Monday after Epiphany
Saints of the day: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Foundress (1774-1821)
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Yes, Venerable Brothers and beloved sons and daughters! Elizabeth Ann Seton is a Saint! We rejoice and we are deeply moved that our apostolic ministry authorizes us to make this solemn declaration before all of you here present, before the holy Catholic Church, before our other Christian brethren in the world, before the entire American people, and before all humanity.Foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph's (1774-1821) Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is a Saint! She is the first daughter of the United States of America to be glorified with this incomparable attribute! But what do we mean when we say: «She is a Saint»? We all have some idea of the meaning of this highest title; but it is still difficult for us to make an exact analysis of it. Being a Saint means being perfect, with a perfection that attains the highest level that a human being can reach. A Saint is a human creature fully conformed to the will of God. A Saint is a person in whom all sin-the principle of death-is cancelled out and replaced by the living splendor of divine grace. The analysis of the concept of sanctity brings us to recognize in a soul the mingling of two elements that are entirely different but which come together to produce a single effect: sanctity. One of these elements is the human and moral element, raised to the degree of heroism: heroic virtues are always required by the Church for the recognition of a person's sanctity. The second element is the mystical element, which express the measure and form of divine action in the person chosen by God to realize in herself-always in an original way-the image of Christ (Cfr. Romans 8:29). The science of sanctity is therefore the most interesting, the most varied, the most surprising and the most fascinating of all the studies of that ever mysterious being which is man. The Church has made this study of the life, that is, the interior and exterior history, of Elizabeth Ann Seton. And the Church has exulted with admiration and joy, and has today heard her own charism of truth poured out in the exclamation that we send up to God and announce to the world: She is a Saint! (...). This will be one of the most valuable fruits of the Canonization of the new Saint: to know her, in order to admire in her an outstanding human figure; in order to praise God who is wonderful in his saints; to imitate her example which this ceremony places in a light that will give perennial edification; to invoke her protection, now that we have the certitude of her participation in the exchange of heavenly life in the Mystical Body of Christ, which we call the Communion of Saints and in which we also share, although still belonging to life on earth. (...) Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was born, brought up and educated in New York in the Episcopalian Communion. To this Church goes the merit of having awakened and fostered the religious sense and Christian sentiment which in the young Elizabeth were naturally predisposed to the most spontaneous and lively manifestations. We willingly recognize this merit, and, knowing well how much it cost Elizabeth to pass over to the Catholic Church, we admire her courage for adhering to the religious truth and divine reality which were manifested to her therein. And we are likewise pleased to see that from this same adherence to the Catholic Church she experienced great peace and security, and found it natural to preserve all the good things which her membership in the fervent Episcopalian community had taught her, in so many beautiful expressions, especially of religious piety, and that she was always faithful in her esteem and affection for those from whom her Catholic profession had sadly separated her. (...) And then we must note that Elizabeth Seton was the mother of a family and at the same time the foundress of the first Religious Congregation of women in the United States. (...)The Church renders the greatest honor possible to Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton and extols her personal and extraordinary contribution as a woman a wife, a mother, a widow, and a religious. May the dynamism and authenticity of her life be an example in our day-and for generations to come-of what women can and must accomplish, in the fulfillment of their role, for the good of humanity. And finally we must recall that the most notable characteristic of our Saint is the fact that she was, as we said, the foundress of the first Religious Congregation of women in the United States. It was an offspring of the religious family of Saint Vincent de Paul, which later divided into various autonomous branches-five principal ones-now spread throughout the world. And yet all of them recognize their origin in the first group, that of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph's, personally established by Saint Elizabeth Seton at Emmitsburg in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The apostolate of helping the poor and the running of parochial schools in America had this humble, poor, courageous and glorious beginning. (...) Yes, brethren, and sons and daughters: the Lord is indeed wonderful in his saints. Blessed be God for ever!
[[ Canonization of Elisabeth Ann Seton: Homily of Pope Paul VI - September 14, 1975]] - Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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St. Gregory, Bishop († c. 541)
An incredible number of infidels were converted by him from idolatry, and worldly Christians from their disorders.
He died about the beginning of the year 541, but some days after the Epiphany. Out of devotion to St. Benignus, he desired to be buried near that Saint's tomb at Dijon; this was executed by his virtuous son Tetricus, who succeeded him in his bishopric.[Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]]
Monday after Epiphany
The First Epistle of John 3:22 then, whatever we ask for, we receive from him; because we are obeying his commands and doing the things that please him.
SAINT GREGORY
Bishop
(† c. 541)
St. Gregory was one of the principal senators of Autun, and continued from the death of his wife a widower till the age of fifty-seven, et which time, for his singular virtues, he was consecrated Bishop of Langres, which see he governed with admirable prudence and zeal thirty-three years, sanctifying his pastoral labors by the most profound humility, assiduous prayer, and extraordinary abstinence and mortification.Bishop
(† c. 541)
An incredible number of infidels were converted by him from idolatry, and worldly Christians from their disorders.
He died about the beginning of the year 541, but some days after the Epiphany. Out of devotion to St. Benignus, he desired to be buried near that Saint's tomb at Dijon; this was executed by his virtuous son Tetricus, who succeeded him in his bishopric.[Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]]
Monday after Epiphany
The First Epistle of John 3:22 then, whatever we ask for, we receive from him; because we are obeying his commands and doing the things that please him.
23 This is his command: that we are to trust in the person and power of his Son Yeshua the Messiah and to keep loving one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey his commands remain united with him and he with them.
Here is how we know that he remains united with us: by the Spirit whom he gave us.
4:1 Dear friends, don’t trust every spirit. On the contrary, test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 Here is how you recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges that Yeshua the Messiah came as a human being is from God, 3 and every spirit which does not acknowledge Yeshua is not from God — in fact, this is the spirit of the Anti-Messiah. You have heard that he is coming. Well, he’s here now, in the world already!
4 You, children, are from God and have overcome the false prophets, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore, they speak from the world’s viewpoint; and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God doesn’t listen to us. This is how we distinguish the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error.
Psalm 2:7 “I will proclaim the decree:
Adonai said to me,
‘You are my son;
today I became your father.
8 Ask of me, and I will make
the nations your inheritance;
the whole wide world
will be your possession.
10 Therefore, kings, be wise;
be warned, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve Adonai with fear;
rejoice, but with trembling.
12 Kiss the son, lest he be angry,
and you perish along the way,
when suddenly his anger blazes.
How blessed are all who take refuge in him.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Matthew 4:12 When Yeshua heard that Yochanan had been put in prison, he returned to the Galil; 13 but he left Natzeret and came to live in K’far-Nachum, a lake shore town near the boundary between Z’vulun and Naftali. 14 This happened in order to fulfill what Yesha‘yahu the prophet had said,
15 “Land of Z’vulun and land of Naftali,
toward the lake, beyond the Yarden, Galil-of-the-Goyim —
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those living in the region, in the shadow of death,
light has dawned.” [Matthew 4:16 Isaiah 8:23(9:1)–9:1(2)]
17 From that time on, Yeshua began proclaiming, “Turn from your sins to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!”
23 Yeshua went all over the Galil teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing people from every kind of disease and sickness. 24 Word of him spread throughout all Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill, suffering from various diseases and pains, and those held in the power of demons, and epileptics and paralytics; and he healed them. 25 Huge crowds followed him from the Galil, the Ten Towns, Yerushalayim, Y’hudah, and ‘Ever-HaYarden.
Monday after Epiphany
Commentary of the day:
Odes of Solomon (Hebrew Christian text from the beginning of the 2nd century)
No. 15
"On those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen"
---------------------Odes of Solomon (Hebrew Christian text from the beginning of the 2nd century)
No. 15
The joy of those who seek its day
is like the sun:
even so my joy is in the Lord
since he is the sun to me.
His rays have raised me up,
his light has dispersed all shadows from my countenance.
Thanks to him I was given eyes
and saw his holy day;
I had ears
and heard his truth;
I had thoughts of knowledge
and with its aid I rejoiced.
I have forsaken the way of error;
I turned to him
and from him received abundantly of salvation.
He bestowed it on me according to his kindness
and his beauty has fashioned me.
In his name I have put on incorruptibility,
by his grace I have forsaken corruption.
Mortality has vanished from before my face,
the dwelling-place of the dead has been annihilated by my word,
immortal life has arisen in the land of the Lord.
It has been revealed to believers
and granted without reserve
to all those who put their trust in him.
Alleluia!
is like the sun:
even so my joy is in the Lord
since he is the sun to me.
His rays have raised me up,
his light has dispersed all shadows from my countenance.
Thanks to him I was given eyes
and saw his holy day;
I had ears
and heard his truth;
I had thoughts of knowledge
and with its aid I rejoiced.
I have forsaken the way of error;
I turned to him
and from him received abundantly of salvation.
He bestowed it on me according to his kindness
and his beauty has fashioned me.
In his name I have put on incorruptibility,
by his grace I have forsaken corruption.
Mortality has vanished from before my face,
the dwelling-place of the dead has been annihilated by my word,
immortal life has arisen in the land of the Lord.
It has been revealed to believers
and granted without reserve
to all those who put their trust in him.
Alleluia!
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