March 30--St. John Climacus, Abbot

 

Novogrod school - scan from "Muzeum Rosyjskie w Leningradzie", Arkady, Warszawa 1986, ISBN 83-213-3348-6

Today's saint is so named because of his book, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, which in Greek is
Climacus. Using the symbol of Jacob's ladder, he writes of how to grow in holiness by asceticism, or physical self-denial. He has thirty rungs, or steps, in his ladder on helping monks grow in holiness with such titles as "On that clamorous mistress, the stomach," and "On detachment," and "On holy and blessed prayer, the mother of virtues, and on the attitude of mind and body in prayer." It became popular and is read by Eastern Catholics, especially during Great Lent.

St. John Climacus was born in the 6th century and died in March of 649 at Mt. Sinai. He was from Palestine and became a monk, living a life of solitude and prayer. At age seventy he was elected abbot of the monastery at Mt. Sinai and died about four years later. According to him, the goal of life as a monk was to reach a state of "passive disinterestedness in earthly life so as to anticipate the wonders of heaven."

He writes in "On Detachment": "The man who really loves the Lord, who has made a real effort to find the coming Kingdom, who has really begun to be troubled by his sins, who is really mindful of eternal torment and judgment, who really lives in fear of his own departure, will not love, care or worry about money, or possessions, or parents, or worldly glory, or friends, or brothers, or anything at all on earth. But having shaken off all ties with earthly things ... he will follow Christ without anxiety or hesitation, always looking heavenward and expecting help from there...." With St. John's prayers and God's grace we can also ascend to God as we prepare for Easter!

March 20--St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Bishop, Missionary, and Monk

Cuthbert discovers piece of timber - Life of St. Cuthbert (late 12th C), f.45v - BL Yates Thompson MS 26.jpg licensed under CC0 1.0.

The title for today's saint says it all: Bishop, Missionary, and Monk. St. Cuthbert was an Anglo-Saxon in the 7th century, shortly after the re-Christianization of Britain by St. Augustine of Canterbury. He lived in Northumbria, which was a kingdom in the north of England before England became a state. He became a monk, but also roamed the countryside and spent time among the people, ministering to them, preaching, working miracles, and carrying out missionary journeys. He was noted for his holiness, care, asceticism, and generosity to the poor. He was also famous for his gift of healing, so much so, he was named "Wonder Worker of Britain". He eventually retired to be a hermit, but was elected bishop, although he died in 687, two years after his election.

As a bishop, missionary priest, and monk, St. Cuthbert lived the major vocations of the Church at his time. He brought people to God, prayed for them, and guided them as their shepherd. Bishops have great responsibility to their flocks because they need to be faithful and true teachers of the faith of the Church; they need to be priests and dispensers of the sacraments, which give us opportunities to grow in holiness; and they need to be servants to the position they hold, properly overseeing the goods of the community entrusted to them. Missionaries have the great task of bringing God to new people, who don't know Jesus or his community of love. They face the difficulties of calling people to repentance and conversion. Monks have the joy of leading lives of prayerful contemplation of God, offering their prayers for the sake of the salvation of souls and reparation for sins. Let us join St. Cuthbert in bringing our brothers and sisters back to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

March 10--St. John Ogilvie, Martyr, Priest, and Religious

St. John Ogilvie by Lawrence OP licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Is a person a martyr if charged with treason? Jesus was crucified on a political charge, as was today's saint. St. John Ogilvie was the eldest son of a Calvinist Scottish landowner. He was born in 1580 and educated as a Calvinist. He was then sent to the continent and educated by various Catholic groups including the Benedictines and Jesuits. He became Catholic in 1597, a Jesuit two years later, and a priest in 1610. He requested to be sent to Scotland as a missionary, which was illegal. He received permission and went there in 1613. He preached and celebrated Mass in private homes, but in 1614 was betrayed, arrested, and tried. He was tried for refusing to pledge allegiance to King James. After his conviction he was hanged and drawn. He was canonized in 1976.

So, back to the first question. The answer is yes. A person is declared a martyr in the Church if killed due to odium fidei, or hatred of the faith. St. John Ogilvie was killed because it was illegal to practice Catholicism in Scotland. Jesus was arrested and brought before Pilate, the Roman governor, under the charge of treason: "Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him, 'Are you the king of the Jews?' Jesus said, 'You say so.'" (Mt. 27:11) In both cases, a political charge was used to complete a religious act, martyrdom and crucifixion.

Will the practice of Catholicism in America be declared in opposition to the state? Will our faith be considered subversive if we oppose the popular will? Will it be a prohibited political act to oppose physician-assisted suicide, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, or physical mutilation for the sake of self-identity? If so, be prepared for martyrdom and new saints. St. John Ogilvie, pray for us.

February 26--St. Alexander of Alexandria, Bishop

 

Alexander of Alexandria, saint patriarch (313-326) by Dedek Crescens Lajos licensed under (CC BY-SA 3.0)

How do bad ideas get started?  They could be misinterpretations or innovations or contradictions or attempted reforms.  But they have to come from somewhere!  One of the most divisive ideas in Church history was the idea that Jesus was NOT God, but merely a creature of God.  This was the Arian heresy of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries; four hundred years of error that greatly afflicted the Church.

Our saint, St. Alexander of Alexandria, was the man who, at the very beginning, tried to stop Arius from spreading his heresy.  First, he tried to persuade Arius, then tried to correct him, and then called a synod to condemn him.  Arius took refuge with other bishops who agreed with him, which led to schism.  St. Alexander wrote letters explaining orthodox teaching and countering Arius's errors.  It finally got to the point where the emperor, Constantine I, intervened and recommended the calling of a general council at Nicea in 325.  St. Alexander, along with his deacon, St. Athanasius, was the leader of those who stood up for the faith of the Church.  The Council of Nicea gave us the Nicene Creed and the dogmatic declaration that Jesus is "God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made."

So, how do bad ideas get started?  By focusing on only one aspect of a truth and ignoring the fullness of the truth.  Arius wanted to focus on the oneness of God, which is true.  But he ignored how God is also three persons.  We have the same problem today when Catholics want to speak of inclusion of all.  Inclusion can be a good thing if those we include accept the true faith!  If not, we cannot.

Ash Wednesday--The Beginning of Lent

"Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return." We get ashes on our foreheads, in our eyes, and on our clothes! Furthermore, we don't wash it off all day! Sounds kind of creepy! So why do we do it? Ashes are an ancient symbol of mourning and repentance. In the Bible, we hear it used, along with sackcloth, which is like burlap, as a means of appealing to God for forgiveness.

In the Book of Jonah, Jonah reluctantly preaches to the Ninevites, his hated enemy: "'Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown,' the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes" (Jon. 3:4-6).

Thus, it became the custom to use sackcloth and ashes as an outward sign of inward repentance. For us today it is a sacramental, which calls us to remember our sins that we may repent and be reconciled to God. We are also called to remember that we are mortal, that this world is not the end-all and be-all of our existence. Our lives on earth are meant to cultivate friendship with God that we may return to him at our deaths.

The gospel on Ash Wednesday calls us to a deeper relationship by pointing out that we need to go beyond the wearing of ashes: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father" (Mt. 6:1). This means we need to wear ashes ON OUR HEARTS as well! Thus, another formula for receiving ashes is, "Repent and believe in the gospel."

February 15--St. Claude la Colombière, S.J., Priest and Religious

Saint Claude La Colombière priant le Sacré-Cœur de Jésus by Octave 444 licensed under CC by-SA4.0

"Death by a thousand paper cuts!"  Today's saint was familiar with how we can be cut to ribbons by the little things.  St. Claude la Colombière was a Jesuit priest from France in the 17th century.  At the time, the Catholic Church was fighting Jansenism, which taught that we did not have free will.  This is patently false because God gives us free will as a part of our human nature.  We can freely choose what God wants:  "God's free initiative demands man's free response" (CCC, 2002).  So therefore, we can freely overcome the cuts and little things that annoy us by responding to God's grace.

He wrote:  "All our life is sown with tiny thorns that produce in our hearts a thousand involuntary movements of hatred, envy, fear, impatience, a thousand little fleeting disappointments, a thousand slight worries, a thousand disturbances that momentarily alter our peace of soul.  For example, a word escapes that should not have been spoken.  Or someone utters another that offends us.  A child inconveniences you.  A bore stops you.  You don't like the weather.  Our work is not going according to plan.  A piece of furniture is broken.  A dress is torn.  I know that these are not occasions for practicing very heroic virtue.  But they would definitely be enough to acquire it if we really wished to."

How often do we lose our temper over little things?  St. Claude teaches that these little things are great opportunities.  It takes time to develop the virtues of patience and humility.  God provides us with time.  He allows us to endure the little cuts to bring us closer to him.  "Far from allowing us to be depressed at the sight of our faults, it strengthens us in the idea of the infinite goodness of our Creator."

January 30--St. Balthild, Holy Woman

St. Balthild in Chronicle of St. Denis, British Library public domain

Two grave sins that have plagued America are slavery/racism and abortion/infanticide.  But these sins are not unique to America or to our time.  Nonetheless, Christianity has sought to eliminate both these plagues on humanity.  Today's saint is one who dedicated her power to do so!

St. Balthild (or Bathildis) was a slave herself, an Anglo-Saxon from Britain sold to a court official of the the Frankish king, Clovis II, in the seventh century.  Clovis was impressed by her intelligence and skills and married her.  She beame famous for her service to others and her donations.  Two abbeys were founded due to her gifts.  She bore Clovis three sons, all of whom succeeded him as kings.  When Clovis died, she became queen regent and guided the affairs of state.  Here is where her faith became critical in helping her people come closer to God.

According to her biography:  "She ... ordained that yet another evil custom should cease, namely, that many people determined to kill their children rather than nurture them, for they feared to incur the public [taxes] that were heaped upon them by custom...."  Furthermore, "she prohibited the sale of captive Christian folk to outsiders and gave orders through all the lands that no one was to sell captive Christians within the borders of the Frankish realm.  What is more, she ordered that many captives should be ransomed, paying the price herself."

Some might say, "Not enough!"  But the point is she did what she could do!  Do we?  Do we continue to promote life for the unborn?  Do we work to eliminate racism in our society?  These are NOT contradictory efforts!  God has given us dignity by virtue of creating us in his image and likeness.  That dignity belongs to all of us, no matter what our status, location, abilities, or development!  St. Balthild, pray for us!