The Blessed Virgin
Mary, On The Feast Of Her Asumption Into Heaven
Mary a Jewish maiden of the house of David and the tribe of
Judah, whose parents are commonly referred to as St Joachim and St Anne.
At her conception, that is, when God infused a soul into her embryonic body,
she was preserved by Him from all taint of original sin (the Immaculate Conception,
December 8); her birth, which the Church celebrates on September 8, may have
taken place at Sepphoris or Nazareth, but a general tradition favours Jerusalem,
at a spot adjoining the Pool of Bethesda, close to a gate still called by
Mohammedans (but not, curiously enough, by Christians), Bab Sitti Maryam,
the Gate of the Lady Mary. She is believed to have been a child of promise
to her long childless parents, and on November 21 the Church keeps a feast
of her presentation in the Temple, though upon what occasion is not certain.
According to apocryphal writings she remained within the Temple precincts
in order to be brought up with other Jewish children, and at the age of fourteen
was betrothed to a carpenter, Joseph, her husband being indicated to the
high priest by a miracle. While still only betrothed she was visited by the
Archangel Gabriel (the Annunciation, March 25) and the Second Person of the
Blessed Trinity became incarnate by the power of the Holy Ghost in her womb.
This was at Nazareth, and she journeyed into Judaea to see her cousin St
Elizabeth, who also was with child, St John the Baptist (the Visitation, July
2). The marriage with St Joseph was duly ratified, and in due course,
going up with him to Jerusalem for the enrolment ordered by Caesar Augustus,
Mary gave birth in a rock-hewn stable at Bethlehem to Jesus Christ, the God-man
(Christmas day, December 25).
Forty days later, in accordance with the Jewish law, she presented
herself and her Child in the Temple for her ritual purification (February
2), an observence abrogated by the law of Christ which sees nought but honour
in sanctified child-bearing. Warned by an angel, St Joseph fled
with his wife and the holy Child into Egypt, to avoid the jealous rage of
King Herod; it is not known how long they lived there, but when Herod was
dead they returned to their old home at Nazareth.
For the thirty
years before the public ministry of Jesus began Mary lived the outward life
of any other Jewish woman of the common people. There are some who,
concentrating their hearts and minds on our Lady in her glorified state as
queen of Heaven, or as participating in the chief mysteries of the life of
her Son, lose all memory of her day by day life as a woman in this world.
The sonorous and beautiful titles given to her in the litany of Loreto; representations
of her in art, from the graceful delicate ladies of Botticelli to the prosperous
bourgeoises of Raphael; the efforts of writers and preachers who feel that
ordinary language is inadequate to describe her perfections; these and many
other influences help to glorify the Mother of God-but somewhat tend to make
us forget the wife of Joseph the carpenter.
Lily of Israel, the Daughter of the princes of Judah, the Mother
of all Living, also a peasant-woman, a Jewish peasant-woman, the wife of
a working-man. Her hands were scored with labour, her bare feet
dusty, not with the perfumed powder of romance but with the hard stinging
grit of Nazareth, of the tracks which led to the well, to the olive-gardens,
to the synagogue, to the cliff whence they would have cast Him. And
then, after those thirty years, those feet were still tired and dusty, but
now with following her divine Son from afar in His public life, from the
rejoicings of the, wedding-feast at Cana to His dereliction and her desolation
on Mount Calvary, when the sword spoken of by Simeon at the purification
pierced her heart.
The dying Jesus confided her to the care of St John, "and from that
hour the disciple took her to his own". On the day of Pentecost the
Holy Ghost descended on our Lady when He came upon the Apostles and other
disciples gathered together in the upper room at Jerusalem that is the last
reference to her in the Sacred Scriptures. The rest of her earthly life
was probably passed at Jerusalem, with short sojourns at Ephesus and other
places in company with St John and during the times of Jewish persecution.
Mary is the
mother of Jesus, Jesus is God, therefore she is the Mother of God the denial
of this was condemned by the third general council at Ephesus in 431.
Both before and after her miraculous child- bearing she was a virgin and so
remained all her days, according to the unanimous and perpetual tradition
and teaching of the Church. That she remained for her whole life absolutely
sinless is affirmed by the Council of Trent. As the second "Eve" Mary
is the spiritual mother of all living, and veneration is due to her with an
honour above that accorded to all other saints; but to give divine worship
to her would be idolatry, for Mary is a creature, like the rest
of human-kind, and all her dignity comes from God.
It has been for ages the explicit belief
of the Church that the body of the Blessed Virgin was preserved from corruption
and taken into Heaven and re-united to her soul, by an unique anticipation
of the general resurrection. This preservation from corruption and assumption
to glory was a privilege which seems due to that body which was never defiled
by sin, which was ever the most holy and pure temple of God, preserved from
all contagion of Adam and the common curse of mankind that body from which
the eternal Word received His own flesh, by whose hands He was nourished
and clothed on earth, and whom He vouchsafed to obey and honour as His mother.
Whether or not our Lady died is not certain; but it is generally held that
she did in fact die before her glorious assumption, some conjecture at Ephesus
but others think rather at Jerusalem. But did this feast commemorate
only the assumption of her soul, and not of her body as well, its object would
still be the same. For, as we honour the departure of other saints out
of this world, so we have great reason to rejoice and praise God on this
day when the Mother of Christ entered into the possession of those joys
which He had prepared for her.
At the time that Alban
Butler wrote, belief in our Lady's bodily assumption to Heaven was still,
in the words of Pope Benedict XIV,
"a probable opinion the denial of which would be impious and blasphemous";
and so it remained for another two hundred years. Then, in 1950, after
taking counsel with the whole Church through her bishops, Pope Pius XII solemnly
declared this doctrine to be divinely revealed and an article of faith.
In the bull " Munificentissimus Deus"
he declared that:
The remarkable
unanimity of the Catholic episcopacy and faithful in the matter of the definibility
of our Lady's bodily assumption into Heaven as a dogma of faith showed us that the ordinary
teaching authority of the Church and the belief of the faithful which it sustains
and directs were in accord, and thereby proved with infallible certainty that privilege is
a truth revealed by God and is contained in the divine deposit which Christ
entrusted to His bride the Church, to be guarded faithfully and declared with
infallible certainty.
November 1, the feast
of All Saints, the pope promulgated the bull publicly in the square before
St Peter's basilica at Rome, defining the doctrine in the following terms:
Having repeatedly
raised prayers of urgent supplication to God and having called upon the
light of the Spirit of Truth-to the glory of Almighty God, who has bestowed
His signal favours on Mary; in honour of His Son, death-less King of all
the ages and conqueror of sin and death ; to the increase of the glory of
the same exalted Mother: and to the joy and exultation of the whole Church:
By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, by that of the blessed apostles
Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, We pronounce, declare and define
to be divinely revealed the dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the
Ever-virgin Mary, was on the completion of her earthly life assumed body
and soul into the glory of Heaven.
The assumption of the
Virgin Mary is "St Mary's day" par excellence, the greatest of all the festivals
which the Church celebrates in her honour, and it is the titular feast of
all churches dedicated under her name without any special invocation.
It is the consummation of all the other great mysteries by which her life
was made wonderful; it is the birthday of her greatness and glory,
and the crowning of all the virtues of her whole life, which we admire singly
in her other festivals, it is for all these gifts conferred on her that
we praise and thank Him who is the author of them, but especially for that
glory with which He has crowned her. Nevertheless, whilst we contemplate
the glory to which Mary is raised on this day, we ought to consider how
she arrived at this honour and happiness, that we may walk in her steps.
That she should be the mother of her Creator was the most wonderful miracle
and the highest dignity; yet it was not properly this that God crowned in
her. It was her virtue that He considered: her charity, her humility, her
purity, her patience, her meekness, her paying to God the most perfect homage
of worship, love, praise and thanksgiving
To discuss in brief space the introduction and
development of our Lady's Assumption feast would not be easy. Three
points seem clear.
First that the building of churches in veneration of Mary, the
Theotokos, Mother of God, inevitably brought in its train the celebration
of some sort of dedication feast. That such churches dedicated to our Lady
existed both in Ephesus and at Rome in the first half of the fifth century
is certain, and some scholars think it probable that "a commemoration of the
ever-virgin Mary, Mother of God" was known at Antioch as early as A.D. 370.
Secondly, in such a commemoration or annual feast of the Blessed
Virgin no stress was at first laid upon the manner of her departure from this
world. In her case, as in the case of the martyrs and other saints,
it was simply the heavenly "birthday" (natalis) which was originally honoured,
and the festival was spoken of indifferently either as the "birthday ", or
the "falling-asleep (dormitio), the "passing away" (transitus), the "deposition",
or the "assumption".
Thirdly, according to an apocryphal but ancient belief, the
Blessed Virgin actually died on the anniversary of her Son's birth, i.e.
on Christmas day. As this day was consecrated to the veneration of the Son,
any distinctive commemoration of the Mother had to be postponed. In some
parts of the world this separate feast was assigned to the winter season.
Thus we know from St Gregory of Tours (580) that a great feast
in Mary's honour was then kept in Gaul in the middle of January. But
it is equally certain that in Syria there was a summer feast on the fifth
day of the month Ab, roughly August. This, with some fluctuations, was also
adopted in the West, and in England St Aldhelm (c. 690) speaks plainly of
our Lady's "birthday" being kept in the middle of August.
The only authentic
written source for the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the New Testament.
The facts recorded therein have been "written up" endlessly, and expanded
by loving speculation and inference the resulting narratives are sometimes
happy, more often less happy: no attempt can be made here to pick and choose
among them. In the aame way theological and devotional books about her defy
enumeration. For her bodily Assumption, see the historico.doctrinal study
by M. Jugie, La mort et l'assomption de
la Ste Vierge (1944); for a more popular historical and explanatory
work, see J. Duhr, The Glorious Assumption
(1950). That Ephesus was the place of our Lady's death and burial was supported
by Tillemont and Pope Benedict XIV;
but Eastern tradition is solid for Jerusalem. For an account of petitions
and other movements for the definition of the Assumption, see the Tablet,
August 26, 1950, and for the bull of definition the same review on November
4, 1950 (Latin text of bull in the Clergy
Review, vol. xxxiv (1950), pp.407-420). For the Assumption feast, see
H. Thurston in The Month, August
1917. pp. 121-134. A. Baumstark in Romische Quartalschrift, 1897, p. 55;
Mrs Smith Lewis in Studia Sinaitica,
vol. xi, p. 59; F. Cabrol in DAC., vol. i, cc. 2995-3001 ; and CMH., pp. 444-445.
Until modern times it was exceptional for churches to be dedicated in honour
of the Assumption in the middle ages the patronage was normally
simply "St Mary's". Which of her feasts was chosen for the church's name-day
depended on various factors-the Assumption had an advantage because it was
not in Lent but in full summer (cf. Analecta
Bollandiana, vol. lxv 194,7), pp. 316-317). Recent books on our Lady
and her cultus that can be particularly recommended are those of Bp M. Besson,
La Ste Vierge (1942), Fr L.
Bouyer, Le culte de la Mere de Dieu..
(1950), and J. Guitton, The Blessed Virgin
(1952). In The Second Eve (1952)
selections from the writings of Cardinal Newman give a sober but eloquent
account of the Church's teaching about Mary.
According to a very early Christian
legend, while the apostles were scattered all over the then-known world, preaching
the Gospel, Mary remained in Jerusalem in the house of John. Her love of
God, like an ardent flame, burned steadily in her body. Finally it was revealed
to her that her life was about to end, she wished to see the Twelve once
more before she died. Each one of them was miraculously carried away from
where he happened to be and borne on a cloud to the house on Mount Sion in
Jerusalem where Mary was approaching death: each one of them, that is, except
Thomas. They saw Christ Himself come down from heaven and receive the soul
of his Mother in his arms. They took her holy body and placed it in the tomb
prepared for it in the valley of Cedron, near Gethsemani. Thomas arrived
three days later, when all was over. He wished to see for the last time the
face of the woman who had been the Temple of God. He went with the other
apostles to the tomb, which they opened: they found it empty, but heard an
angelic concert. Mary herself appeared to them and confirmed the fact of
her Assumption into heaven. COMPLETED: 1982 DONATED BY: The sons and daughters
of Toufic & Baiki Nahas in their memory.
MELKITES -- Saints Peter & Paul Parish
1161 North River Road Ottawa, Ontario K1K 3W5
The Melkite story
goes back to the beginning of Christianity itself.
The Melkites, or Byzantine (Greek) Catholics of Middle Eastern origin,
are descendants of the early Christians of Antioch (cf. Acts 11:26). As
Rome was the most powerful city in early Western Europe and spread her manner
of worship throughout the surrounding area, so too the Greek capital, Constantinople
(originally called Byzantium), spread her traditions and customs to the countries
closest to her. Therefore, our Church uses the Byzantine Liturgy of St. John
Chrysostom.
Today the term Melkite is used to refer to those Catholics
whose ancestry is Middle Eastern and who follow the Byzantine Tradition in
worship, theology, and spirituality. In the Western world our Church is called
Melkite Greek-Catholic (Grec Melchite Catholique). In the Middle East we
are generally known as Room Katuleek, literally "Roman Catholic", just as
those whom we call Antiochian or Greek Orthodox here are known as Room Orthodox
("Roman Orthodox") there. However the Rome they are referring to in these
titles is not the Rome in Italy, but Constantinople, which the ancients called
New Rome. Those whom North Americans call Roman Catholics are known as Lateen
(Latins) in the Middle East.
An explanation of the names Melkite,
Greek, and Byzantine follows: MELKITE: The term comes from the Semitic words
for king, "melko" or "melek". The king in this case was the Byzantine emperor
who supported the teachings of the Council of Chalcedon, held in 451. The
opponents of this council, most of whom were in the Middle East, called its
supporters "The Royalists" (Malikiyeen). So the name, which today refers
to the Byzantine Catholics of the Middle East, originally was an insult aimed
at all Christians, both Eastern and Western, who supported the Council of
Chalcedon. GREEK ("ROOM" in Arabic): This word refers to the spiritual
tradition of the Greek Fathers which our Church follows. At the time of Christ,
Greek was the spoken language in the major cities of the Middle East. The
New Testament and the writings of the most important Church Fathers were composed
in Greek. In contrast, people in the rural areas spoke Aramaic or Syriac
until the Muslim conquest. BYZANTINE: The word refers to the city of
"New Rome" originally known as Byzantium. It is chiefly known in history
as Constantinople, the "city of Constantine". Its present name is Istanbul,
the Turkish pronunciation of the Greek words for "to the city". Our Church
follows the ritual of the Great Church of Constantinople for the Divine Liturgy.
GOVERNANCE: We are governed by a successor of the Apostles in the person
of His Beatitude Gregory III Laham, the Patriarch of Antioch and All the
East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem. He presently resides in Damascus, Syria.
We relate directly to him and to the Holy Synod of Melkite Bishops throughout
the world.
|
Assumption
of Mary
On November 1, 1950, Pius XII
defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith:
“We pronounce, declare and
define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God,
the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life,
was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.”
The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad
consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting
voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the
Catholic Church. We find homilies on the Assumption going back to the
sixth century. In following centuries the Eastern Churches held steadily
to the doctrine, but some authors in the West were hesitant. However, by the
thirteenth century there was universal agreement. The feast was celebrated
under various names (Commemoration, Dormition, Passing, Assumption) from at
least the fifth or sixth century.
Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s Assumption into heaven. Nevertheless,
Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good
and evil. Many see this woman as God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the
people of both Old and New Testament, her Assumption can be seen as an exemplification
of the woman’s victory. Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:20 Paul speaks
of Christ’s resurrection as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Since Mary is closely associated with all the mysteries of Jesus’ life, it
is not surprising that the Holy Spirit has
led the Church to belief in Mary’s share in his glorification. So close
was she to Jesus on earth, she must be with him body and soul in heaven.
Comment: In the light of the Assumption of Mary, it is easy to pray
her Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55) with new meaning. In her glory she proclaims
the greatness of the Lord and finds joy in God her savior. God has done marvels
to her and she leads others to recognize God’s holiness. She is the lowly
handmaid who deeply reverenced her God and has been raised to the heights.
From her position of strength she will help the lowly and the poor find justice
on earth and she will challenge the rich and powerful to distrust wealth
and power as a source of happiness.
“In the bodily and spiritual glory which she possesses
in heaven, the Mother of Jesus continues in this present world as the image
and first flowering of the Church as she is to be perfected in the world
to come. Likewise, Mary shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord
shall comeas a sign of certain hope
and comfort for the pilgrim People of God”
(Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,
68) (cf. 2 Peter 3:10), .
|
Dormition of our Most
Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
After the Ascension of the Lord, the Mother of God remained in the care
of the Apostle John the Theologian, and during his journeys She lived at
the home of his parents, near the Mount of Olives. She was a source of consolation
and edification both for the Apostles and for all the believers. Conversing
with them, She told them about miraculous events: the Annunciation, the seedless
and undefiled Conception of Christ born of Her, about His early childhood,
and about His earthly life. Like the Apostles, She helped plant and strengthen
the Christian Church by Her presence, Her discourse and Her prayers.
The reverence of the Apostles for the Most Holy Virgin was extraordinary.
After the receiving of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the Apostles
remained at Jerusalem for about ten years attending to the salvation of the
Jews, and wanting moreover to see the Mother of God and hear Her holy discourse.
Many of the newly-enlightened in the Faith even came from faraway lands to
Jerusalem, to see and to hear the All-Pure Mother of God.
During the persecution initiated by King Herod against the young Church
of Christ (Acts 12:1-3), the Most Holy Virgin and the Apostle John the Theologian
withdrew to Ephesus in the year 43. The preaching of the Gospel there had
fallen by lot to the Apostle John the Theologian. The Mother of God was on
Cyprus with St Lazarus the Four-Days-Dead, where he was bishop. She was also
on Holy Mount Athos. St Stephen of the Holy Mountain says that the Mother
of God prophetically spoke of it: "Let this place be my lot, given to me by
my Son and my God. I will be the Patroness of this place and intercede with
God for it."
The respect of ancient Christians for the Mother of God was so great that
they preserved what they could about Her life, what they could take note of
concerning Her sayings and deeds, and they even passed down to us a description
of Her outward appearance.
According to Tradition, based on the words of the Hieromartyrs Dionysius
the Areopagite (October 3), Ignatius the God-Bearer (December 20), St Ambrose
of Milan (December 7) had occasion to write in his work "On Virgins" concerning
the Mother of God: "She was a Virgin not only in body, but also in soul, humble
of heart, circumspect in word, wise in mind, not overly given to speaking,
a lover of reading and of work, and prudent in speech. Her rule of life was
to offend no one, to intend good for everyone, to respect the aged, not envy
others, avoid bragging, be healthy of mind, and to love virtue."
When did She ever hurl the least insult in the face of Her parents? When
was She at discord with Her kin? When did She ever puff up with pride before
a modest person, or laugh at the weak, or shun the destitute? With Her there
was nothing of glaring eyes, nothing of unseemly words, nor of improper conduct.
She was modest in the movement of Her body, Her step was quiet, and Her voice
straightforward; so that Her face was an expression of soul. She was the personification
of purity.
All Her days She was concerned with fasting: She slept only when necessary,
and even then, when Her body was at rest, She was still alert in spirit, repeating
in Her dreams what She had read, or the implementation of proposed intentions,
or those planned yet anew. She was out of Her house only for church, and
then only in the company of relatives. Otherwise, She seldom appeared outside
Her house in the company of others, and She was Her own best overseer. Others
could protect Her only in body, but She Herself guarded Her character."
According to Tradition, that from the compiler of Church history Nicephorus
Callistus (fourteenth century), the Mother of God "was of average stature,
or as others suggest, slightly more than average; Her hair golden in appearance;
Her eyes bright with pupils like shiny olives; Her eyebrows strong in character
and moderately dark, Her nose pronounced and Her mouth vibrant bespeaking
sweet speech; Her face was neither round nor angular, but somewhat oblong;
the palm of Her hands and fingers were longish...
In conversation with others She preserved decorum, neither becoming silly
nor agitated, and indeed especially never angry; without artifice, and direct,
She was not overly concerned about Herself, and far from pampering Herself,
She was distinctly full of humility. Regarding the clothing which She wore,
She was satisfied to have natural colors, which even now is evidenced by Her
holy head-covering. Suffice it to say, a special grace attended all Her actions."
(Nicephoros Callistus borrowed his description from St Epiphanius of Cyprus
(May 12), from the "Letter to Theophilus Concerning Icons."
The circumstances of the Dormition of the Mother of God were known in the
Orthodox Church from apostolic times. Already in the first century, the Hieromartyr
Dionysius the Areopagite wrote about Her "Falling-Asleep." In the second century,
the account of the bodily ascent of the Most Holy Virgin Mary to Heaven is
found in the works of Meliton, Bishop of Sardis. In the fourth century, St
Epiphanius of Cyprus refers to the tradition about the "Falling Asleep" of
the Mother of God. In the fifth century, St Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem,
told the holy Byzantine Empress Pulcheria: "Although there is no account
of the circumstances of Her death in Holy Scripture, we know about them from
the most ancient and credible Tradition." This tradition was gathered and
expounded in the Church History of Nicephorus Callistus during the fourteenth
century.
At the time of Her blessed Falling Asleep, the Most Holy Virgin Mary was
again at Jerusalem. Her fame as the Mother of God had already spread throughout
the land and had aroused many of the envious and the spiteful against Her.
They wanted to make attempts on Her life; but God preserved Her from enemies.
Day and night She spent her time in prayer. The Most Holy Theotokos went
often to the Holy Sepulchre of the Lord, and here She offered up fevent prayer.
More than once, enemies of the Savior sought to hinder Her from visiting her
holy place, and they asked the High Priest for a guard to watch over the
Grave of the Lord. The Holy Virgin continued to pray right in front of them,
yet unseen by anyone.
In one such visit to Golgotha, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Her and
announced Her approaching departure from this life to eternal life. In pledge
of this, the Archangel gave Her a palm branch. With these heavenly tidings
the Mother of God returned to Bethlehem with the three girls attending Her
(Sepphora, Abigail, and Jael). She summoned Righteous Joseph of Arimathea
and other disciples of the Lord, and told them of Her impending Repose.
The Most Holy Virgin prayed also that the Lord would have the Apostle John
come to Her. The Holy Spirit transported him from Ephesus, setting him in
that very place where the Mother of God lay. After the prayer, the Most Holy
Virgin offered incense, and John heard a voice from Heaven, closing Her prayer
with the word "Amen." The Mother of God took it that the voice meant the speedy
arrival of the Apostles and the Disciples and the holy Bodiless Powers.
The faithful, whose number by then was impossible to count, gathered together,
says St John of Damascus, like clouds and eagles, to listen to the Mother
of God. Seeing one another, the Disciples rejoiced, but in their confusion
they asked each other why the Lord had gathered them together in one place.
St John the Theologian, greeting them with tears of joy, said that the time
of the Virgin's repose was at hand.
Going in to the Mother of God, they beheld Her lying upon the bed, and
filled with spiritual joy. The Disciples greeted Her, and then they told
her how they had been carried miraculously from their places of preaching.
The Most Holy Virgin Mary glorified God, because He had heard Her prayer
and fulfilled Her heart's desire, and She began speaking about Her imminent
end.
During this conversation the Apostle Paul also appeared in a miraculous
manner together with his disciples Dionysius the Areopagite, St Hierotheus,
St Timothy and others of the Seventy Apostles. The Holy Spirit had gathered
them all together so that they might be granted the blessing of the All-Pure
Virgin Mary, and more fittingly to see to the burial of the Mother of the
Lord. She called each of them to Herself by name, She blessed them and extolled
them for their faith and the hardships they endured in preaching the Gospel
of Christ. To each She wished eternal bliss, and prayed with them for the
peace and welfare of the whole world.
Then came the third hour (9 A.M.), when the Dormition of the Mother of
God was to occur. A number of candles were burning. The holy Disciples surrounded
her beautifully adorned bed, offering praise to God. She prayed in anticipation
of Her demise and of the arrival of Her longed-for Son and Lord. Suddenly,
the inexpressible Light of Divine Glory shone forth, before which the blazing
candles paled in comparison. All who it saw took fright. Descending from Heaven
was Christ, the King of Glory, surrounded by hosts of Angels and Archangels
and other Heavenly Powers, together with the souls of the Forefathers and
the Prophets, who had prophesied in ages past concerning the Most Holy Virgin
Mary.
Seeing Her Son, the Mother of God exclaimed: "My soul doth magnify the
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God My Savior, for He hath regarded
the low estate of His Handmaiden" (Luke 1:46-48) and, rising from Her bed
to meet the Lord, She bowed down to Him, and the Lord bid Her enter into
Life Eternal. Without any bodily suffering, as though in a happy sleep, the
Most Holy Virgin Mary gave Her soul into the hands of Her Son and God.
Then began a joyous angelic song. Accompanying the pure soul of the God-betrothed
and with reverent awe for the Queen of Heaven, the angels exclaimed: "Hail,
Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee, blessed art Thou among women! For lo,
the Queen, God's Maiden comes, lift up the gates, and with the Ever-Existing
One, take up the Mother of Light; for through Her salvation has come to all
the human race. It is impossible to gaze upon Her, and it is impossible to
render Her due honor" (Stikherion on "Lord, I Have Cried"). The Heavenly gates
were raised, and meeting the soul of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Cherubim
and the Seraphim glorified Her with joy. The face of the Mother of God was
radiant with the glory of Divine virginity, and from Her body there came
a sweet fragrance.
Miraculous was the life of the All-Pure Virgin, and wondrous was Her Repose,
as Holy Church sings: "In Thee, O Queen, the God of all hath given thee as
thy portion the things that are above nature. Just as in the Birth-Giving
He did preserve Thine virginity, so also in the grave He did preserve Thy
body from decay" (Canon 1, Ode 6, Troparion 1).
Kissing the all-pure body with reverence and in awe, the Disciples in turn
were blessed by it and filled with grace and spiritual joy. Through the great
glorification of the Most Holy Theotokos, the almighty power of God healed
the sick, who with faith and love touched the holy bed.
Bewailing their separation from the Mother of God, the Apostles prepared
to bury Her all-pure body. The holy Apostles Peter, Paul, James and others
of the Twelve Apostles carried the funeral bier upon their shoulders, and
upon it lay the body of the Ever-Virgin Mary. St John the Theologian went
at the head with the resplendent palm-branch from Paradise. The other saints
and a multitude of the faithful accompanied the funeral bier with candles
and censers, singing sacred songs. This solemn procession went from Sion through
Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane.
With the start of the procession there suddenly appeared over the all-pure
body of the Mother of God and all those accompanying Her a resplendent circular
cloud, like a crown. There was heard the singing of the Heavenly Powers, glorifying
the Mother of God, which echoed that of the worldly voices. This circle of
Heavenly singers and radiance accompanied the procession to the very place
of burial.
Unbelieving inhabitants of Jerusalem, taken aback by the extraordinarily
grand funeral procession and vexed at the honor accorded the Mother of Jesus,
complained of this to the High Priest and scribes. Burning with envy and vengefulness
toward everything that reminded them of Christ, they sent out their own servants
to disrupt the procession and to set the body of the Mother of God afire.
An angry crowd and soldiers set off against the Christians, but the circular
cloud accompanying the procession descended and surrounded them like a wall.
The pursuers heard the footsteps and the singing, but could not see any of
those accompanying the procession. Indeed, many of them were struck blind.
The Jewish priest Athonios, out of spite and hatred for the Mother of Jesus
of Nazareth, wanted to topple the funeral bier on which lay the body of the
Most Holy Virgin Mary, but an angel of God invisibly cut off his hands, which
had touched the bier. Seeing such a wonder, Athonios repented and with faith
confessed the majesty of the Mother of God. He received healing and joined
the crowd accompanying the body of the Mother of God, and he became a zealous
follower of Christ.
When the procession reached the Garden of Gethsemane, then amidst the weeping
and the wailing began the last kiss to the all-pure body. Only towards evening
were the Apostles able to place it in the tomb and seal the entrance to the
cave with a large stone.
For three days they did not depart from the place of burial, praying and
chanting Psalms. Through the wise providence of God, the Apostle Thomas was
not to be present at the burial of the Mother of God. Arriving late on the
third day at Gethsemane, he lay down at the tomb and with bitter tears asked
that l he might be permitted to look once more upon the Mother of God and
bid her farewell. The Apostles out of heartfelt pity for him decided to open
the grave and permit him the comfort of venerating the holy relics of the
Ever-Virgin Mary. Having opened the grave, they found in it only the grave
wrappings and were thus convinced of the bodily ascent of the Most Holy Virgin
Mary to Heaven.
On the evening of the same day, when the Apostles had gathered at a house
to strengthen themselves with food, the Mother of God appeared to them and
said: "Rejoice! I am with you all the days of your lives." This so gladdened
the Apostles and everyone with them, that they took a portion of the bread,
set aside at the meal in memory of the Savior ("the Lord's Portion"), and
they exclaimed : "Most Holy Theotokos, save us". (This marks the beginning
of the rite of offering up the "Panagia" ("All-Holy"), a portion of bread
in honor of the Mother of God, which is done at monasteries to the present
day).
The sash of the Mother of God, and Her holy garb, preserved with reverence
and distributed over the face of the earth in pieces, have worked miracles
both in the past and at present. Her numerous icons everywhere pour forth
signs and healings, and Her holy body, taken up to Heaven, bears witness to
our own future life there. Her body was not left to the vicissitudes of the
transitory world, but was incomparably exalted by its glorious ascent to
Heaven.
The Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos is celebrated with
special solemnity at Gethsemane, the place of Her burial. Nowhere else is
there such sorrow of heart at the separation from the Mother of God, and nowhere
else such joy, because of Her intercession for the world.
The holy city of Jerusalem is separated from the Mount of Olives by the
valley of Kedron on Josaphat. At the foot of the Mount of Olives is the Garden
of Gethsemane, where olive trees bear fruit even now.
The holy Ancestor-of-God Joachim had himself reposed at 80 years of age,
several years after the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple (November
21). St Anna, having been left a widow, moved from Nazareth to Jerusalem,
and lived near the Temple. At Jerusalem she bought two pieces of property:
the first at the gates of Gethsemane, and the second in the valley of Josaphat.
At the second locale she built a tomb for the members of her family, and
where also she herself was buried with Joachim. It was there in the Garden
of Gethsemane that the Savior often prayed with His disciples.
The most-pure body of the Mother of God was buried in the family tomb.
Christians honored the sepulchre of the Mother of God, and they built a church
on this spot. Within the church was preserved the precious funeral cloth,
which covered Her all-pure and fragrant body.
The holy Patriarch Juvenal of Jerusalem (420-458) testified before the
emperor Marcian (450-457) as to the authenticity of the tradition about the
miraculous ascent of the Mother of God to Heaven, and he sent to the empress,
St Pulcheria (September 10), the grave wrappings of the Mother of God from
Her tomb. St Pulcheria then placed these grave-wrappings within the Blachernae
church.
Accounts have been preserved, that at the end of the seventh century a
church had been built atop the underground church of the Dormition of the
Most Holy Theotokos, and that from its high bell-tower could be seen the
dome of the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord. Traces of this church
are no longer to be seen. And in the ninth century near the subterranean
Gethsemane church a monastery was built, in which more than 30 monks struggled.
Great destruction was done the Church in the year 1009 by the despoiler
of the holy places, Hakim. Radical changes, the traces of which remain at
present, also took place under the crusaders in the year 1130. During the
eleventh to twelfth centuries the piece of excavated stone, at which the
Savior had prayed on the night of His betrayal disappeared from Jerusalem.
This piece of stone had been in the Gethsemane basilica from the sixth century.
But in spite of the destruction and the changes, the overall original cruciform
(cross-shaped) plan of the church has been preserved. At the entrance to the
church along the sides of the iron gates stand four marble columns. To enter
the church, it is necessary to go down a stairway of 48 steps. At the 23rd
step on the right side is a chapel in honor of the holy Ancestors-of-God Joachim
and Anna together with their graves, and on the left side opposite, the chapel
of St Joseph the Betrothed with his grave. The right chapel belongs to the
Orthodox Church, and the left to the Armenian Church (since 1814).
The church of the Dormition of the Theotokos has the following dimensions:
in length it is 48 arshin, and in breadth 8 arshin [1 arshin = 28 inches].
At an earlier time the church had also windows beside the doors. The whole
temple was adorned with a multitude of lampadas and offerings. Two small entrances
lead into the burial-chamber of the Mother of God. One enters through the
western doors, and exits at the northern doors. The burial-chamber of the
All-Pure Virgin Mary is veiled with precious curtains. The burial place was
hewn out of stone in the manner of the ancient Jewish graves and is very similar
to the Sepulchre of the Lord. Beyond the burial-chamber is the altar of the
church, in which Divine Liturgy is celebrated each day in the Greek language.
The olive woods on the eastern and northern sides of the temple was acquired
from the Turks by the Orthodox during the seventh and eighth centuries. The
Catholics acquired the olive woods on the east and south sides in 1803, and
the Armenians on the west side in 1821.
On August 12, at Little Gethsemane, at the second hour of the night, the
head of the Gethsemane church celebrates Divine Liturgy. With the end of Liturgy,
at the fourth hour of the morning, he serves a short Molieben before the
resplendent burial shroud, lifts it in his hands and solemnly carries it
beyond the church to Gethsemane proper where the holy sepulchre of the Mother
of God is situated. All the members of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem,
with the head of the Mission presiding, participate each year in the procession
(called the "Litania") with the holy burial shroud of the Mother of God..
The rite of the Burial of the Mother of God at Gethsemane begins customarily
on the morning of August 14. A multitude of people with hierarchs and clergy
at the head set off from the Jerusalem Patriarchate (nearby the Church of
the Resurrection of Christ) in sorrowful procession. Along the narrow alley-ways
of the Holy City the funeral procession makes its way to Gethsemane. Toward
the front of the procession an icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos
is carried. Along the way, pilgrims meet the icon, kissing the image of the
All-Pure Virgin Mary and lift children of various ages to the icon. After
the clergy, in two rows walk the black-robed monks and nuns of the Holy City:
Greeks, Roumanians, Arabs, Russians. The procession, going along for about
two hours, concludes with Lamentations at the Gethsemane church. In front
the altar, beyond the burial chamber of the Mother of God, is a raised-up
spot, upon which rests the burial shroud of the Most Holy Mother of God among
fragrant flowers and myrtle, with precious coverings.
"O marvelous wonder! The Fount of Life is placed in the grave, and the
grave doth become the ladder to Heaven..." Here at the grave of the All-Pure
Virgin, these words strike deep with their original sense and grief is dispelled
by joy: "Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee, granting the world, through
Thee, great mercy!"
Numerous pilgrims, having kissed the icon of the Dormition of the Most
Holy Theotokos, following an ancient custom, then stoop down and go beneath
it.
On the day of the Leave-taking of the feast (August 23), another solemn
procession is made. On the return path, the holy burial shroud is carried
by clergy led by the Archimandrite of Gethsemane.
There is an article in the "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate", 1979,
No. 3 regarding the rite of the litany and Feast of the Dormition of the
Mother of God in the Holy Land.
Today flowers are blessed in church, and people keep them in their homes.
During times of family strife or illness, the flower petals are placed in
the censer with the incense, and the whole house is censed. See the Prayer
at the Sanctification of any Fragrant Herbage.
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255 Tarsicius of
Rome acolyte or deacon refused to surrender the Eucharist M (RM)
Romæ, via Appia, sancti Tharsícii Acolythi, quem Pagáni,
cum inveníssent Córporis Christi Sacraménta portántem,
cœpérunt disquírere quid géreret. At ipse, indígnum
júdicans porcis pródere margarítas, támdiu ab
illis mactátus luto ejus córpore, sacrílegi discussóres
nihil Sacramentórum Christi in occísi mánibus aut in
véstibus invenérunt. Christiáni autem collegérunt
Mártyris corpus, et in cœmetério Callísti honorifice
sepeliérunt.
At Rome, on the Appian Way, St. Tarsicius, acolyte.
The pagans accosted him as he was carrying the Sacrament of Christ's Body,
and began to inquire what it was. But he judged it an unworthy thing
to cast pearls before swine. They therefore beat him with sticks and
stones until he expired. The sacrilegious searchers examined his body,
but found no vestige of the Sacrament of Christ, either in his hands or in
his clothes. The Christians took up the body of the martyr, and buried
it reverently in the cemetery of Callistus.
St Tarsicius, Martyr (Third Century)
"At Rome, on the Appian Way, the passion of St Tarsicius the
acolyte, whom the heathen met bearing the sacrament of the Body of Christ
and asked him what it was that he carried. He judged it a shameful
thing to cast pearls before swine, and so was attacked by them for a long
time with sticks and stones, until he gave up- the ghost. When they
turned over his body the sacrilegious assailants could find no trace of Christ's
sacrament either in his hands or among his clothing. The Christians
took up the body of the martyr and buried it with honour in the cemetery
of Callistus."
Thus the Roman Martyrology sums up the later form
of the story of St Tarsicius, "the boy martyr of the holy Eucharist ", which
is derived from the fourth-century poem of Pope St Damasus, wherein it is
stated that one Tarsicius, like another St Stephen stoned by the Jews, suffered
a violent death at the hands of a mob rather than give up "the divine Body
to raging dogs ".
Tarcisium sanctum Christi sacramenta gerentem,
Cum male sana manus peteret vulgare
profanis;
Ipse animam potius voluit dimittere caerus Prodere quam canibus rabidis
caelestia membra.
Cardinal Wiseman. who uses the
story in Fabiola, says of "[Christi] caelestia membra" that the words, "applied
to the Blessed Eucharist, supply one of those casual, but most striking, arguments
that result from identity of habitual thought in antiquity, more than from
the use of studied or conventional phrases". An example, in fact, of
"unity of indirect reference."
This bare fact is certainly
true, but we do not know that Tarsicius was a boy or an acolyte. It may be,
especially having regard to the reference of St Damasus to the deacon St Stephen,
that he was a deacon, for it was the deacon's special office to administer
holy communion in certain circumstances and to carry the Blessed Sacrament
from one place to another when necessary, e.g. that part of the consecrated
Host, called Fermentum, which the pope sent from his Mass to the presbyters
of the principal Roman churches, symbolizing the unity of the holy Sacrifice
and the union subsisting between the bishop and his flock. But then,
as now, in times of dire persecution, anybody, cleric or lay, young or old,
male or female, may be entrusted with the sacred Host in case of necessity,
and the tradition about St Tarsicius since the sixth century is that he was
a young acolyte commissioned to take communion to certain Christian prisoners,
victims of the persecution of Valerian. He was buried in the cemetery
of St Callistus; his grave has never been positively identified, but his
relics are claimed by San Silvestro in Capite. The great increase of
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament in recent times has brought about a corresponding
extension of the cultus of St Tarsicius.
See J. Wilpert, Die Papstgräber und die Cäciliengrutfs (1909), pp. 92-98.
Cf. also Marucchi in Nuovo bullettino di
arch. christ., vol. xvi (1910), pp. 205-225 and DAC., vol. iv. C.
174.
According to the poem on his tomb, written by Pope Saint Damasus
in the 4th century, Tarsicius was carrying the Eucharist through the streets
of Rome, when he was seized by curious bystanders. Preferring death to allowing
profanation of the Blessed Sacrament, this acolyte or deacon refused to surrender
his precious burden and was murdered with stones and clubs. He was buried
in the cemetery of Callixtus and his relics are claimed by San Silvestro's.
The content of Damasus' poem were expanded by later tradition to account for
missing details. It names the location as the Appian Way, and Tarsicius's
purpose as either taking the Eucharist to some imprisoned Christians or carrying
the Sacrament from a papal Mass to the presbyters of other Roman churches
during this period when only the bishop had the faculties to consecrate
the Eucharist. The reference to Saint Stephen in the poem of Damasus, leads
to the opinion that Tarsicius was probably a deacon, rather than a young
acolyte as portrayed in Cardinal Wiseman's highly embellished novel Fabiola
(1854). Tarsicius is the patron of first communicants, altar boys, and a
confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney,
Encyclopedia, Farmer).
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300 Napoleon (Neopolus)
of Alexandria M (AC)
Saint Napoleon was so horribly maimed during his torture that he died while
being carried back to his dungeon at Alexandria, Egypt, during the reign of
Diocletian (Benedictines).
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430 St. Alipius
Bishop companion of St. Augustine baptized with Augustine in 387 or 394 by
St. Ambrose
Tagáste, in Africa, sancti Alípii Epíscopi, qui beáti
Augustíni olim discípulus, póstea in conversióne
sócius, in múnere pastoráli colléga, et in certamínibus
advérsus hæréticos commílito strénuus, ac
demum in cælésti glória consors fuit.
At Tagaste in Africa, St. Alipius, bishop, who was the
disciple of blessed Augustine, and the companion of his conversion, his colleague
in the pastoral charge, his valiant fellow-soldier in disputing heretics,
and finally his partner in the glory of heaven.
He was born in Tagaste, North Africa, and was raised
as a friend of St. Augustine. He went to Rome to study law and became a magistrate
there. When Augustine arrived in Rome, Alipius resigned his post and accompanied
him to Milan. There he was baptized with Augustine in 387 or 394 by St. Ambrose.
The two were ordained in Hippo, North Africa, and Alipius became the bishop
of Tagaste, serving in that capacity for thirty years. Alipius' name was placed
in the Roman Martyrology by Pope Gregory XIII in 1584. The evidence of Alipius'
sanctity was clearly stated by Augustine's account of his life.
St. Alypius
The bosom friend of St. Augustine, though younger than he, was,
after studying under Augustine at Milan, conspicuous at first as a magistrate
in Rome. He abandoned that honour to follow his master into the Church. It
is noteworthy that there is no mention of him as a saint in the ancient catalogues.
His name was placed in the Roman Martyrology by Gregory XIII, in 1584, the
evidence of his sanctity being sufficiently clear from the account of his
life by St. Augustine. His conversion began when Augustine was still a Manichaean,
and occurred in consequence of a discussion about the folly of those who give
way to sensual indulgence. A relapse occurred subsequently, when he was dragged
by some friends to witness the savage games of the arena; but the final
step was taken when, in company with Augustine, in obedience to the voice,
Tolle, lege, he read the text of St. Paul, Non in commessationibus, etc.
They were both baptized by St. Ambrose, at Milan. After living for some time
with Augustine, in the monastery of Hippo, he was made Bishop of Tagaste.
This was in the year 394, and took place after his return from the Holy Land,
where he had seen St. Jerome. Under his guidance Tagaste reproduced the sanctity,
learning, monastic exactness, and orthodoxy of Hippo. The exact date of his
death is not known, but his festival is kept on 15 August.
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506 MacCartin (Aid,
Aed) of Clogher one of the earliest disciples of Saint Patrick (AC)
Died March 24. Saint MacCartin, one of the earliest disciples of Saint
Patrick, is said to have been born into the noble Irish family of the Arads.
Patrick consecrated him bishop of Clogher, of which diocese MacCartin is
the patron (Husenbeth).
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874 Altfrid of
Hildesheim a man of peace and goodwill champion of Benedictines staunch adherent
to canon law, devotee of Our Lady, OSB B (PC)
In 851, Saint Altfrid, a monk and headmaster of Corbie's abbey school in
Saxony, was consecrated bishop of Hildesheim. He won fame as a man of peace
and goodwill, a champion of his Benedictine brothers, a staunch adherent to
canon law, and a devotee of Our Lady (Benedictines).
St. Altfrid 874 Benedictine bishop and devotee of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Altfrid was the headmaster of the school at Corvey Abbey in Saxony. In 851
he was appointed the bishop of Ilildesheim, Germany.
The entire Frankish empire revered
him for his sanctity and for his devotion to Mary .
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1009 Arduinus of
Rimini Italy priest of Rimini never took monastic vows OSB Hermit (AC)
Although Saint Arduinus spent his last days in San Gudenzio Abbey, he was
a priest of Rimini, Italy, who never took monastic vows (Benedictines).
St. Arduinus 1009 Confessor and priest of Rimini, Italy. Arduinus was a
hermit in the region until he entered the monastery of San Gudenzio, where
he died.
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Sancti Stéphani, Regis Hungarórum
et Confessóris; qui décimo octávo Kaléndas Septémbris
obdormívit in Dómino.
1078
St. Stephen, king of Hungary and confessor, who fell asleep in the Lord
on the 15th of August.
Apud Albam Regálem, in Pannónia, item natális sancti
Stéphani, Regis Hungarórum et Confessóris; qui, divínis
virtútibus exornátus, primus Húngaros ad Christi fidem
convértit, et a Deípara Vírgine, ipso die Assumptiónis
suæ, in cælum recéptus fuit. Ejus vero festívitas
quarto Nonas Septémbris, quo die munitíssima Budæ arx,
sancti Regis ope, recólitur, ex dispositióne Innocéntii
Papæ Undécimi.
At Alba Regalis in Hungary, St. Stephen, King of Hungary,
who was graced with divine virtues, was the first to convert the Hungarians
to the faith of Christ, and was received into heaven by the Virgin Mother
of God on the very day of her Assumption. By decree of Pope Innocent
XI, his feast is kept on the 2nd of September, on which day the strong city
of Buda, by the aid of the holy king, was recovered by the Christian army.
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1087 St. Arnold, bishop and confessor Arnulf (Arnoul, Arnulphus) of Soissons French
nobleman and soldier Many of the miracles wrought at his tomb were approved
during a council held at Beauvais in 1121 OSB B (RM)
Suessióne, in Gálliis, sancti Arnúlfi, Epíscopi
et Confessóris.
At Soissons in France, St. Arnold, bishop and confessor.
St Arnulf, or Arnoul, Bishop Of Soissons
This Arnoul was born about 1040 in Flanders and
in his youth distinguished himself in the armies of Robert and Henry I of
France. He was called to a more noble warfare, resolving to employ
for God the labour which till then he had consecrated to the service of the
world. He became a monk in the great monastery of Saint-Médard
at Soissons; and after he had for some time made trial of his strength in
the cenobitic life, he shut himself up in a narrow cell and in the closest
solitude, almost without any intercourse with men, and devoted himself to
assiduous prayer and the most austere penance. He led this manner of
life until he was called to be abbot of the monastery. It was in 1081 that
a council at the request of the clergy and people of Soissons resolved to
place him in that episcopal see. To the deputies who came to inform
him Arnoul said, "Leave a sinner to offer to God some fruits of penance;
and do not compel such a fool as myself to take up a charge which requires
so much wisdom." He was, however, obliged to shoulder the burden. He
set himself with great zeal to fulfil every part of his ministry; but having
been driven from his see by a usurper, he obtained leave to resign his dignity.
He afterward founded a monastery at Aldenburg in Flanders, where he died
in 1087. At a council at Beauvais in 1120 the then bishop of Soissons
showed a life of St Arnoul to the assembly and demanded that his body should
be enshrined in the church. "If the body of my predecessor were in
my diocese", he said, "it would have been brought in out of the churchyard
long ago." The translation was accordingly made into the abbey-church
of Aldenburg in the following year.
The life by Hariulf has been printed by the Bollandists and
Mabillon, but has been more critically edited in MGH., Scriptores, vol. xv, Pt. 2, pp. 872-904.
See also E. de Moreau, Histoire de l'Église
en Belgique, t. ii (1945), pp. 433-437.
Born in Flanders; died at Oudenbourg (Aldenburg), Bruges, Flanders
(Belgium), in 1087. Arnulf was a French nobleman and soldier who rendered
distinguished service to King Robert and King Henry I, when, about 1060, he
entered the Benedictine monastery of Saint Médard in Soissons. After
a while he obtained his abbot's permission to live as an anchorite in a narrow
cell, where he devoted himself to prayer and penance for three years.
He would have loved to continue in that state but God had other plans for
the lowly monk. First, he was summoned to succeed Ponce as abbot. The cenobitic
community was far too lax when he had retired into his cell; in his absence
it had declined further into worldliness and simony. He accepted the office
only reluctantly. In fact, there is a legend that says he asked for a day
in which to come to a decision about accepting it. During that time he tried
to escape, but was caught by a wolf and forcibly returned before he went
very far. In 1081, he was chosen by the council of Meaux to become
the next bishop of Soissons. When deputies announced the decision of the
council to Arnulf, he responded: "Leave a sinner to offer to God some fruits
of penance; and compel not a madman to take upon him a charge which requires
so much wisdom." Nevertheless, he was compelled to undertake the burdensome
position.
With incredible zeal Arnulf tried to fulfill all the obligations
of his office. When he found himself unable to correct certain grievous abuses
among. He was probably not a very effective administrator or politician;
perhaps it was simply a saint's sharper self-knowledge, rather than just humility,
that had made him unwilling to accept the office. A little less than two
years after his installation, he was driven from his see by an intruder. Fearing
that the fault laid within himself, he resigned rather than fighting to regain
possession of his episcopal chair. Thereafter he founded Oudenbourg Abbey
in the diocese of Bruges, Belgium, where he died in sackcloth and ashes.
Many of the miracles wrought
at his tomb were approved during a council held at Beauvais in 1121. His relics
were enshrined in 1131, and are still preserved in the church of Saint Peter
at Oudenburg. His name is very famous throughout the Low Countries and in
France (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Arnulf is portrayed as a bishop wearing a coat
of mail under his cope. At times the image may include (1) a fish with a
ring in its mouth; (2) a burning castle that Arnulf is blessing; or (3)
Arnulf washing the feet of the poor (Roeder). This patron of music, millers,
and brewers is venerated at Remiremont. He is invoked to find lost articles
(Roeder).
St. Arnulf 1087 Benedictine bishop and founder of the abbey
of Onendbourg in France. Born in Flanders, Belgium, in 1040, Arnulf had
a military career in the service of Robert and Henry I, kings of France.
Retiring from the army, Arnulf entered the Benedictines at Saint-Michel Monastery
in Soissons, France. He was a hermit there until elected abbot. He was then
appointed the bishop of Soissons, When faced with a usurper, Arnulf founded
the abbey of Onendbourg .
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1145 Rupert of
Ottobeuren prior of Saint George's monastery in the Schwarzewald OSB Abbot
(PC)
Saint Rupert was the prior of Saint George's monastery in the Schwarzewald
(Germany), when he was asked to found the Benedictine abbey of Ottobeuren
in Bavaria in 1102. During his 43- year abbacy he introduced the Cluniac-Hirschau
customary and Ottobeuren gained renown (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
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Cracóviæ, in Polónia, natális
sancti Hyacínthi, ex Ordine Prædicatórum, Confessóris,
quem Clemens Octávus, Póntifex Máximus, in Sanctórum
númerum rétulit. Ipsíus autem festum sextodécimo
Kaléndas Septémbris celebrátur.
At Cracow in Poland, St. Hyacinth, confessor of the
Order of Preachers, whom Pope Clement VIII placed in the number of the saints.
His feast is observed on the 17th of August.
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1294 Limbania of Genoa
Born in Cyprus, OSB V (AC)
cultus approved by Paul V. Saint Limbania was a Benedictine in Genoa, Italy,
before seeking seclusion in a cave below the city's Saint Thomas Church. Because
the church was given to the Augustinians, Limbania is often mistakenly described
as an Augustinian nun (Benedictines).
St. Limbania 1294 Benedictine nun and hermitess of Genoa, Italy. She was
a Cyprian by birth who remained in a cave in Genoa .
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1550 Saint Macarius the Roman
as an example to others God gave gifts of clairvoyance and wonderworking
Born at the end of the fifteenth century into a wealthy family of Rome.
His parents raised him in piety and gave him an excellent education. He might
have expected a successful career in public service, but he did not desire
honors or earthly glory. Instead, he focused on how to save his soul.
He lived in an age when the Christian West was shaken by the Protestant
Reformation. While others around him were pursuing luxury and lascivious
pleasures, he studied the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers.
St Macarius was grieved to see so many darkened by sin and worldly vanity,
and was disturbed by the rebellions and conflicts within the Western Church.
With tears, he asked God to show him the path of salvation, and his prayer
did not go unanswered. He came to realize that he would find the safe harbor
of salvation in the Orthodox Church.
St Macarius left Rome secretly, and set out for Russia without money, and
wearing an old garment. After many sufferings on his journey, he arrived in
Novgorod, where he rejoiced to see so many churches and monasteries. One of
these monasteries had been founded three centuries before by his fellow countryman,
St Anthony the Roman (August 3).
St Macarius came to the banks of the River Svir, where St Alexander of
Svir (April 17 and August 30) founded Holy Trinity monastery.
St Alexander received Macarius into the Orthodox Church and tonsured him
as a monk. Macarius, however longed for the solitary life. He moved to an
island on the River Lezna, forty-five miles from Novgorod, where he engaged
in ascetical struggles and unceasing prayer.
The winters were very cold, and the summers were hot and humid. The marshy
area was also a breeding ground for mosquitos, which tormented the saint.
St Macarius survived on berries, roots, and herbs. Sometimes bears would come
to him for food, and they allowed him to pet them.
Such a great lamp of the spiritual life could not remain hidden for long.
One rainy night someone knocked on his door and asked him to open it. Several
people, who seemed to be hunters, entered his cell. Astonished by his appearance,
and the divine light shining from his face, the men asked for his blessing.
They told him they had come to the forest to hunt, and only by the prayers
of the saint did God permit them to find him.
"It is not my sinful prayers,"
he told them, "but the grace of God which led you here."
After feeding them, he spoke and prayed with them, then showed
them the way out of the marsh. St Macarius was concerned that his peace would
be disturbed, now that his dwelling place was known. His fears were justified,
because many people sought him out to ask for his advice and prayers.
The holy ascetic decided to move even farther into the wilderness, choosing
an elevated place on the left bank of the Lezna. Even here, however, he was
not able to conceal himself for very long. Sometimes a pillar of fire would
rise up into the sky at night above his place of refuge. During the day, the
grace of God was made manifest by a fragrant cloud of smoke. Drawn by these
signs, the local inhabitants of the region were able to find him once more.
Some of his visitors begged St Macarius to permit them to live near him
and to be guided by his counsels. Seeing that this was the Lord's will, he
did not refuse them. He blessed them to build cells, and this was the foundation
of his monastery.
In 1540, they built a wooden church dedicated to the Dormition of the Most
Holy Theotokos. St Macarius was ordained to the holy priesthood by Bishop
Macarius of Novgorod, who later became Metropolitan of All Russia. The hierarch
also appointed St Macarius as igumen of the monastery.
St Macarius was an example to the others, and was given the gifts of clairvoyance
and wonderworking from God. He wore himself out with his labors and vigils,
encouraging others not to become faint-hearted in their own struggles.
After several years, he entrusted the monastery to one of his disciples,
and returned to the island where he had first lived. There he fell asleep
in the Lord on August 15, 1550. His disciples buried him outside on the left
side of the Dormition church which he had founded.
The Hermitage of St Macarius was never a prosperous monastery with many
monks, but it was distinguished by the high level of spiritual life. In the
seventeenth century, many of the monasteries near Novgorod were plundered
by Swedish invaders. The Hermitage of St Macarius was also burned in 1615,
and some of the monks were put to the sword.
By the eighteenth century, the monastery had become a dependency of the
St Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St Petersburg. The Empress Catherine closed
it in 1764, just as she had closed other monasteries, and it was designated
as a parish church. Although pilgrims still came to venerate the saint's relics
and to celebrate his Feast Day, the buildings soon fell into ruin.
In the mid-nineteenth century, some benefactors restored the two churches
and the miraculous healing spring which the saint himself had dug. About this
time an old priest was living there, and he celebrated the church services
until his death. In 1894, the monastery began to function once more under
the noted missionary Hieromonk Arsenius, who introduced the Athonite Typikon.
The monastery was destroyed by the Soviets in 1932.
St Macarius the Roman is commemorated on August 15 (the date of his repose),
and also on January 19 (his nameday).
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1936 Blessed Maria Sagrario
Spanish Civil War martyr OC VM (AC)
Born at Lillo, Spain, January 8, 1881; died at San Isidro, Spain, on August
15, 1936; beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 8, 1997.
Elvira Moragas Cantarero, the third of the four children born to Ricardo
Moragas and Isabel Cantarero, was one of the first women in Spain to earn
a degree in pharmacy--and she did it with distinction. Her father was appointed
the pharmaceutical purveyor to the royal household and moved his family to
Madrid in 1886.
Although Elvira had a distinguish career planned, especially after her
father's death, she felt that God was calling her to a religious vocation.
She delayed entering the convent on the advice of her spiritual director
in order to care for her younger brother. Finally, in 1915, she became a
postulant in Madrid at the Carmel of Saints Anne and Joseph. She took the
name Maria Sagrario of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga when she was received into
the novitiate on December 21, 1915. Her time of testing was completed with
her temporary profession on Christmas Eve, 1916, and solemn vows on Epiphany
in 1920.
In April 1927 she was elected prioress; later she served as novice mistress.
Frequently she expressed her desire to die a martyr. Two weeks before the
outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Sister Maria Sagrario was again elected
prioress (July 1, 1936). Religious persecution followed. The convent was attacked
on July 20 by an angry mob. The prioress sent her daughters into safety and
herself took refuge with another in the home of the sister's parents, despite
her brother's pleas to come to him. They hid there until their arrest by
the rebels on August 14.
Throughout the period of her arrest and interrogation, Maria Sagrario remained
serene, totally surrendered to God's will as documented in the testimony required
for her beatification. She refused to reveal anything to the secret police
or betray anyone. This refusal led to her execution by gunfire at the Pradera
of San Isidro (information from L'observatore Romano as posted at Saints
Alive http://home.earthlink.net/~saintsalive/index.html) .
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Assumption of Mary
Saints of this Day August 15
Décimo octávo Kaléndas Septémbris.
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.