Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins. Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
gregory_the_great.jpg
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here }

The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”,
showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

Holy Father's Prayer Intentions For September 2009
General: That the word of God may be better known, welcomed and lived as the source of freedom and joy.
Mission: That Christians in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, who often meet with great difficulties, may not be discourage from announcing the Gospel to their brothers, trusting in the strength of the Holy Spirit.

3rd v. Mamas The Holy Great Martyr received a remarkable power over the forces of nature: wild beasts inhabiting the surrounding wilderness gathered at his abode and listened to the reading of the Holy Gospel. St Mamas nourished himself on the milk of wild goats and deer.  The saint did not ignore the needs of his neighbors. Preparing cheese from this milk, he gave it away freely to the poor. Soon the fame of St Mamas's life spread throughout all of Caesarea.
3rd v. Theodotus and Rufina The holy martyrs were parents of St Mamas. They came from patrician families, and were honored by all for their Christian piety. Alexander, the magistrate of the city of Gangra, summoned them because they refused to obey the imperial decree requiring all citizens to worship the pagan gods. Those who disobeyed would be tortured and put to death.
302 St. Zeno martyr died at Nicomedia with 2 sons
The 3628 Martyrs in Nicomedia suffered under the emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (305-311). These were Christians who had come from Alexandria. They had come to believe in Christ following the martyrdom of St Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria (November 25).
 304 St. Maxima Martyr slave Rome
 304 Saint Ansanus (Italian: Sant'Ansano) called The Baptizer or The Apostle of Siena, is the patron saint of Siena, a
        scion of the Anician family of Rome.

        St. Nonossus Benedictine monk of Mt. Soracte 
        St. Diomedes Martyr with Julian, Philip 
        St. Elpidius Hermit of Cappadocia 
        St. Antoninus Martyr
        St. Valentine 4th Bishop of Strasbourg
  390 St. Justus of Lyons Bishop and recluse
        Ss. Evodius and Hermogenes, brothers, and Callista, their sister
 420 St. Castor Bishop and founder
 422 St. Elpidius A bishop of Lyon
 595 Saint John IV the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople (582-595), is famed in the Orthodox Church as the compiler of a penitential nomokanon (i.e. rule for penances), which has come down to us in several distinct versions, but their foundation is one and the same. These are instructions for priests on how to hear the confession of secret sins, whether sins already committed, or merely sins of intent.
 700 St. Agricolus Bishop and charitable worker
1067 St. William of Roeskilde Bishop and counselor to Danish royal house
1038 Saint Stephen Confessor, King Of Hungary—975-1038
1073 Saint Anthony of the Kiev Caves Possesd fear of God from youth wandered arrived on Mt. Athos excelled in humility and obedience;  built monastery which became the first spiritual center of Rus; God glorified St Anthony with gifts of clairvoyance and wonderworking during construction of the Great Caves church Most Holy Theotokos Herself stood before him and St Theodosius in the Blachernae church in Constantinople, where they had been miraculously transported without leaving their own monastery; two angels appeared in Constantinople in their forms (See May 3, the account of the Kiev Caves Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos); received gold from the Mother of God, the saints commissioned master architects, who came from Constantinople to the Russian land on the command of the Queen of Heaven to build the church at the Monastery of the Caves; During appearance, the Mother of God foretold impending death of St Anthony, which occurred on July 10, 1073.
1074 Saint Theodosius of the Caves Father of monasticism in Russia; relics of the ascetic found incorrupt in 1090; St Theodosius was glorified as a saint in 1108. Of the written works of St Theodosius six discourses, two letters to Great Prince Izyaslav, and a prayer for all Christians have survived to our time.
1225 ST MARGARET OF LOUVAIN, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
1231 St. Brocard Carmelite prior of Mount Carmel
1282 St. Ingrid of Sweden first Dominican nun in Sweden
1748 The Kaluga Icon of the Mother of God appeared in the village of Tinkova, near Kaluga, at the home of the landowner Basil Kondratevich Khitrov; it granted healing to those approaching it with faith
1794 Blessed John Francis Burté and Companions French Revolution victims

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARPSALM 74
We will praise thee, O Lady: and we will praise thy name: make us to delight in thy praises.
Sing ye to her, ye dwellers upon earth: and announce her praise to the peoples.
Praise and magnificence are before her: fortitude and exultation are in her throne.
Adore ye her in her beauty: glorify the Maker of her beauty.
Be mindful in eternity of her mercy: keep in mind her virtues and her wonders.
Glory be to the Father, etc.
Glory be to the Father who created Heaven and earth; His only Son who lived and died for all of us;
and the Holy Spirit the Lord giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and Son, with the Father and Son He is Worshiped and Glorified, and He has spoken through the prophets:  Amen.


You Are the Dawn
Sept 2 - Our Lady of Nettles (Germany, 1441)
You are the window, the door and the veil, the courtyard and the house, the ground.
You are the enclosed garden and the fountain of the garden that washes those who are soiled, purifies those who are corrupted and gives life back to the dead.
You are the King's palace and God's throne.
You are the star that shines in the East and clears away the darkness in the West.
You are the dawn announcing the sunrise and the day that is unaware of the night.
Peter the Venerable 11th Century Poem

Sept 2 - OUR LADY OF NETTLES (Germany, 1441)
Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Two great tasks entrusted to women merit the attention of everyone.

First of all, the task of bringing full dignity to married life and to motherhood. Today new possibilities are opened to women for a deeper understanding and a richer realization of the human and Christian values implied in married life and the experience of motherhood. Man himself--husband and father--can be helped to overcome forms of absenteeism and of periodic presence as well as a partial fulfilment of parental responsibilities--indeed he can be involved in new and significant relations of interpersonal communion--precisely as a result of the intelligent, loving and decisive intervention of woman.

Secondly, women have the task of assuring the moral dimension of culture, the dimension, namely of a culture worthy of the person, of an individual yet social life. The Second Vatican Council seems to connect the moral dimension of culture with the participation of the lay faithful in the kingly mission of Christ: "Let the lay faithful by their combined efforts remedy the institutions and conditions of the world when the latter are an inducement to sin, that all such things may be conformed to the norms of justice, and may favor the practice of virtue rather than hindering it.
By so doing, they will infuse culture and human works with a moral value."
Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles Laici Of His Holiness John Paul II
Given at Rome, in St. Peter's, on 30 December, 1988.

Mary's Divine Motherhood
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).

Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI
Morning Prayer and Hymn   Meditation of the Day  Prayer for Priests

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him"

For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. 
All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. 

And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. 
The generation to come will be told of the Lord,
that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brough
t.

590-604 Pope St. Gregory I ("the Great")
Doctor of the Church; born at Rome about 540; died 12 March 604. Gregory is certainly one of the most notable figures in Ecclesiastical History. He has exercised in many respects a momentous influence on the doctrine, the organization, and the discipline of the Catholic Church. To him we must look for an explanation of the religious situation of the Middle Ages; indeed, if no account were taken of his work, the evolution of the form of medieval Christianity would be almost inexplicable. And further, in so far as the modern Catholic system is a legitimate development of medieval Catholicism, of this too Gregory may not unreasonably be termed the Father. Almost all the leading principles of the later Catholicism are found, at any rate in germ, in Gregory the Great. (F.H. Dudden, "Gregory the Great", 1, p. v).
He is also known as Gregory Dialogus (the Dialogist) in Eastern Orthodoxy because of the Dialogues he wrote. He was the first of the Popes from a monastic background. Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of the four great Latin Fathers of the Church (the others being Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome). Of all popes, Gregory I had the most influence on the early medieval church.

“The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: ‘But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....’ Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory” Exposition of the Orthodox Faith

Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh,
was none other than the Father's eternal Son,
the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).

Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.


Join the Mary of Nazareth Project and help us build the International Marian Center of Nazareth.

Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here }

The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.
Patron_Saints.html

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Morning Prayer and Hymn   Meditation of the Day  Prayer for Priests
The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him"
For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations.  All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage.  And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you.  The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.

Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness
1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion. 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing & make resolutions to avoid it.
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible.  4. Say the rosary every day.
5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament;
and toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour,
6.  Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
7.  Every month make a review of the month in confession.
8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue.
9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion.
10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary


breviary.net/martyrology/mart09/mart0902 stlukeorthodox.com/html/saints/august/ usccb.org  ewtn.com  Irondequoit .org Saints Alive
domcentral.org/life/martyrAugust  syriac    oca.org   glaubenszeugen.de/tage/August/   Serbian   http://www.copticchurch.net  Melkite
Monthly Saints with pics here http://www.stfrancisenid.com/memorials.htm
 One Saint per day stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/index.htm    stjohndc.org  God's Humourous Saints
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea.  As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.  Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heavenonly saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BLay Saints  Miraculous_IconMiraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900
God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven.
The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
"The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious."  1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina
Paul VI_Athenagoras_05_01_1964
Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:  
 "To withdraw into the desert is for Christians tantamount to associating themselves more intimately with Christ’s passion, and it enables them, in a very special way, to share in the paschal mystery and in the passage of Our Lord from this world to the heavenly homeland" (#1).
Benedict_XVI_Patriarch_Bartholomew I
"Christianity is not a moral code or a philosophy,
but an encounter with a person" -- Benedict XVI

"Evil, is only eradicated by holiness, not by harshness. And holiness introduces into society a seed that heals and transforms.  It is like the tectonic plates of the earth’s crust: The deepest layers need only shift a few millimeters to shatter the world’s surface. Yet for this spiritual revolution to occur, we must experience radical 'metanoia'--a conversion of attitudes, habits and practices--for ways that we have misused or abused God’s Word, God’s gifts and God’s creation. The challenge before us is the discernment of God’s Word in the face of evil, the transfiguration of every last detail and speck of this world in the light of Resurrection." "The victory is al ready present in the depths of the Church, whenever we experience the grace of reconciliation and communion."
Patriarch_Bartholomew I: SYNOD OF BISHOPS VATICAN CITY, OCT. 17, 2008

"The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints.
They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties,how to stand firm in our faith,
and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious." 
1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina
God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven.
The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
Non est inventus similis illis
His Holiness Aram I, current (2008) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias.
  The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia.
The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin.
In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides.  Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The "Peregrinatio Silviæ" (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.

Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.  Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it. After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims. Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen), to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac: The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., V,xxiii). In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed ("Chronicon Edessenum", ad. an. 201). In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written. Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life. But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets.
An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams.  Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles
569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti  greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.) , Hazrat Ghuas-e AzamHazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA)
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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey
Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited.  In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy: 
"Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you." 
Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about
Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 20 years
Lover of the poor; "A very Holy Man of God"
Monsignor Reardon P.A.  BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN
America's First Basilica
Largest Nave in the World
August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone 5/31/1908
James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932
James M. Reardon Publication  History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}
Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America

Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist,1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919);
George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement
1362-1950 (1952);

The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;
  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;

James Michael Reardon B. 1872, Nova Scotia; Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland; Member  St. Paul Seminary faculty
Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows Here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary
spaces filled
between with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron  Life of our Blessed Lady After the Crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica. Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great.  It became the Popes' own cathedral and official residence for the first millennium of Christian history. The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}. Saints Simon (saw), Bartholomew (knife), James the Lesser (book), John (eagle),  Andrew (transverse cross), Peter (keys), Paul (sword), James the Greater (staff),
Thomas (carpenter's square), Philip (serpent), Matthew (book), and Jude (sword).
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 
It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
By Father John Corapi, SOLT
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.

Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception. This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children.

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM
As we watch the spectacle of the world seeming to self-destruct before our eyes, we can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions displayed in living color on our television screens.  These are not ordinary times and this is not business as usual. We are at a crossroads in human history and the time for Catholics and all Christians to act is now. All evil can ultimately be traced to its origin, which is moral evil. All of the political action, peace talks, international peacekeeping forces, etc. will avail nothing if the underlying sickness is not addressed. This is sin. One person at a time hearts and minds must be moved from evil to good, from lies to truth, from violence to peace.

Islam, an Arabic word that has often been defined as “to make peace,” seems like a living contradiction today. Although it is supposed to be a religion of peace, Islam has been hijacked by Satan and now operates in the dark space of international terrorism.  As we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady, I am proposing that each one of us pray the Rosary for peace. Prayer is what must precede all other activity if that activity is to have any chance of success. Pray for peace, pray the Rosary every day without fail.  There is a great love for Mary among Muslim people. It is not a coincidence that a little village named Fatima is where God chose to have His Mother appear in the twentieth century. Our Lady’s name appears no less than thirty times in the Koran. No other woman’s name is mentioned, not even that of Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima.
In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.”

Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetically spoke of the resurgence of Islam in our day. He said it would be through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Islam would be converted. We must pray for this to happen quickly if we are to avert a horrible time of suffering for this poor, sinful world. Turn to our Mother in this time of great peril. Pray the Rosary every day. Then, and only then will there be peace, when the hearts and minds of men are changed from the inside.
Talk is weak. Prayer is strong. Pray!  God bless you,
Father John Corapi

A New Series by Fr. Corapi! The Moon Under Her Feet CD-Audio Set: $39.00 DVD-Video Set: $45.00  call 1-888-800-7084 or go to Site http://www.fathercorapi.com
In this four part series Father John Corapi goes to the heart of the contemporary world's many woes and wars, whether the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, or the Congo, or the natural disasters that seem to be increasing every year, the moral and spiritual war is at the basis of everything. "Our battle is not against human forces," St. Paul asserts, "but against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness..."
(Ephesians 6:12).  The "War to end all wars" is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that  unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds.  The title talk, "With the Moon Under Her Feet," is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam.  Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by this four part series on topics more timely than ever.
The four titles are:  1. The Real War We Fight 2. The Battle for Hearts & Minds 3. Leadership: Essential for Victory 4. With the Moon Under Her Feet
DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS
VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Today, during a private audience with Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Pope authorised the congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
All Servants of God
MIRACLES:
- 1909 Ciriaco Maria Sancha y Hervas, Spanish cardinal archbishop of Toledo, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of
          Charity of Cardinal Sancha (1833-1909).
-
1956 Carlo Gnocchi, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the "Pro Juventute" Foundation (1902-1956).
-
1735 Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos, Spanish professed priest of the Company of Jesus (1711-1735).
-
1919 Raphael Rafiringa (ne Louis), Madagascan professed religious of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools
          (1856-1919).
-
1946 Eustachio Kugler, (ne Joseph), German professed religious of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God (1867-1946).
 
HEROIC VIRTUES
-
1659 Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, Spanish bishop of Osma (1600-1659).
-
1888 Robert Spiske, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Hedwig (1821-1888).
- 1
932 Carolina Beltrami, Italian foundress of the Institute of "Immaculatine" Sisters of Alessandria (1869-1932).
-
1998 Mary of the Immaculate e Conception Salvat y Romerio (nee Maria Isabella), Spanish superior general of the Institute of
          Sisters of the Company of the Cross (1926-1998).
-
1842 Liberata Ferrarons y Vives, Spanish laywoman of the Third Order of Carmelites (1803-1842).
  In the course of a private audience with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. on 22 December 2008, the Pope authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding the heroic virtues of
1871 Jose Tous y Soler, Servant of God Spanish professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins and founder of the
        Capuchin sisters of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd (1811-1871).
CSS/DECREES/AMATO VIS 090119 (320)
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3rd v. Mamas The Holy Great Martyr received a remarkable power over the forces of nature: wild beasts inhabiting the surrounding wilderness gathered at his abode and listened to the reading of the Holy Gospel. St Mamas nourished himself on the milk of wild goats and deer.  The saint did not ignore the needs of his neighbors. Preparing cheese from this milk, he gave it away freely to the poor. Soon the fame of St Mamas's life spread throughout all of Caesarea.

The Holy Great Martyr was born in Paphlagonia, Asia Minor in the third century of pious and illustrious parents, the Christians Theodotus and Rufina. The parents of the saint were arrested by the pagans for their open confession of their faith and locked up in prison in Caesarea in Cappadocia.

Knowing his own bodily weakness, Theodotus prayed that the Lord would take him before being subjected to tortures. The Lord heard his prayer and he died in prison. St Rufina died also after him, after giving birth to a premature son. She entrusted him to God, beseeching Him to be the Protector and Defender of the orphaned infant.

God heard the dying prayer of St Rufina: a rich Christian widow named Ammia reverently buried the bodies of Sts Theodotus and Rufina, and she took the boy into her own home and raised him as her own son. St Mamas grew up in the Christian Faith. His foster mother concerned herself with the developing of his natural abilities, and early on she sent him off to study his grammar.

The boy learned easily and willingly. He was not of an age of mature judgment but distinguished himself by maturity of mind and of heart. By means of prudent conversations and personal example young Mamas converted many of his own peers to Christianity.

The governor, Democritus, was informed of this, and the fifteen-year-old Mamas was arrested and brought to trial. In deference to his illustrious parentage, Democritus decided not to subject him to torture, but instead sent him off to the emperor Aurelian (270-275). The emperor tried at first kindly, but then with threats to turn St Mamas back to the pagan faith, but all in vain. The saint bravely confessed himself a Christian and pointed out the madness of the pagans in their worship of lifeless idols.

Infuriated, the emperor subjected the youth to cruel tortures. They tried to drown the saint, but an angel of the Lord saved St Mamas and bade him live on a high mountain in the wilderness, not far from Caesarea. Bowing to the will of God, the saint built a small church there and began to lead a life of strict temperance, in exploits of fasting and prayer.

Soon he received a remarkable power over the forces of nature: wild beasts inhabiting the surrounding wilderness gathered at his abode and listened to the reading of the Holy Gospel. St Mamas nourished himself on the milk of wild goats and deer.

The saint did not ignore the needs of his neighbors. Preparing cheese from this milk, he gave it away freely to the poor. Soon the fame of St Mamas's life spread throughout all of Caesarea.

The governor sent a detachment of soldiers to arrest him. When they encountered St Mamas on the mountain, the soldiers did not recognize him, and mistook him for a simple shepherd. The saint then invited them to his dwelling, gave them a drink of milk and then told them his name, knowing that death for Christ awaited him. The servant of God told the servant of the Emperor to go on ahead of him into Caesaria, promising that he would soon follow. The soldiers waited for him at the gates of the city, and St Mamas, accompanied by a lion, met them there.

Surrendering himself into the hands of the torturers, St Mamas was brought to trial under a deputy governor named Alexander, who subjected him to intense and prolonged tortures. They did not break the saint's will, however. He was strengthened by the words addressed to him from above: "Be strong and take courage, Mamas."

When they threw St Mamas to the wild beasts, these creatures would not touch him. Finally, one of the pagan priests struck him with a trident. Mortally wounded, St Mamas went out beyond the city limits. There, in a small stone cave, he gave up his spirit to God, Who in the hearing of all summoned the holy Martyr Mamas into His heavenly habitation. He was buried by believers at the place of his death.

Christians soon began to receive help from him in their afflictions and sorrows. St Basil the Great speaks thus about the holy Martyr Mamas in a sermon to the people: "Remember the holy martyr, you who live here and have him as a helper. You who call on his name have been helped by him. Those in error he has guided into life. Those whom he has healed of infirmity, those whose children were dead he has restored to life, those whose life he has prolonged: let us all come together as one, and praise the martyr!"

3rd v. Theodotus and Rufina The holy martyrs were parents of St Mamas. They came from patrician families, and were honored by all for their Christian piety. Alexander, the magistrate of the city of Gangra, summoned them because they refused to obey the imperial decree requiring all citizens to worship the pagan gods. Those who disobeyed would be tortured and put to death.

Since Theodotus refused to comply with this order, Alexander sent him to the governor Faustus in Caesarea of Cappadocia. Alexander could not torture or kill Theodotus because of his noble rank. Faustus, however, had no such scruples. He threw Theodotus into prison as soon as he arrived.

Even though she was pregnant at the time, Rufina followed her husband. She stayed in the prison with Theodotus, where they both suffered for Christ. Fearing that he would not be able to withstand the cruel tortures, Theodotus asked God to take his soul. The Lord heard his prayer and sent him a blessed repose, establishing his soul in the heavenly mansions.

St Rufina endured privations and sufferings in prison, and experienced great sorrow at the death of her husband. Because of these things, she gave birth to her child before the proper time. She prayed that God would permit her to follow her husband in death, and that He would also protect her child. Her prayer was also granted, and she gave her virtuous soul God's hands.

St Mamas was raised by a pious woman named Ammia, or Matrona, who became a second mother to him.

302 St. Zeno martyr died at Nicomedia with 2 sons
Nicomedíæ sanctórum Mártyrum Zenónis, atque Concórdii et Theodóri, filiórum ejus.
    At Nicomedia, the holy martyrs Zeno, and his sons Concordius and Theodore.
 Concordius and Theodore, during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian.
The 3628 Martyrs in Nicomedia suffered under the emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (305-311). These were Christians who had come from Alexandria. They had come to believe in Christ following the martyrdom of St Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria (November 25).

Taking their wives and children with them, they arrived in Nicomedia and voluntarily presented themselves for martyrdom, exclaiming, "We are Christians." At first, Diocletian tried to persuade them to renounce Christ, but seeing their resolve, he ordered them all to be beheaded, and for their bodies to be thrown into a fiery pit.

Many years later, the relics of the holy martyrs were discovered through various manifestations of grace.

304 St. Maxima Martyr slave Rome St. Ansanus companion
Romæ sanctæ Máximæ Mártyris, quæ, simul cum sancto Ansáno Christum conféssa, in persecutióne Diocletiáni, dum fústibus cæditur, réddidit spíritum.
    At Rome, the holy martyr Maxima, who confessed Christ with St. Ansanus in the persecution of Diocletian, and yielded up her soul while being beaten with rods.
She was martyred by being beaten to death in the persecution conducted by Emperor Diocletian.
304 Saint Ansanus (Italian: Sant'Ansano) called The Baptizer or The Apostle of Siena, is the patron saint of Siena, a scion of the Anician family of Rome.
His legend states that he was born of a noble Roman family. While still a child, Ansanus was secretly baptized by his nurse Maxima (venerated as St. Maxima of Rome) and was secretly brought up as a Christian. Ansanus openly declared his Christian faith during the persecutions of Diocletian, when he was nineteen years old.

According to tradition, Ansanus and Maxima were scourged; Maxima died from this. Ansanus, however, survived this torture, as well as the next one: being thrown into a pot of boiling oil. He was then taken to the city of Siena as a prisoner. He managed to preach Christianity there and make many converts to this religion. He was decapitated by order of Diocletian.
It is also said that his own father denounced him to the authorities, but Ansanus managed to escape, and converted many at Bagnorea and later at Siena.

St. Diomedes Martyr with Julian, Philip
Item sanctórum Mártyrum Diomédis, Juliáni, Philíppi, Euthychiáni, Hesychii, Leónidæ, Philadélphi, Menalíppi et Pantágapæ; quorum álii igne, álii aqua, ense álii et cruce martyrium complevérunt.
    Also, the holy martyrs, Diomedes, Julian, Philip, Eutychian, Hesychius, Leonides, Philadelphus, Menalippus, and Pantagapas.  Their martyrdoms were completed, some by fire, some water, others by the sword or by the cross.
Eutychian, Hesychius, Leonides, Philadelphus, Menalippus, and Pantagapes. There are no details as to the time or location of their martyrdom, but records indicate some were beheaded, others crucified, drowned, or burned alive.
St. Nonossus Benedictine monk of Mt. Soracte
In monte Sorácte sancti Nonnósi Abbátis, qui ingéntis molis saxum oratióne sua tránstulit, aliísque miráculis coruscávit.
    On Mount Soracte, Abbot St. Nonnosus, who by his prayers moved a rock of huge proportions, and was renowned for other miracles.
near Rome. His remarkable works of faith were recorded by Pope St. Gregory I the Great.
4th century St. Antoninus Martyr and hermit
Pámiæ, in Gállia, sancti Antoníni Mártyris, cujus relíquiæ apud Ecclésiam Palentínam, in Hispánia, magna veneratióne asservántur.
    At Pamiers in France, St. Antoninus, martyr, whose relics are kept with great veneration in the church of Palencia, in Spain.
Antoninus is listed as a stonemason in Aribazus, Syria. He denounced the pagan practices of his fellow townspeople and went to live as a hermit for two years. Antoninus then returned to his village and destroyed the pagan idols. He fled the town and built a church in Apamea, Syria, where he was murdered. Both Apamea and Pamiers claim this saint
.

<>4th V. ST ANTONINUS, MARTYR
According to the eastern legend Antoninus was a Syrian stonemason who, with an especially disinterested zeal, rebuked the idolaters of his native place for wor­shipping images of stone. He then lived with a hermit for two years, at the end of which time he came back to the town and found the people still worshipping their false gods. So he went into a temple and threw down the idol therein,  whereupon he was driven from the place and came to Apamaea. Here the bishop engaged him to build a church, an undertaking which so angered the pagans that they raised a riot and killed Antoninus, who was only twenty years old.

This appears to be the Antoninus the martyr who is stated by the Roman Martyrology to have suffered at Pamiers, where there are local legends about him. Some alleged relics were taken to Palencia in Spain, of which he is the patron, and which has its own version of the Pamiers legend. The name of St Antoninus is associated with those of SS. Almachius and John, who are supposed to have suffered with him, and has by another error become connected also with Capua, where “Antoninus, a boy”, is named with St Aristaeus, bishop and martyr, on Sep­tember 3.

A great deal of confusion has grown up around the mention of this martyr in the ancient martyrology known as the Hieronymianum. Delehaye (CMH., pp. 484—486) points out that there was an unquestionably authentic cultus of the Apamaean Antoninus, which is vouched for amongst others by Theodoret. The martyr is honoured, however, in the Greek synax­aries on November 9. See, further, Fr Delehaye, “Saints et reliquaires d’Apamée”, in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. liii (1935), pp. 225 seq.

4th century St. Valentine 4th Bishop of Strasbourg
(Strassburg), France. The fourth bishop of that see, he regulated his diocese which was still evolving and maturing in the faith after initial conversions
.
4th century St. Elpidius Hermit of Cappadocia
In Picéno item sancti Elpídii Abbátis, cujus nómine óppidum est appellátum, quod ejus sacrum corpus se possidére congáudet.
    In Piceno, another St. Elpidius, an abbot.  A town bearing his name glories in the possession of his holy body.
He spent twenty years in a cave there With many disciples joining him. Elpidius’ relics were enshrined in a town in the marches of Ancona, Italy, now called Sant’ Elpidio. He is depicted with a vine leaf in winter
390 St. Justus of Lyons Bishop and recluse
Lugdúni, in Gállia, Translátio sanctórum Justi, Epíscopi et Confessóris, ac Viatóris, qui ejus fúerat miníster; quorum natális dies respectíve prídie Idus Octóbris et duodécimo Kaléndas Novémbris recensétur.
    At Lyons in France, the translation of St. Justus, bishop and confessor, and Viator, his servant, whose birthdays occur on the 14th of October and the 21st of October.
390 ST JUSTUS BISHOP OP LYONS

Justus was born in the Vivarais, and whilst he served the church of Vienne as deacon he was advanced to the see of Lyons. His zeal made him severe in reproving everything that deserved reproof, and his attachment to discipline and good order was displayed at the Synod of Valence in the year 374. A council being assembled at Aquileia in 381, St Justus with two other bishops from Gaul assisted at it. The chief affairs there debated regarded the Arians, and St Ambrose, who was present, procured the deposition of two Arian bishops. He had a particular respect for St Justus, as appears from two letters which he addressed to him concerning certain biblical questions.
It happened that at Lyons a man, who had stabbed some persons in the street, took sanctuary in the church; and St Justus delivered him into the hands of the magistrate’s officer upon a promise that the prisoner’s life should be spared. Notwithstanding this he was dispatched by the populace. The good bishop was apprehensive that he had been accessory to his death and was by that disqualified for the ministry of the altar. Having long desired to serve God in retirement, it is said that he made use of this as a pretext to resign the pastoral charge. The opposition of his flock seemed an obstacle, but his journey to Aquileia afforded him an opportunity. On his return he stole from his friends in the night, and at Marseilles took ship with a lector of his church, named Viator, and sailed to Alexandria. He lived unknown in a monastery in Egypt, until he was discovered by one who came from Gaul to visit the monasteries in the Thebaid, and the church of Lyons sent a priest called Antiochus to urge him to return but he was not to be prevailed upon. Antiochus (who succeeded Justus in his see and is himself venerated as a saint, on October 15) determined to bear him company in his solitude, and the saint shortly after died in his arms about the year 390. His body was soon after translated to Lyons and buried in the church of the Macchabees which afterwards bore his name. His minister St Viator survived him only a few weeks, and is named in the Roman Martyrology on October 21, and the translation of their bodies together on September 2.

Alban Butler states that the village of Saint Just in Cornwall takes its name from Justus of Lyons. This seems to be a guess, and a poor one there are two Cornish Saint Justs, in Roseland and in Penwith, but their eponyms have not been identified.
An early Latin life of St Justus is printed in the Acts Sanctorum, September, vol. i (under September 2), and there seems no reason to doubt that it is in the main reliable. The fact that Justus is mentioned on five different days in the Hieronymianum (see CMH., pp. 566— 567) may be taken as satisfactory proof of the interest which his cultus inspired. Sidonius Apollinaris in a letter gives a description of the enthusiasm with which crowds flocked to the shrine on his feast-day. Consult also Duchesne, Pastes Episcopaux, vol. ii, p. i6z Coville, Recherches sur l’histoire d Lyon (1928), pp. 441—445 and Leclercq, DAC., vol. X, Cc. 191—193.

He was born in Vivarais in Gaul and was made bishop of Lyons in 350. When a prisoner who had sought sanctuary in Justus’ cathedral was put to death, Justus left the Council of Aquileia and went to Alexandria, Egypt, with a deacon, Viator. He became a hermit there and refused to return to Lyons.
Eódem die Commemorátio sanctórum Mártyrum germanórum Evódii, Hermógenis et Callístæ; de quibus, in Syracusána Sicíliæ urbe martyrium passis, ágitur étiam séptimo Kaléndas Maji.
   
Evodius and Hermogenes, brothers, and Callista, their sister On the same day, the commemoration of the holy martyrs.  Mention is made of them that they died on the 25th of April in the city of Syracuse in Italy.
420 St. Castor Bishop and founder
possibly the brother of St. Leontius of Frejus. Born in Nimes, France, he married a wealthy widow from Marseilles and, with her consent, entered the religious life. He founded the Monanque Monastery in Provence. Castor became ab­bot and then the bishop of Apt. St. John Cassian wrote De Institutis Coenobiorum at Castor’s request
.

425 ST CASTOR, BISHOP OF APT
HE was a native of Nimes and perhaps brother to St Leontius of Fréjus. He began a secular career, having married the daughter of a rich widow from Marseilles. But both were drawn to the life of the cloister, and St Castor founded, near Apt in Provence, the monastery of Mananque, himself becoming the first abbot. Thence he was called to the episcopal chair of Apt, an office he undertook unwillingly but discharged unwaveringly. He bent all his energies to the saving of souls, calling on them to love God with all their hearts, to join with the Church in serving Him who is all-lovely and all-worshipful. St Castor maintained the closest interest in the welfare of his monks, and it was at his request for them that St John Cassian wrote his work on the monastic life, De institutis coenobiorum, which was dedicated to St Castor.
See the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. vi; Gallia christiana novissima, vol. i, pp. 192—195; and Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. i, p. 282.
422 St. Elpidius A bishop of Lyon
Lugdúni, in Gállia, sancti Elpídii, Epíscopi et Confessóris.    At Lyons in France, St. Elpidius, bishop and confessor.
France, the successor of St. Antiochus. His relics are enshrined in the church of St. Justus.
595 Saint John IV the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople (582-595), is famed in the Orthodox Church as the compiler of a penitential nomokanon (i.e. rule for penances), which has come down to us in several distinct versions, but their foundation is one and the same. These are instructions for priests on how to hear the confession of secret sins, whether sins already committed, or merely sins of intent.

Ancient church rules address the manner and duration of public penances, established for obvious and evident sinners. But it was necessary to adapt these rules for the secret confession of undetected things. St John the Faster issued his penitential nomokanon (or "Canonaria"), so that the confession of secret sins, unknown to the world, already testifies to the good disposition of the sinner and his conscience in being reconciled to God, and so the saint reduced the penances of the ancient Fathers by half or more.

On the other hand, he set more exactly the character of the penances: severe fasting, daily performance of a set number of prostrations to the ground, the distribution of alms, etc. The length of penance is determined by the priest. The main purpose of the nomocanon compiled by the holy Patriarch consists in assigning penances, not simply according to the seriousness of the sins, but according to the degree of repentance and the spiritual state of the person who confesses.

Among the Greeks, and later in the Russian Church, the rules of St John the Faster are honored on a level "with other saintly rules," and the nomocanons of his book are accounted "applicable for all the Orthodox Church." St Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (July 14) included him in the Manual for Confession (Exomologitarion), first published in 1794, and in the Rudder (Pedalion), published in 1800.

The first Slavonic translation was done quite possibly by the holy Equal of the Apostles Methodius, at the same time as he produced the Nomocanon in 50 Titles of the holy Patriarch John Scholastikos, whose successor on the Constantinople cathedra-seat was St John the Faster. This ancient translation was preserved in Rus in the "Ustiug Rudder" of the thirteenth century, published in 1902.

From the sixteenth century in the Russian Church the nomocanon of St John the Faster was circulated in another redaction, compiled by the monks and clergy of Mount Athos. In this form it was repeatedly published at the Kiev Caves Lavra (in 1620, 1624, 1629).

In Moscow, the Penitential Nomokanon was published in the form of a supplement to the Trebnik ("Book of Needs): under Patriarch Joasaph in 1639, under Patriarch Joseph in 1651, and under Patriarch Nikon in 1658. The last edition since that time is that printed in the Great Book of Needs. A scholarly edition of the nomocanon with parallel Greek and Slavonic texts and with detailed historical and canonical commentary was published by A. S. Pavlov (Moscow, 1897).

700 St. Agricolus Bishop and charitable worker
the patron of Avignon, called Agricola of Avignon in some records. He is reported as having been born about 630, the son of St. Magnus, a senator who became a monk and then a bishop as a widower. Agricolus went to Lérins, his father's episcopal see, when he was fourteen. He was ordained there. In 660, he became coadjutor to his father; succeeding him in 670. In his own right, Agricolus was famed for preaching and for his charitable works. He defended the poor and the sick. He was named patron of Avignon in 1647
.

7th V.   ST AGRICOLUS, BISHOP OF AVIGNON 

INFORMATION about this saint is very unreliable, for it is obtained from no document earlier than the sixteenth century, at which time a popular devotion towards him began to grow up. He has been officially recognized as patron of the city of Avignon only since 1647. These late traditions say that Agricolus was born about the year 630, the son of St Magnus, a Gallo-Roman senator of the gens Albina, who after the death of his wife became first a monk at Lérins and then bishop of Avignon. Agricolus himself went to Lérins when he was fourteen and, making great progress in learning and virtue, was advanced to the priesthood. After sixteen years as a monk his father summoned him to the episcopal city. Here he was appointed archdeacon and distinguished himself by his preaching, by his powers of administration, and by his care for the poor, the oppressed and the sick. In 66o St Magnus consecrated his son bishop as his coadjutor. Ten years later Magnus died and St Agricolus succeeded both to his father’s see and to the success with which he administered it.

He is invoked locally to bring both rain and fair weather.

See the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. i, and more particularly Duprat, Les origines de I’ Église d’Avignon (1909), pp. 73 seq. A full bibliography may be found in DUG., vol. i, c. 1019.
1067 St. William of Roeskilde Bishop and counselor to Danish royal house
Originally an Anglo-Saxon priest, he served as chaplain to King Canute of Scandinavia (r. 1014-1035) and went with him to Denmark. Once there, he served as a missionary among the pagans and was appointed bishop of Roeskilde on Zeeland Island. As bishop, he publicly rebuked King Sven Estridsen (r. 1047-1074) for his execution of several men without trial and for a dissolute lifestyle Nevertheless, both the king and William worked well together to promote political and religious unity and to further the Christian cause. William died while taking part in the funeral procession of the king. He has never been formally canonized, although he was traditionally venerated in Danish churches
.

1070 ST WILLIAM, BISHOP OF R0SKILDE
THE historians of Denmark relate that St William was an English priest, chaplain to King Canute. In one of the voyages which that prince made from England to Denmark, the zealous servant of God who attended him was so moved with com­passion at the sight of the ignorance, idolatry and superstition in which SO many of the Danes lived that he decided to stay behind to preach Christ and His gospel. He later was advanced to the episcopal see of Roskilde in the island of Zealand.

Most of the things related of St William have reference to his unwearying efforts to reform the behaviour of King Sweyn Estridsen. This prince having once caused some persons to be put to death not only without trial but also within the bounds of a church, the saint met him at the church door the next day and, holding out his pastoral staff, forbade him to enter the house of God till his hands were cleansed from the blood he had unjustly spilt; and seeing some of the courtiers draw their swords, he presented his neck, saying he was ready to die in defence of the Church of God. Sweyn publicly confessed his crime, and later gave some land to the church of Roskilde as a peace offering.

St William had affection for his troublesome sovereign, and for some years the saint and the penitent concurred to promote the cause of religion. Upon the death of the king his body was temporarily buried in the abbey he had founded at Ring­sted, till the cathedral of Roskilde should be ready for its reception. At the same time a tomb was prepared there for St William, and it is said that, while Sweyn’s body was being conveyed from Ringsted to Roskilde, St William came out to meet it and himself died at its approach, so that the two friends were borne together to burial. St William is named in Danish calendars hut he has never had a liturgical feast in his honour. He has been confused with St William of Eskill (April 6).

There is no separate biography of St William his history has to be gleaned from such unsatisfactory chroniclers as Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum.
1038 SAINT STEPHEN CONFESSOR, KING OF HUNGARY—975-1038
Apud Albam Regálem, in Pannónia, item natális sancti Stéphani, Regis Hungarórum et Confessóris; qui, divínis virtútibus exornátus, primus Húngaros ad Christi fidem convértit, et a Deípara Vírgine, ipso die Assumptiónis suæ, in cælum recéptus fuit.  Ejus vero festívitas quarto Nonas Septémbris, quo die munitíssima Budæ arx, sancti Regis ope, recólitur, ex dispositióne Innocéntii Papæ Undécimi.
    At Alba Regalis in Hungary, St. Stephen, King of Hungary, who was graced with divine virtues, was the first to convert the Hungarians to the faith of Christ, and was received into heaven by the Virgin Mother of God on the very day of her Assumption.  By decree of Pope Innocent XI, his feast is kept on the 2nd of September, on which day the strong city of Buda, by the aid of the holy king, was recovered by the Christian army.

Sancti Stéphani, Regis Hungarórum et Confessóris; qui décimo octávo Kaléndas Septémbris obdormívit in Dómino.
    St. Stephen, king of Hungary and confessor, who fell asleep in the Lord on the 15th of August.

<>1038 ST STEPHEN OF HUNGARY
THE people whom we call Magyars came into the country of Hungary during the last years of the ninth century, settling in the land around the Danube from several districts to the east of it, under the general leadership of a chief called Arpad. They were a fierce and marauding people and met Christianity in the course of their raids into Italy, France and westward generally. St Methodius and others had already planted the faith in Pannonia, but it was not until the second half of the tenth century that the Magyars themselves began to pay any serious consideration to the Church. Geza, the third duke (voivode) after Arpad, saw the political necessity of Christianity to his country, and (encouraged by St Adalbert of Prague) he was baptized and a number of his nobles followed his example. But it was largely a conversion of expediency, and had the usual result of such conversions: the Christianity of the converts was largely nominal. An exception to this was Geza’s son, Vaik, who had been baptized at the same time as his father and been given the name of Stephen (Istvan) ; he was then only about ten and so had not acquired pagan ways and fixed habits of mind. In the year 995, when he was twenty, he married Gisela, sister of Henry, Duke of Bavaria, better known as the Emperor St Henry II, and two years later he succeeded his father as governor of the Magyars.

Stephen was soon engaged in wars with rival tribal leaders and others and when he had consolidated his position he sent St Astrik, whom he designed to be the first archbishop, to Rome to obtain Pope Silvester II’s approval for a proper ecclesiastical organization for his country ; and at the same time to ask his Holiness to confer upon him the title of king, which his nobles had long pressed him to assume and which he now asked that he might with more majesty and authority accomplish his designs for promoting the glory of God and the good of his people. Silvester was disposed to grant his request, and prepared a royal crown to send him with his blessing, acting no doubt in concert with political representations from the Emperor Otto III who was then in Rome. At the same time the pope con­firmed the religious foundations which the prince had made and the elections of bishops. St Stephen went to meet his ambassador upon his return and listened, standing with great respect, to the pope’s bulls whilst they were read to express his own sense of religion and to inspire his subjects with awe for whatever belonged to divine worship, he always treated the pastors of the Church with great honour and respect. The same prelate who had brought the crown from Rome crowned him king with great solemnity in the year 1001.* * The alleged bull of Pope Silvester granting the title of Apostolic King and Apostolic Legate to St Stephen, with the right to have a primatial cross home before him, is a forgery, probably of the seventeenth century. The upper part of the crown sent by the pope, fitted on to the lower part of a crown given to King Geza I by the Emperor Michael VII, is pre­served at Budapest.

Firmly to root Christianity in his kingdom and to provide for its steady progress after his own time, King Stephen established episcopal sees only gradually, as Magyar clergy became available; Vesprem is the first of which there is reliable record, but within some years Esztergom was founded and became the primatial see. At Szekesfehervar he built a church in honour of the Mother of God, in which the kings of Hungary were afterwards both crowned and buried. This city St Stephen made his usual residence, whence it was called Alba Regatis to dis­tinguish it from Alba Julia in Transylvania. He also completed the foundation of the great monastery of St Martin, begun by his father. This monastery, known as Martinsberg or Pannonhalma, still exists, and is the mother house of the Hungarian Benedictine congregation. For the support of the churches and their pastors and the relief of the poor throughout his dominions he commanded tithes to be paid. Every tenth town had to build a church and support a priest; the king himself furnished the churches. He abolished, not without violence, bar­barous and superstitious customs derived from the former religion and by severe punishments repressed blasphemy, murder, theft, adultery and other public crimes. He commanded all persons to marry except religious and churchmen, and forbade all marriages of Christians with idolators. He was of easy access to people of all ranks, and listened to everyone’s complaints, but was most willing to hear the poor, knowing them to be more easily oppressed and considering that in them we honour Christ who, being no longer among men on earth in His mortal state, has recommended to us the poor in His place and right.

It is said that one day, while the king was distributing alms in disguise, a troop of beggars crowding round him knocked him down, hustled him, pulled at his beard and hair, and took away his purse, seizing for themselves what he intended for the relief of many others. Stephen took this indignity humbly and with good humour, happy to suffer in the service of his Saviour, and his nobles, when they heard of this, were amused and chaffed him about it but they were also disturbed, and insisted that he should no more expose his person; but he renewed his re­solution never to refuse an alms to any poor person that asked him. The example of his virtue was a most powerful sermon to those who came under his influence, and in no one was it better exemplified than in his son, Bd Emeric, to whom St Stephen’s code of laws was inscribed. These laws he caused to be promulgated throughout his dominions, and they were well suited to a fierce and rough people newly converted to Christianity. But they were not calculated to allay the dis­content and alarm of those who were still opposed to the new religion, and some of the wars which St Stephen had to undertake had a religious as well as a political significance. When he had overcome an irruption of the Bulgarians he undertook the political organization of his people. He abolished tribal divisions and divided the land into “counties”, with a system of governors and magistrates. Thus, and by means of a limited application of feudal ideas, making the nobles vassals of the crown, he welded the Magyars into a unity; and by retaining direct control over the common people he prevented undue accumulation of power into the hands of the lords. St Stephen was indeed the founder and architect of the independent realm of Hungary. But, as Father Paul Grosjean, Bollandist, has remarked, to look at him otherwise than against his historical background gives as false an impression as to think of him as a sort of Edward the Confessor or Louis IX. And that background was a very fierce and uncivilized one.

As the years passed, Stephen wanted to entrust a greater part in the government to his only son, but in 1031 Emeric was killed while hunting. “God loved him, and therefore He has taken him away early”, cried St Stephen in his grief. The death of Emeric left him without an heir and the last years of his life were embittered by family disputes about the succession, with which he had to cope while suffering continually from painful illness. There were four or five claimants, of whom one, Peter, was the son of his sister Gisela, an ambitious and cruel woman, who since the death of her husband had lived at the Hungarian court. She had made up her mind that her son should have the throne, and shamelessly took advantage of Stephen’s ill-health to forward her ends. He eventually died, aged sixty-three, on the feast of the Assumption 1038, and was buried beside Bd Emeric at Szekes­fehervar. His tomb was the scene of miracles, and forty-five years after his death, by order of Pope St Gregory VII at the request of King St Ladislaus, his relics were enshrined in a chapel within the great church of our Lady at Buda. Innocent XI appointed his festival for September 2 in 1686, the Emperor Leopold having on that day recovered Buda from the hands of the Turks.

There are two early lives of St Stephen, both dating apparently from the eleventh century, and known as the Vita major and the Vita minor. These texts have been edited in Pertz, MGH., Scriptores, vol. xi. A certain Bishop Hartwig early in the twelfth century compiled from these materials a biography which is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. ii. Other facts concerning the saint may be gleaned from the Chronica Ungarorum edited in Endlicher’s Monumenta, vol. i. Although the supposed bull of Silvester II is certainly spurious, and although very serious doubts have been raised as to the genuineness of the crown alleged to have been sent by the pope, still there does seem to be evidence of special powers conferred by papal authority which were equivalent to those of a legate a latere. The belief, however, that St Stephen was invested with the title of “Apostolic King” is altogether without foundation. See e.g. the article of L. Kropf in the English Historical Review, 1898, pp. 290—295. A very readable, but rather uncritical, life by E. Horn (1899) has appeared in the series “Les Saints”. For more reliable and detailed information we have to go to such Hungarian authorities as J. Paulers, Mgr Fraknoi and Dr Karácsonyi. In a later volume of the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. ii, pp. 477—487, the Bollandists, when dealing with the life of Bd Emeric, have discussed many points which have a bearing on the history of the king, his father. Among the publications marking the ninth centenary of the death of St Stephen were F. Banfi, Re Stefano il Santo (1938), and B. Hóman, Szent István (1938) ; the last has been translated into German (1941). See also Archivum Europae centro-orientalis, vol. iv (1938); and C. A. Macartney, The Medieval Hungarian Historians (1953).

Coming from the east under a chief called Arpad, a fierce, marauding people called Magyars invaded and conquered the central part of the Danube valley during the last years of the ninth century. King Stephen was of this race. The Magyars first learned of Christianity on sporadic raids into north Italy and France. In the middle of the ninth century the Thessalonian priests, SS. Cyril and Methodius, had planted the faith in Pannonia, to the south, and had translated the Bible into the native tongue. It was not for a hundred years, however, that the Magyars gave serious attention to the Church. This was in the time of Geza, the third duke after Arpad. He was shrewd enough to see the practical desirability of Christianity as a protection against the inroads of his Christian neighbors on either side. He had the choice of turning to the Eastern Church at Constantinople or to the Church of Rome. Although Rome was more distant, he chose the Western Church, in fear that if he accepted Christianity from the east his domain would be incorporated in the recently revived Eastern Empire, the boundaries of which extended to the Danube.
Geza's first wife was Sarolta, one of the few Magyar women who was truly Christian. Of this union was born, about the year 975, a son named Vaik, the future king and saint. His mother took great care of his early training, and he had excellent Italian and Czech tutors. Geza married as his second wife a Christian princess Adelaide, sister of the duke of Poland; at her behest, Adalbert. archbishop of Prague, came on a preaching mission to Hungary. Geza and his young son were baptized in 986, Vaik being given the name of the first martyr, Stephen; a number of the Hungarian nobles were baptized at the same time. For most of them it was a conversion of expediency, and their Christianity was, at the outset, merely nominal. The young prince, on the contrary, became a Christian in a true sense, and his mature life was spent spreading the faith and trying to live according to its disciplines and tenets.

At the age of twenty Stephen married Gisela, sister of the duke of Bavaria, the future Emperor Henry II. Since Hungary was then at peace with its neighbors, Stephen devoted himself to rooting out idolatry among his people. In the guise of a missionary, he often accompanied the Christian preachers; sometimes he had to check their tendency to impose the faith forcibly. There had recently been a migration of German Christian knights into the rich and fertile plains of Hungary. These newcomers took up land and they also labored to make converts of the peasantry. Many Magyars not unnaturally resented this infiltration, which they thought jeopardized their territorial rights and their ancient pagan customs. They rose in revolt under the leadership of Koppany, a man of great valor. Stephen met the insurgents himself, having prepared for battle by fasting, almsdeeds, and prayer, and invoking the aid of St. Martin of Tours, whom he had chosen as his patron. The historic meeting took place at Veszprem in 998, and though Stephen's forces were inferior in size to those of the rebels, with the help of the German knights he won a famous victory. Koppany was slain.

To give God the glory for his success, Stephen built near the site of the battle a monastery dedicated to St. Martin, called the Holy Hill, and bestowed on it extensive lands, as well as one third ,of the spoils of victory. Known since that time as the archabbey of Martinsberg, or Pannonhalma, it flourished down to modern times. It is the mother house of all Benedictine congregations in Hungary. Stephen now followed up his plans by inviting priests and monks to come from Germany, France, and Italy. They continued the work of taming the savage nation by teaching it the Gospel; they built churches and monasteries to serve as centers of religion, industry, and education. Some of them died as martyrs.

Hungary was still without ecclesiastical organization, and Stephen now founded the archbishopric of Gran, with five dioceses under it, and later the archbishopric of Kalocsa, with three dioceses. He then sent Abbot Astricius to Rome to obtain from Pope Sylvester II the confirmation of these foundations as well as of other things he had done for the honor of God and the exaltation of His Church. At the same time he begged the Pope to confer on him the title of king, that he might have more authority to accomplish his designs for promoting God's glory and the good of the people. It happened that Boleslaus, duke of Poland, at this same time had sent an embassy to Rome to get the title of king confirmed to him by papal ordinance. Pope Sylvester, persuaded to grant the request, had prepared a royal crown to send him with his blessing. But the special zeal, piety, and wisdom of Stephen of Hungary seemed to deserve priority. The Pope too may have been moved by political considerations, since the powerful German Emperor Otto II was at that moment in Rome. At any rate, he delivered this famous crown[1] to Stephen's ambassador, Astricius, and at the same time by a bull confirmed all the religious foundations Stephen had erected and the ordination of the Hungarian bishops. On his envoy's return, Stephen went out to meet him, and listened with reverence to the reading of the Pope's bull, bowing as often as the Pope's name was mentioned. It was this same Abbot Astricius who anointed and crowned him king with solemnity and pomp at Gran, in the year 1001.

To plant Christianity firmly in his kingdom and provide for its continued growth after his death, King Stephen filled Hungary with religious foundations. At Stuhlweissenburg he built a stately church in honor of the Mother of God, in which the kings of Hungary were afterwards crowned and buried. In Buda he founded the monastery of SS. Peter and Paul, and in Rome, Ravenna, and Constantinople hospices for pilgrims. He filled Martinsberg with Benedictines, who, as we have seen, were notable for practical works and founded four other monasteries of the order, as well as con. vents for nuns. At Veszprem there was a convent for nuns of the Byzantine rite. One effect of the conversion of Hungary was that the road used by pilgrims and crusaders going to the Holy Land was made safer, since the valley of the Danube formed a natural highway for at least a part of the long, difficult journey. To support churches and pastors and to relieve the poor, Stephen started the collection of tithes, and every tenth town was required to maintain a church and support a priest. Stephen himself built the churches and the bishops appointed the priests. He passed edicts for the severe punishment of blasphemy, murder, theft, and adultery. He commanded his subjects to marry, with the exception of monks, nuns, and clergy; he forbade marriages between Christians and pagans. Easy of access to persons of all ranks, Stephen was always ready to listen to the complaints of the poor, knowing that in helping them he honored Christ. Widows and orphans he took under his special protection.

This democratic King would often go about in disguise in order to find out the needs of humble persons whom his officials might overlook. Once, while dealing out alms thus, a rough band of beggars crowded around him, pulled at his beard and hair, knocked him down, and snatched away his purse. The King took this indignity in good humor, without making known who he was. When his nobles heard of the incident, they insisted that he should not again expose himself to such danger. Yet he renewed his vow never to refuse an alms to anyone who begged of him.

The code of laws which King Stephen put into effect was well suited to control a hot- tempered people, newly converted to Christianity; but it was not at all pleasing to those who still opposed the new religion, and the wars which Stephen now undertook were religious as well as political. Stephen undertook the political reorganization of Hungary. He abolished the old tribal divisions and partitioned the land into counties, under a system of governors and magistrates, similar to that of the Western Empire. He also developed a kind of feudalism, turning the independent nobles into vassals of the crown, thus welding them into a political unity. He retained direct control over the common people. In 1025 there was a revolt led by a noble called Ajton, who was moving to transfer his allegiance to the Eastern emperor. Stephen mobilized his forces at Kalocsa and gained an overwhelming victory. After he had repulsed an invasion of Bulgarians, some of the Bulgarians returned, hoping to settle peaceably in Hungary. They were set upon by vengeful Magyars. Stephen straightway had a number of the Magyars hanged along the frontier, as a warning that well-intentioned strangers must not be molested. When Stephen's saintly brother-in-law, Emperor Henry II, died, he was succeeded by his cousin, Conrad II. Fearing Stephen's growing power, Conrad marched against him. A parley was arranged, and Conrad retired. This settlement, according to Stephen's subjects, showed the peace-loving disposition of their king.

The death of Stephen's son Emeric left him without a direct heir, and the last years of the king's life were embittered by family disputes and dark intrigues over the succession. Of the four or five claimants, the successful one was Peter, son of Stephen's sister, a ruthless woman who stopped at nothing to gain her end. Two of Stephen's cousins were no better and even conspired to have him killed. A hired assassin entered his bedroom one night, but the King awakened and calmly called out, "If God be for me, who shall be against me?" The King pardoned the assassin and his cousins as well. It is not surprising that "a time of troubles" followed the death of this great statesman and king; it lasted until the reign of St. Ladislas, some forty years later.

Stephen died on the feast of the Assumption, 1038. His tomb at Stuhlweissenburg became the scene of miracles, and forty-five years after his death Pope Gregory VII, at the request of Ladislas, ordered his relics enshrined and placed in the rich chapel which bears his name in the church of Our Lady at Buda. King Stephen was canonized in 1083. In 1696 Pope Innocent XI appointed his festival for September 2, the day on which Emperor Leopold won Buda back from the Turks. In Hungary his feast is still kept on August 20, the day of the translation of his relics. This saint merits the highest veneration for his accomplishments in both secular and religious matters, and, most especially, for having been an exemplar of justice, mercy, charity, and peace in a cruel age.

Endnotes: 1 The upper part of this crown, decorated with jewels and enameled figures of Christ and the Apostles, was later fitted on to the lower part of a crown given to King Geza I by the Eastern Emperor Michael VII, to form what is known as the Holy Crown of Hungary. It was recovered from the Nazis after World War II and placed in the custody of the United States Government.
Saint Stephen, Confessor, King of Hungary. Celebration of Feast Day is September 2. Taken from "Lives of Saints", Published by John J. Crawley & Co., Inc.
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1073 Saint Anthony of the Kiev Caves Possesd fear of God from youth wandered arrived on Mt. Athos excelled in humility and obedience;  built monastery which became the first spiritual center of Rus; God glorified St Anthony with gifts of clairvoyance and wonderworking during construction of the Great Caves church Most Holy Theotokos Herself stood before him and St Theodosius in the Blachernae church in Constantinople, where they had been miraculously transported without leaving their own monastery; two angels appeared in Constantinople in their forms (See May 3, the account of the Kiev Caves Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos); received gold from the Mother of God, the saints commissioned master architects, who came from Constantinople to the Russian land on the command of the Queen of Heaven to build the church at the Monastery of the Caves. During this appearance, the Mother of God foretold the impending death of St Anthony, which occurred on July 10, 1073.
He was born in the year 983 at Liubech, not far from Chernigov, and was named Antipas in Baptism. Possessing the fear of God from his youth, he desired to be clothed in the monastic schema. When he reached a mature age, he wandered until he arrived on Mt. Athos, burning with the desire to emulate the deeds of its holy inhabitants. Here he received monastic tonsure, and the young monk pleased God in every aspect of his spiritual struggles on the path of virtue. He particularly excelled in humility and obedience, so that all the monks rejoiced to see his holy life.

The igumen saw in St Anthony the great future ascetic, and inspired by God, he sent him back to his native land, saying, "Anthony, it is time for you to guide others in holiness. Return to your own Russian land, and be an example for others. May the blessing of the Holy Mountain be with you.

Returning to the land of Rus, Anthony began to make the rounds of the monasteries about Kiev, but nowhere did he find that strict life which had drawn him to Mt. Athos.

Through the Providence of God, Anthony came to the hills of Kiev by the banks of the River Dniepr. The forested area near the village of Berestovo reminded him of his beloved Athos. There he found a cave which had been dug out by the Priest Hilarion, who later became Metropolitan of Kiev (October 21). Since he liked the spot, Anthony prayed with tears, "Lord, let the blessing of Mt. Athos be upon this spot, and strengthen me to remain here." He began to struggle in prayer, fasting, vigil and physical labor. Every other day, or every third day, he would eat only dry bread and a little water. Sometimes he did not eat for a week. People began to come to the ascetic for his blessing and counsel, and some decided to remain with the saint.

Among Anthony's first disciples was St Nikon (March 23), who tonsured St Theodosius of the Caves (May 3) at the monastery in the year 1032.

The virtuous life of St Anthony illumined the Russian land with the beauty of monasticism. St Anthony lovingly received those who yearned for the monastic life. After instructing them how to follow Christ, he asked St Nikon to tonsure them. When twelve disciples had gathered about St Anthony, the brethren dug a large cave and built a church and cells for the monks within it.

After he appointed Abbot Barlaam to guide the brethren, St Anthony withdrew from the monastery. He dug a new cave for himself, then hid himself within it. There too, monks began to settle around him. Afterwards, the saint built a small wooden church in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God over the Far Caves.

At the insistence of Prince Izyaslav, the igumen Barlaam withdrew to the Dimitriev monastery. With the blessing of St Anthony and with the general agreement of the brethren, the meek and humble Theodosius was chosen as igumen. By this time, the number of brethren had already reached a hundred men. The Kiev Great Prince Izyaslav (+ 1078) gave the monks the hill on which the large church and cells were built, with a palisade all around. Thus, the renowned monastery over the caves was established. Describing this, the chronicler remarks that while many monasteries were built by emperors and nobles, they could not compare with those which are built with holy prayers and tears, and by fasting and vigil. Although St Anthony had no gold, he built a monastery which became the first spiritual center of Rus.

For his holiness of life, God glorified St Anthony with the gift of clairvoyance and wonderworking. One example of this occurred during the construction of the Great Caves church. The Most Holy Theotokos Herself stood before him and St Theodosius in the Blachernae church in Constantinople, where they had been miraculously transported without leaving their own monastery. Actually, two angels appeared in Constantinople in their forms (See May 3, the account of the Kiev Caves Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos). Having received gold from the Mother of God, the saints commissioned master architects, who came from Constantinople to the Russian land on the command of the Queen of Heaven to build the church at the Monastery of the Caves. During this appearance, the Mother of God foretold the impending death of St Anthony, which occurred on July 10, 1073.
Through Divine Providence, the relics of St Anthony remain hidden.
1074 Saint Theodosius of the Caves, the Father of monasticism in Russia; relics of the ascetic were found incorrupt in 1090; St Theodosius was glorified as a saint in 1108. Of the written works of St Theodosius six discourses, two letters to Great Prince Izyaslav, and a prayer for all Christians have survived to our time.
He was born at Vasilevo, not far from Kiev. From his youth he felt an irresistible attraction for the ascetic life, and led an ascetic lifestyle while still in his parental home. He disdained childish games and attractions, and constantly went to church. He asked his parents to let him study the holy books, and through his ability and rare zeal, he quickly learned to read the books, so that everyone was amazed at his intellect.

When he was fourteen, he lost his father and remained under the supervision of his mother, a strict and domineering woman who loved her son very much. Many times she chastised her son for his yearning for asceticism, but he remained firmly committed to his path.

At the age of twenty-four, he secretly left his parents' home and St Anthony at the Kiev Caves monastery blessed him to receive monastic tonsure with the name Theodosius. After four years his mother found him and with tearfully begged him to return home, but the saint persuaded her to remain in Kiev and to become a nun in the monastery of St Nicholas at the Askold cemetery.

St Theodosius toiled at the monastery more than others, and he often took upon himself some of the work of the other brethren. He carried water, chopped wood, ground up the grain, and carried the flour to each monk. On cold nights he uncovered his body and let it serve as food for gnats and mosquitoes. His blood flowed, but the saint occupied himself with handicrafts, and sang Psalms. He came to church before anyone else and, standing in one place, he did not leave it until the end of services. He also listened to the readings with particular attention.

In 1054 St Theodosius was ordained a hieromonk, and in 1057 he was chosen igumen. The fame of his deeds attracted a number of monks to the monastery, at which he built a new church and cells, and he introduced cenobitic rule of the Studion monastery, a copy of which he commissioned at Constantinople.

As igumen, St Theodosius continued his arduous duties at the monastery. He usually ate only dry bread and cooked greens without oil, and spent his nights in prayer without sleep. The brethren often noticed this, although the saint tried to conceal his efforts from others.

No one saw when St Theodosius dozed lightly, and usually he rested while sitting. During Great Lent the saint withdrew into a cave near the monastery, where he struggled unseen by anyone. His attire was a coarse hairshirt worn next to his body. He looked so much like a beggar that it was impossible to recognize in this old man the renowned igumen, deeply respected by all who knew him.

Once, St Theodosius was returning from visiting the Great Prince Izyaslav. The coachman, not recognizing him, said gruffly, "You, monk, are always on holiday, but I am constantly at work. Take my place, and let me ride in the carriage." The holy Elder meekly complied and drove the servant. Seeing how nobles along the way bowed to the monk driving the horses, the servant took fright, but the holy ascetic calmed him, and gave him a meal at the monastery. Trusting in God's help, the saint did not keep a large supply of food at the monastery, and therefore the brethren were in want of their daily bread. Through his prayers, however, unknown benefactors appeared at the monastery and furnished the necessities for the brethren.

The Great Princes, especially Izyaslav, loved to listen to the spiritual discourses of St Theodosius. The saint was not afraid to denounce the mighty of this world. Those unjustly condemned always found a defender in him, and judges would review matters at the request of the igumen. He was particularly concerned for the destitute. He built a special courtyard for them at the monastery where anyone in need could receive food and drink. Sensing the approach of death, St Theodosius peacefully fell asleep in the Lord in the year 1074. He was buried in a cave which he dug, where he secluded himself during fasting periods.

The relics of the ascetic were found incorrupt in the year 1090, and St Theodosius was glorified as a saint in 1108. Of the written works of St Theodosius six discourses, two letters to Great Prince Izyaslav, and a prayer for all Christians have survived to our time.

The Life of St Theodosius was written by St Nestor the Chronicler (October 27), a disciple of the great Abba, only thirty years after his repose, and it was always one of the favorite readings of the Russian nation. St Theodosius is also commemorated on September 28 and May 3.

1225 ST MARGARET OF LOUVAIN, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
In the sixth book of his Dialogue on Miracles, dealing with Singleness of Heart, the Cistercian monk Caesarius of Heisterbach tells the story of this young girl whose cultus in the diocese of Malines was confirmed in 1905. She was born at Louvain about the year 1207 and went into domestic service with a relative named Aubert. He was an innkeeper and a good and charitable man, who would entertain pilgrims and necessitous travellers free of charge. Margaret entered whole-heartedly into these good works, but the recollected way with which she went about them and her indifference to the attentions of men got her the nickname of “the proud Margaret”. About the year 1225 Aubert and his wife determined to become religious. Having sold their business and made the necessary preparations, they were spending their last night at home when they were visited by some evil-disposed men under the pretence of saying good-bye. Margaret was sent out to get some wine for the visitors, and while she was gone they set on Aubert and his wife, murdered them, and seized their money which they had by them to take to the monasteries to which they were going. On her return with the wine the robbers carried off Margaret and at a lonely spot near the river Dyle proposed to kill her too, as a witness to their crime. One of them offered to marry her if she would keep silence, but she refused, and thereupon an extra ten marks was added to the share of one of them to make away with her. “He, taking the innocent lamb like a cruel butcher, cut her throat, stabbed her in the side, and threw her into the river.” The body was found and, in consequence of the supernatural light and angelic voices that were reported to accompany it, was taken by the clergy to St Peter’s collegiate church at Louvain and buried in a special chapel in their churchyard. Miracles were vouchsafed at this tomb and there Bd Margaret has been venerated from that day to this.

Concerning this story the novice in the Dialogue asks “What would you say was the cause of martyrdom in the case of this girl?” To which his preceptor replies “Simplicity and an innocent life, as I have already said. There are different kinds of martyrdom, namely, innocence, as in Abel; uprightness, as in the prophets and St John Baptist; love of the law, as in the Machabees confession of the faith, as in the apostles. For all these different causes Christ the Lamb is said to have been ‘slain from the beginning of the world’.” All Christian virtues, being protestations of our faith and proofs of our fidelity to God, are a true motive of martyrdom.

The Bollandists, in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. i, find nothing to add to the account given by Caesarius, but they supply evidence regarding the later cultus, and translate from the Flemish a relation of a number of miracles wrought at the shrine. Several booklets of a popular kind have been printed about Ed Margaret in modern times; the most note­worthy, by M. G. Ollivier, originally appeared as an article in the Revue Thomiste, vol. iv (1896), pp. 592—618. The Dialogue of Caesarius was published in English in 1929.
1231 St. Brocard Carmelite prior of Mount Carmel
He was French by birth, but went to Mount Carmel. Elected prior, Brocard asked St. Albert, the patriarch of Jerusalem, to draw up a rule for the monks. This rule, established in 1195, became the foundation for the Carmelite Order. Pope Honorius III, who had been displeased because the rule was not formally approved by the Holy See before being established, received a vision from the Blessed Virgin Mary. He confirmed the rule as a result of that vision.
Brocard, also called Burchard, ruled for thirty-five years and was greatly respected by the Muslims of the region.

1231 ST BROCARD
ON the death of St Berthold about the year 1195 he was succeeded as superior of the Frankish hermits on Mount Carmel by this Brocard or Burchard, who was a Frenchman. As these hermits had no fixed rule of life Brocard asked for instruc­tions from St Albert, a canon regular who was Latin patriarch and papal legate in Palestine. Between 1205 and 1210 Albert gave them a short rule, which St Brocard imposed on his subjects. It bound them to live alone in separate cells, to recite the Divine Office or other prayers, to work with their hands, and to meet together daily for Mass to observe poverty, perpetual abstinence and long silences. They were to give obedience to St Brocard as prior during his life, and afterwards to his successors. After the fourth Council of the Lateran had passed a decree against 

new religious orders these hermits, who had begun to spread in Palestine, were attacked on the ground that they contravened this canon, not having been approved by the Holy See but only by its legate. According to the tradition of the Carmelite Order Pope Honorius III was going to suppress them, but warned by a vision of our Lady he confirmed their rule instead, about the year 1226. St Brocard directed his community with virtue and prudence during these difficulties, and died after being prior for some thirty-five years. One of the few events recorded in his life is that he miraculously restored to health a Mohammedan emir and converted him to the faith. It is said that St Albert intended to take St Brocard to the Lateran Council, as one well versed in Eastern affairs, understanding Islam, and respected by all. But Albert was murdered the year before the council assembled.

See the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. i, and more especially the Monumenta historica Carmelitana of B. Zimmerman, pp. 276—279. Some account of St Brocard may also be found in Lezana, Annales, vol. iv, p. 244, and in the Speculum Carmelitanum, ii, p. 661 and cf. DHG., vol. xi, c. 1070 seq.
1282 St. Ingrid of Sweden first Dominican nun in Sweden
Born in Skänninge, Sweden, in the 13th century, St. Ingrid lived under the spiritual direction of Peter of Dacia, a Dominican priest. She was the first Dominican nun in Sweden and in 1281 she founded the first Dominican cloister there, called St. Martin's in Skänninge. She died in 1282 surrounded by an aura of sanctity.

Miracles obtained through her intercession followed and led to a popular cult of this saint. In 1405, a canonization process was begun and the Swedish Bishops introduced her cause at the Council of Constance. An inquest was held in Sweden in 1416-1417 and the results were inconclusive. In 1497, the cause was reactivated and in 1507 her relics were solemnly translated, and a Mass and Office were composed - but formal canonization seems never to have occurred. During the Reformation, her cult came to an end and her convent and relics were destroyed
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1748 The Kaluga Icon of the Mother of God appeared in the village of Tinkova, near Kaluga, at the home of the landowner Basil Kondratevich Khitrov; it granted healing to those approaching it with faith

Two servants of Khitrov were cleaning out junk from the attic of his home. One of them, Eudokia, noted for her temper, was given to rough and even indecorous language. Her companion was modest and serious.

They discovered a large package covered in a linen cloth. Undoing it, the girl saw the picture of a woman in dark garments with a book in her hands. Considering it to be the portrait of a woman monastic and wanting to bring Eudokia to her senses, she accused her of being disrespectful to the abbess.

Eudokia jeered at the scolding words of her companion, and becoming increasingly angry, she spit on the picture. Immediately, she became convulsed and fell down senseless. She also became blind and mute. Her frightened companion reported what had happened to the household.

The next night, the Queen of Heaven appeared to Eudokia's parents and told them that their daughter had behaved impertinently toward Her and She ordered them to serve a Molieben before the insulted icon, then sprinkle the invalid with holy water at the Molieben.

After the Molieben Eudokia recovered, and Khitrov took the wonderworking icon into his own home, where it granted healing to those approaching it with faith. Later, the icon was placed in the parish temple of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Kaluga. At the present time it is located in the cathedral church of Kaluga.

Through this icon the Mother of God has repeatedly manifest Her protection of the Russian land during difficult times. The celebration of the Kaluga Icon on September 2 was established in remembrance of the deliverance from a plague in 1771. A second celebration was established October 12, in memory of the preservation of Kaluga from the French invasion of 1812. In 1898, a celebration was established on July 18 in gratitude to the Mother of God for protection against cholera. The icon is also commemorated on the first Sunday of the Apostles' Fast.

1794 Blessed John Francis Burté and Companions French Revolution victims
Though their martyrdom spans a period of several years, they stand together in the Church’s memory because they all gave their lives for the same principle. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1791) required all priests to take an oath which amounted to a denial of the faith. Each of these men refused and was executed.
   John Francis Burté became a Franciscan at 16 and after ordination taught theology to the young friars. Later he was guardian of the large Conventual friary in Paris until he was arrested and held in the convent of the Carmelites.
   Appolinaris of Posat was born in 1739 in Switzerland. He joined the Capuchins and acquired a reputation as an excellent preacher, confessor and instructor of clerics. Sent to the East as a missionary, he was in Paris studying Oriental languages when the French Revolution began. Refusing the oath, he was swiftly arrested and detained in the Carmelite convent.
   Severin Girault, a member of the Third Order Regular, was a chaplain for a group of sisters in Paris. Imprisoned with the others, he was the first to die in the slaughter at the convent.
   These three plus 182 others—including several bishops and many religious and diocesan priests—were massacred at the Carmelite house in Paris on September 2, 1792. They were beatified in 1926.
   John Baptist Triquerie, born in 1737, entered the Conventual Franciscans. He was chaplain and confessor of Poor Clare monasteries in three cities before he was arrested for refusing to take the oath. He and 13 diocesan priests were guillotined in Laval on January 21, 1794. He was beatified in 1955.
Comment:  "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" was the motto of the French Revolution. If individuals have "inalienable rights," as the Declaration of Independence states, these must come not from the agreement of society (which can be very fragile) but directly from God. Do we believe that? Do we act on it?

Quote:  “The upheaval which occurred in France toward the close of the 18th century wrought havoc in all things sacred and profane and vented its fury against the Church and her ministers. Unscrupulous men came to power who concealed their hatred for the Church under the deceptive guise of philosophy.... It seemed that the times of the early persecutions had returned. The Church, spotless bride of Christ, became resplendent with bright new crowns of martyrdom” (Acts of Martyrdom)
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<>1792 BB. JOHN DU LAU, ARCHBISHOP OF ARLES, AND HIS COMPANIONS, THE MARTYRS OF SEPTEMBER
THERE
can be no doubt that at the time of the French Revolution there were conditions in the Church in France which, to phrase it mildly, were regrettable:  worldly and domineering bishops and higher clergy who were indifferent to the sufferings of the people, numbers of self-seeking and ignorant rectors and curates who in the hour of trial did not refuse to accept an oath and constitution condemned by the Holy See and their own bishops, and many lay people who were, more or less culpably, indifferent or openly hostile to religion.

The other and better side of the picture may be represented by those émigré priests and people who made so good an impression and helped on the cause of Catholic emancipation in our own country, and by those many others who gave their lives rather than cooperate with the forces of irreligion. Such, for example, were the martyrs who suffered in Paris on September 2 and 3, 1792. In 1790 the Constituent Assembly had passed the civil constitution of the clergy, which the hierarchy at once condemned as unlawful all the diocesan bishops except four and most of the urban clergy refused to take the oath imposed by it. In the following year Pope Pius VI confirmed this con­demnation of the constitution as “heretical, contrary to Catholic teaching, sacri­legious, and opposed to the rights of the Church”. At the end of August 1792 the revolutionaries throughout France were infuriated by the rising of the peasants in La Vendée and the success of the arms of Prussia, Austria and Sweden at Longwy, and, inflamed by fierce rhetoric against the royalists and clergy who upheld their country’s foes, over fifteen hundred clergy, laymen and women were massacred. Of these victims 191 individuals were beatified as martyrs in 1926.

Early in the afternoon of September 2 several hundred rioters attacked the Abbaye, the former monastery where priests, loyal soldiers and other disaffected persons were imprisoned. Led by a ruffian called Maillard, they tendered the constitutional oath to a number of priests, all of whom refused it and were killed on the spot. A mock tribunal then condemned the rest of the prisoners en masse. Among the martyrs here was the ex-Jesuit (the Society was at that time suppressed) BD ALEXANDER LENFANT. He had been a confessor of the king, and a devoted friend of the royal family in its misfortunes. This led to his arrest and, in spite of the efforts of an apostate priest to get him released, he suffered martyrdom. Mgr de Salamon tells in his memoirs how he saw Father Lenfant quietly hearing the confession of another priest five minutes before both confessor and penitent were dragged out and slain.

Having been refreshed with wine and encouraged with pourboires by the mayor of Paris, a gang then made for the Carmelite church in the Rue de Rennes. Here were imprisoned over one hundred and fifty ecclesiastics, with one layman, BD CHARLES DE LA CALMETTE, Comte de Valfons, an officer in the cavalry who had voluntarily accompanied his parish priest into confinement. This noble company, led by BD JOHN MARY DU LAU, Archbishop of Arles, BD FRANCIS Joseph DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, Bishop of Beauvais, and his brother Bn PETER LOUIS, Bishop of Saintes, led a life of almost monastic regularity and astounded their gaolers by their cheerfulness and good temper. It was a sultry Sunday afternoon and the prisoners were allowed, on this day ordered, to take the air in the garden. While the bishops and some other clergy were saying Vespers in a chapel the murderers broke into the garden and killed the first priest they met. In the resulting panic Mgr du Lau came quietly out of the chapel. “Are you the archbishop?” he was asked. “Yes, sirs. I am the archbishop.” He was cut down by a sword stroke and killed by the thrust of a pike as he lay on the ground. Amid howls of execration shooting began right and left: several were killed and wounded and the Bishop of Beauvais’s leg was shattered by a bullet.

But the French sense of good order was outraged. A “judge” was appointed, who sat in a passage between the church and the sacristy, and two by two the confessors were brought in and had the constitutional oath tendered to them. Every one refused it without hesitation, and as each recalcitrant couple passed down the narrow staircase they were hacked to pieces. The Bishop of Beauvais was called for. He replied from where he lay:  “I do not refuse to die with the others, but I cannot walk. I beg you to have the kindness to carry me where you wish me to go.” There could have been no more telling rebuke than that courteous speech:  it did not save him, but silence fell on the murderers as he was brought forward and rejected the proffered oath. BD JAMES GALAIS, who had been in charge of the feeding arrangements of the prisoners, handed to the “judge “325 francs which he owed the caterer; BD JAMES FRITEYRE-DURVÉ, ex-Jesuit, was killed by a neigh­bour whom he knew in his own birthplace; three other ex-Jesuits and four secular priests were aged men who had only recently been turned out of a house of rest at Issy and made to walk to the Carmelite church; the Comte de Valfons and his confessor, BD John GUILLEMINET, met death side by side. Thus perished the martyrs who from their place of martyrdom are called “des Carmes”: the remaining forty or so were able to make their escape unseen or were allowed to slip away by conscience-stricken soldiers. Among the victims were BD AMBROSE AUGUSTINE CHEVREUX, superior general of the Maurist Benedictines, and two other monks; BD FRANCIS Louis HÉBERT, confessor of Louis XVI; three Franciscans; fourteen ex-Jesuits ; six diocesan vicars general ; thirty-eight members or former members of the Saint-Sulpice seminary; three deacons; an acolyte; and a christian Brother. The bodies were buried some in a pit in the cemetery of Vaugirard and some in a well in the garden of the Carmes.

On September 3 the band of murderers came to the Lazarist seminary of Saint-Firmin, also used as a prison, where their first victim was BD PETER GUÉRIN DU ROCHER, an ex-Jesuit sixty years old. He was asked to choose between the oath and death, and on his replying was thrown out of the nearest window and stabbed in the courtyard below. His brother BD ROBERT was also a victim, and there were five other ex-Jesuits among the ninety clerics there, of whom only four escaped. The superior of the seminary was BD Louis Joseph François, who in his official capacity had advised that the oath was unlawful for the clergy. He was so well loved in Paris that an official had warned him of the danger and offered to help him to escape. He refused to desert his fellow prisoners, many of whom he knew had taken refuge at Saint-Firmin out of regard for his own reliability, confidence and example. Among those who died with him were BD HENRY GRUYER and other Lazarists, BD YVES GUILLON DE KERANRUN, vice-chancellor of the University of Paris, and three laymen. At the prison of La Force in the Rue Saint-Antoine there was not one survivor to describe the last moments of any of his fellows.

The brief of beatification, in which the names of the martyrs are individually recorded, is printed in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. xviii (1926), pp. 415—425. Some account of these massacres may be found in most histories of the French Revolution, but the subject of the martyrdoms is dealt with in detail in many separate books, for example, in Lenôtre, Les massacres de Septembre (1907); P. Caron, Les massacres de Septembre (1935) ; H. Leclercq, Les Martyrs, vol. xi; and more concisely in F. Mourret, Histoire generale de l’Eglise, vol. vii (1913). There are also books devoted to individuals or groups; for example, G. Barbotin, Le dernier évêque de Saintes (1927); H. Fouqueray, Un groupe des Martyrs de Septembre; vingt-trois anciens Jésuites (1927); anonymous, Martyrs Franciscains des Carmes (1926); E. Levesque, Les bx. martyrs du séminaire S.-Sulpice (1928); L. Misermont, Le bx. L.. j. François (1929); C. Clercq, Le bx. Apollinaire Morel (1945) ; and others.