FIRST SATURDAY
- St. Marcellinus of Carthage (413). Martyr. (Historical)
CELESTINE was a native of Rome, and upon the demise of Pope Boniface, he was chosen to succeed him, in September, 422, by the wonderful consent of the whole city. His first official act was to confirm the condemnation of an African Bishop, who had been convicted of grave crimes. He wrote also to the Bishops of the provinces of Vienne and Narbonne in Gaul, to correct several abuses, and ordered, among other things, that absolution or reconciliation should never be refused to any dying sinner, who sincerely asked it; for repentance depends not so much on time as on the heart. He assembled a synod at Rome, in 430, in which the writings of Nestorius were examined, and his blasphemies in maintaining in Christ a divine and a human person were condemned. The Pope pronounced sentence of excommunication against Nestorius, and deposed him. Being informed that Agricola, the son of a British Bishop called Severianus, who had been married before he was raised to the priesthood, had spread the seeds of the Pelagian heresy in Britain, St. Celestine sent thither St. Germanus of Auxerre, whose zeal and conduct happily prevented the threatening danger. He also sent St. Palladius, a Roman, to preach the faith to the Scots, both in North Britain and in Ireland, and many authors of the life of St. Patrick say that Apostle likewise received his commission to preach to the Irish from St. Celestine, in 431. This holy Pope died on the 1st of August, in 432, having reigned almost ten years.
REFLECTION: Vigilance is truly needful to those to whom the care of souls has been confided. “Blessed are the servants whom the Lord at His coming shall find watching.”
WORD OF THE DAY
DOCTRINE. Any truth taught by the Church as necessary for acceptance by the faithful. The truth may be either formally revealed (as the Real Presence), or a theological conclusion (as the canonization of a saint), or part of the natural law (as the sinfulness of contraception). In any case, what makes it doctrine is that the Church authority teaches that it is to be believed. This teaching may be done either solemnly in ex cathedra pronouncements or ordinarily in the perennial exercise of the Church’s magisterium or teaching authority. Dogmas are those doctrines which the Church proposes for belief as formally revealed by God. (Etym. Latin doctrina, teaching.)
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: 7. — How Jesus appeared to St. Mary Magdalen.
This article, APRIL 6, 2024 – EASTER SATURDAY – ST. CELESTINE, POPE. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
https://bellarmineforum.org/april-6-2024-easter-saturday-st-celestine-pope/
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