Advent: December 21st
Optional Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, priest and doctor
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Old Calendar: St. Thomas, apostle ; Other Titles: Day 5 O Antiphons: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
St. Peter Canisius (1521-1597) was born at Nijmegen, Holland, at the very time that Luther began to rebel against the Church and St. Ignatius Loyola was laying the foundations of the Jesuit Order. After studying the arts, civil law and theology, St. Peter joined the Jesuit Order and was ordained a priest in 1546. He is noted especially for the following services to the Church: he defended the Catholic faith against the Protestants; by preaching, writing, founding colleges and seminaries, he caused Catholic life to flourish; he rendered invaluable services to the ecumenical Council of Trent; he wrote many Catechisms which were translated into twelve languages in his own life time. He died in Fribourg, Switzerland.
According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Thomas, now celebrated July 3. Previously St. Peter Canisius' feast was celebrated on April 27.Today is the fifth of the O Antiphons. It is the Sun, the Redeemer, whom we await. "I am the light [the sun] of the world" (John 8:12). Christ is the light of the world because of the faith which He has infused into souls. He has enlightened the world by His teaching and by the example of His life. In the crib, in Nazareth, on the cross on Calvary, in the tabernacle of our churches, He answers the eternal questioning of the benighted soul.O Antiphons ~ Radiant DawnSt. Peter CanisiusPeter Canisius, the remarkable Jesuit who almost single-handedly reevangelized Central Europe, founded dozens of colleges, contributed to the rebirth of Catholicism by his prodigious writings, and laid the groundwork for the Catholic Reformation north of the Alps. He was born at Nijmegen, Holland, in 1521, and his father was an instructor to princes in the court of the duke of Lorraine. St. Peter Canisius was part of a movement for religious reform as a very young man and in 1543, after attending a retreat given by Blessed Peter Favre, joined the Jesuits and was the eighth professed member of the Society of Jesus.