From The Biggest Persecutor Of Christians To The Best Missionary On Planet Earth -- Saint Paul, Apostle Of The Gentiles

One feast day that often slips by without notice is the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. This miraculous event, which has been part of the Church calendar for more than 1,500 years, is an unmovable feast — that is, it is always on the same calendar date, Jan. 25.

(Some years, the feast day falls on a Sunday, and because only a Solemnity or a feast of Our Lord can trump the Sunday liturgy, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul is not always widely commemorated then.)

But these calendar circumstances in no way diminish the importance of Paul’s conversion, as he was among the greatest of the missionaries spreading the words of Jesus Christ. Further, he is an example that anyone, even the most hardened unbeliever or the vilest heretic, can be created anew by our loving Savior.

Road to Damascus:

Saul, which is Paul’s given name, was born into a Jewish family in Tarsus (Turkey) around the year A.D. 8; he was also a Roman citizen, a fact that would play a large role later in his life. Schooled as a Pharisee, he was a tent maker by trade, but was most noted for his hatred of Christians. He believed the teachings of Jesus violated Mosaic Law and zealously harassed, and even jailed, anyone who followed those teachings.

The first scriptural mention of Saul is found in Acts 7:58, as he is a bystander watching his fellow Jews stone St. Stephen to death. An aggressive persecutor of Christians in Jerusalem, Saul sought and received permission from the high priest to proceed to Damascus for the purpose of imprisoning more followers of Christ.

Most Christians know the story of what happened on the Damascus road: the bright light that knocked Saul down, the voice of Jesus, Saul’s blindness and immediate response to the calling of Christ. In the manner of the first Apostles who, when beckoned by Christ, gave up their lifestyles to follow him, Saul too doesn’t hesitate. He says yes, just as the Blessed Mother said yes. Blinded from his encounter with Jesus, he allowed himself to be led into Damascus where he was baptized, after which he set out to spread the news of Jesus. Paul would repeat the story of his conversion again and again throughout his life, including to the different magistrates and kings who judged his activities. The book of Acts, in three places, tells the story of Saul’s experience on the Damascus road.

Impact of his conversion:

Saul’s sudden change confused those around him, because he was known as one who hated Christians, who went about seeking them out to eliminate those individuals he genuinely considered as breaking Jewish law. Suddenly he was transformed from despising the followers of Jesus into fervently espousing the Gospel of that same Jesus.

No one could have anticipated this conversion; it is one of the great miracles of mankind.

After his baptism, Saul, who would be called Paul in the 13th chapter of Acts, went to the desert of Arabia to pray and contemplate his calling.

He then returned to Damascus and into the synagogue, where he attested to the divinity of Jesus.

While he had no Christian training, God infused words in his heart and in his mouth.

The Jews in Damascus would eventually connive against him. The threat grew so severe that other Christians assisted Paul in an escape that included lowering him over the city walls in a basket. This was only the beginning of the threats and attacks on Paul. Henceforth, he was often regarded as a social undesirable, an agitator and a leader of a dangerous sect.

From Damascus, he traveled to Jerusalem, where his reputation as a persecutor of Christians preceded him and Christians there were unsure and confounded by his appearance. Here he met and spent time with Peter, becoming even more determined to serve his Savior.

At the Council of Jerusalem, in the year 49, Paul successfully argued against the widespread belief that non-Jews seeking to become Christians would first have to convert to Judaism, which means comply with Mosaic Law, be circumcised and observe all Jewish dietary customs. Because of Paul’s persuasion, Christianity would become even more widespread.

Like the most fervent convert, Paul simply couldn’t get enough of Christ. With faith and courage inflamed by the Holy Spirit, Paul would spend the rest of his life going from country to country and town to town proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, organizing and encouraging Christians to be resolute followers of Jesus, and nonbelievers to open their hearts to Christ, repent and be baptized. He would become known as the Apostle of the Gentiles (non-Jews) and his travels, letters and teaching changed the world.

Often in trouble, Paul was confronted, jailed (though angels rescued him), physically abused and repeatedly endangered and harassed for preaching the message he previously attacked. Despite all the dangers he encountered, Paul never faltered or failed his God. In the end, he would be taken to Rome as a prisoner and be beheaded for his teachings.

Why Paul?

Why would Jesus select the likes of Paul? There were certainly other devoted followers of Jesus available in those early days of the Church — followers ready to give their lives to proclaim Jesus Christ as savior of the world. But Jesus picked and converted this Pharisee, known as Saul, saying, “This man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings and Israelites” (Acts 9:15).

God selected this man who had a strong hatred of all Jesus stands for, a man who went into the houses of Christians and “dragging out men and women,” then “handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts 8:3). This man became God’s chosen instrument to spread the message of Jesus across the Middle East and parts of Europe. Certainly, our Lord works in mysterious ways.

Credits : Our Sunday Visitor 

The Baptism Of The Messiah

This Sunday we celebrate the fact that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan River in the Holy Land. John calls the sinners to be washed in the river before doing penance.

Jesus comes to John to be baptized. Did He therefore confess himself a Sinner? Certainly not.

Then, why did Christ, the Innocent, go to the Jordan to be baptized?

We can answer this question with St. Jerome: “For a threefold reason the Savior was baptized by John. First, because being born man like others, He must respect the law with justice and humility.

Second, to demonstrate with his baptism the effectiveness of John’s baptism. Third to show, by sanctifying the waters of Jordan through the descent of the dove, the advent of the Holy Spirit in the washing of the believers “(Jerome, Commentary on Matthew 1, 3, 13).

Another question arises. Why do we celebrate and live this mystery of the Baptism of Jesus?

To express our gratitude to Jesus. In his Baptism Christ, the sinless, took upon him all our sins, showing the closeness of God to man’s journey of conversion, and came in solidarity with us.

This act of extraordinary humility was dictated by the wish to establish a full communion with each one of us, and by the desire to achieve genuine solidarity with us in our human condition.

This act of Jesus anticipated the Cross, the acceptance of death for our sins and those of all humanity.

Jesus takes upon his shoulders the burden of guilt of all humanity and begins his mission putting himself in the place of sinners, in the perspective of the cross.

With this act of belittling himself Jesus wanted to conform totally to the loving plan of God the Father.

If, then, we wanted to revisit the questions expressed just above in another way “Why, then, did the Father desire this? Why did He send his only Son into the world as the Lamb to take upon himself the sins of the world (cf. Jn 1:29)? “, the answer is: to give to humanity the life of God and his spirit of love so that every man can draw from this inexhaustible source of salvation. This is why Christian parents bring their children as soon as possible to the baptismal font, knowing that the life which they have given to them calls for a fullness and a salvation that only God can give. Parents therefore become collaborators of God, transmitting to their children not only physical but also spiritual life.

2) Our baptism. 

Certainly Jesus’ baptism was a baptism different from the one we, as children or adults, have received, but not without a profound connection to it. Basically the whole mystery of Christ in the world can be summed up by the word, “baptism”, which in Greek means “immersion”. The Son of God, who from eternity shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit the fullness of life, was “immersed” in our reality of sinners to make us participating in his own life. He became man, was born like us, grew up like us and, on reaching adulthood, manifested his mission which began precisely with the “baptism of conversion” administered by John the Baptist. His first public act, as the Gospels tell us, was to go down to the Jordan, mingling among repentant sinners, to receive baptism. John was naturally reluctant, but Jesus insisted, because that was the will of the Father (cf. Mt 3, 13-15).

Finally, to the question “What does it mean for us to live this feast of the Baptism of Jesus?” the answer is “It means to live in the baptism of Jesus up to the point when he has taken everything from each of us and has given us everything.” How does He take all from us? Through our Baptism.

Therefore, since Jesus Christ, the only Son of the Father, was baptized, the sky is truly open and continues to open up, and we can entrust every new life that blossoms or that, already adult, wants to immerse itself in the true God, in the hands of one who is more powerful than the dark powers of evil. This is Baptism: to give back to God what came from him.

Baptism, in fact, is more of a washing and a purification. It’s more than becoming part of a community. It is a new birth. It is a new beginning of life. In Baptism we give ourselves over to Christ – he takes us unto himself so that we no longer live for ourselves, but through Him, with Him and in Him. We live with Him and thus for others.

In Baptism we surrender ourselves, we place our lives in his hands so that we can say with St. Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

Baptism implies this news: our life now belongs to Christ, no longer to ourselves. For this reason we are not alone even in death, but we are with Him who lives forever. Greeted by Christ in his love, we are free from fear and we live in and of the love of the One Who is Life.

3) The Baptism of the Author of Baptism. 

The Gospel passage, proposed in this Sunday commemorating the baptism of the Lord, opens with two statements by John the Baptist: “After me comes he who is mightier than I” “ I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit “(Mk 1,7-8). The preaching of John the Baptist is encapsulated in the function of drawing attention to Jesus. In its extreme simplicity the story of the baptism of Jesus is full of important meanings.

First: Jesus – in Mark 1: 7-11 – is presented in two dimensions of his mystery: a man from humble beginnings (“came from Nazareth of Galilee”) and the beloved Son of God. 

Second: the opening of the heavens, the descent of the Spirit, the heavenly voice, everything converges in indicating that, with the manifestation of Jesus on the banks of the Jordan, the Messianic times begins. The heartfelt invocation of Isaiah 63:19 (“you would rend the heavens and come down”) has been heard.

After remaining closed for a long and silent time, the sky opens, the Spirit is back among the people and the word of the Lord returns to resonate.

In Baptism it is the movement of Christmas that repeats itself: God descends again, enters in each of us, is born in us so that we are born in God and Christ becomes the center of all Christian life.

Credits : Zenit News Service From Rome 

The Epiphany

The Feast of the Epiphany has traditionally been considered more theologically important than almost any other Feast Day, including Christmas. The early Christians had only Scripture, not the wealth of tradition we have today, to guide them in marking the great events of the life of Christ. So Holy Week and Easter, the Baptism of the Lord, Pentecost, and Epiphany jumped off the pages of Scripture as great events which merited celebration. These few dates became fixed points on the calendar and were later surrounded over the centuries with numerous other feasts and saints’ days.

Two lessons from the visit of the Magi are worth considering. The first is that the wise mens’ gifts were given after Christmas. Many Catholic cultures preserve the ancient tradition of giving gifts on the Epiphany, not on Christmas itself. This tradition separates the birth of Christ from gift giving. When these two things—the birth of Christ and the giving of gifts—are collapsed into the same day, it causes some confusion of priorities, and the birth of Christ never wins. 

Waiting to exchange gifts until January sixth lets the Child God have the stage to Himself for a day. It makes people, especially children, wait, a modern day rarity in the Western world. Gift giving postponed until January sixth makes for a long, leisurely Christmas season and has the benefit of tradition and good theology as well.

Another great lesson from the Magi is more theological—that a true religion must be true for everyone, not just for some people. Truth is not geographical or confined to borders. Truth by its nature conquers untruth. The Magi are the first non Jews, or Gentiles, to worship Christ. They tell us that the mission field of Christ is the whole world, not just the Holy Land. The Church is forever bound, then, to teach, preach, and sanctify the world over. 

The true God and His Church must light a fire in Chinese souls, Arab souls, African souls, and South American souls. This may take until the end of time, but Christianity has time on its side. The Magi give personal testimony to the universality of the Church, one of its four marks. The Epiphany is the start of the multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and faith-united society the Catholic Church envisions as the only source of true human unity. Catholicism started multiculturalism and diversity without sacrificing unity and truth.  

Balthasar, Caspar, and Melchior, your minds were prepared to receive a greater truth. Let us see in you an example of holy curiosity, of pilgrimage by light to light. When you discovered your treasure, you laid your gifts in homage. May our search also find. May our pilgrimage also end in truth followed by love.

The Divine MotherHood Of Mary

The Gospels, which carefully recount the life of our Savior, provide few details on the Blessed Virgin.

They tell us nothing of her spotless conception, nothing of her nativity, and nothing of her childhood in the Temple of Jerusalem. Although the Evangelists develop at length the admirable scenes of the Annunciation and the Visitation, these are the only two mysteries in which Mary appears as a central figure.

Subsequently, we find only extremely brief allusions in the Gospel as to her role. We see her presenting her newborn Son to be adored by the poor shepherds and the three kings. Then we see her bearing the Child Jesus to Egypt in hurried flight. Passing references alone indicate her long life of intimacy with the divine Master in the little house of Nazareth.

When Our Lord finally begins his public ministry, the figure of Mary almost disappears into discreet shadows. We see her only for a moment at the wedding in Cana. Here and there the sacred writers mention her humbly listening to her Son teaching the crowds. We find her at last on Calvary, standing at the foot of the cross during the tragic hours of the Passion. That is all the Gospels tell us of Mary. Does it not seem that our piety would gain much from knowing more about so moving a subject?

The Fathers of the Church asked themselves the reason for this strange silence.

They unanimously responded that, in establishing the Savior’s genealogy, Saint Matthew sums up Our Lady’s greatness and glory in a single line. “Jacob,” he writes, “begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”

Thus, if you desire a more profound knowledge of Mary’s role, study with pious attention the most incomparable of her privileges, her divine Motherhood.

I will not conceal from you the almost insurmountable difficulties presented by such a sublime topic. Before broaching the subject, I reread several passages from the many discourses devoted to her by the Doctors of the Church. I was not surprised to see that in the presence of such greatness, they felt overwhelmed by great discouragement. What words would be strong enough to convey their thoughts? What comparisons true enough to communicate such a mystery?

Saint Epiphanius, one of the most brilliant of the Eastern Church Fathers, recounts one by one all the glories of Heaven. He examines the choirs of angels and the different categories of saints. He then adds: “But the Mother of the Word far surpasses them all. Save for God, she is superior to all. No human tongue can worthily sing her praises.”

Saint Thomas Aquinas, the uncontested master of Catholic Tradition, tells us that divine Maternity confers an infinite dignity upon Mary.

He shows us Our Lady reaching the boundaries of the divinity in her ascent to God.
An abyss separates us from the Most High. While we are nothing, He lives in all eternity in light inaccessible to our mortal eyes. Though we can do nothing of ourselves, He created the universe by the power of a single word.

Deserving our adoration, He reminds us that our homage serves Him no purpose. “To what purpose do you offer Me the multitude of your victims? saith the Lord. I am full; I desire not holocausts or rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and goats.

Nevertheless, while this God is sovereignly independent from His creatures, He chose to have recourse to the Immaculate Virgin to accomplish the great designs of His Infinite Mercy. To solicit her consent in the work of the Incarnation, He sent the Archangel Gabriel.

This God, so distant from our smallness, chose to establish such a profound relationship with Mary that I dare say she enters, as no other, into the very intimacy of the adorable Trinity.

The Holy Ghost miraculously fructified her incomparable virginity, becoming her Spouse. Secondly, the Eternal Word drew from her flesh His most holy body and infinitely precious blood. After His birth in the grotto of Bethlehem, He was nourished for many months by Our Lady. This truth so charms and delights us that we exclaim with Saint Augustine, “The flesh of Christ is the flesh of Mary!”—Car Christi, car Mariae. Since children’s traits are often similar to those of their mothers, the Savior, the most beautiful of children, most probably wanted to resemble Mary.

Finally, the Queen of Heaven shares in the Father’s glory. He, Who eternally begets the Son, says to Him at the moment of His baptism: “Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased.”

 Mary did not give Our Lord His divine nature, but clothed His divinity with a mortal body similar to our own.

Together with the Father, she can say of Jesus, the immortal King of ages, the Word that fills the blessed in Heaven with awe: “Thou art truly my Son. I gave Thee Thy human life and surrounded Thee with the entire strength of my tenderness, O Beloved of my heart.”

By her divine Motherhood, the Blessed Virgin possesses indisputable rights over the Savior.

In the first place, she has rights over His will. The Child Jesus had to obey His mother.
The Evangelists clearly call this to our attention by showing Him submissive to both His mother and adopted father: “And He went down with them…and was subject to them.”

Nevertheless, we must not exaggerate this fact. The Savior received from the Most High a mission beyond the authority of Our Lady.

Indeed, at the age of twelve He remained in the Temple among the doctors without informing His parents. In so doing, He wanted us to fully understand that while His mother could not command Him in all things, she had a great influence over His adorable will. Was it not also at her request that He worked His first miracle at Cana?

The Blessed Virgin also has rights over the heart of her Son, and these are inalienable.
On earth as in Heaven, Jesus pays His mother the entire respect and tenderness of a son. It is therefore impossible that He would refuse to fulfill her wishes.

It is likewise impossible that He would reject our prayers if we present them in the name of the love which is and always will be due His mother.

What should we conclude about this privilege that elevates the Blessed Virgin so high above all other creatures?

First of all, it should inspire us with gratitude. We live amid an abundance of supernatural blessings that souls did not possess in ancient times. Right after our births, we were taken to church, where the sacred water of Baptism made us children of God. When the weight of our sins burdens our conscience too heavily, we relieve the burden of our scruples and remorse at the foot of the altar. We depart with lightened souls and the certitude of having received pardon. When tempted, we can seek strength or consolation amid our labors by kneeling in prayer before the altar. Jesus is truly present, waiting to open His heart to us. In the Tabernacle He anxiously awaits the offer of the hospitality of our fragile and wretched souls. These graces, running in unceasing torrents upon the world, are at our disposition. We need only take a step to be engulfed by them.

Have you ever supposed you might somehow be indebted to the divine Motherhood of the Virgin Mary? Have you ever thought to express your gratitude to her? One day Our Lord cured ten lepers. These miraculously healed and blessed men immediately presented themselves to the priests as prescribed by the Mosaic Law. Only one returned to thank his Benefactor. “Were not ten made clean? Where are the nine?” asked the Savior sadly.

 Could not the Blessed Virgin say the same? “I gave Jesus to souls and they forget that they received Him through me.”

Therefore, let us thank Our Lady today. Indeed, let us thank her often for what she has done for us! This simple practice will call down upon us abundant blessings.    

Once again, Divine Motherhood should inspire us to unlimited confidence. Mary is all good and her prayers are “all-powerful” with God. Let us frequently invoke her.

When Saint John the Apostle reached a very old age he would have his disciples carry him among the faithful whose pastor he was. He often addressed them with the same words: “My children,” he pleaded, “love one another.” His listeners eventually grew weary of hearing the same teaching and asked him: “Why do you always repeat these same words?”

The beloved disciple, who had learned charity from the bosom of the Savior, responded: “to love one another is the Master’s command.”

If you are surprised that I should insist in telling you to pray without ceasing to your Mother in Heaven, I shall answer: “It is the great means of perseverance and salvation.” God entrusted to us this precious key which opens the Heart of Jesus, the richest of all treasures. We would be remiss in not drawing from it the abundant consolation, illumination, and strength we need for the journey.
We hear much talk about efficacious prayers.

There are very efficacious prayers to Saint Expeditus, for example. There are efficacious novenas to other saints who, with the Church, I profoundly venerate. Yet, there is one saint who far surpasses the other elect in glory and power.

And there is one prayer that is the most perfect of all after the one taught us by Our Lord Himself.

With this prayer and with the humility that is so pleasing to God, we ask for the necessary graces for the present moment as well as for our final hour. “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”

The whole prayer is really quite ingenious, for it includes the Blessed Virgin’s magnificent privileges—her Immaculate Conception and her sublime Motherhood.

It also contains within it an act of praise addressed to the divine Son she so dearly loves: “And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” Our Lady cannot help but hear this prayer and be moved!
Saint Bernard habitually greeted a statue of the Madonna in his monastery. Each time he passed by he recited a Hail Mary. A legend says that one day the statue came to life and Our Lady’s face lit up with a smile. She graciously inclined her head to the saint and said, “And I greet you, Bernard.”

Let us be devoted to the Hail Mary. Let us often recite it with attention and piety. The Blessed Virgin may not miraculously greet us as she did Saint Bernard, but she will protect us during our lifetime. She will come to our aid at the hour of our need with maternal love and will lead our souls to the Paradise of which she is the Queen.

Saint Stephen The First Martyr

Just after Christmas, the Catholic Church remembers its first martyr, and one of its first deacons, Saint Stephen. Roman Catholics celebrate his feast Dec. 26, while Eastern Catholics honor him one day later.

In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke praises St. Stephen as “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit,” who “did great wonders and signs among the people” during the earliest days of the Church.

Luke's history of the period also includes the moving scene of Stephen's death – witnessed by St. Paul before his conversion – at the hands of those who refused to accept Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

Stephen himself was a Jew who most likely came to believe in Jesus during the Lord's ministry on earth. He may have been among the 70 disciples whom Christ sent out as missionaries, who preached the coming of God's kingdom while traveling with almost no possessions.

This spirit of detachment from material things continued in the early Church, in which St. Luke says believers “had all things in common” and “would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

But such radical charity ran up against the cultural conflict between Jews and Gentiles, when a group of Greek widows felt neglected in their needs as compared to those of a Jewish background.

Stephen's reputation for holiness led the Apostles to choose him, along with six other men, to assist them in an official and unique way as this dispute arose. Through the sacramental power given to them by Christ, the Apostles ordained the seven men as deacons, and set them to work helping the widows.

As a deacon, Stephen also preached about Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament law and prophets. Unable to refute his message, some members of local synagogues brought him before their religious authorities, charging him with seeking to destroy their traditions.

Stephen responded with a discourse recorded in the seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. He described Israel's resistance to God's grace in the past, and accused the present religious authorities of “opposing the Holy Spirit” and rejecting the Messiah.

Before he was put to death, Stephen had a vision of Christ in glory. “Look,” he told the court, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

The council, however, dragged the deacon away and stoned him to death.

“While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,’” records St. Luke in Acts 7. “Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.”

The first Christian martyrdom was overseen by a Pharisee named Saul – later Paul, and still later St. Paul – whose own experience of Christ would transform him into a believer, and later a martyr himself.

Credits : Catholic News Agency 

Saint Peter Canisius -- A Saint For Today

The Feast Of Saint Peter Canisius is celebrated on December 21. 

St. Peter Kanis, Canisius in the Latin form of his surname, was a very important figure in the Catholic 1500s. He was born on May 8, 1521, in Nijmegen, Holland. His father was burgomaster of the city. While he was a student at the University of Cologne, he often visited the Carthusian monks of St. Barbara — a propelling center of Catholic life — and other pious men who cultivated the spirituality of the so-called modern devotion. He entered the Society of Jesus on May 8, 1543, in Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate), after having followed a course of spiritual exercises under the guidance of Blessed Peter Faber, Petrus Faber, one of the first companions of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

He was ordained a priest in June 1546 in Cologne and the very following year, he attended the Council of Trent as a theologian with the bishop of Augusta, Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg, where he collaborated with two confreres, Diego Laínez and Alfonso Salmerón.

In 1548, St. Ignatius sent him to complete his spiritual formation in Rome and then sent him to the College of Messina to exercise himself in humble domestic services. He obtained a doctorate in theology in Bologna, on Oct. 4 he was assigned by St. Ignatius to the apostolate in Germany. On Sept. 2 of that year, 1549, he visited Pope Paul III in Castel Gandolfo and then he went to St. Peter’s Basilica to pray. Here he implored the help of the great Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to give permanent efficacy to the Apostolic Blessing for his important destiny, his new mission. He wrote in his diary some words of this prayer. He said: “There I felt that a great consolation and the presence of grace were granted to me through these intercessors [Peter and Paul].

They confirmed my mission in Germany, and they seemed to transmit to me, as apostle of Germany, the support of their benevolence. You know, Lord, in how many ways and how many times on that same day you entrusted Germany to me, which I would later care for, and for which I desire to live and die.”

We must keep in mind that we find ourselves in the time of the Lutheran Reformation, at the moment in which the Catholic faith in German-speaking countries, in face of the fascination of the Reformation, seemed to be fading away. The task entrusted to Canisius was almost impossible, as he was charged with revitalizing, with renewing the Catholic faith in Germanic countries. It was possible only in the strength of prayer. It was possible only from the center, that is, from a profound personal friendship with Jesus Christ; friendship with Christ in his Body, the Church, which is nourished by the Eucharist, his real presence.

Following the mission received from Ignatius and from Pope Paul III, Canisius left for Germany and went first to the duchy of Bavaria, which for several years was the place of his ministry. As dean, rector and vice chancellor of the University of Ingolstadt, he looked after the academic life of the institute and the religious and moral reform of the people. In Vienna, where for a brief time he was administrator of the diocese, he carried out his pastoral ministry in hospitals and prisons, both in the city and the countryside, and he prepared the publication of his catechism. In 1556 he founded the College of Prague and, until 1569, was the first superior of the Jesuit province of Upper Germany.
In this office, he established in Germanic countries a solid network of communities of his order, especially of colleges, which were starting points for the Catholic Reformation, for the renewal of the Catholic faith.

At that time he also took part in the colloquium of Worms with Protestant leaders, among whom was Philipp Melanchthon (1557); he participated in the two Augusta Diets (1559 and 1565); he accompanied Cardinal Stanislaw Hozjusz, legate of Pope Pius IV to Emperor Ferdinand (1560); he intervened in the final session of the Council of Trent where he spoke on the question of Communion under both species and on the Index of Prohibited Books (1562).

In 1580 he went to Fribourg in Switzerland, wholly dedicated to preaching and the composition of his writings. He died there on Dec. 21, 1597. Beatified by Blessed Pius IX in 1864, in 1897 he was proclaimed the second apostle of Germany by Pope Leo XIII, and canonized and proclaimed doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1925.

St. Peter Canisius spent a good part of his life in contact with the socially most important persons of his time and exercised a special influence with his writings. He was editor of the complete works of Cyril of Alexandria and of St. Leo the Great, of the Letters of St. Jerome and of the Prayers of St. Nicholas of Flue. He published devotional books in several languages, the biographies of some Swiss saints and many homiletic texts. However, his most widespread writings were the three catechisms composed between 1555 and 1558.

The first catechism was addressed to students able to understand elementary notions of theology; the second to boys and girls of the people for an initial religious instruction; the third to adolescents with a scholastic formation at the level of middle and high school. Catholic doctrine was explained with questions and answers, briefly, in biblical terms, with much clarity and free of criticisms. In his lifetime alone there were a good 200 editions of this catechism! And hundreds of editions succeeded one another until the 1900s. Thus in Germany, still in my father’s generation, people called the catechism simply the Canisius: He is really the catechist of the centuries; he formed people’s faith for centuries.

This is a characteristic of St. Peter Canisius: to be able to harmoniously combine fidelity to dogmatic principles with respect due to every person. St. Canisius differentiated a knowing, culpable apostasy from a non-culpable loss of faith, in the circumstances. And he declared, before Rome, that the greater part of Germans who went over to Protestantism were without fault. At a historical moment of strong confessional oppositions, he avoided — this is something extraordinary — the harshness and rhetoric of anger of the time in discussions among Christians, something rare as I said — and he looked only to the presentation of the spiritual roots and to the revitalization of the faith in the Church. His vast and penetrating knowledge of sacred Scripture and of the fathers of the Church served this cause: the same knowledge that supported his personal relationship with God and the austere spirituality that he derived from modern devotion and Rhenish mysticism.

Characteristic of St. Canisius’ spirituality was a profound personal friendship with Jesus. For example, on Sept. 4, 1549, he wrote in his diary, speaking with the Lord: “In the end, as if you opened to me the heart of the Most Sacred Body, which it seemed to me I saw before me, you commanded me to drink from that source, inviting me, so to speak, to attain the waters of my salvation from your founts, O my Savior.”

And then he saw that the Savior gave him a garment with three parts that were called peace, love and perseverance. And with this garment made up of peace, love and perseverance, Canisius carried out his work of renewal of Catholicism. His friendship with Jesus — which is the center of his personality — nourished by love of the Bible, by love of the Sacrament, by love of the Fathers, this friendship was clearly united to the awareness of being a continuer of the mission of the Apostles in the Church. And this reminds us that every genuine evangelizer is always a united instrument with Jesus and the Church and, because of this, fruitful.

St. Peter Canisius was formed in his friendship with Jesus in the spiritual environment of the Carthusian monastery of Cologne, in which he was in close contact with two Carthusian mystics: Johann Lansperger, Latinized into Lanspergius, and Nicholas van Hesche, Latinized into Eschius. Subsequently he deepened the experience of that friendship, familiaritas stupenda nimis, with the contemplation of the mysteries of Jesus’ life, which form a large part of St. Ignatius’ spiritual exercises. His intense devotion to the Lord’s Heart, which culminated in consecration to the apostolic ministry in the Vatican Basilica, has its foundation here.

Rooted in the Christocentric spirituality of St. Peter Canisius is a profound conviction: There is no soul solicitous of its own perfection that does not practice mental prayer every day, an ordinary means that permits the disciple of Jesus to live in intimacy with the divine Master. Because of this, in the writings destined to the spiritual education of the people, our saint insists on the importance of the liturgy with his comments on the Gospels, on feasts, on the rite of the holy Mass and on the sacraments but, at the same time, he is careful to show to the faithful the need and the beauty of personal daily prayer, which should support and permeate participation in the public worship of the Church.

This is an exhortation and a method which preserves their value intact, especially after they were proposed again authoritatively by the Second Vatican Council in the Constitution “Sacrosanctum Concilium”: Christian life does not grow if it is not nourished by participation in the liturgy, particularly in Sunday’s holy Mass, and by personal daily prayer, by personal contact with God. Amid the thousands of activities and the many distractions that surround us, it is necessary to find moments of recollection before the Lord every day to listen to him and to speak with him.

At the same time, the example that St. Peter Canisius has left us, not only in his works, but above all with his life is always timely and of permanent value. He teaches clearly that the apostolic ministry is effective and produces fruits of salvation in hearts only if the preacher is a personal witness of Jesus and is able to be an instrument at his disposal, united closely to him by faith in his Gospel and in his Church, by a morally coherent life and incessant prayer as love. And this is true for every Christian who wishes to live his adherence to Christ with commitment and fidelity.

Credits : Zenit News 

Saint John Cantius -- The Saint Of Christmas Eve

On the northwest side of Chicago, near Milwaukee Avenue and what locals often call the “Polish Triangle” for its strong Polish roots, stands a gorgeous baroque church, known for its traditional liturgies and sacred atmosphere.

Resting amidst the ornately decorated High Altar is a painting of an old man, adorned in scholarly black robes, handing a kneeling girl a jug. In the background, bystanders observe the man and girl, seemingly with awe and wonder, and behind them two princely church steeples overlook the entire scene. Those who have visited  Krakow will immediately identify those steeples as belonging to Saint Mary’s Basilica.

Why does this very Polish painting hang above the altar of a Chicago church? Even the name of the church—Saint John Cantius—doesn’t sound particularly Polish. When one learns that it was founded in 1893 by Polish immigrants, however, and that the name John Cantius translates to “Jan Kanty,” the connection becomes clear.

But who was Jan Kanty, why was he so revered, and what’s going on in the altar painting? In the spirit of All Saints’ Day, let’s learn a bit about this Polish Saint.

His Life and Works:

Born to a wealthy family in the small Polish town of Kęty, near Auschwitz, in 1390, Kanty was christened after Saint John the Baptist. Little is known of his childhood. Indeed, he first appears in the historical record as a student in Krakow’s famed Jagiellonian University in 1413, where he studied philosophy before entering the priesthood.

After ordination, he spent eight years as rector of a clerical school in Miechów. During this period in history, priests and monks dedicated much time to quiet study, and, most of all, copying manuscripts. In this age before the printing press, the only way to replicate anything, was to manually write it out. Kanty spent many hours of his life copying down Holy Scripture and other theological writings.

Today, 18,000 hand-written pages survive, and that’s only believed to be a small fraction of his life’s work.

In 1429, he got a job in the Philosophy Department at Jagiellonian University and worked on earning his doctorate. Soon after, he became director of the school’s Theology Department.

Kanty’s intellectualism was matched only by his piety and dedication to his parishioners and fellow priests.  He developed a reputation as a great listener and mentor, and as one who “lived the Gospel.” He rejected material desires, living in a small room and fasting often. In one story, he was hosting a dinner when a beggar entered the room. Kanty rose from his seat shouting  “Christ is coming!” and offered his seat to the guest. As a priest, among his holy passions was cultivating the Sacrament of the Eucharist and encouraging the faithful to adore and partake in it.

The Miracle of the Jug:

One of the most famous stories surrounding Kanty is the supposed “Miracle of the Jug,” depicted in the painting hanging above the altar in Chicago’s Saint John Cantius Church.

In June of 1464, an elderly Kanty was walking through the market square in Krakow when he observed a weeping girl with a broken jar. It was a servant girl who had been carrying a jug of milk for her stern mistress when she had dropped and broken it. She was crying for fear of punishment. Moved with compassion, Kanty took the broken jar from the girl’s trembling hands and prayed upon it. Miraculously, when he fitted the pieces together, they remained whole and the jug was fixed! He then told the girl to fill the jug with water from a nearby spring. When she did so, Kanty again took the jug and prayed upon it. When he returned it to the girl, the water inside had turned to milk.

Other miraculous tales surround Kanty. In one, as he was walking the streets of Krakow on a cold winter’s night, he saw a beggar freezing on the roadside. Without thinking, Kanty threw his robe over the shivering man. Later, when he arrived home, he found the same robe back in his room. Had the beggar been Christ in disguise ??

Kanty died on Christmas Eve in 1473 and was interred in Jagiellonian University’s Collegiate Church of Saint Anne. In 1767, he was canonized a Saint by Pope Clement XIII. Today, he remains a very popular Polish Saint, in the same league as Saint Maximilian Kolbe and Saint Pope John Paul II.

His Feast Day is celebrated on December 23.