3rd
v. St. Amator Bishop of Autun France
Augustodúni sancti Amatóris Epíscopi. At Autun, St. Amator, bishop.
Amator of Autun B (RM). Bishop Amator of Autun (Benedictines).
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310
St. Catherine of Alexandria Amazing wisdom debating skills many became
Christians about 200 soldiers members of the emperor’s family All of them
were martyred
According to the Legend of St.
Catherine, this young woman converted to Christianity after receiving a
vision. At the age of 18, she debated 50 pagan philosophers. Amazed at her
wisdom and debating skills, they became Christians—as did about 200 soldiers
and members of the emperor’s family. All of them were martyred.
Sentenced to be executed on a spiked wheel, Catherine touched
the wheel and it shattered. She was beheaded. Centuries later, angels are
said to have carried the body of St. Catherine to a monastery at the foot
of Mt. Sinai.
Devotion to her spread as a result of the Crusades. She was
invoked as the patroness of students, teachers, librarians and lawyers. Catherine
is one of the 14 Holy Helpers, venerated especially in Germany and Hungary.
Comment: The pursuit of God's wisdom may
not lead to riches or earthly honors. In Catherine's case, this pursuit
contributed to her martyrdom. She was not, however, foolish in preferring
to die for Jesus rather than live only by denying him. All the rewards that
her tormenters offered her would rust, lose their beauty or in some other
way become a poor exchange for Catherine's honesty and integrity in following
Jesus Christ.
Quote: “Therefore I [King Solomon] prayed,
and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison
with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;/ Because all gold, in
view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted
mire. Beyond health and comeliness I loved her, and I chose to have her rather
than the light, because the splendor of her never yields to sleep. Yet all
good things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her
hands; and I rejoiced in them all, because Wisdom is their leader, though
I had not known that she is the mother of these” (Wisdom 7:7-12).
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307 St. Phileas
Martyr Egyptian bishop Thymus
he became bishop of his native
city in the Nile Delta and was renowned for his learning and wisdom. Arrested
during the persecution of Emperor Maximinus, he refused to offer
sacrifices to the gods and was beheaded by the local governor. With him
died Philoromus, a tribune and treasurer at Alexandria,
who objected to the cruelties inflicted upon Phileas and a group of Christians.
A reliable contemporary account is extant, and Phileas was
mentioned by the historian Eusebius of Caesarea.
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311 St. Faustus
priest Egyptian martyr + 650 others
Passi sunt étiam Alexandríæ, in eádem persecutióne,
sancti Mártyres Faustus Présbyter, Dídius et Ammónius,
itémque Epíscopi quátuor Ægyptii, idest Philéas,
Hesychius, Pachómius et Theodórus, cum áliis sexcéntis
sexagínta, quos persecutiónis gládius evéxit
ad cælos.
There suffered also at Alexandria in the same persecution
the holy martyrs Faustus, a priest, Didius, and Ammonius; likewise four
bishops of Egypt, Phileas, Hesychius, Pachomius, and Theodore, with others
numbering six hundred and sixty, whom the sword of persecution sent to heaven.
with Ammonius, Didius, Hesychius,
Pachomius, Phileas, Theodore, and more than six hundred fifty others. Faustus
was a priest of Alexandria, Egypt. Phileas, Pachomius, Hesychius, and Theodore
were bishops.
Faustus, Didius, Ammonius, Phileas, Hesychius, Pachomius, Theodore &
Comp. MM (RM)
The Alexandrian priest, Faustus, and bishops Didius, Ammonius, Phileas,
Hesychius, Pachomius, and Theodore were among the 660 Egyptians martyred under
Maximian Galerius (Benedictines).
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311 St. Peter
of Alexandria martyred Bishop of Alexandria from 300 native
of Alexandria, Egypt
Alexandríæ
natális sancti Petri, ejúsdem urbis Epíscopi et Mártyris;
qui, cum esset ómnibus virtútibus exornátus, ibídem,
Galérii Maximiáni præcépto, cápite obtruncátus
est.
At Alexandria, the birthday of St. Peter, bishop of
that city, graced with every virtue, who was beheaded by command of Galerius
Maximian.
Peter survived the persecutions
of Emperor Diocletian and served as a confessor for the suffering Christians.
Made head of the famed Catechetical School of Alexandria, he was a vigorous
opponent of Origenism before receiving appointment as bishop. He composed
a set of rules by which those who had lapsed might be readmitted to the
faith after appropriate penance, a settlement which was not to the liking
of extremists of the community. Thus, in 306 when the persecutions began
again, Peter was forced to flee the city. The partisans of Melitius, Peter’s
chief critic, installed their favorite as bishop of Alexandria, thereby
starting the Melitian Schism which troubled the see for many years. Peter
returned to Alexandria in 311 after a lull in the persecutions, but was
soon arrested and beheaded by Roman officials acting on the decree of Emperor
Maximian.
He is called the “seal and complement of martyrs” as he was the last Christian
slain by Roman authorities.
Eusebius of Caesarea described him as “a model bishop, remarkable for
his virtuous life and his ardent study of the Scriptures.”
He is much revered by the Coptic Christians, although since 1969, his
cult has been confined to local calendars in the Catholic Church.
ST. PETER, MARTYR, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA (A.D. 311)
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.[1] Also a paschal treatise, of
which some fragments are extant.[2] From St. Epiphanius[3] 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[4] 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.)
Peter Martyr of Alexandria BM
(RM) 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).
311 St Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, Martyr
Eusebius calls this prelate an excellent teacher of the Christian religion
and a great bishop, being admirable for his virtue and for his knowledge
of the Holy Scriptures. In the year 300 he succeeded St Theonas in the see
of Alexandria and he governed that church for twelve years, for the nine
last of which he sustained the persecution carried on by Diocletian and his
successors. He never ceased begging of God for himself and his flock necessary
grace and courage, exhorting them to die daily to their own wills 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, the Thebaid and Libya, and in this large district there
were numbers of Christians who apostatized in one way or another. St Peter
published fourteen canons of instruction as to how such lapsi who wished
to be reconciled were to be treated, and the whole Eastern Church later adopted
these canons.
Eventually St Peter himself had to seek concealment away
from Alexandria, and during his absence the Meletian Schism was formed (not
to be confused with the more important Meletian Schism at Antioch, fifty
years later). The exact circumstances are uncertain, but it would appear
that Meletius, Bishop of Lycopolis, began uncanonically to exercise St Peter’s
metropolitan functions, and held ordinations in sees whose occupants were
living but in hiding. To justify his actions and to impose upon men by a
zeal for discipline he published calumnies against St Peter and had the
assurance to say that Peter was indulgent to the lapsed in receiving them
too easily to communion.
Thus he formed a schism and succeeded in disturbing the whole church of
Egypt when all the energy and strength of Christians was required to stand
up against the persecution. Meletius being contumacious, there was nothing
for St Peter to do but to excommunicate him.
From his place of hiding St Peter was able to continue to administer his
church and care for the suffering faithful, and eventually he could return
to his see; but almost at once Maximinus Daia, caesar in the East, renewed
persecution, and Peter was seized, when no one expected it, and hurried
to execution without charge or trial. The Roman Martyrology also names the
four other bishops who with over 600 others “were raised to Heaven by the
sword of persecution” in Egypt at this time.
In Egypt St Peter is called
“the Seal and Complement of the Persecution”, because he was the last martyr
put to death by public authority at Alexandria, and also sometimes, “He
who passed out through the wall”. The reason for this curious designation
is explained in his Greek passio, which, however, lacks all
authority. It is said therein that when St Peter was arrested his prison was
completely surrounded by Christians who interceded for him with Heaven
and would not go away, and when the order came for his execution the crowd
was so great that the officers could not approach the building. It was therefore
decided to massacre them all. St Peter foresaw this and, not wishing to be
the occasion of such slaughter, secretly sent a message to the commandant
that if a breach was made in the wall of the prison at night, he could be
taken without anybody knowing. This was accordingly done, and there was such
heavy rain and wind that nobody heard the noise made by the masons. St Peter
urged the guards to make haste lest someone should awake, and he was executed
before any of his faithful friends knew what had happened.
Various
texts exist both in Greek and Latin of a supposed passio of
St Peter, but they contain nothing which deserves credit; see CMH., pp.
620-621. On the other hand Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History
(bks vii, viii and ix) several times makes mention of this martyr,
and in the early Syriac breviarium we have an entry under
November 24: “At Alexandria the Great, the bishop Peter, an ancient confessor.”
Although the saint displayed great literary activity, only fragments of his
works remain. There is evidence of a widespread cult of St Peter for
example; he early found a place in the Typikon of Jerusalem.
Consult also Tillemont, Mémoires, vol. v, pp.
755—757; Bardenhewer, Geschichte der altkirchilchen Literatur,
vol. ii, pp. 203—211; DTC., vol.
xii, cc. 1802—1804; Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxvii (1949),
pp. 117—130; and for a summary of the canons for the lapsi,
DCB., vol. iv, pp. 331-332.
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349
Marcellus of Nicomedia M (RM)
Nicomedíæ sancti Marcélli Presbyteri, qui, Constántii
témpore, ab Ariánis e rupe præcipitátus, Martyr
occúbuit.
At Nicomedia, in the time of Constantius, St. Marcellus,
a priest, who died a martyr by being hurled from a rock by the Arians.
Marcellus, a priest of Nicomedia in Asia Minor,
was seized by Arians during the reign of Emperor Constantius and killed by
being hurled from a high rock (Benedictines).
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399
Siricius, Pope known for his learning and piety n clerical celibacy and also
the earliest papal decree that has survived in its entirety (RM)
Romæ sancti Sirícii, Papæ et Confessóris, doctrína,
pietáte et religiónis zelo præclári, qui vários
damnávit hæréticos, et disciplínam ecclesiásticam
salubérrimis decrétis instaurávit.
At Rome, St. Siricius, pope and confessor, celebrated
for his learning, piety, and zeal for religion, who condemned various heretics
and published salutary laws concerning ecclesiastical discipline.
Born in Rome, Italy; died there,
November 26, 399; added to the Roman Martyrology by Pope Benedict XIV. Son
of Tiburtius, Siricius became a deacon, known for his learning and piety.
He was elected pope in December 384, succeeding Pope Saint Damasus. Siricius's
pontificate was marked by his denunciation of the monk Jovinian who denied
the perpetual virginity of Mary and for a decretal Siricius sent to Bishop
Himerius of Tarragona (Spain) requiring married priests to desist from cohabitation
with their wives; this is the earliest insistence on clerical celibacy and
also the earliest papal decree that has survived in its entirety. He supported
Saint Martin of Tours by excommunicating Felix of Trier for his role in
bringing about the execution of Priscillian by the emperor (Attwater, Benedictines,
Coulson, Delaney, Encyclopedia)
399 ST SIRICIUS, POPE
Pope Benedict
XIV added the name of St Siricius to the Roman Martyrology, with the statement
that he was “distinguished for his
learning, piety and zeal for religion, condemning various heretics and strengthening
ecclesiastical discipline by very salutary decrees”. The heretics referred
to were principally the monk Jovinian, who denied the perpetual virginity
of our Lady and the merit of virginity, and Bonosus, Bishop of Sardica,
who shared these errors. A letter in which he replies to certain questions
asked by Himerius, Bishop of Tarragona, strengthened discipline. This general
instruction, which he ordered Himerius to publish to other bishops, is the
earliest papal decretal extant in its entirety. Among its provisions it
required that priests and deacons who were married should cease to cohabit
with their wives, and this is the earliest known enforcement of clerical
celibacy by the Roman see. Siricius sent this letter also to the church of
Africa. It was this pope who supported St Martin of Tours, and excommunicated
Felix of Trier for taking part with Ithacius to bring about the execution
by the emperor’s order of the heretic Priscillian.
In
390 Pope Siricius consecrated the basilica of St Paul (“outside the walls”),
which had been enlarged by the Emperor Theodosius I, and his name is still
to be seen on a pillar salvaged from the fire of 1823. St Siricius governed
for fifteen years and was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla.
We know very little of St Siricius as an individual, though the
Liber Pontificalis (ed. Duchesne), vol. i, pp. 217-218,
tells us something of his action as a pontiff and administrator. See also
Hefele-Leclercq, Histoire des Conciles, vol. ii, pp. 68—80;
Tillemont, Mémoires, vol. x;
and E. Caspar, Geschicte des Papsttums, vol. i (1930), pp. 257 Seq.
There is also a long notice in DCB., vol. iv, pp. 696—702.
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6th v.
Saint Stylianus love of children, and he would heal them of
their infirmities. Even
after his death
Hadrianópoli, in Paphlagónia, sancti Styliáni Anachorétæ,
miráculis clari.
At Adrianople in Paphlagonia, St. Stylian, anchoret,
renowned for miracles.
Born in Paphlagonia of Asia
Minor sometime between the fourth and sixth centuries. He inherited a great
fortune from his parents when they died, but he did not keep it. He gave
it away to the poor according to their need, desiring to help those who were
less fortunate.
Stylianus left the city and went to a monastery, where he devoted
his life to God. Since he was more zealous and devout than the other monks,
he provoked their jealousy and had to leave.
He left the monastery to live alone in a cave in the wilderness,
where he spent his time in prayer and fasting. The goodness and piety of
the saint soon became evident to the inhabitants of Paphlagonia, and they
sought him out to hear his teaching, or to be cured by him. Many were healed
of physical and mental illnesses by his prayers.
St Stylianus was known for his love of children, and he would
heal them of their infirmities. Even after his death, the citizens of Paphlagonia
believed that he could cure their children. Whenever a child became sick,
an icon of St Stylianus was painted and was hung over the child's bed.
At the hour of his death, the face of St Stylianus suddenly became radiant,
and an angel appeared to receive his soul.
Known as a protector of children, St Stylianus is depicted in iconography
holding an infant in his arms. Pious Christians ask him to help and protect
their children, and childless women entreat his intercession so that they
might have children.
Patron Saint for Au Pair, or,
to be more general, for child care
St. Stylianus was born in Adrianopolis,
in today's northern Turkey in the 7th century. In the orthodox Christian
icons he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man holding a swaddled
infant. During a lengthy period of meditation in a cave (hence "the Hermit"),
Stylianus, than a young priest, found his ministry. He became well-known
for healing, teaching and taking care of children. In his book on Orthodox
Saints, Fr. George Paulos makes the claim that "His (Stylianus') was probably
the first day-care center of the world, where mothers could safely leave
their children while tending to other matters of the home".
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The Consecration of the Church of the Great Martyr
George at Kiev: Beginning with the holy Prince Vladimir (July 15),
it was the pious custom of Russian princes to build a church in honor of
their patron saint. Thus, St Vladimir (in Baptism Basil) built at Kiev and
Vyshgorod temples dedicated to St Basil the Great (January 1).
Prince Izyaslav I (1054-1068) (in Baptism Demetrius) built a church and
monastery at Kiev in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius (October
26). Prince Yaroslav the Wise (in Baptism George) started to build a church
and men's monastery in honor of his patron saint, the Holy Great Martyr George
(April 23). He also built a church named for his wife's patron saint, the
Holy Great Martyr Irene (May 5). The temple in honor of the Great Martyr George
was consecrated by St Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev (October 21), and a
yearly commemoration was established in honor of this event.
|
7th v. Egelwine
of Athelney a prince of the house of Wessex, lived at Athelney in Somersetshire
(AC)
Egelwine, a prince of the house of Wessex, lived at Athelney in Somersetshire
(Benedictines).
|
| 620 St. Basolus
hermit miracles worker born in Limoges, France,
around 555.
In território Rheménsi
natális sancti Básoli Confessóris.
In the district of Rheims, the birthday of St. Basolus, confessor.
ST BASOLUS, OR BASLE (c. A.D. 620)
BASOLUS was born at Limoges in the middle of the sixth century,
and after living some time as a soldier, heard the call of God to become
a monk. He went on pilgrimage to the shrine of St Remigius at Rheims, and
was sent by the archbishop to the monastery of Verzy. He was an exemplary
monk, but he needed a life of more solitude, so his abbot allowed him to
inhabit a cell alone, near the top of a neighbouring hill. He remained there
for the rest of his life. Numerous miracles were attributed to St Basolus.
Among them, it is said that the count of Champagne, hunting nearby, ran a
boar in the direction of the saint’s cell. The animal took refuge under the
skirt of his habit, and the hounds stopped dead some yards away, refusing
to come any nearer.* {* This story with variations is, of course, a
commonplace of hagiology. It is told in Wales of St Melangell, the animal
in her case being a hare. She, like Basolus, received a grant of land
from the astonished hunter (May 27).}
The count was so impressed by this manifestation of the sacredness of the
hermit’s home that he made him a present of a large tract of land. St Basolus
had several disciples in the solitary life, one of them being St Sindulf.
Both these holy hermits are named in the Roman Martyrology.
Three short Latin lives of
this religious have been printed ; the first was edited by Mabillon, vol.
ii, pp. 6o—62 the second
may most conveniently be found in MGH., Scriptores,
vol. xiii, pp. 449—45 i ; the third is in Migne, PL., vol. cxxxvii, cc.
643—658. See also E. Quentelot, St Basle et le monastère
de Verzy (1892).
He became a monk in Reims, and then entered a hermitage. Basolus spent
forty years on a hill overlooking Reims. Also called BasIe, the saintly
hermit was known for miracles.
Basolus of Verzy, Hermit (RM)
(also known as Basle) Born in Limoges, c. 555; died c. 620. Basle was a
soldier before becoming a monk at Verzy, near Rheims. Then for forty years
he lived as a hermit near the tomb of Saint Remy on top of a hill overlooking
the city, where Saint Sindulf became one of his disciples. He was celebrated
as a miracle worker (Attwater 2, Benedictines, Coulson, Encyclopedia).
|
640 Saint Alypius
the Stylite was born in the city of Adrianopolis
in Paphlagonia relics of the saint of God healed many of those who came
in faith church he founded in honor of the holy Martyr Euphemia
His mother, a Christian, was widowed early, and she sent her
son to be educated by Bishop Theodore. She distributed her substance to the
poor, then began to live an ascetic life near the church as a deaconess.
St Alypius, from his early years, wanted to devote his life
to God and yearned for the solitary life, although Bishop Theodore would not
give him permission to do so. Once, when St Alypius was accompanying his
bishop to Constantinople, the holy Martyr Euphemia (September 16) appeared
to him in a vision, summoning St Alypius to return to Adrianopolis and found
a church in her name.
With contributions offered by believers in Adrianopolis, St
Alypius did build a church in the name of the holy Martyr Euphemia, on the
site of a dilapidated pagan temple infested by legions of devils. Beside
the church, under the open sky, the saint erected a pillar over a pagan tomb.
For fifty-three years St Alypius struggled upon the pillar, praying to God
and teaching those who came to him.
The demons which infested the pagan cemetery fell upon the
ascetic by night and pelted him with stones. St Alypius, wanted nothing
to stand in the way of the attacks of the spirits of darkness, then even
took down the boards that served him as a roof, protecting him from the rain
and wind. In the face of the saint's conquering steadfastness, the demons
fled the place forever, which had been sanctified by his deed of voluntary
martyrdom.
Fourteen years before his death, St Alypius was no longer able
to stand. He was compelled to lie on his side because of the weakness of
his legs, and endured grievous sufferings with humble gratitude. Around the
saint's pillar two monasteries sprang up: a men's monastery on the one side,
and a women's monastery on the other. St Alypius introduced strict monastic
rules for both monasteries and he directed both monasteries until his death.
St Alypius reposed in the year 640, at age 118. The body of the venerable
stylite was buried in the church he founded in honor of the holy Martyr Euphemia.
The relics of the saint of God healed many of those who came in faith.
Born in Adrianopolis, Paphlagonia,
Asia Minor; died 390 (?). This date is given by the Benedictines but may
or may not be wrong. The first stylite was in the 5th century; however, the
record of Stylianus's life has come to us in a highly legendary form. There
are some indications that he was born in the 7th century, yet this could
be simply due to the accretions of the story. He was a hermit, possibly in
the 4th century.
We know very little of Saint Stylianus, so called because he
was a stylite, or pillar saint, which was not an easy task though the custom
spread quite widely in the East during the 6th through 8th centuries.
His unreliable legend says that
his birth in Adrianopolis was announced to his mother by the miraculous
vision of a lamb with two flaming candles on its horns, and another vision
signified the glorious future of the little child. Bishop Theodore is said
to have taken charge of Stylianus at the death of his father, when the saint
was three.
As soon as he came of age, his bishop made him a deacon and
entrusted him with the care of the parish. But at 30 he felt called to a
life of perfection and became a hermit, first in an isolated cell, fasting
and mortifying himself out of his love for God. It is said that he was then
led by visions to the top of a column, where he stayed for the rest of his
life, which lasted almost 100 years. There he was persecuted by demons and
accomplished many miracles both before and after his death.
It is said that for 53 years he remained standing, day after
day, until at last his legs gave out. For 14 years thereafter, he remained
on his side without once leaving his pillar. At age 93 he was delivered from
the cold and isolation, from the rain and the insects, from hunger, thirst,
and extreme discomfort, and, by the grace of God, ascended into the regions
of light and peace.
The tradition of the stylites was begun by Saint Simeon the
Ancient (died 459), a rigorous ascetic in the tradition of the Syrian monks,
who was plagued by crowds of devoted or curious people. They pressed around
him so closely that in order to escape them without running away, he climbed
up on top of a column. In addition to solving his immediate problem, he
found two other advantages: it was conducive to the stability that was so
dear to the hearts of monks in retreat; and it added to his ascetic sufferings.
In order to enjoy these advantages, and also to follow the example of Saint
Simeon, who was greatly venerated, many other anchorites also became stylites,
and thus lived solitary lives without really being solitary.
While stylites rejected the "world" in the New Testament sense
of the word, unlike the desert monks, the stylites performed a prophetic
ministry and were visited by many people. They preached, gave counsel, reconciled
enemies, reproved sinners and led them to repentance, cast out devils, and
often manifested a gift of prophecy.
The faithful came unceasingly to the foot of the column. When
Simeon saw among them a native of distant Gaul, he entrusted him with an
affectionate message for his sister, Saint Geneviève (died 500), the
patroness of Paris.
The Pré Spirituel records the strange duel between two
stylites--one a Catholic, the other a Monophysite. After long arguments the
Catholic stylite, who lived about 30 miles from Aegea, Cilicia, asked the
heretic to send him a sample of his eucharist. He then placed the sample
in a pot of boiling water, and also added a sample of his own Eucharist.
The results of the test were conclusive: Only the Catholic Eucharist was
unaffected by the water and heat (It's only a legend, guys!). Another Monophysite
stylite, who lived in the region of Hierapolis, admitted his defeat after
a debate with Saint Ephraim.
In most cases there was a ladder reaching up to the stylites
perch so that people could talk to them confidentially. If there was no ladder,
then the visitor called up to the stylite, who told him to come to the foot
of the column, and from there they talked to each other without being overheard.
Sometimes the stylite's followers
were reluctant to leave his immediate vicinity, and in the case of Saint
Stylianus two communities, one of men and the other of women, grew up nearby.
Some of them, including his sister Mary, lived at the very foot of the column
and his mother set up a tent nearby and did all that she could to relieve
the sufferings of the ascetic so far as his piety and resolution would allow
her. Services were held seven times daily, and everyone, including Saint
Stylianus and his visitors took part.
It is possible that the ancient symbolism of the column as
uniting heaven and earth helped to stimulate the practice of stylites, even
if they themselves were not aware of the symbolism. It is equally probable
that the unusual nature of this way of life played a part in its popularity.
But it would be wrong to suppose that the stylites were following a pagan
rite or that stylites intended to draw attention to themselves (though this
was a side-effect).
Modern Christians should be able to understand the need for
the stylites to escape the pressing crowds while still remaining to preach
God's love; however, the true value of this kind of asceticism may by harder
to understand. Yet, they followed the tendencies of Syrian asceticism in general.
The Syrian monks mortified their bodies by going without rest
and sleep, without simple hygiene, and by taking only enough food to avoid
suicide. Is this insanity? Not if it is understood. The purpose of such ascetic
practices is to use all their powers to prevent the demands of the body from
interfering with their spiritual aspirations. Clearly the idea that the body
is essentially evil underlay such terrible asceticism; nor is this surprising
in view of the influence Manicheeism had on the attitudes and faith of the
Syrian Christians.
The rule is this: The more the body suffers, the more the spirit
flowers. We can set aside the picturesque and the eccentric aspect. The prophets,
too, had strange ways for the ways of the Lord are not our ways. We can also
set aside the psycho- physiological aspects--the manifold extensions of the
strength of the spirit and the extreme longevity of the stylites--and concentrate
on essentials. The theory of the stylites, which they practiced with magnificent
heroism, is faithful to the mystical theology of the Eastern Church, in accordance
with which supernatural peace is to be obtained by blessed tranquility (hesychia)
preceded by perfect temperance (encrateia) and impassiveness (apatheia),
or in other words indifference to the needs and claims of the body. Discipline
and asceticism were the means to attain these. The stylites held, very logically,
that the more severe the discipline, the harsher the asceticism, the greater
the hope of winning the palm that Saint Paul promised to the winner of the
race (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
Stylianus is the patron saint
of sterile wives.
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St.
Martin of Arades Confessor to Charles Martel Benedictine
monk at Corbie monastery in France.
|
975 St. Conrad
gave inheritance to poor renovated churches avoided secular affairs
Constántiæ, in Germánia,
sancti Conrádi Epíscopi. At Constance in
Germany, St. Conrad, bishop.
ST CONRAD, BISHOP OF CONSTANCE (A.D. 975)
THIS saint belonged to
the great Guelf family, being the second son of Henry, Count of Altdorf, founder
of the existing abbey of Weingarten in Württemberg. The
boy was sent to the cathedral-school of Constance to make his clerical studies;
and soon after he was ordained priest the provostship of the cathedral was
conferred upon him. The bishop himself dying in 934, Conrad was chosen
to fill the episcopal chair. St Ulric, Bishop of Augsburg, who had promoted
his election, frequently visited him and the friendship in which these
two great prelates were linked together was very close. St Conrad, having
dedicated himself with all that he possessed to God, made an exchange of
his estates with his brother for other lands situated nearer Constance,
and settled them all upon that church and the poor, having first built and
endowed three stately churches at Constance in honour of St Maurice, St John
the Evangelist and St Paul, and renovated many old ones.
Pilgrimages
to Jerusalem were already frequent in those days, and St Conrad thrice visited
those holy places, making his journeys truly pilgrimage of penance and devotion.
Practically nothing else reliable is recorded in the lives of the saint,
all of which were written a long time after his death. In pictures and statues
he is usually represented with a chalice and spider, for this reason: It
happened that a large spider dropped into the chalice whilst he was celebrating
Mass one Easter-day; it was the common belief of his time that all
or most spiders were poisonous, but Conrad, out of devotion and respect
for the holy mysteries, deliberately swallowed the spider, without
receiving any harm. After an episcopate of over forty years St Conrad
died in 975, and was canonized in 1123. Considering the time in which he
lived, he seems to have kept somewhat aloof from secular politics, but it
is recorded that he accompanied the Emperor Otto I to Italy in the year 962.
A biography of Conrad written more than a century after his death by Udalschalk
of Maissach is an unsatisfactory composition, full of legendary matter.
It is printed by Pertz in MGH., Sriptores, vol. iv, pp. 430—460,
and is followed by another setting of what is practically the same story.
Some further material is contained in the Historia Welforum Weingartensis,
also printed in Pertz, Scriptores, vol. xxi, pp. 454—477, and there
are a few official documents belonging to Conrad’s episcopate in Ladewig,
Regesta episcoporum Constantiensium, vol. i (1886), pp. 44—48.
There was a considerable later cultus, and this was probably responsible
for the violence of the Reformers who in 1526 threw his relics into the
lake, though the head was hidden and preserved. See also the Freiburg Diocesan-Archiv,
vol. xi, pp. 255—272, and vol. xxiii (1893), pp. 49—60; J. Mayer, Der
hl. Konrad (1898); Gröber und Merk, Das St Konrads Jubilaeum
(1923); and Kunstle, Ikonographie, vol. ii, pp. 385—388.
Of the famous Guelph family and son of Count Henry of Altdorf, he was educated
at the cathedral school of Constance and was ordained. He was made provost
of the cathedral and in 934 was elected bishop of Constance. He gave his
share of his inheritance to the Church and to the poor and built and renovated
many churches in his see.
He accompained Emperor Otto I to
Italy in 962 though he concentrated on ecclesiastical matters and avoided
secular affairs diring the forty two years he was bishop. He was canonized
in 1123.
Conrad of Constance B (RM) ; canonized in 1123 (1823 per Attwater 2).
Of the famous Guelph family and son of Count Henry of Altdorf, he was educated
at the cathedral school of Constance, Switzerland, and was ordained. He
was made provost of the cathedral and in 934 was elected bishop of Constance.
He gave his share of his inheritance to the Church and to the poor and built
and renovated many churches in his see.
Three times he made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and in an age when
most prelates were continually involved in secular politics, he succeeded
in attending exclusively to ecclesiastical interests during the 42 years of
his episcopacy. Nevertheless, he accompanied Emperor Otto I to Italy in 962
(Attwater 2, Benedictines, Coulson, Delaney).
Saint Conrad is pictured as a bishop holding a chalice with a spider above
or in it (Roeder). This depiction relates to the story that a spider once
dropped into the chalice as he celebrated Mass. Although it was believed
then that all spiders were deadly poisonous, Conrad nevertheless swallowed
the Blood of Christ, out of respect (Coulson). Sometimes images of Saint
Conrad contain (1) a serpent and chalice (not to be confused with Saint John);
(2) asperges; or exorcising (Roeder).
|
998
St. Nicon Missionary called Metanoeite Armenian Pontus on the Black Sea “the
Preacher of Repentance”
In
Arménia sancti Nicónis Mónachi. In
Armenia, St. Nicon, monk.
Born at Pontus Polemoniacus at the beginning of the tenth century.
He was the son of a wealthy landowner, and he was given the name Nicetas
in Baptism.
Since he had no desire to take over the management of his family's
wealth and estates, Nicetas entered the monastery of Chrysopetro, where he
shone forth in prayer and asceticism. When he received the monastic tonsure,
he was given the new name Nikon. The new name symbolizes a new life in the
Spirit (Romans 7:6), and the birth of the new man (Ephesians 4:24). A monk
is expected to stop associating himself with the old personality connected
to his former life in the world, and to devote himself entirely to God.
ST NIKON “METANOEITE” (A.D. 998)
NIKON, a native of Pontus, in his youth fled from his friends to a monastery
called Khrysopetro, where he lived twelve years in the practice of the most
austere penance and prayer. The spiritual fruit which his conferences and
exhortations produced induced his superiors to employ him in preaching the
word of God to the people. He therefore went as a missionary to Crete, which
island had recently been recovered from the hands of the Saracens. Here
Nikon reconverted many who had apostatized to Islam. He began all his sermons
with the word Metanoeite, that is, “Repent!” whence
this surname was given him. By teaching penitents to lay the axe to the
very root of sin, St Nikon had the comfort of seeing many wonderful conversions
wrought. After having preached in Crete almost twenty years, he passed to
the continent of Europe, and announced the divine word in Sparta and other
parts of Greece, confirming his doctrine with miracles. He died in a monastery
in Peloponnesus in 998, and is honoured both in the Greek and Roman martyrologies.
The long Greek
Life of St Nikon has been known since Martène and Durand published
Sirmond’s Latin translation of it in
their Amplissima collectio, vol. vi, pp. 837—887.
In 1906 S. Lambros edited the Greek text from another manuscript at
Mount Athos. The document is of considerable historic
interest and we also possess what purports to be the spiritual will and
testament of the saint. See also Prince Max of Saxony,
Das christliche Hellas (1919), pp. 129—133, and DTC., vol.
xi, cc.
655—657.
St Nikon had a remarkable gift
for preaching. When he spoke of virtue and spiritual matters, his listeners
were filled with heartfelt compunction and love for God. His words produced
such spiritual fruit in those who heard him that he was asked to travel
through the eastern regions to preach. He visited Armenia, Crete, Euboea,
Aegina, and the Peloponnesus, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ.
"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." This was the
message of St John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2), and of Christ Himself (Matthew
4:17). This was also the message of St Nikon. Wherever he went, he would begin
his sermons with "Repent," hence he was called "Nikon Metanoeite," or "Nikon,
the Preacher of Repentance."
At first, people paid little heed to his message. Then gradually
he won their hearts through his preaching, his miracles, and his gentle,
loving nature. He stressed the necessity for everyone to repent, warning that
those who utter a few sighs and groans and think that they have achieved true
repentance have deluded themselves. St Nikon told the people that true sorrow
for one's sins is cultivated by prayer, self-denial, almsgiving, ascetical
efforts, and by confession to one's spiritual Father.
After sowing the seeds of piety, St Nikon began to see them
bear fruit. People started to change their lives, but he urged them to strengthen
their souls in virtue and good works so that they would not be overwhelmed
by the cares of this world.
Eventually, St Nikon settled in a cave outside Sparta. Soon
he moved into the city, because so many people were coming to hear him. In
the center of Sparta, he built a church dedicated to Christ the Savior. In
time a monastery grew up around the church.
St Nikon never ceased to preach the Word of God, and to lead
people back to the spiritual life of the Church. He also healed the sick,
and performed many other miracles.
St Nikon fell asleep in the Lord in 998, and his memory was
honored by the people around Sparta. During the Turkish occupation of Greece,
however, he was all but forgotten, except in Sparta. After the Greek Revolution
in 1821, a service to St Nikon was composed by Father Daniel Georgopoulos,
and was based on the saint's Life, which had been written by Igumen Gregory
of St Nikon's Monastery in 1142.
St Nikon was recognized as the patron saint of the diocese
of Monemvasia and Lakedaimonia in 1893 when the cathedral church in Sparta
was dedicated to St Nikon, the Preacher of Repentance.
998
St. Nicon Missionary called Metanoite Armenian Pontus on the Black Sea in Asia Minor and entered a monastery at Khrysopetro.
He was then sent as a preacher to Crete, and after enjoying considerable
success, he went to his native country and Greece. He was given the title
Metanoite because of his common use of penance as a theme for his sermons.
He was noted for his miracles. He died in Peloponnesus.
Nikon Metanoite (RM) (also known as Nicon) Born in Pontus (now
in Armenia); died in Peloponnesus, Greece, in 998. Nikon received his surname
from the Greek 'metanoeia' (change of heart) because penance was always
the theme of his preaching. In his youth, he secretly ran away from his
wealthy family to an Armenian monastery called Khrysopetro (Stone of God),
where he engaged in austere penance and humble prayer for 12 years. The purity
of his love of God when he spoke about virtue caused his superiors to send
him out into the world to preach the Word of God as a missionary, first in
Armenia and later on the Saracen-held island of Crete for 20 years, then
in Greece.
In imitation of Saint John the Baptist, Saint Nikon began every
sermon with a call to conversion and the necessity for sincere repentance
and penance. He taught that earnest prayer, mortification, alms, and holy
meditation are needed to allow the resolution of conversion to take root
in the heart. The sweetness with which Nikon recommended the most severe
maxims of the Gospel, made our faith appear amiable to the Islamics themselves.
The words he preached were confirmed by many miracles (Attwater 2, Benedictines,
Coulson, Husenbeth).
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Saint_James_the_Hermit
Cyrrhus in Syria gift of healing and even of raising the dead
Saint James the Hermit was the disciple of St Maron (February 14). He
lived in asceticism on a mountain not far from the city of Cyrrhus in Syria.
He suffered grievous ills, but he always wore chains, ate food only in
the evening, and prayed constantly.
By such efforts he attained to high spiritual perfection, receiving from
the Lord power over demons,
the gift of healing and even of raising the dead.
St James peacefully fell asleep in the Lord.
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1180 Blessed Walter
of Aulne followed Saint Bernard to Clairvaux OSB Cist. (AC)
Walter, a priest of Liège, followed Saint Bernard to Clairvaux.
Later he became the first prior of the abbey of Aulne in Brabant (Benedictines).
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1151 St. Bellinus
Devoted bishop of Padua who was murdered while performing his duties
Apud villam cui nomen Fracta, in território Rhodigiénsi,
sancti Bellíni, Epíscopi Patavíni et Mártyris;
qui a sicáriis, cum esset Ecclésiæ júrium defénsor
exímius, crudéliter impetítus ac multis illátis
vulnéribus occísus est.
In the village of Fracta, St. Bellinus, bishop of Padua
and martyr. The noble defender of the rights of the Church was cruelly
attacked by assassins, inflicting many wounds upon him, and then slaying
him.
Italy. Bellinus died in his see
while discharging his duties. Because of the nature of his death, he was
canonized three centuries later by Pope Eugene IV.
Bellinus of Padua BM (RM) (also known as Bellino); canonized by Pope Eugene IV.c(Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
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1178 BD PONTIUS
OF FAUCIGNY, ABBOT small pieces of bone, which are said
to have been the occasion of miracles
IN the year 1896 Pope Leo XIII confirmed
the cultus of this holy abbot; he had been greatly venerated by St
Francis de Sales, who opened his tomb in 1620 to examine the relics and
took away several small pieces of bone, which are said to have been the
occasion of miracles. Pontius belonged to a noble Savoyard family, and at
twenty became a canon regular at the abbey of Abondance in Chablais. He
was entrusted with the revision of the constitutions of his house and the
foundation in 1144 of a new monastery at Sixt, of which he was made abbot.
After ruling it with great distinction for twenty-eight years he went to
fulfil the same office at Abondance, but relinquished it soon after and
died a holy death in retirement at Sixt.
Not much reliable information seems to be available
regarding this abbot. Jean de Passier published in 1666 La vie du bx
Ponce de Faucigny, but
ancient records were then little studied. See, however, Mercier, “L’abbaye
et la vallée d’Abondance”
in the Mémoires et documents de l’Académje
salésienne, vol. viii (1885), pp. 1—308, and DHG., vol. i, cc.
147 and 151.
The best attempt to trace the career of Bd Pontius is that
of Canon L. Albert, Le bx Ponce de Faucigny (1903).
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1267 Silvester Gozzolini
vision of Saint Benedict, he organized the disciples Blue Benedictines he
had attracted; His tomb was the scene of many miracles, and in 1275
his relics were enshrined in the abbey church at Monte Fano (where they
still are). Clement VIII in 1598 ordered the name of Silvester Gozzolini
to be added to the Roman Martyrology and Leo XIII gave his feast to the whole
Western church. The Silvestrines are now a very small order, whose monks
are distinguished by a dark blue habit. OSB Abbot (RM)
Apud Fabriánum, in Picéno, beáti Silvéstri
Abbátis, Institutóris Congregatiónis Monachórum
Silvestrinórum.
At Fabriano in Piceno, St. Sylvester, abbot, founder
of the Congregation of Sylvestrine monks.
Born at Osimo, Italy, 1177; died at Monte Fano,
1267; equivalently canonized in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII.
1267 St Silvester Gozzolini, Abbot, Founder of the Silvesterine Benedictines
The Gozzolini were a noble family of Osimo, where St Silvester was born
in 1177. He was sent to read law at Bologna and Padua, but soon abandoned
his legal studies for theology and the Holy Scriptures, greatly to the anger
of his father, who is said to have refused to speak to him for ten years
on that account. Silvester was presented to a canonry at Osimo, where he
laboured until his zeal involved him in difficulties with his bishop. This
prelate was a man of disedifying life, and Silvester took it upon himself
to rebuke him, respectfully but firmly. The bishop was moved only to anger,
and threatened to relieve the saint of his benefice, which would not have
troubled him much for he had long been strongly drawn to the contemplative
life. This inclination is said to have strengthened into resolve when Silvester
saw the decaying corpse of a man who had been famous for his physical beauty,
a story told also of St Francis Borgia (untruly) and several other saints.
In 1227, being fifty years old, St Silvester resigned his
rich benefice and retired to a lonely spot some thirty miles from Osimo, where
he lived in great poverty and discomfort till the lord of the place gave
him a better hermitage. But this proved to be too damp, and he moved to Grotta
Fucile where he stayed, living an extremely penitential life, till 1231,
when he decided to establish a monastery for the disciples who now surrounded
him. This he did at Monte Fano, near Fabriano, building it partly from the
ruins of a pagan temple.
St Silvester chose for his monks the Rule of St Benedict in its most austere
interpretation, but owing to his extreme stress on certain points, particularly
poverty, and to the nature of the organization of his institute, it has
remained separate from the other congregations of Benedictines and does
not form part of their confederation.
Silvester governed his congregation with great wisdom and holiness
for thirty-six years, and when he died at ninety, eleven monasteries,
either new or reformed, recognized his leadership. His tomb was the scene
of many miracles, and in 1275 his relics were enshrined in the abbey church
at Monte Fano (where they still are). Clement VIII in 1598 ordered the name
of Silvester Gozzolini to be added to the Roman Martyrology and Leo XIII
gave his feast to the whole Western church. The Silvestrines are now a very
small order, whose monks are distinguished by a dark blue habit.
The
Life of St Silvester was written by a contemporary, Andrew de Giacomo of
Fabriano, who roust have penned his narrative between 1275 and 1280, some ten years after the founder’s death. His account
is full and seemingly reliable. The Latin text was first printed by C. S.
Franceschini, in his Vita di S. Silvestro Abate (1772).
Full use was made of this valuable source in the work of Amadeo Bolzonetti,
Il Monte Fano e un grande anacoreta; Ricordi stand (1906),
which discusses in detail the history of the cultus of the
saint.
Born of a noble family, Saint Silvester studied law at Bologna
and Padua, but, against his father's wishes, switched to the study of theology
and Scripture. He was ordained and became a canon in the cathedral of his
home town of Osima until he was 50. Then he respectfully, but firmly, rebuked
his bishop for the dissolute life he was leading. Silvester resigned his
benefice in 1227, and became a hermit 30 miles from Osimo. Here he lived
in poverty and discomfort until the landowner gave him a better hermitage.
This one proved to be too damp, so he moved to Grotta Fucile, where he lived
an extremely penitential life until 1231.
Directed by a vision of Saint Benedict, he organized the disciples he
had attracted into a monastery at Monte Fano near Fabriano in the Marches
of Ancona, thus founding the Silvestrine Benedictines, known as the Blue
Benedictines from the color of their habit. He taught a very strict interpretation
of the Benedictine rule. The congregation was approved by Pope Innocent IV
in 1247, and Silvester ruled it with "unbounded wisdom and gentleness" for
36 years until his death, by which time 11 monasteries were under his rule.
The Silvestrines still exist
as a small, independent Benedictine congregation (Attwater, Attwater 2, Benedictines,
Coulson, Delaney, Walsh).
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1311 Blessed Albert
of Haigerloch prior and parish priest OSB Monk (AC)
From 1261 until his death, Blessed Albert, born into the family of the
counts of Haigerloch in Hohenzollern (Germany), was a monk of Oberaltaich
in Bavaria, where he held the offices of prior and parish priest (Benedictines).
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1338 Blessed James
Benfatti a master in theology and a holy priest; Nearly
150 years after his death, when repairs were being made in the church where
he was buried, an accident opened his tomb, and people were startled to
find that his body was completely incorrupt. Again in 1604, the same phenomenon
was noted; worked many miracles among his flock. At his death
in 1338, many remarkable miracles occurred OP B (AC)
(also known as James of Mantua) Born in Mantua, Italy; died there; cultus
confirmed 1859 by Pope Pius IX. James Benefatti, bishop of Mantua,
was a famous man in his time; it is unfortunate that he is so little known
in ours.
1338 BD JAMES, Biscop OF MANTUA
Nicholas Boccasini, while
he was master general of the Dominicans, saw and appreciated the goodness
and talents of Friar James Benefatti, and called him to his side to be his
companion and adviser. He retained his services when he was created cardinal
in 1298, and when five years later Nicholas became pope (Bd Benedict XI)
one of the first acts of his brief pontificate was to appoint James Benefatti
to the see of Mantua. This was James’s native town, and he discharged the
duties of its pastor for many years with heroic energy and prudence. After
his death on November 19, 1338, he was at once venerated as a saint, but
devotion cooled until, in 1483, his tomb was accidentally broken up, when
the body was found to be incorrupt. This fact, and the report of miracles,
caused it to be solemnly enshrined, but again Bd James was almost forgotten.
Then in 1604 his tomb was again opened and the body found still entire; whereupon
Bishop Annibale of Mantua bore public testimony to the veneration in which
Bd James had been and should be held. This cultus was confirmed in
1859.
Not much seems to be known of this beatus, but when the confirmation
of his cultus was being proceeded with at Rome a
summary account was published in the Analecta Juris Pontificii,
vol. iv (1860), CC. 1896—1897. See also A. Touron,
Hommes illustres O.P., vol. ii, pp. 134—136; Ughelli, Italia
Sacra, vol. i, C. 938; and Procter, Dominican Saints, pp.
337—339.
James entered the Dominican convent in his home town about 1290. He was
both a master in theology and a holy priest. These qualities brought him to
the attention of his brother Dominican, Nicholas
Boccasino, the future Pope Benedict XI. As cardinal, Nicholas chose
the young Dominican from Mantua for his companion. He employed him in various
offices in Rome and recommended him to other high-ranking prelates. Consequently,
James found himself kept busy in diplomatic offices by several popes--Benedict
XI and John XXII among them.
For 18 years after being consecrated (1303) bishop of Mantua by Pope John
XXII in 1320, James occupied the see and accomplished great good among the
people, meriting his title of "Father of the Poor." He rebuilt and refurnished
the cathedral and worked many miracles among his flock. At his death in
1338, many remarkable miracles occurred, and he was called "Blessed James"
by people who were grateful for his intercession. Nearly 150 years after
his death, when repairs were being made in the church where he was buried,
an accident opened his tomb, and people were startled to find that his body
was completely incorrupt. Again in 1604, the same phenomenon was noted (Attwater
2, Benedictines, Dorcy).
|
1388
Saints Athanasius ("the Iron Staff") disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh built
a church in honor of the Most Holy Trinity
and Theodosius of Cherepovets were disciples of St Sergius of Radonezh.
They settled in the region of Novgorod at the border of Cherepovets where
the Rivulet Yagorba flows into the River Sheksna. Here they labored in monastic
struggles. They built a church in honor of the Most Holy Trinity, and founded
the Cherepovets Resurrection monastery.
The saints died in the year 1388, and were buried in the monastery's cathedral
church. Their memory is also celebrated on September 25.
|
1618
St. John Berchmans miracles were attributed to him after his death
Eldest son of a shoemaker, John was born at Diest, Brabant.
He early wanted to be a priest, and when thirteen became a servant in the
household of one of the Cathedral canons at Malines, John Froymont. In 1615,
he entered the newly founded Jesuit College at Malines, and the following
year became a Jesuit novice. He was sent to Rome in 1618 to continue his studies,
and was known for his diligence and piety, impressing all with his holiness
and stress on perfection in little things. He died there on August 13. Many
miracles were attributed to him after his death, and he was canonized in
1888. He is the patron of altar boys
1621 ST JOHN BERCHMANS
“IF I do not become a
saint when I am young”, said John Berchmans, “I shall
never become one.” He died when he was twenty-two and he was a saint, one
of the three notable young saints of the Society of Jesus. He differed from
the other two, St Aloysius and St Stanislaus Kostka, in his origins, for
while they belonged to aristocratic families John was the eldest son of a
master-shoemaker, a burgess of the town of Diest in Brabant.
John was born in 1599, at his father’s shop at the sign of the Big
and Little Moon in Diest, and seems to have been a good and attractive child.
He was most devoted to his mother, who suffered very bad health. His early
education was in the hands first of a lay schoolmaster and then of Father
Peter Emmerich, a Premonstratensian canon from the abbey of Tongerloo, who
taught him Latin versification and took the boy with him when he visited
the shrines or clergy of the neighbourhood. This rather encouraged John’s
tendency to prefer his own and his elders’ company to that of other boys,
but he entered whole-heartedly with them in their festival mystery-plays,
and particularly distinguished himself in the part of Daniel defending Susanna.
By the time he was thirteen his father’s affairs had become straitened
and there were growing brothers and sisters to be considered, so John was
told that, he must leave school and learn a trade. He protested that he
wished to be a priest, and at length his father compromised by sending him
as a servant in the household of one of the cathedral canons, John Froymont,
at Malines, where he could also attend the classes at the archiepiscopal
seminary.
The secular
canon Froymont was a different sort of man from the regular canon Emmerich,
and with him young John went duck-shooting rather than visiting shrines;
he is said to have learned the difficult art of teaching a dog to retrieve,
and his particular duty in the house was waiting at table. In 1615 the Jesuits
opened a college at Malines and John Berchmans was one of the first to enter
himself there at, “not without a good deal of feeling on the part of his former
master and rector, on account of which’ there was a great gulf fixed’ between
them and us”, wrote his confessor and tutor in Greek,
Father De Greeff. He studied with earnest application, continued to be an
enthusiastic player of sacred dramas, and was sometimes found kneeling at
the foot of his bed after midnight when sleep had overtaken him at his prayers.
A year later, after some objection from his father, he joined the novitiate.
He wrote home a week before, “I humbly pray you, honoured father and dearest
mother, by your parental affection for me and by my filial love for you,
to be so good as to come here on Wednesday evening at the latest, either
by the Malines coach from Montaigu or by Stephen’s wagon, so that I may say.
‘Welcome and good-bye’ to you, and you to me when you give me, your son,
back to the Lord God who gave me to you”.
As was expected by those who knew him best, John
Berchmans was an admirable novice, and throughout his ascetical notes and
other writings of that time it appears that, like another holy young religious
three hundred and fifty years later, he kept before himself a way of perfection
which he expressed in the phrase “Set great store on little things”.
His industry in writing down his reflections was remarkable, and it extended
to making an analysis of Father Alphonsus Rodriguez’s book on Christian perfection,
which had been published less than ten years. Soon after his novitiate began
his mother died (there is extant a touching letter from him to her during
her last illness), and within eighteen months his father had been ordained
priest and presented to a canonry in his native town.
On September 2, 1618, Brother John wrote to Canon Berchmans
announcing that he was about to take his first vows, and asking in a postscript,
“Please send me by his reverence the precentor, eleven ells of cloth, six
ells of flannel, three ells of linen, and two calf-skins to make my clothes”.
Canon Berchmans died the day before his son’s profession, but John did not
hear of this until he wrote to make an appointment to meet him at Malines
before he set out for Rome where he was to begin his philosophy. Before leaving
he wrote to his relatives expressing his astonishment and displeasure at their
not having told him of his father’s death, and another to his old master Canon
Froymont asking him to keep an eye on his younger brothers, Charles and Bartholomew,
“whom perhaps I shall never see again”.
St John arrived in Rome on new year’s eve
1618, after having walked with one companion from Antwerp in ten weeks, and
began his studies at the Roman College under Father Cepari, who afterwards
wrote his biography. A professor there, Father Piccolomini, testified that,
“Berchmans had good talent, capable of taking in several different subjects
at the same time, and in my opinion his enthusiasm and application to work
have been rarely equalled and never surpassed...He spared himself no labour
or weariness thoroughly to master the various languages and branches of knowledge
that go to make a learned and scholarly man.” Father Massucci, the spiritual
director of the senior students, declared that, “After Blessed Aloysius Gonzaga,
with whom I lived in the Roman College during the last year of his life,
I have never known a young man of more exemplary life, of purer conscience,
or of greater perfection than John”. And withal “his
brethren loved and revered him as an angel from Heaven”.
Among these brethren was a number of students from England, of whom the martyr
Bd Henry Morse was one. For two and a half years St John continued his “little
way”, without singularity or excess; “my penance”,
he would say, “is to live the common life”, and he
jotted down, “I like letting myself be ruled like a baby a day old”.
St John’s success at his examination in May 1621, caused
him to be selected to defend a thesis against all corners in a public debate.
But the strain of prolonged study during the heat of a Roman summer had been
too much for him, and he began rapidly to fail. On August 6, though feeling
unwell, he took a prominent part in a public disputation at the Greek College,
but the next afternoon he had to be sent off to the infirmary. He was cheerful
as usual—Father Cepari records there was always a smile playing about his
mouth. When he had drunk a peculiarly nasty dose of medicine he asked the
attendant father to say the grace after meals, and he told the rector that
he hoped the death of another Flemish Jesuit in Rome would not cause friction
between the two provinces of the Society; when the doctor ordered his temples
to be bathed with old wine he observed that it was lucky such an expensive
illness would not last long. After four days Father Cornelius a Lapide, the
great Biblical exegete, asked if aught were on his conscience. “Nihil omnino.
Nothing at all”, replied St John, and he received the
last sacraments with great devotion. He lingered two more days (the doctors
were at a loss to diagnose what it was that had brought him so low), and
died peacefully on the morning of August 13, 1621.
There were extraordinary scenes at the funeral, numerous
miracles were attributed to John’s intercession, and the recognition of his
holiness was spread so rapidly that within a few years Father Bauters, s.j.,
wrote from Flanders, “Though he died in Rome, and but few of his countrymen
knew him by sight, ten of our best engravers have already published his portrait
and at least 24,000 copies have been struck off. This is not including the
works of lesser artists and numbers of paintings.” Nevertheless, though his
cause was begun in the very year of his death, the beatification of St John
Berchmans did not take place till 1865, and his canonization till 1888.
By far the most
valuable contribution to our knowledge of St John Berchmans is that of A.
Poncelet, printed in the
Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxxiv
(1921), pp. 1—227. The whole question of sources is there discussed, and
attention is
drawn to the work of his more accredited
biographers. Among these are specially mentioned V. Cepari (1627),
L. J. M.
Cros (1894), R P. Vanderspecten (1886),
and N. Angelini (1888). Fr Poncelet’s article also includes copies of
unpublished documents and letters—many
of them submitted to St John’s first biographer, Father Cepari. See further,
in
the series “Les Saints”,
the life by Fr H. Delehaye (Eng. trans., 1925). There is also an English
life by Father Goldie
(1873), another by J. Daly (1921), and a sketch
by Fr C. C. Martindale in his Christ’s Cadets (1953).
1599-1621)
The Jesuit Order has produced three
admirable young saints: Stanislaus Kostka, Aloysius Gonzaga, and John Berchmans.
Unlike the other two, St. John Berchmans
was not of noble rank. His father was a master shoemaker, a prominent citizen
of Dienst, Belgium. John's early schooling was in the hands of a layman
and a religious-order priest, and he proved a bright student, especially
gifted as an actor.
By the time he was 13, young Berchmans
had already decided that he wanted to be a priest. That year his father,
faced with financial problems, told him that he would have to leave school
and learn a trade to help support their family. It was then that he confided
his desire for the priesthood to his parents. They reached a compromise.
He was hired to be the house servant of a prominent priest at Mechelen. This
would give him a chance to attend the local seminary.
In 1615 the Jesuits opened a college
at Mechelen. John was one of the first to enroll. A year later he joined
the Jesuit novitiate, intent on becoming a member of the Society. This turn
of events displeased his sponsors, and was accepted only reluctantly by his
parents. But he lovingly assured them that they would simply be giving back
to God the son that God had given to them. (When his mother died not long
afterward, his father became a priest!)
Berchmans had clearly made the right
choice. He was a perfect novice. Holiness was his primary aim. (“If I do
not become a saint when I am young,” he once said, “I shall never become
one.”) Yet his method of growing in sanctity was beautifully balanced. He
did not aim at great deeds, but, like St. Therese of Lisieux in our times,
he tried to do the little things as well as possible. Well-rounded and good-humored,
he was admired and respected by all.
Because of his talents as a student,
John was assigned to Rome in 1619 to begin his philosophical studies. He
and one companion walked from Belgium to Rome in ten weeks. At Rome, too,
his Jesuit professors and colleagues marveled at his diligence and his exemplary
life. Because of his proficiency as a student he was chosen in 1621 to defend
a thesis in an academic disputation. Unfortunately, soon afterward he contracted
an infectious disease that would prove mortal. Since he had aspired to martyrdom
anyhow, John accepted the trial with cheerful grace. As he grew worse, the
great Jesuit scripture scholar, Father Cornelius a Lapide, in administering
the last rites, asked him if he had anything on his conscience. “Nothing
at all,” he replied.
John
Berchmans died peacefully on August 13, 1621. Miracles were reported soon
after his death, but he was declared “blessed” only in 1865. There was an
American angle to his canonization in 1888. One of the miracles accepted
by the Holy See as verified took place in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, at a girls'
academy founded in 1821 by the Religious of the Sacred Heart.
In 1862, Mary Wilson, a 16-year-old
Canadian Presbyterian, had become attracted to Catholicism while visiting
St. Louis, Missouri. Having asked for instruction, she was received in the
Church by the Jesuits. Her family disowned her, but rejection did not keep
her from joining the Sacred Heart nuns in 1866.
That
October, however, on the day before Mary was to receive the habit, she was
seized by a deathly ailment. After she had received the last rites, she
prayed to Blessed John Berchmans for either cure or patience, as God willed.
Then she placed on her tongue a holy card bearing his image. At once she
felt a finger on her tongue and heard the words, “Sister, you will get the
desired habit. Fear not.” Now she saw beside her bed a luminous figure.
She asked him if he were Berchmans, and he said yes, he was sent by God's
order to tell her she was cured. To the amazement of all, she had completely
recovered. The official report of the miracle was duly sent to Rome and
filed in the dossier on the canonization of this young Jesuit who had won
heaven by doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.
--Father Robert F. McNamara
John Berchmans, SJ (RM) (also known as Jan Berchmans) Born
in Diest, Brabant, Flanders (Belgium), on March 13, 1599; died at Rome August
13, 1621; canonized 1888; feast day formerly on August 13.
Eldest son of a master-shoemaker, John knew early that he wanted to be a
priest. His piety attracted attention even in his youth. When he was 11,
his parish priest permitted him to study in the little seminary run out of
the rectory. At the age of 13, he became a servant in the household of one
of the cathedral canons at Malines, John Froymont, in order to pay for his
education. In 1615, the Jesuits opened a college at Malines (Mechlin) and
the following year John became a Jesuit novice there. After his mother's
death, his father and two brothers followed suit and entered religious life.
The year his father was ordained (1618) and died six months
later, John was sent to Rome for his novitiate. He was so poor and humble
that he walked from Antwerp to Rome. In the seminary he was known for his
diligence and piety, impressing all with his holiness and stress on perfection
in little things. His kindly and cheerful nature made him popular (contemporary
accounts of his attractive nature survive). In these respects he reminds us
of the "little way" of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. There was nothing
visibly extraordinary about him; he was one of those saints who do the ordinary
things of everyday life in an uncommon manner, out of their overflowing
love of God.
There are some reports that he found the regimented life of
a Jesuit scholar nearly intolerable. Yet he continued in humble and cheerful
obedience to his superiors and to God.
Although he longed to work in the mission fields of China,
he did not live long enough to permit it. After completing his coursework,
he was asked to defend the "entire field of philosophy" in a public disputation
in July, just after his exit examinations. The following month he was asked
to represent the Roman College in a debate with the Greek College. Although
he distinguished himself in this disputation, he had studied so assiduously
that he caught a cold in mid-summer, became very ill with dysentary and
a fever, and died a week later. He was buried in the church of Saint Ignatius
at Rome, but his heart was later translated to the Jesuit church at Louvain.
So many miracles were attributed to him after his death at
the age of 22, that his cultus soon spread to his native Belgium, where
24,000 copies of his portrait were published within a few years of his death
(Attwater, Attwater 2, Benedictines, Brenan, Coulson, Delaney, Delehaye,
Farmer, Schamoni).
Saint John is represented as a young Jesuit kneeling in a ray of light,
and pointing to a skull, with a log of wood, crucifix, book and rosary near
him. He is the patron of altar boys (Roeder). The convent of Via di Tor dei
Specchi (founded by Saint Frances of Rome) has two pictures of the saint,
although his death mask has been lost. One was painted directly from the corpse;
the other is a sweetened copy of the death portrait. The original has never
been published (Schamoni).
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1731 Saint Innocent,
Bishop of Irkutsk, (in the world John) miracles occurred not only at Irkutsk,
but also in remote places of Siberia, for those who flocked to the saint
with prayer incorrupt .
His parents moved
from Volhynia to the Chernigov region in the mid-seventeenth centuryas descended
from the noble Kulchitsky family. The saint was born in about the year 1680,
and educated at the Kiev Spiritual Academy. He accepted monastic tonsure
in 1710 and was appointed an instructor at the Moscow Slavonic-Greek-Latin
Academy as prefect and professor of theology.
In 1719 St Innocent transferred to the St Peterburg Alexander
Nevsky Lavra, and was appointed chief naval chaplain. In 1720 he served
as vice-regent of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
On February 14, 1721, hieromonk Innocent was consecrated as
Bishop of Pereyaslavl and appointed to the Peking Spiritual Mission in China.
But the Chinese government refused to allow him to enter the country, because
the Senate Commission on External Affairs had indiscretely characterized
him as "a spiritual personage, a great lord." The saint was compelled to
spend three years at Selingin on the Chinese border, suffering much deprivation
because of the uncertainty of his position, and grief from the disarray
of the civil government in Siberia. Diplomatic blunders of the Russian Mission
in China by Graf Raguzinsky, and intrigues by the Irkutsk archimandrite
Anthony Platkovsky led to the appointment of Archimandrite Anthony in China.
By decree of the Most Holy Synod St Innocent was named in 1727 to be Bishop
of Irkutsk and Nerchinsk. And so he entered into the governance of the newly-formed
dioceses.
The proximity of the Chinese border, the expanse and sparsely-settled
dioceses, the great number of diverse nationalities (Buryat, Mongol, and
others), mostly unenlightened by the Christian Faith, the lack of roads
and the poverty - all this made St Innocent's pastoral work burdensome and
his life full of deprivations. Through a strange oversight of the Senate,
he did not receive any money until the time of his death, and he endured
extreme want. In these difficult condition of scant funds the Irkutsk Ascension
monastery still maintained two schools opened under him, one Mongol and
the other Russian. The constant concern of the saint was directed towards
the schools: the selection of worthy teachers, and providing the necessary
books, clothing and other provisions for students.
The saint toiled tirelessly
at organizing the diocese, and strengthening its spiritual life. His many
sermons, pastoral letters and directives bear witness to this. In his work
and deprivations St Innocent found spiritual strength, humility, and insight.
In the spring of 1728, the Baikal region began to suffer a
drought. Famine from a poor grain harvest had threatened the diocese already
back in 1727. With the blessing of the holy hierarch, in May within the
churches of Irkutsk and the Irkutsk region they began to include a Molieben
for an end to the drought at each Liturgy. On Saturdays they sang an Akathist
to the Mother of God, and on Sundays they served a Molieben. "The supplications,"
said the saint, "should end on the Feast of St Elias" (July 20). Indeed,
on that very day a storm raged at Irkutsk with such strong rains, that in
the streets of the city water stood up to people's knees, and thus the drought
ended.
Through the efforts of St Innocent, construction was started
on a stone church to replace the wooden one at the Ascension monastery, and
the boundaries of the diocese were expanded to include not only Selingin,
but also the Yakutsk and Ilimsk surroundings.
The saint, not noted for robust health, and under the influence
of the severe climate and his afflictions, departed to the Lord at a rather
young age (51). He reposed on the morning of November 27, 1731.
In the year 1764, the body of the saint was discovered incorrupt during restoration
work on the monastery's Tikhvin church. Many miracles occurred not only at
Irkutsk, but also in remote places of Siberia, for those who flocked to the
saint with prayer. This moved the Most Holy Synod to uncover the relics and
to glorify the saint in the year 1800. In the year 1804,
a feastday was established to celebrate his memory throughout all Russia
on November 26, since the Sign Icon of the Mother of God is commemorated
on the actual day of his repose (November 27). St Innocent is also remembered
on February 9.
In 1921, the relics of St Innocent were taken from their shrine
and placed in a Soviet anti-religious museum. They were moved to another
museum in Yaroslav in 1939, and were exhibited as "mummified remains of an
unknown man." In 1990, they were brought to the newly-reopened Tolga Monastery
in the Yaroslav diocese.
In September of 1990, the holy
relics arrived in Irkutsk and were placed in the cathedral, to the joy of
all the faithful.
|
1751
St. Leonard of Port Maurice Franciscan Blessed Sacrament proponent Stations
of the Cross as well as the Immaculate
Conception
Romæ sancti
Leonárdi, a Portu Maurítio, Sacerdótis ex Ordine Minórum
et Confessóris, zelo animárum et sacris per Itáliam
expeditiónibus conspícui; quem Pius Nonus, Póntifex
Máximus, in Sanctórum cánonem rétulit, ac Pius
Papa Undécimus cæléstem Patrónum Sacerdótum
qui ad sacras populáres Missiónes in regiónibus cathólicis
ubíque terrárum incúmbunt, elégit et constítuit.
At Rome, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, priest and confessor
of the Order of Friars Minor. He was remarkable for his zeal for souls
and his holy expeditions throughout Italy. He was canonized by Pope
Pius IX, and Pope Pius XI chose and appointed him the heavenly patron of
priests to the preaching of missions to the people.
devotion of the Sacred Heart, and
Stations of the Cross, as well as the Immaculate Conception
1751 ST LEONARD OF PORT MAURICE
DOUBTLESS while Alban Butler was writing these Lives of the
Saints the fame often reached his ears of a Franciscan Father Leonard Casanova,
whose missionary labours in Italy were at their height in the second quarter
of the eighteenth century and who died five years before the publication
of Butler’s work. The name by which that friar is now known is taken from
his native town, Porto Maurizio on the Italian Riviera, where he was born
in 1676, and baptized Paul Jerome. His father, Dominic Casanova, was a master-mariner
and a good Christian man, and when his eldest son was thirteen he entrusted
him to the care of his wealthy uncle Augustine at Rome, who sent the boy
to the Roman College of the Jesuits. Paul soon realized that he had a religious
vocation and his own inclination was towards the Friars Minor. But his uncle,
who wanted him to be a physician, objected and eventually turned him out
of his house; but Paul found shelter with another relative, Leonard Ponzetti,
with whom he stayed until he received his father’s ready permission to become
a friar.
He was clothed, when he was twenty-one, at the Franciscan novitiate at Ponticelli,
taking the name of Leonard in gratitude for the kindness of Ponzetti, and
completed his studies at St Bonaventure’s on the Palatine, where he was ordained
in 1703. This friary was the principal house of an off-shoot of the strict
Riformati branch of the Franciscans, called Riformella, and throughout his
life St Leonard, both for himself and for others, combined active missionary
work with a severely ascetic monastic observance and much solitude: the first
that he might live for God and the last that he might live in God, as he
himself expressed it.
In 1709 St Leonard was sent with other friars, under Father
Pius, to take over the monastery of San Francesco del Monte at Florence,
which the Grand Duke Cosimo III de’ Medici had presented to the Riformella.
These friars lived according to the austerest principles of St Francis, refusing
to accept endowments from Cosimo, or Mass and preaching stipends from the
clergy and people, depending solely for material support on what they could
beg as required. The community flourished and increased in numbers, and became
a great religious centre whence Leonard and his companions preached with
great fruit throughout Tustany. A parish-priest at Pistoia wrote to the guardian,
“Blessed be the hour in which I first thought of asking for Father Leonard.
God alone knows all the good he has done here. His preaching has touched
everybody’s heart...All the confessors in the town have had to work hard.”
The saint himself was appointed guardian of del Monte, and he established
the hermitage of St Mary at Incontro in the neighbouring mountains, where
individual religious might retire for a space twice in every year. “We will
make a novitiate for Paradise”, he said, “I have given
many missions to others, and now I am going to give one to Brother Leonard.”
The regulations which he drew up for this retreat-house provided for strict
enclosure, almost perpetual silence, fasting on bread, vegetables and fruit,
and a daily discipline, with nine hours of the day devoted to the Divine
Office and other spiritual exercises, and the rest to manual work.
For many years St Leonard laboured in Tuscany, but
after a time he was frequently called to preach further afield, and at his
first preaching visit to Rome his services were so long in request that Duke
Cosimo sent a ship to the Tiber to fetch him back. For six years he was conducting
missions around Rome, and in 1736, when he was sixty years old, he had to
take up the office of guardian at St Bonaventure’s there. From thence he
preached for three weeks at Civita Vecchia, particularly to the soldiers
and sailors, convicts and galley-slaves, and including a “visit to an English
skipper, who wanted to see me on his ship. We found three or four of them
who had been present at the sermons [he had preached from the bridge of a
vessel] and seemed inclined to abandon their errors. The poor fellows had
been more touched by what they saw than what they heard, for they hardly
understood the language at all—which only shows that grace is the prime mover
in stirring the heart.” After a year he was released from office, and preached
in Umbria, Genoa and the Marches, where such crowds assembled that he had
often to leave the churches, and speak in the open air. To command the attention
of those who were too hard-hearted and stiff-necked to take any notice of
him otherwise.
St Leonard would sometimes discipline himself in public, but the” devotion”
which he principally used was the Way of the Cross, and it is to him that
its popularity today is largely due. He often gave it as a penance and preached
it continually, and the setting up of the stations became a part in every
mission he undertook. It is said that he set them up in 571 places in Italy.
He also encouraged the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and devotion
to the Sacred Heart and to our Lady as conceived free from original sin,
all of which were very far less wide-spread than they are to-day.
In particular did he make zealous efforts to get the Immaculate
Conception defined as a dogma of faith and he was the first to suggest, what
was done a century later, that the mind of the Church should be sounded on
the matter without summoning a general council.
St Leonard was for a time the spiritual director of Clementina Sobieska
of Poland, the wife of him who was recognized in Italy as King James III
of England. All his letters to her were destroyed.*{* One was found under
her pillow when she was dead. St Leonard used to write to the most distinguished
correspondents on any old piece of paper. “They know Leonard is a poor man”,
he would say, “so they won’t bother to stand on ceremony.”}
But there are extant one written by James to St Leonard a month after the
queen’s death in 1735, thanking him for his prayers and asking to see him,
and several of direction written by the saint to one of the queen’s ladies.
Pope Benedict XIV had a great regard for Leonard and his capabilities and
in 1744, in concert with the Genoese Republic, the sovereign of the island,
he sent him to Corsica to try and bring the people there to peace and order.
He was not well received, being regarded as an agent of the doge disguised
as a missioner. Admittedly there was a political aspect to his mission, for
the troubles in Corsica were mainly due to discontent with the domination
of Genoa.
What with the political situation, the turbulent temperament
of the Corsicans (they came to his sermons with weapons in their hands),
and the mountainousness of the country, this was the most arduous of all
St Leonard’s missionary tasks. He wrote numerous letters from the island,
in one of which he says, “In every parish we meet with the most formidable
feuds, but peace and quietness generally come to the top at last. But unless
the administration of justice gets strong enough to stamp out these vendettas,
the good we are doing can be only transitory. During these years
of war the people have had no instruction whatever. The young men are dissolute,
wild, and don’t come near the sacraments. Many of them don’t trouble even
to make their Easter duties, and, what is worse, nobody thinks of reminding
or rebuking them. When I have an opportunity to meet the bishops I shall
tell them what I think... However, though the work is so exacting,
the harvest is abundant...”
But the fatigue, the intrigues, the strain
of constant vigilance were too much for St Leonard, who was now sixty-eight,
and at the end of six months he was so ill that a ship was sent from Genoa
to bring him back. He had gauged the state of Corsican affairs correctly,
for the pope wrote to him soon after, “The Corsicans have got worse than
ever since the mission, and so it is not thought advisable that you should
go back there”.
Side by side with his public missions St Leonard gave retreats to nuns and
lay-people, especially at Rome in preparation for the year of Jubilee 1750.
That year saw one of his ambitions realized, when Benedict XIV permitted
him to set up the stations of the cross in the Colosseum, Leonard preaching
to a large and fervent crowd a sermon which is still preserved. “ I am getting
old”, he wrote, “My voice carried as it did two years
ago, but I felt worn out. However, it is a consolation to see this Colosseum
no longer a common resort but a real sanctuary...”
In the spring of the following year, when St Leonard
went off to give missions at Lucca and elsewhere, the pope told him to give
up travelling on foot and to go by carriage. He had been a missioner of the
most powerful energy for forty-three years, and was beginning to fail. Owing
to this and to the hostility and indifference of certain places, some of
these last missions were relatively unsuccessful. At length, at the beginning
of November, he turned south, and he knew his work was done. His carriage
broke down and he had to walk part of the way through rain to Spoleto, where
the friars tried in vain to detain him. On the evening of November z6 he
arrived in Rome and was carried to bed at St Bonaventure’s, and while they
prepared to give him the last sacraments he sent a message to Pope Benedict
that he had kept his promise—to come to Rome to die. At nine o’clock Mgr
Belmonte arrived from the Vatican with an affectionate message from the pope.
Before midnight St Leonard was dead.
In spite of his amazing activity St
Leonard found time during the intervals of solitude and contemplation which
he prized so much to write many letters, sermons and devotional treatises.
His Resolutions, for the better attainment of Christian perfection, is a
work valuable both in itself and for what it tells us about its author. The
cause of his beatification m 1796 was furthered by Cardinal Henry of York,
son of that Queen Clementina whose director St Leonard had been sixty years
before. He was canonized in x86~.
As might be expected
from St Leonard’s comparatively recent date, his great reputation and his
active life as a preacher,
abundant materials are available for his biography.
That by Fr Giuseppe da Masserano, the postulator of the cause of his
beatification, was published in 1796, and
has since been translated into most European languages. An English version
was
included in the Oratorian series in
1852. Another well-known life, by Salvatore di Ormea, appeared in 1851, and
perhaps
the most popular of all, that written by Fr
Leopold de Chérancé in French, in 1903. As materials for an
understanding of
activities and spirit of the
great missioner, St Leonard’s writings and letters have considerable importance.
The collection
published in Rome in 1853—1854 was far from complete.
Eighty-six letters addressed to his penitent Elena Colonna were
First printed in 1872, under the title Soavitd
di spirito di S. Leonardo; and since then Fr B. Innocenti in 1925 and
1929, and
Fr Ciro Ortolani da Pesaro in 1927 have found fresh
material to publish. Many articles and notices in the Archivum
Franciscanum Historicum have added to our
knowledge of St Leonard. There is a good article by Fr M. Bihl in the Catholic
Encyclopedia ; and a short life by Fr Dominic
Devas, as well as a notice in Léon, Auréole Séraphique
(Eng. trans.), vol. iv,
pp. 98—112.
He was born Leonard Casanova in Port Maurice, Porto Maurizio, Italy, and
joined the Franciscans of the Strict Observance in 1697. Ordained in 1703,
he began preaching all over the Tuscany region of Italy. By 1736 he was
attracting huge crowds in Rome and elsewhere, and he erected almost six
hundred Stations of the Cross throughout the lands. In 1744, Leonard was sent
by Pope Benedict XIV to preach on Corsica, returning to Rome in 1751 after
receiving a summons from the pope. Leonard died at his friary, St. Bonaventure,
on November 26. He was canonized in 1867 and named patron of parish missions.
1676-1751) Father Leonard of Port Maurice he was called after
his home town on the Italian Riviera. Born Paul Jerome Casanova, he made
a brilliant course of theology at the Jesuit Collegio Romano in Rome. Then
he joined a branch of the Franciscans noted for its austerity and its strict
observance of the rule of poverty.
After a period of illness, Leonard
began the work for which he was to become famous - preaching parish missions.
He started in his native area, northwest Italy. Then he moved south to Florence
and from there extended his work throughout Central and Southern Italy.
Pope Clement XII and Benedict XIV called him to Rome, and Benedict made
him promise that he would come to Rome to die.
St. Leonard was tremendously successful
in these public missions, first because of his own reputation for holiness,
and second because of his talents as a preacher and developer of mission
techniques. He attracted such crowds that the churches were often too small
to hold them, and he would have to adjourn to the city squares or the neighboring
fields. His follow-up was important, too, in confirming his many converts
in their spiritual renewal. Thus, he founded for them a number of pious societies
and confraternities, and he popularized several pious practices, like devotion
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament,
and devotion to the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The Immaculate Conception
would not be defined as a dogma for another century, but Leonard became
one of the earliest promoters of its definition. He recommended the course
that Pope Pius IX was to take in 1854 - the proclamation of the dogma by
the Pope himself, after consultation with the whole Catholic hierarchy.
The practice that Friar Leonard espoused
most ardently, however, was the Stations of the Cross. It is said that he
personally set up and blessed Stations in 571 places in Italy. Best known
of these were the Stations he installed in 1750 in the Colosseum in Rome.
To this day, each Lent the popes lead the Stations of the Cross in this
great ruined amphitheater where died many of the early Christian martyrs.
St. Leonard did not restrict his labors
to any one class of people, for religion had gone into a general decline.
On the one hand, he was spiritual director to Clementina Sobieska, the wife
of the exiled “James III”, the English “Old Pretender.” On the other hand,
he worked among soldiers, sailors, galley slaves, and run-of-the-mill Catholics.
Probably his hardest papal assignment was to preach on the island of Corsica,
where vendetta (feuding) ruled and those who attended his sermons came with
weapons in hand.
Obedient to his promise, Leonard,
when aged 75 and ailing after 43 years of tireless preaching, returned to
Rome. Arriving in the Eternal City on November 26, 1751, he sent word to
the pope that he had come to Rome to die. He died that very evening. One
of those who promoted his canonization was Cardinal Henry Stuart of York,
grandson of exiled James II of England and the last Stuart pretender as “Henry
IX of England.”
Throughout
the history of the Church, there have been times when Christian faith and
Christian practice seem to be failing. Then God in his providence has raised
up one or more inspired and saintly preachers to shake the faithful out
of their lethargy. St. Leonard of Port Maurice was God's new John the Baptist
for his own era and his own locale.
Today Christian faith and practice
again seem to be vanishing. Do we not need another army of St. Leonards? Mighty
missionaries, who awaken consciences not only by their words but even more
by their example of Christian holiness? Jesus himself will use them as his
mouthpiece.
We pray then the prayer of the Book
of Revelations: “Come, Lord Jesus!” --Father Robert F McNamara
Leonard of Port Maurice, OFM (RM) (also known as Leonard Casanuova)
Born at Porto Maurizio, Liguria, Italy, December 20, 1676; died in Rome,
on November 26, 1751; beatified in 1796; canonized in 1867.
Captain Dominic Casanuova had his son baptized Paul Jerome Casanuova. Throughout
his life, the future Saint Leonard thanked God for giving him such an excellent
father. At the age of 13, Paul Jerome was sent to the Jesuit Roman College.
His uncle Augustine, with whom he was living, wanted him to become a physician.
Paul studied medicine, but when he refused his uncle's wish that he become
a doctor and announced he had other plans, Augustine disowned him.
He joined the Franciscans of
the Strict Observance at Ponticelli in 1697, taking the name Leonard, continued
his studies at the Observant Saint Bonaventure's on the Palatine in Rome,
and was ordained there in 1703. For five years, Leonard had to stop preaching
because he was spitting blood. When healing continued to elude him even
in the mild climate of Liguria, he vowed that he would devote him entire
life to the conversion of sinners, if God would make him well again.
He recovered and, in 1709, he went to the San Francesco del
Monte monastery in Florence and from there preached all over Tuscany with
tremendous effect for the next 44 years. He became guardian of San Francesco,
founded a retreat for religious at nearby Incontro, where the friars retired
twice a year to practice the eremitical life.
In 1730, Leonard was appoint guardian of Saint Bonaventure's
in Rome. He spent the next six years conducting missions around Rome, preaching
to soldiers, sailors, convicts, and galley-slaves in addition to conducting
parochial missions. His contemporary, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, said Leonard
was the finest missioner of his day. In 1736, he was released from this
position to continue his evangelization in Umbria, Genoa, and the Marches
of Ancona. His missions now attracted such huge crowds that they were often
held in the open air.
Leonard is primarily responsible for the popularity of the
Stations of the Cross devotion, of which he was an ardent promoter (reputedly
setting up almost six hundred Stations throughout Italy, even in the Colosseum
in Rome), and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, the Sacred Heart, and the
Immaculate Conception. Leonard served for a time as spiritual
director of Clementina Sobieska, wife of the "Old Pretender" to the English
throne, King James III, whose son Cardinal Henry of York promoted the friar's
canonization.
In 1744, Leonard was sent to Corsica by Pope Benedict XIV to
preach and to restore peace there but he was unsuccessful, because the Corsicans
felt he was more a political tool of the Genoese who ruled the island than
a missionary. (Schamoni says that he helped to reconcile the Corsicans to
one another, and Attwater notes that his success was ephemeral--as soon
as he left the island, the people fell back into discord.) This mission
lasted only six months before the Genoese government sent a ship to rescue
Leonard.
He returned to Rome from the discouraging missionary tour in
1749 to prepare the Romans for the holy year. For two weeks Leonard preached
in the Piazza Navona, which ironically had once been the hippodrome of Emperor
Domitian. He had to promise Pope Benedict XIV, who held him in high esteem
and himself attended his sermons, that he would die in Rome.
When he was preaching a mission in the holy father's native
city of Bologna in 1751, Leonard had a premonition that he would soon die.
Completely exhausted from his arduous work and severer mortifications, he
returned to Rome and died at Saint Bonaventure the night he arrived.
In addition to his oral evangelization, Leonard was a prolific
ascetical writer. His printed works--mostly letters and sermons-- fill thirteen
volumes. His most famous work is Resolutions. He is the patron of parish
missions and popular missionaries (Attwater, Attwater 2, Benedictines, Coulson,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Schamoni, White).
|
1839 St. Dominic
Doan Xuyen Martyr of Vietnam
beheaded with St. Thomas Du. He
was a Vietnamese Dominican canonized in 1988.
|
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises
of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary 
Saints of this Day November
26 Sexto 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: