23 September 2026
Summa Contra Gentiles, Book II: XCIII That There Are Not Several Separate Substances of One Species
Joshua Swamidass, PhD, MD - Philosophy of Transhumanism & Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Humanity’s future is now framed by artificial intelligence (AI) and increasing interventions in the human body to cure and to enhance, i.e., transhumanism. Considering the stakes, and the dangers, a philosophical perspective is imperative. S. Joshua Swamidass is a computational biologist, physician, academic, and author. He is an associate professor of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, and a Faculty Lead of Translational Bioinformatics in the Institute for Informatics at Washington University in St. Louis.
Did Jasper Tudor Have Secret Children? | Henry VII’s Secret Cousins
Why Do Eastern Christians Make the Sign of the Cross “Backwards”?
I do too, because I was Orthodox. Years ago, I was at a Latin Rite Easter Mass when I noticed the woman next to me crossing herself in the Eastern way. At the "Peace", I said "Khristos voskrese". She was a bit confused!
From Aleteia
By Valentin Fontan-Moret
In fact, the "right to left" practice is likely the oldest.
The Sign of the Cross is a gesture by which Christians signify the blessing of their person in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Other religions have similar practices, and it is difficult not to see in certain Jewish traditions the prefiguration of this particular Christian symbol, a physical, outward manifestation of a spiritual attitude. It is likely that this practice appeared very early in the history of Christianity, and it is striking that its evolution has followed that of the Church.
The tradition that has prevailed in the West and is customary among Latin Catholics is to make the Sign of the Cross by moving the fingers from top to bottom, then from left to right. Certain cultures join the five fingers, evoking the five wounds of Christ. But this custom is relatively recent and likely differs from the primitive practice, which is still prevalent in the Eastern Christian world. Indeed, in the beginning, Christians crossed themselves from top to bottom and then from right to left. The thumb, forefinger and middle finger were joined, evoking the consubstantial and indivisible Trinity, while the ring finger and the little finger folded against the palm of the hand evoke the two natures — human and divine — of Christ.
Like a blessing
The oriental and primitive tradition thus reproduces the gesture of the blessing given by the clergy as in a mirror: the blessing given by the priest or the bishop reproduces the gesture of Christ figured on Byzantine icons, where the thumb of the hand that blesses joins the ring finger, the index finger is upwards, the middle finger and the little finger slightly folded. Thus the hand of the priest forms the first letters of the words Jesus Christ in Greek — IC and XC — while recalling the association of the three persons of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ. The hand that blesses thus traces the Sign of the Cross toward the faithful from top to bottom and from left to right. This movement, which is always that of the blessings given by the clergy in the East as in the West alike, is probably that which has been used from the earliest times.
And this is what explains the Eastern practice of the Sign of the Cross: by reproducing as in a mirror the gesture of the blessing granted by an authority, it is a way of recognizing that one cannot validly bless oneself and that even in the absence of a member of the clergy, every blessing is received from a higher power, in other words from God.
The history of the Sign of the Cross is therefore also linked to that of the blessing. The current Western practice is to bless with an open hand, just as the faithful make their sign of the cross with their hand open.
Having become a marker of the specificities of each tradition, the preference of one direction or the other finds several symbolic explanations that are more or less convincing: drawing on oneself the cross from left to right, could signify the passage from darkness to light, from misery to glory, as Pope Innocent III speculated in his time, when this practice began to take place in the West in the 18th century.
But why has the blessing always been given from top to bottom and from left to right, dictating the original direction of the Sign of the Cross performed by the faithful? Perhaps just because it is the natural direction of reading and writing in Latin and Greek. In blessing, the clergy “write” the cross on those whom they bless. One thing is certain: the Sign of the Cross, whatever the direction in which it is traced, is a gesture of prayer and a petition to the Holy Trinity.
The UK Officially Passes Law Breaking the Seal of Confession
More than 20 years after the Ted McCarrick mess, secular governments still seek to punish the Church by trying to break the seal of confession, all in the name of protecting the most vulnerable.
What Happens When You Need the Toilet in Full Plate Armour?
Traditional Catholic Morning Prayers in English | September
5 Ways Protestant "Dunks" on Catholics Backfire
22 September 2026
How Many Popes Are Canonised Saints?
From Aleteia
By Larry Peterson
About a third of the Successors to Peter have been formally raised to the altars, which is to say, have been canonized as official saints.
Of the popes we've had since St. Peter, 82 have been recognized universally as canonized saints. Every one of the first 35 popes was canonized; 31 of them were martyrs.
When Paul VI was canonized in 2018, he became the 82nd canonized pope. Prior to his canonization, the most recent to have been canonized were Popes John XXIII and John Paul II, in 2014. Most recently, Pope John Paul I was beatified in 2022, which is one step away from canonization. Pius XII was declared venerable in 2009.
Only 8 since the 11th century
Interestingly, of these 82 saints, only eight have been canonized since the 11th century. Regarding that number, we should remember that during the Church’s first 1,000 years, there was very little formal process in place for the canonization of a saint.
Those eight are:
After the first millennium, the Church began to develop an orderly process for determining the qualifications of those presented for sainthood. On July 4, 973, Pope Benedict VI canonized Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg. St. Ulrich thus became the first person canonized by a pope.
In the year 1243, Pope Gregory IX affirmed that only the pope had the authority to declare someone a saint. This is still true today, though it should be noted the pope's special role in a type of canonization, called “equivalent canonization,” when a pope simply confirms a devotion to a saint who is already well-established in the Church. This equivalent canonization was the case of the Jesuit Pierre Faber (1506-1546) recognized by Pope Francis in 2013, or of Hildegard of Bingen, recognized by Pope Benedict XVI.
The 1917 Code of Canon Law stated that a cause for sainthood could not open until 50 years after the candidate's death. Pope John Paul II shortened that time frame to five years. On occasion, that time period can be skipped or shortened, as Benedict XVI did when Pope John Paul II passed away.
The average waiting time for a person to be canonized after death has been around 180 years. Pope St. John Paul II was canonized just nine years after his death.
Remarkable popes
Let us meet some of the popes who have been canonized and who have stood tall throughout the centuries protecting, and many times dying in defense of, the Church founded by Christ Himself.
-- Pope #2: St. Linus (67-76) St. Linus was preceded only by St. Peter. The office was entrusted to Linus by both St. Peter and St. Paul, after the Christian Church had been established in Rome. The actual duties and responsibilities entrusted to Linus are somewhat vague because the Church hierarchy was still being established. It is known that Linus was martyred and that he was buried close to St. Peter. His name is mentioned in the Roman Canon. St. Paul also mentions Linus in his Second Epistle to Timothy.
-- Pope #3: St. Cletus (76-90) Pope St. Cletus is also known as Anacletus. Tradition has it that Cletus divided Rome into 25 parishes and ordained an uncertain number of priests. Cletus is also mentioned in the Roman Canon. There is no record of Cletus being martyred and he is buried near his predecessor, Pope St. Linus.
-- Pope #4: St. Clement I (88-99) He was born in the year 35 and became pope sometime between 88 and 90. He was consecrated by St. Peter himself. St. Paul mentions Clement in his writings as a “fellow-worker,” so it is obvious Clement was deeply involved in the formation of the early Church.
St. Clement is called the first Apostolic Father. The Apostolic Fathers are those who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries and were known to have learned from the original Twelve Apostles.
Pope St. Clement, having known both St. Peter and St. Paul, wrote about much of what these two great apostles said. Among his writings, we find the teaching that the Apostles had the authority to ordain new bishops, thus setting the groundwork for the Church hierarchy.
Clement was martyred by being drowned at sea in the year 99.
-- Pope #64: St. Gregory I (590-604) aka St. Gregory the Great: As the Roman Empire roared toward its demise the popes in power had refused to despair. They accepted that their mission was to ultimately convert the pagan warriors and work toward a peaceful Christian society. A new social order was being born.
Throughout the crumbling Roman Empire, hordes of barbarian tribes had conquered. The continent was in disarray. Enter Pope Gregory I. A man of true genius, deep spirituality, and immense energy, Gregory would set the papacy on a course it would follow throughout the Middle Ages.
Born into wealth in Rome, he became prefect of the city and then suddenly, abandoned the material world. He spent his wealth in founding monasteries and even converted his own palatial home into one. He lived a life of asceticism and then, when asked, took the job as papal envoy to Constantinople. When the Chair of Peter became vacant in 590, the people of Rome pressured Gregory to accept the position. He did and before his life ended he had laid the foundation for medieval Christendom.
Pope St. Gregory I is known as the “Father of Christian Worship” because of the time and effort he put into revising Roman worship (Gregorian chant is named after him). He is a Doctor of the Church.
Gregory the Great is the patron of musicians, singers, students and teachers.
How the Vatican Lost the Trust of the SSPX and Traditionalists
The Fall of Catholic Colleges
Dr Grondelski examines why so many supposedly Catholic colleges are closing. They tend to be the ones that have abandoned their Catholic identity.
From Crisis
By John M. Grondelski, PhD
Catholic colleges that have largely given up their Catholic identity are finding that they can't compete with their secular counterparts.
I dropped my youngest son off August 22 as a freshman at Rochester Institute of Technology. I couldn’t help reflecting that—almost to the day—49 years earlier I started as a freshman at St. Mary’s College in Orchard Lake, Michigan.
The difference is that I suspect RIT will be around in 49 years. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (OLSM) isn’t. I guess that happens when your graduating class was about 40.
One of the things I discovered at OLSM was that I wanted to teach—and do that in higher education. My first job was as an assistant professor of theology at St. John’s University in New York. Most people know the main campus in Queens. Fewer know there was a Staten Island campus, created from a smaller Catholic college about to go belly-up.
Cardinal Cooke, not wanting to lose an institution of higher education in the archdiocese, got the Vincentians to take over. St. John’s Staten Island catered, in large part, to first-generation-college Catholic kids from the island and Brooklyn. In my day, St. John’s Staten Island had about 2,000 students.
The Vincentians seemed to have a cost-proof scheme going: no dorms, no food service except a lunch cafeteria, classes from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Pack 50 kids in a class and have faculty teach four classes (but never exceed 208 students, lest you had to pay a supplement). Make sure you pay the Con Ed bill for light and heat and you could make a go of it.
St. John’s Staten Island closed in 2024.
The primary reason was demographic: enrollment cratered, falling to about 800-900. COVID had something to do with it, but I suspect contraception even more. American fertility fell below replacement level in 2008; kids that should have been born that year would be college freshmen this year.
Obviously, enrollment is the big one: a school exists for students; and if the students aren’t filling the seats, there won’t be a school. Public schools, from grade to grad school, enjoy some insulation: they can always run to the taxpayer to keep the lights on. But private higher education—and that includes Catholic higher education—doesn’t have that luxury. Our schools are tuition-dependent, i.e., they need students paying tuition. And the kids not born in 2008 and afterward aren’t in English 101 this month.
Because our schools are tuition-dependent, they will be more expensive than their state counterparts. If we offered a better product that people recognized to be a better product, that might compensate. But a lot of schools have grown fat and lazy since the time I went to college—in the decade the U.S. Government got into the student loan business. If students could get money, there were fewer incentives to contain costs, especially when a higher price might suggest a better school.
And, let’s be honest, the collapse of vocations and the departure of clergy and religious from teaching did not just affect grade schools: it sapped college staffing. When I started grad school at Fordham in 1981, there were about 50,000 Jesuits worldwide, and most of my Theology Department was staffed by them. Today, the Society scratches about 15,000, and Jesuits are a minority in the Theology Department.
Catholics also got used to running schools on the cheap, thinking that education doesn’t cost and faculty don’t need to be paid. When clerical and religious faculty were replaced by laity, salary costs had to go up. I can’t pay RIT tuition on a priestly stipend!
Finally, young people are beginning to ask whether college is a worthwhile investment given the dicey job market many face post-graduation. And let’s face the truth for Catholic colleges and universities: are they Catholic enough to be worth the price? The Catholic family that doesn’t really think religion to be an important element of higher education will probably ignore the mission dimension. But young Catholics serious about their faith—and that is an important market niche—can rightly ask whether the additional thousands are worth an elderly nun in a pants suit offering some anodyne prayer at graduation on the campus where Catholic identity otherwise needs to be searched for under bushel baskets.
Finally, the higher education researchers note a phenomenon whose impact is still unknown: AI. To what degree will AI decimate the need for education that hitherto required years of acquisition? And will its impact be particularly disproportionate on entry-levels jobs that give new graduates their segue to the employment market?
One website named 240 colleges and universities whose financial variables are such that they might be on the chopping block in the next decade. My cursory look at that list spotted about 50 Catholic institutions. If you look at the membership roster of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, it is just shy of 200. Are we potentially facing a grim reaping of a quarter of Catholic higher education?
I hope not. But I have to ask about the writing on the wall.
Catholic colleges were just one part of the great Catholic infrastructure that an earlier generation of “brick and mortar” Catholic leaders (including bishops like Spellman, Cushing, and Cody) built. It’s an infrastructure that included Catholic colleges, high schools (parochial high schools are practically nonexistent), grade schools (often consolidated or even diocesan), hospitals (often partnered with entities not sharing our bioethical commitments), and, of course, parishes.
That Catholic leaders—including bishops—call this great culling “renewal” suggests there are plenty of Orwell-like talents that could compete with George. And Catholics have a right to ask what is becoming of our material culture and heritage—including our colleges and universities.
St Linus, Pope & Martyr & St Thecla, Virgin & Martyr
The lives of the first Vicars of Christ are buried in a mysterious obscurity; just as the foundations of a monument built to defy the ravages of time are concealed from view. To be the supports of the everlasting Church is a sufficient glory: sufficient to justify our confidence in them, and to awaken our gratitude. Let us leave the learned to discuss certain points in the following short Legend; as for ourselves, we will rejoice with the Church on this feast, and pay our loving veneration to the humble and gentle Pontiff, who was the first laid to rest beside St. Peter in the Vatican crypts.
Pope Linus was born at Volterra in Tuscany, and was the first to succeed St. Peter in the government of the Church. His faith and holiness were so great, that he not only cast out devils, but even raised the dead to life. He wrote the acts of blessed Peter, and in particular what he had done against Simon Magus. He decreed that no woman should enter a church with her head uncovered. On account of his constancy in confessing the Christian faith, this Pontiff was beheaded by command of Saturninus, a wicked and ungrateful ex-consul, whose daughter he had delivered from the tyranny of the devils. He was buried on the Vatican, near the sepulcher of the Prince of the Apostles, on the ninth of Kalends of October. He governed the Church eleven years, two months, and twenty-three days. In two ordinations in the month of December he consecrated fifteen bishops and eighteen priests.
Simon Bar-Jona was invested with the sovereign Pontificate by our Lord in person, and openly before all; thou, O blessed Pontiff, didst receive in secret, yet nonetheless directly from Jesus, the keys of the kingdom of heaven. In thy person began the reign of pure faith; henceforth the Bride, though she hears not the Man-God repeat his injunction to Peter: feed my lambs, nevertheless acknowledges the continuance of his authority in the lawfully appointed representative of her Divine Spouse. Obtain by thy prayers, that the shadows of earth may never cause us to waver in our obedience; and that hereafter we may merit, with thee, to contemplate our Divine Head in the light of eternal day.
=======
.jpg)
While honoring the first successor of St. Peter, Rome commemorates the protomartyr of the female sex. Together with holy Church, then, let us unite in the concert of praise unanimously lavished upon Thecla by the Fathers of East and West. When the martyr pontiff Methodius gave his “Banquet of Virgins” to the Church, about the end of the third century, it is on the brow of the virgin of Iconium that he placed the fairest of the crowns distributed at the banquet of the Spouse. And justly so; for had not Thecla been trained by Paul, who had made her more learned in the Gospel than she was before in philosophy and every science? Heroism in her kept pace with knowledge; her magnanimity of purpose was equaled by her courage; while, strong in the virginal purity of her soul and body, she triumphed over fire, wild beasts, and sea monsters, and won the glory of a triple martyrdom.
A fresh triumph is hers at the mysterious “Banquet”. Wisdom has taken possession of her and, like a divine harp, makes music in her soul, which is echoed on her lips in words of wondrous eloquence and sublime poetry. When the feast is over and the virgins rise to give thanks to the Lord, Thecla leads the chorus, singing:
“For thee, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure; and with burning lamp I come to meet thee.
“I have fled from the bitter pleasures of mortals, and the luxurious delights of life and its live; under thy life-giving arms I desire to be protected, and to gaze forever on thy beauty, O blessed One.
“For thee, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure; and with burning lamp I come to meet thee.
“I have contemned union with mortal man; I have left my golden home for thee, O King; I have come in undefiled robes, that I may enter with thee into thy happy bridal chamber.
“For thee, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure; and with burning lamp I come to meet thee.
“Having escaped the enchanting wiles of the serpent, and triumphed over the flaming fire and the attacks of wild beasts, I await thee from heaven.
“For thee, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure; and with burning lamp I come to meet thee.
“Through love of thee, O Word, I have forgotten the land of my birth; I have forgotten the virgins my companions, and even the desire of mother and of kindred; for thou, O Christ, art all things to me.
“For thee, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure; and with burning lamp I come to meet thee.”(Methodius. Conviv. dec. virg. 7, 8, & 9)
Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who celebrate the festival of blessed Thecla, thy virgin and martyr, may rejoice in her annual solemnity, and make progress by the example of such great faith. Through our Lord.
The Saints Who Shook the World: Padre Pio, St. Linus & Catholic Ember Days
St Thecla, Virgin & Martyr
_-_1923.8.1_-_Smithsonian_American_Art_Museum.jpg)
See Tillemont, t. 2, p. 60, who has gleaned the following circumstances of the life of this glorious saint from the writings of many primitive fathers, no genuine acts of this holy virgin being extant. Tertullian and St. Jerom inform ns, that St. John deposed a priest at Ephesus for having forged false acts of SS. Paul and Thecla, and a book under that title was condemned by pope Gelasius The life of St. Thecla, published by Basil of Selucia in the fifth age, is compiled from these false acts; couse quently of no authority. See Stilting the Bollandist, t. 6. Sept. p. 546. Her Greek acts published at Antwerp in 1608, are mentioned by Lambecius at Vienna, Catal. Bibl. Vindeb. t. 8, p. 243, others more ancient are given us by Grabe, Spicil. Patr. t. 1, p. 95. See Fabricius Bibl. Græc. t. 9, p. 146.
THE FIRST AGE
ST. THECLA, whose name has always been most famous in the Church, and who is styled by St. Isidore of Pelusium and all the Greeks the protomartyr of her sex, was one of the brightest ornaments of the apostolic age. She was a native of Isauria or Lycaonia. St. Methodius, in his Banquet of Virgins, assures us that she was well versed in profane philosophy, and in the various branches of polite literature, and he exceedingly commends her eloquence, and the ease, strength, sweetness, and modesty of her discourse. He says that she received her instructions in divine and evangelical knowledge from St. Paul, and was eminent for her skill in sacred science. The same father extols the vehemence of her love for Christ, which she exerted on many great occasions, especially in the conflicts which she sustained with the zeal and courage of a martyr, and with the strength of body equal to the vigor of her mind. St. Austin, St. Epiphanius, St. Ambrose, and other fathers mention, that St. Paul by his preaching converted her to the faith at Iconium, probably about the year 45, and that his discourses kindled in her breast a vehement love of holy virginity, which state she eagerly embraced, in an age which seemed very tender for so great a resolution. Upon this holy change she broke off a treaty of marriage, which had been set on foot by her parents, with a rich, comely, and amiable young nobleman, of one of the best families in the country.
St. Gregory of Nyssa says,1 that this blessed virgin undertook the sacrifice of herself, by giving death to the flesh, practising on it great austerities, extinguishing in herself all earthly affections, and subduing her passions by a life dead to the senses, so that nothing seemed to remain living in her but reason and spirit: the whole world seemed dead to her as she was to the world. St. Chrysostom, or an author of the same age, whose homily is attributed to that father, lets us know that her parents perceiving an alteration in her conduct, without being acquainted with the motive upon which she acted, plied her with the strongest arguments, mixed with commands, threats, reprimands, and tender persuasives, to engage her to finish the affair of her marriage to their satisfaction. The young gentleman, her suitor, pressed her with the most endearing flatteries and caresses, her servants entreated her with tears, her friends and neighbors exhorted and conjured her, and the authority and threats of the civil magistrate were employed to bring her to the desired compliance. Thecla, strengthened by the arm of the Almighty, was proof against all manner of assaults; and regarding these worldly pagan friends as her most dangerous enemies, when she saw herself something more at liberty from the fury of their persecution, she Look the first favorable opportunity of escaping out of their hands, and fled to St. Paul to receive from him comfort and advice. She forsook father and mother, and a house abounding in gold and riches, where she lived in state and plenty: she left her companions, friends, and country, desiring to possess only the treasure of the love and grace of God, and to find Jesus Christ, who was all things to her.
The young nobleman to whom she was engaged, still felt his heart warm with his passion for the saint, and, instead of overcoming it, thought of nothing but how to gratify it, or to be revenged of her, from whom he pretended he had received a grievous affront. In these dispositions he closely pursued, and at length overtook her, and, as she still refused to marry him, he delivered her into the hands of the magistrates, and urged such articles against her, that she was condemned to be torn in pieces by wild beasts. Nevertheless her resolution was invincible. She was exposed naked in the amphitheatre, but clothed with her innocence; and this ignominy enhanced her glory and her crown. Her heart was undaunted, her holy soul exulted and triumphed with joy in the midst of lions, pards, and tigers: and she waited with a holy impatience the onset of those furious beasts whose roarings filled even the spectators with terror. But the lions, on a sudden forgetting their natural ferocity, and the rage of their hunger, walked gently up to the holy virgin, and laying themselves down at her feet, licked them as if it had been respectfully to kiss them; and, at length, notwithstanding all the keepers could do to excite and provoke them, they meekly retired like lambs, without hurting the servant of Christ. This wonderful circumstance is related and set off with the genuine beauties of unaffected eloquence, by St. Ambrose,2 St. Chrysostom, St. Methodius, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and other fathers.
She was at another time, by the divine interposition, delivered from the power of fire, and preserved without hurt in the midst of the flames, as St. Gregory Nazianzen,3 St. Methodius, and others testify: who add that she was rescued from many other dangers, to which the rage of persecutors exposed her. A very ancient Martyrology which bears the name of St. Jerom, published by Florentinius, mentions that Rome was the place where God extinguished the flames to preserve the life of this holy virgin. She attended St. Paul in several of his apostolical journeys, studying to form her own life upon that excellent model of Christian perfection. She is styled by St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Chrysostom, St. Austin, and others, a virgin and martyr. Her sufferings justly purchased her this latter title, though Bede, in his Martyrology, tells us that she died in peace; which is proved also from other authorities by Papebroke4 and Tillemont.5 The latter part of her life she spent in devout retirement in Isauria, where she died, and was buried at Seleucia, the metropolis of that country. Over her tomb in that city a sumptuous church was built under the first Christian emperors, which bore her name, was visited by SS. Marana and Cyra, two female anchorets mentioned by Theodoret, and crowds of pilgrims, and rendered famous by many miracles, as we learn both from Theodoret, St. Gregory Nazianzen, Basil of Seleucia and others. The great cathedral at Milan is dedicated to God in honor of St. Thecla, and has been long possessed of part of her precious remains.
If we desire to please Christ, we must imitate the saints in their love of purity, and in strict chastity according to the circumstances of our state. To obtain this great virtue, we must earnestly beg it of God, praying him to inspire us with his holy fear, to create in us an abhorrence of all sin and dangerous occasions, to cleanse our affections, and to teach us to set the strictest guard upon all our senses, especially upon our eyes, ears, and tongue. Secondly, We must study sincere humility of heart, and live in an entire distrust of ourselves, and fear of dangers. To forget our weakness, or to presume upon our own resolution or strength, is equally foolish, fatal, and criminal. Thirdly, We must shun all occasions, which may incite and fire our passions, especially all fond friendships or intimacies between young persons. Even such as are begun in the spirit, without the utmost precautions, will degenerate into a carnal affection. Fourthly, We must always be employed, always eager in some serious exercises which must never leave us one moment idle. Devotions and labor or business must be alternately called in, so that the devil may always find our mind taken up. Fifthly. We must live in the habitual practice of frequently denying our inclinations, and mortifying the senses. If we give our appetites full liberty in things that are not forbidden, they will quickly master us, and crave gratifications that are unlawful, with too great violence to be restrained by us. We shall not lose courage at the name of penance and mortification, as many are apt to do, if we look up at our eternal reward, and if we have before our eyes the austerities which the most tender virgins joyfully embraced for the sake of virtue. The habit of self-denial once acquired will raise us above our senses, render us masters of ourselves, make the remaining part of our life easy, and restore us in some measure to the happy state which our first parents enjoyed before their sin. We shall be so much the more perfectly conformed to the image of the Son of God, the more the old man is crucified, and the body of sin is destroyed in us.
St Linus, Pope & Martyr
.jpg)
See Euseb.1. 3, c. 2, St. Epiphan. Hær. 27, c. 6.
ST. LINUS was the immediate successor of St. Peter in the see of Rome, as St. Irenæus, Eusebius, St. Epiphanius, St. Optatus, St. Austin, and others assure us. Tertullian says1 that St. Clement was appointed by St. Peter to be his successor; but either he declined that dignity till St. Linus and St. Cletus had preceded him in it, or he was at first only vicar of St. Peter, to govern under him the Gentile converts, whilst that apostle presided over the whole church, yet so as to be chiefly taken up in instructing the Jewish converts, and in preaching abroad.2 St. Linus, succeeding St. Peter, after his martyrdom, sat twelve years,3 and is named among the martyrs in the canon of the Roman mass, which is certainly older in this part than the sacramentary of Gelasius, and of the greatest authority in this point. It is not indeed impossible that he might be called a martyr on account of his sufferings for the faith, without dying by the sword. St. Linus was buried on the Vatican hill, near the tomb of St. Peter.
This saint distinguished himself among the illustrious disciples of the apostles, who were formed upon their model to perfect virtue, and filled with the holy spirit of the gospel. How little are we acquainted with this spirit of fervor, charity, meekness, patience, and sincere humility; without which it is in vain that we bear the honorable name of Christians, and are a reproach and scandal to so sacred a profession!