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Carravagio, St. Matthew's Martyrdom, wikipedia

Saint Matthew was killed at the altar by the Ethiopian King Hirtacus, while offering the sacrifice of the Mass, for refusing consent to the king's marriage to the virgin Eugenia who was dedicated to God.

Source: Explanation of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and Holydays by Rev. Leonard Goffine  1880, Vol. 25, St. Matthew page 870

Our Lady of la Salette, Reconciler of sinners, pray without ceasing for us who have recourse to thee.

“If my people will not obey, I shall be compelled to loose my Son’s arm.  It is so heavy, so pressing that I can no longer restrain it.  How long I have suffered for you!  If my Son is not to cast you off, I am obliged to entreat Him without ceasing.  But you take not the least notice of that.  No matter how well you pray in the future, no matter how well you act, you will never be able to make up to me what I have endured for your sake.

I have appointed you six days for working.  The seventh I have reserved for myself.  And no one will give it to me.  This it is which causes the weight of my Son’s arm to be crushing.  The cart drivers cannot swear without bringing in my Son’s name.  These are the two things which make my Son’s arms so burdensome.

If the harvest is spoiled, it is your own fault.  I warned you last year by means of the potatoes.  You paid no heed.  Quite the reverse, when you discovered that the potatoes had rotted, you swore, you abused my Son’s name.  They will continue to rot, and by Christmas this year there will be none left.

If you have grain, it will do no good to sow it, for what you sow the beasts will devour, and any part of it that springs up will crumble into dust when you thresh it.

A great famine is coming.  But before that happens, the children under seven years of age will be seized with trembling and die in their parent’s arms.  The grownups will pay for their sins by hunger.  The grapes will rot, and the walnuts will turn bad.”

"Only a few rather old women go to Mass in the Summer.  All the rest work every Sunday throughout the Summer.  And in Winter, when they don’t know what to do with themselves, they go to Mass only to poke fun at religion.  During Lent they flock to the butcher shops, like dogs.”

Shrine of Salette, France

Under an allegorical image Hildegard condemns the sins and corruption of Church officials.

"In the year 1170 lying for a long time in my sickbed, fully awake in body and soul, I saw an exceedingly beautiful image of a woman. She was so delightful and so beautiful that the mind of man could never comprehend it, and in stature she reached from the earth to the heavens. She was clothed in a garment of dazzling white silk, over which was a cloak set with precious stones - with emeralds, sapphires, and pearls - and on her feet were shoes of onyx. But her face was smudged with dirt, and her dress was torn on the right side. Moreover, her cloak had lost its exquisite beauty, and the tops of her shoes were soiled.

She cried out in a loud, mournful voice to the heights of heaven: Give heed, O heavens, because my face has been smudged, and mourn, O earth because my garment has been torn, and tremble, O abyss, because my shoes have been soiled. "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests" (Matt. 8,20), but I have no one to help or console me, and no staff to lean on for support.

And again she said: I lay hidden in the heart of the Father until the Son of Man, who was virginally conceived and born, shed His blood. And I was betrothed to Him through that blood, and dowered, so that through a pure, unsullied regeneration of spirit and of water, I could give new life to those who had been diseased and contaminated by the venom of the serpent.

Those who nurtured me - the priests, that is to say - were supposed to make my face glow like the dawn, my clothes flash like lighting, my cloak gleam like precious stones and my shoes to shine brightly. Instead, they have smeared my face with dirt, they have torn my garment, they have blackened my cloak, and they have soiled my shoes. The very ones who were supposed to beautify me with adornments have all failed miserably. This is the way they soil my face: They take up and handle the body and blood of my Bridegroom while defiled by the uncleanliness of their lustful morals, poisoned by the deadly venom of fornication and adultery, and corrupted by the avaricious rapine of buying and selling improper things. (That is, Church Offices, the sin of simony) They encompass His body and blood with filth, like someone putting a child in the mud among swine. For just as man became flesh and blood when God created him  from the slime of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life (cf. Gen. 2,7), so too at the words of the priest, when he invokes the divinity over the altar, that same power of God turns the offering of bread, wine, and water into the real flesh and blood of Christ, that is, of my Bridegroom. But man cannot see this phenomenon with his physical eyes because he was blinded at Adam's fall.

As long as the wounds of man's sins gape open, my Bridegroom's wounds remain fresh and open. And the priests, who are supposed to make me resplendent, and serve me in the resplendence, are contaminating these wounds of Christ by running from church to church in their great avarice. They are tearing my garment because they are perverters of the law and the gospel and their own priesthood. In this way they are blackening my cloak because they are completely neglecting the precepts established for them. Moreover, they do not fulfill those precepts with good will and perfect work through abstinence (that is, the emerald), nor through generous distribution of alms (that is, the sapphire), nor with other good and upright works that brings honor to God (that is, the other kinds of gems). And they soil the tops of my shoes by not following the straight paths of righteousness, that is, those difficult and arduous ways. Furthermore, they do not set good examples for their subordinates, despite the fact that I preserve the splendor of truth below in my shoes, as in my secret place. False priests are self-deceived, because they want to have the honor of the priesthood without its work. This cannot be, because no one will receive the reward unless he has completed the work (cf. Cor 3.8) But when the grace of God touches a person, it causes him to perform his task so that he may receive his reward.

And so let heaven rain down all kinds of calamities upon mankind in the vengeance of God, and let a cloud cover the whole earth, so that its viridity withers and its beauty fades. And let the abyss tremble because, along with heaven and earth, it will be whipped into a frenzy in vengeance and grief. O you priests! you who have neglected me thus far, the princes of the earth and the rash mob will rise up against you, cast you out, and put you to flight. They will take your riches away from you, because you have not attended to your priestly office. And they will say about you: "Let us cast these adulterers and robbers of the Church, for they are full of every kind of wickedness." And in doing this, they believe that they have been obedient to God, for they say that the Church has been contaminated by you. This is why the Scripture says: " Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together" (Ps. 2.1-2). For with God's permission many nations will begin to rage in their judgments against you, and many people will devise vain things against you, and will count your priestly office and your consecration as worthless. Then, the kings of the earth will aid them in casting you out, because they are greedy for earthly things, and the princes who will be your lords will agree in casting you out of their territory, for by your wicked deeds, you have put the innocent Lamb to flight."

And I heard a voice from heaven saying: This figure represents the Church. Therefore, O man, you who see and hear these mournful words, convey them to the priests, who were established and ordained to rule and teach the people of God, for that which was said to the apostles applies also to them: "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature" ( Mark 16.15). For when God created mankind, he sealed every creature in him, just as on a single small piece of parchment, one can mark the time and reckoning of an entire year. For this reason God named all creation "mankind."

And again I, a poor little feminine form, saw an unsheathed sword hanging in the air, one edge of which was turned toward the heavens, the other toward the earth. And this sword was stretched out over the spiritual people, just as the prophet had long ago foreseen when he cried out in wonder: "Who are these, that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows:" ( Is. 60.8)? For these were those who were lifted up from the earth and separated from the common people, and they were expected to live saintly lives in simplicity of morals and their works. And I saw that that sword was cutting off certain monasteries of spiritual men, just as Jerusalem was cut off after the Passion of the Lord. But still I saw that in that adversity God will preserve for Himself many priests who are devout, pure and simple, just as He answered Elijah, saying that there remained to him "seven thousand men in Israel, whose knees have not been bowed before Baal" (I King 19.18)

Now may the unquenchable fire of the Holy Spirit so infuse you that you will turn to the better part. (St. Luke 10.42)"

Source: The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen. (149 r. Hildegard to Wener, 1170. Pages 92 to 94)

Vatican: Proclaiming Saint Hildegard of Bingen, professed nun of the Order of Saint Benedict, a Doctor of the Universal Church

"St Cloud, or Clodoald, was the only son of Clodomir, king of Orleans, the brothers of the young prince having been murdered by their uncle clothaire in his guilty desire to become master of their possessions. Brought up in retirement, Saint Cloud was so impressed with the nothingness of all earthly things, that, even when he reached the age to assert his claim to the throne, he declined to embrace the favorable opportunities of success which were offered to him. He renounced the world, and placed himself under the direction of St. Severinus, then living as a recluse near Paris. Later, having been ordained priest, St. Cloud spent a few years in the exercise of his holy ministry but again mastered by the charms of a secluded life, he withdrew to the spot which now bears his name, founded a monastery there, and died in the year 560, after having edified all by a career of prayer, preaching, and good deeds."  source: Short lives of the Saints by Eleanor C. Donnelly 1910

Prayer

Collect: O God, who didst exalt Blessed Clodoald thy confessor, humbled for thy sake in this world, both by raising him to the dignity of the priesthood and by enduing him with the splendor of many virtues: grant unto us, following his example, to do thee worthy service and, helped by his prayers, ever grow in virtue and merit.

Secret: With thy Holy priest, Clodoald, we confess thee, O Lord, to be the author of our faith and of our salvation: and we beseech thee mercifully to receive at our hands this sacrifice of praise; and to grant that with the same fervor as he, we may render our vows to thee.

Pope and Martyr

"God has always raised up holy pastors, zealous to maintain the sacred deposit of the faith of His Church inviolable, and to watch over the purity of its moral, and the sanctity of its discipline. How many conflicts did they sustain! with what constancy, watchfulness, and courage, did they stand their ground against idolatry, heresy, and the corruption of the World!

We enjoy the greatest advantages of the divine grace through their labors; and we owe to God a tribute of perpetual thanksgiving and immortal praise for all those mercies which He has afforded His Church on earth. We are bound also to recommend most earnestly to Him His own work, praying that He exalt the glory of His divine name, by propagating His holy faith on earth: that He continually raise up in His Church shining examples of all virtue, pastors filled with His spirit, and a people disposed to captivate their understandings to His revealed truths, and subject their hearts to the sweet yoke of His holy love and divine law; watchful to abhor and oppose every profane innovation of doctrine, and all assaults and artifices of vice."

Source: The Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Butler

"How great was the devotion St. Clare felt toward the Sacrament of the Altar is shown by the fact that during the severe illness which had confined her to bed she had herself raised in a sitting position and supported by props, and thus she spun the finest linens. From these she made more than fifty sets of corporals and, enclosing them in silken or purple burses, sent them to different churches in the plains and mountains about Assisi. When about to receive the Body of the Lord, Clare she burning tears and approached with awe, for she feared Him not less hidden in the Sacrament than ruling heaven and earth."
Source: The life of Saint Clare; ascribed to Fr. Thomas of Celano 1910

Prayers to St. Dominic

My Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst found the Church with Thy precious blood, and by the preaching of the apostles didst establish, propagate, and extend it throughout the whole world, and thereafter didst commission the holy patriarch Dominic to adorn, illustrate, and defend it with the splendor of this merits and doctrine; graciously hear the prayers which this apostolic man incessantly offers to Thee for the increase of her treasures, both spiritual and temporal.
Pater, Ave, Gloria

Most merciful Redeemer, Who didst choose as Thy fellow-laborer for the salvation of souls, St. Dominic, who by his zeal, aided by Thy grace, gained over to the Church so many heretics who had been lost to her, and so many sinners who had grieved her by their obstinacy; send, O my God, ever fresh laborers into Thy vineyard to work for Thy glory, and gather in the fruits of eternal life.
Pater, Ave, Gloria.

O Good Jesus, Who didst delight to see St. Dominic prostrate every night before Thy altar, adoring Thee hidden in the most holy sacrament with most lively faith, and offering up, now groans, now prayers, now penances on behalf of the Church, at that time persecuted by her enemies and profaned by her servants; defend this Thy Spouse through the intercession of St. Dominic from the outrages and plots of the infernal enemy of mankind.
Pater, Ave, Gloria.

V. Pray for us, St. Dominic.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that we who are weighted down by the burden of our sins may be raised up by the patronage of Thy blessed confessor Dominic. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Pope Leo XIII, July 21, 1883

Source: With God: A Book of Prayers and Reflexions by Rev. Francis Xavier Lasance.

"St. Hugh, after his ordination, hastened to his flock; but being arrived at Grenoble, could not refrain his tears, and was exceedingly afflicted and terrified when he saw the diocese overrun with tares which the enemy had sown while the pastor slept. He found the people in general immersed in a profound ignorance of several essential duties of religion, and plunged in vice and immorality. Some sins seemed by custom to have lost their name, and men committed them without any scruple or sign of remorse. The negligence and backwardness of many in frequenting the sacraments indicated a total decay of piety, and could not fail introducing many spiritual disorders in their souls, especially a great lukewarmness in prayer and other religious duties. Simony and usury seemed, under specious disguises, to be accounted innocent, and to reign almost without control. Many lands belonging to the church were usurped by laymen; and the revenues of the bishopric were dissipated, so that the saint, upon his arrival, found nothing either to enable him to assist the poor, or to supply his own necessities, unless he would have had recourse to unlawful contracts, as had been the common practice of many others, but which he justly deemed iniquitous; nor would he by any means defile his soul with them. He set himself in earnest to reprove vice and reform abuses. To this purpose he endeavoured by rigorous fasts, watchings, tears, sighs, and prayer to draw down the divine mercy on his flock; and so plentiful was the benediction of heaven upon his labours that he had the comfort to see the face of his diocese in a short time exceedingly changed. "

Source: The Lives of the Fathers, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Volume 1

"His great sanctity and learning rendered him an ornament of the Cathedral of Valence, France and he was finally made Bishop of Grenoble. He set himself at once to reprove vice and to reform abuses, and so plentiful was the benediction of Heaven upon his labors that he had the comfort to see the face of his diocese in a short time exceedingly changed."

Source: The Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints.

St. Valentine was a Roman priest who lived and labored among the poor Christians amid the cruel persecutions of the earl Church. He was highly respected and venerated for his zeal and piety in the service of the Lord. During the renewed persecution of the emperor Claudius, Valentine was seized and brought before the tribunal of a judge named Asterius, to be tried and condemned to death. Mindful of the words of the Savior "Do good to those who persecute you." he prayed that the good Lord might restore the sight of the blind daughter of his very judge. The Lord heard his prayer and miraculously gave the girl her sight. This miracle and the charity which prompted it so affected Asterius that he embraced the faith of St. Valentine. Forty-two other witnesses of the miracle followed his example. The news of this miracle and the conversion soon reached Claudius, who in his rage sent a body of soldiers to the house of Asterius where all were taken prisoners. They were led to Ostia and killed for their faith. St. Valentine was beaten with clubs and finally beheaded on the Flaminian way, February 14, 270 A.D. His remains were reverently gathered by Christians and brought to Rome. They now rest in the church of St. Praxedes.

It was the generous, noble, and heroic charity of St. Valentine which brought so many of his enemies into the fold of the loving Savior. Charity to our fellowmen will also win many of the enemies of our church to the Lord if we follow in the footsteps of St. Valentine.

Valentine appears to have been a very popular name among the early Christians, if we may judge from the number of saints who bear that name. The feast days of several of the other Saints Valentine are Feb. 14, St. Valentine, Bishop of Terni and martyr, another martyr of that name in Africa; a bishop and confessor, Oct 29, a priest and martyr Nov.3; an officer Dec. 16.

The custom of sending tokens of love on his feast has no bearing on the life of St. Valentine. About thirty years ago it was thought that the custom was dying out. Since then it has been commercialized and this fact no doubt has given it a semblance of popularity.

Source: Our Young People, 1916

"St. Blase was a native of the city of Sebaste, in Armenia, and in his younger days applied himself to the study of philosophy, in which he made considerable progress; he afterwards studied medicine with great success. The science of the saints, however, and a desire to improve in the love of God, occupied his principal attention, whereby being inflamed with an ardent charity towards the poor, he went frequently to relieve them in their sickness. Upon the death of the bishop, his fellow citizens unanimously elected him their pastor, by reason of his extraordinary virtues and great learning.

He accepted the office, as being unwilling to resist the will of God, which appeared too manifest in his election to be mistaken; but in the government of his church he lost not that spirit of holy retirement which he had had from his youth. He therefore retired to Mount Argeus, without the city, and dwelt in a cave there. During our saint's residence in this place the Lord was pleased to manifest his sanctity by honoring him with the gift of miracles, and numerous crowds of persons used constantly to come to him for the cure of their bodily diseases as well as of their spiritual maladies. Even the most ferocious animals are said to have proceeded to his cave to be relieved. If they found the saint in prayer, they would patiently wait until he had done; nor would they depart until they had received his blessing.

About the year 315, Agricolaus, governor of Cappadocia and the lesser Armenia, had been sent, by the Emperor Licinius, to Sebaste, to put to death the Christians of that city; and, immediately upon his arrival, commenced to put his bloody commission into execution, by commanding that all those who had been already imprisoned for the faith should be devoured by wild beasts. He accordingly sent huntsmen into the neighboring forest to catch the ferocious animals, in order to execute his barbarous design. When they arrived at Mount Argeus, they found a multitude of these beasts assembled round the cave of St. Blase, and the holy bishop in the midst of them, performing his devotions. Astonished at this sight, they returned to Agricolaus, and informed him of the fact; which, although it caused him to marvel greatly, did not prevent him from sending his soldiers to arrest our saint. When they intimated to him the order of the governor he answered with a cheerful countenance: "Let us go to shed our blood for Jesus Christ;" then turning to those who stood by, he protested that he had long sighed for the honor of martyrdom, and that on the preceding night the Lord had manifested to him that he would vouchsafe to accept the sacrifice of his life.

As soon as the news was spread among the citizens that their bishop was being led to Sebaste by order of the governor the streets were filled with people who, with tears in their eyes, asked his blessing. Among the rest was a woman, who, weeping bitterly, presented to him her child, who was expiring by reason of a small bone having stuck in his throat; full of holy confidence, she besought the saint to save his life. St. Blase, moved to compassion by the tears of the afflicted mother, prayed to the Lord not only for the relief of that child, but of all those who would find themselves similarly afflicted. Having terminated his prayer the child perfectly recovered; and hence the origin of the peculiar devotion of the faithful to this saint when afflicted with diseases of the throat.

When St. Blase arrived at the city and was presented to the governor, he was commanded to sacrifice to the immortal gods. The saint answered: "What a title for your demons, who can bring only evil on their worshippers! There is only One Immortal God, and him do I adore." Agricolaus, infuriated at this answer, caused the saint to undergo a scourging so prolonged and cruel that it was thought the saint could not possibly survive it; but having endured this torture with placid courage, he was sent to prison, where he continued to work miracles so extraordinary that the governor ordered him to be again lacerated with iron hooks.

The blood of the saint ran profusely, and certain pious women were induced to collect portions of it, which act of devotion was amply rewarded, for they were seized, with two of their children, and brought before the governor. He commanded them to sacrifice to the gods under pain of death. The holy women asked for their idols, as some thought, to sacrifice to them, but they no sooner laid hands upon them than they cast them into an adjoining lake, for which they were instantly beheaded, along with their children.

Agricolaus resolved to wreak his vengeance on St. Blase; and not content with the torture which he had already caused him to endure, commanded him to be stretched upon the rack, and his flesh to be torn with iron combs, in which state a red-hot coat of mail was placed upon him. Finally, the tyrant, despairing of overcoming his constancy, ordered him to be cast into the lake; the saint, arming himself with the sign of the cross, walked upon the waters, and, arriving at the middle, sat down, and invited the idolaters to do the same if they believed that their gods could enable them. Some were so rash as to make the attempt, but were immediately drowned.

St. Blase was admonished then by a voice from heaven to go forth from the lake and encounter his martyrdom. When he reached the land the impious tyrant ordered him to be beheaded. This sentence was executed in the year 313. The republic of Ragusa honor him as their principal patron, and he is the titular saint of many cities.

Source: Victories of the Martyrs: Or, The Lives of the Most Celebrated Martyrs of the Church, Saint Alphonse de Liguori

Prayer:

O glorious Saint Blaise, who by thy martyrdom didst leave to the Church a precious witness to the faith, obtain of us the grace to preserve within ourselves this divine gift, and to defend, without human respect, both by word and example, the truth of that same faith, which is so wickedly attacked and slandered in these our times. Thou who didst miraculously restore a little child when it was at the point of death by reason of an affliction of the throat, grant us thy mighty protection in like misfortunes; and, above all, obtain for us the grace of Christian mortification together with a faithful observance of the precepts of the Church, which may keep us from offending Almighty God. Amen.

 Source: In Lumine Fidei

The iron combs, hooks, racks, swords, and scaffolds, which were purpled with the blood of the martyrs, are eternal proofs of their invincible courage and constancy in the divine service. But are they not at the same time subjects of our condemnation and confusion? How weak are our resolutions! how base our pusillanimity and cowardice in the pursuit of virtue! We have daily renewed our most sacred baptismal engagements, and our purposes of faithfully serving God; these we have often repeated at the feet of God's ministers, and in presence of his holy altars, and we have often begun our conversion with great fervor. Yet these fair blossoms were always nipped in the bud; for want of constancy we soon fell back into our former sloth and disorders, adding to our other prevarications that of base infidelity. Instead of encountering gibbets and wild beasts, we were scared at the sight of the least difficulty, or we had not courage to make the least sacrifice of our passions, or to repulse the weakest and most contemptible assaults of the world. Its example, or that dangerous company from which we had not resolution to separate ourselves, carried us away; and we had not courage to withstand those very maxims which we ourselves condemn in the moments of our serious reflections as contrary to the spirit of the gospel. Perhaps we often flew back for fear of shadows, and out of apprehensions frequently imaginary, le6t we should forfeit some temporal advantage, some useful or agreeable friend. Perhaps we were overcome by the difficulties which arose barely from ourselves, and wanted resolution to deny our senses, to subdue our passions, to renounce dangerous occasions, or to enter upon a penitential life. Blinded by self-love, have we not sheltered our dastardly pusillanimity under the cloak of pretended necessity, or even virtue?

Source: St. Blaise (The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Volume 1 , Alban Butler)