Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
21:34–36
34. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
35. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
THEOPHYLACT. Our Lord declared above the fearful and sensible signs of the evils which should overtake sinners, against which the only remedy is watching and prayer, as it is said, And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time, &c.
BASIL. (Hom. 1. in illud Atten de tibi.) Every animal has within itself certain instincts which it has received from God, for the preservation of its own being. Wherefore Christ has also given us this warning, that what comes to them by nature, may be ours by the aid of reason and prudence: that we may flee from sin as the brute creatures shun deadly food, but that we seek after righteousness, as they wholesome herbs. Therefore saith He, Take heed to yourselves, that is, that you may distinguish the noxious from the wholesome. But since there are two ways of taking heed to ourselves, the one with the bodily eyes, the other by the faculties of the soul, and the bodily eye does not reach to virtue; it remains that we speak of the operations of the soul. Take heed, that is, Look around you on all sides, keeping an ever watchful eye to the guardianship of your soul. He says not, Take heed to your own or to the things around, but to yourselves. For ye are mind and spirit, your body is only of sense. Around you are riches, arts, and all the appendages of life, you must not mind these, but your soul, of which you must take especial care. The same admonition tends both to the healing of the sick, and the perfecting of those that are well, namely, such as are the guardians of the present, the providers of the future, not judging the actions of others, but strictly searching their own, not suffering the mind to be the slave of their passions, but subduing the irrational part of the soul to the rational. But the reason why we should take heed He adds as follows, Lest at any time your hearts be overcharged, &c.
TITUS BOSTRENSIS. As if He says, Beware lest the eyes of your mind wax heavy. For the cares of this life, and surfeiting, and drunkenness, scare away prudence, shatter and make shipwreck of faith.
CLEMENT OF ALEXENDRIA. (Clem. Al. lib. ii. Pædag. c. 2.) Drunkenness is an excessive use of wine; crapula1 is the uneasiness, and nausea attendant on drunkenness, a Greek word so called from the motion of the head. And a little below. As then we must partake of food lest we suffer hunger, so also of drink lest we thirst, but with still greater care to avoid falling into excess. For the indulgence of wine is deceitful, and the soul when free from wine will be the wisest and best, but steeped in the fumes of wine is lost as in a cloud.
BASIL. (in Reg. Brev. ad int. 88.) But carefulness, or the care of this life, although it seems to have nothing unlawful in it, nevertheless if it conduce not to religion, must be avoided. And the reason why He said this He shews by what comes next, And so that day come upon you unawares.
THEOPHYLACT. For that day will not come when men are expecting it, but unlooked for and by stealth, taking as a snare those who are unwary. For as a snare shall it come upon all them that sit upon the face of the earth. But this we may diligently keep far from us. For that day will take those that sit on the face of the earth, as the unthinking and slothful. But as many as are prompt and active in the way of good, not sitting and loitering on the ground, but rising from it, saying to themselves, Rise up, begone, for here there is no rest for thee. To such that day is not as a perilous snare, but a day of rejoicing.
EUSEBIUS. He taught them therefore to take heed unto the things we have just before mentioned, lest they fall into the indolence resulting therefrom. Hence it follows, Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all those things that shall come to pass.
THEOPHYLACT. Namely, hunger, pestilence, and such like, which for a time only threaten the elect and others, and those things also which are hereafter the lot of the guilty for ever. For these we can in no wise escape, save by watching and prayer.
AUGUSTINE. (de Con. Ev. l. ii. c. 77.) This is supposed to be that flight which Matthew mentions; which must not be in the winter or on the sabbath day. To the winter belong the cares of this life, which are mournful as the winter, but to the sabbath surfeiting and drunkenness, which drowns and buries the heart in carnal luxury and delight, since on that day the Jews are immersed in worldly pleasure, while they are lost to a spiritual sabbath.
THEOPHYLACT. And because a Christian needs not only to flee evil, but to strive to obtain glory, He adds, And to stand before the Son of man. For this is the glory of angels, to stand before the Son of man, our God, and always to behold His face.
BEDE. Now supposing a physician should bid us beware of the juice of a certain herb, lest a sudden death overtake us, we should most earnestly attend to his command; but when our Saviour warns us to shun drunkenness and surfeiting, and the cares of this world, men have no fear of being wounded and destroyed by them; for the faith which they put in the caution of the physician, they disdain to give to the words of God.
Catena Aurea Luke 21
SAINT BIBIANA
Feast Day Dec 02
Patronage Epilepsy, Hangovers, Headaches, Insanity, Mental Illness, Single Lay Women, Torture Victims
The earliest mention of St. Bibiana comes from an authentic, historical book, “Liber Pontificalis”, where, in the biography of Pope Simplicius, 468-483, it states that the body of a Roman Virgin and Martyr named Bibiana, was in a Basilica he consecrated. “Pope Simplicius consecrated a Basilica of the holy martyr Bibiana, in which, contained her body, near the palatium licinianum”. The Basilica of Santa Bibiana still exists today. This is really all we know for sure, the rest is based on tradition.
St. Bibiana suffered in the persecution started by Apronianus, Governor of Rome. She was the daughter of Christians, Flavian a Roman knight, and Dafrosa his wife. It is said that Flavian was tortured severely, and was sent into exile where he died from his wounds. His wife was beheaded, and their two daughters Bibiana and Demetria were stripped of their possessions and left to suffer. They did remain in their house, spending their time in prayer and fasting.
It became apparent to Apronianus, that hunger and want had little effect on these two girls. He had them brought to him, and Demetria, after confessing her faith, fell dead at the feet of the tyrant. St. Bibiana was placed in the hands of a wicked woman called Rufina, for greater suffering. She tried to seduce her, using blows and beatings, as well as persuasion, but the Christian virgin remained faithful. Enraged, Apronianus ordered her to be tied to a pillar, beaten with scourges, laden with lead plummets, until she died. She endured the torments with joy, and died under the blows of her beating.
Practical Take Away
We know that St. Bibiana was a martyr for her faith. Much of the details are left to tradition, but we know she was a martyr and saint of the early Church. It is said her father was beaten and exiled, where he died of his wounds. Her mother was beheaded, and she and her sister were left to die in their home with no means to survive. Refusing to give up her faith, she was beaten to death. Many of the early saints of our Church went to heroic ends to maintain their faith, and her life was no exception. We owe our faith to these wonderful saints who held fast to their faith so we may grow in ours.
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