St. Ignatius, bishop at
Constantinople; He rebuked Bardas Caesar for putting away his wife; for this reason, he
was subjected to many sufferings by the Emperor and driven into exile. However,
he was restored to his see by the Roman Pontiff
St. Nicholas, and at last died a peaceful
death.
Constantinópoli sancti Ignátii Epíscopi,
qui, cum Bardam Cæsarem ob repudiátam uxórem arguísset,
ab eo multis injúriis afféctus est, et in exsílium pulsus;
sed, a sancto Nicoláo, Románo Pontífice, restitútus,
tandem in pace quiévit.
At Constantinople,
St. Ignatius, bishop, who rebuked Bardas Caesar for putting away his wife,
for which he was subjected to many insults and driven into banishment.
He was, however, restored to his See by the Roman Pontiff Nicholas, and there
died in peace.
St. Romanus,
bishop at Rouen
St. Domitius, priest in the
territory of Amiens.
St. Benedict in the country
of Poitiers
Blessed Giovanni Buono At
Mantua of the Order of the Hermits of St Augustine, whose excellent life
was written by St. Antoninus.
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305
St. Servandus & Cermanus
Ad fundum Ursoniánum prope Gades, in Hispánia, sanctórum
Mártyrum Servándi et Germáni, qui, in persecutióne
Diocletiáni, sub Viatóre Vicário, post vérbera,
squalórum cárceris, famis ac sitis injúriam, et longíssimi
itíneris labórem, quem pertulérunt ferro onústi,
novíssime martyrii sui cursum, cæsis cervícibus, implevérunt;
ex quibus Germánus Eméritæ, Servándus autem Híspali
cónditus est.
At Osuma, near Cadiz in Spain, in the persecution of
Diocletian, under the subgovernor Viator, the holy martyrs Servandus and
Germanus. They were subjected to scourging, imprisonment in a foul
dungeon, want of food and drink, and the fatigue of a long journey while
loaded with fetters, and at length reached the end of their martyrdom by
having their heads stricken off. Germanus was buried at Merida, and
Servandus at Seville.
Two martyrs, reputedly the sons of
St. Marcellus. They were put to death at Osuma near Cadiz.
the holy martyrs Servandus
and Germanus. In the persecution of Diocletian, under the acting governor Viator, they were
flogged, confined to a foul prison,
subjected to hunger and thirst, and forced to endure the hardships of a long
journey which they made loaded with chains. They eventually finished the
course of their martyrdom by having their throats cut. Germanus was buried
at Merida and Servandus at Seville .
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4th v. Amo (Amon) of
Toul B succeeded Saint Mansuetus (AC)
4th century. Amo, the second known bishop of Toul, succeeded Saint Mansuetus
(Benedictines).
|
362
St. Theodoret martyr priest of Antioch
Antiochíæ item natális sancti Theodóri Presbyteri,
qui, in persecutióne ímpii Juliáni comprehénsus,
et, post equúlei pœnam et multos ac duríssimos cruciátus,
lampádibus étiam circa látera appósitis adústus,
tandem, cum in confessióne Christi persísteret, gládii
occisióne martyrium consummávit.
At Antioch, the birthday of the holy priest Theodore,
who was arrested in the persecution of the impious Julian. After the
torment of the rack and many severe tortures, including the burning of his
sides with torches, he persisted in the confession of Christ, and so his martyrdom
was completed by death with the sword.
362 ST THEODORET, MARTYR
JULIAN, uncle to the Emperor Julian and likewise an apostate, was made
prefect of the East, of which Antioch was the capital city. Being informed
that there was a quantity of gold and silver in the great church there, he
ordered it to be brought to him, whereupon the clergy fled. But Theodoret,
a zealous priest, refused to abandon his flock and continued to hold Christian
assemblies. The prefect Julian commanded him to give up the sacred vessels,
and when he refused charged him with having thrown down the statues of the
gods and built churches in the precious reign. Theodoret owned he had built
churches over the graves of the martyrs, and reproved the prefect because,
after having known the true God, he had abandoned his service. So he was
tormented in divers ways, during which the torturers were made helpless by
a vision of angels about their victim. Julian in a rage ordered them to be
drowned, whereat Theodoret said to them, “Go before, brethren. I will follow
by vanquishing the Enemy.”
The prefect asked him who that enemy was. “The Devil”, said the martyr,
“for whom you fight. Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world is He who giveth
victory.” He then explained to his tormentor at some length the mysteries
of the Incarnation and Redemption, and when Julian threatened him with instant
death retorted by prophesying for him an early and painful end. He was then
sentenced beheaded, which sentence was duly carried out. Julian then went
to seize the church vessels, which he threw on the ground and profaned in
a most outrageous manner. When the prefect reported these happenings
to his uncle, the emperor told him plainly that he did not approve his putting
any Christian to death merely on account of his religion, and complained
that this would afford an occasion to the Galileans to write against him
and to make a martyr of Theodoret. Julian the prefect, who little expected
such a reception, was much upset, and that same evening was taken violently
ill. He was in great agony for over forty days, and then came to a miserable
end.
Although Ruinart
amongst his Acta Sincera includes the passio of this martyr it is difficult to put confidence in the miraculous details
recorded. The text, with variations and a full commentary, may be read in
the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. x.
An earlier form of the passio has been discovered
by P. Franchi de’ Cavalieri see his Note agiografiche, vol.
v, pp. 59—101. Theodoret
is called Theodore in the Hieronymianum and the Roman Martyrology,
and it appears he must be identified with the young man Theodore who was tortured
at Antioch under Julian the Apostate, with whom the prefect Sallust remonstrated
on account thereof (Rufinus, Eccl. hist., bk x). There is
ample evidence of the veneration in which he was held at Antioch he was marvelously
saved from death.
Also Theodore of Antioch (in modern Turkey), he refused to adhere
to the anti-imperial decrees of Emperor Julian the Apostate (r. 361-363) and
was martyred by beheading. He supposedly prophesied that Emperor Julian would
soon die painfully, which he did, while on campaign against the Persians.
He was arrested in the persecution
of the wicked Julian. Despite
the torment of the rack and other severe tortures, including the burning
of his sides with torches, he persevered in his confession of Christ. He completed
his martyrdom by being put to the sword .
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420 St. Severinus Bishop
of BORDEAUX; distinguished himself by his zeal against Arianism;
Burdígalæ sancti Severíni, Epíscopi Coloniénsis
et Confessóris.
At Bordeaux, St. Severin, bishop of Cologne and confessor.
420 ST SEVERINUS, OR SEURIN, Bishop
OF BORDEAUX
THE Roman Martyrology, while putting his death at Bordeaux, calls Severinus
“bishop of Cologne”. This has reference to identification, now abandoned,
of Seurin with St Severinus of Cologne,
also commemorated today. He distinguished himself by his zeal against Arianism,
and died at the beginning of the fifth century.
According to the legend Severinus while a priest was walking
in the fields when he heard a voice say, “Severinus, you will be bishop of
Cologne”. “When will that happen?” he asked. “When your staff buds and flowers”,
was the reply. And his stick, stuck in the ground, took root and blossomed,
and he was called to Cologne.
At Tongres, says Gregory
of Tours, he knew by revelation the death and glory of St Martin at the time of his departure
from this life. In the midst of his labours against heresy he was again warned
by a voice, this time that he was wanted in Bordeaux; he went thither and
was met by the bishop St Amand who,
also instructed by Heaven, yielded up his office to him.
Modern research
has clearly established that the only Life of St Severinus of any authority,
and in fact the source from which the others have borrowed, is that written
by Venantius Fortunatus. Identified and printed for the first time by Fl.
Quentin (La plus ancienne Vie de S. Seurin,
1902), it has been re-edited by
W. Levison in the MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. vii, pp.
205—224. Severinus before coming
to Bordeaux had apparently been bishop of Trier but there is nothing to connect
him with Cologne. By a curious confusion, on which see the Analecta
Bollandiana, vol. xxxviii (1920), pp.
427—428, Seurin seems to have been the original from which an imaginary bishop
of Bordeaux “St Fort” was afterwards evolved.
He was originally from Bordeaux, France. Severinus was a ferocius opponent of the Arian heresy
Bishop of Bordeaux from about 405 until his death. Also called
Seurin.
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4th v. St. Verus Bishop of
Salerno maintained orthodoxy traditions of his martyrs
Apud Salérnum sancti Veri Epíscopi.
At Salerno, Bishop St. Verus.
Italy. He maintained orthodoxy in the region and kept the traditions
of his martyred predecessors.
|
St.
Amo Bishop of Toul France.The successor of St. Mansuetus.
|
520
St. Clether Welsh saint martyr
also called Cleer, Clydog, Scledog, Citanus, or Cleodius. He was a descendant
of a local king in Wales.
Clether left Wales and went to Cornwall, England. Churches including St.
Clear near Liskeard were built in his honor. He is reported to have been martyred.
A second Clether is commemorated on November 3.
Clether of Wales (AC) (also known as Cleer, Clydog, Scledog, Clitanus,
Cleodius) Died in Herefordshire, England, c. 520. One of the saints descended
from King Brychan of Brecknock, or at least of his clan. Several dedications
of churches--for instance, St. Cleer, near Liskeard--perpetuate his memory.
Another Clether, or Cledog, is commemorated on August 19. He is alleged to
have died a martyr (Benedictines) .
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524 St. Severinus Boethius
Roman philosopher theologian statesman; “the last of the Roman philosophers,
and the first of the scholastic theologians”
524 ST SEVERINUS BOETHIUS, MARTYR
Anicius MANLIUS Severinus BOETHIUS was born about the year 480, a member
of one of the most illustrious families of Rome, the gens Anicia, to which Pope St Gregory
the Great probably belonged. He was left an orphan while still very young,
and came under the guardianship of Q. Aurelius Symmachus, to whom he became
attached by the ties of closest friendship and whose daughter, Rusticiana,
he eventually married. Nothing else is known of his youth, but it must have
been devoted to assiduous study, for before he was thirty Boethius was already
reputed a very learned man. He set himself to translate the whole of Plato
and Aristotle into Latin and to show their fundamental agreement this task
he was not destined to finish, but Cassiodorus remarks that through his translations
the people of Italy were able to know, as well as Plato and Aristotle, “Pythagoras
the musician, Ptolemy the astronomer, Nichomachus the arithmetician, Euclid
the geometer and Archimedes the mechanician”. This gives an idea of the many-sided-ness
of Boethius’s interests, and he made his own contributions to logic, mathematics,
geometry and music: moreover he was skilled in practice as well, for a well-known
letter of Cassiodorus asks him to make a water-clock and a sundial for the
king of the Burgundians. He was also a theological writer (the Anician family
had been Christian since Constantine), and several of his treatises survive,
including one on the Holy Trinity.
The works of Boethius were exceedingly influential in the
Middle Ages, especially in the development of logic, and it is not for nothing
that he has been called “the last of the Roman philosophers, and the first
of the scholastic theologians”. His translations were for long the only means
for the study of Greek philosophy in the West.
Boethius was born very soon after the last of the Roman emperors in the
West, Romulus “Augustulus”, had given up the remnants of his power to the
barbarian Odoacer; he was about thirteen when Odoacer was murdered and the
Ostrogoth Theodoric as Patricius obtained mastery of the whole of Italy.
The father of Boethius had accepted the new state of things and been given
high office by Odoacer, and his son followed the example thus set: notwithstanding
his devotion to scholarship he entered public life, and did so (as he tells
us himself) as a deliberate response to Plato’s teaching that “states would
be happy either if philosophers ruled them, or if it chanced that their rulers
turned philosophers”. Theodoric made him consul in 510; and twelve years later
he reached what he called “the highest point of his good fortune”, when he
saw his two sons installed as consuls and himself delivered an oration before
them in praise of King Theodoric. Soon after the king further honoured him
with the post of “master of the offices”, which was one of the very highest
importance and responsibility. But his fall was at hand.
The aged Theodoric became suspicious that certain members of the Roman
senate were conspiring with the Eastern emperor, Justin, at Constantinople
to overthrow the Ostrogoth power in Italy. Accordingly a charge was laid
against the ex-consul Albinus, and Boethius rose in the court to defend him.
Whether or no there was such a plot, it may be taken as quite certain that
Boethius had nothing to do with it. But he also was arrested, and consigned
to prison at Ticinum (now Pavia) he was charged not only with treason but
also with sacrilege, that is, in this case, the practice of mathematics and
astronomy for impious ends. His condemnation followed, and Boethius
spoke with bitter scorn of the senate, of which it seems only one member,
his father-in-law Symmachus, had stood up for his innocence.
Boethius was in prison for about nine months, and during that
time he wrote the best-known of his works, the Consolation of Philosophy.
It is in the form of a dialogue, with metrical interludes, between the writer
and Philosophy, and she seeks to console him in his misfortune by showing
the transitoriness and vanity of earthly success and the eternal value of
the things of the mind: disaster is irrelevant to those who have learned
to appreciate divine wisdom, and the governance of the universe is just and
righteous despite appearances to the contrary. Nothing is said
about the Christian faith, but numerous problems of metaphysics and ethics
are touched on, and the Consolation of Philosophy became
one of the most popular books in the middle ages, not only among philosophers
and theologians. It was one of the works translated into Old English by
King Alfred the Great.
The imprisonment of Boethius
ended only with violent death, said preceded by a brutal torture. He was buried
in the old cathedral of Ticinum, and his relics are now in the church of
St Peter in Ciel d’Oro at Pavia.
That
Boethius died a martyr seems to have been taken for granted, and the background
of his medieval influence and popularity was that he had died for the faith
and was Saint Severinus.*{*See, for example, the Paradiso of
Dante, canto x, lines 125 seq. References
to and echoes of the De consolatione are frequent in Dante,
though for some reason he thought that work was “not well known”. How well known it in fact was, among lay people as
well as clerics, is shown by the fact that in the later middle ages translations
or adaptations of it were made into German, Provençal, Anglo-Norman,
French, Polish, Magyar, Greek, Hebrew and English (by Chaucer and by John
Walton). It was one of the books with which the Benedictine martyr Bd Ambrose
Barlow comforted himself when in prison.}
But there is nothing reliable
to suggest that he was executed for any but purely political reasons; it is
true that Theodoric was an Arian, but there is not the slightest evidence
that this had any part in the prosecution of his hitherto trusted minister
of state. It is possible that the idea of Boethius’s martyrdom may have originated
in what may well have been the notorious fact that he was put to death unjustly, for death imposed on the innocent, without any necessary
hatred of the faith, has often been the passport to a veneration for martyrdom
in earlier times.
Since the eighteenth century
a still more fundamental question has been raised, viz. Was
Boethius at the time of his death a professing and practising Christian? That he was brought up and long remained a Christian
admits of no doubt, especially since in 1877 a new piece of evidence confirms
the authenticity of the theological writings with the authorship of which
he had been credited for so long. But the difficulty
is this: How is it that a Christian man, who had written treatises in defence
of the faith, should, in face of an unjust charge and of death, write a work
for his own strengthening and solace which contains nothing distinctively
Christian except one or two indirect quotations from the Bible?
Or, as Boswell reports
Dr Johnson as saying in 1770, “It was very surprising that, upon such a subject,
and in such a situation, he should be magis philosophus quam
Christianus”, “more of a philosopher than a Christian”.
The
problem cannot be shrugged off, and the fact that nobody in the middle ages
appeared to be worried by the anomaly does not help either way. Here it is
sufficient to say that, when the question had once been posed, some scholars
of weight were all for “dechristianizing” Boethius. But later on the opposite
opinion strengthened, and the prevalent view is that he remained a Christian
to the end. Two scholars, a Protestant and a Catholic, may be quoted in support: The old question as to the relation of Boethius to
Christianity is meaningless…a Christian theologian may well have written
such a work as the Consolation, not to express his own views
but to give philosophy’s answer to the chief problems of thought” (E. K.
Rand in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. xv,
p. i); and the Consolation of Philosophy is “a masterpiece
which, in spite of its deliberate reticence, is a perfect expression of the
union of the Christian spirit with the classical tradition” (Christopher
Dawson in The Making of Europe, p. 51).
The feast of St Severinus Boethius (as a martyr)
is still kept at Pavia and in the church of St Mary in Portico
in Rome. The confirmation of his cultus in these
places by Pope Leo XIII in 1883 might be thought to settle the questions
of Boethius’s martyrdom and religion. But, though calling for the fullest
respect, a confirmation of cultus is not an exercise of infallibility;
it is only permissive, and is not always and inevitably preceded by a full
and exhaustive examination of the historical problems that may be involved.
H.
F. Stewart’s monograph on Boethius, published in 1891, is still a standard
work; more recent works of value are FL R. Patch, The Tradition of Boethius (1935) and H. Barrett,
Boethius Some Aspects of His Times and Work (1940). Patch provides a bibliography of twenty
pages. The complete works, first published in Venice in 1497, are in Migne,
PL., vols. lxiii and lxiv; the theological treatises and the “Consolation”
are in the Loeb Classical Library (Latin text and translation); King Alfred’s
version of the last-named is in the Oxford University Press Library of Translations
(Alfred gives it a Christian colouring). In the Fortescue and Smith edition
of De consolatione philosophiae (1925) the suggestion is made
that it was written when Boethius was in exile but not yet in prison and
under sentence of death; but this explanation of its silence about Christianity
is open to strong objections, In the Bodleian there is a manuscript of this
work given by Bishop Leofric c. 1050 to the cathedral church
of Exeter. In 1650 Sir Thomas Hawkins and other Catholics translated a book
by Nicholas Caussin, The Holy Court, containing a rather extravagant
life of Boethius, into English, and the story of Boethius was used to illustrate
the position of Catholics in England under the penal laws. New translations
of the De consolatione, by Fr G. G. Walsh, and of
the theological tracts with selected other writings, by Dr A. C. Pegis, are
promised in the series of patristic translations of the Cima Company, of
New York. The church of St Mary in Portico (in Campitelli) stood
on the site of the house of St Galls (October 5), who was sister-in-law to
Boethius .
One of the last notable philosophers in the classical Roman
tradition. Known, in full as Anicius
Manlius Torquatus Severinus Boethius, he was born to the ancient noble
family of Rome, the Anicii, and studied at Athens and Alexandria, receiving
a deep classical education.
In 510, he was named a consul under the Ostrogothic king Theodoric and
became his magister officiorurn (master of offices) in 520, a post which demonstrated
Theodoric’s deep trust and respect for Boethius’ abilities. However, relations
between them soon deteriorated, as Boethius was staunchly orthodox in his
Christianity while Theodoric was
a devoted Arian.
When Boethius defended the ex-consul Albinus on charges of treason, Theodoric
had him seized, condemned, and put to death. A brilliant philosopher and statesman,
Roethius authored translations of Aristotle, the Isagoge by Porphyry, and
a Commentary on the Topics of Cicero. He also authored treatises on the Holy
Trinity (De Sancti Trinitate) and orthodox Christology, and a biography of
the Christian monk and writer Cassiodorus
(d. 580).
His most famous work, De Consolatione
Philosophiae (The Consolation of Philosophy), was written while he
was in prison. In it, he proposed that the study of philosophy made attainable
knowledge of virtue and God. He is considered a martyr for the Catholic faith
and was canonized under the name St. Severinus .
|
609 St. John of Syracuse
Benedictine bishop of Syracuse, in Sicily, from 595 until his death.
|
639
St. Romanus of Rouen Bishop of Rouen miracles
Rotómagi sancti Románi
Epíscopi. At Rouen, Bishop St. Romanus.
Not much that is certainly
authentic is known of this bishop. His father, alleged to be a convert of
St Remigius, was born of a Frankish family, and Romanus was placed young in
the court of Clotaire II. Upon the death of Hidulf, c. 630,
he was chosen bishop of Rouen. The remains of idolatry exercised his zeal;
he converted the unbelievers and is said to have destroyed the remains of
a temple of Venus. Amongst many miracles it is related that, the Seine having
overflowed the city, the saint knelt to pray on the side of the water, with
a crucifix in his hand, whereupon the floods retired gently within the banks
of the river.
The
name of St Romanus is famous in France on account of a privilege, which
the metropolitical chapter of Rouen exercised until the Revolution, of releasing
in his honour a prisoner under sentence of death every year on the feast of
the Ascension of our Lord. The chapter sent notice to the parlement
of Rouen two months before to stop the execution of criminals till
that time; and on that day chose the prisoner who, being first condemned to
death, was then set at liberty to assist in carrying the shrine of St Romanus
in the great procession. He heard two exhortations and then was told that
in honour of St Romanus he was pardoned. The legend is that this privilege
took its rise from St Romanus killing a great serpent, called Gargouille,
with the assistance of a murderer whom he took out of his dungeon. No traces
of this story are found in any life of this saint or in any writings before
the end of the fourteenth century; the deliverance of the condemned criminal
was perhaps intended for a symbol of the redemption of mankind through Christ.
The custom was called Privilège de la Fierte or of
the Châsse de St Romain. St Romanus died about the year
640.
There are several
short lives of St Romanus, but not of a date that would lend them any historical
value. The texts for the most part are printed or summarized in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. x, but a useful note upon the
lives and their authors is available in Vacandard, Vie de St
Ouen (1902),
pp. 356—358. Other references to St Romain occur passim
in the text. See also Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux,
vol. ii, p. 207 and L. Pillon
in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. xxx (1903), pp. 441—454.
He owed his elevation to the bishopric to the patronage of the
Frankish king Clotaire II in whose court Romanus had grown up. As bishop,
he worked to extirpate all lingering paganism, and personally tore down
a temple to Venus. He also cared for condemned prisoners. Romanus was famous
for performing miracles.
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650
St. Maroveus Abbot and founder Benedictine
Maroveus Abbot and founder of the Benedictine Monastery of Precipiano,
near Tortona, Italy.
|
654
St. Benedict of Sebaste Turkey Bishop and hermit
In pago Pictaviénsi sancti Benedícti
Confessóris. In the country of Poitiers, St. Benedict,
confessor.
Traditionally a bishop in the city of Sebaste, Turkey. During
the persecutions of the era, he fled to Gaul. He built a hermitage near Poitiers,
later transformed into the abbey St. Benedict of Quincay.
Benedict of Sebaste B (RM). An alleged bishop of Sebaste in Samaria,
Benedict had to escape to Gaul during the persecution of Julian the Apostate.
He built a hermitage near Poitiers that later became the abbey of St. Benedict
of Quincay. Not all the above details, however, are above suspicion (Benedictines).
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718 St. Leothade Benedictine
bishop of Auch France. He was
abbot of Moissac and was a Frankish noble.
|
723 St. Oda
Widow and servant of the poor
Originally a French princess wife of the duke of Aquitaine, she committed
her life to aiding the poor after her husband’s death.
|
8th v. St. Domitius Hermit
in Amiens France.
He was a priest or deacon.
In território Ambianénsi sancti
Domítii Presbyteri. In the district of Amiens, St.
Domitius, a priest.
Domitius of Amiens (RM) 8th century.
This is another story of a friendship leading to perfect love of God. Not
far from Amiens, in northern France, there is a small river called the Noye
which, after flowing through some low-lying and marshy ground, joins another
small river called the Avre. Together they then join the River Somme and flow
down to the sea. They have been there since the beginning of time, and they
will probably be there at the end of time.
In the 8th century there lived on the banks of the Noye a young girl named
Ulphia who was filled with longing to lead a life of perfection. At the same
time there lived on the banks of the Avre a deacon of the church of Amiens
named Domitius, who was no less eager for the same perfection. Their hermitages
were barely a mile apart, and Ulphia often sought the counsel of Domitius,
who instructed her in the great prayer of the Church and led her to God. Their
'mystic life in common' lasted for 30 years, from about 730 to 760.
The legend speaks of 'a good and ancient man who beard and hair were as
white as snow,' and who walked with a staff to support 'his great age and
infirmity.' The friendship that bound him to the holy girl who was less than
half his age must have seemed strange to the people who lived nearby. It
is said that Domitius once silenced all the frogs in a pond, but perhaps
the frogs were human- -men and women, whose tongues were set wagging by the
story of the two hermits.
If Domitius succeeded in silencing them, then it was a far greater miracle
than silencing a few small creatures.
They used to go together on foot to recite the Office in what was then
the cathedral of Amiens. It was a mutual exchange of services: Ulphia tended
Domitius, and Domitius rewarded his devout daughter by teaching and explaining
to her the Holy Scriptures. “They were,” says the legend,
“of a like will and spirit, chaste and devout.”
Their lives were like the two rivers on whose banks they lived, two rivers
which flowed through marshes and swamps and then joined together and flowed
to the sea. Ulphia passed through the marshes of this world and entrusted
herself to Domitius. Their course together was one of prayer, penitence, solitude,
and self- forgetfulness that, after 30 years, eventually brought them to
their triumphal entry into paradise. As the two rivers flowed together, so
did their lives, and as the waters of the rivers were finally united with
the sea, so were they finally united with God. “He who
drinks of the water I shall give him,” says Our Lord,
“will not thirst” (Encyclopedia)
.
|
|
St. Ignatius, bishop at Constantinople; He rebuked Bardas Caesar for putting away his wife; for this reason, he
was subjected to many sufferings by the Emperor and driven into exile. However,
he was restored to his see by the Roman Pontiff
St. Nicholas, and at last died a peaceful
death.
Constantinópoli sancti Ignátii Epíscopi, qui, cum
Bardam Cæsarem ob repudiátam uxórem arguísset,
ab eo multis injúriis afféctus est, et in exsílium pulsus;
sed, a sancto Nicoláo, Románo Pontífice, restitútus,
tandem in pace quiévit.
At Constantinople, St. Ignatius, bishop, who rebuked
Bardas Caesar for putting away his wife, for which he was subjected to many
insults and driven into banishment. He was, however, restored to his
See by the Roman Pontiff Nicholas, and there died in peace.
<Ignatius_Hagia_Sophia_Constantinople_2007
THE birth of this saint was illustrious: his mother was daughter to the
Emperor Nicephorus I, and his father Michael, surnamed Rangabe, was himself
raised to the imperial throne. Michael’s reign
was short. In the year 813 he was deposed in favour of Leo the Armenian, and
his two sons were mutilated and shut up in a monastery. The
younger of them became a monk and changed his former name, Nicetas, to Ignatius.
He had much to suffer from the abbot of
his monastery; but upon the death of his persecutor he was himself chosen
abbot, having already been ordained priest. In 846
Ignatius was taken from his monastery of Satyrus and made patriarch of Constantinople.
His virtues shone brightly in this office,
but the liberty, which he used in opposing vice and reprimanding public offenders
drew on him severe persecution. The caesar Bardas,
uncle of the Emperor Michael III, was accused of incestuous sexual relations,
and at Epiphany 857 Ignatius refused
him communion in the Great Church. Bardas persuaded
the young emperor, known ominously in history, but not altogether justly,
as Michael the Drunkard, to get rid of the patriarch, and with the help of
Bishop Gregory of Syracuse they trumped up charges and ordered Ignatius to
be deposed and exiled.
This
was not simply the revenge of an aggrieved individual. Behind it was the
far-reaching tension and hostility between the dynasty and court clergy on
one hand, with some support from a large moderate party, and on the other
the sometimes-extreme rigorists, upholders of “the independence of the religious
power”, led by the monks of the monastery of Studius. Of these last St Ignatius
was an inflexible supporter. Accordingly he was banished to the island of
Terebinthos. Here, in spite of what was said afterwards,
it appears certain that he resigned his see, though perhaps conditionally.
In his place Bardas nominated his chief
secretary, Photius, then a layman and a man of quite unusual talent, ability
and learning. In the week before the Christmas
of 858 Photius was made monk, reader, subdeacon, deacon, priest and bishop
in as many days. When he wrote announcing his election to the pope, St
Nicholas I sent legates to Constantinople to investigate the situation.
There
followed a long “affair” that had most important results and is a matter
of general church history. It must however be mentioned
that researches carried on during the past fifty years have put a rather different
complexion on it and changed some of the judgements that have been everywhere
accepted, gladly or regretfully, for centuries. What had appeared to be a
pertinacious and contumacious attempt of Constantinople to maintain complete
independence of the Roman see, with Photius as the arch-schismatic, now appears
rather as one aspect of a strife of parties, parties both political and ecclesiastical,
in which the “diehard” supporters of St Ignatius became as rebellious
towards the Holy See as Photius at his most defiant.
Nine
years later, in 867, the Emperor Michael, who in the previous year had connived
at the murder of Bardas, was himself murdered by Basil the Macedonian, who now became emperor. Basil at once dismissed Michael’s minister
Photius from the patriarchal office (he was to return ten years later), and
sought the support of Ignatius’s intransigent followers by summoning Ignatius
back to it. After his restoration the persecuted prelate asked Pope Adrian
II, who had succeeded Nicholas I, to hold a general council. This,
a small assembly, was convened in Constantinople in 869, nowadays called the
eighth œcumenical council and the fourth of that city. It
condemned Photius and his supporters, but treated them with leniency, though
Photius himself was excommunicated.
For the remaining years of
his life St Ignatius applied himself to the duties of his office with vigilance
and energy, but unfortunately not with perfect prudence:
ironically enough, he followed the policy of Photius towards
the Holy See in respect of patriarchal jurisdiction over the Bulgars. He even went so far as to encourage their prince, Boris,
to expel his Latin bishops and priests in favour of the Greeks whom Ignatius
had sent. Pope John VIII was naturally indignant and sent legates with
an ultimatum threatening excommunication. They arrived at Constantinople only
to find that St Ignatius had died on the previous October 23, 877.
The
personal holiness of the life of Ignatius, his fearlessness in rebuking wickedness
in high places and his patience under unjust treatment caused his name to
be added to the Roman Martyrology, and his feast is kept by the Latin Catholics
of Constantinople as well as by the Byzantines, both Catholic and dissident.
In
the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. x, there is a Latin translation
of the Greek life of St Ignatius by Nicetas the Paphlagonian: Dr Dvornik calls
it little better than a political tract “and its veracity is highly questionable”.
The Greek text is in Migne, PG., vol. cv. The diplomatic correspondence and
documents of the period must be sought in Mansi or Hefele-Leclercq, Conches, vol. iv. The modern work on Photius referred to above
began with A. Lapôtre, Le pape Jean VIII (1895) and
E. Amann in DTC. (Articles on John VIII, John IX, Nicholas I and Photius);
and was carried on by V. Laurent, V. Grumel, H. Grégoire and F. Dvornik:
see especially his Photian Schism (1948). For a summary see
Fliche and Martin, Flirt. de l’Église, t. vi, pp. 465—475
and 483—490 for Ignatius, pp. 465—501
for Photius. There is a full article on St Ignatius in DTC., t.
vii, but this, like Hergenröther’s monumental Photius,
follows more conservative lines.
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936 St. Elfleda
Anglo-Saxon princess Benedictine nun
at Glastonbury, England. She lived as a recluse and was admired by St.
Dunstan.
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1134
ST ALLUCIO; shepherd in Pescia, Tuscany, Italy; devoted himself to establishment
of shelters at fords, mountain-passes, and to similar public works, such as
the building of a bridge over the Arno; A number of remarkable miracles were
recorded of the saint and he was credited with bringing about reconciliation
between the warring cities of Ravenna and Faenza
ALLUCIO, patron of Pescia in
Tuscany, was a shepherd and herdman, who on account of the great interest
he took in the almshouse of Vat di Nievole was appointed master of it.
He became in effect its second founder,
and further devoted himself to the establishment of shelters at fords, mountain-passes,
and so on, and to similar public works, such as the building of a bridge over
the Arno. He staffed the hospices with young men,
who were afterwards known as the Brothers of St Allucio. A
number of remarkable miracles were recorded of the saint and he was credited
with bringing about reconciliation between the warring cities of Ravenna
and Faenza. In 1182, forty-eight years after his death, the relics of St
Allucio were enshrined and the almshouse was given his name. Pope Pius
IX confirmed the cultus by the granting of a new proper Mass for
the saint.
The
cult of St Allucio seems to be adequately attested by documents, one of
which takes the form of a public instrument summarizing the principal episodes
of his life. They are given in the Acta Sanctorum,
October, vol. x. See also DHG., vol. ii, c. 617, and a popular account by D. Biagioti (1934).
Director of the almshouse in Valdi Nievole. Allucio also built
shelters in mountain passes and at rivers. The group with which he worked
became the Brothers of St. Allucio. A miracle worker known throughout the
region, Allucio ended the war between the city states of Ravenna and Faenza.
Allucio of
Pescia (AC); cultus confirmed by Pius IX. Born in the diocese of Pescia in
Tuscany, Italy, Allucio began life as a herdsman. Eventually his fellow citizens
entrusted him with the direction of an almshouse at Val di Nievole and he
became, in fact, the second founder of that charity, as well as a hospice
at Campugliano. He had some followers who were named the Brethren of St. Allucio.
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
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1149 Bertrand of Grandselve,
OSB Cist. Abbot often favored with heavenly visions (AC)
Died July 11, 1149. Cistercian abbot of Grandselve for 20 years. He was
often favored with heavenly visions (Benedictines).
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1249 BD
JOHN BUONI; earlier life was not conspicuous for religion later--a hermit’s
life, which he began near Cesena, Mantua; Bd John received many supernatural
enlightenments in prayer, wrought a number of most remarkable miracles, and
did not allow advancing age to lessen his austerities; The number of his penitents
so increased and so many people came to see him out of curiosity that John
made up his mind to go away secretly to a more quiet place but after having
walked all night he found himself at dawn once more before the door of his
own cell, so he concluded that it was God’s will that he should stay where
he was.
Mántuæ
beáti Joánnis Boni, ex Eremitárum sancti Augustíni
Ordine, Confessóris; cujus præcláram vitam sanctus Antonínus
conscrípsit.
At Mantua, blessed John the Good, of the Order of Hermits
of St. Augustine, whose celebrated life was written by St. Antoninus.
IN spite of his name, which
he inherited from his family, the Buonomini, his earlier life was not conspicuous
for religion. When his father died he left his home at Mantua and made his
living as an entertainer at the courts, palaces and wealthy establishments
of Italy, leading a licentious and debauched life, though ever pursued by
the prayers of his devoted mother.
In 1208,
when he was about forty, he had a serious illness which brought him near death,
and when he had recovered he took the warning to heart and was soon a changed
man. He had made a resolve during his sickness to mend his ways and, a less
common thing than such resolutions, he kept it. He opened his heart to the bishop of Mantua, who allowed
him to try a hermit’s life, which he began near Cesena. John set himself
to conquer his insurgent flesh in solitude and acquire habits of devotion
and virtue with such success that he soon had the reputation of a saint,
and disciples began to gather round him. For a
time they lived according to regulations, which Bd John made on the spot as
need, arose, but when a church had been built and the community taken definite
shape papal approval was sought and Innocent IV imposed the Rule of
St Augustine as their basis.
Bd John
received many supernatural enlightenments in prayer, wrought a number of most
remarkable miracles, and did not allow advancing age to lessen his austerities;
he kept three Lents every year, wore only one light garment in the coldest
weather, and had three beds in his cell, one uncomfortable, another more uncomfortable,
and the third most uncomfortable. He continued to suffer very violent temptations,
and was moreover slandered by malicious persons, calumnies that he opposed
merely by a simple denial.
The
number of his penitents so increased and so many people came to see him out
of curiosity that John made up his mind to go away secretly to a more quiet
place but after having walked all night he found himself at dawn once more
before the door of his own cell, so he concluded that it was God’s will that
he should stay where he was.
John
died at Mantua in 1249 and his tomb was illustrious for miracles. His congregation
of penitents did not survive long as an independent organization. Under the
name of Boniti they
had eleven establishments within a few years of their founder’s death, but
in 1256 they were united with the other congregations of which Pope Alexander
IV formed the order of Hermit-friars of St Augustine. The Augustinian
friars and the Augustinians of the Assumption accordingly keep the feast of
Bd John Buoni; his name was added to the Roman Martyrology, as beatus, in 1672.
The
Bollandists, in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. ix, fill
nearly two hundred folio pages with the documents that bear on the history
of Bd John Bonus. These comprise a relatively lengthy biography written
at the beginning of the sixteenth century by the Augustinian, Ambrose Calepinus,
and also the depositions of witnesses who in 1251, 1252 and 1254 gave evidence
with a view to John’s canonization. They describe inter alia
his immunity from the effects of great heat, for he stood for several
minutes shuffling his bare feet about without injury in a heap of red-hot
Ashes see Fr. Thurston in The Month for February 1932, pp.
146—147.
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1271 Blessed Bartholomew
of Breganza ( b. Bartolommeo b. Barthélemy de Breganze) BISHOP of Vicenza; received habit from Saint Dominic; followed
him as Popes Theologian; restored other churches, rebuilt ruined city, saved
heretics OP B (AC)
BARTHOLOMEW Breganza studied
in his youth at Padua and about the year 1220 received the Dominican habit
from the hands of the founder of the order himself, in his native town of
Vicenza. He prudently directed a number of houses as prior, and while preaching with Father John of Vicenza at Bologna
in 1233 established a military
order, called Fratres Gaudentes, for the preservation of peace
and of public order; it spread to other towns of Italy and existed till the
eighteenth century.
At this
time the Near East was in particular need of holy bishops in view of the abuses
of the Crusades, and Bartholomew was appointed to a see in the isle of Cyprus.
From here he visited St Louis of France in Palestine and formed a deep friendship
with the king, who urged him to visit him in France. This
he was able to do a few years later when he was sent as papal legate to the
king of England. Henry III was then in Aquitaine, where Bartholomew presented
himself and accompanied the king to Paris. In 1256 Pope Alexander IV had
translated Bartholomew to the see of Vicenza, wherein he was soon involved
in troubles with the violent and evil Ghibelline leader, Ezzelino da Romano.
For a time he was in exile from his diocese,
but on his return devoted himself with increased energy to his flock, rebuilding
the churches ruined by Ezzelino and striving for the peace of the distracted
cities of the Veneto.
Four years before his death
Bartholomew assisted at the second translation of the relics of St Dominic,
and preached the panegyric on that occasion. He died on July 1, 1271. He was greatly venerated by the people and commonly
called Blessed Bartholomew, a cultus that was confirmed
in 1793.
A sufficient
account will be found in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. i.
See also G. T. Faccioli, Vita e virtu del b. Bartolommeo (1794)
B. Altaner, Dominikanermissionen des 13 Jahrhunderts
(1924), pp. 40 seq. M. de Waresquiel, Le b. Barthélemy de Breganze (1905) and Procter, Lives of Dominican Saints, pp.
297—301.
Born at Vicenza, Italy, born c. 1200; cultus approved in 1793.
Bartholomew was born into the family of the counts of Breganza, Lombardy,
Italy. While still very young, he entered the University of Padua and gained
a reputation for scholarship and sanctity. There he met Saint Dominic and
received the Dominican habit from the founder's hands. Bartholomew completed
his novitiate, his studies at Vicenza and Padua, and was ordained.
Shortly thereafter Bartholomew was sent to preach against heresy in cities
throughout Lombardy, and to make peace among the warring factions that were
destroying the country. In 1233 he founded a sort of military order--the Fratres
Gaudentes--for the preservation of public order. He preached so successfully
in this difficult mission that he was summoned to Rome, where the holy father
appointed him master of the sacred palace. He was one of the first after Saint
Dominic himself to hold this traditionally Dominican office of the pope's
theologian.
In 1252 he was sent to Cyprus as bishop of Nimesia. He journeyed there
in company with Saint Louis, king of France, who was on a crusade to the
Holy Land. Bartholomew had just begun his shepherding of Nimesia when he
was called to Palestine by the king. He was of such service to the king that
Louis promised him several valuable relics upon the king's return to France.
After administering the diocese on Cyprus, he was translated to Vicenza
in 1256. Here his first care was to suitably enshrine the relics donated
by Louis. He directed the building of the magnificent Church of the Crown
to house these precious relics, which reputedly included a portion of the
true Cross and a thorn from our Lord's crown. He restored other churches
and rebuilt the city that had been destroyed by civil wars.
Civil war was not the only evil visited upon Vicenza. Heresy did even greater
damage. Bartholomew used his powers as a preacher to bring many heretics back
into the fold. He was a peacemaker and a builder. So beloved was he that
he had to firmly resist the coercion of the grateful people to take over
the temporal rule of the city as well as the spiritual. Blessed Bartholomew
was also given the honor of preaching on the occasion of the second translation
of Saint Dominic's relics (Benedictines, Dorcy).
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1456
St. John of Capistrano “Initiative, Organization, Activity.”
Apud Villáckum, in Pannónia,
natális sancti Joánnis de Capistráno, Sacerdótis
ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris, vitæ sanctitáte
ac fídei cathólicæ propagándæ zelo illústris;
qui Taurunénsem arcem, validíssimo Turcárum exércitu
profligáto, suis précibus et miráculis ab obsidióne
liberávit. Ejus tamen festívitas quinto Kaléndas
Aprílis recólitur.
At Vilak in Hungary, the birthday of St. John
Capistran, priest and confessor of the Order of Friars Minor, illustrious
for the sanctity of his life and his zeal for the propagation of the Catholic
faith. By his prayers and miracles, he routed a powerful army of Turks,
and forced them to quit the siege of Tornau. His feastday, however,
is celebrated on the 28th of March.
Sancti Joánnis de Capistráno, Sacerdótis
ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris, cujus memória
recólitur décimo Kaléndas Novémbris.
St. John Capistrano, confessor, a priest of the Order of
Friars Minor, who is mentioned on the 23rd of October, formerly March 28.
ST JOHN OF CAPISTRANO
CAPISTRANO is a little town in the
Abruzzi, which of old formed part of the kingdom of Naples.
Here in the fourteenth century a certain free-lance —whether he
was of French or of German origin is disputed—had settled down after military
service under Louis I and had married an Italian wife. A son, named John,
was born to him in 1386 who was destined to become famous as one of the great
lights of the Franciscan Order.
From early youth the boy’s talents made him conspicuous. He studied
law at Perugia with such success that in 1412 he was appointed governor of
that city and married the daughter of one of the principal inhabitants. During
hostilities between Perugia and the Malatestas he — was imprisoned, and this
was the occasion of his resolution to change his way of life and become a
religious.
How he got over the difficulty of his marriage is not altogether
clear. But it is said that he rode through Perugia on a donkey with his face
to the tail and with a huge paper hat on his head upon which all his worst
sins were plainly written. He was pelted by the children and covered with
filth, and in this guise presented himself to ask admission into the noviceship
of the Friars Minor. At that date, 1416, he was thirty years old, and his
novice-master seems to have thought that for a man of such strength of will
who had been accustomed to have his own way, a very severe training was necessary
to test the genuineness of his vocation. (He had not yet even made his first
communion.) The trials to which he was subjected were most humiliating and
were apparently sometimes attended with supernatural manifestations. But Brother
John persevered, and in after years often expressed his gratitude to the
relentless instructor who had made it clear to him that self-conquest was
the only sure road to perfection.
In 1420 John was raised to the priesthood. Meanwhile he made extraordinary
progress in his theological studies, leading at the same time a life of extreme
austerity, in which he tramped the roads barefoot without sandals, gave only
three or four hours to sleep and wore a hair-shirt continually.
In his studies he had St James of the Marches as a fellow learner, and for a master St Bernardino of Siena, for
whom he conceived the deepest veneration and affection.
Very soon John’s exceptional gifts of oratory made themselves perceptible.
The whole of Italy at that period was passing through a terrible crisis of
political unrest and relaxation of morals, troubles which were largely caused,
and in any case accentuated, by the fact that there were three rival claimants
for the papacy and that the bitter antagonisms between Guelfs and Ghibellines
had not yet been healed.
Still, in preaching throughout the length and breadth of the peninsula St John met with wonderful response. There is undoubtedly
a note of exaggeration in the terms in which Fathers Christopher of Varese
and Nicholas of Fara describe the effect produced by his discourses. They
speak of a hundred thousand or even a hundred and fifty thousand auditors
being present at a single sermon. That was certainly not possible in a country
depopulated by wars, pestilence and famine, and in view of the limited means
of locomotion then available. But there was good evidence to justify the enthusiasm
of the latter writer when he tells us: “No one was more anxious than John
Capistran for the conversion of heretics, schismatics and Jews. No one was
more anxious that religion should flourish, or had more power in working
wonders; no one was so ardently desirous of martyrdom, no one was more famous
for his holiness. And so he was welcomed with honour in all the provinces
of Italy. The throng of people at his sermons was so great that it might
be thought that the apostolic times were revived. On his arrival in a province,
the towns and villages were in commotion and flocked in crowds to hear him.
The towns invited him to visit them, either by pressing letters, or by deputations,
or by an appeal to the Sovereign Pontiff through the medium of influential
persons.”
But
the work of preaching and the conversion of souls by no means absorbed all
the saint’s attention. There is no occasion to make reference here in any
detail to the domestic embarrassments which had beset the Order of St Francis
since the death Of their Seraphic Founder. It is sufficient to say that the
party known as the “Spirituals” held by no means the same views of religious
observance as were entertained by those whom they termed the “Relaxed”.
The
Observant reform which had been initiated in the middle of the fourteenth
century still found itself hampered in many ways by the administration of
superiors general who held a different standard of perfection, and on the
other hand there had also been exaggerations in the direction of much greater
austerity culminating eventually in the heretical teachings of the Fraticelli.
All these difficulties required adjustment, and Capistran, working in harmony
with St Bernardino of Siena, was called upon to bear a large share
in this burden. After the general chapter held at Assisi in 1430, St John was appointed to draft
the conclusions at which the assembly arrived, and these “Martinian statutes”,
as they were called, in virtue of their confirmation by Pope Martin V,
are among the most important in the history of the order.
So
again John was on several occasions entrusted with inquisitorial powers
by the Holy See, as for example to take proceedings against the Fraticelli
and to inquire into the grave allegations which had been made against the
Order of Gesuats founded by Bd John Colombini. Further, he was keenly interested
in that reform of the Franciscan nuns which owed its chief inspiration to
St Colette, and in the tertiaries of the order. In the Council
of Ferrara, later removed to Florence, he was heard with attention, but between
the early and the final sessions he had been compelled to visit Jerusalem
as apostolic commissary, and incidentally had done much to help on the inclusion
of the Armenians with the Greeks in the accommodation, unfortunately
only short-lived, which was arrived at in Florence.
When the Emperor Frederick III, finding that the religious faith
of the countries under his suzerainty was suffering grievously from the activities
of the Hussites and other heretical sectariès, appealed to Pope
Nicholas V for help, St John Capistran was sent as commissary and inquisitor
general, and he set out for Vienna in 1451 with twelve of
his Franciscan brethren to assist him. It is beyond doubt that his coming
produced a great sensation. Aeneas Sylvius (the future Pope Pius II)
tells us how, when he entered Austrian territory, “priests and people came
out to meet him, carrying the sacred relics. They received him as a legate
of the Apostolic See, as a preacher of truth, as some great prophet sent by
God. They came down from the mountains to greet John, as though Peter or
Paul or one of the other apostles were journeying there. They eagerly kissed
the hem of his garment, brought their sick and afflicted to his feet, and
it is reported that very many were cured...The elders of the city met him
and conducted him to Vienna. No square in the city could contain the crowds.
They looked on him as an angel of God.”
John’s work as inquisitor and his dealings with the Hussites and
other Bohemian heretics have been severely criticized, but this is not the
place to attempt any justification. His zeal was of the kind that sears and
consumes, though he was merciful to the submissive and repentant, and he was
before his time in his attitude to witchcraft and the use of torture. The
miracles which attended his progress wherever he went, and which he attributed
to the relics of St Bernardino of Siena, were sedulously recorded by
his companions, and a certain prejudice was afterwards created against the
saint by the accounts which were published of these marvels. He went from
place to place, preaching in Bavaria, Saxony and Poland, and his efforts were
everywhere accompanied by a great revival of faith and devotion.
Cochlaeus of Nuremberg
tells us how “those who saw him there describe him as a man small of body,
withered, emaciated, nothing but skin and bone, but cheerful, strong and strenuous
in labour...He slept in his habit, rose before dawn, recited his office and
then celebrated Mass. After that he preached, in Latin, which was afterwards
explained to the people by an interpreter.” He also made a round of the sick
who awaited his coming, laying his hands upon each, praying, and touching
them with one of the relics of St Bernardino.
It was the
capture of Constantinople by the Turks which brought this spiritual campaign
to an end. Capistran was called upon to rally the defenders of the West and
to preach a crusade against the infidel. His earlier efforts in Bavaria, and
even in Austria, met with little response, and early in 1456
the situation became desperate. The Turks were advancing to lay siege
to Belgrade, and the saint, who by this time had made his way into Hungary,
taking counsel with the great general Hunyady, saw clearly that they would
have to depend in the main upon local effort. St John wore himself out in
preaching and exhorting the Hungarian people in order to raise an army that
could meet the threatened danger, and himself led to Belgrade the troops
he had been able to recruit. Very soon the Turks were in position and the
siege began. Animated by the prayers and the heroic example in the field
of Capistran, and wisely guided by the military experience of Hunyady, the
garrison in the end gained an overwhelming victory. The siege was abandoned,
and western Europe for the time was saved. But the infection bred by thousands
of corpses which lay unburied round the city cost the life first of all of
Hunyady, and then a month or two later of Capistran himself, worn out by years
of toil and of austerities and by the strain of the siege. He died most peacefully
at Villach on October 23, 1456, and was canonized in 1724. His feast was in 1890 made general for all the Western church,
and was then transferred to March 28.
The more important
biographical materials for the history of St John of Capistrano are printed
in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. x. See BHL., nn. 4360—4368.
But in addition to these there is a considerable amount of new information
concerning St John’s writings, letters, reforms and other activities which
has been printed during the present century in the Archivum Franciscanum
Historicum edited at Quaracchi; attention may be called in particular
to the papers on St John and the Hussites in vols. xv and xvi of the same
periodical. This and other material has been used by J. Hofer in his St John Capistran, Reformer (1943), a work of much erudition and value. English readers may also
be referred to a short life by Fr V. Fitzgerald, and to Leon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. iii,
pp. 388—420.
It has been said the Christian saints are the world’s greatest
optimists. Not blind to the existence and consequences of evil, they base
their confidence on the power of Christ’s redemption. The power of conversion
through Christ extends not only to sinful people but also to calamitous events.
Imagine being born in the fourteenth century. One-third of the
population and nearly 40 percent of the clergy were wiped out by the bubonic
plague. The Western Schism split the Church with two or three claimants to
the Holy See at one time. England and France were at war. The city-states
of Italy were constantly in conflict. No wonder that gloom dominated the spirit
of the culture and the times.
John Capistrano was born in 1386. His education was thorough.
His talents and success were great. When he was 26 he was made governor of
Perugia. Imprisoned after a battle against the Malatestas, he resolved to
change his way of life completely. At the age of 30 he entered the Franciscan
novitiate and was ordained a priest four years later.
His preaching attracted great throngs at a time of religious
apathy and confusion. He and 12 Franciscan brethren were received in the
countries of central Europe as angels of God. They were instrumental in
reviving a dying faith and devotion.
The Franciscan Order itself was in turmoil over the interpretation
and observance of the Rule of St. Francis. Through John’s tireless efforts
and his expertise in law, the heretical Fraticelli were suppressed and the
“Spirituals” were freed from interference in their stricter
observance.
He helped bring about a reunion with the Greek and Armenian
Churches, unfortunately only a brief arrangement. When the Turks
captured Constantinople in 1453, he was commissioned to preach a crusade
for the defense of Europe. Gaining little response in Bavaria and Austria,
he decided to concentrate his efforts in Hungary. He led the army to Belgrade.
Under the great General John Junyadi, they gained an overwhelming victory,
and the siege of Belgrade was lifted. Worn out by his superhuman efforts,
Capistrano was an easy prey to the infection bred by the refuse of battle.
He died October 23, 1456.
St.
John of Capistrano, priest At Ilok in Hungary
of the Order of Friars Minor. He was illustrious for holiness
Of life and zeal in extending the Catholic faith. By his prayers and miracles,
he delivered from a siege the fortress of Zemun, a suburb of Belgrade, when
it was beleaguered by a powerful Turkish army.
Comment: John Hofer, a biographer
of John Capistrano, recalls a Brussels organization named after the saint.
Seeking to solve life problems in a fully Christian spirit, its motto was:
“Initiative, Organization, Activity.”
These three words characterized John's life. He was not one to sit around,
ever. His deep Christian optimism drove him to battle problems at all levels
with the confidence engendered by a deep faith in Christ.
Quote: On the saint's tomb
in the Austrian town of Villach, the governor had this message inscribed:
“This tomb holds John, by birth of Capistrano,
a man worthy of all praise, defender and promoter of the faith, guardian of
the Church, zealous protector of his Order, an ornament to all the world,
lover of truth and religious justice, mirror of life, surest guide in doctrine;
praised by countless tongues, he reigns blessed in heaven.”
That is a fitting epitaph for a real and successful optimist.
St. John of Capistrano (1386-1456)
It has been said the Christian saints are the world’s greatest
optimists. Not blind to the existence and consequences of evil, they base
their confidence on the power of Christ’s redemption. The power of conversion
through Christ extends not only to sinful people but also to calamitous events.
Imagine being born in the fourteenth century. One-third of the
population and nearly 40 percent of the clergy were wiped out by the bubonic
plague. The Western Schism split the Church with two or three claimants to
the Holy See at one time. England and France were at war. The city-states
of Italy were constantly in conflict. No wonder that gloom dominated the spirit
of the culture and the times.
John Capistrano was born in 1386. His education was thorough.
His talents and success were great. When he was 26 he was made governor of
Perugia. Imprisoned after a battle against the Malatestas, he resolved to
change his way of life completely. At the age of 30 he entered the Franciscan
novitiate and was ordained a priest four years later.
His preaching attracted great throngs at a time of religious
apathy and confusion. He and 12 Franciscan brethren were received in the
countries of central Europe as angels of God. They were instrumental in
reviving a dying faith and devotion.
The Franciscan Order itself was in turmoil over the interpretation
and observance of the Rule of St. Francis. Through John’s tireless efforts
and his expertise in law, the heretical Fraticelli were suppressed and the
"Spirituals" were freed from interference in their stricter observance.
He helped bring about a reunion
with the Greek and Armenian Churches, unfortunately only a brief arrangement.
When the Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, he was commissioned
to preach a crusade for the defense of Europe. Gaining little response in
Bavaria and Austria, he decided to concentrate his efforts in Hungary. He
led the army to Belgrade. Under the great General John Junyadi, they gained
an overwhelming victory, and the siege of Belgrade was lifted. Worn out by
his superhuman efforts, Capistrano was an easy prey to the infection bred
by the refuse of battle. He died October 23, 1456.
|
1680 Bl. Thomas
Thwing English martyr
Born at Heworth, Yorkshire, England, he studied at Douai, France, where
he was ordained in 1665. Returning home, he labored for fifteen years in
theYorkshire area as chaplain for his cousin, Sir Miles Stapeton, and as
a school chaplain. Arrested in 1680 for supposed complicity in the Titus
Oates Plot with his uncle, Sir Thomas Gascoigne, he was condemned and hanged,
drawn, and quartered at York.
|
1794 Bl. Joseph
Leroux Ursuline martyr French Revolution
She was born Ann-Joseph Leroux at Cambral, France. After becoming
an Ursuline at Valenciennes, she was driven from the convent but returned
in 1793. Josephine was guillotined with her Ursuline companions. She was
beatified in 1920.
|
1833 St. Paul Tong Buong
Vietnamese martyr native
he served in the bodyguard of the king. A convert, he gave his assistance
to the Paris Foreign Missions and so helped to advance the Catholic cause
in the country. Arrested by Vietnamese authorities for being a Christian,
he was tortured, humiliated, and beheaded. Pope John Paul II canonized him
in 1988.
|
Make a Novena
and pray the Rosary to Our Lady of Victory 
Saints of this Day October 23 Décimo Kaléndas Novémbris
20 February, 1878; 20 July, 1903; Pope
Leo XIII Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele
Luigi Pecci doctorate of theology; Civilization owes much to Leo for his stand on
the social question. 
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.