ST RAPHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
Of the seven archangels, who in both Jewish and Christian tradition are
venerated as pre-eminently standing before the throne of God, three only
are mentioned by name in the Bible, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. These
have been venerated in the Church from early times, especially in the East,
but it was not untill the pontificate of Pope Benedict XV that the liturgical
feasts of the two last were made obligatory throughout the Western church.
In Tobias xii 12 and 15, the archangel
directly speaks of himself as “one of the seven who stand before the Lord”,
and says that he continually offered the prayers of young Tobias up to God.
It is recorded in the sacred book of the history of Tobias that St Raphael
was sent by God to minister to the old Tobias, who was blind and greatly afflicted,
and to Sara, daughter of Raguel, whose seven bridegrooms had each perished
on the night of their wedding. And when the young Tobias was sent into Media
to collect money owing to his father, it was Raphael who, in the form of
a man and under the name of Azarias, accompanied him on the journey, helped
him in his difficulties, and taught him how safely to enter into wedlock with
Sara. “He conducted me”, says Tobias, “and brought me safe again. He
received the money of Gabalus. He caused me to have my wife, and he
chased from her the evil spirit. He gave joy to her parents. Myself he delivered
from being devoured by the fish; thee also he hath made to see the light
of Heaven; and we are filled with all good things through him.”
The offices of healing performed by the angel in this story
and the fact that his name signifies “God has healed” has caused Raphael to
be identified with the angel who moved the waters of the healing sheep-pool
(John v 1-4); this identity is recognized in the liturgy by the reading of
that passage of the gospel in the Mass of St Raphael’s feast. In Tobias
xii 12 and 15, the archangel directly speaks of himself as “one of the seven
who stand before the Lord”, and says that he continually offered the prayers
of young Tobias up to God.
See the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. xii (1922), and cf. note
to St Michael on September 29. For the early mention
of St Raphael in Christian documents and on the present commemoration, consult
Cardinal Schuster, The Sacramentary, vol. v, pp. 189—191. In the Ethiopic Synaxarium
(1928), vol. iv, pp. 1274—1278, is a curious account of the dedication of a church to St Raphael
in an island off Alexandria early in the fifth century.
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303
St. Felix Martyred bishop of Thibiuca; et Audácti et Januárii, Presbyterórum;
Fortunáti et Séptimi, Lectórum
Venúsiæ,
in Apúlia, natális sanctórum Mártyrum Felícis,
Epíscopi Africáni; Audácti et Januárii, Presbyterórum;
Fortunáti et Séptimi, Lectórum. Hi omnes, témpore
Diocletiáni, a Magdelliáno Procuratóre multis diu vínculis
et carcéribus in Africa et Sicília maceráti sunt, et,
cum Felix sacros Libros juxta ipsíus Imperatóris edíctum
trádere nullátenus voluísset, gládii tandem occisióne
consummáti sunt.
At Venosa in Apulia, the birthday of the holy martyrs
Felix, an African bishop, Audactus and Januarius, priests, and the lectors
Fortunatus and Septimus. In the time of Diocletian, under the governor
Magdellian, they were loaded with fetters and imprisoned for a long time in
Africa and Sicily. Because Felix refused to deliver the sacred books,
they were at last slain with the sword.
In the beginning of Diocletian’s
persecution, numbers among the Christians delivered up the sacred books into
the hands of the persecutors that they might be burnt.
Many even sought for pretences to extenuate or excuse this crime,
as if it ever could be lawful to concur in a sacrilegious or impious action.
Felix, a bishop in Proconsular
Africa, was so far from being carried away by the falls of others that they
were to him a spur to greater watchfulness and fortitude.
Magnilian, magistrate of Thibiuca, ordered him to give up
all books and writings belonging to his church, that they might be burnt.
The martyr replied that the law of God must be preferred to the law of man,
so Magnilian sent him to the proconsul at Carthage. This officer, the passio tells us, offended at his bold confession, commanded
him to be loaded with irons and, after he had kept him nine days in a foul
dungeon, to be put on board a vessel to be taken to stand his trial before
Maximinus in Italy.
The bishop lay under hatches in the ship, between the horses’
feet, four days without eating or drinking. The vessel arrived at Agrigentum
in Sicily, and Christians of that island and in all the cities through which
he passed treated the saint with great honour. When Felix had been brought
as far as Venosa in Apulia, the prefect ordered his irons to be knocked off,
and again put to him the questions whether he had the sacred writings and
why he refused to deliver them up. Felix answered that he could not deny that
he had the books, but that he would never give them up. The prefect without
more ado condemned him to be beheaded. At the place of execution St Felix
thanked God for all His mercies, and bowing down his head offered himself
a sacrifice to Him who lives forever and ever. He was fifty-six years old,
and one of the first victims under Diocletian.
Nevertheless the story of the
deportation of St Felix to Italy and his martyrdom there is no more than a
hagiographer’s fiction to make him an Italian saint.
There seems no doubt at all that he suffered at Carthage by order
of the proconsul there, and his relics were subsequently laid to rest in
the well-known basilica Fausti in that city.
In
the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxxix (1921), pp. 241—276,
Fr Delehaye published a remarkable study of the text of this passio. The materials previously edited in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. x, were insufficient. Delehaye, after printing representative forms
of the two families into which the texts may be divided, supplies an admirable
restoration of the primitive document that
lies at the base of all. As stated above,
the deportation of the martyr to Italy is a fiction of later hagiographers
who unscrupulously embroidered the original text. Felix, as Delehaye very
positively asserts (in agreement with M. Monceaux, Revue archeologique,
1905, vol. i, Pp. 335—340), was put to death by the proconsul at
Carthage. The proper day of the martyrdom
of St Felix would seem to be the 15th or possibly the 16th of July. For the
confusions which led to its transference, first to July 30, and finally
to October 24, see Delehaye, and more fully Dom Quentin, Les
martyrologes historiques, pp. 522—532 and 697—698.
With Audactus, Fortunatus Januarius, and Septimus. The bishop
of Thibiuca, Felix refused to surrender the Scriptures and other sacred books
to Magnillian, the local Roman authority. Taken to Carthage , he was beheaded
on July 15. Another report states that he was martyred in Venosa, Apulia,
Italy. The martyrs added to his feast day are unknown.
Felix, Audactus, Januarius, Fortunatus, & Septimus MM. Felix Africanus
was a bishop of Thibiuca.
Accounts of the other martyrs with him are not trustworthy (Benedictines).
Felix of Thibiuca BM (RM) Died at Carthage, July 15, 303. The bishop of
Thibiuca in north Africa was one of the earliest victims of the measures
taken by Diocletian to restrain Christianity. The first edict order, among
other things, the destruction of all Christian writings, and Bishop Felix
was told to hand in the sacred books to the authorities. He refused, and
maintained his refusal before the proconsul at Carthage: “It is better that
I should be burned,” he said, “than
that the holy Scriptures should be treated thus; it is better to obey God
rather than men.” He was executed for his disobedience,
and buried at Carthage.
The early account of the passion of St. Felix was later interpolated with
a story that he was handed over by the proconsul to the praetorian prefect,
who conveyed him to Italy. There Felix repeated his refusal, and was beheaded
at Venosa in Apulia. This addition is wholly fictitious (Attwater, Benedictines)
.
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446 Proclus of Constantinople
known for his dedication tactful with whom he disagreed singing the Trisagion
liturgy in miraculous circumstances; “We do not proclaim a deified man, but
we confess an incarnate God” B (RM)
Constantinópoli
sancti Procli Epíscopi. At Constantinople, St.
Proclus, bishop.
St Proclus was a native of Constantinople, and was very young when he was
made a lector. He was a disciple of St John Chrysostom, but nevertheless
became secretary to St John’s opponent, Atticus, archbishop of Constantinople,
who ordained him deacon and priest. Alter his death many pitched upon Proclus
as the fittest person to be placed in that important see; but Sisinnius was
chosen and he appointed Proclus bishop of Cyzicus. Inhabitants of
that city refused to receive him and chose someone else. Proclus therefore
continued at Constantinople, where he got a great reputation by his preaching.
Upon death of Sisinnius many again cast their eyes upon him as the most worthy
of that dignity; but Nestorius was chosen, who soon began to propagate his
errors. St Proclus courageously maintained the truth against him, and in 429
preached a sermon to show that the Blessed Virgin ought to be styled the
Mother of God. In the course of it he made use of the memorable phrase, “We
do not proclaim a deified man, but we confess an incarnate God”. When
Nestorius was deposed Maximian was chosen to succeed him, but after his death
in 434, as Proclus had never been able in fact to take possession of the
see of Cyzicus, he was elected to that of Constantinople.
The mildness
and tact with which he treated even the most obstinate among Nestorians and
other heretics was a distinguishing part of his character. The Armenian bishops
consulted him about the doctrine and writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, who
was then dead, and whose name was in reputation in those parts. St
Proclus answered by his Tome to the Armenians, the most famous of his writings.
In it he condemned the doctrine mentioned as savoring of Nestorianism, and
expounded the faith of the Incarnation; without, however, naming Theodore,
whose memory was revered by many and who had died in the communion of the
Church. He exhorted them to adhere to the doctrine of St Basil and St Gregory Nazianzen, whose
names and works were in particular veneration among them. Others carried
on this contest with greater warmth. In concert with the Empress St Pulcheria,
he translated the body of his old master St John Chrysostom from Comana Pontica
to the church of the Apostles at Constantinople. The whole city went
out to meet the procession, and the remaining intransigent followers of St
John submitted themselves to his gentle and conciliatory successor.
During the episcopate of St Proclus, a disastrous earthquake visited Constantinople.
Amid the ruins men ran to and fro distracted with fear, not being able to
find any place of security. Inhabitants wandered in the fields, and Proclus
with his clergy followed his scattered flock, and ceased not to comfort them
amidst their afflictions and to implore the divine mercy. The Greek
Menology of Basil, on the authority of a chronicler who wrote three hundred
and fifty years after the alleged event, refers to a legend that, as they
thus prayed, crying out Kyrie eleison, a child was caught up out of sight
into the air. When he came back to earth, the boy said he had heard
the angelic choirs singing the words, “Holy God, holy Strong One, holy Deathless
One”; and straightway he died. The people repeated the words, adding, “Have
mercy upon us”, and the earthquake ceased. In consequence St Proclus
introduced this invocation, the Trisagion, into the liturgy. It is not
known that he did this, but the first certain mention of the Trisagion is
at the Council of Chalcedon, only a few years later, and it is possible that
St Proclus and his people prayed in these famous words at the time of the
earthquake.
Proclus
is referred to by St Cyril of Alexandria
as “a man full of religion, perfectly instructed in the discipline of the
Church, and a careful observer of the canons”. “In moral excellence”, says
the Greek historian Socrates, who knew him personally, “he had few equals.
He was always gentle to everyone, for he
was convinced that kindness advances the cause of truth better than severity.
He therefore determined not to irritate
and harass heretics, and so restored to the Church in his own person that
mild and benignant dignity of character, which had so often been unhappily
violated. He was a pattern of all true prelates.”
St Proclus died on July 24 in the year 446.
A
number of the letters and sermons of St Proclus are extant. “The style of
this father”, says Alban Butler, “is concise, sententious and full of lively
witty turns, more proper to please and delight than to move the heart. This sort of composition requires much pains and study;
and though this father was mighty successful in this way, it is not to be
compared to the easy natural gravity of St Basil or the sweet style
of St Chrysostom.”
A sufficiently
full account of St Proclus, compiled from the church historians and other
sources, is provided in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol.
x. But see also F. X. Bauer, Proklos von Constantinopel (1918), and Bardenhewer,
Geschichte der altkirchilchen Literatur, vol. iv, pp.
202-208. Ever since the publication of the Syriac
text of the Bazaar of Heraclides, the question of Nestorius’s
real teaching has been revived, and a large literature has resulted for details
see the article “Nestorius” in DTC.
Born at Constantinople; Proclus
was a disciple of Saint John Chrysostom,
became a lector, and then was secretary to John's opponent, Patriarch Atticus
of Constantinople, who ordained him. He was named bishop of Cyzicus but the
people there would not accept him. In 428, Nestorius was named Patriarch of
Constantinople by Emperor Theodosius II, and Proclus, by now famous for his
preaching, opposed his teachings. He was firm but gentle
in his treatment of heretics, notably the Nestorians.
In 434 Maximian, who had succeeded Nestorius when he was deposed
in 431, died, and Proclus was name patriarch. He continued his opposition
to Nestorianism, ministered to the people of the city when it was struck
with a devastating earthquake, and was known for his dedication and tactful
handling of those with whom he disagreed.
He wrote several treatises, notably Tome to the Armenians, which
opposed the Nestorian-flavored teaching of Theodore of Mopsuestia without
mentioning him by name. Several of his letters and sermons have survived.
According to tradition he instituted the singing of the Trisagion in the liturgy
in miraculous circumstances (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia) .
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523
Christian Martyrs of Nagran Arabia by heathen Jews and Arabs; The massacre
was denounced by Mohammed in the Koran
Tungris, in Bélgio, sancti Evergísli, Epíscopi Coloniénsis
et Mártyris; qui, ob pastorális offícii curam illuc proféctus,
ibídem, dum nocte solus ad monastérium sanctíssimæ
Genitrícis Dei Maríæ oratúrus pérgeret,
a latrónibus sagítta percússus occúbuit.
At Tongres in Belgium, St. Evergislus, bishop of Cologne
and martyr. Because of his duties in the pastoral office he journeyed
there, and on the way stopped to pray alone at the monastery of the Blessed
Virgin Mary where he was killed by robbers who struck him with an arrow.
523 Ss. Aretas And The Martyrs
of Najran, and St Elesbaan
Early in the sixth century Aksumite Ethiopians extended their power
over the Arabs and Jews of Himyar (Yemen), across the Red Sea, and imposed
a viceroy upon this people. A member of the displaced Himyarite family, called
Dunaan (Dhu Nowas), rose in revolt. He was a convert
to Judaism, and he seized Zafar, massacred the garrison and clergy, turned
the church into a synagogue, and then laid siege to Najran, a stronghold of
Christianity. It put up a strong defence
and Dunaan, in despair of taking it, offered an amnesty if it would surrender. The offer was accepted, but the terms were repudiated:
the town was given over to Dunaan’s soldiers to sack, and death was decreed
for every Christian who would not apostatize.
Leader in the defence had been the chief
of the Banu Harith (whence he is called St Aretas), with
many of his tribe; these were all beheaded. All priests,
deacons and consecrated virgins were thrown into pits filled with burning
fuel. The wife of Aretas excited the desire of
Dunaan. She repulsed him, and he had her daughters executed before her eyes
and their blood poured into her mouth, before her own head was struck off. The Roman Martyrology mentions a boy of five years
who jumped into the fire in which his mother was dying in agony. Four thousand men, women and children were slain.
523
Martyr Syncletica and her two daughters suffered under the Arabian king
Dunaan.
St Syncletica was a descendant of an illustrious family. Left widowed while
still quite young, she devoted herself to the Christian upbringing of her
daughters, and she herself led a life both chaste and virtuous.
Dunaan in the meantime had begun a persecution, intending to eliminate
Christians from his realm. He summoned St Syncletica and her daughters before
him, and in urging her to forsake her “folly,”
he promised as reward to take her into the retinue of his wife.
“How can you not be afraid, O King, to speak
evil of Him Who has given you both royal crown and life?”
replied the holy martyr.
Dunaan gave orders to lead St Syncletica and her daughters through the
city as though they were criminals. Women, looking on at the disgrace of
the saint, started crying, but she told them that this “shame”
for her was dearer than any earthly honor.
Again they brought the martyr before Dunaan, and he said, “If
you wish to remain alive, you must renounce Christ.”
“If I do, then who will deliver me from eternal death?”
the saint asked. In a rage, the tormentor ordered that St Syncletica's daughters
be killed first, and then for the mother to be beheaded with a sword.
An
envoy of the Emperor Justin I, Bishop Simeon of Beth-Arsam, was at the camp
of an Arab tribe on the Persian frontier when the tale of his achievement
was brought from Dunaan, and he sent an account of it to another Simeon, abbot
of Gabula. At the same time refugees from Najran
spread the news over Egypt and Syria. It made a profound
and awful impression, which lasted for many generations. Mohammed mentions the massacre in the Koran and condemns
its perpetrators to Hell (sura lxxxv). The
patriarch of Alexandria wrote to the bishops of the East recommending a commemoration
of the martyrs and prayers for the survivors, and urging Jewish elders of
their school at Tiberias held responsible for what had happened: a suggestion more forcible than just. Both the emperor and the patriarch wrote urging immediate
action upon the Aksumite king, Elesbaan (whom the Syrians call David and the
Abyssinians Caleb).
He
required no encouragement, and set off across the straits with a punitive
force to avenge the slaughtered saints and to recover his power in Himyar.
In the ensuing campaign Elesbaan was victorious, Dunaan being killed and his
chief town occupied. Alban Butler says that Elesbaan, “having by the divine
blessing defeated the tyrant, made use of his victory with great clemency
and moderation”. This can hardly be maintained. He restored Najran and installed
a bishop sent from Alexandria, but both in the field and in dealing with the
Jews who had encouraged the massacre he conducted himself with that cruelty
and rapacity which are only to be looked for in the barbarous prince of a
semi-pagan nation. However, towards the end of his life he is said to have
resigned his throne to his son, made a present of his crown to the church
of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and himself became an exemplary anchorite,
as is stated by the eulogy accorded him in the Roman Martyrology on the 27th
of this month.
Baronius introduced the names of the Najran martyrs and of
St Elesbaan into the Roman Martyrology, in spite of the fact that all of
them were perhaps, at least materially, monophysites.
The Greek text of the passio
has been, printed in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. x, and we have also the Syriac
account written by Bishop Simeon. See further, Guidi in the Atti
della Accad. dei Lincei, vol. vii (1881), pp. 471 seq.;
Deramey in the Revue de l’histoire des religions, vol. xxviii, pp. 14-42; the Revue des etudes juives, vols. xviii, xx and
xxi, which contain papers by Halévy and Duchesne’s reply; Nöldeke
in Göttingen Gel. Anzeiger, 1899, pp. 825 seq. and DCB., vol. ii, pp. 70—75.
The Martyr Arethas and with him
4299 Martyrs suffered for the Lord Jesus Christ in the sixth century. Arethas
was prefect of the Christian city of Negran in Arabia. The Arabian (or Omirite)
king, Dunaan, who was Jewish, decided to eliminate Christianity from the
land. He issued an edict that all followers of Christ were to be put to death.
Because the inhabitants of Negran remained faithful to the Lord, Dunaan came
with a large army to destroy the city. At the city walls of Negran the king's
heralds announced that Dunaan would only spare those who renounced Christ
and referred to His Cross as a “sign of malediction.”
Not daring to assault the Christian city by force, Dunaan resorted
to a ruse. Dunaan swore an oath that he would not force the Christians into
Judaism, but would merely collect a tribute from Negran. The inhabitants of
the city would not heed the advice of St Arethas, and putting their trust
in Dunaan, they opened the city gates.
The very next day Dunaan gave orders to light an immense fire
and throw all the clergy of the city into it in order to frighten the rest
of the Christians. 427 men were burned. He also threw the prefect Arethas
and the other chief men into prison. Then the oppressor sent his messengers
through the city to convert the Christians to Judaism. Dunaan himself conversed
with those inhabitants brought from the prisons, saying, “I
do not demand that you should renounce the God of heaven and earth, nor do
I want you to worship idols, I want merely that you do not believe in Jesus
Christ, since the Crucified One was a man, and not God.”
The holy martyrs replied that Jesus is God the Word, the Second
Person of the Holy Trinity, Who for the salvation of mankind was incarnate
of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Those suffering said, “We
shall not abjure Christ, since He is Life for us. To die for Him is to find
Life.”
More than four thousand Christians, men, women, both the aged
and children, from the city of Negran and surrounding villages suffered martyrdom
for Christ.
Also called the martyrs of Najran,
a large group of Christian martyrs, possibly as many as 340, who suffered
at Nagran, in southwestern Arabia. Abdullah ibn Kaab, also called Aretas,
was the leader of the martyrs and the chief of the Beni Harith. He and his
companions were slain by Dhu Nowas, or Dunaan, a Jew who commanded heathen
Jews and Arabs. A woman and her small children were among the victims. The
martyrdom is recorded in the Koran.
Aretas and Martyrs of Nagran (Nadjran) (RM). Chief
of the Beni Harith community of Hadran in southwestern Arabia and also known
as Abdullah Ibn Kahn (or Kaab). He and 340 of the townspeople were massacred
after they had been offered and accepted amnesty from the band of Jews under
Dhu Nowas (Dunaan), a convert to Judaism who had led a revolt against the
Aksumite Ethiopians.
“After these,”
adds the R.M., “a Christian woman was delivered to
the flames, and her son of five years old in his lisping voice confessed
Christ, and could not be moved from his purpose by promises or threats, but
threw himself headlong into the fire where his mother was burning.”
The massacre horrified the entire
civilized world and was denounced by Mohammed in the Koran (Benedictines,
Delaney).
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555 Elesbaan, King
defeated and killed Dunaan (RM)
Saint Elesbaan, King of Ethiopia lived when Arabia was ruled by Dunaan,
the oppressor of Christians. The pious Elesbaan was unable to look on indifferently
as believers in Christ were being massacred. He declared war on Dunaan, but
his military campaign was unsuccessful. Wishing to learn the reason
for his defeat, Elesbaan, with prompting from above, turned to a certain hermit.
He revealed to the emperor that he had proceeded unrighteously in deciding
to take revenge against Dunaan, since the Lord had said, “Vengeance
is Mine, I will repay!” (Heb 10:30).
The hermit counseled St Elesbaan make a vow to devote his final days of
life to God, to escape the wrath of God for his self-willed revenge, and
then to defeat Dunaan. St Elesbaan made a vow to the Lord, and marching off
with his army against the enemy, he defeated, captured and executed him.
After the victory the saint resigned as emperor, secluded himself within
a monastery and for fifteen years he dwelt in strict fasting and asceticism.
At the request of Emperor Justin I and the patriarch of Alexandria, Aksumite
King Elesbaan (called by Abyssinians “Calam-Negus”)
led an expedition against Dunaan (Dhu-newas), a convert to Judaism, who
had led a revolt of Jews and Arabs against the rule of Aksumite Ethiopians
at Yemen and had slaughtered every Christian man, woman, and child in the
town of Najran (see under St. Aretas above) in southern Arabia who would
not apostatize.
Elesbaan defeated and killed Dunaan and then permitted atrocities
against Dunaan's followers as dreadful as those committed by Dunaan. Elesbaan
is said to have turned over his throne to his son, and he became an exemplary
anchorite for the rest of his life. Though he is listed in the Roman Martyrology,
he may have been a Monophysite (Benedictines, Delaney).
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576
St. Senoch Benedictine abbot friend of St. Gregory of Tours; St Gregory
narrates a number of miracles of healing vouchsafed by God at the prayer
of St Senoch, who died in his arms.
This saint was a contemporary
of St Gregory, Bishop of Tours, who knew him personally and wrote about him.
Senoch (Senou) was born of barbarian parents in Poitou, and having been converted
to Christ left his home with the intention of becoming a hermit. He wandered into Touraine, and found there a suitable
place, where is now the village of Saint-Senou. He
installed himself in some ruins, with the stones of which he built a dwelling
for himself and a small chapel. Three disciples joined Senoch, but he preferred
to be quite alone and spent most of his time shut up in his own cell. Austerities of the new hermit earned him a great reputation
for sanctity, and many visitors came to the place who insisted on making offerings,
which St Senoch devoted to the relief of needy people.
When the bishop St Euphronius
died in 573 Senoch went to Tours to pay his respects to his successor, St
Gregory, with whom he exchanged the kiss of brotherhood and then
returned quietly to his cell. But soon after he
made another journey, to visit his friends and relatives at home, and met
with such signs of respect and veneration while he was away that he caste
back rather proud of himself.
Gregory noticed this and rebuked
him sharply, reminding him of the words of St Paul, that he would glory in
nothing but his infirmities in order that the power of Christ might dwell
in him. Senoch humbly accepted the reprimand and
agreed no longer to withdraw himself entirely from the company of his brethren.
St Gregory narrates a number of miracles
of healing vouchsafed by God at the prayer of St Senoch, who died in his arms.
The bishop officiated at his funeral, for which
an immense crowd gathered, and when he celebrated the Mass of the month’s
mind a paralytic was cured at St Senoch’s grave.
Most of what
we know concerning St Senoch comes from Gregory of Tours. All relevant material
will be found in the Acta Sanctorum,
October, vol. x.
A native of Poitou, in Gaul
(modern France), he was the son of pagan parents and was converted
to Christianity. He later became a hermit and established a monastic community
to house the various followers whom he attracted. His leadership was erratic,
so much so that none other than St. Gregory admonished him for his poor attention
of the monks. Nevertheless, he died with Gregory at his side.
Senoch, Abbot (RM) Born at Tiffauges, Poitou. Senoch founded a small monastery
about the year 536, making himself abbot over three disciples. They built
their house in some Roman ruins and there fasted or lived on bread and water.
Senoch was friendly with Bishop Euphronius of Tours, and when that saint died,
went to his funeral and there met Euphronius's successor, Saint Gregory of
Tours.
The abbot was fond of spending much time alone in his cell, not speaking
and hardly eating. He paid a visit to his home town and there was so much
admired that he came back exceedingly conceited. Fortunately, St. Gregory
reproved Senoch and made him spend far more time with his three fellow-monks
(Bentley) .
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|
580 St Martin, or Mark:
St Gregory says that many of his friends knew Martin personally and had been
present at his miracles, and that he had heard much of him from his predecessor,
Pope Pelagius II
The Roman Martyrology today
mentions Mark, a solitary in Campania, and refers to his famous deeds chronicled
by St Gregory the Great, who, however, calls him Martin. In his Dialogues St Gregory says
that many of his friends knew Martin personally and had been present at his
miracles, and that he had heard much of him from his predecessor, Pope
Pelagius II. He lived alone in a small
cave on Mount Marsicus (Mondragone), and after miraculously overcoming the
lack of water had for three years the daily company of the Devil, in the
form of a serpent (“his old friend”). When he first took up his quarters
in the cave the hermit fastened one end of a chain to his ankle and the other
to the rock, so that he could not wander wantonly from his habitation. Word
of this came to St Benedict at Monte Cassino (where Martin is said to have
been a monk), and he sent a message in which the authentic voice of Benedict
can be heard speaking: “If you are God’s servant, let yourself be held by
the chain of Christ, not by any chain of iron.”
St Martin accordingly loosed himself and later
gave the chain to his followers when they complained that the bucket rope
of the well kept on breaking. There was a great rock overhanging Martin’s
cave and his neighbours were much afraid that it would fall and crush him.
Therefore one Mascator came with a number of people and offered to remove
it. Martin refused to budge from the cave while it was done, telling them
nevertheless to do whatever they thought necessary, and they set to work in
fear and trembling with him inside. But when the rock was loosed it bounced
harmlessly over the cave and rolled safely down the mountainside.
The Dialogues of St Gregory (iii, 16) are our only source of information.
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586 Maglorius (Maelor,
Magloire) of Wales B (RM); people who came to be cured of their ills or
to see a miracle soon made his life burdensome;
In ínsula Sargiénsi sancti Maglórii Epíscopi,
qui ibídem, dimísso Episcopáli offício, quod erga
sparsos in Armórica Británnos per triénnium exercúerat,
monastérium constrúxit, in quo sancte réliquum vitæ
tempus exégit; cujus corpus Lutétiam Parisiórum póstea
translátum fuit.
On the island of Jersey, St. Maglorius, bishop, who
laid down the Episcopal office after exercising it for three years towards
a few scattered people in Brittany. He built a monastery on that island,
and there spent the remainder of his life in holy conversation. His
body was later translated to Paris.
6th v. St Maglorius,
Or Maelor
St Umerafel, who later became a monk under his nephew St Samson, was married
to Afrella, daughter of Meurig of Morgannwg; we are told they had a son, born
in Glamorgan, whom they named Maelor, who is called in French Magloire and
in Latin Maglorius. According to his late lives, which contain much fabulous
matter, he was entrusted while young to the care of St IlItyd at Llanilltyd
Fawr, and became a monk and companion to St Samson, who ordained him deacon
and took him into Brittany. Here, we are told,
Maglorius was given charge of a monastery at Kerfunt, shared the missionary
labours of St Samson, and when he died succeeded him as abbot and bishop
at Dol. But he was getting an old man, and he
resigned his responsibilities into the hands of St Budoc.
Maglorius then retired to a remote spot on the
coast, but even here the people who came to be cured of their ills or to see
a miracle soon made his life burdensome. Among
them was the chieftain of Sark, whom Maglorius healed of a skin disease, and
in gratitude he gave the saint and his monks a part of his island, whither
they went to live. St Maglorius built a monastery
where is now the seigneurie of Sark, and organized the people
to resist raiders from the north. The saint also visited Jersey, for the purpose
of delivering that island from a “dragon”, in return for which service he was granted land there as
well. During plague and
famine he worked heroically for the people, and God is said to have come
to their help with miracles at the intercession of the saint. He died shortly
after; for the last months of his life he had interpreted literally the words
of the Psalmist, “This will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of
the Lord all the days of my life”, and never stirred out of the church except
for necessity.
The feast of St Maglorius is
observed in the Rennes diocese, and as the other chief centre of his cultus was the Channel Islands he has a commemoration today
in the diocese of Portsmouth. He is referred to by Richard Rolle in The Fire of Love (ch. 13).
We have several short medieval
biographies, on which see BHL., nn. 5139—5147. There is a full notice by Miss
Bateson in DNB., vol. xxxv, pp. 323—324 and another in LBS., vol. iii, pp.
407 seq. but the most valuable contributions come from such
continental scholars as A. de in Borderie and F. Duine. Consult the former’s
Histoire de Bretagne, vol. (1896) and the latter’s
Inventaire, as well as his Memento
des sources hagiographiques de Bretagne. It seems that Maglorius was
never bishop of Dol, and his date is quite uncertain.
Abbot Maglorius of Lammeur,
Brittany, was born in south Wales and educated under Saint Illtyd. He was a cousin of Saint Samson, with whom he crossed over
to Brittany, where they became abbots of two monasteries. St. Samson became
bishop of Dol, and on his death he is said to have been succeeded by St. Maglorius,
who finally retired to the Channel Islands and built an abbey on Sark, where
he died (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). He is represented in art giving Holy
Communion to an angel and is sometimes shown with Saint Samson of Dol. Venerated
at Sark (Roeder).
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6th v. St. Cadfarch Welsh
founder, a disciple of St. Illtyd
Member of an entire family of saints. Cadfarch founded churches at Penegoes
and Abererch in Wales, England.
Cadfarch of Wales (AC) 6th century. A Welsh saint, disciple of Saint Illtyd,
and member of a family of saints. He is said to have founded churches at Penegoes
and Abererch (Benedictines).
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6th
v. Martin of Vertou, Abbot (RM); miracles
In
monastério Duríni, in Gállia, sancti Martíni,
Diáconi et Abbátis, cujus corpus inde ad Vertávum monastérium
delátum est.
In the monastery of Durin in France, St. Martin, abbot
and deacon. His body was translated to the monastery of Vertou.
Very little beyond speculation is known of this saint, for his two
extant lives were written some centuries after his death and consist chiefly
of miracles, and there has been confusion between him and St Martin of Braga,
who was abbot of Dumium in Portugal while this Martin was a hermit in the
forest of Dumen in Brittany.
He was born at Nantes, of a Frankish
family, and was ordained deacon by St Felix, who sent him to preach
in Poitou. The legend says that after much effort he had succeeded in converting
only the master and mistress of the house wherein he dwelt, so, warning them
to flee from the wrath to come, he left the town where he had laboured wallowing
in its iniquities, and it was straightway visited by an earthquake which
swallowed it up and waters flowed over its site. This place is now known
as Lac de Grandlieu, and the village of Herbauges at its edge is the successor
of the destroyed town. Moreover, near by is to be seen a menhir,
which is the pillar of stone into which the fleeing woman was transformed
because she looked back at the doomed town. Of
which story may be said what Camden temperately remarks about a similar tale
concerning Llyn Safaddan in Breconshire: “All
which I suspect as fabulous, and not to be otherwise regarded.”
After this failure as a missioner St Martin retired to a forest
on the left bank of the Sèvre, and established the hermitage which
grew into the abbey of Vertou. He evangelized
this district, and other monastic foundations are attributed to him, including
a nunnery at Durieu, where he died.
The monks of Vertou
are said to have stolen his body while it was awaiting burial in the church
at Durieu and the nuns were singing the office for the dead at night. Among
the stories told of St Martin (by confusion, in this case, with Martin of
Braga) is that an unnamed British prince had a daughter who was fearfully
tormented by evil spirits. One of them said through her mouth that the prayers
of a holy man called Martin would overcome them, and the prince thereupon
sent messengers in all directions to find such a one. At length they came
to Vertou, told their errand, and the saint agreed to accompany them. He had
hardly landed in Britain when the demons knew of his arrival and, unwilling
to wait for him, tormented their victim
for the last time and fled. She of course received the nun’s veil from her
deliverer.
The Bollandists
in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. x, seem to have printed
all the texts which bear upon the life and miracles of this rather nebulous
saint.
Abbot-founder of Vertou
Abbey, near Nantes, of Saint- Jouin-de-Marnes and of other monastic establishments.
The particulars of his life, as they have come down to us, are rather confused.
He is venerated in the province of Poitou (Benedictines).
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600 St Evergislus, Bishop
of Cologne: One day when visiting the church of the “Golden Saints” he greeted
the martyrs with the verse, “Exultabunt sancti in Gloria”, and at once the
voice of an invisible choir responded, “Laetabuntur in cubilibus suis!”
Tungris, in Bélgio, sancti Evergísli, Epíscopi Coloniénsis
et Mártyris; qui, ob pastorális offícii curam illuc proféctus,
ibídem, dum nocte solus ad monastérium sanctíssimæ
Genitrícis Dei Maríæ oratúrus pérgeret,
a latrónibus sagítta percússus occúbuit.
At Tongres in Belgium, St. Evergislus, bishop of Cologne
and martyr. Because of his duties in the pastoral office he journeyed
there, and on the way stopped to pray alone at the monastery of the Blessed
Virgin Mary where he was killed by robbers who struck him with an arrow.
When St Severinus of Cologne
was making a visitation at the church of Tongres in Belgium a young child
was presented to him to be consecrated to the service of God. He saw in this
boy, Evergislus (Ebregiselus), a chosen soul, took a personal interest in
his education, and when he was grown up made him his archdeacon. Evergislus was present when St Severinus, as
related by Gregory of Tours, had his vision of the entry of
St Martin into Heaven, but the archdeacon himself saw and heard
nothing, and sent a messenger to Tours to verify that Martin was dead. He succeeded his master
as bishop of Cologne.
One day when visiting the church
of the “Golden Saints” he greeted the martyrs with the verse, “Exultabunt
sancti in Gloria”, and at once the voice of an invisible choir responded,
“Laetabuntur in cubilibus suis!”
While at Tongres in the discharge
of his pastoral duties St Evergislus went at night to the church of our Lady
to pray; here he was set upon by robbers, and met his death.
This is the legend of the church
of Cologne, recognized in the Roman Martyrology today, but St Evergislus
seems to have lived later, and not to have died a violent death. St Gregory of Tours says he was among the bishops
sent by Childebert II to restore observance in the nunnery at Poitiers.
He also records that Evergislus was freed
from headaches after praying in the church of the “Golden Saints” at Cologne.
The
data seem involved in hopeless confusion. What purports to be a Life of
Evergislus is printed in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. vi
(5887), pp. 193—198, and also elsewhere; but it was written only in the eleventh
century and is historically worthless. See, however, the discussion of the
problem by W. Levison in the Festschrift für A. Brackman
(1931), pp. 40—63 and cf. Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux,
‘vol. iii, p. 176. For the “Golden Saints”, cf. St
Gereon on October 10.
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679 St. Marcius
Benedictine hermit of Monte Cassino
In Campánia sancti Marci Solitárii, cujus præclára
ópera sanctus Gregórius Papa descrípsit.
In Campania, St. Mark, a solitary, whose noble accomplishments
have been recorded by St. Gregory.
Italy. He retired to Mount Mondragone,
where he lived in a cave. Marcius is also listed as Mark or Martin. Pope
St. Gregory the Great wrote of
Marcius.
Marcius (Mark, Martin, Marcus) OSB, Hermit (RM). He is an Italian hermit
at Monte Cassino, mentioned by St. Gregory the Great in the life of Saint Benedict. The Cassinese tradition
adds the Marcius (or Martin) became a monk at the abbey and then retired to
a cave on Mount Massicus (Mondragone) where he died.
Mark lived as a hermit in a cave in Campania, Italy. He had in his early
days, he said, suffered many temptations of the devil and came to fear no
earthly danger. His cave was not very safe, and one overhanging rock seemed
likely to fall at any moment. Some of his followers begged leaven to loosen
it, so as to let it crash down harmlessly. Mark agreed--provided that he could
stay in the cave while they worked.
His friends had no choice but to agree, and the saint meditated, unconcerned
that at any moment the rock might come crashing down and kill him. Fortunately,
it missed.
Then he took to chaining himself to the ground. At this St. Benedict of
Nursia intervened. Mark, he believed, was indulging in public display. Benedict
told him that God's servants needed only the spiritual chains of Christ to
bind them, not links of iron. Rebuked, Mark humbly threw his chain away (Benedictines,
Bentley).
In art, Marcus is represented as a hermit to whom an angel brings the Blessed
Sacrament in a spoon. Sometimes there is a wolf bringing him a stray sheep
(Roeder) .
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690 St. Fromundus
Irish Benedictine bishop missionary of Coutances
France. Little else is known.
Fromundus of Coutances, OSB B (AC). Irish monk, abbot, missionary, and
then bishop of Coutances (Benedictines). He is depicted in art as an old
man with a hat, cloak, and long cross of a missioner. Sometimes he appears
in a cloud with a bag around his neck and glory surrounding him. Venerated
at Bonfal (Roeder).
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1190 Saint Arethas; “You hapless man, if you had given thanks to God
for the pilfered riches, this would have been accounted as charity for you.” He spent his final days as a hermit, in distress
and repentance over his sins, having renounced all earthly possessions
Saint Arethas (12th century), Sisoes (13th century In the general
service for the Fathers of the Kiev Caves, St Sisoes is called “radiant in fasting.”), and Theophilus (12th-13th century
St Theophilus, in the general service to the Fathers of the Kiev Caves, is
called “resplendant in
miracles.” )
Hermits of the Near Caves in Kiev. They struggled at the Kiev Caves monastery
and were buried in the Near Caves.
St Arethas was from Polotsk. While living at the monastery, he kept many
possessions in his cell. One day robbers made off with it. Grieving over his
lost riches, St Arethas began to murmur against God, for which he was stricken
with a serious illness. Being at the very brink of death, he saw how both
angels and devils had come for him and were arguing between them. The devils
asserted that he ought to be given over to them because of his avarice and
complaints against God. Then the angels said to him, "You hapless man, if
you had given thanks to God for the pilfered riches, this would have been
accounted as charity for you."
After this vision, the saint recovered. He spent his final days as a hermit,
in distress and repentance over his sins, having renounced all earthly possessions.
St Arethas died not later than 1190. In the Iconographic Manuals, the saint
is described in this way: “In
appearance stooped over, his beard the same length as Kozmina, dressed in
monastic garb.”
The general commemoration of all the Fathers of the Near Caves
takes place on September 28 and on the second Sunday of Great Lent.
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1243 St. Bernard
of Calvo Cistercian bishop in Spain
He was born in Manso Calvo in Catalan,
Spain, where he was educated. Bernard became a Cistercian, and was made
the first abbot of Santa Creus Monastery, near Tarragona. He became a bishop
in 1233.
Bernard of Calvó, OSB Cist. B (AC). A native of Manso Calvó,
Catalonia, he became a Cistercian and eventually the first abbot of Santas
Creus, near Tarragona. In 1233 he was chosen bishop of Vich (Benedictines).
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1311 Saint Athanasius I,
Patriarch of Constantinople (1289-1293; 1303-1311); humbly left Mt. Athos at first for the holy places
in Jerusalem, and then to Mount Patra, where for a long time he lived ascetically
as an hermit. From there the ascetic transferred to the Auxention monastery,
and then to Mount Galanteia to the monastery of Blessed Lazarus, where he
accepted the great angelic schema with the name Athanasius, was ordained
a priest and became ecclesiarch (monk in charge of the sacred relics and
vessels in the church). Here the saint was granted a divine revelation: he
heard the Voice of the Lord from a crucifix, summoning him to pastoral service;
received from the Lord both forgiveness
and the gift of wonderworking
Saint Athanasius, in the world Alexius, was
from Adrianopolis. While still in his youth, thriving upon the knowledge of
the wisdom of Christ, he left his home and went to Thessalonica, where he
was tonsured in one of the monasteries with the name Acacius. He soon withdrew
to Mount Athos and entered the brethren of the Esphigmenou monastery, where
for three years he served in the trapeza. In his works and his ascetic deeds
he acquired the gift of tears, and by his virtuous acts he won the overall
goodwill of the brethren.
Shunning praise, Acacius humbly left Mt. Athos at first for the holy places
in Jerusalem, and then to Mount Patra, where for a long time he lived ascetically
as an hermit. From there the ascetic transferred to the Auxention monastery,
and then to Mount Galanteia to the monastery of Blessed Lazarus, where he
accepted the great angelic schema with the name Athanasius, was ordained a
priest and became ecclesiarch (monk in charge of the sacred relics and vessels
in the church). Here the saint was granted a divine revelation: he heard
the Voice of the Lord from a crucifix, summoning him to pastoral service.
Wishing to strengthen his spirit still more in silence and prayer, St Athanasius
again settled on Mount Athos after ten years. But because of disorders arising
there he returned to Mount Galanteia. Here also he was not long to remain
in solitude. Many people thronged to him for pastoral guidance, and so he
organized a women's monastery there.
During this time the throne of the Church of Constantinople fell vacant
after the disturbances and disorder of the period of the Patriarch John Bekkos.
At the suggestion of the pious emperor Andronicus Paleologos, a council of
hierarchs and clergy unanimously chose St Athanasius to the Patriarchal throne
of the Church in 1289.
Patriarch Athanasius began fervently to fulfill his new obedience and did
much for strengthening the Church. His strictness of conviction roused the
dissatisfaction of influential clergy, and in 1293 he was compelled to resign
the throne and to retire again to his own monastery, where he lived an ascetic
life in solitude. In 1303 he was again entrusted with the staff of patriarchal
service, which he worthily fulfilled for another seven years.
In 1308 St Athanasius established
St Peter as Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus (December 21).
Again, because of some sort of dissatisfaction, and not wanting
to be the cause of church discord, St Athanasius resigned the governance of
the Church in 1311. He departed to his own monastery, devoting himself fully
to monastic deeds.
Toward the end of his life, the saint was again found worthy to behold
Christ. The Lord reproached him because Athanasius had not carried out his
pastoral duty to the end. Weeping, the saint repented of his cowardice and
received from the Lord both forgiveness and the gift of wonderworking. St
Athanasius died at the age of 100.
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1492 Blessed Tadhg
MacCarthy Many cures have been reported at his under the high altar of the
cathedral of Ivrea B (AC) Born 1455; died in Ivrea, Savoy,
Italy; beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1895.
Tadhg was born into the ancient royal line of Munster; the MacCarthys
were the most prominent family in southern Ireland and inevitably were pitted
against the Norman Fitzgeralds who seized Irish lands during the reign of
Henry II of England. A bitter enmity existed between the two families that
lasted for centuries.
When Pope Sixtus IV consecrated Tadhg MacCarthy as bishop of
Ross, the Fitzgeralds reacted by contriving to place a rival claimant in
the office. When Tadhg returned from his consecration in Rome he found the
see occupied. About that same time Sixtus died and Tadhg's enemies seized
the opportunity to vehemently denounce him to the new Pope Innocent VIII.
The charges were so outrageous that the holy father immediately excommunicated
the lawful bishop. An investigation, however, revealed that Tadhg was innocent
of the charges whereupon Innocent issued three bulls that totally exonerated
Tadhg and appointed him to the bishopric of Cork and Cloyne.
The Fitzgeralds still opposed him and refused to surrender the
property of the see or to allow him to occupy it. Innocent intervened by issuing
such a strong decree that the Fitzgeralds finally relented. Tadhg set out
from Rome to assume the leadership of his see. He travelled as a humble pilgrim
and stayed overnight in the hospice of Ivrea. The next morning he was found
dead.
Tradition says that the bishop of Ivrea was unable to sleep
that night, disturbed by a vivid dream of a bishop, unknown to him, being
taken into heaven. When it was discovered that Tadhg was a bishop, this
dream was considered the first of numerous miracles connected with him. Many
cures have been reported at his under the high altar of the cathedral of
Ivrea, where he continues to be the subject of veneration (Montague).
1455-1492)
You can trace the Irish Clan MacCarthy back to the third century.
They were the royal family of Desmond, the lower half of Munster, the southeast
Irish province. It was Cormac MacCarthy, king and bishop (died 1138),
who built the famous chapel on the Rock of “Cashel
of the Kings.“
MacCarthys ruled over Desmond until 1395. After that,
however, their power was bitterly contested by the Anglo-Norman Fitzgeralds,
who represented British encroachment. Gerald, Earl of Kildare, was
their dominant leader during the late fifteenth century.
Thaddaeus MacCarthy, born in Cork, was educated by the Franciscans
of nearby Kilcrea Friary, and ordained a priest by the bishop of Cork, William
Roche. The young priest was in Rome in 1482 when Pope Sixtus IV learned of
the death of Domnal, Bishop of Ross. The pope, having become acquainted with
Thaddaeus and been impressed by him, named him successor to Domnal, despite
the fact that he had not yet reached the canonical age for bishops.
MacCarthy was consecrated in Rome.
Unfortunately, the pope, when he appointed MacCarthy, did not
know the full situation back in the diocese of Ross. Domnal, before his death,
had resigned his see to Odo, whom he delegated to go to Rome to report on
the resignation and Odo's succession. When Thaddaeus got back to Ireland,
therefore, he found that Odo considered himself rightful bishop of Ross. The
death of Pope Sixtus only complicated the question of which claimant really
possessed the see.
MacCarthy was strongly supported by Bishop Edmund de Courcy,
but the Fitzgeralds stood firmly against Thaddaeus, and he had to take refuge
in a Cistercian monastery. It quickly became a political and cultural battle
between the native Irish and the Anglo-Normans. The latter denounced Bishop
Thaddaeus as an intruder; and the new pope, Innocent VIII, taken in by them,
excommunicated MacCarthy.
Bishop MacCarthy, to prevent continuing scandal, appealed to
the pope to investigate the case further. As a result, Pope Innocent found
that he had been misinformed by the Geraldines. He confirmed Odo as bishop
of Ross, but by way of recompense, appointed Thaddaeus bishop of Cork and
Cloyne, praising his merits.
Unfortunately, the Anglo-Normans
rejected this Roman solution. When Bishop MacCarthy returned to assume his
duties at Cork and Cloyne, he found that his enemies had gained control of
the diocesan property. For two years thereafter, the bishop went from village
to village in his diocesan territory trying to prove his rights by means of
the papal documents. Nobody would listen to him, so at length he wearily returned
to Rome.
On July 1, 1492, Pope Innocent VIII gave MacCarthy another document.
It sternly ordered Gerald, Earl of Kildare, and all others, to protect the
episcopal properties of the bishop of Cork and Coyne and to acknowledge
his right to those sees.
Bishop MacCarthy set out for Ireland once more. There
was nothing triumphant about his journey. He traveled north alone,
on foot, wearing no signs of his rank, but only the scallop-shell of the
pilgrim. That night the pilgrim retired early.
At dawn, the servants of the hostel, noting a light streaming
from his cell, investigated its cause. The weary churchman had died peacefully
during the night. Now the local bishop of Ivrea, who had dreamt he
saw a stranger bishop ascending into heaven, came over to investigate. In
the dead pilgrim's wallet he found his episcopal cross and ring and the papal
document testifying to his rights as bishop of Cork and Cloyne.
If the Irish Geraldines had spurned their bishop, the citizens
of Ivrea gave him an honorable burial among them. When miracles were
wrought at his tomb, they hailed him as "blessed," and promptly enshrined
him in their cathedral, where his relics are still venerated. In 1895,
Pope Leo XIII confirmed the title “Blessed Thaddaeus”
long since given to him at Ivrea.
For many of us, life is one frustration after another.
But if frustration is our cross, and we bear it with patience and humility,
it can gain us heaven as well as any other mortal trial. That is how
blessed Thaddaeus MacCarthy won his crown.
--Father Robert F. McNamara
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1504 Blessed John
Angelo Porro, OSM (AC)
1506 Bd John Angelo Porro
Milan was the birthplace of this ornament of the order of the Servants
of Mary, who soon after his profession and ordination was sent to the cradle
of his order on Monte Senario as being more suited to a life of prayer and
silence than to the works of the active ministry. Having remained there in great
holiness for some years he was drawn from his solitude to be master of novices
at Florence, an office he fulfilled so well that he is venerated in his order
as a patron of novice-masters. At various times he was at several other houses
of his order, and wherever he was stationed he spent much time in giving
instruction in Christian doctrine, especially to the poor and unlearned; in
Milan he went about the streets gathering in children for this purpose, a
work which was to be organized in the same place by St Charles Borromeo in
the next generation. While at Cavacurta, Bd John Angelo learned in a vision
of the death of his sister and that he too must go back home as his death was near. Accordingly he returned to his native Milan, worn out
with work and hardships, and died there in the Servite priory in 1506. The
cultus of Bd John Angelo Porro was approved in 1737.
A
life by Philip Albericius has been reproduced in the Acta Sanctorum,
October, vol. x, with the usual introduction and commentary; but
Fr Soulier, in the Monumenta Ordinis
Servorum B.M.V., vol. viii, pp. 121—211, and vol.
ix, pp. 5—222, has been able to glean a few additional data. It must be confessed,
however, that the career and personality of the beatus still
remain veiled in great obscurity. A popular life in Italian by L. Raffaelli
(1906), aims primarily at edification and can make no pretence to critical
scholarship.
Cultus
approved 1737. A native of Milan, Italy, who joined the Servites,
and after a time spent at Monte Senario, returned to Milan where he worked
to the end of his life (Benedictines).
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1616 Saint John, Hermit of Pskov lived an ascetic life
during a terrible time of military troubles. In 1592 the Swedes besieged the
city of Pskov. From 1608, for seven years, Polish forces attacked under the
head of Lisovski. It was only in the week before the death of the monk, through
the intercession of the Pskov Caves Icon of the Mother of God and the Pskov
Saints, that Pskov was delivered from the besieging army of the Swedish king
Gustavus Adolphus.
St John, as the chronicle relates, "lived within the city walls for 23
years; his fish was rancid and he did not eat bread. He lived within the
city as though in a wilderness, in great silence," and he died on October
24, 1616.
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1688 The wonderworking “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Icons of the Mother of
God glorified in 1688. Euphymia, the sister of Patriarch Joachim (1674-1690),
lived at Moscow and suffered from an incurable illness for a long time. One
morning during a time of prayer she heard a voice say, “Euphymia! Go to the temple of the Transfiguration
of My Son; there you will find an icon called the 'Joy of All Who Sorrow.'
Have the priest celebrate a Molieben with the blessing of water, and you will
receive healing from sickness.” Euphymia did as she was directed by the Most
Holy Theotokos, and she was healed. This occurred on October 24, 1688.
The icon of the Mother of God“Joy
of All Who Sorrow” (with coins fused to it by a bolt of lightning), was
manifested at St Petersburg in 1888. See July 23.
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1860 St. Joseph
Lê Dang Thi of Ke Van (Vietnamese, army captain Martyr
in the service of the king of Vietnam and was strangled to death
for being a Christian.
Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988.
Blessed Joseph Thi M (AC); beatified in 1909. A native captain in the army
of King Tu-duc of Cochin-China. He was garroted at An-hoa (Benedictines)
.
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1870
St. Anthony Mary Claret archbishop Cuba prophet many supernatural graces
not only in the way of ecstasies and the gift of prophecy, but also by the
miraculous cure of bodily diseases
In monastério Montis Frígidi, diœcésis Carcassonénsis,
in Gállia, sancti Antónii Maríæ Claret, olim Archiepíscopi
Cubáni, Fundatóris Missionariórum Filiórum Immaculáti
Cordis beátæ Maríæ Vírginis, animárum
zelo et mansuetúdine præclári; quem Pius Duodécimus,
Póntifex Máximus, Sanctórum fastis adscrípsit.
In the monastery of Fontfroide in the diocese of Carcassonne
in France, St. Anthony Mary Claret, formerly Archbishop of Cuba, and founder
of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
He was renowned for his meekness and zeal for souls, and was canonized by
the Supreme Pontiff, Pius XII.
[Antonio Maria Claret y Clara] (Spanish,
priest, retreat master, missionary, founder of the Congregation of Missionary
Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary [commonly called Claretians] and of the
Teaching Sisters of Mary Immaculate, archbishop in Cuba, confessor to queen
of Spain, prophet and miracle-worker, preacher of 10,000 sermons, author of
200 works, spread devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady, d. 1870
in a French Cistercian monastery at age 63)
Anthony (Antony) Mary Claret B, Founder (RM) Born in Sallent,
Spain, December 23, 1807; died in Narbonne, France, October 24, 1870; canonized
1950.
"When I see the need there is for divine teaching and how hungry
people are to hear it, I am atremble to be off and running throughout the
world, preaching the Word of God. I have no rest. My soul finds no other
relief than to rush about and preach."
“If God's Word is spoken by a priest who is filled with the
fire of charity--the fire of love of God and neighbor--it will wound vices,
kill sins, convert sinners, and work wonders.”
“When I am before the Blessed Sacrament I feel such
a lively faith that I cannot describe it. Christ in the Eucharist is almost
tangible to me...When it is time for me to leave, I have to tear myself away
from His sacred presence.” --St. Antony Claret
1870 St Antony Claret, Archbishop of Santiago De Cuba, Founder
of The Missionary Sons of The Immaculate Heart of Mary
Despite the imposing form in which his name is sometimes presented-Antonio
Maria Claret y Clara--this holy archbishop was of relatively humble origin.
Born in 1807 at Salient in the north of Spain, he practised his father's trade
of cloth-weaving, and in his spare time learned Latin and printing. When
he was twenty-two he entered the seminary at Vich, where he was ordained priest
in 1835. After a few years he again began to entertain the idea of a Carthusian
vocation, but as that seemed to be beyond his physical strength, he proceeded
to Rome and eventually entered the Jesuit noviciate with the idea of consecrating
his life to the foreign missions. Here, however, his health broke down, and
he was advised by the Jesuit father general to return to Spain and busy himself
with the evangelization of his countrymen. This course he adopted and for
ten years he was engaged in giving missions and retreats throughout Catalonia;
he was associated with Bd Joachima de Mas in the establishment of the Carmelites
of Charity. His zeal inspired other priests to join in the same work; and
in 1849 he was mainly instrumental in founding the congregation of Missionary
Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The institute, commonly known by his
name as “The Claretians”, has spread and flourished,
not only in Spain, but in the Americas and beyond.
Almost immediately after this great work had been inaugurated,
Father Claret was appointed archbishop of Santiago de Cuba. The task was one
of exceptional difficulty; in which his efforts to bring about much-needed
reforms were resisted by a powerful organization of disorderly and anti-Christian
fanatics. Several attempts were made upon his life, and in one instance a
serious wound was inflicted by an assassin infuriated by the loss of his mistress
who had been won back to an honest life. It was the intercession of the archbishop
himself which obtained the remission of the death sentence.
In 1857 St Antony returned to Spain to become confessor to
Queen Isabella II. He resigned his Cuban archbishopric, but avoided residence
at the court for any longer than his official duties required, devoting himself
to missionary work and the diffusion of good literature, especially in his
native Catalan. To him Spain owes the foundation of the Libreria Religiosa
in Barcelona, which has exerted immense influence in reviving a true Catholic
spirit. In the course of his life St Antony is said to have preached 10,000
sermons and to have published 200 books or pamphlets for the instruction and
edification of clergy and people. While rector of the Escorial he established
a science laboratory, a museum of natural history, schools of music and languages,
and other foundations. His continual union with God was rewarded by many supernatural
graces not only in the way of ecstasies and the gift of prophecy, but also
by the miraculous cure of bodily diseases.
Political conditions in Spain and the queen’s attitude towards the
Holy See made St Antony’s position very difficult, and in the revolution of
1868 he was exiled together with the queen. He then went to Rome, where he
made his influence felt in promoting the definition of papal infallibility.
An attempt was made to bring him back to Spain, but it failed a fatal illness
came upon him in France, and he went to his reward in the Cistercian monastery
of Fontfroide, near Narbonne, on October 24, 1870. He was canonized in 1950.
See J. Echevarria,
Reminiscences of Antony Claret (5938), and D. Sargent,
The Assignments of Antonio Claret (1950), both published
in U.S.A. There are many biographies in Spanish and Catalan; those by L. Clotet
(1882) and J. Blanch (1924) have been translated into French. The decree of
canonization in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. xliv (1952),
pp. 345-358, includes a sketch of his life.
As the son of a weaver, Antony became a weaver himself and in
his free time he learned Latin and printing. At the age of 22 he entered the
seminary at Vich, Catalonia, Spain, and was ordained in 1835. After a few
years he began to entertain the idea of a Carthusian vocation but it seemed
beyond his strength, so he travelled to Rome to join the Jesuits with the
idea of becoming a foreign missionary. Ill health, however, caused him to
leave the Jesuit novitiate and he returned to pastoral work at Sallent in
1837. He spent the next decade preaching parochial missions and retreats throughout
Catalonia. During this time he helped Blessed Joachima de Mas to establish
the Carmelites of Charity.
He went to the Canary Islands and after 15 months there (1848-49)
with Bishop Codina, Anthony returned to Vich. His evangelical zeal inspired
other priests to join in the same work, so in 1849 he founded the Missionary
Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (the Claretians), dedicated to preaching
missions. The Claretians have spread far beyond Spain to the Americas and
beyond.
In 1850, Queen Isabella II, appointed
him archbishop of Santiago, Cuba. The people of this diocese were in a shocking
state, and Claret made bitter enemies in his efforts to reform the see--some
of whom made threats on his life. In fact, he was wounded in an assassination
attempt against his life at Holguin in 1856, by a man angered that his mistress
was won back to an honest life.
At the request of Queen Isabella, he returned to Spain in 1857
to become her confessor. He resigned his Cuban see in 1858, but spent as
little time at the court as his official duties required. Throughout this
period he was also deeply occupied with the missionary activities of his
congregation and with the diffusion of good literature, especially in his
native Catalan. He was also appointed rector of the Escorial, where he established
a science laboratory, a natural history museum, and schools of music and
languages. He also founded a religious library in Barcelona.
He followed Isabella to France when a revolution drove her from
the throne in 1868. He attended Vatican Council I (1869-70) where he influenced
the definition of papal infallibility. An attempt was made to lure him back
to Spain, but it failed. Antony retired to Prades, France, but was forced
to flee to a Cistercian monastery at Fontfroide near Narbonne when the Spanish
ambassador demanded his arrest.
Anthony Claret was a leading figure in the revival of Catholicism
in Spain, preached over 25,000 sermons, and published some 144 books and
pamphlets during his lifetime. His continual union with God was rewarded
by many supernatural graces. He was reputed to have performed miraculous
cures and to have had gifts of prophecy. Both in Cuba and in Spain he encountered
the hostility of the Spanish anti-clerical politicians (Attwater, Benedictines,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, Walsh, White).
He is the patron saint of weavers; and of savings and savings
banks, a result of his opening savings banks in Santiago in an effort to help
the poor (White).
1870 St. Anthony Mary Claret Claretian archbishop and
founder. Anthony was born in Salient in Catalonia, Spain, in 1807, the son
of a weaver. He took up weaving but then studied for the priesthood, desiring
to be a Jesuit. Ill health prevented his entering the Order, and he served
as a secular priest. In 1849, he founded the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, known today as the Claretians, and the Apostolic Training
Institute of the Immaculate Conception, Claretian nuns. From 1850 to 1857,
Anthony served as the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. He returned to
the court of Queen Isabella II as confessor, and went into exile with her
in 1868. In 1869 and 1870, Anthony participated in the First Vatican Council.
He died in the Cistercian monastery of Fontfroide in southern France on October
24, 1870. Anthony Mary Claret had the gift of prophecy and performed many
miracles. He was opposed by the liberal forces of Spain and Cuba and endured
many trials.
October 24, 2009 St. Anthony Claret (1807-1870)
The “spiritual father of Cuba”
was a missionary, religious founder, social reformer, queen’s chaplain,
writer and publisher, archbishop and refugee. He was a Spaniard whose work
took him to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Madrid, Paris and to the First Vatican
Council.
In his spare time as weaver and designer in the textile mills of Barcelona,
he learned Latin and printing: the future priest and publisher was preparing.
Ordained at 28, he was prevented by ill health from entering religious life
as a Carthusian or as a Jesuit, but went on to become one of Spain’s most
popular preachers.
He spent 10 years giving popular missions and retreats, always placing
great emphasis on the Eucharist and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Her rosary, it was said, was never out of his hand. At 42, beginning with
five young priests, he founded a religious institute of missionaries, known
today as the Claretians.
He was appointed to head the much-neglected archdiocese of Santiago in
Cuba. He began its reform by almost ceaseless preaching and hearing of confessions,
and suffered bitter opposition mainly for stamping out concubinage and giving
instruction to black slaves. A hired assassin (whose release from prison Anthony
had obtained) slashed open his face and wrist. Anthony succeeded in getting
the would-be assassin’s death sentence commuted to a prison term. His solution
for the misery of Cubans was family-owned farms producing a variety of foods
for the family’s own needs and for the market. This invited the enmity of
the vested interests who wanted everyone to work on a single cash crop—sugar.
Besides all his religious writings
are two books he wrote in Cuba: Reflections on Agriculture and Country Delights.
He was called back to Spain for a job he did not relish—being
chaplain for the queen. He went on three conditions: He would reside away
from the palace, he would come only to hear the queen’s confession and instruct
the children and he would be exempt from court functions. In the revolution
of 1868, he fled with the queen’s party to Paris, where he preached to the
Spanish colony.
All his life Anthony was interested in the Catholic press. He founded the
Religious Publishing House, a major Catholic publishing venture in Spain,
and wrote or published 200 books and pamphlets.
At Vatican I, where he was a staunch defender of the doctrine of infallibility,
he won the admiration of his fellow bishops. Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore
remarked of him, “There goes a true saint.”
He died in exile near the border of Spain at the age of 63.
Comment: Jesus foretold that those
who are truly his representatives would suffer the same persecution as he
did. Besides 14 attempts on his life, Anthony had to undergo such a barrage
of the ugliest slander that the very name Claret became a byword for humiliation
and misfortune. The powers of evil do not easily give up their prey. No one
needs to go looking for persecution. All we need to do is be sure we suffer
because of our genuine faith in Christ, not for our own whims and imprudences.
Quote: Queen Isabella II once said
to Anthony, “No one tells me things as clearly and
frankly as you do.” Later she told her chaplain,
“Everybody is always asking me for favors, but you
never do. Isn't there something you would like for yourself?”
He replied, “Yes, that you let me resign.”
The queen made no more offers.
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1915
Bl. Luigi Guanella (Italian, parish priest, founder Daughters St. Mary of
Providence
founder of Servants of Charity, built institute for handicapped, aided
immigrants in U.S., d. 1915 [beatified 1964])
Saint's Secret: To Pray and Suffer
Author Tells Story of Luigi Guanella, to Be Canonized Oct. 23
By Carmen Elena Villa
ROME, OCT. 13, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The founder of the Servants
of Charity and the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence created a religious
family modeled on the family of Nazareth, and called to follow a simple two-part
program for sanctity: to pray and suffer. Father Luigi Guanella (1842-1915)
will be canonized Oct. 23, the day before his memorial. His religious
family is today spread through 15 countries.
ZENIT spoke with Cristina Siccardi who co-authored with Sister Michela Carrozzino
a book about the saint.
ZENIT: How did he hear his call to the priesthood?
Siccardi: His parents had instilled in him
the habit of the family rosary every afternoon and he had the example of three
cousin priests who helped him to form a strongly religious spirituality. No
doubt he cultivated his priestly vocation when he was a child, especially
on the Motto del Vento hill in the paternal home of Fraciscio di Campodolcino,
Sondrio, where he went often to recollect himself in prayer and meditation.
ZENIT: And how did he hear the call to found the community
of the Servants of Charity and of the Daughters of Holy Mary of Divine Providence?
Siccardi; A vision marked Guanella's life
and it happened on the day of his First Communion. A lady -- as he described
the Virgin when he spoke of this event -- made him see all that he should
have done for the poor. In 1907 Father Constantino Guanella recounted to his
nephew: "It is as if you had seen in a movie thater all that you should have
done." This dream at nine years of age was determinant for all his other options.
This mystical encounter marked him profoundly. Our Lady also appeared to
St. John Bosco when he was nine years old to show him his land of mission:
young people.
ZENIT: Speaking of St. John Bosco, Luigi Guanella had several meetings with
him. How did these two saints meet?
Siccardi: Father Guanella heard talk of the
"young people's priest" and wished to meet him. In 1870 he visited the Turin
oratory, where the Salesian mission began, and so he traveled several times
to see Don John Bosco, who received him warmly. They spoke several
times. Thus it was that on returning to Savongo, where Don Luigi lived then,
he felt a strong need to understand and to get to know the works of that Piedmont
priest. His admiration for Don Bosco had a raison d'etre, as both had
a similar temperament: enterprising, apostles of charity, determined, fathers
with authority, with a great love for the Eucharist, the Virgin and the Pope.
He asked Don Bosco in 1872 if he could print his first work:
"Saggio di ammonimenti famigliari" (Essay on Familial
Admonishments), which talked about how Masons and liberals followed peasants
seeking to suffocate and corrupt their Catholic principles. Guanella
also met St. Joseph Cottolengo and was fascinated by him. In him he
saw an original synthesis of holiness. Methods and charitable ends between
Joseph Benedict Cottolengo and John Bosco, both esteemed and loved.
ZENIT: Did these meetings give him a greater sensitivity to youth?
Siccardi: Indeed. It was for this reason that
he dedicated himself as much to the instruction of young people as to the
material and spiritual needs of the humble and forgotten. Thus he gave life
in 1881 to the initial seeds of the feminine Congregation of the Daughters
of Holy Mary of Divine Providence. The motherhouse of the Guanellian
works was opened in 1886 and was approved by the Holy See in 1908. That
same year, together with 10 brother priests, Don Luigi pronounced the first
official religious vows of the Servants of Charity; while in 1913 from the
Vicariate of Rome, Don Guanella obtained recognition of the Pious Union
of Transit of St. Joseph for the dying, an association of priests and
faithful in union of prayer for the dying: St. Pius X was the first
to enroll and the following year he raised the association to a union for
the whole of Christianity.
ZENIT: His pastoral work took place in the context of the Italian unification
movement. How did this historic event influence his apostolate and life?
Siccardi: Don Luigi Guanella was born in 1842,
at the time of the Risorgimento and he died in 1915, during World War I.
He was a fighter priest, known, in fact as an intense priest, with whom it
was advisable to tread lightly. He was a courageous priest and knew no political
compromises. He gave speeches and wrote articles and books against the liberal
authorities that were trying to demolish the Church with ideas and expropriations.
Don Luigi never hid and, proud of priesthood, he always defended the
Pope, Pius IX, who at the time was the victim of so much envy, with a very
heavy press campaign. He also suffered dramatic persecutions by the civil
and government authorities. The period of the Risorgimento having ended,
Guanella remained faithful to the Supreme Pontiff. Saint Pius X esteemed
him a lot. At that time, between the end of the 19th century and the beginning
of the 20th, Socialist and Marxist ideas gained ground in the urban and industrialized
society. The anti-clerical ideas of Masonic Liberalism, of the upper bourgeoisie,
were the support of the revolutionary ideas of the labor movement. Together
with the demographic transformations given the increase of the population,
due to the drastic diminution of infant mortality, a territorial transformation
took place: People migrated from the countryside to the city. Between 1861,
the year of national unity, and 1901, the population grew by 30%, whereas
that of the principal cities increased by 60%. Don Luigi remained anchored
in traditional values and principles and was an enemy of secularizing and
de-Christianizing ideologies. Moreover, he designed a map of sustenance and
help, always keeping in mind that charity is not lay solidarity but the true
face of Christ in the neediest.
ZENIT: After his meetings with Don Bosco, how did Salesian spirituality
influence his life?
Siccardi: This was a basic element in his
formation as an educator. He was between two holy priests: Don Bosco did not
hesitate to trust him. Thus it was that Don Luigi entered almost as a family
member in the Salesian house, to send to the Salesians and the Daughters of
Mary Help of Christians young vocations from his land. In the years 1870-1875
he even supported the opening of a Salesian institution in the Diocese of
Como. Luigi shared in everything and for everything the Salesian pedagogy:
the loving and firm approach with young people and the educational will to
prevent, rather than cure, moral problems. Like St. John Bosco, Luigi also
wanted to bring salvation to young people through education and formation,
because both founders placed eternal salvation above all, considering it as
the only really important thing.
ZENIT: What is the charism of his community?
Siccardi: Don Luigi asked his priests to be
"angelic men, martyrs of virtues and charity," and he called his sisters "little
Marthas," to highlight the agility of their works. Also "martirelle," that
is, little martyrs invited by the Lord to sacrifice and suffering. He sought
to immolate himself to the highest degree possible, to become a victim for
the redeeming work of God and for his glory. The pillars of the Guanellian
charism are: great piety, assiduous prayer and extreme faith in Divine Providence.
ZENIT: What legacy do his teachings have?
Siccardi: The sons and daughters of Luigi
Guanella continue working along the lines of their founder, as instruments
of Providence: sensitivity in looking out for, understanding and helping one's
neighbor who, in the image of Christ and as the saint are called to evangelize
the poor, revealing the love of the Father in whom it is always necessary
to hope. The apostolate is geared especially to the most tried in body and
spirit, deprived of human support: the care of young people, the elderly,
the sick, and great commitment to the poor. The spiritual legacy left by
the founder can be summarized in the Family of Nazareth: simplicity, confidence
and complete availability to the plan of the Father. Luigi Guanella left
in the "preventive method" a way that leads, in imitation of God's goodness,
to surrounding with love and care one's littlest brothers. "To pray and suffer"
is the Guanellian program, two fundamental conditions for sanctity and the
efficacy of his congregations.
[Translation by ZENIT]
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Make a Novena
and pray the Rosary to Our Lady of Victory 
Saints of this Day October 24 Décimo Kaléndas
Novémbris
1492 Blessed Tadhg
MacCarthy Many cures have been reported at his under
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.