St. Canute, King/Martyr

Today we honor a leader of a country who actually had some stones to get things done, and I hope our newly elected leader can, in his way, do the same against incredible odds.

 

 

Saint Canute, King and Martyr  † 1086

The three Magi Kings, as we have already observed, have been followed to the Crib of Jesus by saintly Christian monarchs; and it was just that these should be represented on the Church's Calendar during the Season which is consecrated to the Mystery of His Birth. The 11th century is one of the most glorious of the Christian era, and gave, both to the Church and the various states of Europe, a great number of saintly Kings. Among them St. Canute IV of Denmark stands pre-eminent by reason of the halo of his martyrdom. He had every quality which forms a Christian prince: he was a zealous propagator of the Faith of Christ, he was a brave warrior, he was pious, and he was charitable to the poor. His zeal for the Church (and in those days Her rights were counted as the rights of the people) was made the pretext for putting him to death: he died in the midst of a sedition as a victim sacrificed for his people's sake. His offering to the new-born King was that of his blood; and in exchange for the perishable crown he lost, he received that which the Church gives to her Martyrs, and which can never be taken away. The history of Denmark in the 11th century is scarce known by the rest of the world; but the glory of that county's having had one of her kings a Martyr is known throughout the whole Church. This power, possessed by the Spouse of Christ, of conferring honor on the name and actions of the servants and friends of God, is one of the grandest spectacles out of Heaven; for when She holds up a name as worthy of honor, that name becomes immortalized, whether he who bore it were a powerful king or the poorest peasant. We find the following life of this holy King formerly given in the Lessons of the Breviary:

 

St. Canute IV, son of Sweyn Estrithius, King of Denmark, was conspicuous for his faith, piety, and purity of life, and even from his infancy gave proof of exceeding holiness. Having been elected to the throne held by his father, he at once began zealously to promote religion, to add to the revenues of the Churches, and to provide the same with costly fittings and furniture. Being also inflamed with zeal for the propagation of the Faith, he did not refuse to enter into just war with barbarous nations, which, when he had conquered and subdued, he subjected to the Laws of Christ. Having obtained several glorious victories, and increased the riches of his treasury, he laid his regal diadem at the feet of a Crucifix, offering himself and his kingdom to Him Who is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He chastised his body by fasting, hair-shirts and disciplines. He was assiduous in prayer and contemplation, generous in his alms to the poor, and ever kind to all, never deviating from the path of justice and the Divine Commandments.

 

By these and other such virtues the holy King made rapid strides to the summit of perfection. Now it happened that William, Duke of Normandy, invaded the Kingdom of England with a formidable army, and the English sought assistance from the Danes. The King resolved to grant them his aid, and entrusted the expedition to his brother Olaf. But he, from the desire he had of getting possession of the throne, turned his forces against the King, and stirred up the soldiers and the people to rebellion. Neither were pretexts wanting for this rebellion; for the King had issued laws commanding the payment of ecclesiastical tithes, the observance of the Commandments of God and His Church, and the infliction of penalties on defaulters; all which were made use of by perverse and wicked malcontents, for spreading discontent, exciting the people to revolt, and at last, to plot the death of the saintly King.

 

Foreknowing what was to happen, the King saw that he would soon be put to death for justice' sake. Having foretold it, he set out to Obdense, where, entering into the Church of St. Alban the Martyr, as the place of combat, he fortified himself with the Sacraments, and commended this his last struggle to the Lord. He had not long been there, when a band of conspirators arrived. They endeavored to set fire to the Church, to burst open the doors, and to force an entrance. But failing in this, they scaled the windows, and with great violence threw a shower of stones and arrows upon the holy King, who was on his knees, praying for his enemies. Wounded by the stones and arrows, and at last pierced through with a spear, he was crowned with a glorious martyrdom, and fell before the altar with his arms outstretched, during the reign of Pope St. Gregory VII. God showed how glorious was His Martyr; and Denmark was afflicted with a great famine and various calamities, in punishment for the sacrilegious murder which had been perpetrated. Many persons, who were afflicted with various maladies, found aid and health by praying at the tomb of the Martyr. On one occasion, when the Queen endeavored during the night to take up his body secretly and carry it to another place, she was deterred from her design by being struck with fear at the sight of a most brilliant light, which came down from Heaven.

 

 

PRAYER:

 

O holy King! The Sun of Justice had risen upon thy country, and all thy ambition was that thy people might enjoy the fullness of its light and warmth. Like the Magi of the East, thou didst lay thy crown at the feet of the Emmanuel, and at length didst offer thy very life in His service and in that of His Church. But thy people were not worthy of thee; they shed thy blood, as the ungrateful Israel shed the Blood of the Just One Who is now born unto us, and Whose sweet Infancy we are now celebrating. Thou didst offer thy martyrdom for the sins of thy people; offer it now also for them, that they may recover the true Faith they have so long lost. Pray for all who strive to persevere as true Catholics in our times; and, as thou didst give thy life in defense of the Commandments of God and His Church, and especially of the duty of tithing, obtain for the faithful a respect for the true Church and fidelity in their duties towards Her. Ask for us of the Divine Infant a devotedness in His cause like that which glowed in thy breast; and since we have not a crown to lay at His Feet, pray for us that we may be generous enough to give Him our hearts.

 

 

I also add him to my list of saints/martyrs because I had an uncle Canute, but he was from Norway.

St. Peter's Chair in Rome

Today we honor the fact that the first Pope, Peter, actually was in Rome and set the city up as the center of the new Religion; the one set up by Christ Himself.  Some say that he was never there, or that Paul should have been the first pope (even though he came years later);  I call them IDIOTS!

St. Peter's Chair at Rome

 from the Liturgical Year, 1904

We are in that season of the ecclesiastical year, which is devoted to honouring the Incarnation and Birth of the Son of God, and the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin: it behoves us to remember, especially on this present Feast, that it is to the See of Peter that we owe the preservation of these dogmas, which are the very basis of our holy religion. Rome not only taught them to us when she sent us the saintly missioners who evangelised our country; but, moreover, when heresy attempted to throw its mists and clouds over these high Mysteries, it was Rome that secured the triumph to truth, by her sovereign decision. At Ephesus--when Nestorius was condemned, and the dogma, which he assailed, was solemnly proclaimed, that is, that the Divine Nature and the Human Nature, which are in Christ, make but one Person, and that Mary is consequently, the true Mother of God--the two hundred Fathers of that General Council thus spoke:--"Compelled by the Letters of our Most Holy Father Celestine, Bishop of the Roman Church, we have proceeded, in spite of our tears, to the condemnation of Nestorius." At Chalcedon--where the Church had to proclaim, against Eutyches, the distinction of the two Natures in the Incarnate Word, God and Man--the six hundred and thirty Fathers, after hearing the Letter of the Roman Pontiff, gave their decision, and said: "Peter has spoken by the mouth of Leo."

Here, then, is the privilege of Rome: to watch by Faith, over the eternal interests of mankind, as she watched previously, for long ages, and by the sword, over the temporal interests of the then known world. Let us love and reverence this City, our Mother and our Guide. Today we are called upon to celebrate her praise; let us do so with filial affection.

Sermon from St. Leo on the Feast Day of St. Peters Chair in Rome

When the twelve holy Apostles had received from the Holy Ghost the power to speak all languages, they divided the regions of the earth among themselves as fields for their Gospel labors. Then was Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, sent to the capital city of the Roman Empire, that he might make the light to shine from the head to the whole body of the civilized nations. At that time what nation was there that had no representative in Rome? What nations would be ignorant of what Rome had learned?

Here were to be refuted the theories of philosophers, here dissolved the vanities of earthly wisdom, here overthrown the worship of devils, here destroyed the impiety of every sacrilege; here, where superstitious zeal had collected all the error and vanity of the world. Therefore to this city, O most blessed Peter thou dost not fear to come, and while thy companion in glory, the Apostle Paul, is still occupied with the government of other churches, thou dost enter this forest of savage beasts, this deep and turbulent ocean, with more boldness than when thou didst walk upon the water.

Thou hadst already taught those of the circumcision who had been converted; thou hadst founded the Church of Antioch, the first that bore the noble name of Christian; thou hadst published the law of the Gospel throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia; and thou didst not fear for the difficulty of thy work, nor turn back because of thine old age, but didst boldly set up the trophy of the cross of Christ upon those Roman walls, where the Providence of God had appointed the throne of thine honor, and the glorious scene of thy passion.


(Roman Breviary)





St. Peter's Chair at Antioch by Fr. Prosper Louis P. Gueranger

We are called upon, a second time, to honour St. Peter's Chair: first, it was his Pontificate in Rome; today, it is his Episcopate at Antioch. The seven years spent by the Prince of the Apostles in the second of these cities, were the grandest glory she ever had; and they are too important a portion of the life of St. Peter to be passed by without being noticed in the Christian Cycle.

Three years had elapsed since our Lord's Ascension. The Church had already been made fruitful by martyrdom, and from Jerusalem she had spread into distant countries. Antioch, the first of the cities of Asia, had received the Gospel; and it was there, that they who professed the faith of Jesus were first called " Christians." Jerusalem was doomed to destruction for her having not only refused to acknowledge, but also for her having crucified, the Messias: it was time for Peter, in whom resided the supreme power, to deprive the faithless City of the honour she had heretofore enjoyed, of possessing within her walls the Chair of the Apostolate. It was towards the Gentiles that the Holy Spirit drove those Clouds, which were shown to Isaias as the symbol of the holy Apostles.(Is. lx. 8.) Accordingly, it was in Antioch, the third Capital of the Roman Empire, that Peter first places the august Throne, on which, as Vice-gerent of Christ, he presides over the Church,--that new family, of which all nations are invited to become members.

But the progress of the Apostles was so rapid; the conquests they made, in spite of every opposition, were so extensive,--that the Vicar of Christ was inspired to leave Antioch, after he had honoured it with the Chair during the space of seven years. Alexandria, the second City of the Empire, is also to be made a See of Peter; and Rome, the Capital of the world, awaits the grand privilege, for which God had long been preparing her. Onwards, then, does the Prince advance, bearing with him the destinies of the Church; where he fixes his last abode, and where he dies, there will he have his Successor in his sublime dignity of Vicar of Christ. He leaves Antioch, making one of his disciples, Evodius, its Bishop. Evodius succeeds Peter as Bishop of Antioch; but that See is not to inherit the Headship of the Church, which goes whithersoever Peter goes. He sends Mark, another of his disciples, to take possession, in his name, of Alexandria; and this Church he would have he the second in the world, and though he has not ruled it in person, he raises it above that of Antioch. This done, he goes to Rome, where he permanently establishes that Chair, on which he will live, and teach, and rule, in his Successors, to the end of time.

And here we have the origin of the three great Patriarchal Sees, which were the object of so much veneration in the early ages:--the first, is Rome, which is invested with all the prerogatives of the Prince of the Apostles, which, when dying, he transmitted to her; the second, is Alexandria, which owes her pre-eminence to Peter's adopting her as his second See; the third, is Antioch, whither he repaired in person, when he left Jerusalem to bring to the Gentiles the grace of adoption. If, therefore, Antioch is below Alexandria in rank, Alexandria never enjoyed the honour granted to Antioch,--of having been governed, in person, by him whom Christ appointed to be the supreme Pastor of His Church. Nothing, then, could be more just, than that Antioch should be honoured, in that she has had the privilege of having been, for seven years, the centre of Christendom; and this is the object of today's Feast.

The Children of the Church have a right to feel a special interest in every solemnity that is kept in memory of St. Peter. The Father's Feast is a Feast for the whole family; for to him it owes its very life. If there be but one fold, it is because there is but one Shepherd. Let us, then, honour Peter's divine prerogative, to which Christianity owes its preservation; and let us often reflect upon the obligations we are under to the Apostolic See. On the Feast of the Chair at Rome, we saw how Faith is taught, and maintained, and propagated by the Mother-Church, which has inherited the promises made to Peter. Today, let us consider the Apostolic See as the sole source of the legitimate Power, whereby mankind is ruled and governed in all that concerns eternal salvation.

Our Saviour said to Peter: "To thee will I give the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven" that is to say, of the Church. He said to him, on another occasion: "Feed my lambs, feed my sheep." So that, Peter is Prince; for, in the language of the sacred Scriptures, Keys denote princely power: he is also Pastor, and universal Pastor; for the whole flock is comprised under the two terms, Lambs and Sheep.






Hymn to the Prince of the Apostlesby St. Peter Damian

O Prince of the Apostolic Senate! Herald of our Lord! First Pastor of the Faithful! watch over the Flock intrusted to thee.

Lead us through verdant pastures, feeding us with the nourishment of the Word; and lead us, thus fed, into the heavenly fold, whither thou hast already gone.

To thee, Peter, have been delivered the Keys of heaven's gate; and all things, both in heaven and on earth, acknowledge thy authority.

Tis thou that choosest the city where is to be established the rock of the true faith, the foundation of the building, on which the Catholic Church stands immoveable.

Thy shadow, as thou passest by, heals the sick; and Tabitha, that made garments for the poor, was raised to life at thy bidding.

Bound with two chains, thou wast set free by an Angel's power; he bids thee put on thy garments and thy sandals, and lo! the prison door is opened.

To the Father unbegotten, and to the Only-Begotten Son, and to the co-equal Spirit of them both, be praise and kingly highest power. Amen.

St. Antony the Hermit

Saint Antony, Abbot
by Dom Prosper Gueranger, 1870

The East and West unite, today, in honoring St. Antony, the Father of Cenobites. The Monastic Life existed before his time, as we know from indisputable testimony; but he was the first Abbot, because he was the first to bring Monks under the permanent government of one Superior or Father.

Antony began with seeking solely his own sanctification; he was known only as the wonderful Solitary, against whom the wicked spirits waged an almost continued battle: but, in course of time, men were attracted to him by his miracles and by the desire of their own perfection; this gave him Disciples; he permitted them to cluster round his cell; and Monasteries thus began to be built in the desert. The age of the Martyrs was near its close; the persecution under Dioclesian, which was to be the last, was over as Antony entered on the second half of his course: and God chose this time for organizing a new force in the Church. The Monastic Life was brought to bear upon the Christian world; the Ascetics, as they were called, not even such of them as were consecrated--were not a sufficient element of power. Monasteries were built in every direction, in solitudes and in the very cities; and the Faithful had but to look at these communities living in the fervent and literal fulfilment of the Counsels of Christ, and they felt themselves encouraged to obey the Precepts. The apostolic traditions of continual prayer and penance were perpetuated by the Monastic system; it secured the study of the Sacred Scriptures and Theology; and the Church herself would soon receive from these arsenals of intellect and piety her bravest defenders, her holiest Prelates, and her most zealous Apostles.

Yes, the Monastic Life was to be and give all this to the Christian world, for the example of St. Antony had given her a bias to usefulness. If there ever were a Monk to whom the charms of solitude and the sweetness of contemplation were dear, it was our Saint; and yet, they could not keep him in his desert, when he could save souls by a few days spent in a noisy city. Thus, we find him in the streets of Alexandria, when the pagan persecution was at its height; he came to encourage the Christians in their martyrdom. Later on, when that still fiercer foe of Arianism was seducing the Faith of the people, we again meet the great Abbot in the same capital, this time, preaching to its inhabitants, that the Word is consubstantial to the Father, proclaiming the Nicene faith, and keeping up the Catholics in orthodoxy and resolution. There is another incident in the life of St. Antony, which tells in the same direction, inasmuch as it shows how an intense interest in the Church must ever be where the Monastic Spirit is. We are alluding to our Saint's affection for the great St. Athanasius, who, on his part, reverenced the Patriarch of the Desert, visited him, promoted the Monastic Life to the utmost of his power, used to say that he considered the great hope of the Church to be in the good discipline of Monasticism, and wrote the Life of his dear St. Antony.

But, to whom is due the glory of the Monastic Institute, with which the destinies of the Church were, from that time forward, to be so closely connected, as that the period of her glory and power was to be when the monastic element flourished, and the days of her affliction were to be those of its decay? Who was it that put into the heart of Antony and his disciples the love of that poor and unknown, yet ever productive, life? It is Jesus, the humble Babe of Bethlehem. To Him, then, wrapt in His swaddling clothes, and yet the omnipotent God, be all the glory!


It is time to hear the account of some of the virtues and actions of the great St. Antony, given by the Church in her Office of his Feast.


Antony was born in Egypt, of noble and christian parents, who left him an orphan at an early age. Having, one day entered a Church, he heard these words of the Gospel being read: If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all thou hatt, and give to the poor. He took them as addressed to himself, and thought it his duty to obey these words of Christ his Lord. Selling therefore his possessions, he distributed all the money among the poor. Being freed from these obstacles, he resolved on leading on earth a heavenly life. But at his entrance on the perils of such a combat, he felt, that besides the shield of faith, wherewith he was armed, he must needs fortify himself with the other virtues; and so ardent was his desire to possess them, that whomsoever he saw excelling in any virtue, him did he study to imitate.

Nothing, therefore, could exceed his continency and vigilance. He surpassed all in patience, meekness, mercy, humility, manual labour, and the study of the Sacred Scriptures. So great was his aversion for the company of, or conversation with, heretics, especially the Arians, that he used to say, that we ought not even to go near them. He lay on the ground, when necessity obliged him to sleep. As to fasting, he practised it with so much fervour, that his only nourishment was bread seasoned with salt, aud he quenched his thirst with water; neither did he take this his food and drink until sun-set, and frequently abstained from it altogether, for two successive days. He very frequently spent the whole night in prayer. Antony became so valiant a soldier of God, that the enemy of mankind, illbrooking such extraordinary virtue, attacked him with manifold temptations; but the Saint overcame them all by fasting and prayer. Neither did his victories over Satan make him heedless, for he knew how innumerable are the devil's artifices for injuring souls.

Knowing this, he betook himself into one of the largest deserts of Egypt, where such was his progress in christian perfection, that the wicked spirits, whose attacks grew more furious as Antony's resistance grew more resolute, became the object of his contempt, so much so, indeed, that he would sometimes taunt them for their weakness. When encouraging his disciples to fight against the devil, and teaching them the arms wherewith they would vanquish him, he used often to say to them:

"Believe me, Brethren, Satan dreads the watchings of holy men, and their prayers, and fasts, and voluntary poverty, and works of mercy, and humility, and, above all, their ardent love for Christ our Lord, at the mere sign of whose most holy Cross, he is disabled, and put to flight."
So formidable was he to the devils, that many persons, in Egypt, who were possessed by them, were delivered by invoking Antony's name. So great too, was his reputation for sanctity, that Constantine the Great and his sons wrote to him, commending themselves to his prayers. At length, having reached the hundred and fifth year of his age, and having received a countless number into his institute, he called his Monks together; and having instructed them how to regulate their lives according to Christian perfection, he, venereated both for the miracles he had wrought, and for the holiness of his life, departed from this world to heaven, on the sixteenth of the Calends of February (January 17th).

 

 

 

Sequence: Pia Voce Praedicemus

Let us piously proclaim the praises of Antony, and celebrate his name in sacred hymns.

Let us honour God's Saint; and God, the author of all, be honoured in His Saints! Antony despised, in obedience to the Gospel, the beauty, and riches, and honours of the world.

He fled into the desert, that he might not run at an uncertainty, in the race of this life. Wonderful was his life. He was the celebrated hermit. But, soon does the crafty enemy

Wage war against him. The combat is fierce and oft renewed: but he is not vanquished by the devil's attacks.The demons scourge him with many blows, and his flesh is cruelly torn by the angry enemy.

But, a light shone down from heaven; and the sweet voice of God was heard speaking from above: "Because thou hast bravely fought in the combat, thy name shall be published in every country.

"The whole earth shall proclaim thy glory. Thou shalt be invoked against the disease of the Fire." This, O Antony! we see fulfilled, and the world resounds with thy name.

The devout servants of God call on thy name, and fervently pray to thee for help and protection. Sometimes, again, it is in the appearance of a beautiful woman, and sometimes under the form of a piece of gold,

That the devil lays snares for the holy man: but, after all thy daring, O crafty tempter! thou art defeated in the fight. Yea, vain are his thousand frauds and tricks; and all hell falls back bemoaning that one single-handed man has repelled them.

Roaring with rage, the enemy trembles before this venerable soldier, whose hand so roughly deals its blows. The brave combatant resists these mighty enemies, and yet he wears no breast-plate such as soldiers use.

His drink is water, his bed the ground; these were his arms, and by these he conquered. Herbs were his food; the palm-leaf gave him raiment; and his companions were the wild beasts of the wilderness.

He restrained lust by assiduous prayer, frequent labour, and short sleep. He confutes the Arians and the profane Philosophers; he visits Paul the Hermit, nor was the journey fruitless or vain;

For he found him alive, and then saw his holy soul mounting up to heaven, and buried his body. O Antony I thou art now in glory, with the Blessed, in the kingdom of light; show thy affectionate pity on us, who are here weighed down by the burden of the flesh.

Stretch out thy hand, lest the death of terrible hell seize upon us. Defend us from the burning distemper, and assist us to gain heaven when our life is spent. Amen

 

 

Prayer:

We unite, great Saint! with the universal Church, in offering thee the homage of our affectionate veneration, and in praising our Emmanuel for the gifts He bestowed upon thee. How sublime a life was thine, and how rich in fruit were thy works! Verily, thou art the Father of a great people, and one of the most powerful auxiliaries of the Church of God. We beseech thee, therefore, pray for the Monastic Order, that it may re-appear in all its ancient fervour; and pray for each member of the great Family. Fevers of the body have been often allayed by thy intercession, and we beg for a continuance of this thy compassionate aid--but the fevers of our soul are more dangerous, and we beg thy pity and prayers that we may be delivered from them. Watch over us, in the temptations, which the enemy is unceasingly putting in our way; pray for us, that we may be vigilant in the combat, prudent in avoiding dangerous occasions, courageous in the trial, and humble in our victory. The angel of darkness appeared to thee in a visible shape; but he hides himself, and his plots from us; here again, we beg thy prayers, that we be not deceived by his craft. May the fear of God's judgments, and the thought of eternity, penetrate into the depth of our souls. May prayer be our refuge in every necessity, and Penance our safe-guard against sin. But above all, pray that we may have that, which thou didst counsel above all--the Love of Jesus--of that Jesus, who, for love of us, deigned to be born into this world, that so He might merit for us the graces wherewith we might triumph--of that Jesus, who humbled Himself even so far as to suffer temptation, that so He might show us how we were to resist and fight. Amen

______________________________


Prayer to St. Antony, Abbot and Confessor

O glorious Saint Antony, who, upon hearing only one word of the holy Gospel whilst assisting at the divine Liturgy, didst forsake the riches and ease of thy father's house, thy native land and the world, in order to retire into the wilderness; who, notwithstanding the heavy burden of years and the ravages of a lifetime of penance, didst not hesitate to leave thy solitude and go up to Alexandria in Egypt to reproach openly the impiety of heretics and to strengthen the wavering faith of Christians, as a true confessor of Jesus Christ, eager to receive the palm of martyrdom, had thy Lord permitted it; ah, give us the grace to be ever zealous in the cause of Jesus Christ and of His Church, and to persevere even to the end of our days in our adherence to Catholic truth, in the observance of His commandments, in the practice of His counsels and in the imitation of thy virtues; that so, having faithfully followed thine example here on earth, we may come to marvel at thy glory in heaven and to be partakers of the same, through all the ages. Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be three times.

(An indulgence of 300 days.-- June 3, 1896)

Reflection. The more violent the assaults of temptation suffered by Saint Anthony, the more firmly did he grasp his weapons, namely, mortification and prayer. Let us imitate him in this, if we wish to obtain victories like his.

 

BORING!?

This post is in response to a comment I received concerning my posts.  I was told that they had become boring, to which I respond:

I try to incorporate as many important Feast days in my posts as I can, as well as all the Sundays, and many saint days.  I could not possibly contain all of them.  They can, however, be found in many books if you wish to read about them all.  I use 'The Liturgical Year' mostly in my posts, as the Abott Gueranger did such a wonderful job of compiling the facts over a hundred years ago.  I also use other sites, gleaning from them what I want to convey.  I also have numerous books of my own to use from, since they sometimes have other thoughts I like. 

I like to commemorate the early saints of the Church, who started the 'Catholic' Faith that Jesus Christ, our Lord, instilled into them through the Holy Ghost descending.  I like those who gave their lives for this same Faith, as well as those who fought the good fight in keeping it going whenever the world went astray.  I like the saints who are mentioned in the Canon of our Mass. I like all of the saints who fought against the 'Arian' heresy and prevailed!  And, since I am a convert, I like those who came to the Faith in the various ways they did; they inspire me.  I even took as my Patron saint Paul, who was Saul, and who had, in his life, persecuted the Church at its beginning.  I somehow feel related to him in this way, since I did the same in my own little way in the things I did in my youth and young adulthood. 

Maybe I should try to involve more of what I have been through in fighting for the Faith since becoming a Roman Catholic, if it would appease those who think the writings are boring.  If this wouldn't help, and if the saints don't help inspire these same, you need to study the Faith with real intent, and then maybe it will become clearer why I do and say the things I do and say.  Either way, I will pray that these writings inspire, and I will pray for all who visit this site.  I try to live up to my real last name, which means 'soldier' in Latin.  Go figure!  And, my initials, also in Latin, mean 'now'!

2nd Sunday after Epiphany

This is the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany. Remember at the Epiphany when we had a triple play, as it were? The Magi came and adored their King. God the Father called Jesus His Son when He was baptized by John the Baptist, and Jesus, acting as God, and not just the son of Mary, turned water into wine at Cana. In the next few weeks, we will be told what we need to do to be faithful friends of Jesus, while Jesus Himself will do some things that no mortal man could ever do. I will let our beloved Abbot Gueranger explain it to us.

The third Mystery of the Epiphany shows us the completion of the merciful designs of God upon the world, at the same time that it manifests to us, for the third time, the glory of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Star has led the soul to faith; the sanctified Waters of the Jordan have conferred purity upon her; the Marriage-Feast unites her to her God. We have been considering, during the Octave of Epiphany, the Bridegroom revealing Himself to His Spouse, the Church; we have heard Him calling Her to come to Him from the heights of Libanus; and now, after having enlightened and purified Her, He invites Her to the heavenly feast, where She is to receive the Wine of His Divine Love.
A Feast is prepared (John 2); it is a Marriage-Feast; and the Mother of Jesus is present, for it is just that, having cooperated in the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, She should take part in all that Her Son does, and in all the favors He bestows on His elect. But, in the midst of the Feast, the wine fails. Wine is the symbol of Charity or Love, and Charity had failed on the earth; for the Gentiles had never tasted its sweetness; and as to the Synagogue, what had it produced but wild grapes (Is. 5: 2)? The True Vine is our Jesus, and He calls Himself by that name (John 15: 1). He alone could give that wine which gladdens the heart of man (Ps. 103: 15); He alone could give us that chalice which inebriates (Ps. 22: 5), and of which the Royal Psalmist prophesied.

Mary said to Jesus: "They have no wine." It is the office of the Mother of God to tell Him of the wants of men, for She is also their Mother. But Jesus answers Her in words which are seemingly harsh: "Woman, what is it to Me and to Thee? My hour is not yet come." The meaning of these words is that, in this great mystery, He was about to act, not as the Son of Mary, but as the Son of God. Later on, the hour will come when, dying upon the Cross, He will do a work, in the presence of His Mother, and He will do it as Man, that is, according to that human nature which He has received from Her. Mary at once understands the words of Her Son, and She says to the waiters of the Feast, what She is now ever saying to Her children: "Do whatsoever He shall say to you."   Now, there were six large water-jars of stone there, and they were empty. The world was then in its Sixth Age, as St. Augustine and other Holy Doctors tell us. During these six ages, the earth had been awaiting its Savior, Who was to instruct and redeem it. Jesus commands these water-jars to be filled with water; and yet water does not suit the Feast of the Spouse. The figures and prophecies of the ancient world were this water, and until the opening of the Seventh Age, when Christ, Who is the Vine, was to be given to the world, no man had contracted an alliance with the Divine Word.
But, when the Emmanuel came, He had but to say, "Now draw out", and the water-jars were seen to be filled with the wine of the New Covenant, the wine which had been kept to the end. When He assumed our human nature—a nature weak and unstable as water—He effected a change in it; He raised it up even to Himself, by making us partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1: 4); He gave us the power to love Him, to be united with Him, to form that one Body, of which He is the Head, that Church of which He is the Spouse, and which He loved from all eternity, and with such tender love, that He came down from Heaven to celebrate His nuptials with Her.

St. Matthew, the Evangelist of the Humanity of Our Lord, has received from the Holy Ghost the commission to announce to us the Mystery of Faith by the star; St. Luke, the Evangelist of Jesus' Priesthood, has been selected, by the same Holy Ghost, to instruct us in the Mystery of the Baptism in the Jordan; but the Mystery of the Marriage-Feast was to be revealed to us by the Evangelist John, the Beloved Disciple. He suggests to the Church the object of this third Mystery of Epiphany, by this expression: This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and He MANIFESTED His glory (John 2: 11). At Bethlehem, the Gold of the Magi expressed the Divinity of the Babe; at the Jordan, the descent of the Holy Ghost and the voice of the Eternal Father proclaimed Jesus (known to the people as a carpenter of Nazareth) to be the Son of God; at Cana, it is Jesus Himself that acts, and He acts as God, for, says St. Augustine, He Who changed the water into wine in the water-jars could be no other than the same Who, every year, works the same miracle in the vine. Hence it was that, from that day, as St. John tells us, His disciples believed in Him, and the Apostolic College began to be formed.

O the wonderful dignity of man! God has vouchsafed, says the Apostle, to show the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which had no claim to, nay, were unworthy of such an honor. Jesus bids the waiters fill them with water and the water of Baptism purifies us; but, not satisfied with this, He fills these vessels, even to the brim, with that heavenly and new Wine, which was not to be drunk save in the kingdom of His Father (Rom. 9; 23). Thus, divine Charity, which dwells in the Sacrament of Love, is communicated to us; and that we might not be unworthy of the espousals with Himself, to which He called us, He raises us up even to Himself. Let us, therefore, prepare our souls for this wonderful union, and, according to the advice of the Apostle, let us labor to present them to our Jesus with such purity as to resemble that chaste Virgin, who was presented to the spotless Lamb (2 Cor. 11: 2).

The Communion Antiphon recalls once more the miracle of the changing of the water into wine. This was only a dim figure of that wondrous transformation which is accomplished on our altars—only a symbol of that divine Sacrament, the food of our souls whereby, in an unspeakable way, is realized our union with God:

The Lord saith: "Fill the water-jars with water and carry to the chief steward of the feast." When the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, he said to the bridegroom: Thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of His miracles did Jesus before His disciples.


Our Blessed Mother intercedes, receives what she asks, and tells us to do whatever He tells us to do. Pure and simple as that. We can ask her to intercede for us and she will never let us down.

LORD, THAT WE MAY SEE WHAT YOU WANT US TO SEE
 

St. Hilary

St. Hilary, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor of the Church by Fr. Dom Prosper Gueranger (our beloved Abbot)

After having consecrated the joyous Octave of the Epiphany to the glory of the Emmanuel who was manifested to the earth, the Church--incessantly occupied with the Divine Child and His august Mother, during the whole time from Christmas Day to that whereon Mary will bring Jesus to the Temple, there to be offered to God, as the law prescribes--the Church, we say, has on her Calendar of this portion of the year the names of many glorious Saints, who shine like so many stars on the path which leads us, from the joys of the Nativity of our Lord, to the sacred mystery of our Lady's Purification.

And firstly, there comes before us, on the very morrow of the day consecrated to the Baptism of Jesus, the faithful and courageous Hilary--the pride of the Churches of Gaul, and the worthy associate of Athanasius and Eusebius of Vercelli in the battle fought for the Divinity of our Emmanuel. Scarcely were the cruel persecutions of paganism over, when there commenced the fierce contest with Arianism, which had sworn to deprive of the glory and honours of His divinity that Jesus, who had conquered, by His Martyrs, over the violence and craft of the Roman Emperors. The Church had won her liberty by shedding her blood, and it was not likely that she would be less courageous on the new battlefield into which she was driven. Many were the Martyrs that were put to death by her new enemies--Christian, though heretical, Princes:--it was for the Divinity of that Lord, who had mercifully appeared on the earth in the weakness of human flesh, that they shed their blood. Side by side with these, there stood those holy and illustrious Doctors, who, with the martyr-spirit within them, defended, by their learning and eloquence, the Nicene Faith, which was the Faith of the Apostles. In the foremost rank of these latter we behold the Saint of today, covered with the rich laurels of his brave confessorship, Hilary: who, as St. Jerome says of him, was brought up in the pompous school of Gaul, yet had culled the flowers of Grecian science, and became the Rhone of Latin eloquence. St. Augustine calls him the illustrious Doctor of the Churches.

Though gifted with the most extraordinary talents, and one of the most learned men of the age, yet St. Hilary's greatest glory is his intense love for the Incarnate Word, and his zeal for the Liberty of the Church. His great soul thirsted after martyrdom, and, by the unflinching love of truth which such a spirit gave him, he was the brave champion of the Church in that trying period, when Faith, that had stood the brunt of persecution, seemed to be on the point of being betrayed by the craft of Princes, and the cowardice of temporizing and un-orthodox Pastors.

Thus did the holy bishop, Hilary of Poitiers, receive the honours of the Church's love for his having so courageously, and even at the peril of his life, fought in defense of the great Mystery. Another of his glories is, that he was one of the most intrepid champions of that principle, which cannot be compromised without the vitality and very existence of the Church being endangered--the principle of that Church's Liberty. A few days ago we were celebrating the Feast of our holy Martyr, St. Thomas of Canterbury; today, we have the Feast of the glorious Confessor, whose example enlightened and encouraged him in the great struggle. Both Hilary and Thomas a Becket were obedient to the teaching left to the Pastors of the Church by the Apostles; who, when they were arraigned the first time before the authorities of this world, uttered this great maxim: We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts, v. 29). The Apostles and the Saints were strong in the battle against flesh and blood, only because they were detached from earthly goods, and were convinced, that the true riches of a Christian and a Bishop consist in the humility and poverty of the Crib, and that the only victorious power is in the imitation of the simplicity and the weakness of the Child that is born unto us. They relished the lessons of the School of Bethlehem; hence, no promise of honours, of riches, or even of peace, could make them swerve from the principles of the Gospel.

How dignified is this family of Soldiers of Christ, which springs up in the Church! If the policy of tyrants, who insist on being Christians without Christianity, carry on a persecution, in which they are determined that no one shall have the glory of Martyrdom--these brave Champions raise their voice, and boldly reproach the persecutors for their interference with that Liberty, which is due to Christ and His Ministers. They begin by telling them their duty, as Hilary did Constantius, when he sent him his first Memorial: "My Lord and most gracious Augustus! Your own great and admirable prudence tells you, that it is not right, nor possible, violently to compel, such as are unwilling and opposed to it, to submit to, and take part with, them that are sowing the corrupt seed of false doctrine. The one end of your endeavors, wise counsels, government, and vigilance, should be, that all your subjects may enjoy the sweets of liberty. There is no other means of settling the troubles of the state, or of uniting what discord has separated, than that every one be master of his own life, unconstrained by slavish compulsion. You should not turn a deaf ear to the voice of any subject, who thus appeals to you for support: 'I am a Catholic; I will not be a heretic: I am a Christian, and not an Arian: I would rather lose my life, than allow the tyranny of any man to corrupt the purity of my faith.'"
When some people spoke to Hilary in favour of those who had been traitors to the Church, and had been disloyal to Jesus Christ, in order to keep in the good graces of the Emperor, they ventured to tell the Saint, that their conduct was justifiable, on the ground that they had but obeyed the Law! The holy Pontiff was indignant at this profanation of the word, and, in his Book against Auxentius, courageously reminds his fellow Bishops of the origin of the Church--how her very establishment depended on the breaking of unjust human Laws, and how she counts it one of her glories to infringe all such Laws as would oppose her existence, her development, and her action.

"We have a contempt for all the trouble that men of these days are giving themselves; and I am "grieved to see them holding such mad opinions, as that God needs man's patronage, and that the Church of Christ requires to be upheld by an ambition, that curries favour with the world. I ask of you Bishops, what favour did the Apostles court, in order that they might preach the Gospel? Who were the princes that helped them to preach Christ, and convert almost the whole world from idolatry to God? Did they, who sang hymns to God in prisons and chains, and whilst bleeding from being scourged, did they accept offices from the state? Did Paul wait for a royal permission to draw men to the Church of Christ? Did he, think you, cringe for the patronage of a Nero, or a Vespasian, or a Decius, whose very hatred of our faith was the occasion of its being more triumphantly preached? These Apostles, who lived by the labour of their own hands, who assembled the Faithful in garrets and hiding-places, who visited villages and towns, and well nigh the whole world, travelling over sea and land, in spite of the Senate's decrees and Imperial Edicts--these men, according to your principles, had not received the keys of the kingdom of heaven! What say you to all this manifestation of God's power in the very face of man's opposition, when, the more there was a prohibition to preach Christ, the more that preaching was exercised?"

But the time came, at last, to speak to the Emperor himself, and to protest against the system whereby he aimed at making the Church a slave; then did Hilary, who was exceedingly gentle in disposition, put on that holy indignation, which our Lord Himself had, when He scourged the profaners of His Father's House, and drove them out of the Temple. He braved every danger, and held up to execration the system invented by Constantius for insulting and crushing the Church of Christ. Let us listen to the language of his apostolic zeal.

"The time for speaking is come, for the time for silence is past. Let Christ now appear, for Antichrist has begun his reign. Let the Shepherds give the alarm, for the hirelings have fled. Let us lay down our lives for our sheep, for thieves have got into the fold, and a furious lion is prowling around it. Let us prepare for martyrdom, for the angel of satan hath transformed himself into an angel of light. Why, O my God, didst thou not permit me to confess thy holy Name, and be the minister of thine Only Begotten Son, in the times of Nero or Decian? Full of the fire of the Holy Spirit, I would not have feared the rack, for I would have thought on Isaias, how he was sawn in two. I would not have feared fire, for I would have said to myself, that the Hebrew Children sang in their fiery furnace. The cross and the breaking every bone of my body should not have made me a coward, for the good thief would have encouraged me, who was translated into thy kingdom. If they had threatened to drown me in the angry billows of the deep ocean, I would have laughed at their threats, for thou hast taught us, by the example of Jonas and Paul, that thou canst give life to thy servants even in the sea.

"Happy me, could I thus have fought with men, who professed themselves to be the enemies of thy name; every one would have said, that they who had recourse to tortures, and sword, and fire, to compel a Christian to deny Thee, were persecutors; and my death would have been sufficient testimony to Thy truth, O God! The battle would have been an open one, and no one would have hesitated to call, by the honest name, these men that denied Thee, and racked and murdered us; and Thy people, seeing that it was an evident persecution, would have followed their Pastors in the confession of their faith.

"But, now-a-days, we have to do with a disguised persecutor, a smooth-tongued enemy, a Constantius who has put on Antichrist; who scourges us, not with lashes, but with caresses; who instead of robbing us, which would give us spiritual life, bribes us with riches, that he may lead us to eternal death; who thrusts us, not into the liberty of a prison, but into the honours of his palace, that he may enslave us; who tears, not our flesh, but our hearts; who beheads not with a sword, but kills the soul with his gold; who sentences not by a herald that we are to be burnt, but covertly enkindles the fire of hell against us. He does not dispute with us, that he may conquer; but he flatters us, that so he may lord it over our souls. He confesses Christ, the better to deny Him; he tries to procure a unity which shall destroy peace; he puts down some few heretics, so that he may also crush the Christians; he honours Bishops, that they may cease to be Bishops; he builds up Churches, that he may pull down the Faith.

"Let men talk as they will, and accuse me of strong language, and calumny: it is the duty of a minister of the truth, to speak the truth. If what I say be untrue, let me be branded with the name of an infamous caluminator: but if I prove what I assert, then am I not exceeding the bounds of apostolic liberty, nor transgressing the humility of a successor of the Apostles, by speaking thus, after so long observing silence. No, this is not rashness, it is faith; it is not inconsiderateness, it is duty; it is not passion, it is conscience.

"I say to thee, Constantius, what I would have said to Nero, or Decius, or Maximian: You are fighting against God, you are raging against the Church, you are persecuting the saints, you are hating the preachers of Christ, you are destroying religion, you are a tyrant, not in human things, but in things that appertain to God. Yes, this is what I should "say to thee as well as to them; but listen, now, to what can only be said to thyself: Thou falsely callest thyself a Christian, for thou art a new enemy of Christ; thou art a precursor of Antichrist, and a doer of his mystery of iniquity; thou, that art a rebel to the faith, art making formulas of faith; thou art intruding thine own creatures into the sees of the Bishops; thou art putting out the good and putting in the bad. By a strange ingenious plan, which no one had ever yet discovered, thou hast found a way to persecute, without making Martyrs.

"We owe much to you, Nero, Decius, and Maximian! your cruelty did us service. We conquered the devil, by your persecutions. The blood of the holy Martyrs you made, has been treasured up throughout the world, and their venerable relics are ever strengthening us in faith by their mute ceaseless testimony. But thou, Constantius, cruel with thy refinement of cruelty, art an enemy that ragest against us, doing us more injury, and leaving us less hope of pardon. Thou deprivest the fallen of the excuse they might have had with their Eternal Judge, when they showed Him the scars and wounds they had endured for Him, for perhaps their tortures might induce Him to forgive their weakness. Whereas, thou, most wicked of men! thou hast invented a persecution, which, if we fall, robs us of pardon, and, if we triumph, does not make us Martyrs!

 "We see thee, ravenous wolf, under thy sheep's clothing. Thou adornest the sanctuaries of God s temples with the gold of the State, and thou offerest to Him what is taken from the temples, or taxed by edict, or extorted by penalty. Thou receivest his Priests with a kiss like that which betrayed Christ. Thou bowest down thy head for a blessing, and then thou usest it to trample on our Faith. Thou dispensest the clergy from paying tributes and taxes to Caesar, that thou mayest bribe them to be renegades to Christ, foregoing thy own rights, that God may be deprived of His!"
Prayer:

Glorious Hilary! thou didst well deserve that thy Church of Poitiers should, of old, address to thee the magnificent praise given by the Roman Church to thy illustrious disciple, St. Martin: "O blessed "Pontiff! who with his whole heart loved Christ our King, and feared not the majesty of emperors! O most holy soul! which, though not taken away by the sword of the persecutor, yet lost not the palm of martyrdom!" If the Palm of a Martyr is not in thy hand, yet hadst thou a Martyr's spirit, and well might we add to thy other titles, of Confessor, Bishop, and Doctor, the glorious one of Martyr, just as our holy Mother the Church has conferred it upon thy fellow-combatant, Eusebius, who was but Martyr in heart like thyself. Yes, thy glory is great; but it is all due to thee for thy courage in confessing the Divinity of that Incarnate Word, whose Birth and Infancy we are now celebrating. Thou hadst to stand before a Herod, as had the Magi, and, like them, thou fearedst not: and when the Caesar of those times banished thee to a foreign land, thy soul found comfort in the thought, that the Infant Jesus, too, was exiled into Egypt. Oh! that we could imitate thee in the application of these Mysteries to ourselves!

Now that thou art in heaven, pray for our Churches, that they may be firm in the Faith, and may study to know and love Jesus, our Emmanuel. Pray for thy Church of Poitiers, which still loves thee with the reverence and affection of a child; but since the ardour of thy zeal embraced all the world, pray, also, for all the world. Pray that God may bless His Church with Bishops powerful in word and work, profound in sacred science, faithful in the guardianship of that which is intrusted to them, and unswerving defenders of Ecclesiastical Liberty.

(He was actually a GOOD Hil_ary, one that we could actually trust!)

Baptism of our Lord

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord. This brings to an end the season of Christmas. The Church recalls Our Lord's second manifestation or epiphany which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan. Jesus descended into the River to sanctify its waters and to give them the power to beget sons of God. The event takes on the importance of a second creation in which the entire Trinity intervenes. The Fifteenth Day of Christmas.

Baptism of Jesus:
St. Matt. iii. 13 - 17 Our Lord bids farewell to His holy Mother; makes His way to the Jordan; is baptized by St. John amid a crowd of sinners, and is proclaimed by the Voice from Heaven the Beloved Son of God.

I. For thirty years Jesus had dwelt in sweet companionship with His holy Mother. Never since the world began had there been any intercourse so full of unspeakable delight as that of Jesus and Mary. Now the time had come to break the bond: it was like the tearing asunder of their loving hearts for them to part. Yet Christ goes on His way with the greatest cheerfulness and joy: for it was the will of God that He should forsake His Mother, and the motto of His life was: "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O my God."
2. It is the same Divine guidance that leads Him to the Jordan, to be baptized among sinners, just as if He, the Lamb of God, were Himself a sinner. Yet He never hesitates for an instant. It was the will of God, and, therefore, it is His greatest joy to do what men would esteem so misleading and ill-judged, so fatal to the success of His future Mission. Do I thus implicitly obey the will of God?

3. Obedience and humility are the surest way of winning honor from God. He loves to exalt the humble, to pour Divine gifts upon the obedient. A Voice from Heaven declares Him Who had thus humbled Himself to be the well-beloved Son of God. The Holy Spirit descending in visible form proclaims wisdom to be the special privilege of the obedient.