Quote:Athanasius, the stern defender of the Catholic Faith, was born at Alexandria. He was made Deacon by Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, whose successor he afterwards became. He accompanied that Prelate to the Council of Nicæa, where, having refuted the impious doctrine of Arius, he became such an object of hatred to the Arians, that from that time forward, they never ceased to lay snares for him. Thus, at a Council held at Tyre, at which the majority of the Bishops were Arians, the party suborned a wretched woman, who was to accuse Athanasius, that when lodging in her house, he had offered violence to her. Athanasius was accordingly brought before the Council. One of his priests, by name Timothy, went in with him, and pretending that he was Athanasius, he said to the woman: “What! did I ever lodge at thy house? Did I violate thee?” She boldly answered him: “Yes, it was thou.” She affirmed it with an oath, besought the judges to avenge her, and punish so great a crime. The trick being discovered, the impudent woman was ordered to leave the place.

The Arians also spread the report, that Athanasius had murdered a certain Bishop Arsenius. Having put this Arsenius into confinement, they brought forward the hand of a dead man, saying that it was the hand of Arsenius, and that Athanasius had cut it off for purposes of witchcraft. But Arsenius having made his escape during the night, presented himself before the whole Council, and exposed the impudent malice of Athanasius’ enemies. But even this they attributed to the magical skill of Athanasius, and went on plotting his death. They succeeded in having him banished, and accordingly, he was sent to Treves in Gaul. During the reign of the emperor Constantius, who was on the Arian side, Athanasius had to go through the most violent storms, endure incredible sufferings, and go wandering from country to country. He was driven several times from his See, but was restored, at one time by the authority of Pope Julius, at another by the help of the emperor Constans, Constantius’ brother, at another by the decree of the Councils of Sardica and Jerusalem. During all this, the Arians relented not in their fury against him:; the hatred of him was unremitting; and he only avoided being murdered, by hiding himself, for five years, in a dry well, where he was fed by one of his friends. who was the only person that knew the place of his concealment.

Constantius died, and was succeeded in the Empire by Julian the Apostate, who allowed the exiled Bishops to return to their respective Sees. Accordingly, Athanasius returned to Alexandria, where he was received with every possible mark of honor. Not long after, however, he was again obliged to flee, owing to the persecution he met with from Julian, who was instigated by the Arians. On one occasion, when he was being pursued by the Emperor’s satellites, who were ordered to put him to death, the Saint ordered the boat, in which he was fleeing from danger, to be turned back. As soon as he met the persecutors, they asked him if Athanasius was anywhere near. He answered, that he was not far off. While they, therefore, went one way, he sailed the other, and got back to Alexandria, where he remained in concealment till Julian’s death. Another storm soon arose in the City, and he was obliged to hide himself, for four months, in his father’s sepulcher. Having thus miraculously escaped from all these great dangers, he died peacefully in his own bed, at Alexandria, during the reign of the emperor Valens. His life and death were honored by great miracles. He wrote several admirable treatises, some on subjects pertaining to practical piety, and others on the dogmas of Catholic faith. He for six and forty years, and amidst the most troubled of times, governed the Church of Alexandria with extraordinary piety.

Quote:INSTRUCTION. Of all the gifts that come from God, the most excellent is the gospel and regeneration in baptism, by which He has made us His children and heirs of heaven. How great is this honor, and how earnestly we should endeavor to preserve it! To hear the word of God, when preached to us in sermons, will aid our endeavors. The admonition of the apostle to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, contains true wisdom, for: In the multitude of words there shall not want sin; but he that refraineth his lips is most wise. (Prov. x. 19.)

ASPIRATION. Aid me, O Lord, to preserve the dignity received in baptism, grant me a great love for Thy divine word, and strengthen me to subdue my tongue and to use it only for Thy glory.

Quote:INSTRUCTION. As the disciples, in their grief at Christ's going to His passion and death, after the accomplishment of which He was to return to His Father, never once asked Him: "Whither goest Thou?" many Christians, because of their attachment to this world and its pleasures, never ask themselves: Whither am I going, whither leads my way? By my sinful life I am perhaps going towards hell, or will my little fervor for the right, my lukewarm prayers take me to heaven? Ask yourself in all earnestness, dear Christian, whither leads the way you are going? Is it the right path? if not, retrace your steps, and follow Jesus who by suffering and death entered heaven.

Quote:Philip was born at Bethsaida, and was one of the twelve Apostles that were first called by Christ our Lord. It was from Philip that Nathanael learned that the Messias had come who was promised in the Law; and by him also he was led to our Lord. We have a clear proof of the familiarity wherewith Philip was treated by Christ, in the fact of the Gentiles addressing themselves to this Apostle, when they wished to see the Savior. Again, when our Lord was about to feed the multitude in the desert, he spoke to Philip, and said, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Having received the Holy Ghost, he went into Scythia, which was the country allotted to him, wherein to preach the Gospel; and he converted almost the entire people to the Christian Faith. Having, finally, reached Hierapolis, in Phrygia, he was crucified there for the name of Christ, and then stoned to death on the Kalends of May (May 1st. The Christians buried his body in the same place; but it was afterwards taken to Rome, and, together with the body of the Apostle St. James, was placed in the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles.

Quote:James, the brother of our Lord, was called “the Just.” From his childhood, he never drank wine or strong drink; he abstained from flesh-meat; he never cut his hair, or used oil to anoint his limbs, or took a bath. He was the only one permitted to enter the Holy of Holies. His garments were of linen. So assiduous was he in prayer, that the skin of his knees was as hard as that of a camel. After Christ’s Ascension, the Apostles made him Bishop of Jerusalem; and it was to him that the Prince of the Apostles sent the news of his being delivered out of prison by an Angel. A dispute having arisen in the Council of Jerusalem concerning the Mosaic Law and Circumcision, James sided with Peter, and, in a speech which he made to the Brethren, proved the Vocation of the Gentiles, and said that the absent Brethren were to be written to, and told not to impose the yoke of the Mosaic Law upon the Gentiles. It is to him that the Apostle speaks in his Epistle to the Galatians, when he says: But other of the Apostles I saw none, saving James, the brother of the Lord.

Such was James’ holy life, that people used to strive with each other to touch the hem of his garment. At the age of ninety-six years—of which he had spent thirty governing the Church of Jerusalem in the most saintly manner—as he was one day preaching, with great courage, Christ the Son of God, he was attacked by stones being thrown at him; after which, he was taken to the highest part of the Temple, and cast headlong down. His legs were broken by the fall; and, as he was lying half dead upon the ground, he raised up his hands towards heaven, and thus prayed for his executioners: “Forgive them, O Lord! for they know not what they do.” While thus praying, he received a blow on the head with a fuller’s club, and gave up his soul to his God, in the seventh year of Nero’s reign. He was buried near the Temple, from which he had been thrown down. He wrote a Letter, which is one of the seven Catholic Epistles.

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