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wikipedia, Saint Polycarp

From the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians

"Chapter 6. The duties of presbyters and others:  And let the presbyters be compassionate and merciful to all, bringing back those that wander, visiting all the sick, and not neglecting the widow, the orphan, or the poor, but always "providing for that which is becoming in the sight of God and man;" (Romans 12:17; 2 Corinthians 8:31) abstaining from all wrath, respect of persons, and unjust judgment; keeping far off from all covetousness, not quickly crediting [an evil report] against any one, not severe in judgment, as knowing that we are all under a debt of sin. If then we entreat the Lord to forgive us, we ought also ourselves to forgive; (Matthew 6:12-14) for we are before the eyes of our Lord and God, and "we must all appear at the judgment-seat of Christ, and must every one give an account of himself." (Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Let us then serve Him in fear, and with all reverence, even as He Himself has commanded us, and as the apostles who preached the Gospel unto us, and the prophets who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Lord [have alike taught us]. Let us be zealous in the pursuit of that which is good, keeping ourselves from causes of offense, from false brethren, and from those who in hypocrisy bear the name of the Lord, and draw away vain men into error.

Chapter 7. Avoid the Docetæ, and persevere in fasting and prayer: "For whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is antichrist;" (1 John 4:3) and whosoever does not confess the testimony of the cross, is of the devil; and whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says that there is neither a resurrection nor a judgment, he is the first-born of Satan. Wherefore, forsaking the vanity of many, and their false doctrines, let us return to the word which has been handed down to us from the beginning; "watching unto prayer," (1 Peter 4:7) and persevering in fasting; beseeching in our supplications the all-seeing God "not to lead us into temptation," (Matthew 6:13; Matthew 26:41) as the Lord has said: "The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38)."

Prayer:

Watch over the purity of our holy Faith, and preserve us from being deceived by false teachers. The error which thou didst combat, and which teaches that all the mysteries of the Incarnation are but empty symbols, has risen up again in these our days. There are Marcions, even now, who would reduce all religion to myths; and they find some few followers; may thy powerful prayers rid the world of this remnant of so impious a doctrine. Amen.

Dom Gueranger, The Liturgical Year, St. Polycarp

Saint Paul, Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh NC. 

  Prayer to Saint Paul: O Glorious Saint Paul, after persecuting the Church you became by God's grace its most zealous Apostle. To carry the knowledge of Jesus, our divine Savior, to the uttermost parts of the earth you joyfully endured prison, scourgings, stonings, and shipwreck, as well as all manner of persecutions culminating in the shedding of the last drop of your blood for our Lord Jesus Christ.

May your example inspire our parish priests today to be zealous in their service to God's people. Obtain for our priests the grace to labor strenuously to bring the faith to others and to accept any trials and tribulations that may come their way. Help them to be inspired by your Epistles and to partake of your indomitable love for Jesus, so that after they have finished their course they may join you in praising him in heaven for all eternity. Amen.

The hardship is great, because the enemy has long been prowling around the flock and with subtle cunning has endeavored to bring havoc upon it, succeeding to such and extent that more than every, what the Apostle wrote to the ancients of the Church of Ephesus, seems to be realized: "I know that ravening wolves will enter among you, not sparing the flock" (Acts XX. 29)

Those among us who are prompted by zeal for the glory of God and who seek the reasons for the present decay of religion, ascribe it to various causes; and each, according to his own views, adopts different methods in the endeavor to protect and restore the kingdom of God on earth.

To Us, Venerable Brethren, without rejecting the opinions of others, it seems that we must agree with the judgment of those who attribute the remissness, or rather the intellectual debility of our times, as the condition from which such grave evils arise, chiefly to ignorance of divine things. There seems to be in our day a recurrence of what God said by the mouth of the Prophet Oseas: " There is no knowledge of God in the land. Cursing and lying and killing and theft have overflowed, and blood hath touched blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth in it shall languish" (Osee iv. 1-3)

Source: On the Teaching of Christian Doctrine, Pope St. Pius X

"O Persecutor of the Church of God,
Who when converted valiantly wrought
In Missionary labors for the Lord,
Preaching the Cross which our salvation bought:
Assist the missionaries - thou the first -
To gain the conquest of the world for Christ.

Then praise we God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Holy Spirit - Three in One,
That one in him and one together we
In unity may praise the Trinity
Till all the ransomed fall before His Throne
And give all glory to our God alone. Amen"

Source: Catholic Hymns for the People, James Martin Raker 1919

Prayer intention: Missionary Conquest of World (For the conversion of Muslims and the faithful of other religions)

(Form of prayer decreed by Pope Benedict XV: to be recited Daily during the Octave.  + One decade (at least) of the Rosary for this particular intention, Holy Communion if possible.)

 Ant. That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou has sent me.

 ℣. I say to thee, that thou art Peter,

 ℟. And upon this rock I will build my Church.

•  Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst say to Thine Apostles: peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, look not upon my sins, but upon the faith of Thy Church; and vouchsafe unto Her that peace and unity which is agreeable to Thy will: Who livest and reignest God forever and ever. Amen.
• Lord Jesus, most gracious savior of the world, we humbly beg of Thee by Thy most Sacred heart, that all the sheep now wandering astray may be converted to Thee, the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls: Who livest and reignest through all eternity. Amen (Pius X, 26 Oct., 1905)

Source: The Church Unity Octave, 1939  American Ecclesiastical Review, Volume 100

Reflection

"On this glorious feast of the Apostle our minds think of God's grace as it fairly flung Saul to the ground on his way to Damascus, and of its effect upon him and upon the entire Church. Miracles are unusual; they are not the ordinary way. But the unmistakable lesson is here: God's grace can overcome the proud intellect and the stubborn will, but someone must pray. In the case of St. Paul perhaps Our Lady was praying for him; surely she was praying for the good of the Church when the voice from the clouds spoke to the stricken man: "Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou Me?"

When we consider the millions of souls who have absolutely no contact with Christianity, even in its most distorted forms, who do not know the mercy of Christ or the Mother-love of Mary, we are appalled by the difficulty of converting them. But in words adapted from the votive Mass of the Propagation of the Faith, we must pray: "O Mother of God, who willest that all men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, send, we beseech thee, laborers to the the harvest of thy Son; grant them to speak the truth with all confidence, that the message of God may spread and be made known and that all people may know thee and thy Son..." Missioners in foreign lands report the devotion of many non-Catholic people to Our Lady. It is not a Catholic veneration, of course, but it is genuine and sincere. Perhaps in the Providence of God this respect for Our Lady will be the bridge whereby millions will enter the Church of Christ. At the boundaries of Nepal in India three thousand Hindus and Moslems joined three hundred Catholics to honor the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, as four elephants carried the statue to the church for the Rosary and Benediction. At Rojkot, with practically no Catholics, unbelieving ministers of the state and other officials came to venerate the statue. The mayor of Nadiad read a speech of welcome and declared how proud he was to be present. For twelve hours crowds passed through the church, crowds that were mostly non- Christian. As one old Indian expressed it: "She has shown us that your religion is sincere; it is not like ours. Your religion is a religion of love; ours is one of fear." (Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, The world's First Love pp193)

The passing of the Pilgrim Statue was like a triumphant march. At Patna, the Brahman governor visited the Catholic Church and prayer before the statue. In the tiny village of Kesra Mec more than twenty-five thousand people came to view the statue and the Rajah sent 250 rupees and his wife a petition of prayers. In other parts of India, and in Africa too, Moslems crowded the churches to render homage to the Mother of God. Moslemism has, in fact, many references to Mary. In the Koran there are several mention so Mary, the Annunciation, the Visitation, and the Nativity. Angels are shown accompanying the Virgin and saying: "Oh Mary, God has chosen you and purified you and elected you above all the women of the earth." It is said too that the Moslems believe in the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth.

Many other instances might be cited which seem to indicate the "The Age of Mary" of which Grignion de Montfort spoke has begun. Surely the increased societies and works in her honor, the new theological studies, the emphasis given to her role in the economy of salvation and sanctification lead one to believe that this era has been initiated. St. Grignion spoke of the glorification of Mary in these terms:

"Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, in might, and in grace in these latter times; in mercy, to bring back and lovingly receive the poor strayed sinners who shall be converted and shall return to the Catholic Church; in might, against the enemies of God...who shall rise in terrible revolt against God to seduce all who shall be contrary to them, and to make them fall by promises and threats; and finally she must shine forth in grace, in order to animate and sustain the valiant soldiers and faithful servants of Jesus Christ who shall battle for His interests. (True Devotion pp33)"

Source: Rev. Father Titus Cranny, S.A. Our Lady and The Unity Octave, page 9. The American Ecclesiastical Review, Volume 130, Herman Joseph Heuser Catholic University of America Press, 1954

Saint Francois de Sales, by Giovan Battista Lucini (Wikipedia)

"Under the ancient law the High Priest did not wear the Rational except when he was vested in the pontifical robes and was entering before the Lord. Thus we do not say that the Pope cannot err in his private opinions, as did John XXII.; or be altogether a heretic, as perhaps Honorius was. Now when he is explicitly a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church must either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See, and must say as St. Peter did: Let another take his bishopric.

When he errs in his private opinion he must be instructed, advised, convinced; as happened with John XXII., who was so far from dying obstinate or from determining anything during his life concerning his opinion, that he died whilst he was making the examination which is necessary for determining in a matter of faith, as his successor declared in the Extravagantes which begins Benedictus Deus. But when he is clothed with the pontifical garments, I mean when he teaches the whole Church as shepherd, in general matters of faith and morals, then there is nothing but doctrine and truth.

And in fact everything a king says is not a law or an edict, but that only which a king says as king and as a legislator. So everything the Pope says is not canon law or of legal obligation; he must mean to define and to lay down the law for the sheep, and he must keep the due order and form. Thus we say that we must appeal to him not as to a learned man, for in this he is ordinarily surpassed by some others, but as to the general head and pastor of the Church: and as such we must honor, follow, and firmly embrace his doctrine, for then he carries on his breast the Urim and Thummim, doctrine and truth. And again we must not think that in everything and everywhere his judgment is infallible, but then only when he gives judgment on a matter of faith in questions necessary to the whole Church; for in particular cases which depend on human fact he can err, there is no doubt, though it is not for us to control him in these cases save with all reverence, submission, and discretion. Theologians have said, in a word, that he can err in questions of fact, not in questions of right; that he can err extra cathedram, outside the chair of Peter, that is, as a private individual, by writings and bad example.

But he cannot err when he is in cathedra, that is, when he intends to make an instruction and decree for the guidance of the whole Church, when he means to confirm his brethren as supreme pastor, and to conduct them into the pastures of the faith, then it is not so much man who determines, resolves, and defines as it is the Blessed Holy Spirit by man, which Spirit, according to the promise made by Our Lord to the Apostles, teaches all truth to the Church, and, as the Greek says and the Church seems to understand in a collect of Pentecost, conducts and directs his Church into all truth: "But when that Spirit of truth shall come, he will teach you all truth, or, will lead you into all truth." And how does the Holy Spirit lead the Church except by the ministry and office of preachers and pastors? But if the pastors have pastors they must also follow them, as all must follow him who is the supreme pastor, by whose ministry Our God wills to lead not only the lambs and little sheep, but the sheep and mothers of lambs; that is, not the people only but also the other pastors: he succeeds St. Peter, who received this charge: "Feed my sheep". Thus it is that God leads his Church into the pastures of his Holy Word, and in the exposition of this he who seeks the truth under other leading loses it. The Holy Spirit is the leader of the Church, he leads it by its pastor; he therefore who follows not the pastor follows not the Holy Spirit.

But the great Cardinal of Toledo remarks most appositely on this place that it is not said he shall carry the Church into all truth, but he shall lead; to show that though the Holy Spirit enlightens the Church, he wills at the same time that she should use the diligence which is required for keeping the true way, as the Apostles did, who, having to give an answer to an important question, debated, comparing the Holy Scriptures together; and when they had diligently done this they concluded by the - It hath seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us; that is, the Holy Spirit has enlightened us and we have walked, he has guided us and we have followed him, up to this truth. The ordinary means must be employed to discover the truth, and yet in this must be acknowledged the drawing and presence of the Holy Spirit. Thus is the Christian flock led, - by the Holy Spirit but under the charge and guidance of its Pastor, who however does not walk at hazard, but according to necessity convokes the other pastors, either partially or universally, carefully regards the track of his predecessors, considers the Urim and Thummim of the Word of God, enters before his God by his prayers and invocations, and, having thus diligently sought out the true way, boldly puts himself on his voyage and courageously sets sail. Happy the man who follows him and puts himself under the discipline of his crook! Happy the man who embarks in his boat, for he shall feed on truth, and shall arrive at the port of holy doctrine!

Thus he never gives a general command to the whole Church in necessary things except with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, who, as he is not wanting in necessary things even to second causes, because he has established them, will not be more wanting to Christianity in what is necessary for its life and perfection. And how would the Church be one and holy, as the Scriptures and Creeds describe her? for if she followed a pastor, and the pastor erred, how would she be holy; if she followed him not, how would she be one? And what confusion would be seen in Christendom, while the one party should consider a law good the others bad, and while the sheep, instead of feeding and fattening in the pasture of Scripture and the Holy Word, should occupy themselves in controlling the decision of their superior ?

It remains therefore that according to Divine Providence we consider as closed that which St. Peter shall close with his keys, and as open that which he shall open, when seated in his chair of doctrine teaching the whole Church.

If indeed the ministers had censured vices, proved the inutility of certain decrees and censures, borrowed some holy counsels from the ethical books of St. Gregory, and from St. Bernard's De Consideratione, brought forward some good plan for removing the abuses which have crept into the administration of benefices through the malice of the age and of men, and had addressed themselves to His Holiness with humility and gratitude, all good men would have honored them and favored their designs.

The good Cardinals Contarini the Theatine, Sadolet, and Pole, with those other great men who counseled the reformation of abuses in this way, have thereby deserved immortal commendation from posterity. But to fill heaven and earth with invectives, railings, outrages, - to calumniate the Pope, and not only in his person, which is bad enough, but in his office, to attack the See which all antiquity has honored, to wish to go so far as to sit in judgment upon him, contrary to the sense of the whole Church, to style his position itself anti-Christianism -who shall call this right? If the great Council of Chalcedon was so indignant when the Patriarch Dioscorus excommunicated Pope Leo, who can endure the insolence of Luther, who issued a Bull in which he excommunicates the Pope and the bishops and the whole Church? All the Church gives him (the Pope) patents of honor, speaks to him with reverence. What shall we say of that fine preface in which Luther addressed the Holy See: "Martin Luther to the most Holy Apostolic See and its whole Parliament, grace and health. In the first place, most holy see, crack but burst not on account of this new salutation in which I place my name first and in the principal place." And after having quoted the Bull against which he was writing, he begins with these wicked and vile words: "Ego autem dico ad papam et bullæ hujus minas, istud: qui præ minis moritur ad ejus sepulturam compulsari debet crepitibus ventris.” And when writing against the King of England, "Living," said he, "I will be the enemy of the papacy, burnt I will be thy enemy." What say you of this great Father of the Church? Are not these words  worthy of such a reformer? I am ashamed to read them, and my hand is vexed when it lays out such shameful things, but if they are hidden from you, you will never believe that he is such as he is,—and when he says: "It is ours not to be judged by him but to judge him."

But I detain you too long on a subject which does not require great examination. You read the writings of Calvin, of Zwingle, of Luther: take out of these, I beg you, the railings, calumnies, insults, detraction, ridicule, and buffoonery which they contain against the Pope and the Holy See of Rome, and you will find that nothing will remain. You listen to your ministers; impose silence upon them as regards railings, detraction, calumnies against the Holy See, and you will have your sermons half their length. They utter a thousand calumnies on this point: this is the general rendez-vous of all your ministers. On whatever subjects they may be composing their books, as if they were tired and spent with their labor they stay to dwell on the vices of the Popes, very often saying what they know well not to be the fact. Beza says that for a long time there has been no Pope who has cared about religion or who has been a theologian. Is he not seeking to deceive somebody? for he knows well that Adrian, Marcellus, and these five last have been very great theologians. What does he mean by these lies? But let us say that there may be vice and ignorance: "What has the Roman Chair done to thee," says St. Augustine, " in which Peter sat and in which now Anastasius sits?

Why do you call the Apostolic Chair the chair of pestilence? If it is on account of men whom you consider to be declaring and not keeping the law - Did Our Lord, on account of the Pharisees, of whom He said: they say and do not do any injury to the chair in which they sat? Did he not commend that chair of Moses, and reprove them, saving the honor of their chair? For He says: Super cathedram, &c. (Matt. xxiii. 2). If you considered these things you would not, on account of the men you speak against, blaspheme the Apostolic Chair, with which you do not communicate. But what does it all mean save that they have nothing to say, and yet are unable to keep from ill-saying."

The Catholic Controversy, St. Francis de Sales

"Those Sinai's thunders startled - thine Own race-
Who heard thy Prophets -saw thy miracles,
Who nailed thee to the Cross - despised thy grace:
From their veiled eyes, O Lord, remove the scales;
The Wandering Jew who owned thee not - now claim!
And Israel bend the knee to Jesus' Name.

"Ut omnes unum sint," O lord, we pray
That all be drawn within thy one, true fold,
Back to thy Church - from which the wand'rers stray
And the true Faith she keeps like saints of Old.
O bring them back, Good Shepherd of the sheep;
And rouse the heathen nations from their sleep. Amen"

Source: Catholic Hymns for the People, James Martin Raker 1919 -

Prayer intention: The Conversion of the Jews

(Form of prayer decreed by Pope Benedict XV: to be recited Daily during the Octave.  + One decade (at least) of the Rosary for this particular intention, Holy Communion if possible.)

 Ant. That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou has sent me.

 ℣. I say to thee, that thou art Peter,

 ℟. And upon this rock I will build my Church.

•  Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst say to Thine Apostles: peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, look not upon my sins, but upon the faith of Thy Church; and vouchsafe unto Her that peace and unity which is agreeable to Thy will: Who livest and reignest God forever and ever. Amen.
• Lord Jesus, most gracious savior of the world, we humbly beg of Thee by Thy most Sacred heart, that all the sheep now wandering astray may be converted to Thee, the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls: Who livest and reignest through all eternity. Amen (Pius X, 26 Oct., 1905)

Source: The Church Unity Octave, 1939  American Ecclesiastical Review, Volume 100

Reflection:

"This intention must appeal to Our Lady in a special way, for she, no less than her Divine Son, was a member of the Jewish race. She knew the hopes and desires of her people of their longing for the Savior who would grant them freedom. Mary's pure lips could utter words that no other creature dared to say: "My soul doth magnify the Lord...all nations shall call me blessed because He that is mighty hath done great things unto me."

One of the most poignant scenes from the Gospels shows Mary and Joseph seeking their lost Son who had wandered from them when they began their trip home from Jerusalem. Both thought the Child was with the other, or with relatives. Then came the tragic realization that He was with neither. Back to Jerusalem they hurried and sought Him in the jungle of the dark narrow streets, heedless of fatigue or hunger or of any need whatever - except that of finding Christ.

On the third day they found Him in the temple. In its pillared halls the teachers sat on low stools, while round them gathered those desiring to hear the lectures. In the center was the Child, listening to their statements and answering questions. Surprised and relieved, Mary asked simply: "Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing."

"...I have sought thee sorrowing." How aptly the words apply to the members of the Jewish race of which Mary was the purest flower. Mary is not only the Lily of Israel in the sense of being the fairest of the chosen people, Immaculate, but because she bears a special relationship to the Israelites and seeks with all a Mother's love to bring them to the Church of her Son.

There is a story told of a Jewish woman in Vienna who used to visit the Catholic Church, but only because of its art; she was especially attracted to a picture of the Sorrowful Mother. During the Nazi reign of terror in 1938, she was forced to clean a house occupied but the Storm Troopers. Locked in a room she had to scrub the floor with lye and steel wool. Soon her hands began to smart and then to bleed. Suddenly she heard a piercing scream, such a shriek as she never heard before - a creature crying for freedom. At once she understood the meaning of that image of the Sorrowful Mother: "I have sought thee sorrowing." She saw that in all who are united to Christ, His life and Passion are reflected and repeated so that all suffering borne of love makes the soul Christ-like and serves in His redemptive work. The woman's hands were bleeding, but her heart was full of joy. Grace had struck with marvelous force. The next day she went to the Church of the Sorrowful Mother and asked to become a Catholic.

The same glorious Mother of God, standing by the Cross of Christ and interceding for the unity of all men, gives hope and courage to all the world. Mary worked a miracle with blinding light upon Alphonse Ratisbonne in Rome in the Church of Saint Andrea Della Fratte in 1842 and brought him to his knees and to the priesthood of Jesus. Though Our Lady does not work a miracle to remove the walled obstacles to her love, still her influence is most effective. Mary is the Mother of the Jewish people and with her there is neither bond nor free, neither Jew nor gentile - all are one."

Source: Rev. Father Titus Cranny, S.A. Our Lady and The Unity Octave, page 9. The American Ecclesiastical Review, Volume 130, Herman Joseph Heuser Catholic University of America Press, 1954

"1. When Joseph arrived with Mary and her Divine Son in their own land, his first thought was to turn to Bethlehem, and to dwell in peace where he had dwelt so peaceably before. But to his sorrow he learned that the son of the impious Herod was ruling in his father's place. He was not going to expose to any risk the treasure committed to him, and at once he determined to turn his steps elsewhere. Notice his prudence, and beware of running any risk with the treasures of grace God has committed to you. One serious sin will lose them all.

2. Whither should he go? It was all one to St. Joseph, as long as he went whither God sent him. He was quite as ready to go to Nazareth as anywhere else, if God directed his steps thither. This should be my disposition, to be ready to go anywhere, and live in any place, where God may send me.

3. How did St. Joseph decide where he was to dwell? By prayer and by good counsel. He asked of God to turn his steps whither He willed, and he also did not neglect the rules of human prudence. This is St. Ignatius' advice: (1) Act with prudence, but never forget to consult God. (2) While you trust all to God, do not lose sight of the importance of using natural means."

Meditations for Christmas . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891