At Thessalonica, the virgin St. Irene, who was imprisoned for hiding the sacred books, contrary to the order of Diocletian. She was pierced with an arrow, then burned to death by order of the governor Dulcetius, under whom her sisters Agape and Chionia had previously suffered.
In the monastery at Palma, in the diocese of Majorca, the birthday of St. Catalina Tomas, Canoness Regular of the Order of St. Augustine, whom Pope Pius XI, in the fiftieth year of his priesthood, placed among the number of virgin saints. (on left) (on right)
At Thessalonica, the virgin St. Irene, who was imprisoned for hiding the sacred books, contrary to the order of Diocletian. She was pierced with an arrow, then burned to death by order of the governor Dulcetius, under whom her sisters Agape and Chionia had previously suffered. ![]() The two weeks between Passion Sunday and Easter. The last week is Holy Week, while the first is called by the Latins "Hebdomas Passionis", by the Greeks "Week of the palms" (from the Sunday following). During this time the monks of the East, who had chosen the desert for a severer mode of life, returned to their monasteries (Cyril of Scythopolis in "Life of St. Euthymius", n. 11). The rubrical prescriptions of the Roman Missal, Breviary, and "Caeremoniale Episcoporum" for this time are: before Vespers of Saturday preceding Passion Sunday the crosses, statues, and pictures of Our Lord and of the saints on the altar and throughout the church, with the sole exception of the crosses and pictures of the Way of the Cross, are to be covered with a violet veil, not translucent, nor in any way ornamented. The crosses remain covered until after the solemn denudation of the principal crucifix on Good Friday. The statues and pictures retain their covering, no matter what feast may occur, until the Gloria in Excelsis of Holy Saturday. According to an answer of the S. R. C. of 14 May, 1878, the practice may be tolerated of keeping the statue of St. Joseph, if outside the sanctuary, uncovered during the month of March, which is dedicated to his honour, even during Passiontide. In the Masses de tempore the Psalm Judica is not said; the Gloria Patri is omitted at the Asperges, the Introit, and the Lavabo; only two orations are recited and the Preface is of the Holy Cross. In the Dominical and ferial offices of the Breviary the doxology is omitted in the Invitatorium and in the responses, whether long or short. The crosses are veiled because Christ during this time no longer walked openly among the people, but hid himself. Hence in the papal chapel the veiling formerly took place at the words of the Gospel: "Jesus autem abscondebat se." Another reason is added by Durandus, namely that Christ's divinity was hidden when he arrived at the time of His suffering and death. The images of the saints also are covered because it would seem improper for the servants to appear when the Master himself is hidden (Nilles, "Kal.", II, 188). In some places the crosses were covered on Ash Wednesday; in others on the first Sunday of Lent. In England it was customary on the first Monday of Lent to cover up all the crucifixes, images of every kind, the reliquaries, and even the cup with the Blessed Sacrament. The cloths used were of white linen or silk and marked with a red cross (Rock, infra, IV, 258). The two beautiful hymns of the season, "Vexilla Regis" and "Pange lingua gloriosi", are the work of Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers. On the Friday of Passion Week the Church very appropriately honours the Seven Dolours of Our Lady. On Saturday the Greeks commemorate the resuscitation of Lazarus. ![]() Isidore, the admirable teacher, was a Spaniard by birth, being the son of Severian, governor of the Province of Carthagena. He was trained up in all godliness and learning by his holy brethren Leander, Archbishop of Seville, and Fulgentius, Bishop of Carthagena. He was well instructed in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew letters, and he came from his masters a most eminent scholar in all human knowledge, and a pattern of all Christian graces. While yet he was very young, he attacked with such firmness the Arian heresy, which had of former times polluted the Gothic nation, who then were the chief rulers of Spain, that he was near being murdered by the heretics. After that Leander was departed this life, Isidore was chosen to the See of Seville, against his own will, but at the vehement insistence of King Reccared, and with the strong assent of the clergy and people. Holy Gregory the Great not only confirmed his election by his own Apostolic authority, and caused him to be adorned, as is the custom, with a Pallium sent from the body of Blessed Peter, but is also stated to have appointed him Vicar of the Apostolic See for all Spain. When he was Archbishop no tongue can tell how leal he was, how lowly and meek, and merciful, how careful to restore the laws of Christianity and the Church, and how unwearied in establishing the same by his word and writings, yea, how brightly he shone in all graces. He was a leading promoter and spreader of monastic institutions throughout Spain. He built many monasteries. He founded colleges in which, when his duty allowed him spare time for sacred study and reading, he taught the many disciples who betook themselves to him from all quarters. Among these, two of the most distinguished were the holy Bishops Ildephonsus of Toledo, and Braulio of Saragossa. He called the Council of Seville, wherein, in a most incisive and eloquent discourse, he shattered and crushed the heresy of the Acephali, by which Spain was then threatened. So great was his fame among all men for the holiness of his life and doctrine, that scarcely sixteen years after his death the whole Council of Toledo, by the acclamation of more than fifty Bishops, among whom was the holy Ildephonsus himself, declared him to be worthy to called the excellent Doctor, the newest ornament of the Catholic Church, one whose learning would endure to the end of the world, and of worshipful memory. It was the opinion of the holy Braulio that he was not only fit to be compared to Gregory the Great, but also that he was a gift from God to Spain to take the place of the Apostle James. Isidore wrote Books of Etymologies and on Church Offices, and likewise many others, so useful in the administration of Christian and Church Law, that the holy Pope Leo IV felt no scruple in writing to the Bishops of Britain, that the sayings of Isidore were worthy to be kept like those of Jerome and Augustine, whenever there is to be done some strange work, wherein the rules of the Canon Law are not enough defined. Many sentences from his writings may also be discovered embedded in the Canon Law of the Church itself. He presided over the Fourth Council of Toledo, the most celebrated that ever met in Spain. Before his death he had purged Spain of the Arian heresy, and publicly foretold his own dissolution and the wasting of the kingdom by the Saracens which was to come. He passed away to heaven, at Seville, where he had ruled his Church for forty years, in the year of our Lord 636. In accordance with his own commands, his body was first buried between his brother Leander and his sister Florentina, but Ferdinand I, King of Castille and Leon, bought it for a great price from Enet, the Saracen, who then ruled at Seville, carried it to Leon, and there built a Church in honour of him ![]() Pope St. Sixtus I (in the oldest documents, Xystus is the spelling used for the first three popes of that name), succeeded St. Alexander and was followed by St. Telesphorus. According to the "Liberian Catalogue" of popes, he ruled the Church during the reign of Adrian "a conulatu Nigri et Aproniani usque Vero III et Ambibulo", that is, from 117 to 126. Eusebius, who in his "Chronicon" made use of a catalogue of popes different from the one he used in his "Historia ecclesiastica", states in his "Chronicon" that Sixtus I was pope from 114 to 124, while in his "History" he makes him rule from 114 to 128. All authorities agree that he reigned about ten years. He was a Roman by birth, and his father's name was Pastor. According to the "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 128), he passed the following three ordinances: that none but sacred ministers are allowed to touch the sacred vessels; that bishops who have been summoned to the Holy See shall, upon their return, not be received by their diocese except on presenting Apostolic letters; that after the Preface in the Mass the priest shall recite the Sanctus with the people. The "Felician Catalogue" of popes and the various martyrologies give him the title of martyr. He was buried in the Vatican, beside the tomb of St. Peter. His relics are said to have been transferred to Alatri in 1132, though O Jozzi ("Il corpo di S. Sisto I., papa e martire rivendicato alla basilica Vaticana", Rome, 1900) contends that they are still in the Vatican Basilica. Butler (Lives of the Saints, 6 April) states that Clement X gave some of his relics to Cardinal de Retz, who placed them in the Abbey of St. Michael in Lorraine. The Xystus who is commemorated in the Canon of the Mass is Xystus II, not Xystus I. ![]() This Francis was born of humble parents at Paola, a town in Calabria. His parents, who had long been childless, obtained him, after making a vow, by the prayers of blessed Francis. While he was yet a youth, the love of God moved him to withdraw into a desert place, where he lived for six years, hardly as to the body, but sumptuously in meditation on things heavenly. Nevertheless, when the fame of his holy life was noised abroad, and many betook themselves to him, that they might learn godliness, he was drawn out of the desert by love to his neighbour, and built a church near Paola, wherein he laid the first foundation of his Order. In his words there was a wonderful charm: he kept his virginity always inviolate: he was so great a lover of lowliness that he used to call himself the last of all, and would that his disciples should be called the Minims, which is, being interpreted, the Least of the brethren. His raiment was coarse; he went always bare-footed; and he slept on the ground. The extreme smallness of the amount of food which he took was extraordinary. He ate only once a day, and that after sunset. Then he took only bread and water, with scarcely any of such condiment as is allowed in Lent. He bound his disciples by a fourth vow, added to those of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience, to observe the same rule of eating as himself. It was the will of God to make the holiness of his servant manifest by many miracles. The most notorious of these is that on one occasion when some seamen refused to take him over the Straits of Messina, he spread his cloak upon the sea, and crossed over on it with his companion. In the spirit of prophecy he foretold many things to come. Louis XI, King of France, held him in great worship, and bade him to his court. At last, at Tours, in the ninety-first year of his age, and the 1507th of our salvation, he departed hence to be ever with the Lord. His body was not buried for eleven days after his death, but it not only shewed no signs of corruption but even gave forth a sweet savour. Pope Leo X caused him to be numbered among the Saints. ![]() Benedictine bishop of Grenoble, France, patron of St. Bruno. He was born in the Dauphine region and became a canon of the cathedral in Valence. In 1080, while attending a synod in Avignon, Hugh was named bishop of Grenoble. He attempted a massive reform of the diocese, but, discouraged, retired to Chaise Dieu Abbey, and became a Benedictine. Pope St. Gregoiy VII ordered him back to Grenoble. Hugh gave St. Bruno the land on which the Grande Chartreuse was founded, thus starting the Carthusians. Hugh died on April 1 and was canonized by Pope Innocent II. ![]() ISDEGERDES, Son of Sapor III., put a stop to the cruel persecutions against the Christians in Persia, which had been begun by Sapor II., and the Church had enjoyed twelve years' peace in that kingdom, when in 420 it was disturbed by the indiscreet zeal of Abdas, a Christian bishop, who burned down the Pyræum, or Temple of Fire, the great divinity of the Persians. King Isdegerdes thereupon demolished all the Christian churches in Persia, put to death Abdas, and raised a general persecution against the Church, which continued forty years with great fury. Isdegerdes died the year following, in 421. But his son and successor, Varanes, carried on the persecution with greater inhumanity. The very recital of the cruelties he exercised on the Christian strikes us with horror. Among the glorious champions of Christ was St. Benjamin, a deacon. The tyrant caused him to be beaten and imprisoned. He had lain a year in the dungeon, when an ambassador from the emperor obtained his release on condition that he should never speak to any of the courtiers about religion. The ambassador passed his word in his behalf that he would not; but Benjamin, who was a minister of the Gospel, declared that he should miss no opportunity of announcing Christ. The king, being informed that he still preached the Faith in his kingdom, ordered him to be apprehended, caused reeds to be run in between the nails and the flesh, both of his hands and feet, and to be thrust into other most tender parts, and drawn out again, and this to be frequently repeated with violence. Lastly, a knotty stake was thrust into his bowels, to rend and tear them, in which torment he expired in the year 424. ![]() At that time: Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles, which he did on them that were diseased. Sermon by St. Augustine the Bishop The miracles wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ were verily divine works, and they stir up the mind of man to rise by a perception of what is seen by the eye unto an apprehension of God himself. For God is of such substance as eye cannot see, and the many miracles which he doth work in his continual rule of the whole universe, and in his providential care of everything which he hath made, are by use become so common that scarce anyone permitteth himself to perceive the same, as for example, what wondrous and amazing works of God there be in every grain of seed. Wherefore his mercy hath constrained him to keep some works to be done only at some convenient time, as it were, out of the common course and order of nature, to the intent that men may see them and wonder, not because they be greater, but because they be rarer, than those which they so lightly esteem by reason of their daily occurrence. For to govern the whole universe is surely a greater miracle than to satisfy five thousand men with five loaves of bread. At the former works no man doth marvel, yet at the feeding of the five thousand, all men do marvel, not because it is a greater miracle than the other, but because it is a rarer one. For who is he that now feedeth the whole world? Is it not the same who, from a little grain that is sown, maketh the fulness of the harvest? God worketh in both cases in one and the same manner. He that of the sowing maketh to come the harvest, is the same that took in his hands the five barley loaves, and of them made bread to feed five thousand men. For the hands of Christ have power to do both the one and the other. He that multiplieth the grains of corn is the same that multiplied the loaves, save only that in this latter case he committed them not unto the earth whereof he is himself the Maker. Therefore this miracle is done outwardly before us, that our souls inwardly may thereby be quickened. The same is shewn to our eyes to furnish food for thought. Thus by means of those of his works which are seen, we may come to feel awe toward him that cannot be seen. Perchance we may thereby be roused up to believe, and if we attain unto belief, we shall be purified to such good purpose that we shall begin to long to see him. Wherefore, in such wise, through the things which are seen, we may come to know him that cannot be seen. Yet it sufficeth not if we perceive only this one meaning in Christ's miracles. Rather let us ask of the miracles themselves what they have to tell us concerning Christ; for in all truth they speak with a tongue of their own, if only we have good will to understand the same. For Christ is the Word of God, and each and every work of the Word speaketh a word unto us. ![]() Holy Communion “Jesus took the loaves and when He had given thanks, distributed them” (John, 6:11) The wonderful miracle related in today’s Gospel illustrates the sympathy of Our Blessed Lord toward those in need of bodily nourishment. But it was also intended by Our Saviour to be a symbol of the far greater miracle He was planning soon to work for the nourishment of men’s souls, by giving them His own body and blood in the Blessed Sacrament. Indeed, it was on the day following the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves that Our Saviour first spoke of the Holy Eucharist, making the sublime promise, “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John, 6:52). The miracle of the multiplication of food through the divine power of Our Blessed Saviour is related only twice in the Gospel. But the miracle whereby His priest, in His name, changes bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood takes place thousands of times every day in all parts of the world. Those who benefited by the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves were only a few thousand persons; but since the establishment of the Catholic Church millions upon millions of Our Lord’s followers have received spiritual nourishment through Holy Communion. It is a sad commentary on the faith and fervour of any Catholic if he allows months and even years to pass by without receiving Holy Communion. He would not deprive his body of the food he needs to maintain his strength; but he does not hesitate to deprive his soul of the spiritual nourishment it can receive so abundantly from partaking of the divine food of Our Lord’s body and blood. He may go to Mass regularly, but he does not seem to realise that the full participation in the Holy Sacrifice calls for the faithful to join with the Priest in partaking of the Victim of the Sacrifice. If a Catholic does not receive Holy Communion at least once a year, in the Easter Season, he is living in mortal sin. Even if he fulfils this minimum requirement, he will find it very difficult to avoid grave sin when he approaches the altar railing only once a year. Every practical Catholic will receive Holy Communion at least once a month. Practical Application If you had been one of the multitude who had benefited by the miracle related in today’s Gospel you would surely have felt highly favoured. But you have a greater privilege in the opportunity to partake of Our Lord’s own body and blood. Why not make the intention to receive Holy Communion at least every Sunday from now to Easter? ![]() This saint, who was formerly honoured with great devotion in Wales, was son to the king of the Dimetians in South-Wales. After the death of his father, though the eldest son, he divided the kingdom with his six brothers, who nevertheless respected and obeyed him as if he had been their sovereign. He married Gladys, daughter of Braghan, prince of that country, which is called from him Brecknockshire, and was father of St. Canoe and St. Keyna. St. Gundleus had by her the great St. Cadoc, who afterwards founded the famous monastery of Llancarvan, three miles from Cowbridge, in Glamorganshire. Gundleus lived so as to have always in view the heavenly kingdom for which we are created by God. To secure this, he retired wholly from the world long before his death, and passed his time in a solitary little dwelling near a church which he had built. His clothing was sack-cloth, his food was barley-bread, upon which he usually strewed ashes, and his drink was water. Prayer and contemplation were his constant occupation, to which he rose at midnight, and he subsisted by the labour of his hands: thus he lived many years. Some days before his death he sent for St. Dubritius and his son St. Cadoc, and by their assistance, and the holy rites of the church, prepared himself for his passage to eternity. He departed to our Lord towards the end of the fifth century, and was glorified by miracles. |
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