The fourth Sunday after Pentecost was called, for a long period, in the west, the Sunday of mercy, because, formerly, there was read upon it the passage from St. Luke beginning with the words : ‘Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.’ But, this Gospel having been since assigned to the Mass of the first Sunday after Pentecost, the Gospel of the fifth Sunday was made that of the fourth; the Gospel of the sixth became that of the fifth; and so on, up to the twenty-third. The change we speak of was, however, not introduced into many Churches till a very late period;[1] and it was not universally received till the sixteenth century.
Whilst the Gospels were thus brought forward a week, in almost the whole series of these Sundays, the Epistles, Prayers, and the other sung portions of the ancient Masses were, with a few exceptions, left as originally drawn up. The connexion which the liturgists of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries had fancied they found between the Gospel and the rest of the liturgy for these Sundays was broken. Thus the Church spared not those favourite views and explanations which were at times farfetched; and yet she did not intend thereby to condemn those writers, nor to discourage her children from perusing their treatises, for, as the holy reflections they contained were frequently suggested by the authority of the ancient liturgies, such reading would edify and instruct. We are quite at liberty, then, to turn their labours to profit; let us only keep this continually before us—that the chief connexion existing between the several portions of the proper of each Mass for the Sundays after Pentecost consists in the unity of the sacrifice itself.
In the Greek Church there is even less pretension to anything approaching methodical arrangement in the liturgy of these Sundays. On the morrow of Pentecost they begin the reading of the Gospel of St. Matthew, and continue it, chapter after chapter, up to the feast of the Exaltation of the holy Cross, in September. St. Luke follows St. Matthew, and is read in the same way. The weeks and Sundays of this season are simply named according to the Gospel of each day; or they take the name of the evangelist whose text is being read : thus, our first Sunday after Pentecost is called by them the first Sunday of St. Matthew; the one we are now keeping is their fourth of St. Matthew.
So important is the Sunday's liturgy, destined each week to honour such profound mysteries, that, for a long time, the Roman Pontiffs kept down the number of feasts which were above the rank of semi-doubles; that thus the Sunday, which is itself a semi-double, might not be superseded. It was not till the second half of the seventeenth century that this discipline of reserve was relaxed. Then it was that it had to give way in order thereby to meet the attacks, made by the Protestants and their allies the Jansenists, against the cult of the saints. It was needful to remind the faithful that the honour paid to the servants of God detracts not from the glory of their Master; that the cult of the saints, the members of Christ, is but the consequence and development of that which is due to Christ their Head. The Church owed it to her Spouse to make a protest against the narrow views of these innovators, who were really aiming at lessening the glory of the Incarnation by thus denying its grandest consequences. It was, therefore, by a special inspiration of the holy Spirit that the apostolic See then permitted several feasts, both old and new, to be ranked as of a double rite. To strengthen the solemn condemnation she had pronounced against the heretics of that period, she wisely adopted the course of allowing the feasts of saints to be sometimes kept on Sundays, although these latter were considered as being especially reserved for the celebration of the leading mysteries of our Catholic faith, and for the obligatory attendance of the people.
The Sunday, or dominical, liturgy was not, however, altogether displaced by the celebration of any particular feast on the Lord’s Day; for, no matter how solemn soever the feast falling on a Sunday may be, a commemoration must always be made of the Sunday, by adding its Prayers to those of the occurring feast, and by reading its proper Gospel, instead of that of St. John, at the end of Mass. Neither let us forget that after the assisting at the solemn Mass and the canonical Hours, one of the best means for observing the precept of keeping holy the sabbath-day is oar own private meditation upon the Epistle and Gospel appointed by the Church for each Sunday.
Recently, however, in view of the great increase in the number of festivals of Saints kept by the Universal Church, which had resulted in the Sunday liturgy being very rarely used, the Holy See has thought well to ordain that greater or lesser double feasts falling on Sundays shall be merely commemorated in the Mass and Office of the day. Henceforth the Mass of the season is said on every Sunday throughout the year which is not occupied by a double feast of the first or second class, or by a Feast of Our Lord. Thus the Sunday liturgy is restored to its former high rank in the scheme of the Church's year.
MASS
The Church, on the morrow of Trinity Sunday, began the reading of the Books of Kings in her Night Office. On this very night preceding our Sunday she entered on the admirable history of Davids triumph over Goliath, the Philistine giant. Now, who is the Church's true David but that divine leader who, for these eighteen hundred years, has been marshalling the army of the saints to victory? Is not she herself the King's daughter,[2] who was promised to Him who should win the battle against satan? That battle was won on Calvary by our Lord Jesus Christ; He saved the true Israel, and avenged the insult offered to the God of hosts. Filled with the sentiments breathed into her by this episode of sacred history, the Church, the bride, borrows the words of David,[3] wherewith to celebrate the noble exploits of her Spouse, and to tell the confidence which she has in Him, in consequence of His triumph. It is her Introit
Introit
Dominus illuminatio mea et salus mea, quem timebo? Dominus defensor vitæ meæ, a quo trepidabo? Qui tribulant me inimici mei, ipsi infirmati sunt et ceciderunt. Ps. Si consistant adversum me castra, non timebit cor meum. Gloria Patri. Dominus.
The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? My enemies that trouble me have themselves been weakened, and have fallen. Ps. If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. Glory, etc. The Lord.
Notwithstanding her confidence in heaven’s help in times of trial, yet does the Church ever pray to the Most High that He would bless the world with peace. If, when the battle comes, the bride thrills at the thought that she will then have the chance of proving her devoted love, yet, as mother, she trembles when she thinks that many of her children, who would have been saved had the times been peaceful, will perish because of days of trouble overtaking them. Let us pray with her in the Collect.
Collect
Da nobis, quæsumus Domine, ut et mundi cursus pacifice nobis tuo ordine dirigatur : et Ecclesia tua tranquilla devotione lætetur. Per Dominum.
Grant us, we beseech thee, O Lord, that, by thy providence, the events of this world may be peacefully arranged for us, and that thy Church may be gladdened by being permitted to serve thee with peaceful devotedness. Through, etc.
Second Collect
A cunctis nos quæsumus, Domine, mentis et corporis defende periculis : et intercedente beata et gloriosa semper Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria, cum beato Joseph, beatis apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque beato N. et omnibus sanctis, salutem nobis tribue benignus et pacem; ut destructis adversitatibus et erroribus universis, Ecclesia tua secura tibi serviat libertate.
Preserve us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, from all dangers of soul and body : and, by the intercession of the glorious and blessed Mary, the ever Virgin Mother of God, of blessed Joseph, of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, of blessed N. (here is mentioned the titular mint of the church), and of all the saints, grant us, in thy mercy, health and peace; that, all adversities and errors being removed, thy Church may serve thee with undisturbed liberty.
The third Collect is left to the priest's own choice.
EPISTLE
Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Romanos.
Cap. viii.
Fratres, Existimo quod non sunt condignæ passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam, quæ revelabitur in nobis. Nam exspectatio creaturæ revelationem filiorum Dei exspectat. Vanitati enim creatura subjecta est non volens, sed propter eum qui subjecit eam in spe : quia et ipsa creatura liberabitur a servitute corruptionis in libertatem gloriæ filiorum Dei. Scimus enim quod omnis creatura ingemiscit, et parturit usque adhuc. Non solum autem illa, sed et nos ipsi primitias Spiritus habentes, et ipsi intra nosgemimus, adoptionem filiorum Dei exspectantes, redemptionem corporis nostri: in Christo Jesu Domino nostro.
Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans.
Ch. viii.
Brethren : I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us. For the expectation of the creature waiteth for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject, in hope : because the creature also itself snail be delivered from the servitude of corruption, into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that every creature groaneth, and travaileth in pain even till now. And not only it, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The first-fruits of the Spirit are the grace and the virtues which He has put into our souls, as the earnest of salvation and the germ of future glory. Our faith confirms our possession of these divine pledges; and regenerate human nature, even amidst all the trials of this life, is consoled at the very thought of the noble destiny to which it is called. Satan may use his fiercest efforts to regain his lost ground; and the soul may have many and frequent battles to fight, in order to hold what was once under the dominion of the enemy; but Christian hope is an armour of heavens own making. Hope 'entereth in even within the veil';[4] and then she comes, telling the combatant about the disproportion, here mentioned by the apostle, between the fatigues of the march here below and the bliss which is to reward our fidelity in the happy land above. He has the promises of God and the marvellous dealings of the Paraclete in his regard, both in the past and now, all justifying his expectations of the future glory that shall then be revealed, be realized, in him. The very earth he dwells on, which now so often tyrannizes over him and deceives his senses, urges him to fix his heart on something far better than itself; it even seems to share in his hopes. St. Paul tells us so in our to-day's Epistle : the wild upheavings, the restless changes of material creation, are so many voices clamouring for the destruction of sin, and for the fìnal and total triumph over the which followed sin. The present condition of this world, therefore, furnishes a special and most telling motive, inviting us to the holy virtue of hope. They alone can find anything strange in such teaching who have no idea of how man's being raised up to the supernatural order was, from the beginning, a real ennobling of the world which was made for man's service. Men of this stamp have their own ways of explaining God's creation; but the truth which explains everything both on earth and in heaven—the divine axiom which is the principle and reason of everything that has been made—is this : that God, who of necessity does everything for His own glory, has, of His own free choice, appointed that the perfection of this His glory shall consist in the triumph of His love, by the ineffable mystery of divine union realized in His creature. To bring this divine union about is, consequently, by God's gracious will, not only the one sole end, but, moreover, the one only law, the vital and constitutive law, of creation. When the Spirit moved over chaos, He adapted the informal matter to the designs of infinite love. Thereby the various elements, and the countless atoms, of the world that was in preparation really derived from this infinite love the principle of their future development and power; they received it as their one single mission to co-operate, each in its own way, with the holy Spirit, in leading man, the creature chosen by eternal Wisdom, to the proposed glorious end—union with God. Sin broke the alliance, and would have destroyed the world by taking from it the purpose of its existence, had it not been for the incomprehensible patience of the God it outraged, and the marvellous renovations of the original plan achieved by the Spirit of love. A violent state, the state of struggle and expiation, has now been substituted for what, in the primal design of the Creator, was to be the effortless advance of the king of creation to his grand destiny, the spontaneous growth of what someone has called man, ‘the god in the bud.’ Divine union is still offered to the world, but at what a cost of trouble and travail! We may still enjoy the eternal music of triumph, and all the joys of the divine nuptial banquet; but oh! what a long prelude of sighs and sobs must precede!
Men who recognize no other law than that of the flesh may be as deaf and as indifferent as they please to the teachings of positive revelation; but mere matter will go on ever condemning their materialism. Nature, which they pretend to acknowledge as their only authority, will continue to preach the supernatural with her thousand mouths, and will preach it in every nook of the earth; and creation, disturbed though it be, and turned astray by the fall of Adam, will still keep proclaiming—all the louder because it is in suffering—that the fallen king, whom it was intended to serve, has a destiny far beyond all finite things. O ye mysterious sufferings of creatures, which the apostle here calls your groanings, may we not name you, as one of the poets did, ‘the tears of things'?[5] Truly, you are like the soul of music of this land of trial; we have but to listen to your sweet plaintive sounds, and let you speak your eloquence, and you lead us to Him who is the source of all beauty and love. The pagan world heard your voice; but its philosophers would have it that you meant pantheism! The Holy Ghost had not yet begun His reign. He alone could explain to us the strange language of nature, and her vehement aspirations, all of which had been put into her by Himself. All is now made clear to us : the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole earth;[6] the divine witness, who giveth us assurance that we are the sons of God,[7] has carried His precious testimony to the farthest limits of creation; for all creation thrills with expectancy, impatient to see the coming of that glorious day which is to be the revelation of the glory that belongs to these sons of God. It is on their account that they too have had to suffer; together with them they shall be set free, and shall share in the brightness of their coronation-day. St. John Chrysostom compares the earth to 'the nurse who has brought up the king's son; when he succeeds to his father's kingdom, she too is made all the better off. . . . It is much the same with all men; when a son of theirs is to appear in the splendour of some new dignity, they let his very servants wear richer suits. So will God vest in incorruption every creature when the day of the deliverance and glory of His children shall come.’[8]
The Gradual offers up to God the prayers of Christians who, though they are far from being free from sin, and feel that they are unworthy of His assistance, yet, for His own glory's sake, sue Him to have compassion on them. Poor though they be, they are His soldiers; their cause is His. The Alleluia-verse shows us the Church, though here below she be poor and persecuted, sending up her prayer of confidence to the throne of her Spouse, the most just Judge.
Gradual
Propitius esto, Domine, peccatis nostris, nequando dicant gentes : ubi est Deus eorum?
V. Adjuva nos, Deus salutaris noster : et propter honorem nominis tui, Domine, libera nos. Alleluia, alleluia. V. Deus, qui sedes super thronum, et judicas æquitatem, esto refugium pauperum in tribulatione. Alleluia.
Be merciful, O Lord, to our offences, that the Gentiles may never say : Where now is their God?
V. Help us, O Lord, our Saviour, and, for the honour of thy name, deliver us, O Lord. Alleluia, alleluia. V. O God, who sittest on thy throne, and judgest justly, be a refuge to the poor in distress. Alleluia.
Gospel
Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam.
Cap. v.
In illo tempore : Cum turbæ irruerent in Jesum， ut audirent verbum Dei, et ipse stabat secus stagnum Genezareth. Et vidit duas naves stantes secus stagnum: piscatores autem descenderant, et lavabant retia. Ascendens autem in unam navim, quæ erat Simonis, rogavit eum a terra reducere pusillum. Et sedens, docebat de navicula turbas. Ut cessavit autem loqui, dixit ad Simonem : Duc in altum, et laxate retia vestra in capturam. Et respondens Simon, dixit illi : Præceptor, per totani noctem laborantes, nihil cepimus : in verbo autem tuo laxabo rete. Et cum hoc fecissent, concluserunt pisci um multitudinem copiosam; rumpebatur autem rete eorum. Et annuerunt sociis, qui erant in alia navi, ut venirent, et adjuvarent eos. Et venerunt, et impleverunt ambas naviculas, ita ut pene mergerentur. Quod cum videret Simon Petrus, procidit ad genua Jesu, dicens : Exi a me, quia homo peccafcor sum, Domine. Stupor enim circumdederat eum, et omnes qui cum illo erant, in captura piscium quam ceperant : similiter autem Jacobum et Joannem, fìlios Zebedæi, qui erant socii Simonis. Et ait ad Simonem Jesus : Noli timere: exhoc jam homines eris capiens. Et subductis ad terram navibus, relictis omnibus secuti sunt eum.
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.
Ch. v.
At that time, it came to pass, that when the multitude pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesareth, and saw two ships standing by the lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. And going into one of the ships that was Simon's, he desired him to draw back a little from the land. And sitting he taught the multitudes out of the ship. Now when he had ceased to speak, he said to Simon : Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon, answering, said to him : Master, we have laboured all the night, and have taken nothing; but at thy word, I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net broke. And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking. Which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying : Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken. And so were also James and John the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. And Jesus saith to Simon : Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things they followed him.
The prophecy and promise made by Jesus to Simon the son of John is now fulfilled. We were in amazement, on the day when the Holy Ghost came down, at the success which attended Peter's first fishing for men; he cast in his nets, and it was the choicest of the sons of Israel that he took, and offered them to the Lord Jesus. But the bark of Peter was not to be long confined within Jewish waters. Insignificant as it seems to human views, the ship is now sailing on the high seas; it rides on the deep waters, which are, so St. John tells us, peoples and nations.[9] The boisterous wind, the surging billows, the storm, no longer terrify the boatman of Lake Tiberias; for he knows that he has on board Him who is the master of the waves— Him, that is, who has given the deep as a garment to clothe the earth.[10] Endued with power from on high,[11] Peter has cast his net, the apostolic preaching, all over the great ocean; for it is large as the world, and is to bring the sons of the ‘great fish,’[12] the divine Ichthus,[13] to the eternal shore. Grand indeed is the work assigned to Peter. Though fellow-labourers have been joined to him in his divine enterprise, yet does he preside over them all as their undisputed head, as master of the ship where Jesus commands in person, and directs all the operations to be done for the worlds salvation. Our to-day's Gospel very opportunely prepares us for, and sums up, the teachings included in the feast of the prince of the apostles, which always comes close on the fourth Sunday after Pentecost. For that very reason, we leave for that feast the detailed enumeration of the glories inherent in the vicar of Christ; and limit ourselves, for the present, to the consideration of the other mysteries contained in the text before us.
The evangelists have left us the account of two miraculous fishings made by the apostles in presence of their divine Lord : one of these, related by St. Luke, the Church proposes for our consideration on this Sunday; the other, with its exquisite symbolism, was put before us by the beloved disciple on Easter Wednesday. The former of these, which took place while our Lord was still in the days of His mortal life, merely states that the net was cast into the water, and that it broke with the multitude of the draught; but no notice is taken by the evangelist of either the number or the kind of fish. In the second, it is our risen Lord who tells the fishermen, His disciples, that the net must be let down on the right side of their boat; it catches, and without breaking, a hundred and fifty great fishes ； these are brought to the shore where Jesus is waiting for them, that He may join them with the mysterious bread and fish that He Himself has already prepared for His labourers.[14] The fathers are unanimous in the interpretation of these two fishings : they represent the Church; first of all, the Church as she now is, and next as she is to be in eternity. As she now is, the Church is the multitude, without distinction between good and bad; but afterwards—that is, after the resurrection—the good alone will compose the Church, and their number will be for ever fixed. ‘The kingdom of heaven,’ says our Lord, ‘is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kind of fishes; which, when it was filled, they drew out; they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth.’[15]
To speak with St. Augustine, the fishers of men have cast forth their nets; they have taken the multitude of Christians which we see in wonderment; they have filled the two ships with them, the two peoples, Jew and Gentile. But what is this we are told? The multitude weighs down the ships, even to the risk of sinking them; it is what we witness now : the pressing and mingled crowd of the baptized is a burden to the Church. Many Christians there are who live badly; they are a trouble to, and keep back, the good. Worse than these, there are those who tear the nets by their schisms or their heresies; they are impatient of the yoke of unity, and will not come to the banquet of Christ; they are pleased with themselves. Under pretext that they cannot live with the bad, they break the net which kept them in the apostolic track, and they die far off the shore. In how many countries have they not thus broken the great net of salvation? The Donatists in Africa, the Arians in Egypt, Montanus in Phrygia, Manes in Persia; and since their times, how many others have excelled in the work of rupture! Let us not imitate their folly. If grace have made us holy, let us be patient with the bad while living in this world's waters. Let the sight of them drive us neither to live as they do, nor to leave the Church. The shore is not far off, where those on the right, or the good, will alone be permitted to land, and from which the wicked will be repulsed, and cast into the abyss.[16]
In the Offertory, the Christian army sues for that light of faith which alone can make it sure of victory; and this, because it tells where the enemy is, and what are his plans. For a servant of God who is thus enlightened, night has no dangers; the brightness of heaven's beams keeps off from his eyes that fatal sleep which implies defeat and death.
Offertory
Illumina oculos meos, ne unquam obdormiam in morte : nequando dicat inimicus meus : Prævalui adversus eum.
Enlighten mine eyes, that I may never sleep in death; lest the enemy should ever say: I have prevailed over him.
The gifts offered on the altar for the all-mighty transformation of the sacrifice are a figure of the faithful themselves. It is on this account that the Church prays, in the Secret, that our Lord would draw to Himself our rebel wills, and change them, as He is about to do with these gifts. Let us remember, that of all the fish that were in the mysterious net, those only, as the fathers tell us, will be the elect of the eternal shores who 'live in such wise as to deserve to be introduced, by the fishermen of the Church, to the banquet of Christ Jesus.'[17]
Secret
Oblationibus nostris, quæsumus Domine, placare susceptis : et ad te nostras etiam rebelles compelle propitius voluntates. Per Dominum.
Receive our offerings, we beseech thee, O Lord, and be appeased thereby; and mercifully compel our rebel wills to yield unto thee. Through, etc.
Second Secret
Exaudi nos, Deus Salutaris noster : ut per hujus sacramenti virtutem, a cunctis nos mentis et corporis hostibus tuearis, gratiam tribnens in præsenti, et gloriam in futuro.
Graciously hear us, O God, our Saviour; that, by virtue of this sacrament, thou mayst defend us from all enemies, of both soul and body; grant us grace in this life, and glory in the next.
The third Secret is left to the priest's own choice.
That God who enabled David's weakness to triumph over the giant Philistine, gives Himself to us in the sacred mysteries. Let us sing the psalm from which the Communion-anthem is taken: let us sing these few words in praise of His merciful power, which makes itself become ours by means of this adorable Sacrament.
Communion
Dominus firmamentum meum, et refugium meum, et liberator meus;Deus meus, adjutor meus.
The Lord is my support, and my refuge, and my deliverer : my God is my helper.
St. Augustine[18] gives the name of sacrament of hope to the divine mystery wherein the Church daily proclaims and restores, here below, her social union. The real union, though at present it be veiled, of the Head and the members in the banquet of eternal Wisdom, is a pledge of the future glories of regenerate humanity, far exceeding that restless expectation of creation, of which the apostle spoke to us in to-day's Epistle. Let us pray, in the Postcommunion, that our defilements may be removed, and may not impede this holy Sacrament from producing its full effect in us; for such is its virtue, that it is able to lead us to the consummate perfection of salvation.
Postcommunion
Mysteria nos, Domine, quæsumus, sumpta purificent, et suo munere tueantur. Per Dominum.
May the mysteries we have received, O Lord, both purify and defend us, by the gift they bestow. Through, etc.
Second Postcommunion
Mundet et muniat nos, quæsumus, Domine, divini Sacramenti munus oblatum, et intercedente beata Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria, cum beato Joseph, beatis apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque beato N. et omnibus sanctis, a cunctis nos reddat et perversitatibus expiatos, et adversitatibus expeditos.
May the oblation of this divine Sacrament, we beseech thee, O Lord, both cleanse and defend us; and by the intercession of blessed Mary, the VirginMother of God, of blessed Joseph, of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, of blessed N., and of all the saints, free us from all sin, and deliver us from all adversity.
The third Postcommunion is left to the priest's own choice.
Præceptor, per totam noctem laborantes nihil cepimus; in verbo autem tuo laxabo rete.
Oremus.
Da nobis, quæsumus, Domine, ut et mundi cursus pacifìce nobis tuo ordine dirigatur, et Ecclesia tua tranquilla devotione lætetur. Per Dominum.
Master, we have laboured all night, and have taken nothing; but at thy word, I will let down the net.
Let us Pray.
Grant us, we beseech thee, O Lord, that, by thy providence, the events of this world may be peacefully arranged for us, and that thy Church may be gladdened by being permitted to serve thee with peaceful devotedness. Through, etc.
[1] Cf. cum Missali hodierno Bern. Aug. De offic. Mis. cap. V; Microlog. De eccl. obs. cap. lxi; Honor. Augustod. Gemma animæ,l. iv; Rupert. De div. off. l. xii; Durand. 1. vi; etc. [2] Kings xvii. 25-27. [3] Ps. xxvi. [4] Heb. vi.19. [5] Virg., ‘Æn.,’ I. 462. [6] Wisd. i. 7. [7] Rom. viii. 16. [8] In Ep, ad Rom., Hom. xiv. 5. [9] Apoc. xvii. 15. [10] Ps. ciii. 6. [11] St. Luke xxiv. 49. [12] Titul. S. Abercii. [13] Inscript. Augustod. [14] St. John xxi. 1-13. [15] St. Matt. xiii. 47, 48. [16] S. Aug. Serm. 248-252, passim. [17] Bruno Ast. Expos. in Gen., c. I. [18] Contra Faustum. L. xii. 20.
OH! how exceeding great is the glory of Aloysius, son of Ignatius! Never could I have believed it, had not my Jesus shown it to me. Never could I have believed that such glory was to be seen in heaven!’Thus cries out St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, whose memory we were celebrating a month ago: she is speaking in ecstasy. From the heights of Carmel, whence her ken may reach beyond the heavens, she reveals to earth the splendour wherewith the youthful hero of this day shines amidst the celestial phalanxes.
Yet short was the life of Aloysius, and it had offered nothing to the superficial gaze of a vast majority, save the preliminaries, so to say, of a career broken off in its flower before bearing fruit of any kind. Ah! God does not take account of things as men do; of very slight weight are their appreciations in his judgement! Even in the case of saints themselves, the mere fractional number of years, or brilliant deeds, goes far less to the filling up of a lifetime, in his view, than does love. The usefulness of a human existence ought surely to be measured by the amount produced in it of what is lasting. Now beyond this present time charity remains alone, fixed for ever at the precise degree of growth attained during this life of passage. Little matters it, therefore, if ithout any long duration or any apparent works, one of God’s elect has developed in himself a love as great as, or greater than, some others have done, in the midst of many toils, be they never so holy, and throughout a long career admired of men.
The illustrious Society that gave Aloysius Gonzaga to holy Church owes the sanctity of her members and the benedictions poured upon their works to the fidelity she has ever professed to this important truth, which throws so much light on the Christian life. From the very first age of her history, it would seem that our Lord Jesus, not content with allowing her to assume his own blessed name, has been lovingly determined so to arrange circumstances in her regard that she may never forget wherein her real strength lies, in the midst of the actively militant career which he has especially opened before her. The brilliant works of St Ignatius her founder; of St Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies; of St Francis Borgia, the noble conquest of Christ’s humility; manifested truly wondrous holiness in them, and to the eyes of all; but these works had no other spring or basis than the hidden virtues of that other glorious triumvirate, in which, under the eye of God alone, by the sole strength of contemplative prayer, SS Stanislaus Kostka, Aloysius Gonzaga, and John Berchmans rose to such a degree of love, and consequently to the sanctity of their heroic fathers.
Again, it is by Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, the depositary of the secrets of the Spouse, that this mystery is revealed to us. In the rapture during which the glory of Aloysius was displayed before her eyes, she thus continues, while still under the influence of the Holy Ghost: 'Who could ever explain the value and the power of interior acts? The glory of Aloysius is so great simply because he acted thus interiorly. Between an interior act and that which is seen, there is no comparison possible. Aloysius, as long as he dwelt on earth, kept his eye attentively fixed on the Word; and this is just why he is so splendid. Aloysius was a hidden martyr; whosoever loveth thee, my God, knoweth thee to be so great, so infinitely lovable, that keen indeed is the martyrdom of such a one, to see clearly that he loves thee not so much as he desireth to love thee, and that thou art not loved by thy creatures, but art offended! . . . Thus he became a martyrdom unto himself. Oh! he did love while on earth! Wherefore now in heaven he possesses God in a sovereign plenitude of love. While still mortal, he discharged his bow at the heart of the Word; and now that he is in heaven, his arrows are all lodged in his own heart. For this communication of the Divinity, which he merited by the arrows of his acts of love and of union with God, he now verily and indeed possesses and clasps for ever.’
To love God, to allow his grace to turn our heart towards infinite Beauty, which alone can fill it, such is then the true secret of highest perfection. Who can fail to see how this teaching of to-day’s feast answers to the end pursued by the Holy Ghost ever since his coming down at our glorious Pentecost? This sweet and silent teaching was given by Aloysius, wheresoever he turned his steps, during his short career. Bom to heaven, in holy Baptism, almost before he was born to earth, he was a very angel from his cradle; grace seemed to gush from him into those who bore him in their arms, filling them with heavenly sentiments. At four years of age he followed the marquis his father into the camps; and thus some unconscious faults, which had not so much as tarnished his innocence, became for the rest of his life the object of a penitence that one would have thought beseemed some grievous sinner. He was but nine years old when, being taken to Florence, there to be perfected in the Italian language, he became the edification of the court of duke Francis:[1] but though the most brilliant in Italy, it failed to have any attraction for him, and rather served to detach him more decisively than ever from the world. During this period, likewise, at the feet of the miraculous picture of the Annunziata, he consecrated his virginity to our Lady.
The Church herself, in the Breviary Lessons, will relate the other details of that sweet life, in which, as is ever the case with souls fully docile to the Holy Ghost, heavenly piety never marred what was of duty in earthly things. It is because he was a true model for all youth engaged in study, that Aloysius has been proclaimed their protector. Of a singularly quick intelligence, as faithful to work as to prayer in the gay turmoil of city life, he mastered all the sciences then exacted of one of his rank. Very intricate negotiations of worldly interest were more than once confided to his management: and thus was opportunity afforded of realizing to what a high degree he might have excelled in government affairs. Here, again, he comes forward as an example to such as have friends and relatives who would fain hold them back, when on the threshold of the religious state, under pretence of the great good they may do in the world, and how much evil they may prevent. Just as though the Most High must be contented with useless nonentities in that select portion of men He reserves to himself amidst nations; or, as though the aptitudes of the richest and most gifted natures may not be turned all the better and all the more completely to God, their very principle, precisely because they are the most perfect. On the other hand, neither State nor Church ever really loses anything by this fleeing to God, this apparent throwing away of the best subjects! If, in the old law, Jehovah showed himself jealous in having the very best of all kinds of goods offered at his altar, his intention was not to impoverish his people. Whether admitted or not, it is a certain fact that the chief strength of society, the fountain-head of benediction and protection to the world, is always to be found in holocausts well pleasing to the Lord.
Aloysius, Ferdinandi Gonzagæ Castellionis Stiverorum Marchionis filius, festinato propter vitæ periculum baptismo, prius cœlo quam terris nasci visus, primam illam gratiam tam constanter retinuit, ut in ea confìrmatus crederetur. A primo rationis usu, quo se Deo statini obtulit, vitam duxit quotidie sanctiorem. Novennis Florentiæ ante aram beatæVirginis, quam parentis loco semper habuit, perpetuam virginitatem vovit: eamque, insigni Dei beneficio, nulla mentis aut corporis pugna tentatam servavit. Reliquas animi perturbationes cœpit ætate illa tam fortiter comprimere, ut ne primo quidem earum motu deinde incitaretur. Sensus etiam, oculos præcipue, ita cohibuit. ut non modo illos nunquam in faciem intenderit Mariæ Austriacæ, quam plures annos inter honorarios Hispaniarum principis ephebos fere quotidie salutavit; sed a matris etiam vultu contineret; homo propterea sine carne, aut angelus in carne merito appellatus.
Adjecit sensuum custodiæ corporis cruciatum. Tria singulis hebdomadis jejunia, eaque plerumque modico pane et aqua tolerabat. Quanquam perpetuum fuisse per id tempus ipsius jejunium videri potest, cum ejus prandia ferme vix unciam æquarent. S®pe etiam ter in die se funibus aut catenis cruentabat: flagella quandoque canum loris, cilicia equorum calcaribus supplevit. Mollem lectulum clam injectis asserum fragmentis asperabat, eo etiam ut citius ad orandum excitaretur. Magnam quipped noctis partem, summa etiam hieme, solo tectus indusio, positis humi genibus, vel præ languore jacens ac pronus, in cœlestium contemplatione traducebat. Interdiu quoque tres, quatuor, quinque horas in ea perstabat immotus; donec unam saltem animo nusquam distracto percurrisset. Cujus constantiæ præmium fuit stabilitas mentis inter orandum alio non vagantis, imo perpetua velut exstasi in Deo defixæ. Ei demum ut unice adhæreret, victo post triennale acerrimum certamen pætre, et aviti principatus jure in fratrem translato, Societati Jesu, ad quam cœlesti voce Matriti fuerat accitus, Romæ se adjunxit.
In tirocinio ipso virtutum omnium magister haberi cœpit. Exactissima in eo erat legum etiam minimarum custodia, mundi contemptus singularis, implacabile odium sui: Dei vero amor tam ardens, ut corpus etiam sensim absumeret. Jussus propterea mentem a divinis rebus tantisper avertere, occurrentem sibi ubique Deum irrito conatu fugiebat. Mira etiam proximos charitate amplexus, in publicis, quibus alacriter ministrabat, nosocomiis, contagiosam luem traxit. Qua lente consumptus, die quem prædixerat, undecimo Kalendas Julii, ætatis anno quarto et vigesimo jam inchoato, cum antea flagellis cædi, atque humi stratus mori postulasset, migravit in cœlum. Ibi eum Sancta Maria Magdalena de Pazzis tanta frui gloria, Deo monstrante, vidit, quantam vix esse in cœlo credidisset; ipsumque sanctimonia insignem, et charitate martyrem incognitum fuisse prædicavit. Multis etiam, magnisque claruit miraculis. Quibus rite probatis, Benedictus decimus tertius sanctorum fastis angelicum juvenem adscripsit, atque innocentiæ et castitatis exemplar simul et patronum studiosæ præsertim juventuti dedit.
Aloysius was son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, Marquis of Castiglione delle Stivere. He was so hurriedly baptized, on account of danger, that he seemed to be born to heaven almost before he was born to earth, and he so faithfully kept this his first grace, that he seemed to have been confirmed therein. From his first dawn of reason, which he used in offering himself to God, he led a life more holy day by day. At Florence, when he was nine years old, he made a vow of perpetual virginity, before the altar of the Blessed Virgin, upon whom he always looked as a Mother; and by a remarkable mercy from God, he kept this vow wholly and without the slightest impure temptation, either of body or of mind, during his whole life. As for any other perturbations of the soul, he began at that age to check them so sternly, that he was nevermore pricked by even their first movements. His senses, and especially his eyes, he so restrained, that he never once looked on the face of Mary of Austria, whom for several years he saluted almost every day, as page of honour in the court of the king of Spain; and he used the same reserve with regard to the face of his own mother: wherefore he might truly be called a man without flesh, or an angel in human flesh.
To this custody of the senses he added the maceration of the body. He fasted three days in every week, and that mostly upon a little bread and water. But indeed, he, as it were, fasted every day, for he hardly ever took so much as an ounce weight of food at his meal. Often also, even thrice a day, he would scourge himself to blood with cords or chains: sometimes he would supply the place of a discipline or hair shirt by dog-thongs or his own spurs. He secretly strewed his soft bed with pieces of broken wood or potsherds, that he might find it easier to wake to pray. He passed great part of the night even in the depth of winter clad only in his shirt, either kneeling on the ground, or lying prostrate when too weary to remain upright, occupied in heavenly contemplation. Sometimes he would keep himself thus immovable for three, four, or five hours, until he had spent at least one without any distraction of mind. Such constancy obtained for him the reward of being able to keep his understanding quite concentrated in prayer without any wandering of mind, as though rapt in God, in unbroken ecstasy. In order that he might henceforth adhere to him alone, having overcome the bitter resistance of his father in a sharp contest of three years' duration, and having procured the transfer of his right to the marquisate to his brother, he joined, at Rome, the Society of Jesus, to which he had been called by a voice from heaven when he was at Madrid.
In his very novitiate he began to be held as a master of all virtues. His obedience even to the most trifling rules was absolutely exact, his contempt of the world extraordinary, and his hatred of self implacable. His love of God was so ardent, that it gradually undermined his bodily strength. Being commanded, therefore, to divert his mind for a while from divine things, he struggled vainly to distract himself from God who met him everywhere. From tender love towards his neighbour, he joyfully ministered to the sick in the public hospitals. and in the exercise of this charity he caught the contagion. Whereby, being consumed, on the very day he had predicted, the eleventh of the Kalends of July, in the twenty-fourth year of his age, he departed to heaven, having previously begged to receive the discipline and to be placed upon the ground to die. What the glory is which he there enjoys, St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi was enabled by the revelation of God to behold; and she declared that it was such as she had hardly believed existed in heaven, and that his holiness and love were so great that she could declare him to be a hidden martyr. On earth, God glorified him by many miracles. These being duly proved, Benedict XIII inserted the name of this angelic youth in the calendar of the saints, and commended him to all young scholars, both as a pattern of innocence and chastity and as principal patron.
‘Venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years: but the understanding of man is grey hairs; and a spotless life is old age.’[2] And therefore, Aloysius, thou dost hold a place of honour amidst the ancients of thy people! Glory be to the holy Society in the midst whereof thou didst, in so short a space, fulfil a long course; obtain that she may ever continue to treasure, both for herself and others, the teaching that flows from thy life of innocency and love. Holiness is the one only thing, when life is ended, that can be called a true gain; and holiness is acquired from within. External works count with God, only in as far as the interior breath that inspires them is pure; if occasion for exercising works be wanting, man can always supply that deficiency by drawing nigh unto the Lord, in the secrecy of his soul, as much as, and even more than, he could have done by their means. Thus didst thou see and understand the question; and therefore prayer, which held thee absorbed in its ineffable delights, succeeded in making thee equal to the very martyrs. What a priceless treasure was prayer in thine eyes, what a heaven-lent boon, and one that is indeed in our reach too, just as it was in thine! But in order to find therein, as thou didst express it, 'the short cut to perfection,' perseverance is needed and a careful elimination from the soul, by a generous selfrepression, of every emotion which is not of God. For how could muddy or troubled waters mirror forth the image of him who stands on their brink? Even so, a soul that is sullied, or a soul that without being quite a slave of passion is not yet mistress of every earthly perturbation, can never reach the object of prayer, which is to reproduce within her the tranquil image of her God.
The reproduction of the one great model was perfect in thee; and hence it can be seen how nature (as regards what she has of good), far from losing or suffering aught, rather gains by this process of recasting in the divine crucible. Even in what touches the most legitimate affections, thou didst look at things no longer from the earthly point of view; but beholding all in God, far were the things of sense transcended, with all their deceptive feebleness, and wondrously did thy love grow in consequence! For instance, what could be more touching than thy sweet attentions, not only upon earth, but even from thy throne in heaven, for that admirable woman given thee by our Lord to be thine earthly mother? Where may tenderness be found equal to the affectionate effusions written to her by thee in that letter of a saint to the mother of a saint, which thou didst address to her shortly before quitting thine earthly pilgrimage? And still more, what exquisite delicacy thou didst evince, in making her the recipient of thy first miracle, worked after thine entrance into glory! Furthermore, the Holy Ghost, by setting thee on fire with the flame of divine charity, developed also within thee immense love for thy neighbour: necessarily so, because charity is essentially one; and well was this proved when thou wast seen sacrificing thy life so blithely for the sick and the plague-stricken.
Cease not, O dearest saint, to aid us in the midst of so many miseries; lend a kindly hand to each and all. Christian youth has a special claim upon thy patronage, for it is by the Sovereign Pontiff himself that this precious portion of the flock is gathered around thy throne. Direct their feeble steps along the right path, so often enticed to turn into dangerous by-roads; may prayer and earnest toil, for God's dear sake, be their stay and safeguard; may they be enlightened in the serious matter before them of choosing a state of life. We beseech thee, dearest saint, exert strong influence over them during this most critical period of their opening years, so that they may truly experience all the potency of that fair privilege which is ever thine, of preserving in thy devout clients the angelical virtue! Yea, furthermore, Aloysius, look compassionately on those who have not imitated thine innocence, and obtain that they may yet follow thee in the example of thy penance; such is the petition of holy Church this day!
[1] It is of interest to recollect that Marie de Médicis, the future Queen of France, was at that time a child in the same court. [2] Wisd. iv 8, 9.
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