Daily Reflections

Jeremias 42:2; Lamentations 5:3

Pray thou for us to the LORD Thy God and for all this remnant,
– for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us.

We are become orphans without a father:
our mothers are as widows.
– for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us.

Monday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time

Feria after Pentecost (Traditional)

Saints Protus and Hyacinth, Martyrs (Traditional)

Saint Deiniol, Bishop (Wales)

Jesus says to each one of us, the spiritually withered: “Stand up! Come out into the middle” (Luke 6:6-11). Faith emboldens us to do so because in Jesus “all the jewels of wisdom and knowledge are hidden” (Colossians 1:24-2:3). Christ’s words in our ears are our “hope of glory”. When we stretch out before Him all our defects, Jesus restores us and makes us whole. His power is working within us when we pour out our hearts before Him, bringing to completion His Word of salvation.

STS. PROTUS AND HYACINTH, MARTYRS

These holy martyrs, scourged and beheaded, during the persecution of the third century, were commemorated by Pope Damasus with the following inscription: “The Kingdom of Heaven holds thee, O Protus, and thither dost thou follow him, O valiant Hyacinth, robed in the purple of thy blood. They were brothers and were unconquered in spirit. Protus first won the crown, but Hyacinth equally deserved the palm.“

SAINT DEINIOL, BISHOP

Saint Deiniol (died 572) was traditionally the first Bishop of Bangor in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, Wales. The present Bangor Cathedral, dedicated to Deiniol, is said to be on the site where his monastery stood. He is venerated in Brittany as Saint Denoual. In English and Latin his name is sometimes rendered as Daniel.

Deiniol embraced the religious life and is said to have studied under Cadoc of Llancarfan. Sir David Trevor describes Deiniol as one of the seven blessed cousins who had spent part of his early life as a hermit “on the arm of Pembrokeshire” but was called to be a Bishop despite deficiencies in his formal education. Deiniol soon left Powys for Gwynedd where he founded the monastery of Bangor, Gwyneddunder the patronage of Maelgwn Gwynedd who endowed it with lands and privileges, later raising it to the rank of the official seat of a Bishop, sharing a common boundary with the principality of Gwynedd. Deiniol is said to have been consecrated to that See by St. Dubricius in the year 516. Deiniol spent the remainder of his days there as Abbot and Bishop.

From a sermon on the Beatitudes by Saint Leo the Great, Pope
(Sermo 95, 8-9: PL 54, 465-466)

Those who love Your Law shall have abundant peace

The blessedness of seeing God is justly promised to the pure of heart. For the eye that is unclean would not be able to see the brightness of the True Light, and what would be happiness to clear minds would be a torment to those that are defiled. Therefore, let the mists of worldly vanities be dispelled, and the inner eye be cleansed of all the filth of wickedness, so that the soul’s gaze may feast serenely upon the great vision of God.

It is to the attainment of this goal that the next words refer: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. This blessedness, dearly beloved, does not derive from any casual agreement or from any and every kind of harmony, but it pertains to what the Apostle says: Be at peace before the LORD, and to the words of the prophet: Those who love Your Law shall enjoy abundant Peace; for them it is no stumbling block.

Even the most intimate bonds of friendship and the closest affinity of minds cannot truly lay claim to this Peace if they are not in agreement with the Will of God. Alliances based on evil desires, covenants of crime and pacts of vice—all lie outside the scope of this Peace. Love of the world cannot be reconciled with love of God, and the man who does not separate himself from the children of this generation cannot join the company of the sons of God. But those who keep God ever in their hearts, and are anxious to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace, never dissent from the Eternal Law as they speak the prayer of Faith. Your Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven.

These then are the peacemakers; they are bound together in holy harmony and are rightly given the heavenly title of sons of God, co-heirs with Christ. And this is the reward they will receive for their love of God and neighbour: when their struggle with all temptation is finally over, there will be no further adversities to suffer or scandal to fear; but they will rest in the Peace of God undisturbed, through Our LORD who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Amen.

DAILY MEDITATION 

The saints whose victory the Church commemorates on this day are honoured among the most illustrious martyrs that ennobled Rome with their blood, when the emperors of the world attempted, with the whole weight of their power, to crush the little flock of Christ. Their epitaph, among the works of Pope Damasus, calls them brothers, and informs us that Hyacinthus sustained the first conflict, but that Protus obtained his crown before him. They are said, in the Acts of Saint Eugenia, to have been eunuchs and retainers to that virtuous lady and martyr, who is honoured on the 25th December.

What words can we find sufficiently to extol the heroic virtue and invincible fortitude of the martyrs! They stood out against the fury of those tyrants whose arms had subdued the most distant nations; to whose yoke almost the whole known world was subject, and whose power both kings and people revered. They, standing alone, without any preparation of war, appeared undaunted in the presence of those proud conquerors, who seemed to think that the very earth ought to bend under their feet. Armed with virtue and divine grace, they were an overmatch for all the powers of the world and hell; they fought with wild beasts, fires, and swords; with intrepidity and wonderful cheerfulness they braved the most cruel torments, and by humility, patience, meekness, and constancy, baffled, all enemies, and triumphed over men and devils. How glorious was the victory of such an invincible virtue! Having before our eyes, the examples of so many holy saints, are we yet so dastardly as to shrink under temptations, or to lose patience under the most ordinary trials?

Fr.  Alban Butler [d. 1773] – English mission priest, scholar, and hagiographer, best known for his monumental Lives of the Saints.

Stretching Out Our Hands in Prayer and Praise

Merciful Father, God in Heaven, draw my soul flowingly and untroubled to You, and flow towards me, O LORD, with all the joy that is Yours. Draw me by the power of your Holy Trinity into the sweet stream of love, so that in praising You I may turn to good account all Your merciful gifts. I ask nothing of You, LORD, that would not lead me to Your praise.

For all your faithfulness, Father of all good, I, a poor sinner, thank You with my suffering body, my outcast soul, my sinful heart, my sorrowful senses, and with my whole being. All these were untainted before the fall, and when they return they shall be reinstated to the highest. I praise You with these this day, for You have shown true protection to my poor body and outcast soul. I thank You for all the merciful gifts you have been pleased to give me. With all creatures I would praise You in and for all things that have flowed unspotted from Your generous Heart. With all these I pray that You will glorify Yourself by a conversion of those sinners who today lie in mortal sin. I pray to You for all the suffering souls who through our sins have gone to Purgatory. May we carefully guard ourselves from such sins. I pray to You for the salvation, protection, and perfection of Your Holy Ghost in all those who have helped me to bear the misery of my body and soul. I pray to You through Your Son Jesus that You will change the suffering of my spiritual poverty and turn the bitter drink to honey in the palate of my soul. I pray to You, for the eternal honour of the Christian Faith, that you protect us from all false ways with Your divine Wisdom. Strengthen our spirits, O LORD, so we may rest in Your Holy Trinity.

I pray that all those who persecute Christians may yet come to know You openly before all people. I pray that You, Eternal Consoler, would comfort all sorrowing souls who must this day part from their bodies, and that You, their Preserver, would keep them safe and give them Everlasting Life. I pray for spiritual clarity, constancy, and strength in upholding Divine Truth in all things. I pray You will give me true thankfulness at all times, for all Your gifts that help those who through love for You carry heavy burdens. I ask You, holy God, for a compassionate view of my useless life, for union with You in my soul, for the Sacrament of your Holy Body to help me on my way, that at the end it may be the last food of soul and body. I also pray that you would bend Yourself towards me in the painful parting of my soul from my sinful body and that I, according to Your sweet Will and desire, may see You without ceasing; that my soul’s eyes may rest on Your Godhead, and that Your sweet love may sweep through my soul.

Sister Mechthild of Magdeburg

Sister Mechthild of Magdeburg († 1282) was part of the medieval lay movement known as the beguines, and later a nun at Helfta, Germany. [From Meditations from Mechthild of Magdeburg. ©

Isaias 38:3; 1 John 2:6; 5:3; 2:5

I beseech Thee, O LORD, remember how I have walked before Thee in Truth and with a perfect heart,
– He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself also to walk, even as He walked. 

For this is the Charity of God, that we keep His Commandments.

– He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself also to walk, even as He walked.

“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”– Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen