Septuagesima Sunday

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Septuagesima Sunday

Taken from Fr. Leonard Goffine's Explanations of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays, Holydays, and Festivals throughout the Ecclesiastical Year - 36th edition, 1880

Why is this Sunday called "Septuagesima?"

BECAUSE in accordance with the words of the First Council of Orleans, some pious Christian congregations in the earliest ages of the Church, especially the clergy, began to fast seventy days before Easter, on this Sunday, which was therefore called "Septuagesima" — the seventieth day. The same is the case with the Sundays following, which are called Sexagesima, Quinquagesima, Quadragesima, because some Christians commenced to fast sixty days, others fifty, others forty days before Easter, until finally, to make it properly uniform. Popes Gregory and Gelasius arranged all Christians should fast forty day- before Easter, commencing with Ash-Wednesday.


Why from this day until Easter, does the Church omit in her service all joyful canticles, alleluias, and the Gloria in excelsis, etc?

Gradually to prepare the minds of the faithful for the serious time of penance and sorrow: to remind the sinner of the grievousness of his errors, and to exhort him to penance. So the priest appears at the altar in violet, the color of penance, and the front of the altar is covered with a violet curtain. To arouse our sorrow for our sins, and show the need of repentance, the Church in the name of all mankind at the Introit cries with David: The groans of death surrounded me, the sorrows of hell encompassed me: and in my affliction I called upon the  he heard my voice from his holy temple.  (Ps. xvii. 5 — 7.) I will love thee, O Lord, my strength; the Lord is my firmament, and my refuge., and my deliverer. (Ps. xvii. 2 — 3.) Glory be to the leather, etc.


PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Lord, we beseech Thee graciously hear the prayers of Thy people; that we who are justly afflicted for our sins may, for the glory of Thy name, mercifully be delivered. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ etc.


EPISTLE. (i. Cor.ix.24. — 27.,  to x. i — 5.) Brethren, know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty ; I so fight , not as one beating the air; but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection; lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway. For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea: and all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ); but with the most of them God was not well pleased.

EXPLANATION. Having exhorted us to penance in the Introit of the Mass, the Church desires to indicate to us, by reading this epistle, the effort we should make to reach the kingdom of heaven by the narrow path (Matt. vii. 13.) of penance and mortification. This St. Paul illustrates by three different examples. By the example of those who in a race run to one point, or in a prize-fight practice and prepare themselves for the victor's reward by the strongest exercise, and by the strictest abstinence from everything that might weaken the physical powers. If to win a laurel- crown that passes away, these will subject themselves to the severest trials and deprivations, how much more should tor the sake of the heavenly crown of eternal happiness, abstain from those improper desires, by which the soul is weakened, and practice those holy virtues, such as prayer, love of God and our neighbor, patience to which the crown is promised.

Next, by his own example, bringing himself before them as one running a race, and fighting for an eternal crown, but not as one running blindly not knowing whither, or fighting as one who strikes not his antagonist, but the air; on the contrary, with his eyes firmly fixed on the eternal crown, certain to be his who lives by the precepts of the gospel, who chastises his spirit and' his body as a valiant champion, with a strong hand, that is, by severest mortification, by fasting, and prayer. If St. Paul, notwithstanding the extraordinary graces which he received, thought it necessary to chastise His body that he might not be cast away, how does the sinner expect to be saved, living an effeminate and luxurious lite without penance and mortification?

St. Paul's third example is that of the Jews who all perished on their journey to the Promised Land. even though God had granted them so many graces; He shielded them from their enemies by a cloud which served as a light to them ;it night, and a cooling shade by day: He divided the waters of the sea, thus preparing tor them a dry passage; lie caused manna to tall from the heaven to be their food, and water to gush from the rock for their drink. These temporal benefits which God bestowed upon the Jews in the wilderness had a spiritual meaning; the cloud and the sea was a figure ot baptism which en lightens the soul, tames the concupiscence of the flesh, and purifies from sin: the manna was a type of the most holy Sacrament of the Altar, the soul's true bread from heaven; the water from the rock, the blood Bowing from Christ's wound in the side; and yet with all these temporal benefits which God bestowed upon them, and with all the spiritual graces they were to receive by faith from the coming Redeemer, of the six hundred thousand men who left Egypt, only two, Joshua and Caleb, entered the Promised Land! Why? Because they were tickle, murmured so often against God, and desired the pleasures of the flesh. How much, then, have we need to tear lest we be excluded from the true, happy land. Heaven, if we do not continuously struggle for it, by penance and mortification !

ASPIRATION. Assist me, O Jesus, with Thy grace that, following St. Paul's example, I may be anxious, by the constant pious practice of virtue and prayer, to arrive at perfection and to enter heaven.

GOSPEL. (Matt. xx. i — 1 6.) At that time, Jesus spoke to his disciples this parable: The kingdom of heaven is like to a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And having agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market- place idle, and he said to them: Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just. And they went their way. And again he went out  about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour, he went out, and found others standing; and he saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle? They say to him: Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: Go you also into my vineyard. And when evening was come, the Lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: Call the laborers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. When therefore they were come that came about the eleventh hour, thev received every man a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that they should receive more ; and they also received every man a penny. And receiving it, they murmured against the master of the house, saying: These Last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us that have borne the burden of the day and the heats. But he answering said to one of them: Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will also give to this last even as to thee. Or is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is thy eye evil, because I am good? So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.


In this parable, what is to he understood by the householder, the vineyard, the laborers, and the penny?
The householder represents God, who in different ages of the world, in the days of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and finally in the days of Christ and the apostles, has sought to call men as workmen into His vineyard, the true Church, that they might labor there industriously, and receive the penny of eternal glory.

How and when does God call people?
By inward inspiration, by preachers, confessors, spiritual books , and conversations, etc, in flourishing youth and in advanced age, which periods of life may be understood by the different hours of the day.

What is meant by working in the vineyard?
It means laboring, lighting, suffering for God and His honor, for our own and the salvation of others. As in a vineyard we spade, dig, root out weeds, cut off the useless and noxious, manure, plant, and bind up, so in the spiritual vineyard of our soul we must, by frequent meditation on death and hell, by examination of conscience dig up the evil inclinations by their roots , and by true repentance eradicate the weeds of vice, and by mortification, especially by prayer and fasting cut away concupiscence; by the recollection of our sins we must humble ourselves, and amend our life; in place of the bad habits we must plant the opposite virtues, and bind our unsteady will to the trellis of the fear of God and of His judgment, that we may continue firm.

How is a vice or bad habit to be rooted up?
A great hatred of sin must be aroused; a fervent desire of destroying sin must be produced in our hearts; the grace of God must be implored without which nothing can be accomplished. It is useful also to read some spiritual book which speaks against the vice. The Sacraments of Penance and of Holy Communion should often be received, and some saint who in life had committed the same sin, and afterwards by the grace of God conquered it, should be honored, as Mary Magdalen and St. Augustine who each had the habit of impurity, but with the help of God resisted and destroyed it in themselves; there should be fasting, almsdeeds, or other good works, performed for the same object, and it is of great importance, ever necessary, that the conscience should be carefully examined in its regard.

Who are standing idle in the market-place?
In the market-place, that is the world, they are standing idle who, however much business they attend to, do not work for God and for their own salvation; for the only necessary employment is the service of God and the working out of our salvation. There are three ways of being idle: doing nothing whatever; doing evil; doing other things than the duties of our position in life and its office require, or if this work is done without a good intention, or not from the love of God. This threefold idleness deprives us of our salvation, as the servant loses his wages if he works not at all, or not according to the will of his master. We are all servants of God, and none of us, can say with the laborers in the vineyard that no man has employed us; for God, when He created us, hired us at great wages, and we must serve Him always, as Me cares for us at all tin. and if, in the gospel, the householder reproaches the work- men, whom no man had hired, for their idleness, what will God, one day, say to those Christians whom He has placed to work in His vineyard, the Church, if they have remained idle?

Why do the last comers receive as much us those who worked all day?
Because God rewards not the time or length of the work, but the industry and diligence with which it has been performed. It may indeed happen, that many a one who has served God but tor a short time, excels in merits another who has lived long, but has not labored as diligently. (Wisd. iv. 8-13.)

What is signified by the murmurs of the first workmen when the wages were paid?
As the Jews were the first who were called by God, Christ intended to show that the Gentiles, who were called last, should one day receive the heavenly reward, and that the Jews have no reason to murmur, because God acted not unjustly in fulfilling His promises to them, and at the same time calling others to the eternal reward. In heaven envy, malevolence, and murmuring will find no place. On the contrary, the saints who have long served God wonder at His goodness in converting sinners, and those who have served Him but a short time, for these also there will be .the same penny, that is, the vision, the enjoyment, and possession of God and His kingdom. Only in the heavenly glory there will be a difference, because the divine lips have assured us that each one shall be rewarded according to his works. The murmurs of the workmen and the answer of the householder serve to teach us, that we should not murmur against the merciful proceedings of God towards our neighbor, nor envy him; for envy and jealousy are abominable, devilish vices, hated by God. By the envy of the devil, death came into the world. (Wisd, ii. 24.) The envious, therefore, imitate Lucifer, but they hurt only themselves, because they are consumed by their envy. "Envy," says St. Basil, "is an institution of the serpent, an invention of the devils, an obstacle to piety, a road to hell, the depriver of the heavenly kingdom."

What is meant by : The first shall be last, and the last shall be first?
This again is properly to be understood of the Jews; for they were the first called, but will be the last in order, as in time, because they responded not to Christ's invitation, received not His doctrine , and will enter the Church only at the end of the world; while, on the contrary, the Gentiles who where not called until after the Jews, will be the first in number as in merit, because the greater part responded and are still responding to the call. Christ, indeed, called all the Jews, but few of them answered, and so few were chosen. Would that this might not also come true with regard to Christians whom God has also called, and whom He wishes, to save; (i. Tim. ii. 4.) Alas! very few live in accordance with their vocation of working in the vineyard of the Lord, and, consequently, do not receive the penny of eternal bliss.


PRAYER.
O most benign God, who, out of pure grace, without any merit of ours, hast called us, Thy unworthy servants , to the true faith . into the vineyard of the holy Catholic Church, and dost require us to work in it for the sanctification of our souls, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may never be idle but be found always faithful workmen, and that that which in past years we have failed to do, we may make up for in future by greater zeal and persevering industry, and, the work being done, may receive the promised reward in heaven, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord. Amen.

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Taken from the 1917 Catholic Encyclopedia

Septuagesima

(Latin septuagesima, the seventieth).

Septuagesima is the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third before Lent known among the Greeks as "Sunday of the Prodigal" from the Gospel, Luke 15, which they read on this day, called also Dominica Circumdederunt by the Latins, from the first word of the Introit of the Mass. In liturgical literature the name "Septuagesima" occurs for the first time in the Gelasian Sacramentary. Why the day (or the week, or the period) has the name Septuagesima, and the next Sunday Sexagesima, etc., is a matter of dispute among writers. It is certainly not the seventieth day before Easter, still less is the next Sunday the sixtieth, fiftieth, etc. Amularius, "De eccl. Off.", I, I, would make the Septuagesima mystically represent the Babylonian Captivity of seventy years, would have it begin with this Sunday on which the Sacramentaries and Antiphonaries give the Introit "Circumdederunt me undique" and end with the Saturday after Easter, when the Church sings "Eduxit Dominus populum suum." Perhaps the word is only one of a numerical series: Quadragesima, Quinquagesima, etc. Again, it may simply denote the earliest day on which some Christians began the forty days of Lent, excluding Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday from the observance of the fast.

Septuagesima is today inaugurated in the Roman Martyrology by the words: "Septuagesima Sunday, on which the canticle of the Lord, Alleluja, ceases to be said". On the Saturday preceding, the Roman Breviary notes that after the "Benedicamus" of Vespers two Alleluias are to be added, that thenceforth it is to be omitted till Easter, and in its place "Laus tibi Domine" is to be said at the beginning of the Office. Formerly the farewell to the Alleluia was quite solemn. In an Antiphonary of the Church of St. Cornelius at Compiègne we find two special antiphons. Spain had a short Office consisting of a hymn, chapter, antiphon, and sequence. Missals in Germany up to the fifteenth century had a beautiful sequence. In French churches they sang the hymn "Alleluia, dulce carmen" (Guéranger, IV, 14) which was well-known among the Anglo-Saxons (Rock, IV, 69). The "Te Deum" is not recited at Matins, except on feasts. The lessons of the first Nocturn are taken from Genesis, relating the fall and subsequent misery of man and thus giving a fit preparation for the Lenten season. In the Mass of Sunday and ferias the Gloria in Excelsis is entirely omitted. In all Masses a Tract is added to the Gradual.

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Septuagesima Sunday

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

The holy Church calls us together today in order that we may hear from her lips the sad history of the fall of our first parents. This awful event implies the Passion and cruel Death of the Son of God made Man, who has mercifully taken upon Himself to expiate this and every subsequent sin committed by Adam and us his children. It is of the utmost importance that we should understand the greatness of the remedy; we must, therefore, consider the grievousness of the wound inflicted. For this purpose, we will spend the present week in meditating on the nature and consequences of the sin of our first parents.

Formerly, the Church used to read in her Matins of today that passage of the Book of Genesis, where Moses relates to all future generations, but in words of most impressive and sublime simplicity, how the first sin was brought into the world. In the present form of the liturgy, the reading of this history of the fall is deferred till Wednesday, and the preceding days give us the account of the six days of creation. We will anticipate the great instruction, and begin it at once, inasmuch as it forms the basis of the whole week’s teaching.

From the Book of Genesis,  Ch. iii.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth, which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise? And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat, and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die. And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death; for God doth know, that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat: and gave to her husband, who did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened.

And when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig-leaves, and made themselves aprons. And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise, at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise. And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou? And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me, to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And he Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.

And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. To the woman, also, he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over thee. And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work; with labor and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the earth, out of which thou was taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.

Oh! terrible page of man’s history! It alone explains to us our present position on the earth. It tells us what we are in the eyes of God, and how humbly we should comport ourselves before His divine Majesty. We will make it the subject of this week’s meditation. And now, let us prepare to profit by the liturgy of this Sunday, which we call Septuagesima.

In the Greek Church, it is called Prophoné (Proclamation), because on this day they announce to the people the coming fast of Lent, and the precise day of Easter. It is also called the Sunday of the prodigal son, because that parable is read in their liturgy for this Sunday, as an invitation to sinners to draw nigh to the God of mercy. But it is the last day of the week Prophoné, which, by a strange custom, begins with the preceding Monday, as do also the two following weeks.

MASS

The Station at Rome is in the church of Saint Lawrence outside the walls. The ancient liturgists observe the relation between the just Abel (whose being murdered by Cain is the subject of one of the responsories of today’s Matins) and the courageous martyr, over whose tomb the Church of Rome commences her Septuagesima.

The Introit describes the fears of death, wherewith Adam and his whole posterity are tormented, in consequence of sin. But in the midst of all this misery there is heard a cry of hope, for man is still permitted to ask mercy from his God. God gave man a promise on the very day of his condemnation: the sinner needs but confess his miseries, and the very Lord against whom he sinned will become his deliverer.

Introit
Circumdederunt me gemitus mortis, dolores inferni circumdederunt me: et in tribulatione mea invocavi Dominum, et exaudivit de templo sancto suo vocem meam.
Ps. Diligam te, Domine, fortitudo mea: Dominus firmamentum meum, et refugium meum, et liberator meus. ℣ Gloria Patri. Circumdederunt.

The groans of death surrounded me, and the sorrows of hell encompassed me; and in my affliction I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice from his holy temple.
Ps. I will love thee, O Lord, my strength: the Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer. ℣ Glory. The groans.


In the Collect, the Church acknowledges that her children justly suffer the chastisements which are the consequences of sin; but she beseeches her divine Lord to send them that mercy which will deliver them.

Collect
Preces populi tui, quæsumus, Domine, clementer exaudi: ut qui juste pro peccatis nostris affligimur, pro tui nominis gloria misericorditer liberemur. Per Dominum.
Mercifully hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayers of thy people; that we who are justly afflicted for our sins, may be mercifully delivered for the glory of thy name. Through, &c.

Second Collect
A cunctis nos, quæsumus, Domine, mentis et corporis defende periculis: et intercedente beata et gloriosa semperque Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria, cum beato Joseph, beatis apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque beato N., et omnibus sanctis, salutem nobis tribue benignus et pacem: ut destructis adversitatibus et erroribus universis, Ecclesia tua secura tibi serviat libertate.
Preserve us, O Lord, we beseech thee, from all dangers of soul and body: and by the intercession of the glorious and blessed Mary, the ever Virgin Mother of God, of blessed Joseph, of thy blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, of blessed N. (here is mentioned the titular saint of the church), and of all the saints, grant us, in thy mercy, health and peace; that, all adversities and errors being removed, thy Church may serve thee with undisturbed liberty.

The priest adds a third Collect, which is left to his own choice.


Epistle
Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle, to the Corinthians Ch. ix., x.

Brethren, know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway. For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud, and in the sea: And did all eat the same spiritual food, And all drank the same spiritual drink; (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.) But with most of them God was not well pleased.

These stirring words of the apostle deepen the sentiments already produced in us by the sad recollections of which we are this day reminded. He tells us that this world is a race wherein all must run; but that they alone win the prize who run well. Let us, therefore, rid ourselves of everything that could impede us, and make us lose our crown. Let us not deceive ourselves: we are never sure, until we reach the goal. Is our conversion more solid than was St. Paul’s? Are our good works better done or more meritorious than were his? Yet he assures us that he was not without the fear that he might perhaps be lost; for which cause he chastised his body, and kept it in subjection to the spirit. Man, in his present state, has not the same will for all that is right and just, which Adam had before he sinned, and which, notwithstanding, he abused to his own ruin. We have a bias which inclines us to evil; so that our only means of keeping our ground is to sacrifice the flesh to the spirit. To many this is a very harsh doctrine; hence, they are sure to fail; they never can win the prize. Like the Israelites spoken of by our apostle, they will be left behind to die in the desert, and so lose the promised land. Yet they saw the same miracles that Josue and Caleb saw! So true is it that nothing can make a salutary impression on a heart which is obstinately bent on fixing all its happiness in the things of this present life; and though it is forced, each day, to own that they are vain, yet each day it returns to them, vainly but determinedly loving them.

The heart, on the contrary, that puts its trust in God, and mans itself to energy by the thought of the divine assistance being abundantly given to him that asks it, will not flag or faint in the race, and will win the heavenly prize. God’s eye is unceasingly on all them that toil and suffer. These are the truths expressed in the Gradual.

Gradual
Adjutor in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione: sperent in te qui noverunt te, quoniam non derelinquis quærentes te, Domine.
℣. Quoniam non in finem oblivio erit pauperis; patientia pauperum non peribit in æternum: exsurge, Domine, non prævaleat homo.

A helper in due time, in tribulation: let them trust in thee, who know thee, for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord.
℣. For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end; the patience of the poor man shall not perish for ever: arise, O Lord, let not man prevail.


The Tract sends forth our cry to God, and the Cry is from the very depths of our misery. Man is humbled exceedingly by the fall; but he knows that God is full of mercy, and that, in His goodness, He punishes our iniquities less than they deserve: were it not so, none of us could hope for pardon:

Tract
De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi vocem meam.
℣. Fiant aures tuæ intendentes in orationem servi tui.
℣. Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine: Domine, quis sustinebit?
℣. Quia apud te propitiatio est, et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.

From the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice.
℣. Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of thy servant.
℣ If thou shalt observe iniquities, O Lord, Lord, who shall endure it?
℣. For with thee is propitiation, and by reason of thy law I have expected thee, O Lord.


Gospel
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. Ch. xx.

At that time, Jesus spoke to his disciples this parable: The kingdom of heaven is like to an householder, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And having agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle. And he said to them: Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just. And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle? They say to him: Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: Go you also into my vineyard. And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: Call the labourers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. When therefore they were come, that came about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that they should receive more: and they also received every man a penny. And receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, Saying: These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats. But he answering said to one of them: Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will also give to this last even as to thee. Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? is thy eye evil, because I am good? So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.

It is of importance that we should well understand this parable of the Gospel, and why the Church inserts it in today’s liturgy. Firstly, then, let us recall to mind on what occasion our Savior spoke this parable, and what instruction He intended to convey by it to the Jews. He wishes to warn them of the fast approach of the day when their Law is to give way to the Christian Law; and He would prepare their minds against the jealousy and prejudice which might arise in them, at the thought that God was about to form a Covenant with the Gentiles. The vineyard is the Church in its several periods, from the beginning of the world to the time when God Himself dwelt among them, and formed all true believers into one visible and permanent society. The morning is the time from Adam to Noah; the third hour begins with Noah and ends with Abraham; the sixth hour includes the period which elapsed between Abraham and Moses; and lastly, the ninth hour opens with the age of the prophets, and closes with the birth of the Savior. The Messias came at the eleventh hour, when the world seemed to be at the decline of its day. Mercies unprecedented were reserved for this last period, during which salvation was to be given to the Gentiles by the preaching of the apostles. It is by this mystery of mercy that our Savior rebukes the Jewish pride. By the selfish murmurings made against the master of the house by the early laborers, our Lord signifies the indignation which the scribes and pharisees would show at the Gentiles being adopted as God’s children. Then He shows them how their jealousy would be chastised: Israel, that had labored before us, shall be rejected for their obduracy of heart, and we Gentiles, the last comers, shall be made first, for we shall be made members of that Catholic Church which is the bride of the Son of God.

This is the interpretation of our parable given by St. Augustine and St. Gregory the great, and by the generality of the holy fathers. But it conveys a second instruction, as we are assured by the two holy doctors just named. It signifies the calling given by God to each of us individually, pressing us to labor during this life for the kingdom prepared for us. The morning is our childhood. The third hour, according to the division used by the ancients in counting their day, is sunrise; it is our youth. The sixth hour, by which name they called our midday, is manhood. The eleventh hour, which immediately preceded sunset, is old age. The Master of the house calls His laborers at all these various hours. They must go that very hour. They that are called in the morning may not put off their starting for the vineyard, under pretext of going afterwards, when the Master shall call them later on. Who has told them that they shall live to the eleventh hour? They that are called at the third hour may be dead at the sixth. God will call to the labors of the last hour such as shall be living when that hour comes; but if we should die at midday, that last call will not avail us. Besides, God has not promised us a second call if we excuse ourselves from the first.

At the Offertory, the Church invites us to celebrate the praises of God. God has mercifully granted us that the hymns we sing to the glory of His name should be our consolation in this vale of tears.

Offertory
Bonum est confiteri Domino, et psallere nomini tuo, Altissime.

It is good to give praise to the Lord, and to sing to thy name, O Most High.


Secret
Muneribus nostris quæsumus, Domine, precibusque susceptis: et cœlestibus nos munda mysteriis, et clementer exaudi. Per Dominum.

Having received, O Lord, our offerings and prayers, cleanse us, we beseech thee, by these heavenly mysteries, and mercifully hear us. Through, &c.


Second Secret
Exaudi nos, Deus salutaris noster: ut per hujus Sacramenti virtutem, a cunctis nos mentis et corporis hostibus tuearis, gratiam tribuens in præsenti, et gloriam in futuro.

Graciously grant us, O God, our Savior, that by virtue of this Sacrament, thou mayst defend us from all enemies, both of soul and body; giving us grace in this life, and glory in the next.

The third Secret is left to the priest’s own choice.


In the Communion antiphon, the Church prays that man, having now been regenerated by the Bread of heaven, may regain that likeness to his God which Adam received at his creation. The greater our misery, the stronger should be our hope in Him who descended to us that we might ascend to Him.

Communion
Illumina faciem tuam super servum tuum, et salvum me fac in tua misericordia: Domine, non confundar, quoniam invocavi te.

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; save me in thy mercy. Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for I have called upon thee.


Postcommunion
Fideles tui, Deus, per tua dona firmentur: ut eadem et percipiendo requirant, et quærendo sine fine percipiant. Per Dominum.

May thy faithful, O God, be strengthened by thy gifts; that by receiving them, they may ever hunger after them, and hungering after them, they may have their desires satisfied in the everlasting possession of them. Through, &c.

Second Postcommunion
Mundet et muniat nos, quæsumus Domine, divini Sacramenti munis oblatum, et intercedente beata Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria, cum beato Joseph, beatis apostolis Petro et Paulo, atque beato N. et omnibus sanctis, a cunctis nos reddat et perversitatibus expiatos, et adversitatibus expeditos.

May the oblation of this divine Sacrament, we beseech thee, O Lord, both cleanse and defend us; and by the intercession of blessed Mary, the Virgin-Mother of God, of blessed Joseph, of the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, of blessed N., and of all the saints, free us from all sin, and deliver us from all adversity.

The third Postcommunion is left to the priest’s own choice.

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Septuagesima Sunday

by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876

Jesus asks the discontented laborers: "Is thy eye evil, because I am good?" Why do they murmur? Have they been obliged to exceed the stipulated amount of labor? No! Have they worked longer than the time specified? No! Has not the master promptly paid them? Yes! Did he give them less than he promised? No! What then is the cause of their discontent? It is envy, because those who were sent later into the vineyard to work, received the same wages.

Envy is a most dangerous, execrable yet concealed vice; a vice of which, many are guilty, but whose real wickedness few recognise. Let us employ this hour in considering its dangers.

Mary, mother of love, pray for us, that the pestilential breath of this sin may never pollute our soul! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God! We can better recognize the turpitude and wickedness of envy, by considering the beauty, merit and amiable qualities of the opposite virtue--true, heroic brotherly love.

The love of our neighbor for the love of God is a virtue which inspires us to love others as ourselves, to wish them all the good we wish ourselves, and to do for them all that we would do for our own interests. Of this commandment Christ says: "It is like unto the other," namely: to the commandment of loving God, and our salvation depends on our observance of it. Thus teach Christ and His Apostles, especially St. Paul and St. John, both of whom emphatically and frequently insist upon it.

Envy is the vice directly opposed to this commandment. This will become clear to us if we consider the teachings of St. Paul in regard to the qualities of true, active, brotherly love. "Charity," says he, "is patient, is kind; charity envieth not, is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth: beareth all things, believeth all things" (i Cor. 13. 4).

Let us reverse these qualities, and we have the most perfect picture of envy. Envy is not kind; on the contrary, it is cruel, selfish, and without compassion for the needs and sufferings of others.

Envy provokes to anger, and leaves nothing untried to prevent the well-being of others. Envy seeks only its own good, and is arrogant. It thinks and does evil.

Who can count all the vices whose source is envy? Jealousy, mistrust, calumny, deceit, enmity! Envy is easily roused to anger, and brooks little contradiction. It rejoices not at the good fortune of others, but is pleased, rather, at the contrary. Oh, how terrible a vice! it tears up by the very roots, the beautiful flower of brotherly love!

I say, secondly, what a foolish vice! For it deserves also this stigma. Every sin bears the mark of insanity, and therefore it is that Holy Writ calls the sinner a fool. It were easy to point out the characteristics of insanity in the misdeeds of sinners, especially in the envious.

Envy deprives man of the use of his reason, robs him of strength of mind, and exerts an evil influence on his other faculties. The possessions of his neighbor seem better than his own, for no other reason than that another and not he is the owner!

Besides, he who is guilty of other sins has at least some satisfaction: the proud when he is honored; the miser when he counts his money and fills his coffers; the intemperate while he eats and drinks, and so of others. The envious have only the satisfaction of their anger.

Foolish vice! It harms itself while yielding to its own indulgence What a foolish, but at the same time, what a dangerous vice! It was envy that brought sin among the angels. Lucifer and his adherents, as the Fathers of the Church teach us, envied the glory of Christ, Who in His human nature stood below them, but Whom they were commanded to glorify and worship on account of the hypostatic union with the person of the Son of God.

As regards man, Holy Writ teaches us that it was through the envy of Satan that sin entered paradise. The envy of the serpent would deprive the human race not only of paradise but also of heaven. It has cast upon us innumerable woes, and has exposed us to countless dangers in working out the salvation of our soul. Satan envied mankind who were destined to take the place of the fallen angels in heaven.

Woe to us if we ever hearken to the voice of envy! Satan will then find it easy to assail us with temptations of all kinds! The first born of men became a murderer on account of envy. It was envy that induced Cain to kill Abel. It was envy that nailed the Redeemer of mankind to the cross.

It is true that pride introduced heresy into the world, and thus corrupted countless souls and wrought their eternal ruin; but envy is the twin-brother of pride, the second poisonous fang of the serpent of hell. Not seldom has its influence been felt since the origin and dissemination of heresy, especially since the last and most pernicious of all, namely, Protestantism.

Pride mated with envy has given birth in our own day to the heresy whose followers style themselves the Old Catholics. Yet more lamentable is the fact that envy, even among the good, has succeeded in preventing much that otherwise would have been done for the salvation of souls and the welfare of the Church, thus effecting incalculable mischief in every age of the Christian era.

It is envy that lights the torch of war among nations, and destroys the peace and happiness of congregations and home circles. Yere there no envy among mortals earth would become a paradise. Envy were capable of changing even heaven into a place of torment, and for this reason it is, as Gregory the Great says, "The mark of the damned."

The condition of the envious is the more dangerous, because the poison of envy is concealed. How few think themselves guilty of this sin! how few accuse themselves of it, and endeavor to uproot it from their hearts with the determination of St. Francis of Sales, who says: "Did I know that a fibre of envy were beating in my heart, I would tear it out!"

Follow his example, cost what it may, and instead of that detestable parasite, guard deep within your heart the holy virtue of heroic brotherly love! Amen!

"Why stand you here all the day idle?"--Matt. 20.

The reproach which Christ in today's Gospel addresses to those who remained idle until the eleventh hour, is unfortunately one which might he addressed to the greater portion of mankind, yes even to many of the children of the Church.

We usually live careless of eternity, seemingly forgetful why we are here upon earth, and that this life was not given us to seek the honors, joys and treasures of this world, but to gather merit for eternity. How many men, how many children even of the Church are idle in this regard!

Let us earnestly take to heart this reproach, at once so true so important, so salutary for time and eternity, and endeavor to purchase back the hours we lost in idleness, and to employ with the zeal of the saints the days still left to us.

Mary, thou faithful handmaid of the Lord, pray for us that, following thy example, we may employ our entire life in gaining our salvation through Jesus Christ our Redeemer! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God!

"Why stand you here all the day idle?" What an astonishing, incomprehensible, and yet only too true fact! This becomes clear to us if we consider the character of our life upon earth, and the relation in which it stands to eternity. Our life here below is the time which God gives us to prepare ourselves for the world to come.

If we reflect how precious time is, how short and how uncertain are the days of our life, we certainly would expect man to think of nothing else, than how to employ the days of his life in securely reaching that end for which life was given.

A crown, a high degree of glory, is the recompense for every moment well employed. St. Chrysostom was right when he exclaimed: "Time, thou art worth as much as God!" But time is so short; for what is the longest life compared to eternity? In addition to this, not one moment of this short time is certain. How often death surprises man, and then his precious time is gone, never to return. Man knows this, the Christian believes it; therefore how incomprehensible their neglect to employ their time after the zealous earnestness of the saints! This becomes still more incomprehensible, when we consider how provident man is of his time in regard to temporal affairs and the acquisition of earthly goods. They hesitate not to cross the ocean in the often disappointed hope of securing employment and gaining money, while, if they only seize the opportunity, they will never lack profitable labor in the grand affair of their salvation.

And yet how many lose and kill time! I wish to call your attention to the following classes of idlers:

The first are those who lose their time from sheer indolence. They are those drones, who do their duty neither as citizens nor as Christians. They dream away their time, and awake when it is too late, to the grand reality of life. They want self-abnegation. These . especially deserve the reproach: "Why stand you here idle?"

The second class are those who idle away their time by excessive labor, not for the salvation of their soul but through an inordinate care for the things of this world. I call them industrious idlers. Apparently they are occupied, but in reality they do nothing, since they are busy only for this fleeting world and not for eternity. They think themselves, however, much wiser than those who fail to accumulate an equal amount of temporal wealth. But all their labor, all their success is of no value towards their eternal welfare; indeed, as far as this is concerned they might better, perhaps, have remained as idle as the former. For, in their eagerness to gain temporal goods, they may have yielded to temptation and then, being in the state of sin, gained nothing even when they seemed to be laboring for heaven. These are the industrious idlers who, in the words of Holy Writ, exclaim when it is too late: "We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity" and of temporal care.

There are others who, though they live in the state of grace, may yet be said to lose the time which has been granted to them to work out their salvation. To this third class of idlers belong those who lose their time in vain conversations and idle gossiping. Oh, how many apparently pious souls belong to this class of idlers! They talk ten, nay a hundred times too much. Even in necessary business how many useless words are spoken, how many moments wasted in idleness! Instead of leaving after having obtained the desired information, we remain and continue conversing about the same affair, though we previously stated all that was necessary; and in this manner we lose the time we should give to work.

But how shall we designate the many idlers who lose their time by too frequent visits and by prolonging this useless and sometimes dangerous pastime, till late in the night? Instead of regulating our visits by the just demands of friendship or of Christian neighborly love, we seek only to enjoy the society and conversation of others, forgetting that we could employ our time much better in sanctifying ourselves and others by works of charity.

Lastly, what shall we say of the idleness of pleasure-seekers, of those who pass day and night in gambling, dancing and other worldly amusements? How much time is lost for eternity in this manner! How much in visiting watering places, frequenting theatres and balls! There is also a certain class of people who lose their time in travelling for the sake of pleasure. I call these travelling idlers.

To all these we must needs add the large number of drunkards who, in their revels, heed not quickly passing time, and employ it neither for their temporal nor spiritual welfare who squander their money, impoverish their families and not unfrequently end their days in the almshouse. What a despicable class of idlers!

In conclusion, let me mention those who are idlers on account of negligence in renewing their good intention. The good we do, must be done with the right intention, that is, for God's sake and for His sake only. Of course this does not mean that a Christian may not transact business or perform this or that work for the sake of gain, friendship or neighborly love, as our circumstances in life make necessary; only let these good and praiseworthy intentions be secondary to the one just mentioned.

Christian, lay your hand upon your heart and tell me, if you do not belong to one of these classes of idlers, or perhaps to all of them? Make now the firm resolution of profiting well by the time yet left to you that, one day in the kingdom of eternal life, God may assign to you your reward! Amen!

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Fr. Hewko's Sermons for Septuagesima Sunday


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Sermon XII Septuagesima Sunday
On the Importance of Salvation
by St. Alphonsus Liguori

“He sent them into his vineyard.” MATTHEW xx. 2

The vines of the Lord are our souls, which he has given us to cultivate by good works, that we may be one day admitted into eternal glory. “How,” says Salvian, ”does it happen that a Christian believes, and still does not fear the future?” Christians believe death, judgment, hell, and Paradise: but they live as if they believed them not as if these truths of faith were tables or the inventions of human genius. Many live as it they were never to die, or as if they had not to give God an account of their life as if there were neither hell nor a heaven. Perhaps they do not believe in them? They believe, but do not reflect on them; and thus they are lost.  They take all possible care of worldly affairs, but attend not to the salvation of their souls. I shall show you, this day, that the salvation of your souls is the most important of all affairs.

First Point. Because, if the soul is lost, all is lost; Second Point. Because, if the soul is lost once, it is lost for ever.


First Point. If the soul is lost, all is lost

“But,” says St. Paul, “we entreat you …. that you do your own business.” (1 Thess. iv. 10, 11.) The greater part of worldlings are most attentive to the business of this world. What diligence do they not employ to gain a law-suit or a post of emolument! How many means are adopted how many measures taken? They neither eat nor sleep. And what efforts do they make to save their souls? All blush at being told that they neglect the affairs of their families; and how few are ashamed to neglect the salvation of their souls. ”Brethren,” says St. Paul, I entreat you that you do your own business ;” that is, the business of your eternal salvation.

“Nugæ puerorum,” says St. Bernard, ”nugæ vocantur, nugæ malorum negotia vocantur.” The trifles of children are called trifles, but the trifles of men are called business; and for these many lose their souls. If in one worldly transaction you suffer a loss, you may repair it in another; but if you die in enmity with God, and lose your soul, how can you repair the loss? “What exchange can a man give for his soul:” (Matt. xvi. 26.) To those who neglect the care of salvation, St. Euterius says: “Quam pretiosus sis, homo, si Creatori non credis, interroga Redemptorem.” (Hom. ii. in Symb.) If, from being created by God to his own image, you do not comprehend the value of your soul, learn it from Jesus Christ, who has redeemed you with his own blood. “You were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled.” (1 Pet. i. 18, 19.)

God, then, sets so high a value on your soul; such is its value in the estimation of Satan, that, to become master of it, he does not sleep night or day, but is continually going about to make it his own. Hence St. Augustine exclaims: “The enemy sleeps not, and you are asleep.” The enemy is always awake to injure you, and you slumber. Pope Benedict the Twelfth, being asked by a prince for a favour which he could not conscientiously grant, said to the ambassador: Tell the prince, that, if I had two souls, I might be able to lose one of them in order to please him; but, since I have but one, I cannot consent to lose it. Thus he refused the favour which the prince sought from him.

Brethren, remember that, if you save your souls, your failure in every worldly transaction will be but of little importance: for, if you are saved, you shall enjoy complete happiness for all eternity. But, if you lose your souls, what will it profit you to have enjoyed all the riches, honours, and amusements of this world? If you lose your souls, all is lost. “What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his_own soul ?” (Matt. xvi. 26.) By this maxim St. Ignatius of Loyola drew many souls to God, and among them the soul of St. Francis Xavier, who was then at Paris, and devoted his attention to the acquirement of worldly goods. One day St, Ignatius said to him: “Francis, whom do you serve? You serve the world, which is a traitor, that promises, but does not perform. And if it should fulfil all its promises, how long do its goods last? Can they last longer than this life? And, after death, what will they profit you, if you shall not have saved your soul ?” He then reminded Francis of the maxims of the Gospel: “What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul ?”“But one thing is necessary ?” (Luke x. 42.) It is not necessary to become rich on this earth to acquire honours and dignities; but it is necessary to save our souls; because, unless we gain heaven we shall be condemned to hell: there is no middle place: we must be either saved or damned. God has not created us for this earth; neither does he preserve our lives that we may become rich and enjoy amusements. “And the end life everlasting.” (Hom, vi. 22.) He has created us, and preserved us, that we may acquire eternal glory.

St. Philip Neri used to say, that he who does not seek, above all things, the salvation of his soul, is a fool. If on this earth there were two classes of men, one mortal, and the other immortal, and if the former saw the latter entirely devoted to the acquisition of earthly goods, would they not exclaim: O fools that you are! You have it in your power to secure the immense and eternal goods of Paradise, and you lose your time in procuring the miserable goods of this earth, which shall end at death. And for these you expose yourselves to the danger of the eternal torments of hell. Leave to us, for whom all shall end at death, the care of these earthly things. But, brethren, we are all immortal, and each of us shall be eternally happy or eternally miserable in the other life. But the misfortune of the greater part of mankind is, that they are solicitous about the present, and never think of the, future. ”Oh! that they would be wise, and would understand, and would provide for their last end.” (Deut. xxxii. 29.) Oh! that they knew how to detach themselves from present goods, which last but a short time, and to provide for what must happen after death an eternal reign in heaven, or everlasting slavery in hell. St. Philip Neri, conversing one day with Francis Zazzera, a young man of talent who expected to make a fortune in the world, said to him: “You shall realize a great fortune; you shall be a prelate, afterwards a cardinal, and in the end, perhaps, pope. But what must follow? what must follow? Go, my son, think on these words.” The young man departed, and after meditating on the words, what must follow? what must follow? he renounced his worldly prospects, and gave himself entirely to God; and, retiring from the world, he entered into the congregation of St. Philip, and died a holy death.

“The fashion of this world passeth away.” (i Cor. vii. 31.) On this passage, Cornelius à Lapide , says, that “the world is as it were a stage.” The present life is a comedy, which passes away. Happy the man who acts his part well in this comedy by saving his soul. But if he shall have spent his life in the acquisition of riches and worldly honours, he shall justly be called a fool; and at the hour of death he shall receive the reproach addressed to the rich man in the gospel: ”Fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee; and whose shall these things be which thou hast provided?” (Luke xii 20.) In explaining the words” they require, ” Toletus says, that the Lord has given us our souls to guard them against the assaults of our enemies; and that at death the angel shall come to require them of us, and shall present them at the tribunal of Jesus Christ. But if we shall have lost our souls by attending only to the acquisition of earthly possessions, these shall belong to us no longer they shall pass to other hands: and what shall then become of our souls?

Poor worldlings! of all the riches which they acquired, of all the pomps which they displayed in this life, what shall they find at death? They have slept their sleep: and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands.” (Ps. Ixxv. 6.) The dream of this present life shall be over at death, and they shall have acquired nothing for eternity. Ask of so many great men of this earth of the princes and emperors, who, during life, have abounded in riches, honours, and pleasures, and are at this moment in hell what now remains of all the riches which they possessed in this world? They answer with tears: “Nothing, nothing. ” -And of so many honours enjoyed of so many past pleasures of so many pomps and triumphs, what now remains? They answer with howling: “Nothing, nothing. ”

Justly, then, has St. Francis Xavier said, that in the world there is but one good and one evil. The former consists in saving our souls; the latter in losing them. Hence, David said: “One thing I have asked of the Lord; this I will seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord.” (Ps. xxvi. 4.) One thing only have I sought, and will for ever seek, from God that he may grant me the grace to save my soul; for, if I save my soul, all is safe; if I lose it, all is lost. And, what is more important, if my soul be once lost, it is lost for ever. Let us pass to the second point.
Second Point. If the soul be once lost, it is lost for ever.

Men die but once. If a Christian died twice, he might lose his soul the first, and save it the second time. But we can die only once: if the soul be lost the first time, it is lost for ever. This truth St. Teresa frequently inculcated to her nuns: “One soul,” she would say, “one eternity.” As if she said: We have but one soul: if this be lost, all is lost. There is but “one eternity;” if the soul be once lost, it is lost for ever. ”Periisse semel æternum est.”

St. Eucherius says that there is no error so great as the neglect of eternal salvation. “Sane supra omnem errorem est dissimulare negotium æternæ salutis.” It is an error which surpasses all errors, because it is irremediable. Other mistakes may be repaired: if a person loses property in one way, he may acquire it in another; if he loses a situation, a dignity, he may afterwards recover them; if he even loses his life, provided his soul be saved, all is safe. But he who loses his soul has no means of repairing the loss. The wailing of the damned arises from the thought, that for them the time of salvation is over, and that there is no hope of remedy for their eternal ruin. ”The summer is ended, and we are not saved.” (Jer. viii. 20.) Hence they weep, and shall inconsolably weep for ever, saying: ”Therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice hath not shined unto us.” (Wis. v. 6.) But what will it profit them to know the error they have committed, when it will be too late to repair it?

The greatest torment of the damned arises from the thought of having lost their souls, and of having lost them through their own fault. ”Destruction is thy own, O Israel; thy help is only from me.” (Osee xiii. 9.) O miserable being! God says to each of the damned; thy perdition is thine own; that is from thyself; by sin thou hast been the cause of thy damnation; for I was ready to save thee if thou hadst wished to attend to thy salvation. St. Teresa used to say, that when a person loses a trifle through negligence, his peace is disturbed by the thought of having lost it through his own fault. O God! what shall be the pain which each of the damned shall feel on entering into hell, at the thought of having lost his soul his all and of having lost them through his own fault!

“We must, then, from this day forward, devote all our attention to the salvation of our souls. There is no question, says St. John Chrysostom, of losing some earthly good which we must one day relinquish. But there is question of losing Paradise, and of going to suffer for ever in hell: ”De immortalibus suppliciis, de cœlestis regni amissione res agitur.” We must fear and tremble; it is thus we shall be able to secure eternal happiness. “With fear and trembling work out your salvation. ” (Phil. ii. 12.) Hence, if we wish to save our souls, we must labour strenuously to avoid dangerous occasions, to resist temptations, and to frequent the sacraments. Without labour we cannot obtain heaven. “The violent bear it away.” The saints tremble at the thought of eternity. St. Andrew Avellino exclaimed with tears: Who knows whether I shall be saved or damned? St. Lewis Bertrand said with trembling: What shall be my lot in the other world? And shall we not tremble? Let us pray to Jesus Christ and his most holy mother to help us to save our souls. This is for us the most important of all affairs: if we succeed in it, we shall be eternally happy; if we fail, we must be for ever miserable.

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Septuagesima Overview
Taken from here.

Theme: Babylonian Captivity, Man's Fallen State
Color: Purple
Mood: Penance
Symbols: chains, tears, Jeremias
Length: Septuagesima Sunday to Shrove Tuesday


Septuagesima (also known as "Gesimatide") and Lent are both times of penance, Septuagesima being a time of voluntary fasting in preparation for the obligatory Great Fast of Lent. So connected are Septuagesima and Lent that the former is sometimes called, colloquially, "Pre-Lent." The theme of this season is the Babylonian exile, the "mortal coil" we must endure as we await the Heavenly Jerusalem. Sobriety and somberness reign liturgically; the Alleluia and Gloria are banished

The Sundays of Septugesima are named for their distance away from Easter:

• The first Sunday of Septuagesima gives its name to the entire season as it is known as "Septuagesima." "Septuagesima" means "seventy," and Septuagesima Sunday comes roughly seventy days before Easter. This seventy represents the seventy years of the Babylonian Captivity. It is on this Sunday that the alleluia is "put away," not to be said again until the Vigil of Easter.
  
• The second Sunday of Septuagesima is known as "Sexagesima, which means "sixty". Sexagesima Sunday comes roughly sixty days before Easter.
  
• The third Sunday of Septuagesima is known as "Quinquagesima," which means "fifty" and which comes roughly fifty days before Easter.
  

Quadragesima means "forty," and this is the name of the first Sunday of Lent and the Latin name for the entire season of Lent (the next season).

Each of those Sundays of Septuagesima focuses on a different Old Testament patriarch:

Septuagesima Sunday: Adam
Sexagesima Sunday: Noah
Quinquagesima Sunday: Abraham

Throughout this short Season and that of Lent you will notice a deepening sense of penance and somberness, culminating in Passiontide (the last two weeks of Lent), that will suddenly and joyously end at the Vigil of Easter on Holy Saturday when the alleluia returns and Christ's Body is restored and glorified.

The station churches of the three Sundays of Septuagesima:

Septuagesima: S. Lorenzo fuori le mura
Sexagesima: S. Paolo fuori le mura
Quinquagesima: S. Pietro in Vaticano

Finally, you may be interested in reading St. Thomas Aquinas's "Meditations for Lent," which has a reading for every day from Septuagesima Sunday to the end of Lent. You can find it in this site's Catholic Library.

[Stone]

The Calls of God to His Creatures
by Bishop Ehrler, 1891

"The kingdom of heaven is like to a master of a family who went out early
in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard!" (Matt. 20: 1.)

The Gospel of Septuagesima Sunday is one of the most profound and comprehensive of the ecclesiastical year. The whole history of man, the history of the kingdom of God upon earth, from the first day in which the Lord created the universe and went forth to hire laborers into his vineyard, down to the last, to the evening of the world, when he will come to judge the living and the dead, and to reward each one according to his works,--all this, my brethren, is delineated in the brief but striking epitome which constitutes the parable of this Sunday, and these words, moreover, are well calculated to stir up in us an earnest spirit of penance. Therefore, we will consider today:


I. The various calls of the Lord to mankind in the course of time; and
II. What thoughts these calls of God must awaken in our souls.


I. "The master of a family went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard."

1. Early in the morning the Almighty went forth to create the world, the heavens and the earth. He made Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and placed them in Paradise, in a garden of delights, in order to cultivate and take care of it. Mankind was to remain obedient and faithful to the divine will and commands, until the great day of life was passed, when God agreed to give them the promised reward of everlasting happiness --God repeats this, His first going forth, at the birth of every human being. In the early morning of our life, He graciously draws near to us. He raises us through the holy Sacrament of Baptism to a higher, supernatural life, and fills us with His Holy Spirit. He calls us through the first impressions of a pious Christian education, through the salutary instructions of our parents, teachers, pastors, and confessors, urging us to remain faithful to Him from the very beginning of our lives, and to cultivate the garden of our hearts (that other vineyard of God), preserving it from the blighting influence of evil.

2. The Master of the family went forth for a second time into the world. Those who were first called by God, in the wickedness of their hearts, refused Him their service and obedience. They fell away from their God, and His Holy Spirit departed from them. "My spirit," says the Bible, " shall not remain in man forever, because he is flesh."(Gen. 6: 3.) Men became carnal, and the Spirit of God could no longer dwell with them. "God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times," (Gen. 6 :45) after the first thousand years, went forth for the second time; at the third hour, as it were, He went forth in order to hire laborers into his vineyard. He destroyed by the Deluge those first inhabitants of the earth, those giants of old, and chose Noah as the progenitor of a new and better race. He made with him a special covenant more gracious than that which He had concluded with his predecessors. As a perpetual sign of this covenant, he placed His bow in the heavens to shine before all future generations as a memorial of His second going forth in order to hire laborers into His vineyard.

In the third hour of our lives did not the Lord also go forth the second time to engage us as laborers in his vineyard? In our rash and impetuous youth, when the gracious impressions of earlier days are lost or forgotten; when our natural concupiscence is generally quickened, and all our thoughts are bent upon evil--the Lord goes forth a second time to warn us, and call us again to his service. In youth, when man, in the arrogance of his heart, woos the children of the world, like those giants of old, and imitates them in sin and wickedness--the Lord going forth for the second time, approaches them with the greatest graces, in order to save them from ruin. He approaches us with the grace of holy Confirmation; and, in the anointing of holy Chrism, He places upon our brows the sign of that great covenant which binds us to him as faithful laborers, during the remainder of our life. He comes to us in those perilous years with the grace of absolution; and He enters into the depths of our souls in the most holy Sacrament of the Altar, to seal and confirm the blessed covenant of His mercy.

3. At the sixth and at the ninth hours, the Lord went forth for the third and fourth times, saying to those whom he found idle: "Go you also into my vineyard." Another thousand years, the third epoch in the history of the world, had passed like a courier in flying haste. A thousand years are as a single day before God, and as the stream of time rolls rapidly into the bosom of eternity, men again forgot their God, as they had done from the beginning. All their time and affections were given up to temporal affairs. Sunk in luxury and wantonness, in the pride of their sinful hearts, they began to turn away wholly from their Creator. But, before they were driven by want to seek new dwelling places in strange lands, they wished to erect a proud monument of their earthly sinful endeavors. They built a mighty tower in order to have a visible centre upon the earth, a rallying point, so to speak, for their race, and for their worldly ambition. But God desired to be the spiritual centre of his creatures; and that their eyes should not be directed to the work of their own hands but be raised up above these mundane things even to the highest heavens. And God descended from those celestial heights, and confounded their speech. (Gen. 11: 6-8.)

The eyes of men, however, remained fixed upon the earth. Separated from God, they could not help being immersed in sins and vices. At last, they sank so deep in iniquity and forgetfulness of God, that they paid divine honors to the stars and to images made by their own hands; they cast themselves down in worship before men and beasts, and even adored the corrupt deities of their own foul sins and vices. Thus the thirtieth century in the world's history, with its overwhelming weight of woe and evil, sank into the stream of time: and the thirty-first began its dark existence. Far from God, given over to earthly desires, and hardened in the most abominable vices and crimes, mankind wandered forlorn in the broad road that leadeth to destruction.

4. Then it was that the master of the family went forth again at the sixth hour; then it was that God made a new covenant with Abraham the Just, so that, through him, the precious and fast-expiring sparks of the worship of the true God and of the hope of a Redeemer might be kept alive. He took him from his nation and from his father's house, to found in him the progenitor of a new race, the chosen people of God. In him, were all the generations of mankind to be blessed; and at the appointed time, the grace of redemption was destined to descend upon all nations through his offspring, as through a holy channel. That his people might not forget this third going forth of their God, and might always remember the covenant of mercy made with Abraham, the Lord, in the rite of Circumcision, cut the sign of that covenant in their very flesh.

5. At the ninth hour, he went forth again and called Moses, His servant. He sent the Prophets to remind His people continually of His merciful promises, and of their high vocation; and when, in spite of all, they forsook Him and despised His benefits, He strove to recall them to their duty, at one time by the most extraordinary manifestations of love and kindness, and again by severity and rigorous chastisements.

If we consider the going forth of the Lord at the sixth and ninth hours, those merciful efforts of the great Master of the human family which extended through two thousand years of the world's existence, do we not find, my brethren, these same goings forth represented also, in our lives? What are the sixth and ninth hours in which the Lord repeatedly goes forth to call us, as laborers, into His vineyard? Contemplate the vision of your lives, that important period extending from youth to middle age and on into old age; consider those years in which man, being burdened with earthly cares, sinks into complete forgetfulness of God and of his soul's salvation; those many long years of middle life--do they not resemble those ancient years beginning with the call of Abraham and including the history of the people of Israel down to the end of the fortieth century of the world? Does not the Lord in these long years, as in the sixth and in the ninth hours, appear repeatedly to warn and to remind us of the great mission which He so earnestly desires us to accomplish? Does He not earnestly call upon His creatures to come and devote to His service, those precious years of life which remain for them? Does He not, again and again, offer them His choicest graces, calling them forth, as He did Abraham and the whole Jewish people, from their nation, their homes, and their abiding place in an unbelieving and sinful life, making them by His covenant of mercy the progenitors of a new race, the chosen children of God? Does He not often and plainly speak to them as He once spoke to the Jews, by alternate acts of kindness and severity, threats and caresses, and by the solemn warnings of the Prophets re-echoed by the voice of His Church? O that we had heeded His gracious calls during those past years! O that we were now laboring faithfully in His vineyard, looking joyfully forward to the close of the long day of life, for our great recompense--the infinite treasures of the kingdom of God!

6. "About the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing: and He saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle? They say to him: Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: Go you also into my vineyard." What is this last going forth of the Master of the family at the eleventh hour, but the coming of the Incarnate God upon the earth, in order to call mankind for the last time, and engage laborers for His vineyard?" God having spoken on divers occasions, and many ways, in times past, to the fathers by the prophets: last of all, in these days, hath spoken to us by His Son." (Hebr. 1: 1, 2.)

7. The Prophets had spoken in vain. Mankind continued to sink deeper and deeper into the slough of vice and iniquity. Millions stood idle, for there was none to guide or assist them in working out their salvation. The Gentiles could truly say: "No man hath hired us." They were lying idle on the highways of life, far from God and estranged from Him and His kingdom, buried deeply in the mire of error and superstition. With untiring mercy towards His obstinate and wayward creatures, the Lord arose for the last time to fulfill His promises, and called the Gentile world into his vineyard. All mankind were thus privileged to spend, at least, the last hours of the day in His service and to receive in the great evening of the world's history the promised penny of everlasting life.

Thus, also, God goes forth in the evening of every life, for the last time, to call to Himself that poor soul that is satiated and wearied with its miserable existence. He speaks to it in plain words; He makes clear to it the transitory and empty nature of all earthly things; and He draws near to it with the consolations of His greatest graces, so that, absolved and strengthened by the holy Sacraments of Viaticum and Extreme Unction, the departing spirit may follow Him, at last, into His celestial vineyard. Alas, in that solemn hour will be fulfilled with many men the words of the Lord, when He lamented over the prevarication of all mankind, and cried out by the voice of His prophet: "All the day long have I spread forth my hands to a people that believeth not, and contradicteth me!" (Rom. 10: 21.)


II. Casting a glance over those great epochs of the world in which, from time to time, God went forth to call men into his vineyard, and contrasting with them the different periods of human life at which God in His mercy calls us to His service, I imagine I hear a supernatural voice resounding loud and strong from the abyss of by-gone centuries and enunciating these three grand watch-words:


1. God is merciful at all times.

2. Work diligently in the vineyard of the Lord,
whenever He calls you to His service; and

3. Take courage and enter, even though, perhaps, you have
been late in following the call of the divine Master.


1. The infinite and incomprehensible mercy of God is illustrated in an admirable manner in the beautiful parable of today's Gospel. The master of a family goes out early in the morning, to hire laborers into his vineyard; he goes out at the third hour, and again, at the sixth and ninth hours. Nay, he goes out once more at the eleventh hour, and calls all who are standing idle into his vineyard, in order to give to them the penny of everlasting life. Does not every later going-forth call out more loudly than the preceding one: "Thy mercy is magnified even to the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds." (Ps. 56: 11.) Or, when God with even richer and more abundant clemency, calls His creatures, in the fullness of time, revealing to them His inmost being, and sending down His only begotten Son upon the earth; when the Son of God wanders wearily through the rough valleys of this lower sphere sinking, at last, under the cruel weight of that Cross, on which He was to consummate the redemption of the world, do not His infinite love and self-sacrifice proclaim yet more loudly and emphatically: "Thy mercy is magnified even to the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds?" It would have been love and mercy if the Lord had only established His great Vineyard, and called mankind therein, in the beginning of time; promising them the penny of his heavenly reward. If He had gone forth but once for that divine purpose, we would have had abundant reason to praise Him and His mercy everlastingly with the stars of heaven and to rejoice forever with the sons of God. But the Lord went forth repeatedly, and, with never-failing endurance, called to His service the successors of the unhappy people who had despised his earlier calls.

2. Should not we who have been called at the eleventh hour to receive the overflowing stream of the grace of God through Jesus Christ, praise His great mercy towards us? Look back upon the millions and millions of human lives falling like drops of water into the bosom of the earth, and returning no more;--look back upon the countless children of men who have wandered over the face of the globe since the days of Adam, of Noah, of Abraham, and of the Prophets, and question these hosts, passing before our eyes like the shifting sands of the desert, if they can boast of as great grace and mercy as we have received. They all desired and hoped to see the day of Christ; that the gracious sun of Redemption might shine upon them and bring them to everlasting life and happiness. Behold among them the noblest spirits, the brightest and best of the heathen world, the most faithful and devout of the Jewish people. They stand before us in grief,--yea, in a sort of holy despair,--with eyes inclined to the earth, weighed down by the burden of sin which thousands of years have heaped upon their shoulders; and if they raise their eyes to heaven, they see only the barred gates and the closed entrance to Paradise, or the dark and joyless Limbo which awaited the just before the atonement of Christ. Without any merit on our part, the Lord has called us in the clear, bright day of Redemption into His heavenly kingdom. We may drink to the full from that stream of blessings which was a sealed fountain for thousands of years. Must we not in the great gratitude of our hearts cry out with the royal Psalmist: "The mercies of the Lord will I sing forever?" (Ps. 88: 2.)

3. Look into your own life, and ponder upon the calls to His vineyard with which the Lord has so often favored you. Number all the admonitions of the grace of God which He has, in a manner, squandered on you--how He called you in the innocence of childhood,--how He drew near you for the second and third time in your youth; how He repeatedly approached you in the sixth and ninth hours, and now, perhaps, even at the eleventh hour how He once more calls your soul to His service--are you not bound with special gratitude to proclaim and praise the mercy of the Lord? It would be a beautiful and profitable sight if we could look down into the soul of every human being and there contemplate how the Lord draws most lovingly and mercifully near to every soul in the various seasons and hours of life. Above, in the life of eternity, where we shall no more see as through a glass darkly, but face to face, the visitations of God for the salvation of our souls will stand forth before our eyes clearly and visibly, and will fill us with everlasting gratitude. For your own part, the various calls of the divine Master, all cry out to you if you will but hearken to their eloquent accents: "Work in the vineyard of the Lord at whatever hour He has called upon you, and the reward which he, in the evening, will distribute among His chosen ones will, likewise, be yours!"

(a) Our call to the celestial Vineyard, and the penny of reward which is promised us, are certainly a pure gift from the mercy of God. "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy," (Rom. 9: 16,) to make men, one day, partakers of the heavenly glory. But it requires faithful and untiring labor on our side if the decrees of God's mercy shall be fulfilled in our regard. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His Angels: and then will He render to every man according to his works." (Matt. 16: 27.) "Many are called, but few are chosen," says the Lord to us in the Gospel of this day. "Therefore, . . . be ye steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the works of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Cor. 15: 58.) Without the grace of God we cannot be saved; neither shall we reach eternal bliss unless we co-operate with that grace.

(b) It is then with good reason that our Lord compares the service which He demands from each one of us with the labor which a master requires in His vineyard. The vine exacts from its owner the utmost care and persistent labor. But if the extraordinary care of the vinedresser be not assisted by the warm rays of the sun and a season of propitious weather, all his labor and trouble are fruitless. The Lord expects from us Christians a most careful and laborious assiduity in His service. Our Blessed Lord calls the kingdom of heaven a costly pearl, so as to represent to us the trouble we must take to procure it! Pearls are not found upon the roads, or lying about in profusion, so that they can be picked up without any effort or trouble. The pearlfisher embarks in a small boat upon dangerous waters; and the diver descends to the bottom of the sea in order to bring forth the precious gem. Our Saviour calls the kingdom of heaven a precious treasure, in order to show us that as we must dig into the bowels of the earth with much labor and sweat to lay hold of its gold and silver, so we must suffer and toil in His service if we would bring up from the depths of our souls, the priceless treasures of eternal life.

© All whom the master of the family called at different times (according to the words of the Gospel) accepted, without delay, his gracious invitation. No one turned back from the gates of the vineyard; and no one stopped working after having once entered therein. All labored uninterruptedly until evening, when the Lord of the vineyard said to his steward: "Call the laborers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first." They all received the same wages--the penny which he had promised them; those who had labored only one hour, and those who had borne the burden and the heat of the day. This fact recorded (in the Gospel) of the lord of the vineyard was not intended to imply that it was a matter of indifference to him how many hours in the day a laborer had worked for him, or how faithful or how careless he had shown himself in his work; but He (the Saviour) meant, on that occasion, to teach the Pharisees this great truth: That all men have a common claim upon the reward of eternal happiness. Those haughty Pharisees believed that, as the descendants of the chosen people of God, they had a much greater right to the everlasting joys-of heaven, than the other nations, which He afterwards called into His kingdom.

(d) In whatever hour the Lord sends forth the calls of His grace to us, whether it be in the middle, or in the beginning, of our lives, let us correspond to it immediately and work unceasingly, like all those whom the master of the Gospel called into His vineyard; so that we may receive not merely the penny of salvation, but the richest joys and the highest degree of glory, as the reward of our labors. Let us toil unintermittingly at our task until the night of Death descends upon us: so that the Lord may not say to us, as He did to the Jews of old: "The publicans and the harlots shall go into the kingdom of God before you." (Matt. 21 : 31.)

(e) Take courage, aged man, venerable woman, take courage though, perhaps, you have been late in following the call of God. There is comfort for all in the words of our Gospel: "The last shall be first, and the first last." Or, says the Lord: "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is thine eye evil because I am good?" (Matt. 20 : 15.) "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy." (Rom. 9 : 15.) "And therefore, have I raised thee, that I may show my power in thee, and my name may be spoken of throughout all the earth." (Exod. 9 : 16.) Our salvation will always be the work of grace and of our own co-operation. Every moment of our lives which is sanctified by the grace of God, bears in itself the prize of everlasting happiness in heaven. Every human work performed through divine grace, has a claim to the promised reward. It is, therefore, never too late to enter upon the service of God, or to work in His holy vineyard. When the grace of God and His mercy begin to shine upon the sinner, then will the darkness of the blackest night be changed into the brightest day. While no one has a right to everlasting bliss, yet can we, at all times, build our hopes of salvation upon the all-powerful grace of God. That, alone, can give us--when and where it pleases--the reward of eternal life.

Do we not see in the history of those Saints whom the Lord called late in life, how through their great love, and through their fiery zeal, the last have become first? St. Paul was called by Christ after he had persecuted the Church and was "yet breathing out the threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," yet of his faithful co-operation with grace, he cries out: "By the grace of God, I am what I am: and His grace in me hath not been void, but I have labored more than all,"--meaning the other Apostles. (1 Cor. 15 : 10.) St. Mary Magdalen (and with her, thousands of penitent souls), received at a still later hour, the divine call of repentance,--nevertheless, the Lord hath said of her: "Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much." (Luke 7 :47.) Has not the Christian era, the eleventh and last hour of the world's history, done more for the spread of the kingdom of truth and virtue than all the earlier periods? Is not the whole history of Christianity,--are not all of us who were called from among the Gentiles, shining proofs of the words of our Lord: "The last shall be first, and the first last?"

"Go thou, also, into my vineyard"--thus the Lord says to every human soul, as, in His various goings forth from the throne of His glory, He walks throughout the world. But who could believe, or comprehend, that God will vouchsafe to call for the second and third time the man who has despised and rejected his first invitation? Who could believe it, and sin against the divine mercy? Ah! no, my dearly beloved, entering with holy earnestness and in a penitential spirit upon this sacred season of Lent,--let us attend to the voice of God, let us promptly respond to the merciful and maternal invitation of His holy Church, to the end that we may not merely be reckoned among the many called, but also,--praise to the infinite mercy of God!--among the blessed few chosen! Amen.