June 26th - Sts John and Paul, Martyrs
Died 362?. There is debate as to whether or not the stories about the two
brothers named John and Paul are true or fiction. If true, there is debate
about the date. Their existing Passio is simply an adaptation of the story
of Saints Juventinus and Maximinus, army officers who were martyred at
Antioch under Julian the Apostate in 363. Nevertheless, they are named in
the canon of the Mass. Traditionally, it is said that they served as army
officers in the court of Constantia, daughter of Emperor Constantine. One
became her steward, the other the master of her household.
The emperor next sent them to serve under his general Gallicanus, who was
defending Thrace from the Scythians. The Scythians were such formidable
enemies that some of Gallicanus's army surrendered. John and Paul told him
that victory would be his if he would become a Christian. He did so, and
the
Scythians were routed.
The two brothers prospered until shortly after 360 AD, when Emperor Julian
began a policy of systematically degrading Christianity and promoting
paganism. The two saints declared that they would no longer serve him.
Summoned to his court, they simply stayed away and reiterated their
dislike
of his pagan ways. He gave them ten days to reconsider their attitude, but
they remained firm. Julian then sent a captain of his bodyguard, and the
two
Christian brothers were executed on the Coelian Hill in Rome, in their own
home.
About 35 years later a wealthy senator named Pammachius built a church
dedicated to their honor on the site of their home. This church, Santi
Giovanni e Paolo, has been excavated, and underneath 12th century
alterations has been uncovered the original facade. One wall consists of a
former pagan house, several stories high. Usually burials were allowed
only
outside the city walls, but here bodies of martyrs have been
discovered-fitting in with the legend that the captain of Julian's
bodyguard
secretly buried the bodies of John and Paul in their own garden,
announcing
that they had gone into exile (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley,
Encyclopedia).
Quote
When one is going on really well, he feels in himself a continual desire
to
advance; and the more he grows in perfection, the more this desire grows.
Since his light is increasing every day, it always seems to him that he
has
no virtue and is doing no good; or if, perhaps, he sees that he has and is
doing some good, it yet appears to him very imperfect, and he makes little
account of it. And so it comes to pass that he always goes on laboring for
the acquisition of virtue without ever being weary.
-St. Lawrence Justinian
Bible Quote
At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent, and hast revealed them to the little ones. (Matt 11:25)
<><><><>
The Fiery Prayer
for the Apostles of the Latter Times
By St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort
2nd Day
Detachment from all Earthly Things
Lord Jesus, Remember Thy congregation. Remember to give to Thy Mother a
new
company who, through Her, will renew all things and thus, through Mary,
complete the years of grace just as, through Her, Thou did begin them.
Give me children, otherwise I shall die (Gen. 30:1): Give to Thy Mother
children, servants, or let me die. Give Thy Mother children. It is for Thy
Mother's sake that I pray to Thee. Remember that Thou did dwell within her
womb, were nourished at Her breasts, and reject me not. Remember whose Son
Thou art and hear me. Remember what She is to Thee and what Thou art to
Her,
and grant my request. What is it I am asking from Thee? Nothing for
myself,
all for Thy glory. What am I asking of Thee? What Thou can, and even, I
dare
say, what Thou should grant me, being as Thou art the true God to Whom all
power has been given in heaven and on earth and the best of all children,
for Thou loved Thy Mother with an infinite love.
What am I asking of Thee?
Children: Priests, free with Thy freedom, detached from all things,
without
father or mother, or brothers or sisters, without relations according to
the
world, without means, without worry, without cares, and even without any
will of their own.
Children: Slaves of Thy love and of Thy will: men according to Thy heart,
who, without self-will to stain and hold them back, accomplish all Thy
designs and crush all Thy enemies; other Davids, with the staff of the
Cross
and the sling of the holy Rosary in their hands.
Children: souls raised above this earth like heavenly dew who, without
impediment, fly hither and thither in accordance with the breath of the
Holy
Spirit. It was they, in part, Thy Prophets spoke of when they asked: Who
are
these that fly as clouds? (Is. 60:8). Wither the impulse of the Spirit was
to go, there they went (Ez. 1:12).
Children: Men ever at Thy hand, ever ready to obey Thee, like Samuel, at
the
voice of their Superiors: Presto sum: I am ready, every ready to run and
suffer everything with Thee and for Thee, like the Apostles: Let us also
go
,that we may die with Him (John 11:16).
Children: True Children of Mary, Thy Holy Mother, who are begotten and
concealed by Her charity, carried in Her bosom, fastened to Her breasts,
nourished with Her milk, reared under Her care, upheld by Her arms, and
enriched with Her graces.
Children: True servants of the Blessed Virgin, who, like other Saint
Dominics, would go everywhere carrying the bright and burning torch of the
Holy Gospel in their mouths and the holy Rosary in their hands; barking,
like faithful watchdogs, at the wolves who would fain tear to pieces the
flock of Jesus Christ; burning like fires and lighting up the darkness of
the World like other suns. Men who would, by means of a true devotion to
Mary, that is to say, interior, not hypocritical; exterior, not critical;
prudent, not ignorant; tender, not indifferent; constant, not unsteady;
and
holy, without presumption, crush wherever they go the head of the old
serpent, in order that the curse Thou placed on him might be entirely
fulfilled: I will put enmities between thee and the Woman and thy seed and
Her seed: She shall crush thy head (Gen. 3:15).
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