1300 BD MATTHIA
OF MATELICA, VIRGIN Miracles incorrupt in 1756; Miracles became so frequent
at her grave that the body was soon moved to a tomb beside the high altar
of the chapel, where her veneration was continued without interruption.
In 1756 the tomb had to be moved on account of repairs, and the Bishop of
Camerino took the opportunity to examine the relics; the body was found
to be incorrupt and giving off a pleasant smell. It was re-enshrined under
the altar of St Cecilia, and since then miracles have again been reported
there.
AT the town of
Matelica in the March of Ancona there is a monastery of Poor Clare nuns
whose origin is said to go back to about the year 1233, when
St Clare was still living; this ancient convent was dedicated in honour
of St Mary Magdalene, but since 1758 has been known as Bd
Matthia’s. This beata was born in Matelica about the same
time as the convent was founded, the only child of Count Gentile Nazzarei,
who naturally wished his daughter to marry and perpetuate his house. She,
however, was called to be a nun and offered herself to the abbess of Santa
Maria Maddalena, who was related to Count Gentile and refused to receive
her without her father’s consent. According to an old tradition Matthia
thereupon went into the convent chapel, changed her secular clothes for
a religious habit, cut off her hair, and there offered herself to Christ
before a crucifix. Count Gentile found her thus, and was reluctantly persuaded
to give his permission. Nothing is known of the life in religion of Bd Matthia
except vague generalities. She filled the office of abbess for forty years,
and died on December 28, 1300. Miracles became
so frequent at her grave that the body was soon moved to a tomb beside the
high altar of the chapel, where her veneration was continued without interruption.
In 1756 the tomb had to be moved on
account of repairs, and the Bishop of Camerino took the opportunity to
examine the relics; the body was found to be incorrupt and giving off a
pleasant smell. It was re-enshrined under the altar of St Cecilia, and
since then miracles have again been reported there. In particular, the
body is said to have exuded from time to time a sweet-smelling, blood-like
liquid, especially when a member of the community is going to die.
Full accounts
of the beata are available in nearly all the Franciscan
chroniclers. Mazzara commemorates her in June; see the Leggendario
Francescano, pt I (1676), pp. 875—876. There are Italian
lives by G. Baldassini (1852), and by Vincent de Porto San Giorgio (1877).
See also Leon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.),
vol. i, pp. 332—338; and cf. A. M. Zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum, vol. iii (1937).Mevania, now called Bevagna, is a small town in Umbria, and here this James was born in the year 1220, of the family of the Bianconi. His future holiness was foreshadowed in his childhood, and a reconciliation of the Bianconi to the Alberti, with whom they had quarrelled, was attributed to his youthful prayers. When he was sixteen, two Dominicans came to Bevagna to preach during Lent, and the boy was attracted by what he heard of the life of the preachers and by their discourses; he considered the matter over and over and when, after his communion on Maundy Thursday, he was saying Psalm 118, the appositeness of the thirty-third verse struck him, "Set before me for a law the way of thy justifications, 0 Lord, and I will always seek after it." He went to one of the friars and opened his mind, and was recommended to watch all that night before the Blessed Sacrament in the Easter sepulchre, asking for light, and to await the will of God. This he did, and as he slept on the eve of Holy Saturday St Dominic appeared to him and said, "Do it! According to God's will I choose you, and will be ever with you".
When the friars returned to their house at Spoleto James went with them. In due course he was given permission to establish a house of his order at Bevagna, of which he became prior. The neighbourhood gave ample scope for the labours of the friars, and after the town had been sacked by the Emperor Frederick II in 1248 Bd James more than ever endeared himself to the people by his solicitude for them in their misfortunes. This was a time of recrudescence of Manichean errors, and a particularly pestilential sect of antinomians was active in Umbria; James set out to combat it with great energy, and succeeded in inducing one of its leaders to make a public repudiation of his heresy at Orte. Bd James was very strict in his observance of his vow of poverty, and when his mother gave him some money to buy a new habit, which he badly needed, he got permission from his superior to buy a crucifix for his cell instead. When his mother saw the worn-out habit again, she remonstrated with him, but he answered with a smile, "I have done as you wished. St Paul tells us to 'put on the Lord Jesus`, and that is the habit I have bought." But that crucifix was to clothe him in a way he never thought of, for praying before it one day in great dryness and fear of spirit, almost despairing of his salvation, it is said that a spurt of blood miraculously sprang from the image over his face, and he heard a voice saying, "Behold the sign of your salvation". Another marvel, reported at his death, is recounted in the notice of Bd Joan of Orvieto, under July 23. Pope Boniface IX approved the cultus of Bd James of Bevagna.
The Bollandists in giving an account
of this beatus (August, vol. iv) deplore, and not without reason, the lack
of any early biography. The narrative of Father Taigi is certainly
full of legendary matter neither can one feel any more confidence in the
Vita del B. Giacomo Bianconi
by Father Piergili (1729) or in that compiled by F. Becchetti or in the summary
given in Procter, Lives of Dominican Saints.
For a fuller bibliography see Taurisano, pp. 23-24.
14th v. Silvanus (Silouan)
of the Kiev CavesThe Holy Schemamonk, zealously preserved purity of both
soul and body; subdued his flesh with fasting and vigils, and he cleansed
his soul with prayer and meditation on God: Lord granted him an abundance
of spiritual gifts: a prayerful boldness towards God, constant joy in the
Lord, clairvoyance and wonderworking
The monk lived at the end of the thirteenth and beginning
of the fourteenth centuries. His relics rest in the Cavescultus approved by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Very little is known about these two Dominican preachers. Their legend tells us that they evangelized the mountainous Somontano region of Moorish Spain near Barbastro, Aragon. One day they were caught in a storm as they travelled from one village to another. The storm loosed the rocks of the cave in which they had sought shelter and they were buried in a landslide. The bells of Perarúa rang out of their own accord, indicating that something remarkable was afoot, and villagers, who ventured out after the storm, found the cave surrounded by lights and angelic music. Digging into the rubble, they found the two Dominicans crushed to death. Miracles surrounded their burials and their tombs at Besians in the diocese of Barbastro, where pilgrims came to pray, especially against the danger from storms. Formerly on Rogation days, and in times of drought, their relics were carried in procession (Benedictines, Dorcy).
1304 Blessed
Benedict XI, OP Pope he had "a vast store of knowledge, a prodigious memory,
a penetrating genius, and (that) everything about him endeared him to all."
In 1295, he received the degree of master of theology As papal legate Nicholas
travelled to Hungary to try to settle a civil war there He worked to reconcile
warring parties in Europe and the Church and to increase spirituality. His
reign, short though it was, was noted for its leniency and kindness Many
miracles were performed at his tomb, and there were several cures even before
his burial (RM)Bd Benedict XI, Pope Nicholas
Boccasini was born at Treviso in the year 1240. He was educated there
and at Venice, where at seventeen years of age he took the habit of St
Dominic. In 1268 he was appointed professor and preacher at Venice and
Bologna, where he fruitfully communicated to others those spiritual riches
which he had treasured up in silence and retirement, while always advancing
in the way of perfection himself. He composed a volume of sermons,
and wrote commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, which are still extant.
He was chosen prior provincial of his order for Lombardy and, in 1296, elected
ninth master general of the whole Order of Preachers. Two years
later Brother Nicholas was created cardinal and soon after bishop of Ostia,
and he went as legate a latere
to Hungary to endeavour to compose the differences which divided that nation;
he had some temporary success, for his learning, prudence and selflessness
everywhere gained respect: but his services were urgently required
in Rome.
Trouble had long been brewing
between the Holy See and King Philip of France, who had been heavily taxing
ecclesiastical persons and property to help carry on his war with England;
the king entered into an alliance with the Colonna cardinals against Pope
Boniface VIII who, the French king having circulated a forged document in
the place of his statement of the pope's prerogatives, in 1302 issued the
famous bull "Unam sanctam", in which,
inter alia, the relationship between the spiritual and temporal powers
were set out.
In the following year Philip appealed to a general council to judge the pope on a number of astounding charges, as infamous as they were false, preferred by the royal councillor William of Nogaret and a knight, William du Plessis.* [* These gentlemen were experts in such work, and later played a similar part in the arraignment of the Knights Templars on terrifying charges.] A storm was raised against Boniface, who withdrew to Anagni, deserted by all who should have supported him, excepting only the cardinal-bishop of Sabina and the cardinal-bishop of Ostia, Nicholas Boccasini. With their advice and assistance Boniface acted with vigour and promptness, and prepared a bull of excommunication against Philip. But the very day before its promulgation Nogaret and the Ghibelline leader, Sciarra Colonna, broke into the papal residence with a rabble of hired troopers and seized the person of the pontiff, on September 7. Three days later he was released by the citizens of Anagni, returned to Rome, and on October 11 he died.
In the following year Philip appealed to a general council to judge the pope on a number of astounding charges, as infamous as they were false, preferred by the royal councillor William of Nogaret and a knight, William du Plessis.* [* These gentlemen were experts in such work, and later played a similar part in the arraignment of the Knights Templars on terrifying charges.] A storm was raised against Boniface, who withdrew to Anagni, deserted by all who should have supported him, excepting only the cardinal-bishop of Sabina and the cardinal-bishop of Ostia, Nicholas Boccasini. With their advice and assistance Boniface acted with vigour and promptness, and prepared a bull of excommunication against Philip. But the very day before its promulgation Nogaret and the Ghibelline leader, Sciarra Colonna, broke into the papal residence with a rabble of hired troopers and seized the person of the pontiff, on September 7. Three days later he was released by the citizens of Anagni, returned to Rome, and on October 11 he died.
To such a troubled heritage
did Cardinal Nicholas Boccasini succeed, for within a fortnight he was elected
to the apostolic chair, and took the name of Benedict. He set himself
straightway to deal with the situation, with the confidence engendered
by trust and submission to God and unimpeachable personal upright- ness
: but his pontificate was too short for him to do more than take the first
steps towards restoring peace; Bd Benedict's policy was one of conciliation
without compromising the memory of his predecessor. He favoured the
mendicant friars, and all three cardinals created by him were Dominicans;
two, moreover, were Englishmen: William Makiesfield of Canterbury, who died
at Louvain before he heard of his elevation, and Walter Winterburn of Salisbury.
In his private life Benedict continued the mortifications and penances of a friar, and abated none of his humility and moderation; when his mother came to see him at the papal court and dressed herself up for the occasion, he refused to see her until she had changed into the simple clothes which she ordinarily wore. But he only ruled for eight months and a few days, in which short space, as the Roman Martyrology says, he "wonderfully promoted the peace of the Church, the restoration of discipline, and the increase of religion"; he died suddenly at Perugia on July 7, 1304. His cultus was confirmed in 1736.
In his private life Benedict continued the mortifications and penances of a friar, and abated none of his humility and moderation; when his mother came to see him at the papal court and dressed herself up for the occasion, he refused to see her until she had changed into the simple clothes which she ordinarily wore. But he only ruled for eight months and a few days, in which short space, as the Roman Martyrology says, he "wonderfully promoted the peace of the Church, the restoration of discipline, and the increase of religion"; he died suddenly at Perugia on July 7, 1304. His cultus was confirmed in 1736.
Various short lives of Blessed
Benedict are mentioned in BHL., nn. 1090-1094, including a notice by Bernard
Guy incorporated in the Liber Pontificalis,
vol. ii, pp. 471-472. See also Mortier, Maître, Généraux OP., vol. ii; H. Finke, Aus, den Tagen Bonifax VIII (1902); the Regesta of Benedict,
edited by C. Grandjean; and A. Ferrero, B. Benedetto XI (1934).
Born in Treviso, Italy, 1240; died in Perugia, Italy, April
25, 1304; beatified by Pope Clement XII in 1736. Nicholas Boccasini was
born into a poor family of which we know little else, though there are several
different traditions concerning it. One claims that his father was a poor
shepherd. Another that he was an impoverished nobleman. Whichever he was,
he died when Nicholas was very small, and the little boy was put in the
care of an uncle, a priest at Treviso.The child proved to be very intelligent, so his uncle had him trained in Latin and other clerical subjects. When Nicholas was ten, his uncle got him a position as tutor to some noble children. He followed this vocation until he was old enough to enter the Dominican community at Venice in 1254. Here, and in various parts of Italy, Nicholas spent the next 14 years, completing his education. It is quite probable that he had Saint Thomas Aquinas for one of his teachers.
Nicholas was pre-eminently a teacher at Venice and Bologna. He did his work well according to several sources, including a testimonial from Saint Antoninus, who said that he had "a vast store of knowledge, a prodigious memory, a penetrating genius, and (that) everything about him endeared him to all." In 1295, he received the degree of master of theology.
The Dominicans hurried to Rome to protest that he should not be given the dignity of a cardinal, only to receive from the pope the mystifying prophecy that God had reserved an even heavier burden for Nicholas. As papal legate Nicholas travelled to Hungary to try to settle a civil war there.
Boniface VIII did not always agree with the man he had appointed cardinal-bishop of Ostia and dean of the sacred college. But they respected one another, and in the tragic affair that was shaping up with Philip the Fair of France, Cardinal Boccasini was to be one of only two cardinals who defended the Holy Father, even to the point of offering his life.
Philip the Fair, like several
other monarchs, discovered that his interests clashed with those of the
papacy.
His action was particularly odious in an age when the papal
power had not yet been separated completely from temporal concerns. The French monarch, who bitterly
hated Boniface, besieged the pope in the Castle of Anagni, where he had
taken refuge, and demanded that he resign the papacy. His soldiers even broke
into the house and were met by the pope, dressed in full pontifical vestments
and attended by two cardinals, one of whom was Cardinal Boccasini. For a
short time it looked as though the soldiers, led by Philip's councilor William
Nogaret, might kill all three of them, but they refrained from such a terrible
crime and finally withdrew after Nicholas rallied the papal forces and rescued
Boniface from Anagni.
Cardinal Boccasini set about the difficult task of swinging public opinion to the favor of the pope. Successful at this, he stood sorrowfully by when the pontiff died, broken-hearted by his treatment at the hands of the French soldiers. On October 22, 1303, at the conclave following the death of Boniface, the prophesied burden fell upon the shoulders of the cardinal-bishop of Ostia, who took the name Benedict XI.
The reign of Benedict XI was too short to give him time to work out any of his excellent plans for settling the troubles of the Church. Most of his reign was taken up with undoing the damage done by Philip the Fair. He lifted the interdict on the French people that had been laid down by his predecessor and made an uneasy peace with Philip.
He worked to reconcile warring parties in Europe and the
Church and to increase spirituality. His reign, short though it was, was
noted for its leniency and kindness.Cardinal Boccasini set about the difficult task of swinging public opinion to the favor of the pope. Successful at this, he stood sorrowfully by when the pontiff died, broken-hearted by his treatment at the hands of the French soldiers. On October 22, 1303, at the conclave following the death of Boniface, the prophesied burden fell upon the shoulders of the cardinal-bishop of Ostia, who took the name Benedict XI.
The reign of Benedict XI was too short to give him time to work out any of his excellent plans for settling the troubles of the Church. Most of his reign was taken up with undoing the damage done by Philip the Fair. He lifted the interdict on the French people that had been laid down by his predecessor and made an uneasy peace with Philip.
There are few personal anecdotes
regarding Benedict, but at least one worth telling. Once, during his pontificate,
his mother came to the papal court to see him. The court attendants decided
that she was too poorly dressed to appear in the presence of the Holy Father,
so they dressed her up in unaccustomed finery before allowing her to see
her son. Benedict, sensing what had happened, told them he did not recognize
this wealthy woman, and he asked them where was the little widow, pious and
poorly dressed, whom he loved so dearly.
Benedict XI died suddenly in 1304. He had continued to the end with his religious observances and penances. Some people believed that he had been poisoned, but there has never been any evidence that this was the case. Many miracles were performed at his tomb, and there were several cures even before his burial (Benedictines, Delaney, Dorcy).
Benedict XI died suddenly in 1304. He had continued to the end with his religious observances and penances. Some people believed that he had been poisoned, but there has never been any evidence that this was the case. Many miracles were performed at his tomb, and there were several cures even before his burial (Benedictines, Delaney, Dorcy).
In art, Pope Benedict wears a
Dominican habit and papal tiara, while holding the keys. He is venerated
in Perugia (Roeder).
INFORMATION is lacking about
the details of the life of this early Franciscan beatus. He was born at Arezzo, of the
Mariani family, and gave up a secular career to join the Friars Minor. He
was a companion of Bd Benedict of Arezzo, who had been received
into the order by St Francis himself. Miracles were attributed to Bd Rainerius
during his life, and immediately after his death, at Borgo San Sepoicro
on November I, 1304, the municipality of the town had an
altar set up in his honour and record kept of his miracles. His
cultus was confirmed in 1802.
Bd Rainerius is dealt with by the
Bollandists on November 1. They found no record of his life beyond
such brief notices as were supplied by Wadding and other annalists, but they
print from manuscript sources a record of miracles worked at his tomb.
See further Mazzara, Leggendario
Francescano (1680), vol. iii, pp. 295-296 and Léon Aureole Séraphique (Eng.
trans.), vol. iv, pp. 34-35.
1305 Saint Nicholas of
Tolentino Patron of Holy Souls in Purgatory, and, with St. Joseph, Patron
of the Universal Church hundreds of miracles. Born, 1245
Italian Augustinian monk with visions of Purgatory, miracle-worker,
resurrected over 100 children, Patron of Holy Souls in Purgatory, and,
with St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. The two arms incorrupt.
His middle-aged parents, were childless until a prayerful visit to a shrine of the original Saint Nicholas at Bari, Italy. In gratitude, they named their son Nicholas.
Italian Augustinian monk with visions of Purgatory, miracle-worker,
resurrected over 100 children, Patron of Holy Souls in Purgatory, and,
with St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. The two arms incorrupt.His middle-aged parents, were childless until a prayerful visit to a shrine of the original Saint Nicholas at Bari, Italy. In gratitude, they named their son Nicholas.
Augustinian Friar at age 18,
and a student with Blessed Angelus de Scarpetti. Monk at Recanati and Macerata.
Ordained at age 25. Canon of Saint Saviour's. Had visions of angels reciting
"to Tolentino"; he took this as a sign to move to that city in 1274, where
he lived the rest of his life.
Three hundred and one miracles were recognized during the process.
His tomb has become renowned by many more, despite the fact that his relics have been lost, save for the two arms from which blood still exudes when the Church is menaced by a great danger. This occurred, for example, when the island of Cyprus was taken over by infidels in 1570.
Like Saint Joseph, virginal father of Jesus, has been declared
a Patron of the Universal Church. Worked as a peacemaker
in Tolentino, a city torn by civil war. Preached every day, wonder-worker
and healer, and visited prisoners. He always told those he helped, "Say
nothing of this." Received visions, including images of Purgatory, which
friends ascribed to his lengthy fasts. Had a great devotion to the recently
dead, praying for the souls in Purgatory as he traveled around his parish,
and often late into the night.
The "Seven Tolentine Masses" come after an apparition of Virgin Mary who told him to offer them for the Souls of Purgatory. In the first Mass he had a vision of thousands of people in Purgatory suffering horrible torments. In the the seventh Mass he had the same vision but the thousands of people were in Heaven, very joyful singing the glories of God
Once, when severely ill, he had a vision of Mary, Augustine and Monica. They told him to eat a certain type of roll that had been dipped in water. Cured, he began healing others by administering bread over which he recited Marian prayers. The rolls became known as Saint Nicholas Bread, and are still distributed at his shrine.
Holy Mass and Purgatory
Reported to have resurrected over one hundred dead children, including several who had drowned together. Legend says that the devil once beat Nicholas with a stick; the stick was displayed for years in the his church. A vegetarian, Nicholas was once served a roasted fowl; he made the sign of the cross over it, and it flew out a window. Nine passengers on ship going down at sea once asked Nicholas' aid; he appeared in the sky, wearing the black Augustinian habit, radiating golden light, holding a lily in his left hand; with his right hand he quelled the storm. An apparition of the saint once saved the burning palace of the Doge of Venice by throwing a piece of blessed bread on the flames.
The "Seven Tolentine Masses" come after an apparition of Virgin Mary who told him to offer them for the Souls of Purgatory. In the first Mass he had a vision of thousands of people in Purgatory suffering horrible torments. In the the seventh Mass he had the same vision but the thousands of people were in Heaven, very joyful singing the glories of God
Once, when severely ill, he had a vision of Mary, Augustine and Monica. They told him to eat a certain type of roll that had been dipped in water. Cured, he began healing others by administering bread over which he recited Marian prayers. The rolls became known as Saint Nicholas Bread, and are still distributed at his shrine.
Holy Mass and Purgatory
Reported to have resurrected over one hundred dead children, including several who had drowned together. Legend says that the devil once beat Nicholas with a stick; the stick was displayed for years in the his church. A vegetarian, Nicholas was once served a roasted fowl; he made the sign of the cross over it, and it flew out a window. Nine passengers on ship going down at sea once asked Nicholas' aid; he appeared in the sky, wearing the black Augustinian habit, radiating golden light, holding a lily in his left hand; with his right hand he quelled the storm. An apparition of the saint once saved the burning palace of the Doge of Venice by throwing a piece of blessed bread on the flames.
Three hundred and one miracles were recognized during the process.
His tomb has become renowned by many more, despite the fact that his relics have been lost, save for the two arms from which blood still exudes when the Church is menaced by a great danger. This occurred, for example, when the island of Cyprus was taken over by infidels in 1570.
CONRAD became a friar minor when he was fourteen years old, and was afterwards associated both with the friary founded by St Francis himself at Forano in the Apennines and with the great convent of Alvernia. Before he was ordained priest and became a preacher he was employed for years as cook and questor, and several remarkable stories are told of him.
He is said to have had the same guardian angel as St Francis, and to have often conversed with him about the seraphic founder.
Throughout his life Conrad had only one religious habit, he always went barefoot, and his love of poverty impelled him to that party in his order which at first was known as the Spirituals or Zelanti. He was closely associated with Peter John Olivi, and in sympathy with Angelo Clareno and Fra Liberato, the leaders of the “Celestine” hermits; Bd Conrad’s own ideas were more moderate, though he gave credence and circulation to the legend that St Francis had risen from the dead to encourage the Spirituals, having, it was said, been told it by Brother Leo.
But the chief companion of
his life was Bd Peter of Treja, who accompanied him in his preaching journeys
and was present in the woods on that Candlemas-day when our Lady appeared
to Conrad and laid the Child Jesus in his arms. It was said of these two that
they were “ two shining stars in the province of the Marches, like dwellers
in Heaven; for between them there was such love as seemed to spring from one
and the same heart and soul, so that they bound themselves, each to the other,
by an agreement that every consolation that the mercy of God might vouchsafe
them they would lovingly reveal the one unto the other”. The author of the
Fioretti further calls Brother Conrad a “marvellous
zealot of gospel poverty and of the Rule of St Francis, of so religious a
life and so deserving before God that Christ, the Blessed One, honoured him
in life and in death with many miracles”.
When he was sixty-five years
old Bd Conrad died while preaching at Bastia, near Assisi, and was buried
there. Some years later his relics were carried off to Perugia, and they now
rest in the cathedral of that city beside those of Brother Giles. His
cultus was confirmed in 1817.
Messanæ, in Sicília, sancti Alberti Confessóris, ex Ordine Carmelitárum, miráculis clari.
At Messina in Sicily, St. Albert, confessor of the Carmelite Order, renowned for miracles.
He was born in Trapani, Sicily, joined the Carmelite Order. After ordination, he was sent to nearby Messina, where he gathered thousands with his preaching and miracles. After serving as a missionary, Albert entered a monastic hermitage near Messina where he successfully devoted himself to the conversion of the Jews (Benedictines).
He remained there until his death.
Albert of Trapani, OC (RM) Born in Trapani, Sicily; died 1306; cultus confirmed in 1454. At a very young age, Saint Albert enter the Carmelite monastery of his hometown. After his priestly ordination, he was transferred to the house at Messina, where he successfully devoted himself to the conversion of the Jews (Benedictines).
1307 JANE of
Segna Shepherdess in her youth. Tertiary solitary 40 years; Her reputation
for miracles was great, and people came from all the surrounding country
to consult her and bring their sick and afflicted. Immediately after her
death on November 9, 1307, a cultus sprang up, which was greatly enhanced
in 1348 by the attribution of a sudden cessation of an epidemic to her intercession.
1307 Bd Joan Of Signa, VirginA Number of miracles
are related of this Franciscan tertiary, but very few particulars of her
life are available. Signa is a village on the Arno, near Florence, and Joan
was born there about the year 1245. Her parents were very poor peasants,
and at an early age she was sent out to look after sheep and goats. She would
collect other herdsfolk round her and talk to them of the truths of faith,
and urge them to live a Christian life, to which her own example was an
even better inducement than her simple heart-felt words. Her ability to keep
dry in wet weather was much talked of, but this seems to have been due to
the simple expedient of sheltering under a large and thick tree when it
rained. At the age of twenty-three Bd Joan, possibly inspired by the tales
she had heard of St Verdiana of Castelfiorentino, who died about the time
Joan was born, became a solitary in a cell on the banks of the Arno, not
far from her native place. Here she lived for forty years.
Her reputation for miracles was great, and people came from all the surrounding country to consult her and bring their sick and afflicted. Immediately after her death on November 9, 1307, a cultus sprang up, which was greatly enhanced in 1348 by the attribution of a sudden cessation of an epidemic to her intercession. This cultus was confirmed in 1798.
An anonymous Latin life is in existence that must have been
written about the year 1390. It has been printed by Fr Mencherini
in the Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, vol. x (1917),
pp. 367—386, and also in the Acta Sanctorum,
November, vol. iv. Two other accounts of later date in Italian
verse add nothing to our knowledge. Not only the Franciscans, but also
Vallombrosan monks, the Carmelites and the Augustinians have claimed that
the recluse was attached to their respective orders. On the Vallombrosan
case see F. Soldani, Ragguaglio istorico della B. Giovanna do
Signa (1741). The Franciscan claim can be gathered from Mencherini
as above, who supplies a bibliography. In the opinion of the Bollandists
evidence is lacking that the recluse had a definite connection with any order.
An account of Bd Joan is given by Leon, Aureole Séraphique
(Eng. trans.), vol. iv, pp. 160—164.
Profile Shepherdess in
her youth. Tertiary, though records disagree if Franciscan or Vallumbrosan.
Born at Segna, Italy Beatified 1798 (cultus confirmed)
Her tomb is in the church of St.
Francis in Foligno. Many miracles have been recorded there.
1312 BD CHRISTINA. OF STOMMELN,
VIRGIN; dying at the age of seventy, in 1312, with a great reputation of
sanctity. Thirty years after her relics were translated to Niedeggen
in the Eifel, and again in 1569 to Jülich, where they still repose and
receive the veneration of the people. Nor does anything which has been said
above reflect on the credit of Bd Christina or suggest that that veneration
is misplaced; for heroic virtue, which is the condition of holiness, is entirely
independent of abnormal physical phenomena or extraordinary divine favours,
and the first of these are not inconsistent with a life far from holy.
The Holy See has recognized that the evidence touching the personal virtue
of Bd Christina justifies the continuation of her age-long local cultus.
DURING her life and from the
time of her death until to-day Christina Bruso was venerated as a saint
in her native village of Stommeln, near Cologne, and at Jülich, where
she was eventually buried; and on account of this uninterrupted local veneration
Pope Pius X confirmed the cultus in 1908, just on 600
years after her death. Were it not for the large amount of contemporary,
eyewitnesses’, and personal testimony to the phenomena which make her one
of the most extraordinary cases in all hagiology, she would have to be
dismissed as a devout but mentally diseased young woman who suffered from
hallucinations on a very large scale indeed or whose biographers were either
hopelessly deceived or unscrupulous liars.
Even as it is, some of the Catholic scholars who have
studied the documents are of the opinion that many statements of experiences
were made by her when she was not mistress of herself; and, as one of them
has put it, “it is easier to believe that the whole story was a romance concocted, letters and all, by Peter of
Dacia and that no such person as Christina ever existed” than to believe the
extravagances recorded in her letters written by the hand of the village schoolmaster.
Christina’s father
was a prosperous peasant, and the girl had some soft of schooling,
for she learned to read the psalter, but not to write. In the short account
of her early life that she dictated to her parish priest, John, she says
that she affianced herself to our Lord when He appeared to her in vision
at the age of ten. When she was thirteen she ran away from home and became
a beguine at Cologne. She lived with such austerity and
extravagance of devotion that the beguines thought her
mad, and already she thought herself singled out for attention by supernatural
powers, both divine and diabolical: Satan, for example, disguised as St
Bartholomew, tempted her to suicide. After some time she left the beguinage, where she had been treated with scant sympathy
as a hysterical subject, and returned home. When she was twenty-five Christina
made the acquaintance of Father Peter of Dacia (i.e. Scandinavia
and Denmark), a pious and capable young Dominican, and at their first meeting
she was, in the presence of others as well, thrown about the room and pierced
with wounds in her feet by invisible agency. For the next two years or so
Father Peter kept a record of what he saw in connection with Christina, between
whom and the Swedish friar there was a warm personal friendship. The
numerous remarkable happenings, which he narrates, include long ecstasies
and temporary stigmata that bled copiously during Holy Week. On one occasion
Christina was found up to her neck in mud in a pit without knowing how she
got there, and on another Satan tormented her by fixing to her body hot
stones, which the bystanders could see and touch. But the manifestation of
which Father Peter gives the most careful and detailed account was of so
repulsive a nature that no particulars of it can be given here. It is sufficient
to say that on numerous occasions for weeks on end Christina and those who
visited her, Father Peter himself and other Dominicans, other clergy, and
lay people of both sexes, were covered with showers of filth that came apparently
from nowhere.
After Father Peter left Cologne
in 1269 Christina corresponded with him through the parish priest, John,
who sometimes added to her dictation comments of his own. From these letters
it appears that the visitations, which Christina attributes to the malice
of the Evil One, continued unabated, though in ever-varying forms. These
violent happenings were not confined to Christina herself. Her father was
hit with stones on the head and arms, her friend the Benedictine prior of
Brauweiler was badly bitten by invisible teeth, and a skull, after moving
about in the air, tied itself about the neck of the Brusos’ servant.
A Dominican wrote
to Father Peter from Cologne that’ “[The devil] gnaws her [Christina’s]
flesh like a dog, and bites out great pieces; he burns her clothes next her
skin while she is wearing them, and shows himself to her in horrible forms.”
Thrice, says John the Priest, she was dragged from her bed, once on to the
roof of her house and twice to a tree in the garden to which she was left
bound. John himself untied her, in the presence of her mother and others.
In 1277 John the Priest died and Master John, a young schoolmaster at Stommeln,
took his place as amanuensis. He filled this office over a period of eight
years, and the contents of the letters exceed anything previously reported
by or of Christina. “The accounts of Christina’s experiences between 1279
and 1287”, says the writer quoted at the beginning of this article, “which
reached her Dominican friend through the intermediary of Magister Johannes
are so preposterous that, if they really emanated from herself, one can only regard them as the hallucinations of a brain which, for the
time being at least, was completely unhinged.” All the paraphernalia used
by the medieval artist in depicting Hell and its denizens is brought into
play, and Christina over and over again is physically tormented in corresponding
ways. Sometimes the powers of Heaven come to her aid, our Lord or His Mother
or angels, and restore her from the harms that she has suffered. For what
is related in these letters there is no shred of corroborative evidence,
and from two very significant passages therein it is argued that their incredible
extravagances were communicated by Christina (if Master John did not deliberately
invent, which in all the circumstances he seems unlikely to have done) when
in trance or other abnormal states, and were filled out and rounded off
by the schoolmaster.
Father Peter of Dacia died about 1288 and Christina’s known history
ends at that time, but she lived for another twenty-four years, dying at
the age of seventy, in 1312, with a great reputation of sanctity.
Thirty years after her relics were translated to Niedeggen in the Eifel, and again in 1569 to Jülich,
where they still repose and receive the veneration of the people. Nor does
anything which has been said above reflect on the credit of Bd Christina
or suggest that that veneration is misplaced; for heroic virtue, which is
the condition of holiness, is entirely independent of abnormal physical
phenomena or extraordinary divine favours, and the first of these are not
inconsistent with a life far from holy. The Holy See has recognized that
the evidence touching the personal virtue of Bd Christina justifies the
continuation of her age-long local cultus.
The material
collected by Peter of Dacia for his projected book on “The Virtues of
the Bride of Christ Christina” were printed for the first time in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. iv; but Father Papebroch had to use
a copy which was in places becoming illegible. A better text, which, however,
does not include all the documents, is provided in the Scriptores
latini medii aevi Suecani, vol. i, Pt 2, pp. 1-257, by J. Paulson. See also Th. Wollersheim,
Das Leben der ekstatischen und stigmatisirten Jungfrau
Christina von Stommeln (1859); E. Renan, Nouvelles etudes
d’histoire religieuse (Eng. trans.), pp. 353—396; H. Thurston in The Month, October and November, 1928, pp. 289—301
and 425—437; Douleur et stigmatisation (1936), pp.
44-49, in the series “Études Carmélitaines”; and Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lvii (1939),
pp. 187—189.
1314 Blessed Emily
Bicchieri frequent ecstasies visions miracles
Born at Vercelli in 1238, and having lost her mother at an early age, put herself under the special protection of the all-holy Mother of God. She refused her father's plans for her to marry and convinced him to build a convent, the first of Dominican regular tertiaries, of which she became abbess when twenty. Having been elected prioress against her will, Blessed Emily governed with tact and ability, and was careful to tell no one to do what she would not do herself. She was noted for her frequent communions (uncommon in those days), her ecstasies and visions, and the miracles attributed to her. She died on her birthday, May 3, at the age of seventy-six, and her cult was approved in 1769
Born at Vercelli in 1238, and having lost her mother at an early age, put herself under the special protection of the all-holy Mother of God. She refused her father's plans for her to marry and convinced him to build a convent, the first of Dominican regular tertiaries, of which she became abbess when twenty. Having been elected prioress against her will, Blessed Emily governed with tact and ability, and was careful to tell no one to do what she would not do herself. She was noted for her frequent communions (uncommon in those days), her ecstasies and visions, and the miracles attributed to her. She died on her birthday, May 3, at the age of seventy-six, and her cult was approved in 1769
In the year 1276 St Philip Benizi came to Pistoia to preside at a general chapter of the Servite Order, and took the opportunity to preach to the people of the place, which was torn by factions. Among his hearers was a man, some thirty-six years old, belonging to the noble Buonaccorsi family, who was a leader of the Ghibellines and notorious as a desperate character. This Bonaventure was so moved by St Philip’s exhortations to peace and concord that he went to him and accused himself of being a prominent fomenter of disorder and a cause of much misery and injustice. So penitent was he that he asked to be admitted among the Servite friars.
St Philip was naturally a little doubtful about so sudden and complete a change, and tested the aspirant by imposing a public penance: Bonaventure had openly to make reparation for his misdeeds and personally ask the pardon of all whom he had wronged or caused to oppose him. This he did with such thoroughness and goodwill that St Philip took him from Pistoia to Monte Senario to make his novitiate at the headquarters of the order.
Bonaventure persevered in his good resolutions, and after his profession was joined to St Philip as socius and admitted to the priesthood. For the next few years he was constantly with the prior general, who with the papal legate Cardinal Latino was trying to bring peace to Bologna, Florence and other distracted cities. The spectacle of the reformed Ghibelline going about in the habit of a mendicant friar and preaching brotherly love made a deep impression.
In 1282 Bd Bonaventure was
made prior at Orvieto, but on the death of St Philip was called to the side
of his successor, Father Lottaringo, and was eventually made preacher apostolic,
with a commission to preach missions throughout Italy, which he did with great
effect. In 1303 he was made prior at
Montepulciano for the second time, and there assisted St Agnes in the foundation
of her community of Dominican nuns, whose director he was. From thence he
was moved to his native Pistoia, where civil war had again broken out and
the Florentines threatened the enfeebled city. By the diffusion of confraternities
and of the Servite third order, called Mantellate, Bd Bartholomew endeavoured
to bring back the people to a sense of their responsibilities as Christians,
and was tireless in his preaching on behalf of peace and civic unity. He
died at Orvieto on December 14, 1315,
and was buried in the Servite church in the chapel of our Lady of Sorrows
as a testimony of the respect in which his brethren held him. This was also
testified by the fact that even in his lifetime he was known as il Beato, and miracles were reported both before and after
his death. The cultus of Bd Bonaventure Buonaccorsi
was confirmed in 1822.
1315 Bd Andrew of Borgo San Sepolcro
Andrew Dotti was born at Borgo
San Sepolcro in Tuscany about the year 1250. His family was distinguished
(Andrew's brother was a captain in the bodyguard of King Philip the Fair),
and the young man was brought up accordingly, with no thought of the religious
life. When he was seventeen he became a secular tertiary of the
Servites, and when, a few years afterwards, a general chapter of that order
was held at Borgo San Sepolcro, Andrew naturally went to hear the prior
genetal, St Philip Benizi, preach. His text was, "Every one of you that
doth not renounce all that he possesseth cannot be my disciple", and his
eloquence and fire touched Andrew's heart; he offered himself to St Philip,
was accepted, and became a Servite friar. After he was ordained he was attached
to a monastery governed by St Gerard Sostegni, one of seven founders of
the order, and from thence he preached with success throughout the surrounding
country and accompanied St Philip Benizi on several of his missionary journeys.
Bd Andrew prepared a number of hermits who were living a rather go-as-you-please
life at Vallucola to affiliate themselves to the Servites and submit to
their discipline, and over these he was appointed superior, until his services
were again required for preaching and as prior of various houses. In 1310
he was present at the death of St Alexis Falconieri, the principal founder
of the Servites, at Monte Senario, and so great was the impression made on
him that he asked permission to retire to a hermitage and prepare for his
own end, though he was barely sixty.
Bd Andrew lived with great penance and was the recipient of many visions, including a forewarning of his own death; when the day came he was apparently in good health, and he went out to a certain rock where he was wont to give conferences to his brethren. When they assembled there they found their beloved father kneeling motionless on the rock apparently in ecstasy; but he was dead. He was buried in the church at Borgo San Sepolcro, where the popular veneration for his holiness was confirmed by miracles, and in 1806 Pope Pius VII approved the ancient cultus.
Bd Andrew lived with great penance and was the recipient of many visions, including a forewarning of his own death; when the day came he was apparently in good health, and he went out to a certain rock where he was wont to give conferences to his brethren. When they assembled there they found their beloved father kneeling motionless on the rock apparently in ecstasy; but he was dead. He was buried in the church at Borgo San Sepolcro, where the popular veneration for his holiness was confirmed by miracles, and in 1806 Pope Pius VII approved the ancient cultus.
A full account is given in A. Giani,
Annales Ordinis Servorum B.V.M.,
vol. i, especially pp. 230-231; see also DHG., vol. ii, c. 1663; and P.
Battini, Vita del b. Andrea Dotti
(1808).
Companion of St. Philip Benizi He was born in San
Sepolcro, Tuscany, Italy, to a
noble family, becoming a Servite religious at the age of seventeen and
later one of the Seven Founders of the congregation of St. Gerard Sostengi
Monastery. He also accompanied St. Philip Benizi on his monastery journeys.
Andrew served as a superior of several Servite monasteries but retired in
1310 to a hermitage at Montevecchio. He was a mystic and was granted visions
. 1317 St. Agnes of Montepulciano
Nun foundress in Tuscany noted for her visions (of Christ the Blessed
Virgin and angels) levitations performed miracles for the faithful (1435
- incorrupt)
In
Monte Politiáno, in Túscia, sanctæ Agnétis
Vírginis, ex Ordine sancti Domínici, miráculis claræ.
At Monte Pulciano, St. Agnes, a virgin of the Order of St. Dominic, celebrated
for her miracles.
She was born circa
1268 and at the age of nine entered the monastery of Montepulciano, near
her home in Gracchiano-Vecchio. Four years later she was commissioned by
Pope Nicholas IV to assist in the foundation of a new convent in Procena.
At fifteen she became the head of the nuns there. About 1300, the people
of Montepulciano built a new convent in order to lure Agnes back to them.
She established a convent under the Dominican rule and governed there until
her death in 1317. Agnes was noted for her visions. She held the infant Christ in her arms and received Holy Communion from an angel. She experienced levitations and she performed miracles for the faithful of the region. She is still revered in Tuscany.
Agnes of Montepulciano, OP V
(RM) Born in Gracchiano-Vecchio, Tuscany, Italy, in 1268; died at Montepulciano,
Tuscany, on April 20, 1317; canonized by Benedict XIII in 1726.
Agnes was not a child martyr like her Roman patroness but she exhibited the same simplicity, and some of her best-known legends concern her childhood. Her birth into the wealthy de Segni family was announced by great lights surrounding the house where she was born. From her infancy she was especially marked for dedication to God: she would spend hours reciting Pater Nosters and Ave Marias on her knees in the corner of some room. By the time Agnes was six, she was already urging her parents to let her enter the convent. When they assured her that she was much too young, she begged them to move to nearby Montepulciano, so she could make frequent visits to the convent.
Agnes was not a child martyr like her Roman patroness but she exhibited the same simplicity, and some of her best-known legends concern her childhood. Her birth into the wealthy de Segni family was announced by great lights surrounding the house where she was born. From her infancy she was especially marked for dedication to God: she would spend hours reciting Pater Nosters and Ave Marias on her knees in the corner of some room. By the time Agnes was six, she was already urging her parents to let her enter the convent. When they assured her that she was much too young, she begged them to move to nearby Montepulciano, so she could make frequent visits to the convent.
Because of the local political
instability, her father was unwilling to move from his safe haven but
did allow his little girl to visit with the sisters occasionally.
On one of these visits an event occurred that all the chroniclers record as being prophetic. Little Agnes was traveling in Montepulciano with her mother and the women of the household, and, as they passed a hill on which stood a bordello, a flock of crows swooped down and attacked the girl. Screaming and plunging, they managed to scratch and frighten her badly before the women drove them away. Upset by the incident, but devoutly sure of themselves, the women said that the birds must have been devils, and that they resented the purity and goodness of little Agnes, who would one day drive them from that hilltop.
During this time Agnes reached a high degree of contemplative prayer and was favored with many visions. One of the loveliest is the one for which her legend is best known: the occasion of a visit from the Blessed Virgin. Our Lady came with the Holy Infant in her arms, and allowed Agnes to hold Him and caress Him. Unwilling to let Him go, Agnes hung on when Our Lady reached to take Him back. When she awakened from the ecstasy, Our Lady and her Holy Child were gone, but Agnes was still clutching tightly the little gold cross He had worn on a chain about His neck. She kept it as a precious treasure.
Another time, Our Lady gave her three small stones and told her that she should use them to build a convent some day. Agnes was not at the moment even thinking about going elsewhere, and said so, but Our Lady told her to keep the stones--three, in honor of the Blessed Trinity--and one day she would need them.
On one of these visits an event occurred that all the chroniclers record as being prophetic. Little Agnes was traveling in Montepulciano with her mother and the women of the household, and, as they passed a hill on which stood a bordello, a flock of crows swooped down and attacked the girl. Screaming and plunging, they managed to scratch and frighten her badly before the women drove them away. Upset by the incident, but devoutly sure of themselves, the women said that the birds must have been devils, and that they resented the purity and goodness of little Agnes, who would one day drive them from that hilltop.
Agnes did, in fact, build a convent
there in later years.
When she was nine, Agnes insisted
that the time had come to enter the convent del Sacco. She was allowed to
go to a group of Franciscans in Montepulciano, whose dress was the ultimate
in primitive simplicity: they were known, from the cut of the garment, as
the Sacchine or 'sisters of the sack.' The high-born daughter of the Segni
was not at all appalled at the crude simplicity with which they followed
their Father Francis; she rejoiced in it. Her religious formation was entrusted
to an experienced older sister named Margaret, and Agnes soon edified the
whole house by her exceptional progress. For five years she enjoyed the only
complete peace she would ever have; she was appointed bursar at the age
of 14, and she never again was without some responsibility to others.During this time Agnes reached a high degree of contemplative prayer and was favored with many visions. One of the loveliest is the one for which her legend is best known: the occasion of a visit from the Blessed Virgin. Our Lady came with the Holy Infant in her arms, and allowed Agnes to hold Him and caress Him. Unwilling to let Him go, Agnes hung on when Our Lady reached to take Him back. When she awakened from the ecstasy, Our Lady and her Holy Child were gone, but Agnes was still clutching tightly the little gold cross He had worn on a chain about His neck. She kept it as a precious treasure.
Another time, Our Lady gave her three small stones and told her that she should use them to build a convent some day. Agnes was not at the moment even thinking about going elsewhere, and said so, but Our Lady told her to keep the stones--three, in honor of the Blessed Trinity--and one day she would need them.
Some time after this, a new Franciscan
convent opened in Procena, near Orvieto, and the sisters there asked the
ones of Montepulciano to send them a mother superior. Sister Margaret was
selected, but stipulated that Agnes must be allowed to come to help her in
the foundation of the new community. There Agnes served as housekeeper --
a highly responsible position for a 14-year-old! Soon many other girls joined
the convent at Procena simply became they knew that Agnes was there.
To the distress of young Agnes, she was elected abbess. Since she was only 15, a special dispensation was needed--and provided by Pope Nicholas IV--to allow her to take the office. On the day when she was consecrated abbess, great showers of tiny white crosses fluttered down on the chapel and the people in it. It seemed to show the favor of heaven on this somewhat extraordinary situation.
For 20 years, Agnes lived in Procena, happy in her retreat and privileged to penetrate the secrets of God in her prayer. She was a careful superior, as well as a mystic; several times she worked miracles to increase the house food supply when it was low. The nun's self-discipline was legendary. She lived on bread and water for fifteen years. She slept on the floor with a stone for a pillow. It is said that in her visions angels gave her Holy Communion.
Once her visions of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and angels had become known, the citizens of Montepulciano called her back for a short stay. She went willingly enough, though she hated leaving the peace of her cloister for the confusion of travelling. She had just settled down, on her return, with the hope that she had made her last move and could now stay where she was, when obedience again called her back to Montepulciano--this time to build a new convent. A revelation had told her that she was to leave the Franciscans, among whom she had been very happy, and that she and her future sisters should become Dominicans.
In 1306, Agnes returned to Montepulciano to put the Lord's request into action: she was to build a convent on the former site of the brothels. All she had for the building of the convent were the three little stones given her by the Blessed Virgin, and Agnes--who had been bursar and knew something about money--realized that she was going to have to rely heavily on the support of heaven in her building project.
After a long quarrel with the inhabitants of the hilltop she wanted for her foundation, the land was finally secured, and the Servite prior laid the first stone, leaving her to worry about from where the rest of the stones would come. Agnes saw the project to its completion. The church and convent of Santa Maria Novella were ready for dedication in record time, and a growing collection of aspirants pleaded for admittance to the new convent.
To the distress of young Agnes, she was elected abbess. Since she was only 15, a special dispensation was needed--and provided by Pope Nicholas IV--to allow her to take the office. On the day when she was consecrated abbess, great showers of tiny white crosses fluttered down on the chapel and the people in it. It seemed to show the favor of heaven on this somewhat extraordinary situation.
For 20 years, Agnes lived in Procena, happy in her retreat and privileged to penetrate the secrets of God in her prayer. She was a careful superior, as well as a mystic; several times she worked miracles to increase the house food supply when it was low. The nun's self-discipline was legendary. She lived on bread and water for fifteen years. She slept on the floor with a stone for a pillow. It is said that in her visions angels gave her Holy Communion.
Once her visions of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and angels had become known, the citizens of Montepulciano called her back for a short stay. She went willingly enough, though she hated leaving the peace of her cloister for the confusion of travelling. She had just settled down, on her return, with the hope that she had made her last move and could now stay where she was, when obedience again called her back to Montepulciano--this time to build a new convent. A revelation had told her that she was to leave the Franciscans, among whom she had been very happy, and that she and her future sisters should become Dominicans.
In 1306, Agnes returned to Montepulciano to put the Lord's request into action: she was to build a convent on the former site of the brothels. All she had for the building of the convent were the three little stones given her by the Blessed Virgin, and Agnes--who had been bursar and knew something about money--realized that she was going to have to rely heavily on the support of heaven in her building project.
After a long quarrel with the inhabitants of the hilltop she wanted for her foundation, the land was finally secured, and the Servite prior laid the first stone, leaving her to worry about from where the rest of the stones would come. Agnes saw the project to its completion. The church and convent of Santa Maria Novella were ready for dedication in record time, and a growing collection of aspirants pleaded for admittance to the new convent.
Agnes had become convinced that
the community must be anchored in an established Rule in order to attain
permanence. She explained that the rule was to be Dominican, not Franciscan.
All the necessary arrangements were made, she was established as prioress,
the Dominicans agreed to provide chaplains and direction, and the new community
settled down. They had barely established the regular life when one of the
walls of the new building collapsed. It was discovered that the builders
had cheated, and that the whole convent was in danger of falling on top of
them. Agnes met the new problem with poise. She had many friends in Montepulciano
by this time, and they rallied to rebuild the house.
When the convent was once again completed, and had become, as hoped, a dynamo of prayer and penance, Agnes decided to go to Rome on pilgrimage. It is interesting to note that Second Order convents of the 14th century were so flexible in the matter of enclosure. She made the trip to Rome and visited the shrines of the martyrs. The pope was at Avignon, so she did not have the happiness of talking to him. But she returned to Montepulciano full of happiness for having seen the holy places of Rome.
At the age of 49, Agnes's health began to fail rapidly. She was taken for treatment to the baths at Chianciano--accompanied, as it says in the rule, by 'two or three sisters'--but the baths did her no good. She did perform a miracle while there, restoring to life a child who had fallen into the baths and drowned.
Agnes returned to Montepulciano to die in the night. When she knew she was dying after a long and painful illness, Agnes told her grieving nuns that they should rejoice, for, she said, "You will discover that I have not abandoned you. You will possess me for ever." The children of the city wakened and cried out, "Holy Sister Agnes is dead!" She was buried in Montepulciano, where her tomb soon became a place of pilgrimage.
One of the most famous pilgrims to visit her tomb was Saint Catherine of Siena, who went to venerate the saint and also, probably, to visit her niece, Eugenia, who was a nun in the convent there. As she bent over the body of Saint Agnes to kiss the foot, she was amazed to see Agnes raise her foot so that Catherine did not have to stoop so far!
In 1435, her incorrupt body was translated to the Dominican church at Orvieto, where it remains today. Clement VIII approved her office for the use of the order of St. Dominic, and inserted her name in the Roman Martyrology (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Dorcy, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth, Walsh).
In art, Saint Agnes is a Dominican abbess (white habit, black mantle) with a lamb, lily, and book. She might also be portrayed (1) gazing at the Cross, a lily at her feet, (2) with the Virgin and Child appearing to her; (3) with the sick healed at her tomb (Roeder); (4) with Saint Catherine of Siena; or (5) as patroness of Montepulciano, of which she holds a model in her hand. Tiepolo presents Agnes as one of the saints surrounding the Blessed Virgin in the Jesuit church at Venice, Italy (Farmer). She is venerated at Montepulciano (Roeder).
When the convent was once again completed, and had become, as hoped, a dynamo of prayer and penance, Agnes decided to go to Rome on pilgrimage. It is interesting to note that Second Order convents of the 14th century were so flexible in the matter of enclosure. She made the trip to Rome and visited the shrines of the martyrs. The pope was at Avignon, so she did not have the happiness of talking to him. But she returned to Montepulciano full of happiness for having seen the holy places of Rome.
At the age of 49, Agnes's health began to fail rapidly. She was taken for treatment to the baths at Chianciano--accompanied, as it says in the rule, by 'two or three sisters'--but the baths did her no good. She did perform a miracle while there, restoring to life a child who had fallen into the baths and drowned.
Agnes returned to Montepulciano to die in the night. When she knew she was dying after a long and painful illness, Agnes told her grieving nuns that they should rejoice, for, she said, "You will discover that I have not abandoned you. You will possess me for ever." The children of the city wakened and cried out, "Holy Sister Agnes is dead!" She was buried in Montepulciano, where her tomb soon became a place of pilgrimage.
One of the most famous pilgrims to visit her tomb was Saint Catherine of Siena, who went to venerate the saint and also, probably, to visit her niece, Eugenia, who was a nun in the convent there. As she bent over the body of Saint Agnes to kiss the foot, she was amazed to see Agnes raise her foot so that Catherine did not have to stoop so far!
In 1435, her incorrupt body was translated to the Dominican church at Orvieto, where it remains today. Clement VIII approved her office for the use of the order of St. Dominic, and inserted her name in the Roman Martyrology (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Dorcy, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth, Walsh).
In art, Saint Agnes is a Dominican abbess (white habit, black mantle) with a lamb, lily, and book. She might also be portrayed (1) gazing at the Cross, a lily at her feet, (2) with the Virgin and Child appearing to her; (3) with the sick healed at her tomb (Roeder); (4) with Saint Catherine of Siena; or (5) as patroness of Montepulciano, of which she holds a model in her hand. Tiepolo presents Agnes as one of the saints surrounding the Blessed Virgin in the Jesuit church at Venice, Italy (Farmer). She is venerated at Montepulciano (Roeder).
1319 Blessed Simon
Ballachi Dominican lay-brother at age 27 visitors came to him in
the silence of the night: Saint Catherine of Alexandria, to whom he had
a special devotion, Saint Dominic and Saint Peter Martyr, and sometimes
the Blessed Virgin herself. His little cell was radiant with heavenly lights,
and sometimes angelic voices could be heard within OP
(AC)
1319 BD SIMON OF RIMINI
SIMON BALLACHI at the age of twenty-seven offered himself to God as a lay-brother in the Dominican friary of Rimini, his native place. Not content with this humble position he still further mortified himself by volunteering to do all the lowliest tasks, and he disciplined his body with an iron chain, offering his pain for the conversion of sinners. He is said to have suffered greatly from diabolical visitations. Simon was principally employed in the garden, but he was also entrusted with the cultivation of young human plants, and would go through the streets with a cross in his hand calling the children to catechism. When he was fifty-seven he was stricken with blindness, and so lived for twelve years, during the last few of which he had to keep to his bed entirely. Bd Simon bore these afflictions with courage and cheerfulness, and was rewarded with the gift of miracles, so that from the day of his death he was venerated as a saint. This cultus was confirmed in 1821.
See the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol ii, where a brief account has
been compiled from the very slender materials available and cf. Procter, Liver of Dominican Saints,
pp. 306-309.
Born at Sant'Arcangelo near Rimini, Italy, 1250;
died November 3, 1319; declared blessed in 1817 (cultus confirmed in 1821?).The son of Count Ballachi, nephew of two archbishops of Rimini, and brother of a priest, Simon Ballachi became a Dominican lay-brother at age 27. His family was none too happy about this decision because he was supposed to administer the family property and had been trained as a soldier. They couldn't understand why he would abandon the many opportunities life had provided for him. Not only was he throwing away a prestigious position in society, he was not even becoming a priest, which would provide him with a chance for ecclesiastical preferences.
Oblivious to the criticism of his family, Simon readily undertook the life of a lay brother. His principal work, to his great delight, was tending the garden. Having been preoccupied with military training, Simon may never have seen a garden prior to entering the Dominicans. He probably had to learn all the details of the art by trial and error.
But while he tended the friary garden, he continued to plant prayers for his soul. He was adept at seeing God in everything. It is written that he meditated on every act, "so that, while his hands cultivated the herbs and flowers of the earth, his heart might be a paradise of sweet-smelling flowers in the sight of God." He tried to find in everything he handled in the garden some lesson it could teach him about the spiritual life. When the weather was too bad for him to work outside, he swept and cleaned the monastery. Wherever his work took him, he tried to do it well and to efface himself completely, so that no one would even notice that he was there.
Under the placid exterior of
a gardener, Simon concealed a spiritual life of extraordinary austerity
and prayer. He worked hard during the day yet he never excused himself from
rising for the night office, nor from severe penance. For 20 years he wore
an iron chain around his waist. In Lent, he lived on bread and water. He
found extra time for prayer by foregoing sleep. Like Saint Dominic, he scourged
himself every night. Of course, all this growth in holiness attracted the
devil, who would attempt to distract Simon.
Other visitors came to him in the silence of the night: Saint Catherine of Alexandria, to whom he had a special devotion, Saint Dominic and Saint Peter Martyr, and sometimes the Blessed Virgin herself. His little cell was radiant with heavenly lights, and sometimes angelic voices could be heard within.
Simon was blinded at age 57 and became helpless for the last years of his life, yet he never despaired (Benedictines, Dorcy).
Other visitors came to him in the silence of the night: Saint Catherine of Alexandria, to whom he had a special devotion, Saint Dominic and Saint Peter Martyr, and sometimes the Blessed Virgin herself. His little cell was radiant with heavenly lights, and sometimes angelic voices could be heard within.
Simon was blinded at age 57 and became helpless for the last years of his life, yet he never despaired (Benedictines, Dorcy).
(also known as Blessed Francuccia)
Born at Arezzo, Italy; cultus confirmed in 1890. At the age of 13, Francuccia
entered the Benedictine monastery of Saint Mark in her hometown and took
the name Justina. After a time she moved to All Saints Convent. For a time
she lived as a recluse at Civitella before returning to the community at
All Saints (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
1319 BD JUSTINA OF AREZZO, VIRGIN Diseases and sufferings of many kinds were cured through the prayers of Bd Justina, and still more wonderful miracles of healing were wrought after her death.
JUSTINA OF Arezzo, whose name in the world appears to have been Francuccia Bizzoli, was only thirteen years old when she entered the Benedictine convent of St Mark in Arezzo. When the nuns overflowed into the convent of All Saints she accompanied them and continued to live there for many years, ever advancing in the paths of holiness. Then she left the convent with the permission of her superiors and made her way to a cell near Civitella, where she joined a holy anchoress called Lucia. This cell was so narrow and low that they could not both stand upright in it. When Lucia fell ill, Justina nursed her day and night for over a year without giving up any of her devotions and austerities. After Lucia’s death Justina remained all alone in the cell, in spite of the wolves that howled around and leaped on to the roof, until she developed a painful affection of the eyes which ended in total blindness. She was then taken from the hermitage back to Arezzo, where she and several other sisters lived in great self-abnegation and from midnight to midday served God in unbroken prayer. Diseases and sufferings of many kinds were cured through the prayers of Bd Justina, and still more wonderful miracles of healing were wrought after her death. She died in 1319 and her cultus was approved in 1890.
1319 BD JUSTINA OF AREZZO, VIRGIN Diseases and sufferings of many kinds were cured through the prayers of Bd Justina, and still more wonderful miracles of healing were wrought after her death.
JUSTINA OF Arezzo, whose name in the world appears to have been Francuccia Bizzoli, was only thirteen years old when she entered the Benedictine convent of St Mark in Arezzo. When the nuns overflowed into the convent of All Saints she accompanied them and continued to live there for many years, ever advancing in the paths of holiness. Then she left the convent with the permission of her superiors and made her way to a cell near Civitella, where she joined a holy anchoress called Lucia. This cell was so narrow and low that they could not both stand upright in it. When Lucia fell ill, Justina nursed her day and night for over a year without giving up any of her devotions and austerities. After Lucia’s death Justina remained all alone in the cell, in spite of the wolves that howled around and leaped on to the roof, until she developed a painful affection of the eyes which ended in total blindness. She was then taken from the hermitage back to Arezzo, where she and several other sisters lived in great self-abnegation and from midnight to midday served God in unbroken prayer. Diseases and sufferings of many kinds were cured through the prayers of Bd Justina, and still more wonderful miracles of healing were wrought after her death. She died in 1319 and her cultus was approved in 1890.
All that we know of Bd Justina
is contained in the short life printed in the Acta Sanctorum, March, vol. ii.
also known as Margaret of Metola) Born in at Meldola (or Metola, diocese of S. Angelo), Umbria, Italy, in 1287; cultus approved in 1609.
Margaret was born blind into
a poor, mountain family, who were embittered by her affliction. When she
was five years old, they made a pilgrimage to the tomb of a holy Franciscan
at Castello to pray for a cure. The miracle failing, they abandoned their
daughter in the church of Città-di-Castello and returned to their
home.
Margaret was passed from family to family until she was
adopted by a kindly peasant woman named Grigia, who had a large family
of her own. Margaret's natural sweetness
and goodness soon made themselves felt, and she more than repaid the family
for their kindness to her. She was an influence for good in any group of
children. She stopped their quarrels, heard their catechism, told them stories,
taught them Psalms and prayers. Busy neighbors were soon borrowing her to
soothe a sick child or to establish peace in the house.
Her reputation for holiness was so great that a community of sisters in the town asked for her to become one of them. Margaret went happily to join them, but, unfortunately, there was little fervor in the house. The little girl who was so prayerful and penitential was a reproach to their lax lives, so Margaret returned to Grigia, who gladly welcomed her home.
Later, Margaret was received as a Dominican Tertiary and clothed with the religious habit. Grigia's home became the rendezvous site of troubled souls seeking Margaret's prayers. She said the Office of the Blessed Virgin and the entire Psalter by heart, and her prayers had the effect of restoring peace of mind to the troubled.
Denied earthly sight, Margaret was favored with heavenly visions. "Oh, if you only knew what I have in my heart!" she often said. The mysteries of the rosary, particularly the joyful mysteries, were so vivid to her that her whole person would light up when she described the scene. She was often in ecstasy, and, despite great joys and favors in prayer, she was often called upon to suffer desolation and interior trials of frightening sorts. The devil tormented her severely at times, but she triumphed over these sufferings.
A number of miracles were performed by Blessed Margaret. On one occasion, while she was praying in an upper room, Grigia's house caught fire, and she called to Margaret to come down. The blessed, however, called to her to throw her cloak on the flames. This she did, and the blaze died out. At another time, she cured a sister who was losing her eyesight.
Beloved by her adopted family and by her neighbors and friends, Margaret died at the early age of 33. From the time of her death, her tomb in the Dominican church was a place of pilgrimage. Her body, even to this day, is incorrupt.
After her death, the fathers received permission to have her heart opened. In it were three pearls, having holy figures carved upon them. They recalled the saying so often on the lips of Margaret: "If you only knew what I have in my heart!" (Attwater2, Benedictines, Dorcy).
In art, Margaret is pictured as Dominican tertiary holding
a cross, lily, heart with 2 flames offered to the crucifix (Roeder).Her reputation for holiness was so great that a community of sisters in the town asked for her to become one of them. Margaret went happily to join them, but, unfortunately, there was little fervor in the house. The little girl who was so prayerful and penitential was a reproach to their lax lives, so Margaret returned to Grigia, who gladly welcomed her home.
Later, Margaret was received as a Dominican Tertiary and clothed with the religious habit. Grigia's home became the rendezvous site of troubled souls seeking Margaret's prayers. She said the Office of the Blessed Virgin and the entire Psalter by heart, and her prayers had the effect of restoring peace of mind to the troubled.
Denied earthly sight, Margaret was favored with heavenly visions. "Oh, if you only knew what I have in my heart!" she often said. The mysteries of the rosary, particularly the joyful mysteries, were so vivid to her that her whole person would light up when she described the scene. She was often in ecstasy, and, despite great joys and favors in prayer, she was often called upon to suffer desolation and interior trials of frightening sorts. The devil tormented her severely at times, but she triumphed over these sufferings.
A number of miracles were performed by Blessed Margaret. On one occasion, while she was praying in an upper room, Grigia's house caught fire, and she called to Margaret to come down. The blessed, however, called to her to throw her cloak on the flames. This she did, and the blaze died out. At another time, she cured a sister who was losing her eyesight.
Beloved by her adopted family and by her neighbors and friends, Margaret died at the early age of 33. From the time of her death, her tomb in the Dominican church was a place of pilgrimage. Her body, even to this day, is incorrupt.
After her death, the fathers received permission to have her heart opened. In it were three pearls, having holy figures carved upon them. They recalled the saying so often on the lips of Margaret: "If you only knew what I have in my heart!" (Attwater2, Benedictines, Dorcy).
BD AUGUSTINE, BISHOP OF LUCERA (A.D. 1323)
AUGUSTINE GAZOTICH was born at
Trogir in Dalmatia about the year 1260 and before he was twenty received the
habit of the Friars Preachers. After profession he was sent to Paris, to
study at the university, and on his way thither nearly came to an untimely
end: while passing through the district of Pavia with a fellow Dominican,
Brother James, they were set on by footpads; James was killed and Brother
Augustine recovered only after some weeks' nursing in a near-by country-house.
He preached
fruitfully in his own country and established several new houses of his
order, to which he gave as their motto the words of his patron, St Augustine
of Hippo: "Since I began to serve God, as I have hardly ever seen better men
than those who live a holy life in monasteries, so I have never seen worse
than those in monasteries who live not as they should."
After missions in Italy and Bosnia,
missions wherein he confirmed his reputation for great charity and prudence,
Bd Augustine was sent to Hungary, where the people had been reduced to a
bad state of misery and irreligion by continual civil wars. Here he met Cardinal
Nicholas Boccasini, the papal legate, who was to become Bd Benedict XI, and
attracted his favourable notice, and when Cardinal Boccasini became pope
in 1303 he sent for Bd Augustine and consecrated him bishop of Zagreb in
Croatia.
His clergy, and in consequence
the whole diocese, was badly in need of reform, and he held disciplinary
synods whose canons he enforced and supported in frequent visitations, and
he encouraged learning and the study of the Bible by establishing a Dominican
priory in his cathedral city. He was present at the general council at Vienne
in 1311-12; and on his return he suffered persecution at the hands of Miladin,
governor of Dalmatia, against whose tyranny and exactions he had protested.
Bd Augustine had in a marked degree the gift of healing (he had cured of
rheumatism the hands that gave him episcopal anointing) and there is a pleasant
story told of how he rebuked those who flocked to him for this reason: he
planted a lime tree, and suggested that its leaves would be more efficacious
than his hands.
God and the people took him at
his word, and even the invading Turks respected the wonder-working tree.
After ruling the diocese of Zagreb
for fourteen years Bd Augustine was translated to the see of Lucera in the
province of Benevento. Here his great task was to eradicate the religious
and moral corruption which the Saracens had left behind them; the remainder
of the Moslems had been more or less converted in a body in 1300. King Robert
of Naples gave him the fullest support and endowed a monastery of Dominicans
who zealously assisted their bishop, and within five years the face of
the country was changed. Bd Augustine was venerated by all, from the royal
family downwards, and when he died on August 3, 1323, a cultus began which
was formally confirmed in 1702.
The principal source seems to be
a Latin life written as late as the seventeenth century by Thomas Marnavich,
Bishop of Bosnia; in this the family name, figures as Gozottus. It is printed
in the Acta Sanctorum, August,
vol. i. See also Taurisano, Calalogus Hagiographicus
a.p., pp. 27-28, in which inter alia a reference is given to Mortier,
Maîtres Generaux O.P.,
vol. iv, pp. 461-467: the pages in question, however, have nothing to do
with this Bd Augustine, but with another Augustine of Zagreb, who lived
a century later.
Born in Trau, Dalmatia, c. 1260-1262;
cultus reconfirmed by Pope Clement XI in 1702. Augustine was born into a
wealthy family who provided him with an excellent education. At 18, he and
an Italian friend headed to the Dominican novitiate in France. Near Pavia,
Italy, they were attacked by enemies of his family, who left the bodies
of the two boys in the snow by the side of the road. Augustine was badly
injured; his friend died. When he recovered from his injuries, Augustine
continued to the novitiate. Augustine spent most of his life battling heresy:
In his native Dalmatia, he fought the Manichæen heresy; in Sicily,
Islam; in Hungary both.
In every situation in which he found himself, Augustine gave proof of his virtue and good judgment. When Cardinal Boccasini came to Hungary as legate, he noted the wisdom and tact of his brother Dominican, and when he himself ascended the papal throne as Benedict XI, he appointed Augustine bishop of Zagreb in Croatia in 1303.
This diocese was in chaos when Augustine assumed the cathedra. His three predecessors had all tried, but failed, to repair the ravages of heresy, plague, and schism. The new bishop began by reforming the clergy. He finished building the cathedral and made a complete visitation of his diocese. His work was to bring him into violent conflict with the government, but, spiritually, he restored the entire see during his episcopacy.
Several charming miracles are related about Augustine. The river water of Zagreb was unfit to drink, so the Dominican fathers asked Augustine to pray for a new supply. At his prayer a fountain sprang up in the yard of the convent, abundantly supplying their needs. Another time he planted a tree in a little village and the leaves turned out to have healing properties. On one occasion, when Bishop Augustine was dining with Benedict XI, the pope, feeling that a missionary bishop must eat well to preach well, had a dish of partridge set before Augustine, who never ate meat. Because he did not want to offend the pope, he prayed for a resolution to the situation. The legend says that God turned the partridges into fish!
Augustine was transferred from Zagreb to Lucera (Nocera),
Sicily. Here he continued his holy government, using his characteristic
gentleness and his gift of healing. He promoted devotion to Saints Dominic,
Thomas Aquinas, and Peter Martyr--all brother Dominicans. Feeling that he
was near death, he returned to the Dominican convent in Nocera to die among
his brethren. Under his statue in the cathedral of Nocera is the legend,
"Sanctus Augustine Episcopus Lucerinus Ordinis Praedicatorum," an indication
of the veneration in which he is held (Benedictines, Dorcy) .In every situation in which he found himself, Augustine gave proof of his virtue and good judgment. When Cardinal Boccasini came to Hungary as legate, he noted the wisdom and tact of his brother Dominican, and when he himself ascended the papal throne as Benedict XI, he appointed Augustine bishop of Zagreb in Croatia in 1303.
This diocese was in chaos when Augustine assumed the cathedra. His three predecessors had all tried, but failed, to repair the ravages of heresy, plague, and schism. The new bishop began by reforming the clergy. He finished building the cathedral and made a complete visitation of his diocese. His work was to bring him into violent conflict with the government, but, spiritually, he restored the entire see during his episcopacy.
Several charming miracles are related about Augustine. The river water of Zagreb was unfit to drink, so the Dominican fathers asked Augustine to pray for a new supply. At his prayer a fountain sprang up in the yard of the convent, abundantly supplying their needs. Another time he planted a tree in a little village and the leaves turned out to have healing properties. On one occasion, when Bishop Augustine was dining with Benedict XI, the pope, feeling that a missionary bishop must eat well to preach well, had a dish of partridge set before Augustine, who never ate meat. Because he did not want to offend the pope, he prayed for a resolution to the situation. The legend says that God turned the partridges into fish!
Especially noteworthy is this, that in the year 1319 he translated into the Slavonic language and ordered into use in Serbia the Typikon (Ustav) of Saint Sava the Sanctified, of Jerusalem. Sainted Nikodim died in the year 1325.
St Nicodemus, Archbishop of Pec
(May 11) SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
This great hierarch was a Serb by birth. He lived in asceticism on the Holy Mountain, and was abbot of Hilandar. After the death of Sava the Third, he was chosen as archbishop of `all the Serbian lands and those bordering the sea', in 1317. He crowned King Milutin in 1321. He also translated the Jerusalem Typikon* into Serbian. In the Preface of this book he says: `Almighty God, who knows our weak-nesses, will give us spiritual strength, but only if we first make an effort.' He sincerely loved the ascetic life, and laboured to deepen it in the land of Serbia. He laboured tirelessly to uproot the Bogomil heresy and confirm the Orthodox faith. He entered into rest in the Lord in 1325 and his wonderworking relics are preserved in the monastery at Pec.
*A Typikon is a book of rubrics for the ordering of church services and of monastic life -Translator.
SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
* From "The Prologue from Ochrid", by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic - Lazarica Press - Birmingham 1985 Four Book Edition - Translated by Mother Maria - Dates based on old church calendar
This great hierarch was a Serb by birth. He lived in asceticism on the Holy Mountain, and was abbot of Hilandar. After the death of Sava the Third, he was chosen as archbishop of `all the Serbian lands and those bordering the sea', in 1317. He crowned King Milutin in 1321. He also translated the Jerusalem Typikon* into Serbian. In the Preface of this book he says: `Almighty God, who knows our weak-nesses, will give us spiritual strength, but only if we first make an effort.' He sincerely loved the ascetic life, and laboured to deepen it in the land of Serbia. He laboured tirelessly to uproot the Bogomil heresy and confirm the Orthodox faith. He entered into rest in the Lord in 1325 and his wonderworking relics are preserved in the monastery at Pec.
*A Typikon is a book of rubrics for the ordering of church services and of monastic life -Translator.
SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
* From "The Prologue from Ochrid", by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic - Lazarica Press - Birmingham 1985 Four Book Edition - Translated by Mother Maria - Dates based on old church calendar
1331 BD ODORIC OF PORDENONE IT would not be easy
to find in secular literature a more adventurous career than that of the
Franciscan Friar Odoric of Pordenone. Miracle worker
IT
would not be easy to find in secular literature a more adventurous career
than that of the Franciscan Friar Odoric of Pordenone. He was a native of
Friuli, and his family name is said to have been Mattiussi. About the year
1300, when he was fifteen, he received the habit of St Francis at Udine,
and his later biographers expatiate upon the extreme fervour with which
he gave himself to prayer, poverty and penance. After a while he felt called
to serve God in solitude, and he obtained the permission to lead the life
of a hermit in a remote cell. We are not told how long he spent in this
close communion with God, but he seems to have been guided to return to
Udine and to take up apostolic work in the surrounding districts. Great success
followed his preaching, and crowds gathered from afar to hear him. But about
1317, when he was a little over thirty, there came to him an inspiration
of a somewhat different kind, and it is difficult from the documents before
us to decide how far he was influenced in his subsequent career by a simple
spirit of adventure and how far by the burning desire of the missionary to
extend God’s kingdom and to save souls. We shall probably not be wrong in
assuming that there was a mixture of both.
It is not easy to give precise dates, but according
to Yule and Cordier he was in western India soon after 1322, he must have
spent three of the years between 1322 and 1328 in northern China, and he
certainly died at home among his brethren at Udine in January 1331.
With regard to the route he followed in his
wanderings we are better informed. His first objective was Constantinople,
and from thence he passed on to Trebizond, Erzerum, Tabriz and Soltania.
There were houses of the order in most of these cities, and he probably made
a considerable stay in each, so that this part of his journey may well have
occupied three years. From Soltania he seems to have wandered about very
irregularly, but eventually he came south through Baghdad to Hormuz at the
entrance of the Persian Gulf, where he took ship and sailed to Salsette.
At Tana, or possibly Surat, he gathered up the bones of his four brethren
who had been martyred there shortly before, in 1321, and carried them with
him on his voyage eastward. He went on to Malabar and Ceylon, and then probably
rested for a while at the shrine of St Thomas at Mailapur, by the modern
Madras. Here he again took ship for Sumatra and Java, possibly also visiting
southern and eastern Borneo.
China was his next goal. Starting from Canton,
he travelled to the great ports of Fo-kien, and from Fu-chau he proceeded
across the mountains to Hang-chau, then famous under the name of Quinsai
as the greatest city of the world, and Nan-king. Taking to the water again
upon the great canal at Yang-chau, he made his way to Khanbaliq, or Peking,
and there remained for three years, attached apparently to one of the churches
founded by Archbishop John of Montecorvino, another heroic Franciscan missionary,
now in extreme old age. There Odoric turned his face homewards, passing
through Shen-si to Tibet and its capital, Lhasa, but we have no further record
of the course by which he ultimately reached his native province in safety.
It is interesting to note that during the latter part at least of these long
journeys Odoric had for his companion an Irish friar of the same order,
one Brother James. The fact is known to us from a record preserved in the
archives of Udine, which tells us that after Odoric’s death a present of
two marks was made “for the love of God and the blessed Brother Odoric” to
Brother James, the Irishman, who had been his companion on his journey.
The account
which has been left us of Odoric’s travels, which unfortunately was not
written down by himself at the time but dictated to one of his brethren after
his return, says practically nothing of any missionary labours on his part.
It is, therefore, not certain how far we may credit the wonderful stories
which were current in later times regarding the success which attended his
preaching. Luke Wadding, the annalist, declares that he converted and baptized
2o,ooo Saracens, but he gives us no idea of the source of his information.
It is also stated that Odoric’s purpose in leaving China and returning
to Europe was to obtain fresh supplies of missionaries and to conduct them
himself to the Far East. At Pisa, however, St Francis appeared to him and
bade him return to Udine, declaring that he himself would look after those
distant missions about which Odoric was anxious. On his deathbed the worn-out
apostle said that God had made known to him that his sins were pardoned,
but that he wished, like a humble child, to submit himself to the keys of
the Church and to receive the last sacraments.
He died on
January 14, 1331. Many miracles are said to have been wrought after his
death, and in one of these we hear again of Brother James the Irishman, for
a certain Franciscan who was a preacher and doctor of theology at Venice,
and had suffered cruelly from a painful malady of the throat, asked Brother
James to recommend him to his late fellow traveller, and was immediately cured.
The cultus long paid to him was approved in 1755.
The narrative
of his journeys, as dictated in Latin by Bd Odoric, will be found printed
in the Acta Sanctorum for January 14, but the fullest account,
with translation and notes, will be found in Yule-Cordier, Cathay
and the Way Thither (1913), vol. ii. See also Wadding, Annales, sa. 1331 ; M. Komroff, Contemporaries
of Marco Polo (1928) ; and H. Matrod, L’itinéraire
. . . du b. Odoric de Pordenone (1936). There is
a fifteenth-century Welsh version of the voyages, ed. S. J. Williams, Ffordd y Brawd Odrig (1929). Fuller bibliographies in
Yule and in U. Chevalier, Bio-Bibliographie.
(also known as Blessed Maurice of Hungary)
Maurice, Prince of Hungary, was
persecuted by his father-in-law for his desire to remain in the Dominican
Order. He was born into the royal house of Hungary. There had been many
heavenly signs before his birth that he was to be an unusual favorite of
God, but for the first few years of his life he was so sickly that no one
believed he would survive. By the time he was five, he was a delicate, dreamy
child who played at saying Mass and leading family prayers. The little chapel
in his father's castle was his favorite haunt, and he was always to be found
there between sessions in the schoolroom.
When he was still quite small, an old Dominican came one day to visit his parents, and took a great fancy to the handsome little boy. He told the child the story of Saint Alexis, which greatly impressed him. When Maurice knelt to ask the old priest's blessing, the Dominican said prophetically, "This child will one day enter our holy Order and will be one of its joys."
In spite of the several indications that God had designs on Maurice, circumstances conspired against him. His parents died when he was still quite young, leaving him immensely wealthy and solely in charge of his father's estates. A brother, who had entered the Dominican novitiate, died very young. Relatives prevailed upon Maurice to marry. Against all his wishes, he did so.
When he was still quite small, an old Dominican came one day to visit his parents, and took a great fancy to the handsome little boy. He told the child the story of Saint Alexis, which greatly impressed him. When Maurice knelt to ask the old priest's blessing, the Dominican said prophetically, "This child will one day enter our holy Order and will be one of its joys."
In spite of the several indications that God had designs on Maurice, circumstances conspired against him. His parents died when he was still quite young, leaving him immensely wealthy and solely in charge of his father's estates. A brother, who had entered the Dominican novitiate, died very young. Relatives prevailed upon Maurice to marry. Against all his wishes, he did so.
However, he and his young wife,
the daughter of the Count of Palatine, made a vow of continence, and both
resolved to became Dominicans as soon as it was possible to dispose of the
estates. When his wife fled to the Isle of Margaret in the Danube, and
took the veil in Saint Margaret's convent, her father was furious. He went
in search of the young husband and found that he, too, had gone to the Dominicans.
He settled the matter in the forthright fashion of the times by kidnapping
Maurice and locking him in a tower. Here, like another Thomas Aquinas, the young novice settled
down to wait until someone tired of the arrangement.
After three months of unfruitful punishment, Maurice was released as incorrigible, and his relatives devoted their attention to getting hold of his estates instead. He went happily off to Bologna to complete his studies, where he remained for three years.
For 32 years, Maurice ignored the throne and the luxuries of the world to live in obscurity and poverty. The picture of him left us by the chroniclers is an engaging one: an earnest, pious priest who made no effort to capitalize on his birth or social graces; a zealous addict of poverty, who managed, by a series of sagacious trades, to have the oldest habit in the house and the dreariest cell. He is said to have said the whole Psalter daily, plus the Penitential Psalms, and the Litany of the Saints.
A number of curious stories are told about him. Once, when he was staying with a Benedictine friend, the friend noticed that he went in and out of locked doors with no trouble at all, and that the rooms lighted up by themselves when he entered. Maurice is supposed to have had the gift of prophecy. A relative of his had cheated the sisters out of some property that Maurice had left them. Maurice told him that the goods would be taken away from him, and that another man, more generous, would give it back to the sisters. The man died shortly thereafter, and the prophecy was fulfilled.
After Maurice's death at least two miracles of healing were reported at his grave: one was a cure from fever, another from blindness. Butler's Lives of the Saints lists him as "Blessed Maurice" and he is still venerated in Hungary, although his cultus has never been formally approved (Attwater2, Benedictines, Dorcy).
After three months of unfruitful punishment, Maurice was released as incorrigible, and his relatives devoted their attention to getting hold of his estates instead. He went happily off to Bologna to complete his studies, where he remained for three years.
For 32 years, Maurice ignored the throne and the luxuries of the world to live in obscurity and poverty. The picture of him left us by the chroniclers is an engaging one: an earnest, pious priest who made no effort to capitalize on his birth or social graces; a zealous addict of poverty, who managed, by a series of sagacious trades, to have the oldest habit in the house and the dreariest cell. He is said to have said the whole Psalter daily, plus the Penitential Psalms, and the Litany of the Saints.
A number of curious stories are told about him. Once, when he was staying with a Benedictine friend, the friend noticed that he went in and out of locked doors with no trouble at all, and that the rooms lighted up by themselves when he entered. Maurice is supposed to have had the gift of prophecy. A relative of his had cheated the sisters out of some property that Maurice had left them. Maurice told him that the goods would be taken away from him, and that another man, more generous, would give it back to the sisters. The man died shortly thereafter, and the prophecy was fulfilled.
After Maurice's death at least two miracles of healing were reported at his grave: one was a cure from fever, another from blindness. Butler's Lives of the Saints lists him as "Blessed Maurice" and he is still venerated in Hungary, although his cultus has never been formally approved (Attwater2, Benedictines, Dorcy).
1338 Saint
Daniel of Serbia gift of wonderworking and healing built
Ascension
of the Lord at Dechani the finest
Christian monuments in SerbiaThe only son of rich and renowned
parents, was a close associate of the Serbian king Stephan Urosh Milutin.
Having renounced a secular career, he received monastic tonsure from the
igumen of the St Nicholas monastery at Konchul near the River Ibar. St Daniel's
ascetic life was an example for all the brethren.
Archbishop Eustathius
of Serbia ordained him presbyter and took him into his cell. When it was
time to choose the igumen for the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos, St Daniel
received the appointment. The saint was igumen at a most difficult time
for the Holy Mountain. After the Crusaders were expelled from Palestine,
they joined with the Arabs to plunder and loot the Athonite monasteries,
"not sparing anything sacred."
St Daniel remained at the Hilandar monastery, enduring siege and hunger. When peace came to the Holy Mountain, the saint resigned as igumen and withdrew into complete silence in the cell of St Sava of Serbia (at Karyes). During the internecine war of Kings Milutin and Dragutin and Stephen of Dechani (November 11), the ascetic was summoned to Serbia, where he reconciled the adversaries.
In his native land Daniel was made Bishop of Banja and head of the renowned monastery of St Stephen, a royal treasury. After completing the construction of a cathedral church at Banja in honor of the holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen, St Daniel returned to his monastic labors on the Holy Mountain.
The saint was summoned from Athos again in 1325, when he was elected Archbishop of Serbia. He was consecrated on the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross of the Lord. The Protos ["head"] of the Holy Mountain, Garbasios, and other Athonite Elders took part in the solemnities.
Archbishop Daniel was a model of piety, and a wise archpastor. His tenure as archbishop was marked by complete non-covetousness, concern and toil for the needs of the Church and the flock, and the building of churches. In 1335 the saint built a church at Dechani in honor of the Ascension of the Lord, one of the finest Christian monuments in Serbia. He collected accounts about the Serbian past, and compiled the "Rodoslov" [Account about the homeland], writing about the lives of Serbian rulers and Serbian archpastors.
St Daniel remained at the Hilandar monastery, enduring siege and hunger. When peace came to the Holy Mountain, the saint resigned as igumen and withdrew into complete silence in the cell of St Sava of Serbia (at Karyes). During the internecine war of Kings Milutin and Dragutin and Stephen of Dechani (November 11), the ascetic was summoned to Serbia, where he reconciled the adversaries.
In his native land Daniel was made Bishop of Banja and head of the renowned monastery of St Stephen, a royal treasury. After completing the construction of a cathedral church at Banja in honor of the holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen, St Daniel returned to his monastic labors on the Holy Mountain.
The saint was summoned from Athos again in 1325, when he was elected Archbishop of Serbia. He was consecrated on the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross of the Lord. The Protos ["head"] of the Holy Mountain, Garbasios, and other Athonite Elders took part in the solemnities.
Archbishop Daniel was a model of piety, and a wise archpastor. His tenure as archbishop was marked by complete non-covetousness, concern and toil for the needs of the Church and the flock, and the building of churches. In 1335 the saint built a church at Dechani in honor of the Ascension of the Lord, one of the finest Christian monuments in Serbia. He collected accounts about the Serbian past, and compiled the "Rodoslov" [Account about the homeland], writing about the lives of Serbian rulers and Serbian archpastors.
Even during his lifetime St Daniel was granted the gift of wonderworking and healing. After 14 years archbishop, St Daniel departed to the Lord on December 19, 1338.
(also known as James of Mantua) Born in Mantua, Italy; died there; cultus confirmed 1859 by Pope Pius IX. James Benefatti, bishop of Mantua, was a famous man in his time; it is unfortunate that he is so little known in ours.
James entered the Dominican convent in his home town about 1290. He was both a master in theology and a holy priest. These qualities brought him to the attention of his brother Dominican, Nicholas Boccasino, the future Pope Benedict XI. As cardinal, Nicholas chose the young Dominican from Mantua for his companion. He employed him in various offices in Rome and recommended him to other high-ranking prelates. Consequently, James found himself kept busy in diplomatic offices by several popes--Benedict XI and John XXII among them.
For 18 years after being consecrated (1303) bishop of Mantua by Pope John XXII in 1320, James occupied the see and accomplished great good among the people, meriting his title of "Father of the Poor." He rebuilt and refurnished the cathedral and worked many miracles among his flock. At his death in 1338, many remarkable miracles occurred, and he was called "Blessed James" by people who were grateful for his intercession. Nearly 150 years after his death, when repairs were being made in the church where he was buried, an accident opened his tomb, and people were startled to find that his body was completely incorrupt. Again in 1604, the same phenomenon was noted (Attwater 2, Benedictines, Dorcy).
1338 Anna of Kashin The Holy Right-believing Princess; withdrew into Tver's Sophia monastery and accepted
tonsure with the name Euphrosyne. Later, she transferred to the Kashin Dormition
monastery, and became a schemanun with the name Anna; Miracles at St Anna's grave began in 1611Daughter of the Rostov prince Demetrius Borisovich, in 1294 became the wife of the holy Great Prince Michael Yaroslavich of Tver, who was murdered by the Mongol-Tatars of the Horde in 1318, (November 22). After the death of her husband, Anna withdrew into Tver's Sophia monastery and accepted tonsure with the name Euphrosyne. Later, she transferred to the Kashin Dormition monastery, and became a schemanun with the name Anna. She fell asleep in the Lord on October 2, 1338.
St Anna's sons also imitated their father's steadfast confession of faith in Christ. Demetrius Mikhailovich ("Dread Eyes") was murdered at the Horde on September 15, 1325; and later, Alexander Mikhailovich, Prince of Tver, was murdered together with his son Theodore on October 29, 1339.
Miracles at St Anna's grave began in 1611, during the siege of Kashin by Polish and Lithuanian forces. There was also a great fire in the city which died down without doing much damage. The saint, dressed in the monastic schema, appeared to Gerasimus, a gravely ill warden of the Dormition cathedral. She promised that he would recover, but complained, "People show no respect for my tomb. They ignore it and my memory! Do you not know that I am supplicating the Lord and His Mother to deliver the city from the foe, and that you be spared many hardships and evils?" She ordered him to tell the clergy to look after her tomb, and to light a candle there before the icon of Christ Not-Made-By-Hands.
At the Council of 1649 it was decided to uncover her relics for general veneration and to glorify the holy Princess Anna as a saint. But in 1677 Patriarch Joachim proposed to the Moscow Council that her veneration throughout Russia should be discontinued because of the Old Believers Schism, which made use of the name of St Anna of Kashin for its own purposes. When she was buried her hand had been positioned to make the Sign of the Cross with two fingers, rather than three. However, the memory of St Anna, who had received a crown of glory from Christ, could not be erased by decree. People continued to love and venerate her, and many miracles took place at her tomb.
On June 12, 1909 her second glorification took place, and her universally observed Feast day was established. Her Life describes her as a model of spiritual beauty and chastity, and an example to future generations.
1342 Antony (Kukley)
Eustace (Nizilon) and John (Milhey) martyred for their faith relics
were found to be incorrupt MM (AC)The Holy Martyrs Anthony, John,
and Eustathius were brothers who suffered for Christ under the Lithuanian
Great Prince Olgerd (1345-1377). The prince was married to the Orthodox
princess Maria Yaroslavna (+ 1346). He was baptized and during his wife's
lifetime he allowed the preaching of Christianity. Two brothers, Nezhilo
and Kumets, received holy Baptism from the priest Nestor, and they received
the names Anthony and John. And at the request of Maria Yaroslavna an Orthodox
church was built at Vilnius (Vilna). After the death of his spouse,
Prince Olgerd began to support the pagan priests of the fire-worshippers,
who started a persecution against Christians. Sts John and Anthony endeavored
not to flaunt their Christianity, but they did not observe pagan customs.
They did not cut their hair as the pagans did, and on fastdays they did not
eat forbidden foods.
The prince soon became suspicious of the brothers, so he interrogated them and they confessed themselves Christians. Then he demanded that they eat meat (it was a fast day). The holy brothers refused, and the prince locked them up in prison. The brothers spent an entire year behind bars. John took fright at the impending tortures and declared that he would obey all the demands of the Great Prince. The delighted Olgerd released the brothers and brought them to himself.
But Anthony did not betray Christ. When he refused to eat meat on a fast day, the prince again locked him up in prison and subjected him to brutal tortures. The other brother remained free, but both Christians and pagans regarded him as a traitor and would not associate with him. Repenting of his sin, John went to the priest Nestor and entreated him to ask his brother to forgive him. "When he openly confesses Christ, we will be reconciled," Anthony replied. Once, while serving the prince at the bath, St John spoke privately with him about his reconciliation with the Church. Olgerd did not display any anger and said that he could believe in Christ, but must conduct himself like all the pagans. Then St John confessed himself a Christian in the presence of numerous courtiers. They beat him fiercely with rods and sent him to his brother in prison. The martyrs met with joy, and received the Holy Mysteries that same day.
The prince soon became suspicious of the brothers, so he interrogated them and they confessed themselves Christians. Then he demanded that they eat meat (it was a fast day). The holy brothers refused, and the prince locked them up in prison. The brothers spent an entire year behind bars. John took fright at the impending tortures and declared that he would obey all the demands of the Great Prince. The delighted Olgerd released the brothers and brought them to himself.
But Anthony did not betray Christ. When he refused to eat meat on a fast day, the prince again locked him up in prison and subjected him to brutal tortures. The other brother remained free, but both Christians and pagans regarded him as a traitor and would not associate with him. Repenting of his sin, John went to the priest Nestor and entreated him to ask his brother to forgive him. "When he openly confesses Christ, we will be reconciled," Anthony replied. Once, while serving the prince at the bath, St John spoke privately with him about his reconciliation with the Church. Olgerd did not display any anger and said that he could believe in Christ, but must conduct himself like all the pagans. Then St John confessed himself a Christian in the presence of numerous courtiers. They beat him fiercely with rods and sent him to his brother in prison. The martyrs met with joy, and received the Holy Mysteries that same day.
Many people went to the prison
to see the new confessor. The brothers converted many to Christ by their
preaching. The prison was transformed into a Christian school. The frightened
pagan priests demanded the execution of the brothers, but they did not fear
death.
On the morning of April 14, 1347 the Martyr Anthony was hanged on a tree after receiving the Holy Mysteries. This oak, which the pagans considered sacred, became truly sacred for Orthodox Christians. The pagan priests who hoped that Christian preaching would stop with the death of St Anthony, were disappointed. A multitude of the people gathered before the walls of the prison where St John was being held. On April 24, 1347 they strangled him and hanged his dead body upon the same oak. The venerable bodies of both martyrs were buried by Christians in the church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker.
A third sufferer for Christ was their relative Kruglets.
On the morning of April 14, 1347 the Martyr Anthony was hanged on a tree after receiving the Holy Mysteries. This oak, which the pagans considered sacred, became truly sacred for Orthodox Christians. The pagan priests who hoped that Christian preaching would stop with the death of St Anthony, were disappointed. A multitude of the people gathered before the walls of the prison where St John was being held. On April 24, 1347 they strangled him and hanged his dead body upon the same oak. The venerable bodies of both martyrs were buried by Christians in the church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker.
The martyr Eustathius was sentenced to death and hanged on the same oak where Sts John and Anthony received a martyr's death (December 13, 1347).
For three days no one was permitted
to take down the body of the martyr, and a column of cloud protected it
from birds and beasts of prey. A church was later built on the hill where
the holy martyrs suffered. The trinity of venerable passion bearers glorified
the true God worshipped in the Holy Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
The church was dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity. The altar table was built
on the stump of the sacred oak on which the martyrs died.
Soon their relics were found to be incorrupt. In 1364 Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople (1354-1355, 1364-1376) sent a cross with the relics of the holy martyrs to St Sergius of Radonezh (September 25). The Church established the celebration of all three martyrs on April 14. The holy martyrs were of immense significance for all the Western frontier. Vilnius's monastery of the Holy Trinity, where the holy relics are kept, became a stronghold of Orthodoxy on this frontier. In 1915 during the invasion of the Germans, these relics were taken to Moscow.
The relics of the holy passion-bearers were returned to the Vilnius Holy Spirit monastery in 1946. The commemoration of their return (July 13) is solemnly observed at the monastery each year.
Died at Vilna, Lithuania This trio was comprised of young Lithuanian noblemen who were chamberlains at the court of the grand Duke Olgierd, the father of Jagello.
John and Antony were brothers, heathen worshippers of fire, whom a travelling missionary priest, named Nestorius, converted to the Christian faith. They refused to eat meat on an day of abstinence.
Since their new ways conflicted with the customs of the court, they were hung from an oak tree in Vilna. John, the eldest, was martyred on April 24 and his brother Antony on June 14. Upon witnessing their heroic fortitude, Eustace converted and martyred for the faith on December 13.
These patrons of Vilna were buried in Holy Trinity Russian- Greek Church, which is now united with the Roman Catholic Church and served by Basilian monks. Their heads were translated to the cathedral of Vilna. The tree on which they were executed had long been used for that purpose; however, the Christians obtained a grant of it from the prince and built a church on the spot. Their feast on April 14 was established by Patriarch Alexius of Kiow (Benedictines, Coulson, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
Soon their relics were found to be incorrupt. In 1364 Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople (1354-1355, 1364-1376) sent a cross with the relics of the holy martyrs to St Sergius of Radonezh (September 25). The Church established the celebration of all three martyrs on April 14. The holy martyrs were of immense significance for all the Western frontier. Vilnius's monastery of the Holy Trinity, where the holy relics are kept, became a stronghold of Orthodoxy on this frontier. In 1915 during the invasion of the Germans, these relics were taken to Moscow.
The relics of the holy passion-bearers were returned to the Vilnius Holy Spirit monastery in 1946. The commemoration of their return (July 13) is solemnly observed at the monastery each year.
Died at Vilna, Lithuania This trio was comprised of young Lithuanian noblemen who were chamberlains at the court of the grand Duke Olgierd, the father of Jagello.
John and Antony were brothers, heathen worshippers of fire, whom a travelling missionary priest, named Nestorius, converted to the Christian faith. They refused to eat meat on an day of abstinence.
Since their new ways conflicted with the customs of the court, they were hung from an oak tree in Vilna. John, the eldest, was martyred on April 24 and his brother Antony on June 14. Upon witnessing their heroic fortitude, Eustace converted and martyred for the faith on December 13.
These patrons of Vilna were buried in Holy Trinity Russian- Greek Church, which is now united with the Roman Catholic Church and served by Basilian monks. Their heads were translated to the cathedral of Vilna. The tree on which they were executed had long been used for that purpose; however, the Christians obtained a grant of it from the prince and built a church on the spot. Their feast on April 14 was established by Patriarch Alexius of Kiow (Benedictines, Coulson, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
Born at Orvieto, Italy; beatified in 1768. Thomas Corsini was a Servite lay-brother, who spent his live collecting alms for the abbey. He was favored by many visions (Benedictines).
1345
Peregrine Laziosi received a vision of Our Lady who told him to go to Siena,
Italy, and there to join the Servites healed by Jesus incorrupt fervant
preacher, excellent orator, and gentle confessorAlso known as Peregrinus
Born wealthy, he spent a worldly youth, and became involved in politics. Peregrine was initially strongly anti-Catholic. During a popular revolt, he struck the papal peace negotiator, Saint Philip Benizi, across the face. Saint Philip calmly turned the other cheek, prayed for the youth, and Peregine converted.
He received a vision of Our Lady who told him to go to Siena, Italy, and there to join the Servites. After training and ordination, they assigned him to his home town. He lived and worked, as much as possible, in complete silence, in solitude, and without sitting down for 30 years in an attempt to do penance for his early life. When he did speak, he was known as a fervant preacher, excellent orator, and gentle confessor. Founded a Servite house at Forli.
A victim of a spreading cancer in his foot, Peregrine was scheduled for an amputation. The night before the operation, he spent in prayer; that night received a vision of Christ who healed him with a touch. The next morning, Peregrine found his cancer completely healed.
Born 1260 at Forli, Italy Died
1345 at Forli, Italy of natural causes; body incorrupt
St. Peregrine Laziosi 1345
Peregrine Laziosi was born of a wealthy family at Forli, Italy, in 1260.
As a youth he was active in politics as a member of the anti-papal party.
During one uprising, which the Pope sent St. Philip Benizi to mediate, Philip
was struck in the face by Peregrine. When Philip offered the other cheek,
Peregrine was so overcome that he repented and converted to Catholicism.
Following the instructions of the Virgin Mary received in a vision, Peregrine
went to Siena and joined the Servites. It is believed that he never allowed
himself to sit down for thirty years, while as far as possible, observing
silence and solitude. Sometime later, Peregrine was sent to Forli to found
a new house of the Servite Order. An ideal priest, he had a reputation for
fervent preaching and being a good confessor. When he was afflicted with cancer
of the foot and amputation had been decided upon, he spent the night before
the operation, in prayer. The following morning he was completely cured.
This miracle caused his reputation to become widespread. He died in 1345
at the age of eighty-five, and he was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in
1726. St. Peregrine, like St. Paul, was in open defiance of the Church as
a youth. Once given the grace of conversion he became one of the great saints
of his time. His great fervor and qualities as a confessor brought many back
to the true Faith. Afflicted with cancer, Peregrine turned to God and was
richly rewarded for his Faith, enabling him over many years to lead others
to the truth. He is the patron of cancer patients.
The cult which from time immemorial has been paid at Palermo and elsewhere to this follower of St Francis was confirmed in 1908. Gerard, born about 1270, was the only son of noble parents in the north of Italy. He lost his father at the age of ten, and his mother not many years afterwards.
Resisting the persuasions of his relatives to marry, he distributed his goods to the poor and led, until he was forty, the life of a pilgrim and hermit, spending most of his time in the wilder parts of Sicily. In the early years of the fourteenth century, the holiness and miracles of St Louis of Anjou, who though heir to a throne had become a Franciscan, were much talked about. Gerard took him for his patron, and about the year 1310 ended by joining the same order.
While he discharged duties
of a lay-brother, his simplicity and devotion were the admiration of all.
On one great feast-day, when he was acting as cook, being absorbed in prayer,
he seemed to have forgotten all about the dinner; when, late in the morning,
the father guardian, apprised that even the fire had not yet been lighted,
remonstrated with the brother on his neglect.
Gerard, quite unperturbed, took to the kitchen, where, assisted, it is said, by an unknown youth of radiant beauty, he produced, punctually to the moment, a more delicious meal than the community had ever before eaten.
Many miracles were attributed to the intercession of the holy brother. For example, it was said that, finding a child crying because it had dropped and broken the glass beaker it was carrying home to its mother, he collected the fragments, blessed them and restored the vessel to the child as sound as it had been before. His miracles of healing were commonly performed by anointing the sick with the oil which burned in a lamp before a little shrine of his patron St Louis. His diet was bread and water, he slept upon a plank, he scourged himself to blood, and there were many stories told of ecstasies in which he was seen surrounded with light and raised from the ground. He died on December 30, 1345.
Gerard, quite unperturbed, took to the kitchen, where, assisted, it is said, by an unknown youth of radiant beauty, he produced, punctually to the moment, a more delicious meal than the community had ever before eaten.
Many miracles were attributed to the intercession of the holy brother. For example, it was said that, finding a child crying because it had dropped and broken the glass beaker it was carrying home to its mother, he collected the fragments, blessed them and restored the vessel to the child as sound as it had been before. His miracles of healing were commonly performed by anointing the sick with the oil which burned in a lamp before a little shrine of his patron St Louis. His diet was bread and water, he slept upon a plank, he scourged himself to blood, and there were many stories told of ecstasies in which he was seen surrounded with light and raised from the ground. He died on December 30, 1345.
See the decree
of the Congregation of Rites in Analecta
Ecclesiastica (1908), vol. xvi, pp. 293—295 B. Mazzara, Leggendario Francescano (1680), vol. iii,
pp. 767—773; and Analecta Franciscana
(1897), vol. ii, pp. 489-497.
ST FLORA OF BEAULIEU, VIRGIN (A.D. 1347)
THE “Hospitalières”, nuns of the Order of St
John of Jerusalem, had a flourishing priory known as Beaulieu, between Figeac
and the shrine of Rocamadour. Here about the year 1324 entered a very devout
novice of good family, who is now venerated as St Flora. If we can trust
the biography in the form we have it, she had passed a most innocent childhood,
had resisted all her parents’ attempts to find her a husband, but on dedicating
herself to God at Beaulieu she was over-whelmed by every species of spiritual
trial. At one time she was beset with misgivings that the life she was
leading was too easy and comfortable, at another she had to struggle against
endless temptations to go back to the world and enjoy its pleasures. She
seems, in consequence, to have fallen into a state of intense depression
which showed itself in her countenance and behaviour to a degree which the
other sisters found intensely irritating. They gave her in consequence a
very bad time. They declared that she was either a hypocrite or out of her
mind. They not only treated her themselves as an object of ridicule, but
they brought in outsiders to look at her and encouraged them to mimic and
make fun of her as though she were crazy.
In all this time, obtaining help occasionally from some visiting confessor who seemed to understand her state, she was growing dearer to God and in the end was privileged to enjoy many unusual mystical favours. It is alleged that one year on the feast of All Saints she fell into an ecstasy in which she continued without taking any nourishment at all until St Cecilia’s day, three weeks later. Again, we hear of a fragment of the Blessed Sacrament being brought to her by an angel from a church eight miles away. The priest who was celebrating there thought that through some carelessness of his this portion of the Host which he had broken off had slipped off the corporal and been lost. In great distress he came to ask Sister Flora about it, since her gift of spiritual discernment was widely known. But she smiled and comforted him, leaving him with the conviction that she herself had received what had disappeared from the altar. It must be confessed that this story bears a suspicious resemblance to a similar incident which occurs in the Life of St Catherine of Siena. Again, when meditating on the Holy Ghost, one Whit Sunday at Mass, Flora is said to have been raised four feet from the ground and to have hung suspended in the air for some time while all were looking on. But perhaps the most curious of her mystical experiences was her feeling that a rigid cross to which our Saviour’s body was attached was inside her. The arms of the cross seemed to pierce her ribs and caused a copious flow of blood which sometimes flowed from her mouth, sometimes escaped through a wound in her side. Many instances were apparently reported of her inexplicable or prophetic knowledge of matters of which she could not naturally have learnt anything. She died in 1347 at the age of thirty-eight, and many miracles are believed to have been worked at her tomb.
In all this time, obtaining help occasionally from some visiting confessor who seemed to understand her state, she was growing dearer to God and in the end was privileged to enjoy many unusual mystical favours. It is alleged that one year on the feast of All Saints she fell into an ecstasy in which she continued without taking any nourishment at all until St Cecilia’s day, three weeks later. Again, we hear of a fragment of the Blessed Sacrament being brought to her by an angel from a church eight miles away. The priest who was celebrating there thought that through some carelessness of his this portion of the Host which he had broken off had slipped off the corporal and been lost. In great distress he came to ask Sister Flora about it, since her gift of spiritual discernment was widely known. But she smiled and comforted him, leaving him with the conviction that she herself had received what had disappeared from the altar. It must be confessed that this story bears a suspicious resemblance to a similar incident which occurs in the Life of St Catherine of Siena. Again, when meditating on the Holy Ghost, one Whit Sunday at Mass, Flora is said to have been raised four feet from the ground and to have hung suspended in the air for some time while all were looking on. But perhaps the most curious of her mystical experiences was her feeling that a rigid cross to which our Saviour’s body was attached was inside her. The arms of the cross seemed to pierce her ribs and caused a copious flow of blood which sometimes flowed from her mouth, sometimes escaped through a wound in her side. Many instances were apparently reported of her inexplicable or prophetic knowledge of matters of which she could not naturally have learnt anything. She died in 1347 at the age of thirty-eight, and many miracles are believed to have been worked at her tomb.
The Bollandists were at first unable to procure any detailed information regarding St Flora, but eventually a Latin version was sent them, made in 1709, of a life which existed at Beaulieu in Old French. It is printed as an appendix in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. ii. The Old French text was printed in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxiv (1946), pp. 5—49. It was made before 1482 from a lost Latin original, said to have been written by the saint’s confessor. See also C. Lacarrière, Vie de Ste Flore ou Fleur (1866); and Analecta jurispontificii. vol. xviii (1879), pp. 1—27. The cult of St Flora has received a sort of indirect confirmation in the fact that the Holy See has approved an office in her honour, used in the diocese of Cahors.St. Flora, Virgin, Patron of the abandoned, of converts, single laywomen, and victims of betrayal.
Flora was born in France about the year 1309. She was a devout child and later resisted all attempts on the part of her parents to find a husband for her.
In 1324, she entered the Priory of Beaulieu of the Hospitaller nuns of St. John of Jerusalem. Here she was beset with many and diverse trials, fell into a depressed state, and was made sport of by some of her religious sisters. However, she never ceased to find favor with God and was granted many unusual and mystical favors.
One year on the feast of All Saints, she fell into an ecstasy and took no nourishment until three weeks later on the feast of St. Cecelia.
On another occasion, while meditating on the Holy Spirit, she was raised four feet from the ground and hung in the air in full view of many onlookers.
She also seemed to be pierced with the arms of Our Lord's cross, causing blood to flow freely at times from her side and at others, from her mouth.
Other instances of God's favoring of his servant were also reported, concerning prophetic knowledge of matters of which she could not naturally know.
Through it all, St. Flora remained humble and in complete communion with her Divine Master, rendering wise counsel to all who flocked to her because of her holiness and spiritual discernment. In 1347, she was called to her eternal reward and many miracles were worked at her tomb.
1350 Bd John Of Rieti
joined the Hermits of St Augustine (Austin friars) at Rieti. He was
ever at the service of his neighbour, especially the sick and strangers,
and delighted to wait on guests who came to the monastery; he spent
long hours in contemplation and especially valued the opportunities provided
by serving Mass in the friary church for loving converse with God.
He had the gift of tears, not only for his own faults but for those of others;
when walking in the garden he would say, "How can one not weep? his holy
life and the miracles taking place at his tomb were the cause of a cultus
which persisted
John Bufalari was born about the beginning of the fourteenth century at Castel Porziano in Umbria, brother to Bd Lucy of Amelia. Little is known of his life, except that it was uneventful, but none the less significant in that he grew daily in grace and virtue. He early determined to leave the world and joined the Hermits of St Augustine (Austin friars) at Rieti. He was ever at the service of his neighbour, especially the sick and strangers, and delighted to wait on guests who came to the monastery; he spent long hours in contemplation and especially valued the opportunities provided by serving Mass in the friary church for loving converse with God. He had the gift of tears, not only for his own faults but for those of others; when walking in the garden he would say, "How can one not weep? For we see all around us trees and grass and flowers and plants germinating, growing, producing their fruit, and dying back again into the earth in accordance with the laws of their Creator: while men, to whom God has given a reasoning intelligence and the promise of a transcendent reward, continually oppose His will." A simple reflection whose force, if rightly understood, is not lessened by the consideration that the vegetable creation could not do otherwise if it would. The exact date of the death of Bd John is not known, but his holy life and the miracles taking place at his tomb were the cause of a cultus which persisted and was formally confirmed in 1832.
John Bufalari was born about the beginning of the fourteenth century at Castel Porziano in Umbria, brother to Bd Lucy of Amelia. Little is known of his life, except that it was uneventful, but none the less significant in that he grew daily in grace and virtue. He early determined to leave the world and joined the Hermits of St Augustine (Austin friars) at Rieti. He was ever at the service of his neighbour, especially the sick and strangers, and delighted to wait on guests who came to the monastery; he spent long hours in contemplation and especially valued the opportunities provided by serving Mass in the friary church for loving converse with God. He had the gift of tears, not only for his own faults but for those of others; when walking in the garden he would say, "How can one not weep? For we see all around us trees and grass and flowers and plants germinating, growing, producing their fruit, and dying back again into the earth in accordance with the laws of their Creator: while men, to whom God has given a reasoning intelligence and the promise of a transcendent reward, continually oppose His will." A simple reflection whose force, if rightly understood, is not lessened by the consideration that the vegetable creation could not do otherwise if it would. The exact date of the death of Bd John is not known, but his holy life and the miracles taking place at his tomb were the cause of a cultus which persisted and was formally confirmed in 1832.
See Torelli, Secoli Agostiniani, vol. ii, and P. Seeböck,
Die Herrlichkeit day Katholischen
Kirche (1900), pp. 299-300.
1350 Chukhloma
Icon of the Mother of God of Galich appeared in the year 1350 to St Abraham
of Galich, who came there from the north for ascetical labors with the blessing
of St Sergius of Radonezh. The icon is also commemorated
on May 28, July 4, and August 15.
On the wild shores of the Galich
lake near the large mountain, hidden in the dense forest, he turned with
prayer to the Mother of God, asking Her blessing for his endeavors. After
completing his prayer the saint sat down to rest, and suddenly a bright light
appeared on the nearby mountainside and he heard a voice: "Abraham, come
up the mountain, where there is an icon of My Mother."
The monk went up the mountain where the light shone, and indeed found an icon of the Mother of God with the Infant on a tree. With tenderness and in gratitude to God, the holy ascetic took the revealed icon and, strengthened by prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos, he built a chapel at that place, in which he put the icon.
After a certain time the Galich prince Demetrius Feodorovich, learned about the Elder's trip, and asked him to bring the icon. St Abraham rowed across the Galich lake in a boat and, accompanied by clergy and a throng of people, he took the wonderworking icon to the cathedral church of the city of Galich.
On this day a large number of the sick were healed by this icon. When St Abraham told about the appearance of the icon, the Prince offered money to build a monastery. Soon a church was built in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, around which a monastery grew. St Abraham founded several more monasteries, the last being founded was the Chukhloma, not far from the city of Chukhloma, from the name of this monastery the ascetic was named "of Chukhloma," and the wonderworking icon became known as the Chukhloma Icon of Galich.
The monk went up the mountain where the light shone, and indeed found an icon of the Mother of God with the Infant on a tree. With tenderness and in gratitude to God, the holy ascetic took the revealed icon and, strengthened by prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos, he built a chapel at that place, in which he put the icon.
After a certain time the Galich prince Demetrius Feodorovich, learned about the Elder's trip, and asked him to bring the icon. St Abraham rowed across the Galich lake in a boat and, accompanied by clergy and a throng of people, he took the wonderworking icon to the cathedral church of the city of Galich.
On this day a large number of the sick were healed by this icon. When St Abraham told about the appearance of the icon, the Prince offered money to build a monastery. Soon a church was built in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, around which a monastery grew. St Abraham founded several more monasteries, the last being founded was the Chukhloma, not far from the city of Chukhloma, from the name of this monastery the ascetic was named "of Chukhloma," and the wonderworking icon became known as the Chukhloma Icon of Galich.
He lived in a community and was known for his holiness. He founded the Confraternity of Mercy, a hospice, and was a miracle worker. Pope Pius IX confirmed his cult.
MUCH interest attaches
to the life of this mystic, who was first a servant-maid and afterwards a
béguine
at Delft
in Holland. Béguines are not, strictly speaking, members of a religious
order, though they dwell in a settlement apart, perform their religious exercises
in common, and make profession of chastity and obedience. But they are not
vowed to poverty, and they live in little separate houses, each with one
or two companions, occupied for the most part in active good works in her
early days Gertrude had been engaged to be married to a man who left her
for another girl, causing great anguish of mind to the betrothed he had forsaken.
Seeing the providence of God in this disappointment, she turned her thoughts
to other things, and afterwards generously befriended the rival who had somewhat
treacherously stolen her lover.
As the crown of a life now spent in contemplation
and austerity, our Lord was pleased to honour her, on Good Friday 1340, with the marks of His sacred wounds.
We read that a holy friend named Lielta had already foretold this privileged
state to her, and also that she had experienced a very curious bodily manifestation
in the Christmas season of the previous year. When the stigmata were thus
given her, apparently as a permanent mark of God’s favour, they used to bleed
seven times every day. She confided to her fellow béguine Diewerdis
the news of this strange wonder.
Naturally the tidings spread,
and very soon crowds came, not only from Delft, but from all the country
round to behold the marvel. This destroyed all privacy and recollection,
and so Gertrude implored our Lord to come to her aid. The stigmata consequently
ceased to bleed, but the marks persisted. For the eighteen years she remained
on earth she led a very suffering life, but she seems, like other mystics
who have been similarly favoured with these outward manifestations, to have
possessed a strange knowledge of people’s thoughts and of distant and future
events, of which her biographer gives instances. The name “van Oosten”, by which
she is known in the place of a surname, is stated to have come to her from
her fond repetition of an old Dutch hymn beginning, Het daghet in den Oosten
(“The day
is breaking in the east”). There seems a curious appropriateness in the
fact that she died (1358) on the feast of the Epiphany when the wise men
came from the east to greet their infant Saviour. “I am longing”, she said
a few minutes before her death, “I am longing to go home.”
Born at Balinge near Uppsala, Sweden, in 1290; died May 22, 1366. After studying theology in Paris, France, Hemming became a canon of Abo cathedral in Helsinki, Finland, and, in 1339, its bishop. Hemming was involved in the border disputes with Uppsala, from where Saint Henry of Finland evangelized Finland. He is also associated with Saint Bridget of Sweden, whom he accompanied to France. Saint Bridget and Hemming worked together to bring peace to the Hundred Years War between England and France and to end the Avignon papacy.
In 1352, Hemming convened a diocesan synod in which he demonstrated his zeal for proper celebrations of the feasts of the Church and the local saints of Scandinavia. He was also concerned with the custody of the Eucharist, the administration of Church property, and releasing poor people from the payment of stipends for dispensations or for funerals.
Saint Hemming was buried in his cathedral, where miracles were reported at his tomb. In 1514, his relics were translated and enshrined. A surviving, embroidered altar frontal survives which depicts Saints Hemming and Bridget together as an angel holds the mitre over the bishop's head (Farmer) .
1367 Bd Roger Le Fort, Archbishop
Of Bourges immediately after death
tomb a place of pilgrimage many miracles worked.
Roger Le For finds recognition in the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum on this day, though his cult has never been formally approved. He is said to have owed his elevation to the bishopric of Orleans to a jest. On the day of the election he had been criticizing the unseemly eagerness of the canons in pushing their claims without any thought of the responsibilities and difficulties involved in such a dignity. In mock earnest he said to one of those who were entering the chapter-house, " I hope the electors will think of me on the present occasion, for I too should like to be a bishop!" The canon, taking the words seriously, informed the rest, and the whole gathering acclaimed the name of the new candidate. The presiding prelate then rose and said, " Brethren, Heaven and earth are witnesses that you have made choice of Messire Roger for your bishop. Concurring as I do with your judgement, I declare that he upon whom your votes have fallen is the preordained pontiff of this city, for he is a man of eminent sanctity and wisdom. Assuredly this is the decision of the Holy Spirit, whom we cannot resist without guilt." Thereupon Roger was unanimously elected. It was in vain that he protested that he had only spoken in jest and that he had neither the desire nor the ability to undertake such a charge: the voice of the people came to ratify the choice of the clergy, and he was compelled to submit. On his entry into Orleans at his consecration an ancient custom was revived and all the prisoners in the city prison were released.
Roger was afterwards translated to Limoges, and in 1343 he became archbishop of Bourges. He is perhaps best remembered in connection with the feast of the Conception of our Lady, which he established in his diocese and which he did much to popularize. When he died, at the age of ninety, it was found that he had left all his possessions to enable poor boys to receive a good education. The archbishop's unsullied reputation and piety had caused him to be greatly venerated during his life, and immediately after his death his tomb became a place of pilgrimage where many miracles were said to be worked.
Roger Le For finds recognition in the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum on this day, though his cult has never been formally approved. He is said to have owed his elevation to the bishopric of Orleans to a jest. On the day of the election he had been criticizing the unseemly eagerness of the canons in pushing their claims without any thought of the responsibilities and difficulties involved in such a dignity. In mock earnest he said to one of those who were entering the chapter-house, " I hope the electors will think of me on the present occasion, for I too should like to be a bishop!" The canon, taking the words seriously, informed the rest, and the whole gathering acclaimed the name of the new candidate. The presiding prelate then rose and said, " Brethren, Heaven and earth are witnesses that you have made choice of Messire Roger for your bishop. Concurring as I do with your judgement, I declare that he upon whom your votes have fallen is the preordained pontiff of this city, for he is a man of eminent sanctity and wisdom. Assuredly this is the decision of the Holy Spirit, whom we cannot resist without guilt." Thereupon Roger was unanimously elected. It was in vain that he protested that he had only spoken in jest and that he had neither the desire nor the ability to undertake such a charge: the voice of the people came to ratify the choice of the clergy, and he was compelled to submit. On his entry into Orleans at his consecration an ancient custom was revived and all the prisoners in the city prison were released.
Roger was afterwards translated to Limoges, and in 1343 he became archbishop of Bourges. He is perhaps best remembered in connection with the feast of the Conception of our Lady, which he established in his diocese and which he did much to popularize. When he died, at the age of ninety, it was found that he had left all his possessions to enable poor boys to receive a good education. The archbishop's unsullied reputation and piety had caused him to be greatly venerated during his life, and immediately after his death his tomb became a place of pilgrimage where many miracles were said to be worked.
See
the Acta Sanctorum,
March, vol. i, and Cochard, Saints de l'É
glise d'Orléans, pp. 487-495.
1373 St. Andrew
Corsini regarded as a prophet
and a thaumaturgus miracles were so multiplied
at his death that Eugenius IV permitted a public cult immediately His feast is kept on 4
February. Floréntiæ natális sancti Andréæ Corsíni, civis Florentíni, ex Ordine Carmelitárum, Epíscopi Fæsuláni et Confessóris; quem, miráculis clarum, Urbánus Papa Octávus in Sanctórum númerum rétulit. Ejus autem festívitas recólitur prídie nonas Februárii.
At Florence, St. Andrew Corsini, a Florentine Carmelite and bishop of Fiesole. Being celebrated for miracles, he was ranked among the saints by Urban VIII. His festival is kept on the 4th of February.
He was born in Florence on November 30, 1302, a member of the powerful Corsini family. Wild in his youth, Andrew was converted to a holy life by his mother and became a Carmelite monk. He studied in Paris and Avignon, France, returning to his birthplace. There he became known as the Apostle of Florence. He was called a prophet and miracle worker. Named as the bishop of Fiesole in 1349, Andrew fled the honor but was forced to accept the office, which he held for twelve years. He was sent by Pope Urban V to Bologna to settle disputes between the nobles and commoners, a mission he performed well. Andrew died in Fiesole on January 6, 1373. So many miracles took place at his death that Pope Eugenius IV permitted the immediate opening of his cause.
1373 ST ANDREW CORSINI, BISHOP OF FIESOLE
THIS saint was called Andrew after the apostle of that name, upon whose festival he was born in Florence in 1302. He came of the distinguished family of the Corsini, and we are told that his parents dedicated him to God before his birth; but in spite of all their care the first part of his youth was spent in vice and extravagance, amongst bad companions.
His mother never ceased praying for his conversion, and one day in the bitterness of her grief she said, “I see you are indeed the wolf I saw in my sleep,” and explained that before he was born she dreamt she had given birth to a wolf which ran into a church and was changed into a lamb. She added that she and his father had devoted him to the service of God under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, and that they expected of him a very different sort of life from that which he was leading.
These rebukes
made a very deep impression. Overwhelmed with shame, Andrew next day went
to the church of the Carmelite friars, and after having prayed fervently
before the altar of our Lady he was so touched by God’s grace that he resolved
to embrace the religious life in that convent. All the artifices of his former
companions, and the solicitations of an uncle who tried to draw him back
into the world, were powerless to change his purpose: he never fell away
from the first fervour of his conversion.
In the year 1328 Andrew
was ordained; but to escape the feasting and music which his family had
prepared according to custom for the day on which he should celebrate his
first Mass, he withdrew to a little convent seven miles out of the town,
and there, unknown and with wonderful devotion, he offered to Almighty God
the first fruits of his priesthood.
After some time employed in preaching in Florence he was sent to Paris, where he attended the schools for three years. He continued his studies for a while at Avignon with his uncle, Cardinal Corsini, and in 1332, when he returned to Florence, he was chosen prior of his convent.
God honoured his virtue with the gift of prophecy, and miracles of healing were also ascribed to him. Amongst miracles in the moral order and conquests of hardened souls, the conversion of his cousin John Corsini, a confirmed gambler, was especially remarkable.
When the bishop of Fiesole died in 1349 the chapter unanimously chose Andrew Corsini to fill the vacant see. As soon, however, as he was informed of what was going on, he hid himself with the Carthusians at Enna: the canons, despairing of finding him, were about to proceed to a second election when his hiding-place was revealed by a child.
After his consecration as bishop he redoubled his former austerities. Daily he gave himself a severe discipline whilst he recited the litany, and his bed was of vine branches strewed on the floor. Meditation and reading the Holy Scriptures he called recreation from his labours. He avoided talking with women as much as possible, and refused to listen to flatterers or informers. His tenderness and care for the poor were extreme, and he was particularly solicitous in seeking out those who were ashamed to make known their distress: these he helped with all possible secrecy. St Andrew had, too, a talent for appeasing quarrels, and he was often successful in restoring order where popular disturbances had broken out. For this reason Bd Urban V sent him to Bologna, where the nobility and the people were miserably divided. He pacified them after suffering much humiliation, and they remained at peace during the rest of his life. Every Thursday he used to wash the feet of the poor, and never turned any beggar away without alms.
After some time employed in preaching in Florence he was sent to Paris, where he attended the schools for three years. He continued his studies for a while at Avignon with his uncle, Cardinal Corsini, and in 1332, when he returned to Florence, he was chosen prior of his convent.
God honoured his virtue with the gift of prophecy, and miracles of healing were also ascribed to him. Amongst miracles in the moral order and conquests of hardened souls, the conversion of his cousin John Corsini, a confirmed gambler, was especially remarkable.
When the bishop of Fiesole died in 1349 the chapter unanimously chose Andrew Corsini to fill the vacant see. As soon, however, as he was informed of what was going on, he hid himself with the Carthusians at Enna: the canons, despairing of finding him, were about to proceed to a second election when his hiding-place was revealed by a child.
After his consecration as bishop he redoubled his former austerities. Daily he gave himself a severe discipline whilst he recited the litany, and his bed was of vine branches strewed on the floor. Meditation and reading the Holy Scriptures he called recreation from his labours. He avoided talking with women as much as possible, and refused to listen to flatterers or informers. His tenderness and care for the poor were extreme, and he was particularly solicitous in seeking out those who were ashamed to make known their distress: these he helped with all possible secrecy. St Andrew had, too, a talent for appeasing quarrels, and he was often successful in restoring order where popular disturbances had broken out. For this reason Bd Urban V sent him to Bologna, where the nobility and the people were miserably divided. He pacified them after suffering much humiliation, and they remained at peace during the rest of his life. Every Thursday he used to wash the feet of the poor, and never turned any beggar away without alms.
St Andrew was
taken ill whilst singing Mass on Christmas night in 1373 and died on the following Epiphany at the age of seventy-one.
He was immediately proclaimed a saint by the voice of the people, and Pope
Urban VIII formally canonized him in 1629. Andrew was buried in the Carmelite
church at Florence; and Pope Clement XII, who belonged to the Corsini family,
built and endowed a chapel in honour of his kinsman in the Lateran basilica.
The architect of this chapel, in which Clement himself was buried, was Alexander
Galilei, who lived for some years in England. The same pope added St Andrew
Corsini to the general calendar of the Western church, in 1737.
The two principal
Latin lives of St Andrew are printed in the Acta Sanctorum,
January, vol. ii. See also S. Mattei, Vita di S. Andrea
Corsini (1872), and the biography by P. Caioli (1929), who makes use of certain unpublished Florentine documents.
Blessed Villana was the daughter
of Andrew de'Botti, a Florentine merchant, and was born in 1332. When she
was thirteen she ran away from home to enter a convent but her attempts
were unsuccessful and she was forced to return. To prevent any repetition
of her flight, her father shortly afterwards gave her in marriage to Rosso
di Piero. After her marriage she appeared completely changed; she gave herself
up to pleasure and dissipation and lived a wholly idle and worldly life.
One day, as she was about to start for an entertainment clad in a gorgeous
dress adorned with pearls and precious stones, she looked at herself in
a mirror. To her dismay, the reflection that met her eyes was that of a hideous
demon. A second and a third mirror showed the same ugly form. Thoroughly
alarmed and recognizing in the reflection the image of herself sin-stained
soul, she tore off her fine attire and, clad in the simplest clothes she
could find, she betook herself weeping to the Dominican Fathers at Santa
Maria Novella to make a full confession and to ask absolution and help. This
proved the turning point of her life, and she never again fell away.
Before long Villana was admitted to the Third Order of St. Dominic, and after this
she advanced rapidly in the spiritual life. Fulfilling all her duties as
a married woman, she spent all her available time in prayer and reading.
She particularly loved to read St. Paul's Epistles and the lives of the saints.
At one time, in a self-abasement and in her love for the poor, she would
have gone begging for them from door to door had not her husband and parents
interposed. So completely did she give herself up to God that she was often
rapt in ecstacy, particularly during Mass or at spiritual conferences; but
she had to pass through a period of persecution when she was cruelly calumniated
and her honor was assailed.
Her soul was also purified by
strong pains and by great bodily weakness.
However, she passed unscathed through all these trials and
was rewarded by wonderful visions and olloquies with our Lady and other
saints. Occasionally the room in which she dwelt was filled with supernatural
light, and she was also endowed with the gift of prophecy. As she lay on her deathbed, she
asked that the Passion should be read to her, and at the words "He bowed His
head and gave up the ghost", she crossed her hands on her breast and passed
away. Her body was taken to Santa Maria Novella, where it became such an
object of veneration that for over a month it was impossible to proceed with
the funeral. People struggled to obtain shreds of her clothing, and she was
honored as a saint from the day of her death. Her bereaved husband use to
say that, when he felt discouraged and depressed, he found strength by visiting
the room in which his beloved wife had died. Blessed Villana's cultus was
confirmed in 1824.
1367 Blessed Sibyllina Biscossi blind (at 12) but saw Saint Dominic in ecstasy worked MANY GOOD miracles as an anchorite for 67 years OP Tert. (AC)
(also known as Sybillina) Born in Pavia, Italy, in 1287; cultus approved in 1853; beatified in 1854.
"All things work for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). How many of us would have the faith to trust in God's providence as did this holy woman? As Mother Angelica has witnessed, true faith is knowing that when the Lord asks you to walk into the void, He will place a rock beneath your feet. True faith is to be able to praise God in all things; to say with Job, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21).
Sybillina's parents died when she was tiny and as soon as she was old enough to be of use to anyone, the neighbors, who had taken her in at the time she was orphaned, put her out to work. She must have been very young when she started to work, because at the age of 12, when she became blind and could not work any more, she already had several years of work behind her.
The cause of her blindness is unknown, but the child was left doubly destitute with the loss of her sight. The local chapter of the Dominican tertiary sisters took compassion on the child and brought her home to live with them. After a little while of experiencing their kind help, she wanted to join them. They accepted her, young though she was, more out of pity than in any hope of her being able to carry on their busy and varied apostolate.
They were soon agreeably surprised to find out how much she could do. She learned to chant the Office quickly and sweetly, and to absorb their teaching about mental prayer as though she had been born for it. She imposed great obligations of prayer on herself, since she could not help them in other ways. Her greatest devotion was to Saint Dominic, and it was to him she addressed herself when she finally became convinced that she simply must have her sight back so that she could help the sisters with their work.
1367 Blessed Sibyllina Biscossi blind (at 12) but saw Saint Dominic in ecstasy worked MANY GOOD miracles as an anchorite for 67 years OP Tert. (AC)
(also known as Sybillina) Born in Pavia, Italy, in 1287; cultus approved in 1853; beatified in 1854.
"All things work for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). How many of us would have the faith to trust in God's providence as did this holy woman? As Mother Angelica has witnessed, true faith is knowing that when the Lord asks you to walk into the void, He will place a rock beneath your feet. True faith is to be able to praise God in all things; to say with Job, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21).
Sybillina's parents died when she was tiny and as soon as she was old enough to be of use to anyone, the neighbors, who had taken her in at the time she was orphaned, put her out to work. She must have been very young when she started to work, because at the age of 12, when she became blind and could not work any more, she already had several years of work behind her.
The cause of her blindness is unknown, but the child was left doubly destitute with the loss of her sight. The local chapter of the Dominican tertiary sisters took compassion on the child and brought her home to live with them. After a little while of experiencing their kind help, she wanted to join them. They accepted her, young though she was, more out of pity than in any hope of her being able to carry on their busy and varied apostolate.
They were soon agreeably surprised to find out how much she could do. She learned to chant the Office quickly and sweetly, and to absorb their teaching about mental prayer as though she had been born for it. She imposed great obligations of prayer on herself, since she could not help them in other ways. Her greatest devotion was to Saint Dominic, and it was to him she addressed herself when she finally became convinced that she simply must have her sight back so that she could help the sisters with their work.
Praying earnestly for this intention,
Sybillina waited for his feast day. Then, she was certain, he would cure
her. Matins came and went with no miracle; little hours, Vespers--and she
was still blind. With a sinking heart, Sybillina knelt before Saint Dominic's
statue and begged him to help her. Kneeling there, she was rapt in ecstasy,
and she saw him come out of the darkness and take her by the hand.
He took her to a dark tunnel entrance, and she went into the blackness at his word. Terrified, but still clinging to his hand, she advanced past invisible horrors, still guided and protected by his presence. Dawn came gradually, and then light, then a blaze of glory. "In eternity, dear child," he said. "Here, you must suffer darkness so that you may one day behold eternal light."
Sybillina, the eager child, was replaced by a mature and thoughtful Sybillina who knew that there would be no cure for her, that she must work her way to heaven through the darkness. She decided to become a anchorite, and obtained the necessary permission. In 1302, at the age of 15, she was sealed into a tiny cell next to the Dominican church at Pavia. At first she had a companion, but her fellow recluse soon gave up the life. Sybillina remained, now alone, as well as blind.
He took her to a dark tunnel entrance, and she went into the blackness at his word. Terrified, but still clinging to his hand, she advanced past invisible horrors, still guided and protected by his presence. Dawn came gradually, and then light, then a blaze of glory. "In eternity, dear child," he said. "Here, you must suffer darkness so that you may one day behold eternal light."
Sybillina, the eager child, was replaced by a mature and thoughtful Sybillina who knew that there would be no cure for her, that she must work her way to heaven through the darkness. She decided to become a anchorite, and obtained the necessary permission. In 1302, at the age of 15, she was sealed into a tiny cell next to the Dominican church at Pavia. At first she had a companion, but her fellow recluse soon gave up the life. Sybillina remained, now alone, as well as blind.
The first seven years were the
worst, she later admitted. The cold was intense, and she never permitted
herself a fire. The church, of course, was not heated, and she wore the same
clothes winter and summer. In the winter there was only one way to keep
from freezing--keep moving--so she genuflected, and gave herself the discipline.
She slept on a board and ate practically nothing. To the tiny window, that
was her only communication with the outside world, came the troubled and
the sinful and the sick, all begging for her help. She prayed for all of
them, and worked many miracles in the lives of the people of Pavia.
One of the more amusing requests came from a woman who was terrified of the dark. Sybillina was praying for her when she saw her in a vision, and observed that the woman--who thought she was hearing things--put on a fur hood to shut out the noise. The next day the woman came to see her, and Sybillina laughed gaily. "You were really scared last night, weren't you?" she asked. "I laughed when I saw you pull that hood over your ears." The legend reports that the woman was never frightened again.
Sybillina had a lively sense of the Real Presence and a deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. One day a priest was going past her window with Viaticum for the sick; she knew that the host was not consecrated, and told him so. He investigated, and found he had indeed taken a host from the wrong container.
Sybillina lived as a recluse
for 67 years. She followed all the Masses and Offices in the church, spending
what few spare minutes she had working with her hands to earn a few alms
for the poor (Attwater2, Benedictines, Dorcy).
1370
Blessed Pope Urban V deeply spiritual Benedictine monk canon lawyer reformer
Avenióne beáti Urbáni Papæ Quinti, qui, Sede Apostólica Romæ restitúta, Græcórum cum Latínis conjunctióne perfécta, infidélibus coércitis, de Ecclésia óptime méritus est. Ejus cultum pervetústum Pius Nonus, Póntifex Máximus, ratum hábuit et confirmávit.
At Avignon, blessed Urban V, who deserved well of the Church by restoring the Apostolic See to Rome, by bringing about a reunion of the Latins and the Greeks, and by suppressing heretics. Pius IX approved and confirmed the veneration which had long been paid to him.
1370 BD URBAN V, POPE
WILLIAM DE GRIMOARD was born at Grisac in Languedoc in 1310, his father being a local nobleman and his mother a sister of St Elzear de Sabran. He was educated in the universities of Montpellier and Toulouse and became a Benedictine after his ordination he returned to his old universities and then went on to Paris and Avignon to study for his doctor’s degree. He taught in those places, and was appointed abbot of St Germain’s at Auxerre in 1352. At this time the popes were residing at Avignon and for the next ten years Abbot William was constantly called on to undertake diplomatic missions for Pope Innocent VI, who in 1361 made him abbot of St Victor’s at Marseilles and sent him to Naples as legate to Queen Joanna. While he was there he heard that Innocent was dead and that he had been elected in his place. He returned at once to Avignon, where he was consecrated and crowned, and took the name of Urban because “all the popes called Urban had been saints”. He was the best of the Avignon popes, though like most of them he was too much of a “nationalist” (as we should say now) to be a really satisfactory pontiff of the Universal Church, and the abuses by which he was surrounded were beyond his strength to eradicate.
The great event of his pontificate
was his attempt, abortive though it was, to restore the papacy to Rome.
In 1366, ignoring the opposition of the French king and the French cardinals,
he informed the emperor of his intention to return to the City, and in April
of the following year he set out. At Carneto he was met by a host of envoys,
ecclesiastical and lay, by a Roman embassy bearing the keys of Sant’ Angelo,
and by Bd John Columbini and his
Gesuati waving palms and singing hymns. Four months later he entered Rome
in state, the first pope it had seen for over half a century, and when
he looked upon the state of the City he wept.
The great churches, even the Lateran,
St Peter’s and St Paul’s, were almost in ruins, and he at once set to work
to restore them and to make the papal residences habitable. Immediate steps
were taken to revive the discipline of the clergy and the fervour of the
people, work was soon found for all, and food was distributed freely to
the destitute.
In the following year Urban met the
Emperor Charles IV, a new alliance was made between the empire and the Church,
and Charles entered Rome leading the mule on which the pope rode. Twelve
months later the emperor of the East, John V Palaeologus, also came, disclaiming
schism and seeking help against the Turks. Urban received him on the steps
of St Peter’s, but he could give him no help: it was more than he could
do to maintain his own position. He had failed to crush the condottieri, Perugia had revolted, France was at war
with England, his French court was restless and discontented, his health
was failing: Urban prepared to go back to France. The Romans implored him
to stay; Petrarch made himself the mouthpiece of Italy to keep him in Rome,
St Bridget of Sweden rode out to Montefiascone on her white mule to warn
him that if he left Italy his death would swiftly follow. But it was all
to no purpose. In June 1370 he declared to the Romans that he was leaving
them for the good of the Church and to help France; on September 5, “sorrowful, suffering and deeply moved”, he embarked
at Carneto; and on December 19 he was dead. Petrarch wrote, “Urban would
have been reckoned among the most glorious of men if he had caused his dying
bed to be laid before the altar of St Peter’s and had there fallen asleep
with a good conscience, calling God and the world to witness that if ever
the pope had left this spot it was not his fault but that of the originators
of so shameful a flight.” But this one weakness was forgiven him, and a
chronicler of Mainz sums up contemporary opinion: “He was a light of the
world and a way of truth; a lover of righteousness, flying from wickedness
and fearing.”
Urban V was entirely free from the
prevailing vices of his age and worked hard for the reform of the clergy,
beginning with his own court, where the venality of the officials was notorious.*
He maintained many poor students and encouraged learning by his support
of universities, e.g. Oxford, and his encouragement of the
foundation of new ones, e.g. at Cracow and Vienna. He awarded
the custody of the relics of St Thomas Aquinas to the Dominicans of Toulouse,
and instructed the university of that city that: “We will and enjoin on you
that you follow the teaching of the blessed Thomas as true and Catholic teaching,
and promote it to the utmost of your power.” Pilgrims came to Urban’s tomb
in the abbey church of St Victor at Marseilles, his canonization was asked
for and Pope Gregory XI promised the King of Denmark that it should be undertaken.
The times were too troubled; but the cultus continued, and
in 1870 it was confirmed by Pope Pius IX, the feast of Bd Urban being added
to the calendar of Rome and of several French dioceses.
From the point of
view of this pontiff’s personal holiness the most important sources will be
found collected in the volume of J. H. Albanes and U. Chevalier, Actes ancient et documents concernant le B. Urbain V (1897).
This includes the ancient lives, of which there are several, and the evidence,
reports of miracles, etc., presented in view of his canonization as early as 1390. There is besides this a very considerable
literature, of which an excellent bibliography is provided in G. Mollat,
Las popes d’Avignon (1912), pp.
102-103. See further G. Schmidt in Sdralek’s Kirchengeschichtliche Abhandlungen, vol. iii, pp. 157—173, and E. Hocedez in the Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. xxvi (1907), PP. 305—316.
There is a life by L. Chaillan (1911) in the series
“Les Saints”, but the best account is that of G. Mollat in his work mentioned
above.
* Among the cardinals he made was
Simon Langham, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was promptly turned out of
his see by King Edward III because he had not asked the king’s leave to accept
the honour.
The new Pope Urban V proved a wise choice.
A Benedictine monk and canon lawyer, he was deeply spiritual and brilliant. He lived simply and modestly, which did not always earn him friends among clergymen who had become used to comfort and privilege. Still, he pressed for reform and saw to the restoration of churches and monasteries.
Except for a brief period he spent most of his eight years as pope living away from Rome at Avignon, seat of the papacy from 1309 until shortly after his death.
He came close but was not able to achieve one of his biggest goals—reuniting the Eastern and Western churches.
As pope, Urban continued to follow the Benedictine Rule. Shortly before his death in 1370 he asked to be moved from the papal palace to the nearby home of his brother so he could say goodbye to the ordinary people he had so often helped.
Blessed Urban V OSB, Pope (RM) Born in Grisac, Languedoc, France, 1310; died in Avignon, France, December 19, 1370; cultus confirmed by Pope Pius IX on March 10, 1870.
William (Guillaume) de Grimoard, later Pope Urban V, was born in a chateau and given his name by his godfather Elzear de Sabran. His mother, Amphelise de Montferrand, remarked: "My son, I don't understand you!...But God does."
William had a most distinguished academic career, both studying philosophy, letters and law at Montpellier and Toulouse, and teaching canon law at four universities: Montpellier, Toulouse, Avignon, and Paris. The Benedictines pleased him. He entered the Chirac abbey and followed his vocation, which included ordination as a priest. His serious smile won all hearts; his diplomas opened doors. He was vicar general at Clermont and Uzés. Pope Clement VI appointed him abbot of St. Germain, Auxerre, in 1352, and nine years later Pope Innocent VI appointed him abbot of St. Victor, Marseilles, and legate to Queen Joanna of Naples. He retained such fond memories of St. Victor's that he asked to be buried there.
Popes Clement VI and Innocent VI used his services as a diplomat. The latter sent him all over as papal legate to obtain the submission of the Italian cities and the little republics that had so clamorously broken loose and, in the disorder of temporal authority, more and more contested the authority of the Holy See.
William succeeded, not by the
ruses of diplomats or severity, but by negotiations and candor. He had no
enemies. On September 28, 1362, he was on a papal mission to Naples when
he learned that Innocent VI had died and that he himself had been elected
pope, though he was not a cardinal. Together with his new name Urban, he
took on his new mission without any pomp for he had a horror of all display.
He prayed the way everyone prayed. He ate and died as the common folk.
He immediately began to reform the Church. Because his studies had served him well, he came to the aid of students with all his might, creating thousands of scholarships, reforming or creating new universities. He said, "The first sin of Christians is their ignorance." He restored churches and monasteries that had fallen into disorder. He made peace with Barnabo Visconti in 1364, though he was unsuccessful in his attempts to suppress the marauding condottieri in France and Italy. Through Peter de Lusignan, Urban temporarily occupied Alexandria in 1365, but his crusade against the Turks did not succeed.
He immediately began to reform the Church. Because his studies had served him well, he came to the aid of students with all his might, creating thousands of scholarships, reforming or creating new universities. He said, "The first sin of Christians is their ignorance." He restored churches and monasteries that had fallen into disorder. He made peace with Barnabo Visconti in 1364, though he was unsuccessful in his attempts to suppress the marauding condottieri in France and Italy. Through Peter de Lusignan, Urban temporarily occupied Alexandria in 1365, but his crusade against the Turks did not succeed.
For 50 years the papacy had been based at Avignon but in 1366 Urban decided to bring back the papacy to Rome. Unfortunately, the French court and cardinals opposed this move. Once in Rome, he set about restoring the dilapidated city, tightening clerical discipline, and reviving religion. The Emperor Charles IV was won over to a new treaty with the papacy. After Urban crowned Charles' consort German Empress, Charles agreed to respect the rights of the Church in Germany.
Because the split church seemed to him a permanent injury to Jesus Christ, he made advances to the Christians of the East. Even the Greek emperor, John V Palaeologus, was reconciled to Rome, in an attempt to heal the deep rift between the Eastern and Western Church. It is sad that the emperor was unable to win over the hearts of his people to reconcile with Rome.
But many princes remained hostile. Because he knew how to live modestly, Urban demanded the same of his entourage. Because he did not value money, he made no economies and condemned the clergy who made profit and business from their positions. If the goodness of Pope Urban has any defect, it is that he didn't hide it under his hat. He did everything in all innocence. Though he was pope, he remained a monk and continued to follow the Benedictine Rule.
The condottieri, led by Barnabo Visconti, were once again his implacable enemies. The Perugians rose against him. The leaders of France threatened the stability of the Church. Sadly, Urban left Rome on September 5, 1370, and returned to Avignon, despite the prediction of Saint Bridget that he would die an early death if he left Rome. He died less than four months later.
On Tuesday Urban had a premonition that he would not finish his mission and that he was not the man to reconcile the French and the British. He made them remove him from the Papal Palace at Avignon to his brother's house at the foot of the hill. He did not want to die in fine sheets. He had all the door to the street opened, for many of the people whom he used to help wanted to say goodbye to him (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
Blessed Pope Urban V (1310-1370)
In 1362, the man elected pope declined the office. When the cardinals could not find another person among them for that important office, they turned to a relative stranger: the holy person we honor today.
The new Pope Urban V proved a wise choice. A Benedictine monk and canon lawyer, he was deeply spiritual and brilliant. He lived simply and modestly, which did not always earn him friends among clergymen who had become used to comfort and privilege. Still, he pressed for reform and saw to the restoration of churches and monasteries. Except for a brief period he spent most of his eight years as pope living away from Rome at Avignon, seat of the papacy from 1309 until shortly after his death.
He came close but was not able
to achieve one of his biggest goals—reuniting the Eastern and Western churches.
As pope, Urban continued to follow the Benedictine Rule.
Shortly before his death in 1370 he asked to be moved from the papal palace
to the nearby home of his brother so he could say goodbye to the ordinary
people he had so often helped.We find this servant of God venerated
in France and Jtaly during the early fifteenth century, not very long after
his death, but we have no authentic history of his life. No doubt he
was born at Montpellier and nursed the sick during a plague in Italy, but
that is almost all that can be affirmed about him. His
" lives " are chiefly made up of popular legends, which may have a basis
in fact but cannot now be checked. According to the one written
by a Venetian, Francis Diedo, in 1478, Rock was son of the governor of
Montpellier, and upon being left an orphan at the age of twenty he went
on a pilgrimage to Rome. Finding Italy plague-stricken he visited
numerous centres of population, Acquapendente, Cesena, Rome, Rimini, Novara,
where he not only devoted himself to care of the sick but cured large numbers
simply by making the sign of the cross on them. At Piacenza he
was infected himself, and not wishing to be a burden on any hospital he dragged
himself out into the woods to die. Here he was miraculously fed by
a dog, whose master soon found
Rock and looked after him when he was convalescent he returned to Piacetza and miraculously cured many more folk, as well as their sick cattle. At length he got back to Montpellier, where his surviving uncle failed to recognize him he was there imprisoned, and so he remained five years, till he died. When they came to examine his body it was recognized who he really was, the son of their former governor, by a cross-shaped birth-mark on his breast. He was therefore given a public funeral, and he performed as many miracles when dead as he had done when alive. Another biography, shorter, simpler and perhaps older, says that St Rock was arrested as a spy and died in captivity at Angera in Lombardy.
The popularity and rapid extension of the cultus of St Rock, a veneration by no means extinct today, was remarkable, and he soon became the saint par excellence to be invoked against pestilence. St Rock is named in the Roman Martyrology, and his feast is kept in many places there is no evidence that he was a Franciscan tertiary, but the Franciscans venerate him as such.
Rock and looked after him when he was convalescent he returned to Piacetza and miraculously cured many more folk, as well as their sick cattle. At length he got back to Montpellier, where his surviving uncle failed to recognize him he was there imprisoned, and so he remained five years, till he died. When they came to examine his body it was recognized who he really was, the son of their former governor, by a cross-shaped birth-mark on his breast. He was therefore given a public funeral, and he performed as many miracles when dead as he had done when alive. Another biography, shorter, simpler and perhaps older, says that St Rock was arrested as a spy and died in captivity at Angera in Lombardy.
The popularity and rapid extension of the cultus of St Rock, a veneration by no means extinct today, was remarkable, and he soon became the saint par excellence to be invoked against pestilence. St Rock is named in the Roman Martyrology, and his feast is kept in many places there is no evidence that he was a Franciscan tertiary, but the Franciscans venerate him as such.
See the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. iii, and'
Le probleme de S. Roch ", by A. Fiche, in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxviii (1950),
pp. 343-361. The saint is very popular, as anyone may learn who consults
the long list of books and articles noted in the Bio-bibliographie of Chevalier.
A good modern work of general interest is that of C. Ceroni, San Rocco nella vita,... (1927); see also
M. Bessodes, San Rocco, storia e leggende
(1937); and A. Maurino, San Rocco, confronti
storici (1936) (cf. Analecta
Bolandiana, vol. lv (1937), p. 193). It is curious that St
Rock seems even to have left traces of cultus in England. The present
St Roche's Hill in Sussex was St Rokeshill in 1579 and it is said that
the Glasgow parliamentary division of Saint Rollox had its name from him.
A short popular account of the saint may be found in Leon, Aureole Seraphique (Eng. trans.), vol.
iii, pp. 11-21 .
THOUGH it has been
often said that St Thomas of Hereford was the last English saint of the
middle ages to be formally canonized (Osmund, in 1457, was a Norman), there
is a bull of Pope Boniface IX that canonized John of Bridlington in 1401
his feast is now celebrated in the diocese of Middlesbrough and by the Canons
Regular of the Lateran (on October to). He was surnamed Thwing, from the
place of his birth near Bridlington, on the coast of Yorkshire, and the
little which is known of his life presents nothing of unusual interest. At
about the age of seventeen he went for two years to study at Oxford. When
he returned from the university he took the religious habit in the monastery
of regular canons of St Augustine at Bridlington. In this solitude he advanced
daily in victory over himself and in the experimental knowledge of spiritual
things. John was successively precentor, cellarer, and prior of his monastery.
This last charge he had averted by his protests the first time he was chosen;
but upon a second vacancy his brethren obliged him to take up the office.
His application to prayer showed how much his conduct was regulated by the
spirit of God, and a great spiritual prudence, peace of mind and meekness
of temper were the fruits of his virtue. When he had been seventeen years
prior and had earned a universal esteem and reverence he was called to God
on October 10, 1379. Many
miracles wrought through his intercession are mentioned by the author of
his vita and by Thomas of Walsingham, who testifies that by order of Pope
Boniface IX, Richard Scrope, the greatly venerated archbishop of York, assisted
by the bishops of Lincoln and Carlisle, translated his relics to a more worthy
shrine. This took place on March II, 1404. The shrine attracted many pilgrims,
among them King Henry V, who attributed his victory at Agincourt to the intercession
in Heaven of two English Johns, of Bridlington and of Beverley. The nave
of the priory church in which St John Thwing presided is now the Anglican
parish church of Bridlington.
See the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. v, where
a life by one Hugh, himself a canon regular, is printed. There is also a
shorter summary by Capgrave in his Nova Legenda
Angliae. But most important of aft is the article
of Fr. Paul Grosjean in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol.
liii (1935), pp. 101—129. He
has gathered up much new material, while expressing his indebtedness to
the book, St John of Bridlington (1924), and other
papers by J. S. Purvis. Mr Purvis published the text of the canonization
document from the Lateran Regesta.
1392 Saint Demetrius
of Priluki, Wonderworker combined prayer and strict asceticism with kindliness
fed the poor and hungry took in strangers conversed with those in need of
consolation gave counsel loved to pray in solitude Miracles from the relics
began in 1409Born into a rich merchant's family in Pereyaslavl-Zalessk. From his youth the saint was uncommonly handsome. Receiving monastic tonsure at one of the Pereyaslavl monasteries, the saint later founded the St Nicholas cenobitic monastery on the Sts Boris and Gleb Hill at the shore of Lake Plescheevo near the city, and became its igumen.
In 1534 St Demetrius first met with St Sergius of Radonezh, who had come to Pereyaslavl to see Metropolitan Athanasius. From that time, he frequently conversed with St Sergius and became close with him. The fame of the Pereyaslavl igumen was so widespread that he became godfather to the children of Great Prince Demetrius Ioannovich. Under the influence of the Radonezh wonderworker, St Demetrius decided to withdraw to a remote place, and went north with his disciple Pachomius.
In the Vologda forests, at the River Velika, near the Avnezh settlement, they built a church of the Resurrection of Christ and they prepared to lay the foundations for a monastery. The local inhabitants were fearful that if a monastery were built there, their village would become monastery property. They demanded that the monks leave their territory, and wishing to be a burden to no one, they moved farther away.
Not far from Vologda, at the bend of a river in an isolated spot, St Demetrius decided to form the first of the cenobitic monasteries of the Russian North. The people of Vologda and the surrounding gladly consented to help the saint. The owners of the land intended for the monastery, Elias and Isidore, even trampled down a grain field, so that a temple might be built immediately. In 1371 the wooden Savior cathedral was built, and brethren began to gather.
Many disciples of the monk came
there from Pereyaslavl. St Demetrius combined prayer and strict asceticism
with kindliness. He fed the poor and hungry, he took in strangers, he conversed
with those in need of consolation, and he gave counsel. He loved to pray
in solitude. His Lenten food consisted of prosphora with warm water. Even
on feastdays, he would not partake of the wine and fish permitted by the
Rule. Both winter and summer he wore an old sheepskin coat, and even in his
old age he went with the brethren on common tasks. The saint accepted contributions
to the monastery cautiously, so that the welfare of the monastery would
not be detrimental to those living nearby.
The Lord granted His servant the gift of clairvoyance, and he attained a high degree of spiritual perfection. St Demetrius died at an advanced age on February 11, 1392. The brethren approaching found him as though asleep, and his cell was filled with a wondrous fragrance.
Miracles from the relics of St Demetrius began in the year 1409, and during the fifteenth century his veneration spread throughout all Rus. And no later than the year 1440, the Priluki monk Macarius recorded his Life (Great Reading Menaion, February 11) based on the narratives of St Demetrius's disciple Igumen Pachomius.
The Lord granted His servant the gift of clairvoyance, and he attained a high degree of spiritual perfection. St Demetrius died at an advanced age on February 11, 1392. The brethren approaching found him as though asleep, and his cell was filled with a wondrous fragrance.
Miracles from the relics of St Demetrius began in the year 1409, and during the fifteenth century his veneration spread throughout all Rus. And no later than the year 1440, the Priluki monk Macarius recorded his Life (Great Reading Menaion, February 11) based on the narratives of St Demetrius's disciple Igumen Pachomius.
1380 St. Catherine of Siena
illiterate one of the most brilliant theological minds of her day mystical
experiences when only 6 visions of Christ Mary and the saints gift of healing
Stigmata visible only after her death Doctor of the Church
Romæ natális sanctæ Catharínæ Senénsis Vírginis, ex tértio Ordine sancti Domínici, vita et miráculis claræ, quam Pius Secúndus, Póntifex Máximus, sanctárum Vírginum número adscrípsit. Ipsíus tamen festum sequénti die celebrátur.
At Rome, the birthday of St. Catherine of Siena, virgin of the Third Order of St. Dominic, renowned for her holy life and her miracles. She was inscribed among the canonized virgins by Pope Pius II. Her feast, however, is celebrated on the following day.
Romæ natális sanctæ Catharínæ Senénsis Vírginis, ex tértio Ordine sancti Domínici, vita et miráculis claræ, quam Pius Secúndus, Póntifex Máximus, sanctárum Vírginum número adscrípsit. Ipsíus tamen festum sequénti die celebrátur.
At Rome, the birthday of St. Catherine of Siena, virgin of the Third Order of St. Dominic, renowned for her holy life and her miracles. She was inscribed among the canonized virgins by Pope Pius II. Her feast, however, is celebrated on the following day.
Patron Fire prevention 1347 - 1380
St. Catherine of SienaThe 25th child of a wool dyer in northern Italy, St. Catherine started having mystical experiences when she was only 6, seeing guardian angels as clearly as the people they protected. She became a Dominican tertiary when she was 16, and continued to have visions of Christ, Mary, and the saints.
St. Catherine was one of the
most brilliant theological minds of her day, although she never had any
formal education. She persuaded the Pope to go back to Rome from Avignon,
in 1377, and when she died she was endeavoring to heal the Great Western
Schism.
In 1375 Our Lord give her the Stigmata, which was visible only after her death. Her spiritual director was Blessed Raymond of Capua. St, Catherine's letters, and a treatise called "a dialogue" are considered.Saint Catherine of Siena, Doctor (Memorial) April 29
Born in Siena, Italy, March 25, 1347, in Florence, Italy; died there on April 29, 1380; canonized in 1461; declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970.
Saint Catherine cutting off her hair to convince her mother (seated)
that she did not want any earthly spouse.
Image by Boeri Boeri © 1997
"Those in union with God when aware of the sins of others live in this gentle light...Therefore they are always peaceful and calm, and nothing can scandalize them because they have done away with what causes them to take scandal, their self-will. . . . They find joy in everything.
"They do not sit in judgement on my servants or anyone else, but rejoice in every situation and every way of living they see. . . . Even when they see something that is clearly sinful, they do not pass judgement, but rather feel a holy and genuine compassion, praying for the sinner."
--Saint Catherine of Siena.
"Whenever you think God has shown you other people's faults, take care: your own judgment may well be at fault. Say nothing. And if you do attribute any vice to another person, immediately and humbly look for it in yourself also. Should the other person really possess that vice, he will correct himself so much the better when he sees how gently you understand him, and he will say to himself whatever you would have told him." --Saint Catherine.
In 1375 Our Lord give her the Stigmata, which was visible only after her death. Her spiritual director was Blessed Raymond of Capua. St, Catherine's letters, and a treatise called "a dialogue" are considered.Saint Catherine of Siena, Doctor (Memorial) April 29
Born in Siena, Italy, March 25, 1347, in Florence, Italy; died there on April 29, 1380; canonized in 1461; declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970.
Saint Catherine cutting off her hair to convince her mother (seated)
that she did not want any earthly spouse. Image by Boeri Boeri © 1997
"Those in union with God when aware of the sins of others live in this gentle light...Therefore they are always peaceful and calm, and nothing can scandalize them because they have done away with what causes them to take scandal, their self-will. . . . They find joy in everything.
"They do not sit in judgement on my servants or anyone else, but rejoice in every situation and every way of living they see. . . . Even when they see something that is clearly sinful, they do not pass judgement, but rather feel a holy and genuine compassion, praying for the sinner."
--Saint Catherine of Siena.
"Whenever you think God has shown you other people's faults, take care: your own judgment may well be at fault. Say nothing. And if you do attribute any vice to another person, immediately and humbly look for it in yourself also. Should the other person really possess that vice, he will correct himself so much the better when he sees how gently you understand him, and he will say to himself whatever you would have told him." --Saint Catherine.
Fourteenth century Italy was
desolated by plague, schism, and political turmoil.
When we are tempted to think
that we live in the worst of times, we should remember the life of Saint
Catherine. Those days were so black that many saints and scholars believed
it heralded the end of the world. The popes deserted Rome for Avignon in
1305. Rome itself was in anarchy. Yet in the midst of confusion and dissent
within the Church, God raised up Catherine, one of many saints who prove that
our hope in the Lord is never in vain.among the most brilliant writings in
the history of the Catholic Church. She died when she was only 33, and her
body was found incorrupt in 1430. Siena had established itself as a military
power by conquering Florence in 1260. The city, which possessed a university
with a school of medicine and superb cathedral, was governed by the Governo
dei Nove (Government of Nine). Art was closely bound to life in Siena. Sienese
artists were the most faithful interpreters of the sentiments and ideas
of its great mystics. Legend says that Siena was founded by Romulus and Remus
or by Remus's sons Ascius and Senius, who created its black and white flag.
Giacomo di Benincasa had a thriving cloth dying business on the Vicolo del Tiratoio (Street of the Dyers) with three of his sons: Bartolommeo, Orlando, and Stefano, plus two journeymen and two apprentices. The family lived upstairs. The also had a family farm.
When Benincasa's domineering and shrewish wife Lapa, daughter of a now forgotten poet, gave birth to twin daughters, Catherine and Giovanna, she already had 22 children. Lapa kept Catherine and breastfed her, but didn't have enough milk for her twin, who was given to another's care and eventually died. A 25th child was born and named Giovanna also, though she lived only a few years. Thirteen of the children lived to adulthood and all remained at home until they were married. Eventually eleven grandchildren were included in the household, which was big enough to include a foster son Tommaso della Fonte, whose parents died in the plague of 1348.
Though Catherine was not a pretty child, she was popular in the neighborhood because of her gaiety and wise little sayings. According to her first biographer Blessed Raymond of Capua she always had the ability to charm others. She was slight and pale, her features delicate, the texture of her skin exquisite, and her hair long, thick, lustrous, and golden. She was animated, cheerful, friendly, sensitive, and charming. All her movements were swift and graceful.
Prayer came naturally to her. At the age of five she would kneel on each step of the stairs of her home and say a prayer. She was only seven when she reported her first vision--of Jesus seated on a throne surrounded by saints, when returning with a younger brother from visiting one of her married sisters. The young child dragged at her hand, but she was lost in ecstasy. From that day she was consecrated to His service and engaged herself entirely in prayer, meditation, and acts of penance in which she encouraged her friends to join her.
Raymond of Capua, her confessor and biographer, wrote "... taught entirely by the Holy Spirit, she had come to know and value the lives and way of life of the holy Fathers of Egypt and the great deeds of other saints, especially Blessed Dominic, and had felt such a strong desire to do what they did that she had been unable to think about anything else."
The Benincasas owned a small farm out the outskirts of San Rocca a Pilli, 14 km from Siena, where Catherine spent time. She had a passion for flowers and wove them into little crosses for her early confessor Padre Tommaso. She often dreamed that angels descended from Heaven and crowned her with white lilies. Her parents wanted her to marry and encouraged her to enhance her looks. For a time she submitted to the ministrations of a hair dresser and to be decked out in fashionable clothes, but she soon repented of her concession meant to please her mother and sister Bonaventura. At age 16, when a real courtship was imminent, however, she told her mother she had taken a vow of perpetual virginity when she was seven. When her mother didn't take her seriously, she cut off her luxurious golden hair (Saint Rose of Lima did the same in a similar situation).
Giacomo di Benincasa had a thriving cloth dying business on the Vicolo del Tiratoio (Street of the Dyers) with three of his sons: Bartolommeo, Orlando, and Stefano, plus two journeymen and two apprentices. The family lived upstairs. The also had a family farm.
When Benincasa's domineering and shrewish wife Lapa, daughter of a now forgotten poet, gave birth to twin daughters, Catherine and Giovanna, she already had 22 children. Lapa kept Catherine and breastfed her, but didn't have enough milk for her twin, who was given to another's care and eventually died. A 25th child was born and named Giovanna also, though she lived only a few years. Thirteen of the children lived to adulthood and all remained at home until they were married. Eventually eleven grandchildren were included in the household, which was big enough to include a foster son Tommaso della Fonte, whose parents died in the plague of 1348.
Though Catherine was not a pretty child, she was popular in the neighborhood because of her gaiety and wise little sayings. According to her first biographer Blessed Raymond of Capua she always had the ability to charm others. She was slight and pale, her features delicate, the texture of her skin exquisite, and her hair long, thick, lustrous, and golden. She was animated, cheerful, friendly, sensitive, and charming. All her movements were swift and graceful.
Prayer came naturally to her. At the age of five she would kneel on each step of the stairs of her home and say a prayer. She was only seven when she reported her first vision--of Jesus seated on a throne surrounded by saints, when returning with a younger brother from visiting one of her married sisters. The young child dragged at her hand, but she was lost in ecstasy. From that day she was consecrated to His service and engaged herself entirely in prayer, meditation, and acts of penance in which she encouraged her friends to join her.
Raymond of Capua, her confessor and biographer, wrote "... taught entirely by the Holy Spirit, she had come to know and value the lives and way of life of the holy Fathers of Egypt and the great deeds of other saints, especially Blessed Dominic, and had felt such a strong desire to do what they did that she had been unable to think about anything else."
The Benincasas owned a small farm out the outskirts of San Rocca a Pilli, 14 km from Siena, where Catherine spent time. She had a passion for flowers and wove them into little crosses for her early confessor Padre Tommaso. She often dreamed that angels descended from Heaven and crowned her with white lilies. Her parents wanted her to marry and encouraged her to enhance her looks. For a time she submitted to the ministrations of a hair dresser and to be decked out in fashionable clothes, but she soon repented of her concession meant to please her mother and sister Bonaventura. At age 16, when a real courtship was imminent, however, she told her mother she had taken a vow of perpetual virginity when she was seven. When her mother didn't take her seriously, she cut off her luxurious golden hair (Saint Rose of Lima did the same in a similar situation).
Her mother was enraged, discharged
their maid, and decided Catherine should dress like a servant and perform
a servant's tasks. Catherine accepted her tasks cheerfully and performed
them capably. The men of the family objected but were overruled by Lapa;
however, her father promised her that she would not be forced into marriage
and he insisted that she be given a room to herself and time to pray because
he had seen a white dove hovering above her head.
She dreamed that she encountered Saint Dominic and was overcome with a desire to enter the Third Order of the Dominican Sisters of Penance. At that time there were about 100 devout older women and spinsters in Siena who were known as Mantellates, because of the black capes they wore over their white habits.
Still unpersuaded that her daughter would not marry, Lapa took her to the spa at Vignone hoping to fatten her up in preparation for marriage. A week later they returned. Catherine had scalded herself at the source of the hot springs in order to disfigure herself. She had also contracted smallpox. During her illness she extracted a promise from Lapa to ask the sisters to accept her daughter. The Mother Superior said Catherine was too young (pleasing Lapa) but Catherine insisted that the order had no rule about it. Lapa assured her that Catherine had cut off her hair, scalded herself, and now had smallpox, so that she would no longer be attractive. Then the Mother agreed to visit Catherine. Several weeks later Catherine received the mantle and habit.
For three years she left her bare room only to attend Mass, broke her silence only for confession or to meet an emergency, ate sparingly and alone, and recited the Divine Office during the hours when she knew that the Dominican friars slept.
She underwent periods of aridity, but was never subject to temptation. On Shrove Tuesday, 1367, she prayed for the "fullness of faith" and had a vision in which she saw Jesus, Mary, Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Paul, and Saint Dominic, the founder of her order. During this vision, the Blessed Virgin presented her to Jesus, who espoused Himself to her. He placed on her finger a gold ring with four pearls set in a circle in it and a wonderful diamond in the middle, saying to her, "receive this ring as a pledge and testimony that you are mine and will be mine for ever." No one else could see the ring but it was always before her eyes.
She had many marvelous religious experiences. She dreamed that she encountered Saint Dominic and was overcome with a desire to enter the Third Order of the Dominican Sisters of Penance. At that time there were about 100 devout older women and spinsters in Siena who were known as Mantellates, because of the black capes they wore over their white habits.
Still unpersuaded that her daughter would not marry, Lapa took her to the spa at Vignone hoping to fatten her up in preparation for marriage. A week later they returned. Catherine had scalded herself at the source of the hot springs in order to disfigure herself. She had also contracted smallpox. During her illness she extracted a promise from Lapa to ask the sisters to accept her daughter. The Mother Superior said Catherine was too young (pleasing Lapa) but Catherine insisted that the order had no rule about it. Lapa assured her that Catherine had cut off her hair, scalded herself, and now had smallpox, so that she would no longer be attractive. Then the Mother agreed to visit Catherine. Several weeks later Catherine received the mantle and habit.
For three years she left her bare room only to attend Mass, broke her silence only for confession or to meet an emergency, ate sparingly and alone, and recited the Divine Office during the hours when she knew that the Dominican friars slept.
She underwent periods of aridity, but was never subject to temptation. On Shrove Tuesday, 1367, she prayed for the "fullness of faith" and had a vision in which she saw Jesus, Mary, Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Paul, and Saint Dominic, the founder of her order. During this vision, the Blessed Virgin presented her to Jesus, who espoused Himself to her. He placed on her finger a gold ring with four pearls set in a circle in it and a wonderful diamond in the middle, saying to her, "receive this ring as a pledge and testimony that you are mine and will be mine for ever." No one else could see the ring but it was always before her eyes.
At the age of 26, she first
felt the pain of Christ's suffering in her own body. Two years later during
a visit to Pisa, she received Communion in the little church of Santa Christina.
As she meditated in thanksgiving upon the crucifix, five blood-red rays
seemed to come from it which pierced her hands, feet, and heart. Thus, she
received the five visible wounds of His suffering--the stigmata. It caused
such acute pain that she swooned. Unable or unwilling to eat, Catherine went
for eight years without food or liquid other than the Blessed Sacrament.
She prayed that the marks not be conspicuous, though they are traceable on
her incorruptible body by a transparency in the tissues.
Oftentimes she was seen levitated
in the air during her prayer. Once, as she was being given Holy Communion,
the priest felt the Host become agitated and fly, as if of its own volition,
from his fingers into her mouth. In the Life of Saint Catherine, Mother
Francis Raphael relates that the saint was immune to fire. She tells of a
time that Catherine fell forward into a fire in the kitchen during a religious
ecstasy. The fire was large and fierce, but when Catherine was pulled out
of the smoking embers neither she nor her clothes were damaged. But none
of these divine favors would have meant much to a needy world if Catherine
had remained hidden in her home. In 1370, she heard a divine voice that commanded
her to leave the cell and enter His service in the world to promote the
salvation of her neighbors. Thousands came to see her, to hear her, and
to be converted by her. A mystical circle of members of religious orders,
secular priests, and lay people gathered around her.
Of course, public opinion in Siena was sharply divided about Catherine. It may have been in consequence of accusations made against her that she was summoned to Florence to appear before the chapter general of the Dominicans. If any charges were made, they were certainly disproved, and shortly thereafter the new lector of Siena, Blessed Raymond, was appointed as her confessor.
The core of her teaching was: Man, whether in the cloister or in the world, must live in a cell of self-knowledge, which is the stall in which the pilgrim must be reborn from time to eternity. The press of the repentant was so great that the three priests of her neighborhood, who had been provided by the pope to hear the confessions of those who were induced by her to amend their lives, could hardly cope with it.
She dispatched letters that often had been dictated in ecstasy, to men and women of all ranks, entered into correspondence with kings and princes and with the Italian city-states. She took part also in public affairs, and Catherine welcomed all who came to call--the curious, the seeking, the devout. She collected information from them all.
Even the pope relied upon her good judgment. At this time the papacy was tragically weakened by contested papal elections, pope and antipope denouncing each other. Catherine supported the true Pope Urban VI against his opponents; but he was a somewhat graceless man, and her letters to him never hesitated to reprove the pope for this fault, while remaining entirely loyal to him.
Twice at least she successfully intervened in matters of high politics. Catherine made peace between cities torn by factional strife: she made peace between the pope and the city of Florence. On June 18, 1376, Catherine arrived in Avignon as unofficial ambassadress, and induced the pope to return to Italy, and--this was the greatest work of her life--brought to an end the Babylonian captivity of the popes. Thus, on September 13, 1376, Pope Gregory XI started from Avignon to travel by water to Rome
Of course, public opinion in Siena was sharply divided about Catherine. It may have been in consequence of accusations made against her that she was summoned to Florence to appear before the chapter general of the Dominicans. If any charges were made, they were certainly disproved, and shortly thereafter the new lector of Siena, Blessed Raymond, was appointed as her confessor.
The core of her teaching was: Man, whether in the cloister or in the world, must live in a cell of self-knowledge, which is the stall in which the pilgrim must be reborn from time to eternity. The press of the repentant was so great that the three priests of her neighborhood, who had been provided by the pope to hear the confessions of those who were induced by her to amend their lives, could hardly cope with it.
She dispatched letters that often had been dictated in ecstasy, to men and women of all ranks, entered into correspondence with kings and princes and with the Italian city-states. She took part also in public affairs, and Catherine welcomed all who came to call--the curious, the seeking, the devout. She collected information from them all.
Even the pope relied upon her good judgment. At this time the papacy was tragically weakened by contested papal elections, pope and antipope denouncing each other. Catherine supported the true Pope Urban VI against his opponents; but he was a somewhat graceless man, and her letters to him never hesitated to reprove the pope for this fault, while remaining entirely loyal to him.
Twice at least she successfully intervened in matters of high politics. Catherine made peace between cities torn by factional strife: she made peace between the pope and the city of Florence. On June 18, 1376, Catherine arrived in Avignon as unofficial ambassadress, and induced the pope to return to Italy, and--this was the greatest work of her life--brought to an end the Babylonian captivity of the popes. Thus, on September 13, 1376, Pope Gregory XI started from Avignon to travel by water to Rome
Choosing Thorns Image by Boeri Boeri © 1997It was a month before Catherine
arrived back in Siena, from where she continued to exhort the pope to contribute
to the peace of Italy. By his special request, she went again to Florence,
still rent by factions and obstinate in its disobedience and under interdict.
There she remained for some time amid daily murders and confiscations, in
danger of her life but never daunted, even when swords were drawn against
her. Finally, she established peace between Florence and the Holy See.
Catherine dictated from memory The Dialogue in five days
before she left Siena forever. It is her account of her visions.
She was clairaudient and clairvoyant, also awareness of communion with Jesus.
She was illiterate, but yearning to be able to read the breviary, when
suddenly she could read--either through the help of Father Tommaso della
Fonte or Alessia Saracini (her friend), or through a miracle.
Her foster brother Tommaso della Fonte became a priest and
her confessor during the time of her novitiate. He provided her with other
books, such as a short history of the Church, lives of the saints, the Psalms
and other portions of the Bible. She later astonished learned ecclesiastics
with her grasp of these subjects.She loved music and to sing, was passionately
fond of children. She began to make friends again, first among the Mantellate
and Dominicans, then among the priests and physicians at the Hospital of
Santa Maria della Scala, where she began her nursing career, then among the
intelligentsia. She had the gift of healing. Much of what she did was met
with ingratitude.
Catherine loved working amongst the sick. Unlike most other volunteers,
she would care for those with the most repulsive diseases, such as leprosy,
which was then virtually incurable. She gathered round her many friends,
and when a fearful plague broke out in Siena, she led them boldly among those
who had caught it sometimes even digging graves and burying the dead herself.
Catherine also suffered moral
temptations, and often it seemed that God had deserted her. Was it for this
that she had forsaken all to follow Him? A woman suffering from cancer,
to whom she had given devoted care, pursued her with a vicious tongue and
poured out upon her all the irritability and despair which were provoked
by her hopeless condition, but Catherine remained incredibly patient and forbearing;
her visions returned and her heart was strengthened. "O my Savior, my Lord,"
she cried, "why did You forsake me?" "My child," came the answer, "I have
been with you through all. I was in your heart all the while."
This composite picture shows the mature Catherine choosing the Crown of Thorns. The lower left image of the saint is a detail of a larger work showing the young Catherine at the time her father saw a dove hovering over her head as she prayed.
She gave freely from her father's resources to the poor
beggars, some of whom she claimed were saintly visitors in disguise. This composite picture shows the mature Catherine choosing the Crown of Thorns. The lower left image of the saint is a detail of a larger work showing the young Catherine at the time her father saw a dove hovering over her head as she prayed.
Through all her arduous life
she remained gentle and forgiving, serving Christ in the lives of the poor,
following Him into mean streets and crowded hovels, taking upon herself
the burden of pain and sin that she met with, nourished and sustained by
her frequent visions. Our Lord appeared to her holding in one hand a crown
of gold and in the other a crown of thorns, and asked which she would choose.
Without hesitation she reached out her hand for the crown of thorns.
Francesco di Vanni Malavolti, a famous philanderer, so desired Catherine's friendship that he went immediately to confession. They had an spontaneous and lasting friendship because of their mental harmony. After the death of his wife, he entered the monastery and spent the remainder of his days in prayer and contemplation.
Andrea Vanni was a friend whose portrait of her remains
in the Church of San Domenico in Siena. He and Catherine's brother Bartolo
led the revolution that toppled the government.Francesco di Vanni Malavolti, a famous philanderer, so desired Catherine's friendship that he went immediately to confession. They had an spontaneous and lasting friendship because of their mental harmony. After the death of his wife, he entered the monastery and spent the remainder of his days in prayer and contemplation.
For thirty years this brave
and devoted soul showed how there is a Power that transcends our earthly
life, and awakened many, by conversion, to a sense of the Eternal. "Her prayers,"
we are told by an eyewitness, "were of such intensity, that one hour of
prayer more consumed that poor little body than two days upon the rack would
have done another."
When the great Western schism broke out following the death of Pope Gregory in 1378, the new pope, Urban VI, called her to Rome. A rival pope was established at Avignon by some cardinals who declared Urban's election was illegal.
When the great Western schism broke out following the death of Pope Gregory in 1378, the new pope, Urban VI, called her to Rome. A rival pope was established at Avignon by some cardinals who declared Urban's election was illegal.
Christendom was divided into
two camps. She spoke to the cardinals in open consistory, wrote to the chief
sponsors of the schism, to foreign princes, and through her influence, helped
to overcome the French anti-pope in Italy. She also continued to write
to Urban, sometimes urging him to remain patient in trials and other times
admonishing him to abate his harshness that was alienating even his supporters.
Instead of resenting her reproofs, Urban invited her to come to Rome to
advise and assist him. In obedience, she left Siena forever and took up residence
in the Eternal City. There she labored indefatigably by her prayers and
exhortations to gain new adherents to the true pontiff.
After she had offered her life as a sacrifice to God, and had seen and felt in a vision the Almighty God pressing out her heart as a balm over the Church, she fell mortally ill and died in the arms of Alessia Saracini after eight weeks of most acute suffering at the age of 33--the age at which her Master had died. And when she died, she was merry and joyful.
Catherine is one of the greatest mystics of all time. In her, the extraordinary mystical states that are the preparation for true sanctifying graces and the counterpart of the burdens of sainthood, became particularly evident. The history of literature gives the saint a place of honor beside Dante and Petrarch (Bentley, Gill, Harrison, Keyes, Schamoni, Walsh).
In art, Saint Catherine is always portrayed as a Dominican tertiary (white habit, black mantle, white veil) with a stigmata, lily, and book. Sometimes she is portrayed (1) with a crown of thorns and a crucifix; (2) with her heart on a book; (3) with her heart at her feet and a scourge or skull, book, and lily; (4) with the devil under her feet; (5) crowned by angels with three crowns; (6) celebrating her mystic marriage with Christ; (7) giving clothes to a beggar, who is really Christ (Roeder). Catherine is the patron of Italy together with Saint Francis of Assisi (Roeder).
After she had offered her life as a sacrifice to God, and had seen and felt in a vision the Almighty God pressing out her heart as a balm over the Church, she fell mortally ill and died in the arms of Alessia Saracini after eight weeks of most acute suffering at the age of 33--the age at which her Master had died. And when she died, she was merry and joyful.
Catherine is one of the greatest mystics of all time. In her, the extraordinary mystical states that are the preparation for true sanctifying graces and the counterpart of the burdens of sainthood, became particularly evident. The history of literature gives the saint a place of honor beside Dante and Petrarch (Bentley, Gill, Harrison, Keyes, Schamoni, Walsh).
In art, Saint Catherine is always portrayed as a Dominican tertiary (white habit, black mantle, white veil) with a stigmata, lily, and book. Sometimes she is portrayed (1) with a crown of thorns and a crucifix; (2) with her heart on a book; (3) with her heart at her feet and a scourge or skull, book, and lily; (4) with the devil under her feet; (5) crowned by angels with three crowns; (6) celebrating her mystic marriage with Christ; (7) giving clothes to a beggar, who is really Christ (Roeder). Catherine is the patron of Italy together with Saint Francis of Assisi (Roeder).
1392 Blessed Nicholas Konchanov,
Novgorod Fool-for-Christ ; The Lord glorified Blessed Nicholas with the
gift of miracles and clairvoyance.
Born at Novgorod into a rich and illustrious family. From his youthful years he loved piety, he went to church faithfully, and loved fasting and prayer. Seeing his virtuous life, people began to praise him. Blessed Nicholas, disdaining glory from men, began the difficult exploit of folly for the Lord's sake. He ran about the city in the bitter cold dressed in rags, enduring beatings, insults and mockery. Blessed Nicholas and another Novgorod fool, Blessed Theodore (January 19), pretended to be irreconcilable foes, and graphically demonstrated to the people of Novgorod the pernicious character of their internecine strife.
Once, having overcome his sham opponent, Blessed Nicholas went along the Volkhov as if on dry land, and threw a head of cabbage at Blessed Theodore, therefore he was called "Konchanov" (i.e. "cabbage-head"). The Lord glorified Blessed Nicholas with the gift of miracles and clairvoyance.
Once, after being turned away by servants from a feast to
which he had been invited, he left. Immediately, the wine disappeared from
the barrel. Only upon the return of the fool, and through his prayer, did
it reappear again. When he died, Blessed Nicholas was buried at the end
of the cemetery by the Yakovlev cathedral.Born at Novgorod into a rich and illustrious family. From his youthful years he loved piety, he went to church faithfully, and loved fasting and prayer. Seeing his virtuous life, people began to praise him. Blessed Nicholas, disdaining glory from men, began the difficult exploit of folly for the Lord's sake. He ran about the city in the bitter cold dressed in rags, enduring beatings, insults and mockery. Blessed Nicholas and another Novgorod fool, Blessed Theodore (January 19), pretended to be irreconcilable foes, and graphically demonstrated to the people of Novgorod the pernicious character of their internecine strife.
Once, having overcome his sham opponent, Blessed Nicholas went along the Volkhov as if on dry land, and threw a head of cabbage at Blessed Theodore, therefore he was called "Konchanov" (i.e. "cabbage-head"). The Lord glorified Blessed Nicholas with the gift of miracles and clairvoyance.