BELLUM CONTRA HÆRÉTICOS

As soon as Serenus heard about it, having had himself called Peter and Marcellinus, he resumed them harshly, adding threats and terrors to the harshness of the words, if they had not renounced Christ. Having answered him with Christian freedom, the judge ordered Marcellinus to beat him up with fists, to separate him from Peter, and to lock him up naked in a prison filled with pieces of glass, without food and without light. Likewise he ordered to tie Peter very tightly. But these torments only added to both faith and courage, and having persevered in confession, they cut off their heads, thus bearing splendid witness to Jesus Christ. Thus they carried out their martyrdom in Rome on the 2nd of June 304 at the XII mile of the Via Aurelia, in the place called Selva Nera, which was later renamed Selva Candida in honour of the Saints. Saint Lucilla, a Roman matron, buried them in the catacombs Ad Duas Luaros (today Torpignattara), on the Via Labicana, near San Tiburzio, and their tomb was later adorned with verses from Pope St. Damaus. Their executioner, Dorotheus, was converted in old age and received baptism from Pope St. Julius I.

SAINTS MARCELLINUS, PETER AND ERASMUS BISHOP, MARTYRS The Roman Church celebrates today three Champions of Christ who obtained the palm of victory in the last great persecution before the triumph and freedom of the Church: Marcellinus, Peter and Erasmus. The exorcist Peter, put in prison under the emperor Diocletian, by the judge Serenus in Rome for having confessed the Christian faith, delivered from the devil, who tormented her, Paulina, daughter of Artemis, director of the prison. For this reason having converted to Jesus Christ the parents of the girl with all their family, and the neighbours who had come to the news of the matter, he led them to the priest Marcellin, who baptized them all.

From Challoner's Meditations: WHITSUN-FRIDAY ON THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION Consider first, that confirmation is a sacrament by which the faithful, if duly disposed, receive the Holy Ghost together with all his gifts and graces, in order to make them strong and perfect Christians. The apostles were confirmed in a wonderful manner by the Holy Ghost’s coming down visible upon them on Whitsunday; but the rest of the faithful were to be confirmed by their ministry, and by that of their successors, the bishops of God’s church; 'receiving the Holy Ghost by the imposition of their hands and prayer,’ Acts viii. 16, 17, 18, and chap. xix. 6. Give thanks to our Lord for this sacred institution, by means of which he perpetuates in his church the mission of his Holy Spirit, and the communication of his graces. What a dignity, what a happiness to receive the Holy Ghost, the Lord of heaven and earth, and the inexhaustible source of all grace! Wheresoever he comes he brings with him all his treasures, and he is infinitely liberal in imparting them. How much then are they their own enemies, who either neglect this great means of receiving the Holy Ghost or else come to it without due dispositions, and so lose the benefit of it; and even pervert it to their own damnation. Consider 2ndly, that the proper and peculiar grace of the sacrament of confirmation is a heavenly fortitude; that is to say, a spiritual strength, valour, and courage, in order to maintain the cause of God in our souls against the visible and invisible enemies of our faith. By this sacrament we are made soldiers of Christ; here we give in our names to be listed in the service of this great king; we put ourselves under his banner, we receive the sacred mark of his cross on our foreheads - his cross, which is the royal standard of all his troops: here we engage ourselves to fight his battles against the world, the flesh, and the devil; and we are equipped with proper arms for this warfare. O how glorious is this title of a soldier of Christ! How happy this service! What have we to apprehend, following Christ for our captain, and having his holy spirit with us to guide, strengthen, encourage, and defend us? But O, the noble pay which this great king gives to his soldiers! For he gives them nothing less than himself; and that for eternity. 'Be thou faithful until death,’ saith he, 'and I will give thee the crown of life.’ Apoc. ii. 10. Consider 3rdly, that in the sacrament of confirmation the soul is in a particular manner dedicated and consecrated to God by the unction of his Holy Spirit, at the same time as the forehead is anointed with the holy chrism. This chrism is a compound of oil and balm, or balsam, solemnly consecrated by the bishops of God’s church on Maundy Thursday, kept in the church with the utmost reverence, and only used in the consecration of such things as are most solemnly dedicated to God or more nearly deputed to his divine service. So that the using of this holy oil in confirmation is to give us to understand that by this sacrament we also are solemnly dedicated, sanctified, and consecrated to God to be the temples of his Spirit; inasmuch as this visible unction and consecrations of the body is the outward sign of the invisible unction and consecration of the soul by the Spirit of God, as all the sacraments are outward signs of inward grace. Christians, what are your thoughts of this consecration which your souls have received? Have you hitherto considered yourselves as a people particularly dedicated to God and sanctified by the unction of his Spirit? Have you reflected that you have been sanctified with the like consecration to that which the altars and temples of God are solemnly dedicated to his service? Remember this at least for the future, and let your lives show forth that you are indeed the living temples of the living God.

Father Caleb Armour will be offering his first public Mass in England on Saturday June 3rd in Scarcroft Village Hall, Leeds LS14 3AS. Confessions will begin at 9:30am and Mass will follow at 10:00am For the UK people here if you didn't get the news yet.

Consider 3rdly, that where the Holy Ghost comes he 'convinces the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment,' John xvi. 8. He convinces the soul of sin, inasmuch as he gives to the soul which he enlightens with his presence, a sense of the enormity of sin, and of the multitude and greatness of her own sins in particular, a horror for that hellish monster, and a desire of abolishing it by penance. He discovers also many stains where the soul before perceived none, and humbles her exceedingly by the conviction of her manifold guilt. My soul, dost thou experience in thyself this conviction of sin? The Holy Ghost by his coming convinces also the soul of the justice of Christ and of his heavenly law, of the beauty of virtue and holiness, and of the pleasure and happiness that is found in serving God in earnest. Art thou, my soul, practically convinced of all this? Dost thou practically prefer this manna of heaven before the flesh-pots of Egypt? Again, the Holy Ghost, by his coming, convinces the soul of the wrong judgment she has hitherto made, in following the world and the prince of this world, who is already judged and condemned, and of the right judgment she ought to make of all things, in order to escape that judgment which God will otherwise one day make of her. Dost thou, my soul, find in thee this conviction of judgment? Is thy judgment rectified by the Holy Ghost in regard to truth and falsehood, verity and vanity, time and eternity? Dost thou not still follow, by a perverse judgment, the prince of this world, rather than Jesus Christ; the maxims of worldlings, who are liars in their balances, rather than the practice of the saints, who weigh all things in the scales of the sanctuary? Will thy way of judging be able to stand the test of the last great trial. Conclude to examine well by such marks as these whether the Spirit of God be with thee or not. If thou seem to find in thyself these marks of his presence, return him humble thanks; but be not too secure, lest the artifices of thy self-love should deceive thee, or thy pride should drive him away from thee. But if thou discoverest not in thyself these marks of his being with thee, bewail thy misery, and give thyself no rest till by penitential tears and fervent prayer, and all the other means by which the Holy Ghost is to be invited into the soul, thou hast grounds to hope that he has returned to thee.

From Challoner's Meditations: WHITSUN-THURSDAY ON THE MARKS OF THE HOLY GHOST’S ABIDING IN THE SOUL Consider first, that the surest way to make a judgment whether the Holy Ghost abides in the soul or not, is by his fruits. The Spirit of God never lies idle: he is a fire that is always active, always in motion, always tending upwards. If we find nothing of this in our soul we have reason to fear he is not there. His fruits are charity, joy, peace, patience, &c. If we have none of these fruits, he is not with us. My son, what is thy faith? Is it firm? Is it lively? Or is it not rather dull and dead? Does it show itself in the practice of thy life? Dost thou live by faith? What is thy hope? What is thy sense of the things of eternity? What is thy esteem of spiritual things? What is thy devotion? What is thy love for God and thy neighbour? What is thy desire of making a daily progress in the way of God? By examining thyself upon these heads, it will be easy to judge whether the Holy Ghost be with thee or nor. But especially there is no surer mark of this divine spirit abiding in the soul, than a constant and fervent desire of loving God daily more and more, and of ever knowing and doing his holy will in all things. Dost thou find in thyself this earnest desire of loving and pleasing God? If so, the Spirit of God cannot be far from thee. Consider 2ndly, that as there is an infinite opposition between the spirit of God and wilful sin, so one of the surest marks of the Holy Ghost’s residing in the soul, is a settled constant abhorrence of wilful sin, with a fixed determination of the soul never to admit for the future any such sin, upon any consideration whatsoever. My soul, what is thy disposition in this regard? Art thou fully determined to be ever faithful and loyal to thy God, both in life and death? Dost thou resolutely renounce Satan and all his works, both for the present time and for ever? Is it thy constant and settled resolution never to transgress the holy law and commandments of God for any worldly honour, interest, or pleasure, for any respect of person, for any fear or love, for anything that the world can give or take away, or for any other consideration? If this be thy sincere disposition and determination, the Holy Ghost is with thee; but if thou art not thus determined, there is no room for him in thy soul, because Satan is there.

From Challoner's Meditations: WHITSUN-WEDNESDAY ON THE MEANS OF KEEPING THE HOLY GHOST IN THE SOUL Consider first, that the soul which has been favoured with a visit from the Holy Ghost, if she desires a continuance of that happiness, must take care to entertain him in a proper manner. For if she takes little or no notice of this heavenly guest if she quickly turns her back upon him, to attend to every idle and impertinent amusement that offers itself; if she does not frequently go in to wait upon him, in her inward house; if she loves not to converse with him there, she will quickly lose him, she will drive him away from her. He delights to be with them that delight to be with him. He expects a correspondence and return of love, and therefore withdraws himself from such souls as take no care to entertain him by recollection and love, but choose to give themselves up to dissipation of thought, and to squander away that precious time, which they should spend in his company, in following empty phantoms and roving imaginations. O my soul, is not this too often thy case? Amongst the many thoughts which successively occupy thy mind all the day long, how few are there that are anything to the purpose; how few that are fit to appear in presence of the Holy Ghost? How then canst thou expect he will stay with thee, if thou introducest such company as this into his lodging? Consider 2ndly, that as the Spirit of God will not dwell in a soul that does not attend on him by recollection of thought, so neither will he dwell in a soul that does not serve him with purity of heart and affection. He will be sole master of the heart in which he resides; he will allow of no partner there. He is a jealous lover that will bear no rival. A heart divided in its affections between the Creator and the creature, excludes the Holy Ghost: he will suffer no division; he claims the whole heart; he will have all or none. Christians, if then you pretend to the happiness of being temples of the Holy Ghost, you must not admit of any idols in your souls. Now all disorderly affections are idols, inasmuch as by them you prefer the creature before the Creator; and all such affections are disorderly as captivate your hearts and take them off from God. Let the object of your love be ever so innocent in itself; it is no longer innocent when it is loved without a due subordination to the love of God. It becomes then impure; it defiles the heart, it chases away the Spirit of God, who will not dwell but in a clean heart. Consider, 3rdly, that in order to keep the Holy Ghost in the soul, so that he may choose to dwell there as in his temple, we trust not only keep this temple clean and undefiled, ‘for if any man violate the temple of God, him will God destroy,' 1 Cor. iii. 17, but we must also take care that it be made a house of prayer, as the house of God should be. We must frequently go into this temple, there to worship this Spirit of truth, in spirit and truth. We must apply and employ all the three powers of the soul, the will, the memory, and the understanding, in frequently attending there upon their God in the way of mental prayer. In a word, the worship of God should be ever going forward in this temple of his. This is the true way to engage him to stay with us, and to make our souls the place of his rest for ever and ever. Conclude to make use of all these means to entertain this sovereign guest, and to fix him in your souls. Give him full possession of your memory and understanding, by recollection of thought and attention to his presence, and make him the absolute master of our will by simplicity of intention and purity of heart and affection, and he will be yours for ever.

Sancta Ioanna Arcensis, ora pro nobis!

Sancte Ferdinande III, Rex et Confessor, ora pro nobis!

SAINT FERDINAND, KING AND CONFESSOR Ferdinand III, born in Zamora on the 5th of August 1201, was king of Castile and Leon from 1217 to his death. He was a zealous propagator of the Faith, patron of the arts and sciences and valiant fighter for the Kingdom of Christ against the Moors who then occupied various regions of Spain. Among the high enterprises, worthy of memory is the liberation of Seville (December 22, 1248) which paved the way for the complete redemption of Andalusia, with the exception of the Sultanate of Granada. He died in Seville on May 30, 1252, after having received the extreme Sacraments most devotedly on his knees. His body was interred in the cathedral of Santa Maria della Sede where it is still preserved and venerated today. Glorious by miracles, Alexander VII enrolled him among the Blessed on May 31, 1655 and Clement X among the Saints on February 4, 1671.