Vietnamese Martyrs

Wednesday, 24 November 2010

Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth week in Ordinary Time

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Wednesday, 24 November 2010

SAINTS ANDREW DUNG-LAC
Priest,
AND HIS COMPANIONS
(18th and 19th centuries)

        This feast day celebrates all of the martyrs of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries (1745-1862) who shed their blood in the remote Far East, particularly in Vietnam. Many of the martyrs were priests of the Dominican order. Others belonged to the Paris Society for Foreign Missions, while still others, including Andrew Dung-Lac, were Vietnamese.

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Collect: O God, the source and origin of all fatherhood, you kept the blessed martyrs Andrew and his companions faithful to the cross of your Son even to the shedding of their blood. Through their intercession enable us to spread your love among our brothers and sisters, that we may be called and may truly be your children. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

To begin Mass this morning, the symbolism of the colour of red had the impact of FIRE.

To mind came the quote: “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on free. Let the truth be you delight… proclaim it… but with a certain congeniality.” (St. Catherine of Siena. http://www.catholicfire.blogspot.com/).

As St Catherine of Siena says challenges us Faith, Truth, Congeniality.

The Memorial is of the Vietnamese Martyrs, and not only Vietnamese, but in particular the Vietnamese Saint Andrew and his companions.

The 117 Vietnamese Martyrs canonizes by Pope John Paul II in 1988 are representative of a much larger phenomenon. Thousands upon thousands of Christians in both Vietnam and neighbouring countries such as Chine and Japan have died for their faith over more than four centuries.

Pope John Paul choose the Month of the Holy Souls  for the canonization of the martyrs in the context of the crossing of lines of Confucian worship, cult of the ancestors and Catholic devotion to the Holy Souls.

The Gospel reading today repeats that of 33^rd Sunday, Lk 21:18-19, “… not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.”

Good Thief 2 Dysmas and Gestas

Mesmerized by the Net Browse on the Good Thief, I have taken refuge in the safe Bible haven of Ronald Knox. The Narrative and Explanation columns clears the ether.

The Gospel Story by Ronald Knox & Ronald Cox pp. 400-401 Luke 23 The Good Thief
Narrative	Explanation
The soldiers, too, mocked him, when they came and offered him vinegar, by saying, 'If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.' And one of the two thieves who hung there fell to blaspheming against him; 'Are you not the Christ?' he said; 'save yourself, and us too.' But the other rebuked him; 'What,' he said, 'have you no fear of God, when you are undergoing the same sen­tence? And we justly enough; we receive no more than the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done' nothing amiss.' Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come in the glory of your kingdom.' And Jesus said to him, 'I promise you, this day you shall be with me in Paradise.'	The soldiers joined in the mockery (an old tradition here makes mention of the crown of thorns still on Jesus' head). One of the thieves (called Dismas in early Christian writings) was moved by our Lord's silence under such insults: he seemed buoyed up by some inner force, a peace of soul that raised him above and be­yond all about him. He must be the Messias, as 'the title said, and the Jewish leaders taunted. Dismas' defence of Jesus shows his awareness of his own sinfulness, the first step to true repent­ance (p. 294). Humbly he asks a small favour of his King; maybe he might hold his horse's bridle. He was thinking of the Jewish kingdom after the Resurrection (p. 316). But Jesus promises him much more: the joy of sharing his own divine happiness this very day. Dismas is the only person canonized before death.

 
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Donald ...
To: William J ...
Cc: Donald Nunraw
Sent: Mon, 22 November, 2010 20:24:08
Subject: Re: [Blog] Dysmas and Gestas

Dear, William,

Thank you for pursuing my concern of Gestas.

At the moment I have this Fr. Z's from Roman Martyrology and sending from this PC to the other while a Scan  from Ronald Knox on Dismas is for  the Blog.
Knox is so purely simple in the face of the confusion from the Net World of controversy on Luke 23.

Browsing in rich pastures.

Donald

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Roman Martyrology 25 March: The Good Thief

Posted on 25 March 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I almost forget… today is the feast day of the Good Thief.

In the 2005 Martyrologium Romanum.

2. Commemoratio sancti latronis, qui, in cruce Christum confessus, ab eo meruit audire: «Hodie mecum eris in paradiso».

I find it quite appropriate that today should be the day for his feast.

Can anyone guess at why I think today is a good day for his feast (aside from any historical connection maybe to a translation of relics, etc., of which I am unaware)?

Fr.Z’s Blog – What Does  The Prayer Really Say? http://wdtprs.com/blog/2009/03/martrom-25-march-the-good-thief/

Sancti Latronis, 'of Holy Thief'.   "Dismas is the only person canonized before death." (Knox)                             

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From: William J...
To:  Donald ...
Sent: Mon, 22 November, 2010 19:48:43
Subject: [Blog] Dysmas and Gestas

Dear Father Donald,

Alas, I have searched web to seek some text that exonerates 'Gestas', the other Thief, according to your concern, which I share the more I reflect upon his fate... (attached for interest / comparison to your own findings). A very compelling research. Intriguing note re Orthodox crucifix.

With my love in Our Lord, William.

Saint Dismas comes to the top on Wikipedia.
There is plenty of space to find if there is an apologia for the other Thief / Robber / Criminal / Malfactor.
At least that is my concern. 

http://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/03karakters/dismas.html

Dysmas and Gestas

Role

Yeshua Ha-Notsri is crucified together with Dysmas and Gestas. Gestas sings quietly a hoarse, senseless song, something about grapes. His head, covered with a turban, occasionally sways, and then the flies rise sluggishly from his face and settle on it again. Dysmas suffers more than the other two, he claws the ends of the crossbar with his nails, keeps his head turned towards Yeshua's post. "'Silence on the second post!". In the fifth hour of their suffering the threesome gets something to drink, and are then killed by the executionor with a spear.

Background

In the gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) the names of the thieves who were crucified together with Jesus, are not mentioned. So how could Bulgakov know them? That's because there exist much more gospels than the four we know from the New Testament. In 367 the archbishop of Alexandria distinguished Gospels "inspired by God" and the so-called apocryphal gospels. His list of by God inspired books corresponds to the New Testament as it is known today. And most of the apocryphal texts were forbidden.

There are apocryphal gospels written by Judas, Thomas, Nicodemus, Philip, Bartholomew and much more, there's even one written by Maria Magdalena. This last one became famous by the Da Vinci Code, written by Dan Brown.

In the Gospel of Nicodemus, also called The Acts of Pilate because it is focussed on Jesus' Way of the Cross, the two names are mentioned. In Book IX:5 Pilate says: "Thy nation hath convicted thee as being a king: therefore have I decreed that thou shouldest first be scourged according to the law of the pious emperors, and thereafter hanged upon the cross in the garden wherein thou wast taken: and let Dysmas and Gestas the two malefactors be crucified with thee."

In christian tradition Dysmas, who was crucified at Jesus' right side, is often called the good thief, or even the good muderer. He asked for mercy and was saved. He could join Jesus in heaven. Gestas taunted Jesus about not saving himself and went to hell. The typical Russian orthodox crucifix reminds to it. There is a bottom slanting bar. It signifies that the thief on Christ's right chose the right path while the thief on the left did not.

http://cr.middlebury.edu/public/russian/Bulgakov/public_html/Dismas.html

They are not unknown in the Orthodox tradition, where larger icons of the Crucifixion can show two crosses flanking Christ's.

According to tradition, Dismas, on Christ's right, repents and eventually joins Christ in Heaven, while Gestas blasphemes and ends up in Hell. At the moment of Christ's passing, he writhes in agony and his feet jerk, pulling the lowest crossbar askew. On the traditional Russian Orthodox cross, the lowest crossbar is at an angle, with the right side up (Dismas went to Heaven) and the left side down (Gestas went to Hell).

http://www.freebase.com/view/en/gestas

GESTAS is one of the two thieves that were crucified alongside Jesus. According to tradition, he was crucified on the left of Jesus central cross. The other thief was Dismas. GESTAS was cousin of Dismas and older than him. He was about fifty when he was arrested and crucified. Just as Dismas was son of a rich Jewish merchant, GESTAS' parents were poor peasants. Although they were friends, the comparation with Dismas made GESTAS violent and rebel. It is said that in 1848 an Irish politician denounced Isaac Disraeli, the famous English Premier, as a Jewish traitor, "the heir at law of the blasphemous thief that died upon the cross." The personality of GESTAS was stronger than Dismas' and slowly Dismas was corrupted by him. Both became malefactors. Finally their lifes ended at the tragic hill of Calvary. Among his doings was that he stole the holy vessels of the Temple and stripped naked the daughter of Caiaphas, Sarah by name, who was priestess of the sanctuary. So defiant was GESTAS. But finally Dismas and GESTAS were caught by the assesination of a woman who with her children was going from Jerusalem to Joppa. They were imprisoned for a long time before being brought to trial. The Roman governor, Pilate, put them to death by crucifixion. Just before his execution GESTAS received a cruel flagellation and was obliged, like Jesus and Dismas, to carry his cross to the hill of Calvary. GESTAS staggered under the weight of his cross, his eyes and teeth glared with fear. Dismas and GESTAS sweated, watching the crosses being arranged on the ground. On arriving there and after giving him some myrrh and vinegar, the executioners stripped off his ragged clothing and gave him a loincloth. Then they nailed him on the cross. They put him on the cross and first nailed his hands at the wrists on to the cross beam of the cross and then they nailed down the feet. He cried in despair due to the pain. GESTAS groaned and screamed with pain of his injuries. No doubt he suffered both in his body and in his soul. He beared the same torture as his companion; his feet and his hands were nailed to the cross, as were the feet and hands of Jesus and Dismas. He suffered the same slow suffocation, the same burning thirst, the same wracking of the muscles strained and convulsed. Yes, he suffered; no rest for his body; no peace for his heart. He saw the patience and the meekness of Jesus, but it was not enough to open his eyes. GESTAS painfully thrust his body upward with the nailed feet so he could hurl a challenge at Jesus: "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us with you". "If you really were the Messiah, you would work a miracle; you would save yourself and you would save us." Through his rebellion the bad thief did not gain anything. His punishment was not taken away: he continued suffering and he died like his companion. His sufferings were not diminished. The pain he felt was severe. On the contrary, his rebellion and despair made them all the more cruel. He suffered without hope. His cross was a shameful cross. Except a tiny loincloth, all of his clothing was taken away, and his nakedness was exposed to everyone. The only thing he is interested in and would like to have is continued life, to escape from death, to escape from suffering. He was in complete loneliness. There was no one to encourage him or support him. According to a legend, after mocking Jesus, GESTAS' eyes were mercilessly pecked out by a crow. Finally, after several hours of excruciating sufferings, the executioners decided to conclude the torture. They did not come because they felt any ‘kindness’ towards the two thieves. They just wanted to remove the crucified off their crosses. They came with clubs in order to break the legs of the two thieves who were still hanging alive. Two soldiers went near the crosses where Dismas and GESTAS were grappling with death, and raising their thick clubs, they landed violent blows on their knees and legs, crushing the bones of the two thieves. GESTAS and Dismas shouted, cursed and screamed; thieves' legs were broken below the knees, but seeing that GESTAS was still crying, the executioners finished him off by three heavy blows of a cudgel on his chest. The three, Jesus, Dismas and GESTAS, had been on the cross almost five hours. So was GESTAS tragic end. He gained nothing, and lost everything. He hardened himself completely in his sin, his pride, his rebellion and hatred. He died desperate and probably was damned as he died at Jesus's side. [Also known as: the Bad Thief, the Unrepentant Thief, the Blasphemous Thief, Gesmas, the Unpenitent Thief

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Saint Cecilia

 

Monday, 22 November 2010 St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr († 230) - Memorial ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Nivard ... Sent: Sun, 21 November, 2010 20:12:36 Subject: St Cecilia Cecilia, said to Valerian, "Pure be my heart and undefiled my flesh; for I have  a spouse you know not of—an angel of my Lord."      Cecilia said to the Prefect, "Do you not know, that I am the bride of my  Lord Jesus Christ?" The death appointed for her was suffocation, and she  remained a day and a night in a hot-air bath.     The jailer sent to kill her struck the three blows which the law allowed,  and left her still alive. For two days and nights Cecilia lay with her head,  half severed, on the pavement of her bath, fully sensible, and joyfully awaiting  her crown; on the third the agony was over, and in 177 the virgin Saint gave  back her pure spirit to Christ.     We know from paintings and statues that Cecilia was a musician, often  depicted playing the pipe organ. She is the patron of all musicians especially  all who take part in the liturgy of the Church, praising God day and night. She followed in the footsteps of the prophet Daniel, as we heard at Night Office. He was appointed Chief of the musicians at the court of Assyria. He even sang God's praises with his companions in the fiery furnace. Even in a monastery we might sometimes feel that we are singing in a fiery furnace, perhaps when too many notes are discordant!      Let us pray.   Lord of mercy, be close to those who call upon you. With St Cecilia to help  us hear and answer our prayers.    Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with  you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.     Amen Bidding Prayer:               Father, we entrust to you the prayers, sacrifices and efforts we make, without  looking back at what we have done.   Through Christ our Lord. Prayer after Communion, Let us pray.     Lord, may the mysteries we receive give us the spiritual courage which made  your martyr Cecilia faithful in your service and victorious in her suffering.   Grant this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Christ the King and the Good Thief

Russian Orthodox icon of
The Good Thief in Paradise(Moscow School, c. 1560).

Sunday 22nd November 2010

Readings on Christ the King seemed to leave a striking reference to the Good Thief. In fact the Holy Spirit was awaking me to the hearing of the Gospel proclaimed by the Abbot in the Night Office, Luke 23:35-43.

Later, the most apt commentary is found from Scot Hahn, 'Last Sayings of Christ'.
"I love this thief ... ", says Scott Hahn.
The Good Thief is a popular figure in Cistercian monasteries under the name of Dimas. The monastery of Latroun Cistercian Abbey, west of Jerusalem, is named after the Good Thief, Bon Larron (French).

There is much to learn.
Luke 23:39.  Luke alone gives this incident (Luke 23:39), though Mark 15:32; Matt 27:44 allude to it. (RWP).
See Gospel Harmony below.
In contrast to the Good Thief there is bad press on the other thief.
Jesus did not say a bad word about the other thief.
The exegetes seem have narrowed the interpretation to the  Good Thief.
There has to be a defense to the other.
It is interesting to look up the Google Search on "Defense of the Thief Luke 23:39". The hits are 'About 174,000 results (0.34 seconds).'
Saint Dismas comes to the top on Wikipedia.
There is plenty of space to find if there is an apologia for the other Thief / Robber / Criminal / Malfactor.
At least that is my concern.

Icon showing Christ (center) bringing Dismas (left) into Paradise. At the right are the Gates of Paradise, guarded by aseraph (Solovetsky Monastery, 17th century).

The Good Thief and Christ the King

 From 'Seven Last Sayings of Christ' by Scott Hahn 2010

Is it true the thief on the cross was saved by faith alone apart from any good works? I don't think so. Look again. Look more closely - and what do you find? One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him saying: "Are you not the Christ the Saviour? Save yourself and us." But the other rebuked him saying, "Don't you fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation and we indeed justly for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds but this man has done nothing wrong." He said: "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom."

What did this thief just do?
First of all he rebuked a sinner. Have you done that recently? He rebukes somebody who was railing against Jesus. Have you done that recently?
Second of all, he accepted responsibility for his own sin. He said we are being punished justly.
Third, in front of all these people, in the midst of horrible agony, he not only rebukes this sinner, and confesses the justice of his own suffering, he turns to Jesus and in front of all these accusers, his enemies, he says what? "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom." He confessed Jesus Christ as a king. When everybody else who knew he was a king had abandoned him.

Rebuking a sinner, accepting responsibility for his own sin, publicly declaring Jesus Christ to be King, even in the midst of his suffering, and confessing his faith that for you Jesus this cross is not the end of the story. It can't be, because of who you are.
This cross is only a transition. A door into glory, royal glory! And so he says: "Remember me when you come into the kingdom. Remember me when you come into your kingdom."

I love this thief because he had real faith, but a faith that began immediately to produce real works. But those works that the thief produced were really the works of God in him. And that's what they are for us ... They are what the cross made possible ... And the thief, he found the front door in the glory, and so no one can be without hope.
For when we look at Jesus, and we hear his word of forgiveness, and we realize this is not generic forgiveness, this is not some pardon thrown out for anybody, it is given to somebody who in himself was not worthy, and all he had to do to get it was to acknowledge his own unworthiness, and stand up for the truth that set him free, and confess that Jesus Christ is the King. And he was with Jesus Christ in paradise that day.

Scott Hahn is a renowned Catholic Scripture scholar and author.

Gospel Harmony – Two Thieves on Calvary (AMP)
Mat  27:35-44	Mar 15:24-32	Luk 23:33-43	Joh 19:18-27
35  And when they had crucified …   44  And the robbers who were crucified with Him also abused and reproached and made sport of Him in the same way.	24  And they crucified Him; and they ….   32  Let the Christ (the Messiah), the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see [it] and trust in and rely on Him and adhere to Him! Those who were crucified with Him also reviled and reproached Him [speaking abusively, harshly, and insolently].	33  And when they came to the place which is called The Skull [Latin: Calvary; Hebrew: Golgotha], there they crucified Him, and [along with] the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. … 39  One of the criminals who was suspended kept up a railing at Him, saying, Are You not the Christ (the Messiah)? Rescue Yourself and us [from death]! 40  But the other one reproved him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you yourself are under the same sentence of condemnation and suffering the same penalty? 41  And we indeed suffer it justly, receiving the due reward of our actions; but this Man has done nothing out of the way [nothing strange or eccentric or perverse or unreasonable]. 42  Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come in Your kingly glory! 43  And He answered him, Truly I tell you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.	18  There they crucified Him, and with Him two others--one on either side and Jesus between them. [Isa. 53:12.]