Saints: August 2007 Archives

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Psalm 96: 1 and 2b, 5-6, 10, 11-12 (R. 12a)
Proper Gospel: Mark 15:42–47

The Will of God

Did you hear what Saint Paul said to the Thessalonians— and to us — today? “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Th 4:3). Each of us is called to become a saint together with the saints. And in the same place the Apostle says, “God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto sanctification” (1 Th 4:7). He tells us that we are to abstain from the impure passions of lust, and from cheating and dishonesty in our dealings with one another, adding that “the Lord is the avenger of all these things” (1 Th 4:6). Sin and God’s call to holiness are not things to be taken lightly. “For he who despiseth these things, despiseth not man,” says the Apostle, “but God, who also hath given His Holy Spirit in us” (1 Th 3:8).

The Martyrology

We are, at every moment, surrounded by “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1) who encourage us by their example and support us by their prayers. This is why the Church, in her wisdom, invites us every day to open her Martyrology and to become familiar with those whose “intercession is our unfailing pledge of help” (Euch. Pr. III).

Opening to the first entry for August 31st in the Roman Martyrology, we read:

At Jerusalem, the commemoration of Saints Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who received the body of Jesus taken down from the cross, wrapped it in a shroud and placed it in the sepulchre. Joseph, a noble official and disciple of the Lord, was seeking the Kingdom of God; Nicodemus, for his part, a member of the Pharisees and a ruler among the Jews, came to Jesus by night to inquire of his mission and defended him in the presence of the high priests and Pharisees who sought to arrest him.

One also reads in the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology the following provision at Article 30:

The Mass and also the Office of any Saint inscribed in the Roman Martyrology . . . may with just cause be celebrated on the day whereupon the name is inserted, when that day is a feria or when an optional memorial is permitted.

Today is also the feast of Blessed Jeanne Jugan (1792-1879), foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor. I take this opportunity to thank her daughters for their faithful loving service of the elderly, especially of those without resources. The Little Sisters of the Poor are especially attentive to the needs of the aged parents of priests. Tomorrow, in fact, they will be welcoming the mother of a dear priest friend of mine. Un tres grand merci, mes chères petite soeurs!

Advice for Moments of Crisis

Go and find Him when your patience and strength give out and you feel alone and helpless. Jesus is waiting for you in the chapel. Say to Him, "Jesus, you know exactly what is going on. You are all I have, and you know all. Come to my help.' And then go, and don't worry about how you are going to manage. That you have told God about it is enough. He has a good memory.

I first came to know of Blessed Cardinal Schuster by reading his Liber sacramentorum, Historical and Liturgical Notes on the Roman Missal. It is hard to find now. I hope that, in the wake of Summorum Pontificum, it will be reprinted and, once again, become widely available.

Our Contemporary

The Benedictine calendar of the saints, like that of the Universal Church, grows as the Church makes her pilgrim way through history. In recent years a number of holy Benedictines have been glorified by the Church and Christ has been glorified through them.

I have the impression that as we all advance in age the saints are coming closer and closer to our own lifetimes. This is certainly the case of the Blessed Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster, the Benedictine monk and archbishop of Milan whom we remember today. He died on August 30th, 1954.

If you were to look at photos of Cardinal Schuster — and there are many of them — you would see the serene face of a gentle ascetic. In his eyes there is something that suggests that he saw the invisible; his gaze is that of a man whose life was profoundly interior.

Essentially Adorers

Ildefonso Schuster, the son of a Roman tailor, the Abbot of Saint Paul–Outside–the–Walls, and the Cardinal–Archbishop of Milan, was at the same time a scholar learned in the Church’s liturgy, in history, in art, in catechesis, spirituality, and archeology; he was a shepherd of souls, a diplomat, and a peace–maker. Beneath the scarlet robes of a Prince of the Church, he remained a monk, a child of Saint Benedict. Thus was he able to say:

Before all other things, and even above all things, O Venerable Brothers, we are essentially adorers. “This is how one should regard us, as ministers of Christ” (1 Cor 4:1). After that we must also be ministers of the people, the salt of the earth, and fishers of men, etc. but first, it is absolutely necessary that we be true servants of God: Ministers of Christ . . . appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God (Heb 5:1).

The Devil Is Afraid of Holiness

As Cardinal–Archbishop, Blessed Schuster never failed to direct the energies of his priests toward the One Thing Necessary. A few days before his death he withdrew to the seminary he had built and there he delivered a final message to his seminarians, warning them of the futility of an apostolate without personal holiness:

I have no memento to give you apart from an invitation to holiness. It would seem that people are no longer convinced by our preaching; but faced with holiness, they still believe, they still fall to their knees and pray. People seem to live ignorant of supernatural realities, indifferent to the problems of salvation. But when an authentic saint, living or dead passes by, all run to be there. . Do not forget that the devil is not afraid of our [parish] sports fields and of our movie halls: he is afraid, on the other hand, of our holiness.

At the Altar

When Blessed Schuster celebrated Holy Mass, his entire being was absorbed in the Divine Mysteries. There are many eyewitness accounts of the impact of his priestly devotion on the faithful. Archbishop Marini, the Papal Master of Ceremonies writes that, “the greatness of Schuster, more than in his writings, was in fact in his witness as a master of the prayer of the Church in his capacity to manifest through his body and to extend into daily life the spirit drawn from the celebration of the liturgy.” Cardinal Giacomo Biffi says: “The simple folk ran to contemplate this slight and frail man who, in his liturgical vestments, became a giant.” Seeing him at the altar people recognized a man in communication with the invisible power of God.

There is no doubt that, if Cardinal Schuster were alive today, he would greatly rejoice in the Holy Father’s Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. One of Cardinal Schuster’s great works is his three volume Liber Sacramentorum, Historical and Liturgical Notes on the Roman Missal. He loved the Church of Rome, loved the Church of Milan, and loved their ancient liturgies because in them he recognized the heartbeat of the Bride of Christ and the true sound of her voice.

Jeremiah 1:17–19
Psalm 70:1–2, 3–4a, 5–6ab, 15ab and 17 (R. 15ab)
Mark 6:17–29

Birth, Passion, Death

Each year the Church gives us two feastdays of Saint John the Baptist: the first on June 24th to mark his nativity, and today’s feast to mark his passion and death. We celebrate the nativity of Saint John the Baptist because, unlike everyone else with the exception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, John was born in holiness. Our Lord Jesus Christ sanctified John when both of them were still hidden in the wombs of their mothers.

Appearance and Disappearance

Jesus hidden in Mary approached John hidden in Elizabeth and, when the voice of the Holy Mother of God reached the ears of Elizabeth, the babe in her womb leaped for joy (cf. Lk 1:44). Although John, like all men, was conceived marked by Adam’s sin, he was born already touched by the saving grace of Christ mediated by His Immaculate Mother. Clearly, a child born in such extraordinary circumstances was destined by the Lord for even greater things. At the peak of summer on June 24th we celebrated the appearance of John the Baptist. Today, as summer begins to fade, we celebrate his disappearance.

More Than A Prophet

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High” (Lk 1:76). John the Forerunner is a prophet and he is more than a prophet. By his preaching he speaks truth in the breath of the Holy Spirit. By his captivity, passion and death, he prefigures the Suffering Servant, the immolated Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, the Victim “by whose wounds we are healed” (1P 2:24). Our Lord Himself says: “A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John” (Lk 7:27-28).

This Joy of Mine

John the Baptist recognizes in Jesus the Light, the Christ, the Lamb of God and the Bridegroom. “Behold the Lamb of God!” (Jn 1:29). All John’s joy is to gaze upon His Face and to hear His voice. “I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full. He must increase but I must decrease”(Jn 329–30).

The Burning and Shining Lamp

The vocation of John was to be visible only for a time. “He was a burning and shining lamp,” says Jesus, “and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light” (Jn 5:25). John’s shining light was hidden away in the darkness of a prison cell. The Bridegroom had arrived; the Friend of the Bridegroom had to disappear.

This is a most unusual depiction of Saint Augustine washing the feet of Christ. A Capuchin friar named Strozzi painted it in 1629. Augustine, wearing an apron over his black monastic habit, is assisted by an angel. A tonsured monk looks on from a distance. With his right hand Augustine clasps the foot of Our Lord. His gaze is wholly turned towards the Face of Christ, who appears to be instructing him on what he is doing.

1 John 4:7-16
Psalm 118: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Matthew 23; 8-12

The Doctor of Charity

The words of Saint John in today's First Lesson are the perfect expression of Saint Augustine's own experience. Augustine is called the "Doctor of Charity," and with good reason. Saint John speaks of the discovery of charity that grounds every Christian life:

"Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for charity is of God. And every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is charity. By this hath the charity of God appeared towards us, because God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we may live by Him. In this is charity: not as though we had loved God, but because He hath first loved us, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins" (1 Jn 4:7-10).

He Hath First Loved Me

For Saint Augustine, however, the words of the Beloved Disciple became intensely personal: "By this hath the charity of God appeared towards me, Augustine, because God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world, that I may live by Him. In this is charity: not as though I had loved God, but because He hath first loved me, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for my sins."

The discovery of the love of God came late in Augustine's life. It is always late. One cannot discover the love of God too soon. And so, the Doctor of Charity laments his tardy discovery of the One Thing Necessary:

Late have I loved Thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new!
Too late have I loved Thee.
And lo, Thou wert inside me and I outside,
and I sought for Thee there, and in all my unsightliness
I flung myself on those beautiful things which Thou hast made.
Thou wert with me and I was not with Thee.
Those beauties kept me away from Thee,
though if they had not been in Thee, they would not have been at all.
Thou didst call and cry to me and break down my deafness.
Thou didst flash and shine on me and put my blindness to flight.
Thou didst blow fragrance upon me and I drew breath,
and now I pant after Thee.
I tasted of Thee and now I hunger and thirst for Thee.
Thou didst touch me and I am aflame for Thy peace....
(Confessions, Book X:38)

At First Vespers

Holy Father Saint Augustine,
Hearken to thy children's cry;
Plea for us as now thou standest
Near the throne of God on high:
Guide thy flock, O loving Shepherd,
Who to us in Christ art nigh.

Holy poverty's true lover,
All Christ's poor ones hymn thy praise,
Truth's own champion and defender,
Loved by all who seek her ways;
Scripture's God-enlightened teacher,
All her wealth thy pen displays.

Lighting depths obscure and hidden,
Thou dost break us heavenly bread
From the doctrine of our Saviour,
From the gracious words He said;
With the Psalms life-giving nectar
All who learn of thee are fed.

For the white-robed canon's choir
Laws of wisdom thou didst frame:
Those who love thy words and keep them,
Thy sure patronage may claim;
Safe, they tread the ways of Sion,
Calling on thy worthy name.

Glory to the King of Ages;
Praise and triumph to his reign;
Joining with the choir of Angels,
Let us sound our answering strain;
E'en now, 'neath our Patron's banner,
Citizens of heaven's domain. Amen.

Sirach 26:1-4, 13-16
Psalm 130: 1bcde, 2, 3
Luke 7: 11-17

Walking in the Light of His Face

Today we see Jesus on his way into the town of Naim, accompanied by His disciples. “And there went with Him His disciples, and a great multitude” (Lk 7:11). Those who follow Our Lord and walk with Him are an image of the Church, the body of those who walk “in the light of His face” (Ps 88:15).

Death and Life

“And when He came night to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow: and a great multitude of the city was with her” (Lk 7:12). In the dead man the Church sees an image of Augustine before his conversion. In the widowed mother the Church sees an image of the holy mother Monica. In the crowd of mourners, the Church sees an image of those who experience sin and desire to be delivered from it: “those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Benedictus). Saint Luke depicts a striking scene: two crowds, arriving from opposite directions, meet. One is the community of death. The other is the community of life: an image of the Church.

Those Tears of Hers

“And when the Lord saw her, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her, 'Weep not'" (Lk 7:13). Our Lord looked upon Saint Monica just as he looked upon the mother of the man being carried out for burial. Tears were the language of Saint Monica’s prayer. Saint Augustine himself says: “Thou didst listen to her, O Lord, and Thou didst not despise those tears of hers which moistened the earth wherever she prayed” (Benedictus Antiphon).

Dry Confessions

In Chapter 20 of the Holy Rule, Saint Benedict says: “Indeed we must grasp that it is not by using many words that we shall get our prayers answered, but by purity of heart and repentance with tears” (RB 20:3). I am always moved at the number of people, lay people especially, who make their confession with tears. If truly we hate our sins and regret them, it is normal that we should weep in going to confession.

It is easy to become indifferent to our sins, or coldly analytical. We may confess them insofar as we see them, but our confessions become a matter of routine. Our examinations of consciences rarely probe beneath the surface. We come to the sacrament with our pathetic little list of peccadillos. Having grown accustomed to our sins, they no longer fill us with horror. And so we begin to make dry confessions. The so-called dry confession is one of the signs of spiritual lukewarmness. “But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, nor hot," says the Lord, "I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth” (Ap 3:15).

Joy Comes with the Dawn

Touched by her tears, Jesus told the widow to stop weeping. He did not tell her to stop praying but to stop weeping. He wanted to change the language of her prayer from tears to cries of joy. The psalm says: “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the dawn. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness” (Ps 29:5.11).

La Petite Arabe

The message of the “Little Arab,” Mariam Baouardy, Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified cannot but touch our hearts in these days when the Middle East is so much a part of the daily news. Mariam was born in Abbelin, a village of Galilee, on January 5th, 1846. She was plunged into the water of Holy Baptism and chrismated in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church fifteen days after her birth. After an astonishingly adventurous life that took her from Alexandria in Egypt to Marseilles and then Pau in France, and then to Mangalore, India, she was instrumental in founding the Carmel of Bethlehem in the Holy Land where she died on August 26th, 1878.

Humble

Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified illustrates the fundamental principle of holiness according to the Gospel: “Whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:12). In Carmel she was a “sister of the white veil,” that is a religious charged with the monastery’s menial tasks and not bound to the Divine Office in choir. She was often “lifted up by the Spirit” (Ez 43:5) even literally, and shown the glory of the Lord. Though illiterate and ignorant of every worldly sophistication, Blessed Mary could say with the psalmist, “Let me hear what God the Lord will speak” (Ps 84:8). What she heard in prayer, she communicated in simplicity of heart.

Listen to Little Mariam

Rather than write about Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified, I will allow her to speak for herself. Here are some of her sayings;

Prayers to the Holy Spirit

First, there is her famous little prayer to the Holy Spirit. Today it is known and prayed by people all over the world:

Holy Spirit, inspire me.
Love of God, consume me.
Along the true road, lead me.
Mary my Mother, look upon me.
With Jesus, bless me.
From all evil, from all illusion,
from all danger, preserve me.

Again, to the Holy Spirit:

Source of peace, Light,
come and enlighten me.
I am hungry, come and nourish me.
I am thirsty, come and quench my thirst.
I am blind, come and give me light.
I am poor, come and enrich me.

Devotion to the Holy Spirit

The world and religious communities are seeking novelties in devotions, and they are neglecting true devotion to the Paraclete. That is why there is error and disunion, and why there is no peace or light. They do not invoke light as it should be invoked, and it is this light that gives knowledge of truth. It is neglected even in seminaries . . . .
Every person in the world that will invoke the Holy Spirit and have devotion to Him will not die in error.

Message to Priests

Personally, I have taken this message to heart. As a rule I offer a Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit on the first ferial day of each month.

Every priest that preaches this devotion will receive light while he is speaking of it to others. I was told that each priest in the world should be required to say one Mass of the Holy Spirit each month, and all who assist at it will receive very special grace and light.

Revelation 21: 9b-14
Psalm 144: 10-11, 12-13, 17-18
John 1:45-51

A Learned Rabbi

Today is the feast of Saint Bartholomew, the apostle whose other name is Nathanael. A native of Cana in Galilee and a friend of the Apostle Philip, Nathanael was a rabbi learned in the Scriptures. Tradition says that he preached the Gospel in Armenia and India. Apart from that we know little about him. In art, one can recognize him by the flaying knife that he holds in his hand, a symbol of his martyrdom.

Come and See

Philip introduced Nathanael to Jesus. Philip simply repeated the words of Jesus to Andrew and Simon Peter: “Come and see”(Jn 1:39). The most effective apostolate is the one by which souls are brought directly to Jesus by means of a simple invitation. Arguments, disputes and debates are to no avail; it is the experience of Christ that convinces and converts. How often has exposure to the Most Holy Eucharist — the sacramental experience of the living Christ truly present — been the occasion of a complete conversion!

A Man Without Guile

Our Lord saw in Nathanael a man free of the torturous complications that so often affect pious people. Nathanael had the prized virtue of simplicity; Jesus called him “a true Israelite in whom there is no guile” (Jn 1:47). Nathanael had no hidden agenda. What came out of his mouth was what he held in his heart.

Roses

Saint Rose of Lima is nearly always depicted in conversation with the Infant Christ. Sometimes she appears to be playing with him. The picture I have been looking at today shows a barefooted Child sitting in what appears to be Rose’s sewing basket and tugging at the rosary beads that she is wearing around her neck. In paintings of Saint Rose there are always roses in abundance: the roses that He offers her, and the roses that she offers him. Rose is also depicted holding the Cross. A lot of things about Saint Rose remind us of Saint Thérèse, the Little Flower: not just the roses, the Infant Christ, and the Cross, but also her youth, her ardour, her stubbornness, her rejection of every compromise.

Friends of the Infant Christ

The place of the Infant Christ in the spiritual experience of the saints would make for a fascinating study. I am thinking of Saint Simeon beaming with happiness at the sight of Him in the temple at Jerusalem and of crusty old Saint Jerome’s tenderness for the Child of the Cave of Bethlehem. I am thinking of Saint Bernard and of Blessed Guerric of Igny, of Saint Gertrude, Saint Mechthilde, and Saint Lutgarde. I am thinking of the Child Jesus sitting on Saint Anthony of Padua’s open book and looking at him as if to say, “Preach me! Preach me!” I am thinking of the Italian Cistercian mystic Veronica Laparelli and of the French Trappist, Dom Vital Léhodey who in the midst of a whirlwind of activities and crushing responsibilities lived in the intimacy of the Divine Child. Even closer to us are Mother Yvonne–Aimée with her Little Jesus, the King of Love, and Caryll Houselander who during World War II wrote a book called The Passion of the Infant Christ.

There are other friends of the Infant Christ too, some of them still living. What do they all have in common? I don’t pretend to have this all figured out but it seems to me that the friends of the Infant Christ share two things: an immense need for love and a need to be taught to let go, a need to learn what Dom Léhodey called le saint abandon, holy abandonment.

A Chat With the Divine Little One

I knew a priest who used to hear the confessions of Yale professors and graduate students at Saint Mary’s Church on Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven. The church also happens to be the Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague. These very intense, frightfully earnest intellectual types would show up in his confessional with all their sins calculated, analyzed, categorized, de–structurized, alphabetized . . . . You get the picture. Father would invariably give these types the same penance. “Go off to the Shrine of the Infant Jesus and have a chat with the Divine Little One.” What does a professor or a graduate student up to his ears in a doctoral dissertation have to say to a toddler, even if the toddler is the Eternal Logos? Nothing. The abandonment to love begins where every learned discourse gives way to silence.

The Lord Is With Thee

Today’s First Lesson gives us the Angel’s greeting to Gideon. “The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘The Lord is with thee, O most valiant of men” (Jgs 6:12). The Archangel Gabriel greeted the Virgin of Nazareth with similar words: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee” (Lk 1:28). Now that “the fullness of time has come” (Gal 4:4), that greeting from heaven has passed into the liturgy of the Church on earth.

At the beginning of Holy Mass and at key moments within the celebration, the priest greets the people, saying, Dominus vobiscum, “The Lord be with you.” He refers to the presence of the Lord in the midst of the Church. The phrase can be understood either as a wish, May the Lord be with you, or as a declaration, The Lord is with you.

When the Angel says to Gideon, “The Lord is with thee, valiant warrior,” he is inviting him to take heart, trusting in the unfailing presence of the Lord. Thus do we hear Gideon say at the end of the mysterious encounter, “I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face” (Jgs 3:22). “And the Lord said to him: ‘Peace be with thee, fear not, thou shalt not die’” (Jgs 3:23).

Presence of Christ

How are we to understand the Dominus vobiscum of the Mass? It is a solemn and joyful affirmation of the presence of the Lord in the midst of the assembly. By His grace Christ is present and living in each baptized person for He is the Vine and we are the branches (Jn 15:5). According to Our Lord’s promise He is present also in the midst of those who come together in His Name. “Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20).

The Voice of Thy Salutation

A thrill of jubilation should pass through the church every time the greeting of the priest, ancient and ever new, reaches the ears of the faithful. Recall what happened when the Virgin Mary greeted her cousin Elizabeth: “And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost” (Lk 1:41). At what precise moment did this infilling take place? Elizabeth says, “Behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears” (Lk 1:44).

Chant

The musical tradition of the Roman Church has clothed this greeting in a little melody of two notes (sol and la) that is as sublime as it is simple. Dominus vobiscum. Only at the dialogue that precedes the Preface of the Mass does the greeting assume a more ample and solemn musical treatment, and this is to signify that at that very moment the priest and people are poised to enter into the Holy of Holies of the Mass.

Gesture

In singing these words, the priest extends his arms towards the assembly. He opens his hands as if to embrace all present and draw them into one single prayer to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. This particular gesture is reserved to bishops and priests. Though deacons are allowed to say, “The Lord be with you,” they do so with folded hands. It belongs to the bishop and to the priest to impart the grace of the Lord’s presence to the faithful, and to take them up with him into the prayer of Christ to the Father.

For today's feast: some of my favourite photos of Pope Saint Pius X.

Itching Ears Among Us

Saint Pius X exemplified the words of the Apostle to Timothy: “Preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths” (2 Tim 4:2–4). One hundred years after Pope Saint Pius X we have to ask ourselves if there are not still “itching ears” among us.

What causes one’s ears to itch? Curiosity. Lack of discernment. A weak background in Catholic doctrine. Faithful Catholics cannot permit themselves to read just anything. To read authors of dubious orthodoxy or authors critical of the Magisterium is like scratching an itch. It becomes worse. Why would one would even want to read such authors when one can choose from among the inexhaustible richness of the writings of the saints of every age?

Weeds Among the Wheat

We flatter and deceive ourselves by saying that we are adults, that we are discerning, that we are capable of recognizing error, and that we are not affected by being exposed to questionable teachings. But we are wrong. Error is pernicious. It is like a little seed that, after a time, takes root, and then grows up as menacing weed. You know the parable of Our Lord: “While men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this’” (Mt 13:25–28). Be watchful lest, while you sleep, an enemy sow weeds among the wheat of your field.

Purity of Doctrine

Pope Saint Pius X was fearless in exposing error and he was selfless in sowing the seed of truth, of beauty, and of goodness in the field of the Church. “We had confidence in our God, to speak unto you the Gospel of God in much carefulness” (1 Th 2:2). Pope Pius X was an intrepid defender of the purity of Christian doctrine. He exposed and condemned the heresy of Modernism with energy and clarity.

Gregorian Chant

We remember Pope Saint Pius X especially for his famous Motu Proprio of November 22, 1903 on the reform of Sacred Music and the restoration of the Church’s plainchant. Like Pope Benedict XVI today, Pope Pius X was a musician; he was above all concerned that the faithful of the Catholic Church might pray in beauty. He recognized in Gregorian Chant the native idiom of the Roman liturgy. Gregorian chant shines with an evangelical poverty. It is chaste in its expression. It is entirely obedient to the Word of God that it clothes, carries, and delivers.

Worthy of the Temple

Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have reiterated his insistence on the primacy of Gregorian Chant and the value of the traditional Roman polyphony in the liturgy of the Church. On November 22, 2003, the anniversary of Pius X’s Motu Proprio, Pope John Paul II said, “With regard to compositions of liturgical music, I make my own the general rule that St Pius X formulated in these words: ‘The more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savour the Gregorian melodic form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple.’” On June 24, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI spoke in similar terms: “An authentic renewal of sacred music can only happen in the wake of the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony.”

The Holiness of Priests

Pope Pius X was also zealous for the holiness of the clergy. Writing to priests in 1908, he said, “Your sanctification has, indeed, first place in our thoughts and in our cares; therefore, with our eyes raised to heaven, we frequently pray for the whole clergy, repeating the words of Christ, our Lord: Holy Father . . . sanctify them (Jn 17:11, 17). Intercession for priests was integral to Pius X’s program for the restoration of all things in Christ.

Children

It was Saint Pius X who opened Holy Communion to little children. He invited the Catholic faithful to frequent, even daily Holy Communion. Pius X came to be known as the “Pope of the Eucharist,” a title that he now shares with Pope John Paul II, the author of Ecclesia de Eucharistia and of Mane Nobiscum, Domine.

Two Popes of the Eucharist

Divine Providence marked both the beginning and the end of the last century with Popes utterly devoted to the Most Holy Eucharist. Pray for us, Saint Pius X, that rejecting all that opposes the splendour of the truth, we may enter with pure hearts into the liturgy of the Church, and so "offer a worthy ritual to the Divine Majesty, to the praise and glory of His name, and to the benefit of all His Holy Church (Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum).

Sirach 15:1-16
Psalm 118: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
John 17:20-26

Inflamed With Zeal

The Collect for Saint Bernard describes him as a man inflamed with zeal for the house of the Lord. The little phrase, inflamed with zeal, is the liturgy’s way of telling us that Saint Bernard was given to Church as a new Elias, the ardent prophet given to Israel. When Elias was on Mount Horeb, the Lord visited him in “the whistling of a gentle air” (1 K 19:12). “And when Elias heard it, he covered his face with a mantle, and coming forth stood in the entering in of the cave, and behold a voice unto him, saying: ‘What dost thou here, Elias?’ And he answered: ‘With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts’” (1 K 19:14).

By way of Psalm 68:9, one of the great prophetic psalms of the sufferings of Our Lord, the same expression, inflamed with zeal, identifies Saint Bernard with Jesus in the mysteries of His Passion. After Jesus had driven the moneychangers out of the temple, His disciples remembered that it was written, “The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up” (Ps 68:9). The same burning zeal for the glory of the Father was to consume Jesus in His Sacrifice on Calvary.

The Mystical Embrace

The traditional iconography of Saint Bernard shows him held fast in the embrace of Jesus Crucified, who detaches His arm from the cross to draw Bernard to himself. The theme of the amplexus, or mystical embrace, is repeated in depictions of Saint Bernard again and again. The fire that burned in the pierced Heart of Jesus Crucified passed into Bernard, filling him with an astonishing capacity to suffer and to love for the Church.

Good Zeal

Zeal, then, characterizes Saint Bernard. A burning passion for Christ and for the Bride of Christ, the Church, consumed him. In Chapter 72 of the Holy Rule, Saint Benedict distinguishes between two kinds of zeal. The first he calls “an evil zeal rooted in bitterness, which separates from God and leads to hell.” (RB 72:1). Evil zeal always leads to rancour and strife in a community. Good zeal “separates from vice and leads to God and to eternal life” (RB 72:2). The Holy Spirit infuses the grace of good zeal. It is gentle and sweet. It is warm and attractive. It inflames others but it doesn’t scorch them. It attracts souls by means of a gentle, steady radiance.

Burning and Shining

The Collect goes on to say that the grace of prophetic grace caused Saint Bernard to burn and shine in the Church. Here, there is an allusion to Saint John the Baptist. In the 5th Chapter of Saint John, Our Lord, speaking of the Baptist, says, “He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light” (Jn 5:35). Saint Bernard was, and remains even today, a burning and shining lamp in the Church. By burning, he enkindled others; by shining, he enlightened others.

Those who read Saint Bernard know that his fire has not been extinguished nor has his flame become less bright. When the Holy Spirit sets a heart aflame, nothing earthly can extinguish the blaze. “Love is strong as death,” says the Canticle, “the lamps thereof are fire and flames. Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can the floods drown it” (Ct 8:6-7). Many waters and great floods have come and gone, assailing the Church and sweeping away the grandest monuments in their torrents. Still, after the nine centuries that separate us from Saint Bernard, his fire burns with the same intensity and his light is undimmed.

The Most Contagious Man of His Century

It was said in the twelfth century that Saint Bernard was — spiritually — the most contagious man alive. So powerful was his very presence that when Abbot Bernard passed through a village or town, women would hide their husbands and sons, fearing that their menfolk, seduced by Bernard’s preaching, might abandon wives and mothers, children and homes to follow him into the cloister. And so it happened! When Saint Bernard preached in the universities, the lecture halls would be packed with eager young listeners. Scores of students would follow him, like a kind of monastic pied-piper, begging for the grace of the holy habit and for a place in his abbey. When Saint Bernard preached, fire leaped out of his mouth into the hearts of his hearers and, when he explained the Scriptures, souls were flooded with light.

The Mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Like John the Baptist hidden in his mother’s womb, Saint Bernard received the grace of Christ and grew in it, day by day, through the mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. “This, he says, “is the will of Him who wanted us to have everything through Mary.... God has placed in Mary the plenitude of every good, in order to have us understand that if there is any trace of hope in us, any trace of grace, any trace of salvation, it flows from her.... God could have dispensed His graces according to His good pleasure without making use of this channel (Mary), but it was His wish to provide this means whereby grace would reach you.” This not mere theological speculation on the part of Saint Bernard, it is testimony to his personal experience. For Saint Bernard the Virgin Mother is the Mediatrix of All Graces. All that comes to us from Christ, our one Mediator with the Father, comes, necessarily, through Mary, Mother of us all, and Mediatrix with the Son.

The Liturgy

Again like Saint John the Baptist, Bernard saw himself as “the friend of the bridegroom who rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice” (Jn 3:29). Saint Bernard heard the voice of the Bridegroom in Sacred Scripture proclaimed, and sung, and held in the heart during long hours of choral prayer. The friend of the Bridegroom never seeks to draw the bride to himself or to possess her in any way; his whole desire is to hear the bride say: “As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow, whom I desired, and His fruit was sweet to my palate. He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me” (Ct 2:3-4).

Compassion

The friend of the Bridegroom is jubilant when the bride is brought into the banqueting house; there, the banner of love is raised over her head. The friend of the Bridegroom is the servant of the Divine Hospitality; he is the herald sent into the streets and lanes of the city, into the highways and the hedges, at the hour of the wedding banquet, to bring in “the poor, and the feeble, and the blind, and the lame” (Lk 14:21). The misery of mankind is never far from Saint Bernard’s heart, never absent from his prayer. Addressing Our Lady in a sermon for her Assumption, he asks her to obtain “pardon for the guilty, health for the sick, courage for the fainthearted, help and deliverance for the endangered.”

The Bread of Life and the Water of Wisdom

The First Reading describes Divine Grace coming in the form of a mother and of a virgin bride to meet Bernard. Again, the grace of Christ comes to Saint Bernard through Mary. “With the bread of life and understanding, she shall feed him, and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink: and she shall be made strong in him…. And in the midst of the Church she shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and shall clothe him with a robe of glory” (Eccl 15: 3-5).

Devotion to Sacred Scripture

The Responsorial Psalm contains the very essence of the Word-centered monastic life that Saint Bernard embraced and taught. “By what doth a young man correct his way? By observing thy words” (Ps 118:9). The Abbot of Clairvaux knew that when God speaks, He communicates Himself. Saint Bernard, and the whole ancient monastic tradition steeped themselves in Sacred Scripture. For Saint Bernard to be steeped in the Word of God was, as Origen teaches, to be steeped in the very Blood of Christ. Saint Bernard’s lifelong attraction to Sacred Scripture was an expression of his lifelong attraction to the Sacred Side of Jesus, the wellspring of purity and of love.

The Prayer of Christ

The Holy Gospel is drawn from Our Lord’s priestly prayer in the 17th Chapter of Saint John. The effect of the monastic life, with its relentless immersion in the Word of God, is that the soul loses herself, her own words, desires, inclinations, and aspirations in the prayer of the Heart of Jesus to the Father. In the presence of the Father, the soul shaped by the monastic tradition has no words apart from the words of the Word, uttered in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And this, of course, is the great reality of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. After the Liturgy of the Word, the priest goes to the altar where, as the representative of Christ and of the Church, he lifts his hands in prayer. At that moment, it is no longer we who pray for ourselves and by ourselves. It is Christ the Eternal High Priest who, through the priest standing before the altar, prays for us to His Father.

In every Mass, too, the embrace of Jesus Crucified is offered to each of us as it was offered to Saint Bernard. Detaching His arm from the cross, Our Lord draws us sacramentally to the wound in His Sacred Side. Through that mystic portal we pass over to the Father, in the Spirit. The secret of Saint Bernard was this: guided by the Virgin Mother of Jesus, he yielded to the embrace of the Crucified and drank deeply from His open Side. May Mary, “our life, sweetness, and our hope,” obtain that same grace for us.

The feast of Saint Helena is August 18th. At Santa Croce in Gerusalemme it is celebrated with all due solemnity. Evelyn Waugh has a marvelous novel entitled Helena, based on her life. It is well worth reading.

Proverbs 31: 10-13, 19-20, 30-31
Psalm 22 (23): 1-3, 4, 5, 6
Matthew 13:4-46

A Relic of the True Cross

The little fragment of the True Cross that we venerate here today is a direct link with Saint Helena who unearthed the wood of the Cross in Jerusalem in about the year 326. It is also a link with the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome from which fragments of the wood of the True Cross have been dispensed to Catholics the world over for centuries. It is, above all, a sign of the saving love of Our Lord Jesus Christ who, “lifted up from the earth, draws all men to himself” (Jn 12:32). This is the wood before which the Church sings on Good Friday, “Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Saviour of the world.”

Most of the fragments of the True Cross that we venerate in our churches derive from the Wood of the Cross kept in Rome since the early fourth century. When one sees, as I have, the faith of pilgrims coming from all over the world to venerate the Wood of the Cross at the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, when one witnesses their tears and hears their prayers before the relics of the Passion and Cross, there is no doubt that we are in the presence of a great and holy sign, the pledge of a life–giving mystery.

Saint Ambrose Speaks

Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, was already an old woman when she set out for Jerusalem intent on excavating the holy places of Christ’s Passion. Saint Ambrose relates Saint Helena’s discovery of the true Cross;

Helena burned with desire to touch the remedy of immortality, but feared to tread on the sacrament of salvation. Joyful in her heart, but fearful in her steps, she knew not what to do; she came nonetheless to the throne of truth. Helena began to visit the holy places and, from the Holy Spirit, had the inspiration to search for the Wood of the Cross. She arrived at Calvary and said, “Behold the place of the battle, where is the victory? I seek the standard of salvation and find it not. I am on the throne and the Cross of the Lord is in the dust? I am in the midst of gold and the triumph of Christ among the ruins? See the devil’s deed; he has buried the sword by which he was brought to nothing. Let the debris be cleared away so that life may appear; let the sword that severed the head of the true Goliath be brought to light; let the earth split open that salvation may shine forth.

Collect

Grant unto your Church,
we beseech you, Almighty God;
that as she had a zealous champion in blessed Stephen
while he reigned upon earth,
so may she deserve to have him as a glorious protector in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Saint Stephen of Hungary and Others

You may have noticed that the calendar in July and August is marked by the memory of no less than three earthly sovereigns, kings! On July 13th we remembered Saint Henry, Emperor and patron of Benedictine Oblates. Today, August 16th, we remember Saint Stephen, King of Hungary. We will remember Saint Louis, King of France on August 25th and on September 28th we will remember Saint Wenceslaus. The procession of holy royalty goes on. There is also the Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria and King of Hungary. Emperor Karl died at the age of thirty-four on April 1st, 1922, praying, “My Jesus! Thy will be done! Jesus!”

With all this royalty in her calendar, is Mother Church hopelessly anachronistic? Some would want to make a clean sweep of the kings and queens in the Catholic calendar. Others judge their presence in the liturgy unacceptable, un-American, an exercise in nostalgia and a concession to diehard right-wing monarchists.

Sons and Fathers of a Catholic Culture

How can we approach this? First of all, we must realize broaden our vision to embrace all of Church history. Secondly, we have to acknowledge the reality of a Catholic Christian culture. The seeds of the Gospel come to maturity in the fruits of a culture marked by the Cross, in treasures of literature, art, music, and architecture and, more humbly, in the customs of ordinary folk, but also in a nation’s legislation, practice of justice, care for the poor, and reverence for the sacred. Thirdly, we have to admit that a Christian king emerges as both the son and the father of such a culture. Henry, Stephen, Louis, Wenceslaus, and Karl were more than crowned figureheads; they were husbands, fathers, and patriots, men of justice, integrity, and compassion.

Today is the dies natalis of Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus. Father McGivney died 117 years ago today, at 38 years of age, in Waterbury, Connecticut. Father McGivney's remains are venerated in Saint Mary's Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Father McGivney is an example of stalwart priestly holiness and zeal for the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy.

Father McGivney, like so many priests of his generation, was formed by the writings of Saint Alphonsus Maria Liguori. Saints generate saints. Holiness begets holiness.

For more information on Father McGivney contact The Guild.

Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe's Act of Consecration
to the Blessed Virgin Mary

O Immaculate, Queen of heaven and earth,
Refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother,
to whom God willed to entrust the entire order of mercy,
I an unworthy sinner cast myself at your feet,
humbly begging you to be so good as to accept me wholly and completely
as your possession and property,
and to do with me, with my whole life, death and eternity, whatever pleases you.

For wherever you enter,
you obtain the grace of conversion and sanctification,
since it is through your hands that all graces comes to us
from the Most Sweet Heart of Jesus.
Allow me to praise you, O most holy Virgin.
Give me strength against your enemies.

Luminous Saints

August 11th is not only the feast of Saint Clare of Assisi, it is also the feast of the little virgin martyr Saint Philomena. The names of both saints signify light: Chiara derives from the Italian word for brightness, while Philomena is understood to mean "daughter of the light." Saint Philomena's popularity is increasing throughout the Catholic world; from Italy, France, and Ireland, devotion to her has spread to all five continents.

Patronness of the Curé d'Ars

Saint Philomena (or Filumena) emerged from centuries of obscurity when her relics were unearthed in Rome on May 24, 1802. Saint Jean Marie Vianney, the Curé d'Ars, was among the saints most devoted clients. In the parish church of Ars he had a chapel built in her honour; he called Saint Philomena. The holy priest called Saint Philomena "the new light of the Church militant." He often recommended novenas to the little saint. She worked prodigies in answer to his prayers. "To Philomena," he would say, "nothing is refused."

A Saint Among Saints

The Curé d'Ars was not the only saint devoted to Philomena. The friends of Saint Philomena include Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Saint Peter Chanel, Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, Saint Euphrasia Pelletier, Saint Francesca Xavier Cabrini, Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, Blessed Pauline Jaricot, and Blessed Damien of Molokai. One who prays to Saint Philomena is in good company!

Honoured by the Popes

Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846), Blessed Pius IX (1846-1878), Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903), and Saint Pius X (1903-1914) all sought Saint Philomena's intercession. Saint Pius X erected the Universal Archconfraternity of Saint Philomena on May 21, 1912. Saint Philomena seems to have been given to the Church in modern times in response to the challenges that face her, and as an intercessor for those engaged in defending the "Splendour of the Truth" and the "Gospel of Life."

Friend of Children

The Archconfraternity has a children's section. Saint Philomena is a heavenly advocate of children, especially of those at risk. Dr. Mark Miravalle writes, "Because Philomena said yes to Christ and to His Kingdom, it is little wonder that Jesus is making her well known again as the Patroness of Purity, for the young people of the twenty-first century."

Purity

The cord of Saint Philomena, approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1884, remains a popular sacramental. Made of red and white cotton (the colours of martyrdom and purity), the cord is carried on one's person or worn about the waist. Those who wear the cord are encouraged to pray daily, "Dear Saint Philomena, Virgin and Martyr, pray for us, so that through your powerful intercession, we may obtain that purity of spirit and of heart that leads to perfect Love of God. Amen."

A Thank You

A more personal note: when my dear fellow pilgrim to Knock Shrine, Mary Parady, was sorting through her mother, Cousin Marian Parady's things, she discovered a first class relic of Saint Philomena. The little saint has become a friend to Mary and, just a few weeks ago, helped Cousin Danny Parady's wife Heather through a difficult moment in her pregnancy. Thank you, Saint Philomena!

For the Sake of Jesus Christ

There is something singularly appealing about Saint Clare of Assisi. In many ways she resembles her brother and father in Christ, Saint Francis, and yet Clare is Clare . . . fearless, spontaneous, unconventional, and strong-willed. She could have satisfied the expectations of her family and of society by marrying some promising young nobleman. Or she could have entered some respectable and established monastery; with her family background and her personal gifts, she would certainly have become a grand Lady Abbess and wielded the crosier over a comfortable little monastic domain, but Clare cared little for conventions and respectability. She did not hesitate to put behind her “houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children and land” (Mt 19:29) for the sake of Jesus Christ and of His Gospel.

Running After Christ

Our Lord says, “If any man has a mind to come my way, let him renounce self, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt 16:24). Clare was not content with simply following Christ by putting one foot in front of the other. There was nothing of the foot-dragging disciple about her. She was compelled by a burning passion to run after Christ, to follow Him, dancing all the way. The song of Clare’s heart was that verse from the Song of Songs: “Draw me after you: we will run in the fragrance of your perfumes” (Ct 1:3).

With Swift Pace and Light Step

Clare adds her own commentary: “O heavenly Spouse! I will run and not tire, until you bring me into the wine–cellar, until your left hand is under my head and your right hand will embrace me happily, and you will kiss me with the happiest kiss of Your mouth” (Fourth Letter to Agnes of Prague). The writings of Saint Clare are full of movement. She is drawn on by the love of Christ. One sometimes has the impression that the impetus of love leaves her breathless. To Agnes of Prague she wrote: “What you hold, may you always hold, what you do, may you always do and never abandon. But with swift pace, light step, unswerving feet, so that even your steps stir up no dust, may you go forward securely, joyfully, swiftly” (Second Letter to Agnes of Prague).

Saint Laurence is the patron saint of those who have sizzled (or may be sizzling) on the gridirons of lust. I have long appreciated the oration in honour of Saint Laurence that the Church recommends to her priest in the daily Thanksgiving After Mass of the Roman Missal:

Grant to us, O Lord, we beseech Thee,
to extinguish within us the flames of vice,
even as Thou didst strengthen blessed Laurence
to overcome his fiery torments.
Through Christ our Lord.

Continence is a gift, not an achievement. One becomes chaste by grace, not by dint of stress and strain. Mother Church has known this all along. This, I suppose, is why she bids her priests pray daily for the angelic virtue. What I like about the official prayers for chastity (found in the Roman Missal) is that they are utterly realistic. It is assumed that one is engaged in spiritual combat. Out of weakness or weariness or a combination of both, one may at times emerge from the battle scarred and bruised.

What is the secret of chaste living? 1) You have to want it, 2) you have to ask for it, and 3) you may have to wait for it. Does not Sirach say, "Humble thy heart and endure . . . and in thy humiliation keep patience" (Eccl 2:2-4)?

It pleases God to bestow the gift of chastity through the hands of the All-Pure Mother of God. In this particular combat, the rosary is the mighty weapon of the weak. That being said, let's look at the prayers for chastity given by the Church in the Roman Missal. It is recommended that most of these find a place in the daily prayer rule of the priest.

From the Preparation for Mass

Ure igne Sancti Spiritus

With the heavenly dew of Thy blessing,
God, King of virgins and Lover of stainless chastity,
quench the wildfire of lust in my body,
leaving all of me, body and soul, steadfast in purity.
Deaden within me the stings of desire and all lustful excitements.
Give me true, complete, and abiding chastity,
and therewith all those other gifts of Thine in which Thou truly delightest,
enabling me to offer daily sacrifice in praise of Thee
with a chaste body and clean heart.

2 Corinthians 9:6-10
Psalm 111: 1-2, 5-6, 7-8, 9
John 12:24-26

Live With Christ and Laurence

I wish that I could put you all in a bus today and accompany you to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City just to see there the small round glass medallion dating from the fourth century that depicts Saint Laurence. The medallion bears the simple inscription: “Live with Christ and Laurence.” What some would see as a simple cultural artifact is for us a witness to the unchanging faith of the Church. The saints are those who have passed into eternal life with Christ. “Live with Christ and Laurence.” To live with Christ is to live in the society of the saints. Not only do we remember each year the anniversary of their birthday into the life of heaven; we seek their intercession and rely on it. We make our pilgrimage through this life in their company, having “over our head,” as the Letter to the Hebrews says, “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1).

A Saint Painting A Saint

I also wish that I could transport all of you to the Chapel of Pope Nicholas V in the Vatican to see there the series of frescoes that Blessed Fra Angelico painted to depict the life of Saint Laurence. This in itself is remarkable: a saint painting a saint.

Laurence and the Poor

In one scene of the series he shows Saint Laurence coming out of a basilica to meet the poor who are waiting for him. Laurence is youthful; he is dressed as a deacon for the liturgy. His dalmatic is deep rose in colour, suggesting joy, and trimmed in gold, hinting at the glory that is already transforming him. On the ground in front of him is a crippled man holding out his hand and begging for alms. To his right is an old man with a white beard, quite bent over, and leaning on his walking stick; he too is asking for alms. To Laurence’s left stands an impoverished widow in a dark dress and, just behind her, a young mother with a baby in her arms. Again to his left, is a man in need of medicine, pointing to a wound in his knee. On both sides of Laurence are little children; two of them, having already received their alms, are walking away, while a third is still waiting to receive something.

The Cheerful Giver

The fresco is a kind of homily on today’s First Reading and Responsorial Psalm. Laurence is the cheerful giver, beloved of God (cf. 2 Cor 9: 7). “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever” (2 Cor 9:9, Ps 111:9). Blessed Fra Angelico painted theology: by showing the open basilica in the background, he is indicating that the Church is the servant of the hospitality of God, that her doors are open to all.

From Christ to Christ

By painting Saint Laurence in his dalmatic, he is suggesting that Laurence has just come from Mass where it is the deacon’s function to sing the dismissal, “Ite, missa est,” “Go forth, the Mass is ended,” or “Go, it is the sending forth.” The mission of the Church begins at the altar; leaving the altar, Laurence goes straight out the front door of the basilica to the poor who wait for him. He goes from Christ to Christ.

Esther 4C: 12-16, 23, 25
Psalm 30: 3cd–4, 6 and 8ab, 16bc and 17
John 4:19-24

An Extraordinary Woman

Sixty-five years ago today, on August 9, 1942, the Carmelite Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, known in the world as Dr. Edith Stein, met death in the infernal concentration camp of Auschwitz. Edith Stein was a Jew, born into an Orthodox family on October 12th October 1891. It was the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. For a time, suffering from depression, and determined nonetheless to seek her own truth, she abandoned all outward religious practice. Edith asked for Baptism after reading the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila. "This," she said, "is the truth."

The Prayer of Esther

Today’s liturgy places the impassioned prayer of Esther on the lips of Teresa Benedicta in Auschwitz. “As a child I was wont to hear from the people of the land of my forefathers that you, O Lord, chose Israel from among all peoples, and our fathers from among all their ancestors, as a lasting heritage, and that you fulfilled all your promises to them. Be mindful of us, O Lord. Manifest yourself in the time of our distress.“(Est 4:3, 12).

Salvation From the Jews

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross is of the lineage of Miriam, of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Judith and Esther, of the same people as the Blessed Virgin, Miriam of Nazareth, of whom was born Yeshouah who is called the Christ. The words of Our Lord in today’s gospel strike us with a particular resonance. “Salvation is from the Jews” (Jn 4:22).

The Root

Saint Paul reminds us that, “the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29). God’s choice of Israel remains; His love for Israel stands firm forever. How could God not cherish with a love of predilection the race that gave His only begotten Son flesh and blood? Gentile Christians are the wild olive shoot, grafted in place to share the richness of the olive tree. Lest we be tempted to boast, Saint Paul says: “Remember, it is not you that supports the root, but the root that supports you” (Rom 11:18).

Through the Eyes of a Bridal Love

Through the gift of the Law and the message of the prophets, God Himself undertook Israel’s education and preparation for a universal mission, for an abiding vocation. The Law and the prophets admonish Israel to fear the Lord God, to follow all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord God with heart and soul, to keep His commandments and laws. All of this is a response to merciful love. The vocation of Israel is to discover the holiness of God revealed in the Torah, to contemplate Him through the eyes of a bridal love. The God to Whom belong the heavens and the earth set his heart on Israel; God chose a people to be uniquely His own in view of a covenant by which Israel would become the beloved, the bride of the Eternal One.

Whatever did not fit in with my plan
did lie within the plan of God.
I have an ever deeper and firmer belief
that nothing is merely an accident
when seen in the light of God,
that my whole life down to the smallest details
has been marked out for me
in the plan of Divine Providence
and has a completely coherent meaning
in God's all seeing eyes.

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, O.C.D.
October 12, 1891 — August 9, 1942

Eighteenth Wednesday of the Year I

Numbers 13:1-2, 25--14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35
Psalm 105: 6-7ab, 13-14, 21-22, 23 (R. 4a)
Matthew 15:21-28

The Mercy of God

Saint Dominic would spend whole nights weeping and groaning in prayer before the altar. Over and over again he would say, "What will become of sinners? What will become of sinners?" Saint Dominic's great passion was to reconcile sinners by preaching the mercy of God.

The Power of Preaching

Dominic understood that the power of preaching comes from ceaseless prayer. His prayer had three characteristics: humble adoration, heartfelt pity for sinners, and exultation in the Divine Mercy. Saint Dominic prayed constantly; he prayed at home and on the road, in church and in his cell. For Saint Dominic there was no place or time foreign to prayer. He loved to pray at night. He engaged his whole body in prayer by standing with outstretched arms, by bowing, prostrating, genuflecting, and kissing the sacred page. If you are not familiar with the extraordinary little booklet entitled The Nine Ways of Prayer of Saint Dominic, today would be a good day to find it and read it.

The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Saint Dominic had a tenth way of prayer too: the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary that today we call the rosary. The use of beads was widespread and the repetition of the Hail Mary were both widespread before the time of Saint Dominic. The Hail Mary prayed 150 times in reference to the 150 psalms was practiced in Carthusian and Cistercian cloisters before the time of Saint Dominic.

Irrigated by Grace

Saint Dominic understood that preaching alone was not enough. Preaching had to be irrigated by grace, and grace is obtained by prayer. Inspired by the Mother of God, Saint Dominic interspersed his sermons with the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He exhorted his hearers to continue praying the Psalter of 150 Aves as a way of prolonging the benefits of holy preaching. The rosary allows the seed of the Word sown by holy preaching to germinate in the soul and bear fruit.