St. Raymund Nonnatus

SAINT RAYMUND NONNATUS
Religious of Our Lady of Mercy and Cardinal
(1204-1240)

Raymund Nonnatus was born in Catalonia, Spain, in the year 1204. Motherless from infancy, in his childhood he seemed to find pleasure only in his devotions and serious duties. He chose the Blessed Virgin for his mother, almost as soon as the light of reason made this choice available to him. His father, perceiving in him an inclination to the religious state and unwilling to give up his son, took him from school and sent him to take care of a farm which he owned in the country. Raymund readily obeyed, and, in order to enjoy holy solitude, kept the sheep himself and spent his time in the mountains and forests in holy meditation and prayer. He found there an ancient hermitage containing a portrait of his Blessed Mother, and made this his asylum. There the devil found him and, assuming the disguise of a shepherd, attempted to turn him away from his devotions; but Raymund turned his back on his visitor and called Mary to his assistance. The sole name of the Mother of God caused the demon to disappear, and the hermit prostrated himself and blessed Her for Her assistance.

Some time afterward, he joined the new Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the redemption of captives, and was admitted to profession at Barcelona by the holy founder, St. Peter Nolasco. Within two or three years after his profession, he was sent into Barbary with a considerable sum of money; in Algiers he purchased the liberty of a great number of slaves. When all his treasure was exhausted, he gave himself up as a hostage for the ransom of others, according to the Rule of his Order. This magnanimous sacrifice served only to exasperate the Moslems, who treated him with uncommon barbarity, until they began to fear that if he died in their hands, they would lose the ransom which had been asked for his deliverance. A crier announced in the streets that anyone who mistreated him would answer for it, if he died.

Therefore he was permitted to go abroad in the streets, which liberty he utilized to comfort and encourage the Christians in chains, and to convert and baptize certain Moslems (maybe we should be asking his prayers in dealing with those pesky muslims). Learning of this, their pasha, furious, condemned him to be impaled, but his barbarous sentence was commuted at the insistence of those who had an interest in the ransom payments for the slaves he was replacing. He underwent instead a cruel bastinade, but that torment did not daunt his courage. So long as he saw souls in danger of perishing eternally, he thought he had yet done nothing.

Raymund had no more money to employ in releasing poor captives; and to converse with those of the local beliefs on the subject of religion meant death. He enjoyed sufficient liberty nonetheless to continue the same endeavors, and he did so, hoping either for success or martyrdom. The governor, enraged, ordered our Saint to have his lips pierced and padlocked, then to be imprisoned until his ransom would be brought by members of his Order. He remained in jail for eight months before his brethren arrived with the required sum, sent by St. Peter Nolasco.

 Upon his return to Spain, he was nominated Cardinal by Pope Gregory IX, and the Pope called him to Rome. The Saint was on his way, but had gone no farther than Cardona when he was seized with a violent fever. He died on August 31, 1240, in his thirty-seventh year. His face in death became beautiful and radiant like that of Moses when he descended from the mountaintop, where he had spoken with God. A heavenly fragrance surrounded his body, and cures were effected on behalf of those who came and touched him.

This magnanimous Saint gave not only his substance but his liberty, and exposed himself to the most cruel torments and death for the redemption of captives and the salvation of souls. But we, alas! do we not, merely to gratify our prodigality, vanity, or avarice, refuse to give even the superfluity of our possessions to the poor, who for want of it are perishing with cold and hunger? Let us not forget the terrible Judgment of the Last Day, awaiting those who neglect their brethren in need.


Another reading:

Saint Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor
Feast Day: August 31st, Patron of of Christian Motherhood
by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876

Catalonia was the native country of St. Raymund who, to the astonishment of the Physicians, was born after his mother's death in 1204. As soon as he was old enough to comprehend how early he had become an orphan, he chose the Queen of Heaven as his mother, and to his last day, called her by no other name. When he had studied for some time with great success, his father, fearing the youth would enter a Religious Order, sent him into the country to take care of a farm. Raymund obeyed, and found there also opportunity to serve God. He became very fond of solitude and therefore chose for his occupation the care of the sheep, in order to gain more time for prayer and meditation.

At the foot of the mountain to which he generally led his flock, was a small, deserted hermitage, with a chapel, in which an extremely lovely picture of the Blessed Virgin was kept, which was a source of great joy to him. He there spent several hours daily, in devout exercises. Other shepherds, who observed this, and to whom the piety of Raymund was a reproach of their own negligence, reported to his father that he was doing nothing but praying, and thereby neglected his flock. The father came to convince himself of the fact, but although he found his son praying in the chapel, he saw that the flock was meanwhile attended to by a youth of uncommon beauty of form and features. Asking his son who this young shepherd was, and why he had engaged him, Raymund, to whom it was unknown that Providence had worked a miracle in his behalf, fell on his knees before his father, and begging forgiveness, earnestly promised not to commit the fault again.

The Divine Mother, of whom he begged the grace of knowing his vocation, appeared to him, saying that she desired him to take the habit of the newly established Order for the redemption of captives. He did so, and was sent to Algiers where he found a great many Christians in slavery, and as the money he had brought for their ransom was not sufficient, he offered himself as a hostage to redeem the others. He was induced to this by the danger in which the prisoners were of losing their faith and with it eternal life. This great and heroic charity gave him occasion to suffer much for the sake of Christ. At first, he was treated very harshly by his masters, but when they began to fear that he would die before the ransom was paid, they allowed him more liberty, which the holy man used only for the salvation of the captive Christians. He strengthened them in their faith, and, at the same time, endeavored to convert the infidels.

Accused of this before the Judge, he was condemned to be impaled alive, and nothing but the hope of a large ransom prevented the execution of this barbarous sentence, and caused it to be changed into a cruel bastinado (which is the cruel whipping of the bare feet). Raymund, who desired nothing more fervently than to die for Christ's sake, was not intimidated by what he had undergone, but wherever an opportunity offered itself, he explained to the infidels the word of God. The Judge, informed of it, ordered him to be whipped through all the streets of the city, and then to be brought to the market-place, where the executioner, with a red hot iron, pierced his lips, through which a small chain was drawn and closed with a padlock, in order that the holy man might no more use his tongue to instruct others. Every three days the lock was opened, and he received just enough food to keep him from starvation. Besides this, he was loaded with chains, and cast into a dungeon, where he lay for eight months, until his ransom arrived. Although it was the desire of the Saint to remain among the infidels, as he would there have an opportunity to gain the crown of martyrdom, obedience recalled him to his monastery.

When the Pope was informed of all that Raymund had suffered during his captivity, he nominated him Cardinal; but the humble Saint returned to his convent and lived like all the other brothers of the Order, without making the least change in his dress, food, or dwelling, nor accepting any honor due to him as so high a dignitary of the Church. Gregory IX, desired to have so holy a man near him, and called him to Rome. The Saint obeyed and set out on his journey. He had, however, scarcely reached Cardona, six miles from Barcelona, when he was seized with a malignant fever, which soon became fatal. He desired most fervently to receive the holy Sacraments, but as the priest called to administer them to him, delayed to come, God sent an angel, who brought him the divine food. After receiving it, he returned thanks to God for all the graces he had received from Him during his life, and peacefully gave up his soul, in the 37th year of his age.

After his death, the inhabitants of Cardona, the clergy of Barcelona and the religious of his order, contended as to where the holy body should be buried. Each party thought they had the greatest claim to possess his tomb. At last they resolved to leave the decision to Providence. They placed the coffin, in which the holy body reposed, upon a blind mule, determined that the treasure should be deposited in the place to which this animal should carry it. The mule, accompanied by a large concourse of people, went on until it had reached the hermitage and chapel where the holy cardinal, as a shepherd boy, had spent so many hours in prayer, and had received so many graces from God. There the Saint was buried, and St. Peter Nolasco, in the course of time, founded there a Convent, with a Church in which the holy remains are still preserved and greatly honored by the people of Catalonia.



Prayer for a Safe Child Birth O Mary, most pure Virgin and Mother of God! I remind you of that blessed moment when you saw for the first time your newly born Babe and folded Him in your arms. Through this joy to your maternal heart, obtain for me the grace that I and my child may be protected from all dangers to soul and body. Amen

O Mary, Mother of my Savior! I remind you of the unspeakable joy you received when, after three days of painful seeking, you again found your Divine Son. Through this your great joy, obtain for me the grace to bring into the world a healthy and well-formed child. Amen.

Most glorious Virgin Mary! I remind you of that heavenly joy that flooded your maternal heart when your Son after His resurrection appeared to you for the first time. Through this your exceedingly great joy, obtain for me the happiness that, by holy Baptism, my child may be admitted to the society of your Divine Son and that of all the Saints! Amen


St. Raymond, Patron of Christian motherhood, pray for us.

St. Rose of Lima

SAINT ROSE of LIMA, Virgin
(1586-1617)

St. Rose of Lima, Virgin
by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876

God gave to the Christians of America, and all over the world, a beautiful example of holiness, at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century, in the Saint whose festival is this day commemorated by the Catholic Church. Her native place was Lima, the capital of Peru. She was named Isabel, but while yet in the cradle, she was called Rose, as her face, in its loveliness, resembled a rose. She took the surname of St. Mary, by order of the Blessed Virgin. Already in her childhood, her conduct was holy. Her intention was to follow the example of St. Catherine of Siena, whose life she had read, and therefore she entered the third order of St. Dominic. When five years old, she consecrated her virginity to God, and was such a perfect hand-maiden of the Lord, that during her whole life, she never offended Him by a mortal sin, nor even intentionally by one that was venial. Her time was divided between prayer and work. Twelve hours she gave to devout exercises, two or three to sleep, the rest to work.

When grown to womanhood, her hand was sought by several, but she always unhesitatingly gave the answer, that she was already promised to a heavenly spouse. That, however, her parents might no further urge her, she herself cut off her hair, as a sign of her consecration to God. She treated her innocent body with extreme severity. From her childhood she abstained from fruit, which, in Peru, is so delicious. Her fasts and abstinences were more than human; for, when scarcely six years old, her nourishment consisted almost entirely of water and bread. At the age of fifteen, she made a vow never to eat meat, except when obliged by obedience. Not even when sick did she partake of better food. Sometimes for five or eight days, she ate nothing at all, living only on the bread of angels. During the whole of Lent, she took only five citron seeds, daily. Incredible as this may appear to the reader, it is told by unquestionable authority. Her bed was a rough board, or some knotted logs of wood. Her pillow was a bag filled with rushes or stones.

Every night she scourged her body with two small iron chains, in remembrance of the painful scourging of our Saviour, and for the conversion of sinners. When, however, her Confessor forbade her this, she, after the example of St. Catherine of Sienna, bound, three times around her body, a thin chain, which in a few weeks, had cut so deeply into the flesh that it was scarcely to be seen. Fearing that she would be compelled to reveal it, she prayed to God for help, and the chain became loose of itself. Hardly were the wounds healed, when she again wore the chain, until her Confessor, being informed of it, forbade her to do so, She then had a penitential robe made of horse-hair, which reached below her knees, and occasioned her intense suffering. She wore under her veil, in remembrance of our Saviour's crown of thorns, a crown which was studded inside with pins, and which wounded her head most painfully. To attend the better to her prayers, she loved solitude above everything.

To this end, she asked the permission of her parents to build a small cell for herself in the corner of the garden. This cell was only five feet long and four feet wide; but she lived more happily in it than many others do in royal palaces. O, how many graces she obtained from heaven in this place! How many visions she had there of St. Catherine of Sienna, her Guardian Angel, the Blessed Virgin, and even of Christ Himself! She was also frequently favored with visions in other places. The most remarkable of these was one which she had on Palm Sunday, in the chapel of the Holy Rosary, before an image of the Blessed Virgin. Rose, gazing at the picture, perceived that the Virgin Mother, as well as the divine Child, regarded her most graciously, and at last she heard distinctly from the lips of the divine Child, the words: "Rose, you shall be my spouse." Although filled with holy awe, she replied, in the words which the Blessed Virgin had spoken to the Angel: "Behold, I am a handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word." After this, the Virgin Mother said: "May you well appreciate the favor which my Son has accorded to you, dear Rose!"

I leave it to the pious reader to picture to himself the inexpressible joy which this vision gave to Rose. It served her as a most powerful incentive to the practice of all virtues. Among these virtues, surely not the least was the heroic patience which this holy virgin showed, as well in bodily suffering, as in interior, spiritual anguish. The Almighty permitted her, for fifteen years, to be daily tormented, at least, for an hour, by the most hideous imaginations, which were of such a nature, that she sometimes thought that she was in the midst of hell. She could think neither of God nor of the graces He had bestowed upon her; neither did prayer or devout reading give her any comfort. It sometimes seemed as if she had been forsaken by God. In this manner, God wished to prove and purify her virtue, as He had done in regard to many other Saints. Her patience was also most severely tried by painful diseases, as she sometimes had a combination of two or three maladies at the same time, and suffered most intensely.

During the last three years of her life, she was disabled in almost all her limbs; but her resignation to the will of God was too perfect to allow her to utter a word of complaint. All she desired and prayed for was to suffer still more for Christ's sake. She, at the same time, encouraged other sick persons, whom she served with indescribable kindness, as long as she was well. She endeavored to comfort them when it was necessary to prepare them for a happy death; for, her greatest joy was to speak of God and to lead others to Him. One day when she was greatly troubled about her salvation, Christ appeared to her and said: " My daughter, I condemn those only who will not be saved." He assured her at the same time, first, that she would go to heaven; secondly, that she never would lose His grace through mortal sin; thirdly, that divine assistance would never fail her in any emergency. God also revealed to her the day and hour of her death, which took place in her thirty-first year. After the holy sacraments had been administered to her, she begged all present to forgive her faults, and exhorted them to love God. The nearer the hour of her death approached, the greater became her joy.

Shortly before her end, she went into an ecstasy, and after it, she said to her Confessor: "Oh! how much I could tell you of the sweetness of God, and of the blissful heavenly dwelling of the Almighty!" She requested her brother to take away the pillow that had been placed under her head, that she might die on the boards, as Christ had died on the cross. When this was done, she exclaimed three times: "Jesus, Jesus, be with me!" and expired. After death, her face was so beautiful, that all who looked at her were lost in astonishment. Her funeral was most imposing. The Canons first carried the body a part of the way to the church; after them the senate, and finally, the superiors of the different orders, so great was the esteem they all entertained for her holiness. God honored her after her death, by many miracles; and Clement X. canonized her in 1671 and placed her among the number of the holy virgins.

The Flower of the New World
by F. M. Capes, 1899


We may not say that St. Rose was the first saint of the New World, for God only knows His own; but she was the first of America's children to be placed in the calendar of canonized saints--the first flower gathered from that part of the great garden over which St. Dominic has been placed as the husbandman of Jesus Christ.

Almost before she was out of her infancy, that love of Our Lord's suffering, which was afterwards to become the ruling passion of her life, began to lay hold of little Rose's heart. How God speaks to the baby souls of those early-chosen children of His special delight; by what channels the Divine secrets are imparted to their barely-opened minds; what marvelous gift enables them to entertain and understand thoughts far beyond their years--we cannot know; but that such special communications are made to some of the Saints even as little children is certain.

In St. Rose's case the working of these mysterious operations in her heart was witnessed to by the fact that, as a little thing barely able to walk, she would often be found, having managed to escape from her guardians or companions, absorbed in deep infantine contemplation before a picture of the thorn-crowned Christ, in His mantle of scorn, which hung in her mother's room.

Her own apprenticeship in her Master's school, too, began early; for from the time that she was three years old Rose de Flores was the subject of one accident or complaint after another, and was kept perpetually in states of suffering which were sharp trials to her childish patience.

This ideal she realized in her life. It is this life of penance and mysticism which is presented to the reader in these pages. Everything in her life calls for admiration, many things for imitation, some, maybe, for explanation. The reader of this record of her ways and works will perforce exclaim: 'Wonderful is God in His saints'--wonderful in their number, in their graces, in their variety.

St. Rose's life was eminently wonderful in its marvelous penance, its deep, earnest, and all but continuous prayer, its perfect union with God. She studied in the school of Christ; her book was the Cross; her Master the Crucified. Naturally of delicate health, weak in body, and physically feeble, hers was a life of chronic suffering. To this she added much fasting, abstinence, and penances of every kind, as will be seen from the perusal of this interesting and instructive life. But all her sufferings, whether sent by God or self-inflicted, were borne for God, with God, and in God.

She could say with the Apostle: "With Christ I am nailed to the Cross; and I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me." Her suffering life was a life of detachment from the world--a life of union with God. If she could make her own the words of St. Paul, 'The world is crucified to me, and I to the world, she could add with equal truth, 'I live in the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and delivered Himself for me.'

Rose, pure as driven snow, was filled with deepest contrition and humility, and did constant and terrible penance. Our sins are continual, our repentance passing, our contrition slight, our penance nothing. How will it fare with us?

Beheading of John the Baptist

DECOLLATION OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

Caravaggio painted this altarpiece while on the island of Malta. It was created for the
St John's Cathedral in the capital Valletta.
Salome had ordered the Baptist's head, and in a few moments, she will receive it from the executioner. Her maid looks on in awe. The jailer tells the executioner to put the head on the charger. Two prisoners watch the scene.

The group on the left forms an arch, with Salome and the executioner bending to the floor. This is the only painting Caravaggio signed - in the blood of the Baptist.

Today is the feast day of the decollation (beheading) of St. John the Baptist. He was the last prophet of the Old Testament; also the greatest since he actually beheld the Saviour with his own eyes, while all the other prophets only pointed toward Him. John was purified in his mother's womb at the salutation of our Blessed Mother when she visited St. Elizabeth, who was carrying the Baptist. He was the precursor of Christ; he pointed Him out at the river Jordan. He then baptized Him at His request. Anyway, this is the day he was beheaded by Herod at the request of Salome, the daughter of Herodias, his brother's wife. Since it had been told to him by the Baptist that he could NOT have his brother's wife, a plot was schemed to kill the Baptist. Salome danced for Herod and pleased him and filled him with lust. (He probably wanted the daughter after this dance) Herod told her to ask for anything and he would get it for her. She asked for the head of John the Baptist. This dismayed Herod, but he had it done.

John had said concerning Christ: "He must increase and I must decrease." Thus the feast of the Decollation of St. John may be considered as one of the landmarks of the liturgical year. With the Greeks it is a holy day of obligation. (It doesn't even get an honorable mention in the western Church anymore). This Feast's great antiquity in the Latin Church is evidenced by the mention made of it in the martyrology called St. Jerome's, and by the place it occupies in the Gelasian and Gregorian sacramentaries. The precursor's blessed death took place about the feast Pasch; but, that it might be more freely celebrated, this day was chosen, whereon his sacred head was discovered at Emesa.

The vengeance of God fell heavily upon Herod Antipas. Josephus (a Jewish historian, who I believe converted), relates how he was overcome by the Arabian Aretas, whose daughter he had repudiated in order to follow his wicked passions; and the Jews attributed the defeat to the murder of St. John. He was deposed by Rome from his tetrarchate, and banished to Lyons in Gaul(France), where the ambitious Herodias shared his disgrace. As to her dancing daughter Salome, there is a tradition gathered from ancient authors, that, having gone out one winter day to dance upon a frozen river, she fell through into the water; the ice, immediately closing round her neck, cut off her head, which bounded upon the surface, thus continuing for some moments the dance of death.


Talk about Divine Justice! (I hope it's true; it seems so appropriate)!

St. John the Baptist, please pray for unrepentant sinners, especially those in our own families.

Relics

Miniature of the Finding of the head of St. John the Baptist (Menologion of Basil II, 10th .).

The First Uncovering of the Head of St. John the Baptist took place in the fourth century at the time when Saint Constantine the Great and his mother, St. Helen, began restoring the holy places of Jerusalem.

The Second Finding of the Precious Head of St. John the Baptist of took place on on February 18, 452, at Emesa.

After the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787), which reestablished the veneration of icons, the head of St. John the Baptist was returned to the Byzantine capital in around the year 850. The Church commemorates this event on May 25/June 7 as the Third Finding of the Precious Head of St. John the Baptist.

His relics are kept in several places including:

• St. Demetrios Church, Neo Phaleron, Piraeus
• Benaki Museum, Athens
• Sacred Relics Room, Topkapi Museum, Constantinople (entire right arm and cranium)
• Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria
• Cetinje Monastery, Montenegro (right palm)

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus also relates in his Antiquities of the Jews that Herod killed John, stating that he did so, "lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his [John's] power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise), [so Herod] thought it best [to put] him to death." He further states that many of the Jews believed that the military disaster that fell upon Herod at the hands of Aretas, his father-in-law (Phasaelis' father), was God's punishment for his unrighteous behavior.^[

None of the sources gives an exact date, which was probably in the years 28-29 AD (Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-27; Luke 9:9) after imprisoning John the Baptist in 27 AD (Matthew 4:12; Mark 1:14) at the behest of Herodias his brother's wife whom he took as his mistress. (Matthew 14:3-5; Mark 6:17-20); According to Josephus, the death took place at the fortress of Machaerus.

A 1742 Tarì coin of the Knights Hospitaller, depicting the head of Saint John the Baptist
 on a silver round platter.

 

St. Augustine, Bishop/Doctor

Today is the feast day of St. Augustine, one of the pillars of the early Church and a Doctor of the same Church. This means he knows what he is talking about! We should all read his 'Confessions', which he talks about his conversion back to the Church he had left for 30+ years while he was wandering around searching for the Truth. He had gone through a time where he didn't know where to turn for help. He had questioned the earth, sky, the seas, and all the creatures of the earth trying to find that peace of mind of knowing what was going on around him, and where life and everything came from. They all answered him: "We are not what you seek; seek above us. Seek Him Who made us."
His mother, St. Monica, had prayed for him for 30+ years, to no avail. However, after that time, because of her prayers and enlisting St. Ambrose, another Doctor of the Church. He finally returned to his rightful place, within the fold of the True God. And boy, what a transformation! He became so fervent in his faith that he helped thousands come to that same Truth. He wrote many books and prayers; one of my favorites is the following. It's supposed to be after Holy Communion, but I think it should be before Confession. It was written in the year 430 AD. It pretty much sums up our weaknesses. His life and conversion should tell us NOT to give up on our children, however far they might have strayed from what we tried to instill in them when they were small. They are adults now, so I guess, in our case, they have to find the Truth in their own time. I just hope they get on board before they die. St. Monica, pray for our kids. Please?


St. Augustine's Prayer: Before Thy eyes, O Lord, we bring our offenses, and we compare them with the stripes we have received.

If we consider the evil we have wrought, what we suffer is little, what we deserve is great.

What we have committed is very grave, what we have suffered is very slight.

We feel the punishment of sin, yet withdraw not from the obstinacy of sinning.

Under Thy lash our inconstancy is visited, but our sinfulness is not changed. Our suffering soul is tormented, but our neck is not bent. Our life groans under sorrow, yet mends not in deed.

If Thou spare us, we correct not our ways; if Thou punish we cannot endure it.

In time of correction we confess our wrong-doing; after Thy visitation we forget we have wept.

If Thou stretchest forth Thy hand we promise amendment; if Thou withholdest the sword we keep not our promise.

If Thou strikest we cry out for mercy; if Thou sparest we again provoke Thee to strike.

Here we are before Thee, O Lord, confessedly guilty; we know that unless Thou pardon we shall deservedly perish.

Grant then, almighty Father, without our deserving it, the pardon we ask for; Thou who madest out of nothing those who ask Thee.

Through Christ our Lord, Amen.



Following is a synopsis of his life.

SAINT AUGUSTINE
Bishop of Hippo and Doctor of the Church
(354-430)

 Saint Augustine was born in 354 at Tagaste in Africa. He was brought up in the Christian faith but did not receive baptism, result of the practice, common in the first centuries, of deferring it until adulthood. An ambitious schoolboy of brilliant talents and violent passions, he early lost both his faith and his innocence. He pursued with ardor the study of philosophy. He taught grammar, rhetoric and literature for nine years in his native town of Tagaste, and in Carthage. He persisted in his irregular life and doctrinal errors until he was thirty-two. Then one day, stung to the heart by the account of some sudden conversions, he cried out, "The unlearned rise and storm heaven, and we, with all our learning, for lack of courage lie inert!" The great heart of this future bishop was already evident.

When as a genial student of rhetoric, he was at Milan, where Saint Ambrose was bishop, Augustine tells us later in his autobiography, the Catholic faith of his childhood regained possession of his intellect, but he could not as yet resolve to break the chains of bad habit. His mother helped him to separate from the mother of his son, Adeodatus, who had died as a young man; and she, after this painful separation, retired for life to a convent, regretting that she had long enchained this soul of predilection. Augustine's mother, Saint Monica, died soon afterwards.

Urged also by a friend who had decided to adopt a celibate life, Saint Augustine took up a book of the Holy Scriptures, and read the Epistles of Saint Paul in a new light. A long and terrible conflict ensued, but with the help of grace the battle was won; he went to consult a priest and received baptism, returned to Africa and gave all he had to the poor. At Hippo, where he settled, he was consecrated bishop in 395. For thirty-five years he was the center of ecclesiastical life in Africa, and the Church's strongest champion against heresy. His writings, which compose many volumes, have been everywhere accepted as a major source of both Christian spirituality and theological speculation. The great Doctor died, deeply regretted by the entire Christian world, in 430.

Read the lives of the Saints, and you will find yourself living amid company to whose standards you will be forced to raise, at least in some measure, your own in your daily life.


St. Augustine's Sighs for Heaven

 The heart pants after the fountain of water, so my soul pants after the strong living God. When shall I come and appear before the face of my God?

O Fountain of life, Source of living waters, when shall I pass from this desert, this pathless barren land, to the waters of Your sweetness, to gaze upon Your beauty and glory, and to slake my soul's thirst at the gushing streams of Your love! O when shall I come and appear before Your face? O bright and glorious day that knows no evening, whose sun shall never set, in which shall be heard the voice of praise, the voice of joy and thanksgiving, Your voice, O God, saying unto me: "Enter into the joy of the Lord!" Enter into joy everlasting, into tranquil joy, into ecstatic happiness, into a blissful eternity, into the house of the Lord, your God, where are things great and unsearchable, wonderful things without number.

Enter into joy wherein there is no sorrow, naught but untroubled gladness; wherein is all manner of good and nothing of evil; wherein all your heart's desires shall be satisfied, and all that you fear or hate shall be removed far from you; wherein life shall be calm, and glad, and thrilling; wherein the hateful enemy shall not enter, nor shall any breath of temptation come near you; wherein are supreme and unshaken security, an eternal blessedness, the Blessed Trinity, the Godhead in unity, the ecstatic vision of the Godhead! There you shall find gladness without sorrow, health without pain, light without darkness, life without toil, life without death. There the vigor of youth knows no decay, beauty withers not, love grows not cold, nor does joy pass away. O joy upon joy, Joy transcending all joys! When shall I enter into you, and behold my Lord Whose dwelling is in you?

O Christ, our Refuge and our Strength, hope of the human race, You Whose light shines from afar upon the dark clouds that hang around us, behold Your redeemed ones who cry unto You--Your banished ones whom You have purchased with Your own most Precious Blood! Hear us, O God, our Savior, Who are the hope of all the ends of the earth! Guide us amid the shoals and quicksands that beset our course, and bring us in safety to the haven for which we long. Amen.



St. Augustine, pray for us and help us come to the total Truth as you did. Amen!

St. Augustine prayer to Our Mother

 I'm adding a prayer that St. Augustine offered to this same beautiful Mother of ours:

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary

by St. Augustine

O blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay thee thy just dues of praise and thanksgiving, thou who by the wondrous assent of thy will didst rescue a fallen world? What songs of praise can our weak human nature recite in thy honor, since it is by thy intervention alone that it has found the way to restoration? Accept, then, such poor thanks as we have here to offer, though they be unequal to thy merits; and, receiving our vows, obtain by thy prayers the remission of our offenses.

Carry thou our prayers within the sanctuary of the heavenly audience, and bring forth from it the antidote of our reconciliation. May the sins we bring before Almighty God through thee, become pardonable through thee; may what we ask for with sure confidence, through thee be granted. Take our offering, grant us our requests, obtain pardon for what we fear, for thou art the sole hope of sinners. Through thee we hope for the remission of our sins, and in thee, O blessed Lady, is our hope of reward. Holy Mary, succour the miserable, help the fainthearted, comfort the sorrowful, pray for thy people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God; may all who keep thy holy commemoration feel now thy help and protection. Be thou ever ready to assist us when we pray, and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it thy continual care to pray for the people of God, thou who, blessed by God, didst merit to bear the Redeemer of the world, who liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen..


(Indulgence of 3 years)

12th Sunday after Pentecost

 

This Sunday is the 12th Sunday after Pentecost. Man, how time seems to be flying by this summer. Anyway, we are told of the 'Good Samaritan', and how this man who was from another country (which was despised by the Jews), helped someone in need that he happened to be passing. The Jewish nation even today refuses to see what is right in front of their faces. The Eternal Truth. We are to try to be so much better than this. According to our beloved Abbot Gueranger, from (The Liturgical Year):

'The Christian, on the contrary, with the holy daring of which the Apostle (Paul) speaks, removes all intermediaries between God and himself, and draws aside the veil of all figures. Beholding the glory of the Lord with face uncovered, we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord', for we become other christs, and are made like to God the Father, as is His Son Jesus Christ.


 Thus is fulfilled the will of the almighty Father for the sanctification of the elect. God sees Himself reflected in these predestined, who are becoming, in the beautiful light divine, conformable to the image of His Son. He could say of each one of them what He spoke at the Jordan and on Thabor: "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." He makes them His true temple, verifying the word He spoke of old: "I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you: I will walk among you, and will be your God; I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north: "Give up!" and to the south: "Keep not back!" Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth!'

Such are the promises, for whose realization we should, as the apostle says, be all earnestness in working out our sanctification, by cleansing ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, in the fear of God, and in His love.'

The kings and prophets of the Old Testament looked ahead to what was coming, but we are the ones who see it. Speaking of these people of old, our Abbot continues:

'...Heedless of the mockeries, as well as of the persecutions, of the world that was not worthy to possess such men, these champions of the faith were seen wandering in the deserts, sheltering in dens and caves, and yet happy in the love of One whom they knew they were not to see until long ages after their death.

Do we, then, who are their descendants,--we for whom they were obliged to wait, in order to enjoy a share of those blessings which their sighs and vehement desires did so much to hasten,--appreciate the immense favor bestowed on us by our Lord? Our virtue scarcely bears comparison with that of the fathers of our Faith; and nevertheless, by the descent of the Holy Spirit of love, we have been more enlightened than ever were the prophets, for, by that Holy Spirit, we have been put in possession of the mysteries which they only foretold. How is it, then, that we are so sadly slow to feel the obligation we are under of responding, by holiness of life, and by an ardent and generous love, to the liberality of that God, who has gratuitously called us from darkness to His admirable light? Having so great a cloud of witnesses over our heads, let us lay aside the burden of sin which impedes us, and run, by patience, in the fight proposed to us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of Faith, who, having joy set before Him, preferred to endure the Cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of God. We know Him with greater certainty than we do the events which are happening under our eyes, for He Himself, by His Holy Spirit, is ever within us, incorporating His mysteries into us.'

As Jesus Himself says in the Gospel according to St. Luke today: "BLESSED ARE THE EYES THAT SEE THE THINGS WHICH YOU SEE. FOR I SAY TO YOU, THAT MANY PROPHETS AND KINGS HAVE DESIRED TO SEE THE THINGS THAT YOU SEE, AND HAVE NOT SEEN THEM: AND TO HEAR THE THINGS THAT YOU HEAR, AND HAVE NOT HEARD THEM."

Christ calls His disciples blessed. This is because they had the happiness which so many patriarchs and prophets had desired in vain, namely: of seeing Him and hearing His teaching in Person. Though we have not the happiness to see Jesus and hear Him, nevertheless we are not less blessed than the apostles, since Christ pronounces those blessed who do not see and yet believe. (John XX. 29.) This is why John the Baptist was called the greatest prophet, since he saw Jesus in Person and pointed Him out to those around him. If only they had the eyes of Faith!

May we see what we are supposed to see, and hear what we're supposed to hear, and pass it on. Let us help those who are not as fortunate as us; that is, having the True Faith.

FORGET HISTORY?

In the current country woes we have useful idiots leading sheeple to do stupid things.  These people want to delete our country's history.  Do they NOT know that some of our founding Fathers along with some black people owned slaves?  I doubt they do know this, as well as pretty much anything else.  Do they know that General Robert E. Lee would have been the leader of the Union had not Virginia, his state, decided to secede the union.  He would NOT fight against his own people.

These clueless morons call President Trump a Nazi.  However, they don't seem to have a problem endorsing the Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin Socialism, in which the government runs everything.  We definitely need some divine help.

 A certain historian, Steven Ambrose, wrote the following quote.  I got it from a crossword puzzle.  I am a cruciverbalist, a crossword junkie. (can't even find this word anymore in the dictionary, since it has also been dumbed down).  Anyway, here is the quote:

"The past is a source of knowledge and the future is a source of hope.  Love for the past implies faith in the future."

These dumbbells know nothing of the past before the 1960's when history started in their lives, and our future looks grim.

Stephen Edward Ambrose was an American historian and biographer of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

Born: January 10, 1936, Lovington, IL

Died: October 13, 2002, Bay St. Louis, MS

 

A couple more quotes by him:

 

"You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school."

"World War II, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, made it hard for Americans to continue their optimism."

St. Zephyrinus, Pope/Martyr

 

ST. ZEPHYRINUS, Pope and Martyr.ZEPHYRINUS, a native of Rome, succeeded Victor in the pontificate, in the year 202, in which Severus raised the fifth most bloody persecution against the Church, which continued not for two years only, but until the death of that emperor in 211. Under this furious storm this holy pastor was the support and comfort of the distressed flock of Christ, and he suffered by charity and compassion what every confessor underwent. The triumphs of the martyrs were indeed his joy, but his heart received many deep wounds from the fall of apostates and heretics. Neither did this latter affliction cease when peace was restored to the Church. Our Saint had also the affliction to see the fall of Tertullian, which seems to have been owing partly to his pride. Eusebius tells us that this holy Pope exerted his zeal so strenuously against the blasphemies of the heretics that they treated him in the most contumelious manner; but it was his glory that they called him the principal defender of Christ's divinity. St. Zephyrinus filled the pontifical chair seventeen years, dying in 219. He was buried in his own cemetery on the Appian Way, near the cemetery of St. Callixtus, on the 26th of August. He is, in some Martyrologies, styled a martyr, which title he might deserve by what he suffered in the persecution, though he perhaps did not die by the executioner. He was, however, crowned by martyrdom under the emperor Antoninus. He was taken off the list of martyrs after Vat. II, since they said that he was NOT an actual martyr. I guess suffering and pains do NOT qualify anyone as a martyr anymore!


Another take with more history:

Date of birth unknown; died 20 Dec., 217. After the death of Pope Victor in 198, Zephyrinus was elected his successor and consecrated. The pope is described by Hippolytus in the “Philosophymena” (IX, xi) as a simple man without education.

This is evidently to be understood as meaning that Zephyrinus had not taken the higher studies and had devoted himself to the practical administration of the Church and not to theological learning. Immediately after his elevation to the Roman See, Zephyrinus called to Rome the confessor Callixtus, who lived at Antium and who had received a monthly pension from Pope Victor, and entrusted him with the oversight of the coemeterium.

It is evident that shortly before this the Roman Christian community had, under Victor, become the owner of a common place of burial on the Via Appia, and Zephyrinus now placed Callixtus over this cemetery which was given the name of Callixtus. Undoubtedly Callistus was also made a deacon of the Roman Church by Zephyrinus. He was the confidential counsellor of the pope, whom he succeeded. The positions of the Christians, which had remained favourable in the first years of the government of Emperor Septimus Severus (193-211), grew constantly worse, and in 202 or 203 the edict of persecution appeared which forbade conversion to Christianity under the severest penalties. Nothing is known as to the execution of the edict in Rome itself nor of the martyrs of the Roman Church in this era.

More, however, is certain concerning the internal disputes in the Roman Church over the doctrine of the Trinity. The adherents of the heretical teacher Theodotus the Tanner had been excommunicated with their leader by Pope Victor. They formed an independent heretical community at Rome which was ruled by another Theodotus, the Money Changer, and Aselepodotus. These men persuaded a confessor of Rome named Natalis, who had acknowledged his faith without wavering before the heathen judge and had suffered torture, to permit himself to be made the bishop of the sect for a monthly payment of 170 denarii. Natalis, however, received many warnings in dreams. At first he paid no attention to these visions, but on one occasion he believed that he had been severely tortured by angels and now he began to ponder the matter. Early in the morning he put on a penitential garment, covered himself with ashes, and threw himself with tears at the feet of Zephyrinus.

He confessed his wrong-doing and begged to be received again into the communion of the Church, which was finally granted him (Eusebius, “Hist. eccl.”, V, xxxii). In the same era the adherents of Montanus also worked with great energy at Rome. The Montanist Proculus (or Proclus) published a work in defense of the new prophecies. A refutation of Proclus in the form of a dialogue was written by a learned and rigidly orthodox Roman Christian named Caius, wherein he refers to the grave of St. Peter on the Vatican Hill and of St. Paul on the Via Ostiensis. Caius rejects the Apocalypse of St. John, which he regards as a work of the heretic Cerinthus. In opposition to Caius, Hippolytus wrote his “Capita contra Caium” (cf. Eusebius, “Hist. eccl.”, III, xxviii; VI, xx).

Hippolytus was the most important theologian among the Roman presbyters of this era. He was an avowed adherent of the doctrine of the Divine Logos. He taught that the Divine Logos became man in Christ, that the Logos differs in every thing from God, that he is the mediary between God and the world of creatures. This doctrine in the form in which it was set forth by Hippolytus and his school aroused many doubts, and another theological school appeared in opposition to it.

This latter school was represented at Rome in this era by Cleomenes and particularly by Sabellius. These men were rigid opponents of the Theodotians, but were not willing to acknowledge the incarnation of the Logos, and emphasized above all the absolute unity (monarchia) of God. They explained the Incarnation of Christ in the sense that this was another manifestation (modus) of God in His union with human nature. Consequently they were called Modalists or Patripassians, as according to them it was not the Son of God but the Father Who had been crucified. The Christian common people held firmly, above all, to the Unity of God and at the same time to the true Godhead of Jesus Christ. Originally no distrust of this doctrine was felt among them. Pope Zephyrinus did not interpose authoritatively in the dispute between the two schools. The heresy of the Modalists was not at first clearly evident, and the doctrine of Hippolytus offered many difficulties as regards the tradition of the Church.

Zephyrinus said simply that he acknowledged only one God, and this was the Lord Jesus Christ, but it was the Son, not the Father, Who had died. This was the doctrine of the tradition of the Church. Hippolytus urged that the pope should approve of a distinct dogma which represented the Person of Christ as actually different from that of the Father and condemned the opposing views of the Monarchians and Patripassians. However, Zephyrinus would not consent to this. The result was that Hippolytus grew constantly more irritated and angry against he pope and particularly against the deacon Callistus whom, as the councillor of the pope, he made responsible for the position of the latter. When after the death of Zephyrinus, Callixtus was elected Roman bishop, Hippolytus withdrew from the Church with his scholars, caused a schism, and made himself a rival bishop.

Zephyrinus was buried in a separate sepulchral chamber over the cemetery of Calixtus on the Via Appia The “Liber Pontificalis” attributes two Decrees to Zephyrinus; one on the ordination of the clergy and the other on the Eucharistic Liturgy in the title churches of Rome.

Reflection.—God has always raised up holy pastors zealous to maintain the faith of His Church inviolable, and to watch over the purity of its morals and the sanctity of its discipline. We enjoy the greatest advantages of the divine grace through their labors, and we owe to God a tribute of perpetual thanksgiving and immortal praise for all those mercies which He has afforded His Church on earth.

Prayer to him:Victor I was the Pontiff of the Pasch; and thou also, his successor, wast devoured by the zeal of God's house, to maintain and increase the regularity, the dignity, and the splendor of the divine worship on earth. In heaven the court of the Conqueror of death gained, during thy pontificate, many noble members, such as Irenaeus, Perpetua, and the countless martyrs who triumphed in the persecution of Septimus Severus. In the midst of dangerous snares thou wast the divinely assisted guardian of the Truth, whom our Lord had promised to His Church. Thy fidelity was rewarded by the increasing advancement of the bride of Jesus, and by the definitive establishment of her foothold upon the world which she is to gain over wholly to her Spouse. We shall meet thee again in October, in company with Callixtus, who is now thy deacon, but will then, in his turn, be vicar of the God-Man. Today give us thy paternal blessing; and make us ever true sons (and daughters) of St. Peter. Amen.

St. Louis IX

SAINT LOUIS IX
King of France
(1215-1270)

(I actually took this photo one time when I was in St. Louis, MO)

The mother of the incomparable St. Louis IX of France, Blanche of Castille, told him when he was still a child that she would rather see him dead in a coffin than stained by a single mortal sin. He never forgot her words. Raised to the throne and anointed in the Rheims Cathedral at the age of twelve, while still remaining under his mother's regency for several years, he made the defense of God's honor the aim of his life.
It was his Christian (Catholic) Faith that made Louis IX so great a prince. A fearless protector of the weak and the oppressed, a monarch whose justice was universally recognized, he was chosen to arbitrate in all the great feuds of his age.

Pope Leo XIII, speaking with the precision and power which characterize his infallible teaching: "As there are on earth two great societies: the one civil, whose immediate end is to procure the temporal and earthly well being of the human race; the other religious, whose aim is to lead men to the eternal happiness for which they were created: so, also God has divided the government of the world between two powers. Each of these is supreme in its kind; each is bound by definite limits drawn in conformity with its nature and its peculiar end. Jesus Christ, the Founder of the Church, willed that they should be distinct from one another, and that they both should be free from trammels in the accomplishment of their respective mission; yet with this provision, that in those matters which appertain to the jurisdiction and judgment of both, though on different grounds, the power which is concerned with temporal interests, must depend, as is fitting, on that power which watches over eternal interests. Finally, both being subject to the eternal and to the natural Law, they must in such a manner mutually agree in what concerns the order and government of each, as to form a relationship comparable to the union of soul and body in man." (Therefore, NO government has the right to adopt ANYTHING which opposes God and His Commandments, which we see these days)

St. Louis fulfilled these duties, running both shows while at the same time giving God all of the credit. Who does this anymore? From Paralip. xxxiv, 31-33, 'He made a covenant before the Lord to walk after Him and keep His commandments; and cause them to be kept by all.' God was his end, Faith was his guide: herein lies the whole secret of his government as well as of his sanctity. As a Christian, he was a servant of Christ, as a prince he was Christ's lieutenant; the aspirations of the Christian and those of the prince did not divide his soul; this unity was his strength, as it is now his glory.

In 1248, to rescue the land where Christ had walked, he gathered round him the chivalry of France, and embarked for the East. He visited the holy places; approaching Nazareth he dismounted, knelt down to pray, then entered on foot. He visited the Holy House of Nazareth and on its wall a fresco was afterwards painted, still visible when the House was translated to Loreto, depicting him offering his manacles to the Mother of God. Wherever he was: at home with his many children, facing the infidel armies, in victory or in defeat, on a bed of sickness or as a captive in chains, King Louis showed himself ever the same - the first, the best, and the bravest of Christian knights.

When he was a captive at Damietta, an Emir rushed into his tent brandishing a dagger red with the blood of the Sultan, and threatened to stab him also unless he would make him a knight. Louis calmly replied that no unbeliever could perform the duties of a Christian knight. In the same captivity he was offered his liberty on terms lawful in themselves, but enforced by an oath which implied a blasphemy, and although the infidels held their swords' points at his throat and threatened a massacre of the Christians, Louis inflexibly refused.

The death of his mother recalled him to France in 1252; but when order was re-established he again set out for a second crusade. In August of 1270 his army landed at Tunis, won a victory over the enemy, then was laid low by a malignant fever. Saint Louis was one of the victims. He received the Viaticum kneeling by his camp bed, and gave up his life with the same joy in which he had given all else for the honor of God.

Before he passed on to eternal glory, he had these words for his son Philip:

"Dear son, the first thing I admonish thee is that thou set thy heart to love God, for without that nothing else is of any worth. Beware of doing what displeases God, that is to say mortal sin; yea rather oughtest thou to suffer all manner of torments. If God send thee adversity, receive it in patience, and give thanks for it to our Lord, and think that thou hast done Him ill service. If He give thee prosperity, thank Him humbly for the same and be not the worse, either by pride or in any other manner, for that very thing that ought to make thee better; for we must not use God's gifts against Himself. Have a kind and pitiful heart towards the poor and the unfortunate, and comfort and assist them as much as thou canst. Keep up the good customs of thy kingdom, and put down all bad ones. Love all that is good and hate all that is evil of any sort/ Suffer no ill word about God and our Lady or the saints to be spoken in thy presence, that thou dost not straightway punish. In the administering of justice be loyal to thy subjects, without turning aside to the right or the left; but help the right, and take the part of the poor until the whole truth be cleared up. Honor and love all ecclesiastical persons, and take care that they be not deprived of the gifts and alms that thy predecessors may have given them. Dear son, I admonish thee that thou be ever devoted to the Church of Rome, and to the sovereign Bishop our father, and honor as thou ought to do to thy spiritual father. Exert thyself that every vile sin be abolished from thy land; especially to the best of thy power put down all wicked oaths and heresy. Fair son, I give thee all the blessings that a good father can give to a son; may the blessed Trinity and all the saints guard thee and protect thee from all evils; may God give thee grace to do His will always, and may He be honored by thee, and may thou and I after this mortal life be together in His company and praise Him without end!"

He truly lived his life as we all should, and showed leaders how they are supposed to live their lives as well. Our beloved Abbot Gueranger adds: 'For God, Who commands us to obey at all times the power actually established, is ever the Master of nations and the unchangeable disposer of their changeable destinies. Then every one of thy descendants, taught by a sad experience, will be bound to remember, O Louis, thy last recommendation: 'Exert thyself that every vile sin be abolished from thy land; especially, to the best of thy power, put down all wicked oaths and heresy.'

This is called the 'Imperishable Crown'

St. Louis, pray for us and for all leaders of the earth.

St. Bartholomew

This is a Statue of St. Bartholomew in Milan, Italy


One of the original witnesses of the Son of God; one of the princes who announced His glory to the nations, lights up this day with his Apostolic flame. Saint Bartholomew, Bar-Tolmai or son of Tolmai, was one of the twelve Apostles called to the apostolate by our Blessed Lord Himself. His name is more adequately rendered by his given name, Nathanael. If one wonders why the synoptic Gospels always call him Bartholomew, it would be because the name Nathanael in Hebrew is equivalent to that of Matthew, since both in Hebrew signify gift of God; in this way the Evangelists avoided all confusion between the two Apostles. He was a native of Cana in Galilee, a doctor of the Jewish law, and a friend of Philip.

Philip, advised by Peter and Andrew, hastened to communicate to his friend the good news of his discovery of Christ: "We have found Him whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, wrote! Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, "Behold a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile." (Cf. John 1:45-49) His innocence and simplicity of heart deserved to be celebrated with this high praise in the divine mouth of Our Redeemer. And Nathanael, when Jesus told him He had already seen him in a certain place, confessed his faith at once: "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel!" To this Jesus responded: "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these." And he did. But Jesus continued, "Truly, truly, I tell you, you will see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." Bartholomew lived to see the Resurrection.

Being eminently qualified by divine grace to discharge the functions of an Apostle, he carried the Gospel through the most barbarous countries of the East, penetrating into the remoter Indies, baptizing neophytes and casting out demons. A copy of the Gospel of St. Matthew written in Hebrew was found in India by St. Pantaenus in the third century, taken there, according to local tradition, by Saint Bartholomew. Saint John Chrysostom said the Apostle also preached in Asia Minor and, with Saint Philip, suffered there, though not mortally, for the faith. Saint Bartholomew's last mission was in Greater Armenia, where, preaching in a place obstinately addicted to the worship of idols, he was crowned with a glorious martyrdom. He was flayed alive and then beheaded. The modern Greek historians say that he was condemned by the governor of Albanopolis to be crucified. Others affirm that he was flayed alive, which treatment might well have accompanied his crucifixion, this double punishment being in use not only in Egypt, but also among the Persians.

The characteristic virtue of the Apostles was zeal for the divine glory, the first property of the love of God. A soldier is always ready to defend the honor of his prince, and a son that of his father; and can a Christian say he loves God who is indifferent to His honor?

The following is taken from Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876
I. Bartholomew, the holy Apostle, threw himself on his knees a hundred times during the day, and as often at night, to pray to the Almighty. An Apostle found leisure for this, though overburdened with work and assured of divine aid in all his undertakings. You have not so much work, neither are you assured of divine aid, and yet you seldom take refuge in prayer to the Almighty. What is the reason of this? You are perhaps, one of those negligent persons, who do not even think of their morning and evening prayers, but like dumb brutes rise and lie down again. Of course, it never comes into your mind to pray during the day. Do you call that, I will not say, a Christian, but even a rational life? Will you go on in this manner? I do not require of you to bend your knees a hundred times during the day and night, but I advise you to pray more frequently and more devoutly than you have done heretofore.

Before all things, do not omit to turn your thoughts to heaven, morning and evening, if only for one short prayer. If ever you omit to do this, let it be on those days when you need no benefits from the Almighty. But when will such a day dawn? Surely, never as long as you live; for there is no day in which neither your soul nor your body may be exposed to such dangers as to require the assistance of the Most High. Hence it is no more than your duty to pray in the morning most fervently for this divine assistance. And as no day passes on which the Almighty bestows no grace on you either in soul or body, it is therefore no less your duty at the close of the day to offer Him your grateful thanks. During the night, you are as little secure from the persecutions of the evil one, and of wicked men, as during the day; hence, you need God's protection at night as well as in the day. But how can you expect this aid, if you do not even ask for it? St. John Chrysostom says: "We rise in the morning and know not what may happen to us through the day; we live surrounded by danger: why then, do we not call on God for help?" Let it at least be done morning and night, and also during the day, while you are at your work.

Hear the words of St. Lawrence Justinian: "Nothing is so powerful to overcome the rage of our enemies as continual prayer. But as other affairs do not permit us to pray continually, we ought to pray during our work. He who is occupied with good works, prays to God with a loud voice, though his tongue is silent. We ought, nevertheless, to endeavor, before we begin our day's labor, to send a prayer on high. For, as a soldier without his weapons dares not enter the field of battle, so a Christian should begin nothing without arming himself with prayer. When going out and returning home, prayer should accompany him. He should not lie down to rest before having recommended himself, soul and body, to the Almighty."
II. St. Bartholomew rather suffered himself to be flayed than offend God by sacrificing to an idol. The martyrdom was inhuman, the pain inexpressibly great. But all this had an end; all was soon over. Had he acted differently, had he offended God, he would have escaped this dreadful torture, but he would now be suffering much greater pains, and such as never end; as the tyrant and those idolatrous priests suffer, who were the cause of his martyrdom. They were tormented during thirty days on earth, and after that, they have suffered in hell until now, and will suffer for all eternity. Hence, tell me, if you had to suffer, either with the holy Apostle, or with the idolatrous priests and the tyrant, with whom would you rather share the pains? I believe that you would certainly prefer to be flayed with St. Bartholomew; for, his sufferings, although so terrible, ended, and, in comparison with the pains of hell, were but very trifling. I ask you further: why then have you so frequently offended God when you had not to fear torments?

Why have you voluntarily placed yourself in danger of being cast forever into the torments of hell? Ah! you cannot have considered the pains, the torments which attend the sinner in hell! Think seriously of it in future, and you will not sin, and will therefore escape hell. To think frequently of hell, is a powerful means to escape it; and to forget it, casts many into the whirlpool of sin, and thence into hell. St. John Chrysostom writes of the rich man as follows: "If this man had thought of the fire of hell, he would never have sinned: but never calling it to mind, he sinned, and thus was cast into the flames." Hence I advise you to think often of hell.


Prayer: Be Thou, O Lord, eternally praised and blessed, for having communicated Thy spirit to the holy prophets and apostles, disclosing to them admirable secrets, redounding to Thy glory and our great good. We firmly believe their word, because it is Thine. Give us, we beseech Thee, the happiness to understand their instructions, and so conform our lives thereto, that at the hour of death we may merit to be received by Thee into the mansions of eternal bliss.

St. Philip Benizi

Our Lady is now reigning in heaven. Her triumph over death cost her no labor; and yet it was through suffering that she, like Jesus, entered into her glory. We too cannot attain eternal happiness otherwise than did the Son of the Mother. Let us keep in mind the sweet joys we have been tasting during the past week; but let us not forget that our own journey to heaven is not yet completed. "Why stand ye looking up into heaven?", said the angels to the disciples on Ascension Day, in the Name of the Lord Who had gone up in a cloud; for the disciples, who had for an instant beheld the threshold of heaven, could not resign themselves to turn their eyes once more down to this valley of exile. Mary, in her turn, sends us a message today from the bright land where we are to follow her, and where we shall surround her after having in the sorrows of exile merited to form her court: without distracting us from her, the apostle of her Dolors, Philip Benizi, reminds us of our true condition of strangers and pilgrims upon earth. (from The Liturgical Year) 
 

St. Philip Benizi, Confessor
by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876


St. Philip Benizi was born at Florence, and before his birth the Almighty had revealed to his pious mother, that he would become illustrious for his holiness. It seemed to her that a bright shining light emanated from her, which, spreading more and more, at last illumined the whole world with its rays. This was one of the inducements which led her to neglect nothing that was necessary to form in her son the mind and heart of a Saint. She was still more strengthened in this by the following event. Two Religious of the newly founded order of the Servites came to her house. Philip, at that time only five months old; after looking at them for some moments, said: " Behold the servants of Mary, give alms to them, my mother." All present, greatly surprised at this miracle, concluded rightly that God had ordained a remarkable future for this child. The same might be divined from his entire conduct, while yet but a child: all his actions seemed to be imprinted with the seal of holiness.

Having finished his studies, he was one day thinking about his vocation, and it being the Thursday after Easter, he went into the Chapel of the Servites, which stood on the outskirts of Florence, to attend holy Mass. At the Epistle were read the words of the Holy Ghost to St. Philip: " Draw near, and join thyself to the chariot." Having heard these words, he went into an ecstasy, and it seemed to him that he was alone in a vast wilderness, where nothing was to be seen but sterile mountains, steep rocks and cliffs, or marshes overgrown with thorns, swarming with poisonous reptiles, and full of snares. He screamed with fear, and looking around how to save himself, he saw, high in the air, the Blessed Virgin in a chariot, surrounded by Angels and Saints, and holding in her hand the habit of the Servites. At the same time, he heard from the lips of Mary the words which had just been read in the Epistle. "Draw near, and join thyself to the Chariot." After this revelation, Philip no longer doubted that he was called to enter the order of the Servites, and going, the following day, to the dwelling of the seven founders of this order, he desired to be received as a lay-brother.

He was readily accepted, but after having served in that capacity a few years, his talent, knowledge and holiness were so manifest, that he was made priest: after which he was raised from one dignity to another, until he was at last made General of the entire order. Although he at first humbly opposed this choice, yet when forced to obey, he became zealous in his labors to disseminate the principles of the holy Order, whose object is to reverence the Blessed Virgin and to promote her honor. He sent some of the religious to Scythia, to preach the Gospel and to spread the veneration of the Blessed Virgin. He himself with two companions went through an incredible number of cities and provinces, everywhere exhorting sinners to repentance, endeavoring to calm the contentions which at that period disturbed the Christian world, disabusing by his sermons those who refused obedience to the Pope, and animating all to greater love of God and devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

The Lord aided him visibly in all his undertakings, and obtained for him the highest regard from both clergy and laity. When the Cardinals, assembled at Viterbo to elect a new Pope, were unable to agree, they at length unanimously chose Philip, as all deemed him worthy of this high dignity. Philip, informed of it, was terrified and fled into the desert of Mount Thuniat, where he remained concealed in a cavern, until another was elected Pope: which was not less an evidence of his humility, than his election had been of the high regard in which his virtues and the many miracles he had performed were held by the Prelates of the Church. His innocence and purity he carried unspotted to the grave, but in order to preserve them he was very severe to himself. He possessed in an eminent degree, the spirit of prayer; for, besides occupying a great portion of the night in devotional exercises, he also raised his mind to God, during his various occupations, by means of short aspirations. He never undertook anything without first recommending it in prayer to God, and the more important the affair, the longer and more fervent were his prayers.

The only object of his many and laborious voyages was the glory of God and the good of men, and his constant endeavor was to prevent offences of the Divine Majesty and to work for the salvation of souls. But how shall we express his tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin, whom he had loved and honored as a mother from his earliest childhood? In her honor while yet a youth, he kept several festivals and performed many prayers, and he entered the Order of the Servites, because they regarded it their duty to promote her veneration and honor. In every sermon, he admonished the people to honor Mary and to call upon her in all their troubles. In a word, he neglected nothing which he deemed necessary or useful to institute and disseminate due devotion to the Queen of Heaven. Although in many places, he had to endure much hardship and persecution, his love of God and the Blessed Virgin could not be discouraged from continuing in his apostolic labors.

Meanwhile, the weakness of his body manifested plainly that his last hour was approaching. He therefore went to his convent at Todi, and there first visited the Church. He prostrated himself before the Altar, and when, after a long and fervent prayer, he again rose, he said: "Lord, receive my thanks ; here is my place of rest." On the festival of the Assumption of Our Lady, he preached his last sermon with such eloquence and unction, that all his listeners were greatly moved. On leaving the pulpit, he was seized with a fever, which, although by others thought of no consequence, was regarded by himself as a messenger of death. Hence, he had himself carried into a special apartment and laid down; but could not be persuaded to divest himself of the rough hair-shirt which he constantly wore. The days that he remained on earth after this, he employed in instructing and exhorting his religious, in prayers to God, and invoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin; in repenting of his sins and in longing to be admitted to the presence of the Most High. After having received, with great devotion, the holy Sacraments, he requested his brethren to say the litany of the Saints. When they came to the words: "We sinners; we beseech Thee to hear us!" he fell into an ecstasy, and lost his consciousness to such a degree that he seemed already to have expired.

In this state he remained for three hours, when one of his friends loudly called him. He awakened as if from a deep slumber, and related how fearful a struggle he had had with Satan; how the latter had reproached him with his sins, and endeavored to make him despair of the mercy of God. But when the combat was at its height, the Blessed Virgin had appeared to him, and, driving away Satan, had not only saved him from all danger, but had also shown him the crown which awaited him in the other world. Having related this to those around him, who were all awestruck, he requested what he called "his book," the Crucifix, and pressing it to his heart, he intoned the hymn of praise of St. Zachary, and after it, the 30th Psalm: "In thee, O Lord, have I hoped !" Arriving at the words: "Into thy hands I commend my spirit," he looked once again at the Crucifix, and kissing it, ended his holy and useful life, on the octave of our Lady's Assumption, in the year 1285. The biography of this Saint contains many miracles which he performed during his life, and many more which took place, by his intercession, after his happy death.

 I. St. Philip Benizi was tried before his end by a great struggle. Satan reproached him with his sins, although they had been small and had been long since repented of, thus endeavoring to drive him to despair. If this happened to the green wood, what will be done with that which is dry? What combat will be in store for sinners, who during their lives, unheedingly committed iniquities, not troubling themselves about penance? If Satan thus alarmed St. Philip by recalling to him his small sins, how will he terrify those to whom he can point out great sins and perhaps sins not well confessed? If Satan dared to endeavor to cause despair in so holy a man, how much more will he tempt him, who, during his life, has so often and so wantonly offended the Almighty, and who has drunk sin like water! Ah! be careful, oh sinner! and learn not to believe Satan. When he tempts you to do wrong, he represents everything as very easy; he says nothing of the greatness of sin. He speaks to you of the mercy of God, saying: "You can confess it. God is merciful. He will forgive you." Consider it well; by representing to you the mercy of God, he tempts you to sin; but in the hour of your death, he turns that very mercy against you. Then he represents the greatness of your sin and the strict justice of God, in order to fill your soul with despair. Hence, do not believe him now. Place before your eyes at present the greatness of sin and the justice of the Almighty, that you may avoid evil, or, if you have become guilty of it, that you may do penance. If you do this now, you may in your last hour, comfort yourself with the thought of the Divine mercy. "Never trust thine enemy." (Eccl. xii.)

II. St. Philip Benizi was visibly aided in his great struggle by the Divine mother, who drove Satan away, and showed to the dying Saint the crown that awaited him in heaven. Thus did the most loving mother recompense the devotion of her faithful servant. If you wish to receive her aid, honor her with true filial devotion. Ask her frequently and fervently to obtain from God the grace to combat valiantly the temptations of Satan now, as well as at the hour of your death. She will hear your prayers and will assist you. The evil spirits, who fear the name of Mary, will flee from you. "The spirits of hell," says the pious St. Thomas a Kempis, "fear the Queen of heaven and flee as soon as they hear her name." St. Bonaventure writes: "Visible enemies fear not a well drilled army, so much as the evil spirits fear the name of Mary."

I would like to end with a couple of quotes which should inspire us to lead good, holy lives, and teach our children to do the same.

St. Teresa of Avila tells us that "we will never do anything great for God is we don't realize the great gifts that God has given us. The very fact that you have the Catholic Faith at this time of apostasy shows that you are especially blessed by God. Count yourselves extremely blessed. Hold onto your Catholic Faith, despite all the things going on around you--not only in your own life but in the world in general and in the Church."


"My children," said the Curé of Ars, St. John Vianney: "I often think that most of the Christians who are lost are lost for want of instruction; they do not know their religion well."


Let's get busy, for we have work to do.



Here's some extra credit reading for you, concerning the Servite Order.


The Seven Holy Founders of the
Servite Order
by C. Kegan Paul, 1895

The Order of Servites, or Servants of Mary, is an order of friars, who follow the rule of Saint Augustine. It was instituted in Italy in the thirteenth century by seven rich men of Florence, and has for its special object meditation on the Dolours of the most holy Virgin, that its members may feel and share them with her, and propagate this devotion among the faithful.

The coming of the Friars marks the very heart of the Middle Ages. St. Dominic was born in 1170, St. Francis in n 82, St. Bonfilius, the eldest of the Servites, in 1198; and the special task of each of the three Orders was closely allied to those of the others. St. Dominic took the doctrine of Christ as his charge, to preach it everywhere, and set it forth in all its splendour; St. Francis embraced Christian morality, to practice it in all its heroism, and show the inexpressible sweetness which underlay its most austere observances. The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, like loving and tender children, devoted themselves to her, who had borne Christ Himself in her immaculate bosom, Christ, source of all truth and principle of all good; to her, the inseparable coadjutrix of Jesus in the redemption of souls; to her who gave to the world the Word full of grace and truth, the Saviour sacrificed in His infinite love for the salvation and the blessing of all men.

Thus while St. Dominic and St. Francis manifested Christ to those eager to know and to love Him, the seven Saints of Florence showed forth the sweet and radiant face of the Virgin, the Mother who from Bethlehem to Calvary encircles with the aureole of her love Him who wrought the glory of God, who is the Conqueror of souls.

Innocent III. was in the chair of St. Peter, keeping a brave heart among the many distractions of the Christian world. Germany was a prey to civil war between the Emperor Otho IV. and Philip of Swabia; France was under the glorious rule of Philip Augustus who, having returned from the third Crusade, conquered Normandy, Maine, Anjou and Poitou, but showed himself a true son of the Church in submitting wholly to Innocent in the question of his marriage, having wished to repudiate his wife Ingeburge. Not so John in England, more disloyal to the Holy See than any King of England, till he arose who brought about the great apostacy. Spain was in the agony of the Mahomedan invasion. In the East, Jerusalem had again fallen into the power of the Infidel, and the Pope incited and arranged the fourth Crusade. But the Eastern Empire alone fell, and the Holy Places were not freed.

Coming nearer to his own realm, the Pope looked out on a stormy and distracted land. Except the States of the Church and the kingdom of Sicily, then under a Regency, all the important towns were at strife with their neighbours, either forming round them independent communes, or becoming the centres of small republics. They lived in a state of perpetual feud, happy only if they had peace within their own borders, as Florence had for the moment. Later, in Dante's time, who probably knew some of the early Servite Saints, there were no less than seven intrenched camps belonging to different factions within the City of Florence itself. Though of course politically divided by the two great parties, the Guelfs and the Ghibellines, their dissensions were but political; war with those without had not become civil war.

The Church and the offices of religion constituted the whirlwind's heart of peace, and the many confraternities to which pious laymen belonged, brought men together, who would not otherwise have known each other, of all opinions and all stations. In them, Guelf and Ghibelline, merchant and prince, met on an equal footing. Such a Confraternity was that of the " Laudesi," or the Elder Society of Our Blessed Lady, founded in the year 1183. It was in fact just such a confraternity or sodality as we now know, mainly in connection with Jesuit churches, and under one of the titles of Our Lady. It was composed of the nobles and merchants of Florence, and met at the church of Santa Reparata. In the year 1233, just fifty years after its foundation, it numbered two hundred members, all of the best families in Florence, and was under the direction of a young priest, James of Poggibonsi.

Of these two hundred members, seven became the saintly founders of the Servite Order, and the Confraternity of the Laudesi was, in the good providence of God, to serve as their novitiate.

Bonfilius Monaldi was the eldest. He was born in 1198, the year of the election of Innocent III. The Monaldeschi, for such was the original name, were of French extraction, related to the royal House of Anjou. What may have been his occupation in the world is not known, but he was noted as being a young man of prayerful and ascetic life, who took the lead among his friends in all exercises of piety, so that, as soon as there was question among them of community life, they turned to him as their natural superior. He retained in religion his baptismal name.

Alexis Falconieri was born in 1200, of a noble family, originally of Fiesole, but long settled in Florence. He was the eldest son of Bernard Falconieri, a knight, and one of the merchant princes who created the greatness of his native city. The family were all strong adherents of the Pope, and opponents of the Emperor, in their unhappy quarrels. He made his course at the University, studying what were then known as the Humanities, Latin and Greek, the usual classical course, as well as belles lettres, with great success; but he was marked as especially prayerful, fond of reading religious books, and avoiding general society. At an early age he vowed himself to celibacy long before he knew what outward form his life would take. He never became a priest, but remained all his life Brother Alexis, he also keeping his own name.

Benedict de l'Antella was born in 1203, of a wealthy family, of foreign, perhaps German, or, as some think, Eastern extraction, who, long settled at Antella, had but recently come into Florence and become bankers. Benedict was extremely well educated, of very remarkable beauty, and called on by his position to mix much in society. He was afterwards known in religion as Father Manettus.

Bartholomew Amidei was born in 1204, of one of the oldest, richest, and most powerful families of the City. He claimed to be ancient Roman by origin. The Amidei were Ghibellines, and that Bartholomew received a most Christian education is among the many proofs that the bitter political strifes of the age were merely political, and hindered neither side from being good Catholics. His family, who lived much in the world, allowed him to follow a secluded and religious life, which found its natural development in a religious Order. He took in religion his family, rather than his baptismal, name.

Ricovero Uguccioni was born in the same year as Amidei, of a family both noble and mercantile. The lad was from a very early age remarkable for obedience, compassion for the poor, and love of solitude; he was devoted to pious reading, yet none the less was a leader among his young companions who looked to him in all things. In religion he was known as Hugh.

Gherardino Sostegni was born in 1205, of good family, but beyond this little is known of his worldly state. In religion he bore his family name Sostegni.

John Manetti was born in 1206; of the higher ranks of the Florentine aristocracy, both in birth and riches. In religion he was afterwards known as Fr. Buonagiunta, or Bienvenu.



Of these seven the eldest was thirty-four, the youngest about twenty-seven, when their great change in life came to them. They lived in various quarters of the city, they held divers views on politics, their one bond of union was the confraternity of Our Lady, though some among them knew one or two others with more or less intimacy. Monaldi, Amidei, Sostegni and Manetti were married, but Monaldi and perhaps another had already become widowers. Alexis Falconieri alone had, as has been said, taken a vow, but Antella and Uguccioni showed plainly to their families that their wishes tended in the same direction. There were many reasons why even those who sought after perfection should in Italy, and at that time, enter into the marriage state. The Cathari, a sect of heretics who had great success in Florence, made light of marriage, and under pretence of purity were grossly immoral. It was as necessary to uphold true purity by affording examples of holy married life, as of celibacy. But whether married, widowed, or single, these seven were especially eager after a life of perfection, in which they were aided, and to which they were stimulated, by their director.

No new development in the Church of God is sudden; and it had come to pass that Gregory IX. in his pontificate gave special favour to two devotions, afterwards to be so closely associated with the servants of Mary. These were the Angelus and the Salve Regina. In 1230 Ardingo de Forasboschi became Bishop of Florence, himself a native of the city, and belonging to one of the great Guelf families. Both on religious and on social grounds he had an especial affection to the Laudesi, and its members.

On the Feast of the Assumption, August, 15th 1233, these seven young men, with other members of the Laudesi, having confessed and communicated, were each and all making their thanksgiving after Mass. Each, unknown to those about them, fell into an ecstasy. Each seemed to himself surrounded by supernatural light, in the midst of which Our Lady appeared to them accompanied by angels, who spoke to each of them the words; "Leave the world, retire together into solitude, that you may fight against yourselves, and live wholly for God. You will thus experience heavenly consolations. My protection and assistance will never fail you."

The vision faded, the congregation dispersed, only the Seven remained, each meditating what the vision might mean. Bonfilius Monaldi, as the eldest, did violence to his humility and broke the silence. He told what had befallen him, and that he was ready to obey Our Lady's call. Each in order recounted the same experiences, and the same resolve.

As Monaldi had been the first to speak, so the little band at once decided that he must be the first to act; they looked to him for guidance. He decided to seek counsel of their director, James of Poggibonsi, who concluded that was no mere fancy of pious youths, but a fact, a call from their Mother, manifesting to them the will of God, to be obeyed without hesitation. Some were engaged in business, some in offices of state, four had family ties, which it was not easy to break, especially since the Church suffers no married man or woman to enter into religion unless the other party to the marriage contract does so too. It is believed that the two wives who still lived became afterwards Tertiaries of the Order; at any rate the conditions were at the time fulfilled, all social and worldly arrangements were made; and by the eighth of September, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, they were free to obey, they had stripped themselves of all that bound them to the world.

Meantime, and while waiting to know the further will of God, Monaldi and their director sketched out a plan of community life. They adopted a habit of grey wool, with a leathern cincture, and found a house just outside the city walls, where they might pass much of their time in solitude and prayer, yet near enough to the city to give an example to those they had so lately left. All this was done with the approval of the Bishop; although there was as yet no notion of a new Order; it was merely a question of certain men living a mortified life in community; he granted permission to James to live with them as their chaplain, to celebrate Mass in their oratory, and to reserve the Blessed Sacrament.

So soon as their life arranged itself, and Monaldi was formally elected as their Superior, they desired to submit themselves to the Bishop for his blessing. He wished to see the whole Brotherhood. Their entry into Florence was a strange contrast to what they had seemed a few days before, a band of rich young men in all the splendour of the dress of those days. Their appearance drew a crowd of sympathizers, of men indifferent and curious, of former companions, and of some who, recognizing their great renunciation and sanctity, pressed to touch their garments, to kiss their hands and entreat their blessing.

Suddenly, from the midst of the crowd, were heard the voices of children who cried: "Ecco, eceo i Servi di Maria:" "See, the Servants of Mary." The same exclamation was made still more wonderfully on the following thirteenth of January, when, as two of the Brethren, Falconieri and Manetti, were asking charity in the city, again infants in arms gave them their title. One of these children was Philip Benizi, afterwards to be one of the greatest Saints of the Order and its General. He was then only five months old, and spoke for the first time in crying "Mother, those are Mary's Servants, give them an alms." They had by this time, with the approbation of their Bishop, entered on a community life of mendicancy, devoting themselves especially to Our Lady, to whose honour they reserved Saturday in each week. The habitation without the city walls which had seemed to them at first so solitary, and so fitted for an eremitical life became soon thronged by troops of citizens, curious to see the recipients of so great favours; and they therefore began to say among themselves that they were not wholly obedient to the voice which had said as plainly as to the disciples of old "Come ye apart into a desert place, and rest awhile."

There is a windy mountain ten miles to the north of Florence, a spur of the Apennines, lonely and savage; this again was manifested to each of them in a vision as the place of their future abode; while at the same time a voice, sweet and sonorous, distinct yet mysterious, told them that this mountain was called Monte Senario, that on its height they were to dwell, and apply themselves to yet greater austerity; that in this more rigorous and secluded life they might count always on the favour and succour of the Mother of God.

Monte Senario was part of the episcopal domain of Florence, and the Bishop willingly granted to the solitaries the territory whereon they desired to settle. They went without delay from the house wherein they had rested nine months. At dawn of day, after receiving Holy Communion from their director, they skirted the walls of Florence in procession, carrying the Cross before them, and the image of the Blessed Virgin which had stood in their oratory. They climbed the mountain fasting, for it was the vigil of the Ascension; they grounded the Cross, and set down the statue of Our Lady to make their evening prayer, unconscious where they could lay their heads, or even if and how they might raise a shelter for the Blessed Sacrament after the Feast of the morrow. They succeeded however in building a small shelter of boughs as a chapel, and so passed the last day of May, 1234. Their simple monastery, or rather hermitage, was built before the end of the same year; they dwelling till then in caves and crevices of the rocks.

In this monastery they followed a mixture of hermit and community life, broken only by visits of two of their number each week to Florence in quest of alms, and by the acquisition of a small house of refuge in which they might shelter if fatigue or nightfall rendered it impossible for them to regain Monte Senario. Their lives were one unceasing round of austerity and devotion, but their future was still uncertain; they had not ventured to form themselves into a religious Order, though encouraged to do so by their Bishop. They waited and prayed, and in their perplexity they asked a sign. It was given them somewhat as one was given to the Prophet Jonas when his gourd grew up in a night.

Just below the crest of the mountain to the south, where there was some depth of richer soil, the hermits had planted a vine. On the 3rd Sunday in Lent, February 27, 1239, the Brethren saw their vine clothed with green leaves and clusters of ripe grapes. All around smiled the verdure of spring, and the scent of flowers filled the air. They dared not interpret the prodigy. The superior dispatched one of the community to tell to the Bishop the amazing news, and beg that he would give them counsel, for not only was he a man of most holy life, but one to whom also supernatural communication had already been vouchsafed.

To him in a dream heaven revealed the interpretation of the prodigy. The seven hermits were seven branches of the mystic vine, the clusters were those who should join themselves to the Order; the Brethren were again, though as Religious, to mingle in the world. As always they obeyed the divine voice, however given; Easter was near at hand, when they would open their ranks to those who came, till then they would give themselves to earnest prayer.

On Good Friday, April 13, 1240, which that year coincided with the Feast of the Annunciation, all for which the Seven Holy Founders had been preparing found its explanation. On the evening of that day, in their oratory, Our Lady once more appeared to them in a vision, surrounded by angels who bore in their hands religious habits of black, a book containing the Rule of St. Augustine, the title Servants of Mary written in letters of gold, and a palm branch. Then holding in her own hands the habit with which she seemed to clothe each of them; she said: "I come, Servants well beloved and elect, I come to accomplish your desires and grant your prayers; here are the habits in which I wish you should in future be clothed; their black hue should always bring to mind the cruel Dolours which I felt by reason of the Crucifixion and Death of my only Son; the Rule of St. Augustine, which I give you as the form of your Religious Life, will gain for you the palm prepared in heaven, if you serve me faithfully on earth." The vision vanished, and the foundation of the Servite Order was definitely accomplished.

But this was not all. Our Lady at the same hour appeared to the Bishop of Florence, and made to him the same communication. He gladly went to Monte Senario for their Clothing, and erected them so far as rested with him, into a formal Order, giving them their religious names, and allowing them to admit new members. Of these their Director, James of Poggibonsi, was the first. The Bishop also urged on the Seven to prepare for ordination, wherein all obeyed, Alexis Falconieri only excepted. Nothing could overcome the great humility in which he desired to remain Brother Alexis.

It were long to tell how, when the news of the vision went abroad, and the affluence of new numbers was known, other towns in North Italy desired to receive, and received, homes of the nascent Order, and of the new and special practices which distinguished them from others. Immediately--and to this day the practice remains--they began their Mass with Ave Maria, and ended it with Salve Regina, adding other devotions also to Our Lady of Dolours, who under that title had given herself as their special patron. Blessed Bonfilius established also the Third Order, and the Society of the Black Scapular, both of these as well as the Devotions, seeming to appeal to the hearts and satisfying the needs of the time, and all things seemed to promise prosperity. But the Founders had to share in the dolours of their mother, and the time of peace was not yet.

Gregory IX. died in August, 1241, without having formally confirmed the Order, and his successor Celestine IV., who had for the Servites great esteem and affection, who had also visited them at Monte Senario, only lived a fortnight after his election. The See remained vacant for nearly two years, till Innocent IV. was elected in June, 1243. One of his earliest acts was to send Peter of Verona, a Dominican, afterwards known as St. Peter Martyr, as Inquisitor to Northern Italy, with a view to putting down the heresy of the Cathari, and incidentally to enquire into the life of the Religious of Monte Senario.

Peter of Verona conversed with Monaldi and Falconieri, and then prayed earnestly. He was answered by a vision in which Our Lady appeared to him, covered with a black mantle under which she sheltered Religious in the same habit, and in the company were those with whom he had spoken. Then he beheld angels gathering lilies, and among them were seven of surpassing whiteness, which Our Lady accepted, and placed in her bosom. The saint was convinced that the Order was of God, and after visiting Monte Senario reported favourably to the Pope.

This is no place to speak of the favours heaped on the Fathers by various Popes, nor the difficulties which cast shadows on their way, of their missionary efforts, nor the spread of the Order into other lands, even in the life time of the Founders. To do so would be to write the history of the Order, and far exceed our limit. We can but say a few words on their edifying lives, their holy deaths.

St. Bonfilius ruled the community till 1255, when after repeated endeavours, he succeeded in laying down his office, and the choice of the Fathers fell on St. Bonagiunta. Miracle had again marked him out as chosen of God. A merchant in the town, wearied by the Saint's exhortations to virtue, under pretence of aiding the needs of the convent, offered bread and wine, into which he had introduced poison, for the special use of Fr. Bonagiunta. The Saint partook of the food without hurt, then, suspecting the evil, he made over it the sign of the cross; the wine flask burst into shards, the bread was in an instant full of worms; and the terrified servant who had, unwittingly, brought the gift, returned to find his master sick unto death.

St. Bonagiunta was the first to pass away. Worn with travel, always on foot, for the good of his Order, and the conversion of heretics, he felt his end approaching. On the last day of August 1257 he said Mass with extraordinary devotion, and, calling his brethren together, spoke in prophetic words, of trouble which was soon to fall on the Order; and then set himself to meditate aloud on the Passion. When he came to the words "In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum--Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit," he extended his arms in the form of a cross and fell forward against the altar. His brethren, among whom was St. Philip Benizi, at his wish, supported him in that position, and so kneeling at the tabernacle of his Lord, he breathed forth his soul.

St. Bonfilius was the next to hear his Master's call. He was Vicar General in the absence of the third General in Germany and in France. He too retired to Monte Senario, and died on January 1st, 1262, "less of any definite disease than of those heavenly flames which burnt up his heart." He and those around him were consoled by special revelations from her whose faithful servant he had been.

Three years later came the turn of St. Amideus. For a year he had felt his force failing, and had remained at Monte Senario. He led a hermit life, constantly remaining whole hours alone in his grotto. Alone he died on the third Sunday after Easter, April 18th, 1265. His death was made known to his brethren by a wondrous sign. A tongue of fire shot from Monte Senario to heaven, while a sweet odour filled the whole convent: the Fathers did not doubt that, under this sign of flame, his heart, which had burnt with so vehement love, went to God. He was succeeded by Fr. Manetti as General, and he in his turn by the young Philip Benizi, into whose hands when he had committed his charge, St. Manetti also retired to Monte Senario, and died in St. Philip's arms.

The three brave men who were left spared no fatigue. One, St. Alexis continued his hard life as a lay brother, two in spite of advancing years wore themselves with missionary labours in foreign lands with their new General, St. Philip. In the spring of 1282, SS. Hugh and Sosthenes returned to Monte Senario. And as they went they spoke of all that their Lady had done for them, of the spread of the Order, of the deaths of those who had gone before. Raising their eyes to heaven, they desired that they also might be removed from this valley of tears and united to their Sovereign Good. Then they heard a voice which said: "Fear hot, ye men of God, your consolation is at hand." At once on their arrival they were stricken with fever, and died at the same hour on May 3rd, 1282.

St. Philip Benizi was at that time in Florence, and, praying, he fell into a trance. He saw on Monte Senario, two angels pluck each a lily of perfect whiteness, and present them to Our Lady. He called his brethren around him, and knowing well what the vision meant, announced to them the deaths of the two holy Founders.

Not till 1310 was St. Alexis called away. In his last years it was only in virtue of holy obedience that he allowed himself to lie on a couch of straw, and to relax his rule of rigid abstinence. When he knew that his hour was come he called his brethren round him, and recited one hundred Aves, during which the angels circled around him in the form of doves. As he recited the last Ave he saw our Lord approach, and crown him with sweet flowers. He cried: "Kneel my Brothers, see ye not Jesus Christ, your loving Lord and mine, who crowns me with a garland of beauteous flowers? Worship Him and adore. He will crown you also in the same manner, if, full of devotion to the holy Virgin, you imitate her immaculate purity, her profound humility."
So closed the life story of the Seven Founders, who, during the time they spent on earth, did all that in them lay to hide their merits under the veil of profound humility. Their sanctity was attested, not only by their heroic virtues, as they came to light, and by the miracles which accompanied them in their career, and illuminated their deaths, but also by an whole generation of saints, who arose on their traces, and became, as it were, their guard of honour.

Foremost of these was St. Philip Benizi, whom we have so often named, whose life merits a separate essay. He was the most brilliant disciple of the Seven Founders, and did honour to his masters by his work and sanctity. Indeed so great was the renown of his virtue, that he seemed even to cast into the shade the heroism of those who formed his character, as he is their abiding honour. No other ever reflected their spirit more faithfully, seized their thought more accurately, carried out their designs with such fidelity. Philip made a saint by saints, was in his turn the father of saints, of whom SS. Peregrine Laziosi and Juliana Falconieri, foundress of the Mantellate or Servite nuns, are the best known.

The spread of the Order in its early days was remarkable, and it was soon divided into six provinces, containing about one hundred convents, four provinces in Italy, one consisting of Germany, one of France. Only in these later days has the order spread to England and to America, where to it, as to the Catholic Church in general, a vast field seems opening.

More than four hundred years passed away after the death of St. Alexis during which the Order had its vicissitudes, its triumphs of grace, its dangers, alternations of honour and scorn. But in the course of the year 1752, the Seven Holy Fathers were solemnly declared Blessed, in 1888 they were canonized. Lovely and pleasant in their lives, in death they were not divided; their invocation is collective, none in the Sacred Order is greater or less than another; the miracles necessary to their canonization were not wrought in connection with this or that one amongst them; all together continue the work they began in common.


Sancti Patres Fundatores, orate pro nobis.
Tu autem, praecipue, Domina Septem Dolorum,
Regina Servorum tuorum; Ora pro nobis.

Holy Father Founders, pray for us.
Thou too, especially, our Lady of Seven Dolours,
Queen of thy Servants, pray for us.