I want to adorn myself, not out of worldly pride,
but for the love of God alone – in a fitting manner, however,
so as to give my husband no cause to sin, if something about me were to displease him.
Only let him love me in the Lord, with a chaste, marital affection,
so that we, in the same way, might hope for the reward
of eternal life from Him who has sanctified the law of marriage.
St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Also
known as Elizabeth of Thuringia, she was born in Hungary in 1207. She
was a daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and his wife Gertrude, a
member of the family of the Counts of Andechs-Meran; Elizabeth’s brother
succeeded his father on the throne as Bela IV; St. Hedwig, the wife of
Duke Heinrich I, the Bearded, of Silesia was her mother’s sister, while
another saint, Queen St. Elizabeth of Portugal, the wife of the
tyrannical King Diniz, was her great-niece.
In 1211 a formal
embassy was sent by Landgrave Hermann I of Thuringia to Hungary to
arrange a marriage between his eldest son Hermann and Elizabeth, who was
then four years old. This marriage was the result of political
considerations and intended as a ratification of an alliance against the
German Emperor Otto IV, a member of the house of Guelph, who had
quarreled with the Church. Not long after the little girl was taken to
the Thuringian court to be brought up with her future husband and, in
the course of time, to be betrothed to him.
The court of
Thuringia was at this period famous for its magnificence. Its centre was
the stately castle of the Wartburg, splendidly placed on a hill in the
Thuringian Forest near Eisenach, where the Landgrave Hermann lived.
Notwithstanding the turbulence and purely secular life of the court and
the pomp of her surroundings, little Elizabeth grew up a very religious
child with an evident inclination to prayer and pious observances and
small acts of self-mortification. These religious impulses were
undoubtedly strengthened by the sorrowful experiences of her life.
In
the year 1213, Elizabeth’s mother was murdered by Hungarian nobles,
probably out of hatred of the Germans. On December 31, 1216, the oldest
son and heir of the landgrave, Hermann, who Elizabeth was to marry,
died; after this she was betrothed to Ludwig, the second son. It was
probably in these years that Elizabeth had to suffer the hostility of
the more frivolous members of the Thuringian court, to whom the
contemplative and pious child was a constant rebuke. Ludwig, however,
must have soon come to her protection against any ill-treatment and his
mother, the Landgravine Sophia, a member of the reigning family of
Bavaria and a deeply religious and very charitable woman, became a
kindly mother to the little Elizabeth.
The political plans of the
old Landgrave Hermann involved him in great difficulties and reverses;
he was excommunicated, lost his mind towards the end of his life, and
died on April 25, 1217, still unreconciled with the Church. He was
succeeded by his son Ludwig IV, who, in 1221, was also made regent of
Meissen and the East Mark. The same year, Ludwig and Elizabeth were
married, the groom being twenty-one years old and the bride fourteen.
The marriage was in every respect a happy and exemplary one, and the
couple were devotedly attached to each other. Ludwig proved himself
worthy of his wife. He gave his protection to her acts of charity,
penance, and her vigils, and often held Elizabeth’s hands as she knelt
praying at night beside his bed. He was also a capable ruler and brave
soldier.
They had three children: Hermann II (1222-41), who died
young; Sophia (1224-84), who married Henry II, Duke of Brabant, and was
the ancestress of the Landgraves of Hesse; and Gertrude (1227-97),
Elizabeth’s third child, who was born several weeks after the death of
her father and later in life became abbess of the convent of Altenberg.
The
followers of St. Francis of Assisi had made their first permanent
settlement in Germany the year of Elizabeth’s marriage to Ludwig. For a
time, the German Franciscan Caesarius of Speier was her spiritual
director and through him she became acquainted with the ideals of St.
Francis. These strongly appealed to her and she began to put them into
practice: she observed chastity, according to her state of life, and
practiced humility, patience, prayer, and charity. Her position,
however, prevented her from living one she ardently desired: voluntary
and complete poverty. In 1225, with Elizabeth’s assistance, the
Franciscans founded a monastery in Eisenach.
Shortly
after their marriage, Elizabeth and Ludwig made a journey to Hungary;
Ludwig was often after this employed by the Emperor Frederick II, to
whom he was much attached, in the affairs of the empire. During the
spring of 1226, when floods, famine, and the plague wrought havoc in
Thuringia, Ludwig was in Italy attending the Diet at Cremona on behalf
of the emperor. Under these disastrous circumstances Elizabeth assumed
control of affairs, distributed alms, giving even state robes and
ornaments to the poor. In order to care personally for the unfortunate
she built below the castle of Wartburg a hospital with twenty-eight beds
and visited the inmates daily to attend to their needs; at the same
time she aided nine hundred poor daily. It is this period of her life
that has preserved Elizabeth’s renown as the gentle and charitable
chételaine of the Wartburg. Upon his return, Ludwig confirmed all that
she had done in his absence.
The following year he set out with
Emperor Frederick II on a crusade to Palestine but died of the plague on
September 11 at Otranto. The news did not reach Elizabeth until
October, just after she had given birth to her third child. Upon hearing
the news the queen, who was only twenty years old, cried out: “The
world with all its joys is now dead to me.” In that winter of 1227,
Elizabeth directed the Franciscans to sing a Te Deum and left the castle
of Wartburg, accompanied by two female attendants. Her brother-in-law,
Heinrich Raspe, now acted as regent for her son Hermann, then only five
years old.
At Pope Gregory IX’s recommendation, Master Conrad of
Marburg, a well known preacher of the crusade and inquisitor, had become
Elizabeth’s spiritual guide. He directed her by the road of
self-mortification to sanctity, and after her death was very active in
her canonization. Although he forbade her to follow St. Francis in
complete poverty as a beggar, by the command to keep her dower she was
enabled to perform works of charity and tenderness.
Elizabeth’s
aunt, Matilda, Abbess of the Benedictine convent of Kitzingen near
Würzburg, took charge of the widowed landgravine and sent her to her
uncle Eckbert, Bishop of Bamberg. The bishop, however, was intent on
arranging another marriage for her, although during the lifetime of her
husband Elizabeth had made a vow of chastity in the event of his death;
the same vow had also been taken by her attendants.
While
Elizabeth was maintaining her position against her uncle the remains of
her husband were brought to Bamberg by his faithful followers who had
carried them from Italy. Weeping bitterly, she buried his body in the
family vault of the landgraves of Thuringia in the monastery of
Reinhardsbrunn. With the aid of Conrad she now received the value of her
dower in money, namely two thousand marks; of this sum she divided five
hundred marks in one day among the poor. On Good Friday, 1228, in the
Franciscan house at Eisenach Elizabeth formally renounced the world;
then going to Master Conrad at Marburg, she and her maids received from
him the dress of the Third Order of St. Francis, thus being among the
first tertiaries of Germany. In the summer of 1228 she built the
Franciscan hospital at Marburg and on its completion devoted herself
entirely to the care of the sick, especially to those afflicted with the
most loathsome diseases. Conrad of Marburg still imposed many
self-mortifications and spiritual renunciations, while at the same time
he even took from Elizabeth her devoted domestics. Constant in her
devotion to God, Elizabeth’s strength was consumed by her charitable
labors, and she passed away in 1231 at the age of twenty-four.
Very
soon after the death of Elizabeth miracles began to be worked at her
grave in the church of the hospital. By papal command examinations were
held of those who had been healed and at Pentecost of the year 1235, the
solemn ceremony of canonization of the “greatest woman of the German
Middle Ages” was celebrated by Pope Gregory IX at Perugia.
“The confidence that I truly have the power, the wisdom
and the goodness to aid a soul faithfully in all her miseries,
is the arrow which pierces My Heart,
and does such violence to My love that I can never abandon her.”
Our Lord to St. Gertrude the Great
Born
around the year 1046, Margaret was a pious and virtuous English
princess of the House of Essex. She and her family fled north to the
court of the Scottish King Malcolm Canmore to take refuge from William
the Conqueror. Malcolm was captivated by Margaret’s goodness and beauty,
and in the year 1070, they were married at the castle of Dunfermline.
A
veritable blessing for the people of Scotland, Margaret brought
civilization, culture and education to the rough Scots. She benefited
her adopted country both academically and spiritually by obtaining good
priests and educators for her people. She softened her husband’s temper,
cultivated his manners, and helped King Malcolm to become known
throughout the land as one of the most virtuous kings of Scotland.
Margaret
bore Malcolm six sons and two daughters and reared them with utmost
attention to their Christian faith. One of her daughters later married
Henry I of England and three of her sons occupied the Scottish throne.
Margaret lived a most austere life, giving herself mostly to God by
fasting often, denying herself sleep and praying for long periods of
time, the king often sharing in her prayers.
In 1093, King
William Rufus of England attacked Scotland, and Malcolm was killed in
battle. Margaret, already on her deathbed, died four days later. She was
buried in the Abbey of Dunfermline, one of the many churches she and
her husband had founded. Canonized in 1250, she was named patroness of
Scotland in 1673.
It is by the path of love, which is charity, that
God draws near to man and man to God.
But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell.
If, then, we possess charity, we possess God,
for “God is Charity” (1 John 4:8).
St. Albert the Great
Albert
Bollstadt was born at the German castle of Lauinger on the River Danube
in 1206. Nothing is known of his youth, but he studied at the
University of Padua and in 1222, became a Dominican, much to the anger
of his family. He taught at Cologne in 1228, and later, at a University
in Paris, where he received his doctorate in 1245. He returned to
Cologne in 1248 upon the request of his Dominican superiors to establish
a school of advanced learning. He became regent of the school there,
and during that time taught St. Thomas Aquinas.
Albert was well
learned in physics, geography, astronomy, mineralogy, chemistry and
biology, and authored many writings on these subjects. His reputation as
a scientist grew from his endeavors at Cologne. He carried on
experiments in chemistry and physics created a large collection of
plants, insects and chemical compounds. However, he is most renowned for
allowing the philosophies of Aristotle to become acceptable to
Catholicism: with his learned background, he rewrote the works of the
great man using the science of theology.
In 1260, he was
appointed Bishop of Regensburg but resigned after less than three years.
However, he was still called upon to advise Pope Urban IV and was sent
on several diplomatic missions. He lived the rest of his life in
Cologne, traveling to Lyons in 1274 to take part in the council there.
His final appearance in public was in Paris where he defended the
teaching of his late student, Thomas Aquinas.
He died in Cologne
on November 15, 1280 and is buried in the Church of St. Andrea. He was
canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931 by Pope Pius XI.
For his great knowledge and scientific writings, he is considered the
patron of scientists.
Not to oppose error is to approve it;
and not to defend truth is to suppress it;
and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it,
is no less a sin than to encourage them.
Pope St. Felix III
Born
in 1128 in County Kildare, Ireland, Laurence was the son of Murtagh,
chieftain of the Murrays. When he was ten years old, Laurence was taken
hostage by King Dermot McMurrogh of Leinster in a raid and, after two
years of mistreatment by his captor, was sent to live with the Bishop of
Glendalough.
Guided by the bishop, Laurence became a monk, and
in 1161, was consecrated as the Archbishop of Dublin. His first act as
archbishop was to begin the reform of the clergy under his charge and
require the canons of his church to receive the rule of the regular
canons of Arrouaise, a rule reputed for its sanctity and austerity.
Laurence himself followed this rule, and as an act of charity, had over
thirty poor people dine with him every night. He became beloved for his
charity, and was much sought after for his fatherly wisdom and advice.
In
1175, Laurence traveled to England to negotiated a treaty between King
Henry II and Rory O’Conor, the new monarch of Ireland who succeeded to
the throne after the death of Dermot McMurrogh. Henry was impressed by
the holy man’s piety, and Laurence successfully negotiated peace.
Laurence died on November 4, 1180, and was canonized in 1225.
Photo by: Andreas F. Borchert
Men do not fear a powerful hostile army
as much as the powers of hell fear the name and protection of Mary.
St. Bonaventure
Born
on July 15, 1850 into a family of Italian farmers near Lombardi,
Frances was the youngest of thirteen children. Her parents, Augustine
and Stella Cabrini, died in 1870 when she was eighteen, and Frances
lived with her sister, Rosa. Though she was always a devout child,
Frances became truly close to God as she grew older, and she became
renowned for her holiness.
Around the year 1874, Frances was
invited by her parish priest to assist at the House of Providence, an
orphanage where she remained for six years. In 1877, she and seven of
her close friends took their first vows. That same year, the Bishop
asked her to found the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care
for poor children in schools and hospitals. She and her seven followers
organized themselves at an old Franciscan friary at Codogno, and there
Frances wrote a rule for the sisters to follow. By 1887, the process for
the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to become officially
recognized by the Church had begun, and houses were founded all over
Italy.
In
1889, Pope Leo XIII asked Frances to travel to New York with six of her
sisters to work among the Italian immigrants. When she arrived on March
31, she discovered the plan had fallen through: there was no building
in which to teach, no orphanage and no home for the hard-traveled nuns
to stay. Archbishop Corrigan apologized and suggested the nuns return to
Italy, to which Frances replied, “No, Monsignor, not that. The Pope
sent me here, and here I must stay,” and within a few weeks, she made
progress with her mission, ultimately establishing schools, hospitals,
and orphanages.
In 1892, Frances completed her most well-known
achievement: the Columbus Hospital in New York. This success led to
houses and schools being opened in Brazil, Chile and Europe. By 1907,
the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart were officially recognized by
the Catholic Church. Their small community had grown to over a
thousand, and free schools, orphanages and convents had been established
in eight countries.
Her body had been failing for six years, but
Frances’s death came suddenly. She died in the convent in Chicago on
December 22, 1917. She was canonized in 1946.
Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace.
The gift of grace increases as the struggles increase.
St. Rose of Lima
John
Kunsevich was born in Lithuania around the year 1580. His father, a
burgess for a wealthy family, raised his son as a Catholic and instilled
in him a great love for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. As a young man
John spent much of his time learning Church Slavonic as he desired to
assist and participate more fully in the divine worship that he loved so
much. In 1604, he entered the Monastery of the Holy Trinity at Vilna
taking the name Josaphat, and dedicated his life to uniting the
Ruthenians with the Roman Church.
Josaphat
was ordained a deacon and soon after, a priest, becoming widely known
as a Catholic reformer. While retaining unity with Rome, Josaphat
opposed the total Latinization of the Ruthenian peoples and the
suppression of Byzantine traditions. He was beloved for his great
sermons and preaching, eventually becoming abbot of the monastery in
Vilna. By 1617, he was consecrated Bishop of Vitebsk, and after the
death of the archbishop a year later, succeeded him. He immediately
sought unity with Rome, and began to reinstate Catholic practices that
had fallen into disuse. By 1620, he succeeded in the endeavor.
Soon
after Josaphat’s great victory, however, his work began to unravel.
Meletius Smotritsky, the Archbishop of Polotsk, claimed that Josaphat’s
goal was to completely eliminate Byzantine traditions in the name of
Catholic unity, and Latinize all Ruthenians. Meletius gained a number of
followers and so frenzied was the agitation against him that a plan was
contrived to kill Josaphat. As he walked to church for morning prayers,
he was attacked by the group of Meletius’ followers. He was beaten and
shot as his attackers cried, “Kill the papist!” His mutilated body was
dragged to the river Dvina and carelessly thrown into the water.
St. Josaphat was canonized in 1867, the first saint of the Eastern churches to be officially canonized.
What we need most in order to make progress is
to be silent before this great God with our appetite and with our tongue,
for the language He best hears is silent love.
St. John of the Cross
Martin
was born in German Sabaria about the year 316. His father, a military
tribune, was transferred to Pavia when Martin was still quite young and
the boy accompanied him to Italy. Upon reaching adolescence, Martin was
enrolled in the Roman army in accordance with the recruiting laws of the
time. Touched by grace at an early age, he was among the first
attracted to Christianity, which had been in favor in the military camps
since the conversion of Emperor Constantine.
Martin's regiment
was soon sent to Amiens in Gaul, and this town became the scene of the
celebrated "legend of the cloak." One bitterly-cold winter day, Martin
met a shivering and half-naked beggar at the gates of the city. Moved
with compassion, Martin divided his coat into two parts and gave one to
the poor man. The part he kept for himself became the famous relic
preserved in the oratory of the Frankish kings and known to all as
“Saint Martin’s cloak.”
Martin, who was still only a catechumen,
soon received Baptism and was finally released from military service at
Worms on the Rhine. Freed from his obligations, he hastened to set out
to Poitiers to enroll himself among the disciples of St. Hilary, the
wise and pious bishop whose reputation as a theologian was already
spreading beyond the frontiers of Gaul. However, he desired to see his
parents again and returned to Lombardy across the Alps. The inhabitants
of this region were infested with Arianism and bitterly hostile towards
Catholicism. Martin did not conceal his faith and was very badly treated
by order of Bishop Auxentius of Milan, the leader of the heretical sect
in Italy. He was very desirous of returning to Gaul, but learning that
the Arians also persecuted their opponents in that country and had even
succeeded in exiling St. Hilary to the Orient, he decided to seek
shelter on the island of Gallinaria, now Isola d’Albenga, in the middle
of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
As soon as Martin learned that an
imperial decree had authorized St. Hilary to return to Gaul, he hastened
to the side of his chosen master at Poitiers in 361. After having
obtained permission from him to embrace the life of a hermit, which he
had adopted in Gallinaria, he settled in a deserted region now called
Ligugé. His example soon drew a great number of monks who settled near
him. Such was the beginning of the celebrated Benedictine Abbey of
Ligugé. Martin remained about ten years in this solitude and often left
it to preach the Gospel in the central and western parts of Gaul where
the rural inhabitants were still plunged in the darkness of idolatry and
given up to all sorts of gross superstitions. The memory of these
apostolic journeys survives to our day in the numerous local legends
where Martin is the hero and which roughly indicate the routes that he
followed.
When St. Lidorius, second Bishop of Tours, died in 371
or 372, the clergy of that city desired to replace him by the famous
hermit of Ligugé. But, as Martin remained deaf to the prayers of the
deputies who brought him this message, it was necessary to resort to a
ruse to overcome his resistance. A rich citizen of Tours by the name of
Rusticius went and begged him to come to attend to his wife who was in
the throes of death. Without suspicion, Martin followed him in all
haste, but hardly had he entered the city when, in spite of the
opposition of a few ecclesiastical dignitaries, popular acclamation
constrained him to become Bishop of Tours.
Consecrated
on July 4, Martin fulfilled the duties to his office with all the
energy and dedication that he had demonstrated in the past. He did not
however change his way of life. He fled from the distractions of the
large city and settled himself in a small cell a short distance from
Tours, beyond the Loire. Other hermits soon joined him there and thus
was gradually formed a new monastery that surpassed the Ligugé and came
to be known as the Majus Monasterium, the “great monastery” or
Marmoutier.
Thus, by an untiring zeal and great simplicity
Martin administered to his pastoral duties and so succeeded in sowing
Christianity throughout the region of Touraine. Nor was it a rare
occurrence for him to leave his diocese when he thought that his
appearance in some distant locality might produce some good. He even
went several times to Trier, where the emperors had established their
residence in order to plead the interests of the Church or to ask pardon
for some condemned person.
His role in the matter of the
Priscillianists and Ithacians was especially remarkable. Martin hurried
to Trier, not to defend the Gnostic and Manichaean doctrines of
Priscillian, but to remove him from the secular jurisdiction of the
emperor. The Council of Saragossa had justly condemned the Spanish
heresiarch Priscillian and his partisans and angry charges were brought
before Emperor Maximus by some orthodox bishops of Spain, led by Bishop
Ithacius.
Maximus at first consented to Martins’s request but
when he departed, Maximus yielded to the solicitations of Ithacius and
ordered Priscillian and his followers to be beheaded. Deeply grieved,
Martin refused to communicate with Ithacius. However, when he went again
to Trier a little later to ask pardon for two rebels, Narses and
Leucadius, Maximus would only pardon them on the condition that Martin
make his peace with Ithaeius. To save the lives of his clients, Martin
consented to this reconciliation, but afterwards reproached himself
bitterly for this act of weakness.
After a last visit to Rome,
Martin went to Candes, one of the religious centers created by him in
his diocese and there he was stricken with a malady, which ended his
life. Ordering himself to be carried into the presbytery of the church,
he died there at the age of about eighty-one, with the same exemplary
spirit of humility and mortification that he had always practiced in
life.
No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the cross.
No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ.
Pope St. Leo the Great
Although
he descended of a noble Tuscan family, Leo was born in the Eternal
City. He was already known outside of Rome even as a deacon under Pope
Celestine I, and had some relations with Gaul during this period. During
the pontificate of Pope Sixtus III, Leo was sent to Gaul by the Emperor
Valentinian III to settle a dispute and bring about a reconciliation
between Aëtius, the chief military commander of the province, and the
chief magistrate, Albinus. This commission is a proof of the great
confidence placed in the clever and able deacon by the Imperial Court.
While Leo was away in Gaul, the Pope died on August 19, 440 and the
deacon-delegate was chosen as his successor. Returning to Rome, Leo was
consecrated as Vicar of Christ on September 29 of the same year, and
governed the Church for the next twenty-one years.
Whilst the
Eastern Empire was distracted by heretical factions, the Western was
harassed by barbarian hordes. Halted in his ruinous advance through Gaul
by the Roman general Aëtius, Attila the Hun turned south into Italy.
Leaving blood and desolation in his wake, he sacked Milan, razed Pavia
and laid waste whole provinces. The weak Emperor Valentinian III shut
himself up in Ravenna, and the Romans, in the utmost terror, expected to
see the barbarian invaders speedily before their gates. Such was the
state of affairs when Pope Leo went to meet Attila.
They found
the proud tyrant near Ravenna and contrary to the general expectation he
received the pope with great honor, gave him a favorable audience, and,
at his suggestion, concluded a treaty of peace with the empire on the
condition of an annual tribute. It is said that Attila saw two venerable
personages, supposed to be the apostles Peter and Paul, standing on the
side of the pope whilst he spoke. The barbarian king immediately
commanded his army to forbear all hostilities, and soon after recrossed
the Alps, and retired beyond the Danube. On his way home “the Scourge of
God” was seized with a violent vomiting of blood, of which he died in
453.
It was the glory of this saintly pope to have checked
Attila’s fury and protected Rome, when it was in no condition to be
defended. Pope Leo rose to its defense once again in the year 455, this
time prevailing upon the Arian Vandal king Genseric to restrain his
troops from slaughter and burning, and to content himself with the
plunder of the city, thus demonstrating by his example that even in the
worst of times, a holy pastor is the greatest comfort and support of his
flock.
His militant vigilance was not limited to the defense of
merely earthly treasures, but was above all active in the spiritual
realm. Leo’s chief aim was to sustain the unity of the Church. Not long
after his elevation to the Chair of Peter, he saw himself compelled to
combat energetically the heresies which seriously threatened church
unity even in the West.
Former adherents of Pelagius (who denied
original sin and its effects and believed in man’s self-justification
without grace) who had been admitted to communion without an explicit
abjuration of their heresy were directed to do so publicly before a
synod and to subscribe to an unequivocal confession of Faith.
He
emphatically warned the Christians of Rome to be on their guard against
the Gnostic teachings of the Manichæans who, among other tenets, denied
the divinity of Jesus Christ, taught an elaborate form of dualism,
professed salvation through knowledge and repudiated marriage as evil.
His pastoral zeal in waging war against Manichæism was ably followed up
by a number of imperial decrees and the edict of June, 445 establishing
civil punishments for the obdurate adherents of the sect.
In
Spain, the heresy of Priscillianism still survived, and for some time
had been attracting fresh adherents. In response to a letter from Bishop
Turibius of Astorga regarding the spread of its false teachings in his
jurisdiction, Pope Leo wrote a lengthy refutation of its errors and
ordered that a council of neighboring bishops should be convened to
determine to what extent the heresy had contaminated the hierarchy of
the surrounding provinces. He also called for a universal synod of all
the main pastors in the Spanish provinces. These two synods were in fact
held in Spain to deal with the Gnostic-Manichæan doctrines of the
Priscillianists.
In 448, Eutyches appealed to the pope after he
had been excommunicated by Flavian, the Patriarch of Constantinople, on
account of his Monophysite views which denied the hypostatic union of
Christ and the fact that Jesus was both fully God and fully man. In
response, Pope Leo wrote a sublime dogmatic letter to Flavian, concisely
setting forth and confirming the doctrine of the Incarnation, and the
union of the Divine and human natures in the one Person of Christ.
In
Leo’s conception of his duties as supreme pastor, the maintenance of
strict ecclesiastical discipline occupied a prominent place. This was
particularly important at a time when the continual ravages of the
barbarians were introducing disorder into all conditions of life, and
the rules of morality were being seriously violated. Leo used his utmost
energy in maintaining this discipline, insisted on the exact observance
of the ecclesiastical precepts, and did not hesitate to rebuke when
necessary.
The primacy of the Roman Church was thus manifested
under this pope in the most various and distinct ways and we cannot but
admire the clear, positive, and systematic manner in which Leo,
fortified by the primacy of the Holy See, took part in this difficult
entanglement.
Leo was no less active in the spiritual formation
of souls, and his sermons are remarkable for their profundity, clearness
of diction, and elevated style. Five of these discourses, delivered on
the anniversaries of his consecration, manifest his lofty conception of
the dignity of his office, as well as his thorough conviction of the
primacy of the Bishop of Rome.
Leo died on November 10, 461, and
was buried in the vestibule of Saint Peter’s on the Vatican. In 688 Pope
Sergius had his remains transferred to the basilica itself, and a
special altar erected over them. They rest today in Saint Peter’s,
beneath the altar specially dedicated to St. Leo. In 1754 Benedict XIV
exalted him to the dignity of Doctor of the Church.
Jesus needs neither books nor Doctors of Divinity
in order to instruct souls; He, the Doctor of Doctors,
He teaches without noise of words.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Although
most Catholics believe the Basilica of St. Peter’s to be the main
church of the Pope, it is not: St. John Lateran, also called the Church
of Holy Savior or the Church of St. John the Baptist, is the Cathedral
of the Diocese of Rome, or the Pope’s church. “The Lateran” was built on
land that the Emperor Constantine received from the wealthy and
virtuous Lateran family. He, in turn, gave the land to the Church, who
constructed the first basilica there in the early fourth century.
Consecrated
in 324 by Pope Sylvester, the Lateran Basilica was where cardinals were
consecrated to the papacy until the fourteenth century when Pope
Gregory XI returned the papal enclave from Avignon in France to Rome and
arrived to find the Lateran and the nearby papal palace ruined beyond
repair. The Lateran was not restored until many years later, when Pope
Innocent X built the current structure in 1646. One of the most
marvelous and imposing churches in Rome, it has five large statues of
Christ, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and twelve Doctors of the
Church, and holds beneath the high altar what is left of the wooden
table which St. Peter himself used as an altar to celebrated the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass.
Since the Basilica of the Lateran is
officially the Pope’s cathedral, it is also considered the parish church
of all Catholics. It is called “omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater
et caput,” or "the mother and mistress of all the churches of Rome and
of the world."
Photo by: Grenouille vert
Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin.
All hope consists in confession. In confession there is a chance for mercy. Believe it firmly.
Do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God.
Hope and have confidence in confession.
St. Isidore of Seville
Godfrey
was born about the year 1065 in Soissons, France. When he was only five
years old, he was placed in the care of his godfather, the abbot of the
Abbey of Mont-Saint-Quentin. Here he grew up and, in due course, became
a monk and was ordained to the priesthood. In 1096 he was made the
abbot of Nogent-sous-Coucy, a dilapidated abbey in the province of
Champagne, where the community numbered a mere half a dozen monks who
had become very lax in their discipline.
He rebuilt, restored and
revitalized the abbey. Under Godfrey’s direction, monastic discipline
and order were restored and the community began to flourish. News of his
success spread and Godfrey was urged to accept the position of superior
of the renowned Abbey of Saint-Remi. This he refused, saying “God
forbid I should ever desert a poor bride by preferring a rich one!”
In
1097, Godfrey was offered the archbishopric of Rheims. This he likewise
refused, counting himself as unworthy of this new honor as the
previously-offered one.
When, in 1104, he was offered the
bishopric of Amiens and once more refused the ecclesiastical dignity, he
was ordered by the papal prelate to accept it.
A zealous
reformer, as Bishop of Amiens, his strict discipline and rigid austerity
– first with himself and then with those under his charge – his
insistence upon clerical celibacy and his unrelenting struggle against
drunkenness and simony, aroused bitter opposition among the lax clergy
and even caused attempts upon his life. Godfrey ardently desired to
resign and retire as a Carthusian monk during this time, nevertheless,
he persevered. Finally, in 1114, he withdrew to the Grand-Chartreuse
but, within a few months, the demands of his people won out and he was
ordered by a Council held at Soissons and by King Philip himself to
return to his diocese. Resigned to the will of God, Godfrey returned to
his episcopal see.
While on his way to visit his metropolitan in
1115, Godfrey died at the Abbey of Saint-Crépin near Soissons. He was
buried at the abbey and his tomb became renowned for the many miracles
wrought there.
Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them
if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him
and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly.
St. Ignatius Loyola
Willibrord
was born in 658 in Northumbria. When he was seven he was sent to a
monastery governed by St. Wilfrid, where he remained for thirteen years
until he traveled to Ireland to join St. Egbert and St. Wigbert to study
in monastic schools.
He studied in Ireland for the next twelve
years, receiving ordination and extensive missionary training. In 690,
he set out with a dozen companions for Friesland, or Frisia, to
evangelize. In 693, he visited Rome to seek approval from Pope Sergius
for his labors. Approval was granted and Willibrord was given relics to
be used for the consecration of new churches. In 695, Willibrord again
visited the Eternal City, this time with a letter of recommendation from
the Frankish leader Pepin of Heristal. Willibrord returned to Frisia a
consecrated archbishop, built the Church of Our Savior in Utrecht and in
the year 696, established his episcopal see there.
Some years
later, Willibrord founded the monastery of Echternach in Luxembourg to
serve as a center of missionary endeavors and extended the efforts of
missionaries into Denmark and Upper Friesland. Daily he faced menacing
dangers from outraged pagans, including one who nearly murdered him
after he tore down a pagan idol. In 714, the pagan Radbod reclaimed the
extensive territories acquired by Pepin, and Willilbrord watched as all
of the progress he had made become nearly undone. However, after
Radbod's death, Willibrord began again with great enthusiasm, receiving
invaluable assistance from St. Boniface (who spend three years in
Friesland before going to Germany) and other colleagues, this time
expanding into Holland, Zeeland and the Netherlands.
Willibrord
died on retreat at the monastery of Echternach on November 7, 739 when
he was eighty-one years old. For his apostolic efforts, he is called the
Apostle of the Frisians.
I am worried about America! I am not so much
worried about its politics and economics,
important though they be: I am worried about its soul.
After all, politics and economics are determined
by the sense of values which underlies them.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Brittany,
on the west coast of France, was so named for the Britons – primarily
from Wales, Cornwall and Devon – that settled there from the island of
Britain during the fifth to the seventh centuries. When the Roman
legions withdrew from Gaul in the middle of the fifth century, the
long-established trade connections between the two peoples were
reinforced by religious links from the mainland and the migrant Britons
that settled in the region left a lasting impression of themselves upon
the language, place-names and traditions of Brittany.
Illtud was
the son of a minor Breton prince named Bican Farchog who lived with his
wife in Brittany during the sixth century. His father was King Arthur’s
uncle on his mother’s side, thus making him and Illtud cousins. It was
while visiting his royal cousin that the young Illtud met and married a
woman named Trynihid. Later, he crossed over to Britain while serving in
Arthur’s army, and subsequently joined the military services of a
chieftain in Glamorgan in southern Wales. As a warrior he distinguished
himself and gained renown for his military prowess earning for himself
the title of “Illtud the Knight.”
Grief-stricken by the loss of
several of his closest friends in a hunting accident, the soldier-knight
was miraculously converted by St. Cadoc, who advised Illtud to leave
the military and become a hermit. For a short time he lived with his
wife in a reed hut by the river Nadafan, before an angel appeared to
him, counseling him to leave her. He received the monk’s tonsure and was
ordained by Dubricius and lived in austerity and solitude until
disciples began to gather round about him. He then established a
monastery, which soon flourished and became the first great monastic
school of Wales, known as Llanilltud Fawr.
According to legend,
this school was situated on a small waste island, which, at his prayer,
was miraculously reunited with the mainland. The story of the miracle
may have been inspired by the fact that the saint was skilled in
agriculture, for he is supposed to have introduced the Welsh to better
methods of farming and to have helped them reclaim land from the sea.
Renowned for his wisdom and piety, Illtud is considered one of the greatest of the Welsh saints.
“I promise you, in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance; they shall not die in my disgrace nor without receiving the sacraments; my divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in that last moment.” — Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary
How to complete the First Friday’s Devotion:
ACT OF REPARATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee!
The more Thy mysteries are blasphemed, the more firmly we shall believe them, O Sacred Heart of Jesus!
The more impiety endeavors to extinguish our hopes of immortality, the more we shall trust in Thy Heart, sole hope of mankind!
The more hearts resist Thy Divine attractions, the more we shall love Thee, O infinitely amiable Heart of Jesus!
The more unbelief attacks Thy Divinity, the more humbly and profoundly we shall adore It, O Divine Heart of Jesus!
The more Thy holy laws are transgressed and ignored, the more we shall delight to observe them, O most holy Heart of Jesus!
The more Thy Sacraments are despised and abandoned, the more frequently we shall receive them with love and reverence, O most liberal Heart of Jesus!
The more the imitation of Thy virtues is neglected and forgotten, the more we shall endeavor to practice them, O Heart of Jesus, model of every virtue!
The more the devil labors to destroy souls, the more we shall be inflamed with desire to save them, O Heart of Jesus, zealous Lover of souls!
The more sin and impurity destroy the image of God in man, the more we shall try by purity of life to be a living temple of the Holy Spirit, O Heart of Jesus!
The more Thy Holy Church is despised, the more we shall endeavor to be her faithful children, O Sweet Heart of Jesus!
The more Thy Vicar on earth is persecuted, the more we will honor him as the infallible head of Thy Holy Church, show our fidelity and pray for him, O kingly Heart of Jesus!
O Sacred Heart, through Thy powerful grace, may we become Thy apostles in the midst of a corrupted world, and be Thy crown in the kingdom of heaven. Amen.
12 Promises of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary
1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
5. I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
9. I will bless those places wherein the image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
12. In the excess of the mercy of my heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.
Also Read:
To tolerate an evil is to consent to its existence.
Just as good produces good, evil yields evil.
When we are obliged to tolerate something evil, we must limit
the evil effects of this tolerance to the greatest degree possible
and diligently prepare the conditions for eradicating the evil,
rendering further toleration unnecessary.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
The
future abbess was born of devout parents in Soissons, France in the
first half of the seventh century. From an early age, she felt drawn to
God and resolved to renounce the world in pursuit of eternal truths. In
this resolution she was encouraged by St. Ouen the Bishop of Rouen. With
the consent and support of her parents she entered the monastery of
Jouarre, near the city of Meaux, recently founded under the rule of St.
Columban.
Here
she was formed in the strictest practice of monastic perfection and
became a model of perfect obedience and piety. She was also remarkable
for her prudence and tact and the duties of hospitality, ministering to
the sick and infirm, and the care of the children educated at the
monastery were in turn committed to her charge. Bertilla, however, had
also a very strong temperament with a serious flaw: a temper. Her
eighth-century biographer recounts the following incident in the life of
the Saint:
“Once, when a
troubled sister spoke angry words to her, Bertilla called down divine
judgment upon her. Although the fault was forgiven, Bertilla worried
about her curse. Then the sister died unexpectedly, choked by asthma.
Not having heard the signal for the funeral, Bertilla asked the reason
for the resounding chorus of psalms. When she learned of the sister’s
death, she trembled fearfully. She hurried to the place where the little
body lay lifeless and with great faith laid her hand on the dead nun’s
breast. Bertilla ordered her receding soul through Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, not to leave, but before she spoke with Him, to forgive her
anger against her. And God permitted the spirit that had left the body
to return to the corpse. To the amazement of all, the revived cadaver
drew breath. Looking at the servant of God, she said: “What have you
done, sister? Why did you retrieve me from the way of light?”
“I
beg you sister,” said Bertilla humbly, “to give me words of
forgiveness, for once I cursed you when you had a troubled spirit.”
“May
God forgive you,” said the nun. “I harbor no resentment in my heart
against you now and I love you. Please entreat God for me and permit me
to go in peace and don’t hold me back. For I am ready for the bright
road and now I cannot start without your permission.”
“Go then in the peace of Christ,” said Bertilla, “and pray for me, sweet sister.”
When
St. Bathildis, the wife of King Clovis II, founded the Benedictine
Abbey of Notre-Dame-des-Chelles about the year 658, Bertilla became its
first abbess. She governed the abbey with austerity and virtue,
attracting many by her example. The saintly queen herself retired to
Chelles in 664 and died there in 680. Attracted by the news of the holy
abbess, Hereswitha, the sister of St. Hilda and widow of the king of the
East Angles, also joined. Having served as Abbess of Chelles for
forty-six years, during which time her reputation for humility and
gentleness spread widely, Bertilla died around the year 705.
Charles
was born into a family both noble and devout and divided his early
years between the family Castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore and their
palace in Milan. At twelve he was admitted to minor clerical orders and
received the revenues from a wealthy abbey nearby, but he showed his
upright character by assigning the money to the poor except for those
funds needed for his education. His college career paralleled that of
St. Peter Canisius in that he avoided all circumstances and friendships
that would compromise his purity of life. It differed, however, by
receiving his doctorate in canon law at the University of Pavia.
Due
to his extraordinary talent and seriousness, Charles took charge of all
family business at the request of his father and older brother despite
his youth. He even found time to restore the ancient monastic discipline
in the abbey of which he was titular abbot. One week into his
pontificate, Pius IV summoned him to Rome. Promotions and
responsibilities soon followed, all leading to his appointment as Papal
Secretary of State and Archbishop of Milan, although he was not
permitted to reside in Milan during his uncle’s lifetime. His
thoroughness, modesty, and zeal for work had the effect of concealing
his capacity for superior judgment in handling the affairs of both the
Church and the State, especially when he refused to enrich himself in
the manner of the Renaissance era prelates. Virtually all diplomatic
correspondence passed through his hands, to the point that historians
cannot determine which instructions originated with the Pope and which
came from his young administrator. William T. Walsh believes the reform
of the Church during Pius IV’s pontificate was chiefly accomplished
through the effort of his nephew, whose body is incorrupt to this day.
Despite the uprightness of his life and self-sacrificing devotion to
Church affairs, Charles did not practice the strict austerities and
self-denial of his later years. He was exceptionally fond of hunting and
paid much attention to the magnificence of his own household, which
consisted of 150 servants. The improvement of his family’s circumstances
also occupied much of his attention. His brother had married the
daughter of the Duke of Urbina, a member of the illustrious della Rovere
family, and his sisters made wealthy marriages with the Gonzaga and
Colonna. Then with the family rising to the heights of the Farnese and
de Medici, his brother died after a short illness at the age of
twenty-seven. Although a Cardinal and administrator of the vacant
diocesan see of Milan, Papal Secretary of State, and entrusted with the
government of the Papal States, as well as supervisor of the
Franciscans, the Carmelites and the Order of Malta, Charles was still
only a sub-deacon at the time, which nevertheless precluded marriage.
Many of his more worldly-minded relatives thought that he would
certainly seek a dispensation and pursue fame and fortune to maintain
his family’s position. But his brother’s sudden death opened his eyes to
the vanity of such ambitions and Charles resolved instead to embrace
his ecclesiastical state entirely. He was ordained a priest on September
4, 1563 and consecrated a bishop on December 7 the same year. He
adopted a strict, ascetic life of prayer and fasting after making the
Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, now intent upon fulfilling the
duties of his ecclesiastical office with dignity and without reserve.
Pope
Pius IV had reopened the third and last period of the Council of Trent
at the beginning of 1562 against strong opposition from numerous
prelates who saw that their unwarranted privileges and incomes would be
curtailed and many sovereigns who saw that their authority over Church
matters would be contested. Yet the bark of Saint Peter steered through
all the obstacles to bring the Council to a successful conclusion two
years later.
Retained in Rome by the Pope and the heavy duties
incumbent upon him by the work of the Council, Charles governed his
diocese my means of personal representatives through whom he convoked a
diocesan synod for the promulgation of the decrees of the Council. He
began the much-needed reform of the clergy by fulfilling all things
required in himself first, thus leading by example. The widespread
clerical abuses required skilful and tactful treatment. Ecclesiastical
discipline and the education of youth were foremost in his thoughts but
his pastoral solicitude encompassed every detail involved in the
monumental work: repression of avaricious priests, the founding and
staffing of seminaries for the proper formation of the clergy,
liturgical ceremony and church music, the manner of preaching, the
renewal of strict observance of rule in the convents, etc. This last
mentioned brought down upon him the wrath and displeasure of some of his
own relatives, two Dominican aunts, sisters of Pope Pius IV.
Notwithstanding the opposition and difficulties, Charles persevered,
sparing himself in nothing. The apostolic zeal and charity with which he
reformed his own household bore fruit in the remarkable number of its
members who became distinguished bishops and prelates. The austerities
which he practiced amidst the incredible fatigues of his apostolic life
seem almost excessive.
Doctrinal and disciplinary controversies
and heated disputes of every kind, both ecclesiastical and temporal;
complicated questions of spiritual and civil jurisdictions; fierce
attacks upon the rights of the Church and life-threatening physical
attacks upon himself; heresy, witchcraft, sorcery and wickedness of
every sort, libelous personal accusations and epidemic plagues – he
faced them all with a moral courage and equanimity that won the grudging
admiration of even his most bitter enemies. Ravaged by relentless
attacks from every side, the Church weathered the fierce storm of the
pseudo-Reformation. From the bosom of the Church, God called forth great
saints in that era and they rallied to Her defense like ardent lions –
souls of grandeur, on fire with the love of God and zeal for souls. The
Church and Faith under attack brought forth unparalleled sanctity. Among
these great saints of the sixteenth century is St. Charles Borromeo.
Physically
worn out by the crushing weight of his many duties and
responsibilities, he seemed to know when death was at hand and yet was
determined to work as long as he had strength left. Towards the end of
1584, his health took a definite turn. In October he began his annual
retreat and began his preparation for death with a general confession.
Plagued with recurrent bouts of high fever, he carried on: visitations,
correspondence, consultations. Indefatigable to the end, his ardent soul
wore out his frail body. He died at Milan on November 3, 1584 at the
age of forty-six. He was canonized in 1610 by Pope Paul V.
Second Photo by: Sailko
Devotion to you, O Blessed Virgin, is a means of salvation
which God gives to those whom he wishes to save.
St. John Damascene
Born
in Lima, Peru on December 9, 1579, Martin was the illegitimate son of
Juan de Porras, a noble Spanish knight, and Ana Velázquez, a freed black
slave from Panama. To his father’s great displeasure, Martin had
inherited his mother’s features and dark skin, and while he acknowledged
him as his son, soon after the birth of Martin’s sister Juana, Juan de
Porras left the children to the care of their mother.
At the age
of twelve, his mother apprenticed Martin to a barber-surgeon from whom
he learned not only the duties of a barber but also how to draw blood
and to prepare and administer medicine. Three years later, he entered
the Dominican Priory of the Holy Rosary in Lima where he applied himself
to the lowliest tasks. After many years, under obedience to his
religious superiors, he was compelled to accept the habit of a professed
lay brother, an honor that he had considered too great for himself.
Devoted
to Our Lord’s Passion from his childhood, he lived a life of almost
constant prayer. His charity, humility and obedience were extraordinary
and he practiced unbelievable austerities. As almoner, Martin was
charged with distributing the Priory’s alms to the poor. Oftentimes, it
was noted that when the food was insufficient for the needs at hand, it
miraculously increased. His skills as a surgeon were also in great
demand within and outside the Priory walls and he was put in charge of
caring for the sick, a duty he exercised with unfailing patience. With
equal charity he ministered to Spanish nobles and the lowliest slaves,
recently arrived from Africa. Cures became too numerous to count. But it
was as much by his prayers as through his medical ability that he cured
the most daunting diseases. Although he never left Lima once he entered
the Dominican Order, Martin was seen in foreign countries by people who
knew him well. He was known to bilocate to the bedside of the sick,
consoling them in their sufferings, often curing them of their
infirmities; he reserved his most tender solicitude for the dying.
During prayer, he was often seen in ecstasy before the Blessed
Sacrament, suspended in midair and surrounded by light.
St.
Martin was a contemporary and close friend of both St. John Massias and
St. Rose of Lima. Before his death, among other works of charity, he who
had been abandoned by his own father founded a residence for orphans
and abandoned children. He died on November 3, 1639 after a long and
painful illness. The entire population of Lima, high-born and low,
flocked to his funeral, at which the Prior himself officiated. Four of
the humble lay brother’s closest friends – the Viceroy, the Archbishop
of Mexico, the Bishop of Cuzco and the Judge of the Royal Court –
carried his body to its resting place. Martin was beatified in 1837 and
canonized in 1962.
Padre Pio was asked why he prayed for the happy death
of his great-grandfather who had already passed away.
He said, “For the Lord, the past doesn’t exist; the future doesn’t exist.
Everything is an eternal present.
Those prayers had already been taken into account.
And so I repeat that
even now I can pray for the happy death of my great-grandfather.”
– from the book, The Holy Souls by Alessio Parente, OFM Cap.
The “Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed” is founded upon the
Catholic Church’s doctrine that those faithful who have not been
cleansed from the temporal punishment due to sin and from their
attachment to sin cannot enjoy the Beatific Vision in heaven immediately
upon their death and that they may be assisted by the prayers,
almsgiving, and sacrifices of the living.
This duty of charity
observed by the people of God in the Old Testament was continued by the
Church in the New Testament. Over time, it found expression not only in
the public and private prayers of the faithful and in their cultural and
religious traditions, but particularly in the singing of the Office for
the Dead and in the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the
“Poor Souls in Purgatory”.
In the eleventh century, the tradition
established by St. Odilo of Cluny for the monasteries of his order,
spread to other religious congregations and thence to the universal
Church. Thus, the many different regional dates for commemorating the
dead that had arisen throughout the Church gave way to the universal
observance of “All Souls’ Day” on November 2.
The
Church grants many indulgences to the prayers and devout practices of
the faithful on this feast day and during the entire month of November
when they are offered for the relief and the release of the Holy Souls.
Saint Mary in Hafnerberg, Lower Austria.
Altar of the Holy Cross (detail): Holy Souls in Purgatory.
Photo by: Wolfgang Sauber
A person who believes in nothing beyond this world
is very impatient, because he has only a limited time in
which to satisfy his many wants. The more materialistic
a civilization is, the more it is in a hurry.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
The Solemnity of All Saints is celebrated on November 1 and was instituted to honor all the saints, those known and the vast number of those unknown.
The
solemn commemoration of each martyr’s death became a practice among the
early Christians who would gather at the place of their martyrdom on
the anniversary of their death. Groups of martyrs who died on the same
day were naturally commemorated together on the same day. However,
during the persecutions of Diocletian in the third century, such was the
vast number of Christian martyrs that the Church, desiring that each
should be honored and venerated, a common day was appointed for all of
them. At first only the martyrs and the Precursor, St. John the Baptist,
were venerated in this solemn manner. Gradually, as a regular process
of canonization was established, other saints were added to this
practice.
The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs (c.1423-24)
Tempera on wood by Fra Angelico – National Gallery, London
In the year 609 or 610, Pope Boniface IV had 28 wagon loads of the martyrs’ bones carted to the Pantheon, a Roman temple dedicated to the pagan gods. On May 13, he rededicated the temple as a Christian church and consecrated it to the Blessed Virgin and All the Martyrs. The Pontiff had the relics of the martyrs buried beneath it in order that, “the memory of all the saints might in the future be honored in the place which had formerly been dedicated to the worship not of gods but of demons,” according to the Venerable Bede. From this date, on which the translation of the relics of the early Christian martyrs took place, the Pope ordered the solemn commemoration of their memory. In the following century, Pope Gregory III dedicated a chapel in the Basilica of Saint Peter to All the Saints and fixed November 1 for their solemn feast day. A hundred years later, his namesake, Pope Gregory IV, extended the celebration of the Feast of All Saints to the universal Church.
If you want to grow in perfection,
you cannot advance by yourselves
– you need a guide.
Hence, when you go to God,
go through Mary and with Mary!
St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe
Wolfgang, born around 930, was of the family of the Swabian counts of Pfullingen.
As
a young man he was sent to the renowned Benedictine Abbey on the
monastic island of Reichenau located on Lake Constance. Here he became a
friend of Henry, the brother of the Bishop of Wurzburg. They studied
together at the cathedral school there.
Henry became acquainted
with Wolfgang’s intelligence and capacity, and when he was consecrated
Archbishop of Trier in 956, Wolfgang helped him with the improvements of
religion in his diocese.
After the Archbishop’s death in 964,
Wolfgang became a Benedictine in the monastery of Einsiedeln. There, he
was appointed director of the school of the monastery. St. Ulric,
Bishop of Augsburg, ordained Wolfgang a priest, and for a while was sent
to preach to the Magyars of Pannonia.
After this mission, the
results of which did not correspond to his zeal, he was recommended to
Otto II for the ecclesiastical seat of Ratisbon (present-day Regensburg
in Bavaria), and though he begged to return to his monastery, was
consecrated in 972.
Never quitting the monastic habit, and
practicing all the austerities of monastic life, Wofgang ruled his
diocese with fortitude and wisdom. One of the first things he set out to
do was to reform the clergy, as well as monasteries, specially two
disorderly nunneries.
He generously worked with Emperor Otto II
in the reduction of his large diocese and the resultant formation of the
diocese of Prague whose first bishop was St. Aldabert. He also took
part in several imperial diets, and in 978 accompanied Otto in his
campaign to Paris.
While traveling on the Danube to the south of
Austria, he fell ill at the village of Pupping. At his request he was
carried into the chapel of St. Othmar, where he breathed his last. His
body, taken back to Bishop of Ratisbon by friends, was solemnly interred
in the chapel of St. Emmeran where many miracles occurred. He was
canonized in 1042.
Photo by: Florian Voggeneder
An action of small value
performed with much love of God
is far more excellent
than one of a higher value
performed with less love of God.
St. Francis de Sales
Born
toward the end of the first century, Narcissus was advanced in age when
he was elected bishop of Jerusalem. Many miracles were attributed to
the saintly prelate, one of which the historian Eusebius relates: the
deacons being out of oil for the lamps to be used in the Easter Vigil
liturgical solemnities, the bishop bade them draw water from a well.
Pronouncing a blessing over this water, he poured it into the lamps, and
it immediately turned to oil to the astonishment of all the faithful.
Some of this oil was still preserved when Eusebius wrote of the miracle.
The
general veneration of all good men for this holy bishop could not
shelter him from evil tongues. Three incorrigible sinners, resentful of
Narcissus’ strictness in the observance of ecclesiastical discipline,
accused him of an atrocious crime, which Eusebius does not specify. They
stressed the “truth” of their shameless slander by terrible oaths: one
wished that he would perish by fire, the other to be struck with
leprosy, and the other that he to be made blind.
Despite the fact
that the faithful unwaveringly believed their bishop innocent,
Narcissus – notwithstanding the shock of the detestable calumny –
retired into solitude.
Sometime later, divine vengeance pursued
the calumniators: the first man died with his whole family in a fire
that consumed his home; the second contracted leprosy, and the third,
deeply repentant, died blind from the amount of tears he shed.
So
that Jerusalem was not left without a pastor, the surrounding bishops
appointed three consecutive pastors to lead the church. On the third
bishop’s term, Narcissus reappeared, as one returned from the dead. His
innocence having been authentically proven, his whole flock wished to
reinstate him. Narcissus acquiesced, but because of his great age, he
soon asked St. Alexander to be his coadjutor.
Narcissus continued
to serve his flock and even other churches by his earnest prayers and
exhortations as St. Alexander testifies in a letter to the Arsinoites in
Egypt. In this letter he writes that Narcissus was, at that time, one
hundred and sixteen years old. The Roman Martyrology honors his memory
on October 29.
In these sad times
when faith is dead and wickedness is triumphant;
when we are surrounded by those who have
perpetual hatred in their hearts
and blasphemy on their lips,
the surest way of remaining immune
from the pestiferous disease which surrounds us
is to strengthen ourselves with Eucharistic food.
This cannot be achieved by those who, month after month,
live without satiating themselves with
the Immaculate Flesh of the Divine Lamb.
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Simon,
surnamed the Zealot, may have been part of the group of that name,
which repudiated foreign domination of Israel. Beyond the fact that he
was chosen by Our Lord as one of the twelve Apostles, there is no
mention of him in the Gospels. According to Western tradition, after
preaching in Egypt, he joined St. Jude in Syria and suffered martyrdom
there.
Jude, also known as Thaddeus, is clearly distinguished
from Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. Mentioned twice in the
Gospels (John 6:16 and Acts 1:13), he is thought to have been a cousin
of Our Lord on St. Joseph’s side.
His attribute is the club or
ax, by means of which he is thought to have suffered martyrdom. The most
generally recognized depiction of St. Jude, the apostle holds a
medallion with the face of the Lord, possibly linked to the image of
Edessa.
The legend of the image of Edessa is recorded in the Historia Ecclesiastica
written by Eusebius. According to the account, King Abgar, being ill,
sent a letter to Jesus through a messenger by the name of Hannan. In
this letter Abgar asked Jesus for a cure. Hannan either painted an image
of the face of Jesus, or received it miraculously, by Jesus lifting a
cloth to His face and imprinting His image upon it. The royal messenger
brought the image back to Edessa. After the death of our Holy Savior,
the apostle Thomas sent Jude to Abgar, and Jude cured the king
miraculously. Astonished, the king accepted Christianity and many of his
subjects were baptized.
St. Jude is also depicted with a flame
above his forehead indicating that he received the Holy Ghost with the
other apostles at Pentecost.
According to tradition, after Jude’s
martyrdom, pilgrims visited his grave and many experienced his powerful
intercession. St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Bernard had visions from
God in which they were shown St. Jude as “The Patron Saint of the
Impossible.”
His relics were brought from Beirut to Rome and today rest alongside those of St. Simon in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Second Photo by: Loci B. Lenar
They will have the two-edged sword of the word of God in their mouths
and the blood-stained standard of the Cross on their shoulders.
They will carry the crucifix in their right hand
and the rosary in their left,
and the holy names of Jesus and Mary on their heart.
The simplicity and self-sacrifice of Jesus
will be reflected in their whole behavior.
St. Louis de Montfort
Around
the year 330, Meropius, a Christian philosopher of Tyre, undertook a
voyage to the coast of Arabia. With him were two young pupils,
Frumentius and Aedesius.
On the voyage homeward, their vessel
docked at an Ethiopian port. Falling out with some of the sailors, the
natives massacred the crew and passengers, with the exception of the two
lads who were studying under a tree at some distance.
When
found, they were taken to the king who, impressed with their demeanor
and knowledge, made Aedesius his cupbearer, and the elder, Frumentius,
his secretary.
On his deathbed, in gratitude for their services,
this prince granted them liberty. But the queen, regent for her young
son, begged them to stay and help her, which they did.
Frumentius,
having the principal management of affairs, convinced several Christian
merchants who traded in Aksum to settle in the country, procuring for
them all sorts of privileges and conveniences for religious worship.
When
the young prince came of age and became king, ruling with his brother,
the two Tyrians resigned their posts despite the young king’s entreaties
that they remain. Aedesius returned to Tyre where he was ordained a
priest, and related his adventures to Rufinus who wrote them in his
Church History. Frumentius sought out St. Theodosius in Alexandria and
talked to him about his zeal for the conversion of the Ethiopians,
entreating him to send a pastor to that country. Whereupon, St.
Athanasius consecrated Frumentius bishop of Aksum, judging no one better
suited for the task.
The consecration of Frumentius took place
roughly around the year 350. Returning to Aksum, he gained numbers to
the Faith through his preaching and miracles. The two royal brothers are
said to have received baptism. But the conversion of the Aksumite
kingdom was far from completed during the life of Frementius, though the
population held him in the highest esteem.
He died about the
year 383, and was reverently called Abuna – “Our Father” – and Aba
Salama – “Father of Peace”. To this day Abuna is the title of the
primate of the Church of Ethiopia.
He who does not acquire the love of God
will scarcely persevere in the grace of God, for
it is very difficult to renounce sin
merely through fear of chastisement.
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
What little is known about St. Cedd comes to us from the saintly Venerable Bede, an early English historian.
A
native of the region of Northumbria, England, he was one of four
brothers, one of whom was St. Chad. By the year 653 he had been ordained
a priest.
At the time what is today the British isle was divided
into several small kingdoms. Under the influence of St Augustine of
Canterbury and other missionary saints the seeds of Christianity were
sown far and wide throughout the land.
King Oswid of Northumbria,
having been baptized by St. Finan, sent Cedd to evangelize the Middle
Angles of Mercia. Mercia’s king was Penda, a pagan tolerant of
Christianity, while his son, Peada, had promised to become Christian in
exchange for the hand of King Oswid’s daughter in marriage.
Though
Cedd made some headway in Mercia, his brother Chad reaped a greater
harvest ten years later, probably under the more secure patronage of
Peada.
From Mercia, Cedd was sent to re-evangelize the East
Saxons at the request of King Sigeberht, who under the influence of King
Oswid accepted baptism from St. Finan. Bede speaks of Cedd as a man
unafraid to confront the powerful.
His success in this mission,
earned for him the respect of St. Finan who consecrated him bishop of
the East Saxons. Cedd built churches and founded two monasteries, one of
which was the monastery of Lastingham. Both structures were eventually
destroyed by the Danes.
In 664 Cedd was present at the Synod of
Whitby, and was one of those who accepted the implementation of the
Roman calendar and practices as opposed to the Celtic rite. Bede
recounts that his ease with languages greatly aided in the communication
of the various parties, which spoke Gaelic, early Welsh, Frankish, Old
English and Latin.
He died of a plague that struck in 664. He was succeeded by his brother St. Chad as abbot of Lastingham.
Humility is the safeguard of chastity.
In the matter of purity, there is no greater danger than not fearing the danger.
For my part, when I find a man secure of himself and without fear,
I give him up for lost.
I am less alarmed for one who is tempted and who resists by avoiding the occasions,
than for one who is not tempted and is not careful to avoid occasions.
When a person puts himself in an occasion, saying, I shall not fall,
it is an almost infallible sign that he will fall, and with great injury to his soul.
St. Philip Neri
