May 10th - Sts. Antoninus, Gordian, and Epimachus

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May 10 – St Antoninus, Bishop and Confessor

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

The Order of St. Dominic, which has already presented to our Triumphant Jesus Peter the Martyr and Catharine the seraph of Sienna, sends him today one of the many Bishops trained and formed in its admirable school. It was in the 15th Century—a period when sanctity was rare on the earth—that Antoninus realized, in his own person, the virtues of the greatest Bishops of ancient times. His apostolic zeal, his deeds of charity, his mortified life, are the glory of the Church of Florence, which has confided to his care. Heaven blessed that illustrious City with temporal prosperity on account of its saintly Archbishop. Cosmas of Medici was frequently heard to say that Florence owed more to Antoninus than to any other man. The holy prelate was also celebrated for his great learning. He defended the Papacy against the calumnies of certain seditious Bishops in the Council of Basle: and at the General Council of Florence, he eloquently asserted the truth of the Catholic Faith, which was assailed by the abettors of the Greek Schism. How beautiful is our holy Mother the Church, that produces such children as Antoninus, and has them in readiness to uphold what is true and withstand what is false!

She thus speaks the praises of today’s Saint:—

Antoninus was born at Florence of respectable parents. He gave great promise, even when quite a child, of his after sanctity. Having at the age of sixteen, entered the Religious Order of Friars Preachers, he at once became an object of admiration, by the practice of the highest virtues. He declared ceaseless war against idleness. After taking a short sleep at night, he was the first at the Office of Matins; which over, he spent the remainder of the night in prayer, or reading, or writing. If at times, he felt himself oppressed with unwelcome sleep, owing to fatigue, he would lean his head, for a while, against the wall, and then, shaking off the drowsiness, he resumed his holy vigils with renewed earnestness.

Being a most rigid observer of Religious discipline, he never ate flesh-meat, save in the case of severe illness. His bed was the ground, or a naked board. He always wore a hair shirt, and sometimes an iron girdle next to his skin. He observed the strictest chastity during his whole life. Such was his prudence in giving counsel, that he went under the name of Antoninus the Counsellor. He so excelled in humility, that, even when Prior and Provincial, he used to fulfill, with the utmost self-abjection, the lowest duties of the Monastery. He was made Archbishop of Florence by Pope Eugenius the Fourth. Great was his reluctance to accept such a dignity; nor would he have consented, had it not been out of fear of incurring the spiritual penalties wherewith he was threatened by the Pope.

It would be difficult to describe the prudence, piety, charity, meekness and apostolic zeal, wherewith he discharged his episcopal office. He learned almost all the sciences to perfection, and, what is surprising, he accomplished this by his own extraordinary talent, without having any master to teach him. Finally, after many labors, and after having published several learned books, he fell sick. Having received the Holy Eucharist and Extreme Unction, embracing the Crucifix, he joyfully welcomed death, on the sixth of the Nones of May (May 10th), in the year 1459. He was illustrious for the miracles which he wrought during his life, as also for those which followed after his death. He was canonized by Adrian the Sixth, in the year of our Lord 1523.

We give thanks to our Risen Jesus for the sublime gifts bestowed by him on thee, O Antoninus! When he confided a portion of his Flock to thy care, he enriched thee with the qualities of a Shepherd according to his own heart. He knew that he could trust to thy love; he therefore gave thee charge over his Lambs. The age in which thou livedst, was one of great disorder, and one that prepared the way for the scandals of the following Century; and yet thou wast one of the brightest lights the Church has ever had. Florence still cherishes thy memory, as the man of God and the father of thy country; aid her by thy prayers. The preachers of heresy have entered within her walls; watch over the field whereon thine own hands sowed the good seed; let not the cockle take root there. Thou wast the defender of the Holy See; raise up in unhappy Italy, imitators of thy zeal and learning. Thou hadst the happiness of witnessing, under the grand cupola of thy Cathedral, the reunion of the Greek Church with Rome; thou hadst a share in bringing about this solemn reconciliation, which, alas! was to be of short duration. Pray, O holy Pontiff, for the descendants of them that were faithless to the promise sealed on the very Altar, whereon thy hands so often offered up the Sacrifice of unity and peace.

Disciple of the great Dominic, inheritor of his burning zeal—protect the holy order which he founded, and of which thou art so bright an ornament. Show that thou still lovest it. Give it increase, and procure for its children the holiness that once worked such loveliness and fruit in the Church. Holy Pontiff, be mindful of the Faithful, who implore thine intercession at this period of the Year.

Thy eloquent lips announced the Pasch, so many years, to the people of Florence, and urged them to share in the Resurrection of our Divine Head. The same Pasch, the immortal Pasch, has shone once more upon us. We are still celebrating it; oh! pray that its fruits may be lasting in us, and that our Risen Jesus, who has given us Life, may, by his grace, preserve it in our souls for all eternity.

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May 10 – Sts Gordian and Epimachus, Martyrs

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

Two fresh Martyrs ascend from our earth on this day, and are admitted to share of Jesus’ glory. Again it is Rome that deputes them to bear her homage to the Conqueror of Death. Gordian was one of the magistrates, under Julian the Apostate, who were commissioned to persecute the Christians. One day, while exercising his office, he suddenly descended from the tribunal, and took his place among the criminals. He was soon called upon to shed his blood for the Faith. His martyrdom, together with that of the illustrious brothers, John and Paul, whose feast we shall keep in June, closes the period of the Pagan Persecutions in the West. The fact of his being buried in the Crypts on the Latin Way awakened the memory of another Martyr, whose Relics, half consumed by fire, had long before been brought thither from Alexandria. His name was Epimachus; and, on this day, the two Martyrs were united inseparably in the devotion of the Faithful. Neither the place nor the period of their combat was the same; but both of them fought for the one cause, and won the same victory. The two Conquerors are buried in Peace in the Eternal City; but He, for whose name they delivered their bodies to death, is mindful of their precious remains. Yet a little while, and he will fulfill, in their regard, the promise he made, when he said: I am the Resurrection and the Life. He that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live.

During the reign of Julian the Apostate, Januarius, a Priest, was brought before Gordian, a judge, that he might be condemned: but Gordian, after receiving instructions concerning the Christian Faith from this same Priest, was baptized by him at Rome, together with his wife, and fifty-three other members of his family. Whereupon the Prefect, having sent Januarius into exile, ordered his deputy Clementianus to imprison Gordian. The deputy, after some time, had Gordian led in chains before his tribunal, and sought to induce him to deny the Faith: but, failing in his attempt, he ordered him to be first scourged with whips laden with plummets of lead, and then beheaded. His body was exposed before the temple of Apollo, that it might be devoured by dogs; but, during the night, the Christians took it, and buried it on the Latin Way, in the same Crypt wherein had previously been laid the relics of the holy Martyr Epimachus, when brought from Alexandria; in which city he had endured a long imprisonment for the Christian Faith, and was finally crowned with martyrdom by being burned to death.

Sleep your sleep of Peace, O holy Martyrs! Rest ye a little time, till your fellow-servants and brethren, who are to be slain, even as you, shall be filled up. The number has been added to in every century; but the world is now near its end, and its last period is to be rich in Martyrdom. When the reign of the Man of Sin begins its course, and the final tempest rages against the bark of holy Church, then, O Martyrs of Christ, protect the Christian people, in return for the yearly tribute of honor that it has paid to your venerable names. Pray also for us who are living during these sad times, whose miseries seem like the distant howling of the storm that is to precede the end of the world. Strengthen our hearts, O holy Martyrs! and whatever may be the lot prepared for us by Providence, obtain for us that we may be faithful to Him who would be to us what he has been to you,—the Resurrection and the Life.