On the first day of
the Afterfeast of the Transfiguration
The hymns of Vespers speak of the amazement of the Apostles when they saw
Christ transfigured before them.
The Savior's equality with the Father is also stressed, for He who covers
Himself with light as with a garment is now transfigured before His disciples,
"shining more brightly than the sun."
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1st v St. Claudia
mother of Linus mother of Linus, the second Pope. Tradition has her the daughter
of British King Caractacus, who was sent to Rome with his family in chains
when he was defeated by Aulus Plautius. Released by Emperor Claudius, one
of his daughters took the name Claudia, remained in Rome, was baptized, and
is the Claudia mentioned in St. Paul's second letter to Timothy.
Another tradition has her the daughter of Cogidubnus, a British ally of Claudius,
who took the Emperor's name. Martial mentions a British lady, Claudia Rufina,
and says she was married to his friend Aulus Pudens, a Roman senator.
Another tradition has this senator the Pudens also mentioned in St. Paul's second letter to Timothy.
Claudia, Matron (AC) 1st century. Saint Claudia, mother of Pope Saint Linus,
is said to have been the daughter of the British king Caractacus, who was
sent to Rome with his family in chains when he was defeated by Aulus Plautius.
Released by Emperor Claudius, one of his daughters took the name Claudia,
remained in Rome, was baptized, and is the Claudia mentioned in Saint Paul's
second letter to Timothy (4:21). Another tradition makes her the daughter
of Cogidubnus, a British ally of Claudius, who took the emperor's name. In
a third postulation, Martial mentions a British lady, Claudia Rufina, and
says she was married to his friend Aulus Pudens, a Roman senator, which would
mean she was the mother of Saints Praxedes and Pudentiana. Another tradition
has this senator the Pudens also mentioned in the same letter of Saint Paul
(2 Timothy 4:21) (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
ST CLAUDIA, MARTYR (FIRST CENTURY)
IN his second letter to St Timothy (2 Tim. iv 21), St Paul says, "Eubulus
and Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren salute thee". She was
evidently a lady of importance the Apostolic
Constitutions (4th century) state Claudia was mother of Linus, and
St Irenaeus says the Linus mentioned by St Paul was he who succeeded St Peter
in the supreme pontificate.
The poet Martial mentions in his Epigrams a British lady,
Claudia Rufina, who was the wife of his friend Aulus Pudens, and by some
this man has been identified with the Pudens of St Paul. That St Claudia
was a Briton is maintained independently by a tradition that she was a daughter
of the British King Caractacus, who was defeated by the Roman general Aulus
Plautius and sent with his family in chains to Rome in the year 51.
They were released by Emperor Claudius. One daughter remained in Rome, was
baptized, and took the name of Claudia, and is the lady whom St Paul mentions.
Others think she was the daughter, not of Caractacus,
but of Cogidubnus, British ally of Claudius who adopted the emperor's
name. None of these theories have more than the weight of not-impossible
suppositions; it is not even certain that St Claudia was the wife of St Pudens.
Bishop Lightfoot (Apostolic Fathers, vol. i, pt 1, pp.
76-79) discusses these identifications in connection with St Clement and
Pudens. He finds nothing which can lend them any probability.
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190 St. Faustus
Martyr Martyred soldier who suffered in Milan, Italy
Mediolani sancti Fausti militis, qui, sub Aurelio Commodo, post multa certamina,
martyrii palmam adeptus est.
At Milan, St. Faustus, a soldier, who obtained the palm
of martyrdom after many trials in the time of Aurélius Commodus.
Faustus of Milan M (RM) Tradition holds that Saint Faustus
was a soldier martyred under Commodius at Milan, Italy; no extant records
of his death (Benedictines).
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St. Donat Patron
saint of St. Donat’s or Llandunwyd, Glamorgan, Wales. In some lists he is
called Dunwyd.
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258 Sixtus (Xystus) II, Pope,
and Companions a Greek philosopher who embraced the Christian faith, served
as a deacon in Rome, reached this pinnacle of the church's offices on August
30, 257, and lasted in it no more than a year, suffering a brave martyr's
death. His name is in the canon of the Roman Mass MM (RM)
Orthodoxe Kirche: Laurentius, Sixtus, Felicissimus, Agapitus
und Romanus - 10. August Katholische Kirche: Xystus II. und Gefährten
- 7. August
Died August 6, 258; feast day formerly on August 6. Pope Sixtus
II was a Greek philosopher who embraced the Christian faith, served as a deacon
in Rome, reached this pinnacle of the church's offices on August 30, 257,
and lasted in it no more than a year, suffering a brave martyr's death. His
name is in the canon of the Roman Mass.
Although Sixtus II was convinced that anyone baptized by a heretic
was truly baptized, he nevertheless refused to excommunicate or otherwise
punish those theologians who disagreed with him. In his correspondence with
Saint Dionysius of Alexandria and Firmilian of Antioch, he upheld the Roman
position of their validity. Nevertheless, he resumed relations with Saint
Cyprian and the churches Africa and Asia Minor which had been ruptured by
Pope Saint Stephen I, his predecessor. In later centuries, the Church decreed
that provided a heretic had properly used the formulas of baptism, any person
so baptized could not be held to be outside the Christian faith. Why should
a man who had embraced the faith be considered a pagan simply because the
one who performed the rite of baptism was in error in his own beliefs?
In 253, Valerian, who had the chief of the senate, was elected
emperor. At first he was more favorably disposed toward the Christians than
any of the emperors before him had been, except Philip; and his palace was
full of Christians. Thus, the church enjoyed three years and one-half years
of peace. Valerian fell under the influence of the Persian archmagician named
Macrianus, who persuaded the emperor that the Christians, as avowed enemies
of magic and the gods, obstructed the effects of the sacrifices, and the
prosperity of his empire.
According to Saint Cyprian who considered Sixtus an excellent
prelate, Valerian had set forth his first decree condemning Christianity
in April 257. Shortly, Saint Stephen I was martyred. This persecution lasted
three and one-half years until he was taken prisoner by the Persians. Valerian
ordered that the farms and estates, the honors and the goods, the freedom
and even the lives of those who refused to renounce their faith should be
sacrificed. When the persecution intensified the following year, Cyprian
wrote to his fellow African bishops:
"Valerian has sent an order to
the senate to the effect that bishops, priests, and deacons should forthwith
die [even if they are willing to conform], but that senators, persons of
quality, and Roman knights should forfeit their honors, should have their
estates forfeited, and if they still refused to sacrifice, should lose their
heads; that matrons should have their goods seized, and be banished; that
any of Caesar's officers or domestics who already confessed the Christian
faith, or had should now confess it, should forfeit their estates to the
exchequer, and should be sent in chains to work in Caesar's farms. To this
order the emperor subjoined a copy of the letters which he hath dispatched
to the presidents of the several provinces concerning us; which letter I
expect, and hope will soon be brought hither."
"Sixtus suffered in a cemetery
on the sixth day of August, and with him four deacons. The Roman officers
are very keen on this persecution: the people brought before them are certain
to suffer and forfeit their estates. Please notify my colleagues of these
details so that our brothers may be ready everywhere for their great conflict,
that we all may think of immortality rather than death and derive joy rather
than fear from this confession, in which the soldiers of Christ, as we know,
are not so much killed as crowned."
The pope took refuge in the catacombs of Praetextatus on the Appian
Way. There he was discovered preaching to his flock, seated in his chair.
According to some accounts he was still seated, when he was beheaded. Others
say that he was taken away for examination and returned to the scene for
execution. It is certain that he was beheaded in the cemetery. The Roman
Martyrology that he was martyred with his deacons (Felicissimus and Agapitus),
subdeacons (Januarius, Magnus, Stephen, and Vincent), and Quartus. (Quartus
owes his existence to a bad transcript in which "diaconus Quartus" (the deacon,
Quartus) was written in place of the original "diacones quattuor" (four deacons).)
It is likely that Sixtus suffered with all seven of the deacons of Rome,
the six mentioned today, and Saint Lawrence; the four may not have been subdeacons.
Their bodies were carried across the Appian Way by their mourners,
and placed in the cemetery of Saint Callixtus. He was one of the most highly
esteemed martyrs of the early Roman church; however, the sayings of a pagan
moralist, named Sextus, were wrongly attributed to Sixtus in the middle ages
(Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth,
White).
In art, Saint Sixtus is shown holding a money-bag, with his deacon
Saint Lawrence and Saint John the Baptist. At times he may be depicted (1)
ordaining Saint Lawrence [Fra Angelico]; (2) giving Lawrence a bag of money
to give to the poor; or (3) as he is greeted by Lawrence on his way to martyrdom
(Roeder).
Xystus II. (Sixtus II.), Felicissimus, Agapitus, Januarius, Magnus,
Vincentius, Stephanus, Quartus und Romanus
Orthodoxe Kirche: Laurentius, Sixtus, Felicissimus, Agapitus und
Romanus - 10. August Katholische Kirche: Xystus II. und Gefährten -
7. August
Xystus II. war von 257 bis 258 Bischof von Rom. Er stellte den
Frieden im Ketzertaufstreit wieder her (siehe Cyprian). Unter Kaiser Valerius
setzte eine neue Verfolgung ein, zu deren Beginn Xystus während der
Eucharistiefeier in der Callixtuskatakombe am 6.8.258 überfallen und
enthauptet wurde. Am gleichen Tage wurden seine Diakone Felicissimus und
Agapitus ermordet. Das Fest dieser drei Märtyrer steht seit 354 im römischen
Missale. Das Martyrologium Romanum nennt außerdem die Subdiakone Januarius,
Magnus, Vincentius, Stephanus und Quartus, die ebenfalls am 6.8.258 das Martyrium
erlitten. Der Erzdiakon Laurentius wurde am 10.8.258 zu Tode gemartert. Das
griechische xystus (der geglättete) wurde als sixtus latinisiert und
dann mit sextus (der sechste) gleichgesetzt. In einigen Gegenden zählt
Sixtus zu den 14 Nothelfern.
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260 St. Peter, Julian,
and Companions martyrs A group put to death during the persecutions
of Emperors Valerian and Gallienus
Romæ sanctórum
Mártyrum Petri et Juliáni, cum áliis decem et octo.
At Rome, the holy martyrs Peter and Julian, with eighteen others.
Peter, Julian (Juliana)
and Companions MM (RM) Died c. 260. A mixed gender group of at least 20 Romans
martyred under Valerian and Gallienus (Benedictines).
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295 St. Carpophorus
Soldiers Martyr with Exanthus, Cassius, Severinus, Secundus, and Licinius;
slain at Como, Italy, during the persecution of co-Emperor Maximian
Novocomi pássio sanctórum
Mártyrum Carpophori, Exanthi, Cassii, Severini, Secúndi et
Licinii; qui, in confessióne Christi, cápite truncáti
sunt.
At Como, the passion
of the holy martyrs Carpophorus, Exanthus, Cassius, Severinus, Secundus,
and Licinius, who were beheaded for the confession of Christ.
Carpophorus, Exanthus, Cassius, Severinus, Secundus, Licinius MM (RM)
Died c. 295. Christian soldiers who were martyred at Como, Lombardy, Italy,
during the reign of Maximian Herculius (Benedictines).
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260 Marinus,
soldier & Asterius senator Holy Martyrs; Marinus when about to be promoted
to centurion, Marinus refused to swear the customary oath invoking the pagan
gods, or to offer sacrifice to idols; When the execution was over, he took
off his senatorial garb, spread it upon the ground and wrapped the head and
body of St Marinus in it. On his own shoulders he carried the martyr's relics
to the grave and reverently consigned them to earth
A soldier during the reign of the pagan emperors Valerian (253-259)
and his son Gallienus (260-268).
When he was about to be promoted to centurion, Marinus refused
to swear the customary oath invoking the pagan gods, or to offer sacrifice
to idols. St Marinus was beheaded in Caesarea Philippi after cruel tortures.
St Asterius also happened to be present at the sufferings of the
Martyr Marinus. When the execution was over, he took off his senatorial garb,
spread it upon the ground and wrapped the head and body of St Marinus in
it. On his own shoulders he carried the martyr's relics to the grave and
reverently consigned them to earth.
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4th v. St. Donatian
Second bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne, in France
Catalauni, in
Gállia, sancti Donatiáni Epíscopi.
At Chalons in France, St. Donatian, bishop.
Donatian of Châlons-sur-Marne B
(RM) 4th century (?). Second bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne, France (Benedictines).
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305 Afra Fest steht,
daß Afra um 304 enthauptet wurde, die später entstandenen Legenden
sind vielleicht aus einer Christianisierung des griechischen Aphrodite-Kultes
entstanden. Aphrodite (in Italien Venus) war die Göttin der Liebe und
Fruchtbarkeit.
Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 7. August
Die Lebensgeschichte Afras dürfte weitgehend Legende sein. Sie soll
mit ihrer Mutter mit cyprischen Legionären nach Augsburg gekommen sein.
Hier unterhielt ihre Mutter Hilaria (Gedenktag 2.8.) ein Bordell, in dem
auch Afra arbeitete. Bischof Narcissus von Gerona (Gedenktag 29. Oktober)
fand in dem Haus Zuflucht, als er vor der Verfolgung unter Diokletian geflohen
war. Afra erfuhr durch ihn vom christlichen Glauben und ließ sich mit
ihrer Mutter taufen. Um Narcissus und Afra entstand eine kleine Gemeinde
und das Bordell soll zur ersten Kirche Augsburgs geworden sein. Narcissus
setzte einen Onkel Afras, Dionysius, zum Bischof der Gemeinde ein und kehrte
nach Spanien zurück.
Die Bekehrung Afras wurde bald angezeigt. Da sie sich unter Folterungen weigerte,
zu widerrufen, wurde sie um 305 auf einer Insel im Lech verbrannt (nach anderen
Legenden enthauptet). Ihre Mutter und andere Frauen, die sich zu Christus
bekannten, wurden kurz darauf ebenfalls verbrannt. Vorher soll ihre Mutter
noch eine Kapelle über Afras Grab erbaut haben. Später befand sich
ihr Grab in der Afra-Kirche. Afra wurde 1064 heiliggesprochen. In diesem
Jahr wurde auch ein römischer Sarkophag mit angekohlten Gebeinen gefunden,
der sich jetzt in der Unterkirche der Basilika St. Ulrich und Afra befindet.
Afra ist mit Ulrich Patronin von Augsburg.
Fest steht, daß Afra um 304 enthauptet wurde, die später entstandenen
Legenden sind vielleicht aus einer Christianisierung des griechischen Aphrodite-Kultes
entstanden. Aphrodite (in Italien Venus) war die Göttin der Liebe und
Fruchtbarkeit.
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4th v. Martyrdom of
St. Apoli, Son of Justus; This Saint was the crown prince of the Roman empire.
He was away in war, and when he returned to Antioch, he found Diocletian
had already established the pagan worship of idols. Although Apoli was capable
of killing him and taking the empire over from him, he preferred the heavenly
everlasting kingdom.
On this day, St. Apoli (Aboli), son of Justus, son of Emperor Nomarius, was
martyred. This Saint was the crown prince of the Roman empire. He was away
in war, and when he returned to Antioch, he found Diocletian had already
established the pagan worship of idols. Although Apoli was capable of killing
him and taking the empire over from him, he preferred the heavenly everlasting
kingdom. St. Apoli came forward, and confessed Christ before Diocletian.
In the beginning, Diocletian handled him gently, but when he failed to attract
him to the worship of the idols, he banished him along with his father, Justus,
and his mother, Theoclia to the city of Alexandria. He wrote to Armanius,
its governor, to persuade them to offer sacrifice to the gods, and if they
refuse, to separate them from each other.
Armanius, knowing their royal positions, sent Justus (the father) to Ansena
(Antinoe), his wife to the city of Sa, and Apoli, their son, to Basta. He
also left to each of them one of their servants to minister unto them. When
Apoli arrived in the city of Basta, he confessed Christ before its governor
who tortured him severely. He beat him, burned him, and dismembered him.
When the governor saw that many became Christians because of what they saw
from the steadfastness of the Saint to the tortures, and that the Lord was
healing him from his wounds, he ordered to cut off his holy head, and thus
received the crown of martyrdom.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
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St. Hyperechios a “Desert
Father.” Egyptian hermit, called a “Desert Father.” A collection of his sayings
is extant.
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361
St. Donatus bishop of Arizzo & Hilarinus a martyr of Ostia; Martyrs of
Italy; Their cultus now confined to local calendars
Aretii, in Túscia, natális
sancti Donati, Epíscopi et Mártyris; qui, inter cetera virtútis
ópera (ut scribit beátus Gregórius Papa), cálicem
sanctum, a Paganis fractum, orándo instaurávit. Is, in
persecutióne Juliáni Apóstatæ, a Quadratiáno
Augustali comprehénsus, et, cum sacrificáre idolis renuísset,
gládio percússus, martyrium consummávit. Passus
est étiam cum eo beátus Hilarinus Monachus; cujus memória
décimo séptimo Kaléndas Augusti recolitur, quo die sacrum
ipsíus corpus ad Ostia Tiberina translátum fuit.
At Arezzo in Tuscany, the birthday of St. Donatus, bishop
and martyr, who among other miraculous deeds by his prayers (as is related
by blessed Pope Gregory) made whole again a sacred chalice which had been
broken by pagans. Being apprehended by the imperial officer Quadratian,
during the persecution of Julian the Apostate, and refusing to sacrifice
to idols, he was struck with the sword, and thus fulfilled his martyrdom.
With him suffered also the blessed monk Hilarinus, whose feast is celebrated
on the 16th of July, at which time his body was taken to Ostia.
Donatus of Besançon, OSB B (AC) Died before 660. Donatus, a monk
of Luxeuil Abbey, became bishop of Besançon, France, in 624. Because
of his zeal for monasticism, he founded Saint Paul's Abbey in his see. His
Regula ad virgines combines elements of the Benedictine Rule with that of
Saint Columbanus, the founder of Luxeuil (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
361 Donatus B and Hilarinus (Hilary) M (RM). Hilarinus was a monk martyred
at Ostia, Italy, under Julian the Apostate; Donatus the second bishop of
Arezzo, Italy. Through confusion with another Saint Donatus, he is often
thought to have been a martyr, but he appears to have died a peaceful death
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia). In art, Saint Donatus is portrayed as a young
or middle-aged bishop with a sword and dragon. He might also be shown (1)
freeing a poisoned well from the dragon; (2) on horseback, raising his crozier
at the dragon; (3) kneeling at an altar with an angel whispering to him,
a chalice and dragon at his feet; or (4) beheaded with sword or stabbed with
a dagger (Roeder). He is the patron saint of Arezzo. In addition to the confusion
with the other Donatus, he is mixed up with Donatia of Rheims, who is the
patron saint of Bruges (Roeder).
ST DONATUS, BISHOP OF Aanzzo 362
DONATUS was the second bishop of Arezzo in Tuscany. Though the Roman
Martyrology refers to him as a martyr at Arezzo under Julian the Apostate,
and he is commemorated as such in today's Mass, he seems certainly not to
have died for the faith. In the same place Donatus is associated with
the martyred monk St Hilarinus, but he seems to have suffered at Ostia;
there too mention is made of the attribution to him by St Gregory the Great
of a miracle of restoring a chalice broken up by the heathen.
There has also been confusion between St Donatus of Arezzo and another St
Donatus, bishop of Euroea in Epirus.
The early cultus of this Donatus
as a confessor is indubitable, but his so-called passio (Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. ii) is simply
derived from the fictitious story of St Gallicanus, who has a long entry
in the Roman Martyrology on June 25.
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363 St Dometius martyred
by Julian Apostate; lived in Persia during the fourth century. In his youth
he was converted to the Faith by a Christian named Uaros. 
Forsaking Persia, he withdrew to the frontier city of Nisibis (in Mesopotamia),
where he was baptized in one of the monasteries, received the monastic tonsure,
ordained a deacon; local inhabitants began to come for healing and help.
Many pagans were brought to faith in Christ
Nisibi, in Mesopotamia, sancti
Dometii, Monachi Persæ, qui cum duobus discípulis, sub Juliáno
Apóstata, lapidátus est.
At Nisibis
in Mesopotamia, St. Dometius, a Persian monk, who was stoned to death with
two of his disciples at the time of Julian the Apostate.
Fleeing
the ill-will of some of the monks, St Dometius moved to the monastery of
Saints Sergius and Bacchus in the city of Theodosiopolis. The monastery was
under the guidance of an archimandrite named Urbelos, a strict ascetic, of
whom it was said that for sixty years he did not taste cooked food, nor did
he lay down for sleep, but rather took his rest standing up, supporting himself
upon his staff.
In this monastery St Dometius was ordained a deacon, but when
the archimandrite decided to have him made a presbyter, considering himself
unworthy, hid himself on desolate mountain in Syria, region of Cyrrhus.
Stories about him constantly spread among the local
inhabitants. They began to come to him for healing and for help. Many pagans
were brought to faith in Christ by Dometius. And one time, in the locality
where St Dometius struggled with his disciples, the emperor Julian the Apostate
(361-363) arrived, traveling on his campaign against the Persians. By order
of the emperor, soldiers found St Dometius praying with his disciples in
a cave, and walled them up alive inside.
Two disciples of St Dometius lived during the fourth
century, and were walled up inside a cave with him by order of the emperor
Julian the Apostate in the year 363.
Dometius (Domitius) the Persian & Companions M (RM)
Died 4th century. Although the Roman Martyrology appears to have three entries
for this Domitius (f.d. March 23 and July 5), it is uncertain that they were
indeed the same person. The laus reads: "At Nisibis in Mesopotamia Saint
Dometius, a Persian monk who with two of this disciples was stoned to death
under Julian the Apostate" (Benedictines).
ST DOMETIUS THE PERSIAN, MARTYR (c. A.D. 362?)
Melkites and other Christians
of the East today celebrate the memory of St Dometius who, according to the
legend, was a Persian convert who became monk at Nisibis in Mesopotamia,
was ordained deacon, and went to live in a cave, from whence he converted
many heathen of the neighbourhood. People flocked to his retreat to ask his
blessing and in hope he would cure their ills and the Emperor Julian the
Apostate, whom Dometius had reproached for his impiety, accused the holy
man of courting popularity. "If these poor harmless folk come
to see me, I cannot send them away", he replied. Julian was so incensed by
the answer that he had him stoned to death.
There has been great confusion between this Dometius
and another, mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on July 5 as a martyr in Syria,
"who by his power affords many benefits to the inhabitants of these parts".
St Dometius has a great reputation in the East as an ascete and wonder-worker
there is evidence that he was honoured in Cyprus and in southern Italy, and
we find him referred to in the Syriac martyrology of Rabban Sliba as a "healer
of sciatica".
The Greek acts have been printed
in Analecta Bollanadiana, vol. xix
(1900), pp. 285-320; in the Syriac recension, edited by P. Bedjan, the narrative
has been transformed in a number of details. In Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lvii (1939),
pp. 72-104, Fr P. Peeters discusses at length the confusion between the two
Dometii.
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390 St Horus in
his youth withdrew into the Thebaid desert and struggled in complete solitude
for many years, leading the life of a strict hermit. Having advanced in years,
St Horus was granted to see an angel, who announced that the Lord had destined
him for the salvation of the many people who would seek his guidance.
After this, the monk began to accept everyone who came to him for advice
and help. The Lord granted him a gift of reading the Holy Scriptures, despite
the fact that the saint since childhood had not been taught reading and writing.
Gradually, a large monastery formed around St Horus, which the
holy Elder was the spiritual guide. The monk never entered the trapeza for
food, nor did he eat on the day of partaking of the Holy Mysteries. He often
taught the brethren by means of stories about the temptations which might
beset a monk living in solitude. But he always told them in such a way that
everyone would know that he was speaking of desert-dwellers personally known
to him. The saint concealed his own ascetic exploits.
Once, when the saint still lived with only one disciple, he brought to the
Elder's attention the approach of Holy Pascha. St Horus immediately stood
up at prayer, and raising his hands, he stood thus for three days under the
open sky, in unceasing prayer. He then explained to his disciple that for
a monk every feastday, and especially Pascha, is celebrated by removing oneself
from everything mundane, and lifting up one's mind to unity with God.
All the thoughts and deeds of his disciples was revealed to St Horus, and
no one dared to lie to him. Having survived well into old age, St Horus founded
several monasteries, comprising altogether as many as 1,000 monastics. He
died at age 90 in about the year 390 .
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407 St. Victricius missionary
and Bishop; The son of a Roman legionnaire, he set out on a military career.
After becoming a Christian, he refused to remain in the legions. Flogged
and sentenced to death for remaining adamant in his refusal to return to the
army, he somehow avoided execution and received a discharge. Victricius became
a missionary among the tribes of Flanders, Hainault, and Brabant, Belgium,
and later the bishop of Rouen, France (about 386)
Rotomagi sancti Victricii Epíscopi,
qui adhuc miles, sub eodem Juliáno, abjíciens pro Christo cingulum,
a Tribuno multis torméntis affícitur, et cápitis damnátur;
sed, carnifice, qui ad eum cædéndum missus fuerat, cæcitate
percusso, ipse, vínculis solutis, liber evasit. Postea, Epíscopus
factus, indomitas Morinórum et Nerviórum gentes divini prædicatióne
verbi ad Christi fidem perdúxit, et demum Confessor in pace quiévit.
At Rouen,
the holy bishop St. Victricius. While he was yet a soldier under Julian,
he threw away his military belt for Christ, and after being subjected by
the tribune to many torments, was condemned to death. But the executioner
sent to slay him being struck blind, and the confessor's chains being loosened,
he made his escape. Afterwards being made bishop, by preaching the
word of God, he brought to the faith of Christ the barbarous people of Belgic
Gaul, and finally died in peace, a confessor.Owing to his
reputation for goodness and being a capable prelate, he journeyed to England
in 396 to assist in the settlement of some dispute among the bishops there,
although in his later years he was accused of heretical leanings. Not only
was he exonerated by Pope St. Innocent I
(401-417), but he received from the pope the important decretal of
the Liber Regularum.
He was also the author of the work The Praise
of Saints St. Victricius.
Victricius of Rouen B (RM) Died c. 409. It
seems that God preserved Victricius from martyrdom because He had other plans.
When the saint converted to Christianity, he resigned from the Roman army
because, like his friend Saint Martin of Tours he believed military service
was incompatible with his new faith. For this he was brutally flogged and
sentenced to death. But the sentence was never executed. Victricius became
a missionary among the northern tribes of France. After he came bishop of
Rouen in 380, he was known as one of the leading prelates of Gaul. About
395, the bishops of Britain sent for him to resolve certain difficulties
of an unknown nature. He was definitely a man of importance who "did all
that he could, even if he could not do all that needed doing." Although there
is no early life of him, he is discussed in several extant letters of his
friend Saint Paulinus of Nola. A piece written by Victricius on the Praise
of Saints still survives, as well as an
important disciplinary document addressed to him by Pope Saint Innocent I (Attwater,
Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
St Victricius, Bishop of Rouen
Among the great bishops of the
Western church during the fourth century three stand out conspicuously
in Gaul, namely, Hilary of Poitiers,
Martin of Tours and Victricius of Rouen. Of these the last-named
is the least well known to fame because we have less information about his
career, whereas the other two are pretty well documented. It is likely his
birthplace was somewhere not far from the Scheldt, that he was born about
the year 330, and that his father or near ancestor was a soldier in one of
the Roman legions called Victrix. Nothing is known of his early years,
but at the age of seventeen he became a soldier and not long afterwards a
Christian. At this time the lawfulness of the military profession for
a Christian had not yet been decided in the Church, and there were not wanting
learned and good men who denied that a Christian could bear arms without
blame; and St Victricius, laying down his weapons one day on parade, asked
for his discharge (cf. the action of St Martin of Tours in similar circumstances).
His period of service was not yet expired, so his tribune treated the request
as a breach of discipline and ordered him to be flogged. Unable to move him,
the tribune referred the matter to the comes,
who sentenced Victricius to death for desertion. St Paulinus of Nola says in one of his letters
that miraculous intervention prevented the sentence from being carried out;
and Victricius and some Christian comrades were released and discharged.
Then follows a blank in the history of Victricius,
and when next heard of he is bishop of Rouen, to which see he must have been
elected about the year 386. Within his diocese there were still many heathen,
to whose conversion the bishop applied himself with zeal, and he introduced
monasticism into Rouen in the loose unorganized form that it had in Gaul
at that time his flock of ascetes, thin with fasting "and his choir
of maidens", whose "life is even more splendid than it is, in the world's
eyes, hard". He obtained from St Ambrose at Milan many relics
of the saints, which were received by the people in solemn procession and
duly enshrined. In connection with these translations he preached or wrote
his work On the Praise of The Saints,
which partakes of the nature both of a panegyric and of a thesis on the cultus of the saints; as a piece of literature
it is particularly valuable for the study of the rhythmical cursus. Victricius
established a number of rural parishes, which in those days were still rare,
but progress against paganism was slow among the country people, and it continued
for another couple of hundred years. He preached in Artois, western Flanders,
Hainault and Brabant; but his work was largely undone and the religious centres
he established destroyed by the barbarian invasions in the fifth century.
His reputation for wisdom and holiness had meanwhile
crossed the Channel, and about 396 he came over at the request of the British
bishops to settle some differences. Their nature is not known. Whatever it
was, Victricius, in his own words, "did all he could, even if he did not
do all that wanted doing...I inspired the wise with love of peace, I taught
it to the teachable, I explained it to the ignorant, I imposed it on the
obstinate, insisting on it in season and out of season..."
Towards the end of his life St Victricius came under
suspicion of heresy, and he went to Rome to clear himself. This he
had no difficulty in doing; and he received from Pope St Innocent I in 404 a famous decretal
on disciplinary matters, including the reference of causae maiores from the local bishops
to the Holy See. The exact date of the death of this great bishop is not
known.
Considering
the important position claimed for St Victricius it is curious that we possess
no early life of him. We have to be content for the most part with such information
as may be gleaned from the letters of St Paulinus of Nola. There is an excellent
study of all that is known of Victricius, by E. Vacandard, in the series
"Les Saints" (1903). Cf. also C.
Jullian, Histoire de la Gaule, and
E. de Moreau, Histoire de l'Eglise en Belgique,
t. i (1945). For the saint's influence on St Patrick, see Fr P. Grosjean
in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxiv
(1946), pp. 94-99.
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660 St. Donatus of
Besancon Fr Bishop Bishop of Besancon, France, from 624. Donatus was a monk
at Luxeuil before becoming a bishop; founded St. Paul Abbey.
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1110 Saint Pimen
the Much-ailing attained the Kingdom of Heaven by enduring grievous illness.
This Russian ascetic was both born and grew up sickly, but his illness preserved
him from illness of the soul; conscious of the high value of suffering, he
the Lord both for the continuation of his sickness, and tonsuring into monasticism;
radiant angels appeared in the guise of monks, and tonsured him -- They told
him that he would receive his health only on the day of his death; On the
day of St Pimen's repose, three fiery columns appeared over the trapeza,
and moved atop the church. A similar event was described in the chronicles
under February 11, 1110 (See the August 5 commemoration of St Theoctistus
of Chernigov).
For a long time he besought his parents to send him to the Kiev
Caves monastery. When they brought their son to the famed monastery, they
then began to pray for him to be healthy. But the sufferer himself, conscious
of the high value of suffering, instead asked the Lord both for the continuation
of his sickness, and also his tonsuring into monasticism.
One night, radiant angels appeared in the guise of monks, and
tonsured him. They told him that he would receive his health only on the
day of his death. Several of the brethren heard the sound of singing, and
coming to St Pimen, they found him attired in monastic garb. In his hand
he held a lit candle, and his tonsured hair could be seen at the crypt of
St Theodosius. St Pimen spent many years in sickness, so that those attending
to him could not tolerate it. They often left him without food and water
for two or three days at a time, but he endured everything with joy.
Compassionate towards the brethren, St Pimen healed a certain
crippled brother, who promised to serve him until death if he were healed.
But after a while the brother grew lax in his service, and his former ailment
overtook him. St Pimen again healed him with the advice, that both the sick
and those attending the sick receive equal reward.
St Pimen spent twenty years in grievous sufferings. One day, as
the angels had predicted, he became healthy. In church, the monk took leave
of all the brethren and partook of the Holy Mysteries. Then, having bowed
down before the grave of Abba Anthony, St Pimen indicated the place for his
burial, and he himself carried his bed there. Pointing to those buried
there, one after the other of the monks, and he predicted that the brethren
would find one buried in the schema to be without it, since this monk had
led a life unworthy of it. Another monk, who had been buried without the
schema, would be found clothed in it after death, since he had greatly desired
it during his life, and he was worthy.
Then St Pimen lay down upon
his bed and fell asleep in the Lord. The brethren buried him with great honor,
glorifying God. After the death of St Pimen, the brethren were persuaded
of the truth of his words. On the day of St Pimen's repose, three fiery columns
appeared over the trapeza, and moved atop the church. A similar event was
described in the chronicles under February 11, 1110 (See the August 5 commemoration
of St Theoctistus of Chernigov), therefore the day of demise of St Pimen
is surmised as also occurring on February 11, 1110.
The relics of St Pimen rest in the Antoniev Cave. A second commemoration
of the saint is made on September 28, the Synaxis of the Monks of the Near
Caves.
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1141 St Pimen, Faster
of the Caves, labored in the Far Caves. His abstinence was such that he ate
food only once a day, and only in the most necessary quantity. His outward
fasting corresponded to an inward abstemiousness from any actions, thoughts
or feelings, displeasing to God. St Pimen igumen of Kiev Caves monastery
from 1132 to 1141.
A second commemoration of the saint
occurs on August 28.
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1248 Blessed Jordan
Forzatei a monk at Padua until he was made abbot of the Benedictine abbey
of Saint Justina. When Frederick II entrusted the government of the city to
him, Count Ezzelino imprisoned him for three years, OSB Abbot
(AC)
Born in Padua, Italy, in 1158; died at Venice, 1248. Jordan was a monk at
Padua until he was made abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Justina.
When Frederick II entrusted the government of the city to him, Count Ezzelino
imprisoned him for three years. His feast is kept at Padua, Treviso, and
Praglia (Benedictines).
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1307 St. Albert of Trapani
miracles; Carmelite
hermit and missionary entered a monastic hermitage near Messina where he
successfully devoted himself to the conversion of the Jews
Messanæ, in Sicília, sancti Alberti Confessóris, ex Ordine
Carmelitárum, miráculis clari.
At Messina in Sicily, St. Albert, confessor of the Carmelite
Order, renowned for miracles.
He was born in Trapani, Sicily, joined the Carmelite Order.
After ordination, he was sent to nearby Messina, where he gathered thousands
with his preaching and miracles. After
serving as a missionary, Albert entered a monastic hermitage near Messina
where he successfully devoted himself to the conversion of the Jews (Benedictines).
He remained there until his death.
Albert of Trapani, OC (RM) Born in Trapani, Sicily; died 1306; cultus confirmed
in 1454. At a very young age, Saint Albert enter the Carmelite monastery
of his hometown. After his priestly ordination, he was transferred to the
house at Messina, where he successfully devoted himself to the conversion
of the Jews (Benedictines).
St Albert of Trapani, also called "of Sicily", was born at Trapani
in that island. It is said his parents were Benedict Adalberti and Joan of
Palizze and that, having been long without issue, they vowed that if they
had a male child he should be dedicated to our Lady of Mount Carmel in her
order. At any rate, the young Albert became a Carmelite, and after
he had been ordained was sent to the priory of Messina, where he preached
with much success, especially among the Jews. He added many voluntary austerities
to those of his rule, among them the custom of repeating the whole psalter
on his knees before a crucifix every night before he went to bed. Unfortunately
this and other particulars given by his biographer were written long after
he was dead and are far from reliable. He tells us that when the king
of Naples was besieging Messina and had blockaded it so effectually that
the city was in imminent danger of starvation, Frederick III of Sicily contemplated
burning it down to keep it out of the enemy's hands certain of the citizens
came to St Albert in great distress about this, and the sudden arrival of
food ships that had successfully run the blockade was attributed to his prayers.
His biographer records that St Albert made a pilgrimage to Palestine
to the cradle of his order, where he became as famous for his miracles as
he was at home hut in fact this journey was never undertaken, and the miracles
must be regarded as probably equally apocryphal. During the last years
of his life he lived as a hermit near Messina. When, three hundred
years later, St Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi was tempted to leave the Carmel at
Florence and return to the world, she asked the prayers of St Albert in Heaven;
the temptation left her, and she was confirmed in her good resolution by
a vision of the saint. He was never formally canonized, but his cultus was approved in 1476.
The Latin life, upon which all
the others of more recent date are directly or indirectly founded, has been
printed in the Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. xvii (1898), pp. 317 seq. It
was only written at the beginning of the fifteenth century. See also B. Zimmerman,
Monumenta historica Carmelitana,
pp. 259, 422, etc.
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14th v. Saint Mercurius
of Kiev Caves pursued asceticism in the Farther Caves, and was strict in
fasting. During his lifetime St Mercurius had a deep spiritual friendship
with St Paisius, and when they died, they were buried in the same grave.
The November 24 commemoration of the saint is made because of his namesake,
the holy Great Martyr Mercurius. He is also remembered on August 28, the
Synaxis of the Saints of the Far Caves; and the second Sunday of Great Lent,
the Synaxis of all the monastic Fathers of the Kiev Caves.
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1419 Nikanor Orthodoxe
Kirche: 7. August Nikanor lebte als Einsiedler auf dem Berg Calistratus.
Er wird als Wundertäter verehrt. Nikanor starb 1419.
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1504 Blessed Vincent
of Aquila Vincent a Franciscan lay-brother who was famous for his mystical
gifts , OFM (AC)
Born in Aquila, Italy; cultus approved
in 1785. Vincent Franciscan lay-brother famous for his mystical gifts (Benedictines).
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1547 St. Cajetan; at his
birth his mother, a fervent Dominican tertiary, dedicated Cajetan to the
Blessed Virgin; father died fighting for Venetians against King Ferdinand
of Naples when Cajetan was only two, example of mother helped Cajetan to
grow into a man of sweet temper, constant recollection, unwavering compassion,
especially toward poor and afflicted; mystical experience; doctorate in both
civil and canon law at Padua, Italy, he became a senator in Vicenza; Pope
Julius II compelled him to accept the office of protonotary in his court.
Although Julius II was one of the least inspiring examples of a pope, Cajetan
saw through the lustful, simonious, indulgent, war-loving court to the essential
holiness of the Church. He knew that despite the vices and follies of Her
servants, Holy Mother Church still held the keys to the salvation of the
world; resigned as protonotary upon Julius's death in 1513 and was ordained in
1516; founder of the blue-habited Theatines, beatified by Urban VIII in 1629;
canonized by Clement X in 1671. Miracles
Neapoli, in Campania, sancti
Cajetani Thienæi Confessóris, Clericórum Regulárium
Fundatoris, qui, singulári in Deum fiducia, pristinam Apostolicam
vivéndi formam suis coléndam trádidit, et, miráculis
clarus, a Cleménte Papa Décimo inter Sanctos relátus
est.
At Naples
in Campania, St. Cajetan the Theatine, confessor, founder of the Clerics Regular,
who, through singular confidence in God, made his disciples practise the
primitive mode of life of the apostles. Being renowned for miracles,
he was ranked among the saints by Clement X.
Saint Cajetan, was the born 1480 son of Lord Gaspar
of Thienna (Tiene) and his wife Mary di Porto. Both were known for their
piety. At his birth his mother, a fervent Dominican tertiary, dedicated Cajetan
to the Blessed Virgin. Although his father died while fighting for the Venetians
against King Ferdinand of Naples when Cajetan was only two, the example of
his mother helped Cajetan to grow into a man of sweet temper, constant recollection,
and unwavering compassion, especially toward the poor and afflicted.
After attaining a doctorate in both civil and canon
law at Padua, Italy, he became a senator in Vicenza. He built a parochial
chapel at his own expense at Rampazzo, where those living far from the parish
church might be catechized and worship. Thereafter he fled to Rome in 1506,
where he had hoped to live in obscurity among the crowds; however, Pope Julius
II compelled him to accept the office of protonotary in his court. Although
Julius II was one of the least inspiring examples of a pope, Cajetan saw
through the lustful, simonious, indulgent, war-loving court to the essential
holiness of the Church. He knew that despite the vices and follies of Her
servants, Holy Mother Church still held the keys to the salvation of the
world.
He resigned as protonotary upon Julius's death in 1513
and was ordained in 1516. The following year, while praying at the Christmas
crib in the church of Saint Mary Maggiore, he had a mystical experience.
He records, "Encouraged by the Blessed Saint Jerome, whose bones lie in the
crypt beneath the crib, I took from the hands of the timid Virgin who had
just become a mother her tender Child, in whom the eternal Word had been
made flesh."
In 1523, the Church was in sad shape. People
could not get the spiritual nourishment they needed from the large numbers
of uneducated and even immoral priests who took their money but returned
nothing. When good priests and laypeople turned to the hierarchy for help,
they found leaders at best apathetic and indifferent to their concerns.
How should a good Catholic respond to this situation? We all known
how Luther and others responded -- by splitting away from the Catholic Church
when their pleas went unheard.
Cajetan took a different route.
Just as concerned as Luther was about what he observed in the
Church, he went to Rome in 1523 -- not to talk to the pope or the hierarchy
but to consult with members of a confraternity called the Oratory of the Divine Love. When he had
first come to Rome many years before, he had felt called to some unknown great
work there. A few years later he returned to his hometown of Vicenza -- his great work seemingly unrealized.
He had however studied for the priesthood and been ordained and helped re-establish
a faded confraternity whose aims were promoting God's glory and the welfare
of souls.
In the years he had been gone from Rome, he had founded another
Oratory in his home town and Verona where he had promoted spiritual life and care for the poor and sick not only with
words but with his heroic example. He told his brothers, "In this oratory
we try to serve God by worship; in our hospital we may say that we actually
find him." But none of the horrors he saw in the hospitals of the incurables
depressed him as much as the wickedness he saw everywhere he looked.
In his former confraternity, he found other clergy who felt the
way he did. They didn't want to split off from the Church, they wanted to
restore it. So they decided to form an order based on the lives of the apostles
in the hopes that these lives would inspire them and others to live holy
lives devoted to Jesus . In order to accomplish this they would focus on
moral lives, sacred studies, preaching and pastoral care, helping the sick,
and other solid foundations of pastoral life. This new order was known as
Theatines Clerks Regular because it was an order of the regular clergy and
because a bishop known as Theatensis was their first superior general (although
Cajetan is considered the founder).
Not surprisingly, they didn't find thousands of formerly greedy
and licentious priests flocking to their door. But Cajetan and the others
persevered even in the face of open opposition from laity and clergy who
didn't want to reform. It was his holy example that converted many as well
as his preaching.
Worn out by the troubles he saw in his Church and
his home, Cajetan fell ill. When doctors tried to get him to rest on a softer
bed then the boards he slept on, Cajetan answered, "My savior died on a cross.
Let me die on wood at least." He died on August 7, 1547.
In His Footsteps
Do you have concerns about the Church or about certain people
in power in the Church? Have you ever thought of leaving the Church because
of these concerns? What positive steps could you take instead of splitting
from the Church to help promote holiness and love of God and others?
Prayer: Saint Cajetan, when we see things that trouble us in our Church,
help us to continue to love her. Guide us to the positive steps we need to
take to work within the Church for renewal. Help us to be examples of holiness
to all. Amen
Cajetan (Gaetano) of Thienna,
Priest (RM) Born in Vicenza, Lombardy, Italy, in 1480; died in Naples, Italy,
on August 7, 1547; beatified by Urban VIII in 1629; canonized by Clement
X in 1671. Saint Cajetan, founder of the blue-habited Theatines, was the
son of Lord Gaspar of Thienna (Tiene) and his wife Mary di Porto. Both were
known for their piety. At his birth his mother, a fervent Dominican tertiary,
dedicated Cajetan to the Blessed Virgin. Although his father died while fighting
for the Venetians against King Ferdinand of Naples when Cajetan was only
two, the example of his mother helped Cajetan to grow into a man of sweet
temper, constant recollection, and unwavering compassion, especially toward
the poor and afflicted.
After attaining a doctorate in both civil and canon law at Padua,
Italy, he became a senator in Vicenza. He built a parochial chapel at his
own expense at Rampazzo, where those living far from the parish church might
be catechized and worship. Thereafter he fled to Rome in 1506, where he had
hoped to live in obscurity among the crowds; however, Pope Julius II compelled
him to accept the office of protonotary in his court. Although Julius II
was one of the least inspiring examples of a pope, Cajetan saw through the
lustful, simonious, indulgent, war-loving court to the essential holiness
of the Church. He knew that despite the vices and follies of Her servants,
Holy Mother Church still held the keys to the salvation of the world.
He thanked God for the flowering of the arts in the Renaissance,
knowing that the genius of the artist was but a reflection of the creativity
of God. Yet he knew that the Church was in need of reformation. Unlike his
contemporaries Luther and Savonarola, however, Cajetan wanted to bring about
the reform patiently and humbly. He put his trust in the Holy Spirit and
the love Christ has for His Bride.
During the thirteen years Cajetan labored in Rome for reform,
he did what he could to bring comfort to others: he visited the sick in hospitals
and sought out the incurable and the dying in their homes. He had joined
the Confraternity of Divine Love, a small, unofficial group devoted to works
of charity. They cared for the sick, the poor, foundlings, and prisoners.
Gradually their influence spread further afield in Italy.
He resigned as protonotary upon Julius's death in 1513 and was
ordained in 1516. The following year, while praying at the Christmas crib
in the church of Saint Mary Maggiore, he had a mystical experience. He records,
"Encouraged by the Blessed Saint Jerome, whose bones lie in the crypt beneath
the crib, I took from the hands of the timid Virgin who had just become a
mother her tender Child, in whom the eternal Word had been made flesh."
In 1518, Cajetan returned to Vicenza and his dying mother. There
he joined the Oratory of Saint Jerome. Upon Mary di Porto's death, he dedicated
his considerable inheritance to relieving distress, first in Vicenza and
then in Verona and Venice. He founded a similar oratory at Venice and continued
his work, particularly with the incurable.
In 1523, he returned to Rome,
Paul Consiglieri, Boniface da Colle, and Bishop Giovanni Pietro Caraffa of
Chieti (or Theate), who later became Pope Paul IV. These men helped Cajetan
implement his vision of an order of priests whose lives would be as simple
as those of the Apostles and who would serve as models for the secular clergy.
The members of the Congregation of Clerks Regular (more generally known as
the Theatines) were to dress in black and concentrate on the essentials of
the priestly life: embracing poverty, spreading charity, and bringing life
in the sacraments. The institute was approved by Pope Clement VII with Bishop
Caraffa as the order's first provost general.
In 1524, twelve priests installed themselves in a house on the
Pinicio in Rome, where Cajetan occupied himself in the humblest tasks. When
Rome was sacked three years later by Charles V, the Theatines moved to Venice,
where the famine and plague gave them ample opportunity to devote themselves
to the service of others. The Venetians called them "hermits" because of
their extreme simplicity of life and Cajetan they named "the saint of Providence."
Cajetan was elected superior in 1530, and Caraffa re- elected in 1533. That
same year the Theatines founded a house in Naples with Cajetan as its superior.
Thereafter, the order rapidly spread throughout Italy, then Europe.
In Naples Cajetan fought widespread opposition to the reforms
of the bishops and the prevalent heresies. Later, with Blessed John Marinoni,
he founded the montes pietatis to help extend loans to the poor and combat
usury.
Cajetan, one of the great Catholic reformers, died in Naples,
worn out by his frequent travels and many obligations as superior, on a bed
of ashes. At his request, he was buried in a common grave in the church of
Saint Paul. Many of the reforms of the Council of Trent were anticipated
and implemented by Cajetan long before that council convened (Benedictines,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Cajetan is depicted as a Theatine monk with a winged
heart. He may sometimes be shown (1) with a book, pen, lily, and flaming
heart (not to be confused with Saint Augustine, who never has a lily); (2)
seeing a vision of the Holy Family with a lily at his feet; or (3) holding
the Christ-Child as an angel holds a lily nearby (Roeder). He is venerated
in Chieti and Naples (Roeder).
August 7, 2010
St. Cajetan
(1480-1557)
Like most of us, Cajetan seemed headed for an "ordinary" life—first as a
lawyer, then as a priest engaged in the work of the Roman Curia.
His life took a characteristic turn when he joined the Oratory of Divine
Love in Rome, a group devoted to piety and charity, shortly after his ordination
at 36. When he was 42 he founded a hospital for incurables at Venice. At
Vicenza, he entered a "disreputable" religious community that consisted only
of men of the lowest stations of life—and was roundly censured by his friends,
who thought his action was a reflection on his family. He sought out the
sick and poor of the town and served them.
The greatest need of the time was the reformation of a Church that was "sick
in head and members." Cajetan and three friends decided that the best road
to reformation lay in reviving the spirit and zeal of the clergy. (One of
them later became Paul IV.) Together they founded a congregation known as
the Theatines (from Teate [Chieti] where their first superior-bishop had
his see). They managed to escape to Venice after their house in Rome was
wrecked when Charles V's troops sacked Rome in 1527. The Theatines were outstanding
among the Catholic reform movements that took shape before the Protestant
Reformation. He founded a monte de pieta ("mountain [or fund] of piety")
in Naples—one of many charitable, nonprofit credit organizations that lent
money on the security of pawned objects. The purpose was to help the poor
and protect them against usurers. Cajetan's little organization ultimately
became the Bank of Naples, with great changes in policy.
Comment: If Vatican II had
been summarily stopped after its first session in 1962, many Catholics would
have felt that a great blow had been dealt to the growth of the Church. Cajetan
had the same feeling about the Council of Trent. But, as he said, God is
the same in Naples as in Venice, with or without Trent or Vatican II (or
III). We open ourselves to God's power in whatever circumstances we find
ourselves, and God's will is done. God's standards of success differ from
ours.
St Cajetan, Co-founder of The Theatine Clerks Regular
St Cajetan (Gaetano) was son of Caspar, Count of Thierie, and
Mary di Porto, of the nobility of Vicenza, where he was born in 1480. Two
years later his father was killed, fighting for Venetians against King Ferdinand
of Naples. His widow was appointed guardian of Cajetan and his two brothers.
The admirable example and teaching she gave her sons bore quick and abundant
fruit, and Cajetan in particular was soon known for his unusual goodness.
He went four years to the University of Padua where long exercises of devotion
which he practised were no hindrance to his studies, but sanctified them
and purified his understanding, enabling him the better to judge of truth.
He distinguished himself in theology, and took the degree of doctor in civil
and Canon law in 1504. He then returned to his native town, of which
he was made a senator, and in pursuance of his resolve to serve God as a
priest he received the tonsure.
In 1506 he went to Rome, not in quest of preferment or live
at court, but because of a strong inward conviction that he was needed for
some great work there. Soon after his arrival Pope Julius II conferred on him the office
of protonotary, with a benefice attached. On the death
of Julius II in 1513 Cajetan refused his successor's request to continue
in his office, and devoted three years to preparing himself for the priesthood.
He was ordained in 1516 being thirty-three years old, and returned to Vicenza
in 1518.
Cajetan had re-founded
a confraternity in Rome, called "of the Divine Love", which was an
association of zealous and devout clerics who devoted themselves to labour
with all their power to promote God's honour and the welfare of souls.
At Vicenza he now entered himself in the Oratory of St
Jerome, which was instituted upon the plan of that of the Divine Love but
consisted only of men in the lowest stations of life. This circumstance
gave great offence to his friends, who thought it a reflection on the honour
of his family. He persisted, however, and exerted his zeal with wonderful
fruit. He sought out the sick and the poor over the whole town and served
them, and cared for those who suffered from the most loathsome diseases in
the hospital of the incurables, the revenues of which he greatly increased.
But his primary concern was for the spiritual life of the members of his
oratory: "In this oratory", he said, "we try to serve God by worship; in
our hospital we may say that we actually find Him." He founded a similar
oratory at Verona and then, in obedience to the advice of his confessor,
John-Baptist of Crema, a Dominican friar of great prudence and piety, Cajetan
went in 1520 to Venice and, taking up his lodgings in the new hospital of
that city, pursued Iris former manner of life there. He was so great
a benefactor to that house as to be regarded as its principal founder.
He remained in Venice three years, and introduced exposition
of the Blessed Sacrament in that city, as well as continuing the promotion
of frequent communion: "I shall never be content till I see Christians
flocking like little children to feed on the Bread of Life, and with eagerness
and delight, not with fear and false shame", he wrote.
The state of Christendom
at this time was not less than shocking.
The general corruption weakened the Church before the assaults of Protestantisrn
and provided an apparent excuse for that revolt, and the decay of religion
with its accompaniment of moral wickedness was not checked by the clergy,
many of whom, high and low, secular and regular were themselves sunk in iniquity
and indifference. The Church was "sick in head and members". The spectacle
shocked and distressed Cajetan, and in 1523 he went back to Rome to confer
with his friends of the Oratory of Divine Love. They agreed that little could
be done than by reviving in the clergy the spirit and zeal of those holy
pastors who first planted the faith, and to put them in mind what
this spirit ought to be, and what it obliges them to, a plan was formed for
instituting an order of regular clergy upon the model of lives of the Apostles.
First associates of St Cajetan in this design were John Peter Caraffa, afterwards pope under
the name of Paul IV Clement VII, and Carafh was chosen the
first provost general. From his episcopal name of Theatensis these clerks
regular came to be distinguished from others as Theatines. On September
14, 1524 the four original members laid aside their prelatical robes and
made their profession in St Peter's in the presence of a papal
delegate. The principal ends which they proposed to themselves were to preach
sound doctrine to the people, assist the sick, restore the frequent use of
the sacraments, and re-establish in the clergy disinterestedness, regularity
of life, sacred studies (especially of the Bible), preaching and pastoral
care, and the fitting conduct of divine worhsip. Life was to be in
common, under the usual vows, and poverty was strongly emphasized.
The success of the new congregation was not immediate, and in
1527, when it still numbered only a dozen members, a calamity happened which
might well have put an end to it. The army of the Emperor Charles V sacked
Rome: the Theatines' house was nearly demolished, and the inmates had to
escape to Venice.Caraffa's term as superior expired in 1530: St Cajetan was
chosen in his place. He accepted the office with reluctance, but did not
let its cares abate the energy with which he worked to inspire the clergy
with his own fervour and devotion, and his charity was made most conspicuous
during a plague which was brought to Venice from the Levant, followed by
a dreadful famine. but at that time bishop of Theate (Chieti); Paul Consiglieri,
of the family of Ghislieri; and Boniface da Colle, a gentleman of Milan.
The institute was approved .
At the end of the
three years of office, CarauIa was made superior a second time, and Cajetan
was sent to Verona, where both the clergy and laity were tumultuously opposing
the reformation of discipline which their bishop was endeavouring to introduce
among them. Shortly after, he was called to Naples to establish the clerks
regular there. The Count of Oppido gave him a large house, and tried to prevail
upon him to accept an estate in lands; but this he refused. In vain the count
pointed out that the Neapolitans were neither so rich nor so generous as
the Venetians. "That may be true", replied Cajetan, "but God is the same
in both cities."
A general improvement at Naples was the fruit of his example, preaching
and labours, and he was foremost in the successful opposition to the activities
of three apostates, a layman, an Augustinian and a Franciscan, who, respectively
Socinian, Calvinist and Lutheran, were corrupting the religion of the people.
During the last years of his life he established with Bd John Marinoni the
benevolent pawnshops (montes pietatis)
sanctioned some time before by the Fifth Lateran Council. Worn out with trying
to appease civil strife in Naples, and disappointed by the suspension of
the Council of Trent from which he hoped so much for the Church's good, St
Cajetan had to take to his bed in the summer of 1547. When his physicians
advised him not to lie on the hard boards but to use a mattress, his
answer was, "My Saviour died on a cross, allow me at least to die on wood".
He lingered for a week, the end coming on Sunday, August 7. Many miracles
wrought by his intercession were approved at Rome after a rigorous scrutiny,
and he was canonized in 1671.
St Cajetan was one of the most outstanding figures among the
pre-Tridentine Catholic reformers, and his institution of clerks regular,
priests bound by vow and living in community but engaged in active pastoral
work, played a very great part in the Catholic reformation. Today, with.
the one tremendous exception of the Jesuits, all their congregations have
been reduced to small bodies, but continuing their original life and
work. Thomas Goldwell, Bishop of Saint Asaph and last survivor
of the old hierarchy of England and Wales, was a Theatine, who entered their
house of St Paul at Naples in the year of St Cajetan's death.
No biography
of this saint has been left us by anyone who actually knew him. The life
which is printed in the Acta Sanctorum,
August, vol. ii, compiled by A. Caracciolo, was not written until some sixty
years after the holy priest's death. Probably St Cajetan's close
association with Caraffa, and the extreme unpopularity of the latter's pontificate-he
became pope, as Paul IV, eight years after the former went to Heaven-rendered
the early history of the Theatines a delicate subject to handle. It is only
in recent times that L. von Pastor, G. M. Monti, 0. Premoli, and other conscientious
investigators have thrown light upon many matters formerly buried in obscurity.
Though only a slight sketch, the bookletof 0. Premoli, S. Gaetano Thiene (1910), perhaps offers the most
reliable picture of the saint but for the earlier portion of his career,
Pio Paschini, S. Gaetano...e 1a origini
dei...Teatini (1926), has provided a study of great value, largely
based upon unpublished letters. The life by R. de Maulde Ia Claviere,
which having been translated into English is the most easily accessible,
cannot be recommended without reserves: see the reviews of both the
original and the revised edition in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxii, p. 119,
and vol. xxiv, p. 419. Two later biographies in Italian are by P. Chiminelli
(1948), very full, and by L. Ruiz de Cardenas (1947), shorter and more popular.
|
1568 Saint Dometius
was an Athonite Elder. He pursued silence at the Philotheou monastery together
with the Hieromartyr Damian of Philotheou (February 23), who suffered under
cruel tortures by the Turks in the year 1568.
|
|
1638 Bb. Agathangelo
and Cassian, Capuchin
Martyrs
in their
mission for Abyssinia—or Ethiopia
THE foundation and first direction of the Capuchin missions in
the Levant in the seventeenth century was the work of Father Joseph of Paris
(Joseph Leclerc du Tremblay), known on account of his influence with Richelieu
and Louis XIII as “the Grey Cardinal”. Early in 1629 five Capuchins landed
at Alexandretta, among them Father Agathangelo of Vendôme.
He had been born in that town in 1598, and at the age of twenty-one
entered the Capuchin friary of Le Mans. He was ordained priest in 1625 and
was a preacher in his own country until he was asked to go to Syria. At Aleppo
he ministered to the French and Italian traders and others while he was learning
Arabic, and soon mastered that language sufficiently well to talk and preach;
he cultivated the society of Moslems and dissident Christians, winning the
goodwill of such notables as the imam of the principal mosque
and the superior of the Dervishes, and even explained Christianity to the
Turks, in spite of the forbiddance by the Congregation de Propaganda
Fide of any public preaching among Mohammedans. The fruit of this
work was to induce an atmosphere of tolerance and interest: Father Agathangelo
was too good a missionary to look for any more tangible results before due
time.
In
1630 a Capuchin mission was established at Cairo which did not prosper, and
at the end of 1633 Father Agathangelo was sent there to take charge. He was
joined by three new missionaries from Marseilles, one of them being Father
Cassian of Nantes, a Frenchman by birth but Portuguese by parentage. He soon
became the right-hand man of Father Agathangelo and entered whole-heartedly
into his efforts to bring about a reunion with the Holy See of the Coptic
or native Egyptian church. Agathangelo got
into personal touch with the Coptic bishops; and their patriarch, Matthew,
opened all the dissident churches to him; using powers granted by Rome, he
celebrated Mass, preached, and catechized therein and reconciled a number
of individual Copts. The friars determined to try and gain the influence of
the monks also, from among whom the Coptic bishops were chosen, and in 1636
Father Agathangelo took with him Father Benedict of Dijon and made the long
journey to the monastery of Dair Antonios in the Lower Thebaid.
They were well received by the monks and made a stay of four months,
Father Agathangelo conducting doctrinal discussions and giving spiritual
conferences; of the two books which he used for the last purpose one was
the treatise On the Holy Will of God, written by the English
Father Benedict of Canfield (William Fitch), the first Capuchin missionary
in England in penal times.
Two of the community were reconciled to the Church, and Father
Agathangelo left them at the monastery in the hope that they would draw their
brethren after them. This was his deliberate policy in Egypt, especially
as there were no Catholic churches of the Coptic rite for reconciled dissidents
to attend: priests were allowed to celebrate the Liturgy in, and lay-people
to frequent, the dissident churches whose schism they had repudiated; thus
they were not left without ministration and they might in time leaven the
whole. Then Propaganda declared the practice illicit. Father
Agathangelo asked the opinion of the father custodian of the Holy Land. “I
think”, replied the Recollect, “that if those eminent prelates had known
the conditions in this country they would never have come to such a decision;
and that is the opinion of all my friars as well.” All the missionaries of
Palestine and Egypt agreed, and Father Agathangelo wrote a long letter to
the cardinal prefect giving theological, canonical and practical reasons
for a withdrawal of the decree. The matter was referred to the Holy Office;
there is no record of its reply, but it was probably favourable, for the
successors of Father Agathangelo at Cairo followed his policy without hindrance.
Unhappily,
and not for the only time in history, the great obstacle to Coptic reunion
in a body was the Latin Catholics themselves. Some years before encouraging
negotiations had taken place between the Coptic patriarch and the consuls
of France and Venice, and the French friars did not hesitate to make the
renown and power of his Most Christian Majesty a point d’appui"
of their undertaking. Or rather, they wished to. But the parties
to the previous conversations were all dead, and the then consul of France
was a man of such shocking life that his house deserved the name given to
it by Father Agathangelo, “a synagogue of Satan”. Moreover, the general life
of Europeans in Cairo was such that he had to write to his superiors that
the public scandals made the Church “so great an object of abomination among
the Copts, Greeks and other Christians that it will be very difficult to overcome
their aversion for the Latins”. Even the appointment of a new and better
consul in 1637 did not mend matters. When the synod of the Coptic patriarch
met in the same year to discuss the possibility of reunion, one of his councillors
denounced the proposal because of the scandalous lives of Catholics in Cairo:
“The Roman Church is in this country a brothel”, he exclaimed. Father Agathangelo
was present, but could not deny the truth of what was said; after gently
urging that the sins of individuals, however terrible, could not alter the
fact of the truth and holiness of the Church, he left the assembly and wrote
a letter to the cardinal prefect of Propaganda. After pointing
out that for three years he had asked in vain for authority publicly to excommunicate
the worst offenders, he said he had done his best and could do no more: “I
have appealed, I have reproved, I have threatened...Now my enthusiasm, whether
reasonable or indiscreet, can no longer tolerate that those who have authority
should not use it. They are dumb dogs, who are afraid to bite. Your Eminence
will do whatever your good zeal for God’s glory may suggest to you...For
the love of our crucified Lord and His holy Mother may your Lordships find
a cure for these enormous scandals. As for myself, I shall not be held responsible
for them before the judgement-seat of Christ who will judge us all...” A few days later
he left Egypt for Abyssinia with Father Cassian.
A Capuchin mission for Abyssinia—or Ethiopia, as it is better called—had
been planned in 1637, and Agathangelo and Cassian had been awaiting orders
to go and establish it. For some years Father Cassian had been destined for
Ethiopia, and with this in view had set himself while in Cairo to learn Amharic,
the principal language in use in that country; he therefore now took the
leading place, as Father Agathangelo knew little of the language. They were,
of course, fully informed about the dangerous state for Catholics in Ethiopia
which had been brought about by recent political and ecclesiastical events
there, and they had made certain provisions in view of it; what they did
not know was that a certain German Lutheran physician, Peter Heyling, notorious
for his hostility to Catholics, had been at work to upset their plans. Accordingly,
when they got to Dibarua, an unidentified place beyond Suakim, in the early
summer of 1638, they were arrested and taken, manacled and on foot, to Gondar.
The day after their arrival they were brought, chained and in muddy
and torn Franciscan habits, before King Basilides and his court. In reply
to his questions Bd Cassian replied, “We are Catholics and religious, natives
of France. We have come to invite you to reunion with the Roman Church. We
are well known to Abuna Mark, who has had a letter from the Patriarch of
Alexandria, and we should like to speak with him.” Mark was the newly elected
primate of the dissident Church of Ethiopia, who had been friendly with Father
Agathangelo in Cairo; but Heyling had been talking to him, and Mark now refused
to see the friars, saying, “I indeed knew this Agathangelo in Egypt and he
is an evil and dangerous man. He tried to draw the people there to his religion,
and has come to do the same here. I do not wish to see him. I recommend you
to hang them both.” A Mohammedan remonstrated with the archbishop, but
he repeated his words, with abuse. Basilides was inclined to banish the friars,
but Peter Heyling with Mark and the king’s mother worked on the mob to demand
their death, and so they were sentenced after they had been given the
opportunity to save themselves by abjuring the Catholic faith in favour of
that of the monophysites.
When the two
martyrs were brought beneath the trees from which they were to be hanged
there was some delay. “Why are you so slow? What are we waiting for?” asked
Bd Cassian. “We have had to send for ropes”, answered the executioner.
“But have we not ropes round our clothes?” And so they were hanged with the
cords of their Franciscan habits. But before they were dead the traitor Mark
appeared before the crowd, crying out, “Stone these enemies of the faith
of Alexandria, or I will excommunicate you!” Volleys of stones were immediately
flung at the swinging bodies, and thus Bd Agathangelo and Bd Cassian died,
the one being forty years old, the other thirty. For four nights miraculous
light was reported to be seen above the bodies, and Basilides in terror ordered
them to be buried; but some Catholics
took them away by stealth and their resting-place is to this day unknown.
In 1905, Agathangelo of Vendôme, one of the most remarkable
missionaries of the seventeenth century, and his faithful companion, Cassian
of Nantes, were declared blessed by Pope Pius X.
A sufficient account
of these martyrs is provided in Ladislas de Vannes, Deux martyrs
capucins (1905); and Antonio da Pontedera, Vita c martirio
dei BB. Agatangelo e Cassiano (1904).
|
1710 Saint Theodora,
the greatest of Romania's holy ascetics; St Theodora made such progress
in asceticism that she was able to keep vigil all night long with her arms
lifted up toward heaven. When the morning sun touched her face, she would
eat some herbs and other vegetation to break her fast. She drank rainwater
which she collected from a channel cut into the cliff, which is still known
as St Theodora's Spring; As St Theodora grew old, she was forgotten and there
was no one to care for her. Placing all her hope in God, she continued her
spiritual struggles, and reached great heights of perfection. When she prayed
her mind was raised up to Heaven, and her body was lifted up off the ground.
Like the great saints of earlier times, her face shone 
with a radiant light, and a
flame came forth from her mouth when she prayed. In time her
clothes became mere rags, and when her food ran out, she was fed by birds
like the Prophet Elias (July 20). They brought her crusts of bread from the
Sihastria Skete. Seeing the birds come to the skete and then fly away with
pieces of bread in their beaks, the igumen sent two monks to follow them.
Night fell as they walked toward Sihla, and they lost their way in the woods.
They decided to wait for daylight, and began to pray. Suddenly, they saw
a bright light stretching up into the sky, and went to investigate. As they
approached, they saw a woman shining with light and levitating above the
ground as she prayed.
Born in the village of Vanatori,
Neamts in the first half of the seventeenth century, and was the daughter
of Stephen Joldea and his wife. She was married to a man of Ismail,
but had no children. Therefore, she and her husband decided to enter the
monastic life. Her husband went to the Skete of Poiana Marului, where he
was tonsured with the name Eleutherius. He was also ordained to the holy priesthood.
Theodora also received the monastic tonsure in the Skete of Poiana Marului.
In just a few years, she advanced in obedience, prayer, and asceticism, acquiring
the grace of unceasing prayer of the heart.
When her skete was destroyed by the Turks,
she fled to the Buzau Mountains with her spiritual mother, Schemanun Paisia.
They lived for several years in fasting, vigil and prayer, enduring cold,
hunger, and demonic temptations. When her spiritual mother fell asleep in
the Lord (1670-1675), St Theodora was led by God to the mountains of Neamts.
After venerating the wonderworking Neamts Icon of the Mother of God (June
26) in the monastery, she was told to seek the advice of Hieromonk Barsanuphius
of Sihastria Skete. Seeing her desire for the eremetical life, and recognizing
her great virtues, he gave her Holy Communion and assigned Hieromonk Paul
as her Father Confessor and spiritual guide.
Fr Barsanuphius advised Theodora to go and live alone in the
wilderness for a year. "If, by the grace
of Christ, you are able to endure the difficulties and trials of the wilderness,
then remain there until you die. If you cannot endure, however, then go to
a women's monastery, and struggle there in humility for the salvation of your
soul."
Fr Paul searched in vain for
an abandoned hermitage where St Theodora might live. Then they met an old
hermit living beneath the cliffs of Sihla. This clairvoyant Elder greeted
them and said, "Mother Theodora, remain in my cell, for I am moving to another
place."
Fr Paul left Theodora
on Mount Sihla, blessing her before he returned to the skete. St Theodora
lived in that cell for thirty years. Strengthened with power from on high,
she vanquished all the attacks of the Enemy through patience and humility.
She never left the mountain, and never saw another person except for Fr Paul,
who visited her from time to time to bring her the Spotless Mysteries of
Christ and the supplies she needed to survive.
St Theodora made such progress in asceticism that she was able
to keep vigil all night long with her arms lifted up toward heaven. When
the morning sun touched her face, she would eat some herbs and other vegetation
to break her fast. She drank rainwater which she collected from a channel
cut into the cliff, which is still known as St Theodora's Spring.
When Turks attacked the villages and monasteries around Neamts,
the woods became filled with villagers and monastics. Some nuns found St Theodora's
cell, and she called out to them, "Remain here in my cell, for I have another
place of refuge." Then she moved into a nearby cave, living there completely
alone. An army of Turks discovered the cave, and were about to kill the saint.
Lifting up her hands, she cried out, "O Lord, deliver me from the hands of
these murderers." The wall of the cave opened, and she was able to escape
into the woods.
As St Theodora grew old, she was forgotten and there was no one
to care for her. Placing all her hope in God, she continued her spiritual
struggles, and reached great heights of perfection. When she prayed her mind
was raised up to Heaven, and her body was lifted up off the ground. Like
the great saints of earlier times, her face shone with a radiant light, and
a flame came forth from her mouth when she prayed. In time her
clothes became mere rags, and when her food ran out, she was fed by birds
like the Prophet Elias (July 20). They brought her crusts of bread from the
Sihastria Skete. Seeing the birds come to the skete and then fly away with
pieces of bread in their beaks, the igumen sent two monks to follow them.
Night fell as they walked toward Sihla, and they lost their way in the woods.
They decided to wait for daylight, and began to pray. Suddenly, they saw
a bright light stretching up into the sky, and went to investigate. As they
approached, they saw a woman shining with light and levitating above the
ground as she prayed.
St Theodora said, "Brethren, do not be afraid, for I am a humble
handmaiden of Christ. Throw me something to wear, for I am naked."
Then she told them of her life
and approaching death. She asked them to go to the skete and ask for Fr Anthony
and the hierodeacon Laurence to come and bring her Communion. They asked
her how they could find their way to the skete at night, for they did not
know the way. She said that they would be guided to the skete by a light
which would go before them.
The next day at dawn, Fr Anthony went to Sihla with the deacon
and two other monks. When they found St Theodora, she was praying by a fir
tree in front of her cave. She confessed to the priest, then received the
Holy Mysteries of Christ and gave her soul to God. The monks buried her in
her cave with great reverence sometime during the first decade of the eighteenth
century.
News of her death spread quickly, and people came from all over
to venerate her tomb. Her holy relics remained incorrupt, and many miracles
took place before them. Some kissed the relics, others touched the reliquary,
while others washed in her spring. All who entreated St Theodora's intercession
received healing and consolation.
St Theodore's former husband, Hieromonk Eleutherius, heard that she had been
living at Sihla, and decided to go there. He found her cave shortly after
her death and burial. Grieving for his beloved wife, Eleutherius did not
return to his monastery, but made a small cell for himself below the cliffs
of Sihla. He remained close to her cave, fasting, praying, and serving the
Divine Liturgy. He lived there for about ten years before his blessed repose.
He was buried in the hermits' cemetery, and the Skete of St John the Baptist
was built over his grave.
St Theodora's relics were taken to the Kiev Caves Monastery between
1828 and 1834. There she is known as St Theodora of the Carpathians.
|
1832 Saint Metrophanes,
Bishop of Voronezh The Uncovering of the Relics of : The memory of the deep
piety and pastoral virtues of St Metrophanes (Macarius, in the schema) was
revered at Voronezh from the time of his death (November 23, 1703). His successors,
the Voronezh hierarchs, considered it their sacred duty to make annual remembrance
of the first hierarch of their flock, together with his parents, the priest
Basil and Maria.
The people of Voronezh and its environs came to the Annunciation
cathedral, where memorial services were offered at his tomb. Contributing
to the intense remembrance of St Metrophanes was also his dying request that
prayers be said for him. For this purpose the saint, even during his lifetime,
had built a chapel at the cathedral in honor of the holy Archangel Michael
(his patron saint), and in it a special priest served the Liturgy. Although
succeeding generations did not know the saint, they also revered his memory.
The veracity of the sainthood of the first hierarch of the Voronezh
diocese was also confirmed by his incorrupt relics, attested during their
repeated transfers from one temple to another. In the year 1718, Metropolitan
Pachomius of Voronezh, about to begin the construction of a new cathedral,
gave orders to demolish the old Annunciation cathedral. The body of St Metrophanes
was temporarily transferred into the church of the Unburnt Bush. In 1735,
the body of St Metrophanes was transferred into the new cathedral, during
which time the incorrupt state of his relics was again observed. At the place
of the burial of the saint, panikhidas were customarily served for him.
By 1820 it was noticed that the number of those venerating St
Metrophanes and thronging to Voronezh, had extraordinarily increased. Grace-filled
signs also increased. Archbishop Anthony II of Voronezh made repeated reports
to the Holy Synod about the miracles, and he petitioned for a resolution
for the glorification of the saint. The Holy Synod then prescribed that records
be kept of miracles at the grave of St Metrophanes. In the year 1831, after
seeing the incorrupt body of the saint, Archbishop Anthony together with
commission members of the Holy Synod, Archbishop Eugenius of Yaroslavl and
Archimandrite Hermogenes of the Moscow Savior-Androniev monastery, became
convinced in the miraculous intercession of St Metrophanes before the Throne
of God. The Holy Synod then issued its resolution adding St Metrophanes to
the ranks of the Saints. Since then, the Russian Church celebrates the memory
of the saint twice during the year: November 23, the day of his repose, and
August 7, the day of his glorification.
Archbishop Anthony II (1827-1846) established in the Voronezh
also the following feastdays in honor of St Metrophanes: June 4, the Feast
of his namesake St Metrophanes, Patriarch of Constantinople; April 2, the
saint's day of consecration as bishop in 1682; and December 11, the day of
the transfer of the relics of St Metrophanes in 1831.
St Metrophanes left behind a
Spiritual Testament. Its original is preserved in the State Historical Museum.
Upon the testament is the unique authoritative signature of the saint: "This
spiritual dictate is attested to by me... Bishop Metrophanes of Voronezh."
On the lower cover (inside) is an inscription from the eighteenth
century: "This is the book of testament or last will of the Voronezh schemamonk
Macarius, written in the God-saved city of Voronezh, in the house of His
Grace the bishop and schemamonk Macarius, who reposed in the month of November
on the 23rd day in the year 1703, and was buried on the 4th day of December."
On the day preceding the Uncovering of the Relics of St Metrophanes,
Archbishop Anthony of Voronezh went to church, so as to lay out the new vestments
prepared for the relics. Suddenly, he felt so weak that he was barely able
to go about his cell. Troubled by this, he sat and pondered and then he heard
a quiet voice: " Do not transgress my legacy."
This he did not understand right away, and instead thinking about
his own plans, he gathered up his strength and opened the closet where the
vestments were, and there he caught sight of the monastic schema, brought
shortly before this by an unknown monk who had entrusted it to him and said
that it soon would be needed.
Seeing this monastic schema, the hierarch then realized that the
words, "Do not transgress my legacy," was actually the will of St Metrophanes,
that they not place upon his relics bishop's vestments, but rather to clothe
them in the schema. By this and by his extreme humility, he indicated the
deep spiritual connection with his patronal saint (in schema), St Macarius
of Unzhensk.
|
1865 Saint Anthony (Putilov)
captivity during Napoleon's invasion; tonsured by Fr Athanasius on February
2, 1820 and was given the name Anthony. He was also placed under the spiritual
guidance of Fr Moses; ordained as a deacon 1823; bore all these trials with
patience and humility, believing that illness is sometimes given to us by
God in order to heal the infirmities of the soul; "Whom the Lord loves,
He chastises" (Hebrews 12:6). Fr Anthony retorted, "Many are the scourges
of the sinner" (Psalm 31/32:10).
Born March 9, 1795 in the town of Romanov in the Yaroslavl province,
and was baptized with the name Alexander. His siblings were called Timothy,
Jonah, Basil, Cyril, and Anysia. John Putilov named all his children after
the saint commemorated on the eighth day after their birth, so the future
St Anthony was named for the holy hieromartyr Alexander the Bishop of Rome
(March 16). The children were educated at home, since their parents feared
they would be corrupted in some way if they were sent away to school.
From an early age, Alexander was quiet and modest, disdaining
the noisy games of other children. It is not surprising that he should be
inclined toward monasticism even as a child, because his great-grandfather
Joel had been a hierodeacon at the Serpukhov Monastery, and his cousin Maximilla
was a nun in the Annunciation women's monastery in Moscow. When
Alexander was ten years old, his brothers Timothy and Jonah entered the Sarov
Monastery. They wrote to him and sent him spiritual books, which he enjoyed
reading. When he was only thirteen, he wrote to them expressing the wish
to become a monk like them.
The young Alexander endured many trials and illnesses during his
childhood, and on ten separate occasions he was in danger of losing his life.
Once he nearly drowned, another time he fell and fractured his skull. He
had several other close calls, yet God spared his life, forseeing something
better for him (Hebrews 11:40). After his father's death in 1809, Alexander
went to work for the merchant Karpishev in Moscow, for whom his older brothers
had also worked. He lived in Moscow only three years, but he remembered the
location of all the city's holy places and wonderworking icons for the rest
of his life.
On September 2, 1812, he tried to flee Moscow during Napoleon's
invasion, but it was too late to escape. A Pole on horseback pointed a pistol
at Alexander and stole his money. Later, French soldiers robbed him of his
watch and most of his clothing, and held him prisoner for ten days. During
his captivity he consoled himself with the words of St John Chrysostom, who
said that the worst sufferings on earth are nothing compared to the least
sufferings in hell. After learning that there were Russian soldiers
outside of Moscow, Alexander escaped on September 12 while it was raining.
He found a group of Russians, including some of his relatives. They walked
through forests and swamps by night, and hid from the French by day. Eventually,
Alexander arrived at the home of some relatives in Rostov. Not knowing what
had become of his brothers, he took a job similar to the one he had in Moscow.
Alexander loved to visit the
St James Monastery in Rostov, where the relics of St Demetrius of Rostov
(October 28) were enshrined. By the end of 1815, circumstances finally permitted
him to withdraw from the world. First, however, he arranged for his older
brother Basil to marry, choosing a suitable and pious bride for him.
At the end of 1815, Alexander went to Moscow to visit the various
churches and monasteries. He prayed to the Most Holy Theotokos and to all
the saints, asking that his intention to become a monk might be blessed.
From Moscow, he traveled to Kaluga, and then to the Roslavl forests in Smolensk
province where his brother Fr Moses had been living for about five years.
Alexander consulted with his brother about his desire to enter
the monastery at Sarov, and decided to remain with Fr Moses until spring.
He was made a novice on January 15, 1816. In the spring, Alexander decided
he would remain a while longer. Several months later, he went with Fr Moses
on pilgrimage to Kiev. On their return trip the brothers stopped at several
monasteries, conversing with many Elders about the spiritual life. Alexander
was not inclined to enter any of them, however. Back in the Roslavl
forests, Alexander realized that he did not want to leave his brother. He
had come only for a brief visit, but ended up staying with Fr Moses for the
next twenty-four years.
Despite the many illnesses of his childhood, Alexander was blessed
with great physical strength, and devoted himself to seemingly impossible
ascetic labors. The brothers would get up at midnight and read through the
cycle of services without omissions, and so Alexander became familiar with
the church Typikon. He copied out patristic texts by hand, and helped his
brother compile extracts from various sources in order to provide a system
of rules for the Christian life. Out of reverence for these spiritual books,
the brothers remained standing when they read or copied them. Alexander spent
so much time standing on his feet that he damaged his legs, which caused
him pain for the rest of his life.
As the youngest member of the community,
Alexander had to get up before the others in order to wake them. He chopped
wood, carried water, worked in the vegetable garden, and still fulfilled
his daily rule of prayer. After a trial period of four years, Alexander
was tonsured by Fr Athanasius on February 2, 1820 and was given the name
Anthony. He was also placed under the spiritual guidance of Fr Moses.
In 1821 Bishop Philaret of Kaluga (later Metropolitan of Kiev)
decided to establish a skete at Optina Monastery for experienced ascetics
who wished to live in silence. He had met Fr Moses at Optina in 1820 where
they were introduced by Igumen Daniel. The bishop offered him opportunity
to move to his diocese and establish a skete at Optina, and Fr Moses accepted.
On June 3, 1821 Fr Moses left the Roslavl forests with Fr Anthony, and the
monks Hilarion and Sabbatius. The Elders Athanasius and Dorotheus decided
to remain behind until the skete was completely ready. For the rest of his
life Fr Anthony would always remember his five years in the Roslavl forests
with a special joy.
On June 6 St Anthony arrived
at Optina with the other monks. The site they selected for the skete was
400 yards from the monastery's eastern side. They cleared the land of trees
and built a cell and a church dedicated to St John the Baptist. St Moses
was appointed igumen, and on August 24, 1823 Anthony was ordained as a deacon.
St Anthony was placed in charge of the skete when his brother was made Superior
of Optina Monastery in 1825. For the next fourteen years the skete flourished
under Anthony. Wise Elders and experienced ascetics were attracted to the
hesychast skete by the fame of Fr Moses. St Leonid (October 11) came from
the St Anthony of Svir monastery with five of his disciples in 1829. St Macarius
(September 7) came from Ploschansk monastery in 1834 at the invitation of
Fr Moses.
With the help of Fr Leonid and Fr Macarius, Fr Moses and Fr Anthony
introduced the ancient monastic tradition of eldership at the skete and monastery.
St Anthony was an example of obedience to others. Though he was Superior
of the skete, he never made any decisions or gave any orders without the
blessing of his own Elder, Fr Moses.
At first, life in the skete was very
difficult. There were not enough monks to do all the work, so Fr Anthony
carried his own water and firewood. He also worked on the grounds, cleared
paths, took his turn serving in church, and greeted visitors. The hard work
made him appreciate the simple food served in the trapeza. Sometimes a benefactor
would donate wheat loaves for the brethren, but most days they ate black
bread.
Fr Anthony suffered from various afflictions throughout his life.
His legs pained him because of his continual standing. He also had eye trouble,
and even lost his sight for a brief time. In 1836, while hurrying to the
monastery along a forest path for the midnight paschal service, Fr Anthony
stubbed his right foot on a tree stump. His legs were already sore from years
of standing, and now they developed open sores. The inflammation in
his legs prevented him from leaving his cell for six months.
He bore all these trials with patience and humility, believing that illness
is sometimes given to us by God in order to heal the infirmities of the soul.
When anything unpleasant happened to him, he remained meek and calm. He offered
thanks to God because his sickness gave him more time for reading spiritual
books for the benefit of his soul.
On November 30, 1839 Bishop
Nicholas of Kaluga summoned Fr Anthony, and appointed him as igumen of the
Maloyaroslavets Monastery. He had hoped to remain at the skete for the rest
of his lfe, but in spite of his sorrow at leaving Optina, he went obediently
to his new assignment. By the mercy of God, three Putilov brothers
were now serving as igumens of monasteries: Moses at Optina, Anthony at Maloyaroslavets,
and Isaiah at Sarov. Fr Moses seemed to have the least difficulty in bearing
the sorrows and labors of his office. The others sometimes found it difficult
to fulfill their duties and provide for the needs of the monastery.
After five years in the forest and eighteen
years at the skete, Fr Anthony found life at Maloyaroslavets monastery like
living in the midst of a noisy city. The monks did not share the same oneness
of mind as the Optina monks. Besides this, Fr Anthony was so ill that he
was not able to observe what was going on in the monastery, and he had to
issue his orders through others. After only a few days he became depressed
at his situation. One night St Metrophanes of Voronezh (November 23) appeared
to him in a dream and blessed him. He said, "You have been in Paradise and
you know it. Now work, pray, and don't be lazy." From that time, Fr Anthony
felt himself to be under the saint's special care.
Fr Anthony zealously devoted himself
to improving the spiritual life of the monastery, but he was not happy there.
More than once he wrote to the bishop and asked to be allowed to retire.
The bishop, however, would not hear of it. Fr Anthony also wrote to Fr Moses
to express his sorrow and his desire to be relieved of his duties. Fr Moses
told him that he could not abandon his responsabilities, for that would insult
the monastery, and would also grieve the bishop and Fr Moses himself. He
chastized his brother, saying that in seeking deliverence from his sorrows,
Anthony was placing his own will in opposition to the will of God.
Fr Anthony accepted the rebuke of Fr Moses and learned to bear his cross
with meekness, and to place all his trust in God. Finally, in 1853, Bishop
Gregory of Kaluga relieved Fr Anthony of his duties, and permitted him to
retire to Optina.
Fr Anthony arrived back at his beloved Optina
on February 12, 1853, and was given a cell near Fr Moses. Although he continued
to suffer from physical ailments, he bore them with exemplary patience. He
went to church for all the services, and took his meals with the brethren.
Since he continued his prolonged standing, his legs became covered with sores.
The writer I.V. Kieryevsky told Fr Anthony that he fulfilled the words of
Scripture: "Whom the Lord loves, He chastises" (Hebrews 12:6). Fr Anthony
retorted, "Many are the scourges of the sinner" (Psalm 31/32:10).
He never complained about his
sufferings, even though they prevented him from leaving his cell for weeks
at a time. If he could not be at the church services, he would read his rule
of prayer in his cell at the very time the services were taking place.
Only those experienced in the spiritual life themselves could
understand what spiritual gifts God had granted Fr Anthony, which he tried
to conceal from everyone. There is reason to believe that he saw visions,
and attained great spiritual heights. When he was serving the Liturgy, his
face seemed to radiate such grace that those who merely looked at him felt
that their souls were transformed.
After services in the church and prayers in his cell, Fr Anthony
devoted himself to his favorite occupation - reading. He loved the Holy Scriptures
and the writings of the Fathers, and also enjoyed other books of a spiritual
or historical nature. He gave over 2,000 of his books to the monastery library,
and he had read every single one. He made notes on what he read, and also
copied excerpts from books and magazines for the benefit of his spiritual
children. The Elder was blessed with a remarkable memory. Not only
could he remember everything he had read for many years afterward, he also
remembered who had visited him on a particular day, and what their conversation
had been about.
St Anthony knew how to balance strictness with
a certain amount of compassion for human weakness. He would not bless anyone
to depart from the Church's norms, however. He was very strict concerning
spiritual matters in general, and especially the teachings and canons of
the Church. He himself believed in the Church's teachings and kept its precepts,
and he required the same faith and obedience from his spiritual children.
Fr Anthony's retirement at Optina lasted for twelve years. When
Fr Moses reposed in 1862, Fr Anthony was stricken with grief. For the first
forty days he secluded himself in his cell, constantly reading the Psalter
for his newly-departed brother. For about a year, he avoided people as much
as he could, and prayed for Fr Moses. He refused to speak to anyone about
the hidden spiritual life of Fr Moses, but he did reveal to a few people
that he remained in spiritual contact with his brother even after his death.
In 1863, Fr Anthony went on a pilgrimage to venerate
the relics of the newly-glorified St Tikhon of Zadonsk (August 13) and St
Metrophanes of Voronezh. He also visited several other monasteries, and some
families who loved him. Upon returning to Optina, Fr Anthony began to prepare
for his departure from this world, and on March 9, 1865, at the age of seventy,
he received the Great Schema.
On June 24, 1865, the Nativity of St John the Baptist and the
Skete's Feast Day, Igumen Anthony attended Liturgy in the skete church for
the last time. He was growing weaker day by day, and in July he began to suffer
from typhoid fever. As a result, he was able to sleep only for brief periods.Still,
he continued to receive visitors, giving advice and instructions, and revealing
to some that he was about to die. The Elder received Holy Unction
on July 21 and received Holy Communion every day. In his last days he asked
to be sprinkled with holy water from Theophany, and requested that his bed
and his room also be sprinkled. This brought him great comfort. He said,
"How necessary is this sprinkling. The grace of God is present."
St Anthony was not afraid of death, but awaited it in a spirit
of joy and peace, surrendering himself to the will of God. He asked that
his schema and the other garments in which he wanted to be buried be laid
out and ready. He also started distributing his belongings to others as a
remembrance. After Liturgy on August 6, some of the brethren
came to his cell to sing the troparion and kontakion for the Transfiguration.
The next day he asked to be clothed in the full garb of a schemamonk. Due
to his weakness, however, this could not be done. They placed the schema
over him, and that satisfied him.
That evening St Anthony asked
to see the Superior, and sought his blessing for his final journey. Fr Isaac
blessed him and took leave of him. Then the Elder asked Fr Isaac to ring
the bell three times. In monasteries this is normally done after someone
has died, so his request seemed rather unusual. However, in 1863 St Anthony
had compiled a collection of prayers for those who were incurably ill, with
prayers for the departed. In this collection he stipulated that the bell
be rung three or more times "to announce to the brethren that the sick brother
is departing" so that they might pray for him.
The Canon for the Departure of a Soul was read for him, and when
it was completed he lay silent for a while. Suddenly he looked to the right
and to the left in a threatening manner, and even raised his left fist. Those
present became fearful, for they believed that he saw something which their
eyes could not see. Perhaps they recalled that many of the saints had seen
demons just before they died. One of the spiritual Fathers of the monastery
blessed him three times with a hand cross. The holy Elder sighed three times,
then departed to the Lord.
The funeral took place on August 10, and was attended by many
people. Although St Anthony wanted to be buried in the new cemetery, the Archishop
ordered that he be buried next to his brother St Moses in the side altar
of the monastery's Cathedral (katholikon).
The Moscow Patriarchate authorized local veneration of the Optina
Elders on June 13,1996. The work of uncovering the relics of Sts Leonid,
Macarius, Hilarion, Ambrose, Anatole I, Barsanuphius and Anatole II began
on June 24/July 7, 1998 and was concluded the next day. However, because
of the church Feasts (Nativity of St John the Baptist, etc.) associated with
the actual dates of the uncovering of the relics, Patriarch Alexey II designated
June 27/July 10 as the date for commemorating this event. The relics of the
holy Elders now rest in the new church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother
of God.
The Optina Elders were glorified by the Moscow Patriarchate for
universal veneration on August 7, 2000.
|
1878 Wonder-working
icon of the Mother of God of Valaam. Painted on lime wood, the 132 x 79.5
cm icon depicts the Virgin Mary as a full-length figure standing on a cloud
with lowered gaze, clothed in a bright red cloak and a dark turquoise undergarment.
She is holding the Christ child, who is dressed in a thin, pale yellow smock,
on her left arm. With her right hand, she points to Christ, in the style
of the "hodigitria" icons of the Mother of God. Christ blesses with His right
hand and holds an orb, surmounted by a cross, in His left hand, signifying
that He is the Creator of the world and King of all. According to the inscription,
the icon was painted in 1878, “the work of the monks of Valaam.” It is customarily
attributed, however, to Father Alipy, one of the leading iconographers at
the original Valaam Monastery in Lake Ladoga in Russian Karelia.
One of the greatest treasures in the possession of the Monastery
of New Valamo in Heinävesi, Finland
Father
Alipy painted the icon only a few years after he arrived at the monastery,
before he had become a novice there. He was tonsured to monastic orders in
1884 and ordained as priestmonk in 1893. Following the conventions of the
late 19th century, the icon was painted in a “naturalistic” style, employing
a technique that combined the use of tempera and oils. Originally, the icon
was to have been placed in the Valaam Monastery's Church of the Dormition.
This never occurred, however, and subsequently the icon was misplaced.
In 1897, the icon was rediscovered and gained its
miracle-working reputation on the strength of a succession of visions of
the Mother of God experienced by an elderly woman with serious rheumatoid
arthritis, Natalia Andreyevna. Andreyeva,
who was cured of her illness.
Despite the Valaam Monastery's long history, it
never had an icon of the Mother of God of its own design, although Father
Alipy's icon came to occupy such a position in subsequent years. In the turmoil
of World War II, the icon was transported to safety in Finland, along with
many other treasures from Valaam and the majority of the monks. It now occupies
a prominent position in the Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord at
the New Valaam Monastery. In 1987, the bishops of the autonomous Orthodox
Church of Finland established an annual feast in the Valaam Icon's honor
on August 7. The troparion and kontakion for the feast were written by the
late Archbishop Paul of Finland. On July 29, 2005, the Valaam Icon of the
Mother of God was brought for the first time to North America by His Eminence,
Archbishop Leo of Karelia and All Finland.
“Mother dear, is it true that you live at Valaam?”
The story of the icon of the Mother of God of Valaam, as recorded
in 1897
In a corner behind the choir enclosure on the south side of the lower main
church at the monastery of Valaam, where the miracle-working remains of the
monastery’s founders, the Saints Sergei and Herman of Valaam, lie at rest
interred in the rock, stands an icon of the All-Holy Mother of God.
This full length image
of the Queen of Heaven holding the divine child in her arms is known as the
icon of the Mother of God of Valaam. It is a work of considerable artistic
merit that was painted by a local artist-monk and later hieromonk, Father
Alipi, in 1878. Nowadays this icon is one of the most cherished objects of
reverence at Valaam. As if by some divine providence, no suitable place could
be found for the icon at first when it was finished, and it was placed in
the entrance hall to the upper main church, where it remained until that
church was demolished to make way for a new one. At that stage the majority
of the icons, including this one, were taken to the Church of the Dormition
of the Mother of God, where the monastery held its regular services until
the lower main church was completed. The icon was hung in a relatively high
position on a pillar to the left of the entrance to the church. When the
lower main church was ready for consecration, all the icons that had been
moved to the Church of the Dormition were returned to it, but again, for
some inexplicable reason known only to God, no place could be found for this
one.
As scarcely any services were held in the
Church of the Dormition any longer, this icon, along with some others, was
placed in temporary storage in the Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Worker.
There it lay forgotten for many years, until it was moved to its present
place in response to a vision experienced by a holy woman servant of God.
The story of the indescribable act of grace bestowed upon this woman by the
Queen of Heaven is recounted below in her own words.
‘I am a member
of the peasant estate from the village of Zarino in the parish of Paskina,
part of the district of Korchevski within the province of Tver. My name is
Natalia Andreyevna Andreyeva. I am now sixty-four and live
in St Petersburg, in the Brusnitsyn old peoples’ home, at Kosaya Line no.
15 on Vasili Island. I was placed in this home, through the grace of God,
by the lady in whose service I was a serf in former days. In the year 1878
or 1879 I caught a bad cold on one occasion when washing clothes and developed
rheumatism in my arms and legs. I began to seek treatment for this, but my
health became worse year by year. I went to the Mariski Hospital for massage
for a long time, but it didn’t help, and I went to the Grand Duchess Elena
Pavlovna’s clinic opposite the Tauria gardens for as long as I could. I was
more or less a cripple for most of the winter. All my money went on doctors’
fees and medicines, but the Lord God didn’t look kindly on my afflictions.
In the end I was told that my illness had reached the stage of serious rheumatoid
arthritis and that the only way of curing it was to go to a spa and take
warm water baths. What could I do? By that time I could scarcely afford to
eat, so how could I find the money for treatment at a spa?
And so, sinner that I am, I began to pray ardently to the Mother of God that
in her mercy she would help me in my sufferings. I could walk only with great
difficulty, leaning on a stick, and I had such pains in my hands and arms
from time to time that I could no longer hold on to the stick. Sometimes
I could make my way into the Church of the Sign only by crawling up the steps
on all fours. I lived as a beggar, on food that people gave me as alms. This
went on until 1887.
At that point my former mistress heard about
my pitiful state and invited me to come and live with her at Käkisalmi
in the province of Viipuri in Finland and look after her children as far
as my health would permit. There was no other work that I could think of
doing in the condition that I was in. The family was not a rich one, and
so I was not to receive any wages for this – but, thank God, at least I was
sure of food and a roof over my head. While I was at Käkisalmi I heard
many accounts of the miraculous cures that had taken place at the tomb of
the Saints Sergei and Herman of Valaam, and this aroused a powerful desire
in me to visit Valaam and prostrate myself before the tomb of these saints
who had been acceptable unto the Lord and entreat their help in my serious
state of illness.
I had heard a lot about Valaam earlier, while I was
living in St Petersburg, and I had often thought of visiting the monastery
to pay reverence to its founder saints, but in all the vanities of life I
had never got round to it. The main reason had been the cost of the journey,
of course, but now the monastery was closer. Also, there was an inner voice
speaking to me all the time, “Go to Valaam and be cured!” I could no longer
resist this desire, and I asked the lady of the house for leave to go there.
As I had no money at all, I pawned my warm scarf for four roubles and started
to make preparations for the journey. As the day of departure approached
I began to feel uneasy and distressed. I was an old woman who was utterly
sick and lacking in strength. How could I travel alone? I had very little
money, only just enough for the journey. How could I set out at all on such
a journey? And if something were to happen, what would a poor creature like
me do then? Thoughts like this began to haunt me until I was quite distraught.
The night before I set out I just lay on my bed and wept. What should I do?
I wanted so much to make this journey, but still I was frightened for some
reason. Then – I don’t know whether I was asleep or awake – I saw quite clearly a tall woman clad in pink
velvet and with a child in her arms, surrounded by an amazing light.
The thought immediately struck me, could this be the Mother of God? I didn’t
dare to call out to her by that name, though. I wanted to go to her, but
she stepped back and said, “Don’t weep. The Saviour is coming, and I am coming
to you!” Then I said to her, “Mother dear, how beautiful and good you are!
Is it true that you live at Valaam?” “Yes,
I live there. You will see me at Valaam!” After that the vision disappeared,
but now that the Mother of God had spoken to me it was as if a stone had
been lifted from my heart. My mind was at ease and all my fears had been
swept away.
The next day the ship
came and I set out joyfully on my journey. The old ladies sitting beside
me began to offer me food and drink, one bread, another tea and yet another
coffee, so that I was not short of anything all the way. It was a happy journey.
The only problem was that my legs were very painful because of the rocking
of the ship. At Valaam they were celebrating not only the annual feast of
the Saints Sergei and Herman but also the laying of the foundation stone
for a new church. There were a huge number of pilgrims there, and also the
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and his wife the Duchess. There were throngs
of people everywhere. Once I had arrived and rested after the strenuous journey,
I made my way to the tomb of the Saints Sergei and Herman and prayed there
ardently so that the tears streamed from my eyes. I asked the saints who
had been acceptable unto God to help me, to grant me, sinful as I was, relief
from my illness. I spent the last coins that I had on a short service of
prayer to them, so that I had nothing left but twenty kopecks and my return
fare. The evening service was held in the Church of the Dormition, and the
crowd was so enormous that with my illness, I stood no chance of pushing
my way into the church but had to stand, or rather sit, in the entrance.
The following day I had to return home. I would have liked to stay there
longer to pray, but I couldn’t, as even a few days would have cost so much
that I would not have had any money for the fare home. Just before the ship
was due to leave, some unseen force began to drive me back to the Church
of the Dormition once more to pray. Although I was frightened of missing
the ship, I didn’t dare to resist this inner voice which ordered me into
the church, so I gathered up all my strength and practically ran back there.
As soon as I stepped into the church I involuntarily looked to the left –
and stood rooted to the spot. My legs went weak beneath me, and I would certainly
have fallen down if it hadn’t been for the railings beside the stairs leading
to the upper church. The reason for my surprise and bewilderment was something
quite miraculous. Hanging on the pillar to the left of the door, in a golden
frame, and looking at me was the Mother of God! And what was more, I recognised
in Her the same figure who had appeared to me in a dream on the eve of my
departure for Valaam and strengthened my failing spirit for the journey.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the icon, and I became more and more convinced
that this was the same dear mother who had been gracious enough to visit
me in a dream. I recognised Her radiant face and Her merciful gaze. Even
Her clothing was the same, and She held the Child in just the same way as
I had seen in my dream. As soon as I had recalled all this I wanted to have
a service of prayer for the Mother of God and to kiss Her holy icon, but
this was evidently not a suitable moment for Her, as our defender, to receive
my unworthy prayers. The ship’s siren sounded in the distance, announcing
its departure, and the icon was hung so high up that it was impossible for
me to kiss it. I just had time to buy a candle with my last twenty kopecks
and place it in front of the icon. Then, with tears in my eyes, I had to
leave for the ship. It was only during the voyage that I recovered my composure.
I was delighted beyond words with this miracle that had been granted to me,
a sinner, although I was also saddened by the fact that I had seen the icon
of the All-Holy Mother of God only in the last few minutes before leaving
Valaam. This had evidently been Her wish.
A few days after I arrived
back in Käkisalmi I began to feel much better. I could walk without
a stick and do little jobs around the house. I resolved at once to go back
to the monastery again at the first opportunity to thank God and the holy
fathers and definitely to have a service of prayer said in front of the icon
of the Mother of God. But the Lord determined otherwise. The lady in whose
house I was living decided to move into the country, and I had to go back
to St Petersburg again and rely on assistance from the good people there.
The years went by. My life was a hard one, and I was often facing hunger.
My illness became worse, and I again had to walk with a stick. I prayed ardently
to the Mother of God for help. Then, in 1896, nine years after my visit to
Valaam, I came home from Vespers one Saturday evening, said my prayers and
went to bed. Again I had a dream. The Mother of God appeared to me in exactly
the same form as on the first occasion, and said, “So your enthusiasm has
waned and you’ve forgotten your promise to return to Valaam. You were shown
the way, but you didn’t follow it.” “I am poor,” I answered, “I haven’t the
money.” “You find money for everything else, but not for this. Alas, this
is a bitter disappointment for me,” the Mother of God complained. I was horrified
at this vision. I had evidently offended our dear mother. What was I to do
now?
Suddenly I heard that my former mistress had
recently returned to St Petersburg, and so I went to her and told her the
reason for my sorrow. She again came to my rescue – may God grant her all
his goodness – and unexpectedly gave me five roubles. With these I was able
to travel to Valaam at once. As soon as I reached the monastery I went to
the new church to pray at the tomb of the founder saints, and then to the
Church of the Dormition to pray to the Mother of God. To my great sorrow,
however, I couldn’t find Her icon where it had been on the first occasion.
I began to ask the monks where it was, and the former treasurer Father Evgeni
advised me to ask the master of the church furnishings, Father Pafnuti, who
was responsible for all the icons. Even he couldn’t tell me exactly where
the icon of the Mother of God that had been in the Church of the Dormition
now was, and thought it might have been sent to the monastery’s chapel on
Vasili Island in St Petersburg. I was very, very upset that I had not found
my Queen of Heaven, and shed many bitter tears as I prayed to the Mother
of God and the Saints Sergei and Herman that they would not abandon me in
my sin. I stayed at Valaam for two and a half weeks, looking everywhere for
the icon, but I couldn’t find it. My health was poor, and my soul weighed
heavy within me. Eventually I went back to St Petersburg and called at the
Valaam chapel on Vasili Island, but the icon was not there, either. I was
more grief-stricken than ever. Another year passed, and my illness began
to grow worse again, so that I could scarcely walk even with a stick. I had
scrimped and saved all year and gradually collected the kopecks together
for another journey to Valaam.
I set out
to spend the feast of St Peter at the monastery and to look for the icon
of the Mother of God once again. Although I was exhausted by the time I arrived,
I prayed earnestly at the tomb of the founder saints and with tears in my
eyes prayed to the Mother of God that she would show me where I could find
Her blessed icon. And my prayer was answered. That night I had another dream.
I was walking through the yard of the monastery and past the now abandoned
Church of St Nicholas. I was crying and praying to the Mother of God, “Oh
mother dear, if only I could see you once more!” I was greatly surprised,
but I went on praying. Again I heard a voice, but this time it was someone
else’s. “What are you so sad about? What are you looking for?” I turned round
and there was a grey-bearded old monk in a blue biretta standing behind me.
“I am looking for the Mother of God,” I replied. “Wait. We will find Her.”
“How can you find Her so quickly,” I asked, “when Father Pafnuti searched
for three weeks without finding her?” “He searched in the wrong places. He
had forgotten where She is,” the old monk said. I followed him to a door.
“This door is closed,” I said. He opened it. “She is in here.” I looked into
the inside of the church, and in one corner, amidst a heap of furnishings
and old icons, was the icon of the Mother of God, half wrapped in a linen
cloth and sacking. I recognised it at once as the icon I was looking for.
“Here She is!” I exclaimed in a loud voice. It was then that the other women
in the same room woke me up.
The next day, a Wednesday, I went
to the Liturgy early in the morning, after which Father Pafnuti conducted
a service of prayer at the tomb of the founder saints. I told him about my
dream. “In the name of God, forgive me,” he said. “I looked for the icon
at first and then forgot all about it. I will go and search for it at once.
Now I remember. I’m sure it’s in the Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Worker.”
I intended to take Communion on the Saturday, and the night before I had
another dream. It was as if I were standing alone in the lower church. There
were just two monks beside the founders’ tomb, Father Seraphim and Father
Nikolai. I was waiting impatiently for something and could not take my eyes
off the outer door. Suddenly the door opened and the icon of the Mother of
God was carried in by Father Pafnuti and a young monk in a short, grey cassock.
“There She is, my dear mother!” I cried, and threw myself on the floor, thinking
that the icon would be carried over me and I would be made well. But Father
Pufnuti said, “There is nothing ready for you here. We have to hold a short
service to bless the holy water before a sick person can be made well.” And
at that I awoke. In the morning I took Communion. I told Father Pafnuti of
my dream and, sobbing, entreated him to go and look for the icon. Before
the later Liturgy I was in a chapel when I suddenly saw a crowd of people
hurrying from the hotel to the church. “What is happening?” I asked. They
told me that the missing icon of the Mother of God had been found and that
it was being taken to the lower church. I went into the church and saw the
icon on the steps in front of the iconostasis. “Is this the icon you meant?”
Father Pafnuti asked me. “Yes, this is the one,” I replied. “Then be comforted
and pray to the Holy Mother of God,” he said. I asked him to hold a service
of prayer to the Mother of God, and he did so, with a blessing of water as
well, and lit a lamp in front of the icon. Hieromonk Alipi was reading a
service of prayer at the tomb of the founder saints just then, and I was
told that it was he who had painted the icon.
I went to him and bowed
down to the ground before him. My breath stuck in my throat and tears streamed
down my cheeks from the sheer joy of finding at last the icon of the Mother
of God who had appeared to me, and I gave thanks to the Lord with all my
heart for the unspeakable mercy he had shown to me. The holy water was poured
into a bottle for me, and when I drank it I felt my strength return. I took
some oil from the lamp and went to my room. There I spread it on my hands
and feet. The pain abated, and for the first time for many years I was able
to sleep peacefully. I week later I could walk without a stick. After giving
thanks with all my soul and from the bottom of my heart to the Mother of
God for the miracle that She had worked on me in my unworthiness, I returned
to St Petersburg. I began to gain in strength all the time without any medicine,
and by Easter I had completely recovered. It was then that I decided that
I would buy a lamp for the icon. By the grace of God I managed to gather together
eight roubles from the little that I had, but a lamp cost ten roubles.
Then a friend of mine who had bought
a charity lottery ticket promised that if she won she would give me the two
roubles I needed, and she did win a gold watch, so that I was able to buy
the lamp and send it to the monastery. Many people asked me to give them
a photograph of the icon. Now I am in perfect health. I can do washing and
scrub floors, and I have even been helping with the haymaking at the Konevits
Monastery. I have no pain at all in my legs. Altogether the illness lasted
twelve years. At one time I couldn’t even get my arms into the sleeves of
my clothes, and sometimes I could only climb steps by crawling on my hands
and knees. I shed countless tears at such times and prayed to the Mother
of God that I might be cured. Now I am healthy again and have everything
that I need. There are even good people around me who have put me in an old
people’s home. Glory be to the Queen of Heaven!’
Natalia Andreyevna’s story of the discovery
of the icon in the abandoned Church of St Nicholas is thoroughly plausible.
It would have been impossible for her to know anything about the contents
of the church or about the objects stored there beforehand. The church is
kept closed and no people other than the monastery staff are allowed into
it. Everything really happened as she had seen in her dream. Following her
instructions, Father Pafnuti went into the church, found the icon in a corner
and brought it to the lower main church. There he placed it on the right-hand
side of the church, on a pillar behind the right-hand choir enclosure, where
it has been to this day. And by some miraculous means the person who helped
Father Pufnuti carry the icon was indeed dressed in a short, grey cassock.
Natalia Andreyevna released this account of her visions on 7th
August 1897, and it was written down in the present form on 26th July 1898.
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1927
Departure of St. Kyrillos V (Cyril), 112th Pope of Alexandria {Coptic}
On this day also, of the year 1643 A.M. (August 7, 1927 A.D.)
the righteous and honorable father Pope Kyrillos V, 112th Pope of Alexandria,
departed. This father was born in the city of Tezment, governorate of Beni-Swaif
in 1831 A.D. His pious parents named him John, brought him up well, and raised
him up in the Christian morals. He had a strong desire to study the Holy
Bible and the biography of the saints.
When he was 12 years old, in 1843 A.D., he was ordained a deacon
and carried the deaconate duties ardently. Because he was inclined at a young
age to the life of asceticism, and solitary life, he left the world, and
went to St. Mary's monastery (Known by El-Sourian) in Wadi El-Natrun. There
he became a disciple to the spiritual elder, the hegumen, Fr. Girgis El-Far,
the father of confession of the monks. When John's father discovered where
he was, he came to the monastery and brought him back, but because of his
love for the ascetic life, he did not stay long. He returned to the wilderness,
and became a monk at El-Baramous monastery in the year 1850 A.D. He excelled
in his monastic duties and became known for his asceticism, purity, and gentleness,
and became a good paragon to the other monks. He was ordained a priest in
1851 A.D., then promoted to Hegumen (Archpriest) in 1852 A.D. The number
of monks in the monastery then was small and its income was very little.
This Father worked hard in transcribing and selling books to churches. The
income was used to buy the necessities of the monks, such as food and clothing.
His virtues of knowledge, righteousness, and gentleness became
well known. He was ordained a Patriarch, in the 23rd of Babah, 1591 A.M. (November
1st, 1874 A.D.) in a venerable celebration. He directed his attention to
building churches, renovating monasteries, being merciful to the poor, and
caring for the affairs of the monks. In 1892 A.D., he chose to be exiled,
rather than to squander the properties of the monasteries. Anba Youanis,
Metropolitan of El-Behara, Menoufia, and then the deputy of the See of St.
Mark, was also exiled with him. Afterwards, both returned from their exile
with much respect and honor.
During his papacy the church was adorned by knowledgeable and
holy men: among them was the great father, the man of purity, meekness, and
charity, Anba Abraam, Bishop of El-Fayoum. This bishop's virtues had spread
vastly, and his almsgiving to the poor had reached a point where he did not
save any money. All the donations he received from the benevolent, he gave
to the poor and needy. He also performed many wonders such as healing the
sick and casting out evil spirits.
Another was the well learned, great theologian and skillful orator,
the Hegumen (Archpriest) Philotheos Ibrahim El-Tantawy, rector of the great
St. Mark Church. Also, the well learned father the honorable and the ascetic
monk the Hegumen Fr. Abdel Messih Saleeb El-Baramousy, who was well educated
in Coptic, Ethiopian, Greek, and Syrian languages. He also knew some French
and English. He was characterized with immeasurable patience in research
and examining religious books. In return, he left valuable publications which
speak of his prominence.
Pope Kyrillos appointed the
late Habib Girgis, who was the dean of the theological seminary, to be his
deacon. He dedicated his life to the seminary and its improvement. Mr. Girgis
assisted the Pope in expanding its buildings in Mahmasha. Pope Kyrillos often
visited the seminary and blessed its students. This deacon was a skillful
speaker. He accompanied the Pope in his pastoral visits to Upper Egypt and
Sudan. He translated many religious books from foreign languages to Arabic
and published El-Karma periodical, to spread the facts of the faith in a positive
way. He published many books, among them were: The Seven Sacraments of the
Church, The Consoler of the Faithful, The Mystery of Piety, and many others.
He taught and nurtured many generations of clerical men who flourished in
the church and filled it with their sermons and religious publications.
The Pope gave the utmost of his efforts to lift his flock to the
highest spiritual level, as he was prudent in printing the church books.
He departed in peace, after spending fifty-two years, nine months and six
days on the Patriarchal chair. May his prayers be with us and Glory
be to God forever. Amen.
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"In this oratory we try to serve God by worship;
Saints of this Day August 07 Séptimo Idus Augústi 
295 St. Carpophorus
Soldiers Martyr with Exanthus, Cassius, Severinus, Secundus, and
Licinius; slain at Como, Italy, during the persecution of co-Emperor
Maximian
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.