June 11 — Saint John a S. Facundo, or of Sahagun. Confessor

The kingdom which the Apostles have mission to establish upon earth is a reign of peace. Such was the promise pledged by Heaven to earth, on that glorious night, wherein was given to us the Emmanuel. And on that other night which witnessed our Lord's last farewell at the Supper, did not the Man- God base the New Testament upon the double legacy whieh he bequeathed to his Church, of his sacred Body and Blood, and of this peace announced of yore by Bethlehem's angels? Yea, a peace unknown till then, here below; a peace all his own, because, as he said, it proceeds from him, but still is not himself ; this gift substantial and divine, is no other than the Holy Ghost in person ! Like to some sacred leaven, this peaoe has been spread amongst us, during these Pentecostal days. Men and nations alike, have felt the secret influenoe. Man at strife with heaven and divided against himself, was indeed justly punished for his insubordination to God, by the ascendency of the senses in his

1 St John, xiv. 27.

ST. JOHN A 8. FACUNDO. revolted flesh ; but he now sees harmony once again established in his own being, and his appeased God treating as a son, the obstinate rebel of former days. The sons of the Most High are to form a new people, stretching their confines unto earth's furthest bounds. Seated in the beauty of peace, to use the prophets expression, this blessed race shall see all nations flocking to its midst, and shall draw down, here below, the good will of heaven, so exquisitely imaged therein.

Whereas formerly nations were constantly at strife, and wreaking vengeance in many a bloody combat, that knew no end but in the extermination of the vanquished, once baptised, they recognise each other as sisters, according to the filiation of the Father who is in heaven. Faithful subjects of the one Pacific King, they yield themselves up to the Holy Grhost that he may soften their manners ; and if, perforce, war, the result of sin, must needs sometimes come, wofully reminding man of the consequences of the fall, this inevitable scourge will, at least henceforth have some law besides that of might. The right of nations, the right of every Christian who rejects all that savours of pagan antiquity, the faith of treaties, the arbitration of the Vicar of Christ, supreme controler of the consciences of kings, these and only these, can eliminate occasions of bloody discord. Thus there were to be ages, in which the " peace of God," or the " truce of God," or a thousand suoh loving artifices of the common mother, would prevail to restrict the number of years and of days, wherein the sword might be allowed to remain unsheathed against human life ; were these limits out-stepped the transgressor's blade would be snapped in twain by the power of the spiritual sword, more dreaded, lIs. xxxii. 18.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST. in those days, than warrior's steel. Suoh the potency of the Gospel's might, that even in these present days of universal decadence, respect for a disarmed foe imposes itself as law on the hottest adversary, so that after a battle, victors and vanquished meeting like brothers, lavish the same cares both corporal and spiritual, on the wounded of either camp : suoh the persistent energy of the supernatural leaven which has been working progressive transformation in mankind, for eighteen hundred years, and is even still acting upon those who would fain deny its power !

He whom we are honouring, to-day, is one of the most glorious instruments of this marvellous conduct of divine Providence. Heaven-born peace mingles her placid ray with the brilliant aureola that wreathes his brow. A noble son of Catholic Spain, he knew how to prepare the future glory of his country, as well as any mailed hero that laid Moor prostrate in the dust. Just as the eight hundred years' crusade that drove the crescent from Iberian soil, was closing, and the several kingdoms of this magnanimous land were blending together under one sceptre, this lowly hermit of Saint Augustine was laying within hearts, the foundation of that powerful unity which would inaugurate the glories of Spain's sixteenth century. When he first appeared, rivalries engendered too easily by a false point of honour, in a nation armed to the teeth, sullied the fair land of Spain with the blood of her sons, slain by Christian hands. As he now stands before us receiving the Church's homage, we behold discord at his feet, overthrown and vanquished by his defenceless hand.

Let us read this precious life as related in the Liturgy. fifT. JOHN A S. FACUNDO.

John was born at Sahagun in Spain, of a noble race ; his parents after long childlessness, obtained him from God by prayers and good works. From his earliest years he gave clear signs of his after holiness of life: for he was used to climb up upon a high place, to preach to the other little boys, and to exhort them to be good and to be attentive to the public service of God, and he made it his work, to reconcile their quarrels. In his native place, he was given in charge to the monks of the Order of Saint Benedict of San Facundo to be taught the first elements of learning. While he was thus busied, his father obtained for him the benefice of the Parish, but no inducements could persuade him to keep this preferment. He became one of the household of the Bishop of Burgos, and that Prelate seeing his uprightness, took him into his counsels, ordained him Priest, and made him a Canon, heapingmany kindnesses upon him . However, that he might serve God the more quietly, he left the Bishop's palace, resigned all his Church income, and betook him to a certain chapel where he celebrated the Holy Mass every day, and oftentimes preached concerning the things of God, with great profit to all that heard him.

He went later on, to Salamanca to study, and there being taken into the celebrated col-

Joannem, Sahaguni in Hispania nobili genere natum, parentes cum diu prole caruissent, piis operibus et orationibus a Deo impetrarunt. Ab ineunte rotate egregium futur® sanctitatis specimen dedit : nam e loco superiori ad cseteros pueros crebro verba faciebat, quibus eos ad virtutem et Dei cultum hortabatur, eorumque dissidia componebat. In patria monachis sancti Facundi ordinis sancti Benedicts primis litterarum rudimentis imbuendus traditur : dum iis operam daret, curavit pater ut paroohus ecclesiam administraret: quod munus juvenis nullis rationibus adduci potuit ut retineret. Inter familiares episcopi Burgensis ad script us, ob spectatam ipsius probitatem intimus ei fuit, ab eoque presbyter et canonicus factus, multis beneficiis auctus est. Sed, relicta aula episcopi, ut Deo quietius serviret, omnibus ecclesira proventibus abdicatis, se cuidam sacello addixit, ubi Sacrum quotidie faciebat, ac de rebus divinis magna cum auditorum sedificatione frequenter concionabatur.

Postea studiorum causa Salmanticam nrofectus, in celebre collegium divi

TIME AFTER PENTECOST.

Bartholomroi cooptatus, sacerdotis munus ita exercuit, ut 8imul optatis studiis incumberet, et in saoris etiam concionibus assidne versaretur. Cum vero in gravissimum morbum inoidisset, arctioris disciplines voto se obstrinxit, quod ut redderet, cum prius cuidam pauperi pene nudo ex duabus, quas tantum habebat Testes, meliorem dedisset, ad ccenobium sancti Augustini severiori disciplina turn maxime florens se oontulit: in <juo admissus, obedientia, ammi demissione, vigiliis ac oratione provectiore anteibat. Triclinii cura cum ipsi demandata esset, vim doliolum, ipso attingente, omnibus monachis per annum abunde suffecit. Exacto tyrocinii anno, prsefecti jussu munus concionandi suscepit. Salmanticse id temporis adeo cruentis factionibus divina humanaque omnia permixto erant, ut singulis propemodum horis erodes fierent, ot omnium ordinum ac praesertim nobilium san - guine non vi» solum et fora, sed templa etiam redundarent.

At Joannes, turn conoionibus, turn privatis colloquiis civium animos demulcens, ad tranquillitatem urbem reduxit. Virum principem graviter offendit, auod illius in subditos sse- lege of Saint Bartholomew, performed his priestly office in such sort, that he was at once constant to study, the present object of his desire, and yet assiduous to the duty of preaching. Here he had a severe illness, and vowed to embrace a sterner way of living, in fulfilment of which vow, having given to a half -naked beggar the better of the only two garments he possessed, he withdrew to a monastery of Saint Augustine then flourishing in full observance of severe discipline. Being admitted therein, he surpassed the most advanced, in obedience, in lowliness of mind, in vigils, and in prayer. The care of the refectory being confided to him, one barrel of wine, handled by him, abundantly sufficed the whole community for an entire year. After his year of noviceship, he undertook once more, by obedience, the duty of preaching. At that time owing to bloody feuds, all things human and divine at Salamanca, were in such utter confusion that murders were committed almost every hour, and the streets and squares, yea, even the very churches flowed with the blood of all classes especially of the nobility.

It was John, who by public preaching and private conversations, softened the hearts of the citizens, so that the town was restored to peace. One of the nobles whom he had grievously offended by rebuking

ST. JOHN A 8. FACUNDO. him for his cruelty towards his vassals, sent two knights to murder him on the road. They had already come nigh to him, when God struck them with such terror, that they were rendered immovable, and their horses likewise ; until at length prostrating themselves before the feet of the Saint, they implored his forgiveness for their crime. The said lord, likewise smitten with a sudden dread, despaired of his salvation, till he had sent for John, who finding him, repentant of his deed, restored him to health. Some factious men also, who assailed him with clubs, found their arms stiffen, nor would their strength return, till they had asked his pardon for their wickedness. Whilst celebrating Mass, he was wont to behold the Lord Jesus Christ then present, and to quaff, from the Fountain- Head of the Divinity, heavenly mysteries. Oftentimes also, he could see into the secrets of men's hearts, and foretell things to come, that were quite unlooked for. He raised from the dead his brother's daughter, a child seven years old. He foretold his own death; and having prepared himself, by receiving most devoutly the Sacraments of the Church, he died. He was glorified by miracles both before and after his death. These being duly proved Alexander Vlll. numbered him among the Saintsr vitiam increpasset. Qua de causa equites duos immisit, qui eum in itinere conf oderent : jamque ad ipsum propinauaverant, cum stupore divinitus immisso simul cum equis immobiles steterunt, donee ad pedes sancti viri provoluti, sceleris veniam precarentur. Ipse quoque princeps, repentino terrore erculsus, jam de salute esperaverat, cum, revocato Joanne, facti poeniteus, incolumitati redditus est. Faotiosi etiam homines, cum eum fustibus peterent, brachiis diriguere, nec ante redditae vires quam delicti veniam precarentur. Christum Dominum, dum Sacrum faceret, prsssentem contueri, atque ex ipso divinitatis fonte coelestia mysteria haurire solitus. Abdita cordis inspicere, ac futura raro eventu prsesa^ire frequens illi fuit, fratnsque fiham septennem mortuam excitavit. Denique, mortis die prsenuntiato, et Ecclesiaa sacramentis devotissime susceptis, extremum diem olausit multis ante et post obitum miraculis gloriosus. Quibus rite probatis, Alexander Octavus Sanctorum numero eum adscripsit.

TIME AFTER PENTBC08T.

0 Blessed Saint, well hast thou earned the privilege of appearing in the heavens of holy Ohuroh, during these weeks that are radiant with Pentecostal light. Long ago did Isaias thus portray the loveliness of earth, on the morrow of the coming down of the Paraclete : " How beautiful upon the mountains " are the feet of them that bring good tidings, and " that preach peace : of them that preach salvation "that say to Sion : Thy God shall reign J" * What the prophet thus admired, was the sight of the Apostles' taking possession of the world, in God's name ; but in what did thine own mission differ from theirs thus enthusiastically pictured by the inspired pencil ? The same Holy Ghost animated thy ways and theirs ; the same Pacific King beheld his sceptre by thy hand, made yet more steadfast in its sway over a noble nation of his vast empire. Peace, the one object of all thy labours here below, is now thine eternal recompense in heaven where thou truth of thy Master's word, when he said of such as resemble thee by working to establish peace, at least within the territory of their own hearts : Blessed are the peace-makers for they shall be called the children of God ! Tea, rest then, dear Saint, in thy Father's inheritance, into which thou hast entered ; rest thee, in the beatific repose of the Holy Trinity that inundates thy soul, and may we here, afar off in this ohilly earth below, feel something of that genial peaoefulness.

Vouchsafe to lavish upon thine own land of Spain, the same sucoour which, in thy life time was so precious unto her. No longer does she hold that preeminence in Christendom, which became hers, just after thy glorious death. Would that thou oouldst now now experience the lls. tfiT7

• St. Matth. v. 9.

ST. JOHN A. S. FACUNDO. persuade her, that never can her greatness be recovered, by lending an ear to the deceptive whisperings of false liberty. But that which could in bygone days render her so strong and powerful, can do so again, if she draw down upon her the benedictions of Him by whom alone kings reign. Devotedness to Christ, that was her glory; devotedness to truth, that was her treasure! Revealed truth is alonathat whereby men enter into true liberty: — Truth will make you free? Truth alone is able to bind in unity indissoluble, the many minds and wills that make up a nation: powerful is that bond, for it secures strength to a country beyond her frontiers, and peace to her within. Apostle of peace, remind thine own people, and teach the same to all, — that absolute fidelity to the Church's doctrines is the sole ground whereon Christians may seek and find concord.