180 Speratus and Companions,
Narzales, Cythinus, Veturius, Felix, Acyllinus, Laetantius, Januaria,
Generosa, Vestina, Donata, and Secunda carried the books "The sacred
books, and the letters of a righteous man named Paul." (Scillitan Martyrs)
(RM)
Carthágine natális sanctórum Mártyrum
Scillitanórum, id est Speráti, Narzális, Cythíni,
Vetúrii, Felícis, Acyllíni, Lætántii,
Januáriæ, Generósæ, Vestínæ, Donátæ
et Secúndæ; qui, jussu Saturníni Præfécti,
post primam Christi confessiónem, in cárcerem trusi et
in ligno confíxi, deínde gládio decolláti
sunt. Speráti autem relíquiæ, cum óssibus
beáti Cypriáni et cápite sancti Pantaleónis
Mártyris, ex Africa in Gállias translátæ, Lugdúni,
in Basílica sancti Joánnis Baptístæ, religióse
cónditæ fuérunt.
At Carthage, the birthday of the holy Scillitan
martyrs Speratus, Narzales, Cythinus, Venturius, Felix, Acyllinus,
Laetantius, Januaria, Generosa, Vestina, Donata, and Secunda.
By order of the prefect Saturninus, after their first confession of
the faith, they were sent to prison, nailed to a cross, and finally
beheaded. The relics of Speratus, with the bones of blessed Cyprian
and the head of the martyr, St. Pantaleon, were carried from Africa into
France and honourably buried in the basilica of St. John the Baptist at
Lyons.
SS. SPERATUS AND HIS COMPANIONS, THE
SCILLITAN MARTYRS (A.D. 180)
THESE martyrs suffered in the last year of the persecution
of Marcus Aurelius, but actually under Commodus. Their acta, indubitably authentic, are the
earliest in existence for the Church in Africa and have suffered little
from later editorial "improvement". They were of Scillium, a place
in what is now Tunisia, and twelve in number, seven men and five women,
namely Speratus, Nartzalus, Cittinus, Veturius, Felix, Aquilinus, Laetantius,
Januaria, Generosa, Vestia, Donata, and Secunda. They were brought prisoners
to Carthage and presented before the proconsul Saturninus, who offered
them the emperor's pardon if they would worship the gods of the Romans.
Speratus answered in the name of all: "We have never committed any crime,
we have injured no one; we have given thanks for the evil treatment we
have received, because we hold our own sovereign in honour." "We also are
religious people", said the proconsul, "and moreover our religion is simple.
We swear by the divine spirit of our lord the emperor and pray for his
safety. Do you the like: it is your duty."
"If you will listen a moment patiently, I will
explain the mystery of true simplicity", replied Speratus. But Saturninus
again urged them to swear by the emperor's genius. Speratus replied:
"I know not the empire of this world, but I serve that God whom no mortal
man has ever seen or can see. I never have stolen; I pay the public duties
for whatever I buy, because I know my Master, who is the King of kings,
and sovereign over all the nations in the world." Saturninus called on
them all to give up their belief, and Speratus exclaimed, "It is a bad
belief that allows murder and false witness".
The proconsul turned to the others and urged them to dissociate
themselves from Speratus. But Cittinus answered: "We have nobody to
fear save the Lord our God in Heaven"; and Donata said: " We give to Caesar
the honour that is due to Caesar; but we fear God alone"; and Vestia said:
"I am a Christian"; and Secunda said: "I wish to be none other than what
I am"; and so all the others. The proconsul then said to Speratus: "Are
you still resolved to remain a Christian?" Speratus replied: "Yes, I am
a Christian." The proconsul said: "Will you deliberate upon the matter?"
Speratus replied: "When the right is thus clear, there is nothing to deliberate
upon." Then Saturninus asked: "What have you got in that box?" referring
to a case that had been brought into the court, and Speratus answered: "The
sacred books, and the letters of a righteous man, one Paul"
Then Saturninus offered them a remand of thirty days for further
consideration, but they all persisted with Speratus in his dogged reply:
"I am a Christian."
The proconsul then, seeing their constancy and resolution,
pronounced sentence against them in these terms: "Speratus, Nartzalus,
Cittinus, Veturius, Donata, Vestina, Secunda, and the rest, having acknowledged
themselves Christians, and having refused an opportunity of returning to
the Roman customs, it is our sentence that they perish by the sword."
This sentence being read, Speratus said: "Thanks
be to God"; and Nartzalus said: "This day we are martyrs in Heaven.
Thanks be to God." And when a herald read out the names of all who were
to die, all exclaimed, "Thanks be to God". Having said this, they were
led to the place of execution, where their heads were struck off. The
faithful who transcribed their acts out of the public registers add:
"And so all were crowned with martyrdom together, and reign with the Father
and the Son and the Holy Ghost forever and ever. Amen."
For the passio
of the Scillitan martyrs, if we compare the texts registered
in BHL., nn. 7527-7534, and in BHG., 1645, the most ancient and reliable
seems to be that edited by Dean Armitage Robinson in Texts and Studies, vol. i, pt. 2 (1891).
See also Delehaye, Les Passions des
Martyrs et les Genres littéraires, pp. 60-63 ; and for
their relics Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri in the Römische Quartalschrift, vol.
xvii (1903), pp. 209-221, and Analecta
Bollandiana, vol, xxiii (1904), pp. 344 seq. Popular but scholarly
accounts of these martyrs are furnished also by P. Monceaux in La vraie légende dorée (1928)
and in L. Bertrand, Martyrs africains
(1930). An English translation of the passio will be found in E. C.
E. Owen, Acts of the Early Martyrs
(1927).
Died at Carthage. The name Scillitan Martyrs designates
a group of seven men and five women from Scillium in Proconsular North
Africa under Septimus Severus; their authentic acta is the earliest
of such documents in Latin. Their names are listed as Speratus, Narzales,
Cythinus, Veturius, Felix, Acyllinus, Laetantius, Januaria, Generosa,
Vestina, Donata, and Secunda.
After their arrest they were taken to Carthage and
interrogated by the proconsul Saturninus, Saint Speratus being their
chief spokesman. He was carrying a satchel, and when asked what was in
it he answered, "The sacred books, and the letters of a righteous man
named Paul." All agreed in refusing to give up their beliefs, and the
offer of a month's remand in which to change their minds was ignored. There
were therefore sentenced to immediate death by the sword, to which Speratus
replied for them all, "Thanks be to God" (Attwater, Benedictines).
St. Augustine preached three
sermons in their honor.
|
Marina The Holy Great
Martyr governor gave the holy martyr over to torture beaten her fiercely;
night in prison, she was granted heavenly aid and healed of her wounds;
then burned the martyr with fire. Barely alive, the martyr prayed:
"Lord, You have granted me to go through fire for Your Name, grant me
also to go through the water of holy Baptism."; governor gave orders to
drown the saint; suddenly a light, and snow-white dove came down from
Heaven, in its beak a golden crown; fetters on St Marina came apart by themselves;.
The martyr stood up glorifying the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. St Marina emerged from the fount completely healed; people glorified
the True God, many believed; governor in a rage, gave orders to kill confessors
of Christ; 15,000 Christians perished there
Born in Asia Minor, in the city of Antioch of Pisidia
(southern Asia Minor), into the family of a pagan priest. In infancy
she lost her mother, and her father gave her into the care of a nursemaid,
who raised Marina in the Orthodox Faith. Upon learning that his daughter
had become a Christian, the father angrily disowned her. During the time
of the persecution against Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305),
when she was fifteen years old, St Marina was arrested and locked up
in prison. With firm trust in the will of God and His help, the young
prisoner prepared for her impending fate.
The governor Olymbrios, charmed with the beautiful
girl, tried to persuade her to renounce the Christian Faith and become
his wife. But the saint, unswayed, refused his offers. The vexed governor
gave the holy martyr over to torture. Having beaten her fiercely, they
fastened the saint with nails to a board and tore at her body with tridents.
The governor himself, unable to bear the horror of these tortures, hid
his face in his hands. But the holy martyr remained unyielding. Thrown
for the night into prison, she was granted heavenly aid and healed of her
wounds. They stripped her and tied her to a tree, then burned the martyr
with fire. Barely alive, the martyr prayed:
"Lord, You have granted me to
go through fire for Your Name, grant me also to go through the water
of holy Baptism."
Hearing the word "water", the
governor gave orders to drown the saint in a large cauldron. The martyr
besought the Lord that this manner of execution should become for her
holy Baptism. When they plunged her into the water, there suddenly shone
a light, and a snow-white dove came down from Heaven, bearing in its beak
a golden crown. The fetters put upon St Marina came apart by themselves.
The martyr stood up in the fount of Baptism glorifying the Holy Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. St Marina emerged from the fount completely
healed, without any trace of burns. Amazed at this miracle, the people
glorified the True God, and many came to believe. This brought the governor
into a rage, and he gave orders to kill anyone who might confess the Name
of Christ. 15,000 Christians perished there, and the holy Martyr Marina
was beheaded.
The sufferings of the Great
Martyr Marina were described by an eyewitness of the event, named Theotimos.
Up until the taking of Constantinople
by Western crusaders in the year 1204, the relics of the Great Martyr
Marina were in the Panteponteia monastery. According to other sources,
they were located in Antioch until the year 908 and from there transferred
to Italy. Now they are in Athens, in a church dedicated to the holy Virgin
Martyr. Her venerable hand was transferred to Mount Athos, to the Batopedi
monastery.
|
St.
Hyacinth Martyr of Amastria, Paphlagonia; put to death for cutting
down a tree consecrated to a pagan deity.
Amástride, in Paphlagónia, sancti Hyacínthi
Mártyris, qui, sub Castrítio Præside, multa passus,
quiévit in cárcere.
At Amastris in Paphlagonia, St. Hyacinth,
martyr, who died in prison after much suffering, under the prefect
Castritus.
Hyacinth of Paphlagonia M (RM). Hyacinth
is a martyr of Amastris, Paphlagonia, put to death for having cut down
a tree consecrated to an idol (Benedictines). |
398 St. Marcellina
sister of St. Ambrose consecrated to a religious life by Pope Liberius
in 353
Medioláni sanctæ Marcellínæ Vírginis,
soróris beáti Ambrósii Epíscopi, quæ
Romæ, in Basílica sancti Petri, a Libério Papa velum
consecratiónis accépit; cujus étiam sanctitátem
idem beátus Ambrósius scriptis suis testátam facit.
At Milan, the virgin saint Marcellina, sister
of the blessed bishop Ambrose, who received the religious veil from
Pope Liberius, in the basilica of St. Peter at Rome. Her sanctity
is attested to by St. Ambrose in his writings.
MARCELLINA was sister to St Ambrose
of Milan and born before him, probably at Trier, their father being prefect
of the Gauls. She went to Rome with her family, and at an early age sought
with her whole heart the only thing for which she was created and sent
into the world. Being charged with the care of her two brothers, she inspired
them by words and example with love of virtue. She kindled in their breasts
a desire, not of the appearance of virtue, but to become truly virtuous;
and in her whole conduct all her view was only the glory of God. The better
to pursue this end she resolved to renounce the world; and on the Epiphany
in the year 353, she received the veil of the consecrated virgin from
the hands of Pope Liberius, in St Peter's basilica. The pope in a discourse
on that occasion exhorted her to love only our Lord Jesus Christ, to
live in continual recollection and mortification and always to behave
herself in church with the utmost respect and awe: in reporting this
address St Ambrose did not hesitate to heighten the eloquence of Liberius
where he thought it insufficient. It was to his sister that St Ambrose
addressed and dedicated his work on the excellence of virginity, and
after he became bishop she several times visited him at Milan to confer
with him on the spiritual life, helping him in his dealings with dedicated
maidens.
Marcellina in her practice went beyond the most perfect lessons.
She fasted every day till evening, and the greater part both of the
day and night she devoted to prayer and spiritual reading. St Ambrose
advised her in the decline of her life to moderate her austerities, but
to redouble her prayer, especially in often reciting the psalms, the Lord's
Prayer, and the creed, which he calls the seal of a Christian and the guard
of our hearts. She continued at Rome after the death of her mother, living
not in a community but in a private house with another woman, the faithful
companion of all her exercises. Marcellina outlived St Ambrose, but the
exact year of her death is not known; in his funeral sermon for his elder
brother, Satyrus, he had referred to her as "... a holy sister, worshipful
for her innocence, equally so for her uprightness, and no less so for
her kindness to others".
See the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iv, where in
addition to certain passages extracted from the works of St Ambrose,
a Latin panegyric is reprinted which has been preserved to us by Mombritius.
Marcellina was born
332 daughter of the prefect of Gaul and sister of St. Ambrose.
She was born at Trier, Gaul. She went to Rome with her family when she
was quite young, and was consecrated to a religious life by Pope Liberius
in 353.
Even before her father's death she went to Rome,
the home of her family, and, before her mother's arrival at the capital
with her two sons, had already forsaken the world, elected to live a life
of Christian virginity, and devoted herself to the practice of piety and
asceticism. On Christmas Day, probably in 353, she received the veil of
consecrated virginity from the hand of Pope Liberius.
The advice, which the pope addressed to her on this
occasion, has been preserved by St. Ambrose (De virginibus, III, i-iii),
especially emphasized being the obligations of Christian virgins to
preserve virginal purity. After Ambrose had become Bishop of Milan (374),
he summoned his sister thither, and found in her a zealous assistant
in fostering and extending the ascetic life among the maidens of Milan.
To her Ambrose dedicated his work on viriginity, written in 377 ("Libri
III de virginibus ad Marcellinam" in P.L. XVI, 187-232). Marcellina survived
her brother, and died in 398 or shortly afterwards. She also was buried
in the crypt under the altar of the Ambrosian Basilica, and was honoured
as a saint.
She lived a life of great austerity, which St. Ambrose
tried to persuade her to mitigate when she went to Milan to visit him.
It was to Marcellina that he dedicated his treatise on virginity, Libri
III de virginibus ad Marcellinam.
Marcellina of Rome V (RM) Born in Rome, Italy; Saint
Marcellina was the elder sister of Saint Ambrose of Milan and Saint
Satyrus. Their mother moved the family back to Rome after the death of
their father, who was the prefect of Gaul. Once there Marcellina was entrusted
by her pious mother with the education of her brothers, whom she inspired
by word and example to thirst for Christian virtue.
She received the veil of a consecrated virgin from
the hands of Pope Liberius on Christmas Day, 353, in Saint Peter's Basilica.
During his homily on that occasion he exhorted her to the evangelical
virtues and to behave in church with the utmost respect. He reminded those
present of the page of Alexander the Great, who, for fear of disturbing
the solemnity of a pagan sacrifice by shaking off a piece of burning wax
that had fallen on his hand, let it burn him to the bone. For the rest
of her life, she lived in a private home, first with her mother and after
her mother's death with another virgin.
Marcellina practiced great austerity, she outlived
both her brothers & fasted daily until evening when she would partake
only of simple fare and water. Sometimes she went for days without eating
anything. Marcellina spent most of the day and night in prayer, pious
reading, and tears of divine love and compunction. She slept only when
it overcame her body.
In her later years, Saint Ambrose, who mentions
Marcellina in De virgine
(c. 1-4) and two of his epistles (20 and 22), advised her to moderate
her austerities, but redouble her fervor in tears and holy prayer.
He recommended especially that she often recite the Psalms, Lord's
Prayer, and Creed, which he calls the seal of a Christian and the guard
our hearts.
She survived Ambrose but after her death Marcellina's
body was enshrined at Milan (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
|
5th v. St. Cynllo
Welsh saint, patron of churches named in his honor
Cynllo of Wales (AC) 5th century. Little is known of this saint
who gave his name to several churches in Wales (Benedictines)
|
417 St. Alexis charitable to the poor; in disguise traveled
to Syria lived in great poverty near a Church of Our Lady; after seventeen
years, a picture of our Blessed Mother spoke to tell the people that
this beggar was very holy. She called him "The man of God." he wrought many miracles
Romæ sancti
Aléxii Confessóris, ex Euphemiáno Senatóre
progéniti. Hic, prima nocte nuptiárum, sponsa intácta,
e domo sua abscédens, ac, post longam peregrinatiónem,
ad Urbem rédiens, decem et septem annos tamquam egénus in
domo patérna recéptus hospítio, nova mundum arte
delúdens, incógnitus mansit; sed post óbitum, et
voce per Urbis Ecclésias audíta et scripto suo ágnitus,
Innocéntio Primo Pontífice Máximo, ad sancti Bonifátii
Ecclésiam summo honóre delátus est, ibíque
multis miráculis cláruit.
At Rome, St. Alexius, confessor, son of
the senator Euphemian. Leaving his spouse before the night of
marriage, he withdrew from his house, and after a long pilgrimage,
returned to Rome where he was for seventeen years harboured in his father's
house as an unknown pauper, thus deluding the world in this strange way.
After his death, however, becoming known through a voice heard in the
churches of the city, and by his own writings, he was, under the sovereign
Pontiff Innocent I, translated to the Church of St. Boniface, where he
wrought many miracles.
Alexis was the only son of a rich Roman
senator. From his good Christian parents, he learned to be charitable
to the poor. Alexis wanted to give up his wealth and honors but his
parents had chosen a rich bride for him. Because it was their will, he
married her. Yet right on his wedding day, he obtained her permission
to leave her for God. Then, in disguise, he traveled to Syria in the East and
lived in great poverty near a Church of Our Lady. One day, after seventeen years, a picture of our
Blessed Mother spoke to tell the people that this beggar was very holy.
She called him "The man of God."
when he became famous, which was the last thing he wanted, he fled back
to Rome.
5th v. St Alexis, The Man Of God
Early in the fifth century there is said to have
lived at Edessa in Syria a man who, whether from choice or necessity,
lived the life of a beggar, and was of such virtue that he was revered
as a saint. After his death an unknown writer wrote an account of him.
He called him by no name but simply" the Man of God ", and stated that
he lived during the episcopate of Rabbula,who died in 436. According
to this writer, he lived by begging alms at the church doors, which
he shared with other poor people, existing himself on what little was
left over from their needs, and when he died was buried in the common grave
of the city; but
before his death he had confided to an attendant
in the hospital that he was the only son of noble Roman parents, and
when the bishop heard of this he ordered the body to be exhumed; but
only the ragged garments of the Man of God could be found. His fame
spread westward, and before the ninth century was known in Greece with
sundry embroideries, including the name of the saint, Alexis, and was
related in a kanon by St Joseph the Hymnographer (d. 883); the
cultist in the West, fhough known before, e.g. in Spain, was popularized in Rome
towards the end of the tenth century by an exiled metropolitan of Damascus,
Sergius; to him was given the church of St Boniface on the Aventine, and
he established a monastery of Greek monks there, adding the name of St Alexis
to the church as contitular.
As an alleged citizen of Rome the saint soon had a vast
popularity, and this popularity has persisted: in the twelfth century
his story is said to have had a deep influence on the heretic Peter
Waldo; in the fifteenth, he was chosen as the patron of the nursing
congregation commonly called the Alexian Brothers, and so late as 1817
as a lesser patron of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus
and Mary (Picpus Fathers); while in the East he is still greatly venerated
as the "Man of God ".
The legend of this forerunner of St Joseph Benedict
Labre as it came to be received in the West, with its resemblance to
that of St John Calybites, may be told in the summarized words of Alban
Butler:
St Alexis was the
only son of a rich senator of Rome, Euphemian, and his wife Aglae, born and
educated in that capital in the fifth century. From the charitable example
of his parents he learned that the riches which are given away to the
poor remain with us for ever, and that alms-deeds are a treasure transferred
to Heaven, with the interest of an immense reward. Whilst yet a
child he was intent on the relief of all whom he saw in distress, and
thought himself obliged to those who received his charity and regarded
them as his benefactors. Fearing lest the distraction of earthly honours
might at length divide or draw his heart too much from more noble objects,
he decided to renounce the advantages of his birth and retire from the world.
Having, in compliance with the will of his parents,
married a wealthy girl, he on the very day of the wedding parted from
her with her consent. In disguise he travelled into Syria, embraced
extreme poverty, and resided in a hut adjoining a church dedicated to
the Mother of God at Edessa. Here he lived for seventeen years until
an image of our Lady spoke and revealed his holiness to the people, calling
him "the Man of God". Thereupon he fled back to his home; his father
did not recognize him, but received him as a beggar and gave him employment,
allotting a corner under the staircase as his quarters. For another
seventeen years he thus lived unknown in his father's house, bearing the
ill-treatment at the other servants in patience and silence. After his death
a writing was found upon him, giving his name and family and an account
of his life.
The extraordinary paths in which the Holy
Ghost is pleased sometimes to conduct certain privileged souls are rather
to be admired than imitated. If it cost them so much to seek humiliations,
we ought diligently to make a good use of those which Providence sends
us. It is only by humbling ourselves on all occasions that we can walk
in the path of true humility and root out of our hearts all secret pride.
The poison of this vice infects all states and conditions: it often lurks
undiscovered in the heart even after a man has got the mastery over all his
other passions. Pride always remains even for the most perfect to fight against;
and unless we watch continually against it, nothing will remain sound or
untainted in our lives: it will creep into our best actions, infect the
whole circle of our works, and become a mainspring of everything; and the
deeper its wounds, the more is the soul stupefied and the less capable of
knowing her disease and weakness. St John Climacus writes that when
a young novice was rebuked for his pride, he said, "Excuse me, father, I
am not proud". To whom the experienced director replied, "And how
could you give me a surer proof of your pride than by not seeing it yourself?"
This warning against pride comes very fitly
a propos of the story just related, but the same story is also an apt
illustration of a quite different matter, namely, of how a legend is
embellished in the course of time and travelling. To draw attention
to only a few points: the flight on the wedding-day, so common an incident
in hagiography; when a man wishes to avoid marriage he does not wait till
after the wedding, but the popular form is so much more spectacular and
impressive to simple minds; the speaking image provides an edifying reason
for his coming back to Rome and being buried there; and the finding of
his relics-somebody's relics were certainly found at the church of St
Boniface in Rome in 1217 but the only things which are reasonably
certain about St Alexis are that he lived (if indeed he ever lived), died,
and was buried in Edessa: his name is found in no ancient Roman
liturgical book or martyrology and was apparently not heard of there before
about 972.
The fifth-century
Syriac text recounting how "the Man of God" who had edified Edessa
revealed before his death that he had come from Rome, has been edited
by A. Amiaud, La légende
syriaque de S. Alexis (1889). The most widely
diffused recension of the Greek legend (though this particular type
of text seems to have taken shape in Rome) has been printed in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xix (1900),
pp. 241-256. For the Latin versions see the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iv. But
the literature of the subject is vast and brings us into contact with the
early developments of almost every European language. The articles of Poncelet
in Science Catholique, t. iv (1890),
and of Mgr Duchesne in Mélanges d'.Archeologie,
t. x (1890), are especially worthy of mention. For the treatment of
the subject in art cf. Künstle, Ikonographie de, Heiligen, ii, pp. 48-49,
and for its folk-lore aspects Bächtold-Stäubli,
Handwörterbuch des deutschen
Aberglaubens, vol. i, cc. 261-262. See also Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxii (1944),
pp. 281-283 vol. lxiii (1945), pp. 48-55 ; and vol. lxv (1947),
pp. 157-195. In this last Fr B. de Gaiffier refers to twenty-one
other hagiological examples of a newly-married husband who goes away "intactam
sponsam relinquens", or of a couple forced to marry who agree to live
together in virginity these range from the Acta Thomae to St Bernard of Montjoux.
Fr de Gaiffier then discusses the evolution of the story of St Alexis's
departure.
Alexis of Rome (RM) (also known
as Alexius, Alessio) Early 5th century. Since the 10th century
the story of Saint Alexis, called the "Man of God" by his unknown biographer,
has been popular throughout the West. It was introduced from the East
by some Greek monks who were given the Benedictine abbey of Saint Boniface
on the Aventine, which was renamed Saint Boniface and Saint Alexis. In
1216, his bones were discovered by Pope Honorius III and reverently
placed under the high altar of the church.
Though much of the legend is probably
apocryphal, there is no doubt that there was a man of God called Alexis
and that he achieved a great reputation for holiness at Edessa. It is,
however, likely that he lived, died, and was buried at Edessa, and that
the man whose bones were found in Saint Boniface's were not his. The legend
appears to be a conflation of the life of Saint John Calybites and that
of the Man of God Mar Riscia of Edessa.
According to an almost contemporary
account, a nameless man died in a hospital at Edessa in Mesopotamia about
430. He had lived by begging, and shared the alms he received with other
poor people. After his death, it was learned that he was the son of
a Roman patrician, who had left a wealthy bride on his wedding day and
gone to live in poverty in Syria. An account of this man, which called
him Alexis, was written in Greek, and a further narrative was produced
in Latin.
According to the
expanded late medieval version, Alexis was the only son of Euphremian,
a Roman senator of enormous wealth and influence, and his wife Aglae (Agloe).
They were devout Christians and brought up their son in the spirit of
the Gospel. Even as a child, Alexis was known for his charity.
When Alexis reached manhood he allowed himself to be betrothed to an
heiress who was related to the imperial family, though he had already
determined to give his life to God. Their wedding took place with great
pomp and dignity. As soon as the ceremony was ended, Alexis took off the
gold ring that had just been placed on his finger, gave it to his bride.
They separated by mutual consent and he fled from his home disguised as
a beggar. He set sail for Syria and then made his way on foot
to the church of Our Lady of Edessa, famous as a shrine for pilgrims,
where he lived in a shack adjoining the church. The Syrian text of his
legend says: "During the day he remained steadfastly in the church and
in the martyrium, refusing alms from those who offered them, for he wished
to do without food during the day and thus forced himself to fast until
the evening.
"In the evening, he stood in the doorway of the
church and held out his hand, receiving the alms of those who entered
the church. But as soon as he had received what he needed, he closed
his hand and would take no more. Nor did he ever cease to live among the
poor. Such was his life every day. Of his earlier condition and status
he said not a word, nor did he even wish to reveal his name."
After living this
life for 17 years, his identity was revealed; some say that he was recognized
by a sacristan, others that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the
people and said: "Seek the man of God." To avoid discovery, Alexis fled
and took ship for Tarsus, but a tempestuous wind drove his ship to Italy.
He went to Rome and to his father's house, where he found that his
parents were still living. He did not make himself known, nor did anyone
recognize him, and when he asked for lodging he was given permission
to sleep under the staircase of his own sumptuous home; and so he lived,
begging his bread in the streets and working in the kitchen, where he
was often insulted by the servants and sharing crumbs of what was rightly
his.
Seventeen years later while Pope Innocent
I was celebrating Mass before the emperor, he heard a voice saying: "Seek
the man of God." Guided by the selfsame voice, he and the emperor went
to the house of Euphremian, but when they arrived they found Alexis dead.
His body was lying clothed in rags beneath the staircase, and in his hand
he was holding a parchment that gave his name and history.
There is no mention of Saint Alexis
in the ancient martyrologies or other liturgical records. Attempts to
identify him with Alethius, a correspondent of Saint Paulinus of Nola,
have failed. By the 12th century, his story had reached England, where
his name is found in the Albani Psalter that probably belonged to Saint
Christina of Markyate (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia,
Farmer).
In art, Saint Alexis is portrayed as
a beggar or pilgrim holding a staircase (his emblem). He may also be
shown (1) asleep by the stairs, dirty water emptied on him; (2) as a
pilgrim with a staff and scrip; or (3) as a pilgrim, kneeling before the
pope, to whom he gives a letter (Roeder). Alexis is the patron of beggars
and pilgrims (Roeder).
|
516 St. Theodosius
Bishop of Auxerre, France, from about 507. Little is known of his monastery'
Theodosius of Auxerre B (RM). Bishop
of Auxerre, France, from about 507 to 516 (Benedictines).
|
521
St. Ennodius Bishop, poet, and papale missary, born Magnus Felix Ennodius
in a Gallo Roman family of Arles, France. Educated in Milan, Italy,
he married but then separated from his wife, who entered a convent. He
was ordained and made the bishop of Pavia. Ennodius went on two missions
to Emperor Anastasius I for the pope. He was also the biographer of St.
Antoninus. Ennodius wrote poetry that gained considerable attention.
ST ENNODIUS, BISHOP OF PAVIA (A.D. 521)
MAGNUS FELIX ENNODIUS was descended of an illustrious family,
settled in Gaul; he seems to call Arles the place of his birth, but
he passed his first years in Italy, and had his education at Milan under
the care of an aunt, after whose death he married. After a short time
he heard a call to receive holy orders, and his wife, a wealthy young woman
who had saved him from destitution, became a nun. Ennodius was already
an accomplished rhetor and, being ordained deacon by St Epiphanius of
Pavia, he took up sacred studies and taught in the schools. He wrote
an apology for Pope St Symmachus and the synod which had
pronounced against the schism formed in favour of Laurence; "God", he
says, "certainly ordained that men should settle the affairs of men; but
the passing of judgement on the pontiff of the supreme see He reserved
to Himself."
He was selected to make a panegyric upon King Theodoric,
whom he commends only for his victories and temporal success. He wrote
the life of St Epiphanius of Pavia, who died in 496, and of St Antony
of Lérins, besides letters and other works, both in prose and verse.
Ennodius was one of the last representatives of the ancient school of
rhetoric, and, though they have historical value, his writings tend to
be verbose, turgid, and at moments unintelligible, and he clung to the
old mythological literary conventions of pagan Rome. He tells us that,
under a violent fever in which he was given up by the physicians, he had
recourse to the heavenly Physician through the intercession of his patron
St Victor (of Milan), and that he found himself restored to perfect health.
To perpetuate his gratitude, he wrote a work called Eucharisticon, or "Thanksgiving",
in which he gives a short account of his life, especially of his conversion
from the world.
St Ennodius was advanced to the episcopal see of Pavia about
the year 514, and governed his church with a zeal and authority worthy
of a disciple of St Epiphanius. He was made choice of by Pope St
Hormisdas to go twice to Constantinople where the Emperor
Anastasius II was favouring the monophysite heretics. Neither mission
had any success, and after the second one St Ennodius was obliged to
put to sea in an old rotten vessel, and all were forbidden to suffer
him to land in any port of the Eastern empire, whereby he was exposed
to much danger. Nevertheless he arrived safe in Italy and returned to
Pavia. The glory of suffering for the faith which his zeal and constancy
had procured him was now a spur in the more earnest pursuit of virtue.
He exerted himself in the conversion of souls, in relieving the poor,
in building and adorning churches, and in composing poems on sacred
subjects: on our Lady, St Ambrose, St Euphemia, on the mysteries of
Pentecost and on the Ascension, on a baptistery adorned with the pictures
of martyrs whose relics were deposited in it, and so on. Others of his
poems are simply mythological, e.g. on Pasiphae and the bull. It has been
said of the writings of St Ennodius that "He seems to shrink from making
himself intelligible lest he should be thought commonplace".
He wrote two new hymns of praise to be sung at the lighting of the
paschal candle, in which the divine protection is implored against
winds, storms, and all dangers through the malice of our invisible enemies.
St Ennodius died in 521, being only forty-eight years old.
Although Ennodius is not commonly
honoured with the title of "Saint" he is commemorated on this day in
the Roman Martyrology. Most of what we know of his life is derived from
his Eucharisticon, a title
not given to this tractate by himself, but suggested apparently by his
editor, Sirmond. His works have been twice re-edited in modern times,
first by Hartel in the Vienna Corpus
scriptorum Latinorum, and then by Vogel in MGH. See the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iv, as well
as DTC., and the Patrologie of
Bardenhewer, and G. Bardy in Le Christianisme
et l'Occident barbare (1945), pp. 229-264. A French translation
of Ennodius's letters was published by S. Léglise in 1906, with the
Latin text.
Ennodius of Pavia B (RM) Born 473. Magnus Felix
Ennodius was a Gallo-Roman professor of rhetoric. After his conversion
he became bishop of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. The pope entrusted him
with two missions to Byzantium in connection with the Eutychian controversy.
Many of the hymns that he wrote are still extant (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
|
8th v. Turninus
of Antwerp an Irish monk and priest, worked as a missionary in the Netherlands
with Saint Foillan, especially in the area around Antwerp, where he
died (AC)
Saint Turninus, an Irish monk and priest, worked as a missionary
in the Netherlands with Saint Foillan, especially in the area around
Antwerp, where he died. His relics were translated to Liége, where
they are enshrined in a monastery on the Sambre (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
|
7th 8th v. 7 Apostles
of Bulgaria SS. Cyril and Methodius, as well as Gorazd, Nahum, Sabas,
Angelarius, and Clement of Okarida
The Bulgarians venerate liturgically their first seven apostles.
These include SS. Cyril and Methodius, as well as Gorazd, Nahum, Sabas,
Angelarius, and Clement of Okarida, who was most important after Cyril
and Methodius and is detailed under a separate listing today (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia). (AC) |
735 St. Theodota Byzantine
martyr. A lady of Constantinople, modern Istanbul, Turkey, she was martyred
for hiding three icons from imperial officials during the Iconoclast
period of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian
Theodota
of Constantinople M (RM). Saint Theodota, a lady of Constantinople, was
martyred under Emperor Leo the Isaurian for hiding three holy icons
from the imperial officers seeking to destroy them (Benedictines).
|
740 Fredegand of
Kerkelodors feast day is celebrated with an annual procession of the
Blessed Sacrament to commemorate a plague that stopped at his intercession,
OSB Abbot (AC)
(also known as Fregaut of Dorne) This monk and abbot of Kerkelodor,
near Antwerp, was saint to have been an Irish companion of Saint Foillan,
which is unlikely. It is more probable that he was a fellow worker with
Saint Willibrord. His feast day is celebrated with an annual procession
of the Blessed Sacrament to commemorate a plague that stopped at his intercession
400 years ago. Fredegand is venerated throughout Belgium and northeastern
France (Benedictines, Montague).
|
812-821 Kenelm (Cynehelm)
highly honored in England during the Middle Ages as a saint and martyr,
and still is venerated at Gloucester and Winchcombe, where his relics
are enshrined, King M (AC)
ST KENELM (c. A.D. 812)
THERE is no historical evidence for the story of this young
"martyr", but it was the Simple sort of tale that attracted our ancestors
and, decked out with astonishing details, made him widely venerated in
England in the middle ages. According to it, Kenelm succeeded to the throne
of his father, Kenulf of Mercia, at the age of seven years, and thereby
incurred the jealousy of his sister Quendreda. So, in order that she
might succeed to the throne, she bribed Ascebert, his preceptor, to remove
him, and this man, taking the young king into the forest of Clent under
the pretence of hunting, there killed him. The crime was discovered, and
the body was taken up and enshrined at Winchcombe, in Gloucestershire;
St Kenelm's chapel, near Halesowen in Worcestershire, marks the site of
the murder. Among the marvels with which later writers have adorned this
narrative is Kenelm's prevision of his fate and the flowering of his staff
at the spot where Ascebert should slay him; and the discovery of his body
by the roundabout means of a letter dropped by a dove on the high altar of
St Peter's basilica in Rome. The Golden Legend supplies the text of this
letter:
In Clent in Cowbage, Kenelm, king born
Lieth under a thorn,
His head off shorn,
and tells us there was strife between the shires of Worcester
and Gloucester about who should have the body, and how God settled the
question. Kenelm (Cynhelm), with his father King Kenulf (Coenwulf) and
his sister Quendreda (Quoenthryth), are historical characters. But Kenelm
did not die at seven, for in 798 Pope St Leo III confirmed to
him the ownership of Glastonbury, and he signed certain charters up
to 811. He was, like Kenulf, buried at Winchcombe Abbey, but he seems certainly
to have predeceased his father: he may perhaps have been killed in battle;
as we have seen elsewhere, it was not unusual in earlier times for one
killed fighting for a just cause, or one who suffered death unjustly, to
be venerated as a martyr. St Kenelm is still commemorated on this day in
the dioceses of Birmingham and Clifton.
Numerous calendars from about 975
onwards include the name of St Kenelm, martyr, on July 17: William of Malmesbury
states that St Dunstan sanctioned his being honoured as a martyr. The alleged
circumstances of his murder are told in the eleventh century, but the original
text of the legend (T. D. Hardy, Descriptive
Catalogue, vol. i, 2, p. 508) has not been published; there is an
abbreviated version by John of Tynemouth in Nova Legenda Angliae. See E. S. Hartland
in the Transactions of the Bristol
and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, vol. xxxix (1916); J. Humphrey,
Studies in Worcester History
(1938); W. Levison, England and the Continent
... (1946), pp. 32, 249-251; and G. T. Haig, History of Winchcombe Abbey (1948). There
is a Life of Kenelm in the Gotha MS: cf, Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxviii (1950),
p. 94.
According to a popular legend of the Middle Ages,
Kenelm was seven when his father, King Kenulf (Coenwulf) of Mercia,
died, and he succeeded to the throne. His sister Quendreda (Cynefrith
or Quoenthryth) bribed his tutor, Ascebert, to murder him in the forest
of Clent so that she could claim the throne. Ascebert did, but when the
body was discovered and enshrined at Winchcombe in Gloucestershire,
all kinds of marvels occurred at his grave. All three are actual figures,
but Kenelm did not die at seven and may even have died before his father.
It is certain that he lived until his adolescence and may have been killed
in battle (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia). In art, Saint
Kenelm is depicted as a young prince with a blossoming rod. The picture
may also contain a dove with a letter in its mouth (Roeder). He was highly
honored in England during the Middle Ages as a saint and martyr, and
still is venerated at Gloucester and Winchcombe, where his relics are
enshrined (Encyclopedia, Roeder).
|
| 9th v. St. Turninus
Irish priest and missionary. He labored to help evangelize the region
of the Netherlands with St. Foillan, especially in the area around Antwerp. |
855 Leo IV studied at Saint
Martin's Monastery in Rome, was made subdeacon of the Lateran Basilica
by Pope Gregory IV, and soon after was named cardinal by Pope Sergius
II; restored many churches in Rome. In fact, his benefactions to churches
take up 28 pages in the Liber pontificalis. He tightened clerical discipline
with a synod at Rome in 853 OSB Pope (RM)
ST LEO IV, POPE (A.D. 855)
LEO was a Roman by birth, but probably of Lombardic descent,
and was educated at the Benedictine monastery of St Martin, near St
Peter's. The attention of Gregory IV having been called to his good
qualities he was made a subdeacon of the Lateran basilica and afterwards
cardinal-priest of the title of the Quatuor Coronati. Immediately after
the death of Sergius II in 847 Leo was elected to succeed him, and the
new pope was consecrated without reference to the emperor, the Romans
being in terror of the Saracen invasions and in a hurry to have a good
and strong man, albeit an unwilling one, occupying the chair of Peter.
Leo's first care was necessarily to deal with these attacks, and he at
once set about repairing and strengthening the walls of the city, for
in the previous year the Saracens had come up the Tiber and plundered
the city. The list of Leo's benefactions to churches takes up twenty-eight
pages of the Liber Pontificalis,
and he also brought the relics of many saints into the city, including
those of the Four Crowned Ones, which he enshrined in his rebuilt titular
basilica. But his ecclesiastical material achievements, great as they were,
were eclipsed by the civil ones, for while considering how best to fortify
Rome he decided to surround St Peter's and the Vatican hill with a wall,
thus making the new quarter which has ever since been known as the Leonine
City. But St Leo never forgot that mighty walls are no defence against
the wrath of God upon a sinful people, and that a slack or rebellious clergy
corrupts its flock. So in 853 he summoned at Rome a synod of bishops who
passed forty-two canons, most of which were concerned with clerical discipline
and studies. They had also to take measures against Cardinal Anastasius,
who was intriguing with the Emperor Lothair I for the succession to the
papacy. Leo had to deal with the rebellious and violent John, Archbishop
of Ravenna, and his brother, the duke of Emilia, who had murdered a papal
legate. Leo went to Ravenna, where the duke was tried and, with two accomplices,
condemned to death; but the fact that it was paschal time, when by law no
executions could take place, enabled them to avoid the penalty of their crimes.
Leo was also in difficulties with Nomenoe, duke of Brittany, who presumed
to erect a metropolitan see at Dol in his own territory; with St Ignatius,
Patriarch of Constantinople, over his deposition of the bishop of Syracuse;
and with one Daniel, a soldier, who maliciously accused him to the emperor
of intriguing with the Greeks against the Franks. Finally he had trouble
with Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, whom he had accused of preventing appeals
from deposed clerics being referred to the Holy See: in the midst of this
the energetic and much-tried pontiff died on July 17, 855.
St Leo IV was a man of liberality and justice combined with
patience and humility; if his known achievements appear to be chiefly
in a political and quasi-temporal sphere allowance must be made for
the times in which he lived and for the fact that spiritual greatness
is so often hidden or forgotten by man. He was a good preacher, so much
so that the instruction on sacerdotal duties, the Homily on Pastoral
Care in the Pontificale, has been attributed to him, though probably wrongly.
In his enthusiasm for the chant of the Roman church he was a precursor
of St Pius X, and there is extant a letter which he sent to an abbot who
erred on the subject: "A quite incredible story has reached our ears....It
is alleged that you have such an aversion from the sweet chant of St Gregory...that
you are at variance in this matter not only with this see, which is near
to you, but with almost every other church in the West, in fact, with all
those who use the Latin tongue to pay their tribute of praise to the King
of Heaven..." He proceeds to threaten excommunication if the recipient
continues to differ from "the supreme head of religion" and his proper rite
in his manner of worship.
St Leo was credited with a number of miracles, including the
stopping of a great fire in the English quarter of Rome, the Borgo,
by the power of the cross. In spite of critical objections it seems to
be true that Alfred, afterwards the Great, was brought to Rome at this
time at the age of four, and was invested by St Leo with the honorary
dignity of a Roman consul (not a royal consecration). Leo is often wrongly
credited with the institution of the rite of the" Asperges " before Mass
on Sundays.
The main authority is the Liber Pontificalis, with Duchesne's notes,
but there is also some information to be gleaned from such chroniclers
as Hincmar of Rheims and from the pope's own letters. See especially
Mann, Lives of the Popes,
vol. ii, pp, 258-307, and the Acta
Sanctorum, July, vol. iv.
Born in Rome, Italy; died in Rome on July 17, 855.
Leo was probably of Lombard ancestry though born in Rome. He studied
at Saint Martin's Monastery in Rome, was made subdeacon of the Lateran
Basilica by Pope Gregory IV, and soon after was named cardinal
by Pope Sergius II. Leo unanimously elected pope to succeed
Sergius and was consecrated on April 10, 847. He immediately began to
repair the fortifications of Rome in anticipation of another Saracen attack
on the city, built a wall around Saint Peter's and Vatican Hill, giving
the area its name of the Leonine City. Through his prayers and exhortations
to the soldiers, the Saracens from Calabria were utterly routed at Ostia.
Leo also restored many churches in Rome. In fact, he
benefactions to churches take up 28 pages in the Liber pontificalis.
He tightened clerical discipline with a synod at Rome in 853 and was
confronted with numerous problems during his pontificate.
A papal legate he sent to Archbishop John of Ravenna
and his brother, the duke of Emilia, was murdered by the duke, and Leo
went to Ravenna, tried him, and found him guilty. Duke Nomenoe deposed
a number of bishops and erected a metropolitan see at Dol without papal
permission, actions the pope was unable to do anything about.
Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople had deposed
Gregory Asbestas, the bishop of Syracuse, and Archbishop Hincmar of
Rheims, and was forbidding clerics from appealing to Rome, actions that
Leo refused to confirm. In 850, Leo crowned Louis, son of Lothair, emperor.
In 853, King Ethelwulf of the West Saxons sent his son, Alfred, to Rome,
where Pope Leo stood as god-father for him at his Confirmation.
Just before his death, Leo was accused by a military
officer (a magister militum) named Daniel of plotting with the Greek
emperor to overthrow Emperor Louis, a charge he easily disproved, though
his death sentence on Daniel was remitted through the intercession of the
emperor (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney).
|
916 St. Clement of
Okhrida One of the Seven Apostles of Bulgaria. He became a bishop in
the reign of Khan Simeon, the first Slav to become a bishop
SS. CLEMENT OF OKHRIDA AND HIS COMPANIONS, THE SEVEN Apostles
OF BULGARIA (9-10th v.)
IN origin the Bulgars were probably a Turanian people from
central Asia, related to the Avars and Huns. They established an independent
kingdom (khanate) in their present country and its borders during the
seventh century of our era, subduing the peoples whom they found already
settled there but intermarrying with them and adopting the Slavonic language.
They are now reckoned among the Slav peoples.
In or about the year 865 their ruler, the khan Boris I, moved
principally by political motives, accepted Christianity from Constantinople
and imposed it on his nobles and people. This revived the old disagreement
between Rome and Constantinople about patriarchal jurisdiction in Illyricum
and the Balkans; it was aggravated by Boris, whose policies were directed
towards having a national church independent of either. When in 869 Pope
Adrian II had appointed St Methodius archbishop over Moravia and Pannonia
he had deliberately extended his jurisdiction to the very borders of Bulgaria,
not, as Pope John VIII later carefully explained to Boris, because
the religion of Rome and Constantinople was not one and the same, but
because, he said, the Byzantines were inclined to separation and schism.
Methodius in fact had to keep an eye on the Bulgars, most of whom were
still heathen; and for this reason he and his brother St Cyril (July 7)
are reckoned the first two of their seven apostles. But it does not seem
that either of them actually ever preached among the Bulgars.
After the death of St Methodius violent and cruel persecution
by Svatopluk and his archbishop, Wiching, drove his principal followers
into exile from Moravia. Among them was ST GORAZD, whom Methodius had
designated as his successor; it is uncertain what became of him, but
he is reputed to have been a great missionary, and relics supposed to
be his are venerated at Berat, in modem Albania. Others were welcomed to
Bulgaria by Boris, who saw in them a valuable help for his own plans;
they evangelized many of the people, and are held in memory as ST CLEMENT,
ST NAHUM, ST SABAS and ST ANGELARIUS.
Of these Clement, who probably was in origin a Slav from southern
Macedonia, was clearly the most important, and much apostolic and educational
work is attributed to him. Under the khan Simeon he became bishop at
a place (Velitsa) which very likely was close to Okhrida where he established
a monastery: later he was regarded as the founder of that primatial see,
which was to be very important in subsequent history, and as the first man
of Slav race to receive the episcopate.
Certain extant sermons in Slavonic seem to be properly attributed
to St Clement, though some of them may be simply translations from Greek:
they are clearly intended for people newly converted to Christianity.
Clement died at Okhrida in the year 916 (July 27 is his feast-day). Some
say that his colleague St Nahum succeeded him as bishop; he was a convert
of Cyril and Methodius in Moravia, helping them with their translations
and accompanying them to Rome, and he is venerated in Russia as well
as Bulgaria as a wonder-worker.
By these men the work of St Cyril and St Methodius, which had
been so hampered and at last overturned further north, was planted and
carried on in territory far removed from its original scene of action.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church honours these missionaries in a body on
this date and individually on the dates of their death, as do the few
Bulgarian Catholics of Byzantine rite.
There is a considerable literature
about St Clement, called Slovensky, in Russian and Bulgarian. His life
in Migne, PG., vol. cxxvi, 1193-1240, is a late eleventh-century Greek
rewriting of a work written in Slavonic soon after his death by one of
his disciples. See M. Jugie in Échos
d'Orient, vol. xxiii (1924), pp. 5 seq. F. Dvornik, Les Slaves, Byzance et Rome...(1926),
pp. 312-318; S. Runciman, History
of the First Bulgarian Empire (1930); and an article by M. Kusseff
in the Slavonic Review,
1949, pp. 193-215. Cf. also DTC., vol. iii, cc. 134-138; and DHG., vol.
x, s.v...."Bulgarie".
He founded a monastery at Okhrida, near Velitsa, Bulgaria,
and was so successful in his missionary work that he is one of the
Seven Apostles of the region.
Clement Slovensky of Okhrida and Companions (AC) Died at Okhrida,
Bulgaria, on July 17, 916. Probably of Slavic descent and from southern
Macedonia, he became a bishop during the reign of Khan Simeon, the first
Slav to become a bishop. Clement founded a monastery at Okhrida near
Velitsa, Bulgaria, which became his primatial see and of which he is considered
the founder and first bishop. He was so successful in his missionary work
with the Bulgars that he is one of the Seven Apostles of Bulgaria (Benedictines,
Delaney).
|
1010
St. Andrew Zorard A hermit of Polish descent. Andrew lived on Mount
Zobar in Hungary. Benedictines resided nearby, and Andrew trained St.
Benedict of Szkalka. He was canonized in 1083.
Andrew Zorard M (AC) Born in Poland; died c. 1010. Saint
Andrew lived on Mount Zobar in Hungary, near a Benedictine monastery.
He trained Saint Benedict of Szakalka, with whom he shared his gifts
of austerity and contemplation. Andrew's life was written by Blessed Maurus
of Pécs (Benedictines).
|
1053 Saint Lazarus
Wonderworker of Mt Galesius near Ephesus a monk at the monastery of
St Sava the founder of great ascetic piety in Palestine; Ordained priest
by Patriarch of Jerusalem; returned near Ephesus on desolate Mount Galesius;
vision of a fiery pillar, rising up to the heavens encircled by angels
singing, "Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered." built a church
in honor of the Resurrection of Christ there began pillar-dwelling
Born in Lydia, in the city of Magnesium. An educated young
man who loved God, Lazarus became a monk at the monastery of St Sava,
the founder of great ascetic piety in Palestine. He spent ten years
within the walls of the monastery, winning the love and respect of
the brethren for his intense monastic struggles.
Ordained to the holy priesthood by the Patriarch of Jerusalem,
St Lazarus returned to his native country and settled near Ephesus,
on desolate Mount Galesius. Here he saw a wondrous vision: a fiery pillar,
rising up to the heavens, was encircled by angels singing, "Let God
arise and let His enemies be scattered."
On the place where the saint beheld this vision, he built a
church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ and took upon himself the
feat of pillar-dwelling. Monks soon began to flock to the great ascetic,
thirsting for spiritual nourishment by the divinely-inspired words and
blessed example of the saint, and a monastery was established there.
Having received a revelation about the day of his death, the
saint told the brethren. Through the tearful prayers of all the monks,
the Lord prolonged the earthly life of St Lazarus for another fifteen
years. St Lazarus died at 72 years of age, in the year 1053. The brethren
buried the body of the saint at the pillar upon which he had struggled
in asceticism. He was glorified by many miracles after his death.
St Lazarus is also commemorated on November 7.
|
| 1066 Ansuerus and
Companions, a noble of Schleswig. He became a monk, later abbot, of
the Benedictine monastery of Saint Georgenberg near Ratzeburg, Denmark,
which became the center for the evangelization of the region. All 29
members of the community were stoned to death by the Wends in reaction
to the death of Emperor Henry III (Benedictines). OSB
MM (AC) |
1198
St. Nerses Lambronazi a noted scholar, theologian, and linguist;
hermit, became archbishop of Tarsus; promoting reunion Armenia with
Western Church, first through the Council of Hromkla later through negotiations
reunion in 1198; translated Western writings into Armenian including
the Dialogues of Pope St. Gregory the Great.
ST NERSES LAMPRONATSI,
ARCHBISHOP OF TARSUS (A.D. 1198)
THERE are several saints named Nerses in the Armenian calendar.
This one was born in 1153, son of the prince of Lampron in Cilicia and
nephew of St Nerses Klaietsi. He was educated at the monastery of Skeyra
and soon showed himself a man of many great parts: he was a poet and
scholar, knowing Latin, Greek, Syriac and Coptic, and became a theologian
and scriptural exegete. At first he did not intend an ecclesiastical life,
but on the death of his father received holy orders and lived for a time
as a hermit. In 1176 he was consecrated archbishop of Tarsus, having already
identified himself with the party in his church which sought to remedy
their ecclesiastical isolation. For a time they turned their attention
towards the Orthodox, and in 1179 the Greek and Armenian bishops met in
council at Hromkla. At this council Nerses made a great speech, still extant,
on behalf of the orthodox faith, but owing to the death of the emperor,
Manuel Comnenus, in the following year the meeting was fruitless. Nerses
and the bishops of Lesser Armenia now looked towards Rome once more, in which
they were backed for political reasons by the prince of Cilicia, Leo II,
and in the negotiations which led to reunion the saint was very active. As
a public sealing of the return of so large a part of Armenia from schism
Leo II was, on the feast of the Epiphany, 1198, crowned king of Little Armenia
by the papal legate, Cardinal Conrad von Wittelsbach (the crown being sent
by Pope Celestine III), and anointed by the Armenian katholikos of
Sis, Gregory IV Abirad. Crowned also was the work of Nerses, and he died
in peace six months later. Among the works which caused him to share his
uncle's place of literary eminence was his translation into Armenian of the
Rule of St Benedict and of the Dialogues of St Gregory.
See Nilles, Kalendarium manuale..., vol. ii, p. 598,
but more fully in F. Tournebize, Histoire
politique et religieuse de l'Arménie (1900), especially
pp. 259-262 and 272-277. Some confusion prevails concerning the councils
of Hromkla and Tarsus. In Hefele-Leclercq, Conciles, vol. v, the council of 1179
is called wrongly the council of Tarsus; this latter seems to have been
held in 1196. Cf. also the article "Arménie" in DHG., and Max of
Saxony, Nerses von Lampron
(1929).
Also called Nerses Lampronats, bishop and nephew of St. Nerses
Glaietsi. A native of Armenia, he was a noted scholar, theologian,
and linguist who received ordination in 1169. After living for a time
as a hermit, he became archbishop of Tarsus, distinguishing himself for
promoting the reunion of Armenia with the Western Church, first through
the Council of Hromkla and later through negotiations which culminated
with the reunion in 1198. He also translated a number of Western writings
into Armenian. including the Dwialogues of Pope St. Gregory the Great.
Nerses Lampronazi B (AC) (also known as Narses Lambronazzi
or Lampronats) Born at Lampron, Cilicia, Armenia, 1153; died at Tarsus,
July 17, 1198. Nerses was the son of the prince of Lampron and the nephew
of Saint Nerses Glaiëtsi ("the Gracious"). He was educated at Skeyra
Monastery and became an outstanding scholar, theologian, and exegete,
skilled in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Coptic.When his father died, he was
ordained in 1169, lived as a hermit for a time, and in 1176 was consecrated
archbishop of Tarsus. He strongly supported the reunion of the Armenian
Church with Rome at a council at Hromkla in 1179, but nothing came of it
when the supporter of the move, Emperor Manuel Comnenus, died the next year.
Nerses actively engaged in the negotiations that led to the
reunion of Lesser Armenia (west of the Euphrates) with Rome in 1198.
"To me," Nerses declared to critics of his endeavors, "Armenians, Latins,
Greeks, Egyptians, and Syrians are all one. My conscience is clear." He
died six months after the reunion was confirmed by the crowning of Leo
II as king of Lower Armenia (Little Armenia) by the papal legate with
a crown sent by Pope Celestine III.
Nerses wrote on the liturgy, scriptural commentaries, hymns,
and lives of the desert saints, and translated Saint Benedict's Rule,
Saint Gregory's Dialogues into Armenian, and many Western works into
Armenian (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney) .
|
1236 Blessed Benignus
Visdomini a priest of Florence, Italy entered Vallombrosa Abbey. He
eventually became abbot-general but, because he was always conscious
of his past guilt, he resigned and lived the rest of his life as a hermit,
OSB Vall. Abbot (AC)
God's mercy can cover any sin; His grace can soften any heart.
Benignus was a priest of Florence, Italy, who fell into sin. He threw
himself on God's mercy and entered Vallombrosa Abbey. He eventually
became abbot-general but, because he was always conscious of his past
guilt, he resigned and lived the rest of his life as a hermit (Benedictines).
|
1242 Bl. Ceslaus his
life like that of Saint Hyacinth, is a record of almost countless miracles,
of unbelievable distances travelled on foot through wild and warlike
countries, miracles of grace; cured the sick, maimed, raised the dead
to life, wonders in building convents; remarkable miracle raising to
life a boy been dead for 8 days
BD CESLAUS (A.D. 1242)
CESLAUS was of the house of the counts of Odrowatz, in Silesia,
and is reputed to have been brother to St Hyacinth. Having devoted himself
to God in the ecclesiastical state, he became eminent for piety and learning,
and was instituted to a canonry at Cracow and to be provost of St Mary's
at Sandomir. His prebends he employed on the poor, leading himself a
most abstemious and penitential life. In Rome he came under the spell
of St Dominic, and together with St Hyacinth received the habit of the
Order of Preachers. After his novitiate at Santa Sabina he was, at his own
urgent request, sent into Poland, where he preached penance with much
fruit. He also preached in Silesia, Pomerania and Bohemia, and became provincial
of his order in Poland, directing both St Hedwig and Bd Zdislava Berka
in the paths of perfection.
In 1240, while he was governing the priory
of Breslau, the Tartan fell like a torrent on all those parts. The inhabitants
prepared for the sack of their city. But Bd Ceslaus never ceased
with tears to implore the divine protection, and God was pleased to
hear his prayers. The Christians made a sally, and the troops of the
barbarians took flight and abandoned their enterprise. Thus they who
had overturned so many thrones, and trampled tothe ground so many powerful
armies, saw themselves tumbled down from their victories and pride by
the prayer of one humble servant of God. Ceslaus died in 1242, and his
popular cult us was confirmed in 1713.
See the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iv; B. Altaner,
Die Dominikanermissionen des
13 Jahrhunderts (1924), pp. 212—218; Procter, Lives of Dominican Saints, pp. 197—201.
Born 1180 son of a noble Silesian family and possibly St. Hyacinth's
brother. He was ordained, became a canon in Cracow, Poland, a provost
at St. Mary's in Sandomir, went to Rome, and was received into the Dominicans by St. Dominic. Blessed Ceslaus
preached in Poland, Silesia, Pomerania, and Bohemia, was spiritual adviser to St. Hedwig, was elected provincial of the Polish
province, and became prior of a priory at Breslau. His prayers were credited
for the defeat of Tartans attacking Breslau in Silesia during their invasion
of 1240. His cult was confirmed in 1713.
Blessed Ceslas Odrowatz of Poland, OP (AC) Born in Kannen,
Silesia, Poland, 1180. Ceslaus Odrowatz was a near relative, of Saint Hyacinth, and shared with him the
apostolate of Northern Europe. Little is known of his youth. He was
born in the ancestral castle and educated with Saint Hyacinth, by his
uncle, a priest of Cracow. Both young men became priests and, being
well-known for their holiness, were chosen to be canons in the cathedral
chapter in Cracow. When their uncle received an appointment as bishop of
Cracow, the two young priests accompanied him on his trip to Rome, where
he would be consecrated.
It was in Rome that the two zealous young priests first heard
of the work of Saint Dominic. The order was then only four years old,
and its eager members had penetrated to almost all parts of Christendom
and were pushing into the lands of the Tartars and the Mohammedans.
The new bishop strongly desired that some of the friars should come to
Poland. Since Saint Dominic was then in Rome, they went to him for missionaries.
Dominic was deeply regretful that he had no friars who were able to speak
the languages of the North. However, he was much drawn to the bishop's
two young nephews, and promised to make them Dominican apostles if they
would remain with him.
After their novitiate training, Hyacinth and Ceslaus went home.
Ceslaus went to Prague, and other parts of Bohemia, where he
founded convents of Friar Preachers and also established a group of
nuns. Then he went to Silesia, where he founded the convent of Breslau
that was to become his center of activities. He also acted as the spiritual
director for duchess Saint Hedwig of Poland. The life of Blessed Ceslaus,
like that of Saint Hyacinth, is a record of almost countless miracles,
of unbelievable distances travelled on foot through wild and warlike countries,
and of miracles of grace. He cured the sick and the maimed, raised the dead
to life, and accomplished wonders in building convents. His most remarkable
miracle was the raising to life of a boy who had been dead for eight days.
In 1241 the Tartars swooped down upon the Christian kingdoms
and laid waste the labor of centuries. Blessed Ceslaus was in Breslau
at the time the Tartars laid siege to the city. He and his community
fasted and prayed incessantly that the city would be saved, and when
the cause looked darkest, Ceslaus mounted the ramparts with a crucifix
in his hand. While the Tartars gazed in astonishment, a huge ball of fire
descended from heaven and settled above him. Arrows of fire shot out from
the heavenly weapon, and the Tartars fled in terror, leaving the city
unmolested.
Our Lady came to receive the soul of Blessed Ceslaus, who had
been tireless in preaching her glories (Benedictines, Dorcy) .
|
1563
Sviatogorsk Icon of the Mother of God is from the Sviatogorsky Monastery
in the province of Pskov many
miraculous signs and healings took place
Hodegitria
In the year 1563, during the
time of Ivan the Terrible, in the environs of Pskov a "Tenderness" Icon
of the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to a fifteen-year-old shepherd and
fool named Timothy, not far from the stream Lugovitsa. This icon was
thereafter situated in the Voronicha parish church of St George.
The voice from the icon said after six years the
grace of God would shine forth upon this hill.
In 1569 to this same youth upon
the Sinicha hill, there appeared a Hodigitria icon of the Mother of
God upon a pine tree. Timothy spent forty days at this place in fasting
and prayer. The miraculous voice from the icon commanded that the clergy
and the people should come to the Sinicha heights with the Tenderness icon
on the Friday following the Sunday of All Saints.
When the church procession reached the hill and
began the Molieben, a light suddenly shone during the reading of the
Gospel. The air was filled with fragrance and everyone saw upon the
pine tree the Hodigitria icon.
Both holy icons, the Hodgitria
and the Tenderness, were put into the church of the Great Martyr George.
From them many miraculous signs and healings took place, about which
reports were made to Tsar Ivan IV. Through his decree, upon the Sinicha
Hill, called from that time the "Svyata" ("Holy"), a chapel was built,
into which were transferred the wonderworking icons. But soon, on the Feast
of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, when a church procession
with icons went to Holy Hill, the chapel suddenly burned that night.
The fire destroyed everything else inside, but the
holy things remained unharmed.
On this sacred spot they built
a stone church in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos,
the altar of which stood on the place where the Hodigitria icon had appeared.
Both glorified icons were placed into the lower tier of the iconostas:
the Hodigitria on the right side (a chapel in honor of which was built
in 1770), and the Tenderness on the left (a chapel was built in 1776).
In that same year of 1569 on Holy Hill was founded
the Sviatogorsk ("Holy Hill") Dormition monastery.
Every year, on the first Friday
of the Peter and Paul Fast, the icons are conveyed to the Trinity cathedral
of the city of Pskov. On the following Sunday a processionis made with
them along the inner walls of the city. The celebration in honor
of the Tenderness icon is March 19, and on the ninth Friday after Pascha.
The Hodigitria icon is commemorated on July 17,
and on the Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos (October
1).
|
1610 St. Francis Solano
Friars Minor in 1570 sent to South America in 1589 worked to defend
the indigenous peoples from oppression
Francis came from a leading family born 1549 in Andalusia,
Spain. Perhaps it was his popularity as a student that enabled Francis
in his teens to stop
two duelists. He entered the Friars Minor in 1570, and after ordination
enthusiastically sacrificed himself for others. His care for the sick
during an epidemic drew so much admiration that he became embarrassed
and asked to be sent to the African missions. Instead he was sent to
South America in 1589.
While working in what is now Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay, Francis quickly learned the
local languages and was well received by the indigenous peoples. His
visits to the sick often included playing a song on his violin.
Around 1601 he was called to Lima, Peru, where he tried to
recall the Spanish colonists to their baptismal integrity. Francis
also worked to defend the indigenous peoples from oppression. He died
in Lima and was canonized in 1726.
Comment: Francis of Solano
knew from experience that the lives of Christians sometimes greatly
hinder the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Francis lived an exemplary
life himself, and urged his fellow Spaniards to make their lives worthy
of their Baptism.
Quote: "When Francis Solano was about to die, one of
the friars asked him, 'Father, when God takes you to heaven remember
me when you enter the everlasting kingdom.' With joy Francis answered,
'It is true, I am going to heaven but this is so because of the merits of
the passion and death of Christ; I am the greatest of sinners. When I
reach our homeland, I will be your good friend'" (contemporary biography
of St. Francis Solano).
|
1628
Saint Irenarchus of Solovki accepted tonsure at the Solovki monastery,
significancant in defense of N. Rus from Swedes and Danes; he did much
to fortify the monastery outside and it inwardly and spiritually; Very
humble and meek, constantly immersed in thoughts of God, he was zealous
for supporting in the monks a true monastic spirit
In his monastic life he zealously imitated the
Monks Zosimus (April 17) and Sabbatius (September 27). In 1614, after
the death of the igumen Anthony, Irenarchus became his successor. During
these times the Solovki monastery held tremendous significance in the defense
of Northern Russia from the Swedes and the Danes. The new igumen did much
to fortify the monastery. Under the Monk Irenarchus there was constructed
a stone wall with turrets, deep ditches dug, and with stones spread out.
Concerned about the external dangers to the monastery,
the monk also devoted much attention to fortifying it inwardly and spiritually.
Very humble and meek, constantly immersed in thoughts of God, he was
zealous for supporting in the monks a true monastic spirit. Under the
spiritual guidance of St Irenarchus at the Solovki monastery there matured
many worthy ascetics. With the blessing of the igumen and under his assistant,
St Eleazar (January 13), a friend and co-ascetic of the venerable Irenarchus,
founded a skete monastery on Anzersk Island.
In an imperial document to the Solovki monastery
in the year 1621, the monks were bidden "to live according to the rules
of the holy Fathers... and in full obedience to their igumen (Irenarchus)
and the elders". The last two years of the monk's life were spent
in silent prayer, and he reposed on July 17, 1628.
|
1654
Saint Leonid of Ustnedumsk; At 50, he saw the Mother of God in a dream,
Who directed him to go to the Morzhevsk Nikolaev hermitage; take from
there the Hodigitria Icon of the Mother of God, and build a church for
it at the River Luz and Mount Turin; he did this and the Ustnedumsk monastery ("the mouth of the Nedumaya") monastery was built
Lived in the Poshekhonsk district of Vologda, and
he was a farmer by occupation. At age fifty, he saw the Mother of God
in a dream, Who directed him to go to the River Dvina to the Morzhevsk
Nikolaev hermitage. He was to take from there the Hodigitria Icon of
the Mother of God, and build a church for it at the River Luz and Mount
Turin. St Leonid decided not to follow the advice of this vision,
thinking it simply a dream, and considering himself unworthy. He went to
the Kozhe Lake monastery (Russia’s Most Inaccessible
Monastery), accepting monastic tonsure there and spending
about three years at work and ascetical efforts. From there he transferred
to the Solovki monastery
and labored
there in the bakery.
Solovki_monastery
The miraculous vision was repeated, and St Leonid
was advised not to oppose God's will.
The venerable one
then set off to the Morzhevsk hermitage, and after a year he told Igumen
Cornelius (1599-1623) about the command of the Mother of God. Having
received from the abbot both a blessing and the Hodigitria icon, the monk
reached the River Luz near Mount Turin, 80 versts from the city of Ustiug,
and he built himself a hut from brushwood. The local people, fearing that
their land would be taken from them for the saint's monastery, compelled
him to resettle up the river in a marshy wilderness spot.
At 30 versts from the city of
Lalsk, the Elder constructed a cell and set about building a monastery.
For draining the marshes, the ascetic dug three canals, about 2 kilometers
in length, from the River Luz to Black Lake, and from Black Lake to Holy
Lake, and from there to the Black Rivulet. During this time of heavy
work he was bitten by a poisonous snake. Entrusting himself to the will
of God, St Leonid decided not to seek medical treatment, nor did he think
of the consequences. He went to sleep and woke up healthy. In gratitude
to the Lord for His mercy, he called the canal the "Nedumaya Reka" ("Unplanned
River"), and his monastery the "Ustnedumsk" ("the mouth of the Nedumaya")
monastery.
With the blessing of the Metropolitan Philaret of
Rostov (afterwards the Patriarch of All-Russia, 1619-1633), St Leonid
was ordained hieromonk in 1608. In the newly-built church in honor
of the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, Hieromonk
Leonid installed the Hodigitria icon, as the Mother of God commanded him.
Because of his difficult labors on the frontier, called the "Luzsk Permtsa",
which means "the pocket-land of the wild Permians", it is fitting that
St Leonid is venerated as one of the first enlighteners of these remote
lands.
The monk had many struggles with the severe and
inhospitable forces of nature. Although his canal-system had drained
the marsh, in times of floodings the River Luz engulfed the monastery.
Towards the end of his life the tireless workler undertook construction
on a point of land at Black Lake. At the new site a church was built and
consecrated in 1652. St Leonid died at age 100, on July 17, 1654. He was
buried at the monastery church, where for a long time his coarse and heavy
hair-shirt was preserved, a reminder of the ascetic toils of the holy
saint. There is a Troparion to St Leonid, and his holy icons are
in churches at the places of his struggles .
|
1794 Blessed Carmelite
Nuns of Compiègne MM (AC); beatified in 1906. Sixteen nuns of
the Carmel of Compiègne, France, who were guillotined in Paris
during the French Revolution. As they mounted the scaffold, they sang the
Salve Regina. Among the 16 are:
THE Carmelite nuns of the
Teresian reform first came to France in 1604, and in 1641 Mme de Louvancourt
founded the fifty-third convent of the order in that country, at Compiègne, and from the first it was noted for the excellence of its religious
observance.
In
1789 the Revolution broke out, and early in the following year religious
communities were suppressed, except those engaged in teaching and nursing.
The Carmelites of Compiègne
were "visited" in August: their goods were impounded,
they had to put on secular dress, and they were driven from their monastery.
They divided into four groups, led respectively by the prioress, the
sub-prioress, the novice-mistress, and another professed nun. They lodged
in four different houses, all near to the church of St Antony, and in
this situation they continued so far as was possible and consistent with
the circumstances to observe their rule and to keep up a community life;
the groups were in constant touch one with another, but the greatest care
had to be taken to avoid arousing the suspicion of the authorities that
they were doing their best to follow an unlawful way of life. But in June
1794 the nuns were arrested on the grounds that they continued their former
life and had plotted against the Republic; at the same time Mulot de La
Mènardiére
was arrested for abetting them. They were imprisoned in the former
Visitation convent at Compiègne,
in the same house but separate from the English Benedictine
nuns from Cambrai, who had been confined there since the previous October.
When these last were allowed to return to England in 1795 they were
wearing the secular clothes which the Carmelites had left at Compiègne;
to this is due the preservation of a number of relics of the martyrs
(at Stanbrook, Darlington, Lanherne, Chichester, Oulton, New Subiaco in New
South Wales, and elsewhere), and the testimony of the archives of Stanbrook
Abbey was of much value in
the process of beatification.
In
1790 the nuns had taken the oath to maintain the nation, liberty,
and equality, about the lawfulness
of which for Catholics there was considerable difference of opinion.
The prioress now sent for the mayor, and they all made a formal retractation
of this oath before a notary public, it having been condemned by, among
others, the Bishop of Soissons.
Three weeks later, under circumstances of brutality and insult, they were removed to the Conciergerie
at Paris; they wore their
religious habits, their secular clothes referred to above being left
"in the wash". During the
short time they were in this prison
they continued to observe their rule so far as possible, reciting the
Divine Office together at the proper hours, and greatly impressing
and strengthening their fellow-prisoners. They were arraigned before three
judges, Fouquier- Tinville prosecuting; no legal assistance was allowed
for the defence. The charges and the evidence produced were either frivolous or unproven, but Fouquier- Tinville accused them of being fanatics. Sister Mary Henrietta took him
up and asked what he meant by the word. "I mean by it", he replied, "your attachment to childish beliefs
and your silly religious practices." The nun turned to her sisters.
"You see!" she said, "we are condemned for clinging to our
holy religion. We have the happiness to die for God." They, together with M. de La Mènardiére,
who also was executed, were condemned for having made themselves "enemies of the
people by conspiring against its sovereign rule". Their journey in tumbrils to the
guillotine in the Place du Trône
Renversé
(now the Place de la Nation) took more than an hour, and the nuns
sang Miserere, Salve Regina, Te Deum, and recited the prayers for the
dying. Their demeanour awed both the mob and the officials, as they
mounted the scaffold one by one singing " Laudate Dominum omnes
gentes". There were sixteen victims: ten professed choir-nuns,
one novice, three lay-sisters, and two extern-sisters or tourières.
They
met their deaths in the reverse order of seniority, the novice first,
the prioress last; and the bodies were straightway thrown into
a pit with those of 1282 other victims of the Terror. This was all done
on July 17, 1794.
The
prioress, BD TERESA (Madeleine Ledoine), was forty-two years old,
and had been a novice under Madame Louise de France at Saint-Denis.
In the depositions for the process of beatification it was stated that
she merited to be beatified quite apart from martyrdom. She was lively,
charming, well-educated, a woman of parts. The sub-prioress, BD SAINT-LOUIS
(Mary Anne Brideau), was by contrast silent and given to a meticulous
observance of the letter of law and order. BD CHARLOTIE (Anne Mary Thouret)
had as a girl no idea of entering on the monastic life. But at the age
of twenty some unknown incident occurred which had the result of sending
her into Carmel, where she was professed only after a long and difficult
novitiate. BD EUPHRASIA (Mary Claude Brard) was a restless and lively person,
whose temperament manifested itself on the one hand in excessive austerities
and on the other in practical jokes at the expense of royal visitors. She was a great letter-writer (some
correspondence from her cousin, La Mènardiére, contributed
to the nuns' denouncement), and a number of her correspondents' replies
are extant. BD HENRIETTA (Gabrielle de Croissy) was a great-niece of Colbert. BD JULIA
LOUISA was the widow of Chretien de Neufville. Her husband had died
after some years of great happiness and she had been prostrated with
grief; after going into the convent it was long before she showed any
real disposition to persevere there. A sentence of hers may be well
applied to others who in other times are called on to suffer, even though
not physically, much less to death, for the faith: "We are the victims
of the age, and we ought to sacrifice ourselves to obtain its return to God." It
was BD MARY HENRIETTA (Annette Pelras) who had pulled up the public prosecutor
and elicited the fact that they were condemned on account of religion. The two tourières were sisters, BB. CATHERINE and TERESA SOIRON; Teresa
was very good-looking and had refused a place with the Princess
de Lamballe to serve the Carmelites
of her native town. Only one of these victims was under thirty, and
the eldest was seventy-eight.
These
martyrs were beatified in 1906, the first authoritative declaration
of the Church that there were true martyrs among the victims of the French
Revolution.
During the process the tribunal of information twice sat at Stanbrook
Abbey, near Worcester, where the English Benedictine dames of Cambrai
settled in 1838.
See
the convenient little book of V. Pierre in the series "Les Saints"
(1905), that ofde Grandmaison (1906), and the articles of H. Chérot
in Études for 1904 and 1905. One
member
of the community, Mother Josephine (Frances Philippe), formerly prioress,
deserted her fellows In the spring of 1794. She was readmitted
to Carmel at Sens in 1823, and wrote a
most valuable account of the events, which was published in 1836
after her death. There is a short sketch in English by E.
M. Willson; and see Fr Bruno, O.D.C., Le Sang du Carmel (1954).
Anne Pelras. Anne Mary Thouret. Antoinette Roussel.
Catherine Soiron. Doorkeeper (touriére) for the community; neither
she nor her sister Teresa were in vows. She was beatified in 1904. Frances
Brideau Born at Belfort in 1752 and professed at Compiègne in
1771. She was subprioress. Frances de Croissy Born in Paris, 1745,
professed in 1764. She was prioress from 1779 to 1787 and novice mistress
at the time of her death. Juliette Verolot (Soeur Francis Xavier)
Born in the diocese of Troyes. She was the last Carmelite to be professed
at Compiègne (January 12, 1789) before the outbreak of the French
Revolution. Mary Ann Piedcourt (Soeur de Jésus Crucifié)
Solemnly professed choir sister. Mary Hanisset (Soeur Therèse
du Coeur de Marie) Professed choir sister. Mary Magdalen Lidoin
(Mère Therèse de Saint Augustine) Prioress of the community.
Mary Trésel (Soeur Therèse de Saint-Ignace) Professed choir
sister. Mary Dufour (Soeur Sainte-Marthe) Lay-sister. Rose Chrétien
(Soeur Julia Louise de Jesus) Born in Évreux in 1741. She married
when she was very young and became a Carmelite at the time of her husband's
death. Teresa Soiron A maid in the service of Princess Lamballe, who
attached herself to the Carmelite Nuns at the time of the French Revolution.
Catherine was her sister (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
Martyrdom of the nuns was immortalized
by composer Francois Poulenc in his famous opera Dialogues des Carmelites.
|
1794 Bl. Antoinette Roussel
One of the Carmelite nuns martyred in Paris by the French Revolution.
Sixteen Cannelites were guillotined in Paris, ascending the scaffolds
while singing Salve Regina. They had been arrested for living in a religious
community. On July 12 the Carmelites were taken to Paris and martyred
on July 17. In 1906, these nuns were beatified. 1794 Bl. Frances Brideau A member of the
martyred Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne. She was executed with her fellow nuns
by authorities of the French Revolution. St. Marie Meunier A member of the martyred
Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne. Known as Sister Constance, she was a novice
at the time of
her death.1794 St. Frances de Croissy A member of
the Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne. She was martyred with her fellow nuns
by authorities of the French Revolution. At the time of her death, she
was holding the post of prioress
of the community. 1794 Bl.
Juliette Verolot One of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne,
France. She was called Sister St.
Francis Xavier,St. Madeleine Lidoine
The prioress of the Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne who were martyred
during the French Revolution. In her religious life, she was known as
Mother Therese of St. Augustine.St. Marie Dufour A member of the Carmelite
Nuns of Compiegne who Were martyred during the French Revolution. In
her religious life, she was known by the name Sister St. Martha One of the martyred Carmelite
Nuns of Compiegne who were executed by officials of the French revolutionary
government. In her religious life, she was known as Sister Therese of St. Ignatius.1794 Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne Sixteen
Carmelites caught up in the French Revolution and martyred. When the
revolution started in 1789, a group of twenty-one discalced Carmelites
lived in a monastery in Compiegne France, founded in 1641. The monastery
was ordered closed in 1790 by the Revolutionary government, and the
nuns were disbanded. Sixteen of the nuns were accused of living in a religious
community in 1794. They were arrested on June 22 and imprisoned in a Visitation
convent in Compiegne There they openly resumed their religious life. On
July 12, 1794, the Carmelites were taken to Paris and five days later were
sentenced to death. They went to the guillotine singing the Salve Regina.
They were beatified in 1906 by Pope St. Pius X. The Carmelites were:
Marie Claude Brard; Madeleine Brideau, the superior; Maire Croissy, grand
niece of Colbert Marie Dufour; Marie Hanisset; Marie Meunier, a novice; Rose
de Neufville Annette Pebras; Anne Piedcourt: Madeleine Lidoine, the prioress;
Angelique Roussel; Catherine Soiron and Therese Soiron, both extern sisters,
natives of Compiegne and blood sisters: Anne Mary Thouret; Marie Trezelle;
and Eliza beth Verolot.
St. Madeleine Brideau
The sub-prioress among the Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne.
With her fellow sisters, she was executed by officials during the French
Revolution. In her religious life, she was known as Sister St. Louis.St. Marie Claude Brard A member of the
martyred Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne. They were executed by officials
of the French revolutionary government. In her religious life, Marie Claude
was known as Sister Euphrasia of the
Immaculate Conception.St. Marie
Hanisset A Carmelite of the group of Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne.
With the other sisters, she was martyred during the French Revolution.
In her order, she was known as Sister
Therese of the Heart of Mary. 1794 Bl. Rose Chretien One
of the Carmelites of Compiegue, France, born in 1711. She was originally
from Evreux, and after becoming a widow, entered the Carmelites at Compiegne.
With her fellow sisters, she was guillotined by French revolutionaries
at Paris and she and her Camelite community were guillotined at Compiegne.
Pope St. Pius X beatified her in 1906. |
St.
Fredegand Benedictine abbot,
an Irishman and a companion
of St. Foillan.
He was abbot of Kerkeloder Abbey, near Antwerp, Belgium, also
listed as Fregaut. He also aided St. Willibrord. |
St. Generosus Martyr of Tivoli, Italy. His relics
are enshrined under the high altar of the cathedral there, but
no Acts of his martyrdom survive.
|
1881 Daniel Comboni founded missionary institutes
Comboni Missionaries and
the Comboni Missionary Sisters (Verona Fathers and Sisters) struggled
against the slave trade: He
takes part in the first Vatican Council as the theologian of the Bishop
of Verona, and gets 70 Bishops to sign a petition for the evangelisation
of Central Africa (Postulatum pro Nigris Africæ Centralis).
Daniel Comboni: the son of poor gardeners
who became the first Catholic Bishop of Central Africa, and one of
the great missionaries in the Church's history.
It is a fact. When God decides to take a hand and select a
generous and open-hearted individual, things happen: great, new things.
An “only child” - with holy parents
Daniel Comboni is born at Limone sul Garda (Brescia - Italy)
on 15th, March 1831, into a family of cultivators employed by one of
the rich local proprietors. Luigi and Domenica, the parents, are very
attached to Daniel: he is the fourth of eight children, but the only
survivor: all the others die young, six of them in their infancy. So
they form a very close unit, rich in faith and human values, but poor
in material things. It is this poverty that forces Daniel to go away to
school in Verona, in the Institute founded by Father Nicola Mazza. During
the years spent in Verona, Daniel discovers his calling to the priesthood,
completes his studies of Philosophy and Theology and, above all, is entranced
by the mission of Central Africa, drawn by the descriptions of the missionaries
who return from there to the Mazza Institute. Comboni is ordained in 1854,
and three years later leaves for Africa himself, along with five other
missionaries of the Mazza Institute and with the blessing of his mother
Domenica, who finally tells him: “Go, Daniel, and may the Lord bless you”.
Into the heart of Africa - with Africa in his heart
After a journey of four months the missionary expedition that
includes Comboni reaches Khartoum, capital of the Sudan. The impact of
this first face-to-face encounter with Africa is tremendous, Daniel is
immediately made aware of the multiple difficulties that are part of his
new mission. But labours, unbearable climate, sickness, the deaths of several
of his young fellow-missionaries, the poverty and dereliction of the population,
only serve to drive him forward, never dreaming of giving up what he has
taken on with such great enthusiasm. From the mission of Holy Cross he
writes to his parents: “We will have to labour hard, to sweat, to die: but
the thought that one sweats and dies for love of Jesus Christ and the salvation
of the most abandoned souls in the world, is far too sweet for us to desist
from this great enterprise”.
After withessing at the death of one of his missionary companions,
Comboni, far from being discouraged, feels an interior confirmation
of his decision to carry on in the mission: “O Nigrizia o morte!” - Africa,
or death.
It is still Africa and its peoples that drive Comboni, when
he returns to Italy, to work out a fresh missionary strategy. In 1864,
while praying at the Tomb of St Peter in Rome, Daniel is struck by
a brilliant inspiration that leads to the drawing up of his famous
Plan for the Rebirth of Africa, a missionary project that can be summed
up in an expression which is itself the indication of his boundless
trust in the human and religious capacities of the African peoples:
“Save Africa through Africa”.
An original missionary Bishop
In spite of all the problems and misunderstandings he has to
face, Daniel Comboni strives to drive home his intuition: that all
European society and the Church are called to become much more concerned
with the mission of Central Africa. He undertakes a tireless round of
missionary animation all over Europe, begging for spiritual and material
aid for the African missions from Kings and Queens. Bishops and nobles,
as well as from the poor, simple people. As a tool for missionary animation
he launches a missionary magazine, the first in Italy.
His unshakeable faith in the Lord and trust for Africa lead
him to found, in 1867 and 1872 respectively, two missionary Institutes
of men and of women: these become known more widely as the Comboni Missionaries
and the Comboni Missionary Sisters (Verona Fathers and Sisters).
He takes part in the first Vatican Council as the theologian
of the Bishop of Verona, and gets 70 Bishops to sign a petition for
the evangelisation of Central Africa (Postulatum pro Nigris Africæ
Centralis).
On 2nd, July 1877, Comboni is named Vicar Apostolic of Central
Africa, and ordained Bishop a month later: it is confirmation that
his ideas and his activities considered by some to be foolhardy, if
not crazy are recognised as truly effective means for the proclamation
of the God News and the liberation of the African continent. In
1877 and 1878 he and all his missionaries are tormented in body and spirit
by the tragedy of a drought followed by starvation without precedent.
The local populations are halved, and the missionary personnel and their
activities reduced almost to nothing.
The cross as friend and spouse
In 1880, with unflagging determination, Bishop Comboni travels
to Africa for the eighth and last time, to stand alongside his missionaries:
intent, also, on continuing the struggle against the pernicious Slave
Trade, and on consolidating the missionary activity carried out by Africans
themselves. Just one year later, overwhelmed by his labours, by many
deaths in quick succession among his collaborators, by a wave of calumnies
and accusations that are a bitter burden, the great missionary falls sick
himself. On 10th, October 1881, only 50 years old, marked by the Cross
which, like a faithful and loving bride, has never let him, he dies in
Khartoum, among his people. But he is aware that his missionary work will
not end with him: “I am dying”, he says, “but my work will not die”.
He was right. His work did not die. Indeed, like all great
projects “which are born at the foot of the Cross”, it continues to
live through the giving of their lives by many women and men who have
chosen to follow Comboni along the path of his arduous yet exhilarating
mission among peoples who are the poorest as regards the Gospel, and
the most abandoned as regards human solidarity.
The main dates
— Daniel Comboni is born at Limone on Lake Garda (Brescia ‑
Italy) on 15th, March 1831.
— In 1849 he consecrates his life to Africa, thus setting in
motion a project that will indeed lead him to risk his life many times
in exhausting missionary journeys, starting from his first arrival
in Africa in 1857.
— On 31st, December 1854, the year of the proclamation of the
Immaculate Conception of Mary, he is ordained priest by Blessed John
N. Tschiderer, Bishop of Trento.
— Confident that Africans will become the leading agents of
their own evangelisation, he launches a project designed to “Save Africa
through Africa” (Plan of 1864).
— Faithful to his motto: “Africa, or death!” despite all difficulties,
he pushes ahead with his Plan by founding the Comboni Missionary Institute
in 1867.
— He is a prophetic voice, proclaiming to the whole Church,
especially in Europe, that the hour of salvation has come for the peoples
of Africa. Though still a simple priest, he has no hesitation in approaching
the First Vatican Council to petition the Bishops that every local Church
be involved in the conversion of Africa (Postulatum, 1870).
— With unusual courage for those days, he is the first to bring
missionary Sisters into the work in Central Africa, and in 1872 he founds
his own Institute of Sisters consecrated exclusively to the missions:
the Comboni Missionary Sisters.
— His endeavours are great on other fronts too, for example
in his tireless struggle for the abolition of slavery.
— In 1877 he is consecrated Bishop and named Vicar Apostolic
of Central Africa.
— He dies in Khartoum (Sudan) in the late hours of 10th, October
1881, worn out by his toils and his crosses.
— On 26th, March 1994, the heroic nature of his virtues is
recognised.
— On 6th, April 1995, the cure of an Afro-Brazilian girl, Maria
José de Oliveira Paixão, is recognised as a miracle worked
through his intercession.
— On 17th, March 1996, he is Beatified by John Paul II in St.
Peter's.
— On 20th, December 2003, the cure of a Muslim mother from
Sudan, Lubna Abdel Aziz, is recognized as a miracle worked through his
intercession.
— On 5th, October 2003, he is canonised by John Paul II in
St. Peter's.
|
St. Nicholas, Alexandra,
and Companions Last Romanov rulers of Russia and martyrs. Tsar
Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra are considered martyrs for the Russian
people and were canonized soon after the Russian Orthodox Church was established
in exile, following the Russian Revolution and the assassination of the
Tsar and his family. Joining the Tsar and Tsarina as saints were their
children, Alexis, Tatiana, Olga, Marie, and the famed Anastasia, along
with a large number of monks, nuns, and priests who died because of their
direct associations with the imperial family. The veneration of the
last of the Romanov rulers of Russia has been especially heightened in
the last decade, given the collapse of the Soviet Union and the lifting
of the oppression against the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in Russia.
|
21 22
Pope
Francis
Christian
council
held
at
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.