Aquinas-Wednesday after 2nd Sunday of Lent

The Passion of Christ brought about our salvation
because it was an act of satisfaction

"He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world".--I John ii. 2.


Satisfaction for offences committed is truly made when there is offered to the person offended a thing which he loves as much as, or more than, he hates the offences committed.

Christ, however, by suffering out of love and out of obedience, offered to God something greater by far than the satisfaction called for by all the sins of all mankind, and this for three reasons. In the first place, there was the greatness of the love which moved Him to suffer. Then there was the worth of the life which He laid down in satisfaction, the life of God and man. Finally, on account of the way in which His Passion involved every part of His being, and of the greatness of the suffering he undertook.

So it is that the Passion of Christ was not merely sufficient but superabundant as a satisfaction for men's sins. It would seem indeed to be the case that satisfaction should be made by the person who committed the offence. But head and members are as it were one mystical person, and therefore the satisfaction made by Christ avails all the faithful as they are the members of Christ. One man can always make satisfaction for another, so long as the two are one in charity.

2. Although Christ, by His death, made sufficient satisfaction for original sin, it is not unfitting that the penal consequences of original sin should still remain even in those who are made sharers in Christ's redemption. This has been done fittingly and usefully, so that the penalties remain even though the guilt has been removed.

(i) It has been done so that there might be conformity between the faithful and Christ, as there is conformity between members and head. Just as Christ first of all suffered many pains and came in this way to His glory, so it is only right that His faithful should also first be subjected to sufferings and thence enter into immortality, themselves bearing as it were the livery of the Passion of Christ so as to enjoy a glory somewhat like to His.

(ii) A second reason is that if men coming to Christ were straightway freed from suffering and the necessity of death, only too many would come to Him attracted rather by these temporal advantages than by spiritual things. And this would be altogether contrary to the intention of Christ, who came into this world that He might convert men from a love of temporal advantages and win them to spiritual things.

(iii) Finally, if those who came to Christ were straightway rendered immortal and impassible, this would in a kind of way compel men to receive the faith of Christ, and so the merit of believing would be lessened.

St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

The feast day of St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother falls during the season of Lent. The date is very apt, for Lent is a time set aside by the Church to help us prepare for the Easter celebration of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. During these 40 days, we engage in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Our goal is to purify ourselves in order to become more like Christ, “to leave Lent a stronger and more vital person of faith than when we entered.”

A traditional Lenten devotion is to pray the Way of the Cross. As we meditate on Jesus’ Passion and Death, we reflect on the suffering our Lord endured for our sake and on the victory over sin that He won for us through His Death and Resurrection. It is a powerful meditation that can transform our lives if we open ourselves up to God’s power and grace – a meditation that is necessary if we hope to one day become saints ourselves. For St. Alphonsus Liguori tells us that no saint ever reached the heights of spiritual life without meditating frequently on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote, “All the saints cherished a tender devotion towards Jesus Christ in his Passion; this is the only means by which they sanctified themselves.” St. Bonaventure echoed this truth, writing, “There is no practice more profitable for the entire sanctification of the soul than the frequent meditation of the sufferings of Jesus Christ.”

This truth is nowhere more powerfully illustrated than in the life of St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother. St. Gabriel had three great loves: the Passion of Our Lord, the Blessed Sacrament, and our Sorrowful Mother. His devotion to these three holy loves transformed his life from a pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification to one of great sanctity in a very short period of time. His life is a source of great inspiration to us; for through his example, St. Gabriel shows us that it is possible for each one of us to fall deeply in love with Our Lord.

 

 

 

ST. GABRIEL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS - PASSIONIST

 

Francisco Possenti was born in Assisi on March 1, 1838, the eleventh child of Sante Possenti and Agnes Frisciotti.  His father Sante was a distinguished Italian lawyer.  The boy was given the name of the city's illustrious patron, St. Francis, at baptism.

 

The first year of his life was spent away from his family with a nursing woman who cared for him because his mother was unable.  In 1841 Sante moved the family to Spoleto where he was appointed magistrate.  In that same year, the youngest Possenti child died at just six months old; Francis’ nine-year old sister, Adele, soon followed.  Just days later, his heartbroken mother was also called to eternal life.  Francis had lost his mother at just 4 years old.

 

Tragedy continued to plague the family during his youth.  In 1846 Francis’ brother, Paul, was killed in the Italian war with Austria.  Another brother, Lawrence, later took his own life. Such events, however, did not rob Francis of his spirit and cheerfulness.  During his formative years, Francis attended the school of the Christian brothers and then the Jesuit college in Spoleto.  He was lively, intelligent and popular at school.  At sixteen, he suffered a life-threatening illness.  Praying for a cure, Francis promised to become a religious.  With recovery, however, Francis quickly forgot his promise.  But God’s call would not be denied, and Francis soon turned his heart to the Congregation of the Passionists.  The decisive step was taken while seeing the highly honored miraculous picture of our Lady in Spoleto borne about in solemn procession.  As his eyes followed our Blessed Mother, Francis felt the fire of divine love rising in his heart and almost at once made the resolve to join the Passionists, a religious congregation dedicated to the veneration of and meditation on the passion of Jesus Christ (1856).
 

Sante Possenti was less than pleased with his teenage son’s decision.  Determined to show Francis the joys of a secular life of theater and society parties, Sante continued to hope Francis would find pleasure in a social life.  But the young man was not to be dissuaded. Immediately after completion of his schooling, he left for the Passionist novitiate in Morrovalle.  In the novitiate, he cultivated a great love for Christ Crucified.  Francis received the Passionist habit on September 21, 1856, which that year was the Feast of the Sorrowful Mother.  He was given the name: Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows.  A year later he took his vows. His monastic life preparing for the priesthood made Gabriel a secluded, non-public figure.  His writings reflect his close relationship with God and His mother.

 

Gabriel did not stand out from his community in any extraordinary way — his heroism lay in his obedient attitude.   He conformed himself to his community in complete humility.  Little is known of his life - only that he was blessed with an excellent memory and other gifts that made him an outstanding student.  He also had a great devotion to the Passion of Christ and the Sorrows of Mary.

 

A Time of Strife 

These were difficult and tumultuous times in Italy.  The new Italian government issued decrees closing religious Orders in certain provinces of the Papal States.  The new Passionist province of Pieta, to which Gabriel belonged, was in the center of this chaos.  By 1860, the Passionists had ceased apostolic work due to the growing threats surrounding the community. During this period various Italian provinces were overrun by soldiers who robbed and terrorized the towns with little mercy.

 

For safety’s sake, the Passionist superiors transferred all their novices to an isolated monastery at Isola in the Abruzzi Mountains of the kingdom of Naples.  Stories abound as to Gabriel’s brave encounter there with a soldier who had taken a young village girl at gunpoint.  As the story goes, soldiers arrived in Isola and went about robbing buildings and burning houses. Gabriel asked permission to go into town in order to help the frightened townspeople.  He soon encountered a soldier who had apprehended a young girl.  The soldiers mocked the young monk.  They seemed to think that an ordinary monk would not stand-up to a soldier.  But, eventually, Brother Gabriel forced the company to leave the village in peace.

 

The people of Isola would always remember him as “their Gabriel.”   Struck with tuberculosis at the age of 24, Gabriel died in 1862 before his ordination to the priesthood.  His fidelity to prayer, joyfulness of spirit and habitual mortifications stand out in his otherwise ordinary life.

Pope Leo XIII said of him: "Because of his filial love for Mary at the foot of the cross, he deserves to take his place by St. John, the beloved disciple, to whom Jesus in his dying hour commended his Mother."   Pius X and Leo XIII especially desired that he be the patron saint of young people and novices in religious orders, as their model in the interior life.

On Ascension Day, 1920, Pope Benedict XV bestowed the honors of sainthood on a youth who is rightly called the Aloysius of the 19th century.  He canonized Gabriel and declared him a patron of Catholic youth.  His patronage is also invoked by the Church for students, seminarians, novices and clerics.

Thousands of divine favors are attributed to his intercession with Christ Crucified and the Sorrowful Mother Mary.  Saint Gabriel wrote: "Love Mary!... She is loveable, faithful, constant.   She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme.  If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you.  If you are troubled, she will console you.  If you are sick, she will bring you relief.  If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been.  She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her.  She comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you.   She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity."

St. Gabriel’s life reveals that a profound love for the Mother of Sorrows is of the very essence of the Passionist charism, for it was Mary who appeared to young Paul Francis Daneo, the Passionist founder, and called him to found the Congregation.  

 

Patron of: Abruzzi region of Italy; Catholic Action; clerics; students; young people in general.

 

Our Lady of Sorrows

 Quotations:

“I will attempt day by day to break my will into pieces. I want to do God’s Holy Will, not my own”

“My life inside here [the Passionist house] is bursting with joy!”

“Love Mary!… She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her. She comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity” – to his brother

“With sin, O Jesus, I gave you the death, but I do not despair of your forgiveness. Those scourges call me, those arms extended invite me, that injured Heart offers me a secure shelter.”

“Who it will be able ever to repeat the pains, the strains and the sufferings that Jesus suffered in such little time. We see Jesus in the garden of the olives, after being separated from His Sorrowful mother, how he is pale and trembling with fear, his face to the ground!”

“Mary, dear Mother of mine, come fast!” – On his deathbed

“You [O Mary] answered with the “fiat” to the announcement of the angel, do not want our ruin; show love and pity.”

“My life is a continuous delight; what I experience inside these sacred walls is almost inexpressible; the 24 hours of the day seem to me like 24 short instants; really my life is full of delight”

“Our perfection does not consist of doing extraordinary things but to do the ordinary well”

“My sole merit lies in Your wounds”

“Father, tell me if in my heart there is something that does not please God, because it I want to rip it out” – to his spiritual director Fr. Norbert

“. . . fidelity in little things must be the basic rule in striving for holiness,”

“Do not bestow your love on the world”

 

Aquinas-Tuesday after 2nd Sunday of Lent

The Passion of Christ brought about our salvation
because it was a meritorious act

They shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked, and scourged and crucified.--Matt. xx. 19.


Grace was given to Christ not only as to a particular person, but also as far as He is the head of the Church, in order that the grace might pass over from Him to His members. And the good works Christ performed, therefore, stand in this same way in relation to Him and to His members, as the good works of any other man in a state of grace stand to himself.

Now it is evident that any man who, in a state of grace, suffers for justice sake, merits for himself, by this very fact alone, salvation. As is said in the Gospel, 'Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice sake' (Matt. v. 10). Whence Christ by His Passion merited salvation not only for Himself but for all His members.

Christ, indeed, from the very instant of His conception, merited eternal salvation for us. But there still remained certain obstacles on our part, obstacles which kept us from possessing ourselves of the effect of what Christ had merited. Wherefore, in order to remove these obstacles, it behooved Christ to suffer (Luke xxiv. 46).

Now although the love of Christ for us was not increased in the Passion, and was not greater in the Passion than before it, the Passion of Christ had a certain effect which His previous meritorious activity did not have. The Passion produced this effect not on account of any greater love shown thereby, but because it was a kind of action fitted to produce that effect, as is evident from what has been said already on the fitness of the Passion of Christ.

Head and members belong to one and the same person. Now Christ is our head, according to His divinity and to the fullness of His grace which overflows upon others also. We are His members. What Christ then meritoriously acquires is not something external and foreign to us, but, by virtue of the unity of the mystical body, it over flows upon us too (3 Dist. xviii. 6).

We should know, too, that although Christ by His death acquired merit sufficient for the whole human race, there are special things needed for the particular salvation of each individual soul, and these each soul must itself seek out. The death of Christ is, as it were, the cause of all salvation, as the sin of the first man was the cause of all condemnation. But if each individual man is to share in the effect of a universal cause, the universal cause needs to be specially applied to each individual man.

Now the effect of the sin of the first parents is transmitted to each individual through his bodily origin (i.e., through his being a bodily descendant of the first man). The effect of the death of Christ is transmitted to each man through a spiritual rebirth, a re-birth in which man is, as it were, conjoined with Christ and incorporated with Him.

Therefore it is that each individual must seek to be born again through Christ, and to receive those other things in which works the power of the death of Christ.

Aquinas-Monday after 2nd Sunday of Lent

It was fitting that our Lord should suffer at the hands of the Gentiles

They shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked., and scourged and crucified.--Matt. xx. 19.


In the very manner of the Passion of Our Lord its effects are foreshadowed. In the first place, the Passion of Our Lord had for its effect the salvation of Jews, many of whom were baptized in His death.

Secondly, by the preaching of these Jews, the effects of the Passion passed to the Gentiles also. There was thus a certain fitness in Our Lord's Passion beginning with the Jews and then, the Jews handing Him on, that it should be completed at the hands of the Gentiles.

To show the abundance of the love which moved Him to suffer, Christ, on the very cross, asked mercy for His tormentors. And since He wished that Jew and Gentile alike should realise this truth about His love, so He wished that both should have a share in making Him suffer.

It was the Jews and not the Gentiles who offered the figurative sacrifices of the Old Law. The Passion of Christ was an offering through sacrifice, inasmuch as Christ underwent death by His own will moved by charity. But in so far as those who put him to death were concerned, they were not offering a sacrifice but committing a sin.

When the Jews declared, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death (John xix. 31), they may have had many things in mind. It was not lawful for them to put anyone to death on account of the holiness of the feast they had begun to keep. Perhaps they wished Christ to be killed not as a transgressor of their own law but as an enemy of the state, because He had made Himself a king, a charge concerning which they had no jurisdiction. Or again, they may have meant that they had no power to crucify which was what they longed for but only to stone, as they later stoned St. Stephen. Or, the most likely thing of all, that their Roman conquerors had taken away their power of life and death.

2nd Sunday of Lent

This Sunday is the 2nd Sunday of Lent. Let's try to imagine these series of events more closely.

Jesus was about to pass from Galilee into Judea, that He might go up to Jerusalem and be present at the feast of the Pasch. It was that last Pasch, which was begin with the immolation of the figurative lamb, and end with the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus would like to have His disciples know Him. His works had borne testimony to Him, even before those who were, in a manner, strangers to Him; but as for His disciples, had they not every reason to be faithful to Him, even to death? Had they not listened to His words, which had such power with them that they forced conviction? Had they not experienced His love, which it was impossible to resist? And, had they not seen how patiently He had borne with their strange and untoward ways? Yes, they must have known Him. They had heard one of their company, Peter, declare that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God! Notwithstanding this, the trial to which their faith was soon to be put was such a terrible kind, that Jesus would mercifully arm them against temptation by an extraordinary grace.

The Cross was to be a scandal and a stumbling-block to the Synagogue, and alas to more than it. Jesus said to His apostles at the last Supper: "All of you shall be scandalized in Me this night." Carnal-minded as they then were, what would they think when they should see Him seized by armed men, handcuffed, hurried from one tribunal to another, and doing nothing to defend Himself! And when they found that the high priests and Pharisees, who had hitherto been so often foiled by the wisdom and miracles of Jesus, had now succeeded in their conspiracy against Him, what a shock to their confidence! But there was to be something more trying still: the people, who, but a few days before, greeted Him so enthusiastically with their Hosannas, would demand His execution; and He would have to die, between two thieves, on the Cross, amidst the insults of His triumphant enemies.

Is it not to be feared that these disciples, when they witness His humiliations and sufferings, will lose their courage? They have lived in His company for three years; but when they see that the things He foretold would happen to Him are really fulfilled, will the remembrance of all they have seen and heard keep them loyal to Him? Or will they turn cowards and flee from Him?! Jesus selects three out of the number, who are especially dear to Him: Peter, whom He has made the rock, on which His Church is to be built, and to whom He has promised the keys of the kingdom of heaven; James, the son of thunder, who is to be the first Martyr (witness) of the Apostolic college; and John, James's brother, and His own beloved disciple. Jesus has resolved to take them aside, and show them a glimpse of that glory, which, until the day fixed for its manifestation, He conceals from the eyes of mortals.



His top three Apostles have been privileged to many things, and today's reading shows it.

GOSPEL (Matt. XVII. 1-9.) At that time, Jesus took Peter, and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: and he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as snow. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then Peter answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here; if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said to them: "Arise, and fear not." And they lifting up their eyes, saw no one, but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: "Tell the vision to no man: till the Son of Man be risen from the dead."

They have seen Him transfigured before their eyes, but in a few days will totally deny Him. Our beloved Abbot Gueranger expounds on this:

After the Resurrection our three Apostles made ample atonement for this cowardly and sinful conduct, and acknowledged the mercy wherewith Jesus had sought to fortify them against temptation, by showing them His glory on Mt. Tabor a few days before His Passion. Let us not wait until we have betrayed Him; let us at once acknowledge that He is our Lord and our God. We are soon to be keeping the anniversary of His Sacrifice; like the Apostles, we are to see Him humbled by His enemies and bearing, in our stead, the chastisements of Divine justice. We must not allow our faith to be weakened, when we behold the fulfillment of those prophecies of David and Isaias, that the Messias is to be treated as a worm of the earth, and be covered with wounds, so as to become like a leper, the most abject of men, and the Man of sorrows. We must remember the grand things of Mt. Tabor, and the adorations paid Him by Moses and Elias, and the bright cloud, and the Voice of the eternal Father. The more we see His glory and divinity; we must join our acclamations with those of the angels and the twenty four elders, whom St. John, one of the witnesses of the Transfiguration, heard crying out with a loud voice: 'The Lamb that was slain, is worthy to receive power and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction!'

I want to end with the Collect of today's Mass:

O God, who seest how destitute we are of all strength, preserve us both within and without, that our bodies may be free from all adversity, and our souls purified from all evil thoughts.

St. Matthias, Apostle/Martyr

After our Blessed Lord's Ascension His disciples came together, with Mary His mother and the eleven Apostles, in an upper room at Jerusalem. The little company numbered no more than one hundred and twenty souls. They were waiting for the promised coming of the Holy Ghost, and they persevered in prayer. Meanwhile there was a solemn act to be performed on the part of the Church, which could not be postponed. The place of the fallen Judas had to be filled, that the number of the Apostles might be complete. St. Peter, therefore, as Vicar of Christ, arose to announce the divine decree. What the Holy Ghost had spoken by the mouth of David concerning Judas, he said, must be fulfilled. Of him it had been written, "His bishopric let another take." A choice, therefore, was needed of one among those who had been their companions from the beginning, who could bear witness to the Resurrection of Jesus.



Two were named of equal merit, Joseph called Barnabas, and Matthias. After praying to God, who knows the hearts of all men, to show which of these He had chosen, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, who was thereby numbered with the Apostles. It is recorded of the Saint, wonderfully elected to so high a vocation, that he was remarkable for his mortification of the flesh. It was thus that he made his election sure.

Apostle Matthias was born at Bethlehem of the Tribe of Judah. From his early childhood he studied the Law of God under the guidance of St Simeon the God-receiver. His name in Hebrew means 'gift of God'. He preached in Judea where he was persecuted by both Jews and Gentiles, and died by stoning, a victim of their pursuits, in the year 63. When St Matthias was already dead, the Jews, to hide their malefaction, cut off his head as an enemy of Caesar. His body was taken to Rome by St. Helena, mother of Constantine, some 250 years later. A church there bears his name.

St. Pope Clement of Alexandria passes on one of this saint's writings: "It behooves us to combat the flesh, and make use of it, without pampering it by unlawful gratifications. As to the soul, we must develop her power by Faith and knowledge."

How profound is the teaching contained in these few words?! Sin has deranged the order which the Creator has established. It gave the outward man such a tendency to grovel in things which degrade him, that the only means left us for the restoration of the Image and likeness of God unto which we were created, is the forcible subjection of the body to the spirit. But the spirit itself, that is, the soul, was also impaired by original sin, and her inclinations were made prone to evil; what is to be her protection? Faith and knowledge. Faith humbles her, and then exalts and rewards her; and the reward is knowledge. Here we have a summary of what the Church teaches us during the two seasons of Septuagesima and Lent. Let us thank the holy Apostle, on this his feast, for leaving us such a lesson of spiritual wisdom and fortitude.

Hymns Troparion (Tone 3) [1]

O holy Apostle Matthias,
Pray to the merciful God,
That He may grant to our souls
Remission of our transgressions!

Kontakion (Tone 4) [2]

O wonder-worker and Apostle Matthias,
Your words have gone out into all the world,
Enlightening men as the sun,
And giving grace to the Church
Bringing faith to heathen lands!

Following is a sermon from the Russian Orthodox Church:

"The Church of Christ Shall Not Be Impoverished"
Sermon on the feast day of Apostle Matthias

Holy Apostle Matthias, during the earthly life of Christ, was among the seventy disciples, not among the twelve.

This even occurred after the Ascension of the Lord into heaven: During a prayerful gathering, at which some one hundred people were in attendance, Holy Apostle Peter said to all that Judas Iscariot had fallen away from the ranks of the apostles, having become a betrayer, and recalled the words of the 109th psalm, in which the Holy Spirit, through the words of the psalm-singer David, speaks of the unrighteous one: "his bishopric let another take," meaning that another should assume his office. In fulfillment of the words of the psalm, Apostle Peter offered to elect two candidates before the Lord, whom the Lord would then select, and include him among the twelve. Elected were Matthias and Joseph, who was also called Barsabas, and when the Lord, through the drawing of lots, indicated Matthias, he was included among the twelve.

So the number of twelve Apostles of Christ was restored, and Matthias, after the Ascension of the Lord to heaven, took his place on par with the other Apostles in grace and authority, and also, as did they, he preached, healed the sick, performed miracles and suffered for Christ.

It is a profoundly instructive event for us. It teaches us that the Church of Christ shall never be impoverished and shall not remain without the servants it requires. "I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18), said Christ.

The Church is a spiritual union of all those who keep the true faith, headed by Christ Himself, and its goal is the spiritual perfection of its members. The earthly part of the Church, in preparing its children for passing into the heavenly part, needs pastors and other servants for the achievement of its goal. It will not be prevailed upon by the gates of hell, its grace is inexhaustible and shall never want for that which it needs.

Great is the mercy of God to be called to be among them, but not all who achieve it are worthy, and many who are called are not chosen. It was not only Judas who fell from the ranks of the apostles. From among the first seven deacons appointed by the Apostles, one—Nicholas of Antioch—fell from the Church and became a pagan priest who established his own sect. From the ranks of the seventy disciples, four lapsed from Christianity, but the Church did not suffer this loss and remained whole. The vacated places were taken by those more worthy.

Despite the falling away of Nicholas, the deaconate established itself in the Church and it multiplied, existing to this day.

Despite the falling away of bishops, priests and other servants of the Church in later times, it did not suffer harm, and their places were taken by others.

Nestor, the Patriarch of Constantinople, fell into heresy, and he was replaced by one more worthy, St. Anatolius. Dioscurus of Alexandria fell into monophysitism, other hierarchs fell into other heresies, but the Church remained undamaged, and the places of those who fell away were filled by those more worthy, and often by holy men.

Many clergymen renounced Christ during persecutions, and many even in peaceful times left the priesthood for earthly reasons or for personal weaknesses, departing the life of the cloth to a lay existence.

But whatever the motivations or reasons for this: whether the servants of the Church betrayed the Christian faith or simply left their rank, the Church was never left in need. Those who fell away were always replaced by others, whom no one had even considered before, and upon whom those who departed looked with derision.

God's Church will never lack the number of bishops, priests, deacons, readers, singers and altar boys it needs. For this reason, those who were called to serve at the altar or on the kliros must bear in mind that they must not become unworthy and must not be cast out. The history of the Church shows that the Church does not have indispensable people, and the Holy Spirit will always find another who will take the place of one who becomes unworthy. It is a great mercy of God to be allowed to serve or to help serve in Church, to enter into the earthly heaven—the altar—to approach the holy Mysteries, to sing or intone church prayers.

That is why those who earned that mercy must fulfill their work with reverence, remembering the words of the psalm-singer: "Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling" (Ps. 2:11), as well as those other terrible words: "Cursed be the one who does the Lord's work negligently" (Jer. 48:10). "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh," that is, do not turn away from him that speaks to you (Heb. 12:25). "Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown "(Rev. 3:11).

It is a fearsome thing to become unworthy of the sacred place, or, faltering, to leave it. After departing, many sense what they have lost and desire to return to their previous worthiness, but these doors are closed, as they were for the five unwise virgins.

May the memory of Apostle Matthias and his prayers strengthen us in serving without blemish, so that we do not lose our priestly place on earth, and in heaven that we may be worthy of the Kingdom of God, where even now stands at the Throne of God he who filled the ranks of the twelve, Apostle Matthias.


Afterthoughts. Our ignorance of many points in St. Matthias's life serves to fix the attention all the more firmly upon these two - the occasion of his call to the apostolate, and the fact of his perseverance. We then naturally turn in thought to our own vocation and our own end: may it be like his, a holy death in reward for our fidelity.

Aquinas-Saturday after 1st Sunday of Lent

The Love of God Shown in the Passion of Christ

God commendeth His charity towards us: because when as yet we were sinners, according to the time, Christ died for us.--Rom. v. 8, 9


1. Christ died for the ungodly (ibid. 6). This is a great thing if we consider Who it is that died, a great thing also if we consider on whose behalf He died. For scarce for a just man, will one die (ibid. 6), that is to say, that you will hardly find anyone who will die even to set free a man who is innocent, nay even it is said, The just perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart (Isaias lvii).

Rightly therefore does St. Paul say scarcely will one die. There might perhaps be found one, some one rare person who out of superabundance of courage would be so bold as to die for a good man. But this is rare, for the simple reason that so to act is the greatest of all things. "Greater love than this no man hath, says Our Lord himself, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John xv. 13).

But the like of what Christ did Himself, to die for evildoers and the wicked, has never been seen. Wherefore rightly do we ask in wonderment why Christ did it.

2. If in fact it be asked why Christ died for the wicked, the answer is that God in this way commendeth His charity towards us. He shows us in this way that He loves us with a love that knows no limits, for while we were as yet sinners Christ died for us.
The very death of Christ for us shows the love of God, for it was His son whom He gave to die that satisfaction might be made for us." God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son" (John iii. 16). And thus as the love of God the Father for us is shown in His giving us His Holy Spirit, so also is it shown in this way, by His gift of His only Son.

The Apostle says God commendeth signifying thereby that the love of God is a thing which cannot be measured. This is shown by the very fact of the matter, namely the fact that He gave His Son to die for us, and it is shown also by reason of the kind of people we are for whom He died. Christ was not stirred up to die for us by any merits of ours, when as yet we were sinners. God (who is rich in mercy) for His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ (Eph. ii. 4).

3. All these things are almost too much to be believed. A work is done in your days, which no man will believe when it shall be told (Habac. i. 5). This truth that Christ died for us is so hard a truth that scarcely can our intelligence take hold of it. Nay it is a truth that our intelligence could in no way discover. And St. Paul, preaching, makes echo to Habacuc, "I work a work in your days, a work which you will not believe, if any man shall tell it to you "(Acts xiii 14).

So great is God's love for us and His grace towards us, that He does more for us than we can believe or understand.

St. Peter Damian

SAINT PETER DAMIAN
Cardinal Bishop
(988-1072)

St. Peter Damian, born in 988, lost both his parents at an early age. His eldest brother, to whose hands he was left, treated him so cruelly that another brother, a priest, moved by his piteous state, sent him to the University of Parma, where he acquired great distinction. His studies were sanctified by vigils, fasts, and prayers, until at last, thinking that all this was only serving God halfway, he resolved to leave the world. He joined the monks of Fonte Avellano, then in the greatest repute, and by his wisdom and sanctity rose to be Superior.

St. Peter was called upon for the most delicate and difficult missions, among others the reform of ecclesiastical communities, which his zeal accomplished. Seven Popes in succession made him their constant adviser, and he was finally created Cardinal Bishop of Ostia. He withstood Henry IV of Germany, and labored in defense of Pope Alexander II against an antipope, whom he forced to yield and seek pardon. He was charged, as papal legate, with the repression of simony and correction of scandals; again, was commissioned to settle discords amongst various bishops; and finally, in 1072, to adjust the affairs of the Church at Ravenna. He had never paid attention to his health, which was at best fragile, and after enduring violent onslaughts of fever during the night, would rise to hear confessions, preach, or sing solemn Masses, always ready to sacrifice his well-being and life for the salvation of the souls entrusted to him.

Peter was instrumental in propagating many devout practices; among these may be mentioned, fasting on Fridays in honor of the Holy Cross; the reciting of the Little Office of our Lady; and the keeping the Saturday as a day especially devoted to Mary.

After succeeding in this final mission as he ordinarily did, on his journey back to Ostia he was laid low by fever; he died at Faenza, on February 23, in a monastery of his Order, on the eighth day of his sickness, while the monks chanted Matins around him. His relics are kept in the Cisterian Church in Faenza, and is the Patron Saint of it too.

Not only is he called a 'Confessor' and Bishop, but Pope Leo XII added to his name the title of Doctor of the Church. A quote from this Saint: "It is not sinners, but the wicked who should despair; it is not the magnitude of one's crime, but contempt of God that dashes ones hopes."



Following is what was happening in the Church during his time (Homosexuality?):

In an open letter to Pope Leo IX, St. Peter Damian tells bishops if they’re complacent about correcting their sodomite clerics under their authority then they’ll be complicit in their sins of impurity.

In his zealous letter penned in 1049, famously titled The Book of Gomorrah, St. Peter Damian admonishes bishops to stamp out the “epidemic of sodomy among the priests of Italy,” which was part of a “plague of sexual perversion” and a “larger crisis of moral laxity in the priesthood” of his time.

In his letter, St. Peter decried the silent bishops who failed to take action against clerics immersed in the grievous moral perversion of sodomy:

Listen, you do-nothing superiors of clerics and priests. Listen, and even though you feel sure of yourselves, tremble at the thought that you are partners in the guilt of others; those, I mean, who wink at the sins of their subjects that need correction and who by ill-considered silence allow them license to sin. Listen, I say, and be shrewd enough to understand that all of you alike are deserving of death, that is, not only those who do such things, but also they who approve those who practice them.

For his part, Pope Leo IX received St. Peter’s letter well and reinforced it by urging bishops to take action. The Holy Father responded:

'So, let it be certain and evident to all that we are in agreement with everything your book contains, opposed as it is like water to the fire of the devil. … Therefore, lest the wantonness of this foul impurity be allowed to spread unpunished, it must be repelled by proper repressive action of apostolic severity.'

The Roman Pontiff affirmed that silent shepherds do indeed share in the guilt of those in their charge, whom they fail to correct. “For he who does not attack vice, but deals with it lightly, is rightly judged to be guilty of his death, along with the one who dies in sin,” said Leo IX.

 

Aquinas-Friday after 1st Sunday of Lent

The Feast of the Holy Lance and the Nails of Our Lord

One of the soldiers with a spear (Longinus) opened His side, and immediately there came out Blood and water.--John xix. 34.


1. The gospel deliberately says opened and not wounded, because through Our Lord's side there was opened to us the gate of eternal life. After these things I looked, and behold a gate was opened in heaven (Apoc. iv. i). This is the door opened in the ark, through which enter the animals who will not perish in the flood.

2. But this door is the cause of our salvation. Immediately there came forth blood and water a thing truly miraculous, that, from a dead body, in which the blood congeals, blood should come forth.

This was done to show that by the Passion of Christ we receive a full absolution, an absolution from every sin and every stain. We receive this absolution from sin through that blood which is the price of our redemption. You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver, from your vain conversation with the tradition of your fathers; but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb unspotted and undefiled (i Pet. i. 18).

We were absolved from every stain by the water, which is the laver of our redemption. In the prophet Ezechiel it is said, I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleaned from all your filthiness (Ezech. xxxvi. 28), and in Zacharias, There shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for the washing of the sinner and the unclean woman (Zach. xiii. i).

And so these two things may be thought of in relation to two of the sacraments, the water to baptism and the Blood to the Holy Eucharist. Or both may be referred to the Holy Eucharist since, in the Mass, water is mixed with the wine. Although the water is not of the substance of the Sacrament.

Again, as from the side of Christ asleep in death on the cross there flowed that Blood and water in which the Church is consecrated, so from the side of the sleeping Adam was formed the first woman, who herself foreshadowed the Church.

St. Peter's Chair at Antioch

St. Peter's Chair at Antioch (ca. 36-43)

We are called upon, a second time, to honor St. Peter's chair: first, it was his pontificate in Rome; today, it is his episcopate at Antioch. This picture is called 'The Great Chalice of Antioch'. It is said that this is the one used by Peter himself while there. Antioch was the first city in Asia to receive the Faith, and therefore, where Peter himself took up residence and ruled from. Jerusalem was doomed to destruction for having not only refused to acknowledge, but even crucify the Messiah. It was time for Peter to deprive that faithless city of the honor she had enjoyed, of possessing with her walls the chair of the Apostolate. Accordingly, it is in Antioch, the third capital of the Roman Empire (after Rome and Alexandria), that Peter first places the throne, where he was to preside over the universal Church. NOTE: This is not a physical chair, but the office, because, as St. Ambrose says: "Where Peter is, there is the Church." And again from Evodius, the successor of Peter in Antioch, says: "...but that see is not to inherit the headship of the Church, which goes wherever Peter goes."

That Saint Peter, before he went to Rome, founded the see of Antioch is attested by many Saints of the earliest times, including Saint Ignatius of Antioch and Saint Clement, Pope. It was just that the Prince of the Apostles should take under his particular care and surveillance this city, which was then the capital of the East, and where the Faith so early took such deep roots as to give birth there to the name of 'Christian'. There his voice could be heard by representatives of the three largest nations of antiquity - the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Latins. St. John Chrysostom says that Saint Peter was there for a long period; St. Gregory the Great states that he was seven years Bishop of Antioch. He did not reside there at all times, but governed its apostolic activity with the wisdom his mandate assured.

If as tradition affirms, he was twenty-five years in Rome, the date of his establishment at Antioch must be within three years after Our Savior's Ascension, for he would have gone to Rome in the second year of Claudius. He no doubt left Jerusalem when the persecution which followed Saint Steven's martyrdom broke out (Acts 8:1), and remained in Antioch until he escaped miraculously from prison and from the hands of Herod Agrippa, while in Jerusalem in 43 at the time of the Passover. (Acts 12) Knowing he would be pursued to Antioch, his well-known center of activity, he went to Rome.

In the first ages it was customary, especially in the East, for every Christian to observe the anniversary of his Baptism. On that day each one renewed his baptismal vows and gave thanks to God for his heavenly adoption. That memorable day they regarded as their spiritual birthday. The bishops similarly kept the anniversary of their consecration, as appears from four sermons of Saint Leo the Great on the anniversary of his accession to the pontifical dignity. These commemorations were frequently continued by the people after their bishops' decease, out of respect for their memory. The feast of the Chair of Saint Peter was instituted from very early times. St. Leo the Great says we should celebrate the Chair of Saint Peter with no less joy than the day of his martyrdom, for as in the latter he was exalted to a throne of glory in heaven, by the former he was installed 'Head of the Church on earth.'


Our beloved Abbot Gueranger chimes in with his prayer:

Glory be to thee, O Prince of the Apostles, on thy chair at Antioch, where thou didst for seven years preside over the Universal Church! How magnificent are the stations of thy apostolate! Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria (by the disciple Mark), and Rome, these are the cities which have been honored by thy august chair. After Rome, Antioch was the longest graced by its presence: justly, therefore, do we honor this Church, which was thus made, by thee, the mother and mistress of all the other Churches.

Aquinas-Thursday after 1st Sunday of Lent

It was fitting that Christ should be Crucified with the Thieves

Christ was crucified between the thieves because such was the will of the Jews, and also because this was part of God's design. But the reasons why this was appointed were not the same in each of these cases.

1. As far as the Jews were concerned Our Lord was crucified with the thieves on either side to encourage the suspicion that he too was a criminal. But it fell out otherwise. The thieves themselves have left not a trace in the remembrance of man, while His cross is everywhere held in honour. Kings laying aside their crowns have broidered the cross on their royal robes. They have placed it on their crowns; on their arms. It has its place on the very altars. Everywhere, throughout the world, we behold the splendour of the cross.

In God's plan Christ was crucified with the thieves in order that, as for our sakes he became accursed of the cross, so, for our salvation, He is crucified like an evil thing among evil things.

2. The Pope, St. Leo the Great, says that the thieves were crucified, one on either side of Him, so that in the very appearance of the scene of His suffering there might be set forth that distinction which should be made in the judgment of each one of us. St. Augustine has the same thought. "The cross itself," he says, "was a tribunal. In the centre was the judge. To the one side a man who believed and was set free, to the other side a scoffer and he was condemned." Already there was made clear the final fate of the living and the dead, the one class placed at His right, the other on His left.

3. According to St. Hilary the two thieves, placed to right and to left, typify that the whole of mankind is called to the mystery of Our Lord's Passion. And since division of things according to right and left is made with reference to believers and those who will not believe, one of the two, placed on the right, is saved by justifying faith.

4. As St. Bede says, the thieves who were crucified with Our Lord, represent those who for the faith and to confess Christ undergo the agony of martyrdom or the severe discipline of a more perfect life. Those who do this for the sake of eternal glory are typified by the thief on the right hand. Those whose motive is the admiration of whoever beholds them imitate the spirit and the act of the thief on the left-hand side.

As Christ owed no debt in payment for which a man must die, but submitted to death of His own will, in order to overcome death, so also He had not done anything on account of which He deserved to be put with the thieves. But of His own will He chose to be reckoned among the wicked, that by His power He might destroy wickedness itself. Which is why St. John Chrysostom says that to convert the thief on the cross and to turn him to Paradise was as great a miracle as the earthquake.

EMBER DAYS

Today, as well as Friday and Saturday of this week are known as 'Ember Days'. Following is what it is all about:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

All things have their season,
and in their times all things pass under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.
A time to kill, and a time to heal.
A time to destroy, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh.
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather.
A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to get, and a time to lose.
A time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew.
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.
A time of war, and a time of peace.


Four times a year, the Church sets aside three days to focus on God through His marvelous creation. These quarterly periods take place around the beginnings of the four natural seasons that "like some virgins dancing in a circle, succeed one another with the happiest harmony," as St. John Chrysostom wrote.

These four times are each kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and are known as "Ember Days," or Quatuor Tempora, in Latin. The first of these four times comes in Winter, after the Feast of St. Lucy; the second comes in Spring, the week after Ash Wednesday; the third comes in Summer, after Pentecost Sunday; and the last comes in Autumn, after Holy Cross Day. Their dates can be remembered by this old mnemonic:

Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia
Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria. Which means:

Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost,
are when the quarter holidays follow.

These times are spent fasting and partially abstaining (voluntary since the new Code of Canon Law) in penance and with the intentions of thanking God for the gifts He gives us in nature and beseeching Him for the discipline to use them in moderation.



I. The meaning of the law of fasting and abstinence.

1. The law of fasting requires that only one full meal be taken a day; but it does not forbid that, in addition to this, some food be taken in the morning and in the evening in accordance with the approved custom of one's locality. This law does not forbid the eating of fish and flesh at the same meal, and it permits one to take his full meal either at noon or in the evening, as he may wish.

2. The law of abstinence requires that one abstain from meat, as well as soup or broth made from meat; it does not forbid the use of eggs, butter, milk, cheese, etc.

3. The days of abstinence are all the Fridays of the year; this is in memory of our Lord's death on Good Friday. But when Friday falls on a Holyday, e.g., Christmas, meat may be eaten.

4. The times of fasting are:

(a) the Ember Days, i.e., Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in a week of each of the four seasons of the year. The purpose of these fasts is to consecrate each season of the year by some days of mortification, to thank God for His graces, ask His blessing upon the harvest, and to pray for those whom it is customary to ordain to the priesthood at those times,

(b) The vigils of Pentecost, Assumption, All Saints, and Christmas. These days are called vigils because in ancient times the faithful used to spend the night before them in watching, prayer and fasting,

(c) The longest, strictest and most venerable fast of the year is that of Lent, which goes back to the times of the Apostles. It commemorates our Lord's forty days' fast in the desert, associates us with His suffering by the practice of penance, and prepares us for the great feast of Easter. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and terminates at noon on Easter Saturday.

5. The days of both fasting and abstinence are: (a) Ember Days; (b) the vigils mentioned above: (c) Ash Wednesday and the Fridays and Saturdays in Lent.


II. The obligation of the law of fasting and abstinence.

l. Fasting in general is of the natural law, because nature and common sense teach us that it is necessary for subduing the passions, elevating the mind to spiritual things and making satisfaction for sin. Hence it has been practiced at all times, as we learn from the Old Testament (Exod. xxiv. 18; Jonas iii. 10; Dan. i. 15; I Esdras. viii. 23, etc.). Moreover, fasting has its basis in the law of mortification laid down by our Lord (Luke xiii. 5). But as neither the natural, nor the divine law has fixed the time and circumstances for observing fast and abstinence, the Church, in virtue of her divinely given authority of making laws that are for the advantage of the faithful, has determined the days, the times, and the manner of fasting and abstaining.

2. The law of abstinence binds all those who have completed their seventh year. The law of fasting obliges all who have completed their twenty-first year, and who have not yet entered upon their sixtieth year.

3. Reasons which excuse from the law of fasting and abstinence are: (a) infirm health, which would be made worse by fasting; (b) necessary work that is incompatible with fasting; (c) works of charity or piety for which there is some necessity, or which are more valuable than fasting, e.g., waiting on the sick, making a pilgrimage.

4. Those who are in doubt as to whether they are excused from fasting or abstinence should consult their confessor. Dispensations may be granted by parish priests (See Code, ec. 1243 ff.).


EXHORTATION:

1. Those who are able to fast should do so gladly and cheerfully in memory of the great event which Lent commemorates, and for the sake of the great blessings it brings with it.

2. Those who are excused from fasting and abstinence should remember that they are not exempt from the law of mortification and self-denial which they can fulfill by saying extra prayers, hearing Mass when possible on week days, giving alms to the poor or for holy purposes, refraining from unnecessary amusements, delicacies, etc.

Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part IV

 The point is also beautifully made (of the seasons) in the eighth Psalm:

O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! For thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens. Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies, that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger. For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast founded.

What is man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour: And hast set him over the works of thy hands. Thou hast subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen: moreover the beasts also of the fields. The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, that pass through the paths of the sea. O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in all the earth!

Be mindful of your effects on our dear earth and don't allow people to "politicize" the issue of our stewardship of God's creation! But to be mindful of nature, it helps to actually see her first. Go outside and look! And praise God for all you see, hear, smell, feel, and taste as you allow His glorious works to touch your senses!

Aquinas-Wednesday after 1st Sunday of Lent

How Great was the Sorrow of Our Lord in His Passion?

Attend and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. Lam. i. 12.

Our Lord as He suffered felt really, and in His senses, that pain which is caused by some harmful bodily thing. He also felt that interior pain which is caused by the fear of something harmful and which we call sadness. In both these respects the pain suffered by Our Lord was the greatest pain possible in this present life. There are four reasons why this was so.



1. The causes of the pain. The cause of the pain in the senses was the breaking up of the body, a pain whose bitterness derived partly from the fact that the sufferings attacked every part of His body, and partly from the fact that of all species of torture death by crucifixion is undoubtedly the most bitter. The nails are driven through the most sensitive of all places, the hands and the feet, the weight of the body itself increases the pain every moment. Add to this the long drawn-out agony, for the crucified do not die immediately as do those who are beheaded.


The cause of the internal pain was:

 (i) All the sins of all mankind for which, by suffering, He was making satisfaction, so that, in a sense, He took them to Him as though they were His own. The words of my sins, it says in the Psalms (Ps. xxi. 2).

(ii) The special case of the Jews and the others who had had a share in the sin of His death, and especially the case of His disciples for whom His death had been a thing to be ashamed of.

(iii) The loss of his bodily life, which, by the nature of things, is something from which human nature turns away in horror.


2. We may consider the greatness of the pain according to the capacity, bodily and spiritual, for suffering of Him who suffered. In His body He was most admirably formed, for it was formed by the miraculous operation of the Holy Ghost, and therefore its sense of touch that sense through which we experience pain was of the keenest. His soul likewise, from its interior powers, had a knowledge as from experience of all the causes of sorrow.

3. The greatness of Our Lord's suffering can be considered in regard to this that the pain and sadness were without any alleviation. For in the case of no matter what other sufferer the sadness of mind, and even the bodily pain, is lessened through a certain kind of reasoning, by means of which there is brought about a distraction of the sorrow from the higher powers to the lower. But when Our Lord suffered this did not happen, for He allowed each of His powers to act and suffer to the fullness of its special capacity.

4. We may consider the greatness of the suffering of Christ in the Passion in relation to this fact that the Passion and the pain it brought with it were deliberately undertaken by Christ with the object of freeing man from sin. And therefore He undertook to suffer an amount of pain proportionately equal to the extent of the fruit that was to follow from the Passion.

From all these causes, if we consider them together, it will be evident that the pain suffered by Christ was the greatest pain ever suffered by ANYONE since the world began.

Aquinas-Tuesday after 1st Sunday of Lent

Christ underwent every kind of suffering

"Every kind of suffering." The things men suffer may be understood in two ways. By "kind" we may mean a particular, individual suffering, and in this sense there was no reason why Christ should suffer every kind of suffering, for many kinds of suffering are contrary the one to the other, as for example, to be burnt and to be drowned. We are of course speaking of Our Lord as suffering from causes outside himself, for to suffer the suffering effected by internal causes, such as bodily sickness, would not have become him. But if by "kind" we mean the class, then Our Lord did suffer by every kind of suffering, as we can show in three ways:

1. By considering the men through whom He suffered. For He suffered something at the hands of Gentiles and of Jews, of men and even of women as the story of the servant girl who accused St. Peter goes to show. He suffered, again, at the hands of rulers, of their ministers, and of the people, as was prophesied, Why have the Gentiles raged; and the people devised vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together against the Lord and against his Christ (Ps. ii. i, 2).

He suffered, too, from His friends, the men He knew best, for Peter denied Him and Judas betrayed Him.

2. If we consider the things through which suffering is possible. Christ suffered in the friends who deserted Him, and in His good name through the blasphemies uttered against Him. He suffered in the respect, in the glory, due to Him through the derision and contempt bestowed upon Him. He suffered in things, for He was stripped even of His clothing; in His soul, through sadness, through weariness and through fear; in His body through wounds and the scourging.

3. If we consider what He underwent in His various parts. His head suffered through the crown of piercing thorns, His hands and feet through the nails driven through them, His face from the blows and the defiling spittle, and His whole body through the scourging.

He suffered in every sense of His body. Touch was afflicted by the scourging and the nailing, taste by the vinegar and gall, smell by the stench of corpses as He hung on the cross in that place of the dead which is called Calvary. His hearing was torn with the voices of mockers and blasphemers, and He saw the tears of His mother and of the disciple whom He loved. If we only consider the amount of suffering required, it is true that one suffering alone, the least indeed of all, would have sufficed to redeem the human race from all its sins. But if we look at the fitness of the matter, it had to be that Christ should suffer in all the kinds of sufferings.  (Which He did, and just for us)


I'd like to add a prayer which is today after the 'Postcommunion'.  I think it's needed these days:

May our prayers ascend to Thee, O Lord:  and do Thou drive away all wickedness from Thy Church.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ...

Aquinas-Monday after 1st Sunday of Lent

(I'm going to try to remember to put the thoughts of St. Thomas Aquinas on the Lenten season each day.  Hope I can do it for you.) 

Monday After First Sunday of Lent

Christ had to be tempted in the desert

He was in the desert forty days and forty nights: and was tempted by Satan.  Mark i. 13.

1. It was by Christ's own will that He was exposed to the temptation by the devil, as it was also by His own will that He was exposed to be slain by the limbs of the devil. Had He not so willed, the devil would never have dared to approach Him.

The devil is always more disposed to attack those who are alone, because, as is said in Sacred Scripture, If a man shall prevail against one, two shall with stand him easily (Eccles. iv. 12). That is why Christ went out into the desert, as one going out to a battle-ground, that there He might be tempted by the devil. Whereupon St. Ambrose says that Christ went into the desert for the express purpose of provoking the devil. For unless the devil had fought, Christ would never have overcome him for me.

St. Ambrose gives other reasons too. He says that Christ chose the desert as the place to be tempted for a hidden reason, namely that he might free from His exile Adam who, from Paradise, was driven into the desert; and again that He did it for a reason in which there is no mystery, namely to show us that the devil envies those who are tending towards a better life.

2. We say with St. John Chrysostom that Christ exposed Himself to the temptation because the devil most of all tempts those whom he sees alone. So in the very beginning of things he tempted the woman, when he found her away from her husband. It does not however follow from this that a man ought to throw himself into any occasion of temptation that presents itself.

Occasions of temptation are of two kinds. One kind arises from man's own action, when, for example, man himself goes near to sin, not avoiding the occasion of sin. That such occasions are to be avoided we know, and Holy Scripture reminds us of it. Stay not in any part of the country round about Sodom (Gen. xix. 17). The second kind of occasion arises from the devil's constant envy of those who are tending to better things, as St. Ambrose says, and this occasion of temptation is not one we must avoid. So, according to St. John Chrysostom, not only Christ was led into the desert by the Holy Ghost, but all the children of God who possess the Holy Ghost are led in like manner. For God's children are never content to sit down with idle hands, but the Holy Ghost ever urges them to undertake for God some great work. And this, as far as the devil is concerned, is to go into the desert, for in the desert there is none of that wickedness which is the devil's delight. Every good work is as it were a desert to the eye of the world and of our flesh, for good works are contrary to the desire of the world and of our flesh.

To give the devil such an opportunity of temptation as this is not dangerous, for it is much more the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who is the promoter of every perfect work, that prompts us than the working of the devil who hates them all.

1st Sunday of Lent

"My son, when you come to serve God, prepare your soul for temptation." Ecclus. 2:1

This Sunday is the 1st Sunday of Lent. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, we hear about Christ fasting and praying in the desert for 40 days, and then, at the end, Satan tempting Him with all of the world's goods, if He were to bow down to him. Christ dispels him quickly. St. Francis de Sales says that Christ was tempted more than three times when in the desert, but that St. Matthew deemed these three times would serve the purpose to teach us what we are to know. We are not immune from temptations from this same devil. He never gives up on trying to get our soul to be with him for all eternity. We also learn that the devil also knows Scripture. He can twist it, like all false religions, to his own use.

Our beloved Abbot Gueranger states:

'We have three enemies to fight against; our soul has three dangers; for, as the beloved disciple says, all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life! By the concupiscence of the flesh, is meant the love of sensual things, which covets whatever is agreeable to the flesh, and, when not curbed, draws the soul into unlawful pleasures. Concupiscence of the eyes expresses the love of the goods of this world, such as riches, and possessions; these dazzle the eye, and then seduce the heart. Pride of life is that confidence in ourselves, which leads us to be vain and presumptuous, and makes us forget that all we have, our life and every good gift, we have from God.'


Let those who must go, on these days, and mingle in the company of worldlings, be guided by St. Francis of Sales, who advises them to think, from time to time, on such considerations as these:--that while all these frivolous, and often dangerous, amusements are going on, there are countless souls being tormented in the fire of hell, on account of the sins they committed on similar occasions; --that, at that very hour of the night, there are many holy religious depriving themselves of sleep in order to sing the divine praises and implore God's mercy upon the world, and upon them that are wasting their time in its vanities;--that there are thousands in the agonies of death, while all that gaiety is going on;--that God and His angels are attentively looking upon this thoughtless group; and finally, that life is passing away, and death so much nearer each moment.


 As St. Francis says: 'If we are led by the Spirit of God to the place of temptation, we should not fear, but should be assured that He will render us victorious. But we must not seek temptation not go out to allure it, however holy and generous we may think ourselves to be, for we are not more valiant than David, not than our Divine Master Himself, who did not choose to seek it. Our enemy is like a chained dog; if we do not approach, it will do us no harm, even though it tries to frighten us by barking at us.'

St. Bernard, referring to words in Psalm 90,(which is a really good Psalm to read during this time of year), which is telling us: '... to have faith in God and He will deliver us. Deliver us from what? There are three kinds of terrors which we might be afraid of (groups we don't want to be in). The first fear is that of cowards and slothful souls; the second, that of children (I think this is being like a child and not wanting to learn anything); and the third, that of the weak. Fear is the first temptation which the enemy presents to those who have resolved to serve God, for as soon as they are shown what perfection require of them they think, "Alas, I shall never be able to do it." ...But Our Lord does not want this kind of warrior in His army; He wants combatants and conquerors, not sluggards and cowards. He chose to be tempted, and Himself attacked in order to give us an example.'


 Following are some parts of St. Francis' sermon for this first Sunday of Lent:

'Thus , it is a very necessary practice to prepare our soul for temptation. That is, wherever we may be and however perfect we may be, we must rest assured that temptation will attack us. Hence, we ought to be so disposed and to provide ourselves with the weapons necessary to fight valiantly in order to carry off the victory, since the crown is only for the combatants and conquerors.'

'The life of the perfect Christian is a continual penance. Console yourself, I pray, and take courage. Now is not the time for rest.'

'Walk confidently! If you are armed with the armor of Faith, nothing can harm you.'

'Gently, do not hurry on so fast! Begin to live well, according to your vocation: sweetly, simply, and humbly. Then trust in God, Who will make you holy when it pleases Him.'

Let us, during this Lenten season, try to make good on our promises, which we made to God, and God alone, and fight these temptations to the best of our God-given ability. Onward, Christian soldiers.


I'm going to end with a quote from St. Augustine:

"Because we are human, we are not strong.
Because we are not strong, we pray."

Sts. Francisco/Jacinta

Today we honor two of the three children who saw Our Lady in Fatima in the year 1917.  The officials of the Church have tried to squelch the message Our Lady gave during the months from May to October in that year.  Of course, the message has a lot to do with higher ups in the Church going wrong, which has happened.  We need to remember Fatima and do our rosaries daily for all that is going on these days.  (Francisco is on the right, while Jacinta is on the left)

Francisco Marto (June 11, 1908 - April 4, 1919) and his sister Jacinta Marto (March 11, 1910 - February 20, 1920), together with their cousin, Lucia dos Santos were the children from Aljustrel near Fatima, Portugal, who said they witnessed three apparitions of an angel in 1916 and several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917. Their reported visions of Our Lady of Fatima proved politically controversial, and gave rise to a major centre of world Christian pilgrimage.

The youngest children of Manuel and Olimpia Marto, Francisco and Jacinta were typical of Portuguese village children of that time. They were illiterate but had a rich oral tradition on which to rely, and they worked with their cousin Lucia, taking care of the family's sheep. According to Lucia's memoirs, Francisco had a placid disposition, was somewhat musically inclined, and liked to be by himself to think. Jacinta was affectionate if a bit spoiled, and emotionally labile. She had a sweet singing voice and a gift for dancing. All three children gave up music and dancing after the visions began, believing that these and other recreational activities led to occasions of sin.

Following their experiences, their fundamental personalities remained the same. Francisco preferred to pray alone, as he said "to console Jesus for the sins of the world". Jacinta was deeply affected by a terrifying vision of Hell reportedly shown to the children at the third apparition. She became deeply convinced of the need to save sinners through penance and sacrifice as the Virgin had reportedly instructed the children to do. All three children, but particularly Francisco and Jacinta, practiced stringent self-mortifications to this end.

(They died very young, and yet, they had the Faith)

Mary during Lent

Our Blessed Mother has always, and continues, to point us toward her Son.  Let us become small and humble like Mary as we prepare for Lent.  She was able to bestow great grace on the small and humble girl of Lourdes.  I will be praying for your intentions and those of our beloved priests.

 

Mary, you showed yourself to Bernadette

in the crevice of the rock.

In the cold and grey of winter,

you brought the warmth, light and beauty

of your presence.

 

In the often obscure depths of our lives,

in the depth of the world where evil is so powerful,

bring hope, return our confidence!

You are the Immaculate Conception,

come to our aid, sinners that we are.

And send us good priests to help us to improve our lives.

Give us the humility to have a change of heart,

the courage to do penance.

Teach us to pray for all people.

And may our priests lead us in these efforts.

 

Guide us to the source of true life.

Make us pilgrims going forward with your Church,

whet our appetite for the Eucharist,

the bread for the journey, the bread of life,

which our priests preside for us.

 

The Spirit brought about wonders in you, O Mary:

by his power, he has placed you near the Father,

in the glory of your eternal Son.

 

Look with kindness on our miserable bodies and hearts.

Shine forth for us, like a gentle light, at the hour of our death.

May a good priest then be present at our side.

 

Together with Bernadette, we pray to you, O Mary,

as your poor children.  May we enter, like her, into the spirit of the Beatitudes.  Inspire our priests to make us understand them better.

Then, we will be able, here below, begin to know the joy of the Kingdom of Heaven and sing together with you:

Magnificat !

 

Glory to you, Virgin Mary,

blessed servant of the Lord,

Mother of God, Mother of the Church,

and Mother of Priests, dwelling place of the Holy Spirit!

Amen.