- Our Lady of Prompt Succor. (Traditional)
- St. Ita (Ida) (570). Virgin. (Historical)
- St. Maurus (580). Abbot or Abbess. (Traditional)
- St. Paul the Hermit (342). (Traditional) the first hermit
ST. PAUL was born in Upper Egypt, about the year 230, and became an orphan at the age of fifteen, being very rich and highly educated. Fearing lest the tortures of a terrible persecution might endanger his perseverance, he retired into a remote village. But his pagan brother-in-law denounced him, and St. Paul, rather than remain where his faith was in danger, entered the barren desert, trusting that God would supply his wants. And his confidence was rewarded; for in the spot to which Providence led him he found the fruit of the palm-tree for food, and its leaves for clothing, and the water of the spring for drink. His first design was to return to the world when the persecution was over, but tasting great delights in prayer and penance, he remained the rest of his life, ninety years, in penance, prayer, and contemplation. God revealed his existence to St. Antony, who sought him for three days. Seeing a thirsty she-wolf run through an opening in the rocks, Antony followed her to look for water, and found Paul. They knew each other at once, and praised God together. When St. Antony visited him, a raven brought him a loaf, and St. Paul said, “See how good God is! For sixty years this bird has brought me half a loaf every day; now thou art come, Christ has doubled the provision for His servants.”
Having passed the night in prayer, at dawn of day Paul told Antony he was about to die, and asked to be buried in the cloak given to Antony by St. Athanasius. Antony hastened to fetch it, and on his way back saw Paul rise to heaven in glory. He found his dead body kneeling as if in prayer, and two lions came and dug his grave. Paul died in his one hundred and thirteenth year.
REFLECTION: We shall never repent of having trusted in God, for he cannot fail those who lean on him; nor shall we ever trust in ourselves without being deceived.
WORD OF THE DAY
MARXISM. The social philosophy of Karl Marx (1818-83) as developed with his collaborator Friedrich Engels (1820-95) and later embodied in world Communism. There are five essential elements to Marxism, namely dialectical materialism, economic determinism, surplus value, progressive pauperization, and the Revolution.
Marx combined the dialectical method of Hegel with the materialism of Feuerbach. According to Marxism, nothing really exists but matter, which contains within itself the principle of its own development. Man is the spearhead of this necessary evolution.
Economic determinism holds that the underlying motive in all human history is economic. As the economy, so the civilization.
The workman, according to Marx, creates more value than he is paid for, and this surplus value goes to the employer, who exploits the worker to that extent. The employer puts this surplus value back into his business, and this constitutes capital. The lower the wages, the more capital for the capitalist.
As part of his theory of economic determinism, Marx held that the rich necessarily get richer and the poor poorer. Financial crises, inseparable from the capitalist system, accentuate the degrading process.
All the foregoing are preliminary to the Marxist hope of a classless society. Capitalism must inevitably collapse; the masses will revolt, seize the means of production, establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. After a phase of state socialism there will emerge the Communist utopia where no struggles exist because all classes of society will have disappeared.
The classic position of the Catholic Church on Marxism is the encyclical of Pope Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris, published in 1937.
Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)
Christmastide Meditations
Daily devotional meditations on the Birth of Our Savior and Christmastide: Their Return Home – Christmas Meditation Day 22 (Jan 15)
