DAY 25: Heartbreaking
and encouraging
October 21st, 2011 by admin
Speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves requires effort.
At times, it’s downright hard. But it’s also necessary. And prayer sustains
us. Here are some examples from Alberta, Colorado and Michigan.
CALGARY, ALBERTA
“It’s both heartbreaking and encouraging.”
So said one of the volunteers in Calgary, who is praying for an end to abortion.
“We stood on the street corner where we are allowed to stand
and prayed, silently and aloud,” she wrote in the local 40 Days for Life
blog.
The blog also notes that the vigil is restricted in Calgary because
of a court order. They can only stand across the street from the abortion
center, and the number of people praying at any one time is limited.
“We watched young women go in — several alone,” she said. And
she cried.
“It’s not just the abortions that represent brokenness but the
loss of family, the loss of parents who will stand up for their children and
protect them, the loss of men and women who will stand by their training and
protect life instead of taking it away.”
When this can go on across the country, she said, society is
broken. “I will continue to pray and continue to go.”
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO
Fort Collins is in the midst of its second 40 Days for Life campaign.
“This is a growing, grassroots pro-life effort,” said Linda in Fort Collins.
I was able to meet Linda and the 40 Days for Life team in Fort
Collins recently. The vigil is across the street from Colorado State University.
The first campaign drew a lot of negative attention. Not so this
time.
“Also, there are about 30 churches involved at some level — and
five have the big 40 Days for Life banner proudly displayed on their buildings
for all to see,” she said.
The campaign is getting a big boost from a nearby Catholic church
“whose new pastor has opened his heart and arms and that of the parish to
the 40 Days for Life.”
This church is hosting 40 Days for Life events — and they’ve
set aside space for what they’re calling the 40 Days Café. Coffee
and other drinks are available – and a nearby restaurant has donated food
for breakfast and lunch.
“This has been a very great blessing for all concerned,” Linda
said.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
Lisa from Grand Rapids sent me a note about Pete, a 10-year-old
who’s come up with his own unique concept of fasting for 40 Days for Life.
During this campaign, Pete’s mom said he is fasting … from warm
baths! From Day 1 through Day 40, it’s only cold water for Pete. “I
was speechless,” his mom said. She has been fasting from chocolate. “Here
I am whining inside about my chocolate withdrawal — and my 10-year-old is
taking cold baths for an offering!” Lisa said, “Clearly, Pete can teach us
all something about fasting!”
Here’s the link to today’s devotional:
http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2011day25print.pdf
Yours for Life,
Shawn Carney Campaign Director 40 Days for Life
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1st century St. Mary Salome One of the
“Three Marys” who served Christ
Hierosólymis
sanctæ Maríæ Salóme, matris sanctórum Jacóbi
et Joánnis Apostolórum, quæ in Evangelio légitur
circa Dómini sepultúram sollícita.
At Jerusalem,
St. Mary Salome, the mother of the apostles James and John, who is referred
to in the Gospel as having cared for the burial of our Lord.
She was the mother of St. James the Great and St. John, and was
the wife of Zebedee.
Mary Salome witnessed the Crucifixion
and was among
the women at the burial place on the day of the Resurrection.
St. Mark First
bishop of Jerusalem not of Jewish descent
Item Hierosólymis beáti Marci Epíscopi, claríssimi
et doctíssimi viri, qui primus ex Géntibus Ecclésiam
Hierosolymórum suscépit regéndam, ac, non multo post,
sub Antoníno Imperatóre, martyrii méruit palmam.
At Jerusalem, blessed Bishop Mark, a noble and learned
man, who was the first Gentile to govern the Church of Jerusalem. His
brief episcopate was rewarded by the palm of martyrdom under Emperor Antoninus.
He is reported to have been martyred after
two decades.
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200
St. Abercius Marcellus Bishop of Hieropolis in Phrygia; apologist
Hierápoli, in Phrygia, sancti Abércii Epíscopi, qui
sub Marco Antoníno Imperatóre cláruit.
At Hieropolis in Phrygia, St. Abercius, bishop, who
flourished under Emperor Marcus Antoninus.
whose hagiography dates to the
second century. The bishop of Hieropolis in Phrygia, he made a visit to Rome
at the age of seventy-two. In Rome, Abercius was supposedly commanded by Emperor
Marcus Aurelius to rid his daughter, Lucilla, of a demon. Following this
event, Abercius is recorded as visiting Syria and the Euphrates River. The
details of Abercius' life led to debate through the centuries concerning their
authenticity and veracity. It is known that Abercius was the bishop of Heiropolis
in the area called Phrygia Salutaris. In the original “Inscriptions of Abercius,”
an epitaph on a stele now in the Vatican, the saintly bishop comments on
the dazzling seal of Baptism that unites Christians everywhere. He speaks of the Holy Eucharist as
well. Later interpretations of this “Inscription”
were written in Greek and widely embellished, leading to debate.
Abercius appears in Greek records
in the tenth century but was not included in St. Jerome's martyrology.
200 St Abercius, Bishop of Hieropolis
There lived in Phrygia
Salutaris during the second century a certain Abercius Marcellus, who was
bishop of Hieropolis and who, while in his seventy-second year, made a visit
to Rome. His homeward journey was taken through Syria and Mesopotamia, he
visited Nisibis, and everywhere he went he met Christians, whose foreheads
bore the shining seal of baptism and whose souls were nourished with the body
and blood of Christ, the virgin-born, under the forms of bread and wine. Abercius
when he returned home prepared a tomb for himself and had carved thereon
an epitaph which, in symbolical and to the non-Christian baffling terms,
briefly described the journey which had made so deep an impression on the
Greek disciple of the all-seeing and universal Shepherd, who had gone to
Rome “to contemplate majesty”.
A Greek hagiographer made use of the epitaph as
the basis of a fictitious account of the life of St Abercius. According to
this ingenious narrative the bishop made so many converts by his preaching
and miracles that he deserved to be called “equal to the Apostles” and his
fame reached the ears of Marcus Aurelius. The expedition to Rome was made
in consequence of a summons from the emperor, whose daughter Lucilla was afflicted
by a devil (the symbolical gold-clad queen of the epitaph becomes the empress).
St Abercius successfully exorcized this evil spirit and commanded it to transport
a great stone altar from the Roman hippodrome to his episcopal city, where
it should provide materials for his tomb. Other episodes were added from
the legends of other saints, and the writer appended to his tale a transcription
of the original genuine epitaph of Abercius.
This epitaph was formerly regarded with nearly
as much suspicion as the vita of which it formed a part, until in 1882 the
English archaeologist, W. M. Ramsay, discovered at Kelendres, near Synnada,
an inscribed stone bearing the equivalent of the date A.D. 216. It
was a memorial inscription to one Alexander, the son of Antony, which was
found to correspond almost word for word with the first and last verses of
the epitaph of Abercius. In the following year Ramsay found, built
into the walls of the baths at Hieropolis, further fragments that supplied
much of the part of the epitaph of Abercius missing from the other stone.
With these two inscriptions and the text given in the life of the saint an
authentic text of great value was restored. But the claim of Abercius
to be a Christian was still not admitted by everyone to be established.
On account of the symbolism with which it was expressed, interpreters of
the inscription identified him as a priest of Cybele or of Attis or of some
syncretistic cult, and it was only after long and lively controversies that
it was generally admitted that the Abercius of the inscription was a Christian
bishop. He has been venerated liturgically among the Greeks since the
tenth century, and he is named today in the Roman Martyrology, but as bishop
of Hierapolis (the see of St Papias) instead of Hieropolis, an error found
in the bogus life.
The inscriptions which Sir
W. M. Ramsay found at Hieropolis, and which now, by the gracious act of the
discoverer, adorns the Christian Museum at the Lateran have created a considerable
literature. All the discussion, which has since arisen, has added very little
to the interpretation that the Anglican Bishop Lightfoot, with sure scholarly
instinct, published in vol. i of his Ignatius
and Polycarp (1885). Such sceptical critics as G. Ficker and A. Dieterich
have not produced a fragment of evidence that would raise a doubt regarding the Christian character of the inscription. The
work of F. J, Dölger, Ichthys (see especially
vol. ii, 1922, pp. 454—507),
may be recommended as replying effectively, along with many other vindications,
to the objections, which have been urged, Dom Leclercq’s article in DAC.
(vol. i, cc. 66—87), provides good illustrations and a full bibliography
the same scholar’s article in the Catholic Encyclopedia, vol.
i, pp. 40—41, prints the Greek
text of the inscription with an English translation. With regard to the Life
of Abercius, the two more ancient texts of this Greek fiction have been critically
edited by T. Nissen, S. Abercii Vita (1912) though
historically worthless, it contains geographical data of value, and its quotations
from Bardesanes are of curious interest. Writing in 1935 Father Thurston said he was inclined considerably to modify
certain views expressed by him in the second of two articles on St Abercius
in The Month for May and July 1890.
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270 St. Philip
Martyr bishop of Fermo, Italy
Apud Firmum, in Picéno, natális sancti Philíppi, Epíscopi
et Mártyris.
At Fermo in Piceno, the birthday of St. Philip, bishop
and martyr.
He suffered martyrdom in the reign of Emperor Aurelian.
Little is known of him save that
his relics are preserved in the local cathedral of Fermo.
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304 St. Philip
of Heraclea Bishop of Heraclea martyr
Hadrianópoli,
in Thrácia, natális sanctórum Mártyrum Philíppi
Epíscopi, Sevéri Presbyteri, Eusébii et Hermétis;
qui, sub Juliáno Apóstata, post cárceres et flagélla,
incéndio cremáti sunt.
At Adrianople in Thrace, the birthday of the holy martyrs
Philip, a bishop, Severus, a priest, Eusebius, and Hermes. After being
imprisoned and scourged, they were burned alive in the time of Julian the
Apostate.
During the persecution of the
Church under Emperor Diocletian,
Philip was arrested along with his deacon Severus and two other clergy,
Hermes and Eusebius. Taken before the magistrate, Blassus, they were ordered
to hand over the Sacred Scripture, but refused. Moved to Adrianople, they
were burned at the stake. All four share the same feast day.
304 Ss. Philip, Bishop Of Heraclea, And His Companions,
Martyrs
Philip, Bishop of Heraclea, the metropolis of Thrace, was
a martyr of Christ in the persecution of Diocletian. Having discharged every
duty of a faithful minister as deacon and priest, he was raised to the episcopal
dignity and governed that church with virtue and prudence when it was shaken
by persecution. To extend and perpetuate the work of God he trained
many disciples in sacred learning and solid piety. Two of the most eminent
among them had the happiness to be companions of his martyrdom, namely, Severus,
a priest, and Hermes, a deacon, who was formerly the first magistrate of
the city, but after he was engaged in the ministry earned his livelihood
with his hands, and brought up his son to do the same.
When Diocletian’s first edicts against the Christians were issued, many
advised the bishop to leave the city; but he would not stir, continuing to
exhort the brethren to constancy and patience. Aristomachus, an officer,
came by the governor’s order to seal up the door of the church. Philip said
to him, “Do you imagine that God dwells within walls, and not rather in the
hearts of men?” and continued to hold his assembly outside. The next
day officers came and set their seal upon the sacred vessels and books. The
faithful who beheld this were much grieved; but the bishop stood leaning
against the door of the church, encouraged them with burning words, and refused
to leave his post.
Afterwards the governor, Bassus, finding Philip and many of his
flock keeping the Lord’s Day assembled before the church, gave orders that
they should be brought before him. “Which of you”, he asked, “is the teacher
of the Christians?” Philip replied, “I am”. Bassus said, “You know that the
emperor has forbidden your assemblies. Give up to me the vessels of gold and
silver which you use and the books which you read.” The bishop answered,
“The vessels we will give you, for it is not by precious metal but by charity
that God is honoured. But the sacred books it becomes neither you to demand
nor me to surrender.” The governor ordered executioners to be called,
and commanded one among them to torture Philip, who bore his torments with
invincible courage. Hermes told the governor that it was not in his
power to destroy the word of God, even though he should take away all the
writings in which the true doctrine is contained, and in reply Bassus had
him scourged. After this he was taken with Publius, the governor’s
assistant, to the place where the sacred writings and plate were hid. Publius
would have taken away some of the vessels, but being hindered by Hermes he
gave him such a blow on the face that blood flowed. The governor was
provoked at Publius for this action, and ordered the wound to be dressed.
He then ordered Philip and the other prisoners to be brought to the market-place,
and the church roof to be stripped. In the meantime soldiers burned the sacred
writings the flames mounting so high as to frighten the bystanders.
This being told to Philip in the market-place, he spoke at great length of
the vengeance with which God threatens the wicked and told the people how
their gods and temples had been often burned.
Then a pagan priest appeared in the market-place with his ministers,
who brought with them the necessary preparations for a sacrifice, and the
governor Bassus came, followed by a multitude, some of whom pitied the suffering
Christians others, especially the Jews, clamoured loudly against them.
Bassus pressed the bishop to sacrifice to the gods, to the emperors and to
the fortune of the city. Pointing at a large and beautiful statue of Hercules,
he bid him just to touch it Philip replied by expounding the value of graven
images to stone-carvers but their helplessness to worshippers. Then,
turning to Hermes, Bassus asked if he, at least, would sacrifice. “I will
not”, replied Hermes, “I am a Christian.” Bassus asked, “If we can persuade
Philip to offer sacrifice, will you follow his example?” Hermes answered he
would not neither could they persuade Philip. After many useless threats and
pressing them to sacrifice at least to the emperors, Bassus ordered them to
be carried to prison. As they went along, some of the rabble pushed Philip
and threw him down; he got up again with a smiling face. Many admired his
patience, and the martyrs entered the prison joyfully, singing a psalm of
thanksgiving to God. A few days after, they were allowed to stay at the house
of one Pancras, near the prison, where many Christians and some neophytes
came to them to be instructed, and later were removed to a prison near the
theatre, which had a door into that building, with a secret entry. They there
received at night the crowds that came to visit them.
In the meantime, Bassus went out of office at the end of his
term and Justin succeeded him. The Christians were much disappointed at this
change for Bassus often yielded to reason and his wife had for some time been
a Christian herself but Justin was a violent man. Zoilus, the magistrate
of the city, brought Philip before him, and Justin declared once more what
was the emperor’s order, and pressed him to sacrifice. Philip answered, “I
am a Christian, and cannot do what you require. You can punish our refusal,
but you cannot force our compliance.” Justin threatened him with torture,
and the bishop replied, “You may torment, but will not conquer me no power
can induce me to sacrifice”. He was told he would be dragged by the
feet through the streets and thrown into prison to suffer anew. “God
grant it may be so”, was Philip’s comment. Then Justin told the soldiers to
tie his feet and drag him along. They dashed him against the stones
so roughly that he was torn and bruised all over, and the Christians carried
him in their arms when he was brought back to his dungeon.
The persecutors had long been in quest of the priest Severus, who
had hidden himself. Moved by the Holy Ghost, he at length surrendered and
was committed to prison. Hermes was firm in his examination before Justin,
and was treated in the same manner. The three martyrs were kept imprisoned
in a bad place for seven months and then removed to Adrianople, where they
were confined in a private house till the arrival of the governor. The
next day, holding his court at the Baths, Justin had Philip brought before
him and beaten till his flesh was a pulp. His endurance astonished
the executioners and Justin himself, who remanded him to prison. Hermes
was next examined. The officers of the court were favourable to him because
he had been magistrate of Heraclea and a popular one. But he persisted
in his profession, and was sent back to prison, where the martyrs joyfully
gave thanks to Jesus Christ for this beginning of their victory. Three
days after this, Justin brought them again before his tribunal, and having
in vain pressed Philip to obey the emperors, said to Hermes, “If the approach
of death makes this man think life not worth preserving, do not you be insensible
to its blessings. Offer sacrifice.” Hermes replied by denouncing idolatry,
so that Justin, enraged, cried out, “You speak as if you wanted to make me
a Christian.”
Having then consulted his assessor and others, he pronounced sentence:
“We order Philip and Hermes who, despising the commands of the emperor, have
rendered themselves unworthy of the name and rights of Roman citizens, to
be burned, that others may learn to obey.”
They went joyfully to the stake. Philip’s feet were so mutilated
that he could not walk, and had to be carried. Hermes also walked with much
difficulty, and said to him, “Master, let us hasten to go to the Lord. Why
should we be concerned about our feet, since we shall have no more use for
them?” Then he said to the crowds that followed, “the Lord revealed to me
that I must suffer. While I was asleep, methought I saw a dove as white as
snow, which rested on my head. Then it descended upon my breast and offered
me food that was very sweet to the taste. I knew that it was the Lord that
called me, and was pleased to honour me with martyrdom.” At the place
of punishment the executioners, according to custom, covered Philip’s feet
and legs with earth up to the knees, and tied his hands behind his back.
They likewise made Hermes go down into the ditch whereat, having to support
himself on a stick because of the weakness of his feet, he exclaimed laughing,
“Well, demon, you don’t help me even here.”
Before the executioners lighted the fire Hermes called Velogius, a Christian,
and said to him, “I implore you, by our Saviour Jesus Christ, tell my son
Philip from me to restore whatever was committed to my charge, that I may
incur no fault; even the laws of this world ordain it. Tell him also, that
he is young and must work for his living as he has seen me do; and behave
himself well to everybody.” Then his hands were tied, and fire was set
to the pile. The martyrs praised and gave thanks to God as long as they were
able to speak. Their bodies were found entire: Philip, a venerable old
man, seemed to have had his youth restored, and his hands were stretched out
as in prayer Hermes with a clear countenance, only his ears a little livid.
Justin ordered their bodies to be thrown into the river, but some citizens
of Adrianople went in boats with nets, and fished them out. Severus the
priest, who had been left alone in prison, when he was informed of their martyrdom,
rejoiced at their glory, and earnestly besought God not to think him unworthy
to partake in it, since he had confessed His name with them. He was
heard, and suffered martyrdom the day following. The order for burning
the Holy Scriptures and destroying the churches points out the time of their
suffering to have been after the edicts of Diocletian. The Roman Martyrology
erroneously puts it in the time of Julian the Apostate, and adds the name
of a St Eusebius who does not belong to this group.
The martyrdom of SS.
Philip, Hermes and Severus may be counted among the best attested of the episodes
of the Diocletian persecution. It is commemorated on this same day in the
Syriac breviarium of the early fourth century. There is, moreover, a certain
indirect confirmation in the reference made to it in the persia of SS. Gurius
and companions (see Gebhatdt and Dobschutz in their edition of this last
Text und Untersuchungen, vol.
xxxvii, p. 6). The Latin text of the acts of Philip of Heraclea has been
printed by Ruinart, and by the Bollandists,
October, vol. ix. H. Leclercq provides a French translation in Les Martyrs, vol. ii, pp. 238—257. Cf. also
P. Franchi de’ Cavalieri in Studi e Testi, no. 27, Note agiografiche, fascicule
5, and 175, 9.
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Sts.
Alexander, Heraclius, and Companions Martyrs
Item sanctórum Mártyrum Alexándri Epíscopi,
Heraclíi mílitis, et Sociórum.
Also, the holy martyrs Alexander, a bishop, Heraclius,
a soldier, and their companions.
Alexander was a bishop who preached
the faith. He was arrested and tortured, converting his guard, Heraclius,
during his imprisonment. Others at the prison joined them in martyrdom.
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314 St. Mellon
First bishop of Rouen
Rotómagi sancti Melánii Epíscopi, qui, a sancto Stéphano
Papa ordinátus, illuc ad prædicándum Evangélium
missus est.
At Rouen, St. Melanius, bishop, who was ordained by
Pope St. Stephen and sent there to preach the Gospel.
France. A native of Cardiff, Wales, he
is listed as Mallonous, Mellouns, and Melanius.
He was converted while in Rome
and sent to France as a missionary by Pope
St. Stephen.
St Mallonus, Or Mellon, Bishop Of
Rouen
The name Mallonus (written Melanius in the Roman Martyrology) appears as
that of the first bishop of Rouen in ancient lists and he lived perhaps in
the earlier part of the fourth century, but nothing is known about him.
According to late and worthless legends he was a pagan Briton who was converted
in Rome and sent by Pope St Stephen I to preach the gospel to the Gauls. At
the village near Cardiff called in Welsh Llanlleurog the church is dedicated
in his honour and the place is now known as Saint Mellons. Possibly this is
the origin of the idea that he was a native of Cardiff.
There are three
short Latin lives of St Mallonus, which are printed in the Acta
Sanctorum, October, vol. ix, and in Sauvage (Ann de S. Mellon,
1884), but, as Vacandard maintains (Vie de Saint Ouen,
p. 92), these biographies date only from the twelfth century and
can deserve no
confidence. See also Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. ii, pp. 200—203; and LBS., vol. iii, p. 466.
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| 395 St. Nepotian
Bishop of Clermont succeeded the famed St. Illidius in 386; Nepotian's successor was St. Artemius
also listed as Neptiamus. He
succeeded the famed St. Illidius in
386. Clermont was blessed with a vast roster of sainted bishops. Nepotian's
successor was St. Artemius.
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4th v. St. Cordula, who was one of the companions
of St. Ursula.
Apud Colóniam Agrippínam
sanctæ Córdulæ, quæ, cum esset una ex sodálibus
sanctæ Ursulæ, atque aliárum supplíciis et cædibus
pertérrita se occultásset, postrídie, ejus rei pænitens,
se ultro patefécit Hunnis, et, novíssima ómnium, martyrii
corónam accépit.
At Cologne, St. Cordula, who was one of the companions
of St. Ursula. Being terrified by the punishments and slaughter of the
others, she hid herself, but repenting her deed, on the next day she declared
herself to the Huns of her own accord, and thus was the last of them all
to receive the crown of martyrdom.
Von Balthasar used her story
in his book Cordula oder der Ernstfall (1966), later published in English
as The Moment of Christian Witness. Little is known about her,
except that she was one of the 11,000 companions of St Ursula, who made a
pilgrimage to Rome and ended up being martyred at Cologne. As Cordula witnessed
the massacre of her 10,999 companions, she took fright and hid in the ship.
Ashamed of her cowardly (but very human) action, she came out the next day
and was promptly martyred - which is why her feast (22 October) is the day
after that of St Ursula and her company.
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| 522 St. Verecundus
Bishop of Verona Italy.
Verónæ sancti Verecúndi,
Epíscopi et Confessóris. At Verona, St. Verecundius,
bishop and confessor.
The details of his labors are
lost but the Goths ruled Verona at the time. St. Valens succeeded him.
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668 St. Nunctus
Abbot of a monastery near Merida martyr
also called Noint.
The abbot of a monastery near Merida, Spain, he was murdered
by a group of robbers. He was venerated as a martyr. |
730
St. Moderan Benedictine bishop of Rennes France
from 703-720. He made a pilgrimage to Rome and resigned his see to become
a hermit in Berceto Abbey, in Parma, Italy.
He is also called Moran and Moderammus.
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851 St. Alodia
Martyr confessor daughter of a Muslim father Christian mother
Oscæ, in Hispánia, sanctárum Vírginum Nunilónis
et Alódiæ sorórum, quæ, a Saracénis ob fídei
confessiónem capitáli senténtia punítæ,
martyrium consummárunt.
At Huesca in Spain, the holy virgins Nunilo and Alodia,
sisters, who endured martyrdom by being condemned to capital punishment by
the Saracens for the confession of the faith.
in Huesca, Spain. Alodia and
her sister, Nunilo, were caught up in the persecutions conducted by Abdal-Rabman II, the ruler of
Cordoba. Alodia and Nunilo dedicated themselves to Christ, despite their father's
disapproval, and were arrested.
When they refused to deny Christ,
they were placed in a brothel and later beheaded.
851 SS. NUNILO AND ALODIA, VIRGINS
AND MARTYRS
This great era of the martyrs
in Spain began in the year 850, under the Moorish Abdur Rahman II, and these
two maidens were among the numberless martyrs who in those days sealed their
fidelity to God with their blood. They were sisters, living at Huesca, their
father being a Mohammedan and their mother a Christian.
After the death of her first
husband, she was so foolish as to take a second who also was a Mohammedan.
Her two daughters, who had been brought up in the Christian faith, had much
to suffer from the brutality of their stepfather, who was a person of importance.
They were also pestered by many suitors to marry, but having decided to serve
God in the state of virginity they obtained leave to go to the house of a
Christian aunt.
When the laws of Abdur Rahman were published against the Christians,
they were too well known by their family and the repute of their zeal and
piety not to be soon arrested. They appeared before the kadi not only undaunted
but with a holy joy. He employed flattery and promises to try to work them
into compliance, and proceeded to threats. When these failed him, he
put them into the hands of wicked women, hoping these would be able to insinuate
themselves into the hearts of the Christian women. But Christ enlightened
and protected them, and the temptresses were obliged to declare to the judge
that nothing could conquer their resolution. He therefore condemned them to
be beheaded, which was accordingly done, and their passion is mentioned in
the Roman Martyrology on this day.
Our information
is all, practically speaking, derived from the Memoriale Sanctorum
of St Eulogius. The relevant passages are quoted and commented upon
in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. ix.
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874 St.
Donatus of Fiesole; Irishman, became bishop of Fiesole
In Túscia sancti Donáti Scoti, Epíscopi Fæsuláni.
In Tuscany, St. Donatus of Scotland, bishop of Fiesole.
Italy. Traveling
through that city while returning from a pilgrimage to Rome in 829, Donatus
entered the cathedral. Candles caught light and bells rang, prompting the
people to elect him bishop.
He wasa noted scholar
and became advisor to Lothair I and his son, Louis II.
876 ST DONATUS, BISHOP OF FIES0LE
THE tradition of Fiesole is that Donatus was a man of Irish birth who in
the early part of the ninth century made a pilgrimage to Rome. On the return
journey he arrived at Fiesole at a time when the clergy and people were gathered
together to elect a new bishop, praying earnestly that the Holy Ghost would
send them one who would be a true pastor in the manifold troubles with which
they were beset. No one would have taken any notice of the stranger Donatus
as he entered the cathedral, for he was an insignificant little man, but at
the moment he crossed the threshold the bells began to ring and all the lamps
and candles were kindled without human agency. This was taken to be a sign
from Heaven in favour of Donatus, and he was unanimously acclaimed bishop.
The life of St Donatus is interspersed with verses and an epitaph,
supposed to have been written by himself, according to which he was an enthusiastic
teacher of grammar and prosody and a trusted servant of King Lothair I and
his son Louis II. One of the poems describes the beauty of Ireland. The feast
of St Donatus of Fiesole is observed today throughout Ireland.
There is a
biography—in fact more than one—printed in the Acta Sanctorum,
October, vol. ix. See further DNB, vol. xv, p. 216; M. Esposito
in the Journal of Theological Studies, vol. xxxiii (1923),
p. 129 L. Gougaud, Les saints irlandais hors d’Irlande (1936),
p. 76 A. M. Tommasini, Irish Saints in Italy (1937), pp.
383—394 and J. F. Kenney, Sources for the Early History of Ireland,
vol. i, pp. 601—602.
|
884 St. Bertharius
Benedictine abbot martyr
A member of the royal
house of France, he became abbot of Monte Cassino, in Italy, in 856. Invading
Saracens martyred him and several companions in the chapel. An altar in Monte
Cassino commemorates his death.
|
1562 St. Peter of Alcantara {see also
October 19}
(1499-1562)
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 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).
|
1622
Bl. Alix Le Clercq nun founded Augustinian Canonesses Congregation of Our
Lady from Rome
January 9th (France) In France,
the name Alix has a Name Day celebrated on January 9th.
October 22nd (Catholic Church)
The Catholic Church has designated
October 22nd as an official Saint Day for the baby name Alix
in honor of Bl. Alix Le Clercq.
Alix Le Clercq was born at Remiremont in the duchy of Lorraine
in 1576. Her family was a solid one, of good position, but little is known
about her life until she was nearly seventeen. Alix was attractive and intelligent,
what the French call “spirituelle.”
About this time, she became a nun. When her family moved to Hymont, she
met Peter Fourier, who became her spiritual director, and in 1597 she and
three other women formed a new foundation under his direction. At her father's
insistence, she went to a convent at Ormes, was unimpressed by its secular
atmosphere, and in 1598 the wealthy Judith d'Apremont gave Alix and her group
a house on her estate, which they used as their Motherhouse in the founding
of a new congregation dedicated to the education of children. Despite opposition
from Alix's father and others, and the lack of formal ecclesiastical approval,
they established several new foundations.
In 1616 they received two papal bulls formally approving the
Augustinian Canonesses of the Congregation of Our Lady from Rome. Differences
about what the bulls granted and internal strife caused Father Fourier to
replace Alix as superioress of the Congregation, and the last years of her
life were bitter, as even Father Fourier seemed to turn against her. She died
in her convent at Nancy on January 9, and was beatified in 1947.
1622 Bd Alix Le Clercq, Virgin, Co-Foundress of The Augustinian
Canonesses Regular of The Congregation of Our Lady
One of the outstanding achievements of the Counter-Reformation—like some
of its others, long overdue—was the beginning of proper provision for the
schooling and education of girls. In 1535 St Angela Merici had founded the
Ursulines for this work; the teaching Religious of Notre Dame were begun by
St Joan de Lestonnac in 1606; in 1609 Mary Ward opened her first school for
poor children; and to these must be added the establishment by St Peter Fourier
of the Augustinian Canonesses of the Congregation of Our Lady, an undertaking
in which Alix Le Clercq came to be associated as co-foundress.
She was born at Remiremont in the duchy of Lorraine in 1576. Her
family was a solid one, of good position, but little is known about her
life until she was nearly seventeen. By that time she was a tall, good-looking
girl, fair in colouring, of a somewhat delicate constitution, attractive
and intelligent: in a word Alix was, as Mgr Francis Gonne remarks, what the
French call spirituelle. Another account, written by herself, tells us that
she revelled in such pleasures as music and dancing, and being very popular
was subjected to a good deal of flattery. The implication is that she “revelled”
too much: perhaps she did; but it should be remembered that, when once people
have become convinced that they have any faults at all, they are apt to exaggerate
them. And there is good evidence, her own, that even at this time Alix Le
Clercq was not devoid of “seriousness” “amid all the gaiety her heart was
sad”, and gradually her harmless pleasures seemed to her to be no more than
frivolity.
Then, when she was nineteen, she had the first of the striking dreams that
became so marked a feature in her life. In this dream she was in church and
approaching the altar, when beside it she saw our Lady, dressed in a strange
religious habit, who beckoned her, saying, “Come, daughter, and I will welcome
you”. Soon after, the Le Clercq family moved to Hymont, and Alix first
met St Peter Fourier, who was parish priest of Mattaincourt, near by. It was
in the church of this village, at Mass on three Sundays running, that she
seemed to hear the seductive music of a dance-drum, and then seemed to see
its player, an evil spirit, followed by a crowd of young people, “full of
sprightly merriment”. There and then her conversion to a different sort of
life was complete “I resolved on the spot that I would not belong to such
a company”.
Alix straightway cast aside her fine clothes and wore a simple
peasant dress; she hardly left her home; and, under the careful direction
of Father Fourier, she set herself to discover—not without much spiritual
suffering—what it was that God required of her. Both her father and
the priest proposed that she should go into a convent but she said “No” to
this, for from another dream she had learned that it was in no existing order
that her vocation lay. She told St Peter Fourier that she was obsessed
by the idea of a new, “active”, foundation. He was very properly sceptical
about this, but at length told her to see if she could find other girls of
like mind—unlikely enough in a remote village of the Vosges. But sure enough
Alix found them.
And so at the midnight Mass of Christmas 1597 Alix Le Clercq, Ganthe
André, and Isabel and Joan de Louvroir were allowed publicly to dedicate
themselves wholly to God. Four weeks later it was made clear to St Peter Fourier
that these neophytes were to found a community under his direction. But meanwhile
they were the subjects of adverse criticism. “The unassuming behaviour of
these girls was called singularity; their zeal, religiosity; their simple
dress, hypocritical affectation; and their humble bearing, silliness.”
This gossip naturally upset Mr Le Clercq; but he lacked imagination, and could
think of nothing better than to order his daughter to go as a boarder to
a convent of Tertiaries of St Elizabeth at Ormes. She obeyed; and found
this relaxed convent to be something like what we should call a women’s residential
club. But her father would not let her come home.
A way out of the impasse was opened from an unexpected quarter.
Three miles from Mattaincourt, at the village of Poussay, there was an abbey
of secular canonesses, aristocratic and wealthy ladies who led a form of the
Conventual life mercifully no longer existing in the Church. One of these
good ladies, Madame Judith d’Apremont, made up her mind to sponsor Alix Le
Clercq and her three companions and to lodge them in a small house on her
estate. Accordingly they took up their quarters there on the eve of Corpus
Christi 1598; and after a retreat they unanimously and independently declared
to Father Fourier that they believed themselves called to begin a new congregation,
that for them this was what would be most pleasing to God. It was decided
that their work should be education, “to teach children to read and write
and sew, and especially to love and serve God”; that they should never give
up this work; and that it should be done, whether for rich or poor, without
charge, “as that is more pleasing to God”.
The life of the embryonic congregation was notable in these early days
for a measure of physical austerity that was later to be found incompatible
with the hard discipline of teaching the young. But the spectacle of such
devotion at their very door inspired some of the younger canonesses of the
abbey to ask to be transferred to the new foundation—they wanted to stop
having “all the privileges of the Conventual life with none of its hardships”.
Their lady abbess, Madame d’Apremont, was alarmed—many monasteries in France
had learned nothing from the impact of the Reformation on monasticism in
other lands—fearing that her own community might be broken up; and for some
weeks there was a rather critical situation. But again Madame d’Apremont
solved the difficulty, by providing another house, this time at Mattaincourt.
It was to be the first proper convent of the new congregation.
But as yet the sisters were not formally religious, and their
anomalous position upset Mr Le Clercq, who again interfered with his daughter,
telling her that she was to withdraw to the Poor Clare house at Verdun. St
Peter Fourier told Alix she must obey, and in great anguish of spirit she
got ready. But her father, moved as he said by some power beyond his understanding,
withdrew his order and ceased to interfere. There then occurred a determined
attempt on the part of a Franciscan Recollect friar, Father Fleurant Boulengier,
to “capture” the community for the Poor Clares. Peter Fourier’s belief in
the divine acceptance of his foundation wavered he recommended, with a force
only short of a direct command, that they should regularize their position
by joining the Clares—Alix and her companions refused. “We have banded together”,
they said, “to look after neglected children: why should we be dragged
away from this and sent to a convent that God does not want us to go to?”
Father Fourier, in equal good faith, interpreted the will
of God in the opposite sense. It is an old dilemma. Or was he just trying
them? In any case, after months of uncertainty, he accepted the sisters’
decision, and so did Father Fleurant.
In 1601 St Peter Fourier and Bd Alix made their second foundation,
at Saint-Mihiel; Nancy, Pont-à-Mousson, Saint-Nicolas de Port, Verdun
and Châlons followed, the last, in 1613, being the first outside Lorraine.
All this time there was no sign from Rome of official approval for the new
congregation. The novel request that day-pupils should be taken, and
therefore admitted into the enclosure, roused hostility (“The Church is going
to the dogs, sir”); and the delay in approbation lent an edge to wagging
tongues and endangered the existence of the convents. Fourier sent Bd Alix
and another sister to the Ursulines in Paris to learn more about monastic
life and teaching methods and again they were invited to give up a separate
existence. This time Alix seriously considered if it were not the best
thing to do. Father (afterwards cardinal) de Bérulle settled
it. “I don’t believe”, he declared to her bluntly, “that God is asking for
this fusion. Dismiss it from your mind.”
It was not till 1616 that in two bulls the Holy See signified
its first approval of the Augustinian Canonesses of the Congregation of Our
Lady.*{*Their style as “canonesses” was confirmed in 1628; it carried with
it, of course, the obligation and privilege of reciting the Divine Office
in choir.} Subsequently the Bishop of Toul approved their constitutions;
and St Peter Fourier then proceeded to clothe thirteen of them with the habit,
designed in accordance with what Bd Alix had seen our Lady wearing in the
dream recorded above; and then they all had to begin a twelve months’ novitiate,
in spite of the fact that some of
them had been leading a conventual life for twenty years. But all was not
well. The papal bulls of approbation had not mentioned the congregation as
a whole, but only its convent at Nancy. Now there was already a certain “feeling”
between this house and the others, for Nancy was under the protection of Cardinal
Charles of Lorraine, and the primate of Lorraine, Antony de Lénoncourt,
had practically taken its direction out of Father Fourier’s hands into his
own. The apparent partiality of the bulls aggravated this spirit of dissension,
and a very unhappy state of affairs resulted. In the upshot Bd Alix
had to yield her rightful place as superioress in the congregation to Mother
Ganthe André, “without whom”, in the words of Father Fourier, “our
order would never have been established”, though she and Alix were far from
being in agreement about its organization.
That sort of trial heroic sanctity seems to take in its stride.
But that was not all. Bd Alix was subjected to personal attack and the
venom of slanderous rumour. At the same time she had to face spiritual
dryness, temptations and a “dark night” of great severity. And as, in
the words of one of her nuns, “she entered into the sufferings of others so
feelingly that she made them her own”, her burden was indeed heavy: she had
plenty of opportunity to put into practice her own axiom— common to all saints,
and mystics—“I value one act of humility more than a hundred ecstasies”.
St Peter Fourier himself provided further opportunities. Bd Alix
is now recognized as the co-foundress of the Augustinian Canonesses of Our
Lady; but it was not so while she lived, and Father Fourier did not allow
it to appear so. He consistently and openly “kept her in her place”.
It is possible that he was, in a sense, a little afraid of her, for in contrast
with his own solid, cautious temperament, Alix Le Clercq must often have seemed
to him alarmingly “imaginative”.
In December 1621 she was allowed to resign the office of local
superioress at Nancy, and she entered upon a few weeks of radiant peace, which
was in fact a prelude to death a month later. She had been seriously ill
for a long time, and now when it was known the doctors had given up hope,
all Nancy was grieved, from the duke and duchess of Lorraine to the schoolgirls
and the beggar-women. St Peter Fourier hurried to Nancy, but he would
not enter the Conventual enclosure till the bishop ordered him to do so.
Then he heard Alix’s confession and prepared her for the passage “from death
to life”. On the Epiphany she took a solemn farewell of her community,
exhorting them to love and unity, and on January 9, after a searching agony,
the end came. Bd Alix was not quite forty-six.
High and low acclaimed her as a saint, and steps were taken to collect
evidence for the prosecution of her cause. But nothing was done more definitely,
war pushed it out of sight, and it was not till 1947 that Alix Le Clercq was
beatified. Her body was buried in the crypt under the convent chapel
at Nancy. During the Revolution this convent was sacked; it is said
that Bd Alix’s body was hastily buried in the garden for safety, but all efforts
to find it have failed. That would have pleased her humility, she whose
deeds of love and spiritual insights and visions were so far as possible
concealed. She was completely at ease only when she could be humble
and obedient, teaching the ABC and simple addition to half-a-dozen little
children at Poussay or Mattaincourt, for instance. But in the long
disagreements and uncertainties about the organization of the congregation,
in such matters she was mistress of herself and of the policies she believed
right; and she was always an excellent superior. But a Protestant historian,
Professor Pfister, has acutely remarked that, “When she was appointed to direct
the Nancy house, she had only one ambition and that was again to be a simple
sister, teaching their letters to the four and five-year-olds in the bottom
class”. The last word about Bd Alix Le Clercq is with Mother Angélique
Milly—“she was the child of deep silence”.
In 1666 the Nancy convent
published what purported to be a life of Alix le Clercq but was in fact an
extremely valuable collection of documents bearing on that life. It
was due to a copy of this book coming into the hands of the young Count Gandelet
that the Bishop of Saint-Die began the cause of her beatification in 1885.
The first biography proper to be published appeared at Nancy in 1773 (one
of 1766 remains in manuscript), and then not another till 1858, after which
there were several. La Mère Alix Le Clercq (1935), by Canon
Edmond Renard, is the standard modern work, full, critical and well written.
In English there is a short but very good biography by Margaret St L. West
(1947). Reference can also be made to the standard lives of St Peter
Fourier by Father Bedel (1645), Dom Vuillemin (1897), and Father Rogie,
of which the last is the best. The writer of the preface to the English
life of Bd Alix speaks of the excellent methods used in the schools conducted
by her congregation. Fourier himself used to instruct his canonesses
in pedagogy, and brief reference to some of his enlightened educational ideas
is made in the notice accorded to him herein on December 9. The feast of
Bd Alix is now kept on October 22.
BEATA ALIX LE CLERCQ,(*) Virgen
Fundadora (1622 P.C.)
Una de las grandes obras de la contra reforma fue haber
comenzado a preocuparse por la educación de las niñas. En 1535,
Santa Ángela de Merici había fundado la congregación
de las Ursulinas con este fin. Santa Juana de Lestonnac fundó, en 1606,
la congregación de las Religiosas de Nuestra Señora. A su vez,
San Pedro Fourier fundó a las Canonesas Regulares de San Agustín
de la congregación de Nuestra Señora, empresa en la cual Alix
Le Clrecq cooperó como cofundadora.
Alix nació en Remiremont, ducado de Lorena, en
1576. Su familia ocupaba una posición destacada; pero es poco lo que
sabemos de la vida de Alix hasta los diecisiete años. A esa edad era
una joven alta y hermosa, rubia, de constitución delicada, atractiva
e inteligente; en una palabra, como lo hace notar Mons. Francis Gonne, Alix
era lo que los franceses llaman "spirituelle". Otro relato, escrito por ella
misma, nos informa que se distinguía en la música y la danza,
que era muy popular y que tenía muchos admiradores. Alix deja entender
que se envanecía de todo esto, lo que es probable. En todo caso, no
hay que olvidar que los santos tienden a exagerar sus defectos. Por otra
parte, el relato de Alix muestra que la joven no carecía de seriedad:
"En medio de todo esto, mi corazón estaba triste". Poco a poco, la
frivolidad de su vida se le hizo insoportable.
A los diecinueve años tuvo el primero de los sueños
que habían de jalonar su vida. Se vio en una iglesia, cerca del altar;
a su lado se hallaba Nuestra Señora, vestida con un hábito religioso
desconocido, hablándole: "Ven, hija mía, que yo misma voy a
darte la bienvenida", le decía. Poco después, la familia Le
Clercq fue a habitar a Hymont. Ahí encontró Alix a San Pedro
Fourier, que era vicario de una parroquia de Mattaincourt, en las cercanías.
Un día que asistía a la misa en esa parroquia, Alix oyó
un ruido de tambor y vio al demonio que hacía bailar a los jóvenes
"ebrios de alegría". En ese instante se operó la conversión
de Alix, quien nos dice: "Ahí mismo resolví no mezclarme con
semejante compañía".
Alix cambió sus finos vestidos por el sayal de
las campesinas, y apenas salía de su casa. Bajo la prudente dirección
de San Pedro Fourier, se dedicó a buscar la voluntad de Dios hacia
ella, lo cual le produjo grandes sufrimientos espirituales. Tanto su padre
como San Pedro Fourier, le aconsejaron que entrara a un convento. Pero ella
se negó, pues un sueño le había revelado que no existía
ninguna forma de vida religiosa adaptada a su vocación. Alix confió
a San Pedro Fourier que estaba obsesionada por la idea de fundar una congregación
activa. El santo se mostró escéptico; sin embargo, le aconsejó
que buscara a otras jóvenes que compartieran su idea, cosa muy difícil
en un apartado pueblecito de los Vosgos. Alix realizó su cometido con
tanto tino, que logró encontrar compañeras.
En la Misa de Navidad de 1597, Alix Le Clercq, Ganthe
André, Isabel y Juana de Louvroir se consagraron públicamente
a Dios. Cuatro semanas más tarde, San Pedro Fourier quedó convencido
de que estaban llamadas a fundar una comunidad bajo su dirección.
Naturalmente, las críticas no escasearon. "Las gentes tachaban de
singularidad la desacostumbrada conducta de las jóvenes, no veían
más que afectación en su manera de vestirse, y consideraban
como una tontería su humildad". El padre de Alix se sintió
herido por estas críticas, y la única solución que pudo
encontrar fue la de enviar a su hija como pensionaria al convento de las
terciarias de Santa Isabel, en Ormes. Alix obedeció, aunque aquel
relajado convento cuadraba mal con sus aspiraciones, y el señor Le
Clercq no le permitió volver a casa.
Una solución inesperada se ofreció a Alix.
En Poussay, a cuatro kilómetros de Mattaincourt, había una
abadía de canonesas seculares. Se trataba de una comunidad de damas
ricas y aristocráticas que llevaban una vida conventual que felizmente
ha desaparecido. Una de esas buenas señoras, Judith d'Apremont, decidió
proteger a Alix y a sus tres compañeras dándoles albergue en
una casita de sus posesiones. Las jóvenes se instalaron ahí
la víspera del Corpus Christi de 1598. Al terminar un retiro, declararon
unánimemente a San Pedro Fourier que se sentían llamadas a fundar
una nueva congregación, ya que tal era la voluntad de Dios para ellas.
El fin de la nueva congregación era "enseñar a las niñas
a leer, a escribir y a coser, pero sobre todo a amar y servir a Dios". A
esta santa ocupación debían consagrarse, sin distinguir entre
pobres y ricos, y sin cobrar ni un céntimo, "porque esto agrada más
a Dios".
La vida de las religiosas se distinguió al principio,
por la severidad de la penitencia; pero el tiempo les hizo comprender que
esto era incompatible con las grandes exigencias de la enseñanza de
la juventud. El espectáculo de su devoción inspiró en
algunas canonesas de la abadía el deseo de ingresar en la nueva fundación,
pues estaban cansadas de gozar de "todos los privilegios de la vida conventual,
sin experimentar su rudeza". La abadesa, madame d'Amoncourt, que no aceptaba
las grandes reformas operadas en los monasterios de la época, temió
que su comunidad se disolviera. La situación fue muy crítica
durante varias semanas. Judith d'Apremont resolvió esta crisis, ofreciendo
a las nuevas religiosas otra casa en Mattaincourt. Tal fue el primer convento
propiamente dicho de la nueva congregación.
Sin embargo, no se trataba todavía de una comunidad
religiosa en el sentido estricto del término, lo cual inquietó
al padre de Alix, quien le ordenó retirarse a Verdún. San Pedro
Fourier declaró a la joven que estaba obligada a obedecer. Felizmente
el señor Le Clercq, movido por el Espíritu Santo en forma irresistible,
retiró la orden que había dado. Poco después, un franciscano
recoleto, el P. Fleurant Boulengier, intentó asociar la nueva comunidad
a las clarisas. San Pedro Fourier, cuya confianza en la nueva fundación
no era todavía muy grande, recomendó insistentemente a Alix
y sus compañeras que se asociaran con las clarisas, pero ellas se negaron
diciendo: "Nos hemos reunido en comunidad para consagrarnos a la educación
de las niñas, de suerte que no podemos apartamos de nuestra vocación
y adoptar una forma de vida a la que Dios no nos ha llamado".
San Pedro Fourier, por su parte, interpretaba en otra forma
la voluntad de Dios, o fingía hacerlo así para probarlas. En
todo caso, tras algunos meses de vacilaciones, aceptó finalmente la
decisión. En 1601, San Pedro Fourier y la Beata Alix fundaron
una segunda casa en Mihiel, a la que siguieron las de Nancy, Pont-à-Mousson,
Saint-Nicolas du Port, Verdún y Chalons. Esta última, establecida
en 1613, fue la primera fundación fuera de Lorena. Hasta ese momento,
Roma no había aprobado todavía la nueva congregación.
La idea de recibir a las niñas en el interior de la clausura para
impartirles instrucción, provocaba la hostilidad general. Por otra
parte, la reticencia de Roma parecía dar la razón a quienes
criticaban la novedad, y ponía en peligro la fundación. San
Pedro Fourier envió a Alix y a una de sus compañeras al convento
de las Ursulinas de París para que se documentaran sobre la vida monástica
y los métodos de enseñanza. Las Ursulinas les propusieron que
se unieran con ellas. Esta vez Alix reflexionó seriamente sobre la
proposición, pero el P. Bérulle, que más tarde sería
cardenal, resolvió sus dudas: "No creo -le dijo abiertamente- que
Dios quiera esta fusión, de modo que lo mejor que puede hacer es olvidar
el asunto".
En 1616, dos bulas de la Santa Sede concedieron por fin
la deseada aprobación. A raíz de ello, el obispo de Toul aprobó
las constituciones. Trece religiosas llevaron por primera vez el hábito
que vestía la Santísima Virgen en la visión de la Beata
Alix, y comenzaron el año de noviciado, no obstante que algunas de
ellas llevaban ya veinte años en el convento. Pero no todo iba viento
en popa. Las bulas papales de aprobación, sólo mencionaban el
convento de Nancy. Ahora bien, entre dicho convento y los otros, existía
una especie de emulación, porque el de Nancy se hallaba bajo la protección
del cardenal Carlos de Lorena, y el primado de Lorena, Antonio de Lénoncourt,
había prácticamente asumido la dirección. La aparente
parcialidad de las bulas no hizo sino agravar la disensión, lo cual
produjo una desagradable crisis. El resultado fue que la Beata Alix tuvo que
renunciar a su cargo de superiora de la congregación, en favor de
la madre Ganthe André, "sin la cual -explica San Pedro Fourier- nuestra
congregación no hubiera podido fundarse", a pesar de que la madre
André y Alix no estuvieran de acuerdo sobre la organización.
Como si no bastara esta prueba de santidad heroica, la
beata se vio sujeta a ataques personales por parte de las malas lenguas.
Al mismo tiempo, atravesaba una crisis de sequedad espiritual, tentaciones
y "noche oscura del alma". Por otra parte, como lo atestiguaron sus hijas,
"Alix tomaba los sufrimientos ajenos como si fueran propios", de modo que
su situación era muy dificil. En esa época tuvo la ocasión
de practicar su propia máxima, común a todos los santos y místicos:
"Un acto de humildad vale más que cien éxtasis". El mismo San
Pedro Foumier le proporcionó otras oportunidades de practicar la
virtud.
Actualmente se reconoce a la beata el título de
cofundadora de las Canonesas de Nuestra Señora. No así durante
su vida, y San Pedro Foumier era el primero en negarle ese título "para
mantenerla en su lugar". Es probable que el santo haya temido por ella, puesto
que Alix debía parecerle muy imaginativa en comparación con
su temperamento sólido y cauteloso.
En 1621, Alix obtuvo permiso de renunciar al cargo de
superiora local de Nancy, y entró en un corto período de extraordinaria
paz, que fue el preludio de su muerte. Estaba enferma desde tiempo atrás.
Los médicos la de clararon incurable, diagnóstico que desconsoló
a todo Nancy, desde el duque y la duquesa de Lorena hasta las colegialas y
los mendigos. San Pedro Fournier acudió a toda prisa a Nancy, pero
no pudo penetrar en la clausura, hasta que el obispo le autorizó a
ello. La oyó en confesión y la preparó para el paso "de
la muerte a la vida". La beata se despidió solemnemente de la comunidad
el día de la Epifanía, exhortando a sus religiosas al amor y
la unión. El fin llegó el 9 de enero, después de una
larga agonía. La beata no había cumplido aún los cuarenta
y seis años.
Todos la aclamaron como santa, e inmediatamente empezaron
a recogerse testimonios para introducir su causa; pero la guerra impidió
llevar adelante el proceso, y Alix Le Clerq no fue beatificada sino hasta
1947. El convento de Nancy fue saqueado durante la Revolución, y se
dice que el cuerpo de Alix fue quemado a toda prisa para evitar una profanación.
Lo cierto es que, todos los esfuerzos para recuperarlo han resultado infructuosos.
Su humildad debe complacerse en ello en el cielo, ya que en la tierra se
esforzó tanto por ocultar sus obras de caridad y sus visiones. Sólo
en la humildad y obediencia encontra ba reposo, enseñando el abecedario
y las operaciones elementales de aritmética a las niñas de Nancy.
Esto no obstante, en las largas dificultades e incertidum bres que precedieron
a la organización de la congregación, la beata demostró
gran firmeza de resolución y fue siempre una excelente superiora.
Sin embargo, como lo hace notar el historiador protestante Pfister, "cuando
la nombraron supe riora de Nancy, sólo tenía una ambición:
la de entregarse como la más humilde de las hermanas a la enseñanza
de las primeras letras en las clases más bajas". La madre Angélica
Milly ha trazado el mejor retrato de Alix, al decimos: "era un alma silenciosa".
En 1666, el convento de Nancy publicó una vida
de Alix Le Clercq, que es en realidad una colección de valiosos
documentos sobre la beata. El obispo de Saint-Dié introdujo, en 1885,
la causa de beatificación, basándose en un ejemplar de esa biografía,
que había caído en manos del conde Gandélet. La primera
biografía propiamente dicha fue publicada en Nancy, en 1773; existe
el manuscrito de otra, escrita en 1766; en 1858 vio la luz otra biogra fía,
y a partir de entonces se han multiplicado los libros sobre la beata. La
obra del ca nónigo Edmond Renard, La Mere Alix Le Clercq (1935),
es la mejor biografía moderna, tanto desde el punto de vista de crítica,
como de estilo. Hay que mencionar también las vidas de San Pedro Fournier,
escritas por Bedel (1645), Dom Vuillemin (1897), y el P. Rogie; ésta
última es la mejor. El autor del prefacio de la biografía inglesa
de la Beata Alix, habla de los excelentes métodos de educación
empleados por las canonesas. San Pedro Fournier enseñaba la pedagogía
a sus religiosas; en el artículo a él consagrado en este libro
(9 de diciembre) se hace mención dc sus ideas pedagógicas.
La fiesta de la Beata Alix se celebra el 22 de octubre.
|
Make a Novena
and pray the Rosary to Our Lady of Victory 
Saints of this Day October 22 Undécimo Kaléndas
Novémbris
First Reading:
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.