The station for to-day is, as noted in the missal, in the church of St. Trypho, martyr; but this church having been destroyed many centuries ago, the station is now in that of St. Augustine, which is built on the same site.
Collect
Adesto, Domino, supplicationibus nostris, et concede ut hoc solemne jejunium, quod animabus corporibusque curandis salubriter institutum est, devoto servitio celebremus. Per Christum Dominimi nostrum. Amen.
Give ear, O Lord, to our prayers, and grant that we may, with true devotion, observe this solemn fast which was wholesomely instituted for the healing of both our soul and body. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Epistle
Lectio Isaiæ Prophetæ. Cap. lviii. Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Si abstuleris de medio tui catenam, et desieris extendere digitum et loqui quod non prodest; cum effuderis esurienti animam tuam, et animam afflictam repleveris, orietur in tenebris lux tua, et tenebrætuæ erunt sicut meridies. Et requiem tibi dabit Dominus semper, et implebit splendoribus animam tuam, et ossa tua liberabit, et eris quasi hortus irriguus et sicut fons aquarum, cujus non deficient aquæ. Et ædificabuntur in te deserta sæculorum: fundamenta generationis et generationis suscitabis: et vocaberis ædificator sepium, avertens semitas in quietem. Si averteris a Sabbato pedem tuum, facere voluntatem tuam in die sancto meo, et vocaveris Sabbatum delicatum, et sanctum Domini gloriosum, et glorificaveris eum dum non facis vias tuas, et non invenitur voluntas tua, ut loquaris sermonem: tunc delectaberis super Domino; et sustollam te super altitudines terræ, et cibabo te hereditate Jacob patris tui: os enim Domini locutum est.
Lesson from Isaias the Prophet. Ch. lviii. Thus saith the Lord God: If thou wilt take away the chain out of the midst of thee, and cease to stretch out the finger, and to speak that which profiteth not; when thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry, and shalt satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noon-day. And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and will fill thy soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of water, whose waters shall not fail. And the places that have been desolate for ages, shall be built in thee; thou shalt raise up the foundations of generation and generation: and thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, turning the paths into rest. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy own will in my holy day, and call the Sabbath delightful, and the holy of the Lord glorious, and glorify him, while thou dost not thy own ways, and thy own will is not found, to speak a word: then shalt thou be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift thee up above the high places of the earth, and will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Saturday is a day replete with mystery. It is the day of God’s rest; it is a figure of the eternal peace, which awaits us in heaven after the toils of this life are over. The object of the Church in giving us, to-day, this lesson from Isaias, is to teach us how we are to merit our eternal Sabbath. We have scarcely entered on our campaign of penance, when this affectionate mother of ours comes to console us. If we abound in good works during this holy season, in which we have taken leave of the distracting vanities of the world the light of grace shall rise up even in the darkness which now clouds our soul. This soul which has been so long obscured by sin and by the love of the world and self, shall become bright as the noon-day; the glory of Jesus’ Resurrection shall be ours too; and, if we are faithful to grace, the Easter of time will lead us to the Easter of eternity. Let us, therefore, build up the places that have been so long desolate; let us raise up the foundations, repair the fences, turn away our feet from the violation of holy observances; do not our own ways and our own will in opposition to those of our divine Master; and then He will give us everlasting rest, and fill our soul with His own brightness.
Gospel
Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Marcum.
Cap. vi.
In illo tempore: Cum sero esset, erat navis in medio mari, et Jesus solus in terra. Et videns discipulos suos laborantes in remigando (erat enim ventus contrarius eis), et circa quartam vigiliam noctis, venit ad eos ambulans supra mare: et volebat præterire eos. At illi, ut viderunt eum ambulantem supra mare, putaverunt phantasma esse, et exclamaverunt. Omnes enim viderunt eum, et conturbati sunt. Et statim locutus est cum eis, et dixit eis: Confidite, ego sum, nolite timere. Et ascendit ad illos in navim, ct cessavit ventus. Et plus magis intra se stupebant: non enim intellexorunt de panibus: erat enim cor eorum obcæcatum. Et cum transfretassent, venerunt in terram Genesareth, et applicuerunt. Cumque egressi essent de navi, continuo cognoverunt eum: et percurrentesuniversam regionem illam, cœperunt in grabatis eos qui se male habebant circumferre, ubi audiebant eum esse. Et quocumque introibat, in vicos, vel in villas, aut civitates, in plateis ponebant infirmos, et deprecabantur eum, ut vel fimbriam vestimenti ejus tangerent: et quotquot tangebant eum, salvi fiebant.
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Mark.
Ch. vi.
At that time: When it was late, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and Jesus alone on the land. And seeing them labouring in rowing (for the wind was against them), and about the fourth watch of the night, he cometh to them, walking upon the sea, and he would have passed by them. But they seeing him walking upon the sea, thought it was an apparition, and they cried out. For they all saw him and were troubled. And immediately he spoke with them, and said to them: Have a good heart, it is I, fear ye not. And he went up to them into the ship, and the wind ceased. And they were far more astonished within themselves: for they understood not concerning the loaves: for their heart was blinded. And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Genesareth, and set to the shore. And when they were gone out of the ship immediately they knew him; and running through that whole country, they began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. And whithersoever he entered, into towns, or into villages, or cities, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch but the hem of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.
The ship, the Church, has set sail; the voyage is to last forty days. The disciples labour in rowing, for the wind is against them; they begin to fear lest they may not be able to gain the port. But Jesus comes to them on the sea; He goes up to them in the ship; the rest of the voyage is most prosperous. The ancient liturgists thus explain the Church’s intention in her choice of to-day’s Gospel. Forty days of penance are, it is true, little enough for a long life that has been spent in everything save God’s service; and yet our cowardice would sink under these forty days, unless we had Jesus with us. Let us not fear; it is He; He prays with us, fasts with us, and does all our works of mercy with us. Was it not He that first began these forty days of expiation? Let us keep our eyes fixed on Him, and be of good heart. If we grow tired, let us go to Him, as did the poor sick ones of whom our Gospel speaks. The very touch of His garments sufficed to restore health to such as had lost it; let us go to Him in His adorable Sacrament; and the divine life, whose germ is already within us, will develop itself, and the energy, which was beginning to droop in our hearts, will regain all its vigour.
Humiliate capita vestra Deo.
Fideles tui, Dens, per tua dona firmentur: ut eadem et percipiendo requirant, et quærendo sine fine percipiant. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Bow down you heads to God.
May thy faithful, O God, be strengthened by thy gifts; that, by receiving them, they may ever hunger after them, and hungering after them, they may have their desires satisfied in the everlasting possession of them. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us close our Saturday with a prayer to Mary, the refuge of sinners. Let us express the confidence we have in her, by the following devout sequence. It is taken from the German missals of the fourteenth century.
Sequence
Tibi cordis in altari Decet preces immolari, Virgo sacratissima.
Nam cum in se sit inepta, Tuo Nato sit accepta Per te precum victima.
Pro peccatis immolato Peccatorum præsentato Precum sacrificia.
Per te Deum adit reus, Ad quem per te venit Deus: Amborum tu media.
Nec abhorre peccatores Sine quibus nunquam fores Tanto digna Filio.
Si non essent redimendi, Nulla tibi pariendi Redemptorem ratio.
Sed nec Patris ad consesBum Habuisses huc accessum, Si non ex te genitum Esset ibi positum.
Virgo, Virgo sic promota Causa nostri, nostra vota Promovenda suscipe Coram summo Principe.
Amen.
It behoves us, O most holy Virgin, to offer thee, on the altar of our hearts, the offering of our prayers.
For whereas the sacrifice of our prayers has no merit of its own, it may be made acceptable, through thee, to thy Son.
Present to him, who was sacrificed for sin, the sacrifice of sinners’ prayers.
It is through thee the sinner comes to God, for this God came to the sinner through thee, O thou the mediatrix between God and man!
It was for the sake of sinners that thou wast made worthy of such a Son: canst thou, then, despise them?
It was because there were sinners to be redeemed, that thou wast made Mother of the Redeemer.
Neither wouldst thou be seated nigh the Father’s throne, hadst thou not been Mother of him who shares his Father’s throne.
Take, then, O holy Virgin, who for our sake hast been thus exalted, take thou our prayers, and present them to our sovereign Lord.
This day month we were keeping the feast of St. John of Matha, whose characteristic virtue was charity; our saint of to-day was like him: love for his neighbour led him to devote himself to the service of them that most needed help. Both are examples to us of what is a principal duty of this present season; they are models of fraternal charity. They teach us this great lesson, that our love of God is false if our hearts are not disposed to show mercy to our neighbour, and help him in his necessities and troubles. It is the same lesson as that which the beloved disciple gives us, when he says: 'He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall put up his mercy from him, how doth the charity of God abide in him?’[1] But if there can be no love of God where there is none for our neighbour, the love of our neighbour itself is not genuine unless it be accompanied by a love of our Creator and Redeemer. The charity which the world has set up, which it calls philanthropy, and which it exercises not in the name of God, but solely for the sake of man, is a mere delusion; it is incapable of producing love between those who give and those who receive, and its results must necessarily be unsatisfactory. There is but one tie which can make men love one another: that tie is God, who created them all, and commands them all to be one in Him. To serve mankind for its own sake, is to make a god of it; and even viewing the workings of the two systems in this single point of view—the relief they afford to temporal suffering—what comparison is there between mere philanthropy, and that supernatural charity of the humble disciples of Christ, who make Him the very motive and end of all they do for their afflicted brethren? The saint we honour today, was called John of God, because the name of God was ever on his lips. His heroic acts of charity had no other motive than that of pleasing God; God alone was the inspirer of the tender love he had for his suffering fellow-creatures. Let us imitate his example, for our Lord assures us that He considers as done to Himself whatsoever we do even for the least of His disciples.
The liturgy thus portrays the virtues of our saint:
Joannes de Deo, ex Catholicis piisque parentibus in oppido Montis-Majoris, junioris regni Lusitaniæ natus, quam sublimiter in sortem Domini fuerit electus, insuetus splendor super ejus domo refulgens, sonitusque æris campani sua sponte emissus, ab ipso ejus nativitatis tempore non obscure prænuntiarunt. A laxiorisvivendi ratione, divina operante virtute, revocatus, magnæ sanetilatis exhibere specimen cœpit, et ob auditam prædicationem verbi Dei sic ad meliora se excitatum sensit, ut jam ab ipso sanctioris vitæ rudimento consummatum aliquid, perfectumque visus sit attigisse. Bonis omnibus in pauperes carceribus inclusos erogatis, admirabilis pœnitentiæ, suique ipsius contemptus cuncto populo spectaculum factus, a plerisque ceu demena graviter afflictus, in carcorem amentibus deslinatum conjicitur. At Joannes cœlesti charitate magis incensus, gemino atque ampio valetudinario ex piorum eleemosynis in civitate Granatensi exstructo, jactoque novi Ordinis fundamento, Ecclesiam nova prole fœcundavit, Fratrum hospitalitatis, infirmis præclaro animarum corporumque profectu inservientium, et longe lateque per orbem diffusorum.
Pauperibus ægrotis, quos propriis quandoque humeris domum deferebat, nulla re ad animæ corporisque salutem proficua deerat. Effusa quoque extra nosocomium charitate, indigentibus mulieribus viduis, et præcipue virginibus periclitantibus, clam alimenta subministrabat, curamque indefessam adhibehat ut carnis coneupiscentiam a proximis hujusmodi vitio inquinatis exterminaret. Cum autem maximum in regio Granatensi valetudinario excitatum fuisset ineendium, Joannes impavidus prosiliit in ignem, hue illuc diseurrens, quousque tum infirmos humeris exportatos, tum lectulos e fenestris projectos ab igne vindicavit, ac per dimidiam horam inter flammas jam in immensum succrescentes versatus, exinde divinitus incolumis, universis civibus admirantibus, exivit, in schola cliaritatis edocens, segniorem in eum fuisse ignem qui foris usserat, quam qui intus accen derat.
Multiplici aspcritatum genere, demississiiua obcdientia, extrema paupertate, orandi studio, rerum divinarum contemplatione, ac in beatam Virginem pietate mirifico excelluit, et lacrymarum dono enituit. Denique gravi morbo correptus, omnibus Ecclcsiae sacramentis rite sancteque refcctus, viribus licet destitutus. propriis indulus vestibus e lectulo surgens, ac provolutus in genua, manu et corde Christum Dominum e cruce pendentem perstringens: octavo Idus Martii, anno millesimo quingentesimo quinquagesimo, obiit in osculo Domini: quem etiam mortuus tenuit nec dimisit, et in eadem corporis constitutione sex circiter horas, quousque inde dimotus fuisset, tota civitate inspectante, mirabiliter permansit, odorem mire fragrantem diffundens. Quem ante et post obitum plutimis miraculis darum Alexander octavus, Pontifex maximus, in sanctorum numerum retulit; et Leo decimus tertius, ex sacrorum catholici orbis antistitum voto, ac rituum congregationis con sulto, cœlestem omnium hospitalium et infirmorum ubique degentium patronum declaravit, ipsiusque nomen in agonizantium litaniis invocari præcepit.
John of God was born of Catholic and virtuous parents, in Portugal, in the town of Montemor. At his birth, a bright light shone upon the house, and the church bell was heard to ring of itself; God thus evincing to what great things he destined this his servant. For some time he fell into a lax way of living; but was reclaimed by God’s grace, and led a very holy life. His conversion was effected by his hearing a sermon, and so fervently did he practise the exercises of a devout life, that, from the very first, he seemed to have attained the height of perfection. He gave whatsoever he possessed to the poor who were in prison. Extraordinary were the penances he inflicted on himself; and the contempt he had for himself induced him to do certain things, which led some people to accuse him of madness, so that he was for some time confined in a madhouse. His charity only increased by such treatment. He collected alms sufficient to build two large hospitals in the city of Granada, where also he began the new Order, wherewith he enriched the Church. This Order was called the Institute of Friars Hospitallers. Its object was to assist the sick, both in their spiritual and corporal wants. Its success was very great, and it had houses in almost all parts of the world.
The saint often carried the sick poor on his own shoulders to the hospital, and there he provided them with everything they could want, whether for soul or body. His charity was not confined within the limits of his hospitals. He secretly provided food for indigent widows, and girls whose virtue was exposed to danger. Nothing could exceed the zeal wherewith he laboured to reclaim such as had fallen into sins of impurity. On occasion of an immense fire breaking out in the royal hospital of Granada, John fearlessly threw himself into the midst of the flames. He went through the several wards, taking the sick upon his shoulders, and throwing the beds through the windows, so that all were saved. He remained half an hour amidst the flames, which raged with wildest fury in every part of the building. He was miraculously preserved from the slightest injury, and came forth to the astonishment of the whole city, teaching the people, who had witnessed what had happened, that the disciples of charity have a fire within their hearts more active than any which could burn the body.
Among the virtues wherein he wonderfully excelled, may be mentioned his many practices of bodily mortilication, profound obedience, extreme poverty, love of prayer, contemplation, and devotion to the blessed Virgin. He also possessed, in an extraordinary degree, the gift of tears. At length, falling seriously ill, he fervently received the last Sacraments. Though reduced to a state of utter weakness, he dressed himself, rose from his bed, fell on his knees, devoutly took the crucifix into his hands, pressed it to his heart, and kissing it, died on the eighth of the Ides of March (March 8) in the year 1550. He remained in this same attitude with the crucifix still in his hand, for about six hours after his death. The entire city came to see the holy corpse, which gave forth a heavenly fragrance. The body was then removed, in order that it might be buried. God honoured his servant by many miracles, both before and after his death, and he was canonized by Pope Alexander VIII. Leo XIII., at the desire of the bishops of the Catholic world, and having consulted the sacred congregation of rites, declared him the heavenly patron of all hospitals and of the sick in all places, and ordered his name to be inserted in the litany for the dying.
What a glorious life was thine, O John of God! It was one of charity, and of miracles wrought by charity. Like Vincent of Paul thou wast poor, and, in thy early life, a shepherd-boy like him; but the charity which filled thy heart gave thee a power to do what worldly influence and riches never can. Thy name and memory are dear to the Church; they deserve to be held in benediction by all mankind, for thou didst spend thy life in serving thy fellow-creatures, for God’s sake. That motive gave thee a devotedness to the poor, which is an impossibility for those who befriend them from mere natural sympathy. Philanthropy may be generous, and its workings may be admirable for ingenuity and order; but it never can look upon the poor man as a sacred object, because it refuses to see God in him. Pray for the men of this generation, that they may at length desist from perverting charity into a mere mechanism of relief. The poor are the representatives of Christ, for He Himself has willed that they be such; and if the world refuse to accept them in this their exalted character, if it deny their resemblance to our Redeemer, it may succeed in degrading the poor, but by this very degradation it will make them its enemies. Thy predilection, O John of God, was for the sick; have pity, therefore, on our times, which are ambitious to eliminate the supernatural, and exclude God from the world by what is called secularization of society. Pray for us, that we may see how evil a thing it is to have changed the Christian for the worldly spirit. Enkindle holy charity within our hearts, that during these days, when we are striving to draw down the mercy of God upon ourselves, we also may show mercy. May we, as thou didst, imitate the example of our blessed Redeemer, who gave Himself to us His enemies, and deigned to adopt us as His brethren. Protect also the Order thou didst institute, which has inherited thy spirit; that it may prosper, and spread in every place the sweet odour of that charity, which is its very name.
[1] 1 St. John iii. 17
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