Afterfeast of
the
Transfiguration of our Lord
The Church's hymns today invite us to "ascend the holy mountain" and
"with the eyes of faith," to "behold the radiant Transfiguration of the
Lord." Christ has transformed our fallen human nature and restored its
original beauty "by the burning radiance of His divinity."
|
 350
St. Myron Martyred priest at Cyzicus on the Sea of Marmora, in modern
Turkey. He
was slain trying to protect his church from a pagan mob.
In
Creta sancti Myrónis Epíscopi, miráculis
clari In Crete, St. Myron, bishop renowned for
miracles
Saint Myron,
Bishop
of Crete, a wonderworker, in his youth was a family
man, and worked as a farmer. He was known for his goodness, and he
assisted everyone who turned to him for help. Once, thieves burst in
upon his threshing floor, and St Myron himself helped them lift a sack
of grain upon their shoulders. By his generosity the saint so shamed
the thieves, that in future they began to lead honorable lives.
Out of profound respect for the saint, the Cretan people urged him to
accept ordination to the priesthood in his native city of Raucia, and
afterwards they chose him Bishop of Crete.
Wisely ruling his flock, St Myron received from the Lord the gift of
wonderworking. At the time of a flood on the River Triton, the saint
stopped its flow and went upon it as upon dry land, and then he sent a
man back to the river with his staff to command the river to resume its
course. St Myron fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 100, around the
year 350. |
St.
Eleutherius & Leonides Two martyrs burned to death in
Constantinople.
Item sanctórum
Mártyrum Eleuthérii et
Leónidæ, qui per ignem martyrium consummárunt.
Also, the holy
martyrs Eleutherius and Leonides, who underwent
martyrdom by fire.
The Martyrs
Eleutherius and Leonides were cast into a fire
at a
youthful age during one of the persecutions against Christians.
|
| Ten Egyptian
Ascetics
On this day we also commemorate, who died at sea,
and Two Martyrs of Tyre, who were dragged over the ground. |
| Transfiguration
The
hymns at
Vespers today speak of the sun appearing dim compared to the divine
light. In His compassion for humanity, Christ took on mortal
flesh, yet Peter,
James and John saw the radiance of His glory. The incarnate Lord
"made Adam's darkened image to shine again" when He
appeared on earth arrayed in the original beauty of the Image" (Genesis
1:26). |
 305
Cyriacus
erlitt vermutlich das Martyrium um 305 unter Diokletian.
Sanctórum Mártyrum Cyríaci Diáconi, Largi
et Smarágdi, qui, cum áliis vigínti Sóciis,
passi sunt décimo séptimo Kaléndas Aprilis.
Eórum córpora, via Salária a Joánne
Presbytero sepúlta, sanctus Marcéllus Papa in
prædium Lucínæ, via Ostiénsi, hoc die
tránstulit; quæ póstea, in Urbem deláta, in
Diaconía sanctæ Maríæ in via Lata
fuérunt recóndita.
The holy martyrs Cyriacus, deacon, Largus, and Smaragdus, with
twenty others who suffered on the 16th of March, during the persecution
of Diocletian and Maximian. Their bodies were buried on the
Salarian Way by the priest John, but were on this day translated by
Pope St. Marcellus to the estate of Lucina, on the Ostian Way.
Afterwards they were brought to the city and placed in the church of
St. Mary in Via Lata.
Orthodoxe Kirche: 7.
Juli Katholische Kirche:
8. August
Cyriakus erlitt vermutlich das Martyrium um 305 unter Diokletian. In
einer alten Märtyrerliste werden fünf Gefährten genannt,
ab dem 13. Jahrhundert werden Largus und Smaragdus angegeben. Cyriacus
gehört zu den 14 Nothelfern.
Ss. Cyriacus, Largus And Smaragdus, Martyrs
The legend of St Cyriacus and his companions is a romance devoid of
historical value. It
relates that Cyriacus was a deacon who, with Sissinius, Largus and
Smaragdus,
succoured the Christians who were being forced to work on the
construction of the baths of Diocletian. Having been
arrested, Cyriacus cured the emperor's daughter, Artemia, of demoniac
possession, and was
rewarded with the present of a house herein he established a
place of
worship, the titulus Cyriaci. He was then sent to Persia at
the request of its
king, whose daughter suffered in the same way as Artemia, and her also
he cured. After his
return to Rome he was apprehended by order of Maximian, together with
Largus and
Smaragdus, and on March ib, in company with a score of others, he Was
tortured and
beheaded at a spot on the Salarian Way. On August 8 Pope St
Marcellus I translated the bodies to a burial-place, which
received the name of Cyriacus, on
the road to Ostia.
That Cyriacus was an authentic martyr, honoured on this day in
Rome from an early date, is proved from the Depositic Martyrum of
354. Therein he is said to rest close beside the seventh
milestone on the road to Ostia in
company with Largus, Jxmaracdus", and three others,
who are
named. Delehaye shows that this Cyriacus has been confused with another
Cyriacus, the founder of
the titulus Cyriaci, and that a fictitious story was later evolved
which is best
known to us as an episode in the spurious Acts of Pope St Marcellus.
See on the whole question
Delehaye in CMH, p. 425 (with which cf.
ibidem pp. 190 and
431-433); and Duchesne in Mélanges
d'archéologie a
d'histoire, vol. xxxvi, pp. 49-56 .
|
St. Marinus
elderly
martyr Martyr at Anazarbus, in Cilicia. He is reported as having been
quite
elderly.
Anazárbi, in Cilícia, sancti Maríni senis, qui,
sub Diocletiáno
Imperatóre et Lysia Præside, cæsus flagris, in ligno
suspénsus ac
laniátus, feris tandem objéctus intériit.
At Anzarba in Cilicia, St. Marinus, an old man who was scourged,
racked, and lacerated, and who died by being exposed to wild beasts, in
the time of Emperor Diocletian and the governor Lysias. |
St.
Severus,
priest and confessor
At Vienne
in France, who undertook a painful journey from India in
order to preach the Gospel in that city, and converted a great number
of pagans to the faith of Christ by his works and miracles.
Viénnæ,
in
Gállia, sancti Sevéri, Presbyteri et Confessóris;
qui ex India, Evangélii prædicándi causa,
laboriósam peregrinatiónem suscépit, et, cum ad
præfátam urbem devenísset, ingéntem
Paganórum multitúdinem verbo et miráculis ad
Christi fidem convértit.
|
420 St.
Hormisdas, a
martyr under King Sapor in Persia.
In Pérside sancti Hormísdæ Mártyris, sub
Sápore Rege.
St Hormisdas, Martyr
THE shocking
persecution of Christians carried on by Sapor
II, King of Persia, was renewed by Yazdagird I, the occasion being the
burning down of a Mazdaean temple by a priest. This unhappy
man, who brought so much distress on the faithful, was constrained to
admit that persuasion and not violence is the only Christian method,
but this did not mollify the anger of the king. It is not
easy, says Theodoret, to describe or express the cruelties which were
then invented against the disciples of Christ. On the death
of Yazdagird the persecution was carried on by his son Bahram; and
Hormisdas (Hormizd) was one of the chief victims. He was of the
nobility among the Persians, son to the governor of a
province. Bahrarn sent for him, and commanded him to
renounce Jesus Christ. Hormisdas answered him, "Nay! This would offend
God, and be against charity and justice; whoever dares to violate the
supreme law of the sovereign Lord of all would easily betray his king,
who is only a mortal man. If that be a crime deserving death,
what must it he to renounce the God and ruler of the universe?" The
king at this answer caused him to be deprived of his rank, honours
and goods, and even stripped of clothes to his loin-cloth, and ordered
him to look after the camels of the army. Some time after Bahram
saw Hormisdas all sunburnt and covered with dust, and calling to mind
his former position and the high office of his father, he was filled
with pity; so he sent for him, ordered a gown to he given him, and
said, "Now lay aside your obstinacy, and renounce the carpenter's Son".
The saint pulled off the gown and threw it away, saying, "Why should
you have thought that I should so easily be tempted to abandon the law
of God? Take back your present." The king, incensed at his boldness,
sent him back to his camels. It is not known when and how St Hormisdas
suffered martyrdom.
See the Acta
Sanctorum,
August, vol. ii, where the passage of Theodoret, bk v, ch. 39, is
quoted at length. See also Assemani, Bibliotheca
orientalis, vol. iii,
pt 2, p. 384. There seems to be a reference to this St Hormisdas in the
Martyrology of Rabban Sliba on September 1 for which cf. the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxvii
(1908), p. 193 .
|
650
St. Leobald
Benedictine abbot Benedictine abbot also
called Leotlebod. He was abbot of Fleury Abbey, now called
Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire, France.
|
678
St. Mummolus abbot Benedictine abbot of
Fleury, also called Mommulus. He brought some relics of Sts.
Benedict and Scholastica from Monte Cassino to France, thus starting
the name given to Fleury, SaintBenait-sur-Loire
|
680 St.
Ternatius Bishop of Besancon, France He actively supported the
monastic movement and sponsored charitable projects. Ternatius was
revered for his holiness.
|
7th v. St.
Ellidius Patron saint of Himant, Powys, Wales,
and a church in Scilly Isles of England. Also called Illog.
|
796 St.
Gedeon bishop The thirteenth bishop of Besancon, France. He served six
years.
|
 815 St. Emilian
opposition Iconoclasts Bishop of Cyzicus, an
island in the sea of Marmara, Turkey. He died in exile
because of his opposition to the Iconoclasts.
Cyzici, in Hellespónto, sancti Æmiliáni
Epíscopi, qui, pro sacrárum Imáginum cultu a
Leóne Imperatóre multa passus, demum in exsílio
vitam finívit.
At Cyzicum, on the Hellespont, St. Aemilian, bishop, who
ended
his life in exile after having suffered much from Emperor Leo for the
veneration of holy images.
Saint
Emilian, Bishop of Cyzikus, lived during the reign of the Iconoclast
emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820). He was summoned together with other
bishops to the court of the emperor, who insistently urged the bishops
to refrain from the veneration of holy icons. St Emilian was the first
to tell the emperor firmly that the question of the veneration of holy
icons ought to be discussed and decided only within the Church by its
spiritual leaders, and not at the imperial court. In the year 815 he
was sent to prison for the Orthodox Faith, where he died as a confessor.
Aemilianos von Kyzikos Orthodoxe Kirche: 8. August
Aemilianos war im 9. Jahrhundert Bischof von Kyzikos. Als Kaiser Leo V.
der Armenier (813-820) 815 den Bildersturm (= Ikonoklaste von 730 bis
842) erneuerte (wohl um Frieden mit den muslimischen Nachbarreichen zu
halten, in denen Gottesbilder strikt verboten waren) und die
Bischöfe seines Reiches aufforderte, die Ikonen zu vernichten,
wurde er von mehreren Bischöfen aufgesucht, die ihn aber nicht
umstimmen konnten. Aemilianos gab Leo zu bedenken, dass die Frage der
Ikonenverehrung nur innerhalb der Kirche diskutiert und nicht von einem
weltlichen Gericht entschieden werden könne. Aemilianos wurde
deshalb 815 gefangengesetzt. Er starb im Gefängnis.
Mit Aemilianos standen vor dem Kaiser der Bischof von Nikomedien,
Theophylaktus, der Bischof von Synada, Michael, der Bischof von Sardes,
Euthymios sowie die Bischöfe Joseph von Thessaloniki und Eudoxios
von Amorion .
|
1091 St.
Altman Bishop of
Passau; apostolic delegate;
studied in Paris,
ordained, became
the ranking priest at the Paderborn Cathedral
School; went to Aachen royal chaplain of
Emperor Henry II; 1064
pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, captured by Muslim Saracens in Palestine;
released journeyed home 1065;;
became involved in Pope Gregory VII's
efforts to halt simony and clergy
marriages; driven out of his diocese because of this
controversy;
founded the Augustinian abbey at
Gottweig, Austria;
reformed the religious institutions of
the region;
St.
Altman Bishop and
apostolic delegate, born in
Westphalia, Germany about
1020. He studied in Paris, was ordained, and then became the ranking priest at the Paderborn Cathedral
School. From there he went to Aachen and became the royal chaplain of
Emperor Henry II. In 1064, Altman went on a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, and was captured by the Muslim Saracens in Palestine. He was
released and journeyed home in 1065 facing renewed dangers; became
involved in Pope Gregory VII's
efforts to halt simony and clergy
marriages.
Upon his
arrival home, Altman was named the bishop of Passati because of the
patronage of Empress Agnes. Altman founded the Augustinian abbey at
Gottweig, Austria, and generally reformed the religious institutions of
the region. He then became involved in Pope Gregory VII's efforts to halt simony
and clergy
marriages.
Altman was driven out of his diocese because of this
controversy. He went to Rome and was appointed apostolic delegate to
Germany. In 1081, he returned to Passau but was driven out again.
Altman spent the remaining years of his life in the abbey at Gottweig,
Austria.
St Altman, Bishop of
Passau
St Altman was born at Paderborn during the first quarter of
the
eleventh century, and studied at Paris. After being
ordained he was appointed Canon and master of the Cathedral-school at
Paderborn, then provost of the chapter of Aachen and chaplain to the
Emperor Henry III, and confessor and counsellor of the Dowager Empress
Agnes. In 1064 he took part in a pilgrimage to the Holy
Land, which numbered seven thousand persons (according to a monk who
was there) and was led by several archbishops and bishops, and the
adventure was a most unhappy one. Having safely traversed Europe and
Asia Minor with no more than the misfortunes inevitable to so long a
journey on horseback, they were attacked by Saracens in Palestine and
sustained a siege in an abandoned village ; lack of food forced them to
surrender, and they might all have been massacred but for the
intervention of a friendly emir. Though they eventually reached
Jerusalem they were not able to visit many of the other holy places
because of the enmity of the Saracens, and by the time the pilgrimage
reached home again it had lost nearly half of its members, dead from
hardship, sickness and murder. It was happenings of this sort
which contributed, thirty years later, to the institution of the
crusades.
Immediately on his return Altman was
nominated to
the see of Passau, and he set himself energetically to govern a large
and deteriorated diocese. For the increase of learning, the care of the
poor, and proper carrying out of divine worship he looked particularly
to regular clergy; at Göttweig he founded an abbey of
Augustinian canons, put the same at Sankt Pölten in the place of
secular canons, and introduced the Cluniac reform at Kremsmunster. In
these works he had the help of the Empresses Agnes and Bertha, and the
Emperor Henry IV was a benefactor of the see; but St Altman soon found
himself in conflict with that monarch. When in 1074 Pope St Gregory VII renewed the
pontifical decrees against simony and married clergy, Altman read out
the letter in his cathedral. It was very ill received, he had to
escape from the ensuing uproar, and found himself opposed in the matter
of celibacy by a strong party led by his own provost. The
bishop's chief supporters were the Augustinian canons, but the rebels
invoked the help of the emperor; Altman did his best to enforce the
decree, excommunicated the provost, and, when in the following year the
pope forbade lay investiture, definitely ranged himself against
Henry. He was driven from his see, and went to Rome. He had
some scruples as to whether he held his own see simoniacally, as he had
received it by favour of the Empress Agnes; but St Gregory VII
confirmed him in it and appointed him delegate apostolic for Germany.
St
Altman returned to his see in 1081, but was
turned out again almost at once he spent the remaining years of his
life in exile but maintained a footing in the eastern part
of his diocese, from whence he exercised a
great
influence. He had lost all his revenues and was in great poverty,
but for all that his charity to the poor did not abate, and in a time
of famine he sold his furniture to relieve the suffering. Nor did
the disturbance of his rule and his long banishment entirely spoil his
work; a Canon of Göttweig who wrote an account of him not long
after his death says that when he was appointed bishop many of his
churches were of wood, and so were his priests; he had stone churches
built and, though it was more difficult to reform the clergy than their
buildings, he had inspired many priests with an enthusiasm for Celibacy
and a contempt for riches. St Altman was an important figure in
the early history of canons regular in addition to the foundations
mentioned above he instituted them at Sankt Florian, at St Nicholas's
in his cathedral city, and other places. He died in 1091, and his cultus was approved by
Pope Leo XIII.
There are two lives printed
in the Acta Sanctorum. The
older of
these (re-edited in MGH., Scriptores,
vol. xii, pp. 226-243) was written some fifty years after Altman's
death by a canon of Gottweig. The second for the greater part
adds no new facts, but fills some lacunae
in the narrative towards the end. An excellent
German translation of the earlier document, with abundant notes, has
been published by A. Fuchs, Des
heilige Altmann (1929). See also Hans Hirsch "Die Vita
Altmanni" in Jahrbuch für
Landeskunde von Nieder-österreich, vols. xv and
xvi, pp.
348-366; and A. Stonner, Heilige des
deutschen Frühzeit,
vol. ii
(1935).
|
 12th v. St
Gregory,
Iconographer of the Caves among the number of iconographers who had
come from Constantinople to
Kiev to embellish the Great Church of the monastery, dedicated in honor
of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.
A colleague of St Alypius of the Caves (August 17). In the "Accounts of
the holy Iconographers" it says that he painted (wrote) many
wonderworking
icons throughout the Russian Land.
In the Ninth Ode of the Canon of the Service of the Synaxis of the Kiev
Caves Monastics, Venerated in the Near Caves (September 28), St Gregory
is called a "Byzantine." This probably means that he was among the
number of iconographers who had come from Constantinople to Kiev to
embellish the Great Church of the monastery, dedicated in honor of the
Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos .
|
1190 Bd Joan of
Aza,
Matron praise is due in her own right; to beauty of soul she added
beauty of body, and both were handed on to the greatest of her sons
The mother of St Dominic is said to have been born in the
castle of
Aza, near Aranda in Old Castile; nothing is known of her
childhood, but doubtless her marriage took place when she was very
young, according to the custom of the time and country. Her
husband was Felix, perhaps de Guzman, who was warden of the small town
of Calaruega in the province of Burgos, of which Dante writes in
speaking of St Dominic: "Happy Calaroga I there
where the gentle breeze whispers and wanders among the young flowers
that bloom over the garden of Europe, near that shore where the waves
break and behind which the great sun sinks at evening."
Here they
lived and here were born to them four children, Antony, who became a
canon of St James and sold all that he had that he might serve the poor
and sick in a hospital; Bd Mannes, who followed his younger brother,
Dominic; and an unknown daughter, whose two sons became preaching
friars.
The greatest of these children was a child of promise,
for when Antony and Mannes were already grown up and clerics, Joan
wished for another son and prayed to that end in the abbey-church of
Silos; and a vision of St Dominic of Silos is said to have appeared to
her in sleep, telling her that a son would be born to her and that he
would be a shining light to the Church: and she in thankfulness
determined that he should be baptized Dominic.
While the child
was yet unborn Bd Joan dreamed "that she bore a dog in her womb and
that it broke away from her with a burning torch in its mouth wherewith
it set the world aflame"; this dog became a symbol of the Dominican
Order and in later ages gave rise to the pun Domini canes, "the watch-dogs of
the Lord".
His godmother at his baptism (or, as some say, Bd Joan
again) likewise had a dream in which the babe appeared with a shining
star upon his forehead, enlightening the world: wherefore
is a star often shown upon images of the saint. Dominic remained under
the care of his mother till he was seven years old, and then was sent
to school with his uncle, the parish priest of Gumiel d'Izan.
Other stories are told, but by later writers, about the saint's infancy.
It has not been given to many mothers of saints to be
themselves beatified, and Joan achieved this distinction by her own
virtues and not by those of her children: it is not unusual for
hagiographers to praise the parents of their heroes, but the mother
of St Dominic such praise is due in her own right; to beauty of soul
she added beauty of body, and both were handed on to the greatest of
her sons.
Her cultus dates
from the moment of her death; a hermiitage at Uclés, where she
would go to visit the commandery of the Knights of St James, was called
after her, and likewise a chapel in the cemetery at
Calaruega. At the request of King Ferdinand VII this cultus was confirmed in 1828.
It is to be feared that the
little we are told concerning Bd
Joan does not rest upon a very sound basis of evidence. See,
however, Ganay, Les Bienheureuses
Dominicaines, pp. 13 seq. R. Castano, Monografia de Santa Joanna
(1900); Procter, Dominican
Saints, pp. 215-219 and the standard lives of St Dominic .
|
 1221
St. Dominic
Astronomers Patron studied at the Univ. at
Palencia; ordained, appointed canon at Osma in 1199 became prior
superior of the chapter, which was noted for its strict adherence to
the rule of St. Benedict; founded an order devoted to the conversion
of the Albigensians; the order was canonically approved by the bishop
of Toulouse the following year. He failed to gain approval for his
order of preachers at the fourth General Council of the Lateran in
1215 but received Pope Honorius III's approval in the following
year, and the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) was founded;
Dominic's concept of
harmonizing the intellectual life with popular need
16th century portrait by Giovanni Bellini.
August 8, 2008 St. Dominic (1170-1221)
If he hadn’t taken a trip with his bishop, Dominic would probably have
remained within the structure of contemplative life; after the trip, he
spent the rest of his life being a contemplative in active apostolic
work.
ST. DOMINIC, A TRUE PREACHER OF THE GOSPEL
VATICAN CITY, 3 FEB 2010 VIS
In today's general audience, held in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, the
Pope spoke about the life and work of St. Dominic de Guzman, founder of
the Order of Preachers, or Dominican Order.
St. Dominic was born in Caleruega, near the Spanish city of
Burgos, in the year 1170. While still a student he "distinguished
himself for his interest in the study of Sacred Scriptures and his love
for the poor". Having been ordained a priest he was elected as canon of
the cathedral of Osma, however "he did not consider this as a personal
privilege, nor as the first step in a brilliant ecclesiastical career;
rather, as a service to be rendered with dedication and humility. Do
not career and power represent a temptation to which even those who
have roles of leadership and government in the Church are not immune?"
the Pope asked.
He then explained how the bishop of Osma "soon noted Dominic's
spiritual qualities and sought his collaboration. Together they
travelled to northern Europe on diplomatic missions...On his
journeys Dominic became aware of...the existence of peoples still
un-evangelised,...and of the religious divides that weakened
Christian life in the south of France, where the activity of certain
heretical groups created disturbance and distanced people from the
truth of the faith".
Pope Honorius III asked Dominic "to dedicate himself to
preaching to the Albigensians" and he "enthusiastically accepted this
mission, which he undertook through the example of his own life of
poverty and austerity, through preaching the Gospel and through public
discussions".
"Christ", the Pope went on,
"is the most precious treasure that
men and women of all times and places have the right to know and love!
It is consoling to see how also in today's Church there are many people
(pastors and lay faithful, members of ancient religious orders and of
new ecclesial movements) who joyfully give their lives for the supreme
ideal of announcing and bearing witness to the Gospel".
As more and more companions joined him, Dominic
established his
first house in the French city of Toulouse, from which the Order of
Preachers came into being. "He adopted the ancient Rule of St.
Augustine, adapting it to the requirements of an itinerant apostolic
life in which he and his confreres would move from one place to another
preaching, but always returning to their convents, places of study,
prayer and community life".
St. Dominic, the Holy Father continued, "was keen that his
followers should have a solid theological formation, and did not
hesitate to send them to the universities of the time". There they
dedicated themselves to the study of theology, "founded on Holy
Scripture but respectful of the questions raised by reason".
The Pope encouraged everyone, "pastors and lay people, to
cultivate this 'cultural dimension' of the faith, that the beauty of
Christian truth may be better understood and the faith truly nourished,
strengthened and defended. In this Year for Priests, I invite
seminarians and priests to respect the spiritual value of study. The
quality of priestly ministry also depends on the generosity with which
we apply ourselves to studying revealed truths".
Dominic died in Bologna in 1221 and was canonised in 1234. "With
his sanctity, he shows us two indispensable means for making apostolic
activity more incisive", the Pope concluded; "firstly, Marian
devotion", especially the praying of the Rosary "which his spiritual
children had the great merit of popularising", and secondly, "the value
of prayers of intercession for the success of apostolic work".
AG/ST. DOMINIC/... VIS 100203 (610)
Born in old Castile, Spain, he was trained for the priesthood by a
priest-uncle, studied the arts and theology, and became a canon of the
cathedral at Osma, where there was an attempt to revive the apostolic
common life of the Acts of the Apostles.
On a journey through France with his bishop, he came face to face with
the then virulent Albigensian heresy at Languedoc. The Albigensians
(Cathari, “the pure”) held to two principles—one good, one evil—in the
world. All matter is evil—hence they denied the Incarnation and
sacraments. On the same principle they abstained from procreation and
took a minimum of food and drink. The inner circle led what must he
called a heroic life of purity and asceticism not shared by ordinary
followers.
Dominic sensed the need for the Church to combat this heresy, and was
commissioned to be part of the preaching crusade against it. He saw
immediately why the preaching was not succeeding: the ordinary people
admired and followed the ascetical heroes of the Albigenses.
Understandably, they were not impressed by the Catholic preachers who
traveled with horse and retinues, stayed at the best inns and had
servants. Dominic therefore, with three Cistercians, began itinerant
preaching according to the gospel ideal. He continued this work for 10
years, being successful with the ordinary people but not with the
leaders.
His fellow preachers gradually became a community, and in 1215 he
founded a religious house at Toulouse, the beginning of the Order of
Preachers (Dominicans).
His ideal, and that of his Order, was to link organically a life with
God, study and prayer in all forms, with a ministry of salvation to
people by the word of God. His ideal: contemplata tradere: “to pass on
the fruits of contemplation” or “to speak only of God or with God. “
Comment: The Dominican
ideal, like that of all religious
communities, is for the imitation, not merely the admiration, of the
rest of the Church. The effective combining of contemplation and
activity is the vocation of truck driver Smith as well as theologian
Aquinas. Acquired contemplation is the tranquil abiding in the presence
of God, and is an integral part of any full human life. It must be the
wellspring of all Christian activity.
Born 1170 Son of Felix Guzman and Bl. Joan of
Aza, he was born at Calaruega, Spain, studied at the Univ. at
Palencia, was probably ordained there
while pursuing his studies and was appointed canon at Osma in 1199.
There he became prior
superior of the chapter, which was noted for its strict adherence to
the rule of St. Benedict.
In
1203 he accompanied Bishop Diego de Avezedo of Osma to Languedoc where
Dominic preached against the
Albigensians (heresy) and helped reform the Cistercians.
Dominic founded an institute for women at Prouille in Albigensian
territory in 1206 and attached several preaching friars to it. When
papal legate Peter of Castelnan was murdered by the Albigensians in
1208, Pope Innocent III launched a crusade against them headed by Count
Simon IV of Montfort which was to continue for the next seven years.
Dominic followed the army and preached to the heretics but with no
great success. In 1214 Simon gave him a castle at Casseneuil and
Dominic with six followers founded an order devoted to the conversion
of the Albigensians; the order was canonically approved by the bishop
of Toulouse the following year. He failed to gain approval for his
order of preachers at the fourth General Council of the Lateran in
1215 but received Pope Honorius III's approval in the following
year, and the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) was founded.
Dominic spent the last years of this life organizing the
order,
traveling all over Italy, Spain and France preaching and attracting new
members and establishing new houses. The new order was phenomenally
successful in conversion work as it applied Dominic's concept of
harmonizing the intellectual life with popular needs. He convoked the
first general council of the order at Bologna in 1220 and died there
the following year on August 6, after being forced by illness to return
from a preaching tour in Hungary. He was canonized in 1234 and is the
patron saint of astronomers.
St. Dominic
Founder of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the
Dominican
Order; born at Calaroga, in Old Castile, c. 1170; died 6 August, 1221.
His parents, Felix Guzman and Joanna of Aza, undoubtedly belonged to
the nobility of Spain, though probably neither was connected with the
reigning house of Castile, as some of the saint's biographers assert.
Of Felix Guzman, personally, little is known, except that he was in
every sense the worthy head of a family of saints. To nobility of blood
Joanna of Aza added a nobility of soul which so enshrined her in the
popular veneration that in 1828 she was solemnly beatified by Leo XII.
The example of such parents was not without its effect upon their
children. Not only Saint Dominic but also his brothers, Antonio and
Manes, were distinguished for their extraordinary sanctity. Antonio,
the eldest, became a secular priest and, having distributed his
patrimony to the poor, entered a hospital where he spent his life
ministering to the sick. Manes, following in the footsteps of Dominic,
became a Friar Preacher, and was beatified by Gregory XVI.
The birth and infancy of
the saint were attended by many marvels
forecasting his heroic sanctity and great achievements in the cause of
religion. From his seventh to his fourteenth year he pursued his
elementary studies tinder the tutelage of his maternal uncle, the
archpriest of Gumiel d'lzan, not far distant from Calaroga. In 1184
Saint Dominic entered the University of Palencia. Here he remained for
ten years prosecuting his studies with such ardour and success that
throughout the ephemeral existence of that institution he was held up
to the admiration of its scholars as all that a student should be. Amid
the frivolities and dissipations of a university city, the life of the
future saint was characterized by seriousness of purpose and an
austerity of manner which singled him out as one from whom great things
might be expected in the future. But more than once he proved that
under this austere exterior he carried a heart as tender as a woman's.
On one occasion he sold his books, annotated with his own hand, to
relieve the starving poor of Palencia. His biographer and contemporary,
Bartholomew of Trent, states that twice he tried to sell himself into
slavery to obtain money for the liberation of those who were held in
captivity by the Moors. These facts are worthy of mention in view of
the cynical and saturnine character which some non-Catholic writers
have endeavoured to foist upon one of the most charitable of men.
Concerning the date of his ordination his biographers are silent; nor
is there anything from which that date can be inferred with any degree
of certainty. According to the deposition of Brother Stephen, Prior
Provincial of Lombardy, given in the process of canonization, Dominic
was still a student at Palencia when Don Martin de Bazan, the Bishop of
Osma, called him to membership in the cathedral chapter for the purpose
of assisting in its reform. The bishop realized the importance to his
plan of reform of having constantly before his canons the example of
one of Dominic's eminent holiness. Nor was he disappointed in the
result. In recognition of the part he had taken in converting its
members into canons regular, Dominic was appointed sub-prior of the
reformed chapter. On the accession of Don Diego d'Azevedo to the
Bishopric of Osma in 1201, Dominic became superior of the chapter with
the title of prior. As a canon of Osma, he spent nine years of his life
hidden in God and rapt in contemplation, scarcely passing beyond the
confines of the chapter house.
In 1203 Alfonso IX, King
of Castile, deputed the Bishop of Osma to
demand from the Lord of the Marches, presumably a Danish prince, the
hand of his daughter on behalf of the king's son, Prince Ferdinand. For
his companion on this embassy Don Diego chose Saint Dominic. Passing
through Toulouse in the pursuit of their mission, they beheld with
amazement and sorrow the work of spiritual ruin wrought by the
Albigensian heresy. It was in the contemplation of this scene that
Dominic first conceived the idea of founding an order for the purpose
of combating heresy and spreading the light of the Gospel by preaching
to the ends of the then known world. Their mission having ended
successfully, Diego and Dominic were dispatched on a second embassy,
accompanied by a splendid retinue, to escort the betrothed princess to
Castile. This mission, however, was brought to a sudden close by the
death of the young woman in question. The two ecclesiastics were now
free to go where they would, and they set out for Rome, arriving there
towards the end of 1204. The purpose of this was to enable Diego to
resign his bishopric that he might devote himself to the conversion of
unbelievers in distant lands. Innocent III, however, refused to approve
this project, and instead sent the bishop and his companion to
Languedoc to join forces with the Cistercians, to whom he had entrusted
the crusade against the Albigenses. The scene that confronted them on
their arrival in Languedoc was by no means an encouraging one. The
Cistercians, on account of their worldly manner of living, had made
little or no headway against the Albigenses. They had entered upon
their work with considerable pomp, attended by a brilliant retinue, and
well provided with the comforts of life. To this display of worldliness
the leaders of the heretics opposed a rigid asceticism which commanded
the respect and admiration of their followers. Diego and Dominic
quickly saw that the failure of the Cistercian apostolate was due to
the monks' indulgent habits, and finally prevailed upon them to adopt a
more austere manner of life. The result was at once apparent in a
greatly increased number of converts. Theological disputations played a
prominent part in the propaganda of the heretics. Dominic and his
companion, therefore, lost no time in engaging their opponents in this
kind of theological exposition. Whenever the opportunity offered, they
accepted the gage of battle. The thorough training that the saint had
received at Palencia now proved of inestimable value to him in his
encounters with the heretics. Unable to refute his arguments or
counteract the influence of his preaching, they visited their hatred
upon him by means of repeated insults and threats of physical violence.
With Prouille for his head-quarters, he laboured by turns in Fanjeaux,
Montpellier, Servian, Béziers, and Carcassonne. Early in his
apostolate around Prouille the saint realized the necessity of an
institution that would protect the women of that country from the
influence of the heretics. Many of them had already embraced
Albigensianism and were its most active propagandists. These women
erected convents, to which the children of the Catholic nobility were
often sent-for want of something better-to receive an education, and,
in effect, if not on purpose, to be tainted with the spirit of heresy.
It was needful, too, that women converted from heresy should be
safeguarded against the evil influence of their own homes. To supply
these deficiencies, Saint Dominic, with the permission of Foulques,
Bishop of Toulouse, established a convent at Prouille in 1206. To this
community, and afterwards to that of Saint Sixtus, at Rome, he gave the
rule and constitutions which have ever since guided the nuns of the
Second Order of Saint Dominic.
The year 1208 opens a new
epoch in the eventful life of the founder. On
15 January of that year Pierre de Castelnau, one of the Cistercian
legates, was assassinated. This abominable crime precipitated the
crusade under Simon de Montfort, which led to the temporary subjugation
of the heretics. Saint Dominic participated in the stirring scenes that
followed, but always on the side of mercy, wielding the arms of the
spirit while others wrought death and desolation with the sword. Some
historians assert that during the sack of Béziers, Dominic
appeared in the streets of that city, cross in hand, interceding for
the lives of the women and children, the aged and the infirm. This
testimony, however, is based upon documents which Touron regards as
certainly apocryphal. The testimony of the most reliable historians
tends to prove that the saint was neither in the city nor in its
vicinity when Béziers was sacked by the crusaders. We find him
generally during this period following the Catholic army, reviving
religion and reconciling heretics in the cities that had capitulated
to, or had been taken by, the victorious de Montfort. It was probably 1
September, 1209, that Saint Dominic first came in contact with Simon de
Montfort and formed with him that intimate friendship which was to last
till the death of the brave crusader under the walls of Toulouse (25
June, 1218). We find him by the side of de Montfort at the siege of
Lavaur in 1211, and again in 1212, at the capture of La Penne d'Ajen.
In the latter part of 1212 he was at Pamiers labouring, at the
invitation of de Montfort, for the restoration of religion and
morality. Lastly, just before the battle of Muret, 12 September, 1213,
the saint is again found in the council that preceded the battle.
During the progress of the conflict, he knelt before the altar in the
church of Saint-Jacques, praying for the triumph of the Catholic arms.
So remarkable was the victory of the crusaders at Muret that Simon de
Montfort regarded it as altogether miraculous, and piously attributed
it to the prayers of Saint Dominic. In gratitude to God for this
decisive victory, the crusader erected a chapel in the church of
Saint-Jacques, which he dedicated, it is said, to Our Lady of the
Rosary. It would appear, therefore, that the devotion of the Rosary,
which tradition says was revealed to Saint Dominic, had come into
general use about this time. To this period, too, has been ascribed the
foundation of the Inquisition by Saint Dominic, and his appointment as
the first Inquisitor. As both these much controverted questions will
receive special treatment elsewhere in this work, it will suffice for
our present purpose to note that the Inquisition was in operation in
1198, or seven years before the saint took part in the apostolate in
Languedoc, and while he was still an obscure canon regular at Osma. If
he was for a certain time identified with the operations of the
Inquisition, it was only in the capacity of a theologian passing upon
the orthodoxy of the accused. Whatever influence he may have had with
the judges of that much maligned institution was always employed on the
side of mercy and forbearance, as witness the classic case of Ponce
Roger.
In the meantime, the
saint's increasing reputation for heroic sanctity,
apostolic zeal, and profound learning caused him to be much sought
after as a candidate for various bishoprics. Three distinct efforts
were made to raise him to the episcopate. In July, 1212, the chapter of
Béziers chose him for their bishop. Again, the canons of
Saint-Lizier wished him to succeed Garcias de l'Orte as Bishop of
Comminges. Lastly, in 1215 an effort was made by Garcias de l'Orte
himself, who had been transferred from Comminges to Auch, to make him
Bishop of Navarre. But Saint Dominic absolutely refused all episcopal
honours, saying that he would rather take flight in the night, with
nothing but his staff, than accept the episcopate. From Muret Dominic
returned to Carcassonne, where he resumed his preaching with
unqualified success. It was not until 1214 that he returned to
Toulouse. In the meantime the influence of his preaching and the
eminent holiness of his life had drawn around him a little band of
devoted disciples eager to follow wherever he might lead. Saint Dominic
had never for a moment forgotten his purpose, formed eleven years
before, of founding a religious order to combat heresy and propagate
religious truth. The time now seemed opportune for the realization of
his plan. With the approval of Bishop Foulques of Toulouse, he began
the organization of his little band of followers. That Dominic and his
companions might possess a fixed source of revenue Foulques made him
chaplain of Fanjeaux and in July, 1215, canonically established the
community as a religious congregation of his diocese, whose mission was
the propagation of true doctrine and good morals, and the extirpation
of heresy. During this same year Pierre Seilan, a wealthy citizen of
Toulouse, who had placed himself under the direction of Saint Dominic,
put at their disposal his own commodious dwelling. In this way the
first convent of the Order of Preachers was founded on 25 April, 1215.
But they dwelt here only a year when Foulques established them in the
church of Saints Romanus. Though the little community had proved amply
the need of its mission and the efficiency of its service to the
Church, it was far from satisfying the full purpose of its founder. It
was at best but a diocesan congregation, and Saint Dominic had dreamed
of a world-order that would carry its apostolate to the ends of the
earth. But, unknown to the saint, events were shaping themselves for
the realization of his hopes. In November, 1215, an ecumenical council
was to meet at Rome "to deliberate on the improvement of morals, the
extinction of heresy, and the strengthening of the faith". This was
identically the mission Saint Dominic had determined on for his order.
With the Bishop of Toulouse, he was present at the deliberations of
this council. From the very first session it seemed that events
conspired to bring his plans to a successful issue. The council
bitterly arraigned the bishops for their neglect of preaching. In canon
X they were directed to delegate capable men to preach the word of God
to the people. Under these circumstances, it would reasonably appear
that Dominic's request for confirmation of an order designed to carry
out the mandates of the council would be joyfully granted. But while
the council was anxious that these reforms should be put into effect as
speedily as possible, it was at the same time opposed to the
institution of any new religious orders, and had legislated to that
effect in no uncertain terms. Moreover, preaching had always been
looked upon as primarily a function of the episcopate. To bestow this
office on an unknown and untried body of simple priests seemed too
original and too bold in its conception to appeal to the conservative
prelates who influenced the deliberations of the council. When,
therefore, his petition for the approbation of his infant institute was
refused, it could not have been wholly unexpected by Saint Dominic.
Returning to Languedoc at
the close of the council in December, 1215,
the founder gathered about him his little band of followers and
informed them of the wish of the council that there should be no new
rules for religious orders. Thereupon they adopted the ancient rule of
Saint Augustine, which, on account of its generality, would easily lend
itself to any form they might wish to give it. This done, Saint Dominic
again appeared before the pope in the month of August, 1216, and again
solicited the confirmation of his order. This time he was received more
favourably, and on 22 December, 1216, the Bull of confirmation was
issued.
Saint Dominic spent the following Lent preaching in various
churches in
Rome, and before the pope and the papal court. It was at this time that
he received the office and title of Master of the Sacred Palace, or
Pope's Theologian, as it is more commonly called. This office has been
held uninterruptedly by members of the order from the founder's time to
the present day. On 15 August, 1217, he gathered the brethren about him
at Prouille to deliberate on the affairs of the order. He had
determined upon the heroic plan of dispersing his little band of
seventeen unformed followers over all Europe. The result proved the
wisdom of an act which, to the eye of human prudence at least, seemed
little short of suicidal. To facilitate the spread of the order,
Honorius III, on 11 Feb., 1218, addressed a Bull to all archbishops,
bishops, abbots, and priors, requesting their favour on behalf of the
Order of Preachers. By another Bull, dated 3 Dec., 1218, Honorius III
bestowed upon the order the church of Saint Sixtus in Rome. Here, amid
the tombs of the Appian Way, was founded the first monastery of the
order in Rome. Shortly after taking possession of Saint Sixtus, at the
invitation of Honorius, Saint Dominic began the somewhat difficult task
of restoring the pristine observance of religious discipline among the
various Roman communities of women. In a comparatively short time the
work was accomplished, to the great satisfaction of the pope. His own
career at the University of Palencia, and the practical use to which he
had put it in his encounters with the Albigenses, as well as his keen
appreciation of the needs of the time, convinced the saint that to
ensure the highest efficiency of the work of the apostolate, his
followers should be afforded the best educational advantages
obtainable. It was for this reason that on the dispersal of the
brethren at Prouille he dispatched Matthew of France and two companions
to Paris. A foundation was made in the vicinity of the university, and
the friars took possession in October, 1217. Matthew of France was
appointed superior, and Michael de Fabra was placed in charge of the
studies with the title of Lecturer. On 6 August of the following year,
Jean de Barastre, dean of Saint-Quentin and professor of theology,
bestowed on the community the hospice of Saint-Jaques, which he had
built for his own use. Having effected a foundation at the University
of Paris, Saint Dominic next determined upon a settlement at the
University of Bologna. Bertrand of Garrigua, who had been summoned from
Paris, and John of Navarre, set out from Rome, with letters from Pope
Honorius, to make the desired foundation. On their arrival at Bologna,
the church of Santa Maria della Mascarella was placed at their
disposal. So rapidly did the Roman community of Saint Sixtus grow that
the need of more commodious quarters soon became urgent. Honorius, who
seemed to delight in supplying every need of the order and furthering
its interests to the utmost of his power, met the emergency by
bestowing on Saint Dominic the basilica of Santa Sabina.
Towards the end of 1218,
having appointed Reginald of Orléans
his vicar in Italy, the saint, accompanied by several of his brethren,
set out for Spain. Bologna, Prouille, Toulouse, and Fanjeaux were
visited on the way. From Prouille two of the brethren were sent to
establish a convent at Lyons. Segovia was reached just before
Christmas. In February of the following year he founded the first
monastery of the order in Spain. Turning southward, he established a
convent for women at Madrid, similar to the one at Prouille. It is
quite probable that on this journey he personally presided over the
erection of a convent in connexion with his alma mater, the University
of Palencia. At the invitation of the Bishop of Barcelona, a house of
the order was established in that city. Again bending his steps towards
Rome he recrossed the Pyrenees and visited the foundations at Toulouse
and Paris. During his stay in the latter place he caused houses to be
erected at Limoges, Metz, Reims, Poitiers, and Orléans, which in
a short time became centres of Dominican activity. From Paris he
directed his course towards Italy, arriving in Bologna in July, 1219.
Here he devoted several months to the religious formation of the
brethren he found awaiting him, and then, as at Prouille, dispersed
them over Italy. Among the foundations made at this time were those at
Bergamo, Asti, Verona, Florence, Brescia, and Faenza. From Bologna he
went to Viterbo. His arrival at the papal court was the signal for the
showering of new favours on the order. Notable among these marks of
esteem were many complimentary letters addressed by Honorius to all
those who had assisted the Fathers in their vinous foundations. In
March of this same year Honorius, through his representatives, bestowed
upon the order the church of San Eustorgio in Milan. At the same time a
foundation at Viterbo was authorized. On his return to Rome, towards
the end of 1219, Dominic sent out letters to all the convents
announcing the first general chapter of the order, to be held at
Bologna on the feast of the following Pentecost. Shortly before,
Honorius III, by a special Brief, had conferred upon the founder the
title of Master General, which till then he had held only by tacit
consent. At the very first session of the chapter in the following
spring the saint startled his brethren by offering his resignation as
master general. It is needless to say the resignation was not accepted
and the founder remained at the head of the institute till the end of
his life.
Soon after the close of
the chapter of Bologna, Honorius III addressed
letters to the abbeys and priories of San Vittorio, Sillia, Mansu,
Floria, Vallombrosa, and Aquila, ordering that several of their
religious be deputed to begin, under the leadership of Saint Dominic, a
preaching crusade in Lombardy, where heresy had developed alarming
proportions. For some reason or other the plans of the pope were never
realized. The promised support failing, Dominic, with a little band of
his own brethren, threw himself into the field, and, as the event
proved, spent himself in an effort to bring back the heretics to their
allegiance to the Church. It is said that 100,000 unbelievers were
converted by the preaching and the miracles of the saint. According to
Lacordaire and others, it was during his preaching in Lombardy that the
saint instituted the Militia of Jesus Christ, or the third order, as it
is commonly called, consisting of men and women living in the world, to
protect the rights and property of the Church. Towards the end of 1221
Saint Dominic returned to Rome for the sixth and last time. Here he
received many new and valuable concessions for the order. In January,
February, and March of 1221 three consecutive Bulls were issued
commending the order to all the prelates of the Church. The thirtieth
of May, 1221, found him again at Bologna presiding over the second
general chapter of the order. At the close of the chapter he set out
for Venice to visit Cardinal Ugolino, to whom he was especially
indebted for many substantial acts of kindness. He had scarcely
returned to Bologna when a fatal illness attacked him. He died after
three weeks of sickness, the many trials of which he bore with heroic
patience. In a Bull dated at Spoleto, 13 July, 1234, Gregory IX made
his cult obligatory throughout the Church.
The life of St. Dominic was one of tireless effort in the,
service of
god. While he journeyed from place to place he prayed and preached
almost uninterruptedly. His penances were of such a nature as to cause
the brethren, who accidentally discovered them, to fear the effect upon
his life. While his charity was boundless he never permitted it to
interfere with the stern sense of duty that guided every action of his
life. If he abominated heresy and laboured untiringly for its
extirpation it was because he loved truth and loved the souls of those
among whom he laboured. He never failed to distinguish between sin and
the sinner. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if this athlete of
Christ, who had conquered himself before attempting the reformation of
others, was more than once chosen to show forth the power of God. The
failure of the fire at Fanjeaux to consume the dissertation he had
employed against the heretics, and which was thrice thrown into the
flames; the raising to life of Napoleone Orsini; the appearance of the
annals in the refectory of Saint Sixtus in response to his prayers, are
but a few of the supernatural happenings by which God was pleased to
attest the eminent holiness of His servant. We are not surprised,
therefore, that, after signing the Bull of canonization on 13 July,
1234, Gregory IX declared that he no more doubted the saintliness of
Saint Dominic than he did that of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
|
1314 Tolga Icon of
the
Most Holy Theotokos appeared on August 8, to the Rostov hierarch
Prochorus (Tryphon in schema); the fiery column, he beheld on it the
icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, suspended in the air; they cleared the
forest at that place, and put down the foundations of a church - Entrance into the
Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos
Going about his diocese, the saint visited the environs of
White Lake
and from there traveled along the banks of the Rivers Sheksna and
Volga, to Yaroslavl. Having stopped with the approach of night 7 versts
distant from Yaroslavl, at the right bank of the Volga River there
flows opposite into it the River Tolga.
At midnight, when everyone was asleep, the saint awoke and
saw a bright
light illuminating the area. The light proceeded from a fiery column on
the other bank of the river, to which there stretched a bridge. Taking
up his staff, the saint went across to the other bank, and having
approached the fiery column, he beheld on it the icon of the Most Holy
Theotokos, suspended in the air. Astonished at the miracle, the saint
prayed for a long time, and when he went back, he forgot to take his
staff.
The next day, after serving Matins, when St Prochorus was
preparing to
continue his journey by boat, they began to search for his staff, but
they were not able to find it anywhere. The saint then remembered that
he had forgotten his staff on the other side of the river, where he had
gone across on the miraculous bridge. He then revealed what had
occurred, and sent servants across on a boat to the other shore. They
came back and reported that in the forest they had seen an icon of the
Mother of God suspended in the branches of a tree, next to his bishop's
staff.
The saint quickly crossed over with all his retinue to the
opposite
shore, and he recognized the icon that had appeared to him. Then after
fervent prayer before the icon, they cleared the forest at that place,
and put down the foundations of a church. When the people of Yaroslavl
learned of this, they came out to the indicated spot. By midday the
church was already built, and in the evening the saint consecrated it
in honor of the Entrance into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos,
and having installed the icon there he established a Feast on the day
of its appearance. St Prochorus later built the Tolga monastery near
this church. St Prochorus died on September 7, 1328.
The Tolga Icon of the Most
Holy
Theotokos is also commemorated on July 18.
|
1310 -1346? Saint
Gregory
of Sinai; tonsured a monk on the island of Cyprus; fulfilled his
obediences of cook and baker, then as copyist,
surpassing all in reading and knowledge of Scriptural and patristic
books; strictness of his life fasting, vigil, psalmody, standing at
prayer; lived on Crete, afterwards visited Mt. Athos with
its monasteries and ascetics acquiring experience
of centuries of monastic life from the ancient monasteries; after this
settle himself in a solitary
place for "hesychia" [stillness doing the Jesus Prayer], a cell for
silence and the unhindered pursuit of mental prayer, combined with hard
work
Born around the year 1268 in the seacoast village of
Clazomenia near
the city of Smyrna (Asia Minor), of rich parents. In about the year
1290, he was taken into captivity by the Hagarenes and sent off to
Laodicea.After gaining his freedom, the saint arrived on the island of
Cyprus, where he was tonsured a monk. He set off afterwards to Mount
Sinai and there assumed the great schema. Having fulfilled his
obediences of cook and baker, and then as copyist, surpassing all in
reading and knowledge of Scriptural and patristic books.
The strictness of his life (fasting, vigil, psalmody,
standing at
prayer) brought some to astonishment and others to envy. Departing the
monastery, the monk visited Jerusalem. For some time he lived on the
island of Crete, and afterwards he visited Mt. Athos with its
monasteries and ascetics. In this way, he acquired the experience of
many centuries of the monastic life from the ancient monasteries. Only
after this did St Gregory the Sinaite settle himself in a solitary
place for "hesychia" [stillness doing the Jesus Prayer], a cell for
silence and the unhindered pursuit of mental prayer, combined with hard
work.
The precious legacy of St Gregory is in his teaching about
the inner
life, 15 texts "On Stillness," and 137 texts "On Commandments and
Doctrines," where he says that "trying to comprehend the commandments
through study and reading without fulfilling them, is like mistaking a
shadow of something for its reality" ("On Commandments and Doctrines,"
section 22).
He is renowned also as a remarkable hymnographer ("It is
Truly Meet" is
ascribed to him), and a canon to the Most Holy Trinity read at Sunday
Vigil, and a canon to the Holy Cross. In a book of canons (from the
year 1407) of St Cyril of White Lake (June 9) is found the "Canon of
Supplication to the Lord Jesus Christ, the work of Gregory the Sinaite."
Because of his concern for the spreading of monasticism, the
saint
founded several cells on Athos, and also four monasteries in Thrace. St
Gregory the Sinaite died in the year 1310 (some historians suggest the
year 1346) at his so-called "Concealed" ("Parariseia") monastery,
founded on Mt. Paroria on the west coast of the Black Sea for the
strict followers of his life.
St Gregory is also commemorated
on November 27 (his repose), February 11, and April 6.
Gregor vom Sinai Orthodoxe Kirche: 6. April und 8.
August
Gregor wurde 1268 in der Nähe von Smyrna
(Türkei) geboren. Er
war zunächst Mönch in Zypern und pilgerte dann zum Sinai, wo
er in das Kloster eintrat. Er führte eine streng asketische
Lebensweise und erwarb großes Wissen in der Bibel und den
Kirchenvätern. Gregor pilgerte dann über Jerusalem zum Athos,
um die Lebensweisen der Klöster kennenzulernen. Auf dem Athos
ließ er sich dann als Hesychast (Einsiedler, der das
immerwährende Gebet betet) nieder. Gregor schrieb zahlreiche
Hymnen und ein Buch über das hesychastische Leben. Er
gründete auf dem Athos und in Thrakien mehrere Klöster.
Gregor starb (am 27.11.) 1310 (oder 1346) in seinem Kloster Paroria
(das verborgene Kloster) in Mazedonien. |
  1566 Sts Zosimas and
Sabbatius of Solovki The Transfer of the Relics of took place on August 8
Zosimas_of_Solovki.jpg
Sabbatius_of_Solovki.jpg
On the third day of the altar-feast of the Solovki monastery of the
Transfiguration of the Lord.
Second_Translation.jpg
The relics of the saints were transferred into a chapel of
the
Transfiguration cathedral, built in their honor.
Beekeepers pray to these saints for an increase of bees.
The Life of St Zosimas is found under April 17; the Life of St
Sabbatius on September 27 .
|
1570
Bl. John
Felton promoted Pope Martyr of England who
promoted the papacy in London. Born in Bermondsey, London, to a Norfolk
line, John nailed a copy of the Bull of Pope St. Pius V excommunicating
Queen Elizabeth I to the doors of the bishop of London’s residence.
Arrested and imprisoned, he was racked three times before
being
martyred in St. Paul’s churchyard. Pope Leo XIII beatified him in 1886.
Bd John Felton,
Martyr
On February 25, 1569-70, Pope
St Pius
V published a bull, "Regnans
in excelis ", directed against Queen Elizabeth, who was at the
time ostensibly a Catholic. By it she was declared excommunicate,
deprived of the kingdom which she ruled and all her subjects discharged
from their allegiance, because she claimed headship of the Church in
England, sheltered heretics, oppressed Catholics, and coerced her
subjects into heresy and repudiation of the Holy See, contrary to her
coronation oath. On the following May 25 citizens of
London woke up to find a copy of this bull of excommunication of their
sovereign fastened to the door of the bishop of London's house,
adjoining St Paul's cathedral; it had been put there late on the
previous night by Mr John Felton, a gentleman of a Norfolk family who
lived in Southwark.
It was not long before it was discovered
who
had done the deed. Searchers in the chambers of a well-known Catholic
lawyer in Lincoln's Inn found a copy of the bull, arrested the lawyer,
and racked him, whereupon he confessed that he had it from
Felton. He was at once seized at Bermondsey, but, although
he at once admitted what he had done, he was not brought to trial for
three months; he was kept in prison, Newgate and the Tower, and three
times racked, in the hope that he would confess to some political
intrigue with the Spaniards. But there had been none on his
part: he published the bull as a legitimate pontifical
censure for the queen's religious offences.
When brought to trial
at the Guildhall on August 4 he pleaded guilty and openly declared the
supremacy of the Holy See. Four days later he was dragged to St
Paul's churchyard; the scaffold was set up opposite the door on which
the bull had been posted, and at the sight of the barbarous
paraphernalia of execution the martyr was seized with a violent spasm
of fear. By an effort of will more violent he overcame it:
he pointed at the bishop's door, saying, "the supreme
pontiff's letters against the pretended queen were by me exhibited
there. Now I am ready to die for the Catholic faith"; to that
queen, as a token of good-will, he sent a valuable ring off his finger;
then he knelt and said the Miserere,
commended his soul to God, and was cast off. The
executioner would in pity have let him hang, but the sheriff ordered
that he be cut down alive, and as his heart was torn out, Mrs
Salisbury, his daughter, heard him utter the name of Jesus twice.
The wife of Bd John Felton had been a personal
friend of the queen, who after her husband's death licensed her to have
a priest as chaplain in her house: there are few enough acts of this
sort to Elizabeth's credit to make this one worth recording, and the
circumstance doubtless had its effect in determining the career of the
son, Bd Thomas Felton, then a babe of two, who eighteen years later
followed his father to martyrdom.
John was equivalently
beatified
in the decree of 1886. There is no need here to discuss the
question of the bull "Regnans in excelsis"; Bd John suffered for
publishing a canonical act of the Holy See against a supporter of
heresy and a persecutor, who proceeded against him for supporting papal
ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Whether that act was opportune or
justifiable under the circumstances is beside the point. Popes,
even when they are saints, as Pius V was, are not immune from errors of
judgement, and it is now the general opinion of Catholics that "Regnans
in excelsis" was a belated attempt to exercise a deposing power
already in fact a dead letter. For the rest, we have the
words of another Pope Pius, to the Academy of the Catholic Religion in
1871 "Though certain popes have sometimes exercised this
deposing power in extreme cases, they did so in accordance with the
public law of the time and by the agreement of Christian nations, whose
reverence for the pope as the supreme judge for Christ extended to his
passing even civil judgement on princes and nations. But the
present state of affairs is entirely different...No one now
thinks any more of the right of deposing princes which the Holy See
formerly exercised; and the Supreme Pontiff even less than anyone?"
A full account is
given in B. Camm, LEM., vol. ii (1905),
pp.1-13 cf. also the
introduction, pp. xviii-xx; and see further J. H. Pollen in The Month, February 1902.
|
1638 St. Agathangelo
Noury Arabic
scholar Martyr
and reformer, a Franciscan missionary, also
called Agathangelus;
sent to Aleppo, Syria, where
he became known as an Arabic
scholar, publishing Catholic works
in Arabic; sent to Cairo -- worked to bring the Coptic
Christians into communion with Rome
He was born Francis at Vendome, France, and entered the
Capuchin
monastery in Le Mans. He was ordained a priest in 1625. Agathangelo was
sent to Aleppo, Syria, where
he became known as an Arabic
scholar, publishing Catholic works
in Arabic.
In 1633 he was sent to Cairo and was joined there by
Father Cassian LopezNeto. Together they worked to bring the Coptic
Christians into communion with Rome. Their efforts, including a Coptic
Synod, went unrewarded because the Catholics of Cairo were known for
their dissolute life styles. Agathangelo attempted to excommunicate the
more notorious of these Europeans who held the Church up to ridicule.
He and Father Cassian then went to Ethiopia to establish a mission
there. In 1638, both were arrested in Dibarua, near Suakim, victims of
a campaign launched by a Lutheran physician with connections to the
Ethiopian court. King Gondar tried them and found them guilty of
interfering with Ethiopian religious matters. The two were hanged by
the cords of their Franciscan habits. They were beatified in 1905.
BB. Agathangelo and Cassian, Martyrs
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 Vendome.
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 immam 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. 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 flair 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 opinion of 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 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 early summer of 1638, they were arrested and taken,
manacled and on foot, to Goadar.
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 Vendome, 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 e martirio dei BB. Agatangelo e
Cassiano (1904).
|
1680
Triandaphyllus
The New Martyr , a native of Zagora, Magnesia (in Thessaly), was
beheaded by the Turks at Constantinople for his refusal to reject
Christ and accept Islam. He was only fifteen years old when he received
the crown of victory from Christ.
|
 1804 Saint
Euthymius
was abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in the Davit-Gareji
Wilderness. In the chronicles of the monastery he is
commemorated as a “man of many labors.”; philosopher theologian
outstanding preacher; dedicated to improving the monastery, rebuilt
nearby village of Khashmi (razed by Dagestani thieves); In Khashmi
constructed a mill and planted a vineyard with a rare variety of
grapes; adorned the monastery expanded the estate surrounding; a great
number of theological works were translated, and many rare books were
recopied.
Euthymius_the_Elder.jpg
According to the
19th-century historian Prince John Bagrationi,
Euthymius was a philosopher and theologian and an outstanding preacher.
He dedicated his life to improving the monastery and rebuilt the nearby
village of Khashmi, which had been utterly razed by Dagestani thieves.
In Khashmi he constructed a mill and planted a vineyard with a rare
variety of grapes. He adorned the monastery and expanded the estate
surrounding the complex. At his instruction, a great number of
theological works were translated, and many rare books were recopied.
St. Euthymius instructed several of his pupils in philosophy and
theology as well.
After receiving a commission from Bishop Saba of
Ninotsminda, St.
Euthymius composed an Akathist hymn to St. Nino the Equal
to-the-Apostles and Enlightener of Georgia.
In 1797 the black plague broke out in Tbilisi and residents
fled from
the city. Like true guardian angels, monastics and hermits abandoned
their isolated cells and arrived to minister to the sick and the
suffering. As he had in so many other worthy endeavors, St. Euthymius
served as the leader and inspiration behind these works of mercy.
The pious Euthymius reposed
peacefully in the year 1804.
|
1909 Bl. Mary
MacKillop first native Australian
to be beatified. Born Mary Helen MacKillop in Melbourne, she was
of Scottish ancestry. Concerned with the poor and suffering, Mary
founded the Sisters of St. Joseph and of the Sacred Heart. These
sisters
were dedicated to educating children. In 1873, she became Mary
of the Cross, and two years later was elected mother general of her
congregation. After many difficulties, Mother MacKillop received papal
approval of her work in 1888 from Pope Leo XIII. When she died on
August 8, 1909, in Sydney, there were one thousand women in her
congregation. Pope John Paul II beatified her on January 19, 1995.
|
St. Pa'esa
(Athanasia)
Departure of {Coptic}
On this day, St. Pa'esa, departed. She was born in Menouf,
to pious and
rich parents. When her parents died, she turned her house into a
shelter for the poor and the sojourner. She accepted everyone that came
to her fulfilling their every need until she ran out of money. Evil
people gathered around her, and turned her mind to the ungodly way. She
turned her home into a house of prostitution. When this news reached
the elders of Shiheet, they sorrowed for her with great sorrow. The
elders called upon St. John, the Short, and asked him to go to her, as
an act of mercy, and to aid her in saving her soul, in turn for the
good that she had done for them.
The saint obeyed the elders and asked them to support him
with their
prayers. When St. John came to where she lived, he asked her maid to
announce his presence. When the maid informed her, Pa'esa adorned
herself, and called him in. As he was walking, he was saying, "Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no
evil. For thou art with me." (Ps. 23:4) When he sat down, he looked to
her and said, "Why did you belittle the Lord Christ, and do this evil
deed?" She trembled, and her heart was melting from the words of the
Saint who bent his head and started weeping. She asked him, "Why do you
weep?" He answered, "Because I see the devils playing on your face, and
therefore I weep for you." She asked him, "Is there any repentance for
me?" He replied, "Yes, but not in this place." She said to him, "Take
me wherever you wish."
Then he took her to one of the convents close by the
wilderness of
Shiheet. On their way it became dark. St. John told her to sleep in one
place, while he slept far away from her. When he stood up to pray the
midnight prayer, he saw a pillar of light coming down from heaven to
earth, and the angels of God were carrying the Soul of Pa'esa. When he
approached her, he found that she had departed. Then he knelt down and
prayed fervently, with tears, asking God to reveal to him concerning
her fate. He heard a voice saying, "Her repentance was accepted in the
moment that she repented." After the saint had buried her, he returned
to the Elders and told them what had happened. They all glorified the
Lord who accepts the repentants and forgive their sins.
May her prayers be with us
and
Glory be to God forever. Amen.
|
The
Fourteen Holy Helpers
This name represents a group of saints, devotion to whom as a body was
German in origin and largely German in diffusion. The idea behind
the devotion is sufficiently indicated by its name, and the theoretical
qualification for inclusion in the group was a real or alleged divine
promise to the saint during life that he or she would have particular
intercessory power to help men in need. The usual fourteen
names: ACHATIUS (June 22); BARBARA (December 4; invoked against
lightning, fire, explosion, sudden and unprepared
death); BLAISE (February 3 invoked against throat
troubles); CATHERINE (November 25 invoked by
philosophers, students, wheelers and others); CHRISTOPHER (July 25;
invoked by travellers in difficulties); CYRIACUS (August 8); DENIS
(October 9; invoked against headache and rabies); ERASMUS (June 2;
against colic, cramp, etc.); EUSTACE (September 20; invoked by
hunters); GEORGE (April 23 protector of soldiers); GILES (September 1;
invoked against epilepsy, insanity and sterility); MARGARET (July 20;
invoked against possession and by pregnant
women); PANTALEON (July 27; invoked against phthisis); and VITUS (June
15 invoked against epilepsy and his dance").
It will be noticed that all these saints except one
(Giles) were martyrs. Among the other saints included in the
group locally were Dorothy (February 6), Leonard of Noblac (November
6), Magnus of Fussen and Magnus of Altino (October 6), Oswald (August
5), and Nicholas of Myra ("Santa Klaus"; December 6). All the above
will be found referred to herein under their
dates. In France the Helpers are fifteen, the extra one
being our Lady.
This devotion is an example of the medieval popular
tendency to honour the saints more for what they would do for their
devotees than for what they had been in their earthly lives. The
cultus became widely diffused during the fifteenth century ; it spread
from the Germanies to Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Italy and France; it
does not seem to have reached
England Churches, hospitals and shrines were named after the Holy
Helpers, and
their
feast was permitted in various places, on August 8 and other
dates. It is
still observed at a few places in Germany, and there is a church under
their invocation at Baltimore in Maryland.
The book of H. Weber, Die
Verehrung der hl. vierzehn Northhelfer (1886), supplies abundant
information. The Bollandists touch upon the subject in dealing with St
George, Acta Sanctorum,
April, vol. iii, pp. 149-150. See also A. Franz, Die Messe im deutschen Mittelalter, and
Zöckler in the Realencyklopädie
für protestantische
Theologie,
vol. xiv, pp. 217-218 .
|
Saints of this Day August 08 Sexto Idus
Augústi 
7th v. St. Ellidius
Patron saint of Himant, Powys, Wales,
and of a church in the
Quote: Pope
Paul
VI’s 1969 
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.