80 St. Martha,
Mary and their brother Lazarus close friends of Jesus; St. Martha said to
him, ‘Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son
of God, the one who is coming into the world’”
Tarásci, in Gállia Narbonénsi, sanctæ Marthæ
Vírginis, hóspitæ Salvatóris nostri ac soróris
beatórum Maríæ Magdalénæ et Lázari.
At Tarascon, in the province of Narbonne in France, St.
Martha, virgin, the hostess of our Saviour and sister of blessed Mary Magdalene
and St. Lazarus.
He came to their home simply as a welcomed guest,
rather than as one celebrating the conversion of a sinner like Zacchaeus
or one unceremoniously received by a suspicious Pharisee. The sisters feel
free to call on Jesus at their brother’s death, even though a return to Judea
at that time seems almost certain death.
No doubt Martha was an active sort of person. On one occasion
(see Luke 10:38-42) she prepares
the meal for Jesus and possibly his fellow guests and forthrightly states
the obvious: All hands should pitch in to help with the dinner.
Yet, as Father John McKenzie points out, she need not be rated
as an “unrecollected activist.” The evangelist is emphasizing what our Lord
said on several occasions about the primacy of the spiritual: “...Do not
worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body,
what you will wear….But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness”
(Matthew 6:25b, 33a); “One does not live by bread alone” (Luke 4:4b); “Blessed are they who hunger
and thirst for righteousness…” (Matthew
5:6a).
Martha’s great glory is her simple and strong statement of faith
in Jesus after her brother’s death. “Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection
and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone
who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said
to him, ‘Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the
Son of God, the one who is coming into the world’” (John 11:25-27).
Comment: Scripture commentators point out that in writing
his account of the raising of Lazarus, St. John intends that we should see
Martha’s words to Mary before the resurrection of Lazarus as a summons that
every Christian must obey. In her saying “The teacher is here and is asking
for you,” Jesus is calling every one of us to resurrection—now in baptismal
faith, forever in sharing his victory over death. And all of us, as well
as these three friends, are in our own unique way called to special friendship
with him.
Quote: “Even in this life the Spirit transforms us.... When
Moses turned towards the Lord, his face shone in the reflection of God: when
the believer turns towards the Lord Jesus and contemplates his glorious face,
he is transformed into an ever brighter image of that same glory. And this
irradiating power which transforms us into beings of light only comes from
Christ because he himself is wholly penetrated by that Spirit” (Durrwell,
The Resurrection).
Martha V (RM). Martha was the sister of Mary (usually identified
in the West as the Magdalene) and Lazarus. She lived with them in Bethany,
a small town near Jerusalem. Jesus preached in Judea and visited their home
often. Martha may have been the eldest, for she directed the household
and took special pains to make Jesus comfortable. Active in her ministrations,
she asked Jesus to direct her sister, the more contemplative Mary, to help
her serve him, and he replied, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried
about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better
part and it will not be taken from her" (Luke 10:38-42). Thus, Jesus reminds
us that active works can distract us from God, while contemplation brings
one closer.
It was Martha who went out to
meet Jesus after the death of Lazarus. She met him when he was still a few
miles outside their village. Martha said to him, "Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died." She added that she still believed God would
grant whatever Jesus asked.
In response to this act of faith, she was the first to hear one
of Jesus' deepest revelations. As Jesus continued to question her, Martha
said she believed her brother would rise again on the last day. Then Jesus
said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in
me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me
will never die. Do you believe this?" Martha replied, "Yes, Lord. I have
come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God" (John 11:1-44).
According to medieval legend, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus went
to France after the death of Jesus and evangelized Provence (Attwater, Bentley,
Delaney, White).
In art, Saint Martha is portrayed
as a housewife with a dragon and an aspergillus. At times the image may include
(1) a book and aspergillus; (2) keys and an aspergillus; (3) keys and a ladle;
(4) a ladle; (5) with Martha veiled and her hands folded in lamentation by
the Magdalene; (6) Mary in scenes from the Gospel; or (7) with Lazarus and
Mary, crossing the sea to Marseilles (Roeder). White says that she is often
bearing a distaff or any symbol of housework, such as a bunch of keys.
Martha is venerated in Provence,
especially in Aix and Tarsacon.
She is patroness of housewives, innkeepers (Roeder), house servants, waiters,
and cooks (White).
80 St. Martha was sister to Mary (who
is usually identified with Magdalen) and Lazarus, and lived with them
at Bethany, a small town two miles distant from Jerusalem, a little beyond
Mount Olivet.
Our blessed Redeemer had made His residence usually in Galilee,
till in the third year of His public ministry He preached frequently in Judaea,
during which interval he frequented the house of these three disciples, who
perhaps had removed from Galilee to be nearer Him. St John particularly
tells us that "Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus".
Martha seems to have been the eldest, and to have had the chief care
and direction of the household, for, when Jesus visited them, St Luke tells
us that Martha showed great solicitude to entertain and serve Him, to be
herself busy in preparing everything for their guest. Mary sat all
the while at our Saviour's feet, feeding her soul with heavenly doctrine.
With so great love did Martha wait on our Redeemer that, as we cannot doubt,
she thought that if the whole world were occupied in attending to so great
a guest, all would be too little. She wished that all men would employ
their hands, feet and hearts, all their faculties and senses, with their whole
strength, in serving their Creator who was made for us our brother. Therefore
she asked Him to bid her sister Mary help her. Our Lord
was indeed well pleased with the affection and devotion wherewith Martha
waited on Him; yet He commended more the quiet repose with which Mary attended
only to that which is of the greatest importance, the attendance of the soul
on God.
"Martha, Martha," said He,
"thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing
is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part." In active works
the soul is often distracted or entirely drawn off, whereas in heavenly contemplation
the heart is wholly taken up in God, and united to Him by worship and love.
This is the novitiate of Heaven, where it is the uninterrupted occupation
of the blessed. In this sense Christ so highly commends the choice
of Mary, affirming that her happy employment would never be taken from her.
He added, "One thing is necessary
", that is, "Eternal salvation is our only concern".
See Luke x 38-42, and John xi and xii. In the Provençal
legend referred to under St Mary Magdalen on the 22nd of this month, St Martha
accompanied her sister to France and evangelized Tarascon, where her alleged
relics were found in 1187 and enclosed in a shrine where they ale still venerated.
Most of what is said in the note appended to the account of St Mary Magdalen
above applies to the legends connecting St Martha with Provence and particularly
with Tarascon.
|
St. Lazarus The disciple
and friend of Jesus raised from the dead by Jesus; brother of Martha and
Mary; resided in Bethany suburb of Jerusalem, Israel
No mention is made in the New Testament of his activities
after being brought back to life; several traditions survive. In one, Lazarus,
Martha, and Mary go to France, where he became the first bishop of Marseilles,
before being martyred.
In other traditions, Lazarus and his sisters went
to Cyprus, where he became bishop of Kition, or Lamaka.
Still another legend reports that he went to Syria.
His supposed relics were translated to Constantinople and numerous churches
were built in his honor.
Devotion to Lazarus
was commonplace in the early Church.
|
119 St. Serapia A slave and martyr, also called Seraphia servant
of St. Sabina and was responsible for the Roman noblewoman’s conversion to
Christianity. Both Sabina and Serapia were subsequently beheaded during the
persecutions of Emperor hadrian
Item Romæ sanctæ Serápiæ Vírginis, quæ,
sub Hadriáno Príncipe, cum esset trádita duóbus
lascívis juvénibus et mínime potuísset illúdi,
nec póstmodum ardéntibus fácibus inflammári.
Derílli Júdicis jussu fústibus cæsa est, dehinc
gládio decolláta. Ejus corpus a beáta Sabína
in suo monuménto, juxta áream Vindiciáni, sepúltum
est; sed memória ipsíus martyrii tértio Nonas Septémbris
celébrior habétur, quo die ambárum sarcóphagum
ibi compósitum et ornátum fuit, et locus oratiónis condígne
dicátus.
Again at Rome, St. Serapia, virgin. Under Emperor
Hadrian, she was delivered to two lustful young men, and as she could not
be corrupted, nor afterwards burned with lighted torches, she was beaten
with rods, and finally beheaded by order of the judge Derillus. She
was buried by blessed Sabina in her own tomb, near the field of Vindician.
But the commemoration of her martyrdom is celebrated more solemnly on the
3rd of September, when their common tomb was finished and adorned, and dedicated
as a place of prayer.
Serapia of Syria VM (RM) Saint Serapia (Seraphia) was a Syrian
slave who converted Saint Sabina and was martyred with her under Hadrian (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia). In art, Saint Serapia holds a tablet or book; sometimes she
appears with Saint Sabina (Roeder).
Seraphima the Virgin, a native of Antioch The
Holy martyr lived at Rome during the reign of the emperor Hadrian (117-138)
with the illustrious Roman Sabina, whom the saint converted to
Christianity. During the persecution against Christians begun by order of
the emperor, the governor Virilus gave orders to bring St Seraphima to trial.
Desiring a crown of martyrdom from the Lord, she fearlessly went to the executioner
at the first summons.
The devoted Sabina accompanied her. Seeing
that illustrious lady, Virilus at first set the maiden free, but after several
days he again summoned St Seraphima and began the trial. |
260 St. Lucilla &
Companions Martyr with Antoninus, Eugene, Flora, Theodore, Aucejas, and eighteen
other companions.
Romæ prætérea sanctórum Mártyrum Lucíllæ
et Floræ Vírginum, Eugénii, Antoníni, Theodóri,
et Sociórum decem et octo; qui sub Galliéno Imperatóre
martyrium obiérunt.
At Rome, likewise the holy martyrs Lucilla and Flora,
virgins, Eugenius, Antoninus, Theodore, and eighteen companions, who underwent
martyrdom in the reign of Emperor Gallienus.
Lucilla, Flora, Eugene, Antony, Theodore &
Comp. MM (RM). Twenty-three Christians suffered under Gallienus. Their martyrdoms
are recorded on four separate days: today's group; SS. Faustus and companions;
SS. Lucy and Companions; and SS. Lucy, Antonius, and Companions (Benedictines).
|
284-305
Theodota The Holy widow
martyr and her three young children native of
the city of Nicaea, Bithynia; spiritual friendship
with St Anastasia;
They lived during the reign of the emperor Diocletian (284-305).
She was a Christian, a native of the city of Nicaea, Bithynia. After being widowed, St
Theodota led a pious life and raised her sons in the Christian Faith. She
had a spiritual friendship with St Anastasia (December 22).
When the persecution against Christians began, they arrested the holy women.
At the trial, the dignitary Leucadius was captivated by the beautiful Theodota
and he decided to take her home with him, intending to marry her. Finding
herself in the home of Leucadius with her children, St Theodota kept herself
in purity, yielding neither to inducements nor charms, nor threats by the
pagan. Angered at the steadfastness of the saint, Leucadius sent her
and her children to Bithynia, to the Nicetas district
governor. At the interrogation, when the judge began to threaten her with
torture, St Theodota's eldest son Evodus said that Christians do not fear
tortures, but rather fear being forsaken by God. They cruelly beat the boy
before the eyes of his mother, so that his blood began to flow. St Theodota
prayed that the Lord would strengthen her son in his sufferings, and rejoiced
in that he was being given a martyr's death for the sake of truth.
They gave St Theodota over to be defiled, but the Lord preserved her. An
angel of the Lord held back everyone who tried to approach the saint. Imputing
this miracle to sorcery, the judge sentenced the saint and her
children to death by fire.
The memory of the holy Martyrs Theodota, the child Evodus
and her other two small sons is celebrated also on December 22, together
with the memory of St Anastasia the Deliverer from Potions. |
303 Simplicius,
Faustinus & Beatrice The record of these two brothers and their sister
who were martyred in Rome under Diocletian is known from the Martyrology
of Jerome.(Viatrix) MM (RM)
Item Romæ, via Portuénsi, sanctórum Mártyrum Simplícii,
Faustíni et Beatrícis, tempóribus Diocletiáni
Imperatóris. Horum duo primi, post multa et divérsa supplícia,
jussi sunt capitálem subíre senténtiam; Beátrix
vero, eórum soror, in confessióne Christi est in cárcere
præfocáta.
Also at Rome, on the Via Portuensis, the holy martyrs
Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrice, in the time of Emperor Diocletian.
The first two, after being subjected to many different torments, were condemned
to suffer death; Beatrice, their sister, was smothered in prison for
the confession of Christ.
Their acta say that the brothers were cruelly tortured
before they were beheaded. Beatrice retrieved their bodies from the Tiber
River and buried them. Thereafter she was given refuge in the home of a pious
widow named Lucina. Together they engaged in acts of charity and fervent
prayer throughout the day and night. Seven months later Beatrice's hiding
place was discovered by a pagan kinsman, who turned her into the authorities
in order to gain control of her estate. She resolutely refused to pay tribute
to lifeless gods; therefore, she was strangled in prison.
Lucina buried her body next to that of her brothers in the Ad Ursum Pileatum
cemetery on the highway to Porto. Pope Saint Leo (died 461) translated their
relics to a church he built in their honor in Rome. (Another source says
that the relics were translated to Saint Bibiana's in Rome, but omits the
time.) In 1868, the cemetery of Generosa was discovered beside this road;
it had a small church dating from the time of Pope Saint Damasus (died 384),
with contemporary frescoes and inscriptions. These list Simplicius, Faustinus,
and Beatrix together with an unknown Rufinianus. The relics of this trio
now rest in Saint Mary Major (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
304 Simplicius, Faustinus & Beatrice
Of these martyrs in Rome no reliable particulars are known. The legend
relates that Simplicius and Faustinus were brothers who refused to sacrifice
to the gods; they were therefore beaten, tortured, beheaded and their bodies
thrown into the Tiber; another version says that they were drowned therein.
The bodies were recovered by their sister Beatrice
(Viatrix) and buried in the cemetery of Generosa on the road to Porto.
For seven months after she lived with a woman called Lucina, but was then
denounced as a Christian by her neighbour Lucretius, who coveted her estate.
When brought before the judge she was ordered to sacrifice, but she replied
boldly that she would do no act of worship towards demons, for she was a
Christian.
On the night of May 11she received her crown, being strangled
in prison, and was buried with her brothers.
Retribution overtook Lucretius in miraculous fashion. On the strength of
his ill-gotten property, he gave a feast to his friends, and while they were
all enjoying themselves a suckling babe suddenly jumped up in its mother's
lap and denounced the host:
"You, Lucretius, are a thief
and a murderer and the Devil's own!"
And after being in agony for three hours Lucretius died,
and all those present were converted. The relics of these three martyrs were
translated by Pope St Leo II in the seventh century to the church of Santa
Bibiana, and later to St Mary Major's; joined to them in their liturgical
commemoration is St Felix, martyr.
This is another case in which
the uncertainty or the extravagance of later accounts create no presumption
against the genuineness of the cult or the fact of the martyrdom. In
the Hieronymianum we find the bare entry that on "July 29 on the road to Porto
at Sextum Philippi" was celebrated the memory of Simplicius, Faustinus and
Viatrix (not Beatrix). But in 1868 the cemetery of Generosa was discovered
beside the road to Porto with a little basilica dating from the time of Pope
Damasus, which preserved frescoes and fragments of inscriptions. These give
the siames Simplicius, Faustinianus, Viatrix, and add another martyr, Rufinianus.
See J. B. de Rossi, Roma Sotterranea,
vol. iii, pp. 647-697; or more compendiously in Leclercq, DAC., vol. vi,
cc. 866-900. The brief "acts "of these saints are in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. vii
.
|
Callinicus Kallinikos
(Καλλίνικος) The Holy Martyr, a native of Cilicia, was raised from childhood
in the Christian Faith. Grieving that many
misguided people would perish for eternity because they worshiped idols,
he went through the cities and villages to proclaim Jesus Christ and His
teachings to the pagans, and with the Word of God he converted many to Christianity;
God caused a miraculous spring of water to gush forth from a stone.
Gangris in Paphlagónia, sancti Calliníci Mártyris, qui,
virgis férreis verberátus aliísque supplíciis
afflíctus, tandem, in fornácem injéctus, spíritum
Deo réddidit.
At Gangra in Paphlagonia, St. Callinicus, martyr, who
was scourged with iron rods, and given over to other torments. Being
finally cast into a furnace, he gave up his soul to God.
In the Galatian city of Ancyra the holy confessor
was arrested and brought to trial before a governor named Sacerdonus, a fierce
persecutor of Christians. The governor, threatening tortures and death, ordered
the saint to offer sacrifice to the idols. The saint fearlessly declared
that he was not afraid of martyrdom, since every believer in Christ receives
from Him strength in ordeals, and through death inherits an eternal blessed
life.
They cruelly beat the saint
with ox thongs and tore at his body with iron hooks, but he endured everything
with patience and calm. This aroused still greater fury in Sacerdonus, and
he ordered that sandals with sharp nails be placed on the saint's feet, and
that they should drive the martyr with whips to the city of Gangra to be
burned.
The pathway was arduous, and the soldiers who accompanied the
condemned man were weak from thirst. In despair they began to implore the
saint to pray the Lord for water. The saint, taking pity on his tormentors,
with the help of God caused a miraculous spring of water to gush forth from
a stone. The astonished soldiers were filled with sympathy for their rescuer,
and they wanted even to set him free. Fear of execution, however, compelled
them to bring the martyr farther. In Gangra, St Callinicus joyfully offered
thanks to the Lord, Who had vouchsafed him the crown of martyrdom. He went
into the blazing fire and gave up his soul to God. His body, remaining unharmed,
was reverently buried by believers.
|
365 Felix (Felice)
II, may have been an anti-pope (?) (RM)
Romæ, via Aurélia, sancti Felícis Secúndi, Papæ
et Mártyris; qui, ab Ariáno Imperatóre Constántio,
ob cathólicæ fídei defensiónem, e sede sua
dejéctus, et Ceræ, in Túscia, occúlte gládio
necátus, glorióse occúbuit. Ejus corpus, inde
a Cléricis raptum, eádem via sepúltum fuit; póstea
vero, ad Ecclésiam sanctórum Cosmæ et Damiáni
delátum, ibídem, Gregório Décimo tértio
Summo Pontífice, repértum est sub altári, una cum relíquiis
sanctórum Mártyrum Marci, Marcelliáni et Tranquillíni,
atque in eódem loco, prídie Kaléndas Augústi,
simul cum eis recónditum. In quo étiam altári
invénta fuérunt córpora sanctórum Mártyrum
Abúndii Presbyteri, et Abundántii Diáconi; quæ,
non multo post, ad Ecclésiam Societátis Jesu solémniter
transláta sunt prídie natális eórum.
At Rome, on the Aurelian Way, St. Felix II, pope and martyr.
Being expelled from his See by the Arian emperor Constantius for defending
the Catholic faith, and being put to the sword privately at Cera in Tuscany,
he died gloriously. His body was taken away from that place by clerics,
and buried on the Aurelian Way. It was afterwards brought to the Church
of the Saints Cosmas and Damian, where, under the Sovereign Pontiff Gregory
XIII, it was found beneath the altar with the relics of the holy martyrs
Mark, Marcellian, and Tranquillinus, and with the latter was put back in
the same place on the 31st of July. In the same altar were also found
the bodies of the holy martyrs Abundius, a priest, and Abundantius, a deacon,
which were shortly after solemnly transferred to the church of the Society
of Jesus, on the eve of their feast.
Other feasts on March 1 and November 1. This is
another confusing saint--one who is highly controversial. The accounts of
his life are conflicting. He appears neither to have been a martyr nor a
pope--in fact, he may have been an anti-pope. Felix was intruded into the
see of Rome in 355, when Pope Liberius was exiled by the Arian emperor Constantius
II. The reasons why he was listed in the Roman Martyrology are still heatedly
debated (Benedictines). In art, Saint Felix is a pope with a banner picturing
a griffin (arms of Lucignano). He is the patron of Lucignano (Roeder)
Felix II Pope (more properly Antipope), 355-358; d. 22 Nov., 365.
In 355 Pope Liberius was banished to Beraea in Thrace by the Emperor Constantius
because he upheld tenaciously the Nicene definition of faith and refused
to condemn St. Athanasius of Alexandria. The Roman clergy pledged itself
in solemn conclave not to acknowledge any other Bishop of Rome while Liberius
was alive. ("Marcellini et Fausti Libellus precum", no.1 : "Quae gesta sunt
inter Liberium et Felicem episcopos" in "Collectio Avellana", ed. Gunter;
Hieronymus, "Chronicon", ad an. Abr. 2365). The emperor, however, who was
supplanting the exiled Catholic bishops with the bishops of Arian tendencies,
exerted himself to install a new Bishop of Rome in place of the banished
Liberius. He invited to Milan Felix, archdeacon of the Roman Church; on the
latter's arrival, Acacius of Caesarea succeeded in inducing him to accept
the office from which Liberius had been forcibly expelled, and to be consecrated
by Acacius and two other Arian bishops. The majority of the Roman clergy
acknowledged the validity of his consecration but the laity would have nothing
to do with him and remained true to the banished but lawful pope.
When Constantius visited Rome in May, 357, the people
demanded the recall of their rightful bishop Liberius who, in fact, returned
soon after signing the third formula of Sirmium. The bishops, assembled in
that city of Lower Pannonia, wrote to Felix and the Roman clergy advising
there to receive Liberius in all charity and to put aside their dissensions;
it was added that Liberius and Felix should together govern the Church of
Rome. The people received their legitimate pope with great enthusiasm, but
a great commotion rose against Felix, who was finally driven from the city.
Soon after, he attempted, with the help of his adherents to occupy the Basilica
Julii (Santa Maria in Trastevere), but was finally banished in perpetuity
by unanimous vote of the Senate and the people. He retired to the neighbouring
Porto, where he lived quietly till his death. Liberius permitted the members
of the Roman clergy, including the adherents of Felix, to retain their positions.
Later legend confound the relative positions of Felix and Liberius. In the
apocryphal "Acta Felicis" and "Acta Liberii", as well as in the "Liber pontificalis",
Felix was portrayed as a saint and confessor of the true Faith. This distortion
of the true facts originated most probably through confusion of this Felix
with another Felix, a Roman martyr of an earler date.
According to the "Liber Pontificalis", which may
be registering here a reliable tradition, Felix built a church on the via
Aurelia. It is well known that on this road was buried a Roman martyr, Felix;
hence it seems not improbable that apropos of both there arose a confusion
(see FELIX I) through which the real story of the antipope was lost and he
obtained in local Roman history the status of a saint and a confessor. As
such he appears in the Roman Martyrology on 29 July .
365 Felix (Felice) II history of
this individual is confused, uncertain and surprising.
When in the year 355 the Emperor Constantius dragged Pope Liberius
to Milan and thence banished him to Thrace for upholding the definitions
of the Council of Nicaea and refusing to condemn St Athanasius ("Who are
you to stand up for Athanasius against the world?"), he caused to be intruded
in the pope's place the senior deacon of Rome, one Felix, who was quietly
consecrated by three Arian bishops. Felix accepted the office, but he was
acknowledged by only some of the clergy of the City and by very few of the
laity, and by nobody at all outside except at the imperial court; when Constantius
visited Rome he was petitioned to reinstate Liberius.
In 357 the true pope was allowed to return and was enthusiastically received
by the people; Felix fled, after vainly trying to maintain his position,
and was forbidden by the senate ever to return. He died near
Porto on November 22, 365.
This is not very promising material for the life of one
honoured as a pope, saint and martyr, as he is represented in certain spurious
documents of the early sixth century,the Gesta Felicis and Gesta Liberli. The measure of the error
and confusion may be seen in the Roman Martyrology, which has on this day:
"At
Rome,on the Aurelian Way, the burial-day of the holy Felix the Second, pope
and martyr, who was cast out of his see for his defence of the Catholic faith
by the Arian Emperor Constantius, and died gloriously, being secretly slain
by the sword at Cera in Tuscany. His body was taken thence by the clergy
and buried on the same road, but having been afterwards taken to the church
of SS. Cosmas and Damian, it was found there under the altar by Pope Gregory
XIII, together with the relics of the holy martyrs Mark, Marcellian and Tranquillinus,
and all together buried in the same place again on July 31."
Here Felix has clearly been
confounded with Pope Liberius (or their respective roles deliberately exchanged).
The Liber Ponteficalis speaks of
the archdeacon Felix building a church on the Aurelian Way, a road on which
there was the tomb of a martyred St Felix, and this doubtless has been a
further source of mistake and derangement.
Since 1947 the Annuario Pontificio
in its list of popes has noted "Felix" among the antipopes.
The surprising entry in the Roman
Martyrology quoted above is a sad memorial to the still backward state of
critical scholarship at the time when Cardinal Baronius was editing this
official service book. The insertion of Felix as Pope and Martyr was not
any oversight, for Baronius in his annotated edition of the martyrology refers
his readers for an elucidation of the matter to the volume of his great work,
the Annales, which was on the point
of appearing. Mgr Duchesne has discussed the whole subject at length in the
introduction to his edition of the Liber
Pontificalis, §§ 59-66. It is plain that the text
of the Liber Pontificalis is the
source of all the trouble. In the middle ages this book passed for authoritative
its strange inversion of the roles of Felix and Liberius consequently imposed
themselves upon the first compilers of the martyrology. It may be that the
account of Felix in the Liber Pontificalls
is simply an interpolation, or that it is due to a confused
memory of the Gesta Liberii. Upon
this last document, see Abbot Chapman in the Revue Benédictine, vol. xxvii
(1910), pp. 191-199. See also Saltet, "La Formation de la legende des
papes Libere et Felix", in Bulletin
de litter. ecclis., 1905, pp. 222 seq., and J. P. Kirsch, "Die Grabstatte
der Felices duo pontifices et martyres an der Via Aurelia", in
Rom. Quartalschrift, vol. xxviii (1925), pp.
1-20.
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4th v. Faustinus of
Spello; a disciple of Bishop Saint Felix of Martano (Spello) near Spoleto,
Italy, and the bishop's attendant at his martyrdom. Saint Faustinus himself
suffered for Christ before passing away peacefully at Todi, Umbria, Italy
Apud
Tudértum, in Umbria, sancti Faustíni Confessóris.
(RM)
Saint Faustinus was a disciple of Bishop Saint Felix of Martano
(Spello) near Spoleto, Italy, and the bishop's attendant at his martyrdom.
Saint Faustinus himself suffered for Christ before passing away peacefully
at Todi, Umbria, Italy (Benedictines).
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426 St. Seraphina A saint listed in the pre-1970 Roman Martyrology
as belonging to Civitas Mamiensis, a site attributed to various locations
by scholars.
In civitáte Mamiénsi sanctæ
Seraphínæ. At Mamia, St. Serafina.
Seraphina (RM). The Roman Martyrology ascribes this saint to a
Civitas Mamiensis, which some writers place in Armenia, others in Spain or
Italy (Benedictines).
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453 Prosper of Orléans
Bishop Prosper of Orléans is often confused by the saints of the same
name from Aquitaine and Reggio (Benedictines). B (RM)
Item
deposítio beáti Prósperi, Aurelianénsis Epíscopi.
Also, the death of blessed Prosper, bishop of Orleans.
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478 St. Lupus Lupus,
called in French "Loup", was born at Toul, Gaul. He married the sister of
St. Hilary of Arles, but after six years of marriage they parted by mutual
agreement. He gave his wealth to the poor, entered Lerins Abbey under St.
Honoratus, and about 426 was named Bishop of Troyes. In 429, he accompanied
St. Germanus of Auxerre to Britain to combat Pelagianism there, and on his
return, devoted himself to his episcopal duties.
When Attila
invaded Gaul, he persuaded him in 453 to spare Troyes, though he took Lupus
with him as hostage.
Trecis, in Gállia, sancti
Lupi, Epíscopi et Confessóris; qui, cum beáto Germáno,
ad expugnándam Pelagianórum hæresim, in Británnia
perréxit, urbémque Trecas a furóre Attilæ, Gálliam
omnem devastántis, assídua oratióne deféndit;
demum, quinquagínta duóbus annis sacerdótio venerabíliter
functus, in pace quiévit.
At Troyes in France, St. Lupus, bishop and confessor,
who went with blessed Germanus to England to exterminate the Pelagian heresy,
and by diligent prayer defended the city of Troyes from the wrath of Attila,
who was devastating all of France. At length, having religiously discharged
the functions of the priesthood for fifty-two years, he rested in peace.
478 St Lupus, Bishop Of
Troyes St Lupus, called in French Loup, was born at Toul about the
year 383. He married a sister of St Hilary of Arles, but after six years
spent in wedlock, desirous of serving God with greater perfection, they parted
by mutual consent. Lupus sold his estate for the benefit of the poor and
went to the famous abbey of Lérins, then governed by St Honoratus; but very shortly afterwards,
about the year 426, he was chosen as bishop of Troyes. In this
position he continued the same humility, mortification, and as much as possible
poverty as in the monastery. He never wore any other than the most
simple garments, slept upon bare boards, passed many hours in private prayer
and many days in voluntary fasts. Thus he lived for over fifty years,
labouring at the same time in all his pastoral functions with unremitting
zeal.
When in 429 St Germanus
of Auxerre passed over into Britain to combat the Pelagian heresy,
St Lupus was appointed to accompany him. The two bishops accepted
the commission the more willingly as it seemed laborious and painful, and
by their prayers, preaching and miracles put down the false teaching, at
any rate for a time. Lupus after his return set himself with
fresh vigour to reform his own flock, and displayed so great prudence and
piety that St Sidonius Apollinaris
calls him "The father of fathers and bishop of bishops, chief of the prelates
of Gaul, the rule of morals, the pillar of truth, the friend of God, and intercessor
to Him for men".
He spared no pains to save one lost sheep, and he often had a success which
seemed miraculous. Among other instances it is recorded that a man of his
diocese, named Gallus, had deserted his wife and gone to live at Clermont.
St Lupus wrote to St Sidonius, Bishop
of Clermont, a strong letter, but so prudently tempered with sweetness that
Gallus by reading it was at once persuaded, and set out to return to his home.
Upon which Sidonius remarked, "What is more wonderful than a single reprimand
which both moves a sinner to repentance and makes him love his reprover!"
At that time Attila with a numberless army of Huns overran
Gaul, so that he came to be called "the scourge of God ", sent to punish
the sins of the people. Rheims, Cambrai, Besançon, Auxerre and Langres
had already felt his fury, and Troyes was the next place threatened.
The bishop, after fervent prayer to God on behalf of his people, went out
to meet the invader, and prevailed on him to spare the whole province. But
Lupus was forced to accompany Attila as a hostage, and after the barbarians
had been beaten on the plains of Châlons he was accused of having favoured
the escape of Attila, and he was obliged to leave Troyes for two years-an
early victim of " anti-collaborationist " hysteria. He spent
that time as a hermit among the mountains, in great austerity and contemplation;
when his charity and patience had overcome the malice of men, he went back
to his church, which he governed with renewed enthusiasm until his death
in 478.
On account of his association with St Germanus, St Lupus
was formerly venerated in England. Some doubt has been cast on the story
of his resistance to Attila and its consequences; but the moral to be drawn
from it is unimpaired it was by prayer that the saints became holy and performed
great wonders. By it Moses could ward off the destruction of many thousands.
By it Elias called down fire and rain from the heavens; Manasses in chains
found mercy; Ezechias saw his health restored; the Ninivites were preserved
from destruction; Judith and Esther saved God's people; Daniel was delivered
from the lions, St Peter from his chains.
The document which purports to
be the earliest Life of St Lupus has long been regarded with suspicion, and
Bruno Krusch in a definitive edition of the text (MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. vii, 1920, pp.
284-302) claims to have demonstrated that it is no older than the eighth
century. If so, it can have little authority in bearing witness to
incidents alleged to have occurred three hundred years earlier. It was written,
Krusch avers, in the Carolingian era to defend the temporal possessions of
the see of Troyes. For Lupus's relations with his contemporaries see the
Acta Sanctorum, July, vol.
vii.
When Attila was defeated at Chalons, Lupus was accused of helping
him escape and was forced to leave Troyes
He lived as a hermit for two years and then was allowed to return
to Troyes. Many scholars doubt the veracity of the account of the Attila
incident.
Lupus (Leu, Loup) of Troyes
B (RM) Born at Toul, France, c. 383; died at Troyes, c. 478. The noble, eloquent,
and erudite Saint Lupus had all the qualities needed to succeed in his chosen
profession of law. He practiced for some time and earned a good reputation
as a barrister. Lupus married Pimeniola, a sister of Saint Hilary of Arles.
Six years later (426) husband and wife took a mutual vow of perpetual continence
and Lupus became a monk at Lérins with his wife's blessing. He sold
much of his estate and gave it to the poor. For about a year he lived under
obedience to Saint Honoratus until he was named bishop of Troyes and Honoratus,
bishop of Arles.
It is said that when Honoratus was named bishop, Lupus returned
to Maçon in Burgundy to dispose of an estate. En route back to Lérins,
he was met by deputies of the Church of Troyes, bringing news of the death
of Saint Ursus and his own selection to the see. In his humility, he initially
refused but finally compromised by receiving consecration at the hands of
the prelates of Sens and continuing the practices of a monk. Even as bishop
he wore only sackcloth and a single tunic, lay upon boards, prayed throughout
every other night, often fasted completely for three days and then ate only
barley bread.
Throughout his episcopate, he
labored with apostolic zeal despite his austerities. Lupus displayed such
prudence and piety that Saint Sidonius Apollinaris calls him, "The father
of fathers and bishop of bishops, the chief of the Gallican prelates, the
rule of manners, the pillar of truth, the friend of God, and the intercessor
to him for men." He spared no pains to save one lost sheep, and his work
was often crowned with a success which seemed miraculous. For example, when
a man named Gallus forsook his wife and withdrew to Clermont, Lupus wrote
to him through Bishop Sidonius of Clermont. After Gallus read the prudent
letter that was tempered with sweetness he immediately returned to his wife.
Upon witnessing this, Sidonius cried out, "What is more wonderful than a
single reprimand, which both affrights a sinner into compunction and makes
him love his censor!"
This saint is commonly identified with the Lupus who accompanied
Saint Germanus of Auxerre on his first visit to Britain to rid the country
of Pelagianism. Near the end of the 4th century, the British monk Pelagius
and the Scottish Celestius introduced their heresy into Africa, Italy, and
the East. They denied the corruption of human nature by original sin, and
the necessity of Divine grace. The British prelates asked those of Gaul for
assistance in eradicating this evil, and, during the council of Arles in
429, Germanus and Lupus were deputed. They accepted the commission with zeal
and ended the heresy through their prayers, preaching, and miracles.
It was said that when Attila, calling himself 'the Scourge of
God,' and his Huns overran Rheims, Cambray, Besançon, Auxerre, and
Langres in 451, and was threatening Troyes, Lupus took a decisive part in
saving his province from the invaders, but the story is almost certainly
a fiction. It says that Lupus prostrated himself in prayer for many days,
fasted, and wept that God might spare his people. Then he dressed in the
full episcopal regalia and went to meet Attila. The story continues that
Attila was moved by reverence at the sight of the bishop at the head of a
procession of his clergy. After a conversation in which Lupus reminds Attila
that he can do only what God allows, Attila spared the city. It goes on to
say that when Attila was defeated by the Roman general Aetius at Chalons,
Attila requested that Lupus accompany him in retreat as far as the Rhein
because he believed that the presence of the prelate would protect him and
his army. The Romans, believing that Lupus was helping the Huns to escape,
forced the bishop to leave Troyes for two years during which time he lived
as a hermit in the mountains.
He died after having governed the see of Troyes for
52 years.
At first he was buried in the Augustinian church of Saint Martin in Areis,
then out of the walls of Troyes. The head of Saint Lupus is housed in one
of the richest shrines in France. It is in the form of a bishop made of silver
and adorned with jewels, including diamonds. The rest of his relics are in
another silver shrine in the Augustinian abbey church of Saint Lupus. Many
churches in England bear his name, as do the members of the family surnamed
'Sentlow,' which is derived from 'Saint Leu' (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia,
Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Lupus is depicted with a diamond falling from heaven
as he celebrates Mass. He may be shown (1) holding a chalice with a diamond
in it or (2) at the altar, giving a diamond to a king (Roeder).
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6th v.Sulian (Silin)
may be identical with the Breton Saint Sulien of Cornouaille and Domonée;
founder and abbot of Luxulyan in Cornwall (AC)
Saint Sulian may be identical with the Breton Saint Sulien of Cornouaille
and Domonée. He was the founder and abbot, but not the patron, of
Luxulyan in Cornwall. There is considerable, but understandable, confusion
between Sulian and another Saint Sulinus of East Brittany and the Welsh Saint
Tysilio (Suliau). There appears to be three separate saints (Farmer).
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7th v St. Kilian Irish
abbot who wrote the life of St. Brigid. He ruled a monastery on the island
of Iniscaltra, Ireland
Kilian, Abbot (AC). Saint Kilian, an Irish abbot of a monastery in the island
of Inishcaltra, authored one of the lives of Saint Brigid of Kildare (Benedictines,
Montague).
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Saint Eustathius, a Persian
by descent, was a fire-worshipper named Gvirobandak prior to his baptism into
the Christian Faith.
From the Second book from the series Light of Christ—Georgia
Page 271 regarding
The grave of Saint Eustathius of Mtskheta
When he arrived in Georgia and settled in Mtskheta, he
was deeply drawn to the morals and traditions of the Georgian people, and
he resolved to convert to Christianity.
His decision entailed a great risk, as the Persians dominated
eastern Georgia, persecuting Christians and forcing all to worship fire,
as they did. Catholicos Samoel himself baptized Gvirobandak and called him
Eustathius. The new convert soon married a Georgian woman and was fully assimilated
into Georgian society and the life of the Church.
Once the Persians who were occupying Mtskheta invited Eustathius
to a celebration, but he declined, saying, “I am stamped with the seal of
Christ and far removed from every darkness!” After the celebration
the fire-worshippers reported Eustathius to Ustam, the chief of the Mtskheta
Fortress. The chief summoned Eustathius and threatened him, saying, “You
will not remain a Christian without punishment. If you do not voluntarily
turn back from this way of misfortune, severe tortures will await you!”
Since he himself did not have
the authority to punish Eustathius, Ustam sent the accused to the marzban
Arvand Gushnasp. Then the informers appeared again before Ustam and reported
that seven more fire-worshippers had converted to Christianity. All eight
of them were bound in chains and escorted to Tbilisi. The furious marzban
ordered his servants to shave the captives’ heads and beards, bore holes
in their noses, hang weights round their necks, fetter their bodies in chains
and cast them into prison.
Anyone who denied Christ was to be pardoned. Two of the victims,
Bakhdiad and Panagushnasp, could not bear the suffering and denied Christ.
The marzban freed them, while the six holy men—Gushnaki, Eustathius,
Borzo, Perozak, Zarmil and Steven—remained in confinement.
Six months later Arvand Gushnasp
was summoned to Persia, so Catholicos Samoel, the chieftain Grigol of Mtskheta
and the nobleman Arshusha took advantage of the opportunity and requested
that he release the imprisoned Persian Christians. Arvand Gushnasp yielded
to the request of the Georgian dignitaries, but warned that the Christian
converts would soon meet their deaths.
Meanwhile, the betrayer Bakhdiad fell ill with epilepsy and died,
while Panagushnasp lived on in terrible poverty. Three years later
Vezhan Buzmir was appointed the new marzban of Kartli, and the pagan priests
again reported on Sts. Eustathius’s and Steven’s conversion. St. Eustathius
asked to see his family and said to them: “Farewell, for I am not destined
to return home again. I will not betray Christ, and for this they will not
forgive me. Imprisonment and beheading await me in Tbilisi. My remains will
be brought here according to God’s will.”
Eustathius and Steven were escorted to the new marzban,
and Eustathius declared before him that he would not deny Christ. The enraged
marzban ordered that he be cast into prison and that his head be chopped
off that night and his body thrown behind the fortress wall, to be torn to
pieces by the birds. As directed, the marzban’s servants beheaded the saint
and cast his body into the abyss behind the fortress wall. A group of faithful
Christians located St. Eustathius’s body and carried it in secret to Mtskheta.
Catholicos Samoel met the holy relics when they arrived, and
with great honor they were buried in Svetitskhoveli Cathedral under the altar
table.
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821 Saint Michael the Confessor
The Hosiomartyr disciple of St Theodore of Edessa (July 9), was beheaded
during the ninth century for his confession of faith in Christ. His memory
is celebrated also on May 23.
From his youth he longed for the monastic life and was sent by
Patriarch Tarasius (784-806) to a monastery on the coast of the Black Sea.
St Theophylactus (March 8), the future Bishop of Nicomedia also entered the
monastery together with him.
At the monastery both monks engaged in spiritual struggles and
were soon glorified by gifts from the Lord. Once, during a harvest, when
the people were weakened by thirst, an empty metal vessel was filled with
water by the prayer of the monks.
Patriarch Tarasius consecrated St Michael as bishop of the city
of Synada. Through his holy life and wisdom, St Michael won the love of believers,
and the notice of the emperors Nicephorus I (802-811) and Michael I Rangabe
(811-813). St Michael was present at the Seventh Ecumenical Council at Nicea
in 787.
When the Iconoclast heretic Leo the Armenian (813-820) assumed
the throne, he began to expel Orthodox hierarchs from their Sees, appointing
heretics in their place.
St Michael defended Orthodoxy, bravely opposing the heretics and
denouncing their error. Leo the Armenian brought St Michael to trial, but
not fearing torture he answered resolutely, "I venerate the holy icons of
my Savior Jesus Christ and the All-Pure Virgin, His Mother, and all the saints,
and it is to them I bow down. I shall not obey your decrees to remove icons
from churches."
Leo then banished St Michael to the city of Eudokiada, where the
confessor died about the year 821.
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1030 St. Olaf
son of Harold Grenske, a lord in Norway. Olaf Haraldsson, often called "the
Fat", spent his youth as a pirate. He was baptized in Rouen, and in 1013,
went to England to aid King Ethelred against the Danes. He returned to Norway
in 1015, captured most of Norway back from the Danes and Swedes, defeated
Earl Sweyn at the battle of Nesjar in 1016, and became king. He set about
unifying and Christianizing his realm; miracles were reported at his shrine.
In Norvégia sancti Olávi, Regis
et Mártyris. In Norway, St. Olaf, king and martyr.
He returned in
1030 and attempted to recover his kingdom, but was slain at the Battle of
Stiklestad in Norway on July 29th. Though not too popular during his lifetime,
miracles were reported at his shrine, and a chapel was built, which became
the cathedral of Trondheim; it became a great pilgrimage center for all Scandinavia.
He is one of the great heroes of Norway for his efforts to unify and Christianize
Norway, of which he is patron. He was canonized in 1164
1030 St. Olaf the
son of Harold Grenske, a lord in Norway, and after eight years of piracy
and lighting succeeded to his father in 1010 at the age of twenty, at a time
when most of Norway was in the hands of the Danes and Swedes. These
parts he conquered and then set about the subjection of the realm to Christ,
for he himself had already been baptized at Rouen by Archbishop Robert; the
work had been begun, but had not made much real progress, by Haakon the Good
and by Olaf Tryggvason, whose methods of "evangelization" seem to have been
preposterous and wicked. In 1013 Olaf Haraldsson had sailed to
England and assisted King Ethelred against the Danes, and he now turned to
that country for help in his more peaceable task. He brought over from
England a number of priests and monks, one of whom, Grimkel, was chosen bishop
of Nidaros, his capital.
Olaf relied much on the advice of this prelate, and by his
counsel published many good enactments and abolished ancient laws and customs
contrary to the gospel. Unfortunately, like St Vladimir of Russia and
other princes who sought to convert their people, he was not content with
exhortation, his zeal was often more than his prudence, and he used force
without compunction. To his enemies he was merciless, added to which some
of his legislation and political objects were not everywhere approved. Therefore
many rose in arms, and, with assistance of Canute, King of England and Denmark,
defeated and expelled him. St Olaf fled, but returned with a
few Swedish troops to recover his kingdom; he was slain by his rebellious
and infidel subjects in a battle fought at Stiklestad, on July 29, 1030.
The king's body was buried in a steep sandbank by the river
Nid, where he had fallen ; here a spring gushed out whose waters became credited
with healing power and the bishop, Grimkel, in the following year ordered
that he was to be there venerated as a martyr and a chapel built over the
place. Miracles were reported at the shrine, and on the return of his
son Magnus to power the veneration of St Olaf became widespread; in 1075
the chapel was replaced by a bishop's church, dedicated to Christ and St
Olaf, which in time became the metropolitan cathedral of Nidaros (Trondhjem),
which was, both as a building and a shrine, to Scandinavia what Canterbury
was to England: and just as pilgrims to the one dismounted on Harbledown
Hill to greet the first sight of England's greatest shrine, so pilgrims to
the other did the like on what is still known as Feginsbrekka, the Hill of
Joy. During the middle ages the cultus of "the perpetual King of Norway"
spread to Sweden, Denmark, the British Isles and beyond, and he is still
regarded by Norwegians as the patron and national hero of his country.
The name Tooley of a London street is a corruption of St Olaf's, and marks
the former Scandinavian and Danish colony in Southwark; and the churches
of St Olave in Hart Street and of St Olive Upwell in Old Jewry were named
after him.
See the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. vii, where
a text of the life by Archbishop Eystein is printed. This and other documents
are also given in Metcalfe, Passio et miracula
b. Olavi (1881). There is an English account by F. Vicary, Olav the King...(1887); a short life
in French by C. Riesterer (1930); a translation into French by 0. Sautreau
of Snorre Sturluson's Saga of St Olaf (1930); and S. Undset's Saga of Saints (1934), pp. 87-148. See
also F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon
England (1943), pp. 396-399,
etc.; and for Olaf's cultus in the
British Isles articles by Professor Bruce Dickins in Saga Book of the Viking Society, vol.
xii (1939), pp. 53-80, and in The Norseman, vol. ii (1944) no. 5.
Olaf of Norway, King M (RM) (also known as Olave, Ola, Olao, Tola,
Tooley) Born 995; died at Stiklestad, July 29, 1030; canonized in 1164. Saint
Olaf was the son of a Norwegian jarl, Harald Grenske. At a precociously early
age (about 12), Olaf was allowed to join a band of viking pirates. In the
course of his rovings he fought for Richard of Normandy, and for Ethelred
II in England against the Danes in 1013. In 1010, Olaf the Fat received baptism
in Rouen, France, at the hands of Archbishop Robert. In 1015, at the age
of 20, he returned to Norway and succeeded his father. He then proceeded
to capture most of Norway back from the Danes and Swedes, defeated Earl Sweyn
at the battle of Nesje in 1016, and became ruler of Norway. After
his brilliant military conquest, the recently baptized Olaf set about subjecting
his realm to Christ. He brought Christian clergy from England and elsewhere
into the country. One of these foreigners, Grimkel, was chosen bishop of
Nidaros (Trondheim), his capital. On Grimkel's advice, Olaf published many
good enactments and abolished ancient laws and customs contrary to the Gospel.
Unfortunately, like Saint Vladimir of Russia and Olaf Tryggvesson
before him, he used force and bribery to destroy paganism and impose the
new religion on his people. He attempted to unify the country, but some of
his legislation and political objectives were not everywhere accepted. In
fact, his rule caused widespread discontent. He was merciless to his enemies
and so it was not long before the nobles revolted in 1029 and he was driven
out by the Anglo-Danish King Knut (Canute). Olaf fled to Russia but returned
to Norway in 1031 with a few Swedish troops in an attempt to regain his kingdom,
but was killed in battle at Stiklestad on the Trondheim fjord.
In circumstances somewhat resembling
those of Saint Eric of Sweden, Olaf Haraldsson became the national hero-saint
of Norway. He was unpopular in his lifetime, but miracles were reported at
his tomb on a steep sandbank by the River Nid, where he had fallen. Here
a spring gushed out whose waters became credited with healing power and other
miracles were reported. The following year Bishop Grimkel ordered that he
was to be venerated as a martyr and that a chapel be built over the place.
He had been zealous for Christianity, albeit crudely, he had died
what was called a martyr's death, and his name was made to stand for Norwegian
independence. In 1075, his incorrupt body was enshrined in what became the
cathedral of Nidaros (Trondheim), which replaced the chapel, and became a
site of pilgrimage. During the Reformation his body was removed and reburied.
His cultus was aided by the
unpopular rule of Swein, Canute's son; Canute's death in 1035 resulted in
the flight of many Danes from Norway and the accession of Olaf's son Magnus.
Thereafter his cultus spread rapidly.
Adam of Bremen (c. 1070) wrote that his feast was celebrated throughout Scandinavia.
In England, more than 40 ancient churches were dedicated in his
honor (Saint Olave's) in London, York, Exeter, Lincoln, and elsewhere, especially
in Viking areas, and his feast can be found on many English calendars including
London, Norwich, Exeter, Winchester, York, and the monasteries of Ramsey,
Sherbourne, Abbotsbury, Launceston, and Syon.
Olaf was a Christian name in England before the Conquest. In Gaelic
it became Amlaibh (Aulag), from which the Hebridean surname 'Macaulay' derives.
In English, the name was corrupted by the addition of a 'T' (elided from
the final sound of 'saint') to become 'Tooley' (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney,
Encyclopedia, Farmer, Walsh).
In art, Saint Olaf is depicted as a king with a lance and covered
cup or ciborium, who tramples on a crowned demon. Sometimes he is shown (1)
enthroned, a man under his feet; (2) standing on an armed man; (3) with a
halberd and dagger; (4) with a halberd and loaf; or (5) with a halberd and
axe (Roeder). In English iconography Olaf is included on the seals of Grimby
Abbey and Herringfleet Priory in Suffolk, on the 15th-century screen at Barton
Turf in Norfolk, on an ivory crozier in the Victoria and Albert Museum in
London, and in glass at York Minster. The most complete example is six medallions
from Olaf's life in the Beatus initial of the 13th-century Carrow Psalter,
which was written in East Anglia and can be found in the Walter's Art Gallery
in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.
He is venerated in East Anglia (Roeder) and the patron of Norway
(Farmer).
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1099 Blessed
Urban II, Odo of Lagery studied under Saint Bruno at Rheims, became archdeacon
there, and, about 1070, became a Benedictine monk at Cluny. Saint Hugh named
Odo prior. Then he was sent to Rome to assist Pope Gregory VII's reform of
the Church, became his chief adviser, and was named cardinal-bishop of Ostia
in 1078; succeed Blessed Pope Victor III: OSB Pope (RM)
Romæ beáti Urbáni
Papæ Secúndi, qui, sancti Gregórii Séptimi
vestígia secútus, doctrínæ et religiónis
stúdio enítuit, et fidéles Cruce signátos ad
sacra Palæstínæ loca ex infidélium domínio
rediménda excitávit. Cultum autem, ab immemorábili
témpore eídem exhíbitum, Leo Décimus tértius,
Póntifex Máximus, ratum hábuit et confirmávit.
At Rome, blessed Pope Urban II who followed in the path
of St. Gregory VII. He was resplendent for his zeal for learning and
religion, and aroused the faithful, signed with the sign of the cross, to
recover the holy places of Palestine from the power of the infidels.
Pope Leo XIII ratified and confirmed the veneration shewn him from time immemorial.
Born at Châtillons-sur-Marne, Champagne, France, c. 1042;
died in Rome on July 29, 1099; beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1881. Odo of
Lagery was born of a noble family of the counts of Semur. He studied under
Saint Bruno at Rheims, became archdeacon there, and, about 1070, became a
Benedictine monk at Cluny. Saint Hugh named Odo prior. Then he was sent to
Rome to assist Pope Gregory VII's reform of the Church, became his chief
adviser, and named cardinal-bishop of Ostia 1078.
Odo was legate to Germany, 1082-85, was briefly imprisoned
there by Emperor Henry IV, and on March 12, 1088, he was elected pope to
succeed Blessed Pope Victor III and took the name Urban II. Urban was faced
by antipope Clement III, who held Rome and whom he had anathematized at the
Synod of Quedlinburg in Saxony he had held in 1085 and who was supported
by Emperor Henry IV.
Urban held a synod at Melfi in 1089 that decreed
against lay investiture, simony, and clerical marriages, but it was not until
1094 that he was able to sit on the papal throne in Rome. In 1095, he summoned
a council at Clermont-Ferrand, France, at which the Gregorian decrees requiring
clerical celibacy and denouncing lay investiture and simony were reiterated
and "the Truce of God" was proclaimed a law of the Church. It also anathematized
King Philip I of France for putting aside his wife, Bertha, and marrying
Bertrada, wife of the count of Anjou.
As a result of the request from Eastern Emperor Alexis
I, Urban preached the First Crusade. His appeal was greeted with tremendous
enthusiasm; launched in 1097, the crusade led to the capture of Jerusalem
in 1099.
When Emperor Henry IV left Italy in 1097 and the
party of antipope Clement III (Guibert) left Rome the following year, Urban
was finally triumphant over his most persistent opponents. He called a council
at Bari in 1098 that was unsuccessful in an attempt to effect a reconciliation
between Rome and Constantinople.
His entire pontificate was marked by conflicts with
secular rulers, especially Emperor Henry IV; Urban excommunicated Henry,
King Philip I of France, and would have excommunicated William Rufus of England
except for the intercession of Saint Anselm (Benedictines, Delaney).
1099 Blessed Urban II, Odo of Lagery It
has been said that the Benedictine reform of Cluny was by far, "the most
potent international influence of the eleventh century". Not all this
influence was directly effected by the various Cluniac houses
and the activities of their inmates; much of it came through the popes, particularly
in the first place St Gregory VII,
who was brought up in the Cluniac monastery of St Mary on the Aventine and
was a personal friend of St Odilo and St
Hugh, and after him by the pontificate of Bd Urban H.
Odo (Eudes) of Lagery was born at Chatillon-sur-Marne in 1042, and made his
studies in the school of Rheims under St
Bruno, founder of the Carthusians;
perhaps by him he was inspired with a love for the religious life, for after
being canon and archdeacon of Rheims he retired to Cluny and there received
the habit. He afterwards wrote to his abbot, St Hugh: "You and yours
do I love in particular, for through you I learnt the elements of the monastic
life and in your monastery I was re-born by the life-giving grace of the
Holy Spirit." He became prior of the house and was called from
that office in 1078 to be cardinal-bishop of Ostia and one of the chief advisers
of St Gregory VII. Hildebrand's successor,
Ed Victor III, on death-bed
named Cardinal-bishop of Ostia to succeed himself; such a nomination has
no canonical effect, but it had great weight with the conclave, which on
March 12, 1088 elected Odo pope by acclamation. He took the name of Urban,
and announced to the world his intention of following closely in the footsteps
of Gregory VII. Among others, he wrote to Bd Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury,
calling him "the most noble and truest of the distinguished sons of your
mother, the Holy Roman Church", and asking for his support.
He needed all he could get. When St Peter Damian wrote,
urbanely congratulating him in a Latin epigram on being made a poor bishop
at Rome, his statement that "[Peter] is ever cleaning his fishing-gear and
ploughing through deep waters" was more than just rhetoric. Rome itself was
in the hands of the antipope Guibert ("Clement III") and it was not till
November that Urban was able to enter the city, and more military force had
to be used before he could take possession of St Peter's. Soon afterwards
the Emperor Henry IV invaded Italy: Urban abandoned Rome, and the antipope
Clement was again welcomed by the citizens.
Urban retired to southern Italy, where he worked for the improvement
of local ecclesiastical discipline and for the peace of the Church at large
but the continued use of the sword by the principal of his adherents did not
hasten an agreement, and Henry was egged on in his course by the bishops
of Germany. At the end of 1093 Urban re-entered Rome, living in the fortified
palace of the Frangipani family, for Guibert's followers still held the castle
of Sant' Angelo and the pope was unwilling to take up arms against the Roman
citizens. He was reduced to the direst poverty and indebtedness, from which
he was rescued by the generosity and devotion of a French abbot, Geoffrey
of Vendôme.
In spring of 1095 a synod was convened at Piacenza. After
the fathers dealt with two royal marriage cases, Urban promulgated the Gregorian
decrees concerning clerical celibacy, lay investitures and simony, and first broached the subject
of a crusade in consequence of an appeal from the Eastern emperor, Alexius
I Comnenus, for help to drive out the Seljuk Turks.
This matter was taken up seriously later in the year at the Council
of Clermont-Ferrand in France, and it was received with immense enthusiasm.
The idea of the Emperor Alexius was "to call in the barbarians of the West
to destroy barbarians of the East". Among the considerations on the Western
side was the appeal to churchmen of the prospect of finding a more distant
outlet for the energies and ambitions of the feudal lords; while the people
at large welcomed the aim of making the road across Asia Minor safe for pilgrims
and traders and rescuing Jerusalem and the churches of Asia from the power
of the Saracens.
It was decided to raise
an army; a plenary indulgence was granted to all who joined it solely from
religious motives, and their goods were to be inviolable the "Truce of God"
was extended; and clergy and young married men were discouraged from going.
Bd Urban in an eloquent appeal to the religious spirit and military valour
of the Franks carried the people away: the multitude replied with shouts
of "God wills it!" and large numbers there and then "took the cross."
The pope himself for the next nine months preached the crusade up and down
France, and in the words of William of Malmesbury:
"The Welshman left his hunting, the Scot his comradeship with
lice, the Dane his drinking fellows, the Norwegian his raw fish. Lands were
left by their husbandmen, houses by those who dwelt in them; even whole cities
were on the move."
During the spring of 1097 the four official armies of the First
Crusade assembled at Coastantinople, and a fortnight before the death of
Bd Urban, in July 1099, Jerusalem was taken.
Thus began the Crusades, a series of expeditions which, had they
all been undertaken and carried out in the spirit of the holy pope who initiated
the first, might have been of permanent value to the Church and the cause
of Christianity; as it was, the good they did was on the whole ephemeral,
while some of their evil results subsist to this day. Before ever the first
official army set out, bands of undisciplined enthusiasts had prejudiced
its reputation by pillaging and murdering through the valley of the Danube,
terrorizing Constantinople, and been left for the Turks to annihilate; while
the capture of the Holy City was celebrated by a frightful massacre of Jews
and Moslems.
Before returning
to Italy the pope reduced some of the French bishops to order and received
a promise of amendment from the adulterous King Philip (which he did not
keep), and in May 1097 the rebellious Emperor Henry IV finally returned to
Germany; somewhat over a year later the antipope's party in Sant' Angelo
surrendered the fortress, and at last the pope occupied the apostolic city
in peace.
The antipope Guibert was at Ravenna. At the same time, to solve
the problems of church and state in the south, Urban constituted Count Roger
of Sicily and his heir his legate in Sicily; the exact terms of the commission
are uncertain, but later the office was interpreted as residing in each and
every successor to Roger as ruler of the Two Sicilies, and their privileges
and "rights" were only finally extinguished by the Treaty of the Lateran
in 1929.
The last considerable act of Bd Urban's troubled but fruitful pontificate
was the holding of a council at Ban, of which the ostensible object was the healing of
the ecclesiastical divisions between Rome and Constantinople.
But Emperor Alexius had his hands full at the time, and, though
there seem to have been Byzantine bishops present, the council resolved itself
into a successful attempt to resolve the difficulties of the Italo-Greek
bishops of southern Italy; the question of the procession of the Holy Ghost
from the Son was thrashed out to their satisfaction, chiefly owing to the
eloquence and learning of St Anselm of Canterbury,
who, being in Italy to inform the pope of the iniquities of King William
Rufus, was called on by Bd Urban to explain and defend the Catholic teaching.
No account of Urban can end without further
reference to his association with St Bruno,
his former master, although so little is known about it.
When Urban ascended
the papal chair Bruno had been already four years in the wilds of the Grande
Chartreuse, and two years after he was called away to be "at the service
of the Apostolic See". It may be safely assumed that until the end
of his life the pope depended much on the counsels of Bruno, for he would
never let him go again out of Italy. For some time he lived with Urban himself,
and was then allowed to found and reside at a hermitage on the
lands of Count Roger in Calabria; he makes no public appearances that are
recorded in Urban's reign, but is always there at the pope's need-an outstanding
example of religious obedience and of the function of the contemplative in
the Church's life.
Doubtless Bruno was at
Urban's side when he had to deal with the delicate business of the relations of St Robert with
his abbey of Molesme and the new foundation at Citeaux, whose monks "make
profession of keeping the Rule of St Benedict in all particulars, [so] let
them not by another change return to a system which they now hold in contempt";
and his influence, as well as his own upbringing, probably contributed to
Urban's notable partiality for monks and the privileges he granted to monasteries
everywhere.
Urban held a last council
at Rome after Easter in 1099, at which Guibert was once more condemned and
at which the pope pleaded for the crusade with such effect that the antipope's
own brother took the cross. Three months later he died, and his cultus seems to have been from the day
of his death, but he was formally beatified only in 1881. His story is one
of great events in which, from the circumstances of the case, secular politics
played a distressingly large part; but what is known of Urban's private life
bears out the uncompromising but not hard Christianity of his public life:
in particular was he solicitous for the poor and devoted to our Lady-and
his reliance on St Bruno and Bruno's faithful service have their own significance
Bd Urban's life involves the whole
history of his times and no criticism of the sources would be possible here.
There is a relatively full account of his pontificate in the Liber Pontificalis (Duchesne, vol. ii,
293-295) by Petrua Gulielmus; and Urban figures, of course, prominently in
all the chronicles of the period. English readers will find a painstaking
narrative in Mann, The Lives of the Popes
in the Middle Ages, vol. vii, pp. 245-346. The biography by Lucien
Paulot Un Papa francais, Urbain II (1903), should be read in the
light of Poncelet's comments in Analecta
Bollandiana, vol. xxiii (1904), pp. 372-375. The estimate of Urban
in such modern authorities as Hauck, Kirchengeschichte
Deutschlands, vol. iii, pp. 858-881, and the Cambridge Medieval History, vol. iv,
pp. 87-95, shows a not unappreciative sense of the services he rendered to
the Church and to the political problems of his time. Cf. also Fliche and Martin, Histoire de l'Eglise, t. viii, pp. 199-337,
and S. Runciman, History of the Crusades,
vol. i (1951) .
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1234 St. William
of Saint-Brieuc Bishop, also called William Pinchon. A native of Brittany,
France, he entered the priesthood and was soon made a canon and then bishop
of Saint-Bricuc (in 1220). Known as a staunch defender of the poor
and of ecclesiastical rights, he was banished for a time by the duke of Brittany,
going to Poitiers and returning in 1230 body was deposited in his cathedral and taken
up incorrupt in 1248. He was canonized
in 1247 or 1253.
In civitáte Briocénsi, in Gállia, sancti Guliélmi,
Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At St. Brieuc in France, St. William, bishop and confessor.
1234 St William
Pinchon, Bishop Of Saint-Brieuc
On this bishop, St William Pinchon, we are told that his virtues and miracles
were remarkable, but of the actual events of his life very little is known.
He received holy orders at the hands of Josselin, Bishop of Saint-Brieuc,
served that church under his two successors, Peter and Silvester, and succeeded
himself to the see about the year 1220. The poor were his treasurers, and
not content to exhaust on them whatever he possessed, he borrowed stores
of corn and other necessary provisions for their relief; his application
to all the duties of his charge was no hindrance to his nourishing within
himself the spirit of recollection and holy prayer. Being pertinacious in
defending the rights of the Church and its bishops against the encroachments
of Peter Mauclerc, Duke of Brittany, he was expelled from his diocese for
two years and took refuge at Poitiers. He returned in 1230 and died four
years later at Saint-Brieuc. His body
was deposited in his cathedral and taken up incorrupt in 1248, the
year after he was canonized.
See the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. vii, where
a short life is printed, attributed to Godefrid Calvus. Cf. also Lobineau, Vies des saints de Bretagne, vol. ii,
pp. 426-435, and J. Arnault, S. Guillaume,
éveque de Saint-Brieuc
(1934).
William Pinchon of Saint-Brieuc B (RM) Born in Brittany; canonized
in 1253 by Pope Innocent IV. Although William was born into an illustrious
Breton family, he possessed very admirable virtues: an innocence of manner,
meekness, humility, chastity, charity, and devotion. Bishop Josselin of Saint-Brieuc
both tonsured and ordained William as deacon, then priest. Thereafter he
served as a canon of the diocese until his elevation to the bishopric in
1220. During the 14 years of his episcopate, he suffered banishment to Poitiers
and other indignities because of his defense of the rights of the Church.
He made no show of his austerities: It was a long time before his domestic
servants realized that he never used the soft bed that they prepared for
him. Instead he sleep on bare boards to train his spirit to rise above the
weakness of his body. The poor were his treasures. Whenever he had given
away all he possessed, he would borrow the stores of others to relieve them.
Despite an arduous schedule, he never deprived his spirit of nourishing prayer
which gave meaning to all he did. Upon his death, William's body was buried
in the cathedral. In 1248 it was taken up and found to be incorrupt (Benedictines,
Husenbeth).
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1240 Sts Constantine
and Cosmas were monastic followers of St Barlaam of Khutyn (November 6) between
the Rivers Polista and Smezhnya they founded a monastery there in the name
of St Nicholas
St Barlaam of Khutyn (November 6) and his successor, St Anthony of Dymsk
(January 17). About the year 1220, they left the Khutyn monastery and settled
upon a wilderness peninsula, situated 3 versts from the city of Staraya Rus,
between the Rivers Polista and Smezhnya. In time they founded a monastery
there in the name of St Nicholas, headed by St Constantine until his death.
St Cosmas continued with the exploits of his mentor. He was buried in the
same grave with St Constantine. Their bodies rest beneath the vestibule of
the Nikolaev church, built in 1820 over the tomb of the saints.
1392 Saint Roman
of Kirzhachsk a coascetic and student of St Sergius, Igumen of Radonezh
Sts Sergius (September 25 and July 5) and Roman built a church in the forests
of Vladimir governia at the River Kirzhach in honor of the Annunciation of
the Most Holy Theotokos, and established a new monastery (in 1371). Three
years later, with the blessing of St Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow (February
12), St Sergius returned to the Trinity monastery, and St Roman remained
to head the newly-created wilderness monastery.
Ordained to the priesthood by St Alexis, the new head of the Annunciation
monastery fulfilled the precepts of his spiritual father and teacher, St
Sergius with great fervor. A zealous ascetic, a good and demanding instructor,
St Roman was an example for all the brethren.
The saint died on July 29, 1392 and was buried in the Annunciation temple.
In the manuscripts, St Roman
is numbered among the saints and is called a wonderworker.
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1268 Blessed Beatrix
of Valfleury cultus not yet approved, a Cistercian nun of Valfleury, became
prioress of Our Lady of Nazareth near Lier in Brabant (Benedictines), OSB
Cist. V (PC)
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1629 Bl. Mancius of
the Holy Cross Martyr of Japan, a Dominican tertiary. An elderly native of
Japan, he was burned alive at Omura with Blessed Louis Bertran beatified in
1867.
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1629 Bl. Louis Bertran
Dominican martyr of Japan. A relative of St. Louis Bertran, this Louis was
born in Barcelona, Spain, and became a Dominican. He was sent to the Philippines
in 1618 and then to the Japanese mission. He was burned alive with two companions
in Omura, Japan. He was beatified in 1867.
Blessed Louis Bertrán and Companions, OP MM (AC) Born in Barcelona,
Spain; beatified in 1867. Blessed Louis is a relative of the more famous
Saint Louis Bertrán (d.1581), apostle of Colombia, South America.
After his profession in the Dominican Order, he was sent to the Philippine
Islands in 1618 and then to Japan, where he worked until his martyrdom by
being burned alive with two companions at Omura (Benedictines).
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1629 Bl. Peter
of the Holy Mother of God Japanese martyr native; entered the Dominicans and
served as a catechist before being arrested by Japanese authorities. With
Blessed Louis Bertran, he was burned alive at Omura.
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1667 Child Schemamonk
Bogolep was the son of a Moscow nobleman Iakov Lukich Ushakov and his wife
Katherine; the holy child repeatedly appeared to many either in sleep, or
awake while walking along the river bank, or coming down the hill. He consoled
them, promising that he would be present spiritually with believers.
He was born in 1660 at Moscow At Baptism they gave him the name
Boris, in honor of holy Passion-Bearer Boris (July 24).
Ushakov was appointed voevoda (military-commander) in the city
of Chernyi Yar (Black Ravine), situated 250 versts from Astrakhan. He was
known for his integrity. From infancy Boris displayed unusual traits. On
Wednesdays and Fridays he would not drink milk from his mother's breasts.
When the bells pealed at the church, he began to cry, and became quiet only
when they brought him into the church. When they did not take the infant
to church, he cried all day and ate nothing.
In 1662 a deadly pestilence spread about in Russia. The child
fell ill, and the pestilence afflicted him in the legs. He became lame, but
continued to walk to church. The parents prayed for the health of their son
and they tried everything in their power to heal him. But no sooner had the
one illness gone, than upon his face there appeared another, called scales.
Once during his illness the child saw a wandering monk who visited
at their home. The angelic garb so impressed the child, that he began to implore
his parents to sew him such clothing and permit him to receive monastic tonsure.
The holy child proclaimed: "You will see for yourselves, when you tonsure
and grant me the angelic garb, I shall be well." The parents consented. The
child was invested in the schema with the name Bogolep (the Russian version
of the Greek name Theoleptos, meaning "similar to God").
On the next day the child schemamonk was completely healthy, his
face was clear and there remained no trace of the illness. But on the third
day there was a new illness, he developed a fever, and it struck down the
child. He died on August 1, 1667 and was buried at the left wall of the wooden
Black Ravine church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ. (This church
was built after a great fire in Black Ravine, on July 24, 1652 the Feast
of St Boris). A chapel was built over the grave of the child.
The Life of the holy Schemamonk Bogolep was compiled under a
vow by the Black Ravine merchant Sava Tatarinov during the years 1731-1732.
Icons of the saint, with the
Troparion and Kontakion to him, were widely dispersed throughout the Astrakhan
region.
In 1750 on the place of the wooden church a stone church was built
with a side-altar in honor of the holy Martyr John the Warrior. The grave
of the holy schemamonk was enclosed in this side altar.
The bank of the river, where the church of the Resurrection of
Christ stood, was constantly eroding. By the mid-nineteenth century the structure
of the church was threatened, and they removed all the holy things from it.
For a long time the people of Black Ravine did not remove the chief holy
object: the grave of the holy schemamonk. Finally, in 1851 when the water
had already approached 4 ft. 8 inches, the people petitioned the Most Holy
Synod with a request to transfer the holy relics of the Schemamonk Bogolep,
and they received permission for this. The small child's coffin was laid
bare, but just when the city head took it into his hands, it slid out of
his hands and disappeared into the waters of the Volga.
This disappearance of the relics just at the opening of the grave
was accepted as the Will of God, since the holy child had repeatedly appeared
to many either in sleep, or awake while walking along the river bank, or
coming down the hill. He consoled them, promising that he would be present
spiritually with believers.
The simple life of the holy
Schemamonk Bogolep, full of the mysteries of God, illustrates the words of
the Savior concerning children: "Let the children come unto Me and forbid
them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whosoever
shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, shall not enter therein.
And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them"
(Mark 10: 14-16).
We pray to St Bogolep for children, and also for protection against
lightning.
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1861 Bl. John Baptist
Lo Martyr of China. Originally a humble servant, he was converted to the
Christian faith and slain because he refused to recant When tortured by officials.
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1861 Bl. Joseph
Tshang Martyr of China; a native seminarian who, along with three companions,
was beheaded. Pope St. Pius X beatified him in 1909.
Blessed Joseph Tshang, John Baptist Lo, & Martha Wang MM (AC); beatified
in 1909. Joseph Tshang was a native seminarian born in the province
of Su-tchuen, China, c. 1832. John Baptist Lo, born in 1825, was a Chinese
servant. Martha Wang, a native of Tonkin, carried letters from Joseph and
John to their bishop. She was arrested and all three were beheaded at Tsin-gai
(Benedictines).
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1861 St. Martha Wang
Martyr of Tonkin, Vietnam, who was arrested carrying letters from the imprisoned
martyrs, Blesseds Joseph Tshang and Paul Tcheng. She was beheaded with them
at Tsingai. Martha was beatified in 1909.
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1861 Bl. Paul Tcheng
Martyr of China. He was a Catholic seminarian when arrested by Chinese authorities
and beheaded at Tsingai. He was beatified in 1909.
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Mary Mother of GOD
Saints of this Day July 29 Quarto Kaléndas Augústi 
1099 Blessed Urban
II Pope, Odo of Lagery studied under Saint Bruno at Rheims, became archdeacon
there, and, about 1070, became a Benedictine monk at Cluny. Saint Hugh named
Odo prior; sent to Rome to assist Pope Gregory VII's reform of the Church,
became chief adviser; named cardinal-bishop of Ostia in 1078; succeeded Blessed
Pope Victor III 
1099 Blessed 
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.