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Sin is the great barrier between God and man. Sin, caused the beginning of hell and made devils of the fallen angels. Sin drove Adam and Eve out of their paradise and took away their marvelous gifts of grace and of freedom from sickness and death. But only in the sufferings and death of the God-man do we see what God really thinks of sin. Before sin there existed no sickness, no death, no hatred, no discord, no ugliness. Every suffering and disorder in the world is a reflection of sin. Every Mass, continuing the atoning Sacrifice of Calvary, is God's mercy to sinners throughout the world. Every sacrament is God's means of restoring all things in Christ. — Daily Missal of the Mystical Body

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Meditation - On the Compassion of Some Women of Jerusalem
A goodly number of the women of Jerusalem (not disciples of Jesus) met this saddest of funeral processions. No doubt their weeping and sobbing and loud wailing, however sincere, was not in real accord with the sorrow that was straining Jesus' heart to the breaking point-His sorrow, namely, over their refusal to accept the truth of His Messiahship and of His supreme royalty as the promised Christ and Savior. Still, the heart of Jesus was deeply affected by the sympathy of these women. Contrasted with all else that was poured into His ears, it was very acceptable and was gratefully received.

But what lastingly gives this incident its chief significance is the fact that, even here in His greatest misery, Jesus is thinking predominantly of the doom of the Holy City and its temple, now practically sealed. Evidently His heart is aching at the vision of the horrors that will soon overtake it and the whole Jewish race, for its criminal blindness to His divine credentials and its obstinate refusal to profit by His teaching and His Precious Blood. For the days are near, when the barren among the Jewish women will be called blessed; when death, sudden and terrible though it be, will seem preferable to life. Try, therefore, to look deep into Jesus' Sacred Heart in its very keen sympathy for these women, and especially for their children. For of the children here present in the procession, or carried in the arms of their mothers, many no doubt were to be witnesses and victims of the abomination of desolation coming upon Jerusalem not forty years hence (Luke 19:41-44) — Our Way to the Father by Leo M. Krenz, S.J.

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St. Lucius I
St. Lucius, according to the "Liber Pontificalis," was a Roman, the son of Porphyrius. When he succeeded St. Comelius, the persecution of Trebonianus Gallus was still raging, and the new Pope was exiled. Soon, however, the persecution died away and Lucius was able to return to Rome. There is extant a letter from St. Cyprian congratulating the Pope on his return from exile and praising him for his confession of Christ.

St. Lucius continued the policy of Cornelius in admitting repentant apostates to communion after due penance. St. Cyprian praises him for this.

The Liber Pontificalis attributes to Pope Lucius a decree ordering that two priests and three deacons should live with a bishop that they might be witnesses for him. Duchesne, however, considers this decree apocryphal.

According to the Liber Pontificalis, Pope Lucius was beheaded in the persecution of Valerian. This is almost certainly inaccurate, for Lucius died before the persecution of Valerian broke out. At any rate, St. Lucius died some time in the beginning of March 254, and was buried in the Cemetery of Calixtus. His tombstone has been discovered. The feast of St. Lucius is kept on March 4.
—Excerpted from Popes Through the Ages, by Joseph Brusher

Patronage: Copenhagen, Denmark

Highlights and Things to Do:

• Read more about Pope St. Lucius I:
  • Catholic Encyclopedia
  • Pope History
  • Popes in a Year
  • Vatican
  • Catholic Saints Info
  • New World Encyclopedia
• Learn more about Novatian and Novatianism at New Advent.
• St. Lucius was buried in a compartment of the papal vault in the catacombs of St. Callistus. His remains were transferred in 821 to St. Cecilia in Travestere, Rome. The sarcophagus that once held St. Lucius' remains is extant in the crypt of Santa Cecilia. It is said that some of his relics were transferred Roskilde, Denmark around 1100, and his head placed in a reliquary bust in the Saint Ansgar cathedral at Roskilde in 1910. There have been some carbon testings of the skull and the authenticity is being questioned.

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St. John Joseph of the Cross
Saint John Joseph of the Cross was born on the feast of the Assumption in 1654, on the island of Ischia in the kingdom of Naples. From his childhood he was a model of virtue, and in his sixteenth year he entered the Franciscan Order of the Strict Observance, or Reform of Saint Peter of Alcantara, at Naples. Such was the edification he gave in his Order, that within three years after his profession he was sent to found a monastery in Piedmont. He assisted in its construction himself and established there the most perfect silence and monastic fervor.

One day Saint John Joseph was found in the chapel in ecstasy, raised far above the floor. He won the hearts of all his religious, and became a priest out of obedience to his Superiors. He obtained what seemed to be an inspired knowledge of moral theology, in prayer and silence. He assisted at the death of his dear mother who rejoiced and seemed to live again in his presence, and after he had sung the Mass for the repose of her soul, saw her soul ascend to heaven, to pray thereafter their God face to face.

With his superiors’ permission he established another convent and drew up rules for the Community, which the Holy See confirmed. Afterward he became a master of novices vigilant and filled with gentleness, and of a constantly even disposition. Some time later he was made Provincial of the Province of Naples, erected in the beginning of the 18th century by Clement XI. He labored hard to establish in Italy this branch of his Order, which the Sovereign Pontiff had separated from the same branch in Spain. His ministry brought him many sufferings, especially moral sufferings occasioned by numerous calumnies. Nonetheless, the Saint succeeded in his undertakings, striving to inculcate in his subjects the double spirit of contemplation and penance which Saint Peter of Alcantara had bequeathed to the Franciscans of the Strict Observance. He gave them the example of the most sublime virtues, especially of humility and religious discipline. God rewarded his zeal with numerous gifts in the supernatural order, such as those of prophecy and miracles.

Finally, consumed by labors for the glory of God, he was called to his reward. Stricken with apoplexy, he died an octogenarian in his convent at Naples, March 5, 1734. Countless posthumous miracles confirmed the sanctity and glory of the Saint, and he was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI.
—Excerpted from Lives of the Saints for Every Day of the Year, edited by Rev. Hugo Hoever, S.O. Cist., Ph.D.

Patronage: Ischia, Italy; Naples, Italy

Symbols and Representation: Man wearing a Franciscan habit.

Highlights and Things to Do:

• Read more about St. John Joseph:
  • Catholic Encyclopedia
  • Franciscan Media
  • All Saints & Martyrs

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