The fundamental rule of Christian life is, as almost every page of the Gospel tells us, that we should live out of the world, separate ourselves from the world, hate the world. The world is that ungodly land which Abraham, our sublime model, is commanded by God to quit. It is that Babylon of our exile and captivity, where we are beset with dangers. The beloved disciple cries out to us: 'Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him.’[1] Our most merciful Jesus, at the very time when He was about to offer Himself as a sacrifice for all men, spoke these awful words: 'I pray not for the world.'[2] When we were baptized, and were signed with the glorious and indelible character of Christians, the condition required of us, and accepted, was that we should renounce the works and pomps of the world (which we expressed under the name of Satan); and this solemn baptismal promise we have often renewed.
But what is the meaning of our promise to renounce the world? Is it that we cannot be Christians, unless we flee into the desert and separate ourselves from our fellow-creatures? Such cannot be God’s will for all, since, in that same Scripture, wherein He commands us to flee from the world, He also tells us what are our duties to each other, and sanctions and blesses those ties which He Himself has willed should exist among us. His apostle, also, tells us to use this world as though we did not use it.[3] It is not, therefore, forbidden us to live in, and to use, the world. Then, what means this renouncing of the world? Can there be contradiction in God’s commandments? Is it possible that we are condemned to wander blindly on the brink of a precipice, into which we must at last inevitably fall?
There is neither contradiction nor snare. If by the world, we mean these visible things around us which God created in His power and goodness; if we mean this outward world, which He made for His own glory and our benefit; it is worthy of its divine Author, and to us, if we but use it aright, is a ladder whereby our souls may ascend to their God. Let us gratefully use this world; go through it, without making it the object of our hope; not waste upon it that love, which God alone deserves; and ever be mindful, that we are not made for this, but for another and a happier, world.
But the majority of men are not thus prudent in their use of the world. Their hearts are fixed upon it, and not upon heaven. Hence it was, that when the Creator deigned to come into this world, in order that He might save it, the world knew Him not.[4] Men were called after the name of the object of their love. They shut their eyes to the light; they became darkness; God calls them 'the world.’
In this sense, then, the world is everything that is opposed to our Lord Jesus Christ, that refuses to recognize Him, and that resists His divine guidance. Those false maxims which tend to weaken the love of God in our souls; which recommend the vanities that fasten our hearts to this present life; which cry down everything that can raise us above our weaknesses or vices; which decoy and gratify our corrupt nature by dangerous pleasures, which, far from helping us to the attainment of our last end, only mislead us—all these are ‘the world.’
This world is everywhere, and holds a secret league within our very hearts. Sin has brought it into this exterior world created by God for Himself, and has given it prominence. Now, we must conquer it, and trample upon it, or we shall perish with it. There is no being neutral; we must be its enemies, or its slaves. During these three days, its triumphs are fearful; and thousands of those who, at their Baptism, swore eternal enmity to it, are enrolling themselves its votaries. Let us pray for them; but let us also tremble for ourselves; and that our courage may not fail us, let us ponder those consoling words, which our Saviour, at His last Supper, addressed to His eternal Father. He is speaking of His disciples, and He says: 'Father! I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, as I also am not of the world. I pray not, that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from evil.'[5]
As an appropriate conclusion of this day, we may use this formula of the Ambrosian liturgy. It puts two truths in contrast: the spiritual indifference of worldlings, and the dread severity of God’s future judgment.
Ingressa (Dominica in Quinquagesima)
Jucunda est præsens vita, et transit: terribile est, Christe, judicium tuum, et permanet. Quapropter incertum amorem relinquamus, et de infinito timore cogitemus, clamantes: Christe, miserere nobis.
Sweet is this present life, but it passes away; terrible, O Christ, is thy judgment, and it endures for ever. Let us, therefore, cease to love what is unstable, and fix our thoughts on the fear of what is eternal; saying; Christ, have mercy upon us!
[1] St. John ii. 15. [2] Ibid., xvii. 9. [3] 1 Cor. vii. 31. [4] St. John i. 10. [5] St. John xvii. 14, 15.
It is from a court that we are to be taught to-day the most heroic virtues. Casimir is a prince; he is surrounded by all the allurements of youth and luxury; and yet he passes through the snares of the world with as much safety and prudence, as though he were an angel in human form. His example shows us what we may do. The world has not smiled on us as it did on Casimir; but how much we have loved it! If we have gone so far as to make it our idol, we must now break what we have adored, and give our service to the sovereign Lord, who alone has a right to it. When we read the lives of the saints, and find that persons who were in the ordinary walks of life practised extraordinary virtues, we are inclined to think that they were not exposed to great temptations, or that the misfortunes they met with in the world made them give themselves up unreservedly to God’s service. Such interpretations of the actions of the saints are shallow and false, for they ignore this great fact, that there is no condition or state, however humble, in which man has not to combat the evil inclinations of his heart, and that corrupt nature alone is strong enough to iead him to sin. But in such a saint as Casimir we have no difficulty in recognizing that all his Christian energy was from God, and not from any natural source; and we rightly conclude that we, who have the same good God, may well hope that this season of spiritual regeneration will change and better us. Casimir preferred death to sin. But is not every Christian bound to be thus minded every hour of the day? And yet, such is the infatuation produced by the pleasures or advantages of this present life, that we every day see men plunging themselves into sin, which is the death of the soul; and this, not for the sake of saving the life of the body, but for a vile and transient gratification, which is oftentimes contrary to their temporal interests. What stronger proof could there be than this, of the sad effects produced in us by original sin? The examples of the saints are given us as a light to lead us in the right path, let us follow it, and we shall be saved. Besides, we have a powerful aid in their merits and intercession: let us take courage at the thought that these friends of God have a most affectionate compassion for us their brethren, who are surrounded by so many and great dangers.
The Church, in her liturgy, thus describes to us the virtues of our young prince:
Casimirus, patre Casimiro, matre Elisabetha Austriaca, Poloniæ regibus ortus, a pueritia sub optimis magistris pietate, et bonis artibus instructus, juveniles artus aspero domabat cilicio, et assiduis extenuabat jejuniis. Regii spreta lecti mollitie, dura cubabat humo, et clam intempesta nocte, præ foribus tempiorum pronus in terra divinam exorabat clementiam. In Christi contemplanda Passione assiduus, Missarum solemniis adeo erectain Deum mente solebat adesse, ut extra se rapi videretur.
Catholicam promovere fidem summopere studuit, et Ruthenorum schisma abolere; quapropter Casimirum patrem induxit, ut legem ferret, ne schismaticinova templa construerent, nec vetera collabentia restaurarent. Erga pauperes et calamitatibus oppressos benefieus et misericors, patris et defensoris egenorum nomen obtinuit. Virginitatem, quam ab incunabulis servavit illæsam, sub extremo vilæ termino fortiter asseruit, dum gravi pressus infirmitate, mori potius, quam castitatisjacturam ex medicorum Consilio subire, constanter decrevit.
Consummatus in brevi, virtutibus et meritis plenus, prænuntiato mortis die, inter sacerdotum, et religio sorum choros spiritum Deo reddidit, anno setatis vigesimo quinto. Corpus Vilnam delatum multis claret miraculis. Etenim, præterquam quod puella defuncta vitam, cæci visum, claudi gressum, et varii infirmi sanitatem ad ejus sepulchrum recuperarunt. Lithuanis exiguo numero ad potentissimi hostis insperatam irruptionem trepidantibus in aere apparens, insignem tribuit victoriam. Quibus permotus Leo decimus, eumdem sanctorum catalogo adscripsit.
Casimir was the son of Casimir, king of Poland, and of Elizabeth of Austria. He was put, when quite a boy, under the care of the best masters, who trained him to piety and learning. He brought his body into subjection by wearing a hair-shirt, and by frequent fasting. He could not endure the soft bed which is given to kings, but lay on the hard floor, and during the night, he used privately to steal from his room, and go to the church, where, prostrate before the door, he besought God to have mercy on him. The Passion of Christ was his favourite subject of meditation; and when he assisted at Mass, his mind was so fixed on God, that he seemed to be in one long ecstasy.
Great was his zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith, and the suppression of the Russian schism. He persuaded the king, his father, to pass a law, forbidding the schismatics to build new churches, or to repair those which had fallen to ruin. Such was his charity for the poor and all sufferers, that he went under the name of the father and defender of the poor. During his last illness, he nobly evinced his love of purity, which virtue he had maintained unsullied during his whole life. He was suffering a cruel malady; but he courageously preferred to die, rather than suffer the loss of his chastity, whereby his physicians advised him to purchase his cure.
Being made perfect in a short space of time, and rich in virtue and merit, after having foretold the day of his death, he breathed forth his soul into the hands of his God, in the twenty-fifth year of his age, surrounded by priests and religious. His body was taken to Vilna, and was honoured by many miracles. A young girl was raised to life at his shrine; the blind recovered their sight, the lame the use of their limbs, and the sick their health. He appeared to a small army of Lithuanians, who were unexpectedly attacked by a large force, and gave them the victory over the enemy. Leo X. was induced by all these miracles to enrol him among the saints.
Enjoy thy well-earned rest in heaven, O Casimir! Neither the world with all its riches, nor the court with all its pleasures, could distract thy heart from the eternal joys it alone coveted and loved. Thy life was short, but full of merit. The remembrance of heaven made thee forget the earth. God yielded to the impatience of thy desire to be with Him, and took thee speedily from among men. Thy life, though most innocent, was one of penance, for knowing the evil tendencies of corrupt nature, thou hadst a dread of a life of comfort. When shall we be made to understand that penance is a debt we owe to God, a debt of expiation for the sins we have committed against Him? Thou didst prefer death to sin; obtain for as a fear of sin, that greatest of all the evils that can befall as, because it is an evil which strikes at God Himself. Pray for as daring this holy season, which is intended as a preparation for penance; impress our minds with the truths now put before us. The Christian world is honouring thee to-day; repay its homage by thy blessing. Poland, thy fatherland, once the bulwark of the Church, which kept back the invasion of schism, heresy, and infidelity, beseeches thy prayers.
On this day a commemoration is made of St. Lucius, Pope and Martyr. He was a Roman by birth, and succeeded Pope Cornelius in 252. Shortly after his accession he was sent into exile by the Emperor Gallus, but was soon recalled, to the great joy of the Roman people. St. Cyprian quotes decrees issued by him against the Novatians. He died after a very short pontificate on March 4, 253. His relics were translated to the church of St. Cecilia, where they are exposed to the veneration of the Faithful.
Antiphon
Qui odit animam suam in hoc mundo, in vitam æternam custodit eam.
Oremus.
Deus qui nos beati Lucii Martyris tui atque Pontificis annua solemnitate lætificas: concede propitlus; ut, cujus natalitia colimus, de ejusdem etiam protectione gaudeamus. Per Dominum.
He that hateth his life in this world keepeth it unto life eternal.
Let us Pray.
O God, who dost year by year give us joy in the feast of blessed Lucius, Thy Martyr and Pontiff, mercifully grant that, as we celebrate his birthday unto life eternal, so we may also rejoice in his protection.Through our Lord.
This email message is part of the Liturgical Year Project at LYP.network, a project of the FSSP apostolate, St. Lawrence Church, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We are in the process of transcribing and formatting the text of Dom Prosper Guéranger's massive 15-volume series, The Liturgical Year. His many meditations on the history and faith behind the feasts and the seasons of the Church's year have edified many people over the years, and we hope to share these with more people through our website and via email.
Also, this project is in a test phase as we edit and prepare the texts. As such, you can expect to find some typographical errors. If you do, please take a screen shot of the error and email it to us at typos@stlawrence.cc. Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com.
