DECEMBER 20 – ST. PHILOGONIUS, BISHOP.
ST. PHILOGONIUS was educated for the law, and appeared at the bar with great success. He was admired for his eloquence, but still more for his integrity and the sanctity of his life. This was considered a sufficient motive for dispensing with the canons, which require some time spent among the clergy before a person be advanced to the highest station in the Church. Philogonius was placed in the see of Antioch, upon the death of Vitalis in 318. When Arius broached his blasphemies at Alexandria in 318, St. Alexander condemned him, and sent the sentence in a synodal letter to St. Philogonius, who strenuously defended the Catholic faith before the assembly of the Council of Nice. In the storms which were raised against the Church, first by Maximin II and afterward by Licinius, St. Philogonius deserved the title of Confessor; he died in the year 322, the fifth of his episcopal dignity.
REFLECTION: St. Philogonius had so perfectly renounced the world, and crucified its inordinate desires in his heart, that he received in this life the earnest of Christ’s Spirit, was admitted to the sacred council of the heavenly King, and had free access to the Almighty. A soul must here learn the heavenly spirit, and be well versed in the occupations of the blessed, that hopes to reign with them hereafter.
WORD OF THE DAY
BRIBERY. The payment or promise to pay something of value to induce another to do as one wishes or prescribes. It generally refers to those pledged to the common good who act for individual profit or for the briber’s benefit. The Catholic Church teaches that bribery in any form is immoral. The guilt is equally divided among all active agents, and their culpability varies with circumstances. (Etym. Middle-English bribe; Old French bribe, a piece of bread given to a beggar.)
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!)
ST. ANDREW NOVENA
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, o my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.
(It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30th) until Christmas, will obtain what is asked). This formula of the prayer bears an Imprimatur from † Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York. New York, February 6, 1897.
DAILY ADVENT MEDITATIONS
Deepen your appreciation of the Incarnation and our salvation with The Great Truths Series by Fr. Richard Clarke S.J. Read today’s “O Clavis David & The First Sin” but consider this:
This open rebellion to God lasted but a moment. In an instant all their supernatural beauty was gone, the malice of their souls corrupted their whole being. All their beauty was turned to loathsome foulness. Cast out of God’s heaven, they were hurled down to the lowest hell; outcasts to all eternity, filled with eternal misery and despair. And all this the effect of one sin, and that a sin of thought!
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