Saints and Angels: August 2009 Archives

Today is the feast of Blessed (and soon to be Saint) Jeanne Jugan (1792-1879), foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Blessed Jeanne Jugan, in religion Soeur Marie de la Croix, will be canonized in Rome on October 11th together with Blessed Damien of Molokai, Blessed Zygmunt Felinski, Blessed Francisco Coll Guitart, and Blessed Rafael Arnaiz Baron. I take this opportunity to thank her daughters for their faithful loving service of the elderly without resources. The Little Sisters of the Poor are especially attentive to the needs of the aged parents of priests. Un tres grand merci, mes chères petite soeurs!

Blessed Jeanne Jugan's 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.

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.

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.

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)

Connecticut and Ireland

I am writing, dear readers, from Hamden, Connecticut where I am spending a few days with my parents before leaving for Ireland on Sunday. I will be traveling with a fellow priest. We will arrive on the Isle of Saints and Scholars Monday morning and repair straightaway to the little town of Drumshanbo in County Leitrim where we will lodge in the guesthouse of the Franciscan Nuns of Perpetual Adoration.

At the Court of the Eucharistic King

Drumshanbo is, I think, one of the holiest places in Ireland, sanctified by 140 years of uninterrupted Eucharistic adoration. Shortly after the introduction of Perpetual Adoration, a wondrous sign was given in the convent chapel: the apparition of a bright, snow-white cross about two and a half feet in height, with a throbbing heart at its centre. It was seen during Mass on two different occasions by several of the nuns for about eight minutes on the first time and half an hour the second time. The Convent's second Abbess, Mother Saint Joseph Horne, died on the feast of Corpus Christ 1879; her life in the cloister had been marked by an abundance of mystical graces. Mrs. Helena Concannon recounts the whole story in At the Court of the Eucharistic King (M.H. Gill and Son, Dublin, 1929).

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. Thank you, Saint Philomena!

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.

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 has 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.

Simple Means

Divine Wisdom has so ordered things that the simplest material means -- humble and adapted to our weakness -- produce the greatest spiritual effects. Father Raphael Simon, the saintly Trappist psychiatrist, said that, "five decades of the rosary or even three Hail Marys daily may mean the difference between eternal life and death." The effect of the rosary is entirely disproportionate to its simplicity. The fruits of the rosary are well known: among them are detachment from sin and from the occasions of sin, peace of heart, humility, chastity, and joy. The rosary, and all authentic prayer, is always realistic -- that is to say, honest about human weakness and sin -- and, at the same, full of hope -- that is to say, open to the glorious plan of God's mercy.

The Supplication of the Rosary

If Saint Dominic preached the rosary and prayed it, it was because he knew it to be a prayer capable of winning every grace. The rosary is a prayer of repetition. It is a prayer of confidence. It helps one to persevere in supplication, bead by bead, and decade by decade. Our Lord finds the rosary irresistible because His own Mother "subsidizes" it. She stands behind it. The rosary is the voice of the poor, the needy, the downtrodden, and the weak. Persevere in praying the rosary and one day you will hear Our Lord say to you what He said to the woman of the Gospel: "Great is thy faith! Be it done for thee as thou wilt" (Mt 15:28). Saint Dominic shows us that, with the rosary in hand, we will experience the triumph of grace.

A Priest-Adorer

When Blessed John XXIII canonized Peter Julian Eymard on December 9, 1962, at the close of the First Session of the Second Vatican Council, he was, I think, acting prophetically. He directed the eyes of the universal Church to the image of a priest-adorer impassioned by the Most Holy Eucharist. During the pontificates of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, marked by the abundant graces of the Year of the Eucharist, Saint Peter Julian Eymard's particular expression of sacerdotal holiness came into focus more clearly for me.

A Priest for Priests

Saint Peter Julian was a priest for priests. In every brother priest he recognized a living image of Jesus Christ. He was known even to leave his prie-dieu before the Blessed Sacrament during his designated hour of adoration in order to receive a priest in need.

Sanctuaries of Adoration

Père Eymard ardently desired to do still more. In the first place, he resolved to number among the chief Apostolic Works of the Society of the Blessed Sacrament that of receiving into its Sanctuaries of adoration all priests who might desire to spend some days at the foot of the holy tabernacle.

I Want to Get the Priests

"Sanctify the priests by the Eucharist," he wrote. "That embraces everything. With the priests, we have the parishes, the whole country." Some months before his death, he exclaimed, "Now listen! I want to get the priests. That is our principal apostolate."

"To labour for priests," he used to say, "is to labour for multipliers. Let the Holy Eucharist become the centre of their thoughts, the end of their labours, and they will have at their disposal the most efficient means for the conversion and sanctification of their people. Let them find in Jesus of the tabernacle a Friend in their loneliness, insurmountable strength in their struggles, constantly renewed vigour in their weariness, for He is the Source of grace, which produces abundant fruits."

Priest-Adorers

Saint Peter Julian entertained the idea of founding a society of diocesan priest-adorers, not unlike the Oblates associated with monasteries: "I want to form . . . secular priests, to bind them together by prayer, by determinate statutes, and to sanctify them by the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. This work is ours, but I do not want to undertake now on a large scale. Oh, when will the time come! Priests sharing in the life of the Blessed Sacrament, should live according to the Eucharistic life of Jesus, which consists above all in self-abnegation and the love of sacrifice. . . . They should perform all their duties under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, the Adoratrice of the Cenacle, for through that sweet Mother we more easily approach Jesus. Their studies, their energy, and their piety they should direct to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. They should bear in mind that adoration is their chief duty: Nos autem orationi instantes erimus -- But we will give ourselves continually to prayer" (Acts 6, 4).

Preaching Energized by Adoration

For Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Eucharistic adoration was the soul of the ministry of holy preaching. "Like Moses," he wrote, "full of zeal to announce the teaching of the Divine Master when he came down from Mount Sinai, like the Apostles coming from the Cenacle, so should the priests [of this Society] go from the church straight to the people to announce to them the Word of God: Et ministerio verbi -- to the ministry of the Word (Acts 6, 4).

Drawing Souls to the Eucharist

A priest who seeks first the Eucharistic Face of Jesus, and has learned to linger close to His Eucharistic Heart, will be given all other things besides. His ministry will be prodigiously fruitful, even if, in this present life, its fruitfulness remains hidden. The priest is the friend of the Bridegroom, pointing souls to the tabernacle and, even more, inviting them to follow him into the radiance of His Eucharistic Face and the warmth of His Open Heart. Saint Peter Julian says it this way: "They should bind themselves to defend always and under all circumstances the interests and the honour of Jesus Christ, and by every possible means to multiply visits to the Blessed Sacrament as well as frequent and daily Communion. In a word, in all their actions, they should unite with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the Eternal High Priest, the Model of the grace of the priesthood."

Siamo Napoletani

Given that grace builds on nature, my Neapolitan ancestry may, in some way, account for my spiritual affinity with Saint Alphonsus Maria Liguori. For the long lazy days and hot nights of August I recommend a a fascinating biography of the saint: Alphonsus de Liguori, Saint of Bourbon Naples, by Frederick M. Jones, C.Ss.R.

Reparation Then and Now

Meditate the following text written by Saint Alphonsus Maria, and translated by Norman J. Muckermann, C.Ss.R. It is astonishingly relevant to the need for reparation, when one considers the current proliferation of so many outrages against the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The Sorrowful Heart of Jesus

It is impossible for us to appreciate how greatly afflicted the Heart of Jesus was for love of us and at the same time not be filled with pity for Him. . . . The principal sorrow affecting the Heart of Jesus was not so much knowing the torments and insults His enemies were preparing for Him. Rather, it was seeing how ready we would be to reject His immense love.

Desecrations of the Sacred Host

Jesus distinctly saw all the sins which we would commit even after His sufferings, even after His bitter and ignominious death on the cross. He foresaw, too, the insults which sinners would offer His Sacred Heart which He would leave on earth in the Most Holy Sacrament as proof of His love. These insults are almost too horrible to mention: people trampling the sacred hosts underfoot, throwing them into gutters or piles of refuse, and even using them to worship the devil himself!

The Pledge of His Love

Even the knowledge that these and other defamations would happen did not prevent Jesus from giving us this great pledge of His love, the Holy Eucharist. Jesus has an infinite hatred for sin; yet it seems that His great love for us even overcomes this bitterness. Because of His love, He allows these sacrileges to happen in order not to deprive us of this Divine Food. Should not this alone suffice to make us love a Heart that has loved us so much?

Jesus Forsaken on the Altar

What more could Jesus do to deserve our love? Is our ingratitude so great that we will still leave Jesus forsaken on the altar, as so many are wont to do? Rather, should we not unite ourselves to those few who gather to praise Him and acknowledge His divine presence? Should we not melt with love, as do the candles which adorn the altars where the Holy Sacrament is preserved? There the Sacred Heart remains burning with love for us. Shall we not in turn burn with love for Jesus?