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St. Francis Borgia kneeling before the body of
Queen Isabella of Spain. Painting by Antonio Palomino
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October 10
ST. FRANCIS BORGIA, CONFESSOR
Matins: Lesson 4,5,6
The Roman Breviary, Pre-1955 Reform
Francis,
fourth Duke of Gandia, was the son of John Borgia, Duke of Gandia, and of Joan
of Aragon, daughter of Alfonso, natural son to Ferdinand V surnamed the
Catholic, King of Aragon. He passed his boyhood at home in great innocence and
godliness, and was still more remarkable for his Christian graces and the
hardness of his living, at the Court of the Emperor Charles V, and as Viceroy
of Catalónia. The Empress Isabella died, and Francis, as master of her horse,
was commanded to attend her body to Granada, where it was to be buried. The
sight of the awful change which death had made in her countenance so thrilled
him with the thought of our mortality and corruption, that he bound himself by
vow, as soon as he lawfully might, to give up all things, and to serve the King
of kings only. From that time he so advanced in Christian graces, that his life
might be called the miracle of princes, shewing, in the midst of a vast mass of
business, an image of perfection attained in a cloister.
His
wife, Eleanora de Castro, died and he entered the Society of Jesus, that
therein he might hide himself more safely, and bar by the obligation of a vow
the path to dignities. He was the worthy leader of many princes who have
embraced a life of hardship, and Charles V himself when he resigned the Empire
did not deny that he had been moved and shewn the way by Francis. In his
struggle after austerity Francis, by fasting, by iron chains, by the roughest
of haircloth, by long and bloody flagellations, and by denying himself any but
very little sleep, reduced his body to the last degree, but would still spare
no toil to overcome himself and to save souls. Thus full of ghostly strength,
he was appointed by holy Ignatius Commissary-General of the Society in Spain,
Portugal, and the Indies, and notwithstanding all the precautions he could take
to prevent it, he was chosen by the general Congregation of the Society to be
General, being the third who held that office. In this position his wisdom and
holiness of life greatly endeared him to Princes and Popes, and besides
founding or enlarging very many houses in divers places, he sent brethren into
the kingdom of Poland, into the islands of the Ocean, and into the provinces of
Mexico and Peru, and into other lands also Apostolic men who spread the Roman
Catholic faith by their preaching, their sweat, and their blood.
He
thought so little of himself that he gave himself the nickname of Francis the
sinner. By the Popes he was oftentimes offered the dignity of Cardinal of the
Roman Church, but the lowly firmness with which he refused it could never be
overcome. In his cheap esteem of the world and of himself his chief pleasures
were to clean the house, to beg for food from door to door, and to wait upon
the sick in hospitals. He spent many hours every day, oftentimes eight and
sometimes ten, in prayer and meditation. An hundred times every day he
worshipped God upon his knees. He never missed the opportunity of offering the
Holy Liturgy, and the fire from God which burnt within him sometimes shone
forth in his countenance when he was lifting the Sacred Host, or preaching. By
an inward power given him from God he could tell where the most Holy Body of
Christ, under the Eucharistic veils, was kept. The blessed Pius V sent Francis
with the Cardinal Alessandrino on an embassy to unite the Christian princes
against Turkey. His vital strength was then nearly worn out, but, through
obedience, he undertook the toil of the journey. He became much worse during
the travelling, and on his return brought to a blessed end at Rome, as had been
his desire, the pilgrimage of this life, in the sixty-second year of his own
life, and that of salvation 1572. Holy Teresa, who used his advice, called him
an holy man, and Gregory XIII, a faithful servant. He was famous for many and
great signs and wonders, and Clement X at last numbered him among the Saints.
Saturday in
the Nineteenth Week after Pentecost
Semi-Double/White
Vestments
Missa – ‘Os
justi’
INTROIT
Psalm 36: 30,
31
OS justi meditabitur sapientiam, et lingua ejus loquetur
judicium: lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius
Psalm
Noli æmulari in malignantibus: neque zelaveris facientes
iniquitatem. Gloria Patri.
The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom, and his
tongue shall speak judgment: the law of his God is in his heart. Ps. Be not
emulous of evildoers: nor envy them that work iniquity. Glory be to the Father.
COLLECT
DÓMINE Jesu Christe, veræ humilitátis et exémplar, et præmium:
quæsumus; ut, sicut beátum Francíscum in terréni honóris contémptu, imitatórem
tui gloriósum effecísti, ita, nos ejúsdem imitatiónis et glóriæ tríbuas esse
consórtes: Qui vivis et regnas.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who art the pattern of true humility
and its reward, we beseech Thee, that, as Thou didst make blessed Francis Thy
glorious imitator in contempt of earthly honours, so Thou wouldst grant us to
share his imitation and his glory: Who livest and reignest.
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St. Francis Borgia At the Deathbed
of an Impenitent - Francisco De Goya y Lucientes
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EPISTLE
Ecclesiasticus
45: 1-6
He was beloved of God and men, whose memory is in
benediction; He made him like the saints in glory, and magnified him in the
fear of his enemies; and with his words he made prodigies to cease; He
glorified him in the sight of kings, and gave him commandments in the sight of
his people, and showed him his glory; He sanctified him in his faith and
meekness, and chose him out of all flesh; for He heard him and his voice, and
brought him into a cloud; and He gave him commandments before his face, and a
law of life and instruction.
GOSPEL
Matthew 19:
27-29
At that time, Peter said to Jesus: Behold we have left
all things, and have followed Thee: what therefore shall we have? And Jesus
said to them: Amen I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the
regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of His majesty, you
also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Isræl. And every
one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or
wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold,
and shall possess life everlasting.
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