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Martyrology - December
Upon the 19th day of December, were born into the better life:
At Alexandria, in Egypt, the blessed martyr Nemesius. He was first brought before the judge on a false accusation that he was a thief, and was acquitted but in the persecution under the Emperor Decius he was accused of Christianity before the judge Aemilian, by whom he was put to the double punishment and condemned to be burnt along with thieves. In the which thing he was conformed to the likeness of the Saviour, who was crucified between thieves.
At Nice, (now Isnik, in Bithynia,) the holy martyrs Darius, Zosimus, Paul, and Secundus, (in the fourth century.)
At Nicomedia, the holy martyrs Cyriacus, Paulillus, Secundus, Anastasius, Syndimius, and their Companions, (in the fourth century.)
In Morocco, (in the fourth century,) the holy martyr Timothy, the Deacon, who after a terrible imprisonment was cast into the fire for Christ's faith's sake, and so finished his testimony.
At Gaza, in Palestine, (in the third century,) the holy martyrs Meuris and Thea.
At Auxerre, the holy Confessor Gregory, (looked on as 12th) Bishop (of that see, successor of St. Theodore, in the year 530.)
At Orleans, the holy Abbot Adjutus, famous for the spirit of prophecy.
At Rome, holy Fausta, the mother of holy Anastasia, eminent for her rank and godliness, (at the end of the third century.)
At Avignon, the blessed Pope Urban V, who performed the highest service to the Church; he restored the Apostolic seat to Rome, he completed the union of the Greeks and the Latins, he brought the unbelievers into subjection. His very ancient veneration was ratified and confirmed by Pope Pius IX.
And elsewhere many other Holy Martyrs, Confessors and Holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God
O Antiphon - 19th December
O Root of Jesse, You stand for the ensign of mankind; before You kings shall keep silence and to You all nations shall have recourse. Come, save us, and do not delay.
Meditations - Monday in the Fourth Week of Advent: The life of Zeal of the Incarnate Word in Mary
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
We will consider tomorrow Jesus in Mary constituted priest of the human race by God, His Father, and under this title burning with zeal, first, for the glory of God; second, for the salvation of men. We will then make the resolution: first, to refer all our actions to the greater glory of God, and with this object in view to perform each one of them with the greatest possible perfection; second, to do all that is in our power for the salvation of our neighbour. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of St Ignatius: “To the greater glory of God”.
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore the Word Incarnate in the womb of Mary as our High-Priest, established in this dignity by God, His Father (heb v:56). Let us admire the zeal He shows in this quality for the glory of God and the salvation of men. Let us thank Him for a zeal so full of love for God and for us, and let us beg Him for a share in it.
First point
The Zeal of the Incarnate Word in the Womb of Mary for the Glory of God.
The Word, in becoming incarnate in the womb of Mary, had only one aim: namely, that of procuring the glory of God, by making Him to be known, loved, and served, and this thought never quitted Him; it preoccupied Him during the day, it preoccupied Him during the night. To it were referred all the beatings of His heart, all His prayers, all His sufferings. He did not take any thought about Himself, or His interests, or His glory. “I seek not My own glory,” He said. “I honour My Father” (joh viii:49, 50). What admirable zeal! What purity of love! Let us approach this sacred fire, to purify our intentions, which are so often mixed with human aims, which take away the merits of our works, and in order to kindle our zeal, which is so often cold and careless in regard to the great interests of the glory of God. Let us learn from the Incarnate Word to do nothing, to say nothing, to desire nothing from self-love, for the sake of praise and reputation, but to refer all to God and His glory. Happy those who understand these holy things and conform their lives to them!
Second point
The Zeal of the Word Incarnate in the Womb of Mary for the Salvation of Men.
The Incarnate Word mingles together in one and the same love the glory of God and the salvation of men, the children of God, destined to bless Him and love Him in time and throughout eternity. He therefore desires the one and the other with equal ardour. He burns with an immense desire to come and save all men, to do them good, to teach them all truth; to preach to them all virtues by His example and His words, to employ His miraculous power to the solace of their misery, His wisdom to show them the path which leads to heaven, His grace and the merits of His blood to enable them to walk therein. If apostolic men suffer a kind of martyrdom when they are frustrated in their designs for the salvation of men, what must the Incarnate Word not have suffered, detained in the womb of His mother, and from the first moment of His life always being urged by the desire to immolate Himself in order to save us (luk xii:50). How, then, after that, can we have so little zeal for our salvation; so little ardour to advance towards perfection; so little preoccupation for the conversion of the sinners who surround us? Let us beg Our Lord to communicate to us some of the flames of the sacred fire which consumes Him.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
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