Inner peace flows from love
Good, interior, spiritual peace consists in the repose of the
mind in God, and in a rightly ordered harmony. To bestow this peace was
the
chief reason for
Christ's coming. This inner peace flows from love. It is an unassailable
joy
of the mind in God,
and it is called peace of heart. It is the beginning and a kind of
foretaste
of the peace of the
saints in heaven - the peace of eternity.
-Denies the Cartesian
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January 23rd - St. Emerentiana, Martyr
A sacrificed child, or near-child, is one of the three saints whose relics
were placed in the sepulchre of the Seminary's altar on November 1,
together
with St. Thomas Aquinas', patron of the seminary, and St. Peter Martyr's,
original patron of the Dominicans' priory. She is St. Emerentiana,
foster-sister of St. Agnes, both martyred in Rome in 304 A.D. It was in
pursuit of a relic of St. Agnes herself that the seminary obtained a relic
of her companion in martyrdom instead. Here is how the two girls gave
their
life for Christ:
St. Agnes, (Feast January 21st) born around 290 A.D., who was perhaps no
older than thirteen when she died-thirteen!-of a noble Roman family, noble
above all by the Faith in which they brought up their child. However, not
only was Agnes beautiful of soul with her deep love of Jesus Christ and of
his Passion, she was also beautiful to behold with a beauty which aroused
the passionate attention of a young Roman, Procopius, son of the Roman
governor. This young man did everything he could with words and gifts to
win
Agnes' consent to his suit, but she turned him down on all counts: "My
soul
lives only for the love of one so noble, handsome, wise, rich, good and
powerful that you cannot hope to be his rival. I love him better than my
own
soul, than life itself, and I would be happy to die for him. When I love
him
I am chaste, when I approach him I am pure, and when I embrace him I
remain
virgin."
Procopius fell so ill with jealousy that his father Symphronius, the
governor, attempted to persuade her in his place. Meeting also with her
resolute refusal to prefer anyone to the Bridegroom of her soul, and
learning that this rival to his son was no doubt the God of the
Christians,
he had here the excuse he needed to submit Agnes to all kinds of pressure.
He tried threats, he tried promises, to no avail. Finally he told her to
make a sacrifice like all Roman girls to the pagan goddess Vesta, or else
he
would have her taken- fate more dreaded by Christian girls than death
itself - to a place of debauchery where she would be forcibly exposed to
the
licentiousness of all comers. Agnes did not flinch, expressing complete
trust in the power of her God to protect her.
Furious, Symphronius carried out his threat. Agnes was first stripped of
her
clothing, but God protected her with a miracle making the hair of her head
grow instantaneously in such abundance as to cover her complete body. (A
20th century reader is tempted to laugh, but if God exists, if He is
all-powerful, and if He protects the innocent, where is the absurdity?)
Then
Agnes was dragged into the place of infamy to be exposed to all violation,
but there she met an angel to protect her, with a white dress so dazzling
as
to illuminate the darkness around her and to convert the young men who
came
near her. Procopius, in fact, was struck blind when he tried to approach
her. Moments later, recovered enough from his blindness to take up again
his
pursuit of Agnes, Procopius attempted to force his way through the
celestial
****eld surrounding her. He was struck dead at her feet by the angel.
When Symphronius arrived in despair at the news of his son's fate, and
violently cursed Agnes as a witch, the saintly girl calmly replied that
Procopius had had only himself to blame for seeking to break through her
heavenly protection. The governor begged her to prove she was no witch by
bringing Procopius back to life. This she did, by her prayers. Procopius
went straight out of the house, proclaiming the God of the Christians to
be
the true God.
When this latest turn of events reached the ears of the high priests of
Rome's paganism, they were infuriated, and they so stirred up the populace
to demand the death of the young witch that although Symphronius himself
would by now have been willing to let Agnes go free, out of cowardice he
handed her over to his subordinate, Aspasius, and himself withdrew from
the
case. Aspasius had a great fire lit, and Agnes thrown into it, but again
God
protected her, for as her virtue had honoured God by extingui****ng in
herself and in others the flames of lust, so God honoured her virtue by
****elding her from the flames of the bonfire-they divided around her,
leaving her intact, but burning to death a number of the idolators
standing
by. As for Agnes, she prayed a prayer of honour and glory to God, like the
three young men similarly protected in the burning fiery furnace (Daniel
III), and the fire went out, leaving no trace.
However, since the uproar of the populace only grew worse, Aspasius handed
over Agnes to be executed by the sword. When the executioner appointed to
dispatch the girl turned pale and trembled as though he were the one
condemned to death, Agnes gave him courage: "What are you waiting for?
Kill
this body that I do not want men to look on, and let the soul live, which
God is happy to look on! May the Lord who chose me for his bride and whom
I
wish to please, out of his goodness receive me in his arms." So saying,
she
drew her clothing around her, received the fatal blow, and even in death
veiled her face in her hands.
Her body was buried by the Christians with great joy at her astounding
victory over the world, the flesh and the devil, on a piece of land
belonging to her family outside the Numa Gate, where today the Church of
St.
Agnes stands. The pagans were as furious as ever and attacked these
triumphant Christians, including a young catechumen still not baptised,
Emerentiana, the companion and foster-sister of Agnes. But Emerentiana
would
not leave the place of Agnes' burial, and standing up to the pagans out of
love and fidelity to Agnes, won in her turn, baptised in her blood, the
crown of martyrdom, being stoned by the crowd just two days after Agnes
had
been killed. Emerentiana's body was buried alongside Agnes', and her feast
is celebrated on January 23 in our Missals and breviaries, two days after
the Feast of St. Agnes. It is a relic from this girl and heroine of the
Faith which is now in the seminary's main altar, nearly 1700 years later.
These stories from the history of the early Church are extraordinary. They
tell of a different world, difficult for us to imagine, because whereas it
was then a world of paganism giving way to an overpowering Faith, now it
is
the last remains of the Christendom created by that Faith being crushed
beneath a seemingly overpowering neo-paganism. Yet from 1700 years ago to
today, neither have God, Our Lord or His one true Church changed on the
one
side, nor have the world, the flesh and the devil essentially changed on
the
other. Then let us stop and think for a few moments on what it may need
for
today's church to engender another Agnes or Emerentiana.
Firstly, the power of example. We know very little about Emerentiana,
little
more than the few facts related above. Surely these tell us she was the
first fruits of Agnes' example. Closely tied to Agnes before she died,
Emerentiana could not be torn away from her in death. Agnes had been that
most vivid of all lessons, a living example, which a kindred spirit found
irresistible. None of us goes to heaven-or to hell!-alone.
Secondly, the power of the Christian family and home. Of Agnes herself,
outside of the heroic events leading to her martyrdom, we know next to
nothing, except that her parents reared her from a tender age in great
piety. There is no other normal explanation for such heroism as Agnes
showed
while barely a teenager. God might create this kind of heroism by a
miraculous intervention, but normally such a single-minded love of God,
such
a maturity of resolution, such a refusal of anything remotely harmful to
purity, such an accurate assessment of anything the world has to offer, as
Agnes showed, can only have come from a home through-and-through Catholic,
in which without a trace of artificiality or exaggeration the interests of
God, and of God alone, counted. No dubious pictures or consideration for
religious liberty in this home. The teenager can hardly have thought, or
been encouraged to think, of anything other than her Lord Jesus Christ and
his Mystical Body, the one true Church, and Heaven.
Thirdly, the power of fidelity. With easily most of the martyrs we know
little of their early lives. Their glory flares up at the end of their
lives, apparently out of nothing. But such glory cannot come out of
nothing.
It normally comes out of a long preparation of faithfulness in little
things, which as Our Lord Himself says (Mt. XXV, 23), He rewards with
grace
in great things, for instance of being faithful in martyrdom. Thirteen
years
of little acts, day by day, each noted by God, had brought the grace of
Agnes to the point where, in the supreme trial, she never wavered. She
inspired Rome then, she has now-despite a recent fire-a handsome Church
dedicated to her in New York, and she will inspire Christendom to the end.
St. Agnes, St. Emerentiana, pray for us! As Satan knowing his time to be
short, redoubles in fury; as the remaining members of Christ are like torn
apart limb from limb; as the lies and seductions of the world seem set
fair
to overwhelm truth forever; obtain for us that single-minded love of Jesus
Christ, trust in His protection, and desire to be with Him in Heaven for
ever, as carried both of yourselves safely out of this world and into
eternity!
Saint Quote:
Jesus is happy to come with us, as truth is happy to be spoken, as life to
be lived, as light to be lit, as love is to b
--Saint Francis of Assisi
Bible Quote:
You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Neither do men light a lamp and put it under the measure. (St. Matt.
5:14-15)
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Novena in Honor of St. John Bosco
Father and Teacher of the Young
In need of special help, I appeal with confidence to you, Saint
John Bosco, for I require not only spiritual graces, but also
tem****al ones, and particularly...
(add your personal intentions here)
May you, who on earth had such great devotion to Jesus in
the Blessed Sacrament and to Mary Help of Christians, and
who always had compassion for those who were suffering,
obtain from Jesus and His Heavenly Mother the grace I now
request, and also a sincere resignation to the Will of God.
(Recite the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be)
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