All Saints
Sunday following Pentecost is dedicated; Apostles, Martyrs,
Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics, and Righteous, yet all were perfected by
the same Holy Spirit.
Both those who are known to us, and those who are known only
to God. There have been saints at all times, and they have come from every
corner of the earth. They were Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics,
and Righteous, yet all were perfected by the same Holy Spirit. The Descent
of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to rise above our fallen state
and to attain sainthood, thereby fulfilling God's directive to "be holy,
for I am holy" (Lev. 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16, etc.). Therefore, it is fitting
to commemorate All Saints on the first Sunday after Pentecost.
This feast may have originated at an early date, perhaps as
a celebration of all martyrs, then it was broadened to include all men and
women who had borne witness to Christ by their virtuous lives, even if they
did not shed their blood for Him.
St Peter of Damascus, in his "Fourth Stage of Contemplation,"
mentions five categories of saints: Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs,
and Monastic Saints (PHILOKALIA [in English] Vol. 3, p.131). He is actually
quoting from the OCTOECHOS, Tone 2 for Saturday Matins, kathisma after the
first stichology.
St Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (July 14) adds the Righteous
to St Peter's five categories. The list of StNicodemus is found in his book
THE FOURTEEN EPISTLES OF ST PAUL (Venice, 1819, p. 384) in his discussion
of I Corinthians 12:28.
The hymnology for the feast of All Saints also lists six categories:
"Rejoice, assembly of the Apostles, Prophets of the Lord, loyal choirs of
the Martyrs, divine Hierarchs, Monastic Fathers, and the Righteous…."
Some of the saints are described
as Confessors, a category which does not appear in the above lists.
Since they are similar in spirit
to the martyrs, they are regarded as belonging to the category of Martyrs.
They were not put to death as the Martyrs were, but they boldly confessed
Christ and came close to being executed for their faith. St Maximus the Confessor
(January 21) is such a saint.
The order of these six types of saints seems to be based on
their importance to the Church. The Apostles are listed first, because they
were the first to spread the Gospel throughout the world. The Martyrs
come next because of their example of courage in professing their faith before
the enemies and persecutors of the Church, which encouraged other Christians
to remain faithful to Christ even unto death. Although they come first
chronologically, the Prophets are listed after the Apostles and Martyrs. This
is because the Old Testament Prophets saw only the shadows of things to come,
whereas the Apostles and Martyrs experienced them firsthand. The New Testament
also takes precedence over the Old Testament. The holy Hierarchs comprise
the fourth category. They are the leaders of their flocks, teaching them
by their word and their example.
The Monastic Saints are those who withdrew from this world to
live in monasteries, or in seclusion. They did not do this out of hatred for
the world, but in order to devote themselves to unceasing prayer, and to
do battle against the power of the demons. Although some people erroneously
believe that monks and nuns are useless and unproductive, St John Climacus
had a high regard for them: "Angels are a light for monks, and the monastic
life is a light for all men" (LADDER, Step 26:31).
The last category, the Righteous, are those who attained holiness
of life while living "in the world." Examples include Abraham and his wife
Sarah, Job, Sts Joachim and Anna, St Joseph the Betrothed, St Juliana of
Lazarevo, and others. The feast of All Saints achieved great prominence
in the ninth century, in the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise
(886-911). His wife, the Holy Empress Theophano (December 16) lived in the
world, but was not attached to worldly things. She was a great benefactor
to the poor, and was generous to the monasteries. She was a true mother to
her subjects, caring for widows and orphans, and consoling the sorrowful.
Even before the death of St Theophano in 893 or 894, her husband started to
build a church, intending to dedicate it to Theophano, but she forbade him
to do so. It was this emperor who decreed that the Sunday after Pentecost
be dedicated to All Saints.
Believing that his wife was one of the righteous, he knew that
she would also be honored whenever the Feast of All Saints was celebrated.
|
Lucian The
Hieromartyr lived in Romes pagan name Lucius was converted to Christ by
the Apostle Peter, and was baptized
After St Peter's death, St Lucian preached the Gospel in Italy.
St Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3), a disciple of St Paul, arrived in
Rome at this time. At the request of St Clement, Pope of Rome (November
25), he agreed to preach the Gospel in the West, and gathered companions
and helpers for this task. St Clement consecrated St Lucian a bishop, then
sent him off with St Dionysius, Sts Marcellinus and Saturninus, the Presbyter
Maximian, and the Deacon Julian. The holy preachers sailed from Italy
to Gaul (modern France).
St Marcellinus and those accompanying him continued on to Spain.
St Saturninus went to Gaul, and St Dionysius and the others
went to the region of Paris.
From there St Lucian went to Belgium with Maximian and Julian.
St Lucian's preaching was very successful. By the power of his
words and the example of his life, he converted a large number of pagans to
Christianity. St Lucian was a strict ascetic, and all day long he ate only
a morsel of bread and some water. Towards the converted he was kindly, always
joyful and cheerful of face. Soon almost all the settlements of Belgium were
converted to Christ.
During this period, the Roman emperor Dometian (81-96) initiated
a second persecution against Christians (after that of Nero, 54-68), and
he issued an edict prescribing torture and execution for anyone who refused
to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Three officials were sent to Belgium
to carry out the edict. The Lord revealed to St Lucian the ordeal facing
him. He gathered the flock together, urging them not to fear threats, tortures
or death, and then he gave thanks to God for granting him the possibility
of joining the company of the holy martyrs.
Here the soldiers of the emperor
came upon the saints and led them away for trial. Sts Maximian and Julian
were urged to renounce Christ and offer sacrifice to idols, but both refused
and were beheaded. Then the judge began to interrogate St Lucian, accusing
him of sorcery and disobedience to the emperor and Senate. The saint replied
that he was not a sorcerer, but rather a servant of the true God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and he refused to offer sacrifice to idols made by human hands.
The saint was subjected to fierce beatings, during which he
repeated, "Never will I cease to praise Christ, the Son of God, in my heart,
and with my lips." Then the holy martyr was beheaded. A heavenly light shone
over his body, and the Voice of the Savior was heard, summoning the valiant
sufferer into the heavenly Kingdom to receive the martyr's crown. By the
power of God the saint stood up, picked up his severed head, and crossed
over the river. Reaching the burial spot he had chosen, he lay down upon
the ground and reposed in peace.
Because of this great miracle about 500 pagans were converted
to Christ. Later, a church was built over St Lucian's grave, to which the
relics of the martyrs Maximian and Julian were transferred.
|
270-275
Saint Lucillian pagan priest old age became persuaded falseness of pagan
religion turned to faith in Christ the Savior; martyred with Claudius, Hypatius,
Paul and Dionysius and later holy virgin Paula who cared for them
The Bollandists in the Acta
Sanctorum (June, vol. i) printed the Greek text of a panegyric of Lucillian,
written by a certain Photius. Delehaye in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxxi (1912),
has edited a Greek passio of the
same martyrs; see pp. 187-192, and the editor's comments, pp. 232-235. The
story cannot be regarded as anything better than a pious romance.
Constantinópoli sanctórum
Mártyrum Lucilliáni et quátuor puerórum, scílicet
Cláudii, Hypátii, Pauli et Dionysii. His cum púeris
Lucilliánus, ex idolórum sacerdóte Christiánus
factus, in fornácem, post vária torménta, injéctus
est, sed, flamma imbre exstíncta, omnes illæsi evasérunt;
dénique, ipse cruci affíxus, púeri autem gládio
obtruncáti, sub Silváno Præside, consummáti sunt.
At Constantinople,
the holy martyrs Lucillian and four boys, Claudius, Hypatius, Paul, and Denis.
Lucillian, formerly a pagan priest, but now a Christian, was cast with them
into a furnace after undergoing many torments, but the flames were extinguished
by the rain and all escaped injury. Finally their lives were ended under
the governor Silvanus, Lucillian by crucifixion, the children by beheading.
273 SS. LUCILLIAN AND HIS
COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
ACCORDING to the Menology of the Emperor Basil, St Lucillian
was a Christian martyr who had been a pagan priest of Nicomedia before he
was converted at an advanced age. He was arrested in the reign of the Emperor
Aurelian, and was brought before the magistrate Silvanus. Because he refused
to deny Christ his face was bruised with stones, he was beaten with whips,
and he was hung up by the neck. In the prison to which he was afterwards committed,
he found four Christian youths, Claudius, Hypatius, Paul and Dionysius, whom
he strengthened in the faith so that when they came up again for trial they
made a bold confession. St Lucillian was then shut up in a hot oven from
which, however, he emerged unscathed. All five were finally sent in chains
to Byzantium, where Lucillian was crucified and the others were decapitated.
Paula was a Christian woman who fed the martyrs in prison and tended their
wounds. She also was apprehended, tortured, placed in the oven, and finally
beheaded. The people of Constantinople had a great devotion to these saints,
and several versions of their story survive. Thus we find St Lucillian represented
as a Christian priest, as the husband of Paula, and as the father of his young
fellow prisoners. Another legend makes them natives and martyrs of Egypt.
As a matter of fact, it is most unlikely that St Lucillian and his companions
were martyred at Byzantium at all. Their cultus at Constantinople is due
to the fact that their relics were translated thither-perhaps from some other
Thracian town, but more probably from Nicomedia, which may well have been
the scene of their martyrdom.
The Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum (June, vol. i) printed
the Greek text of a panegyric of Lucillian, written by a certain Photius.
Delehaye in the Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. xxxi (1912), has edited a Greek passio
of the same martyrs; see pp. 187-192, and the editor's comments,
pp. 232-235. The story cannot be regarded as anything better than a pious
romance.
During the reign of the Roman emperor Aurelian (270-275). In
his old age he became persuaded of the falseness of the pagan religion, and
with all his heart he turned to the faith in Christ the Savior, and was baptized.
Under the influence of his preaching many pagans were converted
to Christianity. Then certain Jews, seeing that he was spreading faith in
Christ Whom they crucified, reported Lucillian to the Nicomedia prefect
Silvanus, who urged the old man to return to idol-worship. When he refused,
they smashed the saint's jawbone, beat him with rods and suspended him head
downward, and then they locked him in prison. Here he met four youths who
were confessors of Christianity, Claudius, Hypatius, Paul and Dionysius.
St Lucillian urged them to stand firm in the Faith, and to fear neither tortures
nor death. After a while they brought them to trial and then threw
them into a red-hot furnace. Suddenly, rain fell and extinguished the flames,
and the martyrs remained unharmed. The governor sentenced them to death,
sending them to Byzantium to be executed. The holy youths were beheaded by
the sword, and the holy martyr Lucillian was nailed to a cross with many
nails.
The holy virgin Paula witnessed
the contest of the holy martyrs. She had dedicated herself to the service
of those suffering for Christ. She provided food to Christian prisoners, washed
their wounds, brought medications, and also buried the bodies of martyrs.
After the death of St Lucillian and the four young men, she returned to Nicomedia
and continued with her holy service.
The holy virgin was arrested
and cast into a furnace, but by the power of God she remained unharmed. Then
they sent her off to Byzantium, where the holy martyr was beheaded.
Constantinópoli sanctæ
Paulæ, Vírginis et Mártyris, quæ, cum prædictórum
Mártyrum Lucilliáni ac Sociórum sánguinem collígeret,
ídeo, comprehénsa, virgis percússa, et in ignem conjécta
sed liberáta, demum et ipsa eódem loco, ubi sanctus Lucilliánus
crucifíxus fúerat, decolláta est.
At Constantinople, St. Paula, virgin and martyr, who
was arrested while gathering the blood of the martyrs just mentioned.
She was beaten with rods and thrown into the fire, but was delivered from
it. She was at length beheaded in the same place where St. Lucillian
had been crucified.
|
3rd v. Cecilius
priest of Carthage brought Saint Cyprian to faith in Christ (RM)
Carthágine sancti Cæcílii
Presbyteri, qui sanctum Cypriánum ad Christi fidem perdúxit.
At Carthage,
St. Caecilius, the priest who converted St. Cyprian to the faith of Christ.
(also known as Caecilius,
Caecilian). Caecilius, a priest of Carthage, brought Saint Cyprian to faith in Christ. Saint
Cyprian for his part never ceased to revere Caecilius's name, adding it to
his own. On Caecilius's death, Cyprian took charge of the wife and children
of the deceased saint.
248? ST CECILIUS
IN the Roman Martyrology St Cecilius is commemorated on this day as "a priest
of Carthage who brought St Cyprian to the faith of Christ". Nearly ten pages
are devoted to the saint by Alban Butler, but he proceeds upon the very questionable
assumption that this Cecilius is identical with the Cecilius whose conversion
to Christianity is described by Minucius Felix in the apologetical treatise
which is known to us as the Octavius. In this book a discussion about the
Christian religion is carried on in dialogue form, the interlocutors being
Minucius himself, his friend Octavius, and the still pagan Cecilius. The
argument ends happily by convincing the last-named of the truth of Christianity.
That this Cecilius Natalis may have been a historical personage who was chief
magistrate of Cirta in Africa in A.D. 210 is probable enough, but there are
reasons which would prevent us from identifying him with the Cecilius who
was instrumental in bringing about the conversion of St Cyprian.
Despite the form adopted in the Roman Martyrology, which is borrowed from
De Viris Illustribus of St Jerome, there is good evidence, drawn from the
best manuscripts of the biography of St Cyprian by his deacon Pontius, that
Cecilianus, and not Cecilius, was the name of the Christian teacher who won
over Cyprian by his argument and example. It seems certain that he was a man
advanced in years, and that St Cyprian, who had probably lived in his house
for some time after his conversion, reverenced him greatly as "the father
of his new life". On the other hand, Pontius tells us that when Cecilianus
was dying he commended his wife and children to the pious care of his beloved
convert. Alban Butler, though probably mistaken in his view that the Octavius
of Minucius Felix had anything to do with the subject of this notice, concludes
his account with some reflections which deserve the very careful consideration
of all who engage in controversy.
It is a great proof of sincere virtue, he says, a great but
rare victory over pride, for a learned man to own himself vanquished by truth
in a disputation. Pride recoils at opposition, and however much the understanding
may be convinced, the will is thereby apt to become more averse and more obstinately
fixed in error. On this account he who would bring another over to the truth
ought to be careful not to alarm or awaken so dangerous an enemy, but to
insinuate virtue by such indirect means that the opponent may almost seem
to be his own instructor. Our three disputants [in the Octavius] all vanquished
because they were all armed with docility, charity and humility; not like
those vain combatants in the schools who love opinions, not for the sake
of truth, but because, as St Augustine complains, the opinions are their own.
In this happy company, though all could boast of a conquest, yet none had
reason to prize his victory higher than Cecilius. He, overcoming both pride
and errors, had achieved a triumph beyond compare. According to the maxim
of a great man, "It is then we vanquish when we consent to welcome the truth".
See the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. i; and DCB.,
vol. i, pp. 366-367 (cf. ibid., vol. iii, p. 924). Consult also the article
of Dessau in Hermes, 1880, p. 471.
Baronius and other historians believe that this Caecilius
is to be identified with the one who was a friend of two other Africans, Octavius, a philosopher, and
Marcus Minutius Felix,
a lawyer. Both were Africans of the same period and profession, and Saint Cyprian borrows many things from
the dialogue below, which he probably received from Cecilius.
Caecilius, Octavius, and Marcus Minutius Felix were all learned
men and close friends. In his old age Octavius converted to Christianity and
turned his back on worldly preferences. He did all within his power to bring
the other two to faith in Christ. First, Marcus joined in his joy. Finally,
after much resistance and many prayers, Caecilius, too, embraced Christianity.
This last happened while the three were vacationing together
at the sea. As they walked together through the town, Caecilius venerated
a statue of the god Serapis by touching his hand to his lips and kissing
it. The two Christians were appalled at this act of idolatry and ashamed
that they had not already won their friend over to Christ but had allowed
him to remain in ignorance. Of course, Caecilius bristled at being accused
of ignorance and challenged Octavius to debate the subject.
Immediately the three sat down on the nearby rocks that provided
shelter for the baths. Marcus was to take the role of arbitrator. Among
Caecilius's arguments against Christianity were that its followers were the
poor, the ignorant, and slaves who were subject to the "idolators" who ruled
the prosperous empire. He noted that Christians suffer with seeming pleasure;
a most content, pitiful, ragged tribe, who skulk about in holes without a
word to say for themselves, and only cant in corners about a resurrection,
and the joys another world. He railed against the resurrection of the body: which was a
great stumbling-block to the ancient philosophers, as appears from the writings
of Athenagoras, Tertullian, Origen,
and other Christian apologists. Caecilius felt that his arguments
were persuasive.
He then moved on to the calumnies often repeated. He loudly
objected to the nocturnal assemblies of Christians, their solemn fasts, inhuman
banquets and crimes perpetrated under the name of religion. Caecilius charged:
"I hear that they adore the head of an ass, the knees of their bishop or
priest, and a man who was punished for his crimes, and the cursed wood of
the cross." He ridiculed Christians for despising ornaments and ostentation,
for abstaining from lawful pleasures (public shows, pomp, banquets), and
for reserving perfumes for their dead.
In response Octavius pointed
to the divine providence governing human affairs as evident in the order,
beauty, and design of nature. He argued: "Should you chance to come into a
house and see all the rooms exquisitely furnished, and kept in great order,
you would make no dispute but such a house is under the care and inspection
of a master who is preferable to all the furniture. Thus, when you cast your
eyes upon heaven and earth, and behold the admirable order and economy of
things, can you question whether there is a Lord of the universe, and that
he is more glorious than the stars, and more to be admired than all the works
of his hands?"
From providence Octavius proceeded to prove the unity and eternity
of God, the absurdity of polytheism, and the folly of the oracles. "Most
of you know very well that the demons are forced to confess against themselves,
as often as we rack them into confession by bare words only, and force them
out of the bodies they possess, by such tormenting speeches as they cannot
bear. You may well be assured they would never frame lies to their own shame,
especially in the presence of you who adore them. Take their word then, and
believe them to be devils, when you have it from their own mouths. For when
we abjure them by the one living God, the wretches tremble, and either depart
forthwith from the bodies they possess, or vanish by degrees, according to
the faith of the patient, or the grace of the physician."
Octavius next dealt with the calumnies, which he showed were
gross misunderstandings of Christian doctrines or practices. As to the old
calumny of Christians' worshipping an ass's head--a prejudice formerly imputed
to the Jews as evidenced by Josephus in his books against Appion--Octavius
contented himself with denying the groundless a charge. He explained the
senseless slander the Christians adored the knees of the bishop by explaining
that they knelt before him to receive his absolution or blessing.
He confuted the charge of incest by pointing to the purity of
Christian morals and the many who vow chastity. He pointed to the immorality
of pagan worship that placed Priapus among her divinities, offered sacrifice
to Venus the prostitute, and celebrated the festivals of Bona Dea and others
with abominations and lewdness. He reminded Caecilius that Christians would
not even see men justly put to death, or assist at public executions, and
that they refrained from eating blood--which is far from the calumny that
they feed on the flesh of children.
He continued by highlighting the sacredness of Christian marriage,
the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the dead. In answer to the
charge that Christians embrace poverty and simplicity, Octavius said: "Who
can be said to be poor who finds himself in no want? He rather is the poor
wretch who is necessitous in the midst of plenty. Here no man can be poorer
than he came into the world. The Christian art of possessing all things is,
by desiring nothing. As a traveler, the lighter he is, the easier he finds
himself; so in this journey of life, he is happier who is lightened by poverty,
than he who groans under a load of riches. Did we conclude riches necessary,
we should ask them of God. Innocence is the top of our desire; and patience
the thing we beg for. Calamity is the school of virtue. How beautiful a spectacle
in the sight of God is a Christian entering the lists with affliction, and
with a noble constancy menaces, racks, and tortures! When, like a conqueror,
he triumphs over the judge that condemns him! For he is certainly victorious
who obtains what he fights for."
Octavius concluded by stating the Christianity consists in practice,
not in pompous words.
"We do not look big, nor do we
talk great things, but we live in them."
When Octavius had finished speaking,
Cecilius cried out, "I congratulate both my Octavius and myself exceedingly:
we are both conquerors. Octavius triumphs over me, and I triumph over error.
But the chief victory and gain are mine, who, by being conquered, find the
crown of truth."
Though this summarizes the celebrated conference, the train
of thoughts and the beauty of the discourse are only to be understood from
the original recorded by Marcus Minucius Felix in Octavius. If this excellent
dialogue seems to have any fault, it is that it appears too short and leaves
the reader looking for more. At the end of the book the three company promised
another meeting to initiate Caecilius and instruct him in the discipline of
Christianity. Unfortunately, the record of the second conference has been
lost. In his apology (The seven books of Arnobius against the heathens, Arnobius
seems to have been thinking of Octavius and Marcus when he tells his heathen
readers that orators and lawyers of the first rank had embraced the faith.
Pontius assures us that the priest Cecilius was a just man,
venerable for his age, and worthy of eternal memory and praise; adding,
that Saint Cyprian ever respected him as his own father, and paid him all
possible honor, deference, and gratitude (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
|
Arétii, in Túscia, sanctórum
Mártyrum Pergentíni et Laurentíni fratrum, qui, in persecutióne
Décii, sub Tibúrtio Præside, cum essent púeri,
ibídem, post dira supplícia toleráta et magna mirácula
osténsa, gládio cæsi sunt.
At Arezzo
in Tuscany, during the persecution of Decius, under Governor Tiburtius, the
holy martyrs Pergentinus and Laurentinus, brothers, who being as yet children,
were put to the sword after they had endured cruel torments and performed
many miracles.
|
251 SS. PERGENTINUS AND LAURENTINUS,
MARTYRS
THE persecution which arose in the middle of the third century
was the greatest and most general attack Christianity had yet had to face,
for the Emperor Decius had come to the throne determined to extirpate it.
Amongst a number of victims who are said to have perished at Arezzo in Umbria,
the brothers Pergentinus and Laurentinus are specially venerated to this day
as patrons of the city. According to the legend they were of noble birth and
were still students attending the schools when they were arrested and brought
before the consul Tiburtius on the charge of being Christians and of proselytizing.
Although they pleaded guilty the magistrate dismissed them on the score of
their noble lineage-perhaps also of their youth. He bade them relinquish
their faith and threatened to have them tortured if he heard further complaints
against them. Far from being daunted the two young men redoubled their activities.
The passio speaks of numerous conversions caused by their preaching and miracles.
Apprehended once more, they refused to sacrifice and were beheaded. The “acts”
of these martyrs are a compilation from older hagiographical fictions and
can claim no historical value of any kind. They contain many improbable details
and the existence of any such martyrs is quite uncertain.
The one fragment of anything like evidence of early
cultus consists of an entry in the Hieronymianum,
"apud Arecium civitatem Tusciae Laurenti diaconi". Delehaye and others think
that the whole has grown out of the dedication on this day at Arezzo of a
church in honour of St Laurence, the deacon martyr, the name Laurentius having
been misread as Laurentinus, and Pergentinus having been supplied by an "Expergenti",
whose name occurs next day. See CMH., p. 300, and also Mgr Lanzoni, Diocesi d' Italia, pp. 567-568 ; H. Quentin,
Les Martyrologes historiques,
p. 273, and Dufourcq, Etude sur les Gesta
Martyrum, romains, vol. iii,
pp. 172-175. The text of the short passio
will be found in the Acta
Sanctorum, June, vol. i.
|
Córdubæ, in Hispánia, beáti
Isaac Mónachi, qui, pro Christi fide, gládio necátus
est.
At
Cordova in Spain, blessed Isaac, a monk who was slain by the sword for the
faith of Christ.
|
In território Aurelianénsi sancti
Liphárdi, Presbyteri et Confessóris. In the diocese of
Orleans, St. Lifard, priest and confessor.
Lucæ, in Túscia, sancti Davíni
Confessóris. At Lucca in Tuscany, St. Davinus, confessor.
Anágniæ sanctæ Olívæ
Vírginis. At Anagni, St. Olive, virgin.
|
545 Clotilda of France
Queen Widow At her passing, a dazzling light and heavenly incense filled the
room Clothilde built the Church of the Apostles, later called Saint Geneviève,
in Paris, where Clothilde was later buried. (Amazingly, her relics survived
the French Revolution and can now be found at the church of Saint-Leu, Paris.)
(RM)
Lutétiæ Parisiórum
sanctæ Clotíldis Regínæ, cujus précibus vir
ejus Clodovéus, Rex Francórum, Christi fidem suscépit.
At Paris,
St. Clotilde, queen, by whose prayers her husband, King Clovis, was converted
to the faith of Christ.
(also known as Clotilde, Clothilde) Born at Lyons, France, c.
474; died at Tours in 545.
545 ST CLOTILDA, WIDOW
ST CLOTILDA, a Burgundian, was the wife of Clovis, king of the Salian Franks,
who at the time of their marriage, in 492 or 493, was still a heathen. From
the outset Clotilda exercised great influence over her husband and made earnest
efforts to win him to Christ's religion. "You have heard from your grandmother,
Clotilda of happy memory," wrote St Nicetius of Trier to the French princess
Clodoswind, "how she drew to the faith her royal husband and how he, a man
of keen intelligence, would not yield until he was convinced of the truth."
He permitted the baptism of their first-born son, who died in infancy, and
of their second boy, Clodomir, but he still hesitated to declare himself a
Christian. His decision was made in the heat of battle. He was fighting the
Alemanni, and his troops were yielding to the enemy when he appealed for
help to "Clotilda's God", vowing that if he was granted victory he would accept
the Christian faith. He won the day, and on Christmas morning, 496, he was
baptized by St Remigius in Rheims cathedral. History has little more to tell
us about St Clotilda's further married life; together they founded in Paris
the church of the Apostles Peter and Paul, which was afterwards renamed St
Genevieve. There she buried Clovis, who died in 511.
Clotilda's after life was saddened by the family feuds and fratricidal
struggles in which her three sons, Clodomir, Childebert and Clotaire, became
involved, and by the misfortunes of her daughter (who bore her own name),
so cruelly treated by her Visigothic husband Amalaric. Clodomir attacked
his cousin St Sigismund, captured him and put him to death with his wife
and children, but was himself overcome and slain by Sigismund's brother.
Queen Clotilda then adopted Clodomir's three little sons, intending to bring
them up as her own children. Childebert and Clotaire, however, were determined
to remain in undisputed possession of Clodomir's inheritance. They induced
their mother to send the children to them and Clotaire with his own hand
killed his two elder nephews, aged ten and seven. Clodoald, the youngest,
was saved and afterwards became a monk in the monastery of Nogent, near Paris,
which was afterwards renamed St Cloud in his honour.
Broken-hearted, St Clotilda left Paris and took up her abode at Tours,
where she spent the rest of her life in relieving the poor and suffering.
There she learnt that her two surviving sons had turned their arms against
each other and were actually on the verge of battle. In her anguish she spent
the whole night in prayer before St Martin's shrine entreating God to put
an end to this unnatural conflict. The answer, St Gregory of Tours tells us,
was not long delayed. The very next day, as the armies were about to engage,
there arose so terrible a tempest that all military operations had to be
abandoned.
But Clotilda's trials were at an end. She died a month later, after having
been a widow for thirty-four years, and her sons, who had caused her so much
suffering, buried her beside her husband and elder children. Recent historical
research has relegated to the realm of fiction many picturesque incidents
in connection with St Clotilda, which successive generations of chroniclers
have been content to accept unquestioningly from the uncritical pages of St
Gregory of Tours and similar sources, and in so doing it has vindicated the
queen from charges of ferocity and vindictiveness, little in keeping with
her saintly character. In these legends she plays the part of a fury, goading
her husband and sons to avenge on her uncle Gundebald and his son, St Sigismund,
the murder by the former of her two parents.
It is now established with reasonable certainty that Gundebald, far from
causing Chilperic's death, sincerely lamented his loss and that Caretana did
not perish in the Seine with a stone tied round her neck, but survived her
husband for many years and died a peaceful, natural death in 506.
The only ancient biography of St
Clotilda is of no great value as a historical source, for it was not compiled
before the tenth century. It has been edited by Bruno Krusch in the second
volume of MGH., Scriptores Merov.,
but it is largely dependent upon the document known as the Gesta regum Francorum, or Liber Historiae, which was written by
a monk of Saint-Denis, a couple of centuries earlier. The story of St Clotilda
has to be pieced together from such authors as Gregory of Tours, Fredegarius,
and certain lives of saints. By far the most reliable account of this sadly
tried mother is that furnished by Godefroid Kurth, in his book Clovis, or
more concisely in the little volume, Sainte Clotilde (Eng. trans., 1898),
contributed by him to the series “Les Saints". See also the bibliography appended
to the notice of St Remigius, October 1. There are French lives by Archbishop
Darboy, V. de Soucy, G. Rouquette, and others, but most of them, being earlier
in date than Kurth's critical discussion of the subject, are unsatisfactory.
Clothilde was matriarch to a family of saints and horrid sinners. Her granddaughter Bertha married Saint Ethelbert
of Kent and prepared his heart for conversion. Their daughter
Saint Ethelburga brought her
husband King Saint Edwin to the Faith.
Clothilde's other granddaughter Clotsinde married Albion, king of Arian Lombards,
and converted him. Her grandson Clodoaldus, saved from his scheming uncle
by his grandmother, became a priest and monk.
Clothilde, the daughter of King Chilperic of Burgundy, was born
about the time of the fall of Rome. Western Europe was overcome by barbarians.
Cathedrals and monasteries were the only civilizing influence.
Image of Saint Clothilde Courtesy of Miniature Stories of the
Saints
The Franks invaded and had to
choose between pagan beliefs and Christianity. About 492, Clothilde married
Clovis, king of the Salian Franks who was attracted by her beauty and wisdom.
According to Saint Gregory of Tours,
she became the means of leading her husband to embrace Christianity. She
had their first son baptized, but he died soon after. Her husband connected
the child's baptism and death. The next child, Clodomir, became ill after
baptism, but survived, as did two other sons and a daughter. Clovis was finally
convinced of the truth of Christianity when he won a battle against the Alemanni
that was seemingly lost after praying to "Clotilde's God" and promising that
he would be baptized if the victory was his. After Clovis was baptized on
Christmas Day in 496 by Bishop Saint Remigius
of Rheims, the Roman Church turned its eyes west and north.
Later, Clovis and Clothilde together built the Church of the
Apostles, later called Saint Geneviève, in Paris, where Clothilde
was later buried. (Amazingly, her relics survived the French Revolution and
can now be found at the church of Saint-Leu, Paris.)
Clothilde, after Clovis's death (511) retained enormous wealth,
but could not control her children, who had become boy-kings. Visigoth Amalaric
(an Arian) demanded her only daughter Clothilde II in marriage, in exchange
for which, he might permit peace. Wars broke out among royal kinsfolk. Clodomir
was killed and Clothilde took his three sons in her care. Anguished at the
murder of two of Clodimir's sons by their uncle Clotaire, she placed the youngest
(Saint Cloud or Clodoaldus, aged
five) in the monastery at Versailles and retired to Saint Martin's at Tours.
There she spent the rest of her life helping the sick and the poor, building
churches and monasteries, and praying for her country. Churches at Laon,
Andelys, and Rouen claim to have been built by her.
Amalaric treated her daughter cruelly, her brother Childebert
killed her husband. But Clothilde II dies on the way home. Clothilde I prayed
and did penance for her two assassin sons. Queen Clothilde died on June
3, 545, in the presence of these two sons. At her passing, a dazzling light
and heavenly incense filled the room (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia,
Farmer Martindale). In art, Saint Clotilda is dressed in royal robes
with an angel near her bearing a shield with fleur-de-lys (Roeder). She is
often shown at the baptism of Clovis or as a suppliant at the shrine of Saint
Martin. If you go through the images at Clothilde at Prayer, you will find
most of her story in pictures. In Normandy, she was the patroness of the lame
and invoked against death and iniquitous husbands (Farmer).
|
6th
v. SS. LIPHARDUS AND URBICIUS, ABBOTS
ST LIFARD, Liéfard, or Liphardus, was a lawyer with a great reputation
for probity who was occupying one of the highest judicial posts at Orleans
when, at the age of forty, he decided to take the habit of a monk. He may
have been (as some writers have maintained) brother to St Maximin, abbot of
Micy, and nephew to St Euspicius, who founded that monastery, or he may have
been the brother of St Leonard of Vandoeuvre, but he was certainly not the
brother of St Leonard of Limoges, as is sometimes stated. From Orleans St
Lifard went first to visit the abbey of St Mesmin at Micy. Before long, however,
the desire for greater solitude led him to retire with one companion, St
Urbicius, to an unfrequented place where, in the ruins of an old castle, they
built themselves huts. Their food was a little barley bread, their drink water,
taken every third day. Very soon disciples began to gather round them, and
the bishop of Orleans, who had a great regard for Lifard, not only gave him
permission to form a religious community, but ordained him priest and built
him a church. A flourishing monastery arose on a site now covered by the
town of Meung-sur-Loire. St Lifard died about the year 550 at the age of
seventy-three, after having nominated St Urbicius as his successor.
In the very valuable article of
A. Poncelet, "Les Saints de Micy" (Analecta
Bollandiana, vol. xxiv, 1905, pp. 1-97), he points out that the whole
group of biographies connected with Micy are extremely unreliable. That of
St Lifard is no exception, and cannot have been composed before the ninth
century. It has been printed by Mabillon, and in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. i. On the other
hand, the fact that there was an almost contemporary cultus of St Lifard in
his abbey of Meung-sur-Loire is attested by the inclusion of his name on
this day in the Hieronymianum.
|
Saint David
of Gareji was Syrian by birth disciple of St. John of Zedazeni and journeyed
with him to Georgia David’s holy relics have worked
many miracles
St. David and his spiritual son Lucian settled on a mountain
above Tbilisi, the capital of Kartli.
At that time Kartli was constantly under threat of the Persian
fire-worshippers. St. David would spend entire days in prayer, beseeching
the Lord for forgiveness of the sins of those who dwelt in the city. When
he was finished praying for the day, he would stand on the mountain and bless
the whole city. Once a week Sts. David and Lucian would go down into the city
to preach. A church dedicated to St. David was later built on the mountain
where he labored.
St. David’s authority and popularity alarmed the fire-worshippers,
and they accused him of adultery, in an attempt to discredit him in the eyes
of the people. As a “witness” they summoned a certain expectant prostitute,
who accused him of being the child’s father. Hoping in God, the holy father
touched his staff to the prostitute’s womb and ordered the unborn child to
declare the truth. From out of the womb the infant uttered the name of his
true father.
Outraged at this slander, the
bystanders savagely stoned the woman to death. St. David pleaded with them
to stop, but he was unable to placate the furious crowd. Deeply disturbed
by these events, St. David departed the region with his disciple Lucian.
The holy fathers settled in a small cave in the wilderness and
began to spend all their time in prayer. They ate nothing but herbs and the
bark of trees. When the herbs withered from the summer heat, the Lord sent
them deer. Lucian milked them and brought the milk to St. David, and when
the elder made the sign of the Cross over the milk it was miraculously transformed
into cheese.
Shaken by the holy father’s miracle, Lucian told him, “Even if my body rots
and wastes away from hunger and thirst, I will not permit myself to fret over
the things of this temporal life.”
The fathers kept a strict fast
on Wednesdays and Fridays—they ate nothing, and even the deer did not come
to them on those days.
A frightful serpent inhabited a cave not far from where they
lived and attacked all the animals around it. But at St. David’s command
the serpent deserted that place.
Once local hunters were tracking the fathers’ deer, and they
caught sight of Lucian milking them as they stood there quietly, as though
they were sheep. The hunters paid great respect to St. David and, having
returned to their homes, reported what they had seen.
Soon the Gareji wilderness filled with people who longed to
draw nearer to Christ. A monastery was founded there, and for centuries it
stood fast as a center and cornerstone of faith and learning in Georgia.
After some time St. David set off on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
He entrusted Lucian to fulfill his responsibilities at the monastery and
took some of the other brothers with him. When the pilgrims were approaching
the place called the “Ridge of Grace,” from which the holy city of Jerusalem
becomes visible, St. David fell to his knees and glorified God with tears.
Judging himself unworthy to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, he was
satisfied to gaze upon the city from afar.
Then he stood at the city gates and prayed fervently while his
companions entered the Holy City and venerated the holy places. Returning,
St. David took with him three stones from the “Ridge of Grace.” That night
an angel appeared to the patriarch of Jerusalem and informed him that a certain
pious man named David, who was visiting from afar, had taken with him all
the holiness of Jerusalem. The angel proceeded to tell him that the
venerable one had marched through the city of Nablus, clothed in tatters and
bearing on his shoulders an old sack in which he carried the three holy stones.
The patriarch sent messengers after the stranger with a request that he return
two of the stones and take only one for himself. St. David returned the two
stones, but he declined the patriarch’s invitation to visit him. He took
the third stone back with him to the monastery, and to this day it has been
full of the grace of miraculous healing.
After St. David brought the miraculous
stone from Jerusalem, the number of brothers at the monastery doubled. The
venerable father ministered to all of them and encouraged them. He also visited
the cells of the elder hermits to offer his solace. In accordance with his
will, a monastery in the name of St. John the Baptist was founded in the
place called “Mravalmta” (the Rolling Mountains).
The Lord God informed St. David of his imminent departure to
the Kingdom of Heaven. Then he gathered the fathers of the wilderness and
instructed them for the last time not to fall into confusion, but to be firm
and ceaselessly entreat the Lord for the salvation of their souls.
He received Holy Communion, lifted up his hands to the Lord,
and gave up his spirit.
St. David’s holy relics have worked many miracles: approaching
them, those blind from birth have received their sight. To this day, believers
have been healed of every spiritual and bodily affliction at his grave.
|
617 Saint Cronan
the Tanner disciple of Saint Kevin (AC)
Saint Cronan was a disciple of Saint Kevin (Benedictines).
|
618 St. Kevin baptized
by St. Cronan educated by St. Petroc priest hermit founder Many extravagant
miracles
618 ? ST
KEVIN, OR COEMGEN, ABBOT OF GLENDALOUGH
IN the forefront of the great company of saints who made Ireland glorious
in the sixth century stands St Kevin, one of the principal patrons of Dublin.
He it was who founded the celebrated abbey of Glendalough, which became one
of the four principal pilgrimage-places of Ireland, seven visits to Glendalough
being reckoned as equivalent to one pilgrimage to Rome. St Kevin's traditional
history is to be found in several Latin and Irish versions, none of them ancient;
how much of real fact underlies the picturesque legends and curious folk-lore
they embody can only be conjectured. The saint, we are told, was of royal
descent and was born in Leinster at the Fort of the White Fountain. At his
baptism by St Cronan he received the name of Coemgen, anglicized as Kevin,
“the Well-begotten”. When he was seven his parents sent him to be educated
by monks, under whose care he remained until he was grown up. After his ordination
he was moved to withdraw into solitude, and an angel led him to the upper
reaches of Glendalough, the Valley of the Two Lakes. In that wild lovely
district he lived for seven years, clad in skins, sleeping on the stones
by the water-side and nourished only by the nettles and sorrel, which for
his sake remained green all the year round.
While he was living so austerely, “the branches and leaves of the trees
sometimes sang sweet songs to him, and heavenly music alleviated the severity
of his life”. At last he was discovered in a cave by a cattle-farmer called
Dima, who persuaded him to leave his solitude. The good man and his children
“out of respect and honour” made a litter upon which they bore the saint
through the thick wood. The trees lay down to make a pathway for them, and
when the litter had passed they all rose up again. At Disert-Coemgen, where
Refert church now stands, St Kevin made a settlement for the disciples who
gathered round him. For a long time-says the legend-a kindly otter brought
a salmon every day to supply them with nourishment. But one day “it occurred
to Cellach”, son of Dima, “that a fine splendid glove might be made of the
otter's skin. The otter, though a brute beast, understood his thought and
from that time ceased to perform his service to the monks." Perhaps in consequence
of a shortage of food, St Kevin removed his community farther up the glen
to the place "where two sparkling rivers meet". Here at Glendalough he made
his permanent foundation, to which numerous disciples soon flocked. To beg
a blessing on himself and on them he made (we are told) a pilgrimage to Rome,
and “because of the holy relics and mould which he brought back, no single
saint in Erin ever obtained more from God than Coemgen, save Patrick only”.
King Colman of Ui Faelain sent his infant son to be fostered by St Kevin,
after all his other sons had been "destroyed by the bright people of the fairy
courts". As there were "no cows or boolies in the glen". ["Boolies" is a
word recognized by the O.E.D. It is of Irish derivation and hardly known outside
Ireland. It seems to mean a particular kind of enclosure for keeping cattle
in the open.] The saint commanded a doe he saw with her fawn to give
half her milk to his foster-child .. "But a wolf came to the doe and killed
her fawn. Then Coemgen wrought great miracles. He commanded the wild wolf
to take the place of the fawn with the doe," and the beast obeyed him. "In
this way was Faelain nourished by the wonderful works of God and Coemgen."
In the Félire of Oengus, Kevin is referred to in a quatrain as “A
soldier of Christ into the land of Ireland, a high name over the sea's wave:
Coemgen the pure, bright warrior, in the glen of the two broad lakes.”
The holy abbot was on intimate terms with St Kieran of Clonmacnois, and
went to visit him on his death-bed. St Kieran was actually dead or unconscious
when St Kevin arrived, but he came back to life for sufficiently long to hold
sweet converse with his soul-friend, to whom he presented his bell as a parting
gift. In his old age he contemplated making another pilgrimage, but was dissuaded
by a wise man whom he consulted: “Birds do not hatch their eggs when they
are on the wing”, said his adviser, and St Kevin remained at home. He is
said to have died at the age of 120. His feast is kept in all Ireland.
There are five versions of the
life of St Coemgen: three in Irish (for which, see C. Plummer's edition in
his Bethada Náem nérenn, vol. i, pp. 125-167, with the preface
and translation); and two in Latin. The more important of these last was also
edited by Plummer in VSH., vol. i, pp. 234-257, and the other is in the Codex Salmanticensis, which was printed
by Fr De Smedt in 1888. It would seem that, even to the most ancient of these,
no earlier date can be assigned than the tenth or eleventh century. "The
texts", says Dr J. F. Kenney (The Sources
for the Early History of Ireland, i, p. 404), "have little historical
value ... they illustrate the development of extreme ideas in asceticism,
if not in the 6th and 7th, then in the 10th and later centuries". See also
Gougaud, Christianity in Celtic Lands,
passim; and Ryan, Irish Monasticism,
p. 130.
Known in Ireland as Coemgen as
well as Kevin, according to tradition he was born at the Fort of the White
Fountain in Leinster, Ireland, of royal descent. He was baptized by St. Cronan
and educated by St. Petroc. He was ordained, and became a hermit at the Valley
of the Two Lakes in Glendalough. After seven years there, he was persuaded
to give up his solitary life. He went to Disert-Coemgen, where he founded
a monastery for the disciples he attracted, and later moved to Glendalough.
He made a pilgrimage to Rome, bringing back many relics for his permanent
foundation at Glendalough. He was a friend of St. Kieran of Clonmacnois, and was entrusted
with the raising of the son of King Colman of Ui Faelain, by the king.
Many extravagant miracles were attributed
to Kevin, and he was reputed to be 120 years old at his death.
|
7th v. Glunshallaich Saint
Kevin preached the Gospel and the Holy Spirit led the heart of the Irish
Saint Glunshallaich to conversion. He became penitent for the balance of his
life (AC)
7th century. Saint Kevin preached the Gospel and the Holy Spirit
led the heart of the Irish Saint Glunshallaich to conversion. He became penitent
for the balance of his life.
He was buried at Glendalough in the same grave as his evangelist
(Benedictines).
|
662 Saint Genesius
(Genet) of Clermont austere charity to the poor knew no bounds learned, benevolent,
surpassingly good B (AC)
660 ST GENESIUS, BISHOP OF CLERMONT
THE twenty-first bishop of Clermont (or Auvergne) was St Genesius, better
known in France as Genet and Genès. He was born at Clermont, of a senatorial
family, and became archdeacon. Learned, virtuous and benevolent, he was beloved
by young and old, rich and poor. When the bishopric fell vacant at the death
of St Proculus he was chosen unanimously by clergy and people to fill the
see, but he would only accept office after a three-days' delay had proved
that they would elect no one else. Five years later, on the hope of obtaining
leave to lay down his charge and retire into solitude, he went as a pilgrim
to Rome, but his people sent after him and he was obliged to return. As he
drew near to Clermont, the population came to meet him, headed by the clergy
carrying candles and singing; the sick were also brought out into the street
for him to heal. The rest of his episcopate seems to have been uneventful
and prosperous. He ruled his people like a wise father, built a church dedicated
to St Symphorian in a suburb of Clermont, a hospice near one of the city
gates, and a monastery called Manlieu, or Grandlieu. Amongst his trusted
advisers was a priest destined eventually to occupy the same see, viz. St
Praejectus (Prix) who had been committed to his charge as a child. St Genesius
died c. 660, and was buried in his church of St Symphorian, which afterwards
bore his name.
There is a short medieval life,
which has been printed in the Acta Sanctorum
(June, vol. i), and some further details are furnished by the lives of St
Praejectus on January 25. See also the Gallia
Christiana, vol. ii, p. 245; Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. ii, p.
37; and DCB, vol. ii, p. 627.
Genesius gave up worldly honors, to which he was entitled by his birth
into a distinguished family, in order to serve God in the lowest rank of
the clergy in the diocese of Auvergne. Against his inclinations, he was promoted
to archdeacon, where he was to spur the clergy into imitating his spirit
of perfection in Christian virtue. He treated his own body austerely while
his charity to the poor knew no bounds. The reverence with which he fulfilled
his sacred functions inspired his assistants, including the future Saint Praejectus (Prix), with awe and the
desire to strive for perfection themselves.
In 656, Genesius succeeded Proculus as bishop of Clermont at the insistence
of the other bishops of the province. His episcopate was peaceful and successful
in stamping out the heresy of Novatian and Jovinian and instilling in his
flock the love of virtue. He built a church in honor of Saint Symphorian (later renamed
Saint Genesius), Grandlieu (Magnus Locus) Abbey, and a hospital. The beloved
bishop, described as learned, benevolent, surpassingly good, was buried in
the church he had built. He is liturgically honored in the diocese of Clermont.
Two ancient English churches have been named after him (Benedictines, Encyclopedia,
Farmer, Husenbeth).
|
852
ST ISAAC OF CORDOVA, MARTYR
AMONGST the martyrs of Cordova, the foremost place is given
in the old Spanish martyrologies to St Isaac, who, although he was a devout
Christian, had made himself so proficient in Arabic that he obtained an appointment
as a notary under the Moorish government. He did not occupy it for long, but
withdrew to a refuge monastery where he lived for some years with his relative
Abbot Martin. He was then moved to go back to the city and to challenge the
chief magistrate to a religious discussion. The invitation was accepted, but
during the course of the debate a panegyric upon Mohammed drew from Isaac
an outspoken denunciation of the false prophet. His opponents, roused to
fury, arrested him. He was tried, tortured and sentenced to death. After
his execution he was impaled, and the stake with his body head downwards
was set up in a conspicuous position on the far side of the river Guadalquivir.
Almost all we know of St Isaac
is derived from the Memoriale Sanctorum
of St Eulogius, who was his fellow citizen and a contemporary. The Bollandists
in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol.
i, have extracted all that Eulogius has left on record concerning the martyr.
See also Sanchez de Feria, Santos de Córdoba,
vol. ii, pp. 1-24; and cf. F. J. Simonet, Historia de los Mozdrabes de España;
and J. Perez de Urbel, San Eulogio de Córdoba
(1928).
|
984 Blessed Gausmarus
of Savigny abbot of Saint Martin OSB Abbot (AC)
Gausmarus was the abbot of Saint Martin (Savigny) from 954 until his death
(Benedictines).
|
1051 Davinus (Dalidus)
of Lucca native Armenian died on a pilgrimage to Rome (RM)
Died at Lucca, Italy, 1051. Davinus was a native of Armenia who set out
on a pilgrimage to Rome and Compostella. On his way he stopped at Lucca,
where he succumbed to a fatal malady (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). In art,
Saint Davinus is a pilgrim upon whose grave a vine grows. He may also be
portrayed (1) as a pilgrim with long hair and beads, a conical Oriental cap
on his head; (2) with a cross on his shoulder; or (3) at his funeral (Roeder).
He is venerated at Lucca (Roeder).
|
1092 St. Albert of Como
Hermit monk bishop
Also called Aribert. A Benedictine, Albert started his monastic life as
a hermit. He later became a monk and then abbot in the Italian Benedictine
Monastery of San Carpofero. At the end of his life he was appointed bishop
of Como, Italy.
Albert (Aribert) of Como, OSB B (AC) Although Albert died as bishop of
Como, at first he was a hermit at Rho, then monk and abbot at San Carpofero
(Benedictines).
|
1115 ST MORAND;
His sanctity and eloquence were enhanced by his reputation
as a wonder-worker
THE parents of St Morand appear to have been nobles living in
the Rhine valley near Worms, and he was educated in the cathedral school of
that city. After his ordination to the priesthood, he undertook a pilgrimage
to Compostela. On the way there he stayed at Cluny where he was so deeply
impressed by the life of the monks that on his return he took the habit at
the hands of St Hugh; he continued to advance in the path of perfection until
he had outstripped most of his brethren in sanctity and in fidelity to the
rule. His earlier years as a religious were spent in one or other of the Cluniac
houses in Auvergne, but he was not destined to remain in France. At the opening
of the twelfth century Count Frederick Pferz, the principal magnate of the
Sundgau, or lower Alsace, rebuilt or restored on a larger scale the church
of St Christopher which his ancestors had built close to the site upon which
stands the present town of Altkirch. He then applied to St Hugh for some
of his sons to serve the church and the neighbourhood. Several monks were
sent, but their abbot Constantius almost immediately realized that a knowledge
of German was essential if they were to do missionary work. In answer to
his representations Morand was despatched, as being equally proficient in
French and in German.
The choice proved an excellent one, for Morand had the true missionary
spirit and the people heard him gladly. Regardless of snow or rain he would
travel about the countryside, bareheaded and with a pilgrim's staff in his
hand, to search out sinners and bring them to repentance. His sanctity and
eloquence were enhanced by his reputation as a wonder-worker. Count Frederick,
after having been cured by him of facial paralysis, would do nothing without
consulting him. With the sign of the cross he extinguished a fire which threatened
to destroy the monastery, and restored many sick persons to health. Every
Friday he visited the shrine of our Lady at Gildwiller-said to be the oldest
sanctuary in Alsace and the country people gave his name to a spring, beside
which he used to rest after his weekly pilgrimage. He died about the year
1115. Perhaps on account of the tradition that he fasted throughout one Lent
with only a bunch of grapes to sustain him, St Morand is regarded as the
patron of vine-growers.
The medieval life of St Morand,
which is printed in the Acta Sanctorum,
June, vol. i, is an altogether favourable specimen of its class. It must have
been written less than half a century after the death of the saint. Popular
devotion to him has by no means died out in Alsace. There is a considerable
literature concerning both the devotional and archaeological aspects of his
cultus. See especially J. Clauss, Historisch-topographisches
Wörterbuch des Elsass, pp. 974 seq.; and the same writer's smaller
work, Die Heiligen des Elsass ...
(1935). Consult also J. Levy, Wallfahrten
der Heiligen in Elsass (1926), pp. 203-210; Grandidier-Ingold, Alsatia Sacra, vol. i (1899), pp. 325-335;
and F. Fues, Vie de S. Morand (1840).
The representations in art are discussed by Künstle, Ikonographie, vol. ii, p. 455; the folklore
aspects in Archives Suisses des Traditions
populaires, vol. viii (1904), p. 220 seq.
|
1200 Saint Conus
of Lucania Benedictine monk of Cardossa OSB (AC)
Born in Diano, Italy; The relics of Conus, a Benedictine monk of
Cardossa in Lucania, were enshrined in the neighboring village of Diano in
1261 (Benedictines).
|
1264 Blessed Andrew
Caccioli 1/original 72 followers of Saint Francis, OFM (AC)
1254 BD ANDREW OF SPELLO
BD ANDREW CACCIOLl was a man of means who in his early manhood served as
a priest in the diocese of Spoleto. At the age of about twenty-nine, after
the death of his mother and sister, he gave his property to the Church and
to the poor, resigned his living, and took the habit at the hands of St Francis
of Assisi. He was one of the seventy-two disciples of the Seraphic Father,
and Bd Andrew was privileged to watch by his death-bed and receive his last
blessing. He was in Spain in 1223 when he was summoned to a special chapter
in Italy. The country was then suffering from a prolonged drought which threatened
to ruin the crops. Bd Andrew from the pulpit appealed to his brethren and
to his other hearers to join him in fervent prayers for deliverance from famine.
In response to their petition rain fell in such abundance that the harvest
was saved and proved to be an exceptionally good one. The people in their
gratitude called him Andrew of the Waters.
After his return to Italy the holy friar laboured with great success as
a missioner in various parts of Lombardy. At a later date he was involved
in the struggle carried on by the “Spirituals” to maintain the strict rule
of St Francis. He was subjected in consequence to much persecution, including
imprisonment on two occasions. Having been charged with the direction of the
Poor Clares of Spello, he was instrumental in obtaining for them as abbess
Bd Pacifica Guelfoccio, St Clare's aunt, who inspired them with such devotion
that they became one of the order's most fervent communities.
Towards the close of his life, Bd Andrew made a long stay at the friary
of the Carceri, near Assisi, where he spent much time in contemplation. One
day our Lord appeared to him in the form of a child and talked with him; and
in the midst of their discourse the bell rang for Vespers. Bd Andrew in obedience
to the rule immediately repaired to the chapel. On returning to his cell
he found himself once more in the presence of his Divine Guest, who greeted
him, saying, "You did well in thus obeying the first summons. If you had
not gone, I should not have stayed. But now I will reward you shortly." He
in fact died that same year. His body was buried in the convent at Spello
which he had himself founded, and his relics are preserved there to this
day.
The account printed in the Acta Sanctorum (June, vol. i), which includes
a valuable summary made from an early life of Bd Andrew once preserved at
Spello, corrects several errors into which Wadding, through lack of materials,
had inadvertently fallen. See also Analecta
Franciscana, vol. iii, pp. 210 seq. In Léon, Auréole
Séraphique
Eng. trans.), vol. ii, pp. 349-351, some of Wadding's errors
are still repeated. The cultus was
approved by Pope Benedict XIV.
Born at Spello near Assisi, Italy; died there; cultus confirmed by Clement
XII. Andrew was ordained, then gave away his considerable wealth to the poor
before becoming one of the original 72 followers of Saint Francis. Andrew
favored a strict interpretation of the Franciscan Rule, against the innovations
of Brother Elias. For this reason, he was persecuted and imprisoned (Benedictines).
|
1591 Translation
of the relics of slain Crown Prince Demetrius of Moscow The Tsarevich St
Demetrius numerous miracles of healing from the holy relics
Murdered on May 15, 1591, was glorified in the year 1606. The reason for
this was the desire, in the expression of Tsar Basil Shuisky, "to stop lying
lips and blind unbelieving eyes from saying that the Tsarevich had escaped
alive from the hands of the murderers." This was because of the appearance
of a pretender, who declared himself to be the Tsarevich Demetrius.
The holy relics were solemnly transferred and placed in the Arkhangelsk
cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, "in the side altar of John the Forerunner,
where his father and his brothers were buried."
After numerous miracles of healing from the holy relics,"three feastdays
for the Tsarevich Demetrius were established during this same year of 1606,
his birthday (October 19), his murder (May 15), and the transfer of his relics
to Moscow (June 3)."
|
1600 BD JOHN
"THE SINNER" To ensure the continuance of his work he
affiliated the hospital to, and was himself enrolled in, the Order of Hospitallers
the founder of which, St John of God, had died at Seville when he-John Grandé-was
a child of four.
JOHN GRANDE was born at the little Andalusian town of Carmona
in 1546. His father having died when he was fifteen, he was sent to Seville
to a relation engaged in the linen trade, and afterwards was set up in business
at Carmona. The things of this world, however, had no attraction for him.
At the age of twenty-two he distributed his possessions to the poor and retired
into a hermitage near Marcena. Although he had led an irreproachable life
from childhood, he regarded himself as the basest of men. Partly from a sense
of his own unworthiness, partly because he fancied that he was regarded as
a hypocrite, he substituted for his surname Grande the nickname EI Grande
Pecador, and it is as Bd John the Sinner that he is now honoured in Andalusia.
One day he saw two sick tramps lying by the roadside. Filled with pity he
carried them to his hut, nursed them and solicited alms on their behalf. Soon
other similar cases presented themselves, and it was revealed to him that
he was called to serve God, not in solitude, but in ministering to Him in
the persons of the afflicted and destitute. Abandoning his retreat he went
to Xeres, where he obtained leave to serve the prisoners. For three years
he lived and laboured under dreadful conditions amongst the dregs of humanity,
assisting them, nursing them, begging on their behalf and trying to soften
the hearts of hardened criminals. With wonderful patience he bore with insults,
ingratitude and even ill-treatment.
He then transferred his services to the hospital. There he
had to undergo persecution from officials and menials who resented his devotion
to the sick as a standing reproach to themselves for their negligence and
harshness. Unprejudiced observers, however, were attracted and impressed;
so much so that a wealthy couple founded a hospital which they entrusted to
his care. It promptly filled with patients, and there gathered round him a
band of young men, fired by his example and eager to assist him. To ensure
the continuance of his work he affiliated the hospital to, and was himself
enrolled in, the Order of Hospitallers the founder of which, St John of God,
had died at Seville when he-John Grandé-was a child of four.
Although the sick were his primary care, his help and sympathy
were extended to all in distress. He would gather neglected waifs around him
and would provide them with nourishment for their bodies and guidance for
their souls; he would also collect money to give marriage-portions to poor
girls. He never lost interest in prisoners, and when, after the storming of
Cadiz by the English, three hundred fugitive Spanish soldiers came to Xeres,
he cared for them, nursed the wounded, and provided them all with food and
clothing-miraculously as it seemed to the men themselves. His active life
did not prevent him from attaining to great spiritual heights. Often he was
rapt in ecstasy-sometimes when he was on his errands of mercy. If on regaining
consciousness he found himself surrounded by strangers who jeered at him
or upbraided him as a drunken fool, he would beg their pardon and proceed
on his way with bowed head. He was also a prophet of whom it is recorded that
he foretold the destruction of the Spanish Armada. It was from plague contracted
while nursing the sick during a. terrible epidemic in Xeres that John Grande
died in the year 1600, at the age of fifty-four. He was beatified in 1853.
A Vie abrégée du B. Jean Grandé
was published at the time of the beatification, and another anonymous
life in Italian, Vita del Ven. Fra Giovanni
Peccatore, appeared at Milan in 1727. See also Seeböck,
Die Herrlichkeit der Kat. Kirche
(1900), and the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.
vol. xxiii (1931), pp. 18-19.
|
1885 St. Charles
Lwanga and Companions Martyrs of Uganda
When the White Fathers were expelled from the country, the new Christians
carried on their work, translating and printing the catechism into their
natively language and giving secret instruction on the faith. Without priests,
liturgy, and sacraments their faith, intelligence, courage, and wisdom kept
the Catholic Church alive and growing in Uganda. When the White Fathers returned
after King Mwanga's death, they found five hundred Christians and one thousand
catchumens waiting for them. The twenty-two Catholic martyrs of the Uganda
persecution were canonized.
1886 SS. Charles Lwanga,
Joseph Mkasa And Their Companions, The Martyrs Of Uganda
THE story of the martyrs of Uganda is one which may well give encouragement
to all Christian hearts, revealing as it does the power of God's grace and
that the miracles of constancy which stagger us when we read of them in the
first ages of persecution have been renewed in our own time among the uncultured
peoples of the interior of central Africa, where the first Catholic missions
were established by Cardinal Lavigerie's White Fathers in 1879. In Uganda
some progress was made under the not -unfriendly local ruler, Mtesa; but his
successor, Mwanga, determined to root out Christianity among his people,
especially after a Catholic subject, St JOSEPH MKASA, reproached him for
his debauchery and for his massacre of the Protestant missionary James Hannington
and his caravan. Mwanga was addicted to unnatural vice (a crime introduced
among these relatively decent Africans by the Arabs), and in what followed
his anger against Christianity, already kindled by ambitious officers who
played on his fears, was kept alight by the refusal of Christian boys in his
service to minister to his wickedness.
Joseph Mkasa himself was the first victim: Mwanga seized on a trifling
pretext and on November 15, 1885, had him beheaded. To the chieftain's astonishment
the Christians were not cowed by this sudden outrage, and in May of the following
year the storm burst. When he called for a young “page” called Mwafu, Mwanga
learned that he had been receiving religious instruction from another page,
St DENIS SEBUGGWAWO; Denis was sent for, and the king thrust a spear through
his throat. That night guards were posted round the royal residence to prevent
anyone from escaping, sorcerers were summoned, and war-drums beat to assemble
the numerous professional executioners. Meanwhile in a room secretly St CHARLES
LWANGA, who had succeeded Joseph Mkasa in charge of the “pages”, baptized
four of them who were catechumens; among them ST KIZITO, a boy of thirteen
whom Lwanga had repeatedly saved from the designs of the king. Next morning
the pages were all drawn up before Mwanga, and Christians were ordered to
separate themselves from the rest: led by Lwanga and Kizito, the oldest and
youngest, they did so-fifteen young men, all under twenty-five years of age.
They were joined by two others already under arrest and by two soldiers. Mwanga
asked them if they intended to remain Christians. “Till death!” came the
response. “Then put them to death!”
The appointed place of execution, Namugongo, was thirty-seven miles away,
and the convoy set out at once. “The heroic little band passed within a few
feet of me”, wrote Father Lourdel, W.F., the superior of the mission. “Little
Kizito was laughing and chattering .... I was so overcome that I had to support
myself against the palisade ..”. I was not allowed to say a word to them and
had to content myself with seeing on their faces the resignation, happiness
and courage of their hearts”. Three of the youths were killed on the road;
the others underwent a cruel imprisonment of seven days at Namugongo while
a huge pyre was prepared. Then on Ascension day, June 3, 1886, they were brought
out, stripped of their clothing, bound, and each wrapped in a mat of reed
: the living faggots were laid on the pyre (one boy, ST MBAGA, was first
killed by a blow on the neck by order of his father who was the chief executioner),
and it was set alight. Above the ritual chants of the executioners were heard
the voices of the burnt-offerings, calling on the name of Jesus. [We are
reminded of what Julius Caesar records of the human sacrifices of the Gauls,
who enclosed their victims in baskets of osier before burning them (Gallic
War, vi).]
The persecution spread and Protestants as well as Catholics gave their
lives rather than deny Christ. A leader among the confessors was St MATTHIAS
MURUMBA, who was put to death with revolting cruelty; he was a middle-aged
man, assistant judge to the provincial chief, who first heard of Jesus Christ
from Protestant missionaries and later was baptized by Father Livinhac, W.F.
Another older victim, who was beheaded, was St ANDREW KAGWA, chief of Kigowa,
who had been the instrument of his wife's conversion and had gathered a large
body of catechumens round him. This Andrew together with Charles Lwanga and
Matthias Murumba and nineteen others (seventeen of the total being young
royal servants) were solemnly beatified in 1920. Once again the often quoted
words of the African Tertullian, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians”,
were exemplified: within a year of the death of St Charles Lwanga and his
fellows the number of baptized among the Baganda had risen from barely two
hundred to over five hundred, and of catechumens from eight hundred to three
thousand. These martyrs were canonized in 1964.
The apostolic letter of Pope Benedict
XV, which includes a detailed statement of the names and of the more outrageous
barbarities of which the martyrs were victims, may be read in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. xii (1920),
pp. 272-281. See Mgr C. Salotti, I martiri
dell' Uganda (1921); M. Hallfell, Uganda, eine Edelfrucht ... (1921); Mgr
H. Streicher, The Blessed Martyrs of Uganda
(1928); J. P. Thoonen, Black Martyrs
(1941); and A. E. Howell, The Fires of Namugongo
(1948); and J. F. Faupel, African Holocaust
(1962).
For those of us who think that the faith and zeal of the early Christians
died out as the Church grew more safe and powerful through the centuries,
the martyrs of Uganda are a reminder that persecution of Christians continues
in modern times, even to the present day. The Society of Missionaries of Africa
(known as the White Fathers) had only been in Uganda for 6 years and yet
they had built up a community of converts whose faith would outshine their
own. The earliest converts were soon instructing and leading new converts
that the White Fathers couldn't reach. Many of these converts lived and taught
at King Mwanga's court.
King Mwanga was a violent ruler and pedophile who forced himself
on the young boys and men who served him as pages and attendants. The Christians
at Mwanga's court who tried to protect the pages from King Mwanga. The leader
of the small community of 200 Christians, was the chief steward of Mwanga's
court, a twenty-five-year-old Catholic named Joseph Mkasa (or Mukasa).
When Mwanga killed a Protestant missionary and his companions,
Joseph Mkasa confronted Mwanga and condemned his action. Mwanga had always
liked Joseph but when Joseph dared to demand that Mwanga change his lifestyle,
Mwanga forgot their long friendship. After striking Joseph with a spear, Mwanga
ordered him killed. When the executioners tried to tie Joseph's hands, he
told them, "A Christian who gives his life for God is not afraid to die."
He forgave Mwanga with all his heart but made one final plea for his repentance
before he was beheaded and then burned on November 15, 1885.
Charles Lwanga took over the instruction and leadership of the
Christian community at court -- and the charge of keeping the young boys
and men out of Mwanga's hands. Perhaps Joseph's plea for repentance had had
some affect on Mwanga because the persecution died down for six months.
Anger and suspicion must have been simmering in Mwanga, however. In May 1886
he called one of his pages named Mwafu and asked what the page had been doing
that kept him away from Mwanga. When the page replied that he had been receiving
religious instruction from Denis Sebuggwawo, Mwanga's temper boiled over.
He had Denis brought to him and killed him himself by thrusting a spear through
his throat.
He then ordered that the royal
compound be sealed and guarded so that no one could escape and summoned the
country's executioners. Knowing what was coming, Charles Lwanga baptized four
catechumens that night, including a thirteen-year-old named Kizito. The next
morning Mwanga brought his whole court before him and separated the Christians
from the rest by saying, "Those who do not pray stand by me, those who do
pray stand over there." He demanded of the fifteen boys and young men (all
under 25) if they were Christians and intended to remain Christians. When
they answered "Yes" with strength and courage Mwanga condemned them to death.
He commanded that the group be taken on a 37 mile trek to the
place of execution at Namugongo. The chief executioner begged one of the boys,
his own son, Mabaga, to escape and hide but Mbaga refused. The cruelly-bound
prisoners passed the home of the White Fathers on their way to execution.
Father Lourdel remembered thirteen-year-old Kizito laughing and chattering.
Lourdel almost fainted at the courage and joy these condemned converts, his
friends, showed on their way to martyrdom. Three of these faithful were killed
on road.
A Christian soldier named James Buzabaliawo was brought before
the king. When Mwanga ordered him to be killed with the rest, James said,
"Goodbye, then. I am going to Heaven, and I will pray to God for you." When
a griefstricken Father Lourdel raised his hand in absolution as James passed,
James lifted his own tied hands and pointed up to show that he knew he was
going to heaven and would meet Father Lourdel there. With a smile he said
to Lourdel, "Why are you so sad? This nothing to the joys you have taught
us to look forward to."
Also condemned were Andrew Kagwa, a Kigowa chief, who had converted
his wife and several others, and Matthias Murumba (or Kalemba) an assistant
judge. The chief counsellor was so furious with Andrew that he proclaimed
he wouldn't eat until he knew Andrew was dead. When the executioners hesitated
Andrew egged them on by saying, "Don't keep your counsellor hungry -- kill
me." When the same counsellor described what he was going to do with Matthias,
he added, "No doubt his god will rescue him." "Yes," Matthias replied, "God
will rescue me. But you will not see how he does it, because he will take
my soul and leave you only my body." Matthias was cut up on the road and left
to die -- it took him at least three days.
The original caravan reached Namugongo and the survivors were
kept imprisoned for seven days. On June 3, they were brought out, wrapped
in reed mats, and placed on the pyre. Mbaga was killed first by order of
his father, the chief executioner, who had tried one last time to change
his son's mind. The rest were burned to death. Thirteen Catholics and eleven
Protestants died. They died calling on the name of Jesus and proclaiming,
"You can burn our bodies, but you cannot harm our souls."
When the White Fathers were expelled from the country, the new
Christians carried on their work, translating and printing the catechism
into their natively language and giving secret instruction on the faith. Without
priests, liturgy, and sacraments their faith, intelligence, courage, and
wisdom kept the Catholic Church alive and growing in Uganda. When the White
Fathers returned after King Mwanga's death, they found five hundred Christians
and one thousand catchumens waiting for them. The twenty-two Catholic martyrs
of the Uganda persecution were canonized.
Prayer: Martyrs of
Uganda, pray for the faith where it is danger and for Christians who must
suffer because of their faith. Give them the same courage, zeal, and joy you
showed. And help those of us who live in places where Christianity is accepted
to remain aware of the persecution in other parts of the world. Amen
Charles Lwanga and Companions MM (RM) (also known as Ugandan
Martyrs) Died at Namugongo, Uganda, 1885-1887; beatified in 1920; canonized
by Pope Paul VI in 1964; feast added to the Roman Calendar in 1969; declared
the protomartyrs of Black Africa. Twenty-two Catholic men, including seventeen
young pages between the ages of 13 and 30, plus some Protestants, were martyred
by King Mwanga of Uganda. Their heroic courage rivalled that of the early
martyrs.
Catholic Christianity began to take root in Uganda after Cardinal
Lavigerie's White Fathers established missions in central Africa in 1879.
Progress was made under the rule of the not unfriendly local chieftain named
Mtesa; however, his successor, Mwanga detested the faith that would accuse
him of debauchery.
King Mwanga of Uganda took as chief steward a young Christian
named Joseph Msaka Balikuddembe. Joseph detested the king's debauched ways,
especially his attempts to corrupt other young men of Uganda, whom the steward
tried to protect. Mwanga distrusted foreign visitors, fearing they might report
his evil ways to the British government, which had given him his power.
In October 1885, Mwanga ordered his followers to kill an Anglican
missionary, Bishop James Hannington. The Catholic steward Joseph protested
at the murder of a fellow Christian. The following month, Mwanga had him beheaded.
"A Christian who gives his life for God is not afraid to die," Joseph proclaimed.
"Mwanga has condemned me without cause; but tell him I forgive him from my
heart." To the king's astonishment, the Christians were not cowed by his
sudden outrage.
Six months later Mwanga's savagery was even worse. He discovered
that a 14-year-old page, Mwafu, had been receiving instruction in the Catholic
faith. He called for Denis Sebuggwago, who had been teaching the page, and
killed him by thrusting a butcher's cleaver or spear through his throat. That
night Charles Lwanga, the new master of the pages, baptized five of them
including Kizito, who he had repeatedly rescued from Mwanga's pederasty.
The next day the baptisms were discovered. Enraged, Mwanga assembled
all the pages and ordered the Christians to separate themselves from the
others. Fifteen, all under the age of 25, did so at once and were later joined
by two others who were already under arrest and by two soldiers. They were
asked if they wished to remain Christian and each replied, "Until death."
The king then ordered every Protestant and Catholic living in the royal enclosure
to be put to death.
Thirty-two Catholics and Protestants
were led 37 miles away to a place called Namugongo to be burned to death in
a literal holocaust. Three were killed on the way. One of these, a district
judge named Matthias Kalemba, declared, "God will rescue me. But you will
not see how he does it, because he will take my soul and leave you only my
body." He was cut into pieces and left to die slowly by the roadside.
The rest of the martyrs were taken to Namugongo. They were imprisoned
there for seven days while a huge pyre was prepared. At the appointed time
on Ascension Day, they were forced to lie down on reed mats. Wrapped up in
the mats and tightly bound, they were laid side by side. Fuel was poured on
them, and they were set afire. As their executioners sang barbarously, the
martyrs died confidently praying to their Savior.
The persecution spread. A leader among the confessors was Matthias
Murumba, who was killed with revolting cruelty. During the reign of Mwanga
about 100 Christians of various denominations were martyred.
Andrew Kagwa (Kaggwa, d. 1886) was a native chief of Kigowa
and the royal bandmaster of King Mwanga. He was baptized in 1881, converted
his wife, and became active in missionary work. He had gathered a large
body of catechumens around him. Condemned to death for the faith, he right
arm was severed from his body before he was beheaded.
Charles Lwanga (d. 1886) was a servant of the king, who was
baptized in November 1885 and martyred the following June. He succeeded Joseph
Mkasa as master of the pages and continued his predecessor's censure of the
king's homosexual practices and corruption of the young pages. This intensified
King Mwanga's hatred of Catholics.
Denis (Dionysius) Sebuggwago (Sebuggwawo) (d. 1885) was a servant
of the King. He killed with a butcher's cleaver by the king himself because
he was taught teaching the catechism. He was the first victim of the persecution.
John Maria Muzeyi (d. 1886) practiced the corporal works of
mercy until his martyrdom.
Joseph Mikasa (Mkasa, Musaka) Balikuddembe (d. 1885), was the
Christian steward in charge of the pages, at the court of King Mwanga of Uganda.
He was beheaded on November 15, when he denounced the king's notorious immoralities
and his murder of Joseph Harrington, a Protestant missionary, and his group.
Kizito (d. 1886), 13-year old boy, who went to his death "laughing
and chattering," was saved from the king's pedophilic tendencies by Charles
Lwanga, who baptized the child.
Mbanga (Mbaga) Tuzinde (d. 1886) was a page to the king and
the adopted son of the chief executioner. He had to resist the pleas of his
family up until the moment of he was thrown on the pyre at Namuyongo. At
the last moment his father killed him with a blow to the neck to prevent
him from suffering the agony of burning.
Matthias Kalemba (d. 1886) was a Membo judge, who was tortured
to death.
Matthias Murumba, an Islamic assistant judge who converted,
first to Protestantism, then to the Catholic faith. He was baptized by Fr.
Livinhac, then martyred on Kumpala Hill.
Pontain Ngondwe (d. 1886), a
soldier in the Royal Guard (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer,
Faupel, Gill, Thoonen, Walsh, White).
Charles Lwanga is the patron
saint of African Catholic Youth Action (White).
|
1886 St. Achilleus
Kewanuka One of the Martyrs of Uganda, with Charles Lwanga
Achilleus served King Mwanga of Uganda. A convert to the faith who was
taught by the White Fathers, Achilleus was martyred in June 1886--he was
burned alive with his companions. These martyrs were canonized in 1964.
|
1963 Angelo Giuseppe
Roncalli ordination 1904 Secular Franciscan; canon law studies; worked as
his bishop’s secretary; Church history teacher in the seminary; publisher
of the diocesan paper; stretcher-bearer for the Italian army during World
War I; 1921 national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith;
taught patristics at Eternal City seminary; 1925 papal diplomat, first in
Bulgaria, then Turkey finally in France (1944-53). During World War
II, became well acquainted with Orthodox Church leaders with the help of
Germany’s ambassador to Turkey, Archbishop Roncalli helped save 24,000 Jewish
people.
In 1921 made national director of the Society for the Propagation
of the Faith; taught patristics in the Eternal City seminary; cardinal and
appointed patriarch of Venice in 1953, finally residential bishop; elected
pope at 78, taking the name John, his father’s name and the two patrons of
Rome’s cathedral, St. John Lateran; encyclicals were Mother and Teacher (1961)
and Peace on Earth (1963). Closed Vatican Council I and At his address at
the opening of the Second Vatican Council, he criticized the “prophets
of doom” who “in
these modern times see nothing but prevarication and ruin.” Pope John XXIII set a tone for the Council when
he said, “The
Church has always opposed... errors. Nowadays, however, the Spouse of Christ
prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity.”
Blessed John XXIII
b. 1881 Although few people had as great an impact
on the 20th century as Pope John XXIII, he avoided the limelight as much as
possible. Indeed, one writer has noted that his “ordinariness” seems one of
his most remarkable qualities. The firstborn son of a farming family in Sotto
il Monte, near Bergamo in northern Italy, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was always
proud of his down-to-earth roots. In Bergamo’s diocesan seminary, he joined
the Secular Franciscan Order. After his ordination in 1904, Angelo returned
to Rome for canon law studies. He soon worked as his bishop’s secretary, Church
history teacher in the seminary and as publisher of the diocesan paper.
His service as a stretcher-bearer for the Italian army during World War
I gave him a firsthand knowledge of war. In 1921 he was made national director
of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith; he found time to teach patristics
at a seminary in the Eternal City; cardinal and appointed patriarch of Venice
in 1953, he was finally a residential bishop; deeply involved in efforts to
resolve the Cuban missile crisis; enlarged College of Cardinals membership
made it more international. Closed the first Vatican Council one day before
he opened the Second Vatican Council; he criticized the “prophets of doom”
who “in these modern times see nothing but prevarication and ruin.” set the
tone for the Council saying, “The Church has always opposed... errors. Nowadays,
however, the Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy
rather than that of severity.”
In 1925 he became a papal diplomat,
serving first in Bulgaria, then in Turkey and finally in France (1944-53).
During World War II, he became well acquainted with Orthodox Church leaders
and with the help of Germany’s ambassador to Turkey, Archbishop Roncalli helped
save an estimated 24,000 Jewish people; elected pope at 78, taking the name
John, his father’s name and the two patrons of Rome’s cathedral, St. John
Lateran; Named a cardinal and appointed patriarch of Venice in 1953, he was
finally a residential bishop. A month short of entering his 78th year, he
was elected pope, taking the name John, his father’s name and the two patrons
of Rome’s cathedral, St. John Lateran. He took his work very seriously but
not himself. His wit soon became proverbial and he began meeting with political
and religious leaders from around the world. In 1962 he was deeply involved
in efforts to resolve the Cuban missile crisis.
His most famous encyclicals were
Mother and Teacher (1961) and Peace on Earth (1963). Pope John XXIII enlarged
the membership in the College of Cardinals and made it more international.
At his address at the opening of the Second Vatican Council, he criticized
the “prophets of doom” who “in these modern times see nothing but prevarication
and ruin.” Pope John XXIII set a tone for the Council when he said, “The Church
has always opposed... errors. Nowadays, however, the Spouse of Christ prefers
to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity.”
On his deathbed he said: “It
is not that the gospel has changed; it is that we have begun to understand
it better. Those who have lived as long as I have…were enabled to compare
different cultures and traditions, and know that the moment has come to discern
the signs of the times, to seize the opportunity and to look far ahead.”
Pope John Paul II beatified him on September 3, 2000, and assigned
as his feast day October 11, the day that Vatican II’s first session opened.
Comment: Throughout his life,
Angelo Roncalli cooperated with God’s grace, believing that the job at hand
was worthy of his best efforts. His sense of God’s providence made him the
ideal person to promote a new dialogue with Protestant and Orthodox Christians,
as well as with Jews and Muslims. In the sometimes noisy crypt of St. Peter’s
Basilica, many people become silent on seeing the simple tomb of Pope John
XXIII, grateful for the gift of his life and holiness. After the beatification,
his tomb was moved into the basilica itself.
Quote: In 1903, young Angelo
wrote in his spiritual journal: “From the saints I must take the substance,
not the accidents of their virtues. I am not St. Aloysius, nor must I seek
holiness in his particular way, but according to the requirements of my own
nature, my own character and the different conditions of my life. I must not
be the dry, bloodless reproduction of a model, however perfect. God desires
us to follow the examples of the saints by absorbing the vital sap of their
virtues and turning it into our own life-blood, adapting it to our own individual
capacities and particular circumstances. If St. Aloysius had been as I am,
he would have become holy in a different way” (Journal of a Soul).
|
Mary Mother
of GOD
Saint of the Day June 03 Tértio Nonas Júnii
On his deathbed
he said: 
1740-1758 Pope
Benedict XIV is best known to
history as a student and a scholar. Though by no means a genius, his enormous
application coupled with more than ordinary cleverness of mind made him one
of the most erudite men of his time and gave him the distinction of being
perhaps the greatest scholar among the popes. His character was many-sided,
and his range of interests large. His devotion to science and the serious
investigation of historical problems did not interfere with his purely literary
studies. "I have been reproached", he once said, "because of my familiarity
with Tasso and Dante and Ariosto, but they are a necessity to me in order
to give energy to my thought and life to my style." This devotion to the
arts and sciences brought Lambertini throughout his whole life into close
and friendly contact with the most famous authors and scholars of his time.
Montfaucon, whom he knew in Rome, said of him, "Young as he is, he has two
souls: one for science, the other for society." This last characterization
did not interfere with his restless activity in any of the many important
positions which he was called on to fill, nor did it diminish his marvellous
capacity for the most arduous work. 
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. 
