As usual, the good Bishop speaks out in defence of the Truth.
LINK TO FULL INTERVIEW https://youtu.be/LT0FGB24l8M
31 December 2021
Does Catholicism have a Future in Chicago? Traditionalism and Cardinal Cupich
'[T]wo-thirds of all Catholic schools in the Archdiocese have been closed forever — and 95% of those closures have occurred since Vatican II.'
From One Peter Five
By John A. Litwinski
Chicago is known for its magnificent late 19th and early 20th century Catholic churches, many built with donations from poor immigrants toiling in the city’s steel mills and factories. Considering the enormous sacrifices that were made to build up Catholicism in Chicago, the question may be asked: what has the Archdiocese done with the talents it has been given, and what are the prospects for the future of Catholicism in Chicago?
The Second Vatican Council of the 1960s occurred at a time of great optimism and strength in the American Church. It is a bitter irony, therefore, that a Council that intended to revitalize the Church has instead overseen a massive decline in Chicago and elsewhere. News reports of church closings rarely provide a full picture of just how fully Catholicism has collapsed in what was once called the “Catholic City.” Nonetheless, the Archdiocese of Chicago’s website provides a list of all Catholic institutions that have been closed in the past century and half.
Only 20 Chicago Catholic schools were closed in the 100 years prior to Vatican II, but 390 schools have eliminated since 1965, with just 200 remaining. In other words, two thirds of all Catholic schools in the Archdiocese have been closed forever — and 95% of those closures have occurred since Vatican II.
The number of parish closings is equally sobering. Over one third of all Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese have been permanently shut down. The Archdiocese only closed 16 parishes in the century prior to Vatican II, but has shut down over 130 since then. Only about 290 churches remain open to serve a Catholic population of 2.2 million.
Demographic changes do not really explain the overall decline. While the city of Chicago has lost population since the 1950s, the total area covered by the Chicago Archdiocese (Cook and Lake counties) has increased in population. In fact, demographic changes in the past few decades should have favored a renewal of Catholicism, since Chicago’s Hispanic community has grown to around 30% of the city’s population, and there has been significant Catholic immigration from countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, and Poland. Yet the closures continue apace.
There is no doubt that Chicago is a microcosm of what has happened in the rest of Catholic America: since 1970, weekly church attendance among Catholics has dropped from 55% to around 20%; the number of priests has declined from 59,000 to about 35,000; and the number of nuns has plummeted from 160,000 to 41,000. The number of Catholics who have left the faith is even more staggering: it has increased 15-fold, from under 2 million in 1975 to around 30 million today.
If the next 50 years look anything like the last 50 years, there will no Catholic schools left in Chicago, and most of the churches open today will be closed. There will be almost no nuns and very few priests, since only 25 percent of current Chicago priests are under age 50. Catholicism in Chicago will be small, esoteric, and irrelevant to the broader world.
His Eminence, Cardinal Cupich, and Traditionalism
Yet there is a wrinkle in this history that challenges the narrative of inexorable decline. That countercurrent is the remarkable growth of traditional Catholicism in the past few decades.
In retrospect, one of the most pivotal years in the history of the Chicago Archdiocese was 1988. That year, Fr. Frank Phillips, C.R. became pastor at St. John Cantius Church. Throughout the 1980s, Cantius had been a typical dying urban church, sometimes drawing as few as 40 parishioners to Sunday mass. At the urging of Fr. Phillips, the Archdiocese chose Cantius as the site for the renewed celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.
In the years that followed, this church, that had been on the verge of closing, underwent a remarkable rebirth. The Canons Regular, a new order of priests and brothers now numbering over two dozen men, was created to staff Cantius and later, two other churches. Its music program (directed by OnePeterFive columnist Massim Scapin) is now nationally renowned, and its live-streamed weekend masses draw thousands of viewers online.
By any measure, Cantius has been incredibly effective at transmitting and propagating the faith. It is thereby achieving the main goal of the Second Vatican Council, as stated by Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II: “that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine be guarded and taught more effectively.”
But 1988 was a much darker inflection point for other Catholic churches in Chicago. Since 1988, approximately 100 parishes have been closed in the Archdiocese. That is a remarkable collapse. Those 100 churches represent two thirds of all the churches that have ever closed in the history of the Archdiocese, dating back to the 1800s.
That is why so many are alarmed by Cardinal Cupich’s recent restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass, which particularly affect Cantius. Our loyalty to the Cardinal and Pope is inherent, but hard questions remain. It feels like a return to 1988, and the risk of losing everything that has been built since then. The “renewed” liturgy of Vatican II, implemented at Cantius in the 1970s and 80s, already took the parish to the edge of destruction once, as it did so many other churches.[1] What reason, except irrational hope, do we have to think things will end better the second time?
There is a famous saying in American law: “the Constitution is not a suicide pact.” It means the Constitution cannot be interpreted in a way that would allow our society or government to collapse. Coincidentally, this saying arose in a 1949 case involving a Catholic priest charged for inciting a riot in Chicago.
We cannot interpret Vatican II in a way the results in the extinction, or near-extinction, of the Catholic Church in Chicago or elsewhere. Ultimately we must assess the liturgical reform by the extent to which it achieves the overarching goal of the Council: whether, in reality, the faith is being safeguarded and transmitted effectively. To quote Justice Robert Jackson, we must “temper [our] doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom”— lest we, in the name of the Council, destroy everything the Council hoped to accomplish.
Photo: St. John Cantius nave.
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[1] The modern Novus Ordo Mass has been regularly celebrated at Cantius since 1988, but in a much more traditional style than seen at other Chicago parishes
Word of the Day: Syllabus of Pius IX (Syllabus of Errors)
SYLLABUS OF PIUS IX. A series of eighty condemned propositions listing the prevalent errors that aimed at the undermining of society, morality, and religion. Every Catholic is expected to give exterior and interior assent to the condemnation of errors expressed in this syllabus.
Happy Seventh Day of Christmas and Happy Sylvester!
Today is the Seventh Day of Christmas. It is also the Feast of Pope St Sylvester, who reigned from AD 314 to AD 345.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
6 geese a-laying.
Since St Sylvester's Day is also New Year's Eve in the Gregorian Calendar, several countries, primarily in Europe, use a variant of Sylvester's name as the preferred name for the holiday; these countries include Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Slovenia.
Some of the customs from various countries of Europe that are observed on this day.
Austria and Germany
In the capital of Austria, Vienna, people walk pigs on leashes for their Saint Sylvester's Day celebration in hope to have good luck for the coming year. Many Christian households in Germany mark the Saint Sylvester's Day by practicing the custom of Bleigiessen using Silvesterblei (Silvester lead), in which Silvesterblei is melted over a flame in an old spoon and dropped into a bowl of cold water; one's fortune for the coming year is determined by the shape of the lead.[7] If the lead forms a ball (der Ball), luck will roll one's way, while the shape of an anchor (der Anker) means help in need, and a star (der Sterne) signifies happiness.
Belgium
Christians of Belgium have a tradition that a maiden who does not finish her work by the time of sunset on Saint Sylvester's Day will not get married in year to come.
Brazil
Along with exploding fireworks, the Saint Sylvester Road Race, Brazil's most oldest and prestigious running event, takes place on Saint Sylvester's Day and is dedicated to Pope Sylvester I.
Italy
On Saint Sylvester's Day, "lentils and slices of sausage are eaten because they look like coins and symbolize good fortune and the richness of life for the coming year."
Switzerland
On the morning of Saint Sylvester's Day, the children of a Christian family compete with one another to see who can wake up the earliest; the child who arises the latest is playfully jeered. Men have, for centuries, masqueraded as Silvesterklaus on Saint Sylvester's Day.
Here are the readings from Matins for today, that were used until Venerable Pope Pius XII's reform of the Roman Breviary in 1955, at which time St Sylvester's Day was suppressed because of the Octave of the Nativity.
Sylvester was a Roman by birth, and his father's name was Rufinus. He was brought up from a very early age under a Priest named Cyrinus, of whose teaching and example he was a diligent learner. In his thirtieth year he was ordained Priest of the Holy Roman Church by Pope Marcellinus. In the discharge of his duties he became a model for all the clergy, and, after the death of Melchiades, he succeeded him on the Papal throne, ,during the reign of Constantine, who had already by public decree proclaimed peace to the Church of Christ. Hardly had he undertaken the government of the Church when he betook himself to stir up the Emperor to protect and propagate the religion of Christ. Constantine was fresh from his victory over his enemy Maxentius, on the Eve whereof the sign of the Cross had been revealed to him limned in light upon the sky; and there was an old story in the Church of Rome that it was Sylvester who caused him to recognise the images of the Apostles, administered to him holy Baptism, and cleansed him from the leprosy of misbelief.
The godly Emperor had already granted to Christ's faithful people permission to build public churches, and by the advice of Sylvester he himself set them the example. He built many Basilicas, and magnificently adorned them with holy images, and gifted them with gifts and endowments. Among these there were, besides others, the Church of Christ the Saviour, hard by the Lateran Palace; that of St. Peter, upon the Vatican Mount; that of St. Paul, upon the road to Ostia; that of St. Lawrence, in Verus' field; that of the Holy Cross at the Sessorian hall; that of St. Peter and St. Marcellinus, upon the Lavican Way; and that of St. Agnes, upon the road to Mentana. Under this Pope was held the first Council of Nice, presided over by the Papal Legates, and in the Presence of Constantine, and three hundred and eighteen Bishops, where the holy and Catholic Faith was declared, and Arius and his followers condemned; which Council was finally confirmed by the Pope, at the request of all the assembled Fathers, in a synod held at Rome, where Arius was again condemned. This Pope issued many useful ordinances for the Church of God. He reserved to Bishops the right of consecrating the Holy Chrism; ordered Priests to anoint with Chrism the heads of the newly baptised; settled the officiating dress of Deacons as a dalmatic and a linen maniple; and forbade the consecration of the Sacrament of the Altar on anything but a linen corporal.
This Sylvester is likewise said to have ordained that all persons taking Holy Orders should remain awhile in each grade before being promoted to a higher; that laymen should not go to law against the clergy; and that the clergy themselves were not to plead before civil tribunals. He decreed that the first and seventh days of the week should be called respectively the Lord's Day and the Sabbath, and the others, Second Day, Third Day, and so on. In this he confirmed the use of the word Feria for the weekdays, the which use had already begun in the Church. This word signifieth an holiday, and pointeth to the duty of the clergy ever to lay aside all worldly labour, and leave themselves free to do continually the work of the Lord. The heavenly wisdom with which he ruled the Church of God, was joined in him to a singular holiness of life, and an inexhaustible tenderness towards the poor; in which matter he ordained that the wealthy clergy should each relieve a certain number of needy persons; and he also made arrangements for supplying the consecrated virgins with the necessaries of life. He lived as Pope twenty-one years, ten months and one day, and was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla on the Salarian Way.. He held seven Advent ordinations, and made forty-two Priests, twenty-five Deacons, and sixty-five Bishops of various sees.
It is traditional to recite the Te Deum laudamus at midnight on St Sylvester's Day.
We praise thee, O God, * we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee, * the Father everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud, * the Heavens, and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim * continually do cry.
(bow head) Holy, Holy, Holy * Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full * of the Majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles * praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets * praise thee.
The noble army of Martyrs * praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world * doth acknowledge thee;
The Father, * of an infinite Majesty.
Thine honourable, true, * and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost, * the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory, * O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting * Son of the Father.
During the following verse all make a profound bow:
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, * thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, * thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God, * in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come * to be our Judge.
Kneel for the following verse
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, * whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious Blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints, * in glory everlasting.
O Lord, save thy people, * and bless thine heritage.
Govern them, * and lift them up for ever.
Day by day * we magnify thee;
During the following verse, by local custom, all make a profound bow.
And we worship thy Name * ever, world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us * this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, * have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, * as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted, * let me never be confounded.
All the earth doth worship thee, * the Father everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud, * the Heavens, and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim * continually do cry.
(bow head) Holy, Holy, Holy * Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full * of the Majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles * praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets * praise thee.
The noble army of Martyrs * praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world * doth acknowledge thee;
The Father, * of an infinite Majesty.
Thine honourable, true, * and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost, * the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory, * O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting * Son of the Father.
During the following verse all make a profound bow:
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, * thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, * thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God, * in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come * to be our Judge.
Kneel for the following verse
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, * whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious Blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints, * in glory everlasting.
O Lord, save thy people, * and bless thine heritage.
Govern them, * and lift them up for ever.
Day by day * we magnify thee;
During the following verse, by local custom, all make a profound bow.
And we worship thy Name * ever, world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us * this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, * have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, * as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted, * let me never be confounded.
6 geese a-laying.
The Arians Tried to take His Church by Force and Impose Heretical Liturgy
We must always remember that Our Lord only promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail, not that the Church would not suffer persecution. Remember, too, that St Jerome said, “The whole world groaned and was amazed to find itself Arian.”
From One Peter Five
By R. Thornton
Editor’s note: as a follow up to “It’s Time to Occupy the Churches” and “Catholic Fathers: a Call to Arms,” we present this excerpt from R. Thornton, St. Ambrose: His Life, Times, and Teachings (1897), (public domain). Right now we are attacked by Marxist governments from without the Church and heretics from within. Yet Christ will vindicate us and convert our enemies: I will not fear thousands of the people surrounding me: arise, O Lord; save me, O my God (Ps. iii. 7). Let us obey the command of the Blessed Apostle: brethren, stand fast: and hold the traditions, which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle (II Thess. ii. 14). We all must fight for our inheritance and for our children. To the heretics who hate the Latin Mass and would take our churches away, let us say what St. Ambrose says below: “The Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.” We will never stop. And we will prevail by God, or die trying.
[Empress] Justina, who had by this time forgotten, or learnt to undervalue, the loyal services of Ambrose when [Emperor] Maximus was threatening captivity and ruin, began again to display openly her enmity to him and his faith. She demanded that one of the churches in Milan should be surrendered for the use of the Arians. To grant this would have been not to make a charitable concession to the weakness of well-meaning and ignorant brethren, but to give up the authority of the great Council of Nicaea, and of that second Council at Constantinople which had reaffirmed its decisions. It would have been to allow by implication that the point at issue between Arius and Athanasius was of trifling importance, and not of the essence of Christianity. To yield up to the teachers of a half-Christian half-philosophical religionism the buildings so lately won for the preachers of Evangelical truth would have been not a laudable charity, but a culpable indiscretion, if not a surrender of a sacred trust. …Ambrose felt, and all the Catholics felt with him, that the demand must be resisted to the death.
…It was now the fifth week in Lent, 385, and it seems to have been the object of the empress to make Easter a day of triumph over the Catholics. A definite demand was made on her part, in the name of her son the emperor, for the Portian basilica, or church, outside the city walls (now called by the name of St. Victor). …The demand was made by officers of state, purporting to act for the emperor; but Ambrose replied that God’s priest could not surrender God’s temple.
On Palm Sunday the bishop had completed the earlier duties in the “old” church, and was proceeding with the Communion service, when news was brought that the Portian church had been seized, and that the state curtains, surrounding the place of honor occupied by the imperial family, had been placed there as a sign of its being in the possession of Justina; that the people were flocking to the place, and had laid hold of Castulus, an Arian presbyter, to whom they were not unlikely to do violence. Much shocked at this, he interrupted the sacred office by sending some clergy to rescue the man, and by a private prayer that no blood—save his own, if that were needful—might be shed.
Severe punishments, both by way of fine and imprisonment, were inflicted on a number of wealthy tradesmen who had taken part in the tumult, or were accused of so doing. They all professed themselves ready to suffer twice as much for their Church. The people about the court were enjoined not to appear in public, and such threats were used that a terrible persecution seemed near at hand. Again Ambrose was asked to surrender the church : again he refused. “It is not mine to give—all that is mine belongs to the poor. It is not the emperor’s, for it belongs to God.”
Troops were sent under arms to occupy the church; and it seems as if from the first the fidelity of the orthodox soldiers to their heretical mistress was more than suspected, since a contingent of Goths, who were Arians, formed part of the detachment. Ambrose passed the whole of one day, apparently Tuesday in Holy Week, in the church, dreading lest blood should be shed, so strong was the feeling of the people. At night he went home to rest, but returned to his post on the Wednesday before sunrise. He found the church surrounded with soldiers, but their behavior was quiet, and many of them made no secret of their attachment to him and the Catholic cause. The service of the day had commenced, when he learnt that another church, the “new basilica,” was filled with people, who implored him to come to them. He remained, however, where he was, and preached.
The lessons of the day were from the Book of Job, and he took occasion to speak of the Christian virtues of faith and patience, commending the people for their gentleness, so like that of Job, and their faithful reply to the imperial menaces and censures: “We do not fight, your Majesty, and we do not fear, we only make our prayer.” Then he showed how the trials that beset Job had been permitted to come upon him their pastor; the tempter had endeavored to rob him of his spiritual heritage and his spiritual children. .…
Dispute with Auxentius
That night was passed in the church, for egress was prevented by the soldiers. Like St. Paul in prison, the brethren spent their time in reciting psalms and hymns. Next morning (Maundy Thursday) Ambrose preached on the effects of penitence, from the book of Jonah, which was read in the lessons for the day. He had scarcely concluded when the welcome news came that the soldiers were withdrawn from the churches, and the sentences passed a few days before remitted. The people, soldiers and civilians alike, testified their joy in the most lively manner. At least that Easter was to be spent in peace, though Ambrose foresaw troubles yet to come. One of the ushers of the court, Calligonus, sent him an insolent message, threatening to cut off his head for opposing the emperor. Ambrose’s reply shows how little he cared for these and similar menaces: he considered them, Theodoret says, as mere bugbears to frighten children with: “I hope you may be able to carry out your threat. I will suffer like a bishop, and you may act the part of an usher.”
He was right in supposing that the question was not yet settled. The apparent triumph of the orthodox only incensed Justina the more, just as their victory at Sirmium had done five years before. In 386 she extorted from Valentinian an edict to the effect that the Arians should be legally recognised, and, as a necessary consequence, be permitted to occupy some at least of the churches; and that it should be a capital offence to presume to oppose them, either publicly, or by presenting petitions against them. The prime mover in this matter, and no doubt the chief adviser of Justina, was a man of indifferent character and savage disposition, a Scythian by birth, named Auxentius. He was recognised by the Arians of Milan as their bishop, but for convenience, and to avoid unpopularity with the Catholics, had ceased to call himself Auxentius, since that name brought with it the recollection of the Arian predecessor of Ambrose, and adopted the name Mercurinus. The usual instructions for drawing out the edict were placed in the hands of the chief secretary, Benevolus, who, though not yet baptized, was an orthodox catechumen. He expressed unwillingness to prepare such a document, and was forthwith deprived of his office, and compelled to retire from Milan to Brescia, while a more accommodating minister was put into his place.
The empress and her adviser also induced the young emperor to send Dalmatius, one of his officers, to Ambrose, desiring him either to quit the city, or consent to meet Auxentius and dispute with him in the imperial consistory before a certain number of arbitrators or jurymen (judices) to be chosen by the two disputants. He declined to accept either alternative, and on being termed “contumacious” by Dalmatius, addressed a respectful, but firm and dignified, remonstrance to the emperor himself.
Could I be sure that my church would not be handed over to the Arians, I would gladly place myself at the disposal of your Piety; but if I alone am in your way, how is it that not my church only, but all others, are threatened with aggression?
Such was the spirited reply which Valentinian, or rather Justina, received to the demand conveyed to the intrepid bishop. Meanwhile, precautions had been taken by the Catholics to prevent the occupation of any of the sacred buildings by the Arians without the employment of force. By the direction of their pastors the people assembled in the churches, and remained in them all day and all night, relieving one another, of course, in turn, and passing the time in the recitation of psalms and the singing of hymns. Some of the latter were from the pen of Ambrose himself, and were objected to [by the Arians] as “deceiving” the people, they spoke so distinctly of the ever-blessed Trinity in Unity. We may presume the well-known “Eterna Christi munera” with its bold ring and its distinct Trinitarian doctrine, to have been one of them [Editor’s note: see Ambrosian Hymns here].
Antiphonal Chanting
The mode adopted in reciting the Psalms was that which we term antiphonal, or alternating from side to side. This mode was copied from the practice of the Eastern Church. It was the fashion among the Jews; we find a trace of responsory chanting in Exod. XV. 21,— “Miriam answered them,” where the original language shows that “them” (masculine) refers to the men who had just uttered their choral song; and in 1 Sam. XVIII. 7, the women “answered” one another as the played; and we gather from Ezra III. 11, and Nehem. XII. 40, that it became the settled order in the second Temple. The Eastern Christians no doubt learnt this mode of reciting the Psalter from the Jewish ritual, and Ambrose, as prelate of a Church which seems to have had closer connection with Greece than other Western churches, very naturally at this conjuncture adopted the Oriental use, which continued in after-times to be that of the Church of Milan. The Milanese ritual still retains some of its original peculiarities: the general practice of antiphonal chanting has spread from northern Italy over the whole of the West.
Ambrose not only taught his flock at this time to chant the Psalms, but also instructed them from the Psalter. It is most probable that his remarks on the CXIXth Psalm were sermons delivered during this period of trouble.
The occupants of the churches, though not actually imprisoned within them, were kept in some sort of restraint by a cordon of armed men thrown round each building; and some alarm having been caused by a rumor or a fancy that these guards were likely to proceed to violence, and still more by the report that their bishop was about to comply with the Imperial request, and leave the city (an attempt to arrest him they had already defeated by a demonstration of force), Ambrose took occasion at once to calm their anxiety and to exhort them to firmness by a sermon which he addressed to them on a day, probably Palm-Sunday, when one of the New Testament lessons told of our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem, and one of those from the Old Testament was the very appropriate passage containing the account of Ahab’s dealing with Naboth of Jezreel.
I am not intending to desert you. It is my custom to show all due deference to a secular emperor, but, in such a case as the present, not to surrender. I fear neither threats nor sufferings; they are but temptations from the Evil One; and the Lord, who ‘hath need’ of us, as He had of the creature we have just read of in the lesson, will help us not to give way. Remember how Elisha’s servant, when his eyes were opened, saw the troops of angels round himself and his master; remember how the angel was sent to St. Peter in the prison. But our lot may be to suffer.
And here the preacher adds that apocryphal story of St. Peter’s last hours at Rome, so familiar to us from the striking picture of Caracci.
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| Christ appearing to Saint Peter on the Appian Way by Annibale Carracci (1560-1609) |
After his triumph over Simon Magus, Peter excited the jealousy of the heathen by his preaching, and was entreated by the Christians to withdraw from the city for a time, lest he should be seized and taken from them. He left Rome accordingly by night. Scarcely had he emerged from the city gate when he saw the Lord coming to meet him. Astonished, he asked, as he had once asked before, ‘Lord, whither goest Thou’ (Domine, quo vadis?) ‘I am coming,’ said the Divine Master, ‘to be crucified again.’ Peter knew that Christ could not suffer again, for in that He died, He died unto sin once, but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. He felt that the second crucifixion must be not in His Own Person, but in the person of His servant, and forthwith returned to Rome, to glorify the Lord Jesus by his own death on the cross.
So too, it may be, the Lord requires us to suffer with Him. Come what may, our answer to the demand of Auxentius will be that of Naboth in our lesson today, ‘The Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee,’ the inheritance of Dionysius, Eustorgius, Myrocles, and all the confessors and martyrs who have preceded me here. How well, too, the other lesson of today suits us in our present condition! The Jews, we read, would have bid the Lord silence the children who were uttering His praises; and He would not, but went on, and cast the worldly out of the House of God. So when we utter the praises of Christ, our heretical opponents are wroth, and threaten us with pains and death: worse than the Gadarenes who could not bear the presence of Christ, these men are furious even against His praises.
But Auxentius and his crew, who would drive out the faithful with the sword, shall feel, not the sword indeed, but the scourge of the Lord. You, brethren, know the truth that Christ is God, and will maintain it against the vile synod of Ariminum that pronounced Him a creature, and against the Arians, who are for rendering unto Caesar not the tribute due to him, which we are ready to pay to the full, but the houses of God. A faithful emperor is a son of the Church, but he is not lord over her.
With such unshaken firmness on the part of bishop and people, it is not surprising that the Imperial party perceived themselves to be in a weak minority, and gave way. The Catholics, too, met with support from an unexpected and influential quarter, such as we may imagine they did not care for, and in a form they would be disposed to deprecate. But it probably had a great effect, nevertheless.
The emperor Maximus, the usurping emperor… intimated to Valentinian his strong disapproval of the measures taken against Ambrose, and the manner in which he was being treated, recommending the emperor to follow the example and abide by the faith of his father; and hinted that unless matters in this respect were altered for the better, he himself might find it necessary to march upon Milan.
As we might expect, the persecution of the orthodox, and of Ambrose in particular, came to a sudden termination. The action of Maximus was not entirely disinterested; he wanted a cause of complaint and a pretext for war, and was guided by motives of policy quite as much as by a keen sense of justice; but one conceives a certain respect for him, not merely as having been (whether sincerely or not) a champion of the true faith, but as having been able to see the greatness of Ambrose’s character, and as having had the magnanimity to espouse the cause of one who had so freely pleaded with him and so dauntlessly withstood him.
Saintly Royals Sunday
Boris is honoured only in the Orthodox Churches, with the title 'Equal to the Apostles'.
From The Mad Monarchist (4 August 2013)
St Boris I, Knyaz of Bulgaria
He helped convert Bulgaria to Orthodox Christianity, suppressed paganism and supported the birth of Slavic literature and ensured that there would be an independent Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
31 December, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
The Last Day of the Year
1. The last day of the year has come. It should be a day of reckoning and of resolution. Think of the many benefits which God has conferred on you throughout your life, but especially in the year which is now drawing to a close.Count the temporal favours which you have received. Many of your friends and acquaintances have died during the year, but you are still alive. God has rescued you from innumerable perils and illnesses. He has allowed you more time in which to perfect your spiritual life and to perform apostolic work on your neighbour's behalf. Try not to be like the barren tree in the Gospel, because this could be your final year of trial.
Count the spiritual blessings which you have received. Think of the graces and good inspirations which God has given you during the past twelve months. How often have you received forgiveness for your sins, been restored to the friendship of God, and experienced anew the joy and peace of being in the state of grace? How often has Jesus come into your heart under the guise of the Blessed Eucharist? How often have you been enlightened and encouraged by hearing or reading the word of God? Think, too, of the good example which you have received in private and in public, and recall the many occasions on which the helping hand of God has reached out to save you from falling into sin.
You could never show sufficient gratitude for all these favours. Spend this day at least in acts of repentance and thanksgiving, and promise God to be faithful to Him in the coming year.
2. Now that the year is almost over, cast your mind back to the good resolutions which you made at the beginning of it. Have you put these resolutions into effect? Has there been any improvement in your spiritual life during these twelve months, or must you confess that it has deteriorated? How often have you committed sin, perhaps even grave sin, during the year? When God appealed to you to perform some good action, how often did you refuse Him?
Your future outlook is very dark if your life has developed into a gradual descent towards evil. Any day God could grow tired of your ingratitude and obstinacy and send death to end your infidelity. Then you would almost certainly be damned forever. If you have surrendered to spiritual languor and mediocrity, therefore, it is time for you to stir yourself. It is time to become more generous with God, to display a greater spirit of self-sacrifice in responding to His appeals, and to form firmer resolutions.
Virtue cannot co-exist with spiritual tepidity, which leads inevitably towards sin.
3. After he had spent a night fishing on the lake of Galilee without having caught anything, St. Peter was ordered by Jesus to cast his nets back into the sea. “Master,” the future Apostle replied, “the whole night through we have toiled and have taken nothing; but at thy word I will lower the net.” This act of perfect confidence in our Lord was soon rewarded, for when the fishermen lowered the net, "they enclosed a great number of fishes." (Luke 5:5-6)
Perhaps we have toiled hard and made many sacrifices during the past year. But have we worked with and for Jesus Christ? We may have thought more of ourselves than of Jesus and as a result achieved little or nothing in the spiritual life. The remedy is clear. We must remain close to Jesus, working with Him, in Him, and for Him. Then He will bless and strengthen the good resolutions which we are about to make. The secret of perfection is to live in constant union with Jesus Christ.
Eastern Rite - Feasts of 31 December AM 7530
Today is the Leavetaking of the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, Christmas and the Feast of Our Venerable Mother Melania the Roman.
Materials for the Leavetaking of the Nativity are taken from the service of the Feast day itself in the Menaion. The Scripture readings at Liturgy, however, are of the day, not of the Feast. The Prokeimenon, Alleluia verses, and Communion hymn are all of the Feast.
Troparion — Tone 4
Your Nativity, O Christ our God, / has shone to the world the Light of wisdom! / for by it, those who worshipped the stars, / were taught by a Star to adore You, / the Sun of Righteousness, / and to know You, the Orient from on High. / O Lord, glory to You!
Kontakion — Tone 3
Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One, / and the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One! / Angels with shepherds glorify Him! / The wise men journey with a star! / Since for our sake the Eternal God was born as a Little Child!
Saint Melania was born in Rome into a devout Christian family. Her parents, people of property and wealth, hoped that their daughter would marry and have children who would inherit their wealth.
At fourteen years of age, Melania was married to the illustrious youth Apinianus. From the very beginning of their married life, Saint Melania asked her husband to live with her in chastity or else release her from the marriage. Apinianus answered, “I cannot agree to this right now. When we have two children to inherit the property, then we shall both renounce the world.”
Soon Melania gave birth to a daughter, whom the young parents dedicated to God. Continuing to live together in marriage, Melania secretly wore a hair shirt and spent her nights in prayer. The second child, a boy, was premature and had severe complications. They baptized him, and he departed to the Lord.
Seeing the suffering of his wife, Apinianus asked the Lord to preserve Saint Melania’s life, and he vowed to spend the rest of their life together in chastity. Recovering, Saint Melania stopped wearing her beautiful clothing and jewellery. Soon their daughter also died. The parents of Saint Melania did not support the young couple’s desire to devote themselves to God. It was only when Saint Melania’s father became deathly ill, that he asked their forgiveness and permitted them to follow their chosen path, asking them to pray for him.
The saints then left the city of Rome and began a new life completely dedicated to the service of God. Apinianus at this time was twenty-four years of age, and Melania twenty. They began to visit the sick, to take in wanderers, and to help the indigent. They visited those who were exiled, and mine-convicts, and the destitute, there in debtor’s prison. After selling their estates in Italy and Spain, they generously helped monasteries, hospitals, widows and orphans in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Phoenicia, and Palestine.
Many churches and hospitals were built with their assistance. Churches of both West and East benefited from them. Leaving their native land, they set sail for Africa, and a strong storm arose while they were at sea. The sailors said that this was because of the wrath of God, but Saint Melania said that it was not God’s will that they should go directly to their destination.
The waves carried the ship to an island on which barbarians had landed. The besiegers demanded a ransom from the inhabitants, or else they threatened to lay waste the city. The saints supplied the necessary ransom, and thus saved the city and its people from destruction.
Resuming their voyage, they landed in Africa and helped all the needy there. With the blessing of the local bishops, they made offerings to churches and monasteries. During this time Saint Melania continued to humble her flesh by strict fasting, and she fortified her soul by constantly reading the Word of God, making copies of the sacred books and distributing them to those who lacked them. She sewed a hairshirt for herself, put it on, and continued to wear it.
The saints spent seven years in Carthage and then decided to visit Jerusalem. At Alexandria, they were welcomed by the bishop, Saint Cyril, and they met in church with the holy Elder Nestorius, who was possessed of the gift of prophecy and healing. The Elder turned to them and told them to have courage and patience in expectation of the Glory of Heaven.
At Jerusalem, the saints distributed their remaining gold to the destitute and then spent their days in poverty and prayer. After a short visit to Egypt, where the saints visited many of the desert Fathers, Saint Melania secluded herself in a cell on the Mount of Olives. Only occasionally did she see Saint Apinianus.
Later, she founded a monastery, where eventually ninety virgins lived in obedience to Saint Melania. Out of humility, she would not consent to be abbess, and lived and prayed in solitude as before. In her instructions, Saint Melania urged the sisters to be vigilant and to pray, to disdain their own opinions and cultivate first of all love for God and for one another, to keep the holy Orthodox Faith, and to guard their purity of soul and of body.
In particular, she exhorted them to be obedient to the will of God. Calling to mind the words of the Apostle Paul, she counselled them to keep the fasts “not with wailing, nor from compulsion, but in virtuous disposition with love for God”. By her efforts, an oratory and altar were built in the monastery, where they enshrined the relics of saints: the Prophet Zacharias, the holy Protomartyr Stephen, and the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. About this time Saint Apinianus fell asleep in the Lord. Saint Melania buried his relics and there spent another four years in fasting and unceasing prayer.
Saint Melania wanted to build a men’s monastery on the Mount of the Ascension of the Lord. The Lord blessed her intent by sending a benefactor who provided the means for the monastery. Joyfully accepting it, Saint Melania finished the great work in a single year. In this monastery, saintly men began to lift up unceasing prayer in the church of the Ascension of Christ.
Having completed her tasks, the saint left Jerusalem for Constantinople, hoping to save the soul of her pagan uncle Volusianus who had travelled there from Rome. Along the way, she prayed at the relics of Saint Laurence (August 10), at the place of his martyrdom, and received auspicious signs. Arriving in Constantinople, the saint found her uncle had fallen ill. Her demeanour and her inspired discourses had a profound influence on the sick man. He gave up pagan impiety and died a Christian.
During this time many inhabitants of the capital were deceived by the heretical teaching of Nestorius. Saint Melania accepted anyone who turned to her for a proper explanation, converting many of them to Catholicism. Many miracles were worked through the prayers of the saint.
Returning to her own monastery, the saint sensed the approach of death and told this to the priest and the sisters. They listened to her final instructions with deep sorrow and with tears. Having asked their prayers and commanding them to preserve themselves in purity, she received the Holy Mysteries with joy. Saint Melania peacefully gave up her soul to the Lord in the year 439.
Troparion — Tone 8
The image of God was truly preserved in you, O Mother, / for you took up the Cross and followed Christ. / By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh, for it passes away; / but to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal. / Therefore your spirit, O holy Mother Melania, rejoices with the angels.
Kontakion — Tone 3
As a two-fold lamp, you illumine the Church of Christ / with truly mystical radiance. / You brought forth a hundred-fold fruit through your contest, O Anysia; / and you shone forth in asceticism, O Melania. / You were both found worthy of the incorruptible life of the righteous.
✠✠✠✠✠
Troparion — Tone 4
Your Nativity, O Christ our God, / has shone to the world the Light of wisdom! / for by it, those who worshipped the stars, / were taught by a Star to adore You, / the Sun of Righteousness, / and to know You, the Orient from on High. / O Lord, glory to You!
Kontakion — Tone 3
Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One, / and the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One! / Angels with shepherds glorify Him! / The wise men journey with a star! / Since for our sake the Eternal God was born as a Little Child!
✠✠✠✠✠
Saint Melania was born in Rome into a devout Christian family. Her parents, people of property and wealth, hoped that their daughter would marry and have children who would inherit their wealth.
At fourteen years of age, Melania was married to the illustrious youth Apinianus. From the very beginning of their married life, Saint Melania asked her husband to live with her in chastity or else release her from the marriage. Apinianus answered, “I cannot agree to this right now. When we have two children to inherit the property, then we shall both renounce the world.”
Soon Melania gave birth to a daughter, whom the young parents dedicated to God. Continuing to live together in marriage, Melania secretly wore a hair shirt and spent her nights in prayer. The second child, a boy, was premature and had severe complications. They baptized him, and he departed to the Lord.
Seeing the suffering of his wife, Apinianus asked the Lord to preserve Saint Melania’s life, and he vowed to spend the rest of their life together in chastity. Recovering, Saint Melania stopped wearing her beautiful clothing and jewellery. Soon their daughter also died. The parents of Saint Melania did not support the young couple’s desire to devote themselves to God. It was only when Saint Melania’s father became deathly ill, that he asked their forgiveness and permitted them to follow their chosen path, asking them to pray for him.
The saints then left the city of Rome and began a new life completely dedicated to the service of God. Apinianus at this time was twenty-four years of age, and Melania twenty. They began to visit the sick, to take in wanderers, and to help the indigent. They visited those who were exiled, and mine-convicts, and the destitute, there in debtor’s prison. After selling their estates in Italy and Spain, they generously helped monasteries, hospitals, widows and orphans in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Phoenicia, and Palestine.
Many churches and hospitals were built with their assistance. Churches of both West and East benefited from them. Leaving their native land, they set sail for Africa, and a strong storm arose while they were at sea. The sailors said that this was because of the wrath of God, but Saint Melania said that it was not God’s will that they should go directly to their destination.
The waves carried the ship to an island on which barbarians had landed. The besiegers demanded a ransom from the inhabitants, or else they threatened to lay waste the city. The saints supplied the necessary ransom, and thus saved the city and its people from destruction.
Resuming their voyage, they landed in Africa and helped all the needy there. With the blessing of the local bishops, they made offerings to churches and monasteries. During this time Saint Melania continued to humble her flesh by strict fasting, and she fortified her soul by constantly reading the Word of God, making copies of the sacred books and distributing them to those who lacked them. She sewed a hairshirt for herself, put it on, and continued to wear it.
The saints spent seven years in Carthage and then decided to visit Jerusalem. At Alexandria, they were welcomed by the bishop, Saint Cyril, and they met in church with the holy Elder Nestorius, who was possessed of the gift of prophecy and healing. The Elder turned to them and told them to have courage and patience in expectation of the Glory of Heaven.
At Jerusalem, the saints distributed their remaining gold to the destitute and then spent their days in poverty and prayer. After a short visit to Egypt, where the saints visited many of the desert Fathers, Saint Melania secluded herself in a cell on the Mount of Olives. Only occasionally did she see Saint Apinianus.
Later, she founded a monastery, where eventually ninety virgins lived in obedience to Saint Melania. Out of humility, she would not consent to be abbess, and lived and prayed in solitude as before. In her instructions, Saint Melania urged the sisters to be vigilant and to pray, to disdain their own opinions and cultivate first of all love for God and for one another, to keep the holy Orthodox Faith, and to guard their purity of soul and of body.
In particular, she exhorted them to be obedient to the will of God. Calling to mind the words of the Apostle Paul, she counselled them to keep the fasts “not with wailing, nor from compulsion, but in virtuous disposition with love for God”. By her efforts, an oratory and altar were built in the monastery, where they enshrined the relics of saints: the Prophet Zacharias, the holy Protomartyr Stephen, and the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. About this time Saint Apinianus fell asleep in the Lord. Saint Melania buried his relics and there spent another four years in fasting and unceasing prayer.
Saint Melania wanted to build a men’s monastery on the Mount of the Ascension of the Lord. The Lord blessed her intent by sending a benefactor who provided the means for the monastery. Joyfully accepting it, Saint Melania finished the great work in a single year. In this monastery, saintly men began to lift up unceasing prayer in the church of the Ascension of Christ.
Having completed her tasks, the saint left Jerusalem for Constantinople, hoping to save the soul of her pagan uncle Volusianus who had travelled there from Rome. Along the way, she prayed at the relics of Saint Laurence (August 10), at the place of his martyrdom, and received auspicious signs. Arriving in Constantinople, the saint found her uncle had fallen ill. Her demeanour and her inspired discourses had a profound influence on the sick man. He gave up pagan impiety and died a Christian.
During this time many inhabitants of the capital were deceived by the heretical teaching of Nestorius. Saint Melania accepted anyone who turned to her for a proper explanation, converting many of them to Catholicism. Many miracles were worked through the prayers of the saint.
Returning to her own monastery, the saint sensed the approach of death and told this to the priest and the sisters. They listened to her final instructions with deep sorrow and with tears. Having asked their prayers and commanding them to preserve themselves in purity, she received the Holy Mysteries with joy. Saint Melania peacefully gave up her soul to the Lord in the year 439.
Troparion — Tone 8
The image of God was truly preserved in you, O Mother, / for you took up the Cross and followed Christ. / By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh, for it passes away; / but to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal. / Therefore your spirit, O holy Mother Melania, rejoices with the angels.
Kontakion — Tone 3
As a two-fold lamp, you illumine the Church of Christ / with truly mystical radiance. / You brought forth a hundred-fold fruit through your contest, O Anysia; / and you shone forth in asceticism, O Melania. / You were both found worthy of the incorruptible life of the righteous.
IN LUMINE FIDEI: 31 DECEMBER – END OF THE SECULAR YEAR
IN LUMINE FIDEI: 31 DECEMBER – SAINT SYLVESTER (Pope and Confessor)
31 December, A Chesterton Calendar
DECEMBER 31st
With all the multiplicity of knowledge there is one thing happily that no man knows: whether the world is old or young.
'The Defendant.'
31 December, The Holy Rule of St Benedict, Father of Western Monks
1 May. 31 Aug. 31 Dec.
We have written this Rule, in order that, by observing it in Monasteries, we may shew ourselves to have some degree of goodness of life, and a beginning of holiness. But for him who would hasten to the perfection of religion, there are the teachings of the holy Fathers, the following whereof bringeth a man to the height of perfection. For what page or what word is there in the divinely inspired books of the Old and New Testaments, that is not a most unerring rule for human life? Or what book of the holy Catholic Fathers doth not loudly proclaim how we may by a straight course reach our Creator? Moreover, the Conferences of the Fathers, their Institutes and their Lives, and the Rule of our holy Father Basil - what are these but the instruments whereby well-living and obedient monks attain to virtue? But to us, who are slothful and negligent and of evil lives, they are cause for shame and confusion. Whoever, therefore, thou art that hasteneth to thy heavenly country, fulfil by the help of Christ this least of Rules which we have written for beginners; and then at length thou shalt arrive, under God’s protection, at the lofty summits of doctrine and virtue of which we have spoken above.
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