Pope S. Silverius| Daily Meditation| Daily Quote by S. Padre Pio| Divine Mercy Reflection
Today in the Latin Calendar we celebrate the Feast Day of Pope S. Silverius, Martyr. A story about this Feast Day can be found by Clicking Here.
Another Story:
Silverius was son of Pope Hormisdas, who had been married before he entered the ministry. Upon the death of Saint Agapetas, and after a vacancy of forty-seven days, Silverius, a subdeacon, was elected Pope. He was consecrated on the 8th of June, 536, despite maneuvers on the part of heretics opposed to the Council of Chalcedon.
The heretical empress Theodora, resolved to win Silverius over to her interests. She wrote to him, ordering that he should either acknowledge as lawful bishop the Eutychian heretic Anthimus, who had been deposed as patriarch of Constantinople, or come in person to Constantinople and reexamine his cause. Without the least hesitation or delay, Silverius returned her a short answer, by which he gave her to understand that he neither could nor would obey her unjust demands. These demands would be to countermand his predecessor's decision and betray the cause of the Catholic faith.
The empress, finding that she could expect nothing from him, resolved to have him deposed. Vigilius, archdeacon of the Roman Church, a man of diplomacy, was then at Constantinople. To this ambitious ecclesiastic the empress exposed her wishes. She promised to make him pope and to bestow on him seven hundred pieces of gold, if he would engage himself to condemn the Council of Chalcedon and receive into Communion the three deposed Eutychian patriarchs. Vigilius assented to these conditions, and the empress sent him to Rome, charged with a letter to the Roman general Belisarius, commanding him to drive out Silverius and contrive the election of Vigilius to the pontificate.
Vigilius urged the general to execute this project. In order to implement it, the Pope was accused of corresponding with the enemy. A forged letter was produced, supposedly written by him to the king of the Goths, inviting him to the city and promising to open the gates to him. These dealings succeeded; Vigilius was made Pope, and Silverius was banished to Patara in Lycia.
The bishop of Patara received the illustrious exile with all possible marks of honor and respect, and thinking himself bound to undertake his defense, journeyed to Constantinople and spoke boldly to the emperor Justinian. He terrified him with threats of divine judgments for the expulsion of a bishop of so great a see, telling him, “There are many kings in the world, but there is only one Pope over the Church of the whole world.” Justinian appeared startled at the atrocity of the proceedings and gave orders that Silverius be sent back to Rome. The enemies of the Pope contrived to prevent this, however, and he was intercepted on his road toward Rome and transported to the deserted island of Palmeria, where he died of hunger a year later, on the 20th of June, 538 and was buried.
According to the Liber Pontificalis, Pope St. Silverius was exiled not to Palmaria, but rather to the Island of Palmarola, a much smaller and more desolate island near Ponza, Italy, in the Bay of Naples.
Liber pontificalis, ed. DUCHESNE, I, 290-95; LIBERATUS, Breviarium causae Nestorianorum et Eutychianorum, XXII, in P.L., LXVIII, 1039 sq.; PROCOPIUS, De bello gothico, I, xxv; Acta SS., June, IV, 13- 18; JAFFÉ, Regesta pont. rom., I, 2nd ed., 115 sq.; LANGEN, Gesch. der römischen Kirche, II, 341 sqq.; GRISAR, Gesch. Roms u. der Päpste, I, 502-04, and passim; HEFELE, Konziliengesch.,II, 2nd ed., 571.
Daily Meditation
Reaching Out:
Today, simply stop a moment and try to see at least one way in which God is reaching out to you. Then see if you can reach back to Him. Ask Our Lady to help you.
Quote by S. Padre Pio:
The finest grace that can be asked by and on behalf of those who aspire to the spiritual life (is)... an increase of heavenly light.
Divine Mercy Reflection
Reflections on Notebook Two: 112-188
We now enter into Notebook Two of the six notebooks that make up the Diary of Saint Faustina. The reason for having more than one notebook is simply that when one notebook was filled by Saint Faustina she began with a new one. Therefore, there is nothing particularly different from one notebook to the other. However, for the purpose of this current book of daily reflections, each reflection will begin to be lengthened, starting here with Notebook Two, so as to help you, the reader, enter more deeply into the beautiful mysteries of faith and our shared spiritual life that have been revealed in these writings of Saint Faustina.
You are invited once again to take one reflection each day and to ponder it throughout the day. Try to pray the prayer for each reflection each morning, noon and evening. Allow each mystery reflected upon to become a source of wisdom and understanding for you.
Reflection 171: Comparing Earth to Heaven
Try to imagine what you will think about this time on Earth when you get to Heaven. Will you miss this life? Will you want to return? Will you wish you made more money while here or had more worldly success? Most likely not. Compared to Heaven, this world is pitiful. That doesn’t mean that our lives cannot be glorious here, it just means that Heaven will be infinitely more glorious. For that reason, we must constantly put our eyes upon building true treasure that will last forever. Our only concern must be Heaven and doing all that the Lord calls us to do here and now so as to attain that glory. Do not spend one moment wasting time on things that will mean nothing to you in Heaven. Instead, spend all your time “building your Heavenly mansion” through a life of pure faith and charity, growing in an immense love of God. You will never regret increasing your love of God, here and now, when you get to Heaven (See Diary #899).
What occupies your daily thinking and dreams? What is the object of your hope and greatest desire? Try to honestly assess this and do not be afraid to admit it if you discover that your primary goals are those things that are passing and, ultimately, unimportant. As you discover this, turn your eyes to Heaven and to the love of God. Consider practical ways that you can refocus your life so that it is fully given to the purpose you were made for, namely, to love God with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. Unless this is your central goal in life, you have the wrong goal. Pray and surrender to God and redirect all things to Him.
Lord, I desire to make You and Your holy Will the central focus of my life. I choose nothing other than to love You and my neighbor. Help me to be diligent in building Your Kingdom on Earth so that I may enjoy Your Kingdom eternally in Heaven. Jesus, I trust in You.