St Benedict Abbot - 11th July 2009

Overrun by half-civilized pagan and Arian hordes during the fifth century, Italy and the entire Mediterranean world was falling back into barbarism. The Church was torn by conflict, city and country alike were made desolate by war and pillage, violence was rampant among Christians as well as heathen. During this anarchic time appeared one of the noblest of the Fathers of the Western Church—St. Benedict of Nursia, founder of the great order which bears his name. We know little of his background, save that he was born about the year 480 at Nursia, in the province of Umbria, in north central Italy, and that his family was probably of noble lineage. We also know that he had a sister called Scholastica, who from childhood vowed herself to God.

Sent to Rome to be educated, young Benedict was quickly revolted by the licentiousness of his fellow students. He was not yet twenty when he decided to go away from Rome to live in some remote spot. No one knew of his plan except an aged family servant, who loyally insisted on accompanying him to serve his wants. Benedict and this old woman made their way to a village called Enfide, in the Sabine Mountains, some thirty miles from Rome. In the , St. Gregory gives us a series of remarkable incidents associated with Benedict's life, one of them occurring at this time. While staying in the village, Benedict miraculously mended an earthen sieve which his servant had broken. Wishing to escape the notice and the talk which this brought upon him, he soon started out alone in search of complete solitude. Up among the hills he found a place known as Subiaco or Sublacum (beneath the lake), so named from an artificial lake created there some five centuries earlier. It was near the ruins of one of Nero's palaces. He made the acquaintance of a monk called Romanus, and to him Benedict revealed his desire to become a hermit. Romanus, who lived in a monastery not far away, gave the young man a monastic habit made of skins and led him up to an isolated cave, where he might live completely undisturbed. The roof of the cave was an overhanging rock over which descent was impossible, and it was approached from below with difficulty In this desolate cavern Benedict passed the next three years, unknown to all but his friend Romanus, who each day saved for him a part of his own portion of bread and let it down from above in a basket by a rope.

According to Pope Gregory, the first outsider to find his way to the cave was a priest, who while preparing a special dinner for himself on Easter Sunday heard a voice saying to him: "Thou art preparing thyself a savoury dish while my servant Benedict is afflicted with hunger." The priest immediately set out in search of Benedict, and finally discovered his hiding place. Benedict was astonished, but before he would enter into conversation with his visitor he asked that they might pray together. Then, after they had talked for a time on heavenly things, the priest invited Benedict to eat, telling him that it was Easter Day, on which it is not reasonable to fast. Later Benedict was seen by some shepherds, who at first glance took him for a wild animal because he was clothed in the skins of beasts. It did not occur to them that a human being could live among the barren rocks. From that time on, others made their way up the steep cliff, bringing such small offerings of food as the holy man would accept and receiving from him instruction and advice.

Even though he lived thus sequestered from the world, Benedict, like the Desert Fathers, had to struggle with temptations of the flesh and the devil. One of these struggles is described by Gregory. "On a certain day when he was alone the tempter presented himself. A small dark bird, commonly called a blackbird, began to fly around his face and came so near him that, if he had wished, he could have seized it with his hand. But on his making the sign of the cross, the bird flew away. Then followed a violent temptation of the flesh, such as he had never before experienced. The evil spirit brought before his imagination a woman whom he had formerly seen, and inflamed his heart with such vehement desire at the memory of her that he had very great difficulty in repressing it. He was almost overcome and thought of leaving his solitude. Suddenly, however, with the help of divine grace, he found the strength he needed. Seeing near at hand a thick growth of briars and nettles, he stripped off his habit and cast himself into the midst of them and plunged and tossed about until his whole body was lacerated. Thus, through those bodily wounds, he cured the wounds of his soul." Never again was he troubled in the same way.

Between Tivoli and Subiaco, at Vicovaro, on the summit of a fortified rock overlooking the Anio, there lived at that time a community of monks. Having lost their abbot by death, they now came in a body to ask Benedict to accept the office, no doubt with the idea that his growing fame would attract offerings to their community. He at first refused, assuring the monks that their ways and his would not agree. At length they persuaded him to return with them. It soon became evident that the severe monastic discipline he instituted did not suit their lax habits, and in order to get rid of him they finally poisoned his wine. When, as was his habit, he made the sign of the cross over the cup, it broke as if a stone had fallen on it. "God forgive you, brothers," Benedict said serenely. "Why have you plotted this wicked thing against me? Did I not tell you beforehand that my ways would not accord with yours? Go and find an abbot to your taste, for after what you have done you can no longer keep me with you." Then he bade them farewell and returned to Subiaco.

Disciples now began to gather around Benedict, attracted by his sanctity and by his miraculous powers. At last he found himself in a position to initiate the great work for which God had been preparing him. This was the idea that had slowly been germinating during his years of isolation: to bring together those who wished to share the monastic life, both men of the world who yearned to escape material concerns and the monks who had been living in solitude or in widely scattered communities, to make of them one flock, binding them by fraternal bonds, under one observance, in the permanent worship of God. In short, his scheme was for the establishment in the West of a single great religious order which would end the capricious rule of the various superiors and the vagaries of individual anchorites. Those who agreed to obey Benedict in this enterprise, he settled in twelve monasteries of twelve monks each. Although each monastery had its own prior, Benedict himself exercised general control over all of them from the monastery of St. Clement.

They had no written rule, although they may at first have been guided by the Eastern Rule of St. Basil. According to one old record, they simply followed the example of Benedict's deeds. Romans and barbarians, rich and poor, came to place themselves under a monk who made no distinction of rank or nation. Parents brought their young sons, for, in the prevailing chaos, the safest and happiest way of life seemed to be that of the monk. Gregory tells us of two noble Romans, Tertullus, a patrician, and Equitius, who came with their small sons, Placidus, a child of seven, and Maurus, a lad of twelve. They were the forerunners of the great hosts of boys, in succeeding centuries, who were to be educated in Benedictine schools. On these two aristocratic young Romans, especially on Maurus, who afterwards became his coadjutor, Benedict expended his utmost care.

Gregory tells also of a rough untutored Goth who came to Benedict, was gladly received, and clothed in the monastic habit. As he was working one day with a hedgehook to clear the underbrush from a sloping piece of ground above the lake, the head of the hook flew off and disappeared into the water. When Benedict heard of the accident, he led the man to the water's edge, took from him the shaft, and dipped it into the lake. Immediately from the bottom rose the iron head and fastened itself in the shaft, whereat Benedict returned it to the astonished Goth, saying in a kindly voice, "Take your tool; work and be comforted." One of Benedict's greatest accomplishments was to break down in his monasteries the ancient prejudice against manual work as something in itself degrading and servile. The Romans had for centuries made slaves of conquered peoples, who performed their menial tasks. Now times were changing. Benedict introduced the novel idea that labor was not only dignified and honorable but conducive to sanctity; it was therefore made compulsory for all who joined the order, nobles and plebeians alike. "He who works prays," became the maxim which expressed the Benedictine attitude.

We do not know how long Benedict remained in the neighborhood of Subiaco, but he stayed long enough certainly to establish his monasteries there on a firm and permanent basis. His departure seems to have been unpremeditated. There was living in the neighborhood an unworthy priest called Florentius, who was bitterly envious of the success of Benedict's organization and of the great concourse of people who were flocking to him. Florentius tried to ruin him by slander; then he sent him a poisoned loaf, which failed of its purpose. Finally he set out to corrupt Benedict's monks by introducing into their garden women of evil life. Benedict realized Florentius' malicious schemes were directed at him personally and he resolved to leave Subiaco, lest the souls of his spiritual sons should be further assailed. Having set all things in order, he summoned the monks, or their representatives, from the twelve monasteries, bade them farewell, and withdrew with a few disciples from Subiaco to the more southerly territory of Monte Cassino, a conspicuous elevation where land had been offered him by Placidus' father, the patrician Tertullus.

The town of Cassino, formerly an important place, had been destroyed by the Goths, and the remnant of its inhabitants, left without a priest, were relapsing into paganism; the once-fertile land had fallen out of cultivation. From time to time the inhabitants would climb up through the woods to offer sacrifices in an ancient temple dedicated to Apollo, which stood on the crest of Monte Cassino. Benedict's first work, after a preliminary forty-day fast, was to preach to the people and win them back to the faith. With the help of these converts, he proceeded to overthrow the pagan temple and cut down the sacred grove. He built two oratories or chapels on the site; one he dedicated to St. John the Baptist and the other to St. Martin. Round about these sanctuaries new buildings were erected and older ones remodeled, until there rose, little by little, the tremendous pile which was to become the most famous abbey the world has known. The foundation was laid by Benedict probably about the year 520.

Profiting no doubt by his earlier experience, Benedict did not distribute his monks in separate houses, but gathered them together in one great establishment, ruled over by a prior and deans under his own direction. Almost immediately it became necessary to build guest chambers, for Monte Cassino[1] was easily accessible from Rome, Capua, and other points. Among the early visitors were Placidus' father, who came to confirm his donation, and Maurus' father, who bestowed more lands and churches on Benedict. Another generous benefactor was Gregory's father, Gordianus, who in the name of his wife Sylvia gave Benedict the Villa Euchelia in the suburbs of Aquinum, not far away, and other valuable property. Not only laymen but dignitaries of the Church, bishops and abbots, came to consult with the founder, whose reputation for sanctity, wisdom, and miracles was spreading.

It was probably during this period that Benedict composed his famous Rule.[2] Gregory says that in it may be perceived "all his own manner of life and discipline, for the holy man could not possibly teach otherwise than as he lived." Although the Rule professes only to lay down a pattern of life for the monks at Monte Cassino, it served as a guide for the monks of the whole Western Empire. It is addressed to all who, renouncing their own will, take upon them "the strong and bright armor of obedience, to fight under our Lord Christ, our true king." It prescribes a diversified routine of liturgical prayer, study, and physical work, in a community under one father. It was written for laymen by one who was not a priest; only after some five hundred years were clerical orders required of Benedictines. Its asceticism was intended to be reasonable; the monks abstained from flesh meat and did not break fast until mid-day. Self-imposed and abnormal austerities damaging to health were not encouraged. When a hermit who lived in a cave near Monte Cassino chained his foot to a rock, Benedict, to whom he looked for direction, sent him the message, "If thou art truly a servant of God, chain thyself not with a chain of iron but with a chain of Christ."

Far from confining his attention to those who accepted his Rule, Benedict extended his solicitude to the people of the countryside. He cured the sick, relieved the distressed, distributed alms and food to the poor, and is said on more than one occasion to have raised the dead. When Campania suffered from a famine, he gave away all the provisions stored in the abbey, with the exception of five loaves. "You have not enough today," he said to his monks, noticing their dismay, "but tomorrow you will have too much." Benedict's faith had its reward. The next morning a large donation of flour was deposited by unknown hands at the monastery gate. Other stories were told of prophetic powers and of an ability to read men's thoughts. A nobleman he had converted once found him in tears and inquired the cause of his grief. Benedict astounded him by replying that the monastery and everything in it would be delivered to the pagans, and the monks would barely escape with their lives. This prophecy came true some forty years later, when the abbey was wrecked by a new wave of invaders, the pagan Lombards.

Meanwhile, Totila, King of the Goths, had defeated the Emperor Justinian's army at Faenza and in 542 was making a triumphal progress through central Italy towards Naples. On the way he wished to visit Benedict, of whom he had heard marvelous tales. He therefore sent word of his coming to the famous abbot, who replied that he would see him. To discover whether Benedict really possessed the supernatural insight attributed to him, Totila ordered Riggo, captain of the guard, to don his own purple robes, and sent him, with the three counts who usually attended him, up to Monte Cassino. The trick did not deceive Benedict, who greeted Riggo with the words, "My son, take off what thou art wearing; it is not thine." Confounded, Riggo threw himself at Benedict's feet and then withdrew in haste to report to his master.

Totila now came himself to the abbey and, we are told, was so awed by Benedict that he fell prostrate. Benedict, raising him from the ground, rebuked him sternly for his cruelties and foretold in a few words all that should befall him. "Much evil," he said, "dost thou do and much wickedness hast thou done. Now, at least, make an end of iniquity. Rome thou shalt enter; thou wilt cross the sea; nine years thou shalt reign, and die the tenth." Totila begged for his prayers and departed, and from that time on, people said, was less cruel. In course of time he advanced on Rome, sailed thence to Sicily, and in the tenth year, lost both his crown and his life.[3] Benedict did not live long enough to see the prophecy fulfilled.

He who had foretold so many things was forewarned of his own death, and six days before the end bade his disciples dig a grave. As soon as this was done, Benedict was stricken with a fever, and on the sixth day, while the brethren supported him, he murmured a few words of prayer and died, standing, with hands uplifted towards Heaven. He was buried beside his sister Scholastica,[4] on the site of the altar of Apollo which he had thrown down. In art Benedict is commonly represented with King Totila, or with his finger on his lips, holding the Rule, or with the opening words, "," ("Hearken, O son") proceeding from his mouth. His symbols are reminders of various incidents in his life: we see him with a blackbird, a broken sieve, a rose bush, a scourge, a dove, a globe of fire, or a luminous stairway up which he is proceeding to Heaven; occasionally he is depicted with King Totila at his feet. The order which Benedict founded has spread over the earth. It was mainly responsible for the conversion of the Teutonic races, and has left its mark on the education, art, and literature of Europe. Within its cloisters, always marked by an atmosphere of industry and peace, were copied and recopied the great writings of the past, to be cherished and passed on to succeeding generations.



1. . . service, in the organization of which we trust that we shall ordain nothing severe and nothing burdensome. Yet if, prompted by a desire to attain to righteousness, we prescribe something a little irksome for the correction of vice or the preservation of charity, do you not, therefore, in terror flee from the way of salvation, the entrance to which must needs be narrow. For by continuing in this mode of life and faith the heart is enlarged and in the unutterable sweetness of love, we run in the way of God's commandments. Thus never straying from His guidance but persevering in the monastery unto death in His teachings, through patience we become partakers of Christ's passion and worthy heirs of His kingdom. Amen....

2. . An abbot who is worthy to preside over a monastery should always remember what he is called and justify by his deeds his title as a superior. For in the monastery he is looked upon as the representative of Christ, since he is called by His name, and the Apostle says: "Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father."[5] So an abbot ought not to teach, institute, or command anything contrary to the precepts of the Lord, but his orders and teachings should be sprinkled in the minds of his disciples with the leaven of divine justice.... He must show no favoritism in the monastery, nor love one more than another, unless it be one whom he finds excelling in good works and obedience. He must not place a man of gentle birth above one lately a serf, except for some other reasonable cause . . . for whether bond or free, we are all one in Christ....

48. . Idleness is the enemy of the soul. At set times, accordingly, the brethren should be occupied with manual work, and again, at set times, with spiritual reading. We believe therefore that the hours for each should be fixed as follows: that is, from Easter to the first of October they should go out early in the morning from Prime[6] and work at what has to be done until about the fourth hour, and from the fourth hour spend their time in reading until about the sixth hour. When they rise from eating, after the sixth hour, they should rest on their beds in complete silence, or if one happens to wish to read let him do so without disturbing anyone else. Let Nones be said in good time, about the middle of the eighth hour; and then let them work again at whatever needs to be done until vespers. And let them not be disturbed if poverty or the necessities of the place compel them to toil at harvesting the crops with their own hands, as did our fathers and the Apostles.... In Lent they shall each receive a book from the library and read it entirely through. These books shall be given out at the beginning of Lent. Above all, have one or two seniors appointed to go around the monastery during the hours for reading to see that no restless brother is by chance idle or chattering and not intent on his reading and so of no profit to himself and a distraction to others.... However, if there is anyone so dull or lazy that he either will not or cannot study or read, let him have some task assigned him which he can perform, so that he may not be idle....

64. . Let him who has been created abbot reflect always on the weighty burden he has assumed and remember to whom he shall give an account of his stewardship. Let him understand too that he is to help others rather than command them.... He must hate vice but love the brethren. Even in his corrections he should act wisely lest while he too vigorously scrubs off the rust the vessel itself is shattered. He shall always bear in mind his own frailty and remember that the bruised reed must not be broken.... And he shall aim at being loved rather than feared.... Wherefore, adopting these and like principles of discretion, mother of virtues, let him so temper all things that the strong man may find scope for action and the weak be not intimidated. And especially let him keep the present Rule in all respects, so that when he has well administered it, he may hear from our Lord what that good servant did who gave meat to his fellow servants in due season.[7] "Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods."

Notes:

1 The monastery of Monte Cassino was destroyed by the Lombards about seventy years later. It was rebuilt and again destroyed, this time by the Saracens in 884; after its second restoration, it enjoyed a period of tranquillity, and in the eleventh century attained its greatest influence. It suffered severely from aerial bombardment during the Allied advance northwards in World War II, but the rebuilding of damaged portions has already begun.

2 "A monument of legislative art, remarkable alike for its completeness, its Simplicitys and its adaptability," wrote H. F. Dudden. The French historian Michelet said that it "gave to a world worn out by slavery the first example of work done by the hands of free men."

3 Totila was killed in the battle of Tagina, fighting against the forces of the Emperor Justinian under Narses. With his death all hope of the Goths for a kingdom in Italy ended. For more background on this period, see , below.

4 St. Scholastica was abbess of a nunnery about five miles south of Monte Cassino. Once a year she visited her brother and they spent the day in song and prayer and conversation. On the day of her death it is said that Benedict, at prayer in his cell, had a vision of his sister's soul ascending to Heaven. Filled with joy at her happiness, he thanked God, and then went out to announce her passing to his brethren.

5 Roman viii, 15 (Father) was used by the early Jews as a title of honor, and by Jesus and his contemporaries of the Deity.

6 Historians differ as to the exact length of the periods of work, rest, and reading, but the office of Prime was said probably between five and six in the morning, and the first hour would be about six, the sixth about noon. In the winter months work did not begin until about an hour later in the morning.

7 See Matthew XXIV, 45-47.

St. Augustine Zhao Rong - 9th July 2009

Saint Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese diocesan priest who was martyred with his 119 companions in 1815. Among their number was an eighteen year old boy, Chi Zhuzi, who cried out to those who had just cut off his right arm and were preparing to flay him alive: "Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian." This optional memorial is new to the USA liturgical calendar and will be inscribed on July 9.

Christianity arrived in China by way of Syria in the 600s. Depending on China's relations with the outside world, Christianity over the centuries was free to grow or was forced to operate secretly.

The 120 martyrs in this group died between 1648 and 1930. Most of them (eighty-seven) were born in China and were children, parents, catechists or laborers, ranging from nine years of age to seventy-two. This group includes four Chinese diocesan priests.

If you visit the Vatican website, there are details about the 120 people who are counted among those martyrs we remember tonight. Most of them died in the 19th century, persecuted during the Boxer Rebellion. Reading about them, you’re struck by several things.

First, are the ages. So many were children. Three, four years old. One was ten months old. Some were teenagers, like 14-year-old Wang Anna…who refused to renounce her faith. Moments before her death, she cried out: “The door of heaven is open to all,” then whispered, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” Seconds later, she was beheaded.

So many of them were also lay people. Mothers and fathers, even entire families. They were people like 18-year-old Chi Zhuzi, who became a Catholic at 17, and was disowned by his family. He was eventually captured and ordered to publicly worship idols. When he refused, they cut off his right arm. He still refused, declaring: “Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian.” He died by mutilation.

And about a quarter of the martyrs weren’t from China. While 87 of them were native Chinese – the first ever to be canonized -- 33 of them were missionaries, from France, or Germany, or Italy, who went to China to proclaim the Kingdom of God…and met bloodshed

The thirty-three foreign-born martyrs were mostly priests or women religious, especially from the Order of Preachers, the Paris Foreign Mission Society, the Friars Minor, Jesuits, Salesians and Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.

Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese soldier who accompanied Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse (Paris Foreign Mission Society) to his martyrdom in Beijing. Augustine was baptized and not long after was ordained as a diocesan priest. He was martyred in 1815. Beatified in groups at various times, these 120 martyrs were canonized in Rome on October 1, 2000.

St. Priscilla - 8th July 2009

St. Priscilla and her husband, St. Aquila of the Seventy, were Jewish Christians. Originally from Pontus (in Egypt), they moved to Rome to work as tentmakers. After they were exiled from Rome during the expulsion of the Jews in 49 AD, however, they moved to Corinth and met St. Paul.

Ss. Priscilla and Aquila moved to Ephesus and established a church in their home. In Ephesus they discipled Apollo, a famous early evangelist in the Church. They moved back to Rome for a while, where their tireless work for God prompted St. Paul to praise them in Romans 3-4. In the end, they returned to Ephesus, where St. Aquila was a bishop with St. Timothy.

St. Benedict XI - 7th July 2009

Nicholas Boccasini born at Treviso, Italy, 1240; died at Perugia, 7 July, 1304. He entered the Dominican Order at the age of fourteen. After fourteen years of study, he became lector of theology, which office he filled for several years.

In 1296 he was elected Master General of the Order. As at this time hostility to Boniface VIII was becoming more pronounced, the new general issued an ordinance forbidding his subjects to favour in any way the opponents of the reigning pontiff; he also enjoined on them to defend in their sermons, when opportune, the legitimacy of the election of Boniface. This loyalty of Boccasini, which remained unshaken to the end, was recognized by Boniface, who showed him many marks of favour and confidence. Thus with the two cardinal-legates, the Dominican General formed the important embassy, the purpose of which was the concluding of an armistice between Edward I of England and Philip IV of France, then at war with each other.

In the year 1298 Boccasini was elevated to the cardinalate; he was afterwards appointed Bishop of Ostia and Dean of the Sacred College. As at that time Hungary was rent by civil war, the cardinal-bishop was sent thither by the Holy See as legate a latere to labour for the restoration of peace. At the time of the return of the legate to Rome, the famous contest of Boniface VIII with Philip the Fair had reached its height. When, in 1303, the enemies of the pope had made themselves masters of the sacred palace, of all the cardinals and prelates only the two Cardinal-Bishops of Ostia and Sabina remained at the side of the venerable Pontiff to defend him from the violence of William of Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna.

A month after this scene of violence, Boniface having died, Boccasini was unanimously elected Pope, 22 October, taking the name of Benedict XI. The principal event of his pontificate was the restoration of peace with the French court. He was Pope only for a year (1303-1304).

Benedict XI was beatified in the year 1773. His feast is celebrated at Rome and throughout the Dominican Order on the 7th of July. He is the author of a volume of sermons and commentaries on a part of the Gospel of St. Matthew, on the Psalms, the Book of Job, and the Apocalypse.

St. Maria Goretti - 6th July 2009

"By the loving providence of God, we have assisted this evening at the supreme exaltation of a humble daughter of the people, in a ceremony whose solemnity and dignity are unique in the history of the Church.

For tonight's canonization has been held in this vast and inviting place of mystery, made for the occasion into a sacred temple whose vault is the open heaven that proclaims the glories of Almighty God—a choice for which you first expressed the desire before We had decided to make the disposition.

The concourse of the faithful coming here for the occasion, exceeds anything that has ever been witnessed at any other occasion. You have been lured here, we might almost say, by the entrancing beauty and intoxicating fragrance of this lily mantled with crimson whom we, only a moment ago, had the intense pleasure of inscribing in the roll of the saints; the sweet little martyr of purity, Maria Goretti."

Assunta Goretti, Maria's mother, must have had many thoughts and mixed emotions as she listened to His Holiness, Pope Pius XII deliver this homily. More than 250,000 people had gathered in the piazza, St. Peter's Square on the evening, June 24, 1950 to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to pray, and to honor Assunta’s canonized daughter. Any mother would be transported back in time, the early days of marriage, young children, family, familiar surroundings...

...To the never-ending winter of 1897. The blustery Alpine cold whipped down along Italy's eastern edge. Italy's backbone, the Apennine Mountains, deflect all the warmth from the Mediterranean and the African Continent. Luigi Goretti, Assunta's hard working farmer husband, was discouraged. The pure mountain air, steep paths and craggy landscape were appealing. Even the beauty of the Adriatic could be seen from the church tower in their little village of Corinaldo. But it was not enticing now. Enduring the long winters of heavy snows and bitter cold wind while gathering precious fuel was no way to live. Luigi was a man of action. God helps those who help themselves. He wanted more for his family than the meager existence the mountains provided. Assunta felt a knot of fear and panic at the thought of leaving her ancestral home. But Luigi, in his youthful travels as a soldier, had seen what lay beyond the mountains. There was the milder Mediterranean climate, fertile plains, and a chance for a man to make a living for his family, rather than the constant battle against nature.

Luigi and Assunta packed what little they had, along with their four children, Angelo, nine, Maria, six, Marino, four and new born Allesandro. Across the Apennines they traveled, two hundred miles in two weeks, due westward on steep, treacherous mountain paths until at last the Roman Campagna spread before them.

Into the city they headed, overwhelmed by the size, the multitudes of people and a strange, noisy life. They found comfort inside the city's numerous churches, praying, lighting candles, imploring the saints for guidance that they would find fruit and not folly in their adventure.

By chance they learned of rich farm lands owned by Count Mazzoleni south west of the city near the coastal town of Nettuno. They were told to stop and inquire at Ferriere. The land could be rented reasonably, or perhaps worked on a profit-sharing basis. The family was eager to settle. The boys were becoming restless. Only Maria remained sweet and uncomplaining as the city pavement fell away to a landscape of vineyards, and fields of wheat and corn. But as they continued, the Mediterranean coastal plain was very different. The "fertile" farmland had to be wrestled away from marshes and swamps. The air was hot and always heavy and damp from the sea.

It was mid afternoon when they entered the village of Ferriere on the edge of the Pontine Marshes. Not a soul was on the street to greet them; no church, no shops.

The heat of the day was intense, the children thirsty and tired after the day's journey.

Luigi swallowed his disappointment as he knocked on a door. Looking around him he felt unwelcome, as if all the sidewalks had been pulled up and locked away.

Finally after several attempts to arouse someone, Luigi heard the slow shuffling of feet. An elderly woman unbolted the door and directed him in the direction of the Count's "estate": the "old cheese factory" at the end of town.

The Goretti's found the oblong two story building perched on a small rise surrounded by flat, swampy, treeless land. The outbuildings consisted of a shed, stable and hen house, abandoned, empty of all life. With minimal fuss and bother, the Goretti's became sharecroppers for Count Mazzoleni.

Assunta quickly took over the cares of the house and made it home for her family.

Luigi began to work immediately to make a success of his endeavor. His first project was to drain the neglected land. All summer he continued with tireless effort and by fall had tilled enough land to plant eight acres of wheat and barley. But the summer of backbreaking work, the change in climate and the proximity of the malarial-infested Pontine had put Luigi in grave danger. At first, he ignored a slight chill and fever. With so much to be done how could he rest? There was work at the quarry to patch the roadway, hedges to trim, firewood to secure, buildings and roofs to repair, lofts to clean, and task after task after task. A troublesome cough followed him day and night, but he never stopped.

Harvest time came and Count Mazzoleni came to inspect the yield. He found Goretti's grain half cut, limp in the fields. The Count angrily stormed into the house.

Luigi lay ill, prostrate with fever. He could only admit that he could not bring in the harvest by himself. Without waiting for further explanation, the Count said he would send Giovanni Serenelli and his son to complete the work for a share of the crop.

Luigi fought back bitter disappointment. Now he must share half his harvest and expect Assunta to care for two more people. How could he ask his lovely Assunta to do more? Already she was overburdened with his illness, the children, a new baby, and the cares of the farm. As Luigi and Assunta prayed together before retiring, Luigi knew he must tell Assunta, but first he must sleep.

Early the next morning, the Serenelli's arrived. Giovanni was a man about sixty and his youngest son, Alexander, was a strong and well-built young man of eighteen.

Giovanni hailed from Assunta's own country and spoke lovingly of the people and places that were dear to her heart. He also had a well-practiced and touching litany of his own miseries: his wife's death in the asylum and a son's confinement there, his other children following their own lives back home. He was now left with his youngest, destitute and alone, but willing to work with Luigi—for half of the profits and a communal life with the Goretti's.

As the Serenelli's diligently began to work to get the harvest under control, a bit of joy returned to the Goretti household. Assunta prepared her best meals. The children were happily amused with Alexander's prowess at catching birds and making reed whistles. But as autumn's labors turned to the rainy, idle days of winter, the Serenelli's dispositions soured.

Giovanni had taken a liking to the strong, local wines and became irritable and overbearing. Alexander began to act vile, hostile and sullen, the result of years of maternal neglect and a youthful, depraved apprenticeship among the stevedores. He now shunned the children and spent his time locked in his room brooding over seamy magazines. Assunta discovered his hoard of pornographic books as she cleaned his room one day. She worried about Alexander's influence on her oldest son, Angelo, but unwilling to start a quarrel, she swallowed her first impulse to burn every piece of trash she found. Their home did not need more trouble. Luigi regretted their move from the mountains and especially repented of taking these two strangers into his home.

The malaria was doing its subtle job through the winter. As spring beckoned with endless work, Luigi attempted to meet its rigors uncomplainingly. He came in from the fields pallid and exhausted. Each night the children knelt about the bed in prayer; Luigi looked at his beautiful little Maria, with her limpid eyes and rosy cheeks. Why had he not noticed her maturity and grace? Silently she prayed and wept for her family. As April 1902 ended, so did Luigi's earthly life. As he lay surrounded by family and neighbors, he whispered haltingly to Assunta: "Go back to Corinaldo..."

Giovanni Serenelli became master of the farm. He was harsh and ruthless. He allowed Assunta and the children to stay and work for him. She desperately longed to go back to home and family, back to the fresh mountain life. She could not fulfill Luigi's dying wish now. A woman traveling over two hundred miles alone with seven young children and no money was unthinkable. Giovanni insisted Maria, now twelve, assume all the household duties while Assunta worked in the fields.

Her father's illness and death, the Serenelli's sinister cruelty, the never-ending labors of the farm had made Maria far too serious for her age. Her devotion to Jesus and her obedience to her mother was extraordinary. Even the other village children noticed her piety as she walked to town to sell eggs. It was with admiration and a touch of envy that they referred to Maria as "The Little Old Lady."

It was now July 1902. Only a few months before, Maria, though illiterate, had completed her Catechism instructions in order to receive her First Holy Communion.

How she had longed to take Jesus into her heart often! Once a week on Sunday just did not seem like enough. Maria managed the rigors of life because she had her Jesus for strength. This serious little girl had matured spiritually beyond her years, too.

Assunta noticed her young daughter's character changing. There was no childish playfulness left in Maria. The cares of the world clouded her eyes with sadness. Her night prayers become longer. She examined her conscience repeatedly for occasions of sin, her small body trembled with fear and bitter sobs. Alexander Serenelli had been stalking her for months now, prowling about with evil in his heart, threatening to kill her if she told a soul. She did not take Assunta into her confidence for fear of burdening her mother with more cares and creating more trouble with the Serenelli's.

The intense summer sun burned down on the farm yard. Assunta watched her children playfully helping with the threshing. She gazed upon them with intense love. They were her last joy left in this life. Maria was up on the porch outside of the kitchen, fingers flying with needle and thread, baby Theresa asleep at her feet.

Maria was lost in thought, too. She was rejoicing in eager anticipation of going to Mass. Tomorrow was Sunday and the Feast of the Precious Blood of Jesus. How she longed to share herself with Him in Confession and Communion. Then suddenly, Maria was startled by the sound of footsteps behind her. It was Alexander. He demanded she come into the kitchen. She froze in terror. Maria's silence further inflamed his foul passions. He grabbed her arm, dragged her into the kitchen, pressed a dagger to her throat and bolted the door. She fought him fiercely and screamed, "No! No Alexander! It is a sin. God forbids it. You will go to hell, Alexander. You will go to hell if you do it!" All went unseen and unheard.

Maria awoke with the sun streaming through the kitchen window. She heard the children playing and the monotonous sound of the threshing. The baby Theresa was crying at the edge of the porch. Maria attempted to lift herself to the open kitchen door. Her call for help was more a submission to the searing pain. A napping Giovanni heard the infant crying, and in an instant of exasperation for what he thought was Maria's neglect, headed up the stairs. His shout brought Assunta and the neighbors running, hearts pounding. They found Maria, tortured with pain, badly bruised and lying in a pool of blood. Assunta, recovering from shock questioned her sweet Maria, who answered, "It was Alexander, Mama... Because he wanted me to commit an awful sin and I would not."

Maria was laid tenderly on a bed while a neighbor summoned the ambulance.

Assunta tried to soothe her daughter's agony as the ambulance wagon bumped along on that torturous trip to the hospital in Nettuno. The doctors attempted to repair the extensive damage, but could give Assunta no encouragement. Maria unconsciously cried as she resisted Alexander's demands over and over. When she opened her eyes, they were transfixed upon the Statue of Our Lady placed at the foot of her bed. Awake she seemed to remember nothing of the previous day's horrors and wished only to know of the well being of her family. The parish priest came in to offer her Viaticum, but first she took time to reflect on the good Father's reminder that Jesus had pardoned those who had crucified Him. As she gazed at the crucifix on the far wall, she said without anger or resentment, "I, too, pardon him. I, too, wish that he could come some day and join me in heaven." Assunta's tears flowed hot and heavy as she gave her sweet Maria her last mortal mother's kiss. As the bells throughout the city were proclaiming the vespers hour, Jesus came to gather sweet Maria into His eternal protection, her reward for strength and virtue beyond her tender years.

Back to the Present

"...Why does this story move you even to tears? Why has Maria Goretti so quickly conquered your hearts, and taken first place in your affections?

Assunta listened as the Holy Father's words continued, "The reason is because there is still in this world, apparently sunk and immersed in the worship of pleasure, not only a meager little band of chosen souls who thirst for heaven and its pure air—but a crowd, nay, an immense multitude on whom the supernatural fragrance of Christian purity exercise an irresistible and reassuring fascination." Assunta must have found great joy in knowing that her sweet, little Maria could be a guiding force of goodness in the souls of youth. But on that July day, so many years ago...

Assunta Goretti, now eighty-two years old listened with two of her children at her side as the Holy Father concluded.

"During the past fifty years, coupled with what was often a weak reaction on the part of decent people, there has been a conspiracy of evil practices, propagating themselves in books and illustrations, in theaters and radio programs, in styles and clubs and on the beaches, trying to work their way into the hearts of the family and society, and doing their worst damage among the youth, even among those of the tenderest years in whom the possession of virtue is a natural inheritance.

"Dearly beloved youth, young men and women, who are the special object of the love of Jesus and of us, tell me, are you resolved to resist firmly, with the help of divine grace, against every attempt made to violate your chastity?

"You fathers and mothers, tell me—in the presence of this vast multitude, and before the image of this young virgin who by her inviolate candor has stolen you hearts...in the presence of her mother who educated her to martyrdom and who, as much as she felt the bitterness of the outrage, is now moved with emotion as she invokes her tell me, are you ready to assume the solemn duty laid upon you to watch, as far as in you lies, over your sons and daughters, to preserve and defend them against so many dangers that surround them, and to keep them always far away from places where they might learn the practices of impiety and of moral perversion?

"Finally, all of you who are intently listening to our words, know that above the unhealthy marshes and filth of the world, stretches an immense heaven of beauty. It is the heaven which fascinated little Maria; the heaven to which she longed to ascend by the only road that leads there, which is, religion, the love of Christ, and the heroic observance of his Commandments.

"We greet you, O beautiful and lovable saint! Martyr on earth and angel in heaven, look down from your glory on this people, which loves you, which venerates, glorifies and exalts you. On your forehead you bear the full brilliant and victorious name of Christ. In your virginal countenance may be read the strength of your love and the constancy of your fidelity to your Divine Spouse. As his bride espoused in blood, you have traced in yourself His own image. To you, therefore, powerful intercessor with the Lamb of God, we entrust these our sons and daughters who are present here, and those countless others who are united with us in spirit. For while they admire our heroism, they are even more desirous of imitating your strength of faith and your inviolate purity of conduct. Fathers and mothers have recourse to you, asking you to help them in their task of education. In you, through our hand, the children and the young people will find a safe refuge, trusting that they shall be protected from every contamination, and be able to walk the highways of life with that serenity of spirit and deep joy which is the heritage of those who are pure of heart. Amen." (Homily of Pope Pius XII, June 24, 1950)

Epilogue

Assunta Goretti, unable to bear the weight of her daughter's murder alone, soon returned to her family in Corinaldo with her six remaining children.

Alexander Serenelli was quickly apprehended, tried and convicted of murder. He was sentenced to thirty years solitary confinement. His sour and uncooperative character changed approximately eight years after his incarceration. He claimed, under oath, that he had a dream of Maria gathering lilies. As she handed them to him, the lilies took on a heavenly radiance and he felt the peace of forgiveness. He became an exemplary prisoner and was freed from prison three years early. Maria and her mother had forgiven Alexander; however the community could not and he spent the rest of his days, an outcast, a gardener at local monasteries. He died at the age of 87, May 6, 1969 in a Capuchin Monastery.

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St. Thomas the Apostle - 3rd July 2009

Let us read the commentary of Dr Plinio about the Apostle St. Thomas who died in India.

St. Thomas was ordered by Our Lord to go to India, which he did in the company of Abbanes, a provost of one of the kings of India who had come to Caesarea looking for an architect. After dealing with this King and building a palace for him, not on earth, but in Heaven by giving his treasure to the poor, and after converting multitudes in India through his innumerable miracles, Thomas headed to Upper India.

There he converted Queen Migdonia and her sister to the Catholic Faith. From then on, they refused to lie with their pagan husbands. The King became furious and ordered that Thomas be brought before him, his hands and his feet bound. He was commanded to reconcile the wives to their husband. But Apostle answered the King saying that he could not do this so long as he professed a false faith.

Irate, the King commanded that pieces of burning iron be brought forth and that the Apostle should stand on them in his bare feet. And immediately, by the will of Our Lord, a spring of water sprang up and quenched the iron.

Next, the King, following the counsel of his brother-in-law Carisius, had him thrown into a fiery furnace, but miraculously it was made so cold that the next day he issued out all safe, without harm.

Then Carisius said to the King: “Command him to sacrifice to the god of the sun. That will bring down on him the wrath of his God, who so far has been protecting him.” They tried to force Thomas to do this, but the Apostle responded that the devil was in the idol, and that God would break it to pieces the moment he would approach it. And so it happened.

After that miracle, the high priest killed St. Thomas piercing him through with a sword. The King and Carisius did not convert, but fled away, for they saw that the people would avenge the Apostle.


Comments of Prof. Plinio:

Our Lord said that the Apostles would work more and even greater miracles than He Himself did: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father (John 14:12). Why did He say this? What principle is behind these words?

It is not easy to respond with precision to this question, but among many answers, there is one worthy of attention.

A person who saw Our Lord Jesus Christ and heard the words that issued from His divine mouth already experienced a kind of special miracle, which was to see with his own eyes the Incarnate God. Our Lord’s presence was so supernatural, so divine, so out of proportion to any human measure that for a man of faith, nothing else would be necessary to believe in His divinity. His presence was more than any miracle imaginable.

For this reason He censured those who were asking for miracles. He addressed them as a “faithless and perverse generation” who only believe when they see miracles. Thus, it is a blessing to believe without miracles. St. Thomas also received a similar criticism from Our Lord: “Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed” (John 20:29).

This selection mentions some of St. Thomas’ astonishing miracles in India. He worked one miracle after another, but still the King did not convert. His mind was made up and he did not want to believe. In the end, he remained an unbeliever and allowed his high priest to kill St. Thomas. One miracle, two miracles, many miracles were not enough for him. When he was defeated by the evidence of the miracles, he became an accomplice to the murder of St. Thomas.

This mentality is shared by those who are not satisfied with normal graces, but are always asking for miracles. In appearance, they are thirsty for miracles, but at depth they are too lazy to open their souls to grace. If God would give a miracle, it would not satisfy them. They would become more hardened, and even reject the saint who worked the miracle. They share in some way the psychology of the pagan King.

This leads us to consider the depth of human wickedness. Man stained by original sin and excessively complacent with his actual sins has a strong tendency to close his soul to grace, even to miracles. Often nothing but very exceptional graces can touch a soul like this.

Another symptom of such hardness is when a person, like the King in India, is subject to superstitions. I knew a person with a great vocation who came to our fight for the Church but never had a true generosity toward Our Lady. He ended by going astray. He was a superstitious man, always carrying an amulet that he believed had occult powers. I don’t think his defection was caused by the malefic power of the amulet. I think that by relying on magical powers he rejected the grace and disregarded the rich supernatural help the Church places at our disposition.

A point also worthy of consideration is the attitude of St. Thomas regarding his previous infidelity. He was unfaithful when he doubted the Resurrection of Our Lord. He was chastised for that: he was the only Apostle who was not present at the death of Our Lady. He arrived late, when Our Lady was already starting her Assumption in the air. With a marvelous manifestation of her tenderness for him, she took off her girdle and let it fall for him. He was chastised, but at the same time she inundated him with her tenderness.

St. Thomas converted because of her sweetness as well as Our Lord’s severity and became a truly penitent soul. What is a truly penitent soul?

It is one who committed a bad action, but with shame and sadness repents of the evil he did and, when the occasion presents itself he takes advantage of it to admit his bad action. He is happy to humiliate himself in public and accuse himself of the evil that he committed. He hates his sin and wants others to hate it also. This is the profile of the truly penitent soul. Regarding sins of purity, this rule only applies for those sins that are public and notorious for obvious reasons.

Even after this person makes expiation for his fault and practices acts of virtue, he always has before him the sin he committed. This is what David sang in one of his penitential psalms: “Peccatum meum contra me est semper” – my sin is always before me. That is, I hate my sin, it will stand there facing me all my life, and only my death will annihilate it. Repentance is a swelling hatred for the evil that one has done. Insofar as a man comes to understand the consequences of his bad action, he is increasingly sorrowful. To be implacable toward ourselves is one of the starting points of the Catholic and counter-revolutionary spirit.

There is another way one can note this sense of penance in a man. A person who is convinced of the effects of original sin in himself likes to be reprimanded. He is grateful when someone shows him that he did something wrong. He feels relieved when he is reproved, because from then on he can avoid that error and improve.

St. Thomas went far and wide evangelizing and I am sure that, like St. Peter, he wept over his past infidelity. I am sure he repented publicly without fear of causing scandal or a bad impression. Penance, when it is sincere, only attracts and advances others on the path of virtue.

Here are some points for an examination of conscience: Are we really sorry for the sins we committed? Is our repentance as serious as it should be? Do we have a true severity toward the evil we committed? Do we always have our sins before us so that we might hate them and make reparation for them? Are we happy when others reprove us for our faults or do we flee from those who criticize us with rage in our heart?

If this examination reveals that we are not as penitent as we should be, we can direct our prayers to all the penitent saints who are in Heaven – especially St. Thomas – and ask them to have mercy on us, give us the grace of true repentance, penance, and the splendid sadness of contrition along with a hatred for the evil that is in our souls.

The soul with the true spirit of penance loves without self-interest the virtue opposed to the sin he committed. This soul attracts Our Lady. She comes to his soul, enters, and remains in it, bringing with her the Holy Ghost her Spouse, Our Lord Jesus Christ her Son, and God the Father. Let us beg her to make us worthy of this.

St. Oliver Plunkett - 2nd July 2009

(Case holding head of St Oliver Plunkett)

Oliver Plunkett was born in Loughcrew, Co. Meath, Ireland in 1629 of well-to-do Anglo-Normal parentage. He was related by blood to a number of landowning families, such as the Earl of Fingall, Earl of Louth and Lord Dunsany. Until the age of 16, he was educated by his cousin, Patrick Plunkett, Abbot of St Mary’s in Dublin. Patrick was a brother of the first Earl of Fingall and later became bishop in turn of Ardagh and Meath.
In 1645 he set out for Rome under the care of Fr Scarampo of the Roman Oratory and stayed at the Irish College where he had a brilliant academic career. The Rector later said that Plunkett “devoted himself with such ardour to philosophy, theology, and mathematics, that in the Roman College of the Society of Jesus he was justly ranked amongst the foremost in talent, diligence, and progress in his studies… and was a model of gentleness, integrity, and piety". He was ordained a priest in 1654, and deputed by the Irish bishops to act as their representative in Rome. Meanwhile, the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649-53) had defeated the Catholic cause in Ireland and, as a result, it was impossible for Plunkett to return to Ireland for many years. He asked to stay on in Rome and, in 1657, became a professor of theology at the College of Propaganda Fide. He also pleaded successfully the case of the Irish Church. On 9 July 1669, he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh, the Irish primatial see, and was consecrated on 30 November at Ghent by the Bishop of Ghent, assisted by the Bishop of Ferns and another bishop. He finally landed in Ireland in March 1670 just as the English Restoration of 1660 was becoming more tolerant.
On his return to Ireland, he began to rebuild a ravaged Church and to build schools and seminaries. The clergy he found very weak in moral theology and in their ability to deal with religious controversies. There were also drinking problems among them. As the Penal Laws had been relaxed in accordance with the Declaration of Breda in 1660, a Jesuit school was set up in Drogheda in 1670. Within a year it had 150 students. However, three years later when the Test Act which Plunkett refused to accept was enacted, the school was demolished.
Plunkett now had to travel in disguise and refused to register with the authorities for deportation. In 1678, the Titus Oates plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament led to further repression of Catholics. The Privy Council in London was also told that Plunkett was plotting a French invasion of Ireland. He had a price on his head but refused to abandon his flock.
He took refuge in a Clogherhead parish church, about 10 km outside Drogheda. He was finally arrested in Dublin in December 1679 and held in Dublin Castle, where he gave absolution to the dying Archbishop Peter Talbot of Dublin, who had also been arrested. He was tried at Dundalk for conspiring against the state by plotting to bring thousands of French soldiers into the country, and for levying a tax on the priests to support a local force for rebellion. This was not proved but there were fears that another rebellion was being planned. Because Lord Shaftesbury knew Plunkett would never be convicted in Ireland, he had him moved to Newgate prison in London. After two very dubious trials, Plunkett was found guilty of high treason “for promoting the Catholic faith” and condemned to death.
On 1 July 1681, Plunkett became the last Catholic martyr to die in England when he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. His body was initially buried next to five Jesuits, who had died earlier, in the courtyard of St Giles. Two years later the remains were moved to the Benedictine monastery at Lamspringe, near Hildesheim in Germany. The head was brought to Rome, and from there to Armagh and eventually to Drogheda where, since 29 June 1921, it has rested in Saint Peter’s Church. Most of the other remains are now in Downside Abbey, England, with some still at Lamspringe. There are also other relics in different locations.
Oliver Plunkett was beatified in 1920 and canonised in 1975, the first new Irish saint for almost 700 years and the first Irish martyr to be beatified. He has since been followed by 17 other Irish martyrs who were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1992. During his short and difficult ministry, Oliver Plunkett confirmed more than 48,000 people over a period of four years.

Blessed Junipero Serra - 1st July 2009

Spanish Franciscan priest, explorer and colonizer of California where he was the founder of the missions of California. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in September 1988.

Junipero Serra was born Miguel Serra y Abram on November 24, 1713 in Petra, a farming village in Mallorca's central plain. At the age of sixteen, Miguel entered the Franciscan friary and took the name Junípero, after St. Francis' close, extroverted friend.

Years of formation and study followed, and in 1744 he was named Professor of Philosophy at the monastery of San Francisco and at Lullian University. Serra was known as a bright, articulate scholar -- apparently a moving speaker and a clear, precise writer -- but he did not remain long in academic life. In 1749 he responded to the call for Franciscan missionaries to the New World.

Nearly 200 years before, Spain had established a colony called New Spain, the area now known as Mexico. The success of colonization was due largely to the collaboration of the Spanish imperial staff and the Catholic Church. By acting as partners in exploration and settlement efforts, both their purposes were achieved: Spain claimed new territory and the Catholic Church claimed new members.

By the middle of the 18th century, Spanish cultural and religious influence was already evident in New Spain's great cathedrals, schools, hospitals, and seaports. However, this sophisticated civilization was restricted to urban centers such as Mexico City. The outlying areas were still uncharted and wild. The unexplored areas were considered missionary territory.

Serra's first assignment was to a rugged, mountainous region of Sierra Gorda. Here he remained for nine years, preaching to the Indians and strengthening the two missions already established in the area. Serra's second assignment was to journey out from Mexico City into coastal villages and mining camps. In those eight years, despite a leg chronically infected and ulcerated after an insect bite, he walked over 6,000 miles on foot, preaching retreats and administering the sacraments.

In 1767 when the King of Spain banished the Jesuit Society from his dominions, the thirteen Jesuit missions in Baja California were suddenly left unstaffed. Junipero Serra was assigned the new Superior of Baja California, and within several years he was given orders to move into Alta California, or what today is known as the state of California. In 1769 Serra was appointed padre president of California.

Serra joined the expedition of Don Gaspar de Pórtola, ordered by the Spanish king to explore and occupy new territory. He reached San Diego on June 27, 1769 and founded there the first mission. From San Diego the party journeyed northward and in April, 1770 Serra founded San Carlos Borromeo at Carmel, the second mission. In his fifteen years as padre president, he established nine of his 21 missions, each a one-day walk apart (about 30 miles), and linked by a dirt road called "El Camino Real."

Junípero Serra personally oversaw the planning, construction, and staffing of each mission from his headquarters at Carmel. From Carmel he traveled on foot to the other missions along the California coast, to supervise mission work and to confer the sacrament of Confirmation. Biographers estimate that, still bothered by the infected leg, Serra walked more than 24,000 miles in California alone -- more than the journeys of Marco Polo and Lewis and Clark combined. He kept with determination to his watchword, "Always to go forward and never to turn back."

Each mission centered on a church structure, usually a wood frame topped with a thatched roof. However, when the church at San Luis Obispo burned after being showered by Indians' flaming arrows, all churches were rebuilt of adobe and stone. Indians fashioned rounded roof tiles by molding wet clay around their shins. Surrounding the church itself were housing, areas for education of women and children, land cultivated for farming, and cattle-grazing areas.

Junipero Serra did not die a martyr as he had hoped. Instead he died a quiet, natural death at Carmel on August 28, 1784. Today, 200 years later, he is a candidate for canonization.

First Martyrs of Rome - 30th June 2009

Nero's persecution was occasioned by an early morning fire on July 19, 64. It broke out in a small shop by the Circus Maximus and spread rapidly to other regions of Rome, and raged for nine days, destroying much of the city. This was the worst in a series of fires that beset the crowded city -- more than a million people, packed tightly into apartment blocks of wooden construction, among narrow streets and alleyways. Only two areas escaped the fire; one of them, the Transtiberum region, Trastevere, across the Tiber River, had a large Jewish population.

Nero was at his seaside villa in Anzio when the blaze began, but he delayed returning to the city. They say that when he heard the news, he began composing an ode comparing Rome to the burning city of Troy (illustration above). His indifference to the suffering caused by the tragedy stirred resentment among the people. Rumors began that he himself set the fire in order to rebuild the city with his own plans.

Nero To stop the rumors, Nero decided to blame someone else, and he chose a group of renegade Jews called Christians, who had caused trouble before, and already had a bad reputation in the city. Earlier, about the year 49, the Emperor Claudius had banished some of them from Rome for starting upheavals in the Jewish synagogues of the city with their disputes about Christ.

Nero's Raging Sword

"Nero was the first to rage with Caesar's sword against this sect," wrote the early-Christian writer, Tertullian. "To suppress the rumor," the Roman historian Tacitus says, "Nero created scapegoats. He punished with every kind of cruelty the notoriously depraved group known as Christians." Just how long the process went on and how many were killed, the Roman historian does not say.

Christian martyrs of Rome The Early Christians of Rome

Who were the early Roman Christians? Most of them came from the large community of about 50,000 Jewish merchants and slaves who had strong ties to their mother city of Jerusalem. Even before Peter and Paul arrived in Rome, Jewish-Christians, clearly identified as followers of Jesus Christ, were found among the city's Jews. Indeed, these were the founders of the church at Rome; the apostles were among its foundation stones.

By the time of the fire Rome's Jewish-Christians had become alienated from the larger Jewish community and were beginning to separate from it. Where they lived and met was well known. The authorities, following the usual procedure, seized some of them, brought them to the Prefecture and forced them by torture to give the names of others.

"First, Nero had some of the members of this sect arrested. Then, on their information, large numbers were condemned -- not so much for arson, but for their hatred of the human race. Their deaths were made a farce." (Tacitus)

Mass Executions

Instead of executing the Christians immediately at the usual place, Nero executed them publicly in his gardens nearby and in the circus. "Mockery of every sort accompanied their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired." (Tacitus)

Most thought Nero went too far. "There arose in the people a sense of pity. For it was felt that they (the Christians) were being sacrificed for one man's brutality rather than to the public interest." (Tacitus)

St. Peter and St. Paul – 29 June 2009

St. Peter and St. Paul – June 29

Biographical selection:

Sts. Peter and Paul always listen to the prayers of their devotees. Time has not diminished their power, and from Heaven – even more than when they were on earth – they do not abandon the interests of the Church or neglect the least of the inhabitants of this glorious earthly City of God, of which they were and remain princes.

One of the triumphs of the Devil in our times is to have dulled the faith of good people in this regard. It is necessary to insist that man awake from this deathlike sleep that makes us forget that Our Lord wanted these two saints to continue His work and represent Him visibly on earth.

St. Ambrose extols the continuing, vibrant apostolic mission of the Church, and expresses with profundity and delicacy the roles of Ss. Peter and Paul in the salvation of the elect. The Church, he says, is the ship from which Peter fishes, and for this labor at times he receives an order to use the hook, and at other times, the net. It is a great mystery, for this fishing is entirely supernatural. While the net does not harm the fish, the hook wounds it; the net takes in multitudes, the hook catches a single fish. The good fish does not resist the hook of Peter because it does not kill, but rather converts. Fortunate the gash that permits one to profess the same faith of Peter!

It is for this reason that Jesus told Peter: “"Put out into the deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:1) “Put out into the deep water” – that is, go to the very depths of the hearts of men. ‘Put out into the deep water” – go to Christ, the source of living waters of wisdom and knowledge.

Peter continues to fish every day. Our Lord tells him: “Put out into the deep water.” But one seems to hear Peter replying: “Master, we have worked all night with no result.” Peter suffers when we are hard-hearted. Paul is also fighting for our souls. Didn’t he tell us that no one suffers without him also suffering? We should act in a way that does not make the Apostles suffer.


Comments of Prof. Plinio:

These are very beautiful words. Let us consider some of the thoughts in them.

First, the selection makes an interesting remark about how Divine Providence permitted the faith of many good people to be dulled regarding the roles that St. Peter and St. Paul exercise in Heaven. This is true. Devotion to the Apostles has diminished a great deal, except for devotion to St. Jude Thaddeus, who was an almost unknown Apostle and for a time even raised some suspicion because people thought that this Judas might be Judas Iscariot, also a member of the College of Apostles. Except for the devotion to St. Jude, who became the patron of the impossible, devotion to the other Apostles decreased a great deal.

This diminishment is completely unreasonable since it is evident that the mission of the Apostles did not diminish with time. On the contrary, we know that their mission continues now and will continue until the end of time. They were not Apostles for just one epoch. They were not men who saved souls in the first days of the Church, and then went to Heaven where they do nothing. They are there now with Our Lord Jesus Christ watching and exercising a role over the entire Church.

The apostolate they made in their times was a seed they planted that contained the apostolate of all epochs. From Heaven they continue to nurture and develop it. Therefore, devotion to them is a necessary thing, and this selection gives us an opportunity to recommend ourselves to St. Peter and St. Paul, to pray to them, and to increase our devotion to them.

Second, the selection seems to insinuate a difference between the apostolate of St. Peter – made with a hook – and the one of St. Paul – made with a net. The distinction between these two different methods of apostolate is useful. The apostolate of the net is meant to catch a large number of people; the apostolate of the hook is destined to catch this or that particular person.

Third, the text speaks beautifully of the apostolate of hook, saying that the hook wounds the mouth of the fish, but by means of this gash he pays the price of his conversion. There are conversions that are very difficult, that are only possible through great sacrifices and sufferings. The blood exacted by the great effort is the price paid to be a part of the Catholic Church. This is a normal characteristic of the apostolate of the hook.

There are conversions, however, that are painless. In the Middle Age, for example, we have the marvelous examples of the conversions of Kings who brought entire nations with them: the kingdom of the Franks came to the Church with Clovis, the Hungarians with St. Stephen, the Polish with Boleslaus, the Ukrainians with St. Vladimir, and so on. These were apostolates of the net that brought a multitude of souls without any special suffering.

Fourth, another beautiful part of this selection speaks of the apostolate when it is without fruit. St. Peter and St. Paul experienced enormous difficulties in their apostolates, and also enjoyed times of extraordinary successes. They were not easy labors with “happy endings.” It was hard work along rocky paths that required much prayer and supernatural help in order to go forward. Without this help, the apostolate is fruitless.

We should remember this in our own apostolate. We should keep in mind that St. Peter’s fished all night and was unsuccessful. But when he asked Our Lord for help, the net was lifted from the water filled with fish.

This reference to the miraculous catch serves to help increase our humility and supernatural spirit. Without supernatural assistance, without the help of God through the intercession of Our Lady, our apostolate will be fruitless.

We see that this results in a greater glory for Our Lady and should raise in us the desire to draw closer to her. She who is our very amiable Mother and an all-powerful supplicant before God, she who with her prayer can attain everything that she requests.

St. Cyril of Alexandria - 27th June 2009

Today is the feast of St. Cyril of Alexandria, let us see what Dr. Plinio has to say about this saint

Biographical selection:

St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, strove to win back the heretic Nestorius by letters, in which his personal meekness is rivaled only by his vigor and breadth of doctrine. But Nestorius was obdurate. Since he had no argument in response, he began to make personal complaints against the Patriarch.

As always happens, there were pacifists who, although they did not accept Nestorius’ errors, thought it would be best not to reply to him for fear of further embittering him, increasing the scandal, and wounding charity. In response to this, Cyril criticized those who were more afraid of affirming the truths of the Catholic faith more than of falling into heresy:

“What! Nestorius dares to suffer men to say in public and in his presence that he who calls Mary the Mother of God is to be anathema! He hurls his anathema, by means of his partisans, at us, at the other Bishops of the Catholic Church, and at the ancient Fathers, who in all ages and places in one accord have acknowledged and honored the holy Mother of God! And have we not the right to repay him in his own coin and say, ‘If anyone denies that Mary is the Mother of God, let him be anathema’? ….

“If our fear of some disturbance is stronger than our zeal for God’s glory and thus prevents us from speaking the truth, how shall we dare in the presence of the Catholic people to celebrate the holy martyrs, whose glory lies in the very fact that by their lives they made example of the words: ‘To fight for justice even unto death’?”

Comments of Prof. Plinio:

The text is magnificent! Just to situate you a bit in those times, let me say that St. Cyril lived in the fifth century and combated the heresy of Nestorius, who denied the union between the humanity and divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus, the divine motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the first centuries of the Church, there were various heretics who combated the dogmas of the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Some affirmed that He was only man and not God; others stated that He was God but not man. Both denied that He is man and God. Either way, the heresy tried to shake the Catholic belief that Our Lord is true God and true man. The heresy of Nestorius denied the hypostatic union of the divine and human natures in Our Lord. He affirmed that there would have been two distinct persons, that of God and that of the man Jesus Christ. This man would not have been God, but only joined by a moral union to God, like a kind of super-saint. As a consequence Our Lady would have been only the mother of the man, not the mother of God. Therefore, her mission would be greatly reduced.

St. Cyril and the good Catholics defended that Our Lord was both God and man. The heretics sustained the opposite. The false middle, the ones who were partisans of ecumenism and wanted to dialogue between the two positions, were of the opinion that it was better not to defend the good position. They argued that this would irritate the adversaries, make it more difficult to convert them, and violate charity. These “moderates” were against St. Cyril because the Saint attacked the heretics.

I ask you if this doesn’t remind you exactly of the reactions of many “moderates” of our days who criticize our work. We should not attack the heretics, communists, and progressivists, but start a dialogue with them. To attack them would be unproductive, it would irritate them, etc. Actually, this kind of “moderate” corresponds to those of whom Scripture says: “I would that thou were hot or cold. But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit thee out of my mouth.” (Re 3:16) That is, if you would accept either the truth or the error, you would be consistent, but since you will not be on either side, you cause me nausea. These are the one who are hated by God, those whom He vomits from His mouth, those who elicit that particular type of horror that causes queasiness.

These are the worst people, the ones who do the most harm to the good cause, because they present themselves to the average Catholics claiming to be Catholic, but warning them against following the ones who took the good position. The moderates say they are exaggerated in their views, etc. It is thanks to these people that the numbers of real fighters for the Catholic cause is much less than it should be.

The best support for error is not given by those who clearly defend that error, but by those who apparently profess the truth – but protect the error. They are the “fifth column” that prepares the future advance of the enemy. They attract divine wrath more than the outright evil people do.

If we want to be like Our Lord Jesus Christ, we should have the same repulsion for this kind of soul that He has. We should feel nausea when hearing the arguments of such “moderates.” It is not enough to love the good; we must also reject those who favor evil. A rejection similar to that of Our Lord, who had a loathing that caused a nausea. If we do not have such sentiment, we should pray and make a frequent ejaculation like the one we find in the litany of the Sacred Heart: “Sacred Heart of Jesus, make my heart like unto Thine.”

Let us ask St. Cyril of Alexandria through the intercession of Our Lady to give us a just indignation and revulsion toward such a hypocritical position.

Lessons from a Crashed Computer

I woke up yesterday morning to a crashed computer. After the boot up the computer would not load the OS. From about 10 AM in the morning till 2:00 AM I was resetting the computer.

The computer hard disk was full and as a consequence it would not load the OS. I had to format the entire hard disk making it clean and then install the OS again. After that I had to install various softwares.

A spiritual lesson was to be learnt. Sometimes in our spiritual journey we start taking up various tasks and do a lot of things for the Kingdom. After some time we forget why and for who we are doing these things. We become like a cluttered computer with lots of programs installed and lots of pictures and MP3s, we become like a library full of knowledge but nothing elese, or worse a garbage heap full of rubbish. And then we crash, we stop and examine ourselves and see that all the actions we think we are doing for God are not really for Him but more for ourselves. We need to reformat ourselves, by prayer and meditation, realizing that our primary duty is to Know, Love and Serve Him. In thar order specifically.

This lesson can be found in the Bible where Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the branches and the Father is the wine dresser who trims and prunes the branches. Your gardeners know that when a vine grows it uses energy that should be going to the grapes so it needs to be trimmed so that it bears more fruit. This pruning is like reformatting, sometimes our growth may look good to us, but we are not bearing the right kind of fruit. Hence it is a time for a reformat.

Happy Sunday
God Bless
Smiley

Blessed Raymond Lull - 26th June 2009

Seneschal, courtier and troubador at the court of King James of Aragon from about 1246. Married Blanca Picany in 1257. In 1263 he received a vision of Christ crucified, and was converted on the spot.

Franciscan tertiary. Friend of Raymond of Penyafort. Worked to convert Muslims in the Iberian peninsula, and then in north Africa. He tried to interest the Vatican and assorted European royal courts in this work, travelling throughout Italy, France, England and Germany in search of support, but received little help. Learned Arabic, founded a school for Arabic study in 1276 on Majorca, and encouraged the study of Arab language and culture. Travelled three times to Tunis to preach to the Muslims, but was forcibly deported.

He wrote over 300 works in Latin, Arabic and Catalan on theology, logic, philosophy; wrote fiction and poetry. Known as a alchemist, but had no training in occult arts, and invented his own Christian-based concepts to try to explain the alchemical mysteries. Reputed to have solved the "lead-into-gold" mystery; legend says he worked on it to finance missionary work. Had a small but devoted band of followers known as Lullists who continued their work after his death, though some of them drifted away from the Church in search of alchemical knowledge. His work in this area has been the source of controversy for centuries, and non-Christian occult groups have seen him as a "master" or whatever term they use. Born c. 1234 at Palma, Majorca Died c. 1315; some writers indicate he was martyred by stoning in Tunis, but there is no evidence for it; may have died of natural causes during the return ocean voyage from Tunis; buried at the church of San Francisco, Palma, Mallorca, Spain Beatified

25 February 1750 by Pope Benedict XIV (cultus confirmed); 1847 by Pope Pius IX Canonized pending.

Ramon Lull's Ars Magna - 1274 AD

Possibly the first person in the history of formal logic to use a mechanical device to generate (so-called) logical proofs was the Spanish theologian Ramond Lull . In 1274, Lull climbed Mount Randa in Majorca in search of spiritual sustenance. After fasting and contemplating his navel for several days, Lull experienced what he believed to be a divine revelation, and he promptly rushed back down the mountain to pen his famous Ars Magna. This magnum opus described a number of eccentric logical techniques, but the one of which Lull was most proud (and which received the most attention) was based on concentric disks of card, wood, or metal mounted on a central axis. Ramon Lull's disks.

Lull's idea was that each disk should contain a number of different words or symbols, which could be combined in different ways by rotating the disks. In the case of our somewhat jocular example shown above, we can achieve 4 x 4 x 4 = 64 different sentences along the lines of "I love mice," "You hate cats," and "They eat frogs." a Of course, Lull had a more serious purpose in mind, which was to prove the truth of everything contained within the Bible. For example, he used his disks to show that "God's mercy is infinite," "God's mercy is mysterious," "God's mercy is just," and so forth. Lull's devices were far more complex than our simple example might suggest, with several containing as many as sixteen different words or symbols on each disk. His masterpiece was the figura universalis, which consisted of fourteen concentric circles
(the mind boggles at the range of combinations that could be generated by this device). Strange as it may seem to us, Lull's followers (called Lullists) flourished in the late middle ages and the renaissance, and Lullism spread far and wide across Europe.

Why is all of this of interest to us? Well by some strange quirk of fate, Lull's work fired the imagination of several characters with whom we are already familiar, such as Gottfried von Leibniz who invented the mechanical calculator called the Step Reckoner.

Nativity of St. John the Baptist - 24th June 2009

The birth of Saint John was foretold by Saint Gabriel, Archangel of the Lord, to his father, Zachary, who was offering incense in the Temple. The son of Zachary was to be the prophesied Messenger, Zachary was told, whose mission would prepare the way for Christ. Before he was born into the world John had already begun to live for the Incarnate God; even in the womb he recognized the presence of Jesus and of Mary, and leaped with joy at the glad coming of the Son of man. Before Christ’s public life began, a divine impulse sent Saint John into the desert; there, with locusts for his food and wearing haircloth, in silence and in prayer, he chastened his soul. In his youth he remained hidden, because He for whom he waited was also hidden.

Then, as crowds broke in upon his solitude, he warned them to flee from the wrath to come, and gave them the baptism of penance, while they confessed their sins. At last there stood in the crowd One whom Saint John did not know, until a voice within told him that it was his Lord. He affirmed: “I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He upon whom thou wilt see the Spirit descending and abiding, He it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ” With the baptism of Saint John, Christ began His voluntary abasement for the sins of His people; and Saint John indeed saw the Holy Ghost descend, under the visible form of a dove, indicating in the humble Jesus of Nazareth the divine Perfection of the peaceable Eternal King and High Priest. Then the Saint’s work was done. He had but to point his own disciples to the Lamb, he had only to decrease as Christ increased. He saw all men leave him and go after Christ. “I told you,” he said, “that I am not the Christ. The friend of the Bridegroom rejoices hearing the Bridegroom’s voice. This, my joy, is fulfilled.”

Saint John was cast into the fortress of Herod on the east coast of the Dead Sea by the tyrant whose crimes he had rebuked; he would remain there until beheaded at the will of a girl and her cruel mother. During this time of imprisonment, some of his disciples visited him. Saint John did not speak to them of himself, but sent them to Christ, that they might witness His miracles and hear His doctrine, proofs of His mission. After Saint John’s death, the Eternal Truth pronounced the panegyric of the Saint who had lived and breathed for Him alone: “Verily I say unto you, among those born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist.”

The Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa of Akita, Japan

October 13, 1973

"My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior."

After a short silence:

"As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests."

"The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres...churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.

"The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them"

"With courage, speak to your superior. He will know how to encourage each one of you to pray and to accomplish works of reparation."

"It is Bishop Ito, who directs your community."

And She smiled and then said:

"You have still something to ask? Today is the last time that I will speak to you in living voice. From now on you will obey the one sent to you and your superior."

"Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved."

St. Thomas More - 22nd June 2009

Biographical selection:

Sir Thomas More was born in London on February 7, 1478 and received martyrdom on July 6, 1535 because he would not recognize Henry VIII as head of the so-called Anglican Church. He refused to give written approval to the Parliamentary Act of Succession by which the English Sovereign pretended to be superior to the See of Rome, that is, to the Pope.

In his defense Sir Thomas stated that such an act was not valid because it went against the foundation of Christendom, as well as the law of England itself, the Magna Carta. It also violated the solemn oath of allegiance to the Church and Rome that.all Christian Kings pronounced at their coronation. He argued that by refusing obedience to the Pope, the Kingdom of England was like a child refusing obedience to his natural father.

For two years, he remained imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he wrote the book Dialogue of the Comfort against Tribulation. In this book, two Hungarians, an uncle and his nephew, discuss the problem of suffering and death under the threat of an imminent invasion of the country by the Turks. He refers metaphorically to Henry VIII as the Great Turk, and the Turkish invasion as the threat of Protestantism against the unity of the Catholic Faith.

In its last chapter he has the uncle speak these words:

"How many Romans, how many noble hearts of other sundry countries, have willingly given their own lives and suffered great deadly pains and very painful deaths for their countries, to win by their death only the reward of worldly renown and fame! And should we, then, shrink to suffer as much for eternal honor in Heaven and everlasting glory? The Devil also has some heretics so obstinate that they wittingly endure painful death for vain glory. And is it not then more than shameful that Christ shall see His Catholics forsake His faith rather than suffer the same for Heaven and true glory?

If we had the fifteenth part of the love for Christ that He both had and has for us, all the pain of this Turk's persecution could not keep us from Him, but there would be at this day as many martyrs here in Hungary as there have been before in other countries of old.

And I doubt not but that, if the Turk stood even here with his whole army about him; and if every one of them were ready at hand with all the terrible torments that they could imagine, and were setting their torments to us unless we would forsake the faith; and if to the increase of our terror, they fell at us all at once in a shout, with trumpets, tabrets, and timbrels all blown, and all their guns going off making a fearful noise; if then, on the other hand, the ground should suddenly quake and rive at wain, and the Devils should rise out of Hell and show themselves in such ugly shape as damned wretches shall see them; and if, with that hideous howling that those hell-hounds should screech, they should lay Hell open on every side round about our feet, so that as we stood we should look down into that pestilent pit and see the swarm of poor souls in the terrible torments there - we would wax so afraid of the sight that we should scantly remember that we saw the Turk's host.

And in good faith, for all that, yet think I further this: If there might then appear the great glory of God, the Trinity in His high marvelous majesty, our Savior in His glorious manhood sitting on the throne, with His Immaculate Mother and all that glorious company, calling us there unto them; and if our way should yet lie through a marvelous, painful death before we could come to them - upon the sight, I say, of that glory, I daresay there would be no man who once would shrink at death, but every man would run on toward them in all that ever he could, though there lay by the way, to kill us for malice, both all the Turk's tormentors and all the Devils.

And therefore, nephew, let us well consider these things, and let us have sure hope in the help of God. "

Comments of Prof. Plinio:

These beautiful considerations by St. Thomas More call to mind the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. They have a similar method, the same reasonable tone, and the frequent use of contrast. St. Ignatius draws on contrast a great deal to move souls.

For example, St. Thomas More describes the Devil who wants our souls to be lost, and then he shows God in all His glory Who wants to save us. He seeks to move the soul not only by the consideration of perdition, but perdition in contrast with salvation. He touches the soul in its deepest points to incline it toward a good decision. Contrast is an excellent psychological tool to move souls.

He presents the dreadful situation of a man facing persecution and martyrdom. In such situation, he vacillates. To keep him from wavering, St. Thomas More presents an argument that ends with this eminently Ignatian metaphor: There are the armies of the Turk ' Henry VIII ' that will take his life. But behind the Turk's armies are the armies of the Devil, filled with demons in their most horrendous forms. Therefore, the man thinks: "If I do not vanquish this fear I have of the Turk, then I will be taken by the Devil, and I will become a devil like those hideous creatures. The human body can die, but the soul will live forever."

So, to avoid being eternally tormented, the man agrees to a transitory suffering at the hands of the Turk. He is disposed to resist the Turk's army, and to die doing so.

This is not a theoretical consideration. It is one that St. Thomas More made because it applied to his case. He knew that he would suffer martyrdom, that he would have a violent death, and that he was describing his own agony. He remained two years in prison: it was a long, slow anguish. Then, after he learned the date of his execution, he suffered some days of intense distress. Finally, when he climbed the scaffold on Tower Hill and the executioner lowered the axe to his neck, he had some minutes, hardly more than ten, before his soul separated from his body. It was done. He went to Heaven. What was all that suffering compared to being damned for all eternity?

If he had chosen the Devil's army, which meant apostasy from the Catholic Faith, he would be like a hideous devil, filled with contradictions, unhappiness and afflictions, tormented by his own conscience and by other dammed souls for all eternity. That is to say, considering only the realm of torments, the ones he chose were much less than the ones he would have had to suffer if he had apostatized. He decided to face the executioner.

Then, as a contrast to these torments, St. Thomas portrays a vision full of charm. Suddenly, above those infernal hosts, Our Lady appears, seated at the right of her Divine Son, accompanied by all the Celestial Court. They look at that man threatened with martyrdom with warmth and tenderness, with that thirst for souls that Our Lord manifested at the height of the Cross, when he said: 'I thirst.' Our Lord wants the soul of that martyr to be with Him for all eternity. He wants to share His joy with him. Toward this end, He asks that soul for an act of sublime fidelity. This is the immense recompense awaiting the martyr. An act of pure love added to an act of holy fear leads the soul to choose martyrdom.

This is the argument of St. Thomas More based on contrasts.

Is this consideration only valid for martyrdom? No, it is also valid for similar situations. The life of fidelity of a Catholic is a long martyrdom. For a serious, upright man who seeks to serve Our Lady in everything, life is an extended martyrdom. He must make renunciations and sacrifices; he has to make violence against himself. This is the cross each one of us has to carry and the martyrdom we have to face.

Thus, we should apply to this parallel martyrdom the same advice that St. Thomas More offers for the real one.

Sometimes living a life of virtue becomes tedious. In those moments when we can be tempted to abandon our vocation, it is salutary to remember the two armies of St. Thomas. At other times, it is the small pleasure of a forbidden gaze, to look just for a moment at that immoral magazine or that badly dressed person. It is wrong; we should avoid it. The bad gaze often propitiates a bad thought, and then a bad action. Again, we are choosing between the two armies.

At still other times, we can consent to an act of pride, overestimating our qualities, declaring ourselves autonomous when we should obey. A concession in this realm cools the enthusiasm for our vocation, which in turn weakens the strength we need to persevere.

We are called to make a constant fight at all times and in all things against the Revolution and its tendencies even as it presents itself appealingly, inviting us to adhere to it. This is in many senses more than martyrdom. The latter is much harder, but it ends quickly, while the former goes on forever and ever.

So, for all such situations, the argument of St. Thomas More must be applied. We are choosing between an eternity of happiness with Our Lady, Our Lord and the Celestial Court or an eternity of torment and blaspheming in Hell.

It is good to note here that to save ourselves, we should be motivated not only by fear, but also by the love of God. It is not enough to be moved by fear. We should also think about the graces we have received in our counter-revolutionary vocation, about the recompense prepared in Heaven. We are called to be completely orthodox, having an acutely clear notion of what is right or wrong and a strong Catholic sense that allows us to understand the Church with a great lucidity and to love the Catholic Religion with a special love. Since God gave us these gifts, He prepares a place for our souls in Heaven where we will have a greater intimacy with Him than other souls to whom He gave less. Therefore, we should expect and love this reward He prepared for us. It will be a particularly clear beatific vision.

Since this Court has a King, it also has a Queen. And we will also have an intimacy with Our Lady, Queen of the Universe, proportionate to the devotion we had for her in this life. We are slaves of Our Lady following the method of St. Louis Grignion de Montfort, that is, we gave everything to her, for her service and glory, therefore, we should expect that in her, with her and through her, we will receive our reward in Heaven.