SEPTEMBER 17, 2024 – ST. LAMBERT, BISHOP, MARTYR.

• St. Hildegard of Bingen (1179). Abbot or Abbess, Doctor of the Church, Virgin. (Current, Historical)
• St. Robert Bellarmine, SJ (1621). Bishop, Doctor of the Church. Patron of Bellarmine Forum. (Current, Bellarmine Forum History)
• The Imprinting of the Stigmata on St. Francis of Assisi (1224). (Traditional)

ST. LAMBERT was a native of Maestricht. His father entrusted his education to the holy Bishop St. Theodard, and on that good man being assassinated, Lambert was chosen his successor. A revolution breaking out which overturned the kingdom of Austrasia, our Saint was banished from his see on account of his devotion to his sovereign. He retired to the monastery of Stavelo, and there obeyed the rule as strictly as the youngest novice could have done. One instance will suffice to show with how perfect a sacrifice of himself he devoted his heart to serve God. As he was rising one night in winter to his private devotions, he happened to let fall his wooden sandal or slipper. The abbot, without asking who had caused the noise, gave orders that the offender should go and pray before the cross, which stood before the church door. Lambert, without making any answer, went out as he was, barefoot, and covered only with his hair shirt; and in this condition he prayed, kneeling before the cross, where he was found some hours after. At the sight of the holy bishop the abbot and the monks fell on the ground and asked his pardon. “God forgive you,” said he, “for thinking you stand in need of pardon for this action. As for myself, is it not in cold and nakedness that, according to St. Paul, I am to tame my flesh and to serve God?” While St. Lambert enjoyed the quiet of holy retirement, he wept to see the greatest part of the churches of France laid waste. In the mean time the political clouds began to break away, and Lambert was restored to his see, but his zeal in suppressing the many and notorious disorders which existed in his diocese led to his assassination on the 17th of September, 709.

REFLECTION: How noble and heroic is this virtue of fortitude! how necessary for every Christian, especially for a pastor of souls, that neither worldly views nor fears may ever in the least warp his integrity or blind his judgment!

WORD OF THE DAY

MARKS OF THE CHURCH. The four essential notes that characterize the Church of Christ, first fully enumerated in the Nicene-Constantinople Creed; one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. Since the Eastern Schism and the Protestant Reformation they have become means of identifying the true Church among the rival claimants in Christianity. Some writers add other notes besides the traditional four, e.g., St. Robert Bellarmine with a total of fifteen, including the mark of persecution.

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!)

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