The Church, having just Celebrated The Feast of The Assumption, Venerates on this day a Saint who had a special Devotion to Our Lady.
Saint Joseph Calasanctius was born in Aragon, Spain, of a noble family, and, from his youth, showed his Charity towards children. While studying Theology at Valencia, he had to defend himself against the enticements of a powerful and noble lady, and made a Vow to enter into Holy Orders.
Having become a Priest, he was apprised by Divine Revelation that he was destined to teach and to train children, especially those of The Poor (Offertory).
He Founded, in consequence, The Order of The Poor Clerks Regular of The Pious Schools of The Mother of God (Collect) [Editor: Latin: Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum, Sch. P. or S. P., or, in short, Piarists].
English: The Logo of The Order of The Poor Clerks Regular
of The Pious Schools of The Mother of God. Or, The Piarists.
Like Jesus, he let little children come to him (Communion) and taught them to fear God (Introit). Wherefore, the Gospel repeats the consoling words of The Master: "Whosoever shall receive one of these little ones in My name, receiveth Me."
"What is there greater," writes Saint John Chrysostom, "than to discipline minds, than to form tender youths to good habits ? God has shown us that their Souls are worthy of such zeal and of such solicitude that, for them, He did not spare His Son." [Lessons of The Third Nocturn at Matins.]
Saint Joseph Calasanctius died in 148 at the age of ninety-two.
Mass: Veníte, fílii.
English: Saint David depicted in a Stained-Glass Window
in the Chapel of Saint Joseph Calasanctius, Kyjov, Czech Republic.
Čeština: Svatý David. Vitráž v kapli sv. Josefa Kalasanského v Kyjově.
Zhotovila firma Veselý a Verner, malba oken chrámových, Praha - Karlín.
Today is the Feast of Saint Zephyrinus, Pope and Martyr.
Pope Saint Zephyrinus succeeded Pope Saint Victor on The Pontifical Throne and, like him, was Martyred (Gospel). He abolished the use of Wooden Chalices, in The Celebration of The Holy Sacrifice, and ordered them to be replaced by Glass Chalices. He prescribed that all The Faithful should receive Holy Communion on Easter Day.
He had to defend the Dogma of The Unity of God and The Trinity of Persons against the Sabellians. Besides this strife, he had to suffer persecution. God always supported him in his trials, in order to enable him to support The Flock of Christ (Epistle).
He died in 217 A.D., after a Pontificate of seventeen years.
Mass: Sacerdótes Dei.
English: The Church of Saint Zephyrinus of Stadacona (Saint-Zéphirin-de-Stadacona) (built in 1890), Quebec City, Canada.
Français: Église Saint-Zéphirin-de-Stadacona à Québec en 1986. Construite en 1890 sur les plans de l'architecte Joseph-Ferdinand Peachy, rénovée en 1918 par l'architecte Adalbert Trudel.
Date: Photographed in 1986 and Uploaded on 24 January 2014.
Pope Zephyrinus (+ 20 December 217 A.D.), was Bishop of Rome, or Pope, from 199 A.D., to his death in 217 A.D. He was born in Rome. His predecessor was Pope Victor I. Pope Zephyrinus was succeeded by his principal Advisor, who became Pope Callixtus I.
During the seventeen-year Pontificate of Zephyrinus, the young Church endured severe Persecution under Emperor Severus, until his death in the year 211 A.D. To quote Alban Butler, "this holy Pastor was the support and comfort of the distressed flock". According to Saint Optatus, Zephyrinus also combated new Heresies and Apostases, chief of which were Marcion, Praxeas, Valentine and the Montanists.
Eusebius insists that Zephyrinus fought vigorously against the blasphemies of the two Theodotuses, who, in response, treated him with contempt, but later called him the greatest defender of The Divinity of Christ. Although he was not physically Martyred for The Faith, his suffering – both mental and Spiritual – during his Pontificate has earned him the Title of Martyr.
During the reign of Emperor Severus (193 A.D. – 211 A.D.), relations with the young Christian Church deteriorated, and, in 202 A.D., or 203 A.D., the edict of persecution appeared, which forbade Conversion to Christianity under the severest penalties.
Zephyrinus's predecessor, Pope Victor I, had Excommunicated Theodotus the Tanner, for reviving a Heresy that Christ, while a Prophet, was only a mere man. Theodotus' followers formed a separate Heretical community at Rome, ruled by another Theodotus, the Money Changer, and Asclepiodotus. Natalis, who was tortured for his Faith during the Persecution, was persuaded by Asclepiodotus to become a Bishop in their sect, in exchange for a monthly stipend of 150 denarii.
Natalis then reportedly experienced several visions warning him to abandon these Heretics. According to an anonymous work, entitled "The Little Labyrinth", and quoted by Eusebius, Natalis was whipped a whole night by an Angel; the next day, he donned sackcloth and ashes and, weeping bitterly, threw himself at the feet of Zephyrinus.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, unless otherwise stated. Saint Louis. King And Confessor. Feast Day 25 August. Semi-Double. White Vestments.
English: King Saint Louis IX mediates between the
King of The English
and his Barons (23 January 1264).
Français: Saint Louis médiateur entre le roi d'Angleterre et ses barons (23 janvier 1264) ou 'Saint-Louis se prononçant comme arbitre à Amiens entre Henri III roi d'Angleterre et les barons anglais.
Louis IX, born in 1215, became King of France at the age of twelve. He was very piously brought up by his mother, Queen Blanche, who taught him to wish rather to die than to commit a Mortal Sin. He liked to be called Louis of Poissy, the place where he had been Baptised, to show that his Title of Christian was his most glorious Title of Nobility.
"Despising the pleasures of the World, he only strove to please Jesus Christ, the true King" (Collect), "and was," says Bossuet, "the holiest and most just King who has ever worn the Crown."
Assiduous in attending The Offices of The Church, he ordered them to be Solemnly Celebrated in his Palace, where, every day, he heard two Masses. At Midnight, he rose for Matins and began his Royal Day with The Office of Prime. He introduced into his Chapel the custom of genuflecting at the words in the Creed: Et homo factus est, and of bowing down humbly at the passage in The Passion when Jesus expires.
Both these pious practices were adopted by The Church. "They impute to me as a crime my assiduity at Prayer," he would say, "but not a word would be said if I gave to play or to the hunt the hours I give to Prayer." But never did his piety hinder him from devoting to the affairs of the Kingdom the greater part of his time.
Having recovered from a serious illness, he made a Vow to undertake a Crusade to reconquer Jerusalem. At first victorious, he fell at last into the hands of the Saracens. Restored to freedom, he remained five years in The East helping the Christians. On his return to France, he made many pious Foundations and built The Sainte Chapelle, as a precious Reliquary for The Holy Crown of Thorns and the important particle of The True Cross, which Baldwin II, Emperor of Constantinople, had presented to him.
King Saint Louis IX meeting Pope Innocent IV at Cluny Abbey, France.
Most austere, himself, he was most charitable to others, and used to say: "It is more meet for a King to ruin himself in Alms, for God's sake, than in pomp and vain glory." "Often," says Joinville, "I have seen the good King, after Mass, go to the wood at Vincennes, sit down at the foot of an Oak Tree and there listen to all who who had to speak to him."
A Servant of Christ, he continually wore The Cross to show that his Vow remained unaccomplished. He undertook, in 1270, another Crusade, but an epidemic decimated his army, near Tunis, and struck him down.
With his arms crossed, and lying on a bed of ashes, he gave up his Soul to God in 1270, at the same hour that Christ died on The Cross. He was heard to repeat the day before his death: "We shall go to Jerusalem." It was, in reality, to Heavenly Jerusalem, conquered by his patience in the midst of his adversities, where he was to reign with The King of Kings (Collect).
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, unless otherwise stated. Saint Bartholomew. Apostle. Feast Day 24 August. Double of The Second-Class. Red Vestments.
Bartholomew, or, the son of Tholomy, is, according to common opinion, the Disciple whom Saint Philip brought to Our Lord , under the name of Nathanael, and whom The Master praised on account of his innocence and the simplicity of his heart.
["Philip met Nathanael and said to him: The one of whom Moses has written in The Law, and whom The Prophets have announced, we have found: It is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said to him: Can anything good come from Nazareth ? Philip said to him: Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and said of him: That is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile. Nathanael said to Him: Whence knowest thou me ? Jesus answered: Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the Fig Tree, I saw thee. Nathanael replied: Rabbi. Thou art The Son of God. Thou art The King of Israel." John i, 45-49.]
Source: Bachmann, Walter (1913) "Kirchen und moscheen in
Armenien
und Kurdistan", Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, pp. 119-123.
Author: Bachmann, Walter.
(Wikimedia Commons)
For the Gospel of Saint John, never mentioning Saint Bartholomew among The Apostles, says that Philip and Nathanael came together to Jesus, and that he was among the Disciples to whom The Saviour appeared after The Resurrection on the shore of The Sea of Galilee. The other Gospels never use the name of Nathanael, but, after Philip, they always mention Bartholomew.
Born at Cana, in Galilee, he was placed by Jesus among The Twelve (Gospel) and he was a witness of the principal actions of Jesus upon the Earth. "The first gift vouchsafed to The Church by The Holy Ghost," says Saint Paul, "is the Grace of The Apostleship" (Epistle).
English: Church of Saint Bartholomew,
Gyöngyös, Hungary.
Français: Eglise baroque Szent Bertalan de Gyöngyös.
Magyar: Szent Bertalan nagytemplom.
Română: Biserica barocă Szent Bertalan / Sfântul Bartolomeu din Gyöngyös.
He Preached The Faith in Arabia Felix: According to certain Traditions, he was flayed alive. He is thus represented in the beautiful White Marble statue, by Cibo, in Milan Cathedral, Italy.
His Relics are Venerated at Rome, in the Church of Saint Bartholomew, on an island formed by The River Tiber. His name is mentioned in The Canon of The Mass among The Apostles.
Let us joyfully Celebrate The Feast of Saint Bartholomew, who, in Heaven, Praises God, among the Glorious Choir of The Apostles (Alleluia), and let us ask God to grant to His Church to love what He believed and to Preach what he himself taught (Collect).
Every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
First Vespers (23 August): Of The Common of Apostles. Commemoration: Of Saint Philip: Antiphon: Hic vir. Versicle. Justum. Mass: Mihi autem. Creed. Preface: Of The Apostles.
Second Vespers: Of The Common of Apostles. Commemoration: Of Saint Louis: Similábo. Versicle. Amávit.
