Nereus, Achilleus and Pancras: Finding One’s Way to Heaven
Today we commemorate the early martyrs Nereus and Achilleus, soldiers, officers of the court, and converts, likely put to death under Emperor Domitian in the late 1st century. Other sources claim Diocletian in the third. Their lives are shrouded in legend, like many of the earliest martyrs. Saint Philip Neri, the founder of the Oratory in the sixteenth century, had a great and abiding devotion to them.
We also celebrate their fellow soldier-convert-saint-and-martyr Pancras, one of the most popular saints and place names in Britain – think of the massive train station that is named for him. He was put to death likely under the persecution of Diocletian, who was so impressed with the young lad’s determination in the face of imminent death for his Faith, that he promised the young lad wealth, riches and honour – but Pancras refused, seeing a far greater reward in heaven. And thither he went, decapitated, one of those commemorated in today’s Office of Readings from the final chapters of the Book of the Apocalypse:
I saw the souls of all who had been beheaded for having witnessed for Jesus and for having preached God’s word, and those who refused to worship the beast or his statue and would not have the brand-mark on their foreheads or hands
Previously, we also celebrated the martyr Saint Domitilla on this day, the ‘niece of Domitian’, but she was quietly dropped in the revisions of 1969, due to a lack of basis in the tradition.
Whoever they were and whenever they lived and died for the Faith, the glorious martyrs signify, shrouded in their legends, is that from the very beginning of the Church’s life Christians have faced persecution for the truth, as Christ said they would. There is nothing the world, the flesh or the devil – or any of his minions – can do to us that should cause us to lose hope. Veritas liberabit vos: The Son of God not only preached the truth, but claimed to be the Truth Himself, the Way to peace, freedom and eternal life in heaven. But, like those embarking on the trains at Saint Pancras station, we all have to make that choice which way we want to go, deep in our hearts, mind and conscience – where we are all ‘alone with God’:
The sea gave up all the dead who were in it; Death and Hades were emptied of the dead that were in them; and every one was judged according to the way in which he had lived.
Whatever strums und drangs this life offers, we may have hope, holding our heads high, even laughing and dancing on the way, for ’tis only in that true and abiding life we will find true rest, peace and fulfillment, where we all may meet merrily one day, Deo volente.
Sancti Nereus et Achileus, orate pro nobis!
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
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Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
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The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→
Saint Gemma Galgani
On this April 11th, in 1903 – the same year that the Italian Guiseppe Sarto was elected Pope later that summer as Pius X – a lovely, young Italian woman died, by the name of Gemma Galgani. She lived a brief life of 24 years, as did a number of other young saints, including Pier[…]Continue reading→
An Ideological and Improper Translation
I noticed something odd with the psalm reading at Mass the other day. Our bishops’ conference here in Canada has decreed that the Mass in English – Novus Ordo – use the ‘NRSV’, the ‘New Revised Standard Version’, an ‘updated’ translation of the original RSV, first published in 1952. This ‘new translation’ has the tendency[…]Continue reading→
Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle: A Teacher for Teachers
Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (1651 – 1719), a French nobleman, ordained a priest, founded the first order in the Church’s history entirely without priests, and this came about almost by accident. I say ‘almost’, for, of course, there are no accidents with God. Destined for ordination from an early age, Jean-Baptiste never looked back, even[…]Continue reading→