St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

St. Agnes was a Roman girl who was only twelve or thirteen years old when she suffered martyrdom for her Faith. Agnes had made a promise, a promise to God never to stain her purity. Her love for the Lord was very great and she hated sin even more than death! Since she was very beautiful, many young men wished to marry Agnes, but she would always say, "Jesus Christ is my only Spouse."

Procop, the Governor's son, became very angry when she refused him. He had tried to win her for his wife with rich gifts and promises, but the beautiful young girl kept saying, "I am already promised to the Lord of the Universe. He is more splendid than the sun and the stars, and He has said He will never leave me!" In great anger, Procop accused her of being a Christian and brought her to his father, the Governor. The Governor promised Agnes wonderful gifts if she would only deny God, but Agnes refused. He tried to change her mind by putting her in chains, but her lovely face shone with joy. Next he sent her to a place of sin, but an Angel protected her. At last, she was condemned to death. Even the pagans cried to see such a young and beautiful girl going to death. Yet, Agnes was as happy as a bride on her wedding day. She did not pay attention to those who begged her to save herself. "I would offend my Spouse," she said, "if I were to try to please you. He chose me first and He shall have me!" Then she prayed and bowed her head for the death-stroke of the sword.

The following is an account of the martyrdom of St. Agnes, described by St. Ambrose as he writes "On the Dignity of Virginity":

It is the birthday of St. Agnes, let men admire, let children take courage, let the married be astounded, let the unmarried take an example. But what can I say worthy of her whose very name was not devoid of bright praise? In devotion beyond her age, in virtue above nature, she seems to me to have borne not so much a human name, as a token of martyrdom, whereby she showed what she was to be.

But I have that which may assist me. The name of virgin is a title of modesty. I will call upon the martyr, I will proclaim the virgin. That panegyric is long enough which needs no elaboration, but is within our grasp. Let then labour cease, eloquence be silent. One word is praise enough. This word old men and young and boys chant. No one is more praiseworthy than he who can be praised by all. There are as many heralds as there are men, who when they speak proclaim the martyr. She is said to have suffered martyrdom when twelve years old. The more hateful was the cruelty, which spared not so tender an age, the greater in truth was the power of faith which found evidence even in that age. Was there room for a wound in that small body? And she who had no room for the blow of the steel had that wherewith to conquer the steel. But maidens of that age are unable to bear even the angry looks of parents, and are wont to cry at the pricks of a needle as though they were wounds. She was fearless under the cruel hands of the executioners, she was unmoved by the heavy weight of the creaking chains, offering her whole body to the sword of the raging soldier, as yet ignorant of death, but ready for it. Or if she were unwillingly hurried to the altars, she was ready to stretch forth her hands to Christ at the sacrificial fires, and at the sacrilegious altars themselves, to make the sign of the Lord the Conqueror, or again to place her neck and both her hands in the iron bands, but no band could enclose such slender limbs.

A new kind of martyrdom! Not yet of fit age for punishment but already ripe for victory, difficult to contend with but easy to be crowned, she filled the office of teaching valour while having the disadvantage of youth. She would not as a bride so hasten to the couch, as being a virgin she joyfully went to the place of punishment with hurrying step, her head not adorned with plaited hair, but with Christ. All wept, she alone was without a tear. All wondered that she was so readily prodigal of her life, which she had not yet enjoyed, and now gave up as though she had gone through it. Every one was astounded that there was now one to bear witness to the Godhead, who as yet could not, because of her age, dispose of herself. And she brought it to pass that she should be believed concerning God, whose evidence concerning man would not be accepted. For that which is beyond nature is from the Author of nature.

What threats the executioner used to make her fear him, what allurements to persuade her, how many desired that she would come to them in marriage! But she answered: It would be an injury to my spouse to look on any one as likely to please me. He who chose me first for Himself shall receive me. Why are you delaying, executioner? Let this body perish which can be loved by eyes which I would not. She stood, she prayed, she bent down her neck. You could see the executioner tremble, as though he himself had been condemned, and his right hand shake, his face grow pale, as he feared the peril of another, while the maiden feared not for her own. You have then in one victim a twofold martyrdom, of modesty and of religion. She both remained a virgin and she obtained martyrdom.

Almighty and everlasting God, who dost choose the weak things of the world to confound those things that are strong: mercifully grant that we, who keep the festival of blessed Agnes thy Martyr, may perceive within ourselves the effect of her prayers; 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. Fabian and Sebastian, Martyrs

January 20th is the commemoration of two great 3rd century martyrs – one a pope, and one a soldier.

St. Fabian was simple farmer but was an extraordinary person, who took his Catholic faith very seriously. One day he came into the city of Rome from the countryside, but this wasn’t just any day – it happened to be the day when a new pope was being chosen. Who knows? Perhaps Fabian had come to Rome that day out of curiosity, to see who the next pope would be, or perhaps it was some other business that brought him there. But he was there on that particular day. Those who had gathered to elect the next pope prayed for a sign. They probably had no idea that God would give them such a clear sign, because at that very moment a dove flew towards Fabian and settled on his head. They took this as a sign that Fabian had been chosen by God. Although he was not even ordained at the time, he was immediately acclaimed by the whole city of Rome. He was ordained and installed as pope. Fabian’s fourteen year reign as pope was fairly peaceful, but the end came with a new persecution by the Emperor Decius. Fabian was one of the first to be martyred during that persecution, in the year 250.

St. Fabian is commemorated on the same day as is St. Sebastian, although they lived in very different circumstances. St. Sebastian was born in Gaul, and he came from a rich Roman family, who sent him to Milan for his education. He became an officer in the Imperial Roman army and captain of the guard, and was known for his goodness and bravery. He was a favorite of Emperor Diocletian. It was during the persecution by Diocletian that Sebastian visited Christians in prison, bringing them supplies and comfort. He even healed the wife of one of the soldiers by making the sign of the cross over her. Seeing his witness, many soldiers and even a Roman governor became Christians.

Diocletian ordered Sebastian to give up his Christian faith but he refused. It was then that Sebastian was tied to a tree and archers shot arrows into his body and left him for dead. When a devout Christian woman came to bury him, she was amazed to find him still alive. She took him to her home and nursed his wounds. When Sebastian was well enough, the woman pleaded with him to escape the dangers of Rome. But Sebastian was a brave soldier. He would not run away. He returned to preach to Diocletian and urged him to stop torturing the Christians.

The emperor was shocked to see Sebastian alive. He refused to listen to what Sebastian had to say, and ordered that Sebastian be immediately clubbed and beaten to death. He died in 288.

St. Fabian’s remains are in the Basilica of St. Sebastian, and these two, whose lives were so different, were linked together by their common faith, and are two of our great martyrs.

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that we, on this day devoutly observing the feast of thy holy Martyrs Saints Fabian and Sebastian, may thereby increase in godliness to the attainment of everlasting salvation; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Pictured: St Fabian and St. Sebastian on wood panel, 

ca. 1475 - ca. 1500 from Catalan school, Barcelona.

Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity

From January 18 through January 25, Christians throughout the world keep the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The official material composed for it each year tends to be non-specific, as far as what we’re actually supposed to pray for (other than nice feelings and politeness) whereas the original prayers and intentions for the Octave of Prayer concentrate much more on the fact that unity according to the mind of Christ is a specific kind of unity.

The Octave was first conceived by Father Paul of Graymoor on 30 November 1907, before his entrance into the Catholic Church. The initial success in 1908 was so encouraging that he decided to promote it annually, and he regarded the Octave as one of the special means which brought his Society of the Atonement into the Church on 30 October 1909. It was given papal blessing by Pope St. Pius X on 27 December 1909, just two months after the Society of the Atonement had entered the Catholic Church. Other popes have given it their blessings over the years, including Pope St. John XXIII (who urged its observance more widely throughout the world) and Pope St. Paul VI (who had promoted it in his archdiocese when he was the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan). 

Father Paul considered the Octave as the greatest project which came from Graymoor, and even though it was overshadowed by the less-specific "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" during his own lifetime, he rejoiced that those separated from full communion with the Catholic Church felt called to observe the January period as a time of prayer for unity. Even though their concept of unity differs from that of the Catholic Church, it is significant that so many pray for that unity which God desires for His people.

The Octave, as originally conceived by Father Paul, reflects the unchanging truth that there can be no real unity apart from union upon that Rock, established by Christ Himself, which is Peter and his successors. For that reason, St. Peter is considered the special Patron of the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity.

THE OCTAVE PRAYERS

ANTIPHON: That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me.

V. I say unto thee, thou art Peter;

R. And upon this rock I will build my Church.

[Here is brought to mind the intention for the day's prayer.]

January 18: For the return of the "other sheep" to the One Fold of our Lord Jesus Christ.

January 19: For the return of the Eastern Orthodox Christians to communion with the Apostolic See.

January 20: For the return of the Anglicans to the authority of the Vicar of Christ.

January 21: For the return of all Protestants throughout the world to the unity of the Catholic Church.

January 22: That Christians in America (or, in my own country) may be one, in union with the Chair of Saint Peter.

January 23: That lapsed Catholics will return to the Sacraments of the Church.

January 24: That the Jewish people will be converted to the Catholic Faith.

January 25: That missionary zeal will conquer the world for Christ.

Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, who saidst to thine Apostles, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: regard not our sins, but the faith of thy Church; and grant to her peace and unity according to thy will; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Pictured: "Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter"

by Peter Paul Rubens c.1700

St. Anthony of Egypt, Abbot

Before the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in 312 AD, back in the days when Christianity was still a persecuted religion, the act of becoming a Christian meant that a person turned his back on security, prestige, popularity, and success as far as the world was concerned. After the Emperor Constantine had changed Christianity from being a persecuted religion into one that was acceptable to society, and it became fairly easy to be a Christian, many who were serious about their faith felt that they needed to make a bigger sacrifice. As a result, some of them wanted to show their Christian commitment by leaving society and going out into the desert to become hermits, where they could devote themselves to a life of solitude, fasting, and prayer. Although this had begun to happen even before Christianity became legal, after Constantine this “going out into the desert” was seen more and more. One of the earliest examples is St Anthony of Egypt, who is considered to be the founder of Christian monasticism.

St Anthony of Egypt was the son of Christian parents, and from them he inherited a large estate. On his way to church one day, he found himself thinking about the words of Jesus, where He said, "Sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and come follow me." When he got to church, he heard the preacher speaking on those very words. He took this as a message from God for him, so having provided for the care of his sister, he gave his land to the tenants who lived on it, and gave his other wealth to the poor, and became a hermit, living alone for twenty years, praying and reading, and doing manual labor. As more Christians sought out that solitary life, they tended to gravitate towards the place where St Anthony was, so in the year 305, he decided to give up his solitude, and he became the head of a group of monks, living in a cluster of huts or cells, devoting themselves to communal singing and worship, to prayer and study and manual labor under Anthony's direction. They weren’t there simply to renounce the world, but they wanted to develop their lives of prayer for others, and they worked with their hands to earn money so they could give it to the poor, and they gave spiritual guidance to those who sought them out.

In 321, Christians in Alexandria were beginning to experience persecution again, this time by the Emperor Maximinus – even though the Christian faith had been made legal by Constantine – and Anthony visited Alexandria to encourage those who were facing the possibility of martyrdom. He visited again in 335, when Arianism had become strong in the city, and he converted many by his preaching and testimony, and by prayer and the working of miracles. What we know of Anthony’s life we learn from the writings of St Athanasius, one of the followers of St Anthony. It was Athanasius who said about Anthony: "No one ever met him grieving, without failing to go away rejoicing."

Anthony died after a long, prayerful life in 356. He was 105.

Most gracious God, who didst call thy servant Anthony to sell all that he had and to serve thee in the solitude of the desert: grant that we, through his intercession and following his example, may learn to deny ourselves and to love thee before all things; 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 Wedding at Cana: Continuing the Epiphany

“There was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.”

-St. John 2:1, 2

The commemoration of the visit from the Wise Men only begins Epiphany. The Church actually links three events - the visit of the Magi, the Baptism of Our Lord, and Christ's first miracle at the wedding in Cana – and together these are the Epiphany: the manifestation of the Divine, the showing of the God-Man to the world.

He had come to take away the sins of the world, and to restore the communion between God and man which had been lost as a result of the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. He came to enter into our lives fully. He is true God, yet He does not cut Himself off from the everyday joys and activities of our lives. In Cana, we see Jesus and His disciples sharing in a festive wedding. Even though we do not know the names of the bride and groom, we do know that our Lord was there and He was celebrating with them.

In the society of that time a wedding was a special occasion, just as it is in our own day, although many of the customs were different. There, the wedding festivities lasted for a whole week. The wedding ceremony itself took place late in the evening, after a feast. After the ceremony the young couple was conducted to their new home. They were taken there by as long a route as possible so that everybody could have the opportunity to wish them well.

The newly married couple would stay at home for the ensuing week.  They would keep an open house, with feasting and dancing for the whole community. In lives where there was so much poverty and constant hard work, this week of festivity and joy was a supremely bright and happy occasion. It was a joyful time that our Lord gladly shared, and to have run out of wine would have cut the whole thing short. It was Christ’s provision of the wine that allowed for it to continue.

It is not accidental that this first miracle – or what St. John calls a “sign” – takes place at a wedding feast. Marriage is an important image, being a symbol of that relationship that is between Christ and His Church. This miracle of turning the water into wine points ahead to the water and blood which would flow from our Lord on the cross, and it looks forward to baptism and the Mass, two sacraments which incorporate us and bind us to Christ. And it points even further ahead to the messianic banquet when Jesus will feast with all the members of the kingdom in heaven, in the age to come. Some of the earliest Christian works of art have depicted the wedding at Cana as the heavenly feast, the Supper of the Lamb.

Also, this sign is an expression of God’s overflowing grace – the supernatural help we receive from God to assist our growth in holiness – grace that is mediated to us especially through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this Gospel account it was the Blessed Mother who told her Son that there was no wine. It was she who interceded on behalf of those who were in need.

We know that God’s grace is full and overflowing, and this is symbolized in the story of the wedding when St. John tells us that there were six stone jars, each containing twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus commanded the servants to fill them all to the brim with water, a reminder that when the grace of Jesus comes to us there is more than enough for everyone and still much more left over. There is no need on earth so great that it could possibly exhaust the grace of Christ.

And not only is this grace full and overflowing, but its quality is always the best. Jesus touches a wedding and lifts it not just with the miracle but also with His presence. He took something ordinary and made it extraordinary.

He took a fisherman named Peter and transformed him into the Rock on which He has built His Church. He takes ordinary men and women, just like us, and He uses us as His instruments to evangelize and transform the world.

All we have to do is call on Him and be touched by Him and we will witness the fact that He takes something plain and ordinary and makes it extraordinary. If Jesus can turn the water into wine, He can certainly turn the sinner into a saint.

So often God reveals his glory to us in the least likely places – in a stable at Bethlehem, on a bloody cross at Golgatha, on the road to Emmaus, or at a village wedding party in Cana.

At Cana in Galilee we see the first public sign and miracle which Jesus performed. The Lord Jesus brought great blessing and joy to a newly-wed couple and their wedding party. Every miracle of Jesus demonstrates the power of God's love and mercy for His people. God's kindness knows no limits. And the ultimate expression of His love is revealed in the Person of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
He became flesh for our sake, He died for our redemption, and He rose that we, too, might be raised up and glorified with Him. As this miracle signifies the "new rich wine" of the Gospel, may we thirst for God and for the abundant life and blessings He offers to us.

And by the way, the key to living a life filled with blessings is summed up by our Lady herself: “Do whatever he tells you.”

Almighty and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth: mercifully hear the supplications of thy people; and grant us thy peace all the days of our life; 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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Pictured: "The Marriage Feast in Cana"

by Juan de Flandes (1460-1519)

The Healing Power of Christ's Forgiveness

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, "Why do you question thus in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Rise, take up your pallet and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" – he said to the paralytic – “I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home." And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

-St. Mark 2:1-12

Jesus was in a house teaching. Like all houses in that time and place, it was flat-roofed and composed of beams laid from wall to wall, quite a short distance apart. The space between the beams was filled with close packed twigs, then covered with a coating of a clay mixture. It was easy to take out the packing between two beams, so that’s how these men let their friend down through the roof on his pallet, so that he was right in front of our Lord.

This Gospel is about Christ healing, and it’s also about Christ forgiving sin. It teaches us that sin and suffering often are connected, and sometimes it’s our own personal sin which causes suffering. There are choices people make which might be dangerous, or have a bad effect on their health, and that choice can cause suffering to them and to others.

The Pharisees went further and believed that if a man was suffering it automatically meant that he had sinned. Although we know that’s not universally true, yet because it was the way of thinking at that time, so it’s why Jesus began by forgiving the sins of the sick man, and it was through that forgiveness that Christ restored him to health. Because of the connection they made between sin and sickness, so the Pharisees’ objections to Jesus fell apart. Logically, and according to what the Pharisees believed, the man’s sin caused his sickness; but Jesus declares the man to be forgiven of sin, and he is completely restored to health; therefore, his newfound health proved that Jesus was able to forgive sin – the very thing the Pharisees said He couldn’t do!

There’s one more thing here. Notice that the man who was forgiven and healed was brought to Jesus by his friends. It’s a pretty powerful reminder to each of us that we have a responsibility to help our friends, and all those around us, to come to know God – and we do it by our words and by our example. Whenever we speak, or when we do something, we should ask, “Is this helping others to know God better?”

Christ's Healing and Wholeness

At that time: a leper came to Jesus beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people." But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

-St. Mark 1:40-45

As we read the scriptures – both Old and New Testaments – we see there was no disease that struck more terror in men’s hearts and minds than the disease of leprosy, now known medically as Hansen’s disease. To contract leprosy meant a condemnation to a slow death, and it meant complete social ostracization, too.

We can see that Jesus treated it with the seriousness with which society viewed it. For instance, when He sent the twelve disciples out, he commanded them to “heal the sick, cleanse lepers.”

The fate of the leper was truly horrible. The body becomes covered with ulcers; the appearance is changed over the course of time, losing the human look; the voice becomes hoarse; fingers and toes are lost – it really is a kind of “living death.”

Because of all of this, the leper was pronounced to be “unclean” and he was banished from living within society. He had to live apart, either alone or with other lepers. If anyone came close to him, he had to shout out “Unclean, unclean...” So the leper had to bear not only the physical pain of his disease, but also the mental anguish of being completely banished from family, friends, and society in general.

What we read in this account from St. Mark’s gospel gives a simple and beautiful picture of Jesus and His care for those in need. This particular leper had broken the law, since he had approached Jesus, which was something strictly forbidden. However, Jesus simply met this desperate act with understanding and compassion. He actually reached out and touched him. It was the general belief that physical contact with a leper was contagious, but to Jesus the man wasn’t unclean. He was a human being in desperate need. Then, having miraculously cleansed him, Jesus sent him to fulfill Jewish law by going to one of the temple priests. The man would need a certificate to show that he was free of leprosy. In directing the man to do that we see that Jesus did not defy conventions, but He submitted to them.

So, in Christ, we see compassion, power and wisdom all joined to bring healing and wholeness to a man in need of God’s loving embrace.

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[Pictured: "Jesus healing the leper" by Jean-Marie Melchior Doze (1827-1913)]

The Virgin Mary: Faithful in All Things

In her life, Our Lady gives us the perfect example of faithfulness. She unhesitatingly and completely accomplished the Will of God as it was manifested to her by doing her ordinary, commonplace duties – caring for the Infant Jesus, making the home in Nazareth a welcoming place – and she was also faithful to the demands of charity and concern for those whom God placed in her path – such as going to assist her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with St. John the Baptist, or her noticing the embarrassment of the young couple at the wedding feast at Cana, and then seeking to help them.

Mary obeyed the manifestations of the Will of God so faithfully that we cannot help but be filled with admiration, just from our human point of view. We cannot imagine her neglecting to follow the desires of God in any way, whether they were revealed to her by her duties, or the needs of her neighbour, or the message of an angel, or through the inner speaking of the Holy Spirit. Mary was like a leaf on a tree which is moved by the slightest breeze – she responded to His slightest urging and inspiration. Her soul was so attuned to the Spirit of God that it was impossible for her not to take note of the smallest wish of the Most High God, and certainly she was always ready to respond to His greatest requests.

Here’s an important point: Mary’s faithfulness in the small things prepared her for faithfulness in great things. Her generous response to the demands of God’s Will throughout her early life strengthened her ready response at the time of the Annunciation. Her faithfulness made her completely worthy, completely ready, for God to work His Will in her in the accomplishment of the Incarnation and Redemption.

Her words “Be it done unto me according to thy word,” is our example of wholehearted surrender to the Holy Spirit – that is, her perfect acceptance of the Will of God exactly how and when and in what way He desired it to be accomplished. At every moment of her life – in all her joys and sorrows, in the wonder of Bethlehem and in the horror of Calvary – Mary was always accepting. She was always ready to let God’s Will be done. She was always perfectly conformed to it, and she was always ready to embrace it. 

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Illustration by Margaret Tarrant (1888-1959)

St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor

In the early days and years of the Church there was constant persecution from outside forces – sometimes by groups of Jews, frequently by the civil government – and that persecution continued until the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in the year 312. But scarcely had the days of bloody persecution ended, when there arose up within the Church a dangerous enemy of another sort, Arianism. The heresy of Arianism denied the divinity of Christ; it was, in fact, hardly more than a form of paganism masquerading as the Christian Gospel. The smoldering strife soon flared into a mighty conflict endangering the whole Church; and its spread was all the more rapid and powerful because emperors, who called themselves Christian, proved its best supporters. Once again countless martyrs sealed in blood their belief in Christ's divinity; and orthodox bishops who voiced opposition were forced into exile amid extreme privations.

Among the foremost defenders of the true faith stood Hilary. He belonged to a distinguished family and had received an excellent education. Though a married man, he was made bishop of Poitiers by reason of his exemplary life. It was not long before his valiant defense of the faith precipitated his exile to Phrygia. Here he composed his great work on the Blessed Trinity (in twelve books). It is a vigorous defense of the faith, which, he said, "triumphs when attacked." Finally, after four years he was permitted to return to his native land. He continued his efforts, and through prudence and mildness succeeded in ridding Gaul of Arianism. Because of his edifying and illustrious writings on behalf of the true religion, the Church honors him as one of her doctors.

He wrote to his fellow bishops, “Be ready for martyrdom! Satan himself is clothed as an angel of light.” A favourite motto of St. Hilary was, "Servants of the truth ought to speak the truth."

[adapted from CatholicCulture.org]

Almighty, everlasting God, whose servant Hilary steadfastly confessed thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to be very God and very Man: grant that we may hold to this faith, and evermore magnify his holy Name; through the same 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 Right Use of Authority

When Jesus taught He spoke with authority. In fact, it was one of the things people commented upon when they heard Him. He didn’t support his statements with quotes from other authorities, as a rabbi would usually do. He was authority incarnate - the Word of God made flesh. When He spoke, God spoke. When He commanded even the demons obeyed.

So what about "authority"? The word comes from the Latin auctoritas, which is related to the word augere, which means "to increase; to make bigger.” A person who is given authority is not supposed to be someone who wields coercive power over others. The exercise of genuine authority is not to control, or to keep people in line; rather, to have authority is to be someone who helps people reach their full potential.

So, when parents exercise authority over their children, it should be done in such a way as to help them to become better. When the clergy exercise authority, it should be to help those under their charge to become more and more of what God intends them to be.

This is the kind of authority Jesus showed perfectly. He invited people to follow Him, and to be more like Him. He came to serve, and not to be served. He came to give life, life in its fullness. He came to lead people into the full development of all they were created to be.

We can tell the difference between the good exercise of authority and the bad exercise of authority. Is it making us better people? Is it helping us to become what God wants us to be?

Authority is not a weapon to inflict random decisions upon people. It is a tool, given by God, to help us know what is good and right and true, so that we may embrace and do those things.

St. Benedict Biscop, Abbot

St. Benedict Biscop is not the best known saint, by any means. He did not suffer for the faith, and in fact he lived fairly comfortably when compared to his contemporaries. But he had a sense of destiny, not just for himself, but for his people. He was (as hagiographers are so fond of saying) “of noble birth." He served his king and he was rewarded with his own land grant. His was the typical “local lad makes good” story.

It could have stopped there. A young man, a property owner, a good Catholic boy, who might have settled down and married the maiden next door, have a passel of children, pass into old age and a quiet death, unknown except to those closest to him. And that would have been fine, if God hadn’t had other plans for him.

Benedict Biscop wanted to travel. He wanted to go to Rome. There was a deep desire within him to make his own kind of ad limina. Saints had lived there, and they had died there, and he wanted to see it, experience it, soak it in for himself. He wanted to pray at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul. He wanted to take in the beauty of it all. And he did, not only once, but several times. In fact, much of his life was spent traveling back and forth to Rome, and what he saw there he wanted to carry back to his own people. And that he did too. Art, liturgy, theology, music, everything he experienced in that great city of faith was something he knew would benefit his people in cold, far-away Northumbria.

This was part of the spiritual genius of St. Benedict Biscop, that great music, great art, great architecture should not be limited to the great centers of civilization. God intends it for us all. He has created us with a hunger for such things. The good abbot built the first stone structure his people had ever seen. He brought the finest continental glaziers to wild Northumbria to give his monastery unheard-of glass windows. He filled the place with paintings which served as poor men’s books. He established the expectation of learning amongst his monks, astonishing even them with what they could accomplish. His work reached even a young boy named Bede who came and never left.

When it comes to fitting out God’s house, and the worship offered within it, it takes godly imagination, obedience to Catholic tradition, a readiness to reach higher than one thought possible, a desire to do all things well for God. It was done by Benedict Biscop then, and we can do it now.

O God, by whose gift the blessed Abbot Benedict left all things that he might be made perfect: grant unto all those who have entered upon the path of evangelical perfection; that they may neither look back nor linger in the way; but hastening to thee without stumbling, may lay hold on life eternal; 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 Call to the Kingdom

After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.” And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

St. Mark 1:14-20

When Jesus began to preach He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.”

This idea of the Kingdom is deeply rooted in the Old Testament, and it is a central theme in the teaching of Jesus Christ; namely, that there is the “kingly rule,” the “sovereignty” of God, and that all things are to be made subject to this rule.

Now of course, the kingdom being proclaimed by Christ is not confined only to this world – it continues into eternity – but it begins here, and this portion of the Gospel shows us Jesus laying the foundation for the Kingdom with the calling of His first apostles. They were fishermen – simple men, ordinary men – called by our Lord while they were engaged in doing their day’s work.

And how did He call them? All He said was, “Follow me.” He did not outline any great theological system for them, or lay out a line of reasoning trying to convince them. He just said, “Follow me.” And they did. With that invitation He called them to a specific service. “I will make you fishers of men...” 

They could not have known it then, but Jesus was calling them to a life which was not going to be easy. They were being called to a life in which they would expend all their energy, and they were being called to a Faith for which they ultimately would give their lives.

There was no other assurance that He gave them. He did not outline the future for them. He gave them no guarantees. He simply invited them to put themselves under the sovereign rule of God, to move into the kingdom which He had come to establish, and in that kingdom they would find their fulfillment and true purpose. They were being invited to put aside all their other interests and activities – all the other things they thought were important – and they would be required to do only one thing: to follow Christ.

In fact, the invitation He extended to them, He continues to extend in our own day to us. This invitation to place our lives under the rule of God is an open invitation to every one of us.

To live in God’s Kingdom means to follow Christ more closely. It often calls for a radical change in direction, and it always involves entrusting ourselves to God, realizing that God’s plan for us might not coincide with our own best-laid plans.

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Painting by Adam Brenner (1800-1891)

"Christ Calling His First Disciples"

The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Like so many other pious Jews, our Lord Jesus Christ came to John and let him baptize Him. In first thinking about it, it seems strange that He would have done that. If Jews were receiving John’s baptism as a sign of repentance and to mark a new beginning, why would Christ go through it? As the sinless Incarnate God, He certainly had nothing for which He had to repent, and as the eternal Son of God – in Whom is no beginning and no end – He would not be marking a new beginning. So we can understand John’s initial reaction of being hesitant. God had already revealed to John the real identity of Jesus, so of course John would protest the whole idea of baptizing Christ.

When we put together all the Gospel accounts of the baptism of Christ, we learn a number of things.

The scripture is clear in telling us that the Lord was baptized “when all the people were baptized.” In other words, it was done publicly, at the same time as others were being baptized. When Christ was baptized, He looked like the countless other Jews who were lined up along the Jordan River. And this is an important point: although He was the Incarnate Word of God, outwardly Jesus led a life like the lives of other Jews. As an infant He was circumcised, and then was presented in the Temple in accordance with traditional Jewish practice. He took part in the customary pilgrimages to Jerusalem. He attended the synagogue, and He worked like other Jewish men. Nothing particularly distinguished Him from those around Him – so much so, that later on during His earthly ministry, people began to ask, “Where does He get these ideas? Isn’t He the son of Joseph the carpenter? Isn’t Mary His mother? Don’t we know His family?” To all outward appearances, Jesus was a typical Jewish boy who grew into typical Jewish manhood, faithfully following the demands of the Law.

And this principle applies to His baptism, too. Christ wanted to make it clear that He was truly “at one” with those He had come to save. Certainly He had no sin or guilt for which He had to ask pardon; rather, His baptism was a profound expression of union with mankind. And this is reason enough for His baptism to be important to us. It shows Christ to be one of us. It reminds us that He knows our deepest needs. He knows our longing to be forgiven and to be restored to a right relationship with God. But His baptism proclaims much more than that.

The Gospel tells us that the heavens were opened, the Holy Spirit descended, and the Father’s voice said “You are my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The prophet Isaiah had foretold this generations before, when he wrote, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him.” And ever since that prophecy the people had been looking for the coming of this servant. He would be a servant who would inaugurate a new age. He would “bring forth justice to the nations.” In Him, the old darkness would be swept away, and the new age of God’s light would dawn. This servant would “open the eyes that are blind.” He would “bring prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” No more would mankind have to grope blindly for the truth, hoping to find God. Now God would seek out man, and would come to him. And in Christ, God had come very near indeed; in fact, He was in the world, even though the world did not recognize Him.

With the baptism of Jesus something new was beginning, something that would give mankind access to God in a way which had never existed before. It was as though every twisting thread of history was converging at this point, when Jesus was publicly manifested as the Son with whom the Father was well-pleased. Christ was the long-awaited Servant who had come to do the Father’s will. And the Father’s will is to open the way of salvation to the whole world – not just to the Jews, but to everyone.

In this baptism, the first public act of His earthly ministry, Christ wanted to manifest His closeness and unity with us. He wanted to emphasize the unique importance of what He had come to do. He wanted it to serve as a pledge that He would strengthen us in all that God has called us to do as a result of our own baptism. 

HEAVENLY Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ did take our nature upon him, and was baptised for our sakes in the river Jordan: mercifully grant that we, being regenerate and made thy children by adoption and grace, may also be partakers of thy Holy Spirit; through the same 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: "Baptism of Christ" by Pedro García de Benabarre (1445-1485)

Manifestation of the Divine

The Church links three events - the visit of the Magi, the Baptism of Our Lord, and Christ's first miracle at the wedding in Cana - to give us a more complete understanding of the Epiphany, which is the manifestation of the God-Man to the world.

Almighty God, whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ is the Light of the world: Grant that thy people, illumined by thy Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Pictured: Frescoes by Giotto di Bondone (c.1267-1337) 

St. Raymond of Peñafort

St. Raymond of Peñafort lived to be a hundred years old, and with such a long life, he had the opportunity to do many things.  He certainly took full advantage of all the time God gave him on this earth. St. Raymond was born into a Spanish family of noblemen, which meant that he had the resources and the education to get a very good start in life.

By the time he was twenty, St. Raymond was teaching philosophy. By the time he was little more than thirty years old he had earned a doctorate in both canon law and civil law. When he was forty-one he entered the Dominican order. Pope Gregory IX called him to Rome to work for him and to be his confessor. One of the things the pope asked him to do was to gather together all the decrees of popes and councils. St. Raymond compiled five books called the Decretals, and this was really the beginning of an organized system of canon law for the Church. In fact, since St. Raymond’s work, there was no other actual Code of Canon Law organized until 1917.

St. Raymond wrote a book for confessors which was a collection of various situations and sins, and in this book he discussed the different doctrines and laws of the Church which would be applied in the various cases – a work which was very helpful to confessors.

At the age of sixty, St. Raymond was appointed archbishop of Tarragona, the capital of Aragon. It was a position which he found to be very difficult.  It caused him to become sick and after two years he resigned.

The peace he felt from that resignation was soon over, however, because when he was sixty-three he was elected by his fellow Dominicans to be the head of the whole Order, the successor of St. Dominic. St. Raymond worked hard, visited on foot all the Dominican houses, reorganized their constitutions, and managed to put through a provision that a master general be allowed to resign. When the new constitutions were accepted, St. Raymond, then sixty-five, resigned as the head of the Dominicans. He still had thirty-five years ahead of him, and he spent those years very productively, opposing heresies and working for the conversion of the Muslims who were occupying Spain.

The most famous miracle associated with him was when St. Raymond accompanied the King of Aragon on an expedition to Majorca. While they were there the saint rebuked the king for giving public scandal. However, finding that his rebuke had no effect on the king, Raymond prepared to return to Barcelona. The king attempted to keep St. Raymond on the island by force, but the saint put his mantle into the sea.  With his staff serving as a mast, and he sailed on his mantle, like a boat, the nearly one hundred miles back to the mainland. On reaching Barcelona, St. Raymond took up his mantle, which was perfectly dry, and was transported through the locked doors of the convent and beyond the astonished crowd that had witnessed his landing. Touched by the miracle, the King of Aragon renounced his evil ways and forevermore led a good life.

O God, who didst appoint blessed Raymond excellently to minister the Sacrament of Penance, and didst wondrously make for him a passage upon the waves of the sea: grant, we pray thee; that, at his intercession, we may bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, and be found meet to attain to the harbour of everlasting salvation; 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.