Vol 9 Issue 52 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
December 17, 2016 ~ Ember Saturday in Advent
1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (98)
2. Fourth Sunday in Advent
3. Saints Rufus and Zosimus
4. Articles and notices
Dear Reader:
This last week, the Fourth Week of Advent, the Church presents the period from David until the birth of Christ. Solomon, the wisest of men and who built a magnificent temple to house the Ark of the Covenant, falls into sin through pride and weakness of the flesh. The result is the rending of his kingdom after his death. The kingdom is divided into the kingdom of Juda and the kingdom of Israel. Here, these two kingdoms fight each other and become prey to the Egyptians and Assyrians. Despite all the Prophets of God that call them to repentance and the promise that God would side with them against their enemies, they choose to reject the Prophets and find themselves captives once more. When Nehemias returns with a group of faithful to re-establish an Israelite Nation in Judea he recalls to the people all the commands of God and demands acquiescence knowing that only in this manner will the people of Israel stay faithful to God. Unfortunately it was not long and again the Jews, as they were called by this time, strayed again from the faith and fell under the control of the Greeks who had conquered, under Alexander the Great, the Assyrians. The Greeks were amoral with gods that extolled vice and this contrast of introducing extreme immorality brought many of the Jews back to struggling to defend the commandments of God under the Machabeans. Turning to the Romans for assistance against the Greeks, the Romans soon held Judea under its control, though with a certain autonomy. As the Jewish leaders fought amongst each other, the Romans placed an Idumaean who had converted to Judaism, called Herod, to rule as king over them. Thus the scepter had passed from Juda. Herod attempted to gain the support of the Jews by rebuilding the Temple renewing in type the events under Cyrus and Nehemias into the prophecies now announcing the advent of the Messias were being fulfilled as Daniel was instructed to write.
The earthly kingdom was to give place to a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom that would last forever. With the Coming of the Promised Seed of Abraham (Jesus Christ) being fulfilled, circumcision no longer had meaning. The earthly kingdom of David had ended and Christ re-established the Kingdom of God (the Church) where He reigns as King, Priest and Prophet forever. The Law of Moses and the Israelite Covenant with God, sealed by the blood of calves, ceased when Christ established the New Covenant in His Blood and gave the New Testament Law. The latter was symbolized by the rending of the veil of the Holy of Holies and the destruction of the Temple. [Only by denying that the Messias has come can one claim that the Jews today are the people of God.] The conclusion, then, of this period is the appearance of John who proclaims the end of the Old Testament by preparing for the New Testament with the Coming of the Messias.
As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit. —The Editor
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Baptism
Means of Salvation
Sacrament of Baptism
Baptism by Desire and Baptism in Blood
Without any contestation by the Church, the following accounts have been written and propagated:
Eusebius (cir. 260-341), in Church History, Book VI, c. 4, 3:
The third martyr from the same school was Heraclides, and after him the fourth was Hero. The former of these was as yet a catechumen, and the latter had but recently been baptized. Both of them were beheaded. After them, the fifth from the same school proclaimed as an athlete of piety was another Serenus, who, it is reported, was beheaded, after a long endurance of tortures. And of women, Herais died while yet a catechumen, receiving baptism by fire, as Origen himself somewhere says.
Venerable Bede (672-735), in Church History of the English People, Book I, c. vii, gives the account of Saint Alban who was condemned to death for professing to be Christian and details his martyrdom as follows:
St. Alban therefore, whose mind was filled with an ardent desire to arrive quickly at his martyrdom, approached to the stream, and, lifting up his eyes to heaven, addressed his prayer to the Almighty; when, behold, he saw the water immediately recede, and leave the bed of the river dry, for them to pass over. The executioner, who was to have beheaded him among the rest, observing this prodigy, hastened to meet him at the place of execution; and, being moved by divine inspiration, threw down the drawn sword which he carried, and prostrated himself at his feet, earnestly desiring that he might rather suffer death, with or for the martyr, than be constrained to take away the life of so holy a man. Whilst he of a persecutor became a companion in the true faith, and the rest of the executioners hesitated to take up the sword from the ground, the most venerable confessor of God ascended a hill with the throng.
This very pleasant place was about half a mile from the river, enamelled with a great variety of flowers, or rather quite covered with them; where there was no part very steep or craggy, but the whole of it was levelled by nature, like the sea when it is calm: which beautiful and agreeable appearance seemed to render it fit and worthy to be enriched and sanctified with the martyr’s blood. When St. Alban had reached the summit of this hill, he prayed to God to give him water; and immediately, an ever-flowing spring rose at his feet, the course being confined; so that every one might perceive that the river had been before obedient to the martyr. For it could not be supposed that he would ask for water at the top of the hill, who had not left it in the river below, unless he had been convinced that it was expedient for the glory of God that he should do so. That river, nevertheless, having been made subservient to the martyr’s devotion, and performed the office which he enjoined it, returned; and continued to flow in its natural course as before.
Here, therefore, this most valiant martyr, being beheaded, received the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. But the executioner, who was so wicked as to embrue his sacrilegious hands in the martyr’s sacred blood, was not permitted to rejoice at his death; for his eyes dropped to the ground at the same moment as the blessed martyr’s head. At the same time was also beheaded there, the soldier, who before, through a divine inspiration, had refused to execute the sentence on the martyr: —concerning whom it is evident, that, though he was not baptized at the baptismal font, yet he was cleansed with the laver of his own blood, and made worthy to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The account of Saint Emerentiana, which every deacon and priest in the Roman Catholic Church reads in his breviary, is as follows for January 23:
Lesson ix
Emerentiana was a virgin of Rome and adopted sister of St. Agnes. Though still but a catechumen she was filled with burning faith and charity, and rebuked the idolators who were attacking the Christians. The crowd thereupon stoned her to death. She suffered while praying at the tomb of St. Agnes, and, baptized in her own blood, so generously shed for Christ, gave up her soul to God.
Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., gives this reflection on St. Emerentiana in his work, The Liturgical Year, vol. 3, p. 395-96, that was first published in English in 1867:
Emerentiana has not yet been regenerated in the waters of Baptism; she is going through the exercises of a Catechumen; but her heart already belongs, by faith and desire, to Jesus.
Whilst the young girl is pouring forth her grief over the tomb of her much loved Agnes, she is surprised by the approach of some pagans; they ridicule her tears, and bid her pay no more of this sort of honour to one who was their victim. Upon this, the child, longing as she was to be with Christ, and to be clasped in the embraces of her sweet Agnes, was fired with holy courage—as well she might near such a Martyr’s tomb—and turning to the barbarians, she confesses Christ Jesus, and curses the idols, and upbraids them for their vile cruelty to the innocent Saint who lay there.
This was more than enough to rouse the savage nature of men, who were slaves to the worship of Satan; and scarcely had the child spoken, when she falls on the tomb, covered with the heavy stones thrown on her by her murderers. Baptized in her own blood, Emerentiana leaves her bleeding corpse upon the earth, and her soul flies to the bosom of God, where she is to enjoy, for ever, union with him, in the dear company of Agnes.
Let us unite with the Church, which so devoutly honours these touching incidents of her own history. Let us ask Emerentiana to pray that we may have the grace to be united with Jesus and Agnes in heaven; and congratulate her on her triumph, by addressing her in the words of the holy Liturgy.
On March 10 the clerics meditate on the following entry in the Breviary about the Forty Holy Martyrs:
Lesson iv
When Licinius was emperor and Agricolaus govemor, at the city of Sebaste in Armenia forty soldiers became famous for their faith in Jesus Christ and courage in bearing torture. They were frequently confined in a horrible dungeon, shackled with chains, and had their faces beaten with stones. Finally they were condemned to pass a most bitter winter night naked in the open air and on a frozen pond, to die of cold. The prayer of them all was the same: Forty have we entered on the course, let us, O Lord, receive in like manner forty crowns, and let not even one of this number be missing. This number is an honored one, for thou didst honor it when thou didst fast for forty days and then thy divine law entered into the world. Elias sought God by a forty days’ fast, and was permitted to see him. And this indeed was their prayer.
Lesson v
All the other guards were asleep, only the doorkeeper was awake. He saw them praying in a circle of light and he saw angels coming from heaven and distributing thirty-nine crowns to the soldiers as though on a mission from a king. He said to himself: There are forty men; where is the fortieth crown? While he was thus pondering, one of the number, whose spirit was not strong enough to bear the cold, jumping into a warm bath which had been placed near at hand, caused great grief to those Saints. But God would not allow their prayer to be unanswered; the doorkeeper, astonished at what had happened, soon awoke the guards, and taking off his garments, he cried out with a loud voice that he was a Christian, and joined the Martyrs. But when the attendants of the governor became aware that the doorkeeper also had become a Christian, they shattered the legs of them all with clubs.
Lesson vi
All died under this torture, except Melithon, the youngest. His mother, who was present, seeing him still living after his legs were broken, thus encouraged him: Son, be patient awhile; behold Christ is at the door, helping thee. But when she saw the other bodies placed on carts and taken away to be burned, and her son left behind, for the impious mob hoped that, if the boy survived, he might be induced to worship the idols, the holy mother lifted him on her shoulders, and bravely followed the wagons laden with the Martyrs’ bodies. Melithon gave up his soul to God in her arms, and the pious mother threw his body on the same pile as the other Martyrs; that as they had been united in faith and courage, and even in a common funeral, they might all go to heaven together. When the bodies were burned, and the remains thrown into running water, they miraculously flowed to one spot, where they were found entirely preserved and were placed in an honorable grave.
The following is read by the major clergy on November 10 for Sts. Tryphon, Respicius and Nympha the Virgin, Martyrs:
Lesson ix
During the reign of the emperor Decius, as Tryphon was preaching the faith of Jesus Christ and striving to persuade all men to worship the Lord, he was arrested by the henchmen of Decius. First he was tortured on the rack, his flesh torn with iron hooks, then hung head downward, his feet pierced with red hot nails. He was beaten by clubs, scorched by burning torches held against his body. As a result of seeing him endure all these tortures so courageously, the tribune Respicius was converted to the faith of Christ the Lord. Upon the spot he publicly declared himself to be a Christian. Respicius was then tortured in various ways, and together with Tryphon, dragged to a statue of Jupiter. As Tryphon prayed, the statue fell down. After this occurred both were mercilessly beaten with leaden tipped whips and thus attained to glorious martyrdom. This happened on November 10. On that day also, a virgin named Nympha, declared in ringing tones that Jesus Christ was truly God. For this she added to her virgin’s crown a martyr’s palm.
These examples taken from the official prayers of the Church which have been said for over a millennium cannot be simply ignored for they confirm the faith of the Church. If the Church found reason to suspect that there were errors, the various reformations of the Breviary would have purged the abuses that had been introduced, be it that of Council of Trent (1570) or that of Popes Leo XIII and Pope St Pius X (1910).
Unfortunately some will conclude that, with the Church dogma, Outside the Church there is no salvation, to accept one excludes the other: That is, to accept baptism in desire would be to say there is salvation outside the Catholic Church and to hold there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church would be the same as to say there is no baptism in desire. Are the two mutually exclusive? Two questions must be answered: First, what is the Church teaching regarding salvation outside the Church? Second, does baptism in desire consist of uniting someone to the Church or separating one from the Church?
First, it would be in order to review the teachings of No salvation outside the Catholic Church. Joseph Fenton in his book, The Catholic Church and Salvation, takes the topic of No salvation outside the Catholic Church and addresses the issue from both the neo-Modernists and the followers of Leonard Feeney. As Joseph Fenton was educated by Garrigou-Lagrange at the Angelicum and a well-known and orthodox (understood as holding the true faith as read in the Canon of the Mass: et omnibus orthodixis atque catholicae, et apostolicae fidei cultoribus ) theologian, Alfredo Ottaviani chose him to be one of his peritii during Vatican II where Fenton was considered the chief opponent of John Courtney Murray who was the chief neo-Modernist theologian defending universal salvation, or salvation outside the Catholic Church. The issue of universal salvation (all men are saved unless they reject salvation as opposed to all men are condemned unless they accept salvation) was a topic discussed by ecumenical organizations that preached indifferentism. As the neo-Modernists began to take up this discussion in Catholic circles especially during the 1930’s and 40’s, Joseph Fenton, as a Professor of Dogmatic Theology in the Catholic University of America (Washington, DC), was well aware of the discussion and the arguments. There were three major documents that were issued from Rome during his tenure and while Pope Pius XII reigned: The Encyclical Letter, Mystici Corporis, on the Mystical Body of Christ (i.e., the Church); the condemnation of Leonard Feeny and his followers at the St Benedict Center (Boston University) by the letter from the Holy Office addressed to Cardinal Cushing, Suprema haec sacra, of August 8, 1949; and, the Encyclical Letter, Humani Generis, Concerning Some False opinions Threatening to Undermine the Foundations of Catholic Doctrine, of August 12, 1950. As editor of the American Ecclesiastical Review, Fenton was expected to provide commentaries of the documents and it is these commentaries that provided the research and answers to the questions raised.
As can be found in all orthodox writings of the theologians of this time (Van Noort, Ott, Tanqueray, et al.) Fenton takes the Church as a necessity of salvation, but a necessity that is looked at from the standpoint of a necessity of means and necessity of precept. But he also looks at membership as obtained only within that of sacramental baptism. Still, a union with the Church can be obtained extra-sacramentally, that is, by desire.
(To be continued)
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Fr. Leonard Goffine
The Church’s Year (1918)
On this Sunday the Church redoubles her ardent sighs for the coming of the Redeemer, and, in the Introit, places the longing of the just of the Old Law upon the lips of the faithful, again exhorting them through the gospel of the day, to true penance as the best preparation for the worthy reception of the Savior. Therefore at the Introit she prays:
INTROIT. Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just (Is. 45). Let the earth be opened, and bud forth a Savior. The heavens show forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands (Ps. 18:2). Glory be to the Father.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Raise up, O Lord, we pray Thee, Thy power, and come, and with great might succor us: that, by the help of Thy grace, that which our sins impede may be hastened by Thy merciful forgiveness. Through our Lord.
EPISTLE. (I Cor. 4:1-5). Brethren, Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. Here now it is required among the dispensers, that a man be found faithful. But to me, it is a very small thing to be judged by you, or by man’s day: but neither do I judge my own self. For I am not conscious to myself of anything, yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge not before the time, until the Lord come: who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise from God.
Why is this epistle read on this day?
The Church desires by this epistle to impress those who received Holy Orders on Ember Saturday with the dignity of their office, and exhorts them to fill it with becoming fidelity and sanctity, excelling the laity in piety and virtue, as well as in official dignity. She wishes again to remind the faithful of the terrible coming of Christ to judgment, urging them, by purifying their conscience through a contrite confession, to receive Christ at this holy Christmas time, as their Savior, that they may not behold Him, at the Last Day, as their severe judge.
How should the faithful regard the priests and spiritual superiors?
They should esteem and obey them as servants, stewards, and vicars of Christ; as dispensers of the holy mysteries (I Cor. 4:1); as ambassadors of the most High (II Cor. 5:20). For this reason God earnestly commands honor to priests (Ecclus. 7:31), and Christ says of the Apostles and their successors (Lk. 10:16): Who despiseth you, despiseth me; and St. Paul writes (I Tim. 5:17): Let the priests that rule well be esteemed worthy of double honor: especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.
Can the priest dispense the sacraments according to his own will
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