January
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
AMIDST the sweetness he is enjoying from the contemplation of the Word made Flesh, John, the Beloved Disciple, beholds coming towards him his dear Polycarp, the Angel of the Church of Smyrna,[1] all resplendent with the glory of martyrdom. This venerable Saint has in his soul the fervent love that made him say in the amphitheatre, when asked by the Proconsul to curse his Divine Master: "Six-and-eighty years have I served Him, and he has never done me any wrong; nay, he has laden me with kindness. How could I blaspheme my King, who has saved me?" After having suffered fire and the sword, he was admitted into the presence of this King his Saviour, in reward for the eighty-six years of his faithful service, for the labours he had gone through in order to maintain faith and charity among his flock, and for the cruel death he endured.
He was a disciple of St John the Evangelist, whom he imitated by zealously opposing the heretics, who were then striving to corrupt the faith. In obedience to the command of his holy Master,[2] he refused to hold intercourse with Marcion, the heresiarch, whom he called the first-born of Satan. This energetic adversary of the proud sect that denied the mystery of the Incarnation, wrote an admirable Epistle to the Philippians, in which we find these words: Whosoever confesses not that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, is an Antichrist. Polycarp, then, had a right to the honour of standing near the Crib, in which the Son of God shows himself to us in all his loveliness, and clothed in flesh like unto our own. Let us honour this disciple of John, this friend of Ignatius, this Bishop of the Apostolic Age, whose praise was pronounced by Jesus Christ himself in the Revelations of Patmos. Our Saviour said to him by the mouth of Saint John: Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.[3] Polycarp was faithful even unto death, and has received his crown; and whilst we are celebrating the coming of his King among us, he is one of the Saints who assist us to profit by the holy season.
The Church gives us a passage from St Jerome's book, On Ecclesiastical Writers, in which there is contained the following short notice of our holy Martyr.
Polycarpus, Joannis Apostoli discipulus, et ab eo Smyrnæ Episcopus ordinatus, totius Asiæ princeps fuit; quippe qui nonnullos Apostolorum, et eorum qui viderant Dominum, magistros habuerit et viderit. Hic propter quasdam super die Paschæ quæstiones, sub Imperatore Antonino Pio, Ecclesiam in Urbe regente Aniceto, Romam venit: ubi plurimos credentium, Marcionis et Valentini persuasione deceptos, reduxit ad fidem. Cumque ei fortuito obviam fuisset Marcion, et diceret: Cognoscis nos? respondit: Cognosco primogenitum diaboli. Postea vero regnante Marco Antonino et Lucio Aurelio Commodo, quarta post Neronem persecutione, Smyrnæ sedente proconsule, et universo populo in amphitheatro adversus eum personante, igni traditus est. Scripsit ad Philippenses valde utilem epistolam, quæ usque hodie in Asiæ conventu legitur.
Polycarp, a disciple of the Apostle John, who ordained him Bishop of Smyrna, was looked up to by all the Churches of Asia, inasmuch as he had not only known some of the Apostles, and those who had seen our Lord, but had been trained by them. He went to Rome, during the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, and under the Pontificate of Anicetus, in order to have an answer to certain questions regarding Easter-day. Whilst there, he brought back to the faith several Christians who had been misled by the teaching of Marcion and Valentine. Having, on a certain occasion, casually met Marcion, who said to him: 'Dost thou know us?' Polycarp replied: 'Yes, I know thee as the firstborn of Satan.’ Some time after, under the reign of Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, in the fourth persecution after that under Nero, he was cited before the Proconsul of Smyrna, who condemned him to be burnt alive; which sentence was carried into effect in the amphitheatre, amidst the clamours of the whole people. He wrote an important Letter to the Philippians, which is still read in the Churches of Asia.
The Greek Church sings the praises of St Polycarp in her Menæa, from which we extract the following passages.
Die XXIII Februarii
Quando fructus ille Virginis, et semen germinans vitæ principium, in terram cecidit, tunc te Polycarpum spicam produxit, fideles nutrientem pietatis verbo et documentis, et eos sanctificantem divino certaminis sanguine et sanctitatis unguento.
Quando in ligno crucis vitis vera suspensa elevata est, tunc te fructuosum palmitem extendit, falce incisum venerandi martyrii, et tormentorum torculari agitatum, cujus lætitiæ calicem cum fide libantes, o Pater, veneranda tua certamina glorificamus.
Caritatis uvam in anima vere coluisti, ô Pater sapiens, et tamquam vinum effudisti fidei verbum; lætificans omnium fidelium mentes, et miraculorum demonstratus es immensum mare; unde martyrum decus apparuisti, igne purificatus et lumine dignatus æterao, o Polycarpe: deprecare Christum Deum dare veniam peccatorum, nobis celebrantibus cum amore tuam sanctam commemorationem.
Honeste ambulans et filium lucis pacisque denuncians, noctis primogenitum revelasti Marcionem.
Firma ratione comburentem flammam supergressus es, o gloriose, quasi tres pueri qui fornacis ignem rore sedarunt, et in medio ignis incombustus permansisti clamans: Benedictus es, Deus patrum nostrorum.
Pie coluisti Christi mysticam culturam, et rationabilis victima ipse oblatus es Deo sacrificium acceptabile et optimum, omnino fructuosa victima, Polycarpe ter beate.
Supra crucem visus, et hierarchico ornamento digne indutus, Pater, in templum Dei introisti proprio sanguine.
Archipastori Christo præsentandus, a Christo signatus quasi aries insignis, Hierophantes, imitator demonstratus es passionum ejus, et gloriæ effectus particeps, et regni ipsius cohæres.
Commemoratio tua ignifera exorta, o Pater, illuminat animas eorum qui illam pie perficiunt, o divine, et omnes participes tuæ divinæ illuminationis afficit, quam digne, o sapiens, in hymnis magnificamus.
When the Fruit of the Virgin, and the Seed that is the germ of life, came on the earth, he produced thee, O Polycarp, as the grain of wheat that nourishest the faithful with the word and teachings of piety, and trainest them to holiness by the glorious shedding of thy blood, and the odour of thy saintliness.
When Christ, the True Vine, was raised up pendent on the Tree of the Cross, then wast thou produced as one of his fruit ful branches, that wast pruned with the knife of a venerable martyrdom, and wast put into the wine-press of torture. Drinking his Cup of gladness with faith, we glorify, O Father! thy glorious combat.
Truly, O wise Father! didst thou cherish in thy soul the growth of the vine of charity, and didst pour forth the wine of the word of faith. Thou didst gladden the hearts of all the Faithful, and wast like the boundless sea in thy miracles. Therefore art thou the glory of Martyrs, O Polycarp I for thou hast been purified by fire,and rewarded with light everlasting. Pray for us to Christ our God, that he grant pardon of our sins to us, who lovingly celebrate thy holy memory.
Walking in uprightness, and showing thyself a son of light and peace, thou didst unmask Marcion, the first-born of night.
O glorious Polycarp! by thy undaunted soul thou didst overcome the burning fire, like unto the Three Children, who quenched the furnace with dew; and in the midst of the flames thou wast unconsumed, and didst cry out: Blessed art thou, O God of our Fathers!
Religiously didst thou cultivate the mystical garden of Christ, and thou thyself, the spiritual victim, wast offered to God an acceptable and perfect sacrifice, a victim most fruitful, O thrice blessed Polycarp!
Thou wast seen upon the cross, O Father! and being worthily clad with the pontifical robes, thou didst enter by thine own blood into the temple of God.
That thou, O holy Pontiff! mightest be presented to Christ, the Prince of Pastors, as the victim elect marked out by him, thou becamest the imitator of his passion, and art now a partaker of his glory, and the coheir of his kingdom.
Thy Feast, with its blaze of glory, O Father! has risen, enlightening the souls of them that piously keep it, O heavenly man! and making them all partakers of thy supreme brightness, which we worthily magnify in our hymns, O wise Polycarp!
How well didst thou bear out the full meaning of thy name, O Polycarp! for thou didst produce many fruits for thy Saviour, during thy six-and-eighty years spent in his service. The numerous souls won over to Christ, the virtues which adorned thy life, and thy life itself, which thou didst present to thy Lord in its full maturity—these were thy fruits. And what happiness was thine to have received instruction from the Disciple that leaned upon Jesus' Breast! After being separated from him for more than sixty years, thou art united with him on this the day of thy martyrdom, and thy venerable master receives thee in a transport of joy. Thou adorest, with him, that Divine Babe, whose simplicity thou hadst imitated during life, and who was the single object of thy love. Ask of him for us, that we too may be Faithful unto death.
By thy prayers, now that thou art throned in heaven, make fruitful the vineyard of the Church, which when on earth thou didst cultivate by thy labours, and water with the blood of thy glorious martyrdom. Re-establish faith and unity in the Churches of Asia, which were founded by thy venerable hand. Hasten, by thy prayers, the destruction of that degrading slavery of Mohammedanism which has kept the East in bondage so long, because her once faithful children severed themselves from Rome by the great schism of Byzantium. Pray for the Church of Lyons, which regards thee as its founder, through the ministry of thy disciple Pothinus, and takes itself so glorious a share in the apostolate of the Gentiles, by the Work of the Propagation of the Faith.
Watch over the purity of our holy Faith, and preserve us from being deceived by false teachers. The error which thou didst combat, and which teaches that all the mysteries of the Incarnation are but empty symbols, has risen up again in these our days. There are Marcions, even now, who would reduce all religion to myths; and they find some few followers; may thy powerful prayers rid the world of this remnant of so impious a doctrine. Thou didst pay homage to the Apostolic Chair, for thou, too, wouldst see Peter, and didst journey to Rome, in order to consult its Pontiff on questions regarding the interests of thy Church of Smyrna. Defend the rights of this august See, whence alone are derived both the jurisdiction of our Pastors, and the authoritative teachings of Faith. Pray for us, that we may spend the remaining days of this holy Season in the contemplation and the love of our new-born King. May this love, accompanied with purity of heart, draw down upon us the merciful blessings of God, and at length, after our course is run, obtain for us the Crown of Life.
[1] Apoc. ii 8.
[2] 2 St John i 10.
[3] Apoc. ii 10.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
BEFORE our Emmanuel came upon this earth, men were as sheep without a shepherd; the flock was scattered, and the human race was hastening on to perdition. Jesus would, therefore, not only be the Lamb that was to be slain for our sins; he made himself, moreover, a Shepherd, that so he might bring us all back to the divine fold. But as he had to leave us when he ascended into heaven, he has provided for the wants of his sheep by providing us with a succession of Pastors, who should in his name feed the flock even to the end of the world. Now instruction, which is the light of life, is what the flock of Christ needs above all other things; and therefore our Emmanuel required that the Pastors of his Church should also be Doctors of sacred science. The Pastor owes two things to his people; namely, the Word of God and the Sacraments. He is under the obligation of dispensing, personally and unceasingly, this twofold nourishment to his flock, and of laying down his very life, if needed, in the fulfilment of a duty on which rests the whole work of the world’s salvation.
But since the disciple is not above his Master, the Pastors and Doctors of the Christian people, if they are faithful in the discharge of their duties, are sure to be hated by the enemies of God; for they cannot spread the Kingdom of Christ without at the same time taking from the power of Satan. Hence it is that the history of the Church is filled with the persecutions endured by her Pastors and Doctors, who continued the ministry of zeal and charity begun by Christ upon the earth. These contests have been threefold, and gave occasion to three admirable victories.
The Pastors and Doctors of the Church have had to struggle with Paganism, which sought, by inflicting tortures and death, to oppose the preaching of the law of Christ. It was this sort of persecution which gave the Church such saints as those whom we celebrate during this season of Christmas—Polycarp, Ignatius, Fabian, Marcellus, Hyginus, and Telesphorus.
When the era of Persecution was over, the Pastors and Doctors of the Christian people had to engage with enemies of another kind. Kings and Princes became children of the Church, and then sought to make her their own slave. They imagined that it would serve their political interests to interfere with the liberty of the Word of God, which, like the light of the sun, was intended to be carried, without hindrance, throughout the whole earth. They usurped the priestly power, as did the Pagan Cæsars, and presumed to set limits to the administration of those sources of life which become corrupt as soon as they are touched by a profane hand. This usurpation gave rise to an incessant contest between the temporal and spiritual powers, and produced a second class of martyrs. God has glorified his Church during this long period of struggle, and has given her, from time to time, a brave defender of ecclesiastical liberty. We have met two of these champions of the Word and the holy ministry during Christmastide—Thomas of Canterbury, and Hilary of Poitiers.
But there is a third sort of battle in which the Pastors and Doctors of the flock of Christ have had to fight—it is the battle with the world and its vices. It began when Christianity began, and will continue to the day of Judgement. It was their courage in this battle that made so many saintly prelates hated for the name of Jesus Christ. Neither their charity, nor their services to mankind, nor their humility, nor their meekness, protected them from ingratitude, spleen, calumny, and persecution. And what was their offence? They had been faithful in their duty of preaching the doctrines of their Divine Master, of encouraging virtue, and of chiding the sins of men. The amiable Francis de Sales was as much disliked and even hated by bad men as was John Chrysostom himself, whose triumph gladdens the Church today, and who stands near the Crib of his Lord as one of the most illustrious martyrs of pastoral duty courageously discharged.
Fervent in the service of his Saviour, even to the observance of the divine Counsels (for he had embraced the monastic life), this golden-mouthed Preacher made no other use of his wonderful gift of eloquence than that of urging men to the observance of the virtues taught in the Gospel, and of reproving every vice. Satan sought to have his revenge against our Saint by raising against him many enemies. Among these were an Empress, whose vanities and sins he had rebuked; men in power, whose wickedness he had held up to notice; women of influence, who would have him preach a morality more in accordance with their own depravity; a Bishop of Alexandria, and certain Prelates of the Court, who were jealous of his virtues, and still more so of his reputation. He was exceedingly loved by his people—but neither that nor his great virtues protected him from persecution. He whose eloquence had enraptured the people of Antioch, and won for him the enthusiastic admiration of the citizens of Constantinople, was deposed in a council convened for the purpose, his name was ordered to be cancelled from the diptychs of the Altar, notwithstanding the energetic protest of the Roman Pontiff; and at length he was condemned to exile, and died on the way, worn out by the hardships and fatigues he had to undergo.
But this Pastor, and Doctor, was not vanquished. He said, in the midst of all his persecutions, Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel![1] He made use, too, of those other words of the great Apostle: The word of God is not bound.[2] The Church triumphed in him; she was more glorified and more consoled by the unflinching courage of Chrysostom, who was led into captivity for having preached the Gospel of Christ, than she had been by the success achieved by his eloquence, an eloquence which Libanius was heard to covet for his pagan orators. Let us hearken to the thrilling words of Chrysostom, which he addressed to the faithful immediately before his last banishment. He had been sent into exile once before; but a terrific earthquake immediately after his departure was looked upon as sent by heaven to punish the authors of so crying an injustice, and the Empress herself went, with tears in her eyes, to ask the Emperor to recall him. Accordingly, he was permitted to return. Shortly after, fresh occasions were sought for, and John was again sentenced to exile. He received the intimation with all the calmness of a Saint who knows that the whole Church is on his side. Let us study this glorious model of a Bishop trained in the school of our Lord who is, as the Apostle calls him, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.[3]
'Many are the waves, and threatening are the storms, which surround me; but I fear them not; for I am standing on the Rock. Let the sea roar; it cannot wash away the Rock: Let the billows mount as they will; they cannot sink the barque of our Lord Jesus Christ. And tell me, what would you have me fear? Death? To me, to live is Christ; and to die is gain.[4] Exile? The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.[5] Confiscation of my goods? We brought nothing into this world; and certainly we can carry nothing out.[6] No—the evils of this world are contemptible, and its goods deserve but to be laughed at. I fear not poverty, I desire not riches; I neither fear to die, nor wish to live, save for your advantage. Your interest alone induces me to speak of these things, and to ask of you, by the love you bear me, to take courage.
'For no one can separate us; no human power can part what God has united. It is said of husband and wife: Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be two in one flesh:[7] Therefore what God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.[8] Thou canst not, O man, dissolve the nuptial tie: how hopest thou to divide the Church of God? It is she whom thou attackest, because thou canst not reach him whom thou fain wouldst strike. Thou makest me more glorious, and thou dost but waste thy strength in warring against me, for it is hard for thee to kick against the sharp goad.[9] Thou canst not blunt its point, and thou makest thine own foot bleed, just as the billows, when they dash against the rock, fall back mere empty froth.
'Believe me, O man, there is no power like the power of the Church. Cease thy battling, lest thou lose thy strength; wage not war with heaven. When it is with man thou warrest, thou mayst win or lose; but when thy fighting is against the Church, it is impossible thou shouldst conquer, for God is above all in strength. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?[10] God founded, God gave firmness: who shall be so bold as to attempt to pull down? Knowest thou not his power? He looketh upon the earth, and maketh it tremble;[11] he gives his order, and that which trembled is made firm again. If he made firm the City after an earthquake had shaken it, how much more could he not give firmness to the Church? The Church is stronger than heaven itself: Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.[12] What words? Thou art Peter; and upon this Rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.[13]
'If thou wilt not believe his word, believe facts. How many tyrants have sought to crush the Church? They had their gridirons and fiery furnaces, and wild beasts, and swords—and all failed. Where are those enemies now? Buried and forgotten. And the Church? Brighter than the sun. All they had is now past; but her riches are immortal. If the Christians conquered when they were but few in number, canst thou hope to vanquish them, now that the whole earth is filled with the holy religion? Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass. Wonder not at it; for the Church is dearer unto God than the very heavens. He took flesh not from heaven, but from his Church on earth; and heaven is for the Church, not the Church for heaven.
'Be not troubled at what has happened. I ask this favour of you—be firm in your faith. Have you not observed that when Peter was walking on the waters, and began to fear, he was in danger of sinking, not because the sea was rough, but because his faith was weak? Have I been raised to this dignity by human intrigue? Was it man that brought me to it, or can man now depose me? I say not this from arrogance or boasting; God forbid! I say it from the desire of calming your trouble.
‘The devil no sooner saw that your City was tranquillized, than he plotted how he might disturb the Church. Thou wicked and most impious spirit! thou couldst not throw down the walls of a city; and thinkest thou thou canst make the Church fall? Does the Church consist of walls? The Church consists of the multitude of the faithful. Look at her pillars, and see how solid they are, fastened, not by iron, but by faith. Not only is the great multitude itself more vehement than fire, but even one single Christian would conquer thee. Hast thou forgotten the wounds thou receivedst from the martyrs? Oftentimes the combatant was a tender maiden: delicate as a flower, yet firmer than a rock. Thou didst mangle her flesh, but her faith was proof against all thy tortures Her blood fell as nature felt the wounds, but her faith fell not; her body was tom, but her manly soul flinched not; what was material was spoilt, what was spiritual was untouched. Thou couldst not vanquish one woman; and yet thou hopest to vanquish a whole people! Hast thou not heard these words of the Lord: Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them?[14] And thinkest thou he will not be in the midst of a numerous people, united together by the ties of charity?
‘I have his pledge, and on that I trust, not on my own strength. I have his written promise. That is my staff, and my guarantee, and my tranquil port. What matters it to me if the whole world be upset—have I not his written word? have I not his letters? There is my rampart, and there my defence. What letters? I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.[15] Christ is with me—of whom shall I be afraid? Though stormy billows should rise up against me, though the sea should open to swallow me, though the wrath of kings should be enkindled against me, I will heed them no more than if they were so many spider's webs. Had not my love for you kept me, I would have started this very day on my exile, for this is my constant prayer: "O Lord! thy will be done;[16] I will do thy will; not what such or such an one may will, but what thou wiliest." This is my tower of strength, this is my firm rock, this is my trusty staff. If God will that I go, I will go. If he will me to remain here, I will give him thanks. Yea, whithersoever he wills me to go, I will bless his holy name.'[17]
What humility and courage in this saintly minister of Christ! What a consolation for the Church when God sends her men like this! He has given four to the Eastern Church: Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzum, Basil and Chrysostom. In spite of the immense dangers to which faith was exposed during the age in which they lived, these four holy Doctors, by their sanctity, learning, and courage, kept it alive among the people. Athanasius and Gregory appear to us in that period of the Ecclesiastical Year when the Church is radiant with her Easter joy, and celebrates the Resurrection of her Divine Spouse. Basil's feast gladdens us in the season of Pentecost, when the Church is filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Chrysostom comes at Christmastide, and adds to the joy of the dear Mystery of Bethlehem. Let us, the favoured children of the Latin Church, which alone has preserved the primitive faith, because Peter is with her—let us honour these four faithful guardians of Tradition; let us today pay the homage of our devotion to Chrysostom, the Doctor of the universal Church, the conqueror of the world, the dauntless Pastor, the successor of the Martyrs, the Preacher par excellence, the admirer of St Paul, and the fervent imitator of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Roman Church, in the lessons of today's Office, thus speaks the praises of our Saint.
Joannes Antiochenus, propter aureum eloquentiæ flumen cognomento Chrysostomus, a forensibus et sæcularibus studiis ad divinas litteras summa cum ingenii et industriæ laude se contulit. Itaque sacris initiatus, ac Presbyter Antiochenæ Ecclesiæ factus, mortuo Nectario, Arcadii Imperatoris opera, invitus Constantinopolitanæ Ecclesiæ præficitur: quo suscepto pastorali munere, depravatos mores, et nobiliorum hominum vivendi licentiam vehementius objurgare coepit. Qua ex libertate magnam multorum subiit invidiam. Apud Eudoxiam etiam, quod eam propter Callitropæ viduæ pecuniam, et alterius viduæ agrum reprehendisset, graviter offendit.
John, surnamed Chrysostom on account of his golden eloquence, was born at Antioch. Having gone through the study of the law and the profane sciences, he applied himself with extraordinary application and success to the study of the Sacred Scriptures. Having been admitted to holy orders, and made a Priest of the Church at Antioch, he was appointed Bishop of Constantinople, after the death of Nectarius, by the express wish of the Emperor Arcadius. No sooner had he entered upon the pastoral charge than he began to inveigh against the licentious lives led by the rich. This his courageous preaching procured him many enemies. He likewise gave great offence to the Empress Eudoxia, because he had reproved her for having appropriated to herself the money belonging to a widow named Callitropa, and for having taken possession of some land which was the property of another widow,
Quare aliquot Episcoporum acto Chalcedone conventu, quo ipse vocatus ire noluit, quod nec legitimum concilium, nec publicum esse diceret, nitente in primis ipsa contra Chrysostomum Eudoxia, ejicitur in exilium: sed paulo post propter ejus desiderium, seditione populi facta, admirabili civitatis plausu ab exilio revocatur. Verum cum perditos mores increpare non desisteret, et ad argenteam Eudoxiæ statuam in foro Sanctæ Sophiæ ludos fieri prohiberet: conspiratione inimicorum Episcoporum iterum exulare cogitur, viduis et egentibus communis parentis ejectionem lugentibus. In exilio Chrysostomum incredibile est et quanta mala perpessus sit, et quam multos ad Jesu Christi fidem converterit.
At the instigation, therefore, of Eudoxia, several Bishops met together at Chalcedon. Chrysostom was cited to appear, which he refused to do. because it was not a Council either lawfully or publicly convened. Whereupon, he was sent into exile. He had not been gone long before the people rose in sedition on account of the Saint's banishment, and he was recalled, to the immense joy of the whole city. But his continuing to inveigh against the scandals which existed, and his forbidding the games held before the silver statue of Eudoxia, which was set up in the space opposite Sancta Sophia, were urged by certain Bishops, enemies of the Saint, as motives for a second banishment. The widows and the poor of the city bewailed his departure as that of a father. It is incredible how much Chrysostom had to suffer in this exile, and how many he converted to the Christian Faith.
Verum dum Concilio Romæ habito, decreto Innocentii Primi Pontificis restituitur, a militibus, qui eum custodiebant, miris in itinere malis et calamitatibus afficitur. Cumque per Armeniam duceretur, sanctus Basiliscus Martyr, in cujus templo antea oraverat, noctu sic eum affatus est: Joannes frater crastinus dies nos loco conjunget. Quare postridie, sumpto Eucharistiæ sacramento, seque crucis signo muniens, animam Deo reddidit decimo octavo kalendas Octobris. Quo mortuo, horribilis grando Constantinopoli cecidit, et quatriduo Augusta cessit e vita. Ejus corpus insigni pompa et hominum multitudine celebratum, Theodosius Arcadii filius Constantinopolim portandum, et honorifice sepeliendum curavit sexto kalendas Februarii; cujus etiam reliquias veneratus, parentum suorum veniam petiit: quod deinde Romam translatum, in Basilica Vaticana conditum est. Multitudinem, pietatem, ac splendorem concionum, cæterorumque ejus scriptorum, interpretandi etiam rationem, et inhærentem sententiæ sacrorum Librorum explanationem, omnes admirantur, dignumque existimant cui Paulus Apostolus, quem ille mirifice coluit, scribenti et prædicanti multa dictasse videatur. Hunc vero præclarissimum ecclesiæ doctorem Pius decimus Pontifex maximus cœlestem oratorum sacrorum patronum declaravit atque constituit.
At the very time that Pope Innocent the First, in a Council held at Rome, was issuing a decree ordering that Chrysostom should be set at liberty, he was being treated by the soldiers, who were taking him into exile, with unheard-of harshness and cruelty. Whilst passing through Armenia, the holy Martyr Basiliscus, in whose Church he had offered up a prayer, thus spoke to him during the night: 'Brother John! we shall be united together tomorrow.’ Whereupon, on the following morning, Chrysostom received the sacrament of the Eucharist, and signing himself with the sign of the cross, he breathed forth his soul to his God, on the eighteenth of the Kalends of October (September 14th). A fearful hail-storm happened at Constantinople after the Saint’s death, and four days after, the Empress died. Theodosius, the son of Arcadius, had the Saint's body brought to Constantinople with all due honour, where, amidst a large concourse of people, it was buried on the sixth of the Kalends of February (January 27th). Theodosius, whilst devoutly venerating the Saint’s relics, interceded for his parents, that they might be forgiven. The body was, at a later period, translated to Rome, and placed in the Vatican Basilica. All men agree in admiring the unction and eloquence of his numerous sermons, as indeed of all his other writings. He is also admirable in his interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures, which he explains in their genuine sense. It has always been thought that he was aided, in his writings and sermons, by St Paul the Apostle, to whom he entertained an extraordinary devotion. This most renowned Doctor of the Church was by Pope Pius X declared and appointed heavenly Patron of the preachers of holy things.
The Greek Church, in her Menæa, honours the memory of her great Doctor with an enthusiasm which even herliturgy has seldom surpassed. We extract the following stanzas.
Die XIII Novembris
Tubam auream, divine flans organum, doctrinarum mare inexhaustum, Ecclesiæ firmamentum, mentem cœlestem, sapientiæ abyssum, craterelli deauratum, diffundentem flumina dogmatum melliflua, irrigantia creationem, meloditer hymnificemus.
Sidus inocciduum, radiis illuminans dogmatum omne subsolare, poenitentiæ præconem, spongiam auratissimam humiditatem terribilis desperationis auferentem, et rorificantem cor peccatis consumptum, Joannem digne Chrysologum honoremus.
Angelus terrenus et cœlestis homo, lyra bene loquens et multisonans, virtutum thesaurus, immobilis lapis, fidelium forma Martyrum æmulus, contubernalis sanctorum Angelorum, Apostolorum commensalis, in hymnis magnificetur Chrysostomus.
Diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis, sancte Pater, Joannes Chrysostome; nam unxit te Deus sacerdotem populi sui, pascere gregem suum in sanctitate et justitia. Ideo cinctus gladio potentis, garrulitatem hæreseon amputasti, et nunc ne cesses deprecari ut pacificetur mundus, et salventur animæ nostræ.
Aureis verbis tuis Ecclesia, tamquam auro mundo circumornata, Joannes Chrysostome. festive gaudens exclamat: Satiata sum tuis auriferis pascuis, et auriparibus ac mellauratis fluentis; ex actione in contemplationem educor per tuas exhortationes, et Christo, spiritali Sponso, unior, imperans cum eo. Ideo et nos congregati in tui memoriam clamamus: Ne fatigeris deprecari pro nobis ad salvandas animas nostras.
Decebat Reginam urbium de Joanne gloriaritamquam de ornatu regali et de aurea tuba, circumsonante per omnem terram salutaria dogmata, et omnes convocante ad concentum canticorum divinorum, ad quem clamamus: Chrysologe et Chrysostome, Christum deprecare salvari animas nostras.
Gaude, orphanorum pater, injuste patientium magnum auxilium, pauperum largitio, esurientium cibus, peccatorum erectio, animarum solertissime medice, theologiæ excelsæ accuratio, explanatio Scripturarum, Sancti Spiritus lex practicissima, theoria et praxis sapientiæ celsitudinis; Christum exora mittere animabus nostris magnam misericordiam.
Sol splendidissime, terram verbis illustrans factus es, sidus fulgidissimum, lampas præclara, fax per mare mundanum hyeme agitatos evocans ad portum salutis tranquillissimum, in caritate: auridice Chrysostome, legate animarum nostrarum.
In tuo pastoratu, injusta perpessus es, Pater sancte, participans tribulationibus amaris exiliisque, in quibus dignatus es beato fine, tu qui, sicut athleta generosus, artificiosum inimicum superasti: ideo victoriæ diademate te Christus coronavit, Joannes Chrysostome, legate precum nostrarum.
Let us sweetly hymn the praises of Chrysostom, the golden trumpet, the divinely sounding organ, the exhaustless sea of doctrine, the pillar of the Church, the heavenly mind, the abyss of wisdom, the gilded vase, that pours forth the honeyed streams of dogma which refresh the world.
Let us worthily honour John the Chrysologus, the unsetting star that illumines with the rays of doctrine all nations under the sun; the preacher of penance, the golden sponge that takes away the clammy sweats of sad despair, and with refreshing dew revives the sinworn heart.
Let Chrysostom be extolled in our hymns: he is the angel of earth and the man of heaven, a sweet and many-tuned harp, a treasury of virtues, an immoveable rock, a model of the Faithful, an imitator of Martyrs, a companion of the holy Angels, an associate of the Apostles.
Grace is poured forth upon thy lips, O holy Father, John Chrysostom! for the Lord hath anointed thee priest of his people, to feed the flock in holiness and justice. Therefore, armed with the sword of strength, thou didst cut short the prattling of heresies: oh! cease not now to pray that the world may be in peace, and our souls be saved.
The Church, enriched with the pure gold of thy words, O Chrysostom! cries out to thee, on this thy feast: ‘I am nourished by thy golden pastures, and by the streams of thy rich honeyed words. By thy exhortations I am led from action unto contemplation, and am united to Christ, the Spouse of my soul, that I may reign with him.' We, too, that are assembled to celebrate thy memory, cry out unto thee: Cease not to pray for us, that our souls may be saved.
It was meet that the Queen of Cities should glory in her pontiff John, for he is her crown, and the golden trumpet, that makes the whole earth re-echo with the doctrines of salvation, and summons all men to keep choir in God's praise. We, also, cry out to him: O Chrysologus! O Chrysostom! beseech our Lord that he give us salvation.
Rejoice, O thou father of the orphans, great help of those that unjustly suffer! O treasury of the poor, food of the hungry, converter of sinners, most skilled physician of souls, accurate teacher of sublime theology, interpreter of the Scriptures, living law of the Holy Spirit, theory and practice of heavenly wisdom! Oh! pray for us to our Lord, that he show unto us his great mercy.
Thou art a most brilliant sun, enlightening the earth by thy words: a most bright star, a shining lamp: a beacon, by thy charity, that calls unto the tranquil haven of salvation them that are lost on the wintry stormy sea of this world: O golden mouthed Chrysostom, thou advocate of our souls!
O holy Father! thou didst suffer most unjustly in the discharge of thy pastoral office, and wast made to drink of bitter tribulation and exile, wherein thou didst receive a blessed death, for, as a courageous soldier, thou didst overcome the crafty enemy. Therefore, O Chrysostom! ambassador of our prayers \ thou didst receive from Christ the crown of victory.
What a crown is thine, O Chrysostom! Oh! how glorious is thy name in the Church of both heaven and earth! Thou didst preach the gospel in truth, thou didst fight the battle of thy Lord with courage, thou didst suffer for the cause of justice, and thou didst give up thy life in defence of the liberty of God's word. The applause of men did not make thee less stern in claiming the rights of God, and the gift of apostolic eloquence, wherewith the Holy Ghost had enriched thee, was but a feeble image of the divine fire which burned within thy heart, and which made thee love the Word Incarnate, Christ Jesus our Lord, more than thine own glory, or happiness, or life. Thou wast calumniated by wicked men; thy name was erased from the tablets of the holy altar; and, like thy divine Master, thou wast condemned as a criminal, and deposed from the episcopal throne. But as well might men strive to eclipse the sun, as efface thy loved name from the memory of the Christian world. Rome defended thee, and has ever honoured thy admirable virtues, just as she now venerates thy sacred relics, which repose near the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. She and all her children throughout the world consider thee as one of the most faithful dispensers of divine Truth.
Recompense the devotion we have for thee, O Chrysostom! by watching over us from heaven; instruct us, convert us, make us earnest Christians. Like thy beloved master, St Paul, thou didst care for no knowledge save that which would make thee know Christ Jesus: but is it not in Christ Jesus that are hidden all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom? Teach us to know this dear Saviour, who has come down to us with all his infinite perfections; teach us to know his spirit; tell us how we may please and imitate him; ask him to receive the offering of our faithful love. In one thing we resemble thee, great Saint! we are exiles; but, alas! we are so often tempted to love our exile as though it were our home. Oh! detach us from this earth and its vanities. May we long to be united with thee, as thou wast united with the holy Martyr Basiliscus, in order that we may be with Jesus.
Faithful Pastor! pray for our Pastors; obtain for them thine own spirit, and pray that their flocks may be docile to their teachings. Bless the Preachers of God’s word, that so they may preach not themselves, but Jesus Christ. Ask our Lord to give them that Christian eloquence which comes from the study of the Sacred Volume, and from prayer; that thus, the faithful may be allured to virtue by the charm of an unearthly language, and may give glory to God. Protect the Roman Pontiff, whose predecessor was thy sole defender; may he ever be the protector of the Bishops of the Church who are persecuted for justice' sake. Pray for thy Church of Constantinople, which has forgotten thy faith and thy virtues. May she be raised from the degradation in which she has been so long enslaved. May Jesus, the Eternal Wisdom, be appeased by thy prayers, and be mindful of his Church of Sancta Sophia, and purify it from profanation, and restore that altar whereon he was offered in sacrifice for so many ages. Show, too, thy love for the Western Church, which has ever revered and loved thee. Hasten the fall of the heresies which have so long laid waste large portions of her inheritance; dispel the dark clouds of incredulity, and obtain for us all, by thy powerful intercession, a lively faith and the fervent practice of every virtue.
[1] 1 Cor. ix 16.
[2] 2 Tim. ii 9.
[3] 1 St Pet. ii 25.
[4] Phil. i 21.
[5] Ps. xxiii 1.
[6] 1 Tim. vi 7.
[7] Gen. ii 24.
[8] St Matt. xix 6.
[9] Acts ix 6.
[10] 1 Cor. x 22
[11] Ps. ciii 32.
[12] St Matt. xxiv 35.
[13] Ibid. xvi 18.
[14] St Matt. xviii 20.
[15] Ibid. xxviii 20.
[16] Ibid. vi 10.
[17] Homily before his exile.
[This feast day, originally kept on January 31, was moved to January 28 when St. John Bosco was placed on January 31.-Ed.]
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
THE Ransomer of Captives, Peter Nolasco, is thus brought before us by the Calendar, a few days after the Feast of his master, Raymund of Pennafort. Both of them offer to the Divine Redeemer the thousands of Christians they ransomed from slavery. It is an appropriate homage, for it was the result of the Charity which first began in Bethlehem, in the heart of the Infant Jesus, and was afterwards so fervently practiced by these two Saints.
Peter was born in France, but made Spain his adopted country, because it offered him such grand opportunities for zeal and self-sacrifice. In imitation of our Redeemer, he devoted himself to the ransom of his brethren; he made himself a prisoner to procure them their liberty; and remained in exile, that they might once more enjoy the happiness of home. His devotedness was blessed by God. He founded a new Religious Order in the Church, composed of generous-hearted men, who for six hundred years prayed, toiled, and spent their lives in obtaining the blessing of liberty for countless captives, who would else have led their whole lives in chains, exposed to the imminent danger of losing their faith.
Glory to the Blessed Mother of God, who raised up these ransomers of Captives! Glory to the Catholic Church, whose children they were! But above all glory be to our Emmanuel, who, on his entrance into this world, thus spoke to his Eternal Father: Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not, neither are they pleasing to thee; but a Body thou hast fitted unto me. Then said I, Behold I come:[1] that is, Behold, I come to offer myself as a Sacrifice. The Divine Infant has deigned to call us his brethren, and has given himself for our salvation; it is this same spirit of charity which made St Peter Nolasco devote his life to his suffering fellow-men.
Our Lord rewarded him by calling him to heaven at that very hour wherein twelve hundred years before he himself had been born at Bethlehem. It was during the joyful celebrations of Christmas night that the liberator of so many from bodily captivity was united for ever to the Divine Liberator of souls.
Peter’s last hymn on earth was the 110th Psalm: and as his faltering voice uttered the words: He hath sent redemption to his people; he hath commanded his covenant for ever, his soul took its flight to heaven.
The Church, in fixing a day for the feast of our Saint, could not of course take the anniversary of his death, which belongs so exclusively to Jesus: but it was just that he, who had been honoured with being born to heaven at the very hour which God had chosen for the Birth of his Son upon the earth, should receive the tribute of our festive commemoration on one of the forty days of Christmas; this last day of January was selected.
Let us now learn from the Liturgy the claims of Peter Nolasco to our veneration and love.
Petrus Nolascus, Recaudi prope Carcassonam in Gallia nobili genere natus, singulari erga proximum caritate excelluit; cujus virtutis præsagium fuit, quod cum adhuc in cunabulis vagiret infans, examen apum ad eum convolavit, et favum mellis in ejus dextera construxit. Adolescens parentibus orbatus, Albigensium hæresim, quæ tunc in Gallia grassabatur, execrans, divendito patrimonio, in Hispaniam secessit, et apud beatam Virginem Montis Serrati, votum, quo pridem se obstrinxerat, exsolvit. Tum Barcinonam pergens, quum in Christi fidelibus ab hostiam servitute redimendis omnem pecuniam consumpsisset, seipsum pro iis liberandis venumire, aut in illorum vincula suffici, cupere dictitabat.
Quam gratum Deo uerit hoc sancti viri desiderium subsequens declaravit eventus. Nam noctu oranti, et de Christianorum in captivitate degentium subsidio, multa animo volventi, beata Virgo apparens: Filio suo, sibique acceptissimum fore suggessit, si ad sui honorem Religiosorum Ordo institueretur, quibus præcipue esset cura, captivos ab infidelium tyrannide liberare. Huic cœlesti monito illico obtemperans, una cum sancto Raymundo de Pennafort, et Jacobo Primo rege Aragoniæ, de eadem re a Dei Genitrice ipsa nocte præmonitis, Religionem Beatæ Mariæ de Mercede redemptionis captivorum instituit: sodalibus suis quarto voto obstrictis, manendi in pignus sub Paganorum potestate, si pro Christianorum liberatione opus fuerit.
Edito virginitatis voto, illibatam perpetuo castitatem servavit. Patientia, humilitate, abstinentia, cæterisque virtutibus mirabiliter enituit. Prophetiæ dono illustris, futura prædixit, inter quæ maxime celebratur, quod Jacobus rex Valentiam a Mauris occupatam expugnaverit, accepta prius ab eo obtinendæ victoriæ securitate. Angeli Custodis ac Deiparæ Virginis frequenti apparitione recreabatur. Senio tandem confectus, de imminenti morte certior factus, in morbum incidit, sanctisque refectus Sacramentis, fratres suos ad caritatem erga captivos cohortatus et Psalmum, Confitebor tibi,' Domine, in toto corde meo, devotissime recitans, ad illa verba, Redemptionem misit Dominus populo suo, spiritum Deo reddidit, media nocte Vigiliæ Nativitatis Domini, anno millesimo ducentesimo quinquagesimo sexto. Cujus festivitatem Alexander Septimus die trigesima prima Januarii celebrari præcepit.
Peter Nolasco was born at Recaud, near Carcassonne, in France, of noble parents. His distinguishing virtue was the love of his neighbour, which seemed to be presaged by this incident that, when he was a babe in his cradle, a swarm of bees one day lighted upon him, and formed a honeycomb on his right hand. He lost his parents early in life. The Albigensian heresy was at that time making way in France; Peter, out of the hatred he had for that sect, withdrew into Spain, after having sold his estates. This gave him an opportunity of fulfilling a vow at our Lady of Montserrat, which he had made some time previously. After this he went to Barcelona; and having there spent all his money in ransoming the Christian captives from the slavery of their enemies, he was often heard saying that he would willingly sell himself to redeem others, or become a slave in the place of any captive.
God showed him, by the following event, how meritorious in his sight was this desire. He was one night praying for the Christian captives, and deliberating with himself how he might obtain their deliverance, when the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, and told him that he would render himself most dear to her Son and herself, if he would institute in her honour an Order of Religious men, who should devote themselves to ransome captives from the infidels. He delayed not to follow the heavenly suggestion, and instituted the Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the Redemption of Captives, in which he was aided by St Raymund of Pennafort, and James the First, King of Aragon, both of whom had, on that same night, received the like intimation from the Mother of God. The Religious of this Order take a fourth vow, namely, to offer themselves as slaves to the Moors, if they can in no other way obtain the ransom of the Christians.
Having taken a vow of virginity, he spent his whole life in the most perfect purity. He excelled in every virtue, especially in patience, humility, and abstinence. He foretold future events by the gift of prophecy, wherewith God had favoured him. Thus, when king James was laying siege to Valencia, then in the possession of the Moors, he received assurance from the Saint that he would be blessed with victory. He was frequently consoled with the sight of his Angel Guardian and the Virgin-Mother of God. At length, being worn out with old age, he received an intimation of his approaching death. When he was seized with his last sickness, he received the holy Sacraments, and exhorted his Religious Brethren to love the captives. After which, he began most devoutly to recite the Psalm, I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; and at these words : He hath sent Redemption to his people, he breathed forth his soul into the hands of his Creator, at Christmas midnight, in the year 1256. Pope Alexander the Seventh commanded that his Feast should be kept on the thirty-first day of January.
Thou, O Jesus! camest to cast fire upon the earth, and thy desire is that it be enkindled in the hearts of men. Thy desire was accomplished in Peter Nolasco, and the children of his Order. Thus dost thou permit men to co-operate with thee in the designs of thy sweet mercy, and, by thus restoring harmony between man and his Creator, thou hast once more given to the earth the blessing of fraternal love between man and man. Sweet Infant Jesus! we cannot love thee without loving all mankind; and thou, who art our Ransom and our Victim, willest that we also be ready to lay down our lives for one another.
Thou, O Peter! wast the Apostle and the model of this fraternal charity; and our God rewarded thee by calling thee to himself on the anniversary of the Birth of Jesus. That sweet Mystery, which so often encouraged thee in thy holy labours, has now been revealed to thee in all its glory. Thy eyes now behold that Jesus as the great King, the Son of the Eternal Father, before whom the very Angels tremble. Mary is no longer the poor humble Mother, leaning over the Crib where lies her Son; she now delights thy gaze with her queenly beauty, seated as she is on a throne nearest to that of the divine Majesty. Thou art at home amidst all this glory, for heaven was made for souls that love as thine did. Heaven is the land of love, and love so filled thy heart even when on earth, that it was the principle of thy whole life.
Pray for us, that we may have a clearer knowledge of this love of God and our neighbour, which makes us like to God. It is written that he that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in him;[2] intercede for us, that the Mystery of Charity which we are now celebrating may transform us into him who is the one object of all our love during this season of grace. May we love our fellow-creatures as ourselves; bear with them, excuse their weaknesses, and serve them. May our good example encourage them, and our words edify them; may we comfort them and win them to the service of God by our kindness and our charities.
Pray for France, which is thy country, and for Spain, where thou didst institute thy grand Order. Protect the precious remnants of that Order, by whose means thou didst work such miracles of charity. Console all prisoners and captives. Obtain for all men that holy Liberty of Children of God, of which the Apostle speaks,[3] which consists in obedience to the law of God. When this liberty is in man's soul, he never can be a slave; but when the inner man is enslaved, the outward man never can be free. Oh! pray that the fetters of false doctrines and passions may be broken, and then the world will enjoy that true liberty, which would soon put an end to tyranny, and make tyrants impossible.
[1] Ps. xxxix 7, 8; cited by St Paul, Heb. x 5 and following verses.
[2] St John iv x6.
[3] Rom. viii 21.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
In many Churches, especially in Germany, there is kept, on the second Feast of the Martyr Agnes, the Feast of the pious Emperor Charlemagne. The Emmanuel, who is come into this world, is to receive the title of King of kings and Lord of lords; he is to gird himself with the sword, and bring all nations into subjection; what could be more fitting than that he should lead to his Crib the greatest of Christian Princes, who ever made it his glory to use his sword in the service of Christ and his Church?
Charlemagne was held as a Saint by the people, and the decree of his canonization was given by the Antipope Paschal the Third, in the year 1165, at the request of Frederic Barbarossa; on which account, the Holy See has permitted this public veneration to be continued in all those places where it prevailed, though it has never given its approbation to the informal procedure of Paschal, nor made it valid by its own sentence, which it would, in all probability, have done had the request been made. At the same time, the many Churches, which, now for seven centuries, have honoured the memory of Charlemagne, keep his Feast under the simple title of Blessed, out of respect to the Roman Martyrology, where his name is not inserted.
Before the Reformation, the name of Blessed Charlemagne was inscribed in the Calendar of a great many of the Churches in France; the Breviaries of Rheims and Rouen are the only ones that have retained it. The Church of Paris ceased to keep his Feast, in order to satisfy the prejudices of several Doctors of the University, in the early part of the 16th century. Protestantism had, naturally enough, an antipathy for a man, who was the noblest type of a Catholic Prince: and they who were tainted with the spirit of Protestantism, defended their blotting out the name of Charlemagne from the Calendar, not so much by the informality of his Canonization, as by the scandal which they affected to find in his life. Public opinion was formed on this, as on so many other matters, with extreme levity; and among those who will be surprised at finding the name of Charlemagne in this volume, we quite expect that they will be the most astonished who have never taken the trouble to inquire into the holiness of his life.
More than thirty Churches in Germany still keep the Feast of the great Emperor. His dear Church of Aix-la-Chapelle possesses his Relics and exposes them to the veneration of the people. The University of Paris, strange to say, chose him for its Patron in 1661; but his Feast, which had been given up for more than a century, was only restored as a national holiday, without the slightest allusion being made to it in the Liturgy.
It does not enter into the plan of this work to discuss the reasons, for which public veneration has been paid to the Saints whose feasts we keep during the year; our readers must not, therefore, expect from us anything in the shape of a formal defence of the saintly life of Charlemagne. Nevertheless, we cannot refrain from making a few remarks, which our subject seems to require. And firstly, we affirm, with the great Bossuet that the morals of Charlemagne were without reproach,[1] and that the contrary opinion, which is based on certain vague and contradictory expressions of a few writers of the Middle-Ages, has only gained ground by Protestant influence. Dom Mabillon—after having given the history of the Emperor’s repudiation of Hermengarde, and his return to Himiltrude, his first wife—concludes his account of Charlemagne, in his Benedictine Annals, by acknowledging that this Prince’s plurality of wives has never been proved to have been simultaneous. Natalis Alexander and Le Cointe—authors who cannot be taxed with partiality, and who have gone into all the intricacies of the question—prove most clearly, that the only reproach to be laid to Charlemagne’s charge, on the subject of his wives, is his having repudiated Himiltrude, out of complaisance to the mother of Hermengarde, a fault which he repaired the following year, in compliance with the remonstrances of Pope Stephen the Fourth.
We grant, that after the death of Luitgarde, the last of his wives who was treated as Queen, Charlemagne married several others, whom Eginhard calls concubines, because they did not wear the crown, and their children were not considered as princes of the blood; but we say, with Mabillon, that Charlemagne may have had these wives successively, and that it is difficult to believe the contrary, regarding so religious a Prince, and one who had singular respect for the laws of the Church.
But, independently of the opinion of the grave authors whom we have cited, there is an incontestable proof of Charlemagne’s innocence on the score of the simultaneous plurality of wives, at least from the time of his separation from Hermengarde. The Prince was then in his twenty-eighth year. The severity of the Roman Pontiffs relative to the marriages of sovereigns is too well known to require proof. The history of the Middle-Ages abounds with the struggles they had, on this essential point of Christian morals, with the most powerful monarchs, some of whom were most devoted to the Church. How, then, we would ask, would it be possible, that St. Adrian the First, who governed the Church from 772 to 795, and whom Charlemagne treated as a father, asking his advice in everything he undertook—how, we repeat, would this holy Pontiff allow Charlemagne to indulge in the most scandalous crimes, without remonstrating, whilst Stephen the Fourth, who only sat three years, and had not the same influence on this Prince, could induce him to dismiss Hermengarde? Or again, would St. Leo the Third—who reigned as Supreme Pontiff from 795 till after Charlemagne’s death, and who recompensed his virtuous conduct by crowning him Emperor—would he have made no effort to induce him to abandon the concubinage in which some writers would make us believe he lived after the death of his last Queen Luitgarde? Now, we find not the shadow of any such remonstrances made by these two Popes, who governed the Church for more than forty years, and have been placed on her altars. The honour of the Church herself is at stake in this question, and it is the duty of every Catholic to suspect the imputations cast on the name of Charlemagne as calumnies.
It would seem, from the letter of Pope Stephen the Fourth, that the marriage with Himiltrude was suspected, though falsely, of nullity; and it is not improbable that this suspicion may have satisfied Charlemagne’s conscience when he divorced her. However this may be, we find Charlemagne afterwards legislating against public immorality with all the zeal and energy of a man whose own life was not tainted with anything of the kind. We will cite but one example of this Christian firmness in repressing scandal, and we put it to the conviction of any honest heart, if a Prince, whose life had been a series of public scandals, could have dared to express himself, with the simplicity and confidence of an innocent conscience, in an assembly of the Bishops and Abbots of his Empire, and in the presence of the Princes and Barons whose licentiousness he wished to repress, and who might so justly have excused their own disorders, by the lewd example of the very man who exhorted them to virtue and threatened to chastise their vices? In a Capitulary, given during the Pontificate of St. Leo the Third, he thus decrees: “We forbid, under pain of sacrilege, the seizure of the goods of the Church, and injustices of whatsoever sort, adultery, fornication, incest, illicit marriage, unjust homicide, &c., for we know, that by such things kingdoms and kings, yea and private subjects, do perish. And whereas, by God’s help, and the merit and the intercession of the Saints and Servants of God, whom we have at all times honoured, we have gained a goodly number of kingdoms, and won manifold victories, it behoveth us all to be on our guard lest we deserve the forfeiture of these gains by the aforementioned crimes and shameful lewdnesses. We know, of a truth, that sundry countries, wherein have been perpetrated these seizures of the goods of the Church, these injustices, these adulteries, and these prostitutions, have lost their courage in battle, and their firmness in the faith. Any one may learn from history, how the Lord hath permitted the Saracens and other peoples to conquer the workers of such like iniquities; nor doubt we that the like will happen likewise to us, unless we abstain from such misdeeds; for God is wont to punish them. Be it, therefore, known to all our subjects, that he who shall be taken and convicted of any of these crimes, shall be deposed of all his honours, if he have any; that he shall be thrown into prison, till he repent and make amends by a public penitence; and, moreover, that he shall be cut off from all communication with the faithful; for we shall grievously fear the pit whereinto we see others be fallen.” Again, we ask, would Charlemagne have spoken such language as this, if, as has been asserted, his old age was being disgraced with debauchery, at the very time that he passed this Capitulary, that is, after the death of Luitgarde?
Granting, then, that this great Prince had sinned, we must allow that it was only in the early part of his reign, and we ought to remember that the remainder of his life was so holy as to be more than an ample penance. Is it not a sight worthy of our admiration to see this brave warrior, when he had become the mighty Sovereign, unceasingly practising, not only sobriety, which was a rare virtue among his countrymen, but fastings, which would bear comparisons with those of the most fervent anchorets—wearing a hair-shirt even to the day of his death—assisting at the Offices of the Church, day and night, even during his various campaigns, when he had the Divine services performed in his tent—and giving abundant alms, (which, as the Scripture tells us, covereth a multitude of sins,) not only to all the poor of his dominions, who besought his charity, but likewise to the Christians of Africa, Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, for whose sakes he more than once exhausted his royal treasury? But, what is above all this, and, in the absence of every other proof, would testify to Charlemagne’s possessing every virtue that could adorn a Christian Prince, is his making no other use of his sovereign power than that of spreading the Kingdom of Christ on the earth. It is the one single end he proposed to himself in every battle he fought, and every law he made.
This monarch, to whom were subject France, Catalonia, Navarre, and Aragon; Flanders, Holland, and Friesland; the provinces of Westphalia, Saxony, as far as the Elbe; Franconia, Suabia, Thuringia, and Switzerland; the two Pannonias, (that is, Austria and Hungary,) Dacia, Bohemia, Istria, Liburnia, Dalmatia, and even Sclavonia; and finally, the whole of Italy, as far as southern Calabria—this Monarch signs himself, in his glorious Capitularia: “I, Charles, by the grace of God and the giving of his mercy, King and governor of the Kingdom of the French, devoted defender of God’s Holy Church, and her humble Champion.” So many other Kings and Emperors—who are not to be compared with him in power, and yet are objects of men’s admiration in spite of all their crimes, which are artfully palliated by every possible excuse—have made it their one grand aim to enslave the Church. History tells us of even some otherwise pious Kings, who were jealous of her Liberty, and sought to curtail it: Charlemagne ever respected that Liberty, as though it were his own mother’s honour. It was he, that, following the example of Pepin, his father, so nobly secured the independence of the Apostolic See. Never had the Roman Pontiffs a more devoted or a more obedient Son. Scorning petty political jealousies, he restored to the clergy and people the episcopal elections, which were in the hands of the Sovereign, when he began his reign. He waged war mainly with a design to favour the propagation of the faith among infidel nations. He marched into Spain, that he might free the Christians from the yoke of the Moors. He brought the Churches of his Kingdom into closer union with the Apostolic See, by establishing the Roman Liturgy in all the States that were under his sceptre. In the whole of his legislation, which he framed in assemblies where Bishops and Abbots had the preponderance, there is not a single trace of what have been called Gallican Liberties, which consist in the interference of the Sovereign, or civil Magistrate in matters purely ecclesiastical. “So great was Charlemagne’s love for the Roman Church,” says Bossuet, “that the main point of his Last Will was the recommending to his successors the defence of the Church of St. Peter, a defence which was the precious heirloom of his house, handed down to him by his father and his father’s father, and which he was resolved to leave also to his children. It was this love of the Church which prompted him to say, and the saying was afterwards repeated in a full Council, held during the reign of one of his descendants, that if the Church of Rome were, by an impossibility, to put on us a burden which was well nigh insupportable, we ought to bear it.”
What could prompt this spirit of Christian moderation, which made Charlemagne so respectful to the moral power of the Church—what could temper down the risings of pride, which, as a general rule, increases with the increase of power—what save a most saintly tenor of life? Man, unless he be endowed with the help of a powerful grace, cannot attain, much less can he maintain himself his whole life long, in such perfect dispositions as these. Charlemagne, then, has been selected by our Emmanuel himself to be the perfect type of a Christian Prince; and we Catholics should love to celebrate his glory during this Christmas season, during which is born among us the Divine Child, who is come to reign over all nations, and guide them in the path of holiness and justice. Jesus has come from heaven to be the model of Kings, as of the rest of men; and so far, no man has so closely imitated this divine model as "Charles the Victorious, the ever August, the Monarch crowned by God.”
We will borrow from the Breviaries of Germany the liturgical history of her great Apostle. It is true, that there is a want of exactitude, here and there, in the following Lessons; but they are valuable, as being the expression of the devotion of a Catholic people for their glorious and saintly Emperor.
Beatus Carolus ex patre Pippino, Brabantiæ Ducis filio, qui ad Franciæ Regnum deinde electus est, et Bertrada Græcorum Imperatoris filia natus, ob res gestas, et religionis Christianæ zelum, Magnus, et a Concilio Moguntino Christianissimus appellatus est. Primus fuit, qui expulsis Italia Longobardis a Leone Tertio Pontifice Imperator coronari meruit: nam rogatu Adriani Papæ, qui Leonem antecessit, Italiam cum exercitu ingressus, Ecclesiæ sua patrimonia, et Imperium Occidenti restituit: ipsum quoque Leonem a Romanis, in Litania majore injuriose habitum vindicavit, ejectis urbe sacrilegii reis. Multa sancivit pro Ecclesiæ dignitate, ac inter cætera legem renovavit, voluitque lites forenses ad judicium Ecclesiæ remitti, si alteruter litigantium id postularet. Et quamvis benignus esset moribus, magna tamen severitate compescebat vitia, præsertim adulteria, et idololatriam, constitutis peculiaribus cum ampla potestate judiciis, quæ in hodiernum usque diem in Saxonia inferiore observantur.
Cum Saxonibus triginta et tres annos præliatus, subactis tandem non aliam legem dedit, quam ut Christiani essent; fundosque in perpetuum obligavit, ut erectis per agros trabalibus crucibus, Christum palam faterentur. Guasconiam, Hispaniam atque Gallæciam, ab idololatris expurgavit, ac sepulcrum sancti Jacobi hodierno honori restituit. In Hungaria toto octennio rem Christianam armis promovit ea adversus Sarracenos utens lancea semper victoriosa, qua unus militum Christi latus aperuerat. Quos tantos ejus pro fidei dilatatione conatus, Deus pluribus signis visus est adjuvare; nam Saxones, qui castrum Sigisburgum obsederant, divinitus territi, aufugerunt: et in primo Saxonico tumultu largissimum flumen exiliit, quo totus exercitus triduo aquationis inedia laborans recreatus est. Tantus autem Imperator veste vix a plebe differebat, cilicio prope continuo induebatur, nec nisi in summis Christi ac Divorum festis apparebat in auro. Pauperes et peregrinos tam in Regia sua, quam missis expensis, ubique terrarum adjuvabat. Coenobia viginti quatuor erexit, ac litteram auream (ut appellant) ducentorum pondo cuique misit; duas Metropolitanas sedes, ac novem Episcopales constituit. Templa viginti et septem exædificavit: fundavit denique duas Universitates, Ticinensem et Parisiensem.
Ipse autem Carolus, sicut erat literis deditus, Alcuino doctore usus, ita filios suos liberalibus scientiis, priusquam armis et venatui tradidit. Anno demum ætatis sexagesimo octavo, cum filium Ludovicum coronari, et regem agere jussisset, totum se transtulit ad studia orationis et eleemosynarum. Ecclesiam sicut assueverat, mane, ac vesperi, nocturnis etiam non raro horis frequentabat; psalmodia enim Gregoriana delectabatur; quam per Franciam et Germaniam primus instituit, impetratis ab Adriano Primo cantoribus, et ecclesiasticos hymnos ubivis locorum conscribendos curavit. Evangelia vero ipse sua manu descripsit, et cum Græcis ac Syris codicibus contulit. Cibi et potus semper parcissimus fuit, solitus morbos suos jejunio familiari, quod ad septiduum aliquando protraxit, curare. Tandem multa nefanda a malevolis perpessus, annos natus septuaginta duos, in morbum incidit, in quo ab Hildebaldo Episcopo sacra communione refectus, cum singula membra sua signo crucis signaset, psallens versiculum: In manus tuas; spiritum magnis meritis comitatum Deo reddidit, quinto Kalendas Februarii. Sepultus est in Basilica Aquensi, quam ædificarat et ditarat reliquiis Sanctorum. Ubi etiam magna peregrinorum pietate et divinis beneficiis honoratur. Natalis autem ejus per plerasque Germaniæ Diœceses, jam inde a temporibus Alexandri Tertii, ex Ecclesiæ consensu, colitur, tamquam præcipui fidei auctoris in Septentrione.
The father of the Blessed Charles was Pepin, who was the son of the Duke of Brabant, (afterwards elected to the throne of France,) and of Bertrade, daughter of the Greek Emperor. He merited, by his glorious deeds and his zeal for the Christian Religion, the surname of Great; and by one of the Councils held at Mayence he was called the Most Christian Monarch. Having driven the Lombards out of Italy, he was the first to have the honour of being crowned Emperor by the Vicar of Christ, Pope Leo the Third. At the request of Adrian, Leo’s predecessor, he entered with an army into Italy, and restored to the Church her patrimony, and to the West the Empire. He avenged the injuries done to Pope Leo by the Romans, during the chanting of the Litany, and he expelled from the city such as had taken part in this sacrilege. He passed many laws tending to the honour of the Church; among the rest, he re-established the law which provided that civil suits should be referred to the judgment of the Church, in case of one of the parties demanding it. Though of a most gentle disposition, he was very severe in suppressing vice, more especially adultery and idolatry, for which he established special tribunals vested with extraordinary powers, which exist to this day in Lower Saxony.
After having waged war for thirty-three years with the Saxons, he at length brought them into subjection, imposing no other law upon them, than that they should become Christians. He obliged all landowners to erect a cross of wood in their fields, as an open confession of their faith. He rid Gascony, Spain, and Gallicia, of idolaters, and restored the sepulchre of St. James to what we see it at this day. He upheld the Christian Religion in Hungary by an eight years’ campaign, and in fighting against the Saracens, he always made use of the victorious Spear, wherewith one of the soldiers opened our Saviour’s Side. God seemed to favour, by many miracles, all these efforts made for the spreading of the faith. Thus the Saxons, who were laying siege to Sigisburgh, were struck by God with fear, and took to flight; and in the first rebellion of the same people, there sprang up from the earth a plentiful stream, wherewith was refreshed Charles’ whole army, which had been without water for three days. And yet, this great Emperor could scarce be distinguished by his dress from the rest of the people, and almost always wore a hair-shirt, never appearing in his gilded robes save on the principal Feasts of our Lord and the Saints. He gave alms to the poor and to pilgrims, not only at his regal residence, but in every part of the world, by sending them monies. He built twenty four Monasteries, to each of which he sent what is called the Golden Letter, weighing two hundred pounds. He founded two Metropolitan, and nine Episcopal Sees. He built twenty-seven Churches, and founded two Universities, one in Pavia, the other in Paris.
As Charles himself was fond of study, in which he had Alcuin as his master, so, likewise, would he have his sons trained in the liberal sciences, before be permitted them to turn either to war or to the chase. In the sixty-eighth year of his age, he had his son Louis crowned king, and devoted himself wholly to prayer and alms-deeds. Each morning and evening he visited the Church, and oftentimes he repaired thither also in the night, for he was exceedingly fond of the Gregorian Chant, and was the first to introduce it into France and Germany; he had obtained Cantors from Pope Adrian the First, and took care to have the hymns of the Church copied in every place. He made copies of the Gospels with his own hand, and collated them with the Greek and Syriac versions. He was extremely sparing in what he took to eat and drink. If he fell sick, he sought a remedy in fasting, which he sometimes observed for seven continuous days. At length, after suffering much from malicious men, being then in his seventy-second year, he fell sick. He received the consolation of Holy Communion at the hands of Bishop Hildebald. He signed his whole body with the sign of the cross, singing the words, Into thy hands; which done, he rendered to God his soul rich in merit, on the fifth of the Calends of February (January 28th). He was buried in the Basilica of Aix-la-Chapelle, which he had built and enriched with relics of the Saints. There he is honoured by the devotion of numerous pilgrims, and by the favours granted by God through his intercession. His Feast is kept in most of the dioceses of Germany, by the consent of the Church, ever since the time of Pope Alexander the Third; it is kept as the Feast of the principal propagator of the faith in the North.
The following Hymn is taken from the same Office as the Lessons we have just read.
Hymn
O Rex orbis triumphator,
Regum terræ Imperator,
Inter beatorum coetus,
Nostros audi pie fletus.
Tua prece mors fugatur,
Languor cedit, vita datur,
Sitientibus das undas,
Et baptismo gentes mundas.
Arte et natura duros,
Sola prece frangis muros,
Regna suave jugum Christi
Ferre doces, quæ vicisti.
O quam dignus verna cœlis,
Servus prudens, et fidelis,
E castris astra petisti,
Ad locum pacis ivisti.
Ergo rupem ferro fode,
Fontem vivum nobis prode,
Ora pia prece Deum,
Et fac nobis pium eum.
Sit Majestas Trinitati,
Laus et honor Unitati,
Quæ virtute principali
Jure regnat coæquali.
Amen.
O King, conqueror of the earth!
Emperor of the kings of the world!
lovingly hear our prayers,
now that thou reignest among the blessed.
By thy prayers death is put to flight,
the sick are healed, life is restored,
the thirsty obtain fountains of water,
and whole nations are cleansed in the laver of baptism.
Ramparts made impregnable by art and nature,
yield to the simple power of thy prayers;
and thou teachest the vanquished nations
to bear the sweet yoke of Christ.
Prudent and faithful servant,
and oh! how worthy of heaven!
Thou didst ascend thither from the battlefield,
thou enteredst into the land of peace.
Strike, then, the rock with thy sword,
and call forth for us a stream of living water.
By thy holy prayers,
obtain for us the mercy of our God.
Glory be to the Blessed Trinity!
Praise and honour to the Holy Unity,
that reigneth co-equally
in infinite power.
Amen.
The same Liturgy gives us this Antiphon.
Ant. O spes afflictis, timor hostibus, hostia victis, regula virtutis, juris via, forma salutis, Carole, servorum pia suscipe vota tuorum.
Ant. O hope of sufferers, terror of thine enemies, merciful to the conquered, model of virtue, example of justice, teacher of salvation—receive, O Charles! the devout prayers, of thy clients.
Among the Sequences written in honour of the holy Emperor, we find the following, which is taken from an ancient Missal of Aix-la-Chapelle.
Sequence
Urbs Aquensis, urbs regalis,
Regni sedes principalis,
Prima regum curia.
Regi regum pange laudes,
Quæ de magni regis gaudes
Caroli memoria.
Iste cœtus psallat lætus,
Psallat chorus hic sonorus
Vocali concordia.
At dum manus operatur
Bonum, quod cor meditatur,
Dulcis est psalmodia.
Hac in die, die festa,
Magni Regis magna gesta
Recolat Ecclesia.
Reges terræ et omnes populi
Omnes simul plaudant ac singuli
Celebri lætitia.
Hic est Christi miles fortis,
Hic invictæ dux cohortis
Decem sternit millia.
Terram purgat lolio,
Atque metit gladio
Ex messe zizania.
Hic est magnus Imperator,
Boni fructus bonus sator,
Et prudens agricola.
Infideles hic convertit,
Fana, Deos, hic evertit,
Et confringit idola.
Hic superbos domat reges,
Hic regnare sacras leges
Facit cum justitia.
Quam tuetur eo fine
Ut et justus, sed nec sine
Sit misericordia.
Oleo lætitiæ
Unctus dono gratiæ
Cæteris præ regibus.
Cum corona gloriæ,
Majestatis regiæ
Insignitur fascibus.
O Rex mundi triumphator,
Jesu Christi conregnator,
Sis pro nobis exorator,
Sancte pater Carole.
Emundati a peccatis
Ut in regno claritatis,
Nos plebs tua cum beatis
Cœli simus incolæ.
Stella maris, o Maria,
Mundi salus, vitæ via,
Vacillantum rege gressus,
Et ad Regem des accessus,
In perenni gloria.
Christe, splendor Dei Patris,
Incorruptæ fili Matris,
Per hunc sanctum cujus
Festa Celebramus, nobis præsta
Sempiterna gaudia.
Amen.
O city of Aix! City of royalty!
seat of princely power,
and favourite court of kings!
O thou that so joyously celebratest
the memory of King Charles the Great,
sing thy praises to the King of kings.
Let this glad assembly give forth its hymns,
and this sweet choir of music
sing as with one voice of praise.
O sweet the psalmody,
when the hand achieves
the holy meditation of the heart!
On this festive day,
let the Church proclaim
the great deeds of the great King.
Let the kings of the earth and the people,
let all, and each, praise him
with a holiday of joy.
This is the brave soldier of Christ,
the leader of the invincible army,
and he prostrates his enemies by tens of thousands.
He weeds the earth of its cockle,
and with his sword
cleanses the harvest from the tares.
This is the great Emperor,
the good sower of the good seed,
the prudent husbandman.
He converts infidels,
he overthrows the temples,
and the false gods, and breaks the idols.
He subdues haughty kings,
he establishes the reign
of holy laws and justice.
He defends the right,
for he loves justice;
but he tempers justice by mercy.
He is anointed with the oil of gladness,
and with grace,
above all other kings.
He wears the crown of glory,
he is decked with all the emblems
of kingly majesty.
O King that didst triumph over the world!
O King that now reignest with Christ!
O Charles! O sainted father!
pray for us,
That we thy people,
being cleansed from our sins,
may be made fellow-citizens
with the blessed in the kingdom of heaven.
O Mary! Star of the Sea!
that didst give to the world its Saviour and its Life!
guide our faltering steps,
and lead us to Jesus our King,
in everlasting bliss.
O Jesus! Brightness of the Eternal Father!
Son of the VirginMother!
we beseech thee, by the merits of the Saint
whose Feast we celebrate, grant us to come
to everlasting joy.
Amen.
We will conclude our selection by giving the Collect said on this feast.
Collect.
Deus qui superabundanti fœcunditate bonitatis tuæ, beatum Carolum Magnum Imperatorem, deposito carnis velamine, beatæ immortalitatis trabea sublimasti: concede nobis supplicibus tuis, ut quem ad propagationem veræ fidei Imperii honore exaltasti in terris, pium intercessorem habere mereamur in cœlis. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
O God, who in the superabundant riches of thy mercy, didst clothe the blessed Emperor Charles the Great, after he had laid aside the garb of the flesh, with the robe of immortal life; grant, we beseech thee, that he whom thou didst raise up on earth to the imperial dignity, that so he might spread the true faith, may lovingly intercede for us in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
All hail faithful and beloved servant of God, Apostle of Christ, Defender of his Church, Lover of justice, Guardian of the laws of morality, and Terror of them that hate the Christian name! The hand of the Vicar of Christ purified the diadem of the Cæsars, and put it on thy venerable head. The imperial sceptre and globe are in thy hands. The sword of the victories won for God is girt on thy side. The Supreme Pontiff has anointed thee King and Emperor. Bearing thus in thyself the figure of Christ in his temporal Kingship, thou didst so use thy power as that he reigned in and by thee. And now he recompenses thee for the love thou hadst for him, for the zeal thou hadst for his glory, and for the respect thou didst ever evince to the Church, his Spouse. He has changed thy earthly and perishable royalty into that which is eternal, and in his heavenly kingdom thou art surrounded by those countless souls, whom thou didst convert from idolatry to the service of the one true God.
We are celebrating the Birth of the Son of that VirginMother, in whose honour thou didst build the glorious Church, which still excites the admiration of all nations. It was in that sacred edifice that thou didst place the Swathing-clothes wherewith she clad her Divine Babe; and it is here, too, that our Emmanuel would have thine own Relics enshrined, so to receive the honour they deserve. O admirable imitator of the faith of the three Eastern Kings! present us to him, who deigned to be clothed in these humble garments. Ask him to give us a share of thy humility, which made thee love to kneel near his Crib—of thy devotion for the Feasts of the Church—of thy zeal for the glory of his divine Majesty—and of the courage and earnestness wherewith thou didst labour to spread his Kingdom on earth.
Oh! pray for our Europe, which was once so happy under thy paternal rule, and is now divided against itself. The Empire, which the Church confided to thy care, has now fallen, in just punishment for its treachery to the Church that gave it existence. The nations of that fallen Empire are now restless and unhappy. The Church alone can satisfy their wants, for she alone can give them Faith; she alone has not changed the principles of justice; she alone can control power, and teach subjects obedience. Oh! pray that nations, both people and their governments, may return to what can alone give them liberty and security, and cease to seek these blessings by revolution and discord. Protect France, that fairest gem of thy crown, protect her with an especial love, and show her that thou art ever her King and her Father. Finally, O blessed Charlemagne! ask our God that he arrest the progress of Russia, the Empire of schism and tyranny, and never permit that we become a prey to its intrigue and ambition.
[1] “Charlemagne was valiant, wise, and moderate; he was a warrior without ambition, and led an exemplary life. This I say, notwithstanding the reproaches heaped upon him by ignorance, in times past. His prodigious conquests caused the kingdom of God to be spread, and, in everything he did, he showed himself to be a perfect Christian.” Sermon on the Unity of the Church.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
FIVE days after the martyrdom of the Virgin Emerentiana, the parents of the glorious Saint Agnes visited the tomb of their child, during the night, there to weep and pray. It was the eighth day since her martyrdom. Whilst they were thinking upon the cruel death, which, though it had enriched their child with a Martyr's palm, had deprived them of her society, Agnes suddenly appeared to them: she was encircled with a bright light, and wore a crown on her head, and was surrounded by a choir of virgins of dazzling beauty. On her right hand there stood a beautiful white lamb, the emblem of the Divine Spouse of Agnes.
Turning towards her parents, she said to them: 'Weep not over my death: for I am now in heaven, together with these virgins, living with him whom I loved on earth with my whole soul.'
It is to commemorate this glorious apparition that the holy Church has instituted this Feast, which is called Saint Agnes' Second Feast (Sanctœ Agnetis secundo). Let us pray to this fervent spouse of the Divine Lamb, that she intercede for us with him, and present us to him in this life, until it be given to us to possess him face to face in heaven. Let us unite with the Church in the following Prayer, which she uses in today's Office:
Ant. Stans a dextris ejus Agnus nive candidior, Christus sibi Sponsam et Martyrem consecravit.
℣. Specie tua, et pulchritudine tua.
℟. Intende, prospere procede et regna.
Oremus
Deus qui nos annua beatæ Agnetis Virginis et Martyris tuæ solemnitate lætificas: da quæsumus, ut quam veneramur officio, etiam piæ conversationis sequamur exemplo. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.
Amen.
Ant. Standing at her right hand as a Lamb whiter than snow, Christ consecrated her to himself as his Spouse and Martyr.
℣. With thy comeliness and thy beauty.
℟. Set out, proceed prosperously, and reign.
Let us Pray
O God, who rejoicest us by the yearly solemnity of blessed Agnes, the Virgin and Martyr: grant, we beseech thee, that we may imitate her life to whose memory we pay this honour. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.