50 St. Lydia Purpuraria
Paul's first convert at Philippi
Philíppis, in Macedónia, sanctæ Lydiæ purpuráriæ,
quæ, prædicánte ibídem sancto Paulo Apóstolo,
ut beátus Lucas in Actibus Apostolórum refert, ómnium
prima crédidit Evangélio.
At Philippi in Macedonia, St. Lydia, a dealer in purple,
who was the first to believe in the Gospel when the apostle St. Paul preached
in that city, as is related by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles
Lydia Purpuraria (1st century) was born at Thyatira
(Ak-Hissar), a town in Asia Minor, famous for its dye works, (hence, her name
which means purple seller). She became Paul's
first convert at Philippi. She was baptized with her household, and Paul
stayed at her home there.
Lydia Purpuraria, Matron (RM) Born at Thyatira (Ak-Hissar) in Asia Minor,
1st century. Saint Lydia was born in a town famous for its dye works. She
was a seller of purple dye, when she became Saint Paul's first convert at
Philippi (Acts 16:14-15), Macedonia, and in Europe. She and her entire household
were baptized, which probably included young children. Thereafter, Paul made
his home with her while in Philippi (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
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1st v. St. Abibas
A convert to the
faith 2nd son of Gamaliel famed Jewish teacher of St. Paul
Gamaliel was a member of the Sanhedrin that tried Jesus and condemned him
to death. Gamaliel is recorded as having become a Christian, and Abibas is
traditionally listed as an early convert to the Church. Little else is known
of his life.
Abibas (Abibo) (RM). Abibas, the second son of Gamaliel (Acts 5:34; 22:3),
converted to Christianity like his father and father's disciple, Saint Paul.
He seems to have escaped the destruction of Jerusalem and lived until he was
80. In 415, his remains, together with Saints Stephen, Gamaliel, and
Nicodemus, found at Capergamela near Jerusalem (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
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St. Aspren Bishop cured and baptized by St. Peter
Neápoli, in Campánia, sancti Aspréni Epíscopi,
qui a sancto Petro Apóstolo, curátus ab infirmitáte ac
deínde baptizátus, ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopus
ordinátus fuit.
At Naples in Campania, St. Aspren, bishop, who was cured
of a sickness by the apostle St. Peter, and after being baptized, was made
bishop of that city.
Aspren was a native of Naples, in Campania, Italy.
He became ill and was cured by St. Peter. Baptized and a vital member of the
Church in Naples, Aspren was made
bishop of the city.
Aspren (Aspronas) of Naples B (RM). The Roman Martyrology contains this
laus: At Naples in Campania, the birthday of Saint Aspren the bishop, who
was cured of infirmity by Saint Peter the Apostle, and afterwards baptized
and ordained bishop of that city." The historical records, however, indicate
that he probably lived at the end of 2nd beginning 3rd century (Benedictines)
.
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45 St. Gamaliel
Pharisee
mentor of St. Paul great teachers of the Mosaic law 1st century
counselled the Sanhedrin not to confute God's will by killing Peter and Apostles
arrested for preaching Jesus
Rabbinical teacher, the mentor of St. Paul. Gamaliel counseled the Jewish
Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to release St. Peter and other apostles. He reportedly
became a Christian; finding of his body in Jerusalem was celebrated on August
3 by early Christians.
Gamaliel (RM) 1st century. One of the great teachers of the Mosaic law,
Gamaliel is honored in rabbinical circles with the title Rabban. He was the
Pharisee who taught Saint Paul the law in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3). Gamaliel
was also the one who counselled the Sanhedrin not to confute God's will by
surreptitiously killing Peter and the Apostles who had been arrested for
preaching Jesus. His eloquent speech caused that body to release Peter and
the apostles with only a flogging (Acts 5:34-41). According to an ancient
tradition recorded by Saint John Chrysostom, Gamaliel became a Christian
even before Saint Paul.
He witnessed the martyrdom of Saint Stephen and buried the protomartyr's
body on his own estate about 20 miles outside Jerusalem. At his own death,
Gamaliel was buried in the same sepulchre, where the relics of both were found,
together with those of his son, Saint Abibas and Saint Nicodemus, in 415
following a vision by Lucian, as recorded in the Roman Martyrology (Benedictines,
Delaney, Husenbeth) .
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1st v. Nicodemus
Sanhedrin spoke out on Jesus' behalf before the chief priests and the Pharisees
"We know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs
that you do unless God is with him." Saint John even says that it was to Nicodemus
that our Lord said, "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."M (RM)
1st century. The Sanhedrin, the supreme council and highest court of justice
of the Jews in Jerusalem, had wanted to condemn Jesus. Any member of the Sanhedrin
who showed sympathy towards Jesus would have been considered by his colleagues
as a traitor and an outcast. Yet we know that at least one member, Nicodemus,
did.
Even before Jesus was tried, Saint John tells us that Nicodemus came to
see Jesus, secretly and at night, to talk to him about what it means to see
the kingdom of God (John 3). On this occasion Nicodemus partly confessed
his belief in Jesus, saying: "We know that you are a teacher come from God,
for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus
tried to teach him about being born again by the Holy Spirit and by baptism.
Saint John even says that it was to Nicodemus that our Lord said, "God so
loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have eternal life."
Nicodemus spoke out on Jesus' behalf before the chief priests and the Pharisees,
pointing out to them that the Law demanded the accused be given a hearing
before judgment was passed (John 7:50- 52).
Together with Saint Joseph of Arimathea, he had the privilege of laying
Jesus' body in the tomb on Good Friday. He brought with him large quantities
of costly myrrh and aloes to the tomb and with Joseph wrapped Jesus' body
"with spices in linen cloth" (John 1939-42).
One of the apocryphal gospels was circulated under his name in the early
centuries of the Church. Saint Nicodemus has always been venerated as a martyr,
although nothing is mentioned about his conversion or martyrdom in the New
Testament (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney) .
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304 ST Theodota, MARTYR
ST THEODOTA, named in the
Roman Martyrology on this day, was a noble lady of Nicaea. According to the
acta,
which are
of no value, she was sought in marriage by the prefect Leucatius, and when
she refused to have anything to do with him he denounced her and her three
children to Nicetius, proconsul in Bithynia, as Christians. It was at the
time of the persecution of Diocletian, and when they were brought before Nicetius
he asked Theodota if it were she who had taught her children the new-fangled
impiety which they believed. She retorted that they had been taught nothing
new, but rather the age-old law. “What” asked her questioner, “Did your ancestors
know these doctrines?” At this the eldest boy, Evodius, spoke up and said,
“If our ancestors have been in error it is not because God has hidden the truth from them. Rather they were blind,
and wandered into untruth through their blindness. But we are going to follow
our mother.” “Your mother is going to sacrifice to the gods, whether she likes
it or not”, replied Nicetius, and then, blaming Theodota for the offensive
candour of her son’s words, urged her to sacrifice that they might follow
her example and be saved. But when he could in no way move either her or them,
he ordered them all to be burned together. Which was done.
Although
the so-called “acts”, both in the Greek and Latin recensions, are worthless,
there is good reason to believe that the martyrdom of St Theodota at Nicaea
with her three sons is an authentic fact. “The sons of Theodota” are mentioned
in the Syriac “breviarium” at the beginning of the fifth century, and it
is probable that September 2, the date there
assigned them, is the true anniversary, though in the “Hieronymianum”, from
which our Roman Martyrology derives, August 2 has been erroneously indicated.
See H. Delehaye,
CMH., pp. 412—414, and again in Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. Iv (1937), pp. 201 seq.
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415 The Finding Of St
Stephen
Hierosólymis Invéntio beatíssimi Stéphani Protomártyris,
et sanctórum Gamaliélis, Nicodémi et Abibónis,
sicut Luciáno Presbytero divínitus revelátum est, Honórii
Príncipis témpore.
At Jerusalem, the finding of the body of blessed Stephen,
protomartyr, and of the Saints Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and Abibo, through a divine
revelation made to the priest Lucian, in the time of Emperor Honorius.
This second festival in honour of the protomartyr
St Stephen was instituted by the Church to commemorate discovery by the priest
Lucian of his relics, together with those of Gamaliel, Nicodemus and Abibo,
at Kafr Gamala in Palestine December 415. According to the narrative
attributed to Lucian, this discovery was made in consequence of dreams or
visions vouchsafed to himself and to the monk Migetius.
Alban Butler narrates the occurrence in some detail, which is not
reproduced here; for it adds nothing to our knowledge of St Stephen, and moreover
scholars increasingly incline to the view that there was no supernatural revelation
made to Lucian or Migetiu. Father Delebaye and others suggest that
the discovery was accidental, but that a few years afterwards the incident
was "dramatized" by Lucian in accord with the hagiographical precedents of
that age.
The wide distribution of relics of the martyr that followed the
finding at Kafr Gamala had a great influence, directly and indirectly, on
the spread of the cult of St Stephen. God was pleased to glorify His
name by miracles wrought through their means and the intercession of His
first martyr. Many of them were described by Evodius, Bishop of Uzalum
in Africa, and by St Augustine, who said of them to his flock, "Let us so
desire to obtain temporal blessings by his intercession, that we may by imitating
him deserve those which are eternal".
Our corporal necessities were not the motive which drew our
divine Physician down from Heaven; but in His mortal life He restored many
sick to health and delivered demoniacs, to relieve distress, to give men sensible
proof of His divine power, and as a sign that He came to relieve spiritual
disease.
In a Moto Proprio of John XXIII
dated July 25, 1960, this feast was dropped from the Roman Calendar.
The most trustworthy text of Lucian's
narrative is the Latin translation by Avitus, which is printed, for example,
in the works of St Augustine (see Migne, PL., voL xli, cc. 805-816), but there
are also versions in Greek, Syria; Armenian and Old Slavonic. The story of
the discovery of the relics as narrated by Lucian, and its bearing upon certain
traditional sites in Jerusalem, led in the years 1900-1908 to a good deal
of lively controversy. For this see especially the Revue de l'Orient chrétien, t.
xxx, and the article of Fr Peeters in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxvii (1908),
pp. 359-368. See also F. M. Abel, La legende apocrypha de S. Etienne (1931),
and H. Delehaye, Origines du culte des martyrs
(1933), pp. 80-82. Upon the miracles at Uzalum, etc., see the same
writer in the Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. xliii (1925), pp. 74-85, and upon the fact that the "inventio F. Stephani"
is commemorated on August 3, see the Analecta
Bollandiana, vol. xlix (1931), pp. 22-30. A very full article
on the "inventio", with copious references, has been contributed by H. Leclercq
to DAC., vol. v, cc. 624-671. Pope Benedict XIV's commission proposed to suppress
this feast.
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446 St. Dalmatius
{Dalmatus) Anti Nestorian An archimandrite a great ascetic and particularly
excelled at fasting; a zealous proponent of the Orthodox Faith at
the Third Ecumenical Council
at Ephesus (431), which condemned the heresy of Nestorius venerated in Constantinople.
He was a staunch defender of the Church against
the heretical Nestorians.
dalmatus_isaac_.faustus.jpg
Saint Dalmatus had served in the army of the holy emperor Theodosius
the Great (379-395) and gained his notice. He left the world somewhere between the years 381-383,
and went with his son Faustus to the monastery of St Isaac near Constantinople.
St Isaac (May 30) tonsured father and son into monasticism, and they both
began to lead a strict ascetic life. Once during Great Lent St Dalmatus
did not eat any food for the forty days. Later he regained his strength and
was found worthy of a divine vision.
When St Isaac was approaching the end of his earthly life, he
named St Dalmatus as igumen of the monastery, which later became known as
the Dalmatian Monastery. St Dalmatus showed himself a zealous proponent
of the Orthodox Faith at the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus (431), which
condemned the heresy of Nestorius. After the Council the holy Fathers
elevated St Dalmatus as archimandrite of the Dalmatian monastery, where he
died at the age of ninety (after 446).
St Faustus, like his father, was a great ascetic and particularly
excelled at fasting. After the death of his father, Faustus became igumen
of the monastery .
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448
St Germanus, Bishop Of Auxerre; by his teaching and miracles Pelagianism
was finally eradicated and its teachers banished, free from heresy the Church
in these islands remained for a space of eleven hundred years, until the errors
of Protestantism took root and were watered by royal corruption in the sixteenth
century; feast observed in Wales and in several southern English dioceses;
he was strengthening and consolidating the British church after abandoned
by the Roman empire, of purging it from error, of converting yet more of
the people; and by his influence on St Patrick; no doubt Germanus left his
mark on Ireland also. The feast of St Germanus is August 3 in Wales
and other dates in Westminster, Plymouth and Portsmouth. His day in
the Roman Martyrology is July 31.
It is very fitting that the feast of St Gerrnanus (Germain)
of Auxerre should be observed in Wales and in several southern English dioceses
for, while there is no saint who can be venerated as the apostle of Britain,
to him belongs the honour of strengthening and consolidating the British church
after the country was abandoned by the Roman empire, of purging it from error,
and of converting yet more of the people; and by his influence on St Patrick
no doubt Germanus left his mark on Ireland also. But there was
nothing in his youth and early manhood to suggest the future that was before
him.
He was born at Auxerre of Christian parents, and attended
the Gallic schools then he went to Rome, read law and studied eloquence there,
and practised at the bar, as we should say, with succcss. He married-his
wife was named Eustochia -and was sent back to Gaul as dux of the Armorican border provinces.
Germanus was a capable governor, and on the death of St Amator in 418 he was
chosen, much against his will, to succeed him as bishop of Auxerre.
This sudden change of state imbued him with a deep sense of the obligations
of his new dignity (cf. St Amator on May I). He renounced all worldliness,
and embraced a life of poverty austerity. He extended his hospitality to all
sorts of persons, washed the feet of the poor and served them with his own
hands, while he himself fasted. He built a monastery near Auxerre,
on the other side of the river Yonne, in honour of SS. Cosmas and Damian,
and endowed the cathedral and other churches of Auxerre, which he found very
poor.
At this time the British church was troubled by the heresy
of Pelagius. This man was himself a Briton, and he, teaching in Rome, rejected
the doctrine of original sin and denied that grace is necessary for salvation.
One of his disciples, Agricola, had propagated this false teaching in Britain,
and the bishops of Gaul were asked to deal with the trouble. Pope St
Celestine and the Gallic bishops nominated St Germanus to go in
year 429, and appointed St Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, to accompany him on this
mission.
The bishops arrived in Britain after a rough passage,
and the fame of their sanctity, doctrine and miracles soon spread abroad.
They confirmed the orthodox and converted heretics, preaching wherever people
would listen. A public disputation was held at some unnamed place, where
the heretics were allowed to speak first. When they had talked a long time,
the bishops answered them with great eloquence, and so supported their arguments
with quotations from the Bible and the fathers that their adversaries were
reduced to silence. The saints went from this conference to return thanks
to God at the tomb of St Alban, and ask for smooth passage home. St Germanus
caused his sepulchre to be opened, and put therein his box of relics (with
which he had just cured a little blind girl), taking out a little
of the dust of St Alban. This he carried away with him, and at his return
built at Auxerre a church in his honour. St Germanus found his people
burdened with excessive taxes and went to Arles to appeal to Auxiliaris,
prefect of Gaul, on their behalf. On the road the people everywhere
met him in crowds to receive his blessing. In consequence of the bishop's
healing of his sick wife, Auxiliaris granted Germanus the discharge from
the taxes which he had asked for his people.
About 440 he was called again into Britain to assist that church
against Pelagianism, which was again gaining ground. He sought
out those who had been seduced by the heretics, and converted many of them;
so that by his teaching and miracles Pelagianism was finally eradicated and
its teachers banished. Germanus knew that ignorance could not be banished,
nor the reformation which he had established maintain its ground, without
schools for the instruction of the clergy, and is said himself to have founded
such institutions, by which means, "These churches continued afterward pure
in the faith, and free from heresy", as Bede observes. But for the slight
and passing success of Wiclif, free from heresy the Church in these islands
remained for 11 hundred years, until errors of Protestantism took root and
watered by royal corruption in the 16 thcentury.
In the proper Mass of St Germanus formerly
used in the diocese of Paris, the offertory verse was taken from the Apocalypse
xix I, 3: "I heard as it were the voice of much people in Heaven,
saying, Alleluia. And again they said, Alleluia."
This had reference to an incident
recorded by Germanus's biographer Constantius. During his first visit
to Britain, a plundering expedition of Picts and Saxons descended on the country,
and the Britons, having assembled an army, invited the bishop into their
camp, hoping to be protected by his prayers and presence. The saint
agreed, and employed his time in bringing idolaters to faith, and the Christians
to penance. Many demanded baptism, and they were prepared to receive
it at Easter, for it was then Lent. They made a church in the
camp, of green boughs twisted together, in which the catechumens received
the sacrament of regeneration, and the whole army celebrated the festival
with great devotion. After Easter, St Germanus had recourse to a stratagem
by which, without bloodshed, he rescued his friends from the danger with which
they were threatened. He led the little army into a vale between two
high mountains; when warned of the enemy's approach, ordered his troops to
send forth the same shout for which he would give them a sign. When the Saxons
came near, he cried out thrice, Alleluia! which was repeated by the whole
British force, and the sound was carried on by the echo from the hills with
an awe-inspiring noise. The barbarians, judging from the shout that
they were falling upon the swords of a mighty army, flung down their arms
and ran away. According to tradition this "battle" took place near Mold, in
Flintshire, where is a meadow called Maes Garmon, though the association is
very dubious indeed: other suggested localizations are near the south-east
coast (Dr Hugh Williams) and the Chiltern escarpment (R. H. Hodgkin).
To quell a revolt in Armorica, the Roman general Aetius
sent a force of barbarians under their chief Goar, and Germanus, fearing for
the people in the hands of such savages, went out to meet Gear, stopping his
horse by the bridle, at the head of his army. He at first refused
to hear the bishop, but Germanus was firm, and Goar agreed not to ravish
the province until the matter had been referred to Aetius, who
in turn said that Germanus must get the imperial pardon for the people. He
therefore undertook a journey to Ravenna. His fame went before him like
a triumphal progress, so that he entered the city by night to avoid a public
reception. He was received with joy by the bishop, St Peter Chrysologus, by the young Emperor
Valentinian III, and by his mother, Galla Placidia; but unhappily for the
cause which had brought Germanus there, news came of a further revolt among
the Armoricans.
The last great act of charity of his life was done, for while still
at Ravenna, God took him, on July 31, 448. The transport of his body to Auxerre
was one of the most magnificent funerals of which there is record, and his
shrine in the great abbey church of his name at Auxerre was a famous place
of pilgrimage.
Saint Germans in Cornwall takes its name from this saint, who in
a ninth- or tenth-century sacramentary is referred to as "a preacher of the
truth and the light and pillar of Cornwall". A medieval legend associates
the foundation of the great abbey of Selby with a vision of St Germanus to
the monk Benedict, with many marvels added.
The critical edition published
by W. Levison in 1920 of Constantius's Vita
S. Germani renders the older texts, such as that in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. vii, to some
extent out of date. Like so many of the other biographies edited in MGH.,
Scriptores Merov. (vol. vii,
pp. 225-283), the older text is now shown to have been considerably interpolated.
Still the substance remains, and it cannot be disputed that Constantius wrote
within thirty years of the death of the saint. See also Levison's "Bischof
Germanus von Auxerre" in Neues Archiv,
vol. xxix (1904); and, for a good popular work, L. Prunel's book in the
series "Les Saints "(1929). The meeting of the Association Bourguignonne
des Sociétés Savantes held at Auxerre in 1948 produced a volume
of studies, St Germain d'Auxerre et son
temps, of great value. Baring-Gould
and Fisher's hypothesis (LBS., vol. iii, pp. 60-79) of a separate St Germanus,
"of Man", giving his name to Saint Germains on that island and other British
churches, cannot be accepted without many reserves: see Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxiii (1904),
p. 356 and J. Loth in the Annales de Bretagne,
vol. xx (1905), p. 351. The vita by Constantius is translated in F.
R. Hoare, The Western Fathers
(1954). The feast of St Germanus is August 3 in Wales and other
dates in Westminster, Plymouth and Portsmouth. His day in the Roman
Martyrology is July 31.
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450 St. Trea Patrick Irish hermitess convert to Christianity through
St. Patrick efforts
A convert to Christianity through the efforts of St. Patrick, she embraced
the eremitical life and lived out her days as a recluse at Ardtree, Derry,
Ireland.
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450 St. Faustus A
monk of considerable fame, reportedly the son of St. Dalmatius.
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5th v. Marana and
Cyra two maidens who became hermits near Beroea, Syria MM (RM)
BerϾ,
in Syria, sanctárum mulíerum Maránæ et Cyræ.
At Beroea in Syria, the holy women Marana and Cyra.
5th century. Saints Marana and Cyra were two maidens who became
hermits near Beroea, Syria. They are said to have kept holy silence throughout
the year, except on Whitsunday (Benedictines). In art, this duo is depicted
as two female hermits in mantles and hoods with chains on their shoulders
(Roeder).
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484 Saint Razhden,
a convert in Georgia, the Protomartyr descended from a noble Persian family
When Holy King Vakhtang Gorgasali married the daughter of the Persian king
Hormuzd III Balunducht, the queen took Razhden with her to Georgia. In Kartli
Razhden converted to the Christian Faith, and King Vakhtang presented him
with an estate and appointed him as a military adviser and commander.
At that time Georgia was under heavy political pressure from Persia. Enraged
at King Vakhtang’s clearly Christian convictions, the Persian king Peroz (Son
of Yazgard III.)(457–484) attacked Georgia with an 
enormous army. His accomplishments in this battle earned Razhden
his distinction as a brave and virtuous warrior.
Before long the furious King Peroz ordered that “a certain Persian aristocrat
who had converted to Christianity and survived the battle” be taken captive.
The Persians surrounded Razhden, bound his hands and feet, and delivered him
to their king. Peroz received him with feigned tenderness, saying, “Greetings,
my virtuous Razhden! Peace be to you! Where have you been all this time, and
for what reason have you turned from the faith of your fathers to confess
a creed in which your fathers did not instruct you?”
Razhden fearlessly asserted
Christianity the only true faith Christ the only true Savior of mankind.
King Peroz tried to conceal his anger and cunningly lure Razhden
to his side, but his attempt was in vain. Convinced that his efforts were
futile, Peroz finally ordered that the saint be beaten without mercy. The
expert executioners trampled St. Razhden, battered him, knocked out his teeth,
dragged him across jagged cliffs, then chained him in heavy irons and cast
him into prison.
When the news of Razhden’s suffering and captivity spread to Mtskheta,
the Georgian nobility came to Peroz and requested that he free the holy man.
Peroz consented to their request, but made Razhden vow to return.
Razhden arrived in Mtskheta, bid farewell to his family and the beloved
king Vakhtang Gorgasali and, despite his loved ones’ admonitions to the contrary,
returned to Peroz.
The Persian king tried again to return Razhden to the religion of the fire-worshippers.
But seeing that he would not be broken, Peroz instead ordered his exile to
a military camp at Tsromi in central Georgia. Then he secretly ordered the
chief of the Persian camp to turn him away from Christianity and to execute
him if he refused.
“Your flattery and bribes are insulting to me. With joy
I am prepared to endure every suffering for the sake of Christ!”
Razhden replied to his appeals.
“If he hopes in the Crucified One, then he also is fit to suffer crucifixion!”
Such was the Persians’ verdict. They erected a cross, crucified Christ’s
humble servant, and prepared to shoot at the pious man with bow and arrow.
“Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit!” were the last words of St. Razhden.
That night a group of Christians stole the Persians’ cross, took the holy
martyr’s body down from it, and buried his holy relics in secret. A few years
later Vakhtang Gorgasali translated St. Razhden’s relics from Tsromi to Nikozi
(in central Georgia) and interred them in a cathedral that he had built there
not long before. Holy King Vakhtang later erected churches in honor of Georgia’s
first martyr in Ujarma and Samgori in eastern Georgia
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475 Euphronius of
Autun extant letter (Patrologia Latina col. 66-67) from Bishop Saint Euphronius
of Autun to Saint Lupus of Troyes B (RM)
Augustodúni deposítio sancti Euphrónii, Epíscopi
et Confessóris.
At Autun, the death of St. Euphronius, bishop and confessor.
There is an extant letter (Patrologia Latina col.
66-67) from Bishop Saint Euphronius of Autun to his friend Saint Lupus of
Troyes (Benedictines).
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550 St. Senach Finian 6th century disciple of Saint Finnian and his
successor at Clonard
A disciple of St. Finian. He became a bishop in Ireland and succeeded Finian
as head of the great Irish school of Clonard.
Senach (Snach) of Clonard B (AC) 6th century. A disciple of Saint Finnian
and his successor at Clonard (Benedictines).
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5th v. Trea of Ardtree
conversion to Christianity by Saint Patrick recluse at ArdtreeV (AC)
5th century. After her conversion to Christianity by Saint Patrick, Saint
Trea became a recluse at Ardtree in Derry, Ireland (Benedictines).
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6th v. St Cosmas
the Hermit lived in the Pharan wilderness of Palestine; strict of fasting,
a firm defender of the Orthodox Faith and Church dogmas, and profoundly knowledgeable
in Holy Scripture and the works of the Church Fathers;
An account of the Bikaneia presbyter Abba Basil about St Cosmas
is located in the book Spiritual Meadow
(Ch. 40) compiled by St John Moschus. He was strict of fasting,
a firm defender of the Orthodox Faith and Church dogmas, and profoundly knowledgeable
in Holy Scripture and the works of the Church Fathers. St
Cosmas particularly revered the works of St Athanasius the Great and told
those to whom he spoke: "If you come across a word of St
Athanasius and have no paper, write it upon your clothing." He
had the habit to stand at prayer all night Saturday through Sunday.
Having once come to Antioch, he died there, and the patriarch
buried his body at his monastery. Abba Basil relates that when he came to
venerate the grave of St Cosmas, he found there a beggar, who told him:
"It is a great Elder whom you have buried here!" He explained that he had
been paralyzed for twelve years, and received healing through the prayers
of St Cosmas.
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| Mancus (Manaccus) is
the titular patron of Lanreath church in Cornwall, where, according to William
Worcestre, his relics were venerated. His image appears in the 16th-century
Young Women's Window at Saint Neot's Church in Cornwall (Farmer).
(AC). |
933 Blessed Gregory
of Nonantula, OSB Abbot A Benedictine abbot of the great Italian abbey of
Nonantula near Modena (Benedictines).(AC)
|
940 (Blessed) Benno
of Metz; left noble family became Strasbourg priest, hermit on Mount Etzel
Switzerland where Saint Meinrad had lived; restored Mary shrine attracted
disciples; German King named Benno bishop of Metz in opposition to a locally
candidate; blinded by enemies of his reforms; resigned his see returned to
Mount Etzel joined by Eberhard Strasbourg cathedral provost; hermitage was
developed into a monastery became Einsiedeln Abbey; long venerated a beatus
OSB B (AC)
Born in Schwabia (Germany); died August 3. Benno left his noble family
to become a priest at Strasbourg and, in 906, a hermit on Mount Etzel in
the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. He occupied the hermitage in which Saint
Meinrad had lived, restored a shrine to Mary, and soon attracted disciples.
In 927, the German King Henry the Fowler named Benno bishop of Metz in opposition
to a locally elected candidate. Striving to remedy abuses, two years later
he was blinded by the enemies his reforms and the method of his appointment
had made. He resigned his see and returned to Mount Etzel, where he was joined
in 934 by Eberhard, provost of Strasbourg cathedral, and Benno's hermitage
was developed into a monastery that in time became the famous Einsiedeln
Abbey. He has long been venerated as both a beatus and a saint, although his
cultus has never been recognized
formally (Benedictines, Delaney).
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1160 St Waltneof, Abbot
of Melrose; Waltheof saw in his hands, not the form of bread, but the radiant
form of the child Jesus. When he had laid the Host on the altar he saw only
the sacramental form.
Waltneof was second son of Simon, Earl of Huntingdon, and Matilda
or Maud, daughter to Judith, the niece of William the Conqueror. His
elder brother was called Simon, and in their childhood it was the pastime
of this Simon to build castles and play at soldiers, but Waltheof's to build
churches and monasteries of stones and wood.
When grown up, the elder inherited his father's martial disposition
together with his title; but Waltheof had a strong inclination for the religious
life and was mild and peace-loving. Their mother Maud, after the death of
her first husband, was given in marriage by King Henry I to St David I, King
of Scotland, and Waltheof followed his mother to that court, where he formed
an intimate friendship with St Ached,
who was master of the royal household at that time. When he went out
hunting with the king Waltheof used to hide himself in. some thicket and
there employ the day in meditation or reading. The king, having one
day surprised him at this, told the queen that her son was not a man of this
world, for he could find no satisfaction in its diversions. Only once
did it look as if his vocation might be lost; he had attracted the attention
of one of the ladies of the court and accepted from her a ring, which he wore
on his linger. Such gages commonly have more serious developments, but when
a courtier, noticing the ring, said, "Ha! At last Waltheof begins to take
some notice of women he pulled himself together, snatched off the ring, and
threw it into the fire.
Soon after he decided to avoid the life of a court cleric
and become a religious. He left Scotland, and made his profession among regular
canons of St Augustine in their monastery at Nostell, near Pontefract in Yorkshire.
He was soon after chosen prior of Kirkham, in the same county, and, realizing
the obligations he now lay under for the sanctification of others as well
as for his own, he redoubled his austerity and regularity of observance.
In celebrating Mass one Christmas day, after the consecration of the bread
he was favoured with a wonderful vision. The divine Word, who on that
day had made Himself visible to mankind by His birth, seemed pleased to manifest
Himself not only to the eyes of faith but also to the bodily eyes of His
servant. Waltheof saw in his hands, not the form of bread, but the
radiant form of the child Jesus. When he had laid the Host on
the altar he saw only the sacramental form.
Waitheof, impressed by
the life and vigour of the Cistercian monks, became anxious to join them;
naturally he was encouraged by the advice of his friend St Aelred, then abbot
of Rievaulx, and accordingly he took the habit at Wardon in Bedfordshire.
Waltheof found Cistercian life excessively severe, and judged it to be therefore
less suitable for the salvation of souls than Augustinian discretion.
Nevertheless, only four years after profession, he was chosen abbot of Melrose,
recently founded on banks of the Tweed by King David. Whenever he fell
into the smallest falling by inadvertence Waltheof immediately had recourse
to confession, a practice of perfection which the confessors found rather
trying, as one of them admitted to Jordan, the saint's biographer. Yet cheerfulness
and spiritual joy always shone in his face, and his words were animated with
a lire which penetrated the hearts of those that heard him. His
alms supported the poor of all the country round his abbey, and he is said
to have twice multiplied bread miraculously. He once went to King Stephen
in England, about affairs of his community, carrying a bundle on his back.
His brother Simon, who was present, was very annoyed and said to the king,
"See how this brother of mine, and cousin of yours, disgraces his family."
"Not so," said the king. "If we understand what the grace of God is, he does
honour to us and all his kindred." In 1154 Waltheof was chosen archbishop
of Saint Andrews; but he prevailed on St
Aelred to oppose the election and not to oblige him to accept it. Once
when giving a conference to his community he had occasion to refer to a vision
of the glory of Heaven which had been vouchsafed to him, but he spoke in
the third person as of another; but at last by inadvertence he spoke in the
first person: he no sooner realized it than, cutting his discourse short,
he withdrew in tears, much afflicted for the word which had escaped him.
St Waltheof died at a great age on August 3, about 1160.
Under the Latin form "Walthenus", a long life, attributed
to Joscelia, or Jordan, a monk of Furness (c. mc), is printed in the Acta
Sanctonan, August, vol. i. Though prolix, the narrative may be considered
fairly reliable. See also T. 1). Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue of MSS. (Rolls
Series), vol. ii, p. 285.
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1105 St. Peter of Anagni
1st crusader Benedictine
bishop papal legate
Anágniæ sancti Petri Epíscopi, qui, monástica
primum observántia, deínde pastoráli vigilántia
clarus, quiévit in Dómino.
At Anagni, St. Peter, who rested in the Lord after gaining
great renown for monastical observance and for pastoral vigilance.
A native of Salerno, Italy, he entered the Benedictines and
so distinguished himself as a monk that Pope St. Gregory VII appointed him
bishop of Anagni. As bishop, he improved the spiritual welfare of the city,
built a new cathedral, and promoted the First Crusade to the Holy Land, a
venture in which he participated. Pope Urban II sent him to Constantinople
as papal legate to the Byzantine Empire. He was canonized in 1109 by Pope
Paschal II, a mere four years after his death.
Peter of Anagni, OSB B (RM) Born at Salerno, Italy; died 1105;
canonized in 1109. Saint Peter became a Benedictine in Salerno, and was
appointed bishop of Anagni by Pope Saint Gregory VII in 1062. There he built
a new cathedral. He participated in the first crusade and was sent as papal
legate to Constantinople (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
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1147 St Anthony the
Roman Born to rich parents adhered to Orthodox Faith; raised him in piety;
study of the Fathers in the Greek language; distributed part inheritance to
poor, other portion he put into a wooden barrel and threw it into the sea;
Persecution of the Latins against the Orthodox forced the brethren to separate;
a terrible storm tore away the stone on which St Anthony stood, and threw
it into the sea; divine Providence floated the stone to Novgorod {the Novgorod
Chronicles}; fishermen recovered barrel was returned used money to buy land
for monastery
Born at Rome 1067 to rich parents who adhered to
the Orthodox Faith, raised in piety. After losing his parents at age 17, he
took up the study of the Fathers in the Greek language. Afterwards, he distributed
part of his inheritance to the poor, and the other portion he put into a
wooden barrel and threw it into the sea;
Then he was tonsured at one of the wilderness monasteries, where
he lived for 20 years.
Persecution of Latins against the Orthodox
forced the brethren to separate. St Anthony wandered from place to place until
he came upon a large rock upon the shore of the sea, where he lived for a
whole year in fasting and prayer. On September 5, 1105 a terrible storm tore
away the stone on which St Anthony stood, and threw it into the sea. By divine
Providence, the stone floated to Novgorod. On the Feast of the Nativity of
the Most Holy Theotokos, the stone halted 3 versts from Novgorod on the banks
of the River Volkhov near the village of Volkhov This event is testified
to in the Novgorod Chronicles.
At this place the monk, with the blessing of St Nikita the Hermit
(May 14), founded a monastery in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos
In another year, fishermen recovered
the barrel containing St Anthony's inheritance, cast into the sea many years
before. The saint recognized his barrel, but the fishermen did not want to
give it to him. Before a judge, St Anthony described the contents of the barrel,
and it was returned to him. The saint used the money to buy land for the
monastery. Spiritual asceticism was combined at the monastery with intense
physical labor.
St Anthony was concerned that help should be given to the needy,
orphans and widows from monastery funds.
In 1117, the saint built a stone
church in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. The church, built
during the lifetime of St Anthony in the years 1117-1119 by the renowned Novgorod
architect Peter, and adorned with frescoes in the year 1125, has been preserved
to the present time. In 1131, St Niphon of Novgorod made St Anthony igumen
of the monastery. He died on August 3, 1147 and was buried by St Niphon.
St Anthony was glorified in 1597.
His memory is also celebrated (uncovering of his relics) on the first Friday
after the Feast of the Foremost Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29), and on
January 17, on the same day that St Anthony the Great is commemorated. The
first Life of St Anthony the Roman was written soon after his death by his
disciple and successor as igumen, the hieromonk Andrew. A Life, with an account
of the uncovering of the relics, was written by a novice of the Antoniev
monastery, the monk Niphon, in the year 1598.
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1160 Bl. Waltheof Cistercian abbot undaunted
cheerfulness humility, simplicity, and kindness
unbounded generosity incorrupt Many miracles
recorded during lifetime Eucharistic visions of Christ in the form appropriate
to feasts of Christmas, Passiontide, Easter, visions of heaven and hell.
also known as Walthen and Waldef. The
son of Simon, earl of lluntingdon, England, he was born circa 1100, and was
raised at the court ofthe Scottish king alter his mother, Maud, wed King David
I of Scotland (r. 1124-1153) following the death ofher first husband. While
at court, Waltheof came under the influence of St. Adred, who was master of
the royal household. Drawn toward the religious life, he entered the Augustinian
Canons in Yorkshire and was elected abbot of Kirkham after a vision of the
Christ Child.
Waltheofdesired a more austere life and so joined
the Cistercians at Wardon, Bedfordshire, and then became abbot ofMelrose which
had been rebuilt recently by his stepfather. In later years, he declined the
office of archbishop of St. Andrews. He was renowned for his immense charity
to the poor, personal holiness, and deep austerity.
Waltheof of Melrose, OSB Cist. Abbot (AC) (also
known as Waldef, Walden, Wallevus, Walène, Walthen)
Died August 3, c. 1160. Waltheof was the grandson
of the Northumbrian patriot Saint Waldef, and the second son of Earl Simon
of Huntingdon and Matilda (Maud), daughter of Judith, the niece of William
the Conqueror. During their childhood, his elder brother Simon loved to build
castles and play at soldiers, but Waltheof's passion was to build churches
and monasteries of wood and stones. When grown up, Simon inherited his father's
martial disposition as well as his title; but Waltheof had a strong inclination
toward the religious life, and was mild and peace-loving.
When their father died, King Henry I gave their
mother in marriage to King Saint David of Scotland. Waltheof followed his
mother to the Scottish court, where he became an intimate friend of Saint
Aelred, who was master of the royal household at that time.
Soon Waltheof decided to enter religious life. He
left Scotland, and, about 1130, professed himself an Augustinian canon regular
at Nostell, near Pontefract in Yorkshire. He was soon chosen prior of the
recently founded Kirkham (1134) in the same country, and, realizing the obligations
he now had to work for the sanctification of others as well as himself, he
redoubled his austerity and regularity of observance.
In 1140, Waltheof was chosen by the canons of York
to succeed Thurstan as archbishop, but King Stephen quashed the election
because of Waltheof's known Scottish sympathies.
Waltheof, impressed by the life and vigor of the
Cistercian monks, became anxious to join them. At first he tried to unite
his community en bloc with that of Rievaulx, but met with opposition. Naturally
he was encouraged by the advice of his friend Aelred, then abbot of Rievaulx,
and accordingly he took the habit at Wardon (Waldron) in Bedfordshire.
Perhaps because one of his own traits was undaunted
cheerfulness, Waltheof found Cistercian life excessively severe. The canons
also put obstacles in his way. But he persevered as a Cistercian and moved
to Rievaulx, where Aelred had been elected abbot in 1148. Only four years
after profession, Waltheof was chosen abbot of Melrose in 1149, recently
founded on the banks of the Tweed by King David.
He had succeeded a man of ungovernable temper, so
his sweetness must have been a shock for his brothers. He won their love and
respect through humility, simplicity, and kindness. Like Saint Mayeul of
Cluny, he preferred to be damned for excessive mercy rather than for excessive
justice. With the help of King David, he also founded monasteries at Cultram
and Kinross.
Whenever he fell into the smallest
failing by inadvertence, Waltheof immediately made his confession, a practice
of perfection which the confessors found rather trying, as one of them admitted
to Jordan, the saint's biographer. In 1154 (or 1159), Waltheof was chosen
archbishop of Saint Andrew's; but he prevailed upon Aelred to oppose the election
and not to oblige him to accept it.
Upon his death, this saint of unbounded generosity to the poor
was buried in the chapter house at Melrose. In 1207, his body was found to
be incorrupt and was translated. When it was again translated in 1240, it
was corrupted. Waltheof was never formally canonized but a popular cultus
continued until the time of the Reformation.
Many miracles were recorded of Saint Waltheof during his lifetime.
He had Eucharistic visions of Christ in the form appropriate to the feasts
of Christmas, Passiontide, and Easter, and visions of heaven and hell. He
multiplied food and had the gift of healing (Benedictines, Farmer, Walsh).
In art, Saint Waltheof is portrayed as a Cistercian kneeling
by a block of stone at sunrise. Sometimes he may be shown restoring sight
to a blind man (Roeder).
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1295 “ST” THOMAS OF DOVER
Miracles were recorded
at his tomb and Simon Simeon, an Irish friar who made a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land about 1322, mentions the honour given to him as a martyr “at the
Black Monks, under Dover Castle”. King Richard II asked Pope Urban VI to
canonize Thomas, and a process was begun in 1382 but never carried out
AMONG English holy men of the middle ages who have quite dropped
out of memory is Thomas of Hales, a monk of the Benedictine priory of St Martin
at Dover, a cell of Christ Church, Canterbury. On August 2, 1295, a French
raid descended on Dover from the sea, and the monks of the priory fled with
the exception of this venerable old man, who in accordance with the Rule
went to take his mid-day siesta. When the raiders invaded the monastery they
found him on his bed and told him to disclose where the church plate and
other valuables had been hidden; he refused, and was at once put to death.
Miracles
were recorded at his tomb and Simon Simeon, an Irish friar who made a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land about 1322, mentions the honour given to him as a martyr
“at the Black Monks, under Dover Castle”. King Richard II asked Pope Urban
VI to canonize Thomas, and a process was begun in 1382 but never carried out.
There was considerable popular cultus of Thomas locally, and
he was represented among the paintings of martyrs in the English College of
Rome; but to call him Saint is an almost entirely modern practice.
There is a life and passio
(BHL. 8248 b), and a summary of it and of some miracles (BHL. 8249);
texts in C. Horstman, Nova Legenda Anglie (1901), vol. ii,
pp. 555—558 and 403; translations in
C. R. Haines, Dover Priory (1930), on which book see the following
article, p. 168, n. 4 and p. 191, n. 2. In Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. lxxii (1954), pp. 167—191, Fr P. Grosjean provides a fully
documented discussion of all that is known of Thomas de la Hale.
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1323
Blessed Augustine Gazotich of Lucera fought the Manichæen heresy;
in Sicily, Islam; in Hungary both Several charming miracles are related OP
B (AC)
Born in Trau, Dalmatia, c. 1260-1262; cultus reconfirmed by Pope Clement
XI in 1702. Augustine was born into a wealthy family who provided him with
an excellent education. At 18, he and an Italian friend headed to the Dominican
novitiate in France. Near Pavia, Italy, they were attacked by enemies of his
family, who left the bodies of the two boys in the snow by the side of the
road. Augustine was badly injured; his friend died. When he recovered from
his injuries, Augustine continued to the novitiate. Augustine spent most
of his life battling heresy: In his native Dalmatia, he fought the Manichæen
heresy; in Sicily, Islam; in Hungary both.
In every situation in which he found himself, Augustine gave proof of his
virtue and good judgment. When Cardinal Boccasini came to Hungary as legate,
he noted the wisdom and tact of his brother Dominican, and when he himself
ascended the papal throne as Benedict XI, he appointed Augustine bishop of
Zagreb in Croatia in 1303.
This diocese was in chaos when Augustine assumed the cathedra. His three
predecessors had all tried, but failed, to repair the ravages of heresy, plague,
and schism. The new bishop began by reforming the clergy. He finished building
the cathedral and made a complete visitation of his diocese. His work was
to bring him into violent conflict with the government, but, spiritually,
he restored the entire see during his episcopacy.
Several charming miracles are related about Augustine. The river water
of Zagreb was unfit to drink, so the Dominican fathers asked Augustine to
pray for a new supply. At his prayer a fountain sprang up in the yard of
the convent, abundantly supplying their needs. Another time he planted a
tree in a little village and the leaves turned out to have healing properties.
On one occasion, when Bishop Augustine was dining with Benedict XI, the pope,
feeling that a missionary bishop must eat well to preach well, had a dish
of partridge set before Augustine, who never ate meat. Because he did not
want to offend the pope, he prayed for a resolution to the situation. The
legend says that God turned the partridges into fish!
Augustine was transferred from Zagreb to Lucera (Nocera), Sicily. Here
he continued his holy government, using his characteristic gentleness and
his gift of healing. He promoted devotion to Saints Dominic, Thomas Aquinas,
and Peter Martyr--all brother Dominicans. Feeling that he was near death,
he returned to the Dominican convent in Nocera to die among his brethren.
Under his statue in the cathedral of Nocera is the legend, "Sanctus Augustine
Episcopus Lucerinus Ordinis Praedicatorum," an indication of the veneration
in which he is held (Benedictines, Dorcy) .
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1625 Marabda 9,000
Martyrs; On the Feast of the Annunciation the Georgians annihilated the
army of the Persian shah Abbas I in the Battle of Martqopi. The victory unified
Georgia’s eastern provinces of Kartli and Kakheti. It also instilled hope
in other enslaved peoples of the Transcaucasus, and rebellions began to break
out everywhere; But another battle that had begun at dawn finally ended late
that night with the defeat of the Georgian army. Nine thousand Georgians gave
their lives for Christ and their motherland on the battlefield at Marabda
Apud Indos, Persis finítimos, pássio sanctórum Monachórum,
et aliórum fidélium, quos Abénner Rex, pérsequens
Ecclésiam Dei, divérsis afflíctos supplíciis,
cædi jussit.
Among the Indians, bordering on Persia, the martyrdom
of holy monks and other Christians who were put to death after suffering diverse
torments, during the persecution of the Church of God by King Abenner.
Soon the enraged Shah Abbas marched
his finest and largest army toward Georgia under the leadership of Isa-Khan
Qurchibash. A Georgian army of some twenty thousand men encamped near Kojori-Tabakhmela
in preparation for the attack, while the enemy’s army, which numbered in excess
of fifty thousand men, encamped at Marabda. According to tradition, the Georgian
soldiers received Holy Communion at dawn before the battle.
Bishop Domenti (Avalishvili) of Ruisi prepared to serve the Holy Gifts
to the soldiers but they cried out with a single voice: “If you will join
us and take up your sword and fight, then do so. We can receive Holy Communion
from another!”
Inspired by these words, the bishop joined in, proclaiming, “Today we will
fight a battle for faith and for Christ; therefore my blood must be spilled
before yours!” With his vestments as armor, the bishop blessed the soldiers
and took place front line.
The banner of the Georgian army
was entrusted to the nine Kherkheulidze brothers.
The Persians panicked upon coming
face-to-face with the courage and fortitude of the Georgian soldiers, but
the experienced commander Isa-Khan Qurchibash would not yield in battle. Help
arrived from Beglerbeg Shaybani-Khan, and with the extra forces the Persians
soon gained the advantage over the Georgian army. The Georgian colonel Teimuraz
Mukhranbatoni was fatally wounded, and rumors of his death threw the soldiers
into a frenzy, since they erroneously believed that the dead man was King
Teimuraz I of Kakheti, the commander of their army.
Believing that their leader had fallen, the Georgian soldiers
became anxious and their army was enfeebled. Before long they recognized their
mistake, but it was too late—the fate of the battle had already been decided.
The military leaders Davit Jandieri, Aghatang Kherkheulidze
and Baadur Tsitsishvili and the bishops of Rustavi and Kharchasho all fell
in the battle at Marabda. The nine banner-bearing Kherkheulidze brothers were
also killed. When the banner that had led their army through the battles at
Didgori and Basiani fell from the hands of the youngest brother, their sister
grabbed hold of it immediately, and when she also fell, the banner and symbol
of Georgian invincibility was raised up again by their mother.
King Teimuraz fought until sunset, when every sword he had
held in his hands had been broken. Even his rings were broken in the combat.
The uniform of the brilliant military leader Giorgi Saakadze was stained
with blood from top to bottom. Atabeg Manuchar of Samtskhe and his sons also
fought bravely in this battle.
Utterly exhausted and debilitated by the heat, the Georgians
fought heroically to the last moment. But the battle that had begun at dawn
finally ended late that night with the defeat of the Georgian army. Nine
thousand Georgians gave their lives for Christ and their motherland on the
battlefield at Marabda.
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|
1868 ST PETER
JULIAN EYMARD, FOUNDER OF THE PRIESTS OF THE BLESSED
SACRAMENT
August 3, 2009 St. Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868)
Born in La Mure d'Isère in southeastern France, Peter Julian's faith
journey drew him from being a priest in the Diocese of Grenoble (1834) to
joining the Marists (1839) to founding the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
(1856).
In addition to those changes, Peter Julian coped with poverty, his father's
initial opposition to Peter's vocation, serious illness, a Jansenistic striving
for inner perfection and the difficulties of getting diocesan and later papal
approval for his new religious community.
His years as a Marist, including service as a provincial leader, saw the
deepening of his eucharistic devotion, especially through his preaching of
Forty Hours in many parishes.
Inspired at first by the idea of reparation for indifference to the Eucharist,
Peter Julian was eventually attracted to a more positive spirituality of Christ-centered
love. Members of the men's community, which Peter founded, alternated between
an active apostolic life and contemplating Jesus in the Eucharist. He and
Marguerite Guillot founded the women's Congregation of the Servants of the
Blessed Sacrament.
Peter Julian Eymard was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1962, one day
after Vatican II's first session ended.
Comment:
In every century, sin has been painfully real in the life of the Church.
It is easy to give in to despair, to speak so strongly of human failings
that people may forget the immense and self-sacrificing love of Jesus, as
his death on the cross and his gift of the Eucharist make evident. Peter
Julian knew that the Eucharist was key to helping Catholics live out their
Baptism and preach by word and example the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Quote: “The Eucharist is the life of the people. The Eucharist gives them
a center of life. All can come together without the barriers of race or language
in order to celebrate the feast days of the Church. It gives them a law of
life, that of charity, of which it is the source; thus it forges between them
a common bond, a Christian kinship” (Peter Julian Eymard).
ST PETER JULIAN was born in 1811 at La Mure d’Isère, a small
town in the diocese of Grenoble. His father was a cutler, and Peter Julian
worked at his father’s trade, and in an oil-press, until he was eighteen;
in his spare hours he studied Latin and had some instruction from a priest
at Grenoble for whom he worked for a time, and in 1831 he went to the seminary
of Grenoble. He was ordained there in 1834 and for the five following years
ministered in the parishes of Chatte and Monteynard. What they thought of
him there was expressed in the words of his bishop, Mgr de Bruillard, when
the Abbé Eymard asked for permission to join the Marists: “I show my
esteem for that congregation by allowing such a priest as yourself to enter
it.”
After
his novitiate he was made spiritual director of the junior seminary at Belley,
and in 1845 provincial of his congregation at Lyons. Always the Blessed Sacrament
had been the centre round which his life revolved, “without It I should
have been lost”, and on a certain Corpus Christi Sunday, while carrying
the Host in procession, he had an overwhelming experience: “My soul was flooded
with faith and love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Those two hours seemed
but a moment. I laid at the feet of our Lord the Church in France and throughout
the world, everybody, myself. My eyes were filled with tears: it was as though
my heart were under the wine-press. I longed at that moment for all hearts
to have been within my own and to have been fired with the zeal of St Paul.”
In 1851 Father
Eymard made a pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Fourvières: One idea haunted me, and it was this: that Jesus in
the Blessed Sacrament had no religious institute to glorify His mystery of
love, whose only object was entire consecration to Its service. There ought
to be one. . . . I promised Mary to devote myself to this end. It was still
all very vague, and I had no idea of leaving the society. . . . ‘What hours
I spent there!” His superiors advised him to defer his plans till they were
more mature, and he spent four years at La Seyne. During this time he received
encouragement from Pope Pius IX and from the Ven. John Cohn, founder of the
Marists, and he determined to sacrifice his vocation with the Society of Mary
and to devote himself to a new society. In 1856, with the approval of the
Marist superior general, he submitted his scheme for an institute of priest-adorers
of the Blessed Sacrament to Mgr de Sibour, Archbishop of Paris, and at the
end of twelve anxious days it was approved. Mgr de Sibour put a house at
his disposal, wherein Father Eymard took up his residence with one companion,
and on January 6, 1857, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed in its chapel for
the first time, and Father Eymard preached to a large assembly.
The
first members of the Congregation of Priests of the Most Blessed Sacrament
were Father de Cuers and Father Champion, and they began with exposition three
times a week. Vocations were slow: many were called but few chosen; and the
difficulties were great. They had to leave their first house, and in 1858
they obtained a small chapel in the Faubourg Saint-Jacques, where during
nine years the grace of God was poured out so abundantly that Father Eymard
called it the “chapel of miracles”. In the following year Pope Pius
IX gave the congregation a laudatory
brief and a second house was opened, at Marseilles, and in 1862 a third, at
Angers. By this time there were enough members to establish a regular novitiate,
and the congregation rapidly expanded. The priests recite the Divine Office
in choir and perform all other duties of the clergy, subordinate to their
chief business of maintaining perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
exposed, in which they are assisted by lay-brothers. In 1858 Father Eymard
established the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, sisters who are also engaged
in perpetual adoration and spreading the love of our Lord; and he founded
the Priests’ Eucharistic League, whose members pledge themselves to
spend so far as possible about an hour a day in prayer before the Tabernacle.
But
Father Eymard did not confine his labours to the clergy and religious: in
his Work for Poor Adults he put before his congregation the necessity for
preparing for first communion all adults who are no longer of an age to attend
the parish catechism classes, or who are unable to go to these classes, and
he also organized the Archconfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, whose value
is so highly regarded by the Church that by canon law a branch should be erected
in every parish; he also wrote a number of books on the Eucharist which have
been translated into several languages.
Of
the difficulties which beset St Peter Julian in making his new foundation
one of the most trying was the adverse criticism he was subjected to at its
very inception, because he had left the Society of Mary, and detractors of
the work were not wanting when it was started. He excused them: “They do not
understand it, and each one who thinks to oppose it does it a service.
For I know well it must be persecuted. Was not our Lord persecuted throughout
His life?” There were other grave difficulties and disappointments, but in
spite of all the congregation was approved by the Holy See, as has been said,
in his lifetime, and was finally confirmed in perpetuum in
1895. He had an engaging spirit
of pietas: whenever he visited his home at La Mure he
regularly made three “stations”: at the font at which he was baptized, at
the altar where he received his first communion, and at the tomb of his parents;
and again, in 1867, “For how long have I waited to see again the dear country
of Chatte and Saint-Romans”, scenes of his earliest ministry. Father Eymard
had been looked on as a saint even in those days, and throughout his life
the impression of his holiness was recognized more and more, in his daily
life and virtues, in his works, and in his supernatural gifts: several times
he knew the thoughts of persons absent, he read souls, and more than once
had prophetic prevision. St John-Baptist Vianney, who knew Eymard personally,
said of him, “He is a saint. The world hinders his
work, but not knowingly, and it will do great things for the glory of God.
Adoration by priests! How fine!
Tell the good Father Eymard I will pray for the work every day.”
During the last
four years of his life St Peter Julian suffered from rheumatic gout and insomnia,
and his sufferings were added to by saddening difficulties. For once he allowed his discouragement to be seen. “He opened his
heart to us”, wrote Father Mayet in 1868." ‘ This time’, he said, ‘ I am
crushed under the cross, beaten down, annihilated.’ His heart felt the need
of seeking relief from a friend, because, as he explained, ‘ I am obliged
to bear my cross alone, so as not to frighten or discourage my confreres'.” The presentiment of approaching death was strong.
“ I shall return sooner than you think”, was his reply when his sister urged
him to visit La Mure more often. This was in February, and he began to go
round visiting his penitents and others who looked to him, speaking to them
as one who spoke for the last time. In July he broke down and his doctor ordered
him to leave Paris at once. On the 21st he left Grenoble by coach for La
Mure; it was very hot and he arrived in a state of collapse and partial paralysis.
On August 1 he died. Miracles took place at his tomb before the end of that
years and in 1925 Peter Julian Eymard was beatified, and canonized in 1962
during the Second Vatican Council.
There is a short sketch by Lady Herbert,
The Priest of the Eucharist (1898); an excellent life
by J. M. Lambert in the series “Les Saints” (1925); a full
biography in French by F. Trochu (1949), and one in Italian by P. Fossati
(1925). See also A. Bettinger, PierreJulien
Eymard et sa méthode d’Adoration (1927).
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Mary Mother of GOD
Saints of this Day August 03
Tértio Nonas Augústi. 
Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 
Benedict XVI met with Aram I Catholicos
of Cilicia, the highest authority of the Orthodox
Church. The Pope remembered
the martyrs of the Armenian Church and the Armenian
genocide, without explicitly mentioning it, and
denounced the persecution of Christians in modern times.
Benedict XVI
As we watch the spectacle of the world
seeming to self-destruct before our eyes, we
can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by so
much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia,
North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions displayed
in living color on our television screens.