November (end of the year)
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
LET us go with the Church to Mount Carmel, and offer our grateful homage to John of the Cross, who, following in the footsteps of Teresa of Jesus, opened a safe way to souls seeking God.
The growing disinclination of the people for social prayer was threatening the irreparable destruction of piety, when in the sixteenth century the divine goodness raised up Saints, whose teaching and holiness responded to the needs of the new times. Doctrine does not change: the asceticism and mysticism of that age transmitted to the succeeding centuries the echo of those that had gone before. But their explanations were given in a more didactic way and analysed more narrowly; their methods aimed at obviating the risk of illusion, to which souls were exposed by their isolated devotion. It is but just to recognize that under the ever fruitful action of the Holy Ghost, the psychology of supernatural states became more extended and more precise.
The early Christians, praying with the Church, living daily and hourly the life of her Liturgy, kept her stamp upon them in their personal relations with God. Thus it came about that, under the persevering and transforming influence of the Church, and participating in the graces of light and union, and in all the blessings of that one Beloved so pleasing to the Spouse, they assimilated her sanctity to themselves, without any further trouble but to follow their Mother with docility, and suffer themselves to be carried securely in her arms. Thus they applied to themselves the words of our Lord: Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. We need not be surprised that there was not then, as now, the frequent and assiduous assistance of a particular director for each soul. Special guides are not so necessary to the members of a caravan or of an army: it is isolated travellers that stand in need of them; and even with these special guides, they can never have the same security as those who follow the caravan or the army.
This was understood, in the course of the last few centuries, by the men of God who, taking their inspiration from the many different aptitudes of souls, became the leaders of schools, one it is true in aim, but differing in the methods they adopted for counteracting the dangers of individualism. In this campaign of restoration and salvation, where the worst enemy of all was illusion under a thousand forms, with its subtle roots and its endless wiles, John of the Cross was the living image of the Word of God, more piercing than any two-edged sword, reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also and the marrow; for he read, with unfailing glance, the very thoughts and intentions of hearts. Let us listen to his words. Though he belongs to modern times, he is evidently a son of the ancients.
“The soul,” he says, “is to attain to a certain sense, to a certain divine knowledge, most generous and full of sweetness, of all human and divine things which do not fall within the common-sense and natural perceptions of the soul; it views them with different eyes now, for the light and grace of " the Holy Ghost differ from those of sense, the " divine from the human.[1] The dark night, through which the soul passes, on its way to the divine light of the perfect union of the love of God — so far as it is in this life possible — requires for its explanation greater experience and light of knowledge than I possess. For so great are the trials, and so profound the darkness, spiritual as well as corporal, which souls must endure, if they will " attain to perfection, that no human knowledge can comprehend them, nor experience describe them.[2]
The journey of the soul to the divine union is called night, for three reasons. The first is derived from the point from which the soul sets out, the privation of the desire of all pleasure in all the things of this world, by an entire detachment therefrom. This is as night for every desire and sense of man. The second, from the road by which it travels; that is, faith, for faith is obscure like night to the intellect. The third, from the goal to which it tends, God, incomprehensible and infinite, who in this life is as night to the soul. We must pass through these three nights if we are to attain to the divine union with God.
They are foreshadowed in holy Scripture by the three nights which were to elapse, according to the command of the angel, between the betrothal and the marriage of the younger Tobias.[3] On the first night he was to burn the liver of the fish in the fire, which is the heart whose affections are set on the things of this world, and which, if it will enter on the road that leadeth unto God, must be burned up, and purified of all created things in the fire of this love. This purgation drives away the evil spirit who has dominion over our soul, because of our attachment to those pleasures which flow from " temporal and corporeal things.
The second night, said the angel, thou shalt be admitted into the society of the holy Patriarchs, the fathers of the faith. The soul having passed the first night, which is the privation of all sensible things, enters immediately into the second night, alone in pure faith, and by it alone directed: for faith is not subject to sense.
The third night, said the Angel, thou shalt obtain a blessing — that is, God, who in the second night of faith communicates himself so secretly and so intimately to the soul. This is another night, inasmuch as this communication is more obscure than the others. When this night is over, which is the accomplishment of the communication of God in spirit, ordinarily effected when the soul is in great darkness, the union with the bride, which is the Wisdom of Go immediately ensues.[4]
O spiritual soul, when thou seest thy desire obscured, thy will arid and constrained, and thy faculties incapable of any interior act, be not grieved at this, but look upon it rather as a great good, for God is delivering thee from thyself, taking the matter out of thy hands; for however strenuously thou mayest exert thyself, thou wilt never do anything so faultlessly, so perfectly, and securely as now — because of the impurity and torpor of thy faculties — when God takes thee by the hand, guides thee safely in thy blindness, along a road and to an end thou knowest not, and whither thou couldst never travel guided by thine own eyes, and supported by thy own feet.”[5]
We love to hear the Saints describe the paths which they themselves have trodden, and of which, in reward for their fidelity, they are the recognized guides in the Church. Let us add that “in sufferings of this kind, we must take care not to excite our Lord's compassion before his work is completed. There can be no mistake about it, certain graces which God gives to the soul are not necessary for salvation, but they must be obtained at a price. If we were to make too many difficulties, it might happen that, to spare our weakness, our Lord would let us fall back into a lower way. This, to the eye of faith, would be a terrible and irreparable misfortune.”[6]
“For the interests of holy Church and the glory of God, it is more important than we are able to say, that truly contemplative souls should be multiplied upon the earth. They are the hidden spring, the moving principle of everything that is for the glory of God, for the kingdom of his Son, and for the perfect fulfilment of his divine Will. Vain would it be to multiply active works and contrivances, yea, and even deeds of sacrifice; all will be fruitless if the Church militant have not her saints to uphold her, saints still wayfarers (in via), which is the state in which the Master chose to redeem the world. Certain powers and a certain fruitfulness are inherent to the present life; it has in itself so few charms that it will not have been useless to show, as we have done, that it has also some advantages.”[7]
The life of St. John of the Cross is thus related by holy Church.
Joannes a Cruce, Fontiberi in Hispania piis parentibus natus, a primis annis certo innotuit, quam Deiparae Virgini futurus esset acceptus; nam quinquennis in puteum lapsus, ejusdem Deiparae manu sublatus, incolumis evasit. Tanto autem patiendi desiderio flagravit, ut novennis, spreto molliori lecto, super sarmentis cubare consueverit. Adolescens hospitio pauperum aegrotantium Metymnae Campi famulum sese addixit, quibus magno caritatis ardore vilissima quaeque complectens officia, praesto aderat. Cujus exemplo excitati ceteri, eadem caritatis munera ardentius obibant. Verum ad altiora vocatus, beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo institutum amplexus est: ubi sacerdos ex obedientia factus, severioris disciplinae et arctioris vitae cupidissimus, primitivam ordinis regulam ex superioris licentia ita professus est, ut, ob jugem Dominicae passionis memoriam, bello in se, tamquam in infensissimum hostem indicto, vigiliis, jejuniis, ferreis flagellis, omnique poenarum genere, brevi carnem cum vitiis et concupiscentiis suis crucifixerit: dignus plane, qui a sancta Teresia inter puriores sanctioresque animas Ecclesiam Dei id temporis illustrantes recenseretur.
Singulari vitae austeritate, et omnium virtutum praesidio munitus, prae assidua rerum divinarum contemplatione, diuturnas et mirabiles extases frequenter patiebatur: tantoque in Deum aestuabat amore, ut cum divinus ignis sese intro diutius continere non posset, foras erumpere, ejusque vultum irradiare visus sit. Proximorum saluti summopere intentus, tum in verbi Dei praedicatione, tum in sacrmentorum ad ministratione fuit assiduus. Hinc tot meritis auctus, strictiorisque disciplinae promovendae ardore vehementer accensus, sancae Teresiae comes divinitus datus est, ut quam ipsa inter sorores primaevam Carmeli ordinis observantiam instauraverat, eamdem et inter fratres, Joanne adjutore, restitueret. Innumeros itaque una cum Dei famula in divino opere promovendo perpessus labores, coenobia quae ejusdem sanctae Virginnis cura per total Hispaniam erecta fuerant, nullis vitae incommodis et periculis territus, singula perlustravit: in quibus aliisque quamplurimis ejus opera erectis, restauratam observantiam propagando, verbo et exemplo firmavit; ut merito primus post sanctam Teresiam Carmelitarum Excalceatorum ordinis professor et parens habeatur.
Virginitatem perpetuo coluit, impudentesque mulieres ejus pudicitiae insidiari conantes, non modo repulit, sed etiam Christo lucrifecit. In divinis explicandis arcanis aeque ac sancta Teresia, apostolicae sedis judicio, divinitus instructus, libros de mystica theologia caelesti sapientia refertos conscripsit. Semel interrogatus a Christo, quid praemii pro tot laboribus posceret, respondit: Domine, pati et contemni pro te. Imperio in daemones, quos e corporibus saepe fugabat, discretione spirituum, prophetiae dono, miraculorum gloria celebratissimus, ea semper fuit humilitate, ut saepius a Domino flagitaverit eo loco mori, ubi omnibus esset ignotus. Voti compos factus, Ubedae diro morbo, et in crure quinque plagis sanie manantibus, ad implendum patiendi desiderium constantissime toleratis. Ecclesiae sacramentis pie sancteque susceptis, in Christi cruxifixi amplexu, quem semper in corde atque ore habuerat, post illa verba: IN manus tuas commendo spiritum meum, obdormivit in Domino, die et hora a se praedictis, anno salutis millesimo quingentesimo nonagesimo primo, aetatis quadragesimo nono. Migrantem ejus animam splendidissimus ignis globus excepit: corpus vero suavissimum odorem spiravit, quod etiamnum incorruptum Segoviae honorifice colitur. Eum plurimis ante et post obitum fulgentem signis Benedictus decimus tertius, Pontifex Maximus, in sanctorum numerum retulti.
John of the Cross was born of pious parents at Hontiveros in Spain. From his infancy it was evident how dear he would be to the Virgin Mother of God, for at five years of age, having fallen down a well, he was held up by our Lady in her arms, so that he sustained no injury. He had so great a desire of suffering, that when he was but nine years old he discarded his soft bed and slept on faggots. As a young man, he devoted himself to the service of the sick in the hospital of Medina del Campo. Here he showed the ardour of his charity by undertaking the vilest offices; and his example incited others to devote themselves to the same charitable deeds. But as God called him still higher, he entered the order of the blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, where he was made priest in obedience to his superiors; and in his ardour for more severe discipline and a more austere manner of life, he obtained their leave to observe the primitive rule of the Order. being ever mindful of our Lord’s Passion, he declared war against himself as against his worst enemy; and by watchings, fasting, iron disciplines, and every kind of penance, he soon crucified his flesh with the vices and concupiscences; so that St. Teresa considered him worthy to be numbered among the holiest and purest souls then adorning God's Church.
Besides his singular austerity of life, John was equipped for the spiritual combat with the armour of all the virtues. He devoted himself assiduously to the contemplation of divine things, in which he frequently experienced long and wonderful ecstasies; and his heart burned with such love of God that this divine fire could not be contained within, but would break forth and light up his countenance. He was exceedingly zealous for his neighbour's salvation, and devoted himself to preaching the word of God and administering the Sacraments. Enriched with all these merits and kindled with the desire of promoting stricter discipline, he was given by God as a companion to St. Teresa, that as she had restored primitive observance among the Sisters of the Order of Carmel, she might with John's help do the same among the Brethren. In carrying out this divine work, he together with that handmaid of God underwent innumerable labours; and fearing neither sufferings nor dangers, he visited all the monasteries founded by the holy virgin in Spain, and himself erected others, propagating in all the restored observance and strengthening it by his words and example. He has thus every right to be called, after St. Teresa, the first professed and the father of the Discalced Carmelites.
He preserved his virginity intact, and not only repulsed impudent women, who tried to ensnare him, but even gained them to Christ. The Holy See has declared that, like St. Teresa, he was divinely inspired in explaining the hidden mysteries of God; and he wrote books on mystical theology, full of divine wisdom. When asked one day by Christ what reward he desired for so many labours, he replied: Lord, sufferings and contempt for thy sake! He was renowned for his power over the devils, whom he often cast out of the possessed; and also for the gifts of discernment of spirits and prophecy; while such was his humility that he often begged our Lord to let him die in a place where no one knew him. His prayer was granted; and after a cruel malady, and the patient endurance of five ulcers in his leg, sent him to satisfy his love of suffering, he fell asleep in our Lord at Ubeda, having received the Sacraments of the Church in the holiest dispositions, and embracing the image of Christ crucified whom he had ever had in his heart and on his lips. His last words were: Into thy hands I commend my spirit. His death took place on the day and at the hour he had foretold, in the year of salvation 1591, the forty-ninth of his age. A brilliant glove of fire received his departing soul; while his body gave forth a most sweet perfume, and is still reverently preserved incorrupt at Segovia. As he was renowned for many miracles both before and after death, Pope Benedict XIII enrolled him among the saints.
On Carmel’s height and on the mountains, in the plain and in the valleys, may there be an ever-increasing number of such souls as are able to reconcile earth to heaven, to draw down the blessings of God, and to avert His anger! We are all called to be saints: may we then, after thy example and through thy prayers, O John of the Cross, suffer the grace of God to work in us with all the plenitude of its purifying and deifymg power. Then shall we be able one day to Say with thee:
O divine Life, who never killest but to give life, as Thou never woundest but to heal; Thou hast wounded me, O divine hand! That Thou mayst heal me. Thou hast slain in me that which made me dead, and destitute of the life of God which I now live. O gentle, subtle touch, the Word, the Son of God, who, because of the pureness of Thy nature, dost penetrate subtilely the very substance of my soul, and touching it gently absorbest it wholly m divine ways of sweetness, not heard of in the
Land of Chanaan, nor seen in Theman.[8] O touch of the Word, so gentle, so wonderfully gentle to me; and yet Thou wert overthrowing the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces in Horeb by the shadow of Thy power going before Thee, when Thou didst announce Thy presence to the prophet in the whistling of a gentle air.[9] O gentle air, how is it that Thous touchest so gently when Thou art so terrible and so strong?
O my God, and my life, they shall know Thee and behold Thee when Thou touchest them, who, making themselves strangers upon earth, shall purify themselves, because purity coresponds with purity. As in Thee there is nothing material, so the more profoundly dost Thou touch me, changing what in me is human into divine, according as Thy divine essence wherewith Thou touchest me is wholly unaffected by modes and manner, free from the husks of form and figure. Thou the more gently touchest, the more Thou art hidden in the purified souls of those who have made themselves strangers here, hidden from the face of all creatures, and whom Thou shalt hide in the secret of Thy face from the disturbance of men. Thou removest the soul far away from every other touch whatever, and makest it Thine own; Thou leavest behind Thee effects and impressions so pure, that the touch of everything else seems vile and low, the very sight offensive, and all relations therewith a deep affliction.[10]
[1] Complete works of St. John of the Cross, translated from the original Spanish by David Lewis, M. A. The obscure night of the Soul, Book ii. chap. ix.
[2] The Ascent of Mount Carmel. Prologue.
[3] Tob. vi. 18.
[4] The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book i. chap. ii.
[5] The Obscure night of the soul. Book. ii. chap. xvi.
[6] The Spiritual Life and Prayer, according to holy Scripture and monastic Tradition, Solesmes 1899. Translated by the Benedictines of Stanbrook. Chap. xiv.
[7] Ibid. Chap. xix.
[8] Baruch iii, 22.
[9] 3 Kings xix. 22, 12
[10] “The Living Flame of Love,” stanza ii., line 3, passim.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
Rome honours today one of her own illustrious sons Chrysogonus, who gave his life for Christ at Aquileia in the reign of Diocletian. His spendid church in the Trastevere, which possesses his venerable head, was first built at the very time of the triumph of the faith over idolatry. Chrysogonus instructed in that holy faith the blessed martyr Anastasia, whose memory is so touchingly united with that of our Saviour’s birth, the Aurora Mass on Christmas day having been from time immemorial celebrated in her church. The names of both Chrysogonus and his spiritual daughter are daily pronounced in the holy Sacrifice.
Prayer
Adesto, Domine, supplicationibus nostris: ut qui ex iniquitate nostra reos nos esse cogniscimus, beati Chrysogoni martyris tui intercessione liberemur. Per Dominum.
Attend, O Lord, to our supplications; that we who know ourselves to be guilty on account of our iniquities, may be delivered by the intercession of thy blessed martyr Chrysogonus. Through our Lord.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
GERTRUDE the Great, from her very infance, felt a special attraction towards the glorious virgin Catharine. As she was desirous of knowing how great were her merits, our Lord showed her St. Catharine seated on a throne so lofty and so magnificent, that it seemed her glory was sufficient to have filled the courts of heaven had she been its sole queen; while from her crown a marvellous brightness was reflected on her devout clients.[1] It is well known how the Maid of Orleans, entrusted by St. Michael to the guidance of St. Catharine and St. Margaret, received aid and counsel from them during seven years; and how it was at Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois that she received her sword.
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Crusaders of the West experienced the powerful assistance of the Alexandrian martyr; and on their return from the East they introduced her cultus, which soon became extremely popular. An Order of knighthood was founded to protect the pilgrims visiting her holy body on Mount Sinai. Her feast was raised to the rank of first class, and as observed was a holiday of obligation by many churches. She was honoured as patroness by Christian philosophers, scholars, orators, and attorneys. The senior advocate was called bastonier, because it was his privilege to carry her banner; while confraternities of young girls were formed under the invocation of St. Catharine, whose members vied with one another in their zeal for adorning her venerated image. She was classed among the helping saints, as being a wise counsellor; and was claimed patroness by various associations merely on account of their experience of her powerful intercession with our Lord. Her betrothal with the divine Child, and other scenes from her legend, furnished Christian rt with many beautiful inspirations.
The holy and learned Baronius regretted that even in his day the Acts of the great Oriental martyr were open to discussion on certain points, which were eagerly seized upon by the extreme critics of the succeeding centuries in order to lessen popular devotion towards her.[2] There remains, however, this grlory to Christian honoured by pupils and masters and became the guiding spirit in the development of human though during the centuries illustrated by such brilliant suns of lerning as Albert the Great, Thomas of Aquin, and Bonaventure. “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.”[3] Methodius, a bishop and martyr of the third century, thus speaks in his “Banquet of Virgins”: “The virgin must have a very great love of sound doctrine; and she ought to hold an honourable place among the wise.”[4]
Let us now read the abridged Legend of St. Catharine in the book of holy Church.
Catharina, nobilis virgo Alexandrina, a prima aetate studia liberalium artium cum fidei ardore conjungens, brevi ad eam sanctitatis et doctrinae perfectionem pervenit, ut decem et octo anuos nata eruditissimum quemque superaret. Quae cum Maximini jussu multos propter christianae religionis professionem varie tornetis cruciatos, ad supplicium rapi videret, non dubitanter ipsum audiit Maximinum, eique nefariam immanitatem objeciens, sapientissimis rationibus Christi fidem ad salutem necessariam esse affirmavit.
Cujus prudentiam Maximinus admiratus, retineri eam jubet, accersitis undique doctissimis hominibus, magnisque propositis praemiis, qui convictam Catharinam a Christi fide ad idolorum cultum perduxissent. Quod contra accidit. Nam plures philosophi, qui ad eam coarguendam convenerant, vi ac subtilitate ejus disputationis tauto Jesu Christi amore sunt incensi, ut pro illo mori non dubitaverint. Quamobrem Maximinus blanditiis ac promissis Catharinam de sententia deducere aggreditur: verum id frustra fieri intelligens, verberibus affectam, plumbatisque contusam, dies undecim sine cibo ac potu inclusam tenet in carcere.
Quo tempore Maximini uxor, et Porphyrius belli dux, visendae virginis causa carcerem ingressi, et ejusdem praedicatione in Jesum Christum credentes, postea martyrio coronati sunt. Interim Catharina educitur e custodia, et rota expeditur, crebris et acutis praefixa gladiis, ut virginis corpus crudelissime dilaceraretur. Quae machina brevi, Catharinae oratione, confracta est: eoque miraculo multi Christi fidem suscepereunt. Ipse Maximinus in impietate et crudelitate obstinatior, Catharinam securi percuti imperat. Quae fortiter dato capite, ad duplicatum virginitatis et martyrii praemium evolavit septimo calendas Decembris: cujus corpus ab angelis in Sina Arabiae monte mirabiliter collocatum est.
Catharine, a noble virgin of Alexandria, united from early youth the study of the liberal arts with an ardent faith; and attained in a short time to such a degree of holiness and science, that at the age of eighteen she surpassed the most learned men. Seeing many, at the command of Maximin, cruelly tortured and executed for professing the Christian religion, she went boldly to Maximin himself and reproached him for his impious cruelty, showing him by wise reasons that faith in Christ is necessary for salvation.
Maximin, marvelling at her wisdom, caused her to be kept in custody. Then he summoned the most learned men from all parts, and promised a large reward to him that should refute Catharine's arguments, and lead her from the faith of Christ to the worship of idols. But the result was contrary to his expectations. For many of the philosophers who had assembled to refute her were, by the force and subtility of her reasoning, so enkindled with love of Jesus Christ, that they were ready to die for him. Maximin next tried to seduce her by flatteries and promises; but seeing his labour lost, he caused her to be lashed and torn with scourges tipped with lead, and finally shut up in prison for eleven days without food or drink.
During this interval, Maximin’s wife, and Porphyrius general of the army, going to see the virgin in prison, were by her exhortations brought to believe in Jesus Christ, and were afterwards crowned with martyrdom. Meanwhile Catharine was brought out of prison, and a wheel was set up garnished with many sharp knives cruelly to rend the virgin’s body. But at Catharine’s prayer the wheel was speedily broken; by which miracle many were converted to the faith of Christ. Maximin only grew more obstinate in wickedness and cruelty, and ordered Catharine to be beheaded. Offering her head bravely to the sword, she took her flight to heaven, adorned with the double crown of virginity and mrtyrdom, on the seventh of the Kalends of December. Her body was miraculously carried away by angels and buried on Mount Sinai in Arabia.
Today’s feast has inspired many liturgical compositions in the West. We will limit our selections to a sequence from the Gradual of St. Victor’s, and a beautiful and touching responsory still used by the Friars Preachers.
Sequence
Vox sonora nostri chori
Nostro sonet Conditori,
Qui disponit omnia,
Per quem dimicat imbellis,
Per quem datur et puellis
De viris victoria;
Per quem plebs Alexandrina
Feminae non feminina
Stupuit ingenis,
Quum beat Catharina
Doctos vinceret doctrina,
Ferrum patientia.
Haec ad gloriam parentum
Pulchrum dedit ornamentum
Morum privilegia,
Clara per progrenitores,
Claruit per sacros mores
Ampliori gratia.
Florem eneri decoris,
Lectionis et laboris
Attrivere studia:
Nam perlegit disciplinas
Saeculares et divinas
In adolescentia.
Vas electum, vas virtutum,
Reputavit sicut lutum
Bona transitoria,
Et reduxit in contemptum
Patris opes et parentum
Larga patrimonia.
Vasis oleum includens
Virgo sapiens et prudens
Sponso pergit obvia,
Ut, adventus ejus hora,
Praeparata, sine mora
Intret ad convivia.
Sistitur imperatori,
Cupiens pro Christo mori;
Cujus in praesentia
Quinquaginta sapientes
Mutos reddit et silentes
Virginis facundia.
Carceris horrendi claustrum,
Et rotarum triste plaustrum,
Famem et jejunia,
Et quaecumque flunt ei,
Sustinet amore Dei,
Eadem ad omnis.
Torta superat tortorem,
Superat imperatorem
Feminae constantia:
Cruciatur imperator,
Quia cedit cruciator,
Nec valent supplicia.
Tandem capite punitur,
Et, dum morte mors finitur,
Vitae subit gaudia.
Angelis mox fuit curae
Dare corpus sepulturae
Terra procul alia.
Oleum ex ipsa manat
Quod informos multos sanat
Evidenti gratia.
Bonum nobis dat unguentum,
Si per suum interventum
Nosra sanet vitia.
Gaudens ipsa videat
De se praesens gaudia,
Et futura praebeat,
Quae dedit praesentis,
Et hic hobis gaudest,
Illi nos in gloria,
Amen.
Let the voices of our choir
resound in praise of our Creator,
who disposes all things;
by whom they fight
who are unskilled in war,
by whose power maidens triumph over men.
Through him, the people of Alexandria
stand amazed to see
in blessed Catharine
qualities that seem above her sex,
when she vanquishes learned men by her science
and the sword by her courage.To the glory of her race
she adds the precious ornaments
of incomparable virtue;
and noble by birth,
she becomes more noble still
by grace and holy living.
Tender is the flower of her beauty,
yet she spares it
neither labour nor study;
and in early youth
she masters earthly science
and that which is of God.
A chosen vessel full of virtue,
she considers transitory
goods as mire,
contemning her
father's wealth
and her ample patrimony.
Filling her vessel with oil,
as a wise and prudent virgin,
she goes to meet the Spouse;
that, ready at the hour of his coming,
she may enter without delay
to the feast.
Longing to die for Christ,
she is led before the emperor;
and in his presence,
by her eloquence,
puts fifty philosophers
to silence.
For love of God she endures
the horrors of the prison,
the cruel wheel,
hunger and want,
and all her other sufferings;
she remains unchanged through all.
The tortured overcomes her torturer,
a woman's constancy
triumphs over the emperor;
yea, the emperor himself is tormented,
seeing both executioner
and torments unavailing.
At length she is beheaded,
and by death ending death,
enters into the joys of life,
while Angels with all care
bury her body
in a far-off land.
An oil flowing from her body,
by a visible grace
heals the sick;
good indeed is the unction she gives us,
if she heals our vices
by her prayers.
May she rejoice
to see the joy she causes us;
may she who gives us present joys
give likewise those to come;
and may she now rejoice with us,
and we with her in glory.
Amen.
Responsory
Virgo flagellatur, crucianda fame religatur, carcere clausa manet, lux coelica fusa refulget:
* Fragrat odor dulois, cantant coeli agmina laudes.
V. Sponsun amat sponsam, Salvator visitat illam. * Fragrat.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
* Fragrat.
The virgin is scourged, loaded with chains, tormented with hunger; but while she remains shut up in prison a heavenly light shines around.
* A sweet fragrance fills the air, and the hosts of heaven are there singing praises.
V. The Spouse loves his bride and visits her as a Saviour. * A sweet fragrance.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
* A sweet frangrance.
O blessed Catharine, accept us as thy disciples. In thy person, philosophy, true to its beautiful name, leads us to Eternal Wisdom, truth leads to goodness, and science to Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life. “O curious inquirers, who delight in idle, fruitless speculation,” exclaims the most eloquent of thy panegyrists, “know that the brilliant light of science which enchants you, is not intended merely to please your eyes, but to guide your steps and rule your conduct. Vain minds, that make such pompous display of your learning in order to win men's praise, learn that this glorious talent has not been entrusted to you for your self-advancement, but for the triumph of the truth. And you, cowardly, sordid souls, who use science as a means of gaining earthly goods, consider seriously that so " divine a treasure is not meant to be traded within so unworthy a manner ; and that the only commerce it is concerned with, is of a higher and sublimer kind, viz: the redemption of souls.”[5]
Thus, O Catharine, thou didst employ thy science solely for the truth. Thou madest “the majesty of Jesus Christ so visible, that his presence dissipated all the errors of philosophy, and the truths it had usurped acknowledged him for their Master, or rather were gathered up in him as in their centre. Let us learn from this holy example to bear witness to the truth and to make it triumph over the world, employing all our light of knowledge in the fulfilment of this duty. O holy truth I owe thee the testimony of my words, of my life, of my blood: for the truth is God himself.”[6]
This, O magnanimous virgin, is the thought of holy Church, when she thus formulates her prayer for today: O God, who didst give the law to Moses on the summit of Mount Sinai, and didst wonderfully deposit in the same place the body of the blessed Virgin and Martyr Catharine by means of thy holy Angels; grant, we beseech thee, that by her merits and intercession, we may be enabled to arrive at the mountain, which is Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee for ever and ever.[7]
[1] Legatus divinae pietatis, iv. 57.
[2] Baron, Annal, ad ann. 307.
[3] Matt v.8.
[4] Method, Conviv. Oratio I. i.
[5] Bossuet, Panegyric on St. Catharine.
[6] Bossuet, Panegyric on St. Catharine.
[7] Collect of the day.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
GOD often brings the world to those who flee from it, as Sylvester Gozzolini among others experienced. In the thirteenth century, the world, all in admiration at the sanctity and the eloquence of the new Orders, seemed to have forgotten the monks and the desert. God, who never forgets, led his elect silently into solitude, and the wilderness began again to rejoice and flourish like the lily; strength was restored to the weak hands and feeble knees of the sons of the cloister.[1] The austerities of olden days and the fervour of prolonged prayer were revived at Monte Fano, and extended into sixty other monasteries; the new religious family of the Sylvestrians was approved by Innocent IV. in 1247. Though originated seven centuries after St. Benedict, and distinguished from the elder families by its blue habit, it claims the Patriarch of Cassino for its legislator and father.
Let us read the life of St. Sylvester which was inserted in the Breviary by Pope Leo XIII.
Silvester, Auximi in Piceno nobilii genere ortus, statim puerilem aetatem litteris ac bonis moribus mirifice exornavit. Adolescens Bononiam ad studia jurisprudentiae missus a patre, um sacris litteris a Deo monitus dedisset operam, parentis incurrit indignationem, quam aequo animo toto decennio pertulit. Ob egregiam ejus virtutem a canonicis cathedralis Auximanae ecclesiae socius honoris eletus est; in quo munere populo orationibus, exemplo et concionibus opem tulit.
Inter funus nobilis cujusdam defuncti, in aperto tumulo formosi viri suique propinqui deforme cadaver conspiciens: Ego, inquit, sum, quod hic fuit; quod hic est, ego ero. Et mox, peracto funere, illa sibi Domini sibi occurrente sententia: Qui vult venire post me, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me, in solitudinem majoris perfectionis studio secessit, ibique vigiliis, orationibus jejuniisque deditus, crudas tantum herbas in cibum saepius adhibuit. Ut autem magis lateret homines varias mutavit sedes; a demum pervenit ad montem Fanum, locum, quamvis prope Fabrianum, eo tamen tempore desertum, ibique in honorem sanctissimi Patris Benedicti templum erecit, congregationisque Silvestrinorum fundmenta jecit, sub regula et habitu in visione sibi ab eodem Sancto ostensis.
At invidens satanas veriis terroribus illius monachos turbare nitebatur, noctu monasterii januas hostiliter invadens. Sed vir Dei hostis impetum ita repressit, ut monachi in sancto instituto magis confirmarentur, ac patris sanctitatem agnoscerent. Spiritu prophetiae aliisque donis enituit. Quae ut semper profunda humilitate conservavit ita contra se daemonis invidiam concitavit a quo praeceps actus per scalas oratorii, et prope intermendus, praesentisimo Virginis beneficio incolumitati redditus est. quod beneficium perpetua et singulari in illam pietate commendavit ad ultimum usque vitae spiritum, quem fere nonagenarius, sanctitate et miraculis clarus, Deo reddidit anno salutis millesimo ducentesimo sexagesimo septimo, sexto calendas decembris. Ejus Officium ac Missam Leo Decimus tertius Pontifex Maximus ad universam extendit Ecclesiam.
Sylvester was born of a noble family at Osimo in the Marches of Ancona, and in his boyhood was remarkable for his love of study and his good conduct. As a youth he was sent by his father to Bologna to study jurisprudence, but was admonished by God to devote himself to sacred learning. This incited his father to anger, which Sylvester patiently endured for ten years. On account of his remarkable virtue, the Canons of Osimo elected him an honorary member of their chapter, in which position he benefited the people by his prayers, his example, and his sermons.
While assisting at the funeral of a nobleman, his relative, who had been remarkably handsome, he looked into the open coffin, and seeing the corpse all deformed, said to himself: What this man was, I am now; what he is now, I shall be hereafter. As soon as the funeral was over, reading these words of our Lord: If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, he retired into solitude in order to attain greater perfection; there he gave himself up to watching, prayer and fasting, often eating nothing but raw herbs. The better to conceal himself from men he frequently changed his place of abode ; and at length settled at Monte Fano, which, though near to Fabriano, was at that time a desert. There he built a church in honour of the most holy father Benedict, and founded the Congregation of Sylvestrians, under the rule and habit shown him by St. Benedict in vision.
Satan, roused to envy, strove in many ways to terrify his monks, making assaults by night at the monastery gates. But the man of God repressed the enemy's attack with such vigour, that the monks, recognizing their father's sanctity, were more and more confirmed in their holy purpose. Sylvester was remarkable for the spirit of prophecy and other gifts, which he guarded by deep humility. This so stirred up the devil's envy that he cast the saint headlong down the oratory stairs and well nigh killed him, but the blessed Virgin at once graciously restored him to health. In gratitude for this benefit, Sylvester showed her the tenderest unfailing piety to the end of his life. He died at the age of about ninety years, renowned for sanctity and miracles, on the sixth of the Kalends of December, in the year of salvation 1267. The Sovereign Pontiff Leo XIII. extended his Office and Mass to the universal Church.
Death, by revealing to thee, O Sylvester, the vanity of noble birth and beauty, opened to thee the path of life. The frivolous world, deceived by the mirage of false pleasures, cannot understand the Gospel, which defers beatitude to another life, and paves the way to it with renunciation, humility, and the cross. With the Church, we ask of our merciful God, in consideration of thy merits, the grace to despise, as thou didst, the fleeting joys of this world, that we may partake with thee of true and eternal happiness. Deign to support our petition with thine own supplication.
We beseech him who has glorified thee to bless and multiply thy sons, to sustain them and the whole monastic Order, and every religious family, under the sufferings of the present time. O holy Abbot, reward by new benefits the confidence of the Sovereign Pontiff, who in these sad days has extended thy cultus to the entire Church.
Commemoration of Saint Peter of Alexandria, Bishop and Martyr
Peter, successor of St. Theonas in the See of Alexandria, was by his learning and holiness the glory of Egypt, and the light of the whole Church of God. Such was his courage under the terrible persecution raised by Maximian Galerius, that the example of his admirable patience strengthened a great many in Christian virtue. He was the first to cut off from the communion of the faithful, Arius, deacon of Alexandria, for favouring the schism of the Meletians. When Peter had been condemned to death by Maximian, the priests Achillas and Alexander came to him in prison to intercede for Arius; but the bishop answered that during the night Jesus had appeared to him with his garment torn, and on his asking the cause, had replied: “Arius has rent my garment, which is the Church.” He then foretold that they two would succeed him in turn in the episcopate, and forbade them ever to receive Arius to communion, for he knew that he was dead to God. The truth of this prophecy was soon proved by the event. Peter was beheaded, and thus went to receive the crown of martyrdom on the sixth of the Kalends of December, in the twelfth year of his episcopate.[2]
Let us offer our homage and prayers to the great bishop whom the Church thus commemorates today. For a long time he went by the name of Peter the Martyr, until in the thirteenth century another Peter martyr, himself illustrious among all, came to claim the title, leaving his glorious brother to be known as St. Peter of Alexandria.
Ant. Iste sanctus pro lege Dei sui certavit usque ad mortem et a verbis impiorum non timuit: fundatus enim erat supra firmam petram.
V. Gloria et honore coronasti eum Domine.
℟. Et constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum.
Ant. This Saint fought even to death for the law of his God, and feared not the words of the wicked; for he was founded upon a firm rock.
V. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour, O Lord,
℟. And hast set him over the works of thy hands.
Prayer
Infirmitatem nostram respice, omnipotens Deus: et quia pondus propriae actionis gravat, beati Petri Martyris tui atque Pontificis, intercessio gloriosa nos protegat. Per Dominum.
Have regard to our weakness, O Almighty God: and since the weight of our own deeds is grievous to us, may the glorious intercession of blessed Peter, thy Martyr and Bishop, protect us. Through.
[1] Is. xxxv. 1, 2, 3.
[2] Legend of St. Peter of Alexandria in the Roman Breviary.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
CHRISTMAS begins to glimmer on the horizon. The last Sunday after Pentecost has given us the closing instructions of the moveable Cycle. Beginning with the twenty-seventh of this month, the present days belong in some years to the new Cycle, in others to the one which is ending.
The last Lesson from the Scripture of the Time[1] ends with the solemn declaration of the last of the Prophets, announcing the approach of a new era: From the rising of the sun even to the going down, my Name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my Name a clean oblation! For my Name is great among the Gentiles, with the Lord of hosts.[2] And in to-day's Gospel we have St. John the Baptist echoing the words of Malachias, and joining the old and the new times together: Behold the Lamb of God! He points out to us the Messias close at hand.
Andrew, brother of Peter, and another of John's disciples, asked this Messias: Rabbi, where dwellest thou? Jesus answered: Come and see. And they went, continues the Evangelist, and saw where he abode, and they stayed with him that day.[3] Whereupon St. Augustine speaking in the name of the Church on this Vigil, says: “Let us build him a dwelling in our hearts, that he may come to us, and teach us, and live with us.”[4] Here is our Advent planned out for us.
Let us put that blessed season under the protection of the Apostle of the Cross, and also of the holy Martyr Saturninus, whom the Church has honoured on this day from time immemorial.
Prayer
Quaesumus omnipotens Deus: ut beatus Andreas Apostolus, cujus praevenimus festivitatem, tuum pro nobis festivitatem, tuum pro nobis imploret auxilium; ut a nostris reatibus absoluti, a cunctis etiam periculis eruamur. Per Dominum.
We beseech thee, O Almighty God, that the blessed Apostle Andrew, whose festival we anticipate, may implore thy help for us; that absolved from our sins, we may also be delivered from all dangers. Through our Lord.
Prayer
Deus, qui nos beati Sacturnini Martyris tui concedis natalitio perfrui: ejus nos tribue meritis adjuvari. Per Dominum.
O God, who grantest us to rejoice in the festival of blessed Saturninus thy Martyr, grant us to be assisted by his merits. Through our Lord.
[1] Saturday before the 1st Sunday in Advent.
[2] Malach. i. 11.
[3] Gospel of the Vigil.
[4] Homily on the Vigil. Aug. Tract. vii. in Johann.