November 21st - St. Gelasius I, Pope (RM)
- From: "Traudel" <richarra@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:48:21 -0600
November 21st - St. Gelasius I, Pope (RM)
Born in Rome; died there on November 21, 496. Born in Rome the son of an
African
named Valerius, Pope Gelasius I, ruled the papal see from 492 to 496. Prior
to
his elevation on March 1, 492, he had been secretary to the two previous
popes
(Saint Felix II and Saint Simplicius), and as a pope he still liked to dash
off
letters in his own hand-many of which still exist. Although he governed the
Church for only four years, eight months, and 18 days, he showed himself a
vigorous, active, and capable pontiff-in fact, one of the greatest in a
century
of great popes-and a great Christian. According to Dionysius Exiguus,
Gelasius
was known for his holiness, justice, charity to the poor, and learning.
Facundus
of Hermione wrote a few years after the pope's death, "He was famous over
the
whole world for his learning, and the sanctity of his life."
Gelasius ordered the reception of the Eucharist in both forms, thus opposing
the
Manichaeans, who preached that wine was impure and sinful. Among many rules
which he established for the ministers of the church, Gelasius declares that
its
revenues are to be exactly divided into four parts: one is for the bishop,
another for his clergy, the third for the poor, and the fourth for building.
He
also attempted to suppress simony
He tried to compile a trustworthy list of saints and martyrs. He drew up a
compendium of the important decrees of the synods of the church, not only
including western ones but incorporating judgments of eastern synods where
he
thought them relevant. Gennadius tells us that Gelasius composed many sacred
hymns, but these have been lost. The Decretum de libris . . . , listing the
canonical books of the Bible, also long attributed to him, is no longer
credited
to him.
Although he is not the author of the Gelasian Sacramentary, published in
Rome in
1680 from a 900-year-old manuscript, it probably contains many of the
reforms he
researched and instituted. Among other things found in the ancient
sacramentary
are the solemn veneration of the cross on Good Friday; the reservation of
the
Eucharist offered on Holy Thursday for communion on Good Friday; the
blessing of
the holy oils, the anointing, and other ceremonies used at baptism; blessing
of
holy water; prayers for entering new houses and other blessings; several
Masses
for the feasts of saints, expressing their invocation, and the veneration of
their relics; votive Masses for travelers, for obtaining charity and other
virtues, for marriage with the nuptial benediction, for birthdays, for the
sick,
and for the dead.
Gelasius was convinced that the supreme power of earth was the Church. This
he
saw summed up in the power of the papacy. Alongside the papacy, the role of
the
Byzantine emperor was nothing.
Gelasius made little attempt to heal the split between Rome and the East,
started when Acacius was Patriarch of Constantinople (471- 489) and ended
only
in 518. His aim was different: to assert the superiority of the bishop of
Rome
over the patriarch of Constantinople. In fact, soon after his election,
Gelasius
ran into difficulties with Euphemius, patriarch of Constantinople, over the
matter of the Acacian heresy when Euphemius refused to remove Acacius's name
from the diptychs (registers of dead bishops named at the altar) in the
churches
of his see. (The name of Acacius was erased from the diptychs in 518 by
Patriarch John of Constantinople.)
Saint Gelasius also defended the rights of the patriarchates of Alexandria
and
Antioch against the encroachments of Constantinople and eloquently defended
the
rights of the Church against Emperor Anastasius in a famous letter to the
emperor.
In his day, as the pope realized, Christianity remained only superficial
among
many converts. For instance, each February Christians still celebrated the
feast
of Lupercalia in honor of the Roman god Pan. Through it they hoped to
influence
for good the animal and vegetable world. Gelasius vigorously tried to
suppress
it, publicly writing a refutation of a senator named Andromachus who
supported
the rites (Against Andromachus) (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney,
Encyclopedia,
Husenbeth).
Saint Quote:
Allow me, brothers, to look toward heaven rather than at the earth, so that
my
spirit may set on the right course when the time comes for me to go on my
journey to the Lord.
-Saint Martin of Tours
Bible Quote:
Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock! The sword shall be
upon
his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his
right
eye utterly darkened. (Zech 11:17)
<><><><>
The Wound in the Shoulder:
It is related in the annals of Clairvaux that St. Bernard asked Our Lord
which was His greatest unrecorded suffering and that Our Lord answered, "I
had on my shoulder while I bore My cross on the Way of Sorrows a grievous
wound which was more painful than the others which is not recorded by men.
Honor this wound with devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost
ask through its virtue and merit, and in return to all who venerate this
wound I will remit to them all their venial sins and will no longer
remember their mortal sins.
O most loving Jesus, meek lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and
worship the most sacred wound of Thy shoulder. Alone thou didst bear Thy
heavy cross which so tore Thy flesh and laid bare Thy bones as to inflict
on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound on Thy Blessed Body.
I adore Thee, O Jesus, Most Sorrowful, I praise and glorify Thee and give
Thee thanks for this most secret painful wound, beseeching Thee by the
merit and pain of Thy heavy cross to be merciful to me a sinner and to
forgive me my mortal and venial sins and to lead me on towards heaven along
the Way of the Cross. Amen.
Three Our Father's and three Hail Mary's
Imprimatur:
THOMAS D. BEAVEN,
Bishop of Springfield
<><><><>
Prayer
O sweet Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much
forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thy altar
eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and
injuries,
to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.
.
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