Vigília
sancti Jacóbi Apóstoli.
The Vigil of St. James the Apostle. |
250 Christophorus
Orthodoxe Kirche: 09. Mai Katholische und Evangelische
Kirche: 24. Juli
Christophorus gehört auch heute zu den beliebtesten Heiligen
und um ihn ranken sich viele Legenden. Christophorus lebte um 250, er stammte
vielleicht aus Lykien. Er erlitt wahrscheinlich unter Kaiser Decius das Martyrium.
Am 22.9.452 wurde ihm eine Kirche in Chalkedon am Bosporus geweiht. Reliquien
werden insbesondere in St. Peter in Rom und in St. Denis bei Paris verehrt.
Christophorus gehört auch zu den 14 Nothelfern. Die morgendliche Betrachtung
seines Bildes soll Schutz für den ganzen Tag gewähren, weshalb
sich früher große Christophorusbilder an Kirchen und belebten
Plätzen befanden. Auch die bei Autofahrern beliebte Christophorusplakette
am Armaturenbrett oder Schlüsselbund mag hiermit zusammenhängen.
Christophorus ist - neben vielen anderen Patronaten - Patron der kroatischen
Insel Rab. Hier wird er am 25.7. gefeiert.
|
3rd v.
Christina of Tyre To be a saint is not enough just to avoid sin and obey
the
commandments; a saint is someone who loves God, lives with God and thinks
with God. And when a Christian loves, lives, and thinks with God none of
the commandments will be a burden to him, nor will he be tempted to do any
of the things that are forbidden, since their effect would be to separate
him from God. True happiness comes only from God, and to find this happiness
in God is the essence of saintliness. The saints who have gone before us
show us the path to this happiness by showing us the path to God. Christina
Martyr visited by an angel, who instructed her in the true faith in Christ
Savior of the world; The angel called her a bride of Christ and told
her about her future suffering; angel appeared at night, healing her wounds
and strengthening her with food VM (RM)
Tyri, apud lacum
Vulsínium, in Túscia, sanctæ Christínæ,
Vírginis et Mártyris. Hæc Virgo, cum patris idóla
áurea et argéntea, in Christum credens, comminuísset
atque illórum frágmina paupéribus erogásset, ejúsdem
patris jussu verbéribus dilaniáta est, aliísque supplíciis
diríssime cruciáta, et cum magno saxi póndere in lacum
projécta, sed ab Angelo liberáta; deínde, sub álio
Júdice, patris sui successóre, acerbióra torménta
constánter pértulit; novíssime, sub Juliáno Præside,
post fornácem ardéntem, ubi quinque diébus illæsa
permánsit, post serpéntes virtúte Christi superátos,
martyrii sui cursum abscissióne linguæ et sagittárum
infixióne complévit.
At Tiro in Tuscany,
on Lake Bolsena, St. Christina, virgin and martyr. Because she believed
in Christ, and broke up her father's gold and silver idols to give them to
the poor, she was cruelly scourged at his command, subjected to other most
severe torments, and thrown with a heavy stone into the lake from which she
was drawn out by an angel. Then under another judge, who succeeded
her father, she bore courageously still more bitter tortures. Finally,
after she had been shut up by the governor Julian in a burning furnace for
five days without any injury, after being cured of the sting of serpents,
she ended her martyrdom by having her tongue cut out, and being pierced with
arrows.
Born into a rich family, and her father was governor of Tyre.
By the age of 11 the girl was exceptionally beautiful, and many wanted to
marry her. Christina's father, however, envisioned that his daughter should
become a pagan priestess. To this end he placed her in a special dwelling
where he had set up many gold and silver idols, and he commanded his daughter
to burn incense before them. Two servants attended Christina. In her
solitude, Christina began to wonder who had created this beautiful world.
From her room she was delighted by the stars of the heavens and she constantly
came back to the thought about the Creator of all the world. She was convinced,
that the voiceless and inanimate idols in her room could not create anything,
since they themselves were created by human hands. She began to pray to the
One God with tears, entreating Him to reveal Himself. Her soul blazed with
love for the Unknown God, and she intensified her prayer all the more, and
combined it with fasting.
One
time Christina was visited by an angel, who instructed her in the true faith
in Christ, the Savior of the world. The angel called her a bride of Christ
and told her about her future suffering. The holy virgin smashed all the
idols standing in her room and threw them out the window. In visiting his
daughter Christina's father, Urban, asked her where all the idols had disappeared.
Christina was silent. Then, having summoned the servants, Urban learned the
truth from them. In a rage the father began to slap his daughter's
face. At first, the holy virgin remained quiet, but then she told her father
about her faith in the One True God, and that she had destroyed the idols
with her own hands. Urban gave orders to kill all the servants in attendance
upon his daughter, and he gave Christina a fierce beating and threw her in
prison. Having learned about what had happened, St Christina's mother came
in tears, imploring her to renounce Christ and to return to her ancestral
beliefs. But Christina remained unyielding. On another day, Urban brought
his daughter to trial and urged her to offer worship to the gods, and to
ask forgiveness for her misdeeds. Instead, he saw her firm and steadfast
confession of faith in Christ.
The torturers tied her to an iron wheel, beneath which they lit
a fire. The body of the martyr, turning round on the wheel, was scorched
on all sides. They then threw her into prison.
An angel of God appeared at night, healing her wounds and strengthening
her with food. Her father, seeing her unharmed, gave orders to drown her
in the sea. An angel sustained the saint while the stone sank down, and Christina
miraculously came out of the water and reappeared before her father. In terror,
the torturer imputed this to sorcery and he decided to execute her in the
morning. That night he himself suddenly died. Another governor, Dion, was
sent in his place. He summoned the holy martyr and also tried to persuade
her to renounce Christ, but seeing her unyielding firmness, he again subjected
her to cruel tortures. The holy martyr was for a long while in prison. People
began to flock to her, and she converted them to the true faith in Christ.
Thus about 300 were converted.
In place of Dion, a new governor Julian arrived and resumed the
torture of the saint. After various torments, Julian gave orders to throw
her into a red-hot furnace and lock her in it. After five days they opened
the furnace and found the martyr alive and unharmed. Seeing this miracle
take place, many believed in Christ the Savior, and the torturers executed
St Christina with a sword.
To
be a saint is not enough just to avoid sin and obey the commandments; a saint
is someone who loves God, lives with God and thinks with God. And when a
Christian loves, lives, and thinks with God none of the commandments will
be a burden to him, nor will he be tempted to do any of the things that are
forbidden, since their effect would be to separate him from God. True happiness
comes only from God, and to find this happiness in God is the essence of
saintliness. The saints who have gone before us show us the path to this
happiness by showing us the path to God.
Saintliness and happiness, then, are the vocation of every Christian.
One of the greatest mysteries and mercies of God is that he asks us to be
saints and also gives us the means to become such. The glory of God and the
happiness of man are one and the same thing. That is what the saints have
learned, and that is what we can learn from them. Moreover the saints who
are now living the everlasting life near to the throne of God are watching
over us and interceding with the Lord on our behalf. They are not only our
examples and models, they are also our friends and protectors.
Saint Christina was born at a time when Christians of the East
and West were still united in a single Church. Her acts have come down to
us from some ancient Greek texts, among them a papyrus that dates from the
5th century.
We know that her father Urbanus was governor of the tow of Tyre
and of the surrounding province, a position in which he was responsible for
maintaining the official pagan religion. Christina, of course, was also brought
up as a pagan, but by the time she was 12 her virtues were so great that
her father, fearing that she might convert to Christianity, locked her away
in a tower with two servants.
However, one of the servants was herself a Christian; she instructed
Christina in the faith, and later a priest baptized her in secret.
When he heard of this, Urbanus
ordered his daughter to abjure her faith and to return to the worship of
the idols. Misunderstanding the nature of the Trinity, he said: "You already
serve three gods, so why can't you also serve the gods of the empire?" Christina
refused; her two former servants were replaced by 12 young ladies of the
highest society, but it wasn't long before they had all been converted by
Christina and received the baptism in secret. One evening they all escaped
from the tower and defaced the statues of Jupiter, Apollo, and Venus.
Urbanus' fury was so great that he at once imprisoned Christina
and subjected her to cruel punishments; finding her adamant in her faith,
he then ordered her to be thrown into the midst of an enormous bonfire, but
the flames left her unharmed. This was but the first of a long series of
intended tortures and miraculous deliverances. A large stone was tied around
her neck and she was thrown into the middle of a lake, but the stone refused
to sink. She was taken back to her prison cell and during the night Urbanus
decided to have her beheaded, but by the next morning he was dead.
The new prefect at first tried
to persuade Christina to renounce God, but was as unsuccessful as Urbanus.
She was flogged by soldiers and cast into a cauldron of boiling oil and sulphur,
but once again emerged unharmed. Accused by the pagan priests of practicing
black magic, she was taken before the statue of Apollo in the temple. Confident
in the power of her faith, she ordered the statue to come down from its pedestal
and to walk 15 paces out of the temple; and at once the statue obeyed.
A third prefect ordered her to burn incense to the idols, and
was met with the same obstinance. This time Christina was thrown into an
oven that had been heated white hot. The door was closed on her and for five
days the furnace was kept at extreme heat, but when the door was opened she
was found to be safe and unscathed. She was next exposed to poisonous snakes,
but instead of stinging her they coiled affectionately round her neck and
feet. When the pagan priest attempted to goad them on, they turned on him
and stung him to death, but Christina, after calming down the panicked crowd
and replacing the snakes in their sacks, restored him to life.
But at length God put an end to her trials. She was taken into
an arena where her tongue, which had so often proclaimed her faith, was cut
out, and after that she was shot to death with arrows. This legend seems
to be a confutation of those of Saints Barbara, Catherine of Alexandria, and
Ursula.
Saint Christina is celebrated on the same day in both the Greek
and Roman Churches; she was martyred at a time when they both formed one Church,
and we may pray to her to hasten the day when we are once again united (Encyclopedia,
Farmer).
In 15th- and 16th-century paintings by Cranach and Paul Veronese,
her attributes are a millstone, a wheel, pincers, and arrows (Farmer).
THE legend of the Western martyr of this name is summarized in
the Roman Martyrology. She was a young girl belonging to the Roman
family of the Anicii who became a Christian and broke up the gold and silver
images of the gods in her father's house, selling the fragments to relieve
the poor. He beat her and threw her, with a stone round her neck, into
the lake of Bolsena, which their home adjoined. Being miraculously
preserved from drowning she was brought before the magistrate, who ordered
her to be put to death by being shot through with arrows, after her tongue
had been cut out and she had overcome
serpents by the strength of Christ and remained unharmed in a
burning furnace for five days. This is supposed to have happened under Diocletian.
St Christina was formerly a popular saint in the West, but her story has
been hopelessly mixed up with that of the equally popular Eastern martyr,
St Christina of Tyre, whose feast is kept on the same date. An
attempt has been made to identify them as one by an
imaginary translation of the Tyrian relics to Bolsena (those of
the Western Christina are claimed principally by Palermo), while Alban Butler
records the legend that her martyrdom was "at Tyro, a city which formerly
stood in an island in the lake of Bolsena in Tuscany, but has long since
been swallowed up by the waters ".
The Christina of
the Eastern story, which is a collection of absurd and pointless marvels,
was imprisoned for refusing to sacrifice to the gods; when her mother came
to argue with her she spurned her, and refused, as a child of God, to be
called her daughter. Her flesh was torn with hooks from her body and she
picked up a piece and threw it in the judge's face; a fire was kindled under
her, but it got out of hand and slew hundreds of men without harming
her; and when she was thrown into the sea, our Lord Himself came down into
the water and baptized her, "in the name of God my Father and of myself His
Son, and of the Holy Ghost". And then the archangel Michael brought her safely
to land. That same night the judge died and his successor put her into a
tub full of boiling pitch and oil, with four men to rock it; and this Christina
regarded as no more uncomfortable than a cradle; so her head was shaved and
she was led naked through the city to the temple of Apollo, whereat the image
of the god fell headlong and was broken.
And the second judge died. And his successor caused venomous serpents
to be cast upon her, which did her no injury, but instead attacked and killed
the snake-charmer who stood by. Christina raised him again to life. Then
the judge ordered her breasts to be cut off, and milk flowed therefrom;
and her tongue to be cut out, but she spoke none the less clearly, and, picking
up her tongue, threw it at the judge, so that he lost the sight
of one eye. But at last being shot through the heart with an arrow she achieved
her crown.
The substantial identity of the two stories is clear.
Nothing is known of Christina of Bolsena; her feast was doubtless assigned
to this date through confusion with Christina of Tyre, and she entered into
the further inheritance of childish fables outlined above. Whether
there ever was a virgin named Christina and connected with Tyre who was martyred
is very doubtful. But there is good evidence for the tradition
that a maiden martyred at Bolsena in Italy was afterwards held in great honour
and was believed to have been called Christina. Excavations at Bolsena
have proved the existence of a sort of catacomb there with a shrine.
The archaeological evidence is
summarized in the article "Bolsena" in DAC., t. ii. The extravagant legend
in its various forms will be found most conveniently in Pennazi, Vita e martirio...della gloriosa S. Cristina (1725). Cf. also Delehaye, Origines du culte des martyrs, pp. 181,
320; CMH., p. 394; and Lexikon für
Theologie und Kirche, vol.
ii, CC. 923-924.
|
Amitérni,
in Vestínis, pássio sanctórum mílitum octogínta
trium.
At Amiterno in Abruzzi, the martyrdom of eighty-three holy soldiers.
|
304
Sts. Victor, Stercntius, and Antigones Three martyrs executed during the
persecutions under Emperor Diocletian. Supposedly three brothers of Merida,
Spain, it is believed that only Victor was a Spaniard; the other two are perhaps
to be identified with the Armenian martyrs who died with St. Theozonus of
Sebaste
Eméritæ,
in Hispánia, sancti Victóris, viri militáris, qui, cum
frátribus Stercátio et Antinógene, in persecutióne
Diocletiáni, per divérsa supplícia martyrium consummávit.
At Merida in Spain, St. Victor, a soldier who, with his
two brothers, Stercatius and Antinogenes, by divers torments fulfilled his
martyrdom in the persecution of Diocletian.
Victor, Stercatius and Antinogenes MM (RM). These brothers are said to have
been martyred at Merida in Estremadura, Spain. It is likely that Victor was
martyred there; however, Stercatius and Antinogenes were probably part of
the group who suffered with Saint Theozonus of Sebaste in Armenia (Benedictines)
.
|
380 St. Ursicinus Bishop
of Sens, Gaul (modern France). He was known to be an opponent of Arianism,
the heresy of that era.
Apud Sénonas sancti Ursicíni, Epíscopi
et Confessóris.
At Sens, St. Ursicinus,
bishop and confessor
Ursicinus of Sens B (RM) Died c. 380. Saint Ursicinus is registered
as the fourth bishop of Sens, France. He was an opponent of Arianism (Benedictines).
|
St. Meneus &
Capito Martyrs commemorated in the Latin and Greek Churches. In some accounts
Meneus is called Hymenaeus.
Item
sanctórum Mártyrum Menéi et Capitónis.
Also, the holy martyrs
Meneus and Capito.
Meneus (Hymenaeus) and Capito MM (RM) Martyrs commemorated in
both the Roman and Greek menologies, but about whom nothing is known (Benedictines).
|
St. Vincent Roman
martyr in an uncertain year. He was executed beyond the walls of the city
of Rome on the road to Tivoli, Italy.
Vincent of Rome M (RM). Saint Vincent was martyred outside the walls of Rome
on the road to Tivoli (Benedictines).
|
St. Niceta and Aquilina
Martyred soldiers. In original traditions, they were named Nicetas and Aquila.In Lycia sanctárum Mártyrum Nicétæ
et Aquilínæ, quæ, beáti Christóphori Mártyris
prædicatióne ad Christum convérsæ, martyrii palmam
obtruncatióne cápitis sumpsérunt.
In Lycia, the holy martyrs Niceta and Aquilina, who were converted
to Christ by the preaching of the blessed martyr Christopher, and gained
the palm of martyrdom by being beheaded. |
3rd v. Martyrdom of
St. Euphemia she cursed the Emperor, his idols, and admonished the Governor
saying, "O you whose heart is like a stone, do you not have compassion on
these holy men! or are you not afraid that their God might destroy you?"
On this day, St. Euphemia, was martyred. When Barsiros (Briskos), one of
the deputies of Diocletian, was passing down the road, there were with him
some of the saints with iron chains round their necks like dogs. This saint
saw them and her heart waxed hot. She was sorry for them and she wept. Then,
she cursed the Emperor, his idols, and admonished the Governor saying, "O
you whose heart is like a stone, do you not have compassion on these holy
men! or are you not afraid that their God might destroy you?" The Governor
became enraged and informed the Emperor about what she had done and said.
The Emperor brought her and asked her about her belief. She confessed that
she was Christian. He tortured her severely by beating and burning until
she delivered up her pure soul in the hand of the Lord.
May her prayers be with us and
Glory be to God forever. Amen .
|
4th
v. Christina of Tuscany (of Bolsena) VM (RM)
The story of the Roman Saint Christina venerated at Lake Bolsena in Latium
(Tuscany) is simply that of Saint Christina of Tyre, imported from the East
and adapted to local conditions. It seems that the legend of the latter was
adapted for this probably real martyr under Diocletian, but that her name
may not have been Christina. Butler's Lives of the Saints says that this
Christina died on the island of Tyro in Lake Bolsena, which may be the reason
for the confusion. Both legends are narratives of ordeals endured and of
miraculous occurrences, but are without any historical value. There are remains
of an early Christian cemetery at Bolsena, but the evidence for its being
the burial place of a martyred Christina is unsatisfactory.
Farmer does say that there is a surviving shrine and catacomb that bear witness
to her existence.
Husenbeth claims that her relics
are now at Palermo, Sicily (Attwater, Benedictines, Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Christina is a maiden with a millstone.
She may be shown (1) with a millstone and two arrows; (2) holding an arrow,
crowned in the company of Saint Ursula; (3) pierced by three arrows; (4)
in prison breaking idols; (5) with a knife; (6) with tongs; or (7) with an
arrow and scepter (Roeder). There is a 6th-century mosaic at Ravenna, Italy,
that purports to portray her, but it has no special attributes and may be
that of Christina of Tyre (Farmer) .
|
5th century St. Menefrida
Patron saint of Tredresick, in Cornwall, England. She belonged to the family
of Brychan of Brecknock.
Menefrida of Cornwall V (AC). Another saintly progeny of the prolific Saint Brychan of Brecknock, Menefrida
is the patron of Menver in Cornwall (Benedictines).
|
420 St. Dictinus Bishop
of Astorga, in Spain. He was originally a member of the Priscillianism heresy
but was converted by St. Anibrose. Dictinus recanted at the Council of Toledo
in 400.
Dictinus of Astorga B (AC). Saint Dictinus was a heretic. Yet the grace of
God can overcome even heresy. Saint Ambrose converted Dictinus from Priscillianism,
and the latter recanted his errors at the council of Toledo (Spain) in 400.
Soon after that he was consecrated bishop of Astorga (Benedictines).
|
5th century St. Lewina
Martyred virgin of England, a Briton slain by invading Saxons. In 1058, her
relics were translated from Seaford, in Sussex, England, to Berques in Flanders,
Belgium; her relics honored by numerous miracles, especially at the time
of the translation; A history of these miracles was written by Drogo, an
eyewitness to several of them
Lewina of Berg VM (AC). The first extant record of Saint Lewina dates from
1058, when her relics were translated from Seaford (near Lewes) or Alfriston
in Sussex, England, with those of Saint Idaberga (not sure which one) and
portions of Saint Oswald, to Saint Winnoc's Abbey Church in Bergues, Flanders,
where she had been venerated and her relics honored by numerous miracles,
especially at the time of the translation. A history of these miracles was
written by Drogo, an eyewitness to several of them. Lewina is reputed to
have been a British maiden martyred by the invading Saxons (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
Lewina is supposed to have suffered martyrdom under the Saxons in Britain
before their conversion to Christ. Nothing is heard of her till
1058 when, on or about July 24, her relics, with those of St Ideberga, virgin,
and part of those of St Oswald, were translated from Seaford in Sussex to
the church of St Winnoc at Bergues in Flanders. They were honoured
by many miracles, especially at the time of this translation, as Drogo, an
eye-witness to several, testifies. Lewina was among the saints
represented on the walls of the chapel of the English College at Rome in
the sixteenth century.
There is an account of St Lewina
in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol.
v, but it is mainly concerned with the translation of her relics .
|
425 St. Declan First
bishop of Ardmore in Ireland, Baptized by St. Colman, and preached the faith
in that country a little before the arrival of St. Patrick, who confirmed
the episcopal see of Ardmore, in a synod at Cashel in 448. Many miracles are
ascribed to St. Declan, and he has ever been much honored in the viscounty
of Dessee, ancientl Nandesi.
St. Declan was
born in the territory of the Desi (now Decies, in county Waterford) and was
baptized by one of the many Irish saints named Colman. His traditional life
contains a number of chronological contradictions, and it is not decided
whether he preached before or after the coming of St Patrick. Many miracles
are ascribed to him, and two visits to Rome, on the second of which he met
St David while passing through Wales, but these voyages are probably legendary.
He was consecrated bishop and had his episcopal church at .Ardmore, where
he was held in great veneration. St Declan's feast is observed throughout
Ireland.
A Latin Life of St Declan will
be found in the Acta Sanctorum, July,
vol. v, but a better text is provided in Pluramer, VSI-L, vol. ii, pp. 32-59.
An ancient Irish version has been edited by the Rev. P. Power for the Irish
Texts Society (1914) .
Declan of Ardmore B (AC) Born at Desi (Decies), Waterford, Ireland,
5th century. Declan, an Irish monk, was baptized by and a disciple of Saint
Colman. He appears to have been an Irish evangelist before the arrival of
Saint Patrick. He may have made two pilgrimages to Rome and later became
the first bishop of Ardmore, a see confirmed by Patrick during the synod
of Cashel in 448. Many miracles are attributed to Declan, who is much honored
in Dessee (formerly Nandesi) (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
|
6th v. Germoc of
Cornwall Saint Breaca's brother, Saint Germoc, was an Irish chieftain who
settled in Cornwall near Mount's Bay (Benedictines). (AC)
|
675 Wulfhade and Ruffinus
Martyrs of England; according to tradition they were two princes of Mercia
who were baptized by St. Chad; martyred at Stone, Staffordshire.
Wulfhade and Ruffinus MM (AC). Although the legend that grew up around the
names of these martyrs contradicts the known facts of history, they may well
have been genuine martyrs. It is said that these two Mercian brothers, sons
of King Wulfere who had succeeded Peada, were converted and baptized by Bishop
Saint Chad of Litchfield about 670. There is much speculation as to the date
of Wulfere's conversion and whether he actually martyred his sons or took
responsibility for the acts of some of his courtiers.. Their mother, Queen
Emmelinda, had their bodies buried at Stone, Staffordshire, and covered their
tombs with stones in the Saxon manner. These stones were later used to build
a church over the spot.
Wulhere's father Penda had persecuted Christians, but his elder brother Peada
had allowed Christianity to be established in his realm. There is much speculation
as to the date of Wulfere's conversion and whether he actually committed
the crime or took responsibility for the acts of some of his courtiers.
The procurator of the Peterborough Abbey built at Stone travelled to Rome
and prevailed upon the pope to enroll the martyrs among the saints. He left
the head of Saint Wulfhade, which he had taken with him, in the church of
Saint Laurence at Viterbo (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art, these two are a pair of princely huntsmen who pursue a stage, which
takes refuge with Saint Chad, sitting by a pool (Roeder). They are venerated
at Lichfield, York, England (Roeder) and are patrons of the town and monastery
of Stone (Husenbeth).
|
7th v. Christiana
of Termonde said to have been the daughter of an Anglo-Saxon king; crossed
over to Flanders where she lived until her death; patron saint of Termonde,
Belgium V (AC) (Benedictines).
|
690 St. Godo Benedictine
abbot and nephew of St. Wandrille. Known also as Gaon, he was born in Verdun,
France, and professed at Fontenelle. Godo was founder and abbot of Oye Abbey,
near Sezanne en Brie.
|
8th
v. Aliprandus of Ciel d'Oro the abbot of Ciel d'Oro (in coelo aureo)
Monastery at Pavia, Italy. He was related to the royal family of the Lombards
(Benedictines)., OSB Abbot (AC) (also known as Leuprandus)
|
769 Sigolena of Troclar
Daughter and early widow of French noblemen of Aquitaine; became a nun in
the convent of Troclar on the Tarn in southern France, where she was later
chosen as abbess, OSB Abbess (AC)
(also known as Segolena, Segoulème) (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
In art, Saint Sigolena is an abbess curing a plague sufferer in the train
of the emperor (Roeder). She is the patroness of Albi (Roeder).
|
1015 Boris and Gleb
sons 1st Christian princes of Russia St Vladimir of Kiev and Anne of Constantinople
the daughter of Emperor Basil II, the Bulgar slayer (Gleb) Passion-Bearers,
since they did not resist evil with violence MM (AC) (also known as Romanus and David)
Benedict XIII approved their feast for Russian and
Ukrainian Catholics in 1724. Boris and Gleb were the sons of the first Christian
prince of Russia, Saint Vladimir of Kiev, and Anne of Constantinople, the
daughter of Emperor Basil II, the Bulgar slayer. The boys were baptized Romanus
and David. After Vladimir's death, the kingdom was to have been divided among
his sons, but their eldest half-brother, Svyatopolk, wished to rule alone.
Boris was forewarned of his brother's plans, but when an army
gathered to defend him, he called them off, explaining that he could not
raise a hand against his brother who now stood in his father's place. With
one attendant, Boris spent the night in prayer on the bank of the Alta River,
and expressed how sad it was to leave the "marvelous light" of day and his
"good and beautiful body." In the morning a gang of Svyatopolk's followers
attacked him with spears while Boris prayed for them. On their way to Kiev
with his body, the ruffians discovered he was still alive, and completed
the job with swords.
Svyatopolk, under a false pretense of friendliness, invited
Gleb to Kiev. On the way, Gleb's boat was boarded on the Dnieper River near
Smolensk by armed men. He begged them to spare him, refusing to fight back.
When he saw that he could not alter their purpose, he resigned
himself to death, saying, "I am in your hands and in the hands of my brother,
your prince, I am being slain; I know not for what; but you, Lord, know.
And I know, O my Lord, that you said to your apostles that for your name's
sake hands would be laid upon them and they would be betrayed by kinsmen
and friends, and that brother would bring death to brother." His final death
blow was said to have been delivered by his cook, who came from behind to
stab his throat "like a butcher killing sheep."
In 1020, another of Vladimir's sons, Yaroslav, usurped Svyatopolk,
who died during his escape to Poland. Yaroslav buried the bodies of Boris
and Gleb in the church of Saint Basil at Vyshgorod. Miracles were reported
at their tomb, and it became a site of pilgrimage.
From the first, the highest
motives were attributed to their attitude of resignation --unwillingness
to repel injustice to themselves by force and violently oppose an elder brother.
Although they were not considered martyrs in the traditional sense, the Russian
Church perceived them as "passion bearers"--blameless men who did not wish
to die but refused to defend themselves, thus voluntarily submitting to death
like Christ. The Greek authorities apparently did not completely understand
the theory, but the popular feeling among the Russian people was so intense
that they agreed to canonize the brothers. Boris is the patron said of Moscow
(Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Fedotov, White). The Novgorod Icon Book
has several images of these saints:
After the death of the first Christian prince in Russia, St Vladimir
of Kiev, the inheritance should, according to the custom of succession at
that time and place, have passed to all his sons and been divided among them.
Elder, Svyatopolk, had other ideas on the subject and determined to remove
the two young princes Boris and Gleb, Vladimir's sons by Anne of Constantinople,
daughter of the Emperor Basil II the Bulgar-slayer. Boris was
on his way back from an expedition against some troublesome nomadic tribes
when he learned what was in the wind, and his military following prepared
to defend him. But he would not allow it. "It is not right",
he said, according to a chronicler, " that I should raise my hand against
an elder brother who now stands for me in the place of my father":
like Jesus Christ he would be an innocent victim rather than spill the blood
of his brothers in the flesh and in God. "It is better for me to die
alone than to be the occasion of death to many."
So Boris dismissed his followers, and sat down to
wait with one attendant on the bank of the river Alta. During the night
he meditated on those martyrs who had been put to death by near relatives,
on the emptiness of all earthly things "except good deeds and true love and
right religion ", and he was sad to think that he must leave the "marvellous
light" of day and his "good and beautiful body ". One of his biographers
professes to give the very words of his prayer, which are valuable as showing
how the Russians of following generations looked on SS. Boris and Gleb:
"Lord Jesus Christ, who came on earth in this bodily form for our salvation
and who suffered your passsion and let your hands be nailed to the cross
for our sins, give me strength to bear my passion. It does not come from
enemies but from my own brother: but, Lord, do not count it to him for wickedness."
Early in the morning a gang of ruffians sent by Svyatopolk
found Boris and set upon him; they ran him through with spears, while he
called down peace on them.
As they approached Kiev with
the body, Boris was found still to be breathing, so two Varangians finished
him with their swords.
St Gleb, younger than Boris, met his end soon after.
Svyatopolk, shamming friendliness, had invited him to come to Kiev. On his
way down the Dneiper, near Smolensk, his boat was boarded by strange men,
armed and threatening. Gleb was terrified and besought them to spare him:
with tears streaming down his face, calling on his father and his brother,
he threw himself on his knees and promised to be their slave if only they
would not kill him. But he would not resist; and when he saw that appeals
were useless he resigned himself quietly to death. "I am in your hands
and the hands of my brother, your prince. I am being slain; I know not
what for; but thou, Lord, knowest. And I know, O my Lord, that thou didst
say to thine apostles that for thy name's sake hands would be laid on them
and they would be betrayed by kinsmen and friends, and that brother would
bring death to brother." The final blow is said to have been given by his
own cook, who crept up behind him and cut his throat, "like a butcher killing
a sheep ".
Five years later, in 1020, another son of St Vladimir,
Yaroslav, buried the incorrupt bodies of Boris and Gleb in the church of
St Basil at Vyshgorod; their tomb became a place of pilgrimage and miracles
were reported there. The Greek metropolitan of Kiev was asked to declare
their formal canonization, but he was more than dubious, for they did not
come under any of the categories of saints with which he was familiar: they
had not been great ascetics, they had not been bishops or teachers, they
had not been martyrs, for they did not die for the faith. But the Russians
saw them as strastoterptsy, " passion-bearers ", innocent men who, unwilling
to die, had yet repudiated violence and quietly accepted suffering and death
in the unresisting spirit of Christ. It was a conception characteristically
Russian, as it is characteristically Christian,*{*Non-violent resistance
to evil has persisted throughout Christian history there were for instance,
conscientious objectors to military service among the early saints, e.g.
St Victricius, St Martin of Tours and the martyr St Maximilian.} and popular feeling was
so strong that the Greek ecclesiastical authorities in Russia submitted to
what they seem not to have understood, and Boris and Gleb were enrolled among
the saints. This verdict was confirmed by Pope Benedict XIII in 1724.
These brothers are sometimes referred to as SS. Romanus and David,
names they were given at baptism. Liturgically they are called
martyrs.
There are three sources if not
for the life at any rate for the death of these brothers. (r) The chronicle
compiled at or near Kiev and attributed to the monk Nestor, now generally
referred to as the "Primary Chronicle"; (a) "An Account
of the Passion and Glory of the Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb", attributed
to a monk called Jacob who lived at the end of the eleventh century; (3)
"A Resdiag of the Life and Assassination of the Blessed Sufferers Boris and
Gleb". by a Nestor who was probably not the same as the one named above.
See Behr-Sigel in Irénikon,
vol. xii (1935), no. 6. Cf. also
bibliographical notes under St Sergius on September 25, especially Fedotov's
Russian Religious Mind. There is a reproducttion of an interesting picture
of these brothers in the "King Penguin" booklet of Russian eikons.
1015 Saint Boris was one of the sons of
St Vladimir (July 15), and was named Romanus at his Baptism. After their
father's death the eldest son Sviatopolk planned to kill his brothers Boris,
Gleb, and Yaroslav in order to seize power. He sent a message to Boris, pretending
that he wished to live in peace with him, and to increase Boris's land holdings
inherited from their father.
Some of Vladimir's advisers told Boris that he should take the
army and establish himelf as ruler of Kiev. St Boris, however, said that
he could never lift his hand against his own brother. Unfortunately, Sviatopolk
was not so scrupulous. He came to the town of Vyshegorod to ask its leaders
if they were loyal to him. They assured him that they were ready to die for
him.
Sviatopolk sent assassins to the Alta to kill Boris, who already
knew that his brother wanted him dead. When they arrived they heard him chanting
psalms and praying before an icon of Christ. He asked the Lord to strengthen
him for the suffering he was about to endure. He also prayed for Sviatopolk,
asking God not to count this against him as sin.
Then he lay down upon his couch, and the assassins stabbed him
with their lances, and also killed some of Boris's servants. Wrapping Boris
in a cloth, they threw him onto a wagon and drove off with him. When Sviatopolk
saw that he was still breathing, he sent some men to finish him off with
swords.
St Boris received the crown
of martyrdom in 1015. He and his brother Gleb became known as Passion-Bearers,
since they did not resist evil with violence.
1015 Saint Gleb was the
son of St Vladimir (July 15) and the brother of Sviatopolk, Yaroslav, and
St Boris.
He was named David at his Baptism.
After Sviatopolk had killed
Boris, he wondered, "Now how can I kill Gleb?" He sent him a message saying
that their father was ill and wished to see him. As he was on his way, he
received word from Yaroslav that their father had died and that Sviatopolk
had murdered Boris. St Gleb wept for his father and brother,
and was lamenting them when the assassins arrived. They seized his boat and
drew their weapons, but it was Gleb's cook Torchin who stabbed him with a
knife. The martyr's body was thrown onto the shore between two trees. Later,
he was buried beside St Boris in the church of St Basil.
The holy martyrs Princes Boris and Gleb are also commemorated
on May 2.
|
1041 Saint Hilarion
of Tvali (Tulashvili) served as abbot of Khakhuli Monastery in southwestern
Georgia a famous translator and writer and an eminent theologian.
In his work The Life of George of the
Holy Mountain, George the Lesser writes that Venerable Hilarion was
outstanding in virtue and celebrated for his sermons and ascetic labors.
St. Hilarion raised the young George of the Holy Mountain to be a brilliant
writer, translator, theologian and patriot. From him George also received
a blessing to enter the monastic life.
According to the chronicle Life of Kartli, St. Hilarion was a famous translator
and writer and an eminent theologian.
Eventually St. Hilarion moved from Khakhuli to Tvali Monastery, not far from
Antioch, where he remained the rest of his life. According to the 19th-century
historian-iconographer Michael Sabinin, St. Hilarion reposed in the year
1041.
|
1182 Saint Polycarp
the Archimandrite entered the Kiev Caves Monastery received monastic tonsure
and struggled for the salvation of his soul.
Soon Polycarp (whose name means "much fruit") began to bear fruits
of repentance and virtue. His relative St
Simon (May 10), who became Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, planted
the seeds which St Polycarp developed. As the holy bishop taught Polycarp
the principles of the spiritual life, the two became increasingly united
in spirit, just as they were related by blood.
When St Simon left the Monastery of the Caves to assume his hierarchal
responsibilities in Vladimir, he took Polycarp with him. St Polycarp wrote
down the stories that St Simeon told him of the God-pleasing ascetics of
the Kiev Caves so that others might also benefit from them. Therefore, he
is also known as St Polycarp the Hagiologist. Although St Polycarp returned
to the monastery, he always tried to live according to St Simeon's instructions.
After the repose of Igumen Akindynus, the brethren chose Polycarp
to succeed him as the Superior of the Lavra. He proved to be a skilled guide
for the brethren in their struggle for salvation, and also for those outside
the monastery.
The Great Prince Rostislav was one of many who profited from the
teaching of St Polycarp, and asked that he be allowed to become a monk. The
saint told him, "God has appointed you to stand for the truth, to judge with
justice, and to stand firmly before the Cross."
Rostislav answered, "Holy Father, one cannot be a prince in this
world without falling into sin. I am already exhausted and weakened by daily
cares and labors. Now in my old age I would like to serve God and emulate
those who have followed the narrow and sorrowul path and received the Kingdom
of Heaven. I have heard of how Constantine (May 21), great among kings, appeared
to a certain Elder and said, 'If I had known what glory the monks receive
in heaven… I would have taken off my crown and royal purple, and replaced
them with the monastic garb'."
St Polycarp told him, "If you
desire this from your heart, then may it be God's will."
However, as the prince was passing through Smolensk, he fell ill
and asked to be taken home to Kiev. Seeing how weak he was, his sister Rogneda
urged him to remain in Smolensk and be buried in the church they had built
there. Rostislav would not accept this suggestion. He said, "If I do
not make it back to Kiev, then let me be placed in the church my father built
in the Monastery of St Theodore. If God delivers me from this illness and
grants me health, then I vow to become a monk at the Monastery of the Caves
under Polycarp."
As he lay at death's door, Rostislav said to the priest Simeon,
"You must answer before God since you hindered me from being tonsured by
the holy one in the Caves Monastery, for I truly desired that. May the Lord
not count it as a sin that I did not fulfill this."
St Polycarp went to the Lord
on July 24, 1182. After this, no successor was chosen for a long time. Although
there were many worthy Elders in the Lavra, they all declined the office
of igumen out of humility. The brethren realized that they could not remain
for long without a shepherd. They assembled in the church and prayed to Sts
Anthony and Theodosius and St Polycarp to help them find someone worthy to
take his place.
Then a voice was heard saying, "Let us go to the priest Basil
in Schekovitsa. Let him be our Superior and rule the monastery in the monastic
rank."
The monks went to the widowed priest Basil and asked him to be
their Superior, but he refused for a long time. After many entreaties, he
finally agreed and went with them to the monastery. He was tonsured as a
monk and installed as igumen by Metropolitan Nicephorus of Kiev, Bishops
Laurence of Turov and Nicholas of Polotsk. Igumen Basil proved to be a model
of virtues and a worthy successor to St Polycarp.
|
1224 Christina the Astonishing
"The angels then transported me into Heaven, even to the throne of the Divine
Majesty. The Lord regarded me with a favorable eye, and I experienced an
extreme joy, because I thought to obtain the grace of dwelling eternally
with Him. "But my Heavenly Father, seeing what passed in my heart,
said to me these words: 'Assuredly, My dear daughter, you will one day be
with Me. Now, however, I allow you to choose, either to remain with Me henceforth
from this time, or to return again to earth to accomplish a mission of charity
and suffering. In order to deliver from the flames of Purgatory those souls
which have inspired you with so much compassion, you shall suffer for them
upon earth; you shall endure great torments, without, however, dying from
their effects. And not only will you relieve the departed, but the example
which you will give to the living, and your life of continual suffering,
will lead sinners to be converted and to expiate their crimes. After having
ended this new life, you shall return here laden with merits.' Her body is
preserved in the Redemptorist church at Saint-Trond. Her resurrection was
witnessed by the whole town and many saw her escape her various tortures
unscathed (Mirabilis) V (PC)
St Christina The Astonishing,
Virgin
Christina was born at Brusthem in the diocese of Liege, in 1150,
and at the age of fifteen was left an orphan, with two elder sisters.
They belonged to the peasant class. When she was about twenty-two Christina
had a seizure, which was probably a cataleptic fit, was assumed to be dead,
and in due course was carried in an open coffin to the church, where a Mass
of requiem was begun. Suddenly, after the Agnus Dei, Christina sat up, soared
to the beams of the roof, “like a bird”, as her biographer says, and there
perched herself. Everyone fled from the church except her elder
sister, who, though thoroughly frightened, gave a good example of recollection
to the others by stopping till the end of Mass, immobilis perseverans. The
priest then made Christina come down (it was said that she had taken refuge
up there because she could not bear the smell of sinful human bodies), and
she averred that she had been actually dead; that she had gone down to Hell
and there recognized many friends, and to Purgatory, where she had seen more
friends, and then to Heaven; that she had been offered the choice of stopping
there or of returning to earth and liberating by her prayers and sufferings
those whom she had seen in Purgatory; that she had elected to return, and
that within the space of the threefold Agnus Dei her soul had been restored
to her body.
This was only the beginning of a series of hardly
less incredible occurrences. Christina fled into remote places, climbed
trees and towers and rocks, and crawled into ovens, to escape from the smell
of humans. She would handle fire with impunity and, in the coldest weather,
dash into the river, or into a millrace and be carried unharmed under the
wheel. She prayed balancing herself on the top of a hurdle or
curled up on the ground in such a way that she looked like a ball.
Not unnaturally, everyone thought she was mad or “full of devils”, and attempts
were made to confine her, but she always broke loose. Eventually she
was caught by a man who had to give her a violent blow on the leg, and it
was thought her leg was broken. She was therefore taken to the house
of a surgeon in Liege, who put splints on the limb and chained her to a pillar
for safety. She escaped in the night. On one occasion when a
priest, not knowing her and frightened by her appearance, had refused to
give her communion, she rushed wildly through the streets, jumped into the
Meuse, and swam away. She lived by begging, dressed in rags, and in
many ways behaved in a very terrifying manner. There is even a faint
hint of relief in her biographer when he says, when she had climbed into
the font at Wellen and sat down in the baptismal water, “after that her way
of living was more conformed to that of men, she was quieter, and better
able to bear the smell of human beings”.
The last years of her life Christina passed in the
convent of St Catherine at Saint-Trond, and there she died at the age of
seventy-four. Even while she lived there were some who regarded her
with great respect. Louis, Count of Looz, treated her as a friend,
welcoming her to his castle, accepting her rebukes, and on his deathbed insisting
on manifesting his conscience to her. Bd Mary of Oignies had regard
for her, the prioress of St Catherine's praised her obedience, and St Lutgardis
sought her advice.
The things narrated above are not from the acta of
a saint written up from all sorts of sources long after her death; we have
the first-hand evidence of Cardinal James de Vitry, and Christina's biographer
was also a contemporary, a Dominican friar, Thomas de Cantimprd, who, if
he did not know her personally, got his information from those who did.
Allowances must be made for exaggeration, misunderstanding and the desire
to be edifying according to the mind of the writer and his time; but even
when this has been done, there is little in the recorded history of Christina
of Brusthem to make us think she was other than a pathological case.
By far the most valuable testimony
we possess to Christina's extraordinary phenomena is that of Cardinal James
de Vitry in the preface to his life of Mary of Oignies. This is extracted
in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol.
v, and printed together with the biography by Thomas de Cantimpré.
See the Analecta Bollandiana, vol.
xix (1900), pp. 58 and 365; Fr Thurston in The Month, August 1922, pp. 122-131;
and E. Michael, Geschichte des deutschen
Volkes seit dem 13 Jahr., vol. iii, pp. 160 seq.
Orthodoxe und Katholische Kirche: Christina von Tyros - 24. Juli
Katholische Kirche: Christina von Bolsena - 24. Juli
Born in Brustheim, near Liège,
Belgium, 1150; feast day formerly July 4. Fifteen-year-old Christina was
left an orphan with her two older sisters. When she was about 22 (some sources
say 32, which is more reasonable given the balance of the evidence), she
had an epileptic fit and was thought to be dead.
As was the custom Christina was carried into the
church in an open coffin, where a Requiem Mass was beginning. Suddenly, after
the Agnus Dei, Christina sat up, soared to the beams of the roof, and perched
there. The congregation fled in fright, except her elder sister. When the
Mass was completed, the priest persuaded Christina to come down from the
rafters, where she is said to have taken refuge to escape the smell of sinful
human bodies.
Christina told the priest that she had died, gone to hell, to
purgatory, and then to heaven. She was allowed to return to earth to pray
for the suffering souls in purgatory. In each place she saw many she knew.
In her own words:
"As soon as my soul was separated from my body,
it was received by angels, who conducted it to a very gloomy place, entirely
filled with souls. The torments which they there endured appeared to me so
excessive, that it is impossible for me to give any idea of their rigor.
I saw among them many of my acquaintances, and, deeply touched by their sad
condition, I asked what place it was, for I believed it to be Hell.
"My guide answered me that it was Purgatory,
where sinners were punished who, before death, had repented of their faults,
but had not made worthy satisfaction to God. From thence I was conducted
into Hell, and there also I recognized among the reprobates some whom I had
formerly known.
"The angels then transported me into Heaven,
even to the throne of the Divine Majesty. The Lord regarded me with a favorable
eye, and I experienced an extreme joy, because I thought to obtain the grace
of dwelling eternally with Him.
"But my Heavenly
Father, seeing what passed in my heart, said to me these words: 'Assuredly,
My dear daughter, you will one day be with Me. Now, however, I allow you
to choose, either to remain with Me henceforth from this time, or to return
again to earth to accomplish a mission of charity and suffering. In order
to deliver from the flames of Purgatory those souls which have inspired you
with so much compassion, you shall suffer for them upon earth; you shall endure
great torments, without, however, dying from their effects. And not only
will you relieve the departed, but the example which you will give to the
living, and your life of continual suffering, will lead sinners to be converted
and to expiate their crimes. After having ended this new life, you shall
return here laden with merits.'
"At these words, seeing the great advantages
offered to me for souls, I replied, without hesitation, that I would return
to life, and I arose at that same instant. It is for this sole object, the
relief of the departed and the conversion of sinners, that I have returned
to this world. Therefore be not astonished at the penances I shall practice,
nor at the life that you will see me lead from henceforward. It will be so
extraordinary that nothing like to it has ever been seen."
Thereafter, behaved as one of the great eccentrics of Christendom.
Christina fled to remote places, climbed trees and towers and rocks, and
even hid in ovens to escape the smell of humans. But more importantly, she
did everything possible to suffer in the extreme for the good of other souls.
After her resurrection, Christina dressed in rags bound together with saplings,
lived by begging in extreme poverty, and renounced all the comforts of life-
-even a home.
She would jump into a burning furnace until she could no longer
handle it, or into the river in the coldest weather and stay for weeks. Once
she was even said to have gotten into a mill-race and been carried under
the wheel. She would pray while balancing on a hurdle or curled up in a ball
on the ground. In a church at a placed called Wellen, she climbed into the
large font and sat in the water. Of course, many thought that she was insane.
Once she was caught by a man who struck her so hard on the leg
that it was thought to be broken. She was taken to a surgeon's home where
her leg was splinted, and she was chained to a pillar for her own safety.
She escaped at night. On one occasion, a priest refused her Communion; she
ran wildly down the street and jumped into the Meuse River.
Yet many people came to Christina for good advice.
Christina spent the last years of her life in the convent of Saint
Catherine at Saint-Trond. While she lived there, she was held in high respect
by Louis, the count of Looz, who treated her as a friend, accepted her criticism,
and welcomed her at his castle. Blessed Marie d'Oignies respected her as
well, the prioress of Saint Catherine's praised her obedience, and Saint
Lutgardis sought her counsel. She lived this life of penance for 52 years
after she had been raised from the dead.
Christina's experiences were
recorded by a contemporary Dominican, Cardinal James de Vitry, in the preface
to the Life of Marie d'Oignies, and by the Dominican Bishop Thomas de Cantimpre'.
Her body is preserved in the Redemptorist church at Saint-Trond. Her resurrection
was witnessed by the whole town and many saw her escape her various tortures
unscathed. Her cultus has never
been officially confirmed (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Schouppe, Walsh,
White).
In art, Blessed Christina is
a maiden with dishevelled hair sitting on a wheel with serpents around her.
At times she may be shown (1) with a serpent around her wrist (Husenbeth
erroneously gives this as Christina of Bolsena or Tuscany (today); (2) with
a serpent and palm; or (3) with a wheel and palm (easily confused with Saint
Catherine of Alexandria, but she is not crowned and her wheel has no spikes)
(Roeder). Christina is venerated at Liège and Trond (Roeder). Some
of these emblems seem more appropriate for Christina of Tyre; there may be
some confusion.
Christina von Bolsena
Orthodoxe und Katholische Kirche: Christina von Tyros - 24. Juli
Katholische Kirche: Christina von Bolsena - 24. Juli
Christina, Tochter heidnischer Eltern, wurde als junges Mädchen
von einer Dienerin zum Christetum bekehrt. Ihr Vater liess sie mit vielen
goldenen und silbernen Götzenbildern in einem Turm im See von Bolsena
einsperren. Als sie aber standhaft beim Christentum blieb, liess er sie foltern
und schliesslich töten.
Am 18.06.1263 ereignete sich an ihrem Sarg in Bolsena das Blutwunder
von Bolsena, das zu der allgemeinen Einführung des Fronleichnamfestes
durch Urban IV. führte. In der orthodoxen Kirche wird der Märtyrerin
Christina von Tyros gedacht. Ihr Vater, Gouverneur der Stadt, wollte, dass
das elfjährige Mädchen heidnische Priesterin wurde. Als sie sich
weigerte, sperrte er sie mit vielen goldenen und silbernen Götzenbildern
in einen Turm und liess sie schließlich um 300 hinrichten. Die
Lebensgeschichten der beiden Märtyrerinnen wurden im Lauf der Jahrhunderte
offensichtlich vermischt und sind heute kaum unterscheidbar. Es handelt sich
aber wohl tatsächlich um zwei Märtyrerinnen.
|
1292 St. Kinga Princess
of Poland and Franciscan tertiary; a niece of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and
a great niece of St. Redwig; Prayer, mortification, alms, and daily attendance
on the poor in the hospitals, employed her time took the veil in the Sandecz
(Sandez) Abbey, which she had built for the Poor Clare nun
Sometimes called Cunegunde, Zinga, or Kioga, she
was married to Prince Boleslaus of Poland. Kinga founded a monastery at Sandez.
1292 Bd Cunegund, Or Kinga, Virgin
Cunegund, whose Magyar name was Kinga, was born in the year 1224, daughter
of Bela IV, King of Hungary, and niece of St Elizabeth; her mother, who had
suffered greatly at former births, was on this occasion delivered with ease,
and other marvels of a more unlikely nature are recorded of her birth and
infancy, as that her first cry took the form of a salutation to the Queen
of Heaven. Cunegund was brought up at the court, learning "Latin and the
fear of the Lord", and in her sixteenth year was married to Boleslaus V,
Ring of Poland. She had agreed to the maniage, but on her wedding night asked
the king to observe continence towards her, as she had given herself to God;
to this he agreed for one year, and at the end of that time took with her
a vow of perpetual chastity before the bishop of Cracow, whence he is known
in history as Boleslaus the Chaste.
The queen led a most austere life, wearing a hair-shirt under
her royal garments and giving much time to the care of the needy and sick.
When her husband died in 1279 she refused the wish of the nobles that she
should carry on the government of the kingdom and became a Poor Clare in
the convent she had founded at Sandeck, and there passed the rest of her
life, dying on July 24, 1292. She built churches and hospitals, paid the
expenses of chapters of the Friars Minor, and ransomed Christians from the
Turks. When in 1287 Poland was overrun by the Tartars, the nuns of
Sandeck had to take refuge in the castle of Pyenin which was besieged by
the invaders; but at the prayers of Cunegund they drew off. Her last years
were marked by many miracles and supernatural manifestations. Her popular
cultus was approved in 1690.
Of this saint there are two medieval
biographies. The first, attributed erroneously to a Franciscan named Stanislaus,
has been printed in the Monumenta Polon.
histor., vol. iv, pp. 682-744;
the second, by Jan Dlugosz, may be found in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. v, and in
the collected edition of the works of Dlugosz (1863-1887). Cf. F. Banfl,
Sponsus Marianus filius regit Hungariae
(1930)
Kinga of Poland, OFM Tert. V (AC) (also known as Cunegunde(s),
Kioga, Zinga) Died July 24, 1292. Saint Kinga was the daughter of King Bela
IV of Hungary and his wife, Mary, daughter of Emperor Theodorus Lascharis
of Constantinople. Her lineage, however, included more than secular nobility.
Kinga was the niece of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and great-niece of Saint
Hedwig. In 1239, Kinga married Prince Boleslas the Chaste, sovereign of Lesser
Poland (Cracow, Sandomire, and Lublin), but by mutual consent the couple
never consummated the marriage. Prayer, mortification, alms, and daily attendance
on the poor in the hospitals, employed her time. During their 40 years of
marriage Kinga and Boleslas shared the many sufferings to which the Tartar
invasion subjected them. After Boleslas's death in 1279, Kinga took the veil
in the Sandecz (Sandez) Abbey, which she had built for the Poor Clare nuns.
She was venerated with singular piety in the diocese of Cracow and other
parts of Poland, and her name was solemnly inscribed among the saints by Alexander
VIII, in 1690 (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
|
1391 Bd Nicholas (Nils)
Hermanssön son of Herman and Margaret of Skeninge, was raised to piety;
led a life of abstinence; educated in Paris and Orléans, France, in
civil and canon law; ordained priest, served as a canon in Sweden, tutor
to the sons of Saint Bridget of Sweden to whom he was a devoted friend. In
1361, he was appointed archdeacon of Linköping. B (AC)
Bd Nicholas Hermansson
In spite of the labours of St Anskar in the ninth century, and the activities
of English and German missionaries during the eleventh, Christianity had
not an extensive and permanent hold in Sweden until the twelfth, and even
then its progress was laborious. Until Uppsala was made a metropolitan see
by Pope Alexander III, Linkoping was the principal ecclesiastical centre,
and even afterwards its position was to a considerable extent maintained
by a succession of capable and energetic bishops, of whom Bd Nicholas Hermansson
was one of the most noteworthy. He was born in 1331 and was educated at the
University of Paris and at Orleans. After his ordination to the priesthood
he was taken into the royal household and appointed tutor to the young princes.
When he was promoted to the bishopric of Linkoping, Nicholas
soon was noted both for his reforming zeal and his personal example of austerity.
He enforced the celibacy of the clergy, which was still a cause of discontent
in the Swedish church, and stoutly upheld the very extensive prerogatives
of clerics in the country; but unlike some of the later Swedish bishops he
used the episcopal power and wealth solely for the good of religion and the
poor. Bd Nicholas was a poet and wrote several liturgical offices in rime
; such compositions were very popular in the middle ages, and amid a large
number, of which most are anonymous and of no credit to their writers, the
contributions of several known Swedish prelates stand out as better than
most; Nicholas was the best of these, and after the death of St Bridget he
wrote an office in her honour which included his best verse, the hymn Rosa
rorans bonitatem. The
abbey of Vadstena, the headquarters of the Bridgettine Order which she had
founded, was in his diocese, and he received her body when it was brought
thither from Rome by her daughter St Catherine
in 1374, the first year of his episcopate. He died
on May 2, 1391, and is generally referred to as Bd Nicholas, though it has
been claimed that he was canonized.
A complete Latin life of this holy bishop, compiled about
twenty-five years after his death by one of the canons of Linköping,
has been edited by H. Schtick in Tva svenska
biografler fran medeltiden
(1895). We have also in the same volume a fragment of another biography and
a letter from Bishop Canine of Linköping addressed to the pope and cardinals
at Constance urging the beatification of Nicholas. Naturally the bishop is
frequently mentioned in the various lives of St Bridget of Sweden.
Born in Skeninge, Sweden, c. 1326-1331; said to have been canonized
in 1414 (or 1416).
Nicholas, the son of Herman and Margaret of Skeninge, was raised
to piety. He was educated in Paris and Orléans, France, in civil and
canon law. He was ordained a priest, served as a canon in Sweden, and became
tutor to the sons of Saint Bridget of Sweden to whom he was a devoted friend.
In 1361, he was appointed archdeacon of Linköping.
Nicholas led a life of abstinence: On Fridays he fasted on bread
with a little salt and water; sometimes fasting completely from Thursday evening
until midday on Saturday. In 1374, he was promoted to bishop of Linköping.
In that dignity Nicholas had to overcome considerable opposition from both
the civil authorities and a reluctant clergy who resented his attempts at
reforming both the organization of the church and morality. Nicholas persisted
patiently and eventually overcame the opposition.
He is highly honored in Sweden as a liturgist and poet, who devoted
his talents to liturgical compositions. This was especially so after the return
of the body of Saint Bridget to her convent of Vladstena in Linköping.
He had already helped Vladstena by writing its constitutions. Nicholas worked
tirelessly for his friend's canonization, which became official about the
time of his death.
Nicholas's cult arose immediately thereafter; vita were written
and cures described. An enquiry into his life and miracles began in 1417,
and Pope Martin V confirmed his cultus. The translation of relics occurred
in 1515, and eight years later his Office was authorized. His cultus ended
with the Reformation.
The Benedictines note that this
canonization cannot be proven; he might be better considered as a beatus.
In some places, his feast is given as May 2 (Benedictines, Farmer,
Husenbeth).
|
1444
Bd Felicia of Milan; life of chastity and direct service of God'; a Poor
Clare convent of St Ursula at Milan 25 years; her sister followed her example
and her brother became a Friar Minor; remarkable in the community for her
faultless observance of the rule; perseverance in prayer and penance in spite
of the diabolical influences that were active against her. The gentle
nun overcame these fierce trials; many miracles
Felicia Meda was born at Milan in 1378, the eldest of three children of good
family. The sudden death of both her parents when she was a child disposed
her mind to serious things, and soon after she was twelve she bound herself
to a life of chastity and direct service of God, which she followed in the
world for ten years. Then she became a Poor Clare in the convent of St Ursula
at Milan; shortly afterwards her sister followed her example and her brother
became a Friar Minor. For twenty-five years Bd Felicia led the
hidden and austere life of her order, remarkable in the community for her
faultless observance of the rule; perseverance in prayer and penance in spite
of the diabolical influences that were active against her. The gentle nun
overcame these fierce trials, and her experience and tempered character caused
her to be elected abbess.
Under her loving and skilful direction the devotion and virtue of the nuns
of St Ursula's became famous, and when, some fourteen years later, in 1439,
the wife of Galeazzo Malatesta, Duke of Pesaro, wished to found a Poor Clare
convent in that city she asked for an affiliation from Milan. The Franciscan
minister general sent Felicia herself to make the new foundation. The sadness
with which the Milanese nuns parted from their abbess was equalled by the
rejoicing with which she was received at Pesaro, whither her reputation preceded
her. The wife of Galeazzo, accompanied by townspeople, came out to
meet her and her seven nuns, but could not persuade them to get into the
ducal carriages and drive in in state, so they made their entry into the
city altogether on foot. Bd Felicia presided over the new convent
for only four years, in which time she filled it with devoted religious,
and died on September 30, 1444. The people of Pesaro, who had attributed
their deliverance from war and plague to her prayers, flocked to venerate
her tomb and were rewarded by many miracles. This cultus was approved in 1812.
In the Acta Sanctorum, September,
vol. viii, a tolerably full account, based mainly on Mark of Lisbon, is given
of this beata. An article, however, in the Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, vol.
xx (1927), pp. 241-259, supplies a more thorough discussion of the sources,
and points out with reference to the sending of Bd Felicia to Pesaro that
the minister general's, Guglielmo da Casale, letter imposing this obedience
is still preserved. A life of the beata
by Fra Agostino Gallucci was printed in 1637.
|
1446 Blessed John
Tavalli of Tossignano; best remembered as the translator of the Bible into
Italian; he studied at the University of Bologna before joining the order
of the Gesuati; In 1431, he was named bishop of Ferrara. (AC)
Born at Tossignano near Imola, Italy; cultus confirmed by Benedict XIV. John
Tavalli studied at the University of Bologna before joining the order of
the Gesuati. In 1431, he was named bishop of Ferrara. He is best remembered,
however, as the translator of the Bible into Italian (Benedictines).
John Tavalli is generally
called "of Tossignano" after his birthplace, near Imola. He studied
at the University of Bologna and then joined the Jesuats (Gesuati), a lay nursing congregation,
of whose founder, Bd John Colombini,
he wrote a biography. He also made translations into Italian of parts
of the Bible, of the Moralia of
St Gregory, and of the sermons of St Bernard,
and himself wrote several devotional works, including a treatise on perfection
in the spiritual life. In 1431 he was chosen bishop of Ferrara, and seven
years later welcomed to his cathedral city and assisted at the council, convoked
by Pope Eugenius IV at the suggestion
of the emperor, John VIII Palaiologos, to effect a union of the Western and
Eastern churches against the encroachments of Islam; until the council was
removed to Florence he was the host of the pope, the emperor and the patriarch
of Constantinople. But his duties to the Church at large did not prevent
him from having a tender care for those committed to his special charge in
his own diocese, and he was loved for his charity and benevolence.
In 1444 he devoted the whole of a big legacy to building a hospital.
Bd John died two years later, and his popular cultus was approved in 1748.
There is a Latin life written
by one of the Gesuati which is printed, with introductory matter, in the
Acta Sanctontm, July, vol.
v cf. also the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. iv, pp. 31-41; and
Ughelli, Italia sacra, vol. ii,
cc. 591-592 .
|
1493 Bd Augustine Of Biella;
suffered from a painful illness reputation for miracles earned him
publicity most distasteful to him; bore it humbly and patiently; allowed
to withdraw to the house of his order at Venice, and there in retirement
spent the last ten years of his life
Augustine Fangi was born in 1430 at Biella in Piedmont and became a Dominican
at his birth-place. His life was outwardly uneventful, being passed
in a careful observance of his duties as a religious. For a long time
he suffered from a painful illness, which was made more painful by the remedies
of the physicians, and his patience was the admiration both of them and his
brethren. He was in turn the prior of several friaries, which he governed
capably and restored to a stricter observance when it had become lax.
The success of his preaching and a reputation for miracles earned him a publicity
that was most distasteful to him; having borne it humbly and patiently for
some time he was allowed to withdraw to the house of his order at Venice,
and there in retirement spent the last ten years of his life. With
the words, "Praise be to God! Praise be to the Most High!" on his lips
he died on July 22, 1493. The cultus
of Bd Augustine was approved in 1872.
Besides a life by D. Riccardi,
Il beato Agostino di Biella
(1874), there is also a sketch by M. Cicognani (1873). See further,
Procter, Dominican Saints, pp. 208-210,
and cf. Mortier, Maîtres Généraux O.P., vol. iv, p. 648.
|
1594
The Durham Martyrs of
In the year 1594 four men in the county of Durham gave their lives for the
Church, and they were beatified with other English martyrs in 1929. The first,
on February 4, was a layman, BD JOHN SPEED (alias Spence), who was hanged
in the city of Durham for "being aiding and assisting to priests, whom he
used to serve in guiding and conducting from one Catholic house to another.
He died with constancy, despising the proffers that were made to him to bring
him to conform" (Challoner).
Bd John Bone was born at Dufton in Westmorland about the year 1544
and educated at Queen's College, Oxford, of which he became fellow.
He was received into the Church in 1576 and four years later went to Rheims,
where he was ordained priest in the following year and returned to England.
He laboured with such energy and success in the North that he became one
of the most sought- after of priests, whether by his friends or his enemies.
He was betrayed by one Francis Ecclesfield. To forward his purpose
by inspiring confidence in Mr Boste, this Ecclesfield had sacrilegiously
received the sacraments from his hands; he then informed Sir William Bowes,
and the priest was taken in his hiding-place at Waterhouses, the residence
of Mr William Claxton, near Durham.
He was taken up to London, where he was so terribly racked in the
Tower to induce him to betray his friends that he was permanently crippled.
He was sent back to Durham for trial at the July assizes. With him was arraigned
Bd George Swallowell, a converted Protestant minister; he was wavering in
his resolution, but the sight of Mr Boste's "resolute, bold, joyful and pleasant"
bearing encouraged him to stand firm and make in open court a declaration
of his faith, whereupon the priest equally publicly absolved him. The man
suffered a few days later at Darlington. Mr Boste was condemned for his priesthood,
and on July 24, 1594, was put to death at Dryburn, outside Durham. An eye-witness
(the Ven. Christopher Robinson, afterwards martyred) states that he recited
the Angelus as he mounted the ladder, and that he was cut down so soon ("after
the space of a Paternoster") that he revived while being carried for dismemberment,
which was begun while he was yet living. Another witness states that he prayed,
"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus forgive thee I" for his executioner even as his heart
was being torn from his body.
Two days after the passion of John Boste there was hanged, drawn,
and quartered for his priesthood at Gateshead Bd John Ingram, who had been
condemned at Durham at the same time as Boste and Swallowell. He was
born at Stoke Edith, in Herefordshire, and educated at New College, Oxford.
After his conversion he went to the English College at Rheims and afterwards
to Rome, where he was ordained in 1589 and three years later was sent on
the Scottish mission. At the end of 1593 he was arrested on Tyneside
and sent to London, where he was tortured under the eye of Topcliffe but,
in his own words, "I take God to witness that I have neither named house,
man, woman, or child, in time of or before my torments".
See Challoner's MM?., pp. 197,
202-208, and 597-600. Cf. also the
many references to these martyrs which occur in the Catholic Record Society
Publications, vol. v. Bd John
Ingram was an expert in Latin verse and many of his "Epigrams" are there
printed (pp. 270-285), together with two letters to his fellow prisoners.
|
1594 St. John Boste
One of Forty Martyrs of England and Wales; born at Dufton, at Westmoreland,
England; studied at Oxford. Becoming a Catholic in 1576, he went to Reims
and received ordination in 1581. John went back to England where he worked
in the northern parts of the kingdom
He became the object of a massive manhunt. He was betrayed, arrested, and
taken to London. There he was crippled on the rack and returned to Dryburn
near Durham. On July 24, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered. John was canonized
by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as a martyr of Durham.
John Boste, Priest M (RM) Born at Dufton, Westmorland, England, c. 1544;
died at Dryburn near Durham, England, July 24, 1594; beatified in 1929; canonized
by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
John Boste studied at Queen's College, Oxford, and was a fellow there. He
became a Catholic in 1576, went to Rheims in 1580, and was ordained there
the following year. Father Boste was sent to the English mission, ministered
to the Catholics of northern England, and became an object of an intensive
manhunt. He was betrayed by a Francis Ecclesfield near Durham, and taken
to London, where he was crippled for the rest of his life by the racking
he was subjected to. Sent back to Durham, he was condemned to death for his
priesthood and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Dryburn near Durham (Benedictines,
Delaney) .
|
1667 The Child SchemaMonk
Bogolep was the son of a Moscow nobleman Yakov Lukich Umakov and his wife
Ekatarina Numerous miracles of healing through the prayers of the holy SchemaMonk
Bogolep; the holy lad had repeatedly appeared to many either in sleep, or
awake while walking along the river bank or coming down the hill
He was born in 1660 at Moscow. During Baptism they gave the new-born the
name Boris, in honour of the holy nobleborn Prince PassionBearer ("Strastoterpets")
Boris (Comm. 24 July).
Umakov was appointed voevoda (military-commander) in the city of Chernyi
Yar, situated 250 versts from Astrakhan. He was known for his integrity.
Boris from infancy displayed unusual traits. On Wednesdays and Fridays he
would not suckle the milk from his mother's breasts; when the bells pealed
at the church, he began to cry and at once became quiet, when they brought
him into the church. When they did not take the infant to church, he cried
all day and ate nothing.
In 1662 a deadly pestilence spread about in Russia. The child fell ill --
the pestilence afflicted him in the legs. He became lame, but continued to
walk to church. The parents prayed about the health of their son and they
tried everything in their power, that he would be healed. But no sooner had
the one illness gone, than upon his face there appeared another, called scales.
One time during his illness the child saw a wandering monk, who visited at
their home. The angelic garb so impressed the child, that he began to implore
his parents to dew him suchlike garb and permit him to take monastic tonsure.
Amidst this the holy lad proclaimed: "Lo, ye wilt see for yourselves, when
ye tonsure and grant me the angelic garb, I shall be well". The parents consented.
The child was invested in the schema with the name Bogolep (the Russian version
of the Greek name Theoprepios, meaning -- "in the semblance of God"). On
the next day the holy schema-monk was completely healthy, his face was clear
and there remained not a trace of the illness. But on the third day there
was a new illness, he was feverish, and it mortally struck down the lad.
He died on 1 August 1667 and was buried at the left wall of the wooden Chernoyarsk
church in honour of the Resurrection of Christ. (This church was erected,
following a great conflagration in Chernyi Yar, in the year 1652 on 24 July,
the day of memory of Saint Boris). Over the grave of the lad was built a
chapel.
Numerous miracles of healing through the prayers of the holy SchemaMonk Bogolep
appear to be the basis of establishing the feastday to him on his name-day
in common ("tezoimenitstvo") with the holy nobleborn Prince Boris -- 24 July.
The life of the holy SchemaMonk Bogolep was compiled under a vow by the Chernoyarsk
merchant Savva Tatarinov during the years 1731-1732. Icons of the saint,
with the tropar and kondak to him, were widely dispersed throughout the Astrakhan
region. In 1750 on the place of the wooden church was built a stone church
with a side altar in honour of the holy Martyr John the Warrior.
The grave of the holy schema monk was enclosed in this side-altar. The bank
of the river, at which the church of the Resurrection of Christ was situated,
was constantly eroding. By the mid XIX Century the structure of the church
was threatened, and they removed all the holy things from it. But for a long
time the Chernoyarsk people did not remove the chief holy thing -- the grave
of the holy schema-monk. Finally, in 1851 when the water had already approached
2 arshin [4 ft. 8 in.], the people recoursed to the MostHoly Synod with a
request to transfer the holy remains of the Schema-Monk Bogolep, and they
received permission for this. The small child's coffin was laid bare, but
just when the city head took it into his hands, it slid out from his hands
and together with the crumbled earth it disappeared into the waters of the
Volga.
This disappearance just at the opening of the grave was accepted as happening
at the Will of God, since the holy lad had repeatedly appeared to many either
in sleep, or awake while walking along the river bank or coming down the
hill. Amidst this he gave the consolation, that spiritually he would be present
with believers.
The simple life, but full of the mysteries of God, of the holy Schema-Monk
Bogolep manifests the power of the words of the Saviour concerning children:
"Let the children come unto Me and hinder them not, for of such is the Kingdom
of God. Truly I tell ye: whoso cometh not to the Kingdom of God as a little
child, shalt not enter therein. And, having hugged them, He raised His hands
over them and He blessed them" (Mk. 10: 14-16) .
|
1694 Blessed Antony
Turriani several apostolic journeys OSA (AC)
(also known as Turriano, of Torre) Born in Milan, Italy; died in Aquila,
Naples, cultus confirmed in 1759. Antony studied medicine at Padua. After
practicing as a physician in Milan, he became an Augustinian Friar hermit.
He made several apostolic journeys, including a three-year stay at Santiago
de Compostella, Spain, before settling again in Aquila (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
1694 Blessed Antony Turriani studied
medicine at Padua; practicing physician in Milan; became an Augustinian Friar
hermit; made several apostolic journeys, including a three-year stay at Santiago
de Compostella, Spain, before settling again in Aqila, OSA (AC)
(also known as Turriano, of Torre) Born in Milan, Italy; died in Aquila,
Naples, 1694; cultus confirmed in 1759. (Benedictines, Encyclopedia)
.
|
1838 Bl. Joseph Fernandez
Dominican martyr of Vietnam. He was sent there in 1805 as an ordained priest
and appointed provincial vicar of the mission. He was beheaded. He was beatified
in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
Blessed Joseph Fernandez, OP M (AC) Born in Spain, 1774; died in Tonkin (Vietnam),
1838; beatified in 1900 by Pope Leo XIII. Joseph was professed a friar in
the Dominican Order. Thereafter, he was ordained a priest and sent into the
mission field of Tonkin (1805), where he served as provincial vicar. Father
Fernandez is honored with Ignatius Delgado and Companions for his beheading
for the faith (Benedictines, Dorcy) .
|
Bl.
Maria Pilar Martinez Garcia & Companions Carmelite nun, with Maria Angeles
Valtierra and Teresa Garcia y Garcia. They were killed in Guadalajara, Spain,
by communists in the civil war. Maria Pilar Martinez was an older nun from
Tarazona, Zaragoza. They were beatified in 1987 by Pope John Paul II.
|
1877
Johann Heinrich Volkening In seiner Heimat wurde er auch 1838 Pfarrer
Evangelische Kirche: 24. Juli
Johann Heinrich Volkening wurde am
10.5.1796 im Ravensberger Land geboren. In seiner Heimat wurde er auch 1838
Pfarrer, und zwar in Jöllenbek bei Bielefeld, einer verwahrlosten und
toten Gemeinde. In beharrlicher Arbeit konnte er die Gemeinde wieder zu einem
reichen Leben erwecken. Seine Arbeit hat noch viele Jahrzehnte im Ravensberger
und Mindener Land nachgewirkt. Er blieb bis ins zweiundsiebzigste Lebensjahr
seiner Gemeinde treu und schlug manche Berufung aus. Volkening starb am 25.
Juli 1877.
|
1898 St. Sharbel
Makhlouf from the Monastery of St. Maron at Annaya, Lebanon; l lived
as a hermit 23 years; Bishop Zayek wrote: “St. Sharbel is called the second
St. Anthony of the Desert, the Perfume of Lebanon, the first Confessor of
the East to be raised to the Altars according to the actual procedure of
the Catholic Church, the honor of our Aramaic Antiochian Church, and the model
of spiritual values and renewal."
(1828-) Although this saint never traveled far from the Lebanese
village of Beka-Kafra, where he was born, his influence has spread widely.
Joseph Zaroun Maklouf was raised by an uncle because his
father, a mule driver, died when Joseph was only three. At the age of 23,
Joseph joined the Monastery of St. Maron at Annaya, Lebanon, and took the
name Sharbel in honor of a second-century martyr. He professed his final vows
in 1853 and was ordained six years later.
Following the example of the fifth-century St. Maron, Sharbel
lived as a hermit from 1875 until his death. His reputation for holiness prompted
people to seek him to receive a blessing and to be remembered in his prayers.
He followed a strict fast and was very devoted to the Blessed Sacrament.
When his superiors occasionally asked him to administer the sacraments to
nearby villages, Sharbel did so gladly.
He died in the late afternoon on Christmas Eve. Christians and
non-Christians soon made his tomb a place of pilgrimage and of cures. Pope
Paul VI beatified him in 1965 and canonized him in 1977.
Comment: Pope John Paul II has
often said that the Church has two lungs (East and West) and it must learn
to breathe using both of them. Remembering saints like Sharbel helps the
Church to appreciate both the diversity and unity present in the Catholic
Church. Like all the saints, Sharbel points us to God and invites us to cooperate
generously with God's grace, no matter what our situation in life may be.
As our prayer life becomes deeper and more honest, we become more ready to
make that generous response. Quote: When Sharbel was canonized
in 1977, Bishop Francis Zayek, head the U.S. Diocese of St. Maron, wrote
a pamphlet entitled “A New Star of the East.” Bishop Zayek wrote: “St. Sharbel
is called the second St. Anthony of the Desert, the Perfume of Lebanon, the
first Confessor of the East to be raised to the Altars according to the actual
procedure of the Catholic Church, the honor of our Aramaic Antiochian Church,
and the model of spiritual values and renewal. Sharbel is like a Cedar of
Lebanon standing in eternal prayer, on top of a mountain.”
The bishop noted that Sharbel's canonization plus other beatification
cases prove “that the Aramaic Maronite Antiochian Church is indeed a living
branch of the Catholic Church and is intimately connected with the trunk,
who is Christ, our Savior, the beginning and the end of all things.”
|
Mary Mother of GOD Vigília sancti Jacóbi Apóstoli. The Vigil of St. James the Apostle. 
Saints of this Day July 24 Nono Kaléndas Augusti
Quote:
Pope Paul VI’s 1969 
Benedict
XVI met with Aram I Catholicos of Cilicia, the
highest authority of the Orthodox Church.
The Pope remembered the martyrs of the
Armenian Church and the Armenian genocide, without explicitly
mentioning it, and denounced the persecution of Christians
in modern times. Benedict XVI
As
we watch the spectacle of the world seeming to self-destruct
before our eyes, we can’t help but be saddened and
even frightened by so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon,
Afghanistan, Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster
of epic proportions displayed in living color on our television
screens.