The great psalm of the Passion,
Psalm 21, whose first verse
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn
to the Lord; and all the families
of the nations shall worship before him" (Psalm 21:28 |
516 BC Haggai Aggaeus (Aggeus ), Prophet The tenth of the Minor
Prophets, Haggai
belongs to the period after the exile. The purpose of his divine message
was to forward the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem (Benedictines) (RM)
Sanctórum Osée et Aggǽi Prophetárum.
The holy
prophets Osee and Aggaeus.
The name Haggai means
"festival, feast, festive." Some suggest it may be a shortened form of Haggiah
which means "festival of Jehovah." This has led many to conjecture that he
may have been born on one of the major festival or feast days of the Jews
(Passover, for example). Although he is referred to as a "prophet" (Haggai
1:1; Ezra 5:1; 6:14), little else is known of this man. His father's name
is never mentioned. It is assumed that he was born in Babylon during the
time of the captivity. It is very likely Haggai returned to Jerusalem with
the first group of 50,000 persons led by Zerubbabel in 536 BC. It is also
possible he did some writing of psalms during this time. The Septuagint (the
Greek version of the OT, which was made around 250 BC) credits him as being
the author/co-author of several psalms (Psalms 138, 146-149).
"In the Midrash and Talmud, legend makes Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi
to be the founders of the 'Great Synagogue' (Aboth R. Nathan 1; Baba Bathra
15a), a body that is alleged to have played a great role in post-exilic times
in preserving Scripture and handing on the traditional precepts and lore.
It is further believed by the rabbis that after these three prophets died
the Holy Spirit departed from Israel" (Jack P. Lewis)."It is legitimate to
suppose that Haggai was still a child when he returned to Judea with his parents
in 536 BC" (Zondervan's Pictorial Encyclopedia). Haggai was a contemporary
of Zechariah and also of Confucius (557-479 BC). Haggai was the first prophet
in Jerusalem after the return from Babylonian captivity. The prophecy of Haggai
is second only to that of Obadiah in brevity among OT books.
|
Martyrdom of St.
Ananias bishop for the city of Damascus; baptized the apostle Paul;
God wrought many great miracles by his hands;
On this day, St. Ananias, the apostle, departed. The apostles ordained
this saint bishop for the city of Damascus. He preached therein with the
life-giving gospel, as he preached also in the city of Beth-Gabriel and converted
many of its people to the faith, and baptized them and their children.
St. Ananias was the one to baptize the apostle Paul when the Lord sent
him to him. When he baptized St. Paul, something like scales fell from his
eyes, and he received his sight at once. God wrought many great miracles
by his hands; and many of the Jews and Gentiles believed through his preaching.
Afterwards, Lucianus the governor seized St. Ananias, and tortured him with
sever tortures, such as burning his sides with fiery torches. Finally, Lucianus
took him outside the city, and commanded him stoned until St. Ananias delivered
up his pure soul in the hand of the Lord. May his prayers be with us.
Amen.
|
St. Thomas of Shentalet
Martyrdom of. Michael, the angel of the Lord, appeared to this Saint when
he was 21
St. Thomas of Shentalet (1) (Sandalat) was martyred On this day also. Michael,
the angel of the Lord, appeared to this Saint when he was twenty-one years
old, while he was sleeping in the field tending the pigs. The angel Michael
commanded him to go and confess the Lord Christ. St. Thomas went to Alexandria
and confessed his faith before the governor who tortured him with different
kinds of tortures. There were with him under the torture St. Babnuda, of the
city of El-Bandara, and Anba Shenousy(2), from the city of Balkim, and they
encouraged each other to endure. After many tortures, the governor sent St.
Thomas to Arianus, the governor of Ansena, where he was beheaded and received
the crown of martyrdom. There were seven hundred men and nine women martyred
during his days. May their prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever.
Amen.
(1) District of El-Santa, El-Gharbiah governorate.
(2) The name (Moses) mentioned in a manuscript in Shebeen El-Koum.
|
St. Jucundian Martyr
of Africa, thrown into the sea
In Africa natális sancti Jucundiáni Mártyris, pro
Christo in mare demérsi.
In Africa, the birthday of St. Jucundian, a martyr who
was drowned in the sea for Christ.
|
Saint
Theodotus suffered martyrdom during the reign of Trajan because he refused
to sacrifice to idols.
|
180
St. Namphanion Called “the Archmartyr” by African Christian historians. He
was an African martyr of Carthaginian heritage, put to death in Numidia with
Several companions.
Madáuri, in Africa, sancti Namphaniónis Mártyris et
Sociórum, quos ille roborávit ad pugnam, et ad corónam
provéxit.
At Madaurus in Africa, the martyr Namphanion and his
companions, whom he strengthened for the combat and led to the crown of martyrdom.
|
310 St. Theodore of
Cyrene Bishop of Cyrene, Libya, martyr; A scribe who was especially noted
for his skill in copying manuscripts. Theodore was arrested during
the persecutions of the Church under Emperor Diocletian and ordered
to deliver up his copies of the Scriptures. When he refused, he was martyred;
Also put to death were the women Cyprilla, Lucia and Aroa, and all who had
accepted holy Baptism from the holy bishop.
Cyréne, in Líbya, sancti Theodóri Epíscopi,
qui, in persecutióne Diocletiáni, sub Digniáno Prǽside,
plumbátis cæsus et lingua abscíssus est; atque in pace
tandem Conféssor occúbuit.
At Cyrene in Libya, the holy bishop Theodore.
In the persecution of Diocletian, under the governor Dignian, he was scourged
with leaded whips and had his tongue cut out. Finally, however, he died
a confessor.
The Hieromartyr Theodore, Bishop
of Cyrene, lived during the reign of the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Skilled
at writing, and having attained great skill in calligraphy, he transcribed
many books for the churches. His son Leo denounced him to the district governor,
Dignianus, saying that his father possessed Christian books and was turning
people away from idol worship, and bringing them instead to faith in Christ
the Savior. St Theodore was brought to trial. Many Christians followed after
him, including the women Cyprilla, Lucia and Aroa. The holy bishop was ordered
to surrender his books and renounce Christ, but he refused this demand. They
beat him with rods, but St Theodore was not intimidated. With a fiery zeal
for the truth he destroyed the pagan sacrificial offerings. They tortured
him for a long while, cut out his tongue, and then threw him in prison where
he died. Also put to death were the women
Cyprilla, Lucia and Aroa, and all who had accepted holy Baptism from the holy
bishop.
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6th v. Saint Martha;
St John the Forerunner, who was for her a protector, frequently appearing
to her in visions. St Martha was charitable towards the poor, she fed and
clothed them, she visited the convalescent and she attended to the sick, she
buried the dead, and for those preparing to receive holy Baptism she made
the baptismal garments with her own hands; her son,
St Simeon the Stylite .
Mother of Saint Simeon of Wonderful Mountain (May 24) a native of Antioch
From her early years she yearned for monasticism, but her parents persuaded
her to marry. Her husband, John, soon died, and righteous Martha with all
her strength devoted herself to the raising of her son. She was an example
of high Christian temperament for her son. She often visited the temple of
God, she attended church services attentively and with piety, and frequently
received the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
St Martha rose up to pray each night, and her prayers were offered with
heartfelt warmth and tears. She particularly venerated St John the Forerunner,
who was for her a protector, frequently appearing to her in visions. St Martha
was charitable towards the poor, she fed and clothed them, she visited the
convalescent and she attended to the sick, she buried the dead, and for those
preparing to receive holy Baptism she made the baptismal garments with her
own hands.
St Martha was reserved, and no one heard from her a frivolous, false or
vain word, no one saw her angry, nor fighting with anyone nor bitter. She
was a model of chaste and pious life and by her example she guided many on
the pathway to salvation. When her son, St Simeon, had become a renowned
ascetic, she urged him not to exalt himself for his own efforts, but to thank
God for everything.
The time of her death was revealed to St Martha. She beheld angels with
candles saying that they would come for her in another year's time. The saint
was also granted visions of Paradise, and the All-Pure Virgin Herself showed
to her the heavenly habitations prepared for the righteous.
St Martha's death was peaceful, and her body was buried on Wonderful Mountain,
at the place of the ascetic deeds of her son, St Simeon the Stylite
.
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544 St. Laurianus
Martyred archbishop of Seville, Spain. He was Hungarian, and was ordained
in Milan, Italy. The site of his martyrdom is reportedly Bourges, France.
In território Bituricénsi sancti Lauriáni, Epíscopi
Hispalénsis et Mártyris, cujus caput Híspalim, in Hispánia,
delátum est.
In the diocese of Bourges, St. Laurian, bishop of Seville
and martyr, whose head was taken to Seville in Spain.
|
712 726 Saint
Andrew, Archbishop of Crete; monastic tonsure at monastery of St Sava the
Sanctified;.led a strict chaste life; meek and abstinent, such that all
were amazed at his virtue and reasoning of mind
Born in the city of Damascus into a pious Christian family.
Up until seven years of age the boy was mute and did not talk. However, after
communing the Holy Mysteries of Christ he found the gift of speech and began
to speak. And from that time the lad began earnestly to study Holy Scripture
and the discipline of theology.
At fourteen years of age he went off to Jerusalem and there
he accepted monastic tonsure at the monastery of St Sava the Sanctified.
St Andrew led a strict and chaste life, he was meek and abstinent, such that
all were amazed at his virtue and reasoning of mind. As a man of talent and
known for his virtuous life, over the passage of time he came to be numbered
among the Jerusalem clergy and was appointed a secretary for the Patriarchate
-- a writing clerk. In the year 680 the locum tenens of the Jerusalem Patriarchate,
Theodore, included archdeacon Andrew among the representatives of the Holy
City sent to the Sixth Ecumenical Council, and here the saint contended against
heretical teachings, relying upon his profound knowledge of Orthodox doctrine.
Shortly after the Council he was summoned back to Constantinople from Jerusalem
and he was appointed archdeacon at the church of Hagia Sophia, the Wisdom
of God. During the reign of the emperor Justinian II (685-695) St Andrew
was ordained bishop of the city of Gortineia on the island of Crete. In his
new position he shone forth as a true luminary of the Church, a great hierarch
-- a theologian, teacher and hymnographer.
St Andrew wrote many liturgical
hymns. He was the originator of a new liturgical form -- the canon. Of the
canons composed by him the best known is the Great Penitential Canon, including
within its 9 odes the 250 troparia recited during the Great Lent. In the First
Week of Lent at the service of Compline it is read in portions (thus called
"methymony" [trans. note: from the useage in the service of Compline of the
"God is with us", in Slavonic the "S'nami Bog", or in Greek "Meth' Humon
ho Theos", from which derives "methymony"], and again on Thursday of the
Fifth Week at the All-night Vigil during Matins.
St Andrew of Crete gained renown with his many praises of the
All-Pure Virgin Mary. To him are likewise ascribed: the Canon for the feast
of the Nativity of Christ, three odes for the Compline of Palm Sunday and
also in the first four days of Holy Passion Week, as well as verses for
the feast of the Meeting of the Lord, and many another church-song. His hynographic
tradition was continued by the churchly great melodists of following ages:
Saints John of Damascus, Cosma of Maium, Joseph the Melodist, Theophan the
Written-upon. There have also been preserved edifying Sermons of St Andrew
for certain of the Church feasts.
Church historians are not of the same opinion as to the date
of death of the saint. One suggests the year 712, while others -- the year
726. He died on the island of Mytilene, while returning to Crete from Constantinople,
where he had been on churchly business. His relics were transferred to Constantinople.
In the year 1350 the pious Russian
pilgrim Stephen Novgorodets saw the relics at the Constantinople monastery
named for St Andrew of Crete.
Andreas von Kreta Orthodoxe
Kirche: 4. Juli
Die orthodoxe Kirche nennt zwei Heilige dieses Namens, den Erzbischof
Andreas von Kreta und den Märtyrer Andreas von Kreta. Erzbischof Andreas
von Kreta (auch Andreas von Jerusalem gennant) wurde 660 in Damaskus in einer
frommen christlichen Familie geboren. Mit 14 Jahren ging er nach Jerusalem
und wurde Mönch im Mar Sabas Kloster. Wegen seiner Gelehrsamkeit wurden
ihm bald Aufgaben im Patriarchat von Jerusalem übertragen. 685 sandte
ihn Patriarch Theodor von Jerusalem nach Konstantinopel um ein oekumenisches
Konzil anzustoßen. Andreas blieb dann zunächst in Konstantinopel
und wurde Erzdiakon an der Hagia Sophia.
Das Konzil wurde 691 von Kaiser Justinian II. (685-695) einberufen
und Andreas wurde nach dem Konzil oder nach anderen Quellen um 700 zum Erzbischof
von Gortyna in Kreta ernannt. Er wirkte bis zu seinem Tode als Bischof. Er
starb auf dem Rückweg von Konstantinopel auf der Insel Mytilene. Als
Todesjahr werden 712 und 726 angegeben.
Andreas schrieb viele liturgische Gesänge. Er war auch
der Erfinder einer neuen liturgischen Form, des Kanons. Sein großer
Bußkanon, der 250 Troparien umfaßt, wird auch heute in der Fastenzeit
in der griechisch-orthodoxen Kirche gebetet. Auch zahlreiche andere liturgische
Stücke, die weiterhin im Gebrauch sind, wurden von ihm verfaßt
oder werden ihm zugeschrieben.
ST ANDREW OF CRETE, ARCHBISHOP OF GORTYNA (A.D. 740?)
This Andrew was born at Damascus
about the middle of the seventh century. In contrast with the ready tongue
of his later years, he is said to have been quite dumb until he received holy
communion when he was seven years old. At the age of fifteen he went to Jerusalem
(after which city he is sometimes named) and became a monk of St Sabas and
of the Holy Sepulchre, where he received the orders of lector and subdeacon.
He in 685 was sent to Constantinople by Theodore, Patriarch of Jerusalem,
to reiterate the adhesion of his church to the sixth oecumenical council,
which had recently condemned the monothelite heresy. Andrew remained in the
city and was ordained a deacon of the Great Church, and put in charge of
an orphanage and of a hospice for old men. His character and all-round abilities
caused him soon to be advanced to the bishopric of Gortyna, the metropolitan
see of Crete. Here he became himself involved in the final recrudescence of
Monothelism in 711, when Philippicus Bardanes seized the imperial throne,
burned the acts of the sixth ecumenical council, restored the names of those
it had anathematized to the diptychs in the liturgy, and summoned a synod
to approve his actions. Andrew was present at this synod in 712, but came
to his senses in the following year and doubtless associated himself with
the long letter of apology and explanation (pleading force majeure) which his patriarch sent
to Pope Constantine, when the orthodox Anastasius II had driven out Bardanes.
For the rest of his life St Andrew distinguished himself as
a preacher and hymnographer. More than twenty of his discourses are extant,
which have been edited and published; but it is as a writer of hymns that
he has left a permanent mark on the Byzantine liturgy. He is said to have
introduced that form of hymnody called a kanon; certain it is that he wrote a large
number of these and associated compositions, some of which are still sung.
Unfortunately the kanon is a form
that lends itself to empty verbosity; St Andrew himself wrote one of 250
strophes, sung in Lent, "with much hard work and weariness of the lungs",
wrote Combefis. St Andrew's homilies are of importance in the history of
the development of Mariology. This saint must not be confused with another
Andrew of Crete, "the Calybite" (October 17).
The panegyric of Nicetas Quaestor
(BHG., 16) tells us something of the life of St Andrew, and cf, S. Vailhe
in Échos d’Orient, vol. v (1902), pp. 378-387. Upon
Andrew as homilist and hymn-writer see Bardenhewer, Patrology (Eng. trans.), p. 567; DTC.,
vol. i, cc. 1183-1184; DAC., vol. i, cc. 2034-2041; Nilles, Kalendarium manuale, vol. ii, pp. 147-156;
and M. Neale, Hymns of the Eastern
Church. For a very free rendering of one of St Andrew's hymns, see
no. 91 in Hymns Ancient and Modern
.
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725 St. Bertha Benedictine
widow and abbess entered the convent she had founded at Blangy, in Artois,
France. Two of her daughters joined her in the religious life. Bertha served
as the abbess for a time and also lived as a recluse.
ST BERTHA, WIDOW (c. A.D. 725)
THIS Bertha at twenty years of age married a nobleman by whom she had five
daughters. After her husband's death, she retired to the nunnery which she
had built at Blangy in Artois, with her two elder daughters, Gertrude and
Deotila. After establishing regular observance in her community, she left
Deotila abbess in her stead, and shut herself in a cell, to be employed only
in prayer. No confidence can, however, be put in the historical accuracy of
these particulars, for which the evidence is very late and unreliable. Another
story, of her pursuit by a certain Roger who wished to marry her by force,
is equally worthless.
The so-called life is printed in
the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. ii;
see also Van der Essen, Étude critique,
pp. 420--421.
Married to a nobleman at twenty, Bertha bore five daughters.When
her husband died, she entered the convent she had founded at Blangy, in Artois,
France. Two of her daughters joined her in the religious life. Bertha served
as the abbess for a time and also lived as a recluse.
Bertha at twenty years of age married a nobleman by whom she had five daughters.
After her husband's death, she retired to the nunnery which she had built
at Blangy in Artois, with her two elder daughters, Gertrude and Deotila. After
establishing regular observance in her community, she left Deotila abbess
in her stead, and shut herself in a cell, to be employed only in prayer.
|
895 St. Aurelian
Benedictine archbishop; a monk in the Benedictine monastery at Ainoy, in France.
Aurelian was then appointed archbishop of Lyon.
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959
St. Odo the Good Archbishop
of Canterbury promoting the revival of monasticism in England. Known
as “the Good” because of his famed holiness, he was also credited with miracles;
a demonstration of the Real Presence against some doubting clergy;
God bore witness to his sanctity by miracles during his life and after his
death. .
Also known as Odo of Canterbury. Born to Danish parents in East Anglia,
he joined a Benedictine monastery at Fleury-sur-Loire and then was appointed
bishop of Ramsbury, in Wessex. In 937, Odo was present at the Battle of Brunabur
where King Athelstan of Wessex defeated a force of Scots, Danes, and Northumbrians.
In 942, Odo became archbishop of Canterbury, wielding both secular and spiritual
authority with fairness and deep concern for the welfare of the people. He
assisted in the formulation of the legislation of Kings Edmund and Edgar the
Peaceful, created as a separate diocese the region of East Anglia, and gave
his blessings to the monastic reforms of St. Dunstan at Glastonbury, thereby
promoting the revival of monasticism in England. Known as “the Good” because
of his famed holiness, he was also credited with miracles.
ODO was born in East Anglia of Danish parents. While bishop of Ramsbury
he was present at the great battle of Brunanburh, when King Athelstan defeated
the Danes, Northumbrians and Scots, and shortly afterwards was translated
to the see of Canterbury. As archbishop he was very active in both civil and
ecclesiastical affairs; he made his native East Anglia into a separate diocese,
and encouraged the monastic reforms of St Dunstan at Glastonbury. Odo himself
had received the religious habit at Fleury-sur-Loire.
He was popularly known as "Odo the Good", and several miracles are recorded
of him, one of which, at Canterbury, was a demonstration of the Real Presence
against some doubting clergy. He died in 959, having lived in the reigns of
six kings, and his name appears in several ancient calendars of the church
of Canterbury.
The most reliable information about
St Odo comes from the life of his nephew, St Oswald of York, by a contemporary
monk of Ramsey; it is printed in Historians
of the Church of York, vol. i, in the Rolls Series. A life of Odo himself
by Eadmer (Acta Sanctorum, July,
vol. ii) is valuable, but much later in date. See also DNB., vol. xli. Odo's
prefatory epistle to Frithegod's metrical Life of St Wilfrid is a curiosity of Anglo-Saxon
learning; cf, Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. lxx (1952), p. 400 .
|
973 St. Ulric of Augsburg His
canonization by Pope John XV in 993 is the first recorded canonization by
a Pope; Miracles were recorded at his tomb.
Augústæ, in Rhǽtia, sancti Uldaríci Epíscopi,
miræ abstinéntiæ, largitátis et vigilántiæ
virtúte, ac miraculórum dono illústris.
At Augsburg in Germany, St. Uldaric, a bishop illustrious
for extraordinary abstinence, liberality, vigilance, and the gift of miracles.
Ulric was born 890 at Augsburg, Germany. He was educated at St. Gall Abbey
in Switzerland and by his uncle, St. Adalbeo, bishop of Augsburg. Ulric succeeded
to the See as bishop in 923, and when
Augsburg was plundered and ravaged by the Magyars, he led its inhabitants in the
task of rebuilding the city and its cathedral. In his old age, he retired
to St. Gall, named his nephew as his successor, and was accused of nepotism
for his action.
Ulrich von Augsburg Orthodoxe, Katholische und Evangelische
Kirche: 4. Juli
Ulrich. Sohn des allemannischen
Grafen Hupald, wurde um 890 in Augsburg geboren. Er soll körperlich schwach
gewesen sein. Er sollte jedenfalls Geistlicher werden und wurde deshalb Schüler
im Kloster St. Gallen, dann Kämmerer unter seinem Onkel, Bischof Adalbero.
Als Adalbero 909 starb, lehnte Ulrich die ihm angetragene Bischofswürde
ab. 923 wurde er von Heinrich I. zum Bischof von Augsburg ernannt.
Die Ungarnkriege hatten das Land verwüstet, Ulrich trieb
den Wiederaufbau voran und ließ Augsburg mit einer starken Mauer befestigen.
Luidolf, Sohn Otto des Großen, wollte Ulrich gewaltsam auf seine Seite
ziehen. Ulrich widerstand und setzte sich für eine Versöhnung zwischen
Vater und Sohn ein, die er schließlich auch erreichen konnte.
955 griffen die Ungarn erneut die Stadt Augsburg an. Ulrich
leitete den Widerstand, der aufrechterhalten werden konnte, bis Otto mit
dem Reichsheer erschien und auf dem Lechfeld die Ungarn vernichtend schlagen
konnte. Ulrich starb 973. Er wurde auf seinen Wunsch in der Afrakirche bestattet.
993 wurde Ulrich in der ersten förmlichen Kanonisation der katholischen
Kirche heilig gesprochen.
ST ULRIC was born at Augsburg in 890, and was educated in the
abbey of St Gall. St Wiborada, a recluse who lived near that monastery, is
said to have foretold that he would one day be a bishop, and would meet with
severe trials, though the young man was so delicate that others who knew
him judged he could never live long. Regularity and temperance preserved a
life and strengthened a constitution which the excessive tenderness of parents
and care of physicians would probably have worn out: a thing which Cardinal
Lugo shows by several instances to have often happened in austere religious
orders. When he had made progress in his studies his father removed him to
Augsburg, where he placed him under the care of his uncle St Adalbero, bishop
of that city; and in due course Ulric himself was raised to the see.
The Magyars had lately pillaged the country, murdered his old
friend Wiborada, plundered Augsburg, and burnt the cathedral. The new bishop,
not to lose time, built for the present a small church, in which he assembled
the people, who in their distress stood in extreme need of instruction, comfort,
and relief, all which they found abundantly in Ulric, who devoted himself,
so far as his other obligations would allow, entirely to his spiritual functions.
He rose every morning at three o'clock to assist at Matins and Lauds, and
only left the church after noon; then he went to the hospital, where he comforted
the sick and every day washed the feet of twelve poor people, giving to each
of them liberal alms. The rest of the day he employed in instructing, preaching,
visiting and discharging all the duties of a vigilant pastor. He made every
year the visit of his whole diocese.
During his last years the saint
earnestly desired to resign his bishopric and retire to the monastery of St
Gall, and with this object appointed his nephew Adalbero in his place; this
was judged to be an uncanonical act, for which he had to answer before a
synod at Ingelheim. In his last illness Ulric caused himself to be laid on
ashes strewed on the floor in the form of a cross, and thus he died amidst
the prayers of his clergy on July 4, 973. Miracles were recorded at his
tomb, and he was canonized by Pope John XV in 993, the first solemn canonization
by a pope of which there is record.
Abundant materials are available
for the life of St Ulric. The most important is the biography by the provost
Gerhard, a contemporary, printed in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. ii, and in
MGH., Scriptores, vol. iv. There
is also a life by Berno, abbot of Reichenau (in Migne, PL., cxlii, 1183-1204),
as well as other early sources. St Ulric seems to have left no writings; a
letter against clerical celibacy attributed to him is admittedly a forgery
belonging to the period of the Libelli de Lite (see The Month, March, 1908, pp. 311-313) :
this letter was exploited by the Reformers. A German translation of it was
printed and circulated in 1521, and an English version appeared in London
about 1550. There are several modern lives in German, e.g, those of Ramer,
Stutzle, and U. Schmid (1904), and a full lind able article in the Kirchenlexikon, vol. xii .
|
| 1091 BD
WILLIAM OF HIRSCHAU, ABBOT;
concern for the spiritual and material well-being of the serfs both of the
monastery and of neighbouring manors; and by aggregating its servants to
the monastic community he had a significant part in the development of the
institution of fratres conversi
(lay-brothers).
IN the year 1065
Bd Frederick, a monk of Einsiedeln, was sent with twelve companions to re-people
the abbey of Hirschau in Wiirtemberg, which for sixty years had been in the
hands of the counts of Calw and was falling into decay. Pope St Leo IX, who
belonged to the family of Calw, had ordered Count Adalbert to restore the
abbey to the Benedictines, which he did very slowly and with a bad grace,
and obtained such an influence over part of the new community that after
four years they deposed Frederick. In his place was elected William, a monk
of the abbey of St Emmeram at Ratisbon, who protested against the deposition
of Bd Frederick and refused to regard himself as other than his vicar until
after his death. After dealing with Count Adalbert, Abbot William turned his
attention to the reform of his monks and the building up of a stable and
observant community. Bernard, abbot of Saint Victor at Marseilles who had
been sent into Germany as papal legate, advised him to adopt the usages and
observance of Cluny, which William accordingly did. His own personal reputation
attracted numbers of suitable subjects and he was able to re-establish the
school for which Hirschau had formerly been famous; and, knowing that idleness
is a chief enemy of monks and that good books cannot be too often multiplied,
he staffed a large scriptorium. He himself drew up the " Constitutions of
Hirschau ", which for long remained the norm of observance in that monastery
and in many others, and set an example of such careful observance of them
that he completely reformed his own community and attracted so many aspirants
that other monasteries had to be founded for them.
One of the outstanding characteristics of William's life and
one by no means shared by all the great abbots of the middle ages, was his
concern for the spiritual and material well-being of the serfs both of the
monastery and of neighbouring manors; and by aggregating its servants to
the monastic community he had a significant part in the development of the
institution of fratres conversi
(lay-brothers). Bd William strongly appreciated the value of learning, and
had seen how often bad morals go with lack of instruction and of intelligence;
hence on the one hand his interest in the schooling of the common people
and on the other his urgency for a learned episcopate: when asked to recommend
men suitable for a bishopric he always, other things being equal, named a
scholar. His own accomplishments, after that science of the saints, knowledge
of God and holy living, in which he excelled, were of a variousness more
common in his time than in ours: astronomy, music, mathematics, poetry; he
invented an ingenious clock, revised and rewrote several of the office hymns,
and among other works wrote a treatise De
musica et tonis. But his great public work was the establishment of
his "school the Lord's service", whose charter he wrote down in the constitutions
which continued to be in force at Hirschau until the beginning of the fifteenth
century.
There is a
biography by a contemporary, said to be Haymo, Prior of Hirschau. As printed
in the Acta Sanctorum (July, vol.
ii) it seems to be overlaid with legendary matter. The more historical portions
have been re-edited in MGH., Seriptores,
vol. xii. See also B. Albers in Festschrift
zum Jubiläum des deutschen Campo Santo, pp. 115-129, and the
articles in the Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. xv, p. 629, and vol. vii, p. 363.
There are modern lives by Kerker (1863) and Helmsdorfer (1874) and a valuable
study of Bd William's musical theories by Hans Muller (1883).
|
1174 Holy Prince
Andrew Bogoliubsky (1110-1174), grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, son of Yurii
Dolgoruky and a Polovetsian princess (in holy Baptism Maria)
While still in his youth he was called "Bogoliubsky" ("God-loving")
for his profound attention to prayer, his diligence for church services and
"his adoption of secret prayers to God." From his grandfather, Vladimir
Monomakh, the grandson inherited great spiritual concentration, love for
the Word of God and the habit of turning to the Scripture in all the circumstances
of life.
A brave warrior [Andrew means "brave"], a participant in his
military father's many campaigns, more than once he came close to death
in battle. But each time Divine Providence invisibly saved the princely man
of prayer. Thus for example, on February 8, 1150, in a battle near Lutsk,
St Andrew was saved from the spear of an enemy German by a prayer to the
Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates, whose memory was celebrated that day.
The chronicles also stress St Andrew's peace-making activity,
a rare trait among the princes and military commanders of those harsh times.
The combination of military valor with love for peace and mercy, of great
humility with indomitable zeal for the Church were present in Prince Andrew
in the highest degree. A responsible master of the land, and a constant coworker
in the city construction and church building activity of Yurii Dolgoruky,
he built with his father: Moscow (1147), Iuriev-Polsk (1152), Dmitrov (1154),
and he also adorned the cities of Rostov, Suzdal', and Vladimir with churches.
In 1162 St Andrew could say with satisfaction, "I have built up white Rus
with cities and settlements, and have rendered it with much populace."
When Yurii Dolgoruky became Great
Prince of Kiev in 1154, he gave his son Vyshgorod near Kiev as his appanage
(land given by kings and princes to their younger children for their support),
but God willed otherwise. One night in the summer of 1155, the wonderworking
Icon of the Mother of God in the Vyshgorod church was removed. This icon
was painted by the holy Evangelist Luke, and in some period before this had
been transferred here from Constantinople. Later, it was called the Vladimir
Icon of the Mother of God. On this night with the icon in hand, holy Prince
Andrew left Vyshgorod going northwards to the Suzdal territory, secretly
and without the blessing of his father, mindful only of the will of God.
The miracle of this holy icon, which occured on the way from
Vyshgorod to Vladimir, was recorded by a clergyman of Prince Andrew, "the
priest Mikula" [Nicholas], in his "Reports of the Miracles of the Vladimir
Icon of the Mother of God."
Ten versts before reaching Vladimir, the horse bearing the icon
suddenly stopped. During the night the Mother of God appeared to St Andrew
with a scroll in her hand and commanded, "I do not want you to take my icon
to Rostov, but rather leave it in Vladimir. Build a stone church here in the
name of My Nativity." In memory of this miraculous event, St Andrew commissioned
an iconographer to paint an icon of the Mother of God the way that the All-Pure
Virgin had appeared to him. He established Feast of this icon as June 18.
The icon, named the Bogoliubsk, was afterwards glorified by numerous miracles.
Upon the place decreed by the Queen of Heaven, Prince Andrew
built (in 1159) the church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. He
also remained in the city of Bogoliubov, which became his constant dwelling
and the place of his martyric end.
When his father Yurii Dolgoruky died (+ May 15, 1157), St Andrew
did not take up his father's throne at Kiev, but rather remained prince at
Vladimir. During the years 1158-1160 was built the Dormition cathedral at
Vladimir, and in it was placed the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. In
the year 1164 the Golden Gates were set in place, over which was the church
of the Placing of the Robe of the Mother of God, and also the church of the
Savior at the princely court.
Thirty churches were built by Prince Andrew during the years
of his rule. The finest of them is the Dormition cathedral. The richness
and splendor of the church helped to spread Orthodoxy among the surrounding
peoples and foreign merchants. St Andrew had directed that all travellers,
whether Latins or pagans, were to be led into the churches he built and to
have "true Christianity" pointed out to them. The chronicler writes: "Both
Bulgars, and Jews, and every sort of common person, beholding the glory of
God and churchly adornment, came to be baptized."
The conquest of the great Volga journey-way became for St Andrew
a fundamental task of his civil service to Russia. The Volga Bulgars from
the time of the campaigns of Svyatoslav (+ 972) presented a serious danger
to the Russian state. St Andrew continued with the initiatives of Svyatoslav.
A shattering blow was struck
against the enemy in 1164, when Russian forces burned and destroyed several
Bulgar fortresses. St Andrew took with him on this campaign the Vladimir Icon
of the Mother of God and a two-sided icon, on one side was depicted the Icon
of the Savior "Not-Made-by-Hands," and the "Veneration of the Cross" on the
opposite side. [At the present time both icons are in the Tretyakov State
Gallery.]
A great miracle from the holy icons occurred for the Russian
army on the day of the decisive victory over the Bulgars, August 1, 1164.
After the destruction of the Bulgar army, the princes (Andrew, his brother
Yaroslav, his son Izyaslav and others) returned towards the infantry standing
by the princely standards with the Vladimir Icon, and they made a prostration
before the Icon, "bestowing on it praise and song." And then all beheld the
blinding rays of light, issuing from the face of the Mother of God and the
Savior Not-Made-by-Hands.
Remaining a faithful son of the Orthodox Church in all things,
vigilant in belief and canons, St Andrew turned to the Patriarch of Constantinople
with a filial request to establish a separate metropolitan for northeastern
Rus. And with the prince's letter of accord there journeyed to Byzantium the
candidate chosen by the prince, Archimandrite Theodore of Suzdal. Patriarch
Luke Chrysoverges, however, only agreed to consecrate Theodore as Bishop of
Vladimir, but not as Metropolitan. Yet at the same time, wanting to uphold
the position of Prince Andrew as the most powerful among the rulers of the
Russian Land, the Patriarch honored Bishop Theodore with the right to wear
the white klobuk [monastic head covering], which in ancient Rus was a distinctive
sign of church autonomy. Such recognition (the white klobuk) was also granted
to the Archbishop of Novgorod. Evidently, since the Russian chronicles speak
of Bishop Theodore with the title of "White Klobuk", much later historians
sometimes call him "the bishop of an autonomous diocese."
In the year 1167 St Rostislav died at Kiev. He was the twin
brother of Andrew, and had been able to carry out compromise during the complicated
political and churchly life of the time. But after this, there was dispatched
from Constantinople a new metropolitan, Constantine II. The new metropolitan
demanded that Bishop Theodore come before him to be confirmed in his position.
St Andrew again went to Constantinople for the affirmation of the autonomous
status of the Vladimir diocese and again he requested a separate metropolitanate.
The letter of reply from Patriarch Luke Chrysoverges has been preserved. It
contains a categorical refusal for establishing a new metropolitan, a demand
to accept the expelled bishop Leo, and to submit to the Metropolitan of Kiev.
In fulfilling this churchly obedience, St Andrew urged Bishop
Theodore to journey in repentance to Kiev for the restoration of canonical
relations with the Metropolitan. The repentance of Bishop Theodore was not
accepted. Without investigation by a council, and in accord with the Byzantine
morals of the time, Metropolitan Constantine condemned him to a terrible execution.
St Theodore's tongue was cut out, they cut off his right hand, and then they
gouged out his eyes. After this he was drowned by servants of the Metropolitan
(by other accounts, he died in prison).
Not only the churchly, but also
the political affairs of Southern Rus demanded the decisive response of the
Great Prince of Vladimir. On 8 March 8, 1169 an army of allied princes with
Andrew's son Mstislav at the head conquered Kiev. The city was devastated
and burned, and the Polovetsians participating in the campaign did not spare
even the churchly treasures. The Russian chronicles viewed this event as
something that was deserved: "These misfortunes were for their sins (the
Kievans), especially for the outrage perpetuated by the Metropolitan." In
the same year (1169) the prince moved an army against unruly Novgorod, but
they were repulsed by a miracle of the Novgorod Icon of the Mother of God
of the Sign (November 27), which had been carried along the city walls by
holy Archbishop John (September 7). But when the understandable wrath of
the Great Prince gave way to mercy, and in peace he summoned the Novgorod
people to him, the blessing of God returned to him. Novgorod accepted the
prince appointed by St Andrew.
In such a manner, towards the end of 1170, St Andrew Bogoliubsky
was able to attain the unity of the Russian Land under his rule.
In the winter of 1172 he sent
a large army under the command of his son Mstislav against the Volga Bulgars.
The Russian forces gained the victory, but their joy was overshadowed by the
death of the valiant Mstislav (March 28, 1172).
On the night of June 30, 1174 holy Prince Andrew Bogoliubsky
accepted a martyr's death at the hands of traitors in his own household.
The Tver Chronicle relates that St Andrew was murdered at the instigation
of his second wife (a Volga Bulgar), who participated in the conspiracy.
At the head of the conspiracy stood her brothers, the Kuchkovichi: "and they
commited murder in the night, as did Judas against the Lord." A throng of
assassins, twenty men, burst in upon the court, they killed the few guards
and stormed into the bedchamber of the unarmed prince. The sword of St Boris,
which hung constantly over his bed, had been treacherously removed that night
by the steward Anbal. The prince succeeded in pushing the first of his assailants
down on the floor. The conspirators then mistakenly ran him through with
their swords. Soon they realised their mistake, "and then they perceived
the prince, and he fought much with them, for he was strong, and they did
thrust with swords and sabres, and gave him copious wounds." The forehead
of the holy prince was struck on the side with a spear, while all the remaining
blows from the cowardly assassins were dealt from behind. When the prince
finally fell, they abruptly rushed out of the bedchamber, taking along their
murdered accomplice.
The saint was still alive, however.
With his final strength he lowered himself along the palace stairway, hoping
to alert a guard. Instead, his groans were heard by the assassins and they
turned back. The prince was able to hide himself in a niche below the stairway
and so they passed by him. The conspirators rushed to the bedchamber but did
not find the prince there. "Disaster stands before us, since the prince is
alive," the assassins cried out in terror. But all around it was quiet, and
no one came to the aid of the suffering prince. Then the evil-doers again
regained their boldness, they lit candles and followed the bloody trail to
seek out their victim. Prayer was on the lips of St Andrew when the assassins
again surrounded him.
The Russian Church remembers and venerates its martyrs and makers.
A special place belongs to St Andrew Bogoliubsky. Having taken in his hands
the wonderworking icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, the holy prince, as
it were, blessed the major events of Russian history with it. In 1395 was
the year of the transfer of the Vladimir Icon to Moscow and the deliverance
of the capital from the invasion of Tamerlane (August 26); the year 1480 marks
the salvation of Rus from the invasion of Khan Akhmat and the ultimate collapse
of the Mongol Horde (June 23); in the year 1521 Moscow was saved from the
invasion of the Crimean Khan Makhmet-Girei (May 21). Through the prayers
of St Andrew, his fondest dreams for the Russian Church came true. In the
year 1300 Metropolitan Maximus transferred the metropolitan See of All-Russia
from Kiev to Vladimir, making the Dormition cathedral the foremost cathedral
of the Russian Church There rest the relics of St Andrew, and the Vladimir
wonderworking Icon is its chief holy object.
Later on, when the center of the Russian Church was moved to
Moscow, selections of the metropolitans and patriarchs of the Russian Church
were made before the Vladimir Icon. In the year 1448, a Council of Russian
bishops raised up the first metropolitan of the autocephalous Russian Church,
St Jonah. On November 5, 1917, in front of it was made the selection of His
Holiness Patriarch St Tikhon, the first such election after the restoration
of the patriarchate in the Russian Church. And in 1971, on the Feast of the
Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the enthronment of His Holiness Patriarch
Pimen took place.
The liturgical activity of St Andrew was multi-faceted and fruitful.
In 1162 the Lord granted the holy prince a great solace: in Rostov there
was discovered the relics of Rostov saints -- the holy hierarchs Isaiah and
Leontius. The glorification of these Rostov saints throughout all the Church
took place somewhat later, but St Andrew initiated their national veneration.
In 1164 the military forces of St Andrew crushed their long-time enemy, the
Volga Bulgars. The victories of the Orthodox nation were marked by a blossoming
of liturgical creativity within the Russian Church.
In this same year of 1164, at
the initiative of St Andrew, the Church established the Feast of the All-Merciful
Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos on August 1 (venerated by the Russian people
as "Savior of the First Honey"), in memory of the Baptism of Rus by holy
Equal of the Apostles Vladimir and in memory of the victory over the Bulgars
in 1164. The Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God on October 1 embodied
in liturgical forms the faith of the holy prince and all the Orthodox nation
in the acceptance by the Mother of God of Holy Rus beneath Her omophorion.
The Protection of the Theotokos became one of the most beloved of Russian
Church Feasts. The Protection is a Russian national holiday, unknown to the
Latin West. It is a liturgical continuation and creative development of theological
ideas inherent to the Feast of the Placing of the Robe of the Mother of God
on July 2.
The first church consecrated to the new Feast was the Protection
church at Nerla (1165), a remarkable monument of Russian Church architecture,
built by the master artisans of St Andrew at the head-waters of the River
Nerla, so that the prince could always see it from a window of his Bogoliubov
garret.
St Andrew took an active part in the literary work of the Vladimir
church writers. He participated in the compiling of the Service of the Protection
(the most ancient copy is in the manuscript of a fourteenth century Psalter),
and also a preface about the establishment of the Feast of the Protection
in the Great Reading Meneion for October, as well as a "Discourse on the Protection."
He wrote an "Account of the Victory over the Bulgars and the Establishing
of the Feast of the Savior in the Year 1164," which in several of the old
manuscripts is called, "Discourse concerning the Mercy of God by Great Prince
Andrew Bogoliubsky." The fate of Bogoliubsky is also noted in the Vladimir
Chronicle entry for the year 1177, completed after the death of the prince
by his confessor, the priest Mikula, who inserted his special "Account of
the Murder of St Andrew." To St Andrew's time belongs also the final editing
of the "Account of Boris and Gleb," inserted into the "Dormition Sbornik"
("Compendium" or "Book of Collected Services" of these Rostov saints). The
prince particularly venerated St Boris, and his chief household treasure was
a cap belonging to St Boris. St Boris's sword always hung over his bed. Another
memorial of St Andrew's prayerful inspiration is "A Prayer," included in
the chronicle under the year 1096 after the "Instructions of Vladimir Monomakh."
|
1336 St.
Elizabeth of Portugal exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but also
through her exercise of charity, by which she was able to befriend and help
pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose need came
to her notice; She was buried in the church of her monastery
of Poor Clares at Coimbra, and honoured by miracles; and eventually in 1626
her cultus was crowned by canonization.
Stremótii, in Lusitánia,
natális sanctæ Elísabeth Víduæ, Lusitanórum
Regínæ, quam, virtútibus et miráculis claram,
Urbánus Octávus, Póntifex Máximus, in Sanctórum
númerum rétulit. Ejus tamen celébritas octávo
Idus mensis hujus recólitur, ex dispositióne Innocéntii
Papæ Duodécimi.
At Estremos in Portugal, the birthday of St. Elizabeth
the Widow, queen of Portugal, whom Pope Urban VIII, mindful of her virtues
and miracles, placed among the number of the saints. Pope Innocent XII
ordered her feast to be kept on the 8th of July.
Sanctæ Elísabeth Víduæ, Lusitanórum Regínæ,
quæ ad regnum cæléste quarto Nonas hujus mensis transívit.
St. Elisabeth, widow, queen of Portugal, whose birthday
is observed on the 4th of July.
ST ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL, WIDOW (A.D. 1336
THIS Elizabeth was daughter of
Peter III, King of Aragon. She was born in 1271, and received at the font
the name of Elizabeth, from her great-aunt, St Elizabeth of Hungary, but she
is known in her own country by the Spanish form of that name; Isabella. Her
birth was an omen of that title of "the Peacemaker" which she was to earn
in after-life, for by it was established a good understanding between her
grandfather James, who was then on the throne, and her father, whose quarrelling
had divided the whole kingdom. The young princess was of a sweet disposition,
and from her early years had relish for anything that was conducive to devotion
and goodness. She desired to emulate every virtue which she saw practised
by others, for she had been already taught that mortification of the will
is to be joined with prayer to obtain the grace which restrains our tendency
to sin. This is often insufficiently considered by those parents who excite
the wilfulness and self-indulgence of their children by teaching them a love
of worthless things and giving in to every whim and want. Certainly, fasting
is not good for them; but submission of the will, obedience, and consideration
for others are never more indispensable than at this time; nor is any abstinence
more fruitful than that by which children are taught not to drink or eat
between meals, to bear little denials without impatience, and never to make
a fuss about things. The victory of Elizabeth over herself was owing to this
early training.
At twelve years of age she was married to Denis, King of Portugal.
That prince admired her birth, beauty, riches and personality more than her
virtue; yet he allowed her an entire liberty in her devotion, and esteemed
her piety without feeling called on to imitate it. Elizabeth therefore planned
for herself a regular distribution of her time, which she never interrupted
unless extraordinary occasions of duty or charity obliged her. She rose
early every morning, and recited Matins, Lauds and Prime before Mass; in
the afternoon she had other regular devotions after Vespers. Certain hours
were allotted to her domestic affairs, public business, or what she owed
to others. She was abstemious in her food, modest in her dress, humble and
affable in conversation, and wholly bent upon the service of God. Frequent
attempts were made to induce her to modify her life, but without success.
Charity to the poor was a distinguishing part of her character. She gave
orders to have pilgrims and poor strangers provided with lodging and necessaries,
and made it her business to seek out and relieve persons who were reduced
to necessity. She provided marriage dowries for girls, and founded in different
parts of the kingdom charitable establishments, particularly a hospital at
Coimbra, a house for penitent women at Torres Novas, and a refuge for foundlings.
Nor with it all did Elizabeth neglect any of her immediate duties, especially
those of respect, love and obedience to her husband, whose neglect and infidelity
she bore with much patience.
For Denis, though a good ruler, was a bad subject: just, brave, generous
and compassionate in public life, devoted to his realm, but in his private
relations selfish and sinful. The queen used all her endeavours to reclaim
him, grieving deeply for the offence to God and the scandal given to the people;
she never ceased to pray for his conversion. She strove to gain him by courtesy
and constant sweetness, and cheerfully cherished his natural children and
took care of their education.
St Elizabeth had two children, Alfonso, who afterwards succeeded his father,
and a daughter, Constance. This son when he grew up showed a very rebellious
spirit, partly due to the favour in which his father held his illegitimate
sons. Twice he rose in arms and twice his mother brought about a reconciliation,
riding out between the opposing forces. But evil tongues suggested to the
king that she secretly favoured her son and for a time she was banished from
the court. Her love for concord and qualities as a peacemaker were indeed
very notable; she stopped or averted war between Ferdinand IV of Castile,
and his cousin, and between that prince and her own brother, James II of Aragon.
Her husband Denis became seriously ill in 1324, and Elizabeth gave all
her attention to him, scarcely ever leaving his room unless to go to the
church. During his long and tedious illness the king gave marks of sincere
sorrow for the disorders of his life, and he died at Santarem on January
6, 1325. After his burial the queen made a pilgrimage to Compostela, after
which she wished to retire to a convent of Poor Clares which she had founded
at Coimbra. However, she was dissuaded, and instead she was professed in
the third order of St Francis, and lived in a house which she built near
to her convent, leading a life of great simplicity.
The cause of peace that had been so dear to her all her life was the occasion
of Elizabeth's death, which came about on July 4, 1336 at Estremoz, whither
she had gone on an errand of reconciliation in spite of her age and the great
heat. She was buried in the church of her monastery of Poor Clares at Coimbra,
and honoured by miracles; and eventually in 1626 her cultus was crowned by canonization.
The Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. ii, have printed
a life of the queen which seems to be of almost contemporary date, and a good
deal of information may also be found in the chronicles of the period. See
also P; de Moucheron, Ste Elisabeth d'Aragon
(1896); and a short sketch by Fr V. McNabb (1937). The story
(told by Butler in company with many others) of the innocent page saved miraculously
from death in a lime-kiln is a mere fiction which can be traced back to the
folk-lore of ancient India. See Cosquin in the Revue des Questions historiques, vol.
lxxiii (1903), pp, 3-12, with vol. lxxiv, pp, 207-217; and Formichi in Archivio delle tradizioni popolari, vol.
xxii (1903), pp. 9-30. It is only in 1562 that we find it christianized and
told in connection with St Elizabeth.
Elizabeth is usually depicted in royal garb with a dove or an
olive branch. At her birth in 1271, her father, Pedro III, future king of
Aragon, was reconciled with his father, James, the reigning monarch. This
proved to be a portent of things to come. Under the healthful influences surrounding
her early years, she quickly learned self-discipline and acquired a taste
for spirituality. Thus fortunately prepared, she was able to meet the challenge
when, at the age of 12, she was given in marriage to Denis, king of Portugal.
She was able to establish for herself a pattern of life conducive to growth
in God’s love, not merely through her exercises of piety, including daily
Mass, but also through her exercise of charity, by which she was able to
befriend and help pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all
those whose need came to her notice. At the same time she remained devoted
to her husband, whose infidelity to her was a scandal to the kingdom.
He too was the object of many of her peace endeavors. She long
sought peace for him with God, and was finally rewarded when he gave up his
life of sin. She repeatedly sought and effected peace between the king and
their rebellious son, Alfonso, who thought that he was passed over to favor
the king’s illegitimate children. She acted as peacemaker in the struggle
between Ferdinand, king of Aragon, and his cousin James, who claimed the crown.
And finally from Coimbra, where she had retired as a Franciscan tertiary to
the monastery of the Poor Clares after the death of her husband, she set out
and was able to bring about a lasting peace between her son Alfonso, now
king of Portugal, and his son-in-law, the king of Castile.
Third Order of St. Francis
Elizabeth was a Spanish princess who was given in marriage to
King Denis of Portugal at the age of twelve. She was very beautiful and very
lovable. She was also very devout, and went to Mass every day. Elizabeth
was a holy wife, but although her husband was fond of her at first, he soon
began to cause her great suffering. Though a good ruler, he did not imitate
his wife's love of prayer and other virtues. In fact, his sins of impurity
gave great scandle to the people.
Later, to make matters worse, the King believed a lie told about
Elizabeth and one of her pages by another page, who was jealous of his companion.
In great anger the King ordered the one he believed guilty, to be sent to
a lime-burner. The lime-burner was commanded to throw into his furnace the
first page who came. The good page set out obediently, not knowing death was
waiting for him. On his way he stopped for Mass, since he had the habit of
going daily. The first Mass had begun, so he stayed for a second one. In
the meantime, the King sent the wicked page to the lime-burner to find out
if the other had been killed. And so it was this page who was thrown into
the furnace! When the King learned what had happened, he realized that God
had saved the good page, punished the liar, and proven Queen Elizabeth to
be innocent.
This amazing event helped greatly to make the King live better.
He apologized to his wife in front of everyone and began to have a great
respect for her. In his last sickness, she never left his side, except for
Mass, until he died a holy death. St. Elizabeth lived for eleven more years,
doing even greater charity and penance. She was a wonderful model of kindness
toward the poor and a successful peacemaker between members of her own family
and between nations.
Because St. Elizabeth was faithful
to daily Mass, she found strength to carry her many great crosses. And because
her page was faithful to daily Mass, he escaped death. We should try our best
to make it a habit to go to Mass daily.
Comment: The work of promoting peace is anything but a
calm and quiet endeavor. It takes a clear mind, a steady spirit and a brave
soul to intervene between people whose emotions are so aroused that they
are ready to destroy one another. This is all the more true of a woman in
the early 14th century. But Elizabeth had a deep and sincere love and sympathy
for humankind, almost a total lack of concern for herself and an abiding
confidence in God. These were the tools of her success.
July 4, 2010 St. Elizabeth of Portugal (1271-1336)
Elizabeth is usually depicted in royal garb with a dove or an olive branch.
At her birth in 1271, her father, Pedro III, future king of Aragon, was reconciled
with his father, James, the reigning monarch. This proved to be a portent
of things to come. Under the healthful influences surrounding her early years,
she quickly learned self-discipline and acquired a taste for spirituality.
Thus fortunately prepared, she was able to meet the challenge when, at the
age of 12, she was given in marriage to Denis, king of Portugal. She was able
to establish for herself a pattern of life conducive to growth in God’s love,
not merely through her exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but also
through her exercise of charity, by which she was able to befriend and help
pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose need came
to her notice. At the same time she remained devoted to her husband, whose
infidelity to her was a scandal to the kingdom.
He too was the object of many of her peace endeavors. She long sought peace
for him with God, and was finally rewarded when he gave up his life of sin.
She repeatedly sought and effected peace between the king and their rebellious
son, Alfonso, who thought that he was passed over to favor the king’s illegitimate
children. She acted as peacemaker in the struggle between Ferdinand, king
of Aragon, and his cousin James, who claimed the crown. And finally from Coimbra,
where she had retired as a Franciscan tertiary to the monastery of the Poor
Clares after the death of her husband, she set out and was able to bring
about a lasting peace between her son Alfonso, now king of Portugal, and
his son-in-law, the king of Castile.
Comment: The work of promoting
peace is anything but a calm and quiet endeavor. It takes a clear mind, a
steady spirit and a brave soul to intervene between people whose emotions
are so aroused that they are ready to destroy one another. This is all the
more true of a woman in the early 14th century. But Elizabeth had a deep and
sincere love and sympathy for humankind, almost a total lack of concern for
herself and an abiding confidence in God. These were the tools of her success.
Elisabeth von Portugal Katholische
Kirche: 4. Juli
Elisabeth, Tochter des Königs
Pedro von Aragon, wurde um 1270 geboren. In der Taufe erhielt sie nach ihrer
Großtante den Namen Elisabeth. Sie wird auch Isabella von Aragon genannt.
1282 heiratete sie König Dionysius von Portugal. Ihr Sohn Alfons lag
laufend mit seinem Vater und anderen Königen im Streit und Elisabeth
konnte mehrmals erfolgreich vermitteln. Bei ihrer letzten Mission starb sie
am 4.7.1336 in Estremoz. Elisabeth unterstütze zahlreiche kirchloche
Einrichtungen. Nach dem Tod ihres Mannes 1325 zog sie sich in ein von ihr
errichtetes Kloster zurück und wurde später Franziskaner-Tertiarin.
Elisabeth ist Patronin von Portugal, Coimbra, Estremoz und Saragossa.
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1387 St. Peter of
Luxembourg well known for his austerity and holiness
Cardinal and bishop. Peter was born 1369, son of Guy of Luxembourg,
count of Ligny, in Lorraine, but was orphaned at the age of four. Taken
to Paris, he became a canon at Notre Dame, Chartres, and Cambrai and was
appointed archdeacon of Dreux. For a time he was held by the English as a
hostage at Calais for his brother, and then, in 1384, he was named bishop
of Metz at the age of fourteen. Two years later, he became a cardinal by
decree of the antipope Clement VII. Owing to the political strife which attended
the schism, Peter needed armed troops to take possession of his see against
the followers of Pope Urban VI. Despite the reforms he introduced to the
diocese, he was driven from Metz and joined Clement at Avignon. He died at
the age of eighteen at the Carthusian monastery at Villeneuve, France. Peter
was well known for his austerity and holiness.
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1427-1430
Saint Andrew Rublev, Russia's greatest iconographer received monastic tonsure;
was taught iconography by Theophanes the Greek and the monk Daniel, St Andrew's
friend and fellow-ascetic.
Born near Moscow sometime between 1360 and 1370. While still
very young, he went to the Holy Trinity Monastery, and was profoundly impressed
by St Sergius of Radonezh (September 25).
After the death of St Sergius in 1392, St Nikon (November 17)
succeeded him as igumen. St Andrew became a novice in the monastery under
St Nikon.
Sometime before 1405 he moved to the Spaso -Andronikov Monastery founded
by St Andronicus (June 13), with the blessing of St Nikon. There St
Andrew received monastic tonsure and was taught iconography by Theophanes
the Greek and the monk Daniel, St Andrew's friend and fellow-ascetic.
St Andrew is first mentioned in the Chronicles in 1405, when
he, Theophanes, and Prochorus painted the cathedral of the Annunciation.
St Nikon of Radonezh asked St
Andrew and Daniel to paint the new church in the reconstructed monastery of
the Holy Trinity, which had been destroyed by the Tatars in 1408.
At this time St Andrew painted his most famous icon: the Holy
Trinity (actually, the Hospitality of Abraham).
St Andrew fell asleep in the
Lord between 1427-1430, and was buried in the Andronikov Monastery. He was
over seventy years old at the time of his death. The monk Daniel, who died
before St Andrew, appeared to his friend and urged him to join him in eternal
blessedness
1507 Uncovering of
the Relics of Saint Euthymius the Wonderworker of Suzdal, who died on April
1, 1405
Occurred in the year 1507 during
the construction of a new stone church when the monastery was headed by the
igumen Cyril (later Bishop of Rostov). The incorrupt relics were the source
of numerous miracles, and they were placed in the Transfiguration cathedral
of the monastery. In 1511 after its restorations, the church (a rare memorial
of fourteenth century architecture) was consecrated in the name of St Euthymius.1594 Bl. Thomas Bosgrave
English martyr. The nephew
of Sir J. Arundel, Thomas was arrested by English authorities at Arundel's
Chidicock Castle in Dorset. He was hanged at Dorchester with Blessed John
Cornelius and two of his servants. He was beatified.
|
1594 Bl. John Carey
Martyr of England, an Irish layman. He was the servant of Blessed Thomas Bosgrave
and was put to death with Blesseds Thomas Bosgrave, John Cornelius, and Patrick
Salmon at Dorchester in Oxfordshire. They were beatified in 1929.
1594 Bl. John Cornelius Martyred Jesuit of England. He was of
Irish
descent and was bom in Bodmin. Educated at Oxford, he went to Reims
and then Rome where he was ordained in 1583. John went to England the next
year, where he used the alias Mohun, and where he became a Jesuit. He was
discovered at Lady Arundel’s Castle in Dorset. In 1594 , after working for
ten years in Lanherne, he was executed at Dorchester, Oxfordshire, with Blesseds
Thomas Bosgrave, John Carey, and Patrick Salmon. They were beatified in 1929.
|
1594 Bl. Patrick Salmon Martyr of England charged with sheltering a priest
He was a servant of Blessed Thomas Bosgrave and was martyred with him at
Dorchester, England. They were |
1594
BB. JOHN CORNELIUS AND HIS COMPANIONS, THE DORCHESTER MARTYRS
ON July 4, 1594 was hanged, drawn and quartered at Dorchester
in Dorset Bd JOHN CORNELIUS (alias Mohun), priest, and with him were simply
hanged BB. THOMAS BOSGRAVE, JOHN CAREY and PATRICK SALMON, laymen. Mr Cornelius
was born of Irish parents at Bodmin in 1557 and was sent to Oxford by Sir
John Arundell of Lanherne: but not liking the " new learning" of that university
he went overseas to the English College at Rheirns and afterwards to Rome,
where he was ordained. He worked on the English mission from Lanherne for
nearly ten years, and both then and during his earlier days abroad he was
known as a man of unusual zeal and recollection.
On April 25, 1594, he was arrested at Chideock Castle, the seat
of Lady Arundell, by the sheriff of Dorset. While he was being hurried away,
bareheaded and unprepared, Mr Thomas Bosgrave, a gentleman of Cornwall,
nephew of Sir John Arundell, offered him his hat, saying, " The honour lowe
to your function may not suffer me to see you go bare-headed". This innocent
act of kindness and respect was sufficient to implicate him, and he also
was arrested. At the same time were carried off two of the castle serving-men,
John Carey and Patrick Salmon, both Dubliners. Cornelius was taken to London
and examined before the Privy Council, which ordered him to be racked that
he might betray the names of those who had harboured or assisted him; but
he remained mute, and was returned to Dorchester for trial. On July 2 he was
found guilty of high treason, in that he was a priest who had come into the
realm and remained there, and the other three for felony in aiding and abetting
him. After sentence had been pronounced they were offered a reprieve if they
would apostatize.
Two days later they were executed. The laymen, each of whom
made a final profession of faith, suffered first; Bd John Cornelius kissed
the feet of his companions, but was not allowed to speak to the people;
he was, however, able to declare that he had been admitted into the Society
of Jesus and would have gone to Flanders for his novitiate but for his arrest.
There also suffered at Dorchester Bd HUGH GREEN, a secular priest
who on August 19, 1642, was hanged, drawn and quartered with peculiarly revolting
circumstances, for his priesthood. The feast of the Dorchester martyrs is
kept in the diocese of Plymouth.
See MMP., pp. 198-202. But fuller
details concerning these martyrs may be found in an article contributed by
Fr Leo Hicks to Studies, December,
1929, pp. 537--555; and cf, A. L. Rowse, Tudor Cornwall (1941), pp. 358, 363-367.
|
1597
Bl. William Andleby Martyr of England studied
at St. Johns College, Cambridge, and was converted to Catholicism on the way
to fight the Spanish. He went to Douai, France, and was ordained in 1577.
Returning home, he worked inYorkshire and Lincolnshire for two decades.
Born at Eton, near Beverley, England, he studied
at St. Johns College, Cambridge, and was converted to Catholicism on the way
to fight the Spanish. He went to Douai, France, and was ordained in 1577.
Returning home, he worked inYorkshire and Lincolnshire for two decades. Arrested
and condemned, he was executed at York with Thomas Warcop and two companions.
He was beatified in 1929.
BB. WILLIAM ANDLEBY AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
ON July 4, 1597, there suffered at York Bd WILLIAM ANDLEBY, a secular priest,
and BB. HENRY ABBOT, THOMAS WARCOP and EDWARD FULTHROP, laymen. Mr Andleby
(or Anlaby) was born at Etton, near Beverley, and brought up a Protestant,
being educated at St John's College, Cambridge. When some twenty-five years
old, while on his way to join the Dutch in their wars with the Spaniards,
he visited Douay and had an interview with Dr Allen. Within twenty-four hours
the prayers and discourses of the rector of the seminary had such an effect
on the young man, who hitherto had been strongly averse from the Church and
even from religion at all in his behaviour, that he not only made his submission
but remained in Douay and was in due course ordained in 1577·
He worked on the mission in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire for twenty years,
and was concerned with the Yen. Thomas Atkinson in ministering under conditions
of the greatest difficulty and danger to the Catholic prisoners in Hull Castle.
He was at last arrested and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered for
being a priest. The same death was inflicted on Edward Fulthrop, a Yorkshire
gentleman, for having been reconciled to the Church, and Thomas Warcop was
hanged for sheltering Mr Andleby. Henry Abbot, of Holden in the East Riding,
was hanged, drawn and quartered for persuading another to join the Catholic
Church. Into this he had been tricked by a Protestant minister who, being
imprisoned in York Castle for some offence or other, had pretended that
he wished to abjure his heresy to ingratiate himself with some recusant fellow
prisoners. These at his release referred him to Mr Abbot as a likely person
to know of a priest who would reconcile him. At the minister's request, therefore,
Abbot tried to find one at a certain house, and, though he did not succeed,
this was sufficient to ensure his death and that of the recusants in the jail
(the Yen. George Errington, William Knight and William Gibson) when the treacherous
minister had commended himself to his superiors by informing on those whom
he had deceived.
See Challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, pp. 231-232.
|
1597 Bl. Thomas
Warcop English martyr. A gentleman in Yorkshire, England, who sheltered Blessed
William Andleby. He was arrested and condemned for giving this aid and hanged
atYork with three companions on July 4.
1597 St. Henry Abbot,
Blessed Martyr of England. A native of Howden, England, Henry became a convert
to the Church and was duly arrested and hanged at York. Pope Pius XI beatified
him 1929.
|
| 1900 Bl. Anthony Fantosat
Martyr of China, a victim of the Boxer Rebellion. The vicar apostolic for
southern Hunan, in China, he was martyred at Hangchow on July 7. |
1918 Saint
Nicholas, the last Russian Tsar, was born in 1868. As a child, he was very
religious, guileless and free from malice.
Nicholas II was crowned as Tsar in 1894, following the death
of his father Tsar Alexander. He began his reign with lofty hopes for peace,
urging other nations to reduce the size of their armies, and to seek the
peaceful settlement of international disputes. The Peace Conference at the
Hague in 
1899 laid the groundwork for the League of Nations and the United Nations.
He married Princess Alice of Hesse, who converted to Orthodoxy
and took the name Alexandra. Their children were Olga (1895), Tatiana (1897),
Maria (1899), Anastasia (1901), and Alexis (1904).
The glorification of St Seraphim
of Sarov took place on July 19, 1903, and Tsar Nicholas attended the ceremonies
at Sarov with his family. At that time he was given a letter written by St
Seraphim more than seventy years before, which seemed to disturb him.
Although the Sovereign never revealed the letter's contents, it is believed
that it was a prophecy of the bloodshed that would engulf Russia in less than
fifteen years.
St Nicholas was executed by the
Soviets at Ekaterinburg on July 4, 1918 along with his family and servants.
The prisoners were awakened late at night and ordered to get dressed for travel.
They went down to the cellar of the home in which they were being held, waiting
for the word to leave. The Tsar sat on a chair in the middle of the room
holding his son Alexis in his lap, while his wife and daughters stood around
them.
The executioners entered the room and read out the order for
their execution. Sts Nicholas and Alexandra died under the hail of bullets,
but the children did not die right away. They were stabbed and clubbed with
the butts of rifles. Their bodies were taken to an abandoned mine, cut into
pieces, then piled in front of the mine. Sulphur and gasoline were poured
on the bloody mound and set on fire. When the fire went out two days later,
whatever remained of the bodies was thrown into the mine and grenades were
tossed into it. Then the ground was plowed so that no trace of the disposal
of the bodies remained.
|
Mary Mother of GOD
Saint of the Day July 04 Quarto Nonas Júlii 
confessors, and holy virgins.
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.