98 St. Parmenas
1/7 deacons appointed by Apostles minister to Hellenized Jews of Jerusalem
Philíppis, in Macedónia, sancti Pármenæ,
qui fuit unus de septem primis Diáconis. Hic, tráditus
grátiæ Dei, injúnctum sibi a frátribus offícium
prædicatiónis plena fide consúmmans, martyrii glóriam,
sub Trajáno, est adéptus. At
Philippi in Macedonia, St. Parmenas, one of the first seven deacons, who by
the grace of God faithfully discharged the office of preaching committed to
him, and obtained the glory of martyrdom in the time of Trajan.
Converted to the Christian faith. Their labors
were reported in the Acts of the Apostles. Parmenas is said to have to have
spent many years preaching in Asia Minor before receiving martyrdom in Philippi,
Macedonia, under Emperor Trajan
(98-117).
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287 St. Asclas Martyr
miracle concerning Arrian governor of Egypt crossing Nile
Apud Antínoum, Ægypti urbem, sancti Asclæ Mártyris,
qui, post divérsa torménta, pretiósam Deo ánimam,
in flumen præcipitátus, réddidit.
At Antinoum, a city of Egypt, St. Ascla,
martyr, who, after various torments, was thrown into a river and gave up his
precious soul unto God.
who performed a miracle concerning Arrian, the
governor of Egypt. Asclas was brought before Arrian during the persecutions
instituted by Emperor Diocletian. Asclas was tortured for a time by Governor
Arrian, until Arrian started to cross the Nile but found himself unable
to do so. Asclas informed the governor that he would never cross the Nile
unless he acknowledged Christ in writing. Arrian wrote this tribute and crossed
the Nile. However, once safe, he commanded that Asclas be tortured and thrown
into the Nile. [It can hardly be disputed from the very form of
the story that a considerable legendary element is present.]
3rd v.
ST ASCLAS, MARTYR
THE fame of St Asclas was great in Egypt and
throughout the East, and he is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology. His
story, as epitomized in the synaxaries, runs as follows “Asclas, a native
of the Thebaid, was denounced for his faith in Christ and brought before
Arrian the governor. Boldly confessing his belief, he was strung up, scourged
until the flesh was torn in strips from his ribs, and then cast into prison.
But the governor had to pass over the River Nile in a boat, and the saint
prayed that he might never reach the opposite shore until he expressly acknowledged
in writing the divinity of Christ. Arrian embarked, but the boat was held
up and he could get no farther; whereupon the saint, learning of this, sent
him word that only by confessing the divinity of Christ could he reach dry
land once more. Then the governor called for paper, and he wrote down that
mighty was the God of the Christians and that there was no other beside Him.
Straightway the boat made the passage, the governor landed, and sending for
the saint caused his ribs to be burnt with torches. Then he had a great stone
tied to him and cast him into the river. Thus it was that Asclas gained his
crown of martyrdom.” It can hardly be disputed from the very form of the
story that a considerable legendary element is present.
In the above
quoted Synaxary of Constantinople (ed. H. Delehaye, p. 698) the feast is commemorated
on May 20, but in the West on January 23. See also the Acta Sanctorum
for this day, and Cheneau d’Orléans, Les
saints d’Égypte, vol. i, pp. 183 seq.
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304
St. Emerentiana Martyr of Rome invoked against colic and stomach ache
Romæ sanctæ Emerentiánæ, Vírginis
et Mártyris; quæ adhuc catechúmena, dum oráret
ad sepúlcrum sanctæ Agnétis, cujus fúerat collactánea,
a Gentílibus lapidáta est.
At Rome, the holy virgin and martyr, St.
Emerentiana. Being yet a catechumen, she was stoned to death by the
heathens while praying at the tomb of St. Agnes, her foster sister.
304? ST EMERENTIANA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
According to the Roman Martyrology and the Breviary
lesson for this day, St Emerentiana was the foster-sister of St Agnes, and
consequently was of much the same age, but as yet only a catechumen. She was
stoned to death two days after St Agnes’s martyrdom, when praying beside her
grave, and in this way received the baptism of blood. This story, which forms
a kind of supplement to the “acts” of St Agnes, cannot be accepted as it
stands, but there is evidence that there was a St Emerentiana,
martyr, who was originally buried in the Coemeterium majus, a
little farther along the Via Nomentana than the spot where the basilica dedicated
to St Agnes was erected. Emerentiana was apparently honoured on September
16 with SS. Victor, Felix and Alexander, but for some reason her remains were
later transferred to the basilica just mentioned, and her story by means of
legendary embellishments became entwined with that of St Agnes.
See the Acta Sanctorum for January 23 and F. Jubaru, St Agnes (1909), pp. 145-156.
In some traditions the foster sister of St. Agnes, stoned to death when discovered
praying at Agnes’ grave. Emerentiana was possibly martyred elsewhere. Her
cult was confined to local calendars in 1969. It is claimed by Alban Butler
that her relics were recovered with those of her sister in Christ near the
Church of Saint Agnes on the Via Nomentana
when it was being restored during the reign of Pope Paul V. Farmer reports
that they were found nearby. Her connection with Saint Agnes ensured her
popularity (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
Saint Emerentiana is pictured as a young maiden with a stone or being stoned
by a mob at Saint Agnes's tomb (Roeder). She is invoked against colic and
stomach ache (Roeder).
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309 St. Agathangelus Martyr baptized by St. Clement
of Ancyra died with him
Ancyræ, in Galátia, sancti Cleméntis Epíscopi,
qui, sæpius cruciátus, tandem, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre,
martyrium consummávit.
At Ancyra in Galatia, St. Clement, bishop.
After enduring frequent torments, he finally completed his martyrdom under
Diocletian.
Ibídem sancti Agathángeli, qui eódem die, sub
Lúcio Præside, passus est.
In the same place, and on the same day,
St. Agathangelus who suffered under the governor Lucius.
308? SS. CLEMENT AND AGATHANGELUS, MARTYRS
Concerning these two martyrs, although they are held in high honour in
some oriental churches, and are commemorated on this day in the Roman Martyrology,
we have no reliable knowledge of any sort. Clement is supposed to have devoted
himself to the instruction of children and of the poor, to have been made
bishop of Ancyra in Galatia at the age of twenty, and then, after arrest,
to have been dragged from city to city, enduring incredible torments for years
together, but repeatedly saved from death by a series of stupendous miracles.
Agathangelus was a convert
whom Clement made when he was brought to Rome. Having been ordained deacon
Agathangelus shared the subsequent sufferings of his master. Both are said
ultimately to have perished by the sword at Ancyra. The quite untrustworthy
character of their “acts” has been recognized by all critics from Baronius
and Tillemont downwards.
See the Acta Sanctorum for January 23, and DHG., vol. i, c. 906.
Agathangelus met Clement in Rome.
When Clement was taken to Ancyra, Agathangelus went with him, sharing in
his martyrdom there.
After Bishop Saint Clement of Ancyra, Galatia (Ankara, Turkey), miraculously
survived torture, he was taken to Rome. While in prison there he met, converted,
and baptized Saint Agathangelus, then ordained him deacon. He followed the
bishop to the East, and both were martyred at Ancyra under Diocletian. Their
Acta are most romantic, but unfortunately spurious. Their relics were venerated
in Pera, a suburb of Constantinople, until they were taken by the Latins (Benedictines,
Coulson, Husenbeth).
|
356 St. Amasius Bishop
of Teano exile involved in the Arian persecution of his era
Amasius was a Greek who had to
flee his homeland because of the Arian heresy.
He went to Italy and was named the bishop of Teano in 346. His cult
is still flourishing in several dioceses of central Italy (Benedictines).
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6th v. Martyrius of Valeria hermit
Gregory the Great extols in his Dialogues
(Dial. I, II) M (RM)
In Província Valériæ
sancti Martyrii Mónachi, cujus méminit beátus Gregórius
Papa.
In the province of Valeria, St. Martyrius,
monk, mentioned by Pope St. Gregory.
(also known as Martory) A hermit at Valeria in the Abruzzi, whom Saint
Gregory the Great extols in his Dialogues (Dial. I, II) (Benedictines).
|
6th
v. St. Ormond French abbot
also listed as Armand. He was elected abbot of the monastery of Saint Maire,
circa 587.
Ormond was a patron of the monastic expansion and evangelization
programs of his era. Ormond of Mairé, Abbot (AC) (also known as Armand)
6th century. Saint Ormond was a monk at the abbey of Saint Mairé.
He became abbot in 587 and was eminently successful in that position (Benedictines).
|
4th
v. St. Eusebius Syrian hermit
who established his holy refuge on Mount Coryphe, near Antioch. He himself
ate only once every four days, but he would not allow his monks to fast for
more than two days at a time. Although he advocated the benefits of penitential
mortification of the senses, he more highly recommended perpetual prayer.
He was harsh with himself. His mind wondered as he was listening to his abbatial
predecessor read the Scriptures aloud. To punish himself for his inattention
to the Word of God, he locked a heavy iron collar around his neck, which was
connected by a stiff chain to an iron girdle around his wait. For the rest
of his life--more than 40 years--he wore this contraption which prevented
him from looking at his feet. Thereafter, he left his cell only to visit
the chapel (Attwater2, Benedictines, Husenbeth).
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616 St. John the
Almoner Patriarch of Alexandria generosity to the poor
Alexandríæ sancti Joánnis Eleemosynárii,
ejúsdem urbis Epíscopi, misericórdia in páuperes
celebérrimi.
At Alexandria, St. John the Almoner, bishop
of that city, celebrated for his charity towards the poor.
Egypt, called “the Almoner” because of his
generosity to the poor. He was born into a noble family of Cyprus and was
briefly married. When his wife and child died, he entered the religious life,
and in 608 was named patriarch of Alexandria. He aided refugees from the
Persian assaults on the Holy Land and built charitable institutions. John
predicted his own death. He had to leave Alexandria when a Persian invasion
troubled the region and had a vision of his demise. John went to Amathus,
on Cyprus, where he died on November 11. |
616 John the Almsgiver
family died entered religious life
widely known for his holiness
and charity
Born in Amathus (Old Limaasol), Cyprus, c. 550; died November
11, c. 616-19; feast day formerly April 9; feast in the East is November 11.
Two near contemporary vitae about Saint John the Almsgiver--
one by John Moschus and the other by Sophronius--tend to give credence to
the story of John the Almsgiver. John, the son of noble Epiphanius, governor
of Cyprus, married while he was still quite young, but when his wife and two
children died he entered the religious life, gave his income to the poor,
and became widely known for his holiness and charity. When John was about
50 (c. 608) and still a layman, he was chosen patriarch of Alexandria by his
adopted brother Nicetas, who had helped the Emperor Heraclius to come to
power. This church had been very greatly reduced by the Monophysite heresy,
and John set himself to commend orthodoxy by an example of virtuous living
and most liberal almsgiving.
On his arrival, Patriarch John ordered an exact list to be taken
of his "masters," i.e., the poor, whom John said had much power in heaven
to help those who had been good to them on earth. The list John compiled
named 7,500 poor of the diocese, who he fed every day. One of his first episcopal
acts was the distribution of 80,000 pieces of gold to hospitals and monasteries.
When some protested this action, he answered by telling of a vision he had
experienced. A beautiful woman appeared to him representing Charity who said
to him: "I am the eldest daughter of the King. If you will be my friend, I
will lead you to Him." Thereafter, he followed this policy of charity systematically
until his death. It is said that his own charity spurred others on to do likewise.
He was inspired by the thought that in helping the poor he was
giving thanks to Jesus, who sacrificed so much for our salvation. When someone
privately tried to thank John, the saint cut him short, saying, "Brother,
I have not yet spilled my blood for you, as Jesus Christ, my master and my
God, commands me."
Every Wednesday and Friday he sat on a bench outside the church
and adjudicated disputes, dispensed advice, listened to the complaints of
the needy and aggrieved, and immediately sought to redress the wrongs that
they had experienced. Nothing and nobody was too insignificant for his attention.
The functions of his office, prayer, and pious reading occupied
all his time, so that he never spoke an idle word. He turned out of the church
those whom he saw talking, and forbade all detractors to enter his house.
Avoiding idle conversation was perhaps aided by his appointment of a man to
remind him on all occasions of pomp: "My lord, your tomb is unfinished; be
pleased to give your orders to have it completed, for you know not the hour
when death will seize you."
Known for his humility, John regarded injuries as his greatest
gain and happiness. He always disarmed his enemies of their rancor by meekness,
and frequently fell at the feet of those who insulted him to beg their pardon.
When he noticed that many amused
themselves outside the church during Mass, he went out and seated himself
amongst them, saying: "My children, the shepherd must be with his flock."
This action, which covered them with confusion, prevented them from being
guilty of that ever again. He also forbade meeting in the sanctuary, saying,
"If you come here to pray, occupy your mind and heart with that, but if you
come merely to meet someone, remember it is written that the house of God
shall be called a house of prayer; do not turn it into a den of thieves."
The saint also insisted the believers should never under any
circumstances receive Holy Communion with heretics. He said, "Communion is
so called because he who has communion has things in common and agrees with
those with whom he has communion; therefore I implore you never to go near
the oratories of heretics in order to communicate there."
He found and endowed seven lying-in and other hospitals of 40
beds each (with a 'maternity benefit'), homes for the aged and infirm, and
lodgings for travellers, and built churches (over 60 of them according to
one source). He also helped the poor by regulating weights and measures and
making individual gifts, and taxed his clergy to help pay for it all. John
fought simony, rigorously forbade all his officers and servants to take presents
that he saw as bribes, and ended corruption in his diocese. Throughout his
patriarchate, he labored to end Monophysitism and restore orthodoxy by peaceful
means.
Patriarch John worked to alleviate the onerous new taxes levied
by Governor Nicetas. The governor left John in a passion. Saint John sent
him a message toward evening saying, "The sun is going to set. Let not the
sun set on your anger." The admonition had its intended effect. The governor
returned to John and asked for pardon.
One of his beneficiaries was a trader who had fallen on hard
times after two shipwrecks: John provided him with a ship and a cargo of
corn that the man bartered for its weight in tin in the British Isles, which
was experiencing a famine. Legend says the tin turned to finest silver on
the return journey.
John's open hand never closed. Sometimes he was deceived by
impostors who kept returning for alms in disguise when he had already helped
them generously: even when he knew he was imposed upon he still gave again
and again.
Though he was not a monk himself,
he came to respect them and founded two new monasteries in the city. Once
a young monk begged alms for several days accompanied by an attractive young
woman. As a result of the consequent scandal, John had the woman beaten and
separated from the monk, who was scourged and placed in solitary confinement.
That night John had a dream in which he saw the monk who told him that he
had made a mistake. Upon awakening John called for the badly lacerated monk.
He told John that he was a eunuch and that the young woman was a Jew who wish
to be baptized. John apologized, offered compensation (which was refused),
and admonished the monk that it was unseemly for those clad in angelic robes
to wander about the city, especially with a woman. Thereafter the saint showed
special honor and hospitality to monks.
A rather cute story is told about a wealthy admirer, who upon
learning that John had but one ragged blanket on his bed, begged John to accept
one of great value and use it for the sake of the donor. John accepted it,
but spent a night in uneasiness and self- reproaches for being so richly covered
while his 'masters' (the poor) were so ill-accommodated. The next day John
sold it and gave the money to the poor. The donor bought it from the vendor,
and gave it again to John. The cycle of giving, accepting, selling, and rebuying
the blanket continued for quite a time.
When the Persians sacked Jerusalem in 614, he succored the refugees
and sent large amounts of money, and food for the relief of that city and
workmen to rebuild its churches. In a letter to Bishop Modestus of Jerusalem,
he wrote that he wished it had been in his power to come in person and contribute
by the labor of his hands. Five years later the invaders were threatening
Egypt. He was on his way to Constantinople with Nicetas to visit Emperor Heraclius,
when at Rhodes a vision of his own impending death caused him to return to
his native Amathus, where he died.
In his last will and testament he said that he had found the
treasury of his church full and left it empty: "I have done my best to render
to God the things that were God's." John the Almsgiver was the original patron
saint of the Order of Saint John at Jerusalem (later, the Knights of Malta).
His relics were carried to Constantinople, where they remained
until the Turkish emperor presented them to Matthias, king of Hungary. They
then made their way from to Tall (near Presbourg/Bratislava, Hungary) and
then to the cathedral of Presbourg in 1632. The Orthodox Church honors John
on his dies natalis, while the R.M. celebrates the date of the translation
of his relics (Attwater, Benedictines, Butler, Coulson, Dawes, Delaney, Encyclopedia,
Farmer, Gill, Husenbeth, Walsh).
In art, Saint John is a bishop with a wallet or loaf holding
a rosary in his hand. Sometimes he is shown giving alms to a cripple (Roeder).
In this 14th-century Russian icon with Saints Barlaam Khutynski, Paraskeva
and Anastasia.
|
667 St. Ildephonsus
Archbishop Blessed Virgin devotion Our Lady's appearance present him with
a chalice prolific writer
Toléti, in Hispánia, sancti Ildefónsi Epíscopi,
qui, ob singulárem vitæ integritátem, susceptámque
fídei defensiónem advérsus hæréticos, sanctíssimæ
Dei Genitrícis virginitátem impugnántes, ab eádem
Vírgine María donátus est candidíssima veste,
ac demum, sanctitáte célebris, in cælum vocátus.
At Toledo, St. Ildefonse, bishop, renowned
for sanctity. On account of his great purity of life, and his defence
of the virginity of the Mother of God, against the heretics who denied it,
he received from her a brilliant white vestment, and was called to heaven.
St. Ildephonsus is highly regarded in Spain and closely associated with devotion
to the Blessed Virgin which he fostered by his famous work concerning her
perpetual virginity. Born around 607, Ildephonsus came from a noble family
and was probably a pupil of St. Isidore of Seville. While still quite young,
he entered the Benedictine monastery of Agalia near Toledo and went on to
become its Abbot. In that capacity he attended the Councils of Toledo
in 653 and 655.
In 657 the clergy and people elected this holy man to succeed
his uncle, St. Eugenius, as Archbishop
of Toledo. He performed his episcopal duties with diligence and sanctity until
his death in 667. This saint was a favorite subject for medieval artists,
especially in connection with the legend of Our Lady's appearance to present
him with a chalice. St. Ildephonsus was a prolific writer, but unfortunately
only four of his works have survived. Among these are the one already mentioned
and an important document of the history of the Spanish Church during the
first two-thirds of the seventh century, entitled Concerning Famous Men.
Ildephonsus of Toledo B (RM)
(also known as Alphonso, Ildefonsus, Ildephonse)
Born in Toledo, Spain, in 607; died there on January 23, 667;
Doctor of the Church.
"Virgin Mother of God: may I bind myself
to God and to you, serve your own Lord and serve you too, obey your own Son
and so obey you. May I worship Him as my Maker and you as the mother of my
Maker. May I venerate Him as the Lord of Hosts and you as the handmaid of
the Lord. May I adore Him as my God and you as the mother of my God." --Saint
Ildefonsus.
Ildefonsus, born of a noble Spanish family, was the nephew of
Saint Eugene of Toledo and may have studied under Saint Isidore of Seville.
He longed to become a monk. His family opposed his wishes. Nevertheless,
the saint professed himself in his youth as a member of the monastery at Agli
(Agalia) near his hometown of Toledo and was ordained about 637. The other
monks recognized his deep spirituality and wisdom by making him their abbot
about 650. Ildephonsus attended the council of Toledo in 653 and 655. About
657, he was consecrated archbishop of Toledo to succeed his uncle Eugenius.
Saint Ildefonsus was sitting on the bishop's throne in his cathedral
when he was granted a vision in which the Blessed Virgin presented him with
a chasuble of heavenly tissue. The gift was a fitting one, for Ildefonsus
adored the Virgin and wrote a defense of her perpetual virginity. He saw worship
of Jesus as the supreme duty of a Christian; and he believed that one could
do so by meditating on Jesus through the eyes of His virgin mother. He also
had a special devotion to Saint Leocadia, patroness of Toledo.
For nine years he governed the
church wisely, until his peaceable death. His successor to the see of Toledo
gave high praise to Ildefonsus's virtues and abilities. The Ramsgate Benedictines
say that he was responsible for the unification of the Spanish liturgy. He
was also a musician. The grateful Spaniards dubbed him a Doctor of the Church
and his memory is still revered.
Ildephonsus was an outstanding writer as well as a devoted pastor.
His treatise on Baptism was followed by one of the spiritual journey of the
soul after receiving the Sacrament. In De viris illustribus he compiled
short biographies of notables in the 7th-century Church in Spain. He devotion
to Mary led him to write several theological treatises, including De virginitate
perpetua sactae Mariae, a work of exuberant enthusiasm, rather than of sober
thought. This work was written as a defense of the perpetual virginity of
the Blessed Mother against the heresy of Helvidius, Jovinian, and a Jew. His
fervor had a marked effect on Spanish piety.
A short vita of Saint Ildephonsus was written by his successor,
Bishop Saint Julian, 23 years after his death (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines,
Bentley, Braegelmann, Coulson, Delaney, Farmer, Husenbeth, Tabor).
The investiture of Saint Ildephonsus is a favorite subject of
Spanish artists, who depict him as a cardinal archbishop receiving a chasuble
from the Blessed Virgin. His hat is near him. He may also be shown mitred
with his abbot's crozier, chasuble, pallium, book, and cardinal's hat, or
writing before an image of the Blessed Virgin (Roeder, Tabor). He is venerated
throughout Spain but especially in Toledo and Seville (Roeder).
|
702 St. Colman of
Lismore Abbot bishop monastery of Lismore
Ireland. He succeeded St. Hierlug in
698.
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841
St. Barnard Benedictine archbishop founder member of the court of Charlemagne
He was born in the Frene province of Lyonnais, in 777, and was educated
at court. He became a Benedictine and restored Ambronay Abbey, becoming abbot
of the monks. In 810, Barnard was made the archbishop of Vienne, France, where
he founded Romans Abbey in 837. He died there. He was canonized in 1907.
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850 Lufthildis of
Cologne she lived as an anchorite V (AC)
(also known as Lufthild)
Died c. 850. Saint Lufthild has an active cultus in the environs of Cologne,
Germany, where she is said to have lived as an anchorite, but nothing is know
with certainty about her life because there was no contemporary account. Legend
says that she was persecuted by her stepmother for persistently giving their
possessions to the poor (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson).
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880 Maimbod martyr
miracles occur at his tomb blind Bishop Berengarius received sight from relics
M (AC)
Died January 23, c. 880. Saint Maimbod was a martyr who went to Alsace
from Ireland as a missionary.
Maimbod was a pilgrim to the tombs of many saints, as he wandered he spread
the faith throughout northern Italy and Gaul. In Burgundy a nobleman gave
him hospitality and unsuccessfully pressed him to settle there. Upon Maimbod's
departure, the nobleman gave Maimbod a pair of gloves as a reminder to pray
for him. He was praying at the church of Domnipetra near Katlenbrunn eight
miles from Besançon, when he was set upon by some robbers who believed
he had money because he was wearing gloves. When miracles began to occur
at his tomb in Domnipetra, Count Aszo of Monteliard asked the blind Bishop
Berengarius for a gift of the saint's relics. Berengarius delegated the translation
ceremony to his coadjutor, Bishop Stephen. During the rite, Berengarius
miraculously received his sight and instituted a feast in honor of the saint.
Although Maimbod's relics were destroyed in the 16th century, his feast his
commemorated in the diocese of Besançon (Attwater2, Benedictines,
Coulson, D'Arcy, Encyclopedia, Fitzpatrick, O'Hanlon, O'Kelly).
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St. Severian & Aquila martyrs
Cæsaréæ, in Mauritánia, sanctórum
Mártyrum Severiáni et Aquilæ uxóris, ígnibus
combustórum.
At Caesarea in Morocco, the holy martyrs
Severian and his wife Aquila, who were consumed by fire.
Two martyrs put to death in Roman Africa. They
were probably husband and wife.
|
1266
Baba Sheikh Farid Ji
On the banks of the river Sutlej at
a place called Pak Pattan (Province Punjab, also known as the city of saints),
tamerlane horses (1398) suddenly stopped. The horsement whipped their animals.
The stallions started bleeding but refused to move further voice came from
somewhere and called, "Baba Farid, the King of Kings"
Farid was to Punjabi what Chaucer was to English.
He made Punjabi poetry and poetry Punjabi. Later when Adi Granth (Sikh
scripture) was compiled by the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Arjun Dev Ji,
Farid’s ‘slokas’ (sacred couplets) were given the place of honour along with
those of Kabir, Ramdev and Guru Ravidas. "Farid return thou good for evil;
In thy heart bear no revenge. Thus thy body will be free of maladies, And
thy life have all blessings." Baba Sheikh Farid Ji was a great Sufi saint,
very sweet of tongue and who lived an austere life. He asked for only one
blessing from God....a life of prayer and meditation. His following insight
forms the subject of the painting above- "Sweet are candy, sugar, honey,
and buffalo's milk. Yea, sweet are these but sweeter by far is God."
The year was 1398. Timur was returning home after ransacking Delhi -light
of mind but laden with gold, trampling corn, killing men and cattle alike.
It was a typical Punjab winter and the air in the fields mingled with the
blood of the innocents. On the banks of the river Sutlej at a place called
Pak Pattan, his horses suddenly stopped. The horsement whipped their animals.
The stallions started bleeding but refused to move further. There was panic
among the soldiers, hysteria among the officers, total confusion in the army.
There was consternation and alarm writ large on every face.
Not used to such unscheduled halts, the Turk chief leapt forward, roared
like a lion and demanded answers.
Nobody replied. He shouted again. Everyone remained totally speechless.
At last an old man came forward and said, "Your honour, this place is sanctified".
"By one saint whose ancestors had migrated from Iran to escape death at the
hands of your ancestors", the old man replied. Everyone looked at everyone
else. The general’s hands reached for his sword but before they could go any
further, a miracle happened. As goes the legend, a voice came from somewhere
and called, "Baba Farid, the King of Kings". Every tongue felt that it had
an ear on it. A vision came to the advancing marauder. He felt elated. The
armies were ordered to spare the town. Timur bowed low in the ‘Khanqah’, heard
the Sufi hymns, spent the night in the ‘dargah’. He ate the same austere food,
which the Devotees ate, slept on the same mat and pledged not to kill any
more innocents, only to break the pledge later.
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St. Maimbod Irish martyr
also called Mainboeuf, missionary to Kaltenbrunn. Alsace, France.
He was martyred by local pagans while preaching to them.
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1275 ST RAYMUND OF Peñafort
THE family of Peñafort claimed descent from the counts of Barcelona,
and was allied to the kings of Aragon. Raymund was born in 1175, at Peñafort
in Catalonia, and made such rapid progress in his studies that at the age
of twenty he taught philosophy at Barcelona. This he did gratis, and with
great reputation. When he was about thirty he went to Bologna to perfect himself
in Canon and civil law. He took the degree of doctor, and taught with the
same disinterestedness and charity as he had done in his own country. In
1219 Berengarius, Bishop of Barcelona, made Raymund his archdeacon and “official”.
He was a perfect model to the clergy by his zeal, devotion and boundless
liberalities to the poor. In 1222 he assumed the habit of St Dominic at Barcelona,
eight months after the death of the holy founder, and in the forty-seventh
year of his age. No one of the young novices was more humble, obedient or
fervent than he. He begged of his superiors that they would enjoin him some
severe penance to expiate the complacency which he said he had sometimes taken
in his teaching. They, indeed, imposed on him a penance, but not quite such
as he expected. It was to write a collection of cases of conscience for the
convenience of confessors and moralists, This led
to the compilation of the Summa de casibus poenitentialibus and the
first work of its kind.
Raymund joined to the exercises
of his solitude an apostolic life by labouring without intermission in preaching,
instructing, hearing confessions, and converting heretics, Jews and Moors;
and he was commissioned to preach the war of the Spaniards against the last-named.
He acquitted himself of his new duties with much prudence, zeal and charity,
and in this indirect manner paved the way for the ultimate overthrow of the
infidel in Spain. His labours were no less successful in the reformation of
the morals of the Christians detained in servitude under the Moors, which
had been corrupted by their long slavery and intercourse with these infidels.
Raymund showed them that to triumph over their political foes they must first
conquer their spiritual enemies, and subdue sin in themselves. Inculcating
these and the like spiritual lessons, he journeyed through Catalonia, Aragon,
Castile and other countries. So general a change was wrought hereby in the
manners of the people that it seemed incredible to all but those who were
witnesses of it.
It is commonly said that St
Raymund of Peñafort was associated with St Peter Nolasco in the foundation
of the Order of Our Lady of Ransom, usually called the Mercedarians, who were
particularly concerned with ransoming captives among the Moors. This has
given rise to keen controversy. The representatives of the order, and notably
Father Gazulla, in several works contend that the Mercedarian Order was founded
in 1218, at a date earlier than that at which St Raymund became a Dominican.
They allege further that a vision of our Lady was vouchsafed to St Peter
Nolasco, their founder, and also simultaneously to King James of Aragon and
to St Raymund, and that the institute which came into existence in consequence
of this vision was originally a military order which owed nothing to Dominican
influences. All these points have been strongly contested, more particularly
in the works of Father Vacas Galindo, O.P. This writer urges that the Mercedarians,
at first simply a confraternity, were not organized as a religious congregation
before 1233, that St Raymund had founded the confraternity in 1222 and had
given it rules based upon the Dominican constitutions and office, that the
supposed triple vision of our Lady was never heard of until two or three
hundred years later, and so on.
Pope Gregory IX, having called St Raymund to Rome in 1230, nominated him to
various offices and took him likewise for his confessor, in which capacity
Raymund enjoined the pope, for a penance, to receive, hear and expedite immediately
all petitions presented by the poor. Gregory also ordered the saint to gather
into one body all the scattered decrees of popes and councils since the collection
made by Gratian in 1150. In three years Raymund completed his task, and the
five books of the “Decretals” were confirmed by the same Pope Gregory in 1234. Down to the publication
of the new Codex Juris Canonici in 1917 this compilation of
St Raymund was looked upon as the best arranged part of the body of canon
law, on which account the canonists usually chose it for the text of their
commentaries. In 1235 the pope named St Raymund to the archbishopric of Tarragona,
the capital of Aragon: the humble religious was not able to avert the blow,
as he called it, by tears and entreaties; but the anxiety brought on a serious
illness. To restore him to health his Holiness was obliged to consent to excuse
him, but required that he should recommend a proper person.
For the recovery of his health
St Raymund returned to his native country, was received with as much joy as
if the safety of the kingdom depended on his presence. Being restored again
to his dear solitude at Barcelona be continued his former contemplation,
preaching and work in the confessional. The number of conversions of which
he was the instrument is known only to Him who by His grace was the author
of them. Raymund was employed frequently in important commissions, both by
the Holy See and by the king. In 1238, however, he was thunderstruck by the
arrival of deputies from the general chapter of his order at Bologna with
the news that he had been chosen third master general, Bd Jordan of Saxony
having lately died. He wept and entreated, but at length acquiesced in obedience.
He made the visitation of his order on foot without discontinuing any of
his austerities or religious exercises. He instilled into his spiritual children
a love of regularity, solitude, studies and the work of the ministry, and
reduced the constitutions of his order into a clearer method, with notes
on the doubtful passages. The code which he drew up was approved in three
general chapters. In one held at Paris in 1239 he procured the establishment
of this regulation, that the voluntary resignation of a superior, founded
upon just reasons, should be accepted. This he contrived in his own favour,
for in the year following he resigned the generalship which he had held only
two years. He grounded his action on the fact that he was now sixty-five
years old.
But St Raymund still had thirty-four
years to live, and he spent them in the main opposing heresy and working for
the conversion of the Moors in Spain. With this end in view, he engaged St
Thomas to write his work Against the Gentiles; he contrived
to have Arabic and Hebrew taught in several convents of his order; and he
established friaries, one at Tunis, and another at Murcia, among the Moors.
In 1256 he wrote to his general that ten thousand Saracens had received baptism.
He was active in getting the Inquisition established in Catalonia; and on
one occasion he was accused—it is to be feared not without some reason—of
compromising a Jewish rabbi by a trick.
A famous incident in St Raymund’s
life is said to have taken place when he accompanied King James to the island
of Majorca. The king, very loose in his relations with women, promised amendment,
but failed to implement his promise; whereupon Raymund asked leave to go back
to Barcelona. The king not only refused, but threatened to punish with death
any person who attempted to convey him out of the island. Full of confidence
in God, Raymund said to his companion, “An earthly king withholds the means
of flight, but the King of Heaven will supply them.” He then walked to the
sea and, we are told, spread his cloak upon the water, tied up one corner
of it to a staff for a sail, and having made the sign of the cross, stepped
upon it without fear whilst his companion stood trembling on the shore. On
this new kind of vessel the saint was wafted with such rapidity that in six
hours he reached the harbour of Barcelona, sixty leagues distant from Majorca.
Those who saw him arrive in this manner met him with acclamations.
But he, gathering up his cloak dry, put it on, stole through the crowd and
entered his monastery. A chapel and a tower, built on the place where he
is supposed to have landed, transmitted the memory of this miracle to posterity.
During the saint’s last illness, Alphonsus, King of Castile, and James of
Aragon visited him, and received his final blessing. St Raymund gave up his
soul to God on January 6 in the year 1275, the hundredth of his age. The
two kings, with all the princes and princesses of their royal families, honoured
his funeral with their presence but
his tomb was rendered far more illustrious by miracles. Several (including
the one related above) are recorded in the bull of his canonization, published
in 1601.
The principal
materials for the life of St Raymund of Peñafort have been printed
by Fathers Balme and Paban under the title Raymundiana in
the Monumenta Historica OP., vols. iv and vi, and an excellent
general summary will be found in Mortier, Histoire des maîtres
généraux OP., especially vol. i, pp. 225—272 and 400. The
best life is said to be by F. Valls Taberner, San Ramón
de Penyafort (1936). As for the connection of the saint with the Order
of Our Lady of Ransom, whatever be the truth of the case there can be no
doubt that a large number of spurious documents, mysteriously found at the
right moment in an iron casket at the beginning of the seventeenth century,
have been made use of in support of the Mercedarian thesis. The evidence
upon many points is so unsatisfactory that it becomes extremely difficult
to give unreserved credence to such incidents in St Raymund’s life as his
miraculous voyage from Majorca. See the Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. xxxix (1921), pp. 209 seq. and vol. xl (1922),
pp. 442 seq. Cf. St Peter Nolasco, on January 28.
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1366
St. Henry Suso, Blessed Famed German Dominican mystic
wrote many classic books. Born Heinrich von Berg in Constance, Swabia,
he entered the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, at an early age. Undergoing
a conversion, he developed an abiding spiritual life and studied under Meister
Eckhart in Cologne from 1322-1325. He then returned to Constance to teach,
subsequently authoring numerous books of spirituality. As he supported Meister
Eckhart who was then the source of some controversy and had been condemned
by Pope John XXII in 1329 Henry was censured by his superiors and stripped
of his teaching position. He subsequently became a preacher in Switzerland
and the Upper Rhine and was a brilliant spiritual advisor among the Dominicans
and the spiritual community of the Gottesfreunde . He endured persecution
right up until his death at Ulm. Pope Gregory XVI beatified him in 1831.
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1505
Blessed Margaret of Ravenna patience and humility V (PC)
Born at Russi (near Ravenna), Italy; died 1505. From her youth Margaret
was almost blind, who not only suffered from a lack of empathy from her neighbors,
but even injustice. Nevertheless, many of them were eventually won to friendship
through her patience and humility. With the help of a priest, she formed a
religious association of secular laity, but it did not survive (Attwater2,
Benedictines).
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1918
Blessed Mother Marianne Cope of Molokai faced everything with unflinching
courage smiling sweetly through it all
Though leprosy scared off most people in 19th-century Hawaii,
that disease sparked great generosity in the woman who came to be known as
Mother Marianne of Molokai. Her courage helped tremendously to improve the
lives of its victims in Hawaii, a territory annexed to the United States during
her lifetime (1898).
Mother Marianne’s generosity and courage were celebrated at
her May 14, 2005, beatification in Rome. She was a woman who spoke “the language
of truth and love” to the world, said Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect
of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. Cardinal Martins, who presided at
the beatification Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, called her life “a wonderful
work of divine grace.” Speaking of her special love for persons suffering
from leprosy, he said, “She saw in them the suffering face of Jesus. Like
the Good Samaritan, she became their mother.”
On January 23, 1838, a daughter was born to Peter and Barbara
Cope of Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany.
The girl was named after her mother. Two years later the Cope family immigrated
to the United States and settled in Utica, New York. Young Barbara worked
in a factory until August 1862, when she went to the Sisters of the Third
Order of Saint Francis in Syracuse, New York. After profession in November
of the next year, she began teaching at Assumption parish school.
Marianne held the post of superior in several places and was
twice the novice mistress of her congregation. A natural leader, three different
times she was superior of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, where she learned
much that would be useful during her years in Hawaii.
Elected provincial in 1877, Mother Marianne was unanimously
re-elected in 1881. Two years later the Hawaiian government was searching
for someone to run the Kakaako Receiving Station for people suspected of
having leprosy. More than 50 religious communities in the United States and
Canada were asked. When the request was put to the Syracuse sisters, 35 of
them volunteered immediately. On October 22, 1883, Mother Marianne and six
other sisters left for Hawaii where they took charge of the Kakaako Receiving
Station outside Honolulu; on the island of Maui they also opened a hospital
and a school for girls.
In 1888, Mother Marianne and two sisters went to Molokai to
open a home for “unprotected women and girls” there. The Hawaiian government
was quite hesitant to send women for this difficult assignment; they need
not have worried about Mother Marianne! On Molokai she took charge of the
home that Blessed Damien DeVeuster (d. 1889) had established for men and
boys. Mother Marianne changed life on Molokai by introducing cleanliness,
pride and fun to the colony. Bright scarves and pretty dresses for the women
were part of her approach.
Awarded the Royal Order of Kapiolani by the Hawaiian government
and celebrated in a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Mother Marianne continued
her work faithfully. Her sisters have attracted vocations among the Hawaiian
people and still work on Molokai.
Mother Marianne died on August
9, 1918.
Comment: The government authorities were reluctant to allow
Mother Marianne to be a mother on Molokai. Thirty years of dedication proved
their fears unfounded. God grants gifts regardless of human short-sightedness
and allows those gifts to flower for the sake of the kingdom.
Quote: Soon after Mother Marianne died, Mrs. John F. Bowler
wrote in the Honolulu Advertiser, “Seldom has the opportunity come to a woman
to devote every hour of 30 years to the mothering of people isolated by
law from the rest of the world. She risked her own life in all that time,
faced everything with unflinching courage and smiled sweetly through it all.”
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Mary Mother of GOD
Saints of this Day January 23 Décimo Kaléndas Februárii.
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
Among the
most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed
Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary.
These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times
in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto
took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571.
This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against
the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around
St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true
pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom
by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat
it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than
anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a
true battle between good and evil.