Saint Tarcisius

St. Tarcisius
Tarcisius was a twelve-year-old acolyte during one of the fierce Roman persecutions of the third century, probably during that of Valerian. Each day, from a secret meeting place in the catacombs where Christians gathered for Mass, a deacon would be sent to the prisons to carry the Eucharist to those Christians condemned to die. At one point, there was no deacon to send and so St. Tarcisius, an acolyte, was sent carrying the "Holy Mysteries" to those in prison.

On the way, he was stopped by boys his own age who were not Christians but knew him as a playmate and lover of games. He was asked to join their games, but this time he refused and the crowd of boys noticed that he was carrying something. Somehow, he was also recognized as a Christian, and the small gang of boys, anxious to view the Christian "Mysteries," became a mob and turned upon Tarcisius with fury. He went down under the blows, and it is believed that a fellow Christian drove off the mob and rescued the young acolyte.

The mangled body of Tarcisius was carried back to the catacombs, but the boy died on the way from his injuries. He was buried in the cemetery of St. Callistus, and his relics are claimed by the church of San Silvestro in Capite.

In the fourth century, Pope St. Damasus wrote a poem about this "boy-martyr of the Eucharist" and says that, like another St. Stephen, he suffered a violent death at the hands of a mob rather than give up the Sacred Body to "raging dogs." His story became well known when Cardinal Wiseman made it a part of his novel Fabiola, in which the story of the young acolyte is dramatized and a very moving account given of his martyrdom and death.

Tarcisius, one of the patron saints of altar boys, has always been an example of youthful courage and devotion, and his story was one that was told again and again to urge others to a like heroism in suffering for their faith. In the Passion of Pope Stephen, written in the sixth century, Tarcisius is said to be an acolyte of the pope himself and, if so, this explains the great veneration in which he was held and the reason why he was chosen for so difficult a mission.

Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens

(From Catholic Culture)

Saint Tarcisius, patron of altar servers, pray for us!

Saint Jude Thaddeus

Note: I know. It is more than a week late after the Feast of Saint Jude Thaddeus (with Saint Simon, both Apostles, October 28). But still, better late than never, so I am posting some pictures of this beloved saint of mine to honor him.

From the Patrons Saints Index:

Who Is St. Jude?

Probably no saint, after the Blessed Mother, has drawn such enthusiastic followers down through the centuries as St. Jude Thaddeus. He was one of the chosen 12 Apostles; his brother was James the Less. Not too much is actually recorded about his life: it seems his big popularity began after his death.

Through history, legend and tradition, however, we can construct some detailsconcerning this powerful intercessor and close friend of the Divine Master. St. Jude comes from the line of David and is a cousin of Jesus Christ. The Jewish people, proud of their lineage, kept exact records of their ancestors, and we see that St. Jude's father, Cleophas, was the brother of St. Joseph. St. Jude's mother, Mary of Cleophas, was a cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary: their mothers were sisters.

In the Gospel, Mary of Cleophas is identified as the "sister" who has the courage to stand beneath the Cross of Christ along with the Virgin Mary and St. John. In the Hebrew language, the word "sister" was often used to include the cousins.

St. Jude's Epistle

The Fathers of the Church; such men as St. Ambrose, St. Bernard, St. Jerome and others, gave us more insight into this great man's character by their commentaries on the Epistle of St. Jude. St. Jerome in his work, applies the name "zealot" to St. Jude. St. Bernard of Clairvaux tells us that St. Jude was courageous because of his virginal purity and the courage he used to protect it.

St. Jude most probable came from farming people, for the tribe of Juda from which he came was of that occupation. After he became an Apostle, he always manifested an intense interest in the salvation of the Gentiles. So at the Last Supper, when Christ said, "yet a little while and the world no longer sees me. But you shall se me, for I live and you shall live;" (John 14, 19) it was St. Jude who then exclaimed, "Lord, how is it that You are to manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" St. Jude was asking in effect, how Christ's message was to be made known to the Gentiles.

After the Ascension of Christ, St. Jude headed for his beloved people--the Gentiles. Many stories come down to us: his miraculous cure of King Abagaro, ruler of Edessa, a city in Mesopotamia...while in Persia with St. Simon, he effected an unexpected peace for King Varardach--and won over the king and his entire court to the Catholic faith.

Death of St. Jude

For many more years, St. Jude made missionary journeys, preaching, dispensing the Sacraments throughout Mesopotamia, Armenia, and even southern Russia.

One day an enraged pagan mob fell upon the gentle and good man, and bludgeoned him to death. That is one reason why St. Jude is today pictured holding a club--in memory of his martyrdom. The bodies of St. Jude and St. Simon have laid in St. Peter's in Rome for many centuries. St. Jude was a tireless worker--he tried--he dared to try the impossible; and he was successful. Steadfastly pure in body and soul, Jude gave of himself not only in life but in death as well.

I try my best to at least visit Saint Jude Thaddeus Parish in nearby Trece Martires City during the Feast of their patron saint (titular solemnity in their case). I'm not claiming for any miracle-recognition but my mother was sick before and was not able to sleep in the night without medication for almost forty nights but was healed, thanks to Saint Jude to whom she made a novena. Here is the huge image of the saint in the parish church:

St. Jude, glorious apostle, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of the traitor has caused you to be forgotten by many. But the Church honors and invokes you universally as the patron of difficult and desperate cases. Pray for me who am so miserable. Make use, I implore you, of that particular privilege accorded to you to bring visible and speedy help where help was almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and sufferings, particularly -- (here make your request) -- and that I may praise God with you and all the elect throughout all eternity.

I promise you, 0 blessed JUDE, to be ever mindful of this great favor. I will honor you as my special and powerful patron and encourage devotion to you.

St. Jude, pray for us and for all who honor and invoke your aid.


O glorious apostle, SAINT JUDE THADDEUS, true relative of Jesus and Mary, I salute you through the most Sacred Heart of Jesus! Through this Heart I praise and thank God for all the graces He has bestowed upon you. Humbly prostrate before you, I implore you through this Heart to look down upon me with compassion. Oh, despise not my poor prayer; let not my trust be confounded! To you God has granted the privilege of aiding mankind in the most desperate cases. Oh, come to my aid that I may praise the mercies of God! All my life I will be grateful to you and will be your faithful client until I can thank you in heaven. Amen.

Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest, Doctor

In honor the Angelic Doctor, the great Saint Thomas Aquinas on his feast day (last Monday, January 28) comes from Vultus Christi:

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Fond of Asking Questions

Saint Thomas Aquinas was very fond of asking questions. And he laboured mightily at finding answers. The questions of Thomas proceeded not from a vain curiosity, but from thirst for the truth. Thomas asked the great questions, the questions about the meaning of life and death, sin and grace, time and eternity.

Saint Thomas is the friend of all who ask questions. He is the friend of all who thirst for life-giving knowledge. The Invitatory Antiphon of the Common of Doctors is: “The Lord is the wellspring of wisdom; come, let us adore.” Behind the text of the Invitatory are the words of the prophet Isaiah (Is 55:1), placed in the mouth of Our Lord Himself: “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, drink with joy.” Must certain conditions be met in order to drink of the waters of wisdom? Must one be naturally gifted with a probing and incisive intellect? Must one have made great strides in moral perfection, acquired virtue, and rooted out vice?

Praying With Saint Thomas

The Lord addresses his invitation to the thirsty and the poor. The great accomplishment of Thomas Aquinas was that he saw himself as one thirsty and poor. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . . Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for holiness, for they shall be satisfied” (Mt 5:3.6). Every official edition of the Roman Missal contains the prayers of Saint Thomas Aquinas to be recited by the priest before and after Mass. These prayers are, I think, a distillation of all that the Angelic Doctor lived and taught. One has only to pray Saint Thomas’ Prayer Before Mass to understand how he saw himself:

I come sick to the physician of life; unclean, to the fountain of mercy; blind, to the light of eternal brightness; poor and needy, to the Lord of heaven and earth. Therefore I ask for the fullness of your infinite bounty, that you would graciously heal my sickness, wash away my uncleanness, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness; so that I may receive the Bread of Angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with such reverence and humility, such sorrow and love, such purity and faith, such purpose and intent as shall further my soul’s salvation.

I Will Proceed No Further

We are perhaps so accustomed to hearing about the clarity of Thomism, that we forget the end of Thomas’ life — in obscurity, and silence, and childlike piety — is the key to all the rest. After having scrutinized and reasoned, argued and formulated, Thomas found himself in the humility of the apophatic way, in the “cloud of unknowing,” in the company of all the poor in spirit who, like Job, are obliged to say, “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer thee? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further” (Jb 40:4-5). The friar priest who heard Saint Thomas’ last confession said that it was the confession of a five year old.

Adoring the Hidden God

We sometimes labour under a false notion of great saints like the Angelic Doctor, forgetting that they too had to become as little children, living by faith, humbly adoring a hidden God, waiting in the dark for the revelation of his Face. Saint Thomas wrote:

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

Adoration and Thirst

Saint Thomas’ theology is not the closed, neatly packaged system of tidy categories that some would present. His method is not to shut up the human intelligence in a system of logical conclusions, but rather to open it to the Mystery already perceived “in a mirror dimly” (1 Cor 13:12) by the believing, hoping, loving heart. Human reason does not have the last word in the life and teaching of Saint Thomas, speechless adoration does, and thirst.

Iesu, whom I look at shrouded here below,
I beseech thee send me what I thirst for so,
Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light
And be blessed forever with thy glory’s sight.