January 23 — Saint Ildephonsus, Bishop and Confessor

The Gothic Church of Spain deputes, to-day, one of her most glorious Prelates, to represent her at the Crib of the Divine Babe, and to celebrate his ineffable Birth. The praise, which Tails from Ildephonsus' lips, seems, at our first hearing it, to have the Mother's dear honour for its only theme : but, how can we honour the Mother, without at the same time proclaiming the praise of the Son, to whose Birth she owes all her greatness ?

Among the glorious Pontiffs, who honoured the aoble episcopate of Spain, during the 7th and 8th centuries — for example, Leander, Isidore, Fulgentius, Braulio, Eugenius, Julian, Helladius — among them, and in the foremost rank, stands Udephonsus, with his glory of having been the Doctor of the Virginity of the Mother of God, just as Athanasius is the Doctor of the Divinity of the Word, Basil the Doctor of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, and Augustine the Doctor of Grace. The holy Bishop of Toledo has treated the dogma of Mary's Virginity in all its completeness. With profound learning and with fervid eloquence, he proves, against the Jews, that Mary conceived without losing her Virginity ; against the followers of Jovinian, that she was a Virgin in her Delivery ; against the disciples of Helvidius, that she remained a Virgin, after she had given birth to her "Oivine Son. Other holy Doctors had treated sepa-

JAN. 23. ST. ILDEPHONSUS. rately on each of these sublime questions, before oux Saint : but he brought together all their teachings, and merited that a Virgin- Martyr should rise from her tomb to thank him for having defended the honour of the Queen of Heaven. Way, Mary herself, with her own pure hand, clothed him with that miraculous Chasuble, which was an image of the robe of light wherewith Udephonsus shines now in heaven, at the foot of Mary's Throne.

The Monastic Breviary gives us the following ♦ Lessons, in the Office of our holy Bishop.

Udephonsus Ildefonsus, natione Bispanus, Toleti nobilissimis Stephano et Lucia parentibus ortus, omnique cura nutritus, liberalibus disciplinis instructus est. Primum habuit praeceptorem Eugenium Toletanum tistitem, a quo ob prseclaindolem, Hispalim ad magna tunc eruditione pollentem. missus est Apud quern duodecim annos commoratus, tandem fruge bona, doctrinaque sana imbutus, Toletum remeavit ad Eugenium : a quo, propter eximias virtu- Euge- tes, pentiamque non vulnius, garem, Ecclesi© Toletan® Archidiaconus effectus, mundi cnpiens laqueos de- Ildephonsus, clinare, in Agaliensi momo- nedicti, monasticum institutum amplezus est, f rustra parentibus precibuset minis omnia tentantibus ut eum a was born at Toledo, in Spain, of most noble parents, whose names were Stephen and Lucy. He was brought up with great care, and instructed in all the liberal arts. His first master was Eugenius, Bishop of Toleando, who, seeing him to be a youth of very great promise, ram sent him to Seville, that he Isidomm, might be under the guidance of Isidore, whose reputation for learning was well known, He lived with Isidore for twelve years ; after which, being formed to piety, and imbued with sound doctrine, he returned to Toledo, to who made him Archdeacon of that Church, on account of his great virtues and learning. desiring to avoid the snares of nasterio Ordims sancti Bethe world, embraced the nastic life, in the Monastery of Agali, of the Order of Saint Benedict, though his parents endeavoured to divert him sanctopropositorevocarent* from his holy resolution, by every possible entreaty and every sort of menace*

CHRISTMAS.

Monaohi non multo in defuncti Abbatis locum eum subrogarunt; suspiciebant siquioem in eo, praeter virtutes reliquas, cequttatern, morum facilitatem, prudentiam,et admirabilem affability sanctitatem. Tantus itaque fulgor, tanta verae pietatis lux, quod ipse timebat, latere non potuit Eugenio * namque vita functo, cleri, consenatus, totiusque popuh cealed : decreto, Toletanus Archiepiscopuselectusest. In qua dignitate, quantum populo sibi commisso, verbo, et exemplo profuerit, quae miracula ediderit, quam multis fueritnominibusde Virgine matre benemeritus, non potest paucis explicari Coenobium virginum in Deilfensi villula aedificavit, ac magnis muneribus auxit. Haereticos quosdam, qui in virnam, tollentem perpetuam gins Mariae Dei Genitricis virginitatem disseminabant doctissime confutavit, et ab Hispania ejecit. Ejusautem hac de re disputatio, libro quern scripsit de beatae Mariae virginitate continetur : ipsa miraculo servi sui zesublum confirmante. Cum iect enim Bdefonsus ad preces Mariae in Ecclesiam nocte descenderet, comites vant ejus in Ecclesiae limine, ful- bus pore auodam repentino deterriti retrocesserunt : ille verointre nidus adaramprogressus, Virginem ipsam panied vidit et adoravit, ab eadem- poet The Abbot of the monastery dying not long after, the monks elected Ildephonsns as his successor ; for they had observed in him, amongst his other virtues, a love of equity, of manner, prudence, and admirable piety. It was not possible, though the Saint had hoped it, that so much merit, and such resplendent virtues, should lie long and therefore, on the death of Eugenius, he was elected Archbishop of Toledo, by the wish of the clergy, senate, and the whole people, It would take too long a time to tell how much he did, in this his new post of honour, both by word and example, to the people committed to his care — and how many miracles he wrought — an din how many ways he merited at the hands of the Virgin Mother of God. Hispania^haeresimHelvidia- He built a Monastery for at a place called Deilfa, and richly endowed it. He most ably refuted, and drove out of Spain, certain heretics, who were disseminating the heresy of Helvidius, which denied the perpetual Virginity of Mary, the Mother of God. His controversy on this is contained in the Book he wrote on the Virginity of matutinas Expectation^ our Lady ; and she herself beat® rewarded the zeal of her serby a miracle. Ildephonhaving gone down, (luring the night, to assist at Matins for the Feast of our Lady's Expectation, they who accomhim, had no sooner reached the threshold of the

JAN. 23. ST. ILDEPHONSUS.

Church, than they beheld a dazzling light inside, at which they were seized with fear, and withdrew. The Saint fearlessly entered and advanced to the altar, where he beheld the Blessed Virgin ; he fell on his knees before her, and received from her a vestment, in which to offer up the Holy Sacrifice.

On another occasion, when the Clergy and a great concourse of people were assembled for the feast of St. Leocadia, and Ildephonsus was kneeling at the Saint's tomb, praying— the tomb suddenly opened, and St Leocadia came forth. She then spoke of the great things done by Ildephonsus in honour of the Mother of God, and said, in the presence and hearing of the whole assembly : 44 O Ilde- "phonsus! our Lady, the " Queen of heaven, has gained "a triumph through thee.w As she was retreating from the spot, Ildephonsus seized the sword of King Beceswind, who happened to be there, and cut off a portion of the veil, which Leocadia wore on her head. He, with much solemnity and ceremony, placed both it and the Kinrs sword in the treasury of the Church, where they are kept to this day.

He has left several eloquent writings, some of which he never finished, owing to the many troubles and occupations, which engrossed his time. He at length made a happy death, after being que vestem, qua in Sacrifi* ciis uteretur, accepit.

Cum etiam dies Leocadiae festus ageretur, et Clerus frequensque populus convenisset, Ildefonsus ad sepulchrum Virginia accedens,flexit genibus orabat : etdecce reserato repente sarcophago, Leocadia Sanctissima prodiit; videntibusque cunctis, et audientibus, lldefonsi merita de Virgiue Maria commendavit, dicens: 0 Ildefonse, per te vivit Domina mea, quae coeli culmina tenet. Ilia vero reoedente, Ildefonsus, arrepto Recesvinthi, qui forte tunc aderat, gladiolo, velaminis partem, quo caput Leocadisa tegebatur, resecuit, eamque cum regio simul cultro celebri pom pa in sacrarium intulit, ubi usque hodie servatur.

Scripsit multa luculentiori sermone, sed variis molestiarum occupationibus impeditus, aliqua im-

Serfecta reliquit. Obiit tanem feliciter, cum sedisset in Episcopatu annos uovam

CHRISTMAS. menses duos ; sepultusque Bishop nine years and two est in Basilica Leocadue, months : and was buried in circa annum Domini sex- the Basilica of Saint Leocadia. centesimum sexagesimum about the year of our Lord septimum, Recesvmtho in 667, Receswind being then

Hispania regnante. Cujus King of Spain. During the corpus in generali a Sarrace- general occupation of the nis Hispaniarum occupa- kingdom by the Moors, his re- tione,incivitatem Zamoren- lies were translated to the city sem translatum est et in of Zamora, and placed in the

Ecclesia beati Petri honori- Church of Saint Peter, where fice quiescens, magna illius they are honoured with much populi religione colitur. devotion by the inhabitants.

We salute thee with devout hearts, O holy Pontiff! who standest pre-eminent in thy love of the Mother of God, even in that glorious Spain, where her honour has had such brave defenders. Come, and take thy place near the Crib of Jesus, where this incomparable Mother is watching over this Babe, who, being both her God and her Son, consecrated her virginity, but did not impair it. Pray for us to her, and remind her that she is our Mother also. Ask her to receive the hymns we sing in her honour, and to bless the offering we make of our hearts to her divine Son. That our prayer may find a readier welcome from this august Queen, we will make use of thy own words, O holy Doctor of Mary's Virginity ; and thus will we speak to her :

" I come to thee, the sole Virgin-Mother of God ; " I prostrate myself before thee, the sole co-operatrix " of the Incarnation of my God ; I humble myself " before thee, that wast alone found worthy to be the * Mother of my Lord ; I pray to thee, the Hand- " maid, unlike all others, of thy Son, that thou obtain " for me the forgiveness of my sins, that thou procure " for me the being cleansed from my evil deeds, that " thou get me a love of thy grand glory, that thou

1 Non minuit, sed aacravit. Prayer of the Church, on the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, September 8th.

JAN. 23. ST. ILDEPHONSUS.

"reveal unto me the exceeding sweetness of thy "Jesus, that thou grant me to proclaim and defend " the purity of our holy Faith. Grant, that I may " cling to my God and to thee, and be faithful to " thy Son and to thee — to him as my Creator, to " thee as Mother of my Creator ; to him as the Lord " of hosts, to thee as the Handmaid of the Lord of " all ; to him as God, to thee as Mother of God ; to " him as my Redeemer, to thee as the instrument of " my redemption.

"He became the price of my ransom, but he " became so by his becoming incarnate from thy flesh. " He assumed a mortal Body, but he took it from " thine, and with this his sacred Body he blotted out " my sins. My own human nature, which he took to " his kingdom, and set it, above the Angels, on the " right hand of his Father, he took from thy pure " flesh and blood, when he humbled himself and was made Man.

" I, then, am thy servant, O Mary ! because thy " Son is my Lord. Thou art our Lady, because thou " art the Handmaid of our Lord. I am the servant " of the Handmaid of my Lord, because thou, that "art our Lady, wast made Mother of my Lord. I " pray thee, I fervently pray thee, 0 Holy Virgin ! " that I may receive Jesus by that Holy Spirit, by "whom thou didst become Mother of Jesus. May I " be made to know Jesus by that Holy Spirit, by " whom thou didst know, and possess, and bring "forth Jesus. May I speak of Jesus in that same "Holy Spirit, in whom thou didst confess thyself " the Handmaid of the Lord. May I love Jesus in " that same Holy Ghost, in whom thou adorest him " as thy God, and gazest upon him as thy Son. And "may I obey this thy Jesus as faithfully, as he " himself, though God, was subject to thee and to "Joseph."1

St Ilriephonaaa, On the perpetual Virginity of Mary, ch. xii. (2) 2E

CHRISTMAS.

January 24. SAINT TIMOTHY,

BISHOP AND MARTYR.

Before giving thanks to God for the miraculous Conversion of the Apostle of the Gentiles, the Church assembles us together for the Feast of his favourite Disciple. Timothy — the indefatigable companion of St. Paul — the friend to whom the great Apostle, a few days before shedding his blood for Christ, wrote his last Epistle — comes now to await his master's arrival at the Crib of the Emmanuel He there meets John the Beloved Disciple, together with whom he bore the anxieties attendant on the government of the Church of Ephesus ; Stephen, too, and the other Martyrs, welcome him, for he, also, bears a Martyr's

Sim in his hand. He presents to the august other of the Divine Babe the respectful homage of the Church of Ephesus, which Mary had sanctified by her presence, and which shares with the Church of Jerusalem the honour of having had Her as one of its number, who was not only, like the Apostles, the witness, but moreover, in her quality of Mother of God, the ineffable instrument of the salvation of mankind.

Let us now read, in the Office of the Church, the abridged account of the actions of this zealous disciple of the Apostles.

Timotheus, Lystris in Timothy was born at Lys- Lycaonia natus ex pat re tra in Lycaonia. His father

JAN 24. ST was a Gentile, and his mother a Jewess. When the Apostle Paul came into those parts, Timothy was a follower of the christian religion. The Apostle had heard much of his holy life, and was thereby induced to take him as the companion of his travels : but, on account of the Jews, who had become converts to the faith of Christ, and were aware that the father of Timothy was a Gentile, he administered to him the rite of circumcision. As soon as they arrived at Ephesus, the Apostle ordained him Bishop of that Church.

The Apostle addressed two of his Epistles to him — one from Laodicea, the other from Rome—to instruct him how to discharge his pastoral office. He could not endure to see sacrifice, which is due to God alone, offered to the idols of devils; and finding that the people of Ephesus were offering victims to Diana, on her festival, he strove to make them desist from their impious rites. But they, turning upon him, stoned him. The Christians could not deliver him from their hands, till he was more dead than alive. They carried him to a mountain not far from the town, and there, on the ninth of the Calends of February (January 24), he slept in the Lord.

Gentili et matre Judaea, christianam colebat religionem, cum in ea loca venit Paulus Apostolus. Qui fama commotus quad de Timothei sanctitate percrebuerat, ipsum adhibuit socium sues peregrinationis : sed propter Judaeos, qui se ad Christum converterant, scientes Timothei patreni esse Gentilem, eum circumcidit. Cum igitur ambo Ephesum venissent, ibi ordinatus est Episcopus ab Apostolo, ut earn Ecclesiam gubernaret

Ad quern Apostolus duas Epistolas scripsit, alteram Laodicea, alteram -Roma : quibus in pastoralis officii cura confirmatus, cum sacrificium, quod uni Deo debetur, fieri daBmonum simulacris ferre non posset, populum Ephesinum Diana in ejus celebritate immolantem, ab ilia impietate removere conatus, lapidibus obrutus est ; ac pene mortuus a christianis ereptus, et in montem oppido vicinum delatus, nono kalendas Februarii obdormivit in Domino.

The Greek Church celebrates the memory of St. Timothy in her Menaea, from which we extract the following strophes. .

CHRIOTHaS.

DIB xxr

Deisapiena Timothee, torrentem ingress us es deliciarum, et divinitus hausisti gnosim, ferventes imitatus amatorea Christi, cujus nunc lsetanter adiisti gloriam, contemplans Trinitatem splepdidiasimam et pacem placid issi main

Deisapiens Timothee, f requentibua corporis debilitatibus et infirmitatibua corroboratus secundum mentern, erroris potentiam facile dissolvisti, Christi custodies potestate, et praedicaati sublimiterdivinissimum pacis nobis Evangelium.

Mundi fines tua nunc decantant miracula, Thaumaturge immortalis ; miraculis etenim te Christus remunerans adornavit, propter ipsum tormenta perpessum, et pro morte tolerata imraortali gloria et beatitudine donavit

Effusa est, omnisancte, abundanter gratia e labiis friis, et flumina dogmatum acaturire fecit Christi Ecclediam irrigantia et centuplicem ferentia fructum, o Timothee, Christi preco, divine Apostole.

Mortificans tuae membra carnia Yerbo subjecisti ; dans pejoris, beate Timothee, regimen meliori, passiombus dominatus es, et

L. JANUABIL

O Timotheus ! full of godly wisdom ! thou didst enter into the torrent of delights, and drink in of the mysterious knowledge, imitating the fervent lovers of Christ, into whose glory thou hast now joyfully gone, contemplating the infinitely resplendent Trinity, and most tranquil peace.

O Timotheus ! full of godly wisdom ! thy frequent weaknesses and ailments of body gave thee strength of spirit ; thou didst readily reduce to nought the power of error, for thou wast guarded by the power of Christ, and sublimely didst thou preach to us the most divine Gospel of peace.

The furthermost ends of the earth now sing thy miracles, Immortal Thaumaturgus ! for Christ rewarding thee, adorned thee with the gift of miracles, because thou didst suffer torments for his sake : and he gave thee, for the death thou didst endure, glory and blessedness everlasting.

Most holy Saint ! grace flowed in plenty from thy lips, and made the streams of dogma water the Church of Christ, and yield fruit a hundred-fold, O Timotheus ! thou herald of Christ ! thou Apostle of God I

Mortifying thy flesh, thou didst subject it to the Word : and making what 2s superior govern that which is inferior, 0 blessed Timotheus ! thou.