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unless stated otherwise.
“The Espousal of The Blessed Virgin Mary”, or, “Marriage of The Virgin Mary”, is a Feast that is Celebrated in certain parts of The Roman Catholic Church among certain Congregations, such as The Oblates of Saint Joseph.
The Feast was removed from many Local Calendars by The Sacred Congregation of Rites. It was formerly generally observed on 23 January.
English: The marriage of The Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Joseph.
Deutsch: Bleiglasfenster in der Stiftskirche Saint-Quiriace in Provins,
einer Gemeinde im Département Seine-et-Marne (Île-de-France), Darstellung:
Geschichte des Joseph, untere Szene rechts: Heirat Josephs und Marias.
The first definite knowledge of a Feast, “In Honour Of The Espousal of Mary”, dates from 29 August 1517, when, “with nine other Masses In Honour Of Mary”, it was granted by Pope Leo X to The Nuns of The Annunciation, Founded by Saint Jeanne de Valois.
In certain particular Churches, “The Espousals Of The Virgin Mary And Saint Joseph” are honoured with an Office on 23 January. The Oblates of Saint Joseph Celebrate 23 January as The Feast Day of “The Holy Spouses, Mary And Joseph”.
Gaspar Bertoni, Founder of The Stigmatines, chose Mary and Joseph, in the context of their “Espousals”, as Patrons of The Congregation of The Sacred Stigmata.
An Article on The Mass for The Espousal of The Blessed Virgin Mary with Saint Joseph can be found on the Web-Site at THE BRIGHTON ORATORY
The website of the Society of St Pius X has a useful news service which often picks up stories that do not feature elsewhere. Today this story caught my eye: "China: Catholics Accused of Spreading the Coronavirus".
The WeChat and Weibo messaging services have a novel conspiracy theory, that the new wave of Covid-19 is the fault of the Catholic faithful being gathered together by "foreign priests" in the Hebei province.
The SSPX article quotes AsiaNews, a widely respected source from The Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, originally in Italian, which has had an English and Chinese edition since 2003. Their article "Hebei, Christians labelled ‘spreaders’. The return of Nero" has more detail. The reference to Nero recalls how he set fire to Rome and then blamed the Christians.
Perhaps even more relevant is the exasperated satire of Tertullian in his Apologeticum (c.40). It fits quite well.
For those who read Latin, it would be wrong to neglect a sample of Tertullian's famously terse "Tacitean" prose.
Si Tiberis ascendit in moenia, si Nilus non ascendit in arva, si caelum stetit, si terra movit, si fames, si lues, statim Christianos ad leonem! adclamatur. Tantos ad unum?
and here is my translation:
If the Tiber rises to the walls, if the Nile does not rise to the fields, if the sky stands still, if the earth moves, if there is famine, if there is a plague, then immediately the cry is, "The Christians to the lion!" All of them to one lion?
Pray for the Catholics of China, and pray for their beautiful country. Its people are suffering under what is nowadays euphemistically called an "authoritarian government". In truth, the yoke of atheistic communism is as cruel as it ever was. Just as in ancient Rome, the official persecution of Christians gave rise to wild rumours, good Chinese people may also be misled by this fake news. Pray also for the poor Uyghur people who are suffering ghastly persecution as well.
Our Lady of China, pray for us. Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and his companions, pray for us.
Saint Raymund was born in 1175 of the noble Spanish family of Pennafort. Christ, by His teaching and Miracles, showed Himself to be the Son of God. The Church shows us, today, how, by the knowledge and Miracles of Saint Raymund, and thanks to her Saints, she also has a part in The Divinity of The Word.
Having given up everything to enter The Order of Saint Dominic, of which he is one of the glories, Saint Raymund "meditated on The Law of God" (Introit) and wrote the "Summa of cases of conscience", a summary of Christian morals which is much esteemed. Wherefore, The Church awarded him the title of "eminent Minister of The Sacrament of Penance" (Collect).
The Collect alludes to the Miracle by which, having spread out his cloak on the waters, Saint Raymund, in six hours, crossed the fifty-three Leagues of sea which separate the island of Majorca from Barcelona.
He persuaded Saint Peter Nolasco to sacrifice his fortune for the ransoming of Christians detained as captives in The Barbary States, and, with that end in view, obtained The Institution of The Order of Our Lady of Ransom.
Saint Raymund, unwilling to be surprised by the sudden arrival of The Lord (Gospel), employed the last thirty-five years of his life in a very special manner in preparing himself for death. The Saint gave up his Soul to God in 1275 at the age of ninety-nine.
Through the intercession of Saint Raymund, who was the eminent Minister of The Sacrament of Penance, and who miraculously crossed the sea, may we obtain to produce worthy fruits of Penance and to reach the haven of Eternal Salvation (Collect).
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unless stated otherwise.
San Miniato-al-Monte (Saint Minias-on-the-Mountain) is a Basilica in Florence, Italy, standing atop one of the highest points in the City. It has been described as one of the finest Romanesque structures in Tuscany and one of the most scenic Churches in Italy. There is an adjoining Olivetan Monastery.
Saint Miniato, or, Minas (Armenian: Մինաս), was an Armenian Prince serving in The Roman Army under Emperor Decius. He was denounced as a Christian, after becoming a Hermit, and was brought before the Emperor who was camped outside the gates of Florence.
The Emperor ordered him to be thrown to beasts in the Amphitheatre, where a panther was called upon him but refused to devour him. Beheaded in the presence of the Emperor, he is alleged to have picked up his head, crossed The River Arno, and walked up the hill of Mons Fiorentinus to his Hermitage.
A Shrine was later erected at this spot and there was a Chapel there by the 8th-Century A.D. Construction of the present Church was begun in 1013, by Bishop Alibrando, and it was endowed by the Emperor, Henry II.
English: Fresco in San Miniato-al-Monte, Florence, Italy,
depicting The Blessed Virgin Mary and Child, and Four Saints.
The adjoining Monastery began as a Benedictine Community, then passed to The Cluniacs, and then, in 1373, to The Olivetans, who still run it. The Monks make famous liqueurs, honey and herbal teas, which they sell from a shop next to the Church.
The Interior of the Church exhibits the early feature of a Choir raised on a platform above the large Crypt. It has changed little since it was first built. The patterned Pavement dates from 1207. The centre of the Nave is dominated by the beautiful, freestanding, Cappella del Crocefisso (Chapel of The Crucifix), designed by Michelozzo in 1448.
The Crypt is the oldest part of the Church and The High Altar supposedly contains the bones of Saint Minias (although there is evidence that these were removed to Metz, France, before the Church was even built). In the Vaults are frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi.
The raised Choir and Presbytery contain a magnificent Romanesque Pulpit and Screen made in 1207. The Apse is dominated by a great Mosaic, dating from 1297, which depicts the same subject as that on the façade and is probably by the same unknown artist.
The Crucifix, above The High Altar, is attributed to Luca della Robbia. The Sacristy is decorated with a great fresco cycle on The Life of Saint Benedict, by Spinello Aretino (1387).
The Cappella del Cardinale del Portogallo, to the Left of the Nave, “one of the most magnificent Funerary Monuments of The Italian Renaissance”, was built in 1473 as a Memorial to CardinalJames of Lusitania, who died in Florence, to which he was Portuguese Ambassador, in 1459.
The geometrically-patterned Marble façade was probably begun about 1090, although the upper parts date from the 12th-Century, or later, financed by the Florentine Arte di Calimala (Cloth Merchants’ Guild), who were responsible for the Church’s upkeep from 1288. The eagle, which crowns the façade, was their symbol.
The Campanile collapsed in 1499 and was replaced in 1523, although it was never finished. During The Siege of Florence, in 1530, it was used as an Artillery Post by the defenders, and Michelangelo had it wrapped in mattresses to protect it from enemy fire.
Adjacent to the Church is the fine Cloister, planned as early as 1426 and built from 1443 to the Mid-1450s. It was also designed by Bernardo and Antonio Rosselino, and financed by the Arte della Mercantia of Florence, and the fortified Bishop’s Palace, built in 1295 and later used as a Barracks and a Hospital.
“The Thousand Years of The Basilica of San Miniato-Al-Monte
(Saint Minias-On-The-Mountain), Florence, Italy”.
“I mille anni della Basilica di San Miniato al Monte”.
The whole complex is surrounded by defensive walls, originally built hastily by Michelangelo during The Siege and, in 1553, expanded into a true Fortress (“Fortezza”) by Cosimo I de' Medici. The walls now enclose a large ornate Monumental Cemetery, the Porte Sante, laid out in 1854.
Today's Mass Commemorates one of the most touching and glorious triumphs of Jesus over the World. Agnes, a daughter of one of the noblest families of Rome, goes to meet the Spouse (Gospel) and Consecrates herself to Him at the age of ten.
Jesus, in return, “works, through her, wonderful prodigies” (Gradual). The son of the Prefect of Rome asks for her hand in marriage and she replies: “The one to whom I am betrothed is Christ, Whom The Angels serve.”
Then, they attempted to dishonour her by violence, but “God delivered her body from perdition” (Epistle). She was thrown on a burning pile, but “the flames did her no harm” (ibid).
When condemned to be beheaded, she thus encouraged the hesitating executioner: “Strike without fear, for the bride does her Spouse an injury if she makes him wait.” At the age of thirteen (about 304 A.D.), this weak girl confounds the powerful of the Earth (Introit).
Over her tomb, in The Via Nomentana, was built the magnificent Basilica which still exists, and her name, towards the end of the 5th-Century A.D., was inscribed in The Canon of The Mass with those of five other female Martyrs (Second List). [Editor: Currently, there are seven female Saints mentioned in The Second List in The Canon of The Mass. They are: Felicitas; Perpetua; Agatha; Lucy; Agnes; Cecilia; Anastasia].
A Benedictine Convent is attached to the Basilica of Saint Agnes. On this Altar, every year on 21 January, The Abbot General of The Canons Regular of Lateran Blesses two Lambs. Then, they are brought to The Vatican, where The Pope Blesses them, again, and entrusts them to the Nuns of Saint Agnes's, who rear them until Good Friday, and weave, from their wool, the Palliums, the insignia of the Archbishops, and, also, by privilege, of a few Bishops.
The Pallium consists of a narrow band of White woollen cloth and is worn over the Chasuble.
Marius and Martha, his wife, were Persian nobles, who, with their two sons, Audifax and Abachum, came to Rome to Worship God in the Reign of Emperor Claudius II. There, they visited Christians cast into prison for their Faith: "You had compassion on prisoners," says the Epistle.
They devoted themselves in many ways to the service of Religion; but, soon, they had, themselves, to suffer for The Faith: For "they were tortured and put to death" (Gospel).
"Without fearing the persecutors" (Communion), they underwent all these torments with Prayers of Thanksgiving on their lips, for, in them, they saw like "the sparrow liberated from the bird-catcher's net and who escapes towards Heaven" (Offertory), the means of going to enjoy God for evermore (Introit).
They were Martyred in 270 A.D.
Let us ask Jesus Christ "Who showed Himself so admirably in these Martyrs" (Alleluia) also to make manifest in our Souls the effects of His Divine Power, so that "enjoying Peace in this life, we may in the other receive the eternal reward" (Collect).
Saint Prisca suffered cruel torments, at the age of thirteen, under The Emperor, Claudius, in the 1st-Century A.D.
In spite of the efforts made to force her to adore idols, her great Faith filled her with The Divine Strength of Jesus and she went to Heaven wearing the Double Crown of her Virginity and of her Martyrdom.
The manifestation of The Divinity of Jesus, which characterises the Season after Epiphany, demands of us the recognition of His Kingship over our Souls.
Christ is the Head of the Church. But as He is to re-ascend some day to Heaven, He communicates His Divine Power to man, for, after the Incarnation, it is to human intermediaries that God wills normally to establish His dealings with us.
The man whom Jesus constitutes "Prince" of Souls (Introit), and "on whom He builds His Church" (Gospel), is Saint Peter. As Vicar of Christ, he will sit in the Chair once occupied by Jesus and will hold in his hands The Keys as symbols of supreme authority (Collect, Gospel).
Gian Lorenzo Bernini's “Cathedra Petri” (Chair of Saint Peter).
We read in the Epistle, the beginning of the First Letter of Saint Peter. All the Letters of the Apostle bear the mark of his Primacy. Rome is to be the Capital of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. It is to Rome that Peter will come, it is on Rome's Blessed soil that he will shed his blood, he will be Bishop of Rome.
Wherefore, we must see in this Feast, a Liturgical testimony to the Primacy of honour and jurisdiction attached to The Chair of Rome. This material Chair is still preserved in the Apse of the Basilica of Saint Peter.
Saint Paul, during his sojourn at Corinth, in the year 58 A.D., wrote an Epistle to The Romans. Towards the year 62 A.D., he was led to Rome a captive and remained there two years. Imprisoned again in the year 67 A.D., he was put to death, like Saint Peter, in the henceforth Eternal City. Wherefore, The Liturgy associates, in a Second Collect, the glorious name of the Apostle with that of the first Bishop of Rome.
Let us, today, Pray for the Pope, successor of Saint Peter, that he may freely exercise the Divine Powers communicated to him by Jesus, Son of God.
Mass: Státuit ei Dóminus. Commemoration: Saint Paul the Apostle.
Commemoration: Saint Prisca. Creed: Is Said. Preface: Of The Apostles.
English: Basilica of Saint Peter's, Vatican.
Français: Vatican, Basilique St Pierre, Intérieur.
The Chair of Saint Peter can be seen directly through
The name derives from the Latin "Cathedra", meaning "Chair", or, “Throne”, which is used to denote the Chair or Seat of a Bishop. The Cathedra, in Saint Peter's Basilica, was once used by the Popes. Inside the Chair, is a wooden Throne, which, according to Tradition, was used by Saint Peter. It was, however, actually a gift from Charles the Bald to Pope John VIII in 875 A.D.
After Saint Paul, the First Hermit, Father of the Anchorites, or Hermits, The Christmas Cycle honours Saint Anthony, Father of the Cenobites, who Live-in-Common.
When he was eighteen, he retired into the Egyptian desert and led the life of a Hermit. The devil, in order to frighten him and drive him from the solitude, would appear to him in the most hideous shapes; "but The Lord made him formidable to his foes: One word from his mouth reduced these prodigies to nothingness" (Epistle).
His holiness soon attracted Souls desirous to see The Divine Kingship of Christ more perfectly confirmed in themselves. As a new lawgiver, he gave them "the Doctrine and Rule of Life that he had received from God in Prayer" (Epistle).
English: St. Anthony's Egyptian Coptic Monastery at Coma, Egypt.
Saint Anthony, the first of Abbots, instituted Monastic Life-In-Common, by which are formed noble Souls always ready, like their Father in God, to receive The Lord when He shall come to take them from this World (Gospel). Wherefore, today's Mass is that of The Common of Abbots.
He also strenuously fought against Arianism and, with Saint Athanasius, who honoured him with his friendship, he successfully defended The Dogma of The Divinity of Christ. He died in 356 A.D. at the age of one hundred and five years.
Let us show forth, by the perfection of our lives, that we share in The Divinity of Jesus.
Mass: Os justi: (Of The Abbots).
English: Monastery of Saint Anthony, Egypt.
Deutsch: Antonius Kloster, Ägypten.
Français: Le monastère Saint-Antoine, en Égypte.
Nederlands: Het klooster van Sint-Antonius, in Egypte.
It is one of the oldest Monasteries in the world, together with Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai, which also lays claim to that title. The Monastery of Saint Anthony was established by the followers of Saint Anthony, who is considered to be the first Monk.
The Monastery of Saint Anthony is one of the most prominent Monasteries in Egypt, and has strongly influenced the formation of several Coptic institutions, and has promoted Monasticism in general. Several Patriarchs have come from this Monastery, and several hundred Pilgrims visit it each day.
Coptic leaders, the Patriarch, the Metropolitans, and the Bishops, have always been recruited from among the desert Monks. In the 1960s, Anba Shenudah initiated the Sunday School movement, which encouraged educated young men to forsake worldly pleasures and instead join their Desert Fathers.
Since the movement began, the total number of Monks has more than tripled within the first 25 years, and many of these young ascetics have also been promoted to the Episcopacy. At the Monastery of Saint Anthony, the number of Monks increased from twenty-four, in 1960, to sixty-nine, in 1986. By 2010, about one hundred and twenty Monks and Priests live in the Community.
This trend has reversed since the revival of Monasticism in Egypt in the 1960s. Today, Monks are well-educated young men with extensive academic and professional backgrounds in the scientific fields such as engineering, medicine, pharmacy, and architecture.
Pope Saint Marcellus I († 309 A.D.) was The Pope from May or June 308 A.D. to his death in 309 A.D. He succeeded Pope Marcellinus after a considerable interval. Under Emperor Maxentius, he was banished from Rome in 309 A.D., on account of the tumult caused by the severity of the penances he had imposed on Christians who had lapsed under the recent Persecution. He died the same year, being succeeded by Pope Eusebius. His Relics are under The High Altar of San Marcello-al-Corso, in Rome. His Feast Day is 16 January.
For some time after the death of Pope Marcellinus in 304 A.D., The Diocletian Persecution continued with unabated severity. After the Abdication of Emperor Diocletian in 305 A.D., and the accession in Rome of Emperor Maxentius to the Throne of The Cæsars in October of the following year, the Christians of the Capital again enjoyed comparative peace.
The High Altar, San Marcello-al-Corso, Rome,
under which are the Relics of Pope Saint Marcellus I.
Nevertheless, nearly two years passed before a new Bishop of Rome was elected. Then, in 308 A.D., according to The Catalogus Liberianus, Pope Marcellus first entered into Office: "Fuit temporibus Maxenti a cons. X et Maximiano usque post consulatum X et septimum". This abbreviated notice is to be read: "A cons. Maximiano Herculio X et Maximiano Galerio VII [308] usque post cons. Maxim. Herc. X et Maxim. Galer. VII [309]".
At Rome, Marcellus found The Church in the greatest confusion. The meeting-places and some of the burial-places of The Faithful had been confiscated, and the ordinary life and activity of The Church was interrupted.
Added to this, were the dissensions within The Church, itself, caused by the large number of weaker Members, who had fallen away during the long period of Active Persecution and, later, under the leadership of an Apostate, violently demanded that they should be re-admitted to Communion without doing Penance.
English: The Church of San Marcello-al-Corso, Rome, Italy,
where the Relics of Pope Saint Marcellus I lie under The High Altar.
According to “The Liber Pontificalis”, Marcellus divided the territorial administration of The Church into twenty-five Districts (Tituli), appointing over each a Presbyter, who saw to the preparation of The Catechumens for Baptism and directed the performance of public penances.
The Presbyter was also made responsible for the burial of the dead and for the Celebrations Commemorating the deaths of The Martyrs.
The Pope also had a new burial-place, the Cœmeterium Novellœ on The Via Salaria (opposite The Catacomb of Saint Priscilla), laid out. “The Liber Pontificalis” (ed. Duchesne, I, 164) says: "Hic fecit cymiterium Novellae via Salaria et XXV titulos in urbe Roma constituit quasi diœcesis propter baptismum et pœnitentiam multorum qui convertebantur ex paganis et propter sepulturas martyrum".
At the beginning of the 7th-Century A.D., there were probably twenty-five Titular Churches in Rome; even granting that, perhaps, the compiler of “The Liber Pontificalis” referred this number to the time of Marcellus, there is still a clear historical Tradition, in support of his declaration, that the Ecclesiastical administration in Rome was re-organised by this Pope after “The Great Persecution”.
The work of The Pope was, however, quickly interrupted by the controversies to which the question of the re-admittance of “The Lapsi” [Editor: “The Lapsed Members of The Church”] into The Church gave rise.
As to this, we gather some light from the poetic tribute composed by Pope Damasus I, in Memory of his predecessor and placed over his grave (De Rossi, "Inscr. christ. urbis Romæ", II, 62, 103, 138; cf. Idem, "Roma sotterranea", II, 204–5).
Pope Damasus relates that Pope Marcellus was looked upon as a wicked enemy by all the lapsed, because he insisted that they should perform the prescribed Penance for their guilt. As a result, serious conflicts arose, some of which ended in bloodshed, and every bond of peace was broken. At the head of this band of dissenters was an Apostate who had denied The Faith even before the outbreak of persecution.
The tyrannical Emperor Maxentius had the Pope seized and sent into Exile. This took place at the end of 308 A.D., or the beginning of 309 A.D., according to the passages cited above from “The Catalogus Liberianus”, which gives the length of the Pontificate as no more than one year, six (or seven) months, and twenty days. Marcellus died shortly after leaving Rome, and was Venerated as a Saint.
His Feast Day was 16 January, according to the Depositio episcoporum of the Chronography of 354 A.D., and every other Roman authority. Nevertheless, it is not known whether this is the date of his death or that of the burial of his remains, after these had been brought back from the unknown quarter to which he had been exiled.
He was buried in the Catacomb of Saint Priscilla, where his grave is mentioned by the itineraries to the graves of The Roman Martyrs as existing in The Basilica of Saint Silvester (De Rossi, Roma sotterranea, I, 176).
A 5th-Century A.D. "Passio Marcelli", which is included in the legendary account of The Martyrdom of Saint Cyriacus (cf. Acta Sanct., Jan., II, 369) and is followed by “The Liber Pontificalis”, gives a different account of the end of Marcellus. According to this version, The Pope was required by Emperor Maxentius, who was enraged at his re-organisation of The Church, to lay aside his Episcopal dignity and make an offering to the Roman gods.
On his refusal, he was condemned to work as a slave at a station on the public highway (“catabulum”). At the end of nine months, he was set free by The Clergy; but a Matron, named Lucina, having had her house on The Via Lata Consecrated by him as "Titulus Marcelli", he was again condemned to the work of attending to the horses brought into the station, in which menial occupation he died.
All this is probably legendary, the reference to the restoration of Ecclesiastical activity by Marcellus alone having an historical basis. The tradition related in the verses of Damasus seems much more worthy of belief.
The Feast of Saint Marcellus, whose name is to this day borne by The Church at Rome, mentioned in the above legend, is still Celebrated on 16 January. There still remains to be mentioned Mommsen's peculiar view that Marcellus was not really a Bishop, but a simple Roman Presbyter, to whom was committed the Ecclesiastical administration during the latter part of the period of vacancy of The Papal Chair. According to this view, 16 January was really the date of Marcellus' death, the next occupant of The Papal Chair being Eusebius (Neues Archiv, 1896, XXI, 350–3). This hypothesis has, however, found no support.
The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.
Saint Marcellus.
Pope and Martyr. Feast Day 16 January.
Semi-Double.
Red Vestments.
As Supreme Head of The Church (Introit, Gradual) at the time of the last Persecutions of The Roman Emperors, Saint Marcellus bore witness to The Divinity of Christ "by losing his life for His sake" (Gospel).
The Holy Widow, Lucina, having offered him her house, he transformed it into a Church, now called Saint Marcellus's. Emperor Maxentius transferred there certain deer from the public stables and condemned the Holy Pope to keep them. His sufferings, tempered by Divine Consolation, made him feel all the more for the troubles of his flock (Epistle). Exhausted by ill-treatment, conquered by pain, he died in 309 A.D.
His heroic resistance, against which The Caesar's violence was broken, proves that Jesus is God, for "it is His powerful hand that succours His servant, and His arm which strengthens him, so that the enemy shall not get the better of him" (Gradual).
The Divine Reign of The Saviour will indeed soon be acknowledged and, with The Emperor Constantine, The Church of Rome, "Queen of Churches", as Saint Marcellus called her, will be Queen of the World, not only in The Spiritual Order, but also in The Temporal.
Let us imitate the courage of the Holy Pontiff, Marcellus, in defending The Divine Rights of Christ, in order that they may be manifested again by The triumph of The Church.
Mass: Státuit ei Dominus: (First Mass of a Martyr Bishop).
Collects: Are Proper to Saint Marcellus' Feast Day.
