Fr. Z's Blog

Angels never cease to fascinate. I am so grateful for our Angel Guardians. They do so much for us, yet we often don’t think of them as persons, indeed, persons who want nothing other for us than the will of God, which they have been sent to us, by God, to fulfill and then enjoy the happiness of Heaven. Imagine, such sublime creatures, persons without bodies, not limited by space or time, come to serve our best interests which simultaneously beholding the face of God! What a gift.

Let’s drill into the hymn in the Roman Breviary for the Feast of the Guardian Angels.

“Custódes hóminum, psállimus Angelos“, traditionally attributed to St. Robert Bellarmine (but probably not possible – its already in a MSS before his birth), consists of four stanzas (12.12.12.8). This hymn is a little different in its meter than other hymns in the Roman liturgy, because it uses the ancient quantitative syllables, rather than the later simple word stress. It is in a meter used by Horace, Third Asclepiadian, which consists of a three Asclepiads (— — | — — | — u u — | — u u — | u —) and a Glyconic (– – – u u – u –), as in his Ode 3.30 which has the opening line “exegi monumentum aere perennius… I have built a monument which will last more years than bronze,…”. An important feature of Asclepiadians is the caesura, a pause within the line which balances divisions. These pauses give the verse a musical quality.

The opening, Custodes hominum psallimus Angelos, identifies these angels by office they are given by god: “guardians of men.” The next phrase, naturae fragili, is important. Human nature is not treated as evil, but as frail, exposed, and in need of assistance. God the Father therefore addidit these caelestes comites, heavenly companions. There is an echo of Psalm 90(91):11, “He hath given his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways,” and especially of Matthew 18:10, where Christ says that the angels of the little ones “always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” The hymn also belongs to the wider biblical tradition in which angels guard both individuals and peoples, as in Exodus 23:20, Tobias 5–12, and Daniel 10.
In the first stanza we have images of warfare, which is Pauline (6:12).  The Guardian Angel is in this context.  The second stanza says why the conflict between the angels started.  There was a “traitor angel” (cf. Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, Luke 10:18, and Apocalypse 12). Satan’s defining passion is invidia, envy. The third stanza is an invocation.  The reference to patria, homeland, which expands the angels’ mission to more than individuals.  In the fourth, doxology, stanza, I love that machina image for the three-fold ordering of the cosmos: Heaven, Earth and Hell.  They are all governed by the numen of the Trinity.

Here’s a lovely musical version:

And we’re off!

Strange thing: not another car at the curb at drop off, no one in line at checkin, and I the only person at security!  Even the agents were surprised.

The airport is quiet.

A snack.

So far so good.

I ask your prayers.

UPDATE

The flight was really bumpy, so there was no cabin service.  And the seats… good grief.

At check-in I asked if upgrade seat had been unblocked.  “Yes.  There’s one for $4078.”

Anyway I’m in the lounge for a while but I may leave and stroll a bit.

Here’s an oldie post for this Feast of St. Jerome.

If there have to be reality TV shows or treasure hunt movies, I propose finding the tomb of St. Jerome (+420) in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.

I may write a novel!  It would have vampires, I think, and maybe the Mossad.

I have posted something in the past about Jerome’s burial place.  Here it is again.

This is an interesting story and I dug into it a little. This is what I found.

We read in J.N.D. Kelly’s work Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies (Duckworth, 1975, p. 333 – emphasis mine US HERE) :

Apocryphal lives extolling [Jerome’s] sanctity, even his miracles,

were quick to appear, and in the eighth century he was to be acclaimed, along with Ambrose, Augustine, and Gregory the Great, as one of the four Doctors of the Church.[2] In the middle ages his works were eagerly copied, read, and pillaged; while towards the end of the thirteenth century the clergy of Santa Maria Maggiore, at Rome, were to persuade the

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public, perhaps themselves too, that his remains had been transported from Bethlehem to Italy, and could be venerated close to certain presumed fragments of the Saviour’s crib.[3]

Note 2: This was formally ratified by Pope Boniface VIII on 20 Sept. 1295: see Corpus iuris canonici II, 1059 (ed. E. Freidburg, Leipzig, 1879-81). The original number four (the list was later to be greatly expanded) was chosen so that the Doctors could match the Evangelists.

Note 3: The story of their alleged translation, in response to a visionary appearance of Jerome himself, is set out by J. Stilting in Acta Sanctorum XLVI, Sept. VIII, 636 (Antwerp, 1762); it is reprinted in PL 22, 237-40. Stilting also provides a discussion of its date, veracity, etc. on pp. 635-49.

In the Acta Sanctorum for 30 September, under the entry for St. Jerome, …

…we find the following section with its articles:

LXV. Corpus Sancti ex Palestina Romam translatum, depositumque in basilica s. Mariae Majoris. The body of the saint was brought to Rome from Palestine, and put in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
LXVI. Inquiritur tempus quo Sancti corpus Romam delatum. An investigation is made into the time when the body of the saint was brought back to Rome.
LXVII. Corpus Sancti depositum prope aediculam Praesepis, conditum deinde ibidem altare, sub quo positum, ubi mansit usque ad pontificatum Sixti V, quando dicitur clanculum ablatum & absconditum. The body of the saint was placed near to the small chamber of the Crib, established then right at the same altar, under which it was placed, where it remained until the pontificate of Sixtus V, when it is said to have been secretly taken away and hidden.
LXVIII. Corpus Sancti clanculum ablatum & absconditum dicitur, ne transferretur alio a Sixto V: deinde frequenter frustra quaesitum. The body of the saint is said to have been secretly taken away and hidden lest it were to be transferred to another place by Sixtus V: aftward it is frequently sought in vain.
LXIX. An reliquae, sub altari principe S. Mariae Majoris inventae, videantur illae ipsae, quae ut corpus S. Hieronymi ad illam basilicam fuerunt translatae. Whether the relics found under the main altar of St. Mary Major which had been transferred to that Basilica seem to be the very same as the body of St. Jerome.
LXX. Admodum verisimile & probabile inventas esse S. Hieronymi. Clearly the [relics] found are most like and probably of Saint Jerome.
LXXI. Respondetur ad objectionem ex reliquiis Nepesinis: reliquiae, quae verisimiliter sunt S. Hieronymi sub mensa principis altaris depositae. An objection is answered about the relics at Nepi: relics placed under the main altar which more than likely are those of St. Jerome.
LXXII. Reliquiae Sancti in pluribus civitatibus Italiae, Galliae, Germaniae, Belgii, & aliis provinciis. The relics of the saint in more cities in Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and other provinces.
LXXIII. Cultus S. Hieronymi: festivitates eius & Officia. The veneration of St. Jerome: his feasts and offices.

Meanwhile, the canons of St. Mary Major hold that the bones of Jerome are inside the main altar under the baldachin.  Also, the altar is upheld by four lion’s paws.  Coincidence?

Others say his body is in the Sistine Chapel of St. Mary Major, to the right as you face the main altar, where the Blessed Sacrament is reposed and where the tombs of Popes Sixtus V and St. Pius V are found.

I was in full contact Taekwondo for years, and fencing (epee).

I think seminarians should be schooled in cooking, sewing, basic electrician repair, etc., and martial arts.

It’s synodal!  It’s in … Vatican II!  I don’t repost this because of the writer’s shot at Leo.  Try to have a brain.

A priest in Africa explains to non-Christians that they must not disturb Holy Mass. He demonstrated more devotion to Jesus in ten seconds than Pope Leo has shown in a year and a half. pic.twitter.com/QQdA6dahzu

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) September 28, 2026

Am I wrong?

(Not to mention CC training, which teaches all manner of helpful things about situational awareness and de-escalation.)