Saint Mark, also called
John, (Acts 12:12), was a nephew of St Barnabas, and was Bishop of
Apollonia (Col. 4:10). It was in the house of his mother Maria that the
persecuted disciples found shelter after the Ascension of the Lord.
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St Justus, called
Barsaba, a son of St Joseph the Betrothed, was chosen with Matthias to
replace Judas. He was a bishop and died a martyr's death at
Eleutheropolis.
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St.
Artemas
Bishop
disciple of St. Paul
He is mentioned by St. Paul in his letter to Titus [Titus 3:12 "When I
shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me
to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter."].
Artemas is believed to have served as the bishop of Lystra.
Saint Artemas
numbered
among the Seventy Disciples of the Lord, Bishop of the Lycian city of
Lystra and died in peace.
Artemas of Lystra B (AC) 1st century. The Greeks
venerated
this
disciple of Saint Paul, who is mentioned by the apostle in his letter
to Titus (3:12). A later tradition has made of him a bishop of Lystra
(Benedictines).
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Marcian, Bishop of
Syracuse,The Holy Hieromartyr a
disciple of the Apostle Peter, was sent to Sicily. Here he settled in a
cave near the city of Syracuse and successfully spread the faith in
Christ. He died a martyr. His relics are in the Italian city of Gaeta.
(The Hieromartyr Marcian is the same person as St Marcellus, Bishop of
Sicily, commemorated on February 9).
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1st v. St Tertius
was the second bishop (after St Sosipater) in Iconium, where he
converted many pagans to Christ, and ended his life as a martyr. The
Apostle Paul mentions him in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 16:22).
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211
St. Serapion Bishop of Antioch; ecclesiastical writer
Antiochíæ sancti Serapiónis Epíscopi,
eruditióne claríssimi.
At Antioch, St. Serapion, a bishop very celebrated
for his learning.
He was much praised by St. Jerome and Eusebius of
Caesarea for his theological writings, and he was considered one of the
chief theologians of his era. He became bishop of Antioch, Syria, in
190, and. was revered as a theologian. Only fragments of his work have
survived. Among the extant writings are a letter to the Church of
Rhossus forbidding the reading of the non-canonical Gospel of St. Peter
and a letter against the heresy of Montanism.
212 ST SERAPION, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH
THE late fourth-century Syriac document called the Doctrine of Addai
refers to Serapion as having been consecrated by Zephyrinus, Bishop of
Rome, but he seems to have been bishop of Antioch for some years before
the pontificate of St Zephyrinus began. The Roman Martyrology says he
was famous for his learning, and it is for his theological writings
that he is remembered. Eusebius gives an extract from a private letter
written to Caricus and Pontius, in which he condemns Montanism, which
was being propagated by the pseudo-prophecies of two hysterical women.
He also wrote expostulating with a certain Domninus who had apostatized
under persecution and turned to Jewish “will-worship”.
During the episcopate of Serapion trouble arose in the church of
Rhossos in Cilicia about the public reading of the so-called Gospel of
Peter, an apocryphal work of gnostic provenance. At first Serapion, not
knowing its contents and trusting to the orthodoxy of his flock
permitted it to be read. Then he borrowed a copy from the sect who used
it, “whom we call Docetae” (that is, illusionists, because they
affirmed that our Lord’s manhood was not real but an illusion), and having read it wrote
to the church at Rhossos to forbid its use; for he found in it, he
says, “some
additions to the true teaching of the Saviour”, and tells them he will
soon be
visiting them to expound the true faith.
This Serapion has no cultus in the East;
but he is named
in the Roman Martyrology, and the Carmelites, who make the
surprising claim
that he belonged to their order, keep his feast.
All,
practically speaking, that is known concerning St
Serapion of Antioch is recounted and commented upon by the Bollandists
in vol.
xiii for October. The references to this name, however, contained in
the Doctrine of Addai, had apparently not
attracted their attention but these, as pointed out under St Addai
(August 5),
are quite unreliable, it is interesting to note that in the early
Syriac breviarium we have mention on May 14 of
“Serapion,
Bishop of Antioch”.
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235 In Sardínia
natális sancti Pontiáni, Papæ et Mártyris,
qui, ab Alexándro Imperatóre, una cum Hippólyto
Presbytero, in eam ínsulam deportátus, ibídem,
mactátus fústibus, martyrium consummávit.
Ejus corpus a beáto Fabiáno Papa Romam delátum
est, atque in cœmetério Callísti sepúltum.
Ipsíus tamen festum recólitur tertiodécimo
Kaléndas Decémbris.
In Sardinia, the birthday of St. Pontian, pope and
martyr. In the company of the priest Hippolytus, he was exiled by
Emperor Alexander, and achieved martyrdom by being scourged. His
body was brought to Rome by blessed Pope Fabian and buried in the
cemetery of Callistus. His feast, however, is celebrated on the
19th of November.
235 Pope Saint Pontian or
Pontianus, was pope from July 21, 230 to September 28.
ST PONTIAN, POPE AND MARTYR
PONTIAN, who is said to have been Roman, followed St Urban I as bishop
of Rome about the year 230. The only known event of his pontificate is
the synod held at Rome that confirmed the condemnation already
pronounced at Alexandria of certain doctrines attributed to Origen. At
the beginning of the persecution by the Emperor Maximinus the pope was
exiled to Sardinia, an island described as nociva, "unhealthy“, whereby
perhaps the mines were meant; here he resigned his office. How much
longer he lived and the manner of his death are not known:
traditionally life was beaten out of him with sticks. Some years later
Pope St Fabian translated his body to the cemetery of St Callistus in
Rome, where in 1909 his original epitaph was found: PONTIANOC EPICK
MPT, the last word having been added later.
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250 St.
Macarius Martyr with companions at Alexandria
In Africa natális sanctórum Mártyrum
ducentórum vigínti.
In Africa, the birthday of two hundred and twenty
holy martyrs.
Alexandríæ sanctórum trédecim
Mártyrum, qui, cum sanctis Juliáno, Euno et
Macário, passi sunt sub Décio Imperatóre.
At Alexandria, in the reign of Decius, thirteen holy
martyrs who suffered with Saints Julian, Eunus, and Macarius.
Egypt. They may be
identical with the martyr commemorated on February
28.
Julian, Eunus, Macarius & Comps. MM (RM). Saint Julian
and Saint
Eunus are identical with the martyrs of that name commemorated on
February 27; Saint Macarius is again mentioned on December 8. The
duplication has been caused by the insertion in the Roman Martyrology
of another group of 16 Alexandrian martyrs that includes the above.
This larger group is commemorated in the Greek calendar on this day
(Benedictines).
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253 Saint
Eutropia
of Africa martyred at Alexandria M (RM)
Alexandríæ sanctæ Eutrópiæ
Mártyris, quæ, Mártyres vísitans,
apprehénsa est, et, cum illis sævíssime
cruciáta, réddidit spíritum.
At Alexandria, the martyr St. Eutropia, who was
arrested while visiting the martyrs, and rendered up her soul after
being cruelly tortured with them.
Saint Eutropia was martyred
at Alexandria, probably under Valerian
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
The Martyr Eutropia
suffered for Christ in Alexandria in about the year 250. Often visiting
Christians locked up in prison, she encouraged them to endure suffering
with patience. For this, the saint was arrested. At her trial she
firmly confessed her faith in Christ. As she was being burned with
candles, a man appeared beside her and soothed her sufferings. He
bedewed her so that she did not feel the heat of the flames. She died
after these grievous tortures.
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Saint Anastasia
lived in the second half of the third century during the persecutions
of Decius, Gallus, Valerian, and Diocletian. She was executed in Rome
between 256-259 after enduring many tortures.
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285 Zenobius, St Zenobius is invoked by those
suffering from breast cancer.
Bishop of Aegea The Hieromartyr, and his sister Zenobia suffered a martyr's death in Cilicia
From childhood they were raised
in the holy Christian Faith by their parents, and they led pious and
chaste lives. In their mature years, shunning the love of money, they
distributed away their inherited wealth giving it to the poor. For his
beneficence and holy life the Lord rewarded Zenobius with the gift of
healing various maladies. He was also chosen bishop of a Christian
community in Cilicia.
As bishop, St Zenobius zealously spread the Christian Faith among the
pagans. When the emperor Diocletian (284-305) began a persecution
against Christians, Bishop Zenobius was the first one arrested and
brought to trial to the governor Licius. "I shall only speak briefly
with you," said Licius to the saint, "for I propose to grant you life
if you worship our gods, or death, if you do not." The saint answered,
"This present life without Christ is death. It is better that I prepare
to endure the present torment for my Creator, and then with Him live
eternally, than to renounce Him for the sake of the present life, and
then be tormented eternally in Hades."
By order of Licius, they nailed him to a cross and began the torture.
The bishop's sister, seeing him suffering, wanted to stop it. She
bravely confessed her own faith in Christ before the governor,
therefore, she also was tortured.
By the power of the Lord they remained alive after being placed on a
red-hot iron bed, and then in a boiling kettle. The saints were then
beheaded. The priest Hermogenes secretly buried the bodies of the
martyrs in a single grave.
St Zenobius is invoked by
those suffering from breast cancer.
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298 Saint Marcellus of
Tangier M (RM) (also known as Marcellus the Centurion).
Tingi, in Mauritánia, pássio sancti Marcélli
Centuriónis, qui, sanctórum Cláudii ac
Lupérci et Victórii Mártyrum pater, cápitis
abscissióne martyrium complévit sub Agricoláo,
agénte vices Præfécti prætório.
At Tangier in Morocco, St. Marcellus, a centurion,
the father of Saints Claudius, Lupercus, and Victorius. He
achieved martyrdom by beheading under Agricola, deputy praetor for
Praefectus.
298 ST MARCELLUS THE CENTURION, MARTYR
PARTICULARS of the passion of St Marcellus, one of the isolated martyrs
before the outbreak of the great persecution of Diocletian, are
preserved for us in a trustworthy account. Father Delehaye points out
that the case of the centurion Marcellus is analogous to that of the
conscript Maximilian (March 12). Though they were not urged to
sacrifice or to do some other act of idolatry, both of them judged—
contrary to the opinion of most—that military service was incompatible
with the practice of the Christian religion. Both of them were
condemned to death for breach of discipline. Their contemporaries,
without making subtle inquiries into the determining cause of the
sentence, looked only to the religious motive that animated these
heroes, and judged them worthy of the glorious name of martyr
The brief document runs as follows.
In the city of Tingis [Tangier], during the administration
of the president Fortunatus, when all were feasting on the emperor’s
birthday, a certain Marcellus, one of the centurions, condemning these
banquets as heathen, cast away his soldier’s belt in front of the
standards of the legion which were there. And he testified in a loud
voice, saying, “I serve Jesus Christ the eternal king. I will no longer
serve your emperors, and I scorn to worship your gods of wood and
stone, which are deaf and dumb idols.”
The soldiers were dumbfounded at hearing such things; they laid hold on
him, and reported the matter to the president Fortunatus, who ordered
him to be thrown into prison. When the feasting was over, he gave
orders, sitting in council that the man should be brought in. When this
was done, Astasius Fortunatus the president said to Marcellus, “What
did you mean by ungirding yourself contrary to military discipline, and
casting away your belt and vine-switch?”
[The distinctive badge of the centurion].
Marcellus: On July 21, in the presence of the standards of your legion,
when you celebrated the festival of the emperor, I made answer openly
and clearly that I was a Christian and that I could not accept this
allegiance, but could serve only Jesus Christ, the Son of God the
Father Almighty.
FORTUNATUS: I cannot pass over your rash conduct, and therefore I shall
report this matter to the emperors and Caesar. You shall be sent to my
lord Aurelius Agricolan, deputy for the praetorian prefects.
On October 30 at Tingis, the centurion Marcellus having been brought
into court, it was officially reported: “Fortunatus the president has
referred Marcellus, a centurion, to your authority. There is here a
letter from him, which at your command I will
read.” Agricolan said, “Let it be
read.” The official report was read: “From Fortunatus to you, my lord”,
et reliqua. Then Agricolan asked, “Did
you say these things as set out in the president’s official report?”
MARCELLUS: I
did.
AGRICOLAN : Were you
serving as a regular centurion
MARCELLUS: I was
AGRIC0LAN: What madness possessed you to throw
away the badges of your allegiance and to speak as you did
MARCELLUS: There is
no madness in those who fear God.
AGRICOLAN; Did you
say each of the things contained in the president’s report
MARCELLUS: I did.
AGRICOLAN: Did you
cast away your arms?
MARCELLUS: I did.
For it was not right for a Christian man, who serves the Lord Christ,
to serve
in the armies of the world.
“The doings of
Marcellus are such as must be visited with disciplinary
punishment”, said
Agricolan, and he pronounced sentence: Marcellus, who held the rank of
a
regular centurion, having admitted that he degraded himself by openly
throwing
off his allegiance, and having moreover used insane speech, as appears
in the
official report, it is our pleasure that he be put to death by the
sword.”
When he was being
led to execution, Marcellus said, “May God be good to you, Agricolan”.
In so
seemly a way did the glorious martyr Marcellus pass out of this world.
It
is generally admitted that
the Acts of Marcellus are
representative of the
most trustworthy class of such documents (cf. for example, Harnack, Chronologie,
vol. ii, pp. 473—474). In Analecta
Bollandiana, vol. xli (1923), pp.
257—287, Father Delehaye edited
and commented the two texts, a setting which has been taken into
account in G.
Kruger’s 3rd edition of Knopf’s Ausgewählte
Martyrerakten (1929). See also
P. Franchi de’ Cavalieri in Nuovo Bullettino
di Arch. Grist., 1906, pp. 237—267 and B. de Gaiffier, Analecta
Bollandiana, vol. lxi (1943), pp. 116—139. Cf. St
Cassian, December 3.
During the festivities held by
a Roman legion at Tingis (Tangiers) in celebration of Emperor
Maximian's birthday the centurion Marcellus, regarding such festivities
as idolatrous, refused to sacrifice to the gods. He threw off his
military belt and tossed away his arms and vine-branch, the insignia of
his rank. When the festival was over, he was brought before a judge
named Fortunatus. When questioned, Marcellus declared, "I serve only
the eternal king, Jesus Christ."
Fortunatus remanded Marcellus to lay his case before Emperor Maximian
and Constantius Caesar, who was then in Spain and favorably disposed to
Christians. Instead Marcellus taken under guard before the deputy
praetorian prefect, Aurelius Agricolan, who was then at Tangier. After
an exchange between the two that is still preserved, Marcellus pleaded
guilty to repudiating his allegiance to an earthly leader, and was
executed by sword for impiety.
It was afterwards said that the official shorthand writer, Saint
Cassian, was so indignant at the sentence that he refused to report the
proceedings, and that he too was executed in consequence. In all
probability this is a fictitious addition to the authentic account of
Saint Marcellus, though there seems to have been a martyr at Tangier
named Cassian.
The relics of Saint Marcellus were translated to León, Spain,
were they are kept in a rich shrine. Marcellus is the patron of the
city (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Husenbeth).
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285-290 St. Zenobius
physician in town of Aegae & Zenobia sister Martyrs
Ægéæ, in Cilícia, pássio
sanctórum Zenóbii Epíscopi, et
Zenóbiæ soróris, sub Diocletiáno
Imperatóre et Lysia Præside.
At Aegea in Cilicia, in the reign of Diocletian,
under the governor Lysias, the martyrdom of Saints Zenobius, bishop,
and his sister Zenobia.
Zenobius and Zenobia (d. late third century) + Martyrs
slain during the
persecutions of co-Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305). Zenobius was a
physician in the town of Aegae, in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and
Zenobia was his sister. There is a strong possibility that Zenobius may
have been a bishop or may be Zenobius of Antioch.
Zenobius and Zenobia MM (RM) Died . Bishop Zenobius, a physician at
Aegae (now Alexandretta) on the coast of Asia Minor, is probably
identical with the saint of the same name from Antioch, whose body was
torn with hooks. If this is so, his martyrdom took place somewhat later
under Diocletian. Zenobia is said to have been his sister
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia). |
300 Claudius,
Lupercus
& Victorius 3 brothers sons of centurion Saint Marcellus
MM
(RM)
Legióne, in Hispánia, sanctórum Mártyrum
Cláudii, Lupérci et Victórii, filiórum
sancti Marcélli Centuriónis; qui, in persecutióne
Diocletiáni et Maximiáni, sub Diogeniáno
Præside, jussi sunt decollári.
At Leon in Spain, the holy martyrs Claudius,
Lupercus, and Victorius, the sons of St. Marcellus the centurion.
They were condemned to be beheaded by Diogenian, the governor, in the
persecution of Diocletian and Maximian.
These three brothers, sons of the centurion Saint
Marcellus, were
martyred at León, Spain, during the reign of Diocletian. They
are the titular saints of Saint Claudius in Galicia, one of the
earliest Benedictine abbeys in Spain (Benedictines).
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303 Saint Saturninus
of
Cagliari M (RM)
Cárali, in Sardínia, sancti Saturníni
Mártyris, qui, in persecutióne Diocletiáni, sub
Bárbaro Præside, cápite truncátus est.
At Cagliari in Sardinia, St. Saturninus, martyr, who
was beheaded under the governor Barbarus, during the persecution of
Diocletian.
According to his untrustworthy acta, Saint Saturninus was
beheaded
during a pagan festival of Jupiter at Cagliari, Sardinia, under
Diocletian (Benedictines).
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304 St.
Maximus
Martyr believed to have suffered at Apamea, Phrygia
Apaméæ, in Phrygia, sancti Máximi Mártyris,
sub eódem Diocletiáno
At Apamea in Phrygia, St. Maximus, martyr, under the
same Diocletian.
in modern Turkey. He may
have been martyred at Cuma, in Campania,
Italy.
Maximus of Cumae M (RM). According to the Roman Martyrology, Saint
Maximus was martyred at Apamea in Phrygia under Diocletian. However, it
is more likely that he died at Cuma (the ancient Cumae) in Campania,
Italy (Benedictines).
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410 Saint
Asterius of
Amasea; renowned preacher; encouraged invocation of saints relic
veneration; pilgrimages to pray before them B (AC)
410 ST ASTERIUS, Bishop OF AMASEA
ALL that is known
about the life of this saint, apart from his episcopate, is from his
own statement
that he was educated by a very able Scythian or Goth, who had himself
been
educated at Antioch, and that he was a rhetor before receiving holy
orders.
St Asterius was a preacher of considerable
power, and twenty-one of his homilies are extant.
In his panegyric of
St Phocas he established the invocation of saints, the honouring of
their
relics, pilgrimages to pray before them, and miracles wrought through
them. In
the following sermon, on the holy martyrs, he says, “We keep their
bodies
decently enshrined as precious pledges vessels of benediction, the
organs of
their blessed souls, the tabernacles of their holy minds. We put
ourselves
under their protection. The martyrs defend the Church as soldiers guard
a
citadel. The people flock from all quarters and keep great festivals to
honour
their tombs. All who labour under the heavy load of afflictions fly to
them for
refuge. We employ them as intercessors in our prayers...”
St
Asterius describes with what magnificence and crowds of people the
feasts of
martyrs were celebrated. He says some people condemned the honours paid
to them
and their relics, and answers, “We by no means worship the martyrs, but
we
honour them as the true worshippers of God. We lay their bodies in rich
sepulchre and put up
stately shrines of their repose that we may be stirred to an emulation
of their
honours.”
This St Asterius is
not named in the Roman Martyrology, but there is another therein on
October 21,
who is said to have taken the body of St Callistus from the well into
which it
was thrown. He himself was cast into the Tiber and so gave his life.
There is no formal Life of St Asterius, but various
references to him have been brought together in the Acta
Sanctorum, October, vol. xiii. Some of his discourses have
been made the subject of separate discussion. See, for example, A.
Bretz, Studien und Texte zu Asterius von Amasea, and
M. Richard in Revise biblique, 1935, pp. 538—548.
Bishop
Asterius of Amasea in Pontus, Asia Minor ( part of the Persian
Empire), was renowned as a preacher.
The extant writings of Asterius are twenty-one scriptural homilies on
penance, the beginning of the fasts, various spiritual and doctrinal
matters as well as a work on the life of his predecessor, Saint Basil.
From his writings we know that he studied rhetoric (under classic
Greek orator Demosthenes) and law in his youth. Although he practiced
as a barrister for a time, he could not long ignore his calling to the
priesthood, which eventually led to his elevation to the see of Amasea.
Saint Gregory the Great describes
this good pastor as overflowing with the Holy
Spirit.
His sermons highly recommend charity to the
poor, revealing his own
favorite virtue. His place in time is known because of the references
he makes in his sermons to Julian the Apostate and the Consul
Eutropius. They also show that the Church already kept the feasts of
Christmas, Easter, Epiphany, and martyrs. His reflections are just and
solid; the expression natural, elegant, and animated. They abound with
lively images and descriptions both of persons and things.
In his homily on Saints Peter and Paul, Saint Asterius repeatedly
teaches the pre-eminent jurisdiction Saint Peter received over all
Christians.
His panegyric to Saint Phocas
encourages the invocation of saints, the veneration of their relics,
and pilgrimages to pray before them.
The following passage is from
his sermon, On
the Holy Martyrs:
"We keep through every age their bodies decently
enshrined, as most
precious pledges; vessels of benediction, the organs of their blessed
souls, the tabernacles of their holy minds. We put ourselves under
their protection. The martyrs defend the church, as soldiers guard a
citadel. The people flock in crowds from all quarters, and keep great
festivals to honor their tombs.
"All who labor under the heavy load of afflictions fly to them for
refuge. We employ them as intercessors in our prayers and suffrages. In
these refuges the hardships of poverty are eased, diseases cured, the
threats of princes appeased. A parent, taking a sick child in his arms,
postpones physicians, and runs to one of the martyrs, offering by him
his prayer to the Lord, and addressing him whom he employs for his
mediator in such word as these.
"'You who have suffered for Christ, intercede for one who suffers by
sickness. By that great power and confidence you have, offer a prayer
on behalf of fellow-servants. Though you are now removed from us, you
know what men on earth feel in their sufferings and diseases. You
formerly prayed to martyrs, before you were yourself a martyr. You then
obtained your request by asking; now you are possessed of what you
asked, in your turn assist me. By your crown ask what may be our
advancement. If another is going to be married, he begins his
undertaking by soliciting the prayers of the martyrs. Who, putting to
sea, weighs anchor before he has invoked the Lord of the sea by the
martyrs?'"
The saint describes with what magnificence and concourse of people the
feasts of martyrs were celebrated over the whole world. He says, the
Gentiles and the Eunomian heretics, whom he calls New Jews, condemned
the honors paid to martyrs, and their relics; to whom he answers:
"We by no means adore the martyrs, but we honor them as the true
adorers of God. We lay their bodies in rich shrines and sepulchers, and
erect stately tabernacles of their repose, that we may be stirred up to
an emulation of their honors.
Nor is our devotion to them without its recompense; for we enjoy their
patronage with God." He says the New Jews, or Eunomians, do not honor
the martyrs, because they blaspheme the King of martyrs, making Christ
unequal to his Father.
He tells them that they ought at least to respect the voice of the
devils, who are forced to confess the power of the martyrs:
"Those whom we have seen bark like dogs, and who were seized with
frenzy, and are now come to their senses, prove by their cure how
effectual the intercession of martyrs is."
He closes this sermon with a devout and confident address to the
martyrs (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
Asterius of Amasea fame spread among the Greeks and
Romans.
He became famous because his amazing skill as an orator and
demonstrated a striking power of expression and riveting
eloquence. The homilies of Asterius, like those of Zeno of
Verona, offer many insights into the moral theology and doctrine of
early Church of the late fourth and early fifth centuries. They show,
for instance, that the Church already established the tradition
of celebrating the feasts of Christmas, Easter, Epiphany, and of the
martyrs. Asterius repeatedly taught the pre-eminent authority and
jurisdiction of Saint Peter and his successors as head of the visible
Church with authority over all Christians.
From a homily by Saint Asterius
of Amasea Source: The Liturgy of the Hours -
Office of Readings
Be shepherds like the Lord
 You were made in the
image of God. If then you wish to resemble him, follow his example.
Since the very name you bear as Christians is a profession of love for
men, imitate the love of Christ. Reflect for a moment on the wealth of
his kindness. Before he came as a man to be among men, he sent John the
Baptist to preach repentance and lead men to practice it.
John himself was preceded by the prophets, who were to teach the people
to repent, to return to God and to amend their lives. Then Christ came
himself, and with his own lips cried out: Come to me, all you who labor
and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. How did he receive
those who listened to his call? He readily forgave them their sins; he
freed them instantly from all that troubled them. The Word made them
holy; the Spirit set his seal on them. The old Adam was buried in the
waters of baptism; the new man was reborn to the vigor of grace.
What was the result? Those who had been God's enemies became his
friends, those estranged from him became his sons, those who did not
know him came to worship and love him.
Let us then be shepherds like the Lord. We must meditate on the Gospel,
and as we see in this mirror the example of zeal and loving kindness,
we should become thoroughly schooled in these virtues. For there,
obscurely, in the form of a parable, we see a shepherd who had a
hundred sheep. When one of them was separated from the flock and lost
its way, that shepherd did not remain with the sheep who kept together
at pasture. No, he went off to look for the stray. He crossed many
valleys and thickets, he climbed great and towering mountains, he spent
much time and labor in wandering through solitary places until at last
he found his sheep. When he found it, he did not chastise it; he
did not use rough blows to drive it back, but gently placed it on his
own shoulders and carried it back to the flock. He took greater joy in
this one sheep, lost and found, than in all the others. Let us look
more closely at the hidden meaning of this parable. The sheep is more
than a sheep, the shepherd more than a shepherd. They are examples
enshrining holy truths. They teach us that we should not look on men as
lost or beyond hope; we should not abandon them when they are in danger
or be slow to come to their help. When they turn away from the right
path and wander, we must lead them back, and rejoice at their return,
welcoming them back into the company of those who lead good and holy
lives.
|
425
St. Theonestus martyr Bishop supposedly of Philippi
Altíni, in Venetórum fínibus, sancti
Theonésti, Epíscopi et Mártyris, qui ab
Ariánis occísus est.
At Altino, in the neighbourhood of Venice, St.
Theonestus, bishop and martyr, who was slain by the Arians.
Macedonia, and was forced to
leave his see because of the threats and
savagery of the Arians. Sent by the pope to help evangelize a part of
Germany, he was again compelled to flee because of the peril of the
invading Vandals. He may have been martyred on his return journey, in
Veneto, northern Italy. It is possible that another saint, Theonestus
of Veneto, may have been a local martyr merely confused with the
bishop.
Theonestus of Altino BM (RM). Saint Theonestus, reputed bishop of
Philippi, Macedonia. is said to have been driven from his see by the
Arians and to have been sent by the pope with several companions (among
whom was Saint Alban of Mainz) to evangelize Germany. When they arrived
at Mainz, they were obliged to flee from the invading Vandals, and on
their way home Theonestus was martyred at Altino in the Veneto.
Probably Theonestus is a local martyr of Altino having no connection
with the others (Benedictines).
|
St.
Herbert Bishop of Marmoutier
France, and archbishop of
Tours, France. No details of his life survive.
Herbert of Tours, OSB B
(AC) Dates unknown. Abbot Herbert of
Marmoûtier was later elevated to archbishop of Tours, France
(Benedictines).
|
5th v. Saint Lucanus of
Lagny M (RM)
Lutétiæ Parisiórum
sancti Lucáni Mártyris. At Paris, St.
Lucanus, martyr.
Saint Lucanus is reputed
to have been martyred at Lagny, near Paris,
where his relics are enshrined and where he is venerated as patron
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia). In art, he carries his own head (Roeder).
|
St.
Arilda Virgin, martyr of Gloucestershire
England. She was slain
while defending her chastity. St. Arilda is honored by a church on
Oldbury on the Hill.
Arilda of Gloucestershire VM (AC) Date unknown. Saint
Arilda,
Gloucestershire virgin, died in defense of her chastity. The church at
Oldbury-on-the-Hill is dedicated to her (Benedictines).
|
6th v.
Talarica
of Scotland Mentioned in the Aberdeen Breviary B (AC)
(also known as Talarican)
A bishop, probably Pictish, in whose honor
various Scottish churches were dedicated. Mentioned in the Aberdeen
Breviary (Benedictines).
|
545 Bishop
Saint
Germanus of Capua Saint Benedict saw his soul being carried to heaven B
(RM)
Cápuæ sancti Germáni, Epíscopi et
Confessóris, magnæ sanctitátis viri; cujus
ánimam, in hora óbitus ejus, ab Angelis in cælum
deférri sanctus Benedíctus aspéxit.
At Capua, St. Germanus, bishop and confessor, a man
of great sanctity, whose soul, at the very hour of death, was seen by
St. Benedict taken to heaven by angels.
Bishop Saint Germanus of
Capua (Italy) was a great friend of Saint
Benedict. In 519, Pope Saint Hormisdas sent Germanus to Constantinople
as papal legate to heal the 40-year-old Acacian schism. Although the
schism was abolished, Germanus appears to have met with ill-treatment
at the hands of the schismatics, but escaped. At the hour of Germanus's
death, Saint Benedict saw his soul being carried to heaven.
Pope Saint Gregory the
Great
relates (Dialogues, 4, 40):
"While I was young and
still a layman, I heard told to the seniors, who
were well-informed men, how the Deacon Paschasius appeared to Germanus,
bishop of Capua. Paschasius, deacon of the Apostolic See, whose books
on the Holy Spirit are still extant, was a man of eminent sanctity,
devoted to works of charity, zealous for the relief of the poor, and
most forgetful of self.
"A dispute having arisen concerning a
pontifical
election, Paschasius separated himself from the bishops, and joined the
party disapproved by the episcopacy. Soon after this he died, with a
reputation for sanctity which God confirmed by a miracle: an
instantaneous cure was effected on the day of the funeral by the simple
touch of his dalmatic.
"Long after this, Germanus, bishop of
Capua, was
sent by the physicians to the baths of Saint Angelo. What was his
astonishment to find the same Deacon Paschasius employed in the most
menial offices at the baths!
"'Here I
expiate,' said the
apparition, 'the wrong I did by adhering to the wrong party. I beseech
of you, pray to the Lord for me: you will know that you have been heard
when you shall no longer see me in these places.'
"Germanus began to pray for the deceased,
and after
a few days, returning to the baths, sought in vain for Paschasius, who
had disappeared. He had but to undergo a temporary punishment because
he had sinned through ignorance, and not through malice."
(Benedictines, Husenbeth, Schouppe).
540 ST GERMANUS, Bishop
of CAPUA; bishop’s prayers
released Paschasius from Purgatory; personal
friend of St Benedict who saw Germanus carried by the ministry of
angels to
eternal bliss
THIS holy prelate
was sent by Pope St Hormisdas with other legates to the Emperor
Justin
in 519 to persuade the
Byzantines to put an end to the “Acacian schism”
which had continued thirty-five years. The embassy was attended with
success;
and the signature of the pope’s famous “Formula” ended the schism.
St Gregory the
Great relates on the authority of “his
elders” that Germanus saw Paschasius, deacon of Rome, in Purgatory long
after
his death for having adhered to the schism of Laurence against Pope
St
Symmachus, and that he was purging his fault as an attendant at the
hot
springs, whither Germanus had been sent to bathe for the good of his
health.
Within a few days the bishop’s prayers released Paschasius.
St Germanus was a
personal friend of St Benedict who, again according to the account of
St
Gregory, when he was at Monte Cassino saw in a vision the soul of
Germanus, at
the hour of his departure, carried by the ministry of angels to eternal
bliss.
His death happened about the year 540.
A
manuscript of the eleventh century at Monte Cassino
preserves a short Life of St Germanus, which has been printed in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. xiii. It
is not entirely certain, though it is no doubt probable, that this
Germanus is
identical with the envoy sent to Constantinople by Pope Hormisdas. See,
further, Lanzoni, Diocesi d’Italia, vol.
i, p. 203.
|
6th v. St.
Talacrian Bishop of Scotland
also called Tarkin. He was probably of Pictish descent, serving as a
bishop in Caledonia (Scotland). His name was listed in the Aberdeen
Breviary.
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1038 Saint
Egelnoth
the Good; archbishop of Canterbury OSB B (AC) (also
known as
Ethelnoth).
1038 ST ETHELNOTH, ARCHBISHOP
of CANTERBURY
WHILE dean of the
cathedral church of Christ at Canterbury his learning and holiness
caused
Ethelnoth to be known as “the Good”, and on the death of the
metropolitan
Living in 1020 he was appointed in his place. Two years later Ethelnoth
was in
Rome, where Pope Benedict VIII received him “with great worship
and very
honorably hallowed him archbishop”, by which may be understood
that he
invested him with the pallium. In the
following year Ethelnoth translated the relics of his predecessor St
Alphege,
martyred by the Danes in 1012, from London to Canterbury. The cost of a
worthy
shrine was defrayed by King Canute, at the instance of his wife and the
archbishop, his father’s men having been guilty of the murder. St
Ethelnoth
enjoyed the favour of Canute, and he encouraged the king’s liberality
to
promote several other religious undertakings, among them the rebuilding
of
Chartres cathedral.
Ethelnoth
is one of those Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastics
whose claim to saintship is very contestable. His name does not seem to
occur
in any medieval calendar, and there is no other evidence of cultus.
The Bollandists, however,
following the example of Mabillon (vol. vi, pt I, pp. 394-397) have devoted a
notice to him (under the spelling “Aedelnodus”), October, vol. xiii. In
the
absence of any early biography they have pieced together an account
from
contemporary and later chroniclers. See further DNB., vol. xvii, p. 25
and
Stanton’s Menology, pp. 517—518.
The monk Saint Egelnoth of Glastonbury
was consecrated archbishop of Canterbury from 1020 and served in that
capacity until his death (Benedictines).
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1044 Blessed
Nanterius of Saint-Mihiel OSB, Abbot (AC)
(also known as Nantier, Nantere) Nanterius was abbot of the Benedictine
monastery of Saint-Mihiel (S. Michaelis ad Mosam) in Lorraine, diocese
of Verdun, France (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
|
1119
Saint Gerard of
Potenza B (RM)
Poténtiæ, in Lucánia,
sancti Gerárdi Epíscopi. At Potenza in
Lucania, St. Gerard, bishop.
Born in Piacenza, Italy; canonized by Pope Callistus II.
Gerard was
enrolled among the clergy of Potenza and elected bishop there at an
advanced age (Benedictines).
|
1258 Blessed
Bernard
de la Tour 13th superior general of the Carthusian order
O. Cart. (PC)
A Carthusian monk of Portes, diocese of Belley, who became the 13th
superior general of the order (Benedictines).
|
1292 Blessed
Benvenuta Bojani; an early age Dominican tertiary; on the Vigil of the
Feast of Saint Dominic he and Saint Peter Martyr, Mary and Jesus-Child
appeared; severe penances; miracle worker OP Tert. V
(AC)
Born in Cividale, Friuli, Italy, 1254; cultus approved in
1763.
Benvenuta was the last of seven daughters. Her parents, too,
must have
been amazing people in comparison with so many in our time. When the
silence of the midwife proclaimed that her father had been disappointed
once again in his desire for a son, he exclaimed, "She too shall be
welcome!" Remembering this she was christened by her parents Benvenuta
("welcome"), although they had asked for a son.
A vain older sister unsuccessfully tried to teach the pious
little
Benvenuta to dress in rich clothing and use the deceits of society.
Benvenuta hid from such temptations in the church where she developed a
tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin. By the age of 12, Benvenuta was
wearing hairshirts and a rope girdle. As she grew the rope became
embedded in her flesh. When she realized the rope must be removed, she
couldn't get it off, so she prayed and it fell to her feet. For this
reason she is often pictured in art holding a length of rope in her
hands.
Having become a Dominican tertiary at an early age, she
added the
penances practiced by the sisters to those she had appropriated for
herself. All her disciplines, fasting, and lack of sleep soon caused
her health to fail and she was confined to bed for five years.
Thereafter, she was too weak to walk, so a kind older sibling carried
her to church once a week for Compline (Night Prayer) in the Dominican
church, her favorite liturgy after the Mass.
After evening prayer on the Vigil of the Feast of Saint
Dominic,
Dominic and Saint Peter Martyr appeared to Benvenuta. Dominic had a
surprise for her. The prior was absent at the Salve procession, but at
the beginning of Compline she saw Dominic in the prior's place. He
passed from brother to brother giving the kiss of peace, then went to
his own altar and disappeared. At the Salve procession, the Blessed
Virgin herself came down the aisle, blessing the fathers while holding
the Infant Jesus in her arms.
Benvenuta spent her whole
life at home in Cividale busy with her
domestic duties, praying, and working miracles. She was often attacked
by the devil, who sometimes left her close to discouragement and
exhaustion. When someone protested against the death of a promising
young child, Benvenuta commented, "It is much better to be young in
paradise than to be old in hell." The devil often appeared to her in
horrifying forms but was banished when Benvenuta called upon the Virgin.
Benvenuta's companions called her "the sweetest and most
spiritual of
contemplatives, so lovable in her holiness that her touch and presence
inspired gladness and drove away temptations." This is amazing in light
of the severe penances that she imposed upon herself--and another sign
of blessedness that she didn't judge others by her standards for
herself (Benedictines, Dorcy).
1292 BD BENVENUTA OF CIVIDALE, VIRGIN
It has been said that the life of Benvenuta Bojani was “a poem of
praise to our Blessed Lady, a hymn of light, purity and joy, which was
lived rather than sung in her honour”. This life began in the year
1254, at Cividale in Friuli, and there were already six young Bojani,
all girls. Her father naturally hoped for a boy this time, and when he
learned he had yet another daughter he is said to have exclaimed, “Very
well! Since it is so, let her too be welcome.” And so she was called
Benvenuta.
Her devotion to our Lady was noticeable from very early
years, and she would repeat the Hail Mary, in the short form ending at
“Jesus”, as then used, many times in the day, accompanying each
repetition with a profound inclination such as she saw the Dominican
friars make so often in their church. Like Bd Magdalen Panattieri,
commemorated this month (13th), Benvenuta was happy in belonging to a
family whose members were as truly religious as herself, rejoicing in
her goodness and devotion, and who, when she wished to hind herself to
perfect chastity and become a tertiary of the Dominicans, put no
obstacles in her way.
But unlike Bd Magdalen she took no part in the public life
of her town, emphasizing the contemplative rather than the active side
of the Dominican vocation. Her spirit of penitence, in particular, made
her inflict most severe austerities on herself. She would sometimes
discipline herself three times in a night, and when she was only twelve
she tied a rope (the “cord of St Thomas”?) so tightly round her loins
that the flesh grew around it.
The suffering it caused became intolerable, and she feared
that the only way to remove it was by a surgical operation, till one
day when she was asking God to help her about it she found the rope
lying unbroken at her feet. Benvenuta confided this miracle to her
confessor, Friar Conrad, who mitigated her penances and forbade her to
undertake any without his approval.
For five years she suffered from serious bad health and
could scarcely leave her room, during which time she was furiously
tempted to despair, and in other ways but the worst trial was being
unable to assist at Mass, except when occasionally carried, and at
Compline with its daily singing of Salve Regina.
Eventually she was suddenly and publicly cured in church
on the feast of the Annunciation, having vowed to make a pilgrimage to
the shrine of St Dominic at Bologna if she recovered. This she carried
out with her sister Mary and her youngest brother.
Benvenuta’s patience and perseverance in sickness and
temptation were rewarded by numerous graces, visions and raptures in
prayer. A delightful story is told (though belonging to her youth) that
she went into a church one day just after her mother had died, and saw
there a child, to whom she said, “Have you got a mother?” “He said he
had. “ “I haven’t now”, said she, “But since you have, perhaps you can
already say the Hail Mary?” “Oh yes”, replied the child, “can
you?” “Yes, I can.” “Very well then, say it to me.” Benvenuta
began the Hail Mary in Latin, and as she ended on the name Jesus, “It
is I”, interrupted the child, and disappeared from sight.
Cheerfulness and confidence were the marks of the life of
Bd Benvenuta, but she had to go through one more assault of the Devil,
tempting her to despair and infidelity as she lay dying. She overcame triumphantly, and
died peacefully on October 30, 1292. Her cultus was
approved in 1765, but her burial-place at Cividale is
lost.
As we
may learn from the full account in the Acta
Sanctorum, October, vol. xiii, a
life of this beata, written in Latin
shortly after her death, was translated into Italian and published in
1589.
This biography figured largely in the process, which ended in the
formal confirmatio cultus, and the original
Latin is printed in full by the Bollandists. See also M. C. de Ganay, Les Bienheureuses Dominicaines (1913), pp.
91—108; and Procter, Lives of Dominican Saints, pp.
302—306.
|
 1320 Saint Stephen was the younger son of King
Stephen Urosh I, and grandson of
First-Crowned King St Stephen (September 24). He ruled Serbia from 1275
to 1320; built more than forty
churches, and also many monasteries and
hostels for travelers. The saint particularly concerned himself with
the Athonite monasteries.
Stephen Milutin received the throne from his elder brother
Dragutin, a true Christian, who after a short reign transferred power
over to his brother, and he himself in loving solitude withdrew to
Srem, where he secretly lived as an ascetic in a grave, which he dug
with his own hands. During his righteous life, St Dragutin toiled much
over converting the Bogomil heretics to the true Faith. His death
occurred on March 2, 1316.
St Stephen Milutin, after he became king, bravely defended, by both
word and by deed, the Orthodox Serbs and other Orthodox peoples from
their enemies. St Stephen did not forget to thank the Lord for His
beneficence. He built more than forty churches, and also many
monasteries and hostels for travelers. The saint particularly concerned
himself with the Athonite monasteries.
Dragutin.jpg
When the Serbian kingdom fell, the monasteries remained
centers of national culture and Orthodoxy for the Serbian nation. St
Stephen died on October 29, 1320 and was buried at the Bansk monastery.
After two years his incorrupt relics were uncovered.
Saint Dragutin was the brother of St Stephen Milutin, the son of King
Stephen Urosh I, and the grandson of First-Crowned King St Stephen
(September 24). Dragutin, a true Christian, after a short reign,
abdicated in favor of his brother Stephen. He withdrew to Srem,
secretly living as an ascetic in a grave which he dug with his own
hands. During his righteous life, St Dragutin toiled much over
converting the Bogomil heretics to the true Faith. He surrendered his
soul to God on March 2, 1316.
Saint Helen, a pious mother to her sons Stephen Milutin and Dragutin,
devoted her whole life to pious deeds after the death of her husband.
She built a shelter for the poor, and a monastery for those who wished
to live in purity and virginity. Near the city of Spich, she built the
Rechesk monastery and endowed it with the necessities.
Before her death, St Helen
received monastic tonsure and departed to
the Lord on February 8, 1306.
|
1394 St.
Dorothy of
Montau visions and spiritual gifts patroness of Prussia
BD DOROTHY OF
MONTAU, WIDOW (AD. 1394)
SHE takes her name
from Montau (Marienburg) in Prussia, where she was born in 1347. At the
age of
seventeen Dorothy married one Albert, a swordsmith of Danzig, by whom
she had
nine children, of whom only the youngest survived. Albert was an
ill-tempered
and overbearing man, and during their twenty-five years of married life
his
wife suffered much on this account but her own kindliness and
courage modified
his disposition considerably, and in 1384 she induced him to take her
on a
pilgrimage to Aachen. Thenceforward they often went on pilgrimage
together, to
Einsiedeln, Cologne and elsewhere, and they were planning to go to Rome
when
Albert fell ill. Dorothy therefore went alone, and at her return her
husband
had just died.
Thus left a widow at the age of
forty-three, she went to live at Marienwerder, and in 1393 became a
recluse in
a cell by the church of the Teutonic Knights. She was there only a year
before
her death, on May 25, 1394, but long enough to gain a great repute for
holiness
and supernatural enlightenment. Numerous visitors sought her cell,
to ask
advice or in hope of obtaining a miraculous cure of their ills.
Her confessor, from whom we learn that
Dorothy had a very intense devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and was
often
supernaturally enabled to look upon it, which she greatly desired to
do, wrote
her life, in Latin and German, with an account of her visions and
revelations.
In the middle ages great importance was attached to seeing the Body of
the
Lord, especially at the elevation at Mass, and the “life” of Bd Dorothy
shows
that in her time it was exposed all day for this purpose in some
churches of
Prussia and Pomerania. She was greatly revered by the people and soon
after her
death the cause of canonization was begun, but as soon dropped.
Nevertheless
the cultus spread, and Dorothy was
popularly regarded as the patroness of Prussia.
Regarding
this
interesting mystic a good deal of information is available. In the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. xiii, more
than a hundred folio pages are devoted to her, and this was
supplemented by the
publication in the Analecta Bollandiana of
the work called the Septililium, compiled
from the revelations and utterances of Bd Dorothy by her confessor John
of Marienwerder.
This was printed by installments in vols. ii, iii and iv of the Analecta (1883—85). More than one
biographical sketch seems to have survived, for the most part written
shortly
after her death, and compiled with a view to the process of her
canonization.
See also F. Hipler, Johannes Marienwerder
und die Klauserin Dorothea (1865); Ringholtz, Geschichte
von Einsiedeln (1906), pp. 268 seq., and 689 seq. and a
sketch by H. Westpfahl, Dorothea von
Montau (1949). For bibliography of recent work, see Westpfahl in Geist und Leben, vol. xxvi (1953), pp.
231—236.
Widow and hermitess. She was born a peasant on February 6,
1347, in
Montau, Prussia. After marrying a wealthy swordsmith, Albrecht of
Danzig, Poland, she bore him nine children and changed his gruff
character. He even accompanied her on pilgrimages. However, when she
went to Rome in 1390, Albrecht remained at home and died during her
absence. A year later Dorothy moved to Marienswerder, where she became
a hermitess. She had visions and spiritual gifts. Dorothy died on June
25 and is the patroness of Prussia. She was never formally canonized.
Dorothy of Montau, Widow (PC) Born at Montau near
Marienburg, Prussia,
Germany, on February 6, 1347; died June 25, 1394. Though she was never
canonized, Saint Dorothy is widely venerated in central Europe,
particularly among the Prussians, who have selected her as their patron
saint. Like Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Bridget of Sweden, who
were her contemporaries, she was favored by divine grace with many
visions, revelations, and ecstasies, especially during the last years
of her life.
As a 17-year-old peasant girl, she married a wealthy
swordsmith from
Danzig named Albert (Albrecht) by whom she had nine children. Of these
only the youngest survived, a daughter who later became a Benedictine
nun. Albert appears to have been surly and bad- tempered, and it seems
likely that their married life, at least in its early years, was far
from ideal. However, Dorothy's gentleness, fortitude, and kindness
gradually softened him, and in 1384, he agreed to accompany her on a
pilgrimage to Aachen.
After other pilgrimages to
Einsiedeln and Cologne, they planned to make
one to Rome for the jubilee that was to be held in 1390; but while they
were making their preparations, Albert fell ill and so Dorothy went
alone, travelling on foot and begging her food. By the time she
returned from Rome, where she had been delayed by a sickness, her
husband had died.
Now that she had become a widow, Dorothy was able to fulfill
a dream
she had long cherished of retiring from the world. In 1391, she went to
Marienwerder where, after spending two years on probation, she became a
recluse in the church of the Teutonic Knights.
On May 2, 1393, she had herself walled up in a cell that
measured 6' x
6' and was about 9' tall. Of the three windows one opened to the sky,
the second to a cemetery (and through which she also received food) and
the third on to the altar of the church where, as was often the custom
in those regions, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed all day.
Like many others, Dorothy had an intense devotion to the
Blessed
Sacrament and was often favored with mystic visions of it. Her
reputation for holiness grew rapidly and many people came to her
seeking counsel or miraculous cures.
However, the rigors of her mode of life, added to the severe
austerities she practiced, soon broke her health and she died in May
1394, after living only a little more than a year in her cell. Many
miracles were attributed to her, and an account of her visions and
ecstasies has been left by her confessor (Benedictines, Delaney,
Encyclopedia).
Dorothy's emblem is a lantern and a rosary. Sometimes she is
surrounded
by arrows in paintings of her. Venerated at Montau and Marienwerder,
Prussia (Roeder).
|
 In 1446 George
VIII was crowned ruler of a united Georgian kingdom. Filled with every
virtue, the valiant warrior and God-fearing king dedicated the twenty
years of his reign to a ceaseless struggle for the reunification of his
country. He was constantly warding off foreign invaders, surmounting
internal strife, and suffering the betrayal of his fellow countrymen.
One of the separatists was the ruler of Samtskhe, the atabeg Qvarqvare
Jakeli II (1451–1498). In 1465 King George led his troops toward
southern Georgia to attack the rebellious atabeg.
Near Lake Paravani the traitors dispatched assassins to the king’s camp.
Among those who served in the royal court was a certain Jotham
Zedgenidze, a man deeply devoted to his king. He heard about the
dreadful conspiracy and warned the king, but the noble and fearless
George did not believe that such a loathsome betrayal could ever take
place.
Desperate to convince the king of the very real and imminent danger,
the devoted Jotham told him, “Allow me to spend this night in your bed
and prove the truth of my words!”
Certain that his beloved courtier was mistaken and that his unmeasured
love and dedication were the reasons for his suspicions, King George
permitted him to spend the night in the royal bed.
The next morning King George entered his tent and found his beloved
Jotham lying in a pool of blood. Immediately he began weeping bitterly
over his error. He arrested and executed the conspirators and buried
his faithful servant with great honor.
The Georgian Church numbers
Jotham Zedgenidze among the saints for his devotion to God’s anointed
king.
|
1583 Bl.
John
Slade Martyr of England
1583 BD JOHN SLADE,
MARTYR
JOHN
SLADE was born in Dorsetshire, educated at New
College, Oxford, and became a schoolmaster. His zeal in upholding the
faith led
to his arrest on a charge
of denying
the royal supremacy in spirituals, and he was brought up for trial at
Winchester, together with Bd John Bodey, in April 1583. They were both
condemned, but there was a re-trial on the same indictment at Andover
four
months later, which Cardinal Allen imputed to a consciousness in their
prosecutors of the first sentence having been unjust and illegal. But
the
result was the same, the sentence was repeated, and Bd John Slade was
hanged,
drawn and quartered at Winchester on this day in the year 1583.
See MMP., pp. 83—85 and Burton and Pollen, LEM., vol.
1, pp. 1—7.
He
was a native of Manston, Dorchestershire, and was educated at
Oxford. John denied King Henry VIII’s supremacy in religious matters
and was arrested and tried with Blessed John Bodey. They were hanged,
drawn, and quartered at Winchester. He was beatified in 1929.
Blessed John Slade M (AC) Born in Manston, Dorset, England; died 1583;
beatified in 1929. John Slade was a student at New College, Oxford. He
became a schoolmaster, and was martyred at Winchester for denying the
royal supremacy in spiritual matters (Benedictines).
|
1617 St.
Alphonsus
Rodriguez Obedient penintent experienced many spiritual consolations he
died in 1617 still
a porter
saying only one word: Jesus; the reputation he had was summed up once
for all by Father Michael Julian in his exclamation, “That brother is
not a man—he is an angel!”; Especially in his later years he suffered
from long periods of desolation and aridity, and with terrifying
regularity he was seized with pain and sickness whenever he set himself
formally to meditate. Added to this, he was beset with violent
temptations, just as though for years he had not curbed his body by
fierce austerities, which now had to be made even more rigorous. But he
never despaired, carrying out every duty with exact regularity, knowing
that in God’s own time he would be seized again in an ecstasy of love
and spiritual delight; trials of ill-health and physical suffering; at
last he was practically confined to his bed. But his invincible
perseverance and patience brought consolations “to such a degree that
he could not raise his eyes in spirit to Jesus and Mary without their
being at once before him”.
1617 ST
ALPHONSUS
RODRIGUEZ
THERE are two
well-known canonized lay brothers commemorated this month, but in other
external circumstances there were considerable differences between St
Gerard
Majella and St Alphonsus Rodriguez. For instance, at the age when
Gerard was
dead, Alphonsus was still a married man, living with his family while
the one
died before he was thirty, the other lived to be nearly ninety during
his three
years of profession Gerard served in several houses of his congregation
and was
employed in a variety of ways, but Alphonsus was porter at the same
college for
forty-five years.
Diego Rodriguez was
a well-to-do wool-merchant in Segovia, and Alphonsus, born about 1533
was his
third child in a big family. When Bd Peter Favre and another Jesuit
came to
preach a mission at Segovia they stayed with Diego, and at the end
accepted his
offer of a few days’ holiday at his country house. Young Alphonsus,
then about
ten, went with them and was prepared for his first communion by Bd
Peter.
When he was fourteen
he was sent with his elder brother to study under the Jesuits at
Alcala, but
before the first year was out their father died, and it was decided
that
Alphonsus must go into the business, which his mother was going to
carry on.
She retired and left him in sole charge when he was twenty-three, and
three
years later he married a girl called Mary Suarez.
The business had
been doing badly and his wife’s dowry did not do much to improve it
Alphonsus
was not an incapable businessman, but “times were bad”.
Then he lost his little daughter, and, after
a long illness following the birth of a boy, his wife too. Two years
later his
mother died, and this succession of misfortunes and losses made
Alphonsus give
very serious thought to what God was calling him to do in the world.
He had always been a man of devout and
righteous life, but he began to realize that he was meant to be
something
different from the numerous commercial men who led exemplary but
unheroic lives
in Segovia. If he sold his business he would have enough for himself
and his
little son to live on, so he did this and went to live with his two
maiden
sisters. These two, Antonia and Juliana, were a pious couple and taught
their
brother the rudiments of mental prayer, so that he was soon meditating
two
hours every morning and evening on the mysteries of the rosary.
Alphonsus began to see his
past life as very imperfect when
regarded in the light of Christ and, following a vision of the glories
of
Heaven, he made a general confession and set himself to practise
considerable
austerities, Confession and communion every week.
After
some years his son died, and the edge of Alphonsus’s sorrow was turned
by the
consideration that the boy had been saved from the danger and misery of
ever
offending God.
He now contemplated,
not for the first time, the possibility of becoming a religious and
applied to
the Jesuits at Segovia. They unhesitatingly refused him he was nearly forty,
his health was not good, and he had not finished an education good
enough to
make him fit for sacerdotal studies. Undaunted, he went off to see his
old
friend Father Louis Santander, s.j., at Valencia. Father Santander
recommended
him to get ordained as soon as possible, and as a first step to learn
Latin.
So, like St Ignatius Loyola before him, and with like
mortifications, he
put himself to school with the little boys. As he had given nearly all
his
money to his sisters and to the poor before leaving Segovia, he had to
take a
post as a servant and supplement his earnings by begging to support
himself.
He met at the school a man of his own age
and inclinations, who induced him to consider giving up all idea of
becoming a
Jesuit and to be instead a hermit. Alphonsus went to visit this man at
his
hermitage in the mountains, but suddenly seeing the suggestion as a
temptation
to desert his real vocation, he returned to Valencia and confessed his
weakness
to Father Santander, saying, I will never again follow my own will for
the rest
of my life. Do with me as you think best.” In 1571 the Jesuit
provincial,
over-ruling his official consultors, accepted Alphonsus Rodriguez as a
lay
brother, or temporal coadjutor, as such is called in the Society. Six
months
later he was sent from Spain to the College of Montesione in the island
of
Majorca, and soon after his arrival was made hall-porter.
St Alphonsus carried
out the duties of this post till he became too old and infirm, and the
reputation he had in it was summed up once for all by Father Michael
Julian in
his exclamation, “That brother is not a man—he is an angel!” Every minute left free by his work and what
it entailed was given to prayer, but though he achieved a marvellous
habitual
recollection and union with God his spiritual path was far from an easy
one.
Especially
in his later years he suffered
from long periods of desolation and aridity, and with terrifying
regularity he
was seized with pain and sickness whenever he set himself formally to
meditate.
Added to this, he was beset with violent temptations, just as though
for years
he had not curbed his body by fierce austerities, which now had to be
made even
more rigorous. But he never despaired, carrying out every duty with
exact
regularity, knowing that in God’s own time he would be seized again in
an
ecstasy of love and spiritual delight.
Priests who had
known him for forty years used to say that they had never noticed a
word or
action of Brother Alphonsus that could justly receive adverse
criticism. In 1585
when he was fifty-four years old, he made his final vows, which he used
to
renew every day at Mass. A hall-porter is not to be envied at the best
of
times, and when a boys’ school is part of the establishment he needs to
have a
firm hand and an extra fund of patience; but the job has its
compensations the
porter meets a variety of people and is a link between the public world
without
and the private world within.
At Montesione, in addition to the students,
there was a constant coming and going of clergy of all sorts, of nobles
and
professional men and members of their families having business with the
Jesuit
fathers, of the poor wanting help and merchants and tradesmen from
Palma
wanting orders. All these people got to know, to respect and to love
Brother
Alphonsus, whose opinions and advice were sought and valued as well by
the
learned and holy as by the simple, and his reputation was known far
beyond the
boundaries of the college. The most famous of his “pupils” was St
Peter
Claver, who was studying at the college in 1605. For three years he
put
himself under the direction of St Alphonsus who, enlightened by Heaven,
fired
his enthusiasm for and urged him on to that work in America which was
eventually to gain for St Peter the title of “Apostle of the Negroes”.
St Alphonsus had
always a very deep devotion towards the Mother of God as conceived free
from
original sin, a truth that had been defended in Majorca three hundred
years
before by Bd Raymund Lull.
For a time it was
believed by many that Alphonsus had composed the Little Office of
the
Immaculate Conception; he had a great regard for this office and
popularized
its use among others, from which arose the mistake that he was its
author.
Nor did he write the
famous treatise on the Practice of
Perfection and Christian Virtues this was the work of another
Jesuit of the
same name, who has not been canonized.
But
St Alphonsus left some fugitive
writings, set down at the command of his superiors, full of the simple,
solid
doctrine and exhortation that one would look for from such a man,
showing too
that he was indeed a mystic favoured of Heaven. When he was over
seventy and
very infirm, his rector told him one day, just to see what he would do,
to go
on duty to the Indies. St Alphonsus went straight down to the gate and
asked
for it to be opened for him. “I am ordered to the Indies”, he said, and
was
going there and then to look for a ship at Palma, but was told to go
back to
the rector.
That during the later part of his life he
suffered from spiritual dereliction and diabolical assaults has been
mentioned
above, and to these were added the trials of ill-health and physical
suffering;
at last he was practically confined to his bed. But his invincible
perseverance
and patience brought consolations “to such a degree that he could not
raise his
eyes in spirit to Jesus and Mary without their being at once before
him”.
In May of 1617 the rector of Montesione,
Father Julian, was down with rheumatic fever, and asked for the prayers
of St
Alphonsus. He spent the night interceding for him, and in the morning
Father
Julian was able to celebrate Mass. In October Alphonsus knew that his
end was
at hand, and after receiving Holy Communion on the 29th all pain of
mind and
body ceased. He lay as it were in an unbroken ecstasy until, at
midnight of the
31st, a terrible agony began. At the end of half an hour composure
returned, he
looked around lovingly at his brethren, kissed the crucifix, uttered
the Holy
Name in a loud voice, and died. The Spanish viceroy and nobility of
Majorca, by
the bishop, and by crowds of the poor, sick and afflicted whose love
and faith
were rewarded by miracles, attended his funeral. He was canonized in
1888 with
St Peter Claver.
The
documents
printed for the Congregation of Sacred Rites in view of the
beatification and
canonization of St Alphonsus are very copious owing to the objections
raised by
the promotor fidei in connection with
the saint’s early occupations and his writings. These documents, with
the
autobiographical notes, which he wrote down by order of obedience
between the
years 1601 and 1616, supply the most valuable materials for his life.
The notes
in question are printed at the beginning of his Obras
Espirituales, which were edited in three volumes by Fr J.
Nonell at Barcelona in 1885—1887. The same Fr Nonell wrote in Spanish
what is
still perhaps the best biography of the saint, Vida de San
Alonso Rodriguez (1888) and Father Goldie largely used
this in the English life that he published in 1889. In the Acta
Sanctorum, October, vol. xiii, is reprinted the earliest
published life of Alphonsus, that by Father Janin which appeared in
1644 and
was written in Latin. On the saint’s
connection with the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception, often
erroneously
printed under his name, see Uriarte, Obras
anonimas y seudonimas, S.J., vol. i, pp. 512—515
and on his ascetical teaching see Viller, Dictionnaire
de Spiritualité, vol. i (1933), cc. 395—402.
The latest
biographies seem to be that of M. Dietz, Der
hl. Alfons Rodriguez (1925), and
a popular account by M. Farnum, The Wool
Merchant of Segovia (1945).
Confessor and Lay brother,
also called Alonso. He was born in Segovia,
Spain, on July 25, 1532, the son of a wealthy merchant, and was
prepared for First Communion by Blessed Peter Favre, a friend of
Alphonsus' father. While studying with the Jesuits at Alcala, Alphonsus
had to return home when his father died. In Segovia he took over the
family business, was married, and had a son. That son died, as did two
other children and then his wife. Alphonsus sold his business and
applied to the Jesuits. His lack of education and his poor health,
undermined by his austerities, made him less than desirable as a
candidate for the religious life, but he was accepted as a lay brother
by the Jesuits on January 31, 1571. He underwent novitiate training and
was sent to Montesion College on the island of Majorca. There he
labored as a hall porter for twenty-four years. Overlooked by some of
the Jesuits in the house, Alphonsus exerted a wondrous influence on
many. Not only the young students, such as St. Peter Claver, but local
civic tad and social leaders came to his porter's lodge for advice and
and direction. Obedience and penance were the hallmarks of his life, as
well as his devotion to the Immaculate Conception. He experienced many
spiritual consolations, and he wrote religious treatises, very simple
in style but sound in doctrine. Alphonsus died after a long illness on
October 31, 1617, and his funeral was attended by Church and government
leaders. He was declared Venerable in 1626, and was named a patron of
Majorca in 1633. Alphonsus was beatified in 1825 and canonized in
September 1888 with St. Peter Claver.
Alphonsus Rodriguez, SJ
(RM) (also known as Alonso) Born in Segovia,
Spain, July 25, 1533; died at Palma de Majorca in 1617; beatified 1825;
canonized 1888; feast formerly on October 31."The difference between
adversity suffered for God and prosperity is greater than that between
gold and a lump of lead." --Saint Alphonsus.
Brother Alphonsus proves Mother Teresa's axiom that small
things done
with great love is the call of the Christian. Every day Alphonsus
Rodriguez prayed to more than 20 confessors, martyrs, and Church
Fathers. He had a great veneration for Saint Ursula, and though modern
scholarship has done much to revise and alter the story of her
martyrdom, the fact remains that a liturgy might be clumsy and
inaccurate and yet represent a far more fertile and living expression
of religious life than one which has been cleaned and scoured to the
point of rendering it sterile.
Surely the candor and devotion of Saint Alphonsus is of
greater value
than the scientific researches of our professors of liturgy. He was a
bit mad perhaps--when he was told to eat his plate, he took his knife
and tried to cut it into pieces and swallow them. Perhaps that sounds
stupid, but it was he who was in the right for he had, on entering the
Jesuits, made his vow of obedience, and his obedience was so perfect
that he obeyed hasty or perhaps joking orders to the letter.
Alphonus was the third child of a large family of wool
merchants. When
Blessed Peter Favre and another Jesuit came to preach a mission at
Segovia, they stayed with Alphonus's family and took up the invitation
for a short holiday at their country house. Young Alphonsus, then about
10, went with them and was prepared for his First Communion by Blessed
Peter.
When he was 14, Alphonsus was sent with his elder brother to
study
under the Jesuits at Alcala. Before the year was out, their father
Diego was dead and it fell to Alphonsus interrupt his studies to manage
the family business. When he was 23, his mother retired and Alphonus
inherited his father's business. Like Saint Francis of Assisi, he sold
cloth all day long, buying with one hand and selling with the other.
He married Maria Suarez
when he was 27. Soon the business was failing
due to hard economic times. Then his little daughter died. When he was
about 35, his wife died shortly after giving birth to their only son.
Two years later his mother died. The business didn't prosper either.
This succession of misfortunes forced Alphonsus to seriously consider
God's plan for his life. He began to realize that he was meant to do
something different from the numerous businessmen who led exemplary but
unheroic lives in Segovia. So he sold his business and took his son to
live with the boy's two maiden aunts, Antonia and Juliana.
From these two ladies, Alphonsus learned to meditate for at
least two
hours a day. He was an assiduous communicant. His life was austere and
happy, though he still longed to devote himself to God. So, after
abandoning his business, he resumed his studies at the point where he
had broken them off. He had always taken religion seriously so when his
son died, Alphonsus decided it was finally time to become a Jesuit, if
possible, as an ordained priest.
Alphonsus was nearly 40, barely literate, and his health
tenuous. It's
no wonder that the Jesuits of Segovia unhesitatingly refused him entry.
Undaunted, Alphonsus presented himself to Father Luis Santander, SJ, at
the novitiate of the Jesuits of Aragon at Valencia. Father Santander
recommended him to be ordained as soon as possible, and requested that
he learn Latin. He had given away most of his money by now, so he
became a hired servant, hoping to pay for his necessary extra education
by this and by begging. Thus, he put himself through school with the
young boys.
Happily the provincial of the order spotted the saintliness
of
Alphonsus's life, and, in 1571, overruled those who had refused him
permission to join them. He was admitted as a lay brother and six
months later was sent to Palma de Majorca, where, after serving in
various capacities, he became door-keeper at Montesión College.
He was diligent in carrying out his assignments, but every
spare moment
was given to prayer. Though he achieved a marvelous habitual
recollection and union with god, his spiritual path was far from an
easy one. Especially in his later years he suffered from long periods
of aridity. Yet he never despaired, knowing that in God's own time he
would be seized again in an ecstasy of love and spiritual delight.
Persevering, Brother Alphonsus professed his final vows in 1585, at the
age of 54.
Many of the varied people who were thus brought into contact
with him
learned to respect him and value his advice; in particular Saint Peter Claver as a student used
to consult him frequently and received from Brother Alphonsus the
impetus for his future work among the slaves of South America.
In May 1617, the rector of
Montesión, Father Julian, was struck
with rheumatic fever. Alphonsus spent the night interceding for the
priest. In the morning, Father Julian was able to celebrate Mass.
After receiving Communion on October 29, Alphonsus lay as if
dead, but
he was in ecstasy. At midnight on October 31, the ecstasy ended and the
final death pangs began. One-half hour later the brother regained his
composure, lovingly looked at his brethren, and kissed the crucifix.
Still a porter, he died in 1617, saying only one word: Jesus.
A collection of his notes, reflections, thoughts, which he
wrote down
at the request of his superiors, along with some quotations that he
borrowed from the spiritual classics but which were mistakenly
attributed to him, was frequently copied and widely circulated during
his lifetime. Many people found true spiritual nourishment in them.
There is a sonnet on Saint
Alphonsus Rodriguez among Gerard Manley Hopkins' Poems (2nd ed., 1930).
Alphonsus bears considerable resemblance to the Carmelite
Brother
Lawrence, of the next generation. He was a man of practically no
education, but he had deep religious sensibility of a mystical kind.
His faith was uncomplicated and simple, untroubled either by
Protestantism or the threat of Islam. He had cultivated the Spanish
faith of his father and mother, he believed in Jesus Christ, the Holy
Church, and in the communion of saints (Attwater, Benedictines,
Bentley, Encyclopedia, Walsh, Yeomans).
This Alphonsus Rodriguez must not be confused with two
Jesuit
contemporaries of the same names, one a writer of well-known religious
books, the other a martyr in Paraguay. Neither of these has been
canonized, though the second is venerated as a beatus.
In art he is depicted as an old Jesuit with two hearts on
his breast,
connected by rays of light to Christ and the Virgin. Venerated at
Majorca (Roeder).
|
1669-1739
Bl.
Angelus Capuchin of Acri; many miracles of healing; gifts prophecy;
bilocation; see into men's souls; Meditating on his failure and asking
God’s help in his trouble, he one day seemed to hear a voice saying,
“Be not afraid. The gift of preaching shall be yours.” “Who art thou?”
asked Father Angelo, and the reply came, “I am who I am. For the future
preach simply and colloquially, so that all may understand you.” Father
Angelo did as he was told; he laid aside all his books of oratory and
with them the flowers of speech and flights of learning, and prepared
his discourses only with the help of his Bible and crucifix.
1739 BD ANGELO OF ACRI
THE fame of St
Leonard of Port Maurice as a mission-preacher in Tuscany and northern
Italy
during the first half of the eighteenth century has gone far beyond the
boundaries of his own order and country, but his contemporary preacher
in
Calabria, Angelo of Acri, also a Franciscan, is not so well known,
though he
was as famous in the south as St Leonard in the north.
He was born at Acri in the diocese of
Bisignano in 1669, and when he was eighteen was accepted as a postulant
by the
Capuchins, but the austerity of their life was too much for him and he
left.
But he was not satisfied, and after a time was permitted again to try
his
vocation in the same order. And again he failed to persevere. Thereupon
his
uncle, a priest, pointed out to him that he was obviously intended by
God for a
secular life and had better marry. Angelo was still unconvinced: he had
a
strong attraction to the religious life and a corresponding aversion
from
trying to settle down “in the world”, and in 1690 he made a third
attempt with the
Capuchins. This time he overcame his difficulties by the aid of urgent
prayer,
and after a rather stormy novitiate was professed and began his studies
for the
priesthood.
His superiors saw that he still stood in
need of strict discipline and treated Angelo with considerable
severity, and at
the same time he was greatly tried by temptations against chastity. He
overcame
both trials and so profited by them that it is said that during the
celebration
of his first Mass he was rapt in ecstasy.
It was not till 1702 that he
was first
entrusted with public preaching, when he was sent to preach the Lent at
San
Giorgio. He prepared his course with great care, but in the pulpit his
confidence and memory deserted him and he failed so lamentably
that he gave up
and returned to his friary before it was over. Meditating on his
failure and
asking God’s help in his trouble, he one day seemed to hear a voice
saying, “Be
not afraid. The gift of preaching shall be yours.” “Who art thou?”
asked Father
Angelo, and the reply came, “I am who I am. For the future preach
simply and
colloquially, so that all may understand you.” Father Angelo did as he
was told;
he laid aside all his books of oratory and with them the flowers of
speech and
flights of learning, and prepared his discourses only with the help of
his
Bible and crucifix. His new manner was
immediately successful with the common people; but these were the days
before
St Alphonsus Liguori and his Redemptorists had simplified the style of
preaching prevalent in Italy, and more refined people were contemptuous
of the
straightforwardness and familiar phrasing of Father Angelo. The
attention of
these was won in a rather dramatic way when, in 1711, Cardinal
Pignatelli
invited him to preach the Lent at Naples. His first sermon there
provoked the
usual superior amusement among the gentry, and the two following days
the
church was almost empty. The parish priest asked him to discontinue the
course,
but Cardinal Pignatelli said he was to continue, and this “incident”
stimulated
curiosity, so that the church was crowded next day. At the end of his
sermon
Father Angelo asked the congregation to pray for the soul of somebody
in the
church who was about to die. As they left the building, speculating
about the
prophecy, a well-known lawyer, who had made himself conspicuous by his
raillery
at the preacher, fell dead from a stroke. This happening, which was
followed by
others equally remarkable, made Father Angelo’s reputation in Naples
for the
future there were more listeners than the church could hold, and many who came merely from
curiosity received the grace of God and were brought to their knees.
For
the next twenty-eight years Bd Angelo
preached as a missioner in the kingdom of Naples and particularly up
and down
his own province of Calabria, where he brought thousands to penance and
amendment of life.
His mission was
emphasized by many miracles, especially of healing the sick, and
examples of
seeming supernatural agility or of bilocation are recorded of him.
He had insight into
the souls of men, reminding them of forgotten or concealed sins, and
several
times, as at Naples, predicted future events with exactness.
He continued his
labours to within six months of his death, when he became blind, but
was able
to celebrate Mass daily till the end, which came peacefully at the
friary of
Acri on October 30, 1739. A flow of blood in the veins and movement of
an arm
at the word of the father guardian, similar to the phenomena reported
of Bd
Bonaventure of Potenza (October 26), are stated to have taken place
three days
after death. Bd Angelo of Acri was beatified in 1825.
The
Bollandists have
supplied a full account in the Acta Sanctorum,
October, vol. xiii, drawing almost entirely upon the evidence presented
in the
beatification process. See, however, also the lives written by Ernest
de
Beaulieu (1899) and Giacinto da Belmonte (1894). English summary may be
read in Leon, Aureole.Séraphique (Eng.
trans.), vol. iv, pp. 1—7.
Born at Acri, Italy, he was refused admission to the
Capuchins twice
but was accepted on his third attempt in 1690, and was ordained.
Unsuccessful in his first sermons, he eventually became a famous
preacher after a tremendous success preaching in Naples during Lent in
1711.
For the rest of his life, he preached missions in Calabria and Naples,
converting thousands and performing many miracles of healing. He was
reputed to have had the gifts of prophecy and bilocation, experienced
visions and ecstasies and was a sought after confessor with the ability
to see into men's souls. He died in the friary at Acri on October 30,
and was beatified in 1825.
Blessed Angelus of Acri, OFM Cap. (AC) Born at Acri (diocese of
Bisignano), Calabria, Italy, in 1669; died in 1739; beatified in 1825.
Angelus twice attempted unsuccessfully to become a religious. The third
time, after a tempestuous novitiate, he was professed as a Capuchin.
His public life as a preacher was again quite unsuccessful in the
beginning and "tempestuously successful" afterwards (Benedictines).
|
Anima
Christi: A Prayer for All Centuries
by Friar Jack Wintz, O.F.M.
Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood
of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash
me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear
me. Within your wounds, hide me. Let me never be separated
from you. From the malignant enemy,
defend me. In the hour of my death, call me, And bid me
come to you, That with your saints I may praise you Forever
and ever. Amen.
This prayer touches us on emotional and mystical
levels. The
words are most sacred and, with the Spirit’s help, happily lead us into
an immediate union with Christ and, through him, with those we love, as
we shall discuss later.
The Anima Christi (Soul of Christ) has been attributed at times to St.
Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556), but historians say that the prayer
predates Ignatius by as much as a century and-a-half. A long tradition
tells us, moreover, that it was a favorite prayer of Ignatius’. Indeed,
in many cases, it has served as the opening prayer of the Spiritual
Exercises of St. Ignatius. The prayer is so sacred and sublime that it
transcends all time, all centuries. We ask the Spirit to guide us into
the sacredness and hope spelled out by these ancient words:
Although there are many translations of this prayer, the wording here
is a literal translation of the original Latin. Let me share how this
prayer inspires me at this juncture of my life’s journey:
Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Jesus, risen one, let your soul, which is
as vast as the universe, invade my whole being and make me holy.
Breathe your Holy Spirit, the sanctifier, upon me just as you breathed
upon the first disciples after you rose from the dead. Set me free of
sin, and fill me with the holiness that fills your own soul.
Body of Christ, save me. I open myself to your love. Embrace me with
your healing and transforming power. Jesus, this prayer moves me
especially when I say it after receiving your body and blood in holy
Communion or after Mass has ended. But the prayer is meaningful at any
time. I believe you are with me always and ever standing at my door
knocking (Rv 3:20)—inviting me to open the door and enjoy a mystical
union with you, the risen one.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me. You have redeemed us, Jesus, by your
blood shed upon the cross. At the Eucharist, we receive that blood in
the form of wine. Your burning love is so overwhelming that one becomes
intoxicated by the intensity of your care for each one of us. Such love
prompted St. Anthony of Padua to proclaim, “The humanity of Christ is
like the grape because it was crushed in the winepress of the cross so
that his blood flowed forth over all the earth…. How great is the
charity of the beloved! How great the love of the bridegroom for his
spouse, the Church!”
Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Yes, Jesus, let the water
flowing from your side cleanse me, as did the life-giving water that
flowed over me at baptism. And this saving stream never stops flowing
through me—unless I separate myself from your love. You are the vine, I
am the branch. If I remain in you, your abundant life continues flowing
into me. As St. Paul attested long ago, “I live, no longer I, but
Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
Passion of Christ, strengthen me. It is your power, and not my own,
which heals me and makes me strong. As the psalmist says, “Unless the
Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it” (Ps 127:1). Your
strength alone is my source of hope.
O good Jesus, hear me. Within your wounds hide me. There is something
so mystical, and dare I say intimate, Jesus, in our hiding in those
holy wounds through which we are saved. As Isaiah tells us, “by his
bruises we are healed” (Is 53:5). Draw us into this most loving
mystery—this sacred fountainhead of our salvation!
Let me never be separated from you. Loving savior, this expresses,
perhaps, the most central theme of Anima Christi. Keep reminding me
that the best part of prayer is not so much gaining information about
you, O Jesus, as it is growing into a more intimate love union with
you. So, loving savior, hold us close to you.
From the malignant enemy, defend me. This line is similar to the
closing line of that special prayer that you yourself taught us—the Our
Father: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”
We rely on your healing power, O Lord, to set us free of any malignant
force that might cause us to be separated from you—from life itself.
In the hour of my death, call me, and bid me come to you, that with
your saints I may praise you forever and ever. Amen. Jesus, I need your
help to reach my final destiny in your Kingdom. Stay with me to the
end—until I can join in singing your praises with all those saved by
your immense love.
Additional thoughts
No doubt you have noticed how my reflections on the Anima Christi have
strayed from the “me” and “my” vocabulary of this very personal
prayer—and I have begun to use words like “we” and “us” and “our.” The
Anima Christi is very much a prayer focused on my personal relationship
with Christ. We also know from the changes ushered into the Church by
the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) that we have come to more
communal ways of celebrating the sacraments and of praying together as
Church. This in no way contradicts the importance of recognizing those
times in our lives when the Spirit calls us to more personal styles of
prayer.
I have found it very fruitful in my own praying of the Anima Christi to
alternate between the personal and the communal—and I’ve heard others
also speak very favorably of doing the same. Perhaps you will find this
fruitful as well. A number of people have the prayer memorized and may
say the Anima Christi first personally in the traditional form quoted
above, and afterwards in the “us” and “our” form, so to speak, by
including coworkers, family members or a sick relative, spouse or loved
one in the prayer. Thus, in the same prayer, individuals can
contemplate their personal love relationship and union with Christ and,
at the same time, think lovingly of a sick relative, dear friend or
other persons in need. One might focus simply upon one special person
or, on the other hand, a whole assembly of people.
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night or before dawn and am
unable to sleep for maybe an hour or more. I sometimes find great peace
and meaning in contemplating my union with Christ as well as with those
I include in my prayer. Having memorized the Anima Christi, I keep
going through the prayer and meditating on it, phrase by phrase,
perhaps while fingering rosary beads. At times, it becomes a profound
mystical experience. This cherished experience doesn’t come from me,
but from the goodness of God. After all, the Anima Christi expresses
nothing less than Christ’s incredible love not only for me but also for
any others (and all others) who come into my consciousness. Lord Jesus,
may we never be separated from you and from those we love! Amen.
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Day 37 40 Days for Life campaign
Dear Readers,
Here's where you can see the latest short video report from the front
lines of the 40 Days for Life in Charlotte, North Carolina:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=475
During the brief video, you'll hear from Protestants, Catholics, a
maternity home director, and you'll get to meet Andrea -- a wonderful
post-abortive woman who, two years ago, helped us recognize that 40
Days for Life was supposed to be a national effort.
You will really be inspired by this one:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=475
(If you have trouble watching the videos or posting comments on our
blog page, you can see all the video reports and post your thoughts
directly on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/dbereit )
Now for the BIG NEWS!
In the last few hours, 40 Days for Life reached a major milestone, and
I had to share it with you!
Through the grace and mercy of God -- and the faithful prayers and
fasting of well over 200,000 people standing vigil outside abortion
facilities -- an incredible miracle has taken place.
Starting with the first-ever 40 Days for Life campaign in Bryan/College
Station, Texas in 2004, and continuing through the international 40
Days for Life effort that is under way this fall, we now have received
cumulative reports of ...
...
OVER 2,000 BABIES whose lives have been saved from the tragedy of
abortion!
Who knows what wonders each of
these children will bring to the world!
Two thousand children would be enough to fill at least 80 classrooms.
Two thousand children would be enough to make up 180 teams of little
soccer players -- and just as importantly, 180 teams of soccer moms --
women who will enjoy watching their children run and jump and shout,
blessings they would have never known if they had fallen for the lies
that are so often disguised by the rhetoric of "choice."
Here's the story of just one of those 2,000 lives.
It was a stormy day at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Bakersfield,
California. Yet people ignored the wind and rain as they stood and
prayed outside the abortion center.
A young woman from outside the Bakersfield area soon arrived at the
clinic for an abortion appointment. She was already stressed out; the
drive across the mountains and through the storm left her in no mood to
listen to the Christians on the sidewalk.
She looked at the group, shouted profanities, and told the vigil
participants to leave her alone. One of the people on the sidewalk told
her that if she thought the sky was dark, it was nothing compared to
the darkness abortion could bring into her life.
She ignored the words and walked in.
But the "simple procedure" she had come for turned out not to be so
simple -- and she might not be able to have the abortion that day. She
had come for the abortion pill, but the staff said she lived too far
away to return to the clinic if any complications developed.
When she learned that, she became even angrier at the people praying
out on the sidewalk -- she even went back out to yell at them several
times. Finally, after she realized there would be no abortion, she gave
up and left the clinic.
But on her way out, the prayer supporters on the sidewalk offered to
pray with her. As they did, the sun suddenly broke through the clouds
and the sky instantly became bright.
It was like a new day.
The vigil participants explained the situation to Terri, one of the
counselors, who helped arrange an appointment for an ultrasound at the
pro-life pregnancy help center.
Terri could tell that the ultrasound had a significant impact on the
young woman. "I knew that it was a good sign when I heard her talking
to her baby," she said.
After the ultrasound, Terri and the woman hurried back to the vigil
site. Bursting with joy, the woman showed the prayer supporters the
ultrasound picture of the baby she had intended to abort, exclaiming
"your Jesus heard your prayers!"
To see some of the 40 Days for Life prayer volunteers in Bakersfield --
along with the young woman holding the ultrasound image of her baby --
go to: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=475
Here's today's devotional from Carmen Pate, Co-host of the "Point of
View" radio talk show...
DAY 37 INTENTION
Pray that we will each submit ourselves this day as a living sacrifice
to God, giving all that we have in us for those being sacrificed on the
altar of convenience.
SCRIPTURE
I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which
is your reasonable service.
-- Romans 12:1
REFLECTION by Carmen Pate
Since all things are for His glory, we are to offer ourselves for that
purpose. This of course is in sharp contrast to those who are being
swayed by the enemy to sacrifice their babies on the altar of
convenience, rather than choosing to surrender their all, including
their unborn child, to the Lord for His purposes.
A career, education goals, or even a boyfriend can unknowingly become
an idol for some young women. In their minds, abortion is a convenient
way to "rid themselves" of an obstacle in the way of their "worship."
In light of the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf, and the fruit of
God's mercies on our lives, we owe God our highest form of praise and
worship. Presenting our bodies as living sacrifices is therefore
reasonable service.
We were made to worship God and God alone. The enemy who seeks worship
for himself distorts God's truth regarding worship, sacrifice, idols,
and children.
As you have given of yourself to rescue those who are perishing -- the
young woman and her child -- you are worshiping God in the truest sense
of the word.
May your example lead an abortion minded client to turn from her idols
to worship the one true God, sparing her child from the altar of
convenience, and sparing herself from a lifetime of regret.
PRAYER
God Almighty, You alone are worthy of our praise and worship. Having
accepted Your Son's sacrifice on my behalf, I in turn present my body
to you as a living sacrifice. Thank you for deeming me holy and
acceptable because of Christ's shed blood for me.
I pray that you would use me as your vessel to rescue others who are
perishing. Through Christ who is Our Glory, Amen.
PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
To download today's devotional as a formatted, printable PDF to share
with friends:
http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2009day37print.pdf
For Life,
David Bereit National Director 40 Days for Life
*** SPECIAL
ANNOUNCEMENT ***
Don't forget that Shawn Carney, our 40 Days for Life campaign director,
is on international TV tonight at 6:30 PM Eastern (3:30 PM Pacific) on
the EWTN network.
This episode of the Being Human series is called "What Is It?" The
program dives into what many people in our nation attempt to avoid --
the reality of abortion. This powerful, moving and challenging episode
captures the viewer's mind through reason and inspires the viewer's
heart through honesty.
EWTN is available on many cable and satellite TV services. The program
may also be seen online at http://www.ewtn.com. At the time when the
show starts, click on "television," then on "watch live."
40 Days for Life 3515-B Longmire #316 College Station, TX
77845 US
To update your contact information:
http://autocontactor.com/app/r.asp?c=1&ID=1048322280&D=
|
Make a Novena
and pray the Rosary to Our Lady of Victory 
Saints of this Day October 30 Tértio 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.