29 April 2024
St Louis De Montfort Explains How Prayers to Mary Are Transferred to God
Much of St Louis-Marie's Mariological terminology may seem a bit over the top, but his Mariology itself is rock solid and totally Catholic.
From Aleteia
By Philip Kosloski
She is an "echo of God," a pure channel that takes our prayers directly to her Heavenly Father.When Catholics pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is not an act of worship, as worship is given only to God.
St. Louis de Montfort, an 18th-century priest devoted to the Virgin Mary, explains what happens with prayers addressed to Our Lady. The explanation is found in his book True Devotion to Mary. He starts off by writing that sincere and devout prayers to the Virgin Mary “will give more glory to Jesus in a month than in many years of a more demanding devotion.”
Montfort explains that Mary is a pure conduit for our prayers, transforming them into glorious prayers to her Heavenly Father.
She is an echo of God, speaking and repeating only God. If you say “Mary” she says “God.” When St. Elizabeth praised Mary calling her blessed because she had believed, Mary, the faithful echo of God, responded with her canticle, “My soul glorifies the Lord.”
What Mary did on that day, she does every day. When we praise her, when we love and honour her, when we present anything to her, then God is praised, honoured and loved and receives our gift through Mary and in Mary.
If you say “Mary” she says “God.”
In another example, Montfort envisions the Virgin Mary taking our prayers in her hands and transforming them when presenting them to God.
Our Blessed Lady, in her immense love for us, is eager to receive into her virginal hands the gift of our actions, imparting to them a marvelous beauty and splendour, and presenting them herself to Jesus most willingly. More glory is given to our Lord in this way than when we make our offering with our own guilty hands.
The next time you offer prayers to the Virgin Mary, remember how she receives your prayers and takes them directly to God. In a very real way, the closer we are to Mary, the closer we are to God.
Collect of St Peter Martyr ~ Indulgenced on the Saint's Feast
According to the Apostolic Penitentiary, a partial indulgence is granted to those who on the feast of any Saint recite in his honour the oration of the Missal or any other approved by legitimate Authority.
Let us pray.
Grant us grace, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, to follow with zeal conformable thereto after the pattern of that great example of faith, thy blessed Martyr Peter, who, for the spreading of the same faith, did so run as to obtain the palm of martyrdom.
Happy Anniversary Your Royal Highnesses!
Why Has a Papal Address in English Gone Missing?
I doubt that there is an explanation other than that JPII was too Catholic.
From Catholic Arena
By Kevin Hay
Since 1939, Popes have given 3 sorts of audiences.
My money is on the Pope!! (Click image for CA article.)
Special audiences are for Heads of State, ambassadors, etc.
Influential people like Rocky — Sylvester Stallone — can get a private audience.
Then, on Wednesday mornings the Pope gives a general audience [GA] to all who attend St. Peter’s Square. He does not say Mass but does deliver “an address” — a homily.
Hold that thought!
Click image or follow the link : https://www.vatican.va/various/prefettura/en/profilo_en.html
General Audience Addresses
Before we get to the question suggested by Nick Donnelly, readers should know that GA addresses are translated into a variety of languages and compiled under the Pope giving the address.
The first ‘general address’ I found was given by Pius XII on 26 April 1939. The world was in turmoil and WWII started that September.
Multiple translations became commonplace after Vatican II [Paul VI] and Pope Francis’ first general address was translated into 9 languages: Arabic, Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese & Spanish.
In comparison, the first address of the 6 other Popes since 1939 were translated as noted below:
Benedict XVI: Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish: 7 languages.
John Paul II: English, French, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish: 5 languages.
John Paul I: English, French, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish: 5 languages.
Paul VI: His first is not documented: the second on 18 Dec 1963, Italian & Spanish: 2 languages.
John XXIII: Italian & Spanish: 2 languages.
Pius XII: Italian only: 1 language.
HAS A TRANSLATION BEEN ERASED?
Below is the allegation made by Nick Donnelly on 𝕏 — formerly Twitter.
Click the image to follow link to 𝕏: formerly Twitter.
Donnelly prides himself as being 'one of Pope Francis's most ardent and outspoken critics' and implies that the missing translation/s is to remove St. JPII’s catechesis. (The Appendix below confirms that there is no English translation available for 10 September 1986.)
St. John Paul II’s ADDRESSES
St. John Paul II was Pope between 1978 - 2005. If you reference the Appendix you can see that an English translation was consistently available for his addresses from 1978 to mid-1980 and then onward from December 1996. (NB: only one page per year is appended.)
For the intervening ~16 years [mid-1980 to the end of 1996] I found only 3 English translations: 23 August 1989; 24 May 1989 & 9 July 2003. (Indeed, the only translation available for 9 July 2003 is English!)
Occam’s Razor: "The simplest explanation is usually the best one."
The simplest explanation — if improbable — is that no English translator was routinely available in the Vatican between 1980-1996. That said, Nick has shown that at least one English translation is missing.
I am hoping that there is still an innocent reason, such as the translation being removed because it was inaccurate from what was said. (Anyone wishing to read the addresses in English can use an on-line translation service / Google Translate.)
This issue merits a proper explanation. If someone has information, please DM me on 𝕏, or email the editor@catholicarena.com. CA will keep you updated!
St Peter of Verona
St Peter the Martyr
The hero deputed this day, by the Church, to greet our Risen Lord, was so valiant in the Good Fight, that Martyrdom is part of his name. He is known as Peter the Martyr; so that we cannot speak of him, without raising the echo of victory. He was put to death by heretics, and is the grand tribute paid to our Redeemer, by the 13th Century. Never was there a triumph hailed with greater enthusiasm than this. The Martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canterbury excited the admiration of the Faithful of the preceding Century, for nothing was so dear to our Forefathers as the Liberty of the Church; the Martyrdom of St. Peter was celebrated with a like intensity of praise and joy. Let us hearken to the fervid eloquence of the great Pontiff, Innocent the Fourth, who thus begins the Bull of the Martyr’s Canonization: “The truth of the Christian Faith, manifested, as it has been, by great and frequent miracles, is now beautified by the new merit of a new Saint. Lo! a combatant of these our own times comes, bringing us new and great and triumphant signs. The voice of his blood shed (for Christ) is heard, and the fame of his Martyrdom is trumpeted, throughout the world. The land is not silent that sweateth with his blood; the country that produced so noble a warrior resounds with his praise; yea, the very sword that did the deed of parricide proclaims his glory. … Mother Church has great reason to rejoice, and abundant matter for gladness; she has cause to sing a new canticle to the Lord, and a hymn of fervent praise to her God; … the Christian people has cause to give forth devout songs to its Creator. A sweet fruit, gathered in the garden of Faith, has been set upon the table of the Eternal King: a grape-bunch, taken from the vineyard of the Church, has filled the royal cup with new wine. … The flourishing Order of Preachers has produced a red rose, whose sweetness is most grateful to the King; and from the Church here on earth, there has been taken a stone, which, after being cut and polished, has deserved a place of honor in the temple of heaven.” (The Apostolic Constitution Magnis et crebris, of the 9th of the Kalends of April, 1253.)
Such was the language wherewith the supreme Pontiff spoke of the new Martyr, and the people responded by celebrating his Feast with extraordinary devotion. It was kept as were the ancient Festivals, that is, all servile work was forbidden upon it. The Churches served by the Fathers of the Dominican Order w r ere crowded on his Feast; and the Faithful took little branches with them, that they might be blessed, in memory of the Triumph of Peter the Martyr. This custom is still observed; and the branches blessed by the Dominicans, on this day, are venerated as being a protection to the houses where they are kept.
How are we to account for all this fervent devotion of the people towards St. Peter? It was because he died in defense of the faith; and nothing was so dear to the Christians of those days as faith. Peter had received the charge to take up all the heretics, who, at that time, were causing great disturbance and scandal in the country round about Milan. They were called Cathari, but, in reality, were Manicheans; their teachings were detestable, and their loves of the most immoral kind. Peter fulfilled his duty with a firmness and equity which soon secured him the hatred of the heretics; and when he fell a victim to his holy courage, a cry of admiration and gratitude was heard throughout Christendom. Nothing could be more devoid of truth than the accusations brought by the enemies of the Church and their indiscreet abettors, against the measures formerly decreed by the public law of Catholic nations, in order to foil the efforts made by evil-minded men to injure the true Faith. In those times, no tribunal was so popular as that whose office it was to protect the Faith, and to put down all them that attacked it. It was to the Order of St. Dominic that this office was mainly entrusted; and well may they be proud of the honor of having so long held one so beneficial to the salvation of mankind. How many of its members have met with a glorious death in the exercise of their stern duty! St. Peter is the first of the Martyrs given by the Order for this holy cause: his name, however, heads a long list of others who were his Brethren in Religion, his successors in the defense of the Faith, and his followers to martyrdom. The coercive measures that were once and successfully used to defend the Faithful from heretical teachers, have long since ceased to be used: but for us Catholics, our judgment of them must surely be that of the Church. She bids us today honor as a Martyr one of her Saints who was put to death while resisting the wolves that threatened the sheep of Christ’s fold; she we not be guilty of disrespect to our Mother if we dared to condemn what she so highly approves? Far, then, be from us that cowardly truckling to the spirit of the age, which would make us ashamed of the courageous efforts made by our forefathers for the preservation of the Faith! Far from us that childish readiness to believe the calumnies of Protestants against an Institution which they naturally detest! Far from us that deplorable confusion of ideas which puts truth and error on an equality and, from the fact that error can have no rights, concludes that truth can claim none!
The following is the account given us by the Church of the virtues and heroism of St. Peter the Martyr.
Peter was born at Verona, of parents who were infected with the heresy of the Manichees; but he himself, almost from his very infancy, fought against heresies. When he was seven years old, he was one day asked by an uncle, who was a heretic, what they taught him at the school to which he went. He answered, that they taught him the Symbol of the Christian Faith. His father and uncle did all they could, both by promises and threats, to shake the firmness of his faith: but all to no purpose. When old enough, he went to Bologna, in order to prosecute his studies. Whilst there, he was called by the Holy Ghost to a life of perfection, and obeyed the call by entering into the Order of St. Dominic.
Great were his virtues as a Religious man. So careful was he to keep both body and soul from whatsoever could sully their purity, that his conscience never accused him of committing a mortal sin. He mortified his body by fasting and watching and applied his mind to the contemplation of heavenly things. He labored incessantly for the salvation of souls and was gifted with a special grace for refuting heretics. He was so earnest when preaching, that people used to go in crowds to hear him, and numerous were the conversions that ensued.
The ardor of his faith was such, that he wished he might die for it, and earnestly did he beg that favor from God. This death, which he foretold a short time before in one of his sermons, was inflicted on him by the heretics. Whilst returning from Como to Milan, in the discharge of the duties of the holy Inquisition, he was attacked by a wicked assassin, who struck him twice on the head with a sword. The Symbol of faith, which he had confessed with manly courage when but a child, he now began to recite with his dying lips; and having received another wound in his side, he went to receive a Martyr’s palm in heaven, in the year of our Lord 1252. Numerous miracles attested his sanctity, and his name was enrolled the following year by Innocent IV, in the list of the martyrs.
The following Antiphons and Responsory are taken from the Dominican Breviary:
ANT. There rises a light from smoke, and a rose from the midst of briars: Peter, the Doctor and Martyr, is born of infidel parents.
ANT. A soldier once in the ranks of the Order of Preachers, he now is joined to the troop of the heavenly army.
ANT. His mind angelic, his tongue fruitful, his life apostolic, his death most precious.
℟. Whilst in search of Samson’s foxes, he is slain by the wicked: the lictor strikes the holy head, the blood of the just man is shed: * Thus he holds the palm of triumph, whilst dying for the faith.
℣. The brave soldier is unconquered: at the hour of death, he courageously confesses the faith, for which he suffers. Thus he holds the palm of triumph, whilst dying for the faith.
The victory was thine, O Peter! and thy zeal for the defense of holy Faith was rewarded. Thou ardently desiredst to shed thy blood for the holiest of causes, and, by such a sacrifice, to confirm the Faithful of Christ in their religion. Our Lord satisfied thy desire; he would even have thy martyrdom be in the festive Season of the Resurrection of our Divine Lamb, that his glory might add luster to the beauty of thy holocaust. When the death blow fell upon thy venerable head, and thy generous blood was flowing from the wounds, thou didst write on the ground the first words of the Creed, for whose holy truth thou wast giving thy life.
Protector of the Christian people! what other motive hadst thou, in all thy labors, but charity? What else but a desire to defend the weak from danger, induced thee not only to preach against error, but to drive its teachers from the flock? How many simple souls, who were receiving divine truth from the teaching of the Church, have been deceived by the lying sophistry of heretical doctrine, and have lost the Faith? Surely, the Church would do her utmost to ward off such dangers from her children: she would do all she could to defend them from enemies, who were bent on destroying the glorious inheritance, which had been handed down to them by millions of Martyrs? She knew the strange tendency that often exists in the heart of fallen man to love error; whereas Truth, though of itself unchanging, is not sure of its remaining firmly in the mind, unless it be defended by learning or by faith. As to learning, there are but few who possess it; and as to faith, error is ever conspiring against, and, of course, with the appearance of truth. In the Christian Ages, it would have been deemed not only criminal, but absurd, to grant to error the liberty which is due only to truth; and that they were in authority considered it a duty to keep the weak from danger by removing them all occasions of a fall—just as the father of a family keeps his children from coming in contact with wicked companions, who could easily impose on their inexperience, and lead them to evil under the name of good.
Obtain for us, O holy Martyr, a keen appreciation of the precious gift of Faith—that element which keeps us in the way of salvation. May we zealously do everything that lies in our power to preserve it, both in ourselves and in them that are under our care. The love of this holy Faith has grown cold in so many hearts; and frequent intercourse with heretics or free-thinkers has made them think and speak of matters of Faith in a very loose way. Pray for them, O Peter, that they may recover that fearless love of the Truths of Religion which should be one of the chief traits of the Christian character. If they be living in a country where the modern system is introduced of treating all Religions alike, that is, of giving equal rights to error and to truth—let them be all the more courageous in professing the truth, and detesting the errors opposed to the truth. Pray for us, O holy Martyr, that there may be enkindled within us an ardent love of that Faith without which it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6) Pray that we may become all earnestness in this duty, which is of vital importance to salvation—that thus our Faith may daily gain strength within us, till at length we shall merit to see in heaven what we have believed unhesitatingly on earth.
Monday of the Fifth Week After Easter
℣. In thy resurrection, O Christ, alleluia.
℟. Let heaven and earth alleluia.
Jesus bestows an inestimable gift upon his Apostles; and from this gift there proceed two Sacraments. On the sixth day of the Creation, the Divine Word infused his breath into Man, whose body he had formed out of the slime of the earth; and immediately this body was animated by a soul, bearing upon it the image of God. On the evening of the day of his Resurrection, the same Divine Word, then made visible in the flesh he had assumed, suddenly appeared in the midst of his Apostles, and said to them: Peace be to you! As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. (John 20:21) Then breathing upon them, he added, in a tone of command: Receive ye the Holy Ghost! (John 20:22)
What is this Breath, which is not given to all men but only to a few chosen ones? Jesus himself explains it by the words he speaks: this Breath imparts the Holy Ghost to them that receive it. The Holy Ghost is given to the Apostles, because they are sent by Jesus, as Jesus is sent by the Father.
The Apostles, then, receive this Divine Spirit, in order that they may communicate him to men, just as they themselves have had him given to them by Jesus. The Church’s tradition fills up the brief account of the Gospel. Two Sacraments, as we have already stated, take their origin from this act of our Risen Jesus, who, afterwards, instructed his Apostles as to the rites wherewith each of the two was to be administered.
The first of these two Sacraments is Confirmation, for whose institution we will return our humble thanks today; the other is Holy Orders, which we will explain further on in the week: both of them belong, in their administration, to the Episcopal character, which is the source whence flow the gifts conferred upon the Apostles for man’s sanctification.
Such is the importance of the Sacrament of Confirmation, that until such time as we have received it, we cannot be considered as perfect Christians. It is true that, by virtue of our Baptism, we are Children of God, Members of Christ and his Church; but as Christians, we are Soldiers—we have to Confess our faith, sometimes before tyrants, and even to the shedding of our blood; sometimes before the world, whose false seductive maxims are the occasion of so many apostasies; sometimes against Satan and his wicked angels, whose power is so justly feared by the servants of Christ. The seal of the Holy Ghost confers on us a degree of strength which Baptism does not give. Baptism made us citizens of the Church: Confirmation makes us Soldiers of God and of his Christ. Again, it is true that we can fight and conquer with the armor of Baptism; such is God’s will, who knows that the Sacrament which perfects the Christian is sometimes an impossibility; but woe to them that neglect to receive the completion of their Baptism! Hence, after administering the Sacrament of regeneration on Holy Saturday, the Bishop at once proceeded to give the Holy Ghost to all those who had been just born in the Son, and had been adopted by the Father.
Yes, Confirmation is administered by a Bishop; it is for him to say to the Baptized: Receive ye the Holy Ghost! It was just that this Divine Spirit should be thus honored. Even when, in cases of necessity, a Priest is delegated, by the Pope, to administer this Sacrament, he cannot validly do so except on the condition of his using Chrism consecrated by a Bishop: and thus, the Episcopal power is always uppermost in the conferring of the Holy Ghost.
What a solemn moment is that, wherein the Spirit of Power, who strengthened the Apostles, descends upon the Neophytes kneeling before the Bishop! The Pontiff stretches his hands over them; he pours out upon them the Spirit he has received in order to his communicating him to others; and, that he may give all possible solemnity to the gift he is about to bestow, he cites the words of Isaias, which prophesy the descent of the Spirit on the Branch that was to spring up from the Root of Jesse—a prophecy which was fulfilled in our Jesus when he received Baptism in the river Jordan, from the hands of St. John the Baptist: “O Almighty and Eternal God! who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these thy Servants by Water and the Holy Ghost; send forth from heaven upon them thy seven-fold Spirit, the Holy Paraclete: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding; the Spirit of counsel and fortitude; the Spirit of knowledge and godliness; fill them with the Spirit of thy fear, and sign them with the sign of the Cross of Christ.” (Pontificale Romanum: De Confirmandis, Isaiah 11)
Then is brought the sacred Chrism, of whose virtue we heard so much on Maundy Thursday. Confirmation was anciently called the Sacrament of Chrism—of Chrism in which dwells the power of the Holy Ghost. The Pontiff anoints with it the foreheads of the Neophytes and, at that same instant, the Holy Ghost imprints on their souls the sign of a perfect Christian. They are confirmed, and forever. Let them but listen to the voice of the Sacrament which is now within them, and no trial, no danger, can master them. The holy Oil, wherewith the Cross has been signed on their forehead, had imparted to them that firmness of adamant which was given to the Prophet Ezekiel, and enabled him to withstand all his enemies. (Ezekiel 3:9)
To a Christian, strength is salvation; for man’s life on earth is a warfare. (Job 7:1) Glory, then, be to our Risen Jesus, who, foreseeing the attacks that would be made against us, has armed us for the battle and, in this admirable Sacrament of Confirmation, has given us the Divine Spirit, who proceeds from himself and the Father, that we might be strong and invincible! Let us thank him, with all our hearts, for his having thus completed the grace already given us in Baptism. The Father, who so graciously adopted us, has delivered up his Only-Begotten Son for us; the Son gives us the Spirit, that he may dwell within us—oh! how wonderful a creature is Man, who is so loved by the Trinity! And yet Man is a sinner, and unfaithful creature; and, but too frequently, all these graces are rendered fruitless by his negligence or malice! Let us, at least, be faithful by keeping ourselves closely united to the Holy Church, and by devoutly celebrating, with her, the mysteries of God’s goodness, which the Liturgical Year brings successively before us.
Let us adore our Risen Jesus, our Divine Benefactor. In the name of his Church, enriched as she is by such precious gifts, let us offer him this beautiful Paschal canticle, taken from the ancient Missals of Saint Gall’s.
SEQUENCE
Let the Church, rejoicing in the triumphant return of her Beloved, sing to him her canticles, with voices well attuned.
Let her dry the tears from her beautiful cheeks, and gladly welcome back her Jesus, for whom she wept when he was taken from her.
He came from heaven, out of burning love for her; and, by his Blood, cleansed her from the stain of Eve’s offense. The Synagogue clad in robes of blackest hue, is driven, by the Bridegroom’s piercing rays, from the Marriage Feast.
Through love for his Church, Jesus was fastened to the lofty Tree of the Cross, and sanctified her by the stream that flowed from his Side.
Eve, formed from Adam’s rib, was a figure of the Church; so, too, was Noah’s Ark, when it sailed on the waters.
The king of Babylon cruelly treated thy Spouse, O Christ, and sent her into exile: but thou hadst pity on her sorrow, and, destroying Babylon, broughtest her back to thy holy Mount of Sion.
The earth, decked in her flowers of Spring, is a figure of thy Church’s , triumphant joy. Make us, O Jesus, to imitate her loveliness, for thou redeemedst us by thy Blood.
Thou, for our sakes, and for our deliverance, didst bring death upon the princes of Egypt: grant, that we may safely walk through the desert of this life, tread the fiery serpents beneath our feet,
And, having thee for our leader, reach the Promised Land. Amen.
St Peter of Verona: The Martyred Inquisitor
St Robert, Abbot of Molesme, Founder of the Cistercians
From Fr Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints:
ST. ROBERT was born in Champagne, about the year 1018. His parents, Theodoric and Ermegarde, were no less noble than virtuous, and brought him up in learning and piety. At the age of fifteen, he became a Benedictin monk in the abbey of Montier-la-celle, where he made such progress in perfection, that, though he was the youngest in that house, he was chosen prior, and some time after made abbot of St. Michael de Tonnerre. But not finding the monks of this place disposed to second his good intentions and labors to establish regular discipline among them, but rather of a refractory temper and obstinate behavior, he left them on the following occasion. There dwelt at that time in a neighboring desert called Colan, certain anchorets, who, not having any regular superior over them, besought him to undertake that office. After several impediments he complied with their request, and was received by them as another Moses to conduct them through the desert of this world to the heavenly Canaan. Colan being unhealthily situated, Robert removed them thence into the forest of Molesme, where they built themselves little cells made of boughs of trees, and a small oratory in honor of the Holy Trinity, in 1075. The poverty of those religious, and the severity of their lives being known, several persons of quality in the neighborhood, stirred up by the example of the bishop of Troyes, vied with one another in supplying them with necessaries, which introduced by degrees such a plenty as occasioned them to fall into great relaxation and tepidity,* insomuch, that the holy Robert, having tried in vain all means to reduce them to the regular observance of their profession, thought proper to leave them, and retired to a desert called Hauz, where certain religious men lived in great simplicity and fervor. Among these he worked for his subsistence, and employed as much of his time as possible in prayer and meditation. These religions men, seeing his edifying life, chose him for their abbot. But the monks of Molesme, finding they had not prospered since his absence, obtained of the pope and the bishop of Langres an order for his return to Molesme, on their promising that Robert should find them perfectly submissive to his directions. He accordingly came back. But as their desire of his return was only grounded on temporal views, it produced no change in their conduct after the first year. Some of them, however, seeing their lives were not conformable to St. Bennet’s rule, which was daily read in their chapter, were desirous of a reformation, which the rest ridiculed. Yet the more zealous, seeing that it was impossible faithfully to comply with their duties in the company of those who would not be re formed, recommended the matter to God by ardent prayers, and then re paired to Robert, begging his leave to retire to some solitary place, where they might be able to perform what they had undertaken, and were engaged by vow to practise.1 St. Robert promised to bear them company, and went with six of the most fervent of these monks to Lyons, to the archbishop Hugh, legate of the holy see, who granted them letters patent to that effect; wherein he not only advised, but even enjoined them to leave Molesme, and to persist in their holy resolution of living up to the rigor of the rule of St. Bennet. Returning to Molesme, they were joined by the rest that were zealous, and, being twenty-one in number, went and settled in a place called Cistercium, or Citeaux, an uninhabited forest covered with woods and brambles, watered by a little river, at five leagues distance from Dijon, in the diocese of Challons. Here these religious men began to grub up the shrubs and roots, and built themselves cells of wood, with the consent of Walter, bishop of Challons, and of Renaud, viscount of Beaune, lords of the territory. They settled there on St. Bennet’s day, the 21st of March, in 1098. From this epoch is dated the origin of the Cistercian order. The archbishop of Lyons, being persuaded that they could not subsist there without the assistance of some powerful persons, wrote in their favor to Eudo, duke of Burgundy. That prince, at his own cost, finished the building of the monastery they had begun, furnished them for a long time with all necessaries, and gave them much land and cattle. The bishop of Challons invested Robert with the dignity of abbot, erecting that new monastery into an abbey.* The first rule established by St. Robert, at Citeaux, allotted the monks four hours every night for sleep, and four for singing the divine praises in the choir: four hours were assigned on working days for manual lasor in the morning, after which the monks read till None: their diet was roots and herbs.2
The year following, 1099, the monks of Molesme sent deputies to Rome to solicit an order for their abbot St. Robert’s return to Molesme, alleging that religious observance had suffered greatly by his absence; and that on his presence both the prosperity of their house, and the security of their souls depended; assuring his Holiness that they would use their best endeavors to give him no further reason to complain of them. Urban II. therefore wrote to the archbishop of Lyons, to procure St. Robert’s return to Molesme, if it could be conveniently compassed. The legate sent his orders to that effect, and Robert immediately obeyed, remitting his pastoral staff for Citeaux to the bishop of Challons, who absolved him from the promise of obedience he had made him. He was installed anew by the bishop of Langres, abbot of Molesme, which he governed till his happy death, which happened not in 1100, as Manriquez imagined, but in 1110; for in that year he reconciled together two abbots, who had chosen him umpire in a quarre1.3 The ancient chronicle of Molesme says that St. Robert was born in 1018, and died in 1110: consequently he lived ninety-two or ninety-three years, and survived St. Alberic, who died in 1109. Upon proof of many miracles wrought at his tomb, pope Honorius III, enrolled his name among the saints. Martenne has published the information of several of these miracles taken by an order of that pope.4 Mention is made of this his canonization by Manriquez,5 the Younger Pagi,6 and Benedict XIV.7
St Peter, Martyr
He was assiduous in prayer; his watchings and fasts were such, that even in his novitiate they considerably impaired his health; but a mitigation in them restored it before he made his solemn vows. When by them he had happily deprived himself of his liberty, to make the more perfect sacrifice of his life to God, he drew upon him the eyes of all his brethren by his profound humility, incessant prayer, exact silence, and general mortification of his senses and inclinations. He was a professed enemy of idleness, which he knew to be the bane of all virtues. Every hour of the day had its employment allotted to it; he being always either studying, reading, praying, serving the sick, of occupying himself in the most mean and abject offices, such as sweeping the house, &c., which, to entertain himself in sentiments of humility, he undertook with wonderful alacrity and satisfaction, even when he was senior in religion. But prayer was, as it were, the seasoning both of his sacred studies (in which he made great progress) and of all his other actions. The awakening dangers of salvation he had been exposed to, from which the divine mercy had delivered him in his childhood, served to make him always fearful, cautious, and watchful against the snares of his spiritual enemies. By this means, and by the most profound humility, he was so happy as, in the judgment of his superiors and directors, to have preserved his baptismal innocence unsullied to his death by the guilt of any mortal sin. Gratitude to his Redeemer for the graces he had received, a holy zeal for his honor, and a tender compassion for sinners, moved him to apply himself with great zeal and diligence to procure the conversion of souls to God. This was the subject of his daily tears and prayers; and for this end, after he was promoted to the holy order of priesthood, he entirely devoted himself to the function of preaching, for which his superiors found him excellently qualified by the gifts both of nature and grace. He converted an incredible number of heretics and sinners in the Romagna, the marquisate of Ancona, Tuscany, the Bolognese, and the Milanese. And it was by many tribulations, which befell him during the course of his ministry, that God prepared him for the crown of martyrdom. He was accused by some of his own brethren of admitting strangers, and even women, into his cell. He did not own the calumny, because this would have been a lie, but he defended himself, without positively denying it, and with trembling in such a manner as to be believed guilty, not of any thing criminal, but of a breach of his rule: and his superiors imposed on him a claustral punishment, banished him to the remote little Dominican convent of Jesi, in the marquisate of Ancona, and removed him from the office of preaching. Peter received this humiliation with great interior joy, on seeing himself suffer something in imitation of Him, who, being infinite sanctity, bore with patience and silence the most grievous slanders, afflictions, and torments for our sake. But after some months his innocence was cleared, and he was commanded to return and resume his former functions with honor. He appeared everywhere in the pulpits with greater zeal and success than ever, and his humility drew on his labors an increase of graces and benedictions. The fame of his public miracles attested in his life and of the numberless wonderful conversions wrought by him, procured him universal respect: as often as he appeared in public, he was almost pressed to death by the crowds that flocked to him, some to ask his blessing, others to offer the sick to him to be cured, others to receive his holy instructions. He declared war in all places against vice. In the Milanese he was met in every place with a cross, banner, trumpets, and drums; and was often carried on a litter on men’s shoulders, to pass the crowd. He was made superior of several houses of his order, and in the year 1232 was constituted by the pope inquisitor-general of the faith. He had ever been the terror of the new Manichee heretics, a sect whose principles and practice tended to the destruction of civil society and Christian morals. Now they saw him invested with this dignity, they conceived a greater hatred than ever against him. They bore it however under the popedom of Gregory IX., but seeing him continued in his office, and discharging it with still greater zeal under pope Innocent IV., they conspired his death, and hired two assassins to murder him in his return from Come to Milan.The ruffians lay in ambush for him on his road, and one of them Carinus by name, gave him two cuts on the head with an axe, and then stabbed his companion, called Dominic. Seeing Peter rise on his knees, and hearing him recommend himself to God by those words: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my soul, and recite the creed, he dispatched him by a wound in the side with his cuttle-axe, on the 6th of April, in 1252, the saint being forty-six years and some days old. His body was pompously buried in the Dominicans’ church dedicated to St. Eustorgius, in Milan, where it still rests: his head is kept apart in a case of crystal and gold. The heretics were confounded at his heroic death, and at the wonderful miracles God wrought at his shrine; and in great numbers desired to be admitted into the bosom of the Catholic church. Carinus, the murderer of the martyr, fled out of the territory of Milan to the city of Forli, where, being struck with remorse, he renounced his heresy, put on the habit of a lay-brother among the Dominicans, and persevered in penance to the edification of many. St. Peter was canonized the year after his death by Innocent IV., who appointed his festival to be kept on the 29th of April. The history of miracles, performed by his relies and intercession, fills twenty-two pages in folio in the Acta Sanctorum, by the Bollandists, Apr. t. 3, p. 697 to 719.
Our divine Redeemer was pleased to represent himself to us, both for a model to all who should exercise the pastoral charge in his church, and for the encouragement of sinners, under the figure of the good shepherd, who, having sought and found his lost sheep, with joy carried it back to the fold on his shoulders. The primitive Christians were so delighted with this emblem of his tender love and mercy, that they engraved the figure of the good shepherd, loaded with the lost sheep on his shoulders, on the sacred chalices which they used for the holy mysteries or at mass, as we learn from Tertullian.1 This figure is found frequently represented in the tombs of the primitive Christians in the ancient Christian cemeteries at Rome.2 All pastors of souls ought to have continually before their eyes this example of the good shepherd and prince of pastors. The aumusses, or furs, which most canons, both secular and regular, wear, are a remnant of the skins or furs worn by many primitive pastors for their garments. They wore them not only as badges of a penitential life, in imitation of those saints in the Old Law who wandered about in poverty, clad with skins, as St. Paul describes them,3 and of St. Antony and many other primitive Christian anchorets, but chiefly to put them in mind of their obligation of imitating the great pastor of souls in seeking the lost sheep, and carrying it back on his shoulders: also of putting on his meekness, humility, and obedience, represented under his adorable title of Lamb of God, and that of sheep devoted to be immolated by death. Every Christian in conforming himself spiritually to this divine model, must study daily to die more and more to himself and to the world. In the disposition of his soul, he must also be ready to make the sacrifice of his life.
Collect of St Robert of Molesme, Abbot & Confessor ~ Indulgenced on the Saint's Feast (See Note)
According to the Apostolic Penitentiary, a partial indulgence is granted to those who on the feast of any Saint recite in his honour the oration of the Missal or any other approved by legitimate Authority.
Let us pray.
O God, who by the preaching of Thy blessed servant Robert Thou didst cause the light of the Gospel to shine in Burgundy: Grant, we beseech Thee, that, having his life and labours in remembrance, we may show our thankfulness to Thee by following the example of his zeal and patience