The Sacramentary (LIBER SACRAMENTORUM) Historical & Liturgical Notes on the Roman éMissal BY ILDEFONSO SCHUSTER .Abbot of the Monastery of St TauPs Without the Walls Translated ARTHUR LEVELIS-MARKE, M.A. Translation completed by Mrs.W. FAIRF AX-CHOLMELEY from the Italian by VOLUME V (Parts 8 and 9) New York, Cincinnati, Chicago, San Francisco BENZIGER BROTHERS PRlhmue TO TTÎt nntY APOrrOLTC ilt NIHIL OBSTAT: Innocentius Apap, S.Th.M., O.P Censor deputatus. IMPRIMATUR : Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis. Wmtmonastebii, 4w 16α Junii, 193°· First published 1930 Made and Printed in Great Britain CONTENTS PARTS VIII & IX THE SAINTS IN THE MYSTERY OF THE REDEMPTION (THE FEASTS OF THE SAINTS FROM AUGUST 14 TO ADVENT) INTRODUCTION PACE Chapter I. The Sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medieval Rome ------ - 1 Chapter II. The Portraits of the Blessed Virgin Mary Venerated at Rome ------- 22 Chapter III. The Festival of the Assumption into Heaven of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Ancient Roman Liturgy.......................................... ----31 Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Feriale 43 THE FEASTS OF THE SAINTS FROM AUGUST 14 TO NOVEMBER 28 FEASTS IN AUGUST August 14. Vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary ----50 ,, 15. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary ,, 15. St Tarcisius, Acolyte and Martyr ,, 16. St Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary ------ ,, 17. Octave Day of St Lawrence ,, 18. St Agapitus, Martyr - - - - - 59 ,, 19. St Magnus, Martyr - - - - - 60 ,, 20. St Bernard, Abbot, Confessor and Doctor - 61 v - 52 - 55 58 The Sacramentary vi FAG K Augüst 21. St Jane Frances Fremiot de Chantal, Widow 62 ,, 22. St Timothy, Priest and Martyr „ 22. St Hippolytus "Qui et Nonnus" „ 22. St Symphorian, Martyr - - - - 66 ,, 22. Octave Day of the Assumption - - - 66 ,, 23. SS Abundius and Irenaeus, Martyrs „ 23. St Philip Benizi, Confessor „ 23. Vigil of St Bartholomew, Apostle ,, 24. St Bartholomew, Apostle 63 - - - 65 - - - 67 - - 68 - - 69 ... - 69 ,, 25. St Genesius, Martyr...............................................71 ,, 25. St Louis, King and Confessor 26. St Zephyrinus, Pope „ . - - 72 ----- 74 27. St Joseph Calasanctius, Confessor „ 75 - 28. St Hermes, Martyr ----- 77 28. St Augustine, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor 78 ,, ,, „ 29. St Sabina, Martyr ,, 29. The Beheading of St John the Baptist „ 30. SS Felix and Adauctus, Martyrs - 80 ----- - - 81 - 84 30. St Rose of Lima, Virgin 31. St Raymund Nonnatus, Cardinal and Confessor „ „ 88 89 FEASTS IN SEPTEMBER September i. The Twelve Holy Martyrs ofBeneventum 89 » i. St Giles, Abbot............................................... 91 .1 2. St Stephen, King of Hungary, Confessor >· 3· - »•4· ·> 5. SS .. " Acontius, Nonnus, Taurinus, Martyrs 91 · - 93 · ■ 93 Herculanus and 94 5. St Lawrence Justinian, Patriarch of Venice - 95 .. 7. Vigil of the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin 96 ·· 8. Dedication of St Adrian, Martyr - - 96 ·· 8. Birthday of the Blessed Virgin - - n-» ..6, - 95 ’ Contents vu PAGC September 9. St Gorgonius, Martyr 99 9. St Hyacinth, Deacon and Martyr 100 10. St Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor ioi SS Protus and Hyacinth, Martyrs IOI 12. Feast of the Holy Name of Mary 105 14. SS Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Martyrs 106 14. The Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the Dedication of the " Martyrium ” on Calvary ------ 108 ii. 15· St Nicomedes, Martyr 16. St Euphemia, Virgin and Martyr i 13 16. SS Lucy and Geminianus 16. SS Abundius, Priest, and Abundantius Deacon, Martyrs - 116 16. St Martin, Pope and Martyr 17. The Imprinting of the Stigmata on the Body of St Francis 18. St Joseph of Cupertino, Confessor - 19. St Januarius, Bishop, and his Companions, Martyrs ------ 122 20. St Eustace, Bishop and Martyr 124 20. The Holy Vigil of St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist 21. St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist 22. St Basilla, Virgin and Martyr 22. St Merita, Martyr - 125 - - 22. SS Maurice and Companions, Martyrs 128 129 ΐ3θ 22. St Thomas of Villanova, Bishop and Con­ fessor ------23. St Thecla, Virgin and Martyr - 132 23. St Liberius, Pope 133 23. St Linus, Pope 137 - 24. Our Lady of Ransom 26. St Eusebius, Pope and Martyr 26. SS Cyprian and Justina, Martyrs x39 140 The Sacramentary vi i i PAGE September 27. SS Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs - 141 - „ 28. St Stacteus, Martyr..................................... 143 ·> 28. St Wenceslas, Duke and Martyr ·» 29. Dedication of the Basilica of St Michael the Archangel on the Via Salaria - 144 »» 30. St Jerome, Priest,Confessor andDoctor of the Church................................... 146 - - 143 FEASTS IN OCTOBER October i, Translation of St Remigius, Bishop - - 151 - - 151 ·· 2. Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels >· 3.St Candida, Martyr......................................154 >· 4.St Balbina, Martyr...................................... 155 »· 4. St Francis of Assisi, Confessor ·· 5. St Placidus and Companions, Martyrs >« 5. St Placidus, Disciple of St Benedict, Abbot »» C. St Bruno, Confessor......................................... 160 " 7. St Mark, Pope ■· 7. SS Marcellus and Apuleius - »» 7. SS Sergius and Bacchus, Martyrs - - - 155 - 158 158 161 ...... - - - 163 - - 163 ,, 7. The Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary -165 „ 8. St Bridget, Widow........................................ 169 >> g. SS Genuinus and Companions, Martyrs - 170 >, 9. SS Denis, Rusticus, and Eleutherius - - 170 »> 10. St Francis Borgia, Confessor >. 12. St Aedistus, Martyr » 13. St Edward, King and Confessor - - - - 172 ........................................ 173 - - 174 14. St Callistus, Pope and Martyr - - “ 175 ,, 15. St Teresa, Virgin - - - 179 ,, 16. St Sosius, Deacon and Martyr - - - 180 17. St Hedwig, Widow - - - - 180 18. St Luke, Evangelist - 181 19. St Asterius, Martyr - 183 ig. St Peter of Alcantara, Confessor - 184 Contents 1Χ PAcr October 20. St John of Kenty, Confessor 21. St Hilarion, Abbot 21. St Ursula 187 Companions, Martyrs and her 187 24. St Raphael, Archangel 189 25. SS Chrysanthus and Daria, Martyrs 192 26. St Evaristus, Pope 195 27. Vigil of the Holy Apostles Simon and Jude 195 28. SS Simon and Jude, Apostles 197 Sunday before the Feast of All Saints. the Kingship of our The Feast of 200 Lord Jesus Christ October 31. Vigiliary Mass of NO VEMBER FEASTS November i. St Caesarius, Deacon 1. Feast of All 204 All Saints 206 Martyr 208 Saints the 2. Commemoration and Faithful De­ . . . 213 of All the . - parted The First Mass The Second Mass The Third Mass 229 The Liturgy at the Graveside in Christian Antiquity : Holy Mass for the Day of Death and Burial of the Departed -------- On the Third, Seventh On and Thirtieth Day after Burial Anniversary of the Departed the For the For all the At the the 36 37 Anniversary of the Departed Parents of the Celebrant Departed lying 233 237 Daily Masses for the Dead Another Mass for 23 x in a Cemetery 239 239 240 Burial of an Abbot November 2. Dedication of the Greater Basilica of St Lawrence 3. St Sylvia, Widow 4. SS Vitalis and Agricola, Martyrs *45 The Sa cramentary x PAG B November 4. St Charles Borromeo, Bishop and Confessor 246 ,, 6. St Leonard, Confessor - 248 „ 7. St Willibrord, Bishop, Apostle of Frisia 249 ,, 8. The Holy Crowned Martyrs - 249 „ 8. Octave Day of All Saints - - ,, 9. St Theodore, Martyr - - - 252 - - - 253 „ 9. Dedication of the Lateran Basilica of the Saviour....................................................... 254 „ 10. SS Trypho and Respicius, Martyrs, and St Nympha, Virgin and Martyr - 262 „ 10. St Andrew Avellino, Confessor ,, ii. StMenn as, Martyr ,, ii (or 12). ,, 12. St Martin, Pope.............................................. 271 „ 13. St Brice, Bishop.............................................. 272 - 263 - 264 ----- St Martin, Bishop of Tours - - 266 ,, 13. St Didacus, Confessor - - - 273 ,, 14. St Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr - - 273 ,, 15. St Gertrude, Virgin ----- 276 ,, 17. St Gregory Thaumaturges, Bishop and Confessor.......................................................279 „ - 18. Dedication of the Basilicas of the Princes of the Apostles. Peter and Paul ------- „ 19. St Pontian, Pope and Martyr „ 19. St Elizabeth, Widow - ,, 20. St Felix of Valois, Confessor - - 280 · - 287 - - 288 - - 289 21. Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary 290 22. Dedication of the Titulus Caeciliae in the Trastevere - 291 23. St Clement, Pope............................................294 23. St Felicitas, Martyr - 24. St Chrysogonus, Martyr .... 299 29? 24. St John of the Cross, Confessor and Doctor 25· St Catherine, Virgin and Martyr - 301 -302 26. St Peter, Bishop of Alexandria and Martyr xi Contents ?Λ0» November 26. St Sylvester, Abbot - 304 27. St Optatus, Bishop........................................... 305 ,, 28. St Gregory III, Pope and Confessor Holy Mass in Various Public and Private Circumstances of Christian Life : I. For the Consecration of a Pope 317 II. The Nuptial Mass III. In Time of War................................................................... 324 IV. Mass for the Sick......................................................... 327 V. The Eucharistic Sacrifice on Occasions of Public Plague 331 EUCHOLOGICAL APPENDIX Prayers to the Blessed Virgin from the Byzantine Liturgy 337 Byzantine Prayer in Form of 337 a Litany .... Invocations to the Mother of God.............................................. 338 Prayer of St Martin for his People - 33g Byzantine Tropes for Sundays, composed by St Metro­ phanes of Smyrna, for the Union of the Churches - 340 PART VIII THE SAINTS IN THE MYSTERY OF THE REDEMPTION (THE FEASTS OF THE SAINTS FROM THE VIGIL OF THE ASSUMPTION TO THE DEDICATION OF ST MICHAEL) In the Baptistery of San Lorenzo. Adsp]iCE · qvi · transis · QVAM · sit · brevis · Ac[cipe vita Atqu]E · TVAE · NAVIS · ITER · AD · LITVS · PARADES! Rell]EGE · qvo · vvltvm · DNÏ · facias · tibi · po[rtum Percipias gra]TiAM · qvis · qvis · haec · sacra · perii [auris Glor]lA · SVMMA · DS · LVMEN · SAPIENTIA · VIR[tUS Ver]vs · in · altari · crvor · est · vinvm · qve · [videtur Is]q · tvi · lateris · per · opvs · mirae · [pietatis Unde]potenter · aqvam · tribvis · BAPTi[smate lotis (Sth cent, inscription in the sepulchral basilica of S Lawrence.} Reflect, 0 thou who passest here, how short is this life. Turn back, steer for the shore of Paradise, that thy bark may find harbour with the Saviour. Receive grace, thou who partakest of these holy mysteries. It is God, the supreme glory, light, wisdom, power, who at the Altar appears as wine, yet is in truth Blood. This miracle of infinite love flows from thy side, O Christ, Whence thou pourest also the waters of baptism to save our souls. INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I THE SANCTUARIES OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IN MEDIEVAL ROME r UST as we find Mary as the central figure in the symbol of the Christian Faith, so love for her and devotion towards her cause to leap for joy the very heart of the ■ Catholic Church, which from the city of the Seven Hills impresses its supernatural rhythm upon the whole world. It is an obligation on Christian Rome, inherent in her office and dignity, to take the lead before any other country in love for her who called down to earth eternal Love itself. Is it not indeed in Rome that revealed dogma is first realised in its entirety, before this great heart of the Church sends forth its life and its energy throughout the rest of the mystical body of Christ ? It is, then, with perfect right that Catholic Rome which guards intact the deposit of dogma entrusted to her by Peter and Paul, addresses the Blessed Mother of God with singular complacency, as Salus populi Romani, and as if a special pact exists between her and the later descendants of Romulus and Remus, the latter have now for many centuries invoked her as Romanae, portus securitatis. This devotion of the city of Rome to Mary has left through­ out the centuries a number of artistic, literary and liturgical records which might well be formed into an imposing collection. Leaving this task, however, to other hands, it must suffice us to touch lightly upon this vast theme, merely passing in review, as it were, the more ancient basilicas of Rome dedi­ cated to the great Mother of God. In this manner the subject­ matter is brought into close connection with the Liturgy, and it will prove of advantage to us to penetrate still farther into the spirit of those early generations of Christians who enriched the Roman Missal with so many festivals in honour of the Blessed Virgin. ♦ ♦ * * * * For the sake of brevity we must limit our researches to the Middle Ages only between the fifth and the thirteenth 2 The Sacramentary centuries, therefore we shall refrain from descending into the extra-mural cemeteries in order to wander through their labyrinths and there retrace among the passages of the apos­ tolic age the first signs of the devotion to Mary which was brought from Palestine to the banks of the Tiber by the Apostles, Peter, Paul and John, the disciples Luke, Mark, Epaphroditus, Clement, Aquila and others. Otherwise in the cemetery of Priscilla we should find the earliest representation of the Blessed Virgin which has yet been discovered. It is not later than the beginning of the second century, for it still retains all the freslmess which we associate with Pompeian art. Mary is seated on a throne, her head covered with a veil, and holds in her arms the Child Jesus, whilst a ligure wearing a -pallium stands respectfully before her, pointing upwards to a star which shines in the sky above the head of the Infant. The figure is generally supposed to be the Prophet Isaias, in whose writings, however, there is no prophecy concerning a star. Some have suggested that it represents the sooth­ sayer Balaam who foretold, it is true, that a star should arise upon the house of Jacob. Yet this association of a pseudo­ prophet with the Mother of God seems to us very strange, and would hardly have been understood by the faithful of the second century. Does the holy Gospel really need to appeal to the testimony of false and lying religions ? In interpreting ancient paintings, especially those in the catacombs, we must reject too ingenious theories in favour of that explanation which first occurs to the mind of the student well versed in his catechism and in sacred history. For the art of the catacombs was intended to appeal especially to the popular Christian mentality. Let us therefore put aside any far-fetched explanation taken from the prophecies of Isaias or from the Book of Numbers, and instead let us open the New Testament and see who it was that stood before our Blessed Lady when she sat with the Infant Jesus on her lap, and when a mysterious star came and rested over the domus at Bethlehem. Who but the Magi ? Stella quam viderant {Magi) in Oriente, antecedebat eos, usque dum veniens staret supra ubi erat Puer.1 The picture represents then the Adoration of the Magi, a scene constantly depicted in the first four centuries. If the painter of the catacombs of Priscilla has merely outlined the episode by showing one only of the wise men of the East, and not three or four as we sometimes see in the catacombs, this has been so not only because of the lack 1 Matthew ii, 9. Sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary 3 of available space, but also for an aesthetic reason, namely for the sake of symmetry to which the early painters clung very much. As a matter of fact the painting forms part of a frieze which adorns the arch of a tomb. Now on the side opposite to the Adoration of the Magi another scene confronts us, the meaning of which is the subject of still greater controversy. It consists, like the first, of three persons only, that is, a man, a woman and a little child, who may represent the deceased persons for whom the sepulchral arcosolium was prepared. Early Christian art did not aim at being realistic, nor did it claim to possess the quality of a photograph. Its tendency on the contrary was to simplify as far as possible the scriptural scenes which it sought to represent. In every picture it chose the characteristic moment of the mystery portrayed, and reproduced that, leaving on one side every other secondary object. The earliest picture of the Blessed Virgin in the cemetery of Priscilla, may be included then in the series of representa­ tions of biblical subjects, but the cultus of our Lady is, however, indirectly confirmed by it, since the painters of those very early days would certainly not have reproduced with such frequency that Gospel scene in which Mary must neces­ sarily occupy the principal part of the picture, if veneration for her had not from that time been intimately associated with the cultus of her divine Son. The following apparent anomaly arouses some wonder : whilst during the first four centuries of the Christian era the scene of the adoration of the Magi is that one which is most frequently found on the walls of the catacombs and on the Roman sarcophagi, the temporal birth of Christ, on the other hand, and his infantile cries in the crib of Bethlehem only appear towards the fourth century and in a very few instances. The Liturgy itself, however, gives us the explanation of this seeming anomaly. The feast of January 6, wholly Eastern in its origin, and having many significations (the baptism, the marriage-feast of Cana, the adoration of the Magi, the birth of Jesus in the stable, all commemorated under the single title of Theophania, that is to say revelation, or appearance of the Lord to the world), dates from the second century and takes root especially in gnostic sur­ roundings. These heretics indeed recognised in the descent of the Holy Ghost upon Jesus in the waters of the Jordan nothing less than his real birth to the nature conferred upon him at that moment by the Father because of his supreme merits. The Catholics in their turn, in opposition to this anti- The Sacramentary evangelical gnosis upheld the dogma of the hypostatic union to which the human nature of Jesus was raised from the moment of his conception, in consequence of which the Word was made flesh, and God was bom in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary. For controversial reasons the “ great Church ” by means of the Liturgy and of Art rendered the Messianic significance of the Adoration of the Magi familiar to the people rather than the baptism in the Jordan, and this occurrence, even in preference to the crib of Bethlehem, was chosen by all the theologians together, by the painters and sculptors of the catacombs, as being that which best expressed the divine nature and the human nature together of him who, whilst remaining God eternal, yet deigned to be born in all things like unto us. The wise man from the East of the catacombs of Priscilla points out, therefore, the star which shines in the heavens above the head of the Child, and the star, in classical Roman art also, is always the symbol of the deity. At a very early period of which we may perhaps find some trace in the writings of Hippolytus, when Rome, too, cele­ brated on January 6 with rites almost equal to those of Easter, the feast of the Epiphany, that is, the first appearing of Christ to the world, it is not surprising that it should also have been so favourite a subject with painters and that they should so often have reproduced it on the arcosolia and sarcophagi of the catacombs. The faithful who beheld these representa­ tions at once grasped their significance with regard to Christian doctrine, so that if we were able to-day to question a Christian of the second century standing before the figure of the Blessed Virgin in the cemetery of Priscilla whom we see being saluted by the person in the pallium who points to a star in the heavens, as to the meaning of the picture, he would reply without hesitation that it represents the Theophania, that is the first appearing of the Saviour of the world. Passing from this first parousia in the cemetery of Priscilla of Jesus in Mary’s lap, before arriving at the second and last coming of the supreme Judge, who will indeed appear to us again in his Mother’s lap, even in that tremendous office, in a painting at the cemetery of Commodilla, we meet another intermediate representation of our Lady to which we might give the title of speculum justitiae. This is to be found in the same cemetery of Priscilla and is of very great importance because in it the Virgin appears not merely as an historic person who forms part of a scene from the Bible but who is represented singly as a special object of veneration. We are alluding here to the well-known painting of the third century depicting a velatio virginis in Sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary which the bishop is pointing out to the candidate the holy Mother seated on a throne with the Child Jesus in her arms, as a model of virginal purity for her imitation. We know, indeed, from St Ambrose and other Fathers of the Church that this reference to Mary as the mirror of im­ maculate virginity was then almost a commonplace theme in the many addresses given by the bishops on the occasion of the consecration of virgins. So that the third century painting in the cubiculum of Priscilla with its allusion to the rite of the consecration of virgins, is not only a witness to the early devotion of the Romans to our Lady, but also confirms a fact which on the other hand was already known to us, that even at that time bishops and preachers proclaimed the praises of the incomparable virtues of Mary just as we all still do in our churches. In view of such fervent devotion to the Blessed Virgin during the first four centuries of the Church, it is hardly wise to speak of a development of this devotion in the Middle Ages and in times nearer to ourselves. The conception of the eminent dignity of our Blessed Lady is also beautifully expressed in the third painting existing in the cemetery of Commodilla which we have mentioned above. It belongs, however, to the sixth century and refers to the parousia of Christ in judgement after death. A certain deceased person, Turtura by name, is introduced into the hall of divine judgement by the saints who are her advocates, the local martyrs SS Felix and Adauctus. The latter, who is of youth­ ful aspect and has the clerical tonsure, places his hand kindly with a gesture of protection on the shoulder of the deceased, who, on her part, seems hardly to venture to approach the throne of her Judge. A singular air of peace and confidence pervades the whole scene, and its chief feature is that he who has to pronounce the sentence is no longer represented as seated on a throne, with his usual majestic aspect emanating from imperial Rome, with a young and beardless countenance, and clothed in a toga adorned with the clavus latus ; here on the contrary we have something very different, which makes this painting of the tomb of Turtura unique. The throne from which Christ on this occasion is to proclaim judgement is nothing else than the virginal lap of Mary who holds her Son tenderly in her arms. She, who is Blessed among women, occupies therefore the central place in the picture, and sits majestically upon a high bejewelled throne, with her feet resting on a footstool. But as though all this imperial pomp seemed insufficient to the Roman artist who was striving to express his conception of 6 The Sacramentary the eminent greatness of the Mother of God, he has even placed in her hand the insignia of the highest dignity of the imperial republic : that is, the consular mappula, the emblem which is always given to the successors of Brutus and Colla­ tinus in the diptycha which inaugurate their term of office. Some time before this, the distinction of the mappula from being exclusively confined to the Consuls had been extended to the Pope, to the deacons of the city, and to a few other privileged ecclesiastics, who, however, usually wore it only during the offering of the Holy Sacrifice. Christian art was more generous, and sometimes conferred the mappula and the royal diadem also upon her who was blessed among all creatures, as we can see in the mosaic at Sta Maria in Domnica. We have announced our intention of not going down into the extra-mural cemeteries and must therefore resist the temptation to break our resolution. Let us then seek above ground the monuments of devotion to our Lady in the classical ways and medieval quarters of the Eternal City. Which then is to be our starting point ? There are three churches, each of which claims above all others to be the most ancient building in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and these are : Sta Maria in Trastevere, Sta Maria Maggiore, and Sta Maria Antiqua. This last diaconia, however, by the very fact of never having been a presbyterial titulus, and also because it was adapted somewhat late within the hall of an abandoned imperial building, clearly shows its later origin, and must not, therefore, enter into competition with the others. So we have to deal only with the two basilicas, of the Esquiline and of the Trastevere, both of which support their claims with solid arguments. The Church of our Lady in the Trastevere maintains that it is connected with the ancient taberna emcritoria, which was removed thence by Alexander Severus, out of consideration for the Christians. The name of its first founder, Callixtus, given from the fourth century to the surrounding district, which was consequently known as the Area Callisti, is un­ doubtedly a proof of the influence once exercised in the Trastevere by the former manager of the people’s bank, who became later an energetic and enterprising Pope. The inhabitants of the Trastevere of to-day, not less than those of the fourth century, separated as they are from the rest of the city by the course of the Tiber, still show some inclination to regard Sta Maria in Trastevere as their own particular cathedral. Indeed, in olden times, when dissen­ sions arose amongst the Romans over the choice of a successor to the Apostolic See, we find that in the very century of the Sanctuaries oj the Blessed Virgin Mary Peace of Constantine, the schismatic factions more than once made the Basilica beyond the Tiber their headquarters. There Felix II established himself against Pope Liberius, later the electors of Ursinus assembled there in opposition to Damasus, and lastly, in 418, Boniface I was elected in Sta Maria in Trastevere, whilst the opposing party stirred up tumults and secessions in the city. All this happened within a period of not much more than fifty years. In those days, however, the church across the Tiber was known as the Basilica lulii trans Tiberim, regione XIII iuxta Callistum, taking its name from that Pope Julius who had built it. We use the word " built ” intentionally, for the Liber Pontificalis bears witness to the fact, and distinguishes the work of Pope Callixtus from the Basilica lulii iuxta Callistum, which was, therefore, close to the constructions of the former. The two buildings are not to be confused, for the first, that of Pope Callixtus, was probably a charitable in­ stitution, a diaconia, adjoining which Julius I erected a church. When did this Julian Basilica, which by the Middle Ages had appropriated the history and the glory of the third century building of Pope Callixtus, assume the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary ? It appears for the first time in docu­ ments of the seventh century, but it must have been in general usage before this, since the tendency to dedicate to the saints the various urban titles which originally had borne only the name of their founder, had increased in Rome in the fifth century. At any rate in the seventh century the basilica on the other side of the Tiber was commonly known among the people by two titles, the one relatively new, and the other primitive, but still used by the Roman populace : Basilica sanctae Mariae quae Callisti vocatur. Let us now enter the magnificent sanctuary. The noble vaulting of the apse, executed by order of Innocent II, which rises so majestically above the sepulchre of SS Cornelius, Callixtus, Julius and Calepodius chants as it were a hymn of praise to Mary. Surrounded by a retinue of saints she is seated in triumph on a throne beside her divine Son, who in the usual semblance of the Pantocrator throws his arms about her neck and draws her to himself in a tender embrace. Lower down, in the left-hand corner, the scene is completed by the interesting figure of Jeremias, the tearful prophet of the Lamentations, who as one that has himself had much experience of imprisonment points to a caged bird and holds up a scroll with the words : Christus Diïus captus est in peccatis nostris. " The Lord Jesus became captive through our iniquities." This strange allegory of Jeremias in prison 8 The Sacramentary and of the caged bird is very rarely seen in ancient Christian art. From the artistic point of view, the small pictures in the lower part and on the sides representing scenes from the life of the Blessed Virgin are much more important. The action, the drapery and especially the spirit which inspires those scenes make us realise at once that by the influence of Pietro Cavallini the dolce stil nuovo has been inaugurated also in the art of painting, whilst the epoch of the Byzantines and of the Cosmati is closed in Italy for ever. Now in order to go from Sta Maria in Trastevere to the Liberian Basilica on the Esquiline, but first glancing for a moment at Sta Maria Antiqua in the Forum, we are obliged to traverse a great part of the city. This is just as well, for in this way we shall be able to notice a large number of ancient monuments connected with Mary scattered every­ where through the streets of the city by the pious devotion of the Popes and of our forefathers. Indeed, as soon as we leave the Basilica of Pope Julius and turn in the direction of the Sublician Bridge, by which we shall cross the Tiber in front of the title of St Cecilia, we come at once upon two ancient little churches dedicated to Mary : the one, Sta Maria ad Pineam, now named in Cappella, recalls the piety and devotion of Madonna Francesca dei Ponziani (St Frances of Rome), the other, Sta Maria in Turri, now " del buon Viaggio," is a last remaining relic of the towers and fortifications formerly built along the banks of the river by Leo IV as a defence against the Saracens. We will now cross the bridge under the smiling hill-side of Monte Verde in which is hidden away the cemetery of Pontianus with its martyrs Abdon, Senncn, Pollio, Vincent, Pigmenius and Milix. On the opposite bank of the river we see at once the façade of the ancient statio annonae, turned into a dcaconry and almost rebuilt by Adrian I, under the Byzantine name of Sta Maria in Cosmcdin. The Christian charitable institution in this, as in several other quarters of the city, merely took the place of frumentatio which the Roman State carried on here under the Empire, when it had to fulfil the arduous duty of providing for the glorious plebs romulea : panem et circenses. When the State ceased to care for the people in Rome the public granaries near the landing-stage were entrusted to the care of a deacon. Thus a deaconry was established which was placed under the patronage of the Mother of God, as was Atting, because she, after having cared for Jesus with maternal solicitude at Nazareth, showed herself at Cana the special providence of the bridal pair in their need. This instance of the statio annonae having become simply Sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary 9 the church of Sta Maria in Cosmcdin must often have been repeated at Rome, for example in the case of Sta Maria Antiqua, Sta Maria in Portici, Sta Maria in Cyro, Sta Maria in Xenodochio and others. It is practically a rule that the Roman deaconries are named after the Blessed Virgin, so that, besides those already mentioned, we have also Sta Maria in Domnica, Sta Maria iuxta Callistum, Sta Maria in Via Lata, Sta Maria Nova, etc. If the length of the way did not deter us we might, after leaving Sta Maria in Cosmcdin, ascend the Aventine, and go as far as Sta Maria in Monasterio, the seat of the Priory of the Knights of Malta, which dates from the time of Alberic I. In that monastery the great Hildebrand, then in his early youth, dedicated himself to God by monastic vows. But, avoiding the tiring climb up the cosmopolitan hill and keeping instead along the banks of the Tiber beneath the Aventine and the Palatine, let us make our way to Sta Maria in Porticu Gallae. As we look around during this short walk to get our bearings, we catch sight of the little façade of Sta Maria in Secundicerio, where the unfortunate Pontiff Paschal II once took refuge. We notice, too, the apse of Sta Maria in Curtae domnae Micinae, and the bell-turrets of Sta Maria de episcopio and of Sta Maria in Ambrosii. For lack of time we must, however, omit to visit these three small but important churches, in order to betake ourselves directly to the deaconry of the Porticus Gallae, or Gallatorum, the origin of which is hidden in the midst of a prehistoric era. In that church, which has been many times renovated from its foundations, and which in the seventeenth century was despoiled of its marbles and of the ancient enamelled rep­ resentation of the Blessed A^irgin which was venerated there, we shall see an exceedingly interesting monument which may perhaps help us to reconstruct the past history of that building. It consists of a classical marble cippus adorned with the emblems of the worship of Cybele, used at a later time as a support for an altar. On that marble may be read an inscription of the eleventh century which records the dedication of the church performed by Hildebrand only a few months after he was raised to the Papacy. Now, it is well known that the future Gregory VII had spent his early boyhood in the neighbouring palace of the Pierleoni, near S Nicolas in Carccre. Is there any connection between the wealthy family from which Hildebrand sprang, the rebuilding of the titulus of Sta Maria in Portico, and the enamelled picture which must from that time have adorned the marble top of the tegurium or canopy over the new altar ? These are questions which we have not time to discuss, but io The Sacramentary we may remark that the dimensions of the highly venerated ikon of the ancient deaconry in Porticu, now preserved in the neighbouring church of Sta Maria in Campitelli, are far too small for the artist ever to have intended it originally for an altar in a public church. Therefore it was probably designed for a small oratory or private chapel, and in that case it appears most likely that it was the Christian family of the Pierleoni or Hildebrand himself who presented this family treasure to the newly-restored deaconry church of the Porticus Gallator um. The ikon, as a matter of fact, has many characteristics of the art of the eleventh century, the period in which Hilde­ brand lived. The trees which surround the Blessed Mother of God recall vividly that one sacred to Cybele, which is carved also on the cippus that was used as a support for the altar. Moreover the two heads of SS Peter and Paul, Paul on the right and Peter on the left, following the Roman custom, harmonise well with the spirit of Gregory VII, who, in his vigorous defence of the liberty of the Church, identified himself as it were with the two Princes of the Apostles, acting and speaking always in their name and by their authority. If this hypothesis which we are now considering is true, then the charming legend must be abandoned which relates that the enamelled picture was brought in the fourth century by the hands of the angels themselves to Galla, daughter of Symmachus, but the value of the precious treasure, on the other hand, is increased, for it becomes connected with the memory of one of the greatest of the sons of Rome, of whom, alas ! we have hardly any memorials, with the exception of a few personal objects which are preserved in his Abbey of St Paul. We must now leave the diaconia of the Portions Gallatorum, but before directing our steps towards the Capitol, let us spend a little more time by the Tiber, in order to see the other sanctuaries of our Lady, which are to be found scattered about there. In the tenth century the Arenula and the Scorticlaria were regarded as localities in which the Lombard influence was paramount, being subject, as they were, to a great extent to the authority of the famous Abbey of Faria in the Sabina. It is not surprising then, if those monks of Sancta Maria, as they proudly called themselves, should have spread and extended the cultus of their patron the Blessed Virgin also in their Roman dependencies. Besides Sta Maria in Monticelli, we find in the neighbour­ hood of the Farfensian prepositum of San Salvatore in domno Campo, the churches of Sta Maria in Cacabis, Sta Maria in Sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary n publicolis, Sta Maria in lulia, and Sta Maria de Cellis. This last church, which is now part of the offices of the Senate, formed in the centre of the Scorticlaria a second source whence the monastic influence of Farfa was spread through­ out the Eternal City. The Church of Sta Maria in Cacabis took its name from the coppersmiths whose workshops were in that neighbourhood. Sta Maria in Monticelli, which was reconsecrated by Innocent II, still contains the relics of the martyrs Ninfa, Mamilian and Eustace. Sta Maria de Cellis or de Thermis on the ruins of the Baths of Severus, near the palace of the Crescenzi, came into the possession of the monks of Farfa during the second half of the tenth century. The celebrated painter Antonazzo Romano was buried in this church. The sanctuaries dedicated in the name of Mary at Rome are so numerous that they are like a closely woven network interlacing the whole city, and if we were desirous of enumer­ ating them all, we should not find our task an easy one. But as it is so near Sta Maria in Cellis we are absolutely obliged to make mention of the church of Sta Maria ad Martyres or, as it is called in ancient documents, Sta Maria Martyra. The Rotunda of Agrippa, converted into a Christian church by Boniface IV, entered almost at once into competition with the Apostoleion of Narses at the foot of the Quirinal, so that it attained to the honour of having four solemn stations in the Roman Liturgy in the course of the year. These occurred in the Octave of Christmas, during the two weeks following Easter and Pentecost, and on the Sunday after the Ascension. On this last occasion, during the papal Mass, showers of white rose leaves descended on the people from the circular opening in the centre of the dome, and the Pope, addressing them, explained that this was a symbol of the imminent coming of the Holy Ghost. In this church during the early Middle Ages there was preserved in a chest locked with thirteen keys, the famous Vatican ikon afterwards known as the Veronica or the Volto Santo. Not far from the Pantheon are the churches of Sta Maria sub Minervium and the deaconry of Sta Maria in Cyro. As to the first, it once belonged to the Greek nuns of Sta Maria in Campo Marzio, but in 1370 it was given over to the Dominican monks. There, beside the tomb of St Catherine of Siena, the following Popes sleep their last sleep : Urban VII, Paul IV, Leo X, Clement VI, and Benedict XIII, thus forming a little papal cemetery of their own. Then, as to Sta Maria in Aquiro, we know that before the 12 The Sacramentary time of Gregory III there existed in that place a diaconia el parvum oratorium, as the Liber Pontificalis tells us. The diaconia, or distributing centre for the poor, was originally quite distinct from the parvum oratorium, which was for domestic use and was almost entirely private, as must have been the case in all the deaconries, so much so that no titular presbyters were attached to them. It was only in the eighth century that the charitable institution of Sta Maria in Cyro lost its earlier character and became like other churches. Such, too, must have been more or less the history of the not very distant diaconia of Sta Maria in Xenodochio founded by Belisarius on the Via Lata, ob culpae veniam, that is to say in atonement for the sacrilegious deposition of Pope Silverius, and the substitution of an antipope in the person of the intriguing deacon Vigilius. An inscription in Leonine verses on the exterior wall of the church still reminds passers­ by of the expiatory act of the famous Byzantine general, and invites them to pray for the peace of his soul : date obulum Belisario. Under the collis ortorum, where the Flaminian Way begins, a medieval legend told of evil spirits and devils that danced and capered with joy every night around the tomb of Nero. At length Paschal II resolved to purify the district, so he erected there an oratory dedicated to our Lady, which in the thirteenth century was transformed into the present vast edifice. In order to make it the more venerable, Gregory IX brought thither from the Latcran the picture of the Blessed Virgin which is now over the high altar. Pinturicchio, Caracci, Caravaggio, Fra Sebastiano del Piombo, Raphael, Sansovino, and others contributed by their genius to the decoration of this magnificent sanctuary of our Lady, so that it has become one of the most interesting monuments of Christian Rome. Besides Sta Maria del Popolo two other churches dedicated to Mary adorn the great square which opens out within the Flaminian Gate : Sta Maria de Monte Sancto and Sta Maria dei Miracoli. This latter designation owes its origin to a miraculous picture of the Blessed Virgin which was painted in one of the internal arches of the city wall, near the Porta del Popolo, and which in 1325 was transferred to a small chapel. In process of time this simple oratory developed into the present graceful little church. But it is now time to retrace our steps in order to return to the Capitoline Hill. Following the ancient Via Lata, we must leave on one side the Greek convent of the nuns of Sta Maria in Campo Marzio, which dates from the time of Pope Zachary. Nor can we stop before the deaconry of Sta Maria Sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary 13 in Via Lata, constructed about the seventh century within the dilapidated porticos of the septa lulia, where in the tenth century there arose a celebrated convent dedicated to St Cyriacus. Λ little farther on—leaving behind us, for lack of time, the church of Sta Maria in Augusta, mentioned in the time of John IX—there arose Sta Maria in Posterula (Sta Maria dell’ Orso) where there was originally venerated that most devotional Byzantine ikon, known by the name of Our Lady In this way we soon arrive at the foot of the Capitoline, on which has stood since the ninth century at least the majestic Abbey of Sta Maria in Capitolio, passing in 1250 into the hands of the Minorites. These walls are full of historical associations, for within them have lived in turn Greek cenobites, Benedictines, Friars Minor, and, during the time of the Communes, the Patres Conscripti who held here their parliament. We now cross the level ground of the triumphal hill of Rome to descend at once into the opposite valley of the Forum by means of the clivus capitolinus. At the foot of the hill we find another diaconia also dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and to the Eastern martyrs Sergius and Bacchus. The building consists of various oratories stretching from the western corner of the Julian Basilica to the Arch of Septimius Severus, which rises in front of the Senate. A few steps farther on, beside the fountain of Jutuma and the classical statio aquarum, we finally reach the diaconia of the Rione Elephantus how Mary takes the Place of Cybele, so here too the Immaculate Virgin is a substitute for Vesta, whose shrine with the sacred fire and the Palladium stood beside the Regia close to the atrium of the diaconia. Ancient legends told of the Lacus Curtius which was on this spot, and of chasms and dragons which swallowed up human victims. Now the evil beast Idolatry has been driven back into the infernal pit by Mary who is enthroned as Queen on the verge of the abyss, so that Satan shall never again raise his head : " Cunctas haercses sola interemisti in universo mundo.” This is the meaning of the picture of Maria Regina, which we see painted in the vestibule of the church, and in which she is clothed in robes sparkling with precious stones, crowned with a diadem, seated on a rich throne, and surrounded by a retinue of saints. The diaconia of Sta Maria Antiqua cannot, however, lay 14 The Sacramentary claim to any privilege arising from age over the other basilicas of our Lady at Rome, for it belongs to a relatively later period. The importance of this building, besides the artistic trea­ sures which it contains, is derived above all from the place where it stands, and from the special signification connected with that fateful spot. For there on the very site where for many centuries the Vestal Virgins fed the sacred flame, the symbol of the pagan State, Mary Immaculate now crushes the head of Vesta, Christianity conquers Idolatry and takes its place. By an association of ideas, the mind goes back at once to the time of Pope Sylvester, and we understand how it was that by a logical chain of thought and an easily explained example of historical anticipation, the foundation of Sta Maria Antiqua was antedated in the Middle Ages, by at least two centuries, in order to attribute it to the great Sylvester, the reputed baptiser of Constantine. As in the picture of Maria Regina which we noted in the portico of the diaconia, so a number of ancient churches dedicated to saints surround that of Maria Antiqua which seem to mount guard with her over the lacus leonum, lest the savage beast of idolatry shall once more spring out from his den. These sanctuaries which surround the Forum like a necklace are : Sta Maria in foro, SS Sergius and Bacchus, Sta Martina, St Adrian, St Lawrence in Miranda, SS Cosmas and Damian, and lastly, on the summa Sacra Via, Sta Maria Nova. This deaconry took the place of Sta Maria Antiqua in the time of Leo IV, when the latter church had become unlit for use on account of the damp, and the constant danger of being overwhelmed by landslides from the Palatine Hill. Sta Maria Nova is now more commonly known by the name of Sta Francesca Romana, for it was there that the noble matron dedicated herself as an oblate of St Benedict, and there she desired to be buried. This venerable basilica of the Summa Sacra Via, enriched by the possession of several bodies of martyrs, holds a special place in the papal Liturgy of the Middle Ages, because it was there on the night before the feast of the Assumption that the procession of the clergy and people of Rome stopped to wash with aromatic essences the feet of an ancient ikon of the Saviour and to sing the Matins of the festival. A visit to Sta Maria in Pallara on the Palatine where Pope Gelasius II was elected, would be interesting but would take us too much out of our way ; for the same reason we must also refrain from going as far as the Coelian to visit the diaconia of Sta Maria in Domnica and the neighbouring Sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary 15 monastery of St. Andrew ad clivum Scauri, where Gregory the Great became a monk. In that sacred retreat of prayer under an ancient repre­ sentation of Mary, the monks of the early Middle Ages repro­ duced the magnificent hymn by Andrew the Orator in honour of the Mother of God. As, however, the last verse of the poem referred to Rusticiana the daughter of Boethius, the good monks without disturbing themselves for so small a matter calmly adapted the verses Invita Minerva to suit their own purposes, so instead of the line : Protegat ille tuum, Rusticiana, genus they substituted : Protegat ille tuum, Grcgori Praesule, genus. In order to reach the Esquiline without further delay we must leave behind us these ancient churches and keep to the direct road. Therefore, crossing the Forum near the Basilica of Antoninus and Faustina, where there was also a monastery in the early Middle Ages, we find ourselves in the Roman district of the Carinae, the name of which was preserved to us in the Middle Ages in the title of the church Sta Maria in Carinis, rather than in that of the modern Piazza delle Carrette. In this neighbourhood, according to some archaeologists, must have stood the Oratory of Sta Maria in monasterio de Lutara mentioned in the life of Leo III, if this monastery was not, indeed, identical with that one entitled Sta Maria in monasterio which arose on the level ground of the Esquiline opposite the title of Eudoxia. The valley over which stretches the Roman Forum divides us from the fateful site of the Roma quadrata of Romulus which alone constituted the inquilinus. That which was outside this limit was exqui Units or foreign. A few more steps on the Esquiline and we are at St Mary Major, but before entering we must stop at least for a minute or two at the neighbouring titulus Praxcdis, in order to admire a beautiful chapel in honour of the Blessed Virgin. It owes its origin to Paschal I, who had it decorated with rich marbles and mosaics in memory of his mother, who was buried there. From an inscription, we learn the name of the deceased lady : domna Theodora : but as she was the mother of the episcopus, she is styled cpiscofia as a title of honour, just as in other inscriptions where the wife of a presbyter, married, that is, before the elevation of her husband to Holy Orders, assumes the title of prcsbytcra. Now we have at last reached the Basilica of St Mary 16 The Sacramentary The history of the building is well known. The ancient hall of Sicininus was converted into a place of Christian worship under Pope Liberius, as is attested by Ammianus Marcellinus : In basilica Sicinina, ubi ritus Christiani est conventiculus. Later, however, Sixtus III caused it to be restored from the foundations, so that to this day it is possible to distinguish work of two different periods in the mosaics which adorn the triumphal arch and the lateral walls of the nave. The principal arch belongs to the time of Sixtus III, whilst the pictures on the side appear older than that period, and perhaps did not even occupy the same place originally, for they are too high up to be seen distinctly by the people. They come probably from the Liberian edifice, if they did not indeed form part of the hall of Sicininus, which, in that case, may have been covered with small mosaic pictures, just as the neighbouring hall of Junius Bassus which after­ wards became the Basilica of St Andrew, was incrusted with marble carvings representing mythological subjects. That which for the moment chiefly attracts our attention, however, is not the Gospel story reproduced on the walls of the nave of the basilica, but the mosaic of the triumphal arch of Sixtus III, where we see depicted what may be described as an Evangelium infantiae of the divine Saviour. Such a subject was indeed well chosen for a basilica which took its name from the crib of Bethlehem and the Virgin Theotokos. But a special circumstance makes those ancient mosaics precious to us, for in them the artist shows himself to have been under the influence of the apocryphal Gospels, and particularly of the so-called Prolevangelium Jacobi, or Evangelium infantiae. Those who call to mind how rigorously the Roman Church guarded herself in early times from the acceptance of such legends—apocrypha nescit ecclesia, as St Jerome declaredwill certainly be surprised that Sixtus III should show so much toleration towards the artist of the triumphal arch of the Liberian basilica. We do not know what the reason for this may have been, but we must note that it is not an isolated case, for just at that time the apocryphal writings found their way also into the Roman Liturgy and they have remained there to this day. It happened in a moment of surprise, as it were, when the enthusiasm of the Latins for the By­ zantine churches which had defended so well the honour of the Mother of God at Ephesus, made them less distrustful of Oriental wares. Let us examine these precious mosaics more closely. In the centre we see the customary ctimasia or celestial throne Sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary prepared and adorned for the final parousia of Jesus, whilst at the sides Peter and Paul have already taken their places to act as assistants at the divine judgement. The lateral scenes are divided into four partitions so as to form nine small pictures in which, however, the artist has sacrificed the chronological sequence of the events to the symmetry of his squares. First comes the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin in the upper division on the left. Besides St Gabriel three other angels approach her reverently, eager to behold her and to greet her as their Queen. It is at once apparent here that the artist has wished his work to contain both exegetical and theological teaching. The four celestial messengers, there­ fore, come from that heavenly temple of God which is often mentioned in the ancient Liturgies. On the opposite side is another temple, the front of which is supported by two columns and crowned by a tympanum. It is the temple of Jerusalem before which—still in the same left-hand division —the priest Zachary also receives the message of the Arch­ angel, announcing the birth of the Baptist. The artist is obviously obsessed with the idea of symmetry. The division which we have described has a temple at each end, and on the other side he reproduces a third. This scene shows the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple. The Virgin, accompanied by St Joseph and by two angels, comes forward with her divine Son in her arms towards a kind of portico supported by columns, where she is reverently met by the prophetess Anna, and the aged Simeon. We note that the latter stretches out his arms underneath his pamula in order to receive the Saviour of the world with due respect—for in olden times those who received any sacred object, such as the Gospel, or a book of praise, and in the case of women also the Holy Communion, always had their hands covered with a cloth—whilst in front of the Temple, which closes the scene, there appears a group of priests who prepare to perform in the case of the Child Jesus all the rites prescribed by the Law for his Mother’s purification. Coming down now to the lower division we see, on the right, the wise men adoring Jesus. Here the artist abandons alto­ gether the traditional Roman forms of the first three centuries and within a domus shows us Jesus alreadjr grown into a comely lad, seated on a throne furnished with a richly decor­ ated footstool, and having an escort of four attendant angels by his side. To the right and the left are seated, also on high thrones, two female figures—the Blessed Virgin and Salome, or according to others, the two churches ex circumcisione et ex 18 The Sacramentary gentibus—while from a city seen in the background of the picture come two Oriental figures, distinguished by the characteristic Phrygian cap, who approach our Lord. The scene represented on the same level but on the opposite side of the arch is certainly taken from the Protevangelium of James, and the artist has intentionally connected it with that of the Adoration of the Magi. As the divine nature of the Babe of Bethlehem was recognised by these, so too his majesty was acknowledged by the Egyptians who adored him when he was an exile in the land of the Pharaohs. King Aphrodisius with a chosen band of courtiers comes forth from his capital and goes to meet Jesus, who, as in the scene with the Magi, is no longer an infant in swaddling clothes in his Mother’s arms, but a gracious youth, clad in a tunic and walking along the sandy road of the desert. Mary and Joseph accompany him with the usual four attendant angels. The desire for symmetry in the two scenes has caused the artist of the time of Sixtus III to sacrifice the chronological order of the events, but he comes back to it in the next division, where, however, we must study the pictures from left to right. First we see the Magi appearing before the Sanhedrim, presided over by Herod. The priests confer with one another in order to find out from the Scriptures where the Christ is to be born. It is decided that Bethlehem is the place, and Herod—who in deference to his royal rank is always represented with a nimbus like Justinian and Theodora in the mosaics of San Vitale at Ravenna—when sending forth the Magi bids them return to him at Jerusalem in order to give him an account of the result of their quest. The jealous king awaits the return of the Wise men of the East in vain, wherefore, being filled with anger at having been deceived by them, he causes in the next scene on the right all the mothers of Bethlehem with their babies to be brought before him, and orders the massacre of the Innocents. There is one peculiarity in the mosaics of St Mary Major. The artist, who probably came from the East and who took the legends of the so-called Protevangelium of James seriously, was evidently a lover of detail, and therefore pedantic and narrow. He altogether disregarded the solemn and majestic proportions of the building in which he was working, which required sober and simple themes, but such as were at the same time expressive of noble ideas on broad and powerful lines. Moreover, he has transferred to the lofty walls of the basilica the miniatures from an illuminated Missal which were his models, with the result that his pictures, hardly visible from the nave and aisles of the church, have not exercised any influence on later Roman art. Sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary 19 It is well to draw attention to one characteristic of the triumphal arch of Sixtus III. The scenes here represented are not scenes chosen casually from the Gospels, but have especial reference to our Blessed Lady. In the mind of the Pope who caused them to be executed they form a kind of distant echo of the acclamations which had resounded a few years before at Ephesus, when Mary was saluted by the whole council of bishops with the title of Theotokos or Deipara, that is, Mother of God. If it were possible for any doubt on this subject to arise, the well-known epigraph of Sixtus III in commemoration of the work accomplished would suffice to dispel it : Virgo Maria, tibi Xystus nova tecta dicavi Digna salutifero munera ventre tuo. Te Genitrix ignara viri, te denique foeta. Visceribus salvis, edita nostra salus. Eccc tui testes uteri sibi praemia portant, Sub pedibus iacet passio cuique sua. Ferrum, flamma, ferae, fluvius saevumque venenum, Tot tamen has mortes una corona manet. The great work of Sixtus III, therefore, included besides the triumphal arch the vault of the apse which is now covered by the mosaics of Nicholas IV. Originally the central position must have been occupied by the picture of the Blessed Virgin with the divine Infant, to whom a succession of martyrs presented their crowns according to the description in the Apocalypse. There was, however, one special point to be noticed. As is well known, ancient Roman art, less so that of the East, shunned that severe realism which has found so much favour in our day. It had therefore a great aversion from representing the martyrs in the midst of their sufferings or with the instruments of their tortures. In the concave of the apse of St Mary Major under each martyr : Sub pedibus iacet passio cuique sua. We do not know which nor how many were these tui testes uteri, as Sixtus III translates in Latin form the Greek name of martyr, but we may perhaps guess them by their respective symbols : Ferrum, flamma, ferae, fluvius, saevumque venenum. There were, then, four or at most five figures, amongst whom may have been Matthias with the poison swallowed by him, Sixtus II with a sword, Lawrence with a fiery gridiron, Ignatius of Antioch with the lions, and Clement who was cast into the sea. 20 The Sacramentary Surroundings so full of devotion to Mary and so magnifi­ cently ornamented seemed, in the Middle Ages, to be the place best suited to the celebration of the solemn festivals in the liturgical cycle in honour of Mary. The Ordines Romani, in fact, describe them for us with every particular. How and when the four original feasts of the Blessed Virgin —those of her Nativity, of the Annunciation, Purification, and Falling asleep—first formed part of the Roman Liturgy is still uncertain. They already existed in the time of Sergius I (687-701), who, Oriental as he was, desired to surround them with the greatest splendour, and ordered therefore that on these days a great torchlight procession should go either at night or in the early morning from St Adrian al Foro to St Mary Major. The meeting place was the ancient senatorial hall, which, still adorned with rich marbles, stood untouched before the famous rostra of Cicero. The night preceding the feast of the Assumption was, however, an exception to the rule. As on that occasion the vigil was celebrated in the Liberian basilica, so in order to make the nocturnal procession more imposing, the cortège returned from the Esquiline to the Lateran where the cardinals brought out the celebrated picture of the Saviour which was usually kept in the Oratory of St Lawrence. The procession was then reformed. The seven cross­ bearers took their places among the people, each one raising aloft his processional cross. At short intervals there followed eighteen deacons carrying in their arms as many ikons of the Blessed Virgin from amongst the most ancient of the city. Then followed an interminable crowd of the faithful and of the clergy, singing psalms, often walking barefooted and wearing mournful-looking black pœnulas as a sign of penitence. When the procession reached St Mary Major the dawn of our Lady’s feast was fast approaching, and the first rays of the rising sun were about to kiss the face of the Virgin in the mosaic of Sixtus III. At the foot of that gracious picture lighted up and transfigured by the renascent day-star, was offered the eucharistie sacrifice, during which the people of Rome received from a golden chalice held by the deacon that precious blood of redemption which Christ had drawn from the heart of Mary. This is indeed the result of the devotion to Mary which has spread from Rome through the whole world by the labours of the Popes and of the missionaries, together with the faith preached by the holy Apostles. /Xlready in the second century Bishop Abercius of Geropolis united these two devotions, that of the Eucharist and that of Mary, when on his sepulchral stele he spoke of the divine ’ ΙΧΘΥΣ which is Sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary 21 caught by the chaste Virgin, who serves it up to her friends, offering them wine at the same time. When, therefore, in Holy Communion we receive the blood of God made man, that blood brings us into closer relationship, so to speak, with the Blessed Virgin who was the fount and source from which it was drawn. At that solemn moment Mary recognises in us something which belongs to her. We become her sons then in the most perfect and highest sense of the word, for it is her own blood which flows in our veins. CHAPTER II THE PORTRAITS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY VENERATED AT ROME OME possesses a number of pictures of the Mother of God, which, without claiming to be true por­ traits, are proofs that this devotion dates from the time of the Apostles. As, according to the early Fathers, we do not possess a real likeness of Jesus Christ, so, too, we have none of Mary who, even outwar must have very greatly resembled Jesus, and have been endowed with great beauty as befitted a masterpiece of the Holy Ghost. It may have been that the same sense of the impossibility of conveying in a painting the reflection of the Godhead in the countenance of the Saviour, also prevented any painter from attempting to portray the virginal features of Mary, so that we have in Rome from the first years of the second century, only imaginary representations of her. The earliest of these portraits is certainly that in the catacombs of Priscilla, in which a star shines above the head of the divine Infant, and which may go back to the beginning of the second century. She who is blessed amongst women has a veil upon her head and is seated full of dignity on a throne, whilst the prophet or the wise man, wearing a pallium, stands respectfully before her. The little Child whom his Mother appears about to suckle, turns his back upon the robed figure of the seer, so that the latter is addressing not Jesus, but Mary, who in the intention of the artist was there­ fore to be the central figure of the picture. Another painting of our Blessed Lady, which is to be found in the cemetery of Domitilla, is worthy of mention. The picture dates from the third century, and represents the Wise Men, who, four in number, advance towards the Blessed Virgin bearing gifts. Here, too, Mary is veiled as a mark of her maternal dignity. She is seated in majesty upon a throne and instead of clasping the holy Child to her breast, she holds him upon her knee. We must also note a third portrait of the Blessed Virgin, painted on an arcosolium in the coemeterium maius on the R 22 The Portraits oj the Blessed Virgin Mary 23 Via Nomentana. This work seems to belong to the first half of the fourth century and represents the Virgin, who, veiled and adorned with a necklace of pearls, is in an attitude of prayer before her divine Son, Advocata nostra. In order that there should be no doubt of the scene re­ presented being a religious one, the artist has added two Constantinian monograms, one on the right and the other on the left of the Saviour, indeed the P on the left has the curve or loop inclined towards the central figure as though to indicate that it really does represent Christ. We have already spoken of the picture of the Mother of God on the tomb of Turtura in the cemetery of Commodilla. That portrait of Maria Regina is of the fourth century and is important not only from the artistic point of view, but because the painter, in order to express the great dignity of our Blessed Lady, has surrounded her with such symbols of pre-eminence and veneration that there can be no manner of doubt con­ cerning the thought which inspired him. The throne with the footstool, the consular mappula, the central place in the picture, the two saints on the right and on the left, both of them standing, all bear witness to the greatness of her regal dignity. It is quite evident that the generation for whom the painter of Turtura executed his picture was accustomed to venerate the Blessed Virgin as Queen of the Saints, and advocate of men before the tribunal of her divine Son. In the cemetery of St Valentine on the Via Flaminia we find another picture of Mary. In the historical crypt of the famous martyr, at the back of a small niche may be seen our Lady with the Child Jesus at her breast. Her head is sur­ rounded by a circular nimbus, whilst her divine Son has a halo in the shape of a cross, which is a veiled symbol in his crucifixion. The work seems to be of the time of Honorius 1 (625-638), and may be regarded as the last representation of the Blessed Virgin in the Roman catacombs. After the subterranean cemeteries come the mosaics of the churches dedicated to Mary at Rome. We have already mentioned those of Sta Maria in Trastcvere, and of the Liberian Basilica, with the dedicatory inscription of Sixtus III ; we now notice those no less celebrated of the Vatican Oratory of John VII, which at present are scattered, some of them being in the crypt of St Peter’s, some at Sta Maria in Cosmedin, and others even at San Marco in Florence. The figure of Mary which we find in the apse of the Oratory of St Venantius in Laterano, in that of the titulus de fasciola, of Sta Maria in Domnica and of Sta Maria Nova, is also worthy of mention. The mosaic of St Venantius was executed under the 24 The Sacramentary Dalmatian Pope John IV (640-642). In it the Virgin, robed in a picnula, and in the attitude of an " orante ” occupies the chief post of honour in the centre of a band of eight other saints. We see on the vaulting of the apse in the titulus de fasciola dating from the ninth century the same Eastern influence of the Protevangelium Jacobi, just as in St Mary Major. Indeed in this church of the Via Appia the central scene is that of the Transfiguration, as in Justinian’s Basilica on Sinai, whilst on either side we find a representation of the Blessed Virgin. In the one on the right our Lady is seated in a chair working with her needle, when the Archangel Gabriel appears before her and announces to her the mystery of the Incarna­ tion of the Word. In that on the left this mystery has already taken place, for we see the Virgin again with the Child Jesus in her arms whilst Gabriel stands reverently at her side. The mosaic at Sta Maria in Domnica is only of the ninth century. In the centre of the apsidal vaulting the Blessed Virgin appears with the mappula in her hand and the Infant Jesus on her lap. At her feet, but on a smaller scale in order to imply humble subjection, we see Pope Paschal I, who on his knees dedicates to her the works carried out by him in this church. VIRGO · MARIA · TIBI · PASCHALIS · PRAESVL · IIONESTVS CONDIDIT · HANC · AVLAM · LAETVS · PER ’ SAECLA MANENDAM The Mosaic of Sta Maria Nova is later, for it possibly only goes back to the time of Alexander III. It recalls to some extent that of Sta Maria in;Trastevere, for here, too, in the summa sacra via Mary, full of dignity and majesty, is seated on her throne of glory and clasps in her arms that Child who is the Master of the Apostles Peter, Andrew, James and John, who stand around lier to do her honour. Under this picture the following lines might once be read : CONTINET · IN · GREMIO · CAELVM · TERRAMQVE · REGENTEM VIRGO · DEI · GENITRIX · PROCERES · COMITANTVR The Roman Churches contain several ikons of the Blessed Virgin of the so-called Byzantine type, some of which are said to date back to the time of St Gregory the Great, if not actually to St Luke himself and the age of the Apostles. The "fact, however, remains that originally pictures and ikons did not form part of the liturgical ornaments of the Roman basilicas. These were indeed decorated, as we have The Portraits oj the Blessed Virgin Mary 25 seen, by paintings and mosaics upon the walls, but in those days when a feeling opposed to the idolatry of the past was still very strong, sacred pictures were placed in the apse and on the walls of the holy place more by way of decoration and for the instruction of the unlearned than as objects of direct veneration. This preventive measure taken by the Church was necessary at that time lest the new converts to the Faith who had only lately been rescued from paganism should slip back into idolatry through veneration of sacred paintings. Therefore the ancient basilicas had their altar isolated in the centre of the bona, under the vaulting of the apse, and the priest when offering the holy sacrifice did not face some sacred painting attached to the wall, as he does now, but faced the assembly of the people who thronged the three, or sometimes five, aisles of the hall. When, however, towards the seventh century, it became the custom to celebrate several Masses each daj' in the same church, these were said at different altars which were therefore placed against the walls in the side aisles. These walls had been already decorated with pictures of the saints, and thus it was that the priest began to have before him when he offered the holy sacrifice a sacred ikon, not as yet moveable, but fixed to the spot, which in that form came to be regarded as part of the official furniture of a Christian altar. Having, then, shown that moveable pictures and ikons must not be regarded as forming part of the liturgical orna­ ments of the Roman basilicas in the early Middle Ages, we must now endeavour to ascertain at what subsequent period of distinctly Byzantine influence such pictures were intro­ duced into the Roman churches. Already under Sixtus III we find in the Lateran baptistery a group representing the Lamb of God, the Saviour and St John the Baptist in pure gold. According to the Liber Pontificalis Gregory III covered with silver the cross-beam of the pergula that separated from the nave the Vatican Confessio of St Peter’s, on which he caused to be represented on one side the Saviour with the Apostles, and on the other the Blessed Mother of God between two rows of holy virgins. Long before the Pontificate of Stephen II there were to be seen in front of the altar of St Mary Major two pictures representing on a groundwork of silver, the Mother of God. This Pope had a third one made on a sheet of purest gold, which according to the custom of the time in the East, he caused to be decorated with pearls, jacinth, and emeralds. The picture represented the Blessed Virgin with the Child Jesus on his Mother’s knees. In the same Liberian basilica Adrian I had the altar-stone 26 The Sacramentary covered with a cloth of woven gold adorned with jewels, and on it was embroidered a representation of the Assumption of our Lady into heaven. As a rule almost all the donations of a liturgical nature given by the Popes to the Roman basilicas between the seventh and the ninth centuries take the form of pictures painted on plates of gold or silver, or of vessels of goldsmith’s work and hangings on which were embroidered sacred scenes. Judging by the catalogues of the Liber Pontificalis the art of needlework must have been held in great esteem at Rome at that time, but no mention is made of pictures or ikons. Yet paintings on wood cannot have been altogether un­ known in the Eternal City. They did not, it is true, form part of the liturgical furnishings, and because of this they are rarely mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis, but they certainly existed, and we have an indication of this, not only in the hymn of Andrew the Orator to Rusticiana already quoted, but also in the history of the mission of St Augustine and the forty Roman monks to England. When they first landed on British soil they formed themselves in procession and advanced, preceded by a silver cross and a picture with the representation of the Saviour. In the life of St Benedict Biscop too, it is related that on each of the four occasions when he, like a true Anglo-Saxon, journeyed from England to Rome, he always returned with a large number of codices, relics and sacred pictures which were evidently paintings. This occurred about the middle of the seventh century when the war of the Iconoclasts was already about to break out in the East. Moveable ikons, unlike the biblical and hagiographical representations painted, or executed in mosaic, on the walls of the basilicas, were according to Roman usage chiefly venerated in private houses or were carried triumphantly in solemn processions as had once been done with the por­ traits of the Emperor. It is therefore easy to understand that the greater number of these paintings must have represented the Saviour or his Blessed Mother. We have already spoken of the two pictures of the Redeemer and of our Lady which were carried in procession on the night preceding the feast of the Assumption. The Ordo Romanus of Benedict the Canon relates that in the twelfth century, on the feasts of the Purification and of the Annun­ ciation, not merely two, but as many as eighteen sacred pictures were carried in the procession by the deacons between lighted double candles. These pictures are precisely those ancient ikons of the Blessed Virgin which arc still preserved The Portraits oj the Blessed Virgin Mary 27 in many Roman basilicas, and around which many pious legends have grown up. Some of these paintings arc attributed in good faith to the time of Gregory the Great, and it is even asserted that they used to be carried proccssionally in the famous litania septi­ formis itself, which that holy Pope commanded to be held at the beginning of his Pontificate in order to obtain the cessation of the plague. It is said that when the procession arrived at the bridge before the mausoleum of Hadrian, a group of angels descended from heaven to salute the blessed effigy of the Mother of God, chanting the Antiphon : Regina coeli, laetare, etc. St Gregory listening to the celestial choir learnt from them that beautiful hymn to our Lady, and added to it the last hemistich : Ora pro nobis Deum. Alleluia. Hence the friars of Ara Coeli and one of the other Roman basilicas obtained the privilege of singing the Regina Coeli when the papal procession passed over the Ælian Bridge. It is not improbable that during the Iconoclastic per­ secution many sacred images were brought from the East and placed in safety in Italy and especially at Rome. This would explain the great number of Byzantine images of the Blessed Virgin which exist in the Eternal City, although not all of these date back to the eighth century, for the relations between the Italian and the Greek artists were friendly during the whole of the Middle Ages, so much so that all art in Italy before Cimabue and Giotto is commonly known as Byzantine. The Liber Pontificalis tells us of the arrival at Rome about the year 854 of Lazzarus, monk and confessor, picturiae artis nimirum eruditum, Legate of the Emperor Michael Porphyrogenitus, with a great quantity of gifts. Another embassy from Constantinople reached Rome in the time of Nicholas I, sent by the same Emperor, and once more treasures of Oriental jewellery and embroideries went to enrich the sacristies of the Lateran and of St Peter’s. In this latter basilica there is still preserved a sacred ikon representing the Saviour between the two Princes of the Apostles, which was presented in the ninth century by SS Cyril and Methodius, the Apostles of the Slavs. A list of these Greek or Byzantine ikons existing in Rome would be too long, since we find them almost everywhere : for instance at San Domenico e Sisto, St Mary Major, St Boniface on the Aventine, at Ara Coeli, SS Cosmas and Damian in the Forum, Sta Maria Nova, St Alphonsus on the Esquiline, at Sta Maria dellTtria, Sta Maria in Cosmcdin, Sta Maria del Popolo, at Sta Maria in Campo Marzio, St Lawrence in Damaso, St Augustine, and at San Francesco a IH I i» 28 The Sacranientary Ripa. Others, such as the Mater Domini in the Basilica of St Paul, the ikon of Sta Maria in Cosinedin, that of Sta Maria in Aquiro, etc., seem to be of local workmanship, and belong to the period between the thirteenth and the fifteenth century. One entry which we find in an early list of the Roman churches of the seventh century is remarkable : Basilica quae appellatur sancta Maria Transtiberis, ibi et imago sanctae Mariae quae per se facta est. We know from Pietro Mallio that in his time, that is to say in the thirteenth century, lamps were kept perpetually burning in the Vatican Basilica ante imaginem beatae Mariae quae est de mosibo, post Veronicam ... ad sanctam Mariam de cancellis . . . in sancta Maria in Oratorio . . . Hence we have here three distinet shrines of our Lady besides that of Sta Maris de Turre which was in the atrium of the church. The Mater Domini in the Ostian Basilica also est de mosibo, that is, in mosaic and goes back perhaps to the time of Honorius III. It was before this image that on April 22, 1541, St Ignatius of Loyola and his first companions pro­ nounced their solemn vows, and that the holy founder was elected to be the first general of the new Society of Jesus. Not a few of these venerated effigies have been crowned with a golden crown by the Vatican Chapter. The origin of this pious custom dates back to the time of Count Alessandro Sforza, who in his testament of July 3,1636, left his property to the Canons of St Peter on condition that they should place golden crowns upon those images of the Blessed Virgin which were the most renowned for their antiquity and for the miracles wrought through them. The first to receive a crown was the so-called Madonna della febbre, which from the ancient Basilica of St Peter had been translated after many changes to the secretarium to the “ grotte vecchie,” and to the Chapel of the Holy Column, and finally, under Pius VI, had found a definite resting place in the new sacristy of the Chapter. But previous to the pious legacy of Sforza, Clement VIII had already crowned with a jewelled diadem the celebrated image of the Virgin which is so greatly honoured at St Mary Major, in the Borghese Chapel. And because afterwards, on one of the various occasions when that basilica had been sacked, this crown was stolen, Gregory XVI in 1837, in reparation for the outrage, with great solemnity placed a new diadem on the forehead of the Mother of God. Pius IX on December 8, 1854, on the occasion of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, followed his example and crowned the effigy of Mary Immacu­ late which is venerated in the choir of St Peter. Fifty years The Portraits of the Blessed Virgin Mary 29 later, under Pius X, during the magnificent festivities which were being celebrated at Rome in commemoration of that great event, the crown given by Pius IX was wholly adorned with precious stones. On July 9, 1796, a rumour spread throughout Rome that several of the sacred images of the Blessed Virgin in the churches and streets of the city had been seen to move their eyes and even in some cases to shed tears, as a sign of great grief and as a portent of coming disasters. These wonders continued to occur until the month of January in the following year, so the ecclesiastical authorities had plenty of time during which to examine closely into them. Pius VI was so deeply impressed that he at once de­ clared special fasts and penitential processions, and had missions preached in six of the principal open spaces of Rome. From the legal documents we learn that the wonders were proved to be genuine in the following instances : The Madonna dell’ Archetto. Our Lady of Sorrows in the Chiesa degli Agonizzanti. The Madonna in the Vicolo delle Muratte. Our Lady of Sorrows near Sant’ Andrea delle Fratte. Mary Immaculate in Sant’ Andrea dei Lorenesi. Our Lady of Sorrows near the Chiesa Nuova. Mary Immaculate in San Silvestro in Capite. Our Lady of the Assumption in the Chiesa Nuova. Sta Maria delle Grazie in the old church of the Hospital della Consolazione. Our Lady of Mount Carmel in San Martino. The Madonna in the Piazza dell’ Olmo. The Madonna under the Arch of Grottapinta. Our Lady of the Rosary at the Arch of the Ciambella. Our Lady of Sorrows in Piazza Madonna. The Madonna of Guadeloupe in San Nicola in Carcere. Our Lady of Sorrows at the corner of Piazza del Gcsù. The ninth of July, the anniversary of the miracle, was appointed as a special feast, called prodigiorum B. Mariae Virginis, in memory of the marvellous event. On January 20,1842, Alphonse Ratisbonne, a Jew, happened by chance to be standing before the altar of Mary Immaculate in the church of Sant’ Andrea delle Fratte, when the Blessed Virgin appeared to him,all radiant with light which illuminated his soul, and he was immediately converted to the Faith. The Vatican Chapter in 1892 girded the forehead of the venerated figure with a golden crown. There was a time when Protestant heresy declared that 30 The Sacramentary Catholic devotion to the Mother of God was a corruption of the Christian Faith which only began in the Middle Ages. The Mother Church, that of Rome, answers in the name of all, and by merely indicating the memorials to Mary which we have here passed in review, gives the history of the venera­ tion shown by all generations towards her, the new Eve, whom Christ upon the cross presented to the whole human race with the words : Ecce Mater lu a. We have seen in Rome proofs of this filial affection towards the Madonna in the miraculous pictures of July 9, 1796, and in that which converted Ratisbonne. But this devotion is expressed artistically in exactly the same way in the long series of images of our Lady of the Renaissance, in the socalled Byzantine ikons, in the mosaics of the early Middle Ages, and finally in the paintings of the catacombs, until we come to that of Priscilla which at the latest may belong to the first half of the second century. The generation which first saw that Madonna with the star above her head was the same one or at least the offspring of that which had known John under that same roof, which had heard Paul preach, which had received baptism from Peter, and had been witness to the living torches of Nero in the Vatican Gardens. Farther back than the favourite disciple, beyond Peter and Paul, we can find only the Blessed Mother of God herself and only Christ our author, our teacher and the object of our holy Faith. CHAPTER III THE FESTIVAL OF THE ASSUMPTION INTO HEAVEN OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IN THE ANCIENT ROMAN LITURGY HE feast of the " Dormition ” or Assumption of the Mother of God into heaven is probably the most ancient of all the feasts of Mary, since, long before the Councils of Chalcedon and Ephesus, it appears to have been commonly and widely cele­ brated, not only among Catholics, but also among the schis­ matical sects and the very ancient national Churches such as the Armenian and the Ethiopian. It is probable that the dedication in Rome itself of the Basilica maior of the Blessed Virgin on the Esquiline on August 5, in the time of Pope Liberius (352-66), or in that of Sixtus III, had some connection with the feast of the As­ sumption, which, even if it was kept in the Gallican rite on January 18, and in that of the Copts on January 16, yet it was celebrated by the Byzantines in the middle of the month of August, on a date which the Emperor Maurice fixed definitely in the time of St Gregory the Great. Whatever may have been the origin of its introduction, it is certain that the festival was kept at Rome long before the Pontificate of Pope Sergius, for, as we have already said, this Pontiff, in order to surround it with greater splendour, ordained that a solemn procession should take place every year on this occasion, starting from the Basilica of St Adriano sul Foro, and proceeding to St Mary Major, where the Pope celebrated the stational Mass. He also prescribed that the same ceremony should take place on the Purification, the Nativity, and the Annunciation of the Mother of God, and in this he was probably influenced by the custom of the Byzantines, who had already been keeping these festivals for several centuries. Leo IV, about the year 847, ordered that the feast of the Assumption should be preceded at Rome by a solemn vigil, to be kept by the clergy and the people in the Basilica of St RnauKMj 32 The Sacramentary Mary Major, and he also appointed that on the day of the Octave the station should be celebrated outside the Porta Tiburtina in the Basilica Maior dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, which had been built by Pope Sixtus III in front of the apse of the Constantinian Church of St Lawrence. The order of the solemn stational procession introduced in the time of Sergius I is still known to us. Early in the morning, the people, carrying lighted candles and to the singing of antiphons and of solemn litanies, went in procession to the Church of St Adrian, where they awaited the coming of the Pontiff. As soon as he had arrived, having come on horseback from the Lateran, both he and his seven deacons exchanged their usual garments for sombre penitential pcenulas, and the procession set off. First walked seven crossbearers with their crosses, the people followed praying aloud, then came the clergy attached to the palace with the Pope escorted by two acolytes, carrying candelabra with lighted torches according to the Roman imperial custom. A subdeacon came next, swinging a thurible with incense, then two more crossbearers the one behind the other, each bearing a precious stational cross, and finally the procession was closed by the schola of the choir, composed of the boys of the Orphanage, who sang alternately with the clergy the antiphons and litanies appropriate to the occasion. When this interminable procession at length reached St Mary Major at the break of dawn, the Pope with his deacons withdrew to the secretarium in order to change their gar­ ments and prepare for the celebration of the Mass, while the rest of the clergy together with the people, humbly prostrate before the altar, as is still the custom on Holy Saturday, sang for the third time the Litany ternaria of the Saints, that is to say each invocation was repeated three times. In course of time this vigi iary ceremony, comprising nocturnal processions with crosses, candles and antiphons, which is so different from the customary Roman pannuchis and which consequently at once betrays its Eastern origin, developed very considerably and became one of the most characteristic ceremonies of medieval Rome. In the tenth century the Pope, together with the College of Cardinals, on the morning of the Vigil of the Assumption, went bare­ footed to the Oratory of San Lorenzo, now called Sancta Sanctorum, at the Lateran, where among other relics was preserved the ancient likeness of the Saviour which was said to have been formerly rescued from the fury of the Icono­ clasts at Constantinople. This picture was greatly venerated at Rome, so the Pontiff, The Festival of the Assumption 33 before opening the doors of the tabernacle in which it was kept, made seven genuflections before it, as did all those present. On the appearance of the sacred effigy, the Te Deum was intoned in accordance with an ordinance of St Leo IV ; the Pope then went up to the platform which had been erected for this purpose. I le first kissed the feet of the Saviour and then laid the picture down on the altar itself. In the afternoon all the higher clergy of the Lateran Patriarchate together with the Pontiff repaired to St Mary Major to celebrate vespers, after which they sat down to a frugal meal, which was the only refection allowed on that day of rigorous fasting. The abstemious repast ended at sunset and the palatine clergy retired to take a short rest in the rooms of the adjoining palace. At cock-crow the Pope and his clergy were again up and about, and returned to the basilica, which had been magnifi­ cently illuminated and adorned with hangings, in order to celebrate the vigiliary Office in the presence of the immense concourse of people. This Office, according to the Roman custom on greater festivals, consisted in a double service of Matins followed by the usual laudatory psalms which were to be sung at daybreak. The holy Sacrifice brought this lengthy ceremony to an end. In the eleventh century7 this rite had undergone some alterations. It was the Cardinals, then, who, as it grew dark on August 14, went to fetch the picture of the Saviour from the Chapel of St Lawrence in the Sancta Sanctorum, and escort it in triumph through the great square which in those days stretched away in front of the palace of the Lateran Patriarchate. Twelve ostiarii carrying lighted candles accompanied the sacred effigy, the subdeacon of the regio followed with the stational cross ; next came the clergy attached to the palace, the Primicerius with the schola of the choristers, the Prefect of the City with a deputation of twelve members of the municipal council, and finally an innumerable gathering of people, who, abandoning that night the streets of the City, flocked to the Lateran. From there the procession moved towards the Basilica of Sta Maria Nuova near the Via Sacra in the Forum, where the titular feast of the church was also being celebrated. It must indeed have been a sight worthy of the Eternal City, to see on that brilliant August morning as the rising sun was gilding the Alban Hills the triumphal procession of the Redeemer and his Church pass along the same road, under the same arches of victory, beside those porticos and ancient amphitheatres called after Titus, Domitian, and Vespasian, which recalled 34 The Sacramentary the memories of three centuries of persecution and of blood generously shed in the confessing of Christ. The greatly valued picture of the divine Redeemer was temporarily placed under the portico of Sta Maria Nuova, where the clergy as an act of veneration sprinkled the feet of the Saviour with perfumes made from the herb sweet basil. Then the schola of the choristers entered the church and the morning Office began, whilst the faithful, instead of waiting inactively until the singing of the psalms was finished, took momentary possession of the sacred effigy and carried it off in their arms amid the singing of psalms and hymns of . thanksgiving to the neighbouring Basilica of St Adrian. There the ceremony of bathing the feet of the Saviour with perfumes was repeated, until at the conclusion of Matins the procession was formed once more in order to go this time to the Basilica of St Mary Major, where the stational Mass of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was cele­ brated. In the tenth century the history of imperial Rome had been strangely distorted by popular fancy, and in all those majestic marble remains of ancient monuments which then encumbered the Capitol and the neighbourhood of the Forum of the Emperors, the imagination of the masses beheld only the fearful abodes of basilisks and dragons which once poisoned with their tainted breath alone those persons rash enough merely to pass by. The lively faith of the Middle Ages therefore felt the neces­ sity of asserting itself resolutely before those trophies which recalled the diabolical reign of the idolatry of imperial Rome, hence the Roman rituals of the eleventh and twelfth centuries prescribed that the procession should pass before the socalled arch of Latona and before the domus Orphei, the ancient fountain adorned with the statue of the Thracian poet, expressly so that the Roman people might be delivered from satanic molestations through the supplications of so many of the faithful and the intercession of the great Mother of God. The procession having at length reached St Mary Major after a night full of such appealing emotions, the Pope cele­ brated the stational Mass and gave his blessing to the people who by this time were tired out with fasting and watching. This was the reason why, following the early Roman rite, the second vespers were not recited on the afternoon of solemn feasts with the exception of Easter, but were left exclusively to the devotion of the monks in their monasteries. It was only later on, when, that is, the night vigils had fallen into disuse, that the Roman rite eventually adopted the recitation The Festival of the Assumption of second vespers, and even then the Pope did not as a rule take part in them. In order to complete this picture of the Assumption in medieval Rome, we give here a hymn dating from the early eleventh century, which describes the solemn vigil of the Romans in honour of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. It is important because it supplies some details omitted by the Ordines Romani themselves. This text is taken from a miscellaneous collection at Monte Cassino of the same century.1 Incipit Carmen in Assumptione Sanctae Mariae. In node, quando Tabula portatur. Hymn for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary In the night when the ikon is carried in triumph. Sancta Maria quid est? si caeli climata scandis ? Esto benigna tuis. Sancta Maria quid est ? O holy Mary, dost thou ascend to the highest heaven ? Be gracious to thy children, O holy Mary ! 2. Unde fremit populus ? Vel (cur) vexilla coruscant ? Quid sibi vult strepitus ? Unde fremit populus ? 2. Why do the people rejoice ? Why do the banners wave ? Why is this noise made ? Why do the people rejoice ? 3· Quare volant (f jaculae ? Lucc(nt)2 pcr strata coronae, Laminae columna? Quare volant faculae ? e 3· Why are these torches borne along? Why do these poles crowned with lights illumi­ nate the streets ? Why are these torches borne along ? Astra nitent radiis. Rutilant et tecta lanternis, Cuncta rubent flammis. Astra nitent radiis. The brilliance of the lamps dispels the darkness of the sky. The roofs of the houses gleam with lanterns. Everything is reddened by the glow of the torches, the lamps dispel the darkness of the sky. Edita consulibus, numerasti, Horna, triumphos, Signa moves planctus, edita con­ sulibus. O Rome, daughter of Consuls, thou hast numbered many tri­ umphs, Now art thou about to weep, O Rome, daughter of Consuls. 1 Cod. 451, folio 313. 1 The additions in ( ) Are written by a contemporary corrector. The Festival of the Assumption The Sacramentary 6. Quae tibi causa mali ? felix, O gloria mundi. Cur manant oculis? Quae tibi causa mali ? 6. What is the cause of thy woe, radiant splendour of the world ? Why do thine eyes shed tears, what is the cause of thy woe ? 7· Plaude, parens patria, r(or)antia lumina terge, Spem retinens veniae. Plaude parens patria. 7· Rejoice, O Mother-City, and wipe the tears from thine eyes. Thou mayest surely hope for thy sins’ forgiveness, O MotherCity, rejoice. 8. Martyrii practio, cecidit si prima propago, Stas renovata modo Martyrii praetio. 8. If by a martyrdom thy children were once taken from thee, Thou dost arise again to new life through a martyrdom. 9· Limina primus adit, silvis digressus arator, Nunc tua Piscator limina primus adit. 9· Thy threshold was first crossed by the uncultured ploughman, Now is the Fisherman the first to cross thy threshold. 10. Pulvere multiplici crines foedaverat ille, Hic te mundat aquis pulvere multiplici. 10. Low in the dust the former bowed thy head, The latter with cleansing water bathes thee bowed low in the dust. 11. 11. Paulus ovile tuum pascens, educit aquatum Atque refert stabulis Paulus ovile tuum. Shepherded by Paul thy flock to the spring is led, Then returning home to the fold, it still is shepherded by Paul. Respondet Roma. Rome replies. I. Quid memoras titulos ? aut cur insignia prisca Obicis in vultum ? Quid mem­ oras titulos ? 2. Toto memorabilis i. Why recall my triumphs ? why cast in my face My former glories ? why recall my triumphs ? 2. Enitui facie. I painted my face, I became orbe famous throughout the world, Callida, sed vulpes. Enitui And like a cunning fox, I painted facie. my face. 3· 3’ In mediis opibus, meretrix nocturna In the midst of wealth I put on the cucullos cloak of the shameless1 Indui prostituens, in mediis And abandoned woman in the opibus. night, in the midst of wealth. 1 The cucullum of the ancients was an ample hood under which people of bad character could hide their identity, especially at night. 37 Nec metuens Dominum, proieci carmine vultum Offendens nimium. Nec metuens Dominum. Without fear of the Lord, I was shameless in my songs, Deeply I offended, nor did I fear the Lord. Semino nunc lacrimas (ut seram) gaudia messis, Et post delicias, semino nunc lacrimas. 5· Now do I sow in tears to reap hereafter in joy. Leaving past delights, now do I sow in tears. 6. Gaudia sustinui. Lucrum si prima Gaudia sus­ 6. I have tasted pleasure, and if now I pay the price It is God who imposes the penalty because I tasted pleasure. Nec procul est Opifex, gemmam carbone refingens Et gremium pandens. Nec procul est opifex. But the Creator is near, who can shape from the coal A gem. He opens his arms to me. The Creator is near. 8. En ubi Vultus adest. Quaerens oracula Matris Prae natis hominum, cn ubi Vultus adest. 8. Behold his image here,1 moving to the shrine of his Mother, Beautiful beyond the children of men, behold his image. 9Vultus adesl Domini, cui totus sternitur orbis Signo iudicii : Vultus adest Domini. 9Behold the face of the Lord before whom the earth bows. Judgement is in his hands. Behold the face of the Lord. io. Ergo fremit populus, nec cessant tundere pectus Matres cum senibus. Ergo fremit populus. io. Therefore the people tremble, Matrons and old men Beat their breasts without ceasing and all the people tremble. Sistitur in solio Domini spectabile signum, Theotocosque suo sistitur in solio. On a high throne is placed the venerable image And that of his Mother too, on a high throne is placed.’ icrificante Deo. tinui. 1 This was the efiigy which was usually preserved in the papal oratory of St Lawrence in the Lateran and which was carried in triumph about the City on occasions of great solemnity. * Originally all the most venerated pictures in Rome were carried in the processions of Our Lady, but gradually the imago of the Blessed Virgin at the Liberian Basilica on the Esquiline attracted all the attention and devotion of the people. The Sacramentary Hine thimiama dabunt, hinc bal­ sama prima reponunt Thus mirraque ferunt. Hinc thimiama dabunt. 12. Here incense is burnt, here pre­ cious balm is poured,1 Myrrh and spices arc brought, whilst incense is burnt. 13· Dat schola gracca mclos, ct plebs romana susurros, Et variis modulis dat schola graeca melos. 13. The Greek choir chants,’ the Romans softly reply To the varying harmonies, which the Greek choir chants. Kyrie centum plicant, et pugnis pectora pulsant, Christe, faveto, tonant, Kyrie centuplicant. The Festival oj the Assumption 39 4· Turba gemit populi (modico dis­ crimine lacti, Sancta Maria Tibi turba gemit populi). The people cry to thee, rejoicing at their escape from worse evils. O holy Mary, behold, the people cry to thee. Sancta Dei Genetrix, romanam respice plebem, Oltonemque fove, Sancta Dei Genetrix. 5· Holy Mother of God, look down on the people of Rome, Protect our Emperor Otho, O holy Mother of God I 14. A hundred Kyries they chant, and striking their breasts Cry : Have mercy on us, O Christ I repeating a hundred Kyries.3 Tertius Otto tuae nixus solamine palmae Praesto sit veniae, tertius Otto tuae. 6. Protect Otho the Third, who trusts in the help of thine arm. May he soon obtain pardon, do thou protect Otho the Third. Invitatio ad orationem. The Invitation to prayer. Hie Tibi, si quid habet devoto pectore praestat Spargere non dubitat hic Tibi, si quid habet. All that he possesses with devout mind he offers to thee. Ready to spend in thine honour all that he possesses.1 Sollicitemus ob hoc prece, carmine, lingua, Et Matrem Domini sollicitemus ob hoc prece. Let our prayers invoke the Mother of God, let our tongues Call upon her and our hymne, and let our prayers invoke her. 8. Gaudeat omnis homo quia regnat tertius Otto, Illius imperio gaudeat omnis komo. 8. Let the world rejoice, for the third Otho is our ruler ; Under his glorious sceptre let all the world rejoice.’ 2. Virgo Maria, tuos clementius aspice natos, Exaudi famulos, Virgo Mana, tuos. 2. O Virgin Mother, look down in mercy on thy children, Listen to thy servants, in mercy look down, O Virgin Mother I Supplicibus lacrimis Tibi grex conspargitur Urbis, Alma Maria, fave supplicibus lacrimis. 3· Their tears and prayers the whole people of Rome pour forth : Sweet Mary, be propitious to their tears and prayers. 1 The liturgical custom of sprinkling holy images as well as crosses and relics of saints with balm and perfumes is most ancient, and is derived from the classic rite of pouring ointments and perfumes into the tombs of the departed on certain occasions. ’ The origin of this school of music at Rome must date back at least to the fifth century. But the most remarkable feature is that it continued to exist in the City even when the Byzantine Empire bad already long been a thing of the past. In studying the Gregorian Chant this school of Greek and Roman music at Rome should be compared with the celebrated school of the Monastery of St Gall, where in the ninth century we find numerous and very important elements of Byzantine music. ’ The custom of repeating the Kyrie hundreds of times was very common in ancient Liturgi'es, and* several Pontifical acts exist which at the founding of some church urch 1or monastery lay upon the clergy the obligation of reciting a hundred, two hundred, orthree hundred Kyries daily for the repose of the soul of the founder. The dogmatic importance of the rites which we have summarilj’ described here cannot fail to strike everyone. At a time when some ecclesiastical writers, as for instance the famous Ambrosius Autpert, Abbot of St Vincent at Voltur­ num (eighth century), confessed that some local churches had not yet reached complete agreement with regard to the doctrine of the corporal assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven, we find the Apostolic See counting the solemnity of August 15 amongst the most important of the liturgical Year. The object of this feast is clearly expressed in the various Collects of the Gelasian and Gregorian Sacramentaries ; it is always the bodily Assumption of our Lady, although some1 After the gruesome period when mcdie\al Rome had seen Popes and Antipopes stabbed to death, strangled in prison, poisoned, or dragged in mockery through the streets, the reigns of the three Othos who succeeded each other on the Imperial throne must have appeared like a golden age of peace and the restoration of the ancient universal " Imperium,” the dream of all times. In the above lines the poet «hares this hope and rejoices in the reign of the youthful Otho III. * In spite of the stains which dimmed the glory of Otho III all historians agree as to his deep religious feeling and the wide protection which he granted to the Papacy, to churches and to monasteries. Ii is not rare to find in following his itineraries that he had retired to the Abbeys of Farfa, Subiaco, Ravenna, etc., where he sometimes spent the whole of Lent in fasting and penitential exercises. 40 The Sacramentary times the Liturgy contemplates two distinct events, that of her death, and that of her being taken up into heaven. For instance, the Gelasian Sacramentary has the following beautiful Secret : Accipe munera, Domine, quae in beatae Mariae iterata solemnitate deferimus, quia ad tua praeconia recurrit ad laudem, quod vel talis assumpta est. Per Dominum, etc. " Receive, 0 Lord, the oblation which we offer to thee on this second solemnity of the Blessed Mary, for it redounds to the praise of thy glory that so noble a virgin should be as­ sumed into heaven. Through our Lord.” To what does this “ second solemnity ” refer ? Perhaps to the celebration of the Vigil in the preceding night, or, as seems more probable, to a feast kept a few days earlier, for instance that of August 5, the object of which was precisely the Dormitio Sanctae Mariae. The data which would enable us to decide this are wanting, but in any case it is important to note that in the Gelasian Sacramentary the Assumptio of the Mother of God was celebrated with a solemnity distinct from another feast which preceded it by a few days. The Gregorian Sacramentary is still more explicit. As in the Greek rite, the object of the feast is the dormitio, repose, translation, or assumption of the Blessed \zirgin Mary, but the Faith of the Roman Church concerning her resurrection and bodily assumption into heaven is so firm, undisputed and uncontroverted, that the miracle is generally implied rather than explicitly declared. It is a point of Catholic Faith, about which no doubt is entertained. Thus, for instance, we read in the first Collect of the Gregorian Sacra­ mentary : Veneranda nobis, Domine, huius est diei festivitas, in qua sancta Dei Genetrix mortem subiit temporalem, nec tamen mortis nexibus deprimi potuit, quae filium tuum Dominum nostrum de se genuit incarnatum. Qui tecum, etc. ‘‘ Truly venerable to us, O Lord, is this solemnity in which the holy Mother of God endured temporal death, but remained free from its fetters, having given birth to the incarnate Lord thy Son, who with thee ...” In this Collect, belief in the triumph over death of the Blessed Virgin and, in consequence, belief in her bodily resurrection is clearly asserted ; indeed (and we should make note of this) the same reason for it is given as that advanced by St John Damascene, i.e. the divine Maternity of Mary. Quonam modo mors devoraret ? Quomodo inferi susciperent ? Quomodo corruptio invaderet corpus illud in quo vita suscepta est ?x 1 Orat. II de dormit. B. Mariae. The Festival of the Assumption 41 It should, however, be borne in mind that though the divine maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be regarded as the immediate reason of her Assumption into heaven, yet the first and formal reason of this privilege is to be sought in her Immaculate Conception. It is true, indeed, that the dignity of the Mother of the Incarnate Word was the primary reason for which God preserved the Immaculate Conception of Mary from all stain of original sin—and in this sense the Gregorian Sacramentary rightly attributes the reason of the bodily resurrection of the Blessed Virgin to her prerogative as Mother of the Word—but in order to express this truth with perfect accuracy, it is necessary to say that the formal reason for the preservation of her body from corruption was pre­ cisely her immunity from all stain of original sin. The consecrated formulas of the Roman Liturgy have not any difficulty in expressing and indeed in reconciling the fact of the death of the Blessed Virgin with her bodily resurrection, due to her exalted dignity. The end of that transitory state in which the pilgrim soul finds itself on earth is called by us Death, but it does not necessarily imply any idea of pain or abasement in the case of the Immaculate Mother of God. This termination, or death, is a consequence of the formation of the human body, wherefore according to a Secret from the Gregorian Sacra­ mentary which has passed into the present Roman Missal, the Blessed Virgin pro conditione carnis migrasse cognoscimus, but without the penalties of death. The state of separation of soul and body with all its consequences, such as bodily corruption, long and violent separation of form from matter, etc., had no power over the Mother of God. Therefore the Gregorian Sacramentary says : Mortem subiit temporalem, nec tamen mortis nexibus deprimi potuit. The authority of the Roman Liturgy concerning the possi­ bility of dogmatic definition of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is paramount, for it reflects the teaching and authority of the supreme Pontiff. Now that Catholic devotion antici­ pates the day when the infallible Teacher of Truth will place this last gem in the diadem which adorns Our Lady in heaven, theologians will be able to draw largely on that fount of Catholic tradition which is contained in the Liturgy, especi­ ally that of Rome. They will thus justify once more the words of Pope Celestine, when in writing to the Bishops of Gaul he declared : Legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi. ο SANCTAE ROMANAE ECCLESIAE FERIALE N.B.—The three columns of the Feriale show as follows : The ist, marked A, the primitive Feriale contained in the Philocalian Calendar and in the Sacramentaries. The 2nd, marked B, gives the medieval feasts noted in the liturgical books of the eleventh century. The 3rd, marked C, indicates the modem feasts inserted in the Roman Missal since the thirteenth century. The Sacramentary 44 SANCTAE ROMANAE Mense A 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 xvni xvn XVI xv XIV XIII XII XI 15 Assumpt. B.M.V. 22 S. Timothei M. 23 X 24 IX 25 26 27 28 29 VIII VII VI V IV 28 S. Hermetis M. 30 III 31 Pridie Kalendas Sept 30 Felicis et Adaucti Mm. Mense 1 Kalcndis 2 iv Nonas 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ΙΟ 11 12 13 14 2 Acontii in Portu, Nonni, Herculani et Taurini ni Pridie Nonis vin Idus vu vi 8 S. Hadriani M.—Nativitas B. Μ. V. 9 S. Gorgonii M. v IV III Pridie Idibus xviπ Kai. Oct. ii 14 S. Cornelii et Cypriani—Ex1 altatio S. Crucis 15 S. Nicomedis M. 16 S. Caeciliae Virg. M.—S. Euphemiae M. 15 XVII 16 xvi 17 xv 18 XIV 19 XIII 20 XII 21 XI 22 X 23 IX SS. Proti et Hyacinthi Mm. j I I Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Feriale 45 ECCLESIAE FERIALE Augusto c B 16 S. loachim Patris B. Μ. V S. Hyacinthi Conf. 17 Octav. S. Laurentii M. 18 S. Agapiti M. 22 SS. Hippolythi et Symphoriani Mm. Octav. Assumpt. Vigil. S. Bartholomaei 24 S. Bartholomaei Ap.—S. Aureae 28 S. Augustini Ep. Conf. Doct. 29 S. Sabinae—Decoll. S. Ioh. Bapt. 20 S. Bernardi Abb. Doot. 21 S. loannae Fremiot De Chantal 23 S. Philippi Bcnitii Conf. 25 S. Ludovici IX Conf. 26 S. Zephyrini Pap. 27 S. losephi Calasanctii Conf. 30 S. Rosae Limanae Virg. 31 S. Raymundi Nonnati Conf. Septembri Fratrum Mart. XII 2 S. Stephani Regis Conf 5 S. Laurentii lustiniani Ep. Conf. 10 S. Nicolai a Tolentino Conf. 12 SS. Nominis Mariae Virg. 16 SS. Luciae et Gcminiani Mm. 16 SS. Cornelii et Cypriani Mm. Impress. SS. Stigmat. S. Francisci Conf. 18 S. losephi a Cupertino Conf. 19 S. lanuarii Ep. Mart. 20 SS. Eustatii M.—Vigil. S. Matthaei Ap. 21 S. Matthaei Ap· Evang. 22 SS. Mauritii et Soc. Mm. . Lini 23 S. Thcclac Virg. M. Pap. 22 S. Thomae de Villa nova Ep. % The Sacramentary 46 Mense A VIH VII VI V IV III Pridie Kai. Oct. 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 27 SS. Cosmae et Damiani Mm. 29 Dedicatio S. Angeli via Salaria Mense 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kalendis vi Nonas v iv in Pridie Nonis 7 S. Marci Pap. 8 vin Idus 9 vu 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 vi v IV ni Pridie Idibus xvii Kai. Novcmbr. XVI xv XIV χπι XII 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 xi x IX VIII VII VI V IV III Pridie Kai. Nov. 14 S. Callisti Pap· SS. Chrysanthi et Dariae Mm. Mense 1 Kalendis 2 3 4 5 6 iv Nonas in Pridie Nonis vin Idus Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Feriale 47 Septembri {continued) C B 24 B. M. Virg. de Mcrcede 26 SS. Cypriani et lustinac Mm. 28 S. Wenceslai Ducis Conf. 30 S. Hieronymi Conf. Doct. Octobri i S. Remigii Ep. Conf. 2 7 SS. Sergii et Bacchi—Marcelli et Apuleii Mm. 9 SS. Dionysii, Rustici et Eleu­ theri Mm. SS. Angelorum Custodum 4 S. Francisci Conf. SS. Placidi et Socior. Mm. 6 S. Brunonis Conf. Sacr. Ros. B. M. Virg. 8 S. Birgittae Vid. 10 S. Francisci Borgia Conf. 13 S. Eduardi Reg. Conf. 15 S. Teresiae Virg. 18 S. Lucae Ev. 21 SS. Ursulae et Soc. Mm. (S. Hilarionis Abb.) S. Hedwigis Vid. 19 S. Petri de Alcantara Conf. 20 S. loannis Cantii Conf. 24 S. Raphaelis Archang. 26 S. Evaristi Pap. 27 Vig. SS. Symonis et ludae Ap. 28 SS. Symonis ct ludae Apost. 30 S. Germani Ep. 31 Vigil. Omn. Sanet. (Dominica ultima Octobris-Fest. D. N. Icsu Christi Regis.) Novembri S. Cacsarii Mart.—Omnium Sanctor. Cornm. Omn. Defunct. SS. Vitalis et Agricolae Mm. 4 S. Caroli Ep. Conf. Ecclesiae Feriale The Sacramentary 48 Mense 7 8 9 10 VII VI IV III 8 SS. Quat. Coronat. Mart. ii S. Mennae M. 12 Pridie 13 Idibus xvni Kal. Decembr. 16 l8 IQ 20 21 22 23 XVII XVI XV XIV XIII XII XI X IX VIII VII VI 25 26 27 28 IV 29 III 30 Pridie Kai. Dec. Novembri (continued) 8 9 10 11 12 Oct. Omn. Sanctorum S. Theodori—S. Salvatoris SS. Tryphonis et Soc. Min. S. Martini Ep. Conf. S. Martini 17 S. Grcgorii Thaumat Ep. Conf. 18 Dedic. SS. Petri et Pauli App. 19 S. Pontiani Pap. M. 22 S. Caeciliae Virg. M. 23 S. Clementis Papae—Felici­ tatis M. 24 S. Chrysogoni M. 25 S. Catharinae Virg. M. 26 S. Petri Alexandr. Ep. M. 29 S. Saturnini 30 S. Andreae Ap. 29 Vig. S. Andreae Ap. 10 S. Andreae A veil. Conf. 13 S. Didaci Conf. S. losaphat Ep. Mart. S. Gertrudis Virg. 19 S. Elisabeth Vid. 20 S. Felicis de Valois Conf. 21 Praesent. B. M. Virg. 24 S. loannis a Cruce Coni. 26 S. Silvestri Abb. 49 THE FEASTS OF THE SAINTS FROM AUGUST 14 TO SEPTEMBER 29 FEASTS IN AUGUST THE NIGHT OF AUGUST 14 Vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Collecta at St Adrian, Station at St Mary Major. ^MONG the feasts of the Blessed Virgin that of the dormitio (κοί/χησ·ι$) sanctae Mariae, or of her bodily / assumption into heaven, was from very early times / W the most solemn and the most widely observed. We have already described elsewhere the cere­ monies with which it was observed, so it is only necessary to speak here of the Mass at the Liberian Basilica which brought the long torchlight procession to an end. The originator of this nocturnal procession of the clergy and people was Sergius I. Leo IV merely revived the custom. Towards the tenth century, however, the festival increased in importance, and the procession, instead of starting from the Church of St Adrian ad Forum, began at once at the papal palace of the Lateran, bearing the ikons of the Saviour and of the Theotokos surrounded by hundreds of lights. Outside Rome, in very many parts of Italy, the touching ceremony observed in the Eternal City was copied for the Vigil of the Assumption, and still on the evening of this day in some of the villages of Latium two processions are formed, the one carrying the image of the Saviour, and the other that of his blessed Mother, which move simultaneously towards each other. When the two companies meet, the bearers of the two ikons exchange a kiss of peace ; the celebrant then incenses the sacred images, and with that of Christ on the right and that of the Virgin on the left, the triumphal pro­ cession goes to some church dedicated to our Blessed Lady, where the feast of the Assumption is begun. This ceremonial has, for instance, been observed for many centuries at Leprignano in the district attached to the Abbey of St Paul. According to the Ordo Romanus XI, on the morning of August 14, the Pope and the Cardinals, fasting and barefooted, 50 August 14 51 went to the Oratory of St Lawrence in the Lateran Patriar­ chate, where they made seven genuflections before the By­ zantine ikon of the Saviour which is still kept there. Then the Pope opened the door of the shrine and while the Te Deum was being sung he laid the ikon upon the altar, so that when evening came it might be carried in procession by the Cardinal Deacons. The Vespers and the vigiliary Office with its nine Lessons were sung at dusk at St Mary Major, after which the Pope and all the clergy returned to the Lateran in order to take part in the nocturnal procession. On this night the Introit of the vigiliary Mass is that for March 25 : Vultum tuum deprecabuntur. All humanity turns with confidence to gaze upon the beautiful countenance of Mary, the face which was so often kissed by the divine Child, the face which expresses majesty, purity and grace, the face which is the most perfect image of that of Christ. Collect : "0 God, who didst vouchsafe to choose for thy dwelling the virginal womb of blessed Mary, grant, we be­ seech thee, that we who enjoy her intercession may assist with joy at her festival.” The Lesson is like that of July 16, while the Gradual Benedicta and the Gospel are those of August 5. It is worthy of note that the Würzburg List of Gospels ignores the vigil of the Assumption. This is an indication that, as a matter of fact, Pope Sergius instituted only a simple procession and litany on this night to precede the celebration of the festival Mass at St Mary Major. It must have been Leo IV who instituted the Office and the vigiliary Mass. The Offertory is as it were an echo of the Gospel Lesson in which a pious woman acclaimed Our Lady as blessed. “ Blessed art thou, O Virgin Mary, who didst bear the Creator of all things : thou didst bring forth him who made thee and remainest a virgin for ever.” Secret : “ Look with mercy upon our offerings, O Lord, through the prayer of the Mother of God, whom thou didst take up out of this present world that she might boldly plead before thy face for the forgiveness of our sins.” Mary still fulfils in heaven the office of advocate for us which Christ entrusted to hcr on Calvary, and she does so in order that the redemption may restore all things and be of far greater power than our ruin. Over against Adam and Eve, the source on earth of our original sin, God has placed in heaven Christ and Mary, the Redeemer and the Coredemptress of the human race. 52 The Communion is the same as for July 16. Post-Communion : “ Grant, O merciful God, protection to us in our weakness, so that we who are looking forward to the festival of the holy Mother of God may by the help of her intercession rise up from our sins.” In opposition to the Pelagian heresy, and also to some recent teachings which do not by any means sufficiently realize the inclination to evil of our corrupt nature, the Church insists, in her Liturgy, in establishing as the foundation of our spiritual life the truth, that is, a clear notion of the work of inner reconstruction which lies before us. We are like a splendid monument fallen into ruin, for the restoration of which our free will no less than divine grace is necessary. AUGUST 15 her Son, who humbled himself and exalted her, who died for us on the cross and left her to be our Mother. The Lesson is from Ecclesiasticus (xxiv, 11-13, 15^20). The Church applies to-day to the Blessed Virgin, in whose womb the Word became flesh, that which the Scriptures say in praise of Jerusalem where the worship of the true God and Eternal Wisdom was enthroned. By reason of the divine Motherhood the dignity of the Blessed Virgin is so great that it surpasses all the glory and honour which the human mind can conceive. Gradual (Psalm xliv) : “ Because of truth, and meekness, and justice, and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonder­ fully. V. Hearken, 0 daughter, and see, and incline thine ear : for the King hath greatly desired thy beauty.” As a great artist puts his whole self into his masterpiece and delights in it, so the Lord takes delight in Mary : The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Station al St Mary Major. The Ordo Romanus XI of Benedict the Canon decrees that on this morning the procession ascendentes ad sanctam Mariam, dominus Pontifex praeparatus cantat Missam, benedicit populum fatigatum : omnes recedunt.1 It was therefore a kind of Dominica vacat ; the early Mass was said after the long procession which had taken place in the night, the Papal blessing was given, and then all went home to break their fast and to take the necessary rest. It is quite possible that there was in the eighth century a second Mass for those who had not been able to attend the night Offices—a missa maior—as on August 10, after the vigil of St Lawrence, and this is perhaps why the Würzburg List gives two different Gospels for to-day ; that already quoted for the vigiliary Mass, and the other containing the story of Martha and Mary. The Introit is of Greek origin, and was first composed for the feast of St Agatha. We have already quoted it on July 16. The angels rejoice at the Assumption of Mary, for their own Queen has at last come amongst them. Collect : “ Forgive, 0 Lord, we beseech thee, the sins of thy servants, that we who by our own deeds are unable to please thee, may be saved by the intercession of the Mother of thy Son our Lord : who liveth and reigneth.” The " Mother of thy Son,” but our Mother too, precisely because she is the Mother of him who for our sake became LXXVIII, col. 1052. 53 August 15 The Sacramentary " Termine fisso d’eterno consiglio."1 “ Alleluia, alleluia. Mary is taken up into heaven : the host of angels rejoices. Alleluia.” Nor is it the angels alone who rejoice at the Assumption of Maty ; we sinners, too, take part in this joy, for to-day Our Lady ascends into heaven, and henceforth will intercede for us with greater efficacy at the tribunal of God. The Gospel (Luke x, 38-42) relates the episode of the visit of Jesus to Bethany in the house of Lazarus. The Liturgy applies to the Blessed Virgin Mary to-day the words which our Saviour spoke in praise of the sister of Martha who sat at his feet, silently listening to his words. Mary has chosen, not merely the better part, but the best of all, for as her purity and sanctity surpass that of any other creature, so her glory in heaven is only surpassed by that of God. Dante expresses the devout thought that the sight of the radiant countenance of Mary prepares the elect for the Vision of the face of Christ. Riguarda omai nclla faccia, che a Cristo Più si somiglia, che la stia chiarcsza Sola ti puà disporre a vedr.r Cristo.1 The Antiphon for the Offertory is the following : ” Mary is taken up into heaven : the angels rejoice, and join together in praising and blessing the Lord. Alleluia.” The Sacred Liturgy, soberly and with dignity, but at the same time without equivocation, professes the Catholic belief in the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The title of to-day’s feast is the Assumption, and the Liturgy constantly 1 Paradiso. Canto XXX. ’ Paradiso. Canto XXXII. iH 54 The Sacramentary repeats this word “ assumption,” nor can it mean by this the assumption of the spirit common to all the elect, but alludes evidently to a privilege accorded only to Mary, and this can but refer to her virginal body. Secret : “ May the prayer of the Mother of God help thy people, O Lord, and although we know that she passed away from this life to satisfy the conditions of her mortal flesh, may we nevertheless have her to plead for us before thy face in the glory of heaven. Through the same.” So high is the dignity of the Mother of God and so deeply rooted in the hearts of the faithful the belief in her bodily assumption into heaven, that the composer of to-day’s Mass does not conceal the difficulty he experiences in explaining the fact of the death of Mary. How could she who had been conceived without sin, and had given birth to the Author of life Himself, undergo death ? This is the theological difficulty. It appears as though, in order to solve it, the composer of the Collect would distinguish between death as the penalty of sin and death status termini, to which pro condicione carnis every human being must submit. Mary was, indeed, exempt from the pain and humiliation of death, in so far as these are consequences of original sin, she who had given birth to the Redeemer in joy. But as a creature—pro condicione carnis— Mary, too, came under the universal law which puts an end to the pilgrimage of every mortal. The Gregorian Sacramentary expresses itself in the same manner in another Collect which was perhaps intended for the vigil of the preceding night : Saucta Dei Genitrix mortem subiit temporalem, nec tamen mortis nexibus deprimi potuit. Mary’s death was, then, an undoubted fact, in spite of the hesitation attributed to St Epiphanius1 : “ I do not state that she was immortal but I am not certain cither of her death.” Her triumph over death is twofold : she gave up her soul in its original sanctity and holiness into the hands of her Son, and further ncc mortis nexibus deprimi potuit, she was taken up bodily into heaven. The Collect to-day in the Gelasian Sacramentary is inter­ esting : Accipe munera, Domine, quae in beatae Mariae iterata solemnitate deferimus ;—iterata perhaps with reference to the preceding synaxis of the vigil—quia ad tua praeconia recurrit, ad laudem, quod vel talis assumpta est. The Preface which the Sacramentaries generally assign to to-day’s feast, except for slight additions, is the same which is prescribed in the Missal for all feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 1 Haeres. XIX, ch. ii. August 15 We will quote instead, in praise of Mary, one of the mag­ nificent Leonine Prefaces for Christmas pay : Vere dignum, etc. die solemnitatis hodiernae, quo licet ineffabile, tamen utrtimquc conveniens editur sacramentum. Quia et Mater Virgo non posset nisi sobolem proferre divinam, et Deus homo nasci dignatus, congruentius non deberet nisi Virgine Matre generari. Propterea, etc. The Antiphon for the Communion of the faithful repeats to-day the words of Jesus in the Gospel (Luke X), “ Mary hath chosen for herself the best part : which shall not be taken from her for ever.” This best part is the Word of God, to whom the Blessed Virgin not only gave birth, but on whom she nourished herself spiritually, being entirely absorbed, as the Gospel shows her to us, in meditating in her heart upon the words of Christ. Post-Communion : ” We who have partaken of thy heavenly banquet, implore thy mercy, O Lord our God, so that we who pay honour to the Assumption of the Mother of God, may, through her intercession, be freed from all the evils which threaten us. Through the same.” The most favourable moment at which to obtain graces from Mary is that of Holy Communion, for when she sees us so intimately united with the Body and Blood of her Son, she feels herself on account of this participation, to be more than ever the Mother both of Jesus and of men. AUGUST 15 St Tarcisius, Acolyte and Martyr*1 At the Cemetery of Callixtus. On this day we find in the more modem Martyrologies the commemoration of Tarcisius the Roman acolyte, who was martyred by the pagans because he would not yield up to them the Blessed Sacrament which he carried hidden on his breast. The Martyrology of St Jerome does not mention this saint, but the Notitia Nataliciorum of St Sylvester in Capite keeps his feast on July 26, together with that of Pope Zcphyrinus. This latter day has an historical connection because, as a mark of special honour, the bones of the acolyte, who was actually compared by Pope Damasus to St Stephen, 1 The feasts marked with an asterisk (*) do not belong in any way to the original collection in the Roman Sacramontaries, which contained at first only local feasts. They arc, however, given here as they now form part of the universal calendar of the Church, and are included in the Roman Missal. 56 The Sacramentary were laid in the same tomb as those of Pope Zephyrinus, the founder of the necropolis of Callixtus : Sanctus Tarcisius et sanctus Zepherinus in uno tumulo iacent. So the De locis Sanctorum Martyrum tells us. This is the inscription by Damasus in honour of Tarcisius : PAR · MERITVM · QVICVMQUE · LEGIS · COGNOSCE · DVORVM QVIS ‘ DAMASVS · RECTOR · TITVLOS · POST · PRAEMIA · REDDIT IVDAICVS · POPVLVS ’ STEPHANVM · MELIORA · MONENTEM PERCVLERAT · SAXIS · TVLERAT · QVI · EX · HOSTE · TROPAEVM MARTYRIVM · PRIMVS · RAPVIT · LEVITA · FIDELIS TARSICIVM * SANCTVM · CHRISTI · SACRAMENTA · GERENTEM CVM · MALE · SANA · MANVS · PETERET · WLGARE · PROFANIS IPSE · ANIMAM · POTIVS · VOLVIT · DIMITTERE · CAESVS PRODERE · QVAM · CANIBVS · RABIDIS · CAELESTIA · MEMBRA “ 0 Reader, whosoever thou art who dost read this, know that both those to whom, after their reward, Damasus dedi­ cates these lines, were equal in merit. The Jews crushed Stephen under a rain of stones when he would have taught them the better way. The faithful Levite triumphed over his enemies, snatching from them the palm of martyrdom. “ Whilst he carried the holy Sacrament of Christ, an impious man stretched out his hand to take it from him and to expose it to the scorn of unbelievers. Tarcisius preferred to be struck down and to give up his spirit, rather than deliver to mad dogs the Body of Christ.’* AUGUST 16 St Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary* The liturgical honours paid in the East to the happy parents of the most blessed Virgin date back to very early times. In the Menology of Constantinople their commemora­ tion occurs on the day following the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, whilst amongst the Syrians it was kept on July 25. Their names and the events of their lives have been handed down to us by the Apocryphal Protevangelium Jacobi ; but even apart from these narratives the great merit of the two saints Joachim and Anna was manifested and confirmed by God himself when he granted to them the honour of being the parents of the Blessed Virgin and grandparents of the Saviour. The excellence of a fruit is always a sign of the quality of the tree which bore it. In the case of St Joachim, the Im- August 16 57 maculate Conception of Mary reflects a splendid glory on the chaste union of her parents. The Gospels speak of a sister of Our Lady who accompanied her even to the foot of the cross. According to some authori­ ties she too was a daughter of Anna and of Joachim. The feast of St Joachim was first introduced into the Breviary by Julius II, who fixed the date of March 20 in connection with that of St Joseph and of the Annunciation. Clement XII, however, transferred it to the Sunday after the Assumption, until, in the reform of the Breviary carried out by Pius X, August 16 was the date fixed. The Introit is taken from the Mass of the Vigil of St Lawrence. Collect : "0 God, who of all thy saints wouldst choose blessed Joachim to be father to the Mother of thy Son, grant, we beseech thee, that we may evermore have for our advocate him to whose festival we pay honour.” The predominant idea in this Collect is expressed thus by St John Damascene : De fructu ventris vestri cognoscimini. Pie enim et sancte in humana natura vitam agentes, Filiam angelis superiorem et nunc Angelorum Dominam edidistis.1 The Lesson is the same as that for St Raymund on January 23, followed by the Gradual which is also assigned to the vigil of St Lawrence. The alleluiatic verse is proper to the feast : ” Alleluia, alleluia. 0 Joachim, holy spouse of Anne, father of the glorious Virgin, win for thy servants the grace of salvation. Alleluia.” The parents of the Mother of God and grandparents of Jesus are like the penultimate link in that chain of graces and blessings which through the patriarchs connects Adam with Christ. For this reason the genealogy of the Saviour according to St Matthew is read to-day as in the vigiliary Mass of December 7. The Offertory, Gloria et honore, is the same as for St Canute on January 19. Secret : “ Receive, most merciful God, this sacrifice which we offer up to thy majesty in honour of the holy patriarch Joachim, the father of the Virgin Mary, that through his intercession, with that of his spouse and his most blessed child, we may become worthy to have our sins wholly forgiven, and to win everlasting glory.” The Antiphon for the Communion, Fidelis servus, is common to the Mass of St Sabba, on December 5. Post-Communion: “We beseech thee, almighty God, 1 Orat. I de Virg. Naliv. 1 58 The Sacramentary that by these mysteries which we have received, and by the merits and prayers of blessed Joachim, father of the Mother of thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which plead for us, we may become worthy to receive thy grace in this life and everlasting glory in the world to come.” The close relationship which existed between the Saviour and St Joachim confers on the latter a great dignity, raising him above other saints, so that the honour paid to him is reflected upon Christ himself in a special manner and upon his Immaculate Mother. They loved him and honoured him in this world above all others. Their love is like a precious gem which adorns the crown of the holy Patriarch in heaven. AUGUST 17 Octave Day of St Lawrence In the Leonine Sacramentary there are among the Collects of the feast of St Lawrence a few which speak of a solemnitas repetita. These may refer to the commemoration of the Octave. It is, however, undoubtedly contained in the Gelasian and Gregorian Sacramentaries. The celebration of an octave was originally the prerogative of the paschal solemnity alone, but from the fifth century it gradually became the custom to commemorate the eighth day after the Nativity, SS Peter and Paul, etc. The Gospel List of Wurzburg does not mention the Octave of St Lawrence. The Introit derives its Antiphon from Psalm xvi. ” Thou hast proved my heart, O Lord, and visited it by night : thou hast tried me by ike, and iniquity hath not been found in me.” For this reason God sends us temptation, which to Christian virtue is like the atmosphere in which it lives. What does he know, who has never been tempted ? What has he to gain ? Instead of pitying those who are exposed to temptation, St James goes as far as to call them blessed be­ cause the trial is a proof of greater graces and wins for them a brighter crown. The following Collect is to be found in the Leonine Sacra­ mentary : ” Stir up within thy church, O Lord, the Spirit which blessed Lawrence thy deacon obeyed, so that we too may be filled therewith, and may strive to love what he loved and to practise what he taught. Through our Lord . . . in the unity of the same.” The Paraclete stirs and directs the soul which moves as he inspires it. Wherefore the apostle says : Qui Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi sunt filii Dei. August 17 59 The two Lessons and the alleluiatic verse are the same as for the feast of St Lawrence. The Gradual, Gloria, etc., is taken from the Mass of St Eusebius on December 16, and the Offertory from that of St Sabba on December 5. Secret : “ Let the prayers of blessed Lawrence recommend our sacrifice to thee, 0 Lord, we beseech thee, so that it may be received by thee through the merits of him in whose honour it is solemnly offered up.” The following is the prayer from the Gelasian Sacramcntary : Beati Laurentii martyris honorabilem passionem muneribus, Domine, geminatis exsequimur, quae licet propriis sit memoranda principiis, indesinenter tamen permanet gloriosa.” We should note the solemn and social character which always distinguishes these ancient stational formulas. In those days the entire populace joined in the liturgical Action, which in the early centuries of the Church was the only one which took place in the whole City and which was generally celebrated by the Bishop. The Gelasian Sacramcntary has this Preface for to-day : " Vere dignum . . . Quoniam tanto iucunda sunt, Domine, beati Laurentii crebrius repetita solemnia, quanto nobis cius sine cessatione praedicanda sunt merita. Et ideo cum angelis, etc. The Antiphon for the Communion is the same as on the vigil of the feast of the Saint. Post-Communion : “ We humbly beseech thee, almighty God, through the intercession of blessed Lawrence thy martyr, to keep under thy protection for evermore those whom thou hast fed with these gifts from heaven. Through our Lord.” The Holy Eucharist, whilst being a gift—indeed the " good gift ”—is also a pledge of future glory, and includes the promise of all the graces which prepare us for it. For this reason, in the language of the Liturgy, Holy Communion becomes, too, a motive for intercession. AUGUST ι8 St Agapitus, Martyr We commemorate to-day a martyr of Praeneste, noted in the Martyrology of St Jerome : In civitate Prcnestina, milliario XXXIII, Agapiti. Felix III built a sanctuary in his honour near the Basilica of St Lawrence, so that his natalis has also been included in the Leonine Sacramcntary. He was likewise the object of a very ancient and well-known devotion in the Eternal City. The Basilica over the martyr’s tomb—his death is usually 6o The Sacramentary supposed to have taken place under Aurelian—stood in agro, a short distance outside Praeneste, and its interesting remains have been discovered. There are many sepulchral inscrip­ tions invoking the intercession of Agapitus, amongst which the following is very important : . . . illvm · (that is, the deceased) acceptvm · habeas · SANCTE · ROGAMVS EN · PVERVM · PLACIDIANVM · MERENTER · VERSIBVS · DIXI and a beautiful invocation contained in another inscription, dating from 542 to 565 : DOMINE · AGAPITE · ORA · PRO · ME Tire body of St Agapitus was transferred to Cometo in 1437· The Mass Laetabitur is as for St Saturninus on November 29. The Gospel is taken from the Mass of St Lawrence. The Collect is as follows : “ Let thy church, O God, be gladdened by the intercession of blessed Agapitus, in which she puts her trust ; through his glorious prayers may she ever keep devoted unto thee, and ever abide in peace and safety.” The Martyrs having won a decisive victory over the enemy of mankind, enjoy a special power in heaven to protect their votaries against the wiles of the devil. The Index of Würzburg assigns for the Gospel the passage Sint lumbi vestri, etc., as for St Raymund on January 23. Secret : " Receive, O Lord, the gifts which we offer up to thee on the festival of him by whose intercession we hope to be delivered.” The prayer for the Communion is the same as for December 13. The following beautiful Collect is from the Gelasian Sacra­ mentary : Munera tibi, Domine, pro sancti Martyris Agapili passione deferimus, qui dum finitur in terris, factus est caelesti fide perpetuus. AUGUST 19 St Magnus, Martyr This Saint is seldom mentioned in the Gelasian Sacramen­ tary, but his name appears in the Martyrology of St Jerome : In Fabriteria, Magni. This village of Fabriteria was in the neighbourhood of Ceccano, and devotion to St Magnus spread throughout the provinces of Campania and Lazio. August 19 61 At Amelia an ancient convent of Benedictine nuns is dedicated to St Manno or Magno. In Rome, too, there exists near St Peter’s a most ancient little basilica of the time of Leo III dedicated to the Arch­ angel Michael and St Magnus. For this reason, perhaps, the name of the martyr of Fabriteria is to be found in the Sacramentary. The Secret in the Gelasian Sacramentary is simple and graceful : Grata tibi sint munera nostra, Domine, quae et tuis sunt instituta praeceptis, et beati Magni festivitas gloriosa commendet. AUGUST 20 St Bernard, Abbot, Confessor and Doctor* In the lunette above the tomb of Pope Innocent II at the Basilica of St Mary in Trastevcre, appears the white figure of a monk who leads the Pope back to Rome, and seats him in triumph upon the throne of St Peter. That monk is Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux. A truly heroic figure, Bernard was at once a reformer of monastic life, a preacher of the Crusade, a Doctor of the Universal Church, a worker of miracles, a peace-maker be­ tween kings, princes and peoples, the oracle of Popes, and the champion of the Roman See against schisms and heresies. The mortal frame of the saint, consumed by penance and by sickness, could scarcely contain his soul on fire for the glory of God. This fire communicated itself to those around him ; his secretaries had difficulty in recording the numerous miraculous cures which he worked by the touch of his hand, or simply by a blessing. The necessities of the Church drew Bernard to Italy, and he journeyed several times to Rome. To him was due the renewal of the Abbey ad aquas Salvias on the Via Laurentina, where he installed as first Abbot Bernardo Pisano, who was afterwards known as Eugenius III. The subsequent relations between the Master and his disciple are noteworthy. Bernard cannot forget that he is still in a manner the spiritual father of the Pope, and in order to help him to meditate, he dedicates to him the work De Consideratione which, together with the Pastorale of St Gregory the Great, was, until the sixteenth century, always found in the pontifical palace. The Mass is the Common of Doctors as on April 4, but the Lesson is the same as on April 11. St Bernard indeed several times refused the proffered episcopal dignity. His work as a Doctor was carried out 02 The Sacramentary largely within the enclosure of his own Abbey, where he constantly preached to the monks, commentating on the Scriptures. This aspect of Bernard’s activity is entirely in keeping with the Rule of St Benedict, in which the monastery is regarded as a Dominici schola servitii, in which the Abbot should ever be active in imparting spiritual knowledge to his monks. St Bernard had many distinguished disciples, noted for their great holiness. Amongst these were his own parents and his brothers who followed him into the cloister. It is said that when St Bernard, accompanied by his brothers and relatives, about thirty in number, who had been attracted by his words to the religious life, was about to leave his father’s castle,he said to his little brother Nivard, whom he saw playing in the court­ yard : " Farewell, Nivard, we leave all this to you hence­ forth." The child, however, answered with a wisdom beyond his years : " This division is not just. What ! do you leave earthly goods to me and keep heavenly treasures for yourself ? " And he begged to be allowed to follow them, but was restrained from so doing until he had reached years of discretion. We may quote here an expressive phrase of St Bernard on the call for sanctity in a minister of God : Si non placet, non placat. AUGUST 2i St Jane Frances Fremiot de Chantal, Widow* This disciple of St Francis de Sales did great credit to her Master, and proved that without following the extraordinary methods of sanctity practised by the Fathers of the desert, it is quite possible to reach a high degree of Christian per­ fection, by loving God ardently and by fulfilling the duties of a wife, mother, widow, and religious, which were succes­ sively the lot of St Jane Frances. Clement XIV introduced this saint’s feast into the Missal with the rank of a double. The Mass is that of Mardi io, but the Collects are proper to the feast. Collect : ” Almighty and merciful God, who didst endow blessed Jane Frances, ever burning with love for thee, with marvellous spiritual strength in keeping the perfect way through every' path of life, grant through her merits and prayers that we, who know how weak we are and trust only in thy might, may be helped by grace from heaven and may overcome all things that withstand us." The composer has tried to introduce too many subjects Allgust 21 63 into this prayer, and has therefore given us a Collect without a cursus and devoid of a really dominant idea. Secret : " May this victim of salvation, O Lord, make us burn with that selfsame love which it enkindled fiercely in the heart of blessed Jane Frances, consuming it in the flames of everlasting charity.” This is indeed one of the objects of Holy Communion according to the words of the Gospel : ignem veni miltere in Urram, et quid volo nisi ut accendatur ? We must, however, note that the symbol of the fire of the Holy Ghost recurs several times in the Missal, and each time in the prayer over the oblations. But in the liturgical conceptions of the ancients, the fire of the Paraclete was called down upon the altar in order that it might consecrate and consume the sacrifice like that of Elias :—Sacrificia, Domine, tuis oblata conspectibus, ignis ille divinus absumat, we read on the Friday before Pentecost,—whilst in to-day's Collect the modern composer changes the idea somewhat, and instead of an oratio super oblata, he anticipates a Post­ Communion, and asks for the sacred fire of Charity which is indeed the result and fruit of Holy Communion. Post-Communion : ” Pour forth upon us, O Lord, the spirit of thy love, so that those whom thou hast fed and strengthened by this food from heaven may have grace to despise the things of this world, and with clean hearts to seek after thee, the only God.” In the school of the Bishop of Geneva piety becomes attractive without any trace of that dulness and weariness which novices in the devout life sometimes succeed in inspiring amongst those who surround them. With regard to this, members of the household of Madame de Chantal used to say at the time when she first placed herself under the direction of St Francis de Sales : ” Under her former confessors, Madame prayed for only a few hours a day, and the whole house was disturbed. Now, Monsieur de Genève teaches her to make her whole day a prayer and it does not trouble any one.” AUGUST 22 St Timothy, Priest and Martyr Station on the Via Ostiensis, in hortis Theonac. To-day the Natalitia Martyrum of the Philocalian Calendar notes XI Kai. Septembres. Timothei, Ostense. This is a martyr who came from Antioch, and who suffered in the last persecution. He was buried in a special grave in 1 ’ 64 The Sacramentary the gardens of Theona, which were above the cemetery of St Paul, at that time closed, perhaps on account of the con­ fiscation of property. The motive of the saint’s interment here is explained thus : ut Paulo Apostolo, ut Timoiheus quondam, adhaereret. The burial-place of Timothy is very small, for it consists of a long steep staircase, on one side of which is a crypt con­ taining the tomb of the martyr. The place is devoid of any inscription or painting. De Rossi, however, found there many writings and signatures of pilgrims, mostly those of natives of Antioch. The body of Timothy was transferred afterwards to the neighbouring basilica, where it rests under the altar in the same vault ad corpus of the Apostle of the Gentiles. There­ fore, even now, the new Timothy is not parted from Paul. The greater number of the early Sacramentaries only notice on this day the station on the Ostian Way at the tomb of St Timothy. The Collects arc the following : Collect : “Be appeased, 0 Lord, we beseech thee, and lend us thy help, and through the intercession of thy blessed martyr Timothy, stretch forth the hand of thy mercy upon us.” In the mosaic of the titulus of Pudens this gesture of pro­ tection is beautifully expressed. Christ is seated in majesty on his throne and extends his right arm as a mark of pro­ tection over the domus pudentiana, whilst with the left hand he holds the scroll on which is written : DOMINVS · CONSERVATOR · ECCLESIAE · PVDENTIANAE According to the Würzburg List, the Gospel Lesson to-day was from Luke xiv, 26-35, as on June 14. Secret : ” May the offering which thy holy people make to thee, O Lord, be received by thee in honour of thy saints, through whose merits they know that they have had help in trouble.” We may note here the sacred character of the Christian people, the holy race and royal priesthood, as it is often described in liturgical prayers. To-day in the Secret, the faithful are called Sacrata plebs, as, in the solemn prayers on Good Friday, they are spoken of as populus sanctus Dei. This was the title given to the faithful at Rome by the Popes in their dedicatory inscriptions : HILARVS · EPISCOPVS · SANCTAE · PLEBI · DEI As the manna no longer fell when Israel reached the AugUSt 22 promised land, so the Sacraments accompany us only to the threshold of Eternity. Communion with God, however, continues, for the Sacraments arc succeeded by that which was hidden under the appearances of the sacrum signum and which they both contained and promised. The appear­ ances fall away and the Pearl of the Gospel is seen in its brilliancy, purchased by the soul which has given all to possess Christ. AUGUST 22 St Hippolytus “ Qui et Nonnus ” Station in -portu urbis Romae, on the Isola Sacra. Besides St Timothy, the Martyrology of St Jerome notes to-day : In portu urbis Romae, Ypoliti, qui dicitur Nonnus. This Hippolytus, a completely different person from the celebrated Doctor and rival of Pope Callixtus, was a local martyr, whose history is however wrapt in obscurity. The Philocalian Calendar joins with the name of Nonnus, those of the martyrs Taurinus and Herculanus, but gives September 5 as the date of their natalis. The Basilica of Hippolytus stood on the Isola Sacra, also called Insula Portuensis. It was destroyed in 455, but it was restored by Peter the Bishop, who placed this inscription there to commemorate the event : ^VANDALICA · RABIES · HANC · VSSIT · MARTYRIS · AVLAM QVAM · PETRVS · ANTISTES · CVLTV · MELIORE · NOVAVIT The martyrs of the Insula Portuensis, Taurinus and Her­ culanus, are also commemorated in another epigraph in the Abbey of St Paul : DEO · PATRI · OMNIPOTEN TI · ET · XPO · EIVS · ET · SANCTIS MARTYRIBVS · TAVRINO ET · HERCVLANO · OMNI ORA · GRATIAS · (agi) MVS NEVIVS · LARl(stUS-e)T CONSTANT(ia ... V ria · sibi · FEC(erunt) When in the ninth century Porto was ravaged by the Saracens, Pope Formosus, Bishop of the City, saved the relics of the saints and placed them on another island in the Tiber, that is the Insula Lycaonia, in the church which was after­ wards known as Sancli Johannis de Insula. · REQVIESCVNT ♦ CORPORA · SCOR MARTYRVM · YPPOLITI ‘ TAVRINI · ET · 1IERCVLANI ATQVE · JOHANNIS · CALIBITIS · FORMOSVS EPS · CONDIDIT AUGUST 22 St Symphorian, Martyr This celebrated martyr of Autun, whose praises were sung by Venantius Fortunatus, is named in the Bernese version of the Martyrology of St Jerome, and is honoured with a vigil. His Acta seem genuine, and impress us very favourably. The sepulchral basilica of the martyr was built towards the end of the fifth century by the priest Euphronius, who afterwards became Bishop of Autun. Its dedication is re­ corded in the copies of the Martyrology of Berne and of Wisscmberg on July 31 : Agustiduno dedicatio ecclesiae Maioris (et sancti Nazariï) et translatio multorum sanctorum Martyrum (in ipsa Ecclesia). We know from St Gregory of Tours that, in the sixth century, the feast of St Symphorian (August 22) was cele­ brated at the sepulchral Basilica of St Martin. The festival of the martyr of Autun was introduced into the Roman Calendar by the influence of the Frankish Sacramentaries. Our present Missal assigns to the martyrs Timothy, Hippolytus, and Symphorian, who originally were distin­ guished with three separate Masses, a Common Mass, that of February 15 : Salus autem. The Collects are those of the feast of St Timothy, with the addition of the names of the other two saints. We read in the Acta of St Symphorian a beautiful incident which is worthy of record. When he was being led to martyr­ dom it is said that his pious Mother called to him : " My son, my son, look up to heaven and behold him who reigns there. You are not being led to death, but to a better life." AUGUST 22 Octave Day of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Station al St Lawrence. the This station was instituted by St Leo IV. The choice of the basilica was suggested by the fact that the aula Maior of Sixtus III, near the sepulchre of St Lawrence, whose August 22 ί>7 octave had been celebrated six days previously, was indeed dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Further, to-day is the feast of St Hippolytus of Porto. As, however, this saint was confused with the Doctor Hippo­ lytus, venerated on the Via Tiburtina, so probably, it was intended by this station at the basilica maior to honour the memory of Hippolytus at the same time as that of the Blessed Virgin, because he was buried in that church and commemor­ ated in the medieval inscription of the list of saints venerated at St Lawrence : POST · HOS · IPOLITVS · COLLIS · RELIGATVS · EQVORVM CVM · NVTRICE · SVA · CVM · CVNCTA · PLEBE · SVORVM The Mass is the same as on August 15, and this is out of respect for St Gregory, whose Sacramentary was regarded in the Middle Ages as inspired, and therefore unalterable. No person then would have dared to compose new parts and add them to the Liturgy. In order to atone for this lack and to honour the Blessed Virgin whose Assumption into heaven we contemplated eight days ago, we may select the following Collect from the Gelasian Sacramentary : Oblationes nostras, quaesumus Domine, propitiatus intende ; quas in honore beatae et gloriosae semper virginis Dei Genitricis Mariae annua solemnitate deferimus f et coaeternus Spiritus Sanctus tuus, qui illius viscera splendore suae gratiae veritatis replevit, nos ab omni facinore delictorum emundet benignus. Mary is the Creator’s finest work. When, in Holy Scripture, we read the praises of the Spouse of the Canticles, of sacred wisdom, and of the Church, these praises must be applied to Mary first and foremost, because she embodies in the highest degree the holiness and perfection which is attributed to the mystical Spouse of Christ—the Church. AUGUST 23 SS Abundius and Irenaeus, Martyrs Station at St Lawrence. The Martyrology of St Jerome sends us back to the Via Tiburtina to-day : In cimiterio sancti Laurentii, Habundi et Herenaei. The Itineraries also mention these martyrs, adding the information that the stone which was hung about the neck of Abundius when he was thrown into a well, was preserved in the portico of the basilica. Ibi quoque sub eodem altare Abundus est depositus, et foris in portico lapis est, 68 The Sacramentary qui aliquando in collo eiusdem Abundi pendebat, in puteum missi. This is quoted from the Epitome De Locis Sanctis, whilst the Itinerary of Salzburg remarks : Ibi pausat sanctus Abundius et Herenius martyr via Tiburtina; et ibi est ille lapis quem tollent digito multi homines, nescientes quid faciunt. The bodies of the two martyrs were buried originally, not in the Basilica of St Lawrence, but in a neighbouring oratory : parvum cubiculum extra ecclesiam, precisely as is asserted in the Itinerary of Salzburg. It was only in later days that they were laid beside St Lawrence. The ancient list of the relics preserved at the Agro Verano, thus mentions our two martyrs : MARTYR · IRENEVS · QVI · TECVM · MARTYR · ABVNDI DECEDENS ‘ SPREVIT · FALLACIS · GAVDIA · MVNDI It is probable that the two saints were also mentioned in an inscription composed by Damasus in honour of several martyrs, and of which only a few fragments have been recovered : marmoribvs · vestita · (novis veneranda sepulchra) qvae · intemerata · fides · (decorat Christique corona) hic · etiam · paries · ivsto (rum nomina pandit ?) omnia · plena · vides · (divino lumine caeli). AUGUST 23 St Philip Benizi, Confessor* It was Pope Innocent XII who included the feast of St Philip Benizi in the Missal with the rank of a double. This saint (who died in 1285) was a zealous apostle, and may indeed be regarded as a second founder of the Order of the Servants of Mary. Had he consented, he would have been elected to the Pontifical See. It is said that when he was dying, he repeatedly asked for his book, and when the infirmarian did not understand his meaning the saint made signs that he wanted his crucifix, which was the book in which he was accustomed to meditate. The Mass Justus is the same as on January 21. In the first Collect we find an allusion to the saint’s humility, which caused him to fly from the honours of the Papacy. “ O God, who in blessed Philip thy confessor didst give us a noble pattern of meekness, grant that thy servants may follow his example by despising earthly welfare, and by seeking after heavenly things.” August 23 The world is like grass or the flowers of the field : to-day it is fresh and blooming, and to-morrow it will be dry and withered. We should not place our trust in it. The other two Collects are the same as on July 19. AUGUST 23 Vigil of St Bartholomew, Apostle Like the other Apostles, the holy Nathanael or Bartholo­ mew, a true Israelite, sincere and without guile, as our Saviour himself testified, was honoured with a vigil which was already noted in the Martyrology of St Jerome. The Mass is that of December 20, but at Rome the Office of to-day was not introduced until much later. AUGUST 24 St Bartholomew, Apostle One of the many translations of the body of St Bartholo­ mew is commemorated to-day, and this feast is kept by the Greeks under the following title : 'II «τάρaSos του λειψάνου του αγίου Άττοστόλου Βαρ^ολο/χαιου. Theodore the Doctor relates that the Emperor Anastasius first caused the body of the Apostle to be carried to Dara in Mesopotamia1 where Justinian built a basilica over it.2 Gregory of Tours next asserts that in his day the relics of St Bartholomew were venerated in the Island of Lipari, whence they were finally transferred, towards the ninth century, to Benevento. They are still preserved there. For many centuries the Romans and the people of Bene­ vento bitterly disputed whether the latter had really granted to Otho III a portion of that precious relic, or whether they had deceived him by substituting the bones of St Paulinus of Nola for those of the Apostle. In the Eternal City the monastery which Pope Honorius built in his family palace near the Lateran, was dedicated to the Apostles Andrew and Bartholomew, and is therefore described in the Liber Pontificalis as monasterium . . . quod appellatur Honorii. The little church with its mosaic pave­ ment still exists, and stands between the buildings of the ancient hospital of St Michael the Archangel, and those constructed by Everso dell’ Anguillara. Many Popes, amongst whom are Adrian I and Leo III, have restored and enriched it with gifts. * P.G., LXXXVI. 212. ■ Procopius, De aedif. II, 2, 3. 7o The Sacramentary After the tenth century another sanctuary in honour of St Bartholomew arose on the Isola Tiburtina, where the church dedicated by Otho III to his former friend St Adalbert of Prague in time changed its title to that of St Bartholomew. There were other medieval churches in Rome also dedicated to this saint : St Bartholomew in Cancellis, St Bartholomew de capite Mcrulanae, St Bartholomew de Vaccinariis, etc. The Acta of St Bartholomew do not inspire much confidence, whereas the Armenian tradition which asserts that he preached the Faith at Areobanus, not far irom Albak, seems more reliable. Here he converted to the Christian religion the sister of the king, and the latter, seized with anger, caused him to be beaten so cruelly that he died three hours later. The Armenians rightfully regard St Bartholomew as the Apostle of their nation. The Introit is that of the Apostles on November 30. Collect : “ Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given us a reverent and holy joy in this day’s festival of thy blessed apostle Bartholomew, grant, we beseech thee, that thy church may love what he believed and preach what he taught.” The Church is called Catholic and Apostolic in the Creed because that which we now believe was taught by the apostles, who confirmed their good tidings by martyrdom. This common Faith which links us with the martyrs and the apostles, and through them with Christ, kindles in our heart the flame of love, and is also the cause of the joyousness which distinguishes the spirit of the Catholic Church from the gloomy outlook of heretical sects. The Lesson is taken from the First Epistle to the Corin­ thians (xii, 27-31), in which the Apostle St Paul shows that precisely because the Church is a living organism there must be in her unity of spirit, but multiplicity of offices and organs. Thus, all will not be empowered to act as apostles, prophets, and teachers, some will carry out one work, some another ; but everyone must desire charity, that is the spirit which pervades the mystical body of Christ and unites us with him and with our neighbour, in which twofold love universa lex pendet et prophetae. The Gradual Constitues is like that of November 30, while the alleluiatic verse is taken from the famous triumphal hymn of Nicetas of Remesiana. “ The glorious choir of the apostles praise thee, O Lord.” The Gospel is taken from St Luke (vi, 12-19) and refers to the vocation of the apostles. Before making this choice, Jesus spent the whole night in prayer on a mountain-top, in order to teach us that the vocation of an apostle is divine and August 24 needs much prayer and interior illumination. It is Jesus who chooses and calls the minister of the altar, for none can presume to co-operate with God in his most divine work, the salvation of souls, unless God himself has first marked him as his fellow-labourer. The Redeemer chose all the apostles at once, and formed them from the beginning into a hierarchical group with St Peter at their head, in order to show us that the rightful priesthood instituted by Christ is that which is de­ rived in unbroken succession from the twelve Apostles chosen by our Saviour, and being in communion with the See of Peter, is also in communion with the entire Catholic Episcopate. The Offertory is the same as on November 30. Secret : " We who keep the solemn festival of thy blessed apostle Bartholomew, beseech thee, O Lord, that we may receive blessings from thee by means of him in whose honour we offer up to thee this victim of praise.” Such is Catholic prayer, humble and sincere. The Church knows that our human nature has been deeply wounded by original sin, therefore she prays God to stretch out his hand, that we may be raised and made whole. Some Sacramentaries give the following Preface for to-day, which, however, differs very little from that which is common to all the apostles. Vere . . . Qui ecclesiam tuam sempiterna pietate non deseris, sed per beatos Apostolos tuos iugiter crudis ei sine fine custodis. Per . . . The Communion is like that of St Matthew on February 24. Post-Communion : “ May the pledge of eternal life, which we have received, O Lord, we beseech thee, through the intercession of blessed Bartholomew thine apostle, bring us help both for this present life and for that which is to come.” The holy Eucharist is called here the pledge of eternal re­ demption, because in it God gives himself to us. He desires to be our reward and our beatitude. But as this happiness is reserved to a time unknown to us, Jesus gives us a foretaste of it here, and this token is nothing less than the reward itself in all its fulness—our God. AUGUST 25 St Genesius, Martyr Synaxis at the Agro Verano. To-day we again keep a feast near St Lawrence, Romae Genesii Martyris, as the Martyrology of St Jerome announces. It is not, however, certain whether St Genesius whose small basilica stood near the Agro Verano, was the same St Genesius the martyr of Arles, devotion to whom was wide- 72 The Sacramentary spread in the early Middle Ages. The Roman Itineraries constantly refer to St Genesius, together with the local saints of the cemeteries of Cyriacus and Hippolytus. We know, too, from the Liber Pontificalis that Gregory III repaired the roof of the ecclesia beati Genesii Martyris. Many Roman documents mention the feast of the martyr Genesius on this day. AUGUST 25 St Louis, King and Confessor To-day we commemorate a king who was a faithful dis­ ciple of Christ Crucified, and whose life bears witness to the truth that virtue is not always rewarded in this world. Louis was inspired by his zeal for the Faith to attempt the recon­ quest of the Holy Places sanctified by the blood of the Re­ deemer, but instead of triumph and victory, he only met with defeat and captivity, and when he was at last ransomed by his people, he brought back to Paris as a symbolic trophy of his campaigns the Crown of Thoms once worn by our Saviour. He died of plague under the walls of Tunis, to which city he was about to lay siege, on August 25, 1270. Christian Rome dedicated a celebrated church to him, not far from the Stadium Domitiani. ***** The Mass is that of January 23, the feast of St Raymund. The Lesson is taken from the Mass of a Martyr, as on the feast of St Canute on January 19, and alludes to the cruel imprisonment which the saintly king suffered because of his zeal in fighting for the Holy Places. The wisdom of God, which always guides his servants, did not desert Louis in his bonds, and though it led him to bitter warfare in this life, it was in order that he might win a more glorious palm in heaven. On the festival of this monarch, who in France during many centuries seemed to personify “ the most Christian kingdom of the eldest daughter of the Church," the Gospel is the parable of the king who distributes his wealth among his servants in order that they may traffic with it until his return (Luke xix, 12-26). The meaning is almost the same as that of the parable of the master who gave his capital to his servants in order that they should put it out at interest (Matt, xxv, 14-23). In to-day’s passage, however, we are struck by one phrase. The indolent servant tells his lord Avgust 25 that he is homo austerus, and the lord accepts it and repeats the word. God shows himself to us, as we are to him. To those who truly love him he is the Father of mercies and of love ; but those who refuse these graces and withdraw from his embrace, he governs with the sceptre of his unapproachable sanctity and justice. The three Collects are proper to the feast. Collect : “ O God, who didst remove blessed Louis, thy confessor, from an earthly throne to the glory of the heavenly kingdom, grant, we beseech thee, through his merits and prayers that we may have fellowship with the King of kings, Jesus Christ, thy Son.” In this Collect, the Church recalls the faithful to a sense of the royal dignity to which, by reason of our incorporation with Christ, king and priest, we have been raised in Baptism. If all Christians belong to this sacred dynasty founded by Christ—regale sacerdotium—it is right that they should truly rule over themselves and subdue their passions. Λ fine phrase referring to this royal liberty, which a Chris­ tian should never permit to be infringed, is attributed to St Columbanus. This holy Abbot said one day to a tyrannical king: Si aufers libertatem, aufers dignitatem. Secret : " Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that even as blessed Louis, thy Confessor, spurning the blandishments of the world, sought to become well-pleasing unto Christ his King, alone, so may his prayers make us acceptable unto There is nothing more cowardly than to stifle one’s own conscience for fear of displeasing others. With the best intentions, in spite of the greatest tact and prudence, it is impossible to please all. St Paul endeavoured to do so, but he himself wrote : Si adhuc hominibus placerem, Christi servus non essem. The Psalmist has a yet sterner word about these cowardly victims of human respect : disperdet ossa corum qui hominibus placent, quoniam Deus sprevit eos. Post-Communion : ”0 God, who didst give thy blessed Confessor Louis renown on earth and glory in heaven, appoint him, we beseech thee, the defender of thy Church.” What living man remembers with any enthusiasm the names of the ancient Frankish dynasties ? And yet the name of Louis IX still stands out in the eyes of the whole French nation as a type of faith, purity, valour and chivalry, which raises the lilies of France far above the dust to which rival factions destructive of the spirit of their country have descended. Ί\ The Sacramentary AUGUST 26 St Zephyrinus, Pope* The Liber Pontificalis notes the death of Zephyrinus to-day, but in this it is not in agreement with the Martyrology of St Jerome in which we find it on December 20, 217. The reign of the aged Pontiff was lengthy, and is memor­ able because the Roman Church developed considerably at that period and organized its resistance against the heretics, especially by means of the labours of the learned Archdeacon Callixtus. We know from the writings of Optatus of Milevis, that the Pope himself confuted them in his writings and left a work exposing their errors. It was under Zephyrinus, too, that the priest Caius wrote his dialogue against the Montanist Proclus ; at the same time Callixtus opposed the doctrines of Hippolytus, who appeared to separate the Blessed Trinity almost to the point of making of the three Persons three Gods. It is to Zephyrinus, too, that the honour is due of having enlarged the cemetery on the Via Appia, which later on was known by the name of Callixtus, after the Archdeacon to whom its administration was entrusted. At this time the custom of burying the Popes at the Vatican, near St Peter’s, fell into disuse, and the foundations of the Papal Crypt on the Via Appia were laid. Zephyrinus, however, did not wish to be laid in the vault, but was interred under the pavement of the building still existing in the cemetery of Callixtus, towards the Via Ardea­ tina, which De Rossi erroneously called St Soter. Later, perhaps on account of the destruction which the cemeteries suffered at the hands of the Goths, the bones of St Tarcisius were placed in the same tomb as those of Zephyrinus, and were thus the object of equal veneration. I bi sanctus Tarcisius et sanctus Zeferinus in uno tumulo iacent, says the Epitome of the Locis Sanctis. In the ninth century the relics were trans­ lated to the new Church of San Silvestro in Campo Marzio, where indeed they are recorded on the marble Notitia Natalic­ iorum existing there. MENSE · IVLIO · DIE · XXVI · NAT · SCORVM · ZEFIRINI · PAPAE ET · TARSICII · MARTYRIS The Mass is the same as that of St Eusebius of Vercelli, on December 16. The Collect, however, is the following : " Grant, we be­ seech thee, almighty God, that we who rejoice in the merits ■ns·· August 26 75 of blessed Zephyrinus, thy bishop and martyr, may be taught by the example of his life.” St Zephyrinus did not die a violent death. If he has sometimes been given the title of martyr by writers of a later date, it must be accepted in a general sense, as signifying that he lived during the time of persecution. AUGUST 27 St Joseph Calasanctius, Confessor* This Saint was ever a devout pilgrim at the shrines of the martyrs, and daily visited the seven Churches of Rome. St Joseph, whose patience God was pleased to try, as he tried that of Job, has a right to be considered a Roman citizen, for he lived for more than fifty years on the banks of the Tiber. After having founded the Congregation of the " Scuole Pie,” after having refused the Cardinal’s hat, in order that nothing should be wanting to the trial of his virtue, he was dragged through the streets of Rome when nearly eighty years of age, and brought before the tribunal of the Inquisition as a malefactor. Deposed from the office of General of his Order, despised even by his disciples, as though his great age had dulled his wits, St Joseph endured all with perfect serenity. When he died on August 25, 1648, at ninety-two years of age, the Congregation of the ” Scuole Pie ” was almost extinct, but man cannot destroy the work of God, and in his last moments the saint predicted its revival. This prophecy was fulfilled. The Mass is in keeping with the spirit and the special vocation of the members of the Congregation of the " Scuole Pie.” * ♦ The Introit takes its Antiphon from Psalm xxxiii : “ Come, ye children, hearken to me : I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” The first part of the same Psalm follows : "I will bless the Lord at all times : his praise shall be ever in my mouth.” Not many people bless the Lord in the midst of tribulation, but still fewer receive the good things of this life as coming from his hands ; therefore, if temptation is dangerous for those whose virtue is not solidly established, prosperity is even more harmful to the majority, and is very rarely con­ ducive to sanctity. The wise man was satisfied with a modest j6 The Sacramentary sufficiency and prayed the Lord : Divitias ct paupertatem ne dederis mihi, sed tantum victui meo tribue necessaria. Collect : “ O God, who by means of holy Joseph, thy Confessor, didst provide thy Church with new helpers for training the young in the spirit of understanding and piety ; grant, we beseech thee, that through his example and teaching we may so work and so teach as to win everlasting rewards.” Jesus said to his Apostles, Euntes docete omnes gentes, baptizantes cos. Therefore, even before the administration of the Sacraments, the Church received from God the authority to teach, to open schools, to raise pulpits whence the words of truth might be taught, nor can any human authority for­ bid her to do so. Faithful to this mission of education, we find the Church even in the Middle Ages erecting schools besides presbyteries and cathedrals, in which the lamp of classical learning was kept alight. And when after the seventeenth century, before the altered conditions of European life had allowed the people to gain a wider influence in public affairs, learning was still the monopoly of the rich, it was the Church which, with great foresight, opened free, popular schools through the agency of St Joseph Calasanctius, St John Baptist de la Salle, Blessed Don Bosco and others. The Lesson is like that of St Zephyrinus, and contains allusions to the persecutions endured by the saint, and his arrest by the officials of the Inquisition. The Gradual is the same as on January 31, whilst the alleluiatic verse, which harmonizes with the thought of the prolonged martyrdom of St Joseph Calasanctius, is that of the Mass of St Raymund on January 23. The Gospel is that of St John the Baptist de la Salle on May 15. Little children are set before us as examples of Christian perfection, because the qualities which they natur­ ally possess, of purity, humility and disinterested affection, are to be acquired by us by means of grace. At the foundation of the whole spiritual structure there is one virtue which outweighs all the others. The Lord says : Quicumque humiliaverit se, sicut parvulus . . . Humility, then, is the essential condition which helps us to return to this blessed childhood of the soul, and far from being an easy matter, requires the most heroic self-effacement on the part of those who practise it. The Antiphon for the Offertory is taken from Psalm ix : ” The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor : thy ear hath heard the preparation of their heart.” We must distinguish between two kinds of poverty. That which is praised in the Bible is the poverty of spirit which is practised interiorly, and is one and the same thing as humility. August 27 77 Secret : " We lay our offerings upon thine altar, O Lord, that they may win mercy for us through the prayers of him whom thou hast given us for our advocate and helper." The prayer is inspired by the language of the Sacramentaries, but is too archaic in tone. Originally the faithful did, indeed, heap up their gifts upon the altar, but nowadays the words altare muneribus cumulamus have no meaning because they no longer correspond with the liturgical practices of the time. The Antiphon for the Communion is in keeping with the scene described in to-day’s Gospel, but it is taken from St Mark (x, 14). " Suffer the little children to come to me, and forbid them not : for of such is the kingdom of God." Purity and humility have an irresistible power over the heart of the Lamb of God. Post-Communion : “ We who have been sanctified by this mystery of salvation, beseech thee, O Lord, that by the intercession of holy Joseph thy Confessor we may ever be­ come more and more devout." Devotion is the direction of our mind and heart to God. It helps us in every undertaking, for, as St Paul wrote to Timothy, it is a general virtue which gives a supernatural meaning to all our actions. AUGUST 28 St Hermes, Martyr Station at the Cemetery of Basilla on the Via Salaria Vecchia. The Philocalian Calendar contains this notice to-day : V. Kai. Sept. Hermetis in Basillae Salaria vctcre. Hermes, according to his Acta, wols a prefect of Rome, but his name does not appear in the fasti. He may, however have been connected with that office as an adleclus. The primitive crypt of the martyr was transformed when the persecutions had ceased into a spacious subterranean basilica, which was decorated by Pope Damasus. The only words left of the marble inscription upon the altar are : HERME . . . INHERENS. The body of St Hermes was translated by Gregory IV to the titulus Marci, at the Pallacine, where his image is to be seen in the crypt under the apse of the church. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ The Mass Lactabitur is the same as for St Saturninus on November 29. The Collects are the following : " O God, who didst endow blessed Hermes, thy martyr, in his passion 78 The Sacramcntary with the virtue of constancy ; by thy grace may we so follow his example as to despise for thy love's sake all worldly prosperity, and fear no temporal harm.” The spirit of the world is sharp and subtle ; it soon dis­ covers whether we are in agreement with it or whether we follow the spirit of Christ. These two spirits are irreconcilable and there can be no compromise between them. He who desires to follow Christ, or as St Paul says : omnes qui -pie volunt vivere in Christo Jesu, persecutionem patientur, must be resigned to suffer at the hands of the world—nay, he should rejoice and thank God with St Jerome : Gratias ago . . . quod dignus sim quem mundus oderit. In the Codex of Würzburg the Gospel to-day is like that of the feast of St Sebastian on January 20. Secret : “ We offer up to thee, 0 Lord, the sacrifice of praise in memory of thy saints ; grant, we beseech thee, that what won for them their glory may avail us unto salvation." How far preferable to the style adopted by modem com­ posers of the new Collects in the Missal which are founded on allusions to the events in the life of a saint, is the golden concinnitas of the early writers, who, without dwelling on details, expressed in a single thought the special character of a particular festival. There was a Preface proper to this feast : “ Vere dignum . . . aeterne Deus : quoniam fiducialiter laudis tibi immolamus Hostias, quas sancti Hermetis martyris tui precibus, tibi esse petimus acceptas. Per ..." Post-Communion : “ We who have been filled with heavenly blessings, beseech thy clemency, O Lord, that by the inter­ cession of blessed Hermes, thy martyr, we may enjoy the benefit of that which we humbly celebrate.” The Church is careful to teach us with what humility we should draw near to minister at the altar of God. If it is an honour for us to do so, it is an immense condescension on the part of the Lord to accept our gifts. Therefore Daniel, when he was far from the Temple, prayed thus at Babylon : May the humility and contrition of our hearts, O Lord, be as the sacrifice of thousands of lambs which we can no longer offer to thee, as thy Temple is a heap of smoking ruins. AUGUST 28 St Augustine, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor To St Augustine belongs the glory of being the first Doctor of the Church and of having achieved for Catholic theology in the fourth century what St Thomas Aquinas accomplished August 28 79 for Scholasticism eight centuries later. All the Doctors of the early Middle Ages follow in word and in thought the great Bishop of Hippo, whose personality reminds us in some ways of another convert, St Paul, who from being a fierce enemy of Christ became the herald of the Gospel throughout the earth. The body of St Augustine, which was saved by African bishops from the profanation of the Vandals, was first taken to Sardinia, and then to Pavia, by the agency of Luitprand, where it is still preserved in Ciel d'Oro. At Rome in the fifteenth century, on the spot where once there stood a chapel dedicated to St Augustine near San Trifone, Cardinal d’Estouteville caused a splendid church to be built in honour of St Augustine, which is one of the most popular sanctuaries in the Eternal City. The Mass, which is not ancient, has been gathered from various parts of the Sacramcntary. Thus the Introit and the two Lessons are from January 29 ; the Collect is identical with the oratio super populum on Monday in the second week in Lent. The remainder is from the Common of Doctors (January 29), except the alleluiatic verse, which is from the Mass of St Sylvester I. In the Sacramentaries of the late Middle Ages we find the following Preface : "... aeterne Deus. Qui beatum Augus­ tinum confessorem tuum, et scientiae documentis replesti, et virtutum ornamentis ditasti ■ quem ita multimodo genere pietatis imbuisti, ut ipse tibi et ara, et sacrificium, et sacerdos esset et templum. Per ...” We may remember to-day, for our spiritual edification, three famous sentences of the great Doctor of Hippo : “ Thou hast made our hearts for thyself, O Lord, and they cannot find peace except in thee alone.” “ Lord, teach me to know thee and to know myself.” “ Too late have I loved thee, O Eternal Beauty.” St Augustine is one of the few saints who was appreciated even during his lifetime, before the light of eternity had set his greatness apart from that of other mortals. Even his contemporaries felt it, and no council was held at that time in Africa of which the Bishop of the small city of Hippo was not the leading spirit. The Consul Bassus mingled the praises of the son with those of the mother when he placed on the tomb of St Monica at Ostia the words : GLORIA · VOS · MAIOR · GESTORVM · LAVDE · CORONAT VIRTVTVM · MATER · FELICIOR · SVBOLIS So The Sacramentary AUGUST 29 St Sabina, Martyr Station at the Titulus Sabinae. To-day's station on the Aventine is already recorded at the end of the sixth century by the Rcgistrum of St Gregory the Great : Facta sunt haec in basilica sanctae Sabinae sub die Till Kai. Sept. Indict. VI1. Even the earliest Comes of Rome contained in the Codex of Würzburg2 notes this feast, but like others which do not actually belong to Rome and were introduced at a later date, it is excluded from the catalogue of the various Comuni. Sabina and Serapia, who are said by their Acta to have been buried in oppido Vendinensium ad arcum Faustini, iuxta aream Vindiciani, appear to have been Umbrian martyrs. Indeed De Rossi has shown that there existed at a short distance from Interamna (Terni), the village of Vindena, from whence the relics of the two saints were brought to the Titulus Sabinae on the Aventine. The Mass is the same as that on March 6 for the famous martyrs of Carthage, Perpetua and Felicitas. The first Collect, omitting the title of virgin, is the same as for St Agatha on February 5 ; the other two are those of St Emerentiana on January 23. The alleluiatic verse is taken from Psalm xliv : " With thy comeliness and thy beauty, set out, proceed prosperously, and reign.” The glory and triumph of Christ are reserved for us, says St Paul, in the same measure as we shall have shared, like the martyrs, in the ignominy of his Passion. This is why the Liturgy of the Church, which is a reflection of that of heaven, gives the highest honours to the holy martyrs. According to the Comes of Würzburg the Lesson to-day was that which is read on July 10, praising the valiant woman, which is taken from Proverbs xxxi, 10-31. In order to deserve this praise it is not necessary, as St Philip said, to do extraordinary things. The Holy Ghost praises the house­ wife who weaves flax and wool and holds the distaff and spindle. In the life of a Christian even the most common actions performed in discharging the duties of her state become sublime, and worthy of eternal life when performed in a state of grace. Humble and faithful attention to duty marks a life that is already heroic, and which, if God wills it, may be a sufficient preparation for the grace of martyrdom. 1 Reg. Lib. XI, n. 2. Edit. Hartmann, II, 367. 1 Mp. th. foi. 62. 81 August 29 At what date was the Tilulus Sabinae dedicated to the martyr of Vindena who bore the same name ? This is a problem which cannot be easily solved, since from the mosaic inscription still existing above the door of that basilica we find, indeed, that its founder was the priest Peter Illyricus at the time of Constantine I, but St Sabina is not mentioned in it. Who then was this matron Sabina, from whom the church took its name ? Should we connect, in some way, the Umbrian martyr with the former owner of the domus on the Aventine, afterwards enlarged by Peter Illyricus and turned into a vast basilica ? Or did a second Sabina at Rome complete the building left unfinished by the Illyrian priest, and give her name to it ? These are questions to which at present we can furnish no answer. In the cloister of the Basilica of St Paul there is preserved the epigraph of a priest of the Titulus Sabinae when the church had not yet been dedicated to the martyr of Vindena : LOCVS · PRESBYTERI · BASILI · ‘TITVLI ’ SABINE 0 AUGUST 29 The Beheading of St John the Baptist It would appear in the Codex of Würzburg that this feast was postponed to the following day, perhaps on account of the stational festivity at Santa Sabina. However, the Beheading of St John the Baptist has been commemorated on August 29, ever since the fourth century, in Africa, in the East, in Syria, and in many places all over the world. It is omitted from the Leonine, but appears in the Gelasian Sacramentary. r» λ « «a A « · « · λa 82 The Sacramentary visited by pilgrims in the early Middle Ages on the Via Salaria Vecchia, at the cemetery which was called ad septem palum­ bas ad Caput Sancti Johannis. This is how it is described in the De Locis SS Martyrum : Inde, non longe in Occidente, ecclesia sancti Johannis mar­ tyris, ubi caput eius in alio loco sub altari ponitur, in alio corpus. His name probably appeared in the Martyrology of St Jerome on June 24, together with that of Festus, but it was, no doubt, superseded by that of the Baptist. A small church was specially dedicated to this St John of the Via Salaria, near the church of St Sylvester, and it took the title in Capite from the holy relic preserved there. Originally the chants of to-day’s feast were thus described in the Antiphonary : ant. In virtute tua. psalm. Vitam petiit. resp. Domine, praevenisti, vers. Vitam petiit, allel. Beatus vir. off. Iustus ut palma, ad commun. Magna est gloria. Now, however, the primitive order has been modified in the Missal. The Antiphon for the Introit is taken from Psalm cxviii, as for the feast of St Praxcdes on July 20, and this has been done in order to commemorate the fearless attitude of the Precursor in the presence of King Herod. We must fear God in order not to fear man. The Psahn which follows the Antiphon, showing it to be the work of a modern compiler, is Psalm xci, as on the Nativity of St John the Baptist. “ It is good to give praise to the Lord : and to sing to thy name, O most High." This is the Collect : “ O Lord, we beseech thee that the holy festival of thy forerunner and martyr, St John the Baptist, may win for us help unto salvation.” In these Collects of the Church we constantly pray for divine grace, and in doing so we show our belief in a most important truth which was violently opposed by Pelagius in the fourth century. In order to work out our eternal salvation we all need the grace of God, to whose merciful help we must therefore attribute all the good which we accomplish. On this account St Paul himself said : Gratia autem Dei sum id quod sum. The Lesson is taken from Jeremias (i, 17-19), and is the continuation of the passage read on June 24. The Lord warns 'fis Prophet not to give way to vain fear of earthly powers. These may indeed rise up against the messenger of Jehovah, but cannot overcome him, for the power of God is greater than that of man, and the latter will always be worsted in the struggle. It is wiser, then, to surrender at once, as Saul surrendered on the way to Damascus. The Gradual is the same as on December 3, for the feast August 29 83 of St Francis Xavier. We may ask now : how can we say of the martyr that he will flourish like the palm, whereas his head was struck off by the sword ? But the answer is clear. As Christ on one day died upon a cross, and on the next was adored in Limbo, and on the third day rose again, so his disciples too will receive the reward of their sufferings after death, and at last will rise once more in glory from their tombs and will be all the more like to Christ in brightness, the more their bodies have suffered for his sake the ignominy of the Cross. Tertullian holds that the rapid spread of Christianity through the world in the first three centuries was an early blossoming of the seed sown by the blood of the martyrs. The alleluiatic verse in which the just man is compared to a flourishing lily is the same as on January 15 for St Paul the Hermit. The Gospel for to-day is taken from St Mark (vi, 17-29) and is given also in the Codex of Wiirzburg. The greatest amongst those bom of woman falls a victim to the shameful intrigue of an adulterous pair. According to human judgement there is nothing glorious or dramatic in the death of John, who was slain in secret in the silence of the prison at Machaerus. How different are God’s views : John had desired that his influence and his renown should fade in order that Jesus alone should be glorified. His prayer was heard. He died because his sanctity as precursor of Christ was intolerable to the immoral Herodias. He anticipated in his death the humiliations of Calvary, but he was rewarded by having his praises spoken by the Saviour himself, even if Jesus and his disciples did not actually assist at his funeral, as some legends maintain. What other saint has been honoured as John was honoured ? The Antiphon for the Offertory is the same as for St Paul the Hermit. Secret : “ We beseech thee, O Lord, that the offerings which we bring to thee in honour of the suffering of thy holy martyr John the Baptist may by his intercession be profitable for our salvation.” Some Sacramentaries give the following Preface for to-day : Vere dignum . . . aeterne Deus. Qui Praecursorem Filii tui tanto munere ditasti, ut pro veritatis praeconio capite plecteretur, et qui Christum aqua baptizaverat, ab ipso in Spiritu baptizatus, pro eodem proprio sanguine tingeretur. Praeco quippe veritatis, quae Christus est, Herodem a fraternis thalamis prohibendo, carccris obscuritate detruditur, ubi solius divinitatis tuae lumine frueretur. Deinde capitalem sententiam subiit, et ad inferna Dominum praecursurus descendit. Et quem in mundo digito demonstravit, ad inferos pretiosa morte praecessit. Et ideo ...” 84 The Sacramentary The Antiphon for the Communion is the same as on January 26. The sword of the executioner struck off the head of St John, but God had already placed upon his brow the triple crown of the prophet, the martyr, and the virgin, as St Paul the Deacon sings in the hymn for June 24 : Serta ter denis alios coronant Aucta crementis, duplicata quosdam ; Trina centeno cumulata fructu Te sacer ornant. Post-Commun ion : “ May the festival of St John the Baptist bring us grace, O Lord, both to venerate what is signified by the splendid sacraments which we have received and to rejoice at what they have wrought within us.” Several churches and confraternities for the assistance of those condemned to death arose in the late Middle Ages under the title of the Beheading of St John the Baptist. They accomplished a great deal of good and it was thanks to them that the execution of human justice, being carried out in a spirit of love and compassion, became almost an act of religion. Therefore these unhappy men, assisted by the “ Confortatori ” and clasping the crucifix, ascended the scaffold with resig­ nation, rejoicing that they were about to give satisfaction to God and the world for the crimes they had committed. Thus Blessed John Cafasso, one of the most zealous “ com­ forters” of those condemned to death, used to say that out of a hundred who were executed, a hundred were saved. There were two churches at Rome dedicated to the Decol­ lation of St John the Baptist. The first was near the prisons of Tor di Nona opposite the Castello ; the other still exists not far from the Velabro, and amongst the many privileges enjoyed by the confraternity which bore its name, was the permission to restore a condemned criminal to freedom every Lent. SS Felix AUGUST 30 and Adauctus, Martyrs Station at the Cemetery of Commodilla on the Ostian Way. The Martyrology of St Jerome invites us to go to-day to the second milestone on the Ostian Way, not very far from the tomb of the Apostle St Paul : Via Ostense, in cimiterio Comniodillae, Felicis et Adaucti. Adauctus is not an unusual name in Roman inscriptions, and the Christians, according to the acts of the martyrs, August 30 85 gave it to the anonymous Levite who mingled his blood with that of the martyr priest Felix. A small sepulchral basilica in their honour was excavated in the Cemetery of Commodilla, which was of an irregular shape and had a deep niche at the end, in which the bodies of Felix and Adauctus reposed. On this sepulchre Pope Damasus caused the following inscription to be placed : 0 · SEMEL · ATQVE · ITERVM · VERE · DE · NOMINE · FELIX QVI ■ INTEMERATA · FIDE ♦ CONTEMPTO · PRINCIPE · MVNDI CONFESSVS · CIIRISTVM · COELESTIA · REGNA · PETISTI 0 ‘ VERE · PRAETIOSA * FIDES · COGNOSCITE ' FRATRES QVA · AD · CAELVM · VICTOR · PARITFR ’ PROPERAVIT · ADAVCTVS PRESBYTER · HIS · VERVS · DAMASO · RECTORE · IVBENTE COMPOSVIT · TVMVLVM · SANCTORVM · LIMINA · ADORNANS 0 happy in truth as well as in name, Felix ! Thou who didst with fearless faith despise the prince of the world, And confessing Christ, didst ascend to the heavenly kingdom. Know, 0 brethren, how precious was the faith by whose merits Adauctus too hastened to heaven together with Felix. The priest Verus, at the command of the Pontiff Damasus, Constructed and adorned this tomb of the saints. The memory of the two martyrs pervades the whole cemetery of Commodilla. Several inscriptions and carvings implore their intercession in favour of the dead, whilst their images appear in more than one place in the sepulchral crypt. A beautiful painting of the sixth century on the tomb of a certain Turtura represents the deceased led before the supreme judge by the two saints Felix and Adauctus, her protectors. The peculiarity of the picture consists in the circumstance that Christ the Judge is depicted as an infant upon the lap of the most Blessed Virgin, who is seated on a throne, and is robed like a Byzantine Empress {Maria Regina). As an emblem of her royal power she holds the consular Mappula in her hand, and her feet rest upon a footstool. To the right and left of the throne stand Adauctus and Felix, both with the priestly tonsure. Felix is an old man, but Adauctus stands on the right-hand side, although he is young and beardless. Indeed he is the first to fulfil his office as advocate, for he places his hand on the shoulder of Turtura, as a sign that he has taken her under his protection. The Introit from the Mass Sapientiam is the same as for the martyrs of Nomentum on June 9. 86 The Sacramentary Collect : “ We humbly beseech thy majesty, O Lord, that even as thou dost continually gladden us by the memory of thy saints, so thou wouldst evermore defend us by their prayers.” The saints in heaven imitate Christ, who is, as St Paul says, our advocate, semper vivens ad interpellandum pro nobis. He prays for us, and the angels and saints all unite their prayers to his. The Lesson is like that of July 28 for the martyrs Nazarius, Celsus, etc. The Lord treats his elect as he treated the people of Israel long ago. In order to establish them in the land promised to the Patriarchs, he first led them out of the land of Egypt, across the Red Sea, through the desert, in the midst of perils and sufferings of every kind. But God fought on the side of Israel, and the Jewish people, tried and purified by tribulation, conquered the enemy, and was at length established in the fruitful land which was promised to the Patriarchs. The responsory intended to be sung on the steps of the ambo, is the same as on January 17, for the martyrs Marius, Martha, etc. The alleluiatic verse is taken from the Book of Wisdom (iii, 3), and is the continuation of the Gradual text : “ The just shall shine and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds.” The gain is great indeed—a brief hour of shame when the names of the servants of God are inscribed by the wicked amongst those whom they cast out from their cities, and after that an eternity of glory in heaven. The Gospel is the same as for St Vitus on June 15. By this we see how popular was the devotion to the two martyrs Felix and Adauctus in early times, and how many miracles were worked at their tomb. The Antiphon for the Offertory is that used for many martyrs at Eastertide, omitting the Alleluia : “ Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just, and glory all ye right of heart, alleluia, alleluia.” He is called “ right of heart ” whose heart is conformed to that of God, and who loves, desires, and works those things which God loves, desires and works in him. Secret : " Look down, O Lord, upon the sacrifice which thy people offer to thee, and while they celebrate it in honour of thy saints, may they know that it avails to their own salvation.” The phrase which constantly recurs in these ancient Secrets should be noted : “ the sacrifice which thy people offer." In early times the Mass represented more strikingly the common sacrifice of the Christian community, because re August 30 all the faithful contributed to it, bringing their own gifts to the altar during the Offertory. The Antiphon for the Communion, in defiance of the general rule, for it does not correspond with to-day’s Gospel, is the same as on February 15. Jesus announced the Gospel, as it were, in the dark, be­ cause he preached only in the small province of Judea and amidst persecution and opposition. His Church, however, receives from him the mission and the command to teach the Law of God in the full light of day, for she is to instruct all the nations of the earth. Post-Communion : “ We who are filled with gifts from heaven, beseech thee, 0 Lord, that through the intercession of thy saints we may never cease to offer thanks to thee.” In the Book of Wisdom the Holy Ghost compares the heart of an ungrateful man to the earth when it is covered with ice. In order that grace may bear fruit, it is necessary that gratitude should warm the heart and cause it to appre­ ciate the gift which it has received and bring forth fruit in honour of the donor. St Teresa was wont to say that the moment of thanksgiving after Holy Communion is very important and decisive for our spiritual progress. Our thanksgiving after one Communion will serve as preparation for the next, and grace will not find us unready. Thus the sudden call to martyrdom did not find the young Adauctus unprepared, for when he met Felix being led forth to die, instead of returning to his family he resolved on the spot to follow the martyr on the road to heaven : . . . Qua ad caelum victor pariter properavit Adauctus. The Martyrology of St Jerome makes no mention of the martyr Nemesius, whose tomb is, however, noticed by all the ancient itineraries in the cemetery of Commodilla. Ibidemque . . . sunt martyres Felix, Adauctus et Nemesius, as, amongst others, and indeed last of all, William of Malmesbury notes. From the hymn, written after the manner of St Damasus, which was placed on that ancient tomb, we learn the probable cause of this absence from the hagiographical lists ; it was because for some time the authenticity of the martyrdom of Nemesius was considered doubtful. When, however, further investigations had been made, the tomb was adorned as befitted that of an authentic martyr vindicatus and public veneration was permitted. 88 The Sacramentary MARTYRIS · HAEC · NEMESI · SEDES · PER · SAECVLA · FLORET SERIOR · ORNATV · NOBILIOR · MERITO INCVLTAM · PRIDEM · DVBITATIO · LONGA · RELIQVIT SED · TEN VIT · VIRTVS · ADSERVITQVE · FIDEM “ This is the tomb of the martyr Nemesius ; may it be glorious throughout the ages. Although the last to be adorned, it is the greatest by the merits of the martyr. A long enduring doubt had caused it to remain neglected, but the proof of the martyr’s virtue triumphed and showed his faith.” Some archeologists have identified the tomb of this martyr Nemesius with that which is to be found beside the entrance to the Basilica of SS Felix and Adauctus, near which is a fresco representing the Saviour with St Peter, St Paul, St Stephen, St Merita and the two saints Felix and Adauctus. This sixth-century painting covers a more ancient one, having an inscription of which only the following words remain : SANCTO · MARTYRI · VENERABILI AUGUST 30 St Rose of Lima, Virgin* It was the rare privilege of this virgin saint of Peru, that her Office was composed by the learned and devout liturgist Cardinal Bona. The feast of St Rose was raised by Benedict XIII to the rank of a double, and it has therefore practically superseded that of the two martyrs of the Cemetery of Commodilla. Like St Catherine of Siena, St Rose belonged to the Third Order of St Dominic, and for this reason the crucifix before which she prayed is venerated in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, near the tomb of the Sienese Virgin. Before raising this holy Peruvian maiden to the mystical marriage, God was pleased to make her pass through a fiery trial. He purified her by severe corporal penances, and by those spiritual sufferings which the soul endures, before it becomes accustomed to contact with the Godhead, who as the Apostle tells us is always ignis consumens. ***** The Mass is the same as for February 18, but the Collect is proper to the feast. Collect : “ Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, who didst will that blessed Rose, being watered by the heavenly August 30 89 dew of thy prevenient grace, should bloom in the Indies in the beauty of virginity and patience ; grant that we thy servants may run in the odour of her sweetness and be found worthy to become a sweet savour to Christ.” This prayer sets before us a beautiful ideal of the spiritual life. Each of us should show forth Christ in his life, in his thoughts, in his words, carefully keeping the practice of religion free from any sharpness or rigidity which want of mortification might give it, in order that our devotion may appear as sweet and amiable to others as did that of our Divine Master. AUGUST 31 St Raymund Nonnatus, Cardinal and Confessor* The feast of this heroic son of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, who died about 1240, was introduced into the Breviary by order of Clement IX and Innocent XL He is worthy of the title of Confessor in the sense in which it was used by the ancients, on account of the long and cruel torments endured by him in Africa in defence of the Faith. The Mass is the same as for his namesake St Raymund of Pennafort, on January 23, except the Collect which is proper to the feast. Collect : “ O God, by whose grace blessed Raymund thy Confessor wrought wonders in redeeming thy faithful people from the hands of wicked men ; grant, we beseech thee, that, being loosed from the bondage of our sins, we may with free minds always do what is well-pleasing unto thee.” Freedom is the great gift which God bestowed upon humanity, and which Christ restored. Therefore, St Columban once said to a royal tyrant : si aufers libertatem, aufers dignitatem. We should jealously guard this prerogative derived from our dignity as sons of God, and never become slaves of the degrading tyranny of our passions. Freedom means order and harmony, and to enjoy the fruits of true freedom it is necessary to conquer ourselves and to submit willingly to the sweet yoke of the law of Christ. FEASTS IN SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 1 The Twelve Holy Martyrs of Beneventum* We have here a group of twelve martyrs whose bodies were brought from various places in the Province of Lucania, 90 The Sacramentary in the Middle Ages, and placed in the Basilica of St Sophia at Beneventum, by order of the Duke Arichis. They belong to the same category as Felix and Arontius, Sabinianus and Honoratus, who are mentioned in the Martyr­ ology of St Jerome in Lucania, civitate Potentiae on August 26. Septimius, Januarius, and Felix are connected with Venosa and were slain on August 28, whilst three others, Vitalis, Sator, and Repositus, have their natalis on the following day. The two last martyrs of the group, Felix and Donatus, are recorded in the Martyrology of St Jerome on September 1 : In Apulia Felicis, Donati. The translation of the holy bodies to Beneventum took place about 760, and on their tomb the following inscription could be read : BIS ■ SENOS · TEGIT · VRNA · FRATRES · QVOS · VNA · CREAVIT THECLA · DEO · FORTES · INNOCVOSQVE · DVCES PAR · PIETAS · FVERAT · PAR · MORS * PAR · VITAQVE · ARECHVS PRINCEPS · TRANSLATOS · ORNAT · HONORE · PARI " This sepulchre contains the bones of twelve brothers, whom Thecla, their mother, bore to the glory of God. They were innocent and brave. They were all alike in piety and were united in their life as also in their death. Prince Arichis, who brought their bodies here, surrounds them all with equal veneration.” The feast of the martyrs interred by Arichis at Beneventum was placed in the Roman Calendar in the early Middle Ages, and through the Brevarium Curiae which was adopted by the Franciscans in the thirteenth century, it came to be universally observed. ♦ ♦ ♦ * * The Mass is like that of St Symphorosa, with the exception of the Collects which are proper to the feast. Collect : “ May the brothers’ crown of martyrdom gladden us, O Lord ; may it give greater steadfastness to our faith, and strengthen us by the intercession of so many saints.” Secret : “ May we devoutly celebrate thy mysteries, 0 Lord, in memory of thy holy martyrs, and may they bring us both surer protection and greater joy.” Post-Communion : ” Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that we who keep the memory of thy saints by receiving thy holy sacrament, may ever follow with greater steadfastness the example of their faith.” Such is the true meaning of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and of Holy Communion. Christ immolates himself to the glory September i 91 of his Heavenly Father ; he now associates his whole Church with him in this tremendous Sacrifice, in which is centred the entire, true, and perfect worship which the New and the Old Testament pay to God throughout the centuries. Una enim oblatione consummavit in aeternum sanctificatos. SEPTEMBER i St Giles, Abbot The cultus of this celebrated saint was introduced into Italy towards the tenth century, and soon obtained great popularity, so that there are many churches dedicated to him throughout the Peninsula. At Rome, too, there is one close to the Vatican, and Boniface VIII joined it to the chapter of St Peter’s. This feast was kept there with great solemnity, with fireworks, music, races through the streets, etc. It was also the meeting-place of an important confraternity. A second church dedicated to St Giles still exists in Trastevere, and occupies the site of the ancient Church of St Lawrence in Janicolo. It was built by the Princess of Venafro at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and was given to the Carmelite nuns of St Teresa’s reform. The Acta of St Giles are not very trustworthy. He lived, probably, in the second half of the seventh century, and founded in the diocese of Nîmes a celebrated monastery in honour of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in which, at his death, he received honourable burial. St Urban made his feast common to the universal Church. The Mass is the Common of Abbots, throughout, as for St Sabbas on December 5. SEPTEMBER 2 St Stephen, King of Hungary, Confessor To-day we greet a holy and glorious king, who advances preceded by the cross, like an Archbishop, having received this great privilege from Sylvester II on account of the apostolate exercised by him in the conversion of the Hun­ garians to the Faith. When we have described St Stephen as the apostle of Hungary, we have summed up his praises. All that a fervent apostle can do, this king accomplished. By his example and his influence he induced the nobles and the people to embrace the Catholic Faith; he gave Christian legislation to the 92 The Sacramentary kingdom ; he founded and endowed episcopal Sees, he built monasteries and established charitable institutions, not only in Hungary but even in Constantinople, Jerusalem, Ravenna and Rome. The ancient monastery of St Stephen Kata Barbara Patricia was in later times called after the Hungarian nation, when the holy king had restored the church and had added to the building a hostel. There pilgrims from his kingdom who came to visit the tombs of the Apostles at Rome were lodged. This hostel stood on the spot now partially occupied by the modem sacristy. The church was a parish church, and on its façade ran the following inscription : ECCLA · HOSPITALIS · SCI · STEPHANI · REGIS · HVNGAR St Stephen, seven years before his death, saw his young and most innocent son Emerich, an angel of purity and holiness whom God glorified by many miracles, precede him on the way to heaven. He followed him to the tomb on August 15, 1034, but Innocent XI appointed his feast to be kept on September 2, in memory of the victory which the Christian army won over the Turks at Budapest on this day. * ♦ * * * The Mass is the same as for St Louis IX on August 25, with the exception of the Collects. Collect : “ Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that even as the faith of thy church was spread abroad by blessed Stephen, thy confessor, while he reigned upon earth, so she may be deemed worthy to have him also for a glorious champion in heaven." We should note the special characteristic which the Liturgy brings forward to-day in the Office of St Stephen. Besides being a king he was also an apostle, so that he may claim a right to the glorious title which the Byzantine Liturgy gives to Constantine the Great for the same reason : ΐσαπόσ-τολος. Secret : “ Look, O God almighty, upon the victims which we offer up ; so that we who celebrate the mysteries of our Lord’s passion may live according to the pattern which is set before us therein." This prayer is inspired by a phrase in the Roman Pontifical for the ordination of priests : agnoscite quod agitis ; imitamini quod tractatis. This special allusion to the passion of our Saviour in the Mass for St Stephen reminds us of his devotion to the Holy Places of Jerusalem consecrated by the blood of our Redeemer. The monastery of St George built by the King of Hungary in the Holy City, and having a hostel for September 2 93 the Hungarian pilgrims attached to it, may be regarded as a monument of his special devotion. Post-Communion : “ Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that we may follow with true devotion the faith of blessed Stephen thy confessor, who, by spreading the same faith, became worthy to pass from an earthly realm to glory in the heavenly kingdom." It is not enough, then, that we should ourselves enjoy so great a treasure as our Catholic faith. In order that our talents should increase, it is necessary to trade with them. By becoming apostles we shall ensure our eternal salvation and acquire great merit, according to the saying attributed to St Augustine : animam salvasti, tuam praedestinasti. SEPTEMBER 3 The Martyrology here commemorates Serapia, a martyr (who does not belong to Rome, however, but to Umbria), at the oppidum Vcndinensium, ad arcum Faustini iuxta aream Vindiciani, as the Acts of St Sabina describe it. Her cultus is connected with that of the latter martyr whose memory was supreme at the titulus Sabinae on the Aventine ever since the seventh century. SEPTEMBER 4 The Martyrology of St Jerome notes to-day : Romae in cimiterio Maximi, Via Salaria, ad sanctam Felicitatem, Bonifacii episcopi. We have already mentioned, on another occasion, that Boniface I took refuge beside the cemetery of Maximus during the schism which was brought about by Eulalius. The Pope was not satisfied with having shown his gratitude to the martyr St Felicitas by adorning her tomb, but desired also to be buried near her : Venies ad sanctam Felicitatem altera via, quae similiter Salaria dicitur : ibi illa pausat in ecclesia sursum, et Bonifacius papa et martyr in altero loco. So says the Itinerary of Salzburg. In honour of Pope Boniface I, the date of whose death as given in the Liber Pontificalis is, however, erroneous, wc may record here the ancient inscription copied by early collectors, which is to be seen in the Vatican Baptistery. SACRI · FONTIS · HONOR · LABOR · EST · MERITVMQVE · DVORVM PONTIFICVM * PER · QVOS · CONTVLIT · ISTA · DEVS NAM · QVAE · MAGNIFICIS · COEPTIS · BONIFATIVS · AVXIT HAEC · CAELESTINVS · COMPSIT · AD · OMNE · DECVS 94 The Sacramentary “ The honour, the labour, and the merit of having adorned the holy font are due to two Pontiffs whom God made use of for this work, since that which Boniface had commenced on a noble design, was finally finished and perfected by Pope Celestine.” SEPTEMBER 5 SS Acontius, Nonnus, Herculanus and Taurinus, Martyrs Station at Porto in the Basilica of St Acontius. To-day we find in the Martyrology of St Jerome : In Portu Romano, Taurini, Herculani, Aristonis. Whereas the Philocalian Calendar notes : Nonis Septembris, Aconti in Porti, el Nonni et Herculani et Taurini. We have here, therefore, a group of martyrs of Porto who, apparently, did not all die on this day. Indeed, in the Martyrology of St Jerome, Acontius, whose sepulchral basilica is mentioned by Auxilius, ad ripam prope titulum sancti Acontii1 is recorded on July 15 ; the Philocalian Calendar, on the other hand, mentions Aristonus on December 22, whilst the St Nonnus of September 5 is identified with Hippolytus of August 22. The martyrs Taurinus and Herculanus are also mentioned on the tablet of a sarcophagus, now in the Museum of the Abbey of St Paul at Rome : Deo · Patri · Omnipotcn ti · et · χρο · eius · et · Sanctis Martyribus · Taurino Et · Herculano · omni Ora · gratias · agimvs NEVIVS · LARI . . . T CONSTANT V RIA · SIBI · FEC The fact that to-day’s liturgical station is mentioned in the Philocalian Calendar of the Roman synaxes proves the popularity of the cultus of these martyrs, whose Basilica was probably dedicated on this very day. The bodies of the martyrs Hippolytus, Taurinus and Herculanus were placed in safety on the Isola Tiberina, by Bishop Formosus, after the devastation of Porto by the Saracens. The inscription taken from their sarcophagus is now in the Lateran Museum. d?Hic · Requiescunt · corpora · Scor Martyrum · Yppoliti · Taurini · Herculani Atque · Johannis · Calibitis · Formosus Eps · Condidit 1 Cf. Dummlcr, Auxilius ttnd Vulgarius, p. 72. Leipzig, 1866. September 5 95 SEPTEMBER 5 St Lawrence Justinian, Patriarch of Venice This saintly bishop, who was a remarkable model of humility and pastoral zeal, died on January 8, 1455, but as his feast would have occurred within the Octave of the Epiphany, Innocent XII transferred it to this day, which was the anniversary of his episcopal consecration. St Lawrence Justinian may be regarded in a manner as one of the precursors of the ecclesiastical reform which was carried out later by the Council of Trent and by St Charles Borromeo. Like St Antoninus, Bishop of Florence, whose contemporary he was, he firmly resisted the glamour of the Renaissance, and practised the virtues of a monk in the Patriarchal Palace. He belonged to the new congregation of the Canons of St George in Alga. Of great simplicity of manner and austerity towards himself, he was a true victim for the sake of the flock entrusted to him. All his revenues were spent on the poor and on building new monasteries. The most serene Republic was then at the apex of her glory and power ; but it pleased God to make it known that the safety of the Venetian state was due, not to the diplomatic skill of her doges or to her formidable galleys, but to the holiness and merits of her bishop. * * ♦ ♦ ♦ The Mass is that of February 4, for St Andrew Corsini. The Collect is as follows : " Grant, we beseech thee, al­ mighty God, that the holy festival of blessed Lawrence, thy confessor and bishop, may both increase our devotion and advance our salvation.” We must remember the ancient meaning of the Latin word devotio. It represents not so much an act of worship as a complete and lasting consecration of the Christian man to God, a kind of religious profession of which that made by a monk is only a development. This vow or consecration of the soul to God is sealed by an irrevocable Sacrament : the sacrament of Baptism. SEPTEMBER 6 The martyr Eleutherius mentioned to-day by the Martyr­ ology of St Jerome : Romae, Via Salaria, natalis Eleutheri episcopi, is not, as later Martyrologies would suggest, the holy Abbot of this name who was a companion of St Gregory 96 The Sacramentary the Great, but the Bishop Eleutherius of Rieti, of whom the same St Gregory speaks. In his Dialogues the saintly Pope relates how the martyrs Eleutherius and Juvenal of Nami appeared to Bishop Probus of Rieti to console him at the hour of death ; ad me sanctus Juvenalis et sanctus Eleutherius martyres venerunt.1 SEPTEMBER 7 The Vigil of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Collecta at St Adrian. According to the Ordines Romani of the fifteenth century, the Pope to-day presided at the first Vespers of the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin cum pluviali rubeo et mitra consistoriali aurifrigiata, et cardinales veniunt cum pluvialibus albis . . . Matins of the following day were sung in the evening in the presence of the Pope, who celebrated High Mass the next morning assisted by the first of the Cardinal Bishops.2 In accordance with the decree of Pope Sergius I, which we have already mentioned several times, the solemn morning procession in honour of the Mother of God, which started from St Adrian and generally went to the Liberian Basilica, took place on the four great feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary : the Purification, the Annunciation, the Assumption, and the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin. This custom con­ tinued until the Papal Court was transferred to Avignon. The clergy and people first assembled in the Basilica of St Adrian at the Forum, where the procession was formed. Blessed candles were distributed amongst the clergy ; eighteen deacons carried as many ikons of the Blessed Virgin and the Saviour chosen from the most celebrated of the city, and the subdeacons of the Regio bore the stational cross. The Pope and the clergy walked bare-footed as was the custom in all penitential processions. SEPTEMBER 8 The Dedication of St Adrian, Martyr Station at St Adrian in the Forum. The Gospel List of Würzburg on this day refers only to the feast of St Adrian in whose honour Honorius I converted the ancient Curia Senatus into a Christian basilica. St Adrian » Dialog. IV. i2. P.L. LXXVII, col. 3.10. 1 P.L. LXXVIII, col. 1344-5. September 8 97 is the object of a widely spread cultus in the East, where his name is found in almost all calendars, but it does not appear in any of the ancient hagiographical documents. In spite of this obscurity concerning his identity, devotion to the martyr existed at Rome from the seventh century, and attained some notoriety, for besides the Basilica in the Forum, there was an oratory dedicated to him at the Vatican, and another church with a monastery called after St Adrian rose on the Esquiline near the Liberian Basilica. It had various names : Sancti Hadriani in Massa Juliana, Sancti Hadriani ad duo furna, Sancti Hadriani ct Laurentii, and was indeed one of the religious houses whose monks were entrusted with chanting the Divine Office at St Mary Major. ♦ * * * « The Mass is the same as for St Valentine on February 14. Collect : " Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that we who are keeping the festival of blessed Adrian thy martyr, may through his intercession be strengthened in the love of thy name." This is true virtue, and as St Paul calls it : vinculum perfec­ tionis. The holiest man is not he who spends most time in prayer, nor he who mortifies his body with the greatest severity, but he who loves God most intensely, and who lives and labours in this love. The other two prayers are the same as on the feast of St Canute. In spite of the different arrangement of the Missal, the Codex of Würzburg assigned the following Gospel to be read to-day : Ego sum vitis—gaudium vestrum impleatur (John xv, ι-n), as for several martyrs at Eastertide. SEPTEMBER 8 The Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary Station al St Mary Major. As Eve, our first Mother, arose from the side of Adam, dazzling with life and innocence, so Mary came forth, bright and immaculate from the heart of the eternal Word, who, by the co-operation of the Holy Spirit, as the Liturgy teaches us, was pleased to form that body and soul which were to be, one day, his Tabernacle and altar. This is the sublime meaning of the feast of the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the dawn foretelling the day which already breaks behind the eternal hills, the mystic rod which rises v. 7 98 The Saeram ent ary from the venerable root of Jesse ; the stream which springs from Paradise ; it is the symbolical fleece which is stretched on our dry earth to catch the miraculous dew. This is the new Eve, that is to say the life and the Mother of all the living, who is bom to-day for those to whom the first Eve became the Mother of sin and death. The origin of this festival must be sought in the East, where we find it mentioned in the homilies of Andrew of Crete (died 720). At Rome, on the other hand, the feast of the dedication of St Adrian was kept on this day from the time of Pope Honorius I ; thus the festival of the Nativity was not observed before the reign of Sergius I. It is, there­ fore, only to be found in the Martyrology of St Jerome, in the so-called Gelasian Calendar and in other Gallican Calendars of later date. The Capitulare Evangeliorum of Würzburg ignores it. Collecta at St Adrian. The clergy and people having assembled in what was once the Curia of the Senate, the Introit Exsurge, Domine, followed by the Doxology, was sung before the procession started, as on February 2. In conclusion the Pope recited the following Collect : Supplicationem servorum tuorum, Deus miserator, exaudi i ut qui in Nativitate Dei Genitricis et Virginis con­ gregamur, eius intercessionibus a te de instantibus periculis eruamur. Per eumdem. Then, bare-footed, the procession moved on to the Esquiline Hill, passing by the Carine, the Forum of Nerva, the Forum and baths of Trajan, by the titles of Eudoxia and Praxedes. When it drew near to the Liberian Basilica, the Litany, which on this day took the place of the Introit and the Kyrie, was intoned. Station at St Mary Major. The early Antiphonaries generally assign to the station of to-day the same chants which were used on August 15, whereas the present Missal now repeats the Mass which is given on July 2 for the feast of the Visitation. Only the two Lessons are different. The first is the same as for December 8, in which the words of Scripture concerning the eternal origin of the uncreated Wisdom are applied to the Mother of the Word. The Gospel with the genealogy of the Saviour is the same that is read on the eve of the Immaculate Conception, a feast resembling that of to-day, for it, too, is concerned with the mystery of grace and redemption which surrounded the first moments of Mary’s existence. September 8 99 The Sacramentaries assign a special Preface to this feast : Verc dignum . . . aeterne Deus, et praecipue pro meritis beatae Dei Genitricis et perpetuae Virginis Mariae, gratia plenae, tuam omnipotentiam laudare, benedicere et praedicare. Per quem, etc. There was also a final blessing super populum. Ad complendum. Adiuvet nos, quaesumus Domine, sanctae Mariae intercessio veneranda, cuius etiam diem quo felix eius est inchoata nativitas celebramus. Per . . . According to Cencio Camerario, in the thirteenth century, the eighteen images of Our Lady belonging to eighteen Diaconal churches were carried in procession on this day. The Pope took off his shoes at the Church of St Adrian, but wore slippers on his feet during the procession—reaccipit planellas1—which, however, he removed at the threshold of St Mary Major. As soon as the assembly had entered the church, the Te Deum was intoned and the schola of mappulari and cubicolari washed the Pontiff’s feet with warm water, after which he prepared to celebrate the solemn Sacrifice. Mary became the Mother of the Divine Word Incarnate for the sake of sinful man. Will she not be to us also a loving Mother ? SEPTEMBER 9 St Gorgonius, Martyr Station at the Cemetery " ad duas lauros ” on the Via Labicana. To-day the Martyrology of St Jerome and the Philocalian Calendar note : Gorgonii in Lavicana. This martyr, some­ times mistaken for the Gorgonius of Nicomedia who suffered under Diocletian, was, as we know, interred in the Cemetery ad duas lauros on the Via Labicana, and Pope Damasus adorned his tomb with the following inscription : MARTYRIS · HIC ’ TVMVLVS · MAGNO · SVB · VERTICE · MONTIS GORGONIVM · RETINET · SERVAT · QVI · ALTARIA · CHRISTI IIIC · QVICVMQVE · VENIT · SANCTORVM · LIMINA · QVAERAT INVENIET · VICINA · IN · SEDE · HABITARE · BEATOS AD · CAELVM · PARITER ’ PIETAS · QVOS · VEXIT · EVNTES “ This sepulchre hollowed out of the hill-side contains the body of the martyr Gorgonius, who thus watches before the altar of Christ. Whosoever comes to seek the tombs of the saints in this place will find that other blessed ones rest here, who were led to heaven by the same faith.” 1 Ord. Rom. XI· P.L. LXXV1II, col. 1068. 100 The Sacramentary The martyrs who surrounded Gorgonius and to whom Damasus alludes, were Peter and Marcellinus, Tiburtius and the four Holy Crowned Martyrs, i.e. Clement, Sympronianus, Claudius, and Nicostratus. Subsequently the relics of St Gorgonius were translated to St Peter’s. The Mass is the same as for St Saturninus on November 29, but the Collects are proper to the feast. Collect : " May thy holy Gorgonius, 0 Lord, gladden us by his intercession, and fill us with joy at this his holy festival.” Secret : “ May the sacrifice which we thy servants offer up to thee, 0 Lord, be well-pleasing in thy sight through the intercession of the holy martyr Gorgonius.” The phrase oblatio servitutis nostrae occurs also in the Canon, and in its original significance it expressed, as we have else­ where explained, the sacrifice which the body of the priesthood offered to God in thanksgiving for their own office and dignity. Post-Communion : “ May eternal sweetness descend upon and strengthen thy servants, 0 God ; and may they be ever refreshed with the good odour of Christ thy Son in thy martyr Gorgonius.” By the perfume here spoken of, we do not mean merely the miracles worked at the martyr’s tomb, but we refer also, and with even more truth, to the attraction exercised by his gallant example. Good deeds have a stronger influence than any book or sermon, for it is easy enough to preach, but only a good example can lend persuasive force to our words. Thus St Luke tells us in speaking of Christ : coepit facere et docere. SEPTEMBER 9 St Hyacinth, Deacon and Martyr The Martyrology of St Jerome announces a second feast to-day, which was kept at Sabina, thirty miles from Rome : In Sabinis, lacinti. His sepulchral basilica on the Via Salaria was given by Duke Lupo of Spoleto to the Abbey of Farfa in the seventh century, and Leo III enriched it with valuable vestments : Fecit autem et in basilica beati lacinthi, sita in Sabinis, ubi et corpus eius requiescit, vestem de stauraci pul­ cherrimam.1 Later, in order to save the holy relics from profanation at the hands of the Saracens, it was translated to the fortified enclosure of the famous Abbey of Farfa, where St Hyacinth’s 1 Lib. Potitif. Edit. Duchesne, II, 13, 42. ιοί September 9 feast is celebrated to this day. The names of Alexander and Tiburtius who are mentioned in the Acts as companions of Hyacinth the martyr do not appear in the earliest documents, and arc also unknown to the liturgical tradition of Farfa. In the tenth century a portion of the body of St Hyacinth was given by the Abbot John III to Theodoric, Bishop of Metz. SEPTEMBER 10 St Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor This feast dates from the time of Sixtus V, who raised it to the rank of a double. Clement VIII reduced it once more to a semidouble, but Clement IX restored it to its former rank. St Nicholas of Tolentino is one of the chief glories of the congregation known as the Hermits of St Augustine, which in his day had been recently founded, and his life is remarkable because of the great devotion which he showed to the mystery of the Cross. Before he attained to the enjoyment of the celestial favours mentioned in the Breviary, St Nicholas had passed through the sharp martyrdom of daily austerities by which he impressed upon his body the stigmata of Christ. The Discalccd Augustinians dedicated to this saint a church in the alta semita, near the title of St Susanna, where, however, the Armenian Pontifical College is now established, which keeps his feast according to the national Armenian rite. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ The Mass Justus is the same as for St Peter Nolasco on January 31. The Collect is the following : “ Give ear, O Lord, to our humble prayers, which we present to thee on the festival of blessed Nicholas thy confessor ; and may we who trust not in our own righteousness, be helped by the prayers of him who was well-pleasing to thee.” This should be the spirit of Christian prayer : humble like that of the publican in the Gospel, but animated at the same time by confidence in the merits of Christ and the Communion of the Saints. SEPTEMBER 11 SS Protus and Hyacinth, Martyrs Station on the Via Salaria Vecchia in the Cemetery of Basilla. To-day the Philocalian Calendar notes in accordance with the Martyrology of St Jerome : III idus septembris, Proti et lacinti in Basillae. 102 The Sacramentary Protus and Hyacinth were commemorated by Pope Damasus in the following epigram : EXTREMO · TVMVLVS · LATVI HVNC · DAMASVS · MONSTRAT TE · PROTVM · RETINET · ME SANGVINE ♦ PVRPVREO · SE GERMANI · FRATRES · AN IM IIIC · VICTOR · MERVIT · PAL t sub aggere montis servat quod membra piorum lior sibi regia caeli queris Hyacinthe probatus is ingentibus ambo mam prior ille coronam. “ The sepulchre was hidden under the fall of the hill-side when Damasus undertook to recover the remains of the blessed. The kingdom of heaven holds thee, 0 Protus, and thither dost thou follow him, 0 valiant Hyacinth, robed in the purple of thy blood. They were brothers and were un­ conquered in spirit. Protus first won his crown, but Hyacinth equally deserved the palm.” The following verses are concerned with the same works executed by Damasus : ASPICE · DESCENSVM · CERNES · MIRABILE · FACTVM SANCTORVM · MONVMENTA · VIDES · PATEFACTA ’ SEPVLCHRIS MARTYRIS · HIC ‘ PROTI · TVMVLVS · IACET * ATQVE · YACINTHI QVEM · CVM · IAM · DVDVM · TEGERET · MONS · TERRA · CALIGO HOC · THEODORVS · OPVS · CONSTRVXIT · PRESBYTER · INSTANS VT · DOMINI · PLEBEM · OPERA · MAIORA · TENERENT “ Observe the stair and the other remarkable work carried out in order to bring to light the sepulchre of the saints. Here is the tomb of Protus and Hyacinth, which lay once in the darkness covered by the earth fallen from the hill. This work was executed by the zealous priest Theodore, who desired thus to encourage the people of God to greater de­ votion.” It seems probable that Pope Symmachus had a special devotion to these two martyred brothers. After having dedicated an altar to them in the rotonda of St Andrew in the Vatican, he also restored their sepulchre in the Cemetery of Basilla. This is proved by the following inscription, which, however, has been erroneously connected with the Basilica of St Peter : MARTYRIBVS · SANCTIS ’ PROTO · ATQVE · HIACYNTHO SIMACHVS · HOC ’ PARVO · VENERATVS · HONORE · PATRONOS EXORNAVIT · OPVS · SVB · QVO · PIA · CORPORA · RVRSVS CONDIDIT · HIS · AEVO · LAVS · SIT · PERENNIS · IN · OMNI September ii 103 " In honour of the holy martyrs Protus and Hyacinth, Symmachus, after having shown his devotion to his great patrons by the decoration of their sepulchre, replaced their holy bodies within it. May eternal praise be given to them.” The history of this work is completed by another inscription, of the year 400, which was found in the Cemetery of Basilla, near the tomb of the saints. FELIX · DIGNA · TVLIT · PARVM · SENES ' MVNERA · CHRISTI ET · SVO · CONTENTVS · HABVIT · PER · SAECVLA · NOMEN LAETIFICVM · RENOVANS · PRIMA · AB · ORIGINE · TEMPLVM INFANDAQVE · FVGIENS · ISTIVS · IVRGIA · VITAE CERTVM · EST · IN · REGNO · CAELESTI · PERQVE · AMOENA · VIRETA ISTVM · CVM ’ ELECTIS · ERIT · HABITATVRVS · IN · AEWM SEMPER · ET · ASSIDVAE · BENEDICET · MVNERA · CHRISTI QVI · VIXIT · ANN · LXIIII · iM · VIII * D · XXIII FL ‘ STILICONE · CONS “ The venerable FelLx met an undeserved fate which he received as a gift of Christ, and contented with his lot, he left behind him an undying name. He restored the founda­ tions of this church and retired from the unworth}' dissensions of the world. It is certain that he will live for ever in the heavenly kingdom amongst pleasant fields, with the elect, and will ever bless the grace which he received from Christ. He lived sixty-four years, eight months, twenty-three days ; he died during the consulate of Flavius Stilicho.” It was formerly believed that in the ninth century during the period of the great translations, the bodies of the martyrs Protus and Hyacinth had been brought into the City. They were venerated during the Middle Ages at the little Church Sancti Salvatoris de pede pontis, that is to say at the foot of the Bridge of the Senate. In 1845, however, the tomb of Hyacinth was discovered, and found to be intact in the Ceme­ tery of Basilla. A workman happened to strike the wall of a crypt with his pickaxe, and under the coating of plaster the following inscription appeared : dp in id vs YACINTHVS MARTYR Septembr. The tablet being removed, instead of a tomb of ordinary dimensions there appeared a small niche containing charred 104 The Sacramentary bones wrapped in a cloth to which the odour of perfumes still clung. Apparently the pagans had cither condemned the martyr to death at the stake, or had burnt his dead body. The sepulchre of Protus must have been close by, as was proved by the discovery of a fragment of an architrave with the words : sepvlcrvm proti M(artyris). Pius IX desired that the newly-found relics of Hyacinth should be magnificently interred in the patriarchal Basilica of St Paul, which was then being rebuilt with great splendour. He therefore deposited them temporarily in the College of Propaganda, intending to convey the martyr’s body in solemn procession from the City to the Ostian Basilica. Fully nine years passed by, however, before the Pope was able to cele­ brate the desired dedication of the new Church of St Paul, so for a time the body of St Hyacinth and the intended pro­ cession were forgotten. Thus the holy relics remained during more than half a century in the chapel of the Propaganda, until they were at last placed in a worthy tomb in the Oratory of that venerable house, the School of future Apostles. The Mass is the same as on February 15, for the martyrs Faustinus and Jovita. The Collects are the following : " Lord, let the glorious martyrdom of thy blessed martyrs Protus and Hyacinth strengthen us, and let their loving intercession continually shield us.” The Lectionary of Würzburg gives for to-day’s Gospel, the passage which was read on May 2 for St Athanasius : Cum persequentur vos in civitate ista. Secret : " We present to thee, O Lord, the offerings which we owe to thee in memory of thy holy martyrs Protus and Hyacinth ; grant, we beseech thee, that they may work within us healing and salvation for evermore.” Post-Communion : ” May thy holy gifts which we have received, cleanse us, O Lord, we beseech thee, through the prayers of thy blessed martyrs, Protus and Hyacinth.” This prayer suggests a slight theological difficulty. The Eucharist is a Sacrament of the living and the soul must, therefore, be in a state of grace to receive it ; why then do we speak of purification at this moment ? The answer is as follows : the Collect speaks of the cleansing of the heart from disordinate affection to venial sin, or any imperfection, how­ ever slight. The holy Eucharist kindles in our heart the fire of charity which consumes these, as flames consume straw and chaff. September ii I05 Further, the value of the holy Sacrifice as satisfaction for our sins is so great, that, according to the teaching of the Council of Trent, on account thereof the Lord often condones the punishment due even to grave faults. SEPTEMBER 12 Feast of the Holy Name of Mary On September 11 and 12 the Martyrology of St Jerome commemorates once more the martyr Hippolytus of Porto, whose feast we kept a few days ago. But in the last great reform of the Roman Breviary under Pius X, the feast of the Holy’’ Name of Mary, originally instituted by Innocent XI, in memory of the great victory won over the Turks before the walls of Vienna (September 13, 1683), was fixed for this day. Previous to this Innocent XII had ordained that it should be kept on the Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity of Our Lady. Whatever interpretation of the name of Mary we may accept, whether it means bitterness, the lady of the sea, or beloved of God, it is still the name of our Mother in heaven, the name which was first on the lips of the divine Child, the name which after that of Jesus holds all our hope of salvation. Many saints, especially St Bernard and St Gabriele dell’ Addolorata, recognize in the most sweet name of Mary the virtues and prerogatives which the Doctors of the Church find in the name of the Saviour, such as light, strength, sweetness and protection. Therefore the devout Christian desires above all things to pronounce the holy names of Jesus and Mary with his last breath before going forth to behold their countenances. Pius X granted great indulgences to those who should make use of this pious invocation. ***** The Introit is the same as on March 25. Collect : " Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that thy faithful people, who rejoice in the name of the most holy Virgin Mary, and enjoy her protection, may, by her loving intercession, be delivered from all evils here on earth, and be found worthy to attain to everlasting joys in heaven.” The Lesson and the Gradual are those of July 16 ; the Gospel is that of March 25 ; the alleluiatic verse and the remainder are the same as for August 5. St Bernard was one of the most eloquent panegyrists of the holy name of Mary. Each year, on Wednesday of Ember io6 The Sacramentary week in December, he was in the habit of preaching to his monks at Clairvaux on the Gospel of the day, and on this occasion he would utter magnificent words of praise con­ cerning her whose name has never been worthily pronounced except by her own Divine Son. Some of the holy Abbot’s praises have been preserved in the Breviary on this day. Christian Rome possesses a fine church dedicated to the holy name of Mary, near the Ulpian Basilica, in the Forum of Trajan. Here is kept an ancient ikon of the Mother of God which came from the Oratory of St Lawrence in the Lateran. SEPTEMBER 14 SS Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Martyrs Station at the Cemetery of Callixtus. The Martyrology of St Jerome notes to-day : Romae in cimitcrio Callisti, Cornili episcopi ; an indication which is derived from the Philocalian Calendar, where we find : XVIII Kai. Oct. Cypriani Africae, Romae celebratur in Calisti. Pope Cornelius died in exile at Civitavecchia on September 14, 253, after a Pontificate of two years’ duration, which had been greatly troubled by the schism of Novatian. His body was brought to Rome and interred at the Cemetery of Callixtus in the crypt of Lucina, where his family burial place may once have been. We still possess his sepulchral inscription : CORNELIUS 0 MARTYR EP Pope Damasus caused the crypt of the martyr to be decor­ ated, and composed an epigraph in his honour, of which, however, only some fragments remain. (Aspice descensu extruc) το · TENEB(ri)SQ(ue fu)GATls (Corneli monumenta vides t)vMVLv(mque) · sacratvm (Hoc opus egroti Damasi)PR(acs)TANTiA · fecit (Esset ut accessus meli)oR · popvlisqve · paratvm (Auxilium Sancti et v)aleas · si · fvndere · pvro (Corde preces, Damasus)melior · consvrgere · posset (Quem non lucis amor te) nvit · mage · cvra · laboris “ Behold here is the stair, behold, the darkness has been banished, and the crypt of Cornelius appears with the sacred 107 September 14 tomb. This is the work which the infirm Pope Damasus zealously accomplished in order that the faithful might have easier access. Implore the help of the saints that Damasus may arise restored to health, he who loves labour more than life itself.” St Cyprian was decapitated in the neighbourhood of Carthage on September 14, 258. He was the impersonification of the early African Church, and was, above all, as St Augustine called him : Catholicum episcopum, catholicum martyrem. He still lives and moves in the spirit of the unity of the Church for which he lived, laboured, and died. Even his temporary disagreement with Pope Stephen on the ques­ tion of the validity of baptism conferred by heretics, arose from an exaggerated application of this principle of Catholic unity, but God permitted that the separation of the Church of Africa from Rome should be prevented by the death of the Pope, and that Cyprian, who was in perfect good faith, should be spared the terrible responsibility of having led his nation into the way of schism. Carthage raised three basilicas to her great Bishop. Of these one was near the port ; another stood on the place of his execution, where the altar was simply called mensa Cypriani ; and, lastly, a third at Mappalia was erected over his tomb. The festival of St Cyprian on September 14, the Κυτ/πανά, became so popular, that in the fourth century it was celebrated at Rome, at Constantinople, and in Spain, where Prudentius composed a hymn in honour of the martyr. In the Eternal City the cultus of St Cyprian was associated from the first with that of Cornelius, and therefore his picture, which was painted beside that of the Pope in the crypt of Cornelius, misled the author of the Itinerarium de Locis Sanctis, who boldly writes : haud procul in coemeterio Calisti Cornelius et Cyprianus in Ecclesia dormiunt. The body of Cornelius, or at least, a portion of it, is pre­ served in the Basilica of St Mary in Trastevere ; that of St Cyprian is said to have been taken to Lyons. In the Gospel List of Würzburg a strange anomaly occurs : the Mass of September 14 is named after St Cornelius only, with the same Gospel as the feast of SS Marcus and Marcellinus on June 18 : Vae vobis qui aedificatis monumenta, etc. Whereas the following Sundays are, according to custom, named after the Bishop of Carthage only ; thus : hebdomada I, II, etc., post natale sancti Cypriani, etc. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ * The Mass is the same as on January 22, but the Collects io8 The Sacramentary are taken from the Mass of the Popes Soter and Cains on April 22, whose names are replaced, of course, by the names of the Saints of to-day. The Leonine Sacramentary has a proper Preface : Vcre dignum . . . tuamque in sanctis martyribus Cornelio simul etiam Cypriano praedicare virtutem ; quos discretis terrarum partibus greges sacros divino pane pascentes, una fide eadem que die, diversis licet temporibus, consonante, parique nominis tui confessione coronasti. Per . . . \\re leam from a letter of Pope Cornelius to Bishop Fabius of Antioch that, at the time when Novatian attempted to supersede him in the Pontificate, the Roman hierarchy included forty-six priests, seven deacons, as many subdeacons, forty-two acolytes and fifty-two clerks, while more than five hundred widows were maintained by the alms of the Church. We read of another interesting particular concerning the Eucharistic Celebration. When he administered Communion to his followers, instead of the usual formula, Novatian made them take the following oath upon the Body of the Lord : " I will never return to Cornelius.” The liturgical tradition that the faithful should kiss the hand of the bishop when he administers Holy Communion, as a sign of union with him in the Catholic Faith, dates from these early times. SEPTEMBER 14 The Exaltation of the Cross the *' Martyrium ” and the Dedication of on Calvary Station at St John Lateran. To-day occurs the anniversary of the Finding of the holy Cross (September 14, 320), and the Dedication of the Con­ stan tinian Basilica the Martyrium, on the spot where our Lord was crucified. Owing to the religious importance of the holy City the observance of this feast spread rapidly through­ out the Christian world, especially in the East ; the more so because particles of the true Cross were brought from Jerusalem to many other churches in the East and West from the fourth century onwards. Therefore, the principal cities sought to imitate the solemn ceremonies in use at Jerusalem in order to do homage to the holy Cross, the triumphant standard of our salvation. The festival was preceded at Jerusalem by four days of preparation. An immense stream of pilgrims made their way to Calvary' at that time from Egypt, Mesopotamia, and September 14 109 Persia, and the sacred sign of redemption was shown to them, for which reason the feast was also known as'Y^wacç τού τιμ,ίον και ζωο~οιοΰ Σταύρον. It was on one of these occasions that Mary of Egypt the sinner, having also visited the holy City, was converted and began to lead a new life. In course of time the Latins confused this festival with the other one kept in memory of the restitution of the holy Cross to Heraclius by the Persians. The Basileus himself carried the relic from Tiberias to Jerusalem on this occasion, and delivered it into the hands of the Patriarch Zachary, on May 3, 630. The recovery of the Cross from the infidels was greeted by the Latins especially with great enthusiasm. Thus, whilst the Easterns continued to celebrate the feast of the Martyrium with magnificent rites on September 14, that of May 3 was more popular in the West, where it changed its title and significance and became simply the dies sanctae Crucis or inventio sanctae Crucis. The feast of September 14 is, however, to be found in the Weissenburg Codex of the Martyrology of St Jerome and in the Gregorian Sacramentary. Because of this it was pre­ served in the Codices, but in liturgical practice it was only very gradually accepted in the Western countries, as Septem­ ber 14 was already dedicated to the feast of the martyrs Cornelius and Cyprian. In the late Ordo Romanus of Cencio Camerario it is pre­ scribed that on the morning of this day the Pope and the Cardinals should go to the Oratory of St Lawrence in the Lateran palace, whence they would take the relic of the true Cross. Singing the Te Deum, the procession first made its way to the Oratory of San Silvestro, where the primicerius of the Schola and his cantors had already preceded it. Here the solemn adoration of the Cross took place, which is now only in use on Good Friday. It had, however, been practised on this day of the "Yoweris, both at Jerusalem and Con­ stantinople, since the fourth century. During this ceremony the antiphons and psalms of the Morning Office were sung. The holy rite being ended, after all the clergy had made their genuflection before the sacred Relic, the procession finally moved towards the great Lateran Basilica of the Saviour, where, at the end of Terce, the Pope celebrated the holy Sacrifice. * ♦ * ♦ » The Mass is the same as on May 3, except the following portions. no The Sacramentary Collect : " 0 God, who year by year dost gladden us by the festival of the exaltation of Christ’s holy cross ; grant, we beseech thee, that we who while living upon earth acknow­ ledge the mystery of Redemption, may be found worthy to receive in heaven the rewards he has purchased for us.” The Gradual is that of Holy Thursday. The glory of Christ triumphing over death and sin, has its root in the humiliation of the cross, which, from having been an instrument of shame, became through the death of Jesus virga virtutis suae quam emittet Dominus ex Sion, the mystical rod of which the Psalmist sings. The alleluiatic verse is like that of May 3, and was suggested by the celebrated hymn of Venantius Fortunatus. The Gospel (John xii, 31-36) is included in the Lesson read on the Saturday before Palm Sunday. The throne on which the Redeemer is raised in order to triumph over pride, disobedience, and sensuality, is the Cross, which for Christ is a seat of shame, but for us a seat of mercy. He was raised upon it first by the malice of the Jews ; he is raised upon it now by the ardent faith of all Christians, who adore the crucified victim of Calvary as their God and their Redeemer. The choice of this passage has been made chiefly in con­ nection with the title of the feast : Exaltatio Sanctae Crucis. For this Gospel treats of the reason why it was necessary exaltari Filius hominis. The Antiphon for the Offertory is merely a devout prayer, and this fact betrays that it belongs to a later period, when the true liturgical Office of this chant was no longer understood. Secret : “ We arc about to feed on the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who made of the cross a holy sign ; we beseech thee, O Lord our God, that even as we have been deemed worthy to honour the cross, so we may enjoy for evermore the salvation which has been won for us by its triumph.” In some codices this prayer is given as a Post-Communion, and the following is prescribed for the Secret : Devotas, Domine, humilitatis nostrae preces et hostias misericordiae tuae praecedat auxilium, et salutem quam per Adam in paradisi ligno clauserat temerata praesumptio, Ligni rursus fides aperiat. Post-Communion : “ Be nigh to us, O Lord our God ; and even as thou lettest us rejoice in honour of the cross, so may it be a safeguard to us for evermore.” Pius IX found in a tomb in the Cemetery of Ciriaca an ancient cross of gold on which was engraved the following inscription : CRVX · EST · VITA · MIHI MORS · INIMICE · TIBI 4 September 14 ni This precious ornament is now preserved in the Vatican Library. The inscription on what is known as the Medal of St Bene­ dict, which is enriched with many indulgences, and which has great efficacy against evil spirits, is very similar to that on the above-mentioned medal. The Medal of St Benedict is to be found everywhere, especially in the missions of Africa and Asia, where it is used as a protection against witchcraft and magic, so common in those heathen countries. It consists of a short form of exorcism inscribed upon a medal having on one side the sacred sign of Redemption, and on the other the image of the holy Patriarch St Benedict holding up the cross to drive away devils. The blessing of tliis indulgenced medal is reserved to monks of the Benedictine Order. The following is the form of exorcism engraved on the cross : Crux sancta sit mihi lux Numquam daemon sit mihi dux. Around the cross runs the following inscription : Vade retro Satana ; numquam suade mihi vana ; sunt mala quae libas ; ipse venena bibas. In ancient times the power of the triumphant symbol of our Redemption was concisely expressed by this anagram : Z Ω H C The Cross is Light and Life. SEPTEMBER 15 St Nicomedes, Martyr Station at the Cemetery of Nicomedes. This feast is omitted in the earliest copies of the Martyrology of St Jerome, but it is to be found in others of the early Middle Ages, and as it is noted both in the Gregorian Sacra­ mentary and in the Gospel List of Wiirzburg, we must con­ clude that it belongs to the Liturgy of Rome in the period of its finest classical development. The Martyrology of St Jerome, indeed, notes another feast of St Nicomedes of June i, as we have remarked else­ where, but this was connected with the dedication of his 112 The Sacramentary ( ; titulus in the city and had no reference to the natalis of the martyr. The Cemetery of Nicomedes, where the station was cele­ brated on this day, is on the Via Nomentana, at a short distance from the walls of the town : in orto iuxta muros, as the Acts say. Boniface I (619-625) built a small basilica over the tomb of the Saint, and it was subsequently restored by Adrian I. The body of St Nicomedes, from whom the Via Nomentana had at one time taken its name, was removed at a later date by Paschal I to St Praxedes, the cemetery having fallen into neglect. * * * * * The Mass is the same as for St Valentine on February 14, but the Collects are proper to the feast. Collect : “ Be nigh, 0 Lord, to thy people, that they may profit by the glorious merits of blessed Nicomedes thy martyr, and may ever be helped by his prayers to win thy mercy.” In the Würzburg List the Gospel is taken from Matthew xvi, 24-28. Secret : ” Graciously receive, O Lord, the gifts which we offer up ; and may the prayer of blessed Nicomedes the martyr make them acceptable to thy majesty.” Like the unhappy sinners who, in the third century, had recourse to the Confessors lying in prison for the faith in order to obtain from them recommendations to the Bishop, that they might be readmitted to Communion with the Church, so we too implore the martyrs’ intercession with God, that by the merits of their blood he may give us peace and pardon. When the holy Sacrifice was offered in the catacombs over the body of a martyr, it was as if the saint joined his prayer to those of the faithful in order to invoke the mercy of God upon them. Post-Communion : “ May the sacraments which we have received cleanse us, 0 Lord, and through the intercession of blessed Nicomedes thy martyr, loose us from all sin.” In order to understand the full meaning of these words we must remember what the Gospel says about the servitude into which the sinner has voluntarily fallen : Omnis qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati. (John viii, 34.) According to his Acta the presbyter St Nicomedes, found guilty of having given sepulture to the relics of St Felicula, was first scourged, and then thrown into the Tiber. The site of the Titulus Nicomedis mentioned in the Acts of the Roman Council held under Symmachus, as well as in the epigraph of a certain priest called Victor presb. tituli Nico- ’i ‘ J · I ■ j t ‘ I ί | [ · | September 15 medis, is not known. As this martyr was so celebrated, it is not improbable that his portrait adorned the mosaic of Sixtus III in St Mary Major, the dedicatory inscription of which mentions, indeed, a martyr who had been drowned in the river : Ferrum, flamma, ferae, fluvius, saevumque venenum. SEPTEMBER 16 St Euphemia, Virgin and Martyr Station al the Monastery Sanctorum Euphemiae et Archangeli, quod ponitur intra titulum Pudentis. St Euphemia is the celebrated martyr in whose sepulchral church, described by Asterius of Amasea, the Council of Chalcedon was held. This circumstance contributed greatly to the spread of her cultus, and her praises are sung by Paulinus of Nola, St Peter Chrysologus, Venantius Fortu­ natus, and Ennodius of Pavia. In the Leonine Sacramentary there are no less than four Masses in her honour. At Rome a church was dedicated to St Euphemia on the Viminal near the titulus Pastoris, where, therefore, to-day's festive station was held. St Gregory the Great mentions this church on the occasion of his litania septiformis, since it was thence that the procession of widows accompanied by priests of the Fifth Regio set out. Pope Donus (676-678) dedicated another church to the martyr on the Appian Way, near Boville, as Gclasius I (492-496) had also done, when he built a sanctuary in her honour on the Via Tiburtina. Leo ΠΙ bestowed vessels of silver on the Church of St Euphemia in the vicus Patricius, and Sergius I restored it later from the very foundations. Until the time of Sixtus V, who caused this sanctuary to be demolished, there could be seen in the mosaic of the apse the image of the martyr, robed and loaded with jewels after the Byzantine custom, standing between two serpents. The venerable cultus of the Martyr of Chalcedon appears to be assured in Rome to-day, chiefly because of another Church of St Euphemia which stands by the Forum of Trajan. An ancient chapel in her honour existed in 1461, near the column of Trajan, but later it was destroyed, and was rebuilt a little way off. The following is one of the beautiful Prefaces in honour of St Euphemia, contained in the Leonine Sacramentary : Vere dignum ... in hac celebritate gaudentes, qua sancti Spiritus 114 The Sacramentary fervore praeclarus beatae martyris Euphcmiae sexite fragilitate pretiosior sanguis effloruit, et virtute foeminea rabiem diabolicae persecutionis elidens, geminatae gloriae triumphum virginitas implevit et passio. Per Christum. SEPTEMBER 16 SS Lucy and Geminianus Two separate Masses are noted in the Gregorian Sacramen­ tary to-day, one in honour of St Euphemia, and the other for St Lucy and St Geminianus. This St Lucy is commemorated in various examples of the Martyrology of St Jerome and even in the Gospel List of Würzburg. The latter manuscript, however, in agreement with many Sacramentaries, couples Lucy with Euphemia, but makes no mention of Geminianus. Morin holds that the diaconia of St Lucy in silice on the Esquiline, which was restored by Honorius I, was dedicated to the same St Lucy whose feast we keep to-day. We, how­ ever, find it hard to believe that the churches founded at Rome by Symmachus and Honorius to the memory of St Lucy were not built in honour of the celebrated Sicilian martyr, whose name was even included in the Roman Canon. The Martyrology of St Jerome records, it is true, on June 24 in the cimiterio ad clivum Cucumeris, a Lucia cum aliis XXII; but it may be merely a case of a confusion of names, for all the other documents mention a certain Longinus or Longina, on the Via Salaria, who is sometimes even referred to as the mother of the martyr John the priest. However this may be, Rome, whether in ancient times or in the Middle Ages, knew no other St Lucy but the martyr of Syracuse ; so, unless it be the feast of the dedication of one of the many Roman churches named after her, we cannot point out another saint of this name whose festival occurred at Rome to-day. Again, the Martyrology of St Jerome is unusually full of local feasts on this very day. On the Via Nomentana in the coemeterium maius, there was kept, indeed, a kind of collective solemnity of the local Saints : Emerentiana, Papia, Felix, Victor and Alexander. On the Appian Way the feast of St Cecilia was also celebrated. It is no wonder then that St Lucy, whose name occurs twice in the same Martyrology on December 13 and F bruary 7, should have been commemorated on this day, too, if it were the anniversary of the encaenia of one of the Roman churches dedicated to her, that for instance September 16 115 of the monastery of St Andrew and St Lucy, which dates from the sixth century, or the other in silice on the Esquiline. We may go further still. The Acta of the martyrs Lucy and Geminianus are so legendary as to deserve no credit, and the Bollandists have not even included them. The cultus of the two saints is relatively ancient, for it has passed into all the medieval martyrologies and even into the Greek Menologies ; but this does not prove the authenticity of their history. We know, on the testimony of Cencio Camerario, that a church dedicated to St Geminianus existed on the Aventine, to whose clergy six denari of presbyterium were due on the occasion of the solemn Papal festivals. Baronius mentions the little church, but after his time it disappeared and no trace of its exact site can be found. Taking into account the uncertainty which surrounds the history of St Lucy and St Geminianus, we are inclined to entertain the hypothesis that we have here two martyrs from the extra-mural cemeteries, whose bodies were brought into Rome, like that of St Martina, by Honorius I. It is curious, however, that the devotions promoted by this Pope to St Martin, St Adrian, St Lucy, and St Geminianus should all be lacking in historical confirmation. ***** In the Roman Missal to-day the Mass common to the three saints, Euphemia, Lucy, and Geminianus, is the same as on January 22. The Collects are proper to the feast. Collect : ” Grant a joyful issue to our prayers, O Lord, so that we who year by year devoutly keep the day on which thy holy martyrs Euphemia, Lucy and Geminianus suffered, may also follow them in the steadfastness of their faith.” This prayer recalls the famous saying of St John Chrysostom concerning the saints : Imitari non pigcat quos celebrare delectat ; and also those words from the Epistle to the Hebrews : Quorum intuentes exitum conversationis, imitamini fidem. The Gospel according to the Index of Würzburg should be that appointed to be read on the feast of St Lucy, on December 13. Our present Missal, however, prescribes the passage which has already been referred to on June 19, for the feast of the Milanese martyrs Gervase and Protase. Secret : ” Mercifully consider the sacrifice of thy people, O Lord, we beseech thee ; and may we enjoy the intercession of those whose festival we are keeping by thy grace.” ii6 The Sacranientary When we are present at the celebration of the holy Sacrifice, we should, therefore, do more than merely assist at it. We should participate in it actively by uniting ourselves with the priest in making the oblation, and by placing on the paten, together with the Host, our desires and our aspirations, which he will then offer up to God. Post-Communion : “ Graciously hear our prayers, O Lord, and let us never cease to enjoy the help of thy holy martyrs Euphemia, Lucy, and Geminianus, whose feast we are solemnly keeping.” We should note here the last words of this prayer : solemniter celebramus, which show the traditional spirit of Catholic Liturgy with regard to the cultus of the saints and especially of the martyrs. We do not think that those enter entirely into the mind of the Church, who attribute so little importance to the great solemnities of the Roman Missal that, in order to save time, they habitually substitute the votive Mass for the Dead instead of offering the holy Sacrifice (solemniter celebramus) in memory of the saints named in the Sacramentaries. SEPTEMBER 16 SS Abundius, Priest, and Abundantius, Deacon, Martyrs The later Martyrologies also commemorate these two martyrs, who, however, belong to the district outside Rome, as they were buried in the coemeterium Theodorac which is at the twenty-eighth milestone on the Flaminian Way near Rignano. Two other local martyrs, Marcian and John, shared their crown with them. The original epitaph of the priest Abundius is still preserved in the Lateran Museum. ABVNDIO · PRB MARTYRI · SANCT DEP · VII · IDVS · DEC Therefore his feast should be kept, not on this day, but on December 7. The bodies of the martyrs /Xbundius and Abundantius were first brought by Otho III to the Basilica of SS Adalbert and Bartholomew on the Isola Tiberina. At a later date—it is not known how or when—it became necessary to transfer the relics, or at least a portion of them, to the diaconia of SS Cosmas and Damian on the Via Sacra, whence they were carried in 1583 to the Farnese Basilica of the Society of Jesus. September 16 SEPTEMBER 16 St Martin, Pope and Martyr To-day is also the anniversary of the death of this holy Pope, who, because he defended the orthodox faith against the heretical Basileus of Byzantium, ended his life in exile in the Chersonesus. He died on the feast of St Euphemia in 655. Obiit autem idem sanctissimus Mariinus -papa, recens revera confessor et martyr Christi . . . mense seftembri, die sextadecima, in qua felicissimae martyris et Fidem custodientis orthodoxam Euphemiac celebratur memoria . . . Positus est autem in tumulis Sanctorum extra muros Chersonilarum civitatis . . . in templo sanctissimae Dei genitricis.1 The Liber Pontificalis already alludes to the wonders which took place at Chersona at the tomb of the exiled Pope. Many miracles were still being worked there in 730, and they are mentioned by Gregory II in a letter to Leo I the Isaurian.2 It is not known whether the body of St Martin was ever brought to Rome ; therefore, the feast dedicated to him, on November 12, in the present Missal, seems to be only the Roman celebration in honour of St Martin of Tours, which was postponed to the following day, as the feast of St Mennas occurred on November 11. Pope Martin was still living when, owing to pressure exerted by the Emperor, Eugcnius I was chosen to succeed him. The holy Pope yielded therefore to force, and out of zeal for the peace of the Church ended by approving this election. In a letter of September 655, St Martin described to a friend the extreme poverty which he suffered in exile, but added that he never ceased to pray for the Church of Rome and for his own successor in the Apostolic See. Amongst the Greeks the memory of Μαρτίνου ττώτα Ρώ/η/ç του όρολογί/τού is kept several times in the year, on April 13, 15, and September 20, together with that of St Maximus the Confessor. The Slavs keep his feast on April 20. SEPTEMBER 17 The Imprinting of the Holy Stigmata on St Francis, Confessor* This festival was introduced into the Martyrology of Baronius through the influence of Cardinal di Montalto, afterwards Sixtus V. On his accession to the Papacy he 1 Cf. Commemoratio, P.L. LXXXVII, 120. 1 Jaffe, 2181. ii8 The Setcram entary desired that the feast of his holy founder should be observed by the whole Church. Clement VIII, however, suppressed the feast of the Stigmata, as the Church only dedicates special solemnities to the mysteries of our redemption, which she recognizes as the founts of divine and life-giving grace, whereas the particular favours granted to the saints by God directly concern their individual sanctification, and are all commemorated in a glorious synthesis when the life of each saint is read in the Breviary on the day of his feast. But Paul V restored, in a great measure, the solemnity of the Stigmata by giving to it the rank of semidouble ad libitum. Clement IX again made the festival obligatory, and lastly another son of St Francis, Clement XIV, raised it once more to the rank of a double. The commission for the reform of the Breviary under Benedict XIV suggested the suppression of the feast of the Stigmata, but the proposals made by that assembly never came into effect. We can see clearly from the diversity of views held at different times by the supreme authority of the Church concerning the continuance of this solemnity, that the con­ cession made in its favour is one which oversteps the ordinary rules of the Liturgy, and is a special privilege in honour of St Francis, to be regarded not only as rare, but almost unique. And, indeed, the sacred Stigmata impressed upon the body of St Francis by the crucified Saviour constituted in them­ selves a unique privilege. The fire of charity had cooled throughout the world when it pleased God to kindle it anew by the preaching of the Seraph of Assisi. St Francis came to show forth once more in his life and in his words the life and the words of Christ who, being himself poor, announced the beatitudes to the poor and lowly, and founded the Church and the religious state on evangelical poverty. It was, however, necessary that the new apostle, the Herald of the Great King, as he called himself, should be able to show his credentials to the world, and therefore Christ was pleased to imprint upon him the “ final seal,” changing him to his own image and likeness and uniting him to himself on the rood of the Cross. ***** The Antiphon for the Introit is like that for St Ignatius of Antioch on February i. It is followed, however, by Psalm cxli, which was recited by St Francis as he went to meet sora nostra morte corporale.1 Laudes creaturarum or Canticle of Brother Sun. Psalm : “ I cried to the Lord with my voice : with my voice I made supplication to the Lord.” The Collect sets forth the reason why the Stigmata of St Francis had an influence over the whole life of the Church. Collect : ”0 Lord Jesus Christ, who, when the world was growing cold, didst renew the sacred marks of thy passion on the body of blessed Francis, so as to kindle in our hearts the fire of thy love ; grant, in thy mercy, that with the help of his merits and prayers we may ever carry our cross and bring forth worthy fruits of penance.” The Lesson is taken from the Epistle to the Galatians (vi, 14-18). The opponents of St Paul had sown discord amongst the early Christian Communities by upholding the necessity for circumcision and Jewish ritualism. The Apostle declares in reply that he glories only in the cross of the Lord Jesus, to whom circumcision and uncircumcision are alike. However, if any desire that he should bear the mark of cir­ cumcision, he can show them the scars of the scourges and the chains endured for Christ, upon his body. These are the glorious wounds of Christ which he bears imprinted on his flesh. The Gradual is like that of January 29, for St Francis de Sales. The alleluiatic verse is inspired by an ancient Antiphon in honour of St Martin of Tours. " Alleluia, alleluia. Francis, poor and humble, enters rich into heaven, and is honoured with celestial hymns.” How insignificant are these two qualities typical of St Francis 1 Pauper et humilis ! Innocent III, in a dream, saw this poor and humble man support the falling Latcran Basilica upon his shoulders. The Church was founded on poverty and humility, and therefore at the most decisive moments of the history of Catholicism, it has always pleased God to send saints, who, chiefly through their humility and detachment from earthly things, reformed Christian society and led it back to the ideals of the Gospel. The Gospel for this new martyr of Christ crucified is taken from the Common of Martyrs, as on December 16, for St Euse­ bius of Vercelli. The Antiphon for the Offertory is the same as that of December 3, for St Francis Xavier ; the Communion is that of December 5, for St Sabbas. Secret : “ Hallow these gifts which we offer up to thee, O Lord, and by the intercession of blessed Francis cleanse us from all stain of sin.” When we make use of the word sanctify to-day, we pray —— — — September 17 120 The Sacramentary that the Holy Eucharist, which is always holy in itself—the ancients called it the Sanctum—may also be celebrated and offered up by us in a holy manner. Post-Communion : “ O God, who in divers ways didst show in blessed Francis thy confessor the wonderful mysteries of thy cross, grant, we beseech thee, that we may ever follow the example of his devotion, and be strengthened by constant meditation on that cross.” When the catechumen is brought to the church, the priest at once makes the sign of the Cross on his forehead and heart, in order to teach us that the mystery of the Cross which was fulfilled in the Head must also be fulfilled in the members of his mystical body. SEPTEMBER 18 St Joseph of Cupertino, Confessor To-day we commemorate a glorious Son of the Seraph of Assisi, whose feast was made universal throughout the Church by a Pope of the same Order, Clement XIV. St Joseph of Cupertino is as famous for his evangelical simplicity as for his ecstasies, and the whole of the following Mass is designed to bring out this mystical side of his sanctity. ***** The Introit takes its Antiphon from Ecclesiasticus (i, 14-15) : " The love of God is honourable wisdom : and they to whom she shall show herself, love her by the sight and by the know­ ledge of her great works.” This is followed by Psalm Lxxxiii : “ How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.” Although he was a priest, St Joseph of Cupertino was not distinguished by a high degree of learning, but on account of his sanctity he received from God the science of heavenly things, that which is called in holy Scripture scientia Sanctorum. The Collect contains a veiled allusion to the ecstasies of the saint in which he was lifted up to kiss the picture of Christ or the Blessed Virgin. Collect : “ 0 God, who didst ordain that thine only-begotten Son should be lifted up above the earth and draw all things to himself ; in thy mercy bring it to pass that through the merits and example of thy seraphic confessor Joseph we may be lifted up above all earthly lusts and may be found worthy to come unto him.” The Lesson, which speaks of the quality and beauty of charity (1 Cor. xiii, 1-8), is contained in that which is read on September 18 121 Quinquagesima Sunday. The compiler of the Mass ends it at verse 8, in which St Paul declares that charity can even dis­ pense with knowledge. He had perhaps in mind the seraphic simplicity of the saint of to-day, who was so rich in the science of God although he had not won a name amongst scholars. The Gradual is the same as for St Sabbas on December 5. Alleluia, alleluia. (Ecclus. xi, 13) : “ The eye of God hath looked upon him for good, and hath lifted him up from his low estate, and hath exalted his head. Alleluia." In order to test the mystical graces which St Joseph re­ ceived, his superiors subjected him to long and severe trials, and to frequent humiliations, sending him to monasteries in solitary places, lest the enthusiasm of the people, aroused by the miracles worked by him, should lead to any disorder. The Gospel (Matt, xxii, 1-14) contains the parable of the wedding feast, to which the beggars from the highways were invited, and is also read on the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Whereas many learned men have not profited by the graces given to them by God, and have not followed the divine call, this saint who was truly “ poor in spirit ” responded to the Lord’s invitation in simplicity of heart and was admitted to the wedding feast. The Offertory (Ps. xxxiv) refers to the terrible penances which St Joseph inflicted upon himself, and to his meekness with those who persecuted him. “ But as for me, when they were troublesome to me, I was clothed with hair-cloth. I humbled my soul with fasting ; and my prayer shall be turned into my bosom.” The Secret and the Post-Communion are from the Common of a Confessor not a Bishop, as on February 8. The following is the Communion (Ps. Ixviii) : “ I am poor and sorrowful : thy salvation, O God, hath set me up. I will praise the name of God with a song ; and I will magnify him with praise.” This was the price which St Joseph of Cupertino paid for the wonderful graces he had received : Ego sum pauper ct dolcns. He became poor, that is to say humble, obedient, and lowly in his own estimation, and dolcns, for he bore, imprinted on his flesh by his severe mortification, the Stigmata of the Passion. It is told of St Joseph that he was once sent by his superior to exorcise a man who was possessed by the devil. When the saint reached the spot he merely showed the evil spirit the letter in which his superior had commanded him to drive the devil out of the unhappy man, and declared at the same 122 The Sacramentary time that it was in the name of obedience and not by his own power that he ordered him to release his victim. The devil was unable to withstand such humility and immediately went out of the possessed man. SEPTEMBER 19 St Januarius, Bishop, and his Companions, Martyrs We find a valuable reference to St Januarius in the account given by Uranius of the death of St Paulinus of Nola. This Saint, in his last agony, believed that St Martin and St Januarius stood at his side. Uranius adds : Januarius episcopus simul et Martyr Neapolitanae urbis illustrat ecclesiam.1 The government of the Church of Beneventum is not mentioned in any early document. Although he was de­ capitated at Pozzuoli, the remains of Januarius have rested since the fourth century in the cemetery at Naples which bears his name, and his earliest successors were all buried round his grave, which was regarded as the foundation stone of the Neapolitan hierarchy. Januarius is mentioned to-day in the Martyrology of St Jerome and in the Calendar of Carthage. Amongst those who were his companions in martyrdom, or at least in captivity, should be numbered Sosius, who is commemorated on Septem­ ber 23, Festus and Desiderius on September 7, and Eutyches on October 18. St Januarius is celebrated chiefly on account of the miracu­ lous liquéfaction of his blood, which takes place on the three feasts kept annually in his honour, at Naples. The ampulla containing his blood is exposed before the people, together with the reliquary in which the head of the martyr is preserved, and after an interval during which prayers are said, the blood begins to liquefy, increasing in volume, as though it were bubbling up. The writer has been able to verify this miracle, which he has observed closely, and, like others who have studied it, he is obliged to confess that there seems to be no possible natural explanation of this phenomenon. It may be that, in this manner, God is pleased to show to the people of Naples that the blood of their great Patron—aeterno flori as the ancient sepulchral inscription calls it—is still active and powerful in the sight of the Lord, for with God there is no past, but all is present and living in his sight. The martyrdom of the glorious Bishop Januarius still protects the beautiful city of Naples, which is as famous 1 P.L. LIII, col. 861. 123 September 19 for the genius of her sons as for the holiness of her many saints. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ * The Mass is the same as on July 12 for SS Nabor and Felix, but the Collects are those of June 19, for SS Gervase and Pro­ tase, and the Gospel is that of the feast of the Martyrs Marius, Martha, etc., on January 19. Long before the time of St Gregory the Great a church was built in honour of St Januarius at Rome, near the Porta Tiburtina, and was afterwards restored by Adrian I. All traces of it have, however, disappeared. Pope Symmachus also built an oratory in honour of St Sosius at the Vatican, which existed until the fifteenth century. The dedicatory inscription of this chapel is given below, in which the praises of the Bishop Januarius are blended with those of the Deacon. It is valuable on account of the historical information which it contains. PONTIFICIS · VENERANDA · SEQVENS · VESTIGIA · SOSIVS AEQVAVIT · MERITI · NOBILITATE · GRADVM MARTYRIO · CONIVNCTVS · ORAT · VERVSQVE · MINISTER REDDIDIT · OFFICII · DEBITA · IVRA · SVI ILLE · SACERDOTEM · CVPIENS · SVBDVCERE · MORTI CONTIGIT · OPTATAM · SVB · PIETATE · NECEM Ο · LAETA · ET · IVCVNDA · QVIES ! · O · VITA · DVORVM FVNERE · SVB · GEMINO · QVOS · TENET · VNA · SALVS ITE · SIMVL · SEMPER · CAELESTIA · SVMITE · DONA PAR · PRETIVM · POSCIT · GLORIA · PAR · FIDEI SYMMACHVS · ANTISTES · TANTI · SACRATOR · HONORIS HAEC · FECIT · TITVLIS · COMMEMORANDA · SVIS “ Sosius, following in the steps of his Bishop, equalled him by the sublimity of his merits. United to him in his martyrdom he raised his voice in prayer, fulfilling thus the true office of a deacon. His desire to save the Bishop from death was the cause of his receiving the longed-for grace of martyrdom. O happy and joyful rest ! O life found by two in a double death, which holds salvation for both ! Remain united for ever and rejoice in the heavenly reward, for the same Faith deserves the same recompense. Symmachus the Bishop dedicated this memorial to them and placed upon it this commemorative inscription.” ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ These records of the saints which are contained in the Liturgy through the intervention of the early Popes have a 124 The Sacramentary claim to our special veneration. The devotion to the martyrs Januarius and Sosius was especially important, because the fact that a sanctuary was dedicated to them at Rome in close proximity to the Vatican Basilica proves how popular the cultus of those saints had become. SEPTEMBER 20 St Eustace, Bishop and Martyr Station at the Diaconia of St Eustace in Platana. Strange legends have grown up around the story of this celebrated Bishop of Antioch, whose praises were already sung by St John Chrysostom and by Severus, and whose cultus, according to Prudentius, was extremely popular even in the West during the fourth century. St Eustace died in exile at Trajanopolis in Thrace ; but Calandionus the Bishop caused his bones to be brought back to Antioch in 484, a century after his death. On this occasion the whole population went out to a distance of about eighteen miles from the city to welcome their former pastor. We must, however, distinguish this St Eustace from another martyr bearing the same name, who is recorded in the Martyrology of St Jerome on July 16, and lastly from a third Eustace or Eustracius, one of the forty martyrs of Sebaste, who are venerated at Rome on December 13. Much confusion has arisen concerning these various martyrs, and the great Bishop of Antioch has been transformed by legends, first into a valiant captain living in the second century, and then into the saintly father of a family, who, with his wife and children, suffered martyrdom in a brazen bull. The earliest mention made of the church of St Eustace or Eustachius at Rome dates from the time of Leo III, who bestowed gifts upon it. The sanctuary was, however, rebuilt under Celestine III, and was throughout the Middle Ages one of the most famous deaconries in Rome. The following interesting distich could formerly be seen above the door : VT · Mini · CAELESTIS · RESERETVR · PORTA ’ IOHANNI HAS · SACRAS ’ EVSTATHI · POSTES · ET · LIMINA · STRVXI ♦ ♦ * ♦ * The Introit, taken from the Mass Sapientiam, is the same as on June 9. The Collects are like those of the feast of St Symphorosa on July 18 ; whilst the Lesson is taken from the Mass of SS Primus and Felician on June 9. September 20 125 The Gradual Anima nostra follows, as on the feast of the Holy Innocents, and the alleluiatic verse is added to it. " Alleluia, alleluia.” (Ps. Ixvii) : “ Let the just feast and rejoice before God, and be delighted with gladness. Alleluia.” The Gospel is the same as on January 20 ; the Antiphon for the Offertory is taken from the Mass of St Basilides and his companions on June 12 ; lastly, the Communion is that of the Mass of the Machabces on August 1. St Eustace died in exile because he had defended the Faith of Nicea. Not infrequently, persecution, imprisonment and exile have been the lot of those who held the office and ful­ filled the duties of a Bishop. SEPTEMBER 20 The Holy Vigil of St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist The Vigil of to-day is recorded in the Bernese Laterculus of the Martyrology of St Jerome : Vigilia Maihei apostoli. The Mass is the same as that of the vigil of St Thomas, with the exception of the Gospel, which is taken from Luke v, 27-32. Jesus called Matthew from the receipt of custom, and in answer to the murmurings of the Pharisees, who were scandalized that Christ should consent to be present at the feast of the converted publican, he replied that he had not come to call the just but sinners to penance. This scene from the Gospel illustrates the condescension of the Sacred Heart of our Saviour. St Matthew wished to show his gratitude for the grace he had received when Christ called him, and Jesus, seeing in his invitation an opportunity of approaching sinners and of saving souls, accepted it. He acts as a man amongst men, and consents even to sit at table with Matthew and his former companions, the receivers of custom, thus giving an example of the prin­ ciple which St Paul was later to declare in his Epistles, that it is necessary for an Apostle to be all things to all men in order to gain all for God. SEPTEMBER 21 St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist Station at St Malthew in Mcrulana. This extremely ancient title, which has now disappeared completely, is mentioned in the Council of Rome, held in 499, under Symmachus, in which one of the signatories wrote his 120 The Sacramentary name as follows : Andreas presbyter tituli sancti Mathaei subscripsi. An endeavour seems to have been made in ancient times to assemble the memorials to the Apostles in that district of Rome which lies around the Lateran Episcopium and the Merulana, for here were the Oratory of St John the Evangelist, of St Bartholomew in Capite Merulanae, of St Matthew, of St Andrew, and of St Thomas, at the Lateran. There was another oratory also in honour of St Matthew, which stood in the vicinity of the deaconry of Sta Maria in Xenodochio. To-day’s festival of St Matthew already exists in the Martyrology of St Jerome, but is especially celebrated by the Greeks on November 16. The Acta of the Apostle are apocryphal and little is known of his life. The Fathers in general, as, for example, St Ambrose, held that his death occurred in Persia,1 whereas St Paulinus of Nola asserts that he died amongst the Parthians.3 Venantius Fortunatus writes : Matthaeus Aethiopes attemperat ore vapores Vivaque in exusto flumina fudit agro . . . * * · · e Inde triumphantem fert India Bartholemacum Matthaeum eximium Naddaver alta virum Hinc Simonem ac ludam lumen Persida gemellum Lacta relaxato mittit ad astra sinu.* St Matthew added the glory of an Evangelist to that of an Apostle. He wrote his Gospel in Aramaic, and it was after­ wards translated into Greek. The Aramaic text no longer exists, but it is supposed to have been very similar to the Evangelium secundum Hebraeos which St Jerome translated into Greek and Latin. In any case the Greek version of St Matthew, which is in the eyes of the Church the canonical text of the first Gospel, must be regarded by us as a divinely inspired work. The relics of St Matthew were discovered, it is said, in the year 954 at Velia, near the Bay of Policastro, and were translated to the Cathedral of Salerno. In 1084 Pope Gregory VII journeyed to Salerno, from Monte Cassino, in order to perform the ceremony of consecration. Death, however, overtook him in the capital of the Norman Duchy, and he was buried near the tomb of St Matthew. He was a courageous and high-minded Pontiff whose last words were : Dilexi iustitiam et odivi iniquitatem ; flropterea morior in exilio I 1 In Psalm, xlv. ' Carm. XXVI. ’ Lib. Ill, c. ii. Lib. VIII, c. iv. !;<■ September 21 In the little old church at Velia, which is dedicated to St Matthew—Sancti Matthaei ad duo flumina—the ancient sarcophagus is still preserved in which the bones of the great Evangelist once rested. The Introit of the Mass Os justi refers to the inspired wisdom of the Evangelist, and is the same as on December 3. The Collect for St Matthew was adapted later to the feast of St Joseph. " Grant, 0 Lord, that we may be helped by the prayers of thy blessed apostle and evangelist, Matthew ; so that what we may not obtain of ourselves may be given to us through his intercession.” It is not possible for us to accomplish those actions which belong to the supernatural order by our natural strength alone. Therefore we always need the grace of God in order to perform meritorious works, worthy of eternal life. This is the true and safe foundation of Christian humility : prac­ tical knowledge of our own incapacity, and recognition of the need for the grace of God. The Lesson describes Ezechiel’s vision of the four symbolical animals, and is the same as on April 25. The animals which the prophet beheld in the heavens were surrounded by fire, lightning, and flames, because the word of God is always full of power, and the holy Gospel which is read and preached by the priests of the Church to-day, still produces in minds which are well disposed the same salutary effects which it produced nineteen centuries ago, when Jesus first preached to the crowds in Palestine. It is of supreme importance that the Gospel should be announced, and announced with faith and authority. The Gradual Bcatus vir is the same as on February 4 for St Andrew Corsini. The alleluiatic verse follows, and is taken from the celebrated hymn of Nicetas of Remesiana, Te Deum : " Alleluia. The glorious choir of the Apostles praise thee, 0 Lord.” In the Gospel, St Matthew himself humbly relates the story of his own conversion. (Matt, ix, 9-13.) Jesus called him” from the receipt of custom, and Matthew, arising im­ mediately, followed him and became an apostle. Here we see the importance of corresponding at once to God’s call and of fulfilling the vocation revealed to us. Jesus may call some souls at the eleventh hour, but, as a rule, he calls the young, as he did in the case of the Apostles, because the evangelical life—especially life in a community, which re- 128 The Sacramentary semblés most nearly that of the Lord and his first disciples— requires the strength and energy of youth. The Antiphon for the Offertory is like that for St Romanus on August 9. Secret : “ May the offerings of thy church be made accept­ able to thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, by the prayers of the blessed Matthew, thine apostle and evangelist, by whose glorious tidings she is enlightened.” The Sacramentaries give the following Preface for to-day : . . . Vere dignum . . . Qui Ecclesiam tuam in tuis fidelibus ubique potentem, Apostolicis facis constare doctrinis ; praesta quaesumus, ut per quos initium divinae cognitionis acccptt, per eos usque in finem saeculi capiat regni caelestis augmentum. Per Christum. The Communion is the same as in the Mass of the vigil. Post-Communion : " We who have received the sacraments beseech thee, 0 Lord, that what we have done to celebrate the glory of blessed Matthew, thine apostle and evangelist, may, through his intercession, avail us also for a healing remedy.” The Sacramentaries also assign the following Oratio super populum as a last benediction : " praesta quaesumus, omni­ potens Deus, ut qui iugiter Apostolica defensione munimur, nec succumbamus vitiis, nec opprimamur adversis. Per Dominum.'' Sequere me. In order that we might be able to follow his call our kind Master set us an example which we all can follow. He abased himself, assuming our human nature, and desired that we should imitate his meekness, humility, and obedience. SEPTEMBER 22 St Basilla, Virgin and Martyr Station " ad coemeterium Basillac ” on the Via Salaria vecchia. The first documentary evidence which we have of this ancient sepulchral station is to be found in the Philocalian Feriale where it is entered thus to-day : X. Kai. octobris. Basillae, Salaria vclerc. Diocletiano IX et Maximiano VII consulibus (a.d. 304). The Cemetery of Basilla, or of Hermes, is well known. That the martyr was the object of widespread devotion can be deduced from the inscriptions in which her help is invoked as well as from the medieval Itineraries. Thus, for instance, a sorrowing mother who lays her little September 22 son Aurelius Gemellus in his grave, concludes his sepulchral inscription with this invocation : COMMANDO · BASILLA · INNOCENTIA · GEMELLI " I commend to thee, O Basilla, the innocent soul of Gemellus.” In another place two parents commend into the hands of the Saint the souls of their three children, Crescentius, Micina, and Crescens. DOMINA · BASILLA · COM MANDAMVS · TIBI · ORES CENTINVS * ET · MICINA FILIA · NOSTRA · CRESCEN QVE · VIXIT · MENS · X · ET · DES It appears as though the date 304 recorded to-day in the Philocalian Calendar must refer to a translation of the body of Basilla in order to save it from profanation during the persecution of Diocletian. Her relics were transferred later to St Praxedes, and are therefore mentioned in the wellknown inscription attributed to Paschal I. U SEPTEMBER 22 St Merita, Martyr Station on the Via Ostiensis in the Cemetery of Commodilla. This is also the natalis of St Merita, whose name, together with that of St Digna, was inserted by Baronius in the Martyrology. Digna, however, never existed, and this name was introduced through a mistake, which must have arisen in the deciphering of some inscription in which a defunct virgin was given the usual title Dignae et Meritae. An example of this is found in an inscription in the Latcran Museum : ADEODATAE · DIGNAE · ET · MERITAE · VIRGINI It is certain that the paintings in the Cemetery of Com­ modilla only represent St Merita, whose relics were transferred in the ninth century to a special oratory of the titulus Marcelli. Λ Pons sanctarum Dignae et Emeritae on the Via Prenestina, ten miles distant from Rome, is mentioned in a Bull of St Gregory VII in favour of his ancient Abbey of St Paul’s. 9 130 The Sacramentary SEPTEMBER 22 SS Maurice and Companions, Martyrs The cultus of the martyrs who formed the Legio felix Agaunensis is both ancient and famous, and the Abbey which King Sigismund caused to be built over their tomb was the goal of devout pilgrims from all parts of Europe. It is not wonderful, then, that an altar should have been raised in the Vatican Basilica dedicated to the valiant leader of the Theban Legion, and that the festival of the martyrs of Agaunum should have been inscribed in the Roman Missal. Indeed the name of St Maurice is to be found even in the coronation rite of an Emperor, for the Ordo Romanus attribu­ ted to Giacomo Gaetani prescribes that when three Collects have been recited over the new sovereign by the Bishops of Albano, Porto, and Ostia, the latter should advance with the Emperor-elect to the altar of St Maurice and anoint him with the oil of catechumens on the right arm and shoulder. The Mass Intret is the same as for January 22, but the Collects are as follows : Collect : “ Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that we may be gladdened by the solemn festival of thy holy martyrs Maurice and his companions ; so that we may glory in the birthday of those on whose prayers we lean.” The death of a martyr fills the whole Church with joy, for as St Paul says : sicut abundant fassiones Christi in nobis, ita el fer Christum abundat consolatio nostra. (2 Cor. i, 5.) The Lesson is taken from the Apocalypse (vii, 13-17). The Apostle St John beholds in heaven a white-robed multitude and asks who these may be and whence they come. The Angel replies : These are martyrs, that is to say, they are those who arrive through sufferings at the gates of eternity. They have come through great tribulations and sorrows. Their tears, labours, and sufferings soon ended, and they now receive their reward and a prize which will endure for ever. Secret : " We beseech thee, O Lord, to look upon the gifts which we bring to thee in memory of thy holy martyrs, Maurice and his companions ; and grant that through the intercession of those for whose sake they are become well - pleasing to thee, they may bring us grace for evermore.” Post-Communion : ” We who are refreshed and gladdened by the heavenly sacraments humbly beseech thee, O Lord, September 22 that wc may be shielded and helped by those in whose triumph we glory.” In honour of the glorious Legion of Agaunum we may quote the following ancient antiphons from their Office: Sancta legio Agaunensium Martyrum, dum resisteret adver­ sariis, sacro duce Mauritio interveniente, immortalitatis com­ pendium acquisierunt. Pretiosa sunt Thcbaeorum Martyrum vulnera, sancti Mauritii cum sociis suis, qui sub Maximiano mortem decreverunt sus­ cipere. Ecce factus est sacer ille Agaunensium locus, per suffragia Sanctorum, salus praesentium, praesidium futurorum. This prayer was fulfilled in history, for in the early Middle Ages the Abbey of Agaunum was famous for the holy lives of its inmates. SEPTEMBER 22 St Thomas of Villanova, Bishop and Confessor* The festival of this famous Bishop of Valencia, who was a great almsgiver and a father of the poor, was placed in the Missal by Alexander VII. His death actually occurred on September 8, 1555, but as that day was consecrated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Office was deferred to September 22. In order to give some idea of the generosity of St Thomas, it is enough to relate that when he died, the very bed on which he lay no longer belonged to him. He had given it a few days before to a poor man, who in his turn allowed him to keep it for the short time that it would still be of use to him. The Mass is that of St Andrew Corsini on February 4. The Secret and the Post-Communion are taken from the Mass of St Leo I on April 11. The Collect is as follows : " O God, who didst endow blessed Thomas thy Bishop in a singular degree with the virtue of compassion for the poor ; we beseech thee that through his intercession thou wouldst pour forth the riches of thy mercy on those who humbly pray to thee.” Almsgiving is a species of sacrament by which we exchange our temporal goods for immortal possessions and bestow them upon him who is the source of all good. This mystical sacra­ ment is of so much value to the Church that the divine Founder ensured its permanence by a foimal promise to his Apostles : Pauperes semper habetis vobiscum. The Church 132 The Sacramentary has always fully understood this word of Christ, and even from the days of the Apostles she has regarded the assistance of the poor and needy as one of the most important of her duties. SEPTEMBER 23 St Thecla, Virgin and Martyr The cultus of this famous disciple of St Paul—who is hon­ oured by the Greek Fathers as Protomartyr and equal to the the Apostles, πρωτο/ιάρτυρος και ισ-αποστόλου—is One of the most ancient and most celebrated. Many legends were connected with this martyr even from the second century. The tomb of St Thecla at Iconium was the goal of constant pilgrimages, and we know from the writings of Basil of Seleucia that numerous miracles were worked there. Great devotion was shown at Rome, too, to St Thecla, and we find signs of this, especially, near the sepulchral basilica of her master St Paul, where, on the side of a hill near the Ager of Lucina, a cemetery was made and a basilica built which were dedicated to some person bearing the name of Thecla. We do not know who this Thecla was, but she may have been a Roman martyr, who was buried on that spot in memory of the relationship between St Paul and St Thecla. The case appears similar to that of the martyred priest Timothy, who was buried on another hill which over­ shadows the tomb of the Apostle, in order that Paulo apostolo, ut quondam, Timotheus adhaereret. An inscription in the neighbouring Cemetery of Commodilla records the natalis of St Thecla. The memory of the great martyr of Iconium occurs too in the very ancient litany of the Ordo commendationis animae, together with that of the most celebrated Patriarchs of the Old Testament, and of the two Princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul : Et sicut beatissimam Theclam virginem et martyrem tuam de tribus atrocissimis tormentis liberasti, sic liberare digneris animam huius servi tui, et tecum facias in bonis congaudere caelestibus. Besides the sanctuary of the Roman Thecla which stands on the hill over the Via Ardeatina, facing the Basilica of St Paul’s—as though to recall how Thecla of Iconium kept her eyes fixed on the Apostle who instructed her—there exists an oratory with a monastery near St Peter’s dedicated to the “ great martyr who was like to the Apostles.” The memory of this sanctuary is preserved by the little chapel of the convent of Santo Spirito in Sassia, September 23 133 The Mass is the same as for St Martina on January 30, except the Collect. Collect : “ Grant, we beseech thee, that we who keep the birthday of blessed Thecla thy virgin and martyr, may both rejoice in her yearly festival, and profit by the example of such great faith.” The example of Christian fortitude which has so often been given by delicate women and young girls, whilst serving to illus­ trate the power of God, who enables the weaker sex to attain the palm of martyrdom, should also act as an incentive to us, for it is not fitting that we should allow ourselves to be out­ done by women and children in our zeal for the Faith. SEPTEMBER 23 St Liberius, Pope The Martyrology of St Jerome records to-day the natalis of Pope Liberius (352-366), Romae, depositio sancti Liberi episcopi. The actual date of the Pope’s death was September 24, of the year 366. Unfortunately legends soon gathered round the name of Liberius, and in these he was depicted almost as a renegade, who had joined the Arian party and had therefore persecuted Felix II. As a consequence of this, the early cultns which arose soon after the injured Pontiff’s death, and which is still universally observed in Eastern Churches, gradually died out at Rome. To this day Liberius, who fell a victim to the perfidy of the Emperor Constantius, is regarded almost as a lapsus. It is impossible to enter here into the much disputed question concerning the reasons which led Constantius to pardon the exiled Pontiff. It will suffice to note the monu­ ments which give proof of the liturgical cultus once universal throughout the Church in honour of Liberius, and especially of the reputation for sanctity which he enjoyed at Rome in the period immediately following his death. Even during the Middle Ages it appears that his feast was celebrated in some Roman Calendars on May 17 and on September 23. The Byzantine Calendar celebrates on August 27 the memory of του ôodov πατρυς ή/χωι* και o/wAoyrprov Αίθριου Πάπα Ί’ώ/t^ç, "Our holy Father, the Confessor of the Faith and Pope of Rome.” The Copts commemorate Liberius on October 9 : ” The repose of St Liberius, Bishop of Rome and defender of the Faith.” His name occurs again on the fourth day of their supplementary month : Commemoration of Liberius, Bishop of Rome. 134 The Sacramentary After Liberius had been driven into exile because of his fidelity to the Nicene Faith, and that Felix II had taken his place at Rome, the inhabitants of the City separated into two parties. Tumults arose, blood was shed, and signs of the attachment of the greater part of the people to the rightful Pontiff may be found in certain inscriptions where the name of Liberius is intentionally included as a protest of devotion to his cause : (de)FVNCTA · EST · EVPLIA · QVAE · VS · MAIAS · QVAE · FVIT · ANNORV QVE · DEPOSITA * EST · IN » PACE · SVB · LIBE(riO epiSCOpo) ♦ ♦ ♦ RA A · CVMPAVIT ONVS · SEBIBO (sedent)E · papa · liberio But the most important record of the veneration paid to Pope Liberius in early times, at the Cemetery of Priscilla, is his sepulchral inscription itself, which was fortunately transcribed by ancient collectors : Quam Domino fuerant devota mente parentes, Qui confessorem talem genuere potentem, Atque sacerdotem sanctum, sine fclle columbam ! Divinae legis sincero corde magistrum, Haec te nascentem suscepit Ecclesia Mater, Uberibus fidei nutriens devota beatum, Qui pro se passurus eras mala cuncta libenter, Parvulus utque loqui cepisti dulcia verba, Mox Scripturarum lector pius indole factus. Ut tua lingua magis legem quam verba sonaret ; Dilecta a Domino tua dicta infantia simplex, Nullis arte dolis sorde fucata malignis, Officio tali iusto puroque legendi, Atque item simplex aduliscens mente fuisti Maturusque animo ferventi aetate modestus Remotus, prudens, mitis, gravis, integer et equus, Haec tibi lectori innocua fuit aurea vita. Diaconus hinc factus iuvenis meritoque fideli Qui sic sincere, caste, integreque pudice Serviveris sine fraude Deo, quanta pectore puro Atque annis aliquot fueris levita severus Ac tali iusta conversatione beata. Dignus qui merito inlibatus iurc perennis Huic tantae Sedi Christi splendore serenae Electus fidei plenus summusque sacerdos. Qui nivea mente immaculatus Papa sederes, Qui bene Apostolicam doctrinam sancte doceres Innocuam plebem caelesti lege magister. Quis, te tractante, sua non peccata reflebat ? September 23 In synodo, cunctis, victor, superatis iniquis Sacrilegis, Nicaena Fides electa triumphat. Contra quamplures certamen sumpseris unus Catholica praecincte Fide possederis omnes Vox tua certantis fuit haec sincera salubris : Atque nec hoc metuo, neque illud committere opto. Haec fuit, hacc semper mentis constantia firma. Discerptus, tractus, profugatusque Sacerdos, Insuper, ut faciem quodam nigrore velaret Nobili falsa manu portantes aemula caeli Ut speciem Domini foedaret luce coruscam En tibi discrimen vehemens, non sufficit annum ; Insuper exilio decedis martyr ad astra, Atque inter Patriarchas praesagosque prophetas Inter Apostolicam turbam Martyrumque potentum Cum hac turba dignus mediusque locutus adoras Mite pium Domini conspectum, iuste Sacerdos. Inde tibi merito tanta est concessa potestas. Ut manum imponas patientibus, incola Christi, Daemonia expellas, purges mundesque repletos. Ac salvos homines reddas animoque vigentes Per Patris ac Filii nomen cui credimus omnes. Cumque tuum obitum praecellens tale vidimus Spem gerimus cuncti proprie nos esse beatos, Qui sumus hocque tuum meritum fidemque secuti. “ How devoted must those parents have been to the service of God, Who gave life to this great Confessor of the Faith ; To so holy a Bishop, λνΐιο was guileless as a dove, A teacher of Divine law, with a single heart. At thy birth this Church received thee in her arms And fed thee, O Blessed One, with the milk of Faith, Who wast destined to suffer willingly for her sake. When, as a young child, thou hadst hardly learnt to speak Thou wert chosen to read the Scriptures because of thy piety, And thy tongue learnt to pronounce tire Law instead of empty words. Thou wert simple and pleasing to God in thy childhood. The sacred Text suffered no insidious alterations When thou didst faithfully and rightly perform thine office. As a young man, too, thou wert innocent, and with years Didst show thyself wise, modest, mild, a lover of solitude, Prudent, serious, single-minded and just. These were the golden years of thy pure life as a lector. Whilst still in thine early youth thou wort named deacon By virtue of thy faith, and didst fulfil that office truly Serving God faithfully, chastely, and with a sinless heart. When some years had passed in this austere service, Thou wert found worthy on account of thy holy life To be called to the See of Christ, high-priest of the Faith, Immaculate Pontiff whose heart was white as snow. Thence to teach worthily the doctrine of the Apostles And to instruct the faithful in the law of God. Who did not bewail his sins, when thou didst upbraid ? Victorious in the synod over sacrilegious heretics Through thee the true Faith of Nicea prevailed. Thou didst enter the battle alone against many. And didst overcome through the force of thy Catholic Faith. This was ever thy loyal battle-cry in the struggle : Άύ 136 The Sacramentary ' I fear no threats and will yield to no persuasions.' Such was throughout the constancy of thy mind. Thou wast torn from thy See, O Pontiff, and led into exile. Then, in order that some stain should disfigure thine image, They craftily present to thee a false confession By which the glory of the Saviour is subtly offended. And for near on two years this struggle endured. At length death came, and thou didst enter heaven a martyr, Because of the exile endured, and art seated amongst the Patriarchs, Amongst the Prophets, the Apostles, and the powerful band of martyrs Thou art held worthy to adore with this great company The merciful presence of God, O holy Pontiff. Thence hast thou fitly received that wondrous power Of healing the sick, of casting forth devils by thy touch, And of restoring health and sanity to all who invoke thee. In the name of the Father and the Son, in whom we all believe, We who were witnesses of thy glorious death expect With confidence to attain also to that blessedness Which thou dost enjoy, as thy followers who share thy Faith.” ♦ * ♦ ♦ ♦ In the inscription on the tomb of Pope Siricius too, that Pontiff is praised because he followed Liberius into exile, at first as a simple lector and afterwards in the office of a deacon : LIBERIVM · LECTOR · MOX · ET · LEVITA · SECVTVS Therefore, although the report of the momentary weakness of the exiled Pope was accepted as a fact even by some of the Fathers of the Church, Insuper, ut faciem quodam nigrore foedaret, Catholic Rome threw the blame implied in this calumny upon those who had persecuted the supporters of the Nicene Faith, and especially the courageous Pontiff. The latter never allowed himself to be taken in by the falsa aemula caeli, but sustained for a long time the discrimen vehemens, and remained constant to the orthodox confession which he had made at Milan, and which had provoked Constantius to pass sentence of exile upon him. After his death Liberius was hailed by the titles of Confessor and Martyr ; his tomb in the Cemetery of Priscilla became famous for the miracles which were worked there ; indeed, amongst the very portraits which exist of the early Popes, there is one dating from the second half of the fourth century, in the Cemetery of Pretextatus, which represents Pope Liberius with the two Princes of the Apostles and with the famous Martyr of the Appian Way, Sixtus II. Indeed, we may truthfully say, that when St Ambrose wrote these words to his sister Marcellina concerning Pope September 23 Liberius : Tempus est, soror sancta, ea quae mecum conferre soles, beatae memoriae Liberii praecepta revolvere, ut quo vir sanctior, eo sermo accedat gratior,1 he was following the early tradition of the Roman Church, a tradition which, although it subsequently disappeared in the Eternal City, was pre­ served and handed down to us unaltered, by the most ancient Churches of the East. In praise of Liberius, whose pontificate is commemorated at Rome by the classic monument of the Liberian Basilica on the Esquiline, we may quote the following lines which adorn the Grecian mosaics in honour of the great champion of the Nicene Creed : Τον ΐτλοΰτον άντλίιν Λιβερίος νυν ΐχ(ΐ “Ον όυρανοίς εύφρώνω? θησαυρίσας " Liberius, who when he departed into exile at Berea sent back to the Emperor the fifty solidi, which the latter had offered him for the journey, can now dispose of the heavenly treasures.” SEPTEMBER 23 St Linus, Pope The succession of the Popes of Rome from the apostle St Peter has been represented since very early times by the person of St Linus. His name occurs, therefore, not only in the most ancient Roman Calendars, but it follows those of the Apostles in the Canon of the Mass. During the reign of Urban VIII the foundations designed to support the baldacchino of the altar of St Peter at the Vatican were excavated, and it was believed that the tomb of Linus had been found. Upon one of the sarcophagi which were then unearthed, the name linvs, an uncommon one in classical nomenclature, was carved. The identification of the relics with those of the successor of St Peter rests, however, upon the fact, impossible now to establish, whether the inscription was correctly read at the time or whether it may not have been the last syllables of some other name, such as Tranquillinus or Marccllinus. Whatever may be the truth concerning the tomb discovered in the Vatican Basilica, it is certain that Linus was the im­ mediate successor of St Peter in the Papal See, and that his name was included in the Canon of the Mass, nor is there any reason to reject the testimony of the Liber Pontificalis which 1 De virgin, c. iv. 138 The Sacramentary asserts that Pope Linus was buried near the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. In the absence of any particulars concerning the life of St Linus, the fact of his having been chosen to succeed St Peter during the great Neronian per­ secution, is in itself a proof of his eminent sanctity, and is in keeping with the title of martyr under which he is honoured. The Mass is the same as on December 10, for St Melchiades. The three Collects, however, are those of July 13, for the feast of St Anacletus. We may well meditate upon a sentence which we read to-day in the Epistle of St James. Temptations and trials are regarded by us as misfortunes, and our human nature shrinks from them and prays for relief. The Holy Spirit, on the con­ trary, proclaims that the man is blessed who endures tempta­ tion, for as gold is tried by fire, and friendship is tried by adversity, so virtue is tried and purified by temptation. God is never so near to us as he is in the hour of trial, and that is why temptations increase and become fiercer as the soul advances in merit and sanctity in the sight of God. SEPTEMBER 24 Our Lady of Ransom This festival commemorates the favours granted by the Blessed Virgin Mary to St Peter Nolasco and to St Raymund of Pennafort when they founded the Order of Our Lady of Mercy. The feast was instituted by Pope Innocent XII. Under the patronage of the Mother of Mercy the religious of this Order distinguished themselves by a devotion which the Christian religion alone can inspire, and even carried it so far as to give themselves up as hostages in order to deliver unhappy Christian prisoners from the hands of the Turks. The power of the Crescent no longer threatens us, but we should ask Mary to help us to deliver many souls from the chains of sin. The Mass is the same as on August 5, but the Collect is as follows : " O God, who by means of the most glorious Mother of thy Son wast pleased to give new children to thy church for the deliverance of Christ’s faithful from the power of the heathen ; grant, we beseech thee, that we who love and honour her as the foundress of so great a work may, by her merits and intercession, be ourselves delivered from all sin and from the bondage of hell.” 139 September 26 SEPTEMBER 26 St Eusebius, Pope and Martyr Station at the Cemetery of Callixlus. The Martyrology of St Jerome contains to-day this notice : Romae, via Appia in Coemeterio Callisti, depositio sancti Eusebi Episcopi. Damasus placed the following inscription on the tomb of this greatly tried Pontiff (310-311) : DAMASVS · EPISCOPVS · FECIT n F A M V R A IIERACLIVS ·VETVIT ·LAPSOS · PECCATA· DOLERE I s I P A V s EVSEBIVS ·MISEROS ·DOCVIT · SVA ·CRIMINA ·FLERE D I P A o N E SCINDITVR · IN· PARTE ·POPVLVS · GLISCENTE ·FVRORE Y S c I V L V S SEDITIO· CAEDES ·BELLVM · DISCORDIA · LITES T O R F I EXTEMPLO ·PARITER · PVLSI · FERITATE ·TYRAMNI A L O T Q C A vINTEGRA · CVM · RECTOR · SERVARBT · FOEDERA · PACIS E L V S A M PERTVLIT · EXILIVM · DOMINO · SVB · IVDICE · LAETVS S A T C R 0 R I B S LITORE · TRINACRIO · MVNDVM · VITAMQVE · RELIQVIT I T EVSEBIO · EPISCOPO * ET · MARTYRI 140 The Sacramentary " Heraclius forbade those who had lapsed to do penance for their sins ; Eusebius taught the unhappy ones to weep over their crime. The populace is divided into two parties by the increasing discord. Seditions follow, disputes, tumults, and loss of life. Both leaders were condemned by the severity of the tyrant, and were alike exiled from Rome, whereas the Pontiff had sought to keep the laws of peace. He endured exile serenely, trusting to the judgement of God, and passed from this life and this world on the shores of Sicily. Damasus Bishop to Eusebius Bishop and Martyr. Furius Dionysius Philocalus, full of reverence and affection for Pope Damasus, wrote this." This inscription, which was damaged in the Gothic invasion and afterwards replaced on the tomb by Pope Vigilius, alludes to one of the saddest chapters of the history of the Church in the fourth century, when immediately after the persecution of Diocletian the rigorist party, known later in Africa as the Donatists, which already had many followers in Rome, wished to close the road of repentance to those who had denied their Faith through fear or under torment. The epitaph of Pope Eusebius follows that which Damasus composed for Pope Marcellus, who under precisely the same circumstances had been held responsible by Maxentius for the tumults caused by the rigorist party in the city, and had suffered exile unjustly on this account. We know from the inscription of Marcellus that Heraclius was himself a lapsed Christian : CRIMEN · OB · ALTERIVS · CHRISTVM · QVI · IN · PACE · NEGAVIT Some writers assert that the body of St Eusebius is still preserved in the Basilica ad Catacumbas. SEPTEMBER 26 SS Cyprian and Justin a, Martyrs From very early times legendary stories gathered round the names of these two saints, on which account it is impossible to be certain of any of the facts described in their Passio. The legend of Cyprian and Justina was very popular in the fourth century ; indeed both St Gregory Nazianzen and Prudentius ended by identifying the Magician of Antioch, who was converted by the virgin Justina, with the celebrated Thascius Cyprianus of Carthage, who was converted by the priest Cecilius. Antoninus of Piacenza in the sixth century mentions the tomb of St Justina at Antioch, but the question Pi -·* *** September 26 141 still remains undecided whether the St Cyprian of this legend was, or was not, one and the same person as the Bishop of Carthage. The Empress Eudoxia, the wife of Theodosius II, wrote an epic poem in three books on the martyrdom of St Cyprian. Devotion to SS Cyprian and Justina was introduced into Rome during the Middle Ages, when tradition asserted that their relics were preserved near the Lateran Basilica. The Mass Salus autem is the same as for the martyrs Faustinus and Jovita on February 15. The Collect is as follows : “ Lord, let thy blessed martyrs Cyprian and Justina ever lend us strength and protection, for thou never ceasest to look with mercy upon those to whom thou givest the help of thy saints.” The Secret and the Post-Communion are taken from the Mass of St Symphorosa on July 18. How supremely important is the salvation of souls ! Not content with having given his only Son to save us, and with having instituted the Church and the Sacraments, God has also disposed that Heaven should co-operate with him in this most noble work of saving souls. Therefore he has given the angels and saints the duty of watching over us and praying for us, that they may be our advocates in the Court of Heaven. SEPTEMBER 27 SS Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs Station at their Basilica on the Via Sacra. These celebrated martyrs gave their lives for the Faith at Cyrus in Syria where they were buried, according to the explicit testimony of Theodosius. The fame of their sanctuary appealed to the generosity of Justinian, who built over it a great basilica, but the cultus of the Anargyri spread beyond the episcopal city of Theodoretus and reached Constantinople in the first half of the fourth century. In later days there were four basilicas in the Imperial City dedicated to the two brothers. At Rome Pope Symmachus (498-514) built an oratory on the Esquiline, in honour of SS Cosmas and Damian, to which afterwards an abbey was added. Later, Felix IV (526-530) dedicated to them the Basilica of Romulus Augustulus and the templum sacrae Urbis on the Via Sacra, and in time this church became the most celebrated of the Roman sanctuaries consecrated to the wonder-working doctors. 142 The Sacramentary We must, however, mention a few of the other churches built in honour of the Anargyri which prove the popularity of their cultus in ancient Roman Liturgy. There was, for instance, a chapel in honour of SS Cosmas and Damian near the titulus Marcelli ; another stood near Sta Lucia de captu scccutae, and a third, too, existed in the neighbourhood of St Apollinaris. In the ” rione ” de pinea there was a parish church in honour of the two saints, and lastly, about 935, the famous monastery of SS Cosmas and Damian in Mica Aurea was founded, which afterwards became one of the twenty-four privileged basilicas of the city. The cultus of the two Eastern martyrs was so famous at Rome, that besides the two stational Synaxes on the Via Sacra which were held at Mid-Lent and on the night of the Octave of Easter, there were celebrated in the seventh century a third and a fourth station, not only on September 27, but on the preceding Sunday—die domenico, ad sanctos Cosniae et Damiano ante natale eorum. This was a kind of supple­ mentary feast for the benefit of the working classes who were not able to attend the natalis of the two Saints during the week. The Introit Sapientiam was composed, in early times, in honour of the two learned Anargyri, that is to say when Felix IV consecrated their Sanctuary near the Roman Forum. The Collect is as follows : " Grant, we beseech thee, al­ mighty God, that we who keep the birthday of thy blessed martyrs Cosmas and Damian, may, through their intercession, be delivered from all the dangers that threaten us.” The Lesson and the alleluiatic verse are the same as on the feast of the martyrs Primus and Felician on June 9. The Gradual Clamaverunt is that of the Mass of SS Faustinas and Jovita. According to the Würzburg List, the Gospel to-day should be taken from St John xv, 17-25. But in the Missal we find that of St Luke vi, 17-23, which is also read on the feast of the martyrs Gervase and Protase, June 19. It harmonises with the title of wonder-working doctors and Anargyri, by which the Saints of to-day are known, and in honour of whom the following verse of Scripture is repeated : Omnis turba quaerebat eum tangere, quia virtus de illo exibat et sanabat omnes. The Antiphon for the Offertory is the same as on June 17 for SS John and Paul, martyrs : " All they that love thy name shall glory in thee ; for thou, O Lord, wilt bless the just : O Lord, thou hast crowned us with the shield of thy goodwill.” September 27 143 Secret : “ May the loving prayers of thy saints never fail us, O Lord ; may they make our gifts well-pleasing to thee, and ever win for us thy forgiveness." The Antiphon for the Communion of the people is taken from the Mass of June 12, for the natalis of the martyrs Basilides, Cyrinus, etc. Post-Communion : “ May thy people, 0 Lord, we beseech thee, be shielded by the heavenly banquet of which thou sufferest them to partake, and also by the united prayers of thy saints." The intention of Pope Felix IV, when he built the new basilica, near the Forum, in honour of SS Cosmas and Damian, is clearly seen in the dedicatory inscription to which we have already alluded. In those lines the holy Doctors’ praise is thus expressed : MARTYRIBVS · MEDICIS · POPVLO · SPES · CERTA · SALVTIS FECIT · ET · EX · SACRO · CREVIT · HONORE · LOCVS With what generosity does the Lord reward those who, possessing little, yet give all they have, even their lives, for the love of him I SEPTEMBER 28 St Stacteus, Martyr At the, Cemetery “ ad guttas ” Ad aquas Salvias on the Via Laurentina. To-day the Martyrology of St Jerome directs us to the Via Laurentina near the Aquas Salvias in the cemetery ad guttam iugiter manantem, where the martyr St Zeno, who is commemorated on July 9, also received burial. The notice for to-day in the Martyrology is expressed thus : Romac, ad guttas, Sancti Stactei. This cemetery is unknown to us, and so, too, is the history of the martyrs who were interred there. An extremely ancient abbey, however, stands upon that spot, and the devout psalmody of the monks rises day and night in union with the prayers of the Saints whose relics rest beside it. SEPTEMBER 28 St Wenceslas, Duke and Martyr Pope Clement X first introduced into the Missal the feast of this holy Duke of Bohemia. The devotion of Wenceslas to our Lord in the Holy Eucharist is well known, and has been 144 The Sacramentary made familiar to all by the book of visits to the Blessed Sacrament composed by St Alphonsus de* Liguori. Wenceslas was in the habit of sowing and reaping with his own hands the wheat from which the hosts were to be made, and he used to rise in the night even during the coldest seasons to visit the Blessed Sacrament. His virtue was the cause of his death, for it aroused the antagonism of his evilminded mother and brother, who caused him to be assassinated. The Mass In virtute is like that of St Canute on January 19. The Collect is as follows : “ O God, who by the palm of martyrdom didst remove blessed Wenceslas from an earthly princedom to the glory of heaven ; keep us through his prayers from all harm, and grant that we may enjoy fellow­ ship with him.” The Secret and Post-Communion are the same as on April 13 for St Hermencgild, King and Martyr. If we study the Calendar of the Church we find there not a few names of kings who have entered heaven with their robes dyed in the blood of martyrdom. Indeed, their office itself often presents the occasion of winning the martyr’s crown morally, if not actually, for the man who sets out to curb evil and to promote virtue must expect to face opposition and danger. It may have been on this account that in the Middle Ages the diadem worn by Christian sovereigns was always surmounted by a cross. SEPTEMBER 29 The Dedication of the Basilica of St Michael Archangel on the Via Salaria the The festival of to-day—Natale basilicae Angeli in Salaria­ is mentioned in the Leonine Sacramentary as well as in the Martyrology of St Jerome. This is the original Roman feast in honour of the leader of the heavenly armies, in con­ tradistinction to that of May 8, which only relates to the sanctuary of Monte Gargano in Apulia. The site of St Michael’s Basilica is noted with great precision as being the seventh milestone on the Via Salaria ; and in the biography of Leo III it is therefore merely called : Archangeli basilica in septimo. It is also mentioned in the Itinerary of Salzburg : Per eadem quoque viam venitur ad ecclesiam sancti Michaelis, septimo milliar io ab Urbe, and may thus be regarded as the earliest and most important Roman sanctuary built in honour of the great Archangel. In the Leonine Sacra- 145 September 29 mentary no less than five Masses are assigned to the feast of St Michael on this day. The Captain of the heavenly armies, the Angel named in the Canon of the Mass, held from early times the first place in the Liturgy among the other angels ; wherefore many churches dedicated to St Michael in the Middle Ages were simply known as churches “ of the holy angel.” Within the Eternal City man}' sanctuaries rose in honour of the great defender of the Church of God against the assaults of the legions of Satan. Near the “ rotonda ” of St Petronilla in the Vatican there was an oratory dedicated to St Michael ; another, sanctae Mariae in monasterio Michaelis, is mentioned in the biography of Leo III, and can easily be identified with the Church of St Michael in palatiolo or in schola Frisonwn, on the further slope of the Janiculum facing the right wing of the great colonnade of Bernini in front of the Vatican Basilica. An Oratory of St Michael existed too, in the Lateran, and was, indeed, the origin of the great Hospital of St John founded by Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, about the year 1216. Near Monte Giordano we also find the little Church of Sant’ Angelo de Renizo, better known now by the name of San Giuliano. There were besides these, Sant’ Angelo in -piscina, Sant’ Angelo de augusta, Sant’ Angelo in nubibus in the Mauso­ leum of Hadrian, Sant’ Arcangelo, near Sta Pudenziana, etc. The Benedictine monks especially contributed to the diffusion of the cultus of the holy Angels, as befits those who in their magnificent liturgical psalmody imitate on earth that which the Angels do in heaven ; wherefore in the East, the monastic life and the monastic habit are commonly described by the title ” angelic,” which is applied to them. It will be easy to understand the important place which St Michael fills in the Liturgy if we consider the office which the Archangel holds and the prominent part which he plays in the combat with Satan. The battle waged in heaven im­ mediately after Lucifer’s first rebellion is but a single episode in a long and bitter struggle which has endured through the ages, and on which the history of creation is founded. The Word of God descended from heaven as a strong man to avenge his Father's honour and to place his enemies as a footstool at his feet. In this combat between good and evil, before which no creature can remain neutral, he has as his allies Michael and his angels, the Church and the Saints, who fight under his standard uttering the war-cry : Quis ut Deus? On the opposing side are Lucifer and his fallen Angels, with all their supporters, foremost among whom are the modem secret societies which endeavour to bring v 10 146 The Sacramentary about on earth that which the Apostle calls “ the mystery of iniquity that already worketh,” and which will attain its full development shortly before the end of the world, and the final parousia of Christ. The accomplishment of this infernal design is, however, retarded, says St Paul, in order that God may carry out his merciful plan of salvation. According to the Apostle, it is a personal influence which frustrates the efforts of Satan, and Catholic theologians identify this influence with that of St Michael or of the Catholic Church. The devil who is preparing for the final battle which he will wage against Christ at the end of the world, cannot at present do all that he wishes, for the Church is protected by the invisible patronage of Michael and his Angels. The Mass is the same as on May S. The Gradual, however, is taken from Psalm cii : “ Bless the Lord all ye his angels : you that are mighty in strength, that do his will.” The alleluiatic verse : “ Holy Archangel Michael, defend us in battle, that we may not perish in the tremendous judge­ ment. Alleluia." We copy from the Leonine Sacramentary one of the splendid Prefaces assigned to the feast of to-day : Vere dignum . . . Teqxie in omni factura tua laudare mirabilem ; in quo princi­ paliter angelica natura praecellit, quae etsi humano generi con­ spectu subtrahitur, negatur adspecta, fidei tamen videtur intuitu. Dignumque est per honorificentiam nos eorum tuam suspicere maiestatem ; per quos multa praesidia nostrae salutis operaris ; tuamque magnificentiam hoc potius predicarc, quod praeexcelsarum atque caelestium potestatum te Dominum confitentur. Per . . . It may be asked why, in this combat with the devil, God has entrusted our defence to the Angels. The reason of this is easily understood. The devil is a spirit who has lost none of the powers inherent to his nature. In order, therefore, that the struggle should not be unequal, God has placed at our side defenders of the same nature as Lucifer, that is to say pure spirits, who are, however, greater and more powerful than he is. SEPTEMBER 30 St Jerome, Confessor and Doctor of the Church The Martyrology of St Jerome notes to-day in the Pro­ vince of Jerusalem : castello B etlehem, depositio Icronymi presbyteri. Sophronius Aurelius leronymus was born at Stridonium, and was universally renowned, even during his life, as a doctor September 30 147 and interpreter of Holy Scripture. The greatest Doctors of the Church, including St Augustine and St Gregory, give special praise to his wisdom and virtue. Although St Augustine may surpass him in doctrinal knowledge, St Jerome was certainly the most learned among the early Fathers of the Church. But he is best known by the powerful polemical writings in which he defended Catholic teaching against the crop of heresies which had arisen in the fourth century throughout the greater part of the Roman Empire. As the figure of St Augustine of Hippo appears to us to be almost inseparable from the episcopal dignity which surrounds it, so in the case of St Jerome, the monastic life is the background against which his virile virtues stand forth. His chief aim was to be a perfect monk, and before he would consent to be raised to the priesthood, he exacted a promise from Paulinus, Bishop of Antioch, that this new dignity should in no wise interfere with his monastic vocation. Jerome, clad in a hair-shirt and emaciated by fasting like a second Baptist, calls up the image of a tall palm tree standing alone in the midst of the desert. But his words were carried to the ends of the earth, for whilst bands of the faithful led by their bishops arrived daily at Bethlehem to see Jerome and to take counsel with him, his writings reached those who could not come to him, and spread abroad his interpretation of the Scriptures and his polemics against heretics. An eye­ witness, Sulpicius Severus, writes about him as follows : *' He is continually absorbed in his books and studies ; he allows himself no rest either by night or by day ; he is incessantly occupied with reading or writing.”1 St Jerome died at an advanced age, probably about ninety years old, on September 30, 420, and was buried at Bethlehem, near the stable where our Lord was born. Rome owes many things to St Jerome, who first entered her gates as a young student, and was afterwards the co­ adjutor of Pope Damasus in dealing with the ecclesiastical matters of the whole world, and at one time actually a candi­ date for the See of Peter. Among these benefits are his translation of the Holy Scriptures, the introduction of the alleluiatic chant into the Sunday Mass, the spread of monastic life among the aristocracy, and lastly the daily recital of the Divine Office. Several churches in the Holy City perpetuate the memory of the great Teacher of the Scriptures. Besides the altar dedicated to him in the Liberian Basilica near the Saviour's Crib, there was an Oratory of St Jerome on the Quirinal ; another still exists in the neighbourhood of St Lawrence in 1 Dialogues I, 9> 5· 148 The Sacramentary Datnaso, where St Philip Neri founded his Congregation of the Oratory, and lastly, in the fifteenth century, a famous church was built in the “ rione ” of the Campus Martius by some natives of Dalmatia in honour of the holy Doctor who was their compatriot. The Mass is the same as on January 29, with proper Collects. Collect : “ O God, who in blessed Jerome, thy confessor, didst vouchsafe to provide for thy church a great teacher in expounding holy scripture : grant, wc beseech thee, that, by his merits which plead for us, we may be able with the help of thy grace to practise what he taught both by word and by example.” With the exception of the holy Sacraments there is nothing for which we should have greater veneration than the Scrip­ tures, which contain the message of God to his people. Out of reverence for their contents the Scriptures were transcribed in letters of gold on painted parchment and encased in tablets of ebony or silver, studded with pearls and other precious stones. To this day in the Byzantine Churches the Codex of the Gospels is always kept upon the altar in the same manner as the Blessed Sacrament. Secret : ” Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we may freely serve thee by thy heavenly grace ; let the offerings which we bring, through the intercession of blessed Jerome thy confessor, work in us both healing and glory.” Liberty of spirit consists in freeing ourselves from the tyranny of sin and of our passions. In order to obtain it, therefore, it is necessary to be watchful and to practise morti­ fication. Post-Communion : " Wc who are filled with thy heavenly food, beseech thee, O Lord, that, by the intercession of blessed Jerome thy confessor, we may be found worthy to win the grace of thy mercy.” Thus we, who because of the luxurious habits of modem life are unable to deny ourselves anything, must now have recourse to this holy monk, worn with fasting and tormented by cold during his lifetime, in order that he may cover our spiritual nakedness with the mantle of his immense merits. The following words in which St Jerome expressed his devotion to the Faith of the Apostles and the Holy See in a letter to Damasus, arc characteristic of the Saint : " I am joined in Communion with your holiness, that is with the chair of Peter ; upon that rock I know the Church is built. Whoever cats the lamb out of that house is a profane person. Whoever is not in the Ark shall perish in the flood.”1 1 Ep. XIV alias LVII ad Damas. PART IX THE SAINTS IN THE MYSTERY OF THE REDEMPTION (THE FEASTS OF THE SAINTS FROM THE DEDICATION OF ST MICHAEL UNTIL ADVENT) Ο · FORTVNATVM ♦ NOSSET · SVA · SI · BONA · REGNVM CVIVS · ROMA · ARX · EST · ET · CAELI · CLAVIGER · AVCTOR QVI · TERRESTRE · VALET · IN · CAELVM · TOLLERE · REGNVM Florus Lugdun. FEASTS IN OCTOBER OCTOBER i The Translation of St Remigius, Bishop* The precise date of the death of this great Apostle of the Franks, who administered Baptism to King Clovis and who occupied the See of Rheims for more than seventy years (459-533), was January 13. But from the time of St Gregory of Tours his feast was kept on this day, which is the date of the first translation of his relics. Later, under St Leo IX, the same day was chosen for a second translation of the body of the saint. The words which Remigius is said to have addressed to Clovis when he was about to baptise him, are well known : “ Bow down your neck with meekness, O Sicambrian prince : adore what you have hitherto burnt, and bum what you have hitherto adored.” The long line of the Most Christian Kings began that day, and the Eldest Daughter of the Roman Church received the waters of baptism as they fell upon the fleur-de-lis of her royal crown. St Remigius was celebrated for his doctrine and for his miraculous powers, as well as for his holiness. His homilies have been lost, but four of his letters are extant, as well as some verses written by him and intended to be engraved on a chalice, and also his last testament. The Mass is the same as on February 4, but the Collect is like that for St Liborius on July 23. OCTOBER 2 Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels* The Roman feast of September 29 included, indeed, together with St Michael, the whole of the heavenly armies, and the Collect of that Mass declares that the special Office entrusted by God to the Angels is that of watching faithfully over us. This profound teaching of the Doctors of the Church I 152 The Sacramentary establishes a wonderful unity between the visible and the invisible world, and between mortal and angelic beings. The higher orders of creatures arc in close communion with the lower orders, whom they enlighten and protect. A second feast of the Guardian Angels distinct from the primitive one of September 29 could only have originated at a far later date when the spirit of the Liturgy was no longer fully comprehended. As St Michael had his own festival, so, it was thought, the Guardian Angels must have theirs. It was with this idea that Paul V in a decree of September 27, 1608, declared the feast of the Guardian Angels duplex ad libitum, and ordered that it should be kept on the first vacant date after the feast of St Michael. Clement X assigned it, later, to October 2. The Mass is largely taken from earlier Masses in honour of the Archangel St Michael. The Introit is that of September 29. Collect : " O God, who in thine unspeakable providence dost vouchsafe to send thy holy angels to keep watch over us ; grant, wc humbly pray, that wc may always be defended and shielded by them, and may rejoice in their fellowship for evermore.” The guardianship of the faithful is given by God into the hands of the angels, not only for the sake of the unity and harmony which bind together the orders of creation, but also on account of the duty owed by the angels to Christ. It is from Christ that they receive their glory, therefore out of gratitude to him who is caput hominum et angelorum these blessed spirits watch over the Church, the chosen Bride of the Saviour, and over the faithful who are the members of his mystical body. The Epistle is taken from Exodus xxiii, 20-23, in which the Lord promises to the people of Israel journeying towards Palestine the guidance and help of his angel. The angel represents God himself ; he is overshadowed by his ineffable name, wherefore the children of Israel cannot offend him with impunity. He is also the avenger of the outraged sanctity of God, and has power to punish that carnal people and bring them to obedience and fear of him. In many stories of the saints wc notice the same severity shown towards them by their guardian angels, who punished the slightest imperfection of which those chosen souls were guilty. The motive of this loving discipline may be sought, perhaps, not only in the wise counsels of Providence aiming at the purification of certain predestined souls who were inspired to attain extraordinary sanctity through the ministry of the October 2 153 angels, but also in the exquisite perfection of the angelic nature itself, which is less able to understand human nature than arc Jesus Christ and his Blessed Mother, having no personal experience of human weakness. " Non habemus Pontificem qui non possit compati infirmitatibus nostris, probatus per omnia, absque peccato.” The Gradual is taken from Psalm xc, and tells of the command given by God to his angels to watch over us in all our ways. It is the same as on the First Sunday in Lent. The allcluiatic verse is from Psalm cii : " Bless the Lord all ye his hosts : you ministers of his who do his will. Alleluia.” The angels, then, are the ministers of divine Providence, which in order to lead us to our predestined end makes use of rewards and punishments. These blessed spirits ascend into heaven and present to God the incense of our prayers, descending again with the precious balsam of the divine graces. At other times they accuse us of ingratitude and infidelity, and God places in their hands the scourges destined to recall his earthly children to the observance of his laws. The Gospel is that of May 8. The Saviour’s words clearly reveal the wonderful mystery of his mercy, which forms the object of to-day’s festival. Every Christian, no matter how small or humble he may be, has an Angel to guard and watch over him. This great truth should fill us with love and respect for our neighbours, and more especially for the weak and for the little ones, who cannot rely upon their own powers and influence. Let us be careful not to grieve our neighbour, lest the anger of his angel be aroused against us. The Antiphon for the Offertory is taken from Psalm cii : " Bless the Lord, all ye his angels : you ministers of his who execute his word, hearkening to the voice of his orders.” If the entire glory of these blessed spirits consists in the exact performance of the Divine Will, should we not, too, consider that obedience to the commands of God confers upon us a great honour ? Secret : “ Receive, O Lord, the offerings which we bring in honour of thy holy angels ; and grant in thy mercy that by their unceasing watchfulness wc may both be freed from present dangers and may win everlasting life.” The following is the Antiphon for the Communion (Dan. iii, 58) from the canticle formerly known as the canticle of benediction : " All ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord : sing a hymn, and exalt him above all for ever.” > The Fathers of the Church remind us that the word " angel ” refers to a certain office. The angels arc of their 154 The Sacramentary nature pure spirits, they become angels or messengers when they are sent to us, or when they communicate to us a message from God. Post-Communion : “ We have received thy divine mysteries, 0 Lord, in joyful celebration of the feast of thy holy angels ; let them so watch over us, we beseech thee, that we may always be kept safe from the wiles of our foes and guarded from all harm.” We should have a great veneration for the holy angels, to whom God has assigned the care and government of creation. St Paul had so great a feeling of reverence for the angels, that when he directed that Christian women should cover their heads in church, as a sign of modesty, he desired that this should be done propter angelos, that is to say out of respect for the blessed spirits. St John, too, in the Apocalypse, addresses the seven letters for the Bishops of Asia to the angels of those churches, that is, to the angelic spirits who had been appointed by God to watch over those new centres of Christianity. The ancient Liturgies often make mention of the Angel of Sacrifice, by whom our mystical gifts are carried from the altar on earth to that in heaven ; this is the Angel who, whilst Tobias was employed on his labours of charity and mercy, obtulit orationem Domino. St Benedict, following the tradition of the Fathers, whilst he speaks of the angels nobis deputati, who announce die noctuque Domino factorum nostrorum opera, desires that Iris monks shall have the greatest respect for the Divine Office, on account of the presence Divinitatis et Angelorum eius in the sanctuary. OCTOBER 3 St Candida, Martyr Station on the Via Portuensis, at the Cemetery of Pontianus. To-day the Martyrology of St Jerome directs us to the road to Porto : Romae, ad Ursum Pileatum, Candidae. The notice is not absolutely correct, for the martyr who is one of the group formed by the saints Pollio, Candida, and Pygmenius mentioned in the Passion of SS Peter and Marcellinus, reposed in a small basilica dedicated to her at the cemetery of Pontianus. Adrian I restored this sanctuary, but soon after, owing to the dreary solitude to which the cemeteries outside the walls were abandoned at that time, he was obliged, against his will, to remove the relics of St Candida and placed them in the titulus of St Praxedes. October 4 OCTOBER 4 St Balbina, Martyr Station at the Title of Balbina'. The Martyrology of St Jerome invites us to seek the Via Appia to-day, where, in the Cemetery of Pretextatus, beside the martyr St Cyrinus, rested Balbina, whom the Acts declare to have been his daughter : Romae, Via Appia, Balbinae. It is impossible to determine whether there is any con­ nection between this Balbina and the second Balbina who gave her name to a part of the cemetery of Callixtus, and lastly the third St Balbina after whom a titulus on the Aventine was called. The difficulty which historians have been unable to solve, has been disposed of by legends which assert that the body of the martyr was transferred from the cemetery of Pretextatus to the titulus Balbinae, changing its name to titulus Sanctae Balbinae. We may conclude that the saint whose ancient liturgical cultus is celebrated to-day, is the Balbina who was originally buried beside the martyr Cyrinus. All other identifications, though possible, are only conjectural. OCTOBER 4 Pope Innocent III is said to have beheld in a dream a poor man, bare-footed and girded with a cord, who upheld the falling Basilica of the Lateran. That dream was at once a prophecy and a symbol. In an age of factions and misrule, when Christian society had almost forgotten the Sermon on the Mount, and when even the Church and the Cloister had become tainted with the evils of feudalism, Francis, the poor man of Assisi, the bearer of the stigmata, appeared in the streets and market-places announcing the Gospel of the Kingdom and preaching Christ crucified to the people. The magnitude and the Catholicity of the work achieved by the son of Pietro Bernardone, and the supernatural character of his mission all rest upon one circumstance. Before him numerous heretical sects had arisen, especially in France, to reproach the Church for her secular pomp and increasing riches. They wished to bring about a violent revolution in order to reform the clergy and to compel them by force to return to the state of evangelical poverty, in which SS Peter and Paul found themselves in the prisons of Nero J ····» St Francis of Assisi, Confessor* 156 The Sacratneiitary The mission of these sects was not inspired by God and therefore did not succeed. That of St Francis was successful because instead of preaching revolt against his Mother the Church, he began by setting the example of detachment from worldly honours and conversion which was longed for, not by heretics only, but also by the faithful. The Church has no need to look beyond her own fold in order to reform herself, for she possesses all the principles and the energy required to maintain a powerful supernatural life which defies the ages. Thus in the thirteenth century through the simple example and plain evangelical preaching of Francis, the Christian world was reformed, and a current of mystical spirituality moved with extraordinary force through the Church. Different ages have different needs and require different remedies. In the preceding centuries of the early Middle Ages a great part was played by the higher clergy, the power­ ful Benedictine abbeys, the feudal system ; but the people, weighed down by an endless list of duties with no corre­ sponding rights, seemed hardly to exist. The society of that age, consisting of an ecclesiastical and secular aristocracy who still wrote and spoke the language of Virgil and Leo the Great, and was learned in Greek philosophy and Patristic theology, readily understood the symbols of God’s essence, of his Unity and Trinity, which were painted on the walls of the basilicas. But those times had passed away. At the end of the eleventh century, in the chronicles and day-books, we see the awakening of a new life throughout the country. The working classes, the minores, of the municipalities, emancipating themselves from the maiores, affirm their rights, and realize that with the passing away of the feudal system the future of Christian democracy has already dawned. It was necessary to use a new spiritual language suited to its intelligence when speaking to this new generation, still in its childhood, which had the simplicity and the imaginative powers of a child. Before it could rise to Johannine con­ templation of the Divinity it must rest upon the sacred humanity. Therefore we see St Francis at San Damiano, at Greccio, and at La Verna, leading the people to a more fervent devotion towards the person of the Redeemer, a devotion which from now onwards will continue to increase in the Catholic Church until it reaches its culminating point in the great revelations of Paray-le-Monial. This is the special mark which gives a new character to the early Franciscan movement as we see it reflected in literature, in art, in the universities, and in municipal life, October 4 157 in such a manner that St Francis may be regarded as the divinely appointed leader of the ecclesiastical reform in the thirteenth century, when a new epoch opened in the history of the Church. Here, again, we find another characteristic mark of the mission of St Francis. His reform was carried out not by exterior agencies, as the heretics desired, but in the very bosom of the Catholic Church, by one who represented in his own person the head and the heart of the household of Christ. Cardinal Ugolino, afterwards Gregory IX, the friend, the confidant of the Poverello, who was later to raise him to the altars, was placed at his side by Divine Providence, as we must believe, in order to protect the simplicity of St Francis. And thus it was the papal authority and no other which directed from the first that overwhelming current of new life and evangelical mysticism loosed by the saint, and incor­ porated it in the service of the Church. Francis died at sunset on Saturday, October 3, 1226, and was canonized three years later by Gregory IX, who caused the marvellous church to be built over his tomb, which is a noble monument of religious art, and which bears witness to the sublime greatness of his friend. The Mass is almost the same as that for the feast of the Stigmata of St Francis. The following prayers are proper to this festival. Collect : " O God, who through the merits of blessed Francis gavest increase to thy church by enriching her with new children ; may we so follow his example as to despise the things of this world and always to rejoice in partaking of thy heavenly gifts.” We pray here for two things : the heavenly gifts of God’s grace, and the joy which will be complete in the next world. These can only be ours on one condition. If our hands are full we can grasp nothing more, and if we carry a heavy burden we cannot run in the race. In order to reach heaven laden with graces we must abandon the useless luxuries of the world, and, as St Jerome says, we must follow naked the naked Christ. The Gospel is the same as for the feast of St Matthias. We all seek rest for our souls, and this rest is only to be found by imitating the Sacred Heart of Jesus who is meek and humble. Post-Communion : *' Let grace from heaven, O Lord, we beseech thee, give increase to thy church ; which thou didst vouchsafe to make illustrious by the glorious merits and example of blessed Francis thy confessor.’ 158 The Sacramentary Ancient writers render a special tribute of praise to St Francis as being vir catholicus et totus apostolicus. His rule begins with a solemn promise of obedience to Pope Honorius III. Indeed, in order that the work begun by the “ poverello ” should appear as it truly was, a movement of reform from within the Church herself, Francis, in obedience to the Pope’s wish, received the tonsure from the very outset, and later was raised to the rank of deacon. OCTOBER 5 St Placidus and Companions, Martyrs* On this day the Martyrology of St Jerome attributes to Sicily a group of thirty-two martyrs, among whom are named Placidus and Eutychius with thirty companions, whose festival also recurs on September 29. Peter of Monte Cassino in the twelfth century mistook this Saint Placidus, who lived in the fourth century, for St Bene­ dict’s disciple St Placidus, who lived in the sixth century. He wove a whole romance about the saint, in which the pirates appear who finally put Placidus to death in the Port of Messina, together with his brothers Victorinus and Eutychius, his sister Flavia, and thirty monks. This in­ vention of Peter’s obtained credence, and when under Sixtus V there were discovered in the Church of St John at Messina on the spot which tradition indicated as the burialplace of Placidus, a large number of bones, showing traces of a violent death, the history related by the chronicler of Cassino was immediately remembered. It was on this occasion that the Pope caused the Office of St Placidus and his com­ panions to be observed throughout the Church. Whatever foundation there may be for the story of Peter the Deacon, the testimony by the Martyrology of St Jerome concerning the ancient group of the Martyrs of Messina remains unaltered : In Sicilia, Placidi, Eutici ct aliorum XXX, The Mass is the same as for SS Faustinus and Jovita on February 15, but the Collects arc taken from the feast of St Symphorosa and her Sons, July 18. OCTOBER 5 St Placidus, Disciple of St Benedict, Abbot* The tradition of the Benedictine Order bears witness, from the tenth century, to the liturgical cultus of St Placidus, who was brought as a child to St Benedict by his father, Tert’ullus, October 5 159 and was miraculously saved by Maurus from the lake of Nero. This cultus is quite separate from that of Placidus, the martyr of the Sicilian group. The name of Placidus appears regularly together with those of Benedict and Maurus in the Litany of the Saints, from the tenth century onwards. In this the disciples of St Benedict imitated the example of their Master. On one occasion the great Patriarch, whilst at Subiaco, journeyed during the night to a precipitous height upon which he had built one of his twelve monasteries, and there, like Moses or Eliseus, he begged of the Lord to cause a spring of water to flow from the rock. He had with him as his companion the young child Placidus, who knelt beside him under the stars, uniting his prayers to those of the great Patriarch which obtained from heaven the miracle they implored. Once, when Placidus had been sent with a pitcher to fetch water, he fell into the lake and was in danger of drowning, when St Benedict, seeing in spirit his young disciple’s peril, sent Maurus to save him. Miracles were common occurrences at that time at Subiaco, where the supernatural seemed to fill the air that surrounded the first Benedictine family. Maurus received the Abbot’s blessing, and in a kind of ecstasy he ran to the lake, walked with dry feet upon the water, and, seizing Placidus by the hair, brought him safely to the bank. Then only was he aware of the miracle which had occurred. After this great example of obedience, Maurus gives us a great example of humility. The question arose whether it were Benedict or Maurus who had worked the miracle. Each sought to attribute the merit to the other, and at last both the master and the disciple appealed to the decision of Placidus himself. He was, even then, so far advanced in the knowledge of heavenly things that Benedict and Maurus could rely upon him to solve the question. Placidus, whilst giving credit to Maurus for his obedience, decided that the miracle was due to the prayers of St Benedict, whose great sanctity caused his disciples to put implicit faith in his intercession. Indeed, at the moment when the young novice was overwhelmed by the waves, his thoughts turned to Benedict, and he seemed to see the melotis of the Abbot stretched over him as a sign of his protection. Maurus had no doubt seized him by the hair and drawn him out of the water, but the child, who was also in a kind of ecstasy, saw the Patriarch Benedict come and lead him to the bank in safety : Ego cum ex aqua traherer, super caput meum Abbatis melotcm videbam, atque ipsum me ex aquis educere considerabam.1 1 St Grcgorii I, Dialog., Lib. II, c. vii. i6o The Sacramentary We may quote here in honour of St Placidus a beautiful Collect from the Gelasian Sacramentary (In Monasterio) : Deus, qui renuntiantibus sacculo mansionem paras in caelo ; (meritis beati Placidi) dilata sanctae huius congregationis habitaculum temporalem caelestibus bonis ; ut fraternitatem teneant compagine charitatis unanimiter ; continentiae tuae praecepta custodiant ; sobrii, simplices et quieti, gratis sibi datam gratiam fuisse cognoscant ; concordet illorum vita cum nomine ; professio sentiatur in opere. Per Dominum. May St Placidus, who as a child united his prayers with those of the Patriarch of Monte Cassino in order to obtain for the monks a spring of fresh water from the dry rock, ever obtain for their spiritual descendants the waters of divine grace. And may the sons of St Benedict, to whom the Church has especially entrusted the solemn interpretation of her Liturgy, always be truly sons of benediction : concordet illorum vita cum nomine ; professio sentiatur in opere. OCTOBER 6 St Bruno, Confessor* We have here another son of the Patriarch of Western Monasticism who grafted the semi-eremitical branch of his rule upon the tree of monastic life. This great reformer, who lived at the end of the eleventh century, has a special claim to be remembered in the fasti of the Saints of the Roman Church. For many years he resided at Rome by desire of Urban II, whom he assisted by his advice and by his labours. In order that the Saint should find, at least to some extent, the same atmosphere of peace and seclusion in the Eternal City that he enjoyed at the first house of his Order near Grenoble, the Pope permitted Bruno to found a Charterhouse in 1091 near the titulus Cyriaci at the Baths of Diocletian, then entirely abandoned and deserted. The monastery of Sta Maria degli Angeli survived until the latter half of the last century, when, owing to the confiscation of Church property, it ceased to exist. The Mass is the same as on January 23 for St Raymund of Pennafort, with the exception of the Collect. Collect : " May we be helped, O Lord, we beseech thee, by the intercession of St Bruno, thy confessor, so that we who by sinning greviously offend thy divine majesty may, October 6 ID! through his merits and prayers, gain forgiveness of our • >> sins. The Post-Communion is the same as for St Cajetan on August 7. St Bruno, who left the world and its pleasures and withdrew into a desert to fast, pray, and prepare for death, sets before us a great example of Christian fortitude. There are, in the world, many occasions which lead to sin, and which make it difficult for us to preserve our innocence and to sanctify our souls. A way of escape from these dangers has been found by the more generous spirits. As Israel fled from the cor­ ruption of Egypt, as the dove of Noah finding no place of rest on the earth returned to the ark, so those who seek to assure their salvation by the most certain means, leave the world and take refuge in the cloister. In this way they save their souls, and by their example they have the immense merit of leading others on the way to salvation. OCTOBER 7 St Mark, Pope Station at the Cemetery of Balbina. We learn from the Liber Pontificalis that Pope Mark, during his lifetime, caused a basilica to be erected in the Cemetery of Balbina in which he desired to be buried, and which was subsequently richly endowed by the Emperor Constantine. The building itself has disappeared, but the crypts even in very early times came to form part of the great Necropolis of Callixtus on the side which opens on to the Via Ardeatina. Therefore the indication which we find to-day in the Martyrology of St Jerome is correct : Romae, via Ardeatina, in cimiterio Balbinae, Marci episcopi. An inscription placed by Pope Damasus upon the tomb of a certain Mark, is supposed to refer to the Pope of this name. Professor De Rossi has accepted this identification. Insons) vita · fvit · marci · qvam · novimvs · omnes Plenus am) ore · dei · possit · qvi · temnere · mvndvm Actis mon) stravit · popvlvs · qvod · disceret · omnis Parvus) honor · vitae · grandis · contemptvs · habendi Intima sed) virtvs · tenvit · penetralia · cordis lusti) TIAE · CVSTOS · CHRISTI · PERFECTVS · AMICVS Te colit) ET · DAMASVS · TVMVLO · CVM · REDDIT · HONOREM HIC · MARCVS · MARCI · VITA · FIDE · NOMINE · CONSORS ET · MERITIS 102 The Sacramentary “ Blameless was the life of Mark which we all witnessed. He was full of the love of God and therefore despised the world. By his acts he set an example to the people that all might follow. He cared little for honours and despised earthly things, for his inmost heart was attached to virtue alone. He was the champion of justice and the perfect lover of Christ. Damasus, too, whilst he adorns thy sepulchre, pays homage to thee. This Mark in his faith and his life imitated the evangelist Mark whose name and merits he shares.” Pope Mark built a second basilica in tlie City near the Terme Pallacine which was endowed by Constantine with revenues and sacred vessels. At the time of the great translation of relics the body of the founder was brought there from the Via Ardeatina. In time, however, the titulus Marci was held to be dedicated, not to the Pope of that name, but to the Evangelist of Alexandria, and on account of this, in the late Middle Ages, the Roman clergy were wont to meet there on April 25 for the procession of the Robigalia which had St Peter’s as its objective. The feast of St Mark appears not only in the Philocalian Calendar, but also in the Gospel List of Würzburg. In the Missal, the Mass is Sacerdotes as on July 3, for St Leo I ; but the Collects are different. Collect : “ Graciously hear our prayers, O Lord, and being appeased by the intercession of blessed Mark, thy confessor and bishop, grant us forgiveness and peace.” A bishop should be distinguished by such a high degree of virtue in the sight of God and of the people that his sanctity should protect his flock from the scourges of divine justice, according to the words of Ecclesiasticus : et in tempore iracundiae, factus est reconciliatio (xliv, 17). The Secret is that of December 13. Post-Communion : “ Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that thy faithful people may ever rejoice in the veneration of thy saints, and be strengthened by their continual prayers.” St Mark governed the Church for eight months only ; that is, from February 15 to October 7, 336 ; but in this short time he gave such striking proofs of holiness, that in prefer­ ence to several other Popes of that age, his cultus forms part of the original Gregorian Calendar. We see by this that a man is not sanctified by heroic undertakings but by fidelity to the daily duties of his state. It is this simple unobtrusive holiness which Damasus praised in the inscription quoted above. October 7 163 OCTOBER 7 SS Marcellus and Apuleius These two martyrs mentioned in the Gelasian Sacramentary to-day, whom a legend actually describes as having been disciples of Simon Magus at Rome, were, as a matter of fact, inhabitants of Capua. Marcellus is one of a group which includes Castus, Emilius, and Saturninus. We do not find the name of Apuleius, who appears in our Missal, in any ancient list, and it is merely a medieval tradition which asserts that he was the servant of Marcellus and shared the crown of martyrdom with his master. Apuleius is unknown even to the ancient hagiography of Capua ; no writer ever mentions him, nor is his picture to be found in the mosaics of St Priscus dating from the fifth or sixth century, where at least thirty-two saints are repre­ sented, the greater part of whom belong to the Province of Campania. Because of this a doubt arises whether the name Apuleius has not been derived from an error in copying the topo­ graphical indication in the Martyrology to-day : in Apulia, natale Casti et Emeli, Marcelli. The following lines may still be read on the Lombard façade of the Church of St Marcellus at Capua : MARCELLVS · SANCTVS · COMTE MN ENS · CAESARIS · ACTVS EST · CAPVAM · LATVS · PRO · CHRISTO · DECAPITATVS “ St Marcellus, because he despised the command of Caesar, was brought to Capua and beheaded here for Christ’s sake.” OCTOBER 7 SS Sergius and Bacchus, Martyrs The fame of these two martyrs can only be compared with that of the Anargyri, Cosmas and Damian. The tomb of St Sergius was at Rosapha, and was the object of such con­ tinual pilgrimages from all parts of the Eastern world, that the Emperor Justinian surrounded the city with walls, in order to defend the sanctuary and its treasures from the barbarians. The name of Rosapha was changed to that of Sergiopolis in honour of the celestial patron of the city. Tradition joins the name of the martyr Bacchus to that of 164 The Sacranientary Sergius, but according to Antoninus of Piacenza the former saint was buried in another place. In civitate Barbavisso. St Gregory of Tours relates the numerous miracles which occurred at Rosapha, on account of which many churches and monasteries were dedicated to St Sergius. The nomadic tribes of Syria honour him as their special patron. At Rome, too, several churches were named after these celebrated Eastern martyrs. The Convent of SS Sergius and Bacchus post formam aquaeductus at the Lateran had been left empty and abandoned when Paschal I caused it to be restored, and, endowing it once more, established there a monastic community whose duty it was to chant the day and night Offices in the Lateran Basilica. The Vatican likewise possessed an oratory dedicated to the martyrs Sergius and Bacchus ; indeed, we know that it was restored by Gregory II, who added to the sanctuary a diaconia with a hospital for the poor. The Basilica of St Paul counted amongst the sanctuaries affiliated to it, the Church of SS Sergius and Bacchus in Suburra, the ancient monastery Canelicum, which is still in existence. Another basilica in honour of these Syrian martyrs rose at the foot of the Capitol, between the Arch of Septimius Severus and the Julian Basilica. It was restored in the thirteenth century by Innocent III, who attributed his elevation to the Papacy to the intercession of the martyrs. He caused the following inscription to be placed in the porch of the church : POENE · RVI · QVASI · NVLLA · FVI · SED · ME · RELEVAVIT · LOTHARIVS PRIVS · POSTQVAM ‘ RENOVAVIT · DEQVE · MEO · PRAEMIO * SVMPTVS · PATER · VRBIS ET · ORBIS * HOC · TAMEN · EX · PROPRIO · FECIT · MIHI · SIC · RENOVOR · BIS “ I was almost in ruins and destroyed when Lotharius raised me up. After he had restored me he received an immediate reward and became the Father of the City and the world. He performed this work at his own expense ; thus I have been twice renewed.” The martyrs Sergius, Bacchus, Marcellus, and Apuleius are all commemorated in one Mass in the Missal, Sapientiam as on July 2. The Collects are the following : Collect : " May the blessed deeds of thy holy martyrs Sergius, Bacchus, Marcellus, and Apuleius plead for us, O Lord, and may they make us ever bum with love for thee.” October 165 The Catholic doctrine of the share which the faithful enjoy in the merits of the saints whom they invoke is founded on the consoling dogma of the Communion of Saints. In the Church as in the human body the nourishment, the life, and the strength of the various members are conducive to the general welfare of the whole organism. Secret : " Receive, O Lord, the offerings made by thy holy people in honour of thy saints, from whose merits they acknowledge that they receive help in tribulation.” The martyrs had a greater share in the Chalice of Christ's Passion, and therefore God has granted to them above all others the power to bestow upon the faithful the treasures which that Passion purchased. Post-Communion : " May we be strengthened, O Lord, by the mysteries we have received, and through the intercession of thy holy martyrs Sergius, Bacchus, Marcellus, and Apuleius, may we be shielded by heavenly armour against all wicked assaults.” We hear in this prayer a faint echo of the turbulent days of the Middle Ages, and of the confidence which the nomadic tribes of Syria placed in the intercession of St Sergius. OCTOBER 7 The Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary* October 7 is the anniversary of the glorious victory won in 1571 by the Christian forces over the Turkish fleet at Lepanto. This triumph of the Cross over the Crescent was universally attributed to the powerful intercession of the Mother of God, whom Pope Pius V fervently invoked with her Rosary in his hand, and to whom the prayers of all Christendom were addressed. Two years after this great favour had been obtained Gregory XIII instituted an annual feast of thanks­ giving to be celebrated on the First Sunday of October in all churches where an altar s/ώ invocatione beatae Virginis Rosarii had been erected. From being a local festival this celebration gradually spread and became general, until Leo XIII, ever zealous in devotion to the Rosary, raised it to the rank of a double of the second class for the whole Church. The devotion of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary dates from at least the twelfth century. The prayer Ave Maria, etc., was recited on a string of beads divided into fifteen decades, between each of which the Pater noster was said. This form of prayer, consisting of one hundred and fifty Aves, was called the Lay Folks’ Psalter. The early 166 The Sacramentary biographers of St Dominic do not attribute to him the institution of the Rosary, for this devotion was a tradition of Catholic piety long before his time. Indeed, the first writer to ascribe the merit to St Dominic appears to be Alain de la Roche at the end of the fifteenth century. However, the glory of having spread this form of prayer with such extraordinary success is certainly due to the Dominican Order, and, owing to their zeal, the Rosary soon became the most popular devotion throughout the Christian world. In the fifteenth century the Carthusians of Trêves intro­ duced the custom of naming a particular mystery from the life of Jesus or Mary after the holy Name of Jesus in the Hail Mary, and thus the Rosary came to be divided into three parts, commemorating respectively the Joyful, Sorrow­ ful, and Glorious mysteries. The Holy Rosary as it is now recited, and enriched with great indulgences, represents, after the Divine Office, what may be described as a popular Breviary of the Gospel. By meditating on the appropriate mysteries, it may be adapted to the Liturgical Cycle, and because it unites vocal with mental prayer the Rosary is regarded as the most beautiful and approved devotion of the Latin Church. To-day’s feast of thanksgiving, by its connection with a special form of prayer to the Blessed Virgin, that of the Rosary, recalls the feast kept by the Greeks on the Saturday before Passion Sunday when the “ Hymnos Akathistos ” is sung. This festival was instituted in memory of the many occasions on which Constantinople was delivered from barbarian invaders through the intercession of Mary. In both cases the patronage of the Blessed Virgin and a Christian victory are connected with a special form of prayer to the Mother of God. If we consider the “ Hymnos Akathistos ” more atten­ tively, we find other points of resemblance with the Rosary, for in the Byzantine hymn, divided as it is into four parts, the mysteries of the infancy of Christ are commemorated, i.e. the Angelic Salutation, the Visitation, St Joseph’s doubts, the adoration of the Shepherds and the Magi, the flight into Egypt, the prophecy of Simeon, precisely as in the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. The “ Hymnos Akathistos ” in the East, the Rosary in the West are two admirable forms of devotion to Mary, somewhat resembling each other, but entirely independent. They arose from the same faith and the same love borne by the Universal Church for her who is the Mother of God and of men, the co-redemptress of the human race. October 7 Although the Divine Office to-day commemorates the fifteen mysteries of the life of Christ venerated in the Rosary, the Mass is distinctly a Mass of the Blessed Virgin. The Introit Gaudeamus is the same as on July 16. The Collect, classic in its simplicity and restraint, sets forth clearly the nature, object, and benefits of the new Psalter of the Blessed Virgin. Collect : “ O God, whose only-begotten Son by his life, death, and resurrection hath purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation ; grant, we beseech thee, that, meditating upon these mysteries in the most holy Rosary of the blessed Virgin Mary, we may both imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise.” The Lesson consists of two quotations from Proverbs (viii, 22-24, and 32-35) and has already been read on September 8. The Blessed Virgin is the . . . termine fisso d’eterno consiglio. Blessed are those, therefore, who, following the Word of God, contemplate and study her. To find Mary is to find the gate of wisdom and of life. The Gradual is taken from Psalm xliv, and mingles the Messianic triumphs of Christ with the glories of the Immacu­ late Spouse of the Holy Ghost. The allcluiatic verse is taken from a well-known Antiphon referring to the genealogy of the Blessed Virgin, and there­ fore forms part of the Office of her Nativity. We are tempted to wish that another passage had been chosen for to-day’s feast, more in keeping with the true character of this solemnity and the ancient title given to it : Sancta Maria de Victoria. “ Alleluia, alleluia. The feast of the glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the seed of Abraham, from the tribe of Juda, from the noble house of David. Alleluia.” The Gospel, consisting of the story of the Annunciation (the first Joyful Mystery), is the same as on March 25. According to the concise phrase of the Collect we should have two objects before our mind when we meditate upon the Gospel mysteries : imitemur quod continent, d quod ■promittunt assequantur. They contain, therefore, two species of grace : first they teach us to live a holy life, following the example of Christ, our divine model ; secondly, they hold out to us the assurance that our conformity with this model will by the assistance of grace be brought to perfection one day through the brightness of eternal glory. The Antiphon for the Offertory is taken from Ecclesiasticus, and hymns the praises of Divine Wisdom : " In me is all 168 The Sacramentary grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. I have budded forth as the rose planted by the brooks of waters.” The Church applies these words to the Blessed Virgin because she has been made the Mother and advocate of mankind, and every grace by which Jesus raises us to a supernatural life passes through the hands of Mary. The first part of the Secret is taken from that of Ash Wednesday ; the connection between this and the second part is strained and appears to be a modern addition to an archaic text. This will be more clearly appreciated if the Latin words of the Missal are examined. Secret : " Make us meet, O Lord, to offer up these gifts; and by means of the mysteries of the most holy Rosary may we so keep in mind the life, passion, and triumph of thine only-begotten Son that we may be made worthy of his promises.” The Antiphon for the Communion also contains an allusion to flowers like that of the Offertory : (Ecclus. xxxix, 19) : ” Send forth flowers as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace, and praise with canticles, and bless the Lord in his works.” The beauty of creation is a universal hymn in praise of its Maker. St Paul tells us that the odour of virtue in a Christian soul is that of Christ, acquired by his grace and the imitation of his life. The latter portion of the Post-Communion is taken from the ancient Collect of the Mass in dedicatione altaris : “ May we be helped, O Lord, we beseech thee, by the prayers of thy most holy Mother, whose Rosary we are celebrating ; so that we may draw strength from the mysteries which we reverence and receive grace from the sacraments which we have taken.” As a liturgical composition this Mass is inferior to the Divine Office for to-day, for the latter is not devoid of grace and devotion, especially in the hymns. This inferiority is greatly to be deplored on the occasion of so great a feast, and in connection with a beautiful and popular devotion marking the progress of Christian piety towards the Mother of God. The Rosary, like the Crucifix, is always to be found in the Catholic household, and in many countries they are placed together in the hands of the dead. Christian art makes use of the Rosary as one of the favourite emblems of sanctity. Pius V, kneeling in prayer at the Vatican whilst the Battle of Lepanto is being fought, holds a Rosary in his hand. St Alphonsus Liguori tells his beads for the flock committed to his care ; St Benedict Joseph Labre has two Rosaries, one in his hand and one about his October 7 neck ; lastly, the Immaculate Virgin clothed in a white robe with a blue girdle who appeared to Bernadette in the Grotto of Massabielle also has a Rosary hanging on her arm. OCTOBER 8 St Bridget, Widow* This Prophetess of the New Law bears some resemblance to St Paula, the mother of Eustochium in the days of St Jerome, on account of the numerous pilgrimages she under­ took together with her daughter St Catherine, to visit the various sanctuaries of Italy and Palestine. After having exerted her influence in the cause of the Church’s reform in the courts, the episcopal palaces, the abbeys, and even at the papal court, St Bridget died at Rome on July 23, 1374, and was buried at St Lawrence in Panisperna. A year later, when the cause of her canonisation was introduced, her daughter procured that her relics should be transferred to Sweden, to the monastery of Wadstena founded by her. The great basilicas of Rome still keep many records of the noble Swedish mystic who was once rapt in ecstasy in the catacombs of the Appian Way, and who prayed so often beside the tombs of the Apostles and the martyrs of old. In the Basilica of St Paul, for instance, a marble statue represents St Bridget listening to the words of Christ, who speaks to her from the ancient crucifix preserved in that venerable sanctuary of the Apostles. Beneath the statue of the saint these lines are inscribed : PENDENTIS · PENDENTE · DEI · VERBA · ACCIPIT · AVRE ACCIPIT · AT · VERBVM · CORDE · BIRGITTA · DEVM Near the spot where she spent her last days, not far from the titulus of St Lawrence in Damaso, a small church was built soon after her canonisation, and adjoining it was a hostel for Swedish pilgrims. St Bridget was canonised by Boniface IX on October 7 and 8 of the year 1391 ; the latter day, on which the Pope celebrated Mass in honour of the new Saint, was chosen for the date of her feast. The Mass is the same as on March 9, for the feast of St Frances of Rome ; but the Epistle is that of St Monica, May 4. The Collect alone is proper to the feast, for in it the Church makes mention of the numerous revelations with which the Saint was favoured. τγο The Sacramentary This reference made by the sacred Liturgy to the Liber revelationum Sanctae Birgittae is the highest recommendation of a book often examined and praised by ecclesiastical authority. Collect : “ O Lord our God, who, through thy onlybegotten Son, didst reveal secrets of heaven to blessed Bridget ; grant, through her loving intercession, that we thy servants may rejoice with gladness at the revelation of thine eternal glory.” OCTOBER 9 SS Genuinus and Companions, Martyrs In the Cemetery ad duas lauros on the Via Labicana. The Martyrology of St Jerome is extremely confusing to­ day. It contains this notice concerning the Saints of Rome: Romae Marcellini, Icnuini, Novii et inter duas lauros, sanctae Primin ae. Yet, of all these names, Genuinus only is mentioned in ancient itineraries. Therefore we should probably read the entry thus : Romae, inter duas lauros (in coemeterio sancti) Marcellini, Genuini, Novii, etc. We know nothing of St Primina or Firmina at Rome, whereas Genuinus is mentioned in De locis Sanctis, as one of the martyrs interred beside SS Peter and Marcellinus on the Via Labicana, and may belong to that group of thirty or forty soldier-martyrs who are recorded at that spot by the Itinerari. OCTOBER 9 SS Denis, Rusticus, and Eleutherius* The confusion which arose between Denis the Areopagite, converted by St Paul, the saint of the same name martyred at Paris, and the pseudo-Areopagite of Syria in the fifth or sixth century, contributed to the spread of the cultus of St Dionysius or Denis in the Middle Ages, and finally his feast was inscribed in the Roman Calendar. The Basilica of St Denis at Paris was built at the suggestion of St Geneviève, and is often mentioned by St Gregory of Tours. Venantius Fortunatus regards St Denis as the most celebrated saint of the urbs Parisiaca, and therefore in the sixth century Bordeaux too desired to erect a sanctuary within her walls in honour of the martyr of Paris. Rusticus and Eleutherius have been associated with St Denis ever since the seventh century. Besides an altar in the Basilica of St Paul—the erection of which was probably due to the confusion between the Martyr October 9 171 of Paris and the Athenian convert of St Paul—there exist several churches at Rome dedicated to St Denis, whose cultus in the eternal City is founded upon an ancient tradition and flourished especially during the Carlovingian period. As early as the eighth century, Paul I dedicated to St Denis and St Sylvester at the Campus Martius the new monastery founded by him in his own house inter duos ortos. The Franks, too, in the Middle Ages erected an oratory in honour of their great martyr in the very shadow of the Vatican Basilica. It is mentioned in the Catalogus Magnus of Zaccagni. We know of the existence of another Church dedicated to St Denis in the Forum, which ArmeHini located near the diaconia of St Adrian ; and lastly, a fourth church called after the martyr still stands upon the Quirinal, but it was only built in the seventeenth century. Amongst the Greeks the cultus of St Dionysius the Areopagite is famous. The Greek Menologies keep his feast on October 3, but he is also commemorated on Septuagesima Sunday in the Canon : των 'Αγίων Πατίρων : *0 ττολυς τα Oeîxt Αιονΰσιοδ νυν τιμάσΟω, ώς των ουρανίων μύστης. The Mass Sapientiam is like that of July 2 for the martyrs Processus and Martinianus, except the following portions. The Collect is turgid and clumsy in composition, especially where, after recording the martyrdom of the three saints, it returns to their evangelisation of the city of Paris. “ 0 God, who this day didst endow blessed Denis, thy martyr and bishop, with the virtue of constancy in his martyrdom, and didst join Rusticus and Eleutherius with him in preaching thy glory to the heathen ; grant, we beseech thee, that we may follow their example by despising the good things of this world for the sake of thy love, and by fearing not its adversities." The Epistle to-day is taken from the Acts of the Apostles (xvii, 22-34) where St Paul makes his magnificent speech to the Areopagites. St Ambrose points out the power of adapting himself to his surroundings shown here by the Apostle. For the moment he abandons the field of scriptural theology and meets his pagan audience on their own ground. Paul brings forward arguments and cites authorities recognized by the Greeks themselves as indisputable. For this reason he quotes the poet Aratus, he appeals to the testimony of an Athenian inscription, indeed in order to win the favour of the assembly he touches the most sensitive chord of the Grecian character 172 The Sacranientary by exalting the piety of the people of Athens above that of the other cities of Greece. Paul does not come to the city of Athens in order to censure or to revolutionize. No, he comes merely to satisfy the religious mind of the Athenians so eager for new things by making known to them that unknown God of whom they were aware in their inmost heart. The Gospel is the same as on June 26, for the martyrs John and Paul. The fear of God drives out the fear of man. He who is filled with this fear which leads to holiness will not quail before the threats of the whole world in arms against him. Secret : " Graciously receive, O Lord, we beseech thee, the gifts which thy people offer up to thee in honour of thy saints, and make us holy through their intercession.” The Christian must aim at more than the mere avoidance of evil. He has received the call to sanctity at the moment of his baptism ; therefore in early apostolic times the followers of the Gospel, before the name of Christian had been given to them at Antioch, were simply known as the “ Saints.” For this reason we have received no other spirit but the Holy Spirit himself, who comes to develop in us that sublime fulness of sanctity which our incorporation with Christ the " Holy One of God ” demands. Post-Communion : “ May the holy sacrament which we have received, O Lord, we beseech thee, avail us more and more to eternal salvation.” The redemption is like a magnificent design which the Divine Genius has conceived and in which he desires that we should co-operate with him. God wills our eternal salvation, but this salvation before it can be ours in the radiance of his glory must first be worked out on earth through obedience to his grace. Glory comes from God alone, but co-operation with grace depends on us with God’s help, as St Paul says : Non ego, sed gratia Dei mecum. OCTOBER 10 St Francis Borgia, Confessor* Yesterday the solemn rites of the Church celebrated the Martyrs with their unfading palms and crowns, but to-day the name of the Duke of Gandia appears in the Calendar adorned with the precious merits of humility, zeal, and evangelical poverty. Trained in the school of Ignatius, Francis Borgia was filled with a sense of his own unworthincss, and whilst it was the Will of God to entrust him with the direction of the new October ίο 173 Society of Jesus, and to raise him up to be the oracle of Pontiffs and of Princes, he still considered himself as the least of men. In this he followed the teaching of Christ, who'spoke through the lips of the Prophet : Ego . . . sum vermis et non homo ; opprobrium hominum et abiectio plebis. The Mass Os justi is the same as on March 21 for the feast of St Benedict, with the exception of the Collect : “ O Lord Jesus Christ, who art both the pattern and the reward of true humility ; we beseech thee that, even as thou madest blessed Francis follow gloriously in thy footsteps by spuming earthly honours, so thou wouldst suffer us also to become his companions alike in following thee and in his glory.” St Peter teaches that God rejects the proud and bestows his grace on the humble. The reason of tins should be sought in the fact that when God desires to accomplish some great and wonderful work he seeks pliable and submissive instru­ ments who will allow themselves to be moved and guided according to his good pleasure, in order that the result may be attributed only to the Divine intervention. The self-sufficiency of the proud and the unbending character of the arrogant man impede divine grace, and God cannot make use of such inappropriate instruments. OCTOBER 12 St Aedistus, Martyr On the Via Laurentina. In spite of the fact that the Martyrology of Baronius names Ravenna as the burial-place of St Aedistus, that of St Jerome directs us to the road to Laurentum : Romae, via Laurentina, natalis Hedisti. The sepulchral sanctuary of this martyr was in fact near the twenty-sixth milestone on that road, and is mentioned in the Itinerary of Salzburg : dcindc etiam in aquilone parte ecclesiae sancti Pauli, paret ecclesia sancti Aristi et sanctae Christinae et sanctae Victoriae, ubi ipsi pausant. According to the Acta, Aedistus with his companions in martyrdom, Priscus, Termantia, Christina, and Victoria, was interred near Laurentum : iuxta iter viae Laurentinae, ad aram Dianae, in quodam arenario. St Gregory the Great in a Bull of January 25, 604, addressed to the subdeacon Felix in favour of the Basilica of St Paul, mentions a Monasterium Sancti Eristi in that quarter of the town, and it was probably that sanctuary which possessed the tomb of the five Saints. 174 The Sacramentary Adrian I, in the eighth century, ordered the erection of a domus culta, there, with magnae constructionis fabricis, as the Liber Pontificalis tells us. Therefore he restored the holy place quae et domum cultam sancti Edisti vocatur usque in hodiernum diem.1 The cultus of St Aedistus spread to Mount Soracte, which on account of the church dedicated to the martyr gradually lost its ancient classical name and was called Mount St Orestes. The fate of the relics of the five martyrs of Laurentum is doubtful. As the name of Aedistus was converted into that of Edistus or Orestes, he was soon identified with St Orestes of Cappadocia, who is venerated with SS Eustratius, Assentius, Mardarius, and Eugenius. Baronius declares that the remains of this group of Eastern martyrs were taken to Rome and laid in the Church of St Apollinaris. This translation is difficult to prove, whereas it is easy to justify the hypothesis that the St Orestes who is buried at St Apollinaris is the St Aedistus or Eristus of Laurentum, and that the other relics are those of his companions in martyrdom. OCTOBER 13 St Edward, King and Confessor* This famous King of England died on January 5, 1066, but by order of Innocent XI, his feast is celebrated to-day, when the translation of his relics is commemorated. The example of St Edward proves that sanctity, distinguished by the most exceptional graces of the mystical life, may be united to the privileges and cares of royalty. Our state of life can never be an obstacle to holiness ; it is our want of generosity which prevents us from denying ourselves and giving all to God. The Mass is the same as on January 23 for St Raymund of Pennafort, with the exception of the Collect. Collect : " O God, who hast crowned blessed King Edward thy confessor with the glory of eternal life ; make us, we beseech thee, so to honour him on earth, that we may be able to reign with him in heaven.” In olden days divine privileges were often attributed to anointed sovereigns : Deus stetit in synagoga deorum ' in medio deos dijudicat. (Psalm Ixxxi). Christian art, too, sometimes placed a halo about the head of a monarch like 1 Lib. Pontif., ed. Duchesne I, 505. October 13 175 that used to denote a saint. Thus for example Justinian and Theodora are represented with halos in the mosaics of San Vitale at Ravenna, and King Herod in the mosaic of Sixtus III at St Mary Major also has a halo. The reason for this is that the royal power is given by God to those who are his representatives in the government of the people, and this confers upon them a certain sacred majesty, together with the graces needed for the just exercise of that power. Therefore the man who is raised to the throne is called by God to a state of sanctity of a most sublime kind ; and on account of this the few feasts of canonised kings celebrated in the Roman Liturgy possess a beauty and meaning all their own. OCTOBER 14 St Callistus, Pope and Martyr Station on the Aurelian Way at the Cemetery of Calepodium. The Philocalian Calendar notes to-day the deposition of Pope Callistus on the Aurelia» Way : Calisti in via Aurelia, milliario III. In spite of the fact that the Pontificate of Callistus was one of the most important and most glorious in the early history of the Church, the life of this Pope is not devoid of obscurity, for it is extremely difficult to reconcile the Liber Pontificalis with the Philosofihumena. The first disputes on the Trinity at Rome date from the time of Callistus, and even when he was only the archdeacon of Zephyrinus he possessed a violent adversary in the person of Hippolytus. Callistus affirmed energetically the Unity of the divine essence and accused Hippolytus of heresy because by ex­ aggerating the distinctions of the three Persons of the Trinity he appeared to compromise the Unity of substance. When, at the death of the aged Pontiff, the archdeacon Callistus succeeded him, according to the Roman custom, the indignant Hippolytus placed himself at the head of the opposing faction and was acclaimed Pope by his followers, thus winning the inglorious distinction of being the first of the anti-Popes. The early discipline of the Church, which abandoned to the judgement of God alone the graver sins against faith and morals, was not adapted to society in the third century. The Christians had increased in number, but their zeal had declined. Therefore Callistus, in a famous edict, violently attacked by Hippolytus and Tcrtullian, promised absolu­ 176 The Sacramentary tion to all those who should have performed the canonical penances. His action roused a storm of opposition. The fiery Apologist of Carthage held up to scorn the Pontifex Maximus, id est episcopus episcoporum ; as he called Callistus in a satirical pamphlet, whilst he described how the Pope, having admitted the sinner into the Church, caused him to prostrate before the priests and the virgins in order to move them to compassion for the unhappy culprit. Hippolytus, on his side, declared that the excessive mildness of Callistus was a scandal, and would break down the barriers of public morality. Many Romans were won over by the arguments of the austere author of the Philosophumena to abandon the cause of Callistus, and to join the ranks of the schismatics. The saintly Pope, who in his sermons appealed to the example of the Good Shepherd, was not moved by the violence of his enemies, and continued to the end in his mission of peace. According to some writers, Callistus perished in a riot which took place in Trastevere, near the titulus founded by him in the neighbourhood of the Taberna enteritoria of Alexander Severus. His body, thrown at first into a well, must afterwards have been secretly buried in the cemetery of Calepodius, which was not far off on the Aurelian Way. In the Philosophumena Hippolytus completely ignores the Pope’s violent death at the hands of the mob, and explains the title of martyr given to Callistus by recounting the story of the imprisonment and exile in Sardinia which he endured for the faith when a young man. Hippolytus, however, was the bitter opponent of Callistus, and it is possible that he did not mention the murder of the Pope by the pagan mob, either because it was carried out by order of the authorities of the city, or else because he wished to deprive his adversary of the glory due to a martyr. The silence of Hippolytus is not, therefore, sufficient to invalidate the tradition of the murder of Callistus, which can be divined under the legendary narrative of the Saint’s Acta. Indeed if the story were not true it would be difficult to understand why the founder of the great necropolis of Callistus and the Papal crypt on the Appian Way, should alone have been denied the honour of resting among the other Pontiffs and beside his own master Zephyrinus in the Papal mausoleum which he had erected. Instead of which, Callistus was buried in the cemetery of Calepodium, where no Pope had been interred before his time. It is evident that this unusual burial, contrary as it was to the tradition of the sepulture of the Popes on the Appian Way, must have been imposed upon the faithful by special circum­ stances which made it impossible for them to transport the October 14 177 corpse as far as the second milestone of the Regina viarum. That the circumstances arose from the revolution and dis­ turbance among the people is clear to us, indeed the Ada suggest as much. Pope Julius caused an Oratory to be built over the sepulchral crypt of Callistus, and desired to be buried there. The founda­ tions of this sanctuary were discovered by Stevenson, together with part of the apse, which however cannot be seen, as it is incorporated in a building belonging to what was formerly the Lamperini vineyard. The Basilica of Sta Maria in Trastcvere founded by Pope Julius I juxta Callistum, which has absorbed all the fame of the primitive Church of Callistus of the third century, has for centuries boasted the possession of the mortal remains of St Callistus. Beside this basilica there still exists a small titular church which preserves the memory of the early Callistum of the third century. In this sanctuary, beside the martyr’s altar, may be seen the mouth of an ancient well, and this well was venerated in the Middle Ages as it was traditionally believed to be that into which the body of Callistus was thrown during the riot. The inscription by a slave, noted by Fabretti,1 tells us that the part of Trastcvere on which the Church of St Callistus stands was commonly known as the area Callisti : REVOCA · ME · AD · DOMINVM · VIVENTIVM · IN · AR(e)A • CALLISTI. Here we find a mention of the same building which was later called simply Callistum even by the biographer of Pope Julius. Another small church in honour of the great Pope Callistus rose on the Coelian Hill, and we find reference to it until the sixteenth century. The Mass takes the Introit Sacerdotes from the Common, as on December n. Collect : " O God, who seest that we fall from our own very weakness, mercifully restore us to thy love by the example of thy saints.” We read in the life of the great St Augustine of Hippo that when, before his conversion, he heard of the wonderful examples set by St Anthony and his followers, he kept saying within himself : Tu non poteris quod isti et istac? An vero isti et istae in semetipsis possunt, et non in Domino Deo suo ?* 1 De Rossi, Bollettini. 1866, p. 94; 1874, ΡΡ· 42-50. 1 Confessiones, Lib. VIII., cap. xi. The Sacramentary The Epistle is taken from Hebrews (v, 1-4) and describes the qualities required in a priest. Like Aaron he is chosen by God, and does not claim the honour of the ministry through his own ambition. Moreover he is withdrawn from the multitude, and thus becomes as it were a bridge between creation and the Creator. He serves his brethren by his ministry, but is detached from earthly affairs, and is occupied only with the interests of God and the salvation of souls. His mission is not so much to judge and punish sin as to pour the oil of divine mercy upon the countless wounds of human nature. In so doing, it will be well that the priest should always bear in mind his own weakness and insufficiency, and should not demand of others a degree of perfection which he can himself only attain with a great effort. The Gradual which follows is that of the feast of St Nicholas on December 6. These words should greatly comfort those whom God has chosen to carry the onus of the priesthood or of the episcopal dignity. Nature is too weak to bear it, but God has solemnly promised : " My hand shall help him, and my arm shall strengthen him.” The alleluiatic verse is the same as on January 14, from the Common of Doctors. According to the Würzburg List the Gospel to-day was the same as for St Damasus on December 11 (Matthew xxiv, 42-47). Whereas in the present Missal the Gospel is taken from Matthew x, 26-32, as for St Saturninus on November 29. Christ and the Martyrs preached the Gospel amid the dark shadows of persecution, but God glorified their words and testified to the divine origin of their teaching by the honour with which he has surrounded them even on earth. The Antiphon for the Offertory is that of December 6. Secret : “ May this mystical offering be wholesome for us, O Lord ; may it free us from our sins, and confirm us in eternal salvation.” The Psalmist described man as spiritus vadens et non rediens. Everything changes, indeed, here below and our inconstancy is great, especially in doing good. The grace of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, however, corrects this weakness, and confirms us in virtue, bestowing upon us conformity with the divine will and that strength of mind, both in favourable and in adverse circumstances, which reflects in some manner the changeless calm of God. We observe this in the lives of the saints ; they were always cheerful and even-tempered, because, as the office of the Church says on the feast of a Virgin : Deus in medio cius : non commovebitur. God was in the centre of their heart, and no created thing could move or trouble them. October 14 179 This thought is illustrated in an ancient antiphon taken from the writings of St Gregory the Great, describing the appearance of the Patriarch St Benedict : Eral vir Domini Benedictus vultu placido, moribus decoratus angelicis ; tantaque circa eum claritas excreverat, ut in terris positus, in caelestibus habitaret. The Antiphon Beatus servus (Matthew xxiv, 46-47) for the Communion of the people corresponds with the Gospel prescribed by the Würzburg List, but is not in keeping with that in our present Missal. The same Antiphon is read on December 3, for the feast of St Francis Xavier. Post-Communion : “ We beseech thee, almighty God, that these holy offerings may cleanse us from our sins and bring us grace to live righteously.” The Holy Eucharist, therefore, bestows on us two graces. It is the sacrament of our redemption and washes away our sins in the blood of the Lamb ; moreover it is the bread of supernatural life, and confers upon us strength, joy, and youthfulness in order that we may grow like Christ in the fulness of his youth : in mensura aetatis plenitudinis Christi. OCTOBER 15 St Teresa, Virgin* " Had I not already created Heaven, I should create it for thee,” Jesus said one day to St Teresa of Avila, who merited the sublimest graces of the mystical life by the docility with which she abandoned herself to the fire of divine love. Transfixed by an angel with the dart of charity, Teresa became from that day a victim immolated to the love of God. Jesus united her to himself as his spouse, as his trusted friend, and as his victim. As his spouse, Teresa had no desire but that of serving him, and feared neither dangers nor labour. In spite of poverty and opposition, she succeeded in founding over tiirty convents of her Carmelite Reform before her death. As his trusted friend, Teresa was initiated into the secrets of that mystical science set forth in her writings, which have earned for her the title of a Doctor of the spiritual life. Lastly, as victim, for jvhen the fire of divine love had filled and consumed her heart, nature could no longer endure the strain, and her spirit was set free to seek the embrace of her spouse in Heaven. The feast of this seraph of the Carmelite Order, canonized by Gregory XV in 1622, was introduced into the Missal by Urban VIII. i8o The Sacramentary The Mass is the same as on February io for St Scholastica, but the Collect appears to be proper to the feast. It is, however, merely that of the Common of Virgins, and is also used on the feast of St Lucy. The modern compiler has introduced one new sentence in order to allude to the doctrinal writings of the Saint. Collect : “ Graciously hear us, O God our Saviour ; that as we rejoice in the festival of thy blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be fed with the food of her heavenly teaching and grow in loving devotion towards thee.” This allusion to the doctrinal work of St Teresa is worthy of notice, for it is a unique case in the whole Liturgy that the office of teaching and feeding the faithful, caelestis cius doctrinae -pabulo, should be entrusted to a woman. OCTOBER 16 St Sosius, Deacon and Martyr To-day the Martyrology of St Jerome records at Baiae the martyr Sosius, deacon of Misenum, who belongs to the group of St Januarius and his companions, already mentioned on September 19. Pope Symmachus introduced the cultus of this saint into Rome, and dedicated an oratory to him near St Peter, as has already been noted. OCTOBER 17 St Hedwig, Widow* Not many days ago we celebrated the feast of a great king ; to-day we name among the saints a queen of Poland who preferred the discipline of monastic life in the Convent founded by her at Treibnitz to the splendour of the throne. St Hedwig died on October 15, 1243, and her name was in­ cluded in the Roman Calendar by Innocent XI. Prior to this, however, Clement IV had proposed her to the Poles as the celestial Patroness of their country. The Mass is that of St Frances of Rome on March 9, but the Collect is proper. Collect : “O God, who didst teach blessed Hedwig to renounce the pomps of this world with her whole heart, so that she might humbly follow thy cross ; grant that, through her example and merits, we may learn to trample under foot the perishable delights of this world, and, by cleaving to thy cross, overcome whatever may withstand us.” I October 17 181 St Hedwig fasted and prayed and took the discipline ; she heard several Masses daily and distributed alms with great generosity. The Saints have all laboured and suffered in order to reach the harbour of salvation. We cannot expect to get to heaven without suffering, especially when we remember that Jesus too oportuit pati et ita intrare in gloriam siiiim. OCTOBER 18 St Luke, Evangelist This glorious disciple of St Paul, who according to many of the early Fathers deserved the martyr’s palm, has un­ doubtedly a right to figure in the Roman Missal, for during St Paul’s first imprisonment at Rome he preached the word in the Eternal City, and it was here that he wrote the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Perhaps for this reason an early painter drew a picture of St Luke holding a case containing surgical instruments, in the cemetery of Commodilla, near the sepulchral basilica of the Doctor of the Gentiles. In the same manner another cemetery on the opposite side of the basilica was called after Thecla, and another after Timothy, in order to evoke the memory of the first disciples of St Paul beside the tomb of the Apostle. St Luke died and was buried at Thebes in Bœotia, whence his relics were brought, together with those of St Andrew, to Constantinople, on March 3, 357. The feast of St Luke has been kept on October 18 from very early times, and has always had a place in the Calendars. A small church was dedicated to St Luke at Rome near St Mary Major on the spot where Sixtus V subsequently caused the obelisk to be erected. As, however, this had been the meeting-place since the time of Sixtus IV of a pious association of painters, in order that this excellent work should not cease, Sixtus V assigned to this guild the Church of St Martina in the Forum, which when it had been renovated also took the name of St Luke, the patron of the Society of Christian Artists. Many churches claim the honour of possessing the body of St Luke, at Venice, at Padua, and elsewhere. It is worth noting, too, that at Lcprignano, in the diocese of the Abbot of St Paul’s, there existed until a few years ago an ancient tricorum or basilica with three apses, dedicated to St Luke, who is the patron of that village. Here, in an ancient silver casket, is preserved a relic of the great Evangelist, the constant companion of St Paul. 182 The Sacramentary The Introit of the Mass is the same as on November 30. Collect : " Let blessed Luke thine evangelist, 0 Lord, we beseech thee, intercede for us, who for the honour of thy holy name continually bore in his body the mortification of the cross.” The wording of the prayer is not very definite, for a later tradition asserted that St Luke ended his life in peace at an advanced age. The Lesson is taken from the second Epistle to the Corinth­ ians, in which St Paul announced that he had sent Titus and Luke to restore peace to that church disturbed by contending factions, and also to make a collection for the Christians in Palestine. The terms he applies to Luke are remarkable. The praises of the Evangelist are spoken through all the churches; he was specially ordained as the companion of Paul’s travels and apostolate for the greater glory of God. This is the reason why the Greeks give to St Luke the title ’Απόστολου καί Εΰαγγελιστοΰ. We should note, too, the enthusiasm with which Paul speaks of the dignity of the apostolic ministry. Those who participate in it are called apostoli ecclesiarum, gloria Christi. Their vocation is one of mercy, for they are heralds and dispensers of grace : in hanc gratiam quae ministratur a nobis. This grace is so great that St Paul describes it as an “ abund­ ance,” for the preacher of the Gospel seeks to give to souls the fulness of Christ. The Gradual, the alleluiatic verse, and the Communion are those of St Barnabas on June 11. The Gospel, taken from St Luke, is the same as that of December 3, and describes the first mission of the seventy-two disciples of the Lord. These are labourers sent by the master into the fields to toil and to reap, rather than prelates or dignitaries. Their material necessities must therefore be the master’s care, and his divine Providence will succour them in their need. Who, asks St Paul, would consent to make war at his own expense ? Yet the apostle must be poor, must limit his requirements as much as possible, for the less he needs the more free he will be, and the more independent in following his heavenly vocation. Let him not consider the judgements of men in announcing the word of God, and let him speak, not in his own name, but as the herald of another. The blame, if there be any, must fall on him whose envoy he is, for ambasciator non porta pena. . . . Indeed, so true is it that he does not speak or act in his own name (St Paul says : pro Christo legatione fungimur . . . tamquam Deo exhortante per nos) that even if he should work miracles and heal the October 18 183 sick, the apostle must not accept any reward : gratis accepistis, gratis date. The Offertory Mihi autem is the same as on November 30. Secret : ” By these gifts from heaven grant, O Lord, that we may serve thee with a free mind ; so that through the intercession of thy blessed evangelist Luke the offerings which we bring may avail us both unto healing and glory.” To serve God with a free spirit means to rule our flesh and the impulses of our corrupt nature, bridling them by the practice of continual mortification. The medieval Sacramentaries assigned the following Preface to this day : Vere . . . Deus ; et te in tuorum sanctorum meritis gloriosis collaudare, benedicere et predicare ; qui eos dimicantes contra antiqui serpentis machinamenta et Proprii corporis blandimenta, inexpugnabili virtute, Rex gloriae, roborasti. Ex quibus beatus Lucas evangelista tuus, assumpto scuto Fidei, et galea salutis et gladio Spiritus Sancti, et viriliter contra vitiorum incentiva pugnavit, et euangelicae nobis dul­ cedinis fluenta manavit. Unde petimus immensam, Domine, pietatem tuam, ut qui eum tot meritorum donasti praerogativis, nos eius et informes exemplis, et adiuves meritis ; per Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quem. . . . The Antiphon for the Communion, Vos qui sccuti, is that of the feast of St Matthias, February 24. Post-Communion : “ Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that what we have received at thy holy altar may, by the prayers of thy blessed evangelist Luke, sanctify our souls and keep us in safety.” There is a deep meaning beneath these words, that the gift is taken from the holy altar. Upon the altar is laid the sacrifice, and therefore the Holy Eucharist, whilst it is a sacra­ ment of the New Law, is at the same time truly a sacrifice. Now, he who participates in the sacrifice enters into solidarity with the victim, with the altar, and with the divinity to whom it is dedicated. For this reason St Paul forbade the first Christians to eat the flesh which had been sacrificed to idols, or to take any part in such sacrifices. Thus when we receive Holy Communion we share the intentions and the merits of the passion of Christ. OCTOBER 19 St Asterius, Martyr The Martyrology of St Jerome indicates at Ostia to-day : In Hostia, Asteri. The cultus of this saint must have been popular at Rome too, for to-day’s feast is mentioned in an 184 The Sacramentary epigraph of the Cemetery of Commodilla : Paschasius vixit plus minus annus XX fecit fatum IIII idus Octobris VII! ante natale domni Asterii. Depositus in pace. The importance attributed to the octave preceding tnc natalis domni Asterii is worthy of notice. The basilica of the martyr at Ostia is also mentioned in the Libellus precum of the priests Faustinus and Marcellinus agiinst Pope Damasus.1 OCTOBER 19 St Peter of Alcantara, Confessor* Peter Garavito, or Peter of Alcantara as he is called :rom the city of his birth, died on October 18, 1562, and his feast was introduced into the Missal by Clement X. This saint is distinguished by three characteristics. The first of thtse is the incredible severity of the mortification by which like St Paul, he sought to fill up that which was wanting in the Passion of Christ, for the good of the Church. The spirit of the Franciscan Reform, initiated in the new so-called province of St Joseph by his endeavours, is one of great penance and extreme poverty. The second characteristic of St Peter of Alcantara is the abundance of mystical gifts and the grace of sublime con­ templation received by him in reward for his austerities. Thirdly, St Peter is distinguished by the active part he took in the reform of the Carmelite Order initiated by St Teresa. He was the first to examine and approve of the spirit of this reform. St Teresa, for her part, declared that she had never asked anything of the Lord through the merits of Brother Peter which she had not obtained. The Mass Justus is the same as on January 31, for St Peter Nolasco, except the following parts. Collect : “ O God, who didst vouchsafe to make thy blessed confessor Peter illustrious by the grace of marvellous penance and lofty contemplation ; grant, we beseech thee, that, by his merits, which plead for us, we may so mortify our bodies as to embrace the more readily the things of heaven.” The Collect is inspired by the words of St Paul in which he declares that the earthly man cannot discern the things of the spirit. Blessed arc those whose interior sight is pure, for they shall understand the things of God. 1 P.L. XIII, c. xxii, p. 99. October 19 185 The Epistle, in which the Apostle speaks of his renunciation of the privileges of his race in order to win Christ, occurs also on January 15 for the feast of St Paul the Hermit. The Secret and the Post-Communion are those of July 19, the feast of St Vincent de Paul. We should bear in mind certain memorable words spoken by St Peter of Alcantara. After his death he appeared to St Teresa and said to her : “ Blessed be the penances which earned for me such great glory.” OCTOBER 20 St John of Kenty, Confessor* St John of Kenty died on December 24, 1473, but Clement XIV appointed his feast to be kept on this day. The life of this saint is distinguished in Catholic hagiography by a characteristic which causes it to be of actual interest to us to-day, and well suited to be a model to the present generation. St John was a parish priest and a missionary, but, above all, he is remarkable for having fulfilled during many years the duties of a professor at the University of Cracow. There may be many who hold that the position of a teacher at a university, who is apt to be enamoured of his own learning, is scarcely suited to the practice of Christian perfection. John of Kenty has dispelled this illusion, and has proved that the example of a holy life lends authority to a master’s teaching far more than would self-sufficiency. More than once this holy professor visited the Eternal City and spent long hours in prayer at the tombs of the Apostles and martyrs. He was once asked why he set out on such a dangerous journey, as he did not intend to seek for benefices or honours at the Roman court, and he replied that he did so in order to accomplish his purgatory upon earth, and to gain the numerous indulgences granted to those who visit the basilicas of the Apostles in Rome. John of Kenty was marked during his life-time by a great generosity towards the poor, and, after his death, God dis­ tinguished him by a number of miracles. The following Mass dwells upon the charity of the holy professor. The Introit is taken from Ecclesiasticus xviii, 12, 13. The charity of man only stretches forth to those about him, whereas the mercy of God embraces the whole world. The Lord is merciful, and, like a shepherd, he guides and directs his flock. Apart from the allusion which this verse contains to 186 The Sacramentavy St John’s teaching and almsgiving, we should consider the contrast between human and divine goodness set forth in tliis passage. Men are slow to love, and when they love it is generally without fervour and often from interested motives and only for a time. God alone loves for ever and with his whole being. We should, therefore, put more confidence in the love of God and trust less in that of man. The first verse of Psalm i follows, and has evidently been chosen because of the allusion to the seat of learning. Psalm i. “ Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence.” The Epistle is taken from the Canonical Letter of St James, ii, 12-17, where the Brother of the Lord explains that faith is nourished by charity, as a flame feeds on that which it consumes. Christianity is not merely a theory, then, but a life. Faith is light, it is the eye of the spirit, but the light would shine in vain, the eye would be useless if there were no object to be illuminated, none to be seen. The Gradual is taken from Psalm cvi, where the mercy of Providence is praised, and illustrated in four beautiful images of the wayfarers, the prisoners, those who suffer hunger, and of those who go down to the sea in ships. The alleluiatic verse is taken from Proverbs xxxi : "Alleluia, alleluia. He hath opened his hand to the needy, and stretched out his hands to the poor. Alleluia.” The Offertory is chosen from Job xxix, 14-16 : " I was clad with justice, and I clothed myself with my judgement, as with a robe and a diadem : I was an eye to the blind and a foot to the lame : I was the father of the poor.” Secret : “ Graciously receive these victims, O Lord, we beseech thee, for the sake of the merits of the holy John thy confessor ; and grant that by loving thee above all things, and all mankind for thy sake, we may become well-pleasing to thee both in will and in deed.” The teaching of the Church, and that of the holy Scriptures, insist upon the necessity of practising the works of mercy. We should impress upon our minds that it is not enough to be faithful to our resolutions concerning our spiritual life, the frequenting of the sacraments, and the time devoted to prayer. We must also devote ourselves to the poor, as to God himself, for he has willed that the needy should represent him on earth. The Communion is taken from St Luke vi, 38 : “ Give, and it shall be given to you : good measure and pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall they give into your bosom.” October 20 187 He who gives to the poor, lends to God at a high rate of interest, and the Lord often gives back the capital and the interest in this world. In any case, even if God withholds the full payment until the next life, he gives to us here instead of the material bread which we bestow on the poor, the sacred bread of angels which nourishes our souls for immortality. Post-Communion : “ We who have been fed with the delights of thy precious body and blood, humbly beg thy mercy, O Lord ; so that through the example and merits of blessed John thy confessor we may follow him in his charity and share with him his glory.” The Holy Eucharist stimulates our charity, for St John says that as Christ sacrificed himself for us, so we, too, should sacrifice ourselves for our brethren. OCTOBER 21 St Hilarion, Abbot* This disciple of St Antony, who spread the monastic ob­ servance through Palestine, Greece and Sicily, died in 371, and became popular in the Middle Ages owing to his miracles and also to the fact that his biography was written by the great St Jerome. The last words of St Hilarion have been recorded : " Go forth, O my soul, what do you fear ? You have served Christ for seventy years, do you now fear death ? ” The famous hermit had fought for so many years under the banner of Christ and yet he was not sure of his salvation. We who do so little for God should not expect to enter Heaven easily. The Mass is that of St Sabbas, on December 5. OCTOBER 2i St Ursula and her Companions, Martyrs* The most ancient document concerning the cultus of this group of virgins is an inscription composed by a certain Clematius, who caused the sepulchral basilica at the place of their martyrdom at Cologne to be restored. DIVINIS · FLAMMEIS · VISIONIB · FREQVENTER ADMONITVS · ET · VIRTVTIS · MAGNAE · MAI IESTATIS · MARTYRII · CAELESTIVM · VIRGIN IMMINENTIVM · EX · PARTIB · ORIENTIS 188 The Sacramentary EXHIBITVS · PRO · VOTO · CLEMATIVS · V. · C. · DE PROPRIO · IN · LOCO ’ SVO · HANC · BASILICAM VOTO · QVOD · DEBEBAT · A · FVNDAMENTIS RESTITVIT · si · qvis · avtem · svper · tantam MAIIESTATEM · HVIIVS · BASILICAE · VBI · SANC TAE · VIRGINES · PRO · NOMINE · XPI · SAN GVINEM · SVVM · FVDERVNT · CORPVS · ALICVIIS DEPOSVERIT · EXCEPTIS · VIRGINIB · SCIAT · SE SEMPITERNIS · TARTARI · IGNIB · PVNIENDVM " Clematius, descendant of a senatorial family and an Eastern by birth, having been admonished many times by celestial lights and visions to honour the merit and the majesty of the martyrdom of the holy Virgins, fulfilled his vow by restoring from the very foundations this basilica erected on his own land. If therefore any man should lay the body of another besides those of the Virgins within the vener­ able precincts of this basilica where the holy martyrs shed their blood for Christ, let that man know that he will be punished in the eternal fire of hell.” At Rome, too, there were two churches dedicated to St Ursula. The first of these is mentioned in the Mirabilia, and stood near the bridge of Sant’ Angelo : secretarium Neronis fuisse, ubi deinde fuit Ecclesia sancti Ursi. . . ,1 It was destroyed towards the end of the nineteenth century. Legends grew up around the history of the martyrdom oi Ursula and her companions, and converted it into a most complicated drama. The truth probably is that this group of virgins suffered for the faith in the territory of Colonia Agrippina towards the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century. Their names, according to the ancient Martyrologies, were : Martha, Saula, Brittula, Gregoria, Satumina, Sambatia, Pinnosa, Ursula, Sentia, Palladia, Saturia, dementia and Grata. The well-known legend grew up much later, for Ado does not mention it. After the eleventh century popular tradition only kept the names of Ursula and Pinnosa. The Mass is that of St Barbara on December 4, but with the Collect and Secret of the natalis of the Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas on March 6. The Post-Communion is as follows : “ Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, through the intercession of thy holy virgins and martyrs Ursula and her companions, that what we take into our mouths we may receive with a clean heart.” 1 Armcllmi, Lc Chicse di Roma (ii Ed.), 354.