S. Augustine, Bishop, Sermon 278, For the Conversion of S. Paul

 

The modern reading from St. John Chrysostom is much tamer. St. Augustine delightfully runs with his hand firmly on the tools of typology and allegory.

This is the older reading for Matins on the Feast of the Conversion in the Monastic Breviary. 

 

WE are told to-day in the Lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, how Paul the Apostle, from being the persecutor of Christians, became the messenger of Christ.  For Christ smote down his persecutor to make him his Doctor of the Church. He strikes him and heals him; he is dying, and behold, he lives. The Lamb was slain by the wolves, and behold, he makes the wolves into lambs. For what happened to Paul is clearly foretold by the Prophet, when Jacob the Patriarch blessed his sons: as he touched the son who was actually before him, he foresaw the son who was to come.

NOW Paul, as he himself declares, was of the tribe of Benjamin. So when Jacob, blessing each of his sons in turn, came to Benjamin, he said, Benjamin shall ravage as a wolf. What follows? Shall it always be thus? Far from it. Jacob added, In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. This was fulfilled in Paul the Apostle, just as it was prophesied of him.

NOW, let us see how in the morning he is ravenous, and how in the evening he divides the spoil. Morning and evening, applied to him, mean before and after his conversion. So we could put it thus: Before his conversion he was ravenous; afterwards, he divided the spoil. This is the fierce wolf: Saul went to the high priest and asked of him letters, that if he found any of the way, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem

HE went, breathing out threats and slaughter: this is his morning of devouring the prey. Now when Stephen was stoned, he became the first martyr to lay down his life in Christ's Name; and most clearly Saul was present at the time. In fact, he was so confederate with those who were stoning that it was not enough for him to stone Stephen with his own hands. For it was as though his will moved the hands of all those who were casting the stones, while he held their clothes. He raged more fiercely by helping all of them, than by stoning with his own hands. Thus, we see how in the morning he was ravenous. Now let us see how to the same degree in the evening he divided the spoil. The voice of Christ from heaven knocked him to the earth, and at that decree from on high the ravenous wolf fell on his face, and he who was first smitten down was afterwards lifted up; he was first stricken, and then healed.

IN CONVERSIONE S. PAULI, APOSTOLI

 

Ad Officium lectionis: saec XVIII

 

Pressi malórum póndere

te, Paule, adímus súpplices,

qui certa largus désuper

dabis salútis pígnora.

 

Nam tu beáto cóncitus

divíni amóris ímpetu,

quos insecútor óderas,

defénsor inde amplécteris.

 

Amóris, eia, prístini

ne sis, precámur, ímmemor,

et nos supérnæ lánguidos

in spem redúcas grátiæ.

 

Te deprecánte flóreat

ignára damni cáritas,

quam nulla turbent iúrgia

nec ullus error sáuciet.

 

O grata cælo víctima,

te, lux amórque Géntium,

o Paule, clarum víndicem,

nos te patrónum póscimus.

 

Laus Trinitáti, cántica

sint sempitérnæ glóriæ,

quæ nos boni certáminis

tecum corónet præmiis. Amen.

 

Pressed down by the weight of evil, O Paul, we come to you praying that you will give us from above sure pledges of our salvation. For you aroused by the blessed blow of divine love, first persecuted those whom you hated and then as their defender embraced them.  Ah, do not forget your first love, we pray, and lead us back in our weakness to the hope of heavenly grace. By your prayers may love, which knows not damnation, flourish, love which is disturbed by no murmuring and which no error can wound.  O victim pleasing to heaven, light and love of the Gentiles, O Paul, we pray to you, our glorious avenger and patron. A hymn of praise to the eternal glory of the Trinity, who crowns us with you, the reward for those who have fought the good fight. Amen.

 

Ad Laudes matutinis: saec. VIII-IX

 

Doctor egrégie, Paule, mores ínstrue

et mente polum nos transférre sátage,

donec perféctum largiátur plénius,

evacuáto quod ex parte gérimus.

 

Sit Trinitáti sempitérna glória,

honor, potéstas atque iubilátio,

in unitáte, cui manet impérium

ex tunc et modo per ætérna sæcula. Amen

 

Doctor without equal, Paul, instruct  our life and mind that we be set on the path to heaven;  grant that we may more fully  possess what has been perfected and what we now know only in part.  Glory be to the eternal Trinity, honor, power and praise in the Unity, whose authority abides now and for eternal ages. Amen.

 

Ad Vesperas: Petrus Damianus

 

Excélsam Pauli glóriam

concélebret Ecclésia,

quem mire sibi apóstolum

ex hoste fecit Dóminus.

 

Quibus succénsus æstibus

in Christi nomen sæviit,

exársit his impénsius

amórem Christi prædicans.

 

O magnum Pauli méritum!

Cælum conscéndit tértium,

audit verba mystérii

quæ nullus audet éloqui.

 

Dum verbi spargit sémina,

seges surgit ubérrima;

sic cæli replent hórreum

bonórum fruges óperum.

 

Micántis more lámpadis

perfúndit orbem rádiis;

fugat errórum ténebras,

ut sola regnet véritas.

 

Christo sit omnis glória,

cum Patre et almo Spíritu,

qui dedit vas tam fúlgidum

electiónis géntibus. Amen.

 

The Church celebrates the most high glory of Paul, an enemy, whom the Lord wondrously made an apostle. Burning with zeal he savagely raged against the name of Christ; aroused by a more intense fire he preached the love of Christ. O great merit of Paul! He ascended to the third heaven, he hears the words of the mystery, which he dares not tell anyone. While he scattered the seed of the word, a very rich harvest arouse; thus he filled the granaries of heaven with the fruit of good works. As a bright lamp he poured rays of light upon the world; he put to flight the darkness of error that the truth alone should reign. To Christ be all glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, who gave to the Gentiles such resplendent vessel of election. Amen.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Bede: Homily 1: 16

It is no great thing for the Lord to say the name of any man or of his father, since he holds the names of all the saints inscribed in heaven.  But since he was about to bestow upon the disciple a name more sublime in merit, and since he was about to give him an identifying name which would be fitting for the head of the whole Church, he first wished to show that even the [name] which he had received from his parents did not lack signification regarding virtue. Simon means 'obedient,' and John means 'the grace of God'. You are Simon, son of John' — 'You are the obedient son of God's grace'. And rightly is he called by a name [meaning] obedience, since first he took care to [come to] see the Lord as soon as Andrew invited him; and later, when the Lord himself called him to discipleship together with Andrew, whom [the Lord] called at the same time, he did not put off following him immediately, but left behind the nets which he made his living by using. Andrew's name too carries with it a true image of his mind. For the Greek 'Andrew' means 'manly' in Latin. By willingly following the Lord, either at John's preaching or at the order of the Lord himself, he shows that he belonged to the heritage  of those who boldly despise temporal possessions out of love for eternal things an who believe that they will see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. 

BVM on Saturday: From the treatise On the Nature of God by Saint Albert the Great.

BVM on Saturday: From the treatise On the Nature of God by Saint Albert the Great.

From the Propers for the order of Preachers

The Word of the Father increased, not diminished, the virginity of his mother.

The Blessed Virgin is called the morning star because the morning of   grace has dawned in her, and she is among the clouds which usually rise in the morning. The cloud that the Blessed Virgin scatters is threefold namely, the cloud of sin, the cloud of sorrow, and the cloud of error. First she scatters by interceding for sinners, the second by pouring consolation on those who suffer, and the third by revealing the truth. She shines like the full moon, whose light is not diminished but increases and remains continuously diffusing the light of grace to all who are in darkness and in the shadow of death. And like the shining sun she both sheds the warmth of piety and in her goodness melts all rational creatures in order to mold them anew. But this is not sufficient for her praise. Indeed, she is more beautiful than the sun and excels every constellation of the stars.  Compared with the light she is found to be superior, for it is succeeded by the night, but against Mary, the star of the sea, evil does not prevail.

This star of light alone so guides us even in darkness that a little old woman may sometimes contemplate what the learned do not grasp, because the learned scorn to make their intellects captive and bring their minds submission to God. And this is symbolized, when the ass reproves the prophet, for the ass and not the prophet recognized the angel of God and the will of God. Thus. according to the Sentences of Peter Lombard, through a mute beast of burden God rebuked the foolishness of the prophet. This still happens when an unlearned person serves under the yoke of Christ, mute as to the

the rhetorical and polished language that comes from a knowledge of the arts, and rebukes by word and example the doctors who from the summit of their science know how to examine the heights of heaven as well as the depths of the abyss.

She is a star because "like a ray from a heavenly body the Virgin brought forth her Son in a similar way. For a star does not lose its integrity from its ray, nor did the Mother from her Son." So great is the difference between the birth of heavenly bodies and earthly bodies that the terrestrial in giving birth lose their integrity, the heavenly do not. For no matter how rays of light a star puts forth, the star is not marred nor is its light teen to diminish. Thus, the Word of the Father, the ray of eternal light, a brilliant and spotless mirror of the clarity of the Father, brought fecundity to the mother, but did not take away her virginity. The light of her virginity increased, it did not diminish. Without a doubt nothing will be impossible with God. For he who walked on the waves of the sea without immersing his body, who came forth from the tomb without breaking the seal on the done which we read was rolled back by an angel not by the Lord, and who entered the room with the disciples while the doors were locked, was also Able to be born of a virgin mother without breaking the cloister of her virginal chastity. Thus the aforesaid star, the Blessed Virgin, has risen out  Jacob, because like a rose springing from a root and branch of thorns, thus she herself from the thorny people of the synagogue consented to the lord's birth.

Or we may say that we are that thorny people who have been bloodied by the thorn of sin, or by our very ignorance of the thorn; but as the thorn brings forth a rose so we from our nature brought forth Mary. Therefore, it said: As a lily among thorns so is my beloved among the maidens. She is called a lily, not that she is not a rose, but that the totality of her virtue may be understood. For she is the rose of patience amidst the pricking of thorns Ind the lily of chastity blooming in the field of our nature, which field is accustomed to bring forth the poisons and nettles of an alluring concupiscence. But through this star a shoot arose from Israel, that is, the power and the rule of Christ: A shoot shall spring from the stump of Jesse, und a branch will sprout from his roots. From Jesse the Lord has sprung In the flesh, but not by the power of human generation, no matter how powerful the fire of the human spirit. For he was born by the power of the Holy Spirit, not from Jesse's substance, for the name Jesse is interpreted as "fire. " 

THE PASSION OF AGNES: Prudentius

The native home of Romulus now enshrines
The tomb of Agnes, virgin and martyr blest.
Reposing there in sight of its lofty towers,
The maiden watches over the sons of Rome,
And pilgrims, too, enjoy here protecting care,
Who pray to her with pure and believing hearts.
With splendid twofold diadem she is crowned:
Virginity unmarred by the stain of sin
And glory won by freely embracing death.

That maiden, they relate, who was not yet ripe
For marriage vows and still but a child in years,
Her soul aflame with rapturous love of Christ,
Withstood the impious edict to sacrifice
To idols and abandon her holy Faith.

Assailed at first by every art and wile,
Now by the coaxing words of a fawning judge,
Now by the butcher's sinister threats of doom,
Dauntless she stood, nor shrank from her stern resolve,
Willing to give her body to torments sore,
Nor quailing from the threat of a cruel death.

Then spoke the angry tyrant: 'If she can face
The thought of grinding torture and woeful pangs,
And sets at naught her life as of little worth,
Her consecrated chastity she holds dear.
Into a common den of impurity
I am resolved to cast her unless she bows
Before Minerva's altar and begs her grace,
That virgin she, a virgin, has dared despise.
There all the youths in wanton delight will rush,
To seek this newest slave of their lustful sport.

Then Agnes answered: 'Never will Christ forget
His own nor let our precious virginity
Be snatched from us. He will not abandon us.
He ever shields the chaste and will not permit
The gift of holy purity to be soiled.
My blood may dye your sword, if it is your will,
But never will my body be stained with lust.

So spoke the maid; the prefect then gave command
That she should stand exposed in the public square.
As there she stood, the pitying throngs fell back 40
And turned their eyes away in respectful awe,
None daring to regard her with brazen look.

It chanced that one was forward enough to fix
His gaze upon the maiden and did not fear
To look with lustful eye on her sacred form,
But lo, a flame as swift as a lightning flash
Quick struck his wanton eyes with its trembling dart.
The youth fell down and, blinded by glaring light,
Lay panting in the dust of the crowded street.
His fellows lifted him from the ground, half-dead,
Bewailing him with clamorous words and tears.

The virgin went forth singing a hymn of praise
In thanks to God the Father and Christ, His Son,
That when exposed to peril of vilest stain,
Her chastity had triumphed, and she had found
The den of squalid infamy clean and pure.
Some tell that Agnes, asked to implore of Christ
That He restore the sight of the guilty wretch,
Poured forth a fervent prayer, and the prostrate youth
Regained the breath of life and his vision whole.

In her ascent to heaven the saint had passed
But the first step; a second was yet to come.
The bloody tryant burned with revengeful ire.
'I am outdone,' he groaned. 'Go, unsheathe your sword,
You soldier there, and carry into effect
The laws our prince and sovereign lord decreed.

When Agnes saw the furious headsman stand
With weapon drawn, in transports of joy she cried:
Tar happier am I that a swordsman comes,
A wild uncouth barbarian, fierce and grim,
Than that a languid suitor pays court to me,
A lovesick creature, scented with rare perfumes,
Who would destroy my soul with my chastity.
This butcher is the lover who pleases me:
His bold advances I shall go forth to meet
And will not try to hinder his ardent suit.
I gladly bare my breast to his cruel steel
And deep into my heart I will draw his blade.
Thus as the bride of Christ I shall mount above
The darkness of the world to the realms of light.

Eternal King, unfasten the gates of heaven
That till of late were closed to the sons of earth,
And call Thy virgin spouse to Thyself, O Christ,
A victim to the Father now sacrificed.

As Agnes spoke these words, she inclined her head
In humble prayer to Christ, that her gentle neck
Might readier be to suffer the threatened wound.
Thus was her ardent longing fulfilled at last,
For with one blow the soldier struck off her head
And speedy death prevented all sense of pain.

Then putting off the garment of flesh, her soul
Flies forth and speeds untrammelled into the skies,
Her shining path surrounded by angel choirs.
In wonder she looks down on the world below;
On high she views the darkness beneath her feet,
And at the circling wheel of the sun she laughs
As round its orb the heavenly spheres revolve.
She sees the raging whirlwind of human life
And all the vanities of the fickle world:
Despots and kings, imperial power and rank,
The pageantry of honor and foolish pride,
The thirst for gold and silver, which all men seek
And gain by every species of wickedness,
The stately palaces with their gilded walls,
The vain display of richly embroidered robes,
The hatreds, fears, desires and impending woes,
The long enduring griefs and the fleeting joys,
Black envy with its smoking firebrands that blight
The hopes of men and tarnish all human fame,
And last, but worse than every other ill,
The sordid clouds and darkness of pagan rites.

All these things Agnes tramples beneath her feet,
And with her heel she crushes the dragon's head,
That monster vile who poisons all things of time
And plunges them into the infernal pit.
But vanquished now and under the virgin's foot
He lies crestfallen, prone in the dust of earth,
His fiery head not daring to lift again.
Meanwhile the virgin martyr's unsullied brow
God circles with a glorious twofold crown:
One glowing with the rays of eternal light,
A sixty-fold reward, and the other fruit,
Increased a hundred-fold, of celestial grace.

O happy virgin, glory but lately dawned,
O noble dweller in the celestial courts,
Adorned with thy resplendent twin diadem,
Deign now to turn thy face on our miseries.
To thee alone the Father of all has given
Power to make pure the dwelling of sin itself.
I, too, shall be made clean by thy radiant glance
If thou wilt fill my heart with its gracious light.
All is pure where thou deignest in love to dwell,
Or where thine own immaculate foot may tread.

 

S. AGNETIS, VIRGINIS ET MARTYRIS

 

Ad Officium lectionis: Alfanus I salernensis: Saint Alfanus I or Alfano I (died 1085) was the Archbishop of Salerno from 1058 to his death. He was famed as a translator, writer, theologian, and medical doctor in the eleventh century. He was a physician before he became archbishop, one of the earliest great doctors of the Schola Medica Salernitana.

 

Igne divíni rádians amóris

córporis sexum superávit Agnes,

et super carnem potuére carnis

  claustra pudícæ.

 

Spíritum celsæ cápiunt cohórtes

cándidum, cæli super astra tollunt;

iúngitur Sponsi thálamis pudíca

  sponsa beátis.

 

Virgo, nunc nostræ miserére sortis

et, tuum quisquis célebrat tropæum,

ímpetret sibi véniam reátus

  atque salútem.

 

Redde pacátum pópulo precánti

príncipem cæli dominúmque terræ,

donet ut pacem pius et quiétæ

  témpora vitæ.

 

Láudibus mitem celebrémus Agnum,

casta quem sponsum sibi legit Agnes,

astra qui cæli moderátur atque

  cuncta gubérnat. Amen.

 

Radiating with the fire of divine love.  Agnes overcame the sex of her body, and rising above her flesh was enclosed in pure flesh. The heavenly cohorts take her bright spirit and carry her beyond the stars; the pure bride is united to the wedding chamber of the Bridegroom. O Virgin, now have mercy on our lot and, for those who celebrate your triumph, seek pardon for our sins and salvation. Make peaceful the people who entreat the Prince of heaven and Lord of earth that He in love may give us times of of a restful life. With praises let us celebrate the gentle Lamb, who chaste Agnes chose as her bridegroom, He who governs the stars of heaven and guides all things. Amen.

 

 

Ad Laudes matutinas & ad Vesperas: Ambrosius

 

WALSH AND HUSCH: The close correspondence between the content of this hymn and Ambrose's De virginibus, which incorporates a sermon delivered on the feast of Saint Agnes, sufficiently justifies the ascription of this hymn to Ambrose. . . he drew upon oral accounts of the martyrdom of the saint, who was executed probably in the persecution of Diocletian in 304—5.  It is the birthday of St. Agnes, i.e. the day of her death.

 

Agnes beátæ vírginis (1)

natális est, quo spíritum

cælo refúdit débitum,

pio sacráta sánguine.

 

Matúra martýrio fuit (2)

matúra nondum núptiis;

prodíre quis nuptum putet,

sic læta vultu dúcitur.

 

Aras nefándi núminis (3)

adolére tædis cógitur;

respóndet: «Haud tales faces

sumpsére Christi vírgines.

 

Hic ignis extínguit fidem,

hæc flamma lumen éripit;

hic, hic feríte, ut prófluo (4)

cruóre restínguam focos».

 

Percússa quam pompam tulit!

Nam veste se totam tegens,

terram genu flexo petit

lapsu verecúndo cadens.

 

 

1.       Agnes. . . natalis: Agnes is a Greek genitive, literally meaning "of the pure one." 2. matura nondum nuptiis: She is said to have been twelve years old, the minimum age for marriage according to Roman law. 3. According to Prudentius the deity was Minerva.

4. Agnes offers her breast to the sword, but she is decapitated.

 

It is the birthday of the blessed virgin, Agnes, when she paid the debt owed  heaven with her loving and holy blood. She was old enough to die a martyr, but not to wed; but one would think that she was going to her wedding with such a joyful countenance was she led. Compelled to lite the altar of the profane and loathsome god, she responded: “torches such as these the virgins of Christ have never borne.  This fire extinguishes faith, this flame removes the light; strike here, here, that my blood may put out the torch.” Struck she displayed a noble character, covering herself with her robe, on bended knee she seeks the ground, but even falling she maintains her modesty.

January 18 SAINT MARGARET OF HUNGARY, Virgin

 

 

The daughter of Bela IV, king of the Hungarians, and Maria Lascaris, daughter of the emperor of Constantinople, Margaret was offered to God by her parents on behalf of the freedom of her country before she was born (1242). Before she reached the age of four, she was given to the nuns of the Order of Preachers at Vezprim. When she reached the age of twelve, at Buda in a new monastery that the king had built for her, she made her religious profession into the hands of Master Humbert of Romans. She advanced with extraordinary swiftness and totally joined herself to Christ crucified.

 

Distinguishing herself for monastic practices and works of mercy, Margaret had a zeal for bringing about peace and an indomitable strength for denouncing injustices, and a great sweetness toward her sisters, for whom she always desired to stand out in service, Burning with a wonderful love for the Eucharistic Mystery and the passion of the Redeemer, she shone forth with devotion for the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin Mary. She dedicated her life as a victim in propitiation for the liberation of her people from the invasions of the Tartars. She died on January 18, 1270, and was canonized by Pope Pius XII on November 19, 1943. Her tomb disappeared in the 17th century.

 

From the Letter of Canonization of Saint Margaret by Pope Pius XII

 

Being consecrated to the Spouse of Virgins, she readily desired to be joined to the King of martyrs

 Margaret was born into the royal Hungarian dynasty of the Arpads, which during the thirteenth century produced four women famous for holiness of their lives: Saint Elizabeth, Blessed Agnes of Prague,  cousin, and the daughters of King Bela IV, Cunegunda and Iolanta,  cult was confirmed by the Apostolic See.

 

She was born of pious parents, King Bela IV of Hungary, and Queen Maria Lascaris. Her parents had vowed that, if their child was a girl, they would consecrate her on behalf of the liberation and safety of the kingdom. Their prayers and wishes were heard. Her good mother, mindful of promise and its benefits, brought Margaret (before she had reached the age of four) to the monastery of nuns of the Order of Saint Dominic at  to be trained in regular observance from her youth, so that she might serve God more readily.

 

Quickly forgetting her royal origins, and becoming a devoted follower of the Cross, Margaret acquired such a docile and obedient spirit that nuns attended her with most tender affection. She cultivated an angelic devotion, far beyond her years, to Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mother of God. She exhibited a natural character and sincerity of spirit.

 

For that reason, her father the king, to obtain securely and effectively divine aid for himself and his kingdom, built a monastery on an island in the Danube River to the honor of the most Blessed Virgin Mary. Here he took care to bring not only holy and consecrated virgins, but even his daughter Margaret, "whom he embraced with affection more delicate for any of his other children, because of her resolve even in the early stage of her life to be holy and pleasing to God in her way of life."

 

After she had refused marriage to a certain prince of Poland, she made solemn vows at the age of twelve in the presence of the venerable Master of the Order, Humbert. Although she was sought after earnestly by the king of Bohemia, she nevertheless desired to present herself espoused again to Christ, and to preserve intact, with all her strength, the fidelity that she had given to her Divine Spouse, although she had other opportunities for taking proposals from dedicated and persistent suitors. She eagerly asked to receive the sacred veil, which she received from the archbishop of Esztergom with great joy.

Consecrated to the Spouse of Virgins, she readily desired to be joined to the King of martyrs, by contempt of' herself' and the world and by despising the flesh. Always dressed in the most ragged clothing and desiring the lowest duties, she had to sweep the house, to clean laundry and to prepare food.  She took delight even when she was weighed down the heaviest duties. She waited upon ill sisters and servants, to whose diseases other sisters feared exposure, with such charity and desire for abasement. She asked that the care of all the most seriously ill a be given to her alone.

 

She recalled the mysteries of the Passion with singular devotion, a with the flame of martyrdom. She poured out her heart before Christ, hidden in the Eucharistic veil, or depicted on the Cross. She used to pray always, seemingly without interruption, often adding to the psalter prayers to God the Father or to the Holy Spirit, or sweetest salutations Mother of God, to the praise of God that had been prescribed.

 

To soften the anger of Almighty God and obtain divine clemency for her people "she would shed copious tears and afflict her body with fast in sack cloth, as if mourning the sins of all of those who were doing evil God, and as if lamenting the adversities of those who are oppressed. She interceded for all people with her prayers before God, so that right hand of his power, our Lord Jesus Christ would defend the holy mother Church, gathered together by the shedding of his  most precious Blood."

 

Furthermore, Margaret did not limit her activity only to unceasing prayer to God and the harshest penances, but, inflamed by apostolic zeal and strengthened by heroic fortitude, she did not hesitate to rebuke evil openly, no matter by whom it was done, no matter how high the authority or dignity received.

 

Margret refused proposals of marriage three times, responding freely to place her virginity at the service of her Lord Jesus Christ. The Divine Spouse, always faithful and most generous, made a sweet dwelling in the heart of his servant. At length he gathered her to his to his richest and most exalted rewards, making her a companion of his suffering, and the consort of his consolation and power, after her death well as in her life.