First Sunday in Lent: Help in Temptation
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 09, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sunday Sermons
Behold angels came and ministered to Him.”—MATT. iv. 16.
1. We are sure to be tempted.
2. We forget to cry for help.
3. Our Lord suffered Himself to be tempted for our instruction and encouragement.
4. Angels ready and faithful to assist us.
5. Let us imitate St. Antony's defence.
"THE gospel tells us to-day how our divine Lord suffered Himself to be tempted by the devil. It was for our sakes that He did so. Each one of us, that we may be worthy to win heaven, must be tried, and assaulted, and pass through the conflict. We must face this
fact-we shall be tempted by the devil. It is not within anyone's power to escape temptation. The misery of it may wellnigh overwhelm us. Our selflove will be crushed, for we did not think that we were so vile as the spectres of temptations around us would make us think. We find oftentimes that, when we have resolved to do our best, temptations are the most importunate. Yes, it is true, we are tempted by the devil.
In our misery, when thus tempted and tried, how often do we make a great mistake. We have not the sense of children. In fear and danger, children cry for help: we forget! There is One near us, with His angels, ready to minister to us; only waiting to be invoked, "Lord, save us, or we perish.' "Wherefore it behoved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren, that He might become a merciful and faithful high-priest before God, that He might be a propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that, wherein He Himself hath suffered and been tempted, He is able to succour them also that are tempted " (Heb. ii. 17, 18). "For we have not a high-priest Who cannot have compassion on our infirmities; but One tempted in all things as we are, without sin" (Heb. iv. 15).
Our Blessed Lord accepted the ministration of angels after His temptation to teach us that we are not alone in our misery and our danger. To be tempted is not a sin; but to trust to ourselves to be able to resist and overcome is presumptuous. Pride goeth before a fall. To come out of the conflict unscathed needs help, and help is at hand if we humbly invoke it. The angels are our guardians to assist us in our struggle with their fallen brethren. If the fallen angels hate us because we are Christ's, the good angels are anxious to shield us from evil and ruin for that very same reason. A prayer can summon them to the rescue. To forget their assistance, to venture to stand alone and defend ourselves single-handed from evil, is to imperil our souls. We are bound to pray for help in grave temptation. To fall into sin is our own fault; always our own fault. We could have been saved from the sin, if we had prayed for assistance. The angels are with us wherever we go through life; in every occurrence, in every danger they are at hand. Our passage through the temptations of life is not a forlorn hope; we have our leaders, our friends, our guardians around us. But alas! how often are they forgotten and ignored. Temptations seduce us. Careless souls even love the danger; foolishly disregarding the imminent and eternal consequences.
With what an occupation have the ministering angels been entrusted by God! They first have to arouse us to be afraid of evil; to wish to escape it. Instead of fearing sin, we turn a deaf ear to the remonstrances which the angels prompt our consciences to urge upon us. We are reluctant to turn from the evil suggestion; the wicked companion; the occasions that we know will be our ruin. It is not that the angels are remiss in their endeavours; it is all our own fault yielding to our sinful desires, clinging to bad habits that will be our eternal ruin.
Pray that the angels may not grow weary of us, and that their divine Master may not recall them from their rejected ministrations. How faithful they have been to us! They are interested in us and devoted to us, because we are destined to be their brethren for all eternity. They rejoice over every soul they can save, for each one is another soul redeemed by the precious Blood of our Lord, and rescued from eternal loss.
This life is a time of trial and temptation; but to be forewarned is to be forearmed. We must not cowardly give way, though we have to face the combat, for we are not alone. Remember we can instantly summon assistance. Imitate the great St. Antony, the model of those who are tempted. He tells us that his weapons were the sign of the holy Cross and the most holy name of Jesus. That sacred name, that blessed sign, would bring us instant help. "God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able" (I Cor. x. 13). He will send His angels to defend you, to drive away the enemies of your soul. Tempta
tions would be robbed of their terror, they would be vanquished, if we only remembered to invoke and trust. We must learn this lesson in life-the lesson to remember and pray; for as death approaches, temptations may be more powerful and deadly. The good habit of prayer will then spring to our rescue. The angels will redouble their vigilance. Not only our own prayers, but the prayers of the Church for the dying will be our safeguard. The priest before he anoints us bids the evil spirits to be banished, and the angel of peace to stand by us; and he prays the Almighty Father to send His holy angel from heaven to guard and protect and defend. Happy indeed will be the death of one who has trusted in the angels in the days of his warfare. He will have endured temptation bravely; his fidelity will have been proved, and his consolation then will be that the angels will come forth to meet him, and bear his soul to receive the crown of life." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey
Saint Dominic Savio
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 09, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
" The college boy of fifteen, Dominic Savio, attracts us with the charm of youth. In 1911 the Eucharistic Congress of Madrid sent a telegram to Pius X, begging him to hasten the beatification of Dominic Savio, who, because of receiving his First Holy Communion at the age of seven and his extraordinary devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament, merited recommendation as a pattern for children and was deemed worthy of the title "Child of the Holy Eucharist."
The life of this angelic boy proves how wisely Pius X acted in strengthening children early and often with the Bread of Life. His admirable teacher, Don Bosco, has himself written the wonderful life of Dominic. He was born on April 2, 1842, at Riva, near Turin, the son of a blacksmith, and was early introduced to all practices of piety by his parents. The seductive power of evil had no influence on him. On the contrary, he energetically repulsed others who gave him bad example. We can not but marvel at his precocious intelligence of heavenly things, an intelligence matured by divine grace. "He is indeed a boy of whom much may be expected," writes his spiritual guide. "May God open to him a career in which so precious a fruit may ripen." When the boy of seven was told that he was to receive Holy Communion the joy of his heart knew no bounds. From that time he was almost continually in the church to prepare himself worthily for the great day approaching. The seriousness of purpose which he showed on this occasion remained his guiding star during all his life. It was clear that so promising a boy must study and, seeing that his parents were wanting in the necessary means, the priest of the place enabled Dominic to attend an academy in the neighborhood of his native town. At twelve he went to the Oratory of the Venerable Don Bosco in the district of Valdocco, and from this institution he was sent to the college in Turin.
Don Bosco and Dominic Savio soon understood one another. A divinely inspired teacher and a pupil with an unspoiled and generous heart had met. Dominic soon laid hold of two ideas with all the fervor of his ardent soul, he would become a saint and, if possible, save his soul. With tenacious energy he strove for complete self-mastery. Like all saints he gave himself to works of supererogation in prayer and penance. Don Bosco had to curb his zeal. Among his companions in the Oratory and in the college the boy worked like a true apostle. He strove especially to foster among his associates devotion to the Immaculate Conception and the reception of the Sacraments. Such zealous persons are as a rule not liked by the young. But it was not so with Dominic. Not at all obtrusive, no disturber of youthful gaiety, he was a genuine boy, alive with a boy's nature. He did even more by example than by words, which showed to all how earnestly he was trying to be a saint. His youth was not without its difficulties, but they served only to strengthen the more his steadiness of character.
Dominic had reached
the sixth class in the college when he was stricken with a disease of
the lungs. Don Bosco, filled with anxiety, hoped that a change of air
might bring relief, and sent the boy to his parents at Mondonio, where
they were then living. But what Dominic had
long confidently foretold now came to pass. On the evening of March 9,
1857, he died in the arms of his sorrowing father. The news of his
death at first brought grief and mourning to his relatives, friends and
teachers, but this soon gave way to joyful conviction that a new
intercessor for them stood before the divine throne. Men soon began to
ask favors from Dominic and their prayers were not in vain." The Holiness of the Church in the Nineteenth Century: Saintly Men and Women By Rev. Konstantin Kempf, S.J. 1916
Prayer:
Dear Saint Dominic, you spent your short life totally for love of Jesus and His Mother. Help youth today to realize the importance of God in their lives. You became a saint through fervent participation in the sacraments, enlighten parents and children to the importance of frequent confession and Holy Communion. At a young age you meditated on the sorrowful Passion of Our Lord. Obtain for us the grace of a fervent desire to suffer for love of Him.
We desperately need your intercession to protect today's children from the snares of the world. Watch over them and lead them on the narrow road to Heaven. Ask God to give us the grace to sanctify our daily duties by performing them perfectly out of love for Him. Remind us of the necessity of practicing virtue especially in times of trial.
Saint Dominic Savio, you who preserved your baptismal innocence of heart, pray for us.
Day 4. Lent with the Cure d'Ars: Prisoners of sin
by VP
Posted on Friday March 07, 2025 at 11:00PM in Lenten Sermons
" If we understood fully what it is to receive the Sacraments, we should bring to the reception of them very much better sentiments that those we do. It is true that the greater number of people, in hiding their sins, always keep at the back of their minds the thought of acknowledging them. Without a miracle, they will not be any the less lost for that. If you want the reason, it is very easy to give it to you. The more we remain in that terrible state which makes Heaven and earth tremble, the more the Devil takes control of us, the more the grace of God diminished in us, the more our fear increases, the more our sacrileges multiply; and the more we fall away. The result is that we put ourselves almost beyond the possibility of returning into favor with God. I will give you a hundred examples of this against one to the contrary. Tell me, my dear brethren, can you even hope that after passing perhaps five or six years in sacrilege, during which you outraged God more than did all the Jews together, you would dare to believe that God is going to give you all the graces which you will need to emerge from this terrible state? You think that notwithstanding the many crimes against Jesus Christ of which you have been guilty, you have only to say: "I am going to give up sin now and all will be over."
Alas my friends! Who has guaranteed to you that Jesus Christ will not have made to you the same threat He made to the Jews and pronounce the same sentence which He pronounced against them? You did not wish to profit by the graces which I wanted to give you; but I will leave you alone, and you will seek Me and you will not find Me, and you will die in your sin.
Alas, my dear brethren, our poor souls, once they are in the Devil's hands, will not escape from these as easily as we would like to believe.
Look, my dear brethren, at what the Devil does to mislead us. When we are committing sin, he represents it to us as a mere trifle. He makes us think that there are a great many others who do much worse than we do. Or again that as we will be confessing the sin, it will be as easy to say four times as twice. But once the sin has been committed, he acts in exactly the opposite way. He represents the sin to us as a monstrous thing. He fills us with such a horror of it that we no longer have the courage to confess it. If we are too frightened to keep the sin hidden, he tells us, to reassure us, that we will confess it at our very next confession. Subsequently, he tells us that we will not have the courage to do that now, that it would be better to wait for another time to confess it. Take care, my dear brethren; it is only the first step which costs the effort. Once in the prison of the sin, it is very difficult, indeed, to break out of it.
But, you are thinking, I do not really believe that there are many who would be capable of hiding their sins because they would be too much troubled by them. Ah, my dear brethren, if I had to affirm on oath whether there were or were not such people, I would not hesitate to say that there are at least five or six listening to me who are consumed by remorse for their sins and who know that what I say is true. But have patience; you will see them on the day of judgment, and you will recall what I have said to you today. Oh, my God, how shame and fear can hold a Christian soul prisoner in such a terrifying state!
Ah, my dear brethren, what are you preparing for yourselves? You do not dare to make clean breast of it to your pastor? But is he the only one in the world? Would you not find priests who would have the charity to receive you? Do you think that you would be given too severe a penance? Ah, my children, do not let that stop you! You would be helped; the greater part of it all would be done for you. They would pray for you; they would weep for your sins in order to draw down with greater abundance the mercies of God on you!
My friends, have pity on that poor soul which cost Jesus Christ so dearly! Oh, my God, who will ever understand the blindness of these poor sinners! You have hidden you sin, my child, but it must be known one day, and then in the eyes of the whole universe, while by one word you would have hidden it forever and you would have changed your Hell for an eternity of happiness.
Alas, that a sacrilege can lead these poor sinners so far. They do not want to die in that state, but they have not the strength to leave it. My God, torment them so greatly that they will not be able to stay there!"
Source: Sermons of the Cure of Ars, 1960
Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen
Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPGSaint John of God, Confessor (1495-1550)
by VP
Posted on Friday March 07, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
St. John of God saving the Sick from a Fire at the Royal Hospital in 1549 by Manuel Gómez-Moreno González (1880)
Anxious to do what he could for the relief of the poor, he hired a house for a poor sick persons, whom he served and provided for, which was the foundation of the religious Order of Charity. Though his life was taken up in active works of charity, he accompanied these with perpetual prayer and incredible corporal austerities. His sincere humility appeared most admirable in all his actions. Humiliations seemed to be his delight: he courted them and underwent them with the greatest alacrity. Worn out at last by ten years' hard service in his hospital, he fell sick. He lay in his habit in his little cell, covered with a piece of an old coat instead of a blanket, and having under his head a basket in which he used to beg alms for his hospital, though in health his usual pillow was a stone. A rich lady by permission of the archbishop removed him to her own house, and waited upon him with her maids. The archbishop said mass in his room, and administered the last sacraments to him, promising to pay all his debts and provide for all his poor. The saint expired on his knees before the altar, on the 8th March, 1550, being 55 years old.
One sermon had perfectly converted one, who had been long enslaved to the world and his passions, and made him a saint. How comes it that so many sermons and pious books produce so little fruit in our souls? It is owing to our sloth and hardness of heart, that we receive God's word in vain, and to our condemnation. Listen to it henceforth with awe and respect, in interior solitude and peace; and carefully nourish it in your heart." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
Prayer: "What a glorious life was thine, O John of God! It was one of charity, and of miracles wrought by charity. Like Vincent of Paul thou wast poor, and, in thy early life, a shepherd-boy like him; but the charity which filled thy heart gave thee a power to do what worldly influence and riches never can. Thy name and memory are dear to the Church; they deserve to be held in benediction by all mankind, for thou didst spend thy life in serving thy fellow-creatures, for God's sake. That motive gave thee a devotedness to the poor, which is an impossibility for those who befriend them from mere natural sympathy. Philanthropy may be generous, and its workings may be admirable for ingenuity and order; but it never can look upon the poor man as a sacred object, because it refuses to see God in him.
Pray for the men of this generation, that they may at length desist from perverting charity into a mere mechanism of relief. The poor are the representatives of Christ, for He Himself has willed that they be such; and if the world refuse to accept them in this their exalted character, if it deny their resemblance to our Redeemer, it may succeed in degrading the poor, but by this very degradation it will make them its enemies.
Thy predilection, O John of God, was for the sick; have pity, therefore, on our times, which are ambitious to eliminate the supernatural, and exclude God from the world by what is called secularization of society.
Pray for us, that we may see how evil a thing it is to have changed the Christian for the worldly spirit. Enkindle holy charity within our hearts, that during these days, when we are striving to draw down the mercy of God upon ourselves, we also may show mercy. May we, as thou didst, imitate the example of our Blessed Redeemer, who gave Himself to us His enemies, and deigned to adopt us as His brethren. Protect also the Order thou didst institute, which has inherited thy spirit; that it may prosper, and spread in every place the sweet odor of that charity, which is its very name." The Liturgical Year: Septuagesima (4th ed.) By Prosper Gueranger, Lucien Fromage · 1909
Saint Thomas of Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, Confessor a.d. 1274
by VP
Posted on Thursday March 06, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
Saint Thomas, St. Patrick Catholic Church, Columbus, Ohio
"In his younger years having taken the habit of the Dominicans, his relations seized upon him, and by all arts endeavoured to dissuade him from his pious design. But they prevailed nothing; and after a long confinement he made his escape, and returning to his monastery, finished what he had before begun. Pray for all those who resolve upon a religious state, that they may undertake it for the best motives of God's honor, and the securing their eternal salvation. Those parents are to blame, who oppose so good a work; but those are still more criminal, who force their children into a state to which they are not called.
St. Thomas, having applied to study, arrived at that eminent degree of learning, as to be called the Angelical Doctor. He began his studies always with prayer; and for expounding difficult places of Holy Scripture, he added fasting to prayer. Thus he ever acknowledged his learning not to have been the effect of his own labor, but the blessing of Heaven.
Follow this method as far as it falls within your sphere, and since
reading spiritual books is a duty common to all, begin this always with
prayer, that so through the blessing of Heaven you may receive benefit from what you read, to the improvement of your soul. Fail not to do this as often as you take the Holy Scripture to read; that so the Divine Spirit, which was the guide in writing it, may assist you in reading it, and secure you against the ill effects of ignorance, presumption, or rashness.
Pray for all universities, colleges, and places of learning, that they may follow the method of this saint, in taking God for their helper in studies, that they may advance in virtue as well as in learning. Many in their studies, take great pains to little purpose, often to draw from them the poison of vanity or error; or at least to drain their affections, and rather to nourish pride and other vices, than to promote true virtue. Sincere humility and simplicity of heart are essential for the sanctification of studies, and for the improvement of virtue by them." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
Day 3. Lent with the Cure of Ars: Merit Absolution
by VP
Posted on Thursday March 06, 2025 at 11:00PM in Lenten Sermons
"When anyone has really given up his sins, he must not be content simply with bewailing them. He must also give up, leave far behind, and fly from anything which is capable of leading him in the direction of them again. In other words, my dear brethren, we must be ready to suffer anything rather than fall back into those sins which we have just confessed. People should be able to see a complete change in us; otherwise we have not merited Absolution, and it could even be possible that we have indeed committed sacrilege. Alas, that there are few in whom this change is apparent after having received Absolution! Dear God, what sacrileges are committed! If in every thirty Absolution there were but one genuine case, how soon would the world be converted!
Those people do not merit Absolution, then, who do not give sufficient signs of contrition. Alas, how many times, because they are sent away, do they not come back any more! This, of course, is because they have no real urge to be converted, for if they truly had, very far from leaving their Confession until another Easter, they would be working with all their hearts to change their lives and to return to make their peace with God."
Source: Sermons of the Cure of Ars 1960 p.125
Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen
Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPGFridays of Lent: The Way of the Cross for persecuted priests
by VP
Posted on Thursday March 06, 2025 at 11:00PM in Tradition
Stations of the Cross, Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh NC
"The violence of the enemy is always directed against those priests who
are most generous and most loyal. The more you are like your Divine
Model, your Savior and your God, the more certainly will you be the
target for the calumnies, the abuse and persecutions of the wicked."
--
Jesus Living in the Priest: Considerations on the greatness and
Holiness of the Priesthood Jacques Nicolas et Rev. P. Millet, S.J.
Intention: 0 dearest Lord Jesus, I offer Thee the way of the Cross which I am about to make for Thy honor and glory and for all Thy priests, especially those who are suffering persecution for Thy sake.
Day 2. Lent with the Cure d'Ars: Renounce sin for good and all
by VP
Posted on Wednesday March 05, 2025 at 11:00PM in Lenten Sermons
"All that is very true, you will tell me, but what will people say about me after seeing me go to confession several times and then not make my Easter duty? People are going to believe that I am leading a bad life; besides I know plenty of others who are worse sinners than I who have been given absolution; you have received so and so well, and he has broken the law of abstinence with me; and so and so, who has been out on Sundays, as well as I have.
The conscience of another person is not yours. If he does wrong, it is not for you to listen to accounts of it. Or do you want, just in order to keep up appearances, to damn your soul by committing sacrilege? Would not that be the greatest of all evils? You think that people will notice you because they have seen you going to Confession several times and yet you have not been to Holy Communion. Ah, my poor friend, fear rather the eyes of God, before which you have done the wrong, and pay no attention to all the others. You say that you know of some, more guilty than you, who have been given Absolution. What do you know of them? Did an angel come to you to tell you that God had not changed or converted them? And even if they should not have been converted should you therefore do wrong because they do wrong? Would you want to be damned because others are damning themselves? Dear God, what frightful talk!
But, these penitents still protest, these penitents who not only have not been converted, but who indeed do not want to be converted at all but only to save their faces in public. When will it be the right time then to come for Holy Communion?
When will it be time to come for Holy Communion? Listen to St. John Chrysostom. He himself is going to tell us when it will be time for Holy Communion. Is it at Easter, at Pentecost, at Christmas? No, he tells us. Is it at the point of death? No, he tells us again. When is it then? It is, he says to us, when we have renounced sin for good and all, and are fully resolved, with the help of God's grace, not to fall into it again. When you have paid back that which is not yours, when you have become reconciled with your enemy - that is when you are genuinely converted.
Other sinners will tell us: "If you are going to be so difficult, we will go to those who will allow us to go to Holy Communion. Look at how many times I have come. I have other things to do than to be walking the roads. I am not coming back for a long time, for I can see quite plainly that you are angry with me. What great harm have I done, then?"
You will go find another, my friend? You are entirely free to go to anyone who seems good to you. But do you think that another would wish, any more that I would to damn himself? No, I am sure you do not. If he receives you, it is because he does not know you well enough. Do you want to know what sort of a person talks like that, and who goes in search of Absolution elsewhere? Listen, and tremble. He leaves his guide, who can lead him surely, to look for a passport to go straight to Hell.
But, you will say to me, look at how many times I keep coming.
Very well, my friend! Change your ways and you will be allowed Absolution the very first time you return.
I am not coming back, you say, for a very long time.
So much the worse for you alone, my poor friend. In not coming back you are taking a big step in the direction of Hell.There are some who are so blind that they will go so far as to believe that the confessor is angry with them because he does not give them Absolution. Undoubtedly, my friends, he is vexed with you, but it is because he desires the salvation of your poor soul. It is for that reason that he does not want to give you an Absolution which, very far from saving you, would damn you for all eternity.
But, you say, what have I done that is so bad? I have not killed, or stolen.
You say not killed, not stolen, you say? But my friend, Hell is full of other people who have not killed or stolen. There are more than two sins which drag souls into Hell. But if we were so lax as to give you Absolution when you do not merit it, we would be playing the part of executioner of your poor soul, which caused so much suffering to Jesus."
Source: The sermons of the Cure of Ars, 1960, p.123
Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen
Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPG#6 Acts of Adoration Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for all the offenses committed against Him by mankind
by VP
Posted on Wednesday March 05, 2025 at 11:00PM in Thursday Reparation
6. We adore Thee, O Immaculate Lamb, that takest away the sins of the world! And to repair all the irreverences, gazing at dangerous objects, and disrespectful postures during the time of Holy Mass, we offer to Thee the profound respect of the choir of Virtues. Eternal praise and thanksgiving be to the Most Holy and Most Divine Sacrament.
O Queen of heaven and earth, hope of mankind, who adores thy Divine
Son incessantly! We entreat thee, that, since we have the honor to be of
the number of thy children, thou would interest thyself in our behalf
and make satisfaction for us, and in our name, to our Eternal Judge, by
rendering to Him the duties which we ourselves are incapable of
performing. Amen
St. Felix of Burgundy, Bishop, Apostle of the East Angles, Confessor, a.d. 646
by VP
Posted on Wednesday March 05, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
St. Felix. from the reredos of the church of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, UK
"Saint Felix was a native of Burgundy, who being for his virtue and merits advanced to the priestly dignity, flourished in sanctity and learning at the time when Sigebert, a prince of the East Angles, went over into that province. Becoming acquainted with St. Felix, he was convinced by him of the errors of Paganism, was baptised by St. Felix, and became a sincere and zealous Christian. Some time after, Sigebert was called home to succeed to the kingdom, and made it his first care to introduce the Christian religion into his provinces of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire, and to establish it on a solid foundation. For this purpose he invited over from France his spiritual father, St. Felix; who without demur quitted his country, friends, and native home, to come and preach the faith of Christ to an uncivilised Pagan people. To proceed regularly in so great an undertaking, he addressed himself to Honorius, archbishop of Canterbury, by whom he was duly authorized and commissioned to preach to the East Angles. King Sigebert received him with great honor, and appointed him for his residence the place now called Dunwich in Suffolk, formerly a great town, but long ago swallowed up by the sea. St. Felix was consecrated bishop by St. Honorius, and undertook his apostolic charge with an ardent desire of the glory of God and the salvation of souls. He founded, with the help of the king, churches, monasteries, and schools; and brought over the whole kingdom to the true faith. St. Felix was bishop for seventeen years, and had during that time discharged the duties of a most zealous and vigilant pastor. At length he departed to our Lord in the year 646, and was buried in the church of Dunwich; but his relics were afterwards translated to the abbey of Ramsey.
Pray for your country.
Give God thanks for all those apostolic men, by whose labors God
brought so great a blessing to this nation; and beseech him to revive a
like spirit in all who succeed to their charge. Pray for the pastors of this nation, that God would animate them with true zeal for the good of their flock." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
