight. All things in Jesus Christ—in Jesus Christ, first and last. Nothing else can avail. He must do all, for we can do nothing."
Robert Hugh Benson
Lord of the World

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA
by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1877


The angelical youth, Aloysius, was the son of a Margrave, and was born at Castiglione, in Italy, March 9, 1568. As his mother, Martha, was in great danger of losing her life in childbirth, he was baptized before he was entirely born and thus fitted for heaven before earth had possessed him. After his mother, however, had made a vow to devote herself with her child at Loretto to the Blessed Virgin, she brought Aloysius happily into the world. No sooner had he begun to speak and walk, than his noble mother instilled into him those religious sentiments with which her whole heart was filled. He had hardly reached the age of five years, when he was frequently found kneeling in a corner and devoutly praying. It was at this tender age that he went to Casale, where, by the wish of his father, Ferdinand, he was present at a large mustering of soldiers. He there stealthily took some powder out of the pocket of a soldier, and fired off a cannon, which very nearly cost him his life, as he might easily have been crushed by the recoiling wheels. At that time, he learned also, from associating with the soldiers, certain profane expressions which he repeated without comprehending their meaning. When his tutor heard these words and forbade him ever to use them again, they never more passed his lips. These two faults were the greatest he ever committed, and in the innocence of his heart, he never ceased to weep over them. At seven years of age, he turned his heart entirely from the world and gave it to God. He called this year the period of his conversion, and said afterwards that he then began to love God above everything, as every human creature ought to do after having attained the use of reason.

When eight years old, his father sent him with his younger brother, accompanied by a tutor, to the Court of the Duke of Tuscany. The pure life he had led in his father's house and which he continued to lead at Florence, procured him the name of an innocent Angel. In this city he made his first confession with such deep compunction that he swooned away on entering the confessional. From Florence he went to Mantua and thence returned to Castiglione. The celebrated St. Charles Borromeo travelling through this latter place and becoming acquainted with St. Aloysius, admired the special gifts with which God had graced him and prepared him for his first holy Communion, after which he administered the same to him. How carefully the Saint prepared himself and with how many tears of fervent piety he received the divine food, words have no power to express. From that moment the Saint evinced an angelic devotion and reverence towards the most holy Sacrament.

He always prepared himself during three days for its reception, and after it, spent as many in humble thanksgiving. After a few years he was sent to the Spanish Court at Madrid, as page to the Prince James. One day, as the Prince was standing by an open window and the wind blew roughly in his face, he exclaimed: "Wind, I command thee to cease incommoding me thus!" Aloysius, who was near him, very wisely remarked: "Your royal highness may command men and they must obey; but God, to whom the greatest monarchs of the earth are subject, has kept the power over the elements to Himself." This wise and Christian speech caused the youth to be highly loved and esteemed by the king. When Aloysius had attained his 15th year, he earnestly took counsel with God and his conscience as to his future vocation. During his sojourn at Florence he had already resolved to retire from the world, but was as yet undecided in what manner he would serve God. After long and fervent prayer, he conceived great inclination towards the Society of Jesus, not only because this order was new and in its first fervor, but also because of its offering such opportunities to work for the salvation of souls, and even to sacrifice life itself among the heathens in the service of God.

On the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, he received from heaven the assurance that this inclination came from God; for, after having devoutly received holy Communion, he thought he heard these emphatic words from the Divine Mother: "Join the society of my Son, and make known your resolution to your confessor." Aloysius, full of joy, informed his confessor, then his mother, and lastly his father, of the will of heaven as to his vocation. His mother cheerfully consented, but his father refused him and, for three years, left nothing undone to change his son's determination. But the latter remained firm in his resolution to obey the voice of God. Remarkable is the answer he gave to those who endeavored, by description of temporal honors, pleasures and wealth, to persuade him not to enter the priesthood. "What does all this contribute to gain eternal life?" he would ask after such representations, in order to show that in choosing and entering on a course of life, we must, above all things, be mindful of the end and aim of our being, which is to serve God and gain heaven. Two circumstances at length induced his father to give his consent: one was the sight of his son scourging himself until the blood ran, whilst he implored the Almighty to change his father's heart; the other was the firmness with which the innocent youth, one day, addressed to him the following words: "God calls me, I must obey Him. You, my dear father, oppose the Most High Himself when you oppose my following my vocation."

Hence, his father consented, although with tearful eyes; and Aloysius, returning thanks to God, resigned the marquisate to his brother, went to Rome and requested the Father General, Claudius Aquaviva, to receive him into the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). He was immediately accepted, as there had already been sufficient proofs of his vocation, and thus he entered the novitiate in the 18th year of his age. How happy he was, and how zealous from the first day to the last, words fail to describe. The lessons of his office in the Roman Breviary testify that, even during his novitiate, he was looked upon as a model of virtue. He never transgressed a single rule, and there was no virtue of a perfect religious which he did not practice. Every one particularly admired the humility with which he performed the most menial work, his perfect obedience and poverty, his heroic self-abnegation, his seraphic love of God, and his tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the Saints. Wonderful examples of these virtues are to be found in his circumstantial biography. We will only add a few words upon his happy death.

When, in 1591, Rome was ravaged by a terrible pestilence, Aloysius requested permission to nurse the sick, and having obtained it, he was indefatigable in his kind solicitude for them. He begged bread and other necessaries for them, made their beds, administered their medicine and food, and carried many, who, seized by the epidemic, were lying in the street, into the hospital. In a word, he left nothing undone that Christian charity could require in such circumstances. At last, the disease laid its hold on him and confined him to his bed. On the eighth day, his sickness changed into a fever, from which he suffered for three months. All this time he spent in meditations on the passion of Christ, in devout discourses and aspirations, and in reading pious books. An impatient word never passed his lips. The most nauseous medicines which they gave him he swallowed slowly, so as to mortify his taste. They requested him to make a vow in order that the Almighty might grant the prolongation of his life; but he answered: "It is better to be dissolved." When they informed him of his approaching end, which had already been revealed to him by God, he exulted with joy, and requested them to intone the Te Deum, and exclaimed, in the words of the Psalmist: "I have rejoiced in what has been told to me; we shall enter into the house of the Lord."

To more than one who came to see him, he exclaimed: "We go, we go exulting." When they asked him, "Whither? "he answered: "To heaven, to heaven!" During the last three days he almost constantly kept the crucifix pressed to his heart, and the rosary in his hand. Sometimes, gazing upon his Saviour, he shed tears of love and devotion. One day he desired to be laid on the other side, but when they reminded him of the hard cross of Christ, he looked at the Crucifix and remained quiet. Shortly before his end, he bared his head, saying: "Christ died not with his head covered." At length, on the Octave of Corpus Christi, he gave his innocent soul, adorned with so many virtues, into the hands of his Creator, holding the crucifix, the rosary and a blessed candle in his hands. The last words he uttered were the holy names of Jesus and Mary. His happy death took place in the year 1591, in the 24th year of his age, and in the sixth year after his entering the Society of Jesus.

Benedict XIII., who, in 1726, canonized Aloysius, calls him a model of innocence and purity. The great St. Robert Bellarmine, who was his confessor, testified that God had graced this holy youth with especial and almost unprecedented gifts. These were: first, that though he lived at so many courts, and having such frequent opportunities, among people devoted only to pleasure, yet he never stained the robe of his baptismal innocence, not only by a mortal sin, but even by the smallest venial sin: secondly, that he remained always free from all impure thoughts or desires: thirdly, that distractions during prayers were almost unknown to him, for he said himself, that all his distractions, for many months, would not equal the time it would take to say an Ave Maria. Truly, these were great and extraordinary graces of God!

Not less eminent were his virtues. Besides those above related, the following shone in his life like so many brilliant stars: his love to God and man, his angelical innocence and purity, and austerity towards himself, quite unusual for one of his years. No sooner had he commenced to know God, which was at the age of seven, than he immediately began to love Him from the bottom of his heart. His love constantly increased. At the mere mention of the Almighty, his whole face was overspread with fire, and his heart began to beat as if it would burst. He was frequently found in ecstasies during his prayer. He was constantly united with God, and as it was feared that his fervent devotion would weaken his health, his Superiors ordered him sometimes forcibly to detach his thoughts from God. But this cost him more pain than it costs us to turn ours heavenwards. Eager to obey, he sometimes cried, "O Lord, leave me!" but it was useless--he remained united to God and God remained in him.

A consequence of his love for the Almighty was his love towards men. This he evinced particularly in nursing those stricken down with the pestilence, as is above related. He often desired to preach the Gospel to the heathen, not only to gain souls for life eternal, but also to give his life for Christ and men. While only a boy, he already instructed his younger brothers and the servants in the doctrines of the Christian faith, and by his pious discourses and admonitions, persuaded many to lead a better life. Wherever he found an opportunity, he endeavored to assist his neighbor in temporal or spiritual matters.

But how shall I describe his innocence, his angelical purity? He hated and avoided even the least shadow of sin; shunned, as much as possible, all dangerous occasions, and carefully guarded himself in order to remain pure and innocent. At a game of forfeits, he was once requested to kiss at least the shadow of a young lady; but he was not to be persuaded, and never again took part in similar games. Just so he acted when he was desired to dance, and was never present at nightly entertainments or theatrical performances. Even while he was at court, he avoided as much as possible all such vain amusements, and, hiding himself in his room, he occupied the time in prayer and devout reading. These edifying employments constituted his greatest enjoyment from his tenderest youth. With what reverence and piety he worshipped the Most High, especially when at Church, is made known by the fact, that all those who saw him pray, attest that he looked more like an angel than a human being. His senses; particularly his eyes, he kept under such strict control, that he never turned them upon strangers. For nearly two years and six months he was page to the Crown-prince at the Spanish Court, and had to appear daily before the queen; and yet he knew her not by sight. He avoided all intercourse with the other sex, even of his relatives and friends. He was therefore called a human being without flesh, or an angel in the flesh. It is most certain that, in this manner, he kept his innocence unimpaired.

His constant mortification, and the austere penances which he practiced contributed greatly to this. His whole life shows that it was his constant care to control himself and mortify his delicate and innocent body. He fasted three days of every week on water and bread, and at other times, he partook of so little that it might justly be said that his whole life was a continual fast. As at first he possessed no hair-shirt or chain to wear around his loins, he used instead of them his spurs. When his mother requested him to sleep no longer upon the bare floor as he was wont to do, but to use the soft bed prepared for him, he placed pieces of wood under the bed-clothes and so took a short rest. He scourged himself daily, not only once but several times. When one day they showed his mother the linen which he had used to wipe off the blood, and she begged him, with tears in her eyes, not to be so cruel to himself, he said: "O let me atone for my sins by such slight penances. "And, what sins? He meant those two faults which he committed before he was seven years old, when he, as will be recollected, took some powder from a soldier, and repeated a few profane words without understanding their meaning. This was only the shadow of a sin and yet he repented of it daily through his whole life. During his last sickness, he recited every day the Seven Penitential Psalms, or had them read aloud to him. He was unwearied in the practice of penances after he had entered upon a religious life, and even requested in his last illness the permission to scourge himself, or because he was too weak to do it himself, to be scourged by another.

Whoever considers all this and much more that is related of this Saint, will readily understand the exclamation uttered by Saint Magdalen of Pazzi, at Florence, when in an ecstasy she saw the glory of the Saint in heaven: "Oh! what great glory Aloysius, the son of Ignatius, enjoys! I could never have believed it, had not my Jesus shown it to me. There seems hardly to be in heaven a greater glory than his. Hence I say, Aloysius is a great Saint. I wish that I could wander through the whole world and cry that Aloysius, the son of Ignatius, is a great Saint. He was a hidden martyr . . . . Oh! how overwhelmingly did he love God here on earth; therefore he now enjoys the full love of the Almighty in heaven!" The Almighty Himself, to this hour, gives most certain proofs of the holiness and glory of the Saint, by many and great miracles. In 1756, a book was printed at Augsburg, in which a hundred miracles were related which had taken place, during 30 years, in Italy and Germany--; all of which had been examined and approved by the ecclesiastical authorities. Many books could be filled with the miracles that have been wrought throughout Christendom by the intercession of this holy youth. Hence they act very wisely, who, in mental or physical suffering, fly for refuge to St. Aloysius.



Practical Consideration


I. The life of St. Aloysius contains very much that will serve as a lesson and model: and it is my wish that you should yourself select some point in which especially to imitate him. Take, for example, his love of prayer and pious reading: his reverence and recollection during prayer: his devotion to Jesus and Mary: his careful preparation for holy Communion: his constancy in what he felt to be his vocation: his horror of the smallest sin: his deep repentance for trifling faults: his unceasing self-immolation. The special feature of the life of this Saint is the unusual union of innocence with the spirit of austerity and penance. Never did this Saint tarnish his innocence by a mortal sin, nay, not even by a wilful venial sin; and yet his penances were such as the greatest sinner upon earth would not surpass. What have you to say to this? Does it not bring the blush of shame to your cheek, when you consider how often and how grievously you have sinned, without ever thinking of doing penance? Do you not feel impelled to follow the example of this holy penitent? At least to some degree yield to this impulse, and set to work immediately. To this end, beg the intercession of St. Aloysius; for, he himself has said, that if we desire to obtain some virtue from God, we should ask the intercession of those Saints who were distinguished for the practice of that virtue.

II. So much in general of the example of this Saint. I will now offer two distinct points for your especial consideration.

1. St. Aloysius was no friend of games and dances, of theatrical performances, of unnecessary association with the opposite sex, and of all amusements generally. And why? Because he was a friend of purity, and most earnestly desired to gain salvation. Hence he desired to flee from everything which seemed to be in the least dangerous to him. If in our day, any one were to act in this manner, he would be laughed at as scrupulous, or considered a silly person, who was out of place on this earth. But I am very certain that if the world possessed more of these scrupulous and silly persons, heaven would one day be more populous and hell would have fewer unhappy victims. Such scrupulous persons may be out of place here on earth, but they will surely be in their right place in heaven.

Those, however, who, on account of very different conduct, are--according to the judgment of the worldlings--very suitable for this world, will probably be just as suitable for hell, and not at all fit for heaven. If you love purity and earnestly desire to save your soul, avoid even the smallest shadow of sin. Abstain from all those worldly amusements which you have reason to judge may lead you to commit sin. The game of forfeits, which in itself is no sinful game, and which may be played without the least wrong, is, in our days, scarcely ever played without seriously offending God. Knowing this, how can you play it without committing sin? Aloysius knew not at first the danger, but being once aware of it, nothing could induce him to play again. Why do you not make the same resolution? Let others laugh at you on account of it: it will do you as little harm as it did St. Aloysius. But it will contribute much to your salvation if you do not allow it to disturb you.

2. After they had represented to him the honors, pleasures and riches of this world, St. Aloysius said: "How does it all assist us to gain life everlasting?" Remember these words always. Do nothing that may prevent you from obtaining eternal life, but cling eagerly to everything that may assist you to gain it. In all your affairs, all your actions, let it be your first consideration to see whether or not they are leading you to heaven; after this, judge what you may do and what you must avoid. In this manner, you will constantly keep the end and aim of your life before you, which is needful to every one who would go to heaven; for, whoever thinks of it seldom, is in great danger of never arriving there. And what will avail temporal honor, pleasure and enjoyment, if we are eternally unhappy at last? What would it benefit Saint Aloysius now to have had all the enjoyment they represented to him, if he had not earnestly aspired to gain the end and aim of his creation, eternal life? "For what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?"(Matt, xxvi.)

Saint Robert Bellarmine, the Saint's confessor, testified that Saint Aloysius had never mortally offended God. Pray that, supposing you have not maintained his innocence, you may yet imitate his penance.

Quote from this great saint, who is considered as the 'Patron Saint' of youth:

I am but a crooked piece of iron,
and have come into religion to be made straight
by the hammer of mortification and penance