Feast Day: December 17^th

This week, our story begins with the day’s page from the Roman Martyrology. On the one hand, this is simply an extensive (though not exhaustive) list of the Church’s saints, giving a miniature summation of their lives, depicting in short form why each is a saint we should emulate. Yet this simple document, as it lists the saints who have entered heaven on day after day after day sparkles with lives lived out of God’s grace. On the nondescript day of December 17^th, we discover countless men and women who have gone ahead of us into the Eternal Life offered to us as well.

At Eleutheropolis, in Palestine, the holy martyrs Florian, Calanicus and their fifty-eight companions, who were massacred by the Saracens for the faith of Christ, in the time of the emperor Heraclius. 

At Marseilles, in France, blessed Lazarus, bishop, who was raised from the dead by our Lord, as we read in the Gospel.

At Rome, St. John de Matha, founder of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives. His festival is observed on the 8th of February, according to the decree of Innocent XI.

In the monastery of Fulda, the holy abbot Sturmius, abbot and apostle of Saxony, who was ranked among the saints by Innocent II., in the second Council of Lateran.

At Bigarden, near Brussels, St. Vivina, virgin, whose eminent sanctity is attested by frequent miracles.

At Constantinople, St. Olympiades, widow.

At Andenne, at the Seven Churches, St. Begga, widow, sister of St. Gertrude. 

…

And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors and holy virgins.

Thanks be to God.

Please spend a few moments contemplating these holy men and women. Perhaps you look up Eleutheropolis and discover that the city where those 60 Christians were martyred is now in the West Bank. Can those holy men and women offer hope to those killed, and suffering, on that same soil today? Can they pray for us to see, as they did, that eternal life is a far greater good than earthly life, yet both are gifts from God that we must protect?

Or, you notice Lazarus, and realize that this beloved friend of Jesus, raised from his grave, made his way carrying the Gospel all the way to Marseilles and there shepherded a fledgling community of Christians. When has God marvelously given you a new chance at life? And, have you used it to similarly proclaim His Salvation?

Can St. John de Matha, who founded the Trinitarian Order which we recalled a few weeks ago on the feast of St. Chrysogonus (they care for his relics), stir our hearts – as Our Lord asks – to consider where people around us remain captive, and work to free them from their shackles? Do we see them as Christ to such an extent that we would risk our own lives to bring them Christ’s Freedom?

St. Sturminus reminds us of the sanctity, and power, of remaining faithful to whatever responsibility God has given to us. Synods still debate, heresies still rage, Popes still reign, and pagans still need Jesus, but what if you and I today just took care of our inner monastery, our domestic Church, our little parcel of God’s vineyard?

Sweeping across continents, and across centuries, now we consider St. Vivina’s simplicity. Surely she had great hopes and dreams and plans and prayers, but the miracles and wonders we marvel at only happened after her death. Can we be content with being little saints? Can we be committed to being little saints? Can we be saints in little things?

Finally, looking at the double example of St. Olymbiades and St. Begga, known soley for their being widowed, and becoming saints. Do you mourn the loss, or expect to lose, someone near to you? Could St. Olymbiades, a humble saint from a big city, show you how to let Christ consecrate your grief? Can St. Begga, a sister and friend, show you how to keep loving through that pain?

– Fr. Dominic is struck not only by the fact that these saints show us holiness across all locations, and ages, of the Church, and not only in every different situation and walk of life, but that they also sanctify even the time that they occupied, especially the day on which they left this world for heaven. One of the days of the year will be my, and your, feast-day as well. What if ours was December 17^th too? Are we ready? Are we preparing? Are we looking forward to that day? 

In my previous article, I noted that the General Instruction of the Roman Missal identifies seven main elements of the Eucharistic Prayer.  We reflected last week on the first element of thanksgiving, which leads into the second element: acclamation.  Here is what we read in the GIRM:

The acclamation, by which the whole congregation, joining with the heavenly powers, sings the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy). This acclamation, which constitutes part of the Eucharistic Prayer itself, is pronounced by all the people with the Priest. (GIRM, 79)

It has been a few articles since I referenced Venerable Bruno Lanteri’s beautiful reflections on praying the Mass by seeking the sentiments and the heart of some biblical figure who helps us to better pray those different moments in the liturgy.  So let us return to his thoughts as we begin the Eucharistic Prayer.  As the Preface is prayed and the Sanctus is sung, Lanteri proposes the following image: “At the Preface, I will seek the sentiments and the heart of the Heavenly Court.”  Father Timothy Gallagher, the author of the book from which these reflections come, writes:

When we pray, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts.  Heaven and earth are full of your glory,” we say this together with the Heavenly Court…when the priest prays the Preface, you join your heart to his words as you listen, and when you say or sing the Holy, Holy, Holy, you are praying with the angels, archangels, and all the heavenly host?  (A Biblical Way of Praying the Mass, p. 58 of Kindle version of book)

At this point of the Mass, I sometimes just close my eyes and picture the scene of being surrounded by saints and angels who are all gathered around the throne of the lamb to worship Him.  I find this especially helpful if the number of people at Mass might not be that many.  What we see with our human eyes may be somewhat disappointing, but what we see with our eyes of faith is extremely encouraging and consoling.  Though the angels are not taking up space, I imagine them standing in every place where there is a gap in the pews, lining all of the aisles, and filling up the sanctuary.

I go back to the reflection I wrote a few weeks ago of my experience of the closing Mass for our Eucharistic Congress.  Looking around the arena, the space was filled with people who were praising God together, a foretaste of what we await in the heavenly liturgy.  But even there, with nearly 5000 people in attendance, think of how much more impressive the sight was from Heaven, where that multitude beyond counting was present with us, singing Holy, Holy, Holy to the Lord of Hosts.

To the skeptic who lives only in this world and for this world, such a vision may seem ridiculous or childish, but for us who are called to be childlike when we approach the Lord, it makes perfect sense and we are filled with joy to be joining in this amazing prayer with the entire Church – those in Heaven and on earth, from every time – past present and future.  What a gift the Mass is for us who believe!

Father Alford     

Feast Day: December 10^th

The date was November 2^nd, 1591. William Shakespeare was at that time putting the finishing touches on his play, Henry VI, Part 1. Uncannily anticipating the Marvel Cinematic Universe by centuries, this play would eventually stand alongside seven further plays of the next several years, prequals and sequels enthralling thousands with their interconnected depiction of the heroes, heroines, and villains involved in the rise of the English Kings and War of the Roses. 

Mr. Swithun Wells – a poet, schoolmaster, European traveler, country gentleman, and revert to Catholicism – was the owner of a comfortable country home near Gray’s Inn, on the (then) outskirts of London, just across the Thames from where Shakespeare’s play would debut 6 months later. Swithun was, on that chilly morning, regretting that he wasn’t home because his wife, Margaret (or Alice) and three gentlemen, John Mason, Sidney Hodgson, and Brian Lacey, were participating in a Mass celebrated at the Wells home by Fr. Edmund Gennings. Two other priests, Fr. Eustace White (31) and Fr. Polydore Plasden (27) were also present, but must have offered the younger priest the privilege of celebrating Mass on the feast of All Souls.

Perhaps Fr. Edmund asked if he could. He had been ordained one year before and was only 24 years old. His nickname from seminary, turned his codename in the underground Catholic Church under Elizabethan England, was “Ironmonger.” (Hilariously, this is the name of a Marvel comic-book character who tries to takeover Tony Stark’s company and gain control of his Ironman technology). Fr. Edmund had lost all of his immediate family except for a brother while in seminary in France (a loss made all the more tragic by their previous rejection of him for his choice to remain Catholic, and become a Catholic priest). No doubt he offered some of those sorrows to God, and entrusted the souls of his estranged and fallen-away parents to the Lord, while celebrating Mass on that solemn feast. 

As the Consecration was concluding, heavy fists beat upon the door. Richard Topcliffe, the remorseless and vicious priest-hunter of Queen Elizabeth I had arrived. He was renowned for his tenacity in hunting down Catholics, especially priests, and torturing them to death in all sorts of horrible ways. Certainly, his reputation was known to those in the room as they held the door against Her Majesty’s forces while Fr. Edmund finished offering Mass. Swithun, hurrying back, having been arrested before, knew what to expect too, when he joined his wife, the three priests, and the other men as they were captured.

Topcliffe would torture each man over the coming weeks (Alice was pardoned for the moment) killing them all on December 10^th 1591. He hung Fr. White for eight hours in iron manacles. The priest’s only reply: “Lord, more pain if Thou pleases and more patience.” Also martyred at Tyburn, Fr. Polydore’s proclamation before being hung as a traitor was to acknowledge and pray for Elizabeth, but that he could not deny His Savior for her: “I am a Catholic priest, therefore I would never fight, nor counsel others to fight against my religion, for that were to deny my faith.” Looking up to heaven and kissing the rope on which he would hang, he continued, “O Christ, I will never deny Thee for a thousand lives.” The three laymen were likewise killed at Tyburn.

On the same day Swithun watched the gibbit rise near his home for his own execution. Fr. Gennings was hung (and drawn and quartered) first and, amid his tortures, only said “Saint Gregory, pray for me.” In a turn of phrase that could have just as easily been spoken by a comic-book villain, his executioner was said to have exclaimed “Zounds! See, his heart is in my hand, and yet Gregory is in his mouth. O egregious Papist.” The priest’s words, though, gave courage to Mr. Wells, who jested with Topcliffe’s insults as he mounted the scaffold, but then asked his torturer’s pardon for he needed to turn his mind to more important matters. Genning’s words would, unbeknownst to him, also bring about the conversion of his scornful brother, John, who would go on to be ordained a Franciscan priest:

 [John, writing this himself in the third-person] made long discourses concerning his religion and his brother’s, comparing the Catholic manner of living with his, and finding the one to embrace pain and mortification, and the other to seek pleasure. the one to live strictly, and the other licentiously; the one to fear sin, the other to run into all kinds of sin. Upon this, being struck with exceeding terror and remorse, he wept bitterly, desiring God, after his fashion, to illuminate his understanding that he might see and perceive the truth. Oh! what great joy and consolation did he feel at that instant; what reverence on the sudden did he begin to bear to the Blessed Virgin and to the Saints of God, which before he had never scarce heard tell of; what strange motions, as it were inspirations, with exceeding readiness of will to change his religion, took possession of his soul; and what a heavenly conceit had he now of his dear brother’s felicity! He imagined he saw him; he thought he heard him. In this ecstasy of mind, he made a vow upon the spot, as he lay prostrate on the ground, To forsake kindred and country to find out the true knowledge of his brother’s faith; which vow he soon after performed, and departed England without advertising any one of his friends, and went beyond the seas to execute his promise.

– Fr. Dominic invites you this week to join him in imagining yourself at that last Mass of Fr. Gennings. What would their thoughts be while receiving Holy Communion as Topcliffe battered the door? What are yours, and mine, as we receive Jesus ourselves?

Last week, I introduced the Eucharistic Prayer and quoted that important line in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal that this part of the Mass is “the center and high point of the entire celebration.” (GIRM, 78)

The GIRM explains that there are seven main elements of the Eucharistic Prayer, beginning fittingly with thanksgiving.  We read the following:

The thanksgiving (expressed especially in the Preface), in which the Priest, in the name of the whole of the holy people, glorifies God the Father and gives thanks to him for the whole work of salvation or for some particular aspect of it, according to the varying day, festivity, or time of year.

(GIRM, 79)

The invitation to thanksgiving begins with that powerful exchange between celebrant and congregation which begins every Preface:

Extending his hands, he says: The Lord be with you.
The people reply:  And with your spirit.
The Priest, raising his hands, continues: Lift up your hearts.
The people:  We lift them up to the Lord.
The Priest, with hands extended, adds: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
The people: It is right and just.

Most prefaces then continue to emphasize thanksgiving with these or similar words:

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.

Since this dialog and the first words of the Preface are almost always identical, we know that this is another one of those places in the Mass where we can easily fall into our routine responses, given more out of muscle memory that out of true devotion and thanksgiving.

Think about how radical these words are, though.  In our hearts, we let the priest celebrant speak on our behalf that it is “right and just” for us to give thanks “always and everywhere.”  This echoes the sentiment of St. Paul who wrote: “Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing.  In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

When we truly enter into this prayer, we acknowledge that all that we have is a gift, and for that we thank God for His abundant generosity.  But we also thank Him for those things in our lives which we do not consider blessings – such as sufferings, disappointments, and discouragements.  But we believe what St. Paul also tells us, “that all things work for the good for those who love God.” (Rom 8:28)  We may not always feel like giving thanks to God for these things, but as we pray, so we must believe, that it is ”truly right and just” for us to do so.  And if we are having trouble reconciling that tension of saying something we do not yet fully believe, we take comfort in trusting that the gifts offered on the altar are about to be transformed into the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of Jesus, so too may our half-hearted offering of thanks be transformed into a pleasing sacrifice of thanks to the Lord for everything. This includes all that He has given, and all that He has allowed in His Providence for us to experience.  For nothing is outside of the Lord’s awareness, and there is nothing He does not desire to heal and bless through His abundant generosity.  For that, we give thanks!

Father Alford     

Feast Day: November 30^th | Patronage: of Scotland, Barbados, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Patras, and Burgundy; for Fishermen, Fishmongers, Rope & Textile Makers, Singers, Butchers, Farm-Workers; Protects against Fever, Cough, Convulsions, Sore throats, and for Pregnant women | Iconography: Holding Book or Scroll (as Apostle), Leaning on Saltire (X/Diagonal Cross; from his martyrdom), With Fishing Net (as Fisherman), With Crazy White Hair (Because Making Disciples does that to you).

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

– Matthew 4:18-20

If you will, put yourself in this scene, in the sandals of Simon and Andrew. They were fishermen, living in Capernaum, going out on the Sea of Galilee to catch fish and sell them to makes ends meet. Not a particularily prominent industry, but important. Simon has a Aramaic name, but his younger brother Andrew has a Greek name, which immediately brings to mind the mix of Jews and Greeks that lived up here, as well as the Roman governors who kept an eye on things, and levied a tax on the brothers every time they caught a fish.

Then they encountered John the Baptist and these were the kind of men who took the prophetic character seriously. Something about this man from the desert – calling out sin, calling for repentance, claiming the messiah was on his way – captured their solid, hardworking, but faithful hearts. Later in the Gospels Andrew’s being practical, pragmatic, and hardy is reinforced. He’s the guy who pointed out the kid with five loaves and two fish before the multiplication in Galilee (John 6:8-9). He is also the one when Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple to push aside his horror and ask “when will this be?” (Mark 13:4) 

But it is also Andrew (with Philip, the two apostles with Greek names) who bring some Greeks who were in Jerusalem for the Passover to meet Jesus.  Now, this is right before His passion, so it displays that same pragmatic bent: “well, I don’t know what to say to them … and I know Jesus has things on His mind … but I’m just going to bring them to Him.”  BUT, this little scene brings out something else about Andrew: He invited people to meet Jesus. Here he does it with the Greeks, earlier he did it with Simon his own brother. 

And this is where I hope he can inspire and help all of us this week. He was just a fisherman, nothing special there. He had a certain practical, blue-collar, realistic approach to just about anything. Yet this does not slow him down from making disciples of those around him. He doesn’t give some glorious, convincing, engaging pitch. He doesn’t have the mind to win arguments or write epistles. He isn’t, at this beginning, working miracles or convicting sinners. He doesn’t even seem to have the closest relationship to Jesus (compared to Peter, James, or John) or have some sort of leg-up on the spiritual life. He just knows something about who Jesus is, how Jesus has called him, and he just extends the invitation to concrete people around him.

Our challenge this week: I want all of us to consider how we have come to follow Jesus, and then tell that story to one other person. Four steps (these are all from Acts 26, when St. Paul gives his testimony to Agrippa!):

1. My life before knowing Jesus intimately – What was I like socially, spiritually, emotionally before Christ impacted me? (Paul speaks about his devotion to Judaism, how it prepared, but also closed him off to Jesus.)
2. How I came to know Jesus, and His Church – What happened when I encountered Jesus (perhaps in a new, or gradual way)? Who or what brought me into deeper relationship with Jesus? (Paul talks about the road to Damascus.)
3. Life in Christ – How do I live now? What has changed inside my heart, in my actions, in my plans or dreams? (Paul tells of the dramatic conversion that happened in him and how he has now gone to preach the Gospel).
4. What next? – Speak on where Jesus continues to work in you – none of us are finished yet! But, also ask the other person for their response. What if Jesus entered their life? What if they said “yes” to Him? Where might He be inviting them?

– Fr. Dominic hasn’t got this figured out either! And neither did Andrew! But he went from just fishing, to following the messiah, to proclaiming that message to the whole world. But the key was just telling others the story of how he met the Lord.