75 St. Terence 1st century Bishop martyr the
Tertius mentioned by St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans
Icónii,
in Lycaónia, sancti Teréntii, Epíscopi et Mártyris.
At Iconium in Lycaonia, St. Terence, bishop and martyr.
Terentius von Ikonium
Orthodoxe Kirche: 21. Juni
One of the early bishops of the Church, he served as head of the Christian
community of Iconium. Some modem scholars and hagiographers speculate that
he might be identified with the Tertius mentioned by St. Paul in his Letter
to the Romans.
Saint Terence was Bishop of Iconium in Lycaonia in the first
century. He was tortured and beheaded for his faith in Christ.
Terence of Iconium BM (RM) 1st century. Bishop Terence of
Iconium is sometimes identified with Tertius, the amanuensis mentioned by
Saint Paul (e.g., Romans 16:22) (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
Terentius von Ikonium Orthodoxe Kirche: 21. Juni Terentius war Bischof
von Ikonium. Er erlitt im 1. Jahrhundert den Märtyrertod .
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1st v. St. Rufinus
and Martia Martyrs during the first persecutions of the Church in Syracuse,
Sicily
Syracúsis, in Sicília,
natális sanctórum Mártyrum Rufíni et Mártiæ.
At Syracuse in Sicily, the birthday of the holy martyrs Rufinus and Martia.
Rufinus and Martia MM (RM) Martyrs in
one of the early persecutions at Syracuse (Benedictines).
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64 St. Lazarus is
the poor man at the gate of the rich man in Christ's parable related in Luke.
(Luke 16:19-31)
His name was perpetuated in the Middle Ages by such words as Lazaretto (hospital),
Lazarone (a beggar in the street), and the Order of St. Lazarus, which though
a military order, had as one of its objectives, the care of lepers.
St. Lazarus The Friend of Christ & First Bishop
of Kition Larnaca, ancient Kition, is historically connected with three important
personalities of the ancient world: the Stoic philosopher Zeno (who was born
here), the Athenian general Kimon (who died here while fighting against the
Persians for the freedom of Cyprus), and Saint Lazarus, the friend of Christ, who,
being persecuted, left Judea and came to Cyprus where he lived the rest of
his life as the first bishop of Kition. The coming of Saint Lazarus to Kition
is indicated by relative local traditions and, chiefly, by the ancient and
magnificent byzantine church which is built over his tomb. This church, is
the most important monument of our town and, at the same time, one of the
most important pilgrimages in Cyprus.
According to this tradition, Lazarus was very grieved because
he could no longer see the Mother of our
Lord his friend; for this reason he sent a ship to the Holy Land,
to bring Her as well as St. John the apostle and other disciples, to Cyprus.
But while the ship with our Lady and Her companions was sailing towards Kition,
a great storm in the sea curried them far away, in the Aegean Sea, on the
shores of Mt. Athos, in Greece. From there, our Lady, after converting the
idolaters into Christianity and seeking Her Son's blessings and protection
for all those who, in the future, were to "fight the good fight of faith"
(as monks and ascetics) on the mountain, She sailed back to Cyprus. Finally,
She arrived at Kition where She met Lazarus, to whom She brought, as a present,
a bishop's pallium, woven in Her own hands. Having blessed the local Church
of Kition, She returned to the Holy Land.
Lazarus (RM) 1st century. This is the character of Jesus's parable of the
poor man at the rich man's gate (Luke 16:19-31). In the Middle Ages his name
was perpetuated in such words as lazaretto (hospital), lazarone (a beggar
in the streets), and the military Order of Saint Lazarus, founded during
the crusades, one of whose objectives was the care of lepers (Benedictines,
Delaney) .
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216
St. Urciscenus Bishop of Pavia, Italy, from about 183 he led his see during
a turbulent period of persecution and growth
Papíæ
sancti Urciscéni, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At Pavia, St. Ursiscenus, bishop and confessor
The
seventh prelate of Pavia, Urciscenus of Pavia B (RM) Seventh bishop of Pavia,
c. 183 to 216 (Benedictines).
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290 Julian
of Tarsus The Holy Martyr son of a pagan senator, mother a martyred Christian;
remained steadfast in his firm faith under torture; relics were transferred
to Antioch
Orthodoxe Kirche: 21.
Juni
Born in the Asia Minor province of Cilicia. He was the son of
a pagan senator, but his mother was a Christian. After the death of her husband
the mother of St Julian moved to Tarsus, where her son was baptized and raised
in Christian piety. When Julian reached age 18, a persecution against Christians
began under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Among those arrested was St
Julian. They brought him before the governor Marcian for trial, and for a
long time they urged him to renounce Christ. Neither tortures nor threats,
nor promises of gifts and honors could convince the pious youth to offer
pagan sacrifice and deny Christ. The holy confessor remained steadfast in
his firm faith.
For a whole year they led the martyr through the cities of Cilicia,
everywhere subjecting him to interrogation and tortures, after which they
threw him in prison. St Julian's mother followed after her son and prayed
that the Lord would strengthen him. In the city of Aegea, she besought the
governor to permit her to visit the prison, ostensibly to persuade her son
to offer sacrifice to idols.
St Julian was again brought
to stand before the governor. Thinking that the mother had persuaded her
son to submit to the imperial decree, the governor began to praise her prudence.
Suddenly she boldly confessed Jesus Christ, and even more fearlessly and
boldly denounced polytheism. The governor then gave orders to cut off her
feet, since she had accompanied her son from Tarsus. They tied the Martyr
Julian into a sack, filled with sand and poisonous snakes, and threw it into
the sea. The body of the sufferer was carried by the waves to the shores
of Alexandria, and with reverence was buried by a certain pious Christian.
The martyr's death occurred in about the year 305. Afterwards his relics
were transferred to Antioch. St John Chrysostom honored the holy Martyr Julian
with an encomium.
Julian von Tarsus Orthodoxe
Kirche: 21. Juni
Julian, Sohn eines heidnischen Senators und seiner christlichen
Ehefrau wurde in Kilikien geboren. Nach dem Tod seines Vaters zog die Mutter
mit Julian nach Tarsus. Hier ließ sie ihren Sohn taufen und erzog ihn
im christlichen Glauben. Als Julian 18 Jahre alt war, setzte die Verflgung
unter Kaiser Dioketian ein. Auch Julian wurde gefangengenommen, blieb aber
standhaft. Über ein Jahr wurde Julian durch Kilikien geführt, verhört
und gefoltert. Schließlich wurde er im Jahr 305 ertränkt. Sein
Leichnam wurde in Alexandria angetrieben und von Christen bestattet. Die Reliquien
wurden später nach Antiochia überführt.
The Holy Martyr Julian of Tarsus (June 21) SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
Of a noble senatorial family, he lived in Tarsus
in Cilicia and suffered in the reign of Diocletian. Although only eighteen
years old when he was taken for trial for the Faith, St Julian was already
both educated and resolute in Christian faith and devotion. The imperial
governor took him from city to city for a whole year, torturing him all the
while and attempting to persuade him to renounce Christ. Julian's mother
followed her son at a distance. When the governor seized her and sent her
to urge her son to renounce Christ, she spent three days in the prison with
him, giving him precisely the opposite advice, teaching him and giving him
the strength not to lose heart but to go to his death with courage and gratitude
to God. His torturers then sewed Julian into a sack of sand with scorpions
and snakes and threw him into the sea, and his mother also died under torture.
The waves carried his body onto the shore, and the faithful took it to Alexandria,
where they buried it in 290. His relics were later taken to Antioch. St John
Chrysostom himself gave an eulogy for the holy martyr Julian: `A holy voice
comes forth from the lips of the martyr, and with this voice is poured out
a light brighter than the rays of the sun.' He said further: `Take whomsoever
you will, be he a madman or one possessed, and lead him to the grave of this
saint, to the martyr's relics, and you will see the demon immediately jump
out and flee as from blazing fire.' It is evident from this speech that many
wonders must have been wrought at St Julian's grave .
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350 Martin seventh
bishop of Tongres apostle of the Hesbaye district of Brabant B (RM)
Apud Tungrénses sancti Martíni Epíscopi.
At Tongres, St. Martin, bishop.
Saint Martin
is said to have been the seventh bishop of Tongres. He is venerated as the
apostle of the Hesbaye district of Brabant (Benedictines).
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363 St. Demetria sister
of St. Bibiana daughter of Sts. Flavian and Dafrosa
Item Romæ sanctæ Demétriæ Vírginis, quæ,
sanctórum Mártyrum Flaviáni et Dafrósæ
fília ac sanctæ Vírginis et Mártyris Bibiánæ
soror, ipsa quoque, sub Juliáno Apóstata, martyrio coronáta
est.
Also at Rome, St. Demetria, virgin, daughter of the holy
martyrs Flavian and Dafrosa, and the sister of St. Bibiana, virgin and martyr.
She was crowned with martyrdom under Julian the Apostate.
After the martyrdom of her parents, Demetria dropped
dead when she was arrested with St. Bibiana.
Demetria VM (RM) Saint Demetria is the sister of Saint Bibiana, who dropped
dead when they were arrested. According to legend, their father, the ex-prefect,
Flavian, was banished and killed. Thereafter, his wife, Saint Dafrosa, was
beheaded leaving their young daughters orphans, who were dispossessed, then
martyred (Benedictines, Delaney).
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379 Eusebius of Samosata
staunch defender of orthodoxy during arianism close friends with both Saint
Basil and Saint Gregory Nazianzen Eusebius returned to Samosata when Valens
died in 378 BM (RM)
Eódem die sancti Eusébii,
Samosaténi Epíscopi; qui, témpore Constántii,
Imperatóris Ariáni, sub hábitu militári incógnitus
Ecclésias Dei visitábat, ut in fide cathólica illas
confírmáret. Deínde, sub Valénte, in Thráciam
relegátur; sed, réddita pace Ecclésiæ, témpore
Theodósii, ab exsílio revocátus, tandem, cum íterum
Ecclésias visitáret, ei caput, tégula per mulíerem
Ariánam désuper immíssa, confráctum est, sicque
Martyr occúbuit.
The same day,
St. Eusebius, bishop of Samosata. In the time of the Arian emperor
Constantius, he disguised himself in military dress and visited the churches
of God to confirm them in the faith. He was banished into Thrace by
Valens, but when peace was restored to the Church in the reign of Theodosius,
he was recalled. When he again visited the churches, an Arian woman
threw a tile down upon him, which fractured his skull and made him a martyr.
Eusebius von Samosata Orthodoxe Kirche:
22. Juni Katholische Kirche: 21. Juni
ST EUSEBIUS, BISHOP
OF SAMOSATA (c. A.D. 379)
NOTHING is known of the origin and early history of St Eusebius. He first
comes before us in 361, when as bishop of Samosata he attended a synod convened
at Antioch to select a successor to Bishop Eudoxus. Partly through his efforts
the choice fell upon a former bishop of Sebaste, St Meletius, a man highly
esteemed for his piety and gentleness. A great proportion of the electors
were Arians, and they fondly believed that if they voted for St Meletius
he would-at least tacitly countenance their doctrines. They were promptly
undeceived. In the very first discourse which the new bishop of Antioch delivered
in the presence of the Emperor Constantius-himself an Arian-he propounded
the Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation as set forth in the Nicene Creed.
The infuriated Arians forthwith set about procuring his deposition, and Constantius
sent an official to demand from St Eusebius the synodal acts of the election
which had been entrusted to his keeping. He replied that he could not surrender
them without the authorization of all the signatories. Threatened with the
loss of his right hand if he persisted in his refusal, he held out the left
one also, saying that he would rather lose them both than be guilty of such
a breach of trust. The emperor admired his courage and did not insist.
For some time afterwards St Eusebius continued to take part in the councils
and conferences of the Arians and semi-Arians in order to uphold the truth
and in hope of promoting unity, but he ceased to do so after the Council
of Antioch in 363 because he realized that his action shocked some of the
orthodox and did no good. Nine years later, at the urgent request of the
elder Gregory of Nazianzus, he went to Cappadocia to exert his influence
on behalf of St Basil in the election to the vacant see of Caesarea. So outstanding
were his services on that occasion that the younger Gregory, in a letter
written about this time, describes him as "the pillar of truth, the light
of the world, the instrument of the favours of God towards His people and
the support and glory of all the orthodox." Between St Basil and St Eusebius
there sprang up a warm friendship that was subsequently maintained through
correspondence.
After the outbreak of persecution under Valens, St Eusebius, not satisfied
with defending his own flock from heresy, made several expeditions into Syria
and Palestine in disguise to strengthen the Catholics in the faith, to ordain
priests, and to assist orthodox bishops in filling vacant sees with worthy
pastors. His zeal aroused the animosity of the Arian party; and in 374 Valens
issued an order condemning him to banishment in Thrace. When the official
charged with enforcing this decree presented himself before Eusebius, the
bishop warned him not to make his errand public lest the people should rise
up and kill him: the holy man wished no man to lose his life on his behalf.
Accordingly, after saying the night office as usual, he quietly left his
house when all were at rest and with one servant made his way to the Euphrates
and there boarded a vessel. In the morning, when his departure became known,
search was made and he was overtaken by some of his flock, who implored him
not to abandon them. Though deeply moved he explained that he must needs
obey the emperor's orders, but he exhorted them to trust in God. They proved
staunchly loyal, and during his exile they refused to have any dealings whatever
with the two prelates the Arians thrust into his place.
When the death of Valens in 378 put an end to the persecution, St Eusebius
was restored to his seat and to his flock. His zeal had been in no degree
impaired by his sufferings. Through his efforts Catholic unity was restored
throughout his own diocese, and neighbouring sees were filled by orthodox
prelates. He was visiting Dolikha to instal a Catholic bishop there when
he was struck on the head by a tile thrown on him from a roof by an Arian
woman. The wound proved fatal, and he died several days later, after extracting
from his friends a promise that they would not seek out or punish his assailant.
The Bollandists in giving an account
of St Eusebius of Samosata do not print any formal biography, but are content
in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol.
v (under June 22), to reproduce certain chapters from the historian Theodoret.
There is, however, a Syriac life which has been printed by Bedjan, Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum, vol. vi,
pp. 343-349. See also DCB., vol. ii, pp. 369-372, and Bardenhewer, Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur,
vol. iv, p. 388.
Er hielt an den Beschlüssen des Konzils von Nicaea gegen die Arianer
fest und wurde deshalb von mehreren Kaisern verbannt. Eusebius zog während
seiner Verbannung verkleidet durch Syrien und Phönizien und stärkte
die Gemeinden in ihrem Widerstand gegen die Arianer. Als er 375 aus dem Exil
zurückkehren konnte, baute er mit Patriarch Meletius die orthodoxen
Gemeinden wieder auf. Bei dieser Arbeit wurde er 380 von einer Anhängerin
der Arianer mit einem Dachziegel erschlagen.
Bishop Eusebius of Samosata
(Sempsat), capital of Comagene, Syria, was a staunch defender of orthodoxy,
though most of the other bishops under the metropolitan of Hieropolis were
Arians. He was active at the synod of Antioch, in 361,
in helping to elect Meletius patriarch of Antioch.
Most of those voting were Arians and expected Meletius to favor
Arianism, but Eusebius was well assured of his zeal for the orthodox faith.
Although Eusebius was known to be an irreconcilable enemy to their heresy,
they entrusted to him the synodal act of the election.
When Meletius's vigorous preaching of the 20th canon of the Nicene
Council in his first sermon to his people made it obvious that he was orthodox,
Emperor Constantius, an Arian, demanded that Eusebius surrender to him the
election acts of the synod that were in his custody. When Eusebius refused
saying that it would require the consent of all parties, the emperor threatened
to cut off his right hand. Eusebius still refused. The saint stretched out
not only his right hand, but also his left, saying he might cut them both
off, but he would still not consent to such an unjust action. This so impressed
Constantius with his courage that he released him.
Eusebius spent the next two
years laboring to reconcile the orthodox (Catholics) and Arians, but was
unsuccessful. His participation in their councils, in order to ensure that
the truth was given voice, caused scandal, so he discontinued having any
relationship with them after the Council of Antioch in 363. He helped
elect Saint Basil bishop of Caesarea
in Cappadocia in 370. He became close friends with both Basil and Saint Gregory Nazianzen, who in a letter
written about that time styles Eusebius the pillar of truth, the light of
the world, the instrument of the favors of God on his people, and the support
and glory of all the orthodox.
Dressed as an officer, Eusebius traveled through Syria, Phoenicia,
and Palestine encouraging the Catholics to resist Valens and his persecution.
He wanted to strengthen his own flock and others against the poison of heresy.
He ordained priests where they were needed and helped to fill vacant sees
with worthy pastors. His zeal so steadied the orthodox that in 374 he was
exiled to Thrace by Valens. Ever solicitous for his flock, when the imperial
messenger arrived in the evening with the order of banishment, Eusebius begged
him to keep it a secret, saying, "If the people should be apprised, such
is their zeal for the faith, that they would rise in arms against you, and
your death might be laid to my charge." Therefore he celebrated the night
office as usual and when everyone else had gone to bed, he walked to the
Euphrates with one trusty servant and boarded the vessel to Zeugma.
The next morning, when the people discovered what had transpired,
they began to search for him by boat. He was overtaken at Zeugma, where they
begged him not to leave them to the ravening wolves. He exhorted them to
confidence in God and said that he had to obey. They offered him money, clothes,
and provisions for his exile, but he accepted very little and continued on
to Thrace.
The Arians intruded Eunomius, a man of moderation, into his see,
yet the people universally shunned him. Disgusted at his situation, Eunomius
withdrew and left the people to themselves. The Arians then put in his place
Lucius, a violent man, who banished the deacon Evoltius to the desert beyond
Egypt, the priest Antiochus into a remote corner of Armenia, and others to
other places. Yet the people ostracized him the same way they had his predecessor.
For instance, it is mentioned that one day as he passed through a public
square some children playing hit their ball against his mule's hoof. They
treated the ball as if it were defiled--they threw it into the fire.
Eusebius returned to Samosata when Valens died in 378. Thereafter,
he traveled throughout the country to seek candidates for election as Catholic
bishops for the sees that were destitute: Beraea, Hierapolis, and Cyrus.
At Dolikha, a small episcopal city in Comagene, forty-one miles from Samosata,
Maris was to be ordained bishop. Because all the inhabitants of the town
were obstinate Arians, Saint Eusebius escorted his to take possession of
his church. He died there a few days after being struck on the head by a
tile thrown from a rooftop by an Arian woman. In his last moments, in imitation
of his divine Master, he bound his friends by oath never to prosecute his
murderer or her accomplices (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
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400 St. AIban of Mainz Martyr and preacher, traditionally known as a Greek
or Albanian priest companion of St. Ursus St. Ambrose sent them into France
and Germany to convert the pagan tribes where they were martyred
Mogúntiæ sancti Albáni Mártyris, qui ob Christi
fidem, post longos labóres et dura certámina, factus est dignus
coróna vitæ.
At Mainz, St. Alban, martyr, who was made worthy of the
crown of life, after long labors and severe combats.
5th v. ST ALBAN, OR ALBINUS, OF MAINZ, MARTYR
IT is no easy matter to disentangle the legendary and, in many
details, conflicting accounts of this St Alban that have come down to us.
He is said to have been a Greek, or Albanian, priest, who travelled with
St Ursus from the island of Naxos to Milan, in the days when St Ambrose was
in the throes of his struggle with the Arians. (There seems to be no basis
for a tradition which represents Ursus and Alban as the companions of SS.
Theomnestus, Thabra and Thabrata, local martyrs of Altino, near Venice.)
The great archbishop received the two strangers with his usual courtesy,
and after satisfying himself of their orthodoxy encouraged them to proceed
as champions of the faith to the Christian lands beyond the Alps-to Gaul
or to Germany. They accordingly set forth, but St Ursus was killed in the
Val d' Aosta. Alban then made his way to Mainz. He took up his residence
there, and ably seconded Bishop St Aureus in his fight against heresy. Eventually
he was attacked and beheaded in the village of Hunum, either by some of his
Arian opponents, or more probably by the Vandals in one of their raids. The
date of his death cannot be determined, but it was certainly before the year
451, when Mainz was destroyed by the barbarians. Catholics regarded him as
a martyr for the faith, and churches were soon put under his dedication.
We are told that a ninth-century metrical inscription round an ancient painting
of the saint at Mainz stated that he had come "from distant shores" to Mainz
in the reign of the Emperor Honorius, during the episcopate of St Aureus,
that he had battled courageously against heretics, and that he had been beheaded
by them. The inscription went on to say that, after his execution, he had
miraculously carried his head in both hands to his resting-place. With regard
to this last assertion, it may be pointed out that decapitated martyrs are
sometimes conventionally represented in art as holding their heads in their
hands. The inscription is interesting, as reflecting the tradition current
in Mainz some four hundred years after the saint's death. When Mainz was
rebuilt in the latter part of the fifth century the relics of St Alban were
removed from outside the old city walls to a hill which had previously borne
the names of Mons Martis and Mons Martyrum, but which was afterwards called
Albansberg. There a Benedictine abbey was erected towards the end of the
eighth century which became very famous.
Whether we can suppose there to be any historical foundation for this improbable
story must remain very doubtful. In the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. v, will be
found the passio compiled by Gozwin
in the eleventh century, and another passio,
in which Theomnestus figures most prominently, will be found in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. xiii. See
also the Mainzer Zeitschrift, 1908,
pp. 69 seq., and 1909, pp. 34 seq.; and T. D. Hardy, Materials for British History (Rolls
Series), vol. i, pp. 31-32.
Also called Albinus in some lists. He is
traditionally known as a Greek or Albanian priest who went with St. Ursus
to the city of Milan in Italy. They had left the island of Naxos in Greece
to escape the Arians in control of the Church in that area. St. Ambrose welcomed
Alban and Ursus, sending them into France and Germany to convert the pagan
tribes there. Ursus was killed on the way, but Alban settled in Mainz. There
he became famous as a preacher, attacking the false doctrines of the Arians.
He is believed to have been slain by the Vandals, who attacked the region.
Alban was beheaded at Hanum after being slain.
Alban (Albinus) of Mainz M (RM) When the Greek priest Saint
Alban was banished from Naxos by the Arians, he preached the Gospel in Germany.
Again he attacked by the Arians and was martyred at Mainz, Germany. The Benedictine
abbey at Mainz preserves his name and his memory (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
In art, Saint Alban carries his severed head to the spot where he wished
to be buried. At times he may be shown with a sword. He was a priest but
is sometimes shown as a bishop (Roeder). Saint Alban is invoked against epilepsy,
gallstones, headache (because he lost his head), kidney troubles, sore throat,
and stiff neck (Roeder) .
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5th v. Saints Julius
the presbyter and Julian the Deacon, brothers by birth, natives of Myrmidonia
holy brothers received permission for building churches; preaching to remote
sections East and West within the Roman Empire, where pagan temples still
existed and where offering of sacrifice to idols was still made converted
pagans to Christianity, by word & numerous miracles.
For his virtuous life St Julius was ordained to the priesthood,
and his brother as a deacon. Inspired with zeal for the spreading of the Christian
Faith, the holy brothers received permission for the building of churches
and set off preaching to remote sections East and West within the Roman Empire,
where pagan temples still existed and where offering of sacrifice to idols
was still made. Visiting several lands, they converted many pagans to Christianity,
persuading them not only by word, but also by numerous miracles. At Constantinople
they turned to the pious emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450) requesting
permission to build churches upon the sites of pagan temples.
Having received the blessing of the patriarch and the permission
of the emperor, the holy brothers built many churches. The people considered
it their duty to assist them in this matter. Once, some people went past
a church under construction. Fearing that they would be talked into taking
part in this work, they engaged in a deception, in order to get away. One
of them feigned being dead, and when St Julius invited them to take part
in the work, they excused themselves, saying that they had to bury a dead
person. The saint asked, "You're not lying, are you?" The passers-by persisted
in their ruse. Then St Julian said to them, "Let it be according to your
words." Having continued on farther, they discovered that the one pretending
to be dead really was dead. After this, no one else dared to lie to the holy
brothers
Foreseeing his own impending end, St Julius set off in search
of a place to build his one hundredth church, which he believed would be
his last. Reaching Lake Mukoros, he saw a beautiful island. Because of the
huge quantity of snakes on it, no one was able to settle there. St Julius
decided to build a church upon this island. Having prayed, he sailed off
to the island on his mantle as though on a boat, and set up a cross on it.
In the Name of God, the holy ascetic ordered all the snakes to gather together
and leave the island. All the venomous vipers slithered into the lake and
re-established themselves upon Mount Kamunkin.
On the island St Julius built a church in honor of the holy Twelve
Apostles. At this time his brother, St Julian, finished construction on a
church near the city of Gaudiana and decided to build a crypt for his brother
Julius by the church. St Julius paid his brother a visit and advised him
to hurry with the construction of the crypt, prophetically foretelling that
he would lie in it. Indeed, St Julian the Deacon soon died and was buried
in the crypt built by him. St Julius the Presbyter reverently buried his
brother and returned to the island, where he soon died and was buried in
the church of the Twelve Apostles he had built. From his grave many of the
sick received healing. The blessed end of the holy brothers occurred after
the first half of the fifth century.
Our Holy Fathers
Julius and Julian June 21 SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
Greek-born brothers, they were brought up from
their youth in the Christian faith, and vowed to live in perpetual virginity
and the service of the Church. Julius was a priest and Julian a deacon. They
received an imperial decree from the Emperor Theodosius the Younger to destroy
the idols throughout the whole Empire and build Christian churches. Like
two apostles, these two brothers turned pagans into Christians in the East
and the West, and built a hundred churches during their lifetime. They entered
peacefully into the Lord's rest near Milan, the inhabitants of which city
invoke St Julius's help against wolves.
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Cyriacus and Apollinaris African martyrs who
are registered in the early martyrologies (Benedictines) MM (RM)
In Africa sanctórum Mártyrum Cyríaci
et Apollináris. In Africa, the holy martyrs Cyriacus
and Apollinaris.
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6th
century
St. Corbmac abbot and
disciple of St. Columba, who made him the superior of Durrow Monastery. (AC)
Corbmac of Durrow, Abbot Saint Corbmac was a disciple of Saint Columba, who appointed him abbot
of the monastery he founded at Durrow (Benedictines).
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617 Méen of Brittany, Abbot founded monasterys
cultus of Saint Méen spread throughout France and there were numerous
pilgrimages to his shrine at the monastery (AC)
(also known as Maine, Mevenus, Mewan)
6th v. ST MEEN, OR MEWAN, ABBOT
THE holy abbot known as Méen, Main and Mewan (Mevennus) was. formerly
famous throughout France as the healer of the various skin diseases so prevalent
in the middle ages and indeed until comparatively recent times. One particular
form of cutaneous trouble was popularly known as St Méen's Evil. The
cures were generally attributed to the water of wells and springs dedicated
in honour of the saint, but more especially to the fountain which he is said
to have caused to flow in the vicinity of his monastery at Gael in Brittany.
Numberless pilgrims-sometimes as many as 5000 in one year-have come from
all parts of France to venerate the relics of the saint and to resort to
his fountain. In Upper Brittany one variety of scabious is commonly called
l'herbe de St Main to this day. The reputed history of St Mewan is largely
a late compilation of legend and tradition from which, however, a conjectural
outline of his life can be formed with the help of place-names. He was born
in Gwent in South Wales and was related to St Samson, whose monastery he
entered and whom he accompanied, or followed, in the first instance perhaps
to Cornwall, afterwards to Brittany. There he established at Gael a monastery
on land given him in that forest of Brocéliande which figures so largely
in the Arthurian romances, and it became a great mission centre. Another foundation
afterwards developed into the great abbey of Saint-Méen.
Amongst his friends and disciples was his godson, St Austol, who was tenderly
attached to him and whom he consoled when he was dying with the assurance
that they would only be separated for a week. The relics of the saint, or
part of them, are still venerated at Saint-Méen. A great number of
places in Brittany, and some in Normandy, bear his name; a few are to be
found in other parts of France. In Cornwall, St Mewan and St Austell are
the eponyms of two large adjoining parishes, and possibly his memory is perpetuated
in the name of the village of Mevagissey.
There is an account of St Mevennus
in the Acta Sanctorum, vol. v, based
mainly upon the French of Albert Le Grand; and the Latin text of a late medieval
biography is printed in the Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. iii (1884), pp. 141-158. See also F. Duine, Mémento des Sources etc (1918),
pp. 98-99; and Canon Doble, St Mewan and
St Austol.
Traditionally the Cornish Saint Méen, accompanied by his reputed
godson Saint Austell, followed Saint Samson from Wales to Brittany. As they
passed through Cornwall they founded adjoining parishes called Saint Mewan
and Saint Austell. In Brittany he evangelized the Broceliande district which
figures in the Arthurian romances and where he founded one monastery. Then
he founded another near Paimpont, which was later called Saint-Méen
or Saint-Méon. His extant vita was written there 500 years after his
death. The cultus of Saint Méen spread throughout France and there
were numerous pilgrimages to his shrine at the monastery. In England he is
the patron of Saint Mewan and perhaps Mevagissey in Cornwall. Some of his
relics are claimed by Glastonbury. His feast is kept in Cornwall and Exeter
(Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer).
|
738 St. Leutfridus Benedictine
abbot-founder studied at Condat and studied at the monastery school of Saint
Taurinus at Evreux, then at Chartres became a hermit
In pago Ebroicénsi sancti Leutfrídi
Abbátis. In the parts of Evreux, St. Leutfrid, abbot.
738 ST LEUTFRIDUS,
OR LEUFROY, ABBOT greatly did he value
poverty;
IN the period preceding the conquest of Normandy by the Northmen,
the diocese of Evreux, so it was believed, produced quite a little galaxy
of saints of whom not the least eminent was St Leutfridus. For the main outlines
of his career we have to rely upon a biography compiled by a monk of his
community from manuscripts and tradition a considerable time after his death.
He came of a Christian family and was born not far from Evreux. His studies
were made with the sacristan of St Taurinus's church at Evreux, then at Condat,
and finally at Chartres, where he distinguished himself so much as to excite
the envy of his fellow pupils. Upon his return home he devoted himself especially
to the instruction of boys, but soon decided to abandon the world in order
to embark on a life of self-abnegation. Slipping away secretly one night
and changing his clothes with a beggar, he made his way to the monastery
of Cailly, where for a while he lived under the direction of a hermit. He
then moved on to Rouen to submit himself to the guidance of the Irishman,
St Sidonius (Saens), from whom he received the religious habit. St Ansbert,
archbishop of Rouen, conceived a great regard for him.
After a time Leutfridus went back to his own land. He settled at a place
two miles from Evreux, upon the river Eure, where the predecessor of St Ansbert,
St Ouen, had set up a cross in consequence of a heavenly vision. Here, about
the year 690, St Leutfridus built a monastery and a church which he dedicated
in honour of the Holy Cross. The monastery, which was called at first La
Croix-S.-Ouen, was afterwards renamed La Croix-S.-Leufroy. Many disciples
gathered round the founder, who ruled as abbot for about forty-eight years.
So greatly did he value poverty that, as in the story recounted by St Gregory
the Great, he once refused Christian burial to a monk who had died with money
in his possession. St Leutfridus died in 738.
The life of St Leutfridus, printed
in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol.
v, was not written until a century or more after the death of the saint and
deserves little confidence. A critical text has been edited by W. Levison
in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol.
vii, pp. 1-18. A modern account was published by J. B. Mesnel in 1918 upon
which see the Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. xli (1923), pp. 445-446.
Sometimes called Leutfrid, Leufroi,
or Leufroy. Born near Evreux, France,
he studied at Condat and Chartres, and then became a teacher of young boys
at Evreux. Eventually he became a hermit at Cailly and at Rouen, under St.
Sidonius. About 690, he founded La Croix-Saint-Qu’en Abbey, later called
Saint-Leufroy.
Leutfridus, Abbot (RM) (also known as Leufroi, Leufried, Leufred(us),
Leutfrid, Leufroy) Born near Evreux; Saint Leutfrid studied at the
monastery school of Saint Taurinus at Evreux, then at Chartres. Having completed
his own studies, he decided his life's vocation was teaching other children.
Later he changed his mind and became a hermit.
Upon hearing of the great sanctity of Abbot Saint Sidonius (Saëns),
he went to him at Rouen and received the monastic habit at his hands.
On advice of Archbishop Saint Ansbert of Rouen, he returned to
the area of Evreux near the Eure, and built a monastery on the site where
Saint Ouen had previously erected a cross and chapel. He named the abbey La-Croix-Saint-Ouen
(Cross of Saint Owen), which is now called the Cross of Saint Leufroy. There
he engaged in strenuous penitential exercises: fasting, keeping nightly vigils,
and prayer. He governed his monastery nearly fifty years. He died happily
after receiving the holy viaticum and was succeeded in the abbacy by his
brother Saint Agofredus. His anonymous life was written in the ninth century
and has little authority.
During the Norman incursions in the ninth century, the monks of
Holy Cross fled for refuge to the abbey of Saint Germain-des-Prés
at Paris, carrying with them the relics of Saint Ouen, Saint Turiave, Saint
Leufrid, and Saint Agofroi. When it was safe to return to Evreux, they left
relics of Saint Leufrid and Saint Turiave, which still remain in that great
abbey (Benedictines, Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Leutfrid is generally portrayed as an abbot surrounded
by or instructing children (Benedictines, Roeder). He may also be shown (1)
dissipating a cloud of flies or (2) striking water from the ground with a
peasant near him (Roeder). He is venerated in Evreux and invoked on behalf
of sick children (Roeder) .
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738 St. Agofredus
Holy Cross Benedictine monk, brother of St. Leutfrid known throughout Normandy,
France, for his holiness
Also known as Geoffrey. Agofredus was known throughout Normandy, France,
for his holiness.
Agofredus of Saint-Leufroy, OSB Abbot (AC) Died after 738. In 738, Saint
Agofredus succeeded his brother, Saint Leufrid, as abbot of the Benedictine
Holy Cross (La-Croix-Saint-Leuffroi) in the diocese of Evreux, Normandy (Benedictines).
|
St. Maine Founder of Saint-Meon in Brittany,
France; a disciple of St. Samson Maine
Also is listed as Meen, Mevenus, Mavenus, or Mewan, was either Welsh or
Cornish. |
739 Engelmund of Velsen
educated in England and became a Benedictine monk at an early age, then priest,
and abbot. He migrated to Friesland, where he was a successful evangelist
with Saint Willibrord, at Velsen near Haarlem; OSB (AC)
ST ENGELMUND (c. A.D. 720)
PERHAPS the most successful of all the missionaries who came to the Netherlands
in the days of St Willibrord to assist him in his evangelistic work was St
Engelmund. An Englishman by birth and education, he had received the monastic
habit at a very early age, had been raised to the priesthood, and had acquired
a great reputation for sanctity and learning. He was ruling his community
as abbot when he was moved to offer himself for missionary work in North
Holland or in Friesland, from whence his family had originally migrated to
England. His offer was accepted, and for the remainder of his life he laboured
there, making his headquarters at Velsen, north of the present city of Haarlem.
Helped, it may be, by familiarity with their speech and customs, he converted
and civilized a considerable proportion of the inhabitants, who honoured
him as a saint and a wonder-worker. He was eventually stricken down by fever
and died a holy death, after giving his blessing to his people. He was buried
at Velsen, but at a later date Balderic, bishop of Utrecht, caused his remains
to be translated to his cathedral, where they remained until they were desecrated
by the Gueux. Pious hands rescued what they could from the pavement upon
which they lay scattered, and they are now preserved at Haarlem.
There is a short notice in the
Acta Sanctorum, June, vol.
v, but information is very scanty and is mainly derived from a set of breviary
lessons formerly used in the diocese of Haarlem.
Born in England; Engelmund was educated in England and became
a Benedictine monk at an early age, then priest, and abbot. He migrated to
Friesland, where he was a successful evangelist with Saint Willibrord, at
Velsen near Haarlem (Benedictines). In art, Saint Engelmund is depicted as
a pilgrim abbot with a fountain springing under his staff (Roeder). He is
venerated in Friesland and invoked against toothache (Roeder).
|
744 Archil II, King
of Georgia The Holy Martyr belonged to the dynasty of the Chosroidoi, a direct
descendant of the holy emperor St Mirian (+ 342).
During the reign of Archil II, Georgia was subjected to a devastating invasion
by Murvana-Kru ("the Wild"), so called by the Georgian people for his inexorable
cruelty. The position of the Georgian people was desperate, and the emperor
Archil II, together with his brother Myro, the ruler of Western Georgia,
tearfully implored the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, and She showed
forth Her mercy.
At a battle by the Rivers Abasha and Tskhenis-Tskhali the Georgian
forces miraculously gained the victory over the significantly superior forces
of Murvana-Kru.
After this victory the emperor Archil II was occupied with the
restoration of the Georgian kingdom. He rebuilt the city of Nukhpatis, rebuilt
ruined churches in Mtskheta and furthered the acceptance of Christianity
by many of the mountain tribes. Soon Georgia suffered a new Arab invasion
with the sudden appearance of Dzhidzhum-Asim (Jijum-Asim). Having paid a
tribute to the Arabs, the emperor did not expect this invasion. In order
to deliver the land from new devastation and avert the intrusion of Islam
upon it, he deemed it beneficial to go himself to Dzhizhum-Asim, and subject
formerly independent Georgia to the Arabs, and ask for peace. Placing all
his hope on the mercy of God and ready to offer up his soul for his holy
Faith and for his nation, St Archil went to the camp of the Arabs. Dzhidzhum-Asim
received him hospitably and promised his suzerainty, but insisted on acceptance
of Mohammedanism.
As the "Georgian Chronicle" relates, the holy emperor Archil calmly said,
"It will not be, that I should forsake Christ, the True God, Who for our
salvation took upon Himself human flesh. I know, if I obey you, then I shall
die a spiritual death and shall suffer eternally. If for my firmness you
put me to death, I shall then rise as did my Lord, and I shall go to Him".
Hearing these words, Dzhidzhum-Asim gave orders to seize the confessor and
take him off to prison. But neither tortures nor promises could make the
eighty-year-old emperor Archil apostasize.
On March 20, 744 the holy emperor Archil was beheaded. The body of the martyr
was secretly taken by Georgian Christians to the locale Ertso and buried
in Kakhetia, in the Notkor church built by the holy emperor himself.
The Holy Martyr Archil II, King of Georgia (June 21) SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
He was the son of King Stephen and grandson of the great
Georgian King Wachtang. An outstanding Christian and defender of Christi-anity,
King Archil was tortured by the Moslems and beheaded for Christ on March
20th, 744. He was eighty years old when he suffered for the Lord and entered
into eternal blessedness .
|
Blessed Dominic of Comacchio Benedictine monk of Comacchio (near
Venice) went to the Holy Land in 820 and retrieved relics of Saint Mark from
Alexandria and brought them to Venice where they reside in the duomo;
OSB (AC)
Blessed Dominic was a Benedictine monk of Comacchio (near Venice). According
to the legend, he went to the Holy Land in 820 and retrieved the relics of
Saint Mark from Alexandria and brought them to Venice where they reside in
the duomo (Benedictines).
|
11th v. Saint Anastasia
was the mother of St Sava of Serbia (January 12) daughter of Byzantine Emperor
Romanus finished her life as a nun
Received the name Anna when she was baptized. Later, she married the Serbian
king Stephen Nemanya (September 24). She finished her life as a nun,
receiving the name Anastasia.
|
866 St. Ralph Benedictine
bishop known for his learning entrusted into the care of the monks of Solignac,
France. Educated under Abbot Bertrand
ST RALPH, OR RAOUL, ARCHBISHOP OF BOURGES (A.D. 866)
ST RALPH, whose name appears also as Rodulphus, Radulf and Raoul, was the
son of Count Raoul of Cahors, and in his boyhood was entrusted to the care
of Bertrand, abbot of Solignac, from whom he seems to have derived a great
love for the monastic order, although it is doubtful if he himself ever received
the habit. Whether as a religious or not, he certainly held several abbacies,
probably including that of Saint-Médard, Soissons, upon which his
parents had bestowed donations and privileges. In 840 he was raised to the
see of Bourges, and from that time he took a prominent part in ecclesiastical
affairs within his diocese and outside. He was regarded as one of the most
learned ecclesiastics of his day, and his presence was in great demand at
synods. At one of these, that of Meaux in 845, steps were taken to safeguard
the incomes of hospices, notably the Scottish (i.e. Irish) ones, those who
interfered with them being stigmatized as "murderers of the poor".
All his own means St Ralph expended in making religious foundations for men
and women. Chief amongst them were the abbeys of Dèvres in Berri,
of Beaulieu-sur-Memoire and Végennes in the Limousin, and of Sarrazac
in Quercy. He died on June 21, 866, and was buried in the church of St Ursinus
at Bourges.
Not the least of his services to the Church was a book of Pastoral Instruction
which he compiled for his clergy, basing it mainly on the capitularies of
Theodulf, bishop of Orleans. His main object was to revive the spirit of
the ancient canons and to correct abuses. Precise directions with regard
to the tribunal of penance were essential to remedy the errors caused by
ignorance and by unauthorized penitentials wrongly attributed to famous saints
and teachers. Very wisely, before making these instructions public, St Ralph
submitted them to his clergy for their consideration. The book after a time
was forgotten and was not rediscovered till the beginning of the seventeenth
century. It shows the compiler to have been well versed in the writings of
the fathers and in the decrees of the councils.
There seems to have been no formal
life of St Ralph written in medieval times. In the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. v, an account
has been compiled from various fragmentary sources, including some breviary
lessons. See also Histoire littéraire
de la France, vol. v, pp. 321-324; Chavanet, St Rodolfe, archevêque de Bourges (1905), and
especially A. Gandilhon, Catalogue des
actes des archevêques de Bourges (1927), pp. 7-13; and Duchesne,
Fastes Épiscopaux,
vol. ii, pp. 20 and 122. On the number and importance of the settlements
of the Scottish referred to above, see Berlière in Revue Benedictine, vol. xix (1902), pp
68-70.
Also called Raoul and Radulf, he was the son of Count Raoul of Cahors and,
as was the custom of the times, was entrusted into the care of the monks
of Solignac, France. Educated under Abbot Bertrand, he may have became a
monk, although he certainly rendered invaluable assistance to several abbots
before receiving election as abbot himself in several houses, including St.
Medard, Soissons. Named bishop of Bourges in 840, he took part in various
synods and founded monasteries and convents. Ralph was also known for his
learning and the deep concern he felt for the monks in his care. Attended
Synod of Meaux in 845.
Ralph of Bourges, OSB B (AC) (also known as Radulf, Raoul, Rudolph) Died
June 21, 866. Saint Ralph was the son of Count Raoul of Cahors. He was educated
under Abbot Bertrand of Solignac, and, according to several Benedictine historians,
became a monk there, though others claim that he was never a monk. Later
he served as abbot of several abbeys, including Saint Médard in Soissons,
and in 840 was named bishop of Bourges. He attended numerous synods, among
them the Synod of Meaux in 845, founded several monasteries and convents,
was known for his learning, and compiled a summary of pastoral instructions
for his clergy (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
|
990 Blessed Wolfrid
founded Hohenwiel Abbey c. 973 and became its first abbot; OSB Abbot (AC)
Wolfrid founded Hohenwiel Abbey c. 973 and became its first abbot (Benedictines).
|
1126
St. Raymond of Barbastro Augustinian appointed second bishop of Barbastro,
Aragon, Spain
Born at Durban, France, he entered
the Augustinians and in 1104 was appointed bishop of Barbastro, Aragon, Spain.
He is venerated as the patron saint of Barbastro.
Raymund of Barbastro, OSA B (AC) Born at Durban, near Coserans, France; died
1126. Saint Raymund became an Augustinian canon regular at Pamiers. In 1104,
he was appointed second bishop of Barbastro, Aragon, which had been recently
recaptured. He is the principal patron of the city and diocese of Barbastro
(Benedictines).
|
1591 Aloysius
(Luigi, Louis) Gonzaga Benedict XIII declared him patron of young students
and Pius XI proclaimed him patron of Christian youth. SJ (RM)
Romæ sancti Aloísii
Gonzágæ, Clérici e Societáte Jesu et Confessóris,
principátus contémptu et innocéntia vitæ claríssimi,
quem, a Summo Pontífice Benedícto Décimo tértio
adscríptum Sanctórum fastis et Protectórem juvénibus
præsértim studiósis datum, Pius Papa Undécimus
cæléstem Christiánæ juventútis univérsæ
Patrónum confirmávit solémniter atque íterum
declarávit.
At Rome, St.
Aloysius Gonzaga, cleric of the Society of Jesus and confessor, most renowned
for his contempt of the princely dignity and the innocence of his life.
Pope Benedict XIII placed him on the canon of the saints as special protector
of young students; Pope Pius XI confirmed this and again solemnly declared
him to be the heavenly patron of all Christian youth.
ST ALOYSIUS (A.D.
1591)
THE patron of Catholic youth, St Aloysius, or Luigi Gonzaga, was
born on March 9, 1568, in the castle of Castiglione delle Stivieri in Lombardy.
He was the eldest son of Ferrante, Marquis of Castiglione, and of Marta Tana
Santena, lady of honour to the wife of Philip II of Spain, in whose court
the marquis also held a high position. His father's one ambition was that
his first-born son should become a great soldier. Accordingly, when he was
only four, the child was provided with a set of miniature guns and mortars,
and a year later he was taken by Don Ferrante to Casalmaggiore, where some
three thousand soldiers were being trained for a Spanish expedition against
Tunis. During a stay extending over several months Aloysius delighted to
take part in parades, walking at the head of a platoon with a pike over his
shoulder: once he contrived, unnoticed and unassisted, to load a field piece
which he fired off while the camp was at rest-to the general consternation.
Through being left constantly in the company of soldiers, he learnt some
of their coarse expletives and innocently repeated them on his return home.
But when his tutor reproved him, pointing out that such language was not
only vulgar, but definitely blasphemous, Aloysius was overcome with shame
and sorrow. Indeed, he never ceased to lament what he regarded as a great
sin.
He was about seven when he experienced what may perhaps best be described
as a spiritual quickening or sudden development of his religious faculties.
He had said his morning and evening prayers from babyhood; now he began every
day to recite the Office of our Lady, the seven penitential psalms, and other
devotions, which he said on his knees without a cushion. So complete was
his self-surrender to God in his childhood, and so permanent did it prove,
that, in the opinion of his director, St Robert Bellarmine, and three of
his other confessors, he never in his life committed a mortal sin. In 1577
his father took him and his brother, Ridolfo, to Florence, and left them
there under the charge of tutors to improve their Latin and to learn to speak
the pure Italian of Tuscany. Whatever may have been his progress in those
secular subjects, Aloysius made such rapid strides in the science of the
saints that he used to call Florence the mother of piety. Obliged by etiquette
to appear frequently at the grand-ducal court, he found himself immersed
in what has been aptly described as "a society of fraud, dagger, poison and
lust of the most hideous kind". The only result, as far as he was concerned,
was to arouse in him an intense zeal for the virtue of chastity. To safeguard
himself and others from possible temptation he subjected himself to a discipline
moulded, perhaps, upon that of the fathers in the desert: it was scarcely
one likely to occur spontaneously to a boy of nine. We are told, for instance,
that he would keep his eyes persistently downcast in the presence of women,
and that neither his valet nor anyone else was allowed to see so much as
his foot uncovered.
The boys had been living in Florence a little more than two years when their
father removed them and placed them at the court of the Duke of Mantua, who
had lately made him governor of Montserrat. This was in November 1579, when
Aloysius was eleven and eight months. Even then he had it in his mind to
resign to his brother his right of succession to the marquisate of Castiglione,
although he had already received investiture from the emperor. A painful
attack of kidney disease furnished him with an adequate excuse for appearing
little in public, and he spent most of his time in prayer and in reading
the collection of the Lives of the Saints made by Surius. The malady left
him with his digestion so seriously impaired that he ever afterwards had
difficulty in assimilating ordinary food. Another book he read about this
time, describing the experiences of the Jesuit missionaries in India, seems
to have suggested the idea of entering the Society of Jesus in order to labour
for the conversion of the heathen. As a first step to a future missionary
career he set about instructing the poor boys of Castiglione in the catechism,
during the Summer holidays. At Casale-Monferrato, where the winter was spent,
he haunted the churches of the Capuchins and the Barnabites: he also began
to practise the austerities of a monk, fasting three days a week on bread
and water, scourging himself with his dog-whip and rising at midnight to
pray on the stone floor of a room in which he would suffer no fire to be
lighted however bitter the weather.
In 1581 Don Ferrante was summoned to attend the Empress Mary of Austria on
her journey from Bohemia to Spain. His family accompanied him, and on their
arrival in Spain, Aloysius and Ridolfo were appointed pages to Don Diego,
Prince of the Asturias. Although, as in duty bound, Aloysius waited on the
young infante and shared his studies,
yet he never omitted or curtailed his devotions. He had prescribed for himself
a daily task of an hour's meditation without distraction, and this frequently
entailed several hours of attempted concentration. His abnormal gravity and
circumspection led the other courtiers sometimes to say that the young Marquis
of Castiglione appeared not to be made of flesh and blood like other people.
He was now quite resolved to become a Jesuit. His mother, whom he first approached,
approved, but when she communicated their son's decision to his father, Don
Ferrante was furious. In his passion he threatened to have Aloysius flogged.
Disappointment was mingled with a suspicion that he was being made the victim
of a scheme to induce him to give up gambling, at which he had recently been
losing large sums of money. However, through the mediation of friends, he
so far relented as to give a grudging and provisional consent. The death
of the infante released the young
Gonzagas from their court duties, and after a two-years' stay in Spain they
returned to Italy in July, 1584.
Upon their arrival at Castiglione the contest broke out again,
and Aloysius found his vocation opposed not only by his father but by most
of his relations, including the Duke of Mantua. Eminent churchmen and laymen
were sent to argue with him, and promises and threats employed by turns as
dissuasives. Don Ferrante insisted on sending him to visit all the rulers
of northern Italy, and then engaged him in a number of secular commissions
in the hope of awakening some new interest, or at least of putting off the
evil hour. But nothing could move Aloysius. After giving his consent and
retracting it several times, Don Ferrante finally capitulated when the imperial
commission arrived transferring the succession to Ridolfo. Shortly afterwards
Aloysius set out for Rome, and, on November 25, 1585, he entered the Jesuit
novitiate house of Sant' Andrea. He was then in his eighteenth year. As he
took possession of his little cell he exclaimed exultingly, "This is my rest
for ever and ever: here will I dwell, for I have chosen it " (Ps. cxxxi 14).
Six weeks later Don Ferrante died: from the moment his son had left him to
enter the Society of Jesus the marquis had completely reformed his mode of
life.
There is little to be said about St Aloysius during the next two years
except that he proved in all respects an ideal novice. Being under regular
discipline he was obliged to take recreation, to eat more, and to distract
his mind. Moreover, because of his weak health, he was forbidden to pray
or meditate except at stated times: he obeyed, but it cost him the greatest
struggle of his life to resist the impulse which urged him to keep his mind
always fixed upon heavenly things. He realized that an aristocrat by birth
tends to be, a stranger to humility, and he would beg to be allowed to serve
in the kitchen, to wash dishes and to perform the most menial duties. He
was at Milan when one day, during his morning prayers, he had a revelation
that he had not long to live. This filled him with joy and weaned his heart
still more from the things of the world. Out of consideration for his precarious
health he was recalled from Milan to Rome to complete his theological course
in the City. Aloysius by some artifice seems to have secured for himself
a small dark room over a staircase, with a window in the roof; the only furniture
it contained was a bed, a chair and a stool for his books. Often now in the
schools and in the cloister he appeared to be absorbed in contemplation;
sometimes, too, at table or during recreation he would fall into an ecstasy.
The attributes of God were the young saint's favourite subject for meditation,
and, as he dwelt upon them, he seemed unable to restrain the joy which thrilled
him.
In 1591 an epidemic of plague caused great ravages in Rome.
The Jesuits opened a hospital of their own, in which the father general himself
and many members of the order rendered personal service. Aloysius, at his
own entreaty, was one of the number. He instructed and exhorted the patients,
washed them, made their beds, and performed with zeal the lowliest offices
of the hospital. Several of the fathers fell victims to the disease and Aloysius
caught it. He believed that he was dying, and, with a joy which he afterwards
feared might have been impatience, he received viaticum and was anointed.
Contrary to all expectation he recovered from the plague, but only to fall
into a low fever which in three months reduced him to great weakness. As
long as he possibly could, he would rise from his bed at night to worship
before his crucifix and would kiss his sacred pictures, going from one to
another; then he would kneel in prayer, propped up between the bed and the
wall. Very humbly and anxiously he asked his confessor, St Robert Bellarmine,
if he thought that anyone could go straight into the presence of God without
passing through Purgatory. St Robert replied in the affirmative and, from
his knowledge of Aloysius, encouraged him to hope that this grace might be
his. Aloysius immediately fell into an ecstasy which lasted throughout the
night, and during which he learnt that he would die on the octave of Corpus
Christi. On the succeeding days he recited the Te Deum in thanksgiving.
Sometimes he cried out, "I rejoiced when they said to me: We will go into
the house of the Lord" (Ps. cxxi I), adding on one occasion, "We are going
gladly, gladly!" On the octave-day he seemed so much better that the rector
spoke of sending him to Frascati. Aloysius, however, maintained that he would
die before the morrow and again received viaticum. To the provincial who
came in to inquire after him he said, "We are going, father, we are going!"
"Where?" "To Heaven." "Just listen to that young man," exclaimed the provincial.
"He talks of going to Heaven as we talk of going to Frascati!" In the evening,
as he was thought to be in no immediate danger, all but two or three watchers
were told to retire to rest. Nevertheless, at the request of Aloysius, Father
Bellarmine recited the prayers for the departing. Afterwards the patient
lay very still, occasionally murmuring, "Into thy hands." Between ten and
eleven a change came over him and it was evident that he was sinking. With
his eyes fixed on the crucifix and with the name of Jesus upon his lips he
died about midnight, between June 20 and 21, 1591. He had attained the age
of twenty-three years and eight months. The relics of St Aloysius now lie
under the altar in the Lancellotti chapel of the church of St Ignatius in
Rome; he was canonized in 1726.
It must be confessed that the letters of St Aloysius which have been preserved
to us do not make very attractive reading. Owing, perhaps, in part to the
conditions of strict censorship under which the correspondence of all young
religious was then conducted, and also in part to the detachment from home
ties which was inculcated as a point of virtue, the saint's communications,
even with his mother, strike us as strangely stiff and formal. But there
is a definite pathos about one or two of his last epistles, written practically
speaking from his death-bed, if only because they show how deeply the realization
of the eternal truths had penetrated and become part of his being.
Materials for the life of the
saint are abundant and reliable. The biography by Father Virgilio Cepari,
his contemporary and associate, was actually written, so far as the earlier
portion is concerned, before the death of Aloysius, although it was only
printed-after it had passed under the eyes of a number of trustworthy critics,
including St Robert Bellarmine, who had known him and dwelt in the same house
with him-as late as 1606. Since then, this work of Cepari has been republished
in a multitude of editions and translations. From the point of view of completeness
and the inclusion of all relevant evidence, the edition of Cepari's life with
copious appendices, prepared by Father Frederick Schroeder in 1891, may still
probably be regarded as the most reliable source of information; an English
translation was published in the same year. There are, of course, a number
of other lives. For the account printed in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. v, the Bollandists,
besides Cepari, had access to the processes of beatification and canonization.
Among other works, those by Meschler, Lambrette and Fournier may be recommended,
and for English readers no presentment of the saint's character can rival
for its freshness and its very needful study of the atmosphere in which he
lived, the book of Father C. C. Martindale, The Vocation of Aloysius Gonzaga (1927).
See also S. Louis de Gonzague et la renaissance
italienne, by Frs Delpierre and Noché (1945). The letters and
spiritual writings of St Aloysius have been collected by E. Rosa, and these
also have been several times translated. F. Crispolti in his San Luigi Gonzaga, Saggio (1924), has
skilfully vindicated St Aloysius from the contemptuous criticism of Gioberti
and others. Also it may be noted that the saint's avoidance of women and
even of a tête-à-tête
with his own mother (albeit Cepari's statement has been misrepresented through
inaccurate translations) was an attitude probably assumed by Aloysius in
devout imitation of what he had read as recorded of his patron, St Louis
of Anjou, by Surius-"nolebat sorores suas nec matrem propriam osculari. Omnino
colloquia et aspectus mulierum evitabat." See The Month, August, 1924, pp. 158-160.
Born at Castiglione delle Stivieri in Lombardy, Italy, on March 9, 1568;
died about midnight between June 20 and 21, 1591; beatified in 1605; canonized
1726; Benedict XIII declared him patron of young students and Pius XI proclaimed
him patron of Christian youth. Everything about Saint Aloysius
conspires to make him the hero of a popular romance--his noble birth, his
angelic life, and his holy death. But no novelist would dare to invent a
life as perfect as his--it would be too incredible.
Aloysius was the eldest son of the Marquis Ferrante of Castiglione,
who served Philip II of Spain, and Marta Tana Santena, lady-in- waiting to
Philip's wife. His father's one ambition was for his eldest son to become
a great military leader. At the age of four he was sent off to a military
camp, where he strutted around in miniature armor with his miniature pike,
set off a canon without any authority, then returned home full of strange
oaths, which were a life-long mortification. Thus he was being prepared for
his father's chosen vocation, but at the age of seven he experienced a spiritual
quickening and decided to pursue a religious life. He had said his morning
and evening prayers from infancy; now he began to recite the Office of the
Blessed Virgin daily, as well as the seven penitential Psalms, and other
devotions.
When he was nine, his father placed him and his brother Ridolfo
in the care of tutors the household of Francesco de'Medici in Florence to
teach them Latin and the pure Italian of Tuscany. But Aloysius made better
progress in the science of saints than in his studies. That same year he
took a vow of chastity. From that time he never looked any woman in the face,
not even his own mother.
About two years later (November 1579), their father moved the
boys to the court of the duke of Mantua, who had lately made him governor
of Montserrat. Already at age 11, Aloysius had decided to renounce the titles
and estates that were to be his inheritance, even though he had already received
investiture from the emperor. There he developed a painful kidney disease
that was to trouble him for the rest of his life. But this gave him an excuse
to spend time in prayer and reading the lives of the saints by Surius. He
began to practice severe austerities--fasting every other day on bread and
water, scourging himself with a dog whip, and allowing no fires to be built
while he prayed even in the coldest weather.
Inspired by a book about the Jesuit missionaries in India, he
began to prepare himself at age 12 to be a Jesuit missionary. He gathered
a group of poor boys and taught them the catechism during his summer holidays
in Castiglione.
In 1581, Don Ferrante was summoned to attend the Empress Mary
of Austria on her journey from Bohemia to Spain. His family accompanied him,
and upon their arrival in Spain, Aloysius and Ridolfo were placed in the
service of Don Diego, prince of the Asturias in Spain, as pages. He was duty
bound to attend on the young infante and share his studies, but he never
curtailed his devotions.
During his time at Don Diego's
court, Aloysius resolved to enter the Society of Jesus. First he approached
his mother, who gave her approval. However, when she told his father that
he requested to join the Jesuits, his furious father refused permission.
First he threatened to beat him until friends mediated, and Don Ferrante
relented to give his provisional consent. Nevertheless, after the infante
died, releasing the boys from their court duties, the marquis tried to distract
his son by sending him to visit the courts of northern Italy upon their return
in July 1584. He hoped that the boy would succumb to the easy life. When
that did not work, his father tried diplomatic pressure. He had his relatives,
including the duke of Mantua, try to talk the boy out of his vocation. As
the next step in his tactics to dissuade Aloysius, Don Ferrante engaged him
in a number of secular commissions in the hope of awakening interest in worldly
affairs. Unchanged by his travels, Aloysius renewed his plea. Don Ferrante's
last attempt used the leading dignitaries of the Church to talk the matter
over with his son. Finally his father was persuaded when the imperial commission
arrived transferring the succession to Ridolfo. In 1585, he allowed Aloysius
to join the Jesuits in Rome.
On November 25, 1585, he was received into the Jesuit novitiate
at the house in Sant'Andrea. He was an ideal novice. Aware of his delicate
health, the Jesuits requested that he curb his austerities. He was obliged
to take recreation, to eat more, and forbidden to pray more than the set
hours. They sent him to Milan to study, where he had a revelation during
his morning prayer that he would not live much longer. This filled his heart
with joy. His poor health forced a return to Rome.
In 1587, he was professed. That same year (or in 1591) plague
struck Rome. The Jesuits opened a hospital of their own, in which the father
general himself and many other Jesuits ministered personally to the sick.
Aloysius requested and was permitted to join them in service. This son of
privilege instructed and exhorted patients, washed them, made their beds,
and performed the meanest chores of the hospital. He eventually caught the
plague from patients but surprisingly recovered after receiving the last
rites.
Later, however, he later fell
into a low-grade fever that lasted for three months and severely weakened
him. As long as he was able, he would arise at night and worship before the
crucifix and kiss his sacred pictures, then kneel in prayer, propped between
the bed and the wall. Very humbly and anxiously he asked his confessor, Saint
Robert Bellarmine, whether it was possible for someone to go straight to heaven
without experiencing purgatory. Bellarmine said "yes," and knowing Aloysius,
encouraged him to hope that this grace might be his. Aloysius immediately
fell into an ecstasy that lasted throughout the night. During that time he
learned that he would die on the octave of Corpus Christi.
On that octave day he seemed so much better that the rector spoke
of sending him to Frascati. Aloysius, however, maintained that he would die
before morning and again received the viaticum from Father Bellarmine. In
the evening, as he was thought to be in no immediate danger, all but two
or three watchers were told to go to bed. Nevertheless, Father Bellarmine
recited the prayers for the dying at the request of Aloysius. Afterwards
Aloysius remained very still, occasionally murmuring, "into Thy hands." Between
ten and eleven a change came over him and it was evident that his life was
ebbing. With his eyes fixed on the crucifix and the name of Jesus on his
lips, he died about midnight at the age of 23.
After his death, Saint Robert Bellarmine testified to his holiness,
claiming that it was his opinion that Aloysius never in his life committed
a mortal sin. His biographies, as well as the letters and religious writings
of Saint Aloysius himself, depict a rather unattractive character--he had
a naïve, even priggish, attitude about human affection and the imitation
of the saints. It was the spiritual direction of Bellarmine who led Aloysius
in his last years shed this attitude and develop a courageous, single- minded
devotion to God and his neighbor. Some have argued that the corrupt, immoral
milieu in which he was raised, required a completely uncompromising, if angular,
example, comparable to the single-mindedness of Renaissance politicians.
He was a peacemaker between his brother and the duke of Mantua after he joined
the Jesuits. He is buried under the altar in the Lancellotti Chapel at the
Church of Saint Ignatius in Rome (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney,
Encyclopedia, Farmer, Martindale, Walsh, White).
In art, Saint Aloysius is generally portrayed
as a young Jesuit with a crucifix, lily, and scourge. He may also be shown
(1) with a crucifix wreathed in flowers, IHS, and a crown at his feet; (2)
with his hand on his heart and a guardian angel near; (3) in ecstasy, supported
by angels, and a lily, book and coronet nearby; (4) crowned with flowers by
an angel; or (5) kneeling before instruments of the Passion (Roeder).
Aloysius is the patron of young students, those choosing their
profession (Roeder), and Catholic youth (White). He is invoked against eye
troubles and the plague (Roeder).
1591 St. Aloysius Gonzaga
b. 1568
The Lord can make saints anywhere,
even amid the brutality and license of Renaissance life. Florence was the
“mother of piety” for Aloysius Gonzaga despite his exposure to a “society
of fraud, dagger, poison and lust.” As a son of a princely family, he grew
up in royal courts and army camps. His father wanted Aloysius to be a military
hero.
St. Aloysius was born in Castiglione, Italy. The first words St. Aloysius spoke
were the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. He was destined for the military by
his father (who was in service to Philip II), but by the age of 9 Aloysius
had decided on a religious life, and made a vow of perpetual virginity. To
safeguard himself from possible temptation, he would keep his eyes persistently
downcast in the presence of women. St. Charles Borromeo gave him his first
Holy Communion. A kidney disease prevented St. Aloysius from a full social
life for a while, so he spent his time in prayer and reading the lives of
the saints. Although he was appointed a page in Spain, St. Aloysius kept
up his many devotions and austerities, and was quite resolved to become a
Jesuit. His family eventually moved back to Italy, where he taught catechism
to the poor. When he was 18, he joined the Jesuits, after finally breaking
down his father, who had refused his entrance into the order. He served in
a hospital during the plague of 1587 in Milan, and died from it at the age
of 23, after receiving the last rites from St. Robert Bellarmine. The last
word he spoke was the Holy Name of Jesus. St. Robert wrote the Life of St.
Aloysius.
At age seven he experienced a profound spiritual quickening. His
prayers included the Office of Mary, the psalms and other devotions. At age
nine he came from his hometown of Castiglione to Florence to be educated;
by age 11 he was teaching catechism to poor children, fasting three days
a week and practicing great austerities. When he was 13 years old he traveled
with his parents and the Empress of Austria to Spain and acted as a page
in the court of Philip II. The more Aloysius saw of court life, the more
disillusioned he became, seeking relief in learning about the lives of saints.
A book about the experience of Jesuit missionaries in India suggested
to him the idea of entering the Society of Jesus, and in Spain his decision
became final. Now began a four-year contest with his father. Eminent churchmen
and laypeople were pressed into service to persuade him to remain in his
“normal” vocation. Finally he prevailed, was allowed to renounce his right
to succession and was received into the Jesuit novitiate.
Like other seminarians, Aloysius was faced with a new kind of
penance—that of accepting different ideas about the exact nature of penance.
He was obliged to eat more, to take recreation with the other students. He
was forbidden to pray except at stated times. He spent four years in the
study of philosophy and had St. Robert Bellarmine as his spiritual adviser.
In 1591, a plague struck Rome. The Jesuits opened a hospital of
their own. The general himself and many other Jesuits rendered personal service.
Because he nursed patients, washing them and making their beds, Aloysius
caught the disease himself. A fever persisted after his recovery and he was
so weak he could scarcely rise from bed. Yet, he maintained his great discipline
of prayer, knowing that he would die within the octave of Corpus Christi,
three months later. He was 23.
Comment: As a saint who
fasted, scourged himself, sought solitude and prayer and did not look on
the faces of women, Aloysius seems an unlikely patron of youth in a society
where asceticism is confined to training camps of football teams and boxers,
and sexual permissiveness has little left to permit. Can an overweight and
air-conditioned society deprive itself of anything? It will when it discovers
a reason, as Aloysius did. The motivation for letting God purify us is the
experience of God loving us, in prayer.
Quote: "When we stand praying, beloved brethren, we ought
to be watchful and earnest with our whole heart, intent on our prayers. Let
all carnal and worldly thoughts pass away, nor let the soul at that time
think on anything except the object of its prayer" (St. Cyprian, On the Lord's
Prayer, 31) .
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1600 St. John Rigby
Martyr of England, a layman executed at Southwak one of the Forty Martyrs
of England and Wales and was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.
BD JOHN RIGBY, MARTYR (A.D. 1600)
ALTHOUGH he was the son of a Lancashire gentleman of ancient lineage, the
straitened means of his family compelled John Rigby to enter domestic service.
As a convinced Catholic living in a Protestant household, he found himself
placed in a dilemma by the penal laws and occasionally he so far outwardly
conformed as to attend the established church. It was a weakness which he
afterwards deeply regretted. He made his confession to a priest imprisoned
in the Clink prison, and from that time led an irreproachable life. Moreover,
he was the means of winning back several lapsed Catholics, one of whom was
his own father. Whilst he was an inmate of the household of Sir Edmund Huddlestone,
he was sent to the sessions house of the Old Bailey to plead illness as the
cause of the non-appearance in court of Sir Edmund's daughter, Mrs Fortescue,
against whom a summons had been issued on a charge of recusancy. There had
been no accusation against Rigby, but one of the commissioners began to question
him as to his own religion. He frankly acknowledged that he was a Catholic
and that he would not go to church or acknowledge the queen's supremacy.
He was summarily committed to Newgate prison.
An interesting account which he wrote of his trials and prison experiences
was preserved by a friend. It is clear that some of the judges-notably Mr
Justice Gaudy-were very favourably impressed by his bearing and sincerity
and would have liked to release him. He was told, in so many words, that
if he would go to church the case could be dropped, but he replied: "If that
be all the offence I have committed, as I know it is, and if there be no
other way but going to church to help it, I would not wish your Lordship
to think I have (as I hope) risen this many steps towards Heaven and now
will wilfully let my foot slip and fall into the bottomless pit of Hell.
I hope in Jesus He will strengthen me rather to suffer a thousand deaths,
if I had so many lives to lose. Let your law take its course." Only after
much discussion amongst themselves did the judges decide to condemn him.
Mr Justice Gaudy, in pronouncing the death sentence, was deeply affected,
but Rigby himself heard it with the utmost composure. On June 21, when he
was told he was to die that day, he said gaily: "Deo gratias! It is the best
tidings that ever were brought to me since I was born." Even as he was being
dragged on a hurdle to St Thomas's Watering, the place of execution, he was
urged by the Earl of Rutland and Captain Whitlock "to do as the queen would
have him and conform". On the scaffold he gave the executioner a gold piece,
saying, "Take this in token that I freely forgive thee and all others that
have been accessory to my death." His execution was carried out with great
barbarity, for he was cut down and disembowelled while still quite conscious.
His last words were, "God forgive you: Jesus receive my soul". Bd John was
about thirty years of age when he suffered.
We possess a particularly interesting
and detailed narrative of the circumstances of Bd John Rigby's arrest and
martyrdom. The account which, as mentioned above, he himself wrote of his
experiences, came into the hands of Dr Thomas Worthington, the president
of Douay College, and by him it was printed abroad in 1601 in a little book
entitled, A Relation of Sixtene Martyrs
glorified in England in twelve months. Rigby's text, with introductory
matter and notes, was admirably edited by Father C. A. Newdigate in a booklet
which he called A Lancashire Man; the Martyrdom
of John Rigby at Southwark (1928). See also Challoner, MMP., pp. 238-245.
He was born near Wigan, England, and was reconciled to the Church. Admitting
that he was a Catholic, he was arrested and placed in Newgate Prison. He
was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Southwark on June 21. John is one of
the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales and was canonized in 1970 by Pope
Paul VI.
John Rigby M (RM) Born at Harrock Hall near Wigan, Lancashire, England, c.
1570; died June 21, 1600; beatified in 1929; canonized by Pope Paul VI in
1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. John Rigby was the
son of an impoverished gentleman, he was a Catholic but was obliged to earn
his living as a servant in a Protestant household. He attended Protestant
services to conform to the law, which penalized those who did not, but he
repented of his actions and returned to the Catholic faith. While appearing
to answer a summons for the daughter of his employer, he admitted he was
a Catholic and was imprisoned at Newgate. When he refused his freedom if
he would attend Protestant services, he was sentenced to death and hanged,
drawn, and quartered at Southwark (Benedictines, Delaney) .
|
1622 Luarsab
II, Emperor of Georgia The Holy Martyr distinguished himself by his intellect
and piety having from his youth kept strict fast and constantly at prayer,
without hesitation refused the demands of the shah: A heavenly light
was seen over his grave
Born in 1587 the son of George X (1600-1603), poisoned by the
Persian shah Abbas I (1584-1628). After the death of his father Luarsab remained
with his two sisters, Choreshan and Helen. He was still a child, but distinguished
himself by his intellect and piety. Despite his youthful age, he was crowned
with the name Luarsab II. In 1609 Georgia suffered invasion by a Turkish
army under the leadership of Deli-Mamad-khan. The young emperor gave decisive
battle to the Turks near the village of Kvenadkotsi (between Gori and Surami).
The Persian shah Abbas I, alarmed
over this victory by the Georgians, and bearing enmity towards Luarsab II,
sought for an opportunity to destroy him. Because he saved Kartli (Central
Georgia) from destruction St Luarsab was forced to give his sister Helen
in marriage to the Moslem shah Abbas. But even this did not stop the shah.
Several times he entered Georgia with a large army. Because of the treachery
of several feudal lords, the emperor Luarsab and the Kakhetian emperor Teimuraz
I were compelled at the end of 1615 to withdraw to Imeretia (Western Georgia)
to the Imeretian emperor George III (1605-1639).
Shah Abbas I laid waste to Kakhetia and, threatening Kartli with
ruin, he demanded that he should have Luarsab II, promising that if he came,
he would conclude a peace. The emperor Luarsab II, trying to preserve the
churches of Kartli from devastation, set out to shah Abbas with the words,
"I place all my hope in Christ, and whatever fate awaits me, life or death,
blessed be the Lord God!"
Shah Abbas I received St Luarsab II amicably and, it would seem,
was prepared to fulfill his promise. After a hunt together Shah Abbas invited
him to Mazandaran, but Luarsab II refused to eat fish (since it was Great
Lent), despite the threats and demands of the shah. The enraged shah began
to insist that the Georgian emperor accept Islam, in return for which he
promised to let him go with great treasures to Kartli, threatening death
by torture if he did not. The emperor Luarsab II, having from his youth kept
strict fast and constantly at prayer, without hesitation refused the demands
of the shah. They seized him and imprisoned him in the impenetrable fortress
of Gulab-Kala, near Shiraz. The Mrovel Bishop Nicholas relates, that the
emperor Luarsab spent seven years imprisoned in chains, undergoing cruel
torments and frequent beatings to force him to accept Islam. But the holy
confessor remained faithful to the Holy Church of Christ and accepted a martyr's
death in the year 1622 at 35 years of age. Two of his faithful retainers
were martyred with him.
By night the bodies of the holy
martyrs were cast out of the prison without burial, but on the next day Christians
committed them to earth in a common grave.
The Holy Martyr Luarsab lI, Prince of Kartli (June 21)
SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
A prince of Georgia, he was the son of George X, who suffered
for the Faith and was poisoned by the King of Persia. Luarsab was then thrown
into prison near Shiraz, where he languished for seven years. Then he and
his two servants were hanged in the prison yard on the orders of Shah Abbas
I, on June 21st 1662. A heavenly light was seen over his grave
|
1732 New Martyr Nicetas
of Nisyros near Rhodes
SAINT NICETAS DE NISYROS (+ 1732)
The Holy Martyr Nikita of Nyrosa, a native of the island Nyrosa near Rhodes,
as a lad was converted to Mahometanism. At the age of maturity he renounced
Islam and confessed himself a Christian, for which he was beheaded by the
Turks on the island of Chios in 1732.
1930 Eva von Tiele-Winkler
Evangelische Kirche: 21. Juni entwickelte sich ein großes diakonisches
Arbeitsfeld bis hinein in die Chinamission.
Eva von Tiele-Winkler wurde am 31.10.1866 in Oberschlesien geboren. Von ihrer
katholischen, der Mystik zugeneigten Mutter empfing sie eine starke Neigung
zu klösterlichem Leben und eine mystisch geprägte Frömmigkeit.
Schon als Kind beschloß sie, eine Heilige zu werden und ihr Leben den
Armen zu widmen. Ihre zweite Mutter schickte sie zu Bodelschwingh nach Bethel.
Nach dem Abschluß ihrer Diakonissenausbildung errichtete sie 1890 in
Schloß Miechowitz (das ihr der Vater schenkte) einen "Friedenshort"
und baute auf den Rat Bodelschwinghs eine eigene Schwesternschaft auf. Aus
dieser Station entwickelte sich ein großes diakonisches Arbeitsfeld
bis hinein in die Chinamission.
Mutter Eva verausgabte sich in ihrer Arbeit so sehr, daß Bodelschwingh
sie nach Bethel zurückholte. In Sarepta wirkte sie 5 Jahre als Oberin,
dann war ihre Kraft verbraucht und sie mußte nach Davos zur Erholung.
Hier traf sie auch mit Hudson Taylor zusammen. 1905 erlebte sie die Erweckung
in Wales, die sich dann auch auf das geistliche Leben der Schwestern in Miechowitz
auswirkte. Trotz Krieg und Inflation konnte sie in großer Glaubensgewißheit
ihr Werk fortsetzen und ausbauen. Sie starb am 21.6.1930 in Miechowitz. Der
Friedenshort besteht heute aus mehreren Einrichtungen in Deutschland
.
|
1942
Departure of Pope Yoannis the Nineteenth, 113th Patriarch of Alexandria.
PCoptic}
On this day, of the year 1658 A.M. (1942 A.D.) Pope Yoannis the
Nineteenth, 113th Patriarch of Alexandria, departed. He was born in the village
of Dair Tasa, Asyiut governorate in the year 1571 A.M. (1855 A.D.). His parents
were righteous, therefore he was raised on piety and godliness. He drank
the love of virtuous life and loved, since his young age, to read the biographies
of saints. He longed to follow their example, accordingly he went to the
monastery of the Virgin Lady known as El-Baramous in Wadi El-Natroun, in
the month of Baramoudah, 1591 A.M. He became a monk on the third of Kiahk,
1592 A.M. (1876 A.D.). Because of his fervent worship, intelligence, and
intellect, the fathers unanimously agreed to nominate him to be a priest.
Pope Kyrillos the fifth, 112th Patriarch, ordained him a priest in the year
1593 A.M., then hegumen in Baramhat, 1594 A.M., and appointed him on the
same day to be the head of the monastery. He remained the head of the monastery
for ten years, during which he was an example of, ambition, honesty, purity
of conduct, firmness, godliness, and good management.
When the Chair of the diocese
of El-Biharah became vacant, the people chose Yoannis a metropolitan for
that Chair. He was ordained on the 12th day of Baramhat, 1603 A.M. (1887
A.D.) and also was appointed as a deputy of the See of St. Mark. After the
departure of Anba Yoannis, metropolitan of El-Menofaya at that time, the
people of the diocese nominated him to care for them. The diocese of El-Menofaya
was added to his duties in the year 1610 A.M. (1894 A.D.), and he became
the metropolitan of El-Biharah, El-Menofaya, and the deputy of the See of
St. Mark.
Since his official seat was in Alexandria, he established there
a theological school to educate the monks. He sent from its students a mission
to Athens for higher theological studies.
The revenue of the church properties was inconsiderable. By his
good judgement, the revenue increased year after year. Because of the highrise
buildings that he built and the renovation of the old ones. He also gave
great care for the Coptic schools, elementary and high, until their standard
became equivalent to the best schools. He built and renovated most of the
churches in his parish. He also gave special attention to the monasteries
in his jurisdiction, which were improved greatly because of his good care
and close supervision.
Because of his foresight, and prudence, the government chose him
as a representative for the Copts in many councils and committees at the general
assembly, the committee for formulating the constitution and many others.
He spent forty-two years as a metropolitan, which were full of
splendid works. When the blessed Pope Kyrillos the fifth, departed, on the
1st day of Misra, 1643 A.M. (August 7th, 1927 A.D.) the Holy Synod convened
on the fourth of Misra. They unanimously agreed to chose him Acting Pope
to run the affairs of the church until ordaining a patriarch. As a result
of that, the Holy Synod had received many nominations from the parishes approving
that choice.
He performed his duties as Acting Patriarch for one year, four
months, and ten days. During this period he administered the affairs of the
See of St. Mark very well, during which also the Holy Synod, with Anba Yoannis
presiding, issued a canon to regulate the affairs of the monasteries and
the monks. He organized a committee to oversee the church properties and
those of the monasteries and to review their accounts.
From what everyone knew of his purity, virtuous life, good character,
asceticism, and piety, they all unanimously agreed to chose him a patriarch
with nominations from the bishops, priests and lay leaders. He was enthroned
a patriarch on Sunday the 7th day of Kiahk 1645 A.M. (December 16th, 1928
A.D.) in the great St. Mark cathedral in Cairo (Azbakiah). That took place
with a great celebration attended by the representatives of the King, princes,
ministers, important Egyptian personalities, the metropolitans of different
denominations eastern and western, and ambassadors of foreign countries.
After his ordination, Pope Yoannis
directed his attention to caring for the affairs of the Coptic People and
the church. He established a higher theological institution for the education
of the monks in the city of Helwan. He ordained for the kingdom of Ethiopia,
a Coptic Metropolitan and four well-learned Ethiopian bishops. He travelled
to Ethiopia to reaffirm the unity between the Coptic and Ethiopian churches.
He stayed there for thirteen days where they received him with great honor
and respect. In Addis Ababa, he ordained the head of the Ethiopian monks
(the successor of St. Takla Haymanot) a bishop.
With the will of God, he made the Holy Oil (Myron) in the year
1648 A.M. (1930 A.D.). The last time the oil was made was one hundred and
ten years earlier during the papacy of Pope Peter, 109th Pope of Alexandria.
Pope Yoannis made the Holy Oil a second time, specially for the kingdom of
Ethiopia, attended by Anba Kyrillos, metropolitan of Ethiopia, and Anba Peter,
an Ethiopian bishop.
His contributions, too numerous to be mentioned completely, include
watching over the welfare of the church, kindness to the needy, support for
charitable organizations, moral and financial support for the Coptic teaching
institutions, and assistance on valuable projects that financially and spiritually
benefitted the Copts.
During Pope Yoannis' papacy, a war broke out between Ethiopia
and Italy, during which most of the Ethiopian bishops died except Anba Abraam
and another bishop. When Italy occupied Ethiopia, the Emperor departed from
his country. Anba Kyrillos, the metropolitan of Ethiopia, was exiled to Egypt,
for he refused to agree with Italy on separating the Ethiopian church from
the Coptic Orthodox church. In November, 1937 A.D., the Italian governor
of Ethiopia decided the independence of the Ethiopian church and its separation
from the Alexandrian See. He appointed Anba Abraam, the Ethiopian bishop,
a patriarch for Ethiopia. Nevertheless, God punished him for his betrayal.
He became blind and died shortly after. The Alexandrian Holy Synod decided
to excommunicate him, not recognizing him nor the bishops that he ordained.
This situation in Ethiopia did not last long; during the Second World War
the Emperor of Ethiopia regained his kingdom from Italy. Anba Kyrillos returned
to his church with great honor, in May 1942 A.D.
When Pope Yoannis had realized the return of the Ethiopian church
to its mother church, the Coptic Church, he was stricken with the ailments
of old age. He departed in peace on Sunday 14th day of Baounah, 1658 A.M.
(June 21st, 1942 A.D.). May his prayers be with us. Amen
|
Aphrodysios The
Holy Martyr was beheaded with the sword at Cilicia (Asia Minor) for his faith
in Christ the Saviour.
|
| Rufus
The Holy Martyr accepted a martyr's death at Syracuse in Sicily. |
Mary
Mother of GOD
Saints of this Day June 21
Undécimo Kaléndas
Júlii. 
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.