THURSDAY:
The Last Supper
The liturgy
of Holy Thursday includes: a) Matins, b) Vespers and, following Vespers,
the Liturgy of St Basil the Great. In the Cathedral Churches the
special service of the Washing of Feet takes place after the Liturgy;
while the deacon reads the Gospel, the Bishop washes the feet of twelve
priests, reminding us that Christ's love is the foundation of life
in the Church and shapes all relations within it. It is also on Holy
Thursday that Holy Chrism is consecrated by the primates of autocephalous
Churches, and this also means that the new love of Christ is the gift
we receive from the Holy Spirit on the day of our entrance into the Church.
Two events shape the liturgy
of Great and Holy Thursday: the Last Supper of Christ with His disciples,
and the betrayal of Judas. The meaning of both is in love. The Last
Supper is the ultimate revelation of God's redeeming love for man,
of love as the very essence of salvation. And the betrayal of Judas
reveals that sin, death and self-destruction are also due to love, but
to deviated and distorted love, love directed at that which does not
deserve love. Here is the mystery of this unique day, and its liturgy,
where light and darkness, joy and sorrow are so strangely mixed, challenges
us with the choice on which depends the eternal destiny of each one
of us. "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His
hour was come... having loved His own which were in the world, He loved
them unto the end..." (John 13:1). To understand the meaning of the Last
Supper we must see it as the very end of the great movement of Divine
Love which began with the creation of the world and is now to be consummated
in the death and resurrection of Christ.
God is Love (1 John 4:8). And the first gift
of Love was life. The meaning, the content of life was communion.
To be alive man was to eat and to drink, to partake of the world. The
world was thus Divine love made food, made Body of man. And being alive,
i.e. partaking of the world, man was to be in communion with God, to
have God as the meaning, the content and the end of his life. Communion
with the God-given world was indeed communion with God. Man received
his food from God and making it his body and his life, he offered the
whole world to God, transformed it into life in God and with God. The
love of God gave life to man, the love of man for God transformed this
life into communion with God. This was paradise. Life in it was, indeed,
eucharistic. Through man and his love for God the whole creation was to
be sanctified and transformed into one all-embracing sacrament of Divine
Presence and man was the priest of this sacrament.
But in sin man lost this eucharistic
life. He lost it because he ceased to see the world as a means of
Communion with God and his life as eucharist, as adoration and thanksgiving.
. . He love himself and the world for their own sake; he made himself
the content and the end of his life. He thought that his hunger and
thirst, i.e. his dependence of his life on the world - can be satisfied
by the world as such, by food as such. But world and food, once they are
deprived of their initial sacramental meaning - as means of communion
with God, once they are not received for God's sake and filled with hunger
and thirst for God, once, in other words, God is no longer, their real "content"
can give no life, satisfy no hunger, for they have no life in themselves...
And thus by putting his love in them, man deviated his love from the only
object of all love, of all hunger, of all desires. And he died. For death
is the inescapable "decomposition" of life cut from its only source and
content. Man thought to find life in the world and in food, but he found
death. His life became communion with death, for instead of transforming
the world by faith, love, and adoration into communion with God, he submitted
himself entirely to the world, he ceased to be its priest and became its
slave. And by his sin the whole world was made a cemetery, where people
condemned to death partook of death and "sat in the region and shadow of
death" (Matt. 4:16).
But if man betrayed, God remained
faithful to man. He did not "turn Himself away forever from His creature
whom He had made, neither did He forget the works of His hands, but
He visited him in diverse manners, through the tender compassion of
His mercy" (Liturgy of St Basil). A new Divine work began, that of redemption
and salvation. And it was fulfilled in Christ, the Son of God Who in
order to restore man to his pristine beauty and to restore life as communion
with God, became Man, took upon Himself our nature, with its thirst and
hunger, with its desire for and love of, life. And in Him life was revealed,
given, accepted and fulfilled as total and perfect Eucharist, as total
and perfect communion with God. He rejected the basic human temptation:
to live "by bread alone," He revealed that God and His kingdom are the real
food, the real life of man. And this perfect eucharistic Life, filled with
God, and, therefore Divine and immortal, He gave to all those who would
believe in Him, i,e. find in Him the meaning and the content of their lives.
Such is the wonderful meaning of the Last Supper. He offered Himself as
the true food of man, because the Life revealed in Him is the true Life.
And thus the movement of Divine Love which began in paradise with a Divine
"take, eat. .." (for eating is life for man) comes now "unto the end" with
the Divine "take, eat, this is My Body..." (for God is life of man). The
Last Supper is the restoration of the paradise of bliss, of life as Eucharist
and Communion.
But this hour of ultimate love is also that of
the ultimate betrayal. Judas leaves the light of the Upper Room and
goes into darkness. "And it was night" (John 13:30). Why does he leave?
Because he loves, answers the Gospel, and his fateful love is stressed
again and again in the hymns of Holy Thursday. It does not matter indeed,
that he loves the "silver." Money stands here for all the deviated and
distorted love which leads man into betraying God. It is, indeed, love
stolen from God and Judas, therefore, is the Thief. When he does not
love God and in God, man still loves and desires, for he was created
to love and love is his nature, but it is then a dark and self-destroying
passion and death is at its end. And each year, as we immerse ourselves
into the unfathomable light and depth of Holy Thursday, the same decisive
question is addressed to each one of us: do I respond to Christ's love
and accept it as my life, do I follow Judas into the darkness of his
night?
The liturgy of Holy Thursday includes: a) Matins,
b) Vespers and, following Vespers, the Liturgy of St Basil the Great.
In the Cathedral Churches the special service of the Washing of Feet
takes place after the Liturgy; while the deacon reads the Gospel, the
Bishop washes the feet of twelve priests, reminding us that Christ's love
is the foundation of life in the Church and shapes all relations within
it. It is also on Holy Thursday that Holy Chrism is consecrated by the
primates of autocephalous Churches, and this also means that the new
love of Christ is the gift we receive from the Holy Spirit on the day
of our entrance into the Church.
At Matins the Troparion sets the theme of the
day: the opposition between the love of Christ and the "insatiable
desire" of Judas.
"When the glorious disciples
were illumined by washing at the Supper, Then was the impious Judas
darkened with the love of silver And to the unjust judges does he
betray Thee, the just Judge. Consider, 0 Lover of money, him who hanged
himself because of it. Do not follow the insatiable desire which dared
this against the Master, 0 Lord, good to all, glory to Thee."
After the Gospel reading (Luke 12:1-40) we are
given the contemplation, the mystical and eternal meaning of the
Last Supper in the beautiful canon of St Cosmas. Its last "irmos,"
(Ninth Ode) invites us to share in the hospitality of the Lord's banquet:
"Come, 0 ye faithful Let us enjoy the hospitality
of the Lord and the banquet of immortality In the upper chamber with
minds uplifted...."
At Vespers, the stichira on "Lord, I have cried"
stress the spiritual anticlimax of Holy Thursday, the betrayal of
Judas:
"Judas the slave and Knave,
The disciple and traitor, The friend and fiend, Was proved by his deeds,
For, as he followed the Master, Within himself he contemplated His betrayal...."
After the Entrance, three lessons from the Old
Testament:
1) Exodus 19: 10-19. God's descent
from Mount Sinai to His people as the image of God's coming in the
Eucharist. 2) Job 38:1-23, 42:1-5, God's conversation with Job and
Job's answer: "who will utter to me what I understand not? Things too
great and wonderful for me, which I knew not..." - and these "great
and wonderful things" are fulfilled in the gift of Christ's Body and
Blood. 3) Isaiah 50:4-11. The beginning of the prophecies on the suffering
servant of God,
The Epistle reading is from I Corinthians 11:23-32:
St Paul's account of the Last Supper and the meaning of communion.
The Gospel reading (the longest of the year is
taken from all four Gospels and is the full story of the Last Supper,
the betrayal of Judas and Christ's arrest in the garden.
The Cherubic hymn and the hymn of Communion are
replaced by the words of the prayer before Communion:
"Of Thy Mystical Supper, 0 Son of God, accept
me today as a communicant, For I will not speak of Thy Mystery to Thine
enemies, Neither like Judas will I give Thee a kiss; But like the
thief will I confess Thee: Remember me, 0 Lord, in Thy Kingdom."
by The Very Rev. Alexander Schmemann, S.T.D.
Professor of Liturgical Theology, St Vladimir's Seminary
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Holy Week: A Liturgical
Explanation for the Days of Holy Week
3. MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY: THE END These
three days, which the Church calls Great and Holy have within the
liturgical development of the Holy Week a very definite purpose.
They place all its celebrations in the perspective of End ; they remind
us of the eschatological meaning of Pascha. So often Holy Week is considered
one of the "beautiful traditions" or "customs," a self-evident "part"
of our calendar. We take it for granted and enjoy it as a cherished
annual event which we have "observed" since childhood, we admire the
beauty of its services, the pageantry of its rites and, last but not least,
we like the fuss about the paschal table. And then, when all this is done
we resume our normal life. But do we understand that when the world rejected
its Savior, when "Jesus began to be sorrowful and very heavy... and his
soul was exceedingly sorrowful even unto death," when He died on the Cross,
"normal life" came to its end and is no longer possible. For there were
"normal" men who shouted "Crucify Him [" who spat at Him and nailed Him
to the Cross. And they hated and killed Him precisely because He was troubling
their normal life. It was indeed a perfectly "normal" world which preferred
darkness and death to light and life.... By the death of Jesus the "normal"
world, and "normal" life were irrevocably condemned. Or rather they revealed
their true and abnormal inability to receive the Light, the terrible power
of evil in them. "Now is the Judgment of this world" (John 12:31). The
Pascha of Jesus signified its end to "this world" and it has been at its
end since then. This end can last for hundreds of centuries this does not
alter the nature of time in which we live as the "last time." "The fashion
of this world passeth away..." (I Cor. 7:31).
Pascha means passover, passage. The feast of
Passover was for the Jews the annual commemoration of their whole
history as salvation, and of salvation as passage from the slavery
of Egypt into freedom, from exile into the promised land. It was also
the anticipation of the ultimate passage - into the Kingdom of God.
And Christ was the fulfillment of Pascha. He performed the ultimate
passage: from death into life, from this "old world" into the new world
into the new time of the Kingdom. And he opened the possibility of this
passage to us. Living in "this world" we can already be "not of this world,"
i.e. be free from slavery to death and sin, partakers of the "world to
come." But for this we must also perform our own passage, we must condemn
the old Adam in us, we must put on Christ in the baptismal death and have
our true life hidden in God with Christ, in the "world to come...."
And thus Easter is not an annual commemoration,
solemn and beautiful, of a past event. It is this Event itself shown,
given to us, as always efficient, always revealing our world, our time,
our life as being at their end, and announcing the Beginning of the new
life.... And the function of the three first days of Holy Week is precisely
to challenge us with this ultimate meaning of Pascha and to prepare
us to the understanding and acceptance of it.
1. This eschatological (which
means ultimate, decisive, final) challenge is revealed, first, in
the common troparion of these days:
Troparion - Tone 8
Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight, And
blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching, And again unworthy
is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my
soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, Lest you be given up to death
and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse yourself crying: Holy,
Holy, Holy, are You, O our God! Through the Theotokos have mercy on us!
Midnight is the moment when the old day comes
to its end and a new day begins. It is thus the symbol of the time in
which we live as Christians. For, on the one hand, the Church is still
in this world, sharing in its weaknesses and tragedies. Yet, on the other
hand, her true being is not of this world, for she is the Bride of Christ
and her mission is to announce and to reveal the coming of the Kingdom
and of the new day. Her life is a perpetual watching and expectation,
a vigil pointed at the dawn of this new day. But we know how strong
is still our attachment to the "old day," to the world with its passions
and sins. We know how deeply we still belong to "this world." We have
seen the light, 'We know Christ, we have heard about the peace and joy
of the new life in Him, and yet the world holds us in its slavery. This
weakness, this constant betrayal of Christ, this incapacity to give the
totality of our love to the only true object of love are wonderfully expressed
in the exapostilarion of these three days:
"Thy Bridal Chamber I see adorned, O my Savior
And I have no wedding garment that I may enter, O Giver of life,
enlighten the vesture of my soul And save me."
2. The same theme develops further in the Gospel
readings of these days. First of all, the entire text of the four
Gospels (up to John 13: 31) is read at the Hours (1, 3, 6 and 9th).
This recapitulation shows that the Cross is the climax of the whole
life and ministry of Jesus, the Key to their proper understanding. Everything
in the Gospel leads to this ultimate hour of Jesus and everything is
to be understood in its light. Then, each service has its special Gospel
lesson
On Tuesday: At Matins: Matthew 22: 15-23, 39.
Condemnation of Pharisees, i.e. of the blind and hypocritical religion,
of those who think they are the leaders of man and the light of the world,
but who in fact "shut up the Kingdom of heaven to men."
At the Presanctified Liturgy: Matthew 24: 36-26,
2. The End again and the parables of the End: the ten wise virgins
who had enough oil in their lamps and the ten foolish ones who were
not admitted to the bridal banquet; the parable of ten talents ". .
. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the
Son of Man cometh." And, finally the Last Judgment.
3.These Gospel lessons are explained and elaborated
in the hymnology of these days: the stichiras and the triodia (short
canons of three odes each sung at Matins). One warning, one exhortation
runs through all of them: the end and the judgment are approaching, let
us prepare for them: '"
"Behold, O my soul, the Master
has conferred on thee a talent Receive the gift with fear; Lend to
him who gave; distribute to the poor And acquire for thyself thy Lord
as thy Friend; That when He shall come in glory, Thou mayest stand on
His right hand And hear His blessed voice: Enter, my servant, into the
joy of thy Lord." (Tuesday Matins)
4. Throughout the whole Lent the two books of
the Old Testament read at Vespers were Genesis and Proverbs. With the
beginning of Holy Week they are replaced by Exodus and Job. Exodus
is the story of Israel's liberation from Egyptian slavery, of their
Passover. It prepares us for the understanding of Christ's exodus to
His Father, of His fulfillment of the whole history of salvation. Job,
the Sufferer, is the Old Testament icon of Christ. This reading announces
the great mystery of Christ's sufferings, obedience and sacrifice.
5. The liturgical structure of these three days
is still of the Lenten type. It includes, therefore, the prayer of St
Ephrem the Syrian with prostrations, the augmented reading of the Psalter,
the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts and the Lenten liturgical chant.
We are still in the time of repentance for repentance alone makes us partakers
of the Pascha of Our Lord, opens to us the doors of the Paschal banquet.
And then, on Great and Holy Wednesday, as the last Liturgy of the Presanctified
Gifts is about to be completed, after the Holy Gifts have been removed
from the altar, the priest reads for the last time the Prayer of St Ephrem.
At this moment, the preparation comes to an end. The Lord summons us now
to His Last Supper.
by THE VERY REV. ALEXANDER
SCHMEMANN
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Icon
of the Most Holy Mother of God, "Unfading Blossom"
("Neuvyadaemii Tsvet"):
On this icon the MostHoly Mother of God holds
Her Divine Son upon Her right arm, and in Her left hand -- is a bouquet
of white lilies.
This bouquet symbolically signifies the unfading
flower of virginity and immaculateness of the All-Pure Virgin, to
Whom thus also Holy Church turns: "Thou art the Root of virginity and
the Unfading Blossom of purity".
Copies of this icon were glorified at Moscow,
Voronezh and other locales of the Russian Church.
1st v Pancras of Taormina Antiochene by birth
Saint Peter consecrated bishop sent to Sicily BM (RM)
Tauroménii, in Sicília, sancti Pancrátii
Epíscopi, qui Christi Evangélium, quod a sancto Petro
Apóstolo illuc missus prædicáverat, martyrii sánguine
consignávit.
At Taormina in Sicily, Bishop St. Pancras, who sealed
with a martyr's blood the Gospel of Christ that the apostle St. Peter
had sent him there to preach.
(also known as Pancratius) 1st century; also
July 8. Saint Pancras is the subject of a bizarre Greek legend. According
to the story, he was an Antiochene by birth, whom Saint Peter consecrated
bishop and sent to Taormina (Tauromenium) in Sicily, where he was stoned
to death by brigands after a career of preaching and miracle-working.
Saint Pancras was immensely popular in Sicily, and his cultus spread
early to England and Georgia (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Farmer).
90 ST PANCRAS, Bishop OF TAORMINA, MARTYR
WE have no trustworthy records of the life and death of
this St Pancras (Pancratius) who, though less well known than his Roman
namesake, is greatly honoured in Sicily.
According to his legendary history he was a native of Antioch
and was converted and baptized together with his parents by St Peter,
who sent him to evangelize Sicily, consecrating him the first bishop
of Taormina. There he preached, destroyed the idols, and, by his eloquence
and miracles, converted Boniface, the city prefect, who helped him
to build a church. After he had baptized a great number, he was stoned
to death by brigands who came down from the mountains and captured him
by guile.
A panegyric
purporting to give biographical details is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. i; but while this information
is quite unreliable, there seems to have been an early cultus. This St Pancratius is twice mentioned in
the “Hieronymianum”, and even as far off as Georgia we find mention
of him as a disciple of St Peter. His proper day seems to have been July
8; see the stone calendar of Nap and the Acta Sanctorum,
November, vol. ii, part a, p. 359. The Greek text of the panegyric
by Theophanes is in Migne, PG., vol. 132, cc. 989 seq.
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127 Sixtus I, Pope survived as pope for about 10 years before
being killed by the Roman authorities M (RM)
Romæ natális beáti Xysti Primi,
Papæ et Mártyris; qui, tempóribus Hadriáni
Imperatóris, summa cum laude rexit Ecclésiam, ac demum,
sub Antoníno Pio, ut sibi Christum lucrifáceret, libénter
mortem sustínuit temporálem.
At Rome, the birthday of
blessed Pope Sixtus the First, martyr, who ruled the Church with distinction
during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, and finally in the reign of Antoninus
Pius he gladly accepted temporal death in order to gain Christ for himself.
(also known as Xystus)
127 ST
SIXTUS, or XYSTUS I, Pope AND martyr
ST XYSTUS I succeeded
Pope St Alexander I about the end of the reign of Trajan, and
governed the Church for some ten years at a period when the papal dignity
was the common prelude to martyrdom. In all the old martyrologies he
is honoured as a martyr, but we have no particulars about his life or
death. He was by birth a Roman, his father’s house in the ancient Via
Lata having occupied, it is supposed, the site now covered by the church
of St Mary-in-Broad-Street. The Liber Pontificalis
credits him with having laid down as ordinances that none but
the clergy should touch the sacred vessels, and that the people should
join in when the priest had intoned the Sanctus at Mass.
The Sixtus mentioned in the canon of the Mass was probably not this pope
but St Sixtus II, whose martyrdom was more widely famous.
See the Liber, Pontificalis (ed. Duchesne), vol. i, pp. 56 and 128,
and the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. ii, pars posterior,
pp. 173 and 177.
Born at Rome; After the death of Pope Alexander
I, when the emperor Trajan ruled the Roman Empire, it was virtually
certain that anyone who succeeded the pope would suffer martyrdom, for
this was an age when Christians were savagely persecuted. Sixtus I took
the office c. 117 knowing this, and survived as pope for about 10 years
before being killed by the Roman authorities.
As well as displaying great bravery, Sixtus I must have
been much concerned with the liturgy of the church as the Liber Pontificalis
details three ordinances. It anachronistically says that at the Eucharist
when the priests came to the words 'Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power
and might; heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest,'
Sixtus decreed that all the people in the church should join in as well.
(Unfortunately, this cannot be true because the Sanctus was not added
to the liturgy until a much later date: it was not included in the
Mass of Hippolytus. Therefore, it is unclear how accurate the balance
of the entry is.) It relates that he issued a decree that only the clergy
should touch the sacred vessels and that bishops called to Rome should
not be received back by their diocese unless they present Apostolic papers.
The Roman Martyrology says that Sixtus I was killed by the
pagan Romans in the year 127 under Antonius the Pious, but there are
no acta (Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
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Tauroménii,
in Sicília, sancti Pancrátii Epíscopi, qui Christi
Evangélium, quod a sancto Petro Apóstolo illuc missus
prædicáverat, martyrii sánguine consignávit.
At Taormina in Sicily, Bishop St. Pancras, who sealed with a martyr's
blood the Gospel of Christ that the apostle St. Peter had sent him
there to preach.
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304 St. Vulpian Syrian
Martyr firmly confessed Jesus as Lord before the judge Urbanus
Tyri, in Phœnícia, sancti Vulpiáni Mártyris,
qui, in persecutióne Maximiáni Galérii, cum áspide
et cane insútus cúleo, in mare demérsus fuit.
At Tyre, the martyr St. Vulpian,
who was sewn up in a sack with a serpent and a dog and drowned in
the sea, during the persecution of Maximian Galerius.
ST. ULPIAN, MARTYR FROM LIVES OF SAINTES BY Alban Butler
HE was a young zealous Christian of Tyre, who, being encouraged by the
example of St. Apian and other martyrs at Caesarea, boldly confessed Christ
before the cruel judge Urbanus. The enraged governor ordered him to
be first severely scourged, and then tortured on the rack his joints being
thereby dislocated, his bones broke, and his body so universally sore that
the slightest touch occasioned excessive pain. He was sewed up after this
in a leather bag with a dog and an aspic, laid on a cart drawn by black bulls,
carried to the sea-side, and cast into the waves. See Eusebius
on the Martyrs of Palestine, ch. 5.
he was executed at Tyre, Lebanon, during the persecutions
of Emperor Diocletian (n 284-305). Custom declares that he was sewn
into a leather sack with a snake and a dog and hurled into the sea.
Vulpian of Tyre M (RM) (also known as Ulpian) Saint Vulpian
was a Syrian who was martyred in Tyre, Phoenicia. Because he firmly
confessed Jesus as Lord before the judge Urbanus, his joints were
dislocated on the rack. Thereafter, he was sewn into a leather sack
with a dog and a wasp (or serpent), and drowned in the sea, according
to Eusebius (De Mart. Palest., ch. 5) (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
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307 Theodosia
of Tyre suffered in the year 307 The Holy Martyr
Once, during a persecution against Christians,
which had already lasted for five years, the seventeen-year-old St
Theodosia visited condemned Christian prisoners in the Praetorium
in Caesarea, Palestine. It was the day of Holy Pascha, and the martyrs
spoke about the Kingdom of God. St Theodosia asked them to remember her
before the Lord, when they should come to stand before Him.
Soldiers seized her and led her before the governor
Urban after seeing the maiden bow to the prisoners. The governor advised
her to offer sacrifice to the idols but she refused, confessing her
faith in Christ. Then they subjected the saint to cruel tortures, raking
her body with iron claws until her bones were exposed.
The martyr was silent and endured the sufferings
with a happy face, and when the governor told her again to offer sacrifice
to the idols she answered, "You fool, I have been granted to join the
martyrs!" They threw the maiden with a stone about her neck into the
sea, but angels rescued her. Then they threw the martyr to the wild beasts
to be eaten by them. Seeing that the beasts would not touch her, they
cut off her head.
By night St Theodosia appeared to her parents,
who had tried to talk their daughter out of her intention to suffer
for Christ. She was in bright garb with a crown upon her head and
a luminous gold cross in her hand, and she said, "Behold the great glory
of which you wanted to deprive me!"
The Holy Martyr Theodosia of Tyre suffered in
the year 307. She is also commemorated on May 29 (the transfer of her
relics to Constantinople, and later to Venice).
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Evagrius and Benignus
Martyrs at Tomi on the Black Sea MM (RM).
Tomis, in Scythia, natális sanctórum
Mártyrum Evágrii et Benígni.
At Tomis in Scythia, the
birthday of the holy martyrs Evagrius and Benignus.
Date unknown. (Benedictines).
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304 St. Agape and
her sisters Chionia and Irene, Christians of Thessalonica, Macedonia
were convicted
of possessing texts of the Scriptures
Thessalonícæ
pássio sanctárum Vírginum Agapis et Chióniæ,
Diocletiáno Imperatóre, sub quo et sancta Virgo Iréne,
eárum soror, póstmodum passúra erat. Ambæ
vero, cum Christum negáre nollent, primum in cárcere
macerátæ sunt, póstea in ignem missæ, sed
a flammis intáctæ, ibi, oratióne ad Dóminum
fusa, ánimas reddidérunt.
At Thessalonica, the martyrdom of the holy virgins Agape and
Chionia, under Emperor Diocletian. Because they would not deny
Christ, they were first detained in prison, then cast into the fire
where, untouched by the flames, they gave up their souls to their Creator
while praying. Their sister Irene had been imprisoned with them,
but was to die later.
APRIL III. from Lives of Saints by Alban Butler
SS. AGAPE, CHIONIA, AND IRENE, SISTERS, AND THEIR COMPANIONS. MARTYRS.
From their original acts abridged out of the presidial court registers
of Thessalonica, In Surius Ruina
p.421!. Tillemont. 5, pp. 240 and 680. Cellier, t. 3, p. 490.
*stationarius was a person appointed to keep ward in any place. Such
officers, when distinguished by certain or particular benefits, conferred
upon them for past service, in the army, were also called Beneficiaril.
A. D. 304.
These three sisters lived at Thessalonica, and their parents were heathens
when they suffered martyrdom. In the year 303, the emperor Dioclesian
published an edict forbidding, under pain of death, any persons to keep
the Holy Scriptures. These saints concealed many volumes of these
sacred books, but were not discovered or apprehended till the year following;
when, as their acts relate, Dulcetius, the governor, being seated in his
tribunal, Artemesius, the secretary, said: "If you please. I will read an
information given in by the Stationary,* concerning several persons here
present." Dulcetius' said: "Let the information be read." The solicitor
read as follows: The Pensioner Cassander to Dulcetius, president of
Macedonia, greeting. I send to your highness six Christian women, with a
man, who have refused to eat meats sacrificed to the gods. They are
called Agape, Chionia, Irene, Casia, Philippa, Eutychia, and the man's name
is Agatho; therefore I have caused them to be brought before you." The president,
turning to the women, said: "Wretches, what madness is this of yours, that
you will not obey the pious commands of the emperors and Caesars?"
He then said to Agatho: "Why will you not eat of the meats offered to the
gods, like other subjects of the empire.” He answered: "Because I am a Christian."
Dulcetius" Do you still persist in that resolution?" "Certainly," replied
Agatho. Dulcetius next addressed himself to Agape, saying: "What are your
sentiments?” Agape answered: “I believe in the living God, and will not
by an evil action lose all the merit of my past life." Then the president
said: "What say you, Chionia?" She answered: “I believe in the living God,
and for that reason did not obey your orders." The president, turning to
Irene, said: “Why did not you obey the most pious command of our emperors
and Caesars?” Irene said: `For fear of offending God.".-" But what say you,
Casia?" She said: "I desire to save my soul." PRESIDENT' Will not you partake
of the sacred offerings ?"CA5IA.-" By no means." PRESIDENT.-" But you, Philippa,
what do you say 1" She answered: "I say the same thing." PRESIDENT. What
is that?" Philippa.-" That I had rather die than eat of your sacrifices."
PRESIDENT.-" And you, Eutychia, what do you say ` I say the same thing,"
said she, “that I had rather die than do what you command." PRESIDENT.--"
Are you married?" Eutychia-" My husband has been dead almost these seven
months." "By whom are you with child?" She answered: “him whom God
gave me for my husband." PRE5IDENT.-" I advise you, Eutychia, to leave this
folly, and resume a reasonable way of thinking what do you say? will you
obey the impend edict?" Eutychia" No: for I am a Christian, and serve the
Almighty God." PRESIDENT.-" Eutychia being big with child let her be kept
in prison." Afterwards Dulcetius added : Agape, what is your resolution will
you do as we do, who are obedient and dutiful to the emperors?' AGAPE.-"
It is not proper to obey Satan; my soul is not to be overcome by these discourses."
PRESIDENT-" And you, Chionia, what is your final answer?" "Nothing can change
me," said she. PRESDENT.-" Have you not some books, papers, or other writings,
relating to the religion of the impious Christians?" Chionia said:" We have
none: the emperors now reigning have taken them all from us." PRESIDENT.-"
Who drew you into this persuasion?" She said, "Almighty God. "PRESDENT.-"
Who induced you to embrace this folly?" Chionia repeated again, “Almighty
God, and his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ." DULCETIUS.-" You are all bound
to obey our most puissant emperors and Caesars. But because you have so
long obstinately despised their just commands, and so many edicts, admonitions,
and threats, and have had the boldness and rashness to despise our orders,
retaining the impious name of Christians; and since to this very Limit you
have not obeyed the stationaries and officers who solicited you to renounce
Jesus Christ in writing, you shall receive the punishment you deserve."
Then he read their sentence, which was worded as follows: "I condemn Agape
and Chionia to be burnt alive, for having out of malice and obstinacy acted
in contradiction to the divine edicts of our lords the emperors’ and Caesars,
and who at present profess the rash and false religion of Christians, which
all pious persons abhor." He added: "As for the other four, let them be confined
in close prison during my pleasure."
After these two had been consumed in the fire, Irene was a third
time brought before the president. Dulcetius said to her: "Your madness is
plain, since you have kept to this day so many books, parchments, and codicil
and papers of the scriptures of the impious Christians. You were forced to
acknowledge them when they were produced before you. Though you had before
denied you had any. You will not take warning from the punishment of your
sisters, neither have you the fear of death before your eyes your punishment
therefore is unavoidable. In the mean time I do not refuse even
now to make some condescension in your behalf. Notwithstanding your
crime, you may find pardon and be freed from punishment, if you will yet worship
the gods. What say you then? Will you obey the orders of the emperors? Are
you ready to sacrifice to the gods, and eat of the victim’s1" IRENE.-' By
no means: for those that renounce Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are threatened
with eternal fire." DULCETIU5.-" Who persuaded you to conceal those
books and papers so long?" IRENE-" Almighty God, who has commanded
us to love him even unto death on which account we dare not betray him, but
rather choose to be burnt alive, or suffer any thing whatsoever than discover
such writings." President. Who knew that those writings were in the
house?" `Nobody," said she, "but the Almighty, from whom nothing is
hid: for we concealed them even from our own domestics, lest they should
accuse us." President .-" Where did you hide yourselves last year, when the
pious edict of our emperors was first published ?" Irene.-" Where it pleased
God, in the mountains." PRESIDENT.-" With whom did you live?"
IRENE.-" We were in the open air, sometimes on one mountain, sometimes on
another." President .- Who supplied you with bread?" IRENE.-" God, who gives
food to all President -" Was your father privy to it?" IRENE.-" No
he had not the least knowledge of it." PRESIDENT.-" Which of
your neighbors knew it?" IRENE.-" Inquire in the neighborhood, and
make your search." President .-" After you returned from the mountains, as
you say, did you read those books to anybody ?" IRENE.-"They were hid at
our own house, and we durst not produce them; and we were if, great trouble,
because we could not read them night and day, as we had been accustomed to
do." DULCETUS.-" Your sisters have already suffered the punishments
to which they were condemned. As for you, Irene, though you were condemned
to death before your flight for having hid these writings, I not have you
die so suddenly but I order that you be exposed naked brothel, and be allowed
one loaf a day, to be sent you from the palace that the guards do not suffer
you to stir out of it one moment, under pain of death to them." The infamous
sentence was rigorously executed; but God protecting her, no man durst approach
her, nor say or do any indecency
The president
caused her to be brought again before him, and said to her “Do you still
persist in your rashness?" “Not in rashness," said "but in piety towards
God." President. You shall suffer the just punish of your insolence and obstinacy."
And having called for paper, wrote this sentence: "Since Irene will not obey
the emperor's orders sacrifice to the gods, but, on the contrary, persists
still in the religion the Christians, I order her to be immediately burnt
alive, as her sisters have been." Dulcetius had no sooner pronounced this
sentence but the soldiers seized Irene, and brought her to a rising ground
where her sisters had suffered martyrdom, and having lighted a large pile,
ordered her to mount thereon. Irene, singing psalms, and celebrating
the glory of God, threw herself on the pile, and was there consumed in the
ninth consulship of Dioclesian, and the eighth of Maximian, on the 1st day
of April; but Ado, Usuard and the Roman Martyrology name St. Agape
and Chionia on the 3d St. Irene on the 5th of April.
*they were probably were not then In her custody, at least not known to
Chionia, who had denied them: or she only denied herself convicted of the
fact in court.
These saints suffered a glorious martyrdom, rather than to offend
God by an action which several Christians at that time on various foolish
pretexts excused to themselves. How many continually form to themselves
a false conscience to palliate the enormity of gross sins, in spite of the
light of reason and the gospel; in which their case is jar more deplorable
and desperate than that of the most flagrant sinners.
These are often awakened to sincere repentance: but what hopes can we have
of those who, wilfully blinding themselves, imagine all goes right with
them, even while they are running headlong into perdition How
many excuse to themselves notorious usuries and a thousand frauds, detractions,
slanders, revenge, antipathies, sensual fond nesses, and criminal familiarities,
envy, jealousy, hypocrisy, pride, and numberless other crimes! How
often do men canonize the grossest vices under the glorious names of charity,
zeal, prudence constancy, and other virtues! The principal sources
of this fatal misfortune of a false conscience are, first, the passions.
These so strangely blind the understanding and pervert the judgment, that
men fail not to extenuate the enormity of their crimes, and even to justify
to themselves many violations of the divine law, where any passion hath
a strong bias. Whatever merit is eagerly bent to commit, they easily find
presences to call lawful. Second causes of our practical errors are the
example and false maxims of the world. We flatter ourselves that what
everybody does must be lawful, as if the multitude of sinners could authorize
any crime, or as if the rule by which Christ will judge us, was the custom
or example of others or lastly, as if the world had not framed a false system
of morals very opposite to the gospel. A third source of this dreadful
and common evil is an affected ignorance. Parents, magistrates,
priests, and others, are frequently unacquainted with several essential
obligations of their state. How often are Christians ignorant of many
practical duties which they owe to God; their neighbors, and themselves!
304 SS. AGAPE, CHIONIA and IRENE, VIRGINS AND MARTYRS
IN the year 303, the Emperor Diocletian issued a decree
rendering it an offence punishable by death to possess or retain any
portion of the sacred Christian writings. Now there were living at that
time at Thessalonica in Macedonia three Christian sisters, Agape, Chionia
and Irene, the daughters of pagan parents, who owned several volumes
of the Holy Scriptures. These books were kept so carefully concealed
that they were not discovered until the following year when the house
was searched after the sisters had been arrested upon another charge.
One day, when Dulcitius the governor had taken his seat
on the tribune, his secretary Artemesius read the charge-sheet, which
had been handed in by the public informer. It ran as follows: “The pensioner
Cassander to Dulcitius, President of Macedonia, greeting. I send to
your Highness six Christian women and one man who have refused to eat
meat sacrificed to the gods. Their names are Agape, Chionia, Irene, Cassia,
Philippa and Eutychia, and the man is called Agatho.”
The president said to the women, who had been arrested,
“Fools, how can you be so mad as to disobey the commands of the emperors?”
Then, turning to the man, he asked, “Why will you not eat of the meat
offered to the gods, like other subjects?” “Because I am a Christian,”
replied Agatho. “Do you adhere to your determination?” “Certainly I
do.” Dulcitius next questioned Agape as to her convictions. “I believe
in the living God,” was her answer, “and I will not lose all the merit
of my past life by one evil action.” “And you, Chionia, what have you
to say for yourself?”“ “That I believe in the living God and therefore
I cannot obey the emperor’s orders.” Irene replied when asked why she
did not comply, “Because I was afraid of offending God.” “What do you
say, Cassia?” inquired the judge. “That I desire to save my soul.” “Then
will you not partake of the sacred offerings?” “No, indeed, I will not.”
Philippa declared that she would rather die than obey, and so did Eutychia,
a young woman recently widowed who was about to become a mother. Because
of her condition, she was separated from her companions and taken back
to prison, while Dulcitius proceeded to press the others further. “Agape”,
he inquired, “what have you decided Will you act as we do, who are obedient
and dutiful to the emperor?” “It is not right to obey Satan”, she answered,
“I am not to be influenced by anything that you can say.” “And you,
Chionia “, persisted the president, “what is your ultimate decision?”
“My decision remains unchanged.” “Have you not some books or writings
relating to the religion of the impious Christians?” he asked. “We
have none: the emperor now on the throne has taken them all from us
was the reply. To inquiries as to who had converted them to Christianity
Chionia would only say, “Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Then Dulcitius gave sentence: “I condemn Agape and Chionia
to be burnt alive for having out of malice and obstinacy acted in contravention
of the divine edicts of our lords the Emperors and Caesars, and for
continuing to profess the rash and false religion of the Christians,
which all pious persons abhor. As for the other four”, he added, “let
them be kept in close captivity during my pleasure.”
After the martyrdom of her elder sisters, Irene was again
brought before the president, who said to her, “Your folly is patent
enough now, for you retained in your possession all those books, parchments,
and writings relating to the doctrine of the impious Christians which
you were forced to acknowledge when they were produced before you,
although you had previously denied that you had any Yet even now, notwithstanding
your crimes, you may find pardon if you will worship the gods. . . .
Are you prepared to do so?” “No”, replied Irene, “for those who do so
are in danger of hell fire.” “Who persuaded you to hide those books and
papers for so long?” “Almighty God, who has commanded us to love Him unto
death. For that reason we prefer to be burnt alive rather than give up
the Holy Scriptures and betray Him.” “Who knew that you had those writings
hidden away?” “Nobody”, replied Irene, “except Almighty God; for we concealed
them even from our servants lest they should inform against us.” “Where
did you hide yourselves last year when the emperors’ edict was first published?”
“Where it pleased God: in the mountains.” “With whom did you live?” persisted
the judge. “We were in the open air—sometimes on one mountain, sometimes
on another.” “Who supplied you with food?” “ God, who gives food to all
flesh.” “Was your father privy to it?“ “ No, he had not the least idea of
it.” “Which of your neighbours was in the secret?” “Inquire in the neighbourhood
and make your search.” “After you returned from the mountains did you read
those books to anyone?” “They were hidden in the house, but we dared not
produce them: we were in great trouble because we could no longer read them
day and night as we had been accustomed to do.”
Irene’s sentence was a more cruel one than that of her sisters.
Dulcitius declared that she like them had incurred the death penalty
for having concealed the books, but that her sufferings should be more
lingering. He therefore ordered that she should be stripped and exposed
in a house of ill fame which was kept closely guarded. As, however,
she appeared to be miraculously protected from molestation, the governor
afterwards caused her to be put to death. The acts say that she suffered
at the stake, being compelled to throw herself into the flames. But this
is improbable, and some later versions speak of her being shot in the
throat with an arrow.
As we read of these noble women who preferred to die rather
than yield up their copies of the Sacred Scriptures, and as we consider
the loving care lavished by the monks of a later generation upon copying
and illuminating the gospels, we may with advantage question ourselves
as to the value which we attach to God’s written word. Irene and her
sisters were distressed when they could not read the sacred books at
all hours. Many of us in these latter ages do not even read them every
day although we have every inducement and encouragement to do so. The
very facilities which we have for obtaining cheap and well-printed Bibles
seem to render us less appreciative and less studious of the word of God—in
spite of the exhortations of our pastors. There is a salutary lesson for
all in the story of Agape, Chionia and Irene.
The Greek text
of the acta of these martyrs was discovered and edited in
1902 by Ho Franchi de’ Cavalieri in part ix of Studi e
Testi. It is admitted on all hands that the document was compiled
from genuine and official records, but the Latin translation reproduced
by Ruinart in
his Acta Martyrum Sincera is not altogether satisfactory.
An English version of the Greek may be found in A. J. Mason, Historic Martyrs of the Primitive Church (1905),
pp. 341—346. The names of Chionia and Agape occur in the old Syriac
Martyrologium, or “Breviarium”, of the beginning of the fifth century,
entered under April 2. Irene’s name was perhaps omitted because she
suffered later and separately. Nothing is recorded of the fate of the
other four. See the Acta Sanctorum, November,
vol. ii, pars posterior (1932). pp. 169—170; and also Delehaye, Les Passions
des Martyrs pp. 141—143.
Despite a decree issued in 303 by Emperor Diocletian
naming such possessions a crime punishable by death. When they further
refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, the governor, Dulcitius, had Agape
and Chionia burned alive. When Irene still refused to recant, Dulcitius
ordered her sent to a house of prostitution. There she was unmolested
after being exposed naked and chained, she was put to death either by
burning or by an arrow through her throat.
Agape, Chionia (Chione) & Irene VV MM (RM)
Died at Thessalonica, Macedonia, April 3, 304. The martyrdom of these
three sisters is related in a document that is a somewhat more amplified
version of genuine records. In 303, Emperor Diocletian issued
a decree making it an offense punishable by death to possess any portion
of sacred Christian writings. Irene and her sisters, Agape and Chionia,
daughters of pagan parents living in Salonika, owned several volumes of
Holy Scriptures, which they hid. This made the girls very unhappy because
they could not read them at all hours as was their wont.
The sisters were arrested on another charge--that
of refusing to eat food that had been offered to the gods--and taken
before the governor, Dulcetius (Dulcitius). He asked each in turn why
they had refused and if they would still refuse. Agape answered: "I
believe in the living God, and will not by an evil action lose all
the merit of my past life." Some of the transcript follows:
Dulcetius: "Why didn't you obey the most pious
command of our emperors and Caesars?"
Irene: "For fear of offending God." Dulcetius:
"But what say you, Casia?" Casia: "I desire to save my soul."
Dulcetius: "Will not you partake of the sacred
offerings?" Casia: "By no means." Dulcetius: "But you, Philippa,
what do you say?" Philippa: "I say the same thing." Dulcetius: "What
is that?"
Philippa: "That I had rather die than eat of
your sacrifices."
Dulcetius: "And you, Eutychia, what do you say?"
Eutychia: "I say the same thing: that I had rather die than do what
you command." Dulcetius: "Are you married?" Eutychia: "My husband
has been dead almost seven months."
Dulcetius: "By whom are you with child?"
Eutychia: "By him whom God gave
me for my husband." Dulcetius: "I advise you, Eutychia, to leave
this folly, and resume a reasonable way of thinking; what do you say?
will you obey the imperial edict?" Eutychia: "No: for I am a Christian,
and serve the Almighty God."
Dulcetius: "Eutychia being big with child, let
her be kept in prison. Agape, what is your resolution? will you do
as we do, who are obedient and dutiful to the emperors?" Agape: "It is
not proper to obey Satan; my soul is not to be overcome by these discourses."
Dulcetius: "And you, Chionia, what is your final answer?" Chionia:
"Nothing can change me." Dulcetius: "Have you not some books, papers,
or other writings, relating to the religion of the impious Christians?"
Chionia: "We have none: the emperors now reigning have taken them all
from us."
Dulcetius: "Who drew you into this persuasion?"
Chionia: "Almighty God."
Dulcetius: "Who induced you to embrace this folly?"
Chionia: "Almighty God, and his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ."
Dulcetius: "You are all bound to obey our most
puissant emperors and Caesars. But because you have so long obstinately
despised their just commands, and so many edicts, admonitions, and
threats, and have had the boldness and rashness to despise our orders,
retaining the impious name of Christians; and since to this very time
you have not obeyed the stationers and officers who solicited you to
renounce Jesus Christ in writing, you shall receive the punishment you
deserve.
"I condemn Agape and Chionia to be burnt alive.
for having out of malice and obstinacy acted in contradiction to the
divine edicts of our lords the emperors and Caesars, and who at present
profess the rash and false religion of Christians, which all pious persons
abhor. As for the other four, let them be confined in close prison during
my pleasure."
Thus, Chionia and Agape were condemned to be
burned alive, but, because of her youth, Irene was to be imprisoned.
After the execution of her older sisters, their house had been searched
and the forbidden volumes discovered. Irene was examined again:
Dulcetius: "Your madness is plain, since you
have kept to this day so many books, parchments, codicils, and papers
of the scriptures of the impious Christians. You were forced to acknowledge
them when they were produced before you, though you had before denied
you had any. You will not take warning from the punishment of your sisters,
neither have you the fear of death before your eyes your punishment therefore
is unavoidable. In the mean time I do not refuse even now to make some
condescension in your behalf. Notwithstanding your crime, you may find
pardon and be freed from punishment, if you will yet worship the gods.
What say you then? Will you obey the orders of the emperors? Are you
ready to sacrifice to the gods, and eat of the victims?"
Irene: "By no means: for those
that renounce Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are threatened with eternal
fire."
Dulcetius: "Who persuaded you to conceal those
books and papers so long?"
Irene: "Almighty God, who has commanded us to
love Him even unto death; on which account we dare not betray Him, but
rather choose to be burnt alive, or suffer any thing whatsoever than
discover such writings."
Dulcetius: "Who knew that those writings were
in the house?"
Irene: "Nobody but the Almighty, from Whom nothing
is hid: for we concealed them even from our own domestics, lest they
should accuse us."
During the questioning Irene told him that when
the emperor's decree against Christians was published, she and others
fled to the mountains without her father's knowledge. She avoided
implicating those who had helped them, and declared that nobody but themselves
know they had the books:
Dulcetius: "Where did you hide yourselves last
year, when the pious edict of our emperors was first published?"
Irene: "Where it pleased God, in the mountains."
Dulcetius: "With whom did you live?
Irene: "We were in the open air, sometimes on
one mountain, sometimes on another."
Dulcetius: "Who supplied you with bread?" Irene:
"God, Who gives food to all flesh."
Dulcetius: "Was your father privy to it? Irene:
"No; he had not the least knowledge of it."
Dulcetius: "Which of your neighbors knew it?"
Irene: "Inquire in the neighborhood, and make your search."
Dulcetius: "After you returned from the mountains,
as you say, did you read those books to anybody?"
Irene: "They were hid at our own house, and we
dared not produce them; and we were in great trouble, because we
could not read them night and day, as we had been accustomed to do."
Dulcetius: "Your sisters have already suffered
the punishments to which they were condemned. As for you, Irene,
though you were condemned to death before your flight for having hid
these writings, I will not have you die so suddenly, but I order that
you be exposed naked in a brothel, and be allowed one loaf a day, to
be sent you from the palace; and that the guards do not suffer you to
stir out of it one moment, under pain of death to them."
Irene was sent to a soldiers' brothel, where
she was stripped and chained. There she was miraculously protected
from molestation. So, after again refusing a last chance to conform,
she was sentenced to death. She died either by being forced to throw
herself into flames or, more likely, by being shot in the throat with
an arrow. The books, including the Sacred Scripture, were publicly burned.
The one expanded version of the story relates
that Irene was taken to a rising ground, where she mounted a large,
lighted pile. While signing psalms and celebrating the glory of the Lord,
she threw herself on the pile and was consumed.
Three other women (Casia, Philippa, Eutychia)
and a man (Agatho) were tried with these martyrs. Eutychia was remanded
because she was pregnant. It is not recorded what happened to the others.
Agape and Chionia died on April 3; Irene on April 5, which is her actual
feast day (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia,
Farmer, Husenbeth, White).
In art, this trio is represented generally as
three maidens carrying pitchers, though they may be shown being burned
at the stake (Roeder). They are venerated in Salonika (Roeder).
|
The
Holy Martyrs Elpidiphoros, Dios, Bythonios and Galikos suffered for
their confession of faith in Jesus Christ. They cut off the head
of Saint Elpidiphoros with a sword. Saint Dios they stoned. Saint Bythonios
was drowned in the sea, and the Martyr Galikos was sent for devouring
by wild beasts.
The Holy Martyrs Elpidephorus, Dius, Bithonius, and
Galycus suffered for their faith in Jesus Christ. They cut off the
head of St Elpidephorus with a sword. |
307 Holy Martyr Theodosia
of Tyre suffered for the faith
Once, during a persecution against Christians,
which had already lasted for five years, the seventeen-year-old St
Theodosia visited condemned Christian prisoners in the Praetorium
in Caesarea, Palestine. It was the day of Holy Pascha, and the martyrs
spoke about the Kingdom of God. St Theodosia asked them to remember
her before the Lord, when they should come to stand before Him.
Soldiers seized her and led her before the governor
Urban after seeing the maiden bow to the prisoners. The governor advised
her to offer sacrifice to the idols but she refused, confessing her
faith in Christ. Then they subjected the saint to cruel tortures, raking
her body with iron claws until her bones were exposed.
The martyr was silent and endured the sufferings
with a happy face, and when the governor told her again to offer sacrifice
to the idols she answered, "You fool, I have been granted to join the
martyrs!" They threw the maiden with a stone about her neck into the
sea, but angels rescued her. Then they threw the martyr to the wild beasts
to be eaten by them. Seeing that the beasts would not touch her, they
cut off her head.
By night St Theodosia appeared to her parents,
who had tried to talk their daughter out of her intention to suffer
for Christ. She was in bright garb with a crown upon her head and
a luminous gold cross in her hand, and she said, "Behold the great glory
of which you wanted to deprive me!"
The Holy Martyr Theodosia of Tyre suffered in
the year 307. She is also commemorated on May 29 (the transfer of her
relics to Constantinople, and later to Venice).
|
695
St. Fara Burgundofara (Fara) convent Abbess 37 yrs Many English princess-nuns
and nun-saints were trained under her, including Saints Gibitrudis, Sethrida, Ethelburga, Ercongotha,
Hildelid, Sisetrudis, Hercantrudis, and others miracles after death:
Eboríaci, in território Meldénsi,
sanctæ Burgundofáræ, étiam Faræ nómine
appellátæ, Abbatíssæ et Vírginis.
At Faremoutiers, in the district
of Meaux, St. Burgundofara, also known as St. Fara, abbess and virgin.
restoration of sight to Dame Charlotte le Bret
657 ST BURGUNDOFARA, or FARE, VIRGIN
AMONGST the courtiers of King Theodebert II one of the foremost
was Count Agneric, three of whose children were destined to be honoured
by the Church. They were St Cagnoald of Laon, St Faro of Meaux, and
a daughter called Burgundofara (“Fare” in France) who as a child had
received a blessing from St Columban when he was a guest at Agneric’s
house. The girl was resolved to lead the religious life, but she had
to face opposition and even persecution from her father, who wished
to bestow her in marriage. The struggle caused her health to give way
and she suffered from a prolonged malady which was cured by St Eustace.
Even then the count did not at once surrender; but eventually Burgundofara
had her way, and her father became so reconciled to her vocation that
he built for her a convent which he richly endowed. Of this house, young
as she was, she became abbess—in accordance with the custom of the time—and
throughout the thirty-seven years of her rule she proved herself a capable
and saintly superior. The convent, which in its early days kept the Rule
of St Columban, was known by the name of Evoriacum, but after the death
of St Burgundofara it was renamed in her honour and developed into the celebrated
Benedictine abbey of Faremoutiers.
There are
early materials for the life of this saint, particularly an account of the
wonderful works wrought at Faremoutiers, written by Abbot Jonas of Bobbio.
It is printed by Mabillon in the Acta Sanctorum O.S.B., and
has been more recently edited by B. Krusch in MGH., Scriptores
Merov., vol. iv. St Fare is also mentioned by Bede, Hist.
Eccles., iii, ch. 8. Probably this reference by the great English
writer, coupled with some confusion between Eboracum (York) and Evoriacum,
led to the extraordinary blunder in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology
which stated that St Burgundofara died in England. An admirable modern account
is that of H. M. Delsart, Sainte Fare, sa vie et son culte (1911).
Daughter
of Count Agneric, courtier of King Theodebert II. She refused her
father's demands that she marry, and became Abbess of a convent she
convinced him to build, and ruled for thirty-seven years. Named Evoriacum,
the convent was renamed for her after her death, and in time became the
famous Benedictine Abbey of Faremoutiers. She is also known as Fare.
Burgundofara, OSB Abbess V (RM) (also known as
Fare, Fara) Born near Meaux; died at Faremoutiers in Brie, France,
on April 3, c. 655-657. Sister of Saint Cagnoald, Saint Faro, and Saint Agnetrudis, Fare had been blessed
by Saint Columbanus in her
infancy during his stay with the family on his way into exile from
Luxeuil. Some chroniclers say she was 10 or 15 at the time Columbanus
consecrated her to God in a particular manner.
She developed a religious vocation early in spite
of the fierce opposition of her father, Count Agneric, one of the principal
courtiers of King Theodebert II. He arranged an honorable match for
his daughter, which so upset her that she became mortally ill. Still
Agneric demanded that she marry.
When Saint Eustace
was returning to the court with her brother Cagnoald from his embassy
to Columbanus, he stayed in the home of Agneric. Fare disclosed to
him her vocation. Eustace told her father that Fare was deathly ill
because he opposed her pious inclinations. The saintly man prostrated
himself for a time in prayer, rose, and made the sign of the cross upon
Fare's eyes. Immediately her health was restored.
Eustace asked her mother, Leodegonda, to prepare
Fare to receive the veil when he returned to court. As soon as the
saint left, Agneric again began to harass his daughter. She sought sanctuary
in the church when he threatened to kill her if she did not comply with
this wishes. Eustace returned and reconciled father and daughter. He
then arranged for Fare to be professed before Bishop Gondoald of Meaux
in 614.
A year or two later, Fare convinced her father
to build her a double monastery, originally named Brige (Brie, which
is Celtic for "bridge") or Evoriacum, now called Faremoutiers (Fare's
monastery). The chronicler Jonas, a monk in that abbey, wrote about
many of the holy people he knew there, including Saint Cagnoald and
Saint Walbert.
Although Fare was still very
young, she was appointed its first abbess and governed the monastery
under the Rule of Saint Columbanus for 37 years. The rule was severe.
The use of wine and milk was forbidden (at least during penitential
seasons). The inhabitants confessed three times each day to encourage
a habitual watchfulness for the attainment of purity of heart. Masses
were said daily in the monastery for 30 days for the soul of those religious
who died.
Fare was apparently an excellent directress of
souls. Many English princess-nuns and nun-saints were trained under
her, including Saints Gibitrudis,
Sethrida, Ethelburga, Ercongotha, Hildelid, Sisetrudis, Hercantrudis,
and others. Once when her younger brother, Saint Faro, was
visiting, he was so moved by her heavenly discourses that he resigned
the great offices which he held at court, persuaded his fiancé
to become a nun, and took the clerical tonsure. After he succeeded Gondoald
as bishop, Faro supported his sister against attempts to mitigate the
severity of the Rule.
A reference is made to Fare by Bede led long
afterwards to the mistaken idea that she died in England; however,
she died at Faremoutiers after a painful, lingering illness. Her will
bequeathed some of her lands to her siblings, but the rest to the monastery,
includng her lands at Champeaux on which a monastery was later erected.
Fare's relics were enshrined in 695 and many
miracles were attributed to her intercession. Among them is the restoration of sight to Dame Charlotte le Bret,
daughter to the first president and treasurer-general of finance
in the district of Paris. At the age of seven (1602), her left eye
was put out. She became a nun at Faremoutiers in 1609 and lost the sight
in her remaining eye in 1617 due to an irreversible eye disease. Because
she suffered terrible pain in her eyes and the adjacent nerves, remedies
were applied to destroy all feeling in the area. In 1622, she kissed
one of the exposed bones of Saint Fare and touched it to both eyes. She
had feeling again. Upon repeating the action, her sight was restored--instantly
and perfectly. Physicians and witnesses testified in writing to her state
before and after this miracle, which was certified as such by Bishop
John de Vieupont of Meaux on December 9, 1622.
The affidavit of the abbess, Frances de la Chastre,
and the community also mentioned two other miraculous cures of palsy
and rheumatism. Other miracles wrought at the intercession of Saint
Fare are recorded by Carcat and du Plessis (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
Saint Burgundofara is depicted in art as an abbess
with an ear of corn. Sometimes she may be shown in the scene where
Saint Columbanus blesses a child (Roeder). She is honored especially
in France and Sicily (Husenbeth).
|
Saint_Illyricus
800 Saint Attala monk
and of a monastery at Taormina abbot , Sicily Benedictine , OSB Abbot
(AC)
(also known as Attalus) The Saint Attala was
monk and abbot of a monastery at Taormina, Sicily (Benedictines).
The Monk Illyrikos the Wonderworker
asceticised on Mount Marsion in the Peloponessus
His
date of life and deeds are unknown.
Saint Illyricus the Wonderworker devoted himself
to ascetic struggles on Mount Marsion in the Peloponessos.
The dates of his birth and death are unknown.
The Holy Martyrs Elpidephorus, Dius, Bithonius,
and Galycus suffered for their faith in Jesus Christ
. They cut off the head of St Elpidephorus with
a sword.
|
824
St. Nicetas Abbot From Caesarea Bithynia modern Turkey opposed the
Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V the Armenian
In monastério
Medícii, in Bithynia, deposítio sancti Nicétæ
Abbátis, qui ob cultum sanctárum Imáginum, sub Leóne
Arméno, multa passus est, ac tandem, juxta Constantinópolim,
Conféssor quiévit in pace.
In the monastery of Medicion in Bithynia, Abbot St.
Nicetas, who suffered a great deal for the veneration of sacred images
in the time of Leo the Armenian, and then died in peace as a confessor
near Constantinople.
<Nikitas_Confessor_and_Joseph_Hymnographer.jpg
ST. NICETAS, ABBOT from the Lives of Saintes by Alban Butler
He was a native of Bithynia, and from his infancy was brought up in austere
monasteries by the care of his pious father Philaretus, who, after the loss
of his wife, had himself embraced a monastic state. Nicetas emulated the
most perfect examples of virtue: his mind was wholly occupied in prayer and
pious reading, and his body was so extenuated by the severity of his fasts
and watching, that it nearly resembled a walking skeleton. But his soul grew
the more vigorous and active in proportion as it was more disengaged from
the flesh, and by contemplation approached nearer to the angels. St. Nicephorus
appointed him his coadjutor, and afterwards recommended him to be his successor
in the abbey of Medicion, which he had founded on mount Olympus, under the
rule of the Acaemetes. In this calm and amiable retreat the saint, and a
hundred holy monks under his direction, led the lives of terrestrial angels,
when the devil found means to disturb their tranquility, though in the end
his attention it only served to him ii sit their virtue with more distinguished
occasions or triumph. In 813 the emperor Leo the Armenian renewed
the war against holy images, and in 814, banished the patriarch St Nicephorus,
and intruded into his see one Theodosius an impious officer of the court.
The zeal of Nicetas for the Catholic faith was recompensed by two banishments,
a rigid imprisonment, and other severe sufferings. Theodosius,
having pronounced anathema against all who did not honor the image of Jesus
Christ, our abbot, regarding him as orthodox, consented, with many other
confessors, to receive the communion from his hands; but was immediately
stung with remorse, fearing lest he had been drawn into a conformity which
some might interpret to the prejudice of the truth. Hereupon he openly protested
that he would never abandon the faith of his ancestors, or obey the false
patriarch. He rejected the offers of preferment at court, and
chose rather to suffer a cruel banishment into the island of St. Glycerin,
in the extremities of the Propontis, under the guard of Anthimus, a court
eunuch, who committed him in a dark dungeon, the key of which he always
kept in his own custody. A little food, merely what seemed necessary
to preserve him alive, was carelessly thrown in to him through a little window.
In this martyrdom he lingered six years, till the death of Leo the Armenian
who was murdered on Christmas day, in 820
in 820 Michael the Stutterer, who then ascended the throne, released
the prisoners. St. Nicetas chose, out of humility, neither to return to
his monastery, nor to live at Constantinople, but, shutting himself up in
a Sm all hermitage in that city, prepared himself for death, which he met
with joy on the 3d of April, 824 Many miracles rendered his
name illustrious on earth. See his life, by an intimate acquaintance, in
Surius, d'Andilly, Papebroke, Fleury b. 46
b. 46.
824 ST NICETAS, ABBOT
THE parents of St Nicetas were residents of Caesarea in
Bithynia, but his mother died when he was a week old, and his father,
a very few years later, retired into a monastery. The boy, brought
up from infancy in monastic austerity, responded eagerly to the teaching
he received, and entered the monastery of Medikion on Mount Olympus
in Asia Minor. It had been founded not long before by an eminent abbot
named Nicephorus, who was subsequently honoured as a saint. In 790 Nicetas
was ordained priest by St Tarasius and rose to be coadjutor to Nicephorus
and then his successor.
From the peaceful life of prayer which he led with his monks
Nicetas was summoned to Constantinople, together with other important
heads of monasteries, by the iconoclastic Emperor Leo the Armenian,
who demanded their adherence to the usurper whom he had thrust into the
seat of the banished patriarch St Nicephorus. Upon their refusal Nicetas
was sent to a fortress in Anatolia, where he was confined in an uncovered
enclosure, and had to lie on the earth exposed to the snow and rain. Brought
back to Constantinople, he allowed himself to be over-persuaded by his brother
abbots and to be imposed upon by imperial guile: they all received communion
from the so-called patriarch and were allowed to return to their monasteries.
Nicetas, however, promptly recognized his mistake. He embarked,
it is true, on a vessel bound for the island of Proconnesus, but his
conscience drove him back to Constantinople, and there publicly to
retract his adherence to the usurper and to protest that he would never
abandon the tradition of the fathers in the cultus of sacred
images. He was in 813 banished to an island, where he languished for
six years in a dark dungeon. His only food was a little mouldy bread tossed
through the grating, and his drink stagnant water. In this martyrdom he lingered
until Michael the Stammerer, upon his accession to the throne, released
Nicetas with many other prisoners, and the holy man returned to the neighbourhood
of Constantinople. There he shut himself up in a hermitage where he
lived until he went to his reward.
See the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. i, where a Greek biography of St
Nicetas is printed and translated. It was apparently written shortly
after his death by a disciple of his named Theosterictus. The substance
of three letters from Theodore Studites addressed to St Nicetas was
published by Mai in his Nova Patrum Bibliotheca, vol.
viii, letters 176, 195, 196. See also C. Van de Vorst in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxxi, pp. 149—155, and vol. xxxii, pp.
44-45.
In the monastery of Medicion
in Bithynia, Abbot St. Nicetas, who suffered a great deal for the veneration
of sacred images in the time of Leo the Armenian, and then died in
peace as a confessor near Constantinople.
he was raised in a monastery after his mother
died and his father entered the religious life. Eventually becoming
a monk in the monastery of Medikion, at the base of Mount Olympus in
Bithynia, he received ordination in 790 and was elected abbot. When
he and other abbots opposed the Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V
the Armenian and the appointment of Theodotus as patriarch to replace
the deposed St. Nicephorus, Nicetas was exiled to Anatolia where he suffered
torments from his captors. Brought to Constantinople, he finally recognized
Theodotus as patriarch and was restored to his monastery. However, within
a short time he recanted his acceptance, and in 813 was exiled to the
island of Glyceria. Upon Leo’s death in 820, Nicetas was returned and
lived as a hermit near Constantinople until his death.
Nicetas of Medikion, Abbot (RM) Born in Caesarea,
Bithynia; died at Constantinople on April 3, 824.
The father of Saint Nicetas
entered a monastery a few years after his mother died when he was just a
week old, and he was raised in the monastery. He became a monk at Medikion
Monastery at the foot of Mount Olympus, Bithynia, was ordained in 790 by
Saint Tarasius, and in time became abbot.
When Nicetas and a group of other abbots refused
the demand of the iconoclastic Emperor Leo the Armenian that they
recognize the intruded Theodotus as patriarch of Constantinople,
who Leo had appointed to replace the exiled Patriarch Nicephorus,
Nicetas was exiled to Anatolia (Turkey), where he was subjected to
ill treatment.
The Monk Nikita (Nicetas) the Confessor, hegumen
of the Mydicia monastery, was born in Bithynian Caesarea (northwest
Asia Minor) of a pious family. His mother died 8 days after his birth,
and his father -- named Philaret, was tonsured into monasticism. The
infant remained in the care of his grandmother, who raised him in a
true Christian spirit. From his youthful years Saint Nikita attended in
church and was an obedient of the hermit Stephanos. With his blessing Saint
Nikita set off to the Mydicia monastery, where the hegumen then was Saint
Nicephoros (Comm. 13 March).
After seven years of virtuous
life at the monastery, famed for its strict ustav (monastic rule),
the Monk Nikita was ordained presbyter. And the Monk Nicephoros, knowing
the holy life of the young monk, entrusted to him the guidance of the
monastery when he himself became grievously ill.
Not wanting power, the Monk Nikita began to concern
himself about the enlightening and welfare of the monastery. He guided
the brethren by his own personal example of strict monastic life. Soon
the fame of the lofty life of its inhabitants of the monastery attracted
there many, seeking after salvation. And after several years the number
of monks had increased to 100 men.
When the Monk Nicephoros expired to the Lord
in his extreme old age, the brethren unanimously chose the Monk Nikita
as hegumen.
The Lord vouchsafed Saint Nikita the gift of
wonderworking. Through his prayer a deaf-mute lad was restored the
gift of speech; two demon-possessed women received healing; he restored
reason to one who had lost his mind, and many others of the sick were
healed of their infirmities.
During these years under the emperor Leo the
Armenian (813-820), the Iconoclast heresy resumed and the oppression
over holy icons intensified. Orthodox bishops were deposed and banished.
At Constantinople in 815 a council of heretics was convened, at which
they dethroned the holy Patriarch Nicephoros (806-815, + 828), and in
his place they chose the heretical layman Theodotos. In place of exiled
and imprisoned Orthodox bishops they likewise installed heretics. The
emperor summoned before him all the heads of the monasteries and tried
to draw them over to the Iconoclast heresy. Among those summoned was
also the Monk Nikita, who stood firmly for the Orthodox confession. On
his example all the hegumens remained faithful to the veneration of holy
icons. For this they threw him in prison. The Monk Nikita bravely underwent
all the tribulations and encouraged firmness of spirit in the other prisoners.
Then the emperor and the false-patriarch Theodotos
to trick with cunning those that persisted. They explained to them,
that the emperor would give them all their freedom and permit the veneration
to the icons on one condition: if they would take Communion from the
pseudo-patriarch Theodotos. For a long time the monk had doubts, whether
he should enter into church communion with an heretic, but others of the
prisoners besought him to partake together with them. Acceding to their
entreaties, the Monk Nikita went into the church, where for the deception
of the confessors icons were set out, and he accepted Communion. But when
he returned to his monastery and saw, that the persecution against icons
was continuing, he then repented of his deed, returned to Constantinople
and began fearlessly to denounce the Iconoclast heresy. All threats from
the emperor were ignored by him. The Monk Nikita was again locked up in
prison, where he spent six years, until the death of the emperor Leo the
Armenian. And there, enduring hunger and travail, the Monk Nikita by the
power of his prayers worked miracles: through his prayer the Phrygian ruler
released two captives without ransom; three men for whom the Monk Nikita
prayed, who had suffered shipwreck, were thrown up on shore by the waves.
In the year 824 under the new emperor Michael (820-829), the Monk Nikita
expired to the Lord. The body of the monk was buried at the monastery with
reverence. Afterwards, his relics became a source of healing for those coming
to venerate the holy confessor.
Saint Nicetas the Confessor
was born in Bithynian Caesarea (northwest Asia Minor) of a pious family.
His mother died eight days after his birth, and his father Philaretos became
a monk. The child remained in the care of his grandmother, who raised him
in a true Christian spirit. From his youth St Nicetas attended church and
was a disciple of the hermit Stephanos. With his blessing, St Nicetas set
off to the Mydicia monastery, where St Nicephorus (March 13) was the igumen.
After seven years of virtuous life at the monastery,
famed for its strict monastic rule, St Nicetas was ordained presbyter.
St Nicephorus, knowing the holy life of the young monk, entrusted
to him the guidance of the monastery when he himself became ill.
Not wanting power, St Nicetas devoted himself to the enlightenment and
welfare of the monastery. He guided the brethren by his own example.
Soon the fame of the lofty life of its inhabitants of the monastery attracted
many seeking salvation. After several years, the number of monks had
increased to one hundred.
When St Nicephorus departed to the Lord in his
old age, the brethren unanimously chose St Nicetas as igumen.
The Lord granted St Nicetas
the gift of wonderworking. Through his prayer a deaf-mute child received
the gift of speech; two demon-possessed women were healed; he restored reason
to one who had lost his mind, and many of the sick were healed of
their infirmities.
During these years under the emperor Leo the
Armenian (813-820), the Iconoclast heresy resurfaced and oppression
increased. Orthodox bishops were deposed and banished. At Constantinople
a council of heretics was convened in 815, at which they deposed the
holy Patriarch Nicephorus (806-815), and in his place they chose the
heretical layman Theodotus. They also installed heretics in place of
exiled and imprisoned Orthodox bishops. The emperor summoned all
the heads of the monasteries and tried to bring them over to the Iconoclast
heresy. Among those summoned was St Nicetas, who stood firmly for the
Orthodox confession. Following his example, all the igumens remained
faithful to the veneration of holy icons.
Therefore, they threw him into prison. St Nicetas
bravely underwent all the tribulations and encouraged firmness of spirit
in the other prisoners.
Then the emperor and the false
patriarch Theodotus attempted to trick those who remained faithful
to Orthodox teaching. They promised that the emperor would give them
their freedom and permit the veneration of the icons on one condition:
that they take Communion from the pseudo-patriarch Theodotus.
For a long time the saint had doubts about entering
into communion with a heretic, but other prisoners begged him to go
along with them. Acceding to their entreaties, St Nicetas went into
the church, where icons were put out to deceive the confessors, and he
accepted Communion. But when he returned to his monastery and saw that
the persecution against icons was continuing, he then repented of his
deed, returned to Constantinople and fearlessly denounced the Iconoclast
heresy. He ignored all the emperor's threats.
St Nicetas was again locked up in prison for
six years until the death of the emperor Leo the Armenian. Enduring
hunger and travail, St Nicetas worked miracles by the power of his prayers:
through his prayer the Phrygian ruler released two captives without ransom;
three shipwrecked men for whom St Nicetas prayed, were thrown up on shore
by the waves.
St Nicetas reposed in the Lord
in 824. The saint's body was buried at the monastery with reverence.
Later, his relics became a source of healing for those coming to venerate
the holy confessor.
|
1253
St. Richard of Wyche Ph.D. Priest a missionary bishop denounced nepotism,
insisted on strict clerical discipline, and was ever generous to the
poor and the needy Many miracles of healing were recorded during his lifetime,
and many more after his death. Richard was deep in the hearts of his people,
the sort of saint that anyone can recognize by his simplicity, holiness,
and endless charity to the poor
In Anglia sancti Richárdii, Epíscopi Cicestrénsis,
sanctitáte et miraculórum glória conspícui.
In England, St. Richard, bishop of Chichester, celebrated for
his sanctity and glorious miracles.
Alban Butler LIVES OF SAINTES
The fame of miraculous cures of paralytic and other distempers, and of
three persons raised to life at his tomb, moved the pope to appoint commissaries
to inquire into the truth of these reports, before which many of these miracles
were authentically proved upon the spot; and the saint was solemnly canonized
by Urban IV., in 12.62.
ST. RICHARD, B. C.
From his life by Ralph Bocking, sometime his confessarious, in two books,
dedicated to Isabel, countess of Arundel extant in the Acta Sanctorum.
The same is abridged in Surius. See another life of this saint in
Capgrave, written also soon after his death; and F. Papebroke, t. 1, April.
p. 277.
A. D. 1253
ST. Richard was born at the manor of Wiche, famous for its salt wells,
four miles from Worcester, being second son to Richard and Alice do Wiche.
In order to keep faithfully his baptismal vows, he from his infancy always
manifested the utmost dislike to gay diversions, and ever held in the highest
contempt all worldly pomp: instead of winch his attention was wholly employed
in establishing for himself a solid foundation of virtue and learning.
Every opportunity of serving others he regarded as his happiness and gain.
The unfortunate situation of his eldest brother's affairs gave him an occasion
of exercising his benevolent disposition. Richard condescended to become
his brother's servant, undertook the management of his farms, and by his
industry and generosity effectually retrieved his brother's before distressed
circumstances. Having completed this good work, he resumed at Paris
those studies he had begun at Oxford, leading with two select companions,
a life of piety and mortification, generally contenting himself with coarse
bread and simple water for his diet; except that on Sundays and on particular
festivals he would, in condescendence to some visitors, allow himself a little
meat or fish. Upon his return to
England, he proceeded master of arts at Oxford, from whence he went to Bologna,
in Italy, where he applied himself to the study of the Canon law, and was
appointed public professor of that science. After having taught there a short
time, he returned to Oxford, and, on account of his merit, was soon promoted
to the dignity of chancellor in that university. St. Edmund, archbishop of
Canterbury, having the happiness of gaining him for his diocese, appointed
him his chancellor, and entrusted him with the chief direction of his archbishop
and Richard was the faithful imitator of his patron's piety and devotions.
The principal use he made of his revenues was not to employ them to charitable
purposes, nor would he on any terms be prevailed on to accept the least present
in the execution of his office as ecclesiastical judge. He accompanied his
holy prelate in his banishment into France, and after his blessed death at
Pontigni, retired into a convent of Dominican friars in Orleans. Having
in that solitude employed his time in the improving himself in theological
studies, and received the order of priesthood, he returned to England to
serve a private curacy, in the diocese of Canterbury. Boniface, who had succeeded
St. Edmund in that metropolitan see, compelled him to resume his office of
chancellor, with the care of his whole diocese. Ralph Nevil, bishop of Chichester,
dying in 1244, King Henry III recommended to that see an unworthy court favorite,
called Robert Passelew the archbishop and other prelates declared the person
not qualified, and the presentation void: and preferred Richard de Wyche
to that dignity. He was consecrated in 1245. But
the king seized his temporalities, and the saint suffered many hardships
and persecutions from him and his officers, during two years, until his majesty
granted him a reprieve: upon which he recovered his revenues, but much impaired.
And as after having pleaded his cause at Rome before pope innocent
IV against the king’s deputies, and obtained a sentence confirming his election,
he had permitted no persecution fatigue, or difficulty to excuse him to himself
for the omission of any part of his duty to his flock: so now, the chief
obstacles being removed, he redoubled his fervor and attention. He,
in person, visited the sick, buried the dead and sought out and relieved
the poor. When his steward complained that his alms exceeded his income
then," said he, `sell my plate and my horse." Having suffered a great loss
by fire, instead of being more sparing in his charities, he said, “Perhaps
God sent us this loss to punish our covetousness;" and ordered upon the spot
more abundant alms to be given than usual. Such was the ardor of his
devotion that he lived as it were in the perpetual contemplation of heavenly
things. He preached the word of God to his flock with that unction and success
which only an eminent spirit of' prayer could produce. The affronts which
he received, he always repaid with favors, and enmity with singular marks
of charity. In maintaining discipline he was inflexible, especially in chastising
crimes in the clergy no intercession of the king, archbishop, and several
other prelates could prevail with him to mitigate the punishment of a priest
who had sinned against chastity. Yet penitent sinners he received with
inexpressible tenderness arid charity. While he was employed in preaching
a holy war against the Saracens, being commissioned thereto by the pope,
he fell sick of a fever, foretold his own death, and prepared himself for
it by the most melting ejaculations of divine love amid thanksgiving.
He died in an hospital at Dover, called God's House, on the 3d of April,
in year of our Lord 1253, of his episcopal dignity the ninth, of his age
the fifty-sixth. His body was conveyed to Chichester, and interred
before the alter which he himself had consecrated at his cathedral to the
memory of S. Edmund. It was removed to a more honorable place in 1276, on
the 16th of June, on which day our ancestors commemorated his translation.
1253 ST RICHARD OF WYCHE, Bishop of Chichester
RICHARD DE WYCHE, or Richard of Burford, as he is sometimes
called, was born 1197 at Wyche, the present Droitwich, then as now
famous for its brine-springs. His father was a landed proprietor or
small squire, but both he and his wife died when their children were
very young, leaving the estate in the charge of a negligent guardian
who allowed it to go to rack and ruin. Richard, the younger son, although
addicted to study from childhood, was of a much more virile temperament
than his brother, and, as soon as he realized the state of affairs he literally
put his hand to the plough and worked like a common labourer until by sheer
industry and good management he had retrieved the family fortunes. In
a fit of gratitude, the elder, Robert, made over to him the title deeds,
but when Richard discovered that a wealthy bride was being found for him
and also that Robert was repenting of his generosity, he resigned to
him both the land and the lady, departing almost penniless to take up
a new life in the University of Oxford. Poverty was no drawback, social
or educational, in a medieval seat of learning, and Richard was wont
in after days to characterize those years at Oxford as the happiest of
his life. Little did he reck that he was sometimes hungry, that being
unable to afford a fire he had to run about in winter to keep warm,
or that he and the companions who shared his room had but one college
gown which they took it in turns to wear at lectures. They were athirst
for learning, and they had great masters at Oxford in those days. Grosseteste
was lecturing in the Franciscan house of studies, and the Dominicans,
who arrived in the city in 1221, at once gathered round them a host of
brilliant men. We are not told how it happened that, in the short interval
between Richard’s arrival and Edmund Rich’s departure for Salisbury, the
unknown freshman came into contact with the great university chancellor,
but there seems no reason to doubt that the acquaintance was then begun
which ripened to a life-long friendship.
From Oxford Richard went to Paris, but returned to his alma
mater to take his M.A. degree, and then, some years later, proceeded
to Bologna to study canon law in what was regarded as the chief law
school of Europe. He made a stay in that city for seven years, receiving
the degree of doctor and winning general esteem, but when one of his
tutors offered to make him his heir and to give him his daughter in
marriage, Richard, who felt himself called to a celibate life, made
a courteous excuse and returned to Oxford.
There his career had been watched with interest. Almost immediately
he was appointed chancellor of the university, and soon afterwards both
St Edmund Rich, now archbishop of Canterbury, and Grosseteste, who had
become bishop of Lincoln, invited him to become their chancellor. He
accepted Edmund’s offer and henceforth became his close companion and
right-hand man, relieving him as much as he could of his heavy burdens.
In the words of the Dominican Ralph Bocking, afterwards St Richard’s confessor
and biographer, “Each leaned upon the other—the saint upon the saint:
the master upon the disciple, the disciple upon the master: the father
on the son, and the son on the father.”
St Edmund needed all his chancellor’s help and sympathy
in face of his well-nigh overwhelming difficulties, the greatest of
which arose from Henry III’s reprehensible and obstinate practice of
either keeping benefices vacant that he might enjoy their revenues
or else filling them with unworthy favourites of his own. When, after
many ineffectual struggles, the archbishop, sick and despairing, retired
to the Cistercian monastery of Pontigny, St Richard accompanied him
and nursed him until his death. Unwilling to remain on without his
master, the ex-chancellor then left Pontigny for the Dominican house
of studies in Orleans, where he continued reading and lecturing for
two years, and it was in the friars’ church that he was ordained priest
in 1243. Although he certainly contemplated eventually joining the Order
of Preachers, he returned to England, for some reason unknown, to work
as a parish priest at Deal, the prebendal stall of which had probably been
conferred upon him by St Edmund, as it was in the gift of the archbishop.
A man of his outstanding merits and qualifications could not long remain
in obscurity, and he was shortly afterwards recalled to his former chancellorship
by the new archbishop of Canterbury, Boniface of Savoy.
In 1244 Ralph Neville, bishop of Chichester, died, and Henry
III, by putting pressure on the canons, obtained the election of Robert
Passelewe, a worthless man who, according to Matthew Paris, “had obtained
the king’s favour in a wonderful degree by an unjust inquisition by
which he added some thousands of marks to the royal treasury.” The archbishop
refused to confirm the election and called a chapter of his suffragans
who declared the previous election invalid, and chose Richard, the primate’s
nominee, to fill the vacant see. Upon hearing the news, King Henry
was violently enraged: he kept in his own hands all the temporalities
and forbade the admission of St Richard to any barony or secular possession
attached to his see. In vain did the bishop elect himself approach the monarch
on two separate occasions: he could obtain neither the confirmation of his
election nor the restoration of the revenues to which he was entitled. At
last both he and the king carried the case to Pope Innocent IV, who
was presiding over the Council of Lyons, and he decided in favour of St Richard,
whom he consecrated himself on March 5, 1245. Landing once more in England
the new bishop was met by the news that the king, far from giving up the
temporalities, had forbidden anyone to lend St Richard money or even to give
him houseroom. At Chichester he found the palace gates closed against him:
those who would gladly have helped him feared the sovereign’s anger, and
it seemed as though he would have to wander about his diocese a homeless
outcast. However, a good priest, Simon of Tarring, opened his house to him,
and Richard, as Bocking informs us, “took shelter under this hospitable roof,
sharing the meals of a stranger, warming his feet at another man’s hearth”.
From this modest centre St Richard worked for two years
like a missionary bishop, visiting fisherfolk and downsmen, travelling
about mainly on foot, and succeeding under great difficulties in holding
synods—as we learn from the Constitutions of St Richard, a body of statutes
drawn up at this period and dealing with the various abuses which had
come to his notice.
Only when the pope threatened to excommunicate him would
Henry acknowledge the bishop and yield up the temporalities, but even
then much of the money which should have been restored to him remained
unpaid until after his death. Still, St Richard’s position was now totally
changed: he was enthroned and could henceforth dispense some of that
general hospitality combined with liberal almsgiving which was expected
of a medieval prelate. His own austerity remained unaltered, and, while
his guests feasted, he kept to his simple fare from which flesh meat was
rigorously excluded. When he saw poultry or young animals being conveyed
to his kitchen he would say, half sadly and half humorously, “Poor little
innocent creatures, if you were reasoning beings and could speak, how you
would curse us! For we are the cause of your death, and what have you done
to deserve it?” His dress was as plain as he could make it: lamb’s wool took
the place of the usual fur, and next to his skin he wore a hair shirt and
a sort of iron cuirass.
In the course of his eight years’ episcopate he won the
affection of his people to a remarkable extent, but though fatherly
and tender he could be very stern when he discovered avarice, heresy
or immorality amongst his clergy. Not even the intercession of the
archbishop and of the king could induce him to mitigate the punishment
of a priest who had sinned against chastity. His objection to nepotism
was so strong that he never would give preferment to any of his relations,
always instancing the example given by the Pastor of pastors, who gave
the keys, not to His cousin St John, but to St Peter, who was no relation.
His charity was boundless. When his steward complained that his alms exceeded
his income he bade him sell his gold and silver dishes, adding, “There
is my horse too; he is in good condition and should fetch a good price.
Sell him also, and bring me the money for the poor.” Of himself and of
his own powers he had the lowest opinion, and it has been noticed that
of the numerous miracles with which he has been credited the majority were
performed at the request or at the suggestion of other people.
To the strenuous duties of his office, the pope added that
of preaching a new crusade against the Saracens, and it was upon reaching
Dover after conducting a strenuous campaign along the coast that St
Richard was seized with a fever which he knew would prove fatal. He
died at the house for poor priests and pilgrims called the Maison-Dieu,
surrounded on his death-bed by Ralph Bocking, Simon of Tarring, and other
devoted friends. He was then in his fifty-fifth year, and he was canonized
only nine years later. No vestige of his relics or of his tomb at Chichester
has survived. St Richard’s feast is kept in the dioceses of Westminster,
Birmingham and Southwark.
Two lives
of St Richard are printed in the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol.
i, that by Ralph Bocking, and another which is found in Capgrave’s
Nova Legenda Angliae. This last seems to be a copy
of an early biography written before the canonization. There is an
excellent account of St Richard in J. H. Newman’s “Lives of the English
Saints”, the authorship of which has been assigned sometimes to Father
Dalgairns, sometimes to R. Ornsby. The fullest modern biography is that
of M. R. Capes, Richard of Wyche (1913). Further useful
bibliographical references are given in DNB and in the Dictionary
of English Church History.
Richard of Wyche, also known as Richard of Chichester, was
born at Wyche (Droitwich), Worcestershire, England. He was orphaned
when he was quite young. He retrieved the fortunes of the mismanaged estate
he inherited when he took it over, and then turned it over to his brother
Robert. Richard refused marriage and went to Oxford, where he studied
under Grosseteste and met and began a lifelong friendship with Saint Edmund Rich.
Richard von
Chichester Katholische Kirche: 3. April und 16. Juni Anglikanische
Kirche: 16. Juni
Richard wurde
1197 oder 1198 bei Worchester in England geboren. Er studierte in Oxford,
Paris und Bologna Rechtswissenschaften und Geisteswissenschaften. 1236
wurde er Kanzler der Universität Oxford und Kanzler des Erzischofs
Edmund von Abingdon. Nach dem Tod seines Bischofs studierte Richard Theologie
und wurde nach seiner Priesterweihe 1244 Bischof von Chichester. Er wirkte
vor allem als Kreuzzusprediger. Richard starb am 3.4.1253 in Dover.
Richard pursued his studies at Paris, received
his M.A. from Oxford, and then continued his studies at Bologna,
where he received his doctorate in Canon Law.
After seven years at Bologna, he returned to
Oxford, was appointed chancellor of the university in 1235, and then
became chancellor to Edmund Rich, now archbishop of Canterbury, whom
he accompanied to the Cistercian monastery at Pontigny when the archbishop
retired there. After Rich died at Pontigny, Richard taught at the Dominican
House of Studies at Orleans and was ordained there in 1243.
After a time as a parish priest at Deal, he became
chancellor of Boniface of Savoy, the new archbishop of Canterbury,
and when King Henry III named Ralph Neville bishop of Chichester in
1244, Boniface declared his selection invalid and named Richard to the
See. Eventually, the matter was brought to Rome and in 1245, Pope Innocent
IV declared in Richard's favor and consecrated him. When he returned
to England, he was still opposed by Henry and was refused admittance
to the bishop's palace; eventually Henry gave in when threatened with
excommunication by the Pope. The remaining eight years of Richard's
life were spend in ministering to his flock.
He denounced nepotism, insisted on strict clerical
discipline, and was ever generous to the poor and the needy. He died
at a house for poor priests in Dover, England, while preaching a crusade,
and was canonized in 1262.
Richard Backedine B (RM) (also
known as Richard of Wyche, of Droitwich, of Chichester, of Burford)
Born at Droitwich (formerly called Wyche), Worchestershire,
England, in 1197; died at Dover, England, 1253; canonized 1262.
"Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ For
all the benefits Thou hast given me, For all the pains and insults
Which Thou has borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer,
Friend, and Brother, May I know Thee more clearly, Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly, Day by day. Amen."
--Saint Richard of Chichester.
Richard's surname was Backedine,
but he is better known as Richard Wyche or 'of Wich.' He was born
into a family who held property and were counted among the minor nobility.
Even as a toddler Richard haunted holy Mass. At five, standing on a
chair, he was already preaching sermons: "Be good; if you are good, God
will love you; if you are not good, God will not love you." A little simplistic
but what do you expect of a five-year old? His knowledge of Latin amazed
the pastor and the fervor of his prayers confounded his mother. His parents
decided that the fruits of the earth would go to the eldest son, but
those of heaven would go to the youngest--he would belong to the Church.
Richard's parents died while he was still small,
and the heavily mortgaged family estate was left to his elder brother,
who had no gift for management. The brother allowed the land to fall
into ruin. When Richard was old enough, he served his brother out of kindness
as a laborer to help rebuild the estate. He actually tilled the land for
a time, and directed the replanting of the ruined gardens.
In time his management paid off, and the property
was restored to its former value. His brother wanted to give it to
Richard, but Richard only wanted to spend time with his books. Abandoning
the estates and the possibility of a marriage to a wealthy bride, Richard
went off to the newly opened Oxford University to finish his studies.
At Oxford he became acquainted with the Dominicans who had arrived in
1221, Franciscans such as Grosseteste, and Saint Edmund Rich, who was then chancellor
of the university and became one of Richard's lifelong friends.
Later, he went to Paris as a student of theology,
and was so poor that he shared a room with two others. They lived on
bread and porridge, and having only one good coat between them, they
could only go one at a time to lectures, wearing it in turn, while the
others remained at home. After taking his degree in Paris and finishing
his master's degree at Oxford, he studied Roman and canon law at Bologna
for seven years. There he received his doctorate and the esteem of many.
When one of his tutors offered to make Richard
his heir and give him his daughter in marriage, Richard, who felt
called to a celibate life, made a courteous excuse and returned to
Oxford at age 38. In 1235, he was appointed chancellor of the university
and then of the diocese of Oxford by Saint Edmund, who had become archbishop
of Canterbury.
Richard remained in close contact
with Saint Edmund during the long years of Edmund's conflict with
the English king and, in fact, followed him into exile in France and
nursed him until Edmund's death in 1240 at the Cistercian monastery
of Pontigny. After Edmund died, he taught at the Dominican house of
studies in Orléans for two years, where he was ordained a priest
in 1242 and lived in the Dominican community until his return to England
in 1243. At which time he served briefly as a parish priest at Charing
and at Deal.
Those were the days when Henry III created great
difficulties for the Church by encroaching on her liberties, seizing
her revenues, and appointing to ecclesiastical vacancies his own relatives
and followers. Crowned at the age of nine, when the barons had made
an impetuous attack on his power, the Church had come to the aid of the
frail child because God establishes all authority. Henry had acknowledged
this service until he reached manhood. Then the king forgot his debt to
the Church. He surrounded himself with favorites from the Continent: Bretons,
Provençals, Savoyards, and natives of Poitou to "protect himself
from the felony of his own subjects."
In 1244, Ralph Neville, bishop of Chichester
died. Thus it came about that the king nominated a courtier, Robert
Passelewe, to the bishopric of Chichester and pressured the canons to
elect him. However, the new archbishop, Blessed Boniface of Savoy,
refused to confirm appointment and called a chapter of his suffragans,
who declared the election invalid. Instead they chose Richard Backedine,
who had been chancellor to archbishops Edmund Rich and Boniface of Savoy
and who was the primate's nominee, to fill the vacant see.
This roused the anger of the king, who retaliated
by confiscating the cathedral revenues. It was a case in which retreat
would be pure cowardice, so Richard accepted the unwelcome office
and set about doing his best with it. At first he was almost starved
out of office because the king, who already had the church revenues,
forbade anyone to give Richard food or shelter. No bishop dared to consecrate
him and, after a year of mendicant existence, he went to receive episcopal
consecration from Pope Innocent IV, who was presiding over the Council of
Lyons, on March 5, 1245.
But Richard, receiving the powerful support of
the pope, though deprived of the use both of the cathedral and the
bishop's palace, took up his residence at Chichester, and on a borrowed
horse travelled through his diocese. He was given shelter in a country
rectory by Father Simon of Tarring, and from this modest center Bishop
Richard worked for two years like a missionary bishop, visiting fisherfolk
and peasants, and cultivating figs in his spare time.
He called many synods during his travels, and
drew up what are known as the Constitutions of Saint Richard, statutes
that address the various abuses that he noticed in his travels. The
sacraments were to be administered without payment, Mass celebrated with
dignity, and the clergy to remain celibate, practice residence, and
wear clerical garb. The laity were obliged to attend Mass on Sundays and
Holy Days and to memorize the Hail Mary, Our Father, and Creed. With great
charity and humility he carried on his work until the king reluctantly
yielded to a peremptory order of the pope to restore the revenues of the
bishopric.
With his temporalities restored,
Richard had the means to become a great alms-giver. "It will never
do," he said, "to eat out of gold and silver plates and bowls, while
Christ is suffering in the person of His poor," and he ate and drank
always out of common crockery. His early poverty and recent experiences
made him eschew riches. Whenever he heard of any fire or damage to his
property, Saint Richard would say to his stewards, "Do not grieve. This
is a lesson to us. God is teaching us that we do not give enough away to
the poor. Let us increase our almsgiving."
Nor would he allow any quarrels over money or
privilege to stand in the way of fellowship and charity. When an enemy
came to see him, he received him in the friendliest manner and invited
him to his table, but in matters of scandal and corruption he was stern
and unyielding. "Never," he said of one of his priests who was immoral,
"shall a ribald exercise any cure of souls in my diocese of Chichester."
And always he rose early, long before his clergy
were awake, passing through their dormitory to say his morning office
by himself. He encouraged the Dominicans and Franciscans in his diocese,
who aided him in reforming it.
His final task was a commission from the pope
to undertake a preaching mission for the Crusade throughout the kingdom.
He saw this as a call to a new life, which would also reopen the Holy
Land to pilgrims, not as a political expedition. He began preaching
the Crusade in his own church at Chichester and proceeded as far as Dover,
where, after he had dedicated a church to his friend Saint Edmund and sung matins, he was
taken ill, and died at the Maison- Dieu, a house of poor priests and
pilgrims, in his 56th year. Among his last words, as he turned his face,
lit up with peace, to an old friend, were: "I was glad when they said to
me, We will go into the house of the Lord."
If Richard was a thorn in the side of an avaricious
king, he was a saint to his flock, whose affection he won during his
eight-year episcopate. Many miracles of healing were recorded during
his lifetime, and many more after his death. Richard was deep in the hearts
of his people, the sort of saint that anyone can recognize by his simplicity,
holiness, and endless charity to the poor.
Richard built a magnificent tomb for his friend,
Saint Edmund, and was himself buried there after his death. In 1276,
his body was translated to a separate tomb that erected for him behind
the high altar of Chichester cathedral, which became one of the most
popular pilgrimage places in England. It was utterly destroyed in
1538 by the Reformers, and his body was buried secretly.
Legend says that Richard Backedine was a third
order Dominican, though there is no positive proof. One tradition
says that he was actually on his way to join the Dominican house in
Orléans, when the letters came appointing him bishop. In the
early days of the Order of Preachers, the name of Saint Richard was
inserted as a saint to be commemorated among their feasts, a fact
that offers strong evidence that Richard himself was a member of the
order. His biography was written by one of his clergy, Ralph Bocking
(Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley, Capes, Delaney, Dorcy,
Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gill, Walsh).
In art, Saint Richard is portrayed
as a bishop blessing his people with a chalice by him, because he
once dropped the chalice during a Mass, which remained unspilt. He
may be shown (1) with the chalice at his feet; (2) kneeling with the
chalice before him; (3) ploughing his brother's fields; or (4) blessing
(Roeder). Unexpectedly, he is the patron of the coachmen's guild in
Milan, Italy, presumably because he drove carts on his family farm (Farmer).
His feast is observed in the dioceses of Southwark, Westminster, and
Birmingham (Attwater2).
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1260
Blessed Gandulphus of Binasco Franciscan his discourses and
miracles made a profound impression while Saint Francis was still alive
preaching in Sicily hermit OFM
(also known as Gandulf) Born in Binasco (near Milan), Lombardy,
Italy; Gandulphus became a member of the Franciscan Order while Saint
Francis was still alive and spent his life praying and preaching in
Sicily. Later in life, he left the friary at Palermo to become a hermit.
He is highly venerated in Sicily (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
1260 BD GANDULF OF BINASCO his discourses and miracles made
a profound impression
THE Sicilians have a great veneration for this Gandulf,
a Franciscan who, though born at Binasco near Milan, lived and died
upon their island. He was one of those who entered the order while
the Seraphic Father was still alive, and the life he led was one of
great self-abnegation. Alarm at hearing himself commended induced him
to embrace the solitary life, lest he should be tempted to vainglory.
With one companion, Brother Pascal, he left the friary at Palermo and
set out for the wild district in which he had determined to settle. Afterwards
from time to time he would emerge from his retreat to evangelize the people
of the neighbouring districts, upon whom his discourses and miracles made
a profound impression. Once while he was preaching at Polizzi, the sparrows
chattered so loudly that the congregation could not hear the sermon. Bd
Gandulf appealed to the birds to be quiet, and we are told that they kept
silence until the conclusion of the service. On that occasion the holy
man told the people that he was addressing them for the last time; and
in fact, immediately upon his return to the hospital of St Nicholas where
he was staying he was seized with fever, and died on Holy Saturday as he
had foretold, in 1260.
Afterwards, when his body was enshrined, the watchers declared
that during the night there had flown into the church a number of swallows
who had parted into groups and had sung, in alternating choirs, a Te
Deum of their own.
Some account
of this beato will be found in the Acta
Sanctorum, September, vol. v. See also Léon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. iii, pp. 201—205, and Mazara, Leggendario Francescano (1679), vol. ii, pp. 472—476.
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1271
Blessed John of Penna priest founding several Franciscan houses
visions gift of prophecy won all hearts by his exemplary life as well
as by his kindly and courteous manners; aridity and a painful lingering
illness; spiritual consolations assurance that he accomplished
his purgatory on earth his cell was illuminated with a celestial light
OFM (AC)
Born at Penna San Giovanni (near Fermo), Ancona, Italy,
c. 1193; died at Recanati, Italy, April 3, 1271; cultus approved 1806
by Pope Pius VII. Blessed John joined the Franciscans at Recanati
about 1213, was ordained a priest, and was sent to France, where he worked
for about 25 years in Provence, founding several Franciscan houses. About
1242, he returned to Italy, where he spent his last 30 years mainly in
retirement, although he did serve as guardian several times. He experienced
visions and had the gift of prophecy, but was also afflicted with extended
periods of spiritual aridity. His life is described in chapter 45 of The
Little Flowers of Saint Francis (Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney).
1271 BD JOHN OF PENNA won all hearts
by his exemplary life as well as by his kindly and courteous manners;
aridity and a painful lingering illness; spiritual consolations assurance that he accomplished his purgatory on
earth his cell was illuminated with a celestial light
PENNA in
the March of Ancona was the birthplace of this holy Minorite. Impressed
by the teaching of one of the early followers of St Francis of Assisi,
he sought admission into his order and received the habit in the convent
of Recanati. From Italy he was afterwards sent to Provence. In France,
where he laboured for twenty-five years, he founded several houses of
the order, and won all hearts by his exemplary life as well as by his
kindly and courteous manners. Recalled to Italy he gave himself up, as
far as he could, to prayer and retirement. The good friar’s later years
were tried by aridity and by a lingering illness which was of a very painful
kind, but which he bore with perfect resignation. Ultimately he was rewarded
by spiritual consolations and by the assurance that he had accomplished
his purgatory on earth. As the hour of death drew near, his cell was illuminated
with a celestial light, and he passed to glory with uplifted hands and
with words of thanksgiving upon his lips. His cultus was
approved by Pope Pius VII.
The story
of Bd John of Penna fills a long chapter (45) in the Fioretti.
See also Léon, Auréole
Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. iii, pp. 276—278, and
Mazara, Leggendario Francescano (1679), vol. i,
pp. 474—476.
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1458 Blessed Alexandrina
di Letto nun abbess founder Poor Clare initiated a new Franciscan
reform (PC)
Born at Sulmona, Italy in 1385; At age 15, Alexandrina joined
the Poor Clares. After 23 years as a nun she founded a convent of
her order at Foligno of which she became its first abbess. Here she
initiated a new Franciscan reform, which was blessed and encouraged
by Pope Martin V (Benedictines).
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1492 The Monk Nektarii of
Bezhetsk a monastic of the Trinity-Sergiev monastery
In the mid XV Century he settled in a dense forest
in the upper part of the Bezhetsk region, where he built himself a
cell. The deeds and the spiritual wisdom of the monk attracted to him
many, that wanted to live under his guidance. In a short while the monks
built a church in honour of the Vvedenie-Entry into the Temple of the Most
Holy Mother of God, and they enclosed it about with a fence. The new monastery
was one of the poorest, and which in the expression of the chronicler,
was built "with tears, fasting and vigil".
By common accord of all the brethren of the monastery,
its founder the Monk Nektarii was chosen as hegumen. The Monk Nektarii
died 3 April 1492.
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Martyred
Monastic Fathers of the Davido-Garedzh Lavra 6,000+, accepted martyr's
death in Gruzia (Georgia) for confessing the Christian faith
The Martyred Monastic Fathers of the Davido-Garedzh Lavra,
numbering more than 6,000, accepted a martyr's death in Gruzia (Georgia)
for confessing the Christian faith at the beginning of the XVII Century,
during the time of shah Abbas I.
The saints were buried in the temple of the Davido-Garedzh
monastery by the emperor Archil II (Comm. 21 June).
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1589
St. Bendict the Black Franciscan lay brother superior obscure and
humble cook holiness reputation for miracles patron of African-Americans
in the United States incorrupt
Panórmi sancti Benedícti a sancto Philadélpho,
ob córporis nigrédinem cognoménto Nigri, ex
Ordine Minórum, Confessóris; qui, signis et virtútibus
clarus, in Dómino quiévit, et a Pio Séptimo, Pontífice
Máximo, in Sanctórum númerum relátus est.
St. Benedict of San Philadelphio (Or BENEDICT THE MOOR)
Born at San Philadelphio or
San Fradello, a village of the Diocese of Messina in Sicily, in 1526; d.
4 April, 1589. The parents of St. Benedict were slaves from Ethiopia who
were, nevertheless, pious Christians. On account of their faithfulness their
master freed Benedict, the first-born child. From his earliest years Benedict
was very religious and while still very young he joined a newly formed association
of hermits. When Pope Pius IV dissolved the association, Benedict,
called from his origin Æthiops or Niger, entered the Reformed Recollects
of the Franciscan Order. Owing to his virtues he was made superior of the
monastery of Santa Maria de Jesus at Palermo three years after his entrance,
although he was only a lay brother. He reformed the monastery and ruled
it with great success until his death. He was pronounced Blessed in 1743
and was canonized in 1807. His feast is celebrated 3 April.
1589 ST BENEDICT THE BLACK His
face when he was in chapel often shone with an unearthly light, and
food seemed to multiply miraculously under his hands; reputation for
sanctity and miracles;
BENEDICT was born in a village
near Messina in Sicily. His parents were good Christians, but African
slaves of a rich landowner whose name (Manasseri) they bore, according
to the prevalent custom. Christopher’s master had made him foreman
over his other servants and had promised that his eldest son, Benedict,
should be free. The baby grew up such a sweet-tempered, devout child
that when he was only ten years old he was called “The Holy Black” (Ii
moro santo), a nickname which clung to him all his life. One day, when
he was about twenty-one, he was grossly insulted by some neighbours,
who taunted him with his colour and the status of his parents. There
happened to be passing at the time a young man called Lanzi, who had
retired from the world with a few companions to live the life of a
hermit in imitation of St Francis of Assisi. He was greatly impressed
by the gentleness of Benedict’s replies and, addressing the mockers,
he said, “You make fun of this poor black man now; but I can tell you
that ere long you will hear great things of him”. Soon afterwards,
at Lanzi’s invitation, Benedict sold his few possessions and went to join
the solitaries.
Several times in the ensuing
years the hermits were obliged to shift their quarters, and at last
they settled on Montepellegrino near Palermo, already hallowed by having
sheltered St Rosalia. Here Lanai died, and the community chose Benedict
as their superior, very much against his will. But when he was about
thirty-eight, Pope Pius IV decreed that the hermits must either disperse
or join some order. Benedict chose to join the Friars Minor of the Observance,
and found a welcome as a lay-brother in the convent of St Mary near Palermo.
At first he was employed as cook, a post which suited his retiring
nature and which gave him opportunities for little deeds of kindness,
but his extraordinary goodness could not long escape notice. His face
when he was in chapel often shone with an unearthly light, and food seemed
to multiply miraculously under his hands.
In 1578, when the Friars Minor
of the Observance held their chapter at Palermo, it was decided to
convert the house of St Mary into a convent of the reform. This necessitated
the appointment of a very wise guardian, and the choice of the chapter
fell upon Benedict, a lay-brother who could neither read nor write.
He himself was greatly perturbed at the appointment, but was obliged under
obedience to accept. The choice was abundantly justified. Benedict proved
to be an ideal superior, for his judgement was sound and his admonitions
were so tactfully and wisely given that while never resented they were
always taken to heart. His reputation for sanctity and miracles quickly
spread over Sicily, and when he went to attend the provincial chapter
at Girgenti clergy and people turned out to meet him, men and women struggling
to kiss his hand or to obtain a fragment of his habit as a relic.
Relieved of the office of guardian,
St Benedict was made vicar of the convent and novice-master. To this
post also he proved himself fully equal. An infused sacred science
enabled him to expound the Holy Scriptures to the edification of priests
and novices alike, and his intuitive grasp of deep theological truths
often astonished learned inquirers. It was known that he could read
men’s thoughts, and this power, coupled with great sympathy, made him
a successful director of novices. Nevertheless he was glad when he was
released and allowed to return to the kitchen, although his position
was scarcely that of the obscure cook of earlier years. Now, all day long,
he was beset by visitors of all conditions—the poor demanding alms, the
sick seeking to be healed, and distinguished persons requesting his advice
or his prayers. Though he never refused to see those who asked for him,
he shrank from marks of respect, and when travelling would cover his face
with his hood and if possible choose the night that he might not be recognized.
Throughout his life he continued the austerities of his hermit days. In
the matter of food, however, he was wont to say that the best form of mortification
was not to deprive oneself of it, but to desist after eating a little,
adding that it was right to partake of food given in alms, as a token of
gratitude and to give pleasure to the donors.
Benedict “The Holy Black” died in 1589 at the
age of sixty-three after a short illness. He was chosen as patron by
the Negroes of North America and as protector by the town of Palermo,
having been canonized in 1807.
See the life
(Vita di San Benedetto di San Fradello) by
F Giovanni da Capistrano, published in 1808; that by Father B. Nicolosi
(1907); and Léon, Auréole Séraphique
(Eng. trans.), ii, pp. 14—31.
At Palermo, St. Benedict
of St. Philadelphus, called the Black because of the darkness of his
body, a confessor of the Order of Friars Minor. After becoming
outstanding for signs and virtues, he went to rest in the Lord, and
was enrolled among the saints by Pope Pius VII.
There is a saint called Benedict the Black or
Benedict the Moor ('the Moor' is a misnomer originating from the Italian
il moro -- the black).
He was born a slave near Messina, Italy. He was
freed by his master and became a solitary, eventually settling with
other hermits at Montepellegrino. He was made superior of the community,
but when he was about thirty-eight, Pope Pius IV disbanded communities
of solitaries and he became a Franciscan lay brother and the cook at St.
Mary's convent near Palermo.
He was appointed, against his will, superior
of the convent when it opted for the reform, though he could neither
read nor write. After serving as superior, he became novice master but
asked to be relieved of this post and return to his former position
of cook. His holiness, reputation for miracles, and his fame as a confessor
brought hordes of visitors to see the obscure and humble cook.
Benedict the Black, OFM (RM) (also known as Benedict the
Moor) Born near Messina, Italy, in 1526; died at Palermo, Italy, April
4, 1589; beatified in 1743; canonized in 1807. Benedict was the son
of freed negro slaves of Sicily. He was about 21 when he was publicly
insulted on account of his race, and his patient and dignified demeanor
on that occasion was observed by the leader of a group of Franciscan
hermits.
Benedict was
invited to join the group at Montepellegrino. When their superior died,
he was made superior of the community. When he was about 38 (1564),
Pope Pius IV disbanded communities of hermits and they were absorbed into
the Friars Minor of Observance. Thus, Benedict became a Franciscan lay
brother and the cook at Saint Mary's monastery near Palermo.
In 1578,
Benedict was appointed superior (guardian) of the convent when it opted
for the reform, though he was an illiterate laybrother. With understandable
reluctance he accepted the office, and, rule with many evidences of
direct supernatural aid, successfully carried through the adoption
of a stricter interpretation of the Franciscan.
After serving as superior, he became novice master but asked
to be relieved of this post and returned to his former position as cook.
Benedict's reputation for holiness, working miracles, and as a sympathetic
and understanding religious counsellor brought hordes of visitors to
see the obscure and humble cook. Saint Benedict is the patron of African-Americans
in the United States. The surname 'the Moor' is a misnomer originating
from the Italian il moro (the black) (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, Gill).
Died 1589 of natural causes; body reported incorrupt when
exhumed several years later
Beatified 15 May 1743 by Pope Benedict XIV Canonized 24
May 1807 by Pope Pius VIII
April 3, 2010 St. Benedict the African
(1526-1589)
Benedict held important posts in the Franciscan Order and
gracefully adjusted to other work when his terms of office were up.
His parents were slaves brought from Africa to Messina,
Sicily. Freed at 18, Benedict did farm work for a wage and soon saved
enough to buy a pair of oxen. He was very proud of those animals. In
time he joined a group of hermits around Palermo and was eventually
recognized as their leader. Because these hermits followed the Rule
of St. Francis, Pope Pius IV ordered them to join the First Order.
Benedict was eventually novice master and then guardian
of the friars in Palermo— positions rarely held in those days by a
brother. In fact, Benedict was forced to accept his election as guardian.
And when his term ended he happily returned to his work in the friary
kitchen.
Benedict corrected the friars with humility and charity.
Once he corrected a novice and assigned him a penance only to learn
that the novice was not the guilty party. Bened ict immediately knelt
down before the novice and asked his pardon.
In later life Benedict was not possessive of the few things
he used. He never referred to them as "mine" but always called them
"ours." His gifts for prayer and the guidance of souls earned him throughout
Sicily a reputation for holiness. Following the example of St. Francis,
Benedict kept seven 40-day fasts throughout the year; he also slept only
a few hours each night.
After Benedict’s death, King Philip III of Spain paid for
a special tomb for this holy friar. Canonized in 1807, he is honored
as a patron saint by African-Americans.
Comment: Among Franciscans a position of leadership
is limited in time. When the time expires, former leaders sometimes
have trouble adjusting to their new position. The Church needs men
and women ready to put their best energies into leadership— but men and
women who are gracefully willing to go on to other work when their time
of leadership is over.
Quote: "I did not come to be served but to serve (see
Matthew 20:28), says the Lord. Those who are placed over others should
glory in such an office only as much as they would were they assigned
the task of washing the feet of the brothers. And the more they are
upset about their office being taken from them than they would be over
the loss of the office of [washing] feet, so much the more do they store
up treasures to the peril of their souls (see John 12:6)" (Francis of
Assisi, Admonition IV).
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