117 Maurus, Pantaleemon,
and Sergius These three martyrs are venerated at Bisceglia on the Adriatic.
Their acta describe Maurus as a native of Bethlehem, who was sent by Saint
Peter to be Bisceglia's first bishop. MM (RM)
Vigíliis, in Apúlia, sanctórum Mártyrum Mauri
Epíscopi, Pantaleémonis et Sérgii; qui passi sunt sub
Trajáno.
At Bisceglia in Apulia, the holy martyrs Maur, a bishop,
Pantaleon, and Sergius, who suffered under Trajan.
They are said to have been martyred under Trajan (Benedictines).
|
220 St. Theodore of Shotep
in Upper Egypt Martyrdom of; one of the great Christian generals during the
reign of Emperor Lucianus who apostatized the faith, started Christian
persecutionsn and killed Theodore for this professed faith {Coptic}
On this day, of the year 220 A.D., St. Theodore of Shotep was martyred.
His father's name was John and he was from the city of Shotep in Upper Egypt.
He went with his regiment to the city of Antioch, where he married the daughter
of a pagan noble man, and begot by her this St. Theodore. When his mother
wanted to present him to the house of idols to be educated there, his father
refused. She became angry, drove him away, and the child remained with his
mother. His father John prayed ceaselessly, and entreated God to guide his
son Theodore to the path of salvation. The child grew up, and learned philosophy,
wisdom, and literature. The Lord Christ illuminated his heart, and Theodore
went to a righteous bishop who baptized him.
When his mother heard of this
she was sorrowed greatly, but the Saint did not mind her.
He joined the army and advanced in the ranks until
he became one of the great generals during the reign of Emperor Lucianus.
The people of the city of Eukhitos worshipped a great serpent, and offered
to him a human sacrifice every year. While St. Theodore was passing through
this district, he saw a woman crying bitterly. He asked her about the reason
for her crying. She answered him saying, "I am a widow and they have taken
my two sons to offer them as a sacrifice to the serpent, although I am Christian."
He said to himself, "They have wronged this woman, but God shall avenge
her." He came down from his horse, and turned his face towards the East
and prayed, then drew near the serpent. The people of the city were watching
him from the tops of the walls of the city. The serpent was fourteen cubits
long, but God gave him power over it, and he speared it with his spear and
killed it, and delivered the sons of the widow.
After this, Theodore came to Egypt to search for his father, and he stayed
with him until he died, and then returned to Antioch. He found that the
Emperor had apostatized the faith and started to persecute the Christians.
He came before him and confessed the Lord Christ. The Emperor ordered him
beaten with rods, burned, and cast into the fire. He delivered up his soul
and received the crown of martyrdom. A Christian woman took his body - it
was said that she was his mother - after she gave much money to the soldiers
and hid his body until the end of the time of persecution. Churches were
built in his name in many cities .
|
250 St. Maximian,
Malchus, Martinian, Dionysius, John Serapion, and Constantine
Ephesi natális sanctórum septem Dormiéntium, scílicet
Maximiáni, Malchi, Martiniáni, Dionysii, Joánnis, Serapiónis
et Constantíni.
At Ephesus, the birthday of the Seven Holy Sleepers,
Maximian, Malchus, Martinian, Denis, John, Serapion, and Constantine.
"The Seven Sleepers" (Martyrs) Having confessed the faith before the proconsul
at Ephesus under Decius in 250, they were walled up together in a cave in
which they had hid themselves, and there slept in the Lord. Some moderns,
mistaking this expression, have imagined that they only lay asleep, till
they were found in 479, under Theodosius the younger The truth seems to be,
that their relics were then discovered. They are much honored by the Greeks,
Syrians, and all the Oriental nations. Their relics were conveyed to Marseilles
in a large stone coffin, which is still shown there in St. Victor s church.
In the Museum Victorium at Rome is a factitious plaster or stone (made of
sulphur melted with fire and mortar), formed in imitation of a large precious
stone in which is cut a group of figures representing the Seven Sleepers
with their names and near Constantine and John are exhibited two clubs; near
Maximian a knotty club; near Malchus and Martinian two axes; near Serapion
a burning torch, and near Danesius (whom others call Vionysius) a great nail.
That large nails (clavi trabales, or such as were used in joining great rafters
or beams in buildings) were made use of as instruments of torture is evident
from St. Paulinus and Horace. From this ancient monument some infer that
these martyrs were put to death by various torments, and that their bodies
were only buried in the aforesaid cave. In this group of figures, these martyrs
are represented all as very young, and without beards. In ancient Martyrologies
and other writings they are frequently called boys. The cave in which their
bodies were found became a place famous for devout pilgrimages, and is still
shown to travelers, as James Spon testifies.
Seven Sleepers of Ephesus MM (RM) Died 250-362. Maximian, Malchus,
Martinian, Dionysius, John, Serapion, and Constantine--the names vary in
different versions of the legend--were walled up in a cave under Decius
(250) and found alive there 200 years later. They died soon after they awoke
to find Ephesus Christian and were venerated as saints.
The long sleep is a common theme of myth and folklore, and
this Christianized version was already current in the 6th century. The most
ingenuous was written in Syriac about 500 by Saint James of Sarugh. Saint
Gregory of Tours spread the story to Europe. But its popularity was heightened
in Medieval Europe when it was included in The Golden Legend by the Dominican
Blessed James of Voraigne (based on the translation by William Caxton):
The Seven Sleepers were born in Ephesus.
And when Decius the Emperor came to Ephesus to persecute Christian men, he
commanded that temples be built in the middle of the city, so that all should
come and offer sacrifice to the idols with him. He sought out all the Christians
and obliged them to sacrifice or suffer death. Because of this, every man
was so afraid of the pains in store for himself that friend betrayed friend,
son repudiated father, and the father the son.
Then in the city were found seven Christian
men named, Maximian, Malchus, Marcian, Denis, John, Dionysius, Serapion,
and Constantine. And when they saw this, they were saddened, and because they
were the first in the palace that despised the sacrifices, they hid themselves
in their houses, fasted, and prayed.
And then they were accused before Decius,
and came thither and were found to be very Christian men. They were given
a chance to repent before being brought again before Decius. In the meantime
they expended their patrimony in alms to the poor, and assembled themselves
together and took counsel, and went to the Mount of Celion and there ordained
to be more secretly and hid themselves a long time. And one of them administered
and served them always; and when he went into the city he clothed himself
in the habit of a beggar.
When Decius
returned, he commanded that they should be fetched, and then Malchus, who
was their servant and ministered to them meat and drink, returned in great
dread to his fellows and told them about the great fury and madness of them,
they were very afraid...Suddenly, as God willed, they slept, and when they
were sought in the morning they could not be found...Then Decius thought
what he should do with them and, as our Lord would, he enclosed the mouth
of the cave wherein they were with stones, so that they should die of hunger
and thirst.
Then the ministers and two Christian men,
Theodore and Rufinus, wrote their martyrdom and laid it subtly among the
stones. And when Decius was dead, and all that generation, 362 years after
and the 30th year of Theodosius the Emperor, when the heresy of them that
denied the resurrection of dead bodies began to grow...God, merciful and piteous,
seeing, would comfort them that were sorrowful and weeping and give to them
hope of the resurrection of the dead, opened the precious treasure of His
pity and raised the aforesaid martyrs in the following manner:
He put into the will of a burgess of Ephesus
that he would make in the mountain, which was desert and rough, a stable
for his pastures and herdsmen. And it happened that by chance the masons
that made the said stable opened the cave. And then these holy saints that
were within awoke, and got up and saluted one another and supposed verily
that they had slept but one night only and remembered of the heaviness that
they had the previous day...
Maximian commanded Malchus to go and buy
bread in the city, and bade him bring more than he did yesterday and also
to enquire and demand what the emperor had commanded to do. And then Malchus
took five shillings and issued out of the cave, and when he saw the masons
and the stones before the cave he began to bless him and was much amazed.
But he thought little on the stones, for he thought about other things.
Then came he all doubtful to the gates of
the city, and was totally amazed. For he saw the signs of the cross above
the gate, and then, without tarrying, he went to that other gate of the city
and found there also the sign of the cross thereon, and then he had great
marvel, for upon every gate he saw set up the sign of the cross, and therewith
the city was garnished. And then he blessed himself and returned to the first
gate and knew he had dreamed; and after he advised and comforted himself
and covered his visage and entered into the city.
And when he came to the sellers of bread
and heard the men speak of God, yet then was he more abashed and said, 'What
is this that no man durst yesterday name Jesus Christ, and now every man
confesses himself Christian? I trust this is not the city of Ephesus, for
it is all otherwise built. It is some other city. I don't know what to think.'
And when
he demanded and heard verily that it was Ephesus, he supposed that he had
erred and thought verily to go back again to his fellows, and then went to
them that sold bread. And when he showed his money, the sellers marvelled
and said that one to that other, that this young man has found some old treasure.
And when Malchus saw them talk together, he doubted not that they would
lead him to the emperors; show it to us, and we shall be fellows with thee
and keep both money and bread, but they held him and said to him, "From
where do you come? For you have found treasure of the old emperors; show
it to us, and we shall be fellows with you and keep it secret."
And Malchus was so afeared that he did not
know what to say to them for dread. And when they saw that he spoke not,
they put a cord about his neck and drew him through the city unto the middle
thereof...And when Saint Martin, the bishop, and Antipater, the consul,
which were new come into this city, heard of this thing, they sent for him
that they should bring him wisely to them and his money with him.
And when he was brought to the church he
knew well he should have been led to the Emperor Decius. And then the bishop
and the consul marvelled of the money and they demanded him where he had
found this treasure unknown. And he answered that he had nothing found but
it was come to him of his kindred and patrimony...And then said the judge,
"How may we believe that this money is come to you from your friends when
it appears from the inscription that it is more than 372 years since it was
made and forged and is of the first days of Decius the emperor and it resembles
nothing of our money?"
...And Malchus
said, 'Sir, hereof I am greatly abashed and no man believes me, for I know
well that we fled for fear of Decius the emperor, and I saw him that yesterday
he entered into this city, if this be the city of Ephesus.'
Then the bishop thought in himself and said
to the judge that this is a vision that our Lord will have showed this young
man. Then said the young man, 'Follow me, and I will show you my fellows
which are in the mount of Celion, and believe them. This I know well, that
we fled from the face of the Emperor Decius.'
And then they went with him and a great
multitude of the people of the city with them. And Malchus entered first
into the cave to his fellows and the bishop came next. And there found they
among the stones the letters sealed with two seals of silver. And then the
bishop called them that had come with them and read them before them all,
so that they that heard it were all abashed and marvelled. And they saw the
saints sitting in the cave and their visages like unto roses flowering, and
they, kneeling down, glorified God. And anon the bishop and the judge sent
to Theodosius, the emperor, asking him to come quickly to see the marvels
of our Lord that He had late showed...
And as soon as the blessed saints of our
Lord saw the emperor come, their visages shone like the sun. And the emperor
entered then and glorified our Lord and embraced them, weeping upon each of
them, and said, 'I see you now like as I should see our Lord raising Lazarus.'
And then Maximian said to him, 'Believe
us, for forsooth our Lord has raised us before the day of the great resurrection.
And to the end that you believe firmly the resurrection of the dead, verily
we be raised as you see here, and live. And in likewise as the child is
in the womb of his mother without feeling harm or hurt, in the same wise
we have been living and sleeping in lying here without feeling anything.'
And when they had said all this they inclined
their heads to the earth and rendered their spirits at the command of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and so died. Then the emperor arose and fell on them,
weeping strongly, and embraced them and kissed them debonairly. And then
he commanded to make precious sepulchers of gold and silver and to bury their
bodies therein.
That same night they appeared to the emperor
and said to him that he should allow them to lie on the earth, as they had
lain until the time that our Lord had raised them, until the time that they
should rise again. Then commanded the emperor that the place should be adorned
nobly and richly with precious stones, and all the bishops that would confess
the resurrection should be assoiled. It is in doubt of that which is said
that they slept 362 years, for they were raised the year of our Lord 478
and Decius reigned but one year and three months, and that was in the year
of our Lord 270, and so they slept but 208 years.
The story most likely originated with a misunderstanding of
the term "slept in the Lord" when discussing the discovery of some forgotten
relics. Or it may have been a pious romance written in connection with controversy
about the resurrection of the body. Gradually its heroes came to be honored
as saints.
They are much honored by the
Eastern Church. The cave in which their bodies were found became a famous
place for pilgrimages. Their relics were conveyed to Marseilles in a large
stone coffin, which can still be seen in Saint Victor's church. Baronius
challenged the authenticity of the story, but retained their feast in the
Roman Martyrology. The feast has been removed from the Roman Calendar (Attwater,
Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art, they are seven youths asleep in a cave (Roeder). In
the Museum Victorium at Rome is a statue representing the Seven Sleepers with
their names. Near Constantine and John are exhibited two clubs; near Maximian
a knotty club; near Malchus and Martinian two axes; near Serapion a burning
torch, and near Danesius (whom others call Vionysius) a great nail, such
as sometimes were used as an instrument of torture. From this ancient monument
some infer that these martyrs were put to death by various torments. In this
group of figures, these martyrs are represented all as very young, and without
beards, which concurs with ancient martyrologies that say they were boys
(Husenbeth).
"The Seven Sleepers were born in the city of Ephesus.
And when Decius the Emperor came into Ephesus for the persecution of Christian
men he commanded to build up the temples in the middle of the city, so that
all should come with him to do sacrifice to the idols, and did so seek all
the Christian people and bind them for to make them to do sacrifice, or
else to put them to death; in such wise that every man was afeared of the
pains that he promised, that the friend forsook his friend, and the son
repudiated his father, and the father the son. And then in this city
were found seven Christian men, that is to wit, Maxintian, Malchus, Marcian,
Denis, John, Serapion and Constantine [in the East they are Maximilian, Jamblichus,
Martin, John, Dionysius, Constantine and Antoninus, and there are other lists].
And when they saw this, they had much sorrow and, because they were the
first in the palace that despised the sacrifices, they hid them in their
houses and were in fastings and in prayers. And then they were
accused before Decius, and came thither and were found very Christian men.
Then was given them space for to repent them, unto the coming again of Decius.
In the meanwhile
they expended their patrimony in alms to the poor people, and assembled
themselves together and took counsel, and went to the mount of Celion and
there ordained to be more secretly and hid themselves a long time.
And one of them administered and served them always; and when he went into
the city he clothed him in the habit of a beggar.
"When Decius was
come again he commanded that they should be fetched, and then Malchus, which
was their servant and ministered to them meat and drink, returned in great
dread to his fellows and told and showed to them the great fury and madness
of them, and then they were sore afraid...
Suddenly, as God would, they slept, and when it
came on the morn they were sought and could not be found...Then Decius thought
what he should do with them and, as our
Lord would, he enclosed the mouth of the cave wherein they
were with stones, to the end that they should die therein for hunger and
lack of meat.
Then
the ministers and two Christian men, Theodore and Rufinus, wrote their martyrdom
and laid it subtly among the stones. And when Decius was dead, and
all that generation, three hundred and sixty-two years after and the thirtieth
year of Theodosius the Emperor, when the heresy of them that denied the
resurrection of dead bodies began to grow. God, merciful and piteous,
seeing, would comfort them that were sorrowful and weeping and give to them
esperance and hope of the resurrection of dead men, and opened the precious
treasure of His pity and raised the foresaid martyrs in the manner following.
"He
put into the will of a burgess of Ephesus that he would make in that mountain,
which was desert and rough, a stable for his pasturers and herdmen.
And it happed that of adventure the masons that made the said stable opened
the cave. And then these holy saints that were within awoke, and got
up and saluted one another and supposed verily that they had slept but one
night only and remembered of the heaviness that they had the day before.
[Maximian] commanded Malchus to go and buy bread in the city, and bade him
bring more than he did yesterday and also to enquire and demand what the
emperor had commanded to do.
And then Malchus took five shillings
and issued out of the cave, and when he saw the masons and the stones before
the cave he began to bless him and was much marvelled. But he
thought little on the stones, for he thought on other things. Then
came he all doubtful to the gates of the city, and was all amarvelled.
For he saw the signs of the cross above the gate, and then, without tarrying,
he went to that other gate of the city and found there also the sign of
the cross thereon, and then he had great marvel, for upon every gate he
saw set up the sign of the cross, and therewith the city was garnished.
And then he blessed him and returned to the first gate and weened he had
dreamed; and after he advised and comforted himself and covered his visage
and entered into the city. And when he came to the sellers of bread
and heard the men speak of God, yet then was he more abashed and said, `What
is this that no man durst yesterday name Jesu Christ, and now every man confesseth
him to be Christian? I trow this is not the city of Ephesus,
for it is all otherwise builded. it is some other city; I wot not what.'
And when he demanded and heard verily that it was Ephesus he supposed that
he had erred and thought verily to go back again to his fellows, and then
went to them that sold bread. And when he showed his money, the sellers
marvelled and said that one to that other, that this young man has found
some old treasure.
"And when Maichus saw them talk together he doubted not that they would lead
him to the emperor, and was sore afeared and prayed them to let him go and
keep both money and bread, but they held him and said to him, `Of whence
art thou? For thou hast found treasure of old emperors; show
it to us, and we shall be fellows with thee and keep it secret.'
"And
Malchus was so afeared that he wist not what to say to them for dread. And
when they saw that he spake not they put a cord about his neck and drew
him through the city unto the middle thereof...And when St Martin, the bishop,
and Antipater, the consul, which were new come into this city, heard of
this thing, they sent for him that they should bring him wisely
to them and his money with him. And when he was brought to the church
he weened well he should have been led to the Emperor Decius.
And then the bishop and the consul marvelled of the money and they demanded
him where he had found this treasure unknown.
And he answered that he had nothing founden but it was
come to him of his kindred and patrimony... And then said the judge, `How
may we believe that this money is come to thee of thy friends when it appeareth
in the scripture that it is more than three hundred and seventy-two years
sith it was made and forged and is of the first days of Decius the emperor
and it resembleth nothing of our money?..` And Malchus said: `Sir, hereof
I am greatly abashed and no man believeth me, for I wot well that we fled
for fear of Decius the emperor, and I saw him that yesterday he entered
into this city, if this be the city of Ephesus.'
Then the bishop thought in himself and said to
the judge that this is a vision that our Lord will have showed by this young
man.
Then said the young man: `Follow ye me, and I will show
you my fellows which be in the mount of Celion, and believe ye them.
This I know well, that we fled from
the face of the Emperor Decius.'
And then they went with him
and a great multitude of the people of the city with them. And Malchus
entered first into the cave to his fellows and the bishop next after him.
And there found they among the stones the letters sealed with two seals of
silver. And then the bishop called them that were come thither and read them
before them all, so that they that heard it were all abashed and marvelled.
And they saw the saints sitting in the cave and their visages like unto roses
flowering, and they, kneeling down, glorified God. And anon the bishop and
the judge sent to Theodosius, the emperor, praying him that he would come
anon for to see the marvels of our Lord that He had late showed.
"And as soon as the blessed saints of our Lord saw the
emperor come, their visages shone like to the sun. And the emperor
entered then and glorified our Lord and embraced them, weeping upon each of
them, and said, `I see you now like as I should see our Lord raising Lazarus'.
And then Maximian said to him, `Believe us, for forsooth our Lord hath raised
us before the day of the great resurrection. And to the end that thou
believe finnly the resurrection of the dead people, verily we be raised
as ye here see, and live. And in like wise as the child is in the
womb of his mother without feeling harm or hurt, in the same wise we have
been living and sleeping in lying here without feeling of anything.'
And when they had said all this they inclined their
heads to the earth and rendered their spirits at the command of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and so died. Then the emperor arose and fell on them,
weeping strongly, and embraced them and kissed them debonairly. And
then he commanded to make precious sepulchres of gold and silver and to bury
their bodies therein. And in the same night they appeared to the emperor
and said to him that he should suffer them to lie on the earth, like as they
had lain before till that time that our Lord had raised them, unto the time
that they should rise again. Then commanded the emperor that the place
should be adorned nobly and richly with precious stones, and all the bishops
that would confess the resurrection should be assoiled. It is
in doubt of that which is said that they slept three hundred and sixty-two
years, for they were raised the year of our Lord four hundred and seventy-eight,
and Decius reigned but one year and three months, and that was in the year
of our Lord two hundred and seventy, and so they slept but two hundred and
eight years."
So William Caxton translated
Bd James of Voragine's version of the famous tale of the Seven Sleepers
of Ephesus, which does more justice to it than any bald
summary. After Baronius first began to question its truth in
the sixteenth century, it was generally put forward as the explanation of
the genesis and rise of the legend that there was a finding, not of living
martyrs, but of their relics at Ephesus under Theodosius II.
This was quite a good surmise, but there is no
record or rumour of any such finding, and everything points to the story being
a purely imaginative romance, a Christian version of a well-known theme, looking
back to pagan and Jewish legends and forward to Rip van Winkle; a theme,
moreover, found in one "folk" form or another throughout Europe and Asia.
In the sixth century it was written down
by James of Sang in the East and St Gregory of Tours in the West, and a cultus
of the mythical saints began to arise and develop. It soon spread
throughout the East, where the Sleepers are generally regarded as children,
and their feast is kept to this day in the Byzantine and other rites ; the
Greek Euchologion has a prayer invoking their aid against sleeplessness.
In the West they also achieved a wide popularity:
they are still named in the Roman Martyrology and their feast is observed
in two or three places, as it was in England in earlier times.
There has been much discussion
as to the provenance of the story and as to the language in which it first
took the shape of a contribution to hagiography. The theme of the
sleeper who after long years awakes to find the face of the world around
him entirely changed seems to have its roots in the folk-lore of ages. See,
with regard to the tale of Epimenides in particular, H. Demoulin, Epimenide De Crete (1901). The christianized
version must have been in circulation at a relatively early date. It was
the subject of one of the metrical homilies of James of Sarug who died in
521, and a portion of the prose legend in Syriac is found in a
manuscript at the British Museum which is assigned to the sixth century.
St Gregory of Tours in the same
century recounted the episode of the Seven Sleepers at full length in Latin,
Syro quodanz interpretante,
which may only mean that the man who translated it for him was an oriental.
Still B. Krusch in his critical edition of Gregory's version, printed in
the Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. xii, pp. 372-388, inclined to the opinion that the interpreter was a
Syrian, though the narrative itself had first been compiled in Greek. That
the Greek is the oldest is also the view of the Bollandist Fathers Peeters
and Delehaye. lgnazio Guidi, when he first published the oriental
texts, also gave precedence to the Greek, but from his article in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics,
vol. xi, pp. 426-428, he seems to have modified his earlier conclusions.
A. Allgeier in Oriens Christianus
(vols. iv to vii) argues for the priority of the Syriac; Dom M. Huber somewhat
paradoxically holds that the Latin was the original. Gratitude is, however,
due to Dom Huber for the vast collection of materials he has brought together
in his book Die Wanderlegende von den Siebenschlafern
(1910). See also J. Koch, Die Siebenschlaferlegende...(1883).
For the legend of the Sleepers in Islam, see Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxviii (1950),
pp. 245-260. There is a translation of Gregory of Tours on the subject in
Selections from his minor
works (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1949). See E. Honigmann, Patristic Studies (1953), pp. 125-168
(Studi e testi 173) very important.
|
305
St. Hermolaus elderly priest converted Pantaleon Martyr with Hermippus and
Hermocrates. Hermolaus was an elderly priest who converted St. Pantaleon.
Hermippus and Hermocrates were brothers.
Nicomedíæ sancti Hermolái Presbyteri, cujus doctrína
beátus Pantáleon ad fidem convérsus est; itémque
sanctórum Hermíppi et Hermócratis fratrum, qui, post
multas pœnas sibi illátas, capitáli senténtia, ob confessiónem
Christi, a Maximiáno Imperatóre puníti sunt.
At Nicomedia, St. Hermolaus, priest, by whose instructions
blessed Pantaleon was converted to the faith. Also, the Saints Hermippus
and Hermocrates, brothers. After many sufferings borne for the confession
of Christ, they were condemned to death by the same Maximian.
Orthodoxe Kirche: 26. Juli Katholische
Kirche: Hermolaos 27. Juli mit Pantaleon
Hermolaus, Hermippus & Hermacrates MM (RM)
Saint Hermolaus was an aged priest of Nicomedia. He is the one responsible
for the conversion of the imperial physician, Saint Pantaleon, to the faith.
Hermolaus and the two brothers, Hermippus and Heracrates, were martyred with
Pantaleon (Benedictines).
Hermolaos, Hermippos und
Hermokrates
Orthodoxe Kirche: 26. Juli Katholische Kirche: Hermolaos 27. Juli mit
Pantaleon
Hermolaos, Hermippos und Hermokrates gehörten zu einer kleinen Schar,
die den Anschlag auf die Kirche in Nikomedia überlebt hatte (vgl. 20.000
Märtyrer). Sie waren Priester und verbargen sich zwar, predigten aber
weiter zu der heidnischen Bevölkerung. Hermolaos konnte Panteleimon
bekehren und wurde mit diesem zusammen verhaftet. Auch Hermipppos und Hermokrates
wurden verhaftet. Sie weigerten sich, den heidnischen Götzen zu opfern
und wiurden gefoltert. Da ereignete sich ein starkes Erdbeben, das alle Götzenbilder
im Tempel zerstörte. Kaiser Maximian befahl daraufhin, die drei sofort
zu enthaupten .
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St. Felix Martyr
with Julia and Jucunda
Nolæ, in Campánia, sanctórum Mártyrum Felícis,
Júliæ et Jucúndæ.
At Nola in Campania, the holy martyrs Felix, Julia,
and Jucunda.
Felix, Julia, and Jucunda MM (RM)
The Roman Martyrology erroneously assigns these martyrs to Nola. As to
Saint Felix, the reference may simply be to the date of his consecration at
Nola in southern Italy.
Saints Julia and
Jucunda are in older manuscripts assigned to Nicomedia in Asia Minor (Benedictines).
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305 St. Pantaleon
Nicomedíæ pássio sancti Pantaleónis médici,
qui, pro fide Christi, a Maximiáno Imperatóre tentus, et equúlei
pœna ac lampadárum exustióne afflíctus, sed inter hæc,
Dómino sibi apparénte, refrigerátus, gládii
tandem ictu martyrium consummávit.
At Nicomedia, the martyrdom of St. Pantaleon, a physician.
For the faith of Christ he was apprehended by Emperor Maximian, subjected
to the torture and burned with torches, during which torments he was comforted
by an apparition of our Lord. He ended his martyrdom by a stroke of
the sword.
(Panteleemon, Panteleimon); 1/14 Holy Helpers; from Nicomedia, near the Black Sea;
the "Great Martyr and Wonder-worker"; so
famous a doctor the Emperor chose him for his own doctor; was a Christian,
but bad influence from pagan court caused him to give up his Christian faith
entirely;. A holy priest named Hermolaos made him realize what a sin he
had committed, Pantaleon listened to him, detested his sin and joined the
Church once more. To make up for what he had done, he greatly desired to
suffer and die for Jesus. In the meantime, he imitated Our Lord's charity
by taking care of poor sick people without any charge for his medical services.
When the Emperor Diocletian began
his persecution, Pantaleon at once gave away everything he owned to the poor.
Not long afterwards, he was accused of being a Christian. He was given the
choice of denying his Faith or being put to death. No torture could force
Pantaleon to deny his Faith. There has been strong devotion in
past ages to this Saint. In the East he is called the "Great Martyr and Wonder-worker."
Panteleimon The Great
Martyr and Healer was born in the city of Nicomedia into the family of the
illustrious pagan Eustorgius, and he was named Pantoleon. His mother St
Euboula (March 30) was a Christian. She wanted to raise her son in the Christian
Faith, but she died when the future martyr was just a young child. His father
sent Pantoleon to a pagan school, after which the young man studied medicine
at Nicomedia under the renowned physician Euphrosynus. Pantoleon came to the
attention of the emperor Maximian (284-305), who wished to appoint him as
royal physician when he finished his schooling.
The hieromartyrs Hermolaus, Hermippus and Hermocrates,
survivors of the massacre of 20,000 Christians in 303 (December 28), were
living secretly in Nicomedia at that time. St Hermolaus saw Pantoleon time
and again when he came to the house where they were hiding. Once, the priest
invited the youth to the house and spoke about the Christian Faith. After
this Pantoleon visited St Hermolaus every day.
One day the saint found a dead child on the street.
He had been bitten by a great snake, which was still beside the child's
body. Pantoleon began to pray to the Lord Jesus Christ to revive the dead
child and to destroy the venomous reptile. He firmly resolved that if his
prayer were fulfilled, he would become a follower of Christ and receive
Baptism. The child rose up alive, and the snake died before Pantoleon's
eyes.
After this miracle,
Pantoleon was baptized by St Hermolaus with the name Panteleimon (meaning
"all-merciful"). Speaking with Eustorgius, St Panteleimon prepared him to
accept Christianity. When the father saw how his son healed a blind man
by invoking Jesus Christ, he then believed in Christ and was baptized by
St Hermolaus together with the man whose sight was restored.
After the death of his father, St Panteleimon dedicated
his life to the suffering, the sick, the unfortunate and the needy. He treated
all those who turned to him without charge, healing them in the name of
Jesus Christ. He visited those held captive in prison. These were usually
Christians, and he healed them of their wounds. In a short time, reports
of the charitable physician spread throughout the city. Forsaking the other
doctors, the inhabitants began to turn only to St Panteleimon.
The envious doctors told the emperor that St Panteleimon
was healing Christian prisoners. Maximian urged the saint to refute the
charge by offering sacrifice to idols. St Panteleimon confessed himself
a Christian, and suggested that a sick person, for whom the doctors held
out no hope, should be brought before the emperor. Then the doctors could
invoke their gods, and Panteleimon would pray to his God to heal the man.
A man paralyzed for many years was brought in, and pagan priests who knew
the art of medicine invoked their gods without success. Then, before the
very eyes of the emperor, the saint healed the paralytic by calling on the
name of Jesus Christ. The ferocious Maximian executed the healed man, and
gave St Panteleimon over to fierce torture.
The Lord appeared to the saint and strengthened
him before his sufferings. They suspended the Great Martyr Panteleimon from
a tree and scraped him with iron hooks, burned him with fire and then stretched
him on the rack, threw him into a cauldron of boiling tar, and cast him into
the sea with a stone around his neck. Throughout these tortures the martyr
remained unhurt, and denounced the emperor.
At this time the priests Hermolaus, Hermippus and
Hermocrates were brought before the court of the pagans. All three confessed
their faith in the Savior and were beheaded (July 26).
By order of the emperor they brought the Great
Martyr Panteleimon to the circus to be devoured by wild beasts. The animals,
however, came up to him and licked his feet. The spectators began to shout,
"Great is the God of the Christians!" The enraged Maximian ordered the soldiers
to stab with the sword anyone who glorified Christ, and to cut off the head
of the Great Martyr Panteleimon.
They led the saint to the place of execution and
tied him to an olive tree. While the martyr prayed, one of the soldiers struck
him with a sword, but the sword became soft like wax and inflicted no wound.
The saint completed his prayer, and a Voice was heard from Heaven, calling
the passion-bearer by his new name and summoning him to the heavenly Kingdom.
Hearing the Voice, the soldiers fell down on their
knees before the holy martyr and begged forgiveness. They refused to continue
with the execution, but St Panteleimon told them to fulfill the emperor's
command, because otherwise they would have no share with him in the future
life. The soldiers tearfully took their leave of the saint with a kiss.
When the saint was beheaded, the olive tree to
which the saint was tied became covered with fruit. Many who were present
at the execution believed in Christ. The saint's body was thrown into a
fire, but remained unharmed, and was buried by Christians. St Panteleimon's
servants Laurence, Bassos and Probus witnessed his execution and heard the
Voice from Heaven. They recorded the life, the sufferings and death of the
saint.
Portions of the
holy relics of the Great Martyr Panteleimon were distributed throughout all
the Christian world. His venerable head is now located at the Russian monastery
of St Panteleimon on Mt. Athos.
The veneration of the holy martyr in the Russian
Orthodox Church was already known in the twelfth century. Prince Izyaslav
(in Baptism Panteleimon), the son of St Mstislav the Great, had an image
of St Panteleimon on his helmet. Through the intercession of the saint he
remained alive during a battle in the year 1151. On the Feast of the Great
Martyr Panteleimon, Russian forces won two naval victories over the Swedes
(in 1714 near Hanhauze and in 1720 near Grenham).
St Panteleimon is venerated in the Orthodox Church
as a mighty saint, and the protector of soldiers. This aspect of his veneration
is derived from his first name Pantoleon, which means "a lion in everything".
His second name, Panteleimon, given him at Baptism, which means "all-merciful",
is manifest in the veneration of the martyr as a healer. The connection
between these two aspects of the saint is readily apparent in that soldiers,
receiving wounds more frequently than others, are more in need of a physician-healer.
Christians waging spiritual warfare also have recourse to this saint, asking
him to heal their spiritual wounds.
The holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon is
invoked in the Mystery of Anointing the Sick, at the Blessing of Water, and
in the Prayers for the Sick.
The Feast of the holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon
is the patronal Feast of the Russian monastery on Athos. The forefeast starts
eight days before the Feast. Each day after Vespers, Moliebens are sung with
Canons in each of the eight tones. Thus, each day has its own particular
Canon. The second day of the Feast is the monastery feastday. On this day
a general Panikhida is served after Vespers in memory of the founders and
benefactors of the monastery, and kollyva (kutia: wheat or rice boiled with
honey) is blessed and distributed.
The verses of the Ninth Ode of the Canon of the
Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon from the manuscript of the Athonite service
are reprinted in the "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate" (1975, No.3, pp.
45-47).
Pantaleon the Physician M (RM) (also known as Panteleemon,
Panteleimon). Saint Pantaleon is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers,
known for their efficacious prayer, who are especially venerated in France
and Germany. All of them have highly embroidered life stories, although
they themselves are rather shadowy figures about whom almost nothing is
known for certain. Pantaleon's unreliable vita may have developed because
his name in Greek, means "the all-compassionate."
It is said that he was a doctor of such skill that
Emperor Maximian, a great persecutor of Christians employed Pantaleon as
the court physician. He was the son of a pagan father, Eustorgius, and a
Christian mother, Eubula, who raised him as a Christian. In the fanatically
anti-Christian and dissolute court of Maximian, he lost his faith and nearly
his soul with his self-indulgent lifestyle. In time, however, a fellow-Christian
named Hermolaos reminded the doctor of the faith he had abandoned. From
that time Pantaleon's skills were at the disposal of the poor. The wealth
he had gained from his successful practice was given away.
Other physicians, jealous of
his position at court, saw Pantaleon's renewed faith as a way of discrediting
him at court. When the persecution of Christians under Emperor Diocletian
broke out in Nicomedia in 303, Pantaleon, Hermolaos, and two other Christians
were arrested. This time Pantaleon refused to reject the faith; instead
he chose death. Vain attempts were made to put him to death in six different
ways--including drowning, fire, and wild beasts--before he was successfully
beheaded amidst a halo of other marvels.
What is probably true is that he was a physician, who practiced
without payment, and who was martyred under Diocletian, probably at Nicomedia.
He cultus is primarily connected with Bithynia, where Emperor Justinian rebuilt
his church at Nicomedia. Churches are dedicated to him in Constantinople
and Rome. In the East he is known as the Great Martyr and Wonder Worker.
A reputed relic of Pantaleon's blood kept at Ravello in southern Italy displays
the phenomenon of liquefaction on his feast day, similar to that of Saint
Januarius (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer,
Sheppard)
In art, Saint Pantaleon is a physician holding
a phial of medicine. At times he may be depicted (1) healing a sick child;
(2) bound with hands above his head to an olive tree, to which he is nailed,
with a sword at his feet; (3) nail through his hands into his head; (4) pushed
off a rock with a pitchfork; (5) with a stone tied to his neck; (6) killed
with a club; or (7) with a sword and vase or phial (Roeder). Click here to
see an image of the saint by Photios Kontoglou.
Together with Saints Cosmas
and Damian, Pantaleon is the patron of the medical profession (Bentley).
He is invoked against lung disease (Sheppard).
Panteleimon/Pantaleon Orthodoxe
und Katholische Kirche: 27. Juli
Pantaleon wurde in der Verfolgung unter Diokletian um 305 hingerichtet.
Die legendäre Lebensgeschichte aus dem 5. Jahrhundert berichtet, er
sei Leibarzt des Kaisers gewesen und von dem Priester und Märtyrer
Hermolaos bekehrt worden. Er wurde denunziert, festgenommen und gefoltert.
Als er für seine Peiniger betete, habe ihm Christus vom Himmel den
Namen Panteleimon (griech. All-Erbarmer) gegeben (Nach anderen Berichten
wurde er von Hermolaos auf diesen Namen getauft). Als Panteleimon enthauptet
wurde, soll aus seinem Körper Milch geflossen sein (von der es heute
noch an vielen Orten Reliquien gibt). Panteleimon wird in der Ostkirche
als Großmärtyrer verehrt und zählt zu den Anargyroi, den
heiligen Ärzten und in der Westkirche zu den 14 Nothelfern.
St Pantaleon, Or Panteleimon,
That there was a martyr of this name
(the all-compassionate) there can be little doubt, but
the legends which have come down to us are without any value.
According to them he was the son of a pagan father, Eustorgius of Nicomedia,
brought up in the faith by his Christian mother, Eubula. He became learned
in medicine and was physician to the Emperor Galerius Maximian at Nicomedia.
For a time he failed under a temptation which is sometimes more dangerous
than the severest trials or fierce tonnents, bad example, which, if not
shunned, insensibly weakens and at length destroys the strongest virtue.
Pantaleon, being perpetually obsessed by it in a wicked and idolatrous court,
and deceived by often hearing false wisdom of the world applauded, fell
into apostasy. But a zealous Christian, called Herrnolaos, by his
prudent admonitions awakened his conscience to a sense of his guilt, and
brought him again into the Church.
When Diocletian's persecution broke out
at Nicomedia in 303, he distributed all his possessions among the poor Christians,
and was shortly after denounced to the authorities by some jealous fellow-physicians;
he was arrested together with Hermolaos and two others. The emperor
wished to save him and urged him to apostatize, but Pantaleon refused, and
miraculously cured a paralytic as a sign of the truth of the faith.
After suffering many torments they were all condemned to lose their heads,
but St Pantaleon suffered the day after the rest. He was subjected to six
different attempts to kill him, by burning, liquid lead, drowning, wild
beasts, the wheel, and the sword; all of these, with the help of the Lord
under the appearance of Herniolaos, he frustrated, till at length he permitted
himself to be beheaded: there poured from his severed veins milk instead
of blood, and the olive tree to which he was bound sprang into fruit.
St Pantaleon is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and
is honoured in the East. as the" Great Martyr and Wonder-worker" and one of
the Holy Moneyless One who treated
the sick without payment.
In the past he has been almost as famous in the West.
Alleged relics of his blood are preserved at Constantinople, Madrid and Ravello,
and these are said to liquefy on his feast-day exactly as does that of St
Januarius at Naples.
In spite of the extravagant legends
of the saint which exist both in Latin and in Greek in many redactions (see
BHL, 6429-6448, and BHG., 1413-1418) his early cultus is well attested and seems to
be predominantly connected with Nicomedia and Bithynia. See Delehaye,
La Origines des Cult. des Martyrs,
p. 189, etc. That the wildly fabulous story of St Pantaleon was in
early circulation is proved by the fact that a translation of it into Syriac
exists at the British Museum in a manuscript which is dated sixth century
(Addit., 12,142). At the same time the Syrians wanted to have a Pantaleon
of their own; so they borrowed many features of his legend and bestowed
them upon a fictitious creation called Asia (the word means "physician"),
making him a resident of Antioch, in which city also he is represented as
ending his days. See the Analecta
Bollandiana, vol. xxxviii (1920), p. 408. For a present-day
account of the liquefaction of the blood of St Pantaleon at Ravello see
Ian Grant, rite Testimony of Blood (1929),
pp. 17-44; J. H. Newman, when a newly-ordained priest, wrote about the phenomenon
to Henry Wilberforce from Naples in August 1846 .
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532
St. Ecclesius great compassion Bishop of Ravenna, Italy. He served the see
from 521 until his death, building San Vitale there, and is revered because
of his great compassion.
Ecclesius of Ravenna B (AC). As bishop of Ravenna from 521 to 532, Ecclesius
began the building of San Vitale, where there is a figure of him in mosaic
(Benedictines). In art, Ecclesius is an early Christian bishop holding a
basilica (Roeder).
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573 Etherius of Auxerre
B (RM). Bishop of Auxerre, France, from 563 to 573 (Benedictines).
Antisiodóri deposítio beáti Æthérii,
Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At Auxerre, the death of blessed Aetherius, bishop
and confessor.
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Congall of Iabnallivin
Before Congall's death he committed the governance of his monastery to his
beloved disciple, Saint Fegnarnach. He is the titular patron of a parish
on the upper part of Lake Erne, where his feast is a holy day of obligation
(Husenbeth). (AC)
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Saint
Luican the titular patron of Kill-luicain parish in Ireland (Benedictines).
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759 St. Anthusa Abbess
tortured by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V; Anthusa was originally a hermitess, becoming
abbess of the convent near Constantinople. Because of her veneration of
sacred images,
Constantinópoli beátæ Anthúsæ Vírginis,
quæ, sub Constantíno Coprónymo, ob cultum sanctárum
Imáginum, verbéribus cæsa et exsílio relegáta,
quiévit in Dómino.
At Constantinople, blessed Anthusa, virgin. After
being scourged and banished by Constantine Copronymus for the veneration
of holy images, she rested in the Lord.
She was arrested by the emperor {Joint rule as junior emperor with Leo
III (his father), Joint rule with Leo IV (his son) 751}, who, as an ardent
iconoclast, opposed such sacramentals. Anthusa was tortured severely until
the empress intervened and secured
her release. Saint Anthusa the Confessor lived at Mantinea,
Paphlygonia in Asia Minor during the eighth century. Leaving the world at
a young age, St Anthusa lived in asceticism in the mountains in complete
solitude. She received monastic tonsure from the hieromonk Sisinius, and
became abbess of a monastery of ninety nuns.
St Anthusa suffered during the reign of the emperor Constantine
Copronymos, who demanded that the saint renounce the veneration of holy icons.
St Anthusa was subjected to torture, since she disobeyed the emperor's order.
Among those who witnessed the torture was the emperor's wife, for whom the
saint predicted the birth of a son and daughter. When St Anthusa's prediction
was fulfilled, she was allowed to return to her convent, where she died in
great old age. The daughter born to the emperor's wife was named Anthusa
(April 12).
Having lived a life pleasing to God, she reposed in 759 and
now lives with Him forever. She was buried in her cell.
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852
St. Natalie husband Aurelius martyred
for her Faith with her husband Aurelius.
Córdubæ, in Hispánia, sanctórum Mártyrum
Geórgii Diáconi, Aurélii et uxóris Natáliæ,
Felícis et uxóris Liliósæ, in persecutióne
Arábica.
At Cordova in Spain, during the Arab persecution, the
holy martyrs George, a deacon, Aurelius and his wife Natalia, Felix and
his wife Liliosa.
According to his biography by St. Eulogius of Toledo, Aurelius was the
son of a Moor and a Spanish woman, and was orphaned as a child. He was secretly
raised a Christian by his aunt during the Moorish persecution of Christians.
He married a half Moorish woman, Sabigotho, who took the name Natalie when
he converted her to Christianity. They were both beheaded for practicing
their religion openly together with George, a monk from Jerusalem whom Aurelius
had befriended.
852 Aurelius, Natalia, And Their Companions, Martyrs
During the eighth century the Christians of Spain, as elsewhere
in the early stages of Mohammedan domination, were treated tolerantly, provided
they did not make converts from Islam or openly abuse the law of Mohammed.
But after the setting up of the independpnt emirate at Cordova, the Emirs
Abdur Rahman II and Mohammed I carried on a more positive persecution.
Among its victims was St Eulogius of Toledo, who before he was beheaded
in 859 had been assiduous in fortifying the harassed Christians and in waiting
upon the confessors in prison; he moreover wrote accounts of their lives,
sufferings and deaths, and among others of these martyrs who are today commemorated
at Cordova. The first of them, Aurelius, was the son of a Moor
and of a Spanish woman, people of distinction they both died white he was
yet a boy, confiding him to the care of his mother's sister who brought
him up a Christian. When he grew up he conformed outwardly, so far as he
conscientiously could, to Islam, but continued to practise his religion
in secret and converted his half-Moorish wife, Sabigotho, who at her baptism
took the name of Natalia.
One day this Aurelius saw a certain Christian merchant, one
John, who had been cruelly beaten for having publicly asserted the falseness
of the Mohammedan religion and its prophet, and who was being led through
the streets on a donkey as a spectacle and an example. The sight of
this confessor moved Aurelius to compunction, and he began to be ashamed
of his own careful hiding of the fact that he was a Christian ; at the same
time he was much troubled as to what he should do, as he had two small children.
He talked it over with his wife, and together they consulted St Eulogius,
who advised them that, before they made open avowal of their religion, they
should make material provision for their children and arrange for them,
in case their parents were killed, to be brought up in the faith ; they
were, in fact, commended to the care of Eulogius himself. Their example
fired a kinsman of Aurelius, Felix, who had been brought up a Christian
but apostatized to Islam, although his wife, Liliosa, had remained faithful.
He returned to the Church (thus automatically making himself liable to death
as a renegade), and all four took to visiting and ministering to the Christian
captives, getting to know, among others, the merchant John and two girls,
SS. Flora and Mary, who were in prison at Seville.
At this time there had
come into Spain a monk called George; he belonged to the monastery of St
Sabas near Jerusalem, and had been sent, first to Egypt and then to Europe,
to beg alms for his house. When he came to Cordova he met Aurelius, was received
into his house, and they became great friends; it is recorded of George
that he had not washed for twenty-five years, a form of mortification better
thought of in those days than in these. Flora and Mary duly received
the crown of martyrdom, and soon after appeared in a vision to Aurelius
and Natalia, telling them that they would before long have a like happy
fate. Taking this as an indication of the will of God, Natalia
and her friend Liliosa gave themselves away as Christian women by visiting
the churches of Cordova (there were even then seven of them) with their
faces open and unveiled. They were all arrested, with other
Christians, while assisting at Mass in the house of Aurelius, and the monk
George putting himself forward as one of the rest was taken along too. They
were charged with apostasy from Islam, but as no such charge could be laid
against George who was a foreigner, he would have been released; but he
openly before the court reviled the name of Mohammed, so he was condemned
with the rest. They were all beheaded before the emir's palace.
The Memorialis sanctorum of St Eulogius is
practically our only source of information. The relevant matter is quoted
in the Acta Sanctotum, July, vol.
vi, but under the heading "Georgii monachi, Aurelii, etc." Cf. however, Florez, España Sagrada, vol. x; and Simonet, Historia de los Mozarabes de España, pp. 428 seq. On St Eulogius, see March 11.
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852
deacon George, Aurelius, Natalia, Felix & Liliosa had converted to Islam
for a time, married the Christian Liliosa and returned to the faith. Both
couples openly professed their Christianity MM (RM)
These martyrs suffered at Córdova, Spain, under the
Caliph Abderrahman II. Aurelius, son of a Moor and a Spanish woman, was
a secret Christian as was his half-Moorish wife, Natalia. Aurelius's relative
Felix, who had converted to Islam for a time, married the Christian Liliosa
and returned to the faith. Both couples openly professed their Christianity,
perhaps because the women went about the city unveiled. They were arrested
as apostates from Islam and beheaded. The deacon George, however, was a monk
of Palestine. He was arrested for having openly spoken against the Prophet.
Although he was offered pardon because he was a foreigner,
he preferred to suffer with the others (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia)
. |
916 Saints
Clement, Bishop of Ochrid, Equal of the Apostles, Naum, Sava, Gorazd and Angelar
were Slavs, disciples of Sts Cyril and Methodius (May 11) These
Enlighteners of the Slavs were opposed by German missionaries, who had
the support of the Pope and the patronage of the Moravian prince Svyatopolk.
The struggle centered around the questions of the need for divine services
in Slavonic, the Filioque and Saturday fasting. Pope Stephen VI prohibited
the use of Slavonic in church. The proponents of the three-tongued
heresy (who wanted to use only Hebrew, Greek, or Latin for Church purposes),
after setting aside the ancestral language of the Slavic peoples, brought
the disciples of St Methodius to trial, including St Clement. They subjected
them to fierce torture: dragging them through thorns, and holding them in
prison for a long time, just as they had done with their spiritual Father,
St Methodius.
Nahum_of_Ochrid
Orthodoxe Kirche: 27. Juli
Katholische Kirche: 17. Juli (Clemens von Bulgarien und Sieben Apostel Bulgariens)
At first they lived as ascetics
in Moravia, where St Gorazd succeded St Methodius as bishop. He was fluent
in Slavonic, Greek and Latin. Sts Clement, Naum, Angelar and Sava were priests.
These Enlighteners of the Slavs were opposed by German missionaries, who
had the support of the Pope and the patronage of the Moravian prince Svyatopolk.
The struggle centered around the questions of the need for divine services
in Slavonic, the Filioque and Saturday fasting. Pope Stephen VI prohibited
the use of Slavonic in church. The proponents of the three-tongued
heresy (who wanted to use only Hebrew, Greek, or Latin for Church purposes),
after setting aside the ancestral language of the Slavic peoples, brought
the disciples of St Methodius to trial, including St Clement. They subjected
them to fierce torture: dragging them through thorns, and holding them in
prison for a long time, just as they had done with their spiritual Father,
St Methodius.
In 886, some of the prisoners were sold to slave-traders, and
ended up in the Venice marketplace. The ambassador of the Byzantine Emperor
Basil the Macedonian went to Venice, ransomed the saints and brought them
to Constantinople. The older confessors were banished. It is not known where
St Gorazd went, nor where St Sava found shelter. Naum and Angelar went to
Bulgaria.
In 907 Moravia collapsed under the onslaught of the Magyars,
and Moravian refugees escaped along those same paths followed earlier by
the saints they had exiled.
The Bulgarians received the Slavonic confessors with respect
and requested them to conduct divine services in the Slavonic language. The
Bulgarian prince Boris sought out such people as the disciples of St Methodius,
who labored for the enlightenment of his nation. The saints immediately began
to study Slavonic books collected by the Bulgarian nobles.
St Angelar soon died, and St Clement received the appointment
to teach at Kutmichivitsa, a region in southwest Macedonia. In the Eastern
Church a worthy man was chosen to be a teacher, someone known for his devout
life, and possessed with a gift of words. St Clement was a teacher while
he was still in Moravia. In Bulgaria, St Clement worked as an instructor
until 893. He organized a school at the princely court, which attained high
esteem during the reign of Simeon. In southwest Macedonia he created separate
schools for adults and for children.
St Clement instructed the children in reading and in writing.
The total number of his students was enormous. Those chosen and accepted
for the clergy amounted to 3500 men. In the year 893, St Clement became Bishop
of Dremvitsa, or Velitsa, and St Naum took his place. St Clement was the first Bulgarian hierarch to
serve, preach and write in the Slavonic language. To this end he
systematically prepared clergy from among the Slavic people. The holy bishop
labored for the glory of God into his old age. When his strength failed,
and he was unable to fulfill his responsibilities in the cathedral, he asked
Tsar Simeon to let him retire. The Tsar urged the saint not to forsake the
cathedral, and St Clement agreed to continue his episcopal service. After
this he went to Ochrid, to a monastery he founded. There the saint continued
with his translation activities and translated important parts of the PENTEKOSTARION.
Soon the saint became seriously
ill and departed to the Lord in the year 916. The saint's body was placed
in a coffin he made with his own hands, and was buried in Ochrid's St Panteleimon
monastery.
St Clement is considered the first Slavonic author. He not
only continued the translation work begun by Sts Cyril and Methodius, but
also left behind works of his own composition, the first samples of Slavonic
spiritual literature. Many of the lessons and sermons of St Clement
were brought to Russia, where they were read and lovingly copied by pious
Russian Christians.
The relics of Sts Gorazd and
Angelar rest near Berat in Albania, and St Naum's relics are in the monastery
bearing his name, near Lake Ochrid. St Clement is also commemorated on November
25.
Clemens von Bulgarien, Angelarius, Gorazd, Nahum und Sabas
Orthodoxe Kirche: 27. Juli Katholische Kirche: 17. Juli (Clemens
von Bulgarien und Sieben Apostel Bulgariens)
Zu den sieben Aposteln Bulgariens
gehören auch Cyrillus und Methodius. Clemens, Angelarius, Gorazd, Nahum
und Sabas waren ihre Schüler.
Gorazd wurde nach dem Tod des
Methodius sein Nachfolger als Bischof von Mähren. Clemens, Angelarius,
Nahum und Sabas waren Kirchenälteste. Der Streit um Slawisch als Kirchensprache
und andere orthodoxe Traditionen spitzte sich nach dem Tod des Methodius
zu; die Liturgie in slawischer Sprache wurde verboten. Über den Verbleib
von Gorazd und Sabas in den Auseinandersetzungen ist nichts bekannt.
ClemensClemens wurde wie viele
andere Anhänger der orthodoxen Richtung gefangengesetzt und als Sklave
nach Venedig gebracht. Hier kaufte ihn der Legat von Konstantinopel frei
und Clemes gelangte ebenso wie Angelarius und Nahum nach Bulgarien. Hier
wurden sie freundlich empfangen und gebeten, Gottesdienste in slawischer
Sprache zu halten. Angelarius starb bald darauf. Clemens wirkte vor allem
als Lehrer, Literat und Übersetzer. Er errichtete Schulen für Kinder
und Erwachsene und auch ein Priesterseminar, in dem er 3.500 Männer
ausbildete. Mit Nahum zusammen gründete er auch die glagolitische literarische
Schule und das Panteleimon-Kloster in Ohrid. Clemens gilt als der erste
slawische Autor, der neben Übersetzungen auch eigene Werke in slawischer
Sprache verfaßte. 893 wurde er Bischof von Velitsa (oder Dremvitsa)
und Nahum übernahm die Ausbildung der Geistlichen. Clemens starb am
17.7.916 in seinem Kloster bei Ohrid (Makedonien) .
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1142 Blessed Berthold
of Garsten Berthold; particularly
interesting in view of the period that Berthold's zeal manifested itself
especially in hearing confessions, both of his own religious and of lay people; led the ordinary life of a monk, dividing time
between prayer,study, and work of the house ; but this life is designed to
be a means of sanctity, by it Berthold became a saint: in secret he led a
life of great penitence, he never ate meat or fish, and spent hours of his
short night in private prayer. People came from far and wide to hear
him preach and to ask his blessing; , OSB Abbot (AC)
Born in Constance; Scion of the family of the counts of Bogen, Berthold
did as he was expected and married. At the age of 30 he was widowed and immediately
joined the Benedictines of Blasien Abbey in the Black Forest. There he rose
to the position of prior. He was then called to be prior of Göttweig
in Austria, and finally abbot of Garsten in Styria, where he founded a hospice
for the poor. He was known for his excellence as a confessor (Benedictines).
In art, Berthold is a Benedictine abbot carrying fish and bread. Sometimes
there is an angel near him holding fish on a plate or fishes come to him
(Roeder). He is venerated in Constance, Saint Blasien (Schwärzwald,
Germany), and Göttweig (Austria) (Roeder).
Berthold was born about the year 1090 on the shores of Lake Constance.
His wife dying when he was some thirty years old, he became a monk at Sankt
Blasien and was promoted to be prior of Goettweig in the Black Forest. Ottokar,
Margrave of Styria, had some years previously founded a house of secular
canons at Steyer-Garsten, but the institution had not come up to his expectations
and fulfilled his intentions, so he determined to dismiss the canons and
people the house with Benedictines. This he did about 1111, and
put at their head Bd Berthold, who at once established a rigorous discipline,
and the reputation of the abbot and his monks soon made the monastery a place
of pilgrimage. To shelter and entertain them Berthold built a hospice
and added thereto a hospital for the benefit of the sick poor of the whole
neighbourhood as well as of travellers. These charities, and the succour
of the numerous indigent folk who asked for help, were a great strain on
the resources of the monastery, but on seven! occasions it appeared that God
had intervened to supply their needs miraculously.
Berthold led the ordinary life of a monk, dividing his time between prayer
and study and the work of the house ; but this life is designed to be a
means of sanctity, and by it Berthold became a saint: in secret he led a
life of great penitence, he never ate meat or fish, and spent hours of his
short night in private prayer. People came from far and wide to hear
him preach and to ask his blessing; and it is particularly interesting to
note, in view of the period at which he lived, that Berthold's zeal manifested
itself especially in hearing confessions, both of his own religious and of
lay people.
The full life of Bd Berthold which
we possess was written about twenty years after his death, and has been
printed with much illustrative matter in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. vi
.
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1227 Blessed Conrad of
Ottobeuren, OSB Abbot (PC). Conrad was abbot of Ottobeuren Abbey in Bavaria
from 1193 until his death. He is described as a "lover of the brethren and
of the poor" (Benedictines).
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1247 St. Theobald of Marly Cistercian abbot took
the Cistercian habit at Vaux-de-Cernay in 1220, and was chosen abbot in
1235. He lived in the midst of his brethren as the servant of every
one, and surpassed all others in his love of poverty, silence and prayer.
He was known to and much venerated by St Louis. Theobald died on December
8, 1247, but the Cistercians observe his feast on July 27.
1247 St. Theobald of
Marly Cistercian abbot
monk, by his virtue the great ornament of the illustrious family of Montmorency
in France, born in the castle of Many. His father, Bouchard de Montmorency,
gave him an education suitable to his birth, trained him for arms, and sent
him for a time to the court of King Philip Augustus II. But
Theobald manifested a strong inclination to a state of retirement
he spent a great part of his time in prayer, and resorted often to the church
of the nunnery called Port Royal, which had been founded in 1204 by the
wife of Matthew de Montmorency, and on which his father Bouchard had bestowed
so many estates that he was regarded as a second founder. Theobald
took the Cistercian habit at Vaux-de-Cernay in 1220, and was chosen abbot
in 1235. He lived in the midst of his brethren as the servant of every
one, and surpassed all others in his love of poverty, silence and prayer.
He was known to and much venerated by St
Louis. Theobald died on December 8, 1247, but the Cistercians observe
his feast on July 27.
We do not know very much about
Theobald of Many, but some biographical material has been printed by André
Duchesne in his Historiae Francorum Scriptore:,
vol. v, pp. 406-407. See also Lenain, Histoire de C'iteaux, vol. ix, and especially
G. Muller's article "Der bl. Theobald, Abt von Vaux de Cennay", in Cistercienser-Chronik, vol. xv (1903),
pp. 321-336 .
Cistercian abbot. The son of Buchard of Montmorency, he was
born in Marly Castle, France, and was raised as a knight at the court of King
Philip II Augustus of France (r. 1180-1223). Undergoing a personal conversion,
he left the court, gave up his worldly ambitions, and entered the Cistercian
abbey of Vaux-de-Cernay in 1220. He became prior in 1230 and abbot in 1235.
Theobald of Marly, OSB Cist. Abbot (AC) (also known as Thibaut) Born at
Marly Castle, Montmorency, France; died December 8, 1247. Saint Theobald,
son of Bouchard of Montmorency, was trained to take up the profession of arms,
although he had always displayed an inclination to a life of prayer. Nevertheless,
he was a distinguished knight at the court of King Philip Augustus II, even
while he resorted frequently to the convent church of Port-Royal. He abandoned
his worldly goods in order to enter the Cistercian monastery of Vaux-de-Cernay
in 1220. He was highly esteemed by King Saint Louis of France, as well as
his brothers in religion who elected him prior in 1230 and abbot in 1235.
Even as abbot he lived in the midst of his brethren as the servant of every
one, and surpassed all others in his love of poverty, silence, and holy prayer.
Theobald's shrine at Vaux-de- Cernay is visited by many people on Whitsundays.
His solemn feast is kept there July 8 and in some places on July 9, which
is probably the day on which his relics were first translated (Benedictines,
Husenbeth, Walsh). In art, Saint Theobald is a knight bearing the arms of
Thann. He may, at times, wear armor under his Cistercian habit with his miter
at his feet (Roeder). He is venerated in Thann (Alsace) and Hemel Hempstead
(Roeder).
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1280
Blessed Nevolo of Faenza; He married and led a frivolous life until at the
age of 24 he experienced a complete conversion. He became the first Franciscan
tertiary and later enter the Camaldolese monastery at San Maglorio at Faenza
as a lay-brother (Benedictines). OSB Cam. Hermit (AC)
Cultus approved in 1817. Nevolo was a shoemaker by trade.
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1350 Blessed Lucy Bufalari,
OSA V (AC) Born at Castel Porziano, near Rome, Italy; cultus confirmed in
1832. Lucy, the sister of Blessed John of Rieti, became an Augustinian nun
at Amelia. Later she was prioress. She is invoked against diabolical possession
(Benedictines).
1350 Blessed Lucy Bufalari was born at Castel Ponziano in
Umbria, and was a sister of Bd John of Rieti. Like her brother, she
joined the order of the Hermits of St Augustine (Augustinian Friars), and
she became prioress of the convent of Amelia. She practised
the most severe mortifications and displayed heroic virtues in the service
of God in the cloister. After her death she was invoked by the people,
and her cult was confirmed in 1832.
See Lupidi, Mentorie storiche riguardanti la B. Lucia Bufalari
1938 &Seeböck, Herrlichkeit der
Katholischen Kirche (1900)
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1392 Blessed Nicholas Konchanov,
Novgorod Fool-for-Christ ; The Lord glorified Blessed Nicholas with the
gift of miracles and clairvoyance.
Born at Novgorod into a rich and illustrious family. From his
youthful years he loved piety, he went to church faithfully, and loved fasting
and prayer. Seeing his virtuous life, people began to praise him. Blessed
Nicholas, disdaining glory from men, began the difficult exploit of folly
for the Lord's sake. He ran about the city in the bitter cold dressed in
rags, enduring beatings, insults and mockery. Blessed Nicholas and another
Novgorod fool, Blessed Theodore (January 19), pretended to be irreconcilable
foes, and graphically demonstrated to the people of Novgorod the pernicious
character of their internecine strife.
Once, having overcome his sham opponent, Blessed Nicholas went
along the Volkhov as if on dry land, and threw a head of cabbage at Blessed
Theodore, therefore he was called "Konchanov" (i.e. "cabbage-head"). The
Lord glorified Blessed Nicholas with the gift of miracles and clairvoyance.
Once, after being turned away by servants from a feast to which
he had been invited, he left. Immediately, the wine disappeared from the
barrel. Only upon the return of the fool, and through his prayer, did it
reappear again. When he died, Blessed Nicholas was buried at the end of the
cemetery by the Yakovlev cathedral.
The relics of Blessed Nicholas rest under a crypt in the church
of the Great Martyr Panteleimon which was built over his grave.
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1557
Engel de Merel {Angelus Merula} Catholic priest and freethinker,supported
the Reformation imprisoned around 1550 for criticizing the Catholic
church. He studied the Bible in the original text and represented the
view that not human efforts, but God's mercy save the person and not efforts
save the person.
Evangelische Kirche: 27. Juli
Angelus Merula In the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church movement
was being influenced by declining ritual practices. This resulted in iconoclasm
in Brielle and finally, in the Reformation. In the year 1482, Engel
de Merel, or ‘Angelus Merula’ (as is known in Latin) was born in Brielle.
In 1532 he was nominated for pastor in the small town of Heenvliet, approximately
7 km east of Brielle. Angelus Merula supported the Reformation. Meetings
of the reformatory people had already been tolerated by the authorities for
several years. On the contrary, the inquisition, the ‘secret police’ of the
Roman Catholic Church fought the heretics pitilessly. In 1557 Angelus Merula
met with his death by fire on the stake. He bequeathed his home (near the
Sint Catharijne - church) in the town of Brielle as an orphanage.
Angelus Merula wurde um 1482 in Briel geboren. Nach der Ausbildung zum
Priester wirkte er als Notar in seiner Heimatstadt. 1530 wurde er Pfarrer
in Heenvliet in Geldern. Er studierte die Bibel im Urtext und vertrat die
Auffassung, daß nicht menschliche Verdienste, sondern Gottes Gnade und
Barmherzigkeit den Menschen retteten. 1552 wurde er von der Inquisition verhaftet.
Angelus Merula was born around 1482 in Briel. After the education in the
priest he worked as a notary public in his hometown. He became 1530 priest
in Heenvliet in Geldern. He studied the Bible in the original text and represented
the view that human efforts, but God's mercy and efforts did not save the
person. 1552 he was arrested by the inquisition. Zwar fanden sich
kaum Widersprüche zur katholischen Lehre, dennoch wurde Merula aufgefordert,
zu widerrufen. Da er sich mehr als ein Jahr lang weigerte, sollte er im September
1554 hingerichtet werden. Indeed, contradictions were barely found to the
Catholic apprenticeship, Merula was still asked to recant. Because he refused
during more than 1 year, he should be executed in September, 1554
Zahlreiche Menschen aus Geldern strömten zusammen um ihn notfalls
mit Gewalt zu befreien. Die Glaubensrichter verkündeten daraufhin, Merula
habe widerrufen und sei zu lebenslanger Haft verurteilt worden. Nachdem
er in Vergessenheit geraten war, wurde er 1557 zum Feuertod verurteilt.
Unmittelbar vor der Hinrichtung starb er am 26.7.1557 an einem Schlaganfall.
Numerous people from Geldern flowed out together around him if necessary
by force to release. As a result the religious judges announced, Merula
has recanted and has been condemned to lifelong custody. After he had fallen
into oblivion, he was condemned 1557 to the death by fire. Immediately before
the execution he died on 26.7.1557 of a stroke .
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1583 Bl. Rudolf Acquaviva
Jesuit martyr sent to India, going to the court of Mogul Akbar near Agra.
He became superior of the Salsette mission. Rudolf was martyred at Salsette,
near Goa, by Hindus, with four companions, including Alfonso Pacheco
Born at Atri, Portugal in 1550, he was the nephew of Claudius
Acquaviva, the fifth master general of the Jesuits, and he followed his uncle
into the Society of Jesus. In 1549, he was sent to India, going to the court
of Mogul Akbar near Agra. He became superior of the Salsette mission. Rudolf
was martyred at Salsette, near Goa, by Hindus, with four companions, including
Alfonso Pacheco.
1583 Bl. Rudolf Aquaviva and Companions These
five martyrs of the Society of Jesus were Rudolf Aquaviva, Alfonso Pacheco,
Pirrea Berno, Antony Francisco, Priests, And Francis Aranha, temporal coadjutor.
Father Aquaviva was son of the Duke of Atri, related to the family of St Aloysius Gonzaga, and nephew of Claud
Aquaviva, the fifth general of the Jesuits. He was admitted
at the age of eighteen, in 1568, and after being ordained priest at Lisbon
was sent to Goa, in India. In 1579 a request was received from the Great
Mogul Akbar that missionaries should be sent to his court at
Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra. Father Aquaviva, a man
"of very sweet and simple disposition...perpetually conscious of God", was
one of the two chosen for this mission, and he spent till 1583 in strenuous
efforts to convert Akbar and his subjects; he had no success, and in that
year was recalled to be put in charge of the Salsette mission, north of
Bombay.
Father Pacheco, a Castilian, and Father
Berno, a Swiss, accompanied two punitive expeditions of the Portuguese against
the village of Cuncolim; on these occasions they were both conspicuous for
their energy in the destruction of Hindu sacred buildings, and
no doubt the people made a note of it. Father Francisco was Italian; Brother
Aranha was the mission architect at Goa and at his death had been twenty-three
years in India.
These five Jesuits, then,
were all in the district of Salsette, and they determined together to make
a "frontal attack" on Cuncolim, which was the heart of Hindu opposition
in that mission. On July 15, 1583, they met at Orlim and, together
with other Christians, set out for Cuncolim,
intending to choose there a piece of ground for a church and to plant a cross
thereon. On their arrival the notables of the village
hurriedly took counsel, and then approached the missionaries with an armed
force. A Portuguese layman, Rodriguez, would have fired
on them, but he was stopped by Father Pacheco with the words, "We are not
here to fight ".
The villagers then fell on the party. Bd Rudolf
and Ed Alfonso were killed praying for their murderers, and the other two
priests were likewise slain outright. The coadjutor, Ed Francis, left for
dead, but found living the next day; he was given the chance to venerate an
idol, and on refusing was tied to a tree and shot through with arrows.
There were
put to death at the same time Goacalo Rodriguez and fourteen Indian Christians,
two of whom were lads.
There is now no means of judging the reasons on
account of which these fifteen were omitted from the cause of the martyrs
by Mgr Menezes, Archbishop of Goa, in 1600 but, from what is known of the
methods of that prelate, they would probably be found unconvincing today.
Even the cause of the five Jesuits
was subjected to long delay. The promoter of the faith raised the doubt that
the destroying of Hindu pagodas and other aggressive acts had brought about
what was in effect a state of war which, rather than hatred of the faith,
involved the massacre. It was not till 1741 that Pope
Benedict XIV declared the martyrdom proved, and even then the formal beatification
did not take place till 1893 .
The best popular account
of the Martyrs of Salsette is that written in German by Father H. Gruber,
Der selige Rudolf Aquaviva und seine
Gefahrten Les BB. martyrs de Salsette
(1893), and in English F. Goldie, The
First Chritian Mission to the Great Mogul (1897), and J. S. Naraysn,
Aquaviva and the Great Mogul (Patna,
1946). From the point of view of secular history valuable sidelights may be
obtained from Sir Edward Maclagan's article in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (vol.
Ixv) on "Jesuit Missions to the Emperor Akbar", and from C. H. Payne's Akbar and the Jesuits (1926) (1894);
but see also P. Suau.1583
Bl. Rudolf Aquaviva and Companions
Blessed Aquaviva and his Companions were Jesuit priests. He
was the son of the Duke of Atri, related to the family of St. Aloysius
Gonzaga, and nephew of Claud Aquaviva, the fifth general of the Jesuits.
He was admitted at the age of eighteen, in 1568, and after being ordained
priest at Lisbon was sent to Goa, in India.
Father Aquaviva was one of the two chosen for the mission at
Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra, and he worked till 1583 in strenuous efforts to
convert Akbar and his subjects, but had no success. He was then put in charge
of the Salsette mission, north of Bombay.
He and four companions,
Father Pacheco, Father Berno, Father Francisco and Brother Aranha, together
with other Christians, set out for Cuncolim, the heart of Hindu opposition
in that mission, intending to choose there a piece of ground for a church
and to plant a cross thereon. They were met with armed force by the villagers.
Blessed Rudolf and Blessed Alfonso were killed praying for their murderers,
and the other two priests were likewise slain outright. Blessed Francis
was left for dead, but found living the next day; he was given a chance
to venerate an idol, and on refusing was tied to a tree and shot with arrows.
It was not till 1741 that Pope Benedict XIV declared the martyrdom proved,
and even then the formal beatification did not take place till 1893.
Blessed Rudolph Acquaviva, & Four Comps., SJ
MM (AC) Born at Atri in 1550; died near Goa, India, July 25, 1583; beatified
in 1893. Rudolph was the nephew of Claudio Acquaviva, the fifth general
of the Society of Jesus. Under the influence of his uncle, he too became
a Jesuit and went to the society's mission in the East Indies. He was martyred
on the peninsula of Salsette with four companions (Benedictines) .
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1737 Blessed Mary Magdalen
Martinengo, OFM Cap. V (AC) Born in Brescia, Italy; beatified in 1900. Mary
Magdalen took the veil at the Capuchin convent in Brescia. She filled the
post of novice mistress and prioress with marked success (Benedictines).
Blessed
Mary Magdalen Martinengo, was born into a noble family at Brescia
in northern Italy in 1687. At five months old she lost her mother,
and her child-hood showed a considerable precocity of religious
devotion, self-inflicted mortifications and spiritual, or psychological,
disturbances. Her determination "to imitate everything in the lives
of the saints", though heroic, could hardly be called a wise programme at
any age. When she was eighteen Mary Martinengo joined the Capuchinesses of
Santa Maria delta Neve in her native town. She was professed in 1706,
and her responsibilities varied between novice-mistress (three times) and
portress; in 1732 and again in 1736 she was superior of the convent, and was
admirable in alt these offices. Her humility and selfless love of God were
adorned with the divine recognition of unusual mystical experiences and the
gift of miracles; she had a particular personal devotion towards our Lord's
sufferings from the crown of thorns, and after her death a fillet of sharp
points was found bound about her own brow.
This was the simplest and most "ordinary" of Bd Mary's
practices, which to detail, would not necessarily tend to edification; not
without reason has a Benedictine written that to many they might seem like
" the feats of a fakir". But they were so many withesses to her love
for the crucified Redeemer who had suffered so much for her, "for everybody
to love whom with one single heart is too little, much too little".
And all this was joined with capability as novice-mistress and abbess, with
a love of silence, with a quiet sweetness of speech. Bd Mary Magdalen
died in 1737, in her fiftieth year, and was beatified in 1900.
Several biographies, mostly based
upon the, documents of the cause, were published about the time of Bd Mary's
beatification, notably that by Fr Ladislaus of Vannes in French (1901).
Others, in Italian, were by Fr Ludovic of Leghorn (1899), Fr Antonino of
Bergamo (1900), and Fr Siato of Pisa (1900) .
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1752 Blessed Antonio
Lucci; attended the local school run by the Conventual Franciscans and joined
them at the age of 16. Antonio completed his studies for the priesthood
in Assisi, where he was ordained in 1705. Further studies led to a doctorate
in theology and appointments as a teacher in Agnone, Ravello and Naples.
He also served as guardian in Naples; bishop of Bovino
Antonio studied with and was a friend of St. Francesco Antonio Fasani,
who after Antonio Lucci’s death testified at the diocesan hearings regarding
the holiness of Lucci.
Born 1682 in Agnone in southern Italy,
a city famous for manufacturing bells and copper crafts, he was given the
name Angelo at Baptism. He attended the local school run by the Conventual
Franciscans and joined them at the age of 16. Antonio completed his studies
for the priesthood in Assisi, where he was ordained in 1705. Further studies
led to a doctorate in theology and appointments as a teacher in Agnone,
Ravello and Naples. He also served as guardian in Naples.
Elected minister provincial in 1718, the following year he
was appointed professor at St. Bonaventure College in Rome, a position he
held until Pope Benedict XIII chose him as bishop of Bovino (near Foggia) in 1729.
The pope explained, "I have chosen as bishop of Bovino an eminent theologian
and a great saint."
His 23 years as bishop were marked by visits to local parishes
and a renewal of gospel living among the people of his diocese. He dedicated
his episcopal income to works of education and charity. At the urging
of the Conventual minister general, Bishop Lucci wrote a major book about
the saints and blesseds in the first 200 years of the Conventual Franciscans.
He was beatified in 1989, three
years after his friend Francesco Antonio Fasani was canonized.
Comment: As Pope Paul VI
wrote in 1975, people today "are more impressed by witnesses than by teachers,
and if they listen to these it is because they also bear witness" (Evangelization
in the Modern World, #41).
Quote: When Francis of Assisi
learned that Anthony of Padua was teaching theology to the friars in Bologna,
Francis wrote: "It pleases me that you teach sacred theology to the brothers,
as long as—in the words of the Rule—you do not extinguish the spirit of prayer
and devotion with study of this kind."
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1836 St. Bartholomea
Capitanjo Foundress of the Italian Sisters of Charity of Lovere with St.
Vincenzia Gerosa. She was born in 1807.Young, she was the guiding light of
the congregation. The Sisters of Charity of Lovere was approved in 1840.
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1878 Gustav Knak Nach
dem Studium der Theologie wirkte er zunächst als Lehrer, dann ab 1834
als Pastor in Wusterwitz
Evangelische Kirche: 27. Juli
One of the profoundest spiritual thoughts is expressed by Gustav Knak’s
song of the heart which Mennonite Brethren have sung for generations:
O that my heart an altar were
of incense and of praise, Where thanks and honor to the Lamb my soul might
ever raise!
The knowledge of this Lamb sublime has banished doubts away,
Because my faith is placed in Him, I fear no Judgment Day.
The debt of sin has now been paid, Tis covered by the blood!
And God has no remembrance made since came the cleansing flood!
My heart is glad, I now rejoice, To find such peaceful ways!
Thus ever shall I lift my voice in my Redeemer’s praise! Worship Hymnal
(Fresno: Board of Christian Literature, General Conference of the Mennonite
Brethren Churches, 1979), No. 345.
Gustav Knak wurde am 12.7.1806 in Berlin geboren. Nach dem Studium der
Theologie wirkte er zunächst als Lehrer, dann ab 1834 als Pastor in Wusterwitz
(Vorpommern). Knak verkündete seiner Gemeinde, sie brauche den heiligen
Geist und um die nötige Vergebung zu erlangen, müsse jeder seine
Sünden erkennen und bekennen. Er führte das Beichtgespräch
wieder ein und hielt Erbauungsstunden. Die Wusterwitzer Missionsfeste trugen
die Erweckung weiter. Auf diesen Festen waren die Wirkungen des Heiligen
Geistes und die Gemeinschaft der Heiligen erlebbar und erfahrbar. Knak wurde
auch zu Veranstaltungen anderer Gemeinden gerufen, zum Beispiel auch von
Volkening. After the study of the theology he worked at first as a
teacher, then from 1834 as a pastor in Wusterwitz (Western Pomerania). Knak
announced to his municipality, she needs to attain the holy mind and around
the necessary forgiveness, must recognize everybody his sins and know. He
introduced the Beichtgespräch again and held construction hours. The
Wusterwitzer mission parties carried the arousal further. At these parties
the effects of the holy mind and the community of the saints were experienceable
and learnable. Knak was also called to arrangements of other municipalities,
for example, also from Volkening. Aus dieser Tätigkeit entstanden
seine Lieder Laßt mich gehn, daß ich Jesum möge sehn und
Zieht in Frieden eure Pfade (EG 258). Um den Menschen, die in der Natur Gott
begegnen wollten, zu helfen, gab er den 'Reisepsalter' heraus. From this
activity there originated his songs letting me gehn that I Jesum may sees
and Pulling in peace your paths (the EC 258). To help the people who wanted
to meet in the nature God, he published the 'travel psalter'. 1850
wurde er als Nachfolger Goßners an die Berliner Bethlehemkirche berufen.
Er war einer der führenden Erweckungsprediger. Der christlich-sozialen
Bewegung unter Stoecker schloß er sich zwar nicht an, weil er das Evangelium
nicht mit Politik vermengen wollte, begleitete aber diese Arbeit mit seiner
Fürbitte. In 1850 he was appointed as successor Gossners to the Berlin
Bethlehem church. He was one of the leading arousal preachers. Indeed, of
the Christian-social movement under jailer he did not join because he did
not want to mix the Gospel with policy, however, this work with his Fürbitte
accompanied. Knak starb am 27.7.1878 in Berlin .
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1942 Bl. Titus Brandsma
Carmelite martyr who died at the hands of the Nazis; was sent to various
concentration camps where he demonstrated charity and concern
Becoming a Carmelite as a young
man, he displayed a dazzling intellect and scholarship, receiving ordination
as a priest in 1905 and earning a doctorate in philosophy at Rome. Titus then
taught in Dutch universities and lectured in many countries on Carmelite spirituality
and mysticism. He also served as rector magnificus at the Catholic University
of Nijmegen. In 1935 he became an ecclesiastical advisor to Catholic journalists.
His academic and spiritual studies were also printed and widely read.
He was born in 1881 at Bolsward in the Netherlands. When the Nazis occupied
the Netherlands, Titus was singled out as an enemy because he fought against
the spread of Nazism in Europe. Arrested, Titus was sent to various concentration
camps where he demonstrated charity and concern. In 1942, he was martyred
in Dachau.
Titus was beatified by Pope John
Paul II on November 3, 1985 .
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Mary Mother of GOD 
Saints of this Day July 27 Sexto Kaléndas Augústi 
Romæ sancti Cælestíni Papæ Primi, qui damnávit
Constantinopolitánum Epíscopum Nestórium, Pelagiúmque
fugávit; cujus étiam auctoritáte universális
sancta Synodus Ephesína advérsus eúndem Nestórium
celebráta est.
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.