3rd
v. St.
Florentius Martyr who suffered at Trois-Chateaux, Burgundy
Apud castrum Tyle, in Gállia,
sancti Floréntii Mártyris. At Tilchatel in France,
St. Florentius, martyr.
Florentius of Burgundy M (RM) 3rd century. Saint Florentius
suffered
martyrdom at Trois- Châteaux in Burgundy (Benedictines).
|
303
St. Vincent, Sabina, & Christeta Three martyrs executed at Avila
Abulæ, in
Hispánia, pássio sanctórum
Vincéntii, Sabínæ et Christétæ.
Hi primum in equúleo ádeo sunt exténti, ut omnes
membrórum compáges laxaréntur; deínde
cápita eórum, lapídibus superpósita, usque
ad cérebri excussiónem válidis véctibus
sunt contúsa, atque ita ipsi martyrium complevérunt, sub
Præside Daciáno.
At Avila
in Spain, under the governor Dacian, the
Saints Vincent, Sabina, and Christeta. They were first stretched
on the rack in such a manner that all their limbs were dislocated; then
stones being laid on their heads, and their brains beaten out with
heavy bars, their martyrdom was fulfilled.
Spain, during the
persecutions of Emperor Diocletian
(r. 284-305).
Their Acts are considered dubious.
Vincent, Sabina & Christeta MM (RM). Untrustworthy acta record that
Vincent was a young Christian in Ávila, Spain, when Governor
Dacian ordered the suppression of all Christians during the break up of
the Roman Empire. Today there are some countries where the Christians
are so inoffensive that nobody bothers with them, and there are other
countries where they are persecuted because they are true Christians.
We should ask ourselves which of the two most deserves our pity.
Vincent's crime was his freedom and independence. He felt that he was
in the right, and so risked upsetting all the old traditional obsolete
beliefs. He was dangerous, but he was right to be dangerous as are all
other Christians of every place and every age.
They tried to set him on the "right" path: the path of apathy,
tradition, numbness, and idolatry. But in his eyes Jupiter was a
scoundrel deserving blows, not worship. He preferred the man who had
been crucified in Jerusalem and, brushing away the dust and mold of the
old religion, he let in the fresh air of the new. And even if the
particular details of Vincent's story are not absolutely authentic, his
story is true in a wider sense, for the powerful empire was crumbling
and the new light of Christianity was inspiring Vincent and many
others--feebly at first but shining ever more brightly.
Vincent was condemned to death. We know from legends what happened to
him, but not what happened inside him, for only he and Jesus Christ
know that. It is the most essential part of a person's life, and yet
one which is only rarely mentioned by historians, critics, or writers.
We cannot blame them, for no one on earth can tell you about your life
with Jesus Christ, and that is as it should be. Therefore what we have
to say about a person is relatively unimportant; and if none of the
things which are recorded of Vincent ever actually happened, that would
in no way alter the essential and only truth, which is his life with
Jesus Christ.
It is said that Vincent left the imprint of his foot on a stone and
that was enough to convert his guards. His guards, however, were no
more simple-minded than we are, and if they were converted it was
because they saw more in Vincent than a foot which could leave its
imprint on a stone: it was because they saw in him the imprint of Jesus
Christ. Wherever Vincent went he left the imprint of Jesus, his "odor"
as the old books used to call it. There are few of us today who leave
an imprint likely to inspire those around us to convert. Dacian has
nothing to worry about and can stay at home.
For a while everything went well for Vincent. His guards were converted
and with the help of his sisters Sabina and Christeta he was able to
escape. But Christ is not especially fond of those who win too easily.
They had barely arrived at Alba when all three were arrested. They were
scourged, beaten, quartered, and crushed between stones. This time they
left no imprint on the stones, but an enormous imprint on the whole of
Spain (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
In art they are identified as a man and two women broken on wheels.
They are venerated at Ávila, Spain, where they were martyred
(Roeder).
|
304 St.
Capitolina martyred woman of Cappadocia distributed her entire wealth
to the poor with her handmaid, Erotheis.
In Cappadócia sanctárum Mártyrum
Capitolínæ, ejúsque ancíllæ
Erothéidis, quæ sub Diocletiáno sunt passæ.
In Cappadocia, the holy martyrs Capitolina, and
Erotheides, her handmaid, who suffered under Diocletian.
They died in the persecutions conducted by
Emperor Diocletian.
Capitolina and Erotheis MM (RM). Capitolina, a wealthy Cappadocian
lady, and her handmaid, were martyred under Diocletian, after
Capitolina distributed her entire wealth to the poor (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia).
|
 306 Nestor of Thessalonica The Holy Martyr suffered in the city of
Thessalonica together with the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica
(October 26).
The name of St Nestor (not the Chronicler) is
mentioned in the General
Service to the Monastics of the Far Caves: "The Word of God, understood
by man, instructed you not by written wisdom, O holy Nestor, but from
on high; you beheld it through the prayers of the angel, and you
foresaw your death. May we also be made partakers with you, we pray, in
honoring your memory." His memory is celebrated also on August 28 and
on the second Sunday of Great Lent.
|
367 St. Abraham
the
Poor Egypt holy hermit purity of heart simplicity of lifestyle
listed in some records as "the Poor" or "the Child," allusions to his
purity of heart and to the simplicity of his lifestyle ways. He was
born in Menuf "or Minuf", Egypt,
a site northwest of Cairo in the Delta region of the Nile.
He became a
disciple of St. Pachomius, the
founder of cenobitic monasticism.
Abraham spent almost two
decades in a cave near Pachomius' foundations
in the Delta.
Abraham the Child, Hermit (RM) (also known as Abraham the
Poor) Born at
Menuf, Egypt; died 366-377; feast day formerly on March 16. Abraham
became a disciple of Saint Pachomius. After 23 years he retired to a
cave where he spent 17 years. His cultus is widespread among the Copts
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia). Abraham is shown as an old man with a
blowing beard clothed in skins. Sometimes he is in his cell with his
niece Mary in the adjoining cell (Roeder).
|
380 St.
Frumentius
Called
“Abuna” or “the father”of Ethiopia venerated as the first
evangelizer of Ethiopia
Apud Indos sancti Fruménti
Epíscopi, qui, primum ibi captívus, deínde,
Epíscopus a sancto Athanásio ordinátus,
Evangélium in ea província propagávit.
In India, St.
Frumentius, bishop. While he was a captive there he was
consecrated bishop by St. Athanasius, and propagated the Gospel in that
country.
<>380 ST FRUMENTIUS, Bishop
of Axsum
SOMEWHERE
about the
year 330 a philosopher of Tyre,
named Meropius, out of curiosity and a wish
to see the world and improve his knowledge, undertook a voyage to the
coasts of
Arabia. He took with him two young men, Frumentius and Aedesius, with
whose
education he was entrusted. In the course of their voyage homeward the
vessel
touched at a certain port of Ethiopia, or as it is now often called,
Abyssinia.
The natives fell out with some of the sailors, attacked them, and put
the whole
crew and all the passengers to the sword, except the two boys, who were
studying their lessons under a tree at some distance. When they were
found they
were carried to the king, who resided at Aksum in the Tigre country. He
was attracted
by the bearing and knowledge of the young Christians, and not long
after made
Aedesius his cupbearer and Frumentius, who was the elder, his
secretary. This
prince on his deathbed thanked them for their services and, in
recompense, gave
them their liberty. The queen, who was left regent for her eldest son,
entreated them to remain and assist her, which they did.
Frumentius had the principal management
of
affairs and induced several Christian merchants who traded there to
settle in
the country. He procured them privileges and all conveniences for
religious
worship, and by his own fervour and example strongly recommended the
true
religion to the infidels. When the young king came of age and, with his
brother, took the reins of government into his own hands, the Tyrians
resigned
their posts, though he urged them to stay.
Aedesius
went back to Tyre, where he was ordained priest and told his
adventures to Rufinus, who incorporated them in his Church
History. But Frumentius, having nothing so much at heart as
the conversion of the whole nation, took the route to Alexandria, and
entreated
the bishop, St Athanasius, to send some pastor to that country.
Whereupon
Athanasius ordained Frumentius himself bishop of the Ethiopians,
judging no one
more proper to finish the work which he had begun. Thus began the
association
of the Christians of Abyssinia with the church of Alexandria which has
continued to this day.
The
consecration of
St Frumentius took place probably just before the year 340 or just after 346
(or perhaps c. 355—356). He went back
to Aksum and gained numbers to the faith by his preaching and miracles
the two
royal brothers are said to have themselves received baptism, and as
Abreha and
Asbeha are venerated as saints in the
Ethiopic calendar. But the Arian emperor Constantius conceived an
implacable
suspicion against St Frumentius, because he was linked in faith and
affection
with St Athanasius; and when he found that he was not even to be
tempted, much
less seduced by him, he wrote a letter to the two kings, in which he
urged them
to send Frumentius to George, the intruded bishop of Alexandria, who
would be
responsible for his “welfare”. The emperor also warned them against
Athanasius
as guilty “of many crimes”. The only result was that this letter was
communicated to St Athanasius, who has inserted it in his apologia
against the Arians.
Conversion
even of
the Aksumite kingdom was far from completed during the lifetime of St
Frumentius. After his death he was called Abuna, “Our father”, and Aba
salama, “Father of peace”, and abuna is still
the title of the primate
of the dissident Church of Ethiopia.
The
story told by
Rufinus maybe read with other matter in the Acta
Sanctorum, October, vol. xii. This other matter includes a copy of
a long
Greek inscription found at Aksum, commemorating the exploits of
Aïzanas, King
of the Homeritae, and his brother Saïzanas. Now it was precisely
to Aïzanas and
Saïzanas that Constantius addressed his letter, of which St
Athanasius has
preserved the text, demanding the surrender of Frumentius. There can
consequently be no doubt that the last-named really was at Aksum
preaching the
Christian faith. Although the earlier adventures of Frumentius, as
Rufinus
recounts them, may have been misunderstood or disfigured with legendary
additions, his presence in Aksum, as a bishop, consecrated for this
mission by
St Athanasius, is a certain fact. See Professor Guidi in the Enciclopedia italiana, vol. xiv, pp.
480—481, and in DHG., vol. i, cc. 210—212 Leclercq in DAC., vol. v, cc.
586—594
Duchesne, Histoire ancienne de l’Église, vol.
iii, pp. 576—578 and cf. the account
given of St Frumentius in the Ethiopic Synaxarium
(ed. Budge, 1928),
vol. iv, pp. 1164—1165. According to F. G. Holweck, the old diocese of
Louisiana, U.S.A. (erected 1787) observed the feast of St Frumentius:
was this a
gesture towards the slaves of African origin in America ?
Frumentius was born in Tyre,
Lebanon.
While on a voyage in the Red Sea with St. Aedesius, possibly his brother, only
Frumentius and Aedesius survived the shipwreck.
Taken to the Ethiopian royal court at Aksum, they soon attained high
positions. Aedesius was royal cup bearer, and Fruementius was a
secretary. They introduced Christianity to that land. When Abreha and
Asbeha inherited the Ethiopian throne from their father, Frumentius
went to Alexandria, Egypt, to ask St. Athanasius to send a missionary
to Ethiopia. He was consecrated a bishop and converted many more upon
his return to Aksum. Frumentius and Aedesius are considered the
apostles of Ethiopia.
Frumentius of Ethiopia B (RM) (also known as Fremonat) . According to
their contemporary Rufinus, two young Christian brothers named
Frumentius and Aedesius (Aedisius) were studying philosophy in Tyre
under Meropius (or Metrodorus), who decided around the year 330 that he
would like to take a voyage along the coasts of Arabia. To the young
men's overwhelming delight, he offered to take them with him.
The journey went well, but on their homeward trip the ship docked at
Adulis, Abyssinia (Ethiopia), to take on fresh supplies. The sailors
got into a fight with the locals, leading to the murder of Meropius and
everyone on ship. The boys escaped because they were studying their
lessons under a tree a distance from the ship. When they were
discovered, they were taken as slaves to the court of the king of Aksum
(Axum) in Tigre.
The king was impressed by their bearing and learning and the fortunes
of the young Christians prospered. Frumentius, the elder brother, was
made the king's chief secretary. Aedesius became his cup-bearer. They
gained permission even for Greek merchants to open some churches in
Ethiopia and to try to convert the people. And when the king died, he
gave the two men their freedom. They remained for a time at the request
of the widowed queen to help rule the country.
Eventually the two princes, named Abreha and Asbeha, came to the
throne. The Tyrian brothers resigned their posts although their new
king urged them to stay. Aedesius returned to Tyre where he was
ordained and met Rufinus, who incorporated their story into his Church
History.
Frumentius, desiring to convert the whole of his adopted country, made
his way to Alexandria and explained the Ethiopian situation to Saint
Athanasius. He urgently asked Athanasius to send a bishop to Aksum to
consolidate all that had been done there for Christ. Either Athanasius
or a synod unanimously chose Frumentius for the work, ordained him
bishop, and sent him back to plant the Christian church in Ethiopia,
which he did in Aksum.
"Apostolic signs accompanied his ministry, and great numbers of heathen
were won to the faith" (Rufinus). Among those converted were Abreha and
Asbeha, the two royal brothers, despite the attempts of the Arian
Emperor Constantius to discredit him because of his connection with
Athanasius.
Whatever the exact details of the Tyrian youths' adventures, there is
strong confirmation of the presence in Ethiopia of a bishop named
Frumentius, consecrated by Saint Athanasius about the middle of the
fourth century. After his death the Abyssinians dubbed him Abuna
(which means 'Our
Father') and Aba salama (which means 'Father of peace'). Abuna is still
the title of the primate of the Church of Ethiopia (Attwater, Bentley,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, Walsh).
In art Frumentius is represented as a bishop elevating a Host,
sometimes with Saint Athanasius, sometimes shipwrecked with his brother
Saint Aedesius. Saint Frumentius is venerated as the first evangelizer
of Ethiopia (Roeder).
|
455 St. Gaudiosus
Bishop called “the African.”
Neápoli, in
Campánia, sancti Gaudiósi,
Epíscopi Africáni, qui ob Wandalórum
persecutiónem venit in Campániam, et, in
monastério apud eam urbem, sancto fine quiévit.
At
Naples, St. Gaudiosus, an African bishop who came
to Campania because of the Vandal persecution, and died a holy death in
a monastery in that city.
He was the bishop
of Abitina in North Africa, exiled
by Geiseric, the
Vandal king, in 440. Gaudiosus went to Naples, Italy, where he founded
a monastery.
Gaudiosus of Naples B (RM) (also known as Gaudiosus the African). Saint
Gaudiosus, bishop of Abitina in northern Africa, was exiled by the
Arian Vandal king Genseric about 440. He took refuge at Naples where he
founded a monastery, which was later governed by Saint Agnellus
(Benedictines).
|
462
Saint Namatius
ninth bishop of Clermont built the cathedral there B (AC)
(also known as Namace) Saint Namatius, ninth bishop of Clermont,
France, built the cathedral there (Benedictines).
|
5th
v. St.
Abban of Murnevin Abbot and missionary
called Ewin, Evin, Neville, or Nevin. He is listed as a nephew of St. Kevin and is confused
with St. Abban of Magh-Armuidhe. Abban is best known for his
association with the monastery of Rosmic-Treoin of New Ross.
Abban of Wexford, Abbot (AC) Born in Ireland, 6th century. Saint Abban,
nephew of Saint Kevin, founded many monasteries, mostly in southern
Ireland. His name is especially connected with that of Magh-Armuidhe,
now Adamstown, Wexford. The lives of this saint are hopelessly confused
with that of Saint Abban of Leinster and others of the same name
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
|
555
St. Elesbaan Christian king of Ethiopia probably a Monophysite
In
Æthiópia sancti Elésbaan Regis, qui, Christi
hóstibus expugnátis, ac, témpore Justíni
Imperatóris, misso régio diadémate
Hierosólymam, monásticam vitam, ut vóverat agens,
migrávit ad Dóminum.
In
Ethiopia, in the time of Emperor Justin, St.
Elesbaan, king. After having defeated the enemies of Christ and
sent his royal diadem to Jerusalem, he led a monastic life, as he had
vowed, and went to his reward.
called Calam-Negus
by the Abyssinians. He fought the
Jewish usurper
Dunaan, who had committed atrocities against Christians. Elesbaan was
also guilty of dreadful revenges against Dunaan’s followers. He
resigned, leaving the throne to his son, and ended his life as an
eremite.
|
563
St. Odhran Irish abbot monk 1/of 12 who accompanied Saint Columba to
Iona
OTTERAN,
“noble and
without sin”, was an abbot from Meath and one of the twelve who sailed
with St
Columba out of Loch Foyle to Iona; Adamnan says he was a Briton. Soon
after
their arrival St Otteran felt death to be upon him, and he said, “I
would be
the first to die under the covenant of the kingdom of God in this
place”. “I
will give you that kingdom”, replied Columba, “and moreover this also,
that
whoever makes a request at my burial-place shall not get it until he
prays to
you as well.”
Columba, unwilling to see his friend
die,
blessed him and went out of the house, and as he was walking in the
yard he
stopped, looking amazedly up to the heavens. Asked at what he gazed,
Columba
answered that he saw strife in the upper air between good and evil
spirits, and
angels carrying the soul of Otteran in triumph to Heaven. So he was the
first
by his death and burial there to seal Iona to the Irish monks, and the
place of
his burying, the only cemetery on the island, is still called Reilig Orain. This is said to be the
Otteran who founded the monastery at Leitrioch Odrain (Latteragh in
Tipperary).
Although this is all that is known of St Otteran his feast (as a
bishop) is
kept today throughout Ireland.
How
little is known concerning St Odhran appears
clearly from the glosses to the Filire of
Oengus, which suggest more than one alternative as to Odhran’s
identity. A
notice in very vague terms is printed in the Acta Sanctorum,
October, vol. xii. See also Forbes, KSS., p. 426. In the
Annals of Ulster we are told that he died in the year 548. Odhran is
the
correct form of the name.
Also Otteran and Oran. After serving as abbot of Meath, he journeyed to
Scotland with St. Columba to promote the faith and died at Lona. Odhran
was the first Irish monk to die at Lona. He may have founded Latteragh
Abbey in Tipperary He is considered the principal patron saint of
Waterford, Ireland.
Otteran of Iona, Abbot (RM) (also known as Odhran, Oran) Born in
Britain. Otteran, abbot of Meath, was one of the 12 who accompanied
Saint Columba to Iona. Other historians say that Otteran was at Iona
before Columba, based on the fact that the ancient cemetery there is
called Reilig Oran. He died soon after their arrival, the first of the
monks from Ireland to die at Iona. Soon thereafter, Columba saw
Otteran's soul ascending to heaven following a battle between angels
and devils. Otteran may have founded the monastery at Leitrioch Odrain
(Latteragh, Tipperary). He has given his name to Oronsay. His feast is
kept throughout Ireland (Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Montague).
|
606
Saint Cyriacus
patriarch of Constantinople B (AC)
feast day in the Greek Church is celebrated on October 29. Cyriacus was
administrator and, later, patriarch of Constantinople (Benedictines).
|
625 St.
Desiderius
Bishop of Auxerre succeeded Saint Aunarius
France, the successor of St. Anacharius.
Desiderius of Auxerre B (AC). Saint Desiderius succeeded Saint Aunarius
(Aunaire) in the see of Auxerre, France. He has often been confused
with Saint Desiderius of Vienne (Benedictines).
|
St.
Namatius Bishop of Clermont
sometimes listed as Namace. He founded the local cathedral.
|
632 Colman of
Senboth-Fola associated with Bishop Saint Maidoc Abbot (AC)
Born in Ireland. Abbot Saint Colman of Senboth-Fola, in the diocese of
Ferns, was associated with Bishop Saint Maidoc of Ferns (January 31)
(Benedictines).
|
 1114
Saint Nestor the
Chronicler, of the Kiev Caves, Near Caves "Great is the benefit of book learning, for
books point
out and teach us the way to repentance, since from the words of books
we discover wisdom and temperance. This is the stream, watering the
universe, from which springs wisdom. In books is a boundless depth, by
them we are comforted in sorrows, and they are a bridle for moderation.
If you enter diligently into the books of wisdom, then you shall
discover great benefit for your soul. Therefore, the one who reads
books converses with God or the saints." The chief work in the life of St Nestor was
compiling in the years
1112-1113 The Russian Primary Chronicle. "Here is the account of years
past, how the Russian land came to be, who was the first prince at Kiev
and how the Russian land is arrayed."
Nestor was born at Kiev in 1050. He came
to St Theodosius (May 3) as a young man, and became a novice. St Nestor
took monastic tonsure under the successor to St Theodosius, the igumen
Stephen, and under him was ordained a hierodeacon.
Concerning his lofty spiritual life it says that, with a number of
other monastic Fathers he participated in the casting out of a devil
from Nikita the Hermit (January 31), who had become fascinated by the
Hebrew wisdom of the Old Testament. St Nestor deeply appreciated true
knowledge, along with humility and penitence. "Great is the benefit of
book learning," he said, "for books point out and teach us the way to
repentance, since from the words of books we discover wisdom and
temperance. This is the stream, watering the universe, from which
springs wisdom. In books is a boundless depth, by them we are comforted
in sorrows, and they are a bridle for moderation. If you enter
diligently into the books of wisdom, then you shall discover great
benefit for your soul. Therefore, the one who reads books converses
with God or the saints."
In the monastery St Nestor had the obedience of being the chronicler.
In the 1080s he wrote the "Account about the Life and Martyrdom of the
Blessed Passion Bearers Boris and Gleb" in connection with the transfer
of the relics of the saints to Vyshgorod in the year 1072 (May 2). In
the 1080s St Nestor also compiled the Life of the Monk Theodosius of
the Kiev Caves. And in 1091, on the eve of the patronal Feast of the
Kiev Caves Monastery, he was entrusted by Igumen John to dig up the
holy relics of St Theodosius (August 14) for transfer to the church.
The chief work in the life of St Nestor was compiling in the years
1112-1113 The Russian Primary Chronicle. "Here is the account of years
past, how the Russian land came to be, who was the first prince at Kiev
and how the Russian land is arrayed." The very first line written by St
Nestor set forth his purpose. St Nestor used an extraordinarily wide
circle of sources: prior Russian chronicles and sayings, monastery
records, the Byzantine Chronicles of John Malalos and George Amartolos,
various historical collections, the accounts of the boyar-Elder Ivan
Vyshatich and of tradesmen and soldiers, of journeymen and of those who
knew. He drew them together with a unified and strict ecclesiastical
point of view. This permitted him to write his history of Russia as an
inclusive part of world history, the history of the salvation of the
human race.
The monk-patriot describes the history of the Russian Church in its
significant moments. He speaks about the first mention of the Russian
nation in historical sources in the year 866, in the time of St
Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople. He tells of the creation of the
Slavonic alphabet and writing by Sts Cyril and Methodius; and of the
Baptism of St Olga at Constantinople. The Chronicle of St Nestor has
preserved for us an account of the first Orthodox church in Kiev (under
the year 945), and of the holy Varangian Martyrs (under the year 983),
of the "testing of the faiths" by St Vladimir (in 986) and the Baptism
of Rus (in 988).
We are indebted to the first Russian Church historian for details about
the first Metropolitans of the Russian Church, about the emergence of
the Kiev Caves monastery, and about its founders and ascetics. The
times in which St Nestor lived were not easy for the Russian land and
the Russian Church. Rus lay torn asunder by princely feuds; the
Polovetsian nomads of the steppes lay waste to both city and village
with plundering raids. They led many Russian people into slavery, and
burned churches and monasteries. St Nestor was an eyewitness to the
devastation of the Kiev Caves monastery in the year 1096. In the
Chronicle a theologically thought out patriotic history is presented.
The spiritual depth, historical fidelity and patriotism of the The
Russian Primary Chronicle establish it in the ranks of the significant
creations of world literature.
St Nestor died around the year 1114, having left to the other monastic
chroniclers of the Kiev Caves the continuation of his great work. His
successors in the writing of the Chronicles were: Igumen Sylvester, who
added contemporary accounts to the The Russian Primary Chronicle;
Igumen Moses Vydubitsky brought it up to the year 1200; and finally,
Igumen Laurence, who in the year 1377 wrote the most ancient of the
surviving manuscripts that preserve the Chronicle of St Nestor (this
copy is known as the "Lavrentian Chronicle"). The hagiographic
tradition of the Kiev Caves ascetics was continued by St Simon, Bishop
of Vladimir (May 10), the compiler of the Kiev Caves Paterikon.
Narrating the events connected with the lives of the holy saints of
God, St Simon often quotes, among other sources, from the Chronicle of
St Nestor.
St Nestor was buried in the Near Caves of St Anthony. The Church also
honors his memory in the Synaxis of the holy Fathers of the Near Caves
commemorated September 28 and on the second Sunday of Great Lent when
is celebrated the Synaxis of all the Fathers of the Kiev Caves. His
works have been published many times, including in English as "The
Russian Primary Chronicle".
|
1203
Blessed Goswin of
Chemnion Cistercian monk OSB Cist. (AC)
Goswin was a Cistercian monk, first at Clairvaux and then at Chemnion
(Benedictines).
|
1271 Blessed
Bartholomew of Vicenza Dominican Cyprus bishop see also
Butlers October 23
Dominicans honor one of
their own today, Blessed Bartholomew of
Vicenza. This was a man who used his skills as a preacher to challenge
the heresies of his day. Bartholomew was born in Vicenza around 1200.
At 20 he entered the Dominicans. Following his ordination he served in
various leadership positions. As a young priest he founded a military
order whose purpose was to keep civil peace in towns throughout Italy.
In 1248, Bartholomew was appointed a bishop. For most men,
such an
appointment is an honor and a tribute to their holiness and their
demonstrated leadership skills. But for Bartholomew, it was a form of
exile that had been urged by an antipapal group that was only too happy
to see him leave for Cyprus. Not many years later, however, Bartholomew
was transferred back to Vicenza. Despite the antipapal feelings that
were still evident, he worked diligently—especially through his
preaching—to rebuild his diocese and strengthen the people’s loyalty to
Rome.
During his years as bishop in Cyprus, Bartholomew befriended
King Louis
the Ninth of France, who is said to have given the holy bishop a relic
of Christ’s Crown of Thorns. Bartholomew died in 1271. He was beatified
in 1793.
October 27, 2009 Blessed Bartholomew of Vicenza (c.
1200-1271)
Dominicans honor one of their own today, Blessed Bartholomew of
Vicenza. This was a man who used his skills as a preacher to challenge
the heresies of his day.
Bartholomew was born in Vicenza around 1200. At 20 he entered the
Dominicans. Following his ordination he served in various leadership
positions. As a young priest he founded a military order whose purpose
was to keep civil peace in towns throughout Italy. In 1248, Bartholomew
was appointed a bishop. For most men, such an appointment is an honor
and a tribute to their holiness and their demonstrated leadership
skills. But for Bartholomew, it was a form of exile that had been urged
by an antipapal group that was only too happy to see him leave for
Cyprus. Not many years later, however, Bartholomew was transferred back
to Vicenza. Despite the antipapal feelings that were still evident, he
worked diligently—especially through his preaching—to rebuild his
diocese and strengthen the people’s loy alty to Rome.
During his years as bishop in Cyprus, Bartholomew befriended King Louis
the Ninth of France, who is said to have given the holy bishop a relic
of Christ’s Crown of Thorns. Bartholomew died in 1271. He was
beatified in 1793.
|
1507 Blessed Antonia
of Brescia trials with patience and humility OP V (PC)
Born 1407. Although Antonia entered the Dominican convent at Brescia as
a young girl, she was not chosen prioress until she was 66. She
governed Saint Catherine's Convent at Ferrara, Italy, rigorously but
with justice. She underwent deposition and other trials with patience
and humility (Benedictines).
|
 1539 Saint Andrew, Prince of Smolensk The Uncovering of the relics of at
Pereslavl occurred through the involvement of St Daniel of Pereslavl
(April 7).
The holy Prince Andrew was the son of the Smolensk prince Theodore
Fominsky. While still in his youth, he was grieved by the disputes of
his brothers, and he left his native city going as a simple wanderer to
Pereslavl Zalessk. In humility and meekness he spent thirty years as
church warden at the church of St Nicholas, near which he is buried.
After his death they discovered a princely ring, a gold chain and an
inscription with the words, "I am Andrew, one of the Smolensk princes."
|
1902 Bd Contardo
Ferrini; Ferrini was
concerned with the whole vast field of law, but it was above all in
Roman law
(and especially its Byzantine aspect) that he made his mark. When Professor von
Ligenthal died in 1894 Ferrini, his favourite pupil, inherited not only
his
master’s manuscripts but also his acknowledged leadership in these
studies.
Among those who in one way or another contributed to the success of his
work
were Don Achille Ratti, afterwards Pope Pius XI, and Dr John Mercati,
later
cardinal and librarian and archivist of the Holy Roman Church.
Addressing an audience of
professors, lecturers and other pilgrims at this time, Pope Pius XII
referred to Bd Contardo as a man who “gave an emphatic ‘Yes’ to the
possibility of holiness in these days”. “The history and development of
law and law-making”, he declared, “were for Ferrini simply an
application of the moral and divine law, without which human
legislation is useless for if they are separated from God, it is only a
matter of time before social organization and its juridical enactments
degenerate into tyranny and despotism…It should give us comfort that in
Bd Contardo the Lord has given the Church a beatus who was a master in
the field of law and at the same time a man of God, one whose exalted
spirit and supremely righteous life is a model for us all.”
Giving evidence in the course of the process, the previous pope, Pius
XI, had said, “My relations with him were purely scientific or were
concerned with the beauties of high mountains. For him these were an
inspiration to holiness and almost a natural revelation of God.”
Ferrini’s appreciation of the material creation was indeed a salient
characteristic, and it was not confined to nature in her gentler
aspects. “God also speaks to man in the clouds on the mountain tops”,
he wrote, “in the roaring of the torrents, in the stark awfulness of
the cliffs, in the dazzling splendour of the unmelting snow, in the sun
that splashes the west with blood, in the wind that strips the trees
bare. Nature lives by the breath of His omnipotence, smiles in its joy
of Him, hides from His wrath—yet greets Him, eternally young, with the
smile of its own youth. For the spirit of God by which nature lives is
a spirit for ever young, incessantly renewing itself, happy in its snow
and rain and mist, for out of these come birth and life, spring ever
renewed and undaunted hope, and all the blessed prerogatives of youth a
thousand times reborn.”
Bd Contardo Ferrini was in the true line of St Francis of Assisi.
Contardo Ferrini was born in 1859 in a modest
apartment in the Via Passerella at Milan. His father, Rinaldo Ferrini,
was a teacher of mathematics and physics, who had married Louisa
Buccellati in the previous year. Rinaldo had also graduated in civil
engineering and architecture, and his son inherited both his
intellectual ability and scientific spirit.
Contardo indeed was a precocious lively child, and though he
first went to school when he was six years old, his schooling had
already begun with his father. According to a school-fellow, study and
his religion were the only things that young Contardo was interested
in. As he grew up he was not free from the emotional disturbances
common to adolescence—an echo of this can be detected in some verses he
wrote for his mother’s name day when he was sixteen. But he weathered
the storm, with the help of a wise and learned priest, Don Adalbert
Catena, a friend of Manzoni and of Verdi. While Don Catena guided
him spiritually, another priest was watching over him intellectually:
this was Mgr Antony Ceriani, prefect of the Ambrosian Library at Milan.
Contardo wanted to read
the Bible in its original languages, and it was to Mgr Ceriani that he
turned to teach him Hebrew. Here, too, he found his father’s insistence
on a scientific approach reinforced: “Don’t trust too much in
second-hand information, even from the learned”, Mgr Ceriani would say.
“Go directly to the sources of the truth.”
A third priest to whom Contardo owed much was a
colleague of his father’s, Don Antony Stoppani, whose geological and
other learning chimed with that love of nature that distinguished
Contardo throughout his life.
In 1876 Contardo entered the law school of the Borromeo
College at Pavia. He was a very serious young man, and one gets the
impression that at this time he was not altogether free from what in
England is called “priggishness”. This might in a measure account for
some of the ill treatment he experienced at the hands of his fellow
students. The patience with which he bore his trials and his general
bearing gained him the nickname of “St Aloysius of the Borromeo”, used
by some in respect and by others in derision. And an apostolic
flame was kindled in him: “To preach by example is good”, he wrote,
“and to preach by the word is good. But what is more effective than to
preach by prayer?”
He became enthusiastic for the formation of a
university-students’ society, a thing then unheard of in Italy and of
which he was a veritable pioneer. Nothing actually came of it till the
year in which he left Pavia for Berlin; the society was then given the
name of St Severinus Boethius and it exists to this day. But the
greater part of Ferrini’s youthful apostolic ideals seem to have borne
no fruit, at any rate visibly; only the results of certain personal
contacts were seen to be lasting. There was Ettore Cappa, who never
forgot that it was Ferrini who introduced him to the writings of
Cardinal Newman, and the life-long friendships with Count Paul Mapelli
and his brother, Count Victor. The letters that he wrote to the
last-named are one of the primary sources for Ferrini’s life and
thought.
Contardo Ferrini gained his doctorate in 1880 and was
awarded a bursary for a year (later extended to two) in the University
of Berlin. Before setting out for this centre of Protestantism he drew
up a “Programme of Life” in the form of a letter to Victor Mapelli; the
document is a valuable testimony to his humble faith and the mystical
trend of his spirit. He was somewhat depressed at leaving home, but his
first impressions of Berlin cheered him: he found the Catholics there
serious and observant, and the Catholic students of the university were
organized and active. In his little book Un po’ d’infinito he notes how
vividly the universality of the Church was brought home to him when he
first went to confession in a foreign land. At the local conference of
the St Vincent de Paul Society (of which he had long been a member) he
became friendly with Professor Maximilian Westermaier, the botanist,
and he was in close contact with Alfred Pernice, Maurice Voigt and
Zachary von Ligenthal. It was the last-named he had in mind when he
wrote, “Protestantism makes a man a very worthy person where our
religion would make him a saint”. As was to be expected, Ferrini was
not among Theodore Mommsen’s intimates, but over twenty years later,
talking with Bartholomew Nogara, then director of the Etruscan Museum
of the Vatican, Mommsen spoke of Ferrini with the greatest respect,
saying that he had removed the primacy in Roman legal studies from
Germany to Italy. “Nor are we jealous”, he added. But there was another
side to Berlin, and Ferrini was “nauseated by the sad sight of so
corrupt a city”. The proximity of wickedness deepened his own
asceticism. Ferrini was then twenty-two, and concerned about what was
his vocation in life. Marriage? The priesthood? The monastic
state? He heard no call to any of them; and towards the end of
1881 he made a vow of lifelong celibacy.*{ *He spoke to none, even of
his intimates, about this vow. This led to occasional embarrassments,
from which Ferrini extricated himself by his wit, which could be
mordant. On one occasion a woman was recommending a girl to his notice
as a suitable wife, emphasizing her expectations: “When her father
dies, she will have so much. When her mother dies, so much. And when
her uncle dies “Oh dear”,
interrupted Ferrini, “What a lot
of corpses!”}
Ferrini returned to Italy in the summer of 1883. He was now engaged on
a critical edition of the Greek paraphrase of the Institutes of
Justinian. In furtherance of this work he visited libraries at
Copenhagen, Paris, Rome and Florence, and perfected that remarkable
knowledge of languages that was so valuable to him in his studies.
German, Latin and Greek he spoke and wrote fluently, and with varying
degrees of facility he knew French, Spanish, English, Dutch, Hebrew,
Syriac, with a smattering of Coptic and Sanskrit. Such qualifications
could not be overlooked, and a year after returning home he was
appointed to a readership in Roman criminal law at the University of
Pavia. Eighteen months later he was promoted to the chair of exegesis
of the sources of Roman law. One of his pupils remembers that the new
professor was very strict but friendly, kind and encouraging with them,
witty in private conversation and never sarcastic. There was a
distinction in his manner and bearing, quite free from hauteur, which
well became the dignity of his position. His life was indeed entirely
devoted to his Maker, but in the natural order his work, as he used to
tell his friends, was his wife; Roman law was his passion, and he made
of his research, his teaching and his erudition “a hymn of praise to
the Lord of all learning”. It was during this period that Ferrini
became a Franciscan tertiary.
In 1887 he was appointed to the professorship of Roman law in the
University of Messina, and for the next seven years he was teaching
there and at Modena, always working with unremitting application and
growing in reputation with each successive publication. But though he
was very happy in Sicily he wanted to get back permanently to the
north, to be near his home and the Ambrosian Library. When therefore he
was invited in 1894 to return to Pavia as successor to Professor Mariani, he accepted
with joy. Thus began the last and most fruitful period of his career.
Ferrini was
concerned with the whole vast field of law, but it was above all in
Roman law
(and especially its Byzantine aspect) that he made his mark. When Professor von
Ligenthal died in 1894 Ferrini, his favourite pupil, inherited not only
his
master’s manuscripts but also his acknowledged leadership in these
studies.
Among those who in one way or another contributed to the success of his
work
were Don Achille Ratti, afterwards
Pope Pius XI, and Dr John Mercati, later
cardinal and librarian and archivist of the Holy Roman Church.
His output was very
large during his short life he was responsible for over two hundred
monographs,
which make five stout volumes, as well as several text books.
But
he found time to
interest himself in public affairs too. After the Piedmontese
occupied Rome in
1870 the Holy See had decided that it was inexpedient for faithful
Catholics to
associate themselves publicly with the new régime, e.g.
by voting in elections of deputies. Ferrini loyally observed
this ruling, while deploring that “our abstention from the legislative
assembly
leaves our legislation unprotected from the most deplorable influences.” This may have
encouraged his own activity in social matters. He was delighted when
Pope Leo
XIII published his encyclical letter “Rerum
Novarum”, on the condition of the working classes. In 1895 he
allowed
himself to be elected to the municipal council of Milan; * his duties
upon
which he took most seriously. {* A member of the council drew
caricatures of
all his fellow members. That of Ferrini he adorned with a halo of
sainthood. It
would be interesting to know if the drawing is still in existence, for
caricatures of saints must be rare—unless Bellarmine jugs can be
considered
such, (Literary caricatures—unintended——are of course another matter
they are
only too common.)}
In the following
years he continued his charitable and public work, doing all he could
to combat
the errors of materialistic socialism, to defend the Italian legal
tradition
of the indissolubility of marriage, and to uphold the religion of
Christ
wherever it was threatened.
Bd Contardo used to
spend his vacations at Suna, on Lake Maggiore, where his father had a
small house.
He was prostrated by his work in the heat of the summer of 1902, and in the early autumn sought
to refresh himself with his
favourite recreation, mountaineering. {There has been argument among
the
experts about whether Ferrini was “an alpinist in the true sense of the
word
“—whatever that may be. He certainly loved mountains and climbed them.}With a friend he
climbed San Martino in Valle Anzasca, and came back to Suna feeling
worse
rather than better. On October 5, a very wet Sunday, he went to Mass,
and on
his return he collapsed. The doctor’s report was grave, but not
alarmingly so
but Bd Contardo got worse, and after some days of delirium he died, of
typhus,
on October 27. He was only forty-three years old. At his bedside was
his
father, the first and greatest of his friends. {They used to work at
Suns both
in the same bare room, their desks facing one another.}
Dr Oggioni has
recollected that he was once walking in Pavia with Ludovic Necchi when
they
passed Professor Ferrini, a wide browed, bearded man in a frock coat.
He
returned their greeting with his usual courtesy and characteristic
sweet smile.
Necchi stopped and exclaimed to his companion, “What is it
about that man? He’s a saint!”
Father Augustine
Gemelli records that many students frequented Ferrini’s lectures not
simply
because of his reputation as a jurist but also because here, at the
dawn of the
twentieth century, was a professor who still believed in God. “Learning
is not
the road to God”, he wrote in Un po’
d’infinito, and “his letters and private
papers all show a single purpose, the search for perfection, which he
pursued with a serenity and simplicity of heart that was echoed by all
and sundry after his quiet spirit was carried away”. Don Achille
Ratti was one of the first publicly to eulogize the dead professor, and
he was one of the promoters of the movement for introducing the cause
of Contardo Ferrini, of which the moving spirit was his old friend
Professor Olivi. In 1947 the beatification took place, and his feast
day has been assigned to October 27.
Addressing an audience of professors, lecturers and other pilgrims at
this time, Pope Pius XII referred to Bd Contardo as a man who “gave an
emphatic ‘Yes’ to the possibility of holiness in these days”. “The
history and development of law and law-making”, he declared, “were for
Ferrini simply an application of the moral and divine law, without
which human legislation is useless for if they are separated from God,
it is only a matter of time before social organization and its
juridical enactments degenerate into tyranny and despotism…It should
give us comfort that in Bd Contardo the Lord has given the Church a
beatus who was a master in the field of law and at the same time a man
of God, one whose exalted spirit and supremely righteous life is a
model for us all.”
Giving evidence in the course of the process, the previous pope, Pius
XI, had said, “My relations with him were purely scientific or were
concerned with the beauties of high mountains. For him these were an
inspiration to holiness and almost a natural revelation of God.”
Ferrini’s appreciation of the material creation was indeed a salient
characteristic, and it was not confined to nature in her gentler
aspects. “God also speaks to man in the clouds on the mountain tops”,
he wrote, “in the roaring of the torrents, in the stark awfulness of
the cliffs, in the dazzling splendour of the unmelting snow, in the sun
that splashes the west with blood, in the wind that strips the trees
bare. Nature lives by the breath of His omnipotence, smiles in its joy
of Him, hides from His wrath—yet greets Him, eternally young, with the
smile of its own youth. For the spirit of God by which nature lives is
a spirit for ever young, incessantly renewing itself, happy in its snow
and rain and mist, for out of these come birth and life, spring ever
renewed and undaunted hope, and all the blessed prerogatives of youth a
thousand times reborn.”
Bd Contardo Ferrini was in the true line of St Francis of Assisi.
A
biography of Contardo Ferrini by J. Fanciulli
was published in 1931, and another, Contardo
Ferrini Santo d’Oggi, by C.
Caminada, in 1947. But the
standard life is by Mgr C.
Pellegrini (1928), of which Father Bede Jarrett says, “The only
criticism to be
made of it is that it is too monumental. Still, the book is a perfect
quarry
from which to hew stones for erecting a shrine to build in his memory.”
And
such a small shrine Father Jarrett himself built in his short
biographical
study of Ferrini (1933). Bd
Contardo’s own Pensieri e Preghiere has
been edited by Father Gemelli, himself “one
of the most striking examples of the influence of Ferrini in Milan and
in Italy
generally”. See also the Miscellanea
Contardo Ferrini, published at Rome in 1947 and 1948.
|
1907 Alexander The holy hierarch; tonsured a monk at the Tbilisi Monastery
of the Transfiguration;
traveled to Kazan theological academy graduated with honors
returned home; taught the Holy Scriptures, Latin, moral theology,
and archaeology at Tbilisi Seminary until July 27, 1851; appointed dean of the Abkhazeti theological school; active as a pedagogue, then as an
archimandrite, and a bishop; beloved
throughout all of Georgian society as he was by the local
population--many called him the “Second Apostle to Abkhazeti.”; hrough his efforts alone 2 Sokhumi churches restored, renewed the magnificent
monasteries of
Shio-Mgvime, Zedazeni, Davit-Gareji, and Shemokmedi, restored Jvari
Church, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Disevi Church, and many other
churches in Guria-Samegrelo, Atchara, and Imereti; devoted special
attention to the Shio-Mgvime Monastery and the surrounding area, which
had been devastated by that time, & founded
diocesan school for women
in Tbilisi;
Alexi Okropiridze in the world was born in 1824, in
the village of Disevi in the Gori district, to the family of the
village priest. Growing up around the church, he received his primary
education at Gori Theological School and later continued his education
at Tbilisi Seminary.
Having completed his course of study at the seminary in 1845, he was
tonsured a monk at the Tbilisi Monastery of the Transfiguration and
given the new name Alexander. From Tbilisi the young monk Alexander
traveled to the theological academy in Kazan to continue his studies.
He graduated with honors and returned to his homeland. Hieromonk
Alexander taught the Holy Scriptures, Latin, moral theology, and
archaeology at Tbilisi Seminary until July 27, 1851.
Then, at the order of the Holy Synod, he was appointed dean of the
theological school in Abkhazeti on September 21, 1851. He was also
entrusted with overseeing monastic life in the Abkhazeti diocese and
with supervising the instruction at Kutaisi Theological School.
Alexander considered a broadening of the network of theological
institutions most essential to the strengthening of the Christian Faith
in his country. From the very beginning of his labors in Abkhazeti, he
exerted an enormous amount of effort to improve the Ilori Theological
School in Ochamchire. At first Alexander was active as a pedagogue,
then from February 29, 1856, as an archimandrite, and from March 4,
1862, as a bishop. He was as beloved throughout all of Georgian society
as he was by the local population, and many called him the “Second
Apostle to Abkhazeti.”
Alexander’s pastoral activity coincided with a difficult period in
Georgian history. The divine services were no longer being celebrated
in the Georgian language, and as a result many of the people began to
drift away from the Church. Many Georgian churches and monasteries,
considered cultural and academic centers from ancient times, were
deserted. (By this time Georgia had been incorporated into the Russian
Empire, and the tsarist government had initiated a policy of forced
Russification.) The Georgian language was no longer being taught in
schools, and the poorest families could not afford to educate their
children.
The learned and erudite Bishop Alexander considered the revival of
spiritual life and learning, firmly rooted in the national
consciousness, the principle means by which to reinvigorate the
national spirit and encourage cultural advance.
Alexander’s efforts on behalf of the revival of the churches and
monasteries in Abkhazeti are, among his many labors, most worthy of
note. Through his efforts alone two churches were restored in Sokhumi.
Outside of Abkhazeti, Alexander renewed the magnificent monasteries of
Shio-Mgvime, Zedazeni, Davit-Gareji, and Shemokmedi. He restored Jvari
Church, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Disevi Church, and many other
churches in Guria-Samegrelo, Atchara, and Imereti. He devoted special
attention to the Shio-Mgvime Monastery and the surrounding area, which
had been devastated by that time.
Owing to St. Alexander’s generous financial contributions, a diocesan
school for women was founded in Tbilisi in 1878.
By his initiative and personal contributions, a great number of
spiritual and historical books, textbooks and collections of sacred
hymns were published. Not a single God-pleasing project was undertaken
without Alexander’s support.
St. Alexander spent the remainder of his days at the Shio-Mgvime
Monastery, which he himself had restored. Only once—on September 9,
1907, the day his spiritual son St. Ilia the Righteous was buried— did
he step outside the monastery walls. The eighty-three year-old
Alexander outlived the great son of Georgia by two months and fell
asleep in the Lord on October 27 of the same year. St. Alexander is
buried at Shio-Mgvime Monastery.
|
Day
34 40 Days for Life campaign
Dear Readers,
Here's the latest video, a touching three-minute report from the
frontlines in Toledo, OH:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=464
As we enter the final days of this 40 Days for Life campaign, please
keep in mind that God does not always grant the blessing of seeing
immediate results from our efforts. Such is the case in one 40
Days for Life community where the campaign has been conducted several
times. Participants knew that because of their peaceful, prayerful
witness outside the abortion clinic, lives had been saved from
abortion. But what was really going on inside that building?
One person found out in a most surprising way. This person was not
scheduled to pray at this particular day and time, but stopped by the
vigil following a meeting. The clinic manager stepped outside to clean
windows, so the vigil participant saw an opportunity. "I spoke kindly
and introduced myself."
About half an hour later, the manager came out and asked to talk --
"and invited me into the clinic!" To say the least, what followed
was an interesting conversation.
The manager wanted to explain and justify what goes on at the clinic,
but it seemed like this clinic staffer was offering excuses for being
involved in the abortion business. Furthermore, the manager professed
to be a Christian who was certain "in my heart" that this was God's
calling, and that what goes on in the clinic is not wrong.
"I asked if the manager's heart had ever been wrong," said the vigil
participant, "and did my best to lovingly communicate my disagreement
and the reasons I am passionate about defending both the unborn and
their mothers. I said that Jesus cared for children, and that it does
not matter what anyone thinks about when a fetus is a person or whether
abortion is wrong. What matters is what God thinks; what Jesus thinks."
If not for 40 Days for Life, this vigil participant would have been
somewhere else, would not have spoken to the clinic manager -- and
would certainly not have been invited inside for this discussion that
planted many seeds.
Is the clinic manager reconsidering the abortion business? We pray! Or
as the vigil participant said, "Please pray that God would use my small
efforts and words to accomplish big things!"
And sometimes it does take time.
Again with today's reports, I'm not mentioning locations because these
are "works in progress," and I don't want publicity to unsettle any
hearts that may be in the process of changing -- or give the abortion
industry a reason to threaten or pressure workers who are considering
quitting. Just pray!
At another 40 Days for Life vigil, the prayer team has been praying
specifically for a security guard -- ever since the first coordinated
40 Days for Life campaign in 2007.
Last week, the security guard and a clinic escort approached the local
coordinator with a request -- to pray that another pro-lifer, who was
not associated with 40 Days for Life, would leave. This particular
individual was described as "harsh."
"Well, you pray for everything else," said the security guard, "so I
thought maybe..."
The coordinator said praying for the person to leave was out of the
question, "but I could ask him to reconsider the tone of his message,
and we could pray that he would say what God gave him to say. They were
actually happy with that response, and thanked me."
While the local coordinator took all this with a grain of salt, they
have been praying for this security guard for more than two years now.
"It comes as a sign to me," the coordinator said, "and I am overjoyed!
A beginning is a beginning. Blessed be God!"
Here's today's devotional from Carmen Pate, Co-host of the "Point of
View" radio talk show...
DAY 35 INTENTION
Pray for post-abortive women who cannot forgive themselves; may they
understand that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus.
SCRIPTURE
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sin is
covered. Blessed is the one to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.--
Romans 4:7-8
REFLECTION by Carmen Pate
In the passage above, the Apostle Paul making a point about
justification by faith, refers back to David's words in Psalm 32:1-2.
In spite of the enormity of David's sin -- adultery with Bathsheba and
his murder of her husband -- and the utter absence of any personal
merit, David in his brokenness, understood the imputed righteousness of
God. David's response was not continued guilt over his sins, but praise
for his freedom from guilt, and God's power to live life differently.
Once your relationship with God has been restored, your guilt has
served its purpose and should no longer be given place in your life.
This is true regardless of the sin, including the sin of abortion. As a
post-abortive woman, I too struggled with this issue until I realized
that punishing and hating myself after receiving God's forgiveness was
an insult to God.
It was as though I were minimizing Christ's work on the cross as
insufficient to cover my sin. I was denying Him the opportunity to
bring glory to His name for the healing and restoration He wanted to do
in my life. I was giving victory to the enemy who having lost the
battle for my soul, was bent on destroying my testimony as I accepted
the continual guilt he heaped on my mind.
It is my joy to continually sing of God's grace rather than give the
devil a foothold in my life. Don't waste God's mercy! Accept His
forgiveness and forgive yourself as testimony of His amazing grace.
PRAYER
Our Most Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for your amazing grace
that saved a wretch like me. I come against the enemy of my soul who
would have me feel cast down and dejected.
Lord, keep your children from falling prey to the accusations of the
father of lies. Turn our mourning into dancing and may we bring praise
to you as we give testimony of Your healing and restoration in our
lives. For by His grace we are saved, Amen.
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Saints of this Day October 27 Sexto Kaléndas
Novémbris
Quote: Pope
Paul
VI’s 1969 
Among the most important titles we have in
the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory
and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of
the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom.
The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our
Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for
the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope
Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City
praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing
the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in
using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require
spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had
its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.