St. Melchiades, Pope/Martyr

The Church makes a commemoration today in honor of the holy Pope Melchiades. This illustrious Pontiff, whom St. Augustine calls 'the true child of the peace of Jesus Christ, the worthy father of the Christian people', ascended the papal throne in the year 311, during the very fiercest storm of persecution. It is on this account that he is honored with the title of martyr. Though he did not shed his blood for the Name of Jesus, yet he shared in the glory of the martyrs, by reason of the great trials he had to suffer during the persecution, which afflicted the entire Church. It was the same with many of his predecessors. But the pontificate of Melchiades marks a very important period of the Church--the transition from persecution to peace. As early as the year 312, liberty was granted to the Christian religion by Constantine. So that Melchiades had the glory of governing the Church at the commencement of her period of temporal prosperity. His name now graces the calendar of the liturgical year, and reminds us of that peace which will soon descend upon us from heaven. (from 'The Liturgical Year')



Hear what Alban Butler (Lives of the Saints) has to say concerning this Pope.

MELCHIADES, or MILTIADES, succeeded Eusebius in the see of Rome, being chosen on the 2d of July, 311, in the reign of Maxentius. Constantine vanquished that tyrant on the 28th of October in 312, and soon after issued edicts, by which he allowed Christians the free exercise of their religion, and the liberty of building churches. To pacify the minds of the pagans, who were uneasy at this innovation, when he arrived at Milan in the beginning of the year 313, he, by a second edict, ensured to all religions except heresies, liberty of conscience. Among the first laws which he enacted in favour of Christians, he passed one to exempt the clergy from the burden of civil offices. He obliged all his soldiers to repeat on Sundays a prayer addressed to the one only God; and no idolater could scruple at such a practice. He abolished the pagan festivals and mysteries in which lewdness had a share. Unnatural impurity being almost unrestrained among the heathens, the Romans, when luxury and debauchery were arrived at the highest pitch among them, began to shun marriage, that they might be more at liberty to follow their passions. Whereupon Augustus was obliged by laws to encourage and to command all men to marry, inflicting heavy penalties on the disobedient. 1. The abuses being restrained by the Christian religion more effectually than they could have been by human laws, Constantine, in favour of celibacy, repealed the Poppæan law. This emperor also made a law to punish adultery with death. 2. The good pope rejoiced exceedingly at the prosperity of God’s house, and, by his zealous labours, very much extended its pale; but he had the affliction to see it torn by an intestine division, in the Donatist schism, which blazed with great fury in Africa. Mensurius, bishop of Carthage, being falsely accused of having delivered up the sacred scriptures to be burnt in the time of the persecution, Donatus, bishop of Cassa-nigra in Numidia, most unreasonably separated himself from his communion, and continued his schism when Cecilian had succeeded Mensurius in the see of Carthage, and was joined by many jealous enemies of that good prelate, especially by the powerful lady Lucilla, who was personally piqued against Cecilian whilst he was deacon of that church. The chismatics appealed to Constantine, who was then in Gaul, and entreated him to commission three Gaulish bishops, whom they specified, to judge their cause against Cecilian. The emperor granted them these judges they demanded, but ordered the aforesaid bishops to repair to Rome, by letter, entreating Pope Melchiades to examine into the controversy, together with these Gaulish bishops, and to decide it according to justice and equity. The emperor left to the bishops the decision of this affair, because it regarded a bishop. 3. Pope Melchiades opened a council in the Lateran palace on the 2nd of October, 313, at which both Cecilian and Donatus of Cassa-nigra were present; and the former was pronounced by the pope and his council innocent of the whole charge that was brought against him. Donatus of Cassa-nigra was the only person who was condemned on that occasion; the other bishops who had adhered to him were allowed to keep their sees upon their renouncing the schism. St. Austin, speaking of the moderation which the pope used, calls him an excellent man, a true son of peace, and a true father of Christians. Yet the Donatists, after his death, had recourse to their usual arms of slander to asperse his character, and pretended that this pope had delivered the scriptures into the hands of the persecutors; which St. Austin calls a groundless and malicious calumny. St. Melchiades died on the 10th of January, 314, having sat two years, six months, and eight days, and was buried on the Appian road, in the cemetery of Calixtus; is named in the Roman Martyrology, and in those of Bede, Ado, Usuard, &c. In some calendars he is styled a martyr, doubtless on account of his sufferings in preceding persecutions.

This holy pope saw a door opened by the peace of the church to the conversion of many, and he rejoiced at the triumph of the cross of Christ. But with worldly prosperity a worldly spirit too often broke into the sanctuary itself; insomuch that the zealous pastor had sometimes reason to complain, with Isaiah, “Thou hast multiplied the nation, and hast not increased my joy.” 4 Under the pressures of severe persecution, the true spirit of our holy religion was maintained in many among its professors during the first ages; yet, amidst the most holy examples, and under the influence of the strongest motives and helps, avarice and ambition insinuated themselves into the hearts of some, who, by the abuse of the greatest graces, became of all others the most abandoned to wickedness; witness Judas the apostate in the college of the apostles; also several amongst the disciples of the primitive saints, as Simon Magus, Paul of Samosata, and others. But with temporal honours and affluence, the love of the world, though most severely condemned by Christ, as the capital enemy to his grace and holy love, and the source of all vicious passions, crept into the hearts of many, to the utter extinction of the Christian spirit in their souls. This, indeed, reigns, and always will reign, in a great number of chosen souls, whose lives are often hidden from the world, but in whom God will always provide for his honour faithful servants on earth, who will praise him in spirit and truth. But so deplorable are the overflowings of sensuality, avarice, and ambition, and such the lukewarmness and spiritual insensibility which have taken root in the hearts of many Christians, that the torrent of evil example and a worldly spirit ought to fill every one with alarms, and oblige every one to hold fast, and be infinitely upon his guard that he be not carried away by it. It is not the crowd that we are to follow, but the Gospel: and though temporal goods and prosperity are a blessing, they ought extremely to rouse our attention, excite our watchfulness, and inspire us with fear, being fraught with snares, and by the abuse which is frequently made of them, the ruin of virtue.

Note 1. See his Lex Julia, and Lex Poppæa. [back]
Note 2. See Gothofred, ad Cod. Theod. l. xi. tit. 36. [back]
Note 3. S. Aug. ep. 105, p. 299, et ep. 43, p. 94, et in Brevic. Collat. die 3, c. 12, et 17. Eus. l. 10, c. 5. S. Optat. l. 1, p. 44. [back]
Note 4. Isa. ix. 3. [back]

Sermon on Our Lady

A Sermon by St Anselm on Our Lady

Blessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night - everything that is subject to the power or use of man - rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed with inexpressible new grace. All creatures were dead, as it were, useless for men or for the praise of God, who made them. The world, contrary to its true destiny, was corrupted and tainted by the acts of men who served idols. Now all creation has been restored to life and rejoices that it is controlled and given splendour by men who believe in God.

The universe rejoices with new and indefinable loveliness. Not only does it feel the unseen presence of God himself, its Creator, it sees him openly, working and making it holy. These great blessings spring from the blessed fruit of Mary's womb.

Through the fullness of the grace that was given you, dead things rejoice in their freedom, and those in heaven are glad to be made new. Through the Son who was the glorious fruit of your virgin womb, just souls who died before his life-giving death rejoice as they are freed from captivity, and the angels are glad at the restoration of their shattered domain.

Lady, full and overflowing with grace, all creation receives new life from your abundance. Virgin, blessed above all creatures, through your blessing all creation is blessed, not only creation from its Creator, but the Creator himself has been blessed by creation.

To Mary God gave his only-begotten Son, whom he loved as himself. Through Mary God made himself a Son, not different but the same, by nature Son of God and Son of Mary. The whole universe was created by God, and God was born of Mary. God created all things, and Mary gave birth to God. The God who made all things gave himself form through Mary, and thus he made his own creation. He who could create all things from nothing would not remake his ruined creation without Mary.

God, then, is the Father of the created world and Mary the mother of the re-created world. God is the Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new life. For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Saviour of the world. Without God's Son, nothing could exist; without Mary's Son, nothing could be redeemed.

Juan Diego

Also, this day we honor Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548), who saw the Blessed Virgin. He is not listed in the Traditional calendar, but he still important in our lives. He saw the one who is the 'Protectress of the Americas'. The day of our Lady of Guadalupe will be the 12th, so lets think about the visit.

Historical Account of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe
by Sister Gabriel, O.P., 1900


The story of the Apparition of our Lady can not be too often repeated, and it will be better appreciated in the faithful translation of the original Indian narrative by that zealous and devoted client of our Lady of Guadalupe, Rev. Andrew Garriga, who for some years was rector of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, San Francisco.

In the year of our Lord 1531, ten years after the Conquest, and four months after the end of the war (Clement VI. being Pope, and Charles V. King of Spain), one Saturday morning, before dawn, it being the 9th of December, an Indian--low and poor, humble and candid (one of the newly converted to the Catholic Faith), named Juan Diego, a native of Quatitlan, a town north of and distant from the capital of Mexico four leagues, who was married to another convert, Maria Lucia, then resident in a town nearer to the city, called Tolpetlac--was going to the Church of S. James, in the Barrio of Tlatelolco, to hear Mass and the catechetical instruction that the religious of S. Francis used to impart every morning to the Indians.

At the dawn of the morning, as he had to pass by the slope of a hill near the city, called by the Indians "Tepeyacac," he heard from around a point of projecting rock sweet and harmonious singing, as it seemed to him, of a multitude and variety of birds heretofore unknown to him, which, like choruses, responded to each other in enchanting harmony, and the echoes were redoubled and repeated by the larger hill near by. Raising his eyes to a spot where he thought the singing came from, he saw a white and brilliant cloud surrounded by a rainbow, produced by an excessive light and splendor, as if springing directly from the center of the cloud.

There he stood absorbed, and as if beside himself (in a trance) but without confusion or fear. He had a feeling in his heart of such exquisite pleasure and joy that he said to himself: "What is this that I hear and see? Whereto have I been transported? In what place of the world am I? Perhaps I have been transported to that Paradise of Delights of which our good Fathers have spoken as the origin of our flesh, the Garden of Flowers, or the Celestial World, hidden to the eye of men?" Standing in this suspense and ecstasy, the singing ceased, and he heard some one call him by his name (in his language)"Juan!"--a sweet and delicate voice, as of a woman, coming out from the splendor of that cloud, and telling him to approach. He immediately obeyed, and ran up the hill with great haste.


FIRST APPARITION.

In the center of that brilliance he saw a most beautiful lady, very much like the one we see in the picture now, according to the verbal description given by the Indian himself before she had appeared in the painting, or to any one else; "whose garments glittered so," said he, "that their light striking the rough rocks which rise on the summit of the hill, appeared to be transparent and polished precious stones, and the leaves and thorns and 'nopals' that grew there, small and poor on account of the dryness of the place, looked like handfuls of emeralds, and their trunks, branches and thorns as they were of brilliant gold. Even the surface of a small plain by the top of the hill seemed to be of jasper mixed with fine and different colors." The lady spoke to him in the Aztec language, and said: "My child, Juan Diego, whom I love as one that is little and delicate (the idiom of the Indian language), "Whither goest thou?" The Indian answered: "I am going, noble lady, to Mexico, to the Barrio of Tlatelolco, to hear the Mass that the ministers of God say for us." The beautiful Lady heard him, and then continued: "Know thou, O my beloved child, that I am the Ever Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God, the Author of Life, Creator of all, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, Who is present everywhere; and it is my desire that a temple be built for me on this very spot, wherein, as a most tender Mother to thee and all thy people, I will show my loving clemency, and the compassion I feel for the natives, and for all of those who love and seek me, and for all who solicit my protection and invoke me in their trouble and afflictions, and wherein I shall hear their prayers and see their tears, and give them consolation and help. And in order that my will be carried out, thou shalt go to the City of Mexico, and to the palace of the Bishop, whom thou shalt tell that I send thee; and that it is my pleasure that he build a temple in this very place. And thou shalt tell him all that thou hast seen and heard. And be sure that I will be most grateful for whatever thou shalt do for me in this, my business, and I will raise thee up and make thee famous as thy reward. Thou hast heard, my son, my desire. Go in peace, and forget not that I will pay thee well for all the trouble and pains thou shalt take in it; and so thou shalt work for it with all thy might."

Prostrate on the ground, the Indian replied: "I will go immediately, my noble Lady, and my possessor, to do your bidding, your humble servant that I am. Wait here. Good-bye!" Having taken leave with a profound reverence, he took the road that leads to the city, descending the hill by the west side. As he had promised, Juan Diego went straight to the City of Mexico, about one league from the hill, and entered the palace of the Bishop, the illustrious Lord Don Fray Juan Zumarraga, the first Bishop of Mexico. He requested the servants to call the Bishop, telling them that he wished to see him and speak to him. They did not obey the request, either because it was too early in the morning, or because they saw the visitor so poor, simple and humble. So he had to wait for a long time. Touched and moved by his tolerance and patience, they admitted him. Once in the presence of the Bishop, he knelt down and delivered his message. "The Mother of God," said he. "whom I saw and spoke to thin morning, sends me," and he then related all he had seen and heard.

The Prelate listened with some admiration to what the Indian said, but he did not give much credit to his message, considering it an imagination or a dream, or an illusion from the devil to a new convert from paganism. And although he put many questions to him and found him true, sensible and consistent in his answers, he dismissed him, saying that he might come to him again some days after; that he wanted to examine and inquire thoroughly into the matter (and, of course, after the character of the messenger) and take his time for deliberation. The poor Indian left the residence of the Bishop sad and disheartened, as much to feel that he had not been believed as to see--that he could not accomplish the wishes of the Lady of whom, he was the messenger.


SECOND APPARITION.

Juan Diego, about sunset of the same day, went back to the town where he lived, which in all probability and tradition was the town of Tolpetlac, that is, in the back and northwest, about one league distant from the hill. Tolpetlac in Aztec means "place of mats of reedmace," because, very probably, it was the only occupation of the old Indians of that town to weave mats of that plant. As soon as the Indian arrived at the summit of the hill where he had seen the lady in the morning, he saw her there again, waiting for the answer to her message. He immediately fell on his knees, and said to her: "My beloved nina, my Queen and exalted Lady, I have done all that thou hast commanded; and although I could not see the Bishop until after long waiting, I saw him and gave him the message in the very same words that thou desired me. He listened to me very calmly and attentively, but, from what I could see in him and from the many questions he put to me, I concluded that he did not believe me. For he told me to come back some other time, so that he could examine the matter more minutely and think of it deliberately. He presumed that the Temple that thou asked to have built for thee was only a fiction or whim of mine, and not thy will. Therefore, I beseech thee to send, instead of me, some other person--one noble, great and worthy of respect and belief; because, as thou seest, my possessor, I am only a low and humble man, a poor Indian, unable and unfit to carry out thy purpose. Forgive, oh my Queen, my boldness, if I have in anything exceeded the honor and respect due to thy Highness, lest, perhaps, I have provoked thy indignation or have been disagreeable with my answer." This colloquy and the others are literally translated from the history written by the natives.

The Blessed Virgin listened to the Indian's answer with a benign face, and as soon as he had finished she said: "Hear, my beloved son. Know thou that I am not in want of servants to command or messengers to send, because I have many that would execute my orders with great joy; but thou must be the one that shall perform and solicit this business: and it is through thy means that this, my wish and desire, must be accomplished. So, I beseech and command thee, my son, to go again tomorrow morning, and see and speak to the Bishop, and tell him to build for me that Temple which I ask; and that she who sends you is the Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God."

Juan Diego replied: "Be not offended at what I have said, my Lady and my Queen, for I will go most willingly and obey thy command with all my heart, and I will carry thy message. I do not excuse myself, nor do I consider the way any trouble; but, perhaps, I will not be well received or listened to. Or, if the Bishop listens to me he may not believe me. However, I shall do what thou orderest me, and tomorrow afternoon, at sunset, I shall wait for thee here, and bring the answer I may receive from him. And so be tranquil, my dear and exalted Lady. God keep you!"

The Indian took leave with profound humility and started for his home. It is not known whether he revealed what happened, to his wife or any other person, for the Indian history says nothing about it. Perhaps, confused and ashamed of his yet unfavorable success, he did not dare to speak of it until he saw the end of the affair.

The next day, Sunday, the 10th of December, Juan came as usual to the Temple of S. James of Tlatelolco to hear Mass and learn his Catechism. After the account that the Padres used to take every day, in every parish, of the natives present at their instructions, he went to the Bishop; and although the servants, treating him as an impertinent person, delayed a long time before announcing him to the prelate, he entered and humbled himself in his presence. With tears and sobs he said: "Be not annoyed or angry with me, my Lord. I have seen that Lady once more, waiting for an answer to her first demand, and she bade me again come to thy presence and tell thee again to build her a temple on that same place, where I first saw and spoke to her; and that I should assure thee that she is the Mother of Jesus Christ, and the ever Virgin Mary, that sends me."

The Bishop heard him with more attention than before, and, to be more certain, asked him several questions and cross-questions, impressing upon him to remember well what he said about the appearance, dress, words, and other signs of the Lady who sent him. Although he began to think that it could hardly be a fiction or dream of the Indian, still, lest it should be considered levity to believe the simple relation of a candid and low Indian convert, he said to him: "What thou sayest is not sufficient to put it into execution, so tell the lady that sent thee to give thee some token by which I may know that it is the Mother of God who sends thee and wishes me to build her Temple." The Indian answered promptly: "What token dost thou want?" The Prelate, seeing the prompt, direct and self-confident answer of the Indian, inviting him to choose himself whatever token he wished, began to take action in the matter. He called two members of his own household, and, speaking to them in Castllian, which the Indian did not understand, he told them to mark the man, and hold themselves in readiness to go and follow him, keeping at a distance, but never losing sight of him, nor letting him suspect that he was followed. They were ordered to watch him carefully as far as the place told by himself, where he said that he had seen the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to notice if he spoke to anybody and with whom. And they were to come back and report their observations. He then dismissed the Indian, and the servants, obeying orders, followed him, without his knowledge.

So soon as Juan Diego arrived near a bridge of the creek that runs by the foot of the hill, he disappeared from the sight of his followers. Although they searched for him carefully all around and over the hill they could not find him. Declaring him an impostor, a liar and a sorcerer they came back full of anger, and informed the Bishop of everything, and requested him not to believe the Indian, but to punish him severely if he should come back with his imposture.



THIRD APPARITION.

As soon as Juan Diego reached the top of Tepeyacac, he again found the Lady waiting for his answer. The Indian humbled himself as before, in her presence and said: "I have fulfilled thy command. I saw the Bishop again and delivered thy message, and after several questions and cross-questions that he put to me, he said that my simple narration was not sufficient to take a determination on so grave a subject, and that I should require of thee a sign (token) by which he might know that it is thou who sendest me, and that it is thy will that he build thee a Temple here."

The Lady, with kind words, expressed her gratitude to him for the interest and pains he was taking, and made him come the next day to the same place and that she would then give him a sign that the Bishop would believe. He promised to come back, and went home.

The next day, Monday, December 11th, passed away, and Juan Diego could not come back, because, when he reached home, he found an uncle of his, named Juan Bernardino, whom he loved very tenderly and held him as his own father, grievously ill of a malignant fever, called by the natives Cocoliztli, so on that account he went for the medicine man to apply some remedy. He came back with the Indian doctor, who gave his uncle some medicine; but the patient became worse and worse. Night came on, and Juan Bernardino, feeling very much fatigued and weak, called his nephew and asked him to start early in the morning, before daybreak, and go to the Convent of S. James of Tlatelolco, and tell one of the Padres to come and administer to him the Holy Sacraments of the Church, for he felt he was going to die.

On the day and hour before mentioned, namely, the early morning of the 12th, Juan Diego went for the priest, and, as the day broke in, he was about to pass the hill by the usual road on the east side, when he remembered that he had not come the day before, according to his promise, and therefore disobeyed the Lady, who must have waited a long time for him to give him the "token." He thought that if he went to the place where he used to meet her, she would scold him and delay his urgent message. Therefore he imagined, in his simplicity, that, taking another road by the other side, she would not see nor detain him; and when his uncle would be attended to he would come back, beg the Lady's pardon, receive humbly her reprimand, and take the "token" to the Lord Bishop. So he did; and as he was passing by a flowing spring of water which flows at the foot of the hill and was turning to the right road, behold! there was the Blessed Virgin again before him.


FOURTH APPARITION.

The Indian saw her descending towards him surrounded with a white cloud, and with the halo and brightness of the first time that she appeared. She said to him: "Whither art thou going, my son, and what road didst thou take today?" The Indian fell on his knees, and, all confused, ashamed and trembling, answered: "My love and my Lady, good morning! How art thou today? Art thou well? Be not displeased at what I say. Know thou, then, my Queen, that thy servant, my uncle, is very sick with a grievous and mortal disease; he is very weak and fatigued, and in great danger, and I am going in great haste to the Temple of Tlatelolco for a priest to prepare him for death; for, as thou well knowest, we are all subject to die. As soon as I have done that, I shall come back to execute thy orders. Forgive me, I beseech thee, my Queen, and have some patience, for I do not refuse to execute thy command to thy humble servant, nor do I feign an excuse. Tomorrow I shall be here, without fail."

The Blessed Virgin listened to his apology with a very amiable countenance and replied to him thus: "Hear, my son, what I tell thee now; be not annoyed nor afflicted at anything; fear not any disease, accident or pain. Am I not here who am thy mother? Art not thou under my shadow and protection? Am I not life and health? Art not thou in my keeping? Am I not responsible for thee? Dost thou want anything else? Be in no trouble or care about the sickness of thy uncle; he shall not die of this disease; but, be assured, he is now already recovered." And so he was, as was found out afterwards.

When Juan Diego heard these words, satisfied and consoled, he replied: "Then, my beloved Queen, send me to the Lord Bishop at once and give me the token that thou hast promised me, so that he may believe." The Blessed Virgin replied to him: "Go up, my darling beloved son, to the top of the hill where thou sawest and spoke to me first, and pick up the roses that thou shalt find there. Collect them in thy cloak, bring them down to me, and I will tell thee what thou shalt do and say." The Indian obeyed without making any remark, although he knew for certain that no flowers or any plant ever grew or would grow on that group of rough rocks. He reached the top and found there a beautiful garden of Castilian Roses, fresh and fragrant and with the morning dew; and gathering them in his tilma or cloak, as the natives used to do, brought them to the Blessed Virgin. She was waiting for him at the foot of a tree that the natives call Quanzabault (which in Indian means "Tree of the Cobwebs"). It is a wild tree, bears no fruit and only produces some white flowers at its proper season. Here the Indian prostrated himself in the presence of the Blessed Virgin, and showed her the roses. She, taking them all in her hand, as if to form a bouquet of them, put them into the cloak which the Indian was keeping open before her, and said to him: "This is the token that thou shalt give to the Bishop and tell him that by this he shall do what I order. And mind, my son, what I tell thee. I place confidence in thee. Show not to anybody in the way what thou bringest, nor do thou open thy cloak till thou art in the presence of the Bishop. Tell him all thou hast seen and heard now, and he will take courage and build my Temple." Having said this, she took leave of him. Glad and happy for the success he now expected from his message, the Indian started for the city, carrying his roses with great care, looking at them now and then on his way and enjoying their beautiful fragrance.

APPARITION OF THE IMAGE.

Juan Diego came with his last message to the episcopal residence, and, though he begged of several of the servants to let him see the Bishop, he could not obtain his request for a long time. The servants, already angry with his importunities, noticed that he carried something in his cloak. They wondered and wanted to find what it was, and although he resisted all he could, they succeeded in opening it somewhat, and saw. that he carried roses. Seeing them so beautiful they tried to seize them, but they caught nothing. They seemed to be only painted or interwoven in the cloak. They told the Bishop about it and the Indian was admitted to his presence. He gave his message faithfully, and added: "There is the token thou wantedst, and which the lady sends to thee"; and letting the lower edge of his cloak loose, down fell the roses, rolling off on the floor, and, behold! the image of the Blessed Virgin was painted on the cloak.

Much surprised and astonished, the Lord Bishop contemplated the prodigy. Roses, fresh, fragrant and wet with dew, as if just cut from the bush, in the midst of winter, and, as stated, from a barren rock, and that wonderful Image on the crude and rough cloth, woven from the rough palm-tree fiber. He called all his household, paid the Image the greatest respect and veneration, untied the two upper corners from behind the Indian's neck, and, placing it in his private chapel for the time being, fell on his knees and gave thanks to God and his glorious Mother.

The Lord Bishop kept the Indian in his residence with honor and deference, and the next day went with him to see the place which the Blessed Virgin had selected for her Temple. Being there, the Indian showed the localities where he had seen and spoken to her, and then begged permission to go home and see his uncle, Juan Bernardino.


FIFTH APPARITION.

When Juan Bernardino saw his nephew coming, accompanied by Spaniards, and the honors they paid to him, he asked the cause of that novelty. Juan Diego told him the progress of his message to the Lord Bishop; how the Blessed Virgin had assured him of his recovery; and, having related the hour about when she had said that he was well, Juan Bernardino assured him that just at that same hour a lady of the same description had appeared to him also; that she had cured him, and said that it was her pleasure that a Temple should be built in the place that his nephew had seen, and, also, that her Image should be called S. Mary of Guadalupe. She had given him no reason why it should be so. The servants of the Lord Bishop heard the two Indians and brought them to his presence immediately. He examined Juan Bernardino very closely about his sickness, how he was cured, how the Lady looked, how she was dressed, and, having verified the truth, took them both into his palace.

The fame of the miracle had already spread all over the neighborhood, and the people came in great crowds from all parts of the city to see and venerate the holy Image. Seeing this, the Lord Bishop took the holy picture and placed it over the main altar of his pro-cathedral, where everybody could honor it, whilst they were building a large church on the spot named by Juan Diego, and where it was afterward brought in procession, and a solemn feast established, and where it is venerated up to the present day.

This is the plain tradition without any ornamentation of words; and it is so true, that any circumstance more or less in addition would be either false or apocryphal; for this is the precise, brief and faithful form in which the most intelligent Indians and the historians of that time write and tell it.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

December 8, the day we honor the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Mother of all believing Christians. No matter what those in charge say, we will continue to honor our Blessed Mother, even if we have to go to Church twice in one week. Our leaders seem to have abandoned the Faith that comes to us through Jesus Christ, and pronounced by His Apostles. This is the Faith we are to honor and cherish.

Like I said, our leaders have left the ship struggling through the waves without someone competent enough to right it. Our Blessed Mother should be the navigator of the ship, to guide the pilot (the Pope). Weather forecasting is NOT his job. Just sayin'.

There they go!


In the book of Wisdom, we read: 'For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of His goodness.' Wis. vii, 26

Mary herself said that her soul magnifies the Lord, which, to me, means that if we look to her, we will see things more clearly. It is NOT that her being proclaims the Lord, as it is said in the newer version of scripture. Those translations are WRONG! Protestants say that we should go directly to Jesus with our petitions. However, they seem to miss the fact, that if it hadn't been for Mary and her fiat, Christ would not have come in person, unless God had chosen someone else to do it. Granted, God can do whatever He wants, but He chose to come through Mary. Jesus even gave her to us as our Mother when He was on the Cross, when he told John, who was standing in the place of all true Christians, 'behold your mother.' All scripture in the newer bibles has been changed whenever it is about Mary. She is the 'Woman' in Genesis, and is the 'woman'in the Apocalypse, Chapter 12. Scripture started with her, and ended with her. And, remember, even she said at Cana: "Do whatever He tells you to do."

(Also, I'd like to add something. Many people ask you to pray for them, and you do. Why NOT ask the Holy Mother of Christ to pray for you. Her 'batting average' in Scripture is 100%. She asked Jesus to do one thing at Cana, and He complied. NOT a bad average, if you ask me.)

I will now take some words from a book I have entitled 'Half-hours with the Servants of God', printed in 1891.

'That God should have willed that Mary's body should not be endowed with a more excellent purity than that of her soul, is not what could reasonably be expected of His wisdom, since the soul is the noblest part of man.

If the body, according to the expression of the Apostle, is a beautiful vase, the soul is the most precious of liquors which ought to fill it; and consequently the Virginal body of Mary, whose purity surpassed that of angels and near unto God, as St. Bernard says, had to contain a soul still more pure, inasmuch as the purity of the body, without the purity of the soul, can have no value or consideration with God.' Le Pere Houdry, S.J.

There is something in Mary which moves and affects me much more than this privilege of having been exempt from original sin--something which adds additional lustre to this first prerogative. Mary received this grace from the very first moment of her conception; it was a wondrous gift; but what appears to me to be still more wonderful is that she kept this grace until the last moment of her life, as pure, as entire, as when she first received it--no sin, no imperfection, no weakness, no surprise, have ever done her harm.

It is a wonder to see water springing from the bosom of the earth as clear, as fresh, as if it fell from heaven; but it is a thing unheard of that this same water from the well, after having bedewed the fields and dirty places, should flow at last into the sea without a taint of smell, as unpolluted as when it issues from the spring.

This is, however, what our Blessed Lady has done. She lived in this valley of tears for more than seventy years--this, too, in the midst of the same sins and occasions of sins which corrupt daily even innocent souls--without ever losing the purity of her heart. Her humility and patience were put to proofs without a parallel, and she gained fresh lustre from every trial. The Holy Ghost gave her the preference among the many virgins without losing her honor; she had her joys, but she had her dolours too, and though these she never lost for a single moment the peace and tranquility of her soul.

Let us contrast ourselves with this holy and Immaculate Mother. She received grace with life, and, what is more glorious still, she kept it intact until she died.
And we, alas! have been conceived and brought into the world in sin; and we have received the grace of the Sacrament of Baptism which made us friends of God.

But, what is more lamentable, we lose the benefit of this grace almost as soon as we have received it, and then pass the remainder of our days in the dread uncertainty of forgiveness. For it must be confessed, to our shame, that we, for the most part, remain in a state of grace so long as we are unacquainted with sin.

It seems to me that there may be a contradiction between innocence and reason, and that they may clash together unless they are kept asunder. Le Pere de la Colombiere, S.J.

I would like to include part of the sermon for this day, given by Archbishop LeFebvre in 1972:

'The influence of the Blessed Virgin Mary has not ceased. Even now in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary continues to be the Mother of the Mystical Body of Our Lord, the Mother of the Church, the Mother of our souls. She shows it, she proves it, she proves it in every one of us, but she also proves it in her apparitions. Is it not admirable to think that after the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception as a revealed truth, that the Blessed Virgin Mary was Immaculate from her Conception — already four years later on March 21, 1858, the Blessed Virgin herself said to little Bernadette, the little shepherdess, "I am the Immaculate Conception."

Remember that Bernadette was incapable of understanding, she could not understand what these words meant, and she left the grotto on her way to her pastor’s house repeating these words which she did not understand, to make sure she would not forget them. The history of the life of Bernadette tells us that it was at that moment that the parish priest of Lourdes, Fr. Pomian, was truly convinced by the apparitions at Lourdes. He realized that the poor little shepherdess was incapable of inventing this herself, and that the dogma had been proclaimed four years before by the Sovereign Pontiff. Thus it was confirmed by the Blessed Virgin herself that she was the Immaculate Conception.'

As men are conceived in sin, and we do not read of any one who was sanctified in his mother's womb excepting Jeremias and St. John the Baptist; although there is no doubt that the Blessed Virgin, enclosed in her mother's womb, should have been purified by a much more sublime degree of sanctification, seeing that she was to be the sanctuary where God the Son was to be made Flesh. St. Bernard

(Let us, therefore, strive to hold onto the Eternal Truths of Christ's Church, no matter who tries to tell us different. Me.)


Preface of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(with special clause for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception)

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God: and that we should praise and bless, and proclaim Thee, in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mary, ever-Virgin: Who also conceived Thine only-begotten Son by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, and the glory of her virginity still abiding, gave forth to the world the everlasting Light, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, and the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with these we entreat Thee that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted while we say with lowly praise:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.


And think of this little nugget. This day, as well as all of her Feast days, she will deliver souls from purgatory herself. Maybe she'll deliver someone you know. Ask for it. Who knows?


Read on concerning this day, and what the Church has to say about it. You can use this when dealing with those who are not of the Faith, even those within the walls and call themselves Catholic.

The Immaculate Conception


"Hail, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women".--LUKE i. 28.

The extraordinary dignity and sanctity of the Blessed Virgin is made manifest in the words of today's Gospel. Since she was to become the Mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, it was not an ordinary messenger but an Archangel that was sent to announce to her this great dignity. And how worthy she was of such lofty honor the angel declares in his salutation. She is "full of grace," the abyss of all heavenly favors; "the Lord is with" her, she possesses holiness beyond all other creatures; she is "blessed among women," because, unlike all others, she was never subject to any sin.

I. The meaning of this dogma. 1. The Immaculate Conception does not refer, as some non-Catholics imagine, to the virgin birth of our Lord, nor to His sinlessness; neither does it imply on the part of the Blessed Virgin that her conception, like our Lord's, was divine, in the sense that it was without a human father. 2. The meaning of this doctrine is that, by a singular favor and privilege of God, and through the foreseen merits of her Son, the Virgin Mary, from the first instant of her conception in the womb of her mother, was preserved free from all stain of sin. 3. Original sin is that moral guilt and stain of soul which we inherit from Adam, the moral head of the human race. Sanctifying grace and many other extraordinary privileges were conferred upon our first parents from their creation, but all these they lost through their sin; and the effect of their fall has descended upon all their posterity, with the exception of Christ, who was sinless by reason of the Hypostatic Union, and Mary, who was conceived immaculate by the special favor of God. 4. Hence, the Blessed Virgin from the first moment of her conception was free from sin and endowed with sanctifying grace. Jeremiah and John the Baptist were sanctified in their mothers' wombs and born free from original sin, but they were not conceived in this state. 5. The grace received by Mary in her conception was far superior to that ever attained by any of the saints throughout their lives, and this grace she never lost, but on the contrary continually augmented in her life. 6. Being a child of Adam, Mary was in need of redemption, not to free her from sin, but to preserve her against sin.

II. Reasons for this dogma. 1. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was not defined until December 8, 1854, by Pope Pius IX, but it had always been taught in the Church as a divinely revealed doctrine. 2. The Holy Scriptures, as interpreted by the Fathers of the Church, contain this doctrine: (a) "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, . . . she shall crush thy head" (Genesis iii. 15). (b) Types of the Immaculate Conception were the ark of Noah, Jacob's ladder, the burning bush, etc. (c) Many words of the prophets can be understood of Mary's sinless conception; e.g., what they say about the holy Jerusalem, the ark of sanctification, the house, built by eternal Wisdom, etc. (d) The salutation which the Angel addressed to Mary on the day of the Annunciation implies this doctrine. 3. The Fathers speak of Mary as the supreme miracle, as nearest to God and above all praise; they declare her superior to Eve in the latter's innocence; they called her the lily among thorns, the virgin earth from which the new Adam came forth, etc., etc.; they hold that sin should not be thought of when there is question of Mary; they call her immaculate, more holy than sanctity, more pure than purity, etc. 4. The Popes have promoted devotion to the Immaculate Conception and have inculcated the doctrine. The Council of Trent in its decree on sin excluded the Blessed Virgin. 5. This doctrine has been universally believed by all classes in the Church, although a few questioned it at different times. 6. The Immaculate Conception was altogether fitting since the Son of God was to take flesh from the Virgin Mary, and He could not permit that His Mother should ever have been subject to His enemy (in sin).


Let us rejoice, dear brethren, in this glorious Immaculate Conception. Let us thank the Lord that He has distinguished the blessed Virgin by so great and extraordinary a privilege; and let us in confidence seek our refuge in the purest of Virgins, so that she may obtain for us, through her powerful intercession, purity of body and soul, and victory over all temptations. Let us address to her in the hours of temptation that brief prayer: "Through thy most holy Immaculate Conception, O Mary, preserve my body and soul from all impurity." Let us often during the day salute the blessed Virgin with the short ejaculation: "Hail Mary, conceived without sin," and we may be sure that she, who is not only the Virgin of Immaculate Conception but also the Mother of God, will graciously hear our prayers and that she will intercede for us with her divine Son; and a more powerful mediator we could not desire. Amen.

Prayer of Praise

O pure and immaculate and likewise blessed Virgin, who art the sinless Mother of thy Son, the mighty Lord of the universe, thou who art inviolate and altogether holy, the hope of the hopeless and sinful, we sing thy praises. We bless thee, as full of every grace, thou who didst bear the God-Man: we all bow low before thee; we invoke thee and implore thine aid. Rescue us, O holy and inviolate Virgin, from every necessity that presses upon us and from all the temptations of the devil. Be our intercessor and advocate at the hour of death and judgment; deliver us from the fire that is not extinguished and from the outer darkness; make us worthy of the glory of thy Son, O dearest and most clement Virgin Mother. Thou indeed art our only hope, most sure and sacred in God's sight, to whom be honor and glory, majesty and dominion for ever and ever world without end. Amen.

Saint Ephrem the Syrian

REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR!

Today is the 75th anniversary of the senseless slaughter of lives at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, December 7, 1941. Our 'beloved' FDR knew the times, the dates, and everything else about the attack, yet refused to inform the military at Pearl Harbor so they could defend themselves. They knew it was very possible for an attack, but they need to hear the word. Just like all good Democrats/Socialists, he allowed all of the deaths to occur because he wanted war! The bastard! Of course, he was a 33rd degree Mason, and apparently intent on destroying everything we have, allowing the killing of innocent lives, and starting to lead us to a one-world government. I wonder how it went for him when he finally croaked? I would bet, 'Not too good.' Let's pray for all of those who were slaughtered at Pearl, and, if they haven't reached happiness yet, maybe we can help push them over into the Eternal Light. May God Almighty have mercy on their souls. And, for those who want to lionize him, SHAME ON YOU!

A DATE THAT WILL TRULY LIVE IN INFAMY!

St. Ambrose

Today is also the of one of the all-stars of the Church, St. Ambrose. He is listed along with those others: Gregory, Augustine, and Jerome. These are the great masters and interpreters of the Faith that we are supposed to be following. They didn't wash down the Faith like we get these days.

SAINT AMBROSE
Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church
(340-397)

When in the year 369 Ambrose, the young son of a Roman Senator, was sent by Probus, the Prefect of Italy, to the large province of Liguria and Emilia in Italy, the officer said to him, "Go and act not as a judge, but as a bishop." Ambrose, though not Christian, had already resisted by his pureness the corrupting influence of the Roman youth of his day. In Liguria he showed himself to be clement as directed, and his great erudition also became well known to the inhabitants of the region. In the year 374 he was already governor of the province, at the moment when at Milan, in this same region, a bishop was needed for that great see. Since the heretics in Milan were many and fierce, he went to preserve order during the election of the new prelate. Though he was still only a catechumen, it was the Will of God that the provincial governor be chosen by acclamation. Despite his protestations and his subsequent flight from Milan when they were not accepted, he was found, baptized and consecrated for the archiepiscopal see.

He applied himself to the study of sacred Scriptures, so that he might prepare himself to become the defender of the Church, which was attacked, in the fundamental dogma of the Incarnation, by the false science of the Arians. Unwearied then in every pastoral duty, full of sympathy and charity, gentle and condescending in matters of indifference, he was inflexible in questions of principle. He manifested his fearless zeal when it was necessary to brave the anger of the Empress Justina, by resisting and foiling her impious attempt to give one of the churches of Milan to the Arians. He distributed all that he had of gold and silver to the poor, and confided all financial administration of his archdiocese to his brother, St. Satyrus, who came to reside with him in Milan. To master theology, he studied the Sacred Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church, and conferred with learned Christians concerning the rules of ecclesiastical discipline. He was very active, and took such great care of the catechumens' instruction that no one could surpass him in that duty.

His zeal in rebuking and bringing to penance the great Emperor Theodosius, who in a moment of irritation had cruelly punished a sedition by the inhabitants of Thessalonica, is a well known fact of history. The Saint met him at the door of the cathedral to prevent his entering, and said to him that if he had imitated David in his crime, he must now imitate him in his penance. Later the chastened and humble Emperor said that in his life he had known but one true bishop - Ambrose.

Saint Ambrose was also the friend and consoler of St. Monica in all her sorrows, and in 387 had the joy of admitting to the Church St. Augustine, her son. He St. Ambrose became enfeebled by the unceasing labor imposed upon him, and also by his rigorous fasting and other penances, and his soul longed to see God, the end and aim of his being. The day of his death was revealed to him, and when he was seized by his last illness, he was begged to pray that his life might be prolonged for the benefit of the Church and the salvation of souls; but he replied: "I have lived in such a manner among you that I need not be ashamed; and I fear not to die, because we have a merciful Lord." St. Honoratus, bishop of Vercelli, was at that time in the palace of the bishop. During the night he was suddenly awakened by a voice saying to him: "Honoratus, rise quickly; the Saint is dying." Honoratus repaired hastily to the sick bishop, administered once more the holy sacraments to him, after which the Saint, his arms folded over his breast, gave his soul to our Lord, in the year 397 of the Christian era, at the dawn of Easter Sunday. Oh! how happy a dying day! God, who had glorified His faithful servant during life by miracles and especial graces, ceased not to increase his glory after his death. The many eloquent works which still exist of this great Father of the Church, are witnesses of his perfect holiness and heavenly wisdom. died in 397, full of years and of honors, and is revered by the Church of God as one of her greatest Doctors.

All who endeavor to serve Him faithfully during their life, can and may comfort themselves with the thought of the divine mercy in their last hour. Satan sometimes tries to frighten and drive to despondency even pious souls, but recollecting that they have served the Lord rightly, and confessed their sins, they ought not to listen to the Evil One; but, contemplating the infinite mercy of God, comfort themselves and say: "We have a merciful Lord." In Him will I trust; He will not forsake me. But those who during their life, have abused the divine goodness in order to be more wicked; who sinned because God, so infinitely good and merciful, would forgive them; these, I say, have reason to fear the temptations of Satan in their last hour; for, he generally comes then to throw us into gloom and despair by representing the severity of the divine Justice. Take care not to be of the number of these unhappy people. Serve God faithfully during your life; do not offend Him: and if you have done wrong, do penance and seek to regain the grace of the Almighty. In this manner, you will be able to comfort yourself on your death-bed with the thought of His goodness, and say: "I have a merciful God; in Him will I trust." Exercise yourself to-day in this hope, and say with King David: "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. Turn not away thy face from me. Be thou my helper, forsake me not, do not thou despise me, O God, my Saviour!" (Psalm, xxvi.) And again: "I cried to thee, O Lord, I said: thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living." (Psalm, cxli.)


Reflection: Whence came to Saint Ambrose his grandeur of mind, his clearness of insight, his intrepidity in maintaining the faith and discipline of the Church? Whence, if not from his contempt of the world and his fear of God alone?

Let us glorify the Holy Spirit, Who has vouchsafed to produce this sublime model in the Church, and let us beg of St. Ambrose to obtain for us, by his prayers, a share in that lively Faith and ardent love which he himself had, and which he evinces in the delicious and eloquent writings he has left us on the mystery of the Incarnation.


O Almighty and Eternal God, who hast given the blessed Ambrose, the Confessor of thy holy Name, to be a Doctor of heavenly truth, not to this Church (of Milan) alone, but to all the Churches throughout the world: grant, that the doctrine he taught by the inspiration of the Holy ghost, may be ever firmly fixed in our hearts, and that he whom we tenderly love as the patron thou hast given to us, may be to us a defender, powerful to obtain us thy mercy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Ambrose, pray for us, and for our leaders.

St. Nicholas-NOT SANTA

This week is filled with those great saints who preached the True Faith, and kept it going in the early years. Divine wisdom has willed that on the way which leads to the Messias, our great High Priest, there should be many pontiffs to pay Him the honour due to Him alone. Two Popes, St. Melchiades and St. Damasus; two holy doctors, St. Peter Chrysologus and St. Ambrose; two holy bishops, St. Nicholas and St. Eusebius; these are the glorious pontiffs who have been entrusted with the charge of preparing, by their prayers, the way of the Christian people towards Him, who is the sovereign Priest according to the order of Melchisedech. As each of their feasts comes we will show their right to have been thus admitted into the court of Jesus. Today the Church celebrates with joy the feast of the great thaumaturgus(miracle worker), Nicholas. Notice that this is NOT Santa Clause!

SAINT NICHOLAS
Archbishop of Myra in Lycia
(†342)

Saint Nicholas, the patron Saint of Russia, has won the warmest of praises from other Saints such as Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Peter Damian, who called him the glory of young men, the honor of the elderly, the splendor of priests and the light of Pontiffs. All the world was filled with his praises, Saint Peter added. The universal Church, in the Collect of his office, claims that God made known his nobility by an infinite number of miracles.





He was born during the third century, nephew of the Archbishop of Myra. He had lost his parents while still very young, and he desired not to conserve his rich heritage. Gradually he gave away everything of which he could dispose, establishing dowries for poor maidens and seeking out the needy wherever they could be found. The Archbishop, his uncle, already aware of his vocation to sanctity, ordained Saint Nicholas priest and appointed him Abbot of the monastery of Holy Sion near Myra. He undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, resurrecting a sailor who fell from a mast during the voyage; he prayed for the frightened passengers in a near-fatal tempest and calmed it. He visited Saint Anthony of the Desert and healed many sick persons in Alexandria during a stopover in Egypt.

On the death of the Archbishop of Myra, he was elected to the vacant see. Immediately after the pontifical Mass, he resurrected an infant who had fallen into a fire. During his episcopate, he never got tired retaining the virtues looked for a in a bishop; chastity, which indeed he had always preserved, gravity, assiduity in prayer, watchings, abstinence, generosity, and hospitality, meekness in exhortations, severity in reproving those who needed it. He befriended widows and orphans by money, by advice, and by every service in his power. He was a zealous defender of all who suffered oppression.

Throughout his life he retained the bright and simple manners of his early years; no one could converse with him without finding himself spiritually renewed. Saint Nicholas was the special protector of the innocent and the wronged. He is usually represented at the side of a container in which a cruel butcher had concealed the bodies of three young persons, whom he had killed and was intending to use in his commerce, but who were restored to life by the Saint. This miracle was reported by St. Bonaventure in a sermon.


The many and great miracles that he performed and the fame of his holiness gave him great consideration. Eustathius, an avaricious officer, had condemned to death three innocent citizens, living not far from Myra, in order that he might take possession of their property. No sooner had St. Nicholas been informed of this than he hastened to the place, where he found the three men already in the hands of the executioner. The Saint ran towards him and took the sword from him; he then reproved the wicked judge with severe words, and thus freed the innocent persons, amid the great rejoicings of the people.

Still more remarkable is the following: Constantine, the emperor, had condemned three of his most renowned generals to death, on false accusations. These, having heard much of the holiness of the Bishop of Myra, called on God to come to their aid for the sake of His servant. In the night before the day on which the sentence on the three prisoners was to be executed, Constantine saw St. Nicholas standing before him, threatening him with divine vengeance if he did not immediately recall the sentence against the innocent men. In the same manner the Saint appeared to the unjust accuser. Both, greatly frightened, set the prisoners free, and sent them with many rich gifts to St. Nicholas, to thank him for having thus protected them.

Almost at the same time the Saint appeared to some sailors who were in great danger of being wrecked, and had invoked him. They saw him at the helm, guiding the ship safely to land. When they expressed their gratitude to him, he said: "My children, give honor to God; I am but a poor sinner." Taking them aside, he said that their sins, which he named to them, had been the cause of the danger they experienced, admonished them to repent, and then dismissed them. On account of this and numberless other miracles, the holy bishop was called the Thaumaturgus, or Wonder-worker of his age. All his biographers unite in saying that he raised many dead to life. Among these were three children who had been-cruelly murdered and cast into a tub; and this miracle is frequently represented by artists in their pictures of the Saint.

Although St. Nicholas was gifted with such high graces, and administered his episcopal functions so well, he yet feared that he did not do enough, and frequently prayed to God to release him from this burden. A voice from heaven, however, encouraged him, saying: "Fear not, Nicholas, I will recompense thy faithful services." God also revealed to him the day and hour of his death, and the Saint, rejoicing soon to see the Lord, received with great devotion, the holy Sacraments, and after a short sickness ended his holy life.


Saint Nicholas rejoiced when God made known to him that the end of his pilgrimage was near. He retired to his Monastery of Holy Sion, and after a short but intense episode of fever. When he knew his time was at an end, he looked up to heaven, and seeing angels coming to meet him, he began the psalm: 'In Thee. O Lord, have I hoped'; and having come to those words, 'Into thy hands I commend my spirit', and his soul took its flight to the heavenly country. He died in the year 342. He is the patron of schoolchildren, sailors, travelers and pilgrims, prisoners and many others. His relics were translated in 1087 to Bari, Italy, where a church was built in their honor. And there, after fifteen centuries, the manna of Saint Nicholas still flows from his bones and heals all kinds of illnesses.

Reflection: Those who would enter heaven must become like little children, whose greatest glory is their innocence. Two duties impose themselves on Christians: first, either to preserve our innocence by sage precautions or regain it by penance; secondly, to love and shield it in others.


Prayer to St. Nicholas by Dom Gueranger (our Beloved Abbot)

Holy pontiff Nicholas, how great is thy glory in God's Church! Thou didst confess the name of Jesus before the proconsuls of the world's empire and suffer persecution for His name's sake; afterwards thou wast witness to the wonderful workings of God, when He restored peace to His Church; and a short time after this again, thou didst open thy lips, in the assembly of the three hundred and eighteen fathers, to confess with supreme authority the Divinity of our Saviour Jesus Christ, for whose sake so many millions of martyrs had already shed their blood. Receive the devout felicitations of the Christian people throughout the universe, who thrill with joy when they think of thy glorious merits. Help us by thy prayers during these days when we are preparing for the coming of Him, whom thou didst proclaim to be consubstantial with the Father. Vouchsafe to assist our faith and to obtain fresh fervour to our love. Thou now beholdest face to face that Word by whom all things were made and redeemed; beseech Him to permit our unworthiness to approach Him. Be thou our intercessor with Him. Thou hast taught us to know Him as the sovereign and eternal God; teach us also to love Him as the supreme benefactor of the children of Adam. It was from Him, O charitable pontiff, that thou didst learn that tender compassion for the sufferings of thy fellow-men, which made all thy miracles to be so many acts of kindness: cease not, now that thou art in the company of the angels, to have pity on us and to succour our miseries.

Stir up and increase the faith of mankind in the Saviour whom the Lord hath sent them. May this be one of the fruits of thy prayer, that the divine Word may be no longer unknown and forgotten in this world, which He has redeemed with His Blood. Ask for the pastors of the Church that spirit of charity, which shone so brilliantly in thee; that spirit which makes them like their divine Master, and wins them the hearts of their people.


Let us end with the Sequence for today:

The sick are restored to health by the miraculous oil.
They who are in danger of shipwreck are delivered by Nicholas' prayers.
He raised from amongst the dead a corpse which lay on the road.
A Jew asks for Baptism, on witnessing the miraculous recovery of his money.
A vase that had sunk in the deep sea, and a child that was lost to his father, are both recovered.
Oh how great a saint did he appear by multiplying corn in a famine!
Let, then, this congregation sing the hymns of Nicholas' praise;
For all who pray to him with earnest hearts, will go back cured of their spiritual ailments.
Amen.