June 11 — Saint Leo the Third, Pope and Confessor. ♦

The fragrance of Christmas is suddenly wafted around us, whilst basking in the Pentecostal ray! Leo III., as he speeds his flight from earth, sheds upon us the perfumed memory of that day, whereon the Infant God was pleased to manifest, by his means, the plenitude of his principality over all nations. Christmas Day of the year 800, witnessed the proclamation of the Holy Empire. The obscurity and poverty which had eight centuries previously, ushered in the Birth of the Son of God, had for its object the drawing of men's hearts; but this feebleness, redolent as it was with tenderness and condescension, was far from expressing the fulness of the mystery of the Word made Flesh. The Church tells us so, every year, as this blessed night of love comes round: " A " Child is born to us, and upon his shoulder, is the " sign of Principality; his name shall be called the " Wonderful, the Mighty, the Father of the world to " come, the Prince of Peace.1" Yea, Peace, this day, once more shines upon the Cycle, — the Peace of Christ, indisputably Victor and King ! More even in one respect than our St. John of to-day, does Leo III. deserve the united gratitude of the Faithful. Here

1 The Office of Matins Christmas Day.

TIME AFTER PENTEOOST. he stands like a new Sylvester, in presence of a new Constantine ; by him alone, is the complete victory of the Word Incarnate absolutely revealed.

Christ had successively triumphed over the false gods, over Byzantine Csesarism, and over barbarian hordes. A new society had sprung up, governed by princes who confessed to hold their crowns of the Man-God alone. To the old Roman empire founded on might, to Csesarism coiled around the world, — rather bruising with the iron teeth of its domination, than binding it together, — was to succeed that confederation of baptised nations, which was to be called Christendom. But whence the unity, needed for so Vast a body ? Who the chief, amongst such a multitude of princes equal in birth and in rights ? On what basis can the primacy of such a chieftain stand ? Who may summon him ? who point out the chosen of the Lord, and anoint him with so potent an anointing, that his right to the first place in the councils of kings, be undisputed by the strongest amongst them? The Holy Ghost, brooding over the chaos of peoples, as in the beginning over the dark waters, had long been elaborating this new creation, which must declare the glory of our Emmanuel : the new Empire thus prepared would, as it were of itself, spring forth unto light, out of circumstances preordained strongly and sweetly, by Eternal Wisdom.

Up to this period, the uncontested primacy of the spiritual power had stood majestic and alone, amidst Christian kingdoms. Though weakest of them all, ever did Peter's successor behold earth prostrate at his feet; the city of the Caesars had become his; Rome, by his voice, commanded all nations. Nevertheless, his authority, unarmed and defenceless, must

1 Dan. ii. 40. 3 Ps. xviii. 2.

• Gen. i. 2 ; Apoc. xvii. 15. 4 Wiad. viii. 1.

16T needs at times repel assaults of violence too often possible, and which had already more than once imperilled the sacred patrimony consecrated by ages, to securing the independence of Christ's Vicar. For the spiritual power, when once able to appear in sublime magnificence, became itself the object of sacrilegious ambition, the coveted prey of blackest perfidy. Leo III. himself had lately experienced this, in his own sacred person. A powerful lord, in conjunction with certain unworthy clerics, banded together by one common greed for gain, had beguiled the Pontiff into an ambush ; his body had been mutilated, his eyes and tongue torn out, and his life preserved only by miracle; more wondrous still, his sight and speech had been afterwards restored, by divine intervention. All Rome, witnessing

God had indeed delivered his anointed; but the assassins had remained, nevertheless, masters of the city, until the victorious troops of the Frankish king brought back the illustrious victim and re-instated him in his palace. Still this noble triumph was of itself no guarantee against future peril ; for it had been preceded by other such victories, likewise due to the ever ready arm of the eldest daughter of the Roman Church. Her protecting sword once again withdrawn, leaving the work of restoration scarce accomplished, new plots within or outside of Rome, would soon be again set in motion for the usurpation of either the spiritual or of the temporal power of the Papacy. From the coast of the Bosphorus too, the depraved successors of Constantine only applauded such intrigues, even keeping conspirators and traitors in secret pay.

Such a state of things could no longer continue. The Sovereign Pontiff must necessarily look around, to find some security less precarious, for the great interests confided to his keeping ; the peace of the heartfelt thanksgiving.

J 68 whole Christian world, the peace of souls as well as of nations, demanded that the highest authority upon earth, should not he left at the mercy of ceaseless cabals. It was by no means sufficient that, at the hour of peril, the Vicar of Jesus Christ should be able to depend upon the fidelity of one nation, or of one prince. Some permanent institution was needed, not only to repair, but to ward off every blow aimed by violence or by perfidy against Rome. Christian society was, by this time, advanced enough to furnish materials for the carrying out of such a noble conception. Already indeed, Pepin le Bref, by abandoning his Italian conquests, into the hands of the Apostolic See, had unreservedly constituted the temporal sovereignty of the Roman Pontiffs. But, though the use of the sword in self defence, belongs to the Pope by right, just as much as to any king, in his own states, yet, even when absolutely unable to act otherwise, personal use of armed force must ever be distasteful to the successor of him whom the Man-God appointed, here below, as the Vicar of His Love. On the other hand, he well knows that he must maintain those sacred rights, for which he has to answer unto both God and man. Monarch as he is, Peter's successor would be at liberty to choose from amongst the kings of the West (all of whom gloried in being his sons), one prince to whom he might confide the office of protector and defender of Holy Church. Head, as he is, of the whole spiritual army of the elect, Porter of heaven's gates, Depository of grace and of infallible truth, he could invite the said prince to the honour of his alliance. Sublime indeed would such an alliance be, the legitimacy whereof bears the palm over that of all treaties ever concluded between potentates. Such an alliance*

1 Ambr. in Luc x. inasmuch as it is intended to guarantee the rights of the King of kings, in the person of His representative, would entail solemn obligations, it is true, on the recipient; but, at the same time, it would single him out to lofty privileges. Intrinsically vain and powerless are nobility of race, vastness of territory, glory of arms, and brilliancy of genius, to exalt a prince above his peers; such a greatness merely springs from earth, and outstrips not man's limits. But the ally of Pontiffs would possess a dignity touching upon the heavenly; for such are the sacred interests whereof he would assume the filial guardianship. Without in the least encroaching on the domain of other kings, his compeers in othei? respects, or derogating from their independence, he must hold it his right, as accredited protector of his mother, the Church, to carry the sword, whithersoever the spiritual authority is aggrieved or requires his concurrence, in the accomplishment of the divine mission of teaching and saving souls. In this sense, his power must be universal, because the mission of Holy Church is universal. So real this power, so distinct from every other, that to express it a new diadem must needs be added to the regal crown already his by inheritance ; and a fresh anointing, different from the usual royal unction, must manifest in his person, superiority over all other kings, chieftainship of the Holy Empire, of the Roman Empire renewed, ennobled, and limitless, as the earthly dominion assigned to Jesus Christ by the Eternal Father.

Verily this magnificent conception unveils before us the boundless Empire of the Word Incarnate, in all its wondrous plenitude ! He alone possesses fully, by right of birth, by right of conquest, the universality of nations; He alone can delegate, for and

1 Ps. ii. 8. by his Church, such power to kings. Who then may tell the splendour of that Christmas festival whereon Charlemagne the greatest of princes, prostrate before the Infant God, beheld his anterior glories eclipsed by the pomp of that unexpected title, whereby he was officially appointed lieutenant of the divine Child couched in the humble crib ! Beside the tomb of the first of Popes, of him that was crucified by the orders of a Caesar, Leo III. in the plenitude of his sole authority, reconstituted the Empire ; in Peter's name, on Peter's tomb, he linked once more the broken chain of the Caesars. Henceforth, before the eyes of all nations, the Pope and the Emperor (to use the language of the papal bulls), will appear as two luminaries directing earth's movements ; the Pope, as the faithful image of the Sun of Justice; the Emperor, as deriving his light from the radiance cast on him by the Supreme Pontiff.

Too often, indeed, will parricides stand up in revolt, and turn against the Church the sword that should be brandished only in her defence. But even these will only serve to demonstrate more clearly, that the Papacy is verily the one source of empire. True, the day may come when German tyrants, rejected as unworthy by the Roman Pontiffs, will lay violent hands on the Eternal City, creating antipopes, with a view to the aggrandizement of their own power. But by the very fact of carrying their insolence so far as to get themselves crowned champions of Saint Peter, by these pseudo-vicars of Christ, on the very tomb of the Prince of the Apostles, will they prove, that society in those days could acknowledge no title to greatness, save such as either came, or seemed to come, from the Apostolic See. The abuses and crimes, everywhere to be met with on history's page, must not allow us Christians to forget, that the value of an epoch or of an institution must, as regards God and his Church, be measured only by the progress derived thence by truth. Even though the Church do suffer from the violence of rightful or of intruded emperors, she nevertheless rejoices much to see her Spouse glorified, by the faith of nations, still recognising how, through Christ, all power resides in her alone. Children of the Church, let us judge of the Holy Empire, as the Church, our Mother, judges of it : it was the highest expression ever given to the influence and power of the Popes. To this glorification of Christ in his Vicar, did Christendom owe its thousand years of existence.

Space fails us, or gladly would we here describe in detail the gorgeous liturgical function used during the Middle-ages, in the Ordination of an Emperor. The Ordo Romanus wherein these rites are banded down to us, is full of the richest teach* ings clearly revealing the whole thought of the Church. The future lieutenant of Christ, kissing the feet of the Vicar of the Man-God, first made his profession in due form : he "guaranteed, promised, "and swore fidelity to God and blessed Peter, " pledging himself on the holy Gospels, for the rest " of his life, to protect and defend, according to his "skill and ability, without fraud or ill intent, the " Roman Church and her Ruler, in all necessities or " interests affecting the same." Then followed the solemn examination of the faith and morals of the elect, almost identically word for word, the same as that marked in the Pontifical, at the Consecration of a Bishop. Not until the Church had thus taken sureties regarding him who was to become in her eyes, as it were, an extern bishop, was she content to proceed to the Imperial ordination. Whilst the Apostolic Suzerain, the Pope, was being vested in pontifical attire for the celebration of the sacred

Mysteries, two cardinals clad the emperor elect, in amice and alb; then they presented him to the Pontiff, who made him a Clerk, and conceded to him, for the ceremony of his coronation, the use of the tunic, dalmatic, and cope, together with the pontifical shoes and the mitre. The anointing of the prince was reserved to the Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, the official consecrator of popes and emperors. But the Vicar of Jesus Christ himself gave to the new emperor, the infrangible seal of his faith, namely the RING ; the sword, representing that of the Lord of armies, the Most Potent One chanted in the Psalm ;* the globe and sceptre, images of the universal empire and of the inflexible justice of the King of kings ; lastly, the crown, a sign of the glory reserved in endless ages as a reward for his fidelity, by this same Lord Jesus Christ, whose figure he had just been made. The giving of these august symbols took place during the holy Sacrifice. At the Offertory, the emperor laid aside the cope and the ensigns of his new dignity ; then, clad simply in the dalmatic, he approached the altar and there fulfilled, at the Pontiff's side, the office of Subdeacon, the Servitor, as it were, of Holy Church and the official representative of the Christian people. Later on, even the stole was given him: as recently as 1530, Charles V. on the day of his coronation, assisted Clement VII. in quality of deacon, presenting to the Pope the paten and the host, and offering the chalice together with him.

The Christmas Day of the year 800, witnessed not indeed the display of all this sacred pageantry ; for these splendid rites reached full development only in course of centuries. Up to the last moment, Leo III. had kept wholly secret the grand project conceived

1 Ps. xliv. 4.

17* in his heart. But none the less solemn was this marvellous historic fact, when Rome, at the sight of the golden crown placed by the Pontiffs hand on the brow of the new Caesar, re-echoed the cry : " To "Charles, the most pious, the ever august, the " Monarch crowned by God, to the great and pacific " Emperor of the Romans, life and victory !" This creation of an empire by the sole power and will of the Supreme Pontiff, on such a day, and for the sole service of the interests of our Emmanuel, verily puts the finishing stroke to that which the Birth of the Son of God was meant to achieve. As year by year this august Christmas festival returns, let us remember Leo the Third's work, and so enter more and more fully into the touching antiphons of that day : " The King of Peace whom the whole earth desireth " to see, hath shown his greatness. He is magnified " above all the kings of the earth."

The account of this holy Pope's life, we here borrow from the " Proper of the city of Rome."

Leo, the third of this name, Leo hujus riominis tertius, was a Roman born, having Romanus ex patre Asuppio,

Asuppius for his father. He a pueritia in Vestiario Patri- was brought up from infancy archii Lateranensis, in om- in the dependencies of the pa- nem ecclesiasticam ac divi- triarchal Church of Lateran, nam disciplinam educatus, and formed to all divine and ex monacho sancti Benedic- ecclesiastical sciences. Becom- ti presbyter cardinalis, ac ing a monk of St. Benedict, demum Pontifex maximus, then Cardinal Priest, he was incredibili omnium consen- at last, with common consent, sione, ipso die obit us Adriani created Sovereign Pontiff, on creatus est, anno septingen- the very day of the death of tesimo nonagesimo quinto

Adrian , in the year seven hun- sedit q ue in sancta Petri sede dred and ninety-five. He oc- annos viginti, menses quin-

1 See " Christmas," Vol. I. of this Work, page 126, where mention is made of this historic event, in its proper place. que, dies decern et septem.

Talem se in pontificate exhibuit, qualem se ante assumptionem prsebuerat : piissimum scilicet mitissimum, singulari in Deum religione, erga proximum ^haritate,prudentia in rebus gerendis, pauperum aegrorumque parentem, Ecclesiae defensorem, divini cultus promotorem, utpote qui maxima quseque pro Christo et Ecclesia sedulo praestitit et patienter toleravit.

Cum ab impiis,erutis oculis et confossus vulneribus, semivivus relictus fuisset, postridie per insigne miraculum sanus inventus est, iisdemque parricidis vitam suis precibus obtinuit. Carolo Magno Francorum regi Romanum imperium detulit Feregrinis amplissimum xenodochium exstruxit ; patrimonium, aliosque fundos pauperibus adscripsit. Basilicas Urbis, prsesertim Lateranensem (in cujus Patriarchio triclinium magnum super omnia triclinia f undavit), et sacras sedes, tot ac tantis divitiis cumulavit, ut fidem omnem superare videatur. Vitam demum religiosissimam pio fine coronavit, pridie Idus Junii anno Domini octingentesimo decimo sexto, et sepultus est in Vaticano.

• PENTECOST. cupied the venerable chair df St. Peter twenty years, five months, and seventeen days.

He was in the pontifical state, just what he was before his elevation, full of benignity and of sweetness, singularly devoted to God's holy worship, charitable to his neighbour, prudent ft affairs. He was the father of the poor and of the sick, the defender of the Church, the promoter of divine worship. His zeal undertook the greatest things for Jesus Christ and the Church, patiently bearing all trials for their cause.

Being left half dead by certain impious men, his eyes plucked out and himself all covered with wounds, he was found by a remarkable miracle, perfectly cured, the next day; by his intervention the life of these parricides was spared. He conferred the Roman empire upon Charlemagne king of the Franks. He built a large hospital for pilgrims, and consecrated all his patrimony and other goods to the benefit of the poor. It is hardly credible to what a degree he lavished precious riches on the basilicas of Rome, specially that of Lateran, in the palace of which he built the celebrated triclinium that surpasses all others. At last he crowned his most holy life with a most pious death, on the day preceding the Ides of J une, in the year of our Lord, eight hundred and sixteen ; he was buried in the Vatican.

Commissioned by the Lion of Juda to complete his own victory, thou, O Leo, didst constitute his Kingdom and proclaim his Empire. Apostles had preached, martyrs had shed their blood, confessors had toiled and suffered, to win that great day whereon thou didst crown the labour of eight centuries ; by thee, the Man-God could then rule supreme, over the social edifice, not only as Pontiff in the person of his vicar, but as Lord-paramount and King, in the person of his lieutenant, the armed defender of Holy Church, the civil head of all Christendom. Thy work lasted as long as the Eternal Father permitted the glory of his Son to shine in full splendour over the world. After a thousand years, when the divine light became too strong for their weakened and diseased eyes, men turned away from Holy Church and renounced her mighty works. They replaced God, by self; the power of Christ, by the sovereignty of the people; institutions sprung from centuries of toil, by instability of ephemeral chartas ; bygone union, by isolation of nationalities, and within each of these, anarchy. In this dark age, every Utopia of man's wild brain is called light, and every step towards nonentity, is called progress! Thus the Holy Empire is no more; like Christendom itself, it can henceforth be but a name in history: and history too must soon cease to be, for the world is verging on "the final term of its destinies.

Great for ever shall thy glory be, in endless ages, O thou, by whom Eternal Wisdom hath manifested the grandeur of his wondrous ways. A docile instrument in the hand of the Holy Ghost for the glorification of our Emmanuel, thy firmness was equalled, only by thy gentleness ; and this humble sweetness of thine attracted the eyes of the Lamb, the Ruler of the earth. Praying like him, under the stroke

1 Is. xvi. 1. of treason, for thy murderers, thou hadat to pass through thy day of humiliation, through a day of crushing anguish and of death agony ; but, therefore, was it given thee, to distribute the spoils of the strong and then for centuries, the will of the Lord to be prosperous in thy hand, according to the plan which thou didst trace.

Even in these unhappy times, so unworthy of thee, vouchsafe to bless our earth. Strengthen those whom, universal apostasy has left unshaken, as yet. Make them by faith cling loyally to Christ; hold them ever aloof from Liberalism, that fatal error whereby men would fain remain Christians, whilst actually refusing to acknowledge Christ's kingship over all creation. What an insult to the Eternal Father, is such a wild notion as this ; what a misconception of the mystery of the Incarnation! O holy Pontiff, make it to be clearly understood that safety is not to be sought at the hands of lying compromise with rebels, that the time is nigh, when God's kingdom will assert itself, when the upheaving of nations against the Lord and against his Christ will ebb away into empty froth, mocked by him who dwelleth in the heavens. On that day, none may contest the origin of all power. On that day of wrathful vengeance, happy he who hath kept the oath of allegiance sworn to his King in baptism ! Like the prophet of Fatmos, the Faithful will easily recognise him, when the heavens opening out a way before his feet, he shall come to crush the nations ; for all the crowns of the whole earth shall rest upon his head, and he shall bear written upon the vesture of his Human Nature : King of kings, and Lord of Lords.

1 Is. liii. 12. 2 Ibid. 10. » Ps. ii. 4 Ibid. lxii. 12. * Apoc. xix.

June 13. SAINT ANTHONY OF PADUA,

CONFESSOR. — ♦

" Rejoice thee, happy Padua, rich in thy priceless treasure I"1 Anthony, in bequeathing thee his body, has done more for thy glory than the heroes who founded thee on so favoured a site, or the doctors who have illustrated thy famous university !

The days of Charlemagne were past and gone: yet the work of Leo III. still lived on, despite a thousand difficulties. The enemy, now at large, had sown cockle in the field of the divine householder ; heresy was cropping up here and there, whilst vice was growing apace in every direction. In many an heroic combat, the popes, aided by the Monastic Order, had succeeded in casting disorder from out the sanctuary itself : still the people, too long scandalised by venal pastors, were fast slipping away from the Church. Who could rally them once more ? who wrest from Satan a reconquest of the world ? At this trying moment, the Spirit of Pentecost, ever living, ever present in Holy Church, raised up the sons of St. Dominic and of St. Francis. The brave soldiers of this new militia, organised to meet fresh necessities, threw themselves into the field, pursuing heresy into its most secret lurking holes, and thun-

1 Ant. festi ad Benediotus, ap. Minores.

M dering against vice in every shape and wheresoever found. In town or in country, they were everywhere to be seen confounding false teachers, by the strong argument of miracle as well as of doctrine ; mixing with the people whom the sight of their heroic detachment easily won over to repentance. Crowds flocked to be enrolled in the Third Orders instituted by these two holy founders, to afford a secure refuge for the Christian life in the midst of the world.

The best known and most popular of all the sons of St. Francis is Anthony, whom we are celebrating this day. His life was short : at the age of thirtyfive, he winged his flight to heaven. But a span so limited, allowed nevertheless of a considerable portion of time being directed by our Lord, to preparing this chosen servant for his destined ministry. The all-important thing in God's esteem, where there is question of fitting apostolic men to become instruments of salvation to a greater number' of souls, is not the length of time which they may devote to exterior works, but rather, the degree of personal sanctification attained by them, and the thoroughness of their self-abandonment to the ways of divine Providence. As to Anthony, it may almost be said, that up to the last day of his life, Eternal Wisdom seemed to take pleasure in disconcerting all his thoughts and plans. Out of his twenty years of religious life, he passed ten amongst the Canons Regular, whither the divine call had invited him at the age of fifteen, in the full bloom of his innocence ; and there, wholly captivated by the splendour of the Liturgy, occupied in the sweet study of the holy Scriptures and of the Fathers, blissfully lost in the silence of the cloister, bis seraphic soul was ever being wafted to sublime heights, where (so it seemed) he was always to remain, held and hidden in the secret of God's Face. When on a sudden, behold !

the Divine Spirit urges him to seek the martyr's crown : and presently, he is seen emerging from his beloved monastery, and following the Friars Minor to distant shores, where already some of their number had snatched the blood-stained palm. Not this, however, but the martyrdom of love, was to be his. Falling sick and reduced to impotence, before his zeal could effect anything on the African soil, obedience recalled him to Spain ; but, instead of that, he was cast by a tempest on the Italian coast.

It happened that Saint Francis was just then convoking his entire family, for the third time, in general chapter. Anthony unknown, lost in this vast assembly, beheld at its close, each of the friars in turn receive his appointed destination, whereas to him not a thought was given. What a sight 1 the scion of the illustrious family de Bouillon and of the kings of the Asturias completely overlooked in the throng of holy Poverty's sons ! At the momdbt of departure, the Father Minister of the Bologna province, remarking the isolated condition of the young religious whom no one had received in charge, admitted him, out of charity, into his company. Accordingly having reached the hermitage of Monte Paolo, Anthony was deputed to help in the kitchen and in sweeping the house, being supposed quite unfitted for anything else. Meanwhile, the Augustinian Canons, on the contrary, were bitterly lamenting the loss of one whose remarkable learning and sanctity, far more even than his nobility, had up to this, been the glory of their Order.

The hour at last came, chosen by Providerice, to manifest Anthony to the world; and immediately, as was said of Christ himself, the whole world went after him. Around the pulpits where this humble

1 St. John, xii. 19. friar preached, there were wrought endless prodigies, in the order of nature and of grace. At Rome, he earned the surname of Ark of the Covenant; in France, that of Hammer of heretics. It would be impossible for us here to follow him throughout his luminous course ; but suffice it to say, that France as well as Italy, owes much to his zealous ministry.

St. Francis had yearned to be himself the bearer of the Gospel of peace, through all the fair realm of France, then sorely ravaged by heresy ; but in his stead, he sent thither Anthony, his well beloved son, and, as it were, his living portrait. What St. Dominic had been in the first crusade against the Albigenses, Anthony was in the second. At Toulouse was wrought that wondrous miracle of the famished mule turning aside from the proffered grain, in order to prostrate in homage before the Sacred Host. From the province of Berry, his burning word was h£ard thundering in various distant provinces; whilst Heaven lavished delicious favours on his soul, ever childlike amidst the marvellous victories achieved by him, and the intoxicating applause of an admiring crowd. Under the very eyes of his host, at a lonely house in Limousin, the Infant Jesus came to him radiant in beauty ; and throwing Himself into his arms, covered him with sweetest caresses, pressing the humble Friar to lavish the like on Him. One feast of the Assumption, Anthony was sad, because of a phrase then to be found in the Office, seeming to throw a shade of discredit on the fact of Mary's body being assumed into heaven, together with her soul. Presently, the divine Mother herself came to console her devoted servant* in his lowly cell, assuring him of the truth of the doctrine of her glorious Assumption ; and so left him, ravished with the sweet charms of her countenance and the melodious sound of her voice. Suddenly, as he was

ST ANTHONY OF PADUA. preaching at Montpellier, in a church of that city thronged with people, Anthony remembered that he had been appointed to chant the Alleluia at the conventual Mass in his own convent, and he had quite forgotten to get his place supplied. Deeply pained at this involuntary omission, he bent his head upon his breast : whilst standing thus motionless and silent in the pulpit, as though asleep, his brethren saw him enter their choir, sing his verse, and depart ; at once, his auditory beheld him recover his animation, and continue his sermon with the same eloquence as before. In this same town of Montpellier, another well known incident occurred. When engaged in teaching a course of theology to his brethren, his commentary on the Psalms disappeared; but the thief was presently constrained, even by the fiend himself, to bring back the volume, the loss whereof had caused our saint so much regret. Such is commonly thought to be the origin of the popular devotion, whereby a special power of recovering lost things is ascribed to Saint Anthony. However this may be, it is certain, that from the very outset, this devotion rests on the testimony of startling miracles of this kind ; and in our own day, constantly repeated favours of a similar nature still confirm the same.

The following is the abridgment of this beautiful life, as given in the Liturgy.

Anthony was born at Lis- Antonius, Ulyssipone in bon, in Portugal, of noble pa- Lusitania honestis^ ortus rents, who brought him up in parentibns et ab iis pie edu- the love of God. Whilst he cat us, adolesce ns institutum was still a youth, he j oined the Canonicorum Regularium institute of the Canons Regu- suscepit. Sed cum corpora lar. But when the bodies of beatorum quinque marty- the five holy martyred Friars rum Fratrum Minorum

Minor, who had just suffered Conimbriam transferrentur, in Morocco for Christ's sake, qui paulo ante apud Marro- chiura pro Christi fide passi erantt martyrii desiderio incen8U8, ad Franciscanum Ordinem transivit. Mox, eodem ardore impulsus, ad Saracenos ire perrexit : ted, adversa valetudine afflictus et redire coactus, cum navis ad Hispaniaelittora tend e ret, ventorum vi in Siciliam delatus est

Assisium e Sicilia ad capitulum generate venit : inde in eremum montis Pauli in iEmilia secessit, ubi divinis contemplationibus, jejuniis et vigiliis diu vacavit. Postea sacris Ordinibus initiatus et ad pradicandum Evangelium missus, dicendi sapientia et copia tantum profecit, tantamque sui admirationem commovit, ut eum 8ummus Pontifex, aliquando concionantem audiens, Arcam Testamenti ap-

Eellarit. In primis vero ssreses summa vi profligavit, ideoque perpetuus haereticorum malleus est vocatus.

Primus ex suo Ordine, ob doctrine prsestantiam, Bononiae ejt alibi sacras litteras est interpretatus. Fratrumque 8Uorum studiis praef uit Multis vero peragratis provinces, anno ante obitum Patavium venit, ubi illustria sanctitatis sua monumenta reliquit. Denique, magnis laborious pro gloria t PENTECOST. were brought to Coimbra, the desire to be himself a martyr enkindled his soul, and he therefore passed over to the Franciscan Order. Presently, still urged by the same yearning, he had well nigh reached the land of the Saracens, when falling sick on the road, he was enforced to turn back ; but the ship bound for Spain, was drifted towards Sicily.

From Sicily, he came to Assisi, to attend the General Chapter of his Order, and thence withdrew himself to the Hermitage of Monte Paolo near Bologna, where he gave himself up for a long while, to contemplation of the things of God, to fastings and to watchings. Being afterwards ordained Priest and sent to preach the Gospel, his wisdom and eloquence drew on him such marked admiration of men, that the Sovereign Pontiff once, on hearing him preach, called him "The Ark of the Covenant." Chiefly against heresies did he put forth the whole force of his vigour, whence he gained the name of "Perpetual hammer of heretics."

He was the first of his Order, who, on account of his excellent gift of teaching, publicly lectured at Bologna on the interpretation of Holy Scripture, and directed the studies of his brethren. Then, having travelled through many provinces, he came, one year before his death, to Padua where he left some remarkable monu-

ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA. merits of the sanctity of his life. At length, having undergone much toil for the glory of God, full of merits and conspicuous for miracles, he fell asleep in the Lord, upon the Ides of June, in the year of salvation, one thousand two hundred and thirty one. The Sovereign Pontiff, Gregory the Ninth, enrolled his name among those of Holy Confessors.

Dei perfunctus, meritis et miraculis clarus obdormivit in Domino, Idibus Junii, anno salutis millesimo ducentesimo trigesimo primo. Quern Gregorius Nonus rontifex Maximus sanctorum Confessorum numero adscripsit.

Want of space obliges us to be very meagre in the number we give of Liturgical pieces : but we cannot omit here the Miraculous Responsory, as it is called, the composition whereof is attributed to Saint Bonaventure. It continues still to justify its name, in favour of those who recite it in the hour of need. In the Franciscan Breviary it is the eighth Responsory of the Office of Saint Anthony of Padua. At a very early date, this, together with the Nine Tuesdays in our Saint's honour, became a very popular devotion and was fraught with immense fruits of grace.

RESPONSORY

{called the " Miraculous")

If ye seek miracles, — lo ! death, error, calamities, the demon and the leprosy, flee all away: the sick also arise healed. * Sea and chains give way; young and old alike, ask and receive again the use of members, as well as things lost. y. Dangers vanish ; necessity ceases: let those who

Si quasris miracula, Mors, error, calamitas, Daemon, lepra fugiunt, iEgri surgunt sani.

• Cedunt mare, vincula ; Membra, resque perditas Petunt et accipiunt Juvenes et cani.

Pereunt pericula, Cessat et necessitas :

Narrent hi qui sentiunt, Dicant Paduani.

• Cedunt mare. Gloria Patri.

• Cedunt mare. fl. Ora pro nobis, beate Antoni,

1$. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi. oremus.

Ecclesiam tuam, Deus, beati Antonii confessoristui commemoratio votiva laetificet : ut spiritualibus semper muniatur auxiliis, et gauaiis

?erfrui mereatur aeternis. er Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

PENTECOST. have experienced such things relate these facts; let the Paduans repeat :

• Sea, <fec. Gloria, <fec. * Sea, <fcc.

$\ Pray for us, 0 blessed Anthony,

1$. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

LET US PRAY.

May the votive solemnity of blessed Anthony, thy Confessor, give joy to thy Church, O God ; that it may be ever defended by spiritual assistance, and deserve to possess eternal joys. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

0 glorious Anthony, the simplicity of thine innocent soul made thee a docile instrument in the hand of the Spirit of Love. The Seraphic Doctor, Saint Bonaventure, hymning thy praises, takes for his first theme, thy childlike spirit, and for his second, thy wisdom which flowed therefrom. Wise indeed wast thou, O Authony, for, from thy tenderest years, thou wast in earnest pursuit of divine Wisdom ; and, wishing to have her alone for thy portion, thou didst hasten to shelter thy love in some cloister, to hide thee in the secret of God's Face, the better to enjoy her chaste delights. Silence and obscurity in her sweet company, was thine heart's one ambition ; and even here below, her hands were pleased to adorn thee with incomparable splendour. She walked before thee ; and blithely didst thou follow, for her own sake alone, without suspecting how all other good things

ST. ANTHONY OP PADUA. were to become thine, in her company. Happy a childlike spirit, such as thine, to which are ever reserved the more lavish favours of Eternal Wisdom ! "But," exclaims thy sainted panegyrist, "who is "really a child, now-a-days ? Humble littleness is " no more ; therefore, love is no more. Naught is to "be seen now, but valleys bulging into hills, and hills "swelling into mountains. What saith Holy Writ ? " When they were lifted up, thou hast cast them "down. To such towering vaunters, God saith " again : Behold, I have made thee a small child ; " but exceedingly contemptible among the nations 3 "such infancy is. Wherefore will ye keep to this " childishness, 0 men, making your days an endless " series of inconstancy, boisterous ambition, and vain "effort at garnering wretched chaff? Other is that "infancy which is declared to be the greatest in "the land of true greatness. Such was thine, 0 " Anthony! and thereby wast thou wholly yielded " up to Wisdom's sacred influence/'5

In return for thy loving submission to God, our Father in heaven, the populace obeyed thee, and fiercest tyrants trembled at thy voice. Heresy Alone dared once to disobey thee, dared to refuse to hearken to thy word : thereupon, the very fishes of the sea took up thy defence ; for they came swimming in shoals, before the eyes of the whole city, to listen to thy preaching which heretics had scorned. Alas! error, having long ago recovered from the vigorous blows dealt by thee, is yet more emboldened in these our days, claiming even sole right to speak. The offspring of Manes, whom under the name of Albigenses, thou didst so successfully combat,

1 Wisd. vii. 4 St. Matth. xviii. 4.

• P8. lxxii. 18. 5 Bonav. Sermo I. de S. Antonii Patav.

3 Abdias, 2. 6 Wisd. viii. 14, 15. would now under the new appellation of Free-masonry, have all France at its beck: thy native Portugal beholds the same monster stalking in broad day-light, almost up to the very Altar: and the whole world is being intoxicated by its poison. O thou, who dost daily fly to the aid of thy devoted clients, in their private necessities, thou, whose power is the same in heaven, as heretofore upon earth, succour the Church, aid God's people, have pity upon society, now more universally and deeply menaced than ever. O thou Ark of the Covenant, bring back our generation, so terribly devoid of love and faith, to the serious study of sacred letters wherein is so energising a power; O thou Hammer of heretics, strike once more such blows, as will make hell tremble and the heavenly powers thrill with joy.