FEAST OF SAINT PETER’S CHAINS; SAINT ALPHONSUS  LIGUORI, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND THE SEVEN HOLY MACCABEES, MARTYRS ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 1ST: Today, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Peter’s Chains; Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church and The Seven Holy Machabees, Martyrs. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We also pray for those going through difficulties especially during these challenging times, for the poor and the needy. And we continue to pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world.🙏🏾

SAINT PETER’S CHAINS: St. Peter’s Chains is commonly referred to as Lammas Day (Loaf Mass). This was the festival of the first wheat harvest of the year, on which day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop. The feast celebrates the dedication of the basilica of St. Peter ad Vincula in Rome which was built in about 432 on the Esquiline Hill in Rome and consecrated on August 1. The church of St. Peter in Chains (or San Pietro in Vincoli) was originally dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. Also called the Eudoxian Basilica because it was built by order of the Empress Eudoxia, mother of Ventinian III, in 422, for the veneration of the chains which bound St. Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. Rebuilt by Sixtus IV in 1475.

There in some controversy as to whether St. Peter’s chains were brought from Jerusalem by Eudoxia in 439, or by some travelers sent to the East in search of them by the martyr St. Balbina and her father, St. Quirinus, in 116. Gerbet defends the latter opinion and says St. Balbina gave them to Theodora, sister of St. Hermes, martyr, Prefect of Rome, from whom they passed into the hands of Pope St. Alexander I (108-117). St. Bede the Venerable, writing in the seventh century, speaks of the chains in connection with St. Balbina and St. Alexander. Such was the reverence paid to these chains in the fifth and sixth centuries, that filings of them were considered precious relics suitable for kings and patriarchs, these filings being usually enclosed in a gold cross or key. Such a relic was sent by Pope St. Hormisdas to the Emperor Justinian; by St. Gregory to King Childebert, to Theoctista, sister of the Emperor Mauritius, to Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch, and others; by Pope Vitalian to Oswy of Northumbria; by St. Leo III to Charlemagne; by St. Gregory VII to Alphonsus, King of Castile. These crosses and keys were often worn around the neck as a preservative against dangers, spiritual and temporal. St. John Chrysostom’s words on St. Paul’s chains apply equally to St. Peter’s: “No glittering diadem so adorns the head as a chain borne for Christ. Were the choice offered me either of heaven or of this chain (suffered for Christ), I would take the chain. If I might have stood with the angels above, near the throne of God, or have been bound with Paul, I should have preferred the dungeon. Had you rather have been the angel loosing Peter, or Peter in chains? I would rather have been Peter. This gift of chains is something greater than the power to stop the sun, to move the world, or to command the devils” (Homil. 8, in Ephes iii. I.). Patron: Saint Peter;  Andrate, Italy; diocese of Annecy, France; Donnas, Italy; diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio.

SAINT ALPHONSUS  LIGUORI, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787) was also known as Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, a doctor of the Church who is widely known for his contribution to moral theology and his great kindness. He was born in 1696, was born near Naples, the eldest of eight children of a noble family. He was the son of an ancient Neapolitan family. His father was Don Joseph de’ Liguori, a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys, and his mother came from Spanish descent. He was very intelligent, even as a young boy. As a boy of great aptitude, he picked up many things very quickly. St. Alphonsus did not attend school; rather, he was taught by tutors at home where his father kept a watchful eye. Moreover, he practiced the harpsichord for 3 hours a day at the heed of his father and soon became a virtuoso at the age of 13. For recreation, he was an equestrian, fencer, and card player. As grew into a young man, he developed an inclination for opera. He was much more interested in listening to the music than watching the performance. St. Alphonsus would often take his spectacles off, which aided his myopic eyes, in order to merely listen. While theatre in Naples was in a relatively good state, the young saint developed an ascetic aversion to perhaps what he viewed as gaudy displays. He had strongly refused participation in a parlor play.

At the age of sixteen, Alphonsus received his doctorate in both canon and civil law and for nearly ten years practiced at the bar. After losing a case for the first time at the age of 27 after eight years of practicing the law, when he found that one of the legal cases he was defending was not based on justice but on political intrigue, he gave up the practice of law and dedicated his life to God. He discerned a call to enter the seminary and became a priest. Ordained to the priesthood in 1726, St. Alphonsus Liguori joined a group of secular priests dedicated to missionary activities. St. Alphonsus de Liguori was a great preacher of the Gospel to the poor. He spent the early years of his priesthood ministering to homeless and marginalized youth, and through this work eventually founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, in November 1732 to carry on this work which aimed to preach in city slums. He was known best for his sermons, especially his ability to convert those who were estranged from the faith, and for his great works in moral and spiritual theology. In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant’Agata dei Goti. He was a great moral theologian and one of the most widely read Catholic authors. Among his best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross, the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions. His famous book, “Moral Theology”, was published in 1748. He was a practical and prudent theologian, avoiding the extremes of being too rigid and legalistic on the one hand, and too lax on the other, despite the fact that he struggled with scrupulosity in his personal life. He suffered much from arthritis in his old age, his neck becoming so bent that his chin left an open sore on his chest. He retired in 1775 and  died just over 10 years later on August 1, 1787 at Nocera de Pagani. He was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. His most famous written works were on the Virgin Mary and the Blessed Sacrament. For his work in moral theology he was declared a Doctor of the Church. He’s Patron Saint of Confessors; Theologians and Moralist; final perseverance; vocations; moral theologians, vocations, arthritis sufferers, and those who struggle with scrupulosity. St. Alphonsus Ligouri’s feast day is August 1st.

Saint Alphonsus Liguori Quote: “Realize that you may gain more in a quarter of an hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament than in all other practices of the day.”

PRAYER: God, You constantly introduce new examples of virtue in Your Church. Walking in the footsteps of St. Alphonsus Your Bishop, may we be consumed with zeal for souls and attain the rewards he has won in heaven. Amen 🙏🏾

THE SEVEN HOLY MACCABEES, MARTYRS: Seven brothers known as the Maccabees  (Machabees) were martyred together with their heroic mother during the second century B.C. under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes in about the year 150 before Christ. King Antiochus IV Epiphanes arrested the seven brothers along with their mother and forced them to prove their respect to him by consuming pig meat. When they refused, he tortured and killed the sons one by one in front of the unflinching and stout-hearted mother. There is an account of their wonderful death in the Old Testament. Their relics venerated at Antioch in the time of St. Jerome, were translated to Rome in the sixth century, to the church of St. Peter’s Chains.They are the only martyrs of the Old Testament honored by a feast of universal observance in the Church.

The mother in particular deserves to be admired for the heroic fortitude with which she encouraged her children to suffer and die. Their remains were venerated at Antioch. After the church which was built above their resting-place was destroyed, they were taken to Rome; during the renovation of the high altar of St. Peter in Chains (1876), a sarcophagus dating from the fourth or fifth century was found; lead tablets related the relics to those of the Maccabean martyrs and their mother. Seldom does it happen that the Roman Church venerates Old Testament saints in the Mass and Office; it is much more common in the Greek rite. Martyrdom before the advent of Christ was possible only through faith and hope in Christ. Today’s feast is among the oldest in the sanctoral cycle. In the Second Book of Machabees, sacred Scripture recounts the passion and death of the Machabees in a very edifying manner. St. Gregory Nazianz discusses why Christians honor these Old Testament saints: “They deserve to be universally venerated because they showed themselves courageous and steadfastly loyal to the laws and traditions of their fathers. For if already before the passion of Christ they suffered death as martyrs, what heroism would they have shown if they had suffered after Christ, and with the death of the Lord as a model? A further point. To me and to all who love God it is highly probable that according to a mystic and hidden logic no one who endured martyrdom before the advent of Christ was able to do so without faith in Christ.”

The Seven Holy Machabees, Martyrs ~ Pray for us 🙏🏾