Pilgrimage to Rome: Part II

Last month I had the privilege to travel to the holy city of Rome for Holy Week.  In this second installment, I would like to begin to share some of the many pictures and experiences of my trip.  In this installment, I share my experiences at the Basilica of St. Charles and St Ambrose (Basilica dei SS. Ambrogio e Carlo) and at Ara Coeli.

Basilica dei SS. Ambrogio e Carlo (Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso)

The following photos are taken from the special area in the back of the Church dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo.  While the body of St. Charles Borromeo is in Milan, Italy in the Duomo, his heart is preserved for veneration on this altar in Rome.

While present before this relic, I was able to reconsecrate CatechismClass.com to St. Charles Borromeo.  St. Charles is the patron saint of CatechismClass.com.  St. Charles, pray for us!

Ara Coeli

The Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven (Ara Coeli) is a beautiful Basilica set high on a hill in Rome.  From the front of the church, one can see a breathtaking view of the city with more domes and Crosses than can be realistically counted.  Inside, is a true gem.

The shrine is known for housing relics belonging to Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, Pope Honorius IV, and St. Juniper.

Body of San Giovanni da Triora, martyr of China.

Tomb of St. Helena

More photos will be forthcoming over the course of the next several weeks.

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St. Peter of Verona, Dominican Martyr for the Faith

The Martyrdom of Saint Peter of Verona by Bellini (1509 A.D.)

Double (1955 Calendar): April 29

In honor of this feast of the Dominican martyr, St. Peter of Verona, we read from the Martyrology of April 6th:

At Milan, the passion of St. Peter, a martyr belonging to the Order of Preachers, who was slain by the heretics for his Catholic faith. His feast, however, is kept on the 29th of April.

The following story of his life and death should be a source of consolation for us:

Born at Verona, 1206; died near Milan, 6 April, 1252. His parents were adherents of the Manichæan heresy, which still survived in northern Italy in the thirteenth century.

Sent to a Catholic school, and later to the University of Bologna, he there met St. Dominic, and entered the Order of the Friars Preachers. Such were his virtues, severity of life and doctrine, talent for preaching, and zeal for the Faith, that Gregory IX made him general inquisitor, and his superiors destined him to combat the Manichæan errors. In that capacity he evangelized nearly the whole of Italy, preaching in Rome, Florence, Bologna, Genoa, and Como. Crowds came to meet him and followed him wherever he went; and conversions were numerous. He never failed to denounce the vices and errors of Catholics who confessed the Faith by words, but in deeds denied it. The Manichæans did all they could to compel the inquisitor to cease from preaching against their errors and propaganda. Persecutions, calumnies, threats, nothing was left untried.

When returning from Como to Milan, he met a certain Carino who with some other Manichæans had plotted to murder him. The assassin struck him with an axe on the head with such violence, that the holy man fell half dead. Rising to his knees he recited the first article of the Symbol of the Apostles, and offering his blood as a sacrifice to God he dipped his fingers in it and wrote on the ground the words: “Credo in Deum”. The murderer then pierced his heart. The body was carried to Milan and laid in the church of St. Eustorgio, where a magnificent mausoleum, the work of Balduccio Pisano, was erected to his memory. He wrought many miracles when living, but they were even more numerous after his martyrdom, so that Innocent IV canonized him on 25 March, 1253.

Source: Nobility.org

Prayer:

O Almighty God, may we pay honor to the faith of Your blessed martyr Peter with fitting devotion, for this saint was found worthy of the triumph of martyrdom in spreading the faith. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ . . .

Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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St. Peter Canisius

Double (1955 Calendar): April 27

 
Today is the Feast of St. Peter Canisius, SJ.  The Roman Martyrology declares in its entry for him: "St. Peter Canisius, priest of the Society of Jesus, confessor and doctor of the Church, who departed to the Lord on the 21st of December."

Yet, there is more to this saint's life than the Martyrology declares.  Did you know that it was St. Peter Canisius who added the words “Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death” to the Ave Maria Prayer? 

St. Peter Canisius lived from 1521 to 1597 and, because of his long efforts in Germany to fight Protestantism is the wake of the Council of Trent, he has been called the "Second Apostle of Germany," second to only St. Boniface. He started schools, reformed parishes, converted protestants, helped the imprisoned, and more. He also wrote the first catechism in 1555 known as the "Catechism of St. Peter Canisius," which was essential to fighting the errors of Luther and would be the standard for centuries.

St. Peter Canisius is a Doctor of the Church.  His life is summarized below:

This doctor of the church is often called the second Apostle of Germany. Both Holland and Germany claim him as their son, for Nijmegen, where he was born, May 8th, 1521, though a Dutch town today, was at that time in the ecclesiastical province of Cologne and had the rights of a German city. His father, a Catholic and nine times burgomaster of Nijmegen, sent him at the age of fifteen to the University of Cologne, where he met the saintly young priest, Nicolaus van Esch. It was he who drew Canisius into the orbit of the loyal Catholic party in Cologne, which had been formed in opposition to the archbishop, Hermann von Wied, who had secretly gone over to the Lutherans. Canisius was chosen by the group to approach the emperor, and the deposition of the archbishop which followed averted a calamity from the Catholic Rhineland. Shortly afterwards Peter Canisius met Bd. Peter Faber, one of the first companions of St Ignatius, and made the under his direction. During this retreat he found the answer to the question he had put to himself: how best could he serve God and assist the stricken Catholic church in Germany?

He was inspired to join the Society of Jesus, and, after his ordination in 1546, soon became known by his editions of works of St Cyril of Alexandria and of St Leo the Great. In 1547 he attended the council of Trent as procurator for the bishop of Augsburg, where he became still further imbued with the spirit of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. His obedience was tested when he was sent by St Ignatius to teach rhetoric in the comparative obscurity of the new Jesuit college at Messina, but this interlude in his public work for the church was but a brief one.

Recalled to Rome in 1549 to make his final profession, he was entrusted with what was to become his life's work: the mission to Germany. At the request of the duke of Bavaria, Canisius was chosen with two other Jesuits to profess theology in the University of Ingolstadt. Soon he was appointed rector of the University, and then, through the intervention of King Ferdinand of the Romans, he was sent to do the same kind of work in the University of Vienna. His success was such that the king tried to have him appointed to the archbishopric. Though he refused this dignity, he was compelled to administer the diocese for the space of a year.

It was at this period, 1555, that he issued his famous , one of his greatest services to the church. With its clear and popular exposition of Catholic doctrine it met the need of the day, and was to counter the devastating effect of Luther's . In its enlarged form it went into more than four hundred editions by the end of the seventeenth century and was translated into fifteen languages.

From Vienna Canisius passed on to Bohemia, where the condition of the church was desperate. In the face of determined opposition he established a college at Prague which was to develop into a university. Named Provincial of southern Germany in 1556, he established colleges for boys in six cities, and set himself to the task of providing Germany with a supply of well-trained priests. This he did by his work for the establishment of seminaries, and by sending regular reinforcements of young men to be trained in Rome.

On his many journeys in Germany St Peter Canisius never ceased from preaching the word of God. He often encountered apathy or hostility at first, but as his zeal and learning were so manifest great crowds soon thronged the churches to listen. For seven years he was official preacher in the cathedral of Augsburg, and is regarded m a special way as the apostle of that city. Whenever he came across a country church deprived of its pastor he would halt there to preach and to administer the sacraments. It seemed impossible to exhaust him: 'If you have too much to do, with God's help you will find time to do it all,' he said, when someone accused him of overworking himself.

Another form of his apostolate was letter writing, and the printed volumes of his correspondence cover more than eight thousand pages. Like St Bernard of Clairvaux he used this means of comforting, rebuking and counselling all ranks of society. As the needs of the church or the individual required, he wrote to pope and emperor, to bishops and princes, to ordinary priests and laymen. Where letters would not suffice he brought to bear his great powers of personal influence. Thus at the conference between Catholics and Protestants held at Worms in 1556, it was due to his influence that the Catholics were able to present a united front and resist Protestant invitations to compromise on points of principle. In Poland in 1558 he checked an incipient threat to the traditional faith of the country; and in the same year, he earned the thanks of Pope Pius IV for his diplomatic skill in healing a breach between the pope and the emperor. This gift of dealing with men led to his being entrusted in 1561 with the promulgation in Germany of the decrees of the council of Trent.

Shortly afterwards he was called on to answer the of Magdeburg. This work, 'the first and worst of all Protestant church histories', was a large-scale attack on the Catholic church, and its enormous distortions of history would have required more than one man to produce an adequate answer. Yet Peter Canisius showed the way by his two works, , and .

From 1580 until his death in 1597 he labored and suffered much in Switzerland. His last six years were spent in patient endurance and long hours of prayer in the college of Fribourg, now that broken health had made further active work impossible. Soon after his death, December 21st, 1597, his tomb began to be venerated, and numerous miracles were attributed to his intercession, He had the unique honor of being canonized and declared a doctor of the church on the same day, June 21st, 1925.

Taken from "The Saints: A concise Biographical Dictionary", edited by John Coulson, published by Hawthorn Books, Inc. 1960.

Collect:

O God, You made the blessed confessor Peter a bulwark of virtue and learning in the defense of the Catholic Faith. May his example and teaching lead the erring back to the path of salvation and strengthen the faithful in bearing witness to the truth. Through Our Lord . . .

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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The 15 Tuesdays in Honor of St. Dominic

 

This year, the traditional devotion of 15 Tuesdays in honor of St. Dominic begins tomorrow on Tuesday, April 26th. As a postulant in Order of Preachers, this devotion is especially dear to me. Next month I will be received as a tertiary into the Dominican 3rd Order.

The tradition of dedicating Tuesdays to Our Holy Father St. Dominic takes its origins right from the beginnings of the Order. The first translations of the relics of our holy Patriarch took place on Whit-Tuesday (May 24) in the year 1233 at Bologna. Successive Chapters from 1239 to 1282 introduced various liturgical practices into the rubrics of the Mass and Office of the Order, as a means of fostering devotion to him. This process culminated in the act of the Chapter of 1362, which introduced the practice of dedicating the 3rd day of the week (Tuesday) to the holy Patriarch. From this point forward, on every Tuesday outside of Lent, the Mass of the day was to be his Mass, with a commemoration of him in the Office.

The specific practice of the Devotion of the 15 Tuesdays was instituted in Florence in the year 1631. During an occurrence of the plague that year, a Fr. Michael Bruni, of the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria Novella, exhorted the faithful to pray to St. Dominic, and promise to receive on Communion on 15 consecutive Tuesdays, presumably in honor of the 15 decades of the Rosary. The success of this effort led to a rapid spread of the 15 Tuesdays devotion. Pope Pius VII granted an indulgence for those who availed themselves of the pious practice in honor of St. Dominic.

Source: Breviarum SOP

Of this devotion, the Raccolta states: The faithful who on Tuesday of each week spend some time in devout meditation or prayers in honor of St. Dominic or perform some other act of piety, with the intention of repeating this act of homage for fifteen continuous Tuesdays, may obtain: A plenary Indulgence on the usual circumstances

Thus, to aid us in honoring St. Dominic for the next 15 Tuesdays, here are some prayers that we may say on those days.  Also of note, we should read meditations on the life of St. Dominic and better strive to follow his example of spreading the Faith to those souls who are presently outside of the Church and thus currently outside of the only means of salvation.

Prayers to Saint Dominic

The faithful who on Tuesday of each week spend some time in devout meditation or prayers in honor of St. Dominic or perform some other act of piety, with the intention of repeating this act of homage for fifteen continuous Tuesdays, may obtain: A plenary Indulgence on the usual circumstances

I. O glorious Saint Dominic, thou who was a model of mortification and purity, by punishing thy innocent body with scourges, with fastings and with watchings, and by keeping inviolate the lily of thy virginity, obtain for us the grace to practice penance with a generous heart and to keep unspotted the purity of our bodies and our hearts.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

II. O great Saint, who, inflamed with divine love, did find thy delight in prayer and intimate union with God; obtain for us to be faithful in our daily prayers, to love Our Lord ardently, and to observe His commandments with ever increasing fidelity.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

III. O glorious Saint Dominic, who being filled with zeal for the salvation of souls, did preach the Gospel in season and out of season and did establish the Order of Friars Preachers to labor for the conversion of heretics and poor sinners, pray thou to God for us, that He may grant us to love all our brethren sincerely and to cooperate always, by our prayers and good works, in their sanctification and eternal salvation.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

V. Pray for us, Saint Dominic,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ

Let us Pray.

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who are weighed down by the burden of our sins may be raised up by the patronage of blessed Dominic Thy confessor. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

An Indulgence of 300 days, plenary when these prayers together with vesicle and prayer have been recited for a month

Prayer to Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine

O holy priest of God and glorious Patriarch, Saint Dominic , you who was the friend, the well– beloved son and the confidant of the Queen of Heaven, and did work so many miracles by the power of the holy Rosary; and thou, Saint Catherine of Siena, first daughters of this Order of the Rosary, and powerful mediator at Mary’s throne with the Heart of Jesus, with whom Thou did exchange Thine Heart; do you, my beloved saints, have regard to my necessities and pity the sad condition in which I now find myself. On earth you opened your hearts to the miseries of your fellow-man and your hands were strong to help them; now in heaven your charity has not grown less nor has your power waned. Pray, ah, pray for me to the mother of the Rosary and to her Divine Son, for I have great confidence that through  assistance I shall obtain the favor I so much desire. Amen.

Glory Be , etc., three times.

In honor of Saint Vincent Ferror, Glory Be, etc.

In Honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Glory Be, etc.

Prayer to Saint Dominic

Wonderful Saintly Founder of the eloquent Order of Preachers and friend of Saint Francis of Assisi, you were a fiery defender of the Faith and a fighter against the darkness of heresy. You resembled a great star that shone close to the world and pointed to the Light which was Christ. Help astronomers to study the stars and admire their wonderful Maker, proclaiming: "Give glory to God in the highest." Amen.

Prayer to Saint Dominic

God of Truth you gave your church a new light in the life and preaching of our Father Dominic. Give us the help we need to support our preaching by holy and simple lives. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Ghost, God, forever and ever. Amen.

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St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

Double (1955 Calendar): April 22

St. Fidelis was born in Sigmaringen, Germany in 1577 as Mark Rey.  A lawyer by profession, Mark traveled much across Europe as a tutor to various aristocratic families before starting on a project to defend the poor.  In 1612, he became a Franciscan Capuchin monk and took the name Fidelis.

St. Fidelis served as a missionary to Grisons, Switzerland and had so much success that the protestants claimed he was a spy for the Austrian emperor.  He was stabbed to death in a church by a group of protestant heretics.  He died with the final words, "Lord, forgive my enemies."

He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1746.

Traditional Matins Reading:

Fidelis was bom at Sigmaringen, a town of Swabia. His parents, whose name was Rey, were of a respectable family. He was remarkable, even when a child, for his extraordinary gifts both of nature and grace. Blessed with talent of a high order, and trained to virtue by an excellent education, he received at Freiburg the wellmerited honours of Doctor in Philosophy and in Civil and Canon Law, at the same time that, in the school of Christ, he strove to attain the height of perfection by the assiduous practice of all virtues. Being requested to accompany several noblemen in their travels through various countries of Europe, he lost no opportunity of encouraging them, both by word and example, to lead a life of Christian piety. In these travels, he moreover mortified the desires of the flesh by frequent austerities; and such was the mastery he gained over himself, that in the midst of all the trouble and excitement, he was never seen to lose his temper in the slightest degree. He was a strenuous upholder of law and justice, and, after his return to Germany, he acquired considerable reputation as an advocate. But finding that this profession was replete with danger, he resolved to enter on the path that would best lead him to eternal salvation. Thus enlightened by the divine call, he shortly afterwards asked to be admitted into the Seraphic Order, among the Capuchin Friars.

His pious wish being granted, he showed from the very commencement of his novitiate how thoroughly he despised the world and himself; and when, with spiritual joy, he had offered to God the vows of solemn profession, his regular observance was such as to make him the admiration of, and a model to, all around him. He devoted himself to prayer and to sacred studies; as also to preaching, for which he had a special grace, and by which he not only converted Catholics from a life of wickedness to one of virtue, but also drew heretics to a knowledge of the truth. He was appointed superior in several convents of his Order, and fulfilled his office with admirable prudence, justice, meekness, discretion and humility. His zeal for strict poverty was so great, that he would allow nothing to be in the convent which was not absolutely necessary. He practised severe fasting, watching and disciplines, out of holy hatred against himself; whereas his love towards others was that of a mother for her children. A contagious fever having broken out among the Austrian soldiers, causing frightful mortality, he devoted his whole energies to untiring acts of charity in favour of the sick, whose sufferings were extreme. So admirable was he, both in advice and action, in settling disputes, and relieving everyone in trouble or trial, that he won for himself the name of the Father of his country.

He was extremely devout to the Virgin Mother of God, and a zealous promoter of the Rosary. He besought of God, through the intercession of this Blessed Mother firstly, and then through that of all the Saints, that he might be allowed to shed his blood and lay down his life for the Catholic faith. This ardent desire was increased by the daily and devout celebration of the Holy Sacrifice; and at length, by the wonderful providence of God, this valiant soldier of Christ was placed at the head of the missions recently established among the Grisons, by the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith. Fidelis undertook this arduous task with a ready and cheerful heart, and laboured in it with such earnestness, that he converted many heretics to the true faith, and inspired the hope that the whole of that people would be reconciled to the Church and to Christ. He had the gift of prophecy, and frequently predicted the calamities that were to befall the Grisons, as also his own death by the hands of the heretics. Being fully aware of the plot laid against him, he prepared himself for the combat, and, on the twenty-fourth day of April, in the year I622, he repaired to the church of a place called Seewis. Hither had the heretics, on the previous day, invited him to come and preach, pretending that they wished to be converted. Whilst he was preaching, he was interrupted by their clamours. They rushed upon him, cruelly struck and wounded him even to death He suffered it with courage and joy, thus consecrating by his blood the first-fruits of the martyrs of the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith. His name was rendered illustrious by many miracles, especially at Coire, and Veltkirch, where his relics are kept, and honoured by the people with exceeding great veneration.

Collect:

O God, You set the heart of Fidelis on fire with a seraphic love, and granted him both the triumph of martyrdom and the gift of miracles in preaching the true faith. May his merits and prayers make us strong in faith and love, so that by Your grace we may be faithful in Your service until death. Through Our Lord . . .

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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St. George

Saint George by Gustave Moreau. Español: San Jorge por Gustave Moreau. Galego: San Xurxo por Gustave Moreau

Simple (1955 Calendar): April 23

Who was the real St. George?  When St. George is mentioned, what often comes to mind is the image of the dragon slaying knight.  But St. George's impact extends far beyond the tale of "dragon slayer."  Many of the Christians in the Middle East in modern day Jordan are named George after this holy saint.  Are they named after a fictional knight or is St. George real?

The Church asserts that St. George was a real person and his feast is celebrated on April 23rd.

George from an illustrious family, was a Cappadocian who fought in the Roman army during the third century. He rebuked Diocletian when that ruler began to persecute the Christians and was in consequence tortured and beheaded. The brave and defiant cheerfulness of the young officer during his torture was so great an inspiration to Christians of succeeding centuries that both the East and the West surrounded his bright figure with clusters of beautiful legends. St. George is the patron of England and Christian soldiers. He was especially venerated in Christian Russia.

St. George lived in the early centuries of Christianity and died in c. 303 AD.

"The first piece of evidence of George's existence appeared within the works of the Bollandists Daniel Papebroch, Jean Bolland, and Godfrey Henschen's Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca. George was one of several names listed in the historical text, and Pope Gelasius claimed George was one of the saints 'whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose actions are known only to God'" (Catholic Online).

While Emperor Diocletian began to persecute the Christians in 303 AD, St. George rebuked the Emperor.  Despite the Emperor's friendship with George's father, he spared not his cruelty from St. George. For his "crime," St. George was tortured by laceration on a wheel of swords and was ultimately beheaded. This all came after many attempts by the Emperor to George to simply sacrifice to the Roman gods and receive his life, wealth, and fame in the process.  St. George remained steadfast in worshiping the only True God.

On April 23, 303 AD, St. George was decapitated.  He was buried in Lydda and honored by Christians as a martyr. Thus, we see in St. George far more than a "Dragonslayer" - we see an example of final perseverance and the ability to preserve in the midst of the greatest difficulties. His feastday has been celebrated since ancient times and was, for some time, a Holy Day of Obligation in England as Dom Gueranger relates:

CLAD in his bright coat of mail, mounted on his war-steed, and spearing the dragon with his lance, George, the intrepid champion of our Risen Jesus, comes to gladden us today with his feast. From the East, where he is known as the great Martyr,devotion to St George soon spread in the Western Church, and our Christian armies have always loved and honoured him as one of their dearest patrons. His martyrdom took place in Paschal Time; and thus he stands before us as the guardian of the glorious sepulchre, just as Stephen, the Protomartyr, watches near the crib of the Infant God...

As we have already said, devotion to St George dates from a very early period. St Gregory of Tours gives us several proofs of its having taken root in Gaul. St Clotilde had a singular confidence in the holy martyr, and dedicated to him the Church of her dear Abbey of Chelles. But this devotion became more general and more fervent during the Crusades, when the Christian armies witnessed the veneration in which St George was held by the Eastern Church, and heard the wonderful things that were told of his protection on the field of battle. The Byzantine historians have recorded several remarkable instances of the kind; and the Crusaders returned to their respective countries publishing their own experience of the victories gained through the Saint's intercession.

The Republic of Genoa chose him for its patron; and Venice honoured him as its special protector, after St Mark. But nowhere was St George so enthusiastically loved as in England. Not only was it decreed in a Council held at Oxford, in the year 1222, that the feast of the Great Martyr should be observed as one of obligation; not only was devotion to the valiant soldier of Christ encouraged, throughout Great Britain, by the first Norman Kings; but there are documents anterior to the invasion of William the Conqueror, which prove that St George was invoked as the special patron of England even so far back as the ninth century. Edward III did but express the sentiment of the country when he put the Order of the Garter, which he instituted in 1330, under the patronage of the warrior Saint. In Germany, King Frederic III founded the Order of St George in the year 1468. 

Also of note, St. George is revered by both Christians and Muslims - one of the few saints to hold such a place.

So, what is his connection with the dragon?  Click here to read the fascinating story.

Prayer for St. George

St. George, Heroic Catholic soldier and defender of your Faith, you dared to criticize a tyrannical Emperor and were subjected to horrible torture. You could have occupied a high military position but you preferred to die for your Lord. Obtain for us the great grace of heroic Christian courage that should mark soldiers of Christ. Amen

Prayer: 

O God, the merits and prayers of Your blessed martyr George are a source of happiness for us. Grant us as a gift of grace the blessings we seek through him. Through Our Lord . . .

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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Ss Soter and Caius

SemiDouble (1955 Calendar): April 22

Pope St. Soter succeeded Pope St. Anicetus as the head of the Holy Catholic Church in 167 and served as the Vicar of Christ until his martyrdom in 175 AD.

We possess a fragment of an interesting letter addressed to him by St. Dionysius of Corinth, who writes: "From the beginning it has been your custom to do good to all the brethren in many ways, and to send alms to many churches in every city, refreshing the poverty of those who sent requests, or giving aid to the brethren in the mines, by the alms which you have had the habit of giving from old, Romans keeping up the traditional custom of the Romans; which your blessed Bishop Soter has not only preserved, but has even increased, by providing the abundance which he has sent to the saints, and by further consoling with blessed words with brethren who came to him, as a loving father his children. Today, therefore, we have kept the holy Lord's day, on which we have read your letter, which we shall always have to read and be admonished, even as the former letter which was written to us by the ministry of Clement" (Eusebius, Church History IV 24).

The Roman Breviary reading during Matins writes: "He ordered that consecrated virgins should not touch the sacred vessels and palls, nor act as thurifers in the church. He also decreed that all Christian should receive the body of Christ on Holy Thursday, except those forbidden to do so by grave sin."

St. Caius served as the holy pontiff from December 17, 283, until April 22, 296.  The Roman Breviary writes: "Caius was a Dalmatian, of the kindred of the emperor Diocletian. He decreed that these several orders and grades of honor in the Church should lead up to the episcopate, namely: doorkeeper, lector, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon, and priest. Fleeing from the cruelty of Diocletian towards the Christians, he hid himself for some time in a cave; then... received the crown of martyrdom together with this brother Gabinus and was buried in the cemetery of Callistus."

Like all the Vicars of Christ in the first centuries, Sts. Soter and Caius were constant in uniting their sufferings to those of the Divine Redeemer and "in Him bore much fruit".

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The Great Pardon Pilgrimage of Le Puy

A fascinating article from SSPX.org in one of these special years of grace when Good Friday falls on the Feast of the Annunciation:

Since the 10th century, whenever Good Friday falls on March 25th, the Church celebrates the Jubilee of Forgiveness of Our lady of Le Puy, also called Our Lady of the Annunciation. Several popes in succession have confirmed this as a time of grace.

This year, the feast of the Annunciation fell on Good Friday and was transferred to April 4, the first available date after Easter. From April 9 - 10 Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, and fellow pilgrims went on a pilgrimage to the picturesque town of Le Puy-en-Velay in central France. The town, perched in the midst of Massif Central Mountains, contains many notable monuments including the Cathedral of Notre-Dame du Puy (dedicated to Our Lady of the Annunciation), the statue of Our Lady of France, and the chapel of St. Michael of Aiguilhe.

The ­­­town dates from the 4th century when a chapel was erected and blessed by the angels. It became the Episcopal See during the 6th century. The pilgrimage itself came much later, at the turn of the millenium, when wild imaginations flared up about the end of the world. In 992 the feast of the Annunciation coincided with Good Friday and rumor had it that it was a sign of the end times. Pilgrims from far and wide flocked to the church of Le Puy and invoked the protection of the Mother of God who had previously granted many blessings and miracles. This initial movement gave rise to the bishop granting a Great Pardon on all future years when the same occurrence would take place. This year, 2016, is one of these very rare occasions.

It is interesting to note that in 1095 Pope Urban II preached the first Crusade at the Cathedral at Le Puy, as well as at the church of Vezelay. In 1096, within its walls, the Salve Regina resounded for the first time from the lips of Adhémar, the bishop of Le Puy, who was the Pontifical Legate of the first Crusade. The cathedral has also been a rallying point of many petitions of saints. St. Joan of Arc’s parents went there imploring Mary’s assistance for Joan’s mission. Mr. Olier, the founder of the Sulpicians, discovered his vocation here and inspired one of his followers, St. Louis de Montfort, in his total consecration to the Virgin. This year marks the 300th anniversary of St. Louis’s death (1673-1716).

It was here that the Pope requested urgently the recitation of the midday Angelus for the conversion of the Muslims, who at that time were at the gates of Vienna. Why the Angelus? Because it is the appropriate remedy to that pernicious doctrine of a God so unique in His being that He is only one as a Person, and not the Holy Trinity, Whose second Person, the Son, became incarnate in the Virgin’s womb. And God knows that, today, the Muslim peril has long passed the city gates and is threatening the citadel.

May Our Lady of the Annunciation obtain the conversion of the infidels to Her divine Son.

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Feast of St. Anselm

"No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills, and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God" (St. Anselm, Letter 112).

Double (1955 Calendar): April 21

As the Roman Martyrology states of him: "At Canterbury, England, St. Anselm, bishop, confessor, and doctor of the Church, renowned for sanctity and learning." Dom Gueranger writes in the Liturgical Year: "A monk, a Bishop, a Doctor of the Church—such was the Saint whose feast comes to gladden us on this twenty-first day of April. He was a martyr, also, at least in desire, and we may add, in merit too—for he did enough to earn the glorious palm. When we think of Anselm, we picture to ourselves a man in whom are combined the humility and meekness of the cloister with the zeal and courage of the episcopal dignity; a man who was both a sage and a saint; a man whom it was impossible not to love and respect."

In a great example to modern men, St. Anselm shows us all the path to repentance.  Despite being indifferent toward religion at a young age, by age 15 St. Anselm wanted to enter a monastery.  He was refused though due to the strong resistance from his father.  And so ensued years of worldly living and disregard for the Faith.

Then twelve years later, he returned to his earlier desire to be a monk and entered the monastery of Bec in Normandy.  Three short years later he was elected prior and 15 years afterward he became the abbot by unanimous consent.

Despite an early life that was wasted, St. Anselm would go on to receive the title "Father of Scholasticism" and earn the reputation for sanctity and learning.  As a monk, St. Anselm was admired for his skill in teaching and the virtue of patience.  Through his leadership, the monastery of Bec became an influential center of learning and theology.

One of St. Anselm's greatest works was Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man).  Please consider reading more on St. Anselm's doctrine of the Atonement as well as a philosophical analysis of the soundness of his ontological argument to better understand his work and the lasting impact of his writings.

At the age of 60, St. Anselm was appointed as the Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 1093; however, King William Rufus refused to cooperate in Anselm's reform of the Church.  St. Anselm fled into voluntary exile and returned in 1100 upon the death of King Rufus.  Rufus' brother, Henry I, became king, and Anselm spent another three years in exile after their un-reconcilable differences regarding the investiture of England's bishops.  As the kings encroached more and more on the matters under the jurisdiction of the Church, St. Anselm suffered much in defense of Holy Mother Church.

St. Anselm also worked strongly against the slave trade and for the protection of the poorest of people. He obtained from Westminster a resolution prohibiting the sale of human beings.  St. Anselm died in the year 1109 AD.  He is a Doctor of the Church.

Collect:

O God, may blessed Anselm intercede for us in heaven as he once instructed Your faithful on earth and directed them in the way of eternal salvation. Through Our Lord . . .

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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Why Should I Go To Mass Every Day?

From the Pieta Prayer Book:

For each Mass we hear with devotion, Our Lord sends a saint to comfort us at death (Revelation of Christ to St. Gertrude the Great).

St Padre Pio, the stigmatic priest, said, the world could exist more easily without the sun than without the Mass.

The Cure' d' Ars, St. Jean Vianney said, if we knew the value of the Mass we would die of joy.

A great doctor of the Church, St. Anselm, declares that a single Mass offered for oneself during life may be worth more than a thousand celebrated for the same intention after death. St. Leonard of Port Maurice supports this statement by saying that one Mass before death may be more profitable than many after it.

"The Holy Mass would be of greater profit if people had it offered in their lifetime, rather than having it celebrated for the relief of their souls after death."   (Pope Benedict XV).

Once, St. Teresa was overwhelmed with God's Goodness and asked Our Lord, "How can I thank you?"  Our Lord replied, "ATTEND ONE MASS."

The Blessed Virgin Mary once told Her faithful servant Alain:  "My Son so loves those who assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that, if it were necessary He would die for them as many times as they've heard Masses."  (Page 107, last paragraph of "Explication Du Saint Sacrifice De La Messe" parle R.P. Martin de Cochem Friere - Mineur Capucin.)

"Jesus, Mary, I Love You, Save Souls"

For more information see: A Primer on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

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