St. Francis Xavier: True Jesuit Missionary

Greater Double (1954 Calendar): December 3

St. Francis Xavier is truly the modern apostle.  He was born in Spanish Navarre in 1506 and in 1528, he met St. Ignatius of Loyola.  He became one of the seven in 1534 who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order).  In 1536, he left the University of Paris and joined St. Ignatius in Venice.  He was ordained in 1537, and in 1540 after the Society was recognized by the Pope, he journeyed to the Far East.  Francis Xavier first evangelized the Portuguese colony of Goa in India, then Travancore, Ceylon, Malacca, and the surrounding islands. From there he journeyed to Japan, where he gave Christianity such deep roots that it survived centuries of violent persecution. He died on Sancian Island in 1552, while he was seeking to penetrate into the great forbidden land of China.

Despite language problems, lack of funds, resistance from the Europeans as well as the natives, he persevered.  St. Francis converted more people in his life than anyone since the Apostle St. Paul.  He baptized over 3 million people, converted the entire town of Goa in India, and he labored in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan. He is truly a missionary par excellence.

St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of missionaries, pray for our missionaries to succeed in winning souls.

Taken From THE LITURGICAL YEAR, by Dom Guéranger OSB:

The apostles being the heralds of the coming of the Messias, it was fitting that Advent should have in its calendar the name of some one among them. Divine Providence has provided for this;  . . . But God has not wished that the first apostolate should be the only one to appear on the first page of the liturgical calendar; great also, though in a lower degree, is the glory of that second apostolate, whereby the bride of Jesus Christ multiplies her children, even in her fruitful old age, as the psalmist expresses it. [Ps. xci. 15] There are Gentiles who have still to be evangelized; the coming of the Messias is far from having been announced to all nations. Now of all the valiant messengers of the Divine Word who have, during the last few hundred years, proclaimed the good tidings among infidel nations, there is not one whose glory is greater, who has worked greater wonders, or who has shown himself a closer imitator of the first Apostles, than the modern apostle of the Indies, St. Francis Xavier.

The life and apostolate of this wonderful man were a great triumph for our mother the holy Catholic Church; for St. Francis came just at a period when heresy, encouraged by false learning, by political intrigues, by covetousness, and by all the wicked passions of the human heart, seemed on the eve of victory. Emboldened by all these, this enemy of God spoke, with the deepest contempt, of that ancient Church which rested on the promises of Jesus Christ; it declared that she was unworthy of the confidence of men, and dared even to call her the harlot of Babylon, as though the vices of her children could taint the purity of the mother. God's time came at last, and He showed Himself in His power: the garden of the Church suddenly appeared rich in the most admirable fruits of sanctity. Heroes and heroines issued from that apparent barrenness; and whilst the pretended reformers showed themselves to be the most wicked of men, two countries, Italy and Spain, gave to the world the most magnificent Saints.

One of these is brought before us today, claiming our love and our praise. The calendar of the liturgical year will present to us, from time to time, his contemporaries and his companions in Divine grace and heroic sanctity. The sixteenth century is, therefore, worthy of comparison with any other age of the Church. The so-called reformers of those times gave little proof of their desire to convert infidel countries, when their only zeal was to bury Christianity beneath the ruin of her churches. But at that very time, a society of apostles was offering itself to the Roman Pontiff, that he might send them to plant the true faith among people who were sitting in the thickest shades of death. But, we repeat, not one of these holy men so closely imitated the first Apostles as did Francis, the disciple of Ignatius. He had all the marks and labours of an apostle: an immense world of people evangelized by his zeal, hundreds of thousands of infidels Baptized by his indefatigable ministration, and miracles of every kind, which proved him, to the infidel, to be marked with the sign which they received who, living in the flesh, planted the Church, as the Church speaks in her liturgy. So that, in the sixteenth century, the east received from the ever holy city of Rome an apostle, who, by his character and his works, resembled those earlier ones sent her by Jesus Himself. May our Lord Jesus be for ever praised for having vindicated the honour of the Church, His bride, by raising up Francis Xavier, and giving to men, in this His servant, a representation of what the first Apostles were, whom He sent to preach the Gospel when the whole world was pagan.

Tradtional Matins Reading:

Francis was born of noble parents, at Xavier, in the diocese of Pampelona. Having gone to Paris, he there became the companion and disciple of Saint Ignatius. Under such a master, he arrived at so high a contemplation of Divine things, as to be sometimes raised above the ground: which occasionally happened to him whilst saying Mass before crowds of people. He had merited these spiritual delights by his several mortifications of the body; for he never allowed himself either flesh meat, or wine, or even wheaten bread, and ate only the coarsest food; he not infrequently abstained, for the space of two or three days, from every sort of nourishment. He scourged himself so severely with disciplines, to which were fastened pieces of iron, as to be frequently covered with blood. His sleep, which he took on the ground, was extremely short.

Such austerity and holiness of life had fitted him for the labours of an apostle; so that when John III, king of Portugal, asked of Paul III that some of the newly-founded Society might be sent to the Indies, that Pontiff, by the advice of St. Ignatius, selected Francis for so important a work, and gave him the powers of apostolic nuncio. Having reached those parts, he was found to be, on a sudden, divinely gifted with the knowledge of the exceedingly difficult and varied languages of the several countries. It sometimes even happened, that whilst he was preaching in one language to the people of several nations, each heard him speaking in their own tongue. He traveled over innumerable provinces, always on foot, and not infrequently bare-footed. He carried the faith into Japan, and six other countries. He converted to Christ many hundred thousands in the Indies, and Baptized several princes and kings. And yet, though he was doing such great things for God, he was so humble, that he never wrote to St. Ignatius, then General of the Society [the Jesuits], but on his knees.

God blessed this zeal for the diffusion of the Gospel by many and extraordinary miracles. The Saint restored sight to a blind man. By the Sign of the Cross he changed sea-water into fresh, sufficient for many days, for a crew of five hundred men, who were dying from thirst. This water was afterwards taken into several countries, and being given to sick people, they were instantly cured. He raised several dead men to life; one of these had been buried on the previous day, so that the corpse had to be taken out of the grave; two others were being carried to the grave, when the Saint took him by the hand, and, raising them from the bier, restored them to their parents. Being continually gifted with the spirit of prophecy, he foretold many future events, or such as were happening in most distant parts. At length, full of merit, and worn out by his labours, he died on the second day of December, in Sancian, an island off the coast of China. His corpse was twice buried in unslaked lime, but was found, after several months, to be incorrupt: blood flowed from it, and it exhaled a pleasing fragrance: when it was brought to Malacca, it instantly arrested a raging pestilence. At length, fresh and extraordinary miracles being everywhere wrought through the intercession of the man of God, he was enrolled among the Saints by Gregory XV; and Pope Pius X declared him heavenly patron of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and its work.

Collect:

O God, Who wast pleased to gather into Thy Church the nations of the Indies by the preaching and miracles of blessed Francis, mercifully grant that we, who venerate his glorious merits, may also imitate the example of his virtues. Through our Lord...

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Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

 

The Sacred Medal of Mary Immaculate is a Sacramental in honor of the Virgin Mary often called as simply the "Miraculous" Medal for the many miracles associated with those that wear it.

St. Catherine Laboure was born in 1806 on a farm in northern France. In 1829 she entered a convent of the Sisters of Charity, an order of nuns who primarily work as hospital nurses. One day as she and her sisters were in the chapel doing their evening meditation, she saw a vision of a beautiful Lady standing upon a globe, with rings with gemstones upon her fingers that shed a bright light down upon the globe, and she knew it was Our Lady. The Blessed Virgin told her “these rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them. The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which souls forget to ask.” Catherine then saw written around her in letters of gold the words “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” Catherine was then told, “Have a Medal struck after this model. All who wear it will receive great graces; they should wear it around the neck. Graces will abound for persons who wear it with confidence.”

St. Catherine described the medal to her spiritual director and the first few were made under his direction, for she wished her own identity to remain secret. Although the Medal became instantly popular throughout the world, the identity of Sister Catherine was successfully hidden from the public for forty-six years, despite constant attempts to discover the visionary. Many miracles were soon reported by people who had worn the medal and recited the prayer, especially conversions and cures of those hopelessly sick, which led to its being named “The Miraculous Medal.” But during all this time, Catherine remained at her hospital, working as an obscure nurse. She died in 1876 and was canonized in 1947 by Pope Pius XII.

One of the most famous conversions due to the miraculous medal was that of Alphonse Ratisbonne, an anti-Catholic Jewish banker. He received a vision of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. After his conversion, he became a priest and worked for the conversion of the Jewish people.

Another famous conversion occurred in 1942 when Claude Newman, a poor African American man from Mississippi was sent to prison for murder. One night during a quarrel with his cellmates, a Miraculous Medal was thrown down by someone, and Claude picked it up. That night, he awoke to a touch on the wrist, and saw a beautiful Lady standing near, who said “If you would like me to be your mother, and you would like to be my child, send for a priest of the Catholic Church.” He awoke the prison shouting for a priest, and asked to take religious instruction when one came. The priest was amazed, in the course of this instruction, to find that this illiterate young man had already been instructed in many things by some unknown person. Claude reminded the priest of a secret vow that he had made to Our Lady while lying in a ditch during the Second World War that remained unfulfilled. Claude amazed everyone who knew him by the change that had come over him, desiring death so that he could be united with God, and offering his death for the conversion of another prisoner who hated him. He asked for a party with the other prisoners to celebrate his own execution, and went to his death “beaming with happiness.”

You may request free, already blessed Miraculous Medals from St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary. Besides providing much of the above information, their website also reminds us:

"The two main effects of a sacramental are to cleanse venial (lesser) sins by disposing the heart to sorrow for sin, and to help in overcoming temptations. A sacramental is not a good luck charm, or some kind of get-into-heaven free card. Rather, it is a link between earth and heaven, a physical manifestation of the spiritual reality of God’s love for us, and for the intercession of His Mother. Like a locket that contains the picture of our mother, the Miraculous Medal reminds us of her, and helps us to call on her and speak to her when we are in trouble. And because God wants us to use physical sacramentals to remind ourselves of spiritual realities, he grants his grace in a special way to those who use them in this way."

November 27th is the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Some Places. The Catholic Encyclopedia states:

"On 23 July, 1894, Pope Leo XIII, after a careful examination of all the facts by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, instituted a feast, with a special Office and Mass, of the Manifestation of the Immaculate Virgin under the title of the Miraculous Medal, to be celebrated yearly on 27 November by the Priests of the Congregation of the Mission, under the rite of a double of the second class. For ordinaries and religious communities who may ask the privilege of celebrating the festival, its rank is to be that of a double major feast. A further decree, dated 7 September, 1894, permits any priest to say the Mass proper to the feast in any chapel attached to a house of the Sisters of Charity."

Traditional Propers:

INTROIT
Exodus 13:9
It shall be a sign in thy hand, and as a memorial before thine eyes, and that the law of the Lord be always in thy mouth. (Ps. 104: 1) O give thanks unto the Lord, and call upon His name: tell forth His deeds among the nations. 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 - O Lord Jesus Christ, Who hast willed that the most blessed Virgin Mary, Thy mother, sinless from the first moment of her conception, should be glorified by countless miracles: grant that we, who never cease from imploring her patronage, may attain in the end to eternal happiness. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God,

EPISTLE
Apocalypse 12: 1, 5, 14-16
A great sign appeared in Heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And she brought forth a Man-Child, Who was to rule all nations with an iron rod: and her Son was taken up to God, and to His throne. And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert unto her place. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman, water as it were a river: that he might cause her to be carried away by the river. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

Gradual
Ps. 104: 5, 27
Remember the marvelous works which He hath done: His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth. V. He placed in them the words of His signs: and of His wonders in the land. Alleluia, alleluia. V. (Ps. 18, 7) His going forth is from the topmost Heaven: nor is there any that can hide from His heat. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
John 2: 1-11

At that time there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the Mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the marriage. And the wine failing, the Mother of Jesus saith to Him: "They have no wine." And Jesus saith to her: "Woman, what is that to Me or to thee? My hour is not yet come." His Mother saith to the waiters: "Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye." Now there were set there six water-pots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them: "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus said to them: "Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast." And they carried it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water: the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, and saith to him: "Every man at first setteth forth good wine: and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

OFFERTORY
John 19: 27
Jesus said to the disciple, Behold thy Mother. And from that hour the disciple took her for his own.

SECRET -  Moved by the pleading of the blessed Virgin Mary, in answer to whose prayers Jesus Christ Thy Son wrought the first of His miracles: vouchsafe unto us, O Lord God, to minister in cleanness of heart unto the sacrament of the body and blood of the same Thy Son, so as to deserve to sit down to the everlasting banquet of eternity. Through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God

PREFACE (Preface of the Blessed Virgin Mary) - It is truly meet and just, right and availing unto salvation, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty and everlasting God. That on the Festival of the blessed Virgin Mary, we should praise, bless and proclaim Thee. For she conceived Thine only-begotten Son by the over-shadowing of the Holy Ghost; and losing not the glory of her virginity, gave forth to the world the everlasting light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through whom the angels praise Thy majesty, the Dominions worship it, and the powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the heavenly Hosts, and the blessed Seraphim join together in celebrating their joy. With these we pray Thee join our voices also, while we say with lowly praise:

COMMUNION
Ecclus. 36: 6, 7, 10
 Renew the signs, and work fresh marvels; glorify Thy hand and Thy right arm; hasten the time, and remember the end, and let them declare Thy wondrous works.

POST COMMUNION - O Lord God almighty, Who hast willed that all things should be given to us through the Immaculate Mother of Thy Son: grant that under the protection of this mighty Mother, we may escape all the dangers of these our times, and in the end may come to life everlasting. Through same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God

BLESSING AND INVESTITURE WITH SACRED MEDAL OF MARY IMMACULATE
Commonly Known as the “Miraculous Medal”

(Formerly reserved to the Congregation of the Missions)

(Approved by the Congregation of Sacred Rites, April 19, 1895)

The priest who is to bless the sacred medal of the Immaculate Conception, vested in surplice and white stole, says:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

P: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray: Almighty and merciful God, who by the many appearances on earth of the Immaculate Virgin Mary were pleased to work miracles again and again for the salvation of souls; kindly pour out your blessing on this medal, so that all who devoutly wear it and reverence it may experience the patronage of Mary Immaculate and obtain mercy from you; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

The priest sprinkles the medal with holy water, and presents it to the person, saying:

Take this holy medal; wear it with faith, and handle it with due devotion, so that the holy and immaculate Queen of heaven may protect and defend you. And as she is ever ready to renew her wondrous acts of kindness, may she obtain for you in her mercy whatever you humbly ask of God, so that both in life and in death you may rest happily in her motherly embrace.

All: Amen.

The priest continues:

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)

P: And lead us not into temptation.

All: But deliver us from evil.

P: Queen conceived without original sin.

All: Pray for us.

P: Lord, heed my prayer.

All: And let my cry be heard by you.

P: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, who willed that your Mother, the blessed Virgin Mary conceived without sin, should become illustrious through countless miracles; grant that we who ever seek her patronage may finally possess everlasting joys. We ask this of you who live and reign forever and ever.


All: Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin, Pray for us who have recourse to you.

Daily Miraculous Medal Prayer of St. Maximilian Kolbe

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you, and for all who do not have recourse to you, especially the enemies of the Church and those recommended to you.

An Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

O Virgin Mother of God, Mary Immaculate, we dedicate and consecrate ourselves to you under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. May this Medal be for each one of us a sure sign of your affection for us and a constant reminder of our duties toward you. Ever while wearing it, may we be blessed by your loving protection and preserved in the grace of your Son. O most powerful Virgin, Mother of our Savior, keep us close to you every moment of our lives. Obtain for us, your children, the grace of a happy death; so that, in union with you, we may enjoy the bliss of heaven forever.

Amen.

More Information:

• English Translation of the Traditional Prayer Said by the Priest to Bless the Miraculous Medal
• Prayer of Devotion to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
• How the Miraculous Medal Changed My Life by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

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Blessed Humbert of Romans: 5th Dominican Master

Continuing my articles on the Masters of the Dominican Order, we arrive at the 5th Dominican Master: Blessed Humbert of Romans.  Humbert governed the order from 1254 - 1263 AD.

To recap, the first four Masters of the Order of Preachers were:

1. Our Holy Father St. Dominic
2. Blessed Jordan of Saxony
3. St. Raymond of Penafort 
4. John of Wildeshausen 

Born in Romans-sur-lsere, France in 1190 AD, little is known with certainty of Blessed Humbert's early life.  Blessed Humbert studied canon law at the University of Paris.  On November 30, 1224, Blessed Humbert, known for his piety, joined the Dominican Order, although he had for some time considered following his brother into the Carthusian Order.

After entering the Order of Preachers, Blessed Humbert was appointed as a Lector of Theology at the Dominican Priory in Lyon in 1226, and in 1237 he became prior of that monastery.  Thereafter, in 1240, he was appointed as the Prior Provincial of Tuscany.  In 1244, he returned to France and served as Prior Provincial there succeeding Hugh of Saint-Cher.  Hugh left the position after he was made a Cardinal - the first Dominican Cardinal.

Then, in 1254, Blessed Humbert was elected as the Master General of the Order of Preachers.  His initial work was the re-organization of the Order's Liturgy.  He issued a new edition of the Order's Constitutions and he issued new Constitutions for all nuns.  Blessed Humbert also instituted the collection of information on both St. Dominic and St. Peter of Verona with the intention of using these materials to seek both of their canonizations.

In 1255, he adjudicated a dispute on the Constitution of the Carthusians, and he would in the next year become the godfather of one of the children of St. Louis IX of France.  Blessed Humbert further encouraged the missionary activities of his friars and he encouraged the schools in Spain to teach Oriental languages.

Under his period of rule, the Dominican Order flourished in Italy, Germany, Spain, France, and England. Humbert sent missionaries to the Greeks, Hungarians, Saracens, Armenians, Syrians, Ethiopians, and Tartars. He regulated the liturgy of the Divine Office, determined the suffrages of for the dead, commanded the history of the Order be recorded, and even issued minute decrees concerning the election of superiors, the reading of the Constitutions at meals, the transfer of friars from one house to another and other pertinent regulation.  On the reorgnization of the Liturgy, Fr. Joret writes:

At the Paris Chapter of 1256, Humbert issued to the Order his annual encyclical in which he announced the completion of the liturgical reform. A monumental volume, a masterpiece of Parisian book production in the middle of the thirteenth century, was composed to be the model to which all copies must conform. Deposited at first in the College of St. Jacques de Paris, the most important house of the Order, it is to-day in Rome amongst the general archives of the Friars Preachers. Finally, in 1267 Clement VII gave his approval to our liturgy. Since then it has undergone no important modification. When Pius V in 1570 imposed on the entire Church the breviary and Roman missal, he made an exception for the liturgies which were more than two hundred years old. The Dominican liturgy was one of these.

In 1263, largely on the account of his failing health, Blessed Humbert resigned his position as Master of the Order.  On July 14, 1277, the holy Dominican Master passed from this life to the next.  His feastday is July 14th.  May he soon be declared a saint!

The Dominican Order as it currently exists owes much to the leadership of Blessed Humbert.   One of the great hallmarks of the Dominican Order is its love and focus on studying.  Blessed Humbert was instrumental in the focus on studying as he said, 'Our Order is the first to have thus linked study to the religious life, prius habuit studium cum religione conjunction" (Humbert, Opera, t. II, p. 29). Speaking of the Blessed Virgin, Humbert said, "Our Preacher never cease praising her, blessing her and preaching her when they preach her Son" (Humbert de Romans, Opera, Vol. II, p. 71).

For your edification, please consider reading the "Treatise on Preaching" as written by Blessed Humbert.  The Text is available online by clicking here.

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Feast of St. John of the Cross

“At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.” (St. John of the Cross)

Double (1954 Calendar): November 24

St. John of the Cross was born in 1542 in Spain near the city of Avila.  At the age of 21, he entered the Carmelite Order.  The young St. John felt drawn to the Carthusian Order but he was asked by St. Teresa of Avila to help her in the restoration of the primitive Carmelite Rule of Life.

After John established several monasteries of Discalced Carmelites, those opposed to the reform had him imprisoned at Toledo. During the nine months of his imprisonment, he wrote many of the poems and prose works that have made him one of the foremost authorities on mysticism in the West.

St. John asked God for suffering, and he received an abundance of both physical and spiritual torment right up to his death in 1591. May he pray for us now!

For a complete summary of his life, see my Book Review of Saint John of the Cross by Father Paschasius Heriz.

For a summary of St. John of the Cross' masterpiece "Dark Night of the Soul" please click here. 

Collect:

O God, who blessed the holy confessor and doctor John with a spirit of complete self-denial and a deep love of the cross, grant that we may always follow his example and thus attain to eternal glory. Though Our Lord . . .

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Pope St. Eleuterus

Commemoration (1954 Calendar): May 26

Continuing my series of posts on the History of the Sovereign Pontiffs, I now pick up with the 13th Pope: St. Eleuterus. 

In the year 174, St. Eleuterus succeed Pope St. Soter as the Vicar of Christ after St. Soter suffered martyrdom.  Previously, he served as a Deacon under Pope St. Anicetus. Under his reign, the most notable occurrences included his declared opposition to Gnostics and the Montanists, the sending of Fugatius and Damjan to convert the Britons, and the abrogation of some Jewish dietary customs for Christians.

On St. Eleuterus, the New World Encyclopedia writes:

Eleuterus' most important contribution to church history seems to have been his manner of dealing the Montanism hereasy. At first disposed to tolerate the movement, he was eventually persuaded to condemn it, resulting in the Catholic Church's rejection of prophetic movements in general, as well as solidifying its doctrine that the true teaching authority of the Church resided with the bishops.

The Montanist movement, which originated in Asia Minor, made its way to Rome and Gaul in the second half of the second century, around the reign of Eleuterus. Its peculiar nature, affirming the continuation of Christian prophecy and urging a high standard a piety among its members, made it difficult for Christians to take a decisive stand against it.

According to Tertullian, who himself accepted Montanism in his later years, Eleuterus was at first favorably inclined to this movement, but in the end he rejected it. During the violent persecution of Christians by imperial authorities at Lyon in 177, local confessors wrote from their prison concerning the new movement to the Asiatic and Phrygian communities, and also to Eleuterus as the bishop of Rome. The bearer of the letter to Eleuterus was the presbyter Irenaeus, soon to become bishop of Lyon. It appears from statements of Eusebius concerning these letters that the Christians of Lyon, though opposed to the Montanist movement, advocated patience and pleaded for the preservation of ecclesiastical unity rather than the expulsion of the alleged heretics.

Exactly when the Roman Catholic Church took its definite stand against Montanism is not known with certainty. It would seem from Tertullian's account (adv. Praxeam, I) that a Roman bishop did send some conciliatory letters to the Montanists, but these letters, says Tertullian, were subsequently recalled. The bishop to whom he refers is probably Eleuterus, who long hesitated to anathematize Montanism but eventually declared against them.

Meanwhile, at Rome, the Gnostics and Marcionites continued to preach against the Catholic version of Christianity. The Liber Pontificalis ascribes to Pope Eleuterus a decree that no kind of food should be despised by Christians (Et hoc iterum firmavit ut nulla esca a Christianis repudiaretur, maxime fidelibus, quod Deus creavit, quæ tamen rationalis et humana est). Some believe the decree was directed against the Montanists, who often abstained from rich foods. It would also fit with the Church's position against those forms of Christian Gnosticism which practiced vegetarianism, as well as against Jewish Christians who refused to eat non-kosher foods, and even against otherwise orthodox Christians who adhered to the dictum of James in Acts 15:29: "You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals." Some scholars, however, suspect that the decree is anachronistic. In this theory, the writer of the Liber Pontificalis attributed Eleuterus a decree similar to one issued about the year 500.

It is worth remembering the error of Montanism that the Church has condemned:  "The fundamental flaw of Montanism, which it shared with Gnosticism as well as many other heretical movements, was its rejection of the notion of the clergy. Montanus taught 'the Priesthood of the People,' and this was a threat to the existing Church clergy. Much of the history of Christianity has been determined by this repetitive struggle between the clergy of the Church and those who would do away with it" (Early Christian History).  In fact, this same idea has caused the widespread errors of Protestantism in our world as these ideas reject our Divine Lord's establishment of an ordained priesthood.

St. Eleuterus served as the Vicar of Christ until his death in 189.  Pope Eleutherius died on 24 May and was buried on the Vatican Hill (in Vaticano) near the body of St. Peter. Later tradition has his body moved to the church of San Giovanni della Pigna, near the pantheon. In 1591, his remains were again moved to the church of Santa Susanna at the request of Camilla Peretti, the sister of Pope Sixtus V. His feast is celebrated on May 26th.

Like all of the Popes who preceded him, St. Eleuterus was martyred for the True Faith.  We should often call to mind the lives of all of these holy popes and pray for them to intercede for the Church today.  We should also not cease praying for their courage in the face of death and torture.

Collect:

Look forgivingly on thy flock, Eternal Shepherd, and keep it in thy constant protection, by the intercession of blessed Eleutherius thy Martyr and Sovereign Pontiff, whom thou didst constitute Shepherd of the whole Church. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.

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St. Felix of Valois

Double (1954 Calendar): November 20

Today is the feast of St. Felix of Valois, not to be confused with several other saints by the name of Felix who are on the Universal Calendar of Saints. 

After renouncing life at the royal court in France, St. Felix lived as a hermit.  It was not until he was already advanced in age that he, along with St. John of Matha, founded the Trinitarians in the year 1200.  He lived as a recluse at Cerfroid, France, and received approval from Pope Innocent III for the Order of the Most Holy Trinity to ransoms captives from the Muslim Moors. Showing us that even those of us late in age can serve our Lord, he founded St. Mathburn Convent in Paris while in his seventies. He died in the peace of the Lord on November 4, 1212.

Traditional Matins Reading:

Felix, formerly called Hugh, was born in France, of the royal family of the Valois, and from his cradle gave promise of future sanctity and especially of charity towards the poor. While still an infant, he would distribute money to the needy with his own hand, as if he were grown up and had full use of reason. When somewhat older, he used to send them meat from the ta­ble, and would choose what was daintiest for poor little children. When a youth, he more than once stripped himself of his own garments to clothe the poor. He obtained the life of a condemned criminal from his uncle Theobald, Count of Champagne and Blois; foretelling that the man, hitherto an infamous murderer, would shortly become a saint; the truth of which prophecy was proved by the event.

Having spent his youth in the practice of virtue, he was induced by his love of heavenly contemplation to think of retiring into solitude. He determined, however, first to take Holy Orders, and thus cut off all possibility of succeeding to the crown, of which he had some expectations on account of the Salic Law. After being ordained priest, and celebrating his first Mass with the greatest devotion, he retired into the desert, where he lived in the severest abstinence, but enjoying an abundance of heavenly gifts and graces. There he was joined by John of Matha, a Parisian doctor, who had been inspired by God to seek him; and they lived together in a most holy manner for some years. God then sent an Angel, who bade them go to Rome and obtain a special rule of life from the Sovereign Pontiff. Pope Innocent III received, during solemn Mass, a revelation concerning the religious Order to be insti­tuted for the ransom of captives; and he himself clothed Felix and John in a white habit with a red and blue cross, such as was worn by the Angel who had appeared. Moreover the Pontiff determined that on account of the three colours of the habit, the new Order should bear the name of the most holy Trinity.

Upon receiving the confirmation of their rule from Pope Innocent, Felix returned to Cerfroid, in the diocese of Meaux, and enlarged the first convent of the Order, which he and his companion had built there shortly before. There he caused religious observance and the work of ransom to flourish; and he dili­gently propagated the Order by sending disciples into other provinces. In this place he was favoured with a remarkable grace by the blessed Virgin Mary. On the vigil of the Nativity of the Mother of God, while the brethren, God so disposing, remained asleep instead of rising at midnight for Matins, Felix who was watching according to his custom before the appointed hour, entered the church, and found the Blessed Virgin in the middle of the choir, clad in the habit and cross of the Order, and surrounded by Angels in the same attire. Felix joined them, and the Mother of God having intoned the Office, he sang the divine praises with them even to the end. Then, as if calling him from the choir of earth to that of heaven, an Angel informed him that his death was at hand. He exhorted his sons to love of the poor and of captives; and gave up his soul to God, full of days and of merits, in the year of our Lord 1212, in the pontificate of the said Innocent III.

Collect:

O God, through a messenger from heaven You called the blessed confessor Felix to come out of the desert to labor for the ransom of captives. May his intercession free us from the slavery of our sins and bring us safely to our home in heaven. Through Our Lord . . .

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Our Lady Mother of Divine Providence (Saturday before the 3rd Sunday in November)

As part of the Traditional Missal, the Feast of Our Lady Mother of Divine Providence occurs on the Saturday before the 3rd Sunday in November. This Feastday is kept by various religious orders in the Church as it is one of the Masses Said in Some Places.  

Make an effort today to say 3 Our Fathers and 3 Hail Marys for the souls in Purgatory, since we are in the month dedicated to the Poor Souls.

The following is taken from Our Lady's Feastdays by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D:

1. Mary, Mother of God, the miracle of the Marriage feast of Cana shows that you are the Mother of Divine Providence. For the first time in the public life of Jesus you appeared in the exalted character of our Advocate, a character which would be yours as long as time would last. Filled with motherly compassion, you appealed to Jesus in behalf of your friends. With greatest confidence in the mercy and kindness of Your Son, you left Him free to give assistance or withhold it, as He saw fit.

Jesus rewarded your confidence and resignation by working His first miracle at your request. He wanted the strengthening of the faith of His disciples and the manifestation of His Divinity to depend upon your prayers. In this I see God's plan that in the Kingdom of Jesus all graces should go through your hands and Heart. As your prayer brought about His birth as the Sun of Justice, so also your request decided His rise and shining in His public life.

Mary, My Mother, how kindly you provided for the needs of this newly-married couple! This is but a reminder that you are equally interested in providing for all your children in all their needs of soul and body. Teach me to seek all things through your prayers, for your intercession is most powerful and Jesus can refuse you nothing. Help me to imitate your zeal in assisting my neighbor in his needs.

2. Mary, Mother of God, as the Mother of Divine Providence, you provide for us in our varied needs through your prayers in the presence of God. Your own extraordinary grace and merit, your own wondrous privileges give to your prayer an irresistible force and power. As the loving Mother of Jesus, the glorious daughter of the Father, the cherished Bride of the Holy Spirit, you can never meet with a refusal. Your slightest wish carries with it a powerful appeal. Yet more powerfully still than even your exalted merits does the Precious Blood render God merciful to the sinner, for all comes to us through the Passion and death of Christ, your Son.

But it has been the will of God, that from first to last, Jesus, as the Victim of atonement for our sins, should be presented to Him by you. It was so when you gave your consent to the divine plan of the Redemption. It was so when you renewed your consent at the birth of the Savior at Bethlehem, at His presentation in the temple at Jerusalem and finally at the foot of the cross on Calvary.

And now in Heaven, when the fruits of the Redemption are applied to our souls, and the graces won for us by the Passion of Jesus are distributed to the redeemed, being united to Him by a close and unbreakable bond, you still continue your part as Mediatrix in the work of our salvation, by offering to the Father the merits of Christ, uniting meanwhile your prayers, and, in a secondary sense, your merits, to the intercession of your Divine Son.

Mary, My Mother, as Mother of Divine Providence, remember your children in need of God's mercy and help. Plead for us in the presence of God and provide for us those graces and blessings especially which will enable us to serve God better and save our souls.

3. Mary, Mother of God, in the Kingdom of Heaven you are continually employed in deeds of kindness and mercy, therefore you are truly the Mother of Divine Providence. You are ever imploring favors for the just, as well as for sinners. Your eyes are the eyes of a good Mother, ever watchful to notice the need of your children, just as you looked out for the young couple at the marriage feast of Cana. Your Son will deny you nothing. God destined you to be a Mother of Mercy, a Refuge of Sinners and an Advocate of the Afflicted, and you fulfill these offices perfectly. You are so tender and compassionate, so watchful to relieve the needy, that it would seem you had no other desire, no other concern except this.

If you showed such compassion for the sufferings of others while on earth, and were so ready to relieve them, how much greater must your compassion be now that you are in heaven and understand so much better the difficulties your children meet with and the sufferings that afflict them? Though you are raised to the high dignity of Queen of Heaven, you have not forgotten man's wretched condition. You show your compassion toward all so that there is no one in this world who does not, if he seeks it, share in the kindness and mercy of your motherly Heart. You have become all things to all men; you have opened your Heart to all that all may receive of your generosity: the imprisoned, freedom, the sick, health, the afflicted, consolation; the sinner, pardon; and God, glory.

Mary, My Mother, your power as Mother of Divine Providence is indeed as great as your compassion and willingness to help. As you are powerful to obtain and provide, you are merciful to pardon. You can readily obtain for us whatever you will as you can listen to our woes. Then, through your compassion be pleased to send down to us, your poor servants, a rich abundance of your graces and blessing. Provide for our needs of soul and of body. May your title of Mother of Divine Providence ever give us confidence that you will never fail us, but will provide for all we need in this present life that we may attain eternal life.

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St. Gregory The Wonder Work (Thaumaturgus)

Simple (1954 Calendar): November 17

St Gregory Thaumaturgus, one of the Fathers of the Church, was converted to the faith by Origen about the year 232. He then returned to his native city of Neocaesarea in Asia Minor and was made its bishop. At that time there were only 17 Christians in the city, but Gregory's apostolic zeal was such that before his death there were only 17 non-Christians left. Gregory was aided in his apostolate by an extraordinary gift of miracles. A legend relates that he once caused the removal of a mountain from the spot where he wished to build a church. He died about the year 270.

Let us read the brief account of the great Thaumaturgus given in the holy liturgy:

Gregory, bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus, was illustrious for his holiness and learning, but still more for his miracles, which were so startling and so numerous that he was called the Thaumaturgus; and, according to St Basil he was considered comparable to Moses, the prophets, and the apostles.

By his prayer he removed a mountain, which was an obstacle to the building of a church. He also dried up a lake which was a cause of dissension between brothers. The river Lycus, which was inundating and devastating the fields; he restrained by fixing in the bank his stick, which immediately grew into a green tree, and he served as a limit which the river henceforth never overpassed.

He frequently expelled the devils from idols and from men's bodies, and worked many other miracles, by means of which he led multitudes to the faith of Christ. He also foretold future events by the spirit of prophecy. When he was dying, he asked how many infidels remained in the city of NeocaeSarea; and on being informed that there were only seventeen, he gave thanks to God, and said: When I was made bishop, there were but seventeen believers. He wrote several works, by which, as well as by his miracles, he adorned the Church of God.

Prayer:

O Almighty God, grant that our solemn celebration of the feast of Your confessor bishop Gregory may increase our devotion and bring us closer to our salvation. Through Our Lord . . .

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Bishop John Carroll's Prayer for our Country

We pray, Thee O Almighty and Eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name.

We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, Pope N., the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, N., all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise amongst us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation.

We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.

We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.

Finally, we pray to Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance.

To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Prayer was composed by Bishop  John Carroll, the first Bishop in the United States. He convened the first diocesan Synod 14 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, where 22 American priests met under their new bishop in 1791.  Download a PDF copy by clicking here.

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Martin Luther Prefer Mohammed to the Pope?!

Louis Veuillot author of The Liberal Illusion and a friend of Pope Pius IX explains how Luther opened the way to Voltaire and Robespierre, one of the architects of the French Revolution.

In order to pervert man, it was sufficient to sever him from the divine element, i.e. to reduce it to its own power. Luther created a Christian who, in the presence of the Church, the depositary and interpreter of the divine Truth, proclaimed that his personal reason was queen.

“By proclaiming the right to free examination, by subjecting God’s reason to the sovereign reason of man, by giving each individual the faculty or, rather, by imposing the obligation to create his own religion within the limits of the Bible, Luther rejected the divine authority present on earth and, thereby, he gave rise to purely human religions.

“Luther strikes a blow at the root of the social state by shaking the stability of marriage, the basis of all Christian society. He strikes a blow at the root of the political state by removing powers and abolishing the hierarchy, which is the expansion of the Christian society. He strikes a blow at the root of the religious state by abolishing the exterior worship, which is the necessary expression of the interior worship and crown of the Christian society. This triple blow is struck in the name of liberty: for the liberty of the flesh (divorce), for the liberty of the soul, and for the pontificate of the princes and the rejection of the exterior worship. The Revolution offers us the regular and logical development of these three Protestant liberties. In the same way, as Luther had proclaimed the kings Pontiffs in the name of religious liberty, likewise, the Revolution proclaims the peoples king in the name of the political liberty of conscience.”

Luther used to say: “Mohammed rather than the Pope.” No wonder Veuillot lamented that Luther, investigated by the Inquisition and found guilty on multiple counts, was not also burnt at the stake by a pious prince eager to stifle the Protestant revolt. St. Teresa of Avila prayed much for the destruction of Protestantism throughout Christendom. Thus, through her prayers and the action of the Christian rulers, the Spanish Crown was spared the religious and civil wars which engulfed thousands of lives in 16th century Europe.

By her prayers and the intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may the Church once again find leaders willing to speak out against the errors which originated with Martin Luther and work to bring those still ensnared by Protestant heresies into the bosom of the Catholic Church.

Source: SSPX

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