"He was converted from the Arian heresy to the Catholic faith: upon which his father Leovigild, king of the Visigoths in Spain, and an Arian, was so exasperated against him, that he cast him into prison, and loaded him with chains. But perceiving all his cruelty to be fruitless, he ordered him to be murdered on Easter Eve, for refusing to receive the Holy Communion from an Arian bishop. Some time after, being sensible of his error and his crime, he acknowledged the truth of the Catholic faith, though overawed by his people, he never had courage to profess it. And so he died, having first recommended his son Reccared to the care of an orthodox bishop, by whose means, being reclaimed from Arianism, he became the happy instrument of the conversion of the whole nation of Spain in the sixth century.

Learn what your duty is, when for the sake of truth, your parents and dearest friends become your greatest enemies. Christ and His faith are to be preferred to them all; and you cannot be a true disciple, but by forsaking them, and abandoning yourself to their displeasure and cruelty. This martyr, in despising a crown, has taught you to despise all worldly advantages for the sake of Christ. This is the command of the Gospel, and the way to heaven. Pray that this may be your rule whenever you shall be brought into these straits: that you may seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, and make all considerations of flesh and blood give way to this. Pray likewise for all those who are at present under this trial. It is a work of great difficulty, and requires a very powerful grace to renounce all the comforts of tender parents, and the hopes of this world, for the sake of truth, which works only by faith, and has its rewards at a distance. Let them have therefore the assistance of your charity.

Pray for the reclaiming of all those who are the abettors of errors; and beg that none may be obstinate against that light which God gives them, or neglect to follow it, through fear, or human respects. The thoughts of what the world will say, and the difficulty of changing, are temptations to be overcome only by the grace of God." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

"He was by birth a Goth, converted to the faith in his youth, and a faithful imitator of the obedience, mildness, humility, and other virtues of the apostles. He was affable to all men, yet with dignity; a lover of truth, an enemy to all dissimulation or disguise, intrepid, modest, of few words, and a lover of peace; yet zealous and active. To sing the divine praises in the Church, and to adorn the altars, were his great delight. He was so scrupulously chaste, that he shunned all conversation with women, except what was indispensable. He often spent whole days and nights in prayer, and devoted his whole life to the exercises of penance. By his charity he kept peace with all. He was humble amidst a world of admirers; and ever ready to serve and help all. He esteemed silver as contemptible earth, never providing beyond absolute necessity. He avoided all visits and entertainments, and whatever could serve only as a dissipation; that so his prayers might have less interruption.

Being apprehended for his faith, he was dragged over thorns and briars, and forced along with whips and staves. His hands and feet were afterwards stretched and bound; and in this situation he was tormented for a considerable part of the night. Being violently struck with a javelin, so that all thought he was killed, the saint declared that he felt no more pain than if the javelin had been a lock of wool. He was at length thrown into a river, praising God to the last, and beseeching him to have mercy on his judge, that he might not be lost eternally, who had put him in so compendious a way to heaven. He blessed God, and surprised at his goodness, admired that he should be called to this glory, who was so unworthy.

"He was descended of a noble family, and his great abilities and mature judgment appeared in the rapid progress which he made in his sacred studies. Being made archdeacon of the Church of Rome, he had the chief direction of affairs under Pope Celestine. On the death of Pope Sixtus III., he was elected as most fit and worthy to be seated in the first chair of the church. He trembled at his exalted dignity, considering himself weak and unworthy, and besought God to support and strengthen him. He diligently applied himself however to cultivate the great field committed to his care; preaching to his people with great zeal, and converting many infidels to the faith. His signal victories over the Manicheans, Arians, and other heretics, are proofs of his zeal for the purity of the faith. By his authority the general council of Chalcedon was assembled in the year 451, chiefly against the errors of Eutyches.

David Wilkie: The Confessional

St. John, 20, 1-9

"Christ, rising from the dead, is our instruction at this time, that whoever pretends to be His disciple, ought not to lie buried in the grave of sin, but rise with His Lord to a life of grace, obeying the summons of St. Paul: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten thee". No one can be a true disciple of Christ, who believes not what He teaches; neither can any one seriously judge himself His disciple, if he does not what Christ commands. He commands you now, O Christian, to awake and arise from sin. If you do it not, how do you belong to Him? For this end, the Church now calls upon you by confession and sincere repentance to purify your soul from whatever can defile, and present it a pure offering before God, if not without spot nothing that can render It may be easily known or blemish, at least so that there be you unfit to accompany your Lord. How near you are come to be this happy soul, if you consider yourself by St. Paul's measures: "If you are risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth". Not that a Christian is entirely to banish from his heart the thoughts of all worldly things. This cannot be in this life, where our duty in several ways links us to this world; but that our hearts be so possessed with the love of God, that using this world only as far as necessity requires, our great concern and solicitude in the main body of our actions may be how to perform the Will of God, and work out our salvation.

This is the method, and these are the marks of a soul risen with Christ: and where these are not, it is to be feared that the soul goes not beyond the ceremony of a resurrection and repentance. Deceive not then yourself any more, Christian soul; for you cannot deceive Him, who is the searcher of hearts. If at this time you have thoughts of repenting, see that your repentance be accompanied with a change of yourself, and with amendment for otherwise, though Christ be risen, yet you can expect no part in the resurrection of the just." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

"He was a zealous, holy anchoret, who being informed of the cruel persecution of the Christians at Alexandria, under Maximin, left his solitude to visit and encourage those who suffered. He was apprehended by the persecutors at Antinous in Egypt, and cast into prison. Many heathens came to insult and affront him while in chains; and among others one Philemon, a musician, very famous, and admired by the people. He treated the martyr as an impious person, and a seducer, and one who deserved the public hatred. To his insults the saint only answered: "My son, may God have mercy on thee, and not lay these reproaches to thy charge." This his meekness wrought so powerfully on Philemon, that he forthwith professed himself a Christian. Both were brought before the judge, who after making them suffer all kinds of torments, condemned them to be burnt alive. When the fire was kindled about them, Apollonius prayed thus: "Lord, deliver not to beasts the souls who confess thee; but manifest thy power." At that instant, a cloud of dew encompassed the martyrs, and put out the fire. The judge and people cried out at this miracle: "The God of the Christians is the great and only God." The prefect of Egypt being informed of it, caused the judge and the two confessors to be brought to Alexandria loaded with irons. During the journey, Apollonius, by his instructions, prevailed so far upon those who conducted him, that they presented themselves also to the prefect with their prisoners, and confessed themselves likewise Christians. The prefect ordered them all to be thrown into the sea, about the year 311.

See here the force of patience and meekness. These are the arms which the Gospel puts into your hand. Fight with these, if you have enemies to overcome; for they are more powerful than passion and violence. To be more expert, practice daily in ordinary occasions. Do not accustom yourself to anger or peevish expressions of resentment: be not noisy and loud, but with a generous meekness stand your ground. Thus in your patience you will possess your own soul, and gain your enemies." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

"The example of the holy women, who went to visit the sepulchre of our Lord, furnishes us with some excellent instructions for this time. They make a provision of perfumes: they rise early to carry them to the sepulchre; they think not of the inconvenience of going alone, and having none in their company capable of rolling the stone away for them. This difficulty occurs to them upon the way; yet they are not discouraged, but pursue their journey with a hope in Providence. Thus they go on, following the impetuous notions of a sincere heart, without regard to any of those precautions which human prudence might have suggested. And what is their success? They find the stone removed from the mouth of the sepulchre, they are assured of Christ's being risen from the dead, by two angels who appeared to them; and are ordered to give notice of it to the apostles. Thus have they the first news of the Resurrection; and by commission from heaven are made apostles of it to the apostles themselves.

Now, if we consider this disposition of their minds, it is plain that they had not a lively faith of Christ's Resurrection, nor in those words by which He foretold it, because they thought Him dead; but it being the trouble at Christ's death which made them incapable of reflecting or thinking of anything else, and they following the dictates of a sincere love, in resolving to express the honour which they had for Him in the best manner they could, Christ distinguishes between the effects of human weakness in them, and the sincerity of their love, in bearing with the one, and rewarding the other.

A like good effect will those Christians find, who with a like sincerity seek their Lord. If they are sensible of their wants, and with true desires of amendment, vigorously undertake whatever appears to them pleasing to their God, such a disposition cannot fail of meeting with blessings from His hand, who cannot withstand the endeavours of a fervent and single heart, but will show them mercy, in bearing with their infirmities, in removing their difficulties, in perfecting their faith, and in giving light to their darkness." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene (Apparition de Jésus à Madeleine) - James Tissot

"As the angel said to the holy women, who were looking for Christ among the dead: He is risen, He is not here; so the state of every Christian at this time ought to be such, that as to all wilful and affected sin, it may with truth be said of him: "He is risen, he is not here". The past time ought to suffice for sin: and now as to what remains, all ought to live to the will of God. This is what St. Paul says to the Corinthians: "You have been sinners, but now you are washed, now you are sanctified, now you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have been darkness; but now you are light in our Lord: walk therefore as children of the light." This is the fruit of Christ's Passion, which ought to be found in every Christian. This it is which the present solemnity of the Resurrection demands of every one in particular; and wherever this is not, those who have it not are not the children of God, nor have they any part in Christ. And the Resurrection of our Lord, which is a day of joy to repenting sinners, what must it be to such as obstinately or carelessly abide in sin, but a day of reproach and confusion, even a beginning of that confusion, which, if not timely prevented, will be eternal?

For where the mercies of a Redeemer do not raise up from the grave of sin, what can be expected, but to lie buried in sin for ever?

Wherefore, it being a common interest to escape this confusion, it is plain that it can be no other way effected, than by rising with Christ from sin, and beginning the life of the new man. And because the weight of our corruption is a general hindrance to this work, and the occasion of its being unfinished, though often begun; it is our present duty to consider of the means proper for carrying it on. And since this was the time of our Saviour's beginning a new life, beg of Him to give a new life to all who believe in Him, that they may begin such a method, as may give them well-grounded hopes of rising with Him to a life immortal." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother