138-161
Apud Marsos sanctórum Simplícii, et ejus filiórum Constántii
et Victoriáni, qui, sub Antoníno Imperatóre, várie
primum excruciáti, tum demum, secúris ictu percússi,
martyrii corónam, adépti sunt.
saints Simplicius, and his sons Constantius and
Victorian Among the Marcians, the saints Simplicius, and his sons
Constantius and Victorian, who were first tortured in different manners,
and lastly, struck with the axe, obtained the crown of martyrdom, in the
time of Emperor Antoninus.
Nobody, not even Christian writers, blamed Antoninus.
for anti-Christian movements. But he could not control conduct
of the provincial governors and the fury of the people against an illegal
religion who blamed clamaties on Christians.
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217
St Zephyrinus called the principal defender of Christ's divinity;
Pope And Martyr 199-217
Sancti Zephyríni,
Papæ et Mártyris; cujus dies natális tertiodécimo
Kaléndas Januárii recensétur.
At Rome, St. Zephyrinus, pope and martyr, whose birthday
falls on the 20th of December.
St Zephyrinus succeeded St Victor I in the pontificate about the
year 199.
The Church at Rome was disturbed internally
during his time of office by the Montanists, by two sectaries both called
Theodotus, and by a Christological dispute between two parties, one of which
was led by the learned priest Hippolytus
(August 13). Hippolytus opposed himself strongly to Zephyrinus
and his deacon and adviser Callistus, the pope refusing to countenance his
teaching on the person of Christ. For this reason the statement that
Zephyrinus was an uneducated man of weak character, a mere tool in the hands
of Callistus, can hardly be accepted on the bare authority of Hippolytus
in the Philoso-phoumena: the writer's
prejudice is manifest. Eusebius tells us that this pope
exerted his zeal so strenuously against the blasphemies of the two Theodoti
that their followers treated him in the most contumelious manner:
But it was his glory that they called him the principal defender of Christ's
divinity.
During the later years of the Emperor Septimius Severus the
toleration of Christians ceased, though it is not known what was the effect
in Rome itself of the edict which laid heavy penalties upon conversion, except
that there were many confessors of the faith. But St Zephyrinus is
venerated as a martyr, which title he might deserve by what he suffered in
the persecution, though he probably did
not die by the hand of the executioner.
We know little of St Zephyrinus
beyond what may be gathered from a passage or two in Eusebius and a rather
perplexing notice in the Liber Pontificalis.
Mgr Duchesne has striven without much success to elucidate the latter (vol.
i, pp. 139-140). For the rest see the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol.
v; and DCB., vol. iv, pp. 121 5-1220. On the pope's place of burial
see Marucchi in the Nuovo bullettino di
arch. crist., 1910, pp. 205-225.
Zephyrinus, Pope + Pope from 199-217. According to the Liber
Pontificalis , he was a Roman by birth. His reign, as succcssor to St. Victor
I (r. 189-199), was dominated by the troubles caused by several heretical
groups and the severe persecution of the Church launched by Emperor Septimius
Severus (r. 193-211) around 202. The antipope Hippolytus criticized his vacillation
in dealing with the Monarchian heretics. According to tradition, Zephyrinus
was martyred. His cult was suppressed in 1969 .
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252 Seven Young
Men of Ephesus Martyrdom of the Maximus, Malchus, Martinianus, Dionysius,
John, Serpion and Constantine bodies uncorrupted for about two hundred years.
On this day, of the year 252 A.D., the seven holy young men
of the city of Ephesus: Maximus, Malchus, Martinianus, Dionysius, John, Serpion
and Constantine, were martyred. They were soldiers of Emperor Decius,
who appointed them to guard the royal treasury. When the emperor established
the worship of idols, certain men made accusation against them. They hid
themselves in a cave, lest they become weakened and deny the Lord Christ.
When the emperor knew that, he ordered the blocking of the cave's entrance,
shutting them in. One of the soldiers was a believer in the Lord Christ.
He engraved their life story on a tablet of brass and left it inside the
cave. Thus the seven holy young men delivered up their pure souls.
God wanted to honor them as His faithful servants, so He inspired
the bishop of Ephesus about the place of the cave. The Bishop went and opened
the entrance to the cave, and found their bodies uncorrupted. He knew from
the brass tablet that they had been there for about two hundred years. That
was during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius the Less. As they knew also
from the coins, which they found with them that they were during the time
of emperor Decius, because it had his picture on them. May their
prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen .
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Nicomedíæ
pássio sancti Hadriáni, e Probo Cæsare progéniti,
qui, Licínio persecutiónem in Christiános commótam
éxprobrans, ab eódem jussus est occídi. Ipsíus
corpus Domítius, Byzántii Epíscopus, ejus pátruus,
in ipsíus civitátis subúrbio cui nomen Argyrópolis
sepelívit.
St. Adrian, son of Emperor Probus
{272-286} At Nicomedia, the martyrdom of . For reproaching Licinius
because of the persecution of Christians, he was put to death by his order.
His body was buried at Argyropolis by his uncle Domitius, bishop of Byzantium.
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286
St. Secundus Theban Legion a Christian legion of soldiers during the reign
of Diocletian All 6600 were martyred for Jesus Christ
Apud Albintimélium, Ligúriæ civitátem, sancti
Secúndi Mártyris, viri spectábilis et Ducis ex legióne
Thebæórum.
At Ventimiglia, a city of Liguria, St. Secundus, martyr,
a distinguished man and officer in the Theban Legion.
Martyred Roman soldier who, according to legend,
was a member of the Theban Legion. The Theban Legion was a Christian legion
of soldiers during the reign of Diocletian. All 6600 were martyred for Jesus
Christ in the year 286 AD.
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Romæ sanctórum Mártyrum Irenǽi
et Abúndii, qui, in persecutióne Valeriáni, eo quod
corpus beátæ Concórdiæ, in cloácam projéctum,
leváverant, in eándem cloácam demérsi fuérunt;
quorum córpora, a Justíno Presbytero inde extrácta,
in crypta, juxta beátum Lauréntium, sepúlta sunt.
Irenaeus and Abundius At Rome, during the persecution
of Valerian, the holy martyrs , who were thrown into a sewer from which they
had taken the body of blessed of Concordia. Their bodies were drawn
out by the priest Justin, and buried in a crypt near St. Lawrence.
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St. Alexander
Theban Legion Patron of Bergamo beheaded for the constant confession of the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bérgomi sancti Alexándri
Mártyris, qui, et ipse unus ex eádem legióne, cum nomen
Dómini Jesu Christi constantíssime faterétur, cápitis
abscissióne martyrium complévit.
At Bergamo in Lombardy, St. Alexander, martyr, who was
one of the same legion, and endured martyrdom, being beheaded for the constant
confession of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
subject of a legend. He is identified as part of the martyred Theban Legion
who escaped but were then taken prisoner .
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305-311 Adrian
and Natalia Martyrs were married in their youth for one year prior to their
martyrdom, and lived in Nicomedia; encouraged her husband
saying: "You are blessed, my lord, because you have believed in Christ. You
have obtained a great treasure. Do not regret anything earthly, neither beauty,
nor youth (Adrian was then 28 years of age), nor riches. Everything worldly
is dust and ashes. Only faith and good deeds are pleasing to God."
During time of the emperor Maximian (305-311). The emperor promised
a reward to whomever would inform on Christians to bring them to trial. Then
the denunciations began, and twenty-three Christians were captured in a cave
near Nicomedia.
They were tortured, urged to worship idols, and then brought before
the Praetor, in order to record their names and responses. Adrian, the head
of the praetorium, watched as these people suffered with such courage for
their faith. Seeing how firmly and fearlessly they confessed Christ, asked:
"What rewards do you expect from your God for your suffering?"
The martyrs replied: "Such rewards as we are not able to describe,
nor can your mind comprehend." St Adrian told the scribes,"Write my name
down also, for I am a Christian and I die gladly for Christ God."
The scribes reported this to
the emperor, who summoned St Adrian and asked: "Really, have you gone mad,
that you want to die? Come, cross out your name from the lists and offer
sacrifice to the gods, asking their forgiveness."
St Adrian answered: "I have not lost my mind, but rather have
I found it." Maximian then ordered Adrian to be thrown into prison. His wife,
St Natalia, knowing that her husband was to suffer for Christ, rejoiced,
since she herself was secretly a Christian.
She hastened to the prison and encouraged her husband saying:
"You are blessed, my lord, because you have believed in Christ. You have obtained
a great treasure. Do not regret anything earthly, neither beauty, nor youth
(Adrian was then 28 years of age), nor riches. Everything worldly is dust
and ashes. Only faith and good deeds are pleasing to God."
On the pledge of the other martyrs, they released St Adrian from
prison to tell his wife about the day of his execution. At first St Natalia
thought that he had renounced Christ and thus had been set free, and she
did not want to let him into the house. The saint persuaded his wife that
he had not fled from martyrdom, but rather had come to give her the news
of the day of his execution.
They tortured St Adrian cruelly. The emperor advised the saint
to have pity on himself and call on the gods, but the martyr answered: "Let
your gods say what blessings they promise me, and then I shall worship them,
but if they cannot do this, then why should I worship them?" St Natalia did
not cease to encourage her husband. She asked him also to pray to God for
her, that they would not force her into marriage with a pagan after his death.
The executioner ordered the hands and the legs of the saints to
be broken on the anvil. St Natalia, fearing that her husband would hesitate
on seeing the sufferings of the other martyrs, asked the executioner to begin
with him, and permit her to put his hands and legs on the anvil herself.
They wanted to burn the bodies of the saints, but a storm arose
and the fire went out. Many of the executioners even were struck by lightning.
St Natalia took the hand of her husband and kept it at home. Soon an army
commander asked the emperor's approval to wed St Natalia, who was both young
and rich. But she hid herself away in Byzantium. St Adrian appeared to her
in a dream and said that she would soon be at rest in the Lord. The martyr,
worn out by her former sufferings, in fact soon fell asleep in the Lord.
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5th v. St. Rufinus Bishop of Capua
Cápuæ
sancti Rufíni, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At Capua, St. Rufinus, bishop and confessor.
Italy His relics are enshrined in the cathedral of Capua.
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660 St. Elias Benedictine bishop of Syracuse
Italy. He sponsored monastic expansion in the region.
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764
St. Bregwin 12th Canterbury archbishop
Also Breguivine, the twelfth archbishop of Canterbury, England. He served
from 761 until his death. His letters to St. Lullus of Mainz are extant and
Eadmer wrote his life.
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9th v St. Felix of Pistoia A hermit of Pistoia
Pistórii, in Túscia, sancti Felícis,
Presbyteri et Confessóris. At Pistoia, St. Felix,
priest and confessor.
Italy No details of his life are extant.
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10th v. St. Pandwyna;
Scottish or Irish saint also called Pandonio; church dedicated to her in
Cambridgeshire, England.
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950 St. Victor
Martyr Passia composed in the fifteenth century declares his martyrdom to
have come in Spain at the hands of the Moors.
In Hispánia sancti Victoris Mártyris, qui pro Christi fide,
a Mauris occísus, martyrii coróna donátus est.
In Spain, St. Victor, martyr, who merited the crown of
martyrs by being slain by the Moors for the faith of Christ.
According to tradition, he was martyred at Caesarea,
Mauretania, in Africa during the persecutions of the first century. A Passia
composed in the fifteenth century declares his martyrdom to have come in
Spain at the hands of the Moors.
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1078 Bd Herluin, Abbot; abandoned knightly service
to become a monk, and some five years later founded abbey of Bec, to become
one of the most famous and influential intellectual centres of the middle
ages. Through Lanfranc (also often called Blessed), St Anselm and others
it had an important effect on the ecclesiastical history of England.
Herluin is commonly given the title" Blessed" but he received no known cultus, and the Bollandists do not include
him in their Acta Sanctorum. This great monk is therefore here passed
over with a bare mention.
He was born at Brionne in Normandy in 994. About 1034 he abandoned
knightly service to become a monk, and some five years later founded the
abbey of Bec, which was to become one of the most famous and influential
intellectual centres of the middle ages. Through Lanfranc (also
often called Blessed), St Anselm and others it had an important effect on
the ecclesiastical history of England. Herluin, the rough Norman soldier
who desired only to serve God under the Rule of St Benedict yet fathered
so great a foundation, died on August 26, 1078. His abbey was despoiled at
the French Revolution, but it was repeopled by monks in 1948.
Two lives of Herluin have been
printed by Mabillon. The earlier is by Gilbert Crispin, abbot of Westminster,
a contemporary who had himself been a monk of Bec. Tooting-Bec in south London a manor of this abbey,
as was Weedon Beck in Northamptonshire
.
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1131, the icon was sent from
Constantinople to Rus The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was painted
by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table at which the Savior ate
together with His All-Pure Mother and Righteous Joseph. The Mother of God,
upon seeing this image, exclaimed, "Henceforth, all generations shall call
Me blessed. The grace of both My Son and Me shall be with this icon."
In the year 1131, the icon was sent from Constantinople to Rus
to holy Prince Mstislav (April 15) and was installed in the Devichi monastery
in Vyshgorod, the ancient appanage city of the holy Equal of the Apostles
Princess Olga.
The son of George Dolgoruky, St Andrew Bogoliubsky, brought the
icon to the city of Vladimir in 1155 and installed it in the renowned Dormition
cathedral which he built. At this time the icon received its name of "the
Vladimir Icon." The icon was first brought to Moscow in the year 1395. Thus,
the blessing of the Mother of God established the spiritual bonds of Byzantium
and Rus via Kiev, Vladimir and Moscow.
The festal celebration of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos
occurs several times during the year (21 May, 23 June and 26 August). The
most solemn celebration occurs on August 26, the Feast established in honor
of the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon upon its Transfer from Vladimir to Moscow.
In the year 1395, the fearsome conqueror Khan Tamerlane (Temir-Aksak)
reached the Ryazan frontier, took the city of Elets and advancing towards
Moscow he came near the banks of the River Don. Great Prince Basil Dimitrievich
went with an army to Kolomna and halted at the banks of the River Oka. He
prayed to the holy Hierarchs of Moscow and St Sergius for the deliverance
of the Fatherland, and he wrote to the Metropolitan of Moscow St Cyprian
(September 16), that the pending Dormition Fast should be devoted to zealous
prayers for mercy and repentance.
Clergy were sent to Vladimir, where the famed wonderworking Vladimir
Icon was. After Divine Liturgy and a Molieben on the feast of the Dormition,
they clergy took the icon and brought it to Moscow. Along the way, on both
sides of the road, countless people prayed kneeling: "O Mother of God, save
the land of Russia!" At that same hour, when the people of Moscow were meeting
the Vladimir Icon on Kuchkov Field, Tamerlane was sleeping in his tent. Suddenly,
he saw in a dream a great mountain, at the summit of which were the holy
hierarchs with golden staffs coming towards him. Above them, in a brilliant
radiance, was a Majestic Woman. She commanded him to leave the domains of
Russia.
Awakening in fright, Tamerlane
asked the meaning of the vision. The experts answered that the Radiant Lady
was the Mother of God, the great Protectress of Christians. Tamerlane then
gave the order for his troops to retreat. In memory of this miraculous deliverance
of the Russian Land from Tamerlane, they built the monastery of the Meeting
on Kuchkov Field, where the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon took place. On August
26, the all-Russian celebration in honor of the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon
of the Most Holy Mother of God was established.
Very important events in Russian Church history have occurred
before the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God: the election and elevation
of St Jonah, advocate of an Autocephalous Russian Church (1448), and of St
Job, first Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (1589), and of His Holiness
Patriarch St Tikhon (1917). The enthronement of His Holiness Pimen, Patriarch
of Moscow and All Russia, occurred on a day of celebration in honor of the
Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God on May 21 (O.S.), 1971.
Historical days of 21 May, 23 June
& 26 August, connected with this holy icon, memorable days for Russian
Orthodox Church.
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1240 St
Raymond Nonnatus the birthday of ; Master-general of Mercedarian Order;
Cardónæ, in Hispánia, tránsitus sancti Raymúndi
Nonnáti, Cardinális et Confessóris, ex Ordine beátæ
Maríæ de Mercéde redemptiónis captivórum,
vitæ sanctitáte et miráculis clari. Ipsíus
tamen festum recólitur prídie Kaléndas Septémbris.
At Cardona in Spain, the birthday of St. Raymund Nonnatus,
cardinal and confessor, of the Order of our Lady of Ransom for the Redemption
of Captives, renowned for holiness of life and for miracles, whose feast
is observed on the 31st of August.
Also known as Raymund Nonnatus;
Raimundo Nonato Memorial 31 August
Profile Spanish nobility. Well educated, his father planned a
career for Raymond in the royal court in Aragon. When Raymond felt drawn
to religious life, his father ordered him to manage one of the family farms.
However, Raymond spent his time with the shepherds and workers, studying
and praying until his father gave up the idea of making his son a wordly
success.
Mercedarian priest, receiving the habit from Saint Peter Nolasco, the order's founder.
Master-general of Mercedarian Order. Spent his entire estate ransoming Christians,
then surrended as a hostage to free another. Sentenced to death by impalement,
he was spared because of his large ransom value. Imprisoned and tortured,
he still managed to convert some of his guards. To keep him from preaching
the faith, his captors bored a hole through his lips with a hot iron, and
attached padlock. Eventually ransomed, returning to Barcelona in 1239.
St Raymond Nonnatus
Created cardinal by Pope Gregory IX, Raymond continued to live as a mendicant
monk. He died while en route to Rome to answer a papal summons. Born 1204
at Portella, diocese of Urgel, Catalonia, Spain. Died 31 August 1240 at Cardona,
Spain of a fever; buried at the chapel of Saint Nicholas near his family
farm he was supposed to manage. Canonized 5 November 1625 by Pope Urban
VIII (cultus confirmed); 1657 by
Pope Alexander VII (canonized)
Name Meaning not born (= non-natus) as he was delivered by ceasarian.
Patronage Baltoa, Dominican Republic; childbirth; children; expectant mothers;
falsely accused people; fever; infants; midwives; newborn babies; obstetricians;
pregnant women
Representation : Mercedarian surrounded by Moors and prisoners; Mercedarian
surrounded by ransomed slaves; Mercedarian with a cardinal's red hat; Mercedarian
with a padlock on his lips .
|
1504 Bd Timothy Of Montecchio;
worked many miracles, visited by our Blessed Lady and St Francis and our
Saviour spoke to him audibly from the sacramental species.
Very little seems to be recorded concerning the life of this holy Franciscan
priest, although his cultus was
formally confirmed by Pope Pius IX in 1870. He was, we are told, of
good family and came from the neighbourhood of Aquila in the Abruzzi.
He entered the Franciscan noviceship at an early age and was remarkable from
the first for his austerity of life and for his scrupulous observance of
the rule. What seems most of all to have impressed his contemporaries was
the efficacy of the prayers which he said for those in need of help.
He worked many miracles, and it is alleged that he was visited by our Blessed
Lady and St Francis and that our Saviour spoke to him audibly from the sacramental
species. He died, aged 60, in the friary of St Angelo at Ocra, where his
remains are still honoured.
See Mazzara, Leggendario Francescano (1680), vol.
iii, p. 540 and Leon, Auréole Séraphique
(Eng. trans.), vol. iii, p. 88.
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1542 The Pskov Caves
Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, named the "Tenderness" is famous
particularly for the defense of Pskov and the Pskov Caves monastery from
the army of Stephen Bathory in 1581. Its celebration is also on May 21, June
23 and October 7. The Tenderness Icon of the Mother of God is of the
Eleousa (Umilenie) type.
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1549 Saint
Adrian of Andrusov (in the world the nobleman Andrew Zavalushin), was the
owner of a rich estate (Andreevschina), 9 versts from the monastery of St
Alexander of Svir (August 30). He accidentally encountered St Alexander of
Svir during a stag hunt in 1493, and after this he went often to him for
guidance, and supplied bread for the ascetics.
Forsaking his estate, he took monastic tonsure at the Valaamo monastery with
the name Adrian. Several years later, with the blessing of St Alexander of
Svir, St Adrian settled in a solitary place on the peninsula of Lake Ladoga.
There he built a church in honor of St Nicholas the Wonderworker. Opposite
the settlement of monks in the deep forest was an island, Sala (the Thicket),
where there was a gang of robbers under the leadership of Ondrusa as their
ataman. Encountering the monks, the ataman demanded that they get off his
land. St Adrian, knowing that he did not have money to buy the place, promised
the ataman to intercede for him before God. The robber laughed at the monk,
but he entreated him so long and so humbly, that the ataman softened and
said, "Live."
This ataman was soon taken captive by another gang, hidden not far from the
stoney Cape of Storozhev. The hapless fellow knew that after suffering, torture
death awaited him, and he bitterly repented of his former life. Suddenly,
he saw St Adrian before him. He said, "You are freed through the mercy of
the Lord, for Whose sake you were asked to show mercy to the wilderness brethren,"
and he vanished.
The ataman saw himself without fetters at the shore, and with no one around.
Astonished, he rushed to the monastery of St Adrian and found all the ascetics
chanting Psalms. It seemed that St Adrian had not left the monastery. The
robber fell at the knees of the saint and begged to be accepted as one of
the brethren. He finished his life in repentance at the monastery. The robber
of another gang also repented. Through the prayers of St Adrian, he was tonsured
with the name Cyprian. Afterwards, at the place of a tributary, he built
a monastery and was glorified by miracles.
The monastery of St Adrian received an endowment from Tsar Ivan the Terrible
(1533-1584). In August 1549, St Adrian was godfather for Anna, daughter of
Tsar Ivan the Terrible. When the saint was returning from Moscow to the monastery,
robbers killed him near the village of Obzha, hoping to find money. The brethren
waited for a long time for their Superior, and two years later, he appeared
one night in a vision to a few Elders and told them of his death. On another
day, May 17, the brethren found his incorrupt body in a swamp and committed
it to burial in the wall of his church in honor of St Nicholas.
The memory of St Adrian, having received the martyr's crown, has come to
be celebrated twice: on the day of the finding and transfer of his relics
(May 17), and on the day of his repose, which he shares with his namesake,
the holy Martyr Adrian .
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1504 Saint Adrian
of Uglich was one of the first ten disciples of St Paisius of Uglich (June
6), for whom he was the closest cell-attendant, disciple and co-ascetic.
Together with St Paisius, St Adrian was accounted woryour of a vision of
the Most Holy Theotokos in 1472. St Paisius was in one of the cells together
with St Cassian of Uglich (October 2), and Sts Gerasimus and Adrian.
They were singing an Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos. Suddenly, throughout
all the monastery there shone an extraordinary light, and the monks heard
a voice calling them to come out of the cell. The ascetics came out in fear
and in confusion, and an angel showed them the Mother of God, sitting on
an airy throne and holding the Divine Infant in Her arms. The ascetics fell
frightened to the ground, but the angel raised them up and related to St
Paisius the command of the Mother of God to build on this place a church
in honor of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. The vision ended,
and the monks spent the whole night in vigil and praise.
In 1482, St Adrian participated in the building of the stone church in honor
of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos at the place indicated by the
angel. Afterwards, an icon of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God
was found. In 1489, St Adrian assisted St Paisius in building a monastery
dedicated to St Nicholas, near the Grekhova stream, on the right bank of
the Volga.
As an experienced and virtuous Elder, St Adrian was put there as its Superior
and was made a hieromonk. He was at the funeral of St Paisius on June 6,
1504 and later, according to his last wishes, he was himself buried near
the grave. The memory of St Adrian is celebrated on August 26 (because of
his namesake, the holy Martyr Adrian), and also on Cheesefare Saturday
.
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1572 Bd Thomas Percy,
Martyr; born in 1528. Earl of Northumberland from 1537, Thomas initially
enjoyed an excellent relationship with Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603).
Thomas also served Queen Mary (r. 1542-1587). Queen Elizabeth bestowed the
Order of the Garter on him in 1563. He then became involved in the Rising
of the North and fled to Scotland but was sold to Queen Elizabeth for two
thousand pounds. For three years he languished in a prison, refusing fervently
to abjure his faith in return for his freedom. Thomas was finally beheaded
at York and was beatified in 1896.
The father of this martyr was Sir Thomas Percy, brother and heir-presumptive
to the sixth earl of Northumberland, who, if not formally himself a martyr,
died for the denial of the ecclesiastical supremacy of King Henry VIII in
that he was one of the leaders of the Pilgrimage of Grace, and was hanged
at Tyburn in 1537. His elder son, Thomas, was then nine years old and
with his brother Henry was removed from the care of his " treasonable " mother.
In 1549 the attainder under which they suffered as a result of their father's
action was to a certain extent removed, they were "restored in blood", and
eight years later Queen Mary permitted Sir Thomas Percy to succeed to the
now vacant earldom of Northumberland. He served the queen well in military
and civil affairs on the Scottish border, and in 1558 married Anne Somerset,
daughter of the earl of Worcester. During the years following the accession
of Elizabeth, while she was consolidating her position and settling the foundations
of the Anglican Church, Thomas Percy became a suspect person he was "considered
very Catholic", and this in spite of the fact that he used considerable prudence
in opposing the queen and, partly on account of his duties in the northern
marches, played only a minor part therein; indeed, the queen gave him the
Order of the Garter in 1563, and certain words of the earl during his trial
suggest that he was not satisfied with his own behaviour at this time. But
he was soon to come to the forefront of affairs.
The north of England was still fairly solidly Catholic:
a Protestant observer said of Yorkshire that, "There were scarcely ten gentlemen
of note that favour the queen's proceedings in religion" and when Queen Mary
of the Scots had to take refuge at Carlisle in 1568 she was soon regarded
as the Catholic champion. The Earl of Northumberland espoused her cause,
hoping by her liberation "to have some reformation in religion,
or at the least some sufferance for men to use their conscience as they were
disposed". His support of her attracted attention and he was peremptorily
ordered to leave Carlisle, a "gross disrespect" at which he was very indignant.
In 1569 the gentlemen of the north began to plan a rising in her favour as
next heir to the throne and in order "to restore the Crown, the nobility,
and the worship of God to their former estate." Northumberland was
doubtful about the project, and wished it to be clear that it was not a political
one "we are seeking, I imagine, the glory not of men but of God". He,
therefore, with the earl of Westmorland, Charles Neville, sent a letter to
Pope St Pius V asking for his advice and direction, but they were forced
into action before his reply could be received.* The pope's eventual
answer was approving and encouraging, and referred to the example of St Thomas
Becket. It was dated three days before his bull of deposition of Elizabeth,
"Regnans in excelsis".
The movement was known, and
only a few days after they had written to the pope the two earls were summoned
to appear before Elizabeth a hasty meeting of the leaders was called at Brancepeth
Castle, they decided (against Northumberland's will and judgement) to ignore
the summons, on November 14 they marched into Durham at the head of their
forces. They were welcomed by the townsmen and the cathedral was at once
restored to Catholic worship. However inopportune and regrettable the
Rising of the North may have been, it at least shows that, after eleven years
of forced apostasy, the people of northern England were Catholic at heart,
for not only at Durham was the restoration of the religion received with enthusiasm.
Mass was celebrated in the parish-churches of Bishop Auckland, Darlington,
Ripon, Staindrop, Stokesby and Whitby, and a joyous revival was chronicled
at many other places.
Meanwhile the earls'
forces, under the banner of the Five Wounds and with Bd Thomas Plumtree as
chief chaplain, marched into Yorkshire as far as Wetherby, collecting recruits
and encouraging the people, but then had to turn back north, where they captured
Hartlepool and Barnard Castle. But that was the limit of their success.
At the end of a month Elizabeth's troops, under the Earl of Sussex, were in
control, the earls disbanded their men at Durham, and with the other leaders
fled across the border into Scotland.
The Earl of Sussex
took bloody vengeance. People of substance were let off with a good fine,
but the common people were hanged in hundreds: every village between the
Wear and the Tyne suffered. Westmorland escaped into Flanders the Countess
of Northumberland, who had been one of the leading spirits of the rebellion,
and entirely without her husband's scruples and fears, eventually came under
the protection of Lord Home; and Northumberland himself was captured by the
Scottish regent, the Earl of Moray, to whom he was betrayed. He was
not willing to hand him over to Elizabeth, but his successor, the Earl of
Mar, sold him for £2000-not
the first nor the last time in history that a refugee in Scotland was given
up for gold. Before this haggling was concluded, the earl had been shut up
for two and a half years in Lochleven castle. Dr. Nicholas Sander,
a leading Catholic divine of the day, records that he bore this imprisonment
and his separation from his wife and four small children with exemplary patience;
he observed all the fasts of the Church, spent much time in prayer and meditation
(a book of prayers which he wrote out still exists), and resolutely refused
to purchase his pardon (which was offered him) by apostasy. His keeper
at Lochkven, William Douglas, was also negotiating for the sale of his prisoner-to
the countess his wife, who was scouring Scotland and the Netherlands to raise
the ransom. Elizabeth closed first; the earl was handed over; eventually
conveyed to York, lodged in the castle on August 21 1572.
On the queen's instructions Northumberland had been
examined on the way, at Berwick a last offer of release on condition of apostay
was made to him; and when he refused he was told to prepare for death on
the very next day. He spent all the night, except for a brief
space when sleep overcame him, in prayer, and the next afternoon was marched
to The Pavement, where the scaffold was set up. He told the people that he
died a Catholic, "as for this new Church of England, I do not acknowledge
it"; and expressed sorrow that he had been the occasion of so many meeting
their death in following him for the furtherance of religion, "yet I have
no fear but that their souls have obtained the glory of Heaven"...Then his
head was struck off, and every drop of his blood was gathered up with handkerchiefs,
"for throughout his life he was beyond measure dear to the whole people".
He was forty-four years old. The Countess of Northumberland
died in exile at Namur in 1596; two years later their youngest daughter,
Mary Percy, whom her father probably never saw, founded at Brussels a monastery
of Benedictine nuns, now at Haslemere in Surrey. Bd Thomas Percy was
equivalently beatified in 1896, and his feast is observed in the dioceses
of Hexham, Leeds and Middlesbrough.
A full account
of this martyr was contributed by G. E. Phillips to the second volume of
Camm, LEM., pp. 111-186. His information is largely drawn, apart from the
state papers at the Record Office, from De Fonbianque's Annals of the House of Percy (1887),
vol. ii, pp. 3-123, and from a Surtees Society publication, Depositions and Ecclesiastical Proceedings
from the Courts of Durham (1845). A description of the martyrdom of the earl,
written by Nicholas Sander, is in Bridgewater's Concertatio. See also M. M. Merrick,
Thomas Percy, Seventh Earl
(1949).
|
1648 St.
Joseph Calasanz educating the poor; founded Clerks Regular of Religious Schools
(Piarists or Scolopi) see Aug 25 and 27th
From Aragon, where he was born in 1556, to Rome, where he died 92 years later,
fortune alternately smiled and frowned on the work of Joseph Calasanz.
A priest with university
training in canon law and theology, respected for his wisdom and administrative
expertise, he put aside his career because he was deeply concerned with the
need for education of poor children. When he was unable to get other institutes
to undertake this apostolate at Rome, he and several companions personally
provided a free school for deprived children. So overwhelming was the response
that there was a constant need for larger facilities to house their effort.
Soon Pope Clement VIII gave support to the school, and this aid continued
under Pope Paul V. Other schools were opened; other men were attracted to
the work and in 1621 the community (for so the teachers lived) was recognized
as a religious community, the Clerks Regular of Religious Schools (Piarists
or Scolopi). Not long after, Joseph was appointed superior for life.
A combination of various prejudices and political ambition and maneuvering
caused the institute much turmoil. Some did not favor educating the poor,
for education would leave the poor dissatisfied with their lowly tasks for
society! Others were shocked that some of the Piarists were sent for instruction
to Galileo (a friend of Joseph) as superior, thus dividing the members into
opposite camps.
Repeatedly investigated by papal commissions, Joseph was demoted;
when the struggle within the institute persisted, the Piarists were suppressed.
Only after Joseph’s death were they formally recognized as a religious community.
Comment: No one knew better
than Joseph the need for the work he was doing; no one knew better than he
how baseless were the charges brought against him. Yet if he were to work
within the Church, he realized that he must submit to its authority, that
he must accept a setback if he was unable to convince authorized investigators.
While the prejudice, the scheming, and the ignorance of men often keep the
truth from emerging for a long period of time, Joseph was convinced, even
under suppression, that his institute would again be recognized and authorized.
With this trust he joined exceptional patience and a genuine spirit of forgiveness.
Quote: Even in the days after his own demotion, Joseph protected his persecutors
against his enraged partisans; and when the community was suppressed, he
stated with Job, to whom he was often compared: “The Lord gave and the Lord
has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21b).
|
1694
Bd John Wall, Martyr; took the Franciscan habit at St Bonaventure's friary
at Douay in 1651, receiving the religious name of Joachim-of-St-Anne, and
served there until 1626, when he returned to England. After he had
ministered to the Catholics of Worcestershire for over twenty-two years,
his headquarters being at Harvington Hall, he was seized in December 1678,
John Wall (alias Francis Johnson, Webb, Dormer) belonged to
a good Lancashire family and was born in that county (perhaps at Chingle
Hall, near Preston) in 1620. He was sent when young to Douay, entered
the Roman College in 1641 and was ordained there in 1645. After a few
years on the mission he took the Franciscan habit at St Bonaventure's friary
at Douay in 1651, receiving the religious name of Joachim-of-St-Anne, and
served there until 1626, when he returned to England. After he had
ministered to the Catholics of Worcestershire for over twenty-two years,
his headquarters being at Harvington Hall, he was seized in December 1678,
at Rushock Court, near Bromsgrove, by a sheriff's officer who had come there
to look for a defaulting debtor. After five months in prison he was
tried before Mr Justice Atkins as a priest unlawfully come into the realm;
of the four witnesses brought against him, three had to be subpoenaed, and
he defended himself with great prudencc. However, he was sentenced, whereupon
he bowed to the judge and said, "Thanks be to God! God save the king
I And I beseech God to bless your lordship and all this honourable
bench." To which the judge made answer,
"You have spoken very well. I do not intend you shall die,
at least not for the present, until I know the king's further pleasure."
"I was not, I thank God for it," wrote Bd John, "troubled with any disturbing
thoughts either against the judge for his sentence, or the jury that gave
in such a verdict, or against any of the witnesses...And I was, I thank God,
so present with myself whilst the judge pronounced the sentence that, without
any concern for anything in this world, I did actually at the same time offer
myself and the world to God."
In spite of the good will of Mr Justice Atkins,- the innocent and
beloved Franciscan was not to be reprieved, although after being carefully
examined in London for several times by Oates, Bedloe, Dugdale and Prance
he was declared by Bedloe in public to be free from any complicity in the
Oates "plot". He would not renounce his religion, which was what they really
wanted, so after a month he was returned to Worcester for execution. The
day before, he was visited in prison by a fellow-Franciscan, Father William
Leveson (brother of the venerable martyr, Father Francis Leveson, O.S.F.),
who was allowed to spend several hours there and so was able to hear his confession
and give him viaticum. The same friar stood by the scaffold at Redhill the
next day and gave him the final absolution when the martyr was hanged and
quartered, "thirsting after nothing more than the shedding of his blood for
the love of his God; which he performed with a courage and cheerfulness becoming
a valiant soldier of Christ, to the great edification of all Catholics and
admiration of all Protestants".
Bd John Wall was the only one of the English martyrs executed at Worcester;
his feast is kept in the archdiocese of Birmingham.
See Challorier, MMP., pp. 550-555;
B. Camm, Forgotten Shrines (1910),
pp. 253-280, and Bd John Wall (1932).
|
1694
Bd Bernard Of Offida; humble Capuchin door keeper; "Now, my good St Felix,
this is the time to help me", set himself to prayer. And the dead child
became alive and well. It is also said that our Lady appeared to him one
day and told him that all his faults had been forgiven.
This Bernard was born at Appignano in the Marches in the year
1604 of humble parents, and when he was seven years old was set to tend sheep.
But he heard the call of God to the religious life, and in 1626 was accepted
as a lay-brother by the Capuchins. When he had made his profession
he was sent to Fermo and put in charge of the infirmary, and afterwards to
other houses of his order, in all of which he laboured with fervour and zeal.
Sometimes, some of his brethren thought, with too much zeal, for on one occasion
he was reported to the minister provincial for imprudent lavishness in the
distribution of alms, whereby his community suffered damage.
The provincial called him before a chapter of the house and
administered a severe rebuke, which was a matter of great satisfaction to
the Franciscan heart of Brother Bernard. When he was sixty years old
he was appointed quaestor, to beg
alms in the streets and from door to door for the friary at Offida, and in
this duty he gave more than he received; people came to him for advice and
consolation and help, for his wisdom could not be hid. He had an especial
gift for composing quarrels and restoring peace to distracted families, and
the most hardened sinners would listen to him and be converted.
Bd Bernard's reputation among the people was such that they would
come to him and quite simply and confidently ask for a miracle. This
sometimes caused difficulties for him. It is said that once a woman
came with a very sick baby to be cured, so sick that it died in Bernard's
arms. The mother seized his habit and begged and implored him to restore
it to life, or she would not let him go. Bernard led her into the church,
lay the body on the altar dedicated in honour of St Felix of Cantalice, and
exclaiming, "Now, my good St Felix, this is the time to help me", set himself
to prayer. And the child became alive and well. It is also said that our
Lady appeared to him one day and told him that all his faults had been forgiven.
Bd Bernard died when he was ninety years old, having spent
the last years of his life as door-keeper to his convent, where the poor
and unhappy never ceased to crowd to him, on August 22, 1694.
He was beatified in 1795.
See Leon Auréole Séraphique (Eng.
trans.), vol. iii, pp. 121-123; and E. M. de Beaulieu, Deux émules de St Felix de Cantalice
1910
|
1838 St Elizabeth
Bichier Des Ages, Virgin, Co-Foundress of The Daughters of The Cross or Sisters
of St Andrew; Louis Veuillot, whatever objections can be brought against
some of his theology and politics, at any rate knew a saint when he saw one,
and he said of her, "She is one of the finest-tempered characters ever seen,
gentle, resolute, strict, intelligent, industrious, but above all contrite
and humble. No difficulty daunts her courage, no lack of strength stops
her superhuman labours, no interior distress troubles her outward serenity,
no success puffs her up. Whatever happens, she remains undisturbed.
Hardships, setbacks, successes, respect, insults-they are all the same to
the supreme tranquillity that is rooted in an understanding that sees God
in everything, and so must obey."
Pódii, in diœcési
Pictaviénsi, sanctæ Joánnæ-Elisabeth Bichier des
Ages, Vírginis, Congregatiónis Filiárum a Cruce una
cum sancto Andréa Hubérto Fournet Fundatrícis, jugi mortificatióne
et vitæ innocéntia claræ, quam Pius Papa Duodécimus
sanctárum Vírginum fastis accénsuit.
In the diocese
of Poitiers, St. Joan-Elizabeth Bichier des Ages, virgin, who with St. André
Hubert Fournet co-founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross,
and who was renowned for her spirit of mortification and life of innocence.
Pope Pius XII added her name to the list of holy virgins.
This holy woman was born at the Château des
Ages, at Le Blanc, between Poitiers and Bourges, in the year 1773.
Her father was Antony Bichier, lord of the manor of Ages and a public official,
and her mother Mary Augier de Moussac, whose father also held public office.
The child was christened Jean Elizabeth Mary Lucy, and was commonly called
by her second name. Little is known of her childhood, except
that she was shy and impressionable, with a heart easily moved by the sight
of a beggar or other unfortunate. When she was ten she was sent for
schooling to a convent at Poitiers. Her maternal uncle, the Abbé
de Moussac, was vicar general at Pottiera, and the superioress of the convent
was a relative and Elizabeth seems to have been very happy there.
Her favourite game was building sandcastles, and when in after years she
had to be much concerned with building she remembered this and remarked,
"It looks as if this was meant to be my trade, seeing I began my apprenticeship
to it so young".
When Elizabeth was nineteen her father died, and
a few weeks later, in February 1792, the National Assembly issued a decree
against the property of those citizens, the émigrés, who had
left France in face of the revolution. Now her eldest brother was among
these émigrés and, her mother being old and ill, Elizabeth
took on herself the job of looking after his interests. She asked the
Abbé de Moussac to instruct her in the law of property and in the
keeping of accounts, studies which did not come easy to her but which she
was to find again useful later on, and she undertook the defence of her brother
and the whole family in a long law case that was eventually decided in their
favour. The village shoemaker was overcome with admiration for Elizabeth's
pertinacity, and declared delightedly to her, "Citizeness, all you have to
do now is to marry a good republican!" But she had no intention of
marrying either a good republican" or a "wicked aristocrat".
There is still in existence the little picture of our Lady of Help on the
back of which she wrote, "I, Joan Elizabeth Mary Lucy Bichier, today dedicate
and consecrate myself to Jesus and Mary for ever; 5 May, 1797".
In the previous
year she and her mother had left the Château des Ages and gone to live
at La Guimetiére, on the outskirts of Béthines in Poitou. Here
Elizabeth intensified her life of prayer and good works years later one of
the servants said to some Daughters of the Cross, "You've got a great respect
for your reverend mother. But you'd have a twenty times greater respect
if you had seen, as I have, what she did for God and His poor when she was
young." The local parish was in a bad way as a result of the revolution,
for it had a' constitutional priest"; *The "constitutional clergy" were those
who took the oath to maintain the civil constitution drawn up for the Church
in France by the National Assembly in 1790.
The constitution and oath were
condemned by Pope Pius VI.
Every night Elizabeth used to collect the farmers and their
wives at La Guimetière for prayers and hymns and spiritual reading.
And then she first heard of a priest in a parish twenty-five miles away who
was grappling with a similar situation, and reopened his church in a barn.
It was the Abbé Fournet at Maillé, now known as St Andrew Fournet
(May 13).
Elizabeth made her way to Maillé, and the
two at once took to one another. She became a frequent visitor to the
barn at Petits Marsillys, and Abbé Fournet devised for her a rule
of life, at the same time discouraging her suggestion of joining the Trappistines:
"Your work is in the world", he said. "There are ruins to be rebuilt
and ignorance to be remedied." And so she went on repairing the ravages
of religious discord in Béthines, helped by her uncle and her new friend,
visiting the sick and needy, and teaching the smaller children.
During the summer months she was helped by two friends, Madeleine
Moreau and Catherine Gaschard, and the services of her maid, Mary Anne Guillon,
were also enlisted. Then, in autumn of 1804, her deeply loved mother died.
The coarse peasant's mourning clothes which Elizabeth then put on, with the
approval of Abbé Fournet, raised a curious storm-in-a-teacup. Her
well-dressed and conventional relatives were outraged by it; the grave
vicar general, M. de Moussac, severely rebuked M. Fournet for allowing it:
she must take them off. Elizabeth refused, obstinately. The cousins
went on chattering; M. de Moussac shrugged, and dropped his opposition,
thinking there was probably more in the gesture than met the eye.
St Andrew Fournet had had it in his mind
for some time that that part of the country needed a small community of nuns
to care for the sick and to teach the girls, especially in the rural districts,
and that Miss Bichier should be in charge of it. Her reaction to the proposal
was that she had never even been a novice, much less a mother superior; and
as this was undeniable St Andrew sent her off to do a year's novitiate with
the Carmelite nuns in Poitiers. But, perhaps because he thought she might
never come out again, Abbé Fournet soon transferred her to the Society
of Providence. Meanwhile he set about forming a community at La Guimetière,
consisting of the Madeleine Moreau and Mary Anne Guillon named above and
two other young women, and when she had been away hardly six months Elizabeth
Bichier was called back to take charge in spite of her protests. As La Guimetière
was so far from Maillé, in May 1806 they moved into the Château
de Molante, which was quite close. Here they began to teach the children,
to give shelter and care to the aged and sick, and to make reparation for
the outrages of the revolution against Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
At first neither
St Andrew nor St Elizabeth had in mind anything more than a small local congregation.
The foundation members made temporary vows early in 1807, and then looked
around for a suitable established congregation to which they could affiliate
themselves. But by the end of 1806 it was clear that they would have to stand
on their own feet, and they moved into a bigger house, Rochefort, in Maillé
itself, for they already numbered twenty-five sisters. Five years later their
rule was approved by the diocesan authorities of Poitiers, with the name
of Daughters of the Cross, *That is their official designation (there are
other congregations with a similar name) but the foundress liked to refer
to them as Sisters of St Andrew, after the apostle, patron saint of Andrew
Fournet.
There was a name
particularly meaningful for the "Good Sister", Elizabeth Bichier. The fatigues
and trials incidental to her position and vocation were considerable; she
did not spare herself in fasting and watching and other austerities; and
St Andrew Foumet, as general superior, did not spare her either.
In 1815 Sister Elizabeth had to go to Paris for an operation,
the result of an accident with a vehicle, and the king, Louis XVIII, himself
received her at the Tuileries. When the Good Sister returned to Maillé
she found her humility and obedience tested to the utmost. The Abbé
Fournet received her coldly and informed her she was removed from her office
of superioress. It is said that he had been misled by malicious talk; but
it is possible that he acted thus drastically because he feared Elizabeth's
success in Paris might go to her head. However, she was restored within a
week.
During 1819-20 thirteen new convents were opened,
but at this time a dispute arose about jurisdiction that threatened to disrupt
the congregation entirely. However, as things turned out, this unfortunate
business did nothing to retard its continued progress. Civil authorities
were in favour of small convents dotted about the countryside, their inmates
working among the people, and between 1821 and 1825 the Daughters
of the Cross opened some fifteen houses in a dozen dioceses. Then the bishop
of Bayonne invited them to the Midi, and they spread to Beam, the Basque
country, Gascony and Languedoc. Altogether by 1830 they had over sixty convents,
and Sister Elizabeth's record of travelling challenged that of St Teresa
herself.
When the
Basque house of Igon was opened, the spiritual director appointed was a young
curate named Garicoits: we now know him as St Michael Garicoits. Elizabeth Bichier
greatly encouraged him in the foundation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart
of Bétharram, so much so he declared, "It's all the Good Sister's
doing. I had only to do what she told me." When the Good Father, St Andrew
Fournet, died in 1834, "the biggest and saddest loss that could happen to
us", wrote Sister Elizabeth, Father Garicoits became a second Father Fournet
to the Daughters of the Cross, at any rate so far as the Basque convents were
concerned and so he remained till his death.
In autumn of 1836 St Elizabeth's health began seriously to fail.
Over and above her state of extreme exhaustion she was afflicted with bad
erysipelas of the face, and the hurt that had sent her to Paris over twenty
years before broke out afresh. In the spring of 1838 her condition became
alarming she suffered constant and acute pain, and was subject to fits of
delirium. Then, after ten days of agony borne with heroic patience, she died
peacefully in the evening of August 26.
St Elizabeth Bichier des Ages was canonized in 1947.
Numerous anecdotes are told of her goodness and devotion. One has special
significance for a generation that has known professing Christians wrangle
endlessly about whether hungry enemies should be fed, and so on. She once
found a miserable-looking man lying ill in a barn, so she had him taken up
and brought to the convent, where during the night he died. Next morning
she had a visit from the superintendent of police, who told her that she
was liable to arrest for sheltering a man who was wanted on a charge of arson.
"As you like, sir ", the Good Sister replied. "But allow me to point
out that I have only done what you would do yourself in the same circumstances.
I found this unfortunate man lying ill I took him in; and I looked
after him. Now he is dead. I'm quite ready to tell the magistrate
just what happened." This was very characteristic of St Elizabeth's simple
straightforwardness of action, the putting into effect of high ideals tenaciously
held.
Louis Veuillot, whatever objections can be brought against some of
his theology and politics, at any rate knew a saint when he saw one, and
he said of her, "She is one of the finest-tempered characters ever seen,
"gentle, resolute, strict, intelligent, industrious, but above all contrite
and humble. No difficulty daunts her courage, no lack of strength stops her
superhuman labours, no interior distress troubles her outward serenity, no
success puffs her up. Whatever happens, she remains undisturbed. Hardships,
setbacks, successes, respect, insults-they are all the same to the supreme
tranquillity that is rooted in an understanding that sees God in everything,
and so must obey."
The first biography of this saint
was written by Father L. Rigaud (translated into Italian in 1934) he
also wrote a life of St Andrew Fournet 1885), who is accounted co-founder
of the Daughters of the Cross. The most complete and fully documented biography
is that of Father Jules Saubat, but the most handy one is Ste Jeanne-Elisabeth Bichier des Ages,
by Father Etienne Domec (1947). An essay on the saint by Father Domec
appeared in La Vie Spirituelle, no.
320 (July 1947).
Born 1773 in the Chateau des Anges, near LeBlanc,
France (her father was lord
of the manor), she was sent at ten to a convent at Poitiers. On the death
of her father in 1792 she met St. Andrew Fournet who was trying to reestablish
his parish church at Maille and under his guidance she devoted herself to
teaching and caring for the sick and needy. After her mother died in 1804
she joined the Carmelites at Poitiers; eight months later, the Society of
Providence; in 1806 with four assistants who had been formed into a community
by Abbe Fournet she moved into Chateau de Molante near Maille and the Daughters
of the Cross also called the Sisters of St. Andrew came into being. The congregation
received diocesan approval in 1816 and spread rapidly. In Igon in the Basque
country she met Fr. Michael Garicoits spiritual adviser of the house there
and encouraged him in founding the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Betharram.
She was canonized in 1947.
|
1897 St. Teresa of
Jesus Jornet Ibars Foundress Little Sisters of the Poor
Born in Catalonia, Spain, she overcame many difficulties in her youth and
eventually became a teacher at Lerida. Desirous to enter the religious life,
she failed to win entry into the convent at the advice of her spiritual director,
decided to launch her own congregation. On January 27, 1872, at Barbastro,
Spain, she began the Little Sisters of the Poor, called the Little Sisters
of the Abandoned Age. Considerable zeal, she had founded by the time of death
more than fifty houses for her congregation. Beatified in 1958, she was canonized
in 1974 by Pope VI.
|
1942 Werner Sylten
Evangelische Kirche: 26. August
Werner Sylten wurde am 9.8.1893 in Hergiswyl in der Schweiz geboren. Er war
Pfarrer eines Mädchenerziehungsheims in Köstritz bei Gera. Wegen
seiner jüdischen Abstammung wurde er aus dem Pfarrdienst entlassen.
Nach längerer Arbeitslosigkeit erhielt er eine Stelle bei Pfarrer Heinrich
Grüber, der in Berlin ein Büro zur Unterstützung nichtarischer
Christen unterhielt. Sylten konnte hier vielen Verfolgten helfen. Zwei Monate
nachdem Heinrich Grübler verhaftet und nach Dachau gebracht worden war,
wurde auch Werner Sylten nach Dachau gebracht. Hier konnte er als Seelsorger
und Vermittler wirken. Trotz schwerer Folter und quälender Wunden meldete
er sich nicht krank. Es war allgemein bekannt, daß Krankmeldung letztlich
den sicheren Tod bedeutete. Schließlich mußte er doch in das
Krankenrevier gehen. Als er auf die Transportliste gesetzt wurde, konnte
Grüber ihn durch Bestechung retten. Kurze Zeit später stand er
aber erneut auf der Liste und wurde mit einem Invalidentransport nach Schloss
Hartenstein bei Linz gebracht und hier am 28.8.1942 ermordet.
Der Präsident der ersten Kirchenversammlung der evangelischen Kirche
nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg, Gustav Heinemann, nannte 10 Pfarrer, die in KZs
hingerichtet wurden: Treuherz Behrendt - Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Helmut Hesse
- Ernst Kasenzer - Justus Perels - Paul Richter - Paul Schneider - Ludwig
Steil - Werner Sylten - Friedrich Weißler. Diese Liste ist nicht fortgeführt
worden und insbesondere das Schicksal der Christen jüdischer Abstammung
ist bis heute nicht aufgearbeitet (vgl. das Buch von Ursula Büttner
und Martin Greschat: Die verlassenen Kinder der Kirche - Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht 1998).
Die evangelische Kirche und der Holocaust (Dokumente) .
|
Mary Mother of GOD 
Et álibi
aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum,
atque sanctárum Vírginum.
1542 The Pskov
Caves Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, named the "Tenderness"
is famous particularly for the defense of Pskov and the Pskov Caves monastery
from the army of Stephen Bathory in 1581. Its celebration is also on May
21, June 23 and October 7. The Tenderness Icon of the Mother of God
is of the Eleousa (Umilenie) type. 
supposed to manage. 
Canonized 5 November 1625 by Pope Urban VIII (
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.