In
terra Hus sancti
Job
Prophétæ, admirándæ patiéntiæ
viri.
In the land of Hus, the
holy prophet Job, a man of wonderful patience.
Hiob (Ijob) Orthodoxe Kirche: 6. Mai Katholische Kirche: 10. Mai
Nach der Tradition der Ostkirche lebte Hiob zwischen 2000 und 1500 vor
Christus im Land Uz im nördlichen Arabien. Er wurde 248 Jahre alt
und die im Buch Hiob dargestellten Ereignisse fielen in sein 108.
Lebensjahr. Hesekiel nennt Hiob als einen vorbildlichen Menschen (Hes.
14, 14/20) und es kann vermutet werden, daß Hiob schon zur Zeit
der Patriarchen (ca. 1900 v. Chr) bekannt und geschätzt war. Auch
in außerisraelitischen Quellen aus dieser Zeit wird ein Hiob
erwähnt.
|
The Kiev-Bratsk
Icon
of the Mother of God is celebrated also on September
6, June 2,
and on Saturday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent.
|
 Saint
Simon was from Cana in Galilee one of the twelve Apostles, and received
the Holy Spirit with the others on Pentecost
He and was known to the Lord and His Mother. Tradition says
that he was
the bridegroom at the wedding where the Savior performed His first
miracle. After witnessing the miracle of the water which had been
turned into wine, he became a zealous follower of Christ. For this
reason, he is known as St Simon the Zealot.
St Simon was one of the twelve Apostles, and received the
Holy Spirit
with the others on Pentecost. He traveled to many places from Britain
to the Black Sea, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. After winning many
pagans to the Lord, St Simon suffered martyrdom by crucifixion.
St Demetrius of Rostov says that this St Simon is to be
distinguished
from the Apostle Simon Peter, and from the Lord's relative Simon
(Mt.13:55), who was the second Bishop of Jerusalem.
St Simon is also
commemorated on June 30 with the other Apostles.
Apostel Simon der Zelot Orthodoxe Kirche: 10.
Mai
Katholische, Anglikanische und Evangelische Kirche: 28. Oktober
Apostel Simon
Apostel Simon wird im neuen Testament lediglich in den
Apostellisten
genannt. Matthäus und Markus nennen ihn Kananäus. Daraus wird
geschlossen, dass Simon aus Kana stamme und er wird mit dem Hochzeiter
aus Johannes 2, 1 ff. oder mit dem Apostel Bartholomäus
gleichgesetzt. Das zugrundeliegende hebräische Wort bedeutet aber
das gleiche wie das griechische Zelotes: Eiferer. So wurden die
Angehörigen einer religiösen Gruppierung bezeichnet.
Über das weitere Wirken von Simon gibt es keine gesicherte
Überlieferung. Nach orthodoxer Tradition war Simon ein Sohn aus
der ersten Ehe Josefs. Deshalb wird Simon Zelotes mit dem Herrenbruder
Simon gleichgesetzt. Ebenso sieht die orthodoxe Tradition in ihm auch
mit dem Hochzeiter von Kana (d daß Jesus in Kana als
Familienangehöriger an der Feier teilnahm). Den Beinamen Zelotes
soll Simon auch erst erhalten haben, nachdem er sich für die Sache
Jesu begeistert einsetzte. Simon missionierte nach Pfingsten in
Judäa, Ägypten, Libyen, Kyrenaika und Britannien. Bei
Abchasia wurde er gefangengenommen und gekreuzigt. Simon soll auch als
Einsiedler auf dem Athos (?) in einer Höhle gelebt haben.
Dorotheus berichtet, Simon habe in Mauretanien und Afrika missioniert
und sei dann in Britannien gekreuzigt worden.
|
232 St.
Calepodius
priest Roman martyr with Palmatius consular rank, Simplicius senator,
Felix & Blanda a couple, & companions
Romæ beáti Calepódii, Presbyteri et
Mártyris; quem Alexánder Imperátor gládio
fecit occídi, et corpus ejus per civitátem trahi, atque
in Tíberim jactári, quod invéntum Callístus
Papa sepelívit. Decollátus est étiam
Palmátius Consul cum uxóre et fíliis et
áliis promíscui sexus quadragínta duóbus de
domo sua, Simplícius quoque Senátor cum uxóre et
sexagínta octo de famila sua, item et Felix cum uxóre sua
Blanda; quorum cápita suspénsa sunt per divérsas
portas Urbis, ad exémplum Christianórum.
At
Rome, the blessed priest and martyr Caleposius, who was killed
with the sword by order of Emperor Alexander. His body was
dragged through the city and thrown into the Tiber. It was
afterwards found and buried by Pope Callistus. The consul
Palmatius was also beheaded with his wife, his sons, and forty-two of
both sexes belonging to his household; likewise the senator Simplicius
with his wife, and sixty-eight of his house; Felix also with his wife
Blanda. The heads of all these martyrs were exposed over
different gates of the city in order to terrify the Christians.
They suffered under Emperor
Severus
Alexander in the pontificate of St. Callistus I. Calepodius was
a priest and the first of the group to suffer. His name is honored by a
Roman catacomb. St. Palmatius was of consular rank, and he died with
his wife, children, and household. St. Simplicius was a senator who
suffered death with sixty-five members of his family and household.
Sts. Felix and Blanda were husband and wife.
222 ST CALEPODIUS, MARTYR
THE reputed founder of the Roman cemetery which bears his name, St
Calepodius was a Roman priest who, according to the legendary Acts of
Pope St Callistus, suffered martyrdom during the reign of Alexander
Severus as the result of a fanatical attack by the populace upon the
Christians. He was decapitated and his body cast into the Tiber, from
whence it was rescued and brought to Pope Callistus by a fisherman who
had caught it in his net. Amongst a number of companions who are said
to have perished in the same outbreak were the consul Palmatius, his
family and forty-two members of his household, the senator Simplicius,
with sixty-eight of his dependents, and a couple named Felix and
Blandina. The reputed relics of St Calepodius are to be found in the
Roman churches of Santa Maria in Trastevere and San Pancrazio, as well
as in the cathedral of Taranto.
There
was undoubtedly a small catacomb which
bore the name of Calepodius situated on the Via Aurelia, three miles
from the
city, and there is early and trustworthy evidence that Pope St
Callistus I was
buried there. Beyond that we know very little. See Duchesne, Liber Pontificalis, vol. i, pp. 141—142;
CMH., pp. 555—556; and Dam
Leclercq in DAC., vol. ii, cc.
1593--1595.
Calepodius, Palmatius, Simplicius, Felix, Blanda & Comp
M (RM)
Died 222 to 232; feast day formerly May 16. This entry in the Roman
Martyrology includes a number of Roman martyrs who suffered under
Alexander Severus during the pontificate of Callistus I. Calepodius, a
priest, was the first to suffer; he has given his name to a Roman
catacomb. Saint Palmatius, of consular rank, died with his wife and
children and 42 members of his household. Saint Simplicius, a senator,
was martyred with 65 of his family and dependents. SS. Felix and Blanda
were husband and wife. All were victims of an outburst of fury on the
part of the heathen mob (Benedictines). In art, these martyrs are
represented as a priest and companions being thrown into the Tiber.
Calepodius is dressed as an early Christian priest in Mass vestments
with a book. They are venerated in Rome, particularly at Santa Maria in
Trastevere (Roeder). |
250 St.
Epimachus
Martyr
of Alexandria, Egypt, with Alexander
Romæ, via Latína, natális sanctórum
Mártyrum Gordiáni et Epímachi, quorum prior, pro
confessióne nóminis Christi, témpore
Juliáni Apóstatæ, diu plumbátis cæsus
et ad últimum cápite truncátus, noctu a
Christiánis sepúltus eádem via fuit in crypta, in
quam beáti Epímachi Mártyris relíquiæ
paulo ante translátæ fúerant ab Alexandría,
ubi ipse, pro Christi fide, martyrium compléverat prídie
Idus Decémbris.
At Rome, on the Via Latina, the birthday of the holy martyrs
Gordian and Epimachus. In the time of Julian the Apostate, the
former was a long time scourged and finally beheaded for confessing the
name of Christ. He was buried at night by the Christians, in a
crypt to which, shortly before, the remains of the blessed martyr
Epimachus had been transferred from Alexandria, where he had been
martyred for the faith of Christ on the 12th of December.
250 SS GORDIAN AND EPIMACHUS, MARTYRS
Practically speaking, all the martyrologies, etc., of the Western
church from the sixth century onwards make mention of SS. Gordian and
Epimachus, who are also commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on this
day. Epimachus is said to have been thrown into a lime kiln at
Alexandria in 250 with a certain Alexander, after they had endured
cruel tortures for the faith. The body of St Epimachus was subsequently
taken to Rome. St Gordian was beheaded in Rome and his body was placed
with that of St Epimachus in the same tomb. The greater part of their
remains were afterwards given by St Hildegard, Charlemagne’s wife, to
the abbey of Kempten, in Bavaria, which she had restored. The so-called
“acts” of these two saints are spurious. in contrast to the martyrs
last mentioned, the historic existence and cult of SS. Gordian and
Epimachus can raise no doubts. The epitaph of Pope Damasus on St
Gordian is still preserved to us, and describes the martyr as little
more than a boy, whereas the legendary “acts” present him as having
been the vicarius, the responsible minister, of the Emperor Julian.
See on
the whole matter the text and notes of CMH.,
p. 244. The acts are printed in the Acta
Sanctorum, May, vol. ii. There seems no sufficient reason to
suppose, as
Butler did, that the two martyrs were separated by a century in time. Cf. J. P. Kirsch, Der Stadtrömische
Christliche Festkalender, pp. 54—55.
Four women suffered the same martyrdom with Epimachus:
Ammonaria,
Mercuria, Dionisia, and a second Ammonaria. Epimachus and Alexander
were burned to death after being imprisoned and cruelly tortured.
250
Epimachus Epimachus was a
martyr of Alexandria, Egypt His
relics were brought to Rome, and those of Gordian were placed in his
tomb. This cult is now confined to local calendars.
|
St. Quaratus and
Quintus from Capua martyred during the Roman persecutions
Item Romæ, via Latína, ad Centum Aulas, natális
sanctórum Mártyrum Quarti et Quincti, quorum
córpora Cápuam transláta sunt.
Also at Rome, on the Via Latina, the birthday of the holy martyrs
Quartus and Quinctus, whose bodies were translated to Capua.
Two Italian martyrs. Originally from Capua, Italy, they were put to
death in Rome at some time during the Roman persecutions. Their remains
were later taken to Capua. |
St. Tadros
(Theodore)
The Departure of , the disciple of St. Pachomius.
On this day also St. Tadros (Theodore) the disciple of St. Pachomius,
the father of the spiritual monastic communal life (Coenobitic system),
departed. He became monk at a young age under the guidance of Anba
Pachomius and showed great asceticism, with extraordinary obedience, so
that St. Pachomius loved him and he delegated him to preach to the
brethren.
When St. Pachomius departed, St. Tadros replaced him. He was a good
example in meekness and patience. When he completed his course, and
finished his strife, he departed to the Lord whom he loved.
|
St. Aurelian
disciple of Saint Martial bishop of
Limoges 1st or 3rd century
Bishop of Limoges in France. He was a disciple of St. Martial.
Aurelian of Limoges B (AC) 1st or 3rd century. Saint Aurelian was a
disciple of Saint Martial and eventually succeeded him as bishop of
Limoges (Benedictines). |
251 St.
Alphius
Martyr one of 3
brothers from Vaste, Italy, who died with their sister, Benedicta
1517 their incorrupt relics were discovered at Leontini [Lentini]
Apud Leontínos, in Sicília, sanctórum
Mártyrum Alphii, Philadélphi et Cyríni. At
Lentini in Sicily, the holy martyrs Alphius, Philadelphis, and Cyrinus
251 SS. ALPHIUS AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
THE principal patrons of Vaste in the diocese of Otranto, and of
Lentini, in Sicily, are SS. Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus, who were
martyred at the latter place and were probably natives of the former.
The various accounts of them which have come down to us are conflicting
and quite unreliable. According to one legend, they and their sister St
Benedicta, after being well instructed in the Christian faith by their
father and a certain Onesimus, were apprehended with a number of
companions during the Decian persecution and were taken to Rome. There
they endured severe torture and were then removed to Pozzuoli, near
Naples, where Onesimus and some of the party suffered martyrdom. The
rest were transferred to Sicily and again tried and tortured. Their
bold confession of faith caused the conversion of many spectators,
including twenty soldiers. Eventually Alphius, who was twenty-two, died
as the result of having his tongue torn out, Philadelphus, who was
twenty-one, was roasted to death, and Cyrinus, who was nineteen, was
boiled to death in a vessel full of hot pitch. In 1517 three bodies
were discovered, and being identified with these saints, were elevated
with great pomp at Lentini, a town seventeen miles south-west of
Catania.
Although
these alleged martyrs are duly entered
in the Roman Martyrology, and their story occupies altogether some
sixty folio
pages in the Acta Sanctorum (May,
vol. ii), there is no reliable evidence of early cultus. Their
“acts” must be regarded as nothing better than a
pious Greek romance. See DHG., vol. ii, c. 676.
The details concerning these martyrdoms are traditional, considered by
some scholars as unreliable. Alphius, Philadeiphus, Cyrinus, and
Benedicta were arrested during the persecutions conducted by Emperor
Trajanus Decius(Trajan
Decius 249-251 AD and Usurpers During His Reign). They were tortured in
Rome and then taken to Pozzuoli, near modern Naples, where one of the
Christians, Onesimus, was executed. The brothers went on to Sicily,
where they were martyred at Lentini. Alphius had his tongue torn from
his mouth. Philadelphus was burned to death and Cyrinus was boiled to
death. The brothers ranged in age from nineteen to twenty-one years of
age at the time of their martyrdom. No details of execution are given
extant for Benedicta.
Alphius, Cyrinus, and Philadelphus MM (RM). These three Sicilian
brothers appear to have suffered under Decius. They are highly venerated among the Greeks and in
Sicily, especially at Lentini, of which they are patrons
(Benedictines).
The Holy Martyrs Philadelphus, Alphaeus, Cyprian, Onesimus, Erasmus and
14 others with them, lived during the third century and came from
Italy. Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian were sons of a governor in
Italy, named Vitalius. They were enlightened by faith in Christ and
baptized by St Onesimus.
During this period the emperor Licinius issued orders to seek out and
hand over the Christians for torture. The brothers went to Rome
together with Onesimus, Erasmus and fourteen other Christians. At Rome
they crushed the chest of St Onesimus with a heavy stone, which killed
him. Erasmus and the fourteen Martyrs were beheaded.
The brothers Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian suffered in the city of
Mesopolis Leontii in Sicily, where they had been sent from Rome. St
Philadelphus was burned over an iron lattice in the year 251, in the
reign of the emperor Decius.
In the year 1517 their incorrupt relics were discovered at Leontini
[Lentini]. Sts Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian appeared to St
Euthalia (March 2) and told her that she would be healed of an
affliction after she was baptized.
|
Hesychius of
Antioch
The Holy Martyr lived in Antioch during the reign of Maximian
Galerius (305-311)
He occupied a high official position. Maximian issued an edict by which
all Christians were to be deprived of military rank and expelled from
military service. Those who would not renounce Christianity were
stripped of their soldier's belt and military insignia, and degraded to
the level of hired servants. St Hesychius was one of these.
Maximian ordered Hesychius to remove his robes of office, put on common
attire, and to be placed among the women servants. After several days
he summoned Hesychius and asked, "Are you not ashamed to remain in such
dishonor?" St Hesychius answered, "The honors which I had from you were
only temporal."
Then Maximian gave orders to drown St Hesychius in a river, with a
millstone tied about his neck. The exact year of the martyr's death is
not known.
|
362 St.
Gordian
died in Rome a
mere boy
Gordian died in Rome in 362, and was described by Pope Damasus as a
mere boy.
250 Epimachus Epimachus was a martyr of Alexandria, Egypt, in 250. His
relics were brought to Rome, and those of Gordian were placed in his
tomb. This cult is now confined to local calendars. |
St.
Dioscorides
martyr of Smyrna
Smyrnæ sancti Dioscóridis Mártyris. At
Smyrna, St. Dioscorides, martyr.
The Acts of his martyrdom are not extant. |
 5th
v. Saint Thais lived in Egypt pious virgin radiant light holy angels
bearing her soul to Paradise
In the fifth century, she was left an orphan after the death
of her
wealthy parents, she led a pious life, distributing her wealth to the
poor, and she gave shelter to pilgrims on her estate. She decided that
she would never marry, but would devote her life to serving Christ.
After spending all her inheritance, Thais was tempted to
acquire more
money by any means, and began to lead a sinful life. The Elders of
Sketis near Alexandria heard of her fall, and asked St John the Dwarf
(November 9) to go to Thais and persuade her to repent. "She was kind
to us," they said, "now perhaps we can help her. You, Father, are wise.
Go and try to save her soul, and we will pray that the Lord will help
you."
The Elder went to her home, but Thais's servant did not want
to allow
him into the house. St John said, "Tell your mistress that I have
brought her something very precious." Thais, knowing that the monks
sometimes found pearls at the shore, told her servant to admit the
visitor. St John sat down and looked her in the face, and then began to
weep. Thais asked him why he was crying.
The Elder's words pierced
the soul of Thais like a fiery arrow, and at
once she realized how sinful her present life had become. In fear, she
asked him if God would accept the repentance of a sinner like her. St
John replied that the Savior awaited her repentance. That is why He
came, to seek and to save the perishing. "He will welcome you with
love," he said, "and the angels will rejoice over you. As the Savior
said Himself, one repentant sinner causes the powers of Heaven to
rejoice (Luke 15:7).
A feeling of repentance enveloped her, and regarding the
Elder's words
as a call from the Lord Himself to return to Him, Thais trembled and
thought only of finding the path of salvation. She stood up and left
her house without speaking to her servants, and without making any sort
of disposition of her property, so that even St John was amazed.
Following St John into the wilderness, she hastened to
return to God
through penitence and prayer. Night fell, and the Elder prepared a
place for Thais to lay down and sleep. He made a pillow for her from
the sand, and he went off somewhat farther, and went to sleep after his
evening prayers.
In the middle of the night, he was wakened by a light coming
down from
the heavens to the place where Thais was at rest. In the radiant light
he saw holy angels bearing her soul to Paradise. When he went over to
Thais, he found her dead.
St John prayed and asked
God to reveal to him whether Thais had been
saved. An angel of God appeared and told him, "Abba John, her one hour
of repentance was equal to many years, because she repented with all
her soul, and a compunctionate heart."
After burying the body of the saint, St John returned to
Sketis and
told the monks what had happened.
All offered thanks to God
for His
mercy toward Thais who, like the wise thief, repented in a single
moment.
|
Medioláni
Invéntio sanctórum Mártyrum Nazárii et Celsi,
in qua beátus
Ambrósius Epíscopus corpus sancti
Nazárii recénti adhuc sánguine conspérsum
réperit, atque ad Basílicam Apostolórum
tránstulit, una cum córpore beáti Celsi
púeri, quem idem ipse Nazárius nutríerat, et
Anolínus, in Nerónis persecutióne, simul cum eo
feríri gládio jússerat quinto Kaléndas
Augústi; quo die festívitas gloriósi eórum
martyrii celebrátur.
At Milan, the
finding of the bodies of
the holy martyrs Nazarius
and Celsus. The blessed bishop Ambrose found the body of St.
Nazarius covered with blood still fresh, and transferred it to the
Basilica of the Apostles, together with the body of the blessed Celsus,
a youth whom Nazarius had taken care of, and whom Anolinus, in the
persecution of Nero, had ordered to be slain with the sword on the 28th
of July, on which day their martyrdom is commemorated.
|
519 Conleth of
Kildare Irish
recluse at Old Connell (County Kildare) B (AC) 685? ST CATALD, BISHOP
OF TARANTO, AND 250 ST CONLETH, BISHOP OF KILDARE
(also known as Conleat) feast day formerly on May 3. Conleth was a
metal- worker and very skilled as a copyist and illuminator. Saint
Brigid, according to her vita by Cogitosus, came to know him and
invited him to make sacred vessels for her convent and asked him to be
the spiritual director of her nuns at Kildare. Eventually, he became
the first bishop of Kildare, which the Annuario Pontificio quotes as
being founded in 519.
685? ST CATALD, BISHOP OF TARANTO, AND 250 ST CONLETH, BISHOP OF KILDARE
THESE two saints, far apart in time and space, but both sons of
Ireland, are to-day celebrated together by the Church in that country.
St Catald (Cathal) was a learned monk who for some time taught in the
great school of Lismore. Resigning his post with a view to seeking
greater retirement, he undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On his way
home he was chosen bishop of Tarentum or Taranto, not in the sixth
century as certain Italian writers have asserted, much less in the
second, but towards the close of the seventh. He is said to have been
an excellent prelate and several miracles were attributed to him. St
Catald is titular saint of Taranto cathedral, being reckoned the second
bishop of the diocese, and his cultus is very widely spread in Italy.
History has preserved few reliable details concerning St
Conleth
(Conlaed), who was, like many early Irish ecclesiastics, a
clever worker in metals. He was living the life of a solitary at Old
Connell on the Liffey when he came into touch with St Brigid, who at
once formed a very high opinion of him. Their intercourse ripened into
friendship. A gloss on the Félire of Oengus calls St Conlaed “St
Brigid’s chief artificer”; but, if she knew how to utilize his artistic
talents in making sacred vessels, she knew still better how to employ
his spiritual gifts, for she obtained his help as bishop over her
people at Kildare. A leaf appended to the Martyrology of Donegal
describes St Conlaed as “brazier of Brigid, first bishop of Celldara
and archbishop also”—meaning, perhaps, that he became head over the
regionary bishops and abbots in that district of Ireland.
Tradition
ascribes to St Conlaed the fashioning of the crozier afterwards owned
by St Finbar of Termon Barry and now preserved in the museum of the
Royal Irish Academy. In the gloss upon the Félire of Oengus the
curious statement is made that St Conlaed was devoured by wolves when
he persisted in undertaking a journey to Rome against St Brigid’s
wishes. This seems to be an attempt to explain the name Conlaed, i.e.
“half (leth) to wolves (coin)”, and the gloss states further that his
previous name was Roncenn.
St
Catald is another of those cases in which we
know next to nothing of the life of the saint, but have long accounts
of the
veneration paid to what were believed to be his relies. See the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii; O’Hanlon
LIS., vol. v, p. 185 and Ughelli, Italia Sacra,
vol. ix, cc. 162—168 with A. Tommasini, Irish
Saints in Italy (1937), pp. 401--432. He was honoured also at
Seurre and
Auxerre in France (where he is called “St Cartault”) because some
portion of
his relics are said to have been brought there. On the obscure question
of the
date at which he lived, consult J. F. Kenney, The Sources
for the Early History of Ireland (1929), vol. i,
p. 185. There are no materials apparently
for the life of St Conlaed except casual allusions in Cogitosus’s
account of St
Brigid and other similar sources. See, however, Healy, Ireland’s
Ancient Schools and Scholars, pp. 112—118 Gougaud, Christianity
in Celtic Lands; and
Kenney, op. cit.
Conleth, Tassach of Elphin (Saint Patrick's craftsman), and Daigh
(craftsman of Kieran of Saigher were acclaimed the "three chief
artisans of Ireland" during their period. Conleth, who was the head of
the Kildare school of metal-work and penmanship, is traditionally
regarded as the sculptor of the crozier of Saint Finbar of Termon
Barry, which can now be seen in the Royal Irish Academy. He also
created the golden crown that was suspended over Brigid's tomb.
A gloss in an Irish martyrology says that he was devoured by wolves on
his way to Rome--a journey undertaken against the wishes of Brigid.
This could be an explanation of his name: coin "to wolves" and leth
"half" (Benedictines, Curtayne, D'Arcy, Farmer, Montague,
Neeson). |
6th v. Saint
Isidora,
Fool-for-Christ, struggled in the Tabenna monastery in Egypt during the
sixth century
Taking upon herself the feat of folly, she acted like one insane, and
did not eat food with the other sisters of the monastery. Many of them
regarded her with contempt, but Isidora bore all this with great
patience and meekness, blessing God for everything.
She worked in the kitchen and fulfilled the dirtiest, most difficult
tasks at the monastery, cleaning the monastery of every impurity.
Isidora covered her head with a plain rag, and instead of cooked food
she drank the dirty wash water from the pots and dishes. She never
became angry, never insulted anyone with a word, never grumbled against
God or the sisters, and was given to silence.
Once, a desert monk, St Pitirim, had a vision. An angel of God appeared
to him and said, "Go to the Tabenna monastery. There you will see a
sister wearing a rag on her head. She serves them all with love, and
endures their contempt without complaint. Her heart and her thoughts
rest always with God. You, on the other hand, sit in solitude, but your
thoughts flit about all over the world."
The Elder set out for the Tabenna monastery, but he did not see the one
indicated to him in the vision among the sisters. Then they led Isidora
to him, considering her a demoniac. Isidora fell down at the knees of
the Elder, asking his blessing. St Pitirim bowed down to the ground to
her and said, "Bless me first, venerable Mother!"
To the astonished questions of the sisters the Elder replied, "Before
God, Isidora is higher than all of us!" Then the sisters began to
repent, confessing their mistreatment of Isidora, and they asked her
forgiveness. The saint, however, distressed over her fame, secretly hid
herself away from the monastery, and her ultimate fate remained
unknown. It is believed that she died around the year 365.
|
601 St. Comgall Abbot
teacher of
St. Columbanus and monks who evangelized France & central Europe
He was born about 516 in Ylster, Ireland, and studied under St. Fintan
at Cluain Eidnech Monastery. After living under a harsh
rule as a hermit, Comgall founded a monastery in Bangor. He was abbot
for eight thousand monks. Comgall also accompanied St. Columba on a mission to
Inverness, Scotland, and founded a monastery at Heth. He died at
Bangor.
Saint Comgall (Comhghall), "the Father of Monks," was born in Ireland
at Dalaradia, Co. Ulster sometime between 510 and 520. Unlike many of
the early Irish saints, St Comgall was not of noble birth. He served as
a soldier, then studied with St Finnian of Moville (September 10). He
was ordained to the holy priesthood by Bishop Lugaid before the age of
forty.
St Comgall and several companions lived for a time on an island in
Lough Erne in the county of Ulster, where they lived a very strict
ascetical life. Although his desire was to be a missionary in Scotland,
Bishop Lugaid asked him to stay in Ireland and establish a monastery at
Bangor (Bennchor) on the southern shore of Belfast Loch (in modern Co.
Down). The monastery was founded sometime between 552-555.
It is believed that over four thousand monks were trained by St Comgall
at Bangor, including St Columbanus of Luxeuil (November 21, or 23) and
St Moluag (June 25). St Comgall often prayed while standing in the
water for several hours. Sometimes at night his cell seemed to be
ablaze with a heavenly radiance.
Later St Comgall did visit Scotland, where he became very close to St
Columba of Iona (June 9), by whose prayers Comgall was once saved from
drowning.
St Comgall lived to an advanced age, then suffered from a prolonged
illness. He completed the course of his earthly life at Bangor on May
10, 602, after receiving Holy Communion from St Fiacre (August
30).
|
7th v. St.
Cataldus Bishop of
Taranto an Irish churchman
Apud Taréntum sancti Catáldi Epíscopi,
miráculis clari. At Taranto, St.
Cataldus, a bishop renowned for miracles.
7th century, in southern Italy, an Irish
churchman. He
was born in
Munster, Ireland, and became a student and then headmaster of Lismore,
the monastic school in his home region. On his return from a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land, he was elected to the see of Taranto. He is patron of
Taranto.
Catald of Taranto B (RM) (also known as Cataldus, Cathaluds, Cattaldo,
Cathal) Born in Munster, Ireland, 7th century. Saint Cataldus was a
pupil, then the headmaster of the monastic school of Lismore in
Waterford after the death of its founder, Saint Carthage (Born at
Castlemaine,
Kerry, Ireland; died near Lismore, Ireland, on May 14, c. 637;) Upon
his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he was shipwrecked at
Taranto in southern Italy and chosen by the people as their bishop. He
is the titular of Taranto's cathedral and the principal patron of the
diocese. This epitaph if given under an image of Saint Catald in Rome:
Me tulit Hiberne,
Solyme traxere, Tarentum Nunc tenet: huic ritus,
dogmata, jura dedi.
Which has been loosely translated as: Hibernia gave me
birth: thence
wafted over, I sought the sacred
Solymean shore. To thee Tarentum, holy rites I gave, Precept divine;
and thou to me a grave.
It is odd that an Irishman, should be so honored throughout Italy,
Malta, and France, but have almost no recognition in his homeland. His
Irish origins were discovered only two or three centuries after his
death, when his relic were recovered during the renovation of the
cathedral of Taranto. A small golden cross, of 7th- or 8th- century
Irish workmanship, was with the relics. Further investigations
identified him with Cathal, the teacher of Lismore.
Veneration to Catald spread, especially in southern Italy, after the
May 10, 1017, translation of his relics when the cathedral was being
rebuilt following its destruction at the hands of Saracens in 927. Four
remarkable cures occurred as the relics were moved to the new
cathedral. When his coffin was open at that time, a pastoral staff of
Irish workmanship was found with the inscription Cathaldus Rachau.
There is a town of San Cataldo in Sicily and another on the southeast
coast of Italy (Benedictines, D'Arcy, Farmer, Husenbeth, Kenney,
Montague, Neeson, Tommasini).
Saint Catald is depicted in art as an early Christian bishop with a
miter and pallium in a 12th century mosaic at Palermo (Roeder). He is
the subject of a painting on the 8th pillar of the nave on the left in
the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem (D'Arcy, Montague). There are
also 12th-century mosaics in Palermo and Monreale depicting the saint
(Farmer). Catald is invoked against plagues, drought, and storms (Farmer).
|
880
St. Solange a
shepherdess Besides having a great power over animals, she was endowed
with the gift of healing and effected many cures
880 ST SOLANGIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
ST SOLANGIA (Solange), who is sometimes called the St Genevieve of
Berry, is also the patroness of that province of France. The child of
vine-dressers, poorly endowed with this world’s goods, she was born at
Villemont, near Bourges. She dedicated herself to God from early
childhood and took a vow of chastity at aft early age. Her occupation
was to mind her father’s sheep as they grazed on the pasturages. It is
said that she was attended by a guiding star which shone over her head
with special brilliancy as the hour of prayer approached. Besides
having a great power over animals, she was endowed with the gift of
healing and effected many cures. Reports of her beauty and sanctity
reached the ears of Bernard, one of the sons of the count of Poitiers,
and he came on horseback to make advances to her as she was alone with
her flock. When she resisted, he caught her up and set her in the
saddle before him, but she succeeded in slipping from his horse,
sustaining serious injury in her fall. The young man then despatched
her with his hunting-knife. According to the legend, the girl
afterwards arose and carried her head in her hands as far as the church
of Saint-Martin-du-Cros, in the cemetery of which an altar was erected
in her honour about the year 1281. A field near her home in which she
liked to pray received the name of “Le Champ de Sainte Solange.”
That St
Solangia has enjoyed much popular
veneration in Bourges and surrounding districts is made clear by the
number of
devotional brochures published about her. See, for example, the Vie de Sainte Solange, written by Joseph
Bernard de Montmélian, which has appeared in more than one
edition. There is an
account of this martyr in the Acta
Sanctorum, May, vol. ii, but the evidence there furnished is very
unsatisfactory. See Ombline P. de Ia Villéon, Sainte
Solange, protectrice du Berry (1948).
St. Solange, Born of a poor family of vineyard workers near
Bourges,
France, she became a shepherdess whose beauuuty attracted the lustful
attention of a noble in Poitiers. He kidnaped her, but when she leaped
from the horse on which he was carrying her off, he pursued and killed
her.
|
1096 A.M. St.
Philothaos Martyrdom of He was from the people of "Doronka" in the
province of Assuit
On this day also, St. Philothaos was martyred. He was from the people
of "Doronka" in the province of Assuit. He was tortured without denying
his faith and finally he received the crown of martyrdom in the year
1096 A.M.
|
1192 St. William of
Pontoise
English hermit
He resided at Pontoise, in France, having gone there to take up the
eremetical life. His hermitage became popular in the region. He may
have been a Benedictine at St. Martin's Abbey . |
1226
Blessed Beatrix d'Este
I Benedictine nun OSB V (AC)
Born in 1206; cultus confirmed in 1763. Beatrix was the daughter of the
Marchese Azzo d'Este, who died when she was six years old. At age 14
the orphan secretly left her home and, against the wishes of her
relatives, became a Benedictine nun at Solarola, near Padua. Shortly
afterwards she was transferred to Gemmola, where she died a victim of
loving self-immolation (Benedictines).
1226 BD BEATRICE OF ESTE, VIRGIN
THE childhood of Bd Beatrice of Este cannot have been a happy one. Her
mother died when she was an infant, her father, the Marquis Azzo of
Este, when she was six; and her elder brother, Aldobrandino, her
natural protector, was poisoned when she was ten. The charge of the
little girl devolved partly on her stepmother and partly on a paternal
aunt.
From the time of her father’s death Beatrice would only
wear the
simplest clothes, absolutely refusing to put on the adornments which
belonged to a girl of her rank. As she approached a marriageable age
her relations, desirous of extending the power of the great house of
Este, began to consider a suitable match for her, in spite of her
protestations that she wished to live the religious life. Despairing of
overcoming the opposition of her surviving brother, Beatrice secretly
left home and made her way to the Benedictine abbey of Solarola, where
she received the habit at the age of fourteen. A year and a half later,
she and ten other sisters were transferred to Gemmola, a quiet place
less exposed to warlike attacks and worldly interruptions. There
Beatrice spent the remainder of her short life, dying when she was in
her twentieth year. In 1578 her relics were translated to Padua, where
they are held in great veneration. Her cult was approved in 1763.
A life by a contemporary,
one Albert, a religious at Verona, was printed for the first time by G.
Brunacci in 1767. The narrative in the Acta Sanctorum is translated from
the Italian of Bishop Tomasini, who wrote in the middle of the
seventeenth century. See also P. Balan, La B. Beatrice d’ Este (1878).
|
1226 Saint
Simon,
Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal an author of the KIEV CAVES
PATERIKON
He became a monk at the
Monastery of the Caves, sometime in the second
half of the twelfth century. In the year 1206 he was appointed igumen
of the Vladimir Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos, and in
1214, at the wish of Prince George Vsevolodovich (+ 1238), he was made
the first bishop of Vladimir-on-the-Klyazma and Suzdal.
In 1218 he consecrated a church at the Nativity monastery,
and in the
year 1225, a cathedral church at Suzdal. The Great Prince deeply
respected St Simon and was prepared to establish a new bishop's See at
Suzdal for his friend, the monk Polycarp of the Kiev Caves monastery,
who sought after spiritual glory. St Simon, seeing that Polycarp was
not yet ready to assume such an office, talked the Great Prince out of
his idea, and he wrote a deeply moving letter to Polycarp, in which he
offered his friend advice on overcoming his spiritual shortcomings. St
Simon's own inner life, character, and virtue are also revealed in the
epistle.
St Simon was known as a learned teacher, and his epistle to
Polycarp
was placed at the beginning of the KIEV CAVES PATERIKON. On the eve of
his repose in 1226, the saint received the schema.
Initially his body was buried at Vladimir, but later, in
accordance
with the saint's last wishes, his body was transferred to the Kiev
Caves Lavra, where it rests in the Antoniev Caves.
|
 1459
Antoninus of
Florence great soul in a frail body, triumph of virtue over
vast and organized wickedness; cured a number of sick persons, for all
knew that he possessed the gift of miracles; miracles after death; body
found
uncorrupted in 1559 OP B (RM)
Sancti Antoníni, ex
Ordine Prædicatórum,
Epíscopi Florentíni et Confessóris, cujus dies
natális sexto Nonas mensis hujus recensétur.
St. Antoninus of the
Order of Preachers, confessor and archbishop
of Florence, whose birthday is the 2nd of May.
Born in Florence,
Italy, in 1389 (or 1384?); died there
on May 2, 1459;
canonized in 1523.
The story of Antonino Pierozzi is that of a great soul in a
frail body,
and of the triumph of virtue over vast and organized wickedness. His
father, Niccolo Pierozzi, had been a noted lawyer, notary to the
Republic of Florence. He and his wife Thomassina had their only child
baptized as Antonio, but because the saint was both small and gentle
people called him by the affectionate diminutive 'Antonino' all his
life.
1459 ST ANTONINUS, ARCHBISHOP OF FLORENCE
OF all the prelates who through many centuries have ruled the diocese
of Florence, no one has gained so great and lasting a hold upon the
loving veneration of the Florentines as St Antoninus. His father, a
citizen of good family, who was notary to the republic, was called
Nicholas Pierozzi, and he himself received in baptism the name of
Antony. The diminutive Antonino, which clung to him all his life, was
given him in childhood because of his small stature and gentle
disposition. A serious boy, much addicted to prayer, he loved to listen
to the sermons of Bd John Dominici, then prior of Santa Maria Novella,
and when he was fifteen he asked the friar to admit him to the
Dominican Order. The saintly John, judging him too weakly for the life,
tried to put him off by bidding him study for a time and learn the
Decretum Gratiani; but when, within a year, the lad returned, having
committed the whole of the treatise to memory, he was received without
further hesitation. He was the first postulant to take the habit in the
new priory at Fiesole, which Bd John Dominici had built. For the
novitiate Antonino was sent to Cortona, where he had as novice master
Bd Laurence of Ripafratta and as companions Bd Peter Capucci and the
future great artist Fra Angelico da Fiesole.
Antoninus early gave evidence of exceptional gifts as a
scholar and as
a leader. He was chosen when very young to govern the great convent of
the Minerva in Rome; and afterwards he was successively prior at
Naples, Gaeta, Cortona, Siena, Fiesole and Florence. As superior of the
reformed Tuscan and Neapolitan congregations, and also as prior
provincial of the whole Roman province, he zealously enforced the
measures initiated by Bd John Dominici with a view to restoring the
primitive rule. At Florence in 1436 he founded the famous convent of
San Marco in buildings taken over from the Silvestrines, but
practically rebuilt by him after designs by Michelozzi and decorated
with the frescoes of Fra Angelico.
The adjacent late thirteenth-century church was rebuilt
with great
magnificence by Cosimo de' Medici to serve the new Dominican house. In
addition to his official duties, St Antoninus preached often and wrote
works which made him famous among his contemporaries. He was consulted
from Rome and from all quarters, especially in intricate cases of canon
law. Pope Eugenius IV summoned him to attend the general Council of
Florence, and he assisted at all its sessions. He was occupied with
reforming houses in the province of Naples when he learnt to his dismay
that the pope had nominated him to be archbishop of Florence. In vain
did he plead incapacity, ill-health and advancing years; Eugenius was
inflexible and left him no freedom of choice. He was consecrated in
March 1446 amid the rejoicings of the citizens.
In his new capacity St Antoninus continued to practise all
the
observances of his rule, as far as his duties would permit. The most
rigid simplicity reigned where he resided: his household consisted of
six persons only; he had no plate or horses; even the one mule which
served the needs of the whole establishment was often sold to assist
the poor, but as often bought back by some well-to-do citizen and
restored to its charitable owner. He gave audience daily to all
corners, whilst declaring himself especially the protector of the poor,
at whose disposal he kept his purse and granaries. When these were
exhausted he gave away his furniture and his clothes. To assist the
needy who were ashamed to beg, he had established a sort of “S.V.P.”,
under the patronage of St Martin, which has been the means of
supporting thousands of families in reduced circumstances.
Although naturally gentle, the saint was firm and
courageous when
circumstances demanded it. He put down gambling in his diocese, was the
determined foe of both usury and magic, and reformed abuses of all
kinds. In addition to preaching nearly every Sunday and festival, he
visited his whole diocese once a year, always on foot. His reputation
for wisdom and integrity was such that he was unceasingly consulted by
those in authority, laymen as well as ecclesiastics; and his decisions
were so judicious that they won for him the title of “the Counsellor”.
When Pope Eugenius IV was dying he summoned Antoninus to Rome, received
from him the last sacraments and died in his arms. Nicholas V sought
his advice on matters of church and state, forbade any appeal to be
made to Rome from the archbishop’s judgements, and declared that
Antonino in his lifetime was as worthy of canonization as the dead
Bernardino (da Siena), whom he was about to raise to the altars. Pius
II nominated him to a commission charged with reforming the Roman
court. in no less esteem was he held by the Florentine government, who
charged him with important embassies on behalf of the republic and
would have sent him as their representative to the emperor if illness
had not prevented him from leaving Florence.
During a severe epidemic of plague which lasted over a
year, the
saintly archbishop laboured untiringly to assist the sufferers,
inspiring by his example the clergy to do the same, very many of the
friars of Santa Maria Novella, Fiesole and San Marco were carried off,
and as usual famine followed upon the heels of the epidemic. The saint
stripped himself of almost everything and obtained substantial relief
for the victims from Pope Nicholas V, who never refused him any
request.
For two or three years from 1453 Florence was shaken by
frequent earthquakes and a violent storm wrought havoc in one quarter
of the city. St Antoninus maintained the most distressed of the
victims, rebuilt their houses and gave them a fresh start. He also
cured a number of sick persons, for all knew that he possessed the gift
of miracles. Cosimo de’ Medici publicly asserted that the preservation
of the republic from the dangers which threatened it was largely due to
the merits and prayers of the holy archbishop. St Antoninus was
canonized in 1523.
In the Acta
Sanctorum, May, vol. i, there is printed a life of St Antoninus by
Francis
Castiglione, one of his household, together with a supplement by
Leonard de
Seruberti, and some extracts from the process of canonization. There
are a good
many other sources of information in the chronicles, correspondence,
diaries,
etc., of the period, few of which were accessible in the seventeenth
century.
By far the best attempt to utilize these materials is that made by the
Abbé
Raoul Morçay in his substantial work, Saint
Antonin (1914). This is a
very satisfactory biography,
embodying many details which were recorded by the archbishop’s
notary,
Baldovino Baldovini, in a memoir which has only come to light in recent
years.
A shorter account has been contributed to the series “Les Saints” by A.
Masseron (1926). See also the many references to St Antoninus in vol. i
of Pastor’s Geschichte der Päpste (vol. ii of
the
English translation) and also in Mortier’s Histoire
des Maîtres Généraux O.P. On the literary work
of the saint see DTC., vol.
i, cc. 1451—1453, and also J. B. Walker, The
Chronicles of St Antoninus (1933), who covers rather more ground
than
Schaube, the first and more scholarly explorer in this field. For a
fuller
bibliography dealing with the early literature see Taurisano, Catalogus Hagiographicus OP. St
Antoninus is important as a practical moralist, and in Social
Theories of the Middle Ages (1926) Fr Bede Jarrett throws light
on his moral and social teaching for the general reader; see also the
same
writer’s little book in Jack’s People’s Books series, Medieval
Socialism (1913), and his St Antonio and
Medieval
Economics (1914).
The world in which
he lived was engrossed in the Renaissance; it was a time of violent
political upheaval, of plague, wars, and injustice. The effects of the
Great Schism of the West, over which Saint
Catherine (Born in Siena, Italy, March 25, 1347, in Florence,
Italy; died there on April 29, 1380; canonized in 1461; declared a
Doctor of the Church in 1970) had wept and prayed a generation before,
were still tearing Christendom apart when Antoninus was born--in the
same year as Cosimo de'Medici. The fortunes of Florence were largely to
rest in the hands of these two men.
There are only a few known details about the early life of
Antoninus,
but they are revealing ones. He was a delicate and lovable child. His
stepmother, worried over his frailty, often gave him extra meat at
table. The little boy, determined to harden himself for the religious
life, would slip the meat under the table to the cats. Kids!
From the cradle his inclination was to piety. His only
pleasure was to
read the lives of saints and other good books, converse with pious
persons, or employ himself in prayer. Accordingly, if he was not at
home or at school, he was always to be found at Saint Michael's Church
before a crucifix or in our Lady's chapel there. He had a passion for
learning, but an even greater ardor to perfect himself in the science
of salvation. In prayer, he begged nothing of God but His grace to
avoid sin, and to do His holy will in all things.
Antoninus hitched his
wagon to the star of great austerity and, at 14,
discovered the answer to all his questions in the preaching of Blessed John Dominici(Born in
Florence, Italy, 1376 (or 1350?); died in Hungary 1419), who was then
the prior of Santa Maria Novella and later became cardinal-archbishop
of Ragusa and papal legate. Antoninus went to speak with the preacher
and begged to be admitted to the order.
At the time, Blessed John
was
reforming the Dominican priories of the area according to the wishes of
Blessed Raymond of Capua(Born
1330 at Capua, Italy as Raymond delle Vigne Died 5 Oct 1399 at
Nuremberg Germany of natural causes). John planned to build a new and
reformed house at Fiesole (near Florence), which he hoped to start
again with young and fervent subjects who would revivify the order. It
declined under the plague and effects of the schism. As yet, he had no
building in which to house the new recruits.
Even were the monastery completed, it was to be a house of
rigorous
observance, and Antoninus looked far too small and frail for such an
austere community. John Dominici, not wishing to quench the wick of
youthful eagerness, had not the heart to explain all this. He told
Antoninus to go home and memorize the large and forbidding book called Decretum
Gratiani, supposing that its very bulk would discourage the lad.
{It was about 1150 that the Camaldolese monk, Gratian, professor of theology at
the University of Bologna, to obviate the difficulties which beset the
study of practical, external theology (theologia practica externa), i.
e. canon law, composed the work entitled by himself "Concordia
discordantium canonum", but called by others "Nova collectio",
"Decreta",
"Corpus
juris canonici", also "Decretum
Gratiani", the latter being now the commonly accepted name.
In spite of its great reputation the "Decretum" has never
been
recognized by the Church as an official collection. It is divided into
three parts (ministeria, negotia, sacramenta).
The first part is divided into 101 distinctions
(distinctiones), the
first 20 of which form an introduction to the general principles of
canon Law (tractatus decretalium); the remainder constitutes a
tractatus ordinandorum, relative to ecclesiastical persons and
function.
The second part contains 36 causes (causœ), divided into
questions
(quœstiones), and treat of ecclesiastical administration and marriage;
the third question of the 33rd causa treats of the Sacrament of Penance
and is divided into 7 distinctions.
The third part, entitled
"De consecratione", treats of the sacraments
and other sacred things and contains 5 distinctions. Each distinction
or question contains dicta Gratiani, or maxims of Gratian, and canones.
Gratian himself raises questions and brings forward difficulties, which
he answers by quoting auctoritates, i. e. canons of councils, decretals
of the popes, texts of the Scripture or of the Fathers. These are the
canones; the entire remaining portion, even the summaries of the canons
and the chronological indications, are called the maxims or dicta
Gratiani. It is to be noted that many auctoritates have been inserted
in the "Decretum" by authors of a later date. These are the Paleœ, so
called from Paucapalea, the name of the principal commentator on the
"Decretum". The Roman revisers of the sixteenth century (1566-82)
corrected the text of the "Decree" and added many critical notes
designated by the words Correctores Romani.}
Antoninus, however, was possessed of an iron will. He went
home and
began to read the book straight through. By the end of the year, he had
finished the nearly impossible task set before him, and returned to
Blessed John to recite it as requested. There was now no further way to
delay his reception into the order, so he was received into the
Dominican Order "for the future priory of Fiesole" in 1405 by Blessed
John.
Due to the unsettled state of the Church, the order, and
Italian
politics, the training of the young aspirants was conducted at several
different locations, including Cortona, and, for a time, the regular
course of studies could not be pursued. Antoninus, nothing daunted,
studied by himself. He was happily associated during these years with
several future Dominican saints and beati, including Lawrence of
Ripafratta, the novice master; Blessed
Constantius of Fabriano(Born
in Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy, 1410; died at Ascoli, Italy,
1481;); Peter Capucci(Born at Città di Castello (the ancient
Tifernum), in 1390; died 1445;) and his great friend, the artist, Saint Fra Angelico (Born in Mugello
near Florence, Italy, in 1386 or 1387; died in Rome, Italy, in 1455).
Ordained and set to preaching, Antoninus soon won his place
in the
hearts of the Florentines. Each time he said Mass, he was moved to
tears by the mercy of God, and his own devotion moved other hearts. He
was given consecutively several positions in the order. While still
very young, he was made prior of the Minerva in Rome (1430). He served
the friars in various priories in Italy (including Cortona, Fiesole
(1418-28), Naples, Gaeta, Siena, and Florence). As superior of the
reformed Tuscan and Neapolitan congregations, and also as prior
provincial of the whole Roman province, Antoninus zealously enforced
the reforms initiated by John Dominici with a view to restoring the
primitive rule. Antoninus became a distinguished master of canon law
and assisted popes at their councils. There is evidence that at some
point he served as a judge on the Rota. Pope Eugenius IV summoned him
to attend the general Council of Florence (1439), and he assisted at
all its sessions.
In 1436, he founded the
famous priory of San Marco in Florence with the
financial aid of Cosimo de'Medici in buildings abandoned by the
Silvestrines. Under his guidance and encouragement, the San Marco's
monastery became the center of Christian art. He called upon his old
companion, Saint Fra Angelico,
and on the miniaturist, Fra Benedetto (Angelico's natural brother), to
do the frescoes and the choir books which are still preserved there. He
also ensured that an outstanding library was collected.
Antoninus is still remembered today in the exquisite
'Cloister of Saint
Antoninus' with its wide arches and beautiful ionic capitals, designed
in the saint's lifetime by Michelozzo for San Marco. In the lunettes of
the cloister Bernardino Poccetti and others painted scenes from
Antoninus's life. (When Giambologna restored and altered the church of
San Marco in 1588, he built for the saint's body a superb chapel.)
To his horror, Antoninus's wisdom and pastoral zeal made him
a natural
choice by Pope Eugenius IV
for archbishop of Florence in 1446. Although Tabor reports that the
pope had first chosen Fra Angelico, whose purity and wisdom had become
known when he was painting in Rome. The artist entreated the holy
father to choose Fra Antoninus instead, who had done great service by
his unworldliness and gentle but irresistible power.
Antoninus's appointment as bishop was a genuine heartbreak
to a scholar
who could never find enough time to study; in fact, he had been in
Naples for two years reforming the houses of the province when he
received word of the nomination and confirmation by the Florentines.
For a time he tried to escape accepting the dignity by hiding himself
on the island of Sardinia. That did not work. So he tried begging the
holy father to excuse him because of his weak physical constitution.
The pope would accept no excuses; he commanded Antoninus to proceed
immediately to Fiesole under the pain of excommunication for
disobedience.
While he obeyed with trepidation, it was a blessing for the
people of
Florence that he was consecrated bishop in March 1446; they were not
slow in demonstrating their appreciation of their good fortune. He was
the 'people's prelate' and the 'protector of the poor' for he
discharged his office with inflexible justice and overflowing charity.
His love extended to the rich, too. The next year, the dying Pope Eugenius summoned
Antoninus to Rome in order to receive the last sacraments from the holy
bishop before dying in his arms on February 23, 1447.
For the remainder of his life, Antoninus combined an amazing
amount of
active work with constant prayer. He allowed himself very little sleep.
In addition to the church office, he recited daily the office of our
Lady, and the seven penitential psalms; the office of the dead twice a
week; and the whole psalter
on every festival. His prayer life allowed him to exhibit
an exterior of serenity regardless of the situation.
Francis Castillo, his secretary, once said to him, bishops
were to be
pitied if they were to be eternally besieged with hurry as he was. The
saint made him this answer, which the author of his vita wished to see
written in letters of gold:
"To enjoy interior peace,
we must always reserve in our hearts amidst
all affairs, as it were, a secret closet, where we are to keep retired
within ourselves, and where no business of the world can over enter."
Because of his reputation
for wisdom and ability, Antoninus was often
called upon to help in public affairs civil & ecclesiastical. Pope Nicholas V sought his
advice on matters of church and state, forbade any appeal to be made to
Rome from the archbishop's judgements, and declared that Antonino in
his lifetime was as worthy of canonization as the dead Bernardino of Siena(Born in Massa
Marittima (near Siena), Tuscany, Italy, on September 8, 1380; died in
Aquila, Italy, May 20, 1444;), whom he was about to raise to the
altars.
Pius II
nominated him to a commission charged with reforming the Roman court.
The Florentine government gave him important embassies on behalf of the
republic and would have sent him as their representative to the emperor
if illness had not prevented him from leaving Florence. Yet he also
busied himself with the beauty of the chant, and personally attended
the Divine Office at his cathedral.
A distinguished writer on international law and moral
theology, his
best known work is Summa moralis, which is generally thought to have
laid the groundwork for modern moral theology. He was conscious of the
new problems presented by social and economic development, and taught
that the state had a duty to intervene in mercantile affairs for the
common good, and to give help to the unfortunate and needy. He was
among the first Christian moralists to teach that money invested in
commerce and industry was true capital; therefore, it was lawful and
not usury to claim interest on it (combine this information with the
fact that he was a staunch opponent of usury). All his many books were
of a practical nature, including guidance for confessors (Summa
confessionis) and a chronicle of the history of the world.
His first concern, however, was always for the people of his
diocese,
to whom he set an example of simple living and inflexible integrity. He
preached regularly, made a yearly visitation of all the parishes in the
diocese on foot, put down gambling, opposed both usury and magic,
reformed abuses of all kinds, and served as the example of Christian
charity. Each day he held an audience for anyone who wished to speak
with him. No one appealed for his help, material or spiritual, in vain.
Antoninus was probably best known for his kindness to the
poor, and
there were many in the rich city of Florence. He pulled up his own
flower garden and planted vegetables for the poor. He drove his
housekeeper to distraction by giving away even his own tableware, food,
clothing, and furniture. He never possessed any small precious objects,
such as plates or jewels. His stable generally housed one mule, which
he often sold to relieve some poor person. When that happened, some
wealthy citizen would buy the animal and offer it as a present to the
charitable archbishop. He kept in personal contact with the poor of the
city, particularly with those who had fallen from wealth and were
ashamed to beg. For their care he founded a society called the "Goodmen
of Saint Martin of Tours," who went about quietly doing much-needed
charitable work--much in the fashion of our modern Society of Saint
Vincent de Paul. His particular establishment now provides for about
600 families.
His charity did not end with the poor, but also extended to
his
enemies. A criminal, named Ciardi, who was called before the bishop to
answer accusations, attempted to assassinate the archbishop. The saint
narrowly escaped the thrust of his poniard, which pierced the back of
his chair. Yet Antoninus freely forgave the potential assassin and
prayed for his conversion. God answered his prayers so that he had the
comfort of seeing Ciardi become a sincere Franciscan penitent.
When the plague again came
to Florence in 1448, it was the saintly
archbishop who took the lead in almsgiving and care of the sick. Many
Dominicans died of the plague as they went about their priestly duties
in the stricken city; sad but undaunted, Antoninus continued to go
about on foot among the people, giving both material and spiritual aid.
During the earthquakes of 1453-1455, he was similarly self-giving. The
example of his own charity led many rich persons to likewise provide
for the afflicted.
Antoninus's was a role
model in other ways, too. When he learned that
two blind beggars had amassed a fortune, he took the money from them
and distributed it to others in dire necessity. Was this an injustice?
No, he provided for all the needs of the two for the rest of their
lives. The bishop tried to hide his virtue from others and himself,
until he would see reflections of them in his flock. By accident he
discovered one such flame that he had sparked in a poor, obscure
handicraftsman who continually practiced penance. The man spent Sundays
and holidays in the churches, secretly distributed to the poor all he
earned beyond that needed for subsistence, and kept a poor leper in his
home, joyfully serving the ungrateful beggar and dressing his ulcers
with his own hands. The leper, increasingly morose and imperious,
carried complaints against his benefactor to the archbishop, who,
discovering this hidden treasure of sanctity in the handicraftsman,
secretly honored it, while he punished the insolence of the leper.
Cosimo de'Medici, who did'n always have compliments for
Dominicans,
admitted frankly, "Our city has experienced all sorts of misfortunes:
fire, earthquake, drought, plague, seditions, plots. I believe it would
today be nothing but a mass of ruins without the prayers of our holy
archbishop."
After 13 years as bishop, Antoninus died surrounded by his
religious
brothers from San Marco and mourned by the whole city. His whole life
was mirrored in his last words, "to serve God is to reign." Pope Pius II assisted at
his funeral, when he was buried in San Marco's church. Pius eulogized
Antoninus as one who "conquered avarice and pride, was outstandingly
temperate in every way, was a brilliant theologian, and popular
preacher."
His hairshirt and other relics were the vehicle for many
miracles. It
is significant that the canonization of Saint Antoninus was decreed by
the short-lived Pope Adrian
VI (August 31, 1522, to September 14, 1523), whose ideas for
church reform were radical and drastic. His body was found uncorrupted
in 1559, when it was translated with pomp and solemnity into a chapel
richly adorned by the two brothers Salviati (Attwater, Benedictines,
Bentley, Dominicans, Dorcy, Farmer, Husenbeth, Jarrett, Tabor, Walsh).
Antonius of Florence is generally portrayed in art as a
Dominican
bishop with scales. He might be shown (1) weighing false merchandise
against the word of God; (2) as a Dominican with a pallium; (3) as a
young man giving alms; (4) drifting down a river in a boat; or (5)
holding a book in a bag (Roeder). The likeness of the archbishop was
recorded by contemporary artists, as in the bust at Santa Maria Novella
and a statue at the nearby Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Antonio del
Pollaiuolo's painting of him at the foot of the Cross survives at San
Marco, as does a series of scenes from his life in its cloister of San
Antonino (Farmer) and a portrait by Fra Bartolomeo (Tabor).
|
1569 St. John of
Avila The
Apostle of Andalusia spiritual advisor of St. Teresa St. Francis Borgia
St. John of the Cross St. Peter of Alcantara and others
1569 BD JOHN OF AVILA
AMONGST the great religious
leaders of sixteenth-century Spain, one of
the most influential and most eloquent was Bd John of Avila, the friend
of St Ignatius Loyola and the spiritual adviser of St Teresa, St John
of God, St Francis Borgia, St Peter of Alcantara and of Louis of
Granada, who became his biographer.
He was born in New Castile at Almodovar-del-Campo of wealthy
parents,
who sent him at the age of fourteen to Salamanca University to prepare
to take up law. This career, however, had no attraction for the boy and
he returned home, where for three years he gave himself up to
devotional exercises and austerities. Then, at the suggestion of a
Franciscan who was greatly impressed by his piety, he went to
Alcalà to study philosophy and theology. There he had as his
master the celebrated Dominic Soto; there also he laid the foundation
of a life-long friendship with Peter Guerrero, afterwards archbishop of
Granada. His parents died while he was still at Alcalà, leaving
him their sole heir, but no sooner had he been ordained priest than he
distributed the proceeds of his inheritance to the poor. From the
moment he began to preach it was clear that he possessed extraordinary
oratorical powers, and when he expressed a desire to go as a missionary
to Mexico, the archbishop of Seville bade him remain in Spain and
evangelize his fellow countrymen. Appointed missioner for Andalusia, he
laboured indefatigably for nine years in this great province. Rich and
poor, young and old, learned and unlearned, saints and sinners—all
flocked to hear him. Countless souls were brought by him to penance and
amendment of life, whilst many were led into the path of perfection
under his direction. When he preached, he spoke like one inspired and,
indeed, the only preparation he ever made for his sermons was his daily
meditation of four hours. To a young priest who asked him how to become
a good preacher, he replied that the only way he knew was to love God
very much.
By his fearless denunciation of vice in high
places, he made for
himself some bitter enemies who actually succeeded in obtaining his
imprisonment by the Inquisition at Seville on a charge of preaching
rigorism and the exclusion of the rich from the kingdom of Heaven. The
accusation could not be substantiated, and his first public appearance
after his release was made the occasion for an extraordinary popular
ovation. When his time in Andalusia was completed, Bd John devoted
himself to giving what were practically missions, in all parts of Spain
but especially in the cities. Moreover, he kept up a vast
correspondence with his spiritual children and other persons who
desired his advice. For the last seventeen years of his life he was in
constant pain which he bore with unflinching patience. Of his writings
the most celebrated are a collection of his letters and a treatise
entitled Audi Filia, which he drew up for Doña Sancha Carillo, a
rich and beautiful young woman who under his direction had given up
great worldly prospects at court to lead a life of prayer and solitude
under her father’s roof.
Ever since his beatification in 1894 the Society of
Jesus has kept John
of Avila’s feast almost as that of one of her own members, and indeed,
as Don Vincente Garcia shows, Bd John had fully determined at the age
of fifty-nine to enter the Society, but was deterred by the rigorism
and rather extravagant attitude of Father Bustamente, the then
provincial of Andalusia. His devotion to the order and its founder,
however, did not in any way slacken. He was attended by a Jesuit in his
last hours and left his body to be buried in their church at Montilla.
Our best
sources of information are the summarium de virtutibus in
the process
of beatification, the writings of Bd John himself and the sketch
of his life
written by his friend and contemporary, Louis de Granada. His writings
may most
conveniently be consulted in the bulky work—there are 2199 pages—Obras del B. Maestro Juan de Avila, published
at Madrid in 1927. His spiritual letters are one of the classics of
Spanish
literature and were reprinted in the series of Classicos
Castellanos in 1912. The preface of this volume, by Don
V. Garcia de Diego, is also a valuable contribution, especially from
the point
of view of chronology, to the biography of this master of the spiritual
life.
His life by Father degli Oddi, has been translated into English (1898).
A more
recent life, by Father J. M. de Buck, appeared at Louvain in 1927 and a
small
collection of his letters was translated by the Benedictine nuns of
Stanbrook
and published in 1904, with a preface by Cardinal Gasquet. Bd John’s
gifts as a
preacher cannot fairly be judged by his extant sermons, which for the
most part
are merely imperfect reports taken down by his auditors.
He was born on January 6, 1499, at Almodovar del Campo,
Spain. After
studying law at the University of Salamanca, he left the university to
be a hermit. He then went to Alcala, where he was ordained. John drew
great crowds with his fiery denunciations of evil and his many sermons.
A brief imprisonment by the Inquisition in Seville made him even more
popular. His missionary efforts were centered on Andalusia, and his
letters and other writings have become Spanish classics. John was
canonized in 1970.
|
1602 Vasilii
(Basil),
Mangazeia the Holy Martyr Wonderworker, -- was the first saint
glorified in the Siberian land
He accepted a martyr's death on 4 April 1602, and from the
mid-XVII
Century he is deeply venerated for manifold manifestations of grace in
help of infirmities, in sorrow and in desperate straits.
Blessed Vasilii was the son of a not-rich inhabitant of
Yaroslavl',
Feodor by name, and was taken by a certain rich Yaroslavl' merchant to
a place for the selling of his wares in sub-polar Mangazeia -- one of
the first Russian cities in Siberia.
Vasilii strictly fulfilled the Christian commandments. From
his early
years his integrity was obvious to all. Meekness and humility were his
finery, and his heart was filled with faith in God and by piety. Love
for prayer impelled him during time of Divine-services to leave off
with mundane concerns and to go to the holy church.
The devout youth just barely turned age 19, when the
All-Supreme,
"looking out for his virtue, did intend to summon him to eternal
blessedness, the which to attain from this temporal life is impossible
otherwise, than by the narrow and afflicted path of an external
testing".
As the Church tradition testifies, one time, when Blessed
Vasilii was
at prayer in church during the Paschal matins, thieves plundered the
wares of his master. An explanation was demanded of Vasilii. Despite
the many shouts of his master, Righteous Vasilii remained in church
until the end of the Divine-services. His money-loving master, at the
instigation of the devil, suspected Vasilii of being an accomplice in
the crime and upon his return from the church he was subjected to
insults and beatings. The guiltless youth answered his tormentor: "I
have in truth taken none of thine goods". Then the master led Vasilii
off to the city military-commander, who subjected the sufferer to new
cruel torments. The merchant, enraged at the patient silence of
Vasilii, in anger struck him with a ring of ware-house keys, and from
this blow Blessed Vasilii died.
The body of the innocent martyr was put in a grave and
without
Christian burial was committed to the earth, "where it is duly moist
from water". But the All-Mighty Lord after the passage of 47 years
willed for it to appear from the bosom of the earth and to be glorified
by many miracles.
Saint Vasilii many a time helped lost and danger-threatened
travelers
and fur-hunters; he healed palsy, blindness, and various other
maladies; through the prayers of mothers he healed children, and
preserved the despondent from suicide. There have been preserved copies
of the Life of Saint Vasilii (XVII-XIX Cent.) that testify about the
abundant manifestations of grace through prayers to the Mangazeia
wonderworker.
In 1659 with the blessing of the Tobolsk metropolitan,
Simeon, there
was made an inspection of the relics of the saint, and from that time
there began to spread veneration of him as one truly God-pleasing. In
1670 with the construction of the Turokhansk monastery of the Holy
Trinity, priestmonk Tikhon transferred the relics of Righteous Vasilii
into the monastery founded by him. In 1719 this monastery was visited
by the great Siberian missionary -- the Tobolsk metropolitan, Philothei
(Leschinsky), and he venerated the relics of the saint and compiled a
canon to him. Towards the end of the first third of the XVIII Century
there were compiled three services and several discourses on the day of
memory of Righteous Vasilii.
The veneration of the God-pleasing saint contributed not a
little to
the conversion from paganism to Orthodoxy of the Tungus, Evenki and
Yurak peoples. The peoples of the North turn to Saint Vasilii as a
patron saint for the fur-hunter tradesmen.
One of the first icons of
Saint Vasilii was written by a novice of the
Tobolsk metropolitan Pavel -- the painter Luke, on the occasion of his
miraculous deliverance from death. On the holy icons Saint Vasilii is
depicted "with a boyish face, and small of stature", "in image of
reverence, eyes having a sparkle, gazing intently, and the hair of his
head dark blond". On several of the icons of the saint the Trinity
Turukhansk monastery is depicted, and over it on a mount is Vasilii
praying -- in but a shirt and without footwear. Sometimes also on the
icons was depicted the suffering of the saint at the hands of the
merchant and military-commander. Depictions of Saint Vasilii of
Mangazeia are known of at the Vladimir cathedral in Kiev, at Novgorod,
and at Moscow.
One of the first days of memory of the saint was on 22
March, when Holy
Church remembers a saint of same name with him -- the PriestMartyr
Basil of Ancyra. Afterwards, at the Turukhansk Trinity monastery his
memory began to be celebrated on 10 May, in honour of remembrance of
the transfer of his relics from Mangazeia to Turukhan. An earlier
commemoration of Righteous Vasilii of Manganzeia was done under 6 June,
on the day of appearance of his relics.
|
1857 St. Peter Van
native catechist Vietnamese martyr
He was arrested by authorities and beheaded. Pope John Paul II
canonized him in 1988. |
 1889
Blessed Damien of Molokai Joseph de Veuster he took the name of a
fourth-century physician and martyr caring for the leper people's
physical, medical and spiritual needs
(1840-1889)
When Joseph de Veuster was born in Tremelo, Belgium, in 1840, few
people in Europe had any firsthand knowledge of leprosy (Hansen's
disease). By the time he died at the age of 49, people all over the
world knew about this disease because of him. They knew that human
compassion could soften the ravages of this disease.
Forced to quit school at age 13 to work on the family farm, six years
later Joseph entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and
Mary, taking the name of a fourth-century physician and martyr. When
his brother Pamphile, a priest in the same congregation, fell ill and
was unable to go to the Hawaiian Islands as assigned, Damien quickly
volunteered in his place. In May 1864, two months after arriving in his
new mission, Damien was ordained a priest in Honolulu and assigned to
the island of Hawaii. In 1873, he went to the Hawaiian
government's leper colony on the island of Molokai, set up seven years
earlier. Part of a team of four chaplains taking that assignment for
three months each year, Damien soon volunteered to remain permanently,
caring for the people's physical, medical and spiritual needs. In time,
he became their most effective advocate to obtain promised government
support.
Soon the settlement had new houses and a new church, school and
orphanage. Morale improved considerably. A few years later he succeeded
in getting the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, led by Mother Marianne
Kope, to help staff this colony in Kalaupapa.
Damien contracted Hansen's disease and died of its complications. As
requested, he was buried in Kalaupapa, but in 1936 the Belgian
government succeeded in having his body moved to Belgium. Part of
Damien's body was returned to his beloved Hawaiian brothers and sisters
after his beatification in 1995.
When Hawaii became a state in 1959, it selected Damien as one of its
two representatives in the Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol.
Comment: Some
people thought Damien was a hero for going to
Molokai and others thought he was crazy. When a Protestant clergyman
wrote that Damien was guilty of immoral behavior, Robert Louis
Stevenson vigorously defended him in an "Open Letter to Dr. Hyde."
Quote: During
the beatification homily, Pope John Paul II
said: "Holiness is not perfection according to human criteria; it is
not reserved for a small number of exceptional persons. It is for
everyone; it is the Lord who brings us to holiness, when we are willing
to collaborate in the salvation of the world for the glory of God,
despite our sin and our sometimes rebellious temperament ."
A Miracle for the Apostle
of the Lepers
Cure Leads to Father Damien's Canonization on Sunday
By Carmen Elena Villa
HONOLULU, Hawaii, OCT. 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- "No one has survived
this cancer. This illness will take you," said Doctor Walter Chang to
Audrey Toguchi in 1997 since, scientifically, there was nothing that
could be done for her. But Toguchi didn't die from
her cancer and her cure turned out to be the decisive miracle for the
canonization of Father Damien de Veuster. Father Damien will be
canonized this Sunday during a Mass celebrated by Benedict XVI in St.
Peter's Square.
Father Damien, also known as the apostle of the lepers, was born in
Belgium in 1840. At 33 he went to the island of Molokai, Hawaii, where
lepers were sent and lived in isolation. Depriving himself of
everything, the priest stayed there serving, catechizing and
administering the sacraments to those who had contracted this disease.
He himself contracted it
and died in 1899. Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1995.
Terminal cancer
In 1996, Audrey Toguchi, native of the Island of Oahu in Hawaii, was
69. "I had no idea I had cancer," she told ZENIT.
"My husband noticed I had a lump after a fall -- I had slipped
some days earlier while cleaning the floor of my house. The family
doctor said it was a bruise." The following year, the bruise had
not disappeared, but had grown. After additional exams, a tumor was
found in her left thigh. It was malignant cancer. She underwent
surgery a year later, but the cancer had already spread. "It was the
surgeon who discovered on removing it that it was a very rare and
aggressive terminal cancer," she explained.
"Other oncologists who studied the case said that nowhere in the world
was it recorded that a person survived this type of sickness," Toguchi
continued.
After another examination in September of 1998, the X-rays showed that
the cancer had metastasized in her lungs. The doctors gave her three
months to live. Toguchi relates that she felt weak. She did not
want any more chemotherapy or medical interventions. But she took up a
devotion she had practiced from her childhood, as a good Hawaiian: "I
have always loved Father Damien," Toguchi explained.
"I have prayed to him all
my life. That is why I visited Kalawao (where his tomb is located),
Molokai and our churches over many years," she said.
No doubt
In November of 1998, Toguchi began to feel much improved. Medical
examinations revealed that the cancer was receding. Six months later,
X-rays showed a complete regression of the metastasis, though she had
had no therapy. The cancer disappeared entirely. While for her
doctors, there is no explanation -- her own doctor, who is not a
Catholic, affirms this -- for Toguchi there is no doubt that it was the
hand of Damien from heaven, interceding before God. Many prayers were
said for years, both by her and her relatives, to this blessed
apostle.
"When I was completely cured by the Lord's love and Father Damien's
intercession, I felt very honored and grateful," she said.
On Oct. 18, 2007, medical experts from the Congregation for Saints'
Causes examined the clinical documents. As is always the case for a
canonization, believers and non-believers concluded with moral
certitude that the cure was not only exceptional but
"extra-natural."
Then, the Commission of Theologians determined that it was a miracle,
obtained by Father Damien's intercession -- an indispensable requisite
to receive the title of saint.
Ordinary
Toguchi spoke about how Father Damien's witness still makes an
impression in her village. "He left Belgium when he was very young. He
was the pastor of Hawaiians of all religions, because we are all
children of God. He learned and respected Hawaiian culture. His person
is much venerated among us. Now, after 120 years, he is still much
loved here."
Toguchi today is 82. With white hair and glasses, her face and voice
are serene; she is full of vitality. She affirmed that she would
certainly be traveling to Rome for the canonization. She ended
her conversation with ZENIT saying that "in 1860, President Lincoln
said that God loves ordinary people because he became one of them."
"I am a very ordinary person," Toguchi said. "In his compassionate
mercy God cured me, and Father Damien, who showed great love for the
most rejected of humanity, interceded for me."
|
Saints of this Day May 10 Sexto Idus Maji 
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.
Quote: Pope
Paul
VI’s 1969 Instruction
on the Contemplative Life includes this passage: 
Benedict
XVI receives Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion n September 18th, Pope
Benedict XVI; Archbishop Hilarion, president of the Department
for
External Church Affairs of the Patriarchate of Moscow.
Benedict XVI
met with Aram I Catholicos of Cilicia,
the highest authority of the Orthodox Church. The
Pope remembered the martyrs of the Armenian Church and the Armenian
genocide, without explicitly mentioning it, and denounced the
persecution of Christians in modern times. Benedict
XVI
Christian
council
held at Edessa early as 197
(Eusebius,
Hist.
Eccl., V,xxiii). 
Meeting of the
Saints walis (saints of Allah)
To
Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal
Donation by mail,
please send check or money order to:
Colombia was among the
countries Mother
Angelica visited. 
Monsignor
Reardon Protonotarius
Apostolicus 
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.
