The Bishop's Weekly Column from the Parish Bulletin

OUR LADY OF FATIMA

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Ignis Ardens

December 30th 2009

Many Trad Catholics are familiar with the famous Latin epithets attributed to St. Malachy of Ireland, although modern scholarship has debunked his authorship. Be that as it may, the Latin phrases have in many cases been most apposite, for Leo XIII the title was Lumen in Caelo (a light in the heavens) a clear reference to his coat of arms. Pius XII was famously called Pastor Angelicus (Angelic Shepherd) a clear reference to the recently declared Venerable's sanctity. John XXIII was Pastor et Nauta (Shepherd and sailor) a clear reference to his former position as Patriarch of Venice, a city whose Bishop had to navigate his jurisdiction by water.

There is a story (amongst others) told about Francis Cardinal Spellman of New York hiring a boat, filling it with sheep and sailing up and down the Tiber hoping to be elected the successor of his great friend Pius XII. "Spelly" (as Pius called him), might have been another pompous American prelate hoping to make it into the big league but at least he delivered the goods as far as Peter's Pence was concerned. Pius also called him "Cardinal Moneybags" since every time His Eminence came to Rome, as a Prince of the Church he enjoyed a certain amount of privilege such that his suitcases, lined with money, were never searched by Customs.

Ignis Ardens was the epithet that fell to Pope St. Pius X. When asked one day (as the story goes) to what the epithet referred, St. Pius X, ever the wag, quipped: "It refers to the cigar I smoke after dinner !" Pius XII had an aversion for smoking and reportedly stated he would never canonize a smoker. Evidently he made a notable exception in his saintly predecessor's case. Whatever St. Pius X's personal foibles as far as cigars were concerned, he never blew smoke in another's face (I am sure) and he was always certain on which side of the Tiber he stood. Interestingly enough, Venice provided three Pontiffs in the 20th century, St. Pius X, Blessed John XXIII and John Paul I. Despite their need for sailing as part of their erstwhile pastoral tasks, when it came to Rome, unlike the English, these popes never quite seemed to enjoy messing about on the river !

+TF