Called in the Gospel “the Mother of Jesus,” Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the Mother of my Lord” (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos). 
“The Blessed Virgin was eternally predestined, in conjunction with the incarnation of the divine Word, to be the Mother of God. By decree of divine Providence, she served on earth as the loving mother of the divine Redeemer, an associate of unique nobility, and the Lord's humble handmaid. She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ.”

THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI

   THE saints and just, from the beginning of time and throughout the world, who have been made perfect, everlasting monuments of God’s infinite power and clemency, praise His goodness without ceasing; casting their crowns before His throne they give to Him all the glory of their triumphs: “His gifts alone in us He crowns.”

The POPES HTML
Pius IX 1846--1878 • Leo XIII 1878-1903 • Pius X 1903-1914• Benedict XV 1914-1922 • Pius XI 1922-1939 • Pius XII 1939-1958 • John XXIII 1958-1963 • Paul VI 1963 to 1978 • John Paul • John Paul II 10/16/1975-4/2/2005 Benedict XVI

<1061-1073 Pope Alexander II Anselm of Lucca, a leader of the reform party
"The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious."  1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina Paul VI_Athenagoras_05_01_1964
 “To withdraw into the desert is for Christians tantamount to associating themselves more intimately with Christ’s passion, and it enables them, in a very special way, to share in the paschal mystery and in the passage of Our Lord from this world to the heavenly homeland” (#1).                                    Benedict_XVI_Patriarch_Bartholomew

Benedict XVI_Archbishop_Hilarion
Benedict XVI receives Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion n September 18th, Pope Benedict XVI;  Archbishop Hilarion, president of the Department for External Church Affairs of the Patriarchate of Moscow.
The Orthodox Archbishop is currently visiting the Vatican at the invitation of Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
This Pontifical Council underlined that the visit will confirm the ties of friendship between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, with a view to closer collaboration and to favor the presence of the Church in the lives of the peoples of Europe and the world.
In addition, a further step in ecumenical relations is scheduled for the month of October in Cyprus: the meeting of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, which will address the theme of Petrine Primacy.
Aram I Catholicos
Our meeting is an opportunity to pray and reflect together, and to renew our commitment and efforts for Christian unity.
Armenian church members from all over the world join with Catholicos in making pilgrimages to Rome.

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY  PSALM 70

In thee, O Lady, have I hoped: let me never be confounded: in thy mercy deliver me and free me.
Because of the multitude of my iniquities: I am vehemently oppressed.
Mine enemies have acted above my head: they have mocked me and derided me day by day.
See, O Lady, how I am troubled: stretch forth thy hands, and succor him who perishes.
Delay not, for the sake of the grace of thy name: and thou shalt become unto me joy and salvation.

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace

The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

How do I start the Five First Saturdays?

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.

As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.

Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.

1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
  Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., V,xxiii).
Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.

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.  These are not ordinary times and this is not business as usual. We are at a crossroads in human history and the time for Catholics and all Christians to act is now. All evil can ultimately be traced to its origin, which is moral evil. All of the political action, peace talks, international peacekeeping forces, etc. will avail nothing if the underlying sickness is not addressed. This is sin. One person at a time hearts and minds must be moved from evil to good, from lies to truth, from violence to peace.
Islam, an Arabic word that has often been defined as “to make peace,” seems like a living contradiction today. Although it is supposed to be a religion of peace, Islam has been hijacked by Satan and now operates in the dark space of international terrorism.  As we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady, I am proposing that each one of us pray the Rosary for peace. Prayer is what must precede all other activity if that activity is to have any chance of success. Pray for peace, pray the Rosary every day without fail.  There is a great love for Mary among Muslim people. It is not a coincidence that a little village named Fatima is where God chose to have His Mother appear in the twentieth century. Our Lady’s name appears no less than thirty times in the Koran. No other woman’s name is mentioned, not even that of Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima. In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.”
Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetically spoke of the resurgence of Islam in our day. He said it would be through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Islam would be converted. We must pray for this to happen quickly if we are to avert a horrible time of suffering for this poor, sinful world. Turn to our Mother in this time of great peril. Pray the Rosary every day. Then, and only then will there be peace, when the hearts and minds of men are changed from the inside.

Talk is weak. Prayer is strong. Pray!  God bless you, Father John Corapi

Father Corapi's Biography Father John Corapi is what has commonly been called a late vocation. In other words, he came to the priesthood other than a young man. He was 44 years old when he was ordained. From small town boy to the Vietnam era US Army, from successful businessman in Las Vegas and Hollywood to drug addicted and homeless, to religious life and ordination to the priesthood by Pope John Paul II, to a life as a preacher of the Gospel who has reached millions with the simple message that God's Name is Mercy! Father Corapi's academic credentials are quite extensive. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pace University in the seventies. Then as an older man returned to the university classrooms in preparation for his life as a priest and preacher. He received all of his academic credentials for the Church with honors: a Masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary and Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctorate degrees in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Spain. Since his ordination to the priesthood in 1991 Fr. Corapi has traveled over 2,000,000 miles preaching the Gospel. He has preached in 49 of the 50 states, all of the Canadian provinces except NewFoundland, and several other foreign countries. He is currently engaged in preaching and teaching the Catholic faith by way of the means of social communication: television, radio, the internet, and various other multi-media formats.

Martyr whose death was recorded in the Roman Martyrology. The account states that Anastasius turned himself into the authorities joyfully
The Martyr Anastasius the Fuller lived at Salona in Dalmatia during the third century. He was arrested and brought to trial because of his missionary activity in Salona. St Anastasius, boldly and with out fear, confessed Christ as the true God and Creator of all. He even painted a cross on his door during the persecution of Diocletian (284-311).
St Anastasius was sentenced to death by the decision of the court, and the pagans tied a stone around his neck and threw his body into the sea. A righteous Christian, the rich matron Ascalopia, found the body of St Anastasius and reverently buried him in her estate church. The relics of the holy martyr were glorified by many miracles.

St Anastasius the Fuller is also commemorated on October 25.

Níciæ, apud Varum flúvium, sancti Bassi Epíscopi, qui, in persecutióne Décii et Valeriáni, a Perénnio Præside, ob Christi fidem, equúleo tortus, láminis candéntibus ustus, fústibus et scorpiónibus cæsus, in ignem missus, et, cum inde evasísset illæsus, duóbus clavis confíxus, illústre martyrium consummávit.
    At Nice, near the river Var, St. Bassus, bishop.  In the persecution of Decius and Valerian, he was tortured by the governor Perennius for the faith of Christ, burned with hot plates of metal, beaten with rods and whips garnished with pieces of iron, and thrown into the fire.  When he came out of it unhurt, he was pierced with two spikes, and thus completed an illustrious martyrdom.

304 St. Dalmatius Bishop martyr of Monza Lombardy Italy
Papíæ sancti Dalmátii, Epíscopi et Mártyris; qui in persecutióne Maximiáni passus est.
    At Pavia, St. Dalmatius, bishop and martyr, who suffered in the persecution of Maximian.
He converted to Christianity and preached in northern Italy and in France. In 303, he was named the bishop of Pavia, Italy. The following year he was martyred in the persecution of co-Emperor Maximian.
Dalmatius of Pavia BM (RM)Born at Monza. Born of pagan parents, he was converted and preached in Gaul and northern Italy until his election as bishop of Pavia, a position he held for less than a year before he was martyred under Maximian Herculeus (Benedictines).

304 St. Crispina Martyr praised by St. Augustine
Thebéste, in Numídia, sanctæ Crispínæ, nobilíssimæ féminæ, quæ, tempóribus Diocletiáni et Maximiáni, cum sacrificáre nollet, jussu Anolíni Procónsulis decolláta est; quam sanctus Augustínus sæpe láudibus célebrat.
    At Thebaste in Africa, St. Crispina, a woman of the highest nobility who refused to sacrifice to idols during the reign of Diocletian and Maximian, and was beheaded by order of the proconsul Anolinus.  Her praises are often celebrated by St. Augustine.

304 ST CRISPINA, MARTYR
ST AUGUSTINE frequently mentions St Crispina as one well known in Africa in his time, and we learn from him that she was a woman of rank, native of Thagara in Numidia, married, with several children, and worthy of estimation with such famous martyrs as St Agnes and St Thecla. During the persecution of Diocletian she was brought before the proconsul Anulinus at Theveste, charged with ignoring the imperial commands. When she came into court Anulinus asked: “Have you understood the meaning of the decree?” Crispina replied: “I do not know what that decree is.”
Anulinus: It is that you should sacrifice to all our gods for the welfare of the emperors, according to the law given by our lords Diocletian and Maximian, the pious Augusti, and Constantius, the most illustrious Caesar.
Crispina: I will never sacrifice to any but the one God and to our Lord Jesus Christ His Son, who was born and suffered for us.
Anulinus: Give up this superstition and bow your head before our sacred gods.
Crispina: I worship my God every day, and I know no other.
Anulinus: You are obstinate, disrespectful and you will bring upon yourself severity of the law.
Crispina: If necessary I will suffer for the faith that I hold.
Anulinus: Are you so vain a creature that you will not put away your folly and worship the sacred deities?
Crispina: I worship my God every day, and I know no other.
Anulinus: I put the sacred edict before you for your observance.
Crispina: I observe an edict, but it is that of my Lord Jesus Christ.
Anulinus: You will lose your head if you do not obey the emperors’ commands. All Africa has submitted to them and you will be made to do the same.
Crispina: I will sacrifice to the Lord who made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all things that are in them. But I will never be forced to sacrifice to evil spirits.
Anulinus: Then you will not accept those gods to whom you must give honour if you would save your life?
Crispina: That is no true religion that forces the unwilling.
Anulinus: Will you not comply, and with bent head offer a little incense in the sacred temples?
Crispina: I have never done such a thing since I was born, and I will not do it so long as I live.
Anulinus: Do it, however, just to escape the penalty of the law.
Crispina: I do not fear what you threaten, but I fear the God who is in Heaven. If I defy Him then shall I be sacrilegious and He will cast me off, and I shall not be found in the day that He comes.
Anulinus: You cannot be sacrilegious if you obey the law.
Crispina: Would you have me sacrilegious before God that I may not be so before the emperors? No indeed! God is great and almighty: He made the sea and the green plants and the dry land. How can I consider men, the work of His hands, before Himself?
Anulinus: Profess the Roman religion of our lords the unconquerable emperors, as we ourselves observe it.
Crispina: I know one only God. Those gods of yours are stones, things carved by hands of men.
Anulinus: You utter blasphemy. That is not the way to look after your own safety.
Then Anulinus ordered her hair to be cut off and her head shaved, exposing her to the derision of the mob, and when she still remained firm asked her: “Do you want to live? Or to die in agony like your fellows Maxima, Donatilla and Secunda?”
Crispina: If I wanted to die and abandon my soul to loss and endless fire I should treat your demons in the way you wish.
Anulinus: I will have you beheaded if you persist in mocking at our venerable gods.
Crispina: Thank God for that. I should certainly lose my head if I took to worshipping them.
Anulinus: Do you then persist in your folly?
Crispina: My God, who was and who is, willed that I be born. He brought me to salvation through the waters of baptism. And He is with me to stay my soul from committing the sacrilege that you require.
Anulinus: Can we endure this impious Crispina any longer?
The proconsul ordered the proceedings that had taken place to be read over aloud, and he then sentenced Crispina to death by the sword. At which she exclaimed: “Praise to God who has looked down and delivered me out of your hands”.  She suffered at Theveste on December 5, in the year 304.
Crispina was a wealthy Roman wife and mother of several children in Thagara, Africa. Arrested for being a Christian, she was taken before Proconsul Anulinus at Thebaste, in Numidia, and was ordered to deny Christ. Crispina refused and was tortured and publicly ridiculed. On December 5, she was beheaded.

Crispina was a Roman woman of rank who lived at Thacora, in Numidia, North Africa. We can learn much of her deep Christian conviction from the minutes other court trial which, fortunately, have been preserved.
In 304 A.D., the persecution of Emperor Diocletian was well under way. In an attempt to reach a "final solution" with regard to Christians, Diocletian had imposed on everybody the "patriotic" duty of offering sacrifice to the pagan gods. Proconsul (governor) Anullinus sat as magistrate in the city of Thebessa on December 5. We give key passages from his dialogue with Domina Crispina.
The clerk announced to Anullinus: "Crispina, a lady of Thacora, is to be tried at your good pleasure. She has spurned the laws of our lords the emperors."  "Bring her in," said the proconsul. When she stood before him, he first made sure that she understood the decree demanding sacrifice.
"I have never sacrificed," said Crispina, "and I shall not do so, save to the one true God and to our Lord, Jesus Christ, His son, who was born and died.  You are a stubborn and insolent woman," Anullinus rejoined, "and you will soon begin to feel the force of our laws against your will.  Whatever happens," Crispina replied, "I shall be glad to suffer on behalf of the faith which I hold firm." "I will have you beheaded. All Africa has offered sacrifice, as you are well aware.  May they never find it easy," she answered, "to make me offer sacrifice to demons; but I sacrifice to the Lord who has made heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them"' (Acts 4:24).
     "You utter blasphemy," said Anullinus, "in not honoring what is conducive to your safety." To bring pressure, therefore, he ordered his aides, "Let her be completely disfigured by having her hair cut and her head shaved with a razor till she is bald, that her beauty might thus be brought to shame." Apparently this was done, but Crispina's attitude remained unchanged. So the pro-consul repeated his threat: "If you despise the worship of our venerable gods, I shall order your head cut off."
"I should thank God," she retorted, "if I obtained this. I should be very happy to lose my head for the sake of my God. For I refuse sacrifice to these ridiculous deaf and dumb statues."
"So you absolutely persist in this foolish frame of mind'?"
Crispina responded with feeling: "My God who is and who abides forever ordered me to be born; it was He who gave me salvation through the saving waters of baptism. He is at my side, helping me, strengthening His hand-maid in all things so that I will not commit sacrilege."
Anullinus asked wearily, "Why should we suffer this impious Christian woman any further?" He commanded that the court record be read back to him. Then he wrote his sentence on a tablet and read it aloud: "Seeing that Crispina has persisted in infamous superstition and refuses to offer sacrifice to our gods in accordance with the heavenly decrees of Augustan law, I have ordered her to be executed with the sword."
Crispina was exultant: "I bless God who has designed to free me from your hands. Thanks be to God! " A Christian hand later added to these minutes: "And making the sign of the cross on her forehead and putting out her neck, she was beheaded for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor for ever. Amen."

The notes of Crispina's trial are the record of a monstrous act of cruelty, couched in bureaucratic language. But out of this banal dialogue there shines forth the utter faith of a woman who believed in the God revealed by the Holy Scriptures, and who trusted, not in vain, that when called upon to bear witness to Him, "it would not be herself speaking, but the Holy Spirit." (Mk 13:11). --Father Robert F. McNamara

Saint Crispina lived at Thacora (Tagora) in Africa, and was arrested for professing Christianity. The proconsul Annius Anullinus presided at her trial at Theveste (or Tebessa) in December of 304.  Anullinus asked her if she was aware that she was required by law to offer sacrifice to the gods for the welfare of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. She said that she did not know of this decree, and that her Christian faith would not allow her to offer sacrifice to false gods.
"Turn away from this superstition," Anullinus said, "and submit to the sacred rites of the Roman gods."

St Crispina replied that she knew no other god but the God worshiped by Christians. The proconsul threatened her with torture, and the saint said that she would gladly endure this for the sake of Christ.
Anullinus told her to stop being stubborn and to obey the edict.
Crispina answered, "I will obey the edict given me by my Lord Jesus Christ."
The proconsul repeated his threat of torture, saying that she would be forced to obey the edict. He also pointed out that the entire province of Africa had offered sacrifice, but St Crispina remained firm in her faith, saying that she would never offer sacrifice to demons.
Enraged that she would not accept the pagan gods, Anullinus said that she would be forced to bow before the idols and to offer incense. The courageous woman retorted that she would never do so as long as she lived.  Then the proconsul sought to persuade her that it would not be a sacrilege to offer sacrifice to the gods as required by law. She said, "May those gods, who have not made heaven and earth, perish."
Anullinus urged Crispina to respect the Roman religion, but she said, "I have told you again and again that I am ready to endure any tortures rather than worship the idols which are the work of men's hands."

Anullinus told her that she spoke blasphemy and was not acting in a way which would ensure her safety. He then tried to humiliate her by ordering her head to be shaved. The holy martyr replied, "If I were not seeking my own well-being, I would not be on trial before you now. Let your gods speak, then I shall believe."
The proconsul told her she could either live a long life, or die in agony before being beheaded. St Crispina told him, "I would thank my God if I obtained this. I would gladly lose my head for the Lord's sake, for I refuse to offer sacrifice to those ridiculous deaf and dumb statues."
Anullinus lost patience with her and ordered that the minutes of the trial be read back before he pronounced sentence. "Since Crispina persists in her superstition and refuses to offer sacrifice to the gods in accordance with our law, I order her to be executed by the sword."
St Crispina said, "Thanks be to God, Who has deigned to free me from your hands." She made the Sign of the Cross and stretched forth her neck to the executioner.
St Crispina was beheaded on December 5, 304 in accordance with the fourth edict of Diocletian.

After the death of his father, St Zachariah began to struggle together with St Moses the Black (August 28). "What must I do, to be saved?" asked St Moses. Hearing this, St Zachariah fell to his knees and said: "Why do you ask this of me, Father?"

"Believe me, my child, Zachariah," St Moses said, "I saw the Holy Spirit come down upon you, and that is why I ask you."

"Rejoice, Zachariah my child, for the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven are opened to you."

532 St. Sabas (Sava) one of the founders of Eastern monasticism Many miracles took place through his prayers healings of the sick and the demoniacs
In Judæa sancti Sabbæ Abbátis, in óppido Cappadóciæ Mútala orti, qui miro sanctitátis exémplo refúlsit, et pro fide cathólica, advérsus impugnántes sanctam Synodum Chalcedonénsem, strénue laborávit, ac tandem in ea diœcésis Hierosolymitánæ laura, quæ ipsíus sancti Sabbæ nómine póstmodum est insigníta, requiévit in pace.
    In Judea, St. Sabbas, abbot, who was born in the town of Mutala in Cappadocia.  He gave a wondrous example of holiness and laboured most zealously for the Catholic faith against those who attacked the holy Council of Chalcedon.  He rested in peace in the monastery later named for him in the diocese of Jerusalem.

532 ST SABAS, ABBOT
ST SABAS, one of the most renowned patriarchs of the monks of Palestine, was born at Mutalaska in Cappadocia, not far from Caesarea, in 439. His father was an officer in the army and, being obliged to go to Alexandria, took his wife with him and recommended his son Sabas, with the care of his estate, to his brother-in-law. This uncle’s wife used the child so harshly that, when he was eight, he ran away, went to another uncle, called Gregory, brother to his father, hoping there to live more happily. Gregory, having the care of the child, demanded also the administration of the property, whence lawsuits and animosity arose between the two uncles. Sabas, who was of a quiet disposition, was upset at these discords and ran away again, this time to a monastery near Mutalaska. His uncles, after some years, ashamed of their conduct, agreed together to take him out of his monastery, restore him his property, and persuade him to marry. But young Sabas had tasted the bitterness of the world and the sweetness of the yoke of Christ, and his heart was so united to God that nothing could draw him from his new home. Though he was the youngest in the house he surpassed the rest in fervour and virtue. Once, when he was serving the baker, this monk put his wet clothes into the oven to dry, and then, forgetting them, put in fire. Seeing him much troubled for his clothes Sabas crawled into the oven and fetched them out through the flames, without hurt.
   When Sabas had been ten years in this monastery, being eighteen years old, he went to Jerusalem to learn from the example of the solitaries of that country. He passed the winter in a monastery governed by the holy abbot Elpidius, whose monks desired earnestly that he would fix his abode among them. But his love of silence and retirement made him prefer the manner of life practised by St Euthymius, who even when a monastery was built for him refused to abandon his complete solitude. When Sabas asked to be accepted as his disciple St Euthymius judged him too young for an absolutely solitary life, and therefore recommended him to his monastery below the hill, about three miles distant, which was under the conduct of St Theoctistus.
Sabas consecrated himself to God with new fervour, working all day and watching in prayer a good part of the night. As he was very energetic and strong he assisted his brethern in their heavier work, and himself prepared the wood and water for the house. Once his abbot as companion sent him to another monk on business to Alexandria. There his parents met him and desired him to accept his father’s profession and influence in the world. When he refused they pressed
him at least to accept money for his necessaries ; but he would only take three pieces of gold, and those he gave to his abbot on his return. When he was thirty he obtained leave of St Euthymius to spend five days a week in a remote cave, which time he passed in prayer and manual labour. He left his monastery on Sunday evening carrying with him bundles of palm-twigs, and came back on Saturday morning with fifty baskets which he had made, imposing upon himself a task of ten a day. St Euthymius chose him and one Domitian for his companions in his yearly retreat in the desert of Jebel Quarantal, where Christ is said to have made His forty-days’ fast. They entered this solitude together on the octave-day of the Epiphany and returned to their monastery on Palm Sunday.
   In the first retreat Sabas collapsed in the wilderness, almost dead with thirst. St Euthymius, moved with compassion, prayed to Christ that He would take pity on His fervent soldier, and it is said that, striking his staff into the earth, a spring gushed forth; of which Sabas drinking a little, he recovered his strength.
   After the death of Euthymius, St Sabas retired further into the desert towards Jericho. Four years he spent in this wilderness in total separation from intercourse with men, when he chose a new dwelling in a cave on the face of a cliff, at the bottom of which ran the brook Cedron. He was obliged to hang a rope down the descent to hold on by when going up and down. Wild herbs that grew on the rocks were his food, till certain countrymen brought him sometimes a little bread, cheese, dates and other things, which he might want. Water he had to fetch from a considerable distance.
After Sabas had lived here some time many came to him, desiring to serve God under his direction. He was at first unwilling to consent, but eventually founded a new laura.*{* A laura was a monastery in which the monks lived in separate huts or cells, grouped around the church without any definite plan. The maximum of solitude possible in such circumstances was aimed at.}
 One of the first difficulties was shortage of water. But having noticed a wild ass pawing and nosing at the ground, Sabas caused a pit to be dug at the spot, where a spring was discovered which subsisted to succeeding ages. The number of his disciples was increased to one hundred and fifty, but he had no priest in his community, for he thought no religious man could aspire to that dignity without presumption. This provoked some of the monks to complain of him to Sallust, Patriarch of Jerusalem. The bishop found their grievances groundless, except that the want of a priest was a trouble in the community. He therefore compelled Sabas to receive ordination at his hands in 491. The abbot was then fifty-three years old. The reputation of his sanctity drew persons from remote countries to his laura, and among the monks were Egyptians and Armenians, for whom special arrangements were made so that they could celebrate the offices in their own tongues.
   After the death of the saint’s father, his mother came to Palestine and served God under his direction. With the money that she brought he built two hospitals, one for strangers and another for the sick, and also a hospital at Jericho and another monastery on a neighbouring hill. In 493 the patriarch of Jerusalem established St Sabas as archimandrite over all the monks of Palestine who lived in separate cells (hermits), and St Theodosius of Bethlehem over all who lived in community (cenobites).
St Sabas, after the example of St Euthymius, left his disciples every year, or oftener, and at least passed Lent without being seen by anyone, and this was one of the things complained of by some of his monks. As they got no sympathy from the patriarch some sixty of them left the laura, and settled themselves in a ruined monastery at Thecua, where the prophet Amos was born. When he heard that these malcontents were in sore straits, St Sabas gave them supplies and repaired their church. He himself had been driven for a time from his own monastery by the factions therein, but returned at the command of St Elias, the successor of Sallust at Jerusalem.
   Among the stories told of St Sabas is that he once lay down to sleep in a cave that happened to be the den of a lion. When the beast came in it clawed hold of the monk’s clothes and dragged him outside. Nothing perturbed, Sabas returned to the cave and eventually reduced the lion to a considerable degree of friendliness. But it was still a rather troublesome companion, and at length Sabas told it that if it could not live with him in peace it had better go away. So the lion went away.

At this time the Emperor Anastasius was supporting the Eutychian heresy, and banished many orthodox bishops. In 511 the Patriarch Elias sent to him as deputies St Sabas, with other abbots, to endeavour to stop this persecution. Sabas was seventy years old when he undertook this journey to Constantinople. As he looked like some beggar the officers at the gate of the palace admitted the rest but stopped him. Sabas said nothing, but withdrew. When the emperor had read the letter of the patriarch, in which great commendations were bestowed on Sabas, he asked where he was. The saint was sought, and at length found in a corner saying his prayers.
    Anastasius gave the abbots liberty to ask what they wanted for themselves; they presented their petitions, but Sabas had no request to make in his own name. Being pressed, he only begged that Anastasius would restore peace to the Church and not disturb the clergy.
   Sabas stayed the winter in Constantinople, and often visited the emperor to argue against heresy. But Anastasius for all that procured the banishment of Elias of Jerusalem and put one John into his place. Whereupon St Sabas and other monks hastened to Jerusalem and persuaded the intruder at least not to repudiate the Council of Chalcedon. Sabas is said to have been with the exiled Elias at his death at Aïla on the Red Sea. In the following years he went to Caesarea, Scythopolis and other places, preaching the true faith, bringing back many to orthodoxy and right living.
In his ninety-first year, at the request of Patriarch Peter of Jerusalem, St Sabas undertook a second journey to Constantinople, in connection with troubles arising out of the Samaritan revolt and its violent repression by the emperor. Justinian received him with honour and offered to endow his monasteries. Sabas gratefully replied that they stood not in need of such revenues so long as the monks should faithfully serve God. But he begged a remission of taxes in favour of the people of Palestine in consideration of what they had suffered on account of the Samaritans; that he would build a hospital at Jerusalem for pilgrims and a fortress for the protection of the hermits and monks against raiders; and that he would authorize further strong measures for the putting down of the Samaritans. All which things were granted.
   It happened one day, the emperor being busy dispatching certain affairs of St Sabas, who was himself present, that when it was the third hour the abbot went out to his prayers. His companion, Jeremy, said it was not well done to leave the emperor in this way. “My son”, replied Sabas, “the emperor does his duty, and we must do ours.”
   Very shortly after his return to his laura he fell sick, and the patriarch persuaded him to let himself be taken to a neighbouring church, where he served him with his own hands. The sufferings of Sabas were very sharp, but God supported him under them in perfect patience and resigna­tion. Finding his last hour approach, he begged the patriarch that he might be carried back to his laura. He appointed his successor, gave him instructions, and then lay four days in silence without seeing anyone, that he might concern himself with God alone. On December 5, 532, in the evening, he departed to the Lord, being ninety-four years old. His relics were venerated at his chief monastery until the Venetians carried them off.

St Sabas is one of the outstanding figures of early monasticism, and his feast today is kept throughout the Church both in the East and the West; he is named at the preparation in the Byzantine Mass. The Typikon of Jerusalem, setting out the rules for the recitation of the Divine Office and carrying out of ceremonies, which is the norm in nearly all churches of the Byzantine rite, bears his name, as does a monastic rule; but his part in their composition is a matter of doubt. His chief monastery, called after him Mar Saba and sometimes distinguished as the Great Laura, still exists in a gorge of the Cedron, ten miles southeast of Jerusalem in the desert country towards the Dead Sea. Among its monks were St John Damascene, St John the Silent, St Aphrodisius, St Theophanes of Nicaea, St Cosmas of Majuma and St Theodore of Edessa.

   After a period of ruin it was restored by the Russian government in 1840 and is now inhabited by monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church, whose life is not unworthy of the example of the holy founder.

 After St Catherine’s on Mount Sinai (and perhaps Dair Antonios and Dair Boulos in Egypt) Mar Saba is the oldest inhabited monastery in the world, and the most remarkable; the wildness of its situation and grandeur of its fortress-like buildings at least equal those of St Catherine’s. St Sabas’s spring still flows there, his palm-tree still bears stoneless dates, and the dark blue grackles that abound are called “his blackbirds”, and are daily fed by the monks.

The Life of St Sabas, written in Greek by Cyril of Scythopolis, is one of the most famous and trustworthy of early hagiographical documents. The full text has to be sought either in Cotelerius, Ecclesiae Graecae Monumenta, vol. iii, pp. 220—376; or in Kyrillos von Skytho­polis, ed. E. Schwartz (1939). Another biography, an adaptation attributed to the Meta­phrast, has been printed by Kleopas Koikylides as an appendix to the two first volumes of the Greek review, Nea Sion (1906). The Life of St Sabas at a relatively early date was also translated into Arabic. On the chronology of the life see Loofs in Texte und Untersuchungen, vol. iii (dealing with Leontius of Byzantium), pp. 274—297; and on the literary and liturgical work ascribed to Sabas consult A. Ehrhard in the Kirchenlexikon, vol. x (1897), cc. 1434—1437, or his fuller article in the Römische Quartalschrift, vol. vii (1893), pp. 31—79. J. Phokylides at Alexandria published an exhaustive and satisfactory account of Sabas himself and of his monastery in Greek in 1927. Cyril of Scythopolis had been impressed even as a boy by a casual meeting with St Sabas; he seems to have entered the monastery of St Euthymios in 544 and to have passed on to Mar Saba not long before his death in 558.  
Sabas was born at Mutalaska, Cappadocia, near Caesarea. He was the son of an army officer there who when assigned to Alexandria, left him in the care of an uncle. Mistreated by his uncle's wife, Sabas ran away to another uncle, though he was only eight. When the two uncles became involved in a lawsuit over his estate, he again ran away, this time to a monastery near Mutalaska. In time the uncles were reconciled and wanted him to marry, but he remained in the monastery. In 456, he went to Jerusalem and there entered a monastery under St. Theoctistus. When he was thirty, he became a hermit under the guidance of St. Euthymius, and after Euthymius' death, spent four years alone in the desert near Jericho. Despite his desire for solitude, he attracted disciples, organized them into a laura in 483, and when his one hundred fifty monks asked for a priest and despite his opposition to monks being ordained, he was obliged to accept ordination by Patriarch Sallust of Jerusalem in 491.He attracted disciples from Egypt and Armenia, allowed them a liturgy in their own tongue, and built several hospitals and another monastery near Jericho. He was appointed archimandrite of all hermits in Palestine who lived in separate cells, but his custom of going off by himself during Lent caused dissension in the monastery, and sixty of his monks left to revive a ruined monastery at Thecuna. He bore them no illwill and aided them with food and supplies.
In 511, he was one of a delegation of abbots sent to Emperor Anastasius I, a supporter of Eutychianism, which Sabas opposed, to plead with the Emperor to mitigate his persecution of orthodox bishops and religious. They were unsuccessful.
Sabas supported Elias of Jerusalem when the Emperor exiled him, was a strong supporter of theological orthodoxy, and persuaded many to return to orthodoxy. He was a vigorous opponent of Origenism and monophysitism.
In 531, when he was ninety-one, he again went to Constantinople, this time to plead with Emperor Justinian to suppress a Samaritan revolt and protect the people of Jerusalem from further harassment by the Samritans. He fell ill soon after his return to his laura from this trip and died on December 5 at Laura Mar Saba, after naming his successor. Sabas is one of the most notable figures of early monasticism and is considered one of the founders of Eastern monasticism. The laura he founded in the desolate, wild country between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, named Mar Saba after him, was often called the Great Laura for its preeminence and produced many great saints. It is still inhabited by monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church and is one of the three or four oldest monasteries in the world.

532 Saint Sava the Sanctified
born in the fifth century at Cappadocia of pious Christian parents, John and Sophia. His father was a military commander. Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, his wife went with him, but they left their five-year-old son in the care of an uncle. When the boy reached eight years of age, he entered the monastery of St Flavian located nearby. The gifted child quickly learned to read and became an expert on the Holy Scriptures. In vain did his parents urge St Sava to return to the world and enter into marriage.
When he was seventeen years old he received monastic tonsure, and attained such perfection in fasting and prayer that he was given the gift of wonderworking. After spending ten years at the monastery of St Flavian, he went to Jerusalem, and from there to the monastery of St Euthymius the Great (January 20). But St Euthymius sent St Sava to Abba Theoctistus, the head of a nearby monastery with a strict cenobitic rule. St Sava lived in obedience at this monastery until the age of thirty.

After the death of the Elder Theoctistus, his successor blessed St Sava to seclude himself in a cave. On Saturdays, however, he left his hermitage and came to the monastery, where he participated in divine services and ate with the brethren. After a certain time St Sava received permission not to leave his hermitage at all, and he struggled in the cave for five years.

St Euthymius attentively directed the life of the young monk, and seeing his spiritual maturity, he began to take him to the Rouba wilderness with him. They set out on January 14, and remained there until Palm Sunday. St Euthymius called St Sava a child-elder, and encouraged him to grow in the monastic virtues.

When St Euthymius fell asleep in the Lord (+ 473), St Sava withdrew from the Lavra and moved to a cave near the monastery of St Gerasimus of Jordan (March 4). After several years, disciples began to gather around St Sava, seeking the monastic life. As the number of monks increased, a lavra sprang up. When a pillar of fire appeared before St Sava as he was walking, he found a spacious cave in the form of a church.

St Sava founded several more monasteries. Many miracles took place through the prayers of St Sava: at the Lavra a spring of water welled up, during a time of drought there was abundant rain, and there were also healings of the sick and the demoniacs. St Sava composed the first monastic Rule of church services, the so-called "Jerusalem Typikon", accepted by all the Palestine monasteries.

Comment:  Few of us share Sabas’s yearning for a cave in the desert, but most of us sometimes resent the demands others place on our time. Sabas understands that. When at last he gained the solitude for which he yearned, a community immediately began to gather around him and he was forced into a leadership role. He stands as a model of patient generosity for anyone whose time and energy are required by others—that is, for all of us.

Tréviris sancti Nicétii Epíscopi, miræ sanctitátis viri.    At Treves, St. Nicetius, bishop, a man of great sanctity.

There is a Latin life, written seemingly in the ninth or tenth century, but compiled, so the author insists, from an earlier text, which had become almost illegible through age. It was printed by Mabillon from an incomplete copy, but the whole has since been recovered, and it has been edited by the Bollandists in their Analecta, vol. iii (1884), pp. 378—407. The abbey at Longoretum, which later took the name of Saint-Cyran (du-Jambot) after its founder, was dissolved in 1712. John Duvergier de Hauranne, famous as one of the authors of the Jansenist faction, took his name “Abbe de Saint-Cyran “from this monastery, which he held in commendam.

The surname of this martyr appears in several forms, e.g. Tavigli; Mazzara (Leggendario Francescano,1680, vol. iii, p. 413) and others give it as Taulici. The Franciscan annalists with Wadding speak of this group of martyrs under the year 1391. See also an article by P. Durrien in the Archiv. Soc. Orient-latin for 1881, vol. i, pp. 539—546; but especially G. Golubovich, Biblioteca bio-bibliografica della Terra Santa, vol. v (1927), pp. 282—295. There seems to be a reference to these martyrs in the almost contemporary Kirkstall Chronicle; cf. the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, vol. xv (1931), pp. 118—119.

See C. de Villiers, Bibliotheca Carmelitana, vol. i, p. 243 Il Monte Carmelo, vol. i (1915), pp. 362—365; and Il Mosé Novello ossia il B. Bartolomeo Fanti (1909).

1563 Saint Gurias 1st Archbishop of Kazan; pious, humble and gentle igumen; 9 yrs of St Joseph of Volokolamsk monastery received the great schema from St Barsanuphius incorrupt 30 yrs
(in the world Gregory Rugotin), was the first archbishop of the Kazan diocese, established in 1555. He was born in the town of Radonezh outside Moscow into the family of a courtier. His parents were not wealthy, and so from his early years he had to serve Prince Ivan Penkov as steward of his estates.

From his youth, Gregory was pious, humble and gentle, and he preserved his chastity. Accused of improprieties with the prince's wife, Gregory was locked up in an underground dungeon for two years. This undermined his health, but it also intensified and deepened his religious fervor. In prison, he wrote a small booklet to teach children how to read and write. He donated the proceeds from his primer to the needy.

Released from prison, Gregory was tonsured with the name Gurias at the St Joseph of Volokolamsk monastery, known for its strict monastic rule. In 1543, he was chosen by the brethren as igumen of this monastery. He administered it for almost nine years, and then he resigned as igumen and lived for two years as a simple monk.

Before becoming bishop, St Gurias directed the Trinity Selizharov monastery in Tver diocese for one year. He was chosen by lot to the See of Kazan. Assisted by St Barsanuphius (April 11), St Gurias devoted himself to missionary activity. In his eight years as bishop there, four monasteries were organized, and the Annunciation cathedral church and ten more city churches were built.

In 1561 the saint fell grievously ill and could no longer perform the divine services himself. On feastdays they carried him into the church, and he either sat or lay down, since he did not have the strength to walk or even stand.

Shortly before his death (1563), he received the great schema from St Barsanuphius, and he was buried in the Savior-Transfiguration monastery. On October 4, 1595, the incorrupt relics of the holy hierarchs Gurias and Barsanuphius were uncovered. St Hermogenes, Metropolitan of Kazan (May 12), was present at the uncovering of their relics, and he described this event in the lives of these saints.

On June 20, 1613, the relics of St Gurias were transferred from the Savior-Transfiguration monastery to the Annunciation cathedral church. At present, the relics rest in Kazan in a cemetery church named for the holy Princes Theodore of Murom and his sons David and Constantine (May 21).

A good account is furnished in MMP., pp. 329—338. See also Pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (1891), pp. 170—194; and Bede Camm, Forgotten Shrines (1910), pp. 164, 357, 378.