St. Gaudentia
A virgin martyr of Rome
Item
Romæ sanctæ Gaudéntiæ, Vírginis et Mártyris,
cum áliis tribus. Also at Rome, St. Gaudentia, virgin
and martyr, with 3 others.
She was reportedly
martyred with three companions.
Gaudentia and Companions VV MM (RM) Date unknown. Some believe that Saint
Gaudentia, a virgin, was martyred with three other Christians at Rome; however,
the most ancient martyrologies do not include her among the martyrs (Benedictines).
|
250 Boniface and Thecla
and their 12 children were all martyred at Hadrumetum in Africa MM (RM)
Adruméti, in Africa, sanctórum Bonifátii et Theclæ,
qui beatórum duódecim filiórum Mártyrum paréntes
fuérunt.
At Adrumetum, also in Africa, the Saints Boniface and
Thecla, who were the parents of twelve blessed sons, all martyrs.
Saint Boniface, his wife Thecla, and their 12 children
were all martyred at Hadrumetum in Africa during the Decian persecution. Reconciling
the details of their acta is problematic. Some believe that the 12 children
may be the Twelve Holy Brothers (Benedictines). |
304
St. Felix priest and Adauctus Roman martyrs
<felix.jpg
Romæ, via Ostiénsi,
pássio beáti Felícis Presbyteri, sub Diocletiáno
et Maximiáno Imperatóribus. Hic, post
equúlei vexatiónem, data senténtia, cum ducerétur
ad decollándum, óbvius ei fuit quidam Christiánus, qui,
dum se Christiánum esse sponte profiterétur, mox cum eódem
páriter decollátus est; cujus nomen ignorántes, Christiáni
Adáuctum eum appellavérunt, eo quod sancto Felíci auctus
sit ad corónam.
adauctus.jpg>
At Rome, on the Ostian Way, martyrdom of the blessed priest Felix, under
Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. After being racked he was sentenced
to death, and as they led him to execution, he met a man who spontaneously
declared himself a Christian, and was forthwith beheaded with him.
The Christians, not knowing his name, called him Adauctus, because he was
added to St. Felix and shared his crown.
Felix
was a priest and Adauctus, which means “the added
one” is unknown. He was a bystander who died with Felix, impressed by his
courage. Felix and Adauctus MM (RM)
St. Felix was
a holy priest in Rome, no less happy in his life and virtue than in his name.
Being apprehended in the beginning of Diocletian's persecution, he was put
to the torture, which he suffered with constancy, and was condemned to lose
his head. As he was going to execution he was met by a stranger, who,
being a Christian, was so moved at the sight of the martyr and the glory
to which he was hastening that he cried out aloud, "I confess the same law
which this man professes; I confess the same Jesus Christ; and I also will
lay down my life in His cause The magistrates hearing this, caused him forthwith
to be seized, and the martyrs -were both beheaded together. The name of this
stranger not being known, he was called by Christians Adauctus, i.e. the
one added, because he was joined to Felix in martyrdom.
This story, with sundry legendary embellishments, is derived
from an inscription of Pope St Damasus, which ran: "0 how truly and rightly
named Felix, happy, you who, with faith untouched and despising the prince
of this world, have confessed Christ and sought the heavenly kingdom.
Know ye also, brethren, the truly precious faith by which Adauctus too hastened,
a victor, to Heaven." The priest Verus, at the command of his ruler
Damasus, restored the tomb, adorning the thresholds of the saints."
SS. Felix and Adauctus were buried in the cemetery of Commodilla on the Ostian
Way, where a church built over their tomb was uncovered in 1905.
As Felix and Adauctus, in cemetery
of Commodilla on the Ostian Way" are registered in the Depositio martyrum of 354, we have a
solid guarantee for their early cultus,
which is further confirmed by the Leonine
sacramentary and many other records. See the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xvi (1897),
pp. 17-43, and the discussions by de Rossi, Wilpert, Marucchi, Bonavenia,
etc., to which Delehaye gives references in CMH., pp. 476-478. The passio
is in the Acta Sanctorum, August,
vol. vi.
"Felix, truly and rightly named,
for you were happy to have confessed Christ and looked for the kingdom of
heaven, despising the prince of this world and departing with you faith unimpaired.
Adauctus, too, another conqueror, reveals, my brothers, the most precious
faith which hastened his journey to heaven."--inscription on the tomb of
Saints Felix and Adauctus.
The priest Felix, the "happy one," was apprehended in
Rome at the beginning of the Diocletian persecution and underwent cruel tortures
with admirable constancy. Eventually he was condemned to beheading. En route
to his place of execution, his coming martyrdom so excited a Christian stranger
that the bystander was unable to contain himself. He cried out, "I too follow
and believe the same commandments that this man professes; I too confess
the same Jesus Christ; and it is also my desire to lay down my life in this
cause." The magistrates seized him when they heard this and the two were
decapitated. The second was called "adauctus" or "the one added" because
his name was unknown. Both were reverently buried in the cemetery of Commodilla
on the Ostian Way. Later Pope Saint Damasus had their tomb restored and added
the inscription; Pope Saint Siricius added another epitaph. These martyrs
are commemorated in the Sacramentary of Saint Gregory the Great and many
ancient calendars, including the Deposito Martyrum (354). A church built
over their tomb was uncovered in 1905 (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney,
Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth) .
|
Tránsaquis, ad lacum Fúcinum, in
Marsis, natális quoque sanctórum Mártyrum Cæsídii
Presbyteri, et Sociórum; qui martyrio coronáti sunt in persecutióne
Maximíni.
Caesidius, priest, and his
companions, At Transaco,
in the Marches near Lake Fucino, the birthday of the holy martyrs who were
crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Maximinus.
|
Colóniæ Suffetulánæ,
in Africa, beatórum sexagínta Mártyrum, qui furóre
Gentílium cæsi sunt.
sixty blessed martyrs At Colonia Suffetulana in Africa
, who were murdered by the furious
heathen.
|
Tréviris item natális sancti Paulíni
Epíscopi, qui, témpore Ariánæ infestatiónis,
ab Ariáno Imperatóre Constántio ob cathólicam
fidem relegátus exsílio, et extra Christiánum nomen
usque ad mortem mutándo exsília fatigátus, tandem, apud
Phrygiam defúnctus, beátæ passiónis corónam
percépit a Dómino.
St. Paulinus, a bishop,
the birthday of
At Treves, who was exiled for
the Catholic faith by the Arian emperor Constantius, in the time of the Arian
persecution. By having to change the place of his exile, which was
beyond the limits of Christendom, he became wearied unto death, and finally,
dying in Phrygia, received a crown from the Lord for his blessed martyrdom.
|
5th v. Loarn of Downpatrick
disciple of Saint Patrick (AC)
Born in western Ireland, 5th century. Saint Loarn was a disciple of Saint
Patrick, whom some describe as a regionary bishop of Downpatrick (Benedictines).
|
410 Pammachius the Senator
Roman senator, proconsul, and scholar (RM)
Romæ sancti Pammáchii Presbyteri,
qui fuit doctrína et sanctitáte conspícuus.
At Rome, St
Pammachius, priest, who was noteworthy for learning and sanctity.
Died at Rome, Italy, in 410. The Roman senator, proconsul, and
scholar, Pammachius, belonged to the house of the Furii. In 385, he married
Paulina, the second daughter of Saint Paula. He spent much of his time in
study and religious affairs. He was a great friend of Saint Jerome, his former
school fellow.
PAMMACHIUS was distinguished alike as a saint, a Roman citizen,
a man of learning, and a friend of St Jerome, with whom he had studied in
his youth and maintained correspondence all his life. He belonged to
the house of the Furii and was a senator; in 385 he married Paulina, the
second daughter of St Paula, that other great friend of St Jerome.
Pammachius was probably one of the religious men who denounced to Pope St
Siricius a certain Jovinian, who maintained among other errors that all sins
and their punishments are equal; he certainly sent copies of the heretic's
writings to Jerome, who replied to them in a long treatise. This
reply did not meet with the entire approval of St Pammachius: he found its
language too strong (a failing to which Jerome was very inclined) and that
it contained exaggerated praise of virginity and depreciation of marriage;
so he wrote and told him so, and St Jerome replied in two letters, thanking
him for his interest and defending what he had written. Jovinian was
condemned in a synod at Rome and by St Ambrose at Milan, and nothing more
is heard of him; St Jerome wrote a few years later that he had "belched rather
than breathed out his life amidst pheasants and pork."
In 397 the wife
of St Pammachius died, and in a letter of sympathy St Paulinus of Nola wrote
to him: "Your wife is now a pledge and an intercessor for you with Jesus
Christ. She now obtains for you as many blessings in Heaven as you have offered
her treasures from hence: not honouring her memory with fruitless tears only,
but making her a partner of your charities. She is honoured by your
virtues; she is fed by the bread you have given to the poor"...St Jerome
wrote in the same strain.
Pammachius devoted the rest of his life to study and works of charity.
Together with St Fabiola he built at Porto a large hospice to shelter pilgrims
coming to Rome, especially the poor and the sick; this was the first institution
of its kind, technically called a xenodochium,
in the west, and received the hearty praise of St Jerome; Pammachius and
Fabiola spent much time thereat, personally looking after their guests. The
site of this building was discovered and its plan laid bare. In his devotion
to the suffering Pammachius was following in the footsteps of his dead wife
Paulina, and the blind, the incapacitated and the moneyless were declared
by St Jerome to be her heirs; he never went out into the streets but they
flocked around him, knowing well that they would not be turned away.
St Pammachius was greatly disturbed by the bitter
controversy between Jerome and Rufinus; he wrote to him urging that he should
undertake the translation of Origen's De
principiis, and gave Jerome very useful help in his controversial
writings: but abate the imprudence of expression of much of them he could
not. He also wrote to the people living on his estates in Numidia urging
them to abandon the Donatist schism and return to the Church, and this action
drew a letter of thanks from St Augustine at Hippo in 401.
Pammachius had a church in his
house on the Coelian hill, consequently called titulus Pammachii its site is now
occupied by the Passionist church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, beneath which
remains of the original house have been found. St Pammachius died in
410 at the time Alaric and the Goths captured Rome; he is often stated to
have been a priest but this does not seem to have been so. A fairly
complete account of Pammachius, compiled by Father John Pien, is printed
in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol.
vi. See also lives of St Jerome.
Pammachius was probably one of the religious men who denounced
to Pope Saint Siricius a certain
man named Jovinian, who maintained among other errors that all sins and their
punishments are equal; he certainly sent copies of the heretic's writings
to Jerome, who replied to them in a long treatise. This reply did not meet
with the entire approval of Saint Pammachius: he found its language too strong
(a failing to which Jerome was generally very inclined) and that it contained
exaggerated praise of virginity and depreciation of marriage; so he wrote
and told him so. Jerome replied in two letters, thanking him for his interest
and defending what he had written. Meanwhile, Jovinian was condemned at a
synod at Rome in 390 and by Archbishop Saint Ambrose of Milan.
When Paulina died in childbirth
in 397, Pammachius provided a banquet for all the poor of Rome following
her funeral Mass. He received a long letter of condolence from his friend
Saint Paulinus of Nola, who praised her goodness and her husband's faith
and fortitude. The letter ended: "Your spouse is now a pledge and a powerful
intercessor for you with Jesus Christ. She now obtains for you as many blessings
in heaven as you have sent her treasures [Masses] from hence, not honoring
her memory with fruitless tears, but making her partner of these living gifts
(i.e., by alms given for the repose of her soul); she is honored by the merit
of your virtues; she is fed by the bread you have given to the poor." Saint
Jerome tells us that Pammachius watered her ashes with the balm of alms and
mercy, which obtains the pardon of sins; that from the time of her death
he made the needy their coheirs.
Thus, Pammachius devoted the balance of his life to study, prayer,
and works of charity. (Some say that he donned the monastic habit and received
ordination to the presbyteriate, but this seems unlikely.) Together with
Saint Fabiola he built at Porto a large hospice to shelter pilgrims coming
to Rome, especially the poor and the sick. This was the first such enterprise
in the West. Pammachius and Fabiola spent much time there personally tending
to their guests.
Pammachius was enormously disturbed by the bitter controversy
between Jerome and Saint Rufinus over the teachings of Origen. He wrote to
Jerome urging him to undertake the translation of Origen's De principiis, and gave Jerome very useful
help in his controversial writings, but he could not convince Jerome to tone
down the language of his works.
Pammachius also wrote to the people living on his estates in Numidia
in North Africa to urge them to abandon the Donatist schism and return to
the Church. This action drew a letter of thanks from Saint Augustine in 401.
Pammachius converted his home on the Coelian Hill into the present Passionist
church of Saint John and Saint Paul, which was called the titulus Pammachii.
Remains of the original house have been found beneath the church (Attwater,
Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth, Walsh).
405 St. Pammachius
Roman senator and a friend of St. Jerome built a hospice at Porto for poor
and sick pilgrims coming to Rome (the first such in the West) and had a church
in his house (a site now occupied by the Passionists' SS. Peter and Paul
Church)
Of the Furii
family, Pammachius was a Roman senator and a friend of St. Jerome. Pammachius married St. Paula's daughter Paulina in 385. His denunciation
to Pope St. Siricius of Jovinian, who was later condemned at a synod at Rome,
and by St. Ambrose at Milan, caused
Jerome to write a treatise against Jovinian's teachings that Pammachius criticized,
which led to two more letters from Jerome defending his treatise.
Paulina died in 397, and Pammachius devoted
the rest of his life to study and charitable works. With Fabiola he built
a hospice at Porto for poor and sick pilgrims coming to Rome (the first such
in the West) and had a church in his house (a site now occupied by the Passionists'
SS. Peter and Paul Church). He often tried unsuccessfully, to tone down the
polemics of some of Jerome's controversial treatises and particularly the
bitterness of Jerome's controversy with Rufinus. Pammachius urged Jerome
to translate Origen's DE PRINCIPIIS, and Pammachius' letter to tenants on
his estate in Numidia in 401 to abandon Donatism evoked a letter of thanks
from St. Augustine. Pammachius died in Rome.
|
483 St. Rumon believed consecrated bishop by St.
Patrick
St Rumon, On
Ruan (Sixth Century?)
Before dissolution of the monasteries the Benedictine abbey
of Tavistock claimed to possess the relics of St Rumon, who in the beginning
of the 15th century was referred to by a monk of Glastonbury as a brother
of St Tudwal, bishop at Tréguier in the sixth century. This Rumon,
who gave their names to Romansleigh, Ruan Lanihorne, and other places in
Devon and Cornwall, has been believed to be the St Ronan venerated in Brittany.
Of his life there is likewise nothing known, though there is a story that
he had to defend himself from the charge of being a werewolf and carrying
off and eating a child this charge was made by a young woman who feared that
the missionary (from Ireland, it was said) would make her husband a monk.
Ronan's humanness was demonstrated by wolf-hounds, which refused to touch
him. Arguments against the identification of the British Rumon with the Breton
Ronan are very strong, but what does seem certain is that the legend of Ronan
was borrowed to do duty for the Rumon across the Channel. Canon Doble
adduces reasons for the suggestion that St Rumon and St Ken, who seems to
have been the founder of a monastery or hermitage at Street in Somerset,
were native monks of the British Glastonbury who went to make settlements
in the Dumnonian peninsula.
The best attempt to disentangle
the threads of this complicated problem is that of G. H. Doble in his Four Saints of the Fal (1930) and his
St Rumon and St Fonan (1939), wherein he translates the Vita Rurnonis (which may have emanated
from the Glasney college at Penryn) from the Gotha MS. The Breton Ronan's
biography is printed in the Bollandist catalogue of Paris hagiographical
Latin MSS., vol. i, pp. 438-458. Ernest Renan, as he told the Cambrian
Archaeological Association in 1889, claimed him as a patron "Vous connaissez
mon patron Saint Renan sous sa vraie forme Ronan (Locronan, les eaux de St
Renan, etc.). "C'etait un irlandais, un grand original." L. Gougaud
in Les saints irlandais hors d'Irlande
(1936), pp. 159-166, expresses the view Rumon and Ronan are not the same,
and Rumon was not of irish origin. For St Ronan, whose feast is on June 1,
see A. Thomas, S. Ronan et la Tronidnie (1893). The most recent work
on St Rumon is Fr P. Grosjean's long article in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxxi (1953),
pp. 359-414 it includes the text of the Gotha vita.
{387}
also known as Ruan, Ronan, and Ruadan, was probably a brother of Bishop St.
Tudwal of Trequier, but nothing else is known of him beyond that he was probably
an Irish missionary and many churches in Devon and Cornwall in England were
named after him. Some authorities believed he is the same as the St. Ronan
(June 1) venerated in Brittany and believed consecrated bishop by St. Patrick,
but others believe that he and St. Kea were British monks who founded a monastery
at Street Somerset.
Rumon (Ruan) (AC) 6th century.
This patron of the abbey of Tavistock and Romansleigh in Devonshire, and
of Ruan Lanihorne, Ruan Major and Minor in Cornwall is reputed to have been
a brother of Saint Tudwal. William of Malmesbury tells us that his vita was
destroyed by the wars, but that Rumon was a bishop of an unidentified see.
About this time a well- meaning canon provided a vita from Rumon by taking
an abbreviated life of the Breton Saint Ronan and changing the name to Rumon
throughout. It does, however, describe the translation of Rumon's relics
on January 5, 981, from Ruan Lanihorne, a Celtic monastery and the most ancient
center of his cultus, to Tavistock. Saint Rumon was highly venerated at Tavistock,
the earl Ordulf built a church under his invocation in the 10th century and
requested his relics, which remained there throughout the Middle Ages. Glastonbury
also claimed Rumon's relics. He may have been a monk at Glastonbury, who
founded a monastery on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall. Also venerated
in Norwich and Ramsey (Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
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5th v. St. Loaran bishop Irish disciple of St. Patrick He is sometimes
listed as the bishop of Downpatrick,
Ireland.
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950 St. Pelagius,
Arsenius, and Sylvanus Martyrs in Spain put to death by Moors
According to tradition, they were hermits who resided in the area around
Burgos, in Old Castile, who were put to death by Moors. They are revered
in Burgos.
Pelagius, Arsenius, and Silvanus MM (AC) Died at Burgos, Old Castile, c.
950. According to an old tradition, these hermits were killed by Saracens.
Their cell became the foundation of the Benedictine abbey of Artanza. They
are still highly venerated in the province of Burgos (Benedictines)
. |
650 St. Agilus abbot
of Rebais near Paris advice of Saint Columbanus parents consecrated
him to God
Also called Ayeul, a missionary and abbot. He was from a noble family and
educated St. Columbanus at Luxeuil, France. He also served as missionary
in the region of Bavaria, Germany.
Agilus ended his career as the abbot of Rebais near Paris.
Agilus of Rebais, Abbot (AC) (also known as Aile, Ail, Aisle, Ayeul, Ely)
Born c. 580; died 650. Saint Agilus, son of Childebert II's courtier Agnoald,
followed the models of virtue found in his family. Upon the advice of Saint
Columbanus, his parents consecrated him to God in the monastery of Luxeuil.
After his father's death, Saint Columbanus had no defender in the Austrasian
court leaving the way open for Brunehault to persecute the saint for refusing
admittance of women into his monastery.
Saint Agilus intervened by seeking an audience with King Thierry and convinced
him to leave the monks in peace. Eventually, however, Columbanus was forced
out and made his way to Bobbio, Italy. Saint Agilus remained at Luxeuil even
after Saint Eustatius succeeded its founder. After studying Scripture and
the ways to Christian perfection, he and Saint Eustatius responded to the
call of the bishops for evangelists to preach the Gospel in Bavaria. After
a successful mission, Saint Agil returned to France and resumed his penitential
exercises, until he was called to undertake the governance of the monastery
of Rebais in diocese of Meaux near Paris, founded by Saint Ouen, where he
was abbot until death (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
|
670 St.
Fiacre Abbot; hermit; cured all manner of diseases
In
território Meldénsi sancti Fiácrii Confessóris.
In diocese of Meaux St. Fiacre confessor.
Catholic Encyclopedia:
born in Ireland about the end of
the sixth century; died 18 August, 670. Having been ordained priest, he retired
to a hermitage on the banks of the Nore of which the townland Kilfiachra,
or Kilfera, County Kilkenny, still preserves the memory. Disciples flocked
to him, but, desirous of greater solitude, he left his native land and arrived,
in 628, at Meaux, where St. Faro then held episcopal sway. He was generously
received by Faro, whose kindly feelings were engaged to the Irish monk for
blessings which he and his father's house had received from the Irish missionary
Columbanus. Faro granted him out of his own patrimony a site at Brogillum
(Breuil) surrounded by forests. Here Fiacre built an oratory in honour of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, a hospice in which he received strangers, and a
cell in which he himself lived apart. He lived a life of great mortification,
in prayer, fast, vigil, and the manual labour of the garden. Disciples gathered
around him and soon formed a monastery.
There is a legend that St. Faro allowed him as much land as he might surround
in one day with a furrow; that Fiacre turned up the earth with the point
of his crosier, and that an officious woman hastened to tell Faro that he
was being beguiled; that Faro coming to the wood recognized that the wonderworker
was a man of God and sought his blessing, and that Fiacre henceforth excluded
women, on pain of severe bodily infirmity, from the precincts of his monastery.
In reality, the exclusion of women was a common rule in the Irish foundations.
His fame for miracles was widespread. He cured all manner of diseases by
laying on his hands; blindness, polypus, fevers are mentioned, and especially
a tumour or fistula since called "le fic de S. Fiacre".
His remains were interred in the church at Breuil, where his sanctity was
soon attested by the numerous cures wrought at his tomb. Many churches and
oratories have been dedicated to him throughout France. His shrine at Breuil
is still a resort for pilgrims with bodily ailments. In 1234 his remains
were placed in a shrine by Pierre, Bishop of Meaux, his arm being encased
in a separate reliquary. In 1479 the relics of Sts. Fiacre and Kilian were
placed in a silver shrine, which was removed in 1568 to the cathedral church
at Meaux for safety from the destructive fanaticism of the Calvinists. In
1617 the Bishop of Meaux gave part of the saint's body to the Grand Duke
of Tuscany, and in 1637 the shrine was again opened and part of the vertebrae
given to Cardinal Richelieu. A mystery play of the fifteenth century celebrates
St. Fiacre's life and miracles. St. John of Matha, Louis XIII, and Anne of
Austria were among his most famous clients. He is the patron of gardeners.
The French cab derives its name from him. The Hôtel de St-Fiacre, in
the Rue St-Martin, Paris, in the middle of the seventeenth century first
let these coaches on hire. The sign of the inn was an image of the saint,
and coaches in time became called by his name
.
|
980 Saint
Fantinus of Calabria monk in Calabria at the Basilian monastery of Saint
Mercury Abbot moved to Salonika, where his miracles and virtues made him
famous
Thessalonícæ sancti Fantíni Confessóris, qui,
multa a Saracénis perpéssus, atque e monastério, in
quo abstinéntia víxerat admirábili, expúlsus,
demum, cum plúrimos ad viam salútis perduxísset, in
senectúte bona quiévit.
At Thessalonica, St. Fantinus, confessor, who suffered
much from the Saracens, and was driven from his monastery, in which he had
lived in great abstinence. After having brought many to the way of
salvation, he rested at last at an advanced age.
Tenth Century St Fantinus, Abbot
This Fantinus is said to have been abbot of the Greek monastery of St Mercury
in Calabria. After some years he claimed that the voice of God was
telling him to leave the monastery and he accordingly did so, wandering about
the countryside from place to place, sleeping in the open, and living on
fruit and herbs. When he came to a church or monastery he lamented and prophesied
woe; when he met a monk he wept over him as though he were a dead man.
When his friends, much upset by this strange behaviour, tried to induce him
to return to the monastery, he only replied that there would soon be no monastery
to return to and that he would die in a foreign land. In due course
the Saracens devastated Calabria, the monastery of St Mercury was destroyed,
and St Fantinus with two disciples went overseas and landed in the Peloponnesus.
He lived for a time at Corinth and at Larissa in Thessaly, and then moved
to Salonika, where his miracles and virtues made him famous.
Here he died.
Not much that is reliable is known
of this saint, though the Bollandists have devoted a few pages to him in
the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol.
vi. It is apparently this Fantinus who figures in the Constantinople
synaxaries on November 14; though in an Italo-Greek synaxary he is assigned
to August 30. See J. Rendel Harris, Further Researches into the Ferrar
Group (1900), with Delehaye's comments in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxi (1902);
pp. 23-28. The story seems to be nothing but legend and confusion, including
possibly confusion between two holy men, both named Fantinus.
Saint Fantinus was a monk in Calabria at the Basilian monastery
of Saint Mercury. He was an old man when his monastery was destroyed by the
Saracens, but he fled to the East and died there (Benedictines) .
|
1026
St. Bononius Benedictine missionary and abbot preach in Egypt and Syria
Bonóniæ
sancti Bonónii Abbátis. At Bologna, St. Bononius,
abbot.
A disciple
of St. Romuald in Bologna, Italy. He was sent by Romuald to preach
in Egypt and Syria. After this mission duty, Bononius became the abbot of
the Benedictine abbey of Lucedo, in the Piedmont area of Italy.
Bononius of Locedio, OSB Cam. Abbot (RM) Born in Bologna, Italy. Bononius,
a Benedictine monk of Saint Stephen's in his hometown, became a disciple
of Saint Romuald. After preaching the Gospel in Syria and Egypt, he became
superior of the monastery of Lucedio in the Piedmont, Italy (Encyclopedia)
. |
1050 St. Peter of Trevi
Peacher and confessor a brilliant preacher among the peasant communities
of Anagni, Subiaco, and Tivoli. He died while still a young man, at Trevi,
near Subiaco
Trebis, in Látio, sancti Petri Confessóris, qui, multis clarus
virtútibus et miráculis, ibídem migrávit ad Dóminum,
et honorífice cólitur.
At Trevi in Lazio, St. Peter, confessor, who was distinguished
for many virtues and miracles. He is honoured in that place from which
he departed for heaven.
Born at Carsoli, Italy, Peter entered
the priesthood and was ordained a priest, soon distinguishing himself as
a brilliant preacher among the peasant communities of Anagni, Subiaco, and
Tivoli. He died still a young man, at Trevi, near Subiaco.
1060 Saint Peter of Trevi successfully
preached to the country folk in the areas of Tivoli, Anagni, and Subiaco
(RM)
Born at Carsoli, diocese of Marsi, Italy; died at Trevi, c. ; canonized in
1215. After his ordination, Saint Peter successfully preached to the country
folk in the areas of Tivoli, Anagni, and Subiaco. He died at a young age
(Benedictines) .
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1259 Blessed Bronislava
of Poland cousin of the Dominican Saint Hyacinth of Poland O.Praem. V (AC)
Bd Bronislava, Virgin
It is related that Bd Bronislava was a cousin of St Hyacinth, and that on the day of his
death she saw our Lady in vision receive him into Heaven. She had joined
the Norbertine nuns near Cracow when she was about twenty-five years old,
and for some time led the ordinary life of her order. But her gift
of contemplation and consequent love of solitude were so great that she was
allowed to withdraw for long periods to a cell in a cave not far from the
monastery, and was eventually permitted to live there permanently as a solitary.
After death on January 18, 1259, her body was buried in the
convent church. When buildings were destroyed by warfare it was lost but
in the seventeenth century the relics were discovered again, and carried
from church to church throughout Poland for the veneration of the people.
The cultus of Bd Bronislava was recognized
in 1839, and her feast is observed by the Premonstratensian canons regular.
Most of the accounts of this rather
obscure beata seem to be written
either in Polish or in Flemish (Brabant being at present the stronghold of
the Premonstratensian Order) but there are short lives published in
French by Flambeau (1897) and Van Spielbeeck (1886).Bronislava is also one of the three holy
people whose story is told by J. Chrzaszcz in Drei schlesische Landesheilige (1897).
Cultus confirmed in 1839.
Bronislava, a cousin of the Dominican Saint
Hyacinth of Poland, was a Premonstratensian nun who later became a
hermit (Benedictines) .
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1588 Margaret Ward one
of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales M (RM)
Born at Congleton, Cheshire, England; died August 30, 1588; beatified in
1929; canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England
and Wales. The gentlewoman Margaret was serving as a companion in the home
of the Whittle family in London when she was arrested together with her servant,
Blessed John Roche, for helping Father Richard (William?) Watson to escape
from Bridewell Prison. She had smuggled a rope into the priest's cell so
that he might climb down from the roof. He was injured, but did escape with
the help of John Roche. The rope was traced back to Margaret, who was severely
tortured. They were tried at the Old Bailey on August 29, and offered their
freedom if they would reveal the whereabouts of Watson and convert to the
Protestant faith. Upon refusing, they were hanged, drawn, and quartered at
Tyburn, together with a priest and three other laymen (Benedictines, Delaney,
Farmer, Kalberer).
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1588
Blessed John Roche refused conditions executed M (AC)
Died August 30, 1588; beatified in 1929. John Roche (alias Neale), the Irish
manservant of Saint Margaret Ward. She smuggled a rope into Bridewell Prison
to assist Father Richard Watson in escaping. The priest broke an arm and
a leg in the process. John Roche exchanged clothes with the priest, who managed
to get away, but was himself arrested. John and his mistress were promised
immunity if they were reveal the priest's hiding place and renounce their
faith. They refused both conditions and were executed (Benedictines, Delaney,
Montague).
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1588 Bl. Edward
Shelley English martyr of Warminghurst sheltered priests
He sheltered priests and was hung at Tyburn. Edward was beatified in 1929.
Blessed Edward Shelley M (AC); beatified in 1929. Edward Shelley, a gentleman
of Warminghurst in Sussex, England, was hanged at Tyburn for giving refuge
to priests (Benedictines).
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1588
Bl. Richard Leigh English priest martyr
Born in London, circa 1561, he studied at Reims and Rome and was ordained in 1586. Returning to England, he was
arrested and banished. He returned and was again arrested for being a priest
and, with Blesseds Richard Martin,
Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward, was executed at Tybum.
Richard was beatified in 1929. Blessed Richard Leigh and Richard Martin
MM (AC)
Died at Tyburn, England, August 30, 1588; beatified in 1929. Richard Leigh,
a native of London, was educated at Rheims and Rome and ordained in 1586.
The gentleman Richard Martin haled from Shropshire and was educated at Broadgates
Hall, Oxford. They were martyr with four others, including Blessed John Roche
and Saint Margaret Ward. Leigh suffered for being a priest; Martin for harboring
God's servants (Benedictines).
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1588 St. Richard
Martin English martyr shelter to priests
Born in Shropshire, he studied at Oxford and was a devout Catholic. Arrested
for giving shelter to priests, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum
with Blesseds Richard Leigh, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers,
and St. Margaret Ward. He was beatified in 1929.
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1617 St. Rose
of Lima patroness of Latin America and the Philippines
miracles followed
her death
Sanctæ Rosæ a Sancta
María, e tértio Ordine sancti Domínici, Vírginis;
cujus dies natális nono Kaléndas Septémbris recensétur.
The feast
of St. Rose of St. Mary, virgin of the Third Order of St. Dominic, whose
birthday is recalled on the 24th of August.
Virgin, born at Lima,
Peru 20 April, 1586; died there 30 August, 1617.
ST ROSE OF LIMA, VIRGIN
ASIA, Europe and Africa had been watered with the blood of many
martyrs and adorned for ages with the shining example of innumerable saints,
whilst the vast regions of America lay barren till the faith of Christ began
to enlighten them in the sixteenth century, and this maiden appeared in that
land like a rose amidst thorns, the first-fruits of its canonized saints.
She was of Spanish extraction, born at Lima, the capital of Peru, in 1584.
Her parents, Caspar de Flores Maria del Oliva, being decent folk of moderate
means. She was christened Isabel but was commonly called Rose, and
she was confirmed by St Toribio, Archbishop of Lima, in that name only.
When she was grown up, she seems to have taken St Catherine of Siena
for her model, in spite of the objections and ridicule of her parents and
friends. One day her mother having put on her head a garland of flowers,
to show her off before some visitors, she stuck in it a pin so deeply that
she could not take off the garland without some difficulty. Hearing
others frequently commend her beauty, and fearing lest it should be an occasion
of temptation to anyone, she used to rub her face with pepper, in order to
disfigure her skin with blotches. A woman happening cne day to admire
the fineness of the skin of her hands and her shapely fingers, she rubbed
them with lime and was unable to dress herself for a month in consequence.
By these and other even more surprising austerities she armed herself against
external danger and against the insurgence of her own senses.
But she knew that this would avail her little unless she banished from her
heart self-love, which is the source of pride and seeks itself even in fasting
and prayer. Rose triumphed over this enemy by humility, obedience
and denial of her own will. She didn't scruple to oppose her parents when
she thought they were mistaken, but never wilfully disobeyed them or departed
from scrupulous obedience and patience under all trouble and contradictions,
of which she experienced more than enough from those who did not understand
her.
Her parents having been reduced to straitened circumstances
by an unsuccessful mining venture, Rose by working all day in the garden
and late at night with her needle relieved their necessities.
These employments were agreeable to her, and she probably would never have
entertained any thoughts of a different life if her parents had not tried
to induce her to marry. She had to struggle with them over this for
ten years, and to strengthen herself in her resolution she took a vow of
virginity. Then, having joined the third order of St Dominic, she chose
for her dwelling a little hut in the garden, where she becamepractically
a recluse.
She wore upon her head a thin circlet of silver, studded on the inside
with little sharp prickles, like a crown of thorns. So ardent was her
love of God that as often as she spoke of Him the tone of her voice and the
fire which sparkled in her face showed the flame which consumed her soul.
This appeared most openly when she was in presence of the Blessed Sacrament
and when in receiving It she united her heart to her beloved in that fountain
of His love.
God favoured St
Rose with many great graces, but she also suffered during fifteen years persecution
from her friends and others, and the even more severe trial of interior desolation
and anguish in her soul. The Devil also assaulted her with violent
temptations, but the only help she got from those she consulted was the recommendation
to eat and sleep more ; at length she was examined by a commission of priests
and physicians, who decided that her experiences, good and bad, were supernatural.
But it is permissible to think that some of them, if correctly reported,
were due to natural physical and psychological causes.
The last three years of her life were spent under the roof of Don
Goazalo de Massa, a government official, and his wife, who was fond of Rose.
In their house she was stricken by her last illness, and under long and painful
sickness it was her prayer, "Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them
increase thy love in my heart".
She died August 24, 1617, thirty-one years old. The chapter, senate,
and other honourable corporations of the city carried her body by turns to
the grave. She was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671, being the first
canonized saint of the New World.
The mode of life and ascetical practices of St Rose
of Lima are suitable only for those few whom God calls to them; the ordinary
Christian may not seek to copy them, but must look to the universal spirit
of heroic sanctity behind them, for all the saints, whether in the world,
in the desert or in the cloister, studied to live every moment to God. If
we have a pure intention of always doing His will we thus consecrate to Him
all our time, even our meals, our rest, our conversation and whatever else
we do all our works will thus be full.
The Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. v, after
referring to one or two earlier lives of St Bose, in particular that of John
de Vargas Machuca in Spanish, and that of D. M. Marchese in Italian, elected
to print entire the Latin biography of the saint by Fr Leonard Hansen, O.P.
This has been the backbone of nearly all that has been subsequently written
about her. Moreover, it is supplemented in the Acta Sanctorum by the text of Clement
X's very ample bull of canonization, which gives full details both of the
life of the saint and of her miracles. In English we have in the Oratorian
series a translation of a seventeenth-century French life by J. Fl Feuillet,
and an attractive sketch by F. M. Capes, The Flown of the New World Rose of America (1943) is spoiled by
too much "sweetness". See also Vicomte de Bussière, Le Perou et Ste Rose de Lima (1863);
Mortier, Maitres Généraux O.P., vol. vii, pp. 76 seq., and the Monumenta OP. Historica, vol. xiii, pp.
22 seq. There are several recent books in Spanish ; and see Sheila Kaye-Smith,
Quartet in Heaven (1952).
(1899); Sara Maynard's attempt to popularize the saint.
This South American Saint's
real name was Isabel, but she was such a beautiful baby that she was called
Rose, and that name remained. As she grew older, she became more and more
beautiful, and one day, her mother put a wreath of flowers on her head to
show off her loveliness to friends. But Rose had no desire to be admired,
for her heart had been given to Jesus. So she put a long pin into that wreath
and it pierced her so deeply, that she had a hard time getting the wreath
off afterward. Another time she became afraid that her beauty might be a
temptation to someone, since people could not take their eyes off her. Therefore,
she rubbed her face with pepper until it was all red and blistered.
St. Rose worked hard to support her poor parents and she humbly
obeyed them, except when they tried to get her to marry. That she would not
do. Her love of Jesus was so great that when she talked about Him, her face
glowed and her eyes sparkled.
Rose had many temptations from the devil, and there were also
many times when she had to suffer a feeling of terrible loneliness and sadness,
for God seemed far away. Yet she cheerfully offered all these troubles to
Him. In fact, in her last long, painful sickness, this heroic young woman
use to pray: "Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love
in my heart."
Many miracles followed her death. She was beatified by Clement
IX, in 1667, and canonized in 1671 by Clement X, the first American to be
so honoured. She is represented wearing a crown of roses.
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1879 St. Jeanne Jugan ( Sister Mary of the Cross) developed special love for aged, particularly
poor widows; At age 47 several other
women moved into Jeanne’s home, where they became an informal prayer community
and eventually elected Jeanne as superior. They supported themselves through
domestic work; in their free time they catechized children and aided the
poor as best they could. Over time the community came to be known as the
congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Their members, who begged
for the needs of the elderly in their care, took vows of poverty, chastity,
obedience and hospitality.
(1792-1879)
Being of humble origins needn’t keep us from doing great things for God.
Blessed Jeanne Jugan is proof of that.
Born to a poor family in Brittany, France, she learned the meaning of hard
work at an early age. She also learned the beauty of the faith passed on
to her by her widowed mother. At the age of 16, Jeanne became a kitchen maid
for a family whose mistress often took the young girl on visits to the sick
and poor.
Over time Jeanne developed a
special love for the aged, particularly poor widows.
She did hospital work and domestic
service for years. At age 47 several other women moved into Jeanne’s home,
where they became an informal prayer community and eventually elected Jeanne
as superior. They supported themselves through domestic work; in their free
time they catechized children and aided the poor as best they could. Over
time the community came to be known as the congregation of the Little Sisters
of the Poor. Their members, who begged for the needs of the elderly in their
care, took vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and hospitality.
A benefactor provided the growing community of women with a convent;
other houses were soon established. Members begged for the needs of the elderly
in their care and ate only leftovers. Sister Mary of the Cross, as she was
known, proved to be a talented organizer and fundraiser, but jealousies and
squabbles forced her to step down as superior. Her spiritual director instructed
her to “remain in a hidden life behind the walls of the motherhouse.” Her
last 27 years were spent in obscurity. She quietly supervised the manual
work of the postulants, who were unaware of the real story behind the humble,
elderly nun who loved and encouraged them. She lived to see Pope Leo XIII approve the constitutions
for the Little Sisters of the Poor in 1879. But Jeanne Jugan was not officially
recognized as the founder of the congregation until 14 years after her death.
Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1982. Quote: Charles Dickens, a
contemporary of Jeanne Jugan, said of her: “There is in this woman something
so calm, and so holy, that in seeing her I know myself to be in the presence
of a superior being. Her words went straight to my heart, so that my eyes,
I know not how, filled with tears.”
Humility Made Sister Jugan a Saint Little Sisters of the Poor Founder to
Be Canonized Sunday
Por Carmen Elena Villa VATICAN CITY, OCT. 8, 2009 Zenit.org
Blessed Marie de la Croix Jugan never sought worldly recognition, not even
to be known as the founder of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the
Poor. On Sunday, 10/9/11 however, she will be recognized worldwide
as a saint in a canonization ceremony celebrated in Rome by Benedict XVI.
"The true measure of sanctity is humility," she constantly repeated, quoting
St. John Eudes, for whom she had a great devotion in her earthly life.
The town of Cancale in northern France, on the coast of Brittany, is where
Jeanne Jugan was born in 1792. Her childhood was not easy. In addition
to the historical context in which she grew up -- the French Revolution broke
out three years before her birth -- her family had many financial difficulties.
Her father, a simple fisherman, disappeared at sea when she was four years
old. "This death marked her also in the area of acceptance of suffering and
sensitivity for those who suffer," the postulator of her canonization cause,
Spanish Dominican Father Vito Gomez, told ZENIT.
At age 16, she took a job as a kitchen maid, something she continued to do
for nine years. "She worked hard, and in that work forged a very solid personality,"
said Father Vito.
He noted that Blessed Jugan's spirituality was centered on Christ. She read
and meditated on the writings of some of the French masters of spirituality,
such as St. Francis de Sales and St. Vincent de Paul. This enhanced her special
devotion to the Eucharist and to the Virgin Mary.
Charity
Jeanne Jugan was anxious to serve the poorest. She invited beggars into her
home and even gave them her bed. "I would say that this virtue of charity
is like the constellation around which all her other virtues rotated," noted
Father Vito.
On Oct. 15, 1840 she decided to found a small charitable association headed
by a parish priest, Father Augusto Le Pailleur, vicar of Saint-Servan. From
this community was born the Congregation of the Little
Sisters of the Poor.
The first young women made their
vows of obedience on December 8, 1842.
This new community lived with the objective of "participating
in the happiness of spiritual poverty, directed to total despoliation which
raises the soul to God," as its constitution directs.
The community elected her as its first superior, a post she held for only
two weeks as Father Le Pailleur decided to revoke the election. Years later
the priest ordered her to live a more retired life, involved only in domestic
tasks, and removed from her benefactors, a decision she accepted without
protest. She lived in this way for 27 years.
"She put into practice the dictum that 'your left hand should not know what
your right hand is doing,' to the point of disappearing into the group of
which she was really the founder," said the postulator.
Blessed Marie de la Croix, as she was called after entering religious life,
died in August 1879 when the congregation had some 2,488 women religious
and 177 homes for the elderly. Months earlier, Pope Leo XIII had approved the congregation's
statutes.
The future saint was recognized as the official founder of the Little Sisters
of the Poor only at the beginning of the 20th century, when members of the
order decided to write the history of the community, said Father Vito.
"She never rebelled against her marginalization; on the contrary, she dedicated
herself more intensely to her congregation," the priest affirmed.
Be little
Blessed Jugan left nothing in writing; instead, she repeated words that today
illuminate the charism of the Little Sisters of the Poor.
She would say: "Jesus awaits you
in the chapel. Go to meet him when you are at the limit of your patience
and strength, when you feel alone and weak."
The founder urged her sisters:
"Tell him: 'You know what is happening to me, good Jesus. I have nothing
else but you. Come to my help [...].' And then go. And don't be worried about
what you will do. It is enough that you spoke about it to the good God. He
has a good memory!"
Today the Little Sisters of the Poor
are active in 31 countries worldwide. In addition to vows of poverty, chastity
and obedience, they dedicate their lives to caring for the elderly.
In this way, they aim to transmit their joy and spirituality as well as to
learn from the wisdom of those who are in the last stage of their lives,
preparing them for their encounter with God in eternity. The congregation's
statutes affirm, "To be a Little Sister of the Poor reminds us of our desire
to always go out to the poorest, to create a current of apostolic collaboration
and fraternal charity to help Christ in the poor."
In the homily at Blessed Jugan's
beatification in 1982, Pope John Paul II
told the sisters: "Be little, very little! Guard that spirit of humility
and simplicity! If we were to think that we are something, the congregation
would no longer bless the good God, it would be our end."
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1869 St. Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran Narcisa de
Jesús Martillo (Narcisa de Jesús Martillo y Morán; 29
October 1832 – 8 December 1869) is a saint from Nobol, Ecuador. She was a
laywoman known for her charitable giving and strict devotion, becoming a
consecrated virgin. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 25,
1992 and canonized on October 12, 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI. Today her body
lies in repose at the Santuario de Santa Narcisa de Jesus Martillo y Morán
in Nobol, Ecuador.
1832-1869
Orphaned at an early age, Narcisa Martillo Moran, of Nobol, Ecuador, worked
as a seamstress to contribute to the support of
her brothers and sisters. Supported by the guidance of several spiritual
directors, she resolved to consecrate her virginity to Christ and to spend
the rest of her life offering prayers and penances to God in expiation for
mankind’s sins. Although she remained a laywoman, Narcisa followed a demanding
daily schedule of eight hours of prayer, offered in silence and solitude.
In addition to imposing upon herself an austere diet and very humble living
quarters, she devoted four hours of the night to various forms of mortification,
including the wearing of a crown of thorns. Narcisa was frequently seen in
a state of ecstasy. She spent the concluding months of her life in Lima,
Peru, where she died on December 8, 1869 at the age of thirty-seven.
Canonization
Following Narcisa's death, the city of Lima acclaimed her as a saint, as
did the people of Guayaquil and Nobol. The Dominican sisters of Patrocinio
venerated her by guarding the memory of her virtues and careful preservation
of her body. In 1955, her practically uncorrupted body was transferred from
Peru to Guayaquil, and in 1972 her remains were returned to Nobol. The documents
of the diocesan process of canonization were handed over to the Congregation
for the Causes of Saints in 1964. Pope John Paul II beatified her on October
25, 1992. On August 22, 1998, a shrine in her honour was dedicated in Nobol,
where her uncorrupt body remains to this day.
On January 19, 2007, the Congregation voted in favor of recognizing a miracle
that took place through the then Blessed Narcisa’s intercession, an important
step in the canonization process. The case that was brought forth was that
of Edelmina Arellano, who was cured from a congenital defect in 1992 and
was determined to be “unforeseen, complete, lasting, and scientifically inexplicable.”
Edelmina was born without genital organs, and at the age of 7 she was inexplicably
cured after her mother took her to the shrine dedicated to Narcisa and prayed
for her intercession. Later the same day, the child had an appointment with
her doctor who testified that, suddenly and without any medical explanation,
the girl was completely normal.
Pope Benedict XVI canonized her on October 12, 2008.
Biography
Narcisa de Jesús Martillo was born on October 29, 1832 in the small
village of St. Joseph in Nobol, Daule, Ecuador. She was the sixth of nine
children born to Peter Martillo and Josephine Morán, who were wealthy
landowners. Her mother died in 1838 when she was the age of six and as result
took up much of the domestic chores. She had a clear perception of her call
to sanctity from an early age and was confirmed on September 16, 1839 at
the age of seven. She frequented a small wood near her home for prayer and
contemplation in solitude. The guayabo tree near which she prayed, is today
the destination for large pilgrimages. She chose Saint Mariana de Jesus
as her patron with whom she identified and strived to imitate.
After her father died in 1852, Narcisa moved to Guayaquil at the age of 19
where she lived with a very prominent family. It is here where Narcisa began
her mission of helping the poor and the sick and caring for abandoned children.
She took a job as a seamstress to fund her mission as well as supporting
her eight brothers and sisters. Narcisa then moved to the city of Cuenca
where she went from home to home, living with whoever would take her including
the Blessed Mercedes de Jesús Molina to allow herself greater privacy
for prayer and penance.
In June 1868, Narcisa moved to Lima, Peru at the advise of a Franciscan,
where she lived as a lay person in the Dominican convent of Patrocinio. Here,
Narcisa followed a demanding daily schedule of eight hours of prayer, offered
in silence and solitude. In addition, she devoted four hours of the
night to various forms of mortification, including flagellation and the wearing
of a crown of thorns. She fasted on bread and water and took the Eucharist
as her only forms of sustenance and was frequently seen in a state of ecstasy.
Towards the end of 1869, Narcisa developed high fevers for which medical
remedies could do little. She died on December 8, 1869.
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Mary Mother of GOD 
384 Pope
Saint Damasus I commissioned Saint Jerome
to translate Scriptures in Latin
20 February, 1878; 20 July, 1903; Pope
Leo XIII Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele
Luigi Pecci doctorate of theology; 
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.