2016 Patron Saint for the Year Devotion

UPDATE (JANUARY 24TH): Thank you for all who participated in the 2016 Patron Saint for the Year Devotion.  This devotion is now closed.  Please join me in praying for a blessed year, the increase of conversions, the increase of charity among men, and the reign of the Catholic Faith in as many hearts, minds, and homes as possible.  Lord have mercy!

UPDATE (JANUARY 10 AT 11:15 AM CDT): This list has been updated with all names drawn to date.  I wish all of you a blessed and prayerful new year.

UPDATE (JANUARY 5th AT 4:30 PM CDT): Any additional requests after the last drawing will be entered into the drawing that will take place on Sunday the 10th.  God bless

UPDATE (JANUARY 3RD AT 5:30 PM CDT): Results are in!  See below!

UPDATE (JANUARY 1ST 3:30 PM CDT): I have been delayed in finding the appropriate amount of time to start the drawing as the drawing is done during the Litany of Saints and the Rosary.  I intend to complete the drawing later this evening or tomorrow.  Results will be emailed and posted as soon as they are available.

I am very pleased to again be a facilitator for the Patron Saint of the Year Devotion.  I have been part of this annual tradition since 2006 and have helped coordinate devotions for hundreds of families.  It is my pleasure to now be part of the 2016 Patron Saint of the Year Devotion.

SPONSOR: This Devotion is being sponsored this year by CatechismClass.com.  Whether you are looking for godparent preparation courses, Sacramental preparation for your children, or just to better learn the Faith as an adult, CatechismClass.com has courses for all ages and walks of life.  Check out CatechismClass.com's affordable programs and make it a resolution in 2016 to learn and live the Faith better than ever before.

You can read about the past devotions at the following posts:

• 2006 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2007 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2008 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2010 Saint for the Year Devotion 
• 2011 Saint for the Year Devotion 
• 2012 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2013 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2014 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2015 Saint for the Year Devotion

Again, I would like to take a few minutes to explain the devotion.

When will the saints be drawn?  This year I will start the drawing of saints on the Octave Day of Christmas after the 10 AM Solemn High Mass and after the recitation of both the Veni Creator Spiritus and the Litany of Saints.  Drawings will occur as the Litany of Saints are again recited.

Saints will be emailed starting that afternoon and thereafter for the next few days.

What is the Saint for the Year Devotion? Here is my post on this from years past to clarify the matter. This is from the person that draws all of the saints. I don't draw the saints. I will merely pass on your name or screenname to her so that she will draw a saint for you. Also, I will pass on the name of any of your family or friends that would like to participate. This isn't superstition. St. Faustina did the same thing!

Last year hundreds of people received saints to be their special patron, and there were miraculous connections. It was truly amazing. We pray that this year the Holy Ghost will again work so that all participants receive a saint that they will be able to pray to for aid throughout the entire year:

Saint for the Year

I want to tell you about the practice of picking a saint at random to be your “holy protector” for the year. Actually, the saint is the one who chooses us though. The tradition of letting a saint “pick you,” is not a new one. St. Faustina wrote about it in her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. The excerpt is below.

“There is a custom among us of drawing by lot, on New Year's Day, special Patrons for ourselves for the whole year. In the morning during meditation, there arose within me a secret desire that the Eucharistic Jesus be my special Patron for this year also, as in the past. But, hiding this desire from my Beloved, I spoke to Him about everything else but that. When we came to refectory for breakfast, we blessed ourselves and began drawing our patrons. When I approached the holy cards on which the names of the patrons were written, without hesitation I took one, but I didn't read the name immediately as I wanted to mortify myself for a few minutes. Suddenly, I heard a voice in my soul: ‘I am your patron. Read.’ I looked at once at the inscription and read, ‘Patron for the Year 1935 - the Most Blessed Eucharist.’ My heart leapt with joy, and I slipped quietly away from the sisters and went for a short visit before the Blessed Sacrament, where I poured out my heart. But Jesus sweetly admonished me that I should be at that moment together with the sisters. I went immediately in obedience to the rule.”Excerpt from Divine Mercy in My Soul, the Diary of St. Faustina"

I have a container full of names ... I will be glad to pick out the name for you and send you the name if you prefer. I am so excited by my saint(s) ... I already picked mine. Well, I should say that they picked me ... I have Saints Marcus and Marcellianus ... they are twin brothers who were sent to prison before their death. St. Sebastian visited them continually in prison and helped keep their faith alive. They are buried near St. Felix and are specifically honored in Spain.

OK now ... here are a couple of immediate ironies in regard to these saints ... I have a SPECIAL place in my heart for twins! As a child, I LOVED reading the story about St. Sebastian. I had a children's book of saints and I think I wore out the pages on St. Sebastian! Felix is my grandfather's name! Silvia, our exchange student, is from Spain! I am so excited to have these two saints to walk through 2006 with me! I'm looking forward as to where and how they will intercede for me.

Please pass this message on through your blogs and/or email distribution lists, letting all of the Catholic blogsphere have the chance to participate. I only ask that you give me your email address so that I may contact you when your saint is drawn. Usually within one to two days I can email you about your saint.

So, please leave it below in the comment box when you ask to participate. If you wish to remain anonymous, please leave your initials instead of your name.  Do not add the same request more than once.  If you comment is posted below, it will count.

Note: If you emailed me directly your request, DO NOT leave it here in the comments box.  Do not duplicate entries.

So, comment below and pass this message on throughout the entire Catholic Blogsphere!

Support

I handle the planning, marketing, and drawing for this devotion each year without any cost. Please take a minute and if you are a supporter of this devotion, please consider leaving us a free will donation. Your support is greatly appreciated and helps me continue working on this devotion and spreading it further and it helps keep A Catholic Life online.

Please - a donation of only $5.00 is appreciated and helpful!  If each of you contributed only $5.00 I would be able to cover some of the most important updates this blog needs.

Results:

Name	Saint
Diane S	St. Vincent of Saragossa
Josemaria Martin	St. Peter Celestine
Kathy Green	St. Dogmael of Wales
Theresa (Terry)	St. Meneve
John	St. Joseph of Leonissa
Joe	St. Cosmas
Katie	St. Vincent de Paul
Joe	St. Nonno of Porto Romano
Monica	St. Augustine of Canterbury
Laura	St. William of Pontoise
Amy	St. Ascelina
Katie	St. Joan of Arc
Mackenzie	St. Emilien of Nantes
John	St. Cosmas
Mike	St. Augustin Schoeffler
Paul	Our Lady of Divine Grace
Lucy Espinoza	St. Jane Frances de Chantal
Mike Viele	St. Ascelina
Alma R	St. Marguerite Bourgeois
John R	St. Colman
Jenny E	St. Charles Lwanga
Lois F	St. James the Greater
Honey	St. Rhipsime
Honey's future husband	St. Colette of Corbie
Honey's Dad	St. Agilaeus
Honey's Mom	St. Patroclus of Troyes
Nhing	St. Richardis
A.T.	St. Cosmas
M.T.	Blessed Herman the Cripple
Max	St. Ioannes Pak Hu-Jae
L.	St. Robert Bellarmine
Liese E.	St. Canus Natus
Ryan	St. Charles Lwanga
Jeremy	St. Juan Diego
Debbie	St. Poemus of Membressa
Kathy R	St. Rose Philippine Duchesne
Natalie S	St. Joseph of Leonissa
Jaquie S	St. Germana
Judi S	St. Patroclus of Troyes
Danielle Rohlena	Blessed John Dominic
Heidi Maly	St. Martin of Tours
Holly Barrios	Blessed Mark of Modena
Ramona DiNardo	St. Floribert of Liege
the John DiNardo family	St. Emilie de Rodat
Susan Maly	St. Elzear of Sabran
Maly Family	St. Aymard of Cluny
ABG	St. Gaugericus
VBG	Blessed Josefa Naval Girbes
AMG	St. Theodore Guerin
JLG	St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary
JsL	St. Wistremundus of Cordoba
JJL	St. Benedicta of Rome
Michael	Blessed John Dominic
Matthew	St. Quintus the Thaumaturge
Max	Pope St. Anacletus
Kevin	St. Auspicius of Toul
Jen	Pope St. Fabian
Joyce	St. Emilie de Rodat
Bruce	St. Ascelina
Alley	St. Agatha
Steve	St. Bridget of Sweden
Molly	St. Benedicta of Rome
Ben	St. Ioannes Pak Hu-Jae
Robyn	St. Poemus of Membressa
Cate	Blessed Mark of Modena
Nikolas	St. Leo the Great
Caitlind	St. Charles of St. Andrew
Chris	Blessed Mannes
Evangeline	St. Vulpian of Tyre
Janine D	St. Elzear of Sabran
Kyle	Blessed Stephana
L. (Laura)	St. Jane Frances de Chantal
Cheryl	Blessed Anthony della Chiesa
Jacob	Blessed Nicholas
Lynn K	Blessed Margaret of Savoy
Lynn K future husband	St. Agathangelus
Lucy Drury	St. Acius of Amiens
Catherine Z	St. Brigid of Ireland
Tim W	Blessed Mannes
Sandy M	St. John of God
Brandon	Blessed Maria Bartholomew
Rachel	St. Hitto of Saint-Gall
James B.	St. Colette of Corbie
Michelle B.	St. Germana
Craig J.	St. Vincent of Digne
Andrew J.	Pope St. Pius V
Christopher J.	St. Ormond
Frank B.	St. Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena
Joseph (Df_Seals)	St. Juliana of Nicomedia
Cindy	St. Tironensian Order
Lila	St. Simeon-Francois Berneux
Dustin	St. Aventinus of Tours
Hailey	St. Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena
Sandra S	St. Bede the Venerable
Mary Ann	St. Romana of Capua
Harry	St. Maria Goretti
Lisa	St. Gundenis of Carthage
Isabella	St. Anthony Zaccaria
Spx1313	St. Odo of Cluny
Elizabeth K	Blessed Isnard
Julie	St. Martina
Bill	Blessed Anthony della Chiesa
Scott	St. Gracilian
Blake	St. Martha
Robert J	St. Juliana of Nicomedia
Andy M	St. Andrew
Cathleen (etlew)	Blessed Margaret of Savoy
jmr1979	Blessed Peter of Castello
Avery family	Blessed Innocent V
Evangeline A	St. Prosper of Aquitaine
Lisa B.	Our Lady of Carmel of the Maipu
Christine M	St. Gotteschalk
Tracy	St. Sebastian of Aparicio
Teshia	St. Romuald
Christian	St. Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena
Jagear	Blessed Julia Rodzinska
Ashley	St. Charles of St. Andrew
Liù M	Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
Madel Mercado	St. Peter Fourier
Sergio Mercado III	St. Stephen of Mar Saba
JMJ (Joseph)	Blessed Alexander Briant
Ray	St. Pierre Dumoulin-Borie
Rosie	St. Louise de Marillac
Cristian	St. Catherine of Genoa
Nicholaus	St. Auspicius of Toul
Elena	Blessed Columba Marmion
Pablo	St. Noel Chabanel
Joe S.	St. John the Apostle
David K	St. Peter Celestine
Glen	St. Ceollach
Christina	St. Quadratus of Herbipolis
Mara	St. Rose of Lima
Michael	St. Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert
Reagan	St. Edward the Confessor
Karina	St. Noel Chabanel
Juliana	Blessed Terence
Thomas	St. Clare
Elena	St. Pierre-Henri Dorie
Gregory	St. Magloire
Matthew	St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Kara	St. Martin of Tours
danjc1109	St. Maedeleine Sophie Barat
Tino T.	Blessed Anthony Neyrot
Joanna	Blessed Isnard
Dolores	Blessed James Salomonio
Katryna	St. Fiace
Christopher	Blessed Julia Rodzinska
Paige	Blessed Bezela of Goda
Sydney	St. Irenaeus of Lyons
Isaac	St. Jane Frances de Chantal
Elijah	St. Stephen the First Martyr
Samuel	St. Kiaran
Philip	St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Gemma D	St. Hugh of Noara
Anne D	St. Gosbert of Osnabruck
Michelle R	St. Isabelle of France
Michelle's Husband	St. Paschal Baylon
Peter	St. Simeon, Bishop and Martyr
Andrew	St. Restitutus of Rome
Max	St. Boniface
Jeffrey	St. Gracilian
Michael	St. Paschal Baylon
Francis	Blessed James of Bevagna
Nicholas	St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Mason	St. Honoratus of Arles
David	Our Lady of Prompt Succor
Maryann S	St. George
Anna B	Blessed Margaret of Savoy
Emily M	St. Jean-Louis Bonnard
Madalena	Blessed Hyacinthe Cormier
Barry	Pope St. Martin I
Susan	St. Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert
Anthony	St. Paschal Baylon
Marie	St. Marguerite Bourgeois
Sentina	St. Alena
Theodore	Blessed Jane of Portugal
Erin	St. Elizabeth Rose
Alex	St. Goneri of Brittany
Elly	Blessed Anthony Neyrot
Anna	St. Louis de Montfort
Evelyn	St. Paschal Baylon
Patricia	St. Elizabeth Rose
Monica	Blessed John Dominic
Michael p	St. Cosmas
Robert	St. Acius of Amiens
Mercedes	St. Nicholas of Myra
Julio	Blessed Imelda
Jeannie	St. John the Apostle
Ben	St. Teresa of Avila
Felicity	Blessed Alvarez
Sarah	St. Leudwinus
Tina Z	St. Martin of Tours
Sioban	St. Maruontus
Katie	Blessed Mark of Modena
Henry	St. Baldwin of Rieti
Laurie K.	Blessed Haberilla
Daniel K.	St. Gregory of Nyssa
Roger E.	St. Leudwinus
Paul John V.	Blessed Gonsalvo
Demetria E.	Blessed Alvarez
Valerie V.	St. Paternus of Auch
Katherine V.	St. Vulpian of Tyre
Olindo V.	St. Peter of Tarentaise
Catherine	Ss Cosmas and Damian
Gloria Illies	St. Dominic de Guzman
Catherine	St. Agilaeus
Emmanuel	Blessed Peter Sanz (and companions)
Therese	Blessed Giles of Assisi
Clarisse	St. Faustinus
Lucille	St. Filippo Smaldone
Bernadette	St. Jerome
Mark A	St. Noel Chabanel
Paul W.	St. Leudwinus
Debbie	Seven Founders of the Order of Servites
Joe	St. Judoc
Thomas	St. Wenceslaus
David	St. Frances of Rome
Stephanie	Blessed Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas
Debbie Cooper	St. Theodosius of Antioch
Butch W.	St. Joan of Valois
Kyle W.	St. Crescentianus
Amanda M.	Blessed Herman the Cripple
Ryan W.	St. Martin of Tours
McKenzie W.	Blessed Augustine Novello
Jan B	St. Hugh of Noara
Janet k	Blessed Gonsalvo of Amarante
Fatimite13	St. Andrew Fournet
Denise Griffiths	St. Stephen of Hungary

If you are not familiar your saint, I encourage you to research online and even pick up a copy of Father Hugo Hoever's "Live of the Saints," from which I read often.  While the book does not include saints canonized in recent years, it is something that I am highly recommending.

Here is a prayer to honor any saint: http://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2006/01/prayer-to-venerate-any-saint.html

And finally, please share this post on your blogs, on social media, and through email to help spread this Catholic devotion as far and wide as possible.

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A Christmas Sermon By St. Gregory of Nazianzus

Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth, be exalted. Sing to the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of your sins, with joy because of your hope.

Again, the darkness is past; again Light is made; again Egypt is punished with darkness; again Israel is enlightened by a pillar. The people who sat in the darkness of ignorance, let them see the great Light full of knowledge. Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. The letter gives way, the Spirit comes to the front. The shadows flee away, the truth comes in on them. Melchizedek is concluded. He who was without Mother becomes without Father (without mother of His former state, without father of His second). The laws of nature are upset; the world above must be filled. Christ commands it, let us not set ourselves against Him. O clap your hands together all you people, because unto us a Child is born, and a Son given unto us, whose government is upon His shoulder (for with the cross it is raised up), and His name is called The Angel of the Great Counsel of the Father. Let John cry, prepare the way of the Lord; I too will cry the power of this Day. He who is not carnal is Incarnate; the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Let the Jews be offended, let the Greeks deride; let heretics talk until their tongues ache. Then shall they believe, when they see Him ascending into heaven; and if not then, yet when they see Him coming out of heaven and sitting as Judge.

This is our present Festival; it is this which we are celebrating today, the Coming of God to Man, that we might go forth, or rather (for this is the more proper expression) that we might go back to God - that putting off of the old man, we might put on the new; and that as we died in Adam, so we might live in Christ, being born with Christ and crucified with Him and buried with Him and rising with Him. For I must undergo the beautiful conversion, and as the painful succeeded the more blissful, so must the more blissful come out of the painful. For where sin abounded grace did much more abound; and if a taste condemned us, how much more does the passion of Christ justify us? Therefore let us keep the Feast, not after the manner of a heathen festival, but after a godly sort; not after the way of the world, but in a fashion above the world; not as our own, but as belonging to Him who is ours, or rather as our master's; not as of weakness, but as of healing; not as of creation, but of re-creation.

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Profanation and Apostasy

Guest Article written by David Martin

The holiday season with all its feasting and merry-making is an appropriate time to reflect on the profanation of the temple, which is the major issue facing the Church today. Desecration is rampant throughout the universal Church through the present frenzy of secular activity that is tearing the Church asunder.

Today’s “contemporary” pop liturgy, the use of lay Eucharistic ministers at Mass, and the widespread practice of receiving Communion in the hand are among the many abuses that are destroying the Faith. The Church has become a meeting place for heretics and a stomping ground for ecumenicists that are trying to merge the Catholic Church with other world religions, fulfilling St. John’s prophecy that the Holy City will be overrun by the Gentiles for a symbolic time of forty-two months. (Apocalypse 11:2)

The primary difference between the Church of yesteryear and that of today is that the former demonstrated a healthy cognition of the divine presence in the sanctuary. The Church before Vatican II conducted itself with reverence and respect, evidenced especially by the way Catholics were more observant of God’s laws and ordinances, both in their personal lives, and in the context of divine worship. The Church before the Council was more focused on the presence of Christ in the tabernacle, which in turn was reflected in the true charity and selfless giving that existed among the faithful.

Whereas the church in our time has largely turned its back on the divine presence and is taken up with  a new-found encounter with its “environmental” surroundings. Yea, the church today is abuzz with all manner of socialist, busy-body activity, only because the new makeshift procedures since the Council have brought about this unprecedented shift of focus where the emphasis today is on the community.

We might say that a new order of distraction prevails. The post-conciliar church is bent on appeasing itself with change, as opposed to the Church of old which labored to appease God with sacrifice. Divine worship has become cheap, superficial, and mechanical, where the congregation is wound up in robotic fashion to sit down, stand up, shake hands, and utter pre-constructed “psalms and responses,“ while the minds and hearts are blank! Very little heart and soul goes into today’s Sunday Mass worship.

This is lamentable when we consider that the Holy Eucharist is the very heartbeat of the Mystical Body, around which the entire church must revolve. Hence a true renewal is needed to place the church back into focus with its Head. Genuineness in worship means contrition and compunction of heart, and that the church go down on its knees before God in the Eucharist. Without this self-abasement before the King of kings, the mercy of God does not rest on His people. (Lk 1: 50)

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem when He threw the money-changers out of the temple was significant in that it marked the only time in the Gospel when He became downright angry and even violent with the Jews. This was to serve as a lesson for all generations to come that the wrath of God is especially enkindled against those who abuse the House of God for their own selfish gain.

Christ indeed will come among us again to fling the wrongdoers from His House, but this time it won’t be just for matters of money, but for heresy and blatant betrayal of the Faith before the people. The Pharisees in purple hats will tremble and shake “because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant.” (Isaias 34:5)

Enough could not be done to sensitize ourselves to the horror of the present sacrilege and how it is re-crucifying Christ in His own House.  St. Padre Pio relates that when he was alone in the choir to pray, he observed a young monk who appeared to be dusting the candelabra near the altar. When he asked who he was, the monk answered: “I am a brother of yours that made the novitiate here. I was ordered to clean the altar during the year of the novitiate. Unfortunately many times I didn’t reverence Jesus while passing in front of the altar [didn’t genuflect], thus causing the Holy Sacrament that was preserved in the tabernacle to be disrespected. For this serious carelessness, I am still in Purgatory.”

If this was the verdict for a simple monk who wasn’t quite perfect, what can we expect for a church today that has been turned into a socialist merry-go-round with the use of churches for concerts, plays, meetings, rehearsals, heretical talks, kiddie Masses, charismatic séances, and all manner of sham religious activity that has overrun the sanctuary and made the Holy Place a shambles?! Christ today is an outcast and exile in His own Church, crushed and buried under the sins of His people who neither reverence nor take notice of His physical and supernatural presence on the altar. The people stream into the church talking, laughing, and swinging to the beat of a new gospel (guitar Mass), while women come in half-dressed exposing the indecency of their flesh for their own gratification!

The worst of it is that the present-day profanation of the temple is carried on in the name of God,   which shouldn’t surprise us. The Pharisees condemned and crucified their Savior in the name of “God their father,” but Jesus told them who their father was, the devil, just as the devil is the father of those who seek to turn the Church into a humanist meeting hall. The modern day “renovation” of the Church is done to placate the complaints of those who protest, thus making the renovators protestors in the process. Thereby they display contempt and mockery for the Holy Place, as did the Pharisees who saw the temple as a forum to advance their own egoistic designs.

Unfortunately the Church’s mission has taken the brunt of this latter-day revolt. Pope Francis has emphasized how the Church must reach out and reinstate souls to the friendship of God, but how shall this be done if the church is serving to repel souls? Very few parishes today have kept their traditional beauty so as to attract conversions and vocations. The Church has been so discredited by all the ridicule that outsiders no longer take her seriously as in former times. If clergy and laity no longer believe that the Creator Himself dwells in the tabernacle in full Body and Spirit, how will outsiders ever believe this? If the church is not first enlightened from within, how shall it enlighten those from without? The Church has truly lost its magnetism, and is presently not effective in drawing souls to Christ.

Yea, the post-conciliar revolution is driving souls from the Church and bringing the scourge of God upon His people! The Blessed Virgin at Fatima warned of the divine scourge that was to come in the latter days, but this scourge will not be of little knots on a rope, but of boots, tanks, guns, and nuclear warfare over mankind. The chastisement indeed is coming, but the most painful part of it will be the devastating knowledge that it was justly due to man’s sins. In the final analysis the world will have learned that it was the profanation of the temple that incited God’s wrath and set in motion the great chastisement through which billions were lost.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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Vigil of St. Thomas the Apostle

Vigil (1954 Calendar): December 20th

Today is an ideal day to fast and abstain in preparation for today's Feast of St. Thomas. For centuries, the vigil of the Apostles were days of penance and the feasts of the Apostles were Holy Days of Obligation!

Appropriated from Liturgia Latina:

Like nearly all the Feasts of the Apostles, that of St Thomas is preceded by a vigil which will enable our souls to prepare for it in a holy manner. The Gospel recalls the vocation of this great Apostle who had the happiness of hearing continually the word of Christ and enjoying His intimacy. "I have called you friends because I have made known to you all that I have heard from my Father." "God," adds the Epistle, "has chosen him from among all men. He has given him His commandments, the law of life and of instruction."

Wherefore the Offertory declares that he had been chosen by Jesus to be one of the twelve princes who would govern His Church: "The Lord has crowned him with glory and honour and has given him authority over the works of His hands."

"The Lord," the Epistle also says, "has given him his share of inheritance among the twelve tribes." The country of the Parthians and Persians was allotted to St Thomas when the Apostles divided the world among themselves. Let us prepare for tomorrow's solemnity in union with the Holy Church.

Ego autem sicut oliva fructifera in domo Domini, speravi in misericordia Dei mei: et exspectabo nomen tuum, quoniam bonum est ante conspectum sanctorum tuorum. * Quid gloriaris in malitia: qui potens es in iniquitate?

But I, as a fruitful olive-tree in the house of the Lord, have hoped in the mercy of my God: and I will wait on Thy name, for it is good in the sight of Thy saints. * Why dost thou glory in malice, thou that art mighty in iniquity?  (Psalm 51:10-11,3 from the Introit of Mass)

Collect:

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the solemn feast of Thine Apostle Thomas, which we anticipate, may both increase our devotion and advance our salvation.

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Sermon by St. Alphonsus Liguouri for the 4th Sunday of Advent

The Savior of the World, Whom, according to the Prediction-of the Prophet Isaiah, Men were One Day to see on this Earth ("and All Flesh shall see the Salvation of God"), has already come. We have not only seen Him conversing-among Men, but we have also seen Him Suffering and Dying for the Love of us. Let us, then, this morning, consider the Love which we Owe to Jesus Christ, at least through Gratitude, for the Love which He bears to us. In the First Point we shall consider the Greatness-of the Love which Jesus Christ has shown us; and in the Second we shall see the Greatness of our Obligations-to Love Him.




You may listen to the audio version here

First Point
On the Great Love which Jesus Christ has shown to us

"Christ", says Saint Augustine, "came on Earth that Men might Know how much God Loves them". He has come, and, to show the Immense Love which this God bears us, He has given Himself entirely to us, by Abandoning Himself to all the Pains of this Life, and afterwards to the Scourges, to the Thorns, and to all the Sorrows and Insults which He Suffered in His Passion, and by offering Himself to Die, Abandoned by all, on the Infamous Tree of the Cross. "Who Loved me, and Delivered Himself for me" - Galations 2:20.

Jesus Christ could Save us without Dying on the Cross, and without Suffering. One (1) Drop of His Blood would be Sufficient-for our Redemption. Even a Prayer, offered-to His Eternal Father, would be Sufficient; because, on-account-of His Divinity, His Prayer would be of Infinite (∞) Value, and would therefore be Sufficient-for the Salvation of the World, and of a Thousand (1000) Worlds. "But", says Saint Chrysostom, or another Ancient Author, "what was Sufficient for Redemption, was not Sufficient for Love". To show how much He Loved us, He Wished to shed not only a Part-of His Blood, but the Entire of it, by Dint-of Torrents. This may be Inferred-from the Words which He used on the Night before His Death: "This is My Blood of the New Testament, which shall be Shed for many" - Matthew 26:28.

The Words shall be Shed show that in His Passion, the Blood of Jesus Christ was Poured-forth, even to the Last Drop. Hence, when after Death, His Side was opened-with a Spear, Blood and Water came-forth, as if what then flowed, was All that remained-of His Blood. Jesus Christ, then, though He could Save us without Suffering, Wished-to embrace a Life of Continual Pain, and to Suffer the Cruel and Ignominious Death of the Cross. "He humbled Himself, becoming Obedient unto Death, even to the Death of the Cross" - Philippians 2:8.

"Greater Love than this no Man hath, that a Man lay down his Life for his Friends" - John 15:13. To show His Love for us, what more could the Son of God do, than Die for us? What more can One (1) Man do for Another, than give his Life for him? "Greater Love than this, no Man hath". Tell me, my Brother, if One of your Servants - if the Vilest Man on this Earth, had done for you what Jesus Christ has done, in Dying through Pain on a Cross, could you remember his Love for you, and not Love him?

Saint Francis of Assisi appeared to be unable to think of anything but the Passion of Jesus Christ; and thinking of it, he continually Shed Tears, so that by his Constant Weeping, he became nearly Blind. Being found one day, Weeping and Groaning at the Foot of the Crucifix, he was asked the Cause-of his Tears and Lamentations. He replied: "I Weep over the Sorrows and Ignominies of my Lord. And what makes me Weep still more, is that the Men for whom He has Suffered so much, Live in Forgetfulness of Him".

O Christian, should a Doubt ever enter your Mind, that Jesus Christ Loves you, Raise your Eyes and look-at Him, hanging-on the Cross. Ah! says Saint Thomas of Villanova, the Cross to-which He is Nailed, the 'Internal' and 'External' Sorrows which He endures, and the Cruel Death which He Suffers for you, are Convincing Proofs of the Love which He bears you. "Testis crux, testes dolores, testis amara mors quam pro te sustinuit". Do you not, says Saint Bernard, hear the Voice-of that Cross, and of those Wounds, crying-out to make you feel that He Truly Loves you? "Clamat crux, clamat vulnus, quod vere dilexit".

Saint Paul says that the Love which Jesus Christ has shown, in Condescending-to Suffer so much for our Salvation, should Excite us to His Love, more Powerfully than the Scourging, the Crowning with Thorns, the Painful Journey-to Calvary, the Agony of Three (3) Hours on the Cross, the Buffets, the Spitting in His Face, and all the other Injuries which the Savior endured. According to the Apostle, the Love which Jesus has shown us, not only Obliges, but in a certain manner 'Forces' and 'Constrains' us, to Love a God Who has Loved so much. "For the Charity of Christ presseth us" - 2Corinthians 5:14. On this 'Text', Saint Francis de Sales says: "We Know that Jesus, the True God, has Loved us so as to Suffer Death, and even Death on the Cross, for our Salvation. Does not such Love, put our Hearts, as it were, under a Press, to Force from them Love, by a Violence which is Stronger in proportion as it is more Amiable?".

So Great was the Love that Inflamed the Enamored Heart of Jesus, that He not only Wished to Die for our Redemption, but during His Whole Life, He Sighed Ardently for the Day on which He should Suffer Death, for the Love of us. Hence, during His Life, Jesus used to say: "I have a Baptism wherewith I am to be Baptized: and how am I Straitened (stressed), until it be accomplished?" - Luke 12:50. In My Passion, I am to be Baptized with the Baptism of My Own Blood, to Wash-away the Sins of Men. "And how am I Straitened?". How, says Saint Ambrose, explaining this 'Passage', am I Straitened (stressed) by the Desire of the Speedy Arrival of the Day of My Death. Hence, on the Night before His Passion He said: "With Desire I have Desired to eat this Pasch with you, before I Suffer" - Luke 22:15.

"We have", says Saint Lawrence Justinian, "seen Wisdom become Foolish, through the Excess of Love". We have, he says, seen the Son of God become, as it were, a Fool, through the Excessive Love which He bore-to Men. Such, too, was the Language of the Gentiles, when they heard the Apostles Preaching that Jesus Christ, Suffered Death for the Love of Men. "But we", says Saint Paul, " Preach Christ Crucified, unto the Jews indeed a Stumbling Block, and unto the Gentiles, Foolishness" - 1Corinthians 1:23. Who, they exclaimed, can Believe that a God, most-Happy in Himself, and Who stands in Need-of no one, should take Human Flesh and Die for the Love of Men, who are His Creatures? This would be to Believe that a God became Foolish, for the Love of Men. "It appears Folly", says Saint Gregory, "that the Author of Life should Die for Men". But, whatever Infidels may 'Say' or 'Think', it is of Faith that the Son of God has Shed all His Blood, for the Love of us, to Wash-away the Sins of our Souls. "Who hath Loved us, and Washed us from our Sins, in His Own Blood" - Revelation 1:5. Hence, the Saints were Struck Dumb with Astonishment, at the consideration-of the Love of Jesus Christ. At the Sight-of the Crucifix, Saint Francis of Paul could do nothing but exclaim, O Love! O Love! O Love!

"Having Loved His Own, who were in the World, He Loved them unto the End" - John 13:1. This Loving God was not content-with showing us His Love by Dying on the Cross for our Salvation; but, at the End of His Life, He Wished-to leave us His Own Flesh, for the Food of our Souls, that thus, He might Unite (1) Himself entirely to us. "Take ye, and eat. This is My Body" - Matthew 26:26. But of this Gift, and this Excess-of Love, we shall speak at another Time, in Treating-of the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Let us pass-to the Second Point.

Second Point
On the Greatness of our Obligation to Love Jesus Christ

He who Loves, Wishes to-be Loved. "When", says Saint Bernard, "God Loves, He Desires nothing else than to be Loved". The Redeemer said: "I am come to Cast Fire on the Earth; and what Will I, but that it be Kindled?" - Luke 12:49. I, says Jesus Christ, came on Earth, to Light-up the Fire-of Divine Love in the Hearts of Men, "What Will I, but that it be Kindled?". God Wishes nothing else from us, than to be Loved. Hence the Holy Church Prays in the Following Words: "We Beseech Thee, O Lord, that the Spirit may Inflame us with the Fire which Jesus Christ cast upon the Earth, and which He vehemently Wished to be Kindled". Ah! what have not the Saints, Inflamed-with this Fire, accomplished! They have Abandoned all things - Delights, Honors, the Purple and the Sceptre - that they might Burn with this Holy Fire. But you will ask what are you to do, that you too may be Inflamed-with the Love of Jesus Christ. Imitate David: "In my Meditation, a Fire shall Flame out" - Psalm 38:4. Meditation is the Blessed Furnace, in which the Holy Fire of Divine Love is Kindled. Make Mental Prayer every Day, Meditate on the Passion of Jesus Christ, and Doubt-not, but you too shall Burn-with this Blessed Flame.

Saint Paul says, that Jesus Christ Died for us to make Himself the Master of the Hearts of All. "To this End, Christ Died and Rose again; that He might be Lord both of the Dead and of the Living" - Romans 14:9. He Wished, says the Apostle, to give His Life for All Men, without a Single Exception, that not even One (1) should live any longer for himself, but that all might live only to that God, Who condescended-to Die for them. "And Christ Died for All; that they also who Live, may not now Live to themselves, but unto Him Who Died for them" - 2Corinthians 5:15.

Ah! to correspond-to the Love of this God, it would be necessary that another God should Die for him, as Jesus Christ Died for us. O Ingratitude of Men! A God has condescended-to give His Life for their Salvation, and they will not even think on what He has done for them! Ah! if each of you thought frequently of the Redeemer, and on the Love which He has shown us in His Passion, how could you but Love Him with your Whole Hearts? To him who sees with a Lively Faith, the Son of God suspended by Three (3) Nails on the Infamous Gibbet, every Wound of Jesus 'Speaks' and 'Says': "Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God". Love, O Man, thy Lord and thy God, Who has Loved thee so Intensely. Who can resist such Tender Expressions! "The Wounds of Jesus Christ", says Saint Bonaventure, "Wound the Hardest Hearts, and Inflame Frozen Souls".

"Oh! if you knew the Mystery of the Cross!", said Saint Andrew the Apostle to the Tyrant by whom he was Tempted to Deny Jesus Christ. O Tyrant, if you knew the Love which your Savior has shown you, by Dying on the Cross, for your Salvation; instead of Tempting me, you would Abandon all the Goods of this Earth, to give yourself to the Love of Jesus Christ.

I conclude, my most Beloved Brethren, by Recommending you henceforth to Meditate Every Day on the Passion of Jesus Christ. I shall be Content, if you Daily devote to this Meditation, a Quarter of an Hour. Let each, at least procure a Crucifix: let him keep it in his Room, and from time-to-time give a Glance at it saying: Ah! my Jesus, Thou hast Died for me, and I do not Love Thee! Had a Person Suffered-for a Friend, Injuries, Buffets, and Prisons, he would be Greatly Pleased to find that they were 'Remembered' and 'Spoken-of', with Gratitude. But, he should be Greatly Displeased, if the Friend, for whom they had been Borne, were Unwilling to 'Think' or 'Hear-of' his Sufferings. Thus Frequent Meditation on His Passion is very Pleasing-to our Redeemer; but the Neglect of it, greatly-provokes His Displeasure. Oh! how Great will be the Consolation which we shall receive in our Last Moments, from the Sorrows and Death of Jesus Christ, if during Life, we shall have Frequently Meditated on them, with Love! Let us not wait till others, at the Hour of Death, place in our hands, the Crucifix; let us not wait till they Remind us of all that Jesus Christ Suffered for us.

Let us during Life, embrace Jesus Christ Crucified; let us keep ourselves always United with Him. He who practices Devotion to the Passion of Our Lord, cannot but be Devoted to the Dolors of Mary, the Remembrance of which, will be to us a Source-of Great Consolation, at the Hour of Death. Oh! how 'Profitable' and 'Sweet', the Meditation of Jesus on the Cross. Oh! how Happy the Death of him, who Dies in the Embrace-of Jesus Crucified, accepting Death with Cheerfulness, for the Love of that God, Who has Died for the Love of us.

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An Excerpt: Fatima in Twilight

From the words of Our Lady of Fatima said to Sister Lucia on “the last times” and the “last 2 remedies” God is giving to the world, reported by Fr. Augustine Fuentes:

"Father, the Most Holy Virgin did not tell me that we are in the last times of the world, but She made me understand this for three reasons."

“The *first* reason: ‘She told me that the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin. And a decisive battle is the FINAL battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will suffer defeat. Also, from now on we MUST choose sides. Either we are for God OR we are for the devil. There IS NO other possibility.’

“The *second* reason: ‘She said to my cousins as well as to myself, that God is giving two last remedies to the world. These are the Holy Rosary and Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the LAST two remedies which signify that there will be NO OTHERS.’ "

“The third reason: ‘God always, before He is about to chastise the world, exhausts all other remedies. Now, when He sees that the world pays no attention whatsoever… He offers us with a certain trepidation the LAST means of salvation, His Most Holy Mother ... if you despise and repulse this ultimate means we will NOT have any more forgiveness from Heaven because we will have committed a sin which the Gospel calls the Sin against the Holy Spirit… This Sin consists of openly rejecting with full knowledge and consent, the salvation which He offers. Let us remember that Jesus Christ is a very good Son and that He does NOT permit that we offend and despise His Holy Mother’…”

(From the words from Fr. Fuentes, of his interview with Sr. Lucia on December 26th, 1957. Quoted in “Fatima in Twilight” by Mark Fellows. Copyright, 2003. “Twilight Begins,” pp. 145-146.)

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Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Mass in Some Places)

“Drop down the dew from above, you heavens, and let the clouds rain the Just One! Let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior!” (Isaiah 48:8).

Today in the pre-1955 Traditional Catholic Missal is the Mass in Some Places (pro aliquibus locis) of The Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The history of this special feast is related by the great liturgist of the modern era, Dom Prosper Guéranger in his Liturgical Year. 

THIS feast, which is now kept not only throughout the whole of Spain but in many other parts of the Catholic world, owes its origin to the bishops of the tenth Council of Toledo, in 656. These prelates thought that there was an incongruity in the ancient practice of celebrating the feast of the Annunciation on the twenty-fifth of March, inasmuch as this joyful solemnity frequently occurs at the time when the Church is intent upon the Passion of our Lord, so that it is sometimes obliged to be transferred into Easter time, with which it is out of harmony for another reason; they therefore decreed that, henceforth, in the Church of Spain there should be kept, eight days before Christmas, a solemn feast with an octave, in honour of the Annunciation, and as a preparation for the great solemnity of our Lord’s Nativity.. In course of time, however, the Church of Spain saw the necessity of returning to the practice of the Church of Rome, and of those of the whole world, which solemnize the twenty-fifth of March as the day of our Lady’s Annunciation and the Incarnation of the Son of God. But such had been, for ages, the devotion of the people for the feast of the eighteenth of December, that it was considered requisite to maintain some vestige of it. They discontinued, therefore, to celebrate the Annunciation on this day; but the faithful were requested to consider, with devotion, what must have been the sentiments of the holy Mother of God during the days immediately preceding her giving Him birth. A new feast was instituted, under the name of ‘the Expectation of the blessed Virgin’s delivery.’

This feast, which sometimes goes under the name of Our Lady of O, or the feast of O, on account of the great antiphons which are sung during these days, and, in a special manner, of that which begins O Virgo virginum (which is still used in the Vespers of the Expectation, together with the O Adonaï, the antiphon of the Advent Office), is kept with great devotion in Spain. A High Mass is sung at a very early hour each morning during the octave, at which all who are with child, whether rich or poor, consider it a duty to assist, that they may thus honour our Lady’s Maternity, and beg her blessing upon themselves. It is not to be wondered at that the holy See has approved of this pious practice being introduced into almost every other country. We find that the Church of Milan, long before Rome conceded this feast to the various dioceses of Christendom, celebrated the Office of our Lady’s Annunciation on the sixth and last Sunday of Advent, and called the whole week following the Hebdomada de Exceptato (for thus the popular expression had corrupted the word Expectato). But these details belong strictly to the archæology of liturgy, and enter not into the plan of our present work ; let us, then, return to the feast of our Lady’s Expectation, which the Church has established and sanctioned as a new means of exciting the attention of the faithful during these last days of Advent.

Most just indeed it is, O holy Mother of God, that we should unite in that ardent desire thou hadst to see Him, who had been concealed for nine months in thy chaste womb ; to know the features of this Son of the heavenly Father, who is also thine; to come to that blissful hour of His birth, which will give glory to God in the highest, and, on earth, peace to men of good-will. Yes, dear Mother, the time is fast approaching, though not fast enough to satisfy thy desires and ours. Make us redouble our attention to the great mystery; complete our preparation by thy powerful prayers for us, that when the solemn hour has come, our Jesus may find no obstacle to His entrance into our hearts.

Gregory DiPippo adds from a 2020 Facebook Page:

The feast of Our Lady's Expectation (Expectatio Partus) is a Spanish feast, which derives ultimately from the Mozarabic custom of keeping the feast of the Annunciation on Dec. 18. Even though the Mozarabic liturgy had almost completely disappeared by the early 15th century, this particular feast was evidently popular enough that they decided to insert it into the local Uses of the Roman Rite. At Badajoz, Burgos and Segovia, it was just called "the Annunciation", in Avila, Braga, Seville, and Compostela "the Commemoration of the Annunciation", at Palencia, either just "the Annunciation" or "the repeated solemnity of the Annunciation", and at Valladolid, "the festivity of St Mary before Christmas."

In many pre-Tridentine Spanish Missals, the Mass on Dec. 18 was therefore just a repetition of the Mass of March 25, sometimes with a different Collect, sometimes also with a different Secret and/or post-Communion, and often with a Sequence. In some other places, however, the Mass for the Expectation was the same one included in the supplement "pro aliquibus locis" in many editions of the Roman Missal, which is Roman Mass of Ember Wednesday "Rorate caeli", remodeled as a festive Mass by using the prayers of March 25th and adding an Alleluja.

Remember to pray the O Antiphon for December 18th today during Vespers along with the following

O Virgo Virginum:

O Virgin of virgins! How shall this be? For never was there one like thee nor will there ever be. Ye daughters of Jerusalem, why look ye wondering at me? What ye behold is a divine mystery.

Collect:

O God, Who didst will that at the message of an angel Thy word should take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary: grant that we, Thy suppliants, who believe her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by her intercession with Thee. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

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Advent Ember Fast Begins Today

Ember Days this December: 16, 18, and 19

If you are in good health, please at least fast during these three days and pray additional prayers. Remember the words from the Gospel: "Unless you do penance, you shall likewise perish" (Luke 13:5).  Ember Days are days of fasting and partial abstinence. Please click here for a special PDF Ember Day Manual, including reflections for the Advent Ember Days.

From Angelus Press Daily Missal:

At the beginning of the four seasons of the Ecclesiastical Year, the Ember Days have been instituted by the Church to thank God for blessings obtained during the past year and to implore further graces for the new season. Their importance in the Church was formerly very great. They are fixed on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday: after the First Sunday of Lent for spring, after Pentecost Sunday for summer, after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (14th September) for autumn, and after the Third Sunday of Advent for winter. They are intended, too, to consecrate to God the various seasons in nature, and to prepare by penance those who are about to be ordained. Ordinations generally take place on the Ember Days. The faithful ought to pray on these days for good priests. The Ember Days were until c. 1960 fastdays of obligation.

From Dom Gueranger's Liturgical Year:

To-day the Church begins the fast of Quatuor Tempora, or, as we call it, of Ember days: it includes also the Friday and Saturday of this same week. This observance is not peculiar to the Advent liturgy; it is one which has been fixed for each of the four seasons of the ecclesiastical year. We may consider it as one of those practices which the Church took from the Synagogue; for the prophet Zacharias speaks of the fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months.[1] Its introduction into the Christian Church would seem to have been made in the apostolic times; such, at least, is the opinion of St. Leo, of St. Isidore of Seville, of Rabanus Maurus, and of several other ancient Christian writers. It is remarkable, on the other hand, that the orientals do not observe this fast.

From the first ages the Quatuor Tempora were kept, in the Roman Church, at the same time of the year as at present. As to the expression, which is not unfrequently used in the early writers, of the three times and not the four, we must remember that in the spring, these days always come in the first week of Lent, a period already consecrated to the most rigorous fasting and abstinence, and that consequently they could add nothing to the penitential exercises of that portion of the year.

The intentions, which the Church has in the fast of the Ember days, are the same as those of the Synagogue; namely, to consecrate to God by penance the four seasons of the year. The Ember days of Advent are known, in ecclesiastical antiquity, as the fast of the tenth month; and St. Leo, in one of his sermons on this fast, of which the Church has inserted a passage in the second nocturn of the third Sunday of Advent, tells us that a special fast was fixed for this time of the year, because the fruits of the earth had then all been gathered in, and that it behoved Christians to testify their gratitude to God by a sacrifice of abstinence, thus rendering themselves more worthy to approach to God, the more they were detached from the love of created things. 'For fasting,’ adds the holy doctor, 'has ever been the nourishment of virtue. Abstinence is the source of chaste thoughts, of wise resolutions, and of salutary counsel. By voluntary mortifications, the flesh dies to its concupiscences, and the spirit is renewed in virtue. But since fasting alone is not sufficient whereby to secure the soul’s salvation, let us add to it works of mercy towards the poor. Let us make that which we retrench from indulgence, serve unto the exercise of virtue. Let the abstinence of him that fasts, become the meal of the poor man.’

Let us, the children of the Church, practise what is in our power of these admonitions; and since the actual discipline of Advent is so very mild, let us be so much the more fervent in fulfilling the precept of the fast of the Ember days. By these few exercises which are now required of us, let us keep up within ourselves the zeal of our forefathers for this holy season of Advent. We must never forget that although the interior preparation is what is absolutely essential for our profiting by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, yet this preparation could scarcely be real unless it manifested itself by the exterior practices of religion and penance.

The fast of the Ember days has another object besides that of consecrating the four seasons of the year to God by an act of penance: it has also in view the ordination of the ministers of the Church, which takes place on the Saturday, and of which notice was formerly given to the people during the Mass of the Wednesday. In the Roman Church, the ordination held in the month of December was, for a long time, the most solemn of all; and it would appear, from the ancient chronicles of the Popes, that, excepting very extraordinary cases, the tenth month was, for several ages, the only time for conferring Holy Orders in Rome. The faithful should unite with the Church in this her intention, and offer to God their fasting and abstinence for the purpose of obtaining worthy ministers of the word and of the Sacraments, and true pastors of the people.

From New Advent:

Ember days (corruption from Lat. Quatuor Tempora, four times) are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence. They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after 13 December (S. Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Whitsunday, and after 14 September (Exaltation of the Cross). The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy. The immediate occasion was the practice of the heathens of Rome. The Romans were originally given to agriculture, and their native gods belonged to the same class.

At the beginning of the time for seeding and harvesting religious ceremonies were performed to implore the help of their deities: in June for a bountiful harvest, in September for a rich vintage, and in December for the seeding; hence their feriae sementivae, feriae messis, and feri vindimiales. The Church, when converting heathen nations, has always tried to sanctify any practices which could be utilized for a good purpose. At first the Church in Rome had fasts in June, September, and December; the exact days were not fixed but were announced by the priests. The "Liber Pontificalis" ascribes to Pope Callistus (217-222) a law ordering: the fast, but probably it is older. Leo the Great (440-461) considers it an Apostolic institution. When the fourth season was added cannot be ascertained, but Gelasius (492-496) speaks of all four. This pope also permitted the conferring of priesthood and deaconship on the Saturdays of ember week--these were formerly given only at Easter.

Before Gelasius the ember days were known only in Rome, but after his time their observance spread. They were brought into England by St. Augustine; into Gaul and Germany by the Carlovingians. Spain adopted them with the Roman Liturgy in the eleventh century. They were introduced by St. Charles Borromeo into Milan. The Eastern Church does not know them. The present Roman Missal, in the formulary for the Ember days, retains in part the old practice of lessons from Scripture in addition to the ordinary two: for the Wednesdays three, for the Saturdays six, and seven for the Saturday in December. Some of these lessons contain promises of a bountiful harvest for those that serve God.

From Catholic Culture:

Since man is both a spiritual and physical being, the Church provides for the needs of man in his everyday life. The Church's liturgy and feasts in many areas reflect the four seasons of the year (spring, summer, fall and winter). The months of August, September, October and November are part of the harvest season, and as Christians we recall God's constant protection over his people and give thanksgiving for the year's harvest.

The September Ember Days were particularly focused on the end of the harvest season and thanksgiving to God for the season. Ember Days were three days (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) set aside by the Church for prayer, fasting and almsgiving at the beginning of each of the four seasons of the year. The ember days fell after December 13, the feast of St. Lucy (winter), after the First Sunday of Lent (spring), after Pentecost Sunday (summer), and after September 14 , the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (fall). These weeks are known as the quattor tempora, the "four seasons."

Since the late 5th century, the Ember Days were also the preferred dates for ordination of priests. So during these times the Church had a threefold focus: (1) sanctifying each new season by turning to God through prayer, fasting and almsgiving; (2) giving thanks to God for the various harvests of each season; and (3) praying for the newly ordained and for future vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

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