250 The Holy
Martyrs Africanus, Publius and Terence suffered in the third century at
Petrium. Their memory is celebrated also on April 10.
Terentius und Gefährten Orthodoxe Kirche: 10. April
Als Kaiser Decius (249-251) befahl, alle Bürger sollten den heidnischen
Göttern opfern, ließ der Gouverneur Fortunatius in der römischen
Provinz Afrika auf dem Marktplatz Foltergeräte aufstellen und befahl
allen Bürgern, sich auf dem Platz zu sammeln und den heidnischen Göttern
zu opfern. Terentius und weitere 40 Christen weigerten sich und wurden vor
den Gouverneur gebracht. Als sie sich zu Christus bekannten, ließ der
Gouverneur Terentius und seine engsten Begleiter Africanus, Maximus und
Pompius gefangensetzen. Die anderen Christen - unter ihnen Xenon, Alexander
und Theodor - ließ sie foltern und in den heidnischen Tempel bringen.
Aber die Christen opferten nicht, sondern beteten und die Götterstatuen
fielen um und zerbrachen. Daraufhin ließ Fortunatus die 36 Märtyrer
köpfen. Terentius und seine Gefährten im Gefängnis sollten
dem Hungertod preisgegeben werden. Als sie aber am Leben blieben, wurden
Giftschlangen in ihr Gefängnis geworfen. Auch diese schadeten ihnen
nicht und daraufhin wurden sie geköpft.
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287 St.
Sabinus Martyr native of Egypt
Hermópoli, in
Ægypto, sancti Sabíni Mártyris, qui multa passus, tandem,
projéctus in flumen, martyrium consummávit.
At Hermopolis in Egypt, the martyr St. Sabinus, who suffered many torments,
and at last completed his martyrdom by being cast into a river.
he was put to death
by being drowned in the Nile during the persecutions launched by Emperor
Diocletian.
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295
St. Urpasian Martyr Reputedly member of household of Emperor Diocletian
at Nicomedia
he was arrested for being a Christian and burned alive.
|
In Pérside
sanctæ Christínæ, Vírginis et Mártyris.
In Persia, St. Christina, virgin and martyr.
|
St. Theusetas Martyr, with
many companions at Nicaea, Bithynia (modern Turkey)
unknown
Nicǽæ, in Bithynia,
sanctórum Mártyrum Theusétæ, ejúsque
fílii Horris, Theodóræ, Nymphodóræ, Marci
et Arábiæ; qui omnes pro Christo igni tráditi sunt.
At Nicaea
in Bithynia, the holy martyrs Theusetas and Horres, his son; Theodore, Nymphodora,
Mark, and Arabia, who were all burned to death for Christ.
Ilorres, Theodora, Nymphodora, Mark, and Arabia put to death in an uncertain
year at Nicaea, Bithynia (modern Turkey). In some earlier martyrologies,
the list of these martyrs contains many more names. Theusitas, Horres, Theodora,
Nymphora, Mark & Arabia MM (RM)
Earlier martyrologies include many more names with this group of martyrs
at Nicaea in Bithynia. Horres was the young son of Theusitas (Benedictines).
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311 The Holy Martyr
Alexander was a presbyter in the city of Pidna, not far from Thessalonica
The saint converted many pagans to Christianity by his preaching.
During the persecution against Christians under the emperor Maximian
Galerius (305-311), St Alexander was subjected to fierce tortures, and then
beheaded. |
St. Macedonius Martyr
with Modesta and Patricia & 19 companions at Nicomedia.
Nicomediæ natális sanctórum Mártyrum
Macedónii, Patríciæ uxóris, et Modéstæ
fíliæ.
At Nicomedia, the birthday of the holy martyrs
Macedonius, Patricia, his wife, and his daughter Modesta.
They were husband, wife. and daughter. in some lists they
were martyred with nineteen companions.
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4th v. The Holy Martyr
Christina of Persia was scourged to death for confessing her faith in Christ,
during the fourth century.
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410 In Thebáide
deposítio sanctæ Euphrásiæ Vírginis favored
with miracles both before and after her death
In Thebais, the death of St.
Euphrasia, virgin.
420 ST EUPHRASIA, OR EUPRAXIA,
VIRGIN
THE Emperor Theodosius I had a kinsman Antigonus, who died
within a year of the birth of his daughter Euphrasia, and the emperor took
the widow and her child under his protection. When the little girl was five
years old he arranged to betroth her to the son of a wealthy senator—in accordance
with the custom of the time—the marriage being deferred until the maiden
should have reached a suitable age. The widow herself began to be sought
in marriage, and she withdrew from court and went with Euphrasia to Egypt,
where she settled down near a convent of nuns. Euphrasia, then seven years
of age, was greatly drawn to the nuns and begged to be allowed to stay with
them. To humour her and thinking it was only a childish fancy, her mother
left her there for a little, expecting her soon to weary of the life, but
the child was persistent, although she was told that she would have to fast
and to sleep on the ground and to learn the whole Psalter if she remained.
The abbess then said to the mother, Leave the little girl with us, for the
grace of God is working in her heart. Your piety and that of Antigonus have
opened to her the most perfect way”. The good woman wept for joy, and leading her
child before the image of our Lord she said, “Lord Jesus Christ, receive
this child. Thee alone doth she love and seek, and to thy service alone doth
she commend herself.” Then turning to Euphrasia she exclaimed, “May God who
laid the foundations of the mountains, keep you always steadfast in His holy
fear”.
A few days later the child
was clothed in the nun’s habit, and her mother asked if she were satisfied.
“Oh, mother” cried the little novice, “it is my bridal robe, given me to
do honour to Jesus my beloved.” Soon afterwards the mother went to rejoin
her husband in a better world, and as the years went by Euphrasia grew up
a beautiful girl in the seclusion of the convent.
In due time the emperor, presumably
Arcadius, sent for her to come to Constantinople to marry the senator
to whom he had betrothed her. She was now twelve years old and an heiress,
but she wrote him a letter begging him to allow her to follow her vocation
and requesting him to distribute her parents’ property to the poor as well
as to enfranchise all her slaves. The emperor carried out her requests but
Euphrasia was sorely tried by vain imaginations and temptations to know
more of the world she had forsaken. The abbess, to whom she opened her heart,
set her some hard and humbling tasks to divert her attention and to drive
away the evil spirits from which she suffered in body as well as in soul.
Once the abbess ordered her to remove a pile of stones from one place to
another, and when the task was completed she continued to make her carry
them backwards and forwards thirty times. In this and in whatever else she
was bidden to do, Euphrasia complied cheerfully and promptly she cleaned
out the cells of the other nuns, carried water for the kitchen, chopped the
wood, baked the bread and cooked the food. The nun who performed these arduous
duties was generally excused the night offices, but Euphrasia was never missing
from her place in the choir, and yet at the age of twenty she was taller,
better developed and more beautiful than any of the others.
Her meekness and humility were
extraordinary. A maid in the kitchen once asked her why she sometimes went
without food for the entire week, a thing no one but the abbess ever attempted.
When the saint said she did it out of obedience, the woman called her a hypocrite,
who sought to make herself conspicuous in the hope of being chosen superior.
Far from resenting this unjust accusation, Euphrasia fell at her feet and
besought her to pray for her.
As the saint lay on her death-bed,
Julia, a beloved sister who shared her cell, besought Euphrasia to obtain
for her the grace of being with her in Heaven as she had been her companion
on earth, and three days after her friend’s demise, Julia was taken also.
The aged abbess who had originally received Euphrasia remained for a month
together very sad at the loss of her dear ones. She prayed earnestly that
she might not have to linger on now that the others had gone to their reward.
The following morning when the nuns entered her cell they found only her
lifeless body, for her soul had fled in the night to join the other two.
According to Russian usage St Euphrasia is named in the preparation of the
Byzantine Mass.
The remarkable
Greek life, which is the source of alt we know concerning St Euphrasia, has
been printed in the Acta Sanctorum, March, vol. ii. There
seems good reason to regard it as a more or less contemporary and, in its
main features, a trustworthy narrative. Certainly the asceticism it reflects
is the asceticism of that age. Within a few years of the date at which Euphrasia
died, St Simeon Stylites set up his first pillar. Of Euphrasia, as of her
abbess, it is stated that she stood upright in one spot for thirty days
until she lost consciousness and fell down in a swoon. Etheria in her pilgrimage
(c. 390) tells
us much of the ebdomadarii who made it a point of honour
and endurance to pass an entire week without food from Sunday to Saturday
evening. Moreover, the whole atmosphere of the document recalls vividly the
ascetic ideals set before us in the Life of St Melania the Younger, who was
a contemporary. See also A. B.C. Dunbar, Dictionary of Saintly Women, vol. i, pp. 292—293.
Her father died shortly after
her birth, and her mother, also Euphrasia, devoted her life thenceforth exclusively
to the service of God. To carry out this ideal she abandoned the capital,
and, with her seven-year-old daughter, repaired to Egypt, where she dwelt
on one of her estates, near a convent, and adopted the nuns' austere mode
of life. This example aroused in her daughter the desire to enter the convent,
and her mother gave her into the care of the superior, that she might be
trained in the ascetic life. After her mother's death she declined an offer
of marriage made, by the Emperor Theodosius, on behalf of a senator's son,
transferred to the emperor her entire fortune, to be used for charitable purposes,
and took up, with a holy ardour, the rigorous practices of Christian perfection.
She was about thirty when she died. Her feast is celebrated in the Greek
Church on 25 July, and in the Latin Church on 13 March. She is mentioned
by St. John Damascene, in his third "Oratio de imaginibus".
Euphrasia (Eupraxia) Orthodoxe Kirche: 25. Juli
Katholische Kirche: 13. März
Euphrasia, Tochter des Senators Antigonos und seiner Ehefrau
Eupraxia, wurde um 380 in Konstantinopel geboren. Nach dem Tod ihres Vaters
kam sie mit ihrer Mutter nach Ägypten, wo sie um 387 in ein Nonnenkloster
in der Thebais eintrat. Ihr wurde die Gabe der Heilung verliehen. Sie starb
dort friedlich in jungen Jahren nach 410 (evt. 413).
Euphrasia of Constantinople V (RM) (also known as Euphraxia)
Born in Constantinople, Byzantium; died c. 420. Saint Euphrasia's father,
Antigonus, was a blood relative of Emperor Theodosius I. Her mother, Eupraxia,
was no less illustrious for her birth and virtue. Because of his close ties
with her parents and the fact that she was an only child, the emperor took
an interest in Euphrasia and, when she was only five, found her a rich senator
for her future husband. After her birth, her pious parents mutually consented
and vowed themselves to perpetual continence. From that time they lived together
as brother and sister in order to devote themselves to prayer, alms-giving,
and penance.
Antigonus died within a year, and the holy widow withdrew
with her daughter to her large estates in Egypt in order to avoid importunate
suitors for marriage and the distraction of friends. Near her home in Tabenisi
was a monastery of one hundred and thirty austere nuns, who fasted severely
and regularly, wore and slept on sackcloth that they made themselves, and
prayed almost without interruption. When sick, they bore their pains with
patience and thanksgiving, esteeming them an effect of the divine mercy:
nor did they seek relief from physicians, except in cases of absolute necessity.
Delicate and excessive attention to health nourishes self-love and often
destroys the health that it anxiously tries to preserve.
The example of these holy virgins, moved the devout mother
to greater fervor in the exercise of faith and charity. She frequently visited
these servants of God, and earnestly entreated them to accept a considerable
annual revenue, with an obligation that they should always be bound to pray
for the soul of her deceased husband. But the abbess refused the estate,
saying: "We have renounced all the conveniences of the world, in order to
purchase heaven. We are poor, and such we desire to remain." She could only
be prevailed upon to accept a continuous supply of oil for the votive lamp
and incense for the altar.
The seven-year-old Euphrasia asked her mother for permission
to serve God in this convent. Eupraxia joyfully gave permission and soon
after presented Euphrasia to the abbess, who, taking up an image of Christ,
gave it into her hands. The tender virgin kissed it, saying: "By vow I consecrate
myself to Christ." Then the mother led her before an image of our Redeemer,
and lifting up her hands to heaven, said: "Lord Jesus Christ, receive this
child under your special protection. She seeks and loves You alone and commends
herself only to You." Then turning to her dear daughter, she said: "May God,
who laid the foundations of the mountains, strengthen you always in his
holy fear." And leaving her in the hands of the abbess, she left the monastery
weeping.
At first the nuns supposed the
youngster would soon tire of the austerities of religious life. None of the
burdens, however, discouraged Euphrasia. Of course, she probably wondered
at times whether she had missed some great pleasure by quitting the world,
but her greatest joy was in serving God by serving others.
When Eupraxia later fell deathly ill, she gave her last instructions
to her daughter: "Fear God, honor your sisters, and serve them with humility.
Never think of what you have been, nor say to yourself that you are of royal
extraction. Be humble and poor on earth, that you may be rich in heaven."
The good mother then died.
When news of her death reached the ears of the emperor, Theodosius
sent for the noble virgin to court, having promised her in marriage to a
favorite young senator. But in her own hand the virgin wrote him: "Invincible
emperor, having consecrated myself to Christ in perpetual chastity, I cannot
be false to my engagement, and marry a mortal man, who will shortly be the
food of worms. For the sake of my parents, be pleased to distribute their
estates among the poor, the orphans, and the church. Set all my slaves at
liberty, and discharge my vassals and servants, giving them whatever is
their due. Order my father's stewards to acquit my farmers of all they owe
since his death, that I may serve God without let or hindrance, and may
stand before him without the solicitude of temporal affairs. Pray for me,
you and your empress, that I may be made worthy to serve Christ."
The messengers returned with this letter to the emperor, who
shed many tears in reading it. The senators who heard it burst also into
tears, and said to his majesty; "She is the worthy daughter of Antigonus
and Eupraxia, of your royal blood, and the holy offspring of a virtuous stock."
The emperor punctually executed all she desired, a little before his death,
in 395.
Saint Euphrasia was to her pious sisters a perfect pattern
of humility, meekness, and charity. If she found herself assaulted by any
temptation she immediately confessed it to the abbess, to drive away the
devil by that humiliation, and to seek a remedy. The discreet superioress
often enjoined her on such occasions, some humbling and painful penitential
labor; as sometimes to carry great stones from one place to another; which
employment she once under an obstinate assault, continued thirty days together
with wonderful simplicity, till the devil being vanquished by her humble
obedience and chastisement of her body, he left her in peace. Her diet was
only herbs or pulse, which she took after sunset, at first every day, but
afterwards only once in two or three, or sometimes seven days. But her abstinence
received its chief merit from her humility; without which it would have been
a fast of devils.
She cleaned out the chambers of the other nuns, carried water
to the kitchen, and, out of obedience, cheerfully employed herself in the
meanest drudgery; making painful labor a part of her penance. To mention
one instance of her extraordinary meekness and humility: it is related, that
one day a maid in the kitchen asked her why she fasted whole weeks, which
no other attempted to do besides the abbess. Her answer was, that the abbess
had enjoined her that penance. The other called her a hypocrite. Upon which
Euphrasia fell at her feet, begging her to pardon and pray for her. In which
action it is hard to say, whether we ought more to admire the patience with
which she received so unjust a rebuke and slander or the humility with which
she sincerely condemned herself; as if, by her hypocrisy and imperfections,
she had been a scandal to others.
She was favored with miracles both before and after her death
at the age of 30. Her name is still mentioned in the preparation of the Byzantine
Mass (Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
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7th v.
St. Kevoca she is a Scottish saint
Scottish saint, honored in Kyle, Scotland. but now believed to be St.
Mochoemoc. Also called Quivox.
Kevoca (AC) (also known as Kennotha, Quivoca) 7th century. Saint Kevoca
is the titular patron of a church at Kyle, Scotland. She is probably identical
with Saint Mochoemoc (Benedictines).
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554 St. Ramirus
and Companions Martyrs of Spain by the Arian Visigoths 6th
century
Ramirus served as prior of St. Claudus Monastety in Leon, Spain. The
community was set upon by the Visigoths who, as Arians, opposed orthodox
Christianity. The abbot, St Vincent, was put to death, followed two days
later by Ramirus and the entire community.
Ramirus and Companions MM (AC) Died c. 554 or c. 630. Two days after
the martyrdom of his abbot, Saint Vincent, by the Arian Visigoths, Saint
Ramirus, the prior of Saint Claudius Abbey in Léon, Spain, and all
his monks were massacred while chanting the Nicene Creed in the choir of
the abbey church (Benedictines).
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600 St. Leander of Seville
bishop; introduced the Nicene Creed at Mass, succeeded in persuading many
Arian bishops to change
The next time you recite the Nicene Creed at Mass, think of
today’s saint. For it was Leander of Seville who, as bishop, introduced
the practice in the sixth century. He saw it as a way to help reinforce the
faith of his people and as an antidote against the heresy of Arianism, which
denied the divinity of Christ.
Leander’s own family was heavily
influenced by Arianism, but he himself grew up to be a fervent Christian.
He entered a monastery as a young man and spent three years in prayer and
study. At the end of that tranquil period he was made a bishop. For the rest
of his life he worked strenuously to fight against heresy. The death of
the anti-Christian king in 586 helped Leander’s cause. He and the new king
worked hand in hand to restore orthodoxy and a renewed sense of morality.
Leander succeeded in persuading many Arian bishops to change their loyalties.
Leander died around 600. In Spain he is honored as a Doctor of the Church.
596 St. Leander of Seville
Bishop monk consubstantiality 3 Persons of the Trinity 1st introduce Nicene
Creed at Mass
Híspali, in Hispánia, natális sancti Leándri,
ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopi, qui, sanctórum Isidóri
Epíscopi ac Florentínæ Vírginis frater, sua prædicatióne
et indústria gentem Visigothórum, adjuvánte Reccarédo,
eórum Rege, ab Ariána impietáte ad cathólicam
fidem convértit.
At Seville in Spain, the birthday of St.
Leander, bishop of that city, and of St. Florentina, virgin. By his
preaching and zeal the Visigoths, with the help of King Recared, were converted
from the Arian heresy to the Catholic faith.
Leander was born at Cartagena, Spain, of Severianus
and Theodora, illustrious for their virtue. St.
Isidore and Fulgentius, both bishops were his brothers, and his sister,
Florentina, is also
numbered among the saints. He became a monk at Seville and then the bishop
of the See.
He was instrumental in converting the two sons Hermenegild and Reccared
of the Arian Visigothic King Leovigild. This action earned him the kings's
wrath and exile to Constantinople, where he met and became close friends of
the Papal Legate, the future Pope Gregory
the Great. It was Leander who suggested that Gregory write the famous
commentary on the Book of Job called
the Moralia.
Once back home, under King Reccared, St. Leander began his life work of
propagating Christian orthodoxy against the Arians in Spain. The third local Council of Toledo (over
which he presided in 589) decreed the consubstantiality of the three Persons of the
Trinity and brought about moral reforms.
Leander's unerring wisdom and unflagging dedication let the Visigoths
and the Suevi back to the true Faith and obtained the gratitude of Gregory
the Great.
The saintly bishop also composed an influential Rule for nuns and was
the first to introduce the Nicene Creed at Mass. Worn out by his many activities
in the cause of Christ, Leander died around 600 and was succeeded in the
See of Seville by his brother Isidore. The Spanish Church honors Leander
as the Doctor of the Faith.
596 ST LEANDER, BISHOP OF SEVILLE
IT was mainly through St Leander’s efforts that the Western Goths or Visigoths,
who had ruled in Spain for a hundred years, were converted from the errors
of Arianism. His father was Severian, Duke of Cartagena, at which place
the saint was born, and his mother was the daughter of the Ostrogothic King
Theodoric. His brothers were St Fulgentius, Bishop of Ecija, and St Isidore,
who succeeded him in the see of Seville. He had a sister, St Florentina,
and according to tradition a second sister who married King Leovigild. This,
however, is not certain; if true it must have added enormously to his difficulties,
for Leovigild was a determined Arian.
Even as a boy, Leander was
remarkable for his eloquence and fascinating personality; while still quite
young he took the monastic habit at Seville, where he gave himself for three
years to devotion and study. Upon the death of the bishop of Seville he
was unanimously chosen to succeed him, but his change of condition made
little, or no alteration in his mode of living. He immediately set to work
to fight against the prevalent heresy of Arianism, and through his prayers
and his eloquence caused many conversions, including that of Hermenegild,
the eldest son of King Leovigild.
In 583 St Leander went to
Constantinople on an embassy to the emperor, and there he became acquainted
with St Gregory the Great, who had been sent there as legate by Pope
Pelagius II. The two men formed a close and lasting friendship, and it
was at the suggestion of Leander that Gregory wrote his Morals
on the Book of Job.
Upon his return, he continued
his fight for the true faith, but in 586 Leovigild caused his son St Hermenegild
to be put to death for refusing to receive communion from the hands of an
Arian bishop, and he banished several Catholic prelates, including St Leander
and his brother St Fulgentius. Even in exile the bishop continued his fight,
writing two works against Arianism and a third to meet the objections that
had been raised against his arguments. Before long, however, Leovigild recalled
the exiles, and when he found that he was on his death-bed he sent for St
Leander and entrusted to him his son and successor Reccared to be instructed
in the Catholic faith. Nevertheless, through fear of his people, St Gregory
tells us, Leovigild himself died unreconciled to the Church. Reccared, under
the guidance of St Leander, became an ardent and well-instructed Catholic.
Leander spoke with so much wisdom on the controverted points to the Arian
bishops that, by force of his reasoning rather than by his authority, he
brought them over to the truth and thus converted the whole nation of the
Visigoths. He was equally successful with the Suevi, a people of Spain whom
Leovigild had perverted. No one rejoiced more than did St Gregory the Great
at the wonderful blessings bestowed by Almighty God on the labours of the
holy bishop, and he wrote him to an affectionate letter in which he congratulated
him warmly and also sent him the pallium.
In 589 St Leander presided
over the third Council of Toledo, at which a solemn declaration of the consubstantiality
of the Three Persons of the Trinity was drawn up, and twenty-three canons
were passed relating to discipline, for the holy prelate was no less zealous
in the reformation of manners and morals than in restoring the purity of
the faith. The following year another synod was held at Seville to complete,
establish and seal the conversion of the nation to the true faith. St Leander
was deeply sensible of the importance of prayer, and he laboured to encourage
true devotion in all, but especially in those who were consecrated to God
under a religious rule. His letter to his sister Florentina, usually called
his Rule of a Monastic Life, turns chiefly on the contempt of this world
and on prayer. A very important work of his was his reform of the Spanish
liturgy. In this liturgy and in the third Council of Toledo, in conformity
with the practice of the Eastern churches, the Nicene Creed was appointed
to be said at Mass in repudiation of the Arian heresy. Other Western churches,
and eventually Rome itself, adopted this practice later.
St Leander was tried by frequent
illness, particularly by the gout, and St Gregory, who was afflicted with
the same complaint, alludes to it in one of his letters. According to an
old Spanish tradition, the famous picture of our Lady of Guadalupe was a
present from the pope to his friend Leander. Of the bishop’s many writings
none have come down to us except his Rule of a Monastic Life, and
a homily in thanksgiving for the conversion of the Goths. He died in 596,
and his relics are now in a chapel of Seville Cathedral. In Spain St Leander
is honoured liturgically as a doctor of the Church.
See the Acta Sanctorum, March, vol. ii; Gams, Kirchengeschichte
von Spanien, vol. ii, Pt 2, pp. 37 seq. and 66 seq. DTC., vol. ix, P. 95. There is also an excellent article
on St Leander by Mrs Humphry Ward in DCB., vol. iii, pp. 637—640; and cf. F. H. B. Daniell’s article on Reccared, vol. iv, pp. 536—538.
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656 St. Mochoemoc
Abbot founder of Liath Mochoemoc Monastery at Tipperary
Ireland. He was the son of Bevan and Nessa and the brother or nephew
of St. Ita. Listed as Machaemhog, Puicherius, or Vuicherius, he was trained
by St. Ita, at Munster, Ireland, and received ordination by St. Comgall at
Bangor. Mochoemoc founded Arderin Abbey and others before he died.
7th v. ST MOCHOEMOC, ABBOT
THE accounts we have of St Mochoemoc are overladen
with fantastic legends. Perhaps all that we should be justified in asserting
is that he was the nephew of St Ita, who had charge of him in his youth,
that he entered the monastery of Bennchor (Bangor) in County Down, that he
was afterwards commissioned by St Comgall to found a settlement at Arderin,
that he eventually established a flourishing community at Liath-mor, where
he became the teacher of St Dagan and St Cuanghas, and that he died at
a very advanced age.
Tradition, however, declares
him to have been the son of St Ita’s sister Nessa and of Beoan, whom Ita
had so marvellously raised to life. The boy was so handsome that he was
named Coemgen (Pulcherius), but his aunt called him by the pet-form Mochoemog,
and by that name he was always known. His father and mother came to St
Ita and said, “Lady, the grace of God shines wonderfully in your little
favourite, our son we are earthly, and he is so spiritual that he cannot
live with us.” She at once replied, “Bring him hither and I will rear him
myself.” So she watched over him until he was twenty and superintended his
studies. Then she blessed him and sent him to St Comgall at Bangor, where
he was ordained. Recognizing his sanctity the abbot said one day to him,
“My son, it is necessary that you should become the spiritual father to
others, and that you should erect a house for God’s service wherever He
may decree.”
So Mochoemoc set out with other
monks and settled first at Arderin on Slieve Bloom, but later he departed
to the country of Eile. There the chieftain offered to give him a lonely
wooded place, and this the saint willingly accepted. Now when Ita had parted
from her nephew she had given him a little bell, saying, “Here is this silent
bell for you: it will not sound till you have reached the place of your resurrection.”
As soon as Mochoemoc had reached the land granted him, the bell tinkled,
and the saint gave thanks to God because he knew it was to be the place of
his resurrection. There also he found a great wild hog, which greeted the
monks, and Mochoemoc exclaimed, “As the colour of that hog is liath—grey—so
shall it be the name of this place for ever.” Here then at Liath he founded
his principal church which was called Liath-mor or Liath-Mochoemoc, but the
place is now known as Leamokevoge in County Tipperary. Round the holy man
gathered a number of disciples, and St Mochoemoc built for them a great monastery
in which they lived in peace. At last, when he had founded many monasteries,
the saint was warned that his time was come, and having blessed his monks
and Liath he went to his reward a very old man.
There was formerly venerated
in Scotland, particularly in the district about Glasgow, a maiden St Kennoch
whose history is wrapped in great obscurity. We are met first with the difficulty
that while in the text of the Aberdeen Breviary the name is printed Kenoca,
the form in the calendar of the same book, as well as in the Aberdeen Martyrology
and in the Arbuthnott calendar, is Keuoca or Kevoca. On the other hand, “Kennocha”
appears among the virgins and widows in the ancient Litany of Dunkeld. Forbes,
in his Kalendars of Scottish Saints, suggests that an ancient Irish monk—no other than Mochoemoc of Leamokevoge—has
here through some confusion been transformed into a woman. The Kevoge, in
fact, which we find in Leamokevoge is simply the saint’s name, and it may
obviously be identified with Kevoca. No certain conclusion is possible.
The statement that St Kennoch lived in the time of King Malcolm 11 (1005—1034)
rests apparently only on the authority of Adam King (1588), which is quite
worthless in such a matter.
There is a
Latin Life of St Mochoemoc and an Irish text which is the translation of
it. The Latin was printed by Colgan, and also in the Acta Sanctorum,
March, vol. ii. It has been re-edited in VSH., vol. ii, pp. 164-183
see also LIS., vol. iii. For St Kennoch, see the Acta Sanctorum,
March, vol. ii, and KSS.
Mochoemoc of Leamokevoge, Abbot (AC)
(also known as Kennoch, Mo-Chaomhog, Mochaemhog, Pulcherius, Vulcanius)
Born in Munster, Ireland; died c. 656. Mochoemoc was raised by his aunt,
Saint Ita, and educated by Saint Comgall in the Bangor Abbey, County Down,
where he also entered religious life. Comgall sent him to establish a house
at Arderin. Later Mochoemoc founded and became abbot of the great monastery
of Liath-Mochoemoc (Liath-mor, now Leamokevoge), in County Tipperary, around
which a large town was raised, which still bears that name. The supposed
Scottish Kevoca, titular of the church of Quivox, is really the Irishman Mochoemoc
(Benedictines, Farmer, Husenbeth).
|
732 Gerald of Mayo,
Abbot believed to have founded the abbeys of Elytheria, or Tempul-Gerald
in Connaught, as well as Teaghna-Saxon, and a convent that he put under the
care of his sister Segretia (AC)
732 ST GERALD OF MAYO, ABBOT
ST GERALD was an Englishman, a native of Northumbria, who became a monk
at Lindisfarne. After the Council of Whitby which prohibited the Celtic observance
of Easter in Northumbria, St Colman left England accompanied by all the
Irish monks and thirty of the English novices. At Inishbofin, an island
off the coast of Mayo, he founded a monastery for his community, but as
he found that the Englishmen and the Irish could not agree, he built
a second house on the mainland for the English monks. It is not certain whether
Gerald was one of the original thirty or whether he followed later, for we
know that English and other students long continued to frequent Colman’s school
at Mayo of the Saxons, as it came to be called.
At first St Colman acted as
abbot over the two monasteries, but Gerald afterwards succeeded him in the
English house, which flourished exceedingly. He is sometimes spoken of as
a bishop, notably in the litany of Irish saints from the Book of Leinster,
but this is very doubtful, as even his so-called acts which attribute to
him many marvellous miracles only allude to him as an abbot. It has been
suggested that the title pontifex or president of the English
which was bestowed upon him gave rise to the idea that he was a bishop, whereas
it probably only meant that the abbot of Mayo had certain privileges as protector
of his countrymen who were strangers in Ireland. St Gerald, who lived to
old age, must have witnessed the introduction into his abbey of the Roman
observance of Easter. He is also credited, though on doubtful authority, with
the foundation of the abbeys of Elytheria or Tempul-Gerald in Connaught and
of Teagh-na-Saxon, as well as of a nunnery which he is said to have placed
under the care of his sister St Segretia.
The extravagant
Latin Life of St Gerald printed by Colgan has been re-edited by Plummer,
VSH., vol. ii, pp. 107—115. See also the Acta Sanctorum, March,
vol. ii, and LIS. vol. iii.
Born in Northumbria, England; died in Galway, Ireland, 732.
Saint Gerald became a monk at Lindisfarne and probably followed Saint Colman to Innisbofin Island, Galway,
Ireland, when the Celtic liturgical practices were forbidden in Northumbria.
He became a monk, then abbot, of the abbey known as Mayo of the Saxons, which
Colman founded for the English following a quarrel between the English and
Irish monks. The abbey flourished and was so well known for the erudition
of its monks that Blessed Alcuin corresponded with its abbot and monks. He
lived to a great age and may have witnessed the introduction of Roman observances
into his abbey. Gerald is sometimes said to have been consecrated bishop,
but this is uncertain. He is believed to have founded the abbeys of Elytheria,
or Tempul-Gerald in Connaught, as well as Teaghna-Saxon, and a convent that
he put under the care of his sister Segretia.
He was buried at Mayo, where a church dedicated to God under
his patronage remains to this day (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia,
Farmer, Husenbeth).
|
828 St. Nicephorus
Patriarch of Constantinople relics incorrupt and fragrant known for his
intellect and his eloquence opponent of the Iconoclasts martyr
Constantinópoli
Translátio sancti Nicéphori, Epíscopi ejúsdem
urbis et Confessóris; cujus corpus e Proconnéso, Propóntidis
ínsula, ubi ipse quarto Nonas Júnii ob sanctárum Imáginum
cultum exsul obíerat, Constantinópolim relátum est,
atque a sancto illíus civitátis Epíscopo Methódio
honorífice in templo sanctórum Apostolórum sepúltum,
hac ipsa recurrénte die, in qua olim idem Nicéphorus in exsílium
fúerat deportátus.
At Constantinople, the transferral
of the body of St. Nicephorus, bishop of that city, and confessor.
The body was returned from the island of Propontis in the Proconnesus, where
his death occurred on the 5th of June while in exile for his reverence of
sacred images.
828 ST NICEPHORUS, Patriarch OF Constantinople
THE father of St Nicephorus was secretary and
commissioner to the Emperor Constantine Copronymus, but when that tyrant
declared himself a persecutor of the orthodox faith, his minister maintained
the honour due to holy images with so much zeal that he was stripped of his
dignities, scourged, tortured and banished. Young Nicephorus grew up with
his father’s example before him to encourage him in boldly confessing his
faith, while an excellent education developed his exceptional abilities. After
Constantine VI and Irene had restored the use of sacred pictures and images,
Nicephorus was introduced to their notice and by his sterling qualities obtained
their favour. He distinguished himself by his opposition to the Iconoclasts
and was secretary to the Second Council of Nicaea, as well as imperial commissioner.
Although a brilliant speaker, a philosopher, a musician and in every respect
fitted for statesmanship, he always had a great inclination for the religious
life, and while still occupied with public affairs had built a monastery
in a solitary spot near the Black Sea. After the death of St Tarasius, Patriarch
of Constantinople, no one could be found more worthy to succeed him than
Nicephorus. As he was a layman at the time, his election was opposed
by some as uncanonical, and it was only at the express request of the emperor
that he could be induced to accept office. During the consecration, as a
public testimony of his faith, he held in his hand a treatise he had written
in defence of images, and at the conclusion he laid it up behind the altar
as a pledge that he would ever defend the tradition of the Church.
The
new patriarch ere long still further antagonized the hostile rigorists.
At the request of the emperor, Nicephorus, with the consent of a small synod
of bishops, pardoned and reinstated in office a priest called Joseph, who
had been deposed and exiled for celebrating a marriage between the Emperor
Constantine VI and Theodota during the lifetime of the lawful Empress Mary.
No doubt he acted in this way to avoid worse evils, but the party which was
headed by St Theodore Studites refused to have any dealings or even to be
in communion with the patriarch and with those who supported what they called
the “Adulterine Heresy”: they went so far as to appeal to the pope. St Leo
III sent them an encouraging reply but, being imperfectly informed about
the whole matter and having received no communications from Archbishop Nicephorus,
he took no further action. After a time, however, a reconciliation was brought
about between the patriarch and St Theodore (who meanwhile had been imprisoned
and his monks dispersed). It was not until then that Nicephorus sent to
the pope a letter announcing his appointment to the see of Constantinople,
with an apology and a rather lame excuse for his delay in making the customary
notification. At the same time, in view of attacks that had been made upon
his orthodoxy, he added a lengthy confession of faith and promised that in
future he would give due notice at Rome of any important questions that might
arise.
St Nicephorus
was a zealous administrator and applied himself with patient determination
to improving morals and restoring discipline in the various monasteries
under his control as well as amongst the clergy generally, with the support
of St Theodore: But Leo the Armenian became emperor in 813. He was an Iconoclast,
although he did not at first express his opinions and evaded the confession
of faith which Nicephorus tried to elicit before consecrating him. It was
only when he felt his position assured that he allowed his views to become
known. He attempted by crafty suggestions to win over Nicephorus to favour
his design of destroying the images which had been replaced in the churches
after their, use had been vindicated and sanctioned by the Second Council
of Nicaea. The patriarch replied, “We cannot change the ancient traditions
we respect the holy images, as we do the cross and the book of the gospels.”
Leo, however, persisted in his antagonism, which he proceeded to propagate
without at first showing his hand too clearly. He privately encouraged some
soldiers to insult an image of Christ which was fixed to a great cross at
the Bronze Gate of Constantinople, and then ordered the figure to be removed
on the plea of preventing a second profanation. Shortly afterwards the emperor,
having assembled in his palace certain Iconoclastic bishops, sent for the patriarch and his fellow dignitaries. They entreated
Leo to leave the government of the Church to her pastors, one of them saying,
“If this is an ecclesiastical affair, let it be discussed in the church,
not in the palace.” The emperor in a rage drove them all from his presence.
Some
little time later the heterodox bishops held a meeting and cited the patriarch
to appear before them. To their summons he replied, “Who gave you this authority?
If it was he who pilots the vessel of Old Rome, I am ready. If it was the
Alexandrine successor of the Evangelist Mark, I am ready. If it was the
patriarch of Antioch or he of Jerusalem, I make no opposition. But who are
you. In my diocese you have no jurisdiction.”
He then read the canon which declared those men excommunicated who presume
to exercise any act of jurisdiction in the diocese of another bishop. On
their side they proceeded to pronounce against him a sentence of deposition.
After several attempts had been made against his, life he was sent by the
emperor into exile, and spent his fifteen remaining years at the monastery
which he had built on the Bosphorus. Although Leo’s successor Michael the
Stammerer would not bring back the sacred images which Leo had banished
from the churches, he was no persecutor and would have restored the patriarch
had he been willing to keep silence on the disputed question but Nicephorus
would not purchase his liberty at the expense of his conscience, and he
felt that silence would be tantamount to consent. In exile he could and did
continue to defend his tenets in writings which have lasted to this day.
His
chief works were an Apology for orthodox teaching regarding sacred images
and another larger treatise in two parts, the first of which consisted of
a defence of the Church against the charge of idolatry, and the second, known
as the Antirrhetica, was a confutation of the writings on images of Constantine
V. Besides several other treatises, mostly dealing with Iconoclasm, he left
two historical works known as the Breviarium and the Chronographia,
the one a short history from the reign of Maurice to that of Constantine
and Irene, and the other a chronicle of events from the beginning of the
world. In the collection of the councils may still be found the seventeen
canons of Nicephorus, in the second of which he declares it to be unlawful
to travel on Sunday without necessity.
In
846, by order of the Empress Theodora and in the patriarchate of St Methodius,
the body of St Nicephorus was translated from the island of Prokenesis to
Constantinople, where it was deposited in the church of the Apostles on
March 13—the day appointed for the commemoration of the saint in the Roman
Martyrology.
The principal
source for the life of St Nicephorus is a biography of the deacon Ignatius.
It has been edited by De Boor in modern times, but is also found in the
Acta Sanctorum, March, vol. ii. There is a good account
of this disturbed period in Hergenröther, Kirchengeschichte,
vol. i, and in the article “Nicephorus” in the Kirchenlexikon
and summaries of the Iconoclast controversy in Baynes and Moss,
Byzantium (1948), pp. 15—17, 105—108, by H. L. B. Moss
and H. Gregoire. Cf. Hefele-Leclercq, Histoire
des Conciles, vol. iii, pt 2 (1910), pp. 741 seq.
The son of the secretary of Emperor Constantine
V, he was raised as an opponent of the Iconoclasts in the imperial capital
and remembered always that his father had been tortured for opposing the
Iconoclast emperor. Nicephorus became known for his intellect and his eloquence,
and received the post of imperial commissioner. After founding a monastery
near the Black Sea, he was chosen despite being a layman to succeed to the
office of patriarch of Constantinople in 806, succeeding St. Tarasius. He was opposed for a time
by St. Theodore Studites after Nicephorus forgave a priest who married Emperor
Constantine VI to Theodota despite the fact the Constantine’s wife, Mary,
still lived. The patriarch also challenged the Iconoclast policies of Emperor
Leo V the Armenian and was deposed by a synod of Iconoclast bishops at the
conniving of the emperor. Nearly assassinated on several occasions, Nicephorus
was exiled to the monastery he had founded on the Black Sea, spending his
remaining years there in prayer. He died on June 2 or March 13, 829. While
patriarch, he brought various reforms to his large diocese and inspired the
lay people.
He was also the author of anti Iconoclast writings and two
historical works, a Chronographia and Brevianim.
Nicephorus of Constantinople
BM (RM) Born in 758; died June 2, 828; feast day formerly June 2. It's no
wonder that Nicephorus was a staunch opponent of iconoclasm; his father,
the emperor's secretary, had been tortured and exiled for refusing to accept
Emperor Constantine Copronymus's decrees banning sacred images. Nicephorus
became imperial commissioner known for his eloquence, scholarship, and statesmanship.
He built a monastery near the Black Sea.
Although he was still a layman and did not desire any preference,
he was named patriarch of Constantinople in 806 to succeed Saint Tarasius. Nicephorus incurred the
enmity of Saint Theodore Studites for giving absolution to the priest who
had illicitly married Emperor Constantine VI and Theodota while Constantine's
wife Mary was still alive. The two were later reconciled.
Nicephorus devoted himself to reforming his see, restoring
monastic discipline, and reinvigorating the faith of his flock. The patriarch
also brought Saint Methodius of Constantinople,
who later became patriarch, from his monastery on Chios. He resisted the
efforts of Emperor Leo the Armenian to reimpose iconoclasm, but was deposed
by a synod of iconoclastic bishops assembled by the emperor. Several attempts
were made on the life of Nicephorus and he was exiled to the monastery he
had built on the Black Sea, where he spent the last 15 years of his life.
Nicephorus wrote several treatises
against iconoclasm and two historical
works, Breviarum
and Chronographia (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney).
Saint Nicephorus was a dignitary
at the court of the empress Irene (797-802), and then after receiving monastic
tonsure, he became known for his piety. In the year 806 he was elevated to
the patriarchal throne. The saint was a zealous defender of the holy Icons.
When the Iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820) came to rule, the
saint in 815 was exiled to Prokonnis, where he died in the year 828.
In the year 846 the holy relics of Patriarch Nicephorus were
opened, and were found incorrupt and fragrant. They transferred them from
Prokonnis to Constantinople and placed them for one day in Hagia Sophia,
and then transferred them to the Church of the Holy Apostles. The saint's
hands are preserved in the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos.
The saint left behind three
writings against Iconoclasm. The main Feast of St Nicephorus is celebrated
on June 2, but today we commemorate the finding and transfer of his holy
relics.
Nikephor von Konstantinopel Orthodoxe Kirche: 2. Juni
und 13. März (Übertragung der Gebeine) Katholische Kirche: 5.
April
Nikephor war Sekretär am Hof der Kaiserin Irene. Er nahm am 7. Konzil
teil und zog sich danach in eine Einsiedelei zurück. 802 wurde er zum
Verwalter eines großen Hospitals in Konstantinopel berufen und 806
auf Wunsch des Kaisers zum Patriarchen gewählt, obwohl er Laie war und
in der kirchlichen Hierarchie auf Ablehnung stieß. Als der Bildersturm
von Leo V. wieder entfacht wurde, vrbündete sich Nikephor mit seinem
bisherigen Gegner Theodor Studites und wandte sich gegen den Kaiser. Er wurde
deshalb 815 auf die Insel Prokonnis verbannt. Hier schrieb er 3 Schriften
gegen den Bildersturm und hier starb er am 5.4.828. Am 13.3.846 wurden seine
Gebeine in die Apostelkirche ein Konstantinopel übertragen.
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840 St.
Ansovinus Bishop sanctity and miracles a great builder confessor of the Frankish
Emperor Louis the Pious
He was born in Camerino, Italy, and entered the religious life at a young
age. After living as a hermit for many years, Ansovinus elected Camerino.
Ansovinus' sanctity and miracles also brought him to the court of Emperor
Louis the Pious where he served as confessor and spiritual counselor.
<>840 ST ANSOVINUS, BISHOP, OF
CAMERINO
ST Ansovinus was born at Camerino in Umbria,
but no details of his early life have been preserved. After his ordination
to the priesthood he retired into a solitary spot at Castel-Raimondo, near
Torcello, where he soon acquired a reputation for sanctity and miracles.
It was even believed that when he came to church he crossed the river on
his cloak which he cast into the water, and that, when the rays of the sun
dazzled him as he was offering the holy sacrifice, he hung the linen purificator
in the air and it shaded his eyes. The Emperor Louis the Pious when in Italy
chose him as his confessor, and ratified his election to the see of Camerino.
The saint, however, had no wish to accept the dignity, and when he did consent
it was with the proviso that he should not be expected to provide soldiers
for the imperial army. Although such military service was usual’ in feudal
and semi-feudal states, he considered it unsuitable and contrary to the law
of’ the Church.
Ansovinus proved himself a
wise and prudent pastor. Not only was he liberal to the poor, but in seasons
of dearth he husbanded all the resources at his command with such sagacity
that he was able to relieve the sufferings of the needy. Indeed, it was said
that when he had entirely emptied a granary, it was supernaturally refilled.
The saint had the gift of healing and was instrumental in curing many sick
persons. He was in Rome when he was seized with a form of fever which he
and those about him recognized as likely to prove fatal. In spite of the
protests of his friends he insisted upon returning home to die amongst his
own people. They carried the sick man out to his horse, and when the animal
saw him that strange instinct which dumb creatures often possess impelled
him to kneel down to enable his master to mount. Ansovinus reached Camerino
and was able to give a last blessing and to receive the viaticum before
he quietly expired.
A singular miracle with which
he is credited is worth relating, if only to account for the attribute commonly
connected with St. Ansovinus. He was on his way to Rome to be consecrated
when he and his friends arrived at Narni, where they stayed for refreshment.
They called for wine, and the innkeeper brought some. Ansovinus, detecting
that it had been watered, remonstrated with the man, who answered rudely
that they could take it or leave it—it was all they would get. The saint then
asked for cups, but the innkeeper said that he only provided wine and that
visitors were expected to bring their own drinking-cups. So St Ansovinus
took off his cape and told the host to pour the wine into the hood. He did
so, under protest, and the hood retained the wine, whilst the water with which
it had been mixed ran away.
The life printed
in the Acta Sanctorum, March, vol. ii, which purports, to
have been written by a certain Eginus not less than a century after the death
of the saint, is a wordy and unconvincing document consisting mainly of
miracles. But the cultus of St Ansovinus is recognized, and
his name is entered in the Roman Martyrology. See also M. Santoni, Cultus
di Sant’ Ansovino (1883).
Ansovinus of Camerino B (RM) Born in Camerino, Italy; Ansovinus was a
hermit at Castel Raimondo near Torcello who was consecrated bishop of Camerino.
He accepted the office on the condition that his see should be exempt from
the service of recruiting soldiers, then imposed upon most bishops in their
capacity as feudal lords (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). Saint Ansovinus is
depicted as a bishop with a barn near him. He may also be shown with fruit
and garden produce (Roeder). He is venerated in Camerino, is the patron of
gardeners, and is invoked for good harvests (Roeder).
|
842 St. Heldrad
Benedictine abbot spent large fortune in carrying out good works
also called Eldrad, who devised ways of rescuing travelers
in the Alps. He was a noble from Provence, France, who set out on a pilgrimage
to Rome. Entering the abbey of Novalese in the Italian Alps, he became abbot
and ruled for thirty years. Heldrad built a hospice and added to the abbey's
library.
842
ST HELORAD, ABBOT
THE father of St Heldrad was a feudal lord in Provence,
whose castle was near Aix at a town called Lambesc, the exact situation of
which appears to be uncertain. Heldrad, while still quite young, succeeded
to a large fortune, a considerable proportion of which he expended in good
works. Not far from the town, at a spot where several important roads met,
a market was held which was a veritable Vanity Fair, with much fraud and
blasphemy. Beside the market St Heldrad built a church and a hospice, where
all guests, rich or poor, were received without payment. He also laid out
a garden where vegetables could be grown by the people. In spite of all he
had done, he was not satisfied and resolved to give up everything for Christ’s
sake and to seek the way of perfection. Part of his possessions he gave
to the bishop for the upkeep of the works he had established, and the rest
was devoted to the poor. Meanly clad in the guise
of a pilgrim, he started forth, visiting first the holy places of western
France and of Spain, but not finding anywhere the kind of life to which
he felt called.
Then he began tramping through
Italy. Quite casually he heard from other pilgrims of the Benedictine monks
of Novalese who, in their monastery at the foot of the Alps, not only exercised
hospitality day and night, but also, it is said, took charge of a hospice
on the top of the pass of Mont Cenis. Leon Lallemand, in his Histoire de la Charité (vol. ii, p. 183), speaks of
a refuge on Mont Cenis constructed by Charlemagne on the site of an ancient
temple of Jupiter, and it is possible that this was in charge of the monks
of Novalese. One would like to think that in the winter season the brethren
used to set out to seek travellers who were lost in the snow, bringing them
back to the hospice to tend them and aid them on their journey. But positive
evidence of this is lacking. The short summer season only gave the monks
time to gather wood for fuel and to lay in provisions for the winter. It was
in the autumn that Heldrad presented himself at the door of the abbey. The
abbot Amblulf had had a premonition with regard to his coming and therefore
received him with special cordiality.
Here at last Heldrad found
the life of devotion and active charity which satisfied his aspirations.
For a time the abbot tested him by entrusting him with the care of the monastery
vineyards, but before long he gave him the habit. Raised to the priesthood,
Heldrad no doubt took part in perilous mountain expeditions, perhaps even
anticipating the work subsequently taken up by the canons of the Great St
Bernard. What is more certain is that he was charged with the training of
the young religious; he does not, however, seem to have been tied to the
spot, for at one time we find hint at Cluny whither he had been summoned
by Louis the Pious. After the death of Amblulf, Charlemagne’s son Hugh was
appointed abbot, but he was so often absent that the abbey would greatly
have suffered but for Heldrad, who acted as administrator with so much success
that he was elected abbot upon the death of Hugh. In this capacity he did
much for the monastery. Within the fortified enclosure he erected a tower,
the upper part of which served as a signaling-station, whilst the lower
part contained the treasures of the house and the famous library which was
his special care. Not satisfied with succouring travellers on the Mont Cenis
he established another hospice on the Lautaret Pass, now called the Monestier
de Briançon. St Heldrad’s death took place about 842. He was held
in such veneration that his relics were long carried in procession in the
valley of Novalese at Rogationtide, and his cultus was approved
in 1903.
Nearly all
that can be learnt about St Heldrad will be found collected in the volume
published by C. Cipolla, Monumenta Novalicensia Vetustiora (1898),
including a fragmentary rhythmical life which may possibly be assigned to
the ninth century and which is certainly not later than the tenth, and also
a prose life which had previously been printed in the Acta Sanctorum
(March, vol. ii) and elsewhere. This latter, according to Bethmann
(MGH., Scriptores, vol. vii, p. 73 n.), may be assigned to
the early eleventh century. A short poem addressed to Heldrad is printed
among the Poetae Latini Aevi Carolini, ii, p. 549.
Heldrad of Novalese, OSB Abbot (AC) (also known as Eldrad)
Born in Provence; cultus approved in 1904. Saint Heldrad spent his large
fortune in carrying out good works and then set out on a pilgrimage to Rome.
After hearing many good reports about the Benedictine abbey of Novalese at
the foot of the Alps from other pilgrims, Heldrad joined the community and
eventually became its abbot. He governed the monastery for 30 years.
The library was his special
concern, but he was also a great builder: he had a hospice erected at the
highest point of Mount Cenis pass (Benedictines).
Heldrad of Novalese, OSB Abbot
(AC) (also known as Eldrad)
Born in Provence; died 842; cultus approved in 1904. Saint
Heldrad spent his large fortune in carrying out good works and then set out
on a pilgrimage to Rome. After hearing many good reports about the Benedictine
abbey of Novalese at the foot of the Alps from other pilgrims, Heldrad joined
the community and eventually became its abbot. He governed the monastery
for 30 years.
The library was his special concern, but he was also a great
builder: he had a hospice erected at the highest point of Mount Cenis pass
(Benedictines).
|
857
St. Roderic priest at Cabra martyred during the persecution of Christians
by the Moors
Córdubæ
in Hispánia, sanctórum Mártyrum Ruderíci Presbyteri,
et Salomónis.
At Cordova in Spain,
the holy martyrs Ruderic, priest, and Solomon.
<> 857 SS. RODERIC AND SOLOMON,
MARTYRS
THE history of the two martyrs Roderic and Solomon has been preserved
for us by their contemporary St Eulogius, who wrote, either from his own
knowledge or from the testimony of eye-witnesses, the acts of all those who
perished before him in the persecution in which, as narrated above (March
11), he himself laid down his life. It must be acknowledged that these acts
give an unfavourable impression of the mentality of the general run of Christians
in Moorish Spain at that epoch. Families were divided, apostasy was common,
and the Moors themselves were scandalized at the unfaithfulness of Christians
and cast their laxity in their teeth. No wonder then that Eulogius begins
his book with the words, “In those days, by a just judgement of God, Spain
was oppressed by the Moors”. The story of St Roderic may serve as an illustration.
The martyr was a priest of
Cabra who had two brothers, one of whom had become a Mohammedan whilst the
other was a bad Christian who had practically abandoned his faith. One night
the two brothers fell into an altercation which became so heated that they
came to blows, and Roderic rushed in to separate them. Thereupon they both
turned on him and beat him until he fell senseless to the ground. The Mohammedan
then had him placed upon a litter and carried through the streets, whilst
he himself walked beside the stretcher proclaiming that Roderic had apostatized
and wished to be publicly recognized as a Mohammedan before he died.
The victim was too ill to speak, but he suffered great anguish of mind, and
as soon as he had recovered the use of his limbs he made his escape.
Not long afterwards, the Mohammedan
brother met him in the streets of Cordova and immediately haled him
before the kadi on the charge of having returned to the Christian faith after
having declared himself a Mohammedan. Roderic indignantly denied ever having
forsaken the Christian religion, but the kadi refused to believe him and cast
him into one of the vilest dungeons in the city. There he found another prisoner,
named Solomon, who had been confined there on the same charge. The two encouraged
each other during the long and weary imprisonment by which the kadi had
expected to wear out their constancy. As they remained inflexible, they
were separated, but when that also proved ineffectual they were condemned
and decapitated. St Eulogius, who saw their dead bodies exposed beside the
river, noticed that the guards threw into the stream the pebbles stained
with the martyrs’ blood lest the people should pick them up to preserve them
as relics.
Our primary
authority is the Apologeticus of St Eulogius, from which
the Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum
(March. vol. ii) have extracted the relevant passages. See also Florez,
España Sagrada, vol. xii, pp. 36 seq.
Roderic, also known as Ruderic, was a priest at Cabra, Spain during the
persecution of Christians by the Moors.
The Mohammedan brother then paraded
him through the streets proclaiming that he wished to become a Mohammedan.
He escaped but was denounced to the authorities by the same brother as an
apostate from Mohammedanism and imprisoned through he denied he had ever
given up his Christianity.
While in prison, he met a man named Solomon, also charged
with apostasy, and after a long imprisonment, they were both beheaded.
Roderic and Solomon MM (RM) (also
known as Rodriguez or Rudericus and Salomon) Roderic was a priest of Cabra
near Córdova. One of his brothers had become an Islamic; the other
was a lapsed Christian. One night his brothers got into a fight, and Roderic
tried to separate them. They turned on him and beat him unconscious. The
Islamic had him placed on a litter and carried through the streets, while
announcing Roderic had apostatized and wished to be recognized as an Islamic
before he died.
Roderic heard all this in anguish but was too injured to speak.
He escaped as soon as he was able. He ran into his Islamic brother on the
streets later, and the brother accused him to the kadi of having reverted
to Christianity after having declared himself an Islamic--an offense punishable
by death even though the Christians themselves were tolerated.
Roderick denied having ever embraced Islam, but the kadi did
not believe him and had him imprisoned in the most notorious prison in the
city.
There Roderic met another prisoner,
Solomon, who had been incarcerated for the same reason. They comforted each
other, while the kadi left them in prison for a long time, hoping to break
them down. They were separated after it was ascertained that they would hold
firm. Even alone, however, they remained stoic; they were condemned and
beheaded.
Saint Eulogius witnessed
the guards throw the bloodied pebbles into a stream so that the Christians
could not collect them as relics (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, White).
In art, Saint Roderic is portrayed as a priest in Mass vestments
holding a palm as an angel brings him a wreath of roses (Roeder). He is
venerated in Cabra and Cordova (Roeder).
|
1208 Blessed Peter
II of Cava "an enemy of all litigation" OSB Abbot (AC)
cultus confirmed in 1928. From 1195 until his death, Peter was the abbot
of Cava Monastery near Salerno. He is described as "an enemy of all litigation"
(Benedictines).
|
1236 Bl. Agnello of
Pisa admitted into Order by St. Francis himself
1236 BD AGNELLO OF PISA
THE founder
of the English Franciscan province, Bd. Agnello, was admitted into the order
by St Francis himself on the occasion of his sojourn in Pisa. He was sent
to the friary in Paris, of which he became the custos or
guardian, and in 1224 St Francis appointed him to found an English province,
although he was as yet only a deacon. Of the eight brothers selected to accompany
him three were Englishmen, but only one was in priest’s orders, namely,
Richard of Ingworth. True to the precepts of St Francis, they had no money,
and the monks of Fécamp paid their passage over to Dover. They made
Canterbury their first stopping-place, whence Richard of Ingworth, Richard
of Devon and two of the Italians went on to London to see where they could
settle. The rest were lodged at the Poor Priests’ House,
sleeping in a building which was used as a school by day. While the scholars
were there, the friars were penned up in a small room at the back, and only
after the boys had gone home could they come out and make a fire.
It was the winter of 1224,
and they must have suffered great discomfort, especially as their ordinary
fare was bread and a little beer, which was so thick that it had to be
diluted before they could swallow it. Nothing, however, damped their spirits,
and their simple piety, cheerfulness and enthusiasm soon won them many friends.
They were able to produce a commendatory letter from Pope Honorius III,
so that the archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, in announcing their
arrival, said, “Some religious have come to me calling themselves Penitents
of the Order of Assisi, but I call
them of the Order of the Apostles”: By this name they were at first known
in England, and when some of them were to be ordained acolytes at Canterbury
four months after landing, the archdeacon, in bidding the candidates come
forward, said, “Draw near, ye brothers of the Order of the Apostles”.
In the, meantime Richard of
Ingworth and his party had been well received in London and had hired a dwelling
on Cornhill. They were now ready to push on to Oxford, and Agnello came
from Canterbury to take charge of the London settlement. Everywhere the
friars were received with enthusiasm, and Matthew Paris himself attests that
Bd Agnello was on familiar terms with King Henry III. Although the minister
provincial was not himself a learned man, yet he established a teaching centre
which afterwards greatly influenced the university. To that school, in which
Grosseteste, afterwards bishop of Lincoln, was a lecturer, flocked numbers
of eager youths who were trained as friars and who, before many years were
over, helped to raise Oxford to a position hardly inferior to Paris as a centre
of learning.
Agnello seems to have died
at the age of forty-one, only eleven years after he landed at Dover, but
his reputation for sanctity and prudence stood high amongst his fellows. It
is stated that his zeal for poverty was so great that “he would never permit
any ground to be enlarged or any house to be built except as inevitable
necessity required”. In particular the story runs that he built the infirmary
at Oxford “in such humble fashion that the height of the walls did not much
exceed the height of a man”. During Mass and when saying the Divine Office
he shed tears continually, “yet so that neither by any noise nor by groans
nor by any contortion of the face could it be known that he wept”. He was
stern in resisting relaxations in the rule, but his gentleness and tact
led him to be chosen in 1233 to negotiate with the rebellious Earl Marshal.
His health is said to have been undermined by his efforts in this cause
and by a last painful journey to Italy. On his return he was seized with
dysentery at Oxford and died there, after crying out for three days, “Come,
sweetest Jesus”. The cult of Bd Agnello was confirmed in 1892 his feast
is observed in the archdiocese of Birmingham today and by the Friars Minor
on the 11th.
The narrative
of Thomas of Eccleston, De adventu Fratrum Minorum,
together with the Chronicle of Lanercost, and the De
conformitate of Bartholomew of Pisa are the
most reliable sources of information. See especially the translation of
Thomas of Eccleston with its appendixes, by Father Cuthbert, and the text
edited by A. G. Little. See also the last-named’s The Grey Friars
in Oxford (1891); E. Hutton, The Franciscans in England
(1933); and Father Gilbert, Bd Agnellus and the English Grey Friars (1937).
The founder of the English Franciscan province, Blessed Agnello,
was admitted into the Order by St. Francis himself on the occasion of his
sojourn in Pisa. He was sent to the Friary in Paris, of which he became
the guardian, and in 1224, St. Francis appointed him to found an English
province; at the time he was only a deacon. Eight others were selected to
accompany him.
True to the precepts of St. Francis, they had no money, and
the monks of Fecamp paid their passage over to Dover. They made Canterbury
their first stopping place, while Richard of Ingworth, Richard of Devon
and two of the Italians went on to London to see where they could settle.
It was the winter of 1224, and they must have suffered great discomfort,
especially as their ordinary fare was bread and a little beer, which was
so thick that it had to be diluted before they could swallow it. Nothing,
however, dampened their spirits, and their simple piety, cheerfulness and
enthusiasm soon won them many friends. They were able to produce a commendatory
letter from Pope Honorius III, so that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Steven
Langton, in announcing their arrival, said, "Some religious have come to
me calling themselves penitents of the Order of Assisi, but I called them
of the Order of the Apostles."
In the meantime, Richard of Ingworth and his party had been
well received in London and hired a dwelling on Cornhill. They were now
ready to push on to Oxford, and Agnello came from Canterbury to take charge
of the London settlement. Everywhere the Friars were received with enthusiasm,
and Matthew Paris himself attests that Blessed Agnello was on familiar terms
with King Henry III. Agnello is thought to have died at the age of forty-one,
only eleven years after he landed at Dover, but his reputation for sanctity
and prudence stood high amongst his fellows.
It is stated that his zeal for poverty was so great that "he
would never permit any ground to be enlarged or any house to be built except
as inevitable necessity required."
He was stern in resisting relaxations in the Rule, but his
gentleness and tact led him to be chosen in 1233 to negotiate with the rebellious
Earl Marshal. His health is said to have been undermined by his efforts in
this cause and by a last painful journey to Italy. Opon his return he was
seized with dysentery at Oxford and died there, after crying out for three
days, "Come, Sweetest Jesus."
The cult of Blessed Agnello was confirmed in 1892; his feast
is observed in the Archdiocese of Birmingham today and by the Friars Minor
on the eleventh.
Blessed Agnellus of Pisa, OFM (AC) Born in Pisa, Italy, in
1194; died at Oxford, England, 1236; cultus confirmed in 1892. Saint Francis
of Assisi himself received Agnellus as a Friar Minor and sent him to Paris
to open a new house. Francis later appointed him the first Franciscan provincial
in England.
Agnellus landed in Dover in 1224 and founded houses at Canterbury
and Oxford. He also spent time in London. He established a famous school
at Oxford (Benedictines).
1236 St. Agnellus of Pisa
Franciscan founder and diplomat. He was born in Pisa, a member
of the noble Agnelli clan. St. Francis of Assisi personally received Agnellus
into his order and sent him to Paris to start a Franciscan mission there.
Agnellus also attended the "Chapter of Mats" and was then sent by St. Francis
to England. Agnellus was only a deacon at the time. He and nine other Franciscans
landed in Dover on September 12, 1224. They obtained a house in Oxford and
began the Franciscan English Province. He became a friend of King Henry Ill
(r. 1216-1272), who admired the saint's purity and holiness, calling upon
Agnellus to avert a civil war between the throne and the Earl Marshal. Agnellus
worked to calm the situation, contracting a serious illness in the process.
He died in Oxford on May 7, 1236, and the body remained incorrupt, venerated
in Oxford until the reign of King Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547) and the dissolution
of the English religious houses.
Pope Leo XIII declared Agnellus' beatification in 1882.
|
Saints of this Day March 13 Tértio Idus Mártii.
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
Among the most important titles
we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are
Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can
be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of
the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October
7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the
most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim
navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square
in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership
in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim
forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual
battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was
a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between
good and evil.