1st v St.
Andrew
Martyr
in Palestine, with St. Aponius St. James the Greater, or Elder
Martyr in Palestine, with St. Aponius. The two were caught up in a
persecution started instigated by King Herod Antipas against the
Nazarene community of Jerusalem.
St. James the Greater, or Elder, was also beheaded in this persecution.
St. Aponius 1st century Martyr with St. Andrew during the persecution
started by King Herod Antipas. St. James the Great died in this
persecution.
|
120 Zoticus, Irenaeus,
Hyacinth, Amantius & Companions MM (RM)
Romæ sanctórum Mártyrum Zótici,
Irenǽi, Hyacínthi et Amántii.
At Rome, the holy martyrs Zoticus,
Irenæus, Hyacinth, and Amantius.
This was a group of 10 soldiers martyred in Rome and
buried in the Via
Lavicana (Benedictines).
|
Bishop Silvanus
of
Terracina confessor
B (RM)
In Campánia sancti
Silváni, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
In Campania, St. Silvanus, bishop and
confessor.
Date unknown. Bishop Silvanus of Terracina is described in
the Roman
Martyrology as a 'confessor,' which would mean that he had suffered for
the faith by imprisonment, torture or, perhaps, even death
(Benedictines).
|
 202
Saint_Porphyrius soldier Seeing the Elder's endurance and his
complete lack of malice openly confessed Christ
Ibídem, via Lavicána, sanctórum decem
mílitum Mártyrum.
In the same place, on the Via Lavicana,
ten holy soldiers, martyrs.
202 Hieromartyr
Charalampus, Bishop of Magnesia Many miracles worked through his prayer
raised a dead youth healed a man tormented by devils 35 years so that
many people began to believe in Christ the Savior the Martyrs
Porphyrius and Baptus and Three Women Martyrs
St Charalampus, Bishop of Magnesia (Asia Minor),
successfully spread
faith in Christ the Savior, guiding people on the way to salvation.
News of his preaching reached Lucian, the governor of the district, and
the military commander Lucius. The saint was arrested and brought to
trial, where he confessed his faith in Christ and refused to offer
sacrifice to idols.
They lacerated his body
with iron hooks, and scraped all the skin from
his body. During this the saint turned to his tormentors,
"I thank you, brethren,
that you have restored my spirit, which longs to pass over to a new and
everlasting life!"
Seeing the Elder's
endurance and his complete lack of malice, two
soldiers (Porphyrius and Baptus) openly confessed Christ, for which
they were immediately beheaded with a sword. Three women who were
watching the sufferings of St Charalampus also began to glorify Christ,
and were quickly martyred.
The enraged Lucius seized the
instruments of torture and began to torture the holy martyr, but
suddenly his forearms were cut off as if by a sword.
The governor then spat in the
face of the saint, and immediately his head was turned around so that
he faced backwards.
Then Lucius entreated the saint
to show mercy on him, and both torturers were healed through the
prayers of St Charalampus.
During this a multitude of
witnesses came to believe in Christ. Among them also was Lucius, who
fell at the feet of the holy bishop, asking to be baptized.
Lucian reported these events to the emperor Septimus Severus
(193-211),
who was then at Pisidian Antioch (western Asia Minor). The emperor
ordered St Charlampos to be brought to him in Antioch. Soldiers twisted
the saint's beard into a rope, wound it around his neck, and used it to
drag him along. They also drove an iron nail into his body. The emperor
then ordered them to torture the bishop more intensely, and they began
to burn him with fire, a little at a time.
Saint_Baptus
 But God protected
the saint, and he remained unharmed.
Many miracles were worked
through his prayer: he raised a dead youth,
and healed a man tormented by devils for thirty-five years, so that
many people began to believe in Christ the Savior. Even Galina, the
daughter of the emperor, began to believe in Christ, and twice smashed
the idols in a pagan temple.
On the orders of the emperor
they beat the saint about the mouth with stones. They also wanted to
set his beard on fire, but the flames burned the torturer.
Full of wickedness,
Septimus Severus and an official named Crispus
hurled blasphemy at the Lord, mockingly summoning Him to come down to
the earth, and boasting of their own power and might.
The Lord sent an earthquake, and
great fear fell upon all, the impious ones were both suspended in
mid-air held by invisible bonds, and only by the prayer of the saint
were they put down.
The dazed emperor was
shaken in his former impiety, but again quickly
fell into error and gave orders to torture the saint.
And finally, he sentenced St Charalampus to beheading with a
sword.
During his final prayer, the heavens opened and the saint saw the
Savior and a multitude of angels. The holy martyr asked Him to grant
that the place where his relics would repose would never suffer famine
or disease. He also begged that there would be peace, prosperity, and
an abundance of fruit, grain, and wine in that place, and that the
souls of these people would be saved. The Lord promised to fulfill his
request and ascended to heaven, and the soul of the hieromartyr
Charalampus followed after Him. By the mercy of God, the saint died
before he could be executed. Galina buried the martyr's body with great
honor.
In Greek hagiography and
iconography St Charalampus is regarded as a priest, while Russian
sources seem to regard him as a bishop.
Saint Baptus was a soldier who
suffered martyrdom with Sts Charalampus, Bishop of Magnesia,
Porphyrius, and three women in the year 202.
Seeing the endurance of StCharalampus and his complete lack of malice,
two soldiers (Porphyrius and Baptus) openly confessed Christ, for which
they were immediately beheaded with a sword.
|
304 Soteris of
Rome
the Aureli family martyred for Jesus VM (RM)
Item Romæ, via Appia, sanctæ Sotéris,
Vírginis et Mártyris; quæ (ut scribit sanctus
Ambrósius), nóbili génere nata, paréntum
Consulátus et Præfectúras ob Christum
contémpsit. Hæc, jussa idolis immoláre, et
non acquiéscens, gráviter et diutíssime
álapis cæsa est; et, cum cétera quoque
pœnárum génera vicísset, demum, percússa
gládio, læta migrávit ad Sponsum.
Also at Rome, on the Appian Way, St.
Soter, virgin and martyr, descended of a noble family, but as St.
Ambrose mentions, for the love of Christ she set at naught the consular
and other dignitaries of her people. Upon her refusal to
sacrifice to the gods, she was for a long time cruelly scourged.
She overcame these and various other torments, then was struck with the
sword; and joyfully went to her heavenly spouse.
ST SOTERIS, VIRGIN AND MARTYR (A.D. 304)
ST
AMBROSE proudly claims this saint as being the greatest honour of his
family. Soteris was descended from a long line of consuls and prefects,
but she derives her chief glory from the contempt which, for Christ’s
sake, she evinced for birth, riches, great beauty and all that the
world prizes as valuable. She consecrated her maidenhood to God, and to
avoid the dangers to which her beauty exposed her she took no account
of it, and resolutely forswore all ornaments that might set it off.
Her virtue prepared
her to make a noble confession of the faith when she was brought before
the magistrates after the edicts of Diocletian and Maximian against
Christians. When the judge ordered that she should be struck on the
face, she rejoiced to be thus treated as her Saviour had been, and
though the judge ordered her to be tortured in many other ways he was
unable to draw from her one groan or tear. At length, overcome by her
patience and constancy, he commanded that her head should be struck
off. It must be confessed that we do not clearly know whether all this
happened at one time. It may be that St Soteris was arrested and
tortured as a young girl in the persecution of Decius, and only
suffered death fifty years later under Diocletian.
Practically speaking we are dependent upon two passages of St Ambrose
for our knowledge of this martyr. He speaks of her in his De virginibus, iii, 7, and in his Exhortatio virginis, c. 52. At the
same time we know from the “Hieronymianum” that she was originally
buried at Rome on the Via Appia. One of the catacombs, the location of
which it is difficult to determine, afterwards bore her name. Her body
was later on translated by Pope Sergius 11 to the church of San Martino
di Monti. See the Acta Sanctorum,
February, vol. ii, and the Römische
Quartalschrift, 1905, pp. 50—63 and 105—133.
Saint Ambrose
boasts that
the virgin Soteris was the fairest flower of his illustrious Roman
family, the Aureli family, which included a long line of consuls and
prefects. She seems to have been a sister of his great-great-
grandmother. She renounced her high birth, riches, and beauty to more
perfectly consecrate her virginity to God. In order to avoid the
dangers to which her beauty exposed her, she neglected her looks
entirely, and dressed instead in Christian simplicity and modesty.
Her virtue prepared her well for the coming persecution of Diocletian and Maximianus. It is
said that after capture, Soteris wore out her tormentors. The judge
commanded that her face be disfigured. This didn't bother her much
because she gave no thought to her looks. Instead, she rejoiced to be
treated as Jesus had been. They tortured her in other ways, and she
exasperated them because she never gave any indication of discomfort or
fear. Having worn their patience to the quick, the judge ordered that
she be beheaded (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
|
  308 The Holy
Virgin Martyrs Ennatha, Valentina and Paula
suffered in the year 308 under the emperor Maximian II Galerius
(305-311). St Ennatha came from the city of Gaza (in the south of
Palestine), St Valentina was a native of Palestinian Caesarea, and St
Paula was from the region of Caesarea.
St Ennatha was the first to be brought to trial before the governor
Firmilian, bravely declaring herself a Christian. They beat her, and
then they suspended her from a pillar and scourged her.
< St Valentina,
accused of not worshipping the gods, was led to a pagan temple to offer
sacrifice, but she bravely hurled a stone at the sacrifice and turned
her back on it. They beat her mercilessly and sentenced her to be
beheaded along with St Ennatha.
Last of all, St Paula was brought, and they subjected her to many
torments. With the help of God, however, she endured them with great
patience and courage. Before her death Paula gave thanks to the Lord
for strengthening her. Bowing to the Christians present, she bent her
neck beneath the sword.
|
543 St.
Scholastica
foundress twin sister of St. Benedict beheld her soul in
a vision as it ascended into heaven.
Apud montem Cassínum sanctæ Scholásticæ
Vírginis, soróris sancti Benedícti Abbátis;
qui ejus ánimam, instar colúmbæ, migrántem e
córpore in cælum ascéndere vidit.
On Monte Cassino, St. Scholastica,
virgin, whose soul was seen by her brother, St. Benedict, abbot,
leaving her body in the form of a dove, and ascending into heaven.
ST SCHOLASTICA, VIRGIN (AD. 543)
THIS saint, who was St Benedict’s sister, traditionally his twin,
consecrated herself to God from her earliest years, as we learn from St
Gregory. It is not known where she lived, whether at home or in a
community; but after her brother had
moved to Monte Cassino, she settled at Plombariola in that same
neighbourhood,
probably founding and ruling a nunnery about five miles to the south of
St
Benedict’s monastery. St Gregory tells us that St Benedict governed
nuns as well
as monks, and it seems clear that St Scholastica must have been their
abbess,
under his direction. She used to visit her brother once a year and,
since she was not
allowed to enter his monastery, he used to go with some of his monks to
meet her
at a house a little way off. They spent these visits in praising God
and in
conferring together on spiritual matters.
St Gregory
gives a remarkable description of the last of these visits. After they
had passed the
day as usual they sat down in the evening to have supper. When it
was finished,
Scholastica, possibly foreseeing that it would be their last interview
in this
world, begged her hrother to delay his return till the next day that
they might spend the
time discoursing of the joys of Heaven. Benedict, who was unwilling to
transgress his rule, told her that he could not pass a night away from
his monastery. When
Scholastica found that she could not move him, she laid her head upon
her
hands which were clasped together on the table and besought God to
interpose on
her behalf. Her prayer was scarcely ended when there arose such a
violent storm
of rain with thunder and lightning that St Benedict and his companions
were unable
to set foot outside the door. He exclaimed, God forgive you, sister;
what have
you done?” Whereupon she answered, I asked
a favour of you and you
refused
it. I asked it of God, and He has granted it.” Benedict was
therefore forced to comply with her request, and they spent the night
talking about holy things and about the felicity of the blessed to
which they both ardently aspired and which she was soon to enjoy. The
next morning they parted, and three days later St Scholastica died. St
Benedict was at the time alone in his cell absorbed in prayer when,
lifting up his eyes, he saw his sister’s soul ascending to Heaven as a
dove. Filled with joy at her happiness, he thanked God and announced
her death to his brethren. He then sent some of the monks to fetch her
body which he placed in a tomb which he had prepared for himself. So it
happened to these two, whose minds had ever been united in the Lord,
that even in the grave their bodies were not separated.” But her relics
are said to have been translated to France, along with those of St
Benedict, in the seventh century and to have been deposited at Le Mans.
We know practically nothing
of St Scholastica except from the two chapters of St Gregory’s Dialogues, bk ii, chs. 33 and 34
summarized above.
St. Scholastica,, consecrated her life to God
from her earliest youth.
After her brother went to Monte Cassino, where he established his
famous monastery, she took up her abode in the neighborhood at
Plombariola, where she founded and governed a monastery of nuns, about
five miles from that of St. Benedict, who, it appears, also directed
his sister and her nuns.
She visited her brother once a year, and as she was not
allowed to
enter his monastery, he went in company with some of his brethren to
meet her at a house some distance away. These visits were spent in
conferring together on spiritual matters. On one occasion they had
passed the time as usual in prayer and pious conversation and in the
evening they sat down to take their reflection. St. Scholastica begged
her brother to remain until the next day. St. Benedict refused to spend
the night outside his monastery. She had recourse to prayer and a
furious thunderstorm burst so that neither St. Benedict nor any of his
companions could return home. They spent the night in spiritual
conferences. The next morning they parted to meet no more on earth.
Three days later St. Scholastica died, and her holy brother beheld her
soul in a vision as it ascended into heaven. He sent his brethren to
bring her body to his monastery and laid it in the tomb he had prepared
for himself. She died about the year 543, and St. Benedict followed her
soon after.
Scholastica, OSB V (RM) Born in Nursia
(Nurcia), Italy, c. 480 (?); died near Monte Cassino, Italy, c.
543. Almost everything we know about Saint Scholastica comes from the
Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great.
Saint Scholastica, twin
sister of
Saint Benedict of Nursia who founded of the Benedictine order,
was consecrated to God at a very early age but probably continued to
live in her parents' home. It is said that she was as devoted to Jesus
as she was to her brother. So, when Benedict established his monastery
at Monte Cassino, Scholastica founded a convent in nearby Plombariola,
about five miles south of Monte Cassino. The convent is said to have
been under the direction of her brother, thus she is regarded as the
first Benedictine nun.
The siblings were quite close.
The respective rules of their houses
proscribed either entering the other's monastery.
According to Saint
Gregory, they met once a year at a house near Monte Cassino monastery
to confer on spiritual matters, and were eventually buried together,
probably in the same grave. Saint Gregory says, "so death did not
separate the bodies of these two, whose minds had ever been united in
the Lord."
Saint Gregory tells the charming
story of the last meeting of the two
saints on earth.
Scholastica and Benedict
had spent the day in the
"mutual comfort of heavenly talk" and with nightfall approaching,
Benedict prepared to leave. Scholastica, having a presentiment that it
would be their last opportunity to see each other alive, asked him to
spend the evening in conversation. Benedict sternly refused because he
did not wish to break his own rule by spending a night away from Monte
Cassino. Thereupon, Scholastica cried openly, laid her head upon the
table, and prayed that God would intercede for her. As she did so, a
sudden storm arose. The violent rain and hail came in such a torrential
downpour that Benedict and his companions were unable to depart.
"May Almighty God forgive you,
sister" said Benedict, "for what you
have done."
"I asked a favor of you," Scholastica replied simply, "and you refused
it. I asked it of God, and He has granted it!"
Just after his return to
Monte Cassino, Benedict saw a vision of
Scholastica's soul departing her body, ascending to heaven in the form
of a dove. She died three days after their last meeting. He placed her
body in the tomb he had prepared for himself, and arranged for his own
to be placed there after his death. Her relics were alleged by the monk
Adrevald to have been translated (July 11) to a rich silver shrine in
Saint Peter's Church in Le Mans, France, which may have been when
Benedict's were moved to Fleury. In 1562, this shrine was preserved
from the Huguenots' plundering.
Some say that we should only petition God for momentously
important
matters. God's love, however, is so great that we wishes to give us
every good thing. He is ever ready to hear our prayers: our prayers of
praise and thanksgiving, and our prayers of petition, repentance, and
intercession. Nothing is too great or too trivial to share with our
Father. The dependent soul learns that everything we are and have is
from His bountiful goodness; when we finally learn that lesson we turn
to Him with all our hopes and dreams and needs. Saint Scholastica is
obviously one of those who learned the lesson of her own helplessness
(Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer,
Husenbeth, Walsh, White).
Saint Scholastica is usually depicted in art as a habited
nun, holding
a crozier and crucifix, with her brother. Sometimes she may be shown
(1) with Saint Justina of Padua, with whom she is confused though
Justina was never a nun; (2) receiving her veil from Saint Benedict;
(3) her soul departing her body like a dove; (4) with a dove at her
feet or bosom; or kneeling before Saint Benedict's cell (Roeder, White).
She is the patroness of
Monte
Cassino and all Cassinese communities
(Roeder). She is invoked against storms (White).
Saint Scholastica St.
Gregory the
Great Early Church Father & Doctor of the Church
This excerpt from the Dialogues
of St. Gregory the Great (Lib. 2, 33; PL 66, 194-196) is used in the
Roman Office of Readings for the Feast of St. Scholastica on February
10.
Saint Scholastica, a
sister of the great abbot St. Benedict, was born
at Nursia Italy about the year 480. She vowed herself to seek God
in religious life and followed her brother to Monte Cassino where she
died around 547.
Saint Scholastica
Scholastica, the sister of Saint Benedict,
had been
consecrated to God from her earliest years. She was accustomed to
visiting her brother once a year. He would come down to meet her at a
place on the monastery property, not far outside the gate.
One day she came as usual and her saintly brother went with
some of his
disciples; they spent the whole day praising God and talking of sacred
things. As night fell they had supper together.
Their spiritual
conversation
went on and the hour grew late. The holy
nun said to her brother: “Please do not leave me tonight;
let us
go on
until morning talking about the delights of the spiritual life”.
“Sister”, he replied, “what are you saying? I simply cannot stay
outside my cell”.
When she heard her brother refuse her request, the holy
woman joined
her hands on the table, laid her head on them and began to pray. As she
raised her head from the table, there were such brilliant flashes of
lightning, such great peals of thunder and such a heavy downpour of
rain that neither Benedict nor his brethren could stir across the
threshold of the place where they had been seated. Sadly he began to
complain: “May God forgive you, sister. What have you done?” “Well”,
she answered, “I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God
and he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to
your  monastery”.
Reluctant as he was
to stay of his own will, he remained
against his
will. So it came about that they stayed awake the whole night,
engrossed in their conversation about the spiritual life.
Saint Scholastica
It is not surprising that she was more
effective than
he, since as John says, God is love, it was absolutely right that she
could do more, as she loved more.
Three days later, Benedict was in his cell. Looking up to
the sky, he
saw his sister’s soul leave her body in the form of a dove, and fly up
to the secret places of heaven. Rejoicing in her great glory, he
thanked almighty God with hymns and words of praise. He then sent his
brethren to bring her body to the monastery and lay it in the tomb he
had prepared for himself.
Their minds had always been
united in God; their bodies were to share a common grave.
|
6th v Desideratus
of
Clermont
bishop B (AC) (also known as Désiré)
Successor of Saint Avitus as
bishop of Clermont in Auvergne (Benedictines).
|
580 St. Baldegundis
Abbess of
Saint-Croix in Poitiers, France
|
624
Prothadius of
Besançon succeeded Saint Nicetius in the see of
Besançon, where Clothaire II consulted him
B (AC) (also known as Protagius) Prothadius
succeeded Saint Nicetius in
the see of
Besançon, where Clothaire II
consulted him on all important
matters (Benedictines).
|
700
Trumwin of Whitby bishop he lived out his last days in "austerity to
the benefit of many others beside himself" (Bede) OSB
B (AC)
(also known as Trumma) feast day formerly December 2. Saint
Bede tells us that, in 681, Saint Trumwin was appointed bishop
over the southern Picts by Saint
Theodore and King Egfrid.
ST TRUMWIN, BISHOP OF THE PICTS (c. AD. 690)
TRUMWIN was in 681
appointed to be bishop over the southern Picts, who were at that time
subject to the English. He set up his see at the monastery of Abercorn,
on the Firth of Forth. Little is known of St Trumwin’s episcopate, and
in 685 it came to a violent end when King Egfrid marched against the
Picts and was defeated and killed in battle. Whereupon the English who
were in the country of the Picts were slain or enslaved or fled south.
Among the last were Trumwin and his monks. He dispersed them among
various monasteries, and himself retired to the abbey of Whitby. “And
there for several years”, says St Bede, “he led
a life of monastic austerity with a few of his own people, to the
benefit not only of himself but of many others.”
His relics, with those of the abbess St Elfleda and others, were found
and solemnly translated during the twelfth century, but the evidence of
cultus is slight.
Little is known of St Trumwin apart from what we learn from Bede’s
Ecclesiastical History. There is a notice in the Acta Sanctorum for February, vol.
ii. The Anglican Bishop G. F. Browne maintained that St Trumwin erected
a stone cross at Abercorn, large fragments of which are still in
existence: see his book Theodore and
Wilfrith, pp. 163—164, and cf.
Howorth, The Golden Days of the Early English Church, vol. ii, p. iii
and passim. Consult also W.
D. Simpson, The Celtic Church in
Scotland, pp. 42—43 and 108—109.
Archbishop
Theodore of Canterbury had divided the Northumbrian diocese governed by
Saint Wilfrid into three, establishing the sees of Deira, Bernica, and
Lindsey. Three years later, two more diocese were created for Hexham
and on the Firth of Forth to
govern the Pictish lands recently
conquered. This last became the seat for Trumwin, who organized his see
at the monastery of Abercorn and later founded a monastery at Lothian on the Firth of
Forth.
Trumwin also accompanied Theodore to Farne to
persuade Saint Cuthbert to be
consecrated bishop of Hexham. In 685,
King Egfrid was killed by the Picts in the disastrous battle of
Nechtansmere and Saint Trumwin and all his monks had to flee south when
the English were ousted. He went to Whitby Abbey, where he was welcomed
by Abbess Saint Elfleda. There
he lived out his last days in "austerity to the benefit of many others
beside himself" (Bede). Trumwin's relics were translated during the
12th century with those of King Oswy and Saint Elfleda (Benedictines,
Coulson, Farmer).
704 St. Trumwin Early
Scottish bishop
An Englishman by birth, he was named bishop of the Picts in southern
Caledonia (Scotland), in 681. He based his mission in the monastery of
Abercorn on the Firth of Forth. When his political patron King Egfrith
of Northumbria was slain by the Picts at the Battle of Nechtansmere,
Trumwin was forced to flee with all of his monks to the safety of the
south. Taking up residence at Whitby, England, he spent his remaining
days there as a monk.
|
704 St.
Austreberta
Benedictine abbess famed for her visions and miracles
In pago Rotomagénsi sanctæ Austrebértæ
Vírginis, miráculis célebris.
In the diocese of Rouen, St.
Austreberta, virgin, renowned for miracles.
ST AUSTREBERTA, VIRGIN (A.D. 704)
ST AUSTREBERTA or Eustreberta was the daughter
of one of King Dagobert’s foremost courtiers, the Count Palatine
Badefrid, and of St Framechildis. She was born near Thérouanne
in Artois and was a pious and serious child, her mind set on churches
and convents; one day when she was looking at her reflection in the
water she saw a veil over her head a strange experience which made a
permanent impression. When she was growing up her father began to plan
a marriage for her, but the idea was so distasteful that she ran away
from home, accompanied by a little brother. She found her way to St
Omer, and from him she received the veil.
However, knowing who she was and what anxiety would
be felt concerning her, he persuaded her to let him take her back to
her home, Omer explained matters to her parents, who fully recognized
that she was now the bride of Christ. After remaining a short time at
home, Austreberta began to he tormented by scruples, because she was
still living in the world; so her father consented to allow her to
enter the nunnery of Port (afterwards Abbeville) on the Somme.
Here her piety and humility won all hearts; the community was very
observant and devout, and she was extremely happy amongst the nuns. It
was told of her that one day when it was her turn to bake the bread for
the house, she went to the bakery with a young girl. The oven had been
heated, the fire had been taken out, the loaves were all ready, and it
only remained to rake out the embers and clean the oven. Suddenly the
besom blazed up and set the whole oven on fire. Austreberta, fearing
that the bread would be spoilt and that no ordinary measures would be
of any use, first shut the door of the bakery and then, leaning
unscathed through the flames into the blazing oven, with her wide
sleeves cleaned out the interior, extinguishing the flames. She charged
the astonished girl, who had been standing out of the way near the
door, not to mention the affair, and then quietly went on with her
work, without a scorch or a mark on herself or her clothes. The only
person she told was a priest. Although he was filled with admiration he
said, “Daughter, do not again be so rash, lest next time you may tempt
Satan to do you an injury.”
There was living at that time a man called
Amalbert who had founded at Pavilly a monastery in which he had placed
his daughter Aurea. He consulted St Philibert about it, and the saint
advised him to appoint as superior Austreberta, who had already for a
long time been abbess of Port. St Austreberta was most unwilling to
leave her beloved nuns and perhaps she saw the difficulties ahead, but
St Philibert insisted and she gave way. She found her new daughters
undisciplined and lax, and she set to work to bring them to a better
observance of rule; but they opposed her, and at last some of them
appealed to Amalbert, accusing the saint of various grave offences. He
believed the charges, and after an outbreak of violent abuse worked
himself into such a rage that he brandished his sword and threatened
her. Austreberta remained quite calm and, drawing her veil closer to
her throat, bent her neck in anticipation of the fatal blow. Her
courage brought him to his senses, and henceforth she was left to rule
her nuns in the way she thought fit, though perhaps not till the
malcontents had been removed to another house.
The Life of St Austreberta, edited by the Bollandists (Acta Sanctorum, February, vol. ii),
was probably compiled shortly after her death in the early years of the
eighth century. Some few points are further illustrated by a life of
her mother, St Framechildis, printed in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxxviii
(1920), pp. 155—166, from a manuscript in the British Museum. See also
DHC., vol. v, cc. 790—792.
Also called Eustreberta. She was born in 630,
the daughter of the Count
Palatine Badefrid and St. Framechildis,
near Therouanne, Artois, France. Faced with an unwanted marriage,
Austreberta went to St. Omer,
who gave her the veil, the symbol of the consecrated virgin. She also
convinced her family that she had a true vocation. Austreberta entered
the convent of Abbeville, Port-sur-Somme. In time she was elected
abbess and helped reform the convent of Pavilly. She was famed for her
visions and miracles.
Austreberta of Pavilly, OSB Abbess (RM) (also known as
Eustreberta) Born near Thérouanne, Artois, France, 630;
died in Normandy, 704. Austreberta (means 'wheat of God'), was the
daughter of Saint Framechildis and the Count Palatine Badefrid. She
received the veil from Saint Omer in the convent of Abbeville
(Port-sur-Somme), where she later became abbess. She left the convent
at Port to direct and reform a new and laxly established garret of 25
nuns in Parvilly, (Benedictines, Coulson, Encyclopedia).
|
962
Salvius of Albelda,
OSB Abbot prudent court adviser (PC)
This Benedictine monk of Albelda, northern Spain, was a prudent adviser
at the courts of Navarre and Castile during the time of the reconquest
(Benedictines).
|
 1056 The Holy
Princess Anna of Novgorod
wife of Great Prince Yaroslav the Wise, gave her children a true
Christian upbringing, marked by a strong faith in God, love of work,
integrity and learning.
Her son Mstislav later became Great Prince of Kiev, and her daughter
the queen of a western European realm.
St Anna left the world and went into a monastery, where she ended her
days in strict obedience and prayer in the year 1056.
|
 1107 Saint
Prochorus of the Caves native of Smolensk entered the Kiev Caves
miracles of bread and salt for the poor
monastery under the igumen John (1089-1103). He was a
great
ascetic of strict temperance. In place of bread he ate pigweed (or
orach), and so he was called "pigweed-eater." Every summer, he gathered
pigweed and made enough bread from it to last him for a whole year. He
also ate prosphora from church now and then, and his only drink was
water. Seeing the patience of St Prochorus, God transformed the usual
bitterness of the pigweed into sweetness.
During the saint's lifetime, a famine threatened Russia.
Prochorus
began to gather the pigweed even more zealously and to prepare his
"bread". Certain people followed his example, but they were not able to
eat this weed because of its bitterness. Prochorus distributed his
pigweed bread to the needy, and it tasted like it was made from fine
wheat. Only the bread given with the blessing of St Prochorus was
edible, and even pure and light in appearance. If anyone tried to
prepare this bread himself, or take it without the saint's blessing, it
was not fit for consumption. This became known to the igumen and the
brethren, and the fame of Prochorus spread far and wide.
After a certain while there was no salt at Kiev, and the
people
suffered because of this. Then the saint gathered ashes from all the
cells, and began to distribute it to the needy. Through his prayers,
the ashes became pure salt. The merchants, who hoped to take advantage
of this shortage of salt for their own profit, became angry with St
Prochorus for distributing free salt to the people.
Prince Svyatopolk confiscated the salt from Prochorus. When
they
transported it to the prince's court, everyone saw that it was just
ordinary ashes. After three days, Svyatopolk gave orders to discard it.
St Prochorus blessed the people to take the discarded ashes, and they
were again changed into salt. This miracle reformed the fierce
prince. He began to pray zealously, made peace with the igumen of the
monastery of the Caves, and highly esteemed St Prochorus. When the last
hour of the saint approached, the prince left his army and hastened to
him, even though he was at war.
He received his blessing and with his own hands, carried the
body of
the saint to the cave and buried him. Returning to his army, Svyatopolk
easily gained victory over the Polvetsians, turning them to flight and
capturing their supply carts. Such was the great power of the prayer of
St Prochorus.
|
1157 St. William of
Maleval Hermit; carefree years of licentious military life, experienced
conversion of heart; gift of working miracles and of prophecy
In
Stábulo Rhodis, in territorio Senénsi, sancti
Guiliélmi Eremítæ. At Malavalle, near Siena,
St. William, hermit.
ST WILLIAM OF MALEVAL (A.D. 1157)
WE know nothing of the
birth or parentage of this saint except that he seems to have been a
Frenchman. He is thought to have been a soldier in his youth and to
have led a life of dissipation. The first definite accounts we have
represent him as a penitent making a pilgrimage to Rome. Here he begged
Bd Eugenius III to impose
a penance upon him, and the pope enjoined a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem. This was in 1145, and the saint spent eight years in
performing this and other pilgrimages. Upon his return to Tuscany he
hid himself in some lonely spot, until he was prevailed upon to
undertake the government of a monastery in the territory of Pisa.
However, he found the laxity and irregularity of the monks unbearable,
and as he was unable to reform them he withdrew and settled on Monte
Pruno.
Here he found his
disciples no more amenable to discipline than the previous ones, so he
determined to lead in solitude the life he had hitherto unsuccessfully
proposed to others. For this purpose he fixed upon a desolate valley,
the very sight of which was sufficient to daunt the most resolute. It
was then called in Latin “Stabulum Rodis”, but has since been known as
Maleval it is situated in the territory of Siena. He entered this
solitude in September 1155, and had no lodging but a cave until after
some months he was discovered and the lord of Buriano built him a cell.
During the first four
months he had no company but that of wild beasts, and he ate only the
herbs on which they fed. He was joined by a disciple named Albert, who
lived with him till his death, which happened thirteen months later: it
was Albert who recorded the last events of his life. St William
instructed his disciple in the ways of penance and perfection which he
taught him even more effectually by his own example—an example,
however, so transcendent that it was rather to be admired than
imitated.
He had the gift of prophecy and of miracles. A short time before his
death a physician called Renaldo came to join them, and he and Albert
buried St William’s body in the garden. They continued to live
according to his rule, and some time after, when others came to swell
their little community, they built a chapel over the founder’s grave
and a hermitage to serve their own needs. This was the origin of the
Gulielmites, or Hermits of St William, who afterwards spread over
Italy, France, Flanders and Germany later many of them joined the
Augustinian hermit friars.
See the Acta Sanctorum, February, vol. ii,
and the Kirchenlexikon, vol.
xii, cc. 1609—1611 BHL., nn. 8922-8923. One of the Lives of St William
of Maleval, who is also called “William the Great”, is attributed to
Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury but the authorship seems very
doubtful. Cf. Heimbucher, Die
Orden und Kongregationen, vol. ii (1907), p. 180.
A native of France,
he led a
dissolute early and maritial life but underwent a conversion through a
pilgrimage to Rome, where he was forced to make a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land (at the command of Pope Eugenius Ill, r. 1145-1153). Upon his
return, he lived as a hermit and then became head of a monastery near
Pisa. As he failed to bring about serious reforms among the monks there
or on Monte Pruno (Bruno), he departed and once more took up the life
of a hermit near Siena. Attracting a group of followers, the hermits
received papal sanction. They later developed into the Hermits of St.
William (the Gulielmites) until absorbed into the Augustinian Canons.
In his later years, William was noted for his gifts of prophecy and
miracles.
William of Maleval, OSB Hermit (RM) (also known as William
of Malval or
Malvalla) Born in France; died at Maleval, Italy, February 10, 1157;
canonized by Innocent III in
1202.
After carefree years of licentious military life,
William experienced a conversion of heart of which we are told nothing.
The first real piece of information we have is that the penitent
Frenchman made a pilgrimage to the tombs of the apostles at Rome. Here
he begged Pope Eugenius III for pardon and to set him on a course of
penance for his sins. Eugenius enjoined him to make a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land in 1145. William followed his counsel and spent eight years
on the journey, returning to Italy a changed man.
In 1153, William became a hermit in on the isle of Lupocavio
(near
Pisa) in Tuscany for a time. So many joined his until he was prevailed
upon to undertake the governance. He wasn't well suited to lead other
men. First he failed to maintain discipline at the abbey. Unable to
bear the tepidity and irregularity of his monks, he withdrew to Monte
Bruno. But same thing happened when he organized the disciples who had
gathered around him into his own abbey on Monte Bruno.
Finally, in September 1155, he realized this was not God's
plan for him
and he embraced the eremitical life amid the solitude of Maleval (then
called the Stable of Rhodes) near Siena. At Maleval he lived in an
underground cave until the lord of Buriano discovered him some months
later and built him a cell. For the first four months, William had only
the beasts for company and only forage for food.
The example of his life soon attracted another of like mind.
On the
Feast of the Epiphany 1156, he was joined by a companion named Albert,
who lived with him the rest of his life--only 13 months-- and recorded
William's vita. Like most of the early hermits, William used extreme
penances to atone for his earlier sinful life. He slept on the bare
ground, ate sparingly of only the coarsest fare, and drank only limited
amounts of water. Prayer, contemplation, and manual labor employed all
his waking moments. William had the gift of working miracles and of
prophecy.
Shortly before William's death, which he predicted, he and
Albert were
joined by a physician named Rinaldo. The two disciples buried William
in his little garden, and together studied to live according to
William's maxims and example. Later their number increased and they
built a chapel over their founder's grave with a hermitage; however his
relics were dispersed in the wars between Siena and Grosseto.
This was the origin of the
Gulielmites, or Hermits of Saint William,
which spread throughout Italy, France, Flanders, and Germany. Gregory
IX, mitigating their austerities, gave the Rule of Saint Benedict to
the group organized as the Order of Bare- Footed Friars, but they were
eventually absorbed by the Augustinian hermits except for 12 houses in
the Low Countries.
William is honored in the new Paris Missal and Breviary,
where his
feast is kept at the Abbey of Blancs-Manteaux, founded in 1257 as a
mendicant order, called the Servants of the Virgin Mary, but bestowed
on the Gulielmites after the second council of Lyons in 1297
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art, William of Maleval is similar to William of
Aquitaine but with
no ducal coronet. He carries a pilgrim's staff and sometimes wears a
monastic habit over armor. At times he may be shown (1) bearing a cross
staff, one arm of which ends in a crescent, or (2) bearing a shield
with four fleur-de-lys (Roeder). He is the patron of armorers and
venerated in Siena, Italy (Roeder), and Paris (Husenbeth).
|
1164 Blessed Hugh
of
Fosse “a man of impetuous disposition” -- Saint Bernard, O. Praem. (AC)
BD HUGH OF POSSES (1164)
THE Premonstratensian
Order has long venerated the memory of him who was in a true sense its
second father, and who had undertaken this onerous charge in the
lifetime of the founder himself.
Hugh was born at Fosses, about seven miles from Namur. Becoming an
orphan at an early age he was educated by a Benedictine community close
at hand, and then passed into the service of a devout and zealous
prelate, Burchard, Bishop of Cambrai. Hugh was in attendance on his
patron when the latter unexpectedly met his old friend Norbert, like
himself a man of noble birth, but now going barefoot, dressed as a
humble penitent, and preaching the gospel of Christ to the poor with
wonderful fervour and success. Hugh was at once captivated and besought
the favour of being allowed to join Norbert as his first disciple. In
June 1119, Hugh being already a priest and about twenty-six years old,
the two set out to carry on their apostolic work in Hainault and
Brabant.
Probably St Norbert at
this time had no very definite idea of founding a new religious order,
but the appeal of Bartholomew, Bishop of Laon, that he should undertake
the reformation of a certain community of regular canons, and other
circumstances which developed out of this frustrated effort, led to the
creation of the monastery of Prémontré,
which was followed by the establishment of other houses and the
drafting of a religious rule. Hugh took the initiative in the drawing
up of these statutes, for on his shoulders, in the absence of Norbert
who was constantly being called away for all sorts of apostolic work,
much of the burden fell; we are in particular told of a great battle
with the powers of darkness, which occurred when the elder saint was at
a distance. The Devil, it seems, strove to put to flight the men of God
who were converting the uncultivated wilds of Prémontré
into a paradise of prayer.
In 1126 St Norbert was consecrated archbishop of
Magdeburg, and two years later Hugh by a unanimous vote was elected
abbot of the mother house and superior general of the order. During the
thirty-five years which his administration lasted, more than one
hundred foundations of the “white canons “ came into existence but he
was now an old man, worn out by austerities and incessant labour, and
on February 10, 1164 he passed to his reward. His remains were interred
in the church of Prémontré before the altar of St Andrew,
and when in 1279 they were removed to a still more honourable
resting-place close to the high altar we are told that the church was
flooded with a celestial perfume. These relics were happily recovered
after the first world-war, despite a conflagration which consumed the
church in which they were temporarily preserved.
From our fragmentary materials it is not easy to obtain a clear idea of
the personal character of Bd Hugh, but he seems to have been an
impetuous man who did not always realize that there might be two sides
to a question in which he was keenly interested. St Bernard in a long
letter addressed to him (No. 253, Migne, PL., vol. clxxxii,cc.
453—458), remonstrates strongly against the bitterness and injustice of
certain complaints which Hugh had made in writing. We do not
unfortunately know the response that was returned to St Bernard’s
vehement but charitable appeal.
The two recensions of the Vita Sti Norberti, for one of which
Hugh himself has been claimed as the author, constitute our most
authentic source of information. See also such modern lives of St
Norbert as those of G. Madelaine (1886) in French, G. van den Elsen
(1890) in Flemish, and C. Kirkfleet (1916) in English; and H. Lamy, Vie du b. Hugues de Foss., (1925). The cultus of Hugh was sanctioned by
the Holy See in 1927, and the decree, published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis for that
year, pp. 316—319, contains a brief summary of his career.
Born at Fosse near Namur, Belgium; cultus confirmed in 1927. Hugh was
ordained and in 1119 joined Saint
Norbert, the founder of the
Premonstratensians (Canons Regular of Prémontré), as his
companion and principal assistant. At first Hugh accompanied Norbert on
his preaching missions in Hainault and Brabant. After the founding of
Prémontré, he assumed most of the responsibility for
directing the house. Hugh succeeded Norbert as abbot general of the
order when Norbert was consecrated archbishop of Magdeburg. During
Hugh's thirty-five-year administration, the order grew to over 100
houses. A letter from Saint Bernard
to Hugh suggests that he was a man of impetuous disposition (Attwater2,
Benedictines).
|
1240 St. Paul and
Ninety Companions missionaries Dominican martyrs
Originally from Hungary, Paul
studied law at the renowned University of Bologna and was subsequently
convinced by St. Dominic himself to
join the Order of Friars Preachers.
Paul returned to Hungary and worked
to establish the order throughout the kingdom. He then went with the so
called Ninety Companions to Wallachia, where he hoped to convert the
pagan Cumans. The wild tribesman refused to hear his words and
slaughtered Paul and his fellow missionaries.
|
1423 St. Paganus
Italian Benedictine monastery on Sicily
He served in a monastery on Sicily before becoming a hermit.
|
1346 BD CLARE OF RIMINI, Widow; When 34, she entered a Franciscan church
and heard a voice say, “Clare, try to say one Pater and one Ave
Maria to the glory of God, without thinking of other things”. soon
afterwards in the same church she had a
vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary who spoke to her.
BORN of a rich family in Rimini, Clare Agolanti married
young and lived a life wholly given up to frivolity and to the
gratification of her senses. She became a widow, and, owing to party
factions, was exiled for a time—returning to see her father and brother
perish on the scaffold. She still continued her careless life and
married again. When she was thirty-four, she entered a Franciscan
church one day and heard a voice which said, “Clare, try to say one
Pater and one Ave Maria to the glory of God, without thinking of other
things”. She began to reflect seriously, and soon afterwards in the
same church she had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary who spoke to
her. By this she was so much impressed that she resolved henceforth to
live only for the world to come, and as a first step in the upward path
she joined the third order of St Francis. Her husband allowed her to
lead almost the life of a nun, and when he died soon afterwards she
gave herself up to austerities. In place of the jewels she had formerly
worn she now had rings of iron round her neck and arms and she also
wore an iron cuirass which is still shown at Rimini. To punish herself
for her luxury and sensuality she slept upon rough planks, and, to
mortify her fastidious taste, she forced herself at times to eat food
from which even the starving would have revolted. During Lent, she took
up her quarters in a hollow in the old city wall and there she lived,
exposed to all weathers.
When the
Poor Clares from Regno were forced by war to take refuge in Rimini and
were in great distress, Clare went begging for them from door to door.
Several women placed themselves under her direction, and with the help
of friends she bought the piece of ground about that part of the old
wall which contained her cell and built a convent. She herself did not
become professed or enclosed, but continued her works of charity
outside. Owing to the extreme lengths to which she carried her desire
for penance she had much opposition to face. On Good Friday she got
people to tie a cord round her neck and, with her hands bound behind
her back, she had herself dragged through the streets in imitation of
our Lord. These and similar practices caused even her fellow religious
to regard her as unbalanced, and they locked her up to prevent her from
resorting to her old haunt in the wall. She was also accused of heresy,
but upon no clear grounds. She tried to go without drinking anything at
all in order to experience something of our Lord’s thirst on the cross,
and she nearly died in consequence. Once she fell into an ecstasy which
lasted five days, during which she was deprived of the power of speech,
and for the last few months of her life she seemed to have lost
consciousness and sensation when she came to herself she was blind and
could not communicate with anyone.
It is
important to remember that the authority and approval of the Church are
by no means involved in such extravagances as those we read of in this
account of Bd Clare of Rimini. It is extremely improbable that if such
a cause were now introduced for beatification it would successfully
pass the tests required by the Congregation of Rites. She is styled
Blessed because from her death onwards she seems to have been venerated
locally at Rimini, and after the existence of this cultus had been proved by the
production of sufficient evidence it was sanctioned and allowed to
continue by a decree issued by Pius VI in 1784. We must also bear
in mind that just as the life of St Simeon Stylites on his
pillar, and those of his many imitators, undoubtedly did enormously
impress his contemporaries, from the emperor downwards, though such an
existence would now be regarded even by devout Catholics as crazy
ostentation or fanaticism, so the standards of taste in such matters as
manifesting contempt of the world’s opinion have altered very much
since the fourteenth century.
For Clare’s life see
Mazzara, Leggendario Francescano (under Feb. 2), and Léon, Auréole Séraphique
(Eng. trans.), vol i, pp. 235—238.
|
1439 The
Synaxis of Novgorod Hierarchs is also celebrated on
October 4
and on the third Sunday after Pentecost
On October 4, 1439 St John (September 7) appeared to the presiding
hierarch St Euthymius (March 11) and ordered him to serve a special
panikhida in memory of those buried at the Sophia cathedral (the
Russian princes and Archbishops of Novgorod, and all Orthodox
Christians) on the Feast of the Hieromartyr Hierotheus, first Bishop of
Athens.
Then the incorrupt relics of St John (September 7) were uncovered.
Afterwards, the Synaxis was established to mark the glorification of
the Novgorod hierarchs. E. E. Golubinsky says that because these
hierarchs remained unknown at the time of their glorification, he
determined this date for their common celebration was established in
the period between the time of the Moscow Council of 1549 and the time
of the formation of the Holy Synod (E. E. Golubinsky, History of the
Canonization of Saints in the Russian Church. Moscow, 1903, p. 157).
Included in the Synaxis of Novgorod hierarchs are: St Joachim of
Korsun, first bishop of Novgorod (988-1030); St Luke the Jew, bishop
(October 15, 1060); St Germanus, bishop (1078-1096); St Arcadius,
bishop (September 18); St Gregory, archbishop (May 24, 1193); St
Martyrius, archbishop (August 24, 1199); St Anthony, archbishop
(October 8, 1231); St Basil the Lame, archbishop (July 3, 1352); St
Simeon, archbishop (June 15, 1421); St Gennadius, archbishop (December
4); St Pimen, archbishop (1553-1571); Aphthonius, metropolitan (April
6, 1653).
The relics of these saints were buried or transferred to Novgorod's
Sophia Cathedral (except for St Germanus, St Gennadius and St Pimen)
therefore, in some sources their names are not included in the Synaxis.
The October 4 celebration was established in connection with the memory
of the holy Prince Vladimir Yaroslavich of Novgorod (+ 1052), and the
February 10 Synaxis of the Novgorod hierarchs is celebrated in
connection with the holy Princess Anna of Novgorod (+ 1056).
Besides those mentioned, hierarchs who have separate commemorations
are: St Nikita the Hermit, bishop (January 31); St Niphon, bishop
(April 8); St John, archbishop (September 7); St Theoctistus,
archbishop (December 23); St Moses, archbishop (January 25); St
Euthymius, archbishop (March 11); St Jonah, archbishop (November 5); St
Serapion, archbishop (March 16).
|
1501
Blessed Eusebius of
Murano Camaldolese monk, OSB Cam., Hermit (PC)
Saint Eusebius, a member
of the Spanish nobility, was sent as ambassador to the republic of
Venice. Here, he left everything to become a Camaldolese monk at San
Michele on the isle of Murano (Benedictines).
|
 1540 Saint Longinus
of
Koryazhemsk
first pursued asceticism at the monastery of St Paul of Obnora,
and then lived at the Sts Boris and Gleb Solvychegod monastery. From
there he settled with his friend Simon near Vychegda, toward the mouth
of the Koryazhema river. Here, deep in the countryside, ten
versts from Solvychegod, the ascetics built cells and a chapel. When
brethren gathered around them, they built a church named for St
Nicholas, and built a monastery in which the saint was igumen. Near the
church there was a well, dug out by St Longinus himself.
After his death in 1540 the saint's body was buried, in accord with his
last wishes, near the entrance to the church. Sixteen years later, it
was placed inside the church.
The memory of St Longinus is celebrated with a special service, and
there is a brief Life, compiled at a later time.
|
1645 Bl.
Alexander of
Lugo Dominican martyr of Spain martyred by Muslims
Blessed Alexander
of Lugo, OP M (AC) (also known as
Alexander Baldrati) Born in Lugo, Italy, 1595; died on Chios Island in
1645.
If anyone ever was framed and
destroyed by a tissue of
lies, it was Alexander Baldrati a Lugo, who was martyred by the
Islamics.
Alexander was baptized in
the Dominican church at Lugo,
Italy. Showing early signs of piety, he was carefully educated and was
received into the order in Lugo in 1612. He studied first in Faenza,
then in Naples, in the convent of Our Lady of the Arch. After his
ordination, he was sent to Bologna, where he carried on a heavy program
of preaching and teaching. He devoted half his time to God and half to
his neighbor; by arithmetic, that left none for himself.
Eventually his
health failed. It was during his convalescence in Venice that
circumstances sent him on the great adventure of his life.
Just why a sick man
should embark on a trip to the Orient
is not quite clear; perhaps his superiors thought a sea voyage would
help him. At any rate, he arrived on the island of Chios and--like many
convalescent religious--promptly began devoting a full day to preaching.
He happened to incur the bitter
hatred of an apostate Christian, who
began planning his downfall.
When the archbishop of
Edessa arrived, en
route to his see, and stopped over with the Dominicans, the apostate
convinced his friends that the Christians were moving in on Chios (sort
of like the pope is moving into the White House) and a furor of
anti-Christian feeling arose among the fanatical Islamics. However, the
target of wrath was not the archbishop of Edessa, nor the other
transient archbishop staying with the Dominicans, but Alexander. The
apostate, who had elected himself spokesman, went to the governor and
denounced Alexander. This Dominican, he said, had secretly become a
follower of Islam, and he could prove it.
Like many another
brazenly false charge, this one was
difficult to disprove. Alexander was haled into the Mohammedan court,
and the governor praised him highly for his wisdom in converting to the
beliefs of Islam.
He was promised great rewards as
his portion,
especially if he could get some of his fellow Dominicans interested in
the faith of the prophet.
Alexander protested
indignantly that he had never been in the slightest
danger of professing Islam, that he was a Christian and proud of it.
The governor therefore informed him that he must be treated as an
apostate from Islam. Alexander realized that he was bound for the
sacrifice no matter what happened, but he wanted the record kept
straight. "I have never believed in your prophet," he said. "I have
never believed in the Koran, nor in any of its teachings!"
"This man has abandoned
the faith of Mohammed," said the
governor. "He has blasphemed. He is guilty of death." Without further
discussion, the unhappy Dominican was taken off to prison, still
protesting his orthodoxy. The governor sent soldiers to bring the
Dominican prior and two archbishops. "Why did you harbor this traitor?"
he demanded of them. "Our law commands us to kill anyone who abandons
the faith of Mohammed, and you had no right to shelter him from his
just punishment. We could seize all of you and put you to death for
this treason."
The prior and the two visiting archbishops held up stoutly
under the
governor's polished trickery. They protested that Alexander was an
excellent Christian and never had been anything else. As soon as they
were released, they sent word to Alexander to be of good courage, that
everyone would pray that he could bear up through the ordeal ahead.
They called the Christians of the island to keep vigil in the churches,
to pray for those who were to die.
Alexander, brought
once more before the court, was given
three days to reflect on whether or not he would proclaim himself a
faithful son of the Prophet. "I do not need three days," he said. "I
can give you a definite answer right now. I am a Christian, and have
never been a Mohammedan. Your prophet is a prophet of lies, your law
proceeds from the father of lies." His bold words met a chorus of
fanatical screams from the populace already incited to murder by the
apostate. "Avenge your prophet!" cried the governor, and the crowds
pressed in until it was necessary to put Alexander in a dungeon to keep
him alive until the governor's plans were complete.
Alexander was condemned to be burned at the stake. When he
was led out
to die, the maddened crowds pressed in as if they would tear him to
pieces. No one listened to his protesting that he was and always had
been a Christian. When he was tied to the stake, the governor said to
him: "Lift one finger to show that you believe in the God of Mohammed,
the one true God, and your life will be spare." Bleeding and stiff from
torture, the Dominican raised three fingers and cried out: "I believe
in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."
The fire would not touch the martyr as he stood suffering at
the stake.
Wind blew the flames away, or put them out; faggots fell and rolled
away from him. With a maddened roar, the crowd fought through its guard
and hacked him to pieces. Then someone tossed gunpowder on the fire
and, in the sight of 40,000 witnesses, Alexander Baldrati a Lugo gave
up his valiant spirit (Benedictines, Dorcy).
|
1960 Blessed
Aloysius Stepinac, Cardinal demonstrating the importance of faith,
charity and virtue M (AC)
(also known as Louis or Alojzije of Zagreb) Born at Brezaric near
Krasic, Croatia, on May 8, 1898; died at Krasic, on February 10, 1960;
beatified on October 3, 1998, by Pope John Paul II at the Marian shrine
of Marija Bistrica.
Aloysius Stepinac, the eighth of
12 children of a peasant family, was
always the special object of his mother's prayers to he might be
ordained.
In 1916, he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army
and fought on the Italian front until he was taken prisoner. Upon his
return to civilian life in 1919, Stepinac entered the University of
Zagreb to study agriculture, but soon recognized his call to the
priesthood. In 1924, he was sent to Rome for his seminary studies
leading to his ordination on October 26, 1930.
He returned to Zagreb in July
1931 with doctorates in theology and
philosophy.
Soon afterwards, Stepinac was chosen to become secretary to
Archbishop Antun Bauer. On June 24, 1934, he was nominated as coadjutor
to the Archbishop of Zagreb. After this nomination, Stepinac stated: "I
love my Croatian people and for their benefit I am ready to give
everything, as well as I am ready to give everything for the Catholic
Church." After Bauer's death on December 7, 1937, Stepinac became the
Archbishop of Zagreb. He took as his motto, "In You, O Lord, I take
refuge!" (Psalm 31:1), which was the inspiration for his service to the
Church.
During the Second World War,
Stepinac never turned his back on the
refugees, or the prosecuted.
His door was always open not only for
Croatians, but also Jews, Serbs, and Slovenes that needed his help.
Stepinac always stood for political freedom and fundamental rights, and
he always advocated the rights of the Croatian people. Stepinac wanted
Croatia to be a country of God.
At the end of the war, Stepinac
was found guilty of collaborating with
the Nazis at a mock trial.
He was convicted and sentenced sixteen
years' hard labour on October 11, 1946. At his trial when his life was
on the line, Stepinac asked his communist prosecutors: ". . . every
nation has the right to independence, then why should it be denied to
the Croatians?" He spent five years in the prison of Lepoglava, 1,864
days in hard labor, and, in 1951, Tito's government released him and
confined him to the village of Krasic.
Even though he was forbidden by
the government to resume his duties,
Stepinac was created cardinal by Pope Pius XII on January 12, 1953.
He
died under house arrest from the many illnesses he contracted while in
prison and was buried three days later behind the main altar in the
cathedral in Zagreb. One story reported that poison was found in his
bones. In 1985, his trial prosecutor Jakov Blazevic publically
admitted that
Stepinac was framed; he was prosecuted because of the regime's hatred
of religion and Stepinac's loyalty to the Holy See.
Without a doubt, Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac is one of the greatest
Croatian patriots of the 20th century. He spent his entire life serving
God and the Croatian people, demonstrating the importance of faith,
charity and virtue (Savor).
|
Mary Mother of GOD 15
Promises of the
Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary 
Saints of this Day February
10 Quarto Idus Februárii. 
February
10 - Our Lady of the Dove (Bologna, Italy)
Mystery of Mary's Virginity
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.