550 B.C. The Departure of
the Great Prophet Daniel.
On this day of the last year of king Cyrus King
of Babylon, the great righteous prophet Daniel Departed. This prophet
was from the tribe of Judah, and from the posterity of king David. He
was taken captive along with the Israelites by Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon when he captured Jerusalem in the year 3398 of the world. He stayed
in babylon for seventy years. This prophet was very young in age, however,
he conducted himself in virtuous life, the Holy Spirit filled him and he
prophesied in Babylon.
In the fourth year of the exile, Nebuchadnezzar
the king saw a dreadful dream and was extremely frightened. When he
woke up, he forgot the detail of his dream. He gathered all the wise
men of Babylon to tell the king his dream and its meaning. If they failed
to tell the king the dream and its interpretation they would all be killed,
among those also were Daniel and the three young men. Daniel and the young
men prayed to God with supplications to reveal to them the King's dream.
God answered their prayers and revealed to Daniel the dream and its interpretation.
Daniel went to the king and told him his dream and its interpretation.
He also told him about the kings that they are about to rule after him,
and what would happen to every one of them. Nebuchadnezzar was pleased with
Daniel, and fell on his face before him. The king presented Daniel with great
gifts and appointed him over the wise men of Babylon.
After some time had passed, Nebuchadnezzar saw another
dream, and Daniel interpreted the dream for him. Daniel told the king
that because of his arrogance, God would drive him from among men, to
dwell among the beasts of the wild and would eat grass like oxen for seven
years, and then God would bring him back to his kingdom, and all that
happened to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel also explained to Belshazzar, the son
of Nebuchadnezzar, what the angel of the Lord had written on the wall,
when king Belshazzar drank wine in the gold and silver vessels of the temple
of the Lord. Daniel told the king: " O king, the Most High gave Nebuchadnezzar
your father, a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor... But when his heart
was lifted up in pride, he was deposed from his kingdom and thrown from
his throne into among the animals. And you, Belshazzar, although you knew
all what happened to your father, yet you also lifted your heart against
the Lord of heaven. They brought the vessels of the house of the Lord before
you, and you , your lords, wives and concubines (mistresses) drank wine
from these vessels... Then the fingers of a Hand were send from the Lord,
and His writing was written: "Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Upharsin..which meant:
Mene means: God has numbered
your days as a king and terminated you rule. Tekel means: You have been
weighed in the balances of the Lord and was found wanting. Upharsin means:
your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians after
you. All of them came to pass and the king was killed with all his lords
and the kingdom of the Chaldeans ended. Darius, king of Persia, ruled
after him.
There was an idol in Babylon named "Bael" which
king Darius worshiped. When Daniel was asked why he did not worship
it, Daniel answered: "I do not worship something that has no life in
it." The king said to him: "He is alive for he eats and drinks every
day." Daniel told him that could not be true. The king was angry and
wanted to check the matter for himself. He put the food and the drinks
in the temple of the idol and closed the door and sealed it. On the next
day, he went to the temple, opened the door and did not find the food
nor the drinks. But Daniel with the help of some of his companions, covered
the floor of the temple with fine ashes, found the feet tracks of those
who entered the temple by night and stole the food and drinks.
The king arrested the seventy priests of the idol
Bael, together with their wives and children and tortured them until
they told him about the secret entrance to the temple. The king then
ordered them all to be killed and allowed Daniel to destroy the idol
and its altar. The people rebelled against the king and asked him to
deliver Daniel to their hands. The king surrendered to their demands
and Daniel was cast into the den of lions. However God kept Daniel safe
and destroyed his enemies.
Daniel saw in a vision the kingdoms and the kings
to come after him to rule the world to the end of time. He also saw
the glory of God and the Divinity of Christ the Savior. He prophesied
about His coming and His death, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the
abolition of the sacrifice and the offerings, and all has been fulfilled.
This great prophet remained in
Babylon for seventy years, then departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us, and glory be to God
for ever. Amen.
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St Mary of Egypt St Zosimas monk at a certain Palestinian monastery
on the outskirts of Caesarea
Having dwelt at the monastery since his childhood,
he lived there in asceticism until he reached the age of fifty-three.
Then he was disturbed by the thought that he had attained perfection,
and needed no one to instruct him. "Is there a monk anywhere who can show
me some form of asceticism that I have not attained? Is there anyone who
has surpassed me in spiritual sobriety and deeds?"
Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and
said, "Zosimas, you have struggled valiantly, as far as this is in the
power of man. However, there is no one who is righteous (Rom 3:10). So
that you may know how many other ways lead to salvation, leave your native
land, like Abraham from the house of his father (Gen 12:1), and go to
the monastery by the Jordan."
Here he met Elders who were adept
in contemplation, and also in their struggles. Never did anyone utter an
idle word. Instead, they sang constantly, and prayed all night long. Abba
Zosimas began to imitate the spiritual activity of the holy monks.
Thus much time passed, and the holy Forty Day Fast approached. There
was a certain custom at the monastery, which was why God had led St Zosimas
there. On the First Sunday of Great Lent the igumen served the Divine
Liturgy, everyone received the All-Pure Body and Blood of Christ. Afterwards,
they went to the trapeza for a small repast, and then assembled once more
in church.
The monks prayed and made prostrations, asking forgiveness
one of another. Then they made a prostration before the igumen and asked
his blessing for the struggle that lay before them. During the Psalm
"The Lord is my Light and my Savior, whom shall I fear? The Lord is defender
of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" (Ps 26/27:1), they opened the
monastery gate and went off into the wilderness.
Each took with him as much food as he needed, and
went into the desert. When their food ran out, they ate roots and desert
plants. The monks crossed the Jordan and scattered in various directions,
so that no one might see how another fasted or how they spent their
time. The monks returned to the monastery on Palm Sunday, each
having his own conscience as a witness of his ascetic struggles.
It was a rule of the monastery
that no one asked how anyone else had toiled in the desert.
Abba Zosimas, according to the
custom of the monastery, went deep into the desert hoping to find someone
living there who could benefit him.
He walked into the wilderness for twenty days and
then, when he sang the Psalms of the Sixth Hour and made the usual
prayers. Suddenly, to the right of the hill where he stood, he saw
a human form. He was afraid, thinking that it might be a demonic apparition.
Then he guarded himself with the Sign of the Cross, which removed his
fear. He turned to the right and saw a form walking southward. The body
was black from the blazing sunlight, and the faded short hair was white
like a sheep's fleece. Abba Zosimas rejoiced, since he had not seen any
living thing for many days.
The desert-dweller saw Zosimas approaching, and
attempted to flee from him. Abba Zosimas, forgetting his age and fatigue,
quickened his pace. When he was close enough to be heard, he called
out,
"Why do you flee from me, a sinful old man?
Wait for me, for the love of God."
The stranger said to him, "Forgive
me, Abba Zosimas, but I cannot turn and show my face to you. I am a
woman, and as you see, I am naked. If you would grant the request of
a sinful woman, throw me your cloak so I might cover my body, and then
I can ask for your blessing."
Then Abba Zosimas was terrified, realizing that
she could not have called him by name unless she possessed spiritual
insight.
Covered by the cloak, the ascetic
turned to Zosimas: "Why do you want to speak with me, a sinful woman?
What did you wish to learn from me, you who have not shrunk from such
great labors?"
Abba Zosimas fell to the ground and asked for her
blessing. She also bowed down before him, and for a long time they
remained on the ground each asking the other to bless. Finally, the
woman ascetic said: "Abba Zosimas, you must bless and pray, since you
are honored with the grace of the priesthood. For many years you have
stood before the holy altar, offering the Holy Gifts to the Lord."
These words frightened St Zosimas even more. With
tears he said to her, "O Mother! It is clear that you live with God
and are dead to this world. You have called me by name and recognized
me as a priest, though you have never seen me before. The grace granted
you is apparent, therefore bless me, for the Lord's sake." Yielding finally
to his entreaties, she said, "Blessed is God, Who cares for the salvation
of men." Abba Zosimas replied, "Amen." Then they rose to their feet. The
woman ascetic again said to the Elder, "Why have you come, Father, to
me who am a sinner, bereft of every virtue? Apparently, the grace of the
Holy Spirit has brought you to do me a service. But tell me first, Abba,
how do the Christians live, how is the Church guided?"
Abba Zosimas answered her, "By your holy prayers
God has granted the Church and us all a lasting peace. But fulfill my
unworthy request, Mother, and pray for the whole world and for me a sinner,
that my wanderings in the desert may not be useless."
The holy ascetic replied, "You,
Abba Zosimas, as a priest, ought to pray for me and for all, for you
are called to do this.
However, since we must be obedient, I will do as you ask.
The saint turned toward the East,
and raising her eyes to heaven and stretching out her hands, she began to
pray in a whisper. She prayed so softly that Abba Zosimas could not hear her
words.
After a long time, the Elder
looked up and saw her standing in the air more than a foot above the ground.
Seeing this, Zosimas threw himself down on the ground,
weeping and repeating, "Lord, have mercy!"
Then he was tempted by a thought.
He wondered if she might not be a spirit, and if her prayer could be
insincere. At that moment she turned around, lifted him from the ground
and said,
"Why
do your thoughts confuse you, Abba Zosimas? I am not an apparition.
I am a sinful and unworthy woman, though I am guarded by holy
Baptism."
Then she made the Sign of the
Cross and said, "May God protect us from the Evil One and his schemes,
for fierce is his struggle against us." Seeing and hearing this, the
Elder fell at her feet with tears saying, "I beseech you by Christ our
God, do not conceal from me who you are and how you came into this desert.
Tell me everything, so that the wondrous works of God may be revealed."
She replied, "It distresses me, Father, to speak to you
about my shameless life. When you hear my story, you might flee from
me, as if from a poisonous snake. But I shall tell you everything, Father,
concealing nothing. However, I exhort you, cease not to pray for me a
sinner, that I may find mercy on the Day of Judgment.
"I was born in Egypt and when
I was twelve years old, I left my parents and went to Alexandria. There
I lost my chastity and gave myself to unrestrained and insatiable sensuality.
For more than seventeen years I lived like that and I did it all for
free. Do not think that I refused the money because I was rich. I lived
in poverty and worked at spinning flax. To me, life consisted in the
satisfaction of my fleshly lust.
"One summer I saw a crowd of people from Libya and Egypt
heading toward the sea. They were on their way to Jerusalem for the
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I also wanted to sail with
them. Since I had no food or money, I offered my body in payment for my
passage. And so I embarked on the ship.
"Now, Father, believe me, I am very amazed, that
the sea tolerated my wantonness and fornication, that the earth did
not open up its mouth and take me down alive into hell, because I had
ensnared so many souls. I think that God was seeking my repentance. He
did not desire the death of a sinner, but awaited my conversion.
"So I arrived in Jerusalem and spent all the days before the Feast living
the same sort of life, and maybe even worse.
"When the holy Feast of the Exaltation of the Venerable
Cross of the Lord arrived, I went about as before, looking for young
men. At daybreak I saw that everyone was heading to the church, so I
went along with the rest. When the hour of the Holy Elevation drew nigh,
I was trying to enter into the church with all the people. With great
effort I came almost to the doors, and attempted to squeeze inside. Although
I stepped up to the threshold, it was as though some force held me back,
preventing me from entering. I was brushed aside by the crowd, and found
myself standing alone on the porch. I thought that perhaps this happened
because of my womanly weakness. I worked my way into the crowd, and again
I attempted to elbow people aside. However hard I tried, I could not enter.
Just as my feet touched the church threshold, I was stopped. Others entered
the church without difficulty, while I alone was not allowed in. This happened
three or four times. Finally my strength was exhausted. I went off and
stood in a corner of the church portico.
"Then I realized that it was
my sins that prevented me from seeing the Life-Creating Wood. The grace
of the Lord then touched my heart. I wept and lamented, and I began to
beat my breast. Sighing from the depths of my heart, I saw above me an
icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Turning to Her, I prayed: "O Lady Virgin,
who gave birth in the flesh to God the Word! I know that I am unworthy
to look upon your icon. I rightly inspire hatred and disgust before your
purity, but I know also that God became Man in order to call sinners to
repentance. Help me, O All-Pure One. Let me enter the church. Allow me to
behold the Wood upon which the Lord was crucified in the flesh, shedding His
Blood for the redemption of sinners, and also for me. Be my witness before
Your Son that I will never defile my body again with the impurity of fornication.
As soon as I have seen the Cross of your Son, I will renounce the world,
and go wherever you lead me."
"After I had spoken, I felt confidence in the compassion
of the Mother of God, and left the spot where I had been praying. I joined
those entering the church, and no one pushed me back or prevented me
from entering. I went on in fear and trembling, and entered the holy
place.
"Thus I also saw the Mysteries of God, and how God
accepts the penitant. I fell to the holy ground and kissed it. Then
I hastened again to stand before the icon of the Mother of God, where
I had given my vow. Bending my knees before the Virgin Theotokos, I prayed:
"'O Lady, you have not rejected my prayer as unworthy.
Glory be to God, Who accepts the repentance of sinners. It is time for
me to fulfill my vow, which you witnessed. Therefore, O Lady, guide me
on the path of repentance.'"
"Then I heard a voice from on high: 'If you cross
the Jordan, you will find glorious rest.' "I immediately believed that
this voice was meant for me, and I cried out to the Mother of God:
'O Lady, do not forsake me!' "Then I left the church portico
and started on my journey. A certain man gave me three coins as I was
leaving the church. With them I bought three loaves of bread, and asked
the bread merchant the way to the Jordan.
"It was nine o'clock when I saw the Cross. At sunset
I reached the church of St John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan.
After praying in the church, I went down to the Jordan and washed my
face and hands in its water. Then in this same temple of St John the Forerunner
I received the Life-Creating Mysteries of Christ. Then I ate half of one
of my loaves of bread, drank water from the holy Jordan, and slept there
that night on the ground. In the morning I found a small boat and crossed
the river to the opposite shore. Again I prayed that the Mother of God
would lead me where She wished. Then I found myself in this desert."
Abba Zosimas asked her, "How
many years have passed since you began to live in the desert?"
"'I think," she replied, "it is forty-seven years since I came
from the Holy City."
Abba Zosimas again asked, "What food do you find
here, Mother?"
And she said, "I had with me two
and a half loaves of bread when I crossed the Jordan.
Soon they dried out and hardened Eating a little at a time,
I finished them after a few years."
Again Abba Zosimas asked, "Is it possible you have
survived for so many years without sickness, and without suffering in
any way from such a complete change?"
"Believe me, Abba Zosimas," the
woman said, "I spent seventeen years in this wilderness (after she
had spent seventeen years in immorality), fighting wild beasts: mad desires
and passions. When I began to eat bread, I thought of the meat and fish
which I had in abundance in Egypt. I also missed the wine that I loved
so much when I was in the world, while here I did not even have water.
I suffered from thirst and hunger. I also had a mad desire for lewd songs.
I seemed to hear them, disturbing my heart and my hearing.
Weeping and striking myself on the breast, I remembered the
vow I had made.
At last I beheld a radiant Light
shining on me from everywhere. After a violent tempest, a lasting
calm ensued.
"Abba, how shall I tell you of the thoughts that
urged me on to fornication? A fire seemed to burn within me, awakening
in me the desire for embraces. Then I would throw myself to the ground
and water it with my tears. I seemed to see the Most Holy Virgin before
me, and She seemed to threaten me for not keeping my vow. I
lay face downward day and night upon the ground, and would not get up until
that blessed Light encircled me, dispelling the evil thoughts that troubled
me.
"Thus I lived in this wilderness for the first seventeen years.
Darkness after darkness, misery after misery stood about me, a sinner.
But from that time until now the Mother of God helps me in everything."
Abba Zosimas again inquired,
"How is it that you require neither food, nor clothing?"
She answered, "After finishing
my bread, I lived on herbs and the things one finds in the desert.
The clothes I had when I crossed over the Jordan became torn and fell
apart. I suffered both from the summer heat, when the blazing heat fell
upon me, and from the winter cold, when I shivered from the frost. Many
times I fell down upon the earth, as though dead. I struggled with various
afflictions and temptations. But from that time until the present day,
the power of God has guarded my sinful soul and humble body. I was fed
and clothed by the all-powerful word of God, since man does not live by
bread alone, but by every word proceeding from the mouth of God (Dt 8:3,
Mt.4:4, Luke 4:4), and those who have put off the old man (Col 3:9) have
no refuge, hiding themselves in the clefts of the rocks (Job 24:8, Heb
11:38). When I remember from what evil and from what sins the Lord delivered
me, I have imperishible food for salvation."
When Abba Zosimas heard that
the holy ascetic quoted the Holy Scripture from memory, from the Books
of Moses and Job and from the Psalms of David, he then asked the woman,
"Mother, have you read the Psalms and other
books?"
She smiled at hearing this question,
and answered, "Believe me, I have seen no human face but yours from
the time that I crossed over the Jordan. I never learned from books. I
have never heard anyone read or sing from them. Perhaps the Word of God,
which is alive and acting, teaches man knowledge by itself (Col 3:16, 1
Thess 2:13).
This is the end of my story. As I asked when I began,
I beg you for the sake of the Incarnate Word of God, holy Abba, pray
for me, a sinner. "Furthermore, I beg you, for the sake of Jesus
Christ our Lord and Savior, tell no one what you have heard from me, until
God takes me from this earth. Next year, during Great Lent, do not cross
the Jordan, as is the custom of your monastery."
Again Abba Zosimas was amazed, that the practice
of his monastery was known to the holy woman ascetic, although he had
not said anything to her about this.
"Remain at the monastery," the
woman continued. "Even if you try to leave the monastery, you will not
be able to do so. On Great and Holy Thursday, the day of the Lord's Last
Supper, place the Life-Creating Body and Blood of Christ our God in
a holy vessel, and bring it to me. Await me on this side of the Jordan,
at the edge of the desert, so that I may receive the Holy Mysteries. And
say to Abba John, the igumen of your community, 'Look to yourself and your
brothers (1 Tim 4:16), for there is much that needs correction. Do not say
this to him now, but when the Lord shall indicate."
Asking for his prayers, the woman
turned and vanished into the depths of the desert.
For a whole year Elder Zosimas
remained silent, not daring to reveal to anyone what he had seen, and
he prayed that the Lord would grant him to see the holy ascetic once more.
When the first week of Great Lent came again, St
Zosimas was obliged to remain at the monastery because of sickness. Then
he remembered the woman's prophetic words that he would not be able
to leave the monastery. After several days went by, St Zosimas was healed
of his infirmity, but he remained at the monastery until Holy Week.
On Holy Thursday, Abba Zosimas did what he had been
ordered to do. He placed some of the Body and Blood of Christ into
a chalice, and some food in a small basket. Then he left the monastery
and went to the Jordan and waited for the ascetic. The saint seemed tardy,
and Abba Zosimas prayed that God would permit him to see the holy woman.
Finally, he saw her standing on the far side of
the river.
Rejoicing, St Zosimas got up
and glorified God. Then he wondered how she could cross the Jordan without
a boat. She made the Sign of the Cross over the water, then she walked
on the water and crossed the Jordan. Abba Zosimas saw her in the moonlight,
walking toward him. When the Elder wanted to make prostration before
her, she forbade him, crying out, "What are you doing, Abba? You are
a priest and you carry the Holy Mysteries of God."
Reaching the shore, she said to Abba Zosimas, "Bless
me, Father." He answered her with trembling, astonished at what he had
seen. "Truly God did not lie when he promised that those who purify
themselves will be like Him. Glory to You, O Christ our God, for showing
me through your holy servant, how far I am from perfection."
The woman asked him to recite both the Creed and
the "Our Father." When the prayers were finished, she partook of the
Holy Mysteries of Christ. Then she raised her hands to the heavens and
said, "Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen
Your salvation."
The saint turned to the Elder and said, "Please,
Abba, fulfill another request. Go now to your monastery, and in a year's
time come to the place where we first time spoke."
He said, "If only it were possible
for me to follow you and always see your holy face!"
She replied, "For the Lord's sake, pray for me and
remember my wrechedness."
Again she made the Sign of the Cross over the Jordan,
and walked over the water as before, and disappeared into the desert.
Zosimas returned to the monastery
with joy and terror, reproaching himself because he had not asked the
saint's name. He hoped to do so the following year.
A year passed, and Abba Zosimas
went into the desert.
He reached the place where he
first saw the holy woman ascetic. She lay dead, with arms folded on
her bosom, and her face was turned to the east. Abba Zosimas washed her
feet with his tears and kissed them, not daring to touch anything else.
For a long while he wept over her and sang the customary Psalms, and said
the funeral prayers. He began to wonder whether the saint would want him
to bury her or not. Hardly had he thought this, when he saw something written
on the ground near her head:
"Abba Zosimas, bury on this spot the body of humble
Mary. Return to dust what is dust. Pray to the Lord for me.
I reposed on the first day of April, on the very
night of the saving Passion of Christ, after partaking of the Mystical
Supper."
Reading this note, Abba Zosimas
was glad to learn her name. He then realized that St Mary, after receiving
the Holy Mysteries from his hand, was transported instantaneously to
the place where she died, though it had taken him twenty days to travel
that distance.
Glorifying God, Abba Zosimas said to himself, "It
is time to do what she asks. But how can I dig a grave, with nothing
in my hands?"
Then he saw a small piece
of wood left by some traveler. He picked it up and began to dig. The
ground was hard and dry, and he could not dig it. Looking up, Abba Zosimas
saw an enormous lion standing by the saint's body and licking her feet.
Fear gripped the Elder, but he guarded himself with the Sign of the Cross,
believing that he would remain unharmed through the prayers of the holy
woman ascetic. Then the lion came close to the Elder, showing its friendliness
with every movement. Abba Zosimas commanded the lion to dig the grave,
in order to bury St Mary's body. At his words, the lion dug a hole deep
enough to bury the body. Then each went his own way. The lion went into
the desert, and Abba Zosimas returned to the monastery, blessing and praising
Christ our God.
Arriving at the monastery, Abba
Zosimas related to the monks and the igumen, what he had seen and heard
from St Mary. All were astonished, hearing about the miracles of God.
They always remembered St Mary with faith and love on the day of her repose.
Abba John, the igumen of the monastery, heeded the words of St Mary,
and with the help of God corrected the things that were wrong at the monastery.
Abba Zosimas lived a God-pleasing life at the monastery, reaching nearly
a hundred years of age. There he finished his temporal life, and passed
into life eternal.
The monks passed on the life of St Mary of Egypt
by word of mouth without writing it down.
"I however," says St Sophronius
of Jerusalem (March 11), "wrote down the Life of St Mary of Egypt as
I heard it from the holy Fathers. I have recorded everything, putting
the truth above all else."
"May God, Who works great miracles and bestows gifts
on all who turn to Him in faith, reward those who hear or read this account,
and those who copy it. May he grant them a blessed portion together
with St Mary of Egypt and with all the saints who have pleased God by
their pious thoughts and works. Let us give glory to God, the Eternal
King, that we may find mercy on the Day of Judgment through our Lord
Jesus Christ, to Whom is due all glory, honor, majesty and worship together
with the Unoriginate Father, and the Most Holy and Life-Creating Spirit,
now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen."
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120
-132 St. Theodora Roman martyr sister of Saint Hermes aid and
care to her brother in prison
Romæ pássio sanctæ Theodóræ,
soróris illustríssimi Mártyris Hermétis,
quæ, sub Hadriáno Imperatóre, ab Aureliáno
Júdice affécta martyrio, sepúlta est juxta fratrem
suum, via Salária, non longe ab Urbe.
At Rome, the passion of St. Theodora, sister of the illustrious
martyr Hermes. She underwent martyrdom in the time of Emperor Adrian,
under the judge Aurelian, and was buried at the side of her brother, on
the Salarian Way, a short distance from the city.
According to the Acta of Pope St. Alexander (r 105-115), she was
the sister of Saint Hermes
and was martyred some time after her brother. She had given aid and care
to her brother during his difficult time in prison.
Theodora of Rome M (RM) Died 132. According to the Acta of
Pope Alexander I, Theodora buried Saint Hermes, her brother, after
assisting him in prison and as he was tortured. She was herself martyred
some months later. Brother and sister were buried side by side (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia).
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180 St. Philip of Gortyna
authorship of a now lost treatise against the Gnostics
Bishop of Gortyna, Crete. Little is known about him except
for his authorship of a now lost treatise against the Gnostics.
|
180
St. Melito Bishop of Sardis in Lydia, Asia Minor; powerful gift of
prophecy as attested by Saint Jerome and Eusebius
180 ST MELITO, Bishop OF SARDIS
EUSEBIUS and other ecclesiastical writers greatly commend the
writings of St Melito, Bishop of Sardis in Lydia, who during the
second century wrote an Apology for Christianity addressed to
the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and many other works, theological and ethical.
Eusebius and St Jerome give the titles or the subjects of a number of these
writings, but of the books themselves little has survived but a few fragments.
According to Tertullian, who was rather disdainful of his oratorical
diction and style, St Melito was regarded as a prophet by many people.
His name occurs in some of the old martyrologia, but beyond the fact that
he was unmarried and was said to have ruled his conduct by the teaching
of the Holy Spirit, nothing whatever is known of his life or death.
Owing to the similarity between the names of Sardis and Sardinia,
St Melito has often been confused with a fictitious namesake reputed
to have been a pupil of St Boniface, the first bishop of Cagliari, and
to have suffered martyrdom in Sardinia under Domitian.
There is a
very full article on Melito, concerned of course principally with the
writings attributed to him, in DTC., vol. x, cc. 540—547, to which the
writer, E. Amann, appends a full bibliography. See also G. Salmon in DCE.,
vol. iii, pp. 894—900, and Bardenhewer, Altkirchliche Literatur,
vol. i, pp. 546—557.
He was praised by Eusebius and had the gift of prophecy.
Melito had a great reputation as an ecclesiastical writer, authoring
an Apologia for Christianity to Emperor Marcus Aurelius. He was also
revered by Tertullian as a prophet.
Melito of Sardis B (AC). Bishop Melito of Sardis, Lydia, was
an ecclesiastical writer of the period of the apologists. There are
some writings attributed him that are now believed to have been composed
by an unknown writer. Nevertheless, he was endowed with a powerful gift
of prophecy, which led to the surname of "the Prophet," as attested by
Saint Jerome and Eusebius
(Attwater2, Benedictines, Husenbeth).
SAINT MELETION, THE BISHOP OF SARDIS IN ASIA MINOR
Meletion was a celebrated shepherd of the second-century Church.
Governing with great ability, he endeavored to gather all the books
of Sacred Scripture into a single Codex. By his meekness and piety,
Meletion again labored to restore peace in the Church of Laodicea, which
arose over the controversy regarding the celebration of Pascha (The Feast
of the Resurrection). Besides this, he defended Christianity against the
pagans. He traveled to Rome about the year 170 A.D. and submitted to Emperor
Marcus Aurelius a written Apologia (Defense) of the Faith and of the Christian
Church. St. Meletion, this learned, pious and zealous man, died peacefully
in the Lord in the year 177 A.D.
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255 St. Venantius
Bishop martyr prelate serving Dalmatia, Croatia
Eódem die
sancti Venántii, Epíscopi et Mártyris.
The same day, St. Venantius, bishop and martyr.
Executed during the persecutions of the Church by
the Roman Empire.
His relics were translated from Split (Spalato),
Dalmatia, to the Lateran Basilica in Rome under Pope John IV (r. 640-642).
Venantius of Spalato BM (RM). Saint Venantius was
a Dalmatian bishop whose body was brought to the Lateran at Spalato
by Pope John IV in 641 (Benedictines).
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3rd
v. The Martyrs Gerontius and Basilides suffered martyrdom for Christ
in the third century
They were beheaded by the sword.
Sts. Victor and Stephen Two
martyrs executed in Egypt probably Alexandria
In Ægypto
sanctórum Mártyrum Victóris et Stéphani.
In Egypt, the holy martyrs Victor and Stephen.
St_John_Shavteli_of_Salosi
Georgia >
Victor and Stephen MM (RM). Egyptian
martyrs (Benedictines).
St. Quintian and Irenaeus
2 Armenian martyrs whose Acts are no longer extant.
In Arménia
sanctórum Mártyrum Quinctiáni et Irenǽi.
In Armenia, the holy martyrs Quinctian and Irenæus.
Quintian and Irenaeus MM (RM)
Date unknown. Armenian martyrs about whom nothing else is known (Benedictines).
Constantinópoli
sancti Macárii Confessóris, qui, sub Leóne Imperatóre,
pro assertióne sanctárum Imáginum, in exsílio
vitam finívit.
At Constantinople, under Emperor Leo, St. Macarius,
confessor, who ended his life in exile for defending the veneration
of sacred images.
St John Shavteli of
Salosi, Bishop of Gaenati, Georgia
283 Martyrs
Chrysanthus and Daria 19 March/1 April
Saints
Chrysanthus and Daria (and with them Claudius, Hilaria, Jason and Maurus)
suffered in Rome in the year 283. Saint Chrysanthus was the son of a
distinguished senator, received a brilliant education and from his young
years came to love books. Having bought the Gospel and the Apostolic
epistles, he read them with interest. The height of the Gospel teaching
captivated him, but much in these books he could not understand.
By God's Providence, Chrysanthus became acquainted
with a priest, who explained the Christian faith to him in detail. Having
studied the Gospel more deeply and having been imbued with the ideal
of Christian morality, Chrysanthus renounced the pagan errors of his
family and accepted Holy Baptism. Chrysanthus burned with a desire to
introduce other pagans also to the Christian faith, and therefore he
began diligently and fearlessly to preach the Good Tidings.
His father, a staunch pagan, having learned of his
son's baptism and desiring to turn him away from Christianity, put him
in a dungeon and began to kill him by hunger and cold. But the sufferings
only strengthened Chrysanthus' faith. Then the father, hoping by this
to return the son to paganism, freed Chrysanthus from prison and married
him to the maiden Daria - a priestess at the pagan temple of Athena. But
instead of this, Chrysanthus shortly converted Daria to Christianity,
and she was baptized.
When Chrysanthus' father died, the home of the young
spouses became an abode for newly-converted Christians. After some time,
the Tribune Claudius was informed that Chrysanthus and Daria were preaching
Christianity. Claudius gave them over to tortures, but, seeing the steadfastness
and miracles of the martyrs, he himself came to believe in Christ with
his wife, Hilaria, and their sons, Maurus and Jason.
For this, by order of the emperor, Claudius was
drowned with a stone around his neck, while his sons had their heads
chopped off by the sword.
Their mother, Hilaria, died on their grave, before
they could give her over to tortures. Chrysanthus and Daria, after terrible
tortures, were buried alive in the earth.
Subsequently, on the day of the
commemoration of Saints Chrysanthus and Daria, many Roman Christians would
gather for prayer in a cave near the place of their righteous death. Pagans,
having learned of this, blocked up the cave, and those gathered in it perished
from hunger. Among those who perished in the cave are named the Presbyter
Diodorus and the Deacon Marianus.
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5thv to 6th v
Saint Tewdric prince of Glamorgan is discussed in the Book of Llan Dav,
written much later, Hermit (AC)
(also known as Theodoric) feast day is sometimes listed as
January 3. Saint Tewdric, prince of Glamorgan, is discussed in the
Book of Llan Dav, written much later. According to this source, in
his later years he resigned his position in favor of his son Meurig in
order to become a hermit at Tintern. During an invasion of the Saxons,
he placed himself at the head of his people. In the ensuing battle, he
was mortally wounded by a lance. Tewdric was buried at Mathern, near
Chepstow, formerly called Merthyr Tewdrig, where the church still bears
his name. He is the reputed founder of the churches at Bedwas Llandow
and Merthyr Tydfil. In the early 17th century, Bishop Francis Godwin
of Llandaff found the saints bones, including a badly fractured skull in
the church at Mathern (Farmer).
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622
St. Walericus Benedictine founder missionary abbot under St. Columbanus
His time was entirely occupied with preaching, prayer, reading, and manual
labor; miracles
Apud Ambiánum, in Gállia, sancti Waleríci
Abbátis, cujus sepúlcrum crebris miráculis illustrátur.
At Amiens in France, Abbot
St. Valery, whose tomb is well known for its frequent miracles.
also called Valery. He served under
St. Columbanus at the famed monastery of Luxeuil, in France, and was
the founder of the monastic community of Leuconay, on the Somme River.
620 ST WALARICUS, or VALÉRY, Abbot
ST WALARICUS or Valéry, whose body William the Conqueror
caused to be publicly exposed that the saint might obtain a favourable
wind for his English expedition, was born in a humble home in the Auvergne.
Somehow he learned to read, and he is said to have procured a psalter,
the contents of which he committed to memory while tending sheep. His
uncle one day took him to visit the monastery of Autumo, but when the
time came for returning, the boy insisted upon staying behind; so there
he was allowed to remain and to continue his education, though it is doubtful
whether he ever took the habit there.
Some years later he left to enter the abbey of St Germanus
near Auxerre, but his sojourn does not seem to have been a protracted
one. It was not unusual in those days for monks voluntarily to go from
one monastery to another; some indeed were vagrants by nature who could
never settle anywhere, but many of them were men striving after perfection,
who were only eager to find a director capable of assisting them to attain
their goal. Of this number was Walaricus. The renown of St Columban and
of the life led by his followers at Luxeuil determined him to seek out the
great Irishman and to place himself under his rule. With him went his friend
Bobo, a nobleman who had been converted by him and who had abandoned his
possessions to join him. At Luxeuil, where they found the leader and the
spiritual life they sought, they settled down happily. To Walaricus fell
the duty of cultivating part of the garden. The flourishing condition
of his allotment, when the rest of the estate was being devoured by insects,
was regarded as miraculous, and is said to have induced St Columban, who
already had a high opinion of him, to profess him after an unusually short
novitiate.
When King Theodoric expelled the abbot from his monastery,
allowing only the Irish and the Bretons to accompany him, Walaricus,
not wishing to remain on at Luxeuil without St Columban, obtained leave
to join a monk called Waldolanus, who was about to start on a mission
of evangelization. Receiving permission to settle in Neustria, they
preached freely to the people, and Walaricus’s eloquence and miracles
gained many converts. It was not long, however, before he began to feel
again the call to retire from the world, but this time he thought it his
vocation to be a hermit. By the advice of Bishop Berchundus he chose a
solitary spot near the sea, at the mouth of the river Somme, where he proposed
to live in solitude but he could not remain hidden. Disciples discovered
him and cells sprang up around, which developed into the celebrated abbey
of Leuconaus. St Walaricus would occasionally issue forth to preach missions
in the countryside, and so successful were his efforts that he is said
to have evangelized not only what is now known as the Pas-de-Calais, but
the whole eastern shore of the English Channel.
Tall and ascetic-looking, the holy man was noted for his singular
gentleness which tempered the stern Rule of St Columban with excellent
results. Animals were attracted to him: birds perched on his shoulders
and ate from his hand, and often the good abbot would gently warn off
an intruding visitor with the words, “Do let these innocent creatures eat
their meal in peace”.
After ruling his monastery for six years or more, St Walaricus
passed to his rest about the year 620. Numerous miracles reported after
his death quickly spread his cultus, at least two French towns, St-Valéry-sur-Somme
and St-Valéry-en-Caux, being named after him. King Richard Coeur-de-Lion
transferred his relics to the latter town, which is in Normandy, but
they were afterwards restored to St-Valéry sur-Somme, on the site
of the abbey of Leuconaus.
We are told
that a life of St Walaricus was written by Raginbertus, who became abbot
of Leuconaus not long after the death of the saint. It was formerly believed
that this document was preserved in substance by a later writer,
who re-edited it in a new setting and in a more correct style. Bruno
Krusch, however, seems to have proved that this later life dates only
from the eleventh century and is a fabrication which borrows freely from
other hagiographical materials which have nothing to do with St
Walaricus. See MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. iv, pp. 157—175
where a more critical text than that of the Bollandists and Mabillon may
also be found. For some criticisms of B. Krusch’s edition see Wattenbach
Levison, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter
Vorzeit und Karolinger, vol. (1952),
Walaricus of Leucone, Abbot (RM) (also known as
Valéry, Walericus) Born in Auvergne, France; died in Leucone,
Picardy, France, on December 12, c. 622; feast of his translation is
December 12.
Valéry discovered Benedictine life at Issoire,
developed it at Auxerre, fructified it at Luxeuil under Saint Columbanus,
and multiplied it with missionary work at Leuconnais (Leuconay), in
the Somme region of northern France.
Born into a peasant family in the Auvergne, Valéry
tended his father's sheep in his childhood, which gave him plenty of
time to develop his prayer life. Out of an ardent desire to grow in
spiritual knowledge, he learned to read at an early age and memorized
the Psalter. Dissatisfied with his life as a shepherd, he took the monastic
habit in the neighboring monastery of St. Antony's at Autumo.
His fervor from the first day of monastic life led
him to live the rule perfectly. Sincere humility permitted him to meekly
and cheerfully subjected himself to everyone. Seeking a stricter rule,
he migrated to the more austere monastery of St. Germanus, where he was
received by Bishop Saint Anacharius
of Auxerre. He was drawn to Luxeuil by the reputation of the
penitential lives of its monks and the spiritual wisdom of Saint Columbanus.
There he spent many years, always esteeming himself an unprofitable servant
and a slothful monk, who stood in need of the severest and harshest rules
and superiors. Next to sin, he dreaded nothing so much as the applause of
men or a reputation of sanctity. At Luxeuil he also distinguished himself
as a horticulturalist--the preservation of his fruit and vegetables
against the ravages of insects that destroyed most other crops was considered
miraculous.
When Saint Columbanus was banished from Luxeuil
by King Theodoric, the monastery was placed in Valéry's hands
until he was sent by Saint Eustasius
with his fellow-monk Waldolanus to preach the Gospel in Neustria. There
King Clotaire II gave them the territory of Leucone in Picardy, near
the mouth of the river Somme. In 611, with the permission of Bishop Bertard
of Amiens, they built a chapel and two cells. Saint Valéry by
his preaching and the example of his virtue, converted many and attracted
fervent disciples with whom he laid the foundation of a monastery.
His fasts he sometimes prolonged for six days, eating
only on the Sunday; and he used no other bed than twigs laid on the
floor. His time was entirely occupied with preaching, prayer, reading,
and manual labor. By this he earned something for the relief of the poor,
and he often repeated to others, "The more cheerfully we give to those
who are in distress, the more readily will God give us what we ask of
him."
When Valéry died, cures were claimed at his
tomb and a cultus developed, which eventually spread to England during
the Norman Conquest. William the Conqueror exposed Valéry's relics
for public veneration. He was invoked for a favorable wind for the expedition
in 1066, which sailed from Saint-Valéry
Valéry is honored at Chester
Abbey in England and in France, where a famous monastery arose from his cells.
His vita was carefully written in 660, by Raimbert, second abbot of Leucone
after him. King Richard the Lion Hearted had his relics restored to Saint-Valéry-en-Caux;
however, his original abbey later recovered them. Two towns in the Somme
district are called Saint- Valéry after him, and there are several
dedications to him in England as well (Attwater2, Benedictines, Encyclopedia,
Farmer, Husenbeth).
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7th v. St. Caidoc
& Fricor Irish missionaries in northern France converts was Saint
Ricarius
One of their converts was Saint
Ricarius. Their relics are in the parish of Saint-Riquier near
Amiens, France.
In some lists Fricor is called Adrian.
Caidoc and Fricor (Adrian) HH (AC) 7th century; they had four
feast days at Centula: January 24, March 31, April 1, and May 30. The
Irishmen Caidoc and Fricor evangelized the country of the Morini in
Picardy, northern France, beginning about 622. Among the souls they won
for Christ was the nobleman Riquier (Saint Ricarius), who intervened when
some locals to offense to their preaching and took them into his home. Riquier
became a fervent Christian, who engaged in penitential austerities and
eventually was ordained. In 625, Riquier founded Centula based on the
Rule of Columbanus, another Irishman. Their relics are still venerated
at the parish church of Saint-Riquier in the diocese of Amiens, although
they rested in Centula until the 17th century. Saints Caidoc and Fricor
joined Riquier's community and remained there until they were buried in
Saint Riquier's church (Benedictines, D'Arcy, Fitzpatrick2, McCarthy,
Montague, O'Hanlon).
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644 Saint Berhard B Berhard saintly bishop who had
a great affection for Saint Valéry
and who tried to have him buried in his cathedral in Amiens
(Encyclopedia)
|
7th v. St. Dodolinus bishop of Vienne, in Dauphine, France
No details of his ministry have survived.
Dodolinus of Vienne B (AC) 7th century. Bishop Saint Dodolin
of Vienne's feast is celebrated in the Dauphiné (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia).
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666 Saint Leuconus
B 18th bishop of Troyes, who founded Notre-Dame-des-Nonnains
(Encyclopedia).
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9th v. St. Cellach abbot of lona, Scotland archbishop
of Armagh, Ireland
The abbot of lona, Scotland, and the archbishop of Armagh,
Ireland. Also called Ceilach and Keilach, he was the founder of the
monastery of Kells.
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Ardpatrícii,
in Momónia Hibérniæ província, sancti Celsi
Epíscopi, qui beátum Malachíam in Episcopátu
præcéssit.
At Ard-Patrick in Munster,
a province of Ireland, Bishop St. Celsus, who preceded blessed Malachy
in that bishopric.
|
Marcella A little
shepherdess of the Auvergne Date unknown.(Encyclopedia).
|
830
St. Macarius the Wonder-Worker monk known for miracles
Constantinópoli sancti Macárii Confessóris,
qui, sub Leóne Imperatóre, pro assertióne sanctárum
Imáginum, in exsílio vitam finívit.
At Constantinople, under Emperor
Leo, St. Macarius, confessor, who ended his life in exile for defending
the veneration of sacred images.
830 ST MACARIUS THE WONDER-WORKER became celebrated for his
miracles of healing
MACARIUS the Wonder-worker was a native of Constantinople.
He received an excellent education, showing special aptitude for the
study of the Holy Scriptures, “the whole of which”, we read, “he ran
through in a short time”. Afterwards, leaving the city, he betook himself
to the monastery of Pelekete where he dropped his baptismal name of Christopher
to assume that of Macarius. A model monk, he was chosen abbot and soon
became celebrated for his miracles of healing. Crowds flocked to Pelekete
to be cured of diseases both of body and of mind. The patriarch of Constantinople,
St Tarasius, who had received many reports of his sanctity and miracles,
greatly desiring to see him, dispatched to be his escort the patrician Paul,
who had once been cured by the abbot and whose wife had recently been restored
to health by him after she had been given over by the physicians. When the
two saints met, Tarasius gave Macarius his blessing and, before allowing
him to return, ordained him priest. He was not destined to remain long at
peace in his cloister. The Emperor Leo the Armenian attacked in turn all
the prominent supporters of the cultus of holy images, and Macarius was
tortured in various ways and kept in prison until the emperor’s death.
His successor, Michael the Stammerer, released the saint and tried by
promises and threats to win him over. Finding, however, that he remained
inflexible, the emperor banished him to the island of Aphusia off the
shore of Bithynia, where on August 18 he died in exile; the precise year
is unknown.
A Greek
life of St Macarius by the monk Sabas was edited in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xvi (1897), pp. 140—163. Its
historical character is confirmed by certain letters of Theodore Studites.
See the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxxii (1913), pp. 270—273
and cf. Échos d’Orient, (1898), pp. 274—280.
April i seems to have been the day of his translation.
Abbot and victim of persecution by Iconoclast heretics.
He was born Christopher at Constantinople. and became a monk at Pelekete
Monastery, taking the name Macanus. Elected abbot, he was called the
Wonder-Worker because of his prodigious miracles. Two Iconoclast emperors
of Constantinople exiled him. Emperor Leo V banished him for a time and
then Emperor Michael II sent him to Aphusia Island on the coast of Bythinia,
where he died on August 18.
Macarius the Wonder-Worker, Abbot (RM) Born in Constantinople;
died on Aphusia Island, Bithynia, on August 18, c. 830.
"To you, O Master, who loves all mankind I hasten on rising
from sleep. By your mercy I go out to do your work and I make my prayer
to you. Help me at all times and in all things. Deliver me
from every evil thing of this world and from pursuit by the devil.
Save me and bring me to your eternal kingdom, For you are my Creator, You
inspire all good thoughts in me.
In you is all my hope and to you I give glory, now and forever."
--Saint Macarius
Piously baptized Christopher in Constantinople, he took the
name Macarius upon becoming a monk at Pelekete nearby. Eventually he
was elected abbot and became known for the miracles he wrought.
Macarius was ordained by Patriarch Tarasius of Constantinople,
was imprisoned and tortured for his opposition to the iconoclasm proclaimed
by Emperor Leo the Armenian, and was released by Leo's successor, Emperor
Michael the Stammerer. When he refused Michael's demands that he support
the iconoclastic heresy, he was exiled to the island of Aphusia off
the coast of Bithynia and died there (Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney,
Encyclopedia).
Saint Macarius was born at Constantinople in 785. While still
a child, he lost his parents. The saint fervently read the Scriptures
and came to realize that earthly things are temporary and perishable,
and that heavenly things are permanent and imperishable. Therefore, he
decided to devote his life entirely to God. He entered the Pelekete monastery
in Bithynia, where at the time the igumen was the renowned ascetic, St
Hilarion (March 28). After the death of St Hilarion, St Macarius
was unanimously chosen as igumen by the brethren. During the reign of
the Byzantine Emperors Leo V the Armenian (813-820) and Michael II the
Stammerer (820-829), St Macarius suffered as a confessor for the veneration
of holy icons. He was sent to the island of Aphousia, where he died in
about the year 830.
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Apud Ambiánum, in Gállia, sancti
Waleríci Abbátis, cujus sepúlcrum crebris miráculis
illustrátur.
At Amiens in France, Abbot St. Valéry,
whose tomb is well known for its frequent miracles.
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1053
VENERABLE PROCOPIUS, THE CZECH establishing the Monastery of St. John
the Forerunner by the Sazava river
Procopius was born in Hotish, today's Czech Republic.
He was ordained a priest and retreated to a mountain to live according
to the model of eastern hermits.
The Duke (Herceg) Ulrich accidentally came upon Procopius and assisted
him in establishing the Monastery of St. John the Forerunner by the Sazava
river. This holy man died in the year 1053 A.D.
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1132
St. Hugh of Grenoble Benedictine bishop amazing modesty took upon himself
all the sins of others the cross he carried was heavy laden holy and
redemptive; a great reputation
for miracles
Gratianópoli,
in Gállia, sancti Hugónis Epíscopi, qui multis
annis in solitúdine vitam exégit, et miraculórum
glória clarus migrávit ad Dóminum.
At Grenoble in France, Bishop St. Hugh, who spent many years
of his life in solitude, and departed for heaven with a great reputation
for miracles.
Detail from "St. Hugo of Grenoble in the Carthusian
Refectory"
By Francisco de Zurbarán; Museo de Bellas
Artes, Seville
Courtesy of the Web Gallery of Art
1132 ST HUGH, Bishop OF GRENOBLE
ST HUGH was born at Châteauneuf, near Valence in the
Dauphine, in the year 1052. His father, Odilo, after being twice married,
became a Carthusian, and died at the age of 100, receiving viaticum
from his son in whose arms he passed away.
After an education begun in Valence and completed
with distinction in foreign centres of learning, Hugh was presented to
a canonry in the cathedral of Valence though still a layman—such benefices
at that period being often conferred on young students without orders.
Very young, good-looking, and extremely bashful, he soon won all hearts
by his courtesy and by the modesty which led him to conceal and underrate
his talents and learning.
The bishop of Die, another Hugh, was so charmed by his namesake
when he came to Valence that he insisted upon attaching him to his household.
The prelate soon proved the young Canon’s worth by entrusting him with
some difficult negotiations in the campaign then directed against simony;
and in 1080 he took him to a synod at Avignon, called to consider, amongst
other matters, the disorders which had crept into the vacant see of
Grenoble.
The council and the delegates from Grenoble severally and collectively
appear to have looked on Canon Hugh as the one man who was capable
of dealing with the disorders complained of; but though unanimously elected
it was with the greatest reluctance that he consented to accept the office.
The legate himself conferred on him holy orders up to the priesthood,
and took him to Rome that he might receive consecration from the pope.
The kindness of the reception he met emboldened the young bishop
elect to consult St Gregory VII about temptations to blasphemy
which sometimes beset him, causing him great distress and, as he considered,
rendering him unfit for the high office to which he was called. The pontiff
reassured him, explaining that God permitted these trials to purify him
and render him a more fitting instrument for the divine purposes. These
particular temptations continued to assault him until his last illness,
but he never yielded to them in any way.
The Countess Matilda gave the twenty-eight-year-old bishop
his crozier and some books, including the De officiis ministrorum
of St Ambrose and a psalter to which were appended the commentaries
of St Augustine. Immediately after his consecration. St Hugh hurried
off to his diocese, but he was appalled by the state of his flock. The
gravest sins were committed without shame; simony and usury were rampant;
the clergy openly flouted the obligation to celibacy; the people were
uninstructed; laymen had seized church property and the see was almost
penniless. It was indeed a herculean task that lay before the saint.
For two years he laboured unremittingly to redress abuses
by preaching, by denunciations, by rigorous fasts and by constant prayer.
The excellent results he was obtaining were patent to all but to himself:
he only saw his failures and blamed his own incompetence. Discouraged,
he quietly withdrew to the Cluniac abbey of Chaise-Dieu, where he received
the Benedictine habit. He did not remain there long, for Pope Gregory
commanded him to resume his pastoral charge and return to Grenoble.
Coming out of his solitude, like another Moses
from the mountain, he seemed—so men declared—to preach with greater
fervour and success than before. It was to St Hugh of Grenoble that
St Bruno and his companions addressed themselves when they decided to
forsake the world, and it was he who granted to them the desert called
the Chartreuse which gave its name to their order. The bishop became
greatly attached to the monks it was his delight to visit them in their
solitude, joining in their exercises and performing the most menial
offices. Sometimes he would linger so long in these congenial surroundings
that St Bruno was constrained to remind him of his flock and of his episcopal
duties. These periods of retreat were the bright oases in a hard and anxious
life.
With the clergy and the common people St Hugh was most successful,
but the nobles continued to withstand him to the end. Moreover, for
the last forty years of his life he suffered almost unremittingly from
headaches complicated by gastric trouble, and was tormented by severe
temptations. Nevertheless occasionally he was granted sensible spiritual
consolations which filled his heart with joy.
During his sermons it was not unusual to see the whole congregation
in tears, whilst individuals would be moved to make public confession
on the spot. Of sin he had the utmost horror, and his loathing of detraction
was so great that he disliked the duty of listening to official reports
and closed his ears to the news of the day. Temporal things always seemed
to him dull and irksome as compared with the heavenly things on which
his heart was set.
He besought pope after pope to release him from office. One
and all refused point-blank. Honorius II, to whom he pleaded
his age and infirmities, replied that he preferred to retain him as
bishop of Grenoble—old and ill— rather than have any younger or stronger
man in his place.
A generous almsgiver, St Hugh in a time of famine sold a gold
chalice as well as rings and precious stones from his church treasury;
and rich men were stirred by his example to give liberally to feed the
hungry and supply the needs of the diocese. Although at the end of life
his soul was further purified by a lingering illness of a very painful
character, Hugh never uttered a word of complaint, nor would he speak of
what he endured. His only concern was for others. His humility was all
the more striking because everyone approached him with the utmost reverence
and affection. In reply to someone who asked, “Why do you weep so bitterly—you
who never offended God by any wilful sin?” he replied, “Vanity and inordinate
affections alone are enough to damn a soul. Only through God’s mercy can
we hope to be saved, and should we ever cease to implore it?”
A short time before his death he lost his memory for everything
but prayer, and would recite the psalter or the Lord’s Prayer without
intermission. St Hugh died on April 1, 1132, two months before attaining
the age of eighty, having been a bishop for fifty-two years.
Pope Innocent II canonized him two years later.
The main authority
for the life of St Hugh is the Latin biography by Guigo, prior of the
Grande Chartreuse, who died only five years after the saint himself.
This life is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol.
i, and elsewhere. See also Albert du Boys, Vie de St Hugues
(1837); Bellet in the Bulletin Soc. Archéol.
Drôme (1894), xxviii, 5-31 and Marion, Chartulaire
de l’Eglise de Grenoble (1869). Hugh is reckoned amongst ecclesiastical
writers chiefly on the strength of this cartulary, or collection of charters,
copies of which, accompanied by curious historical notes, are preserved
in Grenoble Library. The bishop is often associated with St Bruno as co-founder
of the Grande Chartreuse.
b. 1053 Benedictine bishop of Grenoble, France, patron of St.
Bruno. He was born in the Dauphine region and became a canon of the cathedral
in Valence. In 1080, while attending a synod in Avignon, Hugh was named
bishop of Grenoble. He attempted a massive reform of the diocese, but,
discouraged, retired to Chaise Dieu Abbey, and became a Benedictine. Pope
St. Gregoiy VII ordered him back to Grenoble. Hugh gave St. Bruno
Hugh of Grenoble, OSB B (RM) Born near Valence in
the Dauphiné, France, in 1052; died in Grenoble, France, on
April 1, 1132; canonized by Pope Innocent II in 1134.
What an amazing modesty Saint Hugh possessed! You
may shrug your shoulders, of course. The 20th century is without modesty
and doesn't appreciate it. There is something about the modesty of Saint
Hugh that governed and colored his life, yet repels and confounds us.
We have lost the taste for that virtue in a world where we live like haggling
beasts: industrious, envious, quarrelsome, wretched beasts!
By contrast Saint Hugh took to
heart Saint Paul's admonition: "Let love be sincere . . . love one another
with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor...do
not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own
estimation" (Romans 12:9, 16). And again Paul urges: "Do nothing out
of selfishness or vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important
than yourselves.." (Philippians 2:3). the land on which the Grande Chartreuse
was founded, thus starting the Carthusians. Hugh died on April 1 and was
canonized by Pope Innocent II.
When Hugh of Grenoble was born at Châteauneuf,
the French churchmen were very undisciplined. He was the son of the
second marriage of Odilo, a knight of excellent reputation, who later became
a Carthusian monk. His father lived to the venerable age of 100, before
he died in his son's arms after having received viaticum from him. Odilo's
goodness inspired his son to greatness. As a youth, Saint Hugh was a pupil
of Saint Bruno at Rheims. He later studied in the best foreign centers
for education.
Good looks and a diffident manner, added to his
abilities, seem to have helped Hugh's swift rise in ecclesiastical
office. He won all hearts through his courtesy and modesty that led
him to underrate his own talents and learning. Hugh, though a layman,
was made a canon of Valence Cathedral at age 25, and set out to reform
the church. Bishop Hugh of Die soon saw the young man's zeal and appointed
the young man to his household. This bishop was particularly keen to
stamp out simony (that is sale for personal gain of positions in the church)
and Hugh played a huge part in his campaign. In 1080, the bishop
took Hugh to a council at Avignon. One of the purposes of the council
was to sort out the disorders that had arisen in the diocese of Grenoble,
whose bishop had just died.
To Hugh's surprise, the participants
decided that this 27-year-old was by far the best person to be consecrated
bishop. He protested that he was only a layman. "But I repeat
to you that I am not worthy of it!" sighed Hugh.
"What fairy tale is this that you're telling me?"
asked the papal legate, Bishop Hugh of Die. "Who is asking you to
act on your own strength? Count first on God, who will give you help."
Nevertheless, the bishop ordained him and then took
him to Rome where the pope consecrated Hugh as bishop though he was
barely 30.
Hugh discovered that diocese of Grenoble was in
a far worse state than he had imagined. Although the clergy had taken
vows of celibacy, many of them lived more or less openly with women.
Influential laymen had seized most of the property of the church. Hugh
manfully set about putting matters aright. He was unpopular with the
nobility, whose confiscation of church property the bishop dealt with
firmly. Only Hugh, however, failed to see the excellent results of his
policies. Two years after his consecration, believing that he had vainly
opposed these disorders, as well as simony and usury, through sermons,
threats, example, fast, and prayers, Hugh left the city and withdrew to
the abbey of Chaise- Dieu (Cluniac).
This was the first of several times he despaired
because of his lack of progress and went to live as a monk. "But I repeat
to you that I can't do anything that's good and worthwhile!" he complained
gently to those who wanted him to give up this sudden Benedictine vocation
and his seeming lack of faith. Each time the pope insisted that he must
take up the struggle again.
"Very well, granted. You can't do anything, my son,"
Pope Saint Gregory VII said to him, "but you are bishop,
and the sacrament can do everything." Each time Hugh obeyed. This first
time it took a year of discussion before Hugh returned to Grenoble with
a crushing sense of his unworthiness and inferiority.
Bishop Hugh of Grenoble sustained the papacy in
its dispute with Emperor Henry V, and was persecuted for his loyalty.
Grenoble was in the emperor's territory, but his flock rallied to his
support.
It was then, in 1084, that Saint Bruno and his companions
came in search of silence, solitude, and a perpetual conversation with
God on the fringes of the scandals of the world. Hugh was waiting for
them. He rolled up his cassock and, like a guide, led them through the
craggy rocks of the desert called the Chartreuse. He gave this land to
the monks who built there the famous monastery of Grande Chartreuse.
The charter Hugh gave them still exists.
Hugh knew the way to the Grande Chartreuse very
well, and often visited the monks. He came so often, in fact, and liked
it so much that Saint Bruno
often had to send him away, reminding him of his flock and episcopal
duties. When he visited them in their solitude, Hugh would join in their
exercises and perform the most menial tasks. Hugh saw himself as a bad
bishop and wanted nothing more than to stay in the monastery. Hugh's close
association with the Carthusians has ensured the custom that the diocesan
bishop was always expected (contrary to other monastic orders) to guide
and cherish Charterhouses in their diocese.
During his 52-year episcopacy,
Hugh vainly tendered his resignation to each pope--Gregory VII, Gelasius
II, Calixtus II, Honorius II, Innocent II, and others--and they
refused him because of his outstanding ability. He never ceased imploring
them to release him from the duties of his episcopal office up to the
day of his death. During his last, painful illness he was tormented
by headaches and stomach disorders that resulted from his long fasts
and vigils, yet never complained. For a short time before his death, he
lost his memory for everything but prayer, and would recite the Psalter
and the Our Father unceasingly.
It was this humility--which once almost became a
blasphemy against Divine Providence--that unwittingly made Hugh such
a good bishop. Out of the fear and shame that he was better nourished,
housed, and dressed than the poor, he sold his ring, other jewels, furs,
a golden chalice, and ornaments to raise money and gave it to those in
need. His generosity stirred other rich men to liberally follow his example.
He wept when he heard a penitent's confession and
when the disorders of his retinue were brought to his attention, he
blamed himself as though it were a personal fault. Hugh also founded
three hospitals at Grenoble, built a marketplace, and provided a stone
bridge over the Isere, in addition to restoring the cathedral and Saint
Laurence's Church. For 52 years Hugh labored as bishop of Grenoble, dying
at age 79, having restored the diocese both financially and morally.
He took upon himself all the sins of others, and
the cross that he carried was so heavy laden, so holy, and so redemptive
that two years after his death, he was canonized amid the jubilation of
the people and of his church. By order of Pope Innocent II, Hugh's Carthusian
friend Gigues wrote the saints Life which brings out the attractiveness
of this modest man's character (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gill, Walsh).
In art, Saint Hugh is a bishop seeing a vision of
seven stars. Sometimes he is shown (1) with a lantern; (2) with three
flowers; (3) with Saint Bruno, to whom he entrusted the Grande Chartreuse;
or (4) turning partridges served to Carthusians on a fast day into tortoises
(Roeder). Zurbaran gave Hugh a prominent place in his paintings of the
early Carthusians in the museum of Seville (Farmer). Saint Hugh is invoked
against headache (Roeder).
St. Hugh of Grenoble (1052-1132)
Today’s saint could be a patron for those of us who feel so
overwhelmed by all the problems in the world that we don’t know where
to begin.
Hugh, who served as a bishop in France for 52 years, had his
work cut out for him from the start. Corruption seemed to loom in every
direction: the buying and selling of Church offices, violations of clerical
celibacy, lay control of Church property, religious indifference and/or
ignorance. After serving as bishop for two years, he’d had his fill.
He tried disappearing to a monastery, but the pope called him back to
continue the work of reform.
Ironically, Hugh was reasonably effective in the role of reformer—surely
because of his devotion to the Church but also because of his strong
character. In conflicts between Church and state he was an unflinching
defender of the Church. He fearlessly supported the papacy. He was eloquent
as a preacher. He restored his own cathedral, made civic improvements
in the town and weathered a brief exile.
Hugh may be best known as patron and benefactor of St. Bruno,
founder of the Carthusian Order.
Hugh died in 1132. He was canonized only two years later.
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1129
St. Cellach Last hereditary archbishop of Armagh, Ireland named St.
Malachy
Ardpatrícii, in Momónia Hibérniæ
província, sancti Celsi Epíscopi, qui beátum Malachíam
in Episcopátu præcéssit.
At Ard-Patrick in Munster,
a province of Ireland, Bishop St. Celsus, who preceded blessed Malachy
in that bishopric as his successor when he died on April
1 at Ardpatrick, in Munster. He was called Cellach Mc Aedh, a native
of Ireland, possibly a Benedictine of Glastonbury, also called Celsus.
Cellach taught at Oxford, England, until 1106, when he became the archbishop
of Armagh at the age of twenty-six, serving there with distinction.
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1194
Hugh of Bonnevaux possessed singular powers of discernment and exorcism
OSB Cistercian, Abbot (AC)
Gratianópoli, in Gállia, sancti Hugónis
Epíscopi, qui multis annis in solitúdine vitam exégit,
et miraculórum glória clarus migrávit ad Dóminum.
At Grenoble in France, Bishop
St. Hugh, who spent many years of his life in solitude, and departed
for heaven with a great reputation for miracles.
A nephew of Saint Hugh of Grenoble,
Saint Hugh of Bonnevaux became a Cistercian monk at Mezières.
In 1163, he was made abbot of Léoncel, and, in 1169, promoted
to the abbacy of Bonnevaux. Hugh possessed singular powers of discernment
and exorcism, but he is chiefly remembered as the mediator between.
1194 ST HUGH OF BONNEVAUX, ABBOT his powers of divination and
exorcism The Mother of Mercy, with a look of great kindness, addressed
him, saying, “Bear yourself like a man and let your heart be comforted
in the Lord; rest assured that you will be troubled no more by these temptations.”
IN one of his letters St Bernard of Clairvaux mentions
with great praise a novice called Hugh, who had renounced considerable
riches and entered the abbey of Mézières at a very early
age against the wishes of his relations. He was nephew to St Hugh of
Grenoble. Once, when greatly troubled by temptations and longings to return
to the world, he entered a church to pray for light and help. As he raised
his eyes to the altar, he beheld above it a figure which he recognized
to be that of our Lady, and then, beside her, appeared the form of her
divine Son. The Mother of Mercy, with a look of great kindness, addressed
him, saying, “Bear yourself like a man and let your heart be comforted in
the Lord; rest assured that you will be troubled no more by these temptations.”
Hugh afterwards gave himself up to such severe penances that his health
broke down and he seemed to be losing his memory. He owed his recovery to
the wise common-sense of St Bernard, who ordered him off to the infirmary
with instructions that he should be properly tended and allowed to speak to
anyone he liked.
Not long afterwards he was made abbot of Bonnevaux, and in
Hugh’s care the abbey became very flourishing. It was noted that the
abbot could read men’s thoughts and was quick to detect any evil spirit
which had access to the minds of his brethren. The stories that have come
down to us testify to his powers of divination and exorcism. Like so many
of the great monastic luminaries, both men and women, Hugh did not confine
his interests to his own house or even to his order. Moved by what he
felt to be divine inspiration he went to Venice in 1177, there to act
as mediator between Pope Alexander III and the Emperor Frederick
Barbarossa. To him is due the credit of negotiating between them a peace
which has become historic. St Hugh died in 1194, and his ancient cultus
was approved in 1907.
In the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. i, certain meagre details have been
collected front the chroniclers Helinandus, Vincent of Beauvais, etc. On
the other hand in vol. xi of the Cistercienser-Chronik (1899)
G. Muller has compiled an adequate account, distributed through several
numbers, drawing upon the cartularies of Bonnevaux and Léoncel,
which have been published by Canon Ulysse Chevalier. And see the unpublished
vita in Collectanea O.C.R., vol. vi (1939), pp.
214—218, edited by A. Dimier, and that writer’s St Hugues
de Bonnevaux
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XII (XIII) Century The Monk John Shauteli -- was a distinguished
Gruzinian (Georgian) poet, philosopher and rhetorician
In
his youth he received an excellent education at the Gelata academy
(Western Gruzia), where he studied the works of the holy fathers, ancient
and Arabic history, philosophy and literature. The saint later accepted
monasticism and for many years he asceticised at the famed Cave monastery
of Bardzia (in South Gruzia), in a solitary cell. Here, adding work
upon work, the Monk John led the life of a strict ascetic, constantly
devoting himself to prayerful meditations about the Trinity, the world-creation,
the destiny of man and a deep insight into the meaning of the Holy Scripture.
In his constant effort he attained to an high degree
of spiritual perfection and he received a remarkable gift of words, revealed
in his poetic creativity.
At the Bardzia monastery during
the years 1210-1214, the Monk John wrote a remarkable Ode, "Abdul-Messiya"
("Servant of Christ"), in which he intoned the image of the Christian,
faithful to the canons of the Holy Orthodox Church. In the ode the monk
calls himself very much a "wanderer" and "servant of Christ". Many a
prayerful strophe is dedicated in it to the holy Nobleborn Gruzian emperor
Saint David III the Restorer (+ 1125, Comm. 26 January) and to the holy
Nobleborn Gruzian empress Saint Tamara the Great (+ 1212, Comm. 1 May and
on the Sunday of the Myrh-Bearing Women).
Shota Rustaveli, for whom the Monk John Shauteli
was a literary predecessor, exclaimed, "For the Abdul-Messiya Shauteli
did sing resounding poetic strophe, -- he was a master in the art!"
The theological significance of the "Abdul-Messiya" is particularly evident
in those strophic verses, where the poet offers up prayers in the Name
of the Most Holy Trinity, to give thanks to the Trinity-Almighty and Divine
Providence, for having vouchsafed mankind salvation in Christ. Speaking
about the array of the world-creation by God, the Monk John writes, in
concurrence with the works of Saint Dionysios the Areopagite (+ 96, Comm.
3 October), about the Coelestial and Ecclesial Hierarchies.
In another of his works -- "The Song to the Bardzian
Mother of God" -- the Monk John Shauteli eulogised the historical Basian
Battle (1204), in which the Gruzian national military forces, proceeding
forth from the Bardzian monastery, routed a 400,000 strong Musselman army
led by sultan Rukn-ed-din. Thanks to this victory, Gruzia preserved its
independence and remained an outpost of Orthodoxy in the Middle East, and
this undoubtedly contributed to the strengthening of the oneness of the
faith of Byzantium.
The Monk John Shauteli reposed
in extreme old age. His memory from of old is venerated by the Gruzinian
Church.
14th v. St Gerontius
lived a monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery all his life at the monastery,
in ascetic deeds of abstinence, obedience, and prayer
He fulfilled the obedience of canonarch (leader
of church singing).
He spent all his life at the monastery, in ascetic
deeds of abstinence, obedience, and prayer.
St Gerontius was buried in the Far Caves.
His memory is celebrated also together with the
Synaxis of the Saints of the Far Caves, on August 28.
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Abraham_the_Bulgar
1220 Jacqueline
V Hermit recluse in Sicily reprimanded Pope Innocent III
The Roman orphan Jacqueline lived in a hut in Greece
and passed herself off as a monk. Later she continued her life as a
recluse in Sicily, where she lived in a tree. She reprimanded Pope Innocent
III (Encyclopedia).
1220 Blessed Nicholas
of Neti Cistercian monk of the community of Santa Maria dell'Arcu near
Neti, Sicily, OSB Cist. (AC) (Benedictines).
1229 The Holy Martyr Abraham the Bulgar, Vladimir
Wonderworker convert from Islam martyred for his faith lived
during the thirteenth century, was descended from the Kamska Bulgars
and brought up as a Moslem. He was good and kindly towards the destitute,
and when the Lord enlightened him with the light of reason, he accepted
Christianity.
In the city of Bolgara, on the lower stretches of
the Volga, St Abraham began to preach to his fellow countrymen about
the true God. They seized him and tried to force him to renounce Christ,
but the saint remained firm in his confession. They tortured the martyr
fiercely and for a long while, but he endured everything with unshakable
patience.
On April 1, 1229 they quartered the holy Martyr
Abraham, and then cut off his venerable head. Russian Christians living
in the city buried the saint's body in the Christian cemetery. On March
6, 1230, the relics of St Abraham were transferred by the Great Prince
St George Vsevolodovich of Vladimir (February 4) to the Dormition cathedral
of the Knyaginin (Princess) monastery. His memory began to be celebrated
from that time.
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1245 ST GILBERT, BISHOP OF
CAITHNESS “Three maxims which
I have always tried to observe I now commend to you: first, never to hurt
anyone and, if injured, never to seek revenge secondly, to bear patiently
whatever suffering God may inflict, remembering that He chastises every
son whom He receives; and finally to obey those in authority so as not
to be a stumbling-block to others.”
FOR his alleged defence of the
liberty of the Scottish church, when threatened with subordination to
England, St Gilbert was formerly held in honour by his fellow-countrymen
as a great patriot. Born in Moray, he received holy orders and became
archdeacon of Moray. Legend declared that while still a young man he was
summoned with the heads of the Scottish church to a council at Northampton
in 1176. As spokesman for the Scottish bishops he opposed with fervour and
eloquence a proposal that the northern prelates should be suffragans to the
archbishop of York. From the time that Scotland had received the Christian
faith it had been free, he maintained, and was subject to no outside authority
except that of the pope. It would be iniquitous to place it under an English
metropolitan—especially since the English and the Scots were constantly
at war, He seems to have carried his point. There was, no doubt, an ecclesiastic
named Gilbert who made such a speech, but it is barely conceivable that
he can be the man who was made bishop of Caithness in 1223.
According to the Aberdeen Breviary, St Gilbert was
high steward to several monarchs, and a legend relates that enemies maliciously
burnt the books in which he kept his accounts, hoping thereby to discredit
him, but that the books were restored intact in answer to his prayers.
After the death of Bishop Adam, who was murdered, King Alexander nominated
Gilbert bishop of Caithness, and he ruled that northern diocese wisely
and well for twenty years. He built several hospices for the poor as well
as the cathedral of Dornoch, and both by preaching and example did much
to civilize his flock.
As he lay dying, he said to those who stood by him:
“Three maxims which I have always tried to observe I now commend to
you: first, never to hurt anyone and, if injured, never to seek revenge
secondly, to bear patiently whatever suffering God may inflict, remembering
that He chastises every son whom He receives; and finally to obey those
in authority so as not to be a stumbling-block to others.”
See Forbes,
KSS., pp. 355—356, the Aberdeen Breviary (‘854), and
the DNB. (vol. xxi,p. 317), with the references there indicated.
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1367 Blessed Gerard of Sassoferrato
received the Camaldolese habit OSB Cam. (AC).
Born in 1280; died November 18, 1367. At nine years
of age, Gerard received the Camaldolese habit at the abbey of the Holy
Cross in Sassoferrato. After his ordination, he was entrusted with the
pastoral care of the parish, which he served with untiring zeal (Benedictines).
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1404
Saint Euthymius of Suzdal tonsure Nizhegorod Caves under St Dionysius:
founded Savior-Euthymius monastery strict ascetic great man of prayer
incorrupt relics 100 yrs
Born in the year 1316 at Nizhni-Novgorod. From early
childhood he was taught his letters and received a spiritual upbringing.
He received monastic tonsure at the Nizhegorod Caves monastery under
its founder, St Dionysius (later the Archbishop of Suzdal, commemorated
June 26 and October 15).
The ascetic struggles of St Euthymius were so great
that St Dionysius advised him to lessen them. In 1352 Prince Boris
of Suzdal sought to establish a men's monastery in his city, and he
requested the Nizhegorod Caves monastery to send a monk to establish
the monastery. The choice of the saintly igumen fell upon St Euthymius.
After the arrival of St Euthymius in the northern part of the city beyond
the Kamenka River, St John of Suzdal (October 15) set up a cross on the
site of the future monastery cathedral before a tremendous crowd of people.
The prince himself began to dig the ground for the foundation, and St
Euthymius made three grave stones for himself, vowing to remain in the
new monastery until the very end of his life.
So, the the Savior-Euthymius monastery was founded,
where soon more than three hundred monks gathered under the guidance
of the saint. The monastery adopted the cenobitic rule. The saint insisted
that each of the monks be prepared to fulfill whatever obedience they
were given. St Euthymius went often to the Trinity-Sergiev monastery to
St Sergius of Radonezh (September 25 and July 5). St Euthymius was a strict
ascetic and a great man of prayer. He toiled incessantly for the benefit
of all the brethren. St Euthymius died on April 1, 1404.
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1574 Catherine Tomás
strange phenomena mystical experiences both consoling /alarming, including
gift of prophecy last years of life continually in ecstasy OSA
V (RM)
(also known as Catherine Thomas or Catherine of Palma)
1574 ST CATHERINE OF PALMA, VIRGIN profound trances She also
possessed the gift of prophecy.
THE whole life of Catherine Tomàs—from the moment of
her birth in the little village of Valdemuzza until her death at Palma—was
spent in the Balearic island of Majorca. Her parents died when Catherine,
their seventh child, was seven years old, leaving her unprovided for.
Sad tales are told of the indignities to which she was subjected in the
house of her paternal uncle, to whose custody she was transferred. Young
as she was, she became a regular little drudge whom the very servants were
encouraged to overwork and to slight. Nevertheless she bore her sufferings
with unfailing sweetness and patience. When she was about fifteen years
old, visions of St Antony and of her patroness St Catherine awoke aspirations
after the religious life which she confided to a holy hermit priest, Thinking
that time was required as a test of her vocation, he replied that she would
receive a reply in due course if she would continue to commend her case
to God, as he himself would do. She meekly agreed, but she had to wait
for a long time—a delay which was the more trying because the unkindness
of her relations was increased by their fear of losing her services. Father
Antony, however, had not forgotten her, although he found it difficult
to find a convent which could afford to take a dowerless girl. As a preliminary
step, he arranged for Catherine to enter the service of a family in Palma
where no hindrances would be placed in the way of her spiritual life.
The daughter of the house taught her to read and write, but soon became
her disciple in religious matters, for Catherine had already advanced
very far on the road to perfection.
Eventually several convents offered to open their doors to
Catherine almost at the same moment, and she elected to join the canonesses
of St Augustine in their convent of St Mary Magdalen at Palma. She was
then in her twentieth year. From the moment of her admission she won
the veneration of all by her sanctity and their love by her humility
and eagerness to serve others. At first there was nothing about the convent
life of Catherine Tomàs to distinguish her from any other holy
nun, but she soon began to be subject to a number of strange phenomena
which are carefully described in the records of her life. Annually, for
thirteen or fifteen days before the feast of St Catherine of Alexandria,
she was observed to lie in a profound trance and always, after making
her communion, she would remain in an ecstasy which usually lasted for
the greater part of the day and occasionally extended to several days or
even to a fortnight. Sometimes she seemed to be in a cataleptic state,
giving no signs of life, but at other times she would move about with her
feet together and her eyes shut—sometimes holding converse as with celestial
spirits and oblivious of all around, at other times answering quite intelligently
questions that were put to her. She also possessed the gift of prophecy.
- Alternating with these occurrences were severe trials and
assaults from the powers of darkness. Not only did she suffer from evil
suggestions and alarming hallucinations or phantoms, but she was subjected
to physical violence of the most distressing nature. On such occasions
fearful shrieks and sounds were heard by the other nuns who, however,
could never see the attackers although they witnessed the results and tried
to alleviate St Catherine’s sufferings. But she tried never to allow her
experiences to interfere with the punctual discharge of her duties. The
death of St Catherine Tomàs, which she had foretold, took place when
she was forty-one. She was beatified in 1792 and canonized in 1930.Father
Antony Castagneda.
The bull of
canonization, which is printed in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis,
vol. xxii (1930), pp. 371—380, gives a summary of her life
and details of the miracles approved in the last stages of the process.
Early biographies were written by Canon Salvador Abrines, who had been
her confessor, and by Father Pedro Caldes. Both are freely quoted in
the documents of the official process, the earliest portions of which appear
to have been printed in 1669. There was a Ristretto della
Vita della Beata Caterina Tomàs
published in Rome at the time of the beatification.
Born in Valdemuzza, Majorca, Spain, in 1533; died
there in 1574; canonized in 1930; feast day formerly on April 5.
Saint Catherine was an unhappy little girl who was subjected
to indignities in the house of her paternal uncle. Eventually she passed
into the service of the canonesses of Saint Augustine in their convent
of Saint Mary Magdalen in Palma, where she spent the balance of her
life. Her sanctity did not remain hidden for long. She was subjected to
a great number of strange phenomena and mystical experiences that were
both consoling and alarming, including the gift of prophecy. Although
she tried never to allow these experiences to interfere with the discharge
of her duties, during the last years of her life she was continually in
ecstasy (Attwater2, Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
|
1849 BD LUDOVIC PAVONI,
FOUNDER OF THE SONS OF MARY IMMACULATE OF BRESCIA
THIS forerunner of St John Bosco in the education and care
of boys, especially the orphaned and neglected, was born at Brescia
in Lombardy in 1784. His parents were Alexander Pavoni and Lelia Pontecarali,
and the family was of noble descent, with a sufficiency of property to
maintain its position. Ludovic while still young showed a serious disposition;
his sister Paolina said of him that “Ludovic was always a good religious
youngster, while I was always a scamp”; and as a youth he already outlined
his vocation when, during summer holidays at Alfianello, he played with
the peasants’ children and taught them the catechism. On another occasion
he threw his shirt out of the window to a beggar shivering in the street
below. He had a taste and some capacity for the fine arts and might have
become a painter or an architect, but probably nobody was surprised when
he decided to study for the priesthood. This he did under the Dominicans
(all the Lombard seminaries were closed in consequence of the revolution),
and he was ordained priest in 1807.
Don Pavoni received no benefice, but ministered as required
in the various parishes of Brescia and especially he helped in the several
“oratories” (a combination of boys’ club, Sunday-school and church)
which had been started by the Oratorian father Manelli and others, work
for which he showed a marked ability.
In 1818, when he was only thirty-four years old, he was nominated
to a canonry in Brescia cathedral and was made rector of the parish of
St Barnabas. Adjoining the church was a former Augustinian monastery,
of which a corner served as rectory and the remainder was used as a military
store; and the new rector conceived the project of turning this building
into a “permanent oratory” or institute, that is, a full-time home wherein
boys who were destitute, abandoned or otherwise in need of care could
be looked after, taught a trade and prepared for the world in a decent
family atmosphere. Such a scheme bristled with difficulties, and Canon Pavoni
laid it at the foot of the Crucifix—and the Figure seemed to say to him,
“ Go on!”
Mgr Nava, the bishop, promised his support,* [* At a meeting
of the Brescia Academy held at the Jesuit college there in 1858, Mr
Ronchi acclaimed the holy partnership of Bishop Nays and Canon Pavoni
in a hundred hexameters.] and Pavoni began his institute in a small
part of the monastery that he called “the rat-hole”, choosing printing
as the trade that his boys should learn. The next twenty years is a tale,
on the one hand, of encouraging progress, and, on the other, of maddening
negotiations with the civil authorities with the object, firstly, of getting
the printing-press licensed, and secondly, of obtaining the use of
the whole of the monastery buildings for the growing orphanage.
In those days Lombardy was still under Austrian rule, the French
Revolution and Napoleon were more than living memories, and Joseph
II of Austria (“Our brother the sacristan”), though dead, still spoke.
Among a people agitating for independence the authorities viewed an
Italian printing-press with grave suspicion, if not alarm; as for the
buildings, the Austrian governor, though an admirer of Canon Pavoni,
was a good Josephinist and would not easily release to the Church a property
of which the state had deprived her. And then there were the ordinary
bureaucratic conditions—in quintuplicate. { The institute had to put
up with all sorts of vexations. At the carnival of 1828, a circus was
allowed to camp itself in the courtyard of the monastery. Fancy trying
to keep boys in order with that going on under their windows.}
The press was licensed in 1823 (it had already been working,
whether or no), but it was not till 1841 that the city council of Brescia
granted the rest of the building required. This gave room for a school
of the “three R’s “ a school of design, and a school of music, which,
with previous building and other work, Canon Pavoni was able to set up
through the generosity of benefactors, of whom his own sister, Paolina
Trivellini, and Bishop Nava were among the foremost, though the institute
was not always free from money troubles.
In 1832 the work of the printing-press attracted favourable
notice at the Brescia Exhibition, and in the following year Pope Gregory
XVI commended the institute as Cosa buona, “A good thing”; but in
1836 a great strain was put on its resources when there was a cholera epidemic
in Brescia and hundreds of children lost their homes. Among those who
distinguished themselves as nurses at this time was Paola di Rosa, foundress
of the Handmaids’ of Charity (December 15), and it was she who inspired
Mgr Pinzoni to organize a school for deaf-and-dumb boys. Canon Pavoni
was asked to take over the responsibility for this undertaking, which
he did. He also took over the Mercy Orphanage at the request of the civil
governor, and it was this generous action that at last shamed the city
council into conveying the St Barnabas building to him, freehold and as
a gift.
Ludovic Pavoni was a man of middle-height, well and strongly
built, with rather silky hair; his features strongly marked and expressive,
with a mouth that had a smile playing about it. By nature he was hot
and impulsive, and his words came easily and decisively; but he had schooled
himself to patience and calmness, and so gave an impression of restrained
energy. He was what would be called today a man of good general culture,
versatile but well-balanced, neither superficial nor deeply learned.
His ideal of education was a broad one, to dispose a person in his wholeness
to be really good; and it is significant that, fifty years before “Rerum
Novarum”, he grasped the religious significance of social justice and
set an example by his own dealings with his employees. Some of his boys
were literally the scourings of the streets, and these had to be made good
men, good workmen, good citizens, good Christians. Like St John Bosco after
him, Canon Pavoni’s methods were encouraging and preventive rather than
repressive; he preferred gentleness to severity. “Rigorism “ he said, “keeps
Heaven empty.” For all that, his means of discipline and vigilance might
seem excessive to some; but who will dare say they were unnecessary with
such tough material as some of it was? He aimed at a family and not an
institution (those were the days of Oliver Twist in England), and one has
only to read of some of his actual dealings with his pupils to detect a
holy man at work and to see him “loving the children with all his heart,
and being loved by them”. He was relentless in expelling really vicious
characters, lest their fellows be corrupted—but they were not left to
sink or swim: he continued to watch over them outside the institute.
If one feels that Rodriguez’s Treatise on Perfection is a rather
unhappy choice of spiritual reading for youths, comfort may be found
elsewhere in the fact that the cook and kitchen staff were considered
of such importance that they were under the immediate control of the
director, and that good food, punctuality and good manners to the boys
were their first duties; nor was a “discreet measure of wine” regarded
as superfluous. Not only that, but Canon Pavoai encouraged play-acting
among his charges’ recreations. This was looking for trouble from the Menpensants
of mid_nineteenth-century Italy, and it required the presence of the bishop,
the seminarists and the pupils of the Jesuit college at the first performance
to confound—but not to silence—the critics.
It had been for a long time in Ludovic Pavoni’s mind that he
ought to establish a religious society of some kind to carry on the
work which he had begun, and he gradually elaborated a rule and constitutions
for a congregation of priests and of laybrothers who should work at
theft own trades. After long prayer and deep consideration he opened
his mind to Mgr Nava and to Cardinal Angelo Mai; both of them encouraged
the project, and he decided to go ahead in the face of the adverse criticism
of other, less wise, people, some of whom thought that, while it was
all right for religious to teach boys the sciences and letters, it was
not all right for religious to teach boys the fine and useful arts. Was
it not St Teresa who asked to be protected from pious fools:
Premises for a novitiate were acquired at Saiano, a few miles
from Brescia. Canon Pavoni restored the old buildings, established a
farm colony, and transferred his deaf-mutes to Saiano, and in 1844 the
Holy See gave permission for novices to be received. But such things could
not be done in Austrian dominions without a further permission—that of the
civil power; and so it was not till another three
years had passed that the Congregation of Sons of Mary Immaculate
was formally founded. On December 8, 1847, Ludovic Pavoni, already named
superior general, made his religious profession. On the previous day
he had resigned his canonry, and conveyed the title to his house in
Brescia and all his other private property, together with the buildings
at St Barnabas’s and Saiano, to the new congregation as a body; and with
his canonical cross he no doubt put off also the decoration of a knight
of the Iron Crown, which his Imperial Majesty Ferdinand I had conferred
on him in 1844. On which occasion Don Pavoni had remarked privately, “Why
didn’t the emperor send me a sack of flour to make polenta for my boys instead
of this?”
These happy events were not long over when Lombardy was convulsed
by a revolt against Austrian domination. For a year the situation became
daily more threatening; in January 1849 the government imposed a heavy
fine on the city of Brescia; feeling ran so high on both sides that Bd
Ludovic thought it prudent to close his beloved printing works: and on
March 26 the storm broke. The people rose, and the “Ten Days of Brescia”
began. On the following day Bd Ludovic gathered all his charges together,
and in a storm of wind and rain they set out for Saiano. At Torricelle,
where Paolina Trivellini lived, she wanted to get a carriage for her ageing
brother he refused it, “No, I can go on, on foot like my youngsters”. At
length, wet through and worn out, the sad procession reached its destination,
and Father Pavoni went up the hill to look out over burning Brescia, in the
midst of which was the institute that had been his life’s work for thirty
years. At that moment he felt the first spasm of that weakening of his heart
that in a few days was to end his course.
The rector of St Mary’s, Father Amus, sent him to bed, and
Bd Ludovic obediently went (it was the first time he had enjoyed the
refinement of linen sheets since he was a young man). Daily he weakened,
and a week later, surrounded by his weeping brethren and boys, Bd Ludovic
Pavoni died, in his sixty-sixth year. It was April 1, 1849, Palm Sunday;
on the previous day and night the dying man had heard the roar of guns
bombarding Brescia echoing in the hills around.
The body was buried at Saiano, but afterwards translated to
Brescia, where it now rests in the Immacolata church, and his cause was
introduced at Rome in 1919. Twenty-eight years later, in 1947, Ludovic
Pavoni was solemnly beatified.
There seems
to be nothing about Bd Ludovic Pavoni except in Italian. A full “life”
Un Apostolo della Gioventu Derelitta, by Canon Luigi
Traverso, was published at Monza in 1928 this is summarized in a booklet
by Giovanni della Cioppa, Lodovico Pavoni (1946), and
a few misstatements of fact are corrected. A selection of the beato’s letters (Lettere del Servo
di Dio P. Lodovico Pavoni (1945) should be read by all attracted
by this sympathetic character, of whom little is known outside his own
country.
|
1913 Saint Barsanuphius
of Optina (Paul I. Plikhanov) a colonel, to be a general, but became
a priest gifts of clairvoyance healing read souls
Born in the city of Samara on July 5,1845, the son
of John and Natalia Plikhanov. His mother died in childbirth, and his
father later remarried so that his son would have a mother. Although
his stepmother was very strict, she was a real mother to him, and he loved
her very much.
As a descendant of the Orenburg Cossacks, Paul was
enrolled in the Polotsk Cadet Corps. He completed his studies at the
Orenburg Military School and received an officer's commission. He later
graduated from the Petersburg Cossack Staff Officers' School, and also
served at the headquarters of the Kazan military district and eventually
rose to the rank of colonel.
Once, as he was sick with pneumonia, Paul sensed
that he was about to die. He asked his orderly to read the Gospel to him,
and passed out. Then he had a vision in which the heavens seemed to open,
and he was afraid because of the great light. His whole sinful life passed
before him, and he was overcome with repentance. A voice told him he should
go to Optina Monastery, but the doctors did not think he would recover.
His health did improve, however, and the colonel visited Optina. In August
1889 the Elder of the Monastery was St Ambrose (October 10), who told
Paul to set his worldly affairs in order. Two years later, St Ambrose
blessed him to cut all ties to the world and told him to enter Optina
within three months.
It was not easy for the colonel to resign his commission
within the specified three month period, because obstacles were placed
in his way. In fact, he was offered a promotion to the rank of general,
and was asked to delay his retirement. Some people even tried to arrange
a marriage for him, laughing at his intention to go to the monastery.
Only his stepmother was happy that he wished to become a monk. On the
very last day of the three months he concluded his affairs and arrived
at Optina. However, St Ambrose was already laid out in his coffin in
the church.
St Anatole I (January 25) succeeded Fr Ambrose as
Elder, and he assigned Paul to Hieromonk Nectarius (April 29) as his
cell attendant. He was accepted as a novice in 1892, and tonsured as
a rassophore in 1893. Over the next ten years he advanced through the
various stages of monastic life, including ordination as deacon (1902),
and as priest (1903). The monk Paul was secretly tonsured into the mantiya
in December of 1900 because of a serious illness. When they asked him
what name he wished to receive, he said it did not matter. They named
him in honor of St Barsanuphius of Tver and Kazan (April 11). Although
he recovered, they did not give him the mantiya until December of 1902
after the Liturgy when it was revealed that he had been tonsured on his
sickbed.
On September 1, 1903 Fr Barsanuphius
was appointed to assist Elder Joseph, the skete Superior, in the spiritual
direction of the skete brethren and the sisters of the Shamordino convent.
At the beginning of the Russo-Japanese war in 1904, Fr Barsanuphius
was sent to the Far East as a military chaplain, where he ministered to
wounded soldiers. The war ended in August 1905, and St Barsanuphius returned
to Optina on November 1, 1905.
Since Elder Joseph had become too old and frail
to administer the skete's affairs, Fr Barsanuphius was appointed as
Superior of the skete in his place. Fr Barsanuphius soon reestablished
order and discipline, paid off debts, repaired buildings, etc. As Superior,
he combined strictness with paternal concern and tenderness for those
under him.
St Barsanuphius, like the other Elders of Optina,
possessed the gifts of clairvoyance and of healing people afflicted
with physical and spiritual ailments. One of his spiritual sons, Fr Innocent
Pavlov, recalled his first Confession with the Elder. He became fearful
because Fr Barsanuphius seemed to know his innermost thoughts, reminding
him of people and events which he had forgotten. The saint spoke gently
and told him that it was God who had revealed to him these things about
Fr Innocent.
"During my lifetime, do not tell anyone about
what you are experiencing now," he said, "but you may speak of it after
my death."
St Barsanuphius loved spiritual
books, especially the Lives of the Saints. He often told people that
those who read these Lives with faith benefit greatly from doing so.
The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives
of the Saints, he said. 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. Although the Lives of the Saints were widely available,
it saddened the Elder that more people did not read them.
St Barsanuphius commemorated many saints each day
during his Rule of prayer, and this was not accidental. Each saint,
he once explained, had some particular importance in his life. If,
for example, some significant event took place, he would look to see
which saints were commemorated on that day, then he would begin to commemorate
them each day. Later he noticed that on their Feast Day, they would often
deliver him from some danger or trouble. On December 17, 1891, the commemoration
of the Prophet Daniel and the three holy youths, he left Kazan and never
returned. That was the day he decided to leave the world, and St Barsanuphius
felt that God had delivered him from a furnace of passions. Just as the
three youths were delivered from the fiery furnace because they would not
bow down before idols, the Elder always believed that he left the world
unharmed because he refused to bow down before the idols of lust, pride,
gluttony, etc.
By 1908, St Barsanuphius seemed to fall ill more
frequently, and began to speak of his approaching death. In April of
that year, someone sent him a package containing the Great Schema. Fr
Barsanuphius had long desired to be tonsured into the Great Schema before
his death, but he had told no one of this except for the archimandrite.
Therefore, he regarded this as a sign that he would soon die.
One night in July 1910, the Elder became so ill
that he had to leave church during Vigil and return to his cell. The
next morning, July 11, he was so weak that he could not sit up by himself.
That evening he was tonsured into the Great Schema.
Fr Barsanuphius began to recover,
but there were new problems in the monastery. New monks came in from
spiritually lax environments. They did not understand the ascetical nature
of monasticism or the whole notion of eldership, and so they began to
clamor for reform and change. They wanted to assume positions of authority,
and to close the skete. Because of their complaints, Fr Barsanuphius was
removed from Optina and assigned as igumen of the Golutvinsky Monastery.
When he arrived to take up his duties, Fr Barsanuphius found the monastery
in a state of physical and spiritual decline. Nevertheless, he did not
lose heart, and soon the monastery began to revive. More people began to
visit, once they heard that an Optina Elder had come to Goluvinsky, and
the monastery's financial position also began to improve. However, the rebellious
brethren caused him great sorrow, and he had to expell some of them
At the beginning of 1913, St Barsanuphius became
ill again and asked Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow for permission to
retire to Optina, but that was not to be. He fell asleep in the Lord
on April 1, and his body remained in the church of Golotvino until April
6 (which was also Lazarus Saturday). After the funeral, his body was placed
on a train and sent to Optina for burial. The train arrived at Kozelsk Station
on April 8, and the coffin was carried to Optina by clergy.
The Moscow Patriarchate authorized local veneration
of the Optina Elders on June 13,1996. The work of uncovering the relics
of Sts Leonid, Macarius, Hilarion, Ambrose, Anatole I, Barsanuphius and
Anatole II began on June 24/July 7, 1998 and was concluded the next day.
However, because of the church Feasts (Nativity of St John the Baptist,
etc.) associated with the actual dates of the uncovering of the relics,
Patriarch Alexey II designated June 27/July 10 as the date for commemorating
this event. The relics of the holy Elders now rest in the new church of
the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
The Optina Elders were glorified
by the Moscow Patriarchate for universal veneration on August 7, 2000.
|
Et álibi
aliórum plurimórum
sanctórum
Mártyrum
et
Confessórum,
atque sanctárum
Vírginum.
2023 
Pope
Francis PRAYER
INTENTIONS
FOR APRIL 2023
550 B.C.
The Departure
of the Great Prophet Daniel. Daniel"s_tomb_Susa_Iran
> 
"After finishing
my bread, I lived on herbs and the things one finds in the desert.
The clothes I had when I crossed over the Jordan became torn and fell
apart. 
St Mary
of Egypt St Zosimas monk at a certain Palestinian
monastery on the outskirts of Caesarea
1404 Saint
Euthymius of Suzdal tonsure Nizhegorod Caves under St Dionysius:
founded Savior-Euthymius monastery strict ascetic great man of prayer
incorrupt relics 100 yrs
Christian
council
held
at
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.