April's Saints: The Last Days

Sunday, April 28

Yesterday was celebrated the feast of St. Paul of the Cross. He is one of the most famous mystics of the Church and lived during the 17th - 18th century. He died one year before the Declaration of Independence in America at the age of 81. He is known for his fervent devotion to the Passion of the Lord, and his continuous penances and suffering probably appear scandalous to those outside the Church. Such people forget the words of Paul: "I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection" (1 Cor 9:27) and of David: "A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" and of Solomon: "Chastise thy son, despair not: but to the killing of him set not thy soul" (Proverbs 19:18). At an early age he sought martyrdom at the hands of the Turks but was warned from doing this by a miraculous voice emanating from the tabernacle before which he was meditating (something which he did regularly). He preached for 17 years, being abandoned by all his former companions save his brother, until the Pope finally allowed him to found the Passionists in 1747.

"It is an excellent and holy practice to call to mind and meditate on our Lord's Passion, since it is by this path that we shall arrive at union with God. In this, the holiest of all schools, true wisdom is learned, for it was there that all the saints became wise." (St. Paul of the Cross as quoted in Wikipedia, "St. John of the Cross")

Monday, April 29

The martyr St. Peter of Verona is remembered today. He was born in 1205 of Manichean parents. The religion of Mani was founded towards the end of the 3rd century of Our Lord in the heart of Persia. It drew heavily from the teachings of Zoroaster and various Gnostic ideologies but was also influenced by Buddhism and Babylonian mythology. Mani declared himself to be the Paraclete promised by Jesus and taught that Jesus was not God but an "aeon" sent from the realm of light to help men. The Manichaeans consisted of the "Elect" and the "Hearers". The former lived a life of strictest asceticism. Spurning their flesh as impure and without meat, wine, women or servile work of any kind, the Elect lived a life of prayer and fasting as wandering preachers of the "Evangel" amidst the adoring masses of the "Hearers". These latter were not bound to the strict laws of the former, but followed and provided for them as holy gurus. It did not flourish in the West past the middle of the 6th century; however, its manifestations and influence lived on well beyond this. The St. Peter of Verona's family, therefore, were probably not "Manicheans" in the classical sense but were more probably of the "Cathari" ("Puritans") who plagued the West during the Middle Ages with principles so similar to Mani's that they were often themselves called "Manicheans".

St. Peter was, therefore, born and raised in the struggle with heresy. Therefore, after entering the ranks of the Dominicans at hands of St. Dominic himself in Balogna, he preached against heretics in Lombardy and converted many multitudes to true faith; however, being tempted by doubt one day, he called out to Our Lady and was answered with the famous words of Christ to Peter: "I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith may not fail; and thou shalt confirm thy brethren in it" (Luke 22:32). This passage sheds light both on the "Petros" of Matthew 16:18 and upon the command to "feed my sheep" in John 21:17. The fact that Christ makes Peter the one to "confirm" in Luke 22 makes the "rock" of Matthew 16 evidently a reference to Peter, though not exclusively, of course. Furthermore, the command to "feed" in John 21 is coordinate with the command to "confirm" in Luke 22 because both refer to the same apostle.

Strengthened in the faith. St. Peter of Verona was preaching to the people one day under the sun when the heretics dared him to bring shade for the crowd. Upon this, St. Peter prayed to God and a cloud came to do exactly that. For all this however, he was persecuted cruelly for accusations of immorality (not surprising considering the "Cathari" amongst whom he lived), and upon suffering unjustly for a great while complained to God. A voice from the crucifix before which he prayed said, "And I, Peter, what did I do?" Some time after this, Peter ended his life while on the way to Milan when an enraged heretic struck him with an axe.

The Reflection: "From a boy St. Peter boldly professed his faith among heretics. He spent his life in preaching the faith to heretics, and received the glorious and long-desired crown of martyrdom from heretics. We are surrounded by heretics. Are we courageous, firm, zealous, full of prayer for their conversion, unflinching in our profession of faith?" (Lives of Saints)

Tuesday, April 30

Tomorrow is the feast of St. Catherine of Sienna, another one of the great Catholic mystics. She lived through the Great Western Schism of the 14th century during which the Church was rent by (at its worst) three claimants to the Papal throne. St. Catherine found her joy in prayer even as a child and was given visions of Christ when still young. At 7 she imitated those heroines of the early centuries and dedicated herself in perpetual virginity to the Lord. At fifteen, she entered the order of St. Dominic and lived in her father's house laboring in acts of charity and contemplative prayer. At the age of 23, however, she received a prolonged vision during which she was told to go out into the world. Thenceforward, she labored in the reunion of the Catholic Church in Italy, quelling rebellious cities and rebuking cardinals. Like our Lord, she died at the age of 33. St. Catherine is perhaps most famous for the extraordinary nature of her visions. During one of these she is said to have "exchanged hearts" with the Lord and during another to have received the stigmata, though not visibly. The former is particularly interesting due to the fact that St. Catherine suffered a stroke shortly before her death.

The Reflection: "The seraphic St. Catherine willingly sacrificed the delights of contemplation to labor for the Church and the Apostolic See. How deeply do the troubles of the Church and the consequent loss of souls afflict us? How often do we pray for the Church and the Pope?"