From St Thomas Aquinas Seminary. You may follow the Office at Divinum Officium.
18 September 2024
Germany: Railway Conductors Advised To Only Check Tickets of ‘Nationals’
German railways are taking a leaf from Starmer's book and introducing 'two-tier' enforcement of the law. Only non-jihadists need to worry about fare-dodging.
From The European Conservative
By Graham Barnfield
The decision comes in response to rising levels of violence from migrants.
Railway staff in Thuringia have been told that ticket inspection is now discretionary—with discriminatory consequences. Specifically, train conductors can opt out of checking the credentials of passengers who appear to be foreign, due to the threat of assault.
While female conductors and train attendants tend to suffer disproportionately from such attacks, the problem is widespread across the rail service.
Listing previous incidents, the works council of the South Thuringia Railway has warned against “people with a migration background.” State-owned national railway Deutsche Bahn agrees, saying attendants no longer have to ask to see the tickets of foreigners.
Past confrontations with asylum seekers suspected of fare-dodging, particularly on the Erfurt-Suhl railway line, mean that transport employees are now being left to decide for themselves on how to proceed with suspicious behaviour from travellers.
Train operator Deutsche Bahn described the measure as “de-escalation” to the Thüringer Allgemeine newspaper. Critics say that this approach to conflict avoidance in effect decriminalises fare-dodging and creates a two-tier system between different types of passengers, based on their appearance.
The South Thuringia Railway has supplemented its evasive approach to fare evasion with €336,000 worth of security measures. It has also requested that, on arrival, asylum seekers be schooled on the correct conduct for train passengers.
Second Wave of Communication Devices Explode in Lebanon
Assuming that this is an Israeli operation, you've really got to hand it to Mossad. Detonating the pagers at a funeral for those killed in the first wave,
From The European Conservative
By TEC News
Reporter witnessed Hezbollah members frantically removing batteries from communication devices that had not yet exploded
Electronic devices, including walkie-talkies, exploded in several parts of Lebanon on Wednesday. According to Lebanon’s health ministry, at least one person has been killed and more than 100 injured by the detonations.
The blasts came the day after 2,800 were injured and at least 12 killed when pagers belonging to Shiite Hezbollah terrorists simultaneously blew up on Tuesday.
Several explosions occurred at the Beirut funeral arranged by Hezbollah Wednesday for people killed the day before, according to Associated Press. Lebanese state media reported further exploding pagers and other devices in several other parts of the country.
A Reuters journalist in south Beirut reported seeing Hezbollah members “frantically” taking out the batteries from any devices that had not exploded, throwing the parts into metal barrels.
The walkie-talkies—or handheld radios—were reportedly purchased five months ago, at the same time as the pagers, a security source told Reuters. The news outlet also identified the devices as made by Japanese company ICOM, which said the model that appeared to be pictured in images from Lebanon was discontinued in 2014. The walkie-talkies had recently received new batteries, WSJ reports, and were used by a “narrower range of Hezbollah members” than the pagers.
Hezbollah is investigating the attacks, including looking at the possibility of people on the inside leaking information about the purchase of the communication devices. The terrorist group has previously been struggling with information leaks and informants, and this week’s attacks have also revealed the identities of a lot of their operatives and commanders.
Hezbollah has said it will retaliate against Israel, though the Israeli military has not commented on the explosions.
Hungary on Exploding Pagers: It’s a Misunderstanding
When the enemy attacks, you know who it is, but you desperately want to spread the blame around, but why blame poor Hungary?
From The European Conservative
By Zoltán Kottász
The Hungarian government has confirmed the company making the pagers has no manufacturing in Hungary.
Allegations that the exploding pagers that killed at least 12 people in Lebanon on Tuesday, and injured thousands more, were made in Hungary are incorrect, the Hungarian government said on Wednesday.
Government spokesman Zoltán Kovács said that the pagers were not made in Hungary and have never been in Hungary, as the company in question is a trading intermediary with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary.
The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Budapest, according to a statement released on Wednesday, September 18th by Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. “We authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC.”
Hundreds of paging communication devices carried by Shiite Hezbollah terrorists began exploding across Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon. The coordinated attack killed at least 12 people and wounded 2,800 more, including Iran’s ambassador to Beirut. More than 200 people are in critical condition.
Hezbollah blamed its arch-foe Israel for the attack, and vowed to retaliate. One Hezbollah official said the detonation was the group’s “biggest security breach” in its history.
Experts believe military-grade explosive material was put into the pagers before their delivery, and Israel’s spy agency Mossad may be responsible. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that “the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah” which appear to have been “sabotaged at source.”
The devices were ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, but the company said they had been produced by its Hungarian partner BAC Consulting KFT.
A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters said the group had ordered 5,000 pagers from Gold Apollo, which several sources say were brought into the country earlier this year.
According to media reports, BAC Consulting is registered at an address in Budapest but does not have a physical presence there. Its registered activities are wide-ranging, including computer game publishing, book publishing, IT consulting, and crude oil extraction. The company’s CEO, Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono did not respond to emails from Hungarian media outlets, and its website is currently inaccessible.
However, NBC News reached her on the phone. She confirmed that her company worked with Gold Apollo, but when asked about the pagers and the explosions, she said “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.”
Following the killing of its senior commanders in targeted Israeli airstrikes, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has been using pagers instead of mobile phones in order to evade Israel’s sophisticated surveillance technology, Reuters reported in July.
Hezbollah has been engaged in cross-border warfare with Israel since the October 7th massacre committed by Palestinian terror group Hamas, and organised by Iran. The clashes on the Lebanon front have killed hundreds in Lebanon, mostly fighters, and dozens including soldiers on the Israeli side.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah will make an address on Thursday, in a speech addressing “the latest developments.”
Strange Deaths of Medieval Royalty
It was relatively common in the middle ages for Kings, royals, and various other titled men to die in combat, and they were at least usually expected to fight personally. Despite the dangers of medieval combat and the expectations of nobility, however, many at the highest levels of aristocracy died in less than noble mundane accidents, and even in embarrassing circumstances.
The Secularisation of the Sources of Morality
With Fr Ezra Sullivan, OP, STD, Professor of Moral Theology & Psychology, University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (Angelicum).
Are You a Klutz? St. Joseph of Cupertino Is Your Saint!
Let all clumsy people take heart! You, too, can be a Saint. Just follow the sterling example of St Joseph of Cupertino by cultivating love for God.
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By Philip Kosloski
St. Joseph of Cupertino was known to drop dishes, break pots and get into other blunders around the monastery.
While much is written about St. Joseph of Cupertino’s supernatural ability to levitate, outside of the chapel he was more prone to being a klutz.
He possessed an innocent and simple soul, but was not graceful in the kitchen. In many ways his simplicity made him childlike, not entirely aware of his surroundings.
Angelo Pastrovicchi relates this side of the saint’s life in his book, St. Joseph of Cupertino.
He was employed in the kitchen and refectory, but displayed a woeful lack of ability. At times he could not distinguish wheat bread from rye bread, often he broke dishes by letting them fall, upset pots in putting wood on the fire and committed other blunders of a similar nature.
Pastrovicchi explains that, “Some have ascribed this awkwardness to a defect of sight.” He could have also been born with an intellectual disability that would have been diagnosed differently in today’s medical environment.
Whatever the case is, many of us can relate to the experience of being a clumsy person, always getting into trouble for our inattentiveness.
The example of St. Joseph of Cupertino shows to us what truly matters in life. He may have not been perfect or graceful in his actions, but he possessed a truly simple soul, deeply in love with God.
It was his simplicity and humility that allowed God to work many miracles that astonished everyone. He never sought attention, fame or fortune. All he wanted was to serve God in the silence of his heart.
His example is inspiring and gives us hope, especially when it may seem that we can’t get anything right!
Ember Wednesday in September
Today's Holy Mass from Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet Church, Paris. You may follow the Mass at Divinum Officium.
Happy UK Victory Day!
Bishop Chaput Resists Francis Again and Vatican Changes the Translation
Mr Flanders examines the Vatican's 'retranslation' of Francis's heretical remarks in Singapore, in a vain attempt to 'orthodoxise' them.
By Timothy Flanders, MA
Last week we discussed the significant linguistic issue in the Vatican translation of the Pope’s Italian statement “Tutte le religioni sono un cammino per arrivare a Dio” which the live translator translated as “every religion is way to arrive at God.”
In English, this phrase is heresy, pure and simple.
The word “way” in English means a “possibility whereby” and “arrive” in English means to achieve a destination. This phrase in English means that idolatry is a way to God.
In other words, the 1st commandment of the Ten Commandments is null and void.
So, understandably, the Vatican’s English translation changed this phrase to say this: “Religions are seen as paths trying to reach God.”
This latter phrase, in English, is not heresy. “Seen” and “trying” are expressing attempts to reach God, not the possibility, and not the ability or power to do so. Before we move to what the Vatican did subsequently, here again is the full Italian paragraph which is the official Italian text and the original language, together with the video of some of these sentences (with the live translator):
Tutte le religioni sono un cammino per arrivare a Dio. Sono – faccio un paragone – come diverse lingue, diversi idiomi, per arrivare lì. Ma Dio è Dio per tutti. E poiché Dio è Dio per tutti, noi siamo tutti figli di Dio. “Ma il mio Dio è più importante del tuo!”. È vero questo? C’è un solo Dio, e noi, le nostre religioni sono lingue, cammini per arrivare a Dio. Qualcuno sikh, qualcuno musulmano, qualcuno indù, qualcuno cristiano, ma sono diversi cammini.
Note the bolded words and phrases in Italian. Here’s the video:
Below is a screen shot of the original English translation as I noted in my report last week. This was on the Vatican’s website on Friday, September 13th, 2024, when I wrote my article:
And what does the Vatican website say now? At the time of this writing on September 17th, here’s the new official English rendition:
First of all, the new English translation again omits the Italian phrase “ma sono diversi cammini (but they are different paths [to God]).” Yet now the English correctly translates the first two phrases in the heretical manner. “All religions are paths to reach God” and “…like languages, paths to reach God.” The English is not as strongly heretical as the live translator rendered it when he said “arrive at God,” but the English is still worse than the original English official text. So the most strongly heretical English was the live translator, the “new official English” is slightly less heretical, but not by much, and the “first official English” was not heretical at all.
It would seem that by changing the English, the Vatican is admitting that there is no orthodox way to interpret these words of Pope Francis.
(In pricipio erat Verbum. You see how important every word is? Indeed: there was once a worldwide Christian battle over one letter: an iota.)
Originally it seemed that someone in the Vatican who was in charge of English understood how heretical (and idolatrous!) these words would mean, so they changed the English to be orthodox. Now someone has changed most of it back to its heretical meaning, which cannot be uttered by a Catholic in English.
If there’s some nuance in Italian that someone can tell me, please do so, and save the Holy Father from this (at least) material heresy!
One Bishop’s Response
Archbishop Chaput, who published his public resistance to Pope Francis back in March, published a text yesterday in the same mainstream publication and had this to say:
Pope Francis has the habit, by now well established, of saying things that leave listeners confused and hoping he meant something other than what he actually said… Since his comments were extemporaneous, they naturally lacked the precision that a prepared text would normally possess, and so hopefully what he said is not quite what he meant.
Yes we should all hope for this out of reverence for the Holy Father. But each of us reaches different points where this reverent piety seems to go against a rational argument, and we need to admit that words mean what they mean. Reverence for a person – no matter how great he may be – must always subordinate itself to reverence for the truth.
But after this deference, the Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia had these words of resistance against the Roman Pontiff:
That all religions have equal weight is an extraordinarily flawed idea for the Successor of Peter to appear to support. It is true that all of the great religions express a human yearning—often with beauty and wisdom—for something more than this life…
Simply put: Not all religions seek the same God, and some religions are both wrong and potentially dangerous, materially and spiritually. Catholics believe that Jesus Christ, once and forever, revealed to all humanity who God is. He redeemed us by his death and resurrection, and he gave us the commission to bring all humanity to him. As our faith teaches very clearly, it is only Jesus Christ who saves…
To suggest, even loosely, that Catholics walk a more or less similar path to God as other religions drains martyrdom of its meaning. Why give up your life for Christ when other paths may get us to the same God?
…The bishop of Rome is the spiritual and institutional head of the Catholic Church worldwide. This means, among other things, that he has the duty to teach the faith clearly and preach it evangelically. Loose comments can only confuse. Yet, too often, confusion infects and undermines the good will of this pontificate.
…Christians hold that Jesus alone is the path to God. To suggest, imply, or allow others to infer otherwise is a failure to love because genuine love always wills the good of the other, and the good of all people is to know and love Jesus Christ, and through him the Father who created us.
I quote the Archbishop at length here to stress that the growing consensus of faithful Catholics – whether “Trads,” “conservative” or other labels – is to resist Pope Francis’s words and deeds.
No faithful Catholic does this without great fear and trembling, for he is the Vicar of Christ. Yet there is an obligation of reverence that is even higher than the Vicar of Christ, and that is Christ Himself.
For He who said I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jn. xiv. 6) also said he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed, when he shall come in his majesty, and that of his Father, and of the holy angels (Lk. ix. 26).
Pictured: His Lordship giving an address at Georgetown University
St Joseph of Cupertino, Confessor
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From Dom Prosper Guéranger's Liturgical Year:
While, in France, the rising spirit of Jansenism was driving God from the hearts of the people, a humble son of St. Francis, in Southern Italy, was showing how easily love may span the distance between earth and heaven. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself, said Our Lord (John 12:32); and time has proved it to be the most universal of his prophecies. On the feast of the holy Cross, we witnessed its truth, even in the domain of social and political claims. We shall experience it in our very bodies on the great day, when we shall be taken up in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:16) But Joseph of Cupertino had experience of it without waiting for the resurrection: innumerable witnesses have borne testimony to his life of continual ecstasies, wherein he was frequently seen raised high in the air. And these facts took place in what men are pleased to call the noonday of history.
Let us read the account of him given by Holy Church.
Joseph was born of pious parents at Cupertino, a town of the Salentines in the diocese of Nardo, in the year of salvation one thousand six hundred and three. Prevented with the love of God, he spent his boyhood and youth in the greatest simplicity and innocence. The Virgin Mother of God delivered him from a long and painful malady, which he had borne with the greatest patience; whereupon he devoted himself entirely to works of piety and the practice of virtue. But God called him to something higher; and in order to attain to closer union with him, Joseph determined to enter the Seraphic Order. After several trials he obtained his desire, and was admitted among the Minor Conventuals in the convent called Grotella, first as a lay-brother, on account of his lack of learning; but afterwards, God so disposing, he was raised to the rank of a cleric. After making his solemn Vows he was ordained Priest, and began a new life of greater perfection. Utterly renouncing all earthly affections and everything of this world almost to the very necessaries of life, he afflicted his body with hairshirts, chains, disciplines, and every kind of austerity and penance; while he assiduously nourished his spirit with the sweetness of holy prayer, and the highest contemplation. By this means, the love of God, which had been poured out in his heart from his childhood, daily increased in a most wonderful manner.
His burning charity shone forth most remarkably in the sweet ecstasies which raised his soul to God, and the wonderful raptures he frequently experienced. Yet, marvelous to tell, however rapt he was in God, obedience would immediately recall him to the use of his senses. He was exceedingly zealous in the practice of obedience; and used to say that he was led by it like a blind man, and that he would rather die than disobey. He emulated the poverty of the seraphic patriarch to such a degree, that on his deathbed he could truthfully tell his superior he had nothing which, according to custom, he could relinquish. Thus dead to the world and to himself Joseph showed forth in his flesh the life of Jesus. While in others he perceived the vice of impurity by an evil odor, his own body exhaled a most sweet fragrance, a sign of the spotless purity which he preserved unsullied in spite of long and violent temptations from the devil. This victory he gained by strict custody of his senses, by continual mortification of the body, and especially by the protection of the most pure Virgin Mary, whom he called his Mother, and whom he venerated with tenderest affection as the sweetest of mothers, desiring to see her venerated by others, that they might, said he, together with her patronage, gain all good things.
Blessed Joseph’s solicitude in this respect sprang from his love for his neighbor, for he was consumed with zeal for souls, urging him to seek the salvation of all. His love embraced the poor, the sick, and all in affliction, whom he comforted as far as lay in his power, not excluding those who pursued him with reproaches and insults, and every kind of injury. He bore all this with the same patience, sweetness, and cheerfulness of countenance as were remarked in him when he was obliged frequently to change his residence, by the command of the Superiors of his Order, or of the holy Inquisition. People and princes admired his wonderful holiness and heavenly gifts; yet, such was his humility, that, thinking himself a great sinner, he earnestly besought God to remove from him his admirable gifts; while he begged men to cast his body after death in a place where his memory might utterly perish. But God, who exalts the humble, and who had richly adorned his servant during life with heavenly wisdom, prophecy, the reading of hearts, the grace of healing, and other gifts, also rendered his death precious and his sepulcher glorious. Joseph died at the place and time he had foretold, namely, at Osimo in Picenum, in the sixty-first year of his age. He was famous for miracles after his death; and was enrolled among the Blessed by Benedict XIV, and among the Saints by Clement XIII. Clement XIV, who was of the same Order, extended his Office and Mass to the universal Church.
While praising God for the marvelous gifts he bestowed on thee, we acknowledge that thy virtues were yet more wonderful. Otherwise, thy ecstasies would be regarded with suspicion by the Church, who usually withholds her judgment until long after the world has begun to admire and applaud. Obedience, patience, and charity, increasing under trial, were incontestable guarantees for the divine authorship of these marvels, which the enemy is sometimes permitted to mimic to a certain extent. Satan may raise a Simon Magus into the air: he cannot make a humble man. O worthy son of the seraph of Assisi, may we, after thy example, be raised up, not into the air, but into those regions of true light, where far above the earth and its passions, our life, like thine, may be hidden with Christ in God! (Colossians 3:3)
St Joseph of Cupertino ~ God Doesn't Care How Smart You Are
A sermon for today. Please remember to say 3 Hail Marys for the Priest.
St Thomas of Villanova, Confessor, Archbishop of Valentia: Butler's Lives of the Saints
An audio reading of the entry on St Thomas.
St Thomas, of Villanova, Confessor, Archbishop of Valentia
From Fr Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints:
From his life composed by Michael Salon, a native of Valentia; the same by Jerom Canton, and Nicasius Baxius, two religions men of his Order; and chiefly from the memoirs furnished for this canonization, prefixed to his works. Pinius, t. 5, Sept. p. 799.
A. D. 1555.
ST. THOMAS, the glory of the Church of Spain, in these later ages, was born at Fuenlana in Castile in 1488; but received his surname from Villanova de los Infantes, a town where he had his education, situate about two miles from the place of his birth. His parents, Alphonsus Thomas Garcias and Lucy Martinez, were also originally of Villanova. Their fortune was not affluent; but it contented all their wishes, and with their prudent frugality enabled them liberally to assist the poor. Instead of selling that corn which was not necessary for the subsistence of their family, they made bread of it, which they bestowed on the necessitous, and they usually observed the same rule with regard to their cattle, and the rest of the produce of their small estate. This charitable disposition was the most valuable part of their son’s inheritance, and proved one of the most distinguishing virtues in his character during the whole course of his life. When but seven years old he studied every day by various little contrivances to do whatever lay in his power in favor of poor persons, often depriving himself of part of his meals for this purpose, and gathering together what scraps he could find at home, or whatever else he could presume on his parents’ consent to give: nor were they backward in approving his conduct on such occasions, or in giving what he asked them for the indigent. This virtue was accompanied in the saint with a practice of assiduous mortification, a modesty and sweetness which charmed every one, perfect love of purity which was never sullied, a predominant love of truth which abhorred the shadow of a lie, and a regular piety and devotion, which made him even from his infancy spend hours together on his knees in the church with extraordinary fervor. The first words which his parents had taught him lo pronounce were the names of Jesus and Mary; and during his whole life he had the most tender devotion to the mother of God. His excellent wit began to appear in the school at Villa Nova; and at the age of fifteen he was sent to the university of Alcala, which had been lately founded by cardinal Ximenes, the great patron of learning, and the celebrated prime minister under Ferdinand and Charles V. Our saint pursued his studies there with a success that drew all eyes upon him, and the cardinal, out of a regard to his merit, gave him a place in St. Ildefonso’s college. By the regularity of his own conduct he engaged many of his fellow-students in the practice of Christian perfection. He mortified his senses, with abstinence and great severities; and his whole time was divided between prayer, study, and actions of charity, so that he had none left for pastimes and diversions.
After eleven years spent at Alcala he commenced master of arts, and was made professor of philosophy in that city, being then twenty-six years old. His father had built him a house against his return home from his studies; but this the saint, with the leave of his mother, converted into a hospital. After ho had taught two years at Alcala, he was invited with the promise of an honorable stipend, to the same employment at Salamanca, a place famous for its ancient university, which had been founded there by Alphonsus IX., king of Leon, in 1200, and for the many great men who flourished in it. The motives which prevailed with the saint to comply with this invitation were chiefly a desire of shunning the applause which he received at Alcala, and the hopes of removing certain impediments which arose from his friends in the former place, and obstructed his fixed design of quitting the world. He taught moral philosophy two years at Salamanca; during which time he considered what religious retreat he should make choice of. After the most mature deliberation, in which he took a review of the rules of several orders, and considered the spirit of their respective founders, he determined to enter himself among the Hermits of St. Austin. He took the habit in a most rigorous and exemplary house of that institute at Salamanca in 1518, about the time that Luther apostatized from the same order in Germany.
His behavior in his novitiate was such as showed he had been long inured to austerities, to the renouncing his own will, and the exercises of holy contemplation. The simplicity of his behavior in his whole conduct charmed his fellow-religious, and made them admire how he seemed totally to forget that he had been professor in a famous university. Soon after the term of his novitiate was expired, he was promoted to priestly orders in 1520, and employed in preaching the word of God, and in administering the sacrament of penance. Of these functions he acquitted himself with such dignity and success that he was surnamed the apostle of Spain. Neither did he interrupt these employments, or allow himself any relaxation in his monastic rules or austerities, whilst he taught with wonderful applause, a course of divinity, in the public school of the Augustinians, at Salamanca. He was afterward successively prior at Salamanca, Burgos, and Valladolid, was twice provincial of Andalusia, and once of Castile; and behaved himself in all these stations, with a sweetness and zeal which equally edified and gained the hearts of all his religious brethren, so that he governed them rather by the example of his most holy life than by the authority of his charge. His charity made him accessible to all who wanted his assistance advice, or comfort, and the prudence, skill, and spiritual light with which he applied remedies to the various maladies of human souls manifestly discovered how great a blessing God bestows on a people when he sends them directors animated with his divine spirit, and enlightened by himself. This heavenly succor the saint found in the constant close union of has soul with God. He fell into frequent raptures at his prayers, especially at mass; and though he endeavored to hide such graces and favors, he was not able to do it; his face, after the holy sacrifice, shining like that of Moses, sometimes dazzled the eyes of those that beheld him.
Preaching once in the cathedral church at Burgos, and reproving with zeal the vices and ingratitude of sinners, he held in his hand a crucifix, and cried out from the bottom of his heart with a broken voice: “O Christian, look here, O Christian—” Saying this he was not able to go on, being ravished in an ecstasy. Preaching also at Valladolid on Maunday-Thursday before the emperor Charles V., and explaining the words of St. Peter to our Lord, at the washing of the feet, he repeated: “Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Thou Lord of all creatures! thou Creator of the angels! thou God of infinite majesty, washest my feet! The Sovereign Monarch those of a vile creature! the Master his servant’s! the Innocent, a sinner’s feet!” Here falling into a rapture, he broke off his sermon, and remained for some time with his eyes lifted up to heaven, pouring forth abundance of tears. The emperor chose him for one of his preachers; afterward made him one of his counsellors, received his advice as an oracle of heaven, and sometimes wrote to him when at a distance. For a proof how great the authority of our saint was with that prince, the authors of his life give the following instance. This emperor had signed an order for the execution of certain persons of quality condemned for treason; and neither the archbishop of Toledo, nor his own son Philip, nor all the nobility of Spain, were able, by the warmest solicitations, to move him to mercy. At length our saint, at the request of Philip of Spain, went to him, and by discoursing some time with him, prevailed upon the angry monarch to grant what he asked. When the princes and nobles expressed their surprise thereat, the emperor told them, that when the prior of the Austin Friars of Valladolid desired to obtain anything of him, he rather commanded than asked it; so strongly did he incline him to what he pleased, by persuading him that it was the will of the Almighty. “He is a true servant of God,” said that prince, “and though he abides among mortals, he is worthy the honor due to those who enjoy the crown of immortality.”
Persons of all qualities and conditions consulted him. Nor is it to be expressed with what zeal, prudence, and charity, he endeavored to advance the glory of God among men, especially among those that were committed to his charge. He was most zealous to maintain regular discipline in his Order, and a great enemy to discourses of news among his brethren, or whatever else might dissipate their minds, or introduce the world into their hermitages. When any of his subjects had committed any grievous fault, he joined fasting and bloody disciplines with earnest prayer and tears, that it would please the Lord of mercy to bring back the strayed sheep, for which he had shed his blood. He bore patiently the infirmities and imperfections of others, accommodating himself, like St. Paul, to the humors and weaknesses of every one, where no duty was injured. When he was provincial, he visited his convents with singular diligence, and was particularly careful about four things. The first was the worship of God, that the divine service should be performed with the utmost reverence and attention; that a moderate pause should be observed in the middle of each verse by those that sung in choir; and that all things belonging to the altar should be kept with great neatness and cleanness. The second thing which he recommended, was assiduous reading of the holy scriptures and pious books, with holy meditation, without which he said it is impossible for devotion to last long. Thirdly, he was very solicitous to settle all the religious in every convent in the most perfect concord and union, exhorting every one to the most sincere and tender fraternal charity. Fourthly, he procured that every one should be employed according to his talents, and in those offices for which he was fittest.
Whilst the saint was performing the visitation of his convents, he was nominated by the emperor Charles V. to the archbishopric of Granada, and commanded to repair to Toledo. He obeyed; but undertook the journey with no other view than that of declining the dignity; in which, by his urgent importunities, he succeeded according to his wish. George of Austria, uncle to the emperor, resigning some time after, the archbishopric of Valentia, to pass to the bishopric of Liege, the emperor, who was then it Flanders, thought of not venturing to offer him this see because he knew how grievous a mortification it would be to his humility. He therefore ordered his secretary to draw up a placet, or letter of recommendation or nomination, for him to sign in favor of a certain religious man of the Order of St. Jerom. Afterward, finding that the secretary had put down the name of F. Thomas of Villa Nova, he asked the reason. The secretary answered, that he thought he had heard this name; but would easily rectify the mistake. “By no means,” said the emperor; “this has happened by a particular providence of God. Let us therefore follow his will.” So he signed the placet for St. Thomas, and it was forthwith sent him to Valladolid, where he was prior. The saint wept bitterly upon receiving the news, and used all means possible to excuse himself. But prince Philip, who was regent of Spain during his father’s absence, was not easily to be overcome; and the archbishop of Toledo, and several others, fearing lest the nomination should be by any means frustrated, engaged the saint’s provincial to command him, in virtue of his religious obedience, and under a threat of excommunication, to submit to the emperor’s will.
Pope Paul III. sent the bull for his consecration, and that ceremony was performed at Valladolid by cardinal John of Tavera, archbishop of Toledo. The saint set out very early next morning for Valentia. His mother, who had converted his house into a hospital for the use of the poor and sick, and resolved to spend the rest of her days in their service, entreated him to take Villa Nova in his way, that she might have the satisfaction of seeing him before she died. But the holy bishop, having recommended that affair to God, according to his usual custom, went directly to his diocess, being persuaded that his present character obliged him to postpone all other considerations to that of hastening to the flock committed to his care. He travelled on foot, in his monastic habit, which was very old, with no other hat than one he had worn ever since his profession, accompanied by one religious man of his Order, and two servants. Upon his arrival at Valentia, he retired to a convent of his Order, where he spent several days in penance and devout prayer, to beg the grace of God, by which he might be enabled worthily to acquit himself of his charge. He took possession of his cathedral on the first day of the ensuing year, 1545; which he was prevailed upon to do with the usual ceremonies, amidst the rejoicings and acclamations of the people. But when he was led to the throne prepared for him in the church, he cast away the cushions and silk tapestry, fell upon his knees on the bare floor, embraced the foot of the cross, and adored our Lord, pouring forth a torrent of tears; and, before he rose up, he humbly kissed the ground. The chapter, in consideration of his poverty, made him a present of four thousand ducats towards furnishing his house, which he accepted of in an humble and civil manner, and thanked them for their kindness; but he immediately sent the money to the great hospital, with an order to lay it out in repairing the house, and for the use of the poor patients. The first using he did after the public ceremonies were over, was to visit the prisons of his bishopric, and judging them too dark and inconvenient, he ordered them to be changed, and made commodious.
It is often said, that “Honors change manners:” but our saint kept not only the same perfect humility of heart, but, as much as possible, the same exterior marks of a sovereign contempt of himself and all worldly vanity. He went almost as meanly apparelled as before; and even kept for some years the very habit which he brought from his monastery, which he sometimes mended himself, as he had been wont to do in his convent. One of his canons surprising him one day in the fact, said, he wondered he would so meanly employ his time, which a tailor would save him for a trifle. The servant of God said, that he was still a religious man, and that that trifle would feed some poor man; but he desired him to tell nobody of what he saw him doing. Ordinarily he wore only old clothes, insomuch that his canons and domestics were ashamed of him, himself alone not blushing. When he was pressed by them to put himself into a dress and equipage suitable to his dignity, his answer was, that he had made a vow of poverty, and that his authority did not depend upon his dress or appearance, but was to be supported by his zeal and vigilance. With much ado, his canons gained so far upon him that he cast away his woollen hat, and wore one of silk. Upon which he used afterward sometime to show his hat, and merrily say: “Behold my episcopal dignity: my masters the canons judged it necessary that I should wear this silk hat, that I might be numbered among the archbishops.” The frugality of his table was not less extraordinary, and he continued to observe the fasts and abstinence prescribed by his rule: nor would he ever suffer any expensive fish to be bought for his table, saying, the superfluous price would feast some poor person; and that he was not master, but only dispenser of the goods of the Church. In Advent and Lent, upon Wednesdays and Fridays, and on vigils, he contented himself with a little bread and water, fasting till night. His palace was a true house of poverty: there was no tapestry to be seen in it; nor did he use any linen, unless when he was sick: he oftentimes took his rest upon a bundle of dry sticks, with no other pillow but a hard stone.
He discharged all the duties of a good pastor, and visited the churches of his diocess, preaching everywhere, both in the towns and villages, with such zeal and affection, that the words which came from his mouth seemed so many flashes of lightning, or claps of thunder. His sermons were followed with a wonderful change of the manners and lives of men, in all places he visited, so that one might say he was a new apostle or prophet raised by God to reform that people. Having ended his visitation, he assembled a provincial council, where, with the advice of his fellow-bishops, he made holy ordinances to cut off the abuses he had taken notice of in his visitation, especially to establish a perfect reformation of his clergy. To effect that of his own chapter it cost him much difficulty and time; though he at last gained his point. On all emergencies, like another Moses, he had recourse to the tabernacle to learn the will of God: he often spent nights and days in his oratory to beg light from above. The saint perceiving that his servants made a difficulty to disturb him at his devotions when persons came to consult him, gave them a strict charge, that as soon as any one asked for him, they should immediately call him, without making the party wait; giving them this reason, that though solitude and retirement were his sweetest delight, since he had accepted the archbishopric be was no longer his own master, but was engaged in the service of his flock. By his assiduity in prayer he obtained so excellent a gift of counsel and prudence, that when he had passed sentence, of given his opinion in any matter of importance, the lawyers were wont to say, there was no room for any further doubt. When any affair of great consequence was to be despatched, or any notorious sinner or public malefactor appeared deaf to all exhortations, the holy pastor spent whole nights in prayer, and to render his prayers more efficacious, he accompanied them with tears and with some extraordinary austerities and alms. Thus he obtained of God several wonderful conversions of obstinate sinners and malefactors, especially of two wicked priests. One of these he had conjured, in the most tender and vehement expressions, to remember how dear a price his soul cost our Redeemer, and finding him not sufficiently softened, he threw himself down before a crucifix, and pouring out a deluge of tears, uncovered his back, and tore his body with a discipline, so that his garments were all stained with his blood. Which charity moved the other to begin to weep for himself, and to cast himself at his feet, beseeching him to forbear exercising that cruelty against himself, saying: “It is I that have sinned, and that deserve all punishment,” &c.1
St. Thomas was most bountiful and tender toward all his servants. His bishopric was worth eighteen thousand ducats per annum; two thousand of which were paid to prince George of Austria, as a pension reserved to him upon his resignation: twelve thousand the saint gave to the poor, not reserving one penny for the following year, and he allowed himself only four thousand to defray all the expenses of his family, repairs of his palace, &c. There came to his door every day about five hundred poor people, and each of them received an alms, which was ordinarily bread and pottage, with a cup of wine and a piece of money. He took all poor orphans under his particular care; and for the space of eleven years that he was archbishop not one poor maid was married who was not helped by his charity. He brought up all the foundling infants in his diocess with the tenderness of a careful mother, often visited them all, and gave extraordinary recompenses to those nurses that were particularly tender and diligent. To his porters, to make them more diligent in finding children that were exposed by their parents, he gave a crown for every foundling they brought him. When, in 1550, a pirate had plundered a town in his diocess, near the sea-coast, the archbishop immediately sent four thousand ducats, and cloth worth as much more, to furnish the inhabitants with necessaries, and to ransom the captives.
Nor was he only the support of the poor himself, but he engaged the great lords, and all that were rich, to make their grandeur appear, not by pomp and vanities, but by becoming the fathers and protectors of their vassals, and by their profuse liberality to the necessitous. He exhorted them to be richer in mercy and charity, than they were in earthly possessions. “Answer me, O sinner,” he would say, “what can you purchase with your money better, or more necessary, than the redemption of your sins?” At other times he would say, “If you desire that God should hear your prayers, hear the voice of the poor. If you desire that God should prevent your wants prevent those of the indigent, without waiting for them to importune you; especially anticipate the necessities of those who are ashamed to beg; to make these ask an alms, is to make them to buy it.” His charity towards his neighbor, and all his other virtues, received their perfection from the most ardent love of God which burnt in his pure breast, and which he expressed both by works and by the most tender words and sweet sighs. “Thou commandest me, O Lord,” said he sometimes in imitation of St. Austin, “to love thee in all things, and above all things; and thou commandest me this very strictly, under pain of being for ever deprived of the vision of thy beautiful and amiable face, which the angels desire continually to behold. And what! is it possible, O my God, that I should be so ungrateful and so base as to stand in need of such a precept? After having been created by Thee to thy own image, and redeemed with the infinite price of the blood of thy dear Son; after having received so many and so great favors, do I stand in need of a command to love thee? Ah! my God, thou confoundest me by this precept. But, O infinitely sweet and delicious command! O light burden! I return Thee immortal thanks, O my God, for having obliged me by so holy and so desirable a law, to love Thee. What could be so agreeable and pleasant, so just and so glorious as to love Thee? Is it possible that any creature, capable of knowing Thee, should not love Thee? If I were forbid to love Thee, this ought to seem impossible and intolerable to me. This affrights me above all the other evils and torments of hell. O wretched creatures who are condemned to that unhappy place, because you love not, but hate and blaspheme your Creator! is this the acknowledgment you render him? May I perish, O my God, rather than ever cease to love Thee. If I forget Thee, let my own right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember Thee, and always make Thee the object of my joy and love,” &c.2 And again, “Who can be excused from so sweet and light a precept? How justly is he damned eternally who chooses rather to burn in hell than to love Thee.”3
St. Thomas not being able, through the weakness of his health, to assist in person at the council of Trent, deputed thither the bishop of Huësca in his place. Most of the Spanish bishops that went, repaired first to Valentia to receive his advice. The saint lived in perpetual fear and apprehension under the grievous obligations of the episcopal charge, and used to say, that “he was never so much afraid lest he should be blotted out of the number of the predestinated, as since he had been enrolled in the list of bishops.” He had often employed his interest at Rome and at the court of Spain for leave to resign his dignity. God was pleased at length to hear his prayer, by calling him to himself. The blessed man having been forewarned by a vision that he should die on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, was taken ill of a quinsy, attended with a violent fever, on the 29th of August. He began his immediate preparation for his passage by a general confession of his very least faults, which he made with many tears, as if he had been the greatest of all sinners. Then he received the viaticum; on which occasion, by a most pathetic exhortation which he made, he moved all that were present to weep bitterly. And having commanded all the money then in his possession (which amounted to four thousand ducats) to be distributed among the poor in all the parishes of the city, he then ordered all his goods to be given to the rector of his college, except the bed on which he lay. Being desirous to go naked out of the world, he gave this bed also to the jailer, for the use of prisoners, but borrowed it of him till such time as he should expire. Understanding that some money had been brought in for him, he caused it to be immediately sent to the poor at midnight. On the 8th of September, in the morning, perceiving his strength to decay, he caused the passion of our Lord according to St. John to be read to him, during which he frequently lifted up his eyes bathed in tears towards a crucifix. Then he ordered mass to be said in his presence, and after the consecration, recited the psalm, In te, Domine, speravi, &c., streams of tears falling from his eyes; after the priest’s communion he said that verse, Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit; at which words he rendered his soul into the hands of God, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, the eleventh of his episcopal dignity, of our Lord 1555. He was buried, according to his desire, in the church of the Austin Friars at Valentia: was beatified by Paul V. in 1618, and canonized by Alexander VII. in 1658. His festival was appointed to be celebrated on the 18th of September. His sermons, and his exposition of the book of Canticles, printed in two volumes in quarto, breathe an admirable spirit of humility, and the ardent love of God and our Blessed Redeemer. The relation of many miracles wrought through his intercession and by his relics, with most authentic attestations, may be seen in the process of his canonization prefixed to his works.
Nothing can be more vehement or more tender than his exhortation to divine love. “O wonderful beneficence!” he cries out; “God promises us heaven for the recompense of his love. Is not his love itself a great reward? a blessing the most desirable, the most amiable, and the most sweet! Yet a recompense, and so immense a recompense, further waits upon it. O wonderful excess of goodness! Thou givest thy love, and for this thy love thou bestowest on us paradise. Such and so great a good is thy love, that to obtain it, all torments and fatigues ought joyfully to have been undergone. Yet this thou bestowest on us free cost; and then givest heaven for its reward. O Omnipotent Jesus, give me what thou commandest. For though to love Thee be of all things the most sweet; yet it is above the reach and strength of nature. I am, notwithstanding, inexcusable, if I do not love Thee; for thou grantest thy love to all who desire or ask it. I cannot see without light: yet if I shut my eyes in the midst of the noon-day light, the fault is in me, not in the sun.”4