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21st August Memorial of St. Pius X, Pope. Born Giuseppe Melchiore Sarto in Riese in 1835 to a poor family the son of a postman and a seamstress. He was ordained in 1858 and through a succession of posts he rose to become Patriarch of Venice in 1893 and cardinal. At the conclave in 1903 following the death of Leo XIII he was elected pontiff after the tenth ballot. He took as his motto “To restore all things in Christ “ (Ephesians 1: 10). The effects of his pontificate on the modern Church were considerable – he has been hailed as a pioneer of the modern liturgical movement. He encouraged the frequent reception of Holy Communion and of the admission to it of children aged about seven. In the field of Church music he encouraged the use of Gregorian chant and classical polyphony. In the fields of Church administration he oversaw the reform of Canon Law (promulgated by his successor Benedict XV) and a reorganization of the Roman Congregations. In the field of Christian doctrine he condemned Modernism in the encyclical Pascendi and the decree Lamentabili. Despite his tireless efforts he was unable to prevent the outbreak of the First World War and died on the 20th of August 1914. The process of canonization was begun in 1923; he was beatified on the 3rd of June 1951 and canonized by Pope Pius XII on the 29th May 1954. |
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22nd August Memorial of the Queenship of Blessed Virgin Mary.
Hail, O Queen of Heaven Enthroned! O God, who made the Mother of your Son to be our Mother and our Queen, graciously grant that, sustained by the intercession, we may attain in the heavenly Kingdom the glory promised to your children. Encyclical by Pope Pius XII proclaiming the Queenship of Mary. |
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23rd August Feast of St. John Wall, Priest and Martyr. A Franciscan priest and martyr, John was born in 1620 at Chingle Hall in Lancashire, the son of William Wall, a Norfolk recusant. John was educated at the English College at Douai (1633-41) and at the English College in Rome (1642-45) where he was ordained. He joined the Franciscan Order in 1651 and five years later returned to England using the name ‘Marsh’. Mainly based in Harvington Hall, which belonged to the Talbot family, he worked for twenty-three years, mainly in Warwickshire. The anti-Catholic backlash to the ‘Popish Plot’ caused all priests to be banished. John Wall refused to go and was arrested and imprisoned in Worcester Castle where re reconciled a number of prisoners to the Church of Rome. He was examined by the Privy Council and was condemned on the 17th of August 1679, not for any involvement in the plot itself, but for being a priest. He was executed five days later and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Almighty ever-living God, by whose gift blessed Saint John Wall fought for righteousness’s sake even unto death, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that we may bear every adversity for the sake of your love and hasten with all our strength towards you who alone are life. |
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24th August Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” Nathaniel said to him, “From Nazareth? Can anything good come from that place?” Philip replied. “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathaniel coming he said of him, “There, truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deception.” Nathaniel asked, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, “Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathaniel answered, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel.” John 1: 44-49. Little is known about his ministry. He is supposed to have travelled in India and Armenia and, according to St. Theodore, to have been flayed alive before being beheaded although an alternative tradition related by St. Dorotheus states that he was crucified upside down. Strengthen in us, O Lord, the faith by which the blessed Apostle Bartholomew clung wholeheartedly to your Son, and grant us that through the help of his prayers your Church may become for all nations the sacrament of salvation. |
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25th August Memorial at choice of St. Loius of France, King. Born in 1214 and king of France 1226 to 1270, son and successor of Louis VIII. His mother, Blanche of Castile, was regent during his minority (1226–34), and her regency probably lasted even after Louis reached his majority; she was his chief adviser until her death. Louis took the cross in 1244, but did not leave on the crusade to Egypt until 1248. Defeated and captured (1250) at al-Mansurah, he was ransomed but remained in the Holy Land until 1254, helping to strengthen the fortifications of the Christian colonies. After his return he attempted to bring about a peaceful settlement of territorial claims with Henry III. Agreement was reached in the Treaty of Paris, ratified in 1259. By its terms Louis ceded Limoges, Cahors, and Périgueux to Henry in exchange for Henry's renunciation of Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and Poitou and his recognition of the king of France as suzerain for the reduced duchy of Aquitaine. Louis made a favourable treaty with King James I of Aragón by yielding the French claim to Roussillon and Barcelona in return for James's abandonment of his claim to Provence and Languedoc. A respected arbitrator, Louis settled succession disputes in Flanders and Hainaut and in Navarre; he attempted unsuccessfully to settle the bitter controversy between Henry III and the English barons by judging in favour of the king. Under Louis IX, France enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and peace. Louis continued the reforms of his grandfather, Philip II. He curbed private feudal warfare, simplified administration, improved the distribution of taxes, encouraged the use of Roman law, and extended the appellate jurisdiction of the crown to all cases. Louis was pious and ascetic, yet a good administrator and diplomat. He died of plague on the Second Crusade in Tunis and was canonized in 1297. O God, who brought Saint Louis from the cares of earthly rule to the glories of a heavenly realm, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that, by fulfilling our duties on earth, we may seek out your heavenly Kingrom. |
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25th August Memorial at choice of St. Joseph Calasanz, Priest. The founder of the Clerks Regular of the Christian Schools, Joseph was born in 1557 into a noble family at Peralta de la Sal in Aragon. After an education in Lerida and Valencia he was ordained in 1583 and rose to become Vicar-General to the bishop of Urgel in the Andorra district. However, he believed that he had been called to other work. He resigned his benefices, gave away much of his fortune and made his way to Rome, where, under the patronage of Cardinal Colonna and working alongside his friend, Camillus of Lellis he tended the sick of the plague of 1595. Tow years later he founded his first school which within five years numbered 700 pupils. The teachers led a communal life and were recognized as a religious congregation in 1617. Also known as the Piarists, they could be considered and the direct forunner of the more famous foundations of John-Baptist de la Salle. Joseph died in Rome in 1648 and was canonized in 1767 remembered particularly for his heroic patience in the face of adversity. O God, who adorned the Priest Saint Joseph Calasanz with such charity and patience that he laboured tirelessly to educate children and endow them with every virtue, grant, we pray, that we, who venerate him as a teacher of wisdom, may constantly imitate him, for he was a co-worker of your truth. |
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26th August Feast of Blessed Dominic of the Mother of God, Priest. Born in 1792 to a poor farm family he was orphaned by age eight, and raised by an aunt and uncle on a farm in Merlano. An uneducated shepherd boy, he spent his time with the flocks in prayer. He met many Passionist priests exiled from France during the repressions of Napoleon which would have a significant influence on his later life. During prayers with them he received a divine message that he would work in northern Europe and England. One day in 1814, just before he entered into an arranged marriage, he slipped away from his family and joined the Passionists, taking the name Dominic of the Mother of God. Though he had no education, Dominic proved to be an excellent student, quick to grasp philosophy and theology. Ordained in Rome on 1st March 1821. Teacher and spiritual director, writer on theology and homiletics. One of his works was based on the idea of bringing modern science to philosphical studies; condemned in its day, it is now seen as preparing the way for some of the reforms of Pope Leo XIII. Feeling always drawn to England, he worked to learn English, and met with any English visitors to Rome that he could find. With Father Peter Magagnotto, Father Seraphim Giammaria, and Brother Crispin Cotta, he established the first Passionist presence at Ere, Belgium in 1840, the first Passionist monastery outside Italy. Dominic, however, continued to press the need for work in England, and he was finally assigned to work there, establishing the first residence during Holy Week of 1842. A tireless preacher and home missioner he worked for the return of anti-Catholic England to unity with Rome. Received many to the faith and was responsible for John Henry Cardinal Newman's reception into the Catholic Church. He died in Reading in 1849 and was beatified by Pope Paul VI on 27th October 1963. O God, who chose the Priest Blessed Dominic Barberi to be a minster of your salvation, so that by his teaching and example many might find peace and reconciliation in your Church, mercifully guide our steps, we humbly pray, along that same way of love and truth until by your grace we gain an eternal reward. |