1409 BD JAMES STREPAR,
ARCHBISHOP OF Galich; joined the Franciscans and became guardian of
their
friary at Lvov; a zealous
defender of the mendicant friars; the miracles at his
tomb showed that he was still mindful of his people.
THE Friars Minor entered
Poland not many years after their foundation and when they were well
established extended their preaching to the reconciliation of dissident
Orthodox and the conversion of pagans in Lithuania. Thus was
inaugurated the
Latin church in Galician Ukraine, which was organized into dioceses
during the
fourteenth century. Bd James Strepar was a member of a noble Polish
family
settled in Galicia. He joined the Franciscans and became guardian of
their
friary at Lvov, where he played a conspicuous part in very troubled
ecclesiastical affairs, the city having been laid under an interdict.
He was a zealous
defender of the mendicant friars, who were bitterly attacked by the
secular
clergy, and at the same time keenly concerned about the dissident
Orthodox. He
worked among these for over ten years, making great use of the Company
of
Christ’s Itinerants, a sort of missionary society of Franciscan and
Dominican
friars, and put at the head of the Franciscan “mission“ in
western
Russia. As a missionary preacher and organizer
Bd James had great success, and in 1392 called to govern the see of
Galich. He had himself evangelized a considerable part of his diocese,
and was now in a position to consolidate his work.
He built churches in
remote districts and obtained experienced priests from Poland to take
charge of them, founded religious houses, and established hospitals and
schools. Though a senator of the realm as well as archbishop he
sometimes carried out visitations on foot, and always wore the modest
habit of his order at a time when prelates not infrequently copied the
ostentatious clothes of lay lords. Bd James governed his large diocese
till his death at Lvov on June 1, in 1409 or 1411. During his life he
had been called “protector of the kingdom“ and the miracles at his
tomb showed that he was still mindful of his people. His cultus was
confirmed in 1791.
There is more
than one
life in Polish, but only
summaries seem to be available in languages more generally known. See,
however,
Scrobiszewski, Vitae episcoporum
Halicensium (1628) Stadler, Heiligen
Lexikon, vol. iii, pp. 111 seq.; Leon, Aureole
séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. ii, pp. 312—315.
1409 Venerable Sava
the Abbot of Zvenigorod model of
simplicity and humility e miraculous curative power issuing from the
grave numerous
appearances Disciple of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh1490 Sava appeared to Dionysius (4th igumen of St Sava monastery and said to him: "Dionysius! Wake up and paint my icon."
St Sava loved solitude,
and avoided conversing with people.
He lived in
constant toil, lamenting the poverty of his soul, and trembling before
the judgment of God. He was a model of simplicity and humility, and he
attained to such a depth of spiritual wisdom that "in the monastery of
St Sergius he was a spiritual confessor to all the brethren, a
venerable and exceedingly learned Elder."
When Great Prince Demetrius of the Don built the monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God at the River Dubenka, in gratitude for the victory over Mamai, Sava became its Igumen, with the blessing of St Sergius. Preserving the simple manner of his ascetic lifestyle, he ate plants, wore coarse clothing and slept on the ground.
When Great Prince Demetrius of the Don built the monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God at the River Dubenka, in gratitude for the victory over Mamai, Sava became its Igumen, with the blessing of St Sergius. Preserving the simple manner of his ascetic lifestyle, he ate plants, wore coarse clothing and slept on the ground.
In 1392 the brethren of
the Sergiev Lavra, with the
departure of its
Igumen Nikon into the wilderness, asked St Sava to be the igumen of the
monastery. Here he "shepherded well the flock entrusted to him to the
best of his ability, helped by the prayers of his spiritual Father, St
Sergius." According to Tradition, the great well outside the Lavra
walls was built when he was igumen.
Prince Yuri Dimitrievich Zvenigorodsky, a godson of St Sergius, regarded St Sava with great love and esteem. He chose St Sava as his spiritual Father and begged him to come and bestow his blessing upon all his household. The saint had hoped to return to his monastery, but the prince begged him to remain and establish a new monastery, "in his fatherland, near Zvenigorod, at a place called Storozhi."
St Sava accepted the request of Prince Yuri Dimitrievich, and praying with tears before an icon of the Mother of God, he entreated Her protection for the wilderness place. On Storozhi Hill, he built a small wooden church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, and a small cell for himself nearby. Here in the year 1399 the monk established a monastery, lovingly accepting all who came seeking a life of silence and seclusion.
St Sava toiled much at the building up of his monastery. He dug a well at the foot of the hill, from which he carried water on his own shoulders; he encircled the monastery with a wooden palisade, and in a hollow above it, he dug out a cell where he could dwell in solitude.
In 1399 St Sava blessed his spiritual son, Prince Yuri, to go on a military campaign, and he predicted victory over the enemy. Through the prayers of the holy Elder, the forces of the prince won a speedy victory. Through the efforts of St Sava, a stone church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos was also built to replace the wooden one.
St Sava died at an advanced age on December 3, 1406. He appointed his disciple, also named Sava, to succeed him.
Veneration of the God-pleaser by the local people began immediately after his death. The miraculous curative power issuing from the grave of the monk, and his numerous appearances, convinced everyone that Igumen Sava "is truly an unsetting sun of divine light, illumining all with its miraculous rays." In a letter of 1539 St Sava is called a wonderworker. Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich had a special veneration for him, repeatedly going to the monastery of St Sava on foot. Tradition has preserved for us a remarkable account of how St Sava once saved him from a ferocious bear.
The Life of St Sava, compiled in the sixteenth century, relates how at the end of the fifteenth century (1480-1490), the saint appeared to Dionysius, the fourth igumen of the St Sava monastery and said to him: "Dionysius! Wake up and paint my icon." When Dionysius asked who he was, he replied, "I am Sava, the founder of this place."
Now Dionysius had not known the saint personally, so he summoned Elder Habakkuk, who had known St Sava in his youth, hoping to convince himself of the truth of the dream. He described the outward appearance of the saint, and Habakkuk assured him that the saint looked exactly as the igumen had seen him in his dream. Then Dionysius fulfilled the command and painted the icon of St Sava.
Prince Yuri Dimitrievich Zvenigorodsky, a godson of St Sergius, regarded St Sava with great love and esteem. He chose St Sava as his spiritual Father and begged him to come and bestow his blessing upon all his household. The saint had hoped to return to his monastery, but the prince begged him to remain and establish a new monastery, "in his fatherland, near Zvenigorod, at a place called Storozhi."
St Sava accepted the request of Prince Yuri Dimitrievich, and praying with tears before an icon of the Mother of God, he entreated Her protection for the wilderness place. On Storozhi Hill, he built a small wooden church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, and a small cell for himself nearby. Here in the year 1399 the monk established a monastery, lovingly accepting all who came seeking a life of silence and seclusion.
St Sava toiled much at the building up of his monastery. He dug a well at the foot of the hill, from which he carried water on his own shoulders; he encircled the monastery with a wooden palisade, and in a hollow above it, he dug out a cell where he could dwell in solitude.
In 1399 St Sava blessed his spiritual son, Prince Yuri, to go on a military campaign, and he predicted victory over the enemy. Through the prayers of the holy Elder, the forces of the prince won a speedy victory. Through the efforts of St Sava, a stone church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos was also built to replace the wooden one.
St Sava died at an advanced age on December 3, 1406. He appointed his disciple, also named Sava, to succeed him.
Veneration of the God-pleaser by the local people began immediately after his death. The miraculous curative power issuing from the grave of the monk, and his numerous appearances, convinced everyone that Igumen Sava "is truly an unsetting sun of divine light, illumining all with its miraculous rays." In a letter of 1539 St Sava is called a wonderworker. Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich had a special veneration for him, repeatedly going to the monastery of St Sava on foot. Tradition has preserved for us a remarkable account of how St Sava once saved him from a ferocious bear.
The Life of St Sava, compiled in the sixteenth century, relates how at the end of the fifteenth century (1480-1490), the saint appeared to Dionysius, the fourth igumen of the St Sava monastery and said to him: "Dionysius! Wake up and paint my icon." When Dionysius asked who he was, he replied, "I am Sava, the founder of this place."
Now Dionysius had not known the saint personally, so he summoned Elder Habakkuk, who had known St Sava in his youth, hoping to convince himself of the truth of the dream. He described the outward appearance of the saint, and Habakkuk assured him that the saint looked exactly as the igumen had seen him in his dream. Then Dionysius fulfilled the command and painted the icon of St Sava.
The feastday of St Sava
was established at the Moscow
Council of 1547.
The incorrupt relics of the saint were uncovered on January 19, 1652.
1410 Saint
Sava of Moscow succeeded St Andronicus as the igumen of the monastery
of the Savior, dedicated to the Icon of Christ Not-Made-By Hands
(August 16) in 1395. He died in 1410.
Saint James acquired the gift of discernment, learned the straight and narrow path of God, and became a great wonderworker
had such love for Christ, and so little regard for the things of this world, that he liquidated his entire estate and gave the proceeds to the poor without spending any of the money on himself. Later, he fell into a demonic temptation and became very proud. He would say, "Who knows better than I do, concerning my own salvation?" Following his own self will and personal preferences, he lived in solitude and undertook difficult struggles without first seeking the advice of wise and experienced ascetics.
Once a demon appeared to him in the guise of an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He told James that Christ was very pleased by his labors, and would come that night to reward him. "Clean your cell," he said, "and make ready by lighting the lamps and burning incense." The foolish James, in his delusion, accepted all of this without question. When the Antichrist came at midnight, James opened his door and fell down in worship before him. The devil struck him on the head, then vanished.
James awoke at dawn and went to visit a certain Elder to tell him what had happened. Before James could speak a single word, the Elder said, "You must leave this place, for you have been deceived by Satan." James was heartbroken and wept bitter tears. The Elder also advised him to go to a cenobitic monastery, which he did. There he fulfilled his obedience in the trapeza with great humility. Then for seven years he sat in his cell working at some handicraft, and fulfilling his Rule of prayer.
St James acquired the gift of discernment, learned the straight and narrow path of God, and became a great wonderworker. He completed the course of his life in peace.
Saint James acquired the gift of discernment, learned the straight and narrow path of God, and became a great wonderworker
had such love for Christ, and so little regard for the things of this world, that he liquidated his entire estate and gave the proceeds to the poor without spending any of the money on himself. Later, he fell into a demonic temptation and became very proud. He would say, "Who knows better than I do, concerning my own salvation?" Following his own self will and personal preferences, he lived in solitude and undertook difficult struggles without first seeking the advice of wise and experienced ascetics.
Once a demon appeared to him in the guise of an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He told James that Christ was very pleased by his labors, and would come that night to reward him. "Clean your cell," he said, "and make ready by lighting the lamps and burning incense." The foolish James, in his delusion, accepted all of this without question. When the Antichrist came at midnight, James opened his door and fell down in worship before him. The devil struck him on the head, then vanished.
James awoke at dawn and went to visit a certain Elder to tell him what had happened. Before James could speak a single word, the Elder said, "You must leave this place, for you have been deceived by Satan." James was heartbroken and wept bitter tears. The Elder also advised him to go to a cenobitic monastery, which he did. There he fulfilled his obedience in the trapeza with great humility. Then for seven years he sat in his cell working at some handicraft, and fulfilling his Rule of prayer.
St James acquired the gift of discernment, learned the straight and narrow path of God, and became a great wonderworker. He completed the course of his life in peace.
Born in Waldsee, W&uouml;rtemberg, Germany, 1386; died there, ; cultus confirmed in 1766. Elisabeth lived her whole life in a small community of Franciscan tertiaries near Waldsee. She was subject to mystical experiences including the stigmata, and went for long periods without any natural food (Benedictines).
1423 Bl.
Juliana of Norwich Benedictine English mystic anchorite In 1373
experienced sixteen
revelations. Her book, Revelations of Divine Love - a work on the love
of God, the Incarnation, redemption, and divine consolation Among
English mystics none is greater
sometimes called Julian. She was a recluse of Norwich, living outside the walls of Saint Julian’s Church., she is one of the most important writers of England. She wrote on sin, penance, and other aspects of the spiritual life, attracting people from all across Europe. She is called Blessed, although she was never formally beatified.
Blessed Juliana of Norwich, OSB Hermit (PC) Born c. 1342; died in Norwich, England, c. 1423; she has never actually been beatified.
Among the English mystics none is greater than the Lady Julian, who lived near Norwich, England, in a three-roomed hermitage in the churchyard of Conisford. Absolutely nothing is known of her life before becoming an anchorite. In fact, we do not even know her name; she has been given the name of the church where she had her cell. An old English historian writes: "In 1393, Lady Julian, the anchoress here was a strict recluse, and had two servants to attend her in her old age. This woman was in these days esteemed one of the greatest holiness."
She lived in an age of startling and confusing contrasts. It was the time of the Black Death, the Peasants' Revolt, Piers Plowman and Wat Tyler, when the old social patterns were breaking down. But none of this is reflected in her quiet and retired life or in the pages of her spiritual autobiography, Revelations of Divine Love, which is the most sublime of all expositions of its kind in English. Her masterpiece encompasses the love of God, the Incarnation, redemption, sin, penance, and divine consolation.
"These revelations," she writes, "were shown to a simple creature unlettered, the year of our Lord 1373, the eighth day of May." She desired above all to know the suffering of our Lord--what she called "the mind of His Passion"--and that nothing might stand between herself and God. She tells us that when at the age of 30 she was at the point of death and the curate was sent for to administer the last rites, "he set the Cross before my face and said: 'I have brought you the Image of thy Maker and Savior: Look thereupon and comfort yourself with it.'"
She spent the next 20 years meditating upon the 16 revelations that followed in a state of ecstasy, of Christ's Passion and the Trinity. She saw the red blood flow from under the Crown of Thorns; she saw the Virgin, a young and simple maid; she saw our Lord a 'homely loving.' Then God showed her a little thing--a hazel nut in the palm of her hand. She thought: what may this be? and was answered: "It is all that is made. God shaped it. God gave it life. God maintains it."
sometimes called Julian. She was a recluse of Norwich, living outside the walls of Saint Julian’s Church., she is one of the most important writers of England. She wrote on sin, penance, and other aspects of the spiritual life, attracting people from all across Europe. She is called Blessed, although she was never formally beatified.
Blessed Juliana of Norwich, OSB Hermit (PC) Born c. 1342; died in Norwich, England, c. 1423; she has never actually been beatified.
Among the English mystics none is greater than the Lady Julian, who lived near Norwich, England, in a three-roomed hermitage in the churchyard of Conisford. Absolutely nothing is known of her life before becoming an anchorite. In fact, we do not even know her name; she has been given the name of the church where she had her cell. An old English historian writes: "In 1393, Lady Julian, the anchoress here was a strict recluse, and had two servants to attend her in her old age. This woman was in these days esteemed one of the greatest holiness."
She lived in an age of startling and confusing contrasts. It was the time of the Black Death, the Peasants' Revolt, Piers Plowman and Wat Tyler, when the old social patterns were breaking down. But none of this is reflected in her quiet and retired life or in the pages of her spiritual autobiography, Revelations of Divine Love, which is the most sublime of all expositions of its kind in English. Her masterpiece encompasses the love of God, the Incarnation, redemption, sin, penance, and divine consolation.
"These revelations," she writes, "were shown to a simple creature unlettered, the year of our Lord 1373, the eighth day of May." She desired above all to know the suffering of our Lord--what she called "the mind of His Passion"--and that nothing might stand between herself and God. She tells us that when at the age of 30 she was at the point of death and the curate was sent for to administer the last rites, "he set the Cross before my face and said: 'I have brought you the Image of thy Maker and Savior: Look thereupon and comfort yourself with it.'"
She spent the next 20 years meditating upon the 16 revelations that followed in a state of ecstasy, of Christ's Passion and the Trinity. She saw the red blood flow from under the Crown of Thorns; she saw the Virgin, a young and simple maid; she saw our Lord a 'homely loving.' Then God showed her a little thing--a hazel nut in the palm of her hand. She thought: what may this be? and was answered: "It is all that is made. God shaped it. God gave it life. God maintains it."
Thus, she learned the
goodness of God, in which is our highest prayer
and which "comes down to our lowest need." And still regarding the
Crucifix, she saw the stream of God's mercy falling like showers of
rain, and looked upon the tokens of His Passion. She saw our Lord dying
and underwent the torments and agony of His suffering. "And thus I saw
Him, and sought Him; I had Him and I wanted Him." It seemed, she said,
as if He were seven nights dying, so outdrawn was His anguish,
suffering the last pain, seven nights dead, continually dying, in a
cold dry wind. "Thus was I taught to choose Jesus for my Heaven, whom I
saw only in pain at that time . . . to choose only Jesus in good times
and bad. . . He shall make all well that is not well. . . . Prayer
unites the soul to God."
In this way, this remarkable book pursues its course, full of deep insight and feeling: "In Christ our two natures are united." "Our soul can never have rest in things that are beneath itself." "God can do all that we need." "I knew well that while I beheld in the Cross I was surely safe." And its last word is: "Love was our Lord's meaning." At the time of her death she had a far-spread reputation for sanctity, which attracted visitors from all over England to her cell (Benedictines, Delaney, Gill).
In this way, this remarkable book pursues its course, full of deep insight and feeling: "In Christ our two natures are united." "Our soul can never have rest in things that are beneath itself." "God can do all that we need." "I knew well that while I beheld in the Cross I was surely safe." And its last word is: "Love was our Lord's meaning." At the time of her death she had a far-spread reputation for sanctity, which attracted visitors from all over England to her cell (Benedictines, Delaney, Gill).
1433 St. Lydwine
heroically accepted plight as will of God offered her sufferings for
humanity's sins Jesus Christ confided in her She experienced mystical
gifts, including supernatural visions of heaven, hell, purgatory,
apparitions of Christ, and the stigmata. Patron of sickness &
skaters
St. Lydwine is the patroness of sickness Lydwine of Schiedam was born at Schiedam, Holland, one of nine children of a working man. After an injury in her youth, she became bedridden and suffered the rest of her life from various illnesses and diseases. She experienced mystical gifts, including supernatural visions of heaven, hell, purgatory, apparitions of Christ, and the stigmata. Thomas a Kempis wrote a biography of her. She was canonized Pope Leo XIII in 1890. Lydwine suffered a fall while ice skating in 1396, when a friend collided with her and caused her to break a rib on the right side. From this injury, she never recovered. An abscess formed inside her body which later burst and caused Lydwine extreme suffering. Eventually, she was to suffer a series of mysterious illnesses which in retrospect seemed to be from the hands of God. Lydwine heroically accepted her plight as the will of God and offered up her sufferings for the sins of humanity. Some of the illnesses which affected Lydwine were headaches, vomiting, fever, thirst, bedsores, toothaches, spasms of the muscles, blindness, neuritis and the stigmata.
Blessed Lidwina of Schiedam V (AC) (also known as Lydwina, Lydwid, Lidwyna) Born in Schiedam, the Netherlands, in 1380; cultus approved in 1890. Lidwina, one of nine children of a laborer, developed a devotion to the Blessed Virgin in her childhood. When her mother would send her on any errand, Lidwina would visit the church to greet her Lady with a Hail Mary. At the age of 12, she pledged her virginity to Christ.
She was injured in 1396 while ice skating and became a life-long invalid. She was cruelly wed to agonizing bodily pains, ulcers, the Black Plague and other maladies, without counting the familial and spiritual complications. Lidwina bore the pain patiently as reparation for the sins of others.
For 30 years she received no explanation of incredible sufferings except through Jesus Christ who confided in her and promised the consolation of a heavenly life. Upon the advice of her confessor, Jan Pot, Lidwina meditated night and day on our Lord's passion, which she divided into seven parts, to correspond to the seven canonical hours of prayer. Through this practice Lidwina soon found all her bitterness and affliction converted into sweetness and consolation, and her soul so much changed, that she prayed to God to increase her pains and patience. Beginning in 1407, Lidwina began to experience supernatural gifts--ecstasies and visions in which she participated in the Passion of Christ, saw purgatory and heaven and visited with saints.
Though her family was poor, Lidwina gave away the major portion of the alms given to her by others. Upon the death of her parents, she bequeathed to the poor all the goods that they left to her.
The last 19 years of her life she partook of no food except the Holy Eucharist, slept little if at all during the last seven years of her life, and became almost completely blind and was unable to move any part of her body except her head and left arm.
Her extraordinary sufferings attracted widespread attention. When a new parish priest accused her of hypocrisy, the people of the town threatened to drive him away. An ecclesiastical commission appointed to investigate declared her experiences to be valid.
She died on Easter Tuesday in 1433. Thomas a Kempis, author of Imitation of Christ and an eyewitness of some of her miracles, wrote her biography. The chapel in which her body lay in a marble tomb was renamed for her the following year, and her father's house was converted into a monastery of Gray Sisters of the third order of St. Francis.
St. Lydwine is the patroness of sickness Lydwine of Schiedam was born at Schiedam, Holland, one of nine children of a working man. After an injury in her youth, she became bedridden and suffered the rest of her life from various illnesses and diseases. She experienced mystical gifts, including supernatural visions of heaven, hell, purgatory, apparitions of Christ, and the stigmata. Thomas a Kempis wrote a biography of her. She was canonized Pope Leo XIII in 1890. Lydwine suffered a fall while ice skating in 1396, when a friend collided with her and caused her to break a rib on the right side. From this injury, she never recovered. An abscess formed inside her body which later burst and caused Lydwine extreme suffering. Eventually, she was to suffer a series of mysterious illnesses which in retrospect seemed to be from the hands of God. Lydwine heroically accepted her plight as the will of God and offered up her sufferings for the sins of humanity. Some of the illnesses which affected Lydwine were headaches, vomiting, fever, thirst, bedsores, toothaches, spasms of the muscles, blindness, neuritis and the stigmata.
Blessed Lidwina of Schiedam V (AC) (also known as Lydwina, Lydwid, Lidwyna) Born in Schiedam, the Netherlands, in 1380; cultus approved in 1890. Lidwina, one of nine children of a laborer, developed a devotion to the Blessed Virgin in her childhood. When her mother would send her on any errand, Lidwina would visit the church to greet her Lady with a Hail Mary. At the age of 12, she pledged her virginity to Christ.
She was injured in 1396 while ice skating and became a life-long invalid. She was cruelly wed to agonizing bodily pains, ulcers, the Black Plague and other maladies, without counting the familial and spiritual complications. Lidwina bore the pain patiently as reparation for the sins of others.
For 30 years she received no explanation of incredible sufferings except through Jesus Christ who confided in her and promised the consolation of a heavenly life. Upon the advice of her confessor, Jan Pot, Lidwina meditated night and day on our Lord's passion, which she divided into seven parts, to correspond to the seven canonical hours of prayer. Through this practice Lidwina soon found all her bitterness and affliction converted into sweetness and consolation, and her soul so much changed, that she prayed to God to increase her pains and patience. Beginning in 1407, Lidwina began to experience supernatural gifts--ecstasies and visions in which she participated in the Passion of Christ, saw purgatory and heaven and visited with saints.
Though her family was poor, Lidwina gave away the major portion of the alms given to her by others. Upon the death of her parents, she bequeathed to the poor all the goods that they left to her.
The last 19 years of her life she partook of no food except the Holy Eucharist, slept little if at all during the last seven years of her life, and became almost completely blind and was unable to move any part of her body except her head and left arm.
Her extraordinary sufferings attracted widespread attention. When a new parish priest accused her of hypocrisy, the people of the town threatened to drive him away. An ecclesiastical commission appointed to investigate declared her experiences to be valid.
She died on Easter Tuesday in 1433. Thomas a Kempis, author of Imitation of Christ and an eyewitness of some of her miracles, wrote her biography. The chapel in which her body lay in a marble tomb was renamed for her the following year, and her father's house was converted into a monastery of Gray Sisters of the third order of St. Francis.
Calvinists demolished the
chapel and changed the monastery into a
hospital for orphans.
Her relics were translated to Brussels, and enshrined in the collegiate church of St. Gudula. Isabella obtained a portion of her relics and enshrined them in the church of the Carmelite convent which she founded.
Lidwina was never formally beatified; however, a Mass was sung in her chapel at Schiedham on her festival, with a panegyric on the holy virgin. Her vita was compiled by John Gerlac, her cousin, and John Walter, her confessor: and by John Brugman, provincial of the Franciscans, who were all personally acquainted with her (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
Lidwina is portrayed in art as a cripple holding a crucifix and receiving a branch of roses from an angel. Sometimes she may be shown (1) receiving a lily from the angel; (2) with a cross and rosary; (3) as a girl falling on ice while skating; or (4) working on embroidery (Roeder). She is the patron of skaters.
Her relics were translated to Brussels, and enshrined in the collegiate church of St. Gudula. Isabella obtained a portion of her relics and enshrined them in the church of the Carmelite convent which she founded.
Lidwina was never formally beatified; however, a Mass was sung in her chapel at Schiedham on her festival, with a panegyric on the holy virgin. Her vita was compiled by John Gerlac, her cousin, and John Walter, her confessor: and by John Brugman, provincial of the Franciscans, who were all personally acquainted with her (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
Lidwina is portrayed in art as a cripple holding a crucifix and receiving a branch of roses from an angel. Sometimes she may be shown (1) receiving a lily from the angel; (2) with a cross and rosary; (3) as a girl falling on ice while skating; or (4) working on embroidery (Roeder). She is the patron of skaters.
1444 Saint Macarius of
Zheltovod and Unzha; At 12 he left
his parents and accepted monastic tonsure at the Nizhni-Novgorod Caves
monastery under St Dionysius; extreme strict fast, precise fulfillment
of monastic rule; at Yellow Lake organized a monastery for them in the
Name of the Most Holy Trinity, there preached Christianity to
surrounding Cheremis and Chuvash peoples, baptizing both Mohammedans
and pagans in the lake; on the shores of Lake Unzha he founded a new
monastery; granted gift healing, more than 50 people received healing
from his relics
Born in the year 1349 at Nizhni-Novgorod into a pious family. At twelve he secretly left his parents and accepted monastic tonsure at the Nizhni-Novgorod Caves monastery under St Dionysius (June 26). With all the intensity of his youthful soul he gave himself over to the work of salvation. He stood out among among the brethren for his extremely strict fasting and precise fulfillment of the monastic rule.
The parents of St
Macarius only learned three years later where he had
gone. His father went to him and tearfully besought his son merely that
he would come forth and show himself. St Macarius spoke with his father
through a wall, saying that he would see him in the future life.
"Extend your hand, at least," implored the father. The son fulfilled
this small request and the father, having kissed his son's hand,
returned home.
Burdened by fame, the humble Macarius set off for the shores of the River Volga, and here he pursued asceticism near the waters of Yellow Lake. Here by firm determination and patience he overcame the abuse of the Enemy of salvation. Lovers of solitude gathered to St Macarius, and in 1435 he organized a monastery for them in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity. Here also he began to preach Christianity to the surrounding Cheremis and Chuvash peoples, and he baptized both Mohammedans and pagans in the lake, which received its name from the saint. When the Kazan Tatars destroyed the monastery in 1439, they took St Macarius captive.
Born in the year 1349 at Nizhni-Novgorod into a pious family. At twelve he secretly left his parents and accepted monastic tonsure at the Nizhni-Novgorod Caves monastery under St Dionysius (June 26). With all the intensity of his youthful soul he gave himself over to the work of salvation. He stood out among among the brethren for his extremely strict fasting and precise fulfillment of the monastic rule.
The parents of St
Macarius only learned three years later where he had
gone. His father went to him and tearfully besought his son merely that
he would come forth and show himself. St Macarius spoke with his father
through a wall, saying that he would see him in the future life.
"Extend your hand, at least," implored the father. The son fulfilled
this small request and the father, having kissed his son's hand,
returned home.Burdened by fame, the humble Macarius set off for the shores of the River Volga, and here he pursued asceticism near the waters of Yellow Lake. Here by firm determination and patience he overcame the abuse of the Enemy of salvation. Lovers of solitude gathered to St Macarius, and in 1435 he organized a monastery for them in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity. Here also he began to preach Christianity to the surrounding Cheremis and Chuvash peoples, and he baptized both Mohammedans and pagans in the lake, which received its name from the saint. When the Kazan Tatars destroyed the monastery in 1439, they took St Macarius captive.
Out of respect for his piety and charitable love, the Khan released the saint from captivity and freed nearly 400 Christians with him. But in return, St Macarius promised not to settle by Yellow Lake.
St Macarius reverently
buried those killed at his monastery,
and he
went 200 versts to the Galich border. During the time of this
resettlement all those on the way were fed in miraculous manner through
the prayers of the saint. Having arrived at the city of Unzha, St
Macarius set up a cross 15 versts from the city, and built a cell on
the shores of Lake Unzha. Here he founded a new monastery. During the
fifth year of his life at Lake Unzha, St Macarius took sick and reposed
at age 95.
While yet alive, St Macarius was granted a gift: he healed a blind and demon-afflicted girl. After the death of the monk, many received healing from his relics. The monks built a temple over his grave, and established a cenobitic rule at the monastery.
In 1522, Tatars fell upon Unzha and wanted to destroy the silver reliquary in the Makariev monastery, but they fell blind. In a panic, they took to flight. Many of them drowned in the Unzha. In 1532, through the prayers of St Macarius, the city of Soligalich was saved from the Tatars. In gratitude, the inhabitants built a chapel in the cathedral church in honor of the saint. More than 50 people received healing from grievous infirmities through the prayers of St Macarius. This was certified by a commission sent by Patriarch Philaret in 1619.
While yet alive, St Macarius was granted a gift: he healed a blind and demon-afflicted girl. After the death of the monk, many received healing from his relics. The monks built a temple over his grave, and established a cenobitic rule at the monastery.
In 1522, Tatars fell upon Unzha and wanted to destroy the silver reliquary in the Makariev monastery, but they fell blind. In a panic, they took to flight. Many of them drowned in the Unzha. In 1532, through the prayers of St Macarius, the city of Soligalich was saved from the Tatars. In gratitude, the inhabitants built a chapel in the cathedral church in honor of the saint. More than 50 people received healing from grievous infirmities through the prayers of St Macarius. This was certified by a commission sent by Patriarch Philaret in 1619.
Felicia Meda was born at Milan in 1378, the eldest of three children of good family. The sudden death of both her parents when she was a child disposed her mind to serious things, and soon after she was twelve she bound herself to a life of chastity and direct service of God, which she followed in the world for ten years. Then she became a Poor Clare in the convent of St Ursula at Milan; shortly afterwards her sister followed her example and her brother became a Friar Minor. For twenty-five years Bd Felicia led the hidden and austere life of her order, remarkable in the community for her faultless observance of the rule; perseverance in prayer and penance in spite of the diabolical influences that were active against her. The gentle nun overcame these fierce trials, and her experience and tempered character caused her to be elected abbess.
Under her loving and skilful direction the devotion and virtue of the nuns of St Ursula's became famous, and when, some fourteen years later, in 1439, the wife of Galeazzo Malatesta, Duke of Pesaro, wished to found a Poor Clare convent in that city she asked for an affiliation from Milan. The Franciscan minister general sent Felicia herself to make the new foundation. The sadness with which the Milanese nuns parted from their abbess was equalled by the rejoicing with which she was received at Pesaro, whither her reputation preceded her. The wife of Galeazzo, accompanied by townspeople, came out to meet her and her seven nuns, but could not persuade them to get into the ducal carriages and drive in in state, so they made their entry into the city altogether on foot. Bd Felicia presided over the new convent for only four years, in which time she filled it with devoted religious, and died on September 30, 1444. The people of Pesaro, who had attributed their deliverance from war and plague to her prayers, flocked to venerate her tomb and were rewarded by many miracles. This cultus was approved in 1812.
In the Acta Sanctorum,
September, vol. viii, a tolerably full
account, based mainly on Mark of Lisbon, is given of this beata.
An article, however, in the Archivum
Franciscanum Historicum, vol. xx (1927), pp. 241-259, supplies a
more thorough discussion of the sources, and points out with reference
to the sending of Bd Felicia to Pesaro that the minister general's,
Guglielmo da Casale, letter imposing this obedience is still preserved.
A life of the beata by Fra
Agostino Gallucci was printed in 1637.
Apud Gandávum,
in Flándria, sanctæ Colétæ Vírginis,
quæ, primum tértii Ordinis Franciscális
régulam proféssa, deínde, divíno
Spíritu affláta, quamplúra Moniálium
secúndi ejúsdem Ordinis monastéria
primævæ restítuit disciplínæ; atque,
divínis exornáta virtútibus et innúmeris
clara miráculis, a Pio Séptimo, Pontífice
Máximo, in albo Sanctórum adscrípta est.
At Ghent in Flanders, St. Collette, virgin, who at first professed the rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, and afterwards, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, restored the pristine discipline to a great number of monasteries of Nuns of the Second Order. Because she was graced with heavenly virtues, and performed innumerable miracles, she was inscribed on the roll of saints by Pope Pius VII.
Colette was the daughter of a carpenter named DeBoilet at Corby Abbey in Picardy, France. She was born on January 13, christened Nicolette, and called Colette. Orphaned at seventeen, she distributed her inheritance to the poor. She became a Franciscan tertiary, and lived at Corby as a solitary. She soon became well known for her holiness and spiritual wisdom, but left her cell in 1406 in response to a dream directing her to reform the Poor Clares. She received the Poor Clares habit from Peter de Luna, whom the French recognized as Pope under the name of Benedict XIII, with orders to reform the Order and appointing her Superior of all convents she reformed. Despite great opposition, she persisted in her efforts. She founded seventeen convents with the reformed rule and reformed several older convents. She was reknowned for her sanctity, ecstacies, and visions of the Passion, and prophesied her own death in her convent at Ghent, Belgium. A branch of the Poor Clares is still known as the Collettines. She was canonized in 1807.
Colette (Coleta, Niolette), Poor Clare V (RM) Born at Calcye, Picardy, France, on January 13, 1381; died in Ghent, Flanders, 1447; canonized in 1807.
Born to De Boilet (or Boylet), a carpenter at Corbie Abbey in Picardy, her parents named her Nicolette in honor of Saint Nicholas of Myra. They died when she was 17, leaving her in the care of the abbot.
Colette was said to be petite and very beautiful. She tried her religious vocation with the Beguines and Benedictines but failed. She distributed her possessions to the poor and entered the third order of Saint Francis.
When she was 21, the abbot gave Colette a small hermitage beside the church of Corbie, where she lived a life of such austerity that her fame spread and people came seeking her advice. Colette had dreams and visions in which Saint Francis appeared and charged her to restore the first rule of Saint Clare in its original severity. She hesitated to act upon this but was struck blind for three days and dumb for three more, which she saw as a sign.
Encouraged by her spiritual director, Father Henry de Baume, she left her hermitage in 1406. After trying to explain her mission to two convents, she realized that she must have better authority to accomplish her mission. She set out for Nice, barefoot and clothed in a habit of patches, to meet with Peter de Luna, acknowledged by the French during the great schism as pope under the name Benedict XIII.
He welcomed her and professed her as a Poor Clare. He was so impressed with her that he made her superioress of all the convents of Minoresses that she might reform or found and a missioner to the friars and tertiaries of Saint Francis.
She travelled from convent to convent through Picardy and Savoy. At first she was met with rude opposition and treated as a fanatic, and even accused of sorcery. She met rebuffs and curses patiently, however, and eventually began to make inroads, especially in Savoy, where her reform gained sympathizers and recruits. This reform passed to Burgundy, France, Flanders, and Spain.
At Ghent in Flanders, St. Collette, virgin, who at first professed the rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, and afterwards, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, restored the pristine discipline to a great number of monasteries of Nuns of the Second Order. Because she was graced with heavenly virtues, and performed innumerable miracles, she was inscribed on the roll of saints by Pope Pius VII.
Colette was the daughter of a carpenter named DeBoilet at Corby Abbey in Picardy, France. She was born on January 13, christened Nicolette, and called Colette. Orphaned at seventeen, she distributed her inheritance to the poor. She became a Franciscan tertiary, and lived at Corby as a solitary. She soon became well known for her holiness and spiritual wisdom, but left her cell in 1406 in response to a dream directing her to reform the Poor Clares. She received the Poor Clares habit from Peter de Luna, whom the French recognized as Pope under the name of Benedict XIII, with orders to reform the Order and appointing her Superior of all convents she reformed. Despite great opposition, she persisted in her efforts. She founded seventeen convents with the reformed rule and reformed several older convents. She was reknowned for her sanctity, ecstacies, and visions of the Passion, and prophesied her own death in her convent at Ghent, Belgium. A branch of the Poor Clares is still known as the Collettines. She was canonized in 1807.
Colette (Coleta, Niolette), Poor Clare V (RM) Born at Calcye, Picardy, France, on January 13, 1381; died in Ghent, Flanders, 1447; canonized in 1807.
Born to De Boilet (or Boylet), a carpenter at Corbie Abbey in Picardy, her parents named her Nicolette in honor of Saint Nicholas of Myra. They died when she was 17, leaving her in the care of the abbot.
Colette was said to be petite and very beautiful. She tried her religious vocation with the Beguines and Benedictines but failed. She distributed her possessions to the poor and entered the third order of Saint Francis.
When she was 21, the abbot gave Colette a small hermitage beside the church of Corbie, where she lived a life of such austerity that her fame spread and people came seeking her advice. Colette had dreams and visions in which Saint Francis appeared and charged her to restore the first rule of Saint Clare in its original severity. She hesitated to act upon this but was struck blind for three days and dumb for three more, which she saw as a sign.
Encouraged by her spiritual director, Father Henry de Baume, she left her hermitage in 1406. After trying to explain her mission to two convents, she realized that she must have better authority to accomplish her mission. She set out for Nice, barefoot and clothed in a habit of patches, to meet with Peter de Luna, acknowledged by the French during the great schism as pope under the name Benedict XIII.
He welcomed her and professed her as a Poor Clare. He was so impressed with her that he made her superioress of all the convents of Minoresses that she might reform or found and a missioner to the friars and tertiaries of Saint Francis.
She travelled from convent to convent through Picardy and Savoy. At first she was met with rude opposition and treated as a fanatic, and even accused of sorcery. She met rebuffs and curses patiently, however, and eventually began to make inroads, especially in Savoy, where her reform gained sympathizers and recruits. This reform passed to Burgundy, France, Flanders, and Spain.
With the support of Henry
de Baume, the first house of Poor
Clares to
receive the reformed rule did so in 1410. She aided Saint Vincent
Ferrer in the work of healing the papal schism. Colette also founded 17
new convents, in addition to reforming many, including several houses
of Franciscan friars. Her most famous convent is Le Puy-en-Velay
(Haute-Loire), which has sustained an unbroken continuity, even through
the French Revolution.
Saint Colette was untrained and unprepared for the work for which she had been commissioned; she achieved it by the power of faith and holiness, and a determination that no opposition could discourage. Impressed by her simple goodness, many people of high rank were greatly influenced by her, including James of Bourbon and Philip the Good of Burgundy.
Like Saint Francis, Colette had a deep devotion to Christ's Passion with an appreciation and care for animals. She fasted on Fridays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., meditating on the Passion. Almost always after receiving Holy Communion she would fall into an hours-long ecstasy.
It is said that Colette met Saint Joan of Arc on her way with an army to besiege La Charite-sur-Loire in 1429, but there is no evidence.
In Flanders, where she had established several houses, Colette was seized with a last illness. She foretold her own death, received the last rites, and died in her convent in Ghent at age 67. Her body was removed by Poor Clares when Emperor Joseph II was suppressing religious houses in Flanders; it was taken to her convent at Poligny, 32 miles from Besancon. A branch of Poor Clares is still known as the Colettines (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Gill, Perrin, White).
In art, Saint Colette is often depicted as a Poor Clare
visited by
Saint Anne, Saint Francis, or Saint Clare in a vision; sometimes
holding a crucifix and a hook. She may also be shown miraculously
walking on a stream (Roeder, White). She is venerated in Ghent and
Corbie (Picardy) (Roeder). Saint Colette was untrained and unprepared for the work for which she had been commissioned; she achieved it by the power of faith and holiness, and a determination that no opposition could discourage. Impressed by her simple goodness, many people of high rank were greatly influenced by her, including James of Bourbon and Philip the Good of Burgundy.
Like Saint Francis, Colette had a deep devotion to Christ's Passion with an appreciation and care for animals. She fasted on Fridays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., meditating on the Passion. Almost always after receiving Holy Communion she would fall into an hours-long ecstasy.
It is said that Colette met Saint Joan of Arc on her way with an army to besiege La Charite-sur-Loire in 1429, but there is no evidence.
In Flanders, where she had established several houses, Colette was seized with a last illness. She foretold her own death, received the last rites, and died in her convent in Ghent at age 67. Her body was removed by Poor Clares when Emperor Joseph II was suppressing religious houses in Flanders; it was taken to her convent at Poligny, 32 miles from Besancon. A branch of Poor Clares is still known as the Colettines (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Gill, Perrin, White).
1447 BD
THOMAS OF
FLORENCE;
a Franciscan lay brother;
the gift of miracles; Many urged that Bd Thomas should be canonized
with St Bernardino of Siena, whose cause was then in process. To
prevent the delay that would have resulted, St John of Capistrano, it
is said, went to Thomas’s tomb at Rieti and commanded him in the name
of holy obedience to cease his miracles until the canonization of
Bernardino should be achieved. They stopped for three years, but Bd
Thomas has never been canonized. His cultus was approved in 1771.
THOMAS BELLACCI, a
native of Florence, was a Franciscan lay brother, who as a young man
had led a
wild and disorderly life. Realization of the futility of it all and the
wise
words of a friend wrought a change in him and he was accepted—with some
trepidation, for his excesses were notorious—by the friars of the
Observance at
Fiesole. But his penitence equaled his former sinfulness, and in time,
for all he
was a lay brother, he was made master of novices, whom he trained in
the strictest
ways of the Observance.
When
in 1414 Friar John of Stroncone went to spread
the reform in the kingdom of Naples he took Bd Thomas with him. He
laboured
there for some six years, strengthened with the gift of miracles, and
then,
authorized by Pope Martin V, he undertook, in company with Bd
Antony of
Stroncone, to oppose the heretical Fraticelli in Tuscany. While
engaged in
this campaign he made a number of new foundations, over which St
Bernardino
gave him authority, his own headquarters being at the friary of
Scarlino. Here
he established a custom of going in procession after the night office
to a
neighbouring wood, where each friar
had a
little shelter of boughs and shrubs wherein they remained for a time in
prayer.
As
a result of the
“reunion
council” at Florence in 1439, Friar
Albert of Sarzana was sent as
papal legate to the Syrian Jacobites and other dissidents of the East,
and he
took Thomas with him, although he was in his seventieth year. From
Persia
Albert commissioned him to go with three other friars into Ethiopia.
Three
times on their way the Turks, who treated them with great cruelty,
seized them.
But Bd Thomas insisted on preaching to the Mohammedans, and eventually
they had
to be ransomed by Pope Eugenius IV, just before their captors
were going
to put them to death. Bd Thomas could not get over that God had refused
the
proffered sacrifice of his life, and in 1447, aged as he was, he set
out for
Rome to ask permission to go again to the East. But at Rieti he was
taken ill, and
died there on October 31. Many urged
that Bd Thomas should be canonized with St Bernardino of Siena, whose
cause was
then in process. To prevent the delay that would have resulted, St John
of
Capistrano, it is said, went to Thomas’s tomb at Rieti and commanded
him in the
name of holy obedience to cease his miracles until the canonization of
Bernardino should be achieved. They stopped for three years, but Bd
Thomas has
never been canonized. His cultus was approved
in 1771.
See Wadding, Annales Minorum; Mazzara, Leggendario
francescano and the summary in Leon, Aureole
Seraphique (Eng. trans.), Vol. iv.
Aquilériæ, in Hispánia, sancti Petri Regaláti, in urbe Vallisoletána orti, Sacerdótis ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris, reguláris disciplínæ in Hispániæ cœnóbiis restitutóris; quem Benedíctus Décimus quartus, Póntifex Máximus, Sanctórum fastis adscrípsit.
At Aquileria in Spain, the confessor St. Peter Regulatus, priest of the Order of Friars Minor. He was born in Valladolid, and restored the regular discipline in the Spanish monasteries. Pope Benedict XIV placed him on the roll of saints.
b. 1390
Also Peter Regalado, Franciscan reformer. Peter was born at Valladolid, Spain, to a noble family, and entered the Franciscan Order in his native city at the age of thirteen. After several years, he transferred to a far more austere monastery at Tribulos, where he became known for his severe asceticism as well as his abilities to levitate and enter into ecstasies. A success as abbot, he gave himself over to bringing needed reforms to the monastery and to promoting reforms in other Franciscan houses. For his zeal in adhering to the rules of the community he was designated Regulatus.
St. Peter Regaldo (1390-1456)
Peter lived at a very busy time. The Great Western Schism (1378 - 1417) was settled at the Council of Constance (1414-1418). France and England were fighting the Hundred Years’ War, and in 1453 the Byzantine Empire was completely wiped out by the loss of Constantinople to the Turks. At Peter’s death the age of printing had just begun in Germany, and Columbus's arrival in the New World was less than 40 years away.
Peter came from a wealthy and pious family in Valladolid, Spain. At the age of 13, he was allowed to enter the Conventual Franciscans. Shortly after his ordination, he was made superior of the friary in Aguilar. He became part of a group of friars who wanted to lead a life of greater poverty and penance. In 1442 he was appointed head of all the Spanish Franciscans in his reform group.
Peter led the friars by his example. A special love of the poor and the sick characterized Peter. Miraculous stories are told about his charity to the poor. For example, the bread never seemed to run out as long as Peter had hungry people to feed. Throughout most of his life, Peter went hungry; he lived only on bread and water.
Immediately after his death on March 31, 1456, his grave became a place of pilgrimage. Peter was canonized in 1746.
Comment: Peter was an effective leader of the friars because he did not become ensnared in anger over the sins of others. Peter helped sinning friars rearrange the priorities in their lives and dedicate themselves to living the gospel of Jesus Christ as they had vowed. This patient correction is an act of charity available to all Franciscans, not just to superiors.
Quote: "And let all the brothers, both the ministers and servants as well as the others, take care not to be disturbed or angered at the sin or the evil of another, because the devil wishes to destroy many through the fault of one; but they should spiritually help [the brother] who has sinned as best they can, because it is not the healthy who are in need of the physician, but those who are sick (cf. Mt 9:12; Mk 2:17)" (Rule of 1221, Chapter 5).
1459
Bl. Anthony della Chiesa Dominican superior companion of St. Bernardino
of Siena; one
of the leaders opposing the last of the antipopes, Felix V; known
miracle worker with an ability to read the consciences of men and
women; he conversed with Saint Mary, in ecstasy, several times
Anthony was born in 1394, the son of the Marquis della Chiesa, in San Germano, Italy. At twenty, despite his family's objections, Anthony became a Dominican, gaining recognition as a preacher and confessor. He accompanied St. Bernardine on missions and served in various capacities in the Dominican monasteries. Anthony was also one of the leaders opposing the last of the antipopes, Felix V While journeying from Savona to Genoa, Italy, Anthony was captured by pirates but was released unharmed. He was a known miracle worker with an ability to read the consciences of men and women.
Blessed Antony della Chiesa, OP (AC) Born in San Germano, near Vercelli, the Piedmont, Italy, in 1395; died Como, Italy, January 22, 1459; beatified 1819. Antony was born into the nobility, the family of the Marquis della Chiesa, and a collateral ancestor of Pope Benedict XV. He was well educated. Showing a taste early in life for he things of God, he grew up with the hope of becoming a religious. His father, who was a man of some importance, opposed this wish. Not until Antony was 22 was he able to make the break with his family and enter the monastery at Vercelli.
Here he distinguished himself for both sanctity and learning. Being a good preacher, he was for some years the companion of Saint Bernardine of Siena, in his missionary journeys through Italy. Antony was prior at the friaries of Como, Savona, Florence, and Bologna. Antony gives us a picture of one who followed the Dominican life perfectly, managing, most of the time, to escape public notice. There is in his life very little of the glamorous or the unusual. He kept the rule, was a good superior, and a just administrator. Shunning applause, he was always serene.
Anthony was born in 1394, the son of the Marquis della Chiesa, in San Germano, Italy. At twenty, despite his family's objections, Anthony became a Dominican, gaining recognition as a preacher and confessor. He accompanied St. Bernardine on missions and served in various capacities in the Dominican monasteries. Anthony was also one of the leaders opposing the last of the antipopes, Felix V While journeying from Savona to Genoa, Italy, Anthony was captured by pirates but was released unharmed. He was a known miracle worker with an ability to read the consciences of men and women.
Blessed Antony della Chiesa, OP (AC) Born in San Germano, near Vercelli, the Piedmont, Italy, in 1395; died Como, Italy, January 22, 1459; beatified 1819. Antony was born into the nobility, the family of the Marquis della Chiesa, and a collateral ancestor of Pope Benedict XV. He was well educated. Showing a taste early in life for he things of God, he grew up with the hope of becoming a religious. His father, who was a man of some importance, opposed this wish. Not until Antony was 22 was he able to make the break with his family and enter the monastery at Vercelli.
Here he distinguished himself for both sanctity and learning. Being a good preacher, he was for some years the companion of Saint Bernardine of Siena, in his missionary journeys through Italy. Antony was prior at the friaries of Como, Savona, Florence, and Bologna. Antony gives us a picture of one who followed the Dominican life perfectly, managing, most of the time, to escape public notice. There is in his life very little of the glamorous or the unusual. He kept the rule, was a good superior, and a just administrator. Shunning applause, he was always serene.
The legends mention that
he was particularly devoted to Our
Lady, which
is something one takes for granted in a Dominican, and that he
conversed with her, in ecstasy, several times. He had the gift of
reading hearts and was a sought-after director of souls. He also healed
many sick people with his blessing. However, if any miracles are
ordinary ones, these may be so described; they could be given as
typical of most of early Dominicans. At one time, Antony was on a
ship that was captured by pirates, but at his prayer, the pirates
spared the passengers and brought them safely to land.
One of the very few things
of unusual nature that in
Antony's life is a
legend told of him when he was prior of Savona. It makes a lovely ghost
story, and it also provides food for thought. According to the
story, Antony was praying one night in the church. Disturbed by the
sound of horses hooves clattering on the flagstones outside, he went to
see who could possibly be there at such a late hour. There were several
horsemen, all mounted on black horses. He addressed them, but received
no answer. Thinking that they might be foreigners, he tried several
languages, and still there was no response .
Aware, then, that
something was wrong, he commanded them in the name of
the Lord to tell him who they were and where they were going. They said
that they were devils, and that they were on their way to meet the soul
of a dying sinner, a usurer, and escort him to hell. "I will pray for
him," said Antony. The demons laughed and told him he was too late.
"Then at least come back and tell me whether you succeed or not," said
the prior. A short while later, the group returned, and they had
succeeded. They held the unhappy usurer captive, and, while the prior
watched in horror, they bore him off. The man was screaming. The next
day, the usurer's relatives came to arrange an elaborate funeral. "You
would do much better to have Masses said for yourselves and other poor
sinners," he said.
Antony died at Como and
was
buried there in the Dominican church Miracles at his tomb led to his
beatification (Benedictines, Dorcy).
1459 Bl. Anthony della Chiesa Dominican born 1395 at San Germano, near Vercelli, of the noble family of della Chiesa di Roddi, which was afterwards to give to the Church Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo della Chiesa). His religious vocation was opposed by his parents, and he was already twenty-two when he took the habit of the Friars Preachers at Vercelli. He was a very successful preacher and director of souls, and for some years accompanied the Franciscan St Bernardino of Siena on his missions. While prior at Como he completely reformed the life and morals of that town, and was sent successively to govern The friaries at Savona, Florence and Bologna, where he insisted on a rigorous observance of their rule. Each time he relinquished office with joy and had soon to take it again, saying sadly that he who could not even manage an oar was entrusted with the tiller. From 1440 to 1449 the Church was troubled by an antipope, Amadeus of Savoy, calling himself Felix V, who had a large following in Savoy and Switzerland. Bd Antony stoutly opposed himself to this man and succeeded in winning over a number of his adherents to lawful authority. He also preached with great energy against usury, using as a terrible warning the story of a usurer who at his death had lost not only his soul but even his body, which had been carried off by a troop of diabolic horsemen, so that his relatives had to bury an empty coffin. Stories of this sort, some entertaining, some touching, some to our ideas merely silly, were part of the stock-in-trade of every medieval preacher. While going by sea from Savona to Genoa with a fellow friar, the ship in which they were was captured by corsairs ; they had no reason to look for anything but death or slavery, but the pirates were so impressed by the demeanour of the two religious that they set them free without ransom. Bd Antony received the gift of miracles and of discernment of spirits, and predicted the day of his own death, which was at Como on January 28, 1459. His cultus was approved in 1819, his feast being kept on July 28, the date of the translation of his relics to his birthplace in 1810.
1459 Bl. Anthony della Chiesa Dominican born 1395 at San Germano, near Vercelli, of the noble family of della Chiesa di Roddi, which was afterwards to give to the Church Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo della Chiesa). His religious vocation was opposed by his parents, and he was already twenty-two when he took the habit of the Friars Preachers at Vercelli. He was a very successful preacher and director of souls, and for some years accompanied the Franciscan St Bernardino of Siena on his missions. While prior at Como he completely reformed the life and morals of that town, and was sent successively to govern The friaries at Savona, Florence and Bologna, where he insisted on a rigorous observance of their rule. Each time he relinquished office with joy and had soon to take it again, saying sadly that he who could not even manage an oar was entrusted with the tiller. From 1440 to 1449 the Church was troubled by an antipope, Amadeus of Savoy, calling himself Felix V, who had a large following in Savoy and Switzerland. Bd Antony stoutly opposed himself to this man and succeeded in winning over a number of his adherents to lawful authority. He also preached with great energy against usury, using as a terrible warning the story of a usurer who at his death had lost not only his soul but even his body, which had been carried off by a troop of diabolic horsemen, so that his relatives had to bury an empty coffin. Stories of this sort, some entertaining, some touching, some to our ideas merely silly, were part of the stock-in-trade of every medieval preacher. While going by sea from Savona to Genoa with a fellow friar, the ship in which they were was captured by corsairs ; they had no reason to look for anything but death or slavery, but the pirates were so impressed by the demeanour of the two religious that they set them free without ransom. Bd Antony received the gift of miracles and of discernment of spirits, and predicted the day of his own death, which was at Como on January 28, 1459. His cultus was approved in 1819, his feast being kept on July 28, the date of the translation of his relics to his birthplace in 1810.
An account of Bd Antony is furnished in Procter, Lives of the Dominican Saints, pp.
210-213. See further V. Pellazza, Elogio storico del B. Antonio
(1863) Taurisano, Catalogus
Hagiographicus O.P., p. 40; and L. Ferretti, Vita del B. Antonio (1919).
Sancti Antoníni, ex Ordine Prædicatórum, Epíscopi Florentíni et Confessóris, cujus dies natális sexto Nonas mensis hujus recensétur.
St. Antoninus of the Order of Preachers, confessor and archbishop of Florence, whose birthday is the 2nd of May.
Born in Florence, Italy, in 1389 (or 1384?); died there on May 2, 1459; canonized in 1523.
The story of Antonino
Pierozzi is that of a great soul in a
frail body,
and of the triumph of virtue over vast and organized wickedness. His
father, Niccolo Pierozzi, had been a noted lawyer, notary to the
Republic of Florence. He and his wife Thomassina had their only child
baptized as Antonio, but because the saint was both small and gentle
people called him by the affectionate diminutive 'Antonino' all his
life.
The world in which
he lived was engrossed in the Renaissance; it was a time of violent
political upheaval, of plague, wars, and injustice. The effects of the
Great Schism of the West, over which Saint
Catherine (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) had wept and prayed a generation before,
were still tearing Christendom apart when Antoninus was born--in the
same year as Cosimo de'Medici. The fortunes of Florence were largely to
rest in the hands of these two men.
There are only a few known details about the early life of Antoninus, but they are revealing ones. He was a delicate and lovable child. His stepmother, worried over his frailty, often gave him extra meat at table. The little boy, determined to harden himself for the religious life, would slip the meat under the table to the cats. Kids!
From the cradle his inclination was to piety. His only pleasure was to read the lives of saints and other good books, converse with pious persons, or employ himself in prayer. Accordingly, if he was not at home or at school, he was always to be found at Saint Michael's Church before a crucifix or in our Lady's chapel there. He had a passion for learning, but an even greater ardor to perfect himself in the science of salvation. In prayer, he begged nothing of God but His grace to avoid sin, and to do His holy will in all things.
Antoninus hitched his wagon to the star of great austerity and, at 14, discovered the answer to all his questions in the preaching of Blessed John Dominici(Born in Florence, Italy, 1376 (or 1350?); died in Hungary 1419), who was then the prior of Santa Maria Novella and later became cardinal-archbishop of Ragusa and papal legate. Antoninus went to speak with the preacher and begged to be admitted to the order.
The world in which
he lived was engrossed in the Renaissance; it was a time of violent
political upheaval, of plague, wars, and injustice. The effects of the
Great Schism of the West, over which Saint
Catherine (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) had wept and prayed a generation before,
were still tearing Christendom apart when Antoninus was born--in the
same year as Cosimo de'Medici. The fortunes of Florence were largely to
rest in the hands of these two men.There are only a few known details about the early life of Antoninus, but they are revealing ones. He was a delicate and lovable child. His stepmother, worried over his frailty, often gave him extra meat at table. The little boy, determined to harden himself for the religious life, would slip the meat under the table to the cats. Kids!
From the cradle his inclination was to piety. His only pleasure was to read the lives of saints and other good books, converse with pious persons, or employ himself in prayer. Accordingly, if he was not at home or at school, he was always to be found at Saint Michael's Church before a crucifix or in our Lady's chapel there. He had a passion for learning, but an even greater ardor to perfect himself in the science of salvation. In prayer, he begged nothing of God but His grace to avoid sin, and to do His holy will in all things.
Antoninus hitched his wagon to the star of great austerity and, at 14, discovered the answer to all his questions in the preaching of Blessed John Dominici(Born in Florence, Italy, 1376 (or 1350?); died in Hungary 1419), who was then the prior of Santa Maria Novella and later became cardinal-archbishop of Ragusa and papal legate. Antoninus went to speak with the preacher and begged to be admitted to the order.
At the time, Blessed John
was
reforming the Dominican priories of the area according to the wishes of
Blessed Raymond of Capua(Born
1330 at Capua, Italy as Raymond delle Vigne Died 5 Oct 1399 at
Nuremberg Germany of natural causes). John planned to build a new and
reformed house at Fiesole (near Florence), which he hoped to start
again with young and fervent subjects who would revivify the order. It
declined under the plague and effects of the schism. As yet, he had no
building in which to house the new recruits.
Even were the monastery completed, it was to be a house of rigorous observance, and Antoninus looked far too small and frail for such an austere community. John Dominici, not wishing to quench the wick of youthful eagerness, had not the heart to explain all this. He told Antoninus to go home and memorize the large and forbidding book called Decretum Gratiani, supposing that its very bulk would discourage the lad.
{It was about 1150 that the Camaldolese monk, Gratian, professor of theology at the University of Bologna, to obviate the difficulties which beset the study of practical, external theology (theologia practica externa), i. e. canon law, composed the work entitled by himself "Concordia discordantium canonum", but called by others "Nova collectio", "Decreta", "Corpus juris canonici", also "Decretum Gratiani", the latter being now the commonly accepted name.
In spite of its great reputation the "Decretum" has never been recognized by the Church as an official collection. It is divided into three parts (ministeria, negotia, sacramenta).
The first part is divided into 101 distinctions (distinctiones), the first 20 of which form an introduction to the general principles of canon Law (tractatus decretalium); the remainder constitutes a tractatus ordinandorum, relative to ecclesiastical persons and function.
The second part contains 36 causes (causœ), divided into questions (quœstiones), and treat of ecclesiastical administration and marriage; the third question of the 33rd causa treats of the Sacrament of Penance and is divided into 7 distinctions.
The third part, entitled "De consecratione", treats of the sacraments and other sacred things and contains 5 distinctions. Each distinction or question contains dicta Gratiani, or maxims of Gratian, and canones. Gratian himself raises questions and brings forward difficulties, which he answers by quoting auctoritates, i. e. canons of councils, decretals of the popes, texts of the Scripture or of the Fathers. These are the canones; the entire remaining portion, even the summaries of the canons and the chronological indications, are called the maxims or dicta Gratiani. It is to be noted that many auctoritates have been inserted in the "Decretum" by authors of a later date. These are the Paleœ, so called from Paucapalea, the name of the principal commentator on the "Decretum". The Roman revisers of the sixteenth century (1566-82) corrected the text of the "Decree" and added many critical notes designated by the words Correctores Romani.}
Even were the monastery completed, it was to be a house of rigorous observance, and Antoninus looked far too small and frail for such an austere community. John Dominici, not wishing to quench the wick of youthful eagerness, had not the heart to explain all this. He told Antoninus to go home and memorize the large and forbidding book called Decretum Gratiani, supposing that its very bulk would discourage the lad.
{It was about 1150 that the Camaldolese monk, Gratian, professor of theology at the University of Bologna, to obviate the difficulties which beset the study of practical, external theology (theologia practica externa), i. e. canon law, composed the work entitled by himself "Concordia discordantium canonum", but called by others "Nova collectio", "Decreta", "Corpus juris canonici", also "Decretum Gratiani", the latter being now the commonly accepted name.
In spite of its great reputation the "Decretum" has never been recognized by the Church as an official collection. It is divided into three parts (ministeria, negotia, sacramenta).
The first part is divided into 101 distinctions (distinctiones), the first 20 of which form an introduction to the general principles of canon Law (tractatus decretalium); the remainder constitutes a tractatus ordinandorum, relative to ecclesiastical persons and function.
The second part contains 36 causes (causœ), divided into questions (quœstiones), and treat of ecclesiastical administration and marriage; the third question of the 33rd causa treats of the Sacrament of Penance and is divided into 7 distinctions.
The third part, entitled "De consecratione", treats of the sacraments and other sacred things and contains 5 distinctions. Each distinction or question contains dicta Gratiani, or maxims of Gratian, and canones. Gratian himself raises questions and brings forward difficulties, which he answers by quoting auctoritates, i. e. canons of councils, decretals of the popes, texts of the Scripture or of the Fathers. These are the canones; the entire remaining portion, even the summaries of the canons and the chronological indications, are called the maxims or dicta Gratiani. It is to be noted that many auctoritates have been inserted in the "Decretum" by authors of a later date. These are the Paleœ, so called from Paucapalea, the name of the principal commentator on the "Decretum". The Roman revisers of the sixteenth century (1566-82) corrected the text of the "Decree" and added many critical notes designated by the words Correctores Romani.}
Antoninus, however, was
possessed of an iron will. He went
home and
began to read the book straight through. By the end of the year, he had
finished the nearly impossible task set before him, and returned to
Blessed John to recite it as requested. There was now no further way to
delay his reception into the order, so he was received into the
Dominican Order "for the future priory of Fiesole" in 1405 by Blessed
John.
Due to the unsettled state of the Church, the order, and Italian politics, the training of the young aspirants was conducted at several different locations, including Cortona, and, for a time, the regular course of studies could not be pursued. Antoninus, nothing daunted, studied by himself. He was happily associated during these years with several future Dominican saints and beati, including Lawrence of Ripafratta, the novice master; Blessed Constantius of Fabriano(Born in Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy, 1410; died at Ascoli, Italy, 1481;); Peter Capucci(Born at Città di Castello (the ancient Tifernum), in 1390; died 1445;) and his great friend, the artist, Saint Fra Angelico (Born in Mugello near Florence, Italy, in 1386 or 1387; died in Rome, Italy, in 1455).
Ordained and set to preaching, Antoninus soon won his place in the hearts of the Florentines. Each time he said Mass, he was moved to tears by the mercy of God, and his own devotion moved other hearts. He was given consecutively several positions in the order. While still very young, he was made prior of the Minerva in Rome (1430). He served the friars in various priories in Italy (including Cortona, Fiesole (1418-28), Naples, Gaeta, Siena, and Florence). As superior of the reformed Tuscan and Neapolitan congregations, and also as prior provincial of the whole Roman province, Antoninus zealously enforced the reforms initiated by John Dominici with a view to restoring the primitive rule. Antoninus became a distinguished master of canon law and assisted popes at their councils. There is evidence that at some point he served as a judge on the Rota. Pope Eugenius IV summoned him to attend the general Council of Florence (1439), and he assisted at all its sessions.
In 1436, he founded the famous priory of San Marco in Florence with the financial aid of Cosimo de'Medici in buildings abandoned by the Silvestrines. Under his guidance and encouragement, the San Marco's monastery became the center of Christian art. He called upon his old companion, Saint Fra Angelico, and on the miniaturist, Fra Benedetto (Angelico's natural brother), to do the frescoes and the choir books which are still preserved there. He also ensured that an outstanding library was collected.
Due to the unsettled state of the Church, the order, and Italian politics, the training of the young aspirants was conducted at several different locations, including Cortona, and, for a time, the regular course of studies could not be pursued. Antoninus, nothing daunted, studied by himself. He was happily associated during these years with several future Dominican saints and beati, including Lawrence of Ripafratta, the novice master; Blessed Constantius of Fabriano(Born in Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy, 1410; died at Ascoli, Italy, 1481;); Peter Capucci(Born at Città di Castello (the ancient Tifernum), in 1390; died 1445;) and his great friend, the artist, Saint Fra Angelico (Born in Mugello near Florence, Italy, in 1386 or 1387; died in Rome, Italy, in 1455).
Ordained and set to preaching, Antoninus soon won his place in the hearts of the Florentines. Each time he said Mass, he was moved to tears by the mercy of God, and his own devotion moved other hearts. He was given consecutively several positions in the order. While still very young, he was made prior of the Minerva in Rome (1430). He served the friars in various priories in Italy (including Cortona, Fiesole (1418-28), Naples, Gaeta, Siena, and Florence). As superior of the reformed Tuscan and Neapolitan congregations, and also as prior provincial of the whole Roman province, Antoninus zealously enforced the reforms initiated by John Dominici with a view to restoring the primitive rule. Antoninus became a distinguished master of canon law and assisted popes at their councils. There is evidence that at some point he served as a judge on the Rota. Pope Eugenius IV summoned him to attend the general Council of Florence (1439), and he assisted at all its sessions.
In 1436, he founded the famous priory of San Marco in Florence with the financial aid of Cosimo de'Medici in buildings abandoned by the Silvestrines. Under his guidance and encouragement, the San Marco's monastery became the center of Christian art. He called upon his old companion, Saint Fra Angelico, and on the miniaturist, Fra Benedetto (Angelico's natural brother), to do the frescoes and the choir books which are still preserved there. He also ensured that an outstanding library was collected.
Antoninus is still
remembered today in the exquisite
'Cloister of Saint
Antoninus' with its wide arches and beautiful ionic capitals, designed
in the saint's lifetime by Michelozzo for San Marco. In the lunettes of
the cloister Bernardino Poccetti and others painted scenes from
Antoninus's life. (When Giambologna restored and altered the church of
San Marco in 1588, he built for the saint's body a superb chapel.)
To his horror, Antoninus's wisdom and pastoral zeal made him a natural choice by Pope Eugenius IV for archbishop of Florence in 1446. Although Tabor reports that the pope had first chosen Fra Angelico, whose purity and wisdom had become known when he was painting in Rome. The artist entreated the holy father to choose Fra Antoninus instead, who had done great service by his unworldliness and gentle but irresistible power.
Antoninus's appointment as bishop was a genuine heartbreak to a scholar who could never find enough time to study; in fact, he had been in Naples for two years reforming the houses of the province when he received word of the nomination and confirmation by the Florentines. For a time he tried to escape accepting the dignity by hiding himself on the island of Sardinia. That did not work. So he tried begging the holy father to excuse him because of his weak physical constitution. The pope would accept no excuses; he commanded Antoninus to proceed immediately to Fiesole under the pain of excommunication for disobedience.
While he obeyed with trepidation, it was a blessing for the people of Florence that he was consecrated bishop in March 1446; they were not slow in demonstrating their appreciation of their good fortune. He was the 'people's prelate' and the 'protector of the poor' for he discharged his office with inflexible justice and overflowing charity. His love extended to the rich, too. The next year, the dying Pope Eugenius summoned Antoninus to Rome in order to receive the last sacraments from the holy bishop before dying in his arms on February 23, 1447.
For the remainder of his life, Antoninus combined an amazing amount of active work with constant prayer. He allowed himself very little sleep. In addition to the church office, he recited daily the office of our Lady, and the seven penitential psalms; the office of the dead twice a week; and the whole psalter on every festival. His prayer life allowed him to exhibit an exterior of serenity regardless of the situation.
To his horror, Antoninus's wisdom and pastoral zeal made him a natural choice by Pope Eugenius IV for archbishop of Florence in 1446. Although Tabor reports that the pope had first chosen Fra Angelico, whose purity and wisdom had become known when he was painting in Rome. The artist entreated the holy father to choose Fra Antoninus instead, who had done great service by his unworldliness and gentle but irresistible power.
Antoninus's appointment as bishop was a genuine heartbreak to a scholar who could never find enough time to study; in fact, he had been in Naples for two years reforming the houses of the province when he received word of the nomination and confirmation by the Florentines. For a time he tried to escape accepting the dignity by hiding himself on the island of Sardinia. That did not work. So he tried begging the holy father to excuse him because of his weak physical constitution. The pope would accept no excuses; he commanded Antoninus to proceed immediately to Fiesole under the pain of excommunication for disobedience.
While he obeyed with trepidation, it was a blessing for the people of Florence that he was consecrated bishop in March 1446; they were not slow in demonstrating their appreciation of their good fortune. He was the 'people's prelate' and the 'protector of the poor' for he discharged his office with inflexible justice and overflowing charity. His love extended to the rich, too. The next year, the dying Pope Eugenius summoned Antoninus to Rome in order to receive the last sacraments from the holy bishop before dying in his arms on February 23, 1447.
For the remainder of his life, Antoninus combined an amazing amount of active work with constant prayer. He allowed himself very little sleep. In addition to the church office, he recited daily the office of our Lady, and the seven penitential psalms; the office of the dead twice a week; and the whole psalter on every festival. His prayer life allowed him to exhibit an exterior of serenity regardless of the situation.
Francis Castillo, his
secretary, once said to him, bishops
were to be
pitied if they were to be eternally besieged with hurry as he was. The
saint made him this answer, which the author of his vita wished to see
written in letters of gold:
"To enjoy interior peace, we must always reserve in our hearts amidst all affairs, as it were, a secret closet, where we are to keep retired within ourselves, and where no business of the world can over enter."
Because of his reputation for wisdom and ability, Antoninus was often called upon to help in public affairs civil & ecclesiastical. Pope Nicholas V sought his advice on matters of church and state, forbade any appeal to be made to Rome from the archbishop's judgements, and declared that Antonino in his lifetime was as worthy of canonization as the dead Bernardino of Siena(Born in Massa Marittima (near Siena), Tuscany, Italy, on September 8, 1380; died in Aquila, Italy, May 20, 1444;), whom he was about to raise to the altars.
Pius II nominated him to a commission charged with reforming the Roman court. The Florentine government gave him important embassies on behalf of the republic and would have sent him as their representative to the emperor if illness had not prevented him from leaving Florence. Yet he also busied himself with the beauty of the chant, and personally attended the Divine Office at his cathedral.
A distinguished writer on international law and moral theology, his best known work is Summa moralis, which is generally thought to have laid the groundwork for modern moral theology. He was conscious of the new problems presented by social and economic development, and taught that the state had a duty to intervene in mercantile affairs for the common good, and to give help to the unfortunate and needy. He was among the first Christian moralists to teach that money invested in commerce and industry was true capital; therefore, it was lawful and not usury to claim interest on it (combine this information with the fact that he was a staunch opponent of usury). All his many books were of a practical nature, including guidance for confessors (Summa confessionis) and a chronicle of the history of the world.
His first concern, however, was always for the people of his diocese, to whom he set an example of simple living and inflexible integrity. He preached regularly, made a yearly visitation of all the parishes in the diocese on foot, put down gambling, opposed both usury and magic, reformed abuses of all kinds, and served as the example of Christian charity. Each day he held an audience for anyone who wished to speak with him. No one appealed for his help, material or spiritual, in vain.
"To enjoy interior peace, we must always reserve in our hearts amidst all affairs, as it were, a secret closet, where we are to keep retired within ourselves, and where no business of the world can over enter."
Because of his reputation for wisdom and ability, Antoninus was often called upon to help in public affairs civil & ecclesiastical. Pope Nicholas V sought his advice on matters of church and state, forbade any appeal to be made to Rome from the archbishop's judgements, and declared that Antonino in his lifetime was as worthy of canonization as the dead Bernardino of Siena(Born in Massa Marittima (near Siena), Tuscany, Italy, on September 8, 1380; died in Aquila, Italy, May 20, 1444;), whom he was about to raise to the altars.
Pius II nominated him to a commission charged with reforming the Roman court. The Florentine government gave him important embassies on behalf of the republic and would have sent him as their representative to the emperor if illness had not prevented him from leaving Florence. Yet he also busied himself with the beauty of the chant, and personally attended the Divine Office at his cathedral.
A distinguished writer on international law and moral theology, his best known work is Summa moralis, which is generally thought to have laid the groundwork for modern moral theology. He was conscious of the new problems presented by social and economic development, and taught that the state had a duty to intervene in mercantile affairs for the common good, and to give help to the unfortunate and needy. He was among the first Christian moralists to teach that money invested in commerce and industry was true capital; therefore, it was lawful and not usury to claim interest on it (combine this information with the fact that he was a staunch opponent of usury). All his many books were of a practical nature, including guidance for confessors (Summa confessionis) and a chronicle of the history of the world.
His first concern, however, was always for the people of his diocese, to whom he set an example of simple living and inflexible integrity. He preached regularly, made a yearly visitation of all the parishes in the diocese on foot, put down gambling, opposed both usury and magic, reformed abuses of all kinds, and served as the example of Christian charity. Each day he held an audience for anyone who wished to speak with him. No one appealed for his help, material or spiritual, in vain.
Antoninus was probably best known for his kindness to the poor, and there were many in the rich city of Florence. He pulled up his own flower garden and planted vegetables for the poor. He drove his housekeeper to distraction by giving away even his own tableware, food, clothing, and furniture. He never possessed any small precious objects, such as plates or jewels. His stable generally housed one mule, which he often sold to relieve some poor person. When that happened, some wealthy citizen would buy the animal and offer it as a present to the charitable archbishop. He kept in personal contact with the poor of the city, particularly with those who had fallen from wealth and were ashamed to beg. For their care he founded a society called the "Goodmen of Saint Martin of Tours," who went about quietly doing much-needed charitable work--much in the fashion of our modern Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. His particular establishment now provides for about 600 families.
His charity did not end with the poor, but also extended to his enemies. A criminal, named Ciardi, who was called before the bishop to answer accusations, attempted to assassinate the archbishop. The saint narrowly escaped the thrust of his poniard, which pierced the back of his chair. Yet Antoninus freely forgave the potential assassin and prayed for his conversion. God answered his prayers so that he had the comfort of seeing Ciardi become a sincere Franciscan penitent.
When the plague again came
to Florence in 1448, it was the saintly
archbishop who took the lead in almsgiving and care of the sick. Many
Dominicans died of the plague as they went about their priestly duties
in the stricken city; sad but undaunted, Antoninus continued to go
about on foot among the people, giving both material and spiritual aid.
During the earthquakes of 1453-1455, he was similarly self-giving. The
example of his own charity led many rich persons to likewise provide
for the afflicted.
Antoninus's was a role
model in other ways, too. When he
learned that
two blind beggars had amassed a fortune, he took the money from them
and distributed it to others in dire necessity. Was this an injustice?
No, he provided for all the needs of the two for the rest of their
lives. The bishop tried to hide his virtue from others and himself,
until he would see reflections of them in his flock. By accident he
discovered one such flame that he had sparked in a poor, obscure
handicraftsman who continually practiced penance. The man spent Sundays
and holidays in the churches, secretly distributed to the poor all he
earned beyond that needed for subsistence, and kept a poor leper in his
home, joyfully serving the ungrateful beggar and dressing his ulcers
with his own hands. The leper, increasingly morose and imperious,
carried complaints against his benefactor to the archbishop, who,
discovering this hidden treasure of sanctity in the handicraftsman,
secretly honored it, while he punished the insolence of the leper.
Cosimo de'Medici, who did
not always have compliments for
Dominicans,
admitted frankly, "Our city has experienced all sorts of misfortunes:
fire, earthquake, drought, plague, seditions, plots. I believe it would
today be nothing but a mass of ruins without the prayers of our holy
archbishop."
After 13 years as bishop, Antoninus died surrounded by his religious brothers from San Marco and mourned by the whole city. His whole life was mirrored in his last words, "to serve God is to reign." Pope Pius II assisted at his funeral, when he was buried in San Marco's church. Pius eulogized Antoninus as one who "conquered avarice and pride, was outstandingly temperate in every way, was a brilliant theologian, and popular preacher."
His hairshirt and other relics were the vehicle for many miracles. It is significant that the canonization of Saint Antoninus was decreed by the short-lived Pope Adrian VI (August 31, 1522, to September 14, 1523), whose ideas for church reform were radical and drastic. His body was found uncorrupted in 1559, when it was translated with pomp and solemnity into a chapel richly adorned by the two brothers Salviati (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Dominicans, Dorcy, Farmer, Husenbeth, Jarrett, Tabor, Walsh).
Antonius of Florence is generally portrayed in art as a Dominican bishop with scales. He might be shown (1) weighing false merchandise against the word of God; (2) as a Dominican with a pallium; (3) as a young man giving alms; (4) drifting down a river in a boat; or (5) holding a book in a bag (Roeder). The likeness of the archbishop was recorded by contemporary artists, as in the bust at Santa Maria Novella and a statue at the nearby Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Antonio del Pollaiuolo's painting of him at the foot of the Cross survives at San Marco, as does a series of scenes from his life in its cloister of San Antonino (Farmer) and a portrait by Fra Bartolomeo (Tabor).
After 13 years as bishop, Antoninus died surrounded by his religious brothers from San Marco and mourned by the whole city. His whole life was mirrored in his last words, "to serve God is to reign." Pope Pius II assisted at his funeral, when he was buried in San Marco's church. Pius eulogized Antoninus as one who "conquered avarice and pride, was outstandingly temperate in every way, was a brilliant theologian, and popular preacher."
His hairshirt and other relics were the vehicle for many miracles. It is significant that the canonization of Saint Antoninus was decreed by the short-lived Pope Adrian VI (August 31, 1522, to September 14, 1523), whose ideas for church reform were radical and drastic. His body was found uncorrupted in 1559, when it was translated with pomp and solemnity into a chapel richly adorned by the two brothers Salviati (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Dominicans, Dorcy, Farmer, Husenbeth, Jarrett, Tabor, Walsh).
Antonius of Florence is generally portrayed in art as a Dominican bishop with scales. He might be shown (1) weighing false merchandise against the word of God; (2) as a Dominican with a pallium; (3) as a young man giving alms; (4) drifting down a river in a boat; or (5) holding a book in a bag (Roeder). The likeness of the archbishop was recorded by contemporary artists, as in the bust at Santa Maria Novella and a statue at the nearby Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Antonio del Pollaiuolo's painting of him at the foot of the Cross survives at San Marco, as does a series of scenes from his life in its cloister of San Antonino (Farmer) and a portrait by Fra Bartolomeo (Tabor).
Archangelo was born, a member of the family of Placentini, in Sicily, about the year 1390. From his childhood he was of a religious and retiring disposition and it caused no surprise when in his early manhood he withdrew himself to a cave, there to live in solitude. As so often happens, many people invaded his retreat to seek his advice and conversation, and when it was said that miracles had taken place there, they came in greater numbers.
This distressed Archangelo; his charity was evoked by the needs of his visitors, but his humility represented him to himself as ill-equipped to help them. So he removed to Alcamo; here he was asked to revive and organize a decayed hospice for the poor, which he undertook, but when it was firmly re-established he once more returned to the solitary life.
It happened that Pope Martin V saw fit to order all the hermits in Sicily, of which there were many, to return to the world or to accept the religious life in an approved order. Obedient to this decree, Bd Archangelo went to Palermo and there received the habit of the Friars Minor of the Observance from Bd Matthew of Girgenti. After profession he was sent to the hospital at Alcamo to establish it as a house of the order, which was done. Archangelo accepted the Rule of St Francis in all its primitive austerity, and he was withdrawn from Alcamo to be minister provincial of the Sicilian Observants. In that office he was able to come to the help of Bd Matthew when, after resigning the see of Girgenti, he was shown the door by the father guardian who had succeeded Archangelo at Alcamo. Worn out with penance and work for souls, Archangelo died on April io, 1460, and Pope Gregory XVI confirmed his cultus in 1836.
The fullest source of
information is the volume of Fr A. Gioia, Il beato Arcangelo Placenza da Calatafimi (1926).
The author has been able to use the materials submitted for the confirmatio cultus, and also a rare
biography of the beatus by P. Longo printed in 1804. See also
Leon, Aureole Seraphique
(Eng, trans.), vol. ii, pp. 59-64
John Gonzales de Castrillo was born at Sahagun, Leon Spain. He was educated by the Benedictine monks of Fagondez monastery there and when twenty, received a canonry from the bishop of Burgos, though he already had several benefices. He was ordained in 1445; concerned about the evil of pluralism, he resigned all his benefices except that of St. Agatha in Burgos. He spent the next four years studying at the University of Salamanca and then began to preach. In the next decade he achieved a great reputation as a preacher and spiritual director, but after recovering after a serious operation, became an Augustinian friar in 1463 and was professed the following year. He served as master of novices, definitor, prior at Salamanca, experienced visions, was famous for his miracles, and had the gift of reading men's souls. He denounced evil in high places and several attempts were made on his life. He died at Sahagun on June 11, reportedly poisoned by the mistress of a man he had convinced to leave her. He was canonized in 1690 as St. John of Sahagun.
BD MARGARET was allied in blood to the principal royal houses of Europe, her father being Amadeus of Savoy and her mother a sister of the Clement VII who claimed to be pope at Avignon during the “great schism”. In 1403 she made a marriage befitting this high rank, with Theodore Palaeologus, Marquis of Montferrat, a widower with two children, a headstrong soldier but a good Christian at heart. Margaret herself had no children but was devoted to those of her husband, and soon endeared herself on all hands, working selflessly for the people during a plague and the famine that followed it in Genoa.
In 1418 the Marquis of Montferrat died. Margaret, after endeavouring for a time to bring the unhappy marital affairs of her stepdaughter to a successful issue, went to live on her estate at Alba in Piedmont, where she bound herself by vow to widowhood and a life of good works. But she was still young, thirty-six at the most, and politically a most desirable match, and Philip Visconti of Milan wanted to marry her. He was an old enemy of the Montferrats, a man of deplorable character, and Margaret refused him, pleading her vow. So Visconti went off to Pope Martin V and came back with a dispensation for her, but she remained firm in her determination not again to change her state.
In her youth she had been friendly with St Vincent Ferrer, and to strengthen her position she took the habit of the third order of St Dominic and with other ladies formed a community at Alba. This retired life of prayer, study and charitable works lasted for some twenty-five years. There is in the royal library at Turin a volume of the letters of St Catherine of Siena and other matters copied and bound “by order of the illustrious lady, Margaret of Savoy, Marchioness of Montferrat” during this time.
Then Pope Eugenius IV gave permission for the tertiary sisters to become nuns, in the same place and under the rule of Bd Margaret. During the last sixteen years of her life ecstasies and miracles are alleged in abundance, among them a vision of our Lord offering her three arrows, labelled respectively Sickness, Slander and Persecution. Certainly Margaret suffered from all three. She was accused of hypocrisy, of tyrannizing over her nuns, and her ill-health was attributed to self-indulgence, and Philip Visconti spread the rumour that the convent was a centre of the Waldensian heresy. This was a peculiarly shocking charge to bring against children of St Dominic, and the innocent friar who was their confessor and director found himself in prison. Margaret went to demand his release, but only had her hand brutally crushed between the heavy doors of the castle for her pains, and it was some time before the man was vindicated from the malicious accusation of having corrupted both the faith and morals of his charges.
Four or five
lives
of Bd Margaret seem to have been published in the seventeenth century,
that by
G. Baresiano appearing in 1638. In more modern times we have an Italian
biography by F. G. Allaria (1877), another without the author’s name
(Torino,
1883), and a shorter notice included in M. C. de Ganay’s book, Les Bienheureuses Dominicaines (1914), pp.
251—277. See also Procter, Lives
of Dominican Saints, pp. 334—337.
1480 Saints
moines
Marc, Jona et Vassa qui ont fondé le monastère de
Pskovo-Pechersk
réaparaissait miraculeusement.
Les moines Marc, Jonas et Vassa sont vénérés comme étant parmi les Pères qui ont fondé le monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk.
On ne sait pas avec précision quand les premiers ermites se sont installés près des ruisseaux de Kamenets dans les cavernes naturelles de la colline, que les habitants locaux ont appelé "la colline sainte." La chronique du monastère présente un compte-rendu d'un témoin oculaire, le chasseur-trappeur de Izborsk surnommé Selishi: "Un jour par hasard, nous avons abouti avec notre père sur la colline extérieure, où se trouve maintenant l'église de la Mère de Dieu, et a entendu ce qui ressemblait à des chants d'église; ils chantaient harmonieusement et respectueusement, mais on n'arrivait pas à voir ceux qui chantaient, et l'air était rempli d'un parfum d'encens."
Des premiers Anciens du monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk, seul Marc est connu par son nom. De lui il témoigne: "Au début, un premier Ancien habitait près de la crue du Kamenets dans la caverne, certains pêcheurs l'ont aperçu aux trois rochers, se couchant par-dessus la caverne de l'église de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu; mais nous n'avons pas pu découvrir quoique ce soit à son égard -- qui était-il et son origine familliale, ni comment et d'où il était venu à cet endroit, ni combien de temps il était demeuré ici, ni comment il était mort."
Le deuxième higoumène du monastère de Pechersk portait le nom de Starets [Ancien] Marc dans le Synodikon du monastère. Le moine Kornilii (commémoré 20 février), comme higoumène a douté de la véracité de cette inscription et il a ordonné que le nom soit effacé du Synodikon. Soudain il est tombé gravement malade et a reçu une révélation, comme quoi ceci était une punition pour son ordre de rayer le nom du moine Marc du diptyque du monastère. Implorant le pardon avec larmes et prières sur la tombe du staretz Marc, l'higoumène Kornilii réinscrit le nom du saint. Quand l'église souterraine de l'Uspenie [Dormition] de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu a été réinstallée à l'air libre et les tombes excavées, l'higoumène Dorophei a trouvé la tombe du moine Marc en délabrement, mais ses reliques et vêtements intacts.
En 1472, le paysan Ivan Dement'ev a abattu la forêt sur la colline escarpée. Un des arbres abattus a roulé en bas, déracinant par ses racines un autre arbre. La chute a mis à nu l'entrée d'une caverne, au-dessus de laquelle il était écrit: "Une caverne construite par Dieu." Il existe une tradition à cet égard qui rapporte qu'un certain moine Fol-en-Christ Varlaam, à chaque fois qu'il venait à la caverne, il effaçait cette inscription, mais qu'à chaque fois elle réaparaissait miraculeusement.
Les moines Marc, Jonas et Vassa sont vénérés comme étant parmi les Pères qui ont fondé le monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk.
On ne sait pas avec précision quand les premiers ermites se sont installés près des ruisseaux de Kamenets dans les cavernes naturelles de la colline, que les habitants locaux ont appelé "la colline sainte." La chronique du monastère présente un compte-rendu d'un témoin oculaire, le chasseur-trappeur de Izborsk surnommé Selishi: "Un jour par hasard, nous avons abouti avec notre père sur la colline extérieure, où se trouve maintenant l'église de la Mère de Dieu, et a entendu ce qui ressemblait à des chants d'église; ils chantaient harmonieusement et respectueusement, mais on n'arrivait pas à voir ceux qui chantaient, et l'air était rempli d'un parfum d'encens."
Des premiers Anciens du monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk, seul Marc est connu par son nom. De lui il témoigne: "Au début, un premier Ancien habitait près de la crue du Kamenets dans la caverne, certains pêcheurs l'ont aperçu aux trois rochers, se couchant par-dessus la caverne de l'église de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu; mais nous n'avons pas pu découvrir quoique ce soit à son égard -- qui était-il et son origine familliale, ni comment et d'où il était venu à cet endroit, ni combien de temps il était demeuré ici, ni comment il était mort."
Le deuxième higoumène du monastère de Pechersk portait le nom de Starets [Ancien] Marc dans le Synodikon du monastère. Le moine Kornilii (commémoré 20 février), comme higoumène a douté de la véracité de cette inscription et il a ordonné que le nom soit effacé du Synodikon. Soudain il est tombé gravement malade et a reçu une révélation, comme quoi ceci était une punition pour son ordre de rayer le nom du moine Marc du diptyque du monastère. Implorant le pardon avec larmes et prières sur la tombe du staretz Marc, l'higoumène Kornilii réinscrit le nom du saint. Quand l'église souterraine de l'Uspenie [Dormition] de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu a été réinstallée à l'air libre et les tombes excavées, l'higoumène Dorophei a trouvé la tombe du moine Marc en délabrement, mais ses reliques et vêtements intacts.
En 1472, le paysan Ivan Dement'ev a abattu la forêt sur la colline escarpée. Un des arbres abattus a roulé en bas, déracinant par ses racines un autre arbre. La chute a mis à nu l'entrée d'une caverne, au-dessus de laquelle il était écrit: "Une caverne construite par Dieu." Il existe une tradition à cet égard qui rapporte qu'un certain moine Fol-en-Christ Varlaam, à chaque fois qu'il venait à la caverne, il effaçait cette inscription, mais qu'à chaque fois elle réaparaissait miraculeusement.
En ce
saint
lieu de prière fréquenté par les premiers
ascètes, est venu d'ailleurs
le prêtre Jean, surnommé "Shestnik." Il était natif
de Moscovie et
avait servi comm prêtre à Iur'ev (maintenant Tartu) dans
"une église de
vrais croyants, établie par les gens de Pskov" et
dédiée à saint
Nicolas et au saint mégalomartyr George, et ensemble avec le
prêtre
Isidor, ils avaient nourri spirituellement les Russes habitant
là-bas.
En 1470 le Père Jean a été obligé de fuir
avec sa famille à Pskov, à
cause de la persécution des Allemand-Catholiques [note jmd : il
s'agit
des "Chevaliers Teutoniques", cfr saint Alexandre Nevski]. Ayant appris
que son ami avait péri en martyr (on commémore le
prêtre et martyr
Isidor le 8 janvier), Jean a décidé de se retirer dans
cette
récemment-apparue "caverne construite par Dieu," afin que
là-bas, sur
la frontière même avec les Livoniens, il puisse trouver un
un monastère
comme un poste avancé de l'Orthodoxie.
Peu après sa femme tomba malade et, ayant prononcé ses voeux monastiques sous le nom de Vassa, elle mourrut. Sa vertu éclata immédiatement après sa mort. Son mari et son père spirituel ont enterré le religieuse Vassa dans le mur de "la caverne construite par Dieu," mais de nuit son cercueil "s'enleva du sol par le pouvoir invisible de Dieu." Le Père Jean et le prêtre-confesseur de la religieuse Vassa, perturbés, pensaient que cela venait du fait qu'ils auraient oublié de chanter une partie de l'office de défunts, alors ils ont recélébré l'office funèbre, puis réenterré le corps, mais au matin il était à nouveau "au dessus du sol." Alors tout s'éclairci : c'était un signe de Dieu. Ils ont bâtit une tombe pour la religieuse Vassa dans la caverne, sur le côté gauche. Bouleversés par le miracle, Jean a prononcé ses voeux monastiques sous le nom de Jonas et commencé à devenir un fervent ascète.
Ayant mis à l'air libre, à la main, l'église de caverne et deux cellules, placées sur des piliers, il a commencé à adresser des requêtes au clergé de la cathédrale de la Trinité de Pskovsk pour le consacrer, mais ils n'ont pas voulu le faire directement "à cause de l'emplacement insolite." Alors le Moine Jonas sollicita la bénédiction de l'archévêque Theophile de Novgorod.
Et le 15 août 1473, l'église de caverne a été consacrée en l'honneur de l'Uspenie [Dormition] de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu. Pendant la consécration, un miracle a eu lieu, venant d'une icône d'Uspenie de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu, "envoyé par le Dieu clément qui commence Ses grands dons à Sa Toute-Pure Mère" -- une aveugle a recouvert la vue. (Cette icône, qu'ils appellent "l'ancienne" -- pour faire la distinction avec une autre icône miraculeuse de la Dormtion de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu bordée de scènes de Sa vie -- a été écrite en 1421 par l'iconographe Aleksei de Pskov, et est conservée à présent dans l'autel du temple d'Uspensk, dans le batiment sur la colline. L'icône a bordé avec la vie -- est la client-icône de temple de l'église de caverne.)
La date de consécration de l'église de caverne est reprise comme date officielle de la fondation du monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk. Le Moine Jonas vécut en ascète au monastère de caverne jusqu'en 1480 et s'endormit paisiblement dans le Seigneur. A sa mort, on découvrit sur son corps une cotte de mailles en fer, qui a été accrochée ai-dessus de sa tombe en témoignage des actes ascétiques secrets du moine, mais elle fut volée durant une incursion des Allemands.
Peu après sa femme tomba malade et, ayant prononcé ses voeux monastiques sous le nom de Vassa, elle mourrut. Sa vertu éclata immédiatement après sa mort. Son mari et son père spirituel ont enterré le religieuse Vassa dans le mur de "la caverne construite par Dieu," mais de nuit son cercueil "s'enleva du sol par le pouvoir invisible de Dieu." Le Père Jean et le prêtre-confesseur de la religieuse Vassa, perturbés, pensaient que cela venait du fait qu'ils auraient oublié de chanter une partie de l'office de défunts, alors ils ont recélébré l'office funèbre, puis réenterré le corps, mais au matin il était à nouveau "au dessus du sol." Alors tout s'éclairci : c'était un signe de Dieu. Ils ont bâtit une tombe pour la religieuse Vassa dans la caverne, sur le côté gauche. Bouleversés par le miracle, Jean a prononcé ses voeux monastiques sous le nom de Jonas et commencé à devenir un fervent ascète.
Ayant mis à l'air libre, à la main, l'église de caverne et deux cellules, placées sur des piliers, il a commencé à adresser des requêtes au clergé de la cathédrale de la Trinité de Pskovsk pour le consacrer, mais ils n'ont pas voulu le faire directement "à cause de l'emplacement insolite." Alors le Moine Jonas sollicita la bénédiction de l'archévêque Theophile de Novgorod.
Et le 15 août 1473, l'église de caverne a été consacrée en l'honneur de l'Uspenie [Dormition] de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu. Pendant la consécration, un miracle a eu lieu, venant d'une icône d'Uspenie de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu, "envoyé par le Dieu clément qui commence Ses grands dons à Sa Toute-Pure Mère" -- une aveugle a recouvert la vue. (Cette icône, qu'ils appellent "l'ancienne" -- pour faire la distinction avec une autre icône miraculeuse de la Dormtion de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu bordée de scènes de Sa vie -- a été écrite en 1421 par l'iconographe Aleksei de Pskov, et est conservée à présent dans l'autel du temple d'Uspensk, dans le batiment sur la colline. L'icône a bordé avec la vie -- est la client-icône de temple de l'église de caverne.)
La date de consécration de l'église de caverne est reprise comme date officielle de la fondation du monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk. Le Moine Jonas vécut en ascète au monastère de caverne jusqu'en 1480 et s'endormit paisiblement dans le Seigneur. A sa mort, on découvrit sur son corps une cotte de mailles en fer, qui a été accrochée ai-dessus de sa tombe en témoignage des actes ascétiques secrets du moine, mais elle fut volée durant une incursion des Allemands.
Les
reliques du
moine Jonas reposent dans les cavernes à côté de
celles de l'Ancien
Marc et de la religieuse Vassa. Une fois durant une invasion du
monastère par les chevaliers de Livonian, se moquant des saintes
reliques, ont voulu ouvrir d'un coup d'épée le cercueil
de la
religieuse Vassa, mais une flamme jailli du cercueil de la sainte
ascète. Les traces de ce feu punitif sont visibles de nos jours
sur le
cercueil de la religieuse Vassa.
Saints monks Marc, Jona and Vassa (1480) The monks Marc, Jonas and Vassa are venerated as being among the Fathers who founded the monastery of Pskovo-Pechersk.
One does not know with precision when the first hermits settled close to the brooks of Kamenets in the natural caves of the hill, that the local inhabitants called “the holy hill.” The chronicle of the monastery presents a report of an eyewitness, the hunter-trapper of Izborsk called Selishi: “One day by chance, we ended with our father on the external hill, where now the church of the Mother of God is, and heard what resembled hymns; they sang harmoniously and respectfully, but one did not manage to see those who sang, and the air was filled with an incense perfume.”
The first Old ones of the monastery of Pskovo-Pechersk, only Marc is known by his name. To him it testifies: “At the beginning, first Old lived close to raw to Kamenets in the cave, certain fishermen saw it with the three rocks, lying down over the cave of the church of the Very-Holy Mother of God; but we could not discover though it is in its connection -- who was it and his origin familliale, neither how and from where it had come to this place, neither how long it was remained here, nor how it had died.”
Saints monks Marc, Jona and Vassa (1480) The monks Marc, Jonas and Vassa are venerated as being among the Fathers who founded the monastery of Pskovo-Pechersk.
One does not know with precision when the first hermits settled close to the brooks of Kamenets in the natural caves of the hill, that the local inhabitants called “the holy hill.” The chronicle of the monastery presents a report of an eyewitness, the hunter-trapper of Izborsk called Selishi: “One day by chance, we ended with our father on the external hill, where now the church of the Mother of God is, and heard what resembled hymns; they sang harmoniously and respectfully, but one did not manage to see those who sang, and the air was filled with an incense perfume.”
The first Old ones of the monastery of Pskovo-Pechersk, only Marc is known by his name. To him it testifies: “At the beginning, first Old lived close to raw to Kamenets in the cave, certain fishermen saw it with the three rocks, lying down over the cave of the church of the Very-Holy Mother of God; but we could not discover though it is in its connection -- who was it and his origin familliale, neither how and from where it had come to this place, neither how long it was remained here, nor how it had died.”
The
second
higoumene of the monastery of Pechersk bore the name of Starets [Old]
Marc in Synodikon of the monastery. The Kornilii monk (commemorated
February 20), like higoumene doubted the veracity of this inscription
and it ordered that the name is unobtrusive of Synodikon. Suddenly it
fell seriously sick and received a revelation, as what this was a
punishment for its order to stripe the name of the Marc monk of the
diptych of the monastery. Beseeching forgiveness with tears and prayers
on the tomb of the staretz Marc, the higoumene Kornilii re-registers
the name of the saint. When the underground church of Uspenie
[Dormition] of the Very-Holy Mother of God was reinstalled with the
free air and the excavated tombs, the higoumene Dorophei found fall it
from the Marc monk in dilapidation, but its relics and clothing intact.
In 1472, the peasant Ivan Dement' ev cut down the forest on the escarpée hill. One of the cut down trees rolled in bottom, uprooting by its roots another tree. The fall exposed the entry of a cave, above which he was written: “A cave built by God.” There is a tradition in this respect which reports that a certain monk Varlaam Fol-in-Christ, to each time he came to the cave, he erased this inscription, but that each time it réaparaissait miraculeusement.
In this holy place of prayer attended by the first ascetics, came besides the Jean priest, called “Shestnik.” He was native of Moscovie and had been used comm priest for Iur' ev (now Tartu) in “a church of truths believing, established by people of Pskov” and dedicated to Nicolas saint and to the saint mégalomartyr George, and together with the Isidor priest, they had nourished the Russians spiritually living over there. In 1470 the Jean Father was obliged to flee with his family with Pskov, because of the persecution of the German-Catholics [note jmd: they are the “Knights Teutoniques”, cfr holy Alexandre Nevski]. Having learned that his/her friend had perished as a martyr (one commemorates the priest and martyr Isidor on January 8), Jean decided to withdraw oneself in this recently-appeared “cave built by God,” so that over there, on the border even with Livoniens, it can find a monastery like a advanced station of Orthodoxy.
Shortly after his wife fell sick and, having pronounced her monastic vows under the name of Vassa, it mourrut. Its virtue burst immediately after its death. Her husband and his spiritual father buried to it religious Vassa in the wall of “the cave built by God,” but from night its coffin “was removed ground by the invisible capacity of God.” The Jean Father and the priest-confessor of the Vassa chocolate éclair, disturbed, thought that that came owing to the fact that they would have forgotten to sing part of the office the late ones, then they recélébré the funeral office, then réenterré the body, but in the morning it was again “with the top of the ground.” Then very cleared up: it was a sign of God. They have builds a tomb for the Vassa chocolate éclair in the cave, on the left side. Upset by the miracle, Jean pronounced his monastic vows under the name of Jonas and started to become an enthusiastic ascetic.
Having put at the free air, with the hand, the church of cave and two cells, having placed on pillars, it started to address requests to the clergy of the cathedral of the Trinity of Pskovsk to devote it, but they did not want to directly do it “because of the strange site.” Then the Jonas Monk requested the blessing of archévêque Theophilus de Novgorod.
In 1472, the peasant Ivan Dement' ev cut down the forest on the escarpée hill. One of the cut down trees rolled in bottom, uprooting by its roots another tree. The fall exposed the entry of a cave, above which he was written: “A cave built by God.” There is a tradition in this respect which reports that a certain monk Varlaam Fol-in-Christ, to each time he came to the cave, he erased this inscription, but that each time it réaparaissait miraculeusement.
In this holy place of prayer attended by the first ascetics, came besides the Jean priest, called “Shestnik.” He was native of Moscovie and had been used comm priest for Iur' ev (now Tartu) in “a church of truths believing, established by people of Pskov” and dedicated to Nicolas saint and to the saint mégalomartyr George, and together with the Isidor priest, they had nourished the Russians spiritually living over there. In 1470 the Jean Father was obliged to flee with his family with Pskov, because of the persecution of the German-Catholics [note jmd: they are the “Knights Teutoniques”, cfr holy Alexandre Nevski]. Having learned that his/her friend had perished as a martyr (one commemorates the priest and martyr Isidor on January 8), Jean decided to withdraw oneself in this recently-appeared “cave built by God,” so that over there, on the border even with Livoniens, it can find a monastery like a advanced station of Orthodoxy.
Shortly after his wife fell sick and, having pronounced her monastic vows under the name of Vassa, it mourrut. Its virtue burst immediately after its death. Her husband and his spiritual father buried to it religious Vassa in the wall of “the cave built by God,” but from night its coffin “was removed ground by the invisible capacity of God.” The Jean Father and the priest-confessor of the Vassa chocolate éclair, disturbed, thought that that came owing to the fact that they would have forgotten to sing part of the office the late ones, then they recélébré the funeral office, then réenterré the body, but in the morning it was again “with the top of the ground.” Then very cleared up: it was a sign of God. They have builds a tomb for the Vassa chocolate éclair in the cave, on the left side. Upset by the miracle, Jean pronounced his monastic vows under the name of Jonas and started to become an enthusiastic ascetic.
Having put at the free air, with the hand, the church of cave and two cells, having placed on pillars, it started to address requests to the clergy of the cathedral of the Trinity of Pskovsk to devote it, but they did not want to directly do it “because of the strange site.” Then the Jonas Monk requested the blessing of archévêque Theophilus de Novgorod.
And on
August
15, 1473, the church of cave was devoted in the honor of Uspenie
[Dormition] of the Very-Holy Mother of God. During the dedication, a
miracle took place, coming from an icon of Uspenie of the Very-Holy
Mother of God, “sent by lenient God who begins His great gifts with His
All-Pure Mother” -- a blind man covered the sight. (This icon, which
they call “the old one” -- to make the distinction with another
miraculous icon of Dormtion of the Very-Holy Mother of God bordered of
scenes of His life -- was written in 1421 by the iconographe Aleksei de
Pskov, and is preserved now in the furnace bridge of the temple of
Uspensk, in the building on the hill. The icon bordered with the life
-- is the customer-icon of temple of the church of cave.)
The date of dedication of the church of cave is taken again like dates official from the foundation of the monastery of Pskovo-Pechersk. The Jonas Monk lived as an ascetic with the monastery of cave until 1480 and fell asleep peacefully in the Lord. With his death, one discovered on his body a coat of mail out of iron, which was hung have-top of its tomb in testimony of the secret ascetic acts of the monk, but it was stolen during an incursion of the Germans.
The relics of the Jonas monk rest in the caves beside those of the Former Marc and the Vassa nun. Once during an invasion of the monastery by the knights of Livonian, making fun of the holy relics, wanted to open of a blow of sword the coffin of the Vassa chocolate éclair, but a flame spouted out of the coffin of the holy ascetic. The traces of this punitive fire are visible nowadays on the coffin of the Vassa chocolate éclair.
The date of dedication of the church of cave is taken again like dates official from the foundation of the monastery of Pskovo-Pechersk. The Jonas Monk lived as an ascetic with the monastery of cave until 1480 and fell asleep peacefully in the Lord. With his death, one discovered on his body a coat of mail out of iron, which was hung have-top of its tomb in testimony of the secret ascetic acts of the monk, but it was stolen during an incursion of the Germans.
The relics of the Jonas monk rest in the caves beside those of the Former Marc and the Vassa nun. Once during an invasion of the monastery by the knights of Livonian, making fun of the holy relics, wanted to open of a blow of sword the coffin of the Vassa chocolate éclair, but a flame spouted out of the coffin of the holy ascetic. The traces of this punitive fire are visible nowadays on the coffin of the Vassa chocolate éclair.
Early in the fifteenth
century, there lived at Fabriano a
boy of such
extraordinary goodness that even his parents would sometimes wonder
whether he were not rather an angel than a human child. Once, when his
little sister was suffering from a disease which the doctors pronounced
incurable, Constantius Bernocchi asked his father and mother to join
him in prayer by her bedside that she might recover. They did so, and
she was immediately cured. At the age of fifteen he was admitted to the
Dominican convent of Santa Lucia and he seemed to have received the
habit from the hands of Blessed
Laurence of Ripafratta, at that time prior of this house of
strict observance. Constantius was one of those concerned with the
reform of San Marco in Florence, and it was while he was teaching in
that city that it was discovered that he had the gift of prophecy or
second sight.
Among other examples, the death of St. Antoninus was made known to him at the moment it took place, and this is mentioned by Pope Clement VII in his Bull for the canonization of that saint.
He was also credited with the power of working miracles, and besides the care of his office, he acted as peacemaker outside the convent and quelled popular tumults. He was esteemed so holy that it was reckoned a great favor to speak to him or even to touch his habit. Upon the news of his death, the senate and council assembled, "considering his death a public calamity", and resolved to defray the cost of a public funeral. The cultus of Blessed Constantius was confirmed in 1821.
Blessed Constantius of Fabriano, OP (AC) Born in Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy, 1410; died at Ascoli, Italy, 1481; equivalently beatified in 1821 (or 1811). Constantius Bernocchi is as close to a 'sad saint' as it's possible for a Dominican to get; he is said to have had the gift of tears. However, that is not his only claim to fame. Constantius had an remarkable childhood, not only for the usual signs of precocious piety, but also for a miracle that he worked when he was a little boy. Constantius had a sister who had been bedridden most of her nine years of life. One day, the little boy brought his parents in to her bedside and made them pray with him. The little girl rose up, cured, and she remained well for a long and happy life. Naturally, the parents were amazed, and they were quite sure it had not been their prayers that effected the cure, but those of their little son.
Constantius entered the Dominicans at age 15, and had as his masters Blessed Conradin and Saint Antoninus. He did well in his studies and wrote a commentary on Aristotle. His special forte was Scripture, and he studied it avidly. After his ordination, he was sent to teach in various schools in Italy, arriving eventually at the convent of San Marco in Florence, which had been erected as a house of strict observance. Constantius was eventually appointed prior of this friary that was a leading light in the reform movement. This was a work dear to his heart, and he himself became closely identified with the movement.
Several miracles and prophecies are related about Constantius during his stay in Florence. He one day told a student not to go swimming, because he would surely drown if he did. The student, of course, dismissed the warning and drowned. One day, Constantius came upon a man lying in the middle of the road. The man had been thrown by his horse and was badly injured; he had a broken leg and a broken arm. All he asked was to be taken to some place where care could be given him, but Constantius did better than that--he cured the man and left him, healed and astonished.
Constantius was made prior of Perugia, where he lived a strictly penitential life. Perhaps the things that he saw in visions were responsible for his perpetual sadness, for he foresaw many of the terrible things that would befall Italy in the next few years. He predicted the sack of Fabriano, which occurred in 1517. At the death of Saint Antoninus, he saw the saint going up to heaven, a vision which was recounted in the canonization process.
Blessed Constantius is said to have recited the Office of the Dead every day, and often the whole 150 Psalms, which he knew by heart, and used for examples on every occasion. He also said that he had never been refused any favor for which he had recited the whole psalter. He wrote a number of books; these, for the most part, were sermon material, and some were the lives of the blesseds of the order.
Among other examples, the death of St. Antoninus was made known to him at the moment it took place, and this is mentioned by Pope Clement VII in his Bull for the canonization of that saint.
He was also credited with the power of working miracles, and besides the care of his office, he acted as peacemaker outside the convent and quelled popular tumults. He was esteemed so holy that it was reckoned a great favor to speak to him or even to touch his habit. Upon the news of his death, the senate and council assembled, "considering his death a public calamity", and resolved to defray the cost of a public funeral. The cultus of Blessed Constantius was confirmed in 1821.
Blessed Constantius of Fabriano, OP (AC) Born in Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy, 1410; died at Ascoli, Italy, 1481; equivalently beatified in 1821 (or 1811). Constantius Bernocchi is as close to a 'sad saint' as it's possible for a Dominican to get; he is said to have had the gift of tears. However, that is not his only claim to fame. Constantius had an remarkable childhood, not only for the usual signs of precocious piety, but also for a miracle that he worked when he was a little boy. Constantius had a sister who had been bedridden most of her nine years of life. One day, the little boy brought his parents in to her bedside and made them pray with him. The little girl rose up, cured, and she remained well for a long and happy life. Naturally, the parents were amazed, and they were quite sure it had not been their prayers that effected the cure, but those of their little son.
Constantius entered the Dominicans at age 15, and had as his masters Blessed Conradin and Saint Antoninus. He did well in his studies and wrote a commentary on Aristotle. His special forte was Scripture, and he studied it avidly. After his ordination, he was sent to teach in various schools in Italy, arriving eventually at the convent of San Marco in Florence, which had been erected as a house of strict observance. Constantius was eventually appointed prior of this friary that was a leading light in the reform movement. This was a work dear to his heart, and he himself became closely identified with the movement.
Several miracles and prophecies are related about Constantius during his stay in Florence. He one day told a student not to go swimming, because he would surely drown if he did. The student, of course, dismissed the warning and drowned. One day, Constantius came upon a man lying in the middle of the road. The man had been thrown by his horse and was badly injured; he had a broken leg and a broken arm. All he asked was to be taken to some place where care could be given him, but Constantius did better than that--he cured the man and left him, healed and astonished.
Constantius was made prior of Perugia, where he lived a strictly penitential life. Perhaps the things that he saw in visions were responsible for his perpetual sadness, for he foresaw many of the terrible things that would befall Italy in the next few years. He predicted the sack of Fabriano, which occurred in 1517. At the death of Saint Antoninus, he saw the saint going up to heaven, a vision which was recounted in the canonization process.
Blessed Constantius is said to have recited the Office of the Dead every day, and often the whole 150 Psalms, which he knew by heart, and used for examples on every occasion. He also said that he had never been refused any favor for which he had recited the whole psalter. He wrote a number of books; these, for the most part, were sermon material, and some were the lives of the blesseds of the order.
On the day of
Constantius's death, little children of the
town ran
through the streets crying out, "The holy prior is dead! The holy prior
is dead!" On hearing of his death, the city council met and stated that
it was a public calamity. The relics of Blessed Constantius have
suffered from war and invasion. After the Dominicans were driven from
the convent where he was buried, his tomb was all but forgotten for a
long time. Then one of the fathers put the relics in the keeping of
Camaldolese monks in a nearby monastery, where they still remain
(Benedictines, Dorcy, Encyclopedia).
1482 Bd ANTONY BONFADINI
THE Bonfadini were a good family of Ferrara, where Antony was born in the year 1400. When he was thirty-nine, he became a friar minor of the Observance at the friary of the Holy Ghost in his native town, and soon distinguished himself as a teacher and preacher. He was sent on the Franciscan mission in the Holy Land, and on a journey from there, in his old age, he died and was buried at the village of Cotignola in the Romagna. A year later his body was found to be still incorrupt, and miracles were reported at his tomb. Accordingly, when some years later the Friars Minor made a foundation at Cotignola, they were given permission to translate the body to their church. The cultus of Bd Antony was approved in 1901.
Although
the
continued cultus is well attested, we know little
detail of the life of this
holy friar. Some account is furnished by such chroniclers as Mazzara in
Leggendario Francescano, vol. iii
(1680), pp. 601-602. See also the Acta
Ord. Fratrum Minorum, vol. xx (1901), pp. 105 seq. and
DHG., vol. iii, c. 763.
Born at Ferrara, Italy, 1400; died at Cotignola, diocese of
Faenza,
1482; cultus confirmed in 1901. After becoming an Observant Franciscan,
Blessed Antony was sent to the mission in the Holy Land (Attwater 2,
Benedictines).
1483 Saint Macarius of
Kalyazin repeatedly healed the paralyzed and the demon-possessed
incorrupt relics (in the world Matthew) was born in 1400 in the village of Gribkovo (Kozhino), near the city of Kashin, into the family of the boyar Basil Kozha. From youth he yearned for monasticism, but he married at the insistence of his parents.
After a year his parents died, and after three more years his wife Elena also reposed. Having nothing to bind him to his former life, Matthew became a monk at the Nikolaev Klobukov monastery. Desiring solitude, he left the city monastery with the abbot's blessing, and he found a suitable place between two lakes, eighteen versts from Kashin. Here the monk raised a cross and founded a solitary wilderness monastery.
The boyar Ivan Kolyaga, to whom the nearby lands belonged, began to fear that a monastery would grow up there, and that monks would begin to cultivate the wastelands. The Enemy of our salvation planted such spite and enmity in the boyar, that he decided to kill the saint. Suddenly, he was stricken with a grievous illness. Fear of death awakened repentance in the boyar. Ivan Kolyaga was carried to the saint and told him of his evil intent, asking forgiveness.
"God forgive you", the
humble ascetic replied. Wishing to expiate his
sin and to help the saint, the boyar gave his lands to the growing
monastery. The monks built a temple dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity.
Word of the boyar Kolyaga's
conversion
brought many people to the monk, seeking salvation. St Macarius
tonsured Kolyaga and named the monastery Kalyazin for him. It became necessary to
choose an igumen. St Macarius was then
fifty-three years of age, but he considered himself unworthy of this
dignity and he asked each of the older men coming to him to become the
monastery's priest and igumen. Yielding to the common will, the saint
was made igumen by Bishop Moses of Tver.*
The new igumen prepared for his
first
service at the altar of God with long solitary prayer, and then
communed all the brethren with the Holy Mysteries. In the rank of igumen, St
Macarius labored to guide the brethren. The
monastery had two chalices, a diskos and two plates fashioned by St
Macarius on a lathe.
He guided not only the monks,
but also laypeople coming to the monastery, dealing with both the
educated and the simple. Despite his noble origin
and his position of igumen, the saint wore
ragged, frayed and patched clothing. In his conduct and his way of life
St Macarius was so simple that the haughty heretic Vassian, sneeringly
called him the "peasant of Kalyazin." The saint preferred to hear
himself mocked rather than praised. He went to solitary places,
delighted to be alone with nature.
Wild animals, sensing his
holiness, walked with him like sheep, they submitted to him, and
sometimes took food from him. The spiritual stature of
St Macarius was close to the spiritual stature
of St Paphnutius of Borov (May 1, 1477). Not by chance did St
Paphnutius' disciple, St Joseph of Volokolamsk (September 9, 1515),
visit St Macarius in 1478 and write down his impressions of him:
"When I arrived at this place," said St Macarius, "seven Elders came with me from the monastery of Klobukov. They were so excellent in virtues, fasting and monastic life, that all the brethren came to them to receive instruction and benefit. They enlightened all and taught them for their benefit.
They affirmed the virtuous life,
and censured those inclined to misconduct, and neither did they seek to
do their own will." "When I arrived at this place," said St Macarius, "seven Elders came with me from the monastery of Klobukov. They were so excellent in virtues, fasting and monastic life, that all the brethren came to them to receive instruction and benefit. They enlightened all and taught them for their benefit.
Though the humble igumen
was silent about his own efforts, they were
not hidden from St Joseph. Perceiving the holiness of the igumen, he
accounted him blessed and spoke about the life of the monastery:
"Such
piety and decorum were in that monastery, where everything was done in
harmony with the patristic and communal traditions, that even the great
Elder Metrophanes Byvaltsev was amazed. He had just come from Mount
Athos, where he spent nine years, and said to the brethren: "My efforts
and my journey to the Holy Mountain were in vain, because one can find
salvation in the Kalyazin monastery. Life here is similar to life in
the cenobitic monasteries of the Holy Mountain." From the moment St
Macarius settled in the wilderness, his did not
abandon his strict Rule because of old age. Even during his lifetime
the saint repeatedly healed the paralyzed and the demon-possessed.
The saint reposed on March 17, 1483. At the time of his death they found heavy chains on him, about which no one knew. The incorrupt relics of St Macarius were uncovered on May 26, 1521 when ditches were dug for a new church. A Council of 1547 established his local festal celebration.
* The successor of Bishop Moses
was St
Macarius' brother, Bishop Gennadius (Kozhin) (1460-1477). The nephew of
St Macarius, St Paisius of Uglich (January 8 and June 6) was also famed
for his sanctity. The Kalyazin monastery had a collection of the
sermons of St Gregory the Theologian, which St Macarius had copied in
his own hand.The saint reposed on March 17, 1483. At the time of his death they found heavy chains on him, about which no one knew. The incorrupt relics of St Macarius were uncovered on May 26, 1521 when ditches were dug for a new church. A Council of 1547 established his local festal celebration.
Born in Finario (Finale or Finarium near Genoa), Liguria, Italy; died near Modena at Reggio d'Emilia, Italy, in 1484; cultus approved in 1848.
Damian was born of rich and noble parents at the end of the 14th century. The only thing we know of his childhood was that as a baby he was kidnapped by a madman. His parents prayed to the Blessed Virgin, and Damian was returned unharmed.
He took the Dominican habit at Savona, where he was a diligent student. Once ordained, Damian became famous for his preaching, which he did in nearly all the cities of Italy. Hundreds of sinners repented and returned to God by the force of his preaching. Almost immediately upon his death he became the object of pious veneration because of the miracles worked at his tomb (Benedictines, Dorcy).
Bd Christopher who is
called the apostle of Liguria because
of his great success in evangelizing that part of Italy, received the
Dominican
habit at Milan, early in the fifteenth century. Soon after his
ordination he
began to be known as a great preacher, and his fame afterwards spread
far and
wide. His biographers record that his sermons, which brought about
conversions
and improvement of morals wherever he went, were always based on the
Bible, the
theology of St Thomas and the writings of the fathers, and that he
denounced
those preachers who, in their attempts to be popular and up-to-date,
aired
new-fangled notions and scorned to preach on the gospel for the day.
Like a
true missionary he wandered fearlessly and untiringly over dangerous
passes and
difficult country in his labours for souls. At Taggia, where he was
particularly successful, the grateful inhabitants built Father
Christopher a
church and a monastery of which he became prior. He was endowed with
the gift
of prophecy. One day, as he was watching the people of Castellano
dancing in
the square, he exclaimed, ."You are now dancing merrily, but your ruin
is
nigh and your joy will be changed into sorrow" -a forecast which was
fulfilled a few years later when the plague carried off most of the
inhabitants. He also foresaw the destruction of Trioria by the French,
and he
warned the population of Taggia that they would flee from their city
though not
pursued, and that their river would leave its banks and destroy their
gardens-prophecies which came true in every particular. When his last
illness
came upon him, he was preaching the Lent at Pigna. He had himself
carried to
his beloved Taggia and there breathed his last. His cult was confirmed
in 1875.
See L.
Brétaudeau, Un Martyr de la Revolution á Vanne, (1908) M.
Misermont, Le
bx P. R. Rogue (1937), and the
decrees in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol.
xxi (1929), pp. 564—567, and
vol. xxvi (1934), pp. 304-308
and 292—296, which include a biographical summary.
1485 Blessed
James of
Bitetto heroic humility levitate during prayer accurately predict the
future incorrupted body remains many miracles
OFM (AC)
(also known as James of Sclavonia, of Illyricum, of Zara, of Dalmatia) Born in Sebenico, Dalmatia; died April 27, c. 1485; feast day within the Franciscan order is celebrated on April 20; cultus approved by Innocent XII.
James received the habit of Saint Francis at Zara, but served as a lay brother at Bitetto, near Bari in southern Italy. James possessed heroic humility and reached heights of heaven in his contemplation. During the process of beatification, a fellow friar testified that he had seen James levitate during prayer and heard him accurately predict the future.
(also known as James of Sclavonia, of Illyricum, of Zara, of Dalmatia) Born in Sebenico, Dalmatia; died April 27, c. 1485; feast day within the Franciscan order is celebrated on April 20; cultus approved by Innocent XII.
James received the habit of Saint Francis at Zara, but served as a lay brother at Bitetto, near Bari in southern Italy. James possessed heroic humility and reached heights of heaven in his contemplation. During the process of beatification, a fellow friar testified that he had seen James levitate during prayer and heard him accurately predict the future.
While James was the cook
of the abbey at Conversano (18 miles from
Bari), he would contemplate the cooking fire and see the fires of hell
or the spark of God's love that ignites hearts. Often he would be found
in the kitchen, motionless, rapt in ecstatic contemplation. This
happened one morning as he was fixing beans for that night's dinner. He
stood with his hand in the beans, tears streaming down his face into
the vessel before him. Thus he was found by the duke on whose estate
the monastery was founded. King Ferdinand I's courtier watched in
amazement before declaring, "Blessed are the religious brethren whose
meals are seasoned with such tears." Later that day James, learning of
the duke's presence, went to him and asked what he would like for his
dinner. The nobleman replied that he wanted nothing but some of the
beans seasoned with James' tears.
Eventually James was sent back to Bitetto where he died and where his incorrupted body remains. Many miracles attributed to James' intercession have been recorded (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
Eventually James was sent back to Bitetto where he died and where his incorrupted body remains. Many miracles attributed to James' intercession have been recorded (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
1485
Blessed Michael Gedroye famous for his gifts of prophecy and miracles:
his cell adjoining church of the Augustinian canons regular at Cracow
OSA (AC)
(also known as Michael Giedroyć)
Born near Vilna, Lithuania; Of noble lineage, Michael was a cripple and a dwarf. He took up his abode in a cell adjoining the church of the Augustinian canons regular at Cracow, Poland, and there he lived his entire life. He was famous for his gifts of prophecy and miracles (Attwater2, Benedictines).
(also known as Michael Giedroyć)
Born near Vilna, Lithuania; Of noble lineage, Michael was a cripple and a dwarf. He took up his abode in a cell adjoining the church of the Augustinian canons regular at Cracow, Poland, and there he lived his entire life. He was famous for his gifts of prophecy and miracles (Attwater2, Benedictines).
Born in Catania, Sicily; cultus approved 1825. Born of wealthy and pious parents, Bernard was given a good education. In spite of this good training, he spent a careless youth. Only after he was badly injured in a duel was he brought back to his senses.
His long convalescence gave him plenty of time to think, and once he was able to go out of the house, he went to the Dominican convent of Catania and begged to be admitted to the order.
Bernard, as a religious, was the exact opposite of what he had been as a young man. Now he made no effort to obtain the things he had valued all his life, but spent his time in prayer, solitude, and continual penance. There is little recorded of his life, except that he kept the rule meticulously, and that he was particularly kind to sinners in the confessional. Apparently, he did not attain fame as a preacher, but was content to spend his time in the work of the confessional and the private direction of souls.
One legend pictures Bernard as having great power over birds and animals. When he walked outside in the gardens, praying, the birds would flutter down around him, singing; but as soon as he went into ecstasy, they kept still, for fear they would disturb him. Once, the porter was sent to Bernard's room to call him, and saw a bright light shining under the door. Peeking through the keyhole, he saw a beautiful child shining with light and holding a book, from which Bernard was reading. He hurried to get the prior to see the marvel.
Bernard had the gift of prophecy, which he used on several occasions to try warning people to amend their lives. He prophesied his own death. Fifteen years after his death, he appeared to the prior, telling his to transfer his remains to the Rosary chapel. During this translation, a man was cured of paralysis by touching the relics (Benedictines, Dorcy).
1503 St Tikhon of
Lukh, and Kostroma copied books with skill, and was a fine lathe
turner. Out of humility he did not become a priestIn the world Timothy, was born within the bounds of the Lithuanian princedom and was in military service there. In the year 1482, not wanting to accept Uniatism, he went from Lithuania to Russia. The saint gave away everything that he had, accepted monastic tonsure with the name Tikhon, and settled in the Kostroma diocese in the Lukhov region. The city of Lukh was at that time given to Prince Theodore Belsky, with whom St Tikhon had come from Lithuania. On the banks of the boundary of the Kopitovka St Tikhon built his cell. When two monks, Photius and Gerasimus, came to him in the wilderness, because of them Tikhon moved three versts from the Koptovka to a more satisfactory location.
become a priest. St Tikhon died on June 16, 1503 in such poverty that his disciples did not know how they would bury him. But to their comfort the Archbishop of Suzdal sent a monastic burial shroud, in which to bury him. Soon after his death, at the place of his labors, a monastery was built in honorThe monks earned their living by the work of their hands. St Tikhon copied books with skill, and was a fine lathe turner. Out of humility he did not of St Nicholas the Wonderworker.
In 1569 there were healings of the sick at the grave of St Tikhon, and his relics were found to be incorrupt. But the igumen Constantine, who uncovered the relics, was struck blind. After repenting and then recovering his eyesight, he placed the relics of St Tikhon back into the ground. The veneration of St Tikhon dates from this time. His Life and an account of 70 posthumous miracles was compiled in the year 1649.
1612 St. Kaikhosro the Georgian The life of has been passed down to our century in the works of Archbishop Timote (Gabashvili), a famous Church figure and historian of the 18th century.
In a passage describing the frescoes and commemoration books of the Holy Cross Monastery in Jerusalem, Bishop Timote writes that an image of St. Kaikhosro the Georgian is among the sacred frescoes.
According to the commemoration books of the Holy Cross Monastery, St. Kaikhosro the Georgian was tortured to death by Shah Abbas I in 1612 for his pious veneration of the holy icons.
1497 Blessed Veronica of Binasco (b. 1445) known as a great contemplative
who also gave
loving care to
sick sisters in her community and
ministered to the people of Milan. She had the gifts of prophecy,
discernment and miracles.Medioláni, in cœnóbio sanctæ Marthæ, Beátæ Verónicæ de Binásco Vírginis, ex Ordine sancti Augustíni.
At Milan, in the monastery of St. Martha, blessed Veronica of Binasco, virgin, of the Order of St. Augustine.
Although she never learned to read and write, she was known and respected by the secular and ecclesiastical leaders of her day. Several times Christ gave to St. Martha, blessed Veronica of Binasco, virgin, of the Order of St. Augustine.in prayer important messages which she carried to influential persons such as the Duke of Milan and Pope Alexander VI.
Born Giovanna Negroni in Binasco, Milan, Italy in 1445, she was raised in a peasant family. When she was 22 years old, she joined the monastery of Saint Martha in Milan. She took the religious name Veronica, reflecting her devotion to the Passion of Christ.
1497 BD VERONICA OF BINASCO, VIRGIN
ALL states of life furnish abundant means for attaining holiness, and it is only owing to our sloth and tepidity that we neglect to make use of them. Bd Veronica could boast of no worldly advantages either of birth or fortune. Her parents maintained their family by hard work in a village near Milan, and her father never sold a horse, or anything else that he dealt in, without being more careful to acquaint the purchaser with all that was faulty in it than to recommend its good qualities. His consequent poverty prevented his giving his daughter any schooling, so that she never even learned to read; but his own and his wife’s example and simple instructions filled her heart with love of God, and the holy mysteries of religion engrossed her entirely. She was, notwithstanding, a good worker, and so obedient, humble and submissive that she seemed to have no will of her own. When she was weeding, reaping or at any other labour in the fields she strove to work at a distance from her companions, to entertain herself the more freely with her heavenly thoughts. The rest admired her love of solitude, and oncoming to her, often found her countenance bathed in tears, which they sometimes perceived to flow in great abundance, though they did not know the source to be devotion, so carefully did Veronica conceal what passed between her and God.
Veronica conceived a
great desire to become a nun in the poor and austere convent of St
Martha, of
the Order of St Augustine, in Milan. To qualify herself for this she
sat up at
night to learn to read and write. One day, being in great trouble about
her little
progress, the Mother of God bade her banish that anxiety, for it was
enough if
she knew three letters The first, purity of the affections, by setting
her
whole heart on God; the second, never to murmur or grow impatient at
the sins
or misbehaviour of others, but to bear them with patience, and humbly
to pray
for them; the third, to set apart some time every day to meditate on
the
passion of Christ. After three years preparation, Veronica was admitted
to the
religious habit in St Martha’s, where her life was no other than a
living copy
of her rule, which consisted in the practice of evangelical perfection
reduced
to certain holy exercises. Every moment of her life she studied to
accomplish
it in the minutest detail, and was no less exact in obeying any
indication of
the will of a superior.
She for three years
suffered from a lingering illness, but she would never be exempted from
any
part of her work, or make
use of the least indulgence. Though she had leave, her answer always
was, “I
must work whilst I can, whilst I have time”. It was her delight to help
and
serve everyone and her silence was a sign of her recollection and
continual
prayer, of which her extraordinary gift of tears was the outward
manifestation.
Her biographer declares that after she had been praying long in any
place the
floor looked as if a jug of water had been upset there. When she was in
ecstasy
they sometimes held a dish beneath her face and the tears that flowed
into it,
so it is stated, amounted to nearly a quart (!!).
She always spoke of
her own sinful life, as she called it, though, indeed, it was most
innocent,
with feelings of intense compunction. Veronica was favoured by God with
many
extraordinary visions and consolations. A detailed account is preserved
of the
principal incidents of our Lord’s life as they were revealed to her in
her
ecstasies. By her moving exhortations she softened and converted
several
obdurate sinners. She died at the hour which she had foretold, in the
year 1497, at the age of
fifty-two, and her sanctity was confirmed by
miracles. Pope Leo X in 1517 permitted her to be honoured in her
monastery in
the same manner as if she had been beatified according to the usual
forms, and
the name of Bd Veronica of Binasco is inserted on this day in the Roman
Martyrology,
an unusual distinction in the case of a servant of God who has not been
formally canonized.
See the
life by Father Isidore de Isolanis, printed in
the Acta Sanctorum, for January 13.
This contains a relatively full account of Bd Veronica’s revelations,
revelations which, as Father Bollandus warns his readers, must be read
with
caution, as they include many extravagant statements. Leo X’s bull may
be read
in the same place. Cf. also P.
Moiraghi, La B. Veronica da Binasco (1897).
Her spiritual life was intense. She was particularly devoted to the Eucharist and to the Suffering and Death of Jesus. She experienced physical mistreatment from the devil, but found strength in prayer, remaining at peace and overcoming difficulties through the power of Christ. She cheerfully helped others when help was needed. In spite of her growing reputation for holiness and wisdom, Veronica remained humble.
Veronica died January 13, 1497. So numerous were her admirers who came to pay their respects, her burial was delayed for nearly a week. It is said that many sick persons who touched her body were restored to health. Her remains are preserved at the parish church in Binasco.
Veronica is remembered in the Augustinian Order for her obedience and desire for work. Butler records a remark she made to her sister nuns: "I must work while I can, while I have time." Miracles were attributed to her, and in a 1517 bulla, Pope Leo X permitted her veneration in her monastery as though she had been beatified according to the usual form. Veneration was extended to the entire Church by Pope Clement X in 1672, and in 1749 her name was inserted into the Roman Martyrology for 13 January by Pope Benedict XIV, although her name appears in Augustinian records of the same year for 28 January.