Saint Guillaume de Bourges

DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. St. William, archbishop of Bourges, is chiefly remarkable for his fervent devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. The tender piety which he practised from early youth led him to renounce the great wealth and rank which he might have enjoyed in the world. Having embraced the ecclesiastical state, he was made a canon of Soissons and, subsequently, of Paris. He afterwards entered the order of Grammont, and eventually that of Citeaux, whence he was drawn, against his will, to be raised to the archiepiscopal see of Bourges. His elevation to this high position caused his piety to shine forth more strikingly, and at the same time enabled him to display the treasure of zeal and charity that filled his soul, for the solacing of the unfortunate and the conversion of sinners. He was wont to style the poor "his creditors," and never deemed himself out of debt to them till he had not the wherewithal to give. St. William died on the 10th of January, 1209, after having addressed his flock from the pulpit, prophetic words of farewell.

MORAL REFLECTION. -Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is the virtue of the predestined. "He who shall eat of this bread, shall live for ever," saith Jesus Christ.-(John vi. 59.) (Pictorial half hours with the saints By Abbe Auguste François Lecanu)

Saint Julian the Hospitaller with Christ the Redeemer (1451) by Andrea del Castagno

ALMSGIVING.--St. Julian had dedicated himself to God; but being compelled to marry in order to content his family, he was careful to inspire his young spouse, Basilissa, with an esteem for the virtue of continence equal to that which possessed his own soul, and on the day of their union they both pronounced the vow of which Mary and Joseph had given the example. They superadded a vow to devote both their life and property to the comforting of pilgrims, of the poor and the sick, and turned their abode into a hospital, becoming the first ministering servants thereof. Such great charity and devotion could not fail to attract the attention of the persecutors of the Christian faith. Basilissa was the first who had to encounter the ordeal; but she outlived the trial, and died peacefully in the midst of her good works. Julian, being denounced in his turn, underwent martyrdom some years afterwards, at Antioch, with many confessors of the faith, on the 9th day of January, 313. A miraculous cure effected by him at the very moment when he was to suffer failed to bend the minds of his judges, and he was beheaded.

MORAL REFLECTION.-In imitation of the holy martyr, we should know how to put in practice the injunction of the prophet Daniel, "Redeem your sins by almsgiving, and your iniquities by mercy to the poor."-(Dan. iv. 24.) (Pictorial half hours with the saints. by abbe Auguste François Lecanu)

  

Severin von Noricum, 1470

DO PENANCE. -St. Severinus quitted the solitudes of the East, where he had been devoting himself to the exercises of the cœnobitic life, in order to evangelize the population of Norica, a province which comprised the greater part of Austria and the Tyrol. He at first encountered great resistance, but soon effected wonders of conversion, as well by reason of his humble and mortified life, as because he announced to his hearers the calamities wherewith the rebellious nations would be afflicted. "Do penance," exclaimed he: "sin is the cause of all the woes that God scatters upon the earth!" Before consenting to pray for those who were afflicted, and before releasing them from their infirmities, he required that they should do penance. His own life showed forth the constant example thereof. He foretold to Odoacer, king of the Herules, that he was to lay waste Italy, by way of punishment for its crimes; and the prophecy was amply verified. Hence kings and nations and rulers ended by holding him in singular veneration, regarding him as the envoy of Heaven. He yielded up his spirit on the 8th January, 482.

MORAL REFLECTION. -If not out of tenderness towards God, let us, at least from charity for ourselves, repair our past guilt, and avoid committing fresh offences; for, "As by one man sin entered into the world, so death passes by sin."-(Rom. v. 12.)

THE STUDY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES . -St. Lucian, who suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia, in 312, was a native of Samosata. Having been invested from early youth with full power of disposing of his worldly goods, he distributed them to the poor, and withdrew to Edessa, to live near a holy man, called Macarius, who imbued his mind with a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and led him to the practice of the Christian virtues. Having become a priest, his time was divided between the external duties of his holy state, the performance of works of charity, and the study of sacred literature. He revised the books of the Old and New Testament, expunging the errors which, through the negligence of copyists or the malice of heretics, had been insinuated into the text; thus preparing the way for the learned St. Jerome, who shortly after was to give to the world that Latin translation known as "The Vulgate." Having been denounced as a Christian, Lucian was put in chains and condemned to the torture, which was protracted for twelve whole days. Having been visited by Christians while in prison on the day of the Epiphany, he had bread and wine brought to him, consecrated the elements, communicated, and with his dying lips pronounced the words, "I am a Christian!"

MORAL REFLECTION.-Let us strengthen ourselves by "reading" and meditating upon the Holy Scriptures, conformably with the counsel of the great Apostle.-(1 Tim. iv. 13.)" Pictorial Half Hour Saints by Abbe Auguste Lecanu

" These were many holy priests, deacons, and laymen, who when the city of Alexandria, for its sins, lay under the scourge of a most severe plague, in the third century, exposed their lives for the service and comfort of those who were infected. There was not a single house in that great city which entirely escaped the pestilence, or had not to mourn for some dead. All places were filled with groans, and the living appeared almost dead with fear. This sickness was the greatest of calamities to the Pagans, but an exercise and trial to the Christians, who shewed on that occasion, how contrary the spirit of charity is to the interested spirit of self-love. In the time of this public calamity, most of them, regardless of their own lives, visited, relieved, and attended the sick, and comforted the dying. They closed their eyes, and buried them; and the charity of many of them being rewarded by death, the Church has thought proper to honour their memory, making but little difference between so glorious a death, and that of the martyrs. Thus," adds St. Dionysius, "the best of our brethren have departed this life; some of the most valuable both of priests, deacons, and laics; and it is thought that this kind of death is nothing different from martyrdom."

Alexander of Alexandria, patriarch and bishop (313-326)

"He was a man of apostolic doctrine and life, exceedingly charitable to the poor, and full of faith, zeal, and fervour. His promotion to the see of Alexandria so exasperated Arius, then a priest of that church, and reader of scripture, that he ever made an interest against him. As the saint's life and conduct were irreproachable, all his endeavours to oppose him were levelled at his doctrine, in opposition to which, Arius denied the divinity of Christ. Hence that grievous heresy had its first rise; which afterwards brought so much confusion to the Church. By the zeal of St. Alexander, Arius was condemned in a council assembled by him at Alexandria; and the saint had the comfort to see his sentence confirmed by the general council of Nice. Arius solicited still to be received again into the communion of the Church: but the holy bishop, who knew his dissimulation, defended his flock against this wolf. St. Alexander, after the triumph of the faith at the council of Nice, returned to Alexandria; where, having recommended St. Athanasius for his successor, he died in 326, on the 26th of February.

Saint Mathias

THE WILL OF GOD. When the arch-traitor Judas had put an end to his days by self-inflicted death, and while the apostles were awaiting the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, they bethought themselves of replacing him who had accounted himself unworthy to live, to the end that the mysterious and hallowed number established by the Saviour might remain undiminished. But might they arrogate to themselves the right of making an apostle? They could not bring themselves to think so, and hence reserved to God this high prerogative. They selected, then, from among the disciples the two most worthy, and, after having besought the Lord to mark out His own choice, they drew lots: the lot fell upon Mathias, who thenceforth took the rank of apostle. St. Mathias is believed to have preached the faith in Palestine and Ethiopia. According to the unvarying traditions of the Church, his apostolic career was crowned by martyrdom. The Greek Church holds his festival on the 9th of August, and the Latin Church on the 24th of February.

MORAL REFLECTION. From this example let us learn to consult God in all our undertakings. Our own will may lead astray and deceive us; but God will give us this light if we utter, with a perfect heart, "Our Father, who art in Heaven...... may Thy will be done."(Matt. vi. 9.)" Half Hour with the Saints by Abbe Auguste Lecanu

"He was an apostle: pray for all that are called to that holy function. And as he was chosen by heaven, pray that all of that character may be the choice of heaven.

He was chosen to fill the place of Judas. Conceive an humble distrust of yourself, and tremble at the fall of an apostle. Pray for heavenly strength, that by it you may be secured against the sad effects of human weakness.

Judas having fallen from the apostleship, one is to be chosen to fill his place. Two are proposed, Joseph called Barsabas, surnamed the just, and Mathias. The apostles join in prayer, and beg of God to determine the person; and the lot fell upon Mathias, who was numbered among the eleven An excellent method and direction left to all succeeding ages, for the choice of persons to ecclesiastical functions, and for all places of trust. What wonder that there are so many abuses in all public employments both in church and state, when justice and duty are so generally neglected, God so commonly forgotten, and all things managed by the direction of private gain and interest?

And because there is a like danger in all other christian duties; and there is no security, as St. Bernard observes, either in heaven, or paradise, or on earth; since the angels fell from heaven, Adam from paradise, and Judas from the very school of Christ; let the memory of this day inspire all with a salutary distrust of themselves. Let it put them upon working out their salvation with fear and trembling; and most earnestly on importuning Him to come to their assistance, whose grace alone is able to secure them against the dangers of their own weakness, and of all snares set before them. 0 Lord, save us, or we perish. Thus let this day's devotion be concluded with acts of most profound humility and fear, and an entire confidence in God." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother