October 24 — Saint Raphael

Thb approaoh of the great solemnity, which will soon be shedding upon us all the splendours of heaven, seems to inspire the Church with a profound reoolleotion. Except for the homage she must needs pay, on their own date, to the glorious apostlqp Simon and Jude, only a few feasts of simple rite break the silence of these last days of October. Our souls must be in conformity with the dispositions of our oommon mother. It will not, however, be out of keeping to give a thought to the great Archangel, honoured to-day by many particular churches.

The ministry fulfilled in our regard by the heavenly spirits is admirably set forth in the graceful scenes depicted in the history of Tobias. Rehearsing the good services of the guide and friend, whom he still called his brother Azarias, the younger Tobias said to his father: * Father, what wages shall we give him ? or what can be worthy of his benefits ? He conducted me and brought me safe again, he received the money of Gabelus, he caused me to have my wife, and he chased from her the evil spirit, he gave joy to her parents, myself he delivered from being devoured by the fish, thee also he hath made to see the light of heaven, and we are filled with all good things through him. i Tob. xii. 2,3.

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TIMB AFTER PENTECOST

And when father and son endeavoured, alt& thd fashion of men, to return thanks to him who had rendered them such good servioe, the angel discovered himself to them, in order to refer their gratitude to their supreme Benefactor. ' Bless ye the God of heaven, give glory to Him in the sight of all that live, because He hath shewn His mercy to vou. . . When thou didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead ... I offered thy prayer to the Lord. And .beoause thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee. And now the Lord hath sent me to heal thee, and to deliver Sara thy son's wife from the devil. For I am the angel Eaphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord. . . Peace be toyou, fear not ; . . . bless ye Him and sing praises to Him.' 1

We too will oelebrate the blessings of heaven. For as surely as Tobias beheld with his bodily eyes the Arohangel Raphael, we know by faith that the angel of the Lord accompanies us from the oradle to the tomb. Let us have the same trustful confidence in him. Then, along the path of life, more beset with perils than the road to the oountry of the Medes, we shall be in perfect safety ; all that happens to us will be for the best, because prepared by our Lord ; and, as though we were already in heaven, our angel will cause us to shed blessings upon all around us.

We will borrow from the Ambrosian breviary a hymn in honour of the bright Arohangel.

HYMN

Hymnum benignus suscipe, Quern nos canendo supplices, Laetis sacramus vocibus.

Divine ductor, Raphael, 0 Raphael, divinely sent guide, graciously receive the hymn we suppliants address to thee with joyful voice.

1 Tob. xii. 6*18.

SAINT RAPHAEL

Cursum salutis dirige, Gressusque nostras promove:

Ne quando aberrent devii, Coeli relicto tramite.

Tu nos ab alto respice: Lucem micantem desuper, A Patre sancto luniinum, No8tri refundas mentibus.

Mgris medelam perfice, Caecisque noctem discute: Morbos fugando corporum, Dona vigorem cordibus.

Astans superno Judici, Causam perora criminum: Iramque mulce vindicem, Fidus rogator Numinia.

Magni resumptor pralii, Hostem snperbum deprime: Contra rebelles spiritus Da robur, auge gratiam.

Deo Patri sit gloria, Ejnsqne soli Filio, Cum Spiritu Paraclito, Et nunc, ot in perpetnom.

Amen.

Make straight for us the way of salvation, and forward our steps: lest at any time we wander astray, and turn from the path to heaven.

Look down upon us from on high; reflect into our souls the splendour shining from above, from the holy Father of lights.

Give perfect health to the sick, dispel the darkness of the blind: and while driving away diseases of the body, give spiritual strength to our souls.

Thou who standest before the sovereign Judge, plead for the pardon of our crimes: and as a trusty advocate appease the avenging wrath of the Most High.

Benewer of the great battle, crush our proud enemy: against the rebel spirits give us strength, and increase our grace.

To God the Father be glory, and to his only Son, together with the Paraclete Spirit, now and for evermore. Amen,

Id

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

October 25 SAINTS OHRTSANTHUS AND DAEIA

Chrysanthus was united, in his oonfession of our Lord, with her whom he had won to Christianity and to the love of the angelic virtue. Our forefathers had a great veneration for these two martyrs, who having lived together in holy virginity, were together buried alive in a sand-pit at Borne for refusing to honour the false gods.

Dying like the seed in the earth, they yielded the fruit of martyrdom. On the anniversary day of their triumph, numbers of the faithful had gathered in the catacomb on the Salarian Way for the liturgical Synaxis, when the pagans surprised them and walled up the entrance of the vault. Many years passed away. When the hour of victory had sounded for the Church, and the Christians discovered again the way to the sacred crypt, a wonderful speotaole was presented to their gaze: before the tomb where reposed Chrysanthus and Daria, was grouped the family they had begotten to martyrdom. Each person was still in the attitude in which he had been overtaken by death. Beside the ministers of the altar, which was surrounded by men, women, and children, assistants at that most solemn of Masses, were to be seen the silver vessels of the Sacrifice: that Sacrifice in which the conquering Lamb had so closely united to Himself so many noble victims.

MARTYRS

Pope Damasus adorned the venerable spot with monumental insoriptions. But no one dared to touoh the holy bodies, or to alter any arrangement in that inoomparable soene. The orvpt was walled up again ; but a narrow opening was left, so that the pilgrim oould look into the august sanctuary, and animate his courage for the struggles of life by the contemplation of what had been required of his ancestors in the faith during the ages of martyrdom. 1

The following is the liturgioal legend of the feast.

Chrysanthus and Daria were husband and wife, noble by birth, and still more by their faith, which Daria had received together with Baptism through her husband's persuasion. At Rome they converted an immense multitude to Christ, Daria instructing the women and Chrysanthua the men. On this account the prefect Celerinus arrested them,and handed them over to the tribune Claudius, who ordered his soldiers to bind Chrysanthua and put him to the torture. But all his bonds were loosed, and the fetters which were put upon him were broken.

They then wrapped him in the skin of an ox and exposed him to a burning sun ; and next cast him, chained hand and foot, into a very dark dungeon; but his chains were broken, and the prison filled with a brilliant light. Daria was

Chrysanthus et Daria conjuges, nobili genere nati, fide etiam clariores, quam Daria, mariti opera, cum baptismo susceperat; Romas innumerabilem hominum multitudinem, hsec mulierum, ille virorum, ad Christum converterunt. Quare Celerinus prafectus comprehensos tradidit Claudio tribuno: qui jussit a multibus Chrysanthum vinctum cruciatibus torqueri; sed vincula omnia resoluta sunt: mox compedes, in quos conjectus fuerat, confracti.

Deinde bo vis corio inclusum, in ardentissimo sole const ituunt; turn pedibus ac manibus catena constrictis, in obscurum carcerem detrudunt: ubi solutis catenis, clarissima lux locum illustravit. Daria vero in

1 Greg. Xuron. D* gloria martyrtm, i. 38.

HM& A9TBR PBNT&C0ST lupanar compnlia, leonis dragged to a place of infamy; tutela, dam in oratione but at her prayer God def end- defixa est, a conturaelia ed her from insult by sending divinitus defensa est. Deni- a lion to protect her. Finally, que in arenariam, quae est they were both led to the sand - via Salaria, uterque ductus, pits on the Salarian Way, where effossa terra, lapidibus ob- they were thrown into a pit rati, parem martyrii coro- and covered with a heap of nam adepti sunt. stones; and thus they together

I will give to My saints a place of honour in the kingdom of My Father, saith the Lord. 1 Thus sings the Ohuroh in your praise, 0 martyrs. And herself following up that word of her divine Spouse, she made the Lateran basilica your earthly home, and assigned for your resting-place the most hallowed spot, the very Confession, upon which rests the high recompense for your labours and sufferings in that city of Rome, where you had shared in the preaching of the apostles, and like them had sealed the word with your blood. Cease not to justify the confidence of the eternal city ; render her faith, whioh is ever pure, more and more fruitful ; and as long as she is ruled by a stranger, maintain unaltered her devotedness to the Pontiff-king, whose presenoe makes her the oapital of the world and the vestibule of heaven. But your holy relics have also, through Home's generosity, carried your protection abroad. Deign to second by your intercession the prayer we borrow from your devout clients of Munstereifel: 3 '0 God, who in Thy Saints Ohrysanthus and Daria didst enhanoe the honour of virginity by the oonseeration

1 1st antiphon of the 2nd noeturn for martyrs.

2 S. Kit. Congr. 7 Aug. 1857, ad archiep. Colon.

• A monastery and town in the archdiocese of Cologne, whioh honour Ste. Chryaanthus and Daria as patrons. won the crown of martyrdom.

It was a fitting

SAINT EVAM8TU8 of martyrdom, grant that, assisted by their intercession, we may extinguish in ourselves the flame of vioe, and may merit to beoome Thy temple, in the company of the pure in heart/

October 26 SAINT EVAEISTUS

FOFE AND MARTYR

The beloved disciple had just reoeived the longpromised visit of our Lord inviting him to heaven, when the Churoh, under Evaristus, completed the drawing up of the itinerary for her long pilgrimage to the end of time. The blessed period of the apostolio times was definitively closed; but the eternal city oontinued to augment her treasure of g(lory. Under this pontifioate the virgin Domitilla, by her martyrdom, cemented the foundations of the new Jerusalem with the blood of the Elavii, who had destroyed the old. Then Ignatius of Antiooh brought to the 1 Church that presides in* charity/ the testimony of his death ; he was the wheat of Christ, and the teeth of the wild beasts in the coliseum satisfied his desire of becoming a most pure bread. 1

Evaristus Gracus ex Judaeo patre, Trajano imperatore, pontificatum gessit. Qui ecclesiarum titulos urbis Romae presbyteris divisit, et ordinavit, ut septem

Evaristus was born in Greece, of a Jewish father, and was sovereign Pontiff during the reign of Trajan. He divided the titles of the churches of Borne among the priests, and

1 Ignat. Epist. ad Romano*^

TIMB AFTER PENTECOST diaooni episcopum custodirent, dum evangel i ceo praedicationifl officio f ungeretur. Idem constituit ex traditione apostolica, ut matrimonium publice celebretur, et sacerdotis benedictio adhibeatur. Prafuit Eccleaiae annos novem, menses tres, presbyteris decern et septem, diaconis duobus, episcopis quindecim, quater mense Decembri ordinatis. Martyrio coronatus, prope sepulchrum principis apostolorum in Vaticano sepultns est, septimo calendas Novembris. ordained that seven deacons should attend the bishop when preaching. He also decreed that, according to the tradition of the apostles, matrimony should be celebrated publicly and blessed by a priest. He governed the Church nine years and three months. He held ordinations four times in the month of December, and ordained seventeen priests, two deacons, and fifteen bishops. He was crowned with martyrdom, and buried near the tomb of the prince of the apostles on the seventh of the Kalends of November.

Thou art the first Pontiff to whom the Church was entrusted after the departure of all those who had seen the Lord. The world oould then say in all striotness: 'If we have known Christ aocording to the flesh, now we know Him so no longer/ 1 The Church was now more truly an exile ; at that period, whioh was not without perils and anxieties, her Spouse gave to thee the oharge of teaohing her to pursue alone her path of f edth and hope and love. And thou didst not betray the confidence of our Lord. Earth owes thee, on this account, a special gratitude, 0 Evaristus ; and a special reward is doubtless thine. Watch still over Rome and the Church. Teach us that we must be ready not only to fast here on earth, but to be resigned to the absenoe of the Bridegroom when He hides Himself ; and not the less to serve Him and love Him with our whole heart and mind and soul and strength, as long as the world endures, and He is pleased to leave us therein.

1 2 Cor. v. 16,

October 28

SAINTS SIMON AND JTJDE

APOSTLES

Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee. 1 Thus does the Church, disowned by Israel, extol in her chants the apostolic fruit fulness whioh resides in her till the end of time. Yesterday she was already filled with that loving hope, which is never deoeived, that the holy apostles Simon and Jude would anticipate their solemnity by shedding blessings upon her. 1 Such is the condition of her existence on earth, that she can remain here only as long as she continues to give children to our Lord ; and therefore, in the Mass of October 27 she makes us read the passage of the Gospel where it is said: 1 1 am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branoh in Me, that beareth not fruit, He will take away: and every one that beareth fruit, He will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit.' 8

The pruning is painful, as the Epistle of the vigil points out. In the name of the other branches, honoured like himself with the divine election, the apostle there recounts the labours, sufferings of every description, persecutions, revilings, denials, 4 at the cost of which the preacher of the Gospel purchases the right to call sons those whom he has begotten in Christ Jesus. 6 Now, as St. Paul more than once

1 Gradual of the feast, from Pa. xliv. 17. a Collect of the yigil. * Gospel of the yigil, St. John xv. 1-7. 4 Epistle of the yigil,

\ Cor. iy. 9-14. 6 Ibid, 15.

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TIME AFTER PBNTEC08T repeats, especially in the Epistle of the feast, this supernatural generation of the saints is nothing else but the mystioal reproduction of the Son of God, who grows up in each of the elect from infancy to the measure of the perfeot man. 1

However meagre in details be the history of these glorious apostles, we learn from their brief legend how amply they contributed to this great work of generating sons of God. Without any repose, and even to the shedding of their blood, they 1 edified the body of Christ ' ; and the grateful Church thus prays to our Lord to-day: ' 0 God, who by means of Tny blessed apostles Simon and Jude hast granted us to oome to the knowledge of Thy name ; grant that we may celebrate their eternal glory by making progress in virtues, and improve by this celebration. *

St. Simon is represented in art with a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom. St. Jude's square points him out as an architect of the house of God. St. Paul called himself by this name ; 8 and St. Jude, by his Catholic Epistle, has also a special riffht to be reckoned among our Lord's prinoipal workmen. But our apostle had another nobility, far surpassing all earthly titles: being nephew, by his father Cleophas or Alpheus, to St. Joseph, 4 and legal cousin to the Man-God, Jude was one of those called by their compatriots the brethren of the carpenter's Son. 5 We may gather from St. John's Gospel another precious detail concerning him. In the admirable discourse at the close of the last Supper, our Lord said: 'He that loveth Me, shall be loved of My

1 Gal. iv. 19 ; epistle of the feast, Eph. iv. a Collect of the feast.

8 1 Oor. iii. 10. 4 Hegesipp. ex Euseb. Hist. ecel. iv. 22.

6 Together with James the Less, apostle, and first bishop of Jerusalem, a certain Joseph less known, and Simeon, second bishop of Jerusalem, all sons of Cleophas, and of our Lady's sister-in-law called in St. John's gospel Mary of Cleophas. St. Matt. ziii. 55.

SHOTS SIMON AND JUDE

Father: and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him.' Then Jude asked Him: 4 Lord, how is it, that Thou wilt manifest Thyself to us, and not to the world P ' And he received from Jesus this reply: * If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will oome to him, and will make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not keepeth not My word. And the word which you have heard is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.' 1

Eoelesiastioal history informs us that, towards the end of his reign, and when the persecution he had raised was at its height, Domitian caused to be brought to him from the east two grandsons of the aposfle St. Jude. He had some misgivings with regard to these descendants of David's royal line; for they represented the family of Christ Himself, whom His disciples declared to be king of the whole world. Domitian was able to assure himself that these two humble Jews could in no way endanger the empire; and that if they attributed to Christ sovereign power, it was a power not to be visibly exeroised till the end of the world. The simple and courageous language of these two men made such an impression on the emperor, that according to the historian Hegesippus from whom Eusebius borrowed the narrative, he gave orders for the persecution to be suspended. 3

We have only to add to the following brief notioe of our apostles, that the churches of St. Peter in Borne and Saint-Sernin at Toulouse dispute the honour of possessing the greater part of their holy remains.

1 St. John xiv. 21-24. * Dora GuSranger, Sainte Cecile et la socute roptaine aux deux premiers siectes, ex Euseb. Hist, eecl, iii. £0,

TIME AFTER PKNTBOOST

Simon Chananreus qui et Simon surnamed the Chana-

Zelotes, et Thaddeus qui anite and Zelotes, and Thad- et Judas Jacobi appellatur deus the writer of one of the in Evangelio, unius ex ca- Catholic Epistles, who is called tholicis E pistol is scriptor, also in the Gospel Jude the hie Mesopotamia^ ille M- brother of James, preached the gyptum evangelica pnedi- Gospel, the former in Egypt, catione peragravit. Postea the latter in Mesopotamia, in Persidem convenientes, They rejoined each other in cum innumerabiles filios Persia, where they begot nu-

Jesu Christo peperissent, fi- merous children to Jesus demque in vastissimis illis Christ, and spread the faith regionibus et efferatis gen- among the barbarous inhabi- tibus disseminassent, doctri- tants of that vast region. By na et miraculis, ac denique their teaching and miracles, and glorioso martyrio, simul san- finally by a glorious martyr- ctissimum Jesu Christi no- dom, they both rendered great men illustrarunt. honour to the most holy name of Jesus Christ.

1 1 have ohosen you ; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain.' 1 These words were addressed by the Man-God to you, as to all the twelve, as the Church reminded us in her night Office.* And yet, what remains now of the fruit of your labours in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, in Persia P Can our Lord and His Church be mistaken in their words, or in their appreciations P Certainly not ; and proof sufficient is, that, above the region of the senses, and beyond the domain of history, the power infused into the twelve subsists through all ages, and is active in every supernatural birth that develops the mystioal body of our Lord and inoreases the Churoh. "We, more truly than Tobias, are the children of saints; 8 we are no longer strangers, but the family of God, His house built upon the foundation of apostles and

1 St. John xv. 16. * Homily of the 3rd nooturn $x Aug.