The Passion of St. John the Baptist

The circumstances surrounding the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist are rather unsavoury.  We have a drunken king who makes an oath because he doesn’t want to be embarrassed in front of others. We have a hateful queen who wants revenge. We have a young girl who is pushed into the situation by her mother, and made to do a seductive dance and then make a deal to have John murdered.

This Gospel account describes it for us:

Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; because he had married her. For John said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it." And he vowed to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." And she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer." And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

- St. Mark 6:17-29

John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and he was the first New Testament prophet. Of course, he was treated like most of the prophets were – he was hated for speaking the truth. Sent by God to prepare the people for the Messiah, his vocation was one of selfless giving. The only power he claimed was the Spirit of God. “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11).

Scripture tells us that many people followed John looking to him for hope, perhaps in anticipation of some great messianic power. John never allowed himself the false honor of receiving these people for his own glory. He knew his calling was one of preparation. When the time came, he led his disciples to Jesus: “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God.’ The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus” (John 1:35-37), and so the life and death of St. John the Baptist had the great purpose of pointing the way to Christ.

Almighty God, by whose grace and power thy servant St. John the Baptist triumphed over suffering and despised death: Grant, we beseech thee, that we, enduring hardness and waxing valiant in fight, may with the noble army of martyrs receive the crown of everlasting life; through 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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"The Beheading of St. John the Baptist" ca. 1869

by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes

St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor

St. Augustine was born in A.D. 354 in what is modern-day Algeria. His family was of some substance and highly respected. His father Patricius was a pagan, though he converted to Christianity on his deathbed. His mother St. Monica was a Christian and raised Augustine in the faith, though he was not baptized until he was an adult.

As a boy Augustine became conscious of sin in a special way when he participated in a pointless act of theft – an act which made a profound impression on him and he later wrote about and regretted it. He and some companions stole pears from a tree, not necessarily to eat, but just to steal for the fun of it. In his spiritual autobiography, the Confessions, he described the incident, and ended his account by writing, “Foul was the evil, and I loved it.”

When he was nineteen, Augustine began a long-term affair with a woman. We do not know her name, because Augustine deliberately didn’t record it. He never married her, but they did have a son. Despite his Christian upbringing, Augustine abandoned the Faith and became a Manichean, a gnostic sect, an act which crushed his mother.

So far it doesn’t sound much like the life of a saint, so how did he turn things around? He happened to take a position teaching rhetoric in Milan, Italy and, with the encouragement of his mother, began to have more contact with Christians and Christian literature, which brought him in contact with the great St. Ambrose, then the bishop of Milan.

One day, in the summer of 386, he heard a childlike voice chanting “Tolle, lege” (“Take, read”). He took this as a divine command and opened the Bible, randomly, to Romans 13:13-14, which reads: “Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Applying this to his own life, Augustine was cut to the heart, and his conversion began in earnest. He was baptized, along with his son Adeodatus, at the next Easter Vigil by St. Ambrose. A few short years later his mother Monica and his son Adeodatus both died. Augustine returned to him home in North Africa, where he was alone on the family property. He sold almost all his possessions and gave the money to the poor and he turned the family home into a monastery. In 391, he was ordained a priest of the diocese of Hippo. In 395, he became the city’s coadjutor bishop and then its bishop. As bishop, he wrote extensively, and the value of his writings was such that he is considered to be a Church Father.

This great Doctor of the Church spent over 30 years working on his treatise De Trinitate [about the Holy Trinity], endeavouring to conceive an intelligible explanation for the mystery of the Trinity. 

Augustine was walking by the seashore one day contemplating and trying to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity when he saw a small boy running back and forth from the water to a spot on the seashore. The boy was using a sea shell to carry the water from the ocean and place it into a small hole in the sand. 

The Bishop of Hippo approached him and asked, “My boy, what are doing?” 

“I am trying to bring all the sea into this hole,” the boy replied with a sweet smile. 

“But that is impossible, my dear child, the hole cannot contain all that water” said Augustine. 

The boy paused in his work, stood up, looked into the eyes of the Saint, and replied, “It is no more impossible than what you are trying to do – comprehend the immensity of the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your small intelligence.” 

The Saint was absorbed by such a keen response from that child, and turned his eyes from him for a short while. When he glanced down to ask him something else, the boy had vanished. 

Some say that it was an Angel sent by God to teach Augustine a lesson on pride in learning. Others affirm it was the Christ Child Himself who appeared to the Saint to remind him of the limits of human understanding before the great mysteries of our Faith.

Augustine died on August 28, 430. He was canonized by popular acclaim and was subsequently proclaimed to be one of the four original Doctors of the Church.

O Merciful Lord, who didst turn Saint Augustine from his sins to be a faithful Bishop and teacher: grant that we may follow him in penitence and godly discipline; till our restless hearts find their rest in 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.

Trinity XI: My Will or God's Will

One Sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him.

- St. Luke 14:1

The Gospel accounts of our Lord’s earthly ministry very often start out with a simple description of the setting, and then build up to give us an important lesson about the Faith. The Gospel for this Sunday is no different. It begins by setting the scene: “One Sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees…” So far, the story sounds ordinary. An ordinary invitation, a well-prepared meal, the potential for some convivial conversation, a nice social event. But it goes on to say: “they were watching him.” And the whole mood changes.

Jesus had been invited to this Pharisee’s house, along with several other guests, just so he could be “watched.” What might have been an innocent meal with a young and interesting rabbi was turned into an occasion when the host and the other guests hoped they would be able to catch Jesus doing or saying something wrong.

Remember who the Pharisees were. They were the spiritually elite of their day, the educated ones, the experts. They knew the Law. They knew the writings of the prophets. In fact, the Pharisees were the pride of Israel. Nobody knew their religion like they did.

So the meal begins. When Christ begins to speak, His words seem inoffensive enough – although if we’ve paid attention to the Gospel account, we can see that Jesus’ first words were in response to what he saw going on. Apparently the other guests were elbowing themselves forward for the best seats at table, the place which would denote the best honour. And so Jesus speaks: “When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honour, lest a more eminent man than you be invited…” It seems like common sense, and one would think they would have been embarrassed. At formal meals there is a proper order in the way guests are seated. We are accustomed to having a head table at a banquet, and we fully expect any visiting dignitaries to take a place there. And unless we ourselves fall into that category, we wouldn’t expect to sit there ourselves. Even at family gatherings, this is true. A father has “his place” at the table; a mother has “her place.” Even if the children squabble over who is going to sit where, there is respect for certain places at the table. So Christ is making a point in a very simple way. It points out that there is greater honour in hearing the words “come up higher,” rather in being put down with “move over and make room” for this other person.

On the surface, this seems to be all Jesus is saying. An ordinary observation, making a case for modesty and humility, which in the end is better for us than being self-important and overly-assertive. But when we look at the totality of the scriptural teaching from this Sunday’s readings, we can see that there is much more to what our Lord is saying.

In the reading from Sirach we hear these words: “The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favour in the sight of the Lord.” Here are words that take Christ’s teaching out of the earthly realm of how we should behave at a dinner and applies what He has to say to the spiritual realm of the kingdom of God. If at a banquet it is better to wait for the master of the house to give you honour, rather than to take honour to yourself, then it is certainly true that in the kingdom of God we cannot choose our place, or exalt ourselves on our own.

In fact, this point is so important that the lesson goes on to say, “the affliction of the proud has no healing, for a plant of wickedness has taken root in him.” So then, it appears that we have two choices: either we can try to exalt ourselves, try to grab a role or position or function that we want, and do all in our power to attain it, or we can humble ourselves, and make the effort to free ourselves from all personal ambition, and from the need to have a certain place or a certain role.

We should consider that more closely.

The desire to have a place or position that suits our personal desires, and then putting all our energies into obtaining it can take different forms, and not all of them bad. Is it wrong to have ambition to achieve some good thing? Certainly not, if our desire is in accordance with God’s plan for us. But, if it means that a person puffs himself up so as to appear better or more important in the eyes of others, it becomes something else altogether.

We’ve all seen this: the elected official, supposedly the servant of the people, who expects his constituents practically to do obeisance when they’re in his presence; or the priest or bishop, who is supposed to be Christ in our midst, but who is “too busy” to speak to ordinary people; or the low-level government clerk who hides behind mountains of official forms and regulations, making members of the public go from line to line, hoping to find someone who might help. This a kind of pridefulness in which that person has made himself the center of all things, and it is a grabbing of power over others which props him up in his own conceit.

But God speaks to us of “humbling” ourselves, to remember that we are small because we are always in the presence of the Lord. This involves a willingness to live in such a way that we remember that we are completely dependent upon God. Christ tells us that if you want to be the greatest, they you must make yourself the “least of all.” But that doesn’t always sit well with many people. They mistake “humility” for “humiliation,” and they would see being the “least of all” as a giving up of their liberty and the right to make their own decisions about themselves and their own talents and expectations from life.

But quite the opposite is true – and we see it in this Sunday’s appointed reading from the epistle to the Hebrews. We are told “You have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest…” In other words, we’re not supposed to be wrapped up in those things that are intended to impress others on a merely human plane. Hebrews goes on, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem… to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” In other words, the believer is someone who approaches something and someone far greater than mere human things. It is the “heavenly Jerusalem,” the kingdom of God – indeed, it is Jesus Christ himself to whom we come.

This is the humility Christ teaches us. It involves a choice: either we choose to be strong in our own eyes and in the eyes of others, or else we choose to have a share in the kingdom of God. And if we choose the share in His kingdom, then we accept the fact that everything is of Him, and by Him, and for Him. So “humbling oneself” isn’t the negation or the destruction of what is truly human in us; rather, it is choosing to put ourselves into the hands of Almighty God so that we can be conformed to what He wants us to be.

This is part of the paradox and the mystery of our faith: in order to be strong, we must make ourselves completely dependent upon God; in order to be free, we must make ourselves completely subservient to our Lord; in order to be proud, we must take upon ourselves complete humility. But, of course, this is also the joy of our Christian faith. We are not standing by ourselves against the world. We don’t have to make our own way through life, hoping to garner some share of human respect, and depending upon our own small accomplishments to earn us a place at this world’s banquet. No, we have come to the city of the living God, where our place is already set, and where the master of the banquet waits for our arrival, and where our own accomplishments count for very little because Christ has done all things for us.

How clear the choice is. We can choose our own will, and inherit eternal death. Or we can choose the will of God, and live in that heavenly Jerusalem, which is the kingdom of God.

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Painting: "The Wedding Feast" by Tintoretto (1518-1594)

St. Monica, Widow and Confessor

The circumstances of St. Monica's life could have made her a nagging wife, a bitter daughter-in-law and a despairing parent, yet she did not give way to any of those temptations. Although she was a Christian, her parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her hometown of Tagaste in North Africa. Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and lived an immoral life. Monica also had to put up with an ill-tempered mother-in-law who lived in her home. Patricius constantly criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but he always respected her. Monica's prayers and example finally won her husband and mother-in-law over to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one year after his Baptism.

Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest, Augustine, is the most famous. At the time of his father's death, Augustine was 17 and a student of rhetoric in Carthage. Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy – which was a combination of gnostic Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and various other elements, with the basic doctrine of a conflict between light and dark, with matter (physical things) being regarded as dark and evil. At this point, Augustine was living an immoral life. For a while, Monica refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. In fact, she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted.

When he was 29, Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric. Monica was determined to go along. One night he told his mother that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend. Instead, he set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine's trick, but she still followed him. She arrived in Rome only to find that he had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica pursued him to Milan.

In Milan Augustine came under the influence of the bishop, St. Ambrose, who also became Monica's spiritual director. She accepted his advice in everything and had the humility to give up some practices that had become second nature to her. Monica became a leader of the devout women in Milan, as she had been in Tagaste.

She continued her prayers for Augustine during his years of instruction. At Easter, 387, St. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several of his friends. Soon after, his party left for Africa. Although no one else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was nearing the end. She told Augustine, "Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled." She became ill shortly after and suffered severely for nine days before her death.

O God, who art the Comforter of them that mourn, and the Salvation of them that hope in thee, who didst graciously regard the tearful pleading of blessed Monica for the conversion of her son Augustine: grant, we beseech thee, at their united intercession; that we may truly lament our sins and be made worthy to obtain thy gracious pardon; 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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Image: from a fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli, “Saint Monica,” c. 1465

An old and familiar voice...

I keep a copy of Cardinal Newman’s Apologia pro vita sua on my desk.  It is old, indicated by the price of $1.45 on its cover.  It is dog-eared and it has underlinings in it from my college days when I first read it. In fact, I can remember snatching odd moments between classes just to read a few pages and to savour one or another point he was making. Ultimately, this book would be instrumental in my own conversion to the Catholic Church, and some things I wrote on the title page bear that out. The first thing I wrote was, “I, too, am following the steps of Cardinal Newman – I left the Episcopal Church on 12th January 1982.” Beneath that I wrote, “I was made deacon in the Catholic church on Aug. 7, 1983.” Under that, “ordained Priest – Aug. 15, 1983.” And then finally, “ad Jesum per Mariam.”

For me, part of the brilliance of Cardinal Newman’s writing is the innocent faith that shines through. I can remember reading passages such as this, and then having a light go on in my mind:

"People say that the doctrine of Transubstantiation is difficult to believe; I did not believe the doctrine till I was a Catholic. I had no difficulty in believing it as soon as I believed that the Catholic Roman Church was the oracle of God, and that she had declared this doctrine to be part of the original revelation. It is difficult, impossible to imagine, I grant - but how is it difficult to believe? Yet Macaulay thought it so difficult to believe, that he had need of a believer in it of talents as eminent as Sir Thomas More, before he could bring himself to conceive that the Catholics of an enlightened age could resist “the overwhelming force of the argument against it.” “Sir Thomas More,” he says, “is one of the choice specimens of wisdom and virtue; and the doctrine of transubstantiation is a kind of proof charge. A faith which stands that test, will stand any test.” But for myself, I cannot indeed prove it, I cannot tell how it is; but I say, “Why should not it be? What's to hinder it? What do I know of substance or matter? just as much as the greatest philosophers, and that is nothing at all;” - so much is this the case, that there is a rising school of philosophy now, which considers phenomena to constitute the whole of our knowledge in physics. The Catholic doctrine leaves phenomena alone. It does not say that the phenomena go; on the contrary, it says that they remain: nor does it say that the same phenomena are in several places at once. It deals with what no one on earth knows any thing about, the material substances themselves. And, in like manner, of that majestic Article of the Anglican as well as of the Catholic Creed, - the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity. What do I know of the Essence of the Divine Being? I know that my abstract idea of three is simply incompatible with my idea of one; but when I come to the question of concrete fact, I have no means of proving that there is not a sense in which one and three can equally be predicated of the Incommunicable God."

He writes in the same way about the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception:

"Let me take the doctrine which Protestants consider our greatest difficulty, that of the Immaculate Conception. Here I entreat the reader to recollect my main drift, which is this. I have no difficulty in receiving it: if I have no difficulty, why may not another have no difficulty also? why may not a hundred? a thousand? Now I am sure that Catholics in general have not any intellectual difficulty at all on the subject of the Immaculate Conception; and that there is no reason why they should. Priests have no difficulty. You tell me that they ought to have a difficulty - but they have not. Be large-minded enough to believe, that men may reason and feel very differently from yourselves; how is it that men fall, when left to themselves, into such various forms of religion, except that there are various types of mind among them, very distinct from each other? From my testimony then about myself, if you believe it, judge of others also who are Catholics: we do not find the difficulties which you do in the doctrines which we hold; we have no intellectual difficulty in that in particular, which you call a novelty of this day. We priests need not be hypocrites, though we be called upon to believe in the Immaculate Conception. To that large class of minds, who believe in Christianity, after our manner, - in the particular temper, spirit, and light, (whatever word is used,) in which Catholics believe it, - there is no burden at all in holding that the Blessed Virgin was conceived without original sin; indeed, it is a simple fact to say, that Catholics have not come to believe it because it is defined, but it was defined because they believed it."

Every time I make a return visit to the Apologia I find myself nodding in agreement, confirming that my journey took the right path those many years ago.

St. Joseph Calasanz

From Aragon where he was born in 1556, to Rome where he died 92 years later, fortune alternately smiled and frowned on the work of Joseph Calasanz. 

A priest with university training in canon law and theology, respected for his wisdom and administrative expertise, he put aside his career because he was deeply concerned with the need for education of poor children. When he was unable to get other institutes to undertake this apostolate at Rome, Joseph and several companions personally provided a free school for deprived children. 

So overwhelming was the response that there was a constant need for larger facilities to house their effort. Soon, Pope Clement VIII gave support to the school, and this aid continued under Pope Paul V. Other schools were opened; other men were attracted to the work, and in 1621 the community—for so the teachers lived—was recognized as a religious community, the Clerks Regular of Religious Schools—Piarists or Scolopi. Not long after, Joseph was appointed superior for life.

A combination of various prejudices and political ambition and maneuvering caused the institute much turmoil. Some did not favour educating the poor, for education would leave the poor dissatisfied with their lowly tasks for society! Others were shocked that some of the Piarists were sent for instruction to Galileo—a friend of Joseph—as superior, thus dividing the members into opposite camps. Repeatedly investigated by papal commissions, Joseph was demoted; when the struggle within the institute persisted, the Piarists were suppressed. Only after Joseph’s death were they formally recognized as a religious community.

(From FranciscanMedia. org)

O GOD, who didst adorn the Priest Saint Joseph Calasanz with such charity and patience that he laboured tirelessly to educate children and endow them with every virtue: grant, we pray; that we, who venerate him as a teacher of wisdom, may constantly imitate his work for thy truth; 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. Louis, King and Confessor

St. Louis IX, (1215-1270) became King of France at the age of twelve. He had been brought up by his mother to be a faithful Catholic ruler, and during his whole life he remembered her words to him: "Never forget that sin is the only great evil in the world.” Then she went on to say, “No mother could love her son more than I love you. But I would rather see you lying dead at my feet than to know that you had offended God by one mortal sin."

Throughout his life he remained deeply devout and as a king his conduct was that of a real saint. He devoted himself to the people of his kingdom and he was a great peacemaker — kings and princes constantly sought his aid in settling disputes. He was a humble man, and was always helpful to the needy, inviting them to his own table to eat. He took time himself to care for lepers and the sick. St. Louis gave to all his people an example of a life that overflowed with charity and with justice for every single person.

He was a person whom it was easy to love.  He was a kind husband, the father of eleven children. He took great care in practicing his faith and in receiving the sacraments. St. Louis was known also for his bravery in battle, going on two crusades to protect the Church in the Holy Land from the Muslims who were trying to destroy it. In fact, he was on his second crusade when he was taken ill by the plague. As a penance he asked to be laid on a bed of ashes, and his last words were from Psalm 5, "I will enter Thy house; I will worship in Thy holy temple and sing praises to Thy Name!"

O God, who didst call thy servant St. Louis of France to an earthly throne that he might advance thy heavenly kingdom, and didst give him zeal for thy Church and love for thy people: Mercifully grant that we who commemorate him this day may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of thy saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

St. Bartholomew's Day

O ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who didst give to thine Apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach thy Word: grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church; to love that Word which he believed, and both to preach and to receive the same; 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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Image: Chapel of the Martyr St. George

St. Bartholomew, Apostle

In St. John's Gospel, Bartholomew (son of Tolomai) is known by the name Nathaniel.  His home was Cana in Galilee, where the miraculous turning of water into wine took place, and he was one of the first disciples called by the Lord Jesus. It was of Bartholomew that Christ said, "Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile!" 

After the Resurrection of our Lord, he was blessed by being one of the few apostles who witnessed the appearance of the risen Saviour on the sea of Galilee (John 21:2). Following the Ascension the tradition is that he preached the Gospel in Greater Armenia, and it was there that he was martyred by being flayed, which means that while he was still alive, his skin was torn from his body. The Armenians honor him as the apostle of their nation. 

His relics were brought eventually to Rome to a small island in the middle of the Tiber, where there is a basilica and hospital.

O Almighty and everlasting God, who didst give to thine apostle St. Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach thy Word: Grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church to love what he believed and to preach what he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Tomb of St. Bartholomew, Tiber Island

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Painting: "St. Bartholomew" by Bernardino Di Betto, ca. 1452–1513

St. Rose of Lima

St. Rose of Lima, the first canonized saint of the New World has one characteristic common to so many saints – she was not really understood by those around her. And she had another characteristic which should not necessarily be imitated by everybody – that of an excessive practice of mortification, that is, self-inflicted suffering.

St. Rose was born to parents of Spanish descent in Lima, Peru, at a time when South America was in its first century of evangelization. She was baptized with the name Isabella, but because she was an extremely beautiful young girl, she was given the nickname of Rose, because she reflected the beauty of roses.

Sometimes the saints have a love for God that is so tremendous, it drives them to some things that would seem very strange to us. And in fact, sometimes the discipline and practices of some of these things really are imprudent, but is a kind of logical carrying out of the idea that anything which might come between them and God should be rooted out. We see this with St. Rose of Lima. Because her beauty was so often admired, she was afraid she would become vain, and she worried that people would think more about her beauty than they would think of God, so Rose used to rub her face with pepper to produce disfiguring blotches. Also, she wore a thick circlet of silver on her head, but it was studded on the inside, like a crown of thorns, giving her a constant reminder of the suffering of Christ. These aren’t necessarily the sorts of things that should be imitated, but they do give us an idea of the intensity of her love for God.

When her parents fell into financial trouble, she worked in the garden all day and sewed at night, to help with family expenses. Even though she was a model daughter, and worked hard for the family, for ten long years she struggled against her parents because of their insistence that she should find a young man and get married. Rose herself sensed a vocation to religious life, but they refused to let her enter a convent, so out of obedience she continued her life of penance and solitude at home as a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic. So deep was her desire to live the life of Christ that she spent most of her time at home in solitude.

During the last few years of her life, St. Rose set up a room in the house, where she cared for homeless children, the elderly and the sick. This was really the very first organized charitable work done for the poor in Peru. She was completely secluded in her life and activity – she worked with no one else, and in fact the authorities found her way of life so strange that she was interrogated by church officials, but after speaking with her, they knew that she was living a life that was filled with God’s grace.

We could see the life of St. Rose as just being an eccentric life – a strange girl who did what seemed to be strange things. But her life was transfigured from being something odd, into being something beautiful, because of her immense love for God. In fact, her love for Him was so great, that she was able to endure ridicule from many people, as well as long periods of sickness. In fact, her witness to God’s love was so tremendous, that when she died at the age of 31, the whole city came out for her funeral, and all of the most prominent men in the city and in the Church took turns carrying her coffin in the funeral procession.

Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, who didst will that Saint Rose, bedewed with heavenly graces, should blossom forth among the peoples of the Americas as a flower of virginity and suffering: grant to us thy servants, so to run after her in the fragrance of her sweetness; that we may be found worthy to be made a sweet savour unto Christ 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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Image: "Santa Rosa de Lima" from the Cuzco School 

Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Our understanding of the queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary has grown over the centuries, but it has its roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.” 

As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, Mary is closely associated with Jesus: Her queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship, and when it comes to her queenship, we can go all the way back to the Old Testament to see why it’s true: in the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in court. All the things we know about the Blessed Virgin Mary always flows from what we know about the Lord Jesus Christ.

As early as in the fourth century, St. Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and referred to her as “Queen.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Church’s devotional life reflects our belief: one of the mysteries of the Rosary, for instance, is the crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven. In several of the Church’s prayers and litanies, the Blessed Virgin is assigned the title of Queen.

The feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the octave day of that feast. In 1954, Pope Pius XII established this feast, and he wrote an encyclical titled “To the Queen of Heaven.” In that encyclical, the Pope teaches that Mary deserves the title of Queen because she is Mother of God, and because she is closely associated with Jesus' redemptive work as the New Eve. As Queen, the Blessed Virgin Mary shows us the highest state of perfected humanity, and she intercedes for us in our own growth in holiness.

Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness: That we who celebrate the memory of the holy Mother of God, Our Lady Queen of Heaven, may, by her intercession, be delivered from our sins; 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.

Pope St. Pius X

A young boy named Joseph Sarto born in Venetia on June 2, 1835, the son of a cobbler. His was a loving family, but a poor one. He was educated in the village school, and received a vocation to the priesthood. He did so well, and was so suited to the ordained life, special permission was given for him to be ordained at the age of 23. 

He worked for seventeen years as a parish priest, and when he arrived as curate in the parish of Tombolo he worked tirelessly amongst the people, especially the poor, organizing evening courses to bring a higher level of education to the parish, as well as training the parishioners in the singing of Gregorian chant, all in the context of his sacramental ministry. His pastor, Fr. Constantini, wrote of young Fr. Sarto: "They have sent me as curate a young priest, with orders to mould him to the duties of pastor; in fact, however, the contrary is true. He is so zealous, so full of good sense, and other precious gifts that it is I who can learn much from him. Some day or other he will wear the mitre, of that I am sure. After that—who knows?"

He was obviously marked for great things.  He was appointed as bishop of a small diocese, and in 1892 was advanced to the metropolitan see of Venice with the honorary title of patriarch. On August 4, 1903, he was elected Pope, "a man of God who knew the unhappiness of the world and the hardships of life, and in the greatness of his heart wanted to comfort everybody.

The primary aim of his pontificate Pius X announced in his first encyclical letter, which was "to renew all things in Christ." To accomplish this, he encouraged early and frequent reception of Holy Communion; he called for a renewal and improvement of church music; he encouraged daily Bible reading and the establishment of various Biblical institutes.  He is known for his very strong stand against Modernism, which he called the "synthesis of all heresies." All these were means toward the realization of his main objective of renewing all things in Christ.

The outbreak of the first World War, practically on the date of the eleventh anniversary of his election to the See of Peter, was the blow that occasioned his death. Bronchitis developed within a few days, and on August 20, 1914, St. Pius X succumbed to "the last affliction that the Lord will visit on me." He had said in his will, "I was born poor, I have lived poor, I wish to die poor" — and no one questioned the truth of his words. He was one of those chosen few men whose personality is irresistible. Everyone was moved by his simplicity and his kindness. Yet it was something more that carried him into all hearts: and that 'something' is best defined by saying that all who were ever admitted to his presence had a deep conviction of being face to face with a saint.

O God, who for the defence of the Catholic faith, and the restoring of all things in Christ, didst fill thy Supreme Pontiff, Saint Pius the Tenth, with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fortitude: graciously grant that, following his teaching and example, we may attain unto eternal rewards; 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 X: Entering God's Kingdom

Jesus went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. And some one said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’ He will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!’ There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. And men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

- St. Luke 13:22-30

A major part of Christ’s ministry during His earthly life was that of preaching the Kingdom of God – teaching the people how to be subject to the rule of God, how to be part of that Kingdom which begins in this world and which finds its completion in heaven. Did those who heard Him preaching that day immediately grasp what He was saying? A few did, but many didn’t – at least not right away. And we can see that was the case by some of the questions people asked, such as the question which was posed right at the beginning of this excerpt from St. Luke’s Gospel.

Instead of listening carefully to our Lord’s teaching, and thinking about how to apply it to one’s own life, the question expresses more of a curiosity than a search for truth. “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” It’s an interesting question. The question wasn’t “What must I do to find a place in God’s Kingdom?” Instead, like a child who’s worried that someone else might have something better than he does, the question is, “how many others are going to be there.”

So our Lord goes on to lay out some important teaching about the Kingdom of God. He doesn’t answer the question about how many will be in the Kingdom; rather, He outlines four important truths about the Kingdom of God:

1) the door to the Kingdom is narrow;
2) the time for deciding to be in the Kingdom is short;
3) there is no favoritism in the Kingdom;
4) what is important in the Kingdom isn’t necessarily what is considered to be important here in this life.

And these aren’t just obscure theological points He’s making – no, what Jesus is teaching here about the Kingdom of God had an immediate importance for the person who asked about how many would be in it, and his teaching has an immediate importance for each one of us. So we look briefly at what Christ is teaching here.

First, whatever the number of those who will be in the Kingdom might be, the door for getting into it is narrow. A couple of things about that – first, there is indeed a door through which a person must decide to go, reminding us that we don’t start out “in the Kingdom.” There is action required, a decision to be made; there’s a door through which we must decide to go. Our Lord tells us that it is “narrow” – in other words, there’s no room for extraneous things, no room for what we would value in this world. We cannot take our houses, our cars, or our bank accounts along with us. We’re required to get rid of all the excess baggage if we want to go through the “narrow door.” If we try to hang on to the things of this world, we simply won’t fit through the door. Now, Christ isn’t saying it’s wrong for us to have things in this life, but the things we have are to be used lightly – they’re not of ultimate value – and just like we prune a plant to make it bloom more beautifully, we need to undergo a periodic “pruning” when it comes to the things which we ultimately value in this life. Our hope and salvation are in God, and not in things.

The next thing Christ teaches us about entering the Kingdom of God is that the time is short – or, as He says, “When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock saying ‘Open to us.’” It has been the constant teaching of the Church that Christ the Judge could return in glory at any time, and in addition to that, we don’t know how many years we’ll be alive on this earth. So whether it’s when Christ comes, or when death comes, once that happens, our opportunity will have gone. And this is something which is true, even in our daily lives. It’s simply a fact that when each day ends, the opportunities of that day are gone. Opportunities to speak some word of kindness or encouragement, or to do some work of mercy in the name of Christ are over when the day is over. When an opportunity is gone, it won’t return. And meanwhile, the day of death draws closer for each of us – that day when we will stand before Christ our Judge, who will ask each of us, “What did you do to show the love of God to someone else?” In the big scheme of things, we really don’t have a lot a time to accomplish those good things God wants us to do.

And then, our Lord makes the point that in the Kingdom of God there is no favoritism. Why does He make this point? The Jewish picture of the reward for those who had been faithful to God in this life was that of a great banquet or feast, at which only they, the children of Abraham, would be gathered. They understood themselves as the chosen people – and they were, but not because they were God’s favourites; rather, they were chosen to do the work of making God known to the whole world, to Jew and Gentile alike. Christ makes the point that the covenant with God can’t be seen in exclusive terms, as something simply for the physical descendants of Abraham, but God wants this covenant to be with all people. That is why He says in this Gospel, “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me all you workers of iniquity!’” In other words, there would come the day that there would be those pleading at the door to the Kingdom, claiming to have heard the word of God, but they would be turned away, because the greater question beyond just hearing what God has to say is this: “What have you done about what you’ve heard?” It’s not enough simply to have heard. It’s not enough simply to be descended from Abraham – in fact, when it comes to us, it’s not enough simply to have been baptized and to have gone through the motions of religion. No, what we have received, and what we hear, and what we know, must be incorporated into our lives so that God’s Truth is the driving force in the journey of our lives, rather than just pleasant scenery along the way.

And then, finally, Jesus says there are going to be some big surprises in the Kingdom of God. The idea according to the thinking of this world, of who is chosen or not chosen, will be turned upside down. Those who have a high opinion of themselves in this life may be the very ones “thrust out” of eternal life with God. Those who consider themselves important and chosen in this life, may well be shocked to find others far ahead of them in the Kingdom of God. “Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

So in this Gospel Christ reveals to us quite a bit about the Kingdom He came to establish. Its door is narrow, yes, but it is a door through which Christ invites us to come. To enter the Kingdom means that everything we have in this world must be counted as nothing; to enter the Kingdom means that we’ve got to love God and God alone; to enter the Kingdom means that we must daily seek to do God’s Will; to enter the Kingdom means that we must be serious in placing ourselves under God’s rule in this world.

By doing that, and by God’s grace and mercy, Christ will give us a place at that heavenly banquet, where He is the King and Ruler of us all. That is the goal, and that is our hope.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor

It has been said of St. Bernard that "his personality was so attractive, his power of persuasion so difficult to withstand, that we are told that mothers hid their children and wives clung to their spouses lest he attract them into the monastery.”

Who was this man? Bernard’s father was a knight who had died in battle and his mother also died when Bernard was still quite young. In the year 1098 Bernard felt called to join a monastic community of reformed Benedictines. In his excitement about entering the monastery, he also persuaded twenty-four of his friends, four of his brothers and two of his uncles to join with him, which indicates the influence that he had even at a young age. The community had been dwindling, so we can imagine what it meant when this zealous young man showed up with thirty other men, ready to learn and live the monastic life.

Bernard really wanted to live a hidden life, spending his time doing manual work and praying to God. Instead, St. Bernard and eleven others were sent out to establish a monastery. Before the monastery was established the town was called Wormwood and was a haven for thieves; after the monastery was established the area was known as Clairvaux, the Valley of Light. It was there in Clairvaux that Bernard was positioned as abbot and became well-known throughout Christendom.

This newly established monastery grew fast and soon had a hundred and thirty monks. At first St. Bernard was very strict about fasting and would allow the monks to eat very little, but an experience with serious sickness helped him to understand that God had created the body with a need for food, so he reformed the requirements, although life was still quite strict. He felt led to start preaching and became so famous for his preaching that he was sought from all over and people started flocking to hear Bernard of Clairvaux. The teachings brought many people, and St. Bernard also prayed for the sick who came.  Many of them were healed by God – sometimes when St. Bernard simply made the sign of the cross over them.

All St. Bernard wanted was a life of contemplation in Clairvaux, but his reputation was wide spread and his advice sought after by princes, popes, and other high ranking leaders in the religious and political arenas. St. Bernard used his influence to work for real justice and he did his very best to make sure that holy and righteous men were placed in positions of leadership. In fact, St. Bernard influenced many bishops and other leaders to change their ways and humble themselves.

As St. Bernard grew older, he began to tire from all his travelling and preaching, and settling disputes, but finally he was able to return to Clairvaux where he continued in his meditations and writings. He spent his last few years writing, and his works are still among the classic works on the Catholic faith. On August 20, 1153 he gathered those who were close to him and received the Last Sacraments. He died at the age of sixty-three.

O God, by whose grace thy servant St. Bernard of Clairvaux, enkindled with the fire of thy love, became a burning and a shining light in thy Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before thee as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Painting: "San Bernardo Abad" by Antonio Palomino (1655-1726)

St. John Eudes, Priest and Confessor

St. John Eudes was born on a farm in northern France. He was seventy-nine years old when he died, and with all he accomplished, at the end of his life he was living not far from where he grew up, only in the next county. 

During his life he was a religious, a parish missionary, founder of two religious communities and a great promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He joined the religious community of the Oratorians and was ordained a priest at the age of twenty-four. At that time, there were some severe outbreaks of terrible sickness, taking the lives of thousands of people, and he volunteered to care for the sick. He didn't want to risk bringing the disease to his fellow religious, so he lived in a huge barrel that had been turned on its side in the middle of a field during the plague.

After that time, he became a parish missionary. His gifts as preacher and confessor meant that people flocked to hear him. He preached over a hundred parish missions, some lasting from several weeks to several months.

He had a great concern for the spiritual lives of the clergy, and he realized that the greatest need was for seminaries. He had permission from his general superior and the bishop to do this work, but the a new superior decided he didn't like St. John Eudes or his work, so John decided it was best for him to leave the religious community. He immediately founded a new community, the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, which was devoted to the formation of the clergy by conducting diocesan seminaries, but there were some who tried to ruin this effort, too, until John finally had to give up that work.

In his parish mission work, John was disturbed by the sad condition of women and young girls living on the streets, but who wanted to escape their terrible existence. Temporary shelters were found but arrangements were not satisfactory, until St. John, with the help of others, took on this work by founding another religious community, called the Sisters of Charity of the Refuge.

He is probably best known for the central theme of his writings: Jesus as the source of holiness, Mary as the model of the Christian life. His devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is what formed his own spiritual life.

Holiness is the wholehearted openness to the love of God. It is visibly expressed in many ways, but the variety of expression has one common quality: concern for the needs of others. We see how St. John Eudes carried out this concern in very practical ways.

O God, who didst wonderfully choose thy Priest Saint John Eudes to proclaim the unfathomable riches of Christ: grant us, by his example and teachings; that, growing in knowledge of thee, we may live faithfully by the light of the Gospel; 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.