ST HAGGAI, PROPHET - 16 DECEMBER

SAINT HAGGAI, PROPHET

Aggeus [Haggai], the tenth among the minor prophets of the Old Testament, is called in the Hebrew text, Haggay, and in the Septuagint Haggaios, whence the Latin form Aggeus. It is an abbreviated form of the noun Haggíyyah, "my feast is Yahweh", a Jewish proper name found in 1 Paralipomenon 6:15, Vulgate (1 Chronicles 6:30).

THERE IS GREAT UNCERTAINTY CONCERNING THE PROPHET'S PERSONAL LIFE

Great uncertainty prevails also concerning the prophet’s personal life. The book which bears his name is very short, and contains no detailed information about its author. The few passages which speak of him refer simply to the occasion on which he had to deliver a divine message in Jerusalem, during the second year of the reign of the Persian King, Darius I (B.C. 520)

In the second year of the reign of Darius the son of Hystaspes (B.C. 520), Aggeus came forward in the name of the Lord to rebuke the apathy of the Jews, and convince them that the time had come to complete their national sanctuary, that outward symbol of the Divine presence among them.

FOUR PROPHETICAL UTTERANCES

The book of Aggeus is made up of four prophetical utterances, each one headed by the date on which it was delivered.

- The first (1:1-2) is ascribed to the first day of the sixth month (August) of the second year of Darius’ reign. It urges the Jews to resume the work of rearing the Temple, and not to be turned aside from this duty by the enjoyment of their luxurious homes. It also represents a recent drought as a divine punishment for their past neglect. This first utterance is followed by a brief account (1:12-14) of its effect upon the hearers; three weeks later work was started on the Temple.
- In his second utterance (2:1-9), dated the twentieth day of the same month, the prophet foretells that the new House, which then appears so poor in comparison with the former Temple of Solomon, will one day be incomparably more glorious.
- The third utterance (2:11-20), referred to the twenty-fourth of the ninth month (Nov.-Dec.), declares that as long as God’s House is not rebuilt, the life of the Jews will be tainted and blasted, but that the divine blessing will reward their renewed zeal.
- The last utterance (2:20-23), ascribed to the same day as the preceding, tells of the divine favour which, in the approaching overthrow of the heathen nations, will be bestowed on Zorobabel, the scion and representative of the royal house of David.

THE LITERARY STYLE IS UNADORNED AND EXTREMELY DIRECT

The simple reading of these oracles makes one feel that although they are shaped into parallel clauses such as are usual in Hebrew poetry, their literary style is rugged and unadorned, extremely direct, and, therefore, most natural on the part of a prophet intent on convincing his hearers of their duty to rebuild the House of the Lord.

Besides this harmony of the style with the general tone of the book of Aggeus, strong internal data occur to confirm the traditional date and authorship of that sacred writing. In particular, each portion of the work is supplied with such precise dates and ascribed so expressly to Aggeus, that each utterance bears the distinct mark of having been written soon after it was delivered.

It should also be borne in mind that although the prophecies of Aggeus were directly meant to secure the immediate rearing of the Lord’s House, they are not without a much higher import. The three passages which are usually brought forth as truly Messianic, are 2:7-8, 2:10, and 2:21-24.

Source: Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913 - 🎨 Haggai [Aggeus] from an illuminated German manuscript dated A.D. 1240-1250

BL. RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 30 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 30th of May WELCOME! BLESSED RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR Richard Newport, alias Smith , was born in Northamptonshire and performed his studies abroad, partly in the college of Rheims (if he be the Richard Smith whom I find in the Douay diary sent to Rome in 1586) and partly in that of Rome, where he was made priest. From thence he was sent upon the English mission, and behaved himself in such a manner as justly to acquire the character of a laborious missionary; being withal remarkably successful in bringing home many strayed sheep to the fold of Christ, to which his apostolical way of living did not a little contribute. He was several times apprehended and cast into prison, and twice banished. His name occurs amongst those who were transported in 1606; at which time, we are told, he took that opportunity of making a pilgrimage to Rome, there to pour forth his prayers at the tombs of the apostles, in behalf of thi...

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