MAY 30, 2024 – CORPUS CHRISTI – ST. FELIX I, POPE AND MARTYR.

• St. Felix I (274). Martyr, Pope. (Traditional)
• St. Ferdinand III (1252). Patron of Governors. (Historical) King of Castile & Leon
• St. Joan of Arc (1431). Patron or Patroness, Virgin. Patroness of France & Soldiers. (Traditional)

CORPUS CHRISTI

TILL the thirteenth century the Church had not thought of establishing a special festival in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, being satisfied with celebrating on Holy Thursday the institution of this divine mystery. At that period, however, as heresiarchs dared to attack the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and numerous miracles and special revelations had occurred to concentrate the attention of the Christian world on this dogma, Pope Urban IV decreed, in 1244, that a special feast should be instituted, which, by its solemnity and pomp, should be as a protestation in favor of the unwavering faith of the Church, and should, at the same time, offer an honorable reparation for the blasphemies of impious men. But this pontiff happening to die soon after, the Bull had not all the effect intended, and it was only after the Council of Vienne, held in 1332, that the feast of the Blessed Sacrament, or Corpus Christi, was definitively established throughout the Catholic world. The Holy Council of Trent newly approved in a formal and earnest manner both the worship itself and its attendant pomp. The Feast of Corpus Christi is then a solemn act of faith in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist; and this belief, to which the Church attaches an importance of the highest moment, is the very groundwork of Catholicity, or rather is the very essence of all Christianity; for if Jesus Christ be not present really and corporeally under the elements of bread and wine, as He has Himself formally told us, His word is no longer reliable, He is no longer God, and there remains of religion naught save a beautiful but sterile philosophy, which each one can remodel after his own mind. If it be allowable, as Protestants contend, to interpret, in a purely allegorical sense, words of such clearness that there are not, throughout the whole of the Gospel, any more positive or precise, it is permissible to interpret every thing at will, and the Gospel remains an enigma, the solution whereof is nowhere to be found. It is furthermore the intention of the Church to make an avowal of her love and gratitude to Jesus Christ, and to offer reparation for all the profanations and sacrileges to which this adorable sacrament has been exposed.

REFLECTION: O weakhearted and lukewarm Christians! O ye infidels, unbelievers, and heretics of all ages! “if you did but know the gift of ‘rod, you would perhaps have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water!”

ST. FELIX I, POPE AND MARTYR.

ST. FELIX was a Roman by birth, and succeeded St. Dionysius in the government of the Church in 269. Paul of Samosata, the proud bishop of Antioch, to the guilt of many enormous crimes, added that of heresy, teaching that Christ was no more than a mere man, in whom the Divine Word dwelt by its operation, and as in its temple, with many other gross errors concerning the capital mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation. Three councils were held at Antioch to examine his cause, and in the third, assembled in 269, being clearly convicted of heresy, pride, and many scandalous crimes, he was excommunicated and deposed, and Domnus was substituted in his place. As Paul still kept possession of the episcopal house, our Saint had recourse to the emperor Aurelian, who, though a pagan, gave an order that the house should belong to him to whom the bishops of Rome and Italy adjudged it. The persecution of Aurelian breaking out, St. Felix, fearless of danger, strengthened the weak, encouraged all, baptized the catechumens, and continued to exert himself in converting infidels to the faith. He himself obtained the glory of martyrdom. He governed the Church five years, and passed to a glorious eternity in 274.

REFLECTION: The example of our Saviour and of all His saints, ought to encourage us under all trials to suffer with patience and even with joy. We shall soon begin to feel that it is sweet to tread in the steps of a God-man, and shall find that if we courageously take up our crosses, He will make them light by sharing the burden with us.

WORD OF THE DAY

CONCURSUS. The divine activity in its relation to finite causes in the preservation and development of the world. Also called divine co-operation, it is immediate and universal because on it absolutely depends the continued activity of all creation. The inherent reason for the divine concursus lies in the active dependence of creatures on the Creator, not only for their being but for the power that flows from the being that they have. (Etym. Latin con-, with + currere, to run: concursus, the coming together, coincidence.)

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!)

May, Month of the Immaculate Heart

Maria Magnificata. Short Meditations for May, the Month on Our Lady’s Life. 30th Day — Mary’s Assumption into Heaven.

This article, MAY 30, 2024 – CORPUS CHRISTI – ST. FELIX I, POPE AND MARTYR. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
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