St Cecilia Virgin & Martyr
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THE OLD ROMAN Vol. II Issue XII W/C 22nd November 2020
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WELCOME to this twelfth edition of Volume II of “The Old Roman” a weekly dissemination of news, views and information for and from around the world reflecting the experience and life of 21C “Old Romans” i.e. western Orthodox Catholics across the globe.
CONTRIBUTIONS… news items, magazine, devotional or theological articles, prayer requests, features about apostolates and parish mission life are ALL welcome and may be submitted via email. Submissions should be sent by Friday for publication the following Sunday.
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LIVE every Wednesday at Old Roman TV 6pm GMT+1
An opportunity to spend an hour before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration and intercession. Offered in reparation for the sins of the Church, for the apathy of Christians, for the lack of faith and the sacrileges and blasphemies committed daily against the Holy Name and the Gospel and abuses against the Blessed Sacrament and the holy Mass. Rosary and reflections on the Sunday themes.
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IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION...
The Old Roman View...
Contra Mundum: Semen est sanguis - latest episode
The Feast of St Cecilia
THE LITURGY
- ORDO w/c Sunday 22nd November 2020
- RITUAL NOTES...
- THE LITURGICAL YEAR Sunday XXIV & Ultimate Post Pentecost
- TODAY's FEAST St Cecilia
- SUNDAY MASS PROPERS St Cecilia & XXIV & Ultimate Post Pentecost
- On the means we all have to become saints - Bishop Richard Challoner
- A SERMON FOR St Cecilia & Sunday XXIV & Ultimate Post Pentecost - Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD
- THIS WEEK'S FEASTS... St Cecilia of Rome, St Clement I of Rome, St John of the Cross, St Catherine of Alexandria, St Sylvester of Osimo, St Peter of Alexandria, St Gregory Thaumaturgus, Vigil of St Andrew
CORONAVIRUS
- Update Info Links
- Policy Document
- Supporting those in isolation
- Staying in touch
- Advice for those self-isolating
- Practical advice for staying at home
- VIDEO Bi-vocation and COVID19
VOX POPULI
- Blessings in the Philippines
- How to worship online - Metropolitan Jerome of Selsey
- Schedule of Old Roman worship broadcasts
- Old Roman TV Broadcast Schedule
OLD ROMAN CULTURE
- ARTICLE Martinmas - Advent fast
- VIDEO November Month of All Souls
- VIDEO Crisis Series #6 with Fr. Reuter: Liberal Catholics Don't Exist
- VIDEO Catholic Family News; Weekly News Roundup (Nov. 20, 2020)
- VIDEO Exposing the Plots of the Deep Church: Interview with Julia Meloni on the St. Gallen Mafia
- ARTICLE Rosary Guild taking orders...
- ARTICLE How to pray the Rosary
- VIDEO TR Media: Fr Anthony Cekada: 1968 Rite of Episcopal Consecration
- VIDEO The Man Who Knew Communism Best | Bishop Fulton J.Sheen
- ARTICLE Old Roman Catholicism in the history of the Church Chapter XIV
- VIDEO Contra Mundum
- VIDEO Old Romans Unscripted
- VIDEO Late Night Catechism
- VIDEO "Wondering bishop"
- VIDEO Old Roman Vocations
- VIDEO Catholic Unscripted
Of your charity... prayer requests
Old Roman Mass Directory
Old Roman Clerical Directory
Vocations Info
The Old Roman Subscription Form
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"So we being many, are one body in Christ,
and every one members one of another."
Romans 12:5
The third century Christian author Tertullian is purported to have written in his Apology, “Semen est sanguis Christianorum” ["the blood of Christians is seed" popularly rendered, "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church"; Apologeticum (Apology) 50.13]. Clearly the death of the martyrs did not inhibit early Church growth as the persecutors clearly supposed it would. With more Christians martyred in the 20C and 21C than in all the preceding centuries put together, may Tertullian's sentiments be echoed in the contemporary situation?
The Primus reflecting in the weekly broadcast "Contra Mundum" on Old Roman TV, stated that while the Church does, despite the persecution, appear to be growing in those places where Christian martyrdom is still a very present reality; but there is little to no evidence that the Church in western countries is sharing in the fruit of this sacrifice of the contemporary martyrs. In fact the opposite seems manifestly true, the the Christian witness in the west is waning and many denominations are experiencing terminal decline. Projections for some "mainstream" denominations even prophesy their impending closure ie folding up completely. Why is this so?
"For just as the body is one and has many members,
and all the members of the body, though many,
are one body, so it is with Christ."
1 Corinthians 12:12
The Primus suggests that the reason why the spiritual benefits of the sacrifice of the contemporary martyrs is not shared with the western churches is twofold.
Firstly, the western church does not identify itself with the persecuted church which is generally to be found in Africa, the Middle East and Asia in mostly, but not exclusively, third world or undeveloped countries. Whether for racial, cultural or political reasons of which there are many, the western churches regard the persecuted churches either with condescension or pity, but not with compassion. The distance between the west and the third world ideologically, materially and culturally seems to prevent the western churches from regarding the persecuted churches as their equals.
This may in large part too be due to the lack of appreciation or simply ignorance of many in the west of the ancient foundations of the many jurisdictions that make up the persecuted members that range from the Syro-Malabar, Mar Thoma, Eritrean, Ethopian, Armenian, Malankara and Coptic Churches through to the Maronite, Saint Thomas Christians, Chaldean and Assyrian Church of the East to name only a few. Many of these churches descend from apostolic or near apostolic times and though variances in doctrine from the first millennium of assumed orthodoxy have meant historical divisions between the west and themselves, even so, they have survived despite centuries of persecution and sometimes even from the west itself. Indeed, it may be noted historically that the west has ignored and not provided any assistance to these churches through previous eras of acute persecution like the rise of the first Muslim Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire.
Yet the indifference of the western churches is not confined solely to those with historical doctrinal variance, even once missions of their own churches are ignored and unaided. The Christians in China are a particular example where for instance, the Vatican has chosen to support the Communist regime over the Catholic Underground church despite the persecution and reprisals meted out by the government on Christians and especially Catholics. Likewise in Africa the churches founded by western missionaries in the 18C and 19C have largely been left to their fate, decimated by Islamist insurgents and terrorists with little or no help from their western progenitors whether Catholic or Protestant. No meaningful condemnations nor protestations at the violence and harshness inflicted upon Christians is sought for politically from western governments by western Christians e.g. no campaigning for economic nor diplomatic sanctions to be imposed by member governments of the United Nations upon offenders like China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, etc.
"If one member suffers, all suffer together;
if one member is honoured, all rejoice together."
1 Corinthians 12:26
Secondly, the Primus suggests that the western churches themselves fail to recognise the direct persecution of others because of their inability to recognise the indirect persecution they themselves are experiencing! This is due, he says, to the apathy derived from economic comfort and stability the western churches have enjoyed for so long and the subsequent acquiescence that has resulted in compromising and relativizing the Faith to maintain the remnant institutional status quo the churches have enjoyed in western society. This is endemic and was exposed recently in the sexual abuse crises where the institutional church sought to protect its own image and survival over justice and compassion for the victims; all for the sake of reputation and power to retain status and influence in society, which it deems more valuable than the salvation of souls.
The western churches are far more concerned with maintaining an Enlightenment presentment to their secular colleagues and governments than make a stand for those points of doctrinal and even dogmatic variance which are ideologically and philosophically opposed to most progressive western cultural and political prevailing attitudes. From the sanctity of human life - eg on demand abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, eugenics - through to progressive social mores and modern experiments in social engineering like divorce on demand, same sex marriages and alternative models of family, gender identity/fluidity and all the bearing these have on the education and the development of children and social policy. All this due largely to unchallenged doctrinal heresy and widespread unchecked apostasy; the western churches being confused about what they believe and losing members through a mixture of pastoral complacency and lack of catechesis as well as a sneering appreciation of piety and indifference towards the pursuit of personal sanctity.
The Primus predicts that unless and until such time as a return to the pursuit of personal holiness and a return to orthodox catechesis with the inculturation of traditional piety and liturgy, the western churches will continue into an ever decreasing spiral of nihilistic and moralistic relativism resulting ultimately in their self-annihilation through making themselves an irrelevance to the very society they are appealing to. The practice of charity i.e. social action and community focused projects is stemming the demise a little, but, through increasing pressure to adopt progressive and secularist values and principles in governance policies through legislation, these ventures too will succumb to the contemporary zeitgeist and be changed from Faith to fundamentally humanist endeavours. This is becoming a fast reality as the number of believers reduces and thus volunteers to govern and support these projects from among believers drops numerically.
It remains then, for Old Romans everywhere to maintain fidelity to the received orthodox doctrine and praxis of the Catholic Faith and strive fervently to deepen their relationship with God through Our Lord to realise their vocations. Every Old Roman should be striving after that personal holiness that can be theirs through repentance, penance and sacrifice, keeping the traditional disciplines and availing themselves of the sacraments and God's grace as often as they may. Only by becoming true ambassadors of Christ by being demonstrably, recognisably like Him, may we stand any chance of turning things around and in the west, of benefiting from the sacrifice of the contemporary martyrs, by being willing ourselves to die everyday to self for Christ.
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"Blood and seed"... In reference to the Roman persecution of the Church, the third century Christian author Tertullian is purported to have written in his Apology, “Semen est sanguis Christianorum” ["the blood of Christians is seed" popularly rendered, "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church"; Apologeticum (Apology) 50.13]. Clearly the death of the martyrs did not inhibit early Church growth as the persecutors clearly supposed it would. With more Christians martyred in the 20C and 21C than in all the preceding centuries put together, may Tertullian's sentiments be echoed in the contemporary situation?
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The XXIV & Ultimate Sunday Post Pentecost
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Saint Cecilia, Virgin & Martyr
Virgin, Martyr († 177)
November 22
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It is under the emperor Alexander Severus that this young Saint, one of the most fragrant flowers of Christian virginity and martyrdom, suffered for the Faith she had chosen; to choose it was at that moment as certain an end to earthly felicity as it is a guarantee, at every epoch, of the eternal felicity of those who remain faithful to it. Cecilia was the daughter of an illustrious patrician, and was the only Christian of her family; she was permitted to attend the reunions held in the catacombs by the Christians, either through her parents' condescension or out of indifference. She continually kept a copy of the holy Gospel hidden under her clothing over her heart. Her parents obliged her, however, despite her vow of virginity, which most probably they knew nothing of, to marry the young Valerian, whom she esteemed as noble and good, but who was still pagan.
During the evening of the wedding day, with the music of the nuptial feast still in the air, Cecilia, this intelligent, beautiful, and noble Roman maiden, renewed her vow. When the new spouses found themselves alone, she gently said to Valerian, Dear friend, I have a secret to confide to you, but will you promise me to keep it? He promised her solemnly that nothing would ever make him reveal it, and she continued, Listen: an Angel of God watches over me, for I belong to God. If he sees that you would approach me under the influence of a sensual love, his anger will be inflamed, and you will succumb to the blows of his vengeance. But if you love me with a perfect love and conserve my virginity inviolable, he will love you as he loves me, and will lavish on you, too, his favors. Valerian replied that if he might see this Angel, he would certainly correspond to her wishes, and Cecilia answered, Valerian, if you consent to be purified in the fountain which wells up eternally; if you will believe in the unique, living and true God who reigns in heaven, you will be able to see the Angel. And to his questions concerning this water and who might bestow it, she directed him to a certain holy old man named Urban.
That holy Pontiff rejoiced exceedingly when Valerian came to him the same night, to be instructed and baptized; his long prayer touched the young man greatly, and he too rejoiced with an entirely new joy in his new-found and veritable faith, so far above the religion of the pagans. He returned to his house, and on entering the room where Cecilia had continued to pray for the remainder of the night, he saw the Angel waiting, with two crowns of roses and lilies, which he would place on the head of each of them. Cecilia understood at once that if the lilies symbolized their virginity, the roses foretold for them both the grace of martyrdom. Valerian was told he might ask any grace at all of God, who was very pleased with him; and he requested that his brother Tiburtius might also receive the grace he had obtained; and the conversion of Tiburtius soon afterwards became a reality.
The two brothers, who were very wealthy, began to aid the families which had lost their support through the martyrdom of the fathers, spouses, and sons; they saw to the burial of the Christians, and continually braved the same fate as these victims. In effect they were soon captured, and their testimony was such as to convert a young officer chosen to conduct them to the site of their martyrdom. He succeeded in delaying it for a day, and took them to his house, where before the day was ended he had decided to receive Baptism with his entire family and household. The two brothers offered their heads to the sword; and soon afterward the officer they had won for Christ followed them to the eternal divine kingdom. It was Cecilia who saw to the burial of all three martyrs. She then distributed to the poor all the valuable objects of her house, in order that the property of Valerian might not be confiscated according to current Roman law, and knowing that her own time was close at hand.
She was soon arrested and arraigned, but having asked a delay after her interrogation, she assembled those who had heard her with admiration and instructed them in the faith; the Pontiff Urban baptized a large number of them. The death appointed for her was suffocation by steam. Saint Cecilia remained unharmed and calm, for a day and a night, in the calderium, or place of hot baths, in her own palace, despite a fire heated to seven times its ordinary violence. Finally, an executioner was sent to dispatch her by the sword; he struck with trembling hand the three blows which the law allowed, and left her still alive. For two days and nights Cecilia would lie with her head half severed, on the pavement of her bath, fully sensible and joyfully awaiting her crown. When her neophytes came to bury her after the departure of the executioner, they found her alive and smiling. They surrounded her there, not daring to touch her, for three days, having collected the precious blood from her wounds. On the third day, after the holy Pontiff Urban had come to bless her, the agony ended, and in the year 177 the virgin Saint gave back her glorious soul to Christ. It was the Supreme Pontiff who presided at her funeral; she was placed in a coffin in the position in which she had lain, as we often see her pictured, and interred in the vault prepared by Saint Callixtus for the Church's pontiffs. The authentic acts of her life and martyrdom were prepared by Pope Anteros in the year 235. When the tomb was opened in 1599 her body was entirely intact still.
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vie des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral; Paris, 1882). The account is based on a Histoire de Sainte Cécile, by Dom Guéranger, Abbot of Solemnes
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ORDO w/c Sunday 22nd November 2020
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OFFICE |
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N.B. |
22.11 |
S |
St Cecilia of Rome V&M
Com. Sunday XXIV & Last Post Pentecost
(R) Missa “Loquébar de testimóniis” |
d |
2a) Sunday XXIVPP
Gl.Cr.Pref.Trinity
PLG Sunday XXIVPP |
23.11 |
M |
St Clement I of Rome B&M
(R) Missa “Dicit Dominus” |
d |
Gl.Pref.Common |
24.11 |
T |
St John of the Cross DrC
Com. St Chrysognous, Martyr
(W) Missa “In medio” |
d |
2a) St Chrysogonus
Gl.Cr.Pref.Common |
25.11 |
W |
St Catherine of Alexandria V&M
(R) Missa “Loquebar de testimonies” |
d |
Gl.Pref.Common |
26.11 |
T |
St Sylvester of Osimo Abbot
Com. St Peter of Alexandria B&M
(W) Missa “Os justi”
St. Peter of Alexandria B&M
Com. St Sylvester, Abbot
(R) Missa “In virtúte” |
d
d |
2a) St Peter B&M
Gl. Pref.Common
2a) St Sylvester
Gl. Pref.Common |
27.11 |
F |
St Gregory Thaumaturgus B&C
UK Com. Octave Day of St Edmund
(W) Missa “Statuit ei Dominus” |
d |
Gl.Pref.Common |
28.11 |
S |
Vigil of St Andrew the Apostle
Com. St Saturninus of Toulouse B&M
(v) Missa “Dóminus secus mare Galilaeæ” |
ant |
2a) St Saturninus
noGl.Pref.Apostles.BD
Vespers Advent I |
29.11 |
S |
THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
(V) Missa “Ad te levavi” |
priv1 |
2a) aCunctis
3a) BVM
noGl.Cr.Pref.Trinity.BD |
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RITUAL NOTES
From Ceremonies of the Roman Rite described by Fr Adrian Fortesque
Nota Bene
a) on the 26th an either or option is given ref the feasts of St Sylvester of Osimo, Abbot or St Peter of Alexandria.
b) on the 27th in the UK the Octave Day of St Edmund is commemorated
c) because the Vigil of St Andrew would fall on Sunday it is transferred to Saturday in anticipation. The feast of St Saturninus of Toulouse is thus commemorated.
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KEY: A=Abbot A cunctis=of the Saints B=Bishop BD=Benedicamus Domino BVM=Blessed Virgin Mary C=Confessor Com=Commemoration Cr=Creed D=Doctor d=double d.i/ii=double of the 1st/2nd Class E=Evangelist F=Feria Gl=Gloria gr.d=greater-double (G)=Green H=Holy Heb.=Hedomadam (week) K=King M=Martyr mpal=missae pro aliquibus locis Mm=Martyrs Pent=Pentecost P=Priest PP/PostPent=Post Pentecost PLG=Proper Last Gospel Pref=Preface ProEccl=for the Church (R)=Red (Rc)=Rose-coloured s=simple s-d=semi-double Co=Companions V1=1st Vespers V=Virgin v=votive (V)=violet W=Widow (W)=white *Ob.=Obligation 2a=second oration 3a=third oration |
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Sunday XXIV & Ultimate Post Pentecost
The number of the Sundays after Pentecost may exceed twenty-four, and go up as far as twenty-eight, according as Easter is each Year, more or less near to the vernal equinox. But the Mass here given is always reserved for the last; and the intervening ones, be their number what it may, are taken from the Sundays after the Epiphany, which in that case were not used at the beginning of the year. This, however, does not apply to the Introit, Gradual, Offertory, and Communion, which, as we have already said, are repeated from the twenty-third Sunday.
We have seen how that Mass of the twenty-third Sunday was regarded by our forefathers as really the last of the Cycle. Abbot Rupert has given us the profound meaning of its several parts. According to the teaching we have already pondered over, the reconciliation of Juda was shown us as being, in time, the term intended by God: the last notes of the sacred Liturgy blended with the last scene of the world’s history, as seen and known by God. The end proposed by eternal Wisdom, in the world’s creation, and mercifully continued after the Fall by the mystery of Redemption, has now (we speak of the Church’s Year and God’s workings) been fully carried out—this end was no other than that of divine Union with Human Nature, making it one in the unity of one only body. Now that the two antagonist-people, gentile and jew, are brought together in the one same New Man in Christ Jesus their Head, the Two Testaments, which so strongly marked the distinction between the ages of time, the one called the Old, the other the New—yes, these Two Testaments fade away and give place to the glory of the Eternal Alliance.
It was here, therefore, that Mother Church formerly finished her Liturgical Year. She was delighted at what she had done during all the past months; that is, at having led her children not only to have a thorough appreciation of the divine plan, which she had developed before then in her celebrations, but moreover, and more especially, to unite them themselves by a veritable Union to their Jesus, by a real communion of views and interests and loves. On this account, she used not to revert again to the second Coming of the God-Man and the Last Judgment, two great subjects which she had proposed for her children’s reflections, at the commencement of the Purgative Life, that is, her season of Advent. It is only since a few centuries that, with a view of giving to her Year a conclusion more defined and intelligible to the Faithful of these comparatively recent times, she closes the Cycle with the prophetic description of the dread Coming of her Lord, which is to put an end to Time and open Eternity. From time immemorial, St. Luke had had the office of announcing, in Advent, the approach of the Last Judgment; the Evangelist St. Matthew was selected for this its second, and more detailed, description, on the last Sunday after Pentecost.
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St Cecilia, Virgin Martyr; Com. Sunday XXIV & Ultimate Post Pentecost: Missa “Loquébar de testimóniis”
It is believed that St. Cecilia was born in the 2nd or 3rd century A.D., although the dates of her birth and martyrdom are unknown.
Tradition tells us that Cecilia was a Roman girl of a patrician family who had been brought up as a Christian. She fasted often and wore a coarse garment beneath her rich clothing. Although she had consecrated her virginity to God, her father betrothed her to a young pagan named Valerian.
When the wedding day arrived, Cecilia sat apart from her guests, repeating psalms and praying. After the ceremony, when the guests had departed and she was alone with her husband, Cecilia made known her great desire to remain a virgin, saying that she already had a lover, an angel of God who was very jealous. Valerian, shaken by fear, anger, and suspicion, said to her: “Show me this angel. If he is of God, I shall refrain, as you wish, but if he is a human lover, you both must die.” Cecilia answered, “If you believe in the one true and living God and receive the water of baptism, then you shall see the angel.” Valerian assented and following his wife’s directions sought out a bishop named Urban, who was in hiding among the tombs of the martyrs, for this was a time for persecutions. Valerian made his profession of faith and the bishop baptized him.
When the young husband returned, he found an angel with flaming wings standing beside Cecilia. The angel placed chaplets of roses and lilies on their heads. The brother of Valerian, Tiburtius, was also converted, and after being baptized he too experienced many marvels.
Valerian and Tiburtius devoted themselves to good works on behalf of the Christian community, and they made it their special duty to give proper burial to those who were put to death. The two brothers were themselves soon sentenced to death for refusing to sacrifice to Jupiter. Maximus, a Roman officer charged with their execution, was converted by a vision that he saw in the hour of their death. After professing Christianity, he, too, was martyred.
The three were buried by the grieving Cecilia. Soon after, she was sentenced to death. The prefect tried to reason with her, but she remained strong in her faith. Consequently, he gave an order that she was to be suffocated in her own bathroom. Surviving this attempt on her life, a soldier was sent to behead her. He struck her neck three times, then left her lying, still alive, for it was against the law to strike a fourth time. She lingered on for three days, during which the Christians who remained in Rome flocked to her house. In dying she bequeathed all her goods to the poor, and her house to the bishop for a place of Christian worship. She was buried in the crypt of the Caecilii at the Catacomb of St. Callistus. St. Cecilia’s body was found to be incorrupt in the Catacombs of Saint Callistus. Her body was later moved to St Cecilia in Trastevere.
She is praised as the most perfect model of the Christian woman because of her virginity and the martyrdom which she suffered for love of Christ.
At her wedding banquet, while the pipes were playing, St. Cecilia sang to the Lord, asking that her heart might remain immaculate, that she not be put to shame. This inspired early composers to write elaborate music for the antiphon used on her feast day, and St. Cecilia became the special patron of musicians. For this reason, she is usually shown at the organ, although a harp or lute may be used. Sometimes she wears a wreath of white and red roses.
INTROIT Psalm 118. 95, 96
I spoke of Thy testimonies before kings, and I was not ashamed : I meditated also on Thy commandments, which I loved. (Ps. 118: 1) Blessed are the undefiled in the way: who walk in the law of the Lord. V.: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
COLLECT
God, Who, among other miracles of Thy power, hast conferred the victory of martyrdom even on the weaker sex, mercifully grant that we, who celebrate the natal feast of blessed Cecilia, Thy virgin and martyr, may advance toward Thee through her example. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R.Amen.
Commemoratio Dominica XXIV et ultima Post Pentecosten V. Novembris
O Lord, we beseech You, arouse the wills of Your faithful people that, by a more earnest search for the fruit of Your divine work, they may receive more abundantly of the healing effects of Your goodness. 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. R. Amen.
EPISTLE Wisdom 51: 13-17
Lesson from the Book of Wisdom. O Lord, my God, Thou hast exalted my dwelling-place upon the earth, and I have prayed for death to pass away. I called upon the Lord, the Father of my Lord, that He would not leave me in the day of my trouble, and in the time of the proud, without help. I will praise Thy name continually, and will praise it with thanksgiving and my prayer was heard, and Thou hast saved me from destruction, and hast delivered me from the evil time. Therefore I will give thanks, and praise Thee, O Lord our God.
GRADUAL/ALLELUIA Psalm 44: 11-12
Harken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; for the King hath greatly desired thy beauty. V. (Ps. 44: 5) With thy comeliness and thy beauty, set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. Alleluia, alleluia. V. (Matth. 25: 4, 6) The five wise virgins took oil in their vessels with the lamps: and at midnight there was a cry made: Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet Christ our Lord. Alleluia.
GOSPEL Matthew 25: 1-13
At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples this parable: ‘The kingdom of Heaven shall be like to ten virgins, who taking their lamps went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. And five of them were foolish, and five wise; but the five foolish having taken their lamps, did not take oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps. And the bridegroom tarrying, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made; Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise: Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. The wise answered, saying: Lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you, go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. Now, whilst they went to buy, the bridegroom came: and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. But at last came also the other virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answering said: Amen I say to you, I know you not. Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour.’
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 44: 15, 16
After her shall virgins be brought to the King: her neighbors shall be brought to Thee with gladness and rejoicing: they shall be brought into the temple of the King, the Lord.
SECRET
May this sacrifice of atonement and praise, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by the intercession of blessed Cecilia, Thy virgin and martyr, ever make us worthy of Thy forgiveness. Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R.Amen.
Commemoratio Dominica XXIV et ultima Post Pentecosten V. Novembris
Be merciful, O Lord, to our humble requests and accept the offerings and prayers of Your people: turn the hearts of all of us to You, that, freed from earthly cravings, we may pass over to heavenly yearnings. 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. R. Amen.
PREFACE of the Holy Trinity
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying:
COMMUNION ANTIPHON Psalm 118: 78, 80
Let the proud be ashamed, because they have done unjustly towards me: but I will be employed in Thy commandments and in Thy justifications, that I may not be confounded.
POSTCOMMUNION
Lord, Thou hast regaled Thy household with sacred gifts; ever comfort us, we pray, with her intercession whose festival we celebrate. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God
For ever and ever. R. Amen.
Commemoratio Dominica XXIV et ultima Post Pentecosten V. Novembris
Grant us, we beseech You, O Lord, that all the evil in our hearts may be cured by the healing power of the sacrament we have received. 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. R. Amen.
THE PROPER LAST GOSPEL Matt. 24:15-35
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: When you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place - let him who reads understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything from his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. But woe to those who are with child, or have infants at the breast in those days! But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor will be. And unless those days had been shortened, no living creature would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Then if anyone say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise, and will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told it to you beforehand. If therefore they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the desert,’ do not go forth; ‘Behold, He is in the inner chambers,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines even to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together. But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then will all tribes of the earth mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty. And He will send forth His angels with a trumpet and a great sound, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch is now tender, and the leaves break forth, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door. Amen I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things have been accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
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How are Old Roman vocations to the Sacred Ministry discerned, formed and realised? If you are discerning a vocation to the Sacred Ministry and are considering exploring the possibility of realising your vocation as an Old Roman or transferring your discernment, this is the programme for you!
Questions are welcome and may be sent in advance to vocations@secret.fyi anonymity is assured.
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MEDITATIONS FOR EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR
BY BISHOP CHALLONER
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Richard Challoner (1691–1781) was an English Roman Catholic bishop, a leading figure of English Catholicism during the greater part of the 18th century. The titular Bishop of Doberus, he is perhaps most famous for his revision of the Douay–Rheims translation of the Bible.
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ON THE MEANS WE ALL HAVE TO BECOME SAINTS
Consider first, that if our Lord calls upon us all to be saints, and even commands us all to be saints - he, that never commands impossibilities, furnishes us also with the means which, if we make good use of them, will make us saints. Witness those manifold graces and spiritual helps which he continually favours us with, by which if we duly correspond, we should all be saints. Witness that early knowledge he has given us of his heavenly truths, and those repeated invitations with which he sweetly presses us to turn from our sins and to come to him. O if we did but welcome these first divine calls, how quickly would they produce in our souls strong desires of dedicating ourselves in good earnest to divine love! Now, such strong desires as these are the beginning of true wisdom, and the very foundation of all sanctity. For since God desires we should be saints, if we also sincerely desire it, the work will be done. Strong desires will make us earnest in prayer; they will make us diligent and fervent in spiritual exercises. Strong desires will make us labour in earnest; we shall spare no pains in the acquisition of virtue, if our desires are strong indeed. Such desires as these are that 'hunger and thirst after justice' recommended by our Lord, which never fail of being filled, Matt. v. 6. Who can complain of wanting the means to become saints when strong desires may do the work?
Consider 2ndly, the many particular helps to sanctity which we meet with everywhere in the church of God, which, as they have already made many great saints in every state and condition of life, are capable of doing as much for us; and will not fail of doing it, if we are not wanting to God and to ourselves, by the abuse or neglect of them. Such are the sacraments, those conduits of divine grace, instituted by Jesus Christ on purpose to make us saints, Such, in particular, is that most holy sacrament and divine sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, which we have always amongst us, and may daily approach, to the very fountain of all sanctity. O my soul, one good and perfect Communion might suffice to make thee a saint! Such again is the Word of God, which is so often preached to us, or read by us; the truths of eternity so often set before us; the gospel of Jesus Christ; the lives of the saints; the great examples of the living servants of God; the mysteries relating to our redemption, which we so often celebrate in the public worship of the church, in such manner as to make them as it were present to the eyes of our souls; with abundance of other spiritual advantages, which are continually found in the communion of the true church of Christ. O Christians, let us never complain of our wanting the means to become saints, when we have so many powerful graces and helps always at hand! If we are not saints it musts be entirely our own fault. And what an account shall we have one day to give for all these graces and helps, if we do not make good use of them?
Consider 3rdly, that in order to be saints, nothing is required on our parts but what God on his part will make sweet and easy to us, 'for his yoke is sweet, and his burthen is light.' We may apply to his commandment of our being saints what is written, Deut. xxx.11, & c., 'This commandment that I command thee this day is not above thee, nor far off from thee, nor is it in heaven to bring it to us; nor is it beyond the sea, that thou mayest excuse thyself and say, which of us can cross the sea, and bring it unto us. But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.' Yes, Christians, our God is very near us; he is the very centre of our souls. With him are all the treasures of grace and sanctity; with him is the law of love; he is all love; he is a consuming fire, the property of which is to destroy all our vices, and to transform our souls into himself. He is the inexhaustible source of all our good. We have no need then to go far to find divine love, which makes saints, since we have the very source of it within us; 'tis but turning into our own interior, by the diligent practice of recollection and mental prayer, and there we shall quickly meet with our God, and with his love, which will make all duties and all labours sweet and easy to us. This is the shortest way to all good, and the most effectual means to make us saints.
Conclude to embrace and put in practice all these means of sanctity, which divine providence continually presents thee with. Open the door of thy heart to every grace with which God visits thee, and cooperate with it to the full extent of thy power. Nourish in thy soul a great desire, a perfect hunger and thirst after the love of God, and all Christian perfection. Meditate often; read good books; be fervent in prayer, and in frequenting the sacraments. but particularly aim at a spirit of recollection, and a continual attention to God in thy own interior, and frequent aspirations of love, and thou shalt quickly become a saint.
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A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD
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St. Cecilia/Sunday before Advent
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Cecilia, as well commemorating the Sunday before Advent. St. Cecilia was born in Rome into the family of Coecilii. As a child she consecrated her virginity to God. When she was forced to marry Valerian, a young pagan, she said to him on the night of the wedding: “Valerian, I am placed under the guardianship of an angel who protects my virginity; therefore do not attempt anything which may bring down on thee God’s anger.” Valerian dared not approach her and declared that he would believe in Jesus Christ if he saw the angel. Cecilia told him that it was first necessary for him to be baptised. He was baptised by Pope Urban, who lived hidden in the catacombs due to the persecution of the Church. Pope Urban baptised him and Valerian saw near his spouse an angel bright with divine light. Cecilia also instructed Tiburtius, brother of Valerian, in the Christian faith, and Tiburtius was also baptised. Not long afterwards, both Valerian and Tiburtius were martyred by the prefect Almachius. He later arrested Cecilia and ordered her to be put to death in her house. This took place around the year 230. She is the patron saint of music.
The life of St. Cecilia follows a pattern similar to many other Christian virgins who became martyrs such as St. Agnes, St. Agatha and St. Lucy. They were Christian virgins pressurised into marrying pagan husbands, and suffered persecution and martyrdom because they would not consent to losing their virginity and compromising their faith. Whereas for most of the male early martyrs it was their refusal to acknowledge the cult of the Emperor that led to their martyrdom, for most of the female early martyrs the conflict came due to forced marriages to pagan husbands. This exposed them to persecution and martyrdom. It shows the difficulty of living as a Christian in a pagan society. Those who refused to compromise with the false standards of the world and the idolatry of the pagan Roman Empire suffered persecution and death because of it. And yet the paradox is that the reason why we still remember them to this day is because they were prepared to lose their lives rather than compromise what they believed to be right. As Tertullian put it, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
In today’s Gospel from St. Matthew we hear the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. There were ten virgins who took lamps to meet the bridegroom. Five were foolish and five were wise. The foolish, having taken their lamps did not take oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps. At midnight the cry was made “Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him.” The foolish asked the wise to give them some of their oil for their lamps were gone out. The wise answered that, in case there was not enough for both of them, they should buy some for themselves. While they had gone to buy oil the bridegroom came and the wise virgins went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut. When the foolish virgins arrived they asked to be let in, but the bridegroom would not do so for he did not know them. They were not prepared for the arrival of the bridegroom and were caught unawares.
In the parable the wise virgins awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom are the faithful who are ready for the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgement. The foolish virgins are those who are unprepared. None of us know when the Second Coming of Christ will occur and so we must be careful that we are not caught unawares. This is especially important to remember at the present time on this Sunday before Advent, the season when we look forward especially not only to the first coming of Christ in great humility at Christmas, but also to his second and final coming in glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead.
The Gospel for the Sunday before Advent (which we are commemorating today) is also from St. Matthew and reminds us that Jesus forecast that in the world his followers would meet with tribulation as he himself did. He forecast not only death for himself, but also persecution for his disciples and death for some of them, and the ruin of the Jewish nation and the Temple in Jerusalem. After the manner of the Hebrew prophets before him, he moved straight on from the impending historical crisis to the final judgement, when the Son of Man would finally come in great power and glory to judge the living and the dead and God’s kingdom would finally come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
“When you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place.” The Seleucid Emperor Antiochus Epiphanes had attempted to suppress Judaism and desecrated the Temple at Jerusalem by setting up the worship of Zeus in the Temple. This was a clear example of the setting up of the abomination of desolation in the holy place. It was through the revolt of the Maccabees that the crisis was averted and the Temple purified from idolatry and rededicated to God. Similar fears arose again in the earliest days of the Church when the Emperor Caligula tried to set up a statue of himself in the Temple in Jerusalem. This crisis was only averted by his death, but it served as a powerful reminder to the first Christians of the tendency of the pagan State to set itself up in place of God. Indeed, this was precisely what it did for a few hundred years until the Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity. The martyrs such as St. Cecilia were those who refused to compromise with the pagan deification of the civil power.
But surely we might say, that was then and it is different now. On the contrary, what is happening now, though the persecution is less overt than then, has many affinities with it. Secular governments throughout the world are abrogating to themselves more and power and have taken away from people the responsibility for making their own decisions and placed them in the hands of the Government. We might say that this is not being done with an explicitly anti-Christian intention and that it is necessary in order to control the spread of the present pandemic. However, the problem is that it is creating a totalitarian society which is in effect the old paganism in a new technological guise. As in the time of St. Cecilia those who do not acknowledge the totalitarian State are seen as subversive elements in society who should have no place in the public sphere. They are seen as selfish for questioning the absolute power of the totalitarian State, just as the early Christians were seen as a threat to the wellbeing of society. We must pray that we remain faithful in the face of this new form of persecution and must seek to the follow the example of the early martyrs who refused to compromise with paganism.
Stir up the wills of thy faithful people, we beseech thee, O Lord; that they more earnestly seeking the fruit of good works, may receive more abundantly the gifts of thy loving kindness, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who livest and reignest with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God world without end. Amen.”
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THIS WEEK'S FEASTS
& COMMEMORATIONS
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Saint Clement I of Rome
November 23 Pope and Martyr († 100)
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Saint Clement is a Roman of noble birth, the son of the Senator Faustinian. Saint Paul speaks of him in his Epistle to the Philippians, chapter 4, assuring that Clement had worked with him in the ministry of the Gospel, and that his name was written in the Book of Life. Later Saint Clement was consecrated bishop by Saint Peter himself. He succeeded in the supreme office to Saint Linus, the immediate successor to Saint Peter, and the Liber Pontificalis says that he reigned nine years, two months and ten days, from 67 to 76, ...until the reign of Vespasian and Titus.
It was, we may say, with the words of the Apostles still resounding in his ears that he began to rule the Church of God; he was among the first, as he was among the most illustrious, in the long line of those who have held the place and power of Peter. Living at the same time and in the same city with Domitian, persecutor of the Church, and having to face not only external foes but to contend with schism and rebellion from within, his days were not tranquil. The Corinthian Church was torn by intestine strife, and its members were defying the authority of their clergy. It was then that Saint Clement intervened in the plenitude of his apostolic authority, and sent his famous Epistle to the Corinthians. He reminded them of the duties of charity, and above all of submission to the clergy. He did not speak in vain; peace and order were restored. Saint Clement had done his work on earth, and shortly after sealed with his blood the Faith which he had learned from Peter and taught to the nations.
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 13; Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
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Saint John of the Cross
November 24 Doctor of the Church (1542-1591)
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Saint John of the Cross was born near Avila in Spain. As a child, he was playing near a pond one day. He slid into the depths of the water, but came up unharmed and did not sink again. A tall and beautiful Lady came to offer him Her hand. No, said the child, You are too beautiful; my hand will dirty Yours. Then an elderly gentleman appeared on the shore and extended his staff to the child to bring him to shore. These two were Mary and Joseph. Another time he fell into a well, and it was expected he would be retrieved lifeless. But he was seated and waiting peacefully. A beautiful lady, he said, took me into Her cloak and sheltered me. Thus John grew up under the gaze of Mary.
One day he was praying Our Lord to make known his vocation to him, and an interior voice said to him: You will enter a religious Order, whose primitive fervor you will restore. He was twenty-one years old when he entered Carmel, and although he concealed his exceptional works, he outshone all his brethren. He dwelt in an obscure corner whose window opened upon the chapel, opposite the Most Blessed Sacrament. He wore around his waist an iron chain full of sharp points, and over it a tight vestment made of reeds joined by large knots. His disciplines were so cruel that his blood flowed in abundance. The priesthood only redoubled his desire for perfection. He thought of going to bury his existence in the Carthusian solitude, when Saint Teresa, whom God enlightened as to his merit, made him the confidant of her projects for the reform of Carmel and asked him to be her auxiliary.
John retired alone to a poor and inadequate dwelling and began a new kind of life, conformed with the primitive Rules of the Order of Carmel. Shortly afterwards two companions came to join him; the reform was founded. It was not without storms that it developed, for hell seemed to rage and labor against it, and if the people venerated John as a Saint, he had to accept, from those who should have seconded him, incredible persecutions, insults, calumnies, and even prison. When Our Lord told him He was pleased with him, and asked him what reward he wished, the humble religious replied: To suffer and to be scorned for You. His reform, though approved by the General of the Order, was rejected by the older friars, who condemned the Saint as a fugitive and an apostate and cast him into prison, from which he only escaped, after nine months' suffering, with the help of Heaven and at the risk of his life. He took refuge with the Carmelite nuns for a time, saying his experience in prison had been an extraordinary grace for him. Twice again, before his death, he was shamefully persecuted by his brethren, and publicly disgraced.
When he fell ill, he was given a choice of monasteries to which he might go; he chose the one governed by a religious whom he had once reprimanded and who could never pardon him for it. In effect, he was left untended most of the time, during his last illness. But at his death the room was filled with a marvelous light, and his unhappy Prior recognized his error, and that he had mistreated a Saint. After a first exhumation of his remains, they were found intact; many others followed, the last one in 1955. The body was at that time found to be entirely moist and flexible still.
Saint John wrote spiritual books of sublime elevation. A book printed in 1923 which has now become famous, authored by a Dominican theologian*, justly attributed to Saint John and to Saint Thomas Aquinas, whom the Carmelite Saint followed, the indisputable foundations for exact ascetic and mystical theology. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1926 by Pope Pius XI.
Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, by Abbé L. Jaud (Mame: Tours, 1950).
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Saint Catherine of Alexandria
November 25 Virgin, Martyr, Patroness of Students and Young Girls
(† Fourth Century)
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Catherine was a noble virgin of Alexandria, born in the fourth century. Before her Baptism, she saw in a dream the Blessed Virgin asking Her Son to receive her among His servants, but the Divine Infant turned away, saying she was not yet regenerated by the waters of Baptism. She made haste to receive that sacrament, and afterwards, when the dream was repeated, Catherine saw that the Saviour received her with great affection, and espoused her before the court of heaven, with a fine ring. She woke with it on her finger.
She had a very active intelligence, fit for all matters, and she undertook the study of philosophy and theology. At that time there were schools in Alexandria for the instruction of Christians, where excellent Christian scholars taught. She made great progress and became able to sustain the truths of our religion against even very subtle sophists. At that time Maximinus II was sharing the empire with Constantine the Great and Licinius, and had as his district Egypt; and this cruel Christian-hater ordinarily resided in Alexandria, capital of the province. He announced a gigantic pagan sacrifice, such that the very air would be darkened with the smoke of the bulls and sheep immolated on the altars of the gods. Catherine before this event strove to strengthen the Christians against the fatal lures, repeating that the oracles vaunted by the infidels were pure illusion, originating in the depths of the lower regions.
She foresaw that soon it would be the Christians' turn to be immolated, when they refused to participate in the ceremonies. She therefore went to the emperor himself, asking to speak with him, and her singular beauty and majestic air won an audience for her. She said to him that it was a strange thing that he should by his example attract so many peoples to such an abominable cult. By his high office he was obliged to turn them away from it, since reason itself shows us that there can be only one sovereign Being, the first principle of all else. She begged him to cease so great a disorder by giving the true God the honor due Him, lest he reap the wages of his indifference in this life already, as well as in the next. The consequences of her hardy act extended over a certain time; he decided to call in fifty sophists of his suite, to bring back this virgin from her errors. A large audience assembled to hear the debate; the emperor sat on his throne with his entire court, dissimulating his rage.
Catherine began by saying she was surprised that he obliged her to face, alone, fifty individuals, but she asked the grace of him, that if the true God she adored rendered her victorious, he would adopt her religion and renounce the cult of the demons. He was not pleased and replied that it was not for her to lay down conditions for the discussion. The head of the sophists began the orations and reprimanded her for opposing the authority of poets, orators and philosophers, who unanimously had revered Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Minerva and others. He cited their writings, and said she should consider that these persons were far anterior to this new religion she was following. She listened carefully before answering, then spoke, showing that the ridiculous fables which Homer, Orpheus and other poets had invented concerning their divinities, and the fact that many offered a cult to them, as well as the abominable crimes attributed to them, proved them to be gods only in the opinion of the untutored and credulous. And then she proved that the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures had clearly announced the time and the circumstances of the life of the future Saviour, and that these were now fulfilled. Prodigy; the head of the sophists avowed that she was entirely correct and renounced his errors; the others said they could not oppose their chief. Maximinus had them put to death by fire, but the fire did not consume their remains. Thus they died as Christians, receiving the Baptism of blood.
The story of Saint Catherine continues during the time of the emperor's efforts to persuade her to marry him; he put to death his converted wife and the captain of his guards who had received Baptism with two hundred of his soldiers. He delivered Catherine up to prison and then to tortures as a result of her firmness in refusing his overtures. The famous wheel of Saint Catherine — in reality several interacting wheels — which he invented to torment her, was furnished with sharp razor blades and sharp points of iron; all who saw it trembled. But as soon as it was set in movement it was miraculously disjointed and broken into pieces, and these pieces flew in all directions and wounded the spectators. The barbaric emperor finally commanded that she be decapitated; and she offered her neck to the executioner, after praying that her mortal remains would be respected.
The story of Saint Catherine continues with the discovery of the intact body of a young and beautiful girl on Mount Sinai in the ninth century, that is, four centuries later. The Church, in the Collect of her feast day, bears witness to the transport of her body. A number of proofs testified to the identity of her mortal remains found in the region of the famous monastery existing on that mountain since the fifth century. Her head is today conserved in Rome.
Reflection: The constancy displayed by the Saints in their glorious martyrdom cannot be isolated from their previous lives, but is their logical sequence. If we wish to emulate their perseverance, let us first imitate their fidelity to grace.
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 13
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Saint Peter of Alexandria
November 26 Patriarch and Martyr († 310)
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The Church of Alexandria, founded by the Evangelist Saint Mark in the name of the Apostle Saint Peter, was the head of the churches of Egypt and of several other provinces; it had lost its Metropolitan when Saint Thomas of Alexandria died at the end of the third century. Saint Peter, a priest of that city, replaced him, and soon was governing the church amid the terrors of the persecution by Diocletian and Maximian. Two bishops and more than six hundred Christians were in irons and on the verge of torture; he sent to them pastoral letters to animate them to fervor and perseverance, and rejoiced to learn that a number of them had won the grace of martyrdom.
Many, however, had preferred apostasy to a cruel death. Saint Peter was obliged to instigate penances in order for them to return to the communion of the faithful. When he deposed a bishop who had incensed an idol during the persecution, his act of justice acquired for him the hostility of a certain Arius, the bishop's favorite, who became thereafter the author of a schism and an instrument of the cruel emperor Maximian who persecuted the Christians. He in fact animated this tyrant against Saint Peter. The sentence of excommunication which Saint Peter was the first to pronounce against the two schismatics, Arius and Melitius, and which he strenuously upheld despite the united efforts of powerful members of their parties, is proof that he possessed firmness as well as sagacity and zeal.
The Patriarch was soon seized and thrown into prison. There he encouraged the confessors imprisoned with him to sing the praises of God and pray to their Saviour in their hearts, without ceasing. Saint Peter never ceased repeating to the faithful that, in order not to fear death, it is necessary to begin by dying to oneself, renouncing our self-will and detaching ourselves from all things. He was soon to give proof of his own perfect detachment in his glorious martyrdom.
While in prison he was advised in an apparition as to his successors in the Alexandrian church, and he recognized that the day of his eternal liberation was at hand. He informed these two faithful sons that his martyrdom was imminent. In effect, the emperor passed sentence of death on him, despite the fact that a crowd of persons had come to the prison with the intention of preventing by force the martyrdom of their patriarch; they remained all night for fear he might be executed in secret. But Saint Peter delivered himself up to his executioners, and died by the sword on November 26, 310. His appearance on the scaffold was so majestic that none of them dared to touch him; it was necessary to pay one of them in gold to strike the fatal blow.
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 13; Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
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Saint Gregory Thaumaturge
November 27 Bishop, Confessor († 270)
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Saint Gregory was born in the Pont, of distinguished parents who were still engaged in the superstitions of paganism. He lost his father at the age of fourteen, and began to reflect on the folly of idolatry's fables. He recognized the unity of God and was becoming disposed to accept the truths of Christianity. His father had destined him for the legal profession, in which the art of oratory is very necessary, and in this pursuit he was succeeding very well, having learned Latin. He was counseled to apply himself to Roman law.
Gregory and his brother Athenodorus, later to be a bishop like himself, had a sister living in Palestine at Caesarea. Not far from that city was a school of law, and in Caesarea itself, another which the famous Origen had opened in the year 231 and in which he was teaching philosophy. The two brothers heard Origen there, and that master discovered in them a remarkable capacity for knowledge, and more important still, rare dispositions for virtue. He strove to inspire love for truth in them and an ardent desire to attain greater knowledge and the possession of the Supreme Good; and the two brothers soon put aside their intentions to study law. Gregory studied also in Alexandria for three years, after a persecution drove his master, Origen, from Palestine, but returned there with the famous exegete in 238. He was then baptized, and in the presence of a large audience delivered a speech in which he testified to his gratitude towards his teacher, praising his methods, and thanking God for so excellent a professor.
When he returned to his native city of Neocaesarea in the Pont, his friends urged him to seek high positions, but Gregory desired to retire into solitude and devote himself to prayer. For a time he did so, often changing his habitation, because the archbishop of the region desired to make him Bishop of Neocaesarea. Eventually he was obliged to consent. That city was very prosperous, and the inhabitants were corrupted by paganism. Saint Gregory, with Christian zeal and charity, and with the aid of the gift of miracles which he had received, began to attempt every means to bring them to the light of Christ. As he lay awake one night an elderly man entered his room, and pointed to a Lady of superhuman beauty who accompanied him, radiant with heavenly light. This elderly man was Saint John the Evangelist, and the Lady of Light was the Mother of God. She told Saint John to give Gregory the instruction he desired; thereupon he gave Saint Gregory a creed which contained in all its plenitude the doctrine of the Trinity. Saint Gregory consigned it to writing, directed all his preaching by it, and handed it down to his successors. This creed later preserved his flock from the Arian heresy.
He converted a pagan priest one day, when the latter requested a miracle, and a very large rock moved to another location at his command. The pagan priest abandoned all things to follow Christ afterwards. One day the bishop planted his staff beside the river which passed alongside the city and often ravaged it by floods. He commanded it never again to pass the limit marked by his staff, and in the time of Saint Gregory of Nyssa, who wrote of his miracles nearly a hundred years later, it had never done so. The bishop settled a conflict which was about to cause bloodshed between two brothers, when he prayed all night beside the lake whose possession they were disputing. It dried up and the miracle ended the difficulty.
When the persecution of Decius began in 250, the bishop counseled his faithful to depart and not expose themselves to trials perhaps too severe for their faith; and none fell into apostasy. He himself retired to a desert, and when he was pursued was not seen by the soldiers. On a second attempt they found him praying with his companion, the converted pagan priest, now a deacon; they had mistaken them the first time for trees. The captain of the soldiers was convinced this had been a miracle, and became a Christian to join him. Some of his Christians were captured, among them Saint Troadus the martyr, who merited the grace of dying for the Faith. The persecution ended at the death of the emperor in 251.
It is believed that Saint Gregory died in the year 270, on the 17th of November. Before his death he asked how many pagans still remained in the city, and was told there were only seventeen. He thanked God for the graces He had bestowed on the population, for when he arrived, there had been only seventeen Christians.
Reflection: Devotion to the blessed Mother of God is the sure guarantee of faith in Her Divine Son. Every time we invoke Her, we renew our faith in the Incarnate God, we reverse the sin and unbelief of our first parents, and we establish communion with the One who was blessed because She believed.
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 13
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Saint Saturninus of Toulouse
November 29 Bishop & Martyr († 257)
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St. Saturninus Bishop of Toulouse and Martyr November 29 A.D. 257 St. Saturninus went from Rome by the direction of pope Fabian, about the year 245, to preach the faith in Gaul, where St. Trophimus, the first bishop of Arles, had some time before gathered a plentiful harvest. In the year 250, when Decius and Gratus were consuls, St. Saturninus fixed his episcopal see at Toulouse. Fortunatus tells us, that he converted a great number of idolaters by his preaching and miracles. This is all the account we have of him till the time of his holy martyrdom. The author of his acts, who wrote about fifty years after his death, relates, that he assembled his flock in a small church; and that the capitol, which was the chief temple in the city, lay in the way between that church and the saint’s habitation. In this temple oracles were given; but the devils were struck dumb by the presence of the saint as he passed that way. The priests spied him one day going by, and seized and dragged him into the temple. declaring that he should either appease the offended deities by offering sacrifice to them, or expiate the crime with his blood. Saturninus boldly replied: “I adore one only God, and to him I am ready to offer a sacrifice of praise. Your gods are devils, and are more delighted with the sacrifice of your souls than with those of your bullocks. How can I fear them who, as you acknowledge, tremble before a Christian?” The infidels, incensed at this reply, abused the saint with all the rage that a mad zeal could inspire, and after a great variety of indignities, tied his feet to a wild bull, which was brought thither to be sacrificed. The beast being driven from the temple, ran violently down the hill, so that the martyr’s scull was broken, and his brains dashed out. His happy soul was released from the body by death, and fled to the kingdom of peace and glory, and the bull continued to drag the sacred body, and the limbs and blood were scattered on every side, till, the cord breaking, what remained of the trunk was left in the plain without the gates of the city. Two devout women laid the sacred remains on a bier, and hid them in a deep ditch, to secure them from any further insult, where they lay in “wooden coffin” till the reign of Constantine the Great. Then Hilary, bishop of Toulouse, built a small chapel over this his holy predecessor’s body Sylvius, bishop of that city towards the close of the fourth century, began to build a magnificent church in honor of the martyr, which was finished and consecrated by his successor Exuperius, who, with great pomp and piety, translated the venerable relics into it. This precious treasure remains there to this day with due honor. The martyrdom of this saint probably happened m the reign of Valerian, in 257.
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Saint Sylvester of Osimo
November 26 Abbot († 1267)
Commemoration
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Founder of the Sylvestrines, b. of the noble family of the Gozzolini at Osimo, 1177; d. 26 Nov., 1267. He was sent to study jurisprudence at Bologna and Padua, but, feeling within himself a call to the ecclesiastical state, abandoned the study of law for that of theology and Holy Scripture, giving long hours daily to prayer. On his return home we are told that his father, angered at his change of purpose, refused to speak to him for ten years. Sylvester now accepted a canonry at Osimo and devoted himself to pastoral work with such zeal as to arouse the hostility of his bishop, whom he had respectfully rebuked for the scandals caused by the prelate's irregular life. The saint was threatened with the loss of his canonry, but decided to leave the world on seeing the decaying corpse of one who had formerly been noted for great beauty. In 1227 he retired to a desert place about thirty miles from Osimo and lived there in the utmost poverty until he was recognized by the owner of the land, a certain nobleman named Conrad, who offered him a better site for his hermitage. From this spot he was driven by damp and next established himself at Grotta Fucile, where he eventually built a monastery of his order. In this place his penances were most severe, for he lived on raw herbs and water and slept on the bare ground. Disciples flocked to him seeking his direction, and it became necessary to choose a rule. According to the legend the various founders appeared to him in a vision, each begging him to adopt his rule. St. Sylvester chose for his followers that of St. Benedict and built his first monastery on Monte Fano, where, like another St. Benedict, he had first to destroy the remains of a pagan temple. In 1247 he obtained from Innocent IV, at Lyons, a bull confirming his order, and before his death founded a number of monasteries. An account of his miracles and of the growth of his cultus will be found in Bolzonetti. His body was disinterred and placed in a shrine (1275-85) and is still honoured in the church of Monte Fano. Clement IV first recognized the title of blessed popularly bestowed on Sylvester, who was inscribed as a saint in the Roman Martyrology by order of Clement VIII (1598). His office and Mass were extended to the Universal Church by Leo XIII. His feast is kept on 26 November.
Source: The Catholic Encyclopedia
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Saint Chrysognous
November 24 Martyr of Rome († 3C)
Commemoration
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Chrysogonus was martyred at Aquileia, probably during the Persecution of Diocletian, was buried there, and publicly venerated by the faithful of that region. He is the patron saint of Zadar. His name is found in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum on two different days, 31 May and 24 November, with the topographical note "in Aquileia".
Very early indeed the veneration of this martyr of Aquileia was transferred to Rome, where in Trastevere a titular church bears his name. This church ("Titulus Chrysogoni") is first mentioned in the signatures of the Roman Synod of 499, but it probably dates from the 4th century. It is possible that the founder of the church was a certain Chrysogonus, and that, on account of the similarity of name, the church was soon devoted to the veneration of the martyr of Aquileia, In a similar way the veneration of Saint Anastasia of Sirmium was transplanted to Rome. It is also possible, however, that from the beginning, for some unknown reason, it was consecrated to Saint Chrysogonus and does take its name from him.
About the 6th century arose a legend of the martyr that made him a Roman and brought him into relation with Saint Anastasia, evidently to explain the veneration of Chrysogonus in the Roman church that bears his name. According to this legend, Chrysogonus, at first a functionary of the vicarius Urbis, was the Christian teacher of Anastasia, the daughter of the noble Roman Praetextatus. Being thrown into prison during the persecution of Diocletian, he comforted by his letters the severely afflicted Anastasia. By order of Diocletian, Chrysogonus was brought before the emperor at Aquileia, condemned to death, and beheaded. His corpse, thrown into the sea, was washed ashore and buried by the aged priest Zoilus who is also the patron saint of Zadar. In the legend the death of the saint is placed on 23 November. The Roman Catholic Church celebrates him on 24 November, the anniversary of the dedication of the church that bears his name. The Orthodox Church celebrates his feast day on 22 December together with his spiritual daughter Saint Anastasia the Roman.
St Chrysogonus is one of the saints mentioned during the Commemoration of the Living in the Roman Canon.
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