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Carmelite Quotes4 May: Blesseds Angel Maria Prat Hostench, Lucas of St. Joseph Tristany Pujol, Priests, and Companions
May 4
BLESSEDS ANGELUS MARY PRAT HOSTENCH,
LUKE OF ST. JOSEPH TRISTANY PUJOL,
PRIESTS, AND COMPANIONS
Martyrs
Optional Memorial
In the houses in Spain: Memorial
In a single celebration, both Orders of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel commemorate their martyrs who, in different places in Spain, bore witness to the faith before and during the long and bloody religious persecution for hatred of the faith (1936-1939). Father Angelus Mary Prat Hostench, O. Carm., was murdered with his confreres in Tárrega in 1936; Father Luke of St. Joseph Tristany Pujol, O.C.D., was slain with his confreres in Barcelona the same year. This memorial also includes the groups from Lleida, Tarragona, Toledo, Terrassa, Olot, and others. This multitude of bishops, diocesan priests, religious of various orders and lay people were beatified, in part by Pope Benedict XVI on October 28, 2007 (498 martyrs), and in part by Pope Francis on October 13, 2013 (522 martyrs).
From the Common of Several Martyrs
OFFICE OF READINGS
The Second Reading
From the writings of Blessed José María Mateos Carballido, priest and martyr
(The Holy Scapular 33 [1936], 135-137)
The history of the Church is written with the blood of its martyrs
It is an undeniable truth that the athlete is formed through exercise, that through it he strengthens his limbs and becomes strong and invincible for the fight; that gold is purified in the crucible and that the more it is purified, the better it is to make precious objects with it.
Something like this happens to the human heart, a precious gold that increases in dignity when melted in the crucible of tribulation and in which are formed holy men and heroes. And something like this also happens in the mystical body of the Church; in her, persecution brings forth unsuspected flowers, unseen virtues, unprecedented heroism. That is why her divine founder announced to her that she would be persecuted at all times: “You will be hated by everyone because of me. They will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues. They will make you appear before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans” (Luke 21:12).
And under the blows of the battering ram of persecution, the Church was forged with its martyrs and its virgins, its saints and its doctors, until it became the prodigy that, after nineteen centuries, appears to the eyes of friends and enemies as the admirably divine work of its Divine founder.
From its beginning, the Church has been chiseled by that engraving tool of persecution, by which each blow that has been dealt has placed a precious stone in the always immovable walls of that beautiful building.
The pages of its history have been written with the blood of its martyrs and from its appearance until today, there has not been a century in which it has not flourished.
Thus, the Church was born; and, watered by the blood of so many innocents, this rich and generous sap flowed through her mystical body to make her produce the most beautiful flowers of science, virtue, heroism and holiness.
Thus, it was born, and over the centuries, it could be seen that those thorns of persecution never left her. But those blows did nothing other than give new vigor to that blessed tree, which, after each persecution, appeared more luxuriant, just as when spring emerges, the tree that has received the attentions of the successful hand of the pruner shows its lushness.
Given the events of recent months, what is our duty? To pray and to love. These are the two most powerful means that can revive peace among men. Pray much, because prayer will give us strength to confess Christ and not to turn our backs on Him like cowards. And love, for so much hatred, can only be drowned by a great outpouring of charity. For her enemies, the Church only has those words that came from the dying lips of Christ in agony on Calvary and were his most beautiful testament: “Father, forgive them”. The Church opens her arms as a loving Mother to all her children, even to those who persecute her, and she says to them all, “Father, forgive them.”
Faced with the danger of new persecution, let us not lose heart. Christ will always be with us, and no matter how rough the combat may be, we will emerge from it purified and the Church will gather new flowers between the folds of her tunic once again dyed with the blood of her children.
Responsory
2 Tim 4, 7-8a; cfr. Phil 3, 8. 10
℟. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. * Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, (alleluia).
℣. Indeed, I count everything as loss that I may know Christ, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. * Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, (alleluia).
Or:
From the writings of Blessed Luke of Saint Joseph, priest and martyr
(The Words of the Crucifix. Tarragona-Barcelona 1928, pp. 65-69)
The law of forgiveness shines in the martyrs
The great law of forgiveness, already promulgated from the beginning of the gospel teaching on the Mount of the Beatitudes, and so solemnly confirmed on the cross, points out to all of us the straight and sure path of eternal blessedness, and creates a wellspring of happiness and harmony, so that men can already taste it here on earth. It descends to the most intimate part of human consciousness, and stirs it all up, attacking to its deepest roots the poison of selfishness, destroyer of all happiness and harmony between souls.
This sublime doctrine of the Redeemer imposes on all of us, as a formal and necessary precept for our salvation, the sincere forgiveness of all serious injuries that have been inflicted on us. And, as an indispensable condition for inner peace and for achieving some degree of evangelical perfection, it also imposes on all of us a benevolent, total and sincere indulgence for each and every one of the many and varied deficiencies of our neighbors.
And, consequently, the great law of evangelical forgiveness is imposed not only on those who have to deal with specific enemies from whom they have received serious injuries, or from whom they know that truly bear them ill; but it reaches to all of us, whatever our state or condition, since there is no one who has not at some time felt offended or bothered, whether little or much.
This law can be applied every day and every hour of our daily life, both in the intimacy of domestic life and in social relationships; it is the same in the most secret and secluded part of the cloisters as in the whirlwind of worldly business.
For the holy Gospel, ideally beautiful as it is in everything, is always very simple and practical, because it can be adapted to all the modalities of each person’s real life. But, among all the evangelical precepts, this one of the forgiveness of enemies is one of the most eminently practical, because, as it penetrates to the most hidden depths of the human conscience, it reaches even to the most secret recesses of the heart, where the subtlest selfishness is also well hidden and concealed. This precept uncovers it; it reveals it to the conscience of every man who wants to know himself. And so this admirable law intends to intervene and inform all our actions, both the religious and the social: the religious, because we know that God does not accept them if we offer them to Him while nursing bitterness or fraternal resentments in our soul; and the social ones, because this precept reminds us that we will be treated by God just as we ourselves treat our brothers.
In this great school of the Cross, all the saints and martyrs learned its admirable wisdom and received its strength, knowing how to live without cursing anyone and how to die content, praying for those who made them shed their generous blood.
This sublime word of Jesus Christ was very fertile and creative, for it awakened, and still awakens today, in many souls, marvelous sentiments that the world had not known before. It taught so many millions of martyrs of all conditions to die with a smile on their face and a prayer on their lips, praying for the very executioners who were tormenting them.
Responsory
Mt 5, 43-45; Jn 13, 15
℟. You have heard that it was said: “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, * so that you may be children of
your Father who is in heaven, (alleluia).
℣. I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. * so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven, (alleluia).
Prayer
Almighty and merciful God,
who granted the priests Blesseds Angelus Mary, Luke of Saint Joseph,
and their companions
the grace of reaching the summit of Mount Carmel through martyrdom,
grant, we pray, through their intercession,
that we may always live with wisdom and zeal,
by bearing witness to the kingly majesty of Christ.
Who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
We are grateful to our Discalced Carmelite Friars for providing the English texts of liturgical offices published after the 1993 edition of the Carmelite Proper—Liturgy of the Hours.
#BlessedAngelMariaPratHostench #BlessedLucasOfStJosephTristanyPujol #friars #Liturgy #martyrs #SpanishCivilWar
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