101 Hieromartyr Clement,
Pope of Rome Alexandria St Clement meets holy Apostle Barnabas baptized by
the holy Apostle Peter
born at Rome into a rich and
illustrious family. Separated from his parents from childhood by force of
circumstances, Clement was raised by strangers. Living in Rome, the youth
received a fine education, he was surrounded by luxury, and had access to
the imperial court. But these comforts brought him no joy, and pagan wisdom
failed to attract him. He began to ponder the meaning of life.
When the news of Christ and His teaching began to reach the
capital, St Clement left his home and estate and went to the lands where
the Apostles were preaching. At Alexandria St Clement met the holy Apostle
Barnabas, listening to his words with deep attention, and perceiving the
power and truth of the Word of God. Arriving in Palestine, St Clement was
baptized by the holy Apostle Peter and became his zealous disciple and constant
companion, sharing his toil and sufferings with him. Shortly before his own
sufferings and death, St Peter consecrated St Clement as Bishop of Rome.
After the death of the Apostle Peter, St Linus (67-79) was the next Bishop
of Rome, succeeded by St Anacletus (79-91), and then St Clement (92-101).
The virtuous life, charitable works and prayerful activity
of St Clement converted many to Christ. He once baptized 424 people on the
day of Pascha. Among the baptized were people of all social classes: slaves,
officials, and even members of the imperial family.
The pagans, seeing the success
of his apostolic preaching, denounced St Clement to the emperor Trajan (98-117),
accusing the saint of insulting the pagan gods. The emperor banished St Clement
from the capital, sending him to the Crimea, to work at a stone quarry near
the city of Cherson. Many of the saint's disciples followed after him voluntarily,
preferring to go into exile rather than live without their spiritual Father.
When he arrived at the place of exile, St Clement found many
Christian believers there, sentenced to labor under harsh conditions amidst
a scarcity of water. He prayed together with the condemned, and the Lord
appeared to him in the form of a lamb and revealed the location of a spring,
from which gushed forth a veritable river of water. This miracle attracted
a multitude of people to St Clement. Hearing the zealous preacher, hundreds
of pagans were converted to Christ. Each day 500 or more men were baptized.
And there in the stone quarry, a church was built, in which he served as
priest.
The apostolic activity of the saint aroused the wrath of the
emperor Trajan, and he ordered that St Clement be drowned. They threw the
martyr into the sea with an anchor tied to his neck. This occurred in the
year 101.
The saint's faithful disciples Cornelius and Fibius asked
the people to pray that the Lord would permit them to see the martyr's body.
The sea drew back a distance of three miles from the shore and the people
walked out on the seabed until they found a marble cave shaped like a church.
There they found the incorrupt body of their archpastor in this "Angelic Church"
formed by God. After this, each year on the anniversary of St Clement's martyric
death the sea receded, and for seven days Christians were able to venerate
his holy relics.
During the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus (802-811),
by divine providence, the sea failed to withdraw, and the relics of St Clement
became inaccessible for fifty years. In the time of the emperor Michael and
his mother Theodora (855-867), Sts Cyril and Methodius visited Cherson. When
they learned of the concealed relics of St Clement, they asked Bishop George
of Cherson to pray that the Lord would show them the relics of the hieromartyr.
Sts Cyril and Methodius walked along the shore in procession
with the clergy who came with them from Constantinople. Through the fervent
prayers of everyone gathered there, the holy relics of St Clement miraculously
appeared on the surface of the sea at midnight. They solemnly took them
to the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople. A portion of the relics
were then brought to Rome by Sts Cyril and Methodius, but a large portion
of the relics was later brought to Kiev by the holy Prince Vladimir (July
15) and placed in the Desyatin-Tithe church, together with the relics of
St Fibius, where a chapel dedicated to St Clement had been built. The hieromartyr
Clement is widely venerated in Russia. From ancient times, many churches
have been dedicated to him.
St Clement, who belongs to the
Apostolic Fathers, has left to us a spiritual legacy (two Epistles to the
Corinthians) the first written examples of Christian teaching after the writings
of the holy Apostles.
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251 ST MOSES, MARTYR; a priest at Rome and leader of
a group of clergy who, according to St Cyprian, were the first confessors
in the Decian persecution. They exchanged letters of encouragement with St
Cyprian and the clergy of Carthage, and withdrew themselves from communion
with Novatian, the danger of whose rigorism St Moses perceived
Romæ sancti Móysis, Presbyteris
et Mártyris; quem, cum áliis deténtum in cárcere,
sanctus Cypriánus per lítteras sæpe est consolátus.
Ipse autem Móyses, cum non tantum advérsus Gentíles,
sed étiam advérsus schismáticos et hæréticos
Novatiános infrácto ánimo stetísset, demum
(ut sanctus Cornélius Papa testátur), in persecutióne
Décii, exímio et admirábili martyrio decorátus
est.
251 ST MOSES,
MARTYR; a priest at Rome and leader of a group of clergy
who, according to St Cyprian, were the first confessors in the Decian persecution.
They exchanged letters of encouragement with St Cyprian and the clergy
of Carthage, and withdrew themselves from communion with Novatian, the
danger whose rigorism St Moses perceived.
Moses, perhaps of Jewish origin,
was a priest at Rome and leader of a group of clergy who, according to St
Cyprian, were the first confessors in the Decian persecution. They exchanged
letters of encouragement with St Cyprian and the clergy of Carthage, and
withdrew themselves from communion with Novatian, the danger of whose rigorism
St Moses perceived. After he had been in prison with his companions for eleven
months and eleven days, that is to say, about January 1, 251 Moses died and
was accounted a martyr: made illustrious, says the Roman Martyrology, by
an excellent and wonderful martyrdom after he had stood with undaunted spirit
as well against schismatics and Novatianist heretics as against the heathen.
It is from
the letters of St Cyprian that our information is principally derived, but
we also find Moses spoken of in Eusebius, bk vi, ch. 43, n. 20, and in the
Liber Pontificalis (ed. Duchesne), vol. i, pp. 148
and 150. The question is discussed by Tillemont, Mémoires
vols. iii and iv; and there is a good article in DCB., vol. iii,
pp. 948—949.
At Rome, St. Moses, priest and martyr, who, along with others detained in
prison, was often consoled by the letters of St. Cyprian. He withstood
with unbending courage not only the heathen, but also the Novatian schismatics
and heretics, and according to the words of Pope St. Cornelius, he was finally
crowned with a martyrdom which fills the mind with admiration in the persecution
of Decius.
Probably of Jewish heritage.
He corresponded with St. Cyprian
and opposed the Novatian heresy. Moses was imprisoned for a year
during the persecution instituted by Emperor Trajanus Decius. He was executed
in Rome on January 1.
Moses of Rome M (RM)
Roman priest possibly of Jewish origin, was noted for his
zeal in preaching the Gospel and for his firm stand against the rigorism
of Novatianism. He was one of the first victims under Decius according to
the testimony of Saint Cyprian. Moses and Cyprian exchanged letters of encouragement.
After he had been in prison for eleven months and eleven days, about January
1, 251, Moses died and was accounted a martyr for the faith (Benedictines,
Walsh) .
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250 St.
Mercurius Martyr Caesarea in Cappadocia Asia Minor.
Cæsaréæ,
in Cappadócia, pássio sancti Mercurii mílitis, qui
custodiéntis se Angeli patrocínio et bárbaros vicit,
et Décii sævítiam superávit; multísque
auctus tormentórum trophæis, martyrio coronátus migrávit
in cælum.
At Caesarea in Cappadocia, St. Mercury, a soldier,
who vanquished the barbarians and triumphed over the cruelty of Decius through
the protection of his guardian angel. Finally, having acquired great
glory from his sufferings, he was crowned with martyrdom and went to reign
forever in heaven.
The Holy Great
Martyr Mercurius St Basil Mercurius defend Christians from apostate Julian
The angel of the Lord again appeared to St Mercurius in prison encouraging
him endure every suffering for Christ Many sick healed at his tomb; answered
St Basil and returned from the grave to kill Julian the Apostate.
St Mercurius, Martyr
This martyr is one of the so-called warrior-saints so popular in the
East, and he doubtless was a real person who died for the faith, but his
various acta are all versions of a pious romance.
These relate that he was the son of a Scythian officer at Rome, and himself
a successful soldier, who attained the rank of primicerius.
When the City was threatened by barbarians and the Emperor Decius
in great fear, Mercurius encouraged him and himself led the imperial troops,
armed with a sword which had been given him by an angel. After a great
victory Decius noticed that Mercurius was absent from the sacrifices to
the gods, and sent for him to know the reason. Whereupon Mercurius threw
his military cloak and belt in the emperor’s face, saying, “I will not deny
my Lord Jesus”. Fearing the anger of the people of Rome, Decius sent him
to Caesarea in Cappadocia to be grievously tortured and then beheaded.
According to the Eastern legend, one hundred and thirteen years later St
Basil invoked the aid of St Mercurius against Julian the Apostate, and
he was made the instrument of divine wrath. For Mercurius appeared from
the heavens, girded with a sword and brandishing a spear, with which he
transfixed and killed the infidel emperor. St Mercurius is called in Egypt
Abu Saifain, “the Father of Swords”, on account of the weapons with which
he is always represented and his alleged military prowess, and many churches
are dedicated in his honour in that country. St Mercurius was said to have
appeared with St George and St Demetrius to the soldiers of the First Crusade
at Antioch.
Fr Delehaye
has dealt very fully with the legend of St Mercurius. In his book, Les légendes grecques des saints militaires (1909) he
has not only discussed (pp. 91—101) the incidents of this quite unreliable
narrative, but in an appendix (pp. 234—258) he has edited the two Greek texts
which are of more notable interest. The statement of the pilgrim Theodosius
(c. 525) that the martyr Mercurius reposes at Caesarea
seems to be the earliest sure attestation we possess
of the saint’s real existence. As might be expected from the popularity of
his cult in Egypt, we find his name constantly recurring in the Ethiopic
synaxaries. Sir E. Wallis Budge’s translation of-these last (4 vols., 1928)
has a full index in which the references to St Mercurius are numerous. - Budge
has also published a Coptic version of the passio in his
Miscellaneous Coptic Texts (1915). See also S. Binon,
Essai sur le cycle de St Mercure (1937), and Documents grecs inédits relatifs…(1937).
A Scythian by descent, served
as a soldier in the Roman army. The impious emperors Decius (249-251) and
Valerian (253-259) issued a decree ordering all Roman citizens to worship
the pagan gods, and condemning Christians to torture and death unless they
obeyed the decree.
At that time barbarians attacked the Roman empire,
and the emperor Decius went on campaign with a large army. In one of the
battles an angel of the Lord appeared to Mercurius in the guise of a nobleman
and presented him a sword saying, "Fear not, Mercurius. Go forth bravely
against the enemy, and when you are victorious, do not forget the Lord your
God." With this sword the holy warrior cut through the ranks of the barbarians.
He also killed their king, winning victory for the Romans.
The grateful Emperor Decius rewarded
St Mercurius for his bravery, and made him commander of the entire army.
The angel of the Lord appeared again to the holy
warrior, who had received great honors and riches, and reminded him by Whom
the victory had been given. He also told General Mercurius that he would
suffer for Christ, and would receive a crown of victory in His Kingdom. Mercurius
recalled that his father Gordian had also confessed the Christian Faith.
Although the saint had been baptized, he felt he had not devoted his life
to God as his father and grandfather had done.
Thus, he was weeping and lamenting
when he was summoned before the emperor.
Decius consulted Mercurius on matters of state, then suggested
that they offer sacrifice in the temple of Artemis. Not wishing to do this,
the saint returned to his home. He was denounced as a Christian by a nobleman,
whose name was Catullus. The emperor would not believe this, however, until
he himself had questioned the saint. Openly declaring himself a Christian,
Mercurius threw down his military belt and cloak at the emperor's feet, and
he repudiated all the honors he had received.
The angel of the Lord again appeared to St Mercurius
in the prison, encouraging him to endure every suffering for Christ.
They stretched the holy martyr
between four pillars and lit a fire beneath him. They cut his body with knives,
and so much blood flowed from his wounds that it extinguished the fire.
When they threw him back into the prison nearly dead from his wounds, St
Mercurius was healed by the Lord, demonstrating the great power of Christ
to the impious pagans. Condemned to death, the saint was deemed worthy of
a vision of the Lord, Who promised him a quick release from his sufferings.
The Great Martyr Mercurius was beheaded at Caesarea in Cappadocia.
His holy body emitted a fragrance
like myrrh and incense. Many of the sick were healed at his tomb.
Even after his death the warrior
of Christ performed a soldier's service for the good of the earthly Church.
St Basil the Great
(January 1) once prayed before an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, upon which St Mercurius
was depicted as a soldier holding a spear. He asked God not to permit the
emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363) to return from his war against the
Persians and resume his oppression of Christians.
The image of the holy Great Martyr Mercurius, depicted on
the icon beside the image of the Most Holy Theotokos, became invisible.
It reappeared later with a bloodied spear. At this very moment
Julian the Apostate, on his Persian campaign, was wounded by the spear of
an unknown soldier, who immediately disappeared.
The mortally wounded Julian, as
he lay dying, cried out, "Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!"
The Most Holy Theotokos, through
the prayers of St Basil, had sent St Mercurius to defend the Christians from
the apostate Julian. May we also be preserved from God's foes, overcoming
them through the prayers and assistance of St Mercurius.
He was reported son of a Scythian officer of
the Roman army and became a military hero when barbarians assaulted Rome.
When Mercurius refused to take part in sacrifices to the pagan gods during
the persecution launched by Emperor Trajanus Decius, he was sent to Caesarea
and beheaded. Mercurius was reported to have lent his sword and skills in
battles against evil. He supposedly aided St. George and St. Demetrius during
the First Crusade and is counted traditionally as a warrior saint.
Mercurius of Caesarea M (RM) (also known as Mercury) Died in Cappadocia,
c. 250. All that is really known of St. Mercury is that he was a real martyr.
Pious fiction makes him the son of a Scythian officer in the Roman army,
who became a soldier himself, and led the army to a great victory with a sword
an angel had given him in a battle against the barbarians attacking Rome.
He fought so well that he gained the eye of Emperor Decius, which was not
a blessing when he hesitated to make a thanksgiving sacrifice to Artemis.
When the emperor asked him why he did not participate in sacrifices to the
gods after the victory, Mercury proclaimed his Christianity. After torture
and angelic visions, Decius sent Mercury home to Caesarea in Cappadocia,
where he was tortured and beheaded for his faith.
Another legend says that Saint Basil the Great learned in a dream that
St. Mercury was sent from heaven to kill Emperor Julian the Apostate in
Persia in 363. He was venerated as a warrior saint since the 6th century
and is reputed to have appeared at various times in history to lend his sword
to worthy causes, notably, with Saint George and Saint Demetrius, at Antioch
during the First Crusade (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia)
St. Mercury is portrayed on horseback piercing Julian the Apostate with a
lance (from a vision of St. Basil). Sometimes the angel is shown bringing
him the miraculous sword. He is venerated in the Eastern Church (Roeder).
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Erasmus
of Antioch M (RM)
Antiochíæ
sancti Erásmi Mártyris. At Antioch, St.
Erasmus, martyr.
Erasmus was a Syrian martyred at Antioch. It is probable that
he is a duplicate of Saint Erasmus of Formiae (Benedictines).
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311 St. Peter, Martyr, Bishop
Of Alexandria 16th Archbishop from St. Mark
From Eusebius, Theodoret, &c. See Tillemont, t.v.; Ceillier,
t. iv. p. 17; Orsi, t. iv. lib. x.)
Eusebius calls this great prelate the excellent doctor of
the Christian religion, and the chief and divine ornament of bishops; and
tells us that he was admirable both for his extraordinary virtue and for
his skill in the sciences and profound knowledge of the Holy Scriptures.
In the year 300 he succeeded Theonas in the see of Alexandria,
being the sixteenth Archbishop from St. Mark; he governed that church with
the highest commendation, says the same historian, during the space of
twelve years, for the nine last of which he sustained the fury of the most
violent persecutions carried on by Diocletian and his successors. Virtue
is tried and made perfect by sufferings; and Eusebius observes that the
fervour of our saint's piety and the rigour of his penance increased with
the calamities of the church. That violent storm, which affrighted and disheartened
several bishops and inferior ministers of the church, did but awake his
attention, inflame his charity, and inspire him with fresh vigour. He never
ceased begging of God for himself and his flock necessary grace and courage,
and exhorting them to die daily to their passions, that they might be prepared
to die for Christ. The confessors he comforted and encouraged by word and
example, and was the father of many martyrs who sealed their faith with their
blood. His watchfulness and care were extended to all the churches of Egypt,
Thebais, or Upper Egypt and Lybia, which were under his immediate inspection.
Notwithstanding the activity of St. Peter's charity and zeal, several in
whom the love of this world prevailed basely betrayed their faith to escape
torments and death.
Among those who fell during this storm, none was more considerable
than Meletius, Bishop of Lycopolis, in Thebais. That bishop was charged with
several crimes; but apostasy was the main article alleged against him. St.
Peter called a council, in which Meletius was convicted of having sacrificed
to idols and of other crimes, and sentence of deposition was passed against
him. The apostate had not humility enough to submit, or to seek the remedy
of his deep wounds by condign repentance, but put himself at the head of
a discontented party which appeared ready to follow him to any lengths. To
justify his disobedience, and to impose upon men by pretending a holy zeal
for discipline, he published many calumnies against St. Peter and his council;
and had the assurance to tell the world that he had left the archbishop's
communion, because he was too indulgent to the lapsed in receiving them too
soon and too easily to communion.
Thus he formed a pernicious schism,
which took its name from him, and subsisted a hundred and fifty years. The
author laid several snares for St. Peter's life, and though by an overruling
providence these were rendered ineffectual, he succeeded in disturbing
the whole church of Egypt with his factions and violent proceedings; for
he infringed the saint's patriarchal authority, ordained bishops within
his jurisdiction, and even placed one in his metropolitical see.
Sozomen tells us these usurpations were carried on with less
opposition during a certain time when St. Peter was obliged to retire to
avoid the fury of the persecution. Arius, who was then among the clergy
of Alexandria, gave signs of his pride and turbulent spirit by espousing
Meletius's cause as soon as the breach was open, but soon after quitted
that party, and was ordained deacon by St. Peter.
It was not long before he relapsed again to the Meletians,
and blamed St. Peter for excommunicating the schismatics and forbidding them
to baptize. The holy bishop, by his knowledge of mankind, was by this time
convinced that pride, the source of uneasiness and inconstancy, had taken
deep root in the heart of this unhappy man; and that so long as this evil
was not radically cured the wound of his soul was only skinned over by a
pretended conversion, and would break out again with greater violence than
ever. He therefore excommunicated him, and could never be prevailed with
to revoke that sentence.
St. Peter wrote a book on the Divinity, out of which some
quotations are preserved in the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon. Also
a paschal treatise, of which some fragments are extant. From St. Epiphanius
it appears that St. Peter was in prison for the faith in the reign of Diocletian,
or rather of Galerius Maximian; but after some time recovered his liberty.
Maximin Daia, Casar in the East, renewed the persecution in
311, which had been considerably abated by a letter written the same year
by the Emperor Galerius in favour
of the Christians.
Eusebius informs us that Maximin coming himself to Alexandria,
St. Peter was immediately seized, when no one expected such a storm and,
without any form of trial, by the sole order of the tyrant, hurried to execution.
With him were beheaded three of his priests, Faustus, Dio, and Ammonius.
This Faustus seems, by what
Eusebius writes, to be the same person of that name who, sixty years before,
was deacon to St. Dionysius and companion
of his exile.
The canons of the church are
holy laws, framed by the wisest and most experienced pastors and saints for
the regulation of the manners of the faithful, according to the most pure
maxims of our divine religion and the law of nature, many intricate rules
of which are frequently explained, and many articles of faith expounded in
them. Every clergyman is bound to be thoroughly acquainted with the great
obligations of his state and profession; for it is one of the general and
most just rules of the canon law, and even of the law of nature, that " No
man is excused from a fault by his ignorance in things which, by his office,
he is bound to know."
That anyone amongst the clergy should be a stranger to those
decrees of the Universal Church and statutes of his own diocese, which regard
the conduct and reformation of the clergy, is a neglect and an affected ignorance
which aggravates the guilt of every transgression of which it is the cause,
according to a well-known maxim of morality.
After the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, of the articles
of faith, and the rules of a sound Christian morality, everyone who is charged
with the direction of others, is obliged to have a competent tincture of
those parts of the canon law which may fall in the way of his practice; bishops
and their assistants stand in need of a more profound and universal skill,
both in what regards their own office (in which Barbosa may be a manuduction),
and others.
Endnotes
1 Conc. Ephes. Act. I, p. 508, Act. 7, p. 836 (Conc. t. iii.);
Conc. Chalced. Act. I, p. 286. 2 Ap. Du Fresne, Lord Du Cange Pref.
in Chran. Pasch. n. 7, pp. 4, 5. 3 St. Epiph. haer. 68. 4 Barbosa,
De Officio Episcopi. Item De Officio Barochi. (Taken from Vol. III
of "The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints" by the Rev.
Alban Butler.) Provided Courtesy of: Eternal Word Television Network
5817 Old Leeds Road Irondale, AL 35210
Peter Martyr of Alexandria BM (RM)
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1126.htm#pete Nov 26
Born at Alexandria, Egypt; died 311. Peter was a young 'confessor'
during the Decian persecution. Later he became known for his extraordinary
virtue, skill in the sciences, and learning and knowledge of Scripture. Peter
was named head of the catechetical school in Alexandria, and in 300 was
elected patriarch of the city to succeed Saint Theonas.
As bishop Saint Peter fought Arianism and extreme Origenism
and spent the last nine years of his episcopate encouraging his flock to
stand fast against the persecution of Christians launched by Emperor Diocletian.
As the fury of the persecutions increased, Peter, according to Eusebius,
heightened the rigor of his penances. He perceived the need for some rules
that would lovingly, but sternly, welcome back into the Christian fold those
who--under persecution and even torture--had lapsed from the faith and then
wanted to return. These rules were eventually accepted throughout the Eastern
Church; but others criticized Peter of Alexandria for being far too lenient.
One of those who apostatized was Bishop Meletius of Lycopolis
in the Thebaid. Meletius was convicted by a council of having sacrificed
to idols and other crimes. The sentence was deposition.
About that time Peter was forced
into hiding; whereupon Meletius installed himself at the head of a discontent
party. He began to usurp Peter's authority as metropolitan and, in order
to justify his disobedience, he accused Peter in writing of treating the lapsi
too leniently. Peter excommunicated Meletius, but still hoped to reconcile
him. His letter of excommunication reads: "Now take heed to this and hold
no communion with Meletius until I meet him, in company with some wise and
discreet men, to find out what he has been plotting." Nevertheless, this
led to a schism in the Egyptian church that lasted for several generations.
Peter continued administering his see from hiding and returned
to Alexandria when the persecutions were temporarily suspended. In 311, Emperor
Maximinus Daia unexpectedly renewed the persecution. Peter was arrested and
then executed--the last Christian martyr put to death in Alexandria by the
authorities. Martyred with him were three of his priests: Dio, Ammonius,
and Faustus, who appears to have been the companion of Saint Dionysius during
his exile 60 years earlier. The Coptic Church calls him 'the seal and complement
of the martyrs,' because he was the last Christian to die for the faith before
Constantine granted religious toleration throughout the empire.
Eusebius calls him 'an inspired Christian teacher . . . a
worthy example of a bishop, both for the goodness of his life and his knowledge
of the Scriptures.' Among Peter's fragmentary writings are some regulations
of great interest, drawn up in 306; they deal with the treatment of those
Christians who in varying degrees had failed under persecution. Portions
of a book he wrote on the Divinity are preserved in the councils of Ephesus
(Act. 1 and 7) and Chalcedon (Act. 1). Several related items of interest are
available on the Internet: The Genuine Acts of Peter, The Canonical Epistle,
and a document entitled Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria (Attwater, Attwater2,
Benedictines, Bentley, Coulson, Delaney, Husenbeth).
Saint Peter is depicted as a bishop enthroned between angels
in Sienese paintings. Sometimes he is shown (1) holding the city of Siena
while wearing a tiara rather than a mitre; (2) with Christ appearing to
him as a child in rags; or (3) embracing his executioner. He is the patron
of Siena, Italy (Roeder).
The Holy Hieromartyr Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria, was
born and raised at Alexandria. He was a highly educated man, and was head
of the school of Alexandria. In the year 300 he became the archpastor of
the Alexandrian Church, succeeding his teacher and spiritual guide, the
holy Bishop Theonas.
Forced into exile from the city during the anti-Christian
persecutions under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, St Peter traveled
through many lands, encouraging his flock by letter. Again returned to his
city, in order to guide the Alexandrian Church personally during this dangerous
period. The saint secretly visited Christians locked up in prison, encouraging
them to be steadfast in faith, assisting the widows and orphans, preaching
the Word of God, constantly praying and officiating at the divine services.
And the Lord kept him safe from the hands of the persecutors.
During this time of unrest the
iniquitous heretic Arius, who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ, sowed
the tares of his impious teaching. When Arius refused to be corrected and
submit to the truth, St Peter anathematized the heretic and excommunicated
him from the Church. Arius then sent two of St Peter's priests to beg the
saint to lift the excommunication from him, pretending that he had repented
and given up his false teachings. This was not true, for Arius hoped to succeed
St Peter as Archbishop of Alexandria. St Peter, under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, saw through the wickedness and deceit of Arius, and so he instructed
his flock not to believe Arius nor to accept him into communion.
Under the wise nurturing of St Peter the Church of Alexandria
strengthened and grew in spite of the persecutions. But finally, on orders
from the emperor Maximian (305-311), the saint was arrested and sentenced
to death. A multitude of people gathered at the entrance of the prison, expressing
their outrage. Wanting to avoid bloodshed and a riot by the people, the
saint sent a message to the authorities, in which he suggested that they
make an opening in the back wall of the prison, so that he might be taken
away secretly to execution.
In the dark of the night St Peter went with the executioners,
who took him beyond the city walls and beheaded him at the same spot where
formerly St Mark had been executed. That night a certain pious virgin heard
a Voice from heaven saying, "Peter was first among the Apostles; Peter is
the last of the Alexandrian Martyrs." This took place in the year 311. In
the morning, when people learned of the death of their bishop, a crowd gathered
at the place of execution. They took up the body and head of the martyr and
went to the church, dressing him in his bishop's vestments, they sat him
in his throne at the high place in the altar. During his life St Peter never
sat on it, but sat on a footstool instead. The saint once explained that
whenever he approached his throne he beheld a heavenly light shining on it,
and he sensed the presence of a divine power. Therefore, he didn't dare to
sit there.
The Lord Jesus Christ once appeared to St Peter as a twelve-year-old
child wearing a robe that was torn from top to bottom. St Peter asked the
Savior who had torn his garment, and He replied, "That madman Arius has torn
it by dividing the people whom I have redeemed by My blood. Do not receive
him into Communion with the Church, for he has worked evil against Me and
My flock."
St Peter, a great champion of Orthodoxy, is known also as
a profound theologian. Passages from his book, "On the Divinity (of Jesus
Christ)", were consulted at the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon. Of all
his works, the most widely known and highly esteemed by the Church are his
"Penitential Canons".
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St.
Catherine of Alexandria Virgin Martyred by Maxentius
Alexandríæ sanctæ Catharínæ, Vírginis
et Mártyris, quæ, ob fídei Christiánæ confessiónem,
sub Maximíno Imperatóre, in cárcerem trusa, et póstmodum
scorpiónibus diutíssime cæsa, tandem cápitis
obtruncatióne martyrium complévit. Ipsíus corpus,
in montem Sínai mirabíliter ab Angelis delátum, ibídem,
frequénti Christianórum concúrsu, pia veneratióne
cólitur.
At Alexandria, St. Catherine, virgin and martyr, in
the time of Emperor Maximinus. For the confession of the Christian
faith she was cast into prison, endured a long scourging with whips set with
metal, and finally ended her martyrdom by having her head cut off.
Her body was miraculously carried by angels to Mount Sinai, where pious veneration
is paid to it by great gatherings of Christians.
She is the patroness of philosophers
and preachers.
The Holy Great Martyr Catherine visions of Mary and Jesus martyred
for her faith
St Catherine Of Alexandria,
Virgin And Martyr
Since about the tenth century
or earlier veneration for St Catherine of Alexandria has been marked in
the East, but from the time of the Crusades until the eighteenth century
her popularity was even greater in the West.
Numerous churches were dedicated in her honour
and her feast was kept with great solemnity; she was included among the Fourteen
Holy Helpers and venerated as the patroness of maidens and women students,
of philosophers, preachers and apologists, of wheelwrights, millers and
others. Adam of Saint-Victor wrote a poem in her honour. Hers was one of
the heavenly voices claimed heard by St Joan of Arc, and to her Bossuet devoted
one of his most celebrated panegyrics. But not a single fact about the life
or death of Catherine of Alexandria has been established.
It is said in her completely
worthless acta that she belonged to a patrician family of
Alexandria and devoted herself to learned studies, in the course of which
she learnt about Christianity. She was converted by a vision of our Lady
and the Holy Child. When Maxentius began persecuting, Catherine, still only
eighteen years old and of great beauty, went to him and rebuked him for his
tyranny. He could not answer her arguments against his gods, so summoned fifty
philosophers to oppose her. These confessed themselves convinced by the learning
of the Christian girl, and were therefore burned to death by the infuriated
emperor. Then he tried to seduce Catherine with an offer of a consort’s crown,
and on her indignant refusal she was beaten and imprisoned, and Maxentius
went off to inspect a camp. On his return he discovered that his wife and
an officer had gone to see Catherine out of curiosity and had both been converted,
together with two hundred soldiers of the guard. They accordingly were all
slain and Catherine was sentenced to death on a spiked wheel (whence our
“Catherine-wheel”). When she was placed on it, her bonds were miraculously
loosed and the wheel broke, its spikes flying off and killing many of the
onlookers. Then she was beheaded, and there flowed from her severed veins
a white milk-like liquid.
There are
variations of the story, including Catherine’s conversion in Armenia, and
the details introduced by the Cypriots when they claimed the saint for their
island in the middle ages.
All the texts of the “acts”
of St Catherine state her body was carried by angels to Mount Sinai, where
a church and monastery were built afterwards, but the legend was not known
to the earliest pilgrims to the mountain.
In 527 the Emperor Justinian built a fortified monastery for
the hermits of this place, and the supposed body of St Catherine was said
taken there in the eighth or ninth century, since when it has borne her name.
The great monastery of Mount Sinai, once a famous pilgrim-shrine, is now
only a shadow of what it was. But the alleged relics of St Catherine still
repose there, in the care of monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Alban Butler
quotes Archbishop Falconio of Santa Severina as saying,
“As to what is said, that the body of this saint was conveyed by
angels to Mount Sinai, the meaning is that it was carried by the monks of
Sinai to their monastery, that they might devoutly enrich their dwelling
with such a treasure. It is well known that the name of angelical habit was
often used for a monastic habit, and those monks on account of their heavenly
purity and functions were anciently called angels.” “Angelical life” and
“angelical habit” are still current and usual expressions in Eastern monasticism.
“The female sex is not less capable of the sublime sciences nor less
remarkable for liveliness of genius” than the male, comments Alban Butler
elsewhere; and St Catherine because of her traditional erudition is still
regarded as the patroness of Christian philosophers and students of philosophy.
The story of
St Catherine is perpetuated in many texts, oriental as well as Greek and Latin,
and so far as regards the outstanding features of the narrative there is
not much variation. The Greek of Simeon the Metaphrast dating from the latter
part of the tenth century may be read in Migne, PG., vol. cxvi, pp. 276—301;
there is also a somewhat earlier Greek text; see BHG., n. 31. That the long-standing opinion among scholars as to the unreliability
of the legend summarized above is general may be illustrated by the lone
notice in Cardinal Schuster’s book, The Sacramentary (1930), vol. v,
p. 302. He tells us that the story of St Catherine “is unfortunately unsupported
by any authority. The ancient Eastern and Egyptian calendars do not mention
her name. In the West the cultus of the saint began only
about the eleventh century.” Cf. H. Delehaye, Les martyrs d’Égypte (1923), pp. 35—36, 123—124, and
his Legends of the Saints, p. 57; and W.
L. Schreiber, Die Legende des hl. Catherine von Alexandria
(1931). St Catherine in art is dealt with in Künstle, Ikonographie, vol. ii, pp. 369—374, and in Drake, Saints and their Emblems (1916), p. 24. For the folklore aspects
consult Bächtold-Stäubli, Handwörterbuch des deutschen
Aberglaubens, vol. iv, pp. 1074—1084. There is a good account of the
whole matter in Baudot and Chaussin, Vies des saints, vol.
xi (1954), pp. 854—872. Katharine, rather than the French Catherine, seems
the preferable spelling in English.
Daughter of Constus, the governor of Alexandrian
Egypt during the reign of the emperor Maximian (305-313). Living in the
capital, the center of Hellenistic knowledge, and possessed of a rare beauty
and intellect, Catherine received an excellent education, studying the works
of the greatest philosophers and teachers of antiquity. Young men from the
most worthy families of the empire sought the hand of the beautiful Catherine,
but she was not interested in any of them. She told her parents that she
would enter into marriage only with someone who surpassed her in nobility,
wealth, comeliness and wisdom.
Catherine's mother, a secret Christian, sent her to her own
spiritual Father, a saintly Elder living in a cave outside the city, for
advice. After listening to Catherine, the Elder said that he knew of a Youth
who surpassed her in everything. "His countenance is more radiant than the
shining of the sun, and all of creation is governed by His wisdom. His riches
are given to all the nations of the world, yet they never diminish. His
compassion is unequaled."
This description of the Heavenly Bridegroom produced in the
soul of the holy maiden an ardent desire to see Him. "If you do as I tell
you," said the monk, "you will gaze upon the countenance of this illustrious
man." In parting, the Elder handed Catherine an icon of the Theotokos with
the divine Child Jesus on Her arm and told her to pray with faith to the
Queen of Heaven, the Mother of the Heavenly Bridegroom, and She would hear
Catherine and grant her heart's desire.
Catherine prayed all night and was permitted to see the Most
Holy Virgin, Who said Her Divine Son, "Behold Thy handmaiden Catherine,
how fair and virtuous she is." But the Child turned His face away from her
saying, "No, she is ugly and unbelieving. She is a foolish pauper, and I
cannot bear to look at her until she forsakes her impiety."
Catherine returned again to the Elder deeply saddened, and
told him what she had seen in the dream. He lovingly received her, instructed
her in the faith of Christ, admonished her to preserve her purity and integrity
and to pray unceasingly. She then received the Mystery of holy Baptism from
him. Again St Catherine had a vision of the Most Holy Theotokos with Her
Child. Now the Lord looked tenderly at her and gave her a beautiful ring,
a wondrous token of her betrothal to the Heavenly Bridegroom (This ring is
still on her hand).
At that time the emperor Maximian
was in Alexandria for a pagan festival. Therefore, the celebration was especially
splendid and crowded. The cries of the sacrificial animals, the smoke and
the smell of the sacrifices, the endless blazing of fires, and the bustling
crowds at the arenas defiled the city of Alexandria. Human victims also
were brought, the confessors of Christ, those who would not deny Him under
torture. They were condemned to death in the fire. The saint's love for the
Christian martyrs and her fervent desire to ease their sufferings compelled
Catherine to speak to the pagan priest and to the emperor Maximian.
Introducing herself, the saint confessed her faith in
the One True God and with wisdom exposed the errors of the pagans. The
beauty of the maiden captivated the emperor. In order to convince her and
to show the superiority of pagan wisdom, the emperor ordered fifty of the
most learned philosophers and rhetoricians of the Empire to dispute with
her, but the saint got the better of the wise men, so that they came to believe
in Christ themselves. St Catherine made the Sign of the Cross over the martyrs,
and they bravely accepted death for Christ and were burned alive by order
of the emperor.
Maximian, no longer hoping to convince the saint, tried to
entice her with the promise of riches and fame. Receiving an angry refusal,
the emperor gave orders to subject the saint to terrible tortures and then
throw her in prison. The Empress Augusta, who had heard much about the saint,
wanted to see her. She prevailed upon the military commander Porphyrius to
accompany her to the prison with a detachment of soldiers. The empress was
impressed by the strong spirit of St Catherine, whose face was radiant with
divine grace. The holy martyr explained the Christian teaching to them, and
they were converted to Christ.
On the following day they again brought the martyr to the
judgment court where, under the threat of being broken on the wheel, they
urged that she renounce the Christian Faith and offer sacrifice to the gods.
The saint steadfastly confessed Christ and she herself approached the wheels;
but an angel smashed the instruments of execution, which shattered into
pieces with many pagans standing nearby.
Having beheld this wonder, the Empress Augusta and the imperial
courtier Porphyrius with 200 soldiers confessed their faith in Christ in
front of everyone, and they were beheaded. Maximian again tried to entice
the holy martyr, proposing marriage to her, and again he was refused. St
Catherine firmly confessed her fidelity to the heavenly Bridegroom Christ,
and with a prayer to Him she herself lay her head on the block beneath the
executioner's sword.
The relics of St Catherine were taken by the angels to Mount
Sinai. In the sixth century,, the venerable head and left hand of the holy
martyr were found through a revelation and transferred with honor to a
newly-constructed church of the Sinai monastery, built by the holy Emperor
Justinian (November 14).
St Catherine is called upon for relief and assistance
during a difficult childbirth. Pilgrims to her monastery on Mt Sinai are
given souvenir rings as a remembrance of their visit.
St. Catherine is believed to have been born in Alexandria of a noble family. Converted to Christianity
through a vision, she denounced Maxentius for persecuting Christians.
Fifty of her converts were then burned to death by Maxentius.
Maxentius offered Catherine a royal marriage if she would
deny the Faith. Her refusal landed her in prison. While in prison, and while
Maxentius was away, Catherine converted Maxentius' wife and two hundred of
his soldiers. He had them all put to death.
Catherine was likewise condemned to death. She was put on
a spiked wheel, and when the wheel broke, she was beheaded. She is venerated
as the patroness of philosophers and preachers.
St. Catherine's was one of the voices heard by St. Joan of
Arc.
Maxentius' blind fury against St. Catherine is symbolic of
the anger of the world in the face of truth and justice. When we live a life
of truth and justice, we can expect the forces of evil to oppose us. Our
perseverance in good, however, will be everlasting.
Catherine of Alexandria VM (RM) (also known as Æcatherina)
Died c. 310; removed from the general Roman calendar in 1969 (which doesn't
necessarily mean she didn't exist, just that her feast is no longer celebrated
liturgically throughout the world).
Catherine symbolizes the ideal marriage of philosophy and
religion--the "mystical" marriage. Did she ever exist? We don't know. She
may have been a fabrication of a 9th-century Greek writer in an edifying
romance. But if she didn't exist, we would have to invent her. She would
be an 'end' as the philosophers would call it, so that when they have completed
all their enquiries and speculations they can come to lay them at the feet
of religion. Philosophy joined with religion is theology.
St. Catherine
Image of Saint Catherine courtesy of Saint Charles Borromeo Church
The monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai is renowned
as being the oldest continuously occupied monastery in Christendom. Yet
it was first dedicated not to St. Catherine but to the Transfiguration
of Jesus. Its architect began building the monastery walls in 542. Three
centuries later, guided by a dream, the monks of this monastery found on
the mountain the body of a woman, whom they took to be Saint Catherine--a
body presumably miraculously flown there from Alexandria.
Falconius, archbishop of San Severino, speaks of the translation
of the body of Catherine to the top of Mount Sinai. "As to what is said,
that the body of this saint was conveyed by angels to Mount Sinai, the meaning
is that it was carried by the monks of Sinai to their rich dwelling with
such a treasure--It is well known that the name of an angelic habit, and that
monks, on account of their heavenly purity and functions, were anciently called
'angels'" (Husenbeth).
Nothing is known for sure about her except that she was a
maiden martyred at Alexandria under Maximinus Daza as related in the History
of the Church (viii, c. 14) by Eusebius. Her acta, which are considered
worthless, say she was the daughter of king Costos of Cyprus, who had been
called to Alexandria to be a counselor to Emperor Maximinus. Philosophy
was very fashionable in Alexandria's high society and Catherine was devoted
to study, so that she had a good dose of it before she reached 18. During
the course of her studies she learned about Christ. Then Catherine was converted
by a vision of Our Lady and the Holy Child.
When Emperor Maximinus began
his persecutions, the 18-year-old Catherine, who was very beautiful, went
to the emperor and rebuked him for his tyranny as he stood in the middle
of a pagan temple. Unable to answer her arguments, he called in fifty philosophers
to confront her. After they admitted themselves to be convinced by her arguments,
the furious emperor sentenced them to be burned.
The emperor offered to marry her, but she refused because
Christ had already appeared to her in person and placed his gold ring on
her finger (like St. Catherine of Siena); for this reason Greek Christians
call her 'Ækatharina,' that is, 'ever pure.' She was beaten for two
solid hours and then imprisoned, and the emperor departed to inspect a camp.
In her cell she was fed by a dove, and Christ appeared to her in a vision.
When he returned, he found that his wife, Faustina, and an
officer, Porphyrius, had gone to visit Catherine out of curiosity and were
converted, and that Porphyrius had converted 200 men of the imperial guard.
All were condemned to death.
Catherine was sentenced to be killed by means of a wheel set
with spikes or razors, now known as "St. Catherine's wheel." When she was
placed upon its rim, her bonds were miraculously loosened, the wheel broke,
and the spikes flew off, killing onlookers. Finally, she was beheaded, as
she called down blessings on all who should remember her. From her severed
veins flowed a white, milk-like liquid instead of blood. It is claimed that
for many years oil oozed from her bones; this oil was prized as medicine
and for lamps in holy sanctuaries.
In 527 Emperor Justinian built a fortified monastery for the
hermits of Mt. Sinai, and the body of Catherine is supposed to have been
taken there in the 8th or 9th century; since then it has borne her name.
In the 11th century, Simeon, a monk of Sinai, went to Rouen to receive an
annual alms of Duke Richard of Normandy. He brought with him some of Catherine's
relics, which he left there. She was one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, who
were highly venerated individually and as a group during the Middle Ages.
Saint Joan of Arc heard and faithfully followed the voice
of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret. Perhaps the Lord gave Catherine
to Joan to help her in her debate with the famous theologians. The real
Passion of Catherine is the same as Joan of Arc's, which fortunately we
know in all its details. Joan is the Catherine of modern times, indeed of
all times. And so to be a woman, a saint, and a philosopher like Catherine,
there is no need to be a king's daughter; the Hail Mary and Our Father are
enough. No doubt Catherine had the simplicity of a shepherdess. Though philosophy
and religion will never be found in perfect harmony, what matters is faith,
pure and simple faith, and we rejoice that it is so (Attwater, Benedictines,
Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth, Sheppard, White).
Because she all the arguments
of the philosophers, she is considered the patroness of philosophers. St.
Catherine also has patronage over philosophy, learning, students (esp. female
students), Christian apologists, librarians and libraries, young women, and
wheelwrights. She is the patroness of nurses because when she bled, her
blood was said to be milk (White). Additionally, she is patroness of saddlers,
spinsters, rope-makers (Roeder), lawyers, theology students at the University
of Paris (Encyclopedia), and preachers (Delaney).
Her emblem is the spiked wheel, which may be broken, on which
she was martyred. St. Catherine is depicted as a martyr maiden, often a beautiful,
young princess, with a book and a broken wheel:
Sometimes she is shown (1) with sword and wheel; (2) crowned,
carrying her own head on a charger; (3) beheaded with sword (Fernando Gallego);
(4) with a book, crowned by the angels (Melchiore Caffa); (5) with her
body transported by angels to Mount Sinai (Limbourg Brothers); (6) as a
hermit shows her a picture of the Virgin; (7) mystically married to the
Infant Christ (occasionally to an adult Christ); (8) disputing with doctors;
(9) encouraging others as they are burned; (10) visited by Christ in prison;
(11) visited by the Empress Faustina in prison; (12) encouraging Faustina
at her execution; or (13) with Christ placing a ring upon her finger as in
the paintings by Cranach the Elder, Lorenzo Lotto, and Corregio (Roeder,
White).
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429
Saint Peter of Galatia gift of wonderworking, healing infirmities and expelling
devils; Life written by Theodoret of Cyrrhus whose mother was healed by the
saint.
Left home at the age of seven, then spent the rest of his life in ascetical
labors as a monk. At first, he remained in Galatia, then went to Palestine.
Later, he went to Antioch. There he enclosed himself in a tomb, devoting
himself to deeds of prayer and strict abstinence. He partook of bread and
water only every other day. In these exploits he was granted from God the
gift of wonderworking, healing infirmities and expelling devils. St Peter
died around the year 429 at the age of ninety-nine. His Life was written by
Theodoret of Cyrrhus, whose mother had been healed by the saint.
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441 St. Mesrop
Confessor disciple of St. Nerses the Great of Armenia
called “the Teacher.” Mesrop
was born in Taron, Armenia, and
became a hermit under St. Nerses the Great.
He served as a missionary with St. Isaac
the Great and helped compose the Armenian alphabet and translations
of the Holy Scriptures. Mesrop, sometimes listed as Mesrob, was proficient
in Greek, Syriac, and Persian. He founded schools in Armenia and Georgia, and reportedly succeeded
Patriarch Sahak in 440. Mesrop was beloved for his many contributions to
Armenian education and died at Valarshapat on February 19 at age eighty.
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466 St. Jucunda Virgin Reggio disciple of St.
Prosper
In Æmília, Itáliæ província,
sanctæ Jucúndæ Vírginis. In Emilia,
a province of Italy, St. Jucunda, virgin.
Italy. She was a disciple of St. Prosper and received instruction
from him in the eremitical life. Jucunda of Reggio V (RM) Born in Reggio,
Emilia, Italy; died there in 466. The virgin Jucunda was the spiritual
daughter of Saint Prosper, bishop of that city (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
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7th v.
St. Alnoth Herder hermit martyr
mentioned in the life of St. Werburga.
Alnoth tended cows on the lands of St. Werburga's monastery at Weedon,
in Northhampton, England. He was badly used by a local official, earning
a reputation for holiness and patience. Alnoth retired from active life
and became a hermit. Two robbers accosted him in his hermitage, slaying
him. He is honored locally as a martyr, and his tomb at Stowe, near Bubrook
in Northhampton, became a popular shrine for pilgrims.
Alanus, OSB Abbot (AC) (also known as Alain, Ala) Abbot-founder
of Lavaur in Gascony his relics are preserved in the hospice (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia).
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752
Imma of Karlburg, OSB Abbess (AC)
(also known as Immina) Born in Wuoumlrzburg, Germany, c. 700; died c.
. Duchess Imma of Wuoumlrzburg became abbess of a convent at Karlburg, Franconia
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
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916
Saint Clement Bishop of Ochrid, first Bulgarian hierarch to serve, preach
and write in the Slavonic language, first samples of Slavonic spiritual literature;
Equal of the Apostles, Naum, Sava, Gorazd and Angelar were Slavs, disciples
of Sts Cyril and Methodius (May 11)
At first they lived as ascetics in Moravia, where St Gorazd
succeded St Methodius as bishop. He was fluent in Slavonic, Greek and Latin.
Sts Clement, Naum, Angelar and Sava were priests. The Enlighteners
of the Slavs were opposed by German missionaries, who had the support of
the Pope and the patronage of the Moravian prince Svyatopolk.
The struggle centered around the questions of the need for
divine services in Slavonic, the Filioque and Saturday fasting. Pope Stephen
VI prohibited the use of Slavonic in church.
The proponents of the three-tongued heresy (who wanted to
use only Hebrew, Greek, or Latin for Church purposes), after setting aside
the ancestral language of the Slavic peoples, brought the disciples of
St Methodius to trial, including St Clement. They subjected them to fierce
torture: dragging them through thorns, and holding them in prison for a
long time, just as they had done with their spiritual Father, St Methodius.
In 886, some of the prisoners were sold to slave-traders,
and ended up in the Venice marketplace. The ambassador of the Byzantine
Emperor Basil the Macedonian went to Venice, ransomed the saints and brought
them to Constantinople. The older confessors were banished. It is not known
where St Gorazd went, nor where St Sava found shelter. Naum and Angelar
went to Bulgaria.
In 907 Moravia collapsed under the onslaught of the Magyars,
and Moravian refugees escaped along those same paths followed earlier by
the saints they had exiled.
The Bulgarians received the Slavonic
confessors with respect and requested them to conduct divine services in
the Slavonic language. The Bulgarian prince Boris sought out such people as
the disciples of St Methodius, who labored for the enlightenment of his nation.
The saints immediately began to study Slavonic books collected by the Bulgarian
nobles.
St Angelar soon died, and St Clement received the appointment
to teach at Kutmichivitsa, a region in southwest Macedonia. In the Eastern
Church a worthy man was chosen to be a teacher, someone known for his pious
life, and possessed with a gift of words. St Clement was a teacher while
he was still in Moravia. In Bulgaria, St Clement worked as an instructor until
893. He organized a school at the princely court, which attained high esteem
during the reign of Simeon. In southwest Macedonia he created separate schools
for adults and for children.
St Clement instructed the children in reading and in writing.
The total number of his students was enormous. Those chosen and accepted
for the clergy amounted to 3500 men. In the year 893, St Clement became Bishop
of Dremvitsa, or Velitsa, and St Naum took his place.
St Clement was the first Bulgarian hierarch to serve, preach
and write in the Slavonic language. To this end he systematically prepared
clergy from among the Slavic people. The holy bishop labored for the glory
of God into his old age. When his strength failed, and he was unable to
fulfill his responsibilities in the cathedral, he asked Tsar Simeon to let
him retire.
The Tsar urged the saint not to forsake the cathedral, and
St Clement agreed to continue his episcopal service. After this he went to
Ochrid, to a monastery he founded. There the saint continued with his translation
activities and translated important parts of the PENTEKOSTARION {The Pentekostarion
is a service book containing the special services for the saints commemorated
during the first fifty days after Easter or before All Saints Sunday. Later
the matins lections for all the Sundays of the year were added. The Pentekostarion
has been published many times since the first edition, in Venice in 1525.
So far 45 editions have been found for the period up to 1800. The present
copy is the only one on Mount Athos.
Soon the saint became seriously ill and departed to the Lord
in the year 916. The saint's body was placed in a coffin he made with his
own hands, and was buried in Ochrid's St Panteleimon monastery.
St Clement is considered the first Slavonic author. He not
only continued the translation work begun by Sts Cyril and Methodius, but
also left behind works of his own composition, the first samples of Slavonic
spiritual literature. Many of the lessons and sermons of St Clement were
brought to Russia, where they were read and lovingly copied by pious Russian
Christians. St Clement is also commemorated on July 27
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1045 Adalbert &
Guido (Guy) of Casauria, OSB (PC)
Guy was a Benedictine of Farfa, who was promoted to abbot of Cassoria
(Cassauria, Pescara) in the Abruzzi, Italy. There Adalbert was a monk until
he retired to Mount Caramanico near Chieti and founded the abbey of St. Nicholas
(Benedictines).
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1075 Blessed
Ekbert of Muensterschwarzach, OSB Abbot (AC)
(also known as Egbert) Ekbert was a monk of Gorze and later the abbot
of Munsterschwarzach, Bavaria, Germany (Benedictines).
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1200
Blessed Conrad of Heisterbach; soldier and a minister to the margraves
of Thuringia OSB Cist. (PC)
A soldier and a minister to the margraves of Thuringia until his
fiftieth year, when he became a Cistercian at Heisterbach (Benedictines).
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1420 Blessed Elisabeth the
Good, OFM Tert. mystical experiences including the stigmata V (AC)
Born in Waldsee, Wurtemberg, Germany, 1386, died there; cultus confirmed
in 1766. Elisabeth lived her whole life in a small community of Franciscan
tertiaries near Waldsee. She was subject to mystical experiences including
the stigmata, and went for long periods without any natural food (Benedictines).
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1876 St. Catherine Laboure the Miraculous Medal
Born on May 2, 1806. At an early age she entered the community of the
Daughters of Charity, in Paris, France. Three times in 1830 the Virgin Mary
appeared to St. Catherine Laboure, who then was a twenty-four year old novice.
On July 18, the first apparition occurred in the community's
motherhouse. St. Catherine beheld a lady seated on the right side of the
sanctuary. When St. Catherine approached her, the heavenly visitor told her
how to act in time of trial and pointed to the altar as the source of all
consolation.
Promising to entrust St. Catherine with a mission which
would cause her great suffering, the lady also predicted the anticlerical
revolt which occurred at Paris in 1870.
On November 27, the lady showed St. Catherine the medal of the
Immaculate Conception, now universally known as the "Miraculous Medal." She
commissioned St. Catherine to have one made, and to spread devotion to this
medal. At that time, only her spiritual director, Father Aladel, knew of
the apparitions. Forty-five years later, St. Catherine spoke fully of the
apparitions to one of her superiors. She died on December 31, 1876, and
was canonized on July 27, 1947.
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1858 Blesseds
Louis Martin and Marie-Zélie Guérin Marriage Leads to Heaven
By Miriam Díez i Bosch ROME, NOV. 25, 2008 Zenit.org
As if to emphasize that marriage is a vocation to holiness, the Church
will commemorate the feast of Blesseds Louis Martin and Marie-Zélie
Guérin, St. Thérèse's parents, on their wedding anniversary.
The Martins were beatified in Lisieux, the second married couple the Church
has raised together to the altar.
Portrait
of Thérèse's mother at the Basilica of St. Thérèse
Lisieux
Louis and Marie-Azélie Martin were declared "venerable" on 26
March 1994 by Pope John Paul II. They were beatified on 19 October 2008
by Jose Cardinal Saraiva Martins, the legate of Pope Benedict XVI in the
Basilique de Sainte-Thérèse, Lisieux. The faithful are now
invited to pray for a miracle attributed to their joint and sole intercession.
After such a miracle is deemed credible by officials at the Congregation
for Causes of Saints in the Vatican, they can be counted among the saints
of God.
ZENIT spoke with Eva Carlota Rava, a consecrated virgin and spiritual
theology professor at the Pontifical Lateran University, about the beatification
and what it means for married couples around the world.
We must first clarify -- as has been done on several occasions -- that
the basis of Thérèse's parents' beatification is not their
daughter's holiness but the heroic virtues they lived in their lives as spouses
and parents.
However, the beatification of the Martin spouses manifests the importance
of the family environment and the concrete education given, for the formation
of the children -- an integral education sealed by the life of faith, undoubtedly
transmitted with words, but above all by daily example.
If, as Pius XI said, Thérèse is "the greatest saint
of modern times," this is explained in part by the extraordinary father
and mother she had. I was given the grace of being able to go to Lisieux
for the beatification and I think the joy of that day will remain forever
in those who were present. Although I have participated in other beatifications,
it was always in Rome. This was the first time I could attend one in the
blessed's place of origin, and that made it more intimate. What impressed
me most was the family atmosphere of that day: There were people from very
different places and continents, not only from Europe but also from Africa
and Asia -- all united by their common devotion to Thérèse and
her parents, as well as many young people and married couples with their children.
It seemed to be the celebration of one great family. Added to this is the
fact it was a brilliant day, mild, really spring-like, as Thérèse
would have liked.
During the first centuries of the Church there were laypeople, young
people of different professions, families recognized as saints such as St.
Cecilia, her husband Valerian and her brother-in-law; or St. Vitalis and
his wife St. Valeria and their sons, Gervase and Protase, martyrs.
However, in the course of the centuries, though holiness was always a universal
vocation, in pastoral practice withdrawal from the world was favored, and
the practice of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience,
and the profession of these as the state of perfection. The layman,
to the degree that he is immersed in the world and has obligations of a
temporal character, seemed relegated to a less exacting and committed Christianity.
In the history of spirituality, it is only with St. Francis of Sales and later
St. Thérèse herself that in the pastoral order, holiness was
increasingly a universal call addressed to all and accessible to all. This
is the "novelty" of Vatican II.
Beginning with Pope John Paul II's pontificate, the Church became increasingly
interested in promoting the causes of laypeople who lived their Christian
faith by assuming all their temporal commitments in a heroic way.
In general, blesseds and saints are remembered in the liturgy on the
day of their death. With the beatification of the Martin spouses, the Church
has established for the first time that the commemoration of these spouses
not be the day of their death, but of their marriage. With this I understand
that the Church wishes to point out the importance of marital union as a way
of sanctification and source of elevation of society.
Although the Martins lived in a historic time and circumstances that
are very different from our own, their experience is an example for us in
many aspects. Above all, they teach us the truth of Jesus' words:
"Seek first the Kingdom of God and his justice and all the rest will be given
unto you." Indeed, they experienced the happiness of profound and generous
spousal and family Christian love and had the fortitude necessary to face
all the sacrifices. Although they suffered the loss of four small children,
the difficulties and demands of indispensable work to support the family,
and serious illnesses -- she died of cancer at 46 and her husband, then
widowed, suffered from cerebral arteriosclerosis -- love, trust and gratitude
among them and toward God always prevailed.
Also an example for us is the way they were able to reconcile and face
the demands of often exhausting work with the family, educating each one
of their children with loving and firm dedication in religious practice to
overcome all obstacles.
Moreover, the Martin spouses’ show that the family is not an ambit closed
in on itself but open to others. They showed solicitude and help to all those
who entered into contact with them; women laborers who worked for the family
business, the domestic servants, the city's poor. In addition, they gave
witness of their Christian spirit by living the harsh moments of the Franco-German
war when it affected Alençon and its surroundings, with patriotism
and compassion, free of hatred.
Louis Martin and Marie-Zélie Guérin can give light and
strength to Christian spouses and parents to make their marital life a source
of joy and a way of holiness. They give witness to the fact that, when the
Christian family is animated by reciprocal love it is the ambit where everyone
-- parents and children -- can grow and develop to the point of attaining
holiness and thus make an irreplaceable contribution to society and the Church.
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Mary Mother of GOD 15
Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary 
Friday November 25 Saints of Séptimo
Kaléndas Decémbris 
Quote: Pope Paul
VI’s 1969 
Benedict XVI
met with Aram I Catholicos of Cilicia,
the highest authority of the Orthodox
Church. The
Pope remembered the martyrs of the
Armenian Church and the Armenian genocide,
without explicitly mentioning it, and
denounced the persecution of Christians in modern
times. Benedict
XVI
June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: