Mary Mother of GOD
Et
álibi aliórum plurimórum
sanctórum Mártyrum
et Confessórum,
atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins. Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас! (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!) R.
Deo grátias. R.
Thanks be to God.
July is
the month
of the
Precious
Blood
since
1850;2023 23,000 Lives Saved Since 2007 St. Gregory Grassi, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs (Optional Memorial) Sitka_Theotokos
Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War Acts of the Apostles Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque How do I start the Five First Saturdays? Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary . 40 Days for Life 11,000+ saved lives in 2015 We are the defenders of true freedom. May our witness unveil the deception of the "pro-choice" slogan. 40 days for Life Campaign saves lives Shawn Carney Campaign Director www.40daysforlife.com , Please help save the unborn they are the future for the world It is a great poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish -- Mother Teresa Saving babies, healing moms and dads, 'The Gospel of Life'
Tambov_Theotokos Our
Lady of Kazan Russia, 1579 Liberator of Russia
The miraculous icon of the Mother
of God of Kazan has the sad face of the Russian Virgins, with the Baby
Jesus held tightly against her chest.
The icon is covered by an oklad - a silver or gold carapace - inlaid with precious stones. This Virgin had the reputation of returning sight to the blind, who gave her in return, out of their immense gratitude, high-quality emeralds to decorate her frame. Its history has been known since the day
when a large fire destroyed a part of the town of Kazan in 1579. The
icon was discovered that year under the debris of a burned house, by a
ten year old girl, to whom the Virgin Mary had appeared several times,
giving her instructions to search in that particular place. This Madonna
and Child came to be venerated as the "Liberator of Russia", and was seen
on the standards used during the battles against the Swedes or Napoleon.
In 1918, Tsar Nicholas II consecrated his Empire to
her as his last political act. He was arrested a few days afterwards and,
on Trotsky's order, was executed with all his family.
Taken from AFALE Magazine, #293, September 2004 The icon of Kazan disappeared during the horrors of the Russian Revolution. Many thought that it was burned in the great auto-da-fe of icons and holy images of this period. However in 1965, it turned up on sale by a large New York antique dealer, without its oklad and very much damaged. The asking price was a fabulous sum for the time. The Soviet government was in on the auction, but the Russians of the Diaspora managed to repurchase it and have it restored. The icon was transferred to Fatima at Domus Pacis, because of the prophecies in favor of Russia. Domus Pacis, an armored, vaulted room
in the chapel, was built especially for the icon.
John Paul II, to whom it was given at the time of one of his visits, charged his legate, the Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for the Unity of Christians, to give it back to the Russians on August 28, 2004, on the feast day of the Dormition of the Virgin, during a long ceremony in which the rich Orthodox liturgy was used in the imposing framework of the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Kremlin. There were four of us around the dying child.
The doctor took the child’s pulse as her heartbeat became almost imperceptible.
Suddenly, we thought we heard someone breathing in the room; we had the impression of a vivifying presence, but there was nothing visible, just the strange certainty of a supernatural intervention. I called my husband and told him if he believed in God to start praying the ‘Hail Mary’, because it all seemed to be over. My husband joined his hands in prayer without saying anything. Then suddenly, the child awoke and her body looked human again; her contracted arms and legs slackened, positioning themselves back into their natural angle. Her eyes opened full of life and the doctor, without taking his hand off her wrist, exclaimed: “It’s a miracle!
It’s a miracle! She has come back to life! She’s alive!”
Earlier when the convulsions first began, I
went to fetch a statuette of the Virgin from the neighbor’s house, and
I had placed under the nape of my child’s neck. Now the crisis was over.
The almost dead child was on the road to recovery. Since that experience,
a statue of Our Lady is always on display in our living room.Of course, I left the sect and, little by little,
I found my way back to the Catholic Church and the true faith in which
I now raise my children. I have learned to appreciate the benefits of the
Rosary, especially now that I have become familiar with the mysteries
of the Rosary. I would like to cry out and tell everyone about the power
of the Mother of God and about the impact the ‘Hail Mary’ has on her maternal
heart that has suffered so much. Her heart is so powerful at helping our
distress!
Adapted from
the Call of the Painful and Immaculate Heart, #60, from the Marian Collection
#11, 1979
Accused of having an excessive devotion to the Virgin Mary Thibaud, from the illustrious family of Montmorency, close to the French royal family, showed, from an early age, a great devotion to the Virgin Mary, whom he honored as "his good mother and beloved mistress." Upon growing up, he became a soldier and attended court. One day when Thibaud was about to participate in a jousting
tournament, he passed a church at Mass time.
He dismounted and heard the whole Mass with all the more devotion that it was celebrated in honor of the Blessed Virgin. After Mass, he ran to his companions, but was surprised to have them greet him and praise him for his victory in the tournament. He first showed some surprise, but recognizing at once in what they said, that his good angel had jousted in his place, he did not further explain himself but vowed to leave the world and renounce all its attractions. He embraced the Cistercian rule, entering the monastery
in 1226.
He
was noticed by his devotion to the Virgin Mary to whom he attributed the
glory of all his words and actions. When he was accused of having an excessive devotion to the Virgin Mary, he replied: "I like the Madonna as much as I do, because she is the
Mother of my Lord Jesus Christ."
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here } The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible. 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary Mary's Divine Motherhood Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos). Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251. |
|
100 Sts. Priscilla
& Aquila a Jewish tentmaker. He and his wife Prisca or Priscilla
were forced to leave Rome; went to Corinth where St. Paul lived with
them during his stay converted them to Christianity; accompanied Paul
to Ephesus and remained; Paul stayed with them on his 3rd missionary journey.
130 St. Auspicius
Bishop of Trier, Germany, successor of St. Maternus290 Epictetus priest and Astion monastic martyrs lived in Bithynia southwest coast of the Black Sea God granted Epictetus gift of wonderworking, healed many people troubled by unclean spirits, or afflicted with other maladies 303 Procopius
{Neanius} Holy Great Martyr persecution against Christians
then, vision of the Lord Jesus, similar to the vision of Saul a radiant Cross appeared
in the air; felt an inexpressible joy and spiritual happiness in his
heart;
transformed from being
a persecutor into a zealous follower of ChristSaint Febronia the Ascetic Martyrdom of niece of the superior of a convent that had fifty virgins, in a place called "Ouryana" in Mesopotamia {Coptic} Saints Bioukha and Tayaban (Banayen) the priests.{Coptic} 326 St. Apollonius Bishop of Benevento, Italy; he went into hiding during the last persecution instituted by Diocletian 410 King Mirdat (408–410), the son of Varaz-Bakur, first martyred king of Georgia endowed with great virtues: wisdom, discretion, physical prowess, fearlessness, valor, and courage; liberated Klarjeti from the Byzantines, abolished the tribute system (taxes to Persia), prepared for war against Persians; martyred for the love of Christ 475 Auspicius the bishop of Toul B (AC) 689 St. Kilian An Irish monk; consecrated Bishop, went to Rome with eleven companions in 686, and received permission from Pope Conon to evangelize Franconia (Baden and Bavaria) 690 St. Landrada Benedictine foundress and abbess. She ruled the convent of Munsterbilsen, Belgium 743 St. Withburga Virgin Benedictine nun youngest daughter of King Anna of East Anglia, England; Her remains later stolen by monks enshrined her in Ely; a spring, called Withburga's Well, sprang up at her Dereham grave 800 St. Arnold confessor in the court of Charlemagne; a Greek by birth, entering the service of he was noted for his charity to the poor. A village, Amold-Villiers, was named after him, near Jülich 835 Sts. Abrahamites Monks and martyrs of the monastery founded by Abraham in Constantinople; During iconoclastic dispute they refused to demolish sacred images of their monastery 885 St. Adrian III Pope worked to mitigate the rigors of a famine in Rome 10th v. Sunniva of Bergen & Comp. Irish nun shipwrecked in Norway and set up a convent with her companions (AC) 901 St. Grimbald Benedictine abbot invited to England by King Alfred in 885 credited restoring learning to England 975 Saint Edgar the Peaceful, King distinguished by a strong religious revival in England. (PC) 1118 St. Raymond of Toulouse a chanter and canon renowned for generosity; native of Toulouse, France many miracles were reported at his tomb 1153 Bd Eugenius III, Pope Cistercian monk at Clairvaux; he took in religion the name of Bernard, his great namesake being his superior at Clairvaux 1239 St. Albert of Genoa Cistercian hermit; born in Genoa and entered the nearby Cistercian abbey of Sentri da Ponente as a lay brother. He lived as a hermit on the abbey grounds Ustiug Annunciation Icon of the Mother of God 1268 Blessed Benedict d'Alignan became a Franciscan after making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, OFM B (PC) 1282 Mar 02 St. Agnes of Bohemia ; thaumaturgist or miracle worker 1300 Blessed Procopius of Usya (Vologda diocese), Fool-for-Christ incorrupt relics for 200 years remained in open view; source of numerous healings 1336
St. Elizabeth
of Portugal exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but also
through her exercise of charity, by which she was able to befriend and
help pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose
need came to her notice
1337 Novgorod_Theotokos
The Tenderness icon of the Mother of God belongs to the Eleousa (Umilenie)
type floating in the air, and
tears were flowing Stremótii, in Lusitánia, natális sanctæ Elísabeth Víduæ, Lusitanórum Regínæ, quam, virtútibus et miráculis claram, Urbánus Octávus, Póntifex Máximus, in Sanctórum númerum rétulit. Ejus tamen celébritas octávo Idus mensis hujus recólitur, ex dispositióne Innocéntii Papæ Duodécimi. At Estremos in Portugal, the birthday of St. Elizabeth the Widow, queen of Portugal, whom Pope Urban VIII, mindful of her virtues and miracles, placed among the number of the saints. Pope Innocent XII ordered her feast to be kept on the 8th of July. 1579 Copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, Wonderworking 1626 Bl. Mancius Araki Martyr of Japan; a Japanese brother of Blessed Matthew Araki, who sheltered missionaries. Arrested and held in Omura prison, Japan, Mancius died there 19th v. Sitka Icon of the Mother of God Located at the Cathedral of St Michael the Archangel in Sitka, Alaska; Miracles have been attributed to her gaze 1900 7 Martyrs of Shanxi were beheaded on this day in Members of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, they went to China to open orphanages. In Portu Románo sanctórum quinquagínta mílitum Mártyrum, qui, in sanctæ Bonósæ confessióne ad fidem addúcti, et a beáto Felíce Papa Primo baptizáti, in Aureliáno Imperatóris persecutióne occísi sunt. At Porto, fifty holy martyrs, all soldiers, who were led to the faith by the martyrdom of St. Bonosa, and baptized by the blessed Pope Felix. They were put to death in the persecution of Aurelian. |
100 Sts. Priscilla
& Aquila a Jewish tentmaker. He and his wife Prisca or Priscilla
were forced to leave Rome when Emperor Claudius forbade Jews to live there.
They went to Corinth, where St. Paul lived with them during his stay there
and may have converted them to Christianity. They accompanied Paul to Ephesus
and remained there; Paul stayed with them on his third missionary journey.
In Asia minóre sanctórum Aquilæ et Priscíllæ uxóris, de quibus in Actibus Apostolórum scríbitur. In Asia Minor, the Saints Aquilla and his wife Priscilla, of whom mention is made in the Acts of the Apostles. They then returned to Rome, where there house was also used as a church and then went back to Ephesus. They suffered martyrdom in Asia Minor, according to the
Roman Martyrology but a tradition has them martyred in Rome.
Prisca (Priscilla) und Aquila
werden mehrmals im Neuen Testament genannt (z. B. Apg. 18, 2). Sie waren
Juden, die wahrscheinlich in Rom lebten und die Stadt verlassen mußten,
als unter Kaiser Claudius alle Juden aus Rom verbannt wurden. Sie zogen
nach Korinth und lernten dort Paulus kennen. Paulus arbeitete bei Aquila
als Zeltmacher. Aquila und Prisca zogen dann mit Paulus nach Ephesus und
blieben dort, als Paulus nach Jerusalem weiterreiste. Hier lernten sie
Apollos kennen und unterrichteten ihn. Nachdem Juden wieder nach Rom ziehen
durften, gingen Aquila und Prisca zurück nach Rom (Röm 16, 3 f.).
Paulus hat dann Aquila zum Bischof ernannt. Prisca und Aquila haben in Asien,
Achaeia und Herakleia gewirkt und sind dort als Märtyrer gestorben.
Ss. Aqulla and Prisca, Or Priscilla
First Century What little is known of these two is to be. found in the
Holy Scriptures.
They were disciples of St Paul and, like their master, constrained to undertake many journeys and changes of residence; when we first hear of them (Acts xviii 1-3) they had recently left Italy in consequence of the decree of the Emperor Claudius whereby Jews were prohibited to foregather in Rome. Aquila was a Jew of Pontus, and when he and his wife Prisca left Rome he took a house at Corinth. St Paul coming thither from Athens called on them, and when he found that Aquila was, like himself, a tent-maker (every Jewish rabbi had a trade) he decided to live with them during his stay in Corinth it is possible that they received the faith from him at this time, or they may have been Christians already. Aquila and Prisca went on with Paul to Ephesus and stopped on there when he continued his voyage in his absence they instructed Apollo, a Jew of Alexandria, mighty in the Scriptures ", who knew of our Lord only through some of the disciples of St John Baptist. They continued in Ephesus during St Paul's third missionary journey, he using their house as his headquarters, and in it they had a church (i Cor. xvi 19). Later they returned to Rome, and there also had a church in their house, for writing to the Romans, St Paul says : " Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the church which is in their house ", and adds a testimony of gratitude for all they had done: My helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid down their own necks: to whom not I only give thanks but also all the churches of the Gentiles." But soon the devoted couple were at Ephesus again, and in his second letter to Timothy Paul sends greetings to them there. The Roman Martyrology states that
SS. Aquila and Prisca died in Asia Minor, but there is a tradition that
they were martyred in Rome, a late legend associating them with the Titulus
Priscae, now the church of St Prisca on the Aventine. Certain
alleged "acts" of SS. Aquila and Priscilla dating from the seventh century
have been edited by J. Ebersolt (1902). See also R. Schumacher in
Theologie and Glaube, vol.
iii (1920), pp. 86-89.
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130 St. Auspicius Bishop of Trier, Germany, successor of St. Maternus He might be a first-century bishop of Toul, France, by the same name. |
290 Epictetus priest
and Astion monastic martyrs lived in Bithynia on the southwest coast
of the Black Sea God granted Epictetus gift of wonderworking, he healed
many people troubled by unclean spirits, or afflicted with other maladies.
During the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305). From his youth, St Epictetus had dedicated his life to God, and studied to acquire knowledge of the Gospel. He entered a monastery, and later was found worthy to be ordained to the holy priesthood. Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ, the saint converted many people to Christianity. God granted Epictetus the gift of wonderworking, and he healed many people troubled by unclean spirits, or afflicted with other maladies. One day while out for a stroll, the illustrious youth Astion met St Epictetus. During a long conversation St Epictetus enlightened Astion, sowing the seed of God's Word in the young man's soul. He spoke to him about the only true God, about the great value of the immortal human soul, and about fleeting worldly pleasures. Astion came to believe in Christ and was baptized. Soon after this, he also became a monk. Since Christians were being persecuted in Bithynia, he asked St Epictetus if they might travel together to some distant land where they could dedicate their lives completely to God. Boarding a ship, Sts Epictetus and Astion journeyed to Scythia and settled among the pagan Slavs near the Roman outpost of Halmyris in the province of Histria south of the mouth of the Danube. The city was the site of a military fort and a base for the Roman fleet which patrolled the Danube and the Black Sea. When they arrived at Halmyris in 273, St Epictetus was forty-seven years old, and St Astion was only eighteen. During the next seventeen years, the saints spent their lives in prayer and fasting, and performed many miracles. The God-pleasing lives of the monks could not remain hidden from others for very long. People afflicted by various illnesses or oppressed by evil spirits came to the saints seeking relief. Even pagans asked the holy ascetics for help, and after being healed of their afflictions, they embraced Christianity. St Epictetus once healed a fifteen-year-old deaf and dumb boy by praying and breathing on him three times. More than a thousand people became Christians after witnessing this miracle. St Astion once cured a man whose legs and toes were crushed when he fell from a building. Latronianus, the military commander of the district, arrived in Halmyris in 290 on an official visit of inspection. The pagan priests wasted no time in complaining to him about Sts Epictetus and Astion. They denounced the two men from Bithynia, accusing them of converting people to Christianity through sorcery, and persuading them not to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. The saints were arrested and interrogated by Latronianus, who tried to find out their names and where they were from. Their only reply was, "We are Christians." Latronianus had them tortured in an effort to make them abandon their Christian beliefs. After thirty days in prison without food and water, the holy martyrs Epictetus and Astion were once again brought before Latronianus. They remained steadfast and ready to endure even more suffering for Christ. The commander declared that Epictetus and Astion were traitors, and ordered them to be tortured and beheaded. Sts Epictetus and
Astion received the crown of martyrdom on July 8, 290. At first, they
were buried in an unknown spot. Later, their holy relics were transferred
into the basilica built in the fourth century by St Constantine the Great
(May 21) at Halmyris.
Archaeologists discovered the holy relics of Sts Epictetus and Astion at Halmyris in 2001. The bones were scattered about in two rooms of a burial crypt, indicating that the tomb had been vandalized, perhaps in the sixth century. Scientific tests on the bones revealed that one of the men was approximately sixty-four years old, and the other about thirty-five. This is consistent with the ages of the two saints as given in the written accounts of their martyrdom. The bones also indicate that the two had been beheaded. The holy relics of Sts Epictetus
and Astion were reburied in 2001 by Archbishop Theodosius of Tomis
(Romania).
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303 Procopius {Neanius}
Holy Great Martyr persecution against Christians then, vision of the
Lord Jesus, similar to the vision of Saul a radiant Cross appeared in
the air. Neanius felt an inexpressible joy and spiritual happiness in
his heart and he was transformed from being a persecutor into a zealous
follower of Christ
Cæsaréæ, in Palæstína, sancti Procópii Mártyris, qui, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre, a Scythópoli ductus Cæsaréam, illic, ad primam responsiónum ejus confidéntiam, a Júdice Fabiáno est cápite cæsus. In Palestine, in the reign of Diocletian, St. Procopius, martyr, who was brought from Scythopolis to Caesarea, and upon his first resolute answer was beheaded by the judge Fabian. In the world Neanius, a native of Jerusalem, lived and suffered during the reign of the emperor Diocletian (284-305). His father, an eminent Roman by the name of Christopher, was a Christian, but the mother of the saint, Theodosia, remained a pagan. He was early deprived of his father, and the young child was raised by his mother. Having received an excellent secular education, he was introduced to Diocletian in the very first year of the emperor's accession to the throne, and he quickly advanced in government service. Towards the year 303, when open persecution against Christians began, Neanius was sent as a proconsul to Alexandria with orders to mercilessly persecute the Church of God. On the way to Egypt, near the Syrian city of Apamea, Neanius had a vision of the Lord Jesus, similar to the vision of Saul on the road to Damascus. A divine voice exclaimed, "Neanius, why do you persecute Me?" Neanius asked, "Who are you, Lord?" "I am the crucified Jesus, the Son of God." At that moment a radiant Cross appeared in the air. Neanius felt an inexpressible joy and spiritual happiness in his heart and he was transformed from being a persecutor into a zealous follower of Christ. From this point in time Neanius became favorably disposed towards Christians and fought victoriously against the barbarians. The words of the Savior came true for the saint, "A man's foes shall be those of his own household" (Mt. 10:36). His mother, a pagan herself, went to the emperor to complain that her son did not worship the ancestral gods. Neanius was summoned to the procurator Judaeus Justus, where he was solemnly handed the decree of Diocletian. Having read through the blasphemous directive, Neanius quietly tore it up before the eyes of everyone. This was a crime, which the Romans regarded as an "insult to authority." Neanius was held under guard and in chains sent to Caesarea of Palestine, where the Apostle Paul once languished. After terrible torments, they threw the saint into a dank prison. That night, a light shone in the prison, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself baptized the suffering confessor, and gave him the name Procopius. Repeatedly they led St Procopius
to the courtroom, demanding that he renounce Christ, and they subjected
him to more tortures. The stolidity of the martyr and his fiery faith
brought down God's abundant grace on those who witnessed the execution.
Inspired by the example of Procopius, many of the holy martyr's former
guards and Roman soldiers went beneath the executioner's sword together
with their tribunes Nikostrates and Antiochus. Twelve Christian women received
martyr's crowns, after they came to the gates of the Caesarea Praetorium.
Struck by the great faith and courage of the Christians, and seeing the firmness of her son in bearing terrible sufferings, Theodosia became repentant and stood in the line of confessors and was executed. Finally the new procurator, Flavian, convinced of the futility of the tortures, sentenced the holy Great Martyr Procopius to beheading by the sword. By night Christians took up his much-tortured body, and with tears and prayers, they committed it to the earth. This was the first martyrdom at Caesarea (303). St Procopius, Martyr An account of the passion of St Procopius, the protomartyr of the persecution of Diocletian in Palestine and one of sevenl martyrs distinguished in the East as "the Great ", was written by a contemporary, Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, who narrates it in the following words: The first of the martyrs of Palestine was Procopius, a man filled with divine grace, who had ordered his life so well that from childhood he had devoted himself to chastity and the practice of all the virtues. He had reduced his body until he had given it so to speak the appearance of a corpse, but his soul drew from the word of God so great a vigour that the body itself was refreshed by it. He lived on bread and water and only ate every two or three days sometimes he prolonged his fast during a whole week. Meditation on the divine word so filled his being that he remained absorbed in it day and night without fatigue. Filled with goodness and gentleness, regarding himself as the least of men, he edified everyone by his discourses. The word of God was his sole study, and of profane science he had but little knowledge. Born at Aelia [Jerusalem], he had taken up his residence at Scythopolis [Bethsan], where he filled three ecclesiastical offices. He was reader and interpreter in the Syriac language, and cast out evil spirits by the imposition of hands. Sent with companions from Scythopolis to Caesarea [Maritima] he had scarcely passed the city gates when he was conducted into the presence of the governor, and even before he had had a taste of chains or prison walls he was urged by the judge Flavian to sacrifice to the gods. But he, in a loud voice, proclaimed that there are not sevenl gods, but One alone, the creator and author of all things. This answer made a vivid impression on the judge. Finding nothing to say in reply, he tried to persuade Procopius at least to sacrifice to the emperors. But the martyr of God despised his entreaties. "Listen", he said, "to this verse of Homer:
It is not good to have several masters; let there be one chief, one king."
(Iliad, II, 294.) At these words,
as though he had uttered imprecations against the emperors, the judge
ordered him to be led to execution. They cut off his head, and he
passed happily to eternal life by the shortest road, on the 7th of the
month of Desius, the day that the Latins call the nones of
July, in the first year of our persecution. This was the first martyrdom
that took place at Caesarea.
It is hardly believable that this simple and impressive narrative should have been the seed of the incredible legends which afterwards grew up around the name of Procopius: astonishing and absurd fables and trimmings that eventually transformed the austere cleric into a mighty warrior, and even split him into three people, the ascete, the soldier, and a martyr in Persia. In his earlier legend he was made to argue with the judge and to refer to Hermes Trismegistus, Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Galen and Scamandrus in support of the oneness of God, to suffer torture in most ingenious fashions, and to paralyse his executioner; later he becomes a duke of Alexandria and the hero of more legendary marvels (afterwards borrowed for the "acts" of St Ephysius of Cagliari and the unknown martyr John of Constantinople), undergoing a miraculous conversion (combined of the visions of St Paul and of the Labarum), slaying six thousand marauding barbarians with the aid of a wonderworking cross, converting in prison a band of soldiers and twelve noble matrons, and the like. The evolution, if such arbitrary leaps can be called evolution, of the story of St Procopius is a "leading case" in hagiology; but in the dignified account of Eusebius we may be certain that we have what really happened. Father Delehaye devotes a whole
chapter (ch. v) of his book The Legends
of the Saints to this transformation of St Procopius into a military
saint. The most noteworthy Greek text has been edited by him in
Les legendes grecques des saints
militaires, pp. 214-233.
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Saint Febronia the
Ascetic Martyrdom of niece of the superior of a convent that had fifty
virgins, in a place called "Ouryana" in Mesopotamia {Coptic} On this day, St. Febronia, the ascetic virgin, was martyred. This saint was the niece of the superior of a convent that had fifty virgins, in a place called "Ouryana" in Mesopotamia. Her aunt brought her up in the fear of God and taught her the reading of the Holy Books. St. Febronia vowed herself to the Lord Christ, and she fought the good fight by asceticism, fasting for two days at a time, and unceasing in her prayers. When Emperor Diocletian issued his edict to worship idols, many Christians were martyred by his hands. When the virgins heard that, they were afraid and left the convent and went into hiding. None was left in the convent except St. Febronia, another sister and the abbess. On the following day, the envoys of the Emperor came, seized the abbess, and humiliated her. St. Febronia said to them, "Take me and set free this old woman." But they took her as well, bound in ropes, and brought them to the Governor. At that time she was twenty years old, and was attractive. The Governor asked her to worship the idols and promised her many things but she refused. He ordered that she be beaten with rods, and her dress to be torn off. The abbess cried out to him saying, "May God rip you up, O wild beast, for you want to put to shame this young orphan girl." The Governor was wrathful, and ordered St. Febronia to be squeezed by the wheel, and to comb her body with an iron comb until her flesh was completely torn. During all that, she prayed to the Lord asking for help. He then cut out her tongue and smashed her teeth so that she could not pray. But the Lord strengthened her and comforted her. Finally, the Governor ordered her head cut off, and she received the crown of martyrdom. A righteous man took her body and shrouded it with costly shrouds, and placed it in a golden box. May her prayers be with us. Amen . |
Saints Bioukha and
Tayaban (Banayen) the priests. {Coptic} On this day also, the fighters Sts. Bioukha and Banayen, departed. They were priests in the church of "Tunah" of the diocese of "Tanda". Their father was the steward of this church. It happened when the priest Banayen was celebrating the Divine Liturgy, someone came calling him to see his father who was dying in that instant. He answered him saying, "I cannot take off my priestly vestment before the end of the service. If God is willing, I shall see him before he dies, otherwise it will be the will of God." His father asked for him three times, and he responded with the same answer. When he finished the mass, he found his father had departed. The church vessels were stored in a place known only by his father. Banayen the priest went to St. Daniel, the priest of the wilderness of Shiheet, who guided him by Divine inspiration, to the place where the vessels were stored. These two saints lived a virtuous life until they departed in peace. May their prayers be with us, and Glory be to God forever. Amen. |
326 St. Apollonius
Bishop of Benevento, Italy; he went into hiding during the last persecution
instituted by Emperor Diocletian. |
410
King Mirdat (408–410), the son of Varaz-Bakur, first martyred king of
Georgia endowed with great virtues: wisdom, discretion, physical prowess,
fearlessness, valor, and courage; liberated Klarjeti from the Byzantines,
abolished the tribute system (taxes to Persia), prepared for war against
Persians; martyred for the love of Christ
He was raised by his maternal grandfather, King Trdat. The faithful grandfather taught the future king to love God and his nation, and the young prince mindfully preserved his grandfather’s wisdom throughout his life. Mirdat was endowed with the greatest of a nobleman’s virtues: wisdom, discretion, physical prowess, fearlessness, valor, and courage. He liberated Klarjeti from the Byzantines, abolished the tribute system (by which Georgia was required to pay taxes to Persia), and prepared for war against the Persians. The Persian king gathered an enormous army to punish the Georgian nation, and King Mirdat courageously marched toward Gardabani (in eastern Georgia) with his much smaller army. But the selflessness and bravery of the Georgian soldiers were no match for the multitude of Persian warriors. The Georgians suffered defeat, and the Persian conquerors captured the young king. The Persian king demanded that Mirdat renounce the Christian Faith, but he was firmly rebuffed. Neither intimidation nor fear of persecution would break the will of the king. After torturing him for his love of Christ, the Persians bound him in chains, tormented him almost to death, and cast him into prison, where he gave up his soul to the Lord. The martyrdom of King Mirdat
took place at the beginning of the 5th century, in the year 410.
475 Auspicius the bishop
of Toul B (AC)
Sidonius Apollinaris reports that this Saint Auspicius
was the bishop of Toul. He was buried at Saint Mansuy (Benedictines)
.Tréviris sancti Auspícii, Epíscopi
et Confessóris.
At Treves, St. Auspicius, bishop and confessor. |
689 St.
Kilian An Irish monk; consecrated Bishop, went to Rome with eleven companions
in 686, and received permission from Pope Conon to evangelize Franconia
(Baden and Bavaria) Herbípoli, in Germánia, sancti Chiliáni Epíscopi, qui, a Románo Pontífice ad prædicándum Evangélium missus, ibi, cum multos ad Christum perduxísset, una cum Sóciis Colománno Presbytero et Totnáno Diácono, trucidátus est. At Wurtzburg in Germany, St. Kilian, bishop, who was commissioned by the Roman Pontiff to preach the Gospel. After having converted many to Christ, he was put to death along with his companions Colman, a priest, and Totnan, a deacon. He was successful, with two followers - Colman, a priest, and Totnan, a deacon - in his missionary endeavors until he converted Gosbert, Duke of Wurzburg, who had married Geilana, his brother's widow. According to legend, while Gosbert was away on a military expedition, Geilana is reputed to have had the three missionaries beheaded when she found that Gosbert was going to leave her after Kilian had told him the marriage was forbidden by the Church Kilian, Kolonat und Totnan Orthodoxe,
Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 8. Juli
Der irisache Wanderbischof
Kilian kam um 686 mit seinemn Gefährten, dem Priester Kolonat und
dem Diakon Totnan, an den Main. Sie siedelten am Fuße der Würzburg
und missionierte von hier aus unter den ansässigen Thüringern
im Maintal bis zum Spessar. Als der Herzog der Thüringer die Witwe
seines Bruders heiratete, wie es die Stammesgebräuche forderten,
überzeugte ihn Kilian, die Ehe aufzulösen, da sie nach christlichem
Recht verboten sei. Die verstoßene Witwe ließ daraufhin Kilian,
Kolonat und Todtnan ermorden. Ob Kilian zum Bischof von Würzburg geweiht
wurde, ist ungewiß. Die Büsten Kilians und seiner Gefährten
im Würzburger Dom wurden von Riemenschneider geschaffen.Ss. Kilian and his Companions, Martyrs Kilian was an Irish monk who, having been consecrated bishop already or later, set out with eleven companions to Rome in 686 and obtained of Pope Conon a commission to preach the gospel in Franconia (Baden and Bavaria). With Colman, a priest, and Totnan, a deacon, he converted and baptized numbers at Wurzburg, and among others Gosbert, the duke of that place. Circumstances of their martyrdom are given by a medieval life as follows. The duke had married his brother's widow Geilana and, being told by St Kilian that such a marriage was condemned by the law of the gospel, he promised to leave her. Geilana was furious, and took the opportunity of Gosbert's absence on a military expedition to have the three missionaries beheaded. That Kilian, Colman and Totnan were evangelists in Franconia and East Thuringia is certain, as is their martyrdom: but doubt has been thrown on the authenticity of the details of the above story. Some writers have attributed the crime to Gosbert and, if the story be true, it must be regretfully admitted, in view of the times and circumstances, that it is very likely that the disappointed man and woman may have conspired together to remove their troublesome teachers. St Kilian is venerated in the dioceses of Wurzburg and Vienna and elsewhere, including the country of his birth. Two medieval accounts of St Kilian
are printed in the Acta Sanctorum,
July, vol. ii. See also Gougaud, Gaelic
Pioneers of Christianity, pp. 140-141, and Les saints irlandais hors d'lrlande, pp.
125-129. For more recent references, cf. Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxxi (`953),
PP. 450-463 .
|
690 St. Landrada Benedictine foundress and abbess. She ruled the convent of Munsterbilsen, Belgium. |
743 St. Withburga
Virgin Benedictine nun youngest daughter of King Anna of East Anglia,
England; Her remains were later stolen by monks who enshrined her in Ely.
A fresh spring, called Withburga's Well, sprang up at her grave in Dereham.
Following the death of her father in battle, died. 653, she moved to Dereham where she established a nunnery and a church. She died with the church unfinished, on March 17. Her remains were later stolen
by monks who enshrined her in Ely. A fresh spring, called Withburga's
Well, sprang up at her grave in Dereham.
St Withburga, Virgin She was
the youngest of the holy daughters of Anna, King of the East Angles.
Like her sisters, she devoted herself to the divine service, and led an
austere life in solitude for several years at Holkham, near the sea-coast
in Norfolk, where a church dedicated in her honour was afterwards built.
After the death of her father she changed her dwelling to Dereham, now
a market-town in Norfolk but then an obscure retired place. Withburga assembled
there some devout maidens, and laid the foundation of a church and nunnery,
but did not live to finish the buildings. Her death happened on March 17,
743.
Her body was interred in the churchyard
at East Dereham, and fifty years after found incorrupt and translated
into the church. In 974, Brithnoth, Abbot of Ely, removed it to
Ely, and deposited it near the bodies of her two sisters. In 1106
the remains of four saints were translated into the new church and laid
near the high altar.
That of St Etheldreda was entire, and that of St Withburga
was not only sound but also fresh, and the limbs flexible. The bodies of SS. Sexburga
and Ermenilda were reduced to dust, except the bones.
This is related by Thomas, monk
of Ely, in his history of Ely, which he wrote the year following; he
also tells us that in the place where St Withburga was first buried, in
the churchyard of Dereham, a spring of clear water gushed forth: it is
to this day called St Withburga's well.
Thomas of Ely's narrative is printed
in Wharton's Anglia Sacra, and
there is also a reference to Withburga in Malmesbury's Gesta Pontificum. See Stanton's
Menology, pp. 325 and 328 .
|
800 St. Arnold confessor in the court of Charlemagne; a Greek by birth, entering the service of he was noted for his charity to the poor. A village, Amold-Villiers, was named after him, near Jülich. |
835 Sts. Abrahamites
Monks and martyrs of the monastery founded by Abraham in Constantinople;
During iconoclastic dispute they refused to demolish sacred images of
their monastery
Constantinópoli pássio sanctórum Monachórum Abrahamitárum, qui ob cultum sanctárum Imáginum, resisténtes Theóphilo Imperatóri, martyrium consummárunt. At Constantinople, the holy Abrahamite monks, who resisted Emperor Theophilus by defending the veneration of sacred images, and suffered martyrdom. Emperor Theophilus had them arrested
and executed.
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885 St. Adrian
III Pope worked to mitigate the rigors of a famine in Rome
Spinæ Lambérti, in Æmília, sancti Hadriáni Papæ Tértii, stúdio conciliándi Románæ Ecclésias Orientáles insígnis, ac miráculis clari; cujus corpus in monastérium Nonantulénse fuit delátum, et in æde sancti Silvéstri honorífice cónditum. At Spina Lamberti in Emília, Pope St. Adrian III, famous for his zeal in reconciling the Eastern to the Roman Church, and renowned for his miracles. His body was taken to the monastery of Nonantola and buried with honours in the Church of St. Sylvester. Little is known of Adrian III or his pontificate and why he is venerated as a saint, though it is known he worked to mitigate the rigors of a famine in Rome. Of Roman descent, he was elected Pope probably on May 17, 884, opposed the aristocratic faction in Rome led by Formosus, Bishop of Porto, and George of the Aventine, a member of the Formosun group and notorious for several murders he committed. He died early in September or on July 8 near Modena while on the way to a diet in Worms, Germany, at the invitation of Emperor Charles the Fat, probably to settle the question of Charles' succession. St Adrian III, Pope This pope succeeded Marinus I in 884 during a troubled period in the history of the papacy. He adopted Carloman, King of France, as his spiritual son, took steps to stop the bishop of Nimes annoying the monks of St Giles's abbey, and, it is alleged, punished with a ferocity that matched their crimes the ex-official George of the Aventine and the wealthy widow of another official, whose husband had been murdered in the forecourt of St Peter's; there were some remarkably bad characters in Rome at that time, In 885 Adrian was invited by the emperor, Charles the Fat, to be present at a diet at Worms; what specific reasons he had for desiring the pope's presence is not known. Whatever they were they came to nothing, for Adrian fell ill on the journey and died near Modena on July 8, or else in September. He was buried in the abbey church of St Silvester at Nonantula. There is nothing in the little that is known of his pontificate of fourteen (or sixteen) months to gauge the grounds on which Adrian was venerated as a saint, but he has received a continual liturgical cultus in the diocese of Modena, which was confirmed in 1891. During his brief reign there was famine in Rome, the hardships of which for the people he tried by every means to avert, and Flodoard, historian of the church of Rheims, praises him as a kind father to his fellow bishops. See the
Liber Pontificalis, vol.
ii, p. 223 and Mann, Lives of
the Popes, vol. iii, pp. 361-367.
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10th v. Sunniva of
Bergen & Comp. Irish nun who was shipwrecked in Norway and set
up a convent with her companions (AC)
(also known as Sunnifa or Synnöve of Norway) some show this feast on July 3. Several authorities refer to Saint Sunniva as an Irish nun who was shipwrecked in Norway and set up a convent with her companions. There is no information about her in Ireland, but according to legend (which is similar to that of Saint Ursula), she was a princess, nun, or both, who fled from Ireland with her brother Alban and several other maidens. Some say they were seeking a haven where they could live consecrated lives in exile for Christ. She was shipwrecked off the west coast of Norway and finally reached Selje Island. There they engaged in a devout, communal life, dwelling in caves and subsisting on fish. The story has two endings. One says that they were killed by people from the mainland. The other relates that the neighboring Jarl Haakon heard about their landing and went to investigate. The community members fled to the caves. Masses of rock crashed down and blocked all the entrances, eventually killing the saints. When the caves were excavated much later, Sunniva's incorrupt body was discovered. In 995, Olaf Tryggyason built a chapel in her honor. In 1170, their alleged relics were enshrined in Bergen; Selje's church was given to the Benedictines who dedicated it to Saint Alban (her brother?). Five churches or ruins of churches still survive on the island (Benedictines, Farmer, Montague). Ss. Sunniva and her companions
THIS popular Norse legend is a sort of local version of the story of St Ursula. Sunniva, daughter of an Irish king, in order to avoid marriage or to escape dishonourable intentions or flying before an invader, put to sea with a number of followers in a boat without rudder, sail or oats. They were cast up on the island of Seije, off the coast of Norway, where they lived in caves and fed upon fish presumably they got tired of this diet, for the inhabitants of the neighbouring mainland began to miss beasts from among their cattle left to graze on the island. Suspecting that the strangers were responsible they sent an armed party across to see about it; but when they arrived they found that the caves occupied by the refugees had been blocked up and the occupants entombed by a landslide- miraculously closed against their pursuers at the prayer of Sunniva. Some time afterwards passers-by in boats noticed a strange light streaming from the spot where the strangers had died. This story reached King Olaf Tryggvason (then engaged on an attempt to christianize the land), and he went to investigate, accompanied by a bishop. The caves were opened and bones found; but the body of Sunniva was intact and incorrupt. Olaf built a church there to shelter the body. This was in 995. In 1170 her relics were translated to the cathedral of Bergen, and the feast of the Seijemen was celebrated every year on this day during the middle ages. What truth lies behind the story it is impossible to tell. The bones discovered have been speculated to be those of slain sea-rovers; but why did King Olaf trouble to disinter them and build a church there? The Latin legend, not older than
the eleventh century seems to have been written by an Anglo-Saxon missionary
bishop, Sigurd or Sigward. The text has been printed by G. Storm,
Monumenta Historiae Norvegiae, pp. 147-152. See also
the Analecta Bollandiana, vol.
xvii (1898), p. 347, and S. Undset, Saga of Saints (1934), pp. 68-86.
For further references, see Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. lii (1934), pp. 120.121.
|
901 St. Grimbald Benedictine abbot invited to
England by King Alfred in 885 credited with restoring learning to England
Also called Grimwald, invited to England by King Alfred in 885. Grimbald
arrived in England and declined the see of Canterbury, preferring to
remain a monk. He became the abbot of New Minster Abbey at Winchester
appointed by King Edward the Elder. Grimbald is credited with restoring
learning to England. St Grimbald 903 This holy man was born at Saint-Omer in Flanders and became a monk at Saint-Bertin, where he met King Alfred of England when that prince was going to Rome. The king afterwards, by the advice of Eldred, Archbishop of Canterbury, invited Grimbald over into England, where he arrived in the year 885. Upon the death of Eldred, Alfred pressed Grimbald to accept the see of Canterbury, but was not able to get his consent, and was obliged to allow him to retire to the church of Winchester. King Alfred's son and successor, Edward, in compliance with his father's will, built the New Minster there, close to the old, in which he placed secular canons and appointed St Grimbald superior over them (later they were replaced by Benedictine monks, and King Henry I removed this monastery of Newminster outside the walls of the city to the place called Hyde, which still continued sometimes to be called St Grimbald's monastery). Grimbald in his last sickness, though extremely feeble, gathered strength when the sacred viaticum was brought, rose out of bed, and received it prostrate on the ground. Among the few things recorded of St Grimbald is that he was a very good singer. There are slight references to
Grimbald in Malmesbury's Gesta Regunz
and Gesta Pontificum as well as in Simeon of Durham; see Stanton's
Menology, pp. 325 and 658,
and D. Knowles, The Monastic Order in
England (1949), pp. 33, 551.
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975
Saint Edgar the Peaceful, King distinguished by a strong religious
revival in England. (PC) Saint Edgar was wise in his choice of friends and advisors: Saint Dunstan. His reign was distinguished by a strong religious revival in England. Though he enjoyed a local cultus at Glastonbury, he would not now be thought to be a likely candidate for canonization (Benedictines). |
1118 St. Raymond of Toulouse a chanter and canon
renowned for generosity; native of Toulouse, France many miracles were
reported at his tomb He was known originally as Raymond Gayrard.
After the death of his wife, he became a canon of St. Sernin, Toulouse,
helping to rebuild the church which became a popular place for pilgrims.
After his death on July 3, many miracles were reported at his tomb. St Raymund Of Toulouse Raymund Gayrard was born at Toulouse about the middle of the eleventh century and was put by his parents in the service of the church of St Sernin. Here he became a chorister, and married a woman with whom he lived happily until her death. He then devoted himself and his goods to the relief of the poor, the suffering and the unfortunate, in the true Christian spirit of withholding his charity from none who required it; he caused comment by extending it even to the Jews, not only because the Jews are well known to look after their own people with care and efficiency, but also because the common people of those days by no means followed the example of the Apostolic See in its generally benevolent and protective attitude towards that people. He also founded and endowed an almshouse for thirteen poor clerics, in memory of our Lord and His twelve apostles, and built two stone bridges. Raymund was at length accepted as a canon of the collegiate church of St Sernin, where he was a model of canonical discipline and the observance of common life under a rule; but he is remembered best for his enthusiasm and industrious labours in carrying on the building of St Sernin's church (the number and nature of whose relics of saints made it one of the most famous shrines of the middle ages). St Raymund died on July 3, 1118 (the Canons Regular of the Lateran keep his feast today, the 8th), and was buried in the almshouse which he had founded. His tomb was the scene of many
miraculous cures, and his ancient cultus was approved in 1652
Most of what we know concerning
this saint is derived from the Latin lessons of an office compiled a
century or more after his death. See the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. i; and M.
Aubert, L'eglise Saint-Sernin
de Toulouse (1933) .
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1153
Bd Eugenius III, Pope Cistercian monk at Clairvaux; he took in religion
the name of Bernard, his great namesake being his superior at Clairvaux
Romæ beáti Eugénii Papæ Tértii, qui, postquam cœnóbium sanctórum Vincéntii et Anastásii ad Aquas Sálvias magna sanctimóniæ ac prudéntiæ laude rexísset, Ecclésiam univérsam, Póntifex Máximus renuntiátus, sanctíssime gubernávit. Cultum autem, ab immemorábili témpore ipsi exhíbitum, Pius Papa Nonus ratum hábuit et confirmávit. At Rome, blessed Eugene III, pope. Having gained a great reputation for sanctity and prudence in his government of the monastery of Saints Vincent and Anastasius, he was raised to the Sovereign Pontificate and ruled the universal Church in much holiness. Pope Pius IX approved and confirmed the veneration paid to him. Eugenius III, called by St Antoninus "one of the greatest and one of the most afflicted of the popes", was born at Montemagno between Pisa and Lucca, probably of the noble family of Paganelli, and was baptized Peter. While holding office in the episcopal curia of Pisa he was moved, in 1135, to become a Cistercian monk at Clairvaux; he took in religion the name of Bernard, his great namesake being his superior at Clairvaux. When Pope Innocent II asked for some Cistercians for Rome, St. Bernard sent the other Bernard in charge of a band who occupied the monastery of St Anastasius (Tre Fontane), where the new abbot earned the love and admiration of all. One of his difficulties was the unhealthy situation of the monastery, and St Bernard in one of his letters to the community expresses his sympathy, but warns them against excessive use of medicines, which excess was both contnry to their vocation and bad for their health. On the death of Pope Lucius II in 1145 the cardinals elected Bernard, Abbot of St Anastasius, to the supreme pontificate; the election was a surprise to the abbot and to everybody else, and the reasons which moved the cardinals are not known: it may be suggested that they knew a saint when they saw one. Not the least surprised was St Bernard of Clairvaux, who wrote to the electors: "May God forgive you for what you have done...You have involved in cares and thrown among the multitudes of men a man who had fled from both...Was there no wise and experienced man among you more fitted for such things? It seems indeed absurd that a humble and ill-kempt man should be taken to preside over kings, to govern bishops, to dispose realms and empires. Is it ridiculous or miraculous?" And he wrote plainly to the new
pope:
"If Christ has sent you, you will feel that you are
come not to be served but to serve...(the Lord] will allow me to see
before I die the Church of God as in the days of old, when the Apostles
let down their nets for a draught, not of silver and gold, but of souls."
Bernard, the Pope,
took the name of Eugenius, but before he could be consecrated the Roman
senate threatened to challenge his election unless he recognized their
usurped sovereign rights over the city. He was powerless to oppose
them, and fled to the abbey of Farfa, where he was consecrated, and then
to Viterbo.
There came to him Arnold of Brescia, the opponent of St Bernard and critic of the higher clergy, who had been condemned with Peter Abelard. He recanted his errors and promised obedience, and Bd Eugenius absolved him, sending him on a penitential pilgrimage to Rome-unfortunately. Unfortunately because the atmosphere of Rome speedily destroyed Arnold's good resolutions, and he became a leader in the faction opposed to Eugenius. The pope had to leave Rome a second time, and in January 1147 gladly accepted an invitation from King Louis VII to go to France to forward a crusade. In the summer the Second Crusade began under Louis, and was a dismal failure. Eugenius was intimidated by its lack of success and disturbed by the loss of life involved, and refused to back St Bernard and the Abbot Suger, regent of France, when they wanted it promoted with renewed vigour. He continued in France until news of the lost crusade raised popular feeling against him, and during the time held synods at Paris, Trier and Rheims; these dealt chiefly with promoting Christian life; and he concerned himself about the reorganization of the schools of philosophy and theology. At the suggestion of St Bernard he encouraged the mystical writer St Hildegard, to whom he wrote: "We congratulate ourselves in this grace of God [her revelations] and we congratulate you: but we would have you remember that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Take good care of this grace that is within you, so that what you are spiritually urged to proclaim may be set out with caution." In May 1148
he returned to Italy and, as negotiations were unavailing, excommunicated
Arnold of Brescia (who at his worst was the prototype of later ethical
democratic demagogues and doctrinaires), and prepared to use force against
the Romans. They suddenly got frightened and came to terms,
and at the end of 1149 the pope re-entered his city.
It was at this time that St Bernard wrote for Bd Eugenius that ascetical treatise entitled De consideratione, one of the writer's most famous works. Its argument was that the pope must not allow the "accursed activities" in which he was necessarily involved (e.g. dealing with the litigation of "ambitious, avaricious, simoniacal, sacrilegious, lecherous, incestuous men, and all sorts of human monsters") get in the way of his principal business, the consideration of spiritual things. The pope is "watchman over all", "chief of ministers", head of "the Universal Church throughout the world"; on the other hand, he is also only a human man and must be humble, yet no respecter of persons, industrious, yet not relaxing amid the achievements of industry. He must not lord it over men, or use the sword when spiritual weapons failed --that was the emperor's office justice and punishment of injustice must rule in the papal courts and virtue in the papal household. But chiefly and above all God must be directly sought, and that by prayer rather than by arguments. A pope who followed such counsel as this could hardly fail to attain sanctity, and perhaps it was under its direct influence that in the summer of 1150 Eugenius again left Rome, and lived for two and a half years in Campania, while he negotiated for help with the Emperor Conrad III and his successor Frederick Barbarossa. Some of the minor troubles of
Eugenius's pontificate were concerned with the Church in England.
King Stephen forbade English bishops
to attend the Synod of Rheims in 1148, and Theobald of Canterbury was
banished for disobeying; the king narrowly escaped excommunication. At
the same synod was deposed William, Archbishop of York, for irregularities
in connection with his election and consecration and the indiscreet zeal
of his supporters; William took his misfortunes in such good part that
he was canonized after his death; his feast is still kept in several English
dioceses (June 8).Eugenius approved the rule drawn up for the order founded by St Gilbert of Sempringham in Norfolk, and in 1152 sent as legate to Scandinavia Cardinal Nicholas Breakspear, who was to return with the title of "the Apostle of the North" and be his second successor in the papacy as Adrian IV, the only English pope. Eugenius had a high opinion of the ability of the English, but thought they spoiled it by levity. When he sent a legate to the synod of Kells, with pasha for the metropolitans of Armagh, Dublin, Cashel and Tuam, the pope confirmed an arrangement that endures to this day. Bd Eugenius survived his final return to Rome by only 7 months, dying July 8, 1153, at Tivoli; his cultus was approved in 1872. Roger of Hoveden,
a contemporary English chronicler, writes of him that "he was worthy
of the highest dignity of the popedom. His mind was always kindly disposed,
his discretion always to be relied on, his looks always not only cheerful
but even joyous" -which, considering what he went through, was no small
matter. Under the dignity of the pontiff there was always the heart of
the monk; he never put off his monastic habit or Cistercian austerities.
Peter of Cluny wrote of him to St Bernard: "Never have I known a more true friend, a more trustworthy brother, a more kind father. His ear is ever ready to hear, and his tongue is quick and capable in speech. And he carries himself not as one's superior, but rather as an equal or even as an inferior. There is in him no arrogance, no domineering, no regality: justice, humility and reason claim the whole man." The contemporary Cardinal Boao
wrote a short life, preserved in the Liber Pontificalis: (ed. Duchesne,
ii, 236), and there is further information in the Historia Pontificalis by John of Salisbury
(in MGH., Scriptores, vol. xx,
pp. 526-545. Also there is much material in the chronicles, particularly
those concerned with Arnold of Brescia. See further Mann, The Lives of the Popes, vol. ix, pp.
127-220; G. Sainati, Vita del B. Eugenio
III (1874) and H. Gleber,
Papa Eugen III (1936), for
his politics.
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Novgorod_Theotokos
1239 St. Albert of Genoa Cistercian
hermit; born in Genoa and entered the nearby Cistercian abbey of Sentri da
Ponente as a lay brother. He lived as a hermit on the abbey grounds.
Also called Lambert. Albert was born in Genoa and entered the
nearby Cistercian abbey of Sentri da Ponente as a lay brother. He lived as
a hermit on the abbey grounds.
1268 Blessed Benedict d'Alignan became a Franciscan after making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, OFM B (PC) Benedict was a Benedictine abbot when he was selected to become the bishop of Marseilles. He resigned his see and became a Franciscan after making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (Benedictines). 1337 Novgorod_Theotokos The Tenderness icon of the Mother of God belongs to the Eleousa (Umilenie) type floating in the air, and tears were flowing On July 8, 1337 a caretaker in Holy Trinity Church in Novgorod heard a noise inside the church and went to investigate. He was astonished to see that the icon of the Mother of God from the second tier of icons above the northern door of the iconostasis had left its place and was floating in the air, and tears were flowing from the eyes of the Virgin. Archbishop Alexis was notified, and he and his clergy came to the church with a large crowd of people. A special shrine was built for the icon, and July 8 was appointed as its date of commemoration. That same
year, a plague appeared in Novgorod. People flocked to pray before the
wonderworking icon, and the plague was stopped. In 1352, Archbishop Basil
ordered that an annual procession be made from the church of Holy Wisdom
to Holy Trinity Church. In the summer of 1366 Holy Trinity Church burned
down, and the "Tender Feeling" Icon floated in the air above the flames.
Archbishop Alexis came to the church to serve a Molieben, and the icon
descended into his hands. The fire went out, but a burn mark seven inches
long was left on the back of the icon. Great Prince John III took
the icon to Moscow in 1397, where it remained until 1508. At that time,
the Mother of God appeared to Princess Maria in a dream and ordered that
the icon be returned to Novgorod. The "Tender Feeling" Icon is of the
Umilenie, or Eleousa type.
|
1336
St. Elizabeth of Portugal exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but
also through her exercise of charity, by which she was able to befriend
and help pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose
need came to her notice
ST
ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL, WIDOW (A.D. 1336)Stremótii, in Lusitánia, natális sanctæ Elísabeth Víduæ, Lusitanórum Regínæ, quam, virtútibus et miráculis claram, Urbánus Octávus, Póntifex Máximus, in Sanctórum númerum rétulit. Ejus tamen celébritas octávo Idus mensis hujus recólitur, ex dispositióne Innocéntii Papæ Duodécimi. At Estremos in Portugal, the birthday of St. Elizabeth the Widow, queen of Portugal, whom Pope Urban VIII, mindful of her virtues and miracles, placed among the number of the saints. Pope Innocent XII ordered her feast to be kept on the 8th of July. THIS Elizabeth was daughter of
Peter III, King of Aragon. She was born in 1271, and received at the font
the name of Elizabeth, from her great-aunt, St Elizabeth of Hungary,
but she is known in her own country by the Spanish form of that name; Isabella.
Her birth was an omen of that title of "the Peacemaker" which she was
to earn in after-life, for by it was established a good understanding between
her grandfather James, who was then on the throne, and her father, whose
quarrelling had divided the whole kingdom. The young princess was of a sweet
disposition, and from her early years had relish for anything that was
conducive to devotion and goodness. She desired to emulate every virtue
which she saw practised by others, for she had been already taught that
mortification of the will is to be joined with prayer to obtain the grace
which restrains our tendency to sin. This is often insufficiently considered
by those parents who excite the wilfulness and self-indulgence of their
children by teaching them a love of worthless things and giving in to every
whim and want. Certainly, fasting is not good for them; but submission of
the will, obedience, and consideration for others are never more indispensable
than at this time; nor is any abstinence more fruitful than that by which
children are taught not to drink or eat between meals, to bear little denials
without impatience, and never to make a fuss about things. The victory of
Elizabeth over herself was owing to this early training.
At twelve years of age she was
married to Denis, King of Portugal. That prince admired her birth, beauty,
riches and personality more than her virtue; yet he allowed her an entire
liberty in her devotion, and esteemed her piety without feeling called
on to imitate it. Elizabeth therefore planned for herself a regular distribution
of her time, which she never interrupted unless extraordinary occasions
of duty or charity obliged her. She rose early every morning, and recited
Matins, Lauds and Prime before Mass; in the afternoon she had other regular
devotions after Vespers. Certain hours were allotted to her domestic affairs,
public business, or what she owed to others. She was abstemious in her
food, modest in her dress, humble and affable in conversation, and wholly
bent upon the service of God. Frequent attempts were made to induce her
to modify her life, but without success. Charity to the poor was a distinguishing
part of her character. She gave orders to have pilgrims and poor strangers
provided with lodging and necessaries, and made it her business to seek
out and relieve persons who were reduced to necessity. She provided marriage
dowries for girls, and founded in different parts of the kingdom charitable
establishments, particularly a hospital at Coimbra, a house for penitent
women at Torres Novas, and a refuge for foundlings. Nor with it all did
Elizabeth neglect any of her immediate duties, especially those of respect,
love and obedience to her husband, whose neglect and infidelity she bore
with much patience.
Elizabeth is usually depicted in royal garb with a
dove or an olive branch. At her birth in 1271, her father, Pedro III,
future king of Aragon, was reconciled with his father, James, the reigning
monarch. This proved to be a portent of things to come. Under the healthful
influences surrounding her early years, she quickly learned self-discipline
and acquired a taste for spirituality. Thus fortunately prepared, she
was able to meet the challenge when, at the age of 12, she was given in
marriage to Denis, king of Portugal. She was able to establish for herself
a pattern of life conducive to growth in God’s love, not merely through
her exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but also through her exercise
of charity, by which she was able to befriend and help pilgrims, strangers,
the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose need came to her notice. At
the same time she remained devoted to her husband, whose infidelity to
her was a scandal to the kingdom.For Denis, though a good ruler, was a bad subject: just, brave, generous and compassionate in public life, devoted to his realm, but in his private relations selfish and sinful. The queen used all her endeavours to reclaim him, grieving deeply for the offence to God and the scandal given to the people; she never ceased to pray for his conversion. She strove to gain him by courtesy and constant sweetness, and cheerfully cherished his natural children and took care of their education. St Elizabeth had two children, Alfonso, who afterwards succeeded his father, and a daughter, Constance. This son when he grew up showed a very rebellious spirit, partly due to the favour in which his father held his illegitimate sons. Twice he rose in arms and twice his mother brought about a reconciliation, riding out between the opposing forces. But evil tongues suggested to the king that she secretly favoured her son and for a time she was banished from the court. Her love for concord and qualities as a peacemaker were indeed very notable; she stopped or averted war between Ferdinand IV of Castile, and his cousin, and between that prince and her own brother, James II of Aragon. Her husband Denis became seriously ill in 1324, and Elizabeth gave all her attention to him, scarcely ever leaving his room unless to go to the church. During his long and tedious illness the king gave marks of sincere sorrow for the disorders of his life, and he died at Santarem on January 6, 1325. After his burial the queen made a pilgrimage to Compostela, after which she wished to retire to a convent of Poor Clares which she had founded at Coimbra. However, she was dissuaded, and instead she was professed in the third order of St Francis, and lived in a house which she built near to her convent, leading a life of great simplicity. The cause of peace that had been so dear to her all her life was the occasion of Elizabeth's death, which came about on July 4, 1336 at Estremoz, whither she had gone on an errand of reconciliation in spite of her age and the great heat. She was buried in the church of her monastery of Poor Clares at Coimbra, and honoured by miracles; and eventually in 1626 her cultus was crowned by canonization. The Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. ii, have printed
a life of the queen which seems to be of almost contemporary date, and
a good deal of information may also be found in the chronicles of the period.
See also P; de Moucheron, Ste Elisabeth
d'Aragon (1896); and a short sketch by Fr V. McNabb (1937).
The story (told by Butler in company with many others) of the innocent
page saved miraculously from death in a lime-kiln is a mere fiction which
can be traced back to the folk-lore of ancient India. See Cosquin in the
Revue des Questions historiques,
vol. lxxiii (1903), pp, 3-12, with vol. lxxiv, pp, 207-217; and Formichi
in Archivio delle tradizioni popolari,
vol. xxii (1903), pp. 9-30. It is only in 1562 that we find it christianized
and told in connection with St Elizabeth.
He too was the object of many of her peace endeavors. She long sought peace for him with God, and was finally rewarded when he gave up his life of sin. She repeatedly sought and effected peace between the king and their rebellious son, Alfonso, who thought that he was passed over to favor the king’s illegitimate children. She acted as peacemaker in the struggle between Ferdinand, king of Aragon, and his cousin James, who claimed the crown. And finally from Coimbra, where she had retired as a Franciscan tertiary to the monastery of the Poor Clares after the death of her husband, she set out and was able to bring about a lasting peace between her son Alfonso, now king of Portugal, and his son-in-law, the king of Castile. Third Order of St. Francis. Elizabeth was a Spanish princess who was given in marriage to King Denis of Portugal at the age of twelve. She was very beautiful and very lovable. She was also very devout, and went to Mass every day. Elizabeth was a holy wife, but although her husband was fond of her at first, he soon began to cause her great suffering. Though a good ruler, he did not imitate his wife's love of prayer and other virtues. In fact, his sins of impurity gave great scandle to the people. Later, to make matters worse, the King believed a lie told about Elizabeth and one of her pages by another page, who was jealous of his companion. In great anger the King ordered the one he believed guilty, to be sent to a lime-burner. The lime-burner was commanded to throw into his furnace the first page who came. The good page set out obediently, not knowing death was waiting for him. On his way he stopped for Mass, since he had the habit of going daily. The first Mass had begun, so he stayed for a second one. In the meantime, the King sent the wicked page to the lime-burner to find out if the other had been killed. And so it was this page who was thrown into the furnace! When the King learned what had happened, he realized that God had saved the good page, punished the liar, and proven Queen Elizabeth to be innocent. This amazing event helped greatly to make the King live better. He apologized to his wife in front of everyone and began to have a great respect for her. In his last sickness, she never left his side, except for Mass, until he died a holy death. St. Elizabeth lived for eleven more years, doing even greater charity and penance. She was a wonderful model of kindness toward the poor and a successful peacemaker between members of her own family and between nations. Because St. Elizabeth was faithful to daily Mass, she found strength to carry her many great crosses. And because her page was faithful to daily Mass, he escaped death. We should try our best to make it a habit to go to Mass daily. Comment: The work of promoting peace is anything but a calm and quiet endeavor. It takes a clear mind, a steady spirit and a brave soul to intervene between people whose emotions are so aroused that they are ready to destroy one another. This is all the more true of a woman in the early 14th century. But Elizabeth had a deep and sincere love and sympathy for humankind, almost a total lack of concern for herself and an abiding confidence in God. These were the tools of her success. Elisabeth von Portugal Katholische
Kirche: 4. Juli
Elisabeth, Tochter des Königs Pedro von Aragon,
wurde um 1270 geboren. In der Taufe erhielt sie nach ihrer Großtante
den Namen Elisabeth. Sie wird auch Isabella von Aragon genannt. 1282
heiratete sie König Dionysius von Portugal. Ihr Sohn Alfons lag laufend
mit seinem Vater und anderen Königen im Streit und Elisabeth konnte
mehrmals erfolgreich vermitteln. Bei ihrer letzten Mission starb sie am
4.7.1336 in Estremoz. Elisabeth unterstütze zahlreiche kirchloche Einrichtungen.
Nach dem Tod ihres Mannes 1325 zog sie sich in ein von ihr errichtetes Kloster
zurück und wurde später Franziskaner-Tertiarin. Elisabeth ist
Patronin von Portugal, Coimbra, Estremoz und Saragossa. |
Procopius_of_Usya
Ustiug Annunciation Icon of
the Mother of God
Ustiug Annunciation Icon of the Mother of God The "Ustiug Annunciation" is a venerable icon, before which St Procopius, Fool - for - Christ (+ 1303) prayed with intense fervor on June 25, 1290 for the salvation of the city of Ustiug from the wrath of God. The icon was painted by a Novgorod iconographer when the holy Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel (Feb 11) ruled in the city. In 1567, under Metropolitan Philip (January 9), the holy icon was transferred from Great Ustiug to Moscow and placed in the Dormition cathedral. At the present time it is located in the state Tretyakov gallery. 1300 Blessed Procopius
of Usya (Vologda diocese), Fool-for-Christ incorrupt relics for 200 years
remained in open view; source of numerous healings
The incorrupt relics of St Procopius were uncovered during the eighteenth century near the Entry of the Theotokos parish church in Ustya (Vologda diocese) and placed in the church, where for two hundred years they remained in open view, a source of numerous healings. No account of the origin and life of the holy saint of God has been preserved. His name became known when he himself revealed it in a vision to a pious local inhabitant named Savela. In connection with an increase in the number of miraculous healings, the relics of St Procopius were examined in 1696 (or 1645) and in 1739. After this a chapel in honor of the saint was consecrated in the church where his relics rest. His icon was painted, and a Service to him was composed. In 1818 the universal celebration
of the saint was established.
1579
Copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, Wonderworking
Found in 1579, is in the Kazan cemetery church named for the holy Prince Theodore and his sons David and Constantine. The holy icon is venerated by the residents of the city. The Appearance of the Icon of the MostHoly Mother of God in the City of Kazan (1579): On 1 October 1552, on the feastday of the Pokrov-Protection of the MostHoly Mother of God, at night, tsar Ivan IV in heading the Russian forces made ready for a decisive assault against the Tatar city of Kazan, and suddenly he heard the peeling of the Moscow bells. The tsar realised that this was a sign of the mercy of God: that through the prayers of the mighty commander-in-chief, the Lord deigned that the Kazan people should be converted to Him. The surrender of Kazan
on the feast of the Pokrov-Protection of the MostHoly Mother of God completed
a course of events, initiated way back centuries earlier in the year
1164 by holy Prince Andrei Bogoliubsky (+ 1174, Comm. 4 July), against
the Moslem Volga Bulgars. With the taking of Kazan, the Volga -- the chief
waterway route of the land, became finally a Russian river. And from Tatar
servitude were liberated 60,000 Russian people. The enlightenment of the
Tatars with the light of the Gospel truth was started. There were the
first martyrs -- Saints Peter and Stephen (Comm. 24 March). The newly established
Kazan diocese entered into the complexion of the Russian Church and was
soon illustrious in its own archbishops: Sainted Gurii (+ 1563, Comm. 5
December) and Sainted German (+ 1567, Comm. 6 November).
But the advance of Orthodoxy was especially enabled amongst the Volga Mahometans by the appearance, on 8 July 1579, of the wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God in the city of Kazan. Preaching the Gospel had been a difficult matter in this conquered kingdom amongst the incorrigible Moslems and pagans. The MostHoly Mother of God, Mediatrix of preachers of the Word of God, Who even during Her earthly life shared in the evangelic work of the holy Apostles, -- in looking down upon the efforts of the Russian missionaries, She did not hesitate to send them Heavenly help, manifest through Her wonderworking Icon. Kazan wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God:
Of the plethora of icons of the Mother of God venerated in the
Russian Orthodox Church, none is more widespread in number than the Kazan
Icon
The Copy of the Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God, Situated amidst the Russian Military, before which the patriots Minin and Pozharsky prayed in 1612, was placed in the Moscow Kazan cathedral in 1636. At present this holy image is situated in the Patriarch's Theophany cathedral. At Moscow are known likewise other venerable copies of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God: in the Kremlin Ascension monastery (1701), in the Simonov monastery (XIX), in the Vysoko-Petrovsk monastery (1849), in Christ-Nativity church on Povarsky Street, in the church of the Kazan Mother of God at the Kaluzhsk gates and in the Entry of the Mother of God church. The Wonderworking Copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, found in 1579, is situated in the Kazan cemetery church named for the holy nobleborn Prince Theodore (Feodor) and his sons David and Konstantin. The holy image is reverently venerated by the residents of the city. A Copy of the Wonderworking Kazan Icon of the Mother of God at Peterburg in 1721 was placed in the Trinity cathedral on the orders of the emperor Peter I, and in 1811 it was transferred to the newly constructed Kazan cathedral, on the day of its consecration. The Ancient Copy of the Wonderworking Kazan Icon of the Mother of God at Shlissel'burg: In 1611 a copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, located in a church in the fortress of Oreshek, was mortared over in a wall prior to the surrender of the fortress to the Swedes. In 1702 the fortress again passed over to Russia and was named Shlissel'burg. One time a sentry noticed a light issuing from the wall and reported this. In the morning a crack had appeared in the wall and the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God could be seen. From the holy icon began to occur healings. The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, named the
Yaroslavsk, was found in the year 1588 in a journey to Kazan by Gerasim,
whose hand had become crippled. The Mother of God, appearing to him, gave
orders at a directed place to take up Her icon, transport it to the city
of Romanov, and put it within a church. The invalid fulfilled these directions
precisely and his hand was healed. The holy icon was 21
years at Romanov, but in 1609 during the time of the Polish intervention
it was taken to Yaroslavl'. The Yaroslavsk people installed the icon in
a church, and from it occurred miracles. Nearby the church arose a women's
monastery. A copy of the holy icon was sent back to Romanov.
The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, named the Vyaznikovsk, was situated in the cathedral church of the city of Vyaznika in Vladimir diocese. From this icon happened many an healing. In 1624 was made an investigation of it with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Philaret. All the instances of healing were corroborated, and the icon was acknowledged as wonderworking. The Kazan Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God, named the Nizhnelomovsk, appeared in 1643 at a spring near the city of Nizhni Lomov in Penzensk district. The icon was placed in a chapel, and here in 1648 was built a church. Before the Icon of the Mother of God, by Divine mercy, the sick received healing. And nearby the church was built a monastery. The Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God appearing in the City of Tobol'sk in 1661 was under the following circumstances: a clerk of the Tobol'sk Znamenie-Sign monastery named Ioannikii reported that in a dream there had been a thrice-repeated appearance of a sainted-hierarch, whom he recognised as the holy Metropolitan Philip, telling him in the name of the Mother of God to take the Kazan Icon, carelessly left in a stateroom of the Three Saints church, and put it in a new temple, which should be built in three days, and on the fourth day consecrated. "Then, -- said the appeared saint, -- in the city wilt cease the prolonged rain and the harmful bugs will disappear". Ioannikii was afraid at first to tell the monastery head about these visions. At Matins, during the reading about an account of the appearance of the Mother of God at Kazan, he fell into a deep stupor. Regaining his senses, the clerk told everything to his priest-confessor, and that one in turn told the monastery head. And the commands of the All-Pure Virgin were fulfilled. The constant rain in that locale at once ceased and the nasty insects disappeared. And from the Icon of the Mother of God from that time began miraculous healings. The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, named the
Kaplunovsk, appeared in the year 1689 in the village of Kaplunovka in
Khar'kov diocese. At the icon prayed emperor Peter I before the Poltava
Battle (1709), and through the prayers of the Mother of God, he gained
a brilliant victory over the Swedes. (The account about the appearance
of the holy icon is located under 11 September).
The Tambovsk Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God is located in the Transfiguration temple of the Tambov cathedral church. The first miracle from it occurred on 6 December 1695, when during the time of the all-night vigil it shed tears. From that time constantly the holy icon has provided healing to the infirm. The icon was written in the Kazan form. The Kazan Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God, named the Vysochinsk, is situated in the Mikhailo-Arkhangel'sk church of the men's monastery near the city of Zmiev in Khar'kov district. The holy icon appeared in the XVIII Century to a forest warden in a pine woods at the bank of the River Mzha. The warden saw standing on a marsh hillock the icon, from which shone bright rays of light. When he took hold the holy icon to put it in his sentry-hut, below the hillock welled up a spring of pure water. One time, when the warden's father was in the sentry-hut (a decrepit blind old man, getting about on crutches) with his ten year old grandson, the boy saw bright light emit from the icon. The boy became frightened and told his grandfather, lying at the stove, that in the corner something was burning. The old man with difficulty got up from the stove and made his way to the corner, where stood the holy icon. Suddenly his eyes could see and he beheld the holy Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and he sensed himself completely healed. With tears he gave thanks to the Mother of God for the wondrous miracle. On the following morning the warden's entire family set off to church in the nearest village to give thanks to God for the healing of the old man and to report everything to the local priest. The holy icon was put into the church, and the family returned home. To the astonishment of everyone, on the following morning the holy icon was at its place in the sentry-hut. Three times the holy icon was taken to the church and thrice it returned back to its place. Then they decided to leave the icon there, where the MostHoly Mother of God wanted it. And many people came hither, beseeching the help of the Mother of God. After the Poltava Battle the emperor Peter I rewarded with a parcel of land a company commander, named Vasilii Vysochinov, who had distinguished himself in the fight. Vasilii thus became owner of the place, where the wonderworking icon stood in the sentry-hut. Learning about the appearance of the holy icon, Vysochinov made request to transfer the parish church of the village of Artiukhovka to the place of the appearance of the holy icon. In 1795 a stone church was built, and in 1886 at Vysochinovka was founded a men's monastery, in which was installed the wonderworking icon. The Venerable Vyshensk Copy of the Kazan Icon
of the Mother of God:
At the time of the 1812 War, whilst fleeing the French, the Moscow nun Mironia Dankova set off to the Tambovsk Ascension monastery. She took with her a Kazan Icon -- given her in parental blessing. Along the way the coachman intended to murder Mironia. Mironia turned to the Mother of God, and from the Icon resounded the Voice: "Fear not, I am thine Mediatrix". The coachman suddenly went blind and only after repenting did he regain his sight. Mironia kept the icon with her in her cell. Before her death she bequeathed it to the Vyshensk monastery, whither the icon was transported on 7 March 1827. Here many a miracle occurred from the holy icon. Sometimes by night they saw a wondrous light, coming from the icon. In 1841 by the intercession of the MostHoly Mother of God the city of Tambov was saved from cholera. In memory of this event the Vyshensk Icon annually was carried in Tambov in church procession. A Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was given by tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) to the city of Penza at its founding in 1666. Those resorting with faith to this icon always received help in various needs. On the eve of 4 August 1717 during a time of incursion of the Nogai Tatars (the so-called "Kuban pogrom"), when no help remained in saving the city, all the people gathered in the cathedral for vigil, which did not cease the whole night. In the morning they carried out the icon to the fortress ramparts and began to sing an akathist. When the Nogai Tatars came in assault, the face of the Mother of God grew dim and the holy icon repulsed the enemy. During the time of the reading of prayers, in the Tatar camp there ensued confusion, and they fled. At the end of the XIX Century a feastday on 4 August was established to this icon. And in the all-night vigil was put the magnification: "We magnify Thee, O Most Holy Virgin, and thine holy image we do venerate, that by which we art delivered from the horrors of invasion". On 28 June 1579 there occurred a terrible conflagration which had started around the church of Sainted Nikolai of Tula. This fire destroyed part of the city and turned to ashes half of the Kazan Kremlin. The adherents of Mahomet gloated, supposing, that God had become angered against the Christians. "The faith of Christ, -- says the chronicler, -- is rendered a fable and an outrage". But the conflagration at Kazan was the foreboding of the ultimate fall of Islam and affirmation of Orthodoxy throughout all the land of the Golden Horde, the future East portion of the Russian realm. The city began quickly to rise up from its ruins. Together with others who had been burned out, and not far from where the conflagration had started, -- was built the house of the musketeer Daniil Onuchin. The Mother of God appeared in a dream to his nine year old daughter Matrona and commanded her to find Her icon, hidden in the ground by secret confessors of Orthodoxy way back still in the time of Moslem rule. But to the words of a mere girl they paid no attention. Thrice the Mother of God appeared and pointed out the spot, where the wonderworking icon had been concealed. Finally, Matrona with her mother began to dig in the indicated place and they found the sacred icon. To this place of the miraculous discovery there came archbishop Jeremii at the head of his clergy and transported the holy image into a church of Saint Nicholas situated nearby. From there, after a molieben, amidst a church procession they transferred it to the Annunciation cathedral -- the first Orthodox temple in the city of Kazan, erected by tsar Ivan the Terrible. During the time of the procession there occurred the healing of two blind men -- Iosif and Nikita. A copy of the Icon, which had
appeared at Kazan, together with an account of the circumstances of its
discovery and descriptions of the miracles was dispatched in 1579 to
Moscow. Tsar Ivan the Terrible gave orders to build at the place of its
appearance a temple in honour of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God,
to install therein the holy icon, and to found there also a women's monastery.
Matrona and her mother, instrumental in finding the sacred icon, accepted
monastic tonsure at this monastery.
At the Nikol'sk (Nicholas) church, where the first molieben had been made before the Kazan Icon, was serving at this time as priest the future Sainted Ermogen, Patriarch of Moscow (+ 1612, Comm. 17 February). Fifteen years later, in 1594, now as Metropolitan of Kazan, he compiled a report of the holy events to which he had been an eyewitness and participant: "Account and Miracles of the MostPure Mother of God from Her Venerable and Gloriously Manifest Image at Kazan". In this account are descriptions with great factual precision regarding many an instance of healing, from the wonderworking Icon through the prayers of believers. The "Account" manuscript -- written by His Holiness Patriarch Ermogen -- was in its entirety reproduced in facsimile edition: "Report about the Wonderworking Kazan Icon of the MostHoly Mother of God", with an introduction by A. I. Sobolevsky, M(oscow) 1912. The not-large Icon, discovered by the girl Matrona in the then recently annexed foreign frontier of the Russian realm, soon became a national sacred item, a sign of the Heavenly protection of the Mother of God, manifest for all the Russian Church, since the soul of the Orthodox nation sensed the special participation of the All-Pure Lady Mother of God in the historical destiny of its "Rodina" native-land. Not by mere chance was the Kazan Image a copy of the ancient Blakhernae Icon (Comm. 7 July) written by the holy Evangelist Luke, and considered in its iconographic type to be of icons named "Hodegetria" ("Putevoditel'nitsa", "Way-Guide"). Many a time the "Kazan Mother" showed the way to victory for Russian Orthodox soldiers in the fulfilling of their sacred duty for God and Country. In the year of its appearance at Kazan (in other sources two years afterwards) there began the remarkable onward march "Beyond Kazan" (beyond the Ural Mountains) envisioned by Blessed German (+ 1567, Comm. 6 November), and taken by the Cossack ataman Ermak Timofeevich Povol'sky (+ 1584), an effort crowned finally with the annexation of Siberia. With a graced energy and coursing about in miraculous manner it proved sufficient, that for some several decades Russian explorer-missionaries should proceed to the East, " to meet the sun", going many thousands of kilometers. On the feastday of the Pokrov (Protection, 1 October) in 1639 they sailed out on their first voyage along the Pacific Ocean, preaching salvation to the surrounding peoples. Orthodox soldiers and missionaries
went east, while apostates fled to the West. Jesuits seemingly attempted
to drown Rus' at the beginning XVII Century with tumultuous waves of sovereign-imposters
and "rapacious people". It was indeed through Divine Providence, during
the period of the Polish Occupation (1605-1612), which the nation termed
the "Time of Troubles", that the Russian Church was headed by a great
confessor of Orthodoxy -- the PriestMartyr Ermogen, Patriarch of Moscow
and All Rus', who had been among those first to venerate the Kazan Icon
of the MostHoly Mother of God, becoming the author of the "Account" about
it and the Service to it.
During the difficult days when Moscow was occupied by the Polish, and discord and disorder having spread throughout all the land, this resolute sufferer for the Holy Faith and Fatherland was held under guard, and he managed secretly to send off to Nizhni Novgorod an appeal: "Write to Kazan to metropolitan Emphrem, and let there be sent a document of direction to the regiments for the boyars and to the Cossack forces, that they should rise up in force for the faith, put an end to the plundering and preserve brotherhood, and should vow to pledge their souls for the house of the All-Pure and the wonderworkers and for the faith, let there be done. And in every city... write thus in my name". The Nizhni Novgorod people responded to the appeal of the archpastor. Prince Dimitrii Mikhailovich Pozharsky headed the gathered militia. The Kazan forces, joining in with the militia, brought with them a copy of the wonderworking Kazan Icon, which they gave to prince Dimitrii at Yaroslavl'. The MostHoly Lady Mother of God took the militia under Her protection, and by Her intercession Russia was saved. The Russian forces experienced tremendous difficulties: inward hostilities, and insufficient armament and supplies. In the bad weather of Autumn the Russian army moved on to storm Moscow, situated in the hands of the Polish. A three day fast and fervent prayer before the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God inclined the Lord to mercy. Within the besieged Kremlin at this time was held captive the Hellas Archbishop Arsenios (Arsenii, afterwards Suzdal' archbishop, + 1626, 13 April), who had arrived from Greece and was grievously ill from his journeying and being shaken about. By night the cell of Sainted Arsenii was suddenly lit up by a Divine light, and he beheld the Monk Sergei of Radonezh (Comm. 5 July and 25 September), who said: "Arsenii, our prayers are heard; through the intercession of the Mother of God the Divine judgement of the Fatherland is changed to mercy; on the morrow Moscow wilt be in the hands of its besiegers and Russia saved". As though in proof of the veracity of this prophecy, the archbishop received healing from his sickness, and then this joyful occurrence became known to the Russian forces. On the following day, 22 October 1612, Russian forces, inspired by the vision, seized a sweeping victory and took the Chinese-quarter, and 2 days later -- the Kremlin itself. On Sunday, 25 October, Russian
forces triumphantly in church procession made entry into the Kremlin,
bearing the Kazan Icon. At the Skull-Place ("Lobnoe mesto", i.e. the public
execution spot), the church procession was met by Archbishop Arsenii emerging
from the Kremlin, bearing the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, saved
by him in his captivity. Moved by the effect of the meeting of the two
wonderworkings icons of the Mother of God, the people with tears made
prayer to the Heavenly Mediatrix.
With the expulsion of the Polish from Moscow, -- according to the Nikonov chronicle, prince Dimitrii Pozharsky had the holy Kazan Icon placed in his own parish church of the Entry in the Temple of the MostHoly Mother of God, at Lubyanka in Moscow. Afterwards, at the expense of the prince-patriot, there was erected the Kazan cathedral on Red Square. The holy icon, which had been with the armies of Pozharsky during the liberation of Moscow, was transferred in 1636 into the newly constructed temple, the Kazan cathedral. At present, this holy image is situated in the Patriarch's Theophany cathedral in Moscow. In commemoration of the liberation of Moscow from the Polish, a special feastday in honour of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was established under 22 October. At first this celebration was made only at Moscow, but from 1649 it became an all-Russian celebration. In 1709, before the Poltava Battle, Peter the Great prayed with his soldiery in front an icon of the Kazan Mother of God (that from the village of Kaplunovka). In 1721 Peter transferred one of the copies of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God from Moscow to Peterburg, where at first the icon was placed in a chapel, then at the Alexandro-Nevsky Lavra monastery, and from 1737 it was in the church of the Nativity of the Mother of God on Nevsky Prospekt. In 1811, before the Fatherland War, the holy icon of the Heavenly Mediatrix was transferred into the newly constructed Kazan cathedral. In 1812 the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God provided blessing for Russian soldiers in repulsing the French invasion. On the feast of the Kazan Icon, 22 October 1812, Russian detachments under the command of Miloradovich and Platov destroyed the Davu rearguard. This was the first outstanding blow against the French after their departure from Moscow, and in which the enemy lost seven thousand men. And on this day snow fell, bitter frosts began, and the army that had subdued Europe began to falter. ...The Kazan cathedral at Peterburg was built in the years 1801-1811 -- as though especially for this, to be a commemorative temple of Russian glory in the 1812 Fatherland War. The iconostas of the main altar was an elaborately wrought work, made of an hundred pud-weight [pud = 36 lbs] of silver: of this, forty puds were an offering to the temple by the Don Cossacks, having taken this silver in 1812 from the French. The walls of the cathedral were adorned with trophies, taken from the French in 1812. Buried at the cathedral and with enemy standards draped over his holy tomb was prince Mikhail Kutuzov-Smolensky, saviour of the Fatherland. Bronzen sculptures of Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolli stand before the temple at the end of the colonnades, in the hemisphere circling upon the cathedral square... Numerous wonderworking copies
of the Kazan Icon in Rus' glorify the All-Pure Mother of God, Protectress
of the Orthodox Russian people. Of the plethora of icons of the Mother
of God venerated in the Russian Orthodox Church, none is more widespread
in number than the Kazan Icon. For all Orthodox Rus' it is esteemed as
holy, and to it oftenest of all do they turn their gaze in misfortunes
and illnesses, crying out: "O fervent Mediatrix, Mother of the Lord MostHigh,
for all pray Thine Son Christ our God... with everything grant benefit and
save all, O Virgin Birthgiver of God, and be Thou the Divine protection for
Thine servant".
With blessings of grace are dispersed icons of the All-Pure Mother of God throughout the extent of the Russian land, truly imaging the Heavenly protection, with Her constant intercession sent down by Her Divine Son, having offered Himself in sacrifice for the salvation of mankind. The ancient Vladimir holy Image of the Mother of God preserves and blesses the Northern bounds, the Smolensk and Pochaev Icons guard the West, and in the East, to the ends of the land shine the rays of the inexhaustible grace of the wonderworking Kazan Image of our All-Pure Mother. 1626 Bl. Mancius Araki Martyr of Japan; a Japanese brother of Blessed Matthew Araki, who sheltered missionaries. Arrested and held in Omura prison, Japan, Mancius died there His body was burned at Nagasaki on July 12. He was beatified in 1867. |
19th
v. Sitka Icon of the Mother of God Located at the Cathedral of St Michael
the Archangel in Sitka, Alaska; Miracles have been attributed to her
gaze One of the most revered Icons in North America: the Sitka Mother of God. This Icon has been attributed to a famous Iconographer, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (1758-1826), a protégé of the Empress Catherine II who was instructed at the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg, Russia. In addition to being a great portrait painter, Borovikovsky also painted many of the Icons for the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon in St Petersburg. Painted in the style of the Kazan Mother of God Icon, on canvas, the Sitka Mother of God Icon is 36 x 17½ inches in size. An exceptionally beautiful and detailed riza of silver covers the Icon of the Theotokos and Christ child, and the Image of God the Father blessing from above. The Cathedral received the Icon as a gift from the laborers of the Russian American Company in 1850, two years after the Cathedral was completed. Even with their meager wages, these men generously made their contribution to the Church. Miracles have been attributed to the Sitka Mother of God Icon over the years. It is believed that the gaze of the eyes of the Theotokos have led to the restored health of those who prayed before the Icon. Because of the peaceful gaze of the Theotokos, the Icon has been described as a "pearl of Russian ecclesiastical art of ineffable gentleness, purity and harmony…." And "…the most beautiful face of the Mother of God with the Divine Child in her arms is so delicately and artistically done that the more one looks at it the more difficult it is to tear one’s gaze away." Originally part of the main Iconostasis at the Cathedral of St Michael the Archangel in Sitka, Alaska, the Icon is now permanently located on the far left side of the Iconostasis in a special place of honor. |
1900 7 Martyrs of
Shanxi were beheaded on this day in Members of the Franciscan Missionaries
of Mary, they went to China to open orphanages. [SEE
JULY 09 LINKED HERE] They were arrested when the government decided to eliminate foreign missionaries |
THE
PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
MARY PSALM 169
Deliver me from mine enemies, O Lady of the world: arise to meet me, O Queen of piety. The purest gold is thy ornament: the sardine stone and the topaz are thy diadem. The jasper and the amethyst are in thy right hand: the beryl and the chrysolite in thy left. The hyacinths are on thy breast: shining carbuncles are the jewels of thy bracelets. Myrrh, frankincense, and balsam are on thy hands: the sapphire and the emerald on thy fingers. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be. God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea. As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven: only saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others. There
are over 10,000 named saints beati
from
history
and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources Patron_Saints.html Widowed_Saints html Indulgences The Catholic Church in China LINKS: Marian Shrines India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East Lourdes 1858 China Marian shrines 1995 Kenya national Marian shrine Loreto, Italy Marian Apparitions (over 2000) Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798 Links to Related MarianWebsites Angels and Archangels Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell Widowed Saints html Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates Chalcedon |
|
Mary the
Mother
of
Jesus
Miracles_BC Lay Saints
Miraculous_Icons
Miraculous_Medal_Novena
Patron
Saints
Miracles by Century 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 Miracles 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 Lay Saints |
|
The
great
psalm
of the
Passion,
Chapter
22,
whose
first
verse
“My
God, my
God,
why hast
thou
forsaken
me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought. |
|
Pope
Benedict
XVI
to
The
Catholic
Church
In China
{whole
article
here}
2000
years of the Catholic Church
in China The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible. Join us on CatholicVote.org. Be part of a new
movement
committed
to using
powerful
media
projects
to create
a Culture
of
Life.
We can
help
shape
the movement
and have
a voice
in its
future.
Check
it out
at www.CatholicVote.org
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible. 4. Say the rosary every day. 5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6. Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day. 7. Every month make a review of the month in confession. 8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue. 9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love
Thee.
I beg
pardon
for those
who do not
believe,
do not
adore,
do
not
O most Holy trinity, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee the most
precious
Body,
Blood,
Soul
and Divinity
of Jesus
Christ,
present
in all the
Tabernacles
of the
world, in reparation
for the
outrages,
sacrileges
and indifference
by which
He is
offended,
and by the
infite
merits
of
the Sacred
Heart
of Jesus
and
the Immaculate
Heart
of
Mary.
I beg the
conversion of poor sinners, Fatima
Prayer, Angel of Peace
The
voice
of
the Father
is heard,
the
Son enters
the
water,
and
the Holy
Spirit
appears
in
the form
of a dove.
THE
spirit
and example
of
the world
imperceptibly
instil
the
error
into
the
minds
of
many that
there
is
a kind
of middle
way of going
to
Heaven;
and
so, because
the world
does
not
live up
to the gospel,
they bring
the
gospel
down
to the
level
of the world.
It
is not by
this example
that
we are
to measure
the Christian
rule,
but words
and
life of
Christ.
All
His followers
are
commanded
to labour
to become
perfect
even
as our heavenly
Father
is perfect,
and
to bear His
image
in our hearts
that we may
be His children.
We are
obliged
by
the gospel
to die
to ourselves
by fighting
self-love
in our hearts,
by the
mastery
of our passions,
by taking
on the
spirit
of our
Lord.
These
are
the conditions
under
which
Christ
makes
His
promises
and
numbers
us among
His children,
as is
manifest
from His
words
which
the apostles
have
left
us in their
inspired
writings.
Here
is no
distinction
made or
foreseen
between
the apostles
or clergy
or religious
and
secular
persons.
The
former,
indeed,
take upon
themselves
certain
stricter
obligations,
as a means
of accomplishing
these
ends
more
perfectly;
but the
law of
holiness
and
of disengagement
of
the heart
from
the world
is general
and
binds
all the followers
of Christ.
|
|
God loves variety.
He doesn't
mass-produce
his saints.
Every
saint
is unique
each
the
result
of
a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non
est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors
responded
to
God's
invitation
to use
his
or her
unique
gifts.
|
|
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite
the
Rosary
)
Revealed
to St.
Dominic
and
Blessed
Alan)
1. Whoever
shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive
signal
graces. 2.
I promise my
special protection
and the greatest graces to
all those who shall recite the
Rosary. 3.
The Rosary
shall be a powerful armor
against hell, it will destroy
vice, decrease
sin, and defeat heresies.
4.
It will cause virtue and
good works to flourish; it will
obtain for souls the abundant
mercy of God; it will withdraw
the hearts of people from the
love of the world and its vanities,
and will lift them to the
desire of eternal things.
Oh, that soul would sanctify
them by this means. 5.
The soul that recommends
itself to me by the recitation
of the Rosary shall not perish.
6. Whoever
shall recite the Rosary devoutly,
applying themselves to the consideration
of its Sacred Mysteries
shall never be conquered by misfortune.
God will not chastise
them in His justice, they shall not
perish by an unprovided
death; if they be just, they shall remain
in the grace of God, and become
worthy of eternal life. 7.
Whoever shall have a
true devotion for the Rosary shall
not die without the Sacraments
of the Church. 8.
Those who are faithful to recite
the Rosary shall have during their
life and at their death the light of
God and the plentitude of His graces; at
the moment of death they shall participate
in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.
I shall deliver from
purgatory those who have been devoted
to the Rosary. 10.
The faithful children of the
Rosary shall merit a high degree
of glory in Heaven. 11.
You shall obtain all
you ask of me by the recitation
of the Rosary. 12.
I shall aid all those who propagate
the Holy Rosary in their necessities.
13.
I have obtained from my Divine Son that
all the advocates of the Rosary
shall have for intercessors the
entire celestial court during
their life and at the hour of death.
14. All who
recite the Rosary are my children, and
brothers and sisters of my only
Son, Jesus Christ. 15.
Devotion to my Rosary
is a great sign of predestination.
|
|
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013)
Catholicos of Cilicia of
Armenians, whose
See is
located
in
Lebanese
town
of
Antelias.
The Catholicosate
was founded
in Sis,
capital
of Cilicia,
in the
year 1441
following
the move
of
the Catholicosate
of All
Armenians
back
to its
original
See of
Etchmiadzin
in Armenia.
The Catholicosate
of
Cilicia
enjoyed
local
jurisdiction,
though
spiritually
subject
to the
authority
of Etchmiadzin.
In 1921
the See was
transferred
to Aleppo
in Syria,
and
in 1930
to Antelias.
Its
jurisdiction
currently
extends
to
Syria,
Cyprus,
Iran
and
Greece. |
|
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction
of Christianity
into
Edessa
{Armenian
Ourhaï
in Arabic
Er
Roha,
commonly
Orfa
or Urfa,
its present
name}
is
not known.
It
is certain,
however,
that
the Christian
community
was at first
made
up from
the Jewish
population
of
the city.
According
to an
ancient
legend,
King
Abgar
V, Ushana,
was
converted
by
Addai,
who
was
one of the
seventy-two
disciples.
In
fact, however,
the
first
King
of Edessa
to embrace
the Christian
Faith
was
Abgar
IX (c.
206)
becoming
official
kingdom
religion.
Christian
council
held
at
Edessa
early
as
197
(Eusebius,
Hist.
Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated
by a great
flood,
and
the Christian
church
was
destroyed
(“Chronicon
Edessenum”,
ad. an.
201).
In 232 the relics of the
Apostle St. Thomas were
brought
from India,
on
which
occasion
his
Syriac
Acts
were
written.
Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian. In the meanwhile Christian
priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia,
established
the first
Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides.
Atillâtiâ,
Bishop
of Edessa,
assisted
at
the Council
of Nicæa
(325).
The
“Peregrinatio
Silviæ”
(or
Etheriæ)
(ed.
Gamurrini,
Rome,
1887,
62 sqq.)
gives
an account
of the
many
sanctuaries
at
Edessa
about
388.
Although Hebrew had been
the
language
of the
ancient
Israelite
kingdom,
after
their
return
from
Exile
the Jews
turned
more
and
more
to Aramaic,
using
it for
parts
of the
books
of Ezra
and Daniel
in the
Bible.
By the
time
of
Jesus,
Aramaic
was the
main
language
of Palestine,
and quite
a number
of texts
from
the
Dead
Sea Scrolls
are also
written
in
Aramaic.
Aramaic
continued
to
be
an important
language
for
Jews,
alongside
Hebrew,
and
parts
of the
Talmud
are
written
in it.
After Arab conquests of
the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language
of those
who converted to Islam,
although in out of the
way places, Aramaic
continued as a vernacular
language of Muslims.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed
its greatest
success
in Christianity.
Although
the
New
Testament
wins
written
in Greek,
Christianity
had
come
into
existence
in
an Aramaic-speaking
milieu,
and it was
the
Aramaic
dialect
of Edessa,
now known
as Syriac,
that became
the literary
language
of
a large
number
of Christians
living
in the
eastern
provinces
of the
Roman
Empire
and
in the
Persian
Empire,
further
east.
Over
the course
of the
centuries
the influence
of the
Syriac
Churches
spread
eastwards
to
China
(in Xian,
in western
China,
a
Chinese-Syriac
inscription
dated
781
is
still
to be seen);
to southern
India
where
the state
of Kerala
can boast
more
Christians
of Syriac
liturgical
tradition
than
anywhere
else
in the
world.
680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints. Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine. The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches. The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice." According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates. Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor. Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims. |
|
Meeting
of
the
Saints
walis
(saints
of
Allah) Great men covet to embrace
martyrdom
for
a cause
and
principle.
So
was
the
case
with
Hazrat
Ali.
He could
have
made
a compromise
with
the
evil
forces
of his
time
and, as
a result,
could
have led a very comfortable,
easy
and luxurious
life.
But
he
was not
a person
who would
succumb
to such
temptations.
His upbringing,
his
education
and his
training
in the
lap of
the holy
Prophet
made
him
refuse
such
an offer.Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country. Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.” Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life. |
|
801 Rabi'a
al-'Adawiyya
Sufi
One
of
the
most
famous
Islamic
mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions. Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq. She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186). Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186). She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218). Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching. As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director. She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222). A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid. The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218) Rabi'a was of this second kind. She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca: "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God. She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker. Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219). During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything. "...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?' I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them. I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162) When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said, "O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me? Is it not God Who wills it? When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will? It is not well to oppose one's Beloved." (221) She was an ascetic. It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187). She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world. A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill. Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied, "I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?" (186-7) A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold. She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him. And she added an ethical concern as well: "...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187) She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself. The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. When they asked her to explain, she said: "I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188) She was once asked where she came from. "From that other world," she said. "And where are you going?" she was asked. "To that other world," she replied (219). She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end. Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love. In this quest, logic and reason were powerless. Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220). Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition. Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved. Through this communion, she could discover His will for her. Many of her prayers have come down to us: "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart, But my body is available for those who seek its company, And my body is friendly towards its guests, But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul." [224] |
|
To
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Colombia
was
among
the
countries
Mother
Angelica
visited.
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass. After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her. Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy: “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic
Bulletin
for
14 years Lover of the poor;
“A very Holy Man of God.”
Monsignor
Reardon
Protonotarius
Apostolicus Pastor 42 years BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World
August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation
by
Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May
31, 1908
Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918. A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955); The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement 1362-1950 (1952); The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922; (1932) The Vikings in the American Heartland; The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota; James Michael Reardon
Born
in Nova
Scotia,
1872;
Priest, ordained by Bishop
Ireland;
Affiliations
and
Indulgences
Litany of Loretto in Stained glass
windows
here.
Nave
Sacristy
and
Residence
Here
Member -- St. Paul Seminary
faculty.
Sanctuary spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's
earliest
Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history. The only replicas ever made: in order from
west
to east
{1932}.
Saints Simon
(saw), Bartholomew
(knife),
James
the
Lesser
(book),
John
(eagle),
Andrew
(transverse
cross),
Peter
keys),
Paul
(sword), James
the Greater (staff), Thomas (carpenter's
square),
Philip
(serpent),
Matthew
(book),
and Jude
sword
It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD |
|
THE BLESSED
MOTHER
AND ISLAM
By Father
John
Corapi.
June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under
Pope
John
Paul
II;
By Father John Corapithen 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so. THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.
June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under
Pope
John
Paul
II;
By Father John Corapithen 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
Among
the
most
important
titles
we have in
the
Catholic
Church
for
the Blessed
Virgin
Mary
are Our
Lady
of Victory
and Our
Lady of
the Rosary.
These
titles
can
be traced
back to
one of
the most
decisive
times
in the
history
of the world
and Christendom.
The Battle
of
Lepanto
took place
on October
7
(date of
feast of
Our Lady
of Rosary),
1571.
This
proved
to be the most
crucial
battle
for the Christian
forces
against
the radical
Muslim
navy
of Turkey.
Pope
Pius
V led a procession
around
St. Peter’s
Square
in
Vatican City
praying
the Rosary.
He
showed true
pastoral
leadership
in
recognizing
the danger
posed
to Christendom
by the radical
Muslim forces,
and in using
the means
necessary
to defeat
it.
Spiritual
battles
require spiritual
weapons,
and this more
than anything
was a battle
that
had its origins
in the
spiritual order—a
true battle
between
good and
evil. Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception. This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children. No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion. As we watch the spectacle of the world seeming to self-destruct before our eyes, we can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions displayed in living color on our television screens. These are not ordinary times and this is not business as usual. We are at a crossroads in human history and the time for Catholics and all Christians to act is now. All evil can ultimately be traced to its origin, which is moral evil. All of the political action, peace talks, international peacekeeping forces, etc. will avail nothing if the underlying sickness is not addressed. This is sin. One person at a time hearts and minds must be moved from evil to good, from lies to truth, from violence to peace. Islam, an Arabic word that has often been defined as “to make peace,” seems like a living contradiction today. Islam is a religion of peace. As we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady, I am proposing that each one of us pray the Rosary for peace. Prayer is what must precede all other activity if that activity is to have any chance of success. Pray for peace, pray the Rosary every day without fail. There is a great love for Mary among Muslim people. It is not a coincidence that a little village named Fatima is where God chose to have His Mother appear in the twentieth century. Our Lady’s name appears no less than thirty times in the Koran. No other woman’s name is mentioned, not even that of Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima. In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetically spoke of the resurgence of Islam in our day. He said it would be through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Islam would be converted. We must pray for this to happen quickly if we are to avert a horrible time of suffering for this poor, sinful world. Turn to our Mother in this time of great peril. Pray the Rosary every day. Then, and only then will there be peace, when the hearts and minds of men are changed from the inside.
|
|
Father John Corapi
goes to the heart of the contemporary world's
many woes
and
wars,
whether
the
wars
in Afghanistan,
Iraq,
Lebanon,
Somalia,
or
the Congo,
or the natural
disasters
that seem
to
be increasing
every
year,
the moral
and spiritual
war
is at the
basis
of everything.
“Our
battle
is not
against
human
forces,”
St.
Paul asserts,
“but
against
principalities
and powers,
against
the world
rulers
of
this present
darkness...”
(Ephesians
6:12).
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds. The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him. About Father John Corapi. Father Corapi is a Catholic
priest
.
The pillars of father's
preaching
are
basically:
Love
for
and
a
relationship
with
the
Blessed
Virgin
Mary
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church God Bless
you on your
journey
Father
John
Corapi
|
|
Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life. Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification. Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization. Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint. Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970. Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor. Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century. Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran. The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church. Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.” Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8. Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer. Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’ Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor. Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification. Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism. Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan. Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions. Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life. Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life. Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification. Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization. Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint. Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970. Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor. Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century. Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran. The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church. Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.” Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8. Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer. Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’ Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor. Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification. Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism. Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan. Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions. Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life. |
|
8
Martyrs
Move Closer
to
Sainthood
8 July,
2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016 The angel appears to Saint Monica This morning, Pope Francis received Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato. During the audience, he authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes: *** MIRACLES: Miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Guardian Angel; born July 4, 1809 and died on Jan. 16, 1890 MARTYRDOM: Servants of God Antonio Arribas Hortigüela and 6 Companions, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart; killed in hatred of the Faith, Sept. 29, 1936 Servant of God Josef Mayr-Nusser, a layman; killed in hatred of the Faith, Feb. 24, 1945 HEROIC VIRTUE: Servant of God Alfonse Gallegos of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Titular Bishop of Sasabe, auxiliary of Sacramento; born Feb. 20, 1931 and died Oct. 6, 1991 Servant of God Rafael Sánchez García, diocesan priest; born June 14, 1911 and died on Aug. 8, 1973 Servant of God Andrés García Acosta, professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor; born Jan. 10, 1800 and died Jan. 14, 1853 Servant of God Joseph Marchetti, professed priest of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles; born Oct. 3, 1869 and died Dec. 14, 1896 Servant of God Giacomo Viale, professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, pastor of Bordighera; born Feb. 28, 1830 and died April 16, 1912 Servant of God Maria Pia of the Cross (née Maddalena Notari), foundress of the Congregation of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist; born Dec. 2, 1847 and died on July 1, 1919 |
|
Sunday,
November
23
2014 Six
to Be Canonized
on Feast
of Christ
the King. On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See: -Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts -Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate -Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth -Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims -Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church -Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims |
|
CAUSES
OF SAINTS
July
2015. Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org) Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The Pope also recognized the heroic virtues of several religious/lay men and women from Italy, Spain, France & Mexico. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is considered to be one of the most influential 20th century figures in the history of the Ukrainian Church. Enthroned as Metropolitan of Lviv in 1901, Archbishop Sheptytsky was arrested shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 by the Russians. After his imprisonment in several prisons in Russia and the Ukraine, the Archbishop was released in 1918. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate was also an ardent supporter of the Jewish community in Ukraine, going so far as to learn Hebrew to better communicate with them. He also was a vocal protestor against atrocities committed by the Nazis, evidenced in his pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." He was also known to harbor thousands of Jews in his residence and in Greek Catholic monasteries. Following his death in 1944, his cause for canonization was opened in 1958. * * * The Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees regarding the heroic virtues of: - Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., major archbishop of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, metropolitan of Halyc (1865-1944); - Servant of God Giuseppe Carraro, Bishop of Verona, Italy (1899-1980); - Servant of God Agustin Ramirez Barba, Mexican diocesan priest and founder of the Servants of the Lord of Mercy (1881-1967); - Servant of God Simpliciano della Nativita (ne Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresca), Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (1827-1898); - Servant of God Maria del Refugio Aguilar y Torres del Cancino, Mexican founder of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1866-1937); - Servant of God Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes (Marie-Teresa), French professed religious of the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1873-1953); - Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Italian founder of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1904-1976); - Servant of God Isabel Mendez Herrero (Isabel of Mary Immaculate), Spanish professed nun of the Servants of St. Joseph (1924-1953) |
|
October
01,
2015
Vatican
City, Pope
Authorizes
following
Decrees (ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God Pope Authorizes Decrees Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees: MARTYRDOM - Servant of God Valentin Palencia Marquina, Spanish diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith in Suances, Spain in 1937; HEROIC VIRTUES - Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963); - Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987); - Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991); - Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996); - Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917); - Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913); - Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973). |
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March
06
2016 MIRACLES
authorised
the Congregation
to
promulgate
the following
decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees: MIRACLES – Blessed Manuel González García, bishop of Palencia, Spain, founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth (1877-1940); – Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity (née Elisabeth Catez), French professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1880-1906); – Venerable Servant of God Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus (né Henri Grialou), French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, founder of the Secular Institute “Notre-Dame de Vie” (1894-1967); – Venerable Servant of God María Antonia of St. Joseph (née María Antonio de Paz y Figueroa), Argentine founder of the Beaterio of the Spiritual Exercise of Buenos Aires (1730-1799); HEROIC VIRTUE – Servant of God Stefano Ferrando, Italian professed priest of the Salesians, bishop of Shillong, India, founder of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (1895-1978); – Servant of God Enrico Battista Stanislao Verjus, Italian professed priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, coadjutor of the apostolic vicariate of New Guinea (1860-1892); – Servant of God Giovanni Battista Quilici, Italian diocesan priest, founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Crucified (1791-1844); – Servant of God Bernardo Mattio, Italian diocesan priest (1845-1914); – Servant of God Quirico Pignalberi, Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1891-1982); – Servant of God Teodora Campostrini, Italian founder of the Minim Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Sorrows (1788-1860); – Servant of God Bianca Piccolomini Clementini, Italian founder of the Company of St. Angela Merici di Siena (1875-1959); – Servant of God María Nieves of the Holy Family (née María Nieves Sánchez y Fernández), Spanish professed religious of the Daughters of Mary of the Pious Schools (1900-1978). April 26 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees: Here is the full list of decrees approved by the Pope: MIRACLES – Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910); – Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933); MARTYRDOM – Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974; – Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936; HEROIC VIRTUES – Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861); – Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952); – Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921); – Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Pasqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900); – Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917); – Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923); – Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977); – Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959). |
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