BELLUM CONTRA HÆRÉTICOS

Sancte Beda Venerabilis, Confessor et Ecclesiæ Doctor, ora pro nobis!

Please pray for two of the admins of this channel who will be Confirmed tomorrow.

There was no kind of doctrine which he did not possess very well; but his chief concern was meditation on the divine Scriptures, and to understand them better, he learned the Greek and Hebrew languages. He became a deacon at nineteen; at the age of thirty he was ordained a priest by order of his abbot, and immediately, at the request of Archbishop of Exham, he began to explain the sacred text. And in this he followed the doctrine of the holy Fathers so much that he did not affirm anything that was not corroborated by their testimony, often still using almost their expressions. Enemy of idleness, he always passed from the lesson to prayer and from this he returned to the lesson: and he became so inflamed by the subject he was dealing with, that tears often accompanied his explanations. And so that he would not be distracted by the care of temporal things, he never wanted to accept the position of abbot offered him several times. The fame of Bede's science and holiness made his name so famous that Pope St. Sergius thought of calling him in Rome, so that he could work on the solution of very difficult questions that sacred science had to study at the time. He wrote several books for the reform of customs in the faithful, and in defense and explanation of the faith, with which he acquired such a reputation among all, that St. Boniface bishop and martyr proclaimed him Luminary of the Church; Lanfranc, said Doctor of the English; the council of Aachen, admirable Doctor. Indeed, still alive, his writings were publicly read in churches. Therefore, since it was not permissible to call him a saint, they gave him the title of Venerable; which then remained as his own even in later times. His doctrine had such strength and efficacy, because it found confirmation in the sanctity of his life and in the nature of religious virtue. Therefore all the disciples he had, and they were many and illustrious, thanks to his lessons and examples, distinguished themselves not only in letters and sciences, but also in holiness. Finally, worn-out by age and fatigue, he fell seriously ill. And though the evil lasted more than fifty days, he nevertheless interrupted neither his prayers nor the ordinary explanations of the Scriptures; and it was during this time in fact that he translated the Gospel of St. John into English for the use of his countrymen. On the morning of the Ascension, when death was near, he wanted the comfort of the last Sacraments of the Church; then, embracing the brothers, stretched out on the cilice on the ground, and repeated those words twice: "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit", he fell asleep in the Lord. It was the 25th of May 735. His dying body, it is said, had a very sweet smell, was buried in the monastery of Jarrow, and then transferred by King Edward the Confessor to Durham Cathedral with the relics of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne. Already venerated as a Doctor by the Benedictines and other religious families and dioceses, the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIII, by decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites of the 13th of November 1899, declared him a Saint and Doctor of the universal Church, ordering that the day of his feast be said from all the Holy Mass and the Office of the Doctors.

SAINT BEDE THE VENERABLE, CONFESSOR AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH Bede, a priest, born in 673 at Monkton in Jarrow in Northumberland, on the borders of England with Scotland, at the age of seven he was given to be educated to St. Benedict Biscop, abbot of the Benedictine Monastery of Wearmouth (today Sunderland). After becoming a monk, he regulated life in this way, which, while giving himself entirely to the study of the arts and sciences, never neglected the regular discipline.

At the National Catholic Reporter website

Sancte Gregori VII, Papa et Confessor, ora pro nobis!

A young man, deeply saddened to see the freedom of the Church oppressed by the laity and the corrupt customs of the clergy, wore the Benedictine monastic habit in the abbey of Cluny, where the observance and austerity of life under the rule of St. Benedict was then at its peak vigor, and gave himself to the service of divine majesty with such ardent piety that he was elected Prior by the holy fathers of that monastery. But by assigning him divine providence to greater things, Hildebrand was drawn for the salvation of many from Cluny; and first elected abbot of the monastery of St. Paul of Rome outside the walls, and then created cardinal of the Roman Church on the 6th of March 1059 by Pope Nicholas II, he supported very important missions under the Supreme Pontiffs Leo IX, Victor II, Stephen IX, Nicholas II and Alexander II; St. Peter Damian called the man of the most holy and most pure council. As Pope Victor II sent his legate in France, he miraculously forced the bishop of Lyon, guilty of simony, to confess his crime. In the Council of Tours he forced Berengar to abjure the heresy a second time. With his energy he stifled the schism of Cadalus. After Alexander II died, he was elected Supreme Pontiff with unanimous consent, despite his resistance and his tears, on April 22 in the year of Christ 1073; on the 22nd of May the newly elected pope received his priestly ordination, and on the 30th of June the episcopal consecration. He shone like sun in the house of God. In fact, powerful in deeds and words, he worked so zealously to restore ecclesiastical discipline, to propagate the faith, to restore freedom to the Church, to eradicate errors and corruption, that from in the time of the Apostles there seems to have been no Pontiff who has sustained more fatigue and harassment for the Church of God, or who fought more strongly for its freedom. He freed several provinces from the plague of simony. Against the impious efforts of the emperor Henry IV he showed himself in all respects a strong and intrepid athlete, and he was not afraid to rise like a wall in defense of the house of Israel; and this same Henry IV having fallen into the most serious crimes, he excommunicated him, deprived him of the kingdom and released his peoples from the oath of fidelity. While he was celebrating the sacrifice of the Mass, pious people saw a dove descending from heaven, alighting on his right shoulder and covering his head with its wings; which means that he allowed himself to be guided in the government of the Church by the Holy Spirit, not by human reasons. Besieged in Rome by the army of the iniquitous Henry IV, he extinguished a fire caused by his enemies with a sign of the cross. Finally freed from his hands by Robert Guiscard, head of the Normans, he went to Cassino in June 1083; and then from there he went to Salerno to consecrate the church of St. Matthew the Apostle. One day, while he was speaking to the people of that city, exhausted by so many trials, he fell ill, predicting his death. The dying Gregory's last words were: “I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.” (Psalm 44:8). It is not possible to repeat the sufferings courageously sustained, or the wise decrees made in many councils held in Rome: a truly holy man, victor of crimes, and the most valiant defender of the Church. He had completed twelve years of pontificate, when he went to heaven, to Salerno on the 25th of May in the year of health 1085, famous for many miracles in life and after death; his sacred body was buried with honor in the cathedral basilica of Salerno. He was canonized in 1606 by Pope Paul V. In 1954, at the behest of Pope Pius XII, his body was first transported to Rome for a few days to be exposed to the public, and then it was rearranged in the Salerno Cathedral in a silver case, where it still stands today.

SAINT GREGORY VII, POPE AND CONFESSOR Pope Gregory VII, born Ildebrando Aldobrandeschi, born in Soana near Grosseto in Tuscany, in 1020, great above all for doctrine, holiness and every other kind of virtue, admirably illustrated the whole Church of God. While playing near the feet of a carpenter who planed wood, it is said that by chance he formed those prophetic words of David with shavings: “he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” (Psalm 71:8); supporting the Lord by the hand of the child, signifying the highest authority in the world that he would one day possess. On his way to Rome, he was educated there under the protection of St. Peter in the convent of Santa Maria sull'Aventino.

TO OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS Prayer by Saint John Bosco O Mary, powerful Virgin, Great illustrious protector of the Church; Wonderful help of Christians; Terrible as an army arrayed in battle; You alone have destroyed all heresy in the whole world; You, in our distress, struggles, and difficulties, defend us from the enemy and at the hour of death welcome our soul to Heaven! Amen. Indulgence of 3 years, plenary under the usual conditions

BLESSED VIRGIN MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS From the very beginning, the Church and the individual faithful have invoked the very powerful help of the Virgin Mary against Satan and his followers in need. And she, a really strong woman, a new Judith, went down into the battle arena, defeating all heresies and enemies of the Christian name: "Gaude, Maria Virgo, cunctas haereses sola interemisti in universo mundo"! Just as in Spain she patronized the birth of the Reconquest war by assisting the Christians in the victory of Covadonga (722), so in 1570 she assisted the Crusaders of Lepanto. It was then that Saint Pius V introduced the invocation "Auxilium Christianorum, ora pro nobis" into the Lauretan Litanies. The feast of Mary "Help of Christians" was established by Pius VII in 1815 and set for May 24 in thanks for his return to Rome after the Napoleonic imprisonment on May 24, 1814. Great devotee of Mary Help of Christians was St. John Bosco, who raised her the great basilica in Turin.

PRAYER TO MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS Most holy and immaculate Virgin Mary, our most tender Mother, and powerful Help of Christians, we dedicate ourselves entirely to thy most sweet love and holy service. We consecrate our minds with all their thoughts, our hearts with all their affections, our bodies with all their senses and powers, and we promise to desire always to work for the greater glory of God and for the salvation of souls. Meanwhile do thou, O incomparable Virgin, who hast always been the Help of the Christian people, continue to show thyself such, especially in these days. Humble the enemies of our holy religion, and frustrate their evil purposes. Enlighten and strengthen bishops and priests, and keep them ever united in obedience to the true Pope, their infallible master. Preserve incautious youth from irreligion and vice. Promote holy vocations and increase the number of thy sacred ministers, that by means of them the Kingdom of Jesus Christ may be preserved among us, and extended to the farthest boundaries of the earth. We pray thee also, most sweet Mother, to look at all times with compassion upon the young and thoughtless, exposed to so many dangers, and upon poor sinners and the dying; be for all a sweet hope, O Mary, Mother of Mercy and Gate of Heaven. Also we pray thee for ourselves, O great Mother of God. Teach us to copy thy virtues and especially angelic modesty, profound humility, and ardent charity; so that by word and example we may, as far as is possible in our state of life, present in the midst of the world a living image of blessed Jesus thy Son, and may cause thee to be known and loved, and so may succeed in saving many souls. Obtain for us, O Mary our Helper, that we may be all gathered under thy maternal mantle, that in temptation we may invoke thee promptly and confidently; in short, that the thought of thee, so good, so loving, and so dear, and the remembrance of the love which thou bearest to thy clients may be such a support to us, as to render us victorious over the enemies of our souls in life and in death, so that we may become thy crown in beautiful Paradise. Amen. Indulgence of 300 days, every time.--Leo XIII, March 10, 1900