Thought for the Day – 10 December – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
Meditations for Advent From “The Devout Year” By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
The Forerunner of the King
+1. St John Baptist was the chosen messenger to proclaim the coming of the King of kings. No other Herald had so important an office. He had to prepare the hearts of men for the Coming of the Messias. It was this which constituted him, “the greatest of those born of women.” If to proclaim the Coming of Christ in the flesh was so solemn and responsible an office, what then must be the dignity and responsibility of the Priests of God, who are sent to announce His Second Coming in glory?
+2. How did St John prepare for his work? By a life of seclusion and penance. From childhood, he lived alone in the desert, his bed the hard ground, his meat locusts and wild honey, his dress a camel’s skin. Our Lord contrasts him with those who wear soft raiment. No-one who lives a life of luxury, will ever be an efficient messenger of God. A Priest, above all, must avoid a life of ease and self-indulgence, if he wishes to win souls for Christ.
+3. The secret of St John’s success was thus, the result of practising what he preached. He practiced much more than he preached, for he enjoined upon his hearers, the simple performance of ordinary duties, while he himself, led a life of continual penance and self-denial. If our words are to carry any weight, we must not preach without practising. The parent or superior, who has the training of the young, will never train them to virtue, unless he himself is a man of virtue. No-one can reach the hearts of others, unless he firstly fulfils the lessons he teaches. Do I do this?
Quote/s of the Day – 10 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Within the Octave – Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 11:2-10 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“For this is He of Whom it is written: Behold. I send My Angel before My face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.”
Matthew 11:10
“It is time now for us to rise from sleep!”
St Benedict (c 480-547)
“Penance is a needful thing to the sinner, who desires to recover health of his soul. And, in doing penance, there be three things to be considered: serious compunction of heart, confession of mouth and satisfaction by deed.”
St John Fisher (1469-1535) Martyr
“Lord, forgive this great sinner. Give me time to do penance. No more world, no more sins!”
St Camillus de Lellis MI (1550-1614)
“Our business is, to gain heaven; everything else, is a sheer waste of time.”
One Minute Reflection – 10 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Within the Octave – Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 11:2-10 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“For this is He of Whom it is written: Behold. I send My Angel before My face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.” – Matthew 11:10
REFLECTION – “It is obvious to any reader that John did not just preach but that he administered a baptism of repentance. However, he could not give a baptism which remits sins, since the remission of sins is only granted to us, with the Baptism of Christ. That is why the Evangelist says, that he was “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” (Lk 3:3) being unable himself to give the baptism which forgives sins, he announced that, which was to come. Just as the word of his preaching was the forerunner, of the Word of the Father made Flesh, so, his baptism … preceded that of the Saviour, as shadow to the Truth (cf. Col 2:17).
This same John, when questioned as to who he was, replied: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,” (Jn 1:23; Is 40:3) . The Prophet Isaiah called him “voice” because, he came before the Word. As for what he cried out, that which follows teaches us: “Prepare the ways of the Lord, make straight his paths.” Whoever preaches true faith and good works, what else is he doing, than preparing the way for the Lord, Who comes in the hearts of his hearers? Thus, all-powerful grace will be able to penetrate those hearts and the Light of Truth enlighten them …
Saint Luke adds: “Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill, shall be made low.” What is meant here by valleys, if not the humble, or by the mountains and hills if not the proud? At the coming of the Redeemer … according to His own words: “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled but the one who humbles himself, will be exalted,” (Lk 14:11) … By their faith in “the mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, Himself, human” (1 Tim 2:5), those who believe in Him, have received the fullness of grace, whereas those who refuse to believe, have been humbled in their pride. Every valley has been filled in, since humble hearts, by receiving the words of holy doctrine, will be filled by the grace of the virtues, as it is written: “He made springs gush forth in the watercourses that wind among the valleys,” (cf. Ps 104:10).” – St Gregory the Great (540-604) Pope, Father and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Homilies no. 20).
PRAYER – O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, prepared a worthy dwelling for Thy Son,and Who, by Thy Son’s death, foreseen by Thee, preserved her from all taint, grant, we beseech Thee, through her intercession, that we too may come to Thee unstained by sin.Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Thou art inviolate, undefiled and chaste, O Mary. Thou has become the resplendent Gate of Heaven, O loving and dearest Mother of Christ, Accept our devout acclamations in praise of thee. That our minds and bodies may be pure, Devoted hearts and lips now implore thee. Through thy sweet sounding prayers, Gain us pardon forever. O kind one, who alone didst remain inviolate. Amen
The Hymn Inviolata has been claimed by the Carmelite Order, as a Traditional Hymn originating within their ranks. The Hymn is also used by Dominican Friars in the chanting of Compline. Its origins trace to the 11th Century. It appears in Hymnals from 1860 to 1920.
Saint of the Day – 10 December – Saint Melchiades (Died 314) Bishop of Rome from 2 July 311- 19 or 11 January 314). Born in Africa and died in Rome in 314. Also known as – Melchiade, Melquíades, Milziade, Miltiades.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Rome, Pope St Melchiades, who, having suffered much in the persecution of Maxentius, rested in the Lord when peace was given to the Church.”
Pope Melchiades is the Holy Vicar of Christ, under whom the Cross, until then a sign of infamy, became a symbol of glory and a harbinger of victory, on the Imperial Banners of Constantine.
It is not, as one might think, Pope Saint Sylvester, under whose long Pontificate what is called “the Triumph of Christianity” was crowned and the Emperor Constantine, close to death, received Baptism. The extraordinary passage from the age of persecution to that of protection, from the atmosphere of suspicion, to that of respect towards Christians, occurred under the Pope celebrated today, Saint Melchiades.
PVD1698815 Miltiades or Melchiades, pope in 311-314 (print); (add.info.: Miltiades or Melchiades, pope in 311-314, after a medalion of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (-Rome)); PVDE.
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Almost nothing is known about his life, before his pontificate. He was of African origin and must have been in Rome at the end of the bloody persecution of Diocletian. He then witnessed the ambiguous conduct towards the Christians of the Emperor Maxentius, who, in order to quell the discord of the Roman Church, exiled both Pope Eusebius and an antipope, Heraclius, a representative of a group of poorly repentant apostates.
Eusebius died shortly after, in 310. The new Pope, who was Melchiades, was elected only a year later. In that year, in fact, an important event had occurred. Galerius had issued an Edict of religious tolerance, which was then signed by the ‘Augustes’ Licinius and Constantine. Maxentius had not signed that Edict but he still followed the policy of benevolence, towards the Christians. He did not want to jeopardise the favour of his subjects, in the imminence of the political dispute.
The newly elected Melchiades took advantage of this changed policy to energetically reorganise the Church. Firstly, he regained the property of the Christians of Rome confiscated during the persecutions. Then, he sent his Deacons to regain possession of the places of worship, which are, the ancient titular Churches.
After the battle of Ponte Milvio, having defeated Maxentius, Constantine entered Rome raising the Sign of the Cross. The Pope then exploited the situation effectively, the excellent dispositions of the victorious Emperor, in favor of the faithful. In fact, Constantine did not limit himself to returning the property of the Church; he established that the treasury should contribute to the needs of worship. He was not content to reintegrate the Christians in the modest homes where the sacred meetings took place; he wanted new and grandiose Basilicas to be built. The first to be begun was the one called the Lateran, the Basilkica of the Savioiur which has remained the Cathedral of Rome and in the Lateran, in a palace owned by the Imperial Treasury, Constantine hosted the Holy Bishop of Rome.
The Pontificate of Saint Melchiades was brief. In 314, the works he fervently began were continued by Saint Sylvester. But three years of government of the Church were enough to earn him the praise of Saint Augustine: “A true son of peace and true father for Christians.”
Strangely enough, however, this “son of peace”, the first Pope of the Constantinian age of the “triumph of Christianity”received the honourary title of Martyr, perhaps for having been buried in the Catacombs.
St Pope Melchiades (Died 314) Bishop of Rome from 2 July 311- 19 or 11 January 314)
St Abundius St Albert of Sassovivo St Angelina of Serbia Blessed Brian Lacey (Died 1591) Lay Martyr BL Bruno of Rommersdorf St Caesarius of Epidamnus St Carpophorus St Deusdedit of Brescia (Died c700) Bishop
St Edmund Gennings St Emérico Martín Rubio St Florentius of Carracedo St Fulgentius of Afflighem St Gemellus of Ancyra St Gonzalo Viñes Masip Bl Guglielmo de Carraria St Guitmarus St Hildemar of Beauvais Bl Jerome Ranuzzi Bl John Mason
St Julia of Merida St Lucerius St Maurus of Rome St Mercury of Lentini St Polydore Plasden Bl Sebastian Montanol Bl Sidney Hodgson St Sindulf of Vienne St Swithun Wells
Martyrs of Alexandria – 3 Saints: A group of Christians murdered for their faith in the persecutions of Galerius Maximian – c 312. The only details that have survived are three of the names – Eugraphus, Hermogenes and Mennas.
AnaStpaul 
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