January 23rd - St. Raymon of Pennafort

[Elizabeth]

Saint Raymond of Pennafort
Dominican, Archbishop
(1175-1275)

Born in 1175 of a noble Spanish family, Raymond, at the age of twenty, taught philosophy in Barcelona with marvelous success. Ten years later his rare abilities won for him the degree of Doctor in the University of Bologna, accompanied by many high dignities. A tender devotion to our Blessed Lady, which had increased within him from childhood, determined him in his mature years to renounce all his honors and to enter Her Order of Saint Dominic.

There a vision of the Mother of Mercy instructed him to cooperate with his penitent Saint Peter Nolasco, and with James, King of Aragon, in founding the Order of Our Lady of Ransom for the redemption of captives. He began this great work by preaching a crusade against the Moors, and by rousing to penance the Christians enslaved in both soul and body by the infidels. The king of Aragon, a man of great qualities but governed by a ruling passion, often took Saint Raymond with him on his voyages. On one such occasion, when they were visiting the island of Majorca, he was told by the Saint he must put away at once the cause of his sin. When he delayed, Raymond asked for leave to depart, since he could not live in company with sin. The king refused and under pain of death, forbade his conveyance by any ship. The Saint replied to the sailors, If a mortal king has given such a command, we will see that the Eternal King has disposed otherwise. Full of faith, he went out on a rock extending into the sea, and spread his cloak upon the waters. Tying one end of it to his staff as a sail, he made the sign of the cross and fearlessly stepped upon it. In six hours he was borne to Barcelona where, gathering up his cloak, which was dry, he made his way to his monastery.

The king, vanquished by this miracle, to which many were witness, became a sincere penitent and the disciple of the Saint until his death. In 1230, Gregory IX summoned Raymond to Rome, made him his confessor and grand penitentiary, and directed him to compile The Decretals, a collection of the scattered decisions of the Popes and Councils. Having refused the archbishopric of Tarragon, Raymond was in 1238 chosen to be the third General of his Order, which post he again succeeded in resigning, pleading his advanced age. His first act when set free was to resume his labors among the infidels, and in 1256 Raymond, then eighty-one, was able to report that ten thousand Saracens had received Baptism. He died at the age of one hundred years, in 1275.

Saint John was solicited to come to Constantinople to give his blessing to the emperor Heraclius, about to go to war against pagan neighbors; but the great bishop was called to his reward during the voyage, and died while praying on his knees, in Cyprus, his birthplace. The year was 619. The final resting-place of his relics was Presbourg, a city of Hungary, where they were transferred in 1632.

[Stone]

January 23 – St. Pegnafort & St. Emerentiana

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

St. Raymund of Pegnafort, Confessor

The glorious choir of Martyrs, that stands round our Emmanuel, till the day of his Presentation in the Temple, opens its ranks, from time to time, to give admission to the Confessors, whom divine Providence has willed should grace the Cycle, during this sacred season. The Martyrs surpass all the other Saints in number; but, still, the Confessors are well represented. After Hilary, Paul, Maurus, and Antony, comes Raymund of Pegnafort, one of the glories of the Order of St. Dominic and of the Church, in the 13th century.

According to the saying of the Prophets, the Messias is come to be our Lawgiver; nay, he is himself our Law. His words are to be the rule of mankind; he will leave with his Church the power of legislation, to the end that she may guide men in holiness and justice, in all ages. As it is his Truth that presides over the teaching of the Faith, so is it his Wisdom that regulates Canonical Discipline. But the Church, in the compilation and arrangement of her laws, engages the services of men, whom she judges to be the most competent for the work, by their knowledge of Canon Law and the holiness of their lives.

St. Raymund has the honour of having been intrusted to draw up the Church’s Code of Canon Law. It was he who, in the year 1234, compiled, by order of Pope Gregory the Ninth, the five Books of the Decretals; and his name will ever be associated with this great work, which forms the basis of the actual discipline of the Church.

Raymund was a faithful disciple of that God, who came down from heaven to save sinners, by calling them to receive pardon. He has merited the beautiful title, conferred on him by the Church, of excellent Minister of the Sacrament of Penance. He was the first who collected together, into one body of doctrine, the maxims of Christian morality, which regulate the duties of the confessor with regard to the Faithful, who confess their sins to him. The Sum of Penitential Cases opened the series of those important Treatises, in which learned and holy men have carefully considered the claims of law and the obligations of man, in order to instruct the Priest how to pass judgment, as the Scripture says, between leprosy and leprosy.

In fine, when the glorious Mother of God, who is also the Mother of men, raised up, for the Redemption of Captives, the generous Peter Nolasco — whom we shall meet, a few days hence, at the Crib of our Redeemer — Raymund was an important instrument in this great work of mercy; and it is with good reason, that the Order of Mercy looks upon him as one of its Founders, and that so many thousand captives, who were ransomed by the Religious of that Order from the captivity of the Moors, have honoured him as one of the principal authors of their liberty.

Let us now read the account of the actions of this holy man, whose life was indeed a full one, and rich in merit. The Lessons of his Feast thus abridge his history.

The blessed Raymund was born at Barcelona, of the noble family of Pegnafort. Having been imbued with the rudiments of the Christian faith, the admirable gifts he had received, both of mind and body, were such, that even when quite a boy, he seemed to promise great things in his after life. While still young, he taught humanities in Barcelona. Later on, he went to Bologna, where he applied himself with much diligence to the exercises of a virtuous life, and to the study of canon and civil law. He there received the Doctor’s cap, and interpreted the sacred canons so ably, that he was the admiration of his hearers. The holiness of his life becoming known far and wide, Berengarius, the Bishop of Barcelona, when returning to his diocese from Rome, took Bologna in his way, in order to see him; and, after most earnest entreaties, induced Raymund to accompany him to Barcelona. He was, shortly after, made Canon and Provost of that Church, and became a model, to the clergy and people, by his uprightness, modesty, learning, and meekness. His tender devotion to the Holy Mother of God was extraordinary, and he never neglected an opportunity of zealously promoting the devotion and honor which are due to her.

When he was about forty-five years of age, he made his solemn profession in the Order of the Friars Preachers. He then, as a soldier but just entered into service, devoted himself to the exercise of every virtue, but, above all, to charity to the poor, and this mainly to the captives, who had been taken by the infidels. It was by his exhortation, that St. Peter Nolasco (who was his penitent) was induced to devote all his riches to this work of most meritorious charity. The Blessed Virgin appeared to Peter, as also to blessed Raymund and to James the First, King of Arragon, telling them, that it would be exceedingly pleasing to herself and her divine Child, if an Order of Religious men were instituted, whose mission it should be to deliver captives from the tyranny of infidels. Whereupon, after deliberating together, they founded the Order of our Lady of Mercy for the Ransom of Captives; and blessed Raymund drew up certain rules of life, which were admirably adapted to the spirit and vocation of the said Order. Some years after, he obtained their approbation from Gregory the Ninth, and made St. Peter Nolasco, to whom he gave the habit with his own hands, first General of the Order.

Raymund was called to Rome by the same Pope, who appointed him to be his Chaplain, Penitentiary, and Confessor. It was by Gregory’s order that he collected together, in the volume called the Decretals, the Decrees of the Roman Pontiffs, which were to be found separately in the various Councils and Letters. He was most resolute in refusing the Archbishopric of Tarragon, which the same Pontiff offered to him, and, of his own accord, resigned the Generalship of the Dominican Order, which office he had discharged, in a most holy manner, for the space of two years. He persuaded James, the King of Arragon, to establish in his dominions the Holy Office of the Inquisition. He worked many miracles; among which is that most celebrated one of his having, when returning to Barcelona from the island of Majorca, spread his cloak upon the sea, and sailed upon it, in the space of six hours, the distance of a hundred and sixty miles, and having reached his convent, he entered it through the closed doors. At length, when he had almost reached the hundredth year of his age, and was full of virtue and merit, he slept in the Lord, in the year of the Incarnation 1275. He was canonized by Pope Clement the Eighth.

We take the following Hymn from the Dominican Breviary.

Hymn

Grande Raymundo celebrate nomen,
Præsules, Reges, populique terræ:
Cujus æternæ fuit universis Cora salutis. 

Prelates, Kings, and people of the earth! celebrate the glorious name of Raymund, to whom the salvation of all mankind was an object of loving care.


Quidquid est alta pietate mirum
Exhibet purus, niveusque morum:
Omne virtutum rutilare cernis
Lumen in illo. 

His pure and spotless life reflected all the marvels of the mystic life; and the light of every virtue shines brightly forth in him.


Sparsa Summorum monimenta Patrum
Colligit mira studiosus arte:
Quæque sunt prisci sacra digna cedro
Dogmata juris. 

With admirable study and research, he collects together the scattered Decrees of the Sovereign Pontiffs, and all the sacred maxims of the ancient Canons, so worthy to be handed down to all ages.

Doctus infidum solidare pontum,
Currit invectus stadio patenti:
Veste componens, baculoque cymbam,
Æquora calcat. 

He bids the treacherous sea be firm, and on her open waters carry him to land; he spreads his mantle, and his staff the mast, he rides upon the waves.


Da, Deus nobis sine labe mores,
Da vitæ tutum sine clade cursum:
Da perennalis sine fine vitæ
Tangere portum. Amen. 

Grant us, O Lord, to traverse through the sea of life with innocence and safety, and reach at length the port of life eternal. Amen.


Faithful dispenser of the Mystery of reconciliation! it was from the Heart of an Incarnate God, that thou didst draw the sweet charity, which made thee the friend of the sinner. Thou didst love thy fellowmen, and didst labour to supply all their wants, whether of soul or body. Enlightened by the rays of the Sun of Justice, thou hast taught us how to discern between good and evil, by giving us those rules whereby our wounds are judged and healed. Borne was the admirer of thy knowledge of her laws, and it is one of her glories that she received from thy hand the sacred Code whereby she governs the Churches of the world.

Excite in our hearts, Raymund! that sincere compunction, which is the condition required of us when we seek our pardon in the Sacrament of Penance. Make us understand both the grievousness of mortal sin, which separates us from our God for all eternity, and the dangers of venial sin, which disposes the tepid soul to fall into mortal sin. Pray, that there may abound in the Church men filled with charity and learning, who may exercise that sublime ministry of healing souls. Preserve them from the two extremes, of rigorism which drives to despair, and of laxity which natters into sloth. Revive amongst them the study of the holy Canons, which can alone keep disorder and anarchy from the fold of Christ. Oh! thou that hadst such tender love for captives, console all that are pining now in exile or in prison ; pray for their deliverance ; and pray that we all may be set loose from the ties of sin, which but too often make them, who boast of their outward liberty, be slaves in their souls.

Thou wast the confidant of the Heart of Mary, the Queen of Mercy, and she made thee share with her in the work of the Redemption of Captives. Thou hast great power with this Heart, which, after the Heart of Jesus, is our hope. Pray for us to this incomparable Mother of God, that we may have the grace to love the Divine Child she holds in her arms. May she be induced, by thy prayers, to be our Star on the Sea of this world, more stormy far than that which thou didst pass, when sailing on thy miraculous bark.

Remember, too, thy dear Spain, where thou didst pass thy saintly life. Her Church is in mourning, because she has lost the Religious Orders which made her so grand and so strong: pray that they may be speedily restored to her, and assist her as of old. Protect the Dominican Order, of whose Habit and Rule thou wast so bright an ornament. Thou didst govern it with great prudence, whilst on earth; now that thou art in heaven, be a father to it by thy love.

May it repair its losses. May it once more flourish in the universal Church, and produce, as in former days, those fruits of holiness and learning, which made it one of the chief glories of the Church of God.

COMMEMORATION OF SAINT EMERENTIANA

Three days have scarcely passed since the martyrdom of St. Agnes, when the Liturgy, so jealous of every tradition, invites us to visit the Martyr’s tomb. There we shall find a young Virgin, named Emerentiana; she was the friend and foster-sister of our dear little heroine, and has come to pray and weep at the spot, where lies her loved one, so soon and so cruelly taken from her. Emerentiana has not yet been regenerated in the waters of Baptism; she is going through the exercises of a Catechumen; but her heart already belongs, by faith and desire, to Jesus.

Whilst the young girl is pouring forth her grief over the tomb of her much-loved Agnes, she is surprised by the approach of some pagans; they ridicule her tears, and bid her pay no more of this sort of honour to one who was their victim. Upon this, the child, longing as she was to be with Christ, and to be clasped in the embraces of her sweet Agnes, was fired with holy courage — as well she might near such a Martyr’s tomb — and turning to the barbarians, she confesses Christ Jesus, and curses the idols, and upbraids them for their vile cruelty to the innocent Saint who lay there.

This was more than enough to rouse the savage nature of men, who were slaves to the worship of Satan; and scarcely had the child spoken, when she falls on the tomb, covered with the heavy stones thrown on her by her murderers. Baptized in her own blood, Emerentiana leaves her bleeding corpse upon the earth, and her soul flies to the bosom of her God, where she is to enjoy, for ever, union with him, in the dear company of Agnes.

Let us unite with the Church, which so devoutly honors these touching incidents of her own history. Let us ask Emerentiana to pray that we may have the grace to be united with Jesus and Agnes in heaven; and congratulate her on her own triumph, by addressing her in the words of the holy Liturgy.

Ant. Veni, Sponsa Christi, accipe coronam quam tibi Dominus præparavit in æternum. 
Ant. Come, O Spouse of Christ, receive the crown, which the Lord hath prepared for thee forever.

℣. Diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis. 
℣. Grace is poured abroad in thy lips.

℟. Propterea benedixit te Deus in æternum. 
℟. Therefore hath God blessed thee forever.

Oremus 
Indulgentiam nobis, quæsumus, Domine, beata Emerentiana Virgo et Martyr imploret: quæ tibi grata semper exstitit, et merito castitatis et tuæ professione virtutis. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Let us Pray
Let blessed Emerentiana, thy Virgin and Martyr, O Lord, sue for our pardon: who, by the purity of her life, and profession of thy virtue, was always pleasing to thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Stone]

January 23 – St. Idlephonsus, Bishop and Confessor
Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

The Gothic Church of Spain deputes, to-day, one of her most glorious Prelates, to represent her at the Crib of the Divine Babe, and to celebrate his ineffable Birth. The praise, which falls from Ildephonsus’ lips, seems, at our first hearing it, to have the Mother’s dear honour for its only theme ; but, how can we honour the Mother, without at the same time proclaiming the praise of the Son, to whose Birth she owes all her greatness ?

Among the glorious Pontiffs, who honoured the noble episcopate of Spain, during the 7th and 8th centuries — for example, Leander, Isidore, Fulgentius, Braulio, Eugenius, Julian, Helladius — among them, and in the foremost rank, stands Ildephonsus, with his glory of having been the Doctor of the Virginity of the Mother of God, just as Athanasius is the Doctor of the Divinity of the Word, Basil the Doctor of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, and Augustine the Doctor of Grace. The holy Bishop of Toledo has treated the dogma of Mary’s Virginity in all its completeness. With profound learning and with fervid eloquence, he proves, against the Jews, that Mary conceived without losing her Virginity; against the followers of Jovinian, that she was a Virgin in her Delivery; against the disciples of Helvidius, that she remained a Virgin, after she had given birth to her Divine Son. Other holy Doctors had treated separately on each of these sublime questions, before our Saint: but he brought together all their teachings and merited that a Virgin- Martyr should rise from her tomb to thank him for having defended the honour of the Queen of Heaven. Nay, Mary herself, with her own pure hand, clothed him with that miraculous Chasuble, which was an image of the robe of light wherewith Ildephonsus shines now in heaven, at the foot of Mary’s Throne.

The Monastic Breviary gives us the following Lessons, in the Office of our holy Bishop.

Ildephonsus was born at Toledo, in Spain, of most noble parents, whose names were Stephen and Lucy. He was brought up with great care, and instructed in all the liberal arts. His first master was Eugenius, Bishop of Toledo, who, seeing him to be a youth of very great promise, sent him to Seville, that he might be under the guidance of Isidore, whose reputation for learning was well known. He lived with Isidore for twelve years; after which, being formed to piety, and imbued with sound doctrine, he returned to Toledo, to Eugenius, who made him Archdeacon of that Church, on account of his great virtues and learning. Ildephonsus, desiring to avoid the snares of the world, embraced the monastic life, in the Monastery of Agali, of the Order of Saint Benedict, though his parents endeavoured to divert him from his holy resolution, by every possible entreaty and every sort of menace.

The Abbot of the monastery dying not long after, the monks elected Ildephonsus as his successor; for they had observed in him, amongst his other virtues, a love of equity, affability of manner, prudence, and admirable piety. It was not possible, though the Saint had hoped it, that so much merit, and such resplendent virtues, should lie long concealed: and therefore, on the death of Eugenius, he was elected Archbishop of Toledo, by the wish of the clergy, senate, and the whole people. It would take too long a time to tell how much he did, in this his new post of honour, both by word and example, to the people committed to his care — and how many miracles he wrought— and in how many ways he merited at the hands of the Virgin Mother of God. He built a Monastery for virgins at a place called Deilfa, and richly endowed it. He most ably refuted, and drove out of Spain, certain heretics, who were disseminating the heresy of Helvidius, which denied the perpetual Virginity of Mary, the Mother of God. His controversy on this subject is contained in the Book he wrote on the Virginity of our Lady; and she herself rewarded the zeal of her servant by a miracle. Ildephonsus having gone down, during the night, to assist at Matins for the Feast of our Lady’s Expectation, they who accompanied him, had no sooner reached the threshold of the Church, than they beheld a dazzling light inside, at which they were seized with fear, and withdrew. The Saint fearlessly entered and advanced to the altar, where he beheld the Blessed Virgin; he fell on his knees before her, and received from her a vestment, in which to offer up the Holy Sacrifice.

On another occasion, when the Clergy and a great concourse of people were assembled for the feast of St. Leocadia, and Ildephonsus was kneeling at the Saint’s tomb, praying — the tomb suddenly opened, and St. Leocadia came forth. She then spoke of the great things done by Ildephonsus in honour of the Mother of God, and said, in the presence and hearing of the whole assembly: “O Idlephonsus! our Lady, the Queen of heaven, has gained a triumph through thee.” As she was retreating from the spot, Idlephonsus seized the sword of King Receswind, who happened to be there, and cut off a portion of the veil, which Leocadia wore on her head. He, with much solemnity and ceremony, placed both it and the King’s sword in the treasury of the Church, where they are kept to this day.

He has left several eloquent writings, some of which he never finished, owing to the many troubles and occupations, which engrossed his time. He at length made a happy death, after being Bishop nine years and two months ; and was buried in the Basilica of Saint Leocadia, about the year of our Lord in 667, Receswind being then King of Spain. During the general occupation of the kingdom by the Moors, his relies were translated to the city of Zamora, and placed in the Church of Saint Peter, where they are honoured with much devotion by the inhabitants.

We salute thee with devout hearts, holy Pontiff ! who standest pre-eminent in thy love of the Mother of God, even in that glorious Spain, where her honour has had such brave defenders. Come, and take thy place near the Crib of Jesus, where this incomparable Mother is watching over this Babe, who, being both her God and her Son, consecrated her virginity, but did not impair it.* Pray for us to her, and remind her that she is our Mother also. Ask her to receive the hymns we sing in her honour, and to bless the offering we make of our hearts to her divine Son. That our prayer may find a readier welcome from this august Queen, we will make use of thy own words, O holy Doctor of Mary’s Virginity; and thus will we speak to her:

I come to thee, the sole Virgin-Mother of God; I prostrate myself before thee, the sole co-operatrix of the Incarnation of my God; I humble myself before thee, that wast alone found worthy to be the Mother of my Lord; I pray to thee, the Handmaid, unlike all others, of thy Son, that thou obtain for me the forgiveness of my sins, that thou procure for me the being cleansed from my evil deeds, that thou get me a love of thy grand glory, that thou reveal unto me the exceeding sweetness of thy Jesus, that thou grant me to proclaim and defend
the purity of our holy Faith. Grant, that I may cling to my God and to thee, and be faithful to
thy Son and to thee — to him as my Creator, to thee as Mother of my Creator; to him as the Lord of hosts, to thee as the Handmaid of the Lord of all; to him as God, to thee as Mother of God; to him as my Redeemer, to thee as the instrument of my redemption.

He became the price of my ransom, but he became so by his becoming incarnate from thy flesh. He assumed a mortal Body, but he took it from thine, and with this his sacred Body he blotted out my sins. My own human nature, which he took to his kingdom, and set it, above the Angels, on the right hand of his Father, he took from thy pure flesh and blood, when he humbled himself and was made Man.

I, then, am thy servant, Mary! because thy Son is my Lord. Thou art our Lady, because thou art the Handmaid of our Lord. I am the servant of the Handmaid of my Lord, because thou, that art our Lady, wast made Mother of my Lord. I pray thee, I fervently pray thee, Holy Virgin! that I may receive Jesus by that Holy Spirit, by whom thou didst become Mother of Jesus. May I be made to know Jesus by that Holy Spirit, by whom thou didst know, and possess, and bring forth, Jesus. May I speak of Jesus in that same Holy Spirit, in whom thou didst confess thyself the Handmaid of the Lord. May I love Jesus in that same Holy Ghost, in whom thou adorest him as thy God, and gazest upon him as thy Son. And may I obey this thy Jesus as faithfully, as he himself, though God, was subject to thee and to Joseph.” **

* Non minuit, sed sacravit. Prayer of the Church, on the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, September 8th.

** St. Ildephonsus, On the perpetual Virginity of Mary, ch xii