TheStation is in the church of Saint Mark, which was built in the fourth century in honour of the evangelist, by the holy Pope Mark, whose relics are kept there.
Collect
Cordibus nostris, quæsumus, Domine, gratiam tuam benignus infunde; ut sicut ab escis carnalibus abstinemus, ita sensus quoque nostros a noxiis retrahamus excessibus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
We beseech thee, O Lord, mercifully to pour forth thy grace into our hearts; that, as we abstain from flesh, so we may keep our senses from all noxious excesses. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Epistle
Lectio libri Regum. IV.
Cap. v.
In diebus illis: Naaman princeps militiæ regis Syriæ, erat vir magnus apud dominum suum, et honoratus: per ilium enim dedit Dominus salutem Syriæ: erat autem vir fortis et dives, sed leprosus. Porro de Syria egressi fuerant latrunculi, et captivam duxerant de terra Israël puellam parvulam, quæerat in obsequio uxoria Naaman. Quæ ait ad dominam suam: Utinam fuisset do min us meus ad prophetam, qui est in Samaria: profecto curasset eum a lepra quam habet. Ingressus est itaque Naaman ad dominum suum, et nuntiavit ei, dicens: Sic et sic locuta est puella de terra Israël. Dixitque ei rex Syriæ: Vade, et mittam litteras ad regem Israël Qui cum profectus esset, et tulisset secum decem talenta argenti, et sex millia aureos, et decem mutatoria vestimentorum, detulit litteras ad regem Israël, in haec verba: Cum acceperis epistolam hane, scito quod miserim ad te Naaman servum meum, ut cures eum a lepra sua. Cumque legisset rex Israël litteras, scidit vestimenta sua, et ait: Numquid Deus ego sum, ut occidere possim et vivificare, quia iste misit ad me, ut curem hominem a lepra sua? Animadvertite et videte quod occasiones quærat adversum me. Quod cum audisset Elisæus vir Dei, scidisse videlicet regem Israel vestimenta sua, misit ad eum dicens: Quare scidisti vestimenta tua? Veniat ad me, et sciat esse prophetam in Israël. Venit ergo Naaman cum equis et curibus, et stetit ad ostium domus Elisæi: misitque ad eum Elisæus nuntium, dicens: Vade, et lavare septies in Jordane, et recipiet sanitatem caro tua, atque mundaberis. Iratus Naaman recedebat, dicens: Putabam quod egrederetur ad me, et stans invocaret nomen Domini Dei sui, et tangeret manu sua locum lepræ et curaret me. Numquid non meliores sunt Abana et Pharphar, fluvii Damasci, omnibus aquis Israel, ut laver in eis et munder? Cum ergo vertisset se, et abiret indignans, accesserunt ad eum servi sui, et locuti sunt ei: Pater, et si rem grandem dixisset tibi Propheta, certe facere debueras: quanto magis quia nunc dixit tibi: Lavare, et mundaberie? Descendit, et lavit in Jordane septies juxta sermonem viri Dei, et restitute est caro ejus, sicut caro pueri parvuli, et mundatus est. Reversusque ad virum Dei cum universo comitatu suo, venit, et stetit coram eo, et ait: Vere scio quod non sit alius Deus in universa terra, nisi tantum in Israël.
Lesson from the Book of Kings. IV.
Ch. v.
In those days: Naaman, general of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable: for by him the Lord gave deliverance to Syria; and he was a valiant man and rich, but a leper. Now there had gone out robbers from Syria, and had led away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited upon Naaman’s wife. And she said to her mistress: I wish my master had been with the prophet that is in Samaria; he would certainly have healed him of the leprosy which he hath. Then Naaman went in to his lord, and told him, saying: Thus and thus said the girl from the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said to him: Go, and I wiU send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment, and brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words: When thou shalt receive this letter, know that I have sent to thee Naaman my servant, that thou mayest heal him of his leprosy. And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he rent his garments, and said: Am I God, to be able to kill and to give life, that this man hath sent to me, to heal a man of his leprosy? Mark, and see how he seeketh occasions against me. And when Eliseus the man of God had heard this, to wit, that the king of Israel had rent his garments, he sent to him, saying: W'hy hast thou rent thy garments? Let him come to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Eliseus; and Eliseus sent a messenger to him, saying: Go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall recover health, and thou shalt be clean. Naaman was angry, and went away saying: I thought he would have come out to me, and standing, would have invoked the name of the Lord his God, and touched with his hand the place of the leprosy, and healed me. Are not the Abana, and the Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, that I may wash in them, and be made clean? So as he turned, and was going away with indignation, his servants came to him, and said to him: Father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, surely thou shouldst have done it; how much rather what he now hath said to thee: Wash and thou shalt be clean? Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child, and he was made clean. And returning to the man of God with all his train, he came and stood before him, and said: In truth I know there is no other God in all the earth, but only in Israel.
Yesterday the Church made known to our catechumens that the day of their Baptism was at hand; to-day she reads them a passage from the old Testament, which relates a history that admirably symbolizes the saving font prepared for them by divine mercy. Naaman’s leprosy is a figure of sin. There is but one cure for the loathsome malady of the Syrian officer: he must go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and he shall he made dean. The Gentile, the infidel, the infant with its stain of original sin, all may be made just and holy; but this can be effected only by water and the invocation of the blessed Trinity. Naaman objects to the remedy, as being too simple; he cannot believe that one so insignificant can be efficacious: he refuses to try it; he expected something more in accordance with reason, for instance, a miracle that would have done honour both to himself and to the prophet. This was the reasoning of many a Gentile, when the apostles went about preaching the Gospel; but they that believed, with simple-hearted faith, in the power of water sanctified by Christ, received regeneration; and the baptismal font created a new people, composed of all nations of the earth. Naaman, who represents the Gentiles, was at length induced to believe; and his faith was rewarded by a complete cure. His flesh was restored like that of a little child, which has never suffered taint or disease. Let us give glory to God, who has endowed water with the heavenly power it now possesses; let us praise Him for the wonderful workings of His grace, which produce in docile hearts that faith whose recompense is so magnificent.
Gospel
Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam.
Cap. iv.
In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus pharisæis: Utique dicetis mihi hanc similitudinem: Medice, cura teipsum: quanta audivimus facta in Caphamaum, fac et hic in patria tua. Ait autem: Amen dico vobis, quia nemo propheta acceptus est in patria sua. In veritate dico vobis, multæ vi du æ erant in diebus Eliæ in Israël, quando clausum est cœlum annis tribus et mensibus sex, cum facta esset fames magna in omni terra: et ad nullam illarum missus est Elias, nisi in Sarephta Sidoniæ ad mu· lierem viduam. Et multi leprosi erant in Israël sub Elisæo propheta: et nemo eorum mundatus est, nisi Naaman Syrus. Et repleti sunt omnes in synagoga ira, hæc audientes. Et surrexerunt et ejecerunt ilium extra civitatem: et duxerunt ilium usque ad supercilium montis, super quem civitas illorum erat ædificata, ut præcipitarent eum. Ipse autem transiens per medium illorum, ibat.
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.
Ch. iv.
At that time: Jesus said to the pharisees: Doubtless you will say to me this similitude: Physician, heal thyself; as great things as we have heard done in Capharnaum, do also here in thy own country. And he said: Amen, I say to you, that no prophet is accepted in his own country. In truth, I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elias in Israel, when heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there was a great famine throughout all the earth: and to none of them was Elias sent, but to Sarephta of Sidon, to a widow woman. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed but Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, hearing these things, were filled with anger, and they rose up and thrust him out of the city; and they brought him to the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way.
Here, again, we find our Saviour proclaiming the mystery of the Gentiles being called to take the place of the incredulous Jews; and He mentions Naaman as an example of this merciful substitution. He also speaks, in the same sense, of the widow of Sarephta, whose history we had a few days ago. This terrible resolution of our Lord to transfer His light from one people to another, irritates the pharisees of Nazareth against the Messias. They know that Jesus, who has only just commenced His public life, has been working great miracles in Capharnaum: they would have Him honour their own little city in the same way; but Jesus knows that they would not be converted. Do these people of Nazareth so much as know Jesus? He has lived among them for eighteen years, during all which time He has been advancing in wisdom and age and grace before God and men;[1] but they despise Him, for He is a poor man, and the son of a carpenter. They do not even know that though He has passed so many years among them, He was not born in their city, but in Bethlehem. Not many days before this Jesus had gone into the synagogue of Nazareth,[2] and had explained, with marvellous eloquence and power, the Prophet Isaias; He told His audience that the time of mercy had come, and His discourse excited much surprise and admiration. But the pharisees of the city despised His words. They have heard that He has been working great things in the neighbourhood; they are curious to see one of His miracles; but Jesus refuses to satisfy their unworthy desire. Let them recall to mind the discourse made by Jesus in their synagogue, and tremble at the announcement He then made to them, that the Gentiles were to become God’s chosen people. But the divine Prophet is not accepted in His own country; and had He not withdrawn Himself from the anger of His compatriots of Nazareth, the Blood of the Just would have been shed that very day. But there is an unenviable privilege which belongs exclusively to Jerusalem: a prophet cannot perish out of Jerusalem![3]
Humiliate capita vestra Deo.
Subveniat nobis, Domine, misericordia tua: ut ab imminentibus peccatorum nostrorum periculis, te mereamur protegente, eripi, te liberante, salvari. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Bow down your heads to God.
May thy mercy, O Lord, assist us, that by thy protection we may be delivered from the dangers of sin that surround us, and so brought to eternal happiness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us, on this day, offer to God the following solemn supplication, taken from the Gothic missal.
Supplication (In Dominica III. Quadragesimæ)
Rogamus te, Rex sæculorum, Deus sancte jam miserere; peccavimus tibi. V. Audi clamantes, Pater altissime, et quæ precamur, demens attribue: exaudi nos Domine. R. Jam miserere. V. Bone Redemptor, supplies quæsumus de toto corde flentes; requirimus, adsiste propitius. R. Jam miserere. V. Emitte manum, Deus omnipotens, et invocantes potenter protege ex alto, piissime. R. Jam miserere. V. Fertilitatem et pacem tribue: remove bella, et famem cohibe, Redemptor sanctissime. R. Jam miserere. V. Indulge lapsis; indulge perditis; dimitte noxia: ablue crimina; acolines tu libera. R. Jam miserere. V. Gemitus vide: fletus intellige: extende manum: peccantes redime. R. Jam miserere. V. Hanc nostram, Deus, hane pacem suscipe: supplicum voces placatus suscipe: et parce, piissime. R. Rogamus te, Rex sæculorum, Deus sancte jam miserere: peccavimus tibi.
We beseech thee, O King eternal! O holy God! have mercy now upon us, for we have sinned against thee. V. Hear our cry, O Father, most high God I and mercifully grant us our requests. Graciously hear us, O Lord! R. Have mercy now upon us. V. O good Redeemer! we suppliantly beseech thee, and with our whole heart we pour out our tears before thee. We seek after thee; be propitious, and show thyself unto us. R. Have mercy now upon us. V. Stretch forth thy hand, O almighty God! and, in thy exceeding goodness, powerfully protect us from on high. R. Have mercy now upon us. V. Grant us fertility and peace, O most holy Redeemer! Drive wars away from us, and deliver us from famine. R. Have mercy now upon us. V. Grant pardon to the fallen: pardon them that have gone astray; forgive us our sins; cleanse us from our iniquities; deliver us who are here prostrate before thee. R. Have mercy now upon us. V. See our sighing; hear our weeping; stretch forth thy hand: redeem us sinners. R. Have mercy now upon us. V. Receive, O God, receive this our prayer for reconciliation; be appeased, and receive the petition of thy suppliants; and spare us, O most loving God! R. We beseech thee, O King eternal! O holy God! have mercy now upon us, for we have sinned against thee.
[1] St. Luke ii. 52. [2] St. Luke iv. 16-22. [3] Ibid. xiii. 33.
The period intervening between the Purification of our blessed Lady and Ash Wednesday (when it occurs at its latest date), gives us thirty-six days; and these offer us feasts of every order of saint. The apostles have given us St. Mathias, and St. Peter’s Chair at Antioch; the martyrs have sent us, from their countless choir, Simeon, Lucius, Blase, Valentine, Faustinus and Jovita, Perpetua and Felicitas, and the forty soldiers of Sebaste, whose feast is kept to-morrow; the holy pontiffs have been represented by Titus, Andrew Corsini, and also by Cyril of Alexandria and Peter Damian, who, like Thomas of Aquin, are doctors of the Church; the confessors have produced Romuald of Camaldoli, John of Matha, John of God, the Seven Founders of the Servites, and the angelic prince Casimir; the virgins have gladdened us with the presence of Agatha, Dorothy, Apollonia, and Scholastica, three wreathed with the red roses of martyrdom, and the fourth with the fair lilies of the enclosed garden[1] of her Spouse; and lastly, we have had a penitent saint, Margaret of Cortona. The state of Christian marriage is the only one that has not yet deputed a saint during this season, which is less rich in feasts than most of the year. The deficiency is supplied to-day by the admirable Frances of Rome.
Having, for forty years, led a most saintly life in the married state, upon which she entered when but twelve years of age, Frances retired from the world, where she had endured every sort of tribulation. But she had given her heart to her God long before she withdrew to the cloister. Her whole life had been spent in the exercise of the highest Christian perfection, and she had ever received from our Lord the sublimest spiritual favours. Her amiable disposition had won for her the love and admiration of her husband and children: the rich venerated her as their model, the poor respected her as their devoted benefactress and mother.
God recompensed her angelic virtues by these two special graces: the almost uninterrupted sight of her guardian angel, and the most sublime revelations. But there is one trait of her life, which is particularly striking, and reminds us forcibly of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and of St. Jane Frances Chantal: her austere practices of penance. Such an innocent, and yet such a mortified, life is full of instruction for us. How can we think of murmuring against the obligation of mortification, when we find a saint like this practising it during her whole life? True, we are not bound to imitate her in the manner of her penance; but penance we must do, if we would confidently approach that God who readily pardons the sinner when he repents, but whose justice requires atonement and satisfaction.
The Church thus describes the life, virtues, and miracles of St. Frances.
Francisca, nobilis matrona romana, ab ineunte ætate illustria dedit virtutum exempla: etenim pueriles ludos, et illecebras mundi respuens, solitudine, et oratione magnopere delectabatur. Undecim annos nata virginitatem suam Deo consecrare, et monasterium ingredi proposuit. Parentum taraen voluntati humiliter obteroperans, Laurentio de Pontianis, juveni æque diviti ac nobili nupsit. In matrimonio arctioris vitæ propositum, quantum licuit, semper retinuit: a spectaculis, conviviis, aliisque hujusmodi oblectamentis abhorrens, lanea ac vulgari veste utens, et quidquid a domesticis curis supererat temporis, orationi, aut proximorum utilitati tribuens, in id vero maxima sollicitudine incumbens, ut matronas romanas a pompis sæculi, et ornatus vanitate revocaret. Quapropter domum Oblatarum, sub regula sancti Benedicti, Congregationis Montis Oliveti, adhuc viro alligata, in Urbe instiiuit. Viri exilium, bonorum jacturam, ac universæ domus mcerorem non modo constantissime toleravit, sed gratias agens cum beato Job, illud frequenter usurpabat: Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit: sit nomen Domini benedictum.
Viro defuncto, ad prædictam Oblatarum domum convolans, nudis pedibus, fune ad collum alligato, humi prostrata, multis cum lacrymis, earum numero adscribi suppliciter postulavit. Voti mpos facta, licet esset omnium mater, non alio tamen quam ancillæ, vilissimæ que feminæ, et immunditiæ vasculi titulo gloriabatur. Quam vilem sui existimationem, et verbo declaravit, et exemplo. Sæpe enim e suburbana vinea ievertens, et lignorum fascem proprio capiti impositum deferens, vel eisdem onustum agens per Urbem asellum, pauperibus subveniebat, in quos etiam largas eleemosynas erogabat; ægrotantesque in xenodochiis visitans, non corporali tantum cibo, sed salutaribus monitis recreabat. Corpus suum vigiliis, jejuniis, cilicio, ferreo cingulo, crebrisque flagellis, in servitutem redigere jugiter satagebat. Cibum illi semel in die, herbæ et legumina: aqua potum præbuit. Hos tamen corporis cruciatus aliquando confessarii mandato, a cujus ore nutuque pendebat, modice temperavit.
Divina mysteria, præsertim vero Christi Domini Passionem, tanto mentis ardore, tantaque lacrymarum vi contemplabatur, ut præ doloris magnitudine pene confici videretur. Sæpe etiam cum oraret, maxime sumpto sanctissimæ Eucharistiæ sacramento, spiritu in Deum elevata, ac cœlestium contemplatione rapta, immobilis permanebat. Quapropter humani generishostis variis eam contumeliis ac verberibus a proposito dimovere conabatur: quem tamen illa imperterrita semper elusit, angeli præsertim præsidio, cujus familiari consuetudine gloriosum de eo triumphum reportavit. Gratia curationum, et prophetiæ dono enituit, quo et futura prædixit, et cordium secreta penetravit. Non semel aquæ, vel per rivum decurrentes, vele cœlo labentes, intactain prorsus, dum Deo vacaret, reliquerunt. Modica panis fragmenta., quæ vix tribus sororibus reficiendis fuissent satis, sic ejus precibus Dominus multiplicavit, ut quindecim in de exsaturatis, tantum superfuerit, ut canistrum impleverit: et aliquando, earumdem sororum extra Urbem mense Januario ligna parantium, sitim recentis uvæ racemis ex vite in arbore pendentibus mirabiliter obtentis, abunde expleverit. Denique meritis, et miraculis clara, migravit ad Dominum, anno ætatis suæ quinquagesimo sexto, quam Paulus quintus, Pontifex maximus, in sanctarum numerum retulit.
Frances, a noble lady of Rome, led a most virtuous life, even in her earliest years. She despised all childish amusements, and worldly pleasures, her only delight being solitude and prayer. When eleven years old, she resolved on consecrating her virginity to God, and seeking admission into a monastery. But she humbly yielded to the wishes of her parents, and married a young and rich nobleman, by name Lorenzo Ponziani. As far as it was possible, she observed, in the married state, the austerities of the most perfect life to which she had aspired. She carefully shunned theatrical entertainments, banquets, and other such amusements. Her dress was of serge, and extremely plain. Whatever time remained after she had fulfilled her domestic duties was spent in prayer and works of charity. But her zeal was mainly exercised in endeavouring to persuade the ladies of Rome, to shun the world, and vanity in dress. It was with a view to this that she founded during her husband’s life, the house of Oblates of the Congregation of Monte Oliveto, under the rule of Saint Benedict. She bore her husband’s banishment, the loss of all her goods, and the trouble which befell her whole family, not only with heroic patience, but was frequently heard to give thanks, saying with holy Job: 'The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord.’
At the death of her husband, she fled to the aforesaid house of Oblates, and there, barefooted, with a rope tied round her neck, and prostrate on the ground, she humbly, and with many tears, begged admission. Her petition being granted, she, though mother o the whole community, gloried in calling herself everyone’s servant, and a worthless woman, and a vessel of dishonour. She evinced the contempt she had for herself by her conduct, as well as by her expressions. Thus, when returning from a vineyard in the suburbs, she would go through the city, sometimes carrying faggots on her head, sometimes driving an ass laden with them. She looked after, and bestowed abundant alms upon the poor. She visited the sick in the hospitals, and consoled them, not only with corporal food, but with spiritual advice. She was untiring in her endeavours to bring her body into subjection, by watchings, fasting, wearing a hair-shirt and an iron girdle, and by frequent disciplines. Her food, which she took but once in the day, consisted of herbs and pulse, and her only drink was water. But she would somewhat relent in these corporal austerities, as often as she was requested to do so by her confessor, whom she obeyed with the utmost exactitude.
Her contemplation of the divine mysteries, and especially of the Passion, was made with such intense fervour and abundance of tears, that she seemed as though she would die with grief. Frequently, too, when she was praying, and above all after holy Communion, she would remain motionless, with her soul fixed on God, and rapt in heavenly contemplation. The enemy of mankind seeing this, endeavoured to frighten her out of so holy a life, by insults and blows; but she feared him not, invariably baffled his attempts, and, by the assistance of her angel guardian, whose visible presence was granted to her, she gained a glorious victory. God favoured her with the gift of healing the sick, as also with that of prophecy, whereby she foretold future events, and could read the secrets of hearts. More than once, when she was intent on prayer, either in the bed of a torrent, or during a storm of rain, she was not touched by the water. On one occasion, when all the bread they had was scarcely enough to provide a meal for three of the sisters, she besought our Lord, and he multiplied the bread; so that after fifteen persons had eaten as much as they needed, there was sufficient left to fill a basket. At another time, when the sisters were gathering wood outside the city walls, in the month of January, she amply quenched their thirst by offering them bunches of fresh grapes, which she miraculously obtained from a vine hanging on a tree. Her virtues and miracles procured for her the greatest veneration from all. Our Lord called her to himself in the fifty-sixth year of her age, and she was canonized by Pope Paul the fifth.
O Frances, sublime model of every virtue! thou wast the glory of Christian Koine, and the ornament of thy sex. How insignificant are the pagan heroines of old compared with thee! Thy fidelity to the duties of thy state, and all thy saintly actions, had God for their one single end and motive. The world looked on thee with amazement, as though heaven had lent one of its angels to this earth. Humility and penance put such energy into thy soul, that every trial was met and mastered. Thy love for those whom God Himself had given thee, thy calm resignation and interior joy under tribulation, thy simple and generous charity, to every neighbour—all was evidence of God’s dwelling within thy soul. Thy seeing and conversing with thy angel guardian, and the wonderful revelations granted thee of the secrets of the other world, how much these favours tell us of thy merits! Nature suspended her laws at thy bidding; she was subservient to thee, as to one that was already face to face with the sovereign Master, and had the power to command. We admire these privileges and gifts granted thee by our Lord; and now beseech thee to have pity onus, who are so far from being in that path, in which thou didst so perseveringly walk. Pray for us, that we may be Christians, practically and earnestly; that we may cease to love the world and its vanities; that we may courageously take up the yoke of our Lord, and do penance; that we may give up our pride; that we may be patient and firm under temptation. Such was thy influence with our heavenly Father, that thou hadst but to pray, and a vine produced the richest clusters of fruit, even in the midst of winter. Our Jesus calls Himself the true Vine; ask Him to give us of the wine of His divine love, which His cross has so richly prepared for us. When we remember how frequently thou didst ask Him to let thee suffer, and accept thy sufferings for poor sinners, we feel encouraged to ask thee to offer thy merits to Him for us. Pray, too, for Rome, thy native city, that her people may be stanch to the faith, edifying by holiness of life, and loyal to the Church. May thy powerful intercession bring blessings on the faithful throughout the world, add to their number, and make them fervent as were our fathers of old.
[1] Cant. iv. 12.
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