APRIL 17, 2024 – ST. ANICETUS, POPE, MARTYR.

• St. Anicetus (175). Martyr, Priest. (Traditional)
• St. Stephen Harding (1134). Abbot or Abbess. (Historical)

ST. ANICETUS succeeded St. Pius, and sat about eight years, from 165 to 173. If he did not shed his blood for the faith, he at least purchased the title of martyr by great sufferings and dangers. He received a visit from St. Polycarp, and tolerated the custom of the Asiatics in celebrating Easter on the 4th day of the first moon after the vernal equinox, with the Jews. His vigilance protected his flock from the wiles of the heretics, Valentine and Marcion, who sought to corrupt the faith in the capital of the world. 

The thirty-six first bishops at Rome, down to Liberius, and, this one excepted, all the popes to Symmachus, the fifty-second, in 498, are honored among the Saints; and out of two hundred and forty-eight popes, from St. Peter to Clement XIII seventy-eight are named in the Roman Martyrology. In the primitive ages, the spirit of fervor and perfect sanctity, which is nowadays so rarely to be found, was conspicuous in most of the faithful, and especially in their pastors. The whole tenor of their lives breathed it in such a manner as to render them the miracles of the world, angels on earth, living copies of their divine Redeemer, the odor of whose virtues and holy law and religion they spread on every side.

REFLECTION: If, after making the most solemn protestations of inviolable friendship and affection for a fellow-creature, we should the next moment revile and contemn him, without having received any provocation or affront, and this habitually, would not the whole world justly call our protestations hypocrisy, and our pretended friendship a mockery? Let us by this rule judge if our love of God be sovereign, so long as our inconstancy betrays the insincerity of our hearts.

WORD OF THE DAY

CHARIS. The basic term in the New Testament for "grace," especially in the letters of St. Paul. Building on the profane sense of attractiveness or charm, the biblical meaning designates the goodness of God, which is at once generous and gratuitous, undeserved by humans and sanctifying by God. Charis is closely identified with the whole Gospel. Ultimately it determines why the Good News is good, because God’s favor raises humans to a share in God’s own divine nature (Ephesians 1:6), redeems humans from sin (Romans 5:15), and enables them to practice virtue after the example of Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 1:4). In the language of St. Paul charis differs from charisma as a divine favor that sanctifies the person, differs from a spiritual gift that enables its receiver to perform some office or function in the Church for others. (Etym. Greek kharisma, favor, divine gift, from kharizesthai, to favor, from kharis, grace, favor.)

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!)

EASTER MEDITATIONS

Enjoy daily meditations this Easter from Fr. Richard Clarke, SJ. Short and powerful, written in 1880 for busy lay people to reap rewards through Eastertide: 19.— The Words of Jesus to His Apostles.

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