St. Rose of Viterbo

ST. ROSE OF VITERBO

WHEN the ambitious Frederick II was excommunicated for the second time by Pope Gregory IX the emperor retorted by setting out to conquer the papal states themselves, and in 1240 he occupied Viterbo in the Romagna. A few years previously there had been born in this city, to
parents of lowly station, a girl child, who was christened Rose. From babyhood she displayed a far from usual goodness and her childish virtue and devotion made such an impression that in after years some very surprising legends about her grew up, and it is difficult to disentangle truth from error in her story as it has come down to us.

During an illness when she was eight years old Rose is said to have had a vision or dream of our Lady, who told her that she was to be clothed in the habit of St. Francis, but that she was to continue to live at home and to set a good example to her neighbors by both word and work.

Rose soon recovered her health, received the dress of a lay penitent in due course, and thought more and more about the sufferings of our Lord and the thoughtless ingratitude of sinners. Perhaps inspired by some sermon she heard or the burning words of some indignant Guelf, she
began when she was about twelve years old to preach up and down the streets, upbraiding the people for their suppleness in submitting to Frederick and urging them to overthrow the Ghibelline garrison. Her simple words did not fail of effect, which was heightened by the rumors
of marvels attending her speeches which circulated among the citizens. Crowds would gather outside her house to get a glimpse of her, till her father became frightened, and forbade her to show herself in public; if she disobeyed she would be beaten. Rose replied gently: " If Jesus
could be beaten for me, I can be beaten for Him. I do what He has told me to do, and I must not disobey Him." At the instance of their parish priest her father withdrew his prohibition and for about two years the pope's cause continued to be preached in public by this young girl. Then the partisans of the emperor became alarmed and clamored that Rose should be put to death as a danger to the state. The podesid of the city would not hear of this : he was a just man, and moreover he feared the people; but instead he passed a sentence of banishment against St. Rose and her parents.

They took refuge at Soriano, and here, in the beginning of December 1250, St. Rose is said to have announced the approaching death of the Emperor Frederick II. He in fact died in Apulia on the 13th of the month ; the papal party thereupon got the upper hand in Viterbo, and St. Rose
returned thither. There is a story that before doing so she confuted a zealous female Ghibelline by a successful appeal to the ordeal by fire. She now went to the convent of St. Mary of the Roses at Viterbo and asked to be received as a postulant. The abbess refused, for want of a dowry. " Very well ", said St. Rose smilingly. " You will not have me now, but perhaps you will be more willing when I am dead." Her parish priest took it upon himself to open a chapel close by the convent, with a house attached wherein St. Rose and a few companions might lead a religious life; but the nuns got an order from Pope Innocent IV for it to be closed, on the ground that they had the privilege of having no other community of women within a given distance of their own. St. Rose therefore returned to her parents' house, where she died on March 6 1252, about the age of seventeen. She was buried in the church of Santa Maria in Podio, but her body was on September 4 in 1258 translated to the church' of the convent of St. Mary of the Roses, as she had foretold.
This church was burnt down in '357 but her body was preserved and is annually carried in procession through the streets of Viterbo. Pope Innocent IV immediately after her death ordered an inquiry into the virtues of St. Rose, but her canonization was not achieved until '457·

If any authentic or early materials for the history of this saint ever existed, they have perished, and legend plays a large part in what is now presented as her life. The Bollandists in the eighteenth century collected what they could, but were ill-satisfied with the result: see the Acta
Sanctorum, September, vol. ii. They have, however, preserved substantial extracts from the later process of canonization. The best-known biographies in Italian are those of Andreucci (1750) and
Mencarini (1828), and in more recent years that of L. de Kerval in French (1896), which has been translated into German and Flemish. A short English life was included in the Oratorian series (1852), and we have also a notice in Leon, Aurole SPraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. iii, pp. 98-109.

An article in The Month (September, 1899) gives an account of the festa of the saint at Viterbo and of the famous " Macchina " which is carried in the procession on that occasion. The sources for St. Rose are carefully examined by G. Abate in S. Rosa do Viterbo (1952).

The Saints Part II

8. "Venerable/Heroic in Virtue" When enough information has been gathered, the congregation will recommend to the pope that he make a proclamation of the Servant of God's heroic virtue (that is, that the servant exhibited the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, and the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, to a heroic degree).

From this point the one said to be "heroic in virtue" is referred to by the title "Venerable". A Venerable has as of yet no feast day, no churches may be built in his or her honor, and the church has made no statement on the person's probable or certain presence in heaven, but prayer cards and other materials may be printed to encourage the faithful to pray for a miracle wrought by his or her intercession as a sign of God's will that the person be canonized.

"Blessed" Beatification is a statement by the church that it is "worthy of belief" that the person is in heaven, having come to salvation. This step depends on whether the Venerable is a martyr or a "confessor".

• For a martyr, the Pope has only to make a declaration of martyrdom, a certification that the venerable gave his or her life voluntarily as a witness for the faith and/or in an act of heroic charity for others.

• If the Venerable was not a martyr – all non-martyrs are "confessors" as they "confessed" or bore witness to their faith by how they lived their lives – it must be proven that a miracle has taken place by his or her intercession: that is, that God has shown a sign that the person is enjoying the Beatific Vision by God performing a miracle in response to the Blessed's prayers. Today, these miracles are almost always miraculous cures, as these are the easiest to establish based on the Catholic Church's requirements for a "miracle." (The patient was sick, there was no known cure for the ailment, prayers were directed to the Venerable, the patient was cured, the cure was spontaneous, instantaneous, complete and lasting, and doctors cannot find any natural explanation.)

• This allows beatification, giving the venerable the new title "Blessed" (abbreviated "Bl." or, in Latin, Beatus or Beata. A feast day will be designated, but its observance is normally restricted to the Blessed's home diocese, to certain locations associated with him or her, and/or to the churches or houses of the Blessed's religious order, if they belonged to one. Parishes may not normally be named in honor of a Blessed.

9. If any miracles are reported (which qualify the person for beatification or canonization), the Prefect presents the cause to the pope to decide.
Canonization is considered a function of papal infallibility, as it is important that believers venerate and pray to only those who are actually in heaven.

10. The pope declares beatification or canonization at a special Mass in the saint's honor. To be canonized a Saint, at least two miracles must have been performed after death. Canonization is a statement by the church that the person certainly enjoys the Beatific Vision. The saint is assigned a feast day which may be celebrated anywhere within the Catholic Church, although it may or may not appear on the general calendar or local calendars as an obligatory feast, parish churches may be built in his or her honor, and the faithful may freely and without restriction celebrate and honor the saint.

The Importance of Miracles

If a person is martyred for the faith, miracles are irrelevant and not necessary to be declared a saint. As mentioned above, the purpose of canonization is to verify that the person lived an extraordinary life through the events and circumstances of his/her life and that he/she is now in heaven, and
all those who die as martyrs are believed to go straight to heaven.
For those who died naturally, however, at least one miracle is necessary to be declared Blessed (beatified) and at least two miracles are necessary to be declared a saint (canonized). These miracles must have occurred after the person’s death (to demonstrate that the person is in heaven and able to assist the living), but miracles during his or her lifetime are also taken into account as evidence of God’s favor.
When considering a reported miracle, the Church often consults with medical, scientific and theological experts to see if there might be alternative explanations.

If the experts can find no explanation, they report that to the Church (they do not declare the event to be a miracle, just that they could find no natural explanation).

Other phenomena may be investigated as miracles after a would-be saint's death include the following:

• Healings attributed to intercession of the saint or contact with relics.

• Incorruptibility – the saint's body does not decay after a long period in the grave. Example: St. Catherine of Siena (d. 1380) still has not decayed.

• Liquefaction – the dried blood of the saint liquefies every year on the day of his or her death. Example: St. Januarius (c.275-305), patron saint of Naples, September 19.

• Odor of sanctity – body exudes a sweet aroma instead of the normal stench of decay. Example: St. Teresa of Avila (1515-82) – sweet odor from her grave for nine months after her death.

Other extraordinary events during the life of the saint are also reported and investigated:

• Levitation – the saint floats in the air. St. Joseph of Cupertino (1603-63) often levitated during prayer.

• Stigmata – the saint's body exhibits five wounds of Christ, which usually bleed during Mass. St. Francis of Assisi and Padre Pio are examples.

• Bilocation – the saint reportedly appeared in two places at once. Padre Pio (1887-1968) is an example.

Ceremony of Canonization

The formal declaration of beatification or canonization occurs during a special Mass conducted by the pope. It usually takes place outdoors in St. Peter's Square before large crowds, but sometimes is conducted in the saint's home country. In 2001, over a half million people attended the canonization of Padre Pío (1887-1968). Four months later, Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer was canonized before 300,000 faithful.

The canonization ceremony is conducted as follows
:
1. The saint's life history is read aloud.

2. The pope chants the following in Latin:

“In honor of the Blessed Trinity, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith and the growth of Christian life, with the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and Our Own, after lengthy reflection, having assiduously invoked God's assistance and taken into account the opinion of many brothers of ours in the episcopate, we declare and define [name] to be a saint [or "to be blessed"], and we enroll him in the Catalogue of the saints, and we establish that in the whole Church he should be devoutly honored among the saints. In the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

3. The person is officially recognized as blessed or as a saint at this point. A large tapestry with an image of the saint is unfurled before the faithful to admire and venerate.

Summary

In the Catholic Church (both the Western and Eastern Churches) the act of canonization is reserved to the Holy See, although the beginning of the process occurs at the diocesan level following the regulations of Canon Law, the particular pontifical laws and the regulations and norms from the Congregation for the cause of the Saints, the declaration of a saint occurs at the conclusion of a long process requiring extensive proof that the person proposed for canonization lived and died in such an exemplary and holy way that he or she is worthy to be recognized as a saint. The Church's official recognition of sanctity implies that the persons are now in heavenly glory, that they may be publicly invoked and mentioned officially in the liturgy of the Church, most especially in the Litany of the Saints. Other Catholic churches still follow the older practice, for instance, the practice of the Orthodox Church as previously mentioned.

In the Catholic Church, canonization involves a decree that allows veneration of the saint in the liturgy of the Roman Rite throughout the world. However, for permission to venerate on a local level, only beatification is needed, not canonization.

The Saints Part I

A Saint is member of the Mystical Body of the Church who has lived and died and whose lives were notable for holiness and virtues practiced, and who have been officially declared Saints by the Church through the process of Beatification and Canonization.

The Saints are for the faithful, first, examples of the virtuous life, and second, as members of the Church Triumphant representatives of the living members of the Mystical Body and the suffering souls. There are several classifications of Saints recognized by the Church, which are nit bases on their occupation in life but rather on the quality of their sanctity, for example, Martyrs, Virgins, Confessors, Doctors, and Bishops.

Vatican II speaks of the Saints as those “Beholding clearly God Himself triune and one, as He is.” Also as those who are “finally caught up in peace and utter happiness in that fatherland radiant with splendor of the Lord.” The Saints are” joined to Him in an endless sharing of a divine life beyond all corruption and have found true life with God,” or those who “communicate in life and glory with Himself.”

Taken from the Vatican II Documents: Lumen Genitum 49 and 93.
Guadium et Spes 18

On November 1st, All Saints Day, Mother Church honors all the Saints; those Canonized and those who are not Canonized. The celebration begins the night before or the Eve of All Saints day. It was one timed called, All Hallows Eve. This is where Halloween came from. We honored all those who were hallowed; that is, the Saints.

On November 2nd, Mother Church honors All Souls. We dedicate the day to prayer for the Church Suffering; that is to say, those souls who are in the temporal state of Purgatory.

Veneration vs. Worship

Catholics today do not use the term "worship" except in relation to God, i.e., the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This also includes a belief in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus is present, body, blood, soul and divinity, and so we praise, adore and worship Him.

The relationship of Catholics to the Saints is one of honor and to request intercessory prayer, not worship in the modern sense of the word. In Catholic belief, it is absolutely forbidden to give anything or anyone adoration, which is due to God alone.
We have very different ways in our Catholic faith to describe prayer to God and prayer to Mary and the Saints, as well as our proper relation to God as differentiated from our proper relation to Mary and the saints. The technical terms, which come from the Greek, are Latria, Dulia, and Hyperdulia.

Latria, translated as "worship" in English is the praise, honor, glorification and adoration due to God alone as Creator of all that is.
Dulia is the kind of honor given to the communion of saints, with the exception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is honored with hyperdulia.
The faithful honor Mary to a greater extent than all the other saints for her unique and essential role in salvation as the mother of God become man in Jesus Christ. Mary is “venerated,” or honored, in a special way. Yet, this honor given her remains inferior to latria. As stated before, worship and adoration belong to God alone.
The Saints are alive in Heaven and gaze into the face of our Blessed Lord daily. They are, in a way, our older brothers and sisters in Christ. In is very rare a Saint is Canonized in the same Century his or her death occurred. There have been a few exceptions, St. Dominic Savio, St. Maria Goretti, Pope St. John-Paul II, Mother Teresa, and Padre Pio are some examples.

Mother Church does not just say, “Oh he was a good man, let’s make him a Saint. No there is a vigorous process that each Saint to be must undergo before Mother Church officially declares that person to be in fact, in Heaven. When Mother Church does declare a person a Saint, you can rest assured it is a fact.

Now let’s look at the three step process which includes the Titles, Venerable, Beatified, and Canonized.

The Canonization of Saints
Canonization is the official act of a Christian communion—mainly the Roman Catholic Church but also the Eastern Orthodox Church—declaring one of its deceased members worthy of public cult and entering his or her name in the canon, or authorized list, of that communion’s recognized saints.

History

In the early church there was no formal canonization, but the cult of local martyrs was widespread and was regulated by the bishop of the diocese. The translation of the martyr’s remains from the place of burial to a church was equivalent to canonization. Gradually, ecclesiastical authorities intervened more directly in the process of canonization. By the 10th century appeals were made to the pope. The first saint canonized by a pope was Ulrich, bishop of Augsburg, who died in 973 and was canonized by Pope John XV at the Lateran Council of 993. Pope Alexander III (1159–81) began to reserve the cases of canonization to the Holy See, and this became general law under Gregory IX (1227–41).

Pope Sixtus V (1585–90) assigned to the Congregation of Rites, one of the offices of the Roman Curia, the duty of conducting the processes of beatification (i.e., a first step toward canonization, whereby limited public veneration is permitted) and canonization. In the following century Pope Urban VIII forbade the public cult of any person not as yet beatified or canonized by the church. Exception was made only for those who were in possession of public cult from time immemorial or for at least 100 years.

Process

The legislation of Pope Urban VIII, together with later legislation by Pope Benedict XIV, formed the basis of the procedures for beatification and canonization found in the Code of Canon Law (promulgated 1917) of the Roman Catholic Church. Two types of beatification and canonization are distinguished by the Code: formal, or ordinary, and extraordinary, or equivalent.

Beatification

Formal beatification has entailed four general steps: an informative process, introduction of the cause, the apostolic process, and four definite judgments. The first of these steps was under the jurisdiction of the bishop in whose diocese it took place, and the other three were directly under the jurisdiction of the Congregation of Rites and the pope. In the late 1960s Pope Paul VI announced that the process of beatification and canonization would be shortened and decentralized, and he established a new congregation (administrative division) of the Curia to handle such processes. Diocesan, provincial, or regional courts would conduct the entire investigation in consultation with the Vatican. Thus, duplication would be avoided and less time needed to complete the process.

In general, the process of documenting the sanctity of a holy man or woman cannot begin until five years after death, though this waiting period can be waived by the pope. Pope John Paul II, for example, waived three years of the waiting period for the cause of Mother Teresa, and Pope Benedict XVI waived the entire waiting period for his predecessor John Paul II. The subsequent investigation of the candidate involves the gathering together of all material pertaining to the candidate’s reputation for sanctity or heroic virtue, the writings of the candidate, and information about miracles performed by the candidate either during his or her lifetime or after death. The miracle required for beatification can be waived in the case of martyrdom. The bishop appoints a person, called postulator of the cause, to promote the cause and also a promoter of the faith, commonly known as the “devil’s advocate,” to see that the entire truth is made known about the candidate. After the process is completed, if the pope orders the beatification, it is in the form of a solemn proclamation with a solemn mass. Veneration then may be carried on in specified localities, and the candidate is referred to as “Blessed.”

Canonization
The canonization process is essentially the same, but at least one verified miracle obtained through invocation after beatification must occur before the cause for canonization may be introduced. Extraordinary, or equivalent, canonization is simply a papal confirmation that a person is a saint. It is applied only to persons whose veneration was immemorial at the time of Pope Urban VIII (1634). If the saint has universal appeal, he or she may be added to the church’s general calendar as a memorial or an optional memorial; a saint’s feast day is often commemorated on the date of his or her death. If the saint’s appeal is more localized, the saint may be added to the calendars of the relevant nations or religious institutions or can be celebrated by individual churches with a votive mass.

Steps to Sainthood

The process, which cannot begin until at least five years after the candidate's death unless the pope waives that waiting period, involves scrutinizing evidence of their holiness, work and signs that people are drawn to prayer through their example. Prior to the presentation of the cause to the Congregation for the causes of the Saints, the Diocesan bishop is under the obligation to conduct an investigation in order to establish the merit of the cause, fulfilling the following requirements:

a) consultation with the bishops of his ecclesiastical region;

b) inform the faithful regarding the petition and inviting them to tell what they know about the cause;

c) submit to study the possible writings of the possible servant of God;

d) appoint experts to study writings and other documents related to the cause;

e) request the Nihil Obstat from the Holy See.

Once the Diocesan investigation is completed, and the proper solemnities required by the law have been fulfilled, the Acta of the process and the evidence collected are forwarded to the Holy See where the following stages take place:

• First stage: individual is declared a 'servant of God'

• Second stage: individual is called 'venerable'

• Third stage (requires a miracle attributed to candidate's intercession): beatification, when individual is declared blessed

• Fourth stage (requires a further authenticated miracle): candidate is canonized as a saint for veneration by Church. If God can do it once, He can do it again!

The Process of Canonization

The process of declaring a deceased Christian to be saint was originally quite informal, but became increasingly regulated over the centuries and is now defined by canon law. The steps for becoming a saint are as follows:

1. The process leading towards canonization begins at the diocesan level. A bishop with jurisdiction—usually the bishop of the place where the candidate died or is buried, although another ordinary can be given this authority—gives permission to open an investigation into the virtues of the individual. Usually between 5 and 50 years after a would-be saint's death, a formal request made to consider person as saint. However, the pope has the authority to waive this five year waiting period, as was done for Mother Teresa by Pope John Paul II, for Lúcia Santos by Pope Benedict XVI, and for John Paul II himself by his immediate successor. The group making the request, called the Actor Causae, consists of people from the candidate's church and community, either actually or pro forma, and the request is directed to the bishop of the diocese where the person died.

The request includes testimony of the person's exceptional virtue and dedication to God. Normally, a guild or organization to promote the cause of the candidate's sainthood is created, an exhaustive search of the candidate's writings, speeches and sermons is undertaken, a detailed biography is written, eyewitness accounts are gathered and a series of events (lectures, retreats, prayer services, publications, etc) are planned in order to promote the cause.

When sufficient information has been gathered, the investigation of the candidate, who is called "Servant of God", is presented by the local bishop to the Roman Curia—the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints—where it is assigned a postulator (postulatore), whose task is to gather further information about the life of the Servant of God. Religious orders who regularly deal with the congregation often have their own designated postulator generals.

2. The bishop decides whether the evidence is compelling enough to take it to Rome. If so, he asks the Congregation for the Causes of Saints for permission to open the cause.

3. If permission is granted, the bishop opens a tribunal and calls witnesses to attest to the quality of the person's public life. The person must be shown to have been virtuous, devout, religious, and characterized by love, kindness, prudence and other virtues (concrete examples are required).

Miracles are not necessary at this point, but they are recorded if mentioned. If the person passes this step, he or she is called a Servant of God.

4. "Declaration 'Non Cultus'" At some point, permission is then granted for the body of the Servant of God to be exhumed and examined, a certification ("non cultus" is made that no superstitious or heretical worship or improper cult has grown up around the servant or his or her tomb, and relics are taken.

5. The bishop sends a report to Rome, where it is translated into Italian. This step is called the Apostolic Process.

6. A summary called the Positio is presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

7. Nine theologians scrutinize the evidence and documentation. If majority pass it, goes to Congregation.

The Feast of Christ the King

Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday in October (and Reformation Sunday) on the Extraordinary Form Calendar and on the and the final Sunday of the Liturgical year on the Ordinary Form calendar, is a feast day that focuses on the authority of Christ. While the problems our world faces today differ from the particular events that inspired Pope Pius XI to establish this feast in the 1920s, his message and call to honor Christ the King in a society that denies the authority of Our Lord is no less pertinent now than it was then.

History of the Feast

The solemnity is a newer feast in the Catholic Church; it was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925. The Pontiff was witness to a turbulent time in the world's history. Secularism was on the rise and dangerous dictatorships were emerging in Europe and beyond. Christ had long been referred to as King, but Pope Pius XI and the Christian faithful saw the respect and reverence for Christ's authority waning in the midst of the unrest during the first part of the 20th century; namely World War I. In response, the feast was set with the intent to reaffirm and refocus faith and respect in the kingship of Jesus.

On the importance of the public world recognizing the kingly authority of Jesus, Pope Pius XI wrote:

“When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony. Our Lord's regal office invests the human authority of princes and rulers with a religious significance; it ennobles the citizen's duty of obedience. It is for this reason that St. Paul, while bidding wives revere Christ in their husbands, and slaves respect Christ in their masters, warns them to give obedience to them not as men, but as the vicegerents of Christ; for it is not meet that men redeemed by Christ should serve their fellow-men. ‘You are bought with a price; be not made the bond-slaves of men.'

If princes and magistrates duly elected are filled with the persuasion that they rule, not by their own right, but by the mandate and in the place of the Divine King, they will exercise their authority piously and wisely, and they will make laws and administer them, having in view the common good and also the human dignity of their subjects. The The result will be a stable peace and tranquility, for there will be no longer any cause of discontent.

Men will see in their king or in their rulers men like themselves, perhaps unworthy or open to criticism, but they will not on that account refuse obedience if they see reflected in them the authority of Christ God and Man. Peace and harmony, too, will result; for with the spread and the universal extent of the kingdom of Christ men will become more and more conscious of the link that binds them together, and thus many conflicts will be either prevented entirely or at least their bitterness will be diminished.”

Pope Pius XI was hoping for these effects to occur:

1). That nations would see that the Church has the right to freedom, and immunity from the state.

2). That leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ.

3). That the faithful would gain strength and courage from the celebration of the feast, as we are reminded that Christ must reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies.

The feast was initially fixed to the final day of October, the day before All Saints Day. Later, in 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the feast to the last Sunday before Advent, to emphasize the importance of the feast. This is fitting within the Church year. The liturgical year begins with Advent, the season of awaiting the coming of Christ, and now the year ends with celebrating the Kingship of Christ.

History of the Title “Christ the King”

While the feast is relatively new, the tradition of calling Christ “King” is not. Jesus is referred to as King throughout the New Testament:
To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen – 1 Tim 1:17

Nathaniel answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” – John 1:49

Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” – Mt. 27:11

And this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords – 1 Tim 6:15

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and wonderful are thy deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are thy ways, O King of the ages!” – Rev. 15:3

And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood – Rev. 1:5

On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” – Rev. 19:16

Clearly “King” was one of the earliest titles given to the Son of God. The title does not refer to a status of an earthly king, which many of the Jews had been expecting – someone to overthrow the Roman rule and be earthly king of the Israel. Rather He came to be the spiritual king; His kingdom is in heaven, not confined to the earth alone. In respecting the name of Christ the King, and in celebrating the yearly feast, both citizens and leaders are to remain reverent and devoted to the higher authority of Christ.

Blessed Maximilian Kolbe Part II

One day Krott found some of the heaviest planks he could lay hold of and personally loaded them on the Franciscan's back, ordering him to run. When he collapsed, Krott kicked him in the stomach and face and had his men give him fifty lashes. When the priest lost consciousness Krott threw him in the mud and left him for dead. But his companions managed to smuggle him to the Revier, the camp hospital. Although he was suffering greatly, he secretly heard confessions in the hospital and spoke to the other inmates of the love of God. In Auschwitz, where hunger and hatred reigned and faith evaporated, this man opened his heart to others and spoke of God's infinite love. He seemed never to think of himself. When food was brought in and everyone struggled to get his place in the queue so as to be sure of a share, Fr Maximilian stood aside, so that frequently there was none left for him. At other times he shared his meagre ration of soup or bread with others. He was once asked whether such self-abnegation made sense in a place where every man was engaged in a struggle for survival, and he answered: 'Every man has an aim in life. For most men it is to return home to their wives and families, or to their mothers. For my part, I give my life for the good of all men.'

Men gathered in secret to hear his words of love and encouragement, but it was his example which counted for most. Fr Zygmunt Rusczak remembers: 'Each time I saw Father Kolbe in the courtyard I felt within myself an extraordinary effusion of his goodness. Although he wore the same ragged clothes as the rest of us, with the same tin can hanging from his belt, one forgot this wretched exterior and was conscious only of the charm of his inspired countenance and of his radiant holiness.'

There remained only the last act in the drama. The events are recorded in the sworn testimonials of former inmates of the camp, collected as part of the beatification proceedings. They are as follows:

Tadeusz Joachimowski, clerk of Block 14A: 'In the summer of 1941, most probably on the last day of July, the camp siren announced that there had been an escape. At the evening roll-call of the same day we, i.e. Block 14A, were formed up in the street between the buildings of Blocks 14 and 17. After some delay we were joined by a group of the Landwirtschafts-Kommando. During the count it was found that three prisoners from this Kommando had escaped: one from our Block and the two others from other Blocks. Lagerfuhrer Fritzsch announced that on account of the escape of the three prisoners, ten prisoners would be picked in reprisal from the blocks in which the fugitives had lived and would be assigned to the Bunker (the underground starvation cell).' Jan Jakub Szegidewicz takes up the story from there: 'After the group of doomed men had already been selected, a prisoner stepped out from the ranks of one of the Blocks. I recognized Father Kolbe. Owing to my poor knowledge of German I did not understand what they talked about, nor do I remember whether Fr Kolbe spoke directly to Fritzsch. When making his request, Fr Kolbe stood at attention and pointed at a former non-commissioned officer known to me from the camp. It could be inferred from the expression on Fritzsch's face that he was surprised at Fr Kolbe's action. As the sign was given, Fr Kolbe joined the ranks of the doomed and the non-commissioned officer left the ranks of the doomed and resumed his place in his Block; which meant that Fritzsch had consented to the exchange. A little later the doomed men were marched off in the direction of Block 13, the death Block.'

The non-commissioned officer was Franciszek Gajowniczek. When the sentence of doom had been pronounced, Gajowniczek had cried out in despair, 'O my poor wife, my poor children. I shall never see them again.' It was then that the unexpected had happened, and that from among the ranks of those temporarily reprieved, prisoner 16670 had stepped forward and offered himself in the other man's place. Then the ten condemned men were led off to the dreaded Bunker, to the airless underground cells where men died slowly without food or water.

Bruno Borgowiec was an eye-witness of those last terrible days, for he was an assistant to the janitor and an interpreter in the underground Bunkers. He tells us what happened: 'In the cell of the poor wretches there were daily loud prayers, the rosary and singing, in which prisoners from neighbouring cells also joined. When no S. S. men were in the Block I went to the Bunker to talk to the men and comfort them. Fervent prayers and songs to the Holy Mother resounded in all the corridors of the Bunker. I had the impression I was in a church. Fr Kolbe was leading and the prisoners responded in unison. They were often so deep in prayer that they did not even hear that inspecting S. S. men had descended to the Bunker; and the voices fell silent only at the loud yelling of their visitors. When the cells were opened the poor wretches cried loudly and begged for a piece of bread and for water, which they did not receive, however. If any of the stronger ones approached the door he was immediately kicked in the stomach by the S. S. men, so that falling backwards on the cement floor he was instantly killed; or he was shot to death ... Fr Kolbe bore up bravely, he did not beg and did not complain but raised the spirits of the others.... Since they had grown very weak, prayers were now only whispered. At every inspection, when almost all the others were now lying on the floor, Fr Kolbe was seen kneeling or standing in the centre as he looked cheerfully in the face of the S. S. men. Two weeks passed in this way. Meanwhile one after another they died, until only Fr Kolbe was left. This the authorities felt was too long; the cell was needed for new victims. So one day they brought in the head of the sick-quarters, a German, a common criminal named Bock, who gave Fr Kolbe an injection of carbolic acid in the vein of his left arm. Fr Kolbe, with a prayer on his lips, himself gave his arm to the executioner. Unable to watch this I left under the pretext of work to be done. Immediately after the S. S. men with the executioner had left I returned to the cell, where I found Fr Kolbe leaning in a sitting position against the back wall with his eyes open and his head drooping sideways. His face was calm and radiant.'

The heroism of Father Kolbe went echoing through Auschwitz. In that desert of hatred he had sown love. Mr Jozef Stemler, former director of an important cultural institute in Poland, comments: 'In those conditions ... in the midst of a brutalization of thought and feeling and words such as had never before been known, man indeed became a ravening wolf in his relations with other men. And into this state of affairs came the heroic self-sacrifice of Fr Maximilian. The atmosphere grew lighter, as this thunderbolt provoked its profound and salutary shock.' Jerzy Bielecki declared that Fr Kolbe's death was 'a shock filled with hope, bringing new life and strength.... It was like a powerful shaft of light in the darkness of the camp.'

His reputation spread far and wide, through the Nazi camps and beyond. After the war newspapers all over the world were deluged with articles about this 'saint for our times', 'saint of progress', 'giant of holiness'. Biographies were written, and everywhere there were claims of cures being brought about through his intercession. 'The life and death of this one man alone', wrote the Polish bishops, 'can be proof and witness of the fact that the love of God can overcome the greatest hatred, the greatest injustice, even death itself.' The demands for his beatification became insistent, and at last on 12 August 1947 proceedings started. Seventy-five witnesses were questioned. His cause was introduced on 16 March 1960. When all the usual objections had been overcome, the promoter spoke of 'the charm of this magnificent fool'. On 17 October 1971 Maximilian Kolbe was beatified. Like his master Jesus Christ he had loved his fellow-men to the point of sacrificing his life for them. 'Greater love hath no man than this ... and these were the opening words of the papal decree introducing the process of beatification.

Blessed Maximilian Kolbe, Priest hero of a death camp. By Mary Craig. Published by The Catholic Truth Society-London.
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St. Maximilian Kolbe was Canonized By: By Pope St. John Paul II on October 10, 1982

Blessed Maximillian Kolbe—PRIEST HERO OF A DEATH CAMP Mary Craig Part I ________________________________________

His name wasn't always Maximilian. He was born the second son of a poor weaver on 8 January 1894 at Zdunska Wola near Lodz in Poland, and was given the baptismal name of Raymond. Both parents were devout Christians with a particular devotion to Mary. In his infancy Raymond seems to have been normally mischievous but we are told that one day, after his mother had scolded him for some mischief or other, her words took effect and brought about a radical change in the child's behavior. Later he explained this change. 'That night I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.' Thus early did the child believe and accept that he was destined for martyrdom. His belief in his dream colored all his future actions.

In 1907 Raymond and his elder brother entered a junior Franciscan seminary in Lwow. Here he excelled in mathematics and physics and his teachers predicted a brilliant future for him in science. Others, seeing his passionate interest in all things military, saw in him a future strategist. For a time indeed his interest in military affairs together with his fiery patriotism made him lose interest in the idea of becoming a priest, The fulfilment of his dream would lie in saving Poland from her oppressors as a soldier. But before he could tell anyone about his decision his mother announced that, as all their children were now in seminaries, she and her husband intended to enter religious life. Raymond hadn't the heart to upset his parents' plans and so he abandoned his plans for joining the army. He was received as a novice in September 1910 and with the habit he took the new name of Maximilian. From 1912 to 1915 he was in Rome studying philosophy at the Gregorian College, and from 1915 to 1919 theology at the Collegio Serafico. He was ordained in Rome on 28 April 1918.

The love of fighting didn't leave him, but while he was in Rome he stopped seeing the struggle as a military one. He didn't like what he saw of the world, in fact he saw it as downright evil. The fight, he decided, was a spiritual one. The world was bigger than Poland and there were worse slaveries than earthly ones. The fight was still on, but he would not be waging it with the sword. At that time many Catholics in Europe regarded freemasonry as their chief enemy; and it was against the Freemasons that Maximilian Kolbe began to wage war. On 16 October 1917, with six companions, he founded the Crusade of Mary Immaculate (Militia Immaculatae), with the aim of 'converting sinners, heretics and schismatics, particularly Freemasons, and bringing all men to love Mary Immaculate'.

As he entered what was to be the most creative period of his life, Fr Maximilian's health had already begun to deteriorate. He was by now in an advanced state of tuberculosis, and he felt himself overshadowed by death. His love for Mary Immaculate now became the devouring characteristic of his life. He regarded himself as no more than an instrument of her will, and the only time he was known to lose his temper was in defense of her honor. It was for her that he strove to develop all the good that was in him, and he wanted to encourage others to do the same.

When Maximilian returned to Poland in 1919 he rejoiced to see his country free once again, a liberation which he typically attributed to Mary Immaculate. Pius XI in response to a request from the Polish bishops had just promulgated the Feast of Our Lady Queen of Poland, and Fr Maximilian wrote: 'She must be the Queen of Poland and of every Polish heart. We must labor to win each and every heart for her.' He set himself to extend the influence of his Crusade, and formed cells and circles all over Poland. The doctors had by now pronounced him incurable; one lung had collapsed and the other was damaged. Yet it was now that he flung himself into a whirlwind of activity. In January 1922 he began to publish a monthly review, the Knight of the Immaculate, in Cracow. Its aim was 'to illuminate the truth and show the true way to happiness'. As funds were low, only 5,000 copies of the first issue were printed. In 1922 he removed to another friary in Grodno and acquired a small printing establishment; and from now on the review began to grow. In 1927 70,000 copies were being printed. The Grodno Friary became too small to house such a mammoth operation, so Fr Maximilian began to look for a site nearer to Warsaw. Prince Jan Drucko-Lubecki offered him some land at Teresin, west of Warsaw, Fr Maximilian promptly erected a statue of Mary Immaculate there, and the monks began the arduous work of construction.

On 21 November 1927 the Franciscans moved from Grodno to Teresin and on 8 December the friary was consecrated and was given the name of Niepokalanow, the City of the Immaculate. 'Niepokalanow', said Fr Maximilian, 'is a place chosen by Mary Immaculate and is exclusively dedicated to spreading her cult. All that is and will be at Niepokalanow will belong to her. The monastic spirit will flourish here; we shall practice obedience and we shall be poor, in the spirit of St Francis.'

At first Niepokalanow consisted of no more than a few shacks with tar-paper roofs, but it soon flourished. To cope with the flood of vocations all over Poland, a junior seminary was built at Niepokalanow 'to prepare priests for the missions capable of every task in the name of the Immaculate and with her help'. A few years later there were more than a hundred seminarians and the numbers were still growing. Before long Niepokalanow had become one of the largest (some say the largest) friaries in the world. In 1939 it housed 762 inhabitants: 13 priests, 18 novices, 527 brothers, 122 boys in the junior seminary and 82 candidates for the priesthood. No matter how many laborers were in the vineyard there was always work for more. Among the inhabitants of Niepokalanow there were doctors, dentists, farmers, mechanics, tailors, builders, printers, gardeners, shoemakers, cooks. The place was entirely self-supporting.

Not only the friary but the printing house had been expanding. More modern machinery had been installed, including three machines which could produce 16,000 copies of the review in an hour. New techniques of type, photo-gravure and binding were adopted. The new machinery and techniques made it possible to meet the growing demand for Knight of the Immaculat >—which had now reached the incredible circulation figure of 750,000 per month—and to produce other publications as well. In 1935 they began to produce a daily Catholic newspaper, The Little Daily, of which 137,000 copies were printed on weekdays and 225,000 on Sundays and holy days.

Maximilian did not rest content with mere journalistic activity. His sights were set even further. On 8 December 1938 a radio station was installed at Niepokalanow with the signature tune (played by the brothers' own orchestra) of the Lourdes hymn. And now that there was so much valuable equipment around, Niepokalanow acquired its own fire brigade to protect it against its enemies. Some of the brothers were now trained as firemen.

There was no doubt that Niepokalanow was going from strength to strength, a unique institution within Poland. The results of the work done there were becoming apparent. Priests in parishes all over the country reported a tremendous upsurge of faith, which they attributed to the literature emerging from Niepokalanow. A campaign against abortion in the columns of the Knight (1938) seemed to awaken the conscience of the nation: more than a million people of all classes and professions ranged themselves behind the standard of Mary Immaculate. Years later, after the war, the Polish bishops sent an official letter to the Holy See claiming that Fr Kolbe's magazine had prepared the Polish nation to endure and survive the horrors of the war that was soon to follow.

Fr Maximilian was a restless spirit, and his activities could not be confined to Poland. His junior seminary had been started in 1929 but he didn't intend to wait for its first priest to be trained before he himself set out for the mission lands. To those who pointed out that Niepokalanow wasn't yet up to undertaking foreign apostolic work, he quoted the example of St Francis, who had risked himself on the mission fields when the other Orders had remained uninvolved. With the blessing of his Father General, Maximilian prepared his expedition. Asked whether he had money to finance it, he replied: 'Money? It will turn up somehow or other. Mary will see to it. It's her business and her Son's.'

On 26 February 1930 Fr Maximilian left Poland with four brothers from Niepokalanow on a journey to the Far East. They traveled by way of Port Said, Saigon and Shanghai, and on 24 April they landed at Nagasaki in Japan. Here they were given episcopal permission to stay. In fact Archbishop Hayasaka received them very warmly when he learned that Fr Maximilian had two doctorates and would be able to take the vacant chair of philosophy in the diocesan seminary in exchange for a licence to print his review.

The going was hard. The Poles' only shelter was a wretched hut whose walls and roof were caving in. They slept on what straw they could find and their tables were planks of wood. But despite such hardships, and the fact that they knew no word of the Japanese language, and had no money, on 24 April 1930, exactly a month after their arrival, a telegram was despatched to Niepokalanow: 'Today distributing Japanese Knight. Have printing press. Praise to Mary Immaculate.' After that, it was scarcely surprising that a year later the Japanese Niepokalanow was inaugurated, Mugenzai no Sono (the Garden of the Immaculate), built on the slopes of Mount Hikosan. The choice of this site in the suburbs had been dictated by poverty, but it proved a lucky one. People thought Fr Maximilian was crazy to be building on steep ground sloping away from the town; but in 1945, when the atomic bomb all but leveled Nagasaki, Mugenzai no Sono sustained no more damage than a few broken panes of stained glass. Today it forms the centre of a Franciscan province.

Despite his passionate zeal in the cause of Mary, Fr Maximilian proved to be a wise missionary. He did not attempt to impose Western ideas on the Japanese. He respected their national customs and looked for what was good in Buddhism and Shintoism. He entered into dialogue with Buddhist priests and some of them became his friends. In 1931 he founded a novitiate and in 1936 a junior seminary. And of course he continued to publish his beloved magazine. Seibo no Kishi, the Japanese Knight, had a circulation six times that of its nearest Japanese Catholic rival. This was because it was aimed at the whole community, not just Catholics. The first 10,000 copies had swollen to 65,000 by 1936.

Father Maximilian's health was rapidly deteriorating, but he didn't allow this fact to diminish his zeal or his restless energy. Although he often complained of the lack of manpower and machines needed to serve the people of Japan, in 1932 he was already seeking fresh pastures. On 31 May he left Japan and sailed to Malabar where, after a few initial difficulties, he founded a third Niepokalanow. But his superiors requested him to return to Japan, and as no priests could be spared for Malabar that idea had to be given up. On another of his journeys he traveled through Siberia and spent some time in Moscow. Even here he dreamed of publishing his magazine-in Russian. He had studied the language and had a fair acquaintance with Marxist literature. Like Pope John XXIII he looked for the good elements even in systems which he believed to be evil; and he tried to teach his friars to do likewise.

In 1936 he was recalled to Poland, and left Japan for the last time. He had thought that he would find martyrdom there; and indeed he had found martyrdom of a kind. He was racked by violent headaches and covered with abscesses brought on by the food to which he could not grow accustomed. But these things were only pinpricks: the real martyrdom awaited him elsewhere.

Just before the Second World War broke out Fr Maximilian spoke to his friars about suffering. They must not be afraid, he said, for suffering accepted with love would bring them closer to Mary. All his life he had dreamed of a martyr's crown, and the time was nearly at hand.

By 13 September 1939 Niepokalanow had been occupied by the invading Germans and most of its inhabitants had been deported to Germany. Among them was Fr Maximilian. But that exile did not last long and on 8 December the prisoners were set free. From the moment that he returned to Niepokalanow Fr Maximilian was galvanized into a new kind of activity. He began to organize a shelter for 3,000 Polish refugees, among whom were 2,000 Jews. 'We must do everything in our power to help these unfortunate people who have been driven from their homes and deprived of even the most basic necessities. Our mission is among them in the days that lie ahead.' The friars shared everything they had with the refugees. They housed, fed and clothed them, and brought all their machinery into use in their service.

Inevitably the community came under suspicion and was closely watched. Early in 1941, in the only edition of The Knight of the Immaculate which he was allowed to publish, Fr Maximilian set pen to paper and thus provoked his own arrest. 'No one in the world can change Truth', he wrote. 'What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is an inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?'

He would never know that kind of defeat; but a more obvious defeat was near. On 17 February 1941 he was arrested and sent to the infamous Pawiak prison in Warsaw. Here he was singled out for special ill-treatment. A witness tells us that in March of that year an S. S. guard, seeing this man in his habit girdled with a rosary, asked if he believed in Christ. When the priest calmly replied 'I do', the guard struck him. The S. S. man repeated his question several times and receiving always the same answer went on beating him mercilessly. Shortly afterwards the Franciscan habit was taken away and a prisoner's garment was substituted.

On 28 May Fr Maximilian was with over 300 others who were deported from Pawiak to Auschwitz. There he received his striped convict's garments and was branded with the number 16670. He was put to work immediately carrying blocks of stone for the construction of a crematorium wall. On the last day of May he was assigned with other priests to the Babice section which was under the direction of 'Bloody' Krott, an ex-criminal. 'These men are lay-abouts and parasites', said the Commandant to Krott, 'get them working.' Krott forced the priests to cut and carry huge tree-trunks. The work went on all day without a stop and had to be done running—with the aid of vicious blows from the guards. Despite his one lung, Father Maximilian accepted the work and the blows with surprising calm. Krott conceived a relentless hatred against the Franciscan and gave him heavier tasks than the others. Sometimes his colleagues would try to come to his aid but he would not expose them to danger. Always he replied, 'Mary gives me strength. All will be well.' At this time he wrote to his mother, 'Do not worry about me or my health, for the good Lord is everywhere and holds every one of us in his great love.'

HOPE

If you recall the story, Pandora was given a box and told not to open it. Pandora did open the box and all the evils of world came out. Violence, death, destruction, hatred, etc. She quickly closed the box before Hope could get out. The only thing left in the box was hope.

Hope is the Virtue by which we firmly trust that God, who is all-powerful and faithful to His promises, will in His mercy give us eternal happiness and the means to obtain it.

HOPE IS TRUST IN GOD. Hope says, "I trust that God will help me to get to Heaven because He is able and has promised to do so, no matter how impossible it seems because of my own weakness."

It is important not to confuse the virtue of Hope with the emotion of hope. For example, the Dodger fans hope they can have another pennant winning season. That is emotional hope, or as Msgr. Hughes calls it, natural hope. That is to say there is an element of uncertainty, because there is always the chance that the difficulties will, in the end, prove too great.

"The Virtue of Hope is not an emotion, it is a Virtue, a permanent change or disposition, in the will. As a result of this disposition the will, not the feelings, tends to its future good, that is, to God as its future supernatural happiness, to a future possession of God Himself. Like Faith, my Hope too has certitude, a certitude all its own, namely the certitude that the happiness is there for me, and the certitude that God, to the possession of whom I am tending, will give me all the helps and aids I need in order to attain and possess Him.

By Faith the intelligence attains God. By Hope yet to come and as the giver of the means to attain that happiness; God the Helper is its object, and the act of Hope is reliance on Him." -Msgr. Phillip Hughes.

No matter what crosses we have been asked to carry in our lives, there is always Hope.

The image below is a picture of a famous painting by George Frederick Watts. It shows a blindfolded woman sitting on a world drawing a melody from a harp with one string. Now that is hope!

God love you!

Palm Sunday Gospel Commentary Part II

Luke 23:15 "Nor Herod either, for I sent you to him, and behold nothing worthy of death is done to him."
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"Herod has not treated him as a criminal, or one worthy of death. He only derided him as a fool, had there been any cause to punish him, he would not have failed to have done it himself, or commanded me to put him to death."-Calmet

Luke 23:16 "I will chastise him, therefore, and release him."
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"It was a very common punishment among Jews to scourge those who had committed crimes for which death would have been too severe. According to the laws of the Hebrews, (Deuteronomy 25:8) the number of blows could not exceed thirty-nine. Pilate dares not condemn Jesus to death, because he believes him innocent; yet not to disoblige the people and magistrates, who demanded his death, he takes a middle way, which, as is usual in such cases, satisfies neither party. He neither saves the innocent Victim, nor satisfies justice. In lieu of one punishment, Jesus suffered two. He is at length both scourged and crucified."-Calmet

Luke 23:28 "But Jesus turning to them, said, 'Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.' "
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Weep not for me...Calmet explains this passage, "If you knew the evils that threaten and must soon fall upon your city, upon yourselves and upon your children, you would preserve your tears to deplore your own misfortunes. My death is for the good of mankind; but it will be fatal to your nation, because you have been pleased to make it so. In the ruin of Jerusalem, which is at hand, happy shall they be who have no children. They shall save themselves the grief of seeing their sons and daughters perish miserably, and in some sort suffering as many deaths as they have children to die."

Luke 23:31 "For if in the green wood they do those things, what shall be done in the dry?"
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The green wood signifies people of virtue and sanctity; the dry wood would be the wicked, who bring forth no fruit, and who are like dry wood, are fit to be cast into the fire.
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"If they be this cruel with me, how will they treat you!"-Dr. Robert Witham

Luke 23:33 "And when they were come on the place, which is called Calvary, they crucified him there, and the robbers, one on the right hand, and the other on the left."

Calvary is a place at a short distance from Jerusalem, where condemned people were beheaded. Christ, a malefactor in the eyes of Jewish authorities, dies on Calvary for the redemption of mankind; that where sin abounded, grace would abound more.-paraphrased from St. Bede the Venerable

"In this mountain, according to the Hebrew doctors, were interred the remains of our protoparent, Adam."-St. Athanasius

Luke 23:43 "And Jesus said to him, 'Amen I say to you, this day you shall be with me in paradise.' "

I say to you, this day you shall be with me in paradise, that is, in a place of rest with the souls of the just. The construction is not, I say to you, this day, but, you shall be with me this day in paradise.

Paradise, that is, in the happy state of rest, joy, and peace everlasting. Christ was pleased by a special privilege, to reward the faith and confession of the penitent thief with a full discharge of all his sins, both as to the guilt and punishment, and to introduce him, immediately after death, into the happy society of the Saints, whose "Limbo" (that is, the place of their confinement, Mother Church calls it Limbus Patrum) was now made a paradise by our Lord's going there.

"The soul of the good thief was that same day with Jesus Christ, in the felicity of the Saints, in Abraham's bosom, or in heaven, where Jesus was always present by His divinity."-St. Augustine

St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, "He entered Heaven before all the Patriarchs and Prophets."

St. John Chrysostom says, "that paradise was immediately opened to him, and that he entered Heaven first of mankind."-Homily 32

Luke 23:51 "He had not consented to their counsel and doings; of Arimathea, a city of Juda, who also himself expected the kingdom of God."

"In other parts of Scripture it is called Ramatha, a city of Juda, where Sammuel was born."-St. Bede the Venerable

Luke 23:52 "This man went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus"

It is reasonable to assume because of Joseph's rank in the Sanhedrin, he always had access to Pilate.

Luke 23:54 "And it was the day of the Parasceve, and the Sabbath drew near"

The Parasceve is the eve or day of Preparation for the Sabbath.

The Sabbath began in the evening, at sunset. It may, perhaps, be said to shine by the moonlight, at full-moon, or because of a great many lights that used to be set up at that time, on account of the great Sabbath.

"We learn from Maimon, that all the Jews were so strictly bound to keep a light in their dwellings on the Sabbath-day, that although a man had not bread to eat, he was expected to beg from door to door, to purchase oil for his light."-Dr. Robert Witham

Palm Sunday Gospel Commentary Part I

Luke 22:3 "And Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve.
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And Satan entered into Judas... The meaning only seems to be, that the devil tempted and overcame him.
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"Satan entered into Judas not all at once, but by degrees. He first gained possession by avarice, next by theft, and lastly he impelled him to the blackest treachery and cruel parricide. The Scripture only says that Satan had entered into him when he was entirely abandoned to iniquity, had hardened his heart against all grace, and shut his ears against every instruction of Jesus. In like manner the Scripture says of a good man, who is strengthened in grace, that the Holy Spirit dwells in him."-Calmet

Luke 22:4 "And he went, and spoke with the chief priests and the magistrates, how he might betray Him to them."
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"Many even now shutter at the mention of the crime of Judas, and are surprised to think that he could be guilty of such ingratitude, when themselves are negligent in avoiding the like crimes. For he who breaks the laws of charity and truth, betrays Christ, who is charity and truth, and does it not through any infirmity or ignorance, but designedly and maliciously."-St. Bede the Venerable

Luke 22:15 "And He said to them, 'With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you before I suffer.' "
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Dr. Robert Witham says the repetition expresses a great and earnest desire.
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This phrase is commonly reputed as a form of speech known as a Hebraism. An example would be: "hearing, I have heard; seeing, I have seen; etc.
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The judicious critic, Mr. Blackwell of the 19th Century, not the guy who rates the best dressed men, has produced parallel expressions out of the most exact Greek classics, in his learned book, entitled, "The Sacred Classics defended and illustrated;" he has clearly proven, by examples, that many forms of speech called, reputed, and carped at , as Hebraisims, are frequently found in the best Greek Classics.-paraphrased from the writing of Dr. Robert Witham

Luke 22:17 "Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, "Take this and share it among yourselves..""
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This cup is not the Chalice of His blood, (the latter is spoken of in verse 20, and 1 Cor 11:25) but it is the cup which the master of the repast blessed with ceremony, than drank of it, and gave it to all the guests. The modern Jews still observe this custom; not only on the Pasch, but on all other great feasts. The father of the family pours wine into a cup, takes it in his right hand, elevates it, blesses it, tastes, and gives it round to the invited.
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Our Savior on this occasion complies with the custom; and after supper takes the chalice, which he converts into His own Blood.-Calmet

Luke 22:18 "...for I tell you that from this time on, I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
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I will not drink...That is from this hour of the supper, to the time of His resurrection, in which He will come in the Kingdom of God, he would not taste wine. For St. Peter testifies, (Acts 10:41) that He took meat and drank after His resurrection-St. Bede the Venerable

Luke 22:19 "And he (Jesus) took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me."

THIS IS MY BODY. Do this in memory of (OR in other texts ) for a commemoration for me. By these words He gave a power and precept to them, and their successors, to all Bishops and Priests, to consecrate and offer up the same; yet so, that they are only the ministers and instruments of Jesus Christ, who instituted this Sacrifice, this and all other Sacraments, who is the chief and principal priest, or offerer. It is Christ that chiefly consecrates and changes the elements of bread and wine into His own Body and Blood; it is He that chiefly and principally forgives sins in the Sacraments of Baptism, Penance, Extreme Unction. It is was St Augustine so often repeats against the Donatists, that it is Christ that Baptizes, through the instrumental minister be a sinner or a heretic; and this is what all Catholics confess and profess. This Holy Sacrifice and Sacrament is to be offered and received with a devout and grateful remembrance of Christ's benefits, and especially of His sufferings and death for all mankind. But to teach that it is a bare, though devout memorial, or a remembrance only, so as to exclude the Real Presence of Christ, under the outward appearances of bread & wine, is inconsistent with the constant belief and consent of all Christian Churches, both of the West and the East, and contradicts the plain words of Christ. The learned Bishop of Meaux, in his exposition of the Catholic Faith, desires all Christians to take notice, that Christ does not recommend them to remember Him but to take His Body and Blood with a remembrance of Him, and His benefits; this is the import of all the words put together.
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THIS IS MY BODY; THIS IS MY BLOOD; do this in, for, or with a remembrance of Me. This Sacrifice and Sacrament is to be continued in the Church to the end of the world, to show forth the death of Christ, until He comes. But this commemoration, or remembrance, is by no means inconsistent with the Real Presence of His Body and Blood, under these Sacramental veils, which represent His death; on the contrary, it is the manner that He Himself has Commanded, of Commemorating and celebrating His death, by offering in Sacrifice, and receiving in the Sacrament, that Body and Blood by which we were Redeemed. Which is given, He does not say, which shall be offered for you, but which is offered; because it was already a true Sacrifice, in which Christ was truly present which He offered in advance to His eternal Father, before that which He was going to offer the next day, in a different manner, on the Cross. This Sacrifice was the consummation of the figurative PASCH, and the promise or pledge of the bloody offering, which Christ would make on the Cross...it was not the mere figure of the Blood of Jesus Christ, which was spilt on the Cross, nor a mere figure of His Body, which was crucified, but the true Body and true Blood. In this same manner it is both the one and the other which are given, and Really present, in the Eucharist.
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To Renew the Memory of what I have this day done, in giving you my Body; and What I shall do tomorrow, in delivering My blood and my life for the whole world, do you here after what you now see me do. Take bread, brake it, and say This is My Body; and it will become so really and truly, as it now is in My hands.-Calmet

Luke 22:29 "And I assign to you, as my Father has assigned to me, a Kingdom"
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"That is, as my Heavenly Father decreed to exalt me, even as man, and with my human nature,
above all creatures; so will I also make you, according to your different merits, partakers of My glory."-Dr. Robert Witham

Luke 22:30 "That you may eat and drink at my table, in my Kingdom: and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
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That you may eat and drink of the spiritual banquet of the joys of Heaven which in the Scriptures are compared to a wedding feast or banquet.
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"Sit upon thrones...Judas is excepted from the dignity of this great promise. For it is probable he had gone out before the Lord spoke these words. They likewise are excepted, who (John 6:66) having heard the words of an incomprehensible mystery, turned back and went away."-St. Bede the Venerable

Luke 22:31 "And the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon, behold Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat' "
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Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat...These words express both what the devil desired and what God permitted.
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"Satan desired leave to tempt them, that he might make them fall from their faith in Christ. Almighty God permitted this temptation, this trial, to convince them how weak they were of themselves; He permitted their frailty to be partly overcome, yet so that rising again by His grace, they should be cleansed and purified as wheat when it is sifted; and that shortly after, being strengthened and confirmed by the coming of the Holy Ghost, they might become new men, enabled to stand firm against all the attacks of their greatest adversaries."-Dr. Robert Witham
Luke 22:32: "But I have prayed for you, that you will not fail. once you have been converted, confirm your brethren."
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The Faith of Peter, established by the coming of the Holy Spirit, has NEVER failed, nor can it fail. being built upon a rock, which is Christ Himself, and being guided by the Spirit of Truth, as Christ Promised. There is every indication that the Vicar of Christ, that is the Pope, is in fact infallible.
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The definition of infallible is unable to commit an error in matters of Faith and Morals. This does not mean a Pope is excluded from making a mistake in other matters. Any Pope can commit a sin and err in personal conduct as well. Do NOT confuse impeccability with infallibility. The definition of impeccability is the absence of or inability to sin. This is NOT the case with Papal infallibility. The Roman Pontiff, the head of the college of Bishops, as supreme Shepherd and teacher of all the Faithful, who confirms his brethren in their Faith, by a definitive act he proclaims a doctrine of Faith or Morals.

Cross Reference John 15:26 and 16:13.
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And you being once converted, confirm your brethren, even all the other Apostles and Bishops, over whom I have made and constituted you and your successors the Chief Head, that such a head being appointed by Divine authority, all occasions of schisms and divisions might cease, says St. Jerome.

"Admire the superabundance of the Divine patience. That the discipline might not lose courage, he promises him pardon before he has committed the crime, and restores him again to his Apostolic dignity, saying, "Confirm your Brethren," - St. Cyril

I think it is clear that Jesus in His statement to St. Peter describes infallibility, given to the First Pope and his successors through Divine rite. St. Jerome and St. Cyril, Doctors of the Church it seems, also agree.

Luke 22:36 "But they said , 'Nothing.' Then said he to them, 'But now that he has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a scrip, and he that has not, let him sell his coat, and buy a sword.' "
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"He has not...While the Apostles are contending for prerogative, he reminds them that now is the time of danger and slaughter; for I, your Master, (says he) shall be led to a dishonorable death, and reputed among the wicked as all which has been foretold of me shall have their end; that is, be fulfilled. Wishing also to insinuate the violence of the assaults they themselves will have to sustain, he mentions a sword; but does not reveal all, lest they should be too alarmed; nor does he entirely suppress the mention of it, lest sudden attacks might overpower them, had they not been forewarned."-Theophylactus

Luke 22:38 "But they said, 'Lord, behold here are two swords.' And He said to them, 'It is enough.' "

"The two swords, the disciples not understanding the hidden meaning of the words in the preceding verse, and thinking they should have need of swords against the attack of the traitor Judas, say, behold, here are two swords."-St. Cyril
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"But if he had wished them to rely upon human aid, not even a hundred swords would have sufficed; but if the power of man was unnecessary in their regard, even two swords are sufficient, and more than are wanted."-St. John Chrysostom

"Even two swords are sufficient testimony of our Savior's having suffered spontaneously. One to show that the Apostles had courage to contend for their Master, and that their Lord had the power of healing the servant, Malchus, who was maimed; the other, which was not drawn from its seabbard, shows that the Apostles were withheld from doing in his defense as much as they could have done."-St. Bede the Venerable

Luke 22:43 "And there appeared to him an Angel from Heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed the longer."
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"Christ our Redeemer was truly God and truly man. And being made man by a real union of His divine person and nature, to our weak and infirm human nature, He likewise took upon Him our infirmities, sin excepted. We must consider Him as man, when we read of His being tempted in the wilderness, (Matt 4) when He wept at the raising of Lazarus out of the grave, (John 11) as often as we read of His praying; and here, when we read of His praying, and redoubling His prayer in the garden, when we find Him seized with fear, sadness, and grief: for though, as God, He could prevent and hinder these passions and affections natural to man, yet He could also permit them to affect His human nature; as He permitted Himself to be seized with hunger, after fasting forty days; and so He permitted His human nature to be seized with fear and grief in this garden of Gethsemani. As angels came and ministered to Him after His fast in the wilderness, so an Angel came as it were to propose to Him the divine decree, that He was to suffer and die for the redemption of mankind; and as man, He is said to be strengthened and comforted by the Angel; He, who as God, was Lord and maker of the Angels and so needed not to be strengthened by His creatures. Besides what happened to Christ as man, were ordained as instructions for us. We are taught by Angels appearing, that they were not only ready to assist and wait upon Christ, but that, by the order of Divine Providence, they are also ready to assist us in our temptations and afflictions."-Dr. Robert Witham
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In an agony..."This Greek word signifies, a strife, or combat; not that there could be any opposition or contrariety in the interior of Christ, whose human will was always perfectly subject to His divine will, and the sensitive part to reason; yet, inasmuch as He was truly man, His human nature dreaded all those sufferings which at the time were represented to His soul, and which in a few hours He was to undergo."-Dr. Robert Witham

Luke 22:44 "And his sweat became as drops of blood trickling down upon the ground."

Science has proven that this is possible and has sometimes happened, though in much lesser degrees, to people who are under great stress or extraordinary grief. Aristotle was the first to say this was possible.
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This passage of Christ's bloody sweat, and of the apparition of the angel, which of course was included in both Latin and Greek copies, certainly by St. Jerome, seems to have been left out by some ignorant transcribers, who thought it not consistent with the dignity of Christ.

Luke 23:7 "And when he understood that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him away to Herod, who himself was also at Jerusalem in those days."
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Pilate, in this stance on sending Jesus to Herod, not only extricated himself from the importunities of the Jewish priests, (verse 8) but moreover obeyed the Roman law in that particular, which forbade any one to be condemned by a governor to whom he was not subject.
Luke 23:11 "And Herod, with his soldiers, despised him, and mocked him, putting on him a white garment, and sent him back to Pilate."
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"It is evident from the behavior of Herod on this occasion, that he was far from believing him to be that seditious person he was represented; otherwise he would have undoubtedly treated his prisoner with less ridicule, and paid more serious attention to the accusations of his enemies."-Theophylactus
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"The Greek signifies not only a white garment, but a shining splendid robe, perhaps with some resemblance to royal garments, but at the time through scorn and derision."-Dr. Robert Witham

Lent

The word Lent is a Teutonic word that means springtime. We use the word Lent to describe the forty days before Easter. In Latin the word is: Quadragesima.

Some of the Fathers as early as the fifth century supported the view that this forty days' fast was of Apostolic institution. For example, St. Leo (d. 461) exhorts his hearers to abstain that they may “fulfill with their fasts the Apostolic institution of the forty days.”

The best modern scholars are almost unanimous in rejecting this view, for in the existing remains of the first three centuries we find both considerable diversity of practice regarding the fast before Easter and also a gradual process of development in the matter of its duration. The passage of primary importance is one quoted by Eusebius (Church History V.24) from a letter of St. Irenaeus to Pope Victor in connection with the Easter controversy. There Irenaeus says that there is not only a controversy about the time of keeping Easter but also regarding the preliminary fast. "For", he continues, "some think they ought to fast for one day, others for two days, and others even for several, while others reckon forty hours both of day and night to their fast". He also urges that this variety of usage is of ancient date, which implies that there could have been no Apostolic tradition on the subject. Rufinus, who translated Eusebius into Latin towards the close of the fourth century, seems so to have punctuated this passage as to make Irenaeus say that some people fasted for forty days. Formerly some difference of opinion existed as to the proper reading, but modern criticism (e.g., in the edition of Schwartz commissioned by the Berlin Academy) pronounces strongly in favor of the text translated above. We may then fairly conclude that Irenaeus about the year 190 knew nothing of any Easter fast of forty days.

There seems much to suggest that the Church in the Apostolic Age designed to commemorate the Resurrection of Christ, not by an annual, but by a weekly. If this be so, the Sunday liturgy constituted the weekly memorial of the Resurrection, and the Friday fast that of the Death of Christ. Such a theory offers a natural explanation of the wide divergence which we find existing in the latter part of the second century regarding both the proper time for keeping Easter, and also the manner of the paschal fast. Christians were at one regarding the weekly observance of the Sunday and the Friday, which was primitive, but the annual Easter festival was something superimposed by a process of natural development, and it was largely influenced by the conditions locally existing in the different Churches of the East and West. Moreover, with the Easter festival there seems also to have established itself a preliminary fast, not as yet anywhere exceeding a week in duration, but very severe in character, which commemorated the Passion, or more generally, "the days on which the bridegroom was taken away".
Be this as it may, we find in the early years of the fourth century the first mention of the term tessarakoste. It occurs in the fifth canon of the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325), where there is only question of the proper time for celebrating a synod, and it is conceivable that it may refer not to a period but to a definite festival, e.g., the Feast of the Ascension, or the Purification. But we have to remember that the older word, pentekoste (Pentecost) from meaning the fiftieth day, had come to denote the whole of the period (which we should call Paschal Time) between Easter Sunday and Whit-Sunday.

In any case it is certain from the "Festal Letters" of St. Athanasius that in 331 the saint enjoined upon his flock a period of forty days of fasting preliminary to, but not inclusive of, the stricter fast of Holy Week, and secondly that in 339 the same Father, after having traveled to Rome and over the greater part of Europe, wrote in the strongest terms to urge this observance upon the people of Alexandria as one that was universally practiced, "to the end that while all the world is fasting, we who are in Egypt should not become a laughing-stock as the only people who do not fast but take our pleasure in those days". Although Funk formerly maintained that a Lent of forty days was not known in the West before the time of St. Ambrose, this is evidence which cannot be set aside.

In determining this period of forty days the example of Moses, Elias, and Christ must have exercised a predominant influence, but it is also possible that the fact was borne in mind that Christ lay forty hours in the tomb. On the other hand just as Pentecost (the fifty days) was a period during which Christians were joyous and prayed standing, though they were not always engaged in such prayer, so the Quadragesima (the forty days) was originally a period marked by fasting, but not necessarily a period in which the faithful fasted every day. Still, this principle was differently understood in different localities, and great divergences of practice were the result. In Rome, in the fifth century, Lent lasted six weeks, but according to the historian Socrates there were only three weeks of actual fasting, exclusive even then of the Saturday and Sunday and if Duchesne's view may be trusted, these weeks were not continuous, but were the first, the fourth, and sixth of the series, being connected with the ordinations (Christian Worship, 243). Possibly, however, these three weeks had to do with the scrutinies preparatory to Baptism, for by some authorities (e.g., A.J. Maclean in his "Recent Discoveries" the duty of fasting along with the candidate for baptism is put forward as the chief influence at work in the development of the forty days. But throughout the Orient generally, with some few exceptions, the same arrangement prevailed as St. Athanasius's "Festal Letters" show us to have obtained in Alexandria, namely, the six weeks of Lent were only preparatory to a fast of exceptional severity maintained during Holy Week. This is enjoined by the "Apostolic Constitutions" (V.13), and presupposed by St. Chrysostom (Hom. xxx in Gen., I). But the number forty, having once established itself, produced other modifications. It seemed to many necessary that there should not only be fasting during the forty days but forty actual fasting days. Thus we find Ætheria in her "Peregrinatio" speaking of a Lent of eight weeks in all observed at Jerusalem, which, remembering that both the Saturday and Sunday of ordinary weeks were exempt, gives five times eight, i.e., forty days for fasting. On the other hand, in many localities people were content to observe no more than a six weeks' period, sometimes, as at Milan, fasting only five days in the week after the oriental fashion (Ambrose, "De Elia et Jejunio", 10). In the time of Gregory the Great (590-604) there were apparently at Rome six weeks of six days each, making thirty-six fast days in all, which St. Gregory, who is followed therein by many medieval writers, describes as the spiritual tithing of the year, thirty-six days being approximately the tenth part of three hundred and sixty-five. At a later date the wish to realize the exact number of forty days led to the practice of beginning Lent upon our present Ash Wednesday, but the Church of Milan, even to this day, adheres to the more primitive arrangement, which still betrays itself in the Roman Missal when the priest in the Secret of the Mass on the first Sunday of Lent speaks of “the sacrifice of the opening of Lent.”

The ordinary rule on fasting days was to take but one meal a day and that only in the evening, while meat and, in the early centuries, wines were entirely forbidden. During Holy Week, or at least on Good Friday, it was common to enjoin the xerophagiæ, i.e., a diet of dry food, bread, salt, and vegetables.

When I was a young boy growing up all Catholics abstained from eating meat on all Fridays of the year. This was the fast before the celebration of Sunday Mass. Today, we are permitted to eat meat on Fridays during the year if we do something spiritual; for example, we can go to adoration, say a rosary, attend daily Mass, visit and pray at a cemetery, or any of the other Spiritual Works of Mercy.

Lent is a paradox. It is both bitter and sweet. It is bitter for the self-sacrifices we make. We give different things for the love of God. We abstain from eating meat on Fridays and fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It is bitter because we call to mind all our trivial faults, our missed opportunities, our slight stupidities we often times take lightly.

At the same time, Lent is sweet. We prepare ourselves for the renewal of our Baptismal promises. We take comfort that in working on our faults we become more like Christ. We experience joy and relief by overcoming temptations or in having our sins absolved through the Sacrament of Penance. We have joy in our hearts as we commemorate the Resurrection of the Lord; knowing full well that one day we too will rise and take our seat in Heaven.