Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
May, the month of Mary 
2022
22,600 lives saved
From 2007 to 2021

Haitian Help Funding Seeds Haitian Geology AND Haitian Paintings
http://www.haitian-childrens-fund.org/

For the Son of man ... will repay every man for what he has done.

May, the month of Mary, is the oldest
and most well-known Marian month, officially since 1724;

The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”,
showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.


CAUSES OF SAINTS April  2021

At the most important moments of your lives come here, at least in your hearts…
Orthodox Church leaders from Albania, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Italy and Malta came to pray at the Holy House of Loreto, Italy, with a papal delegation. The event took place on March 5, 2016, and marks the official recognition by the Orthodox of the oldest Marian relic: the home of Mary in Nazareth, brought to Italy by the Crusaders in the 13th century.
It is now widely accepted that the House of the Virgin Mary in Nazareth,
 where the birth of Christ was announced, was transferred to Loreto in 1294.
On September 2, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI invited all Christians to enter the spirit of that house, during the Angelus on the esplanade of Montorso in Loreto, in the presence of some 500,000 youth:
"At the most important moments of your lives come here, at least in your hearts, in spiritual recollection within the walls of the Holy House. Pray to the Virgin Mary that she may obtain for you the light and strength of the Holy Spirit, so that you may respond fully and generously to the voice of God. You will then become his true witnesses … bearers of a Gospel which is not abstract but incarnate in your lives."
 
 We are the defenders of true freedom.
  May our witness unveil the deception of the "pro-choice" slogan.
  Campaign saves lives Shawn Carney Campaign Director www.40daysforlife.com
Please help save the unborn they are the future for the world

It is a great poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish -- Mother Teresa
 Saving babies, healing moms and dads, 'The Gospel of Life.

Mary Mother of GOD

 
Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
   Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War

Acts of the Apostles

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
How do I start the Five First Saturdays?
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him. -- St. Elizebeth Ann Seton
      700 BC  Isaiah The Holy Prophet father Amos son Jashub during the reign of Oziah [Uzziah], king of Judea, kings Joatham, Achaz [Ahaz], Hezekiah and Manasseh; vision the Lord God, sitting in a majestic heavenly temple upon a high throne. Six-winged Seraphim encircled Him. With two wings they covered their faces, and with two wings they covered their feet, and with two wings they flew about crying out one to another, "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with His glory!"
The pillars of the heavenly temple shook from shouts, in the temple arose the smoke of incense.

      76  Hermas, Gaius, Linus, Patrobus und Philologus
   112 St Beatus monk hermit Baptized in England by St. Barnabas ordained by St. Peter
292-346 St Pachomius Egypt Emperor's army anchorite extreme austerity total dedication to God began monasticism as we know it today
  500 Tudy of Landevennec hermit who founded monasteries and evangelized in Brittany  Abbot
6th v. St. Shio of Mgvime among 13 Syrian Fathers who preached the Christian Faith in Georgia miracles the Most Holy Theotokos and St. John the Baptist stood before him
950 St. Vincent  Benedictine abbot disciple and successor to St. Gennadius
1044 Gregory of Ostia Benedictine cardinal-bishop  papal legate in the old kingdoms of the Spanish Navarre and Old Castile OSB
1317 St. Brynoth  23rd bishop of Scara in West Gottland, Sweden
1463  St Catharine of Bologna served the Lord in obscurity
1679 Bl Thomas Pickering England Benedictine Martyr
1911 Saint Joseph of Optina at 8, "What makes you think you saw the Queen?" "Because she had a crown with a cross," he replied.  Several miracles took place on the day St  Joseph was laid to rest

Constantinópoli Translátio sanctórum Andréæ Apóstoli, et Lucæ Evangelístæ de Achája; et Timóthei, uníus ex discípulis beáti Pauli Apóstoli, ab Epheso.  Corpus autem sancti Andréæ, longo post témpore Amálphim devéctum, ibi pio fidélium concúrsu honorátur;
ex cujus sepúlcro liquor ad languóres curándos júgiter manat.
At Constantinople, the translation of the apostle St. Andrew and the evangelist St. Luke, out of Achaia, and of Timothy, disciple of the blessed apostle Paul, from Ephesus.  The body of St. Andrew, long after, was conveyed to Amalfi, where it is honoured by the pious gatherings of the faithful. 
From his tomb there continually flows a liquid which heals diseases.


Romæ item Translátio sancti Hierónymi Presbyteri, Confessóris et Ecclésiæ Doctóris, ex Béthlehem Judæ ad Basílicam sanctæ Maríæ ad Præsépe.
At Rome, also, the translation of St. Jerome, priest, confessor, and doctor of the Church. 
His body was taken from Bethlehem of Judea to the basilica of St. Mary of the Manger.


Bárii quoque, in Apúlia, Translátio sancti Nicolái, Epíscopi et Confessóris, ex Myra, civitáte Lyciæ.
At Bari in Apulia, the translation also of St. Nicholas, bishop and confessor, from Myra, a city of Lycia.


Our Lady of Pompeii (II) May 9 - Our Lady of the Woods (Italy, 1607)
During his homily of March 23, 1965, Pope Paul VI expressed the hope that "just as the image of Our Lady of Pompeii had been repaired and decorated, so would the image of Mary within all Christians be restored, renovated and enriched." At the end of the Mass, the Pope solemnly enthroned the Madonna and Child, placing on their heads two precious diadems that had been offered by the faithful.
Parallel to the shrine, Bartolo Longo also began many institutions: orphanages, Sons of Prisoners, Daughters of Prisoners, Daughters of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii, Dominican Tertiaries, and others.
Most notable of all is the "Supplication to the Queen of Victories" which began in Pompeii in October 1883.
This prayer is recited all over the world on May 8th and on the first Sunday in October. Bartolo Longo died in Pompeii on October 5, 1926. His last words were:
"My only desire is to see Mary, who has and will save me from the clutched of Satan."
On October 21, 1979, John Paul II went on pilgrimage to Pompeii and gazed out of the very same balcony window from which Bartolo Longo, in an intuition of faith on May 5, 1901, had seen the white figure of the Vicar of Christ bless the people calling for universal peace. On October 26, 1980, Bartolo Longo was beatified by John Paul II.
This Marian pope greatly admired Blessed Bartolo Longo callingd him the "Man of Mary" on the day of his beatification. On that occasion, 50,000 people cried out at Saint Peter's in Rome, "Blessed Bartolo, pray for us."
Adapted from A. Rum, Dictionary of Mary, Catholic Book Publishing Co., NY, 1985

In One Hand a Rosary, in the Other, a Pen May 10 - Our Lady of Saussaie (Paris, 1305)
The entire Rosary has the beauty of reproducing the theological thoughts concerning Mary; they are reproduced in the entire dialectic of truth and deduction. Marian theology and the Rosary are two poems that are united into one, two hymns forming one hymn, two magnificent temples, and two cathedrals of thought and piety that come together as one...
Here in the Rosary, piety speaks in the language of theologians. Here meditation rises to the heights attained by scholars. Here prayer dwells where the scholars are brought to a halt. Marian theology and the Rosary are therefore similar to two temples having at the same height their pinnacles and spires.
The people of God in the Church have found the Rosary, its Book of Psalms. The clergy have the Divine Office, the people have the Rosary. Like The Divine Comedy, the Rosary is a trilogy: it recalls the joys, sorrows, and triumphs of Jesus and in perfect symmetry, for each part has five chants, and each chant in turn is an episode.
The Rosary could very well be called the poem of human redemption. The Rosary is a poem that takes its lively but simplistic hues from the pure palette of the Gospel; while at the same time it draws its logical ties, its harmonious responses, and its entire intimate dialectic from the highest theology.
Blessed Bartolo Longo (d. 1926)

Mary's Divine Motherhood
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).

Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

Saints
May
11
10
09
08
07
06
05
04
03
02
01
Saint Catharine of Bologna wrote a book on the 7 spiritual weapons to be used against temptation. "Jesus Christ gave up his life that we might live," she said.
"Therefore, whoever wishes to carry the cross for his sake must take up the proper weapons for the contest, especially those mentioned here.

1, diligence; 2, distrust of self; 3, confidence in God; 4, remembrance of the Passion; 5, mindfulness of one’s own death; 6, remembrance of God’s glory;
 7, the injunctions of Sacred Scripture following the example of Jesus Christ in the desert" (On the Seven Spiritual Weapons)
.
Fr Joseph would say, "It's always that way. As soon as one begins to think of following the path to salvation, obstacles and tempataions begin to appear."
Saints
April
30
29

28
27
26
25
24
May 9 - Feast of Our Lady of the Woods (Italy, 1607)  Jesus Will Reign Through Mary (III)
The whole world is filled with her glory, and this is especially true of Christian peoples, who have chosen her as guardian and protectress of kingdoms,
provinces, dioceses, and towns. Many cathedrals are consecrated to God in her name.
There is no church without an altar dedicated to her, no land or region without at least one of her miraculous images where all kinds of afflictions are cured and all sorts of benefits received. Many are the confraternities and congregations honoring her as their patron! Many are the orders under her name and protection!
Many are the members of sodalities and religious of all congregations who voice her praises and make known her compassion!
There is not a child who does not praise her by stuttering a Hail Mary. There is scarcely a sinner, however hardened,
who does not possess some spark of confidence in her. Even wicked demons in hell, while fearing her, show her respect.
Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort  Treatise on True Devotion of the Virgin Mary #9

700 BC  Isaiah The Holy Prophet father Amos son Jashub during the reign of Oziah [Uzziah], king of Judea, kings Joatham, Achaz [Ahaz], Hezekiah and Manasseh vision the Lord God, sitting in a majestic heavenly temple upon a high throne. Six-winged Seraphim encircled Him. With two wings they covered their faces, and with two wings they covered their feet, and with two wings they flew about crying out one to another, "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with His glory!" The pillars of the heavenly temple shook from their shouts, and in the temple arose the smoke of incense.
      76  Hermas, Gaius, Linus, Patrobus und Philologus
   112 St Beatus monk hermit Baptized in England by St. Barnabas ordained by St. Peter
250     Epimachus The Holy Martyr the New
250 St Christopher The Holy Martyr miracles converted as many as 50 thousand pagans to Christ, as St Ambrose of Milan testifies
 3rd V St Beatus of Vendome missionary through regions of France
292-346 St Pachomius Egypt Emperor's army anchorite extreme austerity and total dedication to God began
monasticism as we know it today

362 Gordian The Holy Martyr was beheaded with a sword  under Julian the Apostate (361-363) at Rome.
      His relics rest in the Roman catacombs.

383 Gregor von Nazianzus
   475 St John of Chalons 3rd bishop of Chalonssur-Saon
  500 Tudy of Landevennec hermit who founded monasteries and evangelized in Brittany  Abbot (AC)
  501 St Gerontius Bishop of Cervia martyr
6th v. St. Shio of Mgvime among Thirteen Syrian Fathers who preached the Christian Faith in Georgia miracles the Most Holy Theotokos and St. John the Baptist stood before him performed many miracles
 6th V St. Sanctan Irish bishop governed two sees, at Kill-da-Les and Kill-na-Sanctan (modern Dublin) The
       MonkMartyr Nicholas of
  Bunenia suffered from the Arabs in Thessaly, near the city of Larissa.
  950 St. Vincent  Benedictine abbot disciple and successor to St. Gennadius
1044 Gregory of Ostia Benedictine cardinal-bishop  papal legate in the old kingdoms of the Spanish Navarre and Old Castile OSB
1087 St Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (350) Transfer of the Relics from Myra of Lycia to Bari in Italy His Life is found under December 6 & May 8 .
1317 St. Brynoth  23rd bishop of Scara in West Gottland, Sweden
         St. Gorfor saint of Wales, patron of Llanover, in Gwent, Wales.
1443 Bl Nicholas Albergati archbishop cardinal mediate between the emperor and the pope generous patron of   learned men  O. Cart.
1463  St Catharine of Bologna served the Lord in obscurity
1679 Bl Thomas Pickering England Benedictine Martyr
1911 Saint Joseph of Optina at 8, "What makes you think you saw the Queen?" "Because she had a crown with
a cross," he replied.
  Several miracles took place on the day St  Joseph was laid to rest

Saints
April

23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15

14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5

4
3
2
1
Pope Eugenius IV held Blessed Nicholas Albergati archbishop cardinal in the highest esteem; he consulted him in almost all things, made him chief penitentiary, and came to see him frequently when he was ill.
  1431 1447 Pope Eugenius IV Gabriello Condulmaro, or Condulmerio, b. at Venice, 1388; elected 4 March, 1431; d. at Rome, 23 Feb., 1447. He sprang from a wealthy Venetia family and was a nephew, on the mother's side, of Gregory XII. His personal presence was princely and imposing. He was tall, thin, with a remarkably winning countenance. Coming at an early age into the possession of great wealth, he distributed 20,000 ducats to the poor and, turning his back upon the world, entered the Augustinian monastery of St. George in his native city. At the age of twenty-four he was appointed by his uncle Bishop of Siena; but since the people of that city objected to the rule of a foreigner, he resigned the bishopric and, in 1408, was created Cardinal-Priest of St. Clement. He rendered signal service to Pope Martin V by his labours as legate in Picenum (March of Ancona) and later by quelling a sedition of the Bolognesi. In recognition of his abilities, the conclave, assembled at Rome in the church of the Minerva after the death of Martin V, elected Cardinal Condulmaro to the papacy on the first scrutiny.

In Pérside sanctórum Mártyrum trecentórum et decem. In Persia, three hundred and ten holy martyrs 


700 BC  Isaiah The Holy Prophet father Amos son Jashub during the reign of Oziah [Uzziah], king of Judea, kings Joatham, Achaz [Ahaz], Hezekiah and Manasseh vision the Lord God, sitting in a majestic heavenly temple upon a high throne. Six-winged Seraphim encircled Him. With two wings they covered their faces, and with two wings they covered their feet, and with two wings they flew about crying out one to another, "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with His glory!" The pillars of the heavenly temple shook from their shouts, and in the temple arose the smoke of incense.
Orthodoxe Kirche: 09. Mai Katholische Kirche: 06. Juli

He lived 700 years before the birth of Christ, and was of royal lineage. Isaiah's father Amos raised his son in the fear of God and in the law of the Lord. Having attained the age of maturity, the Prophet Isaiah entered into marriage with a pious prophetess (Is 8:3) and had a son Jashub (Is 8:18).

St Isaiah was called to prophetic service during the reign of Oziah [Uzziah], king of Judea, and he prophesied for 60 years during the reign of kings Joatham, Achaz [Ahaz], Hezekiah and Manasseh. The start of his service was marked by the following vision: he beheld the Lord God, sitting in a majestic heavenly temple upon a high throne. Six-winged Seraphim encircled Him. With two wings they covered their faces, and with two wings they covered their feet, and with two wings they flew about crying out one to another, "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with His glory!" The pillars of the heavenly temple shook from their shouts, and in the temple arose the smoke of incense.

The prophet cried out in terror, "Oh, an accursed man am I, granted to behold the Lord Sabaoth, and having impure lips and living amidst an impure people!" Then was sent him one of the Seraphim, having in hand a red-hot coal, which he took with tongs from the altar of the Lord. He touched it to the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah and said, "Lo, this has touched thy lips, and will take away with thine iniquities, and will cleanse thy sins." After this Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord, directed towards him, "Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people?" Isaiah answered, "Here am I, send me" (Is 6:1 ff). And the Lord sent him to the Jews to exhort them to turn from the ways of impiety and idol worship, and to offer repentance.

To those that repent and turn to the true God, the Lord promised mercy and forgiveness, but punishment and the judgment of God are appointed for the unrepentant. Then Isaiah asked the Lord, how long would the falling away of the Jewish nation from God continue. The Lord answered, "Until the cities be deserted, by reason of there being no people, and the land shall be made desolate. Just as when a tree be felled and from the stump come forth new shoots, so also from the destruction of the nation a holy remnant will remain, from which will emerge a new tribe."

Isaiah left behind him a book of prophecy in which he denounces the Jews for their unfaithfulness to the God of their Fathers. He predicted the captivity of the Jews and their return from captivity during the time of the emperor Cyrus, the destruction and renewal of Jerusalem and of the Temple. Together with this he predicts the historical fate also of the other nations bordering the Jews. But what is most important of all for us, the Prophet Isaiah with particular clarity and detail prophesies about the coming of the Messiah, Christ the Savior.
The prophet names the Messiah as God and Man, teacher of all the nations, founder of the Kingdom of peace and love.

The prophet foretells the birth of the Messiah from a Virgin, and with particular clarity he describes the Suffering of the Messiah for the sins of the world. He foresees His Resurrection and the universal spreading of His Church. By his clear foretelling of Christ the Savior, the Prophet Isaiah deserves to be called an Old Testament Evangelist. To him belong the words, "He beareth our sins and is smitten for us.... He was wounded for our sins and tortured for our transgressions. The chastisement of our world was upon Him, and by His wounds we were healed...." (Is 53:4-5. Vide Isaiah: 7:14, 11:1, 9:6, 53:4, 60:13, etc.).

The holy Prophet Isaiah had also a gift of wonderworking. And so, when during the time of a siege of Jerusalem by enemies the besieged had become exhausted with thirst, he by his prayer drew out from beneath Mount Sion a spring of water, which was called Siloam, i.e. "sent from God." It was to this spring afterwards that the Savior sent the man blind from birth to wash, and He restored his sight. By the prayer of the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord prolonged the life of Hezekiah for 15 years.

The Prophet Isaiah died a martyr's death. By order of the Jewish king Manasseh he was sawn through by a wood-saw. The prophet was buried not far from the Pool of Siloam. The relics of the holy Prophet Isaiah were afterwards transferred by the emperor Theodosius the Younger to Constantinople and installed in the church of St Laurence at Blachernae.
At the present time part of the head of the Prophet Isaiah is preserved at Athos in the Hilandar monastery.

For the times and the events which occurred during the life of the Prophet Isaiah, see the 4th Book of Kings [alt. 2 Kings] (Ch 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, etc.), and likewise 2 Chr:26-32).
Jesaja
Orthodoxe Kirche: 09. Mai Katholische Kirche: 06. Juli
Jesaja wurde wohl um 739 in das Prophetenamt berufen. Aus seinen Worten läßt sich entnehmen, daß er der gebildeten Oberschicht Jerusalems entstammte, verheiratet war (auch seine Frau war wohl Prophetin) und mehrere Kinder hatte. Seine Aufzeichnungen wurden von Schülern kommentiert und erweitert. So besteht das Buch Jesaja aus mehreren Teilen, die in einem langen Zeitraum entstanden sind. Von dem Buch Jesaja liegt aber auch die älteste erhaltene Handschrift vor, die in Qumran gefunden wurde und auf das 2. Jahrhundert vor Christus datiert werden kann.

Nach orthodoxer Tradition wurde Jesaja unter König Manasse hingerichtet. Sein Leichnam wurde nahe dem Teich Siloah begraben. Von hier gelangten die Reliquien unter Kaiser Theodosius in die Laurentiuskirche in Blacherna (Konstantinopel). Der Kopf Jesajas wird heute im Chilandarionkloster auf dem Athos bewahrt.
76 Hermas, Gaius, Linus, Patrobus und Philologus

Romæ sancti Hermæ, cujus Apóstolus Paulus in Epístola ad Romános méminit.  Ipse autem Hermas, digne semetípsum sacríficans acceptabilísque Deo hóstia factus, virtútibus clarus cæléstia regna petívit.

At Rome, St. Hermas, mentioned by the apostle St. Paul in the Epistle to the Romans.  Generously sacrificing himself, he became an offering acceptable to God, and outstanding for his virtues he took his departure for the heavenly kingdom.1st.V St. Hermas Philippi Bishop Greece Martyr

He was a Roman mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans.

Hermas of Rome B (RM) 1st century. Hermas is mentioned by Saint Paul (Romans 16:14) and, according to some, is the probable author of The Shepherd, one of the earliest Christian works. Personally, unlikely, since the author was the reputed brother of Pope Pius who reigned 140 to 155 AD, and The Shepherd is normally dated to that period. Some conclude from the contents that The Shepherd was written prior to the beginning of persecutions by Domitian, i.e., before AD 95; most believe that it was written in reaction to the false prophets of the Montanists, placing its composition about 142. Regardless of when it was written, it was one of the most influential works of the post-Apostolic period.

The title comes from the appearance of the angel who's utterances the author professes to record.
He assigns to each of us a guardian angel and a tempting devil. He recommends prayers, almsdeeds, and other good works on fast days; mentions a state of continence with approbation; and says that penance, which is followed by frequent relapses, is generally fruitless. A Greek tradition says that Saint Hermas was bishop of Philippi and a martyr (Benedictines, Gill, Husenbeth).

Orthodoxe Kirche: 5. November Orthodoxe Kirche: Hermas - 8. März und 31. Mai Katholische Kirche: Gaius - 4. Oktober Katholische Kirche: Hermas - 9. Mai Katholische Kirche: Linus - 23. September
Hermas (oder Hermes) wird von Paulus in Röm 16, 14 genannt. Er war nach der Überlieferung Bischof in thrakischem Philippopolis. Er mußte zwar Mißhandlungen der Heiden erdulden, starb aber nicht als Märtyrer.
Gaius (oder Caius) wird in Apg. 19, 29 und 20, 4, in Röm. 16, 23, 1. Kor. 1,14 und 3. Joh. 1 erwähnt. Er und Crispus waren die einzigen Christen in Korinth, die Paulus getauft hatte. Er soll nach orthodoxer Überlieferung der Nachfolger von Timotheus als Bischof von Ephesus gewesen sein (dies wird aber auch von Onesimus berichtet). Nach katholischer Tradition war Gaius Bischof von Thessaloniki.
Linus wird von Paulus in 2. Tim. 4, 21 genannt. Er soll Vikar des Petrus und sein Nachfolger als Bischof von Rom gewesen sein. Er starb vermutlich 76.
Patrobus wird in Röm. 16, 14 von Paulus genannt. Er war Bischof von Neapolis (Neapel) und Puteoli.
Philologus wird in Röm. 16, 15 von Paulus genannt. Er wurde von Apostel Andreas zum Bischof von Sinope (am Schwarzen Meer) ernannt.

112 St. Beatus monk hermit Baptized in England by St. Barnabas ordained by St. Peter
called Beatus of Lungern and earlier designated as the Apostle of Switzerland. Beatus went to Switzerland. He lived and died on Mount Beatenburg above Lake Thun. The cave became a popular pilgrim's destination, the famed site of Beatus' fight with a dragon.
112? ST BEATUS
ST BEATENBERG, above the lake of Thun, derives its name from St Beatus, a hermit who, at an early date, is said to have occupied a cave on its slope and died there— supposedly about the year 112. A whole legendary history afterwards grew up about him. It was believed that he had been baptized in England by the Apostle St Barnabas, and that he had been sent to evangelize Switzerland by St Peter, who ordained hint priest in Rome. His cave, where he was reputed to have slain a dragon, became a favourite place of pilgrimage, until it was closed by the Zwinglians. His cultus was then transferred to Lungern in Oberwalden, and St Peter Canisius did much to revive and propagate it. Modern research, however, has revealed that the tradition of St Beatus as the apostle of Switzerland is a late one, extending back no farther than the middle of the eleventh century— if so far.
The Swiss St Beatus is often confused with a namesake, honoured on the same day, viz. St Beatus of Vendôme, who preached the gospel first on the shores of the Garonne, then at Vendôme and Nantes, and who is stated to have died at Chevresson, near Laon, about the close of the third century. This St Beatus seems to have a better claim to be regarded as historical, for his name undoubtedly was entered on this day in the Hieronymianum, and his legend has seemingly supplied much that is attributed to the Swiss Beatus.
Both these legends are dealt with in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii. The cultus of the Swiss St Beatus is apparently still active, and he is regarded as a sort of national patron. See, on the relations between these two supposed hermit missionaries, the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxvi (1907), pp. 423—453 0. Scheiwiller in the Zeitschrift f. Schweitzer. Kirchengeschichte, vol. v (1911), pp. 21—52 and on the folklore aspects, Bächtold-Stäubli, Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens, vol. i, pp. 964—966.

Beatus of Beatenberg (RM) (also known as Beatus of Thun)  possibly 112. Saint Beatus was an early hermit, who found his solitude at a place now called Beatenberg, above Lake Thun, Switzerland. Local legend claims that he was the son of a Scottish king. He may be (but more likely is not) the same Beatus who received a charter in 810 from Blessed Charlemagne to confirm that Honau Abbey, which he ruled as abbot, would always be administered by Irish monks (Benedictines, Coulson, D'Arcy, Fitzpatrick, Green, Montague, Tommasini).
In art, Saint Beatus is depicted as an old man reading in a mountain cave. He is venerated at Beatenberg and Thun (Roeder).

Beatus  Orthodoxe und Katholische Kirche: 9. Mai
Über Beatus von Beatenberg oder von Thun ist nur bekannt, daß er als Einsiedler oberhalb des Thuner Sees lebte. Er war vielleicht der Sohn eines schottischen Königs. Nach anderen Berichten soll er von Petrus in die Schweiz gesandt worden sein und 112 in seiner Höhle am Beatenberg gestorben sein. Nach Petrus Kanisius war Beatus ein iroschottischer Mönch, der Ende des 8. Jahrhunderts von dem elsässischen Kloster Honau in die Schweiz kam. Beatus wird als Apostel der Schweiz verehrt.
250 Christopher The Holy Martyr; miracles, converted as many as 50 thousand pagans to Christ, as St Ambrose of Milan testifies
He lived during the third century and suffered about the year 250, during the reign of the emperor Decius (249-251). There are various accounts of his life and miracles, and he is widely venerated throughout the world. St Christopher is especially venerated in Italy, where people pray to him in times of contagious diseases.

There are various suggestions about his descent. Some historians believe that he was descended from the Canaanites, while others say from the "Cynoscephalai" [literally "dog-heads"] of Thessaly. Perhaps this is why certain unlearned painters foolishly portray St Christopher with a dog's head.

St Christopher was a man of great stature and unusual strength. According to tradition, St Christopher was very handsome, but wishing to avoid temptation for himself and others, he asked the Lord to give him an unattractive face, which was done. Before Baptism he was named Reprebus [Reprobate] because his disfigured appearance. Even before Baptism, Reprebus confessed his faith in Christ and denounced those who persecuted Christians. Consequently, a certain Bacchus gave him a beating, which he endured with humility.

Because of his renowned strength, 200 soldiers were assigned to bring him before the emperor Decius. Reprebus submitted without resistance. Several miracles occurred along the way; a dry stick blossomed in the saint's hand, loaves of bread were multiplied through his prayers, and the travellers had no lack thereof. This is similar to the multiplication of loaves in the wilderness by the Savior. The soldiers surrounding Reprebus were astonished at these miracles.
They came to believe in Christ and they were baptized along with Reprebus by St Babylus of Antioch (September 4).

Christopher once made a vow to serve the greatest king in the world, so he first offered to serve the local king. Seeing that the king feared the devil, Christopher thought he would leave the king to serve Satan. Learning that the devil feared Christ, Christopher went in search of Him. St Babylas of Antioch told him that he could best serve Christ by doing well the task for which he was best suited. Therefore, he became a ferryman, carrying people across a river on his shoulders. One stormy night, Christopher carried a Child Who insisted on being taken across at that very moment. With every step Christopher took, the Child seemed to become heavier. Halfway across the stream, Christopher felt that his strength would give out, and that he and the Child would be drowned in the river. As they reached the other side, the Child told him that he had just carried all the sins of the world on his shoulders. Then He ordered Christopher to plant his walking stick in the ground. As he did so, the stick grew into a giant tree. Then he recognized Christ, the King Whom he had vowed to serve.

St Christopher was brought before the emperor, who tried to make him renounce Christ, not by force but by cunning. He summoned two profligate women, Callinike and Aquilina, and commanded them to persuade Christopher to deny Christ, and to offer sacrifice to idols. Instead, the women were converted to Christ by St Christopher. When they returned to the emperor, they declared themselves to be Christians.Therefore, they were subjected to fierce beatings, and so they received the crown of martyrdom.

Decius also sentenced to execution the soldiers who had been sent after St Christopher, but who now believed in Christ. The emperor ordered that the martyr be thrown into a red-hot metal box. St Christopher, however, did not experience any suffering and he remained unharmed. After many fierce torments they finally beheaded the martyr with a sword. This occurred in the year 250 in Lycia. By his miracles the holy Martyr Christopher converted as many as 50 thousand pagans to Christ, as St Ambrose of Milan testifies. The relics of St Christopher were later transferred to Toledo (Spain), and still later to the abbey of St Denis in France.

In Greece, many churches place the icon of St Christopher at the entrance so that people can see it as they enter and leave the building. There is a rhyming couplet in Greek which says, "When you see Christopher, you can walk in safety." This reflects the belief that whoever gazes upon the icon of St Christopher will not meet with sudden or accidental death that day.
The name Christopher means "Christ-bearer." This can refer to the saint carrying the Savior across the river,
and it may also refer to St Christopher bearing Christ within himself (Galatians 2:20).


Christophorus Orthodoxe Kirche: 09. Mai  Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 24. Juli
Christophorus gehört auch heute zu den beliebtesten Heiligen und um ihn ranken sich viele Legenden. Christophorus lebte um 250, er stammte vielleicht aus Lykien. Er erlitt wahrscheinlich unter Kaiser Decius das Martyrium. Am 22.9.452 wurde ihm eine Kirche in Chalkedon am Bosporus geweiht. Reliquien werden insbesondere in St. Peter in Rom und in St. Denis bei Paris verehrt. Christophorus gehört auch zu den 14 Nothelfern. Die morgendliche Betrachtung seines Bildes soll Schutz für den ganzen Tag gewähren, weshalb sich früher große Christophorusbilder an Kirchen und belebten Plätzen befanden. Auch die bei Autofahrern beliebte Christophorusplakette am Armaturenbrett oder Schlüsselbund mag hiermit zusammenhängen. Christophorus ist - neben vielen anderen Patronaten - Patron der kroatischen Insel Rab. Hier wird er am 25.7. gefeiert.
250 Epimachus The Holy Martyr the New
He suffered in the city of Alexandria in about the year 250, under the emperor Decius (249-251). He was scourged to death with lead rods. His relics are located in the Roman catacombs.

3rd V St. Beatus of Vendôme, missionary through regions of France
 
In castro Vindecíno, in Gállia, deposítio sancti Beáti Confessóris.
     In the town of Windisch in France, the death of St. Beatus, confessor.


A missionary who traveled through regions of France. Beatus preached in Garrone, Vend me, Laon, and Nantes, evangelizing those regions successfully. He died in Chevresson, near Laon. He lived and died on Mount Beatenburg above Lake Thun. The cave became a popular pilgrim's destination, the famed site of Beatus' fight with a dragon.
292 - 346 {348} St. Pachomius Egypt Emperor's army anchorite extreme austerity, total dedication to God; miracles of healing took place at his intercession.,  began monasticism as we know it today.  see also May 15
In Ægypto sancti Pach
ómii Abbátis, qui plúrima eréxit in ea regióne monasteria, et régulam Monachórum scripsit, quam ab Angelo dictánte didícerat.
    
In Egypt, the abbot St. Pachomius, who founded many monasteries in that country, and wrote a rule for monks which he had learned from the dictation of an angel.
348 ST PACHOMIUS, ABBOT
ALTHOUGH St Antony is often reckoned the founder of Christian monasticism, that title belongs more properly to St Pachomius, called “the Elder”, for he was the first—not, indeed, to gather round him communities of Christian ascetics on a large scale—but to organize them and draw up in writing a rule for their common use.
He was born of heathen parents in the Upper Thebaid about the year 292, and when he was twenty was conscripted for the emperor’s army. As he and other recruits were being conveyed down the Nile under wretched conditions, they received great kindness from the Christians of Latopolis (Esneh), who were moved with compassion for them. This disinterested charity Pachomius never forgot; and as soon as the army was disbanded, he made his way back home to Khenoboskion (Kasr as-Syad), where there was a Christian church, and enrolled himself among the catechumens.
   After his baptism his one preoccupation was how best to correspond with the grace he had received. Having heard that an old hermit called Palaemon was serving God with great perfection in the desert, he sought him out and begged him to receive him as a disciple. The old man set before him the hardships of the life, but Pachomius was not to be deterred. Having promised obedience, he received the habit. The life they led together was one of extreme austerity: their diet was bread and salt; they drank no wine and used no oil; they always watched half the night and frequently passed the whole of it without sleep. Sometimes they would repeat the entire psalter together; at other times they would occupy themselves in manual labour accompanied by interior prayer.
One day when Pachomius was visiting, as he occasionally did, a vast uninhabited desert on the banks of the Nile called Tabennisi, he is said to have heard a voice bidding him begin a monastery there, and about the same time he had a vision of an angel who gave him certain instructions regarding the religious life.*[* Some rationalist critics, laying stress upon the fact that the saint is said before his baptism to have resided in a little temple of Serapis, have sought to draw the inference that the whole monastic idea was an importation from paganism but, as Ladeuze and others have pointed out, Pachomius lived there after his thoughts had been turned to Christianity. The building referred to was probably only an abandoned shrine.]
These revelations he imparted to Palaemon, who accompanied him to Tabennisi about the year 318, helped him to construct a cell and remained with him for some time before returning to his solitude.
   The first disciple to receive the habit at Tabennisi from St Pachomius was his own eldest brother John others followed, and within a comparatively short time the number of his monks exceeded one hundred. He led them to an eminent degree of perfection, mainly through his own fervent spirit and example. He passed fifteen years without ever lying down, taking his short rest sitting on a stone, and from the moment of his conversion he never ate a full meal. Yet his rule for others was graduated according to their capacity, for he refused no applicant on the score of age or weakliness. He established six other monasteries in the Thebaid, and from the year 336 resided often at Pabau, near Thebes, which became a larger and even more famous community than Tabennisi. He built for the benefit of the poor shepherds a church in which for some time he acted as lector, but he could never be induced to offer himself for the priesthood, or to present any of his monks for ordination, although he was always prepared to give the habit to men who were already priests. He zealously opposed the Arians, and in 333 had a visit from St Athanasius. For the benefit of his sister whom, however, he never would see, he built a nunnery on the opposite side of the Nile. Cited to appear before a council of bishops at Latopolis to answer certain accusations, he displayed such humility in his replies to his calumniators that all present marvelled. Humility and patience were indeed virtues which he practised in a heroic degree; and miracles of healing took place at his intercession.
Pachomius died on May 15, 348, of an epidemic disease which had already carried off many of his brethren. He had lived to see three thousand monks in the nine monasteries under his charge. Cassian tells us that the larger his communities were, the more perfect was the observance of discipline, all obeying the superior more readily than any single person could be found to do elsewhere. To help in maintaining this discipline St Pachomius had a system of registering each monk in one of 24 lettered categories: “i”, for example, indicated a simple, innocent type, “x”, a difficult and stubborn character. The monks lived together three in a cell, grouped according to trades, and assembled together for the two night offices and for Mass on Saturdays and Sundays. Much emphasis was laid on Bible-reading and learning passages by heart; in general the monks were drawn from rough and rude material.
The story of the angel who appeared to Pachomius, bidding him gather young monks about him at Tabennisi, has not everywhere found acceptance; and still more difficulty has been raised over the brass tablet which the angel is supposed to have brought him said to have been inscribed with a summary of the rule he was to follow. None the less, such an account of its contents as we read in the Lausiac History of Palladius cannot have been a mere burlesque of the practices observed by the monks. The source of the rule may be legendary and it may be difficult to determine what its authentic provisions actually were. But there is a fair measure of resemblance among the texts handed down in Greek or in Ethiopic when compared with the amplified Sahidic original, which St Jerome translated by means of an interpreter and which we only know through this translation.
There is probably some foundation for that mitigation of austerity according to the capacity of the subject which Palladius makes so prominent. The angel-borne tablet is said to have enjoined: “Thou shalt allow each man to eat and drink according to his strength; and proportionately to the strength of the eaters appoint to them their labours. And prevent no man either from fasting or eating. However, assign the tasks that need strength to those who are stronger and eat, and to the weaker and more ascetic such as the weak can manage.” So, too, we have probably a glimpse of the practice actually followed, when Palladius quotes further: “Let them sleep not lying down full length, but let them make sloping chairs easily constructed and put their legs on them and thus sleep in a sitting posture”. Or again: “As they eat, let them cover their heads with their hoods, lest one brother see another chewing. A monk is not allowed to talk at meals, nor let his eye wander beyond his plate or the table.”
What is certain is that St Benedict’s Rule, which has shaped nearly all surviving monasticism in the West, borrowed a good deal from Pachomius. Abbot Cuthbert Butler, in his edition of the Regula S. Benedicti, makes thirty-two references to St Jerome’s Pachomiana, and several phrases in the rule can be traced to Pachomian sources, while the spirit of the so-called Angelic Rule is even more noticeable therein.

Of all the early saints of the East it is St Pachomius who seems of recent years to have attracted most attention. New discoveries have been made especially of Coptic (i.e. Sahidic) texts, though for the most part these unfortunately are only fragmentary. Other manuscripts previously neglected have now been collated in many different redactions and languages. The older generation of Bollandists (in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iii) did a great deal, but in the seventeenth century no exhaustive research of oriental sources was possible. Their modern representatives, however, have published a thoroughly satisfactory edition of St Pachomii Vitae Graecae (1932), edited by Fr F. Halkin. With this great advance may be associated the not, less important study of L. T. Lefort, S. Pachomii Vitae Sahidice Scriptae (published in two parts in the Corpus Scriptorum (Christianorum Orientalium, 1933 and 1934), in the same series his edition of a Bohairic life of Pachomius (1925), and his Vies copter de S. Pacôme (1943) these are discussed in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lii (1934), pp. 286—320, and vol. lxiv (1946), pp. 258—277. A further piece of research is that of A. Boon, Pachomiana Latina (1932), an essay on St Jerome’s translation of the Rule with an appendix on the Greek and Coptic versions see also B. Albers, S. Pachomii . . . Regulae Monasticae (1923). Amongst a multitude of somewhat older studies the essay of F. Ladeuze, Le Cénobitisme Pakhômien, deserves special mention, and H. Leclercq in his long article “Monachisme” in DAC., vol. xi (1933), especially in cc. 1807—1831, has brought together a number of valuable bibliographical references. There are also biographies, with slight variations, in Syriac and Arabic. M. Amélineau, who was among the first to take account of the Coptic texts, published in 1887 an Etude historique sur S. Pacôme. After the sixteenth-centenary celebrations in Egypt in 1948 a volume of lectures, Pachomiana, by scholars of several national­ities and ecclesiastical obediences was published. For the Angelic Rule and Western monachism, see J. McCann’s St Benedict (1938), pp. 152 ss. and passim. In spite, however, of the research bestowed upon the subject, the life and work of St Pachomius still remain very much of a problem, as such an authority as Fr Paul Peeters is the first to confess.

Inducted into the Emperor's army as a twenty-year-old.  The great kindness of Christians at Thebes toward the soldiers became embedded in his mind and led to his conversion after his discharge. After being baptized, he became a disciple of an anchorite, Palemon (Died at Tabennisi, Egypt, in 325), and took the habit. The two of them led a life of extreme austerity and total dedication to God; they combined manual labor with unceasing prayer both day and night. 
Later, Pachomius felt called to build a monastery on the banks of the Nile at Tabennisi; so about 318 Palemon helped him build a cell there and even remained with him for a while.
In a short time some one hundred monks joined him and Pachomius organized them on principles of community living. So prevalent did the desire to emulate the life of Pachomius and his monks become, that the holy man was obliged to establish ten other monasteries for men and two nunneries for women.
Before his death in 346, there were seven thousand monks in his houses, and his Order lasted in the East until the 11th century.

St. Pachomius was the first monk to organize hermits into groups and write down a Rule for them. Both St. Basil (Born in Caesarea, Cappadocia, Asia Minor (now central Turkey), in 329; died there on January 1, 379; Doctor of the Church) and St. Benedict (Born in Nursia, Italy, c. 490; died at Monte Cassino, 543) drew from his Rule in setting forth their own more famous ones.  Hence, though St. Anthony is usually regarded as the founder of Christian monasticism, it was really St. Pachomius who began monasticism as we know it today.

Pachomius of Tabenna, Abbot (RM) (also known as Pachome) Born in the Upper Thebaîd near Esneh, Egypt, c. 290-292; died at Tabennisi, Egypt, on May 15, c. 346-348; feast day in the East is May 15.
"It is very much better for you to be one among a crowd of a thousand people and to possess a very little humility, than to be a man living in the cave of a hyena in pride." --Pachomius

Pachomius, son of pagan parents, was unwillingly drafted into the Theban army at the age of 20, probably to help Maximinus wage war against Licinius and Constantine. When his unit reached Thebes the officers in charge, knowing the feelings of their reluctant recruits, locked them up. They were taken down the Nile as virtual prisoners under terrible conditions. The soldier-prisoners were fed, given money, and treated with great kindness by the Christians of Latopolis (Esneh) while they were being shipped down the Nile, and Pachomius was struck by this.

When the army disbanded after the overthrow of Maximinus, he returned to Khenoboskion (Kasr as-Sayd). The kindness of the Christians to strangers caused Pachomius to enquire about their faith and to enroll himself as a catechumen at the local Christian church. After his baptism in 314 he searched for the best way to respond to the grace he had received in the sacrament. He prayed continually:

"O God, Creator of heaven and earth, cast on me an eye of pity: deliver me from my miseries: teach me the true way of pleasing You, and it shall be the whole employment, and most earnest study of my life to serve You, and to do Your will."

Like many neophytes, Pachomius was in danger of the temptation to do too much. Zeal is often an artifice of the devil to make a novice undertake too much too fast, and run indiscreetly beyond his strength. If the sails gather too much wind, the vessel is driven ahead, falls on some rock, and splits. Eagerness may be a symptom of secret passion, not of true virtue if it is willful and impatient at advice. Thus, Pachomius wanted to find a skillful conductor.

Hearing about a holy man was serving God in perfection, Pachomius finally sought out the elderly desert hermit named Saint Palaemon and asked to be his follower. They lived very austerely, doing manual labor to earn money for the relief of the poor and their own subsistence, and often praying all night. Palaemon would not use wine or oil in his food, even on Easter day, so as not to lose sight of the meaning of Christ's suffering. He set Pachomius to collecting briars barefoot; and the saint would often bear the pain as a reminder of the nails that entered Christ's feet.

One day in 318 while walking in the Tabennisi Desert on the banks of the Nile north of Thebes, Pachomius is said to have heard a voice that told him to begin a monastery there. He also experienced a vision in which an angel set out directions for the religious life. The two hermits constructed a cell there together about 320, and Palaemon lived with him for a while before returning to solitude. Pachomius's first follower was his own brother, John, and within a short time, there were 100 monks.

Pachomius wrote the first communal rule for monks (which some say survives in a Latin translation by Saint Jerome and others say is lost), an innovation on the common type of eremitical monachism. The life style was severe but less rigorous than that of typical hermits. Their habit was a sleeveless tunic of rough white linen with a cowl that prevented them from seeing one another at group meals taken in silence. (Silence was strictly observed at all times.) They wore on their shoulders a white goatskin, called Melotes. The monks learned the Bible by heart and came together daily for prayer. By his rule, the fasts and tasks of work of each were proportioned to his strength. They received the holy communion on the first and last days of every week. Novices were tried with great severity before they were admitted to the habit and profession of vows.

His rule influenced SS. Basil and Benedict; 32 passages of Benedict's rule are based on Pachomius's guidelines.
Pachomius himself went fifteen years without ever lying down, taking his short rest sitting on a stone. He begrudged the necessity for sleep because he wished he could have been able to employ all his moments in the actual exercises of divine love. From the time of his conversion he never ate a full meal. The saint, with the greatest care, comforted and served the sick himself. He received into his community the sickly and weak, rejecting none just because he lacked physical strength. The holy monk desired to lead all souls to heaven that had the fervor to walk in the paths of perfection.
He opened six other monasteries and a convent for his sister on the opposite side of the Nile (but would never visit her) in the Thebaîd, and from 336 on lived primarily at Pabau near Thebes, which outgrew the Tabennisi community in fame. He was an excellent administrator, and acted as superior general.
The communities were broken down into houses according to the crafts the inhabitants practiced, such as tailoring, baking, and agriculture. Goods made in the monasteries were sold in Alexandria. Because of his military background, Pachomius styled himself as a general who could transfer monks from one house to another for the good of the whole. There were local superiors and deans in charge of the houses. All those in authority met each year at Easter and in August to review annual accounts. Pachomius also built a church for poor shepherds and acted as its lector, but he refused to seek ordination for the priesthood or to present any of his monks for ordination, although he permitted priests to join and serve the communities.
Pachomius also had an enormous sense of justice. Although the money garnered by their labors was destined for the poor, when one of the procurators had sold the mats at market at a higher price than the saint had bid him, he ordered him to carry back the money to the buyers, and chastised him for his avarice.
The author of his vita tells us that the saint had the gift of tongues. Although he never learned Latin or Greek, he could speak them fluently when the necessity arose. Pachomius is credited with many miraculous cures with blessed oil of the sick and those possessed by devils. But he often said that their sickness or affliction was for the good of their souls and only prayed for their temporal comfort, with this clause or condition, if it should not prove hurtful to their souls. His dearest disciple, Saint Theodorus (Died April 27, c. 368) who after his death succeeded him as superior general, was afflicted with a perpetual headache. Pachomius, when asked by some of the brethren to pray for his health, answered: "Though abstinence and prayer be of great merit, yet sickness, suffered with patience, is of much greater."
One of the saints chief occupations was praying for the spiritual health of his disciples and others. He took every opportunity to curb and heal their passions, especially that of pride. One day a certain monk having doubled his diligence at work, and made two mats instead of one and set them where Pachomius might see them. The saint perceiving the snare, said "This brother has taken a great deal of pains from morning till night, to give his work to the devil." In order to cure the monk's vanity, Pachomius ruled that the proud monk do penance by remaining in his cell for five months.
Another time a young actor named Silvanus entered the monastery to do penance, but continued to live an undisciplined life by trying to entertain his fellows. Pachomius had a difficult time curbing his youthful playfulness until he explained the dreadful punishments awaiting those who mock God. From that moment divine grace touched Saint Silvanus, he led an exemplary life and was moved by the gift of tears.
Pachomius was an opponent of Arianism and for this reason was denounced to a council of bishops at Latopolis, but was completely exonerated. Though he was never ordained, he was highly respected and even visited by Saint Athanasius (Born in Alexandria, Egypt, in c. 295-297; died May 2, 373; Doctor of the Church one of the four great Greek Doctors; in the East he is venerated as one of the three Holy Hierarchs.) in 333.
By the time of his death, there were 3,000 (7,000 according to one source) monks in nine monasteries and two convents for women. He died in an epidemic. Pachomiusis one of the best-known figures in the history of monasticism (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer, Husenbeth, Walsh, White).
The vita of Saint Pachomius was translated into Latin from the Greek in the 6th century by the abbot Dionysus Exiguus, so called not because of height but because his great humility. Dionysus includes this story:
"At another time the cohorts of the devils plotted to tempt the man of God by a certain phantasy. For a crowd of them assembling together, were seen by him tying up the leaf of a tree with great ropes and tugging it along with immense exertion, ranking in order on the right and left: and the one side would exhort the other, and strain and tug, as if they were moving a stone of enormous weight. And this the wicked spirits were doing so as to move him, if they could, to loud laughter, and so they might cast it in his teeth. But Pachome, seeing their impudence, groaned and fled to the Lord with his accustomed prayers: and straightway by the virtue of Christ all their triangular array was brought to naught. . . .
"After this, so much trust had the blessed Pachome learned to place in God . . . that many a time he trod on snakes and scorpions, and passed unhurt through all: and the crocodiles, if ever he had necessity to cross the river, would carry him with the utmost subservience, and set him down at whatever spot he indicated" (Dionysus).
In art, Saint Pachomius is a hermit holding the tablets of his rule. He might also be shown (1) as an angel brings him the monastic rule; (2) being tempted by a she-devil; (3) in a hairshirt; (4) with Saint Palaemon (Roeder), or (5) walking among serpents (White).
362 Gordian The Holy Martyr was beheaded with a sword  under Julian the Apostate (361-363) at Rome. His relics rest in the Roman catacombs.
383 Gregor von Nazianz
Naziánzi, in Cappadócia, natális beáti Gregórii Epíscopi, Confessóris et Ecclésiæ Doctóris, ob singulárem divinárum rerum doctrínam cognoménto Theólogi; qui collápsam Constantinópoli cathólicam fidem, ipsíus urbis Episcopátum gerens, restítuit, hæresésque insurgéntes compréssit.

At Nazianzum, the birthday of St. Gregory, bishop, confessor, and doctor of the Church, surnamed the Theologian because of his remarkable knowledge of divinity.  At Constantinople, he restored the Catholic faith which was fast waning, and repressed the rising heresies.

Feast Eastern Orthodox Church: January 25 (primary feast day) January 30 (Three Great Hierarchs) Roman Catholic Church: January 2 (c. 1500-1969 May 9) Episcopal Church (USA): May 9
Feast, Roman Calendar, 9 May  Orthodoxe Kirche: 25. Januar und 30. Januar (Drei Hierarchen) Katholische und Anglikanische Kirche: 2. Januar Evangelische Kirche: 8. Mai

Gregor wurde um 329 in Nazianz in Kappadozien geboren. Sein Vater war der Bischof Gregorius (Gregor von Nazianz der Ältere - Gedenktag 1.1.), sein jüngerer Bruder war Caesar von Nazianz. Während der Ausbildung in Cäsarea lernte er Athanasius kennen. In Athen traf er um 348 mit Basilius zusammen, mit dem er lebenslang befreundet war. Er lebte etwa zwei Jahre mit Basilius inder Einsamkeit, half dann seinem Vater bei der Verwaltung seines Bistums und wurde 379 Bischof der athanasianischen Minderheit in Konstantinopel. Nach dem oekumenischen Konzil von Konstantinopel wurde er 381 erneut zum Bischof von Konstantinopel berufen. Seine Wahl wurde aber angefochten und er zog sich 383 aus dem öffentlichen Leben auf sein Landgut zurück, wo er zu den theologischen Fragen seiner Zeit arbeitete.

Mit Basilius und Gregor von Nyssa bildete er das kappadozische Dreigestirn, dem die Kirche die Ausarbeitung der Lehre von der Trinität und damit die Überwindung des Arianismus verdankt. Diese drei verteidigten gegen die arianische Mehrheit das nicänische Glaubensbekenntnis (325), das sich erst auf dem Konzil 381 endgütig durchsetzen konnte. Gregor gehört in der orthodoxen und in der katholischen Kirche zu den Kirchenvätern.


From Lives of the Saintes  by Alban Butler
AD 389 ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN, B. C. DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH.
From his own works, and other monuments of that age.  See Gregory of Caesarean, who wrote his life in 940. Herman , Tillemont t. 9  Ceillier. 1. 7; also the life of this saint compiled from his works by Baronius  published by Alberici, in an appendix to the life and letters of that cardinal, In 1759, t 2.
MAY IX.

ST. Gregory, who, from his profound skill in sacred learning, is surnamed the Theologian, was a native of Arianzum, an obscure village in the territory of Naziazum, a small town in Cappadocia, not far from Caesarea. His parents are both honored in the calendars of the church: his father on the 1st of January, and his mother, Nonna, on the 5th of August. She drew down the blessing of heaven upon her family by most bountiful and continual alms-deeds, in which she knew one of the greatest advantages of riches to consist yet, to satisfy the obligation of justice which she owed to her children, she, by her prudent economy, improved at the same time their patrimony.   The greatest part of her time she devoted to holy prayer; and her respect and attention to the least thing which regarded religion is not to be expressed.  His father, whose name also was Gregory, was, from his infancy, a worshipper of false gods, but of the sect called the Hipsistarii, on account of the profession they made of adoring the Most High God though, at the same time, they worshipped fire with the Persians, and observed the Jewish Sabbath and distinction of meats.  We find no mention of them but in the writings of our saint.
              The prayers and tears of Nonna at length obtained of God the conversion of her husband, whose integrity in the discharge of the chief magistracy of his town, and the practice of strict moral virtue, prepared him for such a change.   He was baptized at Naziazum, about the time of the great council of Nice, having first most carefully prepared himself to receive that holy sacrament in the most fervent dispositions of piety, and to preserve the precious graces which attend it.

Not very long after, the sanctity of his life raised him to the episcopal sea of Naziazum, which he held about forty-five years, dying in 374, when he was above ninety years old.   His son has left us the most edifying detail of his humility, holy zeal, and other virtues.  He had three children, Gorgonia, Gregory, and Ctesarius, who was the youngest.  Gregory was the fruit of the most earnest prayers of his mother, who, upon his birth offered him to God for the service of his church.  His virtuous parents gave him the strongest impressions of piety in his tender age: and his chief study from his very infancy was to know God by the help of pious books, in the reading whereof he was very assiduous. He relates, that, in his youth, he had a mysterious dream, in which he beheld himself caressed by chastity and temperance, under the appearance of two beautiful damsels, as their child and they invited him to go with them, on the promise of raising him up to the light of the immortal Trinity, if he wound put himself under their conduct.  He says, that from that time he resolved to serve God in a state of perfect continence.  He writes in very strong terms of the strict obligation of vows of chastity the violation of which he calls death, sacrilege,
and perfidy: he is also very large oftentimes upon the excellency and advantages of that holy state.
  Having acquired grammar-learning in the schools of his own country, and being formed to piety by domestic examples, he was sent to Caesarea in Palestine, where the study of eloquence flourished. He pursued the same studies some time at Alexandria and there embarked for Athens in November. The vessel was beaten by a furious storm during twenty days, without any hopes either for the ship or passengers all which time he lay upon the deck, bemoaning the danger of his soul, on account of his not having been as yet baptized, imploring the divine mercy with many tears and loud groans, and frequently renewing his promise of devoting himself entirely to God, in case he survived the danger. God was pleased to hear his prayer: the tempest ceased, and the vessel arrived safe at Rhodes, and soon after at Aegina, an island near Athens.  He had passed through Cesarean of Cappadocia in his road to Palestine and making some stay there to improve himself under the great toasters of that city, had contracted an acquaintance with the great St. Basil, which he cultivates at Athena, whither that saint followed him soon after.  The intimacy between these two saints became from that time the most perfect model of holy friendship, and nothing can be more tender than the epitaph which St. Gregory composed upon his friend.
       Whilst they pursued their studies together, they shunned the company of those scholars who sought too much after liberty and conversed with the diligent and virtuous. They avoided all feasting and vain entertainments and were acquainted only with two streets, one that led to the church, and the other to the schools. Riches they despised and accounted as thorns, employing their allowance in supplying themselves with bare necessaries for an abstemious and slender subsistence, and disposing of the remainder in behalf of the poor.  Envy had no place in them; sincere love made each of them esteem his companion's honor and advantage as his own: they were to each other, a mutual spur to all good, and by a holy emulation, neither of them would be outdone by the other in fasting, prayer or the exercise of any virtue. Saint Basil left Athens first. The progress which St. Gregory made here in eloquence, philosophy, and the sacred studies, appears by the high reputation which he acquired, and by the monuments which has left behind him.  But his greatest happiness and praise was that he always made the fear and love of God his principal affair, to which he referred his studies and all his endeavors.
   In 355, Julian, afterwards emperor, came to Athens, where he spent some months with St. Basil and St. Gregory, in the study of profane literature and the Holy Scriptures.  St. Gregory then prognosticated what a mischief the empire was breeding up in that monster, from the levity of his carriage, the rolling and wandering of his eyes, the fierceness of his looks, the tossing’s of his head, the shrugging up of his shoulders, his uneven gait, his loud and unseasonable laughter his rash and incoherent discourse; the indications of an unsettled and arrogant mind.  The year following our saint left Athens for Nazianzum, and took Constantinople in his way. Here he found his brother Ctesarius, arrived not long before, from Alexandria, where he had accomplished himself in all the polite learning of that age, and applied himself particularly to physic. The emperor Constantius honored him with his favor, and made him his chief physician.  His generosity appeared in this station by his practice of physic, even among the rich, without the inducement of either fee or reward.  He was also a father to the poor; on whom he bestowed the greatest part of his income.  Gregory was importuned by many to make his appearance at the bar, or at least to teach rhetoric, as that which would afford him the best means to display his talents, and raise his fortune in the world.  But, he answered, that he had totally devoted himself to the service of God.
  The first thing he did after his return to Nazianzum was to fulfil his engagement of consecrating himself entirely to God, by receiving baptism at the hands of his father. This he did without reserve:  I have," says he, "given all I have to him from whom I received it, and have taken him alone for my whole possession. I have consecrated to him my goods my glory, my health, my tongue and talents.  All the fruit I have received from these advantages has been the happiness of despising them for Christ's sake."
          From that moment, never was man more dead to ambition, riches, pleasures, or reputation.  He entertained no secret affection for the things of this world, but trampled under his feet all its pride and perishable goods; finding no ardor, no relish, no pleasure, but in God and in heavenly things. His diet was coarse bread, with salt and water.   He lay upon the ground, wore nothing but what was coarse and vile.  He worked hard all day, spent a considerable part of the night in singing the praises of God, or in contemplation. With riches he condemned also profane eloquence, on which he had bestowed so much pains, making an entire sacrifice of it to Jesus Christ. His classics and books of profane oratory he abandoned to the worms and moths.  He regarded the greatest honors as vain dreams, which only deceive men, and dreaded the precipices down which ambition drags its inconsiderate slaves.  Nothing appeared to him comparable to the life which a man leads who is dead to himself and his sensual inclinations; who lives as it were out of the world, and has no other conversation but with God. However, he for some time took upon him the care of his father's household, and the management of his affairs. He was afflicted with several sharp fits of sickness caused by his extreme austerities and continual tears, which often did not suffer him to sleep.  He rejoiced in his distempers, because in them he found the best opportunities of mortification and self-denial. The immoderate laughter, which his cheerful disposition had made him subject to in his youth, was afterwards the subject of his tears. He obtained so complete a conquest over the passion of anger, as to prevent all in deliberate motions of it, and became totally indifferent in regard to all that before was most dear to him. His generous liberality to the poor made him always as destitute of earthly goods as the poorest, and his estate was common to all who were in necessity as a port is to all at sea.
     Never does there seem to have been a greater lover of retirement and silence. He laments the excesses into which talkativeness draws men, and the miserable itch that prevail, in most people to become teachers of others.  It was his afloat earnest desire to disengage himself from the convene of men and the world, that he might more freely enjoy that of heaven.  He accordingly, in 858, joined St. Basil in the solitude into which he had retreated, situate near the river Iris in Pontus. Here watching, fasting, prayer, studying the Holy Scriptures, singing psalms, and manual labor, employed their whole time.  As to their exposition of the divine oracles, they were guided in this, not by their own lights and particular way of thinking, but, as Rufinus writes," by the interpretation which the ancient fathers and doctors of the church had delivered concerning them."   But this solitude Gregory enjoyed only just long enough to be enamored of its sweetness, being soon recalled back by his father, then above eighty, to assist him in the government of his flock.  To draw the greater succor from him he ordained him priest by force, and when he least expected it.  This was performed in the church on some great festival, and probably on Christmas day, in 361.  He knew the sentiments of his son with regard to that charge, and his invincible reluctance on several accounts, which was the reason of his taking this method.  
            The saint accordingly speaks of his ordination as a kind of tyranny which he knew not well how to digest; in which sentiments’ he fled into the deserts of Pontus and sought relief in the company of his dear friend St. Basil, by whom he had been lately importuned to return.   Many censured this flight, ascribing it to pride, obstinacy, and the like motives. Gregory likewise himself, reflecting at leisure on his own conduct, and the punishment of the prophet Jonas for disobeying the command of God, came to a resolution to go back to Nazianzum; where, after ten weeks' absence, he appeared again on Easter-day, and there preached his first sermon on that great festival.  This was soon after followed by another, which is extant under the title of his apology for his flight.  It is placed the first among his orations on account of the importance of the subject. He treats in it principally on the great dignity, duties, and dangers of the sacerdotal office; on the sanctity requisite to approach the altar and to appear before God, the author of' purity; the extreme difficulty of governing the consciences of others, and applying remedies to the different maladies of souls.  He insists much on the virtue and learning necessary for the sacred functions, to answer all the exigencies of the faithful, and to confute errors.  From these principles he concludes, that he had reason to tremble at the sighs of' such a bunion, and to employ solute time in preparing himself for the ministry of the altar by prayer, mortification, and holy meditation. He adds, that, fearing the terrible account which would be demanded of him for the souls committed to his care, should he refuse his labors, he like Jonas returned to the duties belonging to the station to which be was called, in hopes that obedience would support him in it, and be a means to procure him the graces necessary for this purpose.
   In this discourse, St. Gregory extols the unanimity of that church in faith and their mutual concord: but towards the end of the reign of Julian, an unfortunate division happened in it, which is mentioned by the saint, in his first invective against that apostate prince.  The bishop, his father, hoping to gain certain persons to the church by condescension, admitted a certain writing which had been drawn up by the secret favorers of Arianism in ambiguous and artful terms. This unwary condescension of the elder Gregory, gave offence to the more zealous part of his flock, and especially to the monks, who refused thereupon to communicate with him. Our saint discharged his duty so well in this critical affair, that he united the flock with their pastor, without the least concession in favor of the error of those by whom his father had been tricked into a subscription against his intention and design, his faith being entirely pure.  On the occasion of this joyful reunion, our saint pronounced an elegant discourse.  Soon after the death of Julian he composed his two invective orations against that apostate.  He imitates the severity which the prophets frequently made use of in their censures of wicked kings; but his design was to defend the church against the pagans, by unmasking the injustice, impiety, and hypocrisy of its capital persecutor.   The saint's younger brother, Cesarius, had lived in the court of Julian, highly honored by that emperor for his learning and skill in physic.   St. Gregory pressed him to forsake the family of an apostate prince, in which he could not live without being betrayed into many temptations and snares."    And so it happened: for Julian, after many caresses, assailed him by inveigling speeches, and at length by a warm disputation in favor of idolatry. Cesarius answered him, that he was a Christian, and such he was resolved always to remain.  However, apprehensive of the dangers in which he lived, he soon after chose rather to resign his post, than to run the hazard of his faith and a good conscience.   He therefore left the court, though the emperor endeavored earnestly to detain him.   After the miserable death of the apostate, he appeared again with distinction in the courts of Jovian and Valens, and was made by the latter Comes rerum privatarum, or treasurer of the imperial rents; which office was but to higher dignities. In the discharge of this employment of Bithynia, he happened to be at Nice in the great earthquake, which swallowed up the chief part of that city in 368.  The treasurer, with some few others, escaped, by being preserved, through a wonderful providence, in certain hollow parts of the ruins.  St. Gregory improved this opportunity nothing but what was coarse and vile.   He worked hard all day, spent a considerable part of the night in singing the praises of God, or in contemplation.   With riches he condemned also profane eloquence, on which he had bestowed so much pain, making an entire sacrifice of it to Jesus Christ. His classics and books of profane oratory he abandoned to the worms and moths.  He regarded the greatest honors as vain dreams, which only deceive one, and dreaded the precipices down which ambition drags its inconsiderate slaves.   Nothing appeared to him comparable to the life which a man leads who is deal to himself and his sensual inclinations who lives as it were out of the world, and has no other conversation but with God.
    However, he for some time took upon him the care of his father's household, and the management of his affairs. He was afflicted with several sharp fits of sickness caused by his extreme austerities and continual tears, which often did not offer him to sleep.   He rejoiced in his distempers, because in them he found the host opportunities of  mortification and self-denial. The immoderate laughter, which his cheerful disposition had made him subject to in his youth, was afterwards the subject of his tears.    He obtained so complete a conquest over the passion of anger, as to prevent all in deliberate motions of it, and became totally indifferent in regard to all that before was most dear to him. His generous liberality to the poor made him always as destitute of earthly goods as the poorest, and his estate was common to all who were in necessity as a port is to all at sea. Never does there seem to have been a greater lover of retirement and silence. He laments the excesses into which talkativeness draws him, and the miserable itch that prevails in most people to become teachers of others.
  It was his most earnest desire to disengage himself from the converse of men and the world, that he might more freely enjoy that of heaven.  He accordingly, in 338, joined St. Basil in the solitude into which he had retreated, situate near the river Iris in Pontus.  Here watching, fasting, prayer, studying the Holy Scriptures, singing psalms, and manual labor, employed their whole time.   As to their exposition of the divine oracles, they were guided in this, not by their own lights and particular way of thinking but, as Rufinus writes, by the interpretation which the ancient fathers and doctors of the church had delivered concerning them. But this solitude Gregory enjoyed only just long enough to be enamored of its sweetness, being soon recalled back by his father, then above eighty, to assist him in the government of his flock. To draw the greater succor from him he ordained him priest by force, and when he least expected it.  This was performed in the church on some great festival, and probably on Christmas day, in 361.  He knew the sentiments of his son with regard to that charge, and his invincible reluctance on several accounts, which was the reason of his taking this method. The saint accordingly speaks of his ordination as a kind of tyranny which he knew not well how to digest; in which sentiments he fled into the deserts of Pontus and sought relief in the company of his dear friend St. Basil, by whom he had been lately importuned to return.   Many censured this flight, ascribing it to pride, obstinacy, and the like motives.  Gregory likewise himself reflecting at leisure on his own conduct, and the punishment of the prophet Jonas for disobeyed the command of God, came to a resolution, to go back to Nazianzum ; where after a ten weeks' absence, he appeared again on Easter-day, and there preached his first sermon on that great festival.  This was soon after followed by another, which is extant under the title of his apology for his flight.  It is placed the first among his orations on account of the importance of the subject.  He treats in it principally on the great dignity, duties, and dangers of the sacerdotal office on the sanctity requisite to approach the altar and to appear before God, the author of purity; the extreme difficulty of governing the consciences of others, and applying remedies to the different maladies of souls.  He insists much on the virtue and learning necessary for the sacred functions, to answer all the exigencies of the faithful, and to confute errors.   From these principles he concludes, that he had reason to tremble at the sight of such a burden, and to employ some time in preparing himself for the ministry of the altar by prayer, mortification, and holy meditation.  He adds, that, fearing the terrible account which would be demanded of him for the souls committed to his care, should he refuse his labors, he like Jonas returned to the duties belonging to the station to which he was called, in hopes that obedience would support him in it and be a means to procure him the graces necessary for this purpose.
    In this discourse, St. Gregory extols the unanimity of that church in faith and their mutual concord but towards the end of the reign of Julian, an unfortunate division happened in it, which is mentioned by the saint, in his first invective against that apostate prince. The bishop, his father, hoping to gain certain persons to the church by condescension, of the older Gregory gave admitted a certain writing which had been drawn up b the secret favorers of Arianism in ambiguous and artful terms.  This unwary condescension of the elder Gregory, gave offence to the more zealous part of his flock, and especially the monks, who refused to thereupon to communicate with him. Our saint discharged his duly so well in this critical affair, that he united the  flock with their pastor, without the least concession in favor of the error of those by whom his father had been tricked into  a subscription against his intention  and design, his faith being entirely pure.  On the occasion of this joyful reunion, our saint pronounced an elegant discourse. Soon after the death of Julian he composed his two invective orations against that apostate.   He imitates the severity which the prophets frequently made use of in their censures of wicked kings; but in his design was to defend the church against the pagans, by unmasking the injustice impiety, and hypocrisy of its capital persecutor.  The saint’s younger brother, Cesarius, had lived in the court of Julian, highly honored by that emperor for his learning skill in physic.  St. Gregory pressed him to forsake the family of an apostate prince in which he could not live without being betrayed in to many temptations and snares.  And so it happend for Julian, after many caresses, assailed him by inveighing speeches, and at length by a warm disputation in favor of idolatry. Cesarius answered him that he was a Christian, and such he was resolved always to remain.   However, apprehensive of the dangers in which he lived, he soon after chose rather to resign his post, than to run the hazard of his faith and a good conscience. He therefore left the court, though the emperor endeavored earnestly to detain him. After the miserable death of the apostate, he appeared again with distinction in the courts of Jovan and Valens, and was made by the latter Comes rerum privataum, or treasurer of the, imperial rents which office was but a step to higher dignities in the discharge of this employment of Bithynia, He happened to be at Nice in the great earthquake, which swallowed up the chief part of that city in 368. The treasurer, with some few others, escaped, by being preserved, through a wonderful providence, in certain hollow parts of the ruins.
        St. Gregory improved this opportunity to urge him again to quit the world and it. Honor and to consecrate to God alone a life for which he was indebted to him on so many accounts.  Cesarius, moved by so awakening an accident, listened to this advice, and took a resolution to renounce the world: but returning home fell sick and died in the fervor of his sacrifice, about the beginning of the year 368, leaving his whole estate to the poor.  He is named in the Roman Martyrology on the 25th of February. St. Gregory, extolling his virtue, say that while he enjoyed the honors of the world, he looked upon the advantage of being a Christian as the first of his dignities, and the most glorious of all his titles ; reckoning all the rest dross and dung. He was buried at Nazianzen, and our saint pronounced his funeral panegyric, as he also did that of his holy sister Gorgonia, who died soon after. He extols her humility; her prayer often continued whole nights with tears; her modesty, prudence, patience, resignation, zeal, respect for the ministers of God, and her holy places; her liberality to them and great charity to the poor; her penance, extraordinary care of the education of her children, &c. He mentions as miraculous, her being cured of palsy by praying at the foot of the altar; and her recovery after great wounds and bruises which she had received by a fall from her chariot.
   In 372, Cappadocia was divided by the emperor into two provinces, and Tyana made the capital of that which was called the second. Anthimus, bishop of that city, pretended hence to an archiepiscopal jurisdiction over the second Cappadocia. St. Basil, the metropolitan of Cappadocia, maintained that the civil division of the province had not infringed his jurisdiction, though he afterwards, for the sake of peace, yielded the second Cappadocia to the see of Tyana. He appointed our saint, bishop of Sasima, a small town in that division.   Gregory stood out a long time, but at length submitted, overcome by the authority of his father amid the influence of his friend. He accordingly received the episcopal consecration from the hands of St. Basil, at Caesarea, about the middle of the year 372. But he repaired to Nazianzum to wait a favorable opportunity of taking possession of his church of Sasima, which never happened for Anthimus, who had in his interest the new governor, and was master of all the avenues and roads to that town, would by no means admit him. Basil reproached his friend with sloth; but St. Gregory answered him that he was not disposed to fight for a church.
   He, however, charged himself with the government of that of Nazianzum under his father till his death, which happened the year following. St. Gregory pronounced his funeral panegyric in presence of St. Basil and of his mother St. Nonna, who died shortly after.  Holy solitude had been the constant object of his most earnest desires, and he had only waited the death of his father, entirely to bury himself in it. Nevertheless, yielding to the importunities of others, and to the necessities of the church of Nazianzum, he consented to continue his care of it till the neighboring bishops could provide it with a pastor.  But seeing this affair protracted, and finding himself afflicted with various distempers he left that city, and withdrew to Seleucia, the metropolis of Isaurian, in 375, where he continued five years.
        The death of St. Basil, in 379, was to him a sensible affliction, and he then composed twelve epigrams or epitaphs to his memory; and some years after pronounced his panegyric at Cesarean, namely, in 381 or 382.  The unhappy death of the persecuting emperor Valens, in 378, restored peace to the church. The Catholic pastors  sought meat's to make up the breaches which heresy had made in many places. For this end they held several assemblies, and sent zealous and learned men into those provinces in which the tyrant had made the greatest havoc.  The church of Constantinople was of all others in the most desolate and abandoned condition, having groaned during forty years under the tyranny of the Arians, and the few Catholics who remained there having been long without a pastor, and even without a church wherein to assemble. They, being well acquainted with our saint's merit, importuned him to come to their assistance, and were backed by several bishops, desirous that his learning, eloquence, and piety might restore that church to its splendor.  But such were the pleasures he enjoyed in his beloved retirement at Seleucia, and in his thorough disengagement from the world, that, for some time, these united solicitations made little or no impression on him.  They had, however, at length their desired effect.  His body bent with age, his head bald, his countenance extenuated with tears and austerities, his poor garb, and his extreme poverty, made but a mean appearance at Constantinople ; and  no wonder that he was at first ill-received in that polite and proud city.  The Arians pursued him with calumnies, railleries, and insults. The prefect’s and governors added their persecutions to the fury of the populace, all which concurred to acquire him the glorious title of confessor.  He lodged first in the house of certain relations, where the Catholics first assembled to hear him.  He soon, after converted it into a church, and gave it the name of Anastasia or the Resurrection, because the Catholic faith, which in that city had been hitherto oppressed, here seemed to be raised, as it were, from the dead. Sozomen relates that this name was confirmed to it by a miraculous rising to life of a woman then with child, who was killed by falling from a gallery in it, but returned to life by the prayers of the congregation. Another circumstance afterwards confirmed in this church the same name. During the reign of the emperor Leo, the Thracian, about the year 460, the body of St. Anastasia, virgin arid martyr, was brought from Sirmich to Constantinople, and laid in this place, as is recorded by Theodorus the Reader. But this church is not to be confounded with another of the, same name which was in the hands of the Novation’s under Constantius and Julian the Apostate.
   In this small church, Nazianzen preached, and every day assembled his little flock, which increased daily. The Arians and Apollinarists, joined with other sects, not content to defame and calumniate him, had recourse to violence on his person.  They pelted him with stones as he went along the streets, and dragged him before the civil magistrates as a malefactor, charging that, with tumult and sedition.  But he comforted himself on reflecting, that though they were the stronger party, he had the better cause though they possessed the churches, God was with him; if they had the populace on their side, the angels were on his, to guard him. St. Jerome coming out of the deserts of Syria to Constantinople became his disciple and scholar of St. Gregory, and was one of those who studied the Holy Scriptures under him, of which that great doctor glories in his writings.  Our holy pastor, being a lover of solitude seldom went abroad or made any visits, except such as were indispensable; and the time that was not employed in the discharge of his functions he devoted to prayer and meditation, spending a considerable part of the night in those holy exercises.   His diet was herbs and a little salt with bread. His cheeks were furrowed with the tears which he shed, and he daily prostrated himself before God to implore his light and mercy upon his people.   His profound learning, his faculty of forming the most noble conceptions of things, and the admirable, perspicuity, elegance, and propriety with which he explained them, charmed all who heard him. The Catholics flocked to his discourses, as men parching with thirst eagerly go to the spring to quench it.   Heretics and pagans resorted to them, admiring his erudition, and charmed with his eloquence. The fruits of his sermons were every day sensible: his flock became in a short time very numerous, and he purged the people of that poison which had corrupted their hearts for many years. St. Gregory heard, with blushing and confusion, the applause and acclamations with which his discourses were received; and his fear of this danger made him speak in public with a certain timidity and reluctance.   He scorned to flatter the great ones, and directed his discourses to explain and corroborate the Catholic faith, and reform the manners of the people.  He taught them, that the way to salvation was not to be ever disputing about matters of religion, (at abuse that was grown to a great height at that time in Constantinople,) but to keep the commandments? To give alms, to exercise hospitality, to visit and serve the sick, to pray, sigh, and weep; to mortify the senses, repress anger, watch over the tongue, and subject the body to the spirit.  The envy of the devil and of his instruments could not bear the success of his labors, and, by exciting troubles, found means to interrupt them.
     Maximus, a native of Alexandria, a cynic philosopher, but withal a Christian, full of the impudence  and pride of that sect, came to Constantinople and under a hypocritical exterior, disguised a heart full of envy, ambition, covetousness, and gluttony.  He imposed on several, and for some time on St. Gregory himself, who pronounced an eulogium of this man, in 379, now extant under the title of the Eulogiurn of the Philosopher Hero; but St. Jerome assures us, that instead of Hero, we ought to read Maximus. This wolf in sheep's clothing having gained one of the priests of the city, and some partisans among the laity, procured himself to be ordained bishop of Constantinople, in a clandestine manner, by certain Egyptian bishops who lately arrived on that intent. The irregularity of this proceeding stirred up the entire world against the usurper.  Pope Damascus wrote to testify his affliction on that occasion, and called the election null.  The emperor Theodosius the Great, then at Thessalonica, rejected Maximinus with indignation; and coming to Constantinople, proposed to Demophilus the Arian bishop, either to receive the Nicene faith, or to leave the city; and upon his preferring the latter, his majesty, embracing St. Gregory, assured him, that the Catholics of Constantinople demanded him for their bishop, and that their choice was most agreeable to his own desires.  Theodosius, within a few days after his arrival, drove the Arians out of all the churches in the city, and put the saint in possession of the church of St. Sophia, upon which all the other churches of the city depended.  Here the clamors of the people were so vehement that Gregory might be their bishop, that all was in confusion till the saint prevailed upon them to drop that subject, and to join in praise and thanksgiving to the ever-blessed Trinity, for restoring among them the profession of the true faith.   The emperor highly commended the modesty of the saint. But a council was necessary to declare the see vacant, and the promotion of the Arian Demophilus and of the cynic Maximinus, void and null.  A synod of the entire East was then meeting at Constantinople, in which St. Meletius, patriarch of Antioch, presided.   He being the great friend and admirer of Nazianzen, the council took his cause into consideration before all others, declared the election of Maximus null, and established St. Gregory bishop of Constantinople, without having any regard to his tears and expostulations. St. Meletius dying during the synod, St. Gregory presided in the latter sessions.  To put an end to the schism between Meletius and Paulinus, at Antioch, it had been agreed that the survivor should remain in sole possession of that see.    This, Nazianzen urged but the oriental bishops were unwilling to own for patriarch one whom they had opposed. They therefore took great offence at this most just and prudent remonstrance, and entered into a conspiracy with his enemies against him. The saint, who had only consented to his election through the importunity of others, was most ready to relinquish his new dignity. This, his enemies sought to deprive him of together with his life, on which they made several attempts.   Once, in particular, they hired a ruffian to assassinate him.   But the villain, touched with remorse, repaired to the saint with many tears, wringing his hands, beating his breast, and confessing his black attempt, which he should have put in execution had not providence interposed. The good bishop replied: `”May God forgive you : his gracious preservation obliges me freely to pardon you.  Your attempt has now made you mine. Only one thing I beg of you, that you forsake your heresy, and sincerely give yourself to God." Some warm Catholics complained of his lenity and indulgence towards the Arians, especially those who had shown themselves violent persecutors under the former reigns.
  In the meantime, the bishops of Egypt and those of Macedonia arriving at the council, though all equally in the interest of Paulinus of Antioch, complained that Gregory's election was uncanonical, it being forbidden by the canons to transfer bishops from one see to another.  Nazianzen calmly answered, that those canons had lost their force by long misuse: which was most notorious in the East. Nor did they in the least regard his case; for he had never taken possession of the see of Sasima, and only governed that of Nazianzum as vicar under his father.  However, seeing a great ferment among the prelates and people, he cried out in the assembly:  “If my holding the see of Constantinople gives any disturbance, behold 1 am, very willing, like Jonas, to be cast into the sea to appease the storm, though 1 did not raise it.  If all followed my example, the church would enjoy an uninterrupted tranquility.  This dignity I never desired; I took this charge upon me much against my will.  If you think fit, I am most ready to depart; and 1 will return back to my little cottage, that you may remain here quiet and the church of God enjoy peace.    1 only desire that the see may be filled by a person that is capable and willing to defend the faith."
           He thereupon left the assembly, overjoyed that he had broken his bonds. The bishops, whom he left in surprise, but too readily accepted his resignation.  The saint went from the council to the palace, and falling on his knees before the emperor, and kissing his hand, said: "I am come, sir, to ask neither riches nor honors for myself or friends, nor ornaments for the churches: but license to retire.   Your majesty knows how much against my will 1 was placed in this chair.   I displease even my friends’ on no other account than because I value nothing but God. I beseech you, and make this my last petition, that among your trophies and triumphs you make this the greatest, that you bring the church to unity and concord."
     The emperor and those about him were astonished at such a greatness of soul, and he with much difficulty was prevailed on to give his assent.  This being obtained, the saint had no more to do than to take his leave of the whole city, which he did in a pathetic discourse, delivered in the metropolitan church before the hundred and fifty fathers of the council, and an incredible multitude of people.   He describes the condition in which he had found that church on his first coming to it, and that in which he left it; and gives to God and thanks, and the honor of the re-establishment of the Catholic faith in that city.  He makes a solemn protestation of the disinterestedness of his own conduct during his late administration; not having touched any part of the revenues of the see of Constantinople the whole time. He reproaches the city with the love of shows, luxury, and magnificence, and says he was accused of too great mildness, also of a meanness of spirit, from the lowly appearance he made with respect both to dress and table.
     He vindicates his behavior in these regards, saying: "I did not take it to be any part of my duty to vie with consul generals, and governors, who know not how to employ their riches otherwise than in pomp and show. Neither did I imagine that the necessary subsistence of the poor was to be applied to the support of luxury, good cheer, a prancing horse, a sumptuous chariot, and a long train of attendants.  If I have acted in another manner, and have thereby given offence, the fault is already committed, and cannot be recalled; but I hope is not unpardonable."  He concludes by bidding a moving farewell to his church, to his dear Anastasia, which he calls in the language of St. Paul, his glory and his crown; to the cathedral, and all the other parishes of the city; so the holy apostles us honored in the magnificent church, (in which Constantius had placed the relics of St. Andrew, St. Luke, and St. Timothy;) to his episcopal Throne, to the clergy, to the holy monks, and the other pious servants of God, to the emperor and all the court, with its jealousies, pomp, and ambition, to the East and West divided in his cause, to the tutelary angels of his church, and to the sacred Trinity honored in that place. He concludes with these words: "My dear children, preserve the depositum of faith, and remember the stones which have been thrown at me, because I planted it in your hearts." The saint was most tenderly affected in abandoning his dear flock, his converts especially, which he had gained at his first church of Anastasia, as they had already signalized themselves in his service by suffering persecutions with patience for his sake. They followed him weeping, and entreating him to abide with them.  He was not insensible to their tears; but motives of greater weight obliged him not to regard them out this occasion.  St. Gregory, seeing himself at liberty, rejoiced in his happiness, as he expressed himself sometime after to a friend in these words: "What advantages have not 1 found in the jealousy of my enemies!  They have delivered me from the fire of Sodom, by drawing me from the dangers of the episcopal charge."   This treatment was the recompense with which men rewarded the labors and merit of a saint, whom they ought to have sought in the remotest corners of the earth: but that city was not worthy to possess so great and holy a pastor.  He had in that short time brought over the chief part of its inhabitants to the Catholic faith, as appears from his works, and from St. Ambrose?  He had conquered the obstinacy of heretics by meekness and patience, and thought it a sufficient revenge for their former persecutions, that he had it in his power to chastise them. The Catholics he induced to show the same moderation towards them, and exhorted them to serve Jesus Christ by taking a Christian revenge of them, the bearing their persecutions with patience, nail the overcoming evil with good.  Besides establishing the purity of faith, he had begun a happy reformation of manners among the people; and much greater fruits were to be expected from his zealous labors. Nectarius, who succeeded him, was a soft man, and by no means equal to such a charge. For though he was a Roman senator, and praetor or governor of Constantinople, he was not only a layman, but, not yet baptized when elected, and had lived incontinently which circumstances, joined with the notorious imprudence of some of his actions, suffice to show that Socrates was too lavish in the commendations bestowed on him.  “He seems also," says Tillemont, "to have had no more the gill of speaking than a mute:" and Palladius makes the same observation on his brother Arsacius, who was intruded into the chair of St. Chrysostom.   Before St. Gregory had resigned the see of Constantinople he drew up his last will and testament, which is still extant, signed by six bishops and a priest, and written according to the formalities of the Roman law.  He confirms in it the donation of his estate, both real and personal, to the church and poor of Nazianzen, except some small annuities for life, which he bequeathed to certain poor friends and servants.
  Before the election of Nectarius he left the city, and returned to Nazianzum.  In that retirement he composed the poem on his own life, particularly dwelling on what he had done at Constantinople to obviate the scandalous slanders which were published against him. He labored to place a bishop at Nazianzum, but was hindered by the oppositionist of many of the clergy.
Sickness obliged him to withdraw soon after to Nazianzum, probably before the end of the year 381. In his solitude he testifies that he regretted the absence of his friends, though he seemed insensible to everything else of this world.   To punish himself for superfluous words, (though he had never spoke to the disparagement of any neighbor,) he, in 382 passed the forty days of Lent in absolute silence. In his desert he never refused spiritual advice to any that resorted to him for it.
   In his paraenetic poem to St. Olympias he lays down excellent rules for the conduct of married women. Among other precepts he says:' “in the first place, honor God; then respect your husband as the eye of your life; for he is to direct your conduct and actions. Love only him.  Make him your joy and your comfort. Take care never to give him any occasion of offence or disgust.  Yield to him in his anger: comfort and assist him in his pains and afflictions, speaking to him with sweetness and tenderness, and making him prudent and modest remonstrance at seasonable times. It is not by violence and strength that the keepers of lions endeavor to tame them when they see them enraged but they sooth and caress them, stroking them gently, and speaking with a soft voice. Never let his weaknesses be the subject of your reproaches. It can never be just or allowable for you to treat a person in this manner that you ought to prefer to the whole world."
   He prays that this holy woman aught become the mother of many children that there might be the more souls to sing the praises of Jesus Christ.  He often repeats this important advice, that everyone begin and end every action by offering his heart and whatever he does to God by a short prayer.
        “For we owe to God all that we are or have; and he accepts and rewards the smallest action, not so much with a view to its importance as to the affection of the heart, which in his poverty gives what it has, and is able to give it return for God's benefits, and in acknowledgment of his sovereignly."
  St. Gregory had been  obliged to govern the vacant see of Nazianzum after the death of his father, leaving the chief care of that church to Cledonius in his absence.  But in 382, he procured Eulalias to be ordained bishop of that city, and spent the remainder of his life in retirement near Nazianzum; still continuing to aid that church with his advice, though at that time very old and infirm. In this private abode he had a garden, a fountain, and a shady grove, in which he took much delight. Here, in company with certain solitaries. He lived estranged from pleasures, and in the practice of bodily mortification, fasting, watching, and praying much on his knees.   "I live" says he, "among rocks and with wild beasts, never seeing any fire or using shoes; having only one single garment. I am the outcast and the scorn of men. I lie on straw, clad in sackcloth: my floor is always moist with the tears I shed.'”  In the decline of life he set himself to write pious poems for the edification of such among the faithful as were fond of music and poetry.   He had also a mind to oppose the poems made use of by the Apollinaris heretics to propagate their errors, by such as were orthodox, useful, and religious, as the priest Gregory says in his life.  He considered this exercise also as a work of penance, compositions in meter being always inure difficult than those in prose.   He therein recounts the history of his life and sufferings: he publishes his faults, his weaknesses, and his temptations, enlarging much more on these than on his great actions.  He complains of the annoyance of his rebellious flesh, notwithstanding his great age, his ill state of health, and his austerities; acknowledging himself wholly indebted to the divine grace which had always preserved in him the treasure of virginity inviolable.   God suffered him to feel these temptations that he might not be exposed to the snares of vanity and pride; and that while his soul dwelt in heaven, he might be put in mind by the rebellion of the body, that he was still on earth in a state of war.  His poems are full of cries of ardent love, by which he conjures Jesus Christ to assist him, without whose grace, he declares we are only dead carcasses exhaling the stench of sin, and as incapable of making one step as a bird is of flying without air, or a fish of swimming without water: for he alone makes us see, act, and run.  He joined great watchfulness to prayer, especially shunning the conversation and neighborhood of women over and above the assiduous maceration of his body.  In his letters, he gives to others the same advice, of which his own life was a constant example.  One instance shall suffice.  Sacerdos, a holy priest, was fallen into an unjust persecution through slander. St Gregory writes to him thus in his third letter “What evil can happen to us after all this?  None, certainly unless we by our own fault lose God and virtue.  Let all other things fall out as it shall please God.  He is the master of our life, and knows the reason of everything that befalls us.  Let us only fear to do anything unworthy our piety. We have fed the poor, we have served our brethren, and we have sung the psalms with cheerfulness.    If `ye are no longer permitted to continue this, let us employ our devotion some other way.     Grace is not barren, and opens different ways to heaven.   Let us live in retirement: let us occupy ourselves in contemplation; let us purify our souls by the light of God. This perhaps will be no less a sacrifice than anything we can do." 
    These were St. Gregory's occupations from the time of his last retirement till his happy death in 389, or, according to others, in 391.   Tillemont gives him only sixty or sixty-one years of age, but he was certainly considerably older.  The Latins honor him on the 9th of May.  The emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus caused his ashes to be translated from Nazianzum to Constantinople, and to be laid in the church of the apostles which was done with great pomp in 950.  They were brought to Rome in the crusades, and lie under an altar in the Vatican church.

  This great saint looked upon the smiles and frowns of the world with indifference, because spiritual and heavenly goods wholly engrossed his soul. "Let us never esteem worldly prosperity or adversity as things real or of any moment," said he but let us live elsewhere, and raise all our attention to heaven, esteeming sin as the only true evil, and nothing truly good but virtue, which unites us to God." He requires the most perfect disengagement of ourselves from earthly things that we may give ourselves to God without reserve or restriction.   Let us offer ourselves entire to God," says he, that in him we may find ourselves again entire."   It is true and great riches to be destitute of earthly goods for his sake who was pleased to suffer poverty for the love of us.  And this consecration of ourselves to God is our own infinite interest; but the goodliness of God is the motive which ought most strongly to invite us to make it. This St. Gregory was never able to consider without raptures of adoration and astonishment, in which he cried out “Admire the excess of God's goodness.  He vouchsafes to accept our desires as if they were a thing of great value.  He burns with an ardent desire that we vehemently desire and love him; and he receives the petition we put up for his benefits as if this was a benefit to himself; and a favor we did him: he gives with greater joy than it can be to us to receive what he gives.  Let us only be careful not to be too indifferent in our requests or to set too narrow bounds to our desires and pretensions; and let us never ask frivolous things which it would be unworthy of his magnificence to petition him for.  There is nothing so great before God which the least among men is not able to offer him, as well as the greatest prince or most profound scholar  give but yourself to him with the most pure and perfect love."


390 ST GREGORY NAZIANZEN, BISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH
IN view of his resolute defence of the truths promulgated by the Council of Nicaea, St Gregory Nazianzen has been declared a doctor of the Church and has also been surnamed "the Theologian"-a title which he shares with the Apostle St John. Born about the year 329 at Arianzus in Cappadocia, he was the son of St Nonna and of St Gregory the Elder, a landowner and magistrate who, being converted to Christianity by his wife, had been raised to the priesthood and for forty-five years -was bishop of Nazianzus. The younger Gregory and his brother, St Caesarius, received the best education available. Having studied together for a time at Caesarea in Cappadocia, where they made the acquaintance  of St Basil, Gregory, who was intended for the law, went to Caesarea in Palestine, which had a famous rhetorical school, and then went on to join his brother at Alexandria. It was usual for scholars to pass from one great educational centre to another, and Gregory, after a short stay in Egypt, decided to complete his training in Athens. As the vessel which bore him rolled tempest-tossed for days, the young man realized with terror the danger he ran of losing not only his body, but also his soul, being still unbaptized. But he probably shared the views of many pious men of that period with regard to the difficulty of obtaining forgiveness for post-baptismal sin, for he does not appear to have been baptized until many years later.
During the greater part of the ten years Gregory spent in Athens he enjoyed the companionship of St Basil, who became his intimate friend. Another but less congenial fellow student was the future Emperor Julian, whose affectations and extravagances even then disgusted the serious young Cappadocians. Gregory was thirty when he left Athens, having learnt all that its masters could teach him. It is not clear with what plans he returned to Nazianzus; if he had intended to practise law or to teach rhetoric, he soon changed his mind. He had always been earnestly devout, but about this time he was led to adopt a much more austere mode of life—apparently as the result of a great religious experience, possibly his baptism. Consequently when Basil, who was living the life of a solitary in Pontus, on the river Iris, invited him to join him, Gregory responded eagerly to the call. In a wildly beautiful spot which Basil has described in graphic language, the two friends spent a couple of fruitful years in prayer and study, compiling a collection of extracts from Origen and adumbrating that life which was to form the basis of all Christian monastic life in the East, and through St Benedict was to influence the West.
From this peaceful existence Gregory was called home to assist his father—then over eighty years old—in the management of his diocese and estate. Not content, however, with the help his son could give him as a layman, the aged bishop, with the connivance of certain members of his flock, ordained him priest more or less by force. Taken by surprise, and terrified at finding himself invested with a dignity from which he had always shrunk in the consciousness of his own unworthiness, he acted on the impulse of the moment and fled to his friend Basil. Ten weeks later, however, he returned to shoulder his responsibilities in obedience to what he realized was a call from on high. The apology he wrote for his flight is a treatise on the priesthood which has been drawn upon by countless writers on the same subject from St John Chrysostom to St Gregory the Great down to our own day. An incident was soon to show how much his assistance was needed. The old prelate, like many others, had been led to give his assent to the decisions of the Council of Rimini in the hope of conciliating the semi-Arians. This gave great offence to many of the most zealous Catholics—especially the monks—and it was entirely due to Gregory’s tact that a schism was averted. His oration on the occasion of the reconciliation is still extant, as are also two funeral discourses he delivered at that period of his life, the one, in 369, on his brother Caesarius, who had been the imperial physician at Constantinople, and the other on his sister, St Gorgonia.
In the year 370 St Basil was elected Metropolitan of Caesarea. At that period the Emperor Valens and the procurator Modestus were doing their utmost to introduce Arianism into Cappadocia and were finding Basil the chief obstacle in their way. To diminish his influence, Cappadocia was divided into two, Tyana being made the capital of a new province. Anthimus, bishop of Tyana, promptly claimed archiepiscopal jurisdiction over the newly established province, whilst St Basil maintained that the civil division did not affect his own authority as metropolitan. It seems to have been solely to consolidate his position by settling a friend on disputed territory that he nominated Gregory to a new bishopric which he established at Sasima, a miserable unhealthy town on the borderland between the two provinces. Gregory did, indeed, very reluctantly submit to consecration, but he never went to Sasima, the governor of which was an open adversary. In reply to the reproaches of St Basil, who accused him of slackness, he declared that he was not disposed to fight for a church. Gregory was deeply hurt at the treatment he had received, and although he became reconciled to St Basil, the friendship was never again the same. He actually remained at Nazianzus, acting as coadjutor until his father’s death the following year. He had long desired to live a solitary life, but was induced to carry on the government of Nazianzus until a new bishop was appointed. His health, however, broke down in 375 and he withdrew to Seleucia, the capital of Isauria, where he spent five years.
The death of the persecuting Emperor Valens brought peace once more to the Church, and it was decided to send learned and zealous men to those cities and provinces where the faith had suffered the greatest set-back. It was realized that the church of Constantinople was of all others the most desolate, having been dominated by Arian teachers for between thirty and forty years, and being without a church in which to assemble the few orthodox who remained in it. At the suggestion of several bishops, an invitation was sent to St Gregory to come and rebuild the faith. To the sensitive peace-loving recluse the prospect of being plunged into that whirlpool of intrigue, corruption and violence must, indeed, have seemed appalling, and at first he declined to leave his solitude. Eventually, however, he was induced to consent, but his trials were to begin with his entrance into Constantinople, for as he made his appearance, poorly clad, bald, and prematurely bent, he was ill received by a populace accustomed to dignity and splendour At first he lodged with relations in a house which he soon converted into a church and to which he gave the name of Anastasia—the place where the faith would rise again. In this small building he preached and taught his little flock, and it was here that he delivered the celebrated Sermons on the Trinity which won for him the title of Theologian—meaning in effect one who apprehends aright the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Gradually his audience increased and the fame of his eloquence spread. On the other hand, the Arians and Apollinarists pursued him unrelentingly with slanders, insults and even personal violence. They broke into his church; they pelted him in the streets and dragged him before the magistrates as a brawler. He comforted himself by reflecting that if his adversaries were the stronger party, he had the better cause: though they had the churches, God was with him; if they had the populace on their side, the angels were on his. Moreover, he won the esteem of some of the greatest men of the age: St Evagrius of Pontus came to serve him as archdeacon, and St Jerome, arriving in Constantinople from the deserts of Syria, was glad to sit at his feet and learn of him.
Yet trials of all sorts continued to beset the Catholic champion, from his own party as well as from heretics. A certain Maximus, an adventurer in whom he had believed and whom he had publicly praised, actually tried to supersede him by obtaining consecration from some passing bishops and causing himself to be proclaimed while St Gregory was ill. The would-be usurper was promptly driven out, but St Gregory himself was greatly chagrined and mortified, especially as Maximus had won the ear of some whom Gregory had regarded as his friends.
Early in the year 380 the Emperor Theodosius was baptized by the orthodox bishop of Thessalonica and shortly afterwards he promulgated an edict to his Byzantine subjects, bidding them observe the Catholic faith as professed by the pope of Rome and the archbishop of Alexandria. This he followed up when he came to Constantinople by giving the Arian bishop the option of subscribing to the Nicene faith or leaving the city. The prelate chose the latter course, and Theodosius determined to install Gregory in his place. Hitherto he had been a bishop in Constantinople, but not the bishop of Constantinople. The nomination having been confirmed synodically, St Gregory was solemnly installed in the cathedral of the Holy Wisdom amid the acclamations of the people. He did not, however, retain the seat for many months. His old enemies rose against him, and fresh hostility was aroused by his decision in the matter of the vacant see of Antioch. The validity of his election was contested, and attempts were actually made upon his life. Always a lover of peace, and fearing lest the unrest should lead to bloodshed, Gregory determined to lay down his office. “If my tenure of the see of Constantinople is leading to disturbance”, he cried out in the assembly, “I am willing, like Jonas, to be thrown into the waves to still the tempest, although I did not raise it. If all followed my example, the Church would enjoy tranquillity. This dignity I never desired; I assumed the charge much against my will. If you think fit, I am most ready to depart.” Having obtained the emperor’s reluctant consent, he then prepared to leave the city, after delivering a dignified and touching farewell to the citizens. His work there was done: he had rekindled the torch of the true faith in Constantinople when it was well-nigh extinguished and had kept it burning at the Church’s darkest hour. It was characteristic of his magnanimity that he always maintained cordial relations with his successor Nectarius, a man who, in every respect but birth, was his inferior.
For some time after leaving Constantinople, Gregory divided his time between his parental estate upon which he was born and the city of Nazianzus, which was still without a bishop; but after the year 383, when through his efforts his cousin Eulalius was appointed to fill the see, he retired completely into private life, leading a secluded existence and taking much delight in his garden, with its fountain and shaded grove. Yet he practised at the same time severe mortifications, never wearing shoes or seeing a fire. Towards the end of his life he wrote a number of religious poems, partly for his own pleasure, partly for the edification of others. They have considerable biographical and literary interest, because in them he recounts his life and sufferings, and they are written in graceful verses which occasionally rise to sublimity. Upon them, upon his orations and upon his excellent letters, his reputation as a writer has rested through the centuries. He died in his retreat in the year 390, and his remains, which were first translated from Nazianzus to Constantinople, now repose at St Peter’s in Rome.
St Gregory greatly loved to dwell upon the condescension of God to men. “Admire the exceeding goodness of God”, he writes in one of his letters.  “He vouchsafes to accept our desires as though they were a thing of great value. He burns with an ardent longing that we should desire and love Him, and He receives the petitions we send up for His benefits as though they were a benefit to Himself and a favour we did Him. He gives with a greater joy than the joy with which we receive. Only let us not be too apathetic in our petitions, or set too narrow bounds to our requests: nor let us ask for frivolous things which it would be unworthy of God’s greatness to propose that He should grant us.”

St Gregory’s own letters and writings (notably the long poem, De Vita Sua, of nearly two thousand verses) are the principal source of information regarding his life. Unfortunately the great Benedictine edition of his works suffered many setbacks at the time when it was being prepared for the press. Successive editors died, and the first volume, containing the sermons, only appeared in 1778. Hence before the second volume was ready the French Revolution had occurred, and it did not see the light until 1840. The Academy of Cracow has undertaken a new critical edition. Many of the earlier manuscripts of St Gregory Nazianzen, some of which belong to the ninth century, are embellished with miniatures. On these the article of Dom Leclercq, which reproduces many of the drawings, may con­veniently be consulted; see DAC., vol. vi, cc. 1667—1710. For English readers Cardinal Newman’s essay in his Historical Sketches, vol. iii, pp. 50—94, and the article of H. W. Watkins in DCB., vol. ii, pp. 741—761, will always be of value. See also C. Ullmann, Gregory of Nazianzus (1851); A. Benoit, S. Grégoire de Nazianze (1885), and other French biographies by M. Guignet (1911) and P. Gallay (1943) E. Fleury, Hellenisme et Christianisme S. Grégoire et son tempe (1930) and L. Duchesne, History of the Early Church (vol. ii, 1912). A fuller bibliography is provided by Bardenhewer both in his Patrologie and in his Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur, vol. iii (and ed.), pp. 162—188 and 671.

Saint Gregory of Nazianzus  (Greek: gregoreo, watch, be vigilant)
Doctor of the Church, born Arianzus, Asia Minor, c.325; died there, 389. His father, a Hypsistarian heretic, was converted to Catholicity and became Bishop of Nazianzus; his mother was Saint Nonna; his brother, Saint Caesarius, and his sister, Saint Gorgonia. Gregory was educated at Caesarea, where he formed a lasting friendship with Saint Basil, and at Alexandria and Athens. With Basil he lived for a time as a hermit in a secluded part of Pontus; returning to Nazianzus, he was ordained by his father, 361. In 373 Saint Basil, then Bishop of Caesarea and Metropolitan of Cappadocia, consecrated Gregory Bishop of Sasima, but Gregory, finding himself incompatible with that see, abandoned it, thereby becoming estranged from Basil. He was made Archbishop of Constantinople, 381, after the conversion of Emperor Theodosius the Great. That city being almost entirely given over to Arianism, Gregory met with constant opposition, and resigned his see after a few months. He returned to Nazianzus and devoted himself to suppressing heresy. In 383 upon the appointment of his cousin as bishop, he retired to Arianzus to spend his time in literary labors. Renowned in the past as an orator and theologian, he is also famous as a literary genius, his poems, epistles, and orations being among the finest of his age. Relics in Basilica of Saint Peter, Rome. Feast, Roman Calendar, 9 May.
475 St. John of Chalons Third bishop of Chalonssur-Saone.
He was ordained by St. Patiens of Lyons.
500 Tudy of Landevennec hermit who founded monasteries and evangelized in Brittany  Abbot (AC).
(also known as Tudec, Tudinus, Tegwin, Thetgo) 5th or 6th century. Saint Tudy was a hermit who founded monasteries and evangelized in Brittany, where place-names and dedications memorialize his activity or that of his disciples in areas such as Île-Tudy on the mouth of the Odet (Finistère), near Quimper. He appears to have been a disciple of Saint Mawes (St. MAWES St.Mawes was the tenth son of an Irish king and his name is revered not only here but in Brittany too,where he is known as St.Maudez and,possibly St.Malo.His stone chair is still preserved in the wall of a house in St. Mawes village.One day,so the legend goes,he was sitting there preaching when a noisy seal came out of the sea and interrupted him with its barking.After a while he became impatient,picked up a large rock and threw it at the animal. It missed,but legend tells us that the rock still remains where it fell,wedged on top of the Black Rocks halfway across Falmouth Harbour.) and fellow- worker with Saint Corentinus   There is also a parish in Cornwall named after him, which may indicate his presence there, too. He may also have been a companion of Saint Brioc (Born in Cardiganshire (Ceredigion), Wales; died in Brittany, c. 510). (Benedictines, Farmer).
501 St. Gerontius Bishop of Cervia martyr Italy
Cállii, via Flamínia, pássio sancti Geróntii, Epíscopi Ficoclénsis.
      At Cagli, on the Flaminian Way, the passion of St. Gerontius, bishop of Cervia.

501 ST GERONTIUS, Bishop of CERVIA
ALL that is known of St Gerontius is that he was bishop of Cervia (Ficocle) in the archdiocese of Ravenna, and that he was murdered by “ungodly men”—presum­ably bandits—at Cagli, on the Flaminian Way, near Ancona, as he was returning from a synod in Rome, presided over by Pope St Symmachus. A Benedictine abbey, dedicated in his honour, was afterwards erected on the spot where he fell, and the Church honours him as a martyr.

What the Bollandists are able to tell us regarding St Gerontius has much more to do with his cult than with his personal history. See the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii, and Ughelli, Italia Sacra, vol. ii, C. 486. The saint is locally held in great honour.
He was murdered by bandits near Ancona while returning from a synod in Rome. Gerontius’ death on the Flaminian Way led to his being honored as a martyr.
Gerontius of Cervia BM (RM). Bishop Gerontius of Cervia (or Ficocle near Ravenna, Italy) was murdered at Cagli (near Ancona) on the Flaminian Way on his return from a synod in Rome. The circumstances surrounding his death led to his being honored as a martyr (Benedictines, Coulson).
6th v. St. Shio of Mgvime among the Thirteen Syrian Fathers who preached the Christian Faith in Georgia; miracles the Most Holy Theotokos and St. John the Baptist stood before him; performed many miracles
An Antiochian by birth,  was among the Thirteen Syrian Fathers who preached the Christian Faith in Georgia. His parents were pious nobles who provided their son with a sound education.  {SEE MAY 7 }

When the twenty-year-old Shio heard about the great ascetic labors of St. John of Zedazeni and his disciples who labored in the wilderness, he went in secret to visit them. St. John promised to receive Shio as a disciple, provided his parents agreed to his decision. But when Shio returned home he said nothing to his parents about what had transpired.  Time passed and Shio’s parents both entered the monastic life.  Then Shio sold all his possessions, distributed the profits to the poor, widows, orphans, and hermits, freed all his family’s slaves, and returned to Fr. John.  St. John received Shio joyfully, tonsured him a monk, and blessed him to remain in the wilderness. He labored there with St. John for twenty years.
Then John was told in a divine revelation to choose twelve disciples and travel to Georgia to increase the faith of its people. Shio was one of the disciples chosen to follow him on this holy mission.

The holy fathers arrived in Georgia and settled on Zedazeni Mountain. Then, with the blessings of Catholicos Evlavios and Fr. John, they dispersed throughout the country to preach the Word of God.  At his instructor’s command, St. Shio settled in the Sarkineti caves near Mtskheta and began to lead a strict ascetic life. There was no water there and many wild animals made their home in the caves, but the privations and tribulations he encountered did not shake St. Shio’s great faith. Like the Prophet Elijah, Shio received his food from the mouths of birds that carried it to him.

Once, after St. Shio had prayed at length, a radiant light appeared suddenly in the place where he was, and the Most Holy Theotokos and St. John the Baptist stood before him. After this miraculous visitation St. Shio began to pray with even greater zeal, and he would spend hours alone in the wilderness.

Another time, St. Evagre (at that time ruler of Tsikhedidi and military adviser to King Parsman) went hunting in the Sarkineti Mountains. There he encountered St. Shio and, astonished by his piety, resolved to remain there with him. The news of the ruler’s conversion soon spread through all of Georgia, and many people flocked to witness the venerable father’s miraculous deeds. Many remained there with them, following St. Evagre’s example.
Once St. Shio prayed to God to reveal to him the place where He desired a church to be built.

He placed a lump of hot coal in his hand and sprinkled incense on it, as though his hand were a censer. Then he followed the smoke as it swirled up from the hot coal. In the place where it rose straight up like a pillar, he took his staff and marked the ground where the church would be built.

When King Parsman heard about his military adviser’s radical change of life, he was deeply disturbed and wandered into the wilderness to find him. But when he witnessed the divine grace shining on St. Shio’s face, he took off his crown and knelt humbly before him. Fr. Shio reverently blessed the king, helped him to stand up, and replaced the crown on his head. Following the king’s example, all the royal court came to receive Shio’s blessing. A certain nobleman with an injured eye knelt before St. Shio, touched his eye to the holy father’s foot, and received healing at once.
At another time King Parsman asked St. Shio if there was anything he needed, and he answered, “O Sovereign King, God enlightens the hearts of kings. Do that which your heart tells you!” In response, the king donated much wealth for the construction of a church in the wilderness: the lands of four villages, a holy chalice and diskos, a gold cross, and an ornately decorated Gospel that had belonged to the holy king Vakhtang Gorgasali (†502).
When construction of the church was complete, the king traveled there in the company of the catholicos, several bishops and St. John of Zedazeni. The hierarchs consecrated the newly built church, and a monastic community soon grew up on its grounds. Eventually, the number of monks laboring at King Parsman’s monastery grew to nearly two thousand. Many people visited this place to receive St. Shio’s wonder-working blessings, and they were healed from many diseases.
St. Shio performed many miracles: Once a wolf that had been prowling the monastery grounds ravaged a herd of donkeys. When St. Shio heard this, he prayed to God to transform the wolf into the protector of the herd. From that time on the wolf grazed peacefully among the other animals.
With the blessings of both his teacher, John of Zedazeni, and the catholicos of Georgia, St. Shio gathered his disciples, advised them on the path they should follow, appointed Evagre his successor as abbot, and went into reclusion in a well that he had dug for himself. There St. Shio spent fifteen years in prayer and fasting. Finally, when God revealed to him that his death was approaching, St. Shio partook of the Holy Gifts and lifted up his hands, saying, “O Lord, receive the soul of Thy servant!”
Later, during one of the Persian invasions, the soldiers of Shah Abbas uncovered the holy father’s relics and carried them back to Persia.
In the same year Persia was ravaged by a terrible plague, and the frightened invaders returned the holy relics to the Shio-Mgvime Monastery.
6th V St. Sanctan Irish bishop governed two sees, at Kill-da-Les and Kill-na-Sanctan (modern Dublin)
It is possible that he was British by birth.
Sanctan of Kill-da-Les B (AC) 6th century. Saint Sanctan was bishop of Kill-da-Les and Kill-na- Sanctan (now Dublin), ancient sees in Ireland. He is likely to have been born in Britain (Benedictines).
950 St. Vincent; Benedictine abbot, disciple and successor to St. Gennadius in the monastery of St. Peter de Montes when St. Gennadius became bishop in 895

Vincent of Montes, OSB Abbot (AC). Abbot of Saint Peter de Montes, and disciple and successor of Saint Gennadius (Died c. 936. Gennadius, a monk at Argeo, near Astorga, Spain,) as bishop of Astorga, Spain (Benedictines).
1044 Gregory of Ostia Benedictine cardinal-bishop  papal legate in the old kingdoms of the Spanish Navarre and Old Castile  OSB B (AC)
Died at Logroño, Spain. Gregory, a Benedictine cardinal-bishop of Ostia, exercised the powers of a papal legate in the old kingdoms of the Spanish Navarre and Old Castile. Gregory is still venerated throughout Navarre and Rioja but his story, as it has come down to us, is unreliable (Benedictines).
1087 St Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (350) Transfer of the Relics from Myra of Lycia to Bari in Italy His Life is found under December 6 & May 8 .
Alle Kirchen: 6. Dezember Orthodoxe Kirche auch 9. Mai (Übertragung der Gebeine) Katholische Kirche auch 8. Mai (Übertragung der Gebeine)


In the eleventh century the Byzantine Empire was going through some terrible times. The Turks put an end to its influence in Asia Minor, they destroyed cities and villages, they murdered the inhabitants, and they accompanied their cruel outrage with the desecration of churches, holy relics, icons and books. The Mussulmen also attempted to destroy the relics of St Nicholas, deeply venerated by the whole Christian world.

In the year 792 the caliph Aaron Al'-Rashid sent Khumeid at the head of a fleet to pillage the island of Rhodes. Having lain waste this island, Khumeid set off to Myra in Lycia with the intent to rob the tomb of St Nicholas. But instead he robbed another tomb standing alongside the crypt of the saint. Just as they succeeded in committing this sacrilege, a terrible storm lifted upon the sea and almost all the ships were shattered into pieces.
The desecration of holy things shocked not only Eastern, but also Western Christians. Christians in Italy were particularly apprehensive for the relics of St Nicholas, and among them were many Greeks. The inhabitants of the city of Bari, located on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, decided to save the relics of St Nicholas.

In the year 1087 merchants from Bari and Venice went to Antioch to trade. Both these and others also proposed to take up the relics of St Nicholas and transport them to Italy on the return trip. In this plan the men of Bari commissioned the Venetians to land them at Myra. At first two men were sent in, who in returning reported that in the city all was quiet. In the church where the glorified relics rested, they encountered only four monks. Immediately forty-seven men, having armed themselves, set out for the church of St Nicholas. The guards, suspecting nothing, showed them the raised platform, beneath which the tomb of the saint was concealed, and where they anointed foreigners with myrrh from the relics of the saint.

At this time the monks told them about an appearance of St Nicholas that evening to a certain Elder. In this vision St Nicholas ordered the careful preservation of his relics. This account encouraged the barons, they saw an avowal for them in this vision and, as it were, a decree from the saint. In order to facilitate their activity, they revealed their intent to the monks and offered them money, 300 gold coins. The guards refused the money and wanted to warn the inhabitants about the misfortune threatening them. But the newcomers bound them and put their own guards at the doorway.
They took apart the church platform above the tomb with the relics. In this effort the youth Matthew was excessive in his zeal, wanting to find the relics of St Nicholas as quickly as possible. In his impatience he broke the cover and the barons saw that the sarcophagus was filled with fragrant holy myrrh. The compatriots of the barons, the priests Luppus and Drogus, offered a litany, after which the break made by Matthew began to flow with myrrh from the saint's sarcophagus. This occurred on April 20, 1087.
Seeing the absence of a container chest, the priest Drogus wrapped the relics in the cloth, and in the company of the barons he carried them to the ship. The monks, having been set free, alerted the city with the sad news about the abduction of the relics of the Wonderworker Nicholas by foreigners. A crowd of people gathered at the shore, but it was too late.
On May 8 the ships arrived in Bari, and soon the joyous news made the rounds of all the city. On the following day, May 9, 1087, they solemnly transported the relics of St Nicholas into the church of St Stephen, not far from the sea. The solemn bearing of the relics was accompanied by numerous healings of the sick, which inspired still greater reverence for God's saint. A year afterwards, a church was built in the name of St Nicholas and consecrated by Pope Urban II.
This event, connected with the transfer of the relics of St Nicholas, evoked a particular veneration for the Wonderworker Nicholas and was marked by the establishment of a special Feast day on May 9. At first the Feast day of the Transfer of the Relics of St Nicholas was observed only by the people of the city of Bari. It was not adopted in the other lands of the Christian East and West, despite the fact that the transfer of the relics was widely known. This circumstance is explained by the custom in the Middle Ages of venerating primarily the relics of local saints. Moreover, the Greek Church did not establish the celebration of this remembrance, since they regarded the loss of the relics of St Nicholas was a sad event.
The Russian Orthodox Church celebration of the memory of the Transfer of the Relics of St Nicholas from Myra in Lycia to Bari in Italy on May 9 was established soon after the year 1087, on the basis of an already established veneration by the Russian people of the great saint of God, brought from Greece simultaneously with the acceptance of Christianity. The glorious accounts ot the miracles performed by the saint on both land and sea, were widely known to the Russian people. Their inexhaustible strength and abundance testify to the help of the great saint of God for suffering mankind. The image of St Nicholas, a mighty wonderworker and benefactor, became especially dear to the heart of the Russian people, since it inspired deep faith and hope for his intercession. The faith of the Russian people in the abundant aid of God's saint was marked by numerous miracles.
A significant body of literature was compiled about him very early in Russian writings. Accounts of the miracles of St Nicholas done in the Russian land were recorded at an early date. Soon after the Transfer of the Relics of St Nicholas from Myra to Bari, a Russian version of his Life and an account of the Transfer of his holy relics were written by a contemporary to this event. Earlier still, an encomium to the Wonderworker was written. Each week on Thursday, the Russian Orthodox Church honors his memory in particular.
Numerous churches and monasteries were built in honor of St Nicholas, and Russian people are wont to name their children after him at Baptism. In Russia are preserved numerous wonderworking icons of the saint. Most renowned among them are the icons of Mozhaisk, Zaraisk, Volokolamsk, Ugreshsk and Ratny. There was no house or temple in the Russian land in which there was not an icon of St Nicholas the Wonderworker.
The significance of the intercession of the great saint of God is expressed by the ancient compiler of the Life, in the words of whom St Nicholas "did work many glorious miracles both on land and on sea, aiding those downtrodden in misfortune and rescuing the drowning, carried to dry land from the depths of the sea, raising up others from corruption and bringing them home, liberating from chains and imprisonment, averting felling by the sword and freeing from death, and granting healing to many; sight to the blind, walking to the lame, hearing to the deaf, and speech to the mute. He brought riches to many suffering in abject poverty and want, he provided the hungry food, and for each in their need he appeared a ready helper, an avid defender and speedy intercessor and protector, and such as appeal to him he doth help and deliver from adversity. Both the East and the West know of this great Wonderworker, and all the ends of the earth know his miracle-working."
Nikolaus von Myra
Alle Kirchen: 6. Dezember Orthodoxe Kirche auch 9. Mai (Übertragung der Gebeine) Katholische Kirche auch 8. Mai (Übertragung der Gebeine)
Legende, Brauchtum und Geschichte lassen sich bei der auch heute bekannten und beliebten Gestalt des Nikolaus kaum trennen. Der Nikolaus, den wir heute verehren, ist aber wahrscheinlich aus zwei historischen Personen entstanden, nämlich dem Bischof Nikolaus von Myra und dem Abt Nikolaus von Sion, der Bischof von Pinora war und am 10.12.564 in Lykien starb. Die nachfolgende Lebensgeschichte des Nikolaus von Myra entstand im 6. Jahrhundert. Sie konnte bisher historisch nicht belegt werden: Nikolaus wurde demnach um 300 Bischof von Myra in Lykien (heute Demre/Türkei). Während der bald darauf einsetzenden Verfolgungen wurde er um 310 gefangengenommen und im Kerker gefoltert. Unter Konstantin kam er dann frei und konnte sein Bischofsamt wieder wahrnehmen. 325 nahm er an dem Konzil in Nicäa teil. Er starb am 6. Dezember um 350 (342/343).
Der Kult um Nikolaus entwickelte sich etwa 200 Jahre später in Griechenland und kam dann zunächst in die slawischen Länder (Nikolaus ist der Nationalheilige Rußlands). Nachdem Nikolaus im 9. Jahrhundert bereits der am meisten verehrte Heilige der Ostkirche nach der Gottesmutter war, wurden am 8. Mai 1087 seine Gebeine von Myra nach Bari übertragen (ob sie in Myra von Seeleuten geraubt wurden oder von Kaufleuten vor anrückenden Muslimen in Sicherheit gebracht wurden, ist unklar). Sein Fest wurde nun auch in der Westkirche begangen.
Eine Legende von Nikolaus berichtet, er habe drei Töchter einer armen Familie vor dem Bordell bewahrt, indem er durch das Fenster ihres Hauses drei Beutel mit Gold warf. Diese Legende dürfte ein Ursprung unseres Brauchtums am Nikolaustag sein. Eine andere ostkirchliche Legende berichtet von drei Hauptleuten, die der Kaiser aufgrund falscher Anklagen verurteilt und in einen Turm gesperrt hatte. Die drei riefen Nikolaus um Hilfe an und wurden wunderbar befreit. Anscheinend wurde der Turm auf ostkirchlichen Ikonen im Westen als Pökelfaß interpretiert und so entstand vielleicht die Legende von den fahrenden Scholaren, die von einem Metzger eingepökelt und von Nikolaus wieder zum Leben erweckt wurden. In einigen Gegenden wird Nikolaus auch als einer der 14 Nothelfer verehrt
1317 St. Brynoth 23rd bishop of Scara in West Gottland, Sweden
canonized in 1498
Brynoth of Scara B (AC) Died February 6, 1317; canonized in 1498. Brynoth, son of Algoth Folcung, governed the diocese of Scara, West Gothland, Sweden, as its 23rd bishop for 38 years with zeal and sanctity. A bit of his life is written in verse under his picture in the stone palace built by his later successor Bishop Brynoth III in the 15th century (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
St. Gorfor saint of Wales, patron of Llanover, in Gwent, Wales.
1443 Blessed Nicholas Albergati archbishop cardinal mediate between the emperor and the pope generous patron of learned men  O. Cart. B (RM)

1443 BD NICHOLAS ALBERGATI, BISHOP OF BOLOGNA AND CARDINAL
EVEN before 1774, when his cult was formally approved, Bd Nicholas Albergati was held in great veneration by tie Carthusians and by the Augustinian friars. A Bolognese of good family, he had begun to study for the law, but decided at the age of twenty to enter the Carthusian Order. He rose to be superior of several houses, and in 1417 the clergy and citizens of Bologna chose him for their bishop—a dignity which only the express command of his superiors could induce him to accept. He always retained his monastic austerity, lived simply in a small house and sought out the poor in theft homes. Pope Martin V and his successors in the chair of St Peter charged him with important diplomatic missions which he accomplished with conspicuous success. In 1426 he was raised to the dignity of a cardinal. Thomas Parentuccili of Sarzana, whom he had educated, those the name of Nicholas when he was elected pope, out of gratitude and veneration for his generous patron. So great was the cardinal’s reputation as a mediator that he was sent as papal legate to foreign courts as well as to Italian states that were at variance, and was called “the Angel of Peace”. In the capacity of legate he took part in the Council of Bale, and he also opened the Council of Ferrara where, and at Florence, he had much to do with the reconciliation of the Greeks. Pope Eugenius IV held him in the highest esteem; he consulted him in almost all things, made him chief penitentiary, and came to see him frequently when he was ill.
Bd Nicholas died in Siena, when visiting a house belonging to the Augustinians, whose protector he was. Although it was an unprecedented thing for a pope to attend the obsequies of a cardinal, Eugenius IV took part in the funeral services at Bologna, being present also at his actual burial. Cardinal Albergati was a great patron of learning and the author of several literary works.
A full biography as well as a panegyric will be found in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii, and another panegyric in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. vii (1888), pp. 381—386. A long account is also given in Le Couteulx, Annales. Ordinis Cartusiensis, vol. vii. See further Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. ii.

Born in Bologna, Italy, in 1375; died 1443; cultus confirmed in 1744. Blessed Nicholas joined the Carthusians in 1394 and, in 1418, much against his will, he was made archbishop of Bologna. He was named a cardinal in 1426 and was called to mediate between the emperor and the pope. Later he served the same function in reconciling the French king with the Holy Father. Nicholas was prominent in the councils of Basel and Ferrara-Florence. He was a generous patron of learned men (Benedictines). In art, Nicholas wears a cardinal's hat and cape over his Carthusian habit. He is the patron of learning (Roeder).
1463 St. Catharine of Bologna 1413-63 served the Lord in obscurity

Some Franciscan saints led fairly public lives; Catharine represents the saints who served the Lord in obscurity. Catharine, born in Bologna, was related to the nobility in Ferrara and was educated at court there. She received a liberal education at the court and developed some interest and talent in painting. In later years as a Poor Clare, Catharine sometimes did manuscript illumination and also painted miniatures.

At the age of 17, she joined a group of religious women in Ferrara. Four years later the whole group joined the Poor Clares in that city. Jobs as convent baker and portress preceded her selection as novice mistress.
In 1456 she and 15 other sisters were sent to establish a Poor Clare monastery in Florence. As abbess Catharine worked to preserve the peace of the new community. Her reputation for holiness drew many young women to the Poor Clare life.  She was canonized in 1712.
Comment:  Appreciating Catharine’s life in a Poor Clare monastery may be hard for us. "It seems like such a waste," we may be tempted to say. Through prayer, penance and charity to her sisters, Catharine drew close to God. Our goal is the same as hers even if our paths are different.
Quote:  Catharine wrote a book on the seven spiritual weapons to be used against temptation. "Jesus Christ gave up his life that we might live," she said. "Therefore, whoever wishes to carry the cross for his sake must take up the proper weapons for the contest, especially those mentioned here.
First, diligence; second, distrust of self; third, confidence in God; fourth, remembrance of the Passion; fifth, mindfulness of one’s own death; sixth, remembrance of God’s glory; seventh, the injunctions of Sacred Scripture following the example of Jesus Christ in the desert" (On the Seven Spiritual Weapons).
1679 Bl. Thomas Pickering England Benedictine Martyr
Born in Westmoreland, he entered the Benedictines as a lay brother at Douai, France, and there took his vows in 1660. Going home to England, he  became attached to the Benedictines in the service of the Chapel Royal of Queen Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II (r. 1660-1685). Arrested as part of the "Popish Plot," he was condemned and hanged at Tyburn.
1911 Saint Joseph of Optina at 8, "What makes you think you saw the Queen?" "Because she had a crown with a cross," he replied. Several miracles took place on the day St Joseph was laid to rest
He was born on November 2, 1837 in the village of Gorodishcha in the province of Kharkov. His name in the world was John Litovkin, and his parents Euthymius and Maria were simple but pious people. They were generous to the poor, and often lent money to those in need even when there seemed little chance that it would be repaid. Euthymius also loved to receive monks who came to his door collecting alms for their monasteries. Invariably, he would give each one five rubles for the needs of the monastery.
The Litovkins had six children, and they often read to them from spiritual books, especially from the Lives of the Saints. The second of their three sons (the future St Joseph) was baptized with the name John in honor of St John the Merciful (November 12). Instead of providing them with earthly wealth, the couple endowed their children with heavenly treasures, raising them in piety, obedience, and in the fear of God.
John learned to read even before he started school, taught by his older sister Alexandra at home. He was a sickly child, nearsighted and hard of hearing in one ear. He also met with various accidents. Once he was knocked down by another child and bit off the tip of his own tongue. Another time he was scalded with boiling water. In spite of all this, he was a happy and affectionate child.
His father knew there was something special about John, and others also believed that God's special favor was upon the boy.

When he was only four, John's beloved father died, and his mother had to raise the children herself. When he was eight, John was playing with some friends, and suddenly froze on the spot. He raised his arms and his head toward the sky, then fell down unconscious. They carried him home and put him to bed. When he awoke, they asked him what had happened.
He told them that he had seen the Queen of Heaven in the air.
"What makes you think you saw the Queen?" they asked.
"Because she had a crown with a cross," he replied.
From that time on, the boy became more quiet and thoughtful, and started to avoid children's games. Soon after this, the family moved into a new home. There was a great fire in the village, and John prayed that the Mother of God would protect their house from the flames. The Livotkin home was spared, even though everything around it was burned.

In 1848, their mother died during an outbreak of cholera. John was only eleven at the time. His older brother Simeon and his sister Anna were both married before their mother passed away, and his sister Alexandra had gone to the Borisovsk monastery in Kursk Province to become a nun. Simeon became the head of the family, although his drinking problem made him rather unreliable. Simeon took care of John for a while, and their younger brother Peter went to live with Anna. Simeon decided to leave home, and so John was placed in the care of various people, including a tavern keeper and a grocer.
Unable to endure conditions in the homes of such people, John went to live with a cousin who was a deacon in Novocherkassk. He ate nothing on his journey, for he was ashamed to beg, and people did not offer him any food on their own. When he arrived at the church where his cousin served, John sat down outside and waited for the Liturgy to end. Two women with rolls passed by and took pity upon him. One of them gave him a warm roll, which the boy regarded as manna from heaven.
John stayed with his cousin for a brief time, then moved on to other places, taking various jobs to support himself. Later in life he was asked whether he had ever had a girlfriend when he was living in the world. He shook his head and said, "Since I was nearsighted, I couldn't really see anyone at a distance, and I was too shy to approach anyone up close."
While living in the world John was often unhappy, and he found consolation in prayer and in church services. One day he received a letter from his sister, Mother Leonida, suggesting that he enter the skete at Optina, which was blessed with experienced Elders.
Then the desire to leave the world and embrace the monastic life began to grow within him.

Learning that John was planning to make a pilgrimage to the Kiev Caves, the man for whom he was working offered him his daughter in marriage.
Years later Fr Joseph would say, "It's always that way. As soon as one begins to think of following the path to salvation, obstacles and tempataions begin to appear."

With his employer's permission, John started out for Kiev. On the way, he stopped to visit his parents' graves and the place where he had spent a happy childhood. He stayed briefly at the Dormition Monastery in Kharkov's Holy Mountains, but he did not wish to remain there. Finally he went to the Borisovsk Women's Hermitage to visit his sister, Mother Leonida. She had spoken to St Macarius of Optina (September 7) of her concern for John. He told her not to worry, because John would become a monk.

Mother Leonida's Eldress, Schemanun Alypia, overheard some of their conversation and said to John, "Forget about Kiev. Go to the Elders at Optina." Mother Leonida gave him a look indicating that John should obey.  He traveled to Optina with some nuns of the women's monastery at Belev, driving the cart for them. St Macarius had already departed to the Lord in 1860, and was succeeded as Elder by his disciple, St Ambrose (October 10). Knowing of John's monastic inclinations, the nuns jokingly introduced him as "Brother John." St Ambrose replied solemnly, "This Brother John will prove useful to us, and to you."  On March 1, 1861 John found himself standing before the Elder Ambrose, telling him of his life, and asking for a blessing to go to Kiev. Fr Ambrose told him to remain at Optina, forseeing the blessings he would bring to Optina, and to the women's monasteries which were under the guidance of the Optina Elders. Taking St Ambrose's words as an indication of God's will, John murmured, "May it be blessed."

John, like all new novices, was given an obedience in the kitchen. He was assigned to help the cook in the skete. From the very start, John demonstrated perfect obedience and humility. Life in the monastery was everything he had hoped it would be, and he was glad to leave the tumult of the world behind.  In June the Superior of the Skete, Fr Paphnutius, asked John if he would like to move in with the Elder Ambrose as his cell-attendant. The next day he moved to the Elder's quarters, where he remained for the next fifty years. As happy as he was to be near the Elder, he was disturbed by the constant flow of visitors. He felt that there was no time to pray or go to church, and began to have misgivings. He was tempted by the thought that perhaps he would be better off in Kiev or on Mount Athos, and did not notice that Fr Ambrose had entered the cell. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard the Elder say, "Brother John, it's better here than it is on Athos. Stay with us."
John realized that his thoughts had been sent by the Enemy of our salvation, and he fell down at Fr Ambrose's feet in repentance.

On April 15, 1872 he was tonsured as a rassophore (wearer of the rassa), then on June 16, 1872 he was tonsured as a monk, receiving the name Joseph in honor of St Joseph the Hymnographer (April 4). He was unexpectedly ordained as a deacon in 1877 in a way which demonstrated that God was directing the course of his life.  On December 7 (Fr Ambrose's nameday), Igumen Isaac served Liturgy in the skete church. Later, he visited Fr Ambrose to offer his congratulations, and the cell-attendants Fr Joseph and Fr Michael served them tea. The Superior asked Fr Ambrose about a monk whom he proposed to recommend for ordination to the diaconate. The Elder said that the time was not right for that particular monk, recommending someone else instead. Noticing Fr Joseph standing nearby with a tray, Fr Isaac smiled and said, "Well Father, you don't want my candidate, and I don't want yours. Let's ordain Fr Joseph."

So it was that Fr Joseph was sent to Kaluga, where he was ordained by Bishop Gregory on December 9. It was customary at Optina that a newly-ordained deacon or priest would serve every day for forty days. Fr Joseph's health did not permit him to fulfill the forty days, however. He developed an inflammation on his right side, and he nearly died.  Fr Joseph's life continued as it had before, but with more responsibilities. He had no cell of his own, but continued to sleep in the reception room, which the Elder used each day until almost 11 P.M. Fr Ambrose frequently tested his cell-attendant in order to give him the opportunity to acquire patience and humility, following the instructions of St John of the Ladder (Book 4, paragraphs 27 and 28).

Fr Ambrose built the Shamordino Convent about eight miles from Optina, and on October 1, 1884 Bishop Vladimir of Kaluga came for its opening. At the Liturgy that day, Fr Joseph was ordained as a priest From that day forward the nuns regarded him as their priest, and he became the spiritual director of the convent after the repose of Fr Ambrose.  Fr Joseph now became the Elder's senior cell-attendant, and tried to protect him and also to placate the visitors who grumbled about having to wait for so long to see Fr Ambrose. In spite of his duties, Fr Joseph found time to read spiritual books. He particularly loved the PHILOKALIA and the writings of the Fathers. In these books he found spiritual wisdom, which he shared with those who came to him for advice.

St Joseph's inner life was known only to God, but his advice to others indicates that he practiced unceasing prayer of the heart. Forseeing that Fr Joseph would serve as Elder after him, Fr Ambrose blessed some people to start going to Fr Joseph for their spiritual needs. Fr Joseph attended St Ambrose for thirty years, until the Elder's death on October 10, 1891. Fr Ambrose prepared Fr Joseph for eldership, teaching him by word and by example. He would also refer some visitors to Fr Joseph for advice. There was such oneness of mind between them that when people would ask Fr Joseph about something and then ask Fr Ambrose about the same thing, they would receive the very same answer.

Fr Joseph's health was not good, and he was susceptible to colds in winter. In February 1888 he became very ill and took to his bed, and he received the Mystey of Holy Unction. The doctor recommended that he be moved to the infirmary for treatment, but Fr Joseph did not wish to leave Fr Ambrose. The Superior of the skete insisted on the transfer, however. The ride to the monastery in a sleigh during cold weather only made his illness worse.

Fr Joseph was tonsured into the schema (the highest level of monasticism) during the Liturgy on February 14. The next day, prayers for the Departure of the Soul were read for him, and people came to bid him farewell. A novice, sitting behind a screen, heard Fr Joseph praying aloud. Peering through a slit in the screen, he saw Fr Joseph gazing at an icon of Christ and lifting up his hands. This novice went to the infirmary later and heard someone behind the screen say, "Be patient, my dear one, only a little remains." He looked behind the screen, but saw no one there except Fr Joseph. Later, Fr Ambrose told people that Fr Joseph had seen the Mother of God during his illness. Though he had been quite near death, he got well.

After his recovery, Fr Joseph began to hear confessions on a regular basis, since this was becoming too difficult for Fr Ambrose. He blessed people to go to Fr Joseph "not just once, but always."

In the summer of 1888, Fr Ambrose blessed Fr Joseph to go on a pilgrimage to Kiev. After nearly thirty years, he was able to fulfill his desire to visit the holy places of Kiev. On his way back to Optina, he stopped to visit his sister Mother Leonida at Borisovsk.
Fr Ambrose usually spent three weeks during the summer at the Shamordino Convent, accompanied by Fr Joseph. In June of 1890 Fr Joseph began to prepare for the journey, but Fr Ambrose said, "I'm not taking you this time, you're needed here." He ordered Fr Joseph to move into his cell and to transfer a large "Surety of Sinners" Icon (March 7 and May 29) into the reception room. Fr Joseph had a premonition that Fr Ambrose would never return.
Although he missed the Elder, Fr Joseph resigned himself to the situation. He did go to Shamordino once a month to visit Fr Ambrose, however. In the absence of Fr Ambrose, many monks who confessed to him began to go to Fr Joseph. During the Nativity Fast Fr Ambrose started sending his spiritual children at Shamordino to confess to Fr Joseph as well. This was difficult for the nuns, who were used to Fr Ambrose. Even when he heard a nun's confession himself, Fr Ambrose would send her to Fr Joseph for the prayers of absolution. In this manner, he indicated that he was entrusting his spiritual children to no one but Fr Joseph.
In September 1891 Fr Ambrose became ill, but no one thought it was serious. On October 8, he was so critical that they sent for Fr Joseph. That evening the service of Holy Unction was performed, and the next morning Fr Joseph gave Fr Ambrose Communion for the last time. St Ambrose reposed on the morning of October 10, and no one grieved more than Fr Joseph. Even in his sorrow, however, he comforted and consoled others.
Without any outside influence or pressure, the monks of Optina began coming to Fr Joseph just as they had come to Fr Ambrose. When the nuns of Shamordino asked to whom they should go for spiritual direction, Fr Isaac told them, "At Optina all we have Fr Joseph as our common Elder, and he must be yours as well."
For the next twenty years, St Joseph received visitors, gave spiritual counsel to those who asked for his advice, and even performed miracles of healing for the afflicted. Out of humility, Fr Joseph never said anything on his own authority, but quoted the words of Fr Ambrose, or gave examples from his life. He spoke very little, and then only to answer a question which had been put to him. Some laymen, and even some of the monks, were annoyed with him because he did not say more.

One monk had the thought that since Fr Joseph was filled with spiritual wisdom and was so familiar with the writings of the Fathers, he could have said many beneficial things to people. The Elder explained this to him, quoting St Peter of Damascus, who said that one should not say anything helpful unless asked by the brethren, because then the resulting benefit would come from their free choice. Even concerning something which might be useful for salvation, the ancient Fathers would not speak without being asked, considering unsolicited advice as idle talk (Vol. 3 of the English PHILOKALIA, p. 186).
His greatest care was for the Shamordino Convent, which remained unfinished, and for the spiritual welfare of its nuns. The Superior of the convent now turned to Fr Joseph to consult him about everything related to the life of the convent, and would do nothing without his blessing. He went there twice a year, during the Apostles' Fast, and during the Dormition Fast, to hear the confessions of the sisters. In the winter, they would visit him at Optina for Confession. Soon he was obliged to give up traveling to Shamordino because of his health.
Fr Joseph was officially appointed as confessor for the Optina brotherhood near the end of 1893 when Fr Anatole became ill and could not fulfill this duty. Many of the monks had already been confessing to Fr Joseph, but now they all came to him.
On January 25, 1894 St Anatole, the head of the skete, fell asleep in the Lord. Archimandrite Isaac and the bretheren unanimously chose Fr Joseph to succeed Fr Anatole as Superior of the skete. Although he never sought this honor, Fr Joseph accepted his election with all humility. He discharged his duties, not by issuing orders, but with paternal love and humility.
As Superior, he could have chosen to serve only on major Feast Days when the priests concelebrated, and designated one of the priests of the skete to serve on other days. He often served as a simple monk, however, with only one deacon to assist him.
During the last years of his life, Fr Joseph grew weaker and was often ill. In May of 1905 he felt that he lacked the strength to carry out his duties, and he asked to retire as Superior of the skete. He also had to give up hearing the confessions of visitors, since this exhausted him. His spiritual children were saddened by his decision, but the monks and nuns continued to come to him with their spiritual wounds and afflictions.
In 1911 Fr Joseph was weak and ill, but began to feel somewhat better during Great Lent. He was unusually joyful during Holy Week, which led some to believe that he had had some sort of vision. On April 11, the third day of Pascha, Fr Joseph developed a fever and stopped seeing visitors. The following week, a doctor diagnosed him with maleria, declaring that there was no hope for recovery.
On April 20 the wonderworking Icon "of the Sign" was brought to his cell and a molieben was served. In the afternoon, the Kazan Icon and the rassa of St Seraphim were brought to him. Two days later, he requested that the skete brotherhood be permitted to come to him so that he could bid them farewell and ask their forgiveness. Then he asked that the Shamordino nuns also be allowed to come.
Fr Joseph stopped taking food from April 28 on, nourishing himself only with the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Up until the time of his death, he was conscious and lucid, answering questions and dictating replies to letters. On May 8 he felt a little better, then became weak again. On the morning of May 9 he received Holy Communion, then at four in the afternoon he received some people for a final blessing.
That evening the Elder lay resting on his bed with his eyes closed, and his face shone with an unearthly radiance. At 10:45 he drew his last breath and departed to the Lord with a smile on his face.
After the body was prepared for burial, panikhidas were served one after another for the departed Elder. The saint appeared to some of the brethren in dreams both that night and on subsequent days.  The body was placed in a coffin at six o'clock the next morning and was carried to the skete church. Following the Liturgy, a panikhida was served, then the casket was brought to the monastery church of St Mary of Egypt. The monks began taking turns serving panikhidas for Fr Joseph until his burial.
Several miracles took place on the day St Joseph was laid to rest at the feet of Fr Ambrose. Even today, he continues to intercede with God and to work miracles for those who entreat him with faith.
St Joseph became a great Elder because first he had been a great disciple. He was obedient to his Elder Fr Ambrose in all things, and never contradicted him. Because he renounced his own will, refrained from judging others, and reproached himself for his own sins, Fr Joseph acquired humility and the grace of God. He also obtained from the Lord the discernment to recognize every sort of spiritual illness, and how to treat it.
The Moscow Patriarchate authorized local veneration of the Optina Elders on June 13,1996. The work of uncovering the relics of Sts Leonid, Macarius, Hilarion, Ambrose, Anatole I, Barsanuphius and Anatole II began on June 24/July 7, 1998 and was concluded the next day. However, because of the church Feasts (Nativity of St John the Baptist, etc.) associated with the actual dates of the uncovering of the relics, Patriarch Alexey II designated June 27/July 10 as the date for commemorating this event. The relics of the holy Elders now rest in the new church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
The Optina Elders were glorified by the Moscow Patriarchate for universal veneration on August 7, 2000.



THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 345

Deliver me, O Lady, from all evil: and from the infernal enemy defend me.

Against me he hath drawn his bow: and in his craftiness he hath laid snares for me.

Restrain his evil power: and powerfully crush his craft.

Turn back his iniquity on his own head: and let him speedily fall into the pit which he hath made.

But we will rejoice in thy service: and we will glory in thy praise.

Let every spirit praise Our Lady

Rejoice, ye Heavens, and be glad, O Earth: because Mary will console her servants and will have mercy on her poor.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be.

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea.  As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.  Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heavenonly saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
There are over 10,000 named saints beati  from history
 and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources

Patron_Saints.html  Widowed_Saints htmIndulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines  
India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes 1858  China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine  Loreto, Italy  Marian Apparitions (over 2000Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
 
Links to Related MarianWebsites  Angels and Archangels  Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell

Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  UniateChalcedon

Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BLay Saints  Miraculous_IconMiraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
Miracles by Century 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800  1900 2000
Miracles 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000  
 
1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900 Lay Saints

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him
For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness
1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion. 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing & make resolutions to avoid it.
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible.  4. Say the rosary every day.
5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6.  Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
7.  Every month make a review of the month in confession.
8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue.
9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.

Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.

O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.
 
In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides.  Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.
Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.
Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.
After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA)
1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.
801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions.  Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq.  She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186).  Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186).  She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching.  As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director.  She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222).  A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid.  The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind.  She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca:  "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God.  She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker.  Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219).  During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?'  I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them.  I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me?  Is it not God Who wills it?  When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will?  It is not  well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic.  It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187).  She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world.  A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill.  Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"  (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold.  She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him.  And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance.  She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did.  For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself.  The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other.  When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from.  "From that other world," she said.  "And where are you going?" she was asked.  "To that other world," she replied (219).  She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end.  Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love.  In this quest, logic and reason were powerless.  Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition.  Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved.  Through this communion, she could discover His will for her.  Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul."  [224]

To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:
Eternal Word Television Network 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Irondale, AL 35210  USA
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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey  Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about
The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 14 years Lover of the poor; A very Holy Man of God.
Monsignor Reardon Protonotarius Apostolicus
 
Pastor 42 years BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN
America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World
August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation
by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908
James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932
James M. Reardon Publication  History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement
1362-1950 (1952);

The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;
  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and Indulgence Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary
spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the
life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 
It Makes No Sense
Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
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.

Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception. This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children.

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

As we watch the spectacle of the world seeming to self-destruct before our eyes, we can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions displayed in living color on our television screens.  These are not ordinary times and this is not business as usual. We are at a crossroads in human history and the time for Catholics and all Christians to act is now. All evil can ultimately be traced to its origin, which is moral evil. All of the political action, peace talks, international peacekeeping forces, etc. will avail nothing if the underlying sickness is not addressed. This is sin. One person at a time hearts and minds must be moved from evil to good, from lies to truth, from violence to peace.
Islam, an Arabic word that has often been defined as “to make peace,” seems like a living contradiction today. Islam is a religion of peace.  As we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady, I am proposing that each one of us pray the Rosary for peace. Prayer is what must precede all other activity if that activity is to have any chance of success. Pray for peace, pray the Rosary every day without fail.  There is a great love for Mary among Muslim people. It is not a coincidence that a little village named Fatima is where God chose to have His Mother appear in the twentieth century. Our Lady’s name appears no less than thirty times in the Koran. No other woman’s name is mentioned, not even that of Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima. In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.”

Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetically spoke of the resurgence of Islam in our day. He said it would be through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Islam would be converted. We must pray for this to happen quickly if we are to avert a horrible time of suffering for this poor, sinful world. Turn to our Mother in this time of great peril. Pray the Rosary every day. Then, and only then will there be peace, when the hearts and minds of men are changed from the inside.
Talk is weak. Prayer is strong. Pray!  God bless you, Father John Corapi

Father Corapi's Biography

Father John Corapi is what has commonly been called a late vocation. In other words, he came to the priesthood other than a young man. He was 44 years old when he was ordained. From small town boy to the Vietnam era US Army, from successful businessman in Las Vegas and Hollywood to drug addicted and homeless, to religious life and ordination to the priesthood by Pope John Paul II, to a life as a preacher of the Gospel who has reached millions with the simple message that God's Name is Mercy!

Father Corapi's academic credentials are quite extensive. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pace University in the seventies. Then as an older man returned to the university classrooms in preparation for his life as a priest and preacher. He received all of his academic credentials for the Church with honors: a Masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary and Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctorate degrees in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Spain.

Father John Corapi goes to the heart of the contemporary world's many woes and wars, whether the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, or the Congo, or the natural disasters that seem to be increasing every year, the moral and spiritual war is at the basis of everything. “Our battle is not against human forces,” St. Paul asserts, “but against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness...” (Ephesians 6:12). 
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that  unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds.  The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him.

About Father John Corapi.
Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .
The pillars of father's preaching are basically:
Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary 
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ
Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified
Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification.

Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest
Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization.

Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood
Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint.

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.
 
Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs
Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century.

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”
 
Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December
Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8.

Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes
Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer.

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified
Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification.

Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest
Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization.

Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood
Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint.

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.
 
Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs
Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century.

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”
 
Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December
Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8.

Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes
Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer.

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

8 Martyrs Move Closer to Sainthood 8 July, 2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016

The angel appears to Saint Monica
This morning, Pope Francis received Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato. During the audience, he authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:

***
MIRACLES:
Miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Guardian Angel; born July 4, 1809 and died on Jan. 16, 1890
MARTYRDOM:
Servants of God Antonio Arribas Hortigüela and 6 Companions, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart; killed in hatred of the Faith, Sept. 29, 1936
Servant of God Josef Mayr-Nusser, a layman; killed in hatred of the Faith, Feb. 24, 1945
HEROIC VIRTUE:

Servant of God Alfonse Gallegos of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Titular Bishop of Sasabe, auxiliary of Sacramento; born Feb. 20, 1931 and died Oct. 6, 1991
Servant of God Rafael Sánchez García, diocesan priest; born June 14, 1911 and died on Aug. 8, 1973
Servant of God Andrés García Acosta, professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor; born Jan. 10, 1800 and died Jan. 14, 1853
Servant of God Joseph Marchetti, professed priest of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles; born Oct. 3, 1869 and died Dec. 14, 1896
Servant of God Giacomo Viale, professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, pastor of Bordighera; born Feb. 28, 1830 and died April 16, 1912
Servant of God Maria Pia of the Cross (née Maddalena Notari), foundress of the Congregation of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist; born Dec. 2, 1847 and died on July 1, 1919
Sunday, November 23 2014 Six to Be Canonized on Feast of Christ the King.

On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious
VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See:
-Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts
-Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
-Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth
-Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims
-Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church
-Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims

CAUSES OF SAINTS July 2015.
Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop
Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification
By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org)
Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The Pope also recognized the heroic virtues of several religious/lay men and women from Italy, Spain, France & Mexico.
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is considered to be one of the most influential 20th century figures in the history of the Ukrainian Church.
Enthroned as Metropolitan of Lviv in 1901, Archbishop Sheptytsky was arrested shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 by the Russians. After his imprisonment in several prisons in Russia and the Ukraine, the Archbishop was released in 1918.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate was also an ardent supporter of the Jewish community in Ukraine, going so far as to learn Hebrew to better communicate with them. He also was a vocal protestor against atrocities committed by the Nazis, evidenced in his pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." He was also known to harbor thousands of Jews in his residence and in Greek Catholic monasteries.
Following his death in 1944, his cause for canonization was opened in 1958.
* * *
The Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees regarding the heroic virtues of:
- Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., major archbishop of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, metropolitan of Halyc (1865-1944);
- Servant of God Giuseppe Carraro, Bishop of Verona, Italy (1899-1980);
- Servant of God Agustin Ramirez Barba, Mexican diocesan priest and founder of the Servants of the Lord of Mercy (1881-1967);
- Servant of God Simpliciano della Nativita (ne Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresca), Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (1827-1898);
- Servant of God Maria del Refugio Aguilar y Torres del Cancino, Mexican founder of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1866-1937);
- Servant of God Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes (Marie-Teresa), French professed religious of the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1873-1953);
- Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Italian founder of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1904-1976);
- Servant of God Isabel Mendez Herrero (Isabel of Mary Immaculate), Spanish professed nun of the Servants of St. Joseph (1924-1953)
October 01, 2015 Vatican City, Pope Authorizes following Decrees
(ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter
Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God
Pope Authorizes Decrees
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees:

MARTYRDOM
- Servant of God Valentin Palencia Marquina, Spanish diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith in Suances, Spain in 1937;

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963);
- Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987);
- Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991);
- Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996);
- Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917);
- Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913);
- Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973).
March 06 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES

– Blessed Manuel González García, bishop of Palencia, Spain, founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth (1877-1940);
– Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity (née Elisabeth Catez), French professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1880-1906);
– Venerable Servant of God Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus (né Henri Grialou), French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, founder of the Secular Institute “Notre-Dame de Vie” (1894-1967);
– Venerable Servant of God María Antonia of St. Joseph (née María Antonio de Paz y Figueroa), Argentine founder of the Beaterio of the Spiritual Exercise of Buenos Aires (1730-1799);
HEROIC VIRTUE

– Servant of God Stefano Ferrando, Italian professed priest of the Salesians, bishop of Shillong, India, founder of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (1895-1978);
– Servant of God Enrico Battista Stanislao Verjus, Italian professed priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, coadjutor of the apostolic vicariate of New Guinea (1860-1892);
– Servant of God Giovanni Battista Quilici, Italian diocesan priest, founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Crucified (1791-1844);
– Servant of God Bernardo Mattio, Italian diocesan priest (1845-1914);
– Servant of God Quirico Pignalberi, Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1891-1982);
– Servant of God Teodora Campostrini, Italian founder of the Minim Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Sorrows (1788-1860);
– Servant of God Bianca Piccolomini Clementini, Italian founder of the Company of St. Angela Merici di Siena (1875-1959);
– Servant of God María Nieves of the Holy Family (née María Nieves Sánchez y Fernández), Spanish professed religious of the Daughters of Mary of the Pious Schools (1900-1978).

April 26 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Here is the full list of decrees approved by the Pope:

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Pasqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).
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