Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Praised be Jesus Christ.
Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Hyacinth.
He was born in the year 1185 in Poland, and after completing his studies and being ordained
to the priesthood, he made a journey to Rome with the Bishop of Krakow, who also happened
to be his uncle.
And it was there at Rome that he met St. Dominic, who was in the process of founding the Order
of Preachers.
And so he was interested in joining the Dominicans, and he was accepted by St. Dominic himself.
And after completing a year of his novitiate, he was sent back to Poland.
St. Hyacinth would go on to be a great missionary preacher and also a miracle worker in Poland,
Poland, Lithuania, Denmark, Norway.
He also went to Russia, Sweden, and also Russia, bringing about numerous conversions.
In fact, he himself had baptized over 120,000 people.
He was always opening up new churches and convents wherever he went.
And for this reason, he's also called the Apostle of the North.
Now, St. Hyacinth attributed all of his apostolic success to the intercession of our Father,
our Blessed Mother, to whom he had great devotion, following, of course, St. Dominic's
own example.
And one time, when he was at Kiev, the Tartars sacked the town.
But St. Hyacinth was busy celebrating Mass, and he wasn't aware of it until after he finished
celebrating Mass.
And so without waiting to unvest, he took the ciborium.
And so he took the ciborium.
And as he took the ciborium, he went to the church with the Blessed Sacrament in his hands.
And as he was leaving the church, he passed by a statue of our Blessed Lady.
And as he was leaving the church, he passed by a statue of our Blessed Lady.
And from the statue, he heard a voice,
Jehoiachin, my son,
why dost thou leave me behind?
Take me with thee, and leave me not to mine enemies.
And the statue was made of heavy alabaster.
But when Hyacinth took it in his arms,
But when Hyacinth took it in his arms,
it became light as a feather.
And so he walked off, bringing our Lord and our Lady to safety.
And now our Lady granted him one final grace
by calling him to herself on her feast,
the Feast of the Assumption, in the year 1257.
And so we see in St. Hyacinth a great example of Marian devotion
and also the fact that he attributed all of his apostolic success
to the intercession of our Lady.
In fact, just as our Lady sustained,
she made his work successful
because she has always interceded for the Church
and her apostolic labors.
We see our Lady right from the very beginning
sustaining.
And making fruitful the early Church through her intercession.
We remember that St. Peter converted 3,000
that first day with his preaching.
And so throughout the centuries, the history of the Church,
our Lady has interceded.
And in fact, we can, all of us,
can attribute all of the apostolic success
throughout the centuries of the Church
to our Lady.
To our Lady's intercession.
To her fulfilling her role as Mother of the Church.
That is, giving birth to souls.
Giving birth to supernatural life in souls.
She is Mother in the order of grace.
And just as she gave birth to the head of the mystical body,
so she also gives birth to all of the members
of the mystical body.
Amen.
And so, on the contrary,
on the other side of things,
we can attribute all failure,
all apostolic failure, to what?
To our own infidelity.
To the infidelity of the members of the mystical body.
The slow pace in converting souls.
The so-called vocational crisis.
The closing down of churches, etc.
We don't need to look anywhere else than at our own selves.
At the members of the mystical body.
And their infidelity.
Their lack of faithfulness
in fulfilling their daily duties.
Especially their religious duties.
Specifically as members of the body of Christ.
So let us consecrate ourselves to our Lady
without limits,
so as to become her instruments
for conversion and sanctification.
Let's often invoke her aid,
as Saint Hyacinth did,
especially by means of the recitation
of the Holy Rosary.
Saint Hyacinth, pray for us.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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