TODAY'S SAINT (Sylvester I)

SYLVESTER I

(d. 335)

Also known as: Silvester I

Sylvester was born in Rome, the son of Rufinus and Justa. He became a priest in the Curch of Rome, serving in the parish of Equitius, and succeeded St. Miltiades (also Melchiades) in the Chair of St. Peter on January 31, 314.

Sylvester became counselor and spiritaul adviser to Emperor Constantine the Great, a visionary sympathetic to Christianity. According to legend, Constantine, a leper, had been told that the best way to cure his disease was to bathe in children's blood. However, he had a vision in which SS. Peter and Paul appeared to him and advised him to seek baptism from Sylvester, which he did. He was healed, and in thanks ceded to the Church the islands of Sicily, Ssardinia and Coorsica (sites of work camps to which many Christians had been banished in the past). This dispensation is historic fact; it became known as the Donation of Constantine, and formed the basis of the Papal States. Nevertheless, whatever the truth about the miraculous cure, it is certain that Sylvester did not baptize the emperor, for that came only on his deathbed.

Constantine continued the support for the Church he had shown Miltiades. It is probable that it is to Sylvvester rather thaan to Miltiades that he gave the Lateran Palace, and that Sylvester had its famous basilicaa built. Sylvester also either founded or restored the churches of St. Peter, on Vatican Hill, St. Lawrence-Outside-the-Wals and Santa Croce. His episcopal chair and his mitre, the oldest to have survived, are on display in the church of San Martino ai Monti, which he had built over a house used for worship during the persecutions of previous decades. Sylvester also had a church raised over the Catacombs of St. Priscilla on the Salerian Way.

He was concerned not only with building churches but also with constructing the authority of the universal Church. His pontificate lasted 21 years and eleven months--the longest of any up until his time--durinng which 300 laws concerned with justice, equity and an evangelical purity were passed. In this work, also he enjoyed Constantine's support.

Sylvester died before Constantine and was buried on December 31, 335, in the church on the Salerian Way. Unfortunately, his tomb was destroyed by the Arian Lombards. In 761 the major part of his relics were translated to the Church of San Silvestro in Capito, today the national church of English Catholics in Rome, where they now rest.

Although he did not die a martyr, Sylvester is honored as a saint. His cultus did not arise for 150 years after his death, however. Pope St, Symmachus (r. 498-514) had a mosaic honoring him placed behind the episcopal throne in the titular church of Equitius Sylvester is especially venerated in Pisa. In the Eastern Church, He is celebrated with the title isapostole, "equal to the apostles."

In art, Sylvester is depicted in various scenes with Constantine. Generally he is represented by a chained dragon or bull and a tiara, and the principal scene is that of the baptism of Constantine. He is also shown trampling a dragon or with an angel holding a cross and olive branch.

PRAYER

Lord, come to the aid of Your people who are supported by the

intercession of St. Sylvester Your Pope. May they pass the present

life under Your guidance so that they may have the happiness of

attaining eternal life inn heaven. Amen.

Feast: December 31 (Western Church); January 2

and May 21 (Eastern Church)

TODAY'S SAINT (Anysius)

ANYSIUS

Bishop of Thessalonica

We know very little about the life of this saint who became Bishop of Thess-alonica upon the death of Ascholius in 383. On this occasion, St. Ambrose wrote to the new Bishop and expressed the hope that since Anysius was a dedicated disciple of Ascholius he might prove to be "another Elisha to Elijah."

Pope St. Damasus made this saintly Bishop the patriarchal vicar of Illyricum and he was confirmed in his power by SS. Siricius and Innocent I. When St. John Chrysostom was being harassed by the authorities, St. Anysius came strongly to his defense. In 404, he called upon Pope Innocent I to review the case whereby St. John had been exiled from his See, and he was joined in this by fifteen other bishops of Macedonia. In return he received a letter from St. John thanking him for his efforts on his behalf.

St. Anysius was a dedicated shepherd who inspired his people by his life and teachings. Both St. Innocent I and St. Leo the Great had high praise for his virtues. He died about 410.

PRAYER

God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Anysius

as Bishop in Your church to feed Your flock by his word and

form it by his example. Help us through his intercession to keep

the Faith he taught by his word and follow the way he showed

by his example. Amen.

Feast: December 30

TODAY'S SAINT (Thomas Becket)

THOMAS BECKET

Bishop and Martyr

St. Thomas was born in London in 1117, eight years after the death of St. Anselm, whose successor he was destined to become. He embraced the ecclesiastical state and attached himself to Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, by whose leave he went to Itaaly to study canon law at Bologna. On his return home he was ordained deacon and made archdeacon of Canterbury. In 1154, at the recommendation of Theobald, Henry II appointed him Lord Chancellor of England, a post which he filled with distinction.

On the death of Theobald, in 1160, the King forced upon him the dignity of Archbishop of Canterbury; but when St. Thomas refused to tolerate the existence of certain abusses, the King felt himself offended and finaly matters came to an open rupture between Archbishop and King. After much persecution, to which he was subject, Thomas secretly left the kingdom and went to Pope Alexander III who was then in France and who received him kindly. Later he was able to return to England, but he went with the presentiment that he was going to his death. He was received with the greatest demonstrations of joy by his people, but the end was near. Henry, in a fit of passion, let slip some unguarded words which, however they may have been intended, were construed so as to place weapons in the hands of the saint's assassins. The result was that St. Thomas was murded in his church, at the foot of the altar, in 1170. Within three years after his death, he was canonized as a Martyr.

PRAYER

God, You enabled St. Thomas, Your Martyr, to

Sacrifice his life courageously in the cause of

justice. Through his intercesssion, help us to give

up our lives for Christ in this world so that we

might find eternal life in heaven. Amen.

Feast: December 29

THE HOLY INNOCENTS

THE HOLY INNOCENTS

Martyrs

To the male children of two years and under that were killed in Bethlehem and its borders by order of King Herod, SS. Irenaeus, Augustine, and other early Fathers give the title of Martyrs, and as such they have been commemorated from the 1st century and honored in the laturgy of the Church. In the Western Church, the Mass of the Holy Innocents is celebrated like those of Advent and Lent, without festal chants.

These innocent victims gave testimony to the Messiah and Redeemer, not by words but by their blood. They triumphed over the world and won their crown without having experienced the evils of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

PRAYER

God, today we recall that the Innocent Martyrs bore witness

not by words but by their death. Grant that our way of life

may give witness to our faith in You which our lips profess.

Feast: December 28

Patronage: Choirboys

TODAY'S SAINT (John the Divine)

JOHN THE DIVINE

(ca. 6-ca. 100)

Youngest of Jesus' Twelve Disciples; author of the

fourth gospel and the gospel and the book of Reve-

lation of the New Testament

Name Meaning: God is gracious

Also known as: Apostle of Charity; Beloved Apostle;

Beloved Disciple; Fourth Apoostle; John Boanerges;

John the Evangelist

John was born in Galilee about the year 6 to Zebedee and Salome. He was the younger brother of St. James the Greater. The brothers earned their livelihood as fishermen on Lake Genesareth and, like many of those who became disciples of Jesus, were first followers of St. John the Baptist. Jesus gave them the surname "Boanerges," meaninng "Sons of Thunder," apparently in recognition of their passionate natures.

John held a prominent position among the disciples, and was present for several important events. Only John and Peter were sent into the city to prepare for the Last Supper, at which John was seated next to Jesus. After Jesus' arrest, John and Peter followed Christ into the palace of the high priest, and of the apostles only John remained near Christ on the cross, and took Mary into his care. After the Resurrection, John and Peter were the first apostles to go to his tomb, and John was the first to accept that Christ had risen. Later, when Jesus appeared at Lake Genesareth, John was the first to recognize him standing on the shore. There Jesus apparently prophesied that John would outlive the other apostles, and it was believed by many that he was immune to death.

After Christ's Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, John took a leading role in the founding of the Christian Church. He often acted together with Peter, whom he accompanied on an evangelizing expedition to Samaria, and with whom he was briefly imprisoned by Herod Agrippa I sometime between 42 and 44. After their miraculous escape, he and Peter were forced to flee Jerusalem. By tradition, John began his apostolic work among the Jews in the provinces of Parthia. He may also have gone to Ephaseus (Ephesus) in what is now Turkey, where he founded the Christian community. In any event, he was back in Jerusalem about the year 51 to join the other disciples for the first Apostolic Council. He also attended the Council of 62, after which he definitely went to Ephesus, where he established churches and governed the congregation.

In the year 95, during the second general persecution under Emperor Domitian (r. 81-96), John was arrested and carried to Rome as a prisoner. He was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil before the Porta Latina, but emerged unharmed. His persecutors attributed this miracle to sorcery and exiled him to the island of Patmos.

According to legend, John also escaped death when he drank from a chalice of wine poisoned by the high priest of Diana. At his blessing, the poison is said to have risen from the chalice in the form of a serpent. This event is taken by some as fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy as given in Mark 16 that his apostles who drank poisoned drinks would not be harmed by them.

On Patmos, John reputedly experienced the vision that inspired his Book of Revelation, written at that time. After Domitian's death in 96, he was released and returned to Ephesus, where he is believed to have written his gospel. The book of Revelation and the Gospel of John are so different in tone that some scholars have questioned whether John could have authored both, but the present consensus is that he did.

John died at Ephesus around 100, when he was well into his 90's. He is the only apostle who did not die a martyr. A church, later converted into a mosque, was built over his tomb.

John originaly shared his Decembere 27 feast day with St. James the Greater, though at an early date it became his alone. He was venerated also at the Feast of St. John Before the Latin Gate, supposed to honor his experience in the cauldron, and marking the dedication of the church near the Porta Latina, first mentioned in the Sacramentary of Pope Adrian I (r. 772-785).

John's symbols are an eagle; a book; a chalice, sometimes in association with a serpent. Generally he is portrayed as a young and handsome man in various scenes from his life. When he is portrayed in later life, he is usually reading, writing or holding his epistle.

PRAYER

God, through St. John the Apostle You willed to unlock to us

the secrets of Your Word. Grant that what he has so excellently

poured into our ears, we may properly understand. Amen.

Feast: December 27 (September 26 in Easten Church;

May 8 in Greek Orthodox)

Patronage: art dealers; bookbinders; bookselers; against

burns; compostors; engraves; lithographers; painters;

publishers; paintes; against poison; printers; paperm-

akers; sculptors; tanners; theologians; writers; Asiatic

Turkey; Taos, New Mexico

TODAY'S SAINT (Stephen)

STEPHEN

(d. ca. 35)

Revered as the first martyr, and the most famous

decon in the early Christian Church

Name meaning: "Crown"

Also known as: Stephen the Deacon

Little is known of Stephen's early life and conversion. His name is Greek, but he is believed to have been of Jewish origin. Kelil, Aramaic equivalent of Stephen, is inscribed upon his tomb, found in 415. He is mentioned in Acts 6:5 as one of seven deacons chosen by the apostles to help look after widows and the poor. He is described as "a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." He spent his time among the Hellenists, preaching bold sermons and performing miracles. He attracted many followers.

Acts 6-8:2 tells of his martyrdom. His popularity earned him many enemies among the Jews, who plotted his downfall. He was accused of blasphemy against Moses and God and was brought before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. Acts 7:2-53 tells how eloquently he defended himself, radiant ass an angel. He spoke about Jesus as the Savior that God had promised to send. It was to no avail. He certainly earned no quarter by chastising his attackers for not believing in Jesus, and calling them "stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears," and betrayers and murderers. His opponents only rose up in great anger and shouted at him. Stephen looked up to heaven and said that he saw the heavens opening and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Stephen was condemned under Mosaic law and was dragged outside of Jerusalem and stoned to death. Saul--later to become St. Paul--aproved of the execution, and witnesses and executioners surrendered their garments to him for safekeeping. Stephen's last words were "Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit," and a request that his killers be forgiven.

Stephen was buried in a tomb and was for the most part forgotten until the fourth century, when St. Gregory of Nyssa composed two homilies to him. Gregory saw him as a key figure in a struggle against demonic forces, and one who caused great awe and wonder amonng the angels. Stephen imitated Christ by being sweet and compliant and bearing no hatred toward his murderers. Gregory made a play on words, comparing Stephen's name to the word for crown in Greek, stephanos.

Stephen's tomb was discovered by Lucian. Empress Eudoxia (r. 455-460) built a church in his honor outside the Damascus Gate.

Stephen's blood is a relic in the Church of San Guadioso in Naples, Italy. As 1624, the blood was said to liquefy whenever the hymn Deus tuoum militum was sung.

PRAYER

God, grant that we may imitate the saint we honor and learn

to love our enemies. For today we celebrate the feast of St.Step-

hen who knew how to pray even for his persecutors. Amen.

Feast: December 26

Patronage: bricklayers; deacons; stonemasons

CHRISTMAS DAY

CHRISTMAS DAY

More than nineteen hundred years ago, a decree went forth from the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, commanding a general census in which all the people of the empire should be enrolled, "each in his own city," that is, in the place to which his tribe and family belonged.

Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the city of David, because they were of the family of that king. Bethlehem is situated about five or six miles south of Jereusalem, and nearly seventy-five miles south of Nazareth. There, in a stable, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of the World, was born, according to tradition, at midnight, or soon after, on December 25. And it came to pass that, when they were there, Mary "brought forth her firstborn Son, and wraped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

The history of the first Christmas is made familiar to Catholics by the devotion of the "Christmas Crib." In the year 1226, St. Francis of Assisi, with the permission of the Pope, set up the first of these cribs for the purpose of instructing the people and increasing in their hearts love and devotion for the Infant Savior.

Christmas takes its name from the central and supreme act of Christian worship. Christmas means "Christ's Mass," the Mass offed in honor of the birth of Christ. Nearly all European languages, except English, use a word signifying nativity or birthday of Christ to designate the feast of Christmas: In Latin, Dies natalis; in Italian, Il Natale; and in French the Latin form is softened into Noel.

In all lands and languages the great fact commemorated is the birth of Christ, and the great action by which that fact is commemorated and renewed is the Mass. On Christmas priests may celebrate three Masses to honor the threefold birth of the Son of God: His birth in time and in our humanity in the stable of Bethlehem; His spiritual birth by faith and charity in the souls of the shepherds, and in the souls of all who earnestly seek Him; and lastly, His eternal generation in the bosom of the Father.

PRAYER

God, in an admirable fashion You established the dignity of

human nature and you reformed it in a mmore admirable

manner. Grant that we may come to share in the Divinity of
Your Son Who chose to share our humanity. Amen.

Feast: December 25

TODAY'S SAINT (Adele)

ADELE

Widow

A daughter of King Dagobert II of Germany, St Adele became a nun upon the death of her husband, after making provision for her son, the future father of St. Gregory of Utrecht. She founded a connvent at Palatiolum near Trier and became its first Abbess, ruling with holiness, prudence, and compassion.

St. Adele seems to been among the disciples of St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, and a letter in his correspondence is addressed to her. After a devout life filled with good works and communion with God, she passed on to her heavenly reward in 730.

PRAYER

God, You inspired St. Adele to strive for perfect charity and

so attain Your Kingdom at the end of herrr pilgrimage on

earth. Strengthen us through her intercession that we may

advance rejoicing in the way of love. Amen.

Feast: December 24

TODAY'S SAINT (John of Kanty)

JOHN OF KANTY

PRIEST


St. John was born in 1430 in a village, the name of which he bears, situted in the dioese of Cracow, Poland. his childhood was passed in innocence under the care of his virtuous parents. After finishing his studies he became professor in the University of Cracow, a position he occupied several years, endeavoring not only to train his pupils in science, but also to instill into their hearts the sentiments of piety with which he was himself animated.

Having been ordained to the priesthood, he distinguished himself by still greater zeal for the glory of God and his own perfection. the carelessness and indiference of so many Christians were for him a great source of affliction. As parish priest he became a true pastor of souls, severe toward himself and indulgent to others, showing himself the father of his people and their friend when they were in need. After some years he resumed his duties of professor, practicing at the same time prayer, love for the poor, and all Christian virtues.

Consumed by the desire of suffering martyrdom, he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and preached "Jesus Crucified" to the Turks. Four times he made a journey to Rome on foot. His sleep was short and taken on the floor; his food barely sufficed to keep him aleve. By means of fasting and severe discipline he preserved his purity intacct. During the last thirty yfears of his life he abstained entirely from meat. Finally, after distributing to the poor all he had in his house, he died in 1474.

PRAYER

Almighty God, help us to follow the example of Your Priest,

St. John, in advancing in the science of the saints. May we

show compassion to al who are in need so that ew ourselves

may obtain Your mercy. Amen.

Feast: December 23

TODAY'S SAINT (SS. Chaeremon and Ischyrion)

CHAEREMON AND ISCHYRION

Martyrs

In the year 247 St. Dionysius was chosen Bishop of Alexandria. Soon afterward, the people of Alexandria, incited by a pagan prophet and given further imptus by an edict of the Emperor Deccius, began a fierce persecution of all and escaped only through the aid and insistence of a wedding -party of pagans.

St Dionysius wrote an account of this persecution to Fabian, Bishop of Antioch. In it he states that many Christians fled into the desert and there perished from then elements, from hunger, thirst, over-exposure, or from wild beasts and wild men. Others were captured and sold into slavery.

He especially mentions Chaeremon, Bishop of Nilopolis, a very old man who took refuge in the mountains with a companion. Although a search was made in the mountains of Arabia by the Christians, nothing was ever again heard or seen of either of them.

He also mentions St. Ischyrion who was the procurator of a magistrate in a city of Egypt--probably Alexandra. When ordered by his maste to sacrifice to the gods, this holy man refused outright. He steadfastly persisted in this refusal in the face of both abuse and threats on the part of his master. Thereupon, the enraged magistrate had St. Ischyrion mutilated and impaled.

Both of these holy Martyrs are named in the Roman Martyrology on this date.

PRAYER

May the prayers of Ss. Chaeremon and Ischyrion make

us pleasing to You, Lord, and strengthen Your truth.

Amen.

Feast: December 22

TODAY'S SAINT (Peter Canisius)

PETER CANISIUS

(1521-1597)

Jesuit theologian, Doctor of the Church

Also know as: the Second Apostle of Germany

Peter Canisius was born on May 8, 1521, in Nimwegen, then under the jurisdiction of Germany and now belonging to the Netherlands. His father was a prominent man, elected nine times the burgomaster. Peter's mother died shortly after he was born. At age 15 he was sent to the Univesity of Cologne, and studied civil law, theology and the arts. He received a master of arts degree in 1540. At the university he became friends with Nicholas van Esche, who became his spiritual advise. In the year of his graduation, he went against his father's wishes to marry a walthy woman and made a vow of celibacy. He met Peter Fabe, one of the first companions of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and made the spiritual exercises under his direction.

In 1546 Peter was admitted to the Society of Jesus in Mainz. He founded the first German house of the order in Cologne, and lectured and taught at the university. He was a brilliant preacher and inspired many. He became known for his editing of the works of SS. Cyril of Alexandria and Leo the Great.

In 1547 Peter attended the Council of Trent as procurator for the bishop of Augsburg. He became deeply involved in the politics of the Reformation and Counter-reformation. After a brief stint in Mesina teaching at a Jesuit college at the behest of St. Ignatius, he went to Rome in 1549 for his final profession. He was appointed a professor of theology at the University of Ingolstadt, and soon become rector. He then was sent to the University of Vienna to teach theology. Peter distinguished himself with his charitable work and his attention to abandoned parishes. People flocked to hear him speak.

As part of the Counter-Reformation, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I asked the University of Vienna in 1551 to compose a compendium of Christian doctrine. The job fell to Peter and a colleague, Father Lejay. Peter deferred to Lejay as the better writer of the two, but had to take over the entire project when Lejay died. The result was Peter's greatest work, his Catechism, published in 1555. In his lifetime it was translated into 200 editions in 12 languages and was published in more than 400 editions. Despite the Catechism, Peter was at one time accused--unsuccessfully--of being Protestant.

In 1556 Peter was named provincial of southern Germany. In subsequent years, he established colleges for boys in six cities and dispatched trained priests throughout the region. He traveled and preached and responded to the needs of the papacy. For seven years he was the official pastor at Augsburg.

Peter spent the last years of his life in Fribourg, Switzerland, where he founded a school in 1580, and in 1581 founded sodalities of the Blessed Virgin for citizens and for women and students. The citizens there would not let him leave. He died on December 21, 1597, and was buried before the high altar of the Church of St. Nicolaus. In 1625 his remains were translated to St. Michael, the church of the Jesuit college.

Miracles were reported imediately after his death and his tomb was a site of pilgrimage.

Peter's Catechism became the foundation for all catechisms that followed. Other major works are The History of John the Baptist and The Incomparable Virgin Mary, which were written to refute the Protestant attack, and Centuries of Magdeburg. Also surviving are numerous treatises, letters and sermons on Catholic dogma and teachings.

PRAYER

God, You endowed Your Priest, St. Peter Canisius, with holiness

and learning for the defense of the Church. Through his intercess-

ion, grant that those who seek the truth may joyfully find You

and that the people of believers may ever persevere in bearing

witness to You. Amen.

Beatified: November 20, 1869 by Pope Pius IX
Canonized and declared Doctor of the Church: June

21, 1925, by Pope Pius XI

Feast: December 21

TODAY'S SAINT (Sts. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)

STS. ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB

Patriarchs

Abraham, son of Thare, left Ur of the Chaldees about 2,000 years before Christ and went to Haran, where his father died. At God's command he took up his abode in Canaan, the land promised to his posterity. Forced by famine into Egypt, he returned to Canaan and rescued his nephhew Lot from the King of Elam. On his return he was met by Melchizedel, King of Salem, who blessed him.

God made a covenant with Abraham and promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens. In accord with God's specific promise he and his wife Sarah had a son in their old age whom they called Isaac. Abraham's Faith in God was tested by God's command to sacrifice his son in the manner of the surrounding peoples who practiced child sacrifice. After staying his hand, by means of an angel, God revealed the greatness of his posterity to Abraham as a reward for his unbounded trust in his Creator. Abraham died at an advanced old age.

As the Divinely promised son of Abraham and Sarah after a long childless marriage, Isaac became the heir of the Messianic blessings. He was proclaimed to sole legal ancestor of God's chosen people, outsting Ishmael, another son of Abraham. He resided at Beersheba and married a member of his father's family, Rebekah, who had been brought from Mesopotaamia. She bore him two sons, Esau and Jacob. During a famine Isaac sought Abimelech, the King of the Philistines, at Gerar, where he became rich and powereful. Shortly before his death, when he wished to bless Esau, his favorite son, Rebekah frustrated his intention by a ruse and substituted Jacob.

After depriving his brother Esau of his birthright, Jacob fled to Haran, the dwelling place of his maternal uncle, Laban, who gave him his daughters, Leah and Rachel, as wives. Jacob had twelve sons who became the ancestors of the twelve tribes of the Hebrew people. At Bethel he received a vision and blessing which constitute one of the outstanding events of early Hebrew history. And at Peiel he wrestled all night with a mysterious Divine stranger and received the Divinely give name. In his old age he journeyed to Egypt to rejoin his son Joseph, taking his whole household with him and setting the stage for the Exodus centuries later.

PRAYER

Lord God, You showered heavenly gifts on Sts. Abraham,

Isaac, andd Jacob. Help us to imitate them during our ear-

thly life and enjoy eternal happiness with them in heaven.

Amen.

Feast: December 20

TODAY'S SAINT (Anastasius I)

ANASTASIUS I

(d. 401)

Pope and martyr

Anastasius, son of Maximus, was a mative of Rome. A priest in the Roman Church, he was elected the successor of Pope St. Sircius (r. 384-399) on November 27, 399.

Anastasius is known for his personal holiness and piety and for some important ecclesiastical pronouncements. He is responsible for the instruction to priests to read the Gospels standing and bowing their heads. In 400, he convened a synod to consider the writings of Origen, and upheld the council's condemnation of the work as heterodox. He also suppirted the Church in North Africa in its struggle against Donatism, a schism that lasted from about 311 to 411.

Anastasius died in 401 after a reign of only two years and was buried in the Pontian catacombs. Although his death was natural, he is honored in the Roman Martyrology.

Feast: December 19

TODAY'S SAINT (Gatian)

GATIAN

Bishop of Tours

St. Gatian came from Rome with St. Dionysius of Paris, about the middle of the 3rd century, and preached the Faith, principally at Tours in Gaul, where he fixed his episcopal See. In that portion of Gaul idolatry was strong, but the perseverance of the saint gained a number of convverts. He was often obliged to conceal himself from the fury of the heathen inhabitants of the place. He continued his labors amid many dangers for nearly fifty years, and died in peace.

PRAYER

God, You made St. Gatian an outstanding exemplar of Divine love

and the Faith that conquers the world, and added him to the role

of saintly Pastors. Grant by his intercession that we may persevere

in Faith and love and become sharers of his glory. Amen.

Feast: December 18

TODAY'S SAINT (Olympias)

OLYMPIAS

Widow

St. Olympias, a lady of illustrious descent and ample fortune, was born about the year 368. Educated under the care of Theodosia, sister of St. Amphilochius, she practiced eminent virtue at an early age. She was very young when she married Nebridus, treasurer of the Emperor, Theodosius the Great, but he died within days. She positively refused a second marriage, in spite of the pressure that was brought to bear upon her.

In constantinople where she resided, her life was henceforth devoted to good works and charitable deeds. He immense riches were entirely consecrated to the Church and the poor. Like all the saints of God, she also had to endure many afflictions, corporal infirmities, and persecutions on the part of the world. Nectarius, Patriarch of Constaantinople, created her deaconess of the Church, an office which existed at that time. St. Chrysostom, who became Patriarch in 398, also had the greatest respect for her virtue. Her fidelity to his cause when he was exiled in 404 drew upon her the persecution of his enemies, until she was finally obliged to leave the city (but, she returned the next year).

Her correspondence with St. John Chryysostom was a great comfort and encouragement for her. In exchange for the direction received from the saint, she saint plentiful supplies with which, in his dreary exile, he ransomed many captives. She survived St. Chrysostom, for she was still living in the year 408. Her death occurred about the year 410.

PRAYER

God, You inspired St. Olympias to strive for perfect charity

and so attain Your Kingdom at the end of he polgrimage

on earth. Strengthen us through her intercession that we may

advance rejoicing in the way of love. Amen.

Feast: December 17

TODAY'S SAINT (Adelaide)

ADELAIDE

(931-999)

Princess, foundress of religious programs, regent

Name meaning: noble person

Also known as: Adelheid

Adelaide was born in 931, the daughter of King Rudolph II of Burgundy. She became a political pawn at age two. Her father, embroiled in a war with Hugh of Provence for the crown of Lombardy (Italy), agreed to betroth her to Hugh's son Lothaire in order to end the fighting in 933. Her brother Conrad honored his Father's agreement in 947, when Adelaide was 16; Rudolph had died years before, and his widow, adelaide's mother, had since married Hugh. Meanwhile, Berengarius (or Berengar) II, Marquis of Ivrea, claimed Lombardy and forced Hugh to abdicate in favor of Lothaire. Lothaire and Adelaide were king and queen of Italy only a short while before Lothaire died, Probably from poison at the instigation of Beregarius in 950.

Berengarius tried to force Adelaide to marry his son, but the young widow refused and was imprisoned in a castle in the middle of Lake Garda. Accounts differ about her escape from Castle Garda: One story says a priest named Martin dug a subterranean passage under the lake, recued Adelaide and kept her in the passage, surviving on fish alone,Рuntil Alberto Uzzoo, duke of Canossa, whisked the queen off to his castle. Nevertheless, the Italian nobles, tired of Berengarius and his wars, invited King Otto I of Germany, called the Great, to invade Italy in 951, rescued Queen Adelaide (either from Castle Garda or from the eager duke) and married her on Christmas Day 951 at Pavia, thereby taking the title King of the Lombards. Berengarius fled to his castle at Montefeltro.

The couple did not linger long in Italy because Liudolf, Otto's son by his first wife Edith, was trying to start an uprising against the French influence of his stepmother. He failed, however, and the German people supposedly adored their new queen. She and Otto had five children, with the son and heir, Otto II, born in 955. Throughout the next 10 years, Otto I fought continuous wars over the control of Italy, which was not only plundered by soldiers but also allowed to decay under the debauched reign of Pope John XII. When Berengarius became a threat again in 961, the pope offered Otto I the crown of the empire in return for protection. The specacular coronation of Otto I and Adelaide as Holy Roman Emperor and Empress of the German Nation on February 2, 962, not only assured Germany's dominance in Europe but also fulfilled Otto's ultimate goal of reestablishing a Christian empire with himself as the new Caesar.

In 969, Otto I designated his 14-year-old son Otto II as co-emperor, thereby securing the boy's right of succession. To further cement Otto II's aauthority, Otto I arranged his son's marriage to the Byzantine princess Theophano, daughter of the usurper John Tzimisces. Tzimisces, called Little Slippers, was the lover to the wife (also named Theophano) of the mudered Byzantine emperor Nicephorus II Phocas. Otto II and Theophano were maried in Rome in 972 and ascended to the throne after Otto I died in 973. Theophano, a politically astute and strong-willed woman, exerted great influence on royal affairs and reputedly turned her husband against his mother. Relations with her mother-in-law Empress Aselaide were strained at best, and Adelaide left court to join he brother Conrad in Vienne, appealing to St. Majolus, abbot of Cluny, to intervene. The abbot arranged a reconciliation at Adelaide's court at Pavia.

Relations between the two women remained difficult until Otto II's death on December 7, 983. Theophano traveled to Pavia seeking refuge with Adelaide. The heir, three-year-old Otto III, was in the care of the bishop of Cologne, far too close to the domain of Prince Henry of Bavaria, called the Quarrelsome, who, along with Henry of Carinthia and Bishop Henry of Augsburg, was trying to take the crown. On Christmas Day 983, Otto III was symbolically crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Aachen, Charlemagne's ancient seat. Almost immediately Henry of Bavaria kidnapped the child and took him to Quedlinburg, where Henry had himself proclaimed king.

Adelaide and Theophano appealed to Gerbert of Aurillac, a brilliant theologian, mathematician, counselor to Otto II and eventually Pope Sylvester II, to intercede, and he created a coalition of powerful kings and churchmen to put pressure on Henry returned young Otto III to his mother, Empress Theophano, on June 29, 984. Adelaide returned to Pavia, still unable to reconcile fully with Theophano, while the empress ably ruled as her son's regent until her sudden death in June 991.

But Otto III was still underage in 991, so his grandmother Adelaide assumed the regency until Otto III could be fully crowned at age 16 in 996. Writers of the period characterized Adelaide's regency as a wise and peaceful era in which the empress established monasteries and churches, supported the works of St. Adalbert of Magdeburg, St. Majolus of Cluny and St. Odilo, also of Cluny. She concentrated on converting the Slavs and other pagans on the empire's northern borders. After Otto III took the throne, Adelaide retired to a convent and continued her works of charity and conversion.

In 999 Adelaide traveled to Burgundy to arrange a reconciliation between her nephew Rudolph and his vassals. She died en route at her monastery at Seltz, near Strasbourg in Alsace, on December 16 at age 68. Her relics are enshrined at Hanover.

PRAYER

God, You gladden us each year by the feast of St Adelaide.

Grant that as we honor her in such festivities we may also

iimitate her example in our conduct. Amen.

Canonized: 1097 by Pope Urban II

Feast: December 16

Patronage: abuse victims; brides; empresses; exiles; in-law problems;

parents of large families; princesses; prisoners; second parents;

step-parents; widows

FURTHER READING

Reston, James Jr. The Last Apocalypse: Europe at the Year 1000

A.D. New York: Doubleday, 1998.

TODAY'S SAINT (Nino)

NINO

Virgin

Christianity was first brought to Georgia, Iberia, at the end of the 3rd century, and ancient tradition attributes this fact to the witness and apostolate of St. Nino. Many legends were in time woven around this saint (called simply "Christiana," "the Christian Woman," by the Roman Martyrology and Nino by the Georgians). But the most trustworthy account is still the most ancient and simplest one recorded, which Princce Bakur of Georgia gave to Rufinus of Aquileia, the 4th century Church historian.

Capture and brought to Georgia as a slave, Nino impressed the populace by her goodness and religious devotion, as well as by her power to cure disease in the name of Christ her God. Her prayers obtained the cure of a dying child, brought the Queen herself back from sickness, and enabled the King--when lost while hunting--to find his way again by calling on Christ. Both rulers received instruction and Baptism from Nino, and she was free to teach and preach.

Under her direction, a church was erected in such wondrous fashion that the people began to clamor to become Christians also. Hence, the King sent a legate to Emperor Constantine, asking for Bishops and priests to continue and extend St. Nino's work, and so the Faith came to this region by the Black Sea.

PRAYER

God, through St. Nino, Your Virgin, You enabled those without

the Faith to pass from dardness to the light of truth. Grant us thr-

ough her intercession to stand fast in the Faith aand remain con-

stant in the hope of the Gospel whicch she preached. Amen.

Feast: December 15

TODAY'S SAINT (John of the Cross)

JOHN OF THE CROSS

(1542-1591)

Spanish mystic, Renaissance poet, a founder of the

Discalced Carmelite Order, and Doctor of the Church

Name meaning: "God is gracious"
Also known as: San Juan de la Cruz

At five-feet-two, John of the Cross was small in stature but "great in the eyes of God," as his friend St. Teresa of Avila described him. He was especially devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and had numerous experiences of her during his life.

John was born Juan de Yepes y Alvarez in Fontiveros, Old Castile, Spain. He was the youngest of three children. His father had been disinherited for marrying beneath his station, and died when he was an infant. John was raised by his mother, Catalina Alvarez. He studied at the Jesuit school of Medina, but was attracted to the Carmelites, a Roman Catholic order founded in the 12th century by a group of hermits on Mount Carmel, Israel, and devoted to the ancient prophets Elijah and Elisha, who once lived on the mount. At 21, John entered the Carmelite monastery of Medina del Campo, where he was given the name of John of St. Mathias. After profession, he wanted to be a lay brother, but instead was sent to the Carmelite monastery near the Univesity of Salamanca. He was ordained a priest at age 25.

He became unhappy with the laxity he saw in the order, and worked toward reform with his confidante and friend, Teresa of Avila, who was in her fifties when they met and formed their friendship. Together they founded Carmelite monasteries and advocated disciplinary reforms. They enjoyed a deep and mystical corespondence.

Teresa had been given permission to establish a stricter order of Carmelites, and to found two reformed houses of men. She told John he should be the first to carry this out. He founded the first Discalced Carmeelite monasterry at Duruelo and adopted the name John of the Cross. (The discalced" literally refers to being barefoot; however, discalced monks in modern times may wear sandals, rather than shoes, as symbolic of their stricter observance.) The Discalced Carmelites were strongly opposed by the original Carmelites.

From 1571 to 1572 John served as rector of a new Carmelite college a baeza. He then became confessor at the convent of the Incarnation at Avila, serving until 1577. He was ordered by the provincial of Castile to return to Medina but refused. He was kidnapped by unreformed Carmelites, who imprisoned him in a nearly lightless cell in Toledo when he refused tto abandon his reforms. He spint nine months in his cell, which had a tiny, high window. John stood on a stool in order to be able to read his offices. He was severely beaten. The beatings at first took place every evening, then three times a week, then on Fridays only. John would be led to the refectory and forced to sit on the floor to eat his meager meal of bread and water. Then he would be made to bare his shoulders. The monks would file by and scourge him with whips. The scars remained for years. The story goes that on two occasions his jailers saw brilliant light shinning from his cell, which vanished when they entered. It was believed that Jesus and Mary visted him.

According to lore, Mary helped him to escape. She appeared in a radiant vision on the night of her feast and told him his trials would soon be at an end. Several days later, she showed him a window by which he would make his escape. John unscrewed the lock of his door (said to be loosened by Mary) and quietly walked past the guard. He took only the mystical poetry he had written. He tore a blanket into strips and made a rope, which he used to climb down out of the window shown to him by Mary. John hid in a convent infirmary, entertaining the nuns by readinng his poetry.

One of John's fervent prayers was to be granted three things: not to die as a superior: to die where he was not known; and to die after having suffered a great deal. His prayer was realized.

In 1579 John became head of the college at baeza. In 1581, he became prior of Los Martires, near Granada. In 1582, Teresa died and dissension broke out among the Discalced Carmelites. John, who favored a modrate policy, became vicar provincial of Andalusia. He did not get along with the vicar general, who removed him from authority and had him disgraced. He was sent to the remote friary of La Penuela, where he spent his time in prayer and meditation. Meanwhile, efforts were under way by his opponents to have him expelled from the order. John became ill and was sent to Ubeda in 1591. He suffered dreadful treatment for three months, and died on December 14.

John wrote his famous mystical work The Spiritual Canticle, while in prison. Sshortly after his escape, he wrote The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Living Flame of Love and his most famous work, The Dark Night of the Soul, a contiinuation of The Ascent of Mount Carmel. Ttese works describe the soul's mystical journey toward God, and detail three stages of mystical union: purrgation, illumination and union. Detachment and sufeing are presented as requirements for the purification and illumination of the soul. John describes the "dark night of the soul" as "an inflowing of God into the soul, which purges it from its ignorances and imperfections, habitual, natural and spiritual, and which is called by contemplatives "infused contemplation, or mystical theology." The Phrase "dark night of the soul" has become a reference to the state of intese personal spiritual struggle, including the experience of utter hopelessness and isolation.

Trained by Jesuits and thoroughly familiar with the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, John brought Scholastic theology and philosophy to his poetic genius. He is criticaly aclaimed as one of the greatest poets of the Spanish Renaissance, as one of the greatest Western authorities on mysticism.

Numerous miracles and marvels are recorded concerning John, whom Teresa of Avila called "one of the purest souls in the Church of God." When John was on his deathbed, he predicted he would be with God by midnight--and he died at that hour, holding his crucifix and saying, "Into Thy hands, Lord I commend my spirit." The room was filled with a sweet perfume, and a sparkling sphere of light "like that of the sun, moon and stars together" shone above the bed. A triple crown of light seemed to encircle the dead saint's head. John once reportedly was found levitating in the chapel with his head touching the ceiling, having been during prayer.

Two stories are are told of his miraculous rescues from drowning. Both incidents ocurred in boyhood. When he was five, he fell into a lagoon while playing and sank to the bottom. There he saw a beautiful lady who stretched out her hand, but he was afraid to grasp it because his own hand was muddy. He floated to the surface and was rescued by a peasant with a pole. In the second incident, he fell into a well but did not sink. He remained calm and held onto a rope, and was pulled to safety. Throughout his life, he credited both rescues to the blessed Virgin Mary.

Mary rescued him on another occasion in his monk's cell. Construction work caused a wall of the monastery to fall on his cell. John was assumed to be crushed to death, but he was found standing in a corner unharmed. He said Mary had covered him with her white mantle to protect him from the falling debris.

After his death, he was entombed beneath the the floor of the church at Ubeda. Several nights later, a bright light was seen radiating from the spot. Nine months later, his tomb was opened upon a legal order obtained by Dona Ana de Pensacola, who wished to remove his bones to a sweet fragrance. The body was covered with lime and reburied. The tomb was opened again nine months later, but the body was still incorrupt. Three fingers of the right hand were cut off, and blood issued forth as though from a living person. The body was taken to Segovia, and en route smelled so strongly of perfume that it drew the attention of passersby. In Segovia, thousands flocked to see it for eight days, before its enshrinement in a reliquary of marble and bronze. The incorrupt body was examined in 1859, 1909, 1926 and 1955.

PRAYER

God, Your Priest St. John became a model of perfect self-denial

and showed us how to love the Cross. May we always imitate

him and be rewarded with the eternal contemplation of Your

glory. Amen

Beatified: 1675 by Pope Clement X

Canonized: 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII

Name Doctor of the Church: 1926 by Pope Pius XI

Feast: December 14

Patronage: mystics

FURTHER READING

Brown, Raphael. Saints Who Saw Mary. Rockford, Ill.: TAN

Books, 1955.

The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross. Tr. Keieran Kava-

naugh and Otillio Rodriguez. Washington, D.C.: ICS Public-

ations, 1991.

Frost, Bede. Saint John of the Cross: Doctor of Divine Love, an

Introduction to His Philosophy, Theology and spirituality.

New York: Vantage, 1980.

John of the Cross. Dark Night of the Soul, 3rd rev. ed. Tr. E. All-

ison Peers from the critical ed. of P. Silverio de Santa Teresa,

C.D. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday Image Books, 1959.

TODAY'S SAINT (Lucy of Syracuse)

LUCY OF SYRACUSE

(d. 304)

Virgin and martyr

Name meaning: light; bringer of light

Also known as: Lucia

Although venerated as one of the holy virgin martyrs, little truth is known about Lucy. The accepted story, as told by the English Bishop St. Aldhelm of Sherborne in the Seventh century, says that Lucy was born in Syracuse, on the island of Sicily, to wealthy parents, perhaps Christians. Her father died when she was an infant. Lucy consecrated herself to God and vowed to remain a virgin at a young age. Her mother Eutychia, however, pledged her in marriage to a young pagan named Paschasius, to convince her mother of the seriousness of her resolve, Lucy accompanied Eutychia to the tomb of St. Agatha at Catania, where Euttychia's long suffering from a hermorrhagic illness was cured. Eutychia agreed to let Lucy remain a virgin.

But the rejected bridegroom denounced Lucy as a Christian to the authorities under Emperor Diocletian. The judge first senntenced Lucy to serve as a prostiute, but supposedly her body became immobile, and neither guards nor even teams of oxen could move her. Next the judge tortured her, perhaps putting her eyes out, but her sight was restored. He then tried burning her, but the fires went out. Finally Lucy died from a sword thrust to her throat. Another story says Lucy put out her own eyes and carried them on tray to dissuade a suitor from looking at her.

Whether any of the acts attributed to Lucy are true, she has a large following. In the Scandinavian countries, the feast day of Lucia is the Festival of Lights. In some Swedish farming communities, a young girl dressed in white with a red sash and a crown of lingonberry twigs and candles goes from house to house, carrying a torch and leaving baked gooods. In most Norwegian and Swedish families, usually the youngest daughter dresses in white as the "Lussibrud" (Lucy bride) on Lucy's Day, December 13, and wakes the rest of the family with a song and a tray of coffee and saffron buns called "Lussikattor" (Lucy cats). Both celebrations can be traced to her role as "bringer of light." Under the old Julian calendar, the winter solstice occurred on December 13 rather than on the later Gregorian December 21, meaning the long northern nights of darkness would turn into the long days of light. Lucy's Day also usherred in the Yuletide, with Lucy candles in the house and Lucy fires in the fields to welcome the birth of the True Light of the World. All preparations for Christmas were completed by Lucy's Day.

The Church did not always veneate Lucy. Because of the meaning of her name in Latin, Lucy was originally associated with the fallen angel Lucifer. The saffron buns that the Lucy bride delivers represented the devil's cats. Indeed, the buns are made in a crossed shape where the front rolls, or arms, are turned inward, much as a cat often sits.

Lucy's remains supposedly went to Constantinople and then to Venice during the Crusades, where they are buried in the Church of Santa Lucia. Venetian gondoliers honor her by singing the famous song "Santa Lucia" as they row visitors through the canals.

PRAYER

Lord, may the intercession of Your Virgin and Martyr

St. Lucy help us so that, as we celebrate her heavenly

birthday on earth, we may contemplate her triumph

in heaven. Amen.

Canonized: Added to the Canon of the Mass by Pope Gregory

in the seventh century

Feast: December 13

Patronage: Authors, blind people and blindness, cutlers, sufferers

of eye diseases, sufferers of hemorrhagic illnesses, glazziers and

glass workers, laborers, peasants, salesmen, writers, sufferrers of

thhhroat infections, Venetian gondoliers

TODAY'S SAINT (Finian of Clonard)

FINIAN OF CLONARD

(ca. 470-549)

Founder and teaccher of "the Twelve Apostle of Ireland"

and other Irish saints

Finian of Clonard was born about 470 in Myshall, County Carlow, Ireland. He studied under SS. Cadoc and Gildas in Wales, then returned to Ireland where he founded schools, monasteries and churches. His school at Clonard was the most famous, and attracted some of the most famous saints of Ireland, including Columba and Brendan of Clonfort. Finian was abbot, or by some aaccounts, bishop, though he may never have been officially conscrated in that position. He died during a plague epidemic.

Feast: December 12

TODAY'S SAINT (DAMASUS I)

DAMASUS I

(ca. 304-384)

Pope

Damasus was born in Rome, the son of Antonius, a priest of Spanish descent, and a woman named Laurentia. He became a deacon in the Spanish church of St. Laurence, where his father served.

In October 366, when Damasus was about 60, Pope Liberius died, and he was elected bishop of Rome. Though he received a substantial majority of votes, a dissident faction, abherents of Liberius (a controversial pontiff who became one of the few early popes to be revered neither as a martyr nor as a saint), rejected him and consecrated their own candidate, Ursinus. In promoting him, they were not beyond using violence, for which Empeor Valentinian had them exiled to Cologne. From Cologne and later Milan, Ursinus and his followers continued to harass Damasus. They charged him with incontience in the imperiall court in 378, but he was exoneratred by Emperor Gratian. He was cleared also by a Church synod of 44 bishops, who then excommunicated his accusers.

In 380, Gratian and Theodosius I recognized Christianity as the religion of the Roman state, Damasus did much to clarify and promote its teachings. He argued that the supremacy of the Roman Church was based on the words of Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18). He was a vigorous opponent of Arianism (supported by Liberius and Ursinus), Apollinarianism, Macedonianism and other hereies. At a synod in 374, he promulgated a canon of the Holy Scripture, specifying the authentic books of the Bible. Most important, he commissioned St. Jerome to revise the Latin text of the Bible, resulting in the Vulgate version of the Scriptures.

Like several of his immediate predecessors, Dammasus promoted the construction of ecclesiastical properties in and around Rome. Among other projects, he provided for the proper housing of the Vatican archives, built a baptistery in honor of St. Peter at the Vactican, and drained and rehabilitated the sacred catacombs. He devoted much effort to gathering the relics of Roman martyrs and wrote new epitaphs for the tombs of many of them.

In the papal crypt of the Catacomb of St. Callistus he placed a general epitaph that ends. "I, Damnasus, wished to be buried here, but I feared to offend the ashes of these holy ones." When he died on December 11, 384, he was buried with his mother and sister at a small church he had built on the Via Ardeatina.

In art, Damasus is a pope holding a ring. He may also be shown with Jerome; restoring sacred buildings; holding a screen with "Gloria Patri" on it; or in front of a church door.

PRAYER

Lord, grant that we may always celebrate the merit of Your

Martyrs in imitation of St. Damasus who loved and vener-

ated them. Amen.

Feast: December 11

Patronage: archaeologists

TODAY'S SAINT (Miltiades)

MILTIADES

(d. 314)

Pope

Also known as: Melchiades

The Roman see was vacant for some time after the banishment of Pope St. Eusebius, probably due to the ongoing controversy over whether Christians who had lapsed under persecutions should be allowed to return to the Church without doing penitence. Miltiades, a Roman priest of African descent, was elevated to the papacy on July 2, 311.

In October 312, Emperor Maxentius was defeated by Constantine the Great, who had experienced a vision that told him he would conquer in the sign of the Christ. Although he was not to accept baptism until his deathbed, Constantine thereafter supported the Christians in any way he could. In 313, he signed the Edict of Milan with Emperors Galerius and Licinius, putting an end to the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. He gave Miltiades the right to receive back all buildings and possessions that had been confiscated during the persecutions, and granted to the Church tracts of land in and around Rome on which to build new houses of worship. Either to Miltiades or to his successor, Pope St. Sylvester I, he also gave the Lateran Palace, which then became the pope's residence and the seat of the central administration of the Roman Church.

Miltiades died on January 10 or 11, 314, and was buried in the Catacomb of St. Callisus, afterward being venerated as a saint.

Feast: December 10 (January 10 in fourth century)

TODAY'S SAINT (Gorgonia)

GORGONIA

(d. ca. 370-373)

Daughter of SS. Gregory of Nazianzus and Nonna,

sister of SS. Gregory of Nazianzus the youngcaesarius

Most of what is known about Gorgonia comes from the eloquent funeral oration for her delivered by Gregory of Nazianzus the Younger. Gregory described her as a model of piety and morals who was generous to the poor. She was married and had children, and the sole wealth she left them was "the imitation of her example, and emulation of her merits."

Gregory described how on more than one occasion she was remarkably healed by her intense faith. Once her mules went wild with her carriage and overturned it. She was dragged and so badly injured that others thought she would die. She refused all medical help and relied upon the will of God. On another occasion, she fell seriously ill with "an extraordinary and malignant disease" that left her fevered, paralyzed and even comatose. From this she seemingly miraculously recovered.

Gorgonia was told by God when she would die. She made her preparations, went to bed, and passed away, surrounded by her family and friends. Her last words were, "I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest."

Feast: December 9

FURTHER READING

"Gregory Nazianzus: On His Sister Gorgonia

URL: www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregnaz-gornogia.html

Downloaded: September 24, 2000.

TODAY'S SAINT (Eutychianus)

EUTYCHIANUS

(d. 275-283)

Pope

Little is known about the life or pontificate of Eutychianus, who was elected to succeed St. Felix I in January 275. Legend has it that he personally buried 242 martyrs, but this is unlikely, since he lived in a time of peace. He died of natural causes on December 7, 283, and was buried in the papal crypt of the Catacomb of St. Callistus on the Appian Way.

Feast December 8

TODAY'S SAINT (Ambrose)

AMBROSE

(ca. 339-397)

Bishop of Milan , Latin Father ans Doctor of the Church,

know miracles and his writings

Name meaning divine immortal

Also known as: Ambrose of Mian; Ambroossio, Ambrogio;

the Honey-Tongued Doctor

Ambrose was born about 339-340 In Trier (Treves), the Youngest of three children. His father, Ambrosius, was the praetorian prefect of Gaul, an area that included the territories of present-day France, Britain, Spain and part of Africa-one of the four great prefectures of the Roman empire and the highest office that could be held by a subject. Ambrosius died when his son was young, and the family moved to Rome. There Ambrose and his brother Satyrus studied lew, litereature, philosophy and Greek. They received religious Instruction from their older sister Marcelina, who had already taken vows as a virgin nun in front of Liberius, the Roman pontiff, and who lived in her mother's house with another consecrated virgin. Like most Christians of his day, Ambrose was not baptized, because sins committed after baptism were regarded with such horror that baptism was delayed. All three siblings eventually were cononized.

Upon completion of their studies, Ambrose and Satyrus began practicing law. Ambrose, in particular, came to the attention of Anicius Probus, the praetorian prefect of Italy. By his early thirties, Ambrose was the consular govenor of Liguria and aemilia with residence in Milan--a post obtained for him by Probus from Emperor Valentinian I. Ambrose became head of all civil administration, police and justice systims in Milan, the centere of Western imperial government since the beginning of the fourth century.

Since 355, thfe see of Milan had been ocupied by Auxentius, an Ariann. (The Arian heresy taught that the Logos, or Word, is but a creature created by God and is not God incarnate. Many Christians were Arians in thre third, fourth and fifth centuries, including the mission aries sent by Emperor Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, to evangelize the Gothic tribes.) When auxentius died in 374, the provincial bishops begged Emperor Valentinian refused. Passions were high on both sides. As consular governor, Ambrose went to the cathedral and tried to maintain peace by giving a conciliatory speech. While he was talking, someone (Ambrose's biographer, St Paulinus of Nola, said it was a child) called out, "Ambrose, bishop!" and the crowd roared its approval.

Ambrose, however, was still unbaptized and ignorant of theology. He immediately rfused the position, even, according to Paulinus, inviting prostitutes into his home to make himself unworthy in the people's eyes. He appealed to Valentinian to excuse him, but the emperor, pleased that one of his governors could become bishop, promised severe penalties to anyone found hiding Ambrose. Ambrose reluctantly acquiesced, and in eight days he was baptized, ordained and passed through the orders to be consecrated bishop of Milan on December 7, 374.

The new bishop gave away all his wealth except a stipend for his sister St. Marcellina. His brother St. Satyrus left his legal work to handle Ambrose's secular affairs. He prayed often, fasted regularly, wrote, studied Scriptural texts and Greek philosophers--particularly Origen and St. Basil--and conducted Mass daily. His door was always open to speak to anyone, whether noble or peasant. St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine of Hippo, was one of Ambrose's followers, and the bishop managed to convince Augustine that the intillect could be reconciled with the spirit, bringing him back to the Church in 387. Ambrose took an early stand against capital punishment and was a vocal proponent of vows of virginity--so much so that some Italian mothers kept their marriagable daughters away from Ambrose's sermons. Ambrose retorted that virgins do not depopulate countries, wars do.

But much to the Arians' dismay, Ambrose was an unyielding Catholic. When Emperor Valentinian I died suddenly in 375, his brother Valens, an Arian, took control of the East and Valentinian's son Gratian assumed leadership of the West, except Italy. The army proclaimed the late emperor's four-year-old son by his second wife, Justina, as Emperor Valentinian II, and Gratian agreed to share power. This situation made the Arian Justina regent. In 377, the Goths invaded the eastern part of the empire and Gratian raised an army to aid his uncle Valens. Concefrned that he might fall victim to Arian influence, Gratian appealed to Ambrose for Guidance, and he responded with his famous treatise, De Fide ad Gratianum Augustum, or "To Gratian concerning the Faith."

After the usurper Maximus killed Gratian in 383, Justina begged Ambrose to act as ambassdor on her son's behalf. In what is believed to be the first occasion that an ecclesiastic acted on behalf of secular politcs, Ambrose managed to cconvince Maximus to confine himself to Gaul, Spain and Britain and not to invade the lands under the control of Valentinian II--and Justina. Justina had remained circumspect about her plans to futher Arianism while her husband Valentinian and his son Gratian lived, but now that she was empress-regent and supported by a Gothic court, Justina began agresively pursuing her agenda. In 385, Justina induced Valentinian I to demand that Ambrose relinquish the old Portian basilica to be used as a place for arian worship. He refused, saying no bishop could surrender a temple of God. Valetinian sent mesengers demanding the basilica, but Ambrose stood firm, calmly celebrating the Mass and rescuing an Arian priest seized by the crowd.

In January 386, Justina persuaded Valentinian II to pass a law authorizing Arian assemblies and proscribing Catholic ones. Ambrose disregarded the law. On Palm Sunday of that year he preached a sermon against relinquishing any church, and his followers, fearful of their lives, barricaded themselves and Ambrose in the basilica. Imperial guards surrounded the basilica, thinking to starve the congregants out, but by Easter they were still inside. To pass the time Ambrose had taught his people hymns and chants he had written, sung by two choirs singing alternate stanzas. (The Arian debate has long since faded from memory, but Ambrosian antiphonal singing remains a treasured legacy and still a popular form of worship.) Again, Valetinian conceded defeat to the bishop, with Ambrose remarking, "The emperor is in the Church, not over it." Meanwhile, Valetinian's court learned that Emperor Maximus was planning to cross the Alps. Ambrose agreed to speak with Maximus a second time, rising above his battles with Justina. Ambrose publicly accused the tyrant of breaking faith and asked Maximus to send Gratian's remains as a sign of peace, but Maximus ordered the bishop to leave. The empereor was already displeased with Ambrose because the bishop had excommunicated him for the execution of the Spanish heretic Priscillian. The death of Priscillian and six followers was the first instance of capital punishment for heresy meted out by secular, rather than ecclesiastical, rather than eclesiastical, authorities.

Ambrose sent advance word to Valentinian of Maximus's intentions, and the emperor and his mother fled to the Eastern court of Theodosius I, leaving Milan defenseless. Theodosius engaged Maximus, killing him in Pannonia (Hungary), and restored Valentinian II to the throne and awarded him control of the usurper's territories. But although Valentinian II was the nominal ruler, Theodosius now controlled the entire empire. He stayed for a while in Milan and convinced the young emperor to denounce Arianism and accept Catholicism after Justina's death. At Ambrose's urging, Valentinian also thwarted efforts to reintroduce pagan worship of the goddes victory in the Senate.

While Theodosius was still in Milan, a mob of Christians at Kallinikum, in Mesopotamia, destroyed a Jewish synagogue. Theodosius ordered the local bishop to rebuild the synagogue, and the bishop appealed to Aambrose. Ambrose responded that no Christian bishop could pay for a building used for false worship, but Theodosius ordered the reconstruction to proced. Ambrose preached against Theodosius, they argued, and Ambrose threatened never to sing Mass at the altar unless Theodosius revoked the order. Rightly or wrongly, Ambrose won.

A more serious scandal occurred in 390. Word reached Milan that Butheric, the governor of Thessalonica, had impisoned a popular charioteer for having seduced a servant girl in Butheric's family. Butheric refused to release the charioteer for the games, so enraging the crowd that they killed Butheric and stoned several guards to death. Theodosius ordered savage reprisals. When the people gathered in the circus for games, soldiers surrounded the building and massacred 7,000, with no rgard to age, gender, guilt or innocence. Ambrose wrote Theodosius, exhorting him to perform public penance and warning the emperor that Ambrose neither would nor could accept the monarch's offering on the altar, nor would he ever celebrate the Divine Mysteries before him until he had ofered penance. Theodosius did public penance like any commoner, thereaftere ordering that henceforth no captial punishment should be carried out for 30 days after sentencing to allow time for calmer judgment to pervail.

Valentinian II was murdered by Arbogastes in 393 in Gaul. Ambrose mourned the emperor and left Milan before Arbogastes's emissary, the pagan Eugentius, arrived in Milan, threatening to overthrow all Christianity. Ambrose traveled throughout his diocese in 394, encouraging the people to resist, then returned to Milan to learn that his old friend Theodosius had defeated and killed Arbogastes at Aquileia, the final blow to paganism in the empire. A few months later, in 395, Theodosius died in Ambrose's arms, and the bishop who loved him conducted the empeor's funeral.

Ambrose eied peacefully on Good Friday, April 4, 397. For several hours before his death he lay with his arms extended as if on a cross, then, after receiving the sacraments from St. Honoratus, bishop of Vercelli, he died. His followers buried him in his basilica near the relics of the holy martyrs Gervase and Protase. In 835 Bishop Angilbert II placed the relics of all three saints in a porphyry--the royal purple stone--sarcophagus under the altar, where they were discovered in 1864. Ambrose is one of the Four Great Doctors of the Latin (Western) Undivided Church, along with SS. Jerome, Augustine and Pope Gregory the Great.

Ambrose's writings include sermons and homilies; mystical writings, commentaries and hymns; of the latter, one is still sung in order to bring good weather.

Of his miracles, Ambrose healed by a laying on of hands, exorcized demons and is said to have raised the dead. When the son of Decentius, an important Christian in Florence, died, Ambrose spread himself over the corpse and brought the boy back to life.

Ambrose discovered the tombs of Gervase and Protase, and people were healed by touching the relics. The most famous incident involved a blind butcher, Severus, who touched the relics with his handkerchief and then applied the cloth to his eyes.

Feast: December 7

Patronage: Bakers of honeybread; bees ands beekeepers; bishops; candle-

makers; chandlers; domestic animals; the French Army Commissariat;

geese; gingerbread makers; learning; scholchildren; stone masons; Stu-

dents; wax melters and refiners; Bologna, Italy, Milan, Italy

FURTHER READING

"Ambrose of Milan, Bishop and Doctor."

URL: http://www.elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/JEK/12/07.html

Downloaded March 1, 2000

Herbert, Albert J. Raised from the Dead: True Stories of 400

Resurrection MMiracles. Rockford, Ill.: TAN Books and Pub-

lishers, 1986.