Category: The Church

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The Church

What Is an Apostolic Nuncio?

Father Reginald Martin

March 22, 2019 1:18 pm March 22, 2019

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Bureaucracy is a notion currently held in little esteem. In the first quarter of the last century, however, Max Weber, a critic of economic and social organization, published a thesis…

Bureaucracy is a notion currently held in little esteem. In the first quarter of the last century, however, Max Weber, a critic of economic and social organization, published a thesis in which he argued that bureaucracy — if managed efficiently — provides the ideal model for a business or other organization. Over history, he argued, one such “ideal bureaucracy” has been the Roman Church.

A nuncio is often referred to as an “ambassador,” representing the interests of the Church in a foreign country’s highest assembly — for example, the United Nations. A nuncio enjoying voting rights is titled “delegate,” otherwise he is an “observer.” The nuncio’s chief task is to strengthen bonds between the Holy See and any local church (see Code of Canon Law 364).

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9 min read

The Church

Too Many Rules In Catholicism?

Msgr. William J. King

March 18, 2019 1:01 pm March 18, 2019

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In truth, there are not that many rules at all in the Church, when we consider that we are a society of over a billion members globally, with a history…

In truth, there are not that many rules at all in the Church, when we consider that we are a society of over a billion members globally, with a history spanning several thousand years (if we include our pre-Christian biblical roots and traditions).

In a sense, the question is like asking why a car’s GPS system keeps telling the driver when to turn right or left: Is it providing guidance or giving a rule?

Pope John Paul II reminded us when he promulgated the Church’s current Code of Canon Law in 1983 that the Old and New Testaments form the first source of law for the Church. Turning first to the Bible, then, let’s consider what St. Paul taught about living the message of Jesus.

In the Letter to the Romans, St. Paul takes the first 11 chapters to present a well-developed theology of grace and redemption, culminating in the gift of salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus, through the mercy of our heavenly Father. Then, Paul presents a challenge: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom 12:2). The challenge is to allow our faith to change our behavior: since God has done so much for us, we should respond by conforming our behaviors to the higher standard of God’s grace.

Mercy and Grace

If we understand the depths of God’s mercy and grace, we cannot but be compelled to examine our behaviors in response. In other words, we can’t go on living as unbelievers. However, this change in our external behavior arises from within, a grateful response to all that God has done and continues to do for us. It is a change motivated by loving God and understanding His loving will for our lives. It is not a change mandated by law, but by love.

This was also the message of Pope John Paul in giving us the current Code of Canon Law. “The Code is in no way intended as a substitute for faith, grace, charisms and especially charity in the life of the Church and of the faithful,” he said.

Jesus commissioned the Church to go into the world and teach, not to legislate. For all of the Christian centuries, that is what the Church has done. The teaching of the Church, flowing from Divine Revelation in the Bible and through the Holy Spirit in the tradition of the Church, leads to the development of doctrine and dogma.

At the same time, as the Church has grown and encountered new questions, it has dealt with questions of Church organization and discipline. This led to the development of law in the Church. We call this canon law, from the Greek word for a measuring rod. Canon law is always a servant of theology, however, and as the final canon of the Code of Canon Law reminds us, the salvation of souls is the supreme law of the Church.

Doctrine and Law

There is a difference between doctrine and law. They call for two different responses. In the end, though, they should both have an influence on how we live our lives.

Doctrine, or Church teaching, helps us understand the meaning of the Gospel and the action of God in our daily lives. Doctrine may be purely theological — that is, focused on the mysteries of God such as the Divine Trinity, or the nature of Christ (Christology), or Divine Revelation. Doctrine may also deal with the practical application of the Gospel to daily life, as in moral theology, or the social doctrine of the Church. It may deal with the nexus between God and humanity, as in sacramental theology, or divine worship, or the nature of the Church (ecclesiology).

The Church asks us as Catholics, first of all, to understand doctrine. We’re asked to inform our minds by reading the doctrinal statements of the magisterium, the teaching authority of the Church. Only then, after we have read and understood the teaching, does the Church next ask us to assent to the teaching intellectually. This is the basis of a properly formed conscience: knowing, understanding and assenting with our minds to the teaching of the Church. Next follows the impact of that teaching in our lives — namely, putting it into practice.

A Catholic employer who understands and assents to the long history of Catholic social doctrine would want to respect the dignity of workers and provide a decent salary and working conditions. However, there is no “rule” that specifies exactly how to do this. Canon 222.2 says, generally, that the Christian faithful are “obliged to promote social justice,” and Canon 1286 obliges many Church employers “to pay a just and honest wage,” but these general provisions flow from the broader history of social teaching.

Similarly, a lengthy history of doctrine on responsible human sexuality and the gift of life asks Catholics to understand and give assent to the fact that artificial contraception is incompatible with Christian morality. This doctrine is repeated in many teachings of the Church, but scour the Church’s legislative texts and one discovers that there is no law which explicitly proscribes artificial birth control (except for the result of abortifacients). The clarity and persuasiveness of the doctrine should lead us to understand the teaching and to choose to put it into practice in our lives, in an evolution from mind to conscience to action. Immoral does not mean illegal since the role of law in the Church is very narrow compared to the broader roles of doctrine and conscience.

Law is different. Law does not ask that we first understand it and then give assent to it. Law asks instead that we obey first and then look for the values and teachings behind the law. The Ten Commandments, for instance, are law, not doctrine. However, it helps us as Christians to try to understand why avoiding these 10 behaviors is important to God. What is the history behind these commandments? What is their context in the Bible? That kind of questioning is also helpful in understanding some of the disciplinary norms and practices of the Church. Why are these behaviors so important to my spiritual or religious growth that they are mandatory?

Jesus himself did not avoid giving His disciples guidance on how to live their lives, whether dealing with paying taxes or forgiving others. But Jesus put law in its proper context for His followers: “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love” (Jn 15:10).

The Church is not free to ignore the teaching of Jesus in the Bible, and certainly not free to ignore the rules that He gives us. His teaching on divorce and remarriage often causes people to express concern about the “rules” of the Church: “But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (Mt 5:32). However, this is a rule of Jesus and cannot be ignored.

Doctrine exists to help guide our understanding of God, the Church and the life of grace. Both doctrine and law are given to us by the Church not as roadblocks or hindrances in our life, but as helps to us in our spiritual journey. They are actions to do (the obligation of Sunday Mass) or things to avoid (desecration of the Holy Eucharist) so that we can arrive more easily at our spiritual end — namely, the salvation of our souls.

If I ignore my car’s GPS direction to turn right at the next corner, it takes a moment to recalculate how I can get back on track. Depending on the route, I might have to make a detour or U-turn. In the same way, if I ignore a rule of the Church I can recalculate how to get back on track in my religious or spiritual journey, and if need be go to confession when I’ve sinned.

It is important when we encounter a “rule” in the Church to ask first if it is really a rule at all. Perhaps it is instead a practical application of a moral or theological doctrine. Either way, we ought to try and understand the teaching and reasons for it before questioning a “rule” of the Church.

The Issue of Penalties

There is another important point to keep in mind when we consider law in the Church. Very few rules carry a penalty. Only those few actions that injure the life of the Church or seriously imperil the soul of the offender carry a penalty. For instance, a completed abortion carries the penalty of excommunication from the Church. A priest’s direct violations of the seal of confession or the sexual abuse of minors are other examples of acts requiring severe penalties. You can see that these rules exist to protect the most important values of the Church.

Most Church “rules” don’t impose a penalty for violating them. For example, it is a spiritual and penitential practice to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent. If I were to eat a hot dog on one of those days I would not be excommunicated or otherwise punished by the Church. I may have violated a rule, but the rule exists to help guide me spiritually in understanding that I can depend on God’s goodness and providence while denying myself something of this world. The sin in eating meat is not about ignoring the rule as much as ignoring the opportunity to grow in my dependence on God.

Some Catholics question why there are so many “rules” in the Church. When asked to identify a problematic rule, it is often not a “rule” at all but a matter of teaching or doctrine that is at issue.

Msgr. William King is a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa.

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4 min read

The Church

The Light Of The Eastern Churches

Carl E. Olson

March 7, 2019 1:24 pm March 7, 2019

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In 1995, Pope St. John Paul II issued an apostolic letter titled Orientale Lumen, on the Eastern Churches. He wrote that the “light of the East” — that is, the…

In 1995, Pope St. John Paul II issued an apostolic letter titled Orientale Lumen, on the Eastern Churches.

He wrote that the “light of the East” — that is, the Eastern Catholic Churches — had “inspired my predecessor Pope Leo XIII to write the apostolic letter Orientalium Dignitas, in which he sought to safeguard the significance of the Eastern traditions for the whole Church.” He then stated, “Since, in fact, we believe that the venerable and ancient tradition of the Eastern Churches is an integral part of the heritage of Christ’s Church, the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that tradition, so as to be nourished by it” (No. 1).

Reading that paragraph, I recall a conversation I once had with a devout Catholic lady about the perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at her parish. “Does your parish have Eucharistic Adoration?” she asked. “No,” I replied, “but that is because Eastern Catholic parishes do not have perpetual adoration.” She was stunned; in fact, I think she was scandalized! I pointed out that perpetual adoration — like the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross — is a Western devotion, and not part of the Eastern Catholic (or Orthodox) tradition. While the origins of perpetual adoration can be traced back to St. Francis of Assisi in the 1200s, it became widespread after the Reformation and the Council of Trent as a means of promoting piety and addressing the rejection, by Protestant sects, of belief in the Real Presence (see Pages 12-15). But why not in the East? As my pastor has wryly noted, “The East has witnessed plenty of heresies, but never a rejection of the Eucharist.”

There are three basic points to consider in relation to teaching and defending the Catholic faith. First, learning more about the Eastern Churches will increase your knowledge about Catholicism and deepen your love for the Church. St. John Paul II put this in rather striking terms, saying that “conversion is . . . required of the Latin Church, that she may respect and fully appreciate the dignity of Eastern Christians, and accept gratefully the spiritual treasures of which the Eastern Catholic Churches are the bearers, to the benefit of the entire catholic communion” (No. 21).

Second, knowledge of the Eastern Churches highlights unity and diversity that is truly, authentically Catholic. Eastern Catholicism demonstrates that the Catholic Church is not a monolithic and homogenous Western institution, but is an ancient, catholic and worldwide communion of the faithful united by dogma, doctrine and the See of Peter.

Third, these distinctions, and the history behind them, are helpful to the Catholic catechist and apologist. Knowledge of some basic facts about Eastern Catholicism can clear away misconceptions and misrepresentations of Catholicism. For example, the fact that married men are commonly allowed to become priests in the Eastern Churches helps to do away with the notion that the Catholic Church has dogmatically declared that all priests must be celibate; it can help to demonstrate the difference between doctrine accepted by all Catholics — only men can be ordained priests — and disciplines unique to the East and West. The two matters are not equivalent.

Another good example is belief in the Real Presence. In the West, this marvelous truth was eventually described and defined in scholastic language, and often referred to as “transubstantiation.” Some fundamentalists and others will point to transubstantiation, which came out of the medieval era, as the creation and promotion of a sort of “magical” belief regarding the nature of the Eucharist. (All of Christianity, it should be noted, believed in the Real Presence until the Reformation.) Yet Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, as well as the ancient Oriental Churches — who split from the Church in the fifth century — all believe that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, even if they use differing terminologies.

The light of the East is for the whole Church, and it helps illuminate the Faith in ways big and small.

Carl E. Olson is the editor of Ignatius Insight (www.ignatiusinsight.com). He and his family live in Eugene, Ore.

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2 min read

The Church

The Church: Triumphant, Militant and Suffering

Msgr. M. Francis Mannion

March 5, 2019 11:01 am March 5, 2019

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2 min read

What you were taught in your catechism classes is indeed still valid, although it is not commonplace today to hear the description of the various states of the Church as…

What you were taught in your catechism classes is indeed still valid, although it is not commonplace today to hear the description of the various states of the Church as you describe them.

The church triumphant describes the Church in heaven. In the kingdom of God — the realm in which the holy Trinity, the angels and saints, and the abode of all those who have reached the fullness of salvation in Christ — the Church already exists. But it will have its fullest being at the end of time, when all of creation and (we hope) all human beings will be conformed to Christ and all reality will be one of divine praise and glory.

The term “church triumphant” underlines the truth that in the glory of heaven all human sin will have been transformed, death and suffering will be no more, and the glory of God will have triumphed over all the imperfections of human history.

The church militant refers to the Church on earth. The term “militant” can suggest an antagonistic relationship between the Church and the world. Nevertheless, it refers to an authentic reality: that the Church on earth works to overcome the imperfect and sinful dimensions of human existence.

The Church’s mission is not to oppose the world and society, but to work for their transformation by the convincing preaching of the Gospel and by the edifying power of the good works and example of those who are baptized into Christ. The Church’s best asset is the saintly activity and example of those who have chosen the Christian way of life.

The church suffering refers to the church in purgatory. Purgatory is not a kind of temporary hell. It is rather the threshold, the antechamber of heaven. In purgatory, all those — whether Christian or not — who have reached the gates of death without reaching the full perfection of life represented in Christ are cleansed in a kind of ongoing baptism and are purified by the enlightening fire of the Holy Spirit. The suffering of purgatory is not one of destruction, but the suffering that comes from leaving the old self behind and taking on the new.

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6 min read

The Church

What Is A Cardinal?

Matthew Bunson

March 1, 2019 9:48 pm March 1, 2019

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6 min read

Even though we see them quite often, most Catholics know very little about cardinals. After all, they are not a big topic in catechism classes. What we do know comes…

Even though we see them quite often, most Catholics know very little about cardinals. After all, they are not a big topic in catechism classes. What we do know comes mostly from the media, where cardinals are often depicted as remote and formidable figures in their scarlet robes who help lead the Church and gather together in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope.

In truth, cardinals are indispensable officials who began their long careers as humble young priests and who, by earning the confidence of the pope, are entrusted with the very future of the Catholic Church through their right to vote in papal elections.

While powerful members of the most select body in the world, cardinals recognize that their tasks on behalf of the pope and the Church are as varied as their talents: they may travel the globe on special missions, administer vital archdioceses and choose new popes. Because of their sway and their closeness to the pope, cardinals are sometimes thought to possess superior spiritual authority to bishops. This is not true, for unlike the office of bishop, the rank of cardinal was not established by Christ. Rather, it came into being out of the need of the popes for reliable advisers.

Put simply, a cardinal is a priest or a bishop who has been named by the pope to what is known as the Sacred College of Cardinals, so-called because it is a body, or college, of Church officials. Membership bestows no heightened spiritual authority, but the cardinals have as their two chief duties assisting the pope in the government of the vast worldwide Church and, above all, electing each new pontiff whom they serve. By ancient custom, they are called “princes” because of the diplomatic status their position gives them and also because in previous centuries many of the members belonged to the great noble families of Europe. Today most cardinals come from truly humble origins.

The central part played by the cardinals can be seen in the origin of their name, from the Latin word cardo , meaning a hinge or pivot, denoting that they are the key counselors, or pivots, for the whole Church.

Kinds of Cardinals

For many centuries, certain laymen were also made cardinals. This practice was finally abolished in 1917 when Church law made it necessary for all cardinals to be “priests of outstanding learning, piety, judgment and ability.” To add to the significance of cardinals in the Church, in 1962 Pope John XXIII commanded that each cardinal should be consecrated a bishop if he was not already one. The pope, however, may permit a new cardinal to be appointed without episcopal consecration.

Today three types of cardinals remain. Cardinal bishops originated out of the actual bishops of the suffragan dioceses surrounding Rome, the so-called suburbicarian sees — that is, the dioceses neighboring Rome. Today cardinal bishops are senior members of the College of Cardinals who are engaged in full-time service in the Roman Curia. The patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches are also assigned rank among the cardinal bishops.

Cardinal priests today are officials of the Roman Curia or bishops whose dioceses are outside Rome, such as the Archbishops of Chicago, Paris, New York and Mexico City. They hold title to a particular church in Rome, a historical reminder of the earlier custom of the clergy of Rome participating in the election of the pope.

Cardinal deacons are titular bishops assigned to full-time service in the Roman Curia or are theologians honored by the pope for their contribution to the Church. Cardinal deacons are reminiscent of the seven deacons who once administered the districts of Rome and the deacons who assisted in the papal household. They hold title to assignment to one of the deaconries of Rome.

Cardinals and Consistories

The pope alone decides who will be made a cardinal. Any priest can be named to the college, and all new members receive a formal document, called a biglietto (literally “ticket”) informing them of the honor. They are then enrolled formally into the Sacred College through an elaborate ceremony in Rome called a consistory.

The number of cardinals has varied considerably over the centuries. During the Middle Ages, it was not unusual for there to be a mere handful; at one point there were only four choosing a new pope. Pope Sixtus V (r. 1585-1590) decreed that there should be 70 members, a number that was unchanged until 1958, when Pope Blessed John XXIII increased it by five. That number grew steadily, so that today there are around 180. By papal decree, no more than 120 are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope, although it has been set aside a few times, especially during the reign of Pope John Paul II. At the age of 80, cardinals lose the right to take part in any papal election, but their counsel is still prized by the pope.

Symbols of the Cardinals

Most people think that cardinals wear red. Cardinals actually wear scarlet, a custom that began in a formal sense in 1245 when Pope Innocent IV bestowed the famed red hat upon the cardinals. Scarlet reminds the cardinals that they must be willing to give of themselves for the Church, even to the point of shedding their blood.

New cardinals receive several symbols of their new title: a zucchetto, a biretta and a ring. A scarlet zucchetto (or skullcap) and scarlet biretta (a four-cornered silk hat) are both placed upon the cardinals’ heads by the hand of the pope. The ring is a symbol of a cardinal’s dignity, pastoral zeal and communion with the See of Peter.

The Cardinals’ Oath

Below is a translation of the oath of fidelity and obedience to the pope and his successors, pronounced by the cardinals at the time they receive the biretta, or cardinal’s hat:

I [name and surname], Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, promise and swear to be faithful henceforth and forever, while I live, to Christ and His Gospel, being constantly obedient to the Holy Roman Apostolic Church, to Blessed Peter in the person of the Supreme Pontiff [current pope’s name], and of his canonically elected Successors; to maintain communion with the Catholic Church always, in word and deed; not to reveal to any one what is confided to me in secret, nor to divulge what may bring harm or dishonor to Holy Church; to carry out with great diligence and faithfulness those tasks to which I am called by my service to the Church, in accord with the norms of the law.

So help me Almighty God.

[Translation by Zenit.]

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9 min read

The Church

Who Are Permanent Deacons?

Eddie O'Neill

February 28, 2019 11:36 am February 28, 2019

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9 min read

For nearly 1,000 years, the permanent diaconate had all but disappeared from the Church in the West. How were permanent deacons restored, and what service do they offer the Church…

For nearly 1,000 years, the permanent diaconate had all but disappeared from the Church in the West. How were permanent deacons restored, and what service do they offer the Church today?

“At that time, as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’ The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them” (Acts 6:1-6).

As is clear from this passage in the Acts of the Apostles, the deacon is called to the service of the faithful. The word deacon itself comes from the Greek word diakonos , which means “servant,” or “helper.” In the days of the early Church, deacons traditionally helped the local bishop. In fact, one of the Church Fathers, St. Ignatius of Antioch, writing in the first century, noted that the deacon had two functions: penning letters for the bishop and assisting him in the ministry of the Word. These first deacons were also active in helping the poor and needy of the community. St. Ignatius emphasized their role as one of service to the Church of God.

An Age of Decline

By the third century, the roles of the deacon began to fall into disuse. Historians say it was due to a number of issues, including tension between the duties of the priest and those of the deacon. Also, confusion existed as to who had authority over them. Priests questioned why deacons were not subject to them, but rather were under the direct orders of the bishops.

By the fifth century, the role of the permanent deacon was all but defunct. Emphasis was instead placed on the identity of the deacon as an introductory step to holy orders, the so-called transitional diaconate. It was and still is today the final step of formation before priestly ordination. Thus the Church was full of transitional deacons — or priests in training — while permanent deacons were essentially gone from the West, and would be for nearly a millennium.

Restoration

Amazingly, interest in reviving the permanent diaconate was sparked by a group of priests imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. They envisioned men — married or single — taking up the work of the Church beyond the walls of the sanctuary. They also saw the deacon as one who would help overcome the estrangement that many Catholics had experience due to a rigid hierarchical structure. They envisioned deacons as married or single celibate men who would live and work in the world. When the idea of a restored permanent diaconate was presented to Pope Pius XII in 1957, he expressed his support. However, the Pope noted that “the time is not yet ripe.”

In the following decade, the Church decided that the time had arrived. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65), in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church ( Lumen Gentium ), placed emphasis on the restoration of the permanent diaconate:

“The diaconate can in the future be restored as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy. It pertains to the competent territorial bodies of bishops, of one kind or another, to decide, with the ap- proval of the Supreme Pontiff, whether and where it is opportune for such deacons to be appointed for the care of souls. With the consent of the Roman Pontiff, this diaconate will be able to be conferred upon men of more mature age, even upon those living in the married state. It may also be conferred upon suitable young men. For them, however, the law of celibacy must remain intact” (No. 29).

In July 1967, Pope Paul VI issued the document Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem (“Sacred Order of the Diaconate”), which authorized the re-establishment of the permanent diaconate, making it possible for men to become deacons permanently, without going on to the priesthood. He allowed married men, with the explicit consent of their wives, to be ordained permanent deacons. Bishops, particularly those from the United States, began to set up formation programs for those men interested in being ordained a deacon, and, by the middle of the 1970s, the Church around the world saw the ordination of these new permanent deacons.

The Modern Permanent Diaconate

Since Vatican II, much has been discussed about the identity and role of the permanent deacon. Questions arose, for example, as to whether they were “sub-priests” or simply dedicated lay ministers. In 1998, under the direction of Pope John Paul II, two important documents were issued by two offices in Rome: Directory for the Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons, by the Congregation for the Clergy, and Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons, by the Congregation for Catholic Education. Both documents provide the world’s bishops’ conferences with directives and norms on the selection, formation and pastoral care of aspirants, candidates and deacons in accordance with the intent of the Second Vatican Council. In its Directory for the Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons, the Congregation for the Clergy stated that “through the imposition of hands and the prayer of consecration [the deacon] is constituted a sacred minister and a member of the hierarchy” (No. 1).

The document goes on to define the ministry of the deacon as that of service and proclamation of the Word of God: “The principal function of the deacon, therefore, is to collaborate with the bishop and the priests in the exercise of a ministry which is not of their own wisdom but of the word of God, calling all to conversion and holiness. He prepares for such a ministry by careful study of Sacred Scripture, of Tradition, of the liturgy and of the life of the Church” (No. 23).

Today, there are around 17,000 permanent deacons in the United States (the highest total by far for any single country) in full-time ministry, as opposed to holding another job and serving part time in ministry. Worldwide, there are nearly 36,000 permanent deacons. The majority of these men work in parishes, helping in the day-to-day ministries of the parish. Among other things, they preach the Gospel at Mass, baptize, witness marriages and help the faithful prepare for the sacraments.

Pope Benedict XVI made it clear in a 2006 address to the permanent deacons of Rome that whether their ministry is on the weekend at Church or perhaps a weeknight at a nursing home, the call of the permanent diaconate is a universal one. “Union with Christ,” said the Pope, “to be cultivated through prayer, sacramental life and, in particular, Eucharistic Adoration, is of the greatest importance to your ministry, if it is truly to testify to God’s love.”

St. Stephen

Feast day, Dec. 26

The Church honors St. Stephen as the patron saint of deacons, and rightfully so. Stephen was one of the seven men named in Acts 6 to take care of needy Christians and to proclaim and teach the Word of God. He was also the first martyr for the Faith when he was stoned to death just outside of Jerusalem.

The feast of the protomartyr, as Stephen is often called, is celebrated each year on Dec. 26. As well as being the Church’s first martyr, Stephen is the first on a long list of saints who served the Church as deacons.

St. Lawrence of Rome

Feast day, Aug. 10

The rise of St. Lawrence, deacon of Rome, could not have come at a better time. It was A.D. 258 when the Roman Emperor Valerian began a fresh round of persecutions against Christians. Among those rounded up was Pope Sixtus II, who was arrested and beheaded just outside of Rome with several of his deacons.

St. Lawrence was one of the pope’s deacons, but he avoided arrest and hurried back to Rome. Fearful that the oncoming mob would rob the Church’s sacred vessels, he sold them and distributed the money to the poor of the city. However, not long after, he was summoned to appear before the Roman court.

There, he was offered a deal. The prefect promised to spare Lawrence’s life if he would bring all of the Church’s treasures to the state. Lawrence agreed and had three days to complete the task. On the third day, Lawrence returned to court with a large crowd of poor, ragged and lame people. He explained to the prefect that these people were the treasures of the city.

The judge was furious and ordered Lawrence to be burned alive in public on a giant griddle. While being roasted alive, the jovial Lawrence is reported to have said to his executioners, “Turn me over, I am done on this side.”

Fittingly, he is the patron saint of cooks and butchers.

St. Ephrem of Syria

Feast day, June 9

Little is known about the early life of this fourth-century saint. It is believed that he served as a deacon under four bishops of Nisibis, an ancient city of Mesopotamia in what is now southeastern Turkey.

Ephrem is known for writing hymns, homilies and poetry. Tradition has it that Ephrem began composing hymns to combat a number of heresies and attacks on the Church during his era. He is often credited with introducing the use of hymns in public worship.

In 363, the area of Nisibis was under attack by the Persians, and Ephrem led a number of Christian refugees to Edessa, roughly 100 miles from his home. There, he established a popular theological school. He died in 373 and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1920. He is the patron saint of spiritual directors and spiritual leaders.

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