Friday, December 31, 2021

How to make a really good beginning

Truly, matters in the world are in a bad state;
but if you and I begin in earnest to reform ourselves,
a really good beginning will have been made.

St. Peter of Alcantara

Tomorrow is First Saturday

The Five First Saturdays Devotion

The Five First Saturdays devotion is one of the principal points of the Fatima message. It centers on the urgent need for mankind to offer reparation and expiate for the many injuries that the Immaculate Heart of Mary suffers from the hands of both impious and indifferent men.

On the First Saturday during 5 Consecutive Months, the Devotion consists of:

Going to Confession,
Receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion,
Saying five decades of the Rosary,
Meditating for 15 minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary.

All this offered in REPARATION for the sins of blasphemy and ingratitude committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Click below and print your 2022 Five First Saturday Devotion Calendar. Print double sided and fold it in half to create a "Tent Calendar"

2022 Five First Saturday Devotion Calendar

History

During the third apparition on July 13, 1917, Our Lady revealed that she would come to ask for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart and for the Communion of Reparation of the Five First Saturdays. Consequently, she asked for the devotion in 1925 and the consecration in 1929.

"Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother which is covered with thorns with which ingrate men pierce it at every moment with no one to make an act of reparation to pull them out."

While staying at the House of the Dorothean Sister in Pontevedra, Portugal, Sister Lucia received a vision on December 10, 1925 where the Blessed Mother appeared alongside a Boy who stood over a luminous cloud. Our Lady rested one hand on the Boy’s shoulder while she held on the other hand a heart pierced with thorns around it.

Sister Lucia heard the Boy say, "Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother which is covered with thorns with which ingrate men pierce it at every moment with no one to make an act of reparation to pull them out."

Our Lady expressed her request in the following words,

"See, my daughter, My Heart surrounded with thorns with which ingrates pierce me at every moment with blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, make sure to console me and announce that all those who for five months, on the first Saturdays, go to confession, receive Communion, say five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for 15 minutes meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the purpose of making reparation to Me, I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls."
— Our Lady, December 10, 1925

A few days afterward, Sister Lucia detailed this vision in a letter addressed to Monsignor Manuel Pereira Lopes, her confessor when she resided in the Asylum of Vilar in the city of Oporto, Portugal.

Why Five Saturdays?

Sister Lucia’s confessor questioned her about the reason for the five Saturdays asking why not seven or nine. She answered him in a letter dated June 12, 1930. In it she related about a vision she had of Our Lord while staying in the convent chapel part of the night of the twenty-ninth to the thirtieth of the month of May, 1930. The reasons Our Lord gave were as follows:

The five first Saturdays correspond to the five kinds of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They are:

Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception
Blasphemies against her virginity
Blasphemies against her divine maternity, at the same time the refusal to accept her as the Mother of all men
Instilling indifference, scorn and even hatred towards this Immaculate Mother in the hearts of children
Direct insults against Her sacred images

Let us keep the above reasons firmly in our minds. Devotions have intentions attached to them and knowing them adds merit and weight to the practice.

Modifications to the Five First Saturdays Devotion to facilitate its observation

The original request of Our Lady asks one to confess and receive Communion on five consecutive first Saturdays; to say five decades of the Rosary; to meditate during 15 minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary for the purpose of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in reparation for the sins of men.

In subsequent private visions and apparitions however, Sister Lucia presented to Our Lord the difficulties that devotees encountered in fulfilling some conditions. With loving condescension and solicitude, Our Lord deigned to relax the rules to make this devotion easy to observe:

Confession may be done on other days other than the First Saturdays so long as one receives Our Lord worthily and has the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Even if one forgets to make the intention, it may be done on the next confession, taking advantage of the first occasion to go to confession.
Sister Lucia also clarified that it is not necessary to meditate on ALL mysteries of the Rosary on each First Saturdays. One or several suffice.

With much latitude granted by Our Lord Himself, there is no reason for the faithful to hesitate or delay this pious practice in the spirit of reparation which the Immaculate Heart of Mary urgently asks.

This devotion is so necessary in our days

The culture of vice and sin remains unabated even as one reads this. Abortion, blasphemy, drug abuse, pornography, divorce and bad marriages, religious indifference, the advances of the homosexual agenda and others are just some of society’s many plagues that cut deeply into the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

We must console Our Lady amidst all these insults and injuries to her and her Divine Son. She asks for reparation, she pleads for our prayers, she hopes for our amendment of life. Let us listen to her maternal pleas and atone for the ingratitude of men.

The First Five Saturdays devotion stimulates the spirit of reparation; it instills a tender love for the Holy Sacraments of Confession and the Blessed Eucharist. It nurtures a holy affection for the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Rosary. Above all, it is an excellent means to maintain one in the state of grace while immersed in the daily spiritual battles and prosaic existence in the neo-pagan world that we live in.

Let us not delay in observing this devotion for it too gives us hope for eternal salvation.

Print this devotion

REFERENCE:

Solimeo, Luiz Sergio: Fatima, A Message More Urgent than Ever
(Spring Grove, PA: The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property-TFP, 2008.)

Pope Saint Sylvester I

Feast December 31

Little is historically known about Pope Sylvester, though legend adds a few anecdotes.

It is known that his father was a Roman by name of Rufinus. He succeeded Pope Miltiades in 314 and reigned for twenty-one years.

With Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313, Christianity was finally granted freedom. Legend has it, that having contracted leprosy, Emperor Constantine was healed after receiving baptism at the hand of St. Sylvester, and that afterwards, he made many gifts to the Church.

In any case, with the Edict of Milan, things certainly became easier for the Church.

It was during the reign of St. Sylvester that several great basilicas were built by Constantine: The Lateran, Santa Croce, St. Peter in the Vatican, and several cemetery churches over the graves of the martyrs. No doubt, St. Sylvester was involved in the construction of these churches.

St. Sylvester also contributed to the development of the Roman liturgy, and it was during his reign that the first martyrology was drawn up. Sylvester also established a Roman school of singing, and built a church over the Catacomb of St. Priscilla.

Pope Sylvester took part in the Council of Nicaea at which the heresy of Arianism was condemned. He also sent legates to the First Ecumenical Council.

St. Sylvester died possibly on December 31 or was buried on that day of the year 335. At first buried in the church of St. Priscilla, his relics now rest in the church of English Catholics in Rome.

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Satisfy your longings

You have everything when you have within you the One who made all things,
the only One who can satisfy the longings of your spirit.

St. Anthony of Padua

Saint Egwin of Worcester

Feast December 30

Egwin of Worcester was of a noble family, possibly a descendant of the Mercian kings.

Image: Large stone clock tower of Evesham Abbey, founded by St. Egwin — Photo by: Oosoom

Devoted to God since his youth, he succeeded to the see of Worcester in 662.

Though a good bishop, protector of orphans and widows, and a fair judge, he incurred the animosity of people who resisted his insistent teaching on marital morality and clerical celibacy.

The resentment of some found its way to his ecclesiastical superiors, and Egwin undertook a pilgrimage to Rome to place his case before the Pope. One account relates that on crossing the Alps with a few companions, there was no water.

Parched, those who did not appreciate his sanctity, mockingly suggested that he ask for water, like Moses. But others, who knew him well, reverently beseeched him to, indeed, pray for water. As Egwin prostrated himself in prayer, a stream of crystalline water issued forth from a rock.

Image: Detail inside a church, tan and gold statue of five men seated in niches, one larger and more imposing than the others, probably St. Egwin.

Detail inside a church, tan and gold statue of five men seated in niches, one larger and more imposing than the others, probably St. Egwin. On his return to England, Egwin founded the famous abbey of Evesham under the patronage of Mary Most Holy.

Around 709, he again journeyed to Rome, this time in the company of Kings Cenred of Mercia, and Offa of the East Saxons, and received many privileges for his monastery from Pope Constantine.

In the tenth century Evesham became one of the great Benedictine abbeys of Medieval England.

St. Egwin died on December 30, 717 and was buried at the monastery he had founded.

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Pure, radiant, and useful

Mary is a most pure star, a most radiant star, and a most useful star.
She is a most pure star by living most purely;
a most radiant star by bringing forth Eternal Light;
a most useful star by directing us to the shores of our true home country.

St. Bonaventure

Saint Thomas Becket

Feast December 29

Also known as St. Thomas of Canterbury, he was born in London on December 21 about the year 1118. His parents had come from Normandy and settled in England some years previously. His early education at Merton Abbey was followed by further studies in Paris.

He initially employed himself in secretarial work, first with Sir Richer de l’Aigle and then with his kinsman, Osbert Huitdeniers, who was “Justiciar” of London. About the year 1141, he entered the service of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, and so won his master’s favor that he became the most trusted of all his clerks.

Theobald recognized his capacity and made use of him in many delicate negotiations. After studying civil and canon law at Bologna and Auxerre, the Archbishop ordained Thomas a deacon in 1154 and bestowed on him several preferments, the most important of which was the Archdeaconry of Canterbury.

When Henry II came to the throne upon the death of King Stephen, he took “Thomas of London”, as Becket was then most commonly called, for his chancellor, and in that office Thomas at the age of thirty-six became one of the most powerful subjects in Henry’s dominions. Although twelve years his junior, the sovereign “had but one heart and one mind” with his chancellor. Both had the prosperity of the kingdom deeply at heart and in many matters they saw eye to eye. The king’s imperial views and love of splendor were quite to the taste of his minister. When Thomas went to France in 1158 to negotiate a marriage treaty, he traveled with such pomp that the people said: “If this be only the chancellor what must be the glory of the king himself?”

Thomas took a leading role in most operations, be they civil or military. Deacon though he was, he unhorsed knights like the best of them and lead the most daring attacks in person. But although, as men then reported, “he put off the archdeacon”, in this and other ways, he was very far from assuming the licentious manners of those around him. No word was ever breathed against his personal purity. Foul conduct or foul speech, lying or unchastity were hateful to him, and on occasion he punished them severely.

He seems at all times to have had clear principles with regard to the claims of the Church, and even during this period of his chancellorship he more than once risked Henry’s grievous displeasure. But to the very limits of what his conscience permitted, Thomas identified himself with his master’s interests.

Archbishop Theobald died in 1161, and in the course of the next year Henry seems to have decided that it would be good policy to prepare the way for further schemes of reform by securing the advancement of his chancellor to the primacy. From the first Thomas drew back in alarm. “I know your plans for the Church,” he said, “you will assert claims which I, if I were archbishop, must needs oppose.” But Henry would not be denied, and Thomas at the instance of Cardinal Henry of Pisa, who urged it upon him as a service to religion, yielded in spite of his misgivings. He was ordained priest on Saturday in Whit Week and consecrated bishop the next day, Sunday, 3 June, 1162.

Consecration to Archbishop

A great change took place in the saint’s way of life after his consecration as archbishop. Even as chancellor he had practiced secret austerities, but now in view of the struggle he clearly saw before him he gave himself to fastings and disciplines, hair shirts, protracted vigils, and constant prayers.

St Thomas Becket confronts a nobelman — A Chronicle of England Page 167-Becket forbids the Earl of Leceister to pass sentence on him

Before the end of the year 1162 he stripped himself of all signs of the lavish display which he had previously affected. On August 10 he went barefoot to receive the envoy who brought him the pallium from Rome.

Contrary to the king’s wish he resigned the chancellorship. Whereupon Henry seems to have required him to surrender certain ecclesiastical preferments which he still retained, notably the archdeaconry, and when this was not done at once showed bitter displeasure.

Other misunderstandings soon followed. The archbishop, having, as he believed, the king’s express permission, set about to reclaim alienated estates belonging to his see, a procedure which again gave offence. Still more serious was the open resistance which he made to the king’s proposal that a voluntary offering to the sheriffs should be paid into the royal treasury.The saint’s protest seems to have been successful, but the relations with the king only grew more strained.

Soon after this the great matter of dispute was reached in the resistance made by Thomas to the king’s officials when they attempted to assert jurisdiction over criminous clerks. The saint himself had no wish to be lenient with criminous clerks. It was with him simply a question of principle. St. Thomas seems all along to have suspected Henry of a design to strike at the independence of what the king regarded as a too powerful Church. With this view Henry summoned the bishops at Westminster (1 October, 1163) to sanction certain as yet unspecified articles, one of the known objects of which was to bring clerics guilty of crimes under the jurisdiction of the secular courts. The other bishops, as the demand was still in the vague, showed a willingness to submit, though with the condition “saving our order”, upon which St. Thomas inflexibly insisted.

The king’s resentment was thereupon manifested by requiring the archbishop to surrender certain castles he had hitherto retained, and by other acts of unfriendliness. In deference to what he believed to be the pope’s wish, the archbishop in December consented to make some concessions by giving a personal and private undertaking to the king to obey his customs “loyally and in good faith”. But when Henry shortly afterwards at Clarendon sought to draw the saint on to a formal and public acceptance of the “Constitutions of Clarendon”, under which name the sixteen articles, the avitæ consuetudines as finally drafted, have been commonly known, St. Thomas, though at first yielding somewhat to the solicitations of the other bishops, in the end took up an attitude of uncompromising resistance.

Persecution

Then followed a period of unworthy and vindictive persecution. When opposing a claim made against him by John the Marshal, Thomas upon a frivolous pretext was found guilty of contempt of court. For this he was sentenced to pay £500; other demands for large sums of money followed, and finally, though a complete release of all claims against him as chancellor had been given on his becoming archbishop, he was required to render an account of nearly all the moneys which had passed through his hands in his discharge of the office. Eventually a sum of nearly £30,000 was demanded of him. His fellow bishops summoned by Henry to a council at Northampton, implored him to throw himself unreservedly upon the king’s mercy, but St. Thomas, instead of yielding, solemnly warned them and threatened them.

Then, after celebrating Mass, he took his archiepiscopal cross into his own hand and presented himself thus in the royal council chamber. The king demanded that sentence should be passed upon him, but in the confusion and discussion which ensued the saint with uplifted cross made his way through the mob of angry courtiers. He fled away secretly that night (October 13, 1164) sailed in disguise from Sandwich (November 2), and after being cordially welcomed by Louis VII of France, he threw himself at the feet of Pope Alexander III, then at Sens, on November 23.

The pope, who had given a cold reception to certain episcopal envoys sent by Henry, welcomed the saint very kindly, and refused to accept his resignation of his see. On November 30, Thomas went to take up his residence at the Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny in Burgundy, though he was compelled to leave this refuge a year later, as Henry, after confiscating the archbishop’s property and banishing all the Becket kinsfolk, threatened to wreak his vengeance on the whole Cistercian Order if they continued to harbor him.

The negotiations between Henry, the pope, and the archbishop dragged on for the next four years without the position being sensibly changed. Although the saint remained firm in his resistance to the principle of the Constitutions of Clarendon, he was willing to make any concessions that could be reasonably asked of him, and on January 6, 1169, when the kings of England and France were in conference at Montmirail, he threw himself at Henry’s feet, but as he still refused to accept the obnoxious customs, Henry repulsed him.

Reconciliation and Death

At last in 1170 some sort of reconciliation was patched up. The question of the customs was not mentioned and Henry professed himself willing to be guided by the archbishop’s council as to amends due to the See of Canterbury for the recent violation of its rights in the crowning of Henry’s son by the Archbishop of York.

On December 1, 1170, St. Thomas had brought with him, as well as over the restoration by the de Broc family of the archbishop’s castle at Saltwood. How far Henry was directly responsible for the tragedy which soon after occurred on December 20 is not quite clear.

Four knights who came from France demanded the absolution of the bishops. St. Thomas would not comply. They left for a space, but came back at Vesper time with a band of armed men. To their angry question, “Where is the traitor?” the saint boldly replied, “Here I am, no traitor, but archbishop and priest of God.” They tried to drag him from the church, but were unable, and in the end they slew him where he stood, scattering his brains on the pavement. His faithful companion, Edward Grim, who bore his cross, was wounded in the struggle.

A tremendous reaction of feeling followed this deed of blood. In an extraordinary brief space of time devotion to the martyred archbishop had spread all through Europe.

*Header Image: The Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Day by day He comes to us personally in this lowly form

… day after day He humbles Himself,
as when He came down from His royal throne into the Virgin’s womb.
Day by day He comes to us personally in this lowly form.
Daily He comes down from the bosom of His Father, onto the altar, into
the hands of the priest.

St. Francis of Assisi

Feast of the Holy Innocents

Feast December 28

Image: women clinging to their babies as Harod's men kill them. Above angels appear to be gathering wheat, indicating the gathering of their souls to await Christ in limbo..

When the Magi arrived in Judea seeking the newborn “king of the Jews” (Matt. 2:1-2), King Herod was worried.

After ascertaining in Scriptures that Bethlehem was the likely birthplace of the Child, he met with the Wise Men. The crafty king bid them go to the town of Bethlehem and bring him back details so he could also adore the new king.

But God Who sees into the hearts of men, warned the three Magi in a dream not to return by way of King Herod. Far from wishing to adore Christ Jesus, the tetrarch wished to destroy Him.

Realizing that he had been found out, Herod raged and ordered all little boys, two years of age and under, to be slaughtered in Bethlehem and its surroundings, hoping thus to also destroy the Child Jesus.

But warned in time by an angel, St. Joseph had gathered the mother and child during the night and fled to Egypt.

Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of the Prophet Jeremiah:

Image: painting of a woman hiding with her child while another woman with a child is being chased by Harod's men.

“A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning, Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” (Matt.2:17-18).

The Church considers those slaughtered babes, the first martyrs, since they shed their blood because of Christ.

The Church officially honors their martyrdom on December 28.

Several churches in Rome and throughout Europe claim to house their relics.

Monday, December 27, 2021

What burns within me?

I would wield the sword, I would be a Priest,
an Apostle, a Martyr, a Doctor of the Church,
I would fain accomplish the most heroic deeds
— the spirit of the Crusader burns within me,
and I would gladly die on the battlefield in defense of the Church

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Saint John the Evangelist

Feast December 27

John was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and the brother of James the Greater. In the Gospels, the brothers are often called “the sons of Zebedee”. Our Lord also called them “Boanerges” or “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). The fact that John is usually mentioned after James seems to indicate that he was younger than his brother.

Originally, John fished with his father and brother in the lake of Genezareth. He was probably among the disciples of John the Baptist, when the Lord attached him to His apostolic college.

John is mentioned numerous times in the Scriptures, in Acts 1:13 as second after Peter. He seems to hold a prominent position among the apostles. Peter, James and he were the only witnesses to the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37), of the Transfiguration (Matt.17:1), and of the Agony in the Garden (Matt.26:37).

At the Last Supper, he was the one that leaned his head on the Lord’s chest. According to pious tradition and private revelation, he was the first recipient of the devotion to Our Lord’s Most Sacred Heart.

Of all the apostles, John was the only one that was not married, and a virgin.

At the foot of the cross, he was the only one of the apostles standing with Mary Most Holy, and it was to him that the dying Savior entrusted His beloved Mother’s keeping and protection.

After the Lord’s death, John seems to have labored with the other apostles for several years in Palestine until the persecution of Herod Agrippa led to the scattering of the apostles throughout the Roman Empire. John went to Asia Minor, including to Ephesus, where a pious tradition holds that he took the Blessed Mother to live.

One of the four evangelists, St. John is the author of the fourth and last Gospel. He wrote the Apocalypse on the Island of Patmos and was the only apostle not to suffer martyrdom but to die of natural causes around the age of 100.

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Our best Friend

To withdraw from creatures and repose with Jesus in the Tabernacle
is my delight; there I can hide myself and seek rest.
There I find a life which I cannot describe, a joy which I cannot make
others comprehend, a peace such as is found only under the
hospitable roof of our best Friend.

St. Ignatius Loyola

Saint Stephen Martyr

Feast December 26

Stephen was a Jew, possibly of the Hellenist Dispersion who, therefore, spoke Greek. His election and that of six other men as deacons is related in the Acts of the Apostles:

“And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost.”¹

Stephen spoke with such wisdom and fire that his listeners could not resist his words. Thus a plot was begun in certain synagogues against him. At first, they tried to debate with the young deacon but could not withstand his inspired logic. Wanting to silence him by any means, they then conspired to put him to death.

Brought before the Sanhedrim, he delivered a marvelous defense of the New Order established by Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Order (recorded at length in the Acts of the Apostles), and finished with the stinging words:

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you also. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them who foretold of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.”²

The whole assembly raged at Stephen, but he, full of the Holy Ghost, looked up and saw our Savior standing at the right hand of God the Father, and exclaimed:

“Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”³

At which words those assembled loudly protested, and stopping their ears, fell upon him and seized him. Dragging the deacon outside the city, they stoned him. Standing by, watching, was a man named Saul, and those hurling the stones laid their cloaks at his feet for safe keeping.

As the martyr felt himself dying under the awful blows, he said:

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”⁴

And falling on his knees he cried out:

“Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”⁵

After which he fell asleep in the Lord. St. Stephen is the first to have shed his blood for the Name of Christ Jesus.

Notes:

1 Acts 6:5
2 Acts 7:51-54
3 Acts 7:55
4 Acts 7:58-59
5 Ibid.

Saturday, December 25, 2021

Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

On December 25 the Church celebrates the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity made man, Who taking flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit, was born nine months later in a stable in Bethlehem as predicted in the Scriptures: "And Thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity" (Micah, 5:2). The Gospels of St. Luke and St. Mathew cover the marvelous story. St. Luke writes of Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem for the census of Caesar Augustus and Jesus being born there and laid in a manger. He tells of the appearance of an angel to shepherds nearby announcing the birth of the Child as the awaited Savior, Christ the Lord, and how these same shepherds found Him in the humble stable just as the angel had foretold.

In the account of St. Matthew, wise men follow a mysterious star to Bethlehem and lay gifts at the feet of the Divine Child. He also recounts the massacre, ordered by the envious Herod, of all little boys two years old and under, and the flight of the holy family into Egypt to save the Child Jesus. They later settle in Nazareth.

Though there are records of the feast of the Nativity of Jesus being celebrated as early as the third century in Egypt, the celebration of this feast did not spread throughout the Christian world until the middle of the fourth century. It was at first celebrated along with the feast of Epiphany on January 6, the feast of the arrival of the Wise Men or Magi. Little by little, Christmas became its own feast. Many of the early Church Fathers regarded December 25 as the actual date of Christ’s birth.

Historically and traditionally, Christmas is deemed one of the greatest Christian feasts along with the solemn, grateful remembrance of the Lord’s death on Good Friday, and the joyful celebration of His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

In all Christian countries, Christmas gives rise to a multitude of cultural expressions of colorful, sparkling joy, in remembrance and thanksgiving for this most charming of divine gifts, a God made a babe for our salvation. Countless songs, and ballads through the ages sing of this Gift of gifts, and people, in turn, have recourse to gift giving as a visible overflow of their gratitude and joy – or so it should be.

Our Lord could have ordered the angels to embellish the Holy Grotto with the most delicate silks, the most aromatic perfumes, and the most celestial symphonies. He could have enjoyed every legitimate material delight from the first moment of His human life.

Instead, He chose the very opposite. His delicate body lay not on soft silk, but on coarse straw. His crib was a feeding trough which, however diligently scoured by Our Lady, did not exude the sweet smells of exquisite perfumes. Born at midnight in the middle of winter, the Holy Infant trembled in the cold night air, warmed only by the breath of beasts. His cradle song was the lowing of cows.

Thus, Our Lord Jesus Christ showed us how foolish it is to make this world’s delights the end of our lives. To the contrary, Christ taught us to disdain them for the glory of God and the good of souls, in the measure that they distract and even deviate us from our ultimate end — the eternal delight of unending life with Him.

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

Saint Anastasia

Feast December 25

Virgin and Martyr, Patron of people suffering from poison, martyrs and weavers

St. Anastasia, also known as Anastasia of Sirmium and Anastasia the "Deliverer from Potions," is a Christian virgin and martyr who suffered for Christ during the time of Diocletian's Christian persecutions.

She is one of the seven women commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. The insertion of her name into the Roman Canon of the Mass towards the end of the fifth century indicates that she then occupied a unique position among the saints publicly venerated in Rome. The legend of Saint Anastasia relates a story that transports us to the days of the early Christian Martyrs.

Exterior of the Church of St. Anastasia, Verona, Province of Verona, Region of Veneto, Italy.

Her father was a noble pagan named Praetextatus and her mother was St. Fausta of Sirmium. Fausta was a model mother having had the joys and challenges of raising a saintly daughter; she baptized her daughter secretly when still an infant and raised her with Christian values. St. Fausta is one of the 140 Colonnade saints which adorn St. Peter's Square. Her feast day is December 19.

Following the death of her mother, Anastasia's father gave her in marriage to the pagan Publius, but she preserved her virginity.

During the persecutions of Diocletian, Anastasia visited the prisons and cared for the confessors of faith. She would feed, doctor and ransom suffering captives. Little did she know she had an “informer” in her midst. Anastasia's servant informed Publius; he locked her up and beat her.

Anastasia began secretly corresponding with her adviser, St. Chrysogonus, who had gone to Aquileia. He told her to be brave, be patient and accept the Lord's will.

God’s will was in her favor; her abusive husband died while he was on embassy to Persia. Immediately upon receiving the news, St. Anastasia distributed her property to those less fortunate. She then set off to follow St. Chrysogonus to Aquileia.

Sketch of the martyrdom of St. Chrysogonus by Jacques Callot (c. 1592 – 1635), a baroque printmaker and draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine.

Never renouncing his faith, Chrysogonus was personally interrogated by Diocletian, was then ordered to be beheaded and thrown into the sea.

After his death, Chrysogonus appeared to Zoilus and foretold the martyrdoms of three sisters named Agape, Chione and Irene. He asked Zoilus to send Anastasia to the three sisters as encouragement. Nine days later, Anastasia visited the sisters just before they were tortured. After they were martyred, Anastasia buried them.

Anastasia spent her time traveling from city to city caring for Christian prisoners. She healed their wounds and relieved their pain. She was given the title "Deliverer from Potions," because she would often heal many from the effects of poison.

Anastasia was arrested in Illyricum and taken to the prefect of the district for being Christian. He tried to persuade her to deny her faith and threatened her with torture. Anastasia could not be swayed, so she was given to the pagan priest Ulpian in Rome.

He presented her with the choice between riches or suffering, luxuries or torture devices. She chose torture. Enamored by her beauty, Ulpian decided he would defile her purity. However, God willed that this virgin remain spotless. Just as the filthy pagan touched her, he was struck blind and his head burst with extreme pain. On his way to his pagan temple, he fell and died.

Giovanni da Milano. Choir of Virgins, Choir of Martyrs.

St. Anastasia, now free, set out to continue caring for imprisoned Christians, along with Theodota, a pious young widow and faithful helper. After Theodota was martyred, Anastasia was caught once again. She was sentenced to death by starvation and was starved for 60 days. But Anastasia was not harmed! It is believed that the martyred Theodota visited her and fed her during this time.

The judge decided Anastasia and her fellow captives would be killed by drowning. They all entered a boat with holes in the base, but St. Theodota again appeared to them, steering the boat to shore. Once they landed, Anastasia and a fellow Christian baptized 120 men.

Finally, Anastasia was taken to the island of Palmaria. She was staked to the ground with her arms and legs stretched out and burned alive.

Nave of the Church of St. Anastasia, Verona, Province of Verona, Region of Veneto, Italy.

St. Anastasia's relics were taken to Constantinople, where a church was dedicated to her. According to tradition, St. Donatus of Zadar brought Anastasia's relics to Zadar from Constantinople, when he was there with the Venetian duke Beato. They had been ordered by Charlemagne to negotiate the border between the Byzantine Empire and the Croatian territories that were under the dominion of Charlemagne's Frankish Empire.

Commemoration of St. Anastasia occurs liturgically in the second Mass on Christmas Day, and is the last remnant of the former prominence enjoyed by this saint and her cult in the life of Christian Rome.

Friday, December 24, 2021

Why did He come so humbly?

The Son of God was not satisfied with promising to redeem us or with becoming Man.
But He willed to come into this world in a manner not at all consistent with His grandeur.
He came as humbly as can be imagined so that we might be more free to approach Him.

St. Louise de Marillac

Saints Irmina and Adela

Feast December 24

Princesses, Sisters, Foundresses

Princesses Irmina and Adela were daughters of St. Dagobert II, King of the Francs. Their father had acceded to the throne at the age of seven but had been deposed soon after and had fled to Ireland for safety.

During his exile he married the Anglo-Saxon princess, Matilda, and had five children, among them Adela and Irmina. He returned to the Frankish capital of Metz in 673 and reclaimed the throne.

Irmina was betrothed to Count Herman but he was assassinated shortly before they were to marry and she professed her desire to embrace the religious life instead. King Dagobert restored a convent at Horren in Trier where she founded a Benedictine community.

When a deadly plague threatened her sisters, she sought the help of St. Willibrord. In gratitude for being preserved from this pestilence, she provided the manor where the monastery of Echternach was founded in 698.

Her devotion to the poor led to her being honored as a saint after her death in the year 710.

Her sister, Adela, was married to Alberic and they had a son prior to her husband’s untimely death. Despite many marriage offers, the young widow chose to enter religion as well. She founded the convent of Palatiolum outside of Trier on lands that were then undeveloped and governed it as Abbess for many years until her death on December 24, 735.

The monastic site later grew into the town of Pfalzel. Her son became the future father of St. Gregory of Utrecht.

The memory of the two royal sisters and foundresses is celebrated jointly on December 24.

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

How to be holy

Holiness is a disposition of the heart
that makes us humble and little in the arms of God,
aware of our weakness, and confident
– to the point of audacity –
in His Fatherly goodness.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Saints Chaeremon, Ischyrion and Other Martyrs

Feast December 22

In his letter to Fabian, the Bishop of Antioch, St. Dionysius of Alexandria speaks of Christians who suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Decius.

Many were driven to flee into the desert where they suffered hunger, exposure, and died prey to either wild beasts, or at the hand of men just as wild. A good number were also sold into slavery.

St. Dionysius particularly mentions a very old man, the Bishop of Nilopolis, by name of Chaeremon who, with a companion, disappeared into the mountains of Arabia.

Though a search was carried out, not even their bodies were found.

In the same letter St. Dionysius also mentions the name of Ischyrion, the procurator of a magistrate of Egypt.

When ordered by the Egyptian official to sacrifice to the idols, Ischyrion refused so steadfastly that neither abuse nor threats could make him change his mind.

The enraged magistrate then had him mutilated and impaled.

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Jesus wishes to remain completely united with us

Could anyone ever have been able to imagine that the Word become flesh
would take on the appearance of bread to become our food unless He Himself had already done so?
Even though we cannot see Him in the Eucharist, He sees us and is really present there.
He is present so that we can possess Him, but hidden in order that we might desire Him.
Until such time as we come to our homeland, Jesus wishes to give Himself completely to us
and to remain completely united with us.

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Saint Peter Canisius

Feast December 21

St. Peter Canisius is rightly considered the second apostle of Germany after St. Boniface.

Peter Kanis – his name was later Latinized to “Canisius” – was born in Nijmegen, Holland, then a German province of the archdiocese of Cologne. He originally thought of becoming a lawyer to please his father, a wealthy public official, but after a retreat directed by St. Peter Faber, one of the first companions of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the young Canisius decided to become a Jesuit.

Shortly after his ordination to the priesthood, he accompanied the Bishop of Augsburg to the Council of Trent and attended two sessions of the Council as a delegate. He was later summoned to Rome by St. Ignatius who retained him by his side for five months.

In response to an appeal by Duke William IV of Bavaria for Catholic professors capable of countering heretical teachings then permeating the schools, after his solemn profession, Peter Canisius was sent to Germany with two other brother Jesuits.

From then on Peter Canisius spent his life helping people in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia and Switzerland to hold firmly to their Catholic Faith in opposition to the errors of the Protestant reformation then spreading throughout those countries. The restoration of the Catholic Faith in Germany is largely due to the work of the Jesuit fathers which Canisius led.

He combined powerful preaching, with teaching and ceaseless works of charity.

In Austria, he at first preached to almost empty churches, partially due to his Rhineland German which grated on the ears of the Viennese. But his tireless ministrations to the sick and dying during an outbreak of the plague, won the citizens’ hearts, after which his accent was of little importance.

The king, the nuncio and even the Pope wished to appoint him to the vacant see of Vienna, but St. Ignatius would only allow him to administer the diocese for a year without episcopal orders. It was at this time that St. Peter began work on his famous catechism, Summary of Christian Doctrine.

Appointed to Prague, he practically won the city back to the Faith. The college he established in the city was so highly regarded for its excellent academics that even Protestants sought to send their sons to it. During this time he was also made Provincial Superior of the Jesuit Order for an area covering Czechoslovakia, South Germany, Austria and Bohemia.

Not only did Peter Canisius found several colleges, but prepared the way for many others. He also wrote extensively throughout his life. His books were catechetical, instructional, historical and apologetic, refuting the errors of Protestantism.

Canisius was already advanced in age when he was instructed to found a college in Fribourg, Switzerland, capital of the Catholic canton, sandwiched between two powerful Protestant neighbors. Surmounting all obstacles, including numerous financial difficulties, St. Peter founded a university operative to this day. The preservation of the Catholic faith in Fribourg in a critical time of its history can be confidently attributed to him.

Increasing bodily illness obliged Peter Canisius to give up preaching. In 1591 he suffered a paralytic seizure which brought him near death, but recovering sufficiently, he continued writing with the help of a secretary until shortly before his passing on December 21, 1597.

Peter Canisius was simultaneously canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

Monday, December 20, 2021

What makes me afraid?

I am afraid that if we begin to put our trust in human help,
some of our Divine help will fail us.

St. Teresa of Avila

Saint Dominic de Silos

Feast December 20

Dominic was born at Canas de Navarre, on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. From a family of peasants, at first he looked after his father’s flocks in the foothills of the beautiful mountains of that region.

Developing a taste for silence and solitude, he entered the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla. As he made great progress in the religious state, he was entrusted with works of reform and became prior of his monastery.

Refusing to hand over to King Garcia III of Navarre some of the monastery’s lands which the monarch coveted, he and two of his companions were forced into exile by the king.

They were warmly received by Ferdinand I of Castille and León who entrusted to Dominic the monastery of San Sebastián de Silos, in a remote part of the diocese of Burgos.

The ancient Benedictine monastery, however, was decaying – structurally and spiritually.

As Abbot of San Sebastian, Dominic restored order to both the physical structure of the edifice and the spiritual edifice of the souls within, and made Silos famous throughout Spain.

Dominic was a great miracle worker, and it was said that there was no disease that he had not, at one time or another, cured.

His charitable solicitude embraced not only the poor and the infirm but Christians enslaved by the Moors. These he endeavored by all means within his powers to free from their cruel captivity.

About one hundred year after his death, a young woman, Blessed Juana de Aza de Guzmán, made a pilgrimage to his tomb, asking to conceive a child. The child she effectually conceived and bore, she named Dominic after the holy abbot of Silos. This Dominic became the great St. Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order.

Dominic of Silos died on December 20, 1073.

Sunday, December 19, 2021

When the heart is pure...

When the heart is pure, it cannot help loving,
because it has found the source of love,
which is God Himself.

St. John Vianney

Pope Saint Anastasius I

Pope St. Anastasius I

Feast December 19

St. Jerome wrote of Pope Anastasius that he was a distinguished man of blameless life and apostolic solicitude, a man of great holiness, rich in his poverty.

Born a Roman, son of Maximus, Anastasius was the successor of St. Siricius, and was pope from 399 to 401.

During his short reign, he fought the heresy of Origen. In 400 he called a Council to discuss the man and his doctrines. The Council condemned Origin’s errors.

He also opposed Donatism, another heresy in Northern Africa.

Sts. Jerome, Augustine and Paulinus, were his friends and admirers.

Friday, December 17, 2021

Novena to the Holy Family

Pray for Nine Days Leading up to the Feast of the Holy Family

The Feast of the Holy Family is the Sunday between Christmas and New Years. If Christmas falls on a Sunday, this feast is celebrated on December 30th.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of loving Holy Church, as we are bound to do, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing forth our love by the witness of our deeds.