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St. Gabriel Archangel

The day before the great feast of the Annunciation, the Church celebrates the feast of the Archangelwho brought to earth the glad tidings that Mary was chosen to be the Mother of the Incarnate God.

This angelic Messenger appears several times in the history of God’s chosen people. He came toDaniel the prophet after he had a vision of the future Persian and Greek empires, to explain thevision to him, as Daniel narrates in the eighth chapter of his book. So great was the Archangel’smajesty that the prophet fell on his face trembling.

The Angel of the Incarnation again appeared to the prophet to answer his prayer at the end of theexile, and advise him of the exact date of the future Redemption by the long-awaited Messiah.

When the fullness of time had come, Gabriel was sent several times as the harbinger of theIncarnation of the Most High God. First, to the Temple of Jerusalem, while Zachary stood at thealtar of incense, to tell him that his wife Elizabeth would bring forth a son to be called John, whowould prepare the way of the Lord. (Luke 1:17) Six months later the great Archangel againappeared, bearing the greatest message God ever sent to earth. Standing before the Blessed VirginMary, this great Archangel of God trembled with reverence as he offered Her the ineffable honor ofbecoming Mother of the Eternal Word. Upon Her consent, “the Word was made flesh and dweltamong us.” It was he, we can readily believe, who also fortified Saint Joseph for his mission asvirginal father of the Saviour.

Gabriel rightly bears the beautiful name, the strength of God, manifesting in every apparition thepower and glory of the Eternal. According to some of the Fathers of the Church, it was SaintGabriel, Angel of the Incarnation, who invited the shepherds of Bethlehem to come to the Crib toadore the newborn God. He was with Jesus in His Agony, no less ready to be the strength of Godin the Garden than at Nazareth and Bethlehem. Throughout Christian tradition he is the Angel ofthe Incarnation, the Angel of consolation, the Angel of mercy.

The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This great festival takes its name from the happy tidings brought by the Archangel Gabriel to theBlessed Virgin, announcing the Incarnation of the Son of God. It commemorates the most importantembassy that was ever known, an embassy sent by the King of kings, and performed by one of thechief princes of His heavenly court, and directed, not to the great ones of this earth, but to a poor,unknown virgin who, being endowed with angelic purity of soul and body, and perfect humility andsubmission to God, was greater in His eyes than the mightiest monarch in the world.

When the Son of God became man, He could have taken our nature without the cooperation of anycreature; but He was pleased to be born of a woman, the One announced in the third chapter ofGenesis. In choosing Her whom He raised to this most sublime of all dignities, He was turning tothe one maiden who, by the riches of His grace and virtues, was of all others the most holy and themost perfect. The purpose of this embassy of the Archangel was to give a Saviour to the world, avictim of propitiation to the sinner, a model to the just, a son to this Virgin who would remain avirgin, and a new nature to the Son of God — the nature of man, capable of suffering pain andanguish in order to satisfy God’s justice for our transgressions.

When the Angel appeared to Mary and addressed Her, the Blessed Virgin was troubled; not at hiscoming, says Saint Ambrose, for heavenly visions and conversation with the blessed spirits had beenfamiliar to Her, but what alarmed Her, he says, was the Angel’s appearing in human form, in theshape of a young man. What added to her alarm on this occasion was his words of praise. Mary,guarded by her modesty, was in confusion before expressions of this sort, and dreaded even theshadow of deluding flattery. Such high commendations made her cautious, until in silence She hadmore fully considered the matter: “She deliberated in her mind,” says Saint Luke, “what manner ofsalutation this could be.”

The Angel, to calm her, said: “Fear not, Mary, for Thou hast found favor before God.” He theninformed Her that She was to conceive a Son whose name would be Jesus, who would be great andthe Son of the Most High, and possessed of the throne of David, Her illustrious ancestor. Mary, outof a just concern to know how she may comply with the will of God without prejudice to Her vowof virginity, inquired, “How shall this be?” Nor did She give Her consent until the heavenlymessenger informed Her that it was to be a work of the Holy Spirit, who, in making Her fruitful,would not alter in the slightest Her virginal purity. In submission to God’s will, without any furtherinquiries, She expressed Her assent in these humble but powerful words: “Behold the handmaid ofthe Lord; be it done unto Me according to thy word.” What faith and confidence Her answerexpressed! What profound humility and perfect obedience!

St. Ludger

Saint Ludger was born in Friesland (the Netherlands) about the year 743. His father, a nobleman ofthe first rank, at the child’s own request, committed him very young to the care of Saint Gregory,Bishop of Utrecht, a disciple of Saint Boniface and his successor in the government of the see ofUtrecht. Saint Gregory educated him in his monastery of Utrecht, and gave him the clerical tonsure.

Ludger, desirous of further religious studies, passed over into England, and spent four and a halfyears under Alcuin, Rector of a famous school at York. In 773 he returned home, and when SaintGregory died in 776, his successor, Alberic, compelled Saint Ludger to receive the priesthood.

The new bishop employed him for several years in preaching the Word of God in Friesland, where heconverted great numbers, founded several monasteries, and built many churches. The pagan Saxonsthen entered and ravaged the country, and drove out the missionaries. Saint Ludger traveled toRome to consult Pope Adrian II as to what course he should take, and what he thought Godrequired of him. He then retired for three and a half years to Monte Cassino to study SaintBenedict’s Rule; there he wore the habit of the Order and conformed to its practices during his stay,but made no religious vows.

In 787, Charlemagne overcame the Saxons, conquering Friesland and the coast of the GermanicOcean as far as Denmark. Saint Ludger was sent by the Emperor, who had heard of him, toevangelize the pagans of five districts; thus he returned into East Friesland, where he brought theSaxons to the Faith, with the province of Westphalia. He founded the monastery of Werden, twenty-nine miles from Cologne. In 802, Hildebald, Archbishop of Cologne, in spite of his strenuousresistance, ordained him Bishop of Munster. He joined to his diocese five cantons of Friesland whichhe had converted, and founded the monastery of Helmstad in the duchy of Brunswick.

Being accused to the Emperor Charlemagne of wasting his income and neglecting the embellishmentof churches, that prince ordered him to appear at court. The Saint, when he was summoned beforethe Emperor, was at prayer, and told the messenger he would follow him as soon as he had finishedhis devotions. He was sent for three times before he was ready, and his delay was represented to theEmperor by the courtiers as contempt for his Majesty. The Emperor, with some emotion, askedSaint Ludger why he had made him wait so long, though he had sent for him often. The bishopanswered that although he had the most profound respect for his Majesty, yet God was infinitelyabove him; that while we are occupied with Him, it is our duty to forget everything else. Thisanswer made such an impression on Charlemagne that he dismissed him with honor and disgraced hisaccusers.

Saint Ludger was favored with the gifts of miracles and prophecy, but desired that these not bepublished. His last sickness did not hinder him from continuing his functions up to and including thelast day of his life, which was Passion Sunday. On that day he preached very early in the morning,said Mass towards nine, and preached again before nightfall, in another town. He told those withhim that he would die during the night, and indicated a place in his monastery of Werden where hewished to be interred. He died as he foretold, on March 26, 809.

St. John Damascene

Saint John was born in the late 7^th century, and is the most remarkable of the Greek writers of the 8^thcentury. His father was a civil authority who was Christian amid the Saracens of Damascus, whosecaliph made him his minister. This enlightened man found in the public square one day, amid agroup of sad Christian captives, a priest of Italian origin who had been condemned to slavery; heransomed him and assigned him to his young son to be his tutor. Young John made extraordinaryprogress in grammar, dialectic, mathematics, music, poetry, astronomy, but above all in theology, thediscipline imparting knowledge of God. John became famous for his encyclopedic knowledge andtheological method, later a source of inspiration to Saint Thomas Aquinas.

When his father died, the caliph made of him his principal counselor, his Grand Vizier. Thus it wasthrough Saint John Damascene that the advanced sciences made their apparition among the ArabMoslems, who had burnt the library of Alexandria in Egypt; it was not the Moslems who instructedthe Christians, as was believed for some time in Europe. Saint John vigorously opposed theferocious Iconoclast persecution instigated by the Emperor of Constantinople, Leo the Isaurian. Hedistinguished himself, with Saint Germain, Patriarch of Constantinople, in the defense of theveneration of sacred images.

The Emperor, irritated, himself conjured up a plot against him. A letter was forged, signed withSaint John’s name, and addressed to himself, the Emperor of Constantinople, offering to deliver upthe city of Damascus to him. That letter was then transmitted by the Emperor to the Caliph ofDamascus, advising him as a “good neighbor” should do, that he had a traitor for minister. AlthoughSaint John vigorously defended himself against the charge, he was condemned by the Caliph to havehis right hand cut off. The severed hand, by order of the Caliph, was attached to a post in a publicsquare. But Saint John obtained the hand afterwards, and invoked the Blessed Virgin in a prayerwhich has been preserved; he prayed to be able to continue to write the praises of Her Son andHerself. The next morning when he awoke, he found his hand joined again to the arm, leaving notrace of pain, but only a fine red line like a bracelet, marking the site of the miracle.

The Saint was reinstated afterwards to the favor of the local prince, but he believed that heaven hadmade it clear he was destined to serve the Church by his writings. He therefore distributed hisproperty and retired soon thereafter to the monastery of Saint Sabas near Jerusalem, where he spentmost of his remaining years in apologetic writings and prayer. Occasionally he left to console theChristians of Syria and Palestine and strengthen them, even going to Constantinople in the hope ofobtaining martyrdom there. However, he was able to return to his monastery. There he died inpeace at the age of 104, and was buried near the door of the monastery church, in the year 780.

St. John of Egypt

Until he was twenty-five, John worked as a carpenter with his father. Then, experiencing a call fromGod, he left the world and committed himself to a holy solitary in the desert. His master tested himby many unreasonable commands, bidding him roll hard rocks, tend dead trees, and the like. Johndistinguished himself by his perfect obedience, for he executed all commands with the simplicity of achild.

The monk Palladius, who later became a bishop, visited him one day. Saint John foretold he wouldsome day become a bishop. He laughed, saying he was only in charge of a kitchen, but Saint Johnsmiled and said, “You will have, in that future office, many labors and afflictions to endure. If youwant to avoid them, remain in your solitude, for as long as you stay there, no one can consecrateyou a bishop!” Palladius, when he fell ill, was sent to Alexandria, then advised to go for his healthto Palestine and Bithynia, in northeastern Asia Minor, where he was indeed made Bishop ofHelenopolis. He was included in the persecution against Saint John Chrysostom, Patriarch ofConstantinople, and had to conceal himself for eleven months in a dark room; there he recalled thewords of the great prophet and spiritual teacher, Saint John of Egypt.

After a careful training of sixteen years, Saint John had withdrawn to the top of a steep cliff, to thinkonly of God and his soul. The more he knew of himself, the more he distrusted himself. The resultof his vigilance and purity was threefold — a holy joy and cheerfulness which consoled all whoconversed with him, perfect obedience to superiors, and, in return for this, authority over creatures,whom he had forsaken for the Creator. He had the gift of reading in souls; once when a deaconvisited him with six other persons, Saint John recognized him as a cleric, though the young man hadkept it a secret until then, and denied it. Saint John kissed his hand after identifying him as a deaconbefore all present, saying, “One must never lie, even under the pretext of doing good. Beware ofdisavowing the grace God has given you; for falsehood comes not from God, but from an evilsource, as Our Saviour teaches us.”

Devils assailed Saint John continually, but he never ceased his prayer. After his long communingwith God, he turned to humans with gifts of healing and prophecy. Twice each week he spokethrough a window with those who came to him, blessing oil for the sick and predicting things tocome. To the Emperor Theodosius he foretold his future victories and the time of his death. Rufinus, biographer of the Desert Fathers, recorded a long instruction offered himself and othervisitors from Jerusalem. Saint John warned in particular against vanity: “Vanity is such a great anddangerous sin that it can make souls fall from the very heights of perfection; and that is why I exhortyou to avoid it more than any other.”

The last three days of his life he gave wholly to God; on the third he was found on his knees as inprayer, but his soul was with the blessed. He died in 394.

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