Forty-three years ago in Boston...

On October 1, 1979, I was standing on the Boston Common with about 600,000 others. I was a young Episcopal cleric at the time. A Catholic priest friend of mine had encouraged me to go to Boston where Pope John Paul II would be visiting and saying Mass, so I took the train from Providence, Rhode Island, very early in the morning. It was packed with people making the same journey for the same purpose: to take part in the Mass which the Pope would be offering on the Common.

It rained for most of the day, and I was standing in it with no umbrella. An excited community of religious sisters was in front of me, screaming their heads off and waving their signs to no one in particular. I didn't know a single person around me, and after standing in the mud and rain for nearly seven hours, I couldn't imagine ever doing anything like this again.

But then... the Pope arrived. The Mass started. The memory of the long and uncomfortable wait we'd had melted away. I didn't hear anything but his voice.

When he began his sermon, my heart was ready. And when he repeated, "Follow Christ!" that's all I wanted to do, more deeply than ever before. So I made my decision then and there. I would become a Catholic. I didn't know how, and I didn't know when, but for me, to follow Christ meant that I had to become a Catholic.

Little did I know at the time that I was listening to a saint, who would not only welcome me along with my family into the Catholic Church, but who would also allow me to become a Catholic priest. I thank God every day that I heard his words, and that the Holy Spirit urged me to respond.

Follow Christ. No matter where He leads.

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus

Marie Thérèse Martin was born into a family of very faithful Catholics, and she was the youngest of five daughters. Her father was a watchmaker, and her mother, Zelie, who died when Thérèse was four, was a lace maker.  While still a child she felt the attraction of the cloister, and at fifteen obtained permission to enter the Carmel of Lisieux, taking the name of Sr. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. 

For the next nine years she lived a very ordinary religious life. There are no miracles or exceptional experiences recorded about her during her lifetime. She attained a very high degree of holiness simply by carrying out her ordinary daily duties with perfect faithfulness, having a childlike confidence in God's providence and merciful love and by being ready to be at the service of others at all times. She also had a great love of the Church and a zeal for the conversion of souls, and she prayed especially for priests.

She died of tuberculosis on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24, and was canonized in 1925. She has never ceased to fulfill her promise: "I will pass my heaven in doing good on earth." Her interior life is known through her autobiography called The Story of a Soul.  In 1997 Pope St. John Paul II declared her to be a Doctor of the Church.

O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast said, except ye become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven: grant us, we beseech thee, in meekness and lowliness of heart to follow the footsteps of blessed Thérèse thy Virgin; and so at last to come unto thine everlasting kingdom; who livest and reignest with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Jerome just being candid...

St. Jerome - a brilliant scholar and devoted saint - was a man who would not have been known for having social grace. In fact, it's just as well he lived alone in a cave in Bethlehem.

Loner though he was, nonetheless he did venture out amongst people from time to time, and he usually had penetrating observations about the experience, to wit:

On the study of the Hebrew language, oblivious to his insult to a whole people, he wrote, “From the judicious precepts of Quintilian, the rich and fluent eloquence of Cicero, the graver style of Fronto, and the smoothness of Pliny, I turned to this language of hissing and broken-winded words.”

On worldly women, he railed against those who “paint their cheeks with rouge and their eyelids with antimony, whose plastered faces, too white for human beings, look like idols; and if in a moment of forgetfulness they shed a tear it makes a furrow where it rolls down the painted cheek; women to whom years do not bring the gravity of age, who load their heads with other people's hair, enamel a lost youth upon the wrinkles of age, and affect a maidenly timidity in the midst of a troop of grandchildren.”

Even the clergy of Rome didn’t get a break. He said, “All their anxiety is about their clothes.... You would take them for bridegrooms rather than for clerics; all they think about is knowing the names and houses and doings of rich ladies.”

It's little wonder he ended up living in a cave.

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Pictured: Altar in St. Jerome's Cave, 

where we have offered Mass when on pilgrimage.

St. Jerome, Priest and Doctor

Saints are usually remembered for some outstanding virtue or devotion which they practiced, and St. Jerome certainly had many qualities which can lead to holiness, but by his own admission he suffered also from being ill-tempered at times. 

Although he could be scathing in his assessment of others, his love for God was extraordinarily intense. Some of St. Jerome’s reputation for impatience with others was because he considered that anyone who taught error was an enemy of God and truth, and he went after such a person with his mighty and sometimes sarcastic pen.

He was above all a Scripture scholar, translating most of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. He also wrote commentaries which are a great source of scriptural inspiration for us today. He was an avid student, a thorough scholar, a prodigious letter-writer and a consultant to monk, bishop, and pope. St. Augustine said of him, "What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known."

His love for scripture led him to the Holy Land because of his desire to see and pray in the places of scripture. It was there that he began work on his greatest achievement, which was the Latin Vulgate version of the scriptures.

He took up residence in Bethlehem, and the cave in which he lived was near the cave in which Jesus was born. It was where he studied and worked for many years, eventually dying there. His body is now in St. Mary Major in Rome.

O God, who hast given us the holy Scriptures for a light to shine upon our path: grant us, after the example of thy servant Saint Jerome and assisted by his prayers, so to learn of thee according to thy holy Word; that we may find in it the light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen. 

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Painting: "St. Jerome" by Jan Massys (1509-1575)

Ss. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels

O Everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order: mercifully grant that as thy holy Angels alway do thee service in heaven; so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Angels are pure, created spirits. The name angel means servant or messenger of God. Angels are celestial or heavenly beings, on a higher order than human beings. Angels have no bodies and do not depend on matter for their existence or activity. They are distinct from saints, which men can become. Angels have intellect and will, and are immortal. They are a vast multitude, but each is an individual person. Archangels are one of the nine choirs of angels listed in the Bible. In ascending order, the choirs or classes are 1) Angels, 2) Archangels, 3) Principalities, 4) Powers, 5) Virtues, 6) Dominations, 7) Thrones, 8) Cherubim, and 9) Seraphim.

St. Michael
The name of the archangel Michael means, in Hebrew, “who is like unto God?” and he is also known as "the prince of the heavenly host." He is usually pictured as a strong warrior, dressed in armor. His name appears in Scripture four times, twice in the Book of Daniel, and once each in the Epistle of St. Jude and the Book of Revelation. From Revelation we learn of the battle in heaven, with St. Michael and his angels combatting Lucifer and the other fallen angels (or devils). We invoke St. Michael to help us in our fight against Satan; to rescue souls from Satan, especially at the hour of death; to be the champion of the Jews in the Old Testament and now Christians; and to bring souls to judgment.


St. Gabriel
St. Gabriel's name means "God is my strength". Biblically he appears three times as a messenger. He had been sent to Daniel to explain a vision concerning the Messiah. He appeared to Zachariah when he was offering incense in the Temple, to foretell the birth of his son, St. John the Baptist. St. Gabriel is most known as the angel chosen by God to be the messenger of the Annunciation, to announce to mankind the mystery of the Incarnation. The angel's salutation to our Lady, so simple and yet so full of meaning, “Hail Mary, full of grace,” has become the constant and familiar prayer of all Christian people.


St. Raphael
Our knowledge of the Archangel Raphael comes to us from the book of Tobit. His mission as wonderful healer and fellow traveler with the youthful Tobias has caused him to be invoked for journeys and at critical moments in life. Tradition also holds that Raphael is the angel that stirred the waters at the healing sheep pool in Bethesda. "God has healed" is the meaning of his name.

St. Lawrence Ruiz and Companions

The mixed-race child of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, Lawrence Ruiz grew up in Manila and married a local Catholic girl. They had three children, and lived a simple life on his modest salary as a clerk working for the local parish. What they lacked in material things they more than made up for in their deep Catholic faith. Living something of an anonymous life, known only to their immediate circle of family and friends, life was good but not extraordinary. That is, not until a false accusation was made. And then, life as Lawrence Ruiz and his wife knew it, no longer existed. Everything was turned upside down as he made the nearly-impossible decision to run from his accusers. He was completely innocent, but he paid a very heavy price, which involved leaving his beloved wife and children and the only home he knew.

Lawrence made his way to a ship which was headed for Japan, and his travelling companions were three Dominican priests, a Japanese priest, and a layman who suffered from leprosy. They arrived in Okinawa and made no secret of their Catholic faith. And for that, they were arrested and tortured mercilessly. They were dragged off to Nagasaki, where further sport was made of Lawrence and the others, in an attempt to get them to deny Christ. They remained steadfast in professing their love for God and His Church. Lawrence had already had a false accusation made against him, but this accusation - that he was a Catholic - was an accusation he was happy to confirm, no matter what the consequences. And the consequences were brutal. He and his companions were hung upside down while having heavy stones tied to them; they were held under water until the moment before they would drown; they had wood splinters driven under their fingernails. But through it all, their hearts were filled with love for God and forgiveness for their persecutors.

When they finally died from their tortures, the bodies of Lawrence and his companions were burned and the ashes were thrown into the sea. Their faithful witness, however, fed that great burning fire of God's love, which continues to burn to this day.

Grant us, we pray, Lord God, the same perseverance shown by thy Martyrs Saint Lawrence Ruiz and his Companions in serving thee and their neighbour: even as those persecuted for the sake of righteousness are blessed in thy kingdom; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Wenceslaus, King and Martyr

St. Wenceslaus, duke of Bohemia, was born about the year 907 at Prague, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). His father was killed in battle when he was young, leaving the kingdom to be ruled by his pagan mother. Wenceslaus was educated by his grandmother, Ludmilla, also a saint. She taught him to be a Christian and to be a good king. She was killed by pagan nobles before she saw him king, but she left him with a deep commitment to the Christian faith.

Throughout his life he lived as a completely faithful Catholic. As duke he was a father to his subjects, generous toward orphans, widows, and the poor. He himself frequently carried wood to the houses of the needy. He often attended the funerals of the poor.  He ransomed captives, and visited those suffering in prison. He was filled with a deep reverence toward the clergy. With his own hands he planted the wheat for making altar breads and pressed the grapes for the wine used in the Mass. During winter he would visit the churches barefoot through snow and ice, frequently leaving behind bloody footprints.

Wenceslaus was eighteen years old when he succeeded his father to the throne. Without regard for the opposition, he worked in close cooperation with the Church to convert his pagan country. He ended the persecution of Christians, built churches and brought back exiled priests. As king he gave an example of a devout life and of great Christian charity, with his people calling him "Good King" of Bohemia.

His brother Boleslaus, however, turned to paganism. One day he invited Wenceslaus to his house for a banquet. The next morning, on September 28, 929, as Wenceslaus was on the way to Mass, Boleslaus struck him down at the door of the church. Before he died, Wenceslaus forgave his brother and asked God's mercy for his soul. Although he was killed for political reasons, he is listed as a martyr since the dispute arose over his faith. This king, martyred at the age of twenty-two, is the national hero and patron of the Czech Republic. He is the first Slav to be canonized.

O God, who through the victory of martyrdom didst exalt thy blessed Saint Wenceslaus from his earthy principality to the glory of thy heavenly kingdom: we pray thee, at his intercession, to defend us against all adversities; and to suffer us to rejoice in his eternal fellowship; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Vincent de Paul, Priest

St. Vincent was born of poor parents in a little village in France, in about 1580. He was able to go to school, which was run by a community of Franciscans, and it was there that he learned the value of humility and poverty, and the importance of serving others. Young Vincent was a good student, and in fact, he made such good progress that when he was in his fourth year of school, a wealthy man chose him to be a tutor for his own children, and Vincent was able to continue his studies at the same time, using the money he earned to pay for his education. When he was about sixteen, he went to the University for his theological studies, and he was eventually ordained to the priesthood.

St. Vincent was a very young priest in 1605, and he was travelling on a ship off the coast of France, when the ship was attacked by a band of pirates. They were Muslims from north Africa, and they captured St. Vincent and carried him off to Tunis, where he was sold into slavery. He lived as a slave for about two years, but then he managed to escape. Having gained his freedom, he went immediately to Rome to give thanks to God, and he then returned to France. Once again he became a tutor for the children of a wealthy family, and it was during that time that he had an important experience which changed the direction of his life.

There was a poor servant in the household who was dying. St. Vincent went to him to hear his last confession and to prepare him for death, and as he visited him, St. Vincent realized that the poor and those who worked in service to others really hadn’t been receiving very much spiritual care. When he brought this to the attention of his employers, they urged him to do what he thought best to remedy the situation. He began to a great ministry to the poor, preaching missions so they could know the Gospel, and he founded a religious community for men and also another for women, whose purpose was to serve the poor.

St. Vincent’s work was recognized throughout the Church, and although many wanted to honour him, he himself remained completely humble, continuing his work for the poor. He became known as the Apostle of Charity, continuing his work, until he died at the age of eighty. His work continues through the communities of priests and sisters which he established, and also through the Church’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which encourages laypeople to join in the work of alleviating the needs of the poor.

O God, who didst strengthen blessed Vincent de Paul with apostolic power for preaching the Gospel to the poor, and for promoting worthiness in the clergy: grant, we beseech thee; that we who reverence his pious deeds may also be taught by the example of his virtues; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Ss. Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs

The commemoration of St. Cosmas and St. Damian is one of the most ancient feasts of the Church, and these two martyrs have been honoured in the East and West in many ways, including the building and dedication of churches in their honour in many places, including Rome and Constantinople. Along with St. Luke, they are the patron saints of doctors. Although we cannot be certain of the details of their lives, the information that has come down to us is of very early origin.

Saints Cosmas and Damian were venerated in the East as the "moneyless ones" because they practiced medicine at no charge. They were twin brothers, born in Cilicia (in what is now Turkey). They studied in Syria and became skilled physicians.

Since they were prominent Christians, they were among the first arrested when the great persecution under Diocletian began. Lysias, the governor of Cilicia, ordered their arrest, and they were beheaded in about the year 287. Their bodies, it was said, were carried to Syria and buried at the ancient Syrian city of Cyrrhus, which then became known as Hagioupolis – the City of the Holy Ones.

They were venerated very early and became patrons of medicine, known for their miracles of healing. The Emperor Justinian asked the heavenly aid of these saints and was cured by their intercession, leading the emperor to give special honour to the city of Cyrrhus where their relics were enshrined. Their basilica in Rome, decorated with beautiful mosaics, was dedicated in the year 530. They are named in the Roman Martyrology and in the Canon of the Mass, testifying to the antiquity of the celebration of their feast day.

Cosmas and Damian were not only ideal Christians by their practice of medicine as an act of Christian charity, but they also testify to God's blessing upon the science and art of healing, affirming the Christian understanding of the physical and spiritual unity of each person.

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that we who celebrate the heavenly birthday of Saints Cosmas and Damian, thy Martyrs, may by their intercession be delivered from all evils that beset us; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Trinity XV: Lazarus and the Rich Man

Jesus said to the Pharisees, "There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”

- St. Luke 16:19-21

Our Lord tells a story, putting two men before us: one is a certain rich man, and the other is a beggar named Lazarus. In the story they are strangers to each other. The rich man lives in abundance and luxury. The poor man lives in extreme poverty. They live only a short distance from each other, but they never meet. So separate were they, in fact, that the rich man never actually refused anything to Lazarus; rather, the rich man just never noticed Lazarus, even though the beggar was right outside the rich man’s door.

The rich man had his own world, constructed of money and pleasure and plenty, and his comfort so insulated him that he was blind to everything and everyone else.

In the story, the rich man and Lazarus both die. Lazarus is carried to the bosom of Abraham – in other words, he receives eternal peace, allowing him to live in an intimacy with God and in the company of those holy men and women who have gone before him. The rich man, on the other hand, is given over to torments and to the torture of burning flames. He is so thirsty that even a moistened fingertip on his lips would bring a comfort beyond description.

And between the two there is an unbridgeable chasm, not unlike that which had been erected by the rich man while they lived in this world. They were strangers on earth, and so they remain strangers now – but with one big difference. The rich man is deeply aware of the separation, and it causes him untold suffering.

Our Lord is emphasizing the vast difference between their situations on earth, and their situations in eternity. In heaven, the poor man Lazarus is showered with blessings, and the rich man is deprived of everything. But their situations aren’t simply reversed. They are, in fact, quite different. Lazarus does not now live in the midst of worldly wealth; rather, his wealth is that of a peaceful and happy life with God. The rich man is in torment, but not like the torments of Lazarus on earth. Rather, because the rich man had put his trust in material wealth on earth, he gets exactly what money and possessions can give in the after-life – absolutely nothing.

The lesson is clear. Our earthly choices determine our eternal life. After death, no reversal is possible. This is what Christ tells us in this parable. He makes it clear what is really at stake when we make our free choices here. And yet, there are those who see this as being somehow “unfair” on the part of God. There are those who don’t like it because it doesn’t fit in with their picture of God and His mercy. How could one’s eternal destiny be the result of a momentary lapse? How could the Lord be so unkind as to hold us to such a severe accounting?

We can make some observations. This parable is not referring to a “momentary lapse.” No, the choices over a lifetime is what our Lord is talking about. Where do we place our security? In things, or in God? That is the choice.

In the final point of the parable we see that the rich man is in some shock over the torment he is enduring, so he makes a request of Abraham. He asks him to send Lazarus back to earth to warn his brothers. He thinks that when they see a dead man back on earth, they will reform themselves and so be able to escape the horrible fate of their brother. But Abraham refuses his request. “If they don’t hear Moses and the prophets, they’re not going to be convinced, even if someone returns to them from the dead.”

At first it seems to be a cruel response. “Why not try?” we think. We might even be somewhat impressed by the concern the rich man shows for his brothers. And yet, Abraham’s response is right. We are inclined to think that something spectacular and out of the ordinary could be just the thing to help us in getting our spiritual lives together. What else would explain the sometimes-desperate search for signs that we see even among otherwise faithful Catholics? Every dancing sun, every weeping Madonna, every rosary supposedly turning to gold is something that people think will perhaps take their lives out of the ordinary. But those things, by themselves, cannot change hearts. One God can do that. And that is why Abraham’s response is so hopeful and important for us.

We do not need extraordinary signs and spectacular happenings to learn the truth. Our eternal salvation – the truth we need – is as close as the tabernacle – it is as close as the confessional – it is as close as the bended knee and the thirsting spirit. Those brothers in the parable already had Moses and the prophets. We already have the Gospel of Jesus Christ – and it is that Gospel which is our source of comfort, our source of life, our source of eternal salvation. It is that Gospel which allows us to live in the peace that Lazarus came to know. We have the Lord Jesus Christ, in His Word and in His sacraments, and all that is ministered to us through Christ’s Holy Catholic Church. We need look no further.

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Painting: "Lazarus and the Rich Man"

by Jacopo Bassano (c. 1510 – 1592)

Our Lady of Walsingham

In the year 1061 the lady of the manor of Little Walsingham in Norfolk, a widow named Lady Richeldis, prayed to our Lady asking how she could honour her in some special way. In answer to this prayer Mary led Lady Richeldis in spirit to Nazareth and showed her the house in which she had first received the angel's message and where she spoke her "fiat" in answer. 

The Virgin Mary told Richeldis to take the measurements of this house and build another one just like it in Walsingham. It would be a place where people could come to honour her and her Son, remembering especially the mystery of the Annunciation and Mary's joyful 'yes' to conceiving the Saviour.

The late eleventh century and all through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was the era of the crusades, which saw a growing interest in the sites consecrated by the human presence of Jesus in the Holy Land. But now pilgrims need not go so far; in England itself there was a 'new Nazareth' built by one of their own countrywomen.

The actual house from Nazareth was moved – perhaps even miraculously – to Loreto, and we find that the measurements of the house in Loreto and the house in Walsingham are the same.

Why venerate a house? Because it reminds us that the Word-made-Flesh lived as Man with mankind.

O God, who, through the mystery of the Word made flesh, didst in thy mercy sanctify the house of the Blessed Virgin Mary: do thou grant that we may keep aloof from the tabernacle of sinners, and become worthy indwellers of thy house; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Pius of Pietrelcina

St. Pius (Francesco Forgione) was born in 1887 in Pietrelcina, a town in southern Italy. His was a family of farmers, and his father worked also as a shepherd to support the family. In fact, when St. Pius was a boy his father was away for periods of time because he had gone to America looking for work, sending money back to his family. When St. Pius was 15 he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin Friars and made his first vows when he was 19. He suffered several health problems, but he was eventually ordained at age 22 on 10 August 1910, and was known after that as Padre Pio.

He had been a priest for about eight years. One morning he was praying before a crucifix, when he received the stigmata, the physical marks Christ's crucifixion.  Because this became a source of curiosity for so many people, Padre Pio was forbidden from having any public ministry for some years, even having to say Mass privately. This was a tremendous burden for him; however, he accepted it in complete obedience to his superiors. But as word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. He was able to bi-locate, levitate, and heal by touch, although he himself never understood or emphasized these gifts.

People always seem to be most fascinated with these dramatic gifts, but the foundation of St. Pius’s life was his total love for Jesus, especially in the Blessed Sacrament, and his life of prayer for others, especially prayer for healing – both spiritual and physical healing. In fact, in 1956 he founded the House for the Relief of Suffering, a hospital that today serves about 60,000 patients a year.

St. Pius died in 1968, and people continued to report many miracles and healings that had come through his intercession. Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1999, and then in 2002 he was canonized in the presence of more than 300,000 people who gathered in Rome for the Mass.

Almighty everliving God, who, by a singular grace, didst give the Priest Saint Pius a share in the Cross of thy Son and, by means of his ministry, renewed the wonders of thy mercy: grant that, through his intercession, we may be united constantly to the sufferings of Christ, and so brought happily to the glory of the Resurrection; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end.  Amen.

The Ember Days

The Ember Days are four separate sets of three days within the same week — specifically, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday — within the circuit of the year, that are set aside for a modified fasting and prayer. The Ember Days are known in Latin as the quattuor anni tempora (the "four seasons of the year"). There are those who say that the word “ember” is a corruption of the Latin "tempora" from the title, but it is as likely that it comes from the Old English word “ymbren” which means a “circle." As the year progresses and returns to its beginning, the ember days are part of the circle of the year. These days of prayer and fasting originated in Rome, and slowly spread throughout the Church. They were brought to England by St. Augustine with his arrival in the year 597.

The fasting is modified – basically no food between meals – and there are particular things for which we are to pray and give thanks. These days are to be used to give thanks for the earth and for the good things God gives us -- for our food, for the rain and the sunshine, for all the blessings of life through nature. And because of that, it is a time when we remind ourselves to treat creation with respect, and not waste the things God has given us.

Another important aspect of the Ember Days is for us to pray for those men called to be priests or deacons. We pray also for those who are already ordained – for our parish clergy, for our bishop, and for the Holy Father. Of course, we pray for all this throughout the year, but the Ember Days bring all this to mind in a special way, so that we can concentrate our prayers during these four periods of time throughout the year.

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For those to be ordained:

Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, who of thy divine providence hast appointed divers Orders in thy Church: give thy grace, we humbly beseech thee, to all those who are called to any office and ministry for thy people; and so fill them with the truth of thy doctrine and clothe them with holiness of life, that they may faithfully serve before thee, to the glory of thy great Name and for the benefit of thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

For the choice of fit persons for the ordained ministry:

O God, who didst lead thy holy Apostles to ordain ministers in every place: grant that thy Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may choose suitable men for the ministry of Word and Sacrament, and may uphold them in their work for the extension of thy kingdom; through him who is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

For all Christians in their vocation:

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of thy faithful people is governed and sanctified: receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all members of thy holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and godly serve thee; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

St. Matthew 9:9-13

Matthew was a Jew who worked for the occupying Roman forces, collecting taxes from other Jews. The Romans didn’t care what the tax collectors got by collecting extra for themselves, and so they were generally hated as traitors by their fellow Jews. The Pharisees lumped them with "sinners.” So it was shocking to them to hear Jesus call such a man to be one of His followers.

Matthew got Jesus in further trouble by having a sort of going-away party at his house. The Gospel tells us that "many tax collectors and those known as sinners" came to the dinner. The Pharisees were still more shocked. What business did this supposedly great teacher have associating with such immoral people? Jesus' answer was, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Jesus is not setting aside ritual and worship; rather, he is saying that it cannot be a substitute for loving others.

When Jesus saw Matthew sitting at his tax office – no doubt counting his day's profit – Jesus spoke only two words: "Follow me." Those two words changed Matthew from a self-serving profiteer to a God-serving apostle who would bring the treasures of God's kingdom to the poor and needy. He turned from his sin, so that he could follow Jesus.

O Almighty God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Saint Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an Apostle and Evangelist: grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires and inordinate love of riches; and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Image: "St. Matthew and the Angel" by Simone Cantarini (1612-1648)

St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon and Companions, Martyrs

On September 20th we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon, priest and martyr, Saint Paul Chong Hasang, martyr, and their companions, the martyrs of Korea.

The Catholic faith came to Korea during the Japanese invasion in 1592 when some Koreans were baptized, probably by Christian Japanese soldiers. Evangelization was difficult because Korea refused all contact with the outside world except for an annual journey to Peking to pay taxes. On one of these occasions, around 1777, Christian literature obtained from Jesuits in China led educated Korean Christians to study. A home Church began. When a Chinese priest managed to enter secretly about twelve years later, he found 4,000 Catholics, none of whom had ever seen a priest. Seven years later there were 10,000 Catholics. Religious freedom didn’t come until 1883.

In the meantime, there were horrible persecutions against the Christians. The major religion in Korea consisted of ancestor worship, and this was considered to be a cornerstone of their society. If anyone refused to take part in ancestor worship, they were considered traitors to the country, and would be killed. Obviously, Catholics would not be able to be part of that, and as a result, more than 8,000 of them were executed, and in unspeakable ways. Most of them were simple country people, whose names were known only to those closest to them. 103 of them were canonized by name, by Pope John Paul II in 1984.

O God, who wast pleased to increase thy adopted children in all the world, and who made the blood of thy Martyrs Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon and his Companions a most fruitful seed of Christians: grant that we may be defended by their help and profit always from their example; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Theodore of Canterbury

St. Theodore was born in Tarsus, and after he became a priest, he came to the attention of the Pope, who decided to send him to Britain to become the seventh archbishop of Canterbury. He was consecrated in 668, and became the first archbishop to rule the whole English Church. After his consecration he set out from Rome with St. Adrian, who had been abbot of a monastery, and also St. Benedict Biscop, who would become one of the great English abbots.In 669 they reached Canterbury, where Theodore made Adrian the abbot of SS. Peter and Paul monastery, afterward named St. Augustine's. There they created a famous school influential in the lives of such brilliant scholars as the celebrated historian St. Bede the Venerable and the skilled church architect St. Aldhelm.

Theodore set about organizing the Church throughout England. Many of the sees had no bishops when he first arrived, and others sees needed to be divided. In 672 he called the first general synod of the bishops of the English Church to settle many important questions about the discipline and life of the Church in England.

Theodore's greatest achievement was to adapt the Roman ideal of a centralized church to English conditions. His establishment of a centralized church under the archbishopric of Canterbury in close alliance with secular rulers was maintained by his successors.

Theodore and Adrian brought organization and education to the English Church, and what they established there continue on to this day within the Ordinariates, which follow many of the traditions they began.

O God, whose Bishop Theodore was called to England to set the Church on a firm foundation: by his prayers, build us always anew on the rock that is Christ; and keep thy household faithful to the call we have received; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Trinity XIV: Choosing the Master

Jesus said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’”

- St. Luke 16:1,2

Our Lord tells of a steward, a manager, who has wasted his employer’s resources. His employer – a rich man – heard that this steward was doing some dishonest things, not reporting accounts accurately, so he calls the steward in and immediately dismisses him. The steward sees that this is the end of the road for him; he doesn’t want to do manual labor, he certainly doesn’t want to beg. At this point, he has nothing to lose, so he decides that he might as well do something daring. Rather than leaving the estate, as he was told to do, instead the disgraced steward calls the largest debtors that his employer has, and he cancels a substantial portion of each debt. He has a plan – a desperate one, certainly – but he is hoping to accomplish a couple things. First, maybe the rich man will be grateful to get something, rather than having to write off the debts completely. And the steward is buying a little insurance for the future. If he is really being turned out on the street, perhaps these debtors will remember that he gave them a deal, and they will do him a good turn when he is unemployed.

When we first hear this story, we might expect that Jesus would condemn what seems to be a dishonest, almost underhanded, approach by the steward. But Christ doesn’t. In fact, He actually praises the steward in the story, and in so doing He makes a point. He says that the children of this world are more resourceful – more clever – than the children of light.

Now we should understand, it’s not the actual conduct of this steward that Jesus wants us to admire; rather, it is his boldness and his resourcefulness. He was able to tackle a serious situation in an organized and intelligent way. Our Lord wants us to show the same kind of intelligence and boldness in our service to God. So He urges us, “Make friends for yourselves through your use of this world’s goods, so that when they fail you – whether it be money, or power, or position – because you have used those things wisely, you will have a place in eternity.”

Of course, there are many people who do depend on those things for security, because they think of security only in terms of this world, for this life. But the things of this world eventually are going to fail us. We cannot take them with us. We won’t be presenting them to Christ on the Day of Judgement. What we will be presenting is how we have used those things. If we have been wise in using our possessions, our money, our position, our influence, by using those things in God’s service, and for the good of others, it will serve as a favourable reference on our behalf to God our Father. Obviously, we cannot “buy” ourselves into heaven – but Jesus is giving us a concrete application of the parable. What the steward did becomes a lesson: he used his abilities now, so that he might gain something later. Our Lord is telling us that if we detach ourselves from a consuming over-dependence on our possessions now, we will be able to have a share in His kingdom.

We all know that money and possessions are a necessary part of life. We have responsibilities to discharge, and there is nothing intrinsically wrong in making our lives enjoyable. But legitimate responsibilities can be twisted into an obsession with having nothing but the best, and lots of it. Enjoyment can become a constant search for new things and new experiences, as ends in themselves, and these things can gain an unhealthy control over our lives. And when this control is given a free rein, then our lives become warped.

We don’t have to look very far around us to see how easily man is corrupted by the things of this world, and how all too often people really don’t care who gets hurt in their clamour to reach the top of what the world would call success. Now, some of us might be thinking that since we’re not among the great financiers of the world, and since we don’t have lots of power over other people, perhaps this doesn’t really apply to us. But Jesus thinks otherwise: He says that the person who is faithful in little things will also be faithful in greater things; and that the person who is untrustworthy in little things will also be untrustworthy in greater things. And He goes one to say that if you cannot be trusted with the things of this world, then how will you be trusted with the things of eternity?

So, we must make a choice – a choice between two demanding masters that are incompatible with one another. We must choose either God or money, between our eternal good, or the temporary pleasures that we can buy in this life. And as we make this choice, and carry through with our choice, we must show the same intelligence and resourcefulness that was shown by the steward in the parable. Obviously, money and things in this world are part of our lives, and it would be absurd to deny it. But we must observe certain guidelines in using our possessions, because if we don’t operate properly in our life here on earth, then there is a distinct possibility that we will make ourselves unworthy of eternal life. In fact, the lesson is really quite simple: money must be mastered; it cannot be allowed to master us in the slightest way, because if it does, it may well spoil eternity for us.

The bottom line is this: that we must choose to serve God exclusively. All that we have, all that we are, comes from Him, and He urges us to invest what we have wisely – not on temporary things, but on things which matter. We are to invest in the things of God – which means taking care of our personal and family responsibilities, of course – but also using our resources to care for others outside our immediate circle; to invest in the spread of the Gospel; to support the means of helping others grow in their faith and knowledge of God.

So we must choose who is our master. If our master is mammon, money, the things of this world – if our vision is so stunted that it sees only the things we want for ourselves in the here-and-now – then we are in for a lot of disappointment. But if our master is God, then He is the one we want to please. And in doing that, we will be even better than the steward in the parable, because rather than just investing in our future in this life, we’ll be investing in our eternal life with Almighty God.

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Image: "Christ Tempted By Satan"

by Georg Karl Franz Cornicelius (1825–1898)

St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor

Born in the year 1542, Robert Bellarmine's family was large and relatively poor. His mother was especially devout and was given to works of charity, fasting, and regular prayer. Young Robert learned these things from her, and never forgot them. As a very young man he entered the Society of Jesus, and was eventually ordained. He had a tremendous gift for preaching, and was also a notable scholar, going on to teach at the University of Louvain. The Church recognized his faithfulness and his intellectual brilliance, and after a time he became a bishop, and was named a Cardinal.

He never forgot the lessons he learned at home, and his charity to the poor was manifested in the fact that even though he lived in a Cardinal’s palace, he ate the same food as the poor would eat, he dressed in rough clothing, and he even stripped the plush curtains and tapestries from the walls to sell them and gave the money to the poor. As he said, “The poor can catch cold; the walls cannot.”

He lived at the time when the Protestants were causing great dissension in the Church, and St. Robert Bellarmine used his considerable talents in presenting Catholic truth, and helping others to see the errors of protestantism.

He knew the best way to keep the Church strong was to make strong Catholics, and he compiled an important catechism for teachers and students. In fact, it was his work with the young that gave him the most satisfaction, and he had an immense effect on the lives of the students who learned from him. One the most famous of his students was a young man named Aloysius, who eventually was himself raised to the altar, and is known to us as St. Aloysius Gonzaga.

St. Robert Bellarmine – a great man who never forgot his humble beginnings, and who loved the Church and worked for her unity.

O God, who didst adorn blessed Robert Bellarmine, thy Bishop and Doctor, with wondrous learning and virtue, to banish the wiles of error and contend for the rights of the Apostolic See: grant by his merits and intercession; that we may grow in the love of truth, and that the hearts of those that err may return to the unity of thy Church; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian, Martyrs

The Church had been without a pope for about a year because of the persecution of the Emperor Decius when Cornelius was elected Bishop of Rome in 251. Although it was a time of persecution, that wasn’t the biggest problem he had to face. Divisions in the Church had been taking place, stemming from the argument about whether or not the Church could forgive a person’s very serious sins – for instance, if someone had turned away from their faith, but then wanted to return to the Church, the question was whether the Church could give forgiveness and take that person back. A popular priest during that time named Novatian was against the practice of giving forgiveness. He claimed that the Church had no power to pardon those who had lapsed during time of persecution. The same applied to cases of murder, and other serious sins. In fact, Novatian felt so strongly about this that he set himself up as a rival pope.

However, St. Cornelius, with the strong support of St. Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage in North Africa, insisted that the Church did have the power to forgive apostates and other sinners, and that they could be re-admitted to Holy Communion after having performed an appropriate period of penance. Some letters of Cornelius to Cyprian together with Cyprian’s replies have survived.

A synod of Western bishops in Rome in October 251 upheld Cornelius, condemned the teachings of Novatian, and excommunicated him and his followers. When persecutions of the Christians started up again in 253 under Emperor Gallus, Cornelius was exiled and he died as a martyr.

His friend and supporter, St. Cyprian was from a very wealthy pagan background, but he became a Christian, and was known as a great orator. After his baptism he distributed most of his wealth to the poor, and was eventually ordained as a priest, and then became the bishop of the city of Carthage, where he had grown up. Just as Pope Cornelius faced persecution, so did Cyprian. He was a strong defender of the teaching of Cornelius, and even though they lived a continent apart, after they were both martyred, they were always linked together in the mind of the Church as having stood up for the mercy of God, and His desire to forgive the sins of those who repented.

O God, who didst give Saints Cornelius and Cyprian to thy people as diligent shepherds and valiant Martyrs: grant that, through their intercession, we may be strengthened in faith and constancy and spend ourselves without reserve for the unity of the Church; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Our Lady of Sorrows

Immediately following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Church commemorates the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows, remembering her standing at the foot of the cross, keeping a sorrowful vigil as she saw her son dying. 

Over time it came to include what are called the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, growing out of the prophecy of St. Simeon, who, at the time of the Presentation, told Mary that a sword should pierce through her own soul. 

These seven sorrows are: 
The Prophecy of Simeon concerning the Jesus, born for the rise and fall of many.
The Flight into Egypt of the Holy Family.
The Loss of the Child Jesus for Three Days.
The Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the way to Calvary.
The Crucifixion, where Mary stands at the foot of the cross.
The Descent from the Cross, with Jesus placed in Mary's arms.
The Burial of Jesus. 

This commemoration helps us to remember Mary’s sacrifice for our salvation, and also the importance of avoiding things in our own lives which would cause further sorrow to Mary, who is our Mother. 

O God, who didst will that in the passion of thy Son a sword of grief should pierce the soul of the blessed Virgin Mary his Mother: Mercifully grant that thy Church, having shared with her in his passion, may be made worthy to share in the joys of his resurrection; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Painting: "Our Lady of Sorrows" by Rogier van der Weyden (1400-1464)

Litany of the Holy Cross

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy upon us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy upon us.

God the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, Have mercy upon us.

Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy upon us.

Christ Jesus, laden with the Cross and led to Calvary, Have mercy upon us.

Christ Jesus, nailed to the Cross, Have mercy upon us.

Christ Jesus, raised up on the Cross, Have mercy upon us.

Christ Jesus, obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross, Have mercy upon us.

Christ Jesus, bearing our sins in thine own Body on the Tree, Have mercy upon us.

Christ Jesus, by whose stripes we are healed, Have mercy upon us.

By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat, Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy buffetings and stripes, Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy Crown of Thorns, Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy Cross and Passion, Good Lord, deliver us.

By the anguish of thy Sacred Heart upon the Cross, Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy most precious Death, Good Lord, deliver us.

We sinners do beseech thee to hear us, 

That we may die unto sin and live unto righteousness,

We beseech thee to hear us, Good Lord.

That we may take up our cross daily and follow thee,

We beseech thee to hear us, Good Lord.

That we may perfectly know thee, the Crucified,

We beseech thee to hear us, Good Lord.

That we may never crucify thee afresh,

We beseech thee to hear us, Good Lord.

That being made partakers of thy sufferings, we may share also in thy consolations,

We beseech thee to hear us, Good Lord.

Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, Hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy upon us.

Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, our merciful High Priest, who on the Cross didst offer to the Father a pure offering, to reconcile sinners unto God by the infinite merits of thy Life, thy Passion and thy Death; give us grace, we beseech thee, to die to the world, and live to thee alone, and finally depart in peace, through thy merits; who livest and reignest ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

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Painting: "The Crucifixion" by Matthias Grünewald (1470-1528)

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 

Site of the Crucifixion, Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.

After the crucifixion of our Lord on the hill of Calvary, and after His subsequent resurrection from the nearby tomb where His body had been placed, there was a concerted effort by both the Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem to obliterate any physical evidence or reminder of these events. They didn’t want there to be any rallying-place for the disciples of Jesus to gather, so dirt was piled up over the general site, and with the passage of time there were pagan temples built on top of it. But a persistent story was passed from generation to generation; namely, that the Cross on which Christ had died had been hidden somewhere underneath the site which was subsequently covered by pagan places of worship.

Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, was nearing the end of her life. A devout Christian, she received the divine inspiration that she should journey to Jerusalem to excavate the area where the Holy Sepulchre was, and attempt to locate the True Cross. The year was 326, and she set off on her pilgrimage. When St. Helena arrived in Jerusalem she was able to find someone who was very familiar with the story of where the Holy Cross had been hidden, and she ordered the excavation to begin – obviously able to arrange such a project because she was the Emperor’s mother.

The excavation was a success, but the problem was that three crosses were found on the spot. How was St. Helena to determine which one was the True Cross of Jesus? What happened next has come to us down through history in a tradition which tells us that St. Helena, along with the Bishop of Jerusalem, devised an experiment. The three crosses were taken to a woman who was near death; when she touched the True Cross, she was healed. This confirmed to St. Helena that the actual Cross upon which our Lord was crucified had been found.

Such a discovery called for celebration, and along with the great rejoicing and prayers of thanksgiving to God, the Emperor Constantine ordered that two churches be built – one at the site of the burial of Christ (the Holy Sepulchre) and one on the site of the crucifixion (Mount Calvary). Because the sites were very close to one another, the churches were actually connected by a great colonnade, and today they are fully incorporated as one structure. The solemn dedication of the churches took place on September 13 and 14, in the year 335. The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was fixed on September 14th, spreading from Jerusalem, on to other churches, until by the year 720 the celebration was kept throughout the whole Church.

The story doesn’t end there. In the early seventh century, the Persians conquered Jerusalem. The Persian king looted the city and stole the True Cross, taking it to Persia. Eventually, however, the Emperor recaptured the True Cross and brought it back to Jerusalem. The tradition says that he carried the Cross on his own back, but when he attempted to enter the church on Mount Calvary, he was unable to take another step. Bishop Zacharias of Jerusalem saw that the emperor was having difficulty, and so advised him to take off his royal robes and crown, and to dress in a penitential robe instead. As soon as the Emperor took the bishop’s advice, he was able to carry the True Cross into the church, where it was enshrined for the veneration of the Faithful. Eventually, smaller pieces of the relic were distributed throughout Christendom.

Almighty God, whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world unto himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor

St. John Chrysostom is known as one of the greatest preachers in the long history of the Church, and surely his homilies form a major legacy, but John lived at a time and in circumstances which demanded great holiness – something which God granted him in abundance.

John was born in 347, the son of Christian parents. His mother, Anthusa, was widowed at the age of twenty, soon after his birth. Anthusa gave all of her attention to her son. She gave him the best classical education available, and he was enrolled as a catechumen when he was eighteen. He came under the influence of Bishop Meletius of Antioch, who baptized him and ordained him lector.

At this time, John felt called to lead the life of a monk-hermit. He took up residence in a cave, spent his time studying the Scriptures, and put himself under the discipline of an elderly hermit named Hesychius. The discipline was demanding and austere, eventually breaking the health of John. He returned to Antioch, where he was ordained a priest, and he came to be known as a great preacher.

During the next twelve years the people of Antioch were enthralled with his sermons. He preached with a depth of knowledge and persuasiveness that were memorable to those who heard him. It was during this time that he received the nickname of Chrysostom, or “golden mouth,” because it was commonly said that “his words are like pure gold.” In the year 397, the Emperor Arcadius appointed John Chrysostom to the vacant See of Constantinople. It was feared that John’s humility would lead him to refuse the position, so he had to be lured to Constantinople, where he subsequently was consecrated bishop in 398.

It was not a peaceful or holy place in which John Chrysostom found himself. There was an abundance of political intrigue. Fraud and extravagance were the order of the day. Those around him were driven by their raw ambition to be advanced in their positions. John Chrysostom brought about immediate changes: he cut back expenses; he gave generously to the poor; he constructed hospitals. He set about reforming the clergy, called the monks back to a life of discipline, and reminded all the people of the importance of leading faithful and moral lives.

As might be expected, his program of reforms made enemies – especially the Empress Eudoxia along with Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria. With the city of Constantinople in an uproar and his life under threat, John was exiled by the emperor in the year 404.

The situation continued to deteriorate, with the papal envoys being imprisoned, and John (who was defended by the pope and who had ordered John to be restored to his See) was sent even further into exile. Eventually he found himself six hundred miles from Constantinople, across the Black Sea. St. John Chrysostom was weary and he was sick. He died in exile in the year 407, and yet his last words were, "Glory to God for all things."

O God of truth and love, who gavest to thy Bishop John Chrysostom eloquence to declare thy righteousness in the great congregation, and courage to bear reproach for the honour of thy Name: mercifully grant to the ministers of thy Word such excellence in preaching; that all people may share with them in the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Most Holy Name of Mary

Following upon the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary which was celebrated on September 8th, it is on September 12th that we commemorate the giving of her name by her parents, Ss. Joachim and Anne. They chose the Hebrew name of Miryãm, which means “lady” or “sovereign.” The feast of the Holy Name of Mary originated in Spain and was approved by the Holy See in 1513. It was Pope Innocent XI who extended its observance to the whole Church in 1683, and for a very special reason. It was an act of thanksgiving to our Lady for the victory on September 12, 1683 by John Sobieski, king of Poland, over the Turks, who were besieging Vienna and threatening the West.

What happened was this: the Turks had been hammering the city of Vienna for a couple of months, and finally enough was enough. Under the leadership of Poland’s king an army comprised of Germans, Austrians and Poles made their move against the Turks, routing them completely. It was such an important victory that the Pope was inspired to do something special – thus, what had been a localized commemoration was now an act of thanks from the whole Church. But there’s more to the story…

When the Turks made their hasty retreat there were all sorts of things left behind, including several sacks containing a strange bean unknown to the victors. Thinking it was food for the invaders’ camels, the Viennese were about to dump it all in the Danube. But there was a citizen of Vienna who had been a captive under the Turks. He knew these beans were roasted by the Turks, and after grinding them up they would put them in hot water, making a drink they really seemed to relish. This man, Kolinsky, received exclusive permission to make and sell this new and unfamiliar drink – coffee.

The Viennese people hated it. It was bitter. The grounds got stuck in their teeth. It didn’t seem much better than drinking a cup of mud. Then a friend of Kolinsky made a suggestion. Strain out the grounds. Put a little milk in it to lighten it up. Add some sugar to make it more palatable. After following that advice, the people flocked to buy it, and so the first coffee house was born.

But let’s face it – what’s a cup of coffee without something to go with it? And with that came a new pastry which not only tasted good, but poked a stick in the eye of the defeated Muslim invaders. The delectable comestible was formed into the shape of a crescent – that symbol which had become so hated during the Turkish occupation – and with every bite of these wonderful pastries the Viennese were able to have another small victory over their invaders.

So there we have it. There’s the story of how Turkish coffee was made drinkable, and how the croissant – the “Turkish crescent” – came into being. And it all happened as part of the victorious triumph achieved under the banner of the Most Holy Name of Mary.

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that thy faithful people who rejoice in the name and protection of the most holy Virgin Mary, may by her loving intercession be delivered from all evils on earth and be found worthy to come to everlasting joys in heaven; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Trinity XIII: Lost and Found

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."

- St. Luke 15:1, 2

There was something about our Lord’s stories and how He told them, that many people found attractive. If a person had been living in a way that was contrary to God, there was something about Christ’s words that made him stop and think. Certainly, not everyone repented. But hearts were touched, if even for a moment, at Christ’s simple revelation of the immense love which God has for every one of His children.

On the other hand, there were many others, especially among the scribes and Pharisees, who were utterly scandalized by Christ’s words. And they were equally scandalized by the sorts of people who listened to Him. According to the Gospel accounts, there was a lot of murmuring going on among the scribes and Pharisees. They would complain about Jesus. “How can he even think of being around people like that?” they would say. “He should know that they’re bad people, and that he’s taking the risk of making himself unclean by hanging around with them,” they would state, in a very self-righteous tone. So lines were drawn in the sand.

“This man receives sinners and eats with them,” the scribes and Pharisees murmured. And in response to their condemnation, our Lord Jesus Christ tells some parables.

The first parable tells the story of the shepherd who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. He looks for it, finds it, puts it on his shoulders, and returns joyfully to the sheepfold. Then we hear of the housewife who possesses ten silver coins, and she loses one. She searches the whole house, finds it, and invites her neighbors in to celebrate the recovery. And the third parable in this set of parables is the story of the Prodigal son. We know well the parable of the father who has two sons. One wastes his share of the inheritance while the father anxiously looks for his return. When he finally returns home, his father welcomes him with open arms and celebrates with a great feast.

Although each one of these parables focuses on something different, the point in each story is the same: it has to do with the joy of finding something after losing it. In slightly different ways, they all tell us the same thing: that if God is filled with joy when a sinner is converted and repents, then we should be as joyful. This was Christ’s message to the scribes and Pharisees, and it is His lesson for us.

The shepherd, the housewife, and the father are all anxious to recover what they have lost, and Jesus is reminding us that so is God eager to recover what has been lost, when it comes to each one of us. It doesn’t take a profoundly theological mind, in the light of these parables, to grasp right away that we all are the lost sheep, the lost silver coin, the wandering son. But because of His infinite and tireless patience, the Lord will not abandon any one of us. He is concerned about each individual. He wants to restore His relationship with every person who has rejected it. He will never force anyone, but He will always show His love for each one of us, because He wants every one of us to have the experience of being found.

This is what St. Paul described in his epistle to St. Timothy, when he wrote, “I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and insulted Christ, yet I received mercy… and the grace of the Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” St. Paul was a man filled with the joy of having been found. He had been far off from God, but then he was reconciled, and he can scarcely contain his joy. And we can understand that. Who hasn’t suddenly felt overwhelmed with joy when a broken relationship is healed – when a marriage headed for breakup gains a new footing and a firmer foundation – or when a friendship which has exploded in anger is finally repaired? If that experience of healing is important to us in our human relationships, certainly it is vastly more important in our relationship with God.

There is a phrase in St. Paul’s epistle which states clearly the aim of God: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” And Paul presents himself as a prime example of someone who has benefited from this mercy. He tells us his own circumstances so that we might realize that we are all pardoned sinners, that we will need pardon until the very end of our lives, and that our salvation does not come from ourselves, but through God’s mercy.

We learn from these parables that God is infinitely patient in His care and in His searching for us, and that being reconciled with him – being forgiven and restored to communion with Him – is a very wonderful and joyful thing.

But there is another lesson, and it comes at the end of the parable of the Prodigal Son, which is why the three parables really go together. Remember the older son? He returns from the fields, and he hears the noise of the feast and he asks what all the excitement is about. And when he hears, he goes into a fit of jealousy. He makes the point loud and clear: his brother has been a good-for-nothing, and now they’re holding a party just because he’s come back home? He, as the older son, has always done the right thing, but he’s never received a thing. Jesus makes this point in direct answer to the scribes and Pharisees – and also to plenty of us today. There is that attitude among all too many that really doesn’t want to see others benefiting from forgiveness. They would rather carry on the grudge, they would rather be seen as “the good ones.” There are those who want to think that God couldn’t possibly love that person over there every bit as much as He loves me! Christ includes this last part of the parable to remind us: we are all sinners in need of pardon. He even included it in the prayer He taught to His disciples: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…”

Our whole life needs to be grounded on pardon – the pardon we need to give to others, and the pardon we ourselves need to receive from God. And if we acknowledge that we are sinners, constantly receiving pardon from God, then we should be anxious and happy to pardon others, and we should be overjoyed when God finds them and forgives them, just as He has found and forgiven us.

Instead of being scandalized, the scribes and Pharisees should have been happy to see Jesus concern Himself with sinners. And there is a lesson for us: we, too, need to know how to rejoice over goodness, whoever is doing it, and whoever benefits from it. We need to learn the joy of forgiving others, just as we have experienced the overwhelming joy of having been forgiven ourselves.

Each of us should think carefully: is there someone whom I need to forgive? Today is the day to do it.

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Image: "The Lost Sheep" by Sir John Everett Millais, Bt (1829-1896)