DAY 23: Keep
smiling
October 18th, 2011 by admin
Many people think there can be nothing more
depressing than praying in front of an abortion facility.
I admit it. On the surface, it sounds glum — and we’ve talked
about the darkness. But, because of prayer, there is also great peace and
joy at a place that otherwise has no peace and has no joy. Here are
a few examples of how Christ’s light and peace are shining at 40 Days for
Life vigils.
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
“A girl yelled at me for just standing there on the sidewalk,
because she said I didn’t understand these women’s situations,” said Stefanie
in Memphis. “I just smiled … and said I would love to talk to her.” To
Stefanie’s surprise, the girl got into a conversation with her. “She
told me it was not a baby at two weeks,” Stefanie said. “I explained to her
the baby has distinct DNA like no other person. But if I had not just kept
smiling and being sweet to her, she would have driven off.”
Later, a woman and two men showed up with a homemade sign that suggested
God had no place in a discussion of abortion. Women could choose whatever
they want, the woman said. “So obviously we are bothering them by being
out there,” Stefanie said. She tried to talk to them, but they just got angry
and walked into Planned Parenthood. Stefanie just kept smiling. She
said one of the other prayer volunteers “feels that these people heard what
they needed to hear — and we had planted a seed.”
GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA
Steve in Glendale says the 40 Days for Life campaign has had to
deal with temperatures near 100 degrees. “But that has not stopped us from
being present to stand for the preborn and the women that are harmed by abortion.”
He says there have been many blessings. Business owners have brought
cold water for the prayer volunteers. Then a woman stopped by and promised
to be back later with something special. She returned with a 5-liter water
bottle, a bag of ice, a pitcher and cups — which were most welcome. At
the vigil, Steve met nine women from a prayer group. “They met us at the
unity rally,” he said, “and we were blessed by their powerful witness to
the local community.” Steve said, “I want you to experience these blessings
as well. To do so, just come out and pray for an hour. It’s that simple.”
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
“If you have been out on the sidewalk in
front of Planned Parenthood,” said Michele in Colorado Springs, “you know
what a beautiful and majestic sight the mountains are.” She could stand there
for a very long time praising God in the wonders and beauty of His creation.
Sometimes, though, she wonders, “How can such peace and such horror live
so close together? The horror of Planned Parenthood just attacks your very
soul, trying to take away all peace and hope as it steals the peace and hope
of those going in. So you vow never to give up.” Someday, she said,
“I know the view will be restored to what God’s creation should be. And I
hope for that day!”
Here’s the link to today’s devotional:
http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2011day23print.pdf
For Life, Shawn Carney Campaign Director 40 Days for Life
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800 B.C. The Prophet Joel predicted the desolation of
Jerusalem. He also prophesied that the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon
all people, through the Savior of the world (Joel 2:28-32).
The hymnographer Anatolius links Joel's prophecy to the Nativity of the Lord.
In the Praises at Matins on the Sunday following the Nativity, he refers
to Joel 2:30, saying that the blood refers to the Incarnation, the fire to
the Divinity, and the pillars of smoke to the Holy Spirit.
The Book of Joel falls naturally into two parts.
In the first, an invasion of locusts lays Judah waste; this calls for a religious
ceremony of lamentation and prayer; to this Yahweh replies by promising the
cessation of the plague and the return of prosperity, 1:2-2:27. The second
part describes in apocalyptic style the judgement on the nations and the
final triumph of Yahweh and of Israel, ch. 3-4. The unity of the two parts
is demonstrated by reference to the day of Yahweh, the actual theme of ch.
3-4 but mentioned already in 1:15; 2:1-2,10-11. As the book stands,
the plague of locusts is the sign that heralds the great judgement of God.
It may be that this connection between the parts existed in the original
text, but it is also possible that ch. 3-4 were added by another inspired
author. The two parts are in any case of much the same date, since they suppose
the same conditions, those of the post-exilic community, namely, no king,
prominence given to public worship, borrowings from earlier prophets, especially
Ezekiel and Obadiah who is quoted in 3:5. The book must have been written
about 400 B.C.
Joel’s contribution is to prophesy the outpouring
of the Spirit on all God’s people in the messianic age, 3:1-5. This
will be fulfilled with the coming of the Spirit on the apostles of Christ,
and St Peter quotes the entire passage, Ac 2:16-21; Joel is the prophet of
Pentecost. He is also the prophet of penance, and his exhortations to fasting
and prayer, either borrowed from the Temple ceremonial or modelled on it,
later found a natural place in the Lenten liturgy of the Church.
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St. Beronicus
Syrian martyr with Pelagia 49 companions
Antiochíæ sanctórum Mártyrum Beroníci,
Pelágiæ Vírginis, et aliórum quadragínta
novem.
At Antioch, the holy martyrs Beronicus, the virgin Pelagia,
and forty-nine others.
They were slain for the faith in Antioch,
Syria. Beronigus (Veronicus), Pelagia & Comp. MM (RM). Part
of a group of 51 Christians put to death at Antioch, Syria, in one of the
early persecutions (Benedictines).
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165 Ptolomaeus (Ptolemy)
and Lucius MM (RM)
Romæ natális sanctórum Mártyrum Ptolomǽi et Lúcii,
sub Marco Antoníno. Horum prior (ut scribit Justínus
Martyr), cum impúdicam mulíerem ad Christi convertísset
fidem, et castitátem cólere docuísset, ídeo,
ab impúro viro apud Præféctum Urbícium accusátus,
multo témpore squalóre cárceris macerátus est,
et ad últimum, cum de Christi magistério pública confessióne
testarétur, jussus est duci ad mortem; Lúcius quoque, cum Urbícii
senténtiam improbáret et se Christiánum líbere
faterétur, símilem senténtiam excépit; quibus
et álius tértius adjúnctus est, qui étiam eódem
supplício damnátus fuit.
At Rome, the birthday of the holy martyrs Ptolemy and
Lucius, in the time of Marcus Antoninus. The former, as we learn from
the martyr Justin, converted a certain immodest woman to the faith of Christ
and induced her to practice chastity. He was accused by an evil man
before the prefect Urbicius and made to undergo a long imprisonment in a
foul dungeon. At length, because he declared by a public confession
that Christ was his master, he was led to execution. Lucius protested
against the sentence of Urbicius, and freely proclaimed himself to be a Christian,
whereby he received the same sentence. To them was added still a third
martyr, who was condemned to suffer a like punishment.
161 Ss. Ptolemaeus, Lucius And Another, Martyrs
The Roman Martyrology mentions today these three martyrs, the circumstances
of whose passion at Rome are known from the evidence of a contemporary, St
Justin Martyr. A certain married woman of dissolute life was converted to
Christianity, and in turn tried to reform her husband and to induce him to
become a catechumen. Her efforts failed, and the blasphemies and immoralities
of her husband becoming unsupportable, she separated from him. He thereupon
denounced her as a Christian, but the woman obtaining permission to delay
her defence, the man instead informed against her instructor in the faith,
Ptolemaeus. He was therefore arrested, and after being kept in prison for
a long time was brought before the magistrate Urbicius. In reply to the question
if he were a Christian, Ptolemaeus said that he was, and without more ado
was sentenced to death. Thereupon a Christian named Lucius who was present
protested to Urbicius, saying, “How is it that this man can be condemned
when he is guilty of no crime whatever? Your judgement does no credit to
our wise emperor and the senate.” Urbicius turned on him and exclaimed, “You
also seem to be one of these Christians”, and when Lucius admitted that he
was, he also was condemned. Another man, whose name is not recorded, suffered
with the others.
In the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. viii, the extract is printed
which Eusebius has quoted front St Justin’s Apology. See also
Urbain, Ein Martyrologium der Christlichen Gemeinde du Rom, but
it should be read in the light of Delehaye’s comments in the Analecta
Bollandiana, vol. xxi (1902), pp. 89—93.
The Roman Ptolomaeus was
sentenced for teaching the catechism and converting a woman who had previously
engaged in unspecified sexual sins with her husband. Her husband wanted to
continue their indulgence; therefore, the woman requested a divorce. Consistent
with Saint Paul's admonition, her friends persuaded her to remain with her
husband in the hope of bringing him to faith. Word came from Alexandria that
his behavior was worsening, so she finally issued a declaration of dissolution.
Her husband filed a complaint against her for leaving him without his consent
and reported that she was a Christian. He also persuaded a centurion to ask
Ptolomaeus whether he was a Christian. The honest man, upon answering that
he was, was put in chains and imprisoned for a long time until he was taken
before Urbicius. He again confessed that he was a Christian because he was
“fully aware of the benefits he enjoyed because of Christ's doctrine.”
When Urbicius ordered him to be executed, the Christian bystander, Lucius,
protested that Ptolomaeus had not been convicted of adultery, fornication,
murder, clothes-stealing, or any crime. “Your sentence,
Urbicius, does not befit the Emperor Pius nor his philosopher son [Marcus
Aurelius] nor the holy senate.” Urbicius answered,
“I think you too are one of them.”
Lucius responded, “Indeed I am.”
Thereupon, he too was executed. Their passion under Antoninus Pius is recounted
by Saint Justin Martyr, their contemporary
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer.
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3rd
v. Hieromartyr Sadoc, Bishop of Persia, and 128 Martyrs with him He was the
hierarch of a Persian district.
When the Persian emperor Sapor learned that Sadoc was preaching faith in
Christ, he gave orders to arrest and imprison him together with 128 Christian
believers. For several months they attempted to persuade the righteous martyrs
to repudiate the holy Faith, but unable to accomplish this, they executed
them. |
St. Altinus Bishop
and possible martyr 1st or 4th century
In one record Altinus was a disciple of Christ, credited with founding the
churches of Orleans and Chartres, France. Another states that he was a martyr
of the fourth century.
Altinus (Attinus) of Orléans BM (AC). As is the case with many of
the early founders of Christian churches, Saint Altinus was alleged to be
a disciple of Our Lord--which he was in establishing the churches of Orléans
and Chartres. However, it is unlikely that he lived during the time of Christ;
more likely he was a martyr of the 4th century (Benedictines).
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307
St. Varus Soldier and martyr Upper Egypt visited and comforted seven holy
monks who were kept in prison. When one of them died he wished to
be accepted in his place, and after suffering most cruel torments with them
he obtained the palm of martyrdom.
In Ægypto sancti
Vari mílitis, qui, sub Maximíno Imperatóre, dum sanctos
septem Mónachos in cárcere deténtos visitáret
atque refíceret, vóluit, uno ex ipsis defúncto, in ejus
locum subrogári; atque ita cum illis, sævíssima passus,
martyrii palmam adéptus est.
In Egypt, St. Varus, a soldier, who, under Emperor Maximian,
visited and comforted seven holy monks who were kept in prison. When
one of them died he wished to be accepted in his place, and after suffering
most cruel torments with them he obtained the palm of martyrdom.
According to his generally reliable
and authentic Acts, he was a soldier stationed in Upper Egypt who had the
task of guarding a group of monks awaiting execution. When one of the monks
died while incarcerated, Varus embraced the Christian faith and asked to
be able to fill the place of the deceased. He was taken and hanged from a
tree.
Varus of Upper Egypt M (RM). His authenticated acta report that Varus was
a Roman soldier in Upper Egypt ordered to guard a prison in which certain
monks condemned to death were confined. Upon seeing one of them expire in
his dungeon, Varus insisted on taking his place and was immediately hanged
from a tree (Benedictines). Varus is depicted as a Roman soldier holding
a flail (Roeder).
Martyr Varus lived in Egypt during the period of several persecutions
against Christians (late third to early fourth century). Varus (Ouaros) was
a military commander and secretly a Christian. He gave assistance to many
of the persecuted and imprisoned Christians, and he visited the prisoners
at night. He also brought food to the prisoners, dressed their wounds, and
gave them encouragement.
Once Varus spent a whole night talking with seven imprisoned monks. These
men were Christian teachers who had been beaten and starved. Varus marched
with the teachers when they were led to their execution. The judge, seeing
Varus' strong faith, had him fiercely beaten. Varus died during the beating.
After his death, the monks were beheaded.
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319 St. Cleopatra
Widow -- St. Varus miraculously came to comfort her
St Varus, Martyr, And St Cleopatra, Widow
The circumstances of the passion of St Varus in Egypt are summarized thus
by the Roman Martyrology: “Varus, a soldier, in the time of the Emperor Maximinus,
visited and fed seven holy monks while they were kept in prison. When one
of them died offered himself as a substitute in his place. And so, after
suffering most cruel torments, he received the martyr’s palm with them.”
The mangled body of St Varus was secured by a Christian woman
named Cleopatra, who hid it in a bale of wool and, so disguised, transported
it to Adraha (Dera’s, east of Lake Tiberias), where she lived, and many Christians
came to visit the martyr’s tomb. When Cleopatra’s son, John, was about to
become a soldier, she determined to build a basilica in honour of Varus and
to translate his body thereto, and at the same time to put her son and his
fortunes under the particular patronage of this martyr who had himself been
a soldier. She therefore built a church, and at its dedication she and John
themselves carried the bones of St Varus to their new shrine under the altar.
That same evening John was taken suddenly ill, and during the
night he died. Cleopatra had his body carried into the new church and laid
before the altar, and she gave way to her grief and reviled the saint in
whose honour she had done so much. She called on God to restore to life her
only child whose body lay there, and so she remained till the following night,
when she sank into a deep sleep, exhausted by weeping and sorrow. While she
slept she dreamed that St Varus appeared to her in glory, leading John by
the hand, and that she laid hold of their feet in mute supplication. And
Varus looked down on her and said, “Have I forgotten all the love you have
shown for me? Did I not pray to God that He would give health and advancement
to your son? And behold! The prayer is answered. He has given him health
for evermore and raised him to be among the hosts who follow the Lamb whithersoever
He goeth.” “I am satisfied”, replied Cleopatra, “but I pray you that I also
may be taken, that I may be with my son and you.”
St Varus replied, “No. Leave your son with me, and wait awhile, and then
we will fetch you.” When Cleopatra awoke she did as she had been bidden in
her dream and had the body of John lain beside that of Varus. And she lived
a life of devotion and penitence until, when seven years were passed, she
also was called to God, and her body was buried with John and Varus in the
basilica she had built.
The Roman Martyrology does not
mention either St Cleopatra or her son, but they are referred to in the Greek
Menaion under the date October
19. There is a
Greek passio edited in the Acta Sanctorum, October,
vol. viii, but in the absence of early cultus this pathetic
story must be regarded with great suspicion.
Widow of Palestine who rescued the remains of St. Varus, martyred
in some earlier persecution. She enshrined the saint’s remains in her home
in Dera, in Syria. When a church was dedicated to St. Varus, Cleopatra’s
young son died, and the saint miraculously came to comfort her.
Cleopatra of Syria, Widow, and Varus M (AC). The Palestine widow Saint Cleopatra
secured the body of Saint Varus, and enshrined it in her home at Derâ'a,
Syria. On the day it was dedicated as a church, her 12-year-old son died.
The grieving mother was comforted, however, when her son and Saint Varus
appeared to her in a vision (Benedictines).
Saint Cleopatra and her son John came from the village of Edra
near Mount Tabor in Palestine. She was a contemporary of the holy Martyr
Varus and witnessed his voluntary suffering. After the execution, St Cleopatra
brought the body of the holy martyr to her own country and buried him with
reverence. Cleopatra had one beloved son, John, who had attained the honorable
rank of officer. To the great sorrow of his mother, John suddenly died. Cleopatra
with tears of grief turned to the relics of the holy Martyr Varus, begging
him for the return of her son.
Varus and her son appeared to Cleopatra in a dream, radiant in bright attire
with crowns upon their heads. She realized that the Lord had received her
son into the heavenly Kingdom, and was comforted. After this vision blessed
Cleopatra started to live by a church she built over the relics of the holy
martyr Varus and her son John, and performed many good deeds. She distributed
her property to the poor and spent her time in prayer and fasting. After
seven years she fell asleep in the Lord.
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5th v. Eusterius
fourth bishop of Salerno B (RM)
Apud
Salérnum sancti Eustérii Epíscopi.
At Salerno, St. Eusterius, bishop.
Died 5th century. All that remains of Eusterius's memory is that
he was the fourth bishop of Salerno (Benedictines).
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540
St. Lupus Bishop of Soissons
France, and a relative of St. Remigius of
Reims.
Lupus of Soissons B (AC) Saint Lupus was a nephew of Saint Remigius of Reims.
He became bishop of Soissons (Benedictines).
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590 St. Veranus
Bishop of CavailIon charitable works miracles recorded by Gregory of Tours
In território Aurelianénsi deposítio sancti Veráni
Epíscopi.
In the diocese of Orleans, the death of St. Veranus, bishop.
France.
He was a leader in the development of charitable works and served as a patron
to local monastic centers.
Veranus of Cavaillon B (RM) Born at Vaucluse, France. The miracles of Bishop
Saint Veranus of Cavaillon were recorded by Gregory of Tours (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia) .
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6th
v. Ethbin of Kildare, Abbot; famous for his virtues and miracles (RM)
In
monastério Silvæ Necténsis, in Hibérnia, sancti
Ethbíni Abbátis.
In Ireland,
in the monastery of the Forest of Kildare, St. Ethbin, abbot.
ST ETHBIN
His father dying when Ethbin was fifteen his mother entrusted him to the
care of St Samson, and later he became a monk under St Winwaloe in Brittany.
He was one day walking with his master, when they saw a leper lying helpless
at the side of the way. “What shall we do with this poor fellow?” asked Winwaloe.
“Do as the apostles of Christ did. Bid him to rise up and walk”, replied
St Ethbin promptly. Winwaloe had faith both in his monk and in the power
of God, and the sufferer was healed. When the monastery was destroyed by
the Franks, Ethbin took refuge in Ireland, where he lived for twenty years,
and there died, famous for his virtues and miracles. He is named in the Roman
Martyrology, but is unknown to Irish calendars. The name Ethbin sounds Anglo-Saxon.
We cannot
put trust in the short life, which has been printed in the Acta
Sanctorum, October, vol. viii. See also LBS., vol. ii, p. 466, and Duine,
St Samson (1909).
Born in Great Britain. Saint Ethbin's noble father died when
he was only about 15 years old. His widowed mother then entrusted his education
to his countryman, the great Saint Samson,
at Dol Abbey in Brittany. At Mass one day, he really heard the words: “Every
one of you that cannot renounce all that he possesses, cannot be my disciple.”
He immediately resolved to renounce the world.
Because he was a deacon, Ethbin sought the permission of his
bishop to withdraw from the world. Upon receiving it, Ethbin retired to the
abbey of Taurac in 554. For his spiritual director, the saint chose another:
Saint Winwaloë. The community
was dispersed by a Frankish raid in 556 and Winwaloë died soon thereafter.
Ethbin then crossed over to Ireland, where he led the life of a hermit in
a forest near Kildare called Nectensis (unidentified) for 20 years. There
was no cultus for Saint Ethbin in Ireland. His relics are claimed by Montreuil
and Pont-Mort (Eure), France. It has been suggested by P. Grosjean that the
silva called Necensis could be a corruption of Silvanectensis (i.e., Senlis,
France), rather than Ireland (Benedictines, Farmer, Husenbeth).
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695 Aquilinus of
Evreux served Clovis II 40 years; hermit; blind bishop giving alms;
his zeal, which God approved by the gift of miracles B (RM)
Ebróicis, in Gállia, sancti Aquilíni, Epíscopi
et Confessóris. At Evreux in France, St. Aquilinus,
bishop and confessor.
695 St Aquilinus, Bishop of Evreux; his zeal, which God approved by the gift
of miracles
Like many other Frankish saints of the Merovingian era, Aquilinus spent years
in courts and camps before entering the clerical state and attaining the
episcopate. He was a native of Bayeux, born there about the year 620. He
fought in the wars of Clovis II, and on returning from a campaign against
the Visigoths met his wife at Chartres. They there determined to devote the
rest of their days to the direct service of God and His poor, he being then
about forty years old. They went to Evreux, where they lived quietly for
ten years when, on the death of St Aeternus, St Aquilinus was considered
the most worthy to succeed to the see.
He was frightened of the distractions inseparable from the episcopate
and sought to live rather as a hermit than a bishop. He had a cell
built near to his cathedral, whither he retired whenever opportunity offered
to spend long hours in prayer and penance on behalf of the flock which he
had been called on to govern. During his last years St Aquilinus was deprived
of his sight, but it made no difference to his zeal, which God approved by
the gift of miracles.
There is a
late biography, which is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, October,
vol. viii. See also Mesnel, Les saints du diocese d’ Évreux,
part v (1916); and Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux,
vol. ii, p. 227.
Born in Bayeux, France, c. 620. Saint Aquilinus served Clovis
II for 40 years. Upon returning from the war against the Visigoths, he and
his wife retired to Evreux to devote themselves to works of charity. Although
Aquilinus was consecrated bishop of the city when his virtue became known,
he managed to continue his life as a hermit while fulfilling the duties of
this office. In art, Aquilinus is portrayed as a blind bishop giving alms
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Roeder)
A military man who served King Clovis
II. Aquilinus was born about 620 in Bayeux, France, and became a soldier, serving
for forty years in the military. In 660, he returned to Chartres, in France,
and married. He and his wife moved to Evreux and worked for the poor and
suffering. In 670, Aquilinus was named bishop of Evreux, but he lived as
a hermit most of the time.
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705 St. Desiderius
Benedictine monk disciple of St. Sigiranus
He was a hermit at La Brenne, near Bourges, France.
Desiderius of Lonrey OSB, Monk (AC). The monk Desiderius of Lonrey became
a disciple of Saint Sigiran and a recluse at Le Brenne (Ruriacus) in the
diocese of Bourges, France (Benedictines).
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728 St. Theofrid
Abbot and martyred by Saracens
He was serving as abbot of Carmery-en-Velay when the community was
attacked by a band of Saracens. He died as a result of the injuries he received
at their hands and was thereafter venerated as a martyr.
In some lists he is called Chaffre or Theoftoy.
Theofrid of Carmery OSB, Abbot (AC) (also known as Theofroy, Chaffre) Born
in Orange, France; died 728. Theofrid, a monk and abbot of Carmery-en-Velay
(later renamed Monastier-Saint-Chaffre), died as a result of the ill-treatment
of the invading Saracens. He has always been venerated as a martyr (Benedictines).
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735
St. Frideswide Benedictine hermitess nun founded the St. Mary’s Convent in
Oxford
Oxónii, in Anglia, sanctæ
Fredeswíndæ Vírginis.
At Oxford in England, St. Frideswide, virgin.
735 St Frideswide, Virgin
Frideswide is the patron saint of Oxford. William of Malmesbury, writing
just before 1125, first tells her legend in its simplest form. According
to it Frideswide, having miraculously got rid of the unwelcome attentions
of a king, founded a nunnery at Oxford and there spent the rest of her life.
In its more developed form we are told that her kingly father was named Didan
and her mother Safrida, and that her upbringing was entrusted to a governess
called Algiva. Her inclinations early led her towards the religious state,
for she had learned that “whatever is not God is nothing”. But Algar, another
prince, smitten with her beauty, tried to carry her off. Frideswide thereupon
fled down the Isis with two companions, and concealed herself for three years,
using a pig’s cote as her monastic cell. Algar continued to pursue her and
eventually, on her invoking the aid of St Catherine and St Cecily, he was
struck with blindness and only recovered on leaving the maiden in peace.
From which circumstance it was said that the kings of England up to Henry
II made a special point of avoiding Oxford!
In order to live more perfectly to God in closer retirement,
St Frideswide built herself a cell in Thornbury wood (now Binsey), where
by fervour of her penance and heavenly contemplation she advanced towards
God and His kingdom. The spring, which the saint made use of at Binsey, was
said obtained by her prayers, and was a place of pilgrimage in the middle
ages. Her death is put in 735; her tomb at Oxford was honoured with many
miracles and became one of the principal shrines of England.
The extant legend of St Frideswide seems to represent no real tradition,
and little reliance can be put on it; but she probably founded a monastery
at Oxford in the eighth century, and after various vicissitudes it was refounded
in the early twelfth century for canons regular of St Augustine. In 1180
the relics of St Frideswide were solemnly translated to a new shrine in the
church of her name; and twice a year, at mid-Lent and on Ascension Day, the
chancellor and members of the university visited it ceremonially. By permission
of Pope Clement VII the priory of St Frideswide was dissolved by Cardinal
Wolsey, who in 1525 founded Cardinal College on its site, the priory church
becoming the college chapel.
In 1546 the college was re-established by King Henry VIII as Christ
Church (Aedes Christi: “The House”), and the church, which had been St Frideswide’s,
became, as well as college chapel, the cathedral of the new diocese of Oxford
(and was so recognized by the Holy See on the reconciliation in Mary’s reign).
The relics of the saint had by this time been removed from their
shrine, but apparently they were not scattered. For in the year 1561 a certain
canon of Christ Church, named Calfhill, went to such trouble to desecrate
them that it would seem he must have been insane with fanaticism.
During the reign of Edward VI there had been buried in the church
the body of an apostate nun, Catherine Cathie, who had been through a form
of marriage with the friar Peter Martyr Vermigli. Calfhill had Catherine’s
remains dug up (they had been removed from the church under Mary), mixed
them with the alleged relics of St Frideswide, and thus reinterred them in
the church. In the following year an account of this performance was published
in Latin (and another in German) which contained a number of pseudo-pious
reflections on the text Hic jacet religio cum superstitione: “Here lies Religion
with Superstition.” It does not appear that these words were actually inscribed
on the tomb or coffin, though that they were is asserted by several writers,
including Alban Butler, whose comment is, “the obvious meaning of which [epitaph]
would lead us to think these men endeavoured to extinguish and bury all religion”.
St
Frideswide is named in the Roman Martyrology, and her feast is observed in
the archdiocese of Birmingham.
She is said also to have a cultus at Borny in Artois (under the name of Frévisse).
The legend
of St Frideswide has been transmitted in several varying texts (see BHL.,
nn. 3162—3169). The more important have been printed
or summarized in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. viii,
and have also been discussed by J. Parker, The Early History
of Oxford (1885), pp. 85-101. Cf. also Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue (Rolls Series), vol. i, pp. 459—462;
DNB., vol. xx, pp. 275—276; an article by E. F. Jacob, in The
Times, October 58, 1935, pp. 15—16; and another by F.M. Stenton in Oxoniensia, vol. i (1936), pp. 103—112 (both reprinted, O.U.P.,
1953). There is a popular account by Fr F. Goldie, The Story
of St Frideswide (1881); see also E. W. Watson, The Cathedral
Church of Christ in Oxford (1935).
Daughter of Prince Didan of the Upper Thames region of England.
She is sometimes called Fredeswinda. When Prince Algar of a neighboring kingdom
asked for her hand in marriage, Frideswide fled to Thomwry Wood in Birnsey,
where she became a hermitess. She founded the St. Mary’s Convent in Oxford
and is patroness of the university of that city. Her relics are extant. In
liturgical art she is depicted as a Benedictine, sometimes with an ox for
companion.
Frideswide of Oxford, OSB V (RM) (also known as Fredeswinda, Frevisse);
second feast day is February 12. Her maxim from childhood is said to be:
"Whatsoever is not God is nothing."
Little can be said for certain about Frideswide because the earliest
written account dates only from the 12th century, when her abbey became an
Augustinian foundation. William of Malmesbury recorded the legend from a
version attributed to Prior Robert of Cricklade. Nevertheless, recent historical
and archeological research has clarified the background and some of the details
of the saint's traditional legend.
This account follows the archetypical miracles of God preserving
His holy virgins. The story goes that Frideswide was a Mercian princess, the
daughter of Didian (or Dida) of Eynsham, whose lands included the upper reaches
of the River Thames. Her father, a sub- king under the Mercian overlordship,
endowed minster churches at Bampton and Oxford.
Frideswide took a vow of perpetual virginity, but Algar, a local
prince, (or Æthelbald of Mercia) could not believe that she would not
marry him. Desiring to fulfill her vow, she fled into hiding at Binsey (near
the current Oxford), where she remained for three years as Algar continued
to search for her. Then Algar was struck blind. When he renounced his desire
to marry her, his sight was restored at Bampton upon Frideswide's intercession.
Eventually, Frideswide was appointed the first abbess of the Benedictine
Saint Mary's double monastery at Oxford, where she peacefully lived out the
balance of her life. The convent flourished becoming the site of Christ Church
and her name was not forgotten as the town of Oxford arose around the abbey.
Most of the early records of the monastery were destroyed in a
fire set in 1002 while Scandinavians were inside the church in the attempted
massacres triggered by the notorious decree of Ethelred II. The existence
of her shrine is formally attested by 'On the Resting Places of the Saints'
in Die Heiligen Englands in the 11th century. In the twelfth century her
convent was refounded for Augustinian canons .
In 1180 in the presence of the
archbishop of Canterbury and King Henry II of England, her remains were translated
to a new shrine in the monastery church. A yet greater shrine was built nine
years later. Countless pilgrims visited her relics. Twice a year Oxford University
held a solemn feast in her honor and came to venerate her bones. In 1440,
the archbishop of Canterbury declared her patroness of the university.
Then in 1525 Cardinal Wolsey suppressed Saint Frideswide's monastery.
Two decades later the monastery church became the new cathedral of Oxford.
But the shrine containing Frideswide's relics had been broken up by Protestant
reformers to use in other buildings in 1538. Happily some Catholics preserved
the saints bones.
Meanwhile Catherine Dammartin, the wife of the Protestant professor
Peter Martyr Vermigli, had been buried in the cathedral. About 1558-1561,
in an extraordinary burst of fanaticism James Calfhill, a Calvinist canon,
dug up her bones and mixed them with those of Saint Frideswide, adding the epitaph
Hic jacet religio cum superstitione
('Here lies religion with superstition').
Part of her shrine has been reconstructed from pieces found in
a well at Christ Church, where her remains are marked with four elegant candlesticks
in Christ Church.
It may be assumed that Frideswide was foundress and abbess of
a religious house at Oxford in the 8th century; her shrine was in the church
of a monastery there in 1004, on the site of Christ Church. It is unexplained
how this obscure saint, under the name of Frevisse, came to have a cultus
at the village of Bomy in the middle of Artois (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley,
Farmer, Stenton).
In art she is a crowned abbess with an ox near her. Sometimes
she is shown being rowed down the Thames by an angel with her two sisters.
Frideswide is the patroness of Oxford and Oxford University (Roeder)
.
|
864 St. Laura
widowed; martyr. Born in Cordova; murdered by Moors
St. Laura died in Spain, she became a nun at Cuteclara after she was widowed,
and was scalded to death by her Moorish captors. Laura of Córdova,
Abbess M (AC) Born in Córdova, Spain. In her widowhood Laura became
a nun at Cuteclara, then its abbess. She was martyred by the Moorish conquerors
who threw her into a cauldron of boiling pitch or molten lead (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia).
|
946
John of Rila, Abbot; one of the earliest native Bulgarian monks; spent
60 years in the Rhodope mountains south of Sofia, where he founded the great
monastery of Rila
Born in Bulgaria; died at Rila. Saint John was one of the earliest
native Bulgarian monks. He spent 60 years in the Rhodope mountains south
of Sofia, where he founded the great monastery of Rila. This monastery survived
until the buildings were converted into a meteorological station by the Communist
government in 1947. It is unstated, but I believe that Saint John is only
on the Orthodox calendars (Attwater).
|
1016
St. Eadnot martyr Bishop of Dorchester; closely associated with Saint Oswald of York.
Eadnot died in a battle against the Danes,
England, who was a champion of St. Oswald of York. He is listed as a martyr
in some records, having been slain in an invasion by the Danes. Eadnot
of Dorchester, OSB B. Eadnot, a monk of Worcester and later abbot of Ramsey,
was chosen as bishop of Dorchester in 1006. In this office he was closely
associated with Saint Oswald of York.
Eadnot died in a battle against the Danes, and is sometimes termed a martyr
(Benedictines).
|
1066 Saint Prokhore the Georgian,
a descendant of the noble Shavteli family; began the reconstruction of the Holy Cross Georgian
Monastery near Jerusalem; According
to tradition, at this spot Abraham’s nephew Lot planted three trees—a cypress,
a pine, and a cedar. Eventually these three trees miraculously grew into
one large tree. When the Temple of Solomon was being built, this tree was
cut down but left unused. It is said that the Cross on which Christ our Savior
was crucified was constructed from the wood of this tree.
Born at the end of the 10th century and grew up in a monastery.
When he reached manhood he was ordained a hieromonk and labored for one year
at the Lavra of St. Sabbas in Jerusalem. Then, with the blessing of his spiritual
father Ekvtime Grdzeli, he began the reconstruction of the Holy Cross Georgian
Monastery near Jerusalem. According to tradition, at this spot Abraham’s
nephew Lot planted three trees—a cypress, a pine, and a cedar. Eventually
these three trees miraculously grew into one large tree. When the Temple
of Solomon was being built, this tree was cut down but left unused. It is
said that the Cross on which Christ our Savior was crucified was constructed
from the wood of this tree.
In the 4th century, the land on which the miraculous tree had grown was presented
to Holy King Mirian, the first Christian king of Georgia. Then in the 5th
century, during the reign of Holy King Vakhtang Gorgasali, the Holy Cross
Monastery was founded on that land. The monastery was destroyed several times
between the 7th and 9th centuries.
Finally, in the 11th century, King Bagrat Kuropalates offered much of his
wealth to Fr. Prokhore for the restoration of the monastery. St. Prokhore
beautified the monastery, then gathered eighty monks and established the
typicon (the monastic rule) for the community in accordance with that of
the St. Sabbas Lavra.
When St. Prokhore had labored long and lived to an advanced age, he chose
his disciple Giorgi to be the monastery’s next abbot. Then he departed
for the wilderness with two of his disciples, and after some time the righteous
monk yielded up his spirit to God. Beyond this, little is known about
the life of St. Prokhore. According to Georgian researchers and scholars,
he was probably born sometime between 985 and 990. He spent the years 1010
to 1015 in Jerusalem, and labored at the Lavra of St. Sabbas until 1025.
He reposed in the year 1066, between the ages of 76 and 81.
1277 Luka of Jerusalem The holy martyr lived in the 13th century at the Holy Cross Monastery
He was born to an honorable, pious Georgian family by the name
of Mukhaisdze. After the repose of Luka’s father, his mother left her children
and went to labor at a monastery in Jerusalem.
When Luka reached the age of twenty, he traveled to Jerusalem to visit his
mother and venerate the holy places. After spending some time there he decided
to remain and be tonsured a monk. He was later ordained a deacon and became
fluent in Arabic. Soon the brothers of the monastery recognized his wisdom
and asked him to guide them as abbot. For three years Luka directed the monastery
in an exemplary manner.
But the devil was envious of the holy father and provoked a certain Shekh-Khidar,
an influential Persian at the court of Sultan Penducht, (Probably Sultan
Zakhir-Rukedin-Baibars-Bundukdar of Egypt (1260–1277)) to take up arms against
St. Luka. Sultan Penducht then transferred possession of the Holy CrossMonastery
to Shekh-Khidar, who “treated the Georgian monks in a beastly manner and
finally ousted them from the monastery altogether.” Fulfilling his God-given
duty, the blessed Luka insisted on personally confronting Shekh-Khidar in
defense of his brotherhood.
Luka’s Christian brothers and sisters warned him, saying, “Shekh-Khidar is
threatening you.… Flee and hide fromhim!” But Luka paid no heed to their
admonitions, certain that it was more fitting to die for Christ than to live
for the world. As he had insisted, he himself approached Shekh-Khidar and
asked for the release of the imprisoned fathers.
Luka told him that he was prepared to accept any demands. The wicked Persian
leader demanded nothing from Luka except that he convert to Islam, promising
to make him emir if he consented. When he refused, the furious Shekh-Khidar
ordered St. Luka’s beheading. After the terrible deed had been performed,
St. Luka’s severed head turned toward the east and gave thanks to God with
an expression of pure peace. Soon after, his precious body was set on fire
at the command of the bewildered Shekh-Khidar. This occurred in 1277.
1314 St. Nikoloz Dvali
the Martyr; pilgrimage to Jerusalem and remained in the holy city, settling
at the Holy Cross Monastery.
Born at the end of the 13th century to a God-fearing couple who directed
his path toward the spiritual life.
At the age of twelve Nikoloz traveled to the Klarjeti Wilderness and was
tonsured a monk. From there he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and remained
in the holy city, settling at the Holy Cross Monastery. Burning with desire
for the apostolic life, Monk Nikoloz was determined to die a martyr’s death.
In Jerusalem a group of godless men arrested and tormented St. Nikoloz for
publicly confessing the Christian Faith, but a group of Christians succeeded
in rescuing him from prison. Then, in accordance with his abbot’s counsel,
St. Nikoloz relocated to a Georgian monastery on Cyprus. There the pious
monk beseeched the Lord to make him worthy of the crown of martyrdom. One
day, while he was praying before the icon of St. John the Baptist, he heard
a voice saying, “Nikoloz! Arise and go to Jerusalem. There you will find
a Georgian monk who will teach you the way of righteousness and encourage
you on the path of martyrdom. He has been appointed to guide you.”
Accordingly, St. Nikoloz returned to Jerusalem, met the monk whom God had
appointed, and informed him of what had been revealed. The Most Holy Theotokos
and St. John the Baptist appeared to St. Nikoloz’s spiritual father, who
had been praying intensely for guidance, and told him that it was the Lord’s
will for Nikoloz to journey to Damascus.
While in Damascus, the holy father entered a mosque and openly confessed
Christ to be the Savior, reproving those present for their folly. The angry
Muslims seized St. Nikoloz, beat him, and cast him into prison. After a great
struggle, the metropolitan and local Christians succeeded in recovering him
from captivity, but he immediately returned to the Muslims and began again
to denounce their ungodly ways. Again they beat him mercilessly, lashed him
five hundred times, and cast him in prison for a second time. But the holy
martyr’s wounds were healed through the miraculous intercession of St. John
the Baptist, and after two months he was released from prison.
By chance the emir of the city caught a glimpse of St. Nikoloz as he was
preparing to return to Jerusalem. The emir recognized him and sent him to
Dengiz, the emir of emirs. Dengiz flattered him and offered to convert him
to Islam, but St. Nikoloz bravely defended his faith in Christ. In response,
Dengiz ordered his execution.
At the hour appointed by Dengiz, the blessed martyr turned to the east, joyfully
bowed his neck to the sword, and prayed, “Glory to Thee, O Christ God, Who
hast accounted me worthy to die for Thy name’s sake.” The sword pierced his
neck, but the severed head glorified God seven times, crying out, “Glory
to Thee, O Christ our God!”
The Persians burned the saint’s
body, and for three days a pillar of light shone at the place where it lay.
When St.Nikoloz’s spiritual father heard about his martyrdom,
he prayed to God to reveal to him whether Nikoloz would be numbered among
the saints. Then one day while he was reading, he saw a vision of a host
of saints standing atop a mountain, illumined and surrounded by a cloud of
incense. Among them the Great-martyr George shone especially brightly, and
he called St. Nikoloz, saying, “Nikoloz! Come and see the monk, your spiritual
father. He has shed many tears for you.”
Nikoloz greeted his spiritual
father, saying,
“Behold me and the place where
I am, and from this day cease your sorrowing for me.”
St. Nikoloz Dvali was tortured to death on Tuesday, October 19,
in the year 1314. The Georgian Church continues to commemorate him on that
date.
|
1238 Saint John, Abbot of Rila in Bulgaria Today we commemorate the transfer of the relics.
The relics of St John were transferred from the city of Sredets [Sofia] to
Trnovo, the capital of the Bulgarian realm, in the year 1238. See August
18 for his Life.
|
1257 Blessed Thomas Hélye,
Confessor ascetic; led an ascetic life in his parents' home and devoted part
of his time to teaching the catechism to the poor. His bishop requested that
he receive presbyterial ordination. Thereafter he was an itinerant preacher
throughout Normandy. Later he was appointed almoner to the king (AC)
1257 Bd Thomas of Biville
Around the district of Biville in Normandy, where he was born
about the year 1187, Thomas Hélye is known as “the Wonder-worker”
and enjoys a widespread cultus that was confirmed in 1859. His parents seem
to have been people of some local importance particularly to please his mother,
Thomas was sent to school. When he was a young man he decided to put the
fruits of this privilege at the disposal of other children, and he became
a sort of village schoolmaster and catechist in his native place. The good
results of his teaching reached the ears of the citizens of Cherbourg, the
nearest town, and he was invited to go and instruct the children there, which
he did until sickness drove him home again. When he was recovered he continued
to live in his father’s house, in a manner more like that of monk than of
a layman, and he soon became known to the bishop of Coutances, who ordained
him deacon. Thomas then undertook pilgrimages to Rome and to Compostela,
before going to Paris to complete his studies; after four years he was made
priest. He increased his austerities, spending pan of the night in prayer
that he might have the more time in the day for pastoral care and preaching,
for which he had a great gift. Thomas was presented to the parochial benefice
of Saint-Maurice, but he was by nature a missionary and, appointing a vicar
for his cure, he took up his former work of preaching, catechizing, visiting
the sick and sinners, encouraging the poor and oppressed, exhorting the lukewarm
and indifferent, wherever it seemed that God was calling him, not only in
Coutances but in the neighbouring dioceses of Avranches, Bayeux and Lisieux
as well. In the midst of these missionary journeys Bd Thomas was taken ill
at the castle of Vauville in La Manche, and died there on October 19, 1257
the first miracle after his death was the healing of the withered hand of
his hostess.
Relics of Bd Thomas Hélye have
an interesting history. His body was buried in the cemetery of Biville, and
later translated to the church itself. At the Revolution the church was profaned
and the tomb of Thomas, left in situ, used as a desk, when M. Lemarié,
vicar general of Coutances, determined to save the relics before it was too
late. At 10.15 in the evening of July 13, 1794, he, with the parish priest
and several of the faithful, secretly opened the shrine. The skeleton of
the saint was found with nearly all the bones in place. It was quickly wrapped
in linen and transferred to a wooden coffin, together with an affidavit of
the proceedings, sealed up, and conveyed to the church at Virandeville, where
it was hidden. The revolutionary authorities of Biville were unable to fix
the responsibility for the “crime” and visited their annoyance on the “constitutional”
curé, who was imprisoned for neglect of duty and for concealing the
names of the delinquents, which he did not know. The relics were returned
to their proper shrine in 1803. There, seven hundred years after the death
of Bd Thomas, they still rest.
There is a
valuable medieval life by a certain Clement, a contemporary, who was an actual
witness of much that he records. Four years after the death of Bd Thomas
an investigation was held at which Clement assisted, and he quotes in his
biography from the depositions made regarding the holy missionary’s virtues
and miracles. The text has been edited both in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. viii, and by
L. Delisle in the Mémoirs de la Soc. Acad. de Cherbourg,
1861, pp. 203—238. See also lives by L. Couppey
(1903) and P. Pinel (1927). There seems, however, as Fr Van Ortroy has pointed
out, no adequate evidence for the statement that Bd Thomas was ever appointed
chaplain to St Louis IX cf the Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. xxii (1903), p. 505.
Born at Biville, Normandy,
in 1187; died at the castle of Vauville, Manche, in 1257; cultus confirmed
in 1859. Blessed Thomas led an ascetic life in his parents' home and devoted
part of his time to teaching the catechism to the poor. His bishop requested
that he receive presbyterial ordination. Thereafter he was an itinerant preacher
throughout Normandy. Later he was appointed almoner to the king (Benedictines). |
1562 Peter of Alcántara
practiced asceticism from 16 until death; apeared to Teresa Avila; Two months
after the opening of St Joseph’s St Peter was seized with a mortal sickness,
and he was carried to the convent of Arenas that he might die in the arms
of his brethren. In his last moments he repeated those words of the psalmist,
“I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house
of the Lord”. Then he rose upon his knees, and in that posture calmly died.
St Teresa wrote: “his departure our Lord has been pleased to let me enjoy
more of him than I did when he was alive; he has given me advice and counsel
in many things, and I have frequently seen him in great glory…Our Lord told
me once that men should ask nothing in the name of St Peter of Alcantara
wherein He would not hear them. I have recommended many things to him that
he might beg them of our Lord, and I have always found them granted.”
Besides his natural talents and learning God enriched him with an experimental
and infused knowledge and sense of spiritual things, which is the fruit only
of divine grace gained by an eminent spirit of prayer and habits of virtue.
His presence alone seemed a powerful sermon, and it was said that he had
but to show himself to work conversions. patron of Brazil OFM (RM)
Arénis,
in Hispánia, natális páriter sancti Petri de Alcántara,
Sacerdótis ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris; quem, propter
admirábilem pæniténtiam múltaque mirácula,
Clemens Nonus, Póntifex Máximus, Sanctórum número
adscrípsit. Ejus autem festum sequénti die celebrátur.
At Arenas
in Spain, the birthday of St. Peter of Alcantara, confessor and priest of
the Order of Friars Minor. He was canonized by Pope Clement IX because
of his admirable penance and many miracles, and his feast is observed on
the day following.
Born at Alcántara, Estremadura,
Spain, in 1499; died at Arenas, 1562; canonized in 1669.
1562 St Peter Of Alcantara
Peter Garavita the younger was born at Alcantara,
a small town in the province of Estremadura in Spain in 1499. His father
was a lawyer and governor of that town; his mother was of good family; and
both were eminent for their piety and personal merit. Peter was sent to school
locally, and had not finished his philosophy when his father died. His stepfather
sent him to Salamanca University, where he decided to become a Franciscan,
and at 16 he took the habit of that order in the convent of Manjaretes, situated
in the mountains that run between Castile and Portugal. An ardent spirit
of penance determined his choice of this friary, for it was a house of those
who, among the friars of the Observance, aimed at a yet stricter observance.
During his novitiate he had first
the care of the sacristy, then refectory, and afterwards the gate, all which
offices he discharged without prejudice to his recollection, but not always
with exactitude; he seems, indeed, to have been rather absent-minded. After
having charge of the refectory for half a year he was chidden for never having
given the friars any fruit. To which he answered that he had not seen any:
he had never, in fact, lifted his eyes to the ceiling, where fruit was hanging
in bunches.
In time he seemed by long habits
of mortification to have lost the sense of taste, for when vinegar and salt
was thrown into a porringer of warm water, he took it for his usual bean
soup. He had no other bed than a skin lain on the floor, on which he knelt
a part of the night and slept sitting, leaning his head against a wall. His
watches were the most difficult and remarkable of all austerities he practised,
and in consequence of them he has been regarded in after-ages as the patron
saint of night watchmen. He inured himself gradually to them, that they might
not be prejudicial to his health.
A few years after his profession,
Peter was sent to Badajoz to establish a small friary there, though he was
at that time but twenty-two years old and not yet a priest. When the three
years of his guardianship were elapsed he was promoted to the priesthood,
in 1524, and soon after employed in preaching. The ensuing year he was made
guardian of Robredillo and later of Plasencia. In all stations of superiority
he set the strictest example by the literal acceptance of evangelical counsels,
as in the matter of having only one coat: when his habit was being washed
or mended he had to seek a warm retired spot in the garden, and wait there
with nothing on.
During this period he preached
much throughout Estremadura, and great was the fruit his sermons produced.
Besides his natural talents and learning God enriched him with an experimental
and infused knowledge and sense of spiritual things, which is the fruit only
of divine grace gained by an eminent spirit of prayer and habits of virtue.
His presence alone seemed a powerful sermon, and it was said that he had
but to show himself to work conversions.
He loved particularly to preach to the poor
and from the words of the sapiential books and the prophets of the Old Law.
The love of retirement was always St Peter’s predominant inclination, and
he made petition to his superiors that he might be placed in some remote convent,
where he could give himself up to contemplation. Accordingly, he was sent
to the friary at Lapa, a solitary place, but at the same time he was commanded
to take up the charge of guardian. In that house he composed his book on
prayer. This famous treatise was justly esteemed a masterpiece by St Teresa,
Louis of Granada, St Francis of Sales and others, and has been translated
into most European languages.
St Peter was himself a proficient
in the school of divine love, and his union with God was habitual; his ecstasies
in prayer were frequent, sometimes of long continuance and accompanied by
remarkable phenomena. The reputation of St Peter reached the ears of John
III, King of Portugal, who summoned him to the court at Lisbon and tried
in vain to keep him there.
St Peter was in 1538 chosen
minister provincial of the stricter observance friars’ province of St Gabriel
of Estremadura. Whilst he discharged this office he drew up even more severe
rules, which he wished the whole province to accept in a chapter held at Plasencia
in 1540, but his ideas met with strong opposition. He therefore resigned,
and went to join Friar Martin-of-St-Mary, who interpreted the Rule of St
Francis as an eremitical life, and was building his first hermitage upon
a barren mountain called Arabida, at the mouth of the Tagus on the opposite
bank to Lisbon. St Peter animated the fervour of these religious, and suggested
many regulations that were adopted. They wore nothing on their feet, slept
on vine-twigs or on the bare ground, never touched flesh or wine, and would
have no library. A number of Spanish and Portuguese friars were attracted
to this way of life, and other small communities were formed. That of Palhaes
being appointed for the novitiate, St Peter was nominated guardian and charged
with the direction of the novices.
Peter was greatly distressed at the trials, which
the Church was then undergoing, and to oppose prayer and penance to the effects
of ill-living and false doctrine he in 1554 formed a design of establishing
a congregation of friars upon a yet stricter plan. His project was disapproved
by the minister provincial of Estremadura, but welcomed by the bishop of
Coria, in whose diocese the saint, with one companion, made an essay of this
manner of living in a hermitage.
A short time after he went to Rome, travelling barefoot
all the way, to obtain the support of Pope Julius III. He got no encouragement
from the minister general of the Observance, but he prevailed on the pope
to put him under the minister general of the Conventuals and was authorized
to build a friary according to his plan. At his return a friend built such
a one, as he desired near Pedrosa, which is the beginning of the group of
Franciscans called of the observance of St Peter of Alcantara. The cells
were exceedingly small, and half of each was filled with a bed, consisting
of three boards; the church was of a piece with the rest. It was impossible
for persons to forget their engagement in a penitential life while their
habitations seemed rather to resemble graves than rooms.
Among the supporters
of this “reform” was a friend of St Peter to whom, when he one day bewailed
the wickedness of the world, the saint replied, “The remedy is simple. You
and I must first be what we ought to be: then we shall have cured what concerns
ourselves. Let each one do the same, and all will be well. The trouble is
that we all talk of reforming others without ever reforming ourselves.”
Other houses received the new
observance, and in the statutes which he drew up for them St Peter orders
that each cell should be only seven feet long; that the number of friars
in a convent should never exceed eight; that they should always go barefoot;
that they should employ three hours every day in mental prayer, and never
receive any stipend for offering Mass; and reenacted the other extreme points
of the observance of Arabida. In 1561 this new custody was made a province
with the title of St Joseph, and Pope Pius IV removed it from the jurisdiction
of the Conventuals to that of the Observants. (These “Alcantarines” disappeared
as a separate body when Pope Leo XIII united the different branches of the
Observants in 1897.)
As is usual in affairs of this sort, the action
of St Peter was not well received by those he had left, in this case, the
province of St Gabriel. He was a hypocrite, traitor, disturber of peace,
ambitious, and was sent for to be told so. “My fathers and brothers”, he
replied, “make allowance for the good intention of my zeal in this matter,
and if you are convinced it were better that it should not succeed, spare
no pains to stop it.” They did not spare them, but the “reform” nevertheless
spread.
During the course of a visitation towards the year
1560, St Peter came to Avila, according to some in consequence of a direct
instruction from Heaven. Here St Teresa, still at the Incarnation convent,
was suffering exterior and interior trials from scruples and anxiety, for
many told her that an evil spirit deluded her. A friend of St Teresa got
leave that she might pass eight days in her house, and arranged that St Peter
should there talk with her at leisure. From his own experience and knowledge
in heavenly communications he understood hers, cleared her perplexities,
gave her strong assurances that her visions and prayer were from God, and
spoke to her confessor in their favour.
It is from St Teresa’s autobiography that we learn
much concerning St Peter’s life and miraculous gifts, for he told her in confidence
many things concerning the way in which he had lived for seven-and-forty
years. “He told me”, says she, “that, to the best of my remembrance, he had
slept but one hour and a half in twenty-four hours for forty years together;
and that in the beginning it was the greatest and most troublesome mortification
of all to overcome himself against sleep, and that for this he was obliged
to be always either kneeling or standing…In all these years he never put
up his hood, however hot the sun or heavy the rain; nor did he ever wear
anything upon his feet or any other garment than his habit of thick coarse
cloth (without anything next his skin) and this short and scanty and as straight
as possible, with a cloak of the same over it. He told me that when the weather
was extremely cold, he was wont to put off his mantle and to leave the door
and the window of his cell open, that when he put it on again and shut his
door his body might be somewhat refreshed with this additional warmth. It
was usual with him to eat but once in three days, and he asked me why I wondered
at it: for it was quite possible to one who had accustomed himself to it.
One of his companions told me that sometimes he ate nothing at all for eight
days. But that perhaps might be when he was in prayer: for he used
to have great raptures and vehement transports of divine love, of which I
was once an eyewitness. His poverty was as extreme as his mortification,
even from his youth…When I came to know him he was very old, and his body
so shrivelled and weak that it seemed to be composed as it were of the roots
and dried bark of a tree rather than flesh. He was very pleasant but spoke
little unless questions were asked him; and he answered in a few words, but
in these he was worth hearing, for he had an excellent understanding.”
When St Teresa returned from
Toledo to Avila in 1562 she found St Peter there. He spent much of the last
months of his life and what strength remained to him in helping her carry
through the foundation of her first house of reformed Carmelites. Her success
was in good measure due to his encouragement and advice, and to the use which
he made of his influence with the bishop of Avila and others. On August 24
he was present when the first Mass was celebrated in the chapel of the new
convent of St Joseph. In the troublous times, which followed, St Teresa was
strengthened and comforted by several visions of St Peter of Alcantara, who
was by then dead. According to her testimony, quoted in the decree of his
canonization, it was St Peter who did more for her nascent reform than anyone
else. That he approached things in a way that would appeal to her may be
judged from the opening of his letter to her defending absolute poverty for
the new foundation:
“I confess I am
surprised that you have called in learned men to solve a question which they
are not competent to judge. Litigation and cases of conscience belong to
canonists and theologians, but questions of the perfect life must be left
to those who lead it. To be able to deal with a matter one must know something
about it, and it is not for a learned man to decide if you and I shall or
shall not practise the evangelical counsels…He who gives the counsel will
provide the means…The abuses in monasteries which have given up revenues
arise from this—that poverty in them is endured rather than desired.”
Two months after the opening of St Joseph’s
St Peter was seized with a mortal sickness, and he was carried to the convent
of Arenas that he might die in the arms of his brethren. In his last moments
he repeated those words of the psalmist, “I rejoiced at the things that were
said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord”. Then he rose upon his
knees, and in that posture calmly died. St Teresa wrote: “his departure our
Lord has been pleased to let me enjoy more of him than I did when he was
alive; he has given me advice and counsel in many things, and I have frequently
seen him in great glory…Our Lord told me once that men should ask nothing
in the name of St Peter of Alcantara wherein He would not hear them. I have
recommended many things to him that he might beg them of our Lord, and I
have always found them granted.” St Peter of Alcantara was canonized
in 1669.
As compared
with such mystics as St Teresa of Avila and St John-of-the-Cross, the life
of St Peter of Alcantara seems only to have aroused languid interest. The
earliest printed biography which we now possess did not appear until 1615,
fifty-three years after the saint’s death. It was written by Fr John-of-St-Mary
and a Latin version of it is printed in the Acta
Sanctorum, October, vol. viii. With this the Bollandists
have coupled a somewhat longer life by Fr Laurence-of-St-Paul, first published
in 1669. In 1667 Fr Francis Marchese brought
out a life in Italian in which he claims to have made use of the depositions
of witnesses in the process of canonization. This has been translated
into many languages, and an English version in two volumes was printed in
the Oratorian Series in 1856. See also Leon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. iv; and S.
J. Piat’s short account in the “Profils franciscains” series (1942).
Sixteenth century Spain provided the Church with a wealth of heroes--most
of whom seemed to know one another. I hope you enjoy this story of a man
who truly fell in love with God at an early age. Peter Garavito's father,
who was a lawyer and governor of the province, died in 1513 and two years
later, after studying law in Salamanca, 16-year-old Peter entered the Observant
Franciscans at Manxarretes (Manjaretes). At 22 he was sent to Badajoz to
found a friary.
He was ordained at the age of
25 (1524), and preached missions in Spain and Portugal. After serving as
superior at Robredillo, Plasencia, and Estremadura, Peter finally had his
request for solitude granted with an appointment to the friary at Lapa, though
he was also named its superior. For a time he served as chaplain to the court
of King John III of Portugal. This period of his life is uneventful, but
all the time he was longing for a yet more rigorous following of the Franciscan
rule.
After he was elected provincial for Saint Gabriel at Estremadura in
1538, he was able to take definite steps to begin the reform, but his efforts
were not well received during the provincial chapter at Placensia in 1540.
So, he resigned as minister provincial. For two years (1542-44) he lived
as a hermit with Friar Martin of Saint Mary on Arabida Mountain near Lisbon
and was named superior of Palhaes community for novices when numerous friars
were attracted to their way of life. During that period he had become convinced
of the need for a vigorous Catholic reform, a Counter-Reformation with which
to oppose the Protestant Reformation.
Unable to secure approval for a stricter congregation of friars from
his provincial, his idea was accepted by the bishop of Coria. Finally, with
the approval of Pope Julius III, c. 1556, he founded the Reformed Friars
Minor of Spain, usually called the Alcatarine Franciscans, which established
not only monasteries but also Houses of Retreat where anyone could go and
try to live according to the Rule of Saint Francis. The friars lived in small
groups, in great poverty and austerity, going barefoot, abstaining from meat
and wine, spending much time in solitude and contemplation.
Three years later, in 1559, the new order was enlarged with the addition
of a new province, that of Saint Joseph. But the Reformed Franciscans failed
to win the support of the other Franciscans; Conventuals and Observants,
both jealous of their privileges, continued to quarrel over the inheritance
of Saint Francis.
At the time of his death in
1562, Saint Peter was still uncertain of the future of his work, which had
been placed under the Conventuals. But the example which he set was followed by Saint Teresa of Ávila
and there was thus born Saint Joseph
of Ávila, the first Reformed Carmel in Spain. Even if Peter's
work was surpassed by that of Saint Teresa, it was instrumental in releasing
in Spain, and then throughout Europe, a movement of vigorous revival which
gave strength to the Church at a time when it was sorely needed.
Teresa and Peter were
intimate friends for the last four years of her life. After they met in 1560,
he became her confessor, advisor, and admirer. His ferocious and almost unbelievable
asceticism is not myth, but rather described by Teresa in a celebrated chapter
of her autobiography. She wrote with awe that his penances were “incomprehensible
to the human mind.” They had reduced him, she tells
us, to a condition in which he looked as if “he had
been made of the roots of trees.”
He practiced asceticism from the age of 16 until his death, opposing
a will of iron against the doubtlessly acute temptations of his body. He slept
for no more than two hours each night, and even then he did not lie down,
but slept either in a hard wooden chair or kneeling against the wall. His
cell was no more than 4- ½ feet long. He ate extremely little, at
first going for three days, and then for a week without food. When he did
eat, he destroyed the taste of the food by sprinkling it with ashes or earth.
He never drank wine.
He never wore shoes, or even sandals, and went about barefoot.
He never wore a hat or a hood, and exposed his head to the icy rains of winter
or the scorching sun of summer. He wore a hair shirt, and though he possessed
a cloak, he never wore it in cold weather. He went everywhere on foot, or
at the most would ride on a donkey.
Consumed with fever, he refused a glass of water, saying “Jesus
was ready to die of thirst on the cross.” For
three years he never raised his eyes from the ground. And yet, “With
all his holiness,” wrote Saint Teresa of Ávila,
“he was very kindly, though spare of speech except
when asked a question, and then he was delightful, for he had a keen understanding.”
Such asceticism may seem self-centered
and excessive to us today. Some may think that there are sufficient mortifications
in the normal course of life without adding to them. But asceticism has been
in the Church since the days of the Desert Fathers, and though the practices
of the ascetics might seem horrible, unnecessary, or even ridiculous to us,
the Church has never reproved them; indeed, they are to be recommended for
the active as well as for the contemplative. And who is to say that the present
unhappy state of the world would not be greatly changed for the better if
people did follow ascetic practices?
Peter's asceticism, however, is only one aspect of his life of
great holiness and incessant labor devoted to the restoration in Spain of
the primitive Franciscan rule.
Saint Peter was one of the great Spanish mystics and his Treatise on Prayer and Meditation (1926
English translation) was said by Pope Gregory XV to be “a
shining light to lead souls to heaven and a doctrine prompted by the Holy
Spirit.” This treatise was used later by Saint Francis
de Sales. His mystical works, intended purely for edification, follow traditional
lines.
“He had already appeared
to me twice since his death,” wrote Teresa of Ávila,
“and I witnessed the greatness of his glory.
Far from causing me the least fear, the sight of him filled me with joy.
He always showed himself to me in the state of a body which was glorious and
radiant with happiness; and I, seeing him, was filled with the same happiness.
I remember that when he first appeared to me he said, to show me the extent
of his felicity, 'Blessed be the penitence which has brought me such a reward'”
(Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Underhill).
In art he is depicted as a Franciscan in radiance levitated before
the Cross, angels carry a girdle of nails, chain, and discipline. Sometimes
he is shown (1) walking on water with a companion, a star over his head;
(2) praying before a crucifix, discipline (scourge), and hairshirt; or (3)
with a dove at his ear, cross and discipline in the picture. He is venerated
at Alcántara and Pedrosa (Roeder). In 1862, he was declared
the patron of Brazil (Delaney).
(1694-1775)
St. Paul Danei was one of the
outstanding home missionaries of the 18th century, and the Passionists, the
religious order that he founded, have since then continued his tradition
of parish missions around the world.
Paul Francis Danei was born near Genoa, Italy, on January 3, 1694.
His parents, though of noble background, had to struggle to raise their 16
children, and because of their budgetary problems, Paul, the second oldest,
had to curtail his schooling, and even, on one occasion, had to pawn his
own possessions to assist them. Yet Luke and Anna Maria Danei gave to their
brood a still greater treasure: a strong religious sense. His mother, in
fact, taught Paul Francis to fervently love the cross. Whenever he was pained
or frustrated, she would show him a crucifix and remind him how Jesus bore
His own cross to Calvary.
When he was 15, young Danei heard a sermon that made him aware
that he was not corresponding sufficiently to God's grace. He therefore made
a general confession and began a program of intensive prayer and mortification.
His gift of leadership now began to show itself. He induced his younger brother,
John Baptist Danei, to join him in his project, and soon he had persuaded
several other teenagers to join them. Of these recruits several eventually
entered religious orders.
Just where God was leading Paul, however, did not at once appear.
In 1714 he enlisted in the Venetian army to fight against the Moslem Turks,
a cause promoted by Pope Clement XI. But a year of soldiering convinced him
that he was not called to the military life. He decided against marrying,
declined to accept a generous inheritance, and began to lead the life of
a quasi-hermit in his own home, devoting himself to constant prayer. During
the summer of 1720, Paul received three extraordinary visions. In them he
was shown a black religious habit bearing a breastbadge inscribed with a
white heart and cross and the words, "The Passion of Jesus Christ."
Our Lady, dressed in this garb, appeared to him and instructed him to found
a religious congregation dedicated to constant mourning for the passion and
death of her Son.
Now the career of Paul Danei became clear. He wrote a monastic
rule of life, and in 1727, with papal permission, having received, with his
brother, ordination to the priesthood, he launched the Passionists, officially
called "The Congregation of Discalced Clerks of the Most Holy Cross and Passion
of our Lord."
This religious order aimed to preserve the austerity of the hermit
life and at the same time to heal souls by reminding them of the debt they
owed to the passion and death of Jesus. In preaching parish missions internationally
and by offering their own austere example as well as the word of God, the
Passionist Fathers achieved amazing success in bringing people back to God.
One interesting phase of their campaign was their constant prayer for the
conversion of England, begun by the founder in 1720. Significantly, it was
a Passionist, B1. Dominic Barberi, who in 1845 received the Anglican convert
John Henry Newman into the Church.
St. Paul of the Cross also established
the Passionist nuns, a strictly cloistered congregation. An able administrator
and an influential guide of souls, he continued to be the recipient of astonishing
spiritual graces up to the end of his life - a life fraught, incidentally,
with great difficulties, but fortified by faith. The self-sacrificing priest,
both organizer and mystic, died at 80, and was canonized in 1867, eight years
short of the centenary of his death.
In reading the lives of the male and female saints who have received
mystical graces and powers like healing and prophecy, we may wonder why God
has not given more of us a share of such gifts. One reason, doubtless,
is that you and I are not so prayerful as the canonized saints have been.
A surer reason is that God gives graces as He chooses, and is not bound to
explain His generosities to the rest of us. But finally, we must remember
that the more "extravagant" graces are bestowed not for the benefit of the
recipients so much as for the benefit of others. Thus the visions God granted
to Paul of the Cross did not make him holier per se, but impelled him to
remind all of us of what too often we forget, that Christ died a bitter death
to save us. --Father Robert F. McNamara.
1562 St. Peter of
Alcantara Observant Franciscans Church reform
Born at Alcántara, Spain,
1499; died 18 Oct., 1562. [Note: In 1826, St. Peter of Alcántara
was named Patron of Brazil, and in 1962 (the fourth centenary of his death),
of Estremadura. Because of the reform of the general Roman calendar in 1969,
his feast on 19 October is observed only in local and particular liturgical
calendars.] His feast is 19 Oct.
Peter was a contemporary of well-known 16th-century Spanish
saints, including Ignatius of Loyola
and John of the Cross.
He served as confessor to St.
Teresa of Avila. Church reform was a major issue in Peter’s day, and
he directed most of his energies toward that end. His death came one year
before the Council of Trent ended.
Born 1499 into a noble family (his father was the governor of
Alcantara in Spain), Peter studied law at Salamanca University and, at 16,
joined the so-called Observant Franciscans
(also known as the discalced, or barefoot, friars). While he practiced
many penances, he also demonstrated abilities which were soon recognized.
He was named the superior of a new house even before his ordination as a
priest; at the age of 39, he was elected provincial; he was a very successful
preacher. Still, he was not above washing dishes and cutting wood for the
friars. He did not seek attention; indeed, he preferred solitude.
Peter’s penitential side was evident when it came to food and
clothing. It is said that he slept only 90 minutes each night. While others
talked about Church reform, Peter’s reform began with himself.
His patience was so great that a proverb arose: "To bear such
an insult one must have the patience of Peter of Alcantara."
In 1554, Peter, having received permission, formed a group of
Franciscans who followed the Rule of St. Francis with even greater rigor.
These friars were known as Alcantarines. Some of the Spanish friars who came
to North and South America in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were members
of this group. At the end of the 19th century, the Alcantarines were joined
with other Observant friars to form the Order of Friars Minor.
As spiritual director to St. Teresa, Peter encouraged her in promoting
the Carmelite reform. His preaching brought many people to religious life,
especially to the Secular Franciscan Order, the friars and the Poor Clares.
He was canonized in 1669.
Comment: Poverty was a means
and not an end for Peter. The goal was following Christ in ever greater purity
of heart. Whatever obstructed that path could be eliminated with no real
loss. The philosophy of our consumer age—you are worth what you own—may find
Peter of Alcantara’s approach severe. Ultimately his approach is life-giving
while consumerism is deadly.
Quote: "I do not praise
poverty for poverty's sake; I praise only that poverty which we patiently
endure for the love of our crucified Redeemer and I consider this far more
desirable than the poverty we undertake for the sake of poverty itself; for
if I thought or believed otherwise, I would not seem to be firmly grounded
in faith" (Letter of Peter to Teresa of Avila).
St. Peter of Alcántara
His father, Peter Garavita, was the governor of the place, and his mother
was of the noble family of Sanabia. After a course of grammar and philosophy
in his native town, he was sent, at the age of fourteen, to the University
of Salamanca. Returning home, he became a Franciscan in the convent of the
Stricter Observance at Manxaretes in 1515. At the age of twenty-two he was
sent to found a new community of the Stricter Observance at Badajoz. He was
ordained priest in 1524, and the following year made guardian of the convent
of St. Mary of the Angels at Robredillo. A few years later he began preaching
with much success. He preferred to preach to the poor; and his sermons, taken
largely from the Prophets and Sapiential Books, breathe the tenderest human
sympathy. The reform of the "Discalced Friars" had, at the time when Peter
entered the order, besides the convents in Spain, the Custody of Sta. Maria
Pietatis in Portugal, subject to the General of the Observants.
Having been elected minister of St. Gabriel's province in 1538, Peter set
to work at once. At the chapter of Plasencia in 1540 he drew up the Constitutions
of the Stricter Observants, but his severe ideas met with such opposition
that he renounced the office of provincial and retired with John of Avila
into the mountains of Arabida, Portugal, where he joined Father Martin a
Santa Maria in his life of eremitical solitude. Soon, however, other friars
came to join him, and several little communities were established. Peter
being chosen guardian and master of novices at the convent of Pallais. In
1560 these communities were erected into the Province of Arabida. Returning
to Spain in 1553 he spent two more years in solitude, and then journeyed
barefoot to Rome, and obtained permission of Julius III to found some poor
convents in Spain under the jurisdiction of the general of the Conventuals.
Convents were established at Pedrosa, Plasencia, and elsewhere; in 1556 they
were made a commissariat, with Peter as superior, and in 1561, a province
under the title of St. Joseph. Not discouraged by the opposition and ill-success
his efforts at reform had met with in St. Gabriel's province, Peter drew
up the constitutions of the new province with even greater severity. The
reform spread rapidly into other provinces of Spain and Portugal.
In 1562 the province of St. Joseph was put under the jurisdiction of the
general of the Observants, and two new custodies were formed: St. John Baptist's
in Valencia, and St. Simon's in Galicia (see Friars Minor). Besides the above-named
associates of Peter may be mentioned St. Francis Borgia, John of Avila, and
Ven. Louis of Granada. In St. Teresa, Peter perceived a soul chosen of God
for a great work, and her success in the reform of Carmel was in great measure
due to his counsel, encouragement, and defence. (See Carmelites.) It was
a letter from St. Peter (14 April, 1562) that encouraged her to found her
first monastery at Avila, 24 Aug. of that year. St. Teresa's autobiography
is the source of much of our information regarding Peter's life, work, and
gifts of miracles and prophecy.
Perhaps the most remarkable of Peter's graces were his gift of contemplation
and the virtue of penance. Hardly less remarkable was his love of God, which
was at times so ardent as to cause him, as it did St. Philip Neri, sensible
pain, and frequently rapt him into ecstasy. The poverty he practised and
enforced was as cheerful as it was real, and often let the want of even the
necessaries of life be felt. In confirmation of his virtues and mission of
reformation God worked numerous miracles through his intercession and by
his very presence. He was beatified by Gregory XV in 1622, and canonized
by Clement IX in 1669. Besides the Constitutions of the Stricter Observants
and many letters on spiritual subjects, especially to St. Teresa, he composed
a short treatise on prayer, which has been translated into all the languages
of Europe. His feast is 19 Oct.
|
1595
St. Philip Howard One of 40 Martyrs of England and Wales
1595 Bd Philip Howard, Martyr
Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk, was beheaded by order of Queen Elizabeth
in 1572, and in consequence of the attainder his son Philip did not succeed
to the dukedom of Norfolk; but he became earl of Arundel and Surrey by right
of his mother. His early education was partly under John Foxe and partly
under Dr Gregory Martin, but the Protestant influence predominated and he
went to Cambridge for two years, where “he received no small detriment”.
At the age of twelve he had been married to Anne, daughter of Thomas, Lord
Dacre of Gillesland. When he went to the court of Elizabeth, Philip suffered
yet more detriment: he neglected his admirable wife, impoverished his estates,
and earned the brief favour of the queen. But in 1581 he was deeply impressed
by hearing a disputation in the Tower of London between Bd Edmund Campion
and others and some Protestant divines; he returned and became devoted to
his wife, and in 1584 they were both reconciled to the Church by Father William
Weston, S.J.
Before this event they had begun to be under suspicion, and
Philip was for a time imprisoned in his own house in London. After that,
the manifest change in his way of life gave a further handle by intrigues
of his enemies. Then he determined, with his family and his brother William,
to flee to Flanders. Philip wrote a long letter to the queen, explaining
his conduct—he was come to the point “in which he must consent either to
the certain destruction of his body or the manifest endangering of his soul”—and
embarked in Sussex. But all his movements had been watched. He was captured
at sea, brought back to London, and committed to the Tower. After twelve
months, a charge of treason not being able to be substantiated, he was arraigned
on lesser charges, vindictively fined £10,000,
and sentenced to imprisonment during the royal pleasure.
During the Armada scare he was again brought to trial, before his peers,
for high treason in favouring the Queen’s enemies. The evidence was partly
fraudulent, partly worthless (extorted by fear of torture), but Philip was
sentenced to death. The sentence was never executed; why, is not known. He
was instead held a prisoner in the Tower for another six years, and he died
there on October 19, 1595 (not without suspicion of poison). His dying request
that he might see his wife and son, born after his imprisonment, was refused
because he would not comply with a condition of attending Protestant worship,
which would have also bought his release.
Bd Philip Howard was thirty-eight years old at his death, and
had been for ten years uninterruptedly in prison, wherein his patience and
conduct were not merely exemplary but heroic. His conversion had been whole-hearted,
and he spent much of his time in writing and translating works of devotion.
As if close confinement were not sufficient mortification, until his health
failed he fasted three days a week, and got up every day for morning prayers
at five o’clock. He was particularly penitent for the way he had treated
his faithful wife. To Bd Robert Southwell he wrote: “I call our Lord to witness
that no sin grieves me anything so much as my offences to that party”; and
to her: “He that knows all things knows that which is past is a nail in my
conscience and burden the greatest I feel there; my will is to make satisfaction
if my ability were able.” He died “in a most sweet manner, without any sign
of grief or groan, only turning his head a little aside, as one falling into
a pleasing sleep”. In a declaration prepared for his expected execution he
wrote: “The Catholic and Roman faith which I hold is the only cause (as far
as I can any way imagine) why either I have been thus long imprisoned or
why I am now ready to be executed.”
In the Beauchamp tower of the Tower of London may be seen two inscriptions
cut in the wall by the hand of Bd Philip in May and June 1587, and one referring
to him after his death by another Catholic prisoner named Tucker. Philip
Howard’s relics are at Arundel.
Vol. xxi (1919) of the publications of the Catholic Record Society is entirely
devoted to Philip Howard, and these documents, taken in conjunction with
the narrative printed in 1857 from the original manuscript under the title
Life’s of Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, and of Anne Dacres
his wife, afford a more perfect insight into the career and character
of the earl than
is perhaps available in the ease of any other of the Elizabethan martyrs.
The biography of the earl and countess, as Father Newdigate has shown in
The Month (March 1931, p. 247), was written in 1635, five years after Lady
Arundel’s death; the author was a Jesuit who acted as her chaplain but his
name is not recorded.
Philip was the earl of Arundel and Surrey and, although a Catholic,
led a religiously apathetic life until his personal conversion, after which
he was a zealous Catholic in the midst of Elizabethan England. Arrested by
authorities, he was placed in the Tower of London in 1585 and condemned to
death in 1589. The sentence was never carried out, and Philip languished
in the Tower until his death at the age of thirty eight. Beatified in 1929,
he was included among the English martyrs canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul
VI.
Philip Howard M (RM) Born in 1557; died October 19, 1595;
beatified in 1929; canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty
Martyrs of England and Wales. Philip was the eldest son of Thomas Howard,
fourth duke of Norfolk, who had been beheaded under Queen Elizabeth I in
1572. Philip's godfather was Philip II of Spain. On his mother's side, Philip
was earl of Arundel and Surrey. His life's story is not so surprising given
this heritage of high-birth and martyrdom.
Although Philip was baptized as a Catholic, he was raised as a
Protestant. For years he was an indifferent Christian, neglectful of his
faith. At the tender age of 12 or 14, he was married to Anne Dacre, his foster
sister. He studied at Cambridge for two years. Although Queen Elizabeth had
executed his father, she made Philip one of her favorites. The son was dazzingly
handsome, witty, and a good dancer. Philip became a wastrel at Elizabeth's
court, involved in many love affairs, refusing to set eyes on his young wife
who waited patiently at Arundel House.
Even during this period of dissipation, Philip was extravagant
in helping the poor and sick. He servants worshipped him because he treated
every individual courteously. About this time his grandfather died and he
inherited the title and estates of the earl of Arundel. Deeply impressed
by Saint Edmund Campion when he debated theology with the deans of Windsor
at London, Philip reformed his life, was reconciled to his neglected wife,
and eventually fell deeply in love with her.
About the same time as Campion's defense of the faith, Anne Dacre
and Philip's favorite sister, Lady Margaret Sackville, were reconciled to
the Catholic Church. Elizabeth immediately banished Anne Dacre and placed
her under house arrest in Surrey, where she gave birth to their first daughter.
Philip was imprisoned in the Tower of London for a short time. Upon his release,
he, too, returned to the Catholic Church in 1584 with fervor and conscientiousness.
In late April 1585, Philip tried to escape across the English
Channel to Flanders with his family and brother William as so many Catholics
of his country had done before. But the captain of the ship he had hired betrayed
him. Again, he was thrown into the Tower, where he was severely beaten and
accused of treason for working with Mary, Queen of Scots. The charge was
not provable, but he was fined 10,000 pounds. His pleas for mercy and to
be allowed to see his wife, daughter, and newborn son went unanswered by
the queen .
On various occasions it was
reported to his wife that the earl was drinking in prison, that he had affairs
with all kinds of loose women, and was entirely indifferent to religious
concerns. Even where he was at the point of death in 1596, it was made a
condition that he must renounce his faith if he wanted to see Anne and the
children before he died.
At the time of the Spanish Armada, he was again accused of treason
(though he was in the Tower of London at the time) and ordered executed--a
sentence that was never carried out. He was kept imprisoned in the Tower
and died there six years later, on October 19, perhaps poisoned (Benedictines,
Delaney, Undset).
|
1646 Isaac Jogues,
John de Brébeuf Companions first martyrs of the North America
(1607-1646)
When France laid claim to Canada, she sent over missionaries to
preach the Faith to the Native Americans. Most numerous of these missionaries
were the Jesuits, who began their official apostolate in 1633. Some
of the Jesuits who were working among the Indians north of Lake Ontario and
the St. Lawrence River eventually crossed the border into New York State,
and established missions among the Iroquois nations. Their sojourn
here eventually had some success, but it was inaugurated in bloodshed.
Father Isaac Jogues and his two lay companions, killed on New York State
soil by the Iroquois, are today honored as martyrs by the Church.
Isaac Jogues was born in Orleans, France, in 1607. He entered the Society
of Jesus in 1624, taught literature in Rouen, France, for a few years, and
in 1636 was sent on the Canadian Mission. Destined for work with fellow
Jesuits among the Hurons near Georgian Bay, Ontario, he first spent some
time traveling through the Great Lakes country to see where to project future
Indian missions.
Thus he and his companions were apparently the first
white men to view Lake Superior. On the basis of what he saw, he proposed,
on his return to Quebec, that mission centers be set up among the Indians
of the western Great Lakes, and even among the Sioux, near the headwaters
of the Mississippi.
With the landing at Quebec on
July 15, 1632, of Fathers Paul le Jeune and Anne de None, with a lay brother,
the Jesuits resumed the task of christianizing the aborigines, and the Huron
mission became one of the glories of the Church in the New World by the fervent
faith and heroic virtue of the neophytes, one of whom, Kateri Tekakwitha,
awaits the cachet of canonization before her statue will occupy a niche in
our sanctuaries. The hatred and fury of the Iroquois drove the Hurons westward
and the missionaries followed them.
In 1641 Fathers Jogues and Raymbaut
were the first white men to pass through Sault Ste. Marie and stand on the
shore of Lake Superior whence they could turn their gaze to the land of the
Ojibways in the upper valley of the Mississippi. Here, as Shea writes, “the
two Jesuits planted the Cross of Christianity, looking still further west,
and forming plans for the conversion of the Dakotas, of whom they had heard
by their Algonquin name, Nadouessis”. With the exception of Father Joseph
de la Roche Daillon, a Recollect, they were the first priests from Canada
to penetrate into the present territory of the United States. The Jesuits
continued their missionary work among the Hurons. Jogues and his companions
were taken prisoners by the warlike Iroquois and were among the eight sons
of Ignatius, six priests and two lay brothers, who fertilized the soil of
New France with martyr blood during the decade prior to 1650.
Leaving Quebec for the Huron
country, Father Jogues and his party, on August 3, 1642, were attacked and
seized by a band of Iroquois guerrillas raiding the St. Lawrence River.
The Indians tortured them and marched the priest and his lay assistant, Rene
Goupil, all the way down to the Mohawk capital Ossernenon, near the present
Auriesville, N.Y.
Here they were again cruelly tortured, and their forefingers chewed
off. On September 29, Goupil, a “paramedic”
(born May 13, 1008), was killed by an Iroquois for making the sign of the
cross on the forehead of a native child. Father Jogues was allowed
to live, but as a slave. Ready for martyrdom, he was also ready to accept
slavery, for it gave him at least an opportunity to baptize 69 dying children
and to stand as a symbol of Christianity.
After 13 months, however, Dutch Protestant traders from Albany
(Fort Orange) warned him that his death was being planned. He therefore
accepted their help in escaping. The Dutch sent him down the Hudson
River to New Amsterdam. (He thus became the first priest to set foot in Manhattan.)
They shipped him thence to France, where he landed on Christmas morning 1643.
France hailed the tortured missionary as a hero, and the Queen
Regent, Anne of Austria, received him with honor. Pope Urban VIII also
gave Jogues permission to say Mass despite the loss of his fingertips.
“It would be unjust,” the
pope said, “that a martyr for Christ should not drink
the blood of Christ.”
But Father Jogues ached to return to Canada, and he was able to
do so finally in 1644. In 1646, the Iroquois sought peace with the French.
The missionary was sent back to his old “killing field”
on the Mohawk River as a government representative. (On the trip downward
he viewed and gave the name “Lake of the Blessed Sacrament”
to the lovely body of water now called Lake George.) When he arrived at Ossernenon
his former captors received him well, and an agreement of peace was reached.
Jogues then started back to Quebec on June 16. But since he planned
to come back as an accredited missionary, he left at Ossernenon a box of
religious articles. That box was to be his doom.
On September 27, 1646, the priest set out for Ossernenon once
more, with another lay aide, John Lalande. Meanwhile sickness and blight
had stricken the Mohawks. Although the other clans refused to think
that Jogues's box was to blame for the pestilences, the Bear Clan insisted
that Isaac was a sorcerer.
A band of Bear clansmen captured the priest, his aide, and a Huron,
near Lake George, tortured them, and brought them back to Ossernenon.
On the evening of October 18, 1646, one of the Mohawks invited the priest
to dine in his lodge. As soon as Isaac stepped inside, a brave split
his skull with a tomahawk. They then cut off his head and mounted it
on a pole facing north. John Lalande was killed in the same way on
October 19. His body was thrown into the river.
Five Jesuits working within
the present Canada were likewise martyred in 1648-49, during the
course of the Iroquois-Huron War. In 1930 Pope Pius XI canonized these
five, along with SS. Isaac Jogues, Rene Goupil, and John Lalande.
The blood shed at Ossernenon may not have produced a great harvest,
but out of that reddened soil there sprang, a decade later, the wonderful
little Mohawk saint, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. --Father Robert F. McNamara
Isaac Jogues (1607-1646): Isaac
Jogues and his companions were the first martyrs of the North American continent.
As a young Jesuit, Isaac Jogues, a man of learning and culture, taught literature
in France. He gave up that career to work among the Huron Indians in the
New World, and in 1636 he and his companions, under the leadership of John
de Brébeuf, arrived in Quebec. The Hurons were constantly warred upon
by the Iroquois, and in a few years Father Jogues was captured by the Iroquois
and imprisoned for 13 months. His letters and journals tell how he and his
companions were led from village to village, how they were beaten, tortured
and forced to watch as their Huron converts were mangled and killed.
An unexpected chance for escape came to Isaac Jogues through the
Dutch, and he returned to France, bearing the marks of his sufferings. Several
fingers had been cut, chewed or burnt off. Pope Urban VIII gave him permission
to offer Mass with his mutilated hands: “It would be
shameful that a martyr of Christ be not allowed to drink the Blood of Christ.”
Welcomed home as a hero, Father Jogues might have sat back, thanked God for
his safe return and died peacefully in his homeland. But his zeal led him
back once more to the fulfillment of his dreams. In a few months he sailed
for his missions among the Hurons.
In 1642 the Huron country was in great distress. Harvests were
poor, sickness abounded, and clothing was scarce. Quebec was the only source
of supplies, and Isaac Jogues was chosen to lead an expedition. It reached
its objective safely and started back well supplied with goods for the mission,
but the Iroquois, the bitter enemies of the Hurons, and fiercest of all Indian
tribes, were on the war-path and ambushed the returning expedition.
Jogues and his assistant, Rene Goupil, besides being beaten to the ground
and assailed several times with knotted sticks and fists, had their hair,
beards and nails torn off and their forefingers bitten through. What grieved
them far more, was the cruelty practiced on their Christian converts.
The first of all the martyrs to suffer death was Rene Goupil,
who was tomahawked on September 29, 1642. This Rene Goupil was a remarkable
man. He had tried hard to be a Jesuit and had even entered the Novitiate,
but his health forced him to give up the attempt. He then studied surgery
and found his way to Canada, where he offered his services to the missionaries,
whose fortitude he emulated. Rene Goupil is one of the North American martyrs
who died at the hands of the Indians between the years 1642-1649.
In 1646 he and Jean de Lalande, who had offered his services to
the missioners, set out for Iroquois country in the belief that a recently
signed peace treaty would be observed. They were captured by a Mohawk war
party, on October 18 Father Jogues was tomahawked and beheaded. Jean de Lalande
was killed the next day at Ossernenon, a village near Albany, New York.
Jean de Brébeuf (1593-1649): Jean de Brébeuf was
a French Jesuit who came to Canada at the age of 32 and labored there for
24 years. He went back to France when the English captured Quebec (1629) and
expelled the Jesuits, but returned to his missions four years later. Although
medicine men blamed the Jesuits for a smallpox epidemic among the Hurons,
Jean remained with them.
He composed catechisms and a dictionary in Huron, and saw 7,000
converted before his death. He was captured by the Iroquois and died after
four hours of extreme torture at Sainte Marie, near Georgian Bay, Canada.
Father Anthony Daniel, working among Hurons who were gradually
becoming Christian, was killed by Iroquois on July 4, 1648. His body was
thrown into his chapel, which was set on fire.
(1593-1649)
On October 19 Catholics in the United
States and Canada observe the feast of the North American Jesuit Martyrs:
eight priests and two laymen killed by the Indians in the mid-17th century.
In many ways the most remarkable of these
men was the priest Father Jean de Brébeuf, who pioneered the mission
to the Hurons then residing in Ontario south of Lake Huron's Georgian Bay.
Brébeuf was a native of Condé-sur-Vire
in Normandy, France. He entered the Jesuits in 1617. His request
to be admitted as a simple lay brother was denied; but then he took ill,
and it seemed for a while that he might not make it to priestly ordination.
He recovered, however, and was ordained in 1622. In 1625 he and a few
other priests set sail for Quebec, pledged to work among the Indians in Canada.
His sickness disappearing along the line, this very tall man would become
noted among the Indians for his physical and spiritual strength and vigor.
The Hurons would nickname him "Echon, the man who drags the loads."
After a year working among the Algonquins,
Father John set out in 1626 for Huron country, traveling by canoe down the
Ottawa River. Left alone among these pagan Indians, he quickly developed
real expertise in their language. This impressed the Hurons, as did
his physical prowess, but except for baptizing a few dying infants, he made
no converts. When in 1629 the English captured Quebec, he and the other
French missionaries were obliged to return to France.
Political winds having changed by 1630,
he went back to Canada and began anew in Huronia. It was a bitterly
hard life. The climate was demanding and the Hurons were long inhospitable
and often threatening. In fact, when Father John prepared a list of
instructions for future missionaries to Huronia, he told them that they must
expect to give until it hurts, and beyond.
He had to wait until 1636 before he had
his first adult convert. This was a Seneca Indian from New York
State who had been condemned to death. A year later, however, he received
a healthy adult Huron into the Faith, and "Peter" proved to be a model Christian.
Even so, the Hurons remained antagonistic to Christ. Indeed, in 1637
John and the four other Jesuits by then working with him, sent a letter to
their superior in Quebec stating that they expected to be killed any minute.
Actually, the threat passed. By that time, Brébeuf knew his
people so well that he could put them in their place with a calm smile.
The Hurons began to yield only when their
pride was broken. They were finally humbled by the Iroquois invaders, who
at mid-century declared total war on their nation. Raiding parties
of Iroquois from New York State killed off or scattered the Huron nation
forever. One whole Huron village, St. Michel, migrated to near Victor,
N.Y., as a captive community. All but one of the Canadian Jesuit martyrs
were killed by these Iroquois invaders. In the face of war, many Hurons
asked Brébeuf for baptism. The enemy came upon him and his newly
arrived associate Father Gabriel Lalemant, at St. Joseph village on March
16, 1649. Them they reserved for the most fierce torture-deaths.
They flayed them, roasted their flesh, "baptized" them with boiling water.
The veteran missionary spoke out to the bystanding Christians, urging them
not to falter in their faith. Despite the exquisite torments, this
giant of a man never winced, infuriating and amazing his persecutors by his
fortitude. Finally they split his skull, tore out his heart, and drank
its blood, thinking to imbibe his courage.
Providence
made good use of the Missionaries' sacrifice. By taking Christian Hurons
back to western New York, they gave Christianity a bridge-head on U.S. soil.
From 1656 on, for the next fifty years, Jesuit missionaries were able to
preach the Good News among the Iroquois themselves. The exiled Hurons welcomed
them, and many who had refused baptism in Huronia now asked for it.
One of the missionaries' chief aides was a grand old Christian Huron whom
St.Jean de Brébeuf had baptized, Francis Tehoronhiongo. A natural
leader and one well instructed in the Faith, he served as catechist.
He eventually moved to Montreal, where he died in 1690. His granddaughter,
Marie-Therese Gannensagouas, became a nun and achieved a reputation for great
holiness. What a thrilling story! --Father Robert F. McNamara
Gabriel Lalemant had taken a fourth vow—to sacrifice his life
to the Indians. He was horribly tortured to death along with Father Brébeuf.
Father Charles Garnier was shot to death as he baptized children
and catechumens during an Iroquois attack.
Father Noel Chabanel was killed before he could answer his recall
to France. He had found it exceedingly hard to adapt to mission life. He could
not learn the language, the food and life of the Indians revolted him, plus
he suffered spiritual dryness during his whole stay in Canada. Yet he made
a vow to remain until death in his mission.
These eight Jesuit martyrs of North America were canonized in
1930.
Comment: Faith and
heroism planted belief in Christ's cross deep in our land. The Church in
North America sprang from the blood of martyrs. Are we as eager to keep that
cross standing in our midst? Do we bear witness to deep-seated faith in us,
the Good News of the cross (redemption) into our home, our work, our social
world?
Quote: “My
confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing
his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work
and to be faithful to him, and not to spoil his work by our shortcomings”
(from a letter of Isaac Jogues to a Jesuit friend in France, September 12,
1646, a month before he died).
|
1775 Paul of the
Cross; Priest, vision of our Lady in a black habit with the name Jesus and
a cross in white on the chest Blessed Virgin told him to found a religious
order devoted to preaching the Passion of Christ (RM)
Romæ item natális
sancti Pauli a Cruce, Presbyteri et Confessóris; qui Congregatiónis
a Cruce et Passióne Dómini nostri Jesu Christi nuncupátæ
Institútor fuit. Ipsum vero, mira innocéntia ac pæniténtia
conspícuum et singulári in Christum crucifíxum caritáte
incénsum, Pius Papa Nonus fastis Sanctórum adjúnxit,
et ejúsdem festivitátem quarto Kaléndas Maji recoléndam
indíxit.
At Rome, the
birthday of St. Paul of the Cross, priest, confessor, and founder of the
Congregation of the Cross and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Known
for his remarkable innocency of life and his penitential spirit, and aflame
with love for Christ crucified, he was canonized by Pope Pius IX, and the
28th of April was assigned as his feast day.
quintodécimo Kaléndas Novémbris.
His feast occurs on 28 April. [Editor's
note: It was later transferred to 19 October.]
St. Paul of the Cross,
priest and confessor, founder of the Congregation of the Cross and Passion
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He went to his repose in the Lord on the
18th of October.
St. Paul of the Cross Paul Francis Daneii, born at Ovada, Genoa,
Italy, 3 January, 1694; died in Rome, 18 October, 1775.
1775 St Paul Of The Cross, Founder
Of The Barefooted Clerks Of The Holy Cross And Passion
THE founder of the Passionists, St Paul-of-the-Cross, was born
at Ovada in the republic of Genoa in 1694—the year which saw also the birth
of Voltaire. Paul Francis, as he was called, was the eldest son of Luke Danei,
a business man of good family, and his wife, both exemplary Christians. Whenever
little Paul shed tears of pain or annoyance his mother used to show him the
crucifix with a few simple words about the sufferings of our Lord, and thus
she instilled into his infant mind the germs of that devotion to the Sacred
Passion which was to rule his life. The father would read aloud the lives
of the saints to his large family of children, whom he often cautioned against
gambling and fighting. Although Paul seems to have been one of those chosen
souls who have given themselves to God almost from babyhood, yet at the age
of fifteen he was led by a sermon to conclude that he was not corresponding
to grace. Accordingly, after making a general confession, he embarked on
a life of austerity, sleeping on the bare ground, rising at midnight, spending
hours in prayer, and scourging himself. In all these practices he was imitated
by his brother John Baptist, his junior by two years. He also formed a society
for mutual sanctification among the youths of the neighbourhood, several
of whom afterwards joined religious communities.
In 1714 Paul went to Venice in response to the appeal of Pope
Clement XI for volunteers to fight in the Venetian army against the Turks,
but a year later he obtained his discharge, having discovered that the army
was not his vocation. Convinced that he was not meant to lead the ordinary
life in the world he refused a good inheritance and a promising marriage;
but before he or his directors could perceive his true vocation he was to
spend (at Castellazzo in Lombardy, then his home) several years in almost
unbroken prayer which sometimes attained to the highest degree of contemplation.
During the summer of 1720, in three extraordinarily vivid visions, Paul beheld
a black habit with the name of Jesus in white characters, surmounted by a
white cross, emblazoned upon the breast. On the third occasion our Lady,
attired in the tunic, told him that he was to found a congregation, the members
of which would wear that habit and would mourn continually for the passion
and death of her Son. A written description of these visions was submitted
to the bishop of Alessandria, who consulted several spiritual guides, including
Paul’s former director, the Capuchin Father Columban of Genoa. In view of
the heroic life of virtue and prayer led by the young man since his childhood,
all agreed that the call must have come from God. The bishop therefore authorized
him to follow his vocation and invested him with the black habit, stipulating,
however, that the badge was not to be worn until papal approval had been
obtained. Paul’s next step was to compose a rule for the future congregation.
He retired for a forty days’ retreat into a dark, damp, triangular cell adjoining
the sacristy of St Charles’s church at Castellazzo, where he lived on bread
and water and slept on straw. The rules which he drew up at that time, without
book or earthly guide, are substantially the regulations followed by the
Passionists to-day. It was during this retreat that the saint first felt
impelled to pray for the conversion of England: “That country is always before
my eyes”, he said in later years. “If England again becomes Catholic, immeasurable
will be the benefits to Holy Church.”
For a short time after the retreat he remained with John Baptist
and another disciple in the neighbourhood of Castellazzo, rendering assistance
to the local clergy by catechizing the children and giving missions, which
were very successful. Nevertheless he soon realized that if he wished to
carry out his vocation he must seek the highest sanction. Bareheaded, barefoot
and penniless, he set out for Rome, refusing the escort of John Baptist beyond
Genoa. Upon his arrival he presented himself at the Vatican, but as he had
not thought of providing himself with an introduction or credentials he was
turned away. He accepted the rebuff as a sign that his hour was not yet come,
and started on his homeward journey, visiting on the way the solitary slopes
of Monte Argentaro, which the sea almost severs from the mainland. So great
was the attraction he felt to this spot that he soon returned to it, accompanied
by John Baptist, to lead in one of its derelict hermitages a life almost
as austere as that of the fathers in the desert. They left for a time to
stay in Rome, where they were ordained to the sacred ministry, but in 1727
they made their way back to Monte Argentaro, prepared to start their first
house of retreat on the strength of the papal permission Paul had received
to accept novices.
Numerous were the difficulties with which they had to contend. Their first
recruits found the life too hard and all withdrew; war was threatening; benefactors
who had offered assistance declared themselves unable to fulfil their undertakings;
a serious epidemic broke out in the nearest villages. Paul and John Baptist,
who had received faculties for missionary work soon after they had left Rome:
went about fearlessly ministering to the dying, nursing the sick, and reconciling
sinners to God. The missions they thus inaugurated proved so fruitful that
more distant towns applied for the services of the missioners. Fresh novices
came—not all of whom remained—and in 1737 the first Passionist Retreat (as
their monasteries are called) was completed. The little band could now move
from its inadequate quartets in the old hermitage. From this time onwards
there was a steady progress, although many trials and disappointments had
still to be faced. In 1741 Pope Benedict XIV granted a general approbation
to the rules after their severity had been somewhat mitigated, and immediately
a number of promising candidates offered themselves. Six years later, when
the congregation had three houses, the first general chapter was held. By
this time the fame of the Passionists, of their missions and of their austerity,
was spreading throughout Italy. St Paul himself evangelized in person nearly
every town in the Papal States as well as a great part of Tuscany, taking
always as his theme the Sacred Passion. When, cross in hand, with arms outstretched,
he preached about the sufferings of Christ, his words seemed to pierce the
stoniest hearts and when he scourged himself pitilessly in public for the
offences of the people, hardened soldiers and even bandits wept, confessing
their sins. “Father, I have been in great battles without ever flinching
at the cannon’s roar”, exclaimed an officer who was attending one of the missions.
“But when I listen to you I tremble from head to foot.” Afterwards in the
confessional the apostle would deal tenderly with his penitents, confirming
them in their good resolutions, leading them on to amendment of life and
suggesting practical aids to perseverance.
St Paul-of-the-Cross was endowed
with extraordinary gifts. He prophesied future events, healed the sick, and
even during his lifetime appeared on various occasions in vision to persons
far away. In the cities which he visited crowds followed him, desiring to
touch him or to carry off some fragment of his habit as a relic, but he deprecated
all tokens of esteem. In 1765 he had the grief of losing John Baptist, from
whom he had scarcely ever been separated and to whom he was united by a bond
of love as rare as it was beautiful. Unlike in disposition, the one brother
seemed the complement of the other as they strove side by side to attain
to perfection. Since their ordination they had been each other’s confessors,
inflicting penances and reproofs in turn. Once only had a shadow of disagreement
ever arisen between them, and that was upon the only occasion John Baptist
ever ventured to praise his brother to his face. St Paul’s humility was so
deeply wounded that he put them both to penance, forbidding his brother to
approach him. Not until the third day, when John Baptist crept on his knees
to implore pardon, did the cloud lift—never to descend again. It was in memory
of the close association between the two men that Pope Clement XIV long afterwards
bestowed upon St Paul-of-the-Cross the Roman basilica dedicated in the names
of Saints John and Paul.
The new institute in 1769 received from Clement XIV the final
authorization which placed it on the same footing as other approved religious
institutes. Now St Paul would fain have retired into solitude, for his health
was failing and he thought that his work was done. His sons, however, would
have no other superior, whilst the pope, who was greatly attached to him,
insisted upon his spending part of the year in Rome. During the latter part
of his life, he was much preoccupied by arrangements for the establishment
of Passionist nuns. After many disappointments the first house was opened
at Corneto in 1771, but the founder was not well enough to be present, nor
did he ever see his spiritual daughters in their habit. So ill was he indeed
during this year, that he sent to ask for the papal blessing, only to be
told by Pope Clement that he must live a little longer because he could not
yet be spared. The saint actually rallied and survived for three years, dying
in Rome on October 18, 1775, at the age of eighty. His canonization took
place in 1867.
Apart from the depositions of
witnesses in the process of beatification, the most important contribution
which has been made to the history of the founder of the Passionists is the
publication in 1924 of his letters, in four volumes Lettere di S. Paolo della Croce, disposte ed
annotate dal P. Amadeo della Madre del Buon Pastore. In particular
the spiritual journal of the forty days’ retreat made at Castellazzo in 1720
is worthy of attention as enabling the reader better than any other document
to enter into the workings of St Paul’s soul. Other biographies are numerous
in most European languages. The earliest was that written by St Vincent Strambi
of which an English version in three volumes was published in 1853 in the
Oratorian series. A revised edition of the English life by Father Pius a Spiritu Sancto was issued in 1924,
and there is a study by Father Edmund, c.p., Hunter of Souls (1946). Several others
might be cited, but the religious names of their authors, such as “Father
Pius of the Name of Mary”, “Father Louis of Jesus Agonizing”, not to speak
of “Father Amadeus of the Mother of the Good Shepherd”, mentioned above,
do not encourage the bibliographer to make a long catalogue.
His parents, Luke Danei and Anna Maria Massari,
were exemplary Catholics. From his earliest years the crucifix was his book,
and the Crucified his model. Paul received his early education from a priest
who kept a school for boys, in Cremolino, Lombardy. He made great progress
in study and virtue; spent much time in prayer, heard daily Mass, frequently
received the Sacraments, faithfully attended to his school duties, and gave
his spare time to reading good books and visiting the churches, where he
spent much time before the Blessed Sacrament, to which he had an ardent devotion.
At the age of fifteen he left school and returned to his home at Castellazzo,
and from this time his life was full of trials. In early manhood he renounced
the offer of an honourable marriage; also a good inheritance left him by
an uncle who was a priest. He kept for himself only the priest's Breviary.
Inflamed with a desire for God's glory he formed the idea of instituting
a religious order in honour of the Passion. Vested in a black tunic by the
Bishop of Alessandria, his director, bearing the emblem of our Lord's Passion,
barefooted, and bareheaded, he retired to a narrow cell where he drew up
the Rules of the new congregation according to the plan made known to him
in a vision, which he relates in the introduction to the original copy of
the Rules. For the account of his ordination to the priesthood, of the foundation
of the Congregation of the Passion, and the approbation of the Rules, see
PASSIONISTS. After the approbation of the Rules and the institute the first
general chapter was held at the Retreat of the Presentation on Mount Argentaro
on 10 April, 1747. At this chapter, St. Paul, against his wishes, was unanimously
elected first superior general, which office he held until the day of his
death. In all virtues and in the observance of regular discipline, he became
a model to his companions.
“Although continually
occupied with the cares of governing his religious society, and of founding
everywhere new houses for it, yet he never left off preaching the word of
God, burning as he did with a wondrous desire for the salvation of souls”
(Brief of Pius IX for St. Paul's Beatification, 1 Oct., 1852). Sacred missions
were instituted and numerous conversions were made. He was untiring in his
Apostolic labours and never, even to his last hour, remitted anything of
his austere manner of life, finally succumbing to a severe illness, worn out
as much by his austerities as by old age.
Among the distinguished associates
of St. Paul in the formation and extension of the congregation were: John
Baptist, his younger brother and constant companion from childhood, who shared
all his labours and sufferings and equaled him in the practice of virtue;
Father Mark Aurelius (Pastorelli), Father Thomas Struzzieri (subsequently
Bishop of Amelia and afterwards of Todi), and Father Fulgentius of Jesus,
all remarkable for learning, piety, and missionary zeal; Venerable Strambi,
Bishop of Macerata and Tolentino, his biographer. Constant personal union
with the Cross and Passion of our Lord was the prominent feature of St. Paul's
sanctity. But devotion to the Passion did not stand alone, for he carried
to a heroic degree all the other virtues of a Christian life. Numerous miracles,
besides those special ones brought forward at his beatification and canonization,
attested the favour he enjoyed with God. Miracles of grace abounded, as witnessed
in the conversion of sinners seemingly hardened and hopeless. For fifty years
he prayed for the conversion of England, and left the devotion as a legacy
to his sons. The body of St. Paul lies in the Basilica of SS. John and Paul,
Rome. He was beatified on 1 October, 1852, and canonized on 29 June, 1867.
His feast occurs on 28 April. [Editor's note: It was later transferred to
19 October.] The fame of his sanctity, which had spread far and wide in Italy
during his life, increased after his death and spread into all countries.
Great devotion to him is practiced by the faithful wherever Passionists are
established.
Born at Ovada, Piedmont,
Italy, in 1694; died in Rome, Italy, October 18, 1775; canonized in 1867;
feast day formerly on April 28. Paolo Francesco Danei was well
brought up by devout, middle-class parents (a.k.a. impoverished nobility).
At 15, while still living with his parents in Castellazzo, Lombardy, Paul
adopted a lifestyle of rigorous austerity and great mortifications. When
he was 20 he volunteered for the Venetian army to fight against the Turks,
but he soon found he was not meant to be a soldier. After his discharge,
he resumed his life of prayer and penance. He refused marriage, and spent
several years in retreat at Castellazzo.
In 1720, had a vision of our Lady in a black habit with the name
Jesus and a cross in white on the chest. In the vision, the Blessed Virgin
told him to found a religious order devoted to preaching the Passion of Christ
(hence their name, Passionists). Paul experienced such mystical communications
all his life, and came to distrust them; however, he acted promptly on these
first ones.
The bishop of Alessandria discerned that Paul's visions were authentic,
and gave him permission to proceed to draw up a rule for the new order. Thus,
Paul wrote the Passionist rule during a 45- day retreat. With his brother,
Giovanni Baptista, who became his inseparable companion and closest confidant,
he went to Rome to seek papal approval, which was refused at first. On their
return to Rome in 1725, they were granted permission by Pope Benedict XIII
to accept novices. Two years later (1727), the holy father ordained the two
brothers as priests in the Vatican basilica.
After their ordination he and his brother started the first Passionist
house, on the Monte Argentaro peninsula (near Orbitello) in Tuscany. The
first ten years were difficult, for both internal and external reasons. Many
of their first novices left because of the severity of the rule. Perseverance
won. In the end austere life of the missioners and the fervent preaching
of their founder made their mark.
The first monastery was opened
in 1737. In 1741, Pope Benedict XIV approved a modified rule, and the "Barefoot
Clerks of the Holy Cross and Passion" began to spread throughout Italy. They
were in great demand for their missions, which became famous.
Paul was elected first superior general, against his will, at
the first general chapter at Monte Argentaro and held that position the rest
of his life. He preached all over the Papal States to tremendous crowds, raised
them to a fever pitch as he scourged himself in public, and brought back
to the faith the most hardened sinners and criminals (What would Saint Hippolytus
say to that!).
He was blessed with supernatural gifts--prophecy, miracles of
healing, appearances to people in visions at a distance--and was one of the
most celebrated preachers of his day. People fought to touch him and to get
a piece of his tunic as a relic. Though the two main objectives of the order
were service to the sick and the dying, Paul's special concern was the conversion
of sinners, for which he prayed for 50 years.
The Passionists received final approbation from Pope Clement XIV
in 1769. Two years later, Paul's efforts to create an institute of nuns came
into being with the opening of the first house of Passionist nuns at Corneto.
Paul lived to see the congregation firmly established. After a three-year
illness, Paul died and was buried in the Basilica of SS John and Paul, given
to the order by Pope Clement.
Saint Paul of the Cross was always interested in the religious
state of England. Thus, it is heartening to note that the leader of the first
Passionists to work there, Father Dominic Barberi (d. 1849), who received
John Henry Newman into the Catholic Church, was also beatified in 1963 (Attwater,
Benedictines, Delaney, White).
|
Make a Novena
and pray the Rosary to Our Lady of Victory 
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
As we
watch the spectacle of the world seeming
to self-destruct before our eyes, we can’t
help but be saddened and even frightened by so
much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan,
Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic
proportions displayed in living color on our television
screens.