62 Jakobus der Bruder
des Herrn (griech. adelphos kyriou) Markus 15,40 nennt Maria, die
Mutter Jakobus des Kleinen
Orthodoxe Kirche: 23. Oktober und 26.12. (Synaxis der Gottesmutter
Maria) (Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 3. Mai) (Anglikanische
Kirche: 1. Mai)
Markus 6, 3 und Petrus in Gal. 1, 19 nennen den Herrenbruder
(griech. adelphos kyriou) Jakobus. Die westliche Kirche setzt ihn mit
Jakobus Alphäus gleich, dies dürfte aber nach heutigen Forschungsergebnissen
nicht zutreffen. Markus 15,40 nennt Maria, die Mutter Jakobus des Kleinen.
Ob Jakobus der Sohn des Kleopas war, ist fraglich. Die orthodoxe Tradition
sieht ihn als Sohn Josefs von Nazareth aus seiner ersten Ehe mit Solomonia
und damit als Halbbruder Jesu. Er wird auch deutlich von Jakobus Zebedäus
und Jakobus Alphäus unterschieden und er soll Josef, Maria und
Jesus auf der Flucht nach Ägypten begleitet haben (deshalb auch
26.12. als Gedenktag).
Jakobus ist wohl erst durch die erfahrene Auferstehung Jesu
(1. Kor. 15, 17) zum Glauben gekommen. Er wurde dann aber schnell zu
einer tragenden Säule der Jerusalemer Gemeinde und nach Petrus
ihr zweiter Leiter (Gal 1,19; 2,9; Apg 12,17; 15,13-29; 21,18-25).
Von besonderer Bedeutung für die Heidenmission ist seine Stellungnahme
auf dem Apostelkonzil (Apg. 15, 19 ff.). Da er selber die jüdischen
Gesetze und Vorschriften streng einhielt, erhielt er in der judenchristlichen
Gemeinde den Beinamen 'der Gerechte'. Er wurde um 62 auf Veranlassung
des Hohepriesters gesteinigt und vermutlich mit einer Tuchwalkerstange
erschlagen. Der Jakobusbrief ist von ihm oder einem seiner Schüler
verfaßt worden. Auch soll Jakobus nach orthodoxer Tradition eine
Liturgie entwickelt haben, die Grundlage der heute verwendeten Liturgien
des Basilius und von Johannes Chrysostomus wurde.
|
Apostel Jakobus Alphäus
(der Jüngere)
Orthodoxe Kirche: 9. Oktober Katholische und Evangelische
Kirche: 3. Mai (mit Philippus) Anglikanische Kirche: 1. Mai (mit Philippus)
Jakobus Minor Jakobus der Jüngere
Ikonenzentrum Saweljew
Jakobus, der Sohn des Alphäus wird im
Neuen Testament nur in den Apostellisten genannt. Er war wohl nicht
der Bruder des Matthäus (der in Mark. 2, 14 auch als Sohn des
Alphäus angegeben wird). Er wird der Jüngere genannt, weil
er später berufen wurde als Jakobus Zebedäus. In der westlichen
Kirche wird er mit Jakobus dem Herrenbruder gleichgesetzt. Dadurch sind
auch die meisten Überlieferungen vermischt.
Weiterhin wird in der kirchlichen Tradition Jakobus
Alphäus mit Jakobus dem Kleinen, dem Sohn der Maria (Mark. 15,
40 u.a.) gleichgesetzt. Da Joh. 19,25 von Maria der Frau des Kleopas
spricht, wurde Jakobus Alphäus zum Sohn des Kleopas und Verwandten
Jesu (Matth. 13, 55). Diese Gleichsetzung, die erstmals von Hieronymus
aufgestellt und vom Konzil von Trient für verblndlich erklärt
wurde, ist wissenschaftlich kaum haltbar.
Nach orthodoxer Tradition missionierte Jakobus
gemeinsam mit Andreas und erlitt in Ägypten den Märtyrertod
am Kreuz. Nach einer anderen Legende (die aber wohl den Herrenbruder
Jakobus meint) wurde er gesteinigt und schließlich mit einer Tuchwalkerstange
erschlagen.
Der Festtag von Jakobus dem
Jüngeren wurde um 570 auf den 1. Mai gelegt, weil an diesem Tag die
Apostelkirche in Rom, die Reliquien von ihm und Philippus bewahrt, eingeweiht
wurde. 1956 erfolgte dann die Verlegung auf den 3. Mai, da am 1. Mai das
Fest von Josef dem Arbeiter eingeführt wurde.
St. James the Less, the author of the first Catholic
Epistle, was the son of Alphaeus of Cleophas. His mother Mary was
either a sister or a close relative of the Blessed Virgin, and for
that reason, according to Jewish custom, he was sometimes called the
brother of the Lord. The Apostle held a distinguished position in
the early Christian community of Jerusalem. St. Paul tells us he was
a witness of the Resurrection of Christ; he is also a "pillar" of the
Church, whom St. Paul consulted about the Gospel.
According to tradition, he was the first Bishop
of Jerusalem, and was at the Council of Jerusalem about the year 50.
The historians Eusebius and Hegesippus relayed that St. James was martyred
for the Faith by the Jews in the Spring of the year 62, although they
greatly esteemed his person and had given him the surname of "James the
Just."
Tradition has always recognized him as the author
of the Epistle that bears his name. Internal evidence based on the language,
style, and teaching of the Epistle reveals its author as a Jew familiar
with the Old Testament, and a Christian thoroughly grounded in the teachings
of the Gospel. External evidence from the early Fathers and Councils
of the Church confirmed its authenticity and canonicity.
The date of its writing cannot be determined exactly.
According to some scholars it was written about the year 49 A.D. Others,
however, claim it was written after St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans
(composed during the winter of 57-58 A.D.). It was probably written between
the years 60 and 62 A.D.
St. James addresses himself to the "twelve tribes
that are in the Dispersion," that is, to Christians outside Palestine;
but nothing in the Epistle indicates that he is thinking only of Jewish
Christians. St. James realizes full well the temptations and difficulties
they encounter in the midst of paganism, and as a spiritual father, he
endeavors to guide and direct them in the faith. Therefore, the burden
of his discourse is an exhortation to practical Christian living.
Apostlecalled “the Younger” or “the Just,” named
in the lists of the disciples given by Matthew, Mark, and Luke and
mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. He was the son of Alpheus and
was known as “the Less” merely as a means of distinguishing him
from James the Greater who was older or taller. According to Mark, he
stood with the woman Mary and Mary Magdalene at the Crucifixion; he is
also called by implication the son of the woman Mary. Little else is known
with certainty about him, unless one accepts the view that he is to be
identified with St. James, the Brother of the Lord, with whom he is often
confused. In liturgical art, he is depicted holding a book or a club. He
shares the same feast day as St. Philip.
|
Apostel Philippus
Orthodoxe Kirche: 14. November Katholische und Evangelische
Kirche: 3. Mai Anglikanische Kirche 1. Mai
Philippus aus Bethsaida wird im Neuen Testament mehrfach erwähnt.
Er scheint schon damals Kontakt zu griechischen Juden gehabt zu haben
(vgl. Joh. 12, 21), er und Andreas tragen als einzige Apostel griechische
Namen. Die Überlieferung zu seinem Wirken nach Pfingsten beruht
möglicherweise auf einer Verwechslung mit dem Diakon Philippus.
Nach der Überlieferung wirkte er zunächst in Galiläa,
ging dann mit seiner Schwester Mariam, die ihn auf allen Reisen begleitete,
nach Griechenland und missionierte hier in den jüdischen Gemeinden.
Nachdem ein Attentatsversuch des Jerusalemer Hohenpriesters fehlschlug,
setzte er Narkissos als Bischof von Athen ein und ging nach Parthien und
nach Syrien, wo er in Hieropolis Heros als Bischof einsetzte. Er missionierte
in vielen Landstrichen Kleinasiens und kam schließlich mit seiner
Schwester und Bartholomäus in das phrygische Hierapolis. Hier ließ
der Priester des heidnischen Schlangentempels die drei kreuzigen. Ein
Erdbeben warf alle Anwesenden zu Boden und Philippus bat Gott um das Ende
des Erdbebens und Rettung der Menschen. Die Heiden holten daraufhin die
drei Christen vom Kreuz herunter und bekehrten sich. Philippus aber war
bereits verstorben. Bartholomäus und Mariam beerdigten seinen Leichnam
und gingen nach Armenien, um hier weiter zu missionieren. Reliquien von
Philippus befanden sich zunächst in Hierapolis. Sie kamen dann nach
Konstantinopel und in die 12-Apostel-Kirche in Rom sowie an zahlreiche weitere
Orte. Sein Festtag wurde in der Westkirche auf den 1. Mai gelegt, da an
diesem Tag die 12-Apostel-Kirche geweiht wurde. Mit der Einführung des
Festes Josef der Arbeiter wurde das Fest 1956 auf den 3. Mai verlegt.
Philip was born in Bethsaida, Galilee. He may have been a
disciple of John the Baptist and is mentioned as one of the Apostles
in the lists of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and in Acts. Aside from the lists,
he is mentioned only in John in the New Testament. He was called by
Jesus Himself and brought Nathanael to Christ. Philip was present at
the miracle of the loaves and fishes, when he engaged in a brief dialogue
with the Lord, and was the Apostle approached by the Hellenistic Jews
from Bethsaida to introduce them to Jesus. Just before the Passion, Jesus
answered Philip's query to show them the Father, but no further mention
of Philip is made in the New Testament beyond his listing among the Apostles
awaiting the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room. According to tradition he preached
in Greece and was crucified upside down at Hierapolis under Emperor
Domitian.
|
How I Discovered the
Tomb of the Apostle Philip
Interview With Archaeologist Francesco
D'Andria By Renzo Allegri ROME, MAY 2, 2012 (Zenit.org).-
On May 3, the Church remembers
St. Philip and St. James the Less, two apostles who formed part of the Twelve.
Last summer the news broke that the Apostle Philip’s
tomb was found at Hierapolis, in Phrygia. “The value of this finding
is undoubtedly of a very high level,” says Professor Francesco D’Andria,
director of the archaeological mission that made the discovery. D’Andria
teaches archaeology at the University of Salento-Lecce and is the director
of the School of Specialization in Archaeology of that university. He
has been working in Hierapolis for more than 30 years, looking for St.
Philip’s tomb and, since the year 2000, he has been director of this mission.
We asked Professor D’Andria to speak to us about St.
Philip and the exceptional finding that he and his team of researchers
carried out. “Historical news on Saint Philip is scarce,” said D’Andria.
“From the Gospels we know that he was a native of Bethsaida, on Lake Gennesaret;
hence, he belonged to a family of fishermen.
John is the only evangelist who mentions him several times. In
the first chapter of his Gospel, he recounts that Philip entered the
group of the apostles from the beginning of Jesus’ public life, called
directly by the Master. In the order of calling, he is the fifth after
James, John, Andrew and Peter. In the sixth chapter, when he recounts
the miracle of the multiplication of loaves, John says that, before doing
this miracle, Jesus turned to Philip and asked him how all those people
could be fed, and Philip answered that 200 denarii worth of bread would
not be sufficient even to give a piece to each one.
And in Chapter 12, John says that after Jesus’ triumphal entrance
in Jerusalem, some Greeks wished to speak with the Master and went to
Philip.
And during the Last Supper, when Jesus spoke of the Father (“If
you had known me, you would have known my Father also”), Philip said:
“Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.”
From the Acts of the Apostles we know that Philip was present with
the others at the moment of Jesus’ Ascension and on the day of Pentecost,
when the descent of the Holy Spirit took place. Written information ceases
on that day. All the rest comes from Tradition.”
ZENIT: What does Tradition say in addition?
D’Andria: After Jesus’ death, the Apostles dispersed
through the world to spread the Gospel message. And, according to Tradition
and ancient documents written by the Holy Fathers, we know that Philip
carried out his mission in Scizia, in Lydia, and in the last days of his
life, in Hierapolis, in Phrygia.
In a letter written to Pope Victor I, Polycrates, who
toward the end of the second century was bishop of Ephesus, recalls the
important personalities of his Church, among them the Apostles Philip
and John. Of Philip, he said: “He was one of the twelve Apostles and
died in Hierapolis, as did two of his daughters who grew old in virginity
… Another daughter of his … was buried in Ephesus.”
“All scholars agree in considering that Polycrates’
information is absolutely reliable.
The Letter, which dates back to about 190 after Christ, 100 years
after Philip’s death, is a fundamental document for relations between
the Latin and the Greek Church.
It refers to the dispute about the date of the celebration
of Easter. And in that letter, Polycrates, who was patriarch of the
Greek Church, claims the nobility of the origins of the Church in Asia,
stating that just as the trophies (mortal remains) of Peter and Paul
are in Rome, the tombs of the Apostles Philip and John are in Asia.
Moreover, from that letter we know that Philip spent the last years of
his life in Hierapolis, with two of his three daughters, who undoubtedly
helped him in his work of evangelization.
In his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius of Caesarea says that
Papias, who was bishop of Hierapolis at the beginning of the third century,
knew Philip’s daughters and from them learned important details of the
Apostle’s life, among them also the account of a tremendous miracle:
the resurrection of a dead man.”
ZENIT: Is it known how and when the Apostle
died?
D’Andria: Most of the ancient documents state that
Philip died in Hierapolis, in the year 80 after Christ, when he was about
85. He died a martyr for his faith, crucified upside down like St. Peter.
He was buried in Hierapolis. In the ancient necropolis of that city an
inscription was found that alludes to a church dedicated to St. Philip.
On an unspecified date, Philip’s body was taken to Constantinople to
remove it from the danger of profanation by barbarians.
And in the sixth century, under Pope Pelagius I, it was taken
to Rome and buried, next to the Apostle James, in a church built specifically
for them. The Byzantine-style church, which was called “of Sts. James
and Philip,” was transformed in 1500 into a magnificent Renaissance
church, which is the present one called “Of the Holy Apostles.”
ZENIT: When did research begin on St.
Philip’s tomb in Hierapolis?
D’Andria: In 1957, thanks to professor Paolo Verzone,
who taught engineering at Turin’s Polytechnic and was very passionate
about archaeological research. An agreement was stipulated between
the Italian and Turkish Republics, which enabled our team of archaeologists
to carry out searches in Hierapolis. Professor Verzone was the first
director of that mission. He began immediately, of course, to look for
the Apostle Philip’s tomb. He concentrated the excavations on a monument
that was already visible in part and known as the church of St. Philip,
and he discovered an extraordinary octagonal church, a genuine masterpiece
of Byzantine architecture of the fifth century, with wonderful arches
in travertine stone.
All this complex of constructions made with so much
care and detail made one think that it was a great church of pilgrimage,
a very important shrine, and Professor Verzone identified it as the Martyrion,
namely the martyrial church of St. Philip. And therefore he thought
that it was built on the saint’s tomb. Hence he had several excavations
carried out in the area of the main altar, but he never found anything
that made one think of a tomb.
I myself thought the tomb was in the area of the church,
but in 2000, when I became director of the Italian archaeological mission
of Hierapolis, by concession of the Ministry of Culture of Turkey, I changed
my opinion.
ZENIT: Why? D’Andria: All excavations
carried out over so many years had no result. I also carried out research
through geo-physical explorations, that is, special explorations of
the subsoil, and not obtaining anything, I was convinced we had to look
elsewhere, still in the same area but in another direction.
ZENIT: And towards what did you direct your research?
D’Andria: My collaborators and I studied a series
of satellite photos of the area carefully, and the observations of a
group of brave topographers of the CNR-IBAM, directed by Giuseppe Scardozzi,
and we understood that the Martyrion, the octagonal church was the center
of a large and well-developed devotional complex. We identified a great
processional street that took the pilgrims of the city to the octagonal
church, the Martyrion at the top of the hill, the remains of a bridge that
enabled pilgrims to go across a valley through which a torrent flowed; we
say that at the foot of the hill there were stairs in travertine stone,
with wide ascending steps that led to the summit. At the bottom of
the stairs we identified another octagonal building that could not be seen
from the surface but only on satellite photos. We excavated around that building
and realized it was a thermal complex. This was an enlightening discovery
that made us understand that the whole hill was part of a course of pilgrimage
with several stages. Continuing our excavations, we found another flight
of steps that led directly to the Martyrion, and on the Square, next to
the Martyrion, there was a fountain where pilgrims did their ablutions with
water, and near there a small plain, in front of the Martyrion, where there
were vestiges of buildings. Professor Verzone had not dared to carry out
an excavation in that area because it was an immense heap of stones. In
2010, we began to do some cleaning and elements of extreme importance came
to light.
ZENIT: Of what sort?
D’Andria: A marble architrave of a ciborium with a
monogram on which the name Theodosius could be read. I thought it was
the name of the emperor and so that architrave made it possible to date
the martyrial church between the fourth and fifth centuries. Then, little
by little we found vestiges of an apse. Excavating and cleaning the floor,
a great church came to light. Whereas the floor of the Martyrion was octagonal,
this floor was that of a basilica, with three naves. A stupendous church
with marble capitals refined decorations, crosses, friezes, plant branches,
stylized palms in the niches and a central pavement with marble tesserae
with colored geometrical motifs: all referable to the fifth century,
namely, the age of the other church, the Martyrion. However, at the center
of this wonderful construction what enthused and moved us was something
disconcerting that left us breathless.
ZENIT: And it was?
D’Andria: A typical Roman tomb that went back to the
first century after Christ. In a certain sense, its presence could be
justified by the fact that in that area, before Christians built the proto-Byzantine
shrine, there was a Roman necropolis. However, examining its position
carefully, we realized that that Roman tomb was at the center of the
church. Hence, in the fifth century the church had been built precisely
around that pagan Roman tomb, to protect it, because, evidently, that
tomb was extremely important. And immediately we thought that perhaps
that could be the tomb where the body of St. Philip was placed after
his death.
ZENIT: And did you find confirmations
of this supposition?
D’Andria: Indeed. In the summer of 2011, we carried
out extensive excavation in the area of this church with the coordination
of Piera Caggia, research archaeologist of the IBAM-CNR, and extraordinary
elements emerged that confirmed are suppositions fully. The tomb was
included in a structure in which there is a platform that is reached
by a marble staircase. Pilgrims, entering in the narthex, went up to the
higher part of the tomb, where there was a place for prayer and they went
down on the opposite side. And we saw that the marble surface of the steps
was completely consumed by the steps of thousands upon thousands of people.
Hence, the tomb received an extraordinary tribute of veneration.
On the façade of the tomb, near the entrance,
there are nail holes which undoubtedly served to support an applied metallic
locking device. Moreover, there are grooves in the pavement that make
one think of an additional wooden door: all precautions that indicate
that in that tomb there was an inestimable treasure, namely, the apostle’s
body. And on the façade, on the walls there are numerous
graffiti with crosses, which in some way have consecrated the pagan tomb.
Excavating next to the tomb we found water baths for
individual immersions, which undoubtedly served for healings. After venerating
the tomb, sick pilgrims were submerged in the baths exactly as happens
in Lourdes. However, the main -- I would say mathematical -- confirmation
which attests, without a shadow of a doubt, that that construction is
really St. Philip’s tomb comes from a small object that is in the Museum
of Richmond in the United States. An object in which there are images that
up to now could not be fully deciphered, whereas now they have an obvious
significance.
ZENIT: What object is it?
D’Andria: it is a bronze seal about 10 centimeters
(four inches) in diameter, which served to authenticate St. Philip’s
bread to be distributed to pilgrims. Icons have been found that represent
St. Philip with a large loaf in his hand. And, to be distinguished from
ordinary bread, this bread was marked with the seal so that pilgrims would
know that it was a special bread, to be kept with devotion.
There are images on the seal. There is the figure
of a saint with a pilgrims’ cloak and an inscription that says “Saint
Philip.” On the border is a phrase in Greek, an ancient phrase of praise
to God: Agios o Theos, agios ischyros, agios athanatos, eleison imas
(Holy God, strong Holy One, immortal Holy One, have mercy on us). All
the specialists of Byzantine history who know that seal have always said
that it came from Hierapolis. However, what is most extraordinary is the
fact that the figure of the saint is presented between two buildings:
the one on the left is covered by a cupola, and it is understood that it
represents the octagonal Martyrion; the one on the right of the saint,
has a roof like the one of the church of three naves which we have now discovered.
The two buildings are at the top of a stairway. It seems that it was an
image of the complex then existing around St. Philip’s tomb. A photograph
made in the sixth century. Moreover, in the image of the seal there is an
emblematic element: a lamp hanging at the entrance, typical signs that served
to indicate a saint’s sepulcher. Hence, already indicated in that seal
is that the tomb was in the basilica church and not in the Martyrion.
ZENIT: You have made all these discoveries in recent
times.
D’Andria: I would say very recent times. We did so
between 2010 and 2011. Above all 2011 was the year of the greatest emotions
for us: we discovered the second church and Philip’s tomb. We concluded
a work begun 55 years ago. The news has gone around the world. And it
has attracted scholars and the curious to Hierapolis. Among others, at
the end of last August, hundreds of Chinese arrived, as well as numerous
Koreans and journalists of several nationalities.
Last Nov. 24, I had the honor of presenting the discovery,
at the Pontifical Archaeological Academy of Rome, to scholars and Vatican
representatives. Also Bartholomew the patriarch of Constantinople, primate
of the Orthodox Church, wished to receive me to know the details of
the discovery, and on Nov. 14, feast of St. Philip in the Orthodox Church,
he celebrated Mass precisely on the tomb found in Hierapolis. And I was
present, 1,000 thousand years, the chants of the Greek liturgy resounded
among the ruins of the church.
In the forthcoming months, we will take up the works
again and I am certain that other important surprises await us.
|
Sts. Philip and James
James, Son of Alphaeus: We know nothing of this
man but his name, and of course the fact that Jesus chose him to be
one of the 12 pillars of the New Israel, his Church. He is not the James
of Acts, son of Clopas, “brother” of Jesus and later bishop of Jerusalem
and the traditional author of the Letter of James. James, son of Alphaeus,
is also known as James the Lesser to avoid confusing him with James the
son of Zebedee, also an apostle and known as James the Greater.
Philip: Philip came from the same town as Peter
and Andrew, Bethsaida in Galilee. Jesus called him directly, whereupon
he sought out Nathanael and told him of the “one about whom Moses wrote”
(John 1:45).
Like the other apostles, Philip
took a long time coming to realize who Jesus was. On one occasion,
when Jesus saw the great multitude following him and wanted to give
them food, he asked Philip where they should buy bread for the people
to eat. St. John comments, “[Jesus] said this to test him, because he
himself knew what he was going to do” (John 6:6). Philip answered, “Two
hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them
to have a little [bit]” (John 6:7).
John’s story is not a put-down of Philip. It was
simply necessary for these men who were to be the foundation stones
of the Church to see the clear distinction between humanity’s total helplessness
apart from God and the human ability to be a bearer of divine power by
God’s gift.
On another occasion, we can almost hear the exasperation
in Jesus’ voice. After Thomas had complained that they did not know
where Jesus was going, Jesus said, “I am the way...If you know me, then
you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen
him” (John 14:6a, 7). Then Philip said, “Master, show us the Father,
and that will be enough for us” (John 14:8). Enough! Jesus answered, “Have
I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9a).
Possibly because Philip bore a Greek name or because
he was thought to be close to Jesus, some Gentile proselytes came to
him and asked him to introduce them to Jesus. Philip went to Andrew,
and Andrew went to Jesus. Jesus’ reply in John’s Gospel is indirect; Jesus
says that now his “hour” has come, that in a short time he will give his
life for Jew and Gentile alike.
Comment: As
in the case of the other apostles, we see in James and Philip human men who
became foundation stones of the Church, and we are reminded again that holiness
and its consequent apostolate are entirely the gift of God, not a matter
of human achieving. All power is God’s power, even the power of human freedom
to accept his gifts. “You will be clothed with power from on high,” Jesus
told Philip and the others. Their first commission had been to expel unclean
spirits, heal diseases, announce the kingdom. They learned, gradually, that
these externals were sacraments of an even greater miracle inside their persons—the
divine power to love like God.
Quote: “He sent
them...so that as sharers in his power they might make all peoples
his disciples, sanctifying and governing them.... They were fully confirmed
in this mission on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:1–26) in accordance
with the Lord’s promise: ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses for me...even to the very
ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8). By everywhere preaching the gospel (cf.
Mark 16:20), which was accepted by their hearers under the influence of
the Holy Spirit, the apostles gathered together the universal Church,
which the Lord established on the apostles and built upon blessed Peter,
their chief, Christ Jesus himself remaining the supreme cornerstone...”
(Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 19).
|
105
Romæ,
via Nomentána, pássio sanctórum Mártyrum
Alexándri Papæ Primi, Evéntii et Theodúli
Presbyterórum. Ex his Alexánder, sub Hadriáno
Príncipe et Aureliáno Júdice, post víncula,
cárceres, equúleum, úngulas et ignes, punctis crebérrimis
per tota membra confóssus ac perémptus est; Evéntius
vero et Theodúlus, post longos cárceres, ígnibus examináti,
ad últimum decolláti sunt. mere work
of fiction and historically worthless.
At Rome, on the Via Nomentana,
the holy martyrs Pope Alexander and the priests Eventius and Theodulus.
Alexander was bound, imprisoned, racked, lacerated with hooks, burned,
and had all his limbs pierced with pointed instruments, and finally met
death, under Emperor Hadrian and the judge Aurelian.
Eventius and Theodulus after a long imprisonment were exposed
to flames and then beheaded.
Alexander (I.) von
Rom Orthodoxe Kirche: 16. März Katholische Kirche: 3. Mai
113? SS. ALEXANDER, Eventius AND THEODULUS,
MARTYRS
IN the Roman Martyrology the second announcement for this
day, May 3, runs: “At Rome,
on the Via Nomentana, the passion of the holy martyrs Alexander the Pope,
Eventius and Theodulus, priests; whereof Alexander, after suffering fetters,
imprisonment, the rack and torture by hooks and the flame, was, under the
Emperor Hadrian and the judge Aurelian, pierced with many sharp points in
all his limbs, and slain, but Eventius and Theodulus, after long imprisonment,
were tried by fire and at last beheaded “.
Although the whole of this notice has practically speaking been repeated
in successive martyrologies for more than 1200 years, it unfortunately
reposes upon a so-called passio of the martyrs which
is a mere work of fiction and historically worthless. The Alexander
mentioned is assumed to have been the pope, but this is almost certainly
an error, In the Hieronymianum the name Eventius
stands first, and in a fragmentary inscription found in 1855 on the spot
indicated as that of the burial in the Via Nomentana, another name must
have come before Alexander’s; in neither is he styled episcopus.
There were, no doubt, three martyrs interred on this spot, but
we know nothing beyond their names. Of Pope Alexander I the Liber Pontificalis tells us very little. It attributes
to him the insertion of the clause, “Qui pridie
quam pateretur” in the canon of the Mass, and the custom of using holy
water in private houses, but if it indicates the seventh milestone along
the Via Nomentana as the place of his interment, it has borrowed this
from some recension of the quite unreliable passio.
The passio itself is printed in the Acta Sanctorum,
May, vol. i. But consult also Duchesne, Liber
Pontificalis, vol. i, p. xci; Quentin, Lea Martyrologes
historiques, p. 58 and passim; Delehaye,
CMH., pp. 227-228; and Marucchi, Il Cimitero e la Basilica
di S. Alessandro alla Via Nomentana (1922).
Alexander wurde wohl 105 Bischof von
Rom. Er hatte das Amt 10 Jahre inne und soll am 3. Mai 115 unter Kaiser
Trajan enthauptet worden sein. Nach anderen Quellen soll er 119 mit den
Priestern Eventius und Theodulus unter Kaiser Hadrian verbrannt worden
sein. Möglicherweise handelt es sich um einen anderen Alexander.
Als weiterer Märtyrer wird Quirinus genannt, der Patron von Neuss
(Gedenktag 30.3. und in Köln 30.4. vgl. Quirinus-Münster).
Von ihm wird berichtet, er sei der Kerkermeister Alexanders gewesen und
von diesem bekehrt worden.
Alexander I PM, Eventius, & Theodulus MM (RM)
Died c. 113. Died c. 113-119. Tradition relates that, after
a lengthy imprisonment, Pope Saint Alexander I and two priests, Eventius
and Theodulus, were burned and then beheaded during Hadrian's persecution.
During his imprisonment, Alexander is said to have brought Saint Quirinus
and his daughter Saint Balbina to the faith. Today's saints were buried
on the Via Nomentana near Rome. Their relics were later translated to
the church of Saint Sabina, which now belongs to the Dominicans. Although
called Pope Alexander in the Roman Martyrology, all sources agree that
this is probably an erroneous listing (Benedictines, Coulson, Delaney,
Husenbeth). In art, Pope Alexander wears a triple tiara and holds a
triple cross and book. His name is in the halo (Roeder).
|
|
286
SS. TIMOTHY AND MAURA, MARTYRS
The cruel
edicts of Diocletian against the Christians were enforced with great
severity in Upper Egypt by Arrian, the prefect of the Thebaid. Amongst
his victims were a young couple named Timothy and Maura, who were ardent
students of the Holy Scriptures, Timothy being a lector of the church
at Penapeis, near Antinoë. They had only been married twenty days
when Timothy was taken before the governor and bidden to deliver up the
sacred books that they might be publicly burned. Upon his refusal, red-hot
iron instruments were thrust into his ears, his eyelids were cut off and
other tortures applied to him. As he remained steadfast, Maura was sent
for that she might break down his resolution by her entreaties. Far from
obeying the governor’s orders, she declared herself willing to die with
her husband. Alter her hair had been torn out, she and Timothy were nailed
to a wall where they died, after lingering for nine days.
There was
a considerable cultus of these martyrs in the East, though
its introduction at Constantinople seems to have been relatively late. The
Greek “acts” have been printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May,
vol. i (appendix), but see also the Synaxarium Constantinopolitanum,
(ed. Delehaye), cc. 649—652.
|
313 Constantinópoli sanctórum Mártyrum
Alexándri mílitis, et Antonínæ Vírginis.
Hæc, in persecutióne Maximiáni, sub Prǽside Festo,
ad lupánar damnáta, et ab Alexándro, qui pro ipsa
ibi remánserat, mutátis véstibus clam edúcta,
cum eo póstmodum jussa est torquéri; et ambo simul in ignem,
præcísis mánibus, pro Christo sunt injécti,
atque ita, egrégio perácto certámine, coronántur.
At Constantinople, the holy martyrs Alexander,
soldier, and Antonina, virgin. In the persecution of Maximian,
under the governor Festus, Antonina, having been condemned to remain
in a place of debauchery, was delivered by Alexander, who secretly exchanged
garments with her, and took her place. They were tortured together,
both had their hands cut off, were cast into the fire, and received their
crowns at the end of their heroic combat for the faith.
Orthodoxe Kirche: 10. Juni
Katholische Kirche: 3. Mai
Während der Christenverfolgung unter Maximian
wurde 313 die Jungfrau Antonina verhaftet, vor den Gouverneur Festus
gebracht und nach der Folter ins Gefängnis geworfen. Alexander,
ein römischer Soldat, befreite sie (auf Anweisung eines Engels)
und nahm ihren Platz im Gefängnis ein. Als er vor Festus gebracht
und gefoltert wurde, trat Antonina zu ihm. Beiden wurden die Hände
abgeschlagen und sie wurden verbrannt.
Martyr
and soldier, who tried to shield a fellow Christian, St. Antonina.
Antonina was a hunted victim during the persecutions conducted under
the reign of Emperor Maximian. Alexander tried to change clothes with
Antonina so that he could escape from the Roman officials. They were
discovered, and both were condemned. They were tortured and burned to
death.
|
328 Kreuzfindung
Die Kaiserin und Mutter Konstantins Helena soll in Jerusalem das Kreuz
Christi gefunden haben.
Orthodoxe Kirche: 6. März Katholische Kirche: 3. Mai
Die Kaiserin und Mutter Konstantins Helena soll 328 in Jerusalem
das Kreuz Christi gefunden haben. Die "Legenda aurea" beginnt die Geschichte
des Kreuzes mit Seth, der aus dem Paradies einen Zweig vom Baum des
Lebens erhält und diesen auf Adams Grab pflanzt. Aus diesem Zweig
wuchs der Baum, aus dem das Kreuz Christi entstand. Helena soll drei Kreuze
gefunden haben, das Kreuz Christi erkannte sie dadurch, daß eine
Leiche, auf das "richtige" Kreuz gelegt, wieder lebendig wurde. Bruchstücke
und Splitter des Kreuzes finden sich in zahlreichen Kirchen. Auch in
Kloster Kirchberg befand sich bis 1865 ein Splitter des Kreuzes.
|
Kiev Caves Icon
of the Uspenie (Dormition) of the Most Holy Theotokos one of the most ancient
icons in the Russian Orthodox Church glorified by numerous miracles
The Kiev Caves Icon of the Dormition of the Most
Holy Theotokos is one of the most ancient icons in the Russian Orthodox
Church. The Mother of God entrusted it to four Byzantine architects,
who in 1073 brought the icon to Sts Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves.
The architects arrived at the monks' cave and asked, "Where do you want
to build the church?" The saints answered, "Go, the Lord will point out
the place."
"How is it that you, who are about to die, have
still not designated the place?" the architects wondered. "And they
gave us much gold."
Then the monks summoned all the brethren and they
began to question the Greeks, saying, "Tell us the truth. Who sent you,
and how did you end up here?"
The architects answered, "One day, when each of
us was asleep in his own home, handsome youths came to us at sunrise,
and said, 'The Queen summons you to Blachernae.' We all arrived at
the same time and, questioning one another we learned that each of us
had heard this command of the Queen, and that the youths had come to
each of us. Finally, we beheld the Queen of Heaven with a multitude of warriors.
We bowed down to Her, and She said,
'I
want to build Myself a Church in Rus, at Kiev, and so I ask you to
do this. Take enough gold for three years.'"
"We bowed down and asked, 'Lady Queen! You are
sending us to a foreign land. To whom are we sent?' She answered,
'I
send you to the monks Anthony and Theodosius.'"
"We wondered, 'Why then, Lady, do You give us gold
for three years? Tell us that which concerns us, what we shall eat
and what we shall drink, and tell us also what You know about it.'"
"The Queen replied,
'Anthony
will merely give the blessing, then depart from this world to eternal
repose. The other one, Theodosius, will follow him after two years. Therefore,
take enough gold. Moreover, no one can do what I shall do to honor
you. I shall give you what eye has not seen, what ear has not heard,
and what has not entered into the heart of man (1 Cor.2:9). I, Myself,
shall come to look upon the church and I shall dwell within it.'"
"She also gave
us relics of the holy martyrs Menignus, Polyeuctus, Leontius, Acacius,
Arethas, James, and Theodore, saying,
'Place these within
the foundation.'
We took more than
enough gold, and She said,
'Come out and see
the resplendant church.'
We went out and
saw a church in the air. Coming inside again, we bowed down and said,
'Lady Queen, what will be the name of the church?'"
"She answered,
'I wish to call
it by My own name.'
We did not dare
to ask what Her name was, but She said again,
'It will be
the church of the Mother of God.'
After giving us
this icon, She said,
'This will be placed
within.'
We bowed down
to Her and went to our own homes, taking with us the icon we received
from the hands of the Queen."
Having heard this account, all
glorified God, and St Anthony said, "My children, we never left this
place. Those handsome youths summoning you were holy angels, and the
Queen in Blachernae was the Most Holy Theotokos. As for those who appeared
to be us, and the gold they gave you, the Lord only knows how He deigned
to do this with His servants. Blessed be your arrival! You are in good
company: the venerable icon of the Lady." For three days St Anthony prayed
that the Lord would show him the place for the church.
After the first night there was a dew throughout
all the land, but it was dry on the holy spot. On the second morning
throughout all the land it was dry, but on the holy spot it was wet
with dew. On the third morning, they prayed and blessed the place, and
measured the width and length of the church with a golden sash. (This
sash had been brought long ago by the Varangian Shimon, who had a vision
about the building of a church.) A bolt of lightning, falling from heaven
by the prayer of St Anthony, indicated that this spot was pleasing to God.
So the foundation of the church was laid.
The icon of the Mother of God was glorified by
numerous miracles.
Two friends, John and Sergius,
sealed their friendship before it. After many years John fell mortally
ill. He gave part of his wealth to the the Caves monastery, and he
gave Sergius the portion for his five-year-old son for safekeeping.
He also entrusted his son Zachariah to his guardianship. When Zachariah
turned fifteen, he asked for his inheritance, but Sergius persisted in
saying that John had distributed everything to the poor. He even went into
the Dormition church and swore before the wonderworking icon that he had
taken nothing.
When he attempted to kiss the icon, he was not
able to come near it. He went to the doors and suddenly shouted, "Sts
Anthony and Theodosius! Let me not be struck down for my dishonesty.
Entreat the Most Holy Theotokos to drive away the multitude of demons
which torment me. Let the gold and silver be taken away. It is sealed
up in my granary." Zachariah gave away all his inheritance to the Caves
monastery, where he also himself was tonsured a monk. From that time,
no one would take oaths before the wonderworking icon (March 24).
More than once the icon defended the land from
enemy invasion. In 1677, when the Turks laid siege to Chigirin and
danger threatened Kiev, they carried the icon around the city for almost
the entire day of August 27. The Mother of God blessed Russian armies
going to the Battle of Poltava (1709). In 1812 they carried the icon
around Kiev again. The icon is commemorated twice during the year:
May 3 and August 15 .
|
286
Saints Timothy {from village of Perapa --Egyptian Thebaid} and Maura
("Let no one defend me. I have one Defender, God, in Whom I trust.") suffered for the faith under
governor Arian
In Thebáide sanctórum Mártyrum Timóthei
et Mauræ cónjugis, quos Ariánus Præféctus,
post multa torménta, cruci jussit affígi; in qua, per novem
dies cum vivi pependíssent ac se ipsos in fide roborássent,
martyrium consummárunt.
In Thebais, the holy martyrs Timothy and
his wife Maura. The Arian prefect caused them to be tortured,
and then fastened to a cross, on which they remained alive for nine
days, encouraging each other to persevere in the faith, until they completed
their martyrdom.Wonderworking icon of St Maura
Timotheus und Maura Orthodoxe Kirche: 3. Mai
Timotheus stammte aus der Thebais in Ägypten.
Er war Sohn eines Priesters und wurde Lektor und war mit der Pflege
der Gottesdienstbücher betraut. Kaiser Diokletian (284 - 305) hatte
die Verbrennung aller christlichen Bücher angeordnet und Timotheus
wurde verhaftet und schwer gefoltert, um die Bücher herauszugeben.
Er blieb aber standhaft und daraufhin wurde seine junge Ehefrau Maura,
mit der er seit 20 Tagen verheiratet war, ebenfalls gefoltert. Da beide
weiterhin ihren christlichen Glauben bekannten, wurden sie 286 gekreuzigt.
Ihre Verehrung begann kurze Zeit später in Konstantinopel, wo ihnen
auch eine Kirche erbaut wurde.
Saints Timothy and Maura suffered for the faith
during the persecution under the emperor Diocletian (284-305)
St Timothy came from the village of Perapa (Egyptian
Thebaid), and was the son of a priest named Pikolpossos. He was made
a reader among the church clergy, and also a keeper and copyist of
divine service books. St Timothy was denounced as a keeper of Christian
books, which the emperor ordered to be confiscated and burned. They
brought St Timothy before the governor Arian, who demanded that he hand
over the sacred books. They subjected the saint to horrible tortures
for his refusal to obey the command. They shoved two red-hot iron rods
into his ears, from which the sufferer lost his eyesight and became blind.
St Timothy bravely endured the pain and he gave
thanks to God, for granting him to suffer for Him. The torturers hung
the saint head downwards, putting a piece of wood in his mouth, and they
tied a heavy stone to his neck. St Timothy's suffering was so extreme,
that even those who tortured him implored the governor to ease up on the
torture.
About this time they informed
Arian that Timothy had a young wife named Maura, whom he had married
only twenty days before. Arian ordered Maura to be brought, hoping
that with her present, they could break St Timothy's will. St Timothy
urged his wife not to fear the tortures, but to follow his path. St
Maura answered, "I am prepared to die with you," and she boldly confessed
herself a Christian. Arian commanded that the hair be torn from her
head, and to cut the fingers off her hands.
St Maura underwent the torment with joy and even
thanked the governor for the torture, which she endured so that her
sins might be forgiven.
Then Arian gave orders to throw
St Maura into a boiling cauldron, but she did not feel any pain, and
she remained unharmed. Suspecting that the servants had filled the cauldron
with cold water out of sympathy for the martyr, Arian went up and ordered
the saint to splash him on the hand with water from the cauldron. When
the martyr did this, Arian screamed with pain and drew back his scalded
hand. Then, momentarily admitting the power of the miracle, Arian confessed
God in Whom Maura believed as the True God, and he ordered her to be released.
But the devil still held great power over the governor, and soon he
again began to urge St Maura to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Having
gotten nowhere, Arian was overcome all the more by a satanic rage and
he came up with new tortures. Then the people began to murmur and demand
a stop to the abuse of this innocent woman. But St Maura, turning to the
people, said, "Let no one defend me. I have one Defender, God, in Whom
I trust."
Finally, after torturing them for a long time,
Arian ordered the martyrs to be crucified. For ten days they hung
on crosses facing each other.
On the tenth day of martyrdom
the saints offered up their souls to the Lord. This occurred in the
year 286.
Later, a solemn celebration of the holy martyrs
Timothy and Maura was instituted at Constantinople, and a church was
built in their honor.
On the first Sunday of July, we commemorate the
discovery of a wonderworking icon of St Maura in the town of Machairado
on the island of Zakynthos.
|
300
Xenia von Kalamas Ihre Eltern erzogen sie im christlichen Glauben und
sie führte ein klösterliches Leben auf dem Hof ihrer Eltern
Orthodoxe Kirche: 3. Mai
Xenia wurde Ende des 3. Jahrhunderts im Süden Griechenlands
geboren. Ihre Eltern erzogen sie im christlichen Glauben und sie führte
ein klösterliches Leben auf dem Hof ihrer Eltern. Der Eparch Dometian
wollte sie heiraten, aber sie lehnte das Angebot ab, da er nicht Christ
werden wollte. Dometian ließ sie daraufhin verhaften, foltern und
hinrichten. Viele Wunder werden Xenia zugeschrieben und sie wird besonders
bei Herzkrankheiten und pschysichen Erkrankungen um Hilfe angerufen.
326
THE FINDING OF THE HOLY CROSS
AD 326 MAY III THE INVENTION OR DISCOVERY OF
THE HOLY CROSS.
From St. Cyril of Jerusalem cat. 10; St. Paulinus,
ep. 31, p. 193; St. Sulpicius Severus, St. Ambrose, St.
Crisostomo, Rufinus, Theodoret, Socrates, and Sozomen
See Tillemont, t.7, p 6, on St. Helena.
GOD having restored peace to his church, by exalting Constantine
the Great to the imperial throne, that pious prince, who had triumphed over
his enemies by the miraculous power of the cross, was- very desirous of expressing
his veneration for the holy places which had been honored and sanctified by
the presence and sufferings of our blessed Redeemer on earth. He accordingly
came to a resolution to build a magnificent church in the city of Jerusalem,
as the place which had been most honored by the presence, the instructions
and miracles, of the Son of God. St. Helena,
the emperor's mother, out of a desire of visiting the holy places there, undertook
a journey into Palestine in 326, though at that time near eighty years of
age and on her arrival at Jerusalem, was inspired with a great desire to
find the identical cross on which Christ had suffered for our sins.
But there was no mark or tradition, even among the Christians, where it lay.
The heathens, out of an aversion to Christianity, had done what they could
to conceal the place where our Saviour was buried. They had heaped upon
it a great quantity of stones and rubbish, besides building a temple to Venus
that those who came thither to adore him, might seem to pay their worship
to a marble idol representing this false deity. They had moreover erected
a statue of Jupiter in the place where our Saviour rose from the dead, as
we are informed by St. Jerome; which figure continued there from the Emperor
Adrian's time to Constantine’s: which precautions of the persecutor’s show
the veneration which Christians paid from the beginning to the instruments
of our Redemption. Helena, being
willing to spare no pains to compass her pious design, consulted all people
at Jerusalem and near it, whom she thought likely to assist her in finding
out the cross; and was credibly informed, that if she could find out the sepulcher,
she would likewise find the instruments of the punishment; it being always
the custom among the Jews to make a great hole near the place where the body
of the criminal was buried, and to throw into it whatever belonged to his
execution looking upon all these things as detestable objects, and
which for that reason ought to be removed out of sight. The pious empress
therefore ordered the profane buildings to be pulled down, the statues to
be broken in pieces, and the rubbish to be removed; and upon digging to a
great depth, they discovered the holy sepulcher, and near it three crosses,
also the nails which had pierced our Savior’s body, and the title which had
been fixed to his cross. By this discovery, they understood that one
of the three crosses was that which they were in quest of, and that the other
two belonged to the two malefactors between whom our Saviour had been crucified.
But, whereas the title was found separate from the cross, a difficulty remained
to distinguish which of the three was that on which our Divine Redeemer consummated
his sacrifice for the salvation of the world. In this perplexity the
holy bishop Macarius, knowing that one of the principal ladies of the city
lay extremely ill, suggested to the empress to cause the three crosses to
be carried to the sick person, not doubting but God would discover which
the cross they sought for was. This being done, St. Macarius prayed that
God would have regard to their faith, and after his prayer, applied the crosses
singly to the patient, who was immediately and perfectly recovered by the
touch of one of the three crosses, the other two having been tried without
effect. St. Helena, full of joy for having found the treasure which
she had so earnestly sought and so highly esteemed, built church on the spot,
and lodged it there with great veneration having provided an extraordinary
rich case for it. She afterwards carried part of it to the emperor
Constantine, then at Constantinople, who received it with great veneration;*
another part she sent or rather carried to Rome, to be placed in the church
which she built there, called Of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, where it remains
to this day. The discovery of the cross must have happened about the month
of May, or early in the spring. For St. Helena went the same year to
Constantinople, and from thence to Rome, where she died in the arms of her
son, on the 18th of August, 326, as Pagi demonstrates, from Eusebius and
Gothefridus. The title was sent by St. Helena, to the see church in
Rome, and reposited on the top of an arch, where it was found in a case of
lead, in 1492, as may he read at Length in Bozius 2 Tr. to truce, I. I, c.
C. 2. The inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, is in red letters, and
the wood was whitened. Thus it was in 1492 but these colors are
since faded. Also the words Jesus and Judaernum are eaten away.
The board is nine, but must have been twelve inches long." 3 see Lipsius
de Cruce, 1. 3, c. 1 4.
The main part of the cross St. Helena enclosed in a silver shrine,
and committed it to the care of St. Macarius, that it might be delivered down
to posterity as an object of veneration. It was accordingly kept
with singular care and respect in the magnificent church which she and her
son built in Jerusalem. See the lives of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Porphyrius
of Gaza, & c. St. Paulinus, in his epistle to Severus, relates that though
chips were almost daily cut off from it and given to devout persons, yet
the sacred wood suffered thereby no diminution. It is affirmed by St. Cyril
of Jerusalem, twenty-five years after the discovery, that pieces of the cross
were spread all over the earth he compares this wonder to the miraculous feeding
of five thousand men, as recorded in the gospel. Read Gretzer On the
Cross. The stalely church which Constantine the Great built at Jerusalem,
the rich ornaments of which are mentioned by Eusebius, was called the Basilic
of the Holy Cross, because it possessed this precious treasure the keeper
of which was always a venerable, priest. It was shown publicly to the people
at Easter. The same was also called the church of the sepulcher or of
the resurrection though this was properly only the title of the holy chapel
in it, which stood over the sepulcher or cavern in which our Saviour was buried,
which was in the garden adjoining to Mount Calvary: so that this great church
covered the sepulcher, and was extended so far on Mount Calvary as also to
include the rock Golgotha, and the very place where the cross of Christ stood
at his crucifixion.* This extensive building was enclosed within the
walls of Jerusalem, when that city was rebuilt. Constantine also built
a church upon Mount Olivet over the spot from which our Saviour ascended
into heaven. This place was venerated by Christians from the very time of
his death, as much as the fear of their enemies would permit. And this
may account for the industry of the pagans in filling up the sepulcher or
cavern with stories, heaping rubbish over it to a considerable height, and
setting up the most infamous of their idols over it, that the Christians might
seem to worship a Venus, when they came hither to pay their homage to Jesus
Christ. We find the Festival of the Invention, or the discovery of the Cross,
solemnized in the Latin Church ever since the fifth or sixth century. The
finding of the cross by St. Helena happened in the year of our Lord 326,
in the twenty-first year of Constantine's reign, the thirteenth of the pontificate
of Sylvester, and the first after the council of Nice.
The feast of the Exaltation of the Cross was kept in May, from the time that
it was triumphantly placed by St. Helena in the church at Jerusalem, upon
its discovery in 326, which continued to the year 335, when the great church
of the Resurrection was built at Jerusalem by the orders of Constantine the
Great, and dedicated on the 13th of September that year, as St. Sophonius,
(Or. de Exalt. S. Crucis in Bibi. Fatr. Colon. t. 7,) Nicephorus, and the
Typic of St. Sabas mention. The cross was exalted or set up in that
church the day following, which was Sunday. Hence both the Greeks and
Latins kept this feast on the 14th of September and St. Chrysostom's death
is related to have happened on this festival. After the recovery of the cross
by Heraclius, this festival began to he kept in the Eastern Church with greater
solemnity and a fast. At Jerusalem the cross was shown to the people
to be adored on Easter Monday, and also in the middle of Lent, as we learn
from St. Sophronius, St. Paulinus, &c. In the Latin Church, this was celebrated
on the 3d of May; whether this was the day of the Discovery of the Cross
by St. Helena, or of Constantine's vision or victory, or of the dedication
of the church of the Holy Cross at Rome, is uncertain.
The cross was chosen by our dear Redeemer to be the glorious instrument
of his victory and triumph over the devil and sin and by his death thereon
he has purchased for us redemption, grace, and glory.
The cross ma his holy standard, under which all his followers fight his battles;
and, according to the holy fathers, will be borne before him in a triumphant
manner, when he shall come in glory to judge the world.
The church professes a very high regard and veneration
fin this mysterious and salutary sign, giving it an honorable place in her
churches, making frequent use of it in her holy offices, in the administration
of the sacraments, and on many other occasions in which particulars she imitates
the earliest and purest ages of Christianity. It is the remark
of St. Jerom, "that if the ark was held in such high veneration among the
Jews, how much more ought the Christians to respect the wood of the cross,
whereon our Saviour offered himself a bleeding victim for our sins?" By devoutly
respecting the sign of the cross, we profess our faith in Christ, who was
crucified for us; we excite our hope in his merits, kindle his love in our
breasts, renew the remembrance of his sacred death, and inflame our meditations
on his adorable passion, in which we learn all virtue amid all spiritual knowledge.
What obedience are we here taught! Seeing Christ himself learned obedience
Jerome these things which he suffered. What love of God and our neighbor!
Seeing Jesus has sprinkled his cross with his blood to seal his new alliance
of charity, and to inculcate his own law and a new commandment. What patience
do we here learn! What meekness and humility. The two things which
Jesus command us particularly to learn of him. And it is on the cross and
in his sacred passion that he has principally set us the must moving example,
and pressed upon us the most endearing precepts of these virtues. Whence,
assiduous meditation on the sufferings of Christ. is the great school a Christian
perfection. All the saints found in it their comfort and their joy;
in it they
continually feasted their souls with the most sweet frits of love and devotion;
in it they learned to die perfectly to themselves and entered into the sentiments
of Christ crucified:' here they stirred up their souls to perfect compunction;
and placing themselves in spirit under she cross of their divine Redeemer,
they offered their tears and earnest supplications to the Father, through
the Son, who made himself our sacrifice on this tree: I have seated myself
'under the shade of him whom I desired, and his fruit was sweet
to my palate. Where did St. Bernard learn his eminent spirit
of devotion but in the meditation on Christ's sufferings? Where
did the glorious St. Austin glean his spiritual science, but, as he himself
tells us, in the wounds of his Redeemer? It was in them
that the admirable St. Francis conceived his seraphic ardors. St. Thomas
Aquinas studied his sacred science and virtue in the book of the cross, and
always had recourse to God at the foot of the crucifix. "St. Bonaventure
seems," says St. Francis of Sales, "when he writes the spiritual breathings
of his heart, all inflamed with love; to have no other paper than the cross,
no other pen than the lance, no other ink than what is dipped in the precious
blood of Christ. With what feeling sentiments did he cry out: it is
good always to abide in spirit before the cross! Let us make to ourselves
three tabernacles in the wounds of our crucified Redeemer, one in his feet,
another in his hands, a third in his sacred side. Her will I rest;
here will I watch; here will I read; here will I converse. “St. Paul, who
was very learned, esteemed all his other science as nothing, and looked on
the knowledge of Jesus Christ crucified as his only learning. I judged not
myself to know anything among you but Jesus
Christ, and him crucified." By being instructed in this mystery, and
having the sentiments of Christ crucified deeply impressed upon his heart,
he knew all that he wished to know: it was his only solicitude and desire
daily to improve himself in this one science." The same apostle, in
the transport of his ardent love of the cross, cried out: God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. To glory in a thing
is to love it, to esteem it, to place in it our greatness and happiness.
"Everyone glories in those things in which he places his greatness," as St.
Thomas says. The sacred passion of Christ is the source of all our happiness
and good, and the perfect model and school of all virtue. If it be the
tender object of our devotion, if we love, and desire always to meditate on
our Redeemer crucified for us, the sacred instrument of his triumph, the ensign
and trophy of his precious victory, and the principal emblem of his sufferings
which it represents to us, and strongly paints before our eyes, must be always
dear and most amiable to us.
7 See Tort, do (airon. amlitmis.
S [mcmi'. v.8.
4 ltp. 12.
5 Cal. 4, 10, 13. 6 Vit- eotstaut. ~, 3.
2 Tr. to truce, I. I, c.
C.
3 see Lipsius de Cruce, 1. 3, c. 1 4.
It was out of a religious respect to the sacred
Christi instrument of the death of Christ; that Constantine
Sozomen, Theodoret, Rufinus.
Fly under persecutions. His treatise On Synods, in 359, gives some
account of what had pasted in those of Seleucia and Rimini. His
tome, or Letter, to the church of Antioch, was written by him from his council
at Alexandria, in 362, to exhort all to union, and to receive the Arians who
were converted only requiring from them a profession of the Nicene faith,
and of the divinity of the Holy Ghost. The life of St. Anthony was written
in 365. His letter to the emperor Jovian two letters to St. Orsisius, abbot
of Tabenna, and several other epistles, are extant. His book
the incarnation and against the Arians proves also the divinity of the Holy
Ghost; and was written after the year 300. His two books against Apollinaris
appeared about the year 372. His imperfect commentary on the Psalms
shows his extraordinary abilities for that kind of writing. The fragments
On St. Matthew are judged genuine by Montfaucon, (in Collect. Parr,) but
appear doubtful to Tournely and some others. The book On the Incarnation of
the Word of God: that, For the Consubstantiality of the Three Person: that,
On Virginity, and excellent work: the Synopsis of the scriptures, also very
well penned, and judged genuine by Tillemont &c. are personally ranked
among his doubtful works. The history of a crucifix bleeding, when
pierced by the Jews of Berytus, is a mean performance; Baronius attributes
it to one Athanasius’s of Syria. The Creed which bears the name
of St. Athanasius can only deserve that title, because it explains the mystery
of the Trinity, which he expounded and maintained with such zeal. It was compiled
in Latin in the fifth century. Dr. Waterland hath made a learned collection
of what several judicious critics have written on this subject, in his dissertation
concerning this Creed.
THE feast of the Inventio, that is to
say the discovery, of the Holy Cross, which is kept on May 3 with the
rite of a double of the second class, would seem to take precedence
of the September feast, the “Exaltation”, which is only observed as a
greater double. There is, however, a good deal of evidence which suggests
that the September feast is the more primitive celebration, and that
a certain confusion has arisen between the two incidents in the history
of the Holy Cross which these festivals purport to commemorate. Strictly
speaking, neither of them seems at first to have been directly connected
with the discovery of the cross. The September feast took its rise from
the solemn dedication in A.D. 335 of the churches which Constantine, encouraged
by his mother, St Helen, had caused to be built on the site of the Holy
Sepulchre. We cannot be sure that the dedication was carried out precisely
on September 14. The month, however, was September, and seeing that in
the time of the pilgrim Etheria, fifty years later, the annual commemoration
of this inaugurating ceremony lasted for a week, there is clearly no
reason to be particular to a day or two. In any case, Etheria herself
tells us: “The dedication of these holy churches is therefore celebrated
with the highest honour, and also because the cross of our Lord was found
on this same day. And it was so ordained that, when the holy churches above
mentioned were consecrated, that should also be the day when the cross
of our Lord had been found, in order that the whole celebration should
be made together, with all rejoicing, on the self-same day.” From this
it would follow that the discovery of the cross was honoured at Jerusalem
in September, and the pilgrim Theodosius, about A.D. 530, speaking expressly
of the inventio crucis, bears witness to the same fact.
But at present we commemorate in September an entirely different
event, to wit, the recovery in 629 by the Emperor Heraclius of the relics
of the cross which some years before had been carried off from Jerusalem
by Chosroes II, King of Persia. The Roman Martyrology and the lessons
of the Breviary are explicit on the point. There is, however, reason
to think that under the style “Exaltation of the Cross” we have reference
to the physical act of the lifting of the sacred relic when it was exhibited
for the veneration of the people, and it is also probable that this designation
was used in connection with the feast before the time of Heraclius.
As
for the actual finding, with which we are here concerned, there is a
distressing absence of early information. The Pilgrim of Bordeaux, in
333, says nothing of the cross. Eusebius, the historian, from whom, as
a contemporary, we should have expected to learn much, makes no reference
to the discovery, though he seems to know about the three separate places
of worship within the Holy Sepulchre precincts. Thus, in stating that
Constantine “adorned a shrine sacred to the salutary emblem”, he may well
be supposed to refer to that chapel, “Golgotha”, in which as Etheria tells
us, the relics of the cross were preserved.
St Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, in his catechetical lectures
which were delivered, about the year 346, on the very site where our
Saviour was crucified, refers more than once to the wood of the cross.
“It has been distributed”, he declares, “fragment by fragment, from this
spot and has already nearly filled the world.” Furthermore, in his letter
to Constantius, he expressly states that “the saving wood of the cross
was found at Jerusalem in the time of Constantine”. In all this there
is no mention of St Helen, who died in 330. The first, perhaps, to ascribe
the discovery to her active intervention is St Ambrose, in his sermon
De Obitu Theodosii, preached in 395; but about that date
or a little later we find many others, John Chrysostom, Rufinus, Paulinus
of Nola, and Cassiodorus, together with the church historians Socrates
Sozomen and Theodoret—but notably not St Jerome, who lived on the spot—all
repeating similar stories of the recovery of the cross in which St Helen
plays a principal part.
Unfortunately, the details of these accounts
are by no means always in agreement. St Ambrose and St John Chrysostom
inform us that in the excavations which were undertaken at the instance
of St Helen, three crosses were discovered. They add that to the one in
the middle the “title” was still attached, and that in this way our Saviour’s
cross was clearly identified.
On the other hand, Rufinus, who is followed in this by Socrates,
reports that in accordance with a special inspiration St Helen directed
that excavations should be made in a certain place, that three crosses
were found and an inscription, but there was no way of deciding to which
of the three the inscription belonged. The bishop of Jerusalem, Macarius,
thereupon had a dying woman brought to the spot. She was made to touch
the three crosses, and at the contact of the third she was healed, so that
it was made plain to all that this was the cross of our Saviour. There are
other divergences, at about the same date, regarding the miracle of healing
by which the true cross was identified, the finding and disposal of the
nails, etc. On the whole, it seems probable that the statements made more
than sixty years after the event by writers bent mainly on edification were
a good deal influenced by certain apocryphal documents which must already
have been in circulation.
The most notable
of these is the tractate De inventione crucis dominicae
which is mentioned (c. 550) in the pseudo-Gelasian decree De recipiendis
et non recipiendis libris as a writing to be regarded with mistrust.
There can be no doubt that this little tractate was widely read. The
compiler of the first redaction of the Liber Pontificalis
(c. A.D. 532) must
have had it in his hands, and he quotes from it in the account he gives
of Pope Eusebius. It must also have been known to those who blunderingly
revised the Hieronymianum at Auxerre early in the seventh
century.*[* It is curious to find Mgr Duchesne stating in his Origines (Christian Worship, p. 275, n. 2 and cf. the Liber Pontificalis,
vol. i, p. 378, n. 29) that “in the Epternach MS. there is
no mention of this festival of the cross”. It occurs there on May 7,
and also on the same day in St Willibrord’s Calendar. ]
Neglecting the anachronisms in which
the narrative abounds, the story in brief runs thus. The Emperor Constantine,
in conflict with hordes of barbarians on the Danube, was in grave danger
of defeat. There appeared to him, however, a vision of a brilliant cross
in the sky, with the legend “In this sign thou shalt conquer”. He was thereupon victorious, was instructed and baptized by
Pope Eusebius in Rome, and out of gratitude despatched
his mother, St Helen, to Jerusalem, to search for the relics of the
holy cross. All the inhabitants professed ignorance of its whereabouts,
but at last, by dint of threats she prevailed upon a learned Jew named
Judas to reveal what he knew. They dug twenty fathoms deep and discovered
three crosses. The identity of the true cross is determined by its raising
a dead man to life. Judas is thereupon converted, and, as the bishop of
Jerusalem happened just then to die, St Helen selects this new convert,
who is henceforth called Cyriacus, or Quiriacus, to govern that see in
his place. Pope Eusebius is summoned from Rome to Jerusalem to consecrate
him bishop, and shortly afterwards, through the miraculous appearance
of a brilliant light, the hiding-place of the holy nails is also revealed.
St Helen, having made generous donations to the holy places and the
poor of Jerusalem, happened to die not long afterwards, charging all
faithful Christians as her last behest to hold festival every year on
May 3 (quinto nonas Maii), the day on which the cross
was found. Before the year 450, Sozomen (bk. ii, ch. 1) seems to have been
acquainted with this story of the Jew who revealed the hiding place of
the cross. He does not denounce it as a fabrication, but quietly passes
it by as less probable.
Another apocryphal story which
bears, though less directly, on the finding of the cross, is introduced,
somewhat as a digression, into the document known as The
Doctrine of Addai, of Syrian origin. What we are told here
is that Protonike, the wife of the Emperor Claudius Caesar, less than
ten years after our Lord’s ascension, went to the Holy Land, compelled
the Jews to reveal where the crosses were hidden, and distinguished that
of our Saviour by a miracle wrought upon her own daughter. It is contended
that this legend has suggested the story of St Helen and the discovery
of the cross in the time of Constantine. Mgr Duchesne believed that the
Doctrine of Addai was earlier in date than
the De inventione crucis dominicae, but there are
strong arguments for the contrary opinion.
In view of all this very unsatisfactory
evidence, the most probable suggestion, seems to be that the holy
cross with the title was found during the excavations rendered necessary
by the construction of Constantine’s basilica on Mount Calvary. Such
a discovery, which may well have involved some period of doubt and
inquiry while the authenticity of the find was being discussed, is likely
to have given rise to multifarious conjectures and rumours which before
long took written shape in the De inventione tractate.
It is probable that St Helen’s share in the transaction actually amounted
to no more than what we should gather from Etheria’s statement when she
speaks of “the building which Constantine, under his mother’s auspices
(sub praesentia matris suae) embellished
with gold and mosaics and precious marbles”. The credit of a victory is
often given to a sovereign, though it is his generals and troops who have
done all the fighting. What is certain in the whole matter is that from
the middle of the fourth century reputed relics of the true cross spread
through the world. This we know not only from St Cyril’s reiterated statement,
but also from dated inscriptions in Africa and elsewhere. Still more
convincing is the evidence that before the end of the same century the
stem of the cross and the title were both venerated in Jerusalem with
intense devotion. Etheria’s account of the ceremony is the description
of an eye-witness about the year 385; but only a dozen years or so later
we have in the Life of St Porphyrius of Gaza another testimony to the veneration
with which the relic was regarded by its custodians. And again, after nearly
two centuries, the pilgrim, commonly, if incorrectly, known as Antoninus
of Piacenza, tells us how “we adored (adoravimus)
and kissed” the wood of the cross and handled its title.
In a Motu
Propria of John XXIII dated July 25, 1960, this feast was dropped from the
Roman Calendar.
There is a
considerable literature bearing upon the matters here discussed. For
much of this the reader may conveniently be referred to the bibliographical
references in Dom Leclercq’s article in DAC., vol. iii, cc. 3131—3139.
See also the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. i; Duchesne,
Liber Pontificalis, vol. i, pp. cvii—cix and pp.
75, 167, 378; Kellner, Heortology (1908), pp. 333—341;
J. Straubinger, Die Kreuzauffindungslegende (1926);
A. Halusa, Das Kreuzesholz in Geschichte und Legende
(1926); H. Thurston in The Month, May
1930, pp. 420—429. It is generally held that this feast of the Finding
of the Cross on May 3 is not of Roman origin, since it is lacking in the
Gregorian Sacramentary, but, so far as its prevalence in the West is concerned,
must have arisen in Gaul. It occurs in the Félire
of Oengus and in most MSS. of the Hieronymianum.
In the Epternach MS., however, it is assigned, as noted above,
to May 7. This seems to have reference to a feast celebrated in Jerusalem
and among the Armenians, in memory of the luminous cross in the heavens
which appeared on May 7, 351, as St Cyril describes in his letter to
the Emperor Constantius. As for the date, May 3, it is impossible not to
believe that it is closely connected with the mention of that precise
day in the apocryphal tract, De inventione crucis dominicae.
The earliest notice of a cross festival in the West seems to
be the mention of a “dies sanctae crucis” in a lectionary
of Silos, c. 650.
|
4th v. Aphrodísiæ,
in Cária, sanctórum Mártyrum Diodóri et
Rhodopiáni, qui, in persecutióne Diocletiáni Imperatóris,
a cívibus suis lapidáti sunt.
At Aphrodisia in Caria, the holy martyrs
Diodorus and Rodopian, who were stoned to death by their fellow citizens,
in the persecution of Diocletian.
4th century
A martyr with Rhodopianus. They were executed for the faith
in Caria, Asia Minor.
|
St.
Sarah, and her two sons wife of Diocletian's governor Socrates who
caused their martyredom
On this day, St. Sarah and her two sons, were martyred. She
was from the city of Antioch, the wife of a man whose name was Socrates,
one of the governors of Emperor Diocletian. This Governor had denied
Christ to please Diocletian, pretending before his wife that he did
that because of his fear from the Emperor.
Sarah had two sons, she could not baptize in Antioch, because
of her fear from the Emperor and her husband. She took them and sailed
to Alexandria to baptize them there. God willed to reveal the greatness
of her faith as a lesson to the generations to come. God brought forth
a great tempest and the ship was about to be wrecked and drown. Sarah
was afraid that her sons would be drowned without being baptized. She
prayed a long prayer, then she wounded her right breast, took some of her
blood, anointed them making the sign of the cross upon the foreheads, and
over the hearts. Then she dipped them in the sea three times saying: "In
the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."
After that, the winds died down, a great calm came on the
sea, and the ship sailed toward Alexandria. When she arrived, took
her sons, went to the church, and handed them to Pope Peter, the seal
of the martyrs. He baptized them, together with the children of the
city. When the Pope carried one of her sons to baptize him, the water
froze. The Pope went on baptizing other children and came back to her
sons, but the water froze again. The same thing occurred on the third
attempt. The Pope was amazed and asked their mother about her story. She
told him about all what happened to her at sea and what she did for her
sons. He glorified God and said: "It is indeed one baptism."
When the woman returned to Antioch, her husband denounced
what she had done. He related what happened to the Emperor accusing
his wife with adultery. The Emperor brought her and reproached her
saying: "Why did you go to Alexandria to commit adultery with the Christians?"
The Saint answered him: "Christians do not commit adultery, and do not
worship idols, and after this do what you wish, for you will not hear another
word from me."
The Emperor asked her: "Tell me what did you do in Alexandria?"
When she did not answer him, he ordered to tie her hands behind her,
and to place her two sons on her belly, and to bum all three of them.
She turned her face to the east and prayed. They burnt her, with her sons.
She delivered up her pure soul along with her sons, and they all received
the crown of martyrdom. Their prayers be with us. Amen.
|
Hierosólymis
Invéntio Sacrosánctæ Crucis Domínicæ,
sub Constantíno Imperatóre.
At Jerusalem, in the time of Emperor Constantine, the finding of the
holy Cross of our Lord.
|
Commemoration of Sts.
Babnuda (Paphnute) the hermit, Theodore the worshipper, and the One hundred
martyrs.
This day also marks the commemoration of Sts. Babnuda (Paphnute)
the hermit, Theodore the worshipper, and the One hundred martyrs, who
were martyred in Persia. Their prayers be with us and Glory be to our
God forever. Amen.
|
369 Nárniæ sancti Juvenáli,
Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At Narni, St. Juvenal, bishop and confessor.
First bishop of Narni, Italy, consecrated by Pope Damasus.
He was a physician from the East, and he is credited with saving Narni
from a Ligurian and Sarmatian invasion. The barbarian invaders were supposedly
slain in a wondrous but deadly downpour. Juvenal is patron of Narni,
but his cult was confined to local calendars in 1969.
376 ST JUVENAL, BISHOP OF NARNI
THE chief patron of Narni and the titular of its cathedral
is its first bishop, St Juvenal, whose oratory and original tomb are
still venerated in the city. His history has been confused with that of
other saintly prelates of the same name, and a connected biography compiled
by the Bollandists, from fragmentary notices in print and manuscript,
is quite obviously legendary in parts. According to this account, Juvenal,
who was both a priest and a physician, came from the East to Narni,
where he was hospitably entertained by a woman called Philadelphia.
At the request of the Christian inhabitants, Pope Damasus made
Narni into a separate diocese and consecrated St Juvenal to be its bishop.
One day, as he was passing a brazen bull in front of
a temple dedicated to Bacchus, a pagan priest struck him in the mouth
with the hilt of his sword because the saint refused to sacrifice to
the gods. The bishop held the weapon with his teeth, and the priest,
in a violent effort to withdraw his blade, cut his own throat. This incident
led to the immediate conversion of the heathen bystanders.
In the fifth year of his pontificate, troops of Ligurians
and Sarmatians who had captured Terni proceeded to invest Narni. St
Juvenal climbed upon the city wall, where he chanted Psalm xxxiv and
prayed aloud for the town. Scarcely had the people responded Amen, when
a great thunderstorm broke out, with torrents of rain, in which 3000
of the assailants perished. Thus was Narni saved. The saint ruled his
diocese for seven years, dying about 376. St Gregory the Great speaks
of him more than once and styles him martyr, but he seems to have made
the mistake of identifying him with a namesake who suffered death for the
faith at Benevento.
The Bollandists
have collected much archaeological material bearing on the cult of
St Juvenal. See the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. i; and
also Lanzoni, Le Diocesi d’Italia, vol. i, pp. 402
seq.; the Römische
Quartalschrift, 1905, pp. 42—49, and 1911, pp. 51—71. Cf. the Neues Archiv, 1919, pp. 526—555.
|
Apud
montem Senárium, in Etrúria, natális sanctórum
Sostenǽi et Ugucciónis Confessórum, e septem Fundatóribus
Ordinis Servórum beátæ Maríæ Vírginis;
qui, cælitus admóniti, eádem die et hora, salutatiónem
Angélicam recitántes, e vita migrárunt.
Ipsórum autem ac Sociórum festum prídie Idus Februárii
celebrátur.
On Mount Senario in Etruria, Saints Sosteneo
and Ugoccio, confessors, of the seven founders of the Order of Servites
of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Responding to a voice from heaven,
they departed this life on the same day and at the same hour, while reciting
the angelical salutation. Their feast is observed with the rest
of their companions on the 12th day of February.
|
563 Scannal (AC) The celebrated missionary Saint Scannal was a disciple
of Saint Columba (Benedictines).
|
6th v. St. Gluvias
Monastic founder and brother of St. Cadoc of Llancarfan, Wales. Gluvias
labored in Cornwall, England, where he may have started an abbey. He
is also called Glywys.
|
680 St. Adalsindis Abbess and sister of St. Waldalenus
became abbess of a convent at Beze, France, the monastery founded
by her brother.
|
8th v. St. Ethelwin
Second bishop of Lindsey, England. He accompanied St. Egbert to Ireland,
where he died.
|
744
Saint Mamai served as chief shepherd of the Georgian faithful from
731 to 744 martyr for Christ
The information we have about his life is scarce, but it is
known that St. Mamai was abbot of Zedazeni Monastery and died a martyr
for Christ.
Outstanding in his achievements and endowed with profound
spiritual wisdom.
St. Mamai was enthroned as Catholicos of Georgia at a time
when the catholicos and the Georgian king were frequently the first
victims of invading armies.
Arsenius and
Michael_of_Ulompo_Georgia
Sts. Michael and Arsenius
the Georgians The biographies of have unfortunately not been
preserved.
It is known that they were contemporaries of Patriarch Sergius
of Jerusalem (843–859). The following entry is recorded in the synodicon
of Jerusalem’s Holy Cross Monastery: “Our Holy Fathers Michael and
Arsenius, founders of Olympus.” The record indicates that Sts. Arsenius
and Michael established Georgian monasticism on Mt. Olympus. (located
in Bythinia of Asia Minor, southeast of Prousa, was an important monastic
center from the 5th to the 14th centuries. The monasteries of Olympus
came to include the monastic communities on the plain of Prousa. The number
of monasteries in the region is numbered at around fifty, their apogee
occurring between the 8th and 10th centuries, when Olympus occupied the
first place in the list of holy mountains. Monasteries in the region included
Atroa, Chenolakkos, Medikion, and Pelekete.)
According to Paul Ingorokva, a scholar of the Georgian Middle
Ages, Arsenius was probably a disciple of St. Grigol of Khandzta.
Ingorokva calls Arsenius “a handsome gentleman, a kind monk full of
wisdom, the son of a great nobleman, and a relative of St. Ephraim, bishop
of Atsquri.”
It is believed that at some point Arsenius moved from Khandzta
Monastery to Palestine and labored there with a certain Macarius of
Leteti. Afterward, St. Arsenius founded a Georgian monastery on Mt. Olympus
in Asia Minor. Twenty years later, Venerable Ilarion the Georgian arrived
on Mt. Olympus and found three Georgian monks who were almost certainly
disciples of Michael and Arsenius .
|
770
St. Philip of Zell Benedictine hermit founded the monastery of Zell,
so named because it had its start with his single “cell,” or room.
An Anglo Saxon, he undertook a pilgrimage and then became
a hermit in the area around Worms. Meeting King Pepin the Short of
the Franks, he became a friend and advisor to the monarch. He also attracted
various followers and founded the monastery of Zell, so named because
it had its start with his single “cell,” or room.
8th v. ST PHILIP OF ZELL
DURING the reign of Charlemagne’s father, King Pepin, there
was living in the Rhenish palatinate, not far from the present city
of Worms, a hermit named Philip who had an extraordinary reputation
for sanctity and miracles. An Englishman by birth, he had settled in
the Nahegau after he had made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he was ordained
priest. Amongst those who sought out the recluse was King Pepin himself
who, according to the legend, often visited him and conversed familiarly
with him about holy things. The historian of St Philip, who wrote a
century after his death, states that through his intercourse with the
hermit, Pepin “began to fear as well as to love God and to place all his
hope in Him”. As is so often the case with solitaires, Philip exercised
a great attraction over the wild creatures of the forest: birds perched
on his shoulder and ate from his hands, whilst hares frisked about him
and licked his feet. He was joined in his solitude by another priest,
Horskolf by name, who served God with him in prayer and helped to cultivate
the land. One evening, thieves stole the two oxen which the hermits kept
to aid them in their labours. All night long the miscreants wandered about
the woods, unable to find their way out, and in the morning they discovered
that they were back again in front of the hermitage. In dismay they threw
themselves at St Philip’s feet, begging forgiveness. The holy man reassured
them, entertained them as guests and sped them on their way. Gradually
disciples gathered round the two hermits and a church was built.
A story is told that Horskolf, on his return from a journey,
found Philip dead and lying in his coffin. With tears the disciple besought
his master to give him the usual blessing which, for some reason, had
been omitted when they had last parted. In reply the corpse sat up and
said, “Go forth in peace, and may God prosper you abundantly in all things.
Take care of this place as long as you live. Safe and sound you shall go
forth; safe and sound shall you return.” Then, having given the desired
blessing, he sank back into death. Horskolf continued to reside in the
hermitage until, at the age of 100, he passed away to rejoin his master.
On the site of the cells was built a monastery, and then a collegiate
church, in the midst of what became the parish of Zell, i.e. cell, named
after St Philip’s hermitage.
The author
of the life of St Philip which is printed in the Acta
Sanctorum, May, vol. i, is not known, but he was certainly
not a contemporary, as has sometimes been stated. This text, with
other materials, has been more critically edited by A. Hofmeister in
the supplementary volume (Scriptores, vol. xxx, part 2,
pp. 796—805) of Pertz, MGH. Some useful information concerning St Philip
and his cultus was printed in various numbers of
Der Katholik of Mainz; in 1887, 1896, 1898 and 1899.
|
920 St Peter the Wonderworker
Bishop of Argos in the Peloponnesos ransomed captives healed the sick
and the afflicted, and possessed the gift of insight relics exuding
myrrh, and working miracles and healings
Lived during the ninth and early tenth centuries,
and was raised by pious parents. St Peter's parents, and later his brothers
Paul, Dionysius, Platon and St Peter himself, all became monks. St
Peter zealously devoted himself to monastic labors, and he excelled
all his fellows. This came to the attention of the Italian bishop Nicholas
(who from 895 was Patriarch of Constantinople), who wanted to elevate him
to the rank of bishop. St Peter declined, accounting himself unworthy of
such honor.
After a year emissaries came
to Bishop Paul from the city of Argos, where the bishop had died,
and they asked for St Peter as their bishop. After long and intense
entreaties, St Peter finally gave his consent. As bishop, St Peter
toiled zealously in guiding his flock. He was extraordinarily compassionate,
concerning himself with those in need, especially orphans and widows.
The saint fed the hungry in years of crop failure.
Through his prayers food for the hungry never ran out.
Theodosius of
the Caves
The saint also ransomed captives,
healed the sick and the afflicted, and possessed the gift of insight.
The saint predicted the day of his death, and departed
to the Lord at the age of seventy.
His relics were transferred from Argos to Nauplos
in 1421, exuding myrrh, and working miracles and healings.
|
1074 Saint Theodosius
of the Caves the Father of monasticism in Russia from youth led the ascetic
life relics incorrupt; miracles of food for the monk brethren
He was born at Vasilevo, not far from Kiev. From
his youth he felt an irresistible attraction for the ascetic life,
and led an ascetic lifestyle while still in his parental home. He disdained
childish games and attractions, and constantly went to church. He asked
his parents to let him study the holy books, and through his ability
and rare zeal, he quickly learned to read the books, so that everyone
was amazed at his intellect. When he was fourteen, he lost his father
and remained under the supervision of his mother, a strict and domineering
woman who loved her son very much.
Many times she chastised her son for his yearning
for asceticism, but he remained firmly committed to his path.
At the age of twenty-four, he
secretly left his parents' home and St Anthony at the Kiev Caves monastery
blessed him to receive monastic tonsure with the name Theodosius.
After four years his mother found him and with tearfully begged him
to return home, but the saint persuaded her to remain in Kiev and to
become a nun in the monastery of St Nicholas at the Askold cemetery.
St Theodosius toiled at the monastery more than
others, and he often took upon himself some of the work of the other
brethren.
He carried water, chopped wood,
ground up the grain, and carried the flour to each monk. On cold nights
he uncovered his body and let it serve as food for gnats and mosquitoes.
His blood flowed, but the saint occupied himself with handicrafts,
and sang Psalms. He came to church before anyone else and, standing
in one place, he did not leave it until the end of services. He also
listened to the readings with particular attention.
In 1054 St Theodosius was ordained a hieromonk,
and in 1057 he was chosen igumen.
The fame of his deeds attracted
a number of monks to the monastery, at which he built a new church
and cells, and he introduced cenobitic rule of the Studion monastery,
a copy of which he commissioned at Constantinople. As igumen, St Theodosius
continued his arduous duties at the monastery. He usually ate only dry
bread and cooked greens without oil, and spent his nights in prayer without
sleep.
The brethren often noticed this, although the saint
tried to conceal his efforts from others.
No one saw when St Theodosius
dozed lightly, and usually he rested while sitting. During Great Lent
the saint withdrew into a cave near the monastery, where he struggled
unseen by anyone. His attire was a coarse hairshirt worn next to his
body. He looked so much like a beggar that it was impossible to recognize
in this old man the renowned igumen, deeply respected by all who knew
him.
Once, St Theodosius was returning from visiting
the Great Prince Izyaslav. The coachman, not recognizing him, said
gruffly, "You, monk, are always on holiday, but I am constantly at work.
Take my place, and let me ride in the carriage." The holy Elder meekly
complied and drove the servant. Seeing how nobles along the way bowed
to the monk driving the horses, the servant took fright, but the holy
ascetic calmed him, and gave him a meal at the monastery. Trusting in
God's help, the saint did not keep a large supply of food at the monastery,
and therefore the brethren were in want of their daily bread.
Through his prayers, however, unknown benefactors
appeared at the monastery and furnished the necessities for the brethren.
The Great Princes, especially
Izyaslav, loved to listen to the spiritual discourses of St Theodosius.
The saint was not afraid to denounce the mighty of this world. Those
unjustly condemned always found a defender in him, and judges would
review matters at the request of the igumen. He was particularly concerned
for the destitute. He built a special courtyard for them at the monastery
where anyone in need could receive food and drink. Sensing the approach
of death, St Theodosius peacefully fell asleep in the Lord in the year
1074. He was buried in a cave which he dug, where he secluded himself
during fasting periods.
The relics of the ascetic were found incorrupt
in the year 1090, and St Theodosius was glorified as a saint in 1108.
Of the written works of St Theodosius six discourses, two letters to Great
Prince Izyaslav, and a prayer for all Christians have survived to our
time. The Life of St Theodosius was written by St Nestor the Chronicler
(October 27), a disciple of the great Abba, only thirty years after his
repose, and it was always one of the favorite readings of the Russian nation.
St Theodosius is also commemorated on September 2 and 28.
|
1010 St. Ansfrid Bishop
and founder Count of Brabant friend of Emperor Otto III of the Holy
Roman Empire
Ansfrid was a courtier and friend of Emperor Otto III of the
Holy Roman Empire. In 994, the emperor named him the bishop of Utrecht,
although his appointment drew some local opposition. Ansfrid founded
a monastery at Heiligensberg, Germany, and a convent at Thorn. He was
stricken with blindness late in his life, a fate that brought about his
retirement to this abbey. He is also listed as Ansfridus.
|
1100 The Sven Caves
Icon of the Mother of God painted by St Alypius of the Caves (August
17) glorified by miracles
On the icon the Mother of God is depicted sitting upon a throne,
and with the Divine Infant on Her knees. St Theodosius is on the right side
of the throne, and St Anthony of
the Caves on the left. 
Assuage_My_Sorrows_Icon_Most_Holy_Theotokos_and_Alypius.
Until the year 1288 it was in
the Kiev Caves monastery, where it was glorified by miracles. In 1288
it was transferred to the Briansk-Svensk monastery, which is dedicated
to the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Prince Roman of Chernigov, then at Briansk, became
blind. Hearing about the miracles worked by the icon of St Alypius,
the prince sent a courier to the monastery requesting that the icon be
sent to him at Briansk. They sent a priest with the icon along the River
Desna. After the voyage the boat landed on the right bank of the River
Svena. After lodging for the night they went to the boat to pray before
the icon, but they did not find it there. They saw it on a hill on the
opposite bank, resting in the branches of an oak tree. News of this reached
Prince Roman, and they led him to the icon on foot.
The prince prayed fervently before the icon and
vowed to build a monastery on that spot, donating all the land which
could be seen from the hill. After the prayer the prince regained his
sight. First he saw the footpath, then nearby objects, and finally all
the surroundings.
After making a shrine for the icon, the prince
had a Molieben served, and then they laid the foundations for a wooden
church in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. The tree
on which the icon rested was cut up and used as wood for other icons.
The Feast day of the Sven Icon of the Mother of God was set for May 3.
It is also commemorated on August 17 (the day of the repose of St Alypius
the Iconographer).
The icon was glorified by healings of the blind
and of the possessed, and has long been regarded as a protector from
enemies.
|
12th v. Blessed Ventura
Spellucci, OSB Abbot (AC)
Born at Spello (near Assisi), Italy, in the 12th century.
After joining the Italian Cruciferi under the Benedictine Rule, Ventura
built an abbey-hospice on his family estate, where he governed as
abbot until his death (Benedictines).
|
2022
Christian
council
held
at
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.