Saint Teresa Of Ávila. Virgin. One Of The Four Female Doctors Of The Church. Whose Feast Day Is, Today, 15 October.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Teresa.
   Virgin.
   Doctor of The Church.
   Feast Day 15 October.

Double.

White Vestments.

Saint Teresa of Ávila (Saint Teresa of Jesus)

(1515-1582).

Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY

Artist: René de Cramer.

“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.

Used with Permission.

Saint Teresa was born at Ávila, Spain. From her earliest childhood, she ardently desired to die a Martyr. At the age of eighteen, she entered The Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and Consecrated herself to Christ, whom she chose for her spouse (Epistle).

[The Order of Mount Carmel, which spread over The East in Apostolic times, penetrated into The West in the 13th-Century. Illustrious Members of this Order, much by their Sanctity, rank, or writings, are very numerous. Several have filled the greatest dignities in The Church.]

Her heart was so inflamed with Divine Love that she wrote: "How the enraptured Soul feels in this body its captivity and the misery of life ! It considers itself a slave sold in a foreign land; and, what is most bitter, is to see everywhere men's passionate love for this life, and so few banished ones who sigh like itself and Pray for the end of their exile." [Her autobiography, Chapter XXI.]

English: Saint Teresa Of Ávila (Saint Teresa Of Jesus).

One of four female Doctors of The Church.

[Editor: The four female Doctors of The Church are:

Saint Teresa of Avila;

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux;

Saint Catherine of Siena;

Saint Hildegard von Bingen.]

Deutsch: Hl. Therese von Avila.

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).

Date: 1615.

Current location: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.

Source/Photographer: https://www.khm.at/objektdb/detail/1617

(Wikimedia Commons)

Counselled by Jesus, she made the difficult Vow of always doing what she judged most perfect.

She attained through Prayer the highest degree of Mystical Life, and there found such enlightenment concerning Divine Things (Collect), that her works earned for her, from Popes Gregory XV and Urban VII, the august Title of Doctor of The Church, which has been given to no other woman.

[Editor: This last comment was dated 1945 in The Saint Andrew Daily Missal. Since then, three other women have gained the Title of Doctor of The Church. They are: Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (Thérèse de Lisieux (Saint Therese of The Child Jesus and of The Holy Face)); Saint Catherine of Siena; Saint Hildegard von Bingen. Wikipedia states that Saint Teresa of Ávila was given the Title of Doctor of The Church, by Pope Paul VI, in 1970.]

Saint Catherine of Siena.

One of the four female Doctors of The Church.

Current location: The Church of Santa Maria del Rosario.

in Prati, Roma, Italy.

Source: http://www.tanogabo.it/

religione/santa_caterina_siena.htm

Author: Anonymous.

(Wikimedia Commons)

"The best Prayer," she wrote, "and the most pleasing to God, is that which brings on improvement, showing itself in good works, and not the enjoyment which only serves for our own satisfaction." [Letter to The Bishop of Ávila.]

The influence of this humble Virgin, who converted thousands of Souls, manifestly proves the supreme importance of The Contemplative Life, addressing itself, directly, as it does, to God, The Author of All Good.

She died of Divine Love on 5-15 October. 1582. [Pope Gregory XIII, in order to reform The Roman Calendar, had ordered the suppression of ten days of the year 1582; the day after 4 October was to be called the 15th of the same month. It was during this historic night, of the 4th to the 15th, that Saint Teresa died.]

Mass: Dilexísti.

“Voices of Angels”,

Composed by: Hildegard von Bingen.

One of The Four Female Doctors of The Catholic Church.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

English: Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

One of the four female Doctors of The Church.

Saint Therese of The Child Jesus in the photograph 

taken in the courtyard of the Monastery of Lisieux,

Easter Monday, 15 April 1894.

Español: Detalle de Santa Teresa del Niño Jesús en la fotografía tomada en el patio del monasterio de Lisieux el Lunes de Pascua, 15 de abril de 1894.

Français: Détail de Sainte Thérèse de l'Enfant Jésus dans la photographie prise dans la cour du monastère de Lisieux lundi de Pâques, 15 Avril, 1894.

Italiano: Particolare di Santa Teresa del Bambino Gesù nella fotografia scattata nel cortile del monastero di Lisieux Lunedi di Pasqua, April 15, 1894.

Date: 3 September 2014.

Source: Archivos del Carmelo de Lisieux.

Author: Celine Martin (Sor Genoveva de la Santa Faz).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptised as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada (28 March 1515 –

4 October 1582), was a prominent Spanish Mystic, Roman Catholic Saint, Carmelite Nun, author during The Counter Reformation, and Theologian of Contemplative Life through Mental Prayer. She was a Reformer of The Carmelite Order and is considered to be a Founder of The Discalced Carmelites along with Saint John of The Cross.

In 1622, forty years after her death, she was Canonised by Pope Gregory XV, and, on 27 September 1970, was named a Doctor of The Church by Pope Paul VI. Her books, which include her autobiography (The Life of Teresa of Jesus) and her seminal work El Castillo Interior (The Interior Castle), are an integral part of Spanish Renaissance Literature as well as Christian Mysticism and Christian Meditation practices. She also wrote Camino de Perfección (The Way of Perfection).

After her death, Saint Teresa’s cult was known in Spain during the 1620s, and for a time she was considered a candidate to become a National Patron Saint. A Santero image of Our Lady of The Conception, said to have been sent by Saint Teresa with one of her brothers to Nicaragua, is now Venerated as the Country’s National Patroness at the Shrine of El Viejo. Pious Catholic beliefs also associate Saint Teresa with the esteemed Religious image called The Infant Jesus of Prague, with claims of former ownership and devotion.

Pope Saint Gregory II. Confessor. Reigned From 715 A.D. - 731 A.D. (Part Three).

Pope Saint Gregory II.

This File: 4 December 2006.

User: Nico86

(Wikimedia Commons)

Apparently, the practice had been frowned upon by Popes of previous Centuries, as pagans had Fasted on Thursdays as part of their worship of Jupiter.[24]

He also prescribed the Offices be Said during Church Services on Thursdays in Lent, as, prior to this, The Mass of the preceding Sunday was Said on those Thursdays.[25]

Gregory attempted to remain on good diplomatic terms with the Lombards, and especially with their King, Liutprand. In April 716 A.D., he managed to get Liutprand to agree not to retake the Cottian Alps, which had been granted to The Roman Church in the Reign of Aripert II.[26]

However, the semi-independent Lombard Duchy of Benevento, under the expansionist Duke Romuald II, resumed hostilities by capturing Cumae in 717 A.D., cutting Rome off from Naples.[27]

Neither threats of Divine retribution, nor outright bribery, made an impression on Romuald, and so Gregory appealed to Duke John I of Naples, funding his campaign to successfully retake Cumae.[28]

That same year saw the Lombard Duke Faroald II of Spoleto, capture Classis, the port of Ravenna. Gregory brokered a deal with Liutprand, who forced Faroald to return it to The Exarch of Ravenna.[29]

Perceiving that the Lombard threat would continue to fester, and they would take Imperial territory in Italy a piece at a time, around 721 A.D., Gregory appealed to the Franks, asking Charles Martel to intervene and drive out the Lombards. Charles, however, did not respond to the request.[30]

A law issued by Liutprand in 723 A.D. (number thirty-three), prohibited a man from marrying the widow of his cousin on either mother’s or father’s side, and specifically states that the “Pope in the City of Rome” [“papa urbis romæ”] had sent him a Letter exhorting him to issue this legislation,[31] indicating a degree of cordial communication between them.

Imperial weakness in Italy encouraged further Lombard incursions, and, in 725 A.D., they captured the fortress of Narni.

Then, in 727 A.D., with The Exarchate of Ravenna in chaos over the Byzantine Emperor’s iconoclast decrees (see, below), the Lombards captured and destroyed Classis and overran The Pentapolis.[32]

Although Classis was retaken in 728 A.D., fighting continued between Byzantine forces and the Lombards until 729 A.D., when Gregory brokered a deal between Liutprand and the Byzantine Exarch, Eutychius, bringing about a temporary ceasing of hostilities that held until Gregory’s death.[33]

Gregory and Liutprand met in 729 A.D. at the ancient City of Sutri. Here, the two reached an agreement, known as the Donation of Sutri, whereby Sutri and some Hill Towns in Latium (see, Vetralla) were given to The Papacy.[34] They were the first extension of Papal territory beyond the confines of The Duchy of Rome, and, in effect, marked the beginning of The Papal States.

Tensions between Gregory and the Imperial Court began around 722 A.D., when Emperor Leo III attempted to raise taxes on the Papal patrimonies in Italy, draining the Papacy’s monetary reserves.

Leo required this revenue to pay for the ongoing Arab War, while Gregory needed it to provide local foodstuffs for the City of Rome, thereby relieving Rome on its reliance upon the long-distance supply of grain.[35]

The result was, through refusing to pay the additional taxes, Gregory encouraged the Roman populace to drive the Imperial Governor of Rome from the City, and Leo was unable to impose his will upon Rome, as Lombard pressure kept the Exarch of Ravenna from fielding an army to bring the Pope to heel.[36]

However, in 725 A.D., possibly at the Emperor’s request, Marinus, who had been sent from Constantinople to govern The Duchy of Rome, encouraged a conspiracy to murder the Pope.

Involving a Duke, named Basil, the Chartoularios Jordanes, and a Sub-Deacon named Laurion, the departure of Marinus paused the Plot, only to see it resume with the arrival of the new Exarch, Paul. However, the Plot was uncovered, and the conspirators were put to death.[37]

Then, in 726 A.D., Leo issued an iconoclast edict, condemning possession of any icon of the Saints.[38] Although Leo made no move to enforce this edict in The West, beyond having it read in Rome and Ravenna, Gregory immediately rejected the edict.[39]

Upon hearing this, the Exarchate of Ravenna rose in revolt against the Imperial imposition of Iconoclasm. The armies of Ravenna and The Duchy of The Pentapolis mutinied, denouncing both Exarch Paul and Leo III, and overthrew those Officers who remained loyal.

Paul rallied the loyalist forces and attempted to restore order, but was killed. The armies discussed electing their own Emperor and marching on Constantinople, but were dissuaded by Pope Gregory from acting against Leo.[40] At the same time, the self-described “Duke” Exhilaratus and his son, Hadrian, rebelled in Naples, sided with The Emperor and marched on Rome in order to kill Gregory, but were overthrown by the people and killed.[41]

In 727 A.D., Gregory summoned a Synod to condemn Iconoclasm.[42] According to Greek sources, principally Theophanes, it was at this point that Gregory excommunicated Leo.

However, no Western source, in particular, The Liber Pontificalis, confirms this act by Gregory.[43] He then dispatched two Letters to Leo, denying the Imperial Right to interfere in matters of Doctrine.

He wrote:

“You say: ‘We worship stones and walls and boards.’ But it is not so, O Emperor; but they serve us for remembrance and encouragement, lifting our slow spirits upwards, by those whose names the pictures bear and whose representations they are.

 

“And we worship them not as God, as you maintain. God forbid ! . . Even the little children mock at you. Go into one of their schools, say that you are the enemy of images, and straightway they will throw their little tablets at your head, and what you have failed to learn from the wise you may pick up from the foolish . . .

“In virtue of the power which has come down to us from Saint Peter, The Prince of The Apostles, we might inflict punishment upon you, but, since you have invoked one on yourself, have that, you and the counselors you have chosen . . . though you have so excellent a High Priest, our brother Germanus, whom you ought to have taken into your counsels as father and teacher . . .

“The dogmas of The Church are not a matter for the Emperor, but for the Bishops.”[44]

Gregory’s letters to Leo have been accused of being apocryphal,[45] and may not accurately reflect the real content of Gregory’s correspondence with Leo.

In 728 A.D., Leo sent to Italy a new Exarch, Eutychius, to try to retrieve the situation.[46] Eutychius sent an emissary to Rome, with instructions to kill Gregory and the chief nobility in the City, but the plot was uncovered and foiled.

Next, he attempted to turn the Lombard King and Dukes against the Pope, but they retained their ambivalent stance, not committing one way or the other.[47] That same year, Gregory wrote to Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople, giving the Patriarch his support, and when Germanus abdicated, Gregory refused to acknowledge the new Patriarch, Anastasius, nor the iconoclast rulings of a Council summoned by Leo.[48]

In 729 A.D., Eutychius finally managed to bring about an alliance with the Lombard King, Liutprand, and both agreed to help the other deal with their rebellious subjects. After they had subjugated the Dukes of Spoleto and Benevento, bringing them under Liutprand’s authority, they turned to Rome with the intent of bringing Gregory to heel.[49]

However, outside Rome, Gregory managed to break up the alliance against him, with Liutprand returning to Pavia. After this, Eutychius reached an uneasy truce with Gregory, and the Pope, in return, forged a temporary truce between the Lombards and the Byzantines.[50]

Regardless, Gregory was still a devoted and vigorous defender of the Empire. This was demonstrated in 730 A.D. when there arose another usurper, Tiberius Petasius, who raised a revolt in Tuscany. He was defeated by the Exarch, Eutychius, who received steady support from Pope Gregory.[51]

Gregory died on 11 February 731 A.D., and was buried in Saint Peter’s Basilica. The location of his tomb has since been lost. He was subsequently Canonised and is Commemorated as a Saint in The Roman Calendar and Martyrology on 13 February, although some Martyrologies list him under 11 February.[52]

A miracle concerning Pope Gregory II is linked to the victory over Muslim forces at the Battle of Toulouse (721 A.D.). According to The Liber Pontificalis, in 720 A.D., Pope Gregory sent to Odo, Duke of Aquitaine, “three Blessed sponges/baskets of bread”. The Duke kept these, and just before the battle outside of Toulouse, he distributed small portions of these to be eaten by his troops. After the battle, it was reported that no-one who had eaten a part of the sponges/baskets of bread had been killed or wounded.[53]

THIS CONCLUDES THIS ARTICLE.

“The Splendours Of The Liturgy Are More Efficacious Than Documents Of The Ecclesiastical Magisterium. And Even More Important”.

English: Pope Pius XI.

Deutsch: Papst Pius XI.

Photo: 1930.

Source: Politisch Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Berlin, 1932.

Author: Alberto Felici (1871-1950).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

“In instructing the people in The Divine Truths, and raising them to spiritual and interior joys”, said Pope Pius XI, “the splendours of The Liturgy are more efficacious than Documents of The Ecclesiastical Magisterium, and even more important”.

Saint Callistus I. Pope And Martyr. Instituted The Ember Day Fasts. Feast Day 14 October.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Callistus I.
   Pope.

   Martyr.

Double.

Red Vestments.

English: Pope Saint Callistus I,

Rheims Cathedral, France.

Français: Statue du pape St Calixte au trumeau

du portail central du transept Nord, Notre-Dame de Reims.

Photo: 16 April 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Vassil

(Wikimedia Commons)

Callistus, a Roman by birth, succeeding Pope Saint Zephyrinus [Editor: Feast Day 26 August] in The See of Saint Peter, was called to share in The Priesthood of Christ in its fullness (Epistle, Collect).

It was Pope Saint Callistus I who instituted The Ember Day Fasts. He suffered Martyrdom 223 A.D.

Mass: Sacerdótes Dei.

English: Pope Saint Callistus I

instituting The Ember Day Fasts.

Français: Saint Calixte Ier

(Pope Calixtus I) instituant les jeûnes.

Cote: Français 185 , Fol. 201.

Vies de saints, France, Paris, XIVe siècle,

Richard de Montbaston et collaborateurs.

Source: Source: http://saints.bestlatin.net/

gallery/calixtus_bnfms.htm

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Pope Callixtus I (♰ 223 A.D.), also called Pope Callistus I, was the Bishop of Rome (according to Sextus Julius Africanus) from 218 A.D., to his death. He lived during the Reigns of The Roman Emperors Elagabalus and Alexander Severus.

Eusebius and The Liberian Catalogue gave him five years of Episcopate (217 A.D. - 222 A.D.). He was Martyred for his Christian Faith and is Venerated as a Saint by The Catholic Church.

“Messiah”. Composer: G. F. Handel.

 

“Messiah”.

Composer: G. F. Handel.

Performed by: VOCE8, Apollo5,

and The Academy of Ancient Music.

Conductor: Barnaby Smith.

From Trinity College Chapel,

Cambridge, England.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Voces8, styled VOCES8, is an a cappella octet from the United Kingdom. They have appeared internationally and made recordings of classical music, jazz, pop, and their own arrangements.

Recent recordings are for Decca Classics and under their own label Voces8 Records. Educational efforts are run by the Voces8 Foundation.

“Art & Virtue” Conference. The Catholic Art Institute. 30 October 2022.

Illustration: CATHOLIC ART INSTITUTE

The Fourth Annual Catholic Art Institute Conference will take place on 30 October 2022, bringing together the World’s leading artists and scholars to rediscover the power of beauty in the modern World.

The Conference will open with a Choral High Mass, for The Feast of Christ The King, in the Baroque splendour of Chicago’s historic Saint John Cantius Church.

Conference Presentations will take place at the Athenæum Center for Thought amd Culture.

This year, we’re offering two ticket options:

1. One for the Presentations, only.

2. One that includes Lunch, Dinner, and Panel Discussions.

TO BUY TICKETS

The Catholic Art Institute Web-Site can be found HERE

Prayer To Saint Joseph.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Joseph with The Infant Jesus.

Artist: Guido Reni (1575–1642).

Date: 1620s.

Collection: Hermitage Museum.

Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Prayer to Saint Joseph.

Prescribed by Pope Leo XIII, for the month of October,

after the recitation of The Holy Rosary

and The Litany of Our Lady (The Litany of Loreto).

21 September 1889.

Indulgence: 300 Days.

Unto thee, O Blessed Joseph, do we fly in our tribulation and,

having implored the help of thy Holy Spouse, we now, also,

confidently seek thy protection.

By that affection which united thee to The Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and by thy fatherly love for The Child Jesus, we humbly beg thee to look down with compassion on the inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased with His Blood, and, in our need, to help us by thy powerful intercession.

Do thou, O prudent guardian of The Holy Family, watch over the chosen people of Jesus Christ. Keep us, O loving father, safe from all error and corruption.

O great protector, from thy place in Heaven, graciously help us in our contest against the powers of darkness. And, as of old thou didst rescue The Child Jesus from the danger of death, so now defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity.

Extend to each one of us thy continual protection, that, led on by thine example, and strengthened by thine aid, we may live and die in Holiness, and obtain everlasting happiness in Heaven.

Amen.

Saint Edward (1003 - 1066). King And Confessor. Feast Day 13 October.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Edward.
   King and Confessor.
   Feast Day 13 October.

Semi-Double.

White Vestments.

Saint Edward the Confessor.

Date: 13th-Century.

Source: http://molcat1.bl.uk/IllImages/

Kslides%5Cmid/K066/K066609.jpg

Author: Anonymous.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Edward, called "The Confessor", was a grandson of Saint Edward, King and Martyr, who Reigned 975 A.D. - 978 A.D.

When he was raised to The Throne of England, "it was seen," says a historian, "what can be done by a King, who is the true father of his Subjects. All those who approached him endeavoured to regulate their lives according to his. Neither ambition, nor the love of riches, nor any of the passions which are unfortunately so common among Courtiers, were known at his Court."

He was everywhere called The Father of The Orphans, and of The Poor, and he was never happier than when he could distribute alms (Epistle). He always granted, what was requested of him, in the name of Saint John the Evangelist.

He died in 1066.

Mass: Os justi.

A Sealed Writ of Edward the Confessor,

issued in favour of Westminster Abbey.

This File: 16 April 2007.

User: Canley

(Wikipedia)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Edward the Confessor (1003-1066), son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon Kings of England and is usually regarded as the last King of The House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066.

Edward has traditionally been seen as unworldly and pious, and his Reign is notable for the disintegration of Royal power in England and the advance in power of The Godwin Family.

Edward's Seal: SIGILLVM EADWARDI ANGLORVM BASILEI

(Seal of Edward. Crowned King of The English).

First Great Seal of Edward the Confessor.

Date: 1915.

Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/

files/28157/28157-h/images/img049.jpg

Author: HISTORY OF ENGLAND by SAMUEL R. GARDINER.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Edward succeeded Cnut the Great's son, Harthacnut, restoring the Rule of The House of Wessex after the period of Danish Rule since Cnut conquered England in 1016. When Edward died in 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who was defeated and killed in the same year by The Normans, under William the Conqueror, at The Battle of Hastings.

Edward is called Confessor, the name for someone believed to have lived a Saintly life, but who was not a Martyr, in Latin S. Eduardus Confessor rex Anglorum, as opposed to S. Eduardus Martyr rex Anglorum. He was Canonised in 1161 by Pope Alexander III, and is Commemorated on 13 October by both The Church of England and The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Saint Edward was one of The National Saints of England until King Edward III adopted Saint George as Patron Saint in about 1350.

English: Bayeux Tapestry.

King Edward the Confessor

and Harold Godwinson, at Winchester.

Français: Tapisserie de Bayeux. Scène 1: le roi Édouard le Confesseur reçoit son beau-frère Harold Godwinson dans son palais de Winchester et lui confie une mission.

Photo: 7 March 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Myrabella

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Motherhood Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Feast Day 11 October.

  

“Mary” superimposed on its Hebrew source מרים (Miryam/Miriam).

Date: 14 July 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Jayarathina

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: Madonna on Floral Wreath.

Deutsch: Madonna im Blumenkranz.

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)

with

Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568–1625).

Date: Circa 1619.

Collection: Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.

Source: http://freeforumzone.leonardo.it/

discussione.aspx?idd=354952&p=4

(Wikimedia Commons)

                       

Illustration: HERITAGE TYPE COMPANY

Feast of The Motherhood of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

11 October.

Double-Major.

Roman Breviary 1901.

Illustration: Zephyrinus.

This Feast of The Motherhood of The Blessed Virgin Mary was Celebrated, yesterday, 11 October.

Because of the state of the World, these days, Zephyrinus again brings this most beautiful Feast Day to the Readers of this Blog, with a recommendation to devote themselves to our Beloved Mother and, in addition, to adopt a regular recitation of The Divine Holy Rosary, which pleases our Beloved Mother very much.

The following Text is from:

“The Liturgical Year”;

by Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B;

Volume 14.

Time after Pentecost.

Book V.

In the 16th-Century, even amidst their many divergences, the so-called Reformers agreed in utterly rejecting all the honours paid by The Catholic Church to The Blessed Virgin Mary.

This they did on the grounds that such Veneration of The Mother detracted from the supreme Worship due to her Divine Son.

Four centuries [Editor: This book was written in the Late-19th-Century] have more than sufficed to show the result of so doing: The Son has followed The Mother !!!

The descendants of those who refused to Mary the Title and Rights of Theotokos — “Mother of God” — refuse to Jesus the Title of Son of God in the Traditional sense of the term.

Many reject His Godhead altogether, placing Him merely at the head of the line of great moral and social World-Teachers; others still retain the word “Divinity” with respect to Him, but, for them, it is no longer synonymous with “Deity”.

Holy Scripture tells us that those who first came to adore Him, Who is Son of God and Son of Mary, found Him “with Mary His Mother”.

      

At the scene of the first Miracle, at Cana, which marked the opening of His public life, “The Mother of Jesus was there”.

In the tremendous hour when all was consummated, when types and shadows gave place to the mighty reality, “there stood, by The Cross of Jesus, His Mother”.

And when the little flock, who were to be the nucleus of The Church of God, awaited in Prayer the coming of The Paraclete, Who would teach them all truth, again, it was in company with “Mary, The Mother of Jesus”.

Far from taking from the honour and love due to The Word Incarnate, devotion to Mary is a strong bulwark protecting the central doctrine. He is ever found with His Mother; where Mary is denied her Rights, sooner or later Jesus is denied His; they stand or fall together.

This was realised in 431 A.D., when, at The General Council of Ephesus, The Church condemned the Nestorian heresy, whereby the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, had taught that, since in Christ there are two persons, a Divine and a human, Mary was the Mother only of The Man Christ, and, therefore, could not be called “Mother of God”.

He therefore denied “that wondrous and substantial union of the two natures which we call hypostatic”.

English: The Virgin at Prayer.

Français : La Vierge en prière.

Artist: Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609–1685).

Date: 1640-1650.

Collection: National Gallery

Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art

(Wikipedia)

On the occasion of the fifteenth centenary of The Council of Ephesus, the Sovereign Pontiff, Pope Pius XI, issued the Encyclical “Lux Veritatis”, recalling the history of the heresy and commenting thus upon the dogma of the hypostatic union: “When once the doctrine of the hypostatic union is abandoned, whereon the dogmas of The Incarnation and of man’s Redemption rest and stand firm, the whole foundation of The Catholic Religion falls and comes to ruin . . .

“When once this dogma of the truth is securely established, it is easy to gather from it that, by the mystery of The Incarnation, the whole aggregate of men and mundane things has been endowed with a dignity than which certainly nothing greater can be imagined, and surely grander than that to which it was raised by the work of creation”.

Proceeding to speak of the special dignity of The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Pope emphasises that, “because she brought forth The Redeemer of mankind, she is also in a manner the most tender Mother of us all, whom Christ Our Lord deigned to have as His brothers; wherefore, we may confidently entrust to her all things that are ours, our joys, our troubles, our hopes; especially if more difficult times fall upon The Church — if Faith fail because Charity has grown cold, if private and public morals take a turn for the worse”.

In this last connection, we are reminded of another result of the loss of devotion to The Mother of God. Frequently, and truly, we hear and speak of the “paganism” of the present age. The decay of Faith has been followed inevitably by a decline in morality, and our elaborate and complex civilisation is threatened with the dissolving agent which contributed in no small measure to the overthrow of the magnificent civilisation of old Rome: Namely, the loss of the domestic virtues, the disappearance of healthy, normal,  family life, consequent upon the abandonment of the Christian ideals of marriage and parenthood.

It is a truism that one of the greatest social effects of Christianity was to raise the status of womanhood. Her legal position in the Ancient World was little better than that of a slave, and although classical literature furnishes us with examples of women who, in pagan homes, yet enjoyed high honour and affection, such are few indeed, and but serve to prove the rule.

Divorce, infanticide, general degradation of womanhood, and not infrequently of childhood, were accepted features of pagan social order.

The ideal and model of the “new woman” of the Christian dispensation was The Mother of God. It was Mary, “Mother of Fair Love”, “Madonna”, “Our Lady”, who ennobled the degenerate old civilisation, just as she tamed the fierce barbarian peoples; she it was who inspired the ideals of the later chivalry.

In Mary, all her sex was uplifted; in her motherhood, all motherhood became Blessed. Now, again, the World needs the hallowing influence of The Mother of God and of men, if “the life of the family, the beginning and the foundation of all human society” is to be preserved in all its nobility and its purity.

Desirous “to mark the Commemoration, and help to nourish the piety of Clergy and people towards the great Mother of God”, his Holiness concludes the Encyclical by establishing the new Feast of The Divine Motherhood, to be Celebrated on 11 October by The Universal Church.

Mass: Ecce, Virgo concipiet.

Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin Mary: Et te in festivitate.

  

Feast of The Motherhood of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

11 October.

Double-Major.

Roman Breviary 1901.

Illustration: Zephyrinus.