A Community of Love, Unity and Service

St. Mark

Saint Mark was converted to the Faith by the Prince of the Apostles, whom he later accompaniedto Rome, acting there as his secretary or interpreter. When Saint Peter wrote his First Epistle tothe churches of Asia, he affectionately joined to his own salutation that of his faithful companion,whom he calls “my son Mark.” The Roman people entreated Saint Mark to put in writing forthem the substance of Saint Peter’s frequent discourses on Our Lord’s life. This the Evangelistdid under the eye and with the express sanction of the Apostle, and every page of his brief butgraphic Gospel so bore the impress of Saint Peter’s character, that the Fathers used to name it“Peter’s Gospel.”

Saint Mark was then sent to Egypt to found the Church of Alexandria. There his disciplesbecame the wonder of the world for their piety and asceticism; Saint Jerome speaks of Saint Markas the father of the anchorites who at a later time thronged the Egyptian deserts. There, too, heset up the first Christian school, the fruitful mother of many illustrious doctors and bishops.

After governing his see for many years, Saint Mark was seized one day by the heathen, draggedby ropes over stones, and thrown into prison. On the morrow the torture was repeated, and afterreceiving the consolation of the sight of Angels and the voice of Jesus, Saint Mark went to hisreward.

It is to Saint Mark that we owe the many pictorial touches which often give such vivid color tothe Gospel scenes, and help us to visualize the very gestures and appearance of our Blessed Lord. It is he alone who notes that in the temptation Jesus was “with the beasts;” that He slept in theboat “on a pillow”; that He “embraced the little children”. He alone preserves for us thecommand, “Peace, be still!” by which the storm was quelled, and even the very Aramaic words Hespoke, the “Ephpheta” and the “Talitha, cumi!” by which the dumb were made to speak and thedead to rise.

St. Cletus

Saint Cletus was the third Bishop of Rome, succeeding to Saint Linus, which circumstance alonecommends his eminent virtue among the first disciples of Saint Peter in the West. A church and ahospital founded by him, though ruined and rebuilt several times, survived until the 18^th century,and the memory of his charity was so well conserved by the Romans, that the Crucifers who thenwere still serving in his hospice, considered him their founder.

Saint Cletus was martyred after the peaceful reign of the Emperor Titus, when Domitian replacedhim; the date was April 26^th of the year 89. He was buried near Saint Peter in the Vatican, wherehis relics are still.

Saint Marcellinus, who was of Roman origin, succeeded Saint Caius as bishop of Rome in 296,about the time that Diocletian set himself up for a deity, impiously claiming divine honors. Inthose stormy times of persecution, seventeen thousand Christians of all ages and both sexes wereput to death in the various provinces, churches were destroyed, and heaven was populated withmartyrs.

Saint Marcellinus was beheaded with three others, and their bodies remained without burial in theforum for thirty-six days, to strike fear into the hearts of their fellows. It was on the 26^th of Aprilin the year 304 that a priest named Marcel came at night, with other priests and deacons of Rome,to gather up their relics, which they laid to rest in the Priscilla catacomb.

St. Marcellinus

Saint Cletus was the third Bishop of Rome, succeeding to Saint Linus, which circumstance alonecommends his eminent virtue among the first disciples of Saint Peter in the West. A church and ahospital founded by him, though ruined and rebuilt several times, survived until the 18^th century,and the memory of his charity was so well conserved by the Romans, that the Crucifers who thenwere still serving in his hospice, considered him their founder.

Saint Cletus was martyred after the peaceful reign of the Emperor Titus, when Domitian replacedhim; the date was April 26^th of the year 89. He was buried near Saint Peter in the Vatican, wherehis relics are still.

Saint Marcellinus, who was of Roman origin, succeeded Saint Caius as bishop of Rome in 296,about the time that Diocletian set himself up for a deity, impiously claiming divine honors. Inthose stormy times of persecution, seventeen thousand Christians of all ages and both sexes wereput to death in the various provinces, churches were destroyed, and heaven was populated withmartyrs.

Saint Marcellinus was beheaded with three others, and their bodies remained without burial in theforum for thirty-six days, to strike fear into the hearts of their fellows. It was on the 26^th of Aprilin the year 304 that a priest named Marcel came at night, with other priests and deacons of Rome,to gather up their relics, which they laid to rest in the Priscilla catacomb.

Our Lady of Good Counsel

The apparition of Our Lady of Good Counsel is so celebrated, Her picture so well known and sohonored in the Church, that it is very fitting to allot a place to this devotion. The little city ofGennazano, situated on the mountains of the former Sabina province, about ten leagues fromRome, for a thousand years already had honored the Blessed Virgin as Our Lady of GoodCounsel. In the 15^th century, the church of that city was dilapidated and about to collapse. Apious woman of advanced age named Petruccia desired to provide for its reconstruction, but thegift of her entire fortune, which she made for this purpose, proved insufficient. Petruccia foretoldthat the Blessed Virgin would Herself finish the work.

Then on April 25, 1467, at the hour of Vespers, a celestial harmony was heard in the air, and thecrowd saw a brilliant cloud coming down through the air, which came to rest over the altar in theChapel of Saint Blaise in the Gennazano Church, where the restoration had begun. At the sametime, all the church bells began to ring joyously. The cloud disappeared, and the marveling crowdsaw a picture of Mary holding the Child Jesus, painted on a prepared surface, suspended in the airover the altar near the wall, without any natural support. It was duly verified that this picture hadbeen miraculously transported from a church of Scutari, a city of Albania. Providence, wishing topreserve it from profanation by the Turks who were controlling that land, sent it as a reward forthe faith of Petruccia and her fellow citizens of Gennazano.

A history of the marvels of all kinds which have been wrought since that time near this miraculouspicture, suspended in the air, would require volumes. Often the picture has been seen to changeits expression, the eyes of the Blessed Virgin taking on an appearance of joy or sorrow. Howmany illnesses and infirmities have been cured! How many spiritual graces have been obtained! Gennazano in Italy is still a venerated pilgrimage site, much frequented by the people of that land,and many pious pilgrims from other nations, when time permits it for them, arrange to visit thisblessed sanctuary. The Sovereign Pontiffs have granted many indulgences to devotion to OurLady of Good Counsel, and the title Mother of Good Counsel was included in the Litany of theBlessed Virgin by Pope Leo XIII.

St. Peter Canisius

Born in 1521 of a distinguished family of Holland, Saint Peter Canisius studied in Cologne andreceived his license as doctor of civil law; he then went to Louvain (Belgium) to learn canon law. These studies followed close upon the days when Luther had burnt the papal bulls at Wittenberg,Germany. Soon Saint Peter, become a Jesuit, was teaching at the University of Cologne; he wasthere when the unfortunate archbishop of that city fell into the new heresy. The Catholics whodesired to depose him needed a deputy to the emperor to present their request, and Saint Peterwas chosen.

His mission, seconded by the Holy Spirit, succeeded; and the deputy was remarked by a Cardinal,who desired to send him to the Council of Trent as his representative and theologian. SaintPeter’s superior, Saint Ignatius of Loyola himself, approved this choice, and the young Jesuit tookhis place among the Fathers of the Council. He was commissioned to draft a memoir on the exactnature of the errors being propagated in the lands of the reform, in consort with the Pope’stheologian, another Jesuit named Jacques Laynez. Their work was admired; the Council wasdissolved soon afterwards, however, and Saint Peter was recalled to Rome by Saint Ignatius, toconsult with him concerning the formation of the religious and the future of their Order.

Afterwards Saint Peter and two other Jesuits founded a college at Ingolstadt, going there withonly two books in their baggage, the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius and the famous RatioStudiorum, or Plan of Studies of their Order. Saint Peter was named Rector of the University bythat institution.

He was in demand everywhere; King Ferdinand of Rome obtained his presence for Vienna. Apestilence broke out there, and he was most often found at the bedside of the dying, caring for thebodies and regenerating the souls of the unfortunate citizens. He opened a boarding school forboys, and Vienna soon found itself reborn in the faith: the famous Catechism of Saint PeterCanisius had much to do with the renovation. During his lifetime it appeared in more than 200editions, in at least twelve languages. It remains a monument of the triumph of the Church overerror in the time of Luther.

Its author had tried to keep his name a secret but did not succeed, and then several nationsdisputed the honor of his presence. But Saint Peter was Provincial of Germany, named by SaintIgnatius, and he concerned himself above all with the colleges at Prague, Ingolstadt and Munich. Until his death in 1597 the Apostle of Germany continued the valiant and perpetual combat of theChurch against error. For a long time forgotten, Saint Peter was canonized and declared a Doctorof the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1927.

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