[Rank]
S. Josephi Calasanctii Confessoris;;Duplex;;3;;vide C5

[Rule]
vide C5;mtv
9 lectiones

[Oratio]
O God, Who wast pleased to provide a new help for thy Church by raising up thine~
holy Confessor Joseph to train up the young in the spirit of understanding and~
godliness, we beseech thee for his sake, and by his prayers, to grant us the~
grace always so to work and so to teach, that we may finally attain unto thine~
everlasting joy.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio4]
Joseph Calasanz, called of the Mother of God, was born of a noble family at~
Petralta in Aragon, (on the 15th day of September, in the year of Christ 1556.)~
From his tender years he began to show that fondness for children, and that gift~
of instructing them for which he was afterwards distinguished. He called them~
around him when he was still but a child himself, and taught them the mysteries~
of the faith and godly prayers. He was deeply learned in profane and sacred~
letters, and it was while he was studying theology at Valencia that he bravely~
overcame the wiles of a noble and powerful lady and, by a brilliant victory,~
kept untarnished that virginity which he had vowed to God. He became a Priest in~
consequence of a vow, and was summoned by many Bishops in the kingdoms of New~
Castile, Aragon, and Catalonia to help them in their work, wherein he surpassed~
the hopes of all, correcting depraved manners, restoring the discipline of the~
Church, and marvellously putting an end to hatreds and bloody feuds. But in~
obedience to a vision from heaven and many warnings from the voice of God, he~
left Spain and went to Rome.

[Lectio5]
In Rome he afflicted his body with extraordinary hardness of living, with~
watching, and with fasting, and so passed his days and nights in prayer, and in~
the contemplation of heavenly things. He was used to visit the Seven Churches~
almost every night, a custom which he kept for many years. Having joined several~
godly Brotherhoods, it was strange how eagerly he relieved the poor by alms and~
every sort of kindness, choosing especially the sick and the imprisoned. When~
the city was ravaged by a pestilence, such was the charitable zeal with which he~
joined in the labours of St Camillus de' Lelli, that besides the great help~
which he brought to the sick poor, he would even carry the bodies of the dead on~
his own shoulders to burial. Having understood from God that his call was to~
bring up children in godliness and good learning, he founded the Order of the~
Poor Regular Clerks of the Pious Schools of the Mother of God, who profess as~
the special object of their Institute a singular care for the teaching of the~
poor. This Institute received the warm approval of Clement VIII., Paul V., and~
other Popes, and in a short time obtained a marvellous extension through many~
provinces and kingdoms of Europe. In this work Joseph Casalanz underwent so many~
toils, and patiently bore so many griefs, that he was proclaimed by all men a~
wonder of endurance and a very image of holy Job.

[Lectio6]
Then when he was at the head of his whole Order, and toiling with all his might~
for the salvation of souls, he never ceased to teach children, especially the~
poor, to sweep out the school-rooms, and to accompany the scholars home. Thus in~
spite of broken health he worked on for two and fifty years, with the greatest~
longsuffering and lowliness. He won that God should glorify him by many miracles~
worked in the presence of his disciples, and that the most blessed Virgin should~
appear to him, with the Child Jesus in her arms, blessing them as they prayed.~
He refused wealthy preferments when they were offered to him. He was eminent for~
the gift of prophecy, for the power of reading the secrets of the heart, of~
knowing distant events, and of miracles. The Virgin Mother of God, to whom from~
his childhood he had had an especial love, and other heavenly ones, honoured him~
by often allowing him to see them. He foretold the day of his own death, and the~
restoration and growth of his Order, which seemed at that time to be almost~
entirely destroyed. He fell asleep in the Lord at Rome, upon the 25 th day of~
August, in the year of salvation 1648, and of his own age the 92 nd. An hundred~
years after his death his heart and tongue were found whole and incorrupt. God~
glorified him by many miracles even after his death, and he was first crowned by~
Benedict XIV. with the honours paid to the Blessed, and then solemnly enrolled~
by Clement XIII. among the Saints.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 18:1-5
At that time Came the disciples unto Jesus, saying Who is the greatest in~
the kingdom of heaven And so on.
_
Homily by St John Chrysostom, Patriarch (of Constantinople.)
!60th on Matth. xviii.
Take heed, saith Jesus, that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say~
unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father~
and that for their sake am I come, and this is the will of My Father. Hereby the~
Lord stirreth us up to guard and save these little ones. Thou seest how mighty~
are the walls which He raiseth to protect little children, and how great thought~
and care He hath lest they should be lost, threatening on the one hand the~
uttermost punishment against whosoever shall offend one of these little ones~
which believe in Him, (6) and promising on the other hand, the highest reward to~
whosoever shall receive one such little child in His Name, (5) and this His~
teaching He giveth both in His Own, and in His Father's Name.

[Lectio8]
Let us therefore take ensample by the Lord, and let us leave nothing undone for~
the good of any of our brethren, even for such as seem to us the least and~
lowliest, but if there be any need that we should serve any, low and outcast~
though he be, let us serve him though the thing look hard to us and calling~
for a great deal of work, let such things, I pray, be looked on as light and~
easy if they be required for our neighbour's salvation, for of such price and~
such care did God count his soul to be worth, that He spared not to purchase it,~
even His Own Son. (Rom. viii. 32.)

[Lectio9]
If it be not enough for our salvation that we should ourselves live well, but we~
must also seek the salvation of others, what shall we answer, if we neither live~
well ourselves, nor exhort others What hope that we shall be saved is then~
left to us What more important task is there than to train up minds, and teach~
to the young how to live He that is skilled to mould well the minds of~
children I reckon a nobler workman than any painter or sculptor, or such like~
artist.
&teDeum

[Lectio94]
Joseph Calasanctius was born at Petralta in Aragon. While he was still a child he used to call his companions together and teach them the mysteries of the faith and prayers. He became a Priest because of a vow, and led a life of great austerity, chastising his body with vigils and fasting, and spending day and night in prayer and the contemplation of heavenly things. When he had received from God the commission to devote himself to forming boys, especially poor boys, in the knowledge and love of God, he founded the Order of the Poor Regular Clerks of the Pious Schools of the Mother of God, who took as their special work the task of teaching boys. Because of this work, he underwent innumerable labours and hardships with an invincible spirit, and in his ninety-second year he fell asleep in the Lord, on the 25th of August, 1648.
&teDeum
