October 14 — Saint Callixtus

pliavit, in quo multi sancti sacerdotes et martyres sepal ti sunt: unde ab eo Calliflti coemeterium appellator.

E jusdem pietatis fuit, quod beati Calepodii presbyteri et martyris corpus jactatum in Tiberim conquiri diligenter curavit, et inventum honorifice sepelivit. Palmatium consulari, Simplicium senatoria dignitate illustres, Felicem et Blandam, qui deinde omnes martyrium subiere, cum baptismo lustrasset, missus est in carcerem, ubi Privatum militem, ulceribus plenum, admirabiliter sanitati restitutum, Christo adjunxit: pro quo idem, recens adhuc a fide suscepta, plumbatis usque ad mortem csbsus occubuit.

Sedit Callistus annos quinque, mensem unum, dies duodecim. Ordinationibus quinque mense Decembri, creavit presbyteros sexdecim, diaconos quatuor, episcopos octo. Post longam famem crebrasque verberationes, preceps jactus in puteum, atque ita martyrio coronatus sub Alexandra imperatore, illatus est in coemeterium Calepodii, via Aurelia, tertio ab Urbe lapide, pridie idus octobris. enlarged the cemetery on the Appian Way, in which many holy pontiffs and martyrs were buried; hence this cemetery is called by his name.

The body of the blessed Calepodius, priest and martyr, having been thrown into the Tiber, Callixtus in his piety caused it to be diligently sought for, and when found to be honourably buried. He baptized Palmatius, Simplicius, Felix and Blanda, the first of whom was of consular and the others of senatorial rank; and who all afterwards suffered martyrdom. For this he was cast into prison, where he miraculously cured a soldier named Privatus, who was covered with ulcers; whom he also won over to Christ. Though so recently converted, Privatus died for the faith, being beaten to death with scourges tipped with lead.

Callixtus was Pope five years, one month, and twelve days. He held five ordinations in the month of December, wherein he made sixteen priests, four deacons, and eight bishops. He was tortured for a long while by starvation and frequent scourgings, and finally, by being thrown headlong into a well, was crowned with martyrdom under the emperor Alexander. His body was carried to the cemetery of Calepodius, on the Aure-

TOOL UTTER PBNTROOST lian Way, three miles from Borne, on the day before the Idea of October. It was afterwards translated into the basilica of St. Mary across the Tiber, which he hunself had bnilt, and placed under the high altar, where it is honoured with great veneration.

The Holy Ghost, the protector of the Church, prepared thee, by suffering and humiliation, to beoome His chosen auxiliary. Thou wast born a slave ; Jewish perfidy soon spread snares beneath thy feet ; and while still young thou wast condemned to the mines of Sardinia, for the name of our Lord. Thou wast a bond-slave, it is true, but not now for thy former master. And when delivered from the mines at the time appointed by Him who regulates circumstances according to His good pleasure, thou wast ennobled by the title of Confessor, which recommended thee to the maternal attention of the Churoh.

Such were thy merits and virtues, that Zephyrinus, entering upon the longest pontificate of the persecution period, chose thee for the counsellor, support, and ooadjutor of his old age ; and after the experience of those eighteen years, the Church elected thee for her supreme Pastor. At the hour of thy death, how prosperous didst thou leave this bride of our Lord ! All the nobility of ancient days, all the moral worth and intellectual eminence of the human race, seemed to be oentred in her. Where was then the contempt of old, where the calumnies of a while ago? The world began to recognize in the Church the queen of the future. If the pagan state was yet to inflict cruel persecutions upon her, it would be from the conviction that it must struggle desperately for its very existenoe. It etexx hesitated, and seemed, for the moment, more

Ejus postmodum corpus in basilicam sancto Maria trans Tiberim, ab ipso »difioatam, delatum, sub ara majori, maxima veneratione colitur.

SAINT CAlLlXTttS inclined to make a compact with the Christians.

Thou didst open to the Church new paths, full of peril, but also of grandeur. From the absolute and brutal Nvn licet vos esse 1 of the lawyer-executioners, thou wast the first to bring the empire to recognize officially, to a certain extent, the rights of the Christian community. Through thee, Csecilia assured to them the power of assembling together, and making collections to honour their dead ; thou didst oonseorate to Mary, fons olei, the first sanctuary legally acquired by the Christians in Rome ; and thou wast rewarded for the act by martyrdom. Now, far from compromising the least of God's rights in coming to terms with Caesar, thou didst, at that very time, oppose the latter, asserting, as no other had yet done, the absolute independence of the Church with regard to marriage, which Christ had withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the civil power. Already, 'would not one be inclined to say that we have a nation within the nation? Yes; and it will continue to be so, until the whole nation itself have passed into the ranks of this new people.' 3

Within the bosom of the Church thou hadst other cares. Doctrinal contests were at their height, and attacked the first of our mysteries: Sabellius, condemned for his audacity in declaring that the real distinction of Persons in the most holy Trinity is incompatible with the unity of God, left the field open to another sect, who so separated the three divine Persons as to make them three Gods. Again, there was Montanus, whose disciples, enemies of the Sabellian theories even before Sabellius appeared, courted the favour of the holy See for their system of false mysticism and extravagant reformation.

1 It is not lawful for you to exist.

3 Paschal Time, vol. ii ; Thursday of the third week after Easter. ft

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Bat as an experienced pilot avoids the rooks and shoals, so between the subtilities of dogmatizers, the pretensions of rigorists, and the Utopias of politicians, thou, under the infallible guidanoe of the holy Spirit, didst, with a sure hand, steer the bark of Peter towards its glorious destination. The more satan hates thee and pursues thee even to the present day, the more mayst thou be glorified for ever. Give thy blessing to us, who are thy sons and thy disoiples.

October 15 SAINT TERESA

VIRGIN

' Although the Church triumphant in heaven, and the Church mourning here on earth, appear to be completely separated/ says Bossuet on this feast, ' they are nevertheless united by a sacred bond. This bond is charity, which is found in this land of exile as well as in our heavenly country ; which rejoices the triumphant saints, and animates those still militant; whioh, descending from heaven to earth, and from angels to men, causes earth to become a heaven, and men to become angels. For, 0 holy Jerusalem, happy Church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven, although the Church thy dear sister, who lives and combats here below, ventures not to compare herself with thee, she is not the less assured that a holy love unites her to thee. It is true that she is seeking, and thou possessest ;