Pontian
was elected pope in 230 and reigned until the year 235. The schism of
Hippolytus continued during his episcopate. Towards the end of his
pontificate there was a reconciliation between the schismatic party and
its leader with the Roman pontiff. After the condemnation of Origen at
Alexandria, a synod was held by Pontian in Rome, which concurred in the
decisions of the Alexandrian synod against Origen.In 235 during the reign of Maximinus the Thracian a persecution directed chiefly against the heads of the Church began. One of its first victims was Pontian, who with Hippolytus was banished to the unhealthy island of Sardinia. To make the election of a new pope possible, Pope Pontian resigned his holy office on September 28, 235. Consequently, Anteros was elected in his stead but reigned for less than two months. Shortly before this or soon afterwards Hippolytus, who had been banished with Pontian, became reconciled to the Roman Church, and with this the schism he had caused came to an end.
How much longer Pontian endured the sufferings of exile and harsh treatment in the Sardinian mines is unknown. According to old and no longer existing accounts, he died in consequence of the privations and inhuman treatment he had to bear.
Pope Fabian (236-50), successor to Pope Anteros, had the remains of Pontian and Hippolytus brought to Rome at a later date and Pontian was buried in the papal crypt of the Catacomb of Callixtus.
Born
at Dijon in France in 1572, Jane was very pious and religious from a
very young age. In 1592 she married the Baron de Chantal, who inherited
many debts along with his title. Despite the early financial worries,
she and her husband were devoted to each other and to their four
children. She restored order in the household, which was on the brink of
ruin, and was generous with the little she had by allowing the poor to
visit her home for food. Often people who had just received food from
her would pretend to leave, go around the house and get back in line for
more. When asked why she let them get away with this, she replied,
"What if God turned me away when I came back to him again and again with
the same request?"
St.
Francis de Sales’ method of attaining perfection consisted in always
keeping one’s will united to the Divine will, in taking so to speak
one’s soul, heart, and longings into one’s hands and giving them into
God’s keeping, and in seeking always to do what is pleasing to Him.
Once,
during an enemy attack against Assisi, the fierce Saracens invaded San
Damiano, entered the confines of the monastery and even the very
cloister. Fainting in terror, their voices trembling with fear, the
sisters cried out to their Mother, St. Clare. What happened next was
recorded by the Franciscan friar, Tommaso da Celano:
St.
Lawrence, one of the deacons of the Roman Church, was one of the
victims of the persecution of Valerian in 258, like Pope Sixtus II and
many other members of the Roman clergy. At the beginning of the month of
August, in the year 258, the Roman emperor issued an edict, commanding
that all bishops, priests, and deacons should be put to death. This
imperial command was immediately carried out in the city of Rome. On the
6th Pope Sixtus II was apprehended in one of the catacombs, and
executed without delay. As he was led to execution, Lawrence followed
him. “Father, where are you going without your deacon?" he said. "I am
not leaving you, my son," answered the Pope, "in three days you will
follow me." Two other deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus, were put to
death the same day. Three days later, on the 10th of August of that same
year, Lawrence, the last of the seven deacons, also suffered a martyr’s
death.
St.
Ambrose of Milan and the poet Prudentius, give particular details about
St. Lawrence’s death. Ambrose relates that when St. Lawrence was asked
to bring forth the treasures of the Church he hastily traveled
throughout the city, gathering the poor. On the third day, he brought
them to the prefect, who believed the Church had treasure hidden away,
and said, “These are the treasures of the Church." The disappointed
prefect angrily condemned Lawrence to death. The saint was stripped of
his clothing and tied on top of a gird-iron over a slow fire that
roasted his flesh little by little. Defiant in spite of his intense
suffering, the holy deacon audaciously commanded his executioners “Turn
me over. That side is cooked.” The holy audacity of this deacon-martyr
inspires noble souls until today.
João
Mendes da Silva, better known as the Blessed Amadeus of Portugal, was
born in 1420 in Campo Maior on the eastern side of the country. The
youngest son of twelve children, he was closely related to the Counts of
Vila Real and Viana do Alentejo, whose lands lay near the border of
Portugal and Spain. St. Beatriz da Silva, the foundress of the Order of
the Immaculate Conception, was one of his sisters, and a strong devotion
to this prerogative of Our Lady – centuries before it was defined as a
dogma – was a profound spiritual characteristic they both shared.
Dominic
was born in 1170 in Castile, Spain to Felix Guzman and Joan of Aza (who
later became a blessed). He was sent to school in Palencia when he was
fourteen, and while he was still a student, was made Canon of the
Cathedral of Osma. He went on to complete his studies and was ordained a
priest, taking up his role at Osma.
Cajetan
was born in 1480 in Vicenza, Italy to Caspar, the Count of Thiene and
Mary di Porto, both members of the nobility of Vicenza. He educated
himself in theology and Cannon Law, and in 1516, was ordained a priest.
He joined the Oratory of Divine Love in Rome, a group devoted to piety
and charity, shortly after his ordination. He returned to Vicenza in
1528 and joined a religious order similar to the Oratory of Divine Love,
but consisting only of men of the lowest stations of life. He sought
out the sick and poor and served them.
Immaculate
Virgin, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, we believe in your triumphant
assumption into heaven where the angels and saints acclaim you as Queen
of Heaven and earth.
O
Dearest Mother Mary, Assumed into Heaven, God placed you at His right
hand that you may intercede for his little ones as the Mother of God.
O
merciful and loving Mother, may your glorious beauty fill our hearts
with a distaste for earthly things and an ardent longing for the joys of
Heaven.
Mary,
our dear Mother and mighty Queen, take and receive our poor hearts with
all their freedom and desires, all the love and all the virtues and
graces with which they may be adorned.
Mary,
Queen of every heart, accept all that we are and bind us to Jesus with
the bonds of love so that we may be yours forever and may be able to say
in all truth:
Mary,
Queen Assumed into Heaven, we rejoice that you are the Queen of Heaven
and Earth. You have given your holy fiat to God and became the Mother of
our Savior.
O
Blessed Mother Assumed into Heaven, after years of heroic martyrdom on
earth, we rejoice that you have at last been taken to the throne
prepared for you in Heaven by the Holy Trinity.
Standing atop one of Rome’s seven hills, the Esquiline, it is also called Santa Maria ad Nives, or "at the snow."
It is said that the Mother of God chose this location for a church
dedicated in her honor by a miraculous snow that fell upon this spot in
summer. Legend has it a rich and pious Roman senator and his wife
thought of donating their money and properties to the Church. That
night, in August of 358, Our Lady appeared in the dreams of the senator
and Pope Liberius asking them to build her a basilica in the exact place
where snow would fall that night. Since then, Our Lady has been
venerated in Italy as “Our Lady of the Snow.”
The
basilica is also home to a few remnants of the humble crib in which
Christ was laid at His birth. These pieces of the manger were carried to
Rome by Christians fleeing the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land in the
7th century. They are preserved in a silver reliquary resembling an
ordinary manger, upon which lies an image of the Infant Jesus. The Holy
Crib is the object of particular devotion and veneration during the
liturgical ceremonies of Christmas Eve and Midnight Mass. On Christmas
morning there is a procession in honor of the Holy Crib of the Infant
Jesus, which culminates in the exposition of the sacred relic on the
high altar.
John
Vianney was born in France in 1786, just three years before the
beginning of the French Revolution. He grew up assisting a local priest
offer the holy mass in secret, as religious persecution forced many of
the Vianneys and other Catholics into hiding.
In
1815, after much hardship in his studies, John was ordained a deacon,
then a priest. In 1818 he was given care of a dilapidated parish in a
remote part of France called Ars-en-Dombes. The 230 parishioners in Ars
had become lax in their faith, and John preached relentlessly to them
for twenty-five years about the importance of practicing modesty,
avoiding blasphemy, profanity and obscenity, and unlawful work on
Sunday. Not only did Ars become a model Christian town, but his
influence reached far beyond the confines of the country village.
Four
years after receiving the Cistercian habit, he was nominated as abbot
of Melrose, a newly established monastery. Then, in 1154, he was chosen
as the new Archbishop of St. Andrews, but in his humility, he begged St.
Aelred to oppose the election and not oblige him to accept.
Eusebius
was born on the island of Sardinia where his father died a martyr. His
mother took him and his sister to live in Rome where Eusebius eventually
joined the clergy and was ordained a lector. He was sent to Vercelli
and served the Church so well there that he was chosen as its bishop. He
is the first bishop of Vercelli whose name was recorded.
Alphonsus
was born in 1696 near Naples, Italy, to a naval officer and his Spanish
wife. Educated at the University of Naples, Alphonsus received his
doctorate at the age of sixteen. By nineteen he was practicing law, but
he decided to give his life to God and left the practice to do
apostolate.
Deposed
and excluded from his own congregation, Alphonsus suffered great
anguish. He died in 1787 at Nocera di Pagani near Naples. He was
beatified in 1816 and canonized in 1839. In 1871, Alphonsus was declared
a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX.
Inigo
de Loyola was born in 1491 in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa in
northern Spain. Of the noble family of Loyola, as a boy he was sent as a
page to serve the treasurer of the kingdom. There, he had access to
court and developed a taste for all its ways, including the ladies.
Shedding
his fineries and donning a poor habit, he ultimately came to the cave
of Manresa by a river where he stayed for ten months. Here, he had a
powerful revelation, an experience of God as He really is so that he now
looked at all of creation in a new light – an experience that allowed
Ignatius to find God in all things – one of the central characteristics
of Jesuit spirituality. It was in the seclusion of Manresa that ideas
for his famous Spiritual Exercises began to take shape.
Peter
Chrysologus was born in Imola, Italy in 406 and died there in 450. He
was baptized, educated and ordained a deacon by Cornelius, Bishop of
Imola, and was consecrated Bishop of Ravenna in 433. He shared the
confidence of Pope Leo the Great and enjoyed the patronage of Empress
Galla Placidia.
St.
Samson is counted among the seven founding saints of Brittany. He was
born in Wales, his father being the son of Amon of Demetia and Anne of
Gwent, daughter of Meurig, king of Glamorgan and Gwent.
Theobald
was the son of Bouchard of Montmorency, one of the most illustrious
families of Europe. They were constables of France, marshals, admirals,
cardinals, grand officers of the crown and grand masters of various
knightly orders.
O
Holy Mother and Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as parents, you
guided and nurtured Mary and, under your protection and love, watched
her grow in holiness.
According
to tradition, Our Lady’s parents were Joachim and Anne to whom, after
years of childlessness, and much prayer, an angel appeared and announced
they would bear a child. Much like Hannah who dedicated her son Samuel
to the service of God (1 Kings), Anne also dedicated Mary to God as a
child. Hence, we find the abundant iconography representing the child
Mary being presented in the Temple.
James
the Greater was the son of Zebedee and Salome, one of the women at the
tomb on Easter morning, (Matt.27:56, Mark 15:40, 16:1) and the brother
of John – probably the elder of the two. He is called “the greater” to
distinguish him from James the Lesser, who was probably shorter in
stature.
the
banks of the River Ebro to encourage him in his difficult mission. She
was accompanied by a multitude of angels who bore with them a marble
pillar on top of which was a small statue of her holding the Child
Jesus. She bid James build a shrine where the pillar was to be placed,
which he did, the first shrine dedicated to the Mother of God on earth.
Today, the sacred pillar, still in the same spot, is enshrined in the
great Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza.
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy, save us.