TODAY'S SAINT (Valentine)

2007-02-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

VALENTINE

(d. ca. 269 - 270)

Name Meaning: Valor

Also known as: Valentine Of Terni, Valentine of Rome

Valentine was a priest in Rome during the 3rd century, at a time when the Emperor Claudius II forbade the practice of Christianity and executed any who disobeyed him. But Valentine ignored the law, and he comforted persecuted martyrs and may even have married Christian couples. Arrested, he was brought before Claudius, who demanded Valentine renounce his faith and accipt the pagan gods of Rome. Valentine refused to comply. It is said that claudius had him imprisoned by a magistrate, whose daughter happened to be blind. Valentine cured her, converting the magistrate and his entire family to Christianity. Enraged, Claudius had Valentine beaten, stoned and beheaded. Legend tells us that he sent the girl a farewell note, signing it "from your Valentine."

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Valentine Traditions

Another story explaining the tradition of exchanging cards and presents on Valentine's Day tells of the Roman Feast of Lupercalia. It was a pagan love festival that took place in the middle of February: bouys drew the names of girls in honor of the Fertility goddess Februata Juno, and couples were supposedly paired off for the year. The Church was anxious to discourage any pagan activities, so they wstablished February 14th as St. Valentine's Day. Yet another story evolved from the medieval belief that birds begin to9 jmate on February 14th, making it an ideal deay for lovers.

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A Ture Patron of Love

Today, St. Valentine is honorede as a true patron of love, not because of an ancient belief or festival, but because he made the ultimate sacrifice---he gave his life for the love of his God and his people.

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Prayer

Dear Saint and glorious Martyr,

who are so popular with lovers,

be kind to those whom we love

and to us. Teach us to love

unselfishly and to find great joy

in giving. Enable all true lovers

to bring out the best in each other.

Let thefm love eachn other in God

and God in each other.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Their

Footsteps

St. Valentine might bef surprised and more than a little disappointed if hef saw how we honor his feast today--

dime-store cards, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, bottles of expensive perfume and other extravagant gifts. Even though these are all fun to receive, the commercial emphasis placed on buy ing cards and presents obscures the realmeaning of the day.

Love can come in many form: a mother comfortinhg her sick child, one friend helping another, a man embracing his wife, a child playing with a new puppy. Why should we celebrate love only once a year? Shouldn't every day be St. Valentine's Day?

Starting today, try to do something nice for someone every day. It can simply be a kind word.
Never let a day go by without telling your spouse or your childen that you love them.
Before you go to bed every night, thank God for all He has done for you, and ask Him to show you the true meaning of love.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Julian the Hospitaller)

2007-02-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

JULIAN THE HOSPITALLER

(ca. 13th century)

Legendary saint popular in the Middle Ages

Also known as: the Poor Man

The story of Julian the Hospitaller is told in William Caxton's version of The Golden Legend; a French manuscript dated circa dated circa 1286 is the only surviving version in verse. The story was spread by troubadours.

Julian was the only child of Geoffery, duke of Angers, France, and duchess Emma. As a youth he loved to hunt. One day at age 16, he went off into the woods with a band of men and became separated from them and lost. He came upon a beast lying in rest and fatally shot it with an arrow. Before it died, the beast spoke to him, and foretold a terrible and unavoidable fate, that one day he would slay his mother and father with a single blow.

Julian vowed to run away to avoid the fate. He rode his horse into Brittany, where he sold it and his belongings. He set off wandering, praying intensely for God to deliver him from the cruel fate predicted by the beast. Eventually he found himself in Rome, where he had an audience with the pope. The pope ordered him to spend two years across the sea.

Julian obeyed, going to Syria. He joined the Order of the Knights Hospitallers and fought in the Crusades against the Turks. He distinguished himself in battle and was made a knight. One day he heard from pilgrims that his father was dead. Thinking himself free of the curse, he resolved to return home to his mother. He crossed the sea, but could not find his way home. He wandered again and eventually found himself in Spain.

There he found lodging in a castle that was fortified against attack by the Turks, but the king of the Turks was intent on capturing the countess there. The Turks attacked and Julian fought bravely, succeeding in taking the king hostage. He was made a count, and he and the countess married. For two years they lived in great happiness.

Meanwhile, Duke Geoffrey was still very much alive, and he and Emma had spent four years searching in vain for their son. At last they heard news about him and his whereabouts, and they journeyed to the castle disguised as pilgrims. They arrived on a day when Julian was out hunting. The countess welcomed them and bade them bathe and rest in the bed she shared with Julian. They did so, and everyone went to sleep, including the countess in another room.

Julian returned and thought it strange that his wife did not come to meet him as was her custom. The hall was empty. Going to their chamber, he perceived two sleeping forms in the bed in the dark. He immediately concluded that his wife was having an affair. Enraged, he cut them both in two, and the bed in half, with a single blow.

The countess awakened from the noise and rushed into the Chamber. The horror of his crime--the unavoidable destiny--was too much for Julian. He attempted to kill himself with his own sword, but was stopped by his wife. He vowed to do penance in exile, and the countess pledged to join him.

After the burial of his parents, Julian and hes wife dressed in the clothing of beggars and left the castle. They wandered and begged for food. They suffered hardships and insults. They went to Rome and confessed to the pope, and professed their desire to live in poverty. The pope's penance was that they should find themselves in a place of perilous passage and there establish a hostel for sheltering travelers and thew poor.

After more wandering and many hardships and trials, they at last came to a place by a stream where many had died trying to cross the water. The area was full of thieves. There they constructed a humble hostel with beds made from grass, and devoted themselves to serving those who came for shelter. Julian was able to barter for a boat, and ferried people safely across the stream. For a long time they lived this way.

One night they were awakened by a man's voice from the opposite bank asking to be ferried over and Julian and his wife showed him every courtesy. When the stranger asked Julian protested but his wife did not, and agreed to comply. But when she went to the leper's bed, he had vanished. From outside came his voice, telling them that they had been tested, and were now expiated of their sins.

For seven more years, Julian and his wife lived at the hostel, serving others. One night thieves came and killed them the same way in which Julian had slain his parents. Afterward, miracles without end occurred there. The bodies of Julian and his wife were placed in a gold and silver reliquary.

Feast: February 12

Patronage: boatmen; circus people; ferrymen; hotel employees; innkeepers; travelers

FURTHER READING

The Life of Saint Julian Hospitaller. Tr. Tony Devaney Morinell.

URL: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/julian.html

Downloaded: July 21, 2000

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TODAY'S SAINT (Paschal I)

2007-02-11T05:30:00.000-08:00

PASCHAL I

(d. 824)

Pope

The date of Paschal's birth is not known. His father was a Roman named Bonosus. He entered the priesthood while still a youth and studied at the Lateran Palace. Pope St. Leo III (r. 795 - 816) appointed him abbot of St. Stephen's monastery, where he oversaw pilgrims to Rome.

When Pope stephen V (r. 816 - 817) died on Januaruy 24 or 25, 817, Paschal was elected to succeed him. He was consecrated and enthroned the following day, an apparent attempt to bypass cofirmation by thfew Frankish emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. Paschal justified this action to Louis I the Pious by saying that he had not sought the office but accepted it as an unwanted task. In return, Louis declared papal elections to be free of the requirement of imperial approval and in general recognized papal sovereignty.

When lothair I, Louis's son, married, Paschal sent a special delegation bearing rich gifts. In the spring of 823, Lothair went to Rome, and on April 5 Paschal crowned him emperor. Lothair did not share his father's position on papal sovere ignty, however, nor did all in the Roman church agree with Paschal. After Lothair left Rome, two papal officers opposed to Paschal were found blinded and beheaded. Paschal was accused of ordering the murders, which had been carried out by two members of his household. Although he denied any complicity, he refused to surrender the murderers, declaring that the dead men were traitors to the Church a nd that secular authorities had no jurisdiction in the matter. The upshot was the Constitution of Lothair, which instituted severe restrictions on papal jurisdiction and powers.

During Paschal's pontificate, Iconoclasm--the Islamic-inspired movement that forbade thfe worship of images---raged in the Byzantine Empiere to the east. Paschal did what he could to uphald the position of the Roman Church. He sent his aides to try to secure the relefase of Abbot Theodore of Studites, who had been impisoned for defending sacred icons. He received several Greek monks fleeing the persecutions and found places for them in newly erected monasteries such as those of St. Praxedis, St. Cecilia, and SS. Sergius and Bacchus, near the Lateran Palace. He also erected new churches and chapels and had the relics of martyrs translated from the ancient catacombs to these places.

Paschal was not a popular pope. He was so unpolpular, indeed, that when he died in 824, throngs prevented his funeral proccession from entering St. Peter's. His relecs were interred instead in thfe church of St. Praxedis.

Feast: February 11 (formerly May 14)

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TODAY'S SAINT (Scholastica)

2007-02-10T13:55:00.001-08:00

SCHOLASTICA

(ca. 408 - 543)

Benedictine sister, abbess and twin sister of St. Benedict

of Nursia, considered to be thew first Benedictine nun

Very little is known about Scholastica, save for a few comments by Pope St. Gregory I (Gregory the Great, r. 590 - 604) in Dialogues, in which he records events of St. Benedict life. In early youth, she consecrated he life to God. After Benedict established his monastery at Monte Cassino, Italy, she moved to nearby Plombariola, where she founded and governed a monastery of nuns. Benedict directed his sister and her nuns.

Scholastica visited her brother once a year, and stayed in a house separate from the monastery, which she was not allowed to enter. Benedict and several of his brothers would met her there and spend the day discussing spiritual matters.

The best-known story about Scholastica took place in 543 on one of these visits. Toward evening, Benedict prepared for his return to the monastery. Scholastica begged him to stay the night, but Benedict replied, "By no means can I stay out of my monastery." Scholastica bowed her head and prayed. When she raised her head, there was a sudden and dramatic shift in the weather. The sky had been clear and serene; now lightning flashed and thunder boomed. A heavy rainfall commenced.

Benedict was not pleased, and said, "God Almighty forgive you, Sister. What is this you have done?"

Scholastica said, "I prayed you to stay and you would not hear me. I prayed to Almighty God and he heard me. Now, therefore, if you can, go forth to the monastery and leave me.

Benedict and his brothers were forced to spend the night. They continued their discussions.

Benedict and his party left in the morning, never to see Scholastica again. She died three days later. Benedict beheld her soul in a vision as it ascended into heaven. He had her body brought to his monastery and laid it in the tomb he had prepared for himself. He died within the year and, as requested, was laid to rest with his sister.

Feast: February 10

Patronage: convulsive children: against storms

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TODAY'S SAINT (John of Capistrano)

2006-10-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

JOHN OF CAPISTRANO

Priest

John was born at Capistano, Italy in 1385, the son of a former German Knight of that city. He studied law at the University of Perugia and practiced as a lawyer in the courts of Naples. King Ladislas of Naples appointed him governor of Perugia.

During a war with a neighboring town he was betrayed and imprisoned. Upon his release he entered the Franciscan community at Perugia in 1416. He and St. James of the March were fellow students under St. Bernardine of Siena, who inspired him to institute the devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus and His Mother. John began his brilliant preaching apostolate while a deacon out Italy, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Russia preaching penance and establishing numerous communities of Franciscan renewal.

When Mohammed II was threatening Vienna and Rome, St. John , at the age of seventy, was commissioned by Pope Callistus II to preach and lead a crusade against the invading Turks. Marching at the head of 70,000 Christians, he gained victory in the great battle of Belgrade against the Turks in 1456. Three months later he died at Illok, Hungary.

PRAYER

Lord, You raised up St. John to console Your people

in their distress. Grant that we may always be safe

under Your protection and preserve Your Church in

unending peace. Amen.

Feast: October 22

Patron of Jurists

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TODAY'S SAINT (Bernard of Clairvaux)

2006-08-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX

(1090 - 1153)

Cistercian abbot and Doctor of the Church

Also known as: Doctor Mellifluus, "The Honey-mouthed Doctor," for the spiritual sweetness of his teachings

Bernard of Clairvaux was born in Fontaines, near Dijon, in France, to a leading family of the nobility. He excelled in his early studies, especially in literature, while at the same time giving evidence of great piety.

Bernard's lifelong devotion to Mary began in childhood in 1098. He dreamed he saw a young woman praying in a stable, who suddenly held a radiant baby in her arms. He recognized the baby as Jesus. Mary smiled and allowed Bernard to caress him. He prayed often to Mary and felt a close bond to her. Bernard found himself equally attracted to the reformed Benedictine community at Citeaux, and to a career as a writer and scholar as his family wished. In 1111, he prayed to God for direction. He had a vision of his own departed mother, whom he understood to be sent by Mary. He knew instantly that he was to become a monk.

At about age 23 he entered the monastery at Citeaux along with 30 companions; he was eventually followed by his father and five brothers. In 1115, the abbot, St. Stephen Harding, sent Bernard to found a new daughter house that was to become famous as the Cistercian abbey of Clairvaux.

Though Bernard sought quiet and solitude to contemplate, the needs of the Church, the orders of his superiors and the urgent pleas of rulers caused him to spend much time in travels and controversies. Early in his career, when denounced to Rome for "meddling" in high ecclesiastical affairs, he won over his accusers by explaining that he would like nothing better than to retire to his monastery, but had been ordered to assist at the Synod of Troyes. He likewise found himself called upon to judge the rival claims of Innocent II and Anacetes II to the papacy, and traveled widely to bring others over to the side of Innocent. His other activities included assisting at the Second Lateran Council (1139) and of Gilbert, bishop of Poitiers (1147 - 48). Bernard was a key figure in the condemnation of Abelard by the Council of Sens.

Bernard's health suffered throughout his life. He ate very little and endured acute abdominal pains. Once when he was quite ill, he prayed at the altars of Mary and SS. Lawrence and Benedict. Mary and the two saints appeared to him, placed their hands on his abdomen and instantly healed his pain.

Worn out by his labors, and distressed by the failure of the Crusade, he died at Clairvaux on August 20, 1153. According to lore, Mary appeared to him to welcome his soul to heaven.

Despite his many activities, the real center of Bernard's life was prayer and contemplation: From them he drew strength for his labors and journeys and inspiration for his writings. Bernard, like all Christians, believed that vision of God and union with Him was the end for which man was created. This can be fully attained only in the afterlife, but Bernard and many others throughout the ages have claimed an experience, even in this life, of that vision and union. This mystical experience, like the Beatific Vision of which it is a foretaste, is, in the Christian view, a free gift of God; the most that man can do is desire it and strive to remove obstacles to it. The methods of removing obstacles are the subject of ascetic and mystical theology. Many Christians before Bernard had described this mystical experience, but he was one of the first to address himself to the theological understanding of it, though not in any systematic way. His work shows a profound and precise knowledge of doctrinal subtleties.

Ascetic theology deals with groundwork of the spiritual life: the eradication of vices, the cultivation of virtue, the attainment of detachment, by which one learns to give up one's own will and accept God's will for one. Bernard's works in this field include De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio (Of grace and free will) and De Gradilbus Humilitatus et Superbiae (Of the steps of humility and pride). Bernard's teaching is typical of the paradoxical Christian view of man, simultaneously affirming his dignity as made in the image and likeness of God (which image, for Bernard, consisted primarily in man's free will) and his need for humility as a creature--a fallen creature, in whom the likeness to God is obscured by sin.

But for Bernard, as for the author of the Johannine book (Fourth Gospel) of the New Testament, the beginning, end and driving force of the whole mystery of creation and redemption is love: God's love for man enabling man to love God in return. In De Dilgendo Deo (Of loving God), Bernard presents motives for loving God, both those that all men may acknowledge (the gifts of creation) and those that compel Christians, who believe that God became incarnate and died to save them (the goods of redemption). Here, as elsewhere in his writings, the humanity of Christ has the central role.

Love is nurtured by conversation, and so in the four books De Consideratione (Of meditation), written for his pupil who had become pope as Eugene III, Bernard discusses meditation, or mental prayer, by which one converses with God and may, perhaps, attain a vision of God and union with Him even in this life. It is in the 86 Sermons super Cantica Canticorum (Sermons on the song of songs) that Bernard eloquently expounds on this vision and union, and the desire for it. As many would do after him, he sees these ancient Hebrew poems as describing the union of God and the soul as a mystical marriage. Bernard stressed that the mystical experience is, precisely, an experience, and thus strictly incommunicable, to be known only by one who has experienced it.

In addition to these works, Bernard composed more than 300 sermons and 500 letters, which demonstrate his deep devotion to Mary and the infant Jesus. A story is told that one letter to his cousin, Robert, was dictated in a field during a heavy downpour. The paper never became wet. The episode was looked upon as miraculous, and an oratory was built on the spot.

Of other miracles and unusual events ascribed to the saint, an interesting one concerns the "flies of foigny." Bernard attended the dedication of a church in Foigny, and the service was disturbed by a great multitude of buzzing flies were found dead. Bernard cried, "Excommunicabo eas!" (I shall excommunicate them!). The next day the excommunicated flies were found dead. There were so many they blackened the pavement and had to be shoveled out of the church.

Bernard's symbol is a white dog. In art hef is often depicted in Cistercian habit with a vision of Our Lady.

PRAYER

God, You blessed Your Church with St. Bernard, a man

full of zeal for Your house, radiating brightness and

ardent love. Through his intercession, grant that we may

be animated by the same spirit and always walk as

children of light. Amen.

Canonized: 1174 by Pope Alexander III

Declared Doctor of the Church: 1830 by Pope Pius VIII

Feast: August 20

Patronage: bees; cancer victims; chandlers; cistercians;

climbers; Burgundy; Gibraltar; Liguria, Italy; Speyer

Cathedral, Germany

FURTHER READING

Bredero, Adrian H. Bernard of Clairvaux: Between Cult and

History. Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans, 1996.

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

Books, 1955.

Gilson, Etienne. The Mystical Theology of Saint Bernard,

tr. A.H.C. Downes. New York: Sheed & Ward, 1940.

Liddy, Ailbe J., O. Cist. Life and Teaching of Saint Bernard.

Dublin: M.H. Gill & Son, 1950.

St. Bernard's Sermon on the Canticle of Canticles, tr. by a

priest of Mount Mellary:P Duglin: Browne and Nolan,

1920.

Williams, Watkin. The Mysticism of Saint Bernard of Clair-

vaux. London: Burns Oates & Washbourne, 1931.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Sixtus II)

2006-08-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

SIXTUS II

(d. 258)

Pope and martyr

Also known as: Xystus II

Sixtus II may have been a Greek philosopher, though more probably this impression arose from a confusion of names. He served as a deacon in the Church of Rome and succeeded St. Stephen I as bishop on August 30, 257.

Sixtus repaired the rift between the sees of Rome and Carthage that had developed under Stephen over the issues of baptism and rebaptism. Like Stephen, Sixtus believed that a single baptism was sufficient to bring persons into the Church but, unlike him, was tolerant of those who disagreed.

He is probably best remembered, however, for the way in which he meet his death. Early in his reign, Emperor Valerian had shown comppassion toward Christians, but later he issued an edict requiring Christians to participate in the national cult of the pagan gods and forbade them to assemble in the cemeteries (or catacombs), at the penalty of death. He followed this up at the beginning of August 258, with an order that all bishops, priests and deacons were to be killed.

Flaunting death, Sixtus assembled his followers in the Catabomb of Praetextatus (on the Appian way across from the Catacomb of St. Callistus) on August 6. He was seated in his chair addressing his flock when a band of soldieres appeared and cut off his head. (He may have been taken before a tribunal, which pronounced sentence on him, then returned to the cemetery and decapitated.) Several other church officers with him suffered the same fate. Followers carred his relics to the papal crypt in the St. Callistus catacomb, placing the blood-stained chair on which he died behind his tomb. Later an oratory (the Oratorium Xysti) was erected over the St. Praetextatus catacomb, becoming a pilgrimage site in the seventh and eighth centuries.

There is a legend that on the way to his execution Sixtus met his deacon St. Lawrence, who was to be Martyred three days later.

Sixtus was one of the most highly esteemed martyrs of the early Church. His name is mentioned in the canon of the Roman Mass.

In art, he is shown with Lawrence and St. John the Baptist, holding a money-bag. He may also be shown ordaining Lawrence, giving him a bag of money to distribute to the poor, or with Lawrence on the way to his death.

Feast: August 7 (formerly August 6)

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TODAY'S SAINT (Optatus of Milevis)

2006-06-04T00:12:00.000-07:00

OPTATUS OF MILEVIS

(d. 387)

Bishop of Milevis, Father of the Church

Little is know about Optatus, though it appears he was raised a pagan and was a late convert to Christianity. He survived fourth-century persecutions and rose in the Church to become bishop of Milevis, Numidia (now Algeria), inn North Africa. In a series of six treatises, he defended the orthodox doctrine of the Church in its battle with the Donatist heresy.

Optatus died about 3877. Although there is no sigh that he ever received a cultus, and early martyrologies and calendars do not mention him, his name was latter inserted in the Roman Martyrology under June 4.

In art, Optatus is depicted as an early Christian bishop trampling heretics.

Feast: June 4

FURTHER READING

www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4913

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TODAY'S SAINT (Augustine of Canterbury)

2006-05-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY

(d. 604 or 605)

Benedictine and first bishop of Canterbury,

Apostle to England, Apostle to the Anglo-Saxons

Also known as: Austin

Augustine was by all accounts a timid man, a librarian and monk. In 596, Pope St. Gregory the Great (r. 590-604) chose about 30 monks from St. Andrew Monastery on the Coelian Hill in Rome, led by their prior, Augustine, to serve in the first papal mission to convert the pagans. The band traveled as far as Provence, in Gaul; but, terrified by tales of the Anglo-Saxons and the dangers of crossing the English Channel, the monks persuaded Augustine to return to Rome and beg His Holiness to end their mission. Gregory knew, however, that the Saxon king Aethelbert was married to a Christian princess, Berthha. He told Augustine that he had no choice but to go on to England. They landed on the Isle of Thanet off the coast of Kent in late 596 and were warmly welcomed by the king and queen, who gave Augustine a house in Canterbury and permis-sion to preach. On Pentecost in 597, Augustine Baptized King Aethelbert.

Augustine traveled back to France almost immediately to receive consecr-ation as bishop of the English by St. Virgilius, metropolitan of Arles. Instead of establishing his see in London, Augustine chose Canterbury, the royal capital of Kent. He rebuilt an ancient church that served as the center of the cathedral and erected a monastery to SS. Peter and Paul outside the walls. The present cathedral, begun in 1070, stands on the original site. Augustine also establ-shed episcopal sees at London and Rochester and dedicated the first church in England to St. Pancras.

Gregory I gave Augustine very specific instructions regarding the convers-ion of the English. Pagan temples were not to be destroyed but instead clean-ed and consecrated for Christian worship. Local customs and festivals were to be retained, with substitutions of feast days for saints and martyrs whenever possible. Consequently, by 601 Augustine had converted many of the English people.

Converting the clergy to a unified liturgy proved a more difficult task. Unable to communicate effectively with the church in Rome, the British church had established its own patterns of worship and practice. Many also were unwilling to evangelize the to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons, whom they considered their enemies. A meeting failed miserably when Augustine supposedly failed to rise at the arrival of the British bishops. Deeming Augustine arrogant, the bishops would not accept him as metropolitan.

Discouraged and exhausted, Augustine died on May 26, 604 or 607. He was buried at the abbey of SS. Peter and Paul outside the Canterbury Cathedral. From then on, the monastery became known as St. Augustine's, and succeeding archbishops of the English Church were buried there. The archbishop of Canterbury remains the head of the Church of England and is described as occupying the "Chair of Augustine."

PRAYER

God, through the preaching of St. Augustine, Your Bishop. You led the English peoples to the Gospel. Grant that the fruits of his labor may perdure in Your Church with perennial fruitfulness. Amen.

Feast: May 27 (May 28 on some calendars; May 26 in England and

Wales)

Patronage: England

FURTHER READING

www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=25

Cahill, Thomas How the Irish Saved Civilization. New York: Nan Talese/

Doubleday, 1995

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TODAY'S SAINT (Edward Jones & Anthony Middleton)

2006-05-07T02:47:00.000-07:00

BLESSED GISELE

Widow

Blessed Gisele was given in marriage to St. Stephen of Hungary in 1008. She bore him a son, who went on to become St. Emeric, and fully supported him in his work of evangelization. After the death of her husband, Gisele retired to the Benedictine Abbey of Niederburg and spent her remaining time on earth in prayer and selfdenial.

PRAYER

God, You inspired Blessed Gisele to strive for

perfect charity and so attain Your Kingdom at

the end of her pilgrimage on earth. Strengthen

us through her interecession that we may adv-

ance rejoicing in the way of love. Amen.

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TODAY'S SAINT (George)

2006-04-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=280

GEORGE

(d. ca. 303)

Martyr, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers,

patron saint of many countries

St. George is considered to be one of the most illustrious martyrs in the Church, though most of what is known about him in various "Acts of St. George" is probably more legend than fact.

However, George was an historical figure. According to an account by Metaphrastes, he was born in Cappadocia (in modern Turkey) to a noble Christian family; his mother was palestinian. After his father died, he went to live in Palestine with his mother. George became a soldier and was promoted to high rank by Emperor Diocletian. But when Diocletian began persecutinng Christians, George went to him and protested. He was jailed and torturred at or near Lydda, also known as Diospolis. On the following day (Appril 23, probably the year 303), he was paraded through the streets and then beheaded. He was buried at Lydda.

George immedeiately became an important martyr in the churches of both East and West, and altars and churces were built in his honor. The early pilgrims of thhe sixth to eighth centuries knew of Lydda as the seat of his veneration. Some Acts of St. George were in existence by the end of the fifth century.

During the Middle Ages, George became a patron of arms and chivalry in Eengland, and the best-known image of George, as a dragon-slaying knight, was born. By the 11th century, his Acts had been translated into Anglo-Saxon, and churches were dedicated to him. He was invoked as a champion of the Crusadess. The arms of St. George, a red cross on a white backgrouund, were caried into battle, and by the 14th century were used as an insignia on the uniforms of English soldiers and sailors. The red cross was incorporated into the Union Jack. In 1347, King Edward III founded the chivalric Order of the Garter, of which George was the principal patron. Edmund Spenser wrote of George in his Faerie Queen as the "Red Cross Knight."

The Golden Legend, translated into Eenglish by William Caxton, Tells of St. George and the dragon, a story that probable dates to the 12th century. Amonstrous dragon lived in the swamp near Silena, Luybia, and terrorized the countryside by bringing pestilence with its breath. To placate it, the townsfold fed it two sheep every day. The dragon grew weary of sheep and started demanding human victims. Lots were drawn and no substitutes were allowed. One day the king's little daughter was marked as the next sacrifice. She was taken to the swamp. George came by, and when the dragon appeared he made the sign of the cross and stabbed it with his lance. He asked the maiden for her girdle and put it around the beast's neck. They led the dragon back to town. George exhorted the people to be baptized and have no fear; then he cut off the dragon's head. All the people were converted. George declined the king's offer of half his kingdom, saying he must ride on. He told the king to take care of the churches, honor the clergy and have pity on the poor.

Numerous religious and secular orders of St. George have existed throughout Europe and in Russia and England (despite the fact that the saint's cult was suppressed in Protestant England). As a holy Helper, he was invoked for the protection of domestic animals during the plague.

In art, George is most often depicted as a knight on a horse lancing a dragon, the medieval symbol of evil.

PRAYER

Lord, we acclaim Your might and humbly pray. Just as St. George

imitated the Lord's Passion, so let him now come to the aid of our

weakness. Amen.

Feast: April 23

Patronage: Boy Scouts; cavalry; farmers; soldiers; aragon; England; Genoa;

Germany; Portugal; Spain; Venice

FURTHER READING

Hammer, Fr. Bonaventure. The Fourteen Holy Helpers. Rockford, Ill.: TAN

Books; 1995.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Bendict Joseph Labre)

2006-04-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

BENEDICT JOSEPH LABRE

(1748-1783)

Pilgrim recluse known for his sanctity, austerity and miracles of intervention

Also know as: the "Beggar of Rome

Benedict Joseph Labre was born in Amettes, France, on March 25, 1748, the oldest of 18 children. At an early age he showed great interest in austeity and mortification. His uncle was a parish priest in Erin, France, and at age 12 Benedict went to study with him for six years. He earnestly desired a religious life, but his parents did not approve. After his uncle died in 1766 he renewed his efforts to join an order and his parents acquiesced. He was rejected by the Trappists. He spent a brief six weeks as postulant with the Carthusians. He received permission to enter the Cisterican abbey of Sept-Fonts, but after a short stay his health failed, and he left.

Benedict was inspirred to live like St. Alexis and be neither in a cloister nor in the wildeness, but simply be a pilgrim to the famouus shrines of Christen-dom. Thus, he set out through Europe in 1770. He had only the clothes on his back, a rosary, a crucifix, a Testament, breviary, a copy of the Imitation of Christ and a few other books. If he could not find food in the wild or was not given any, he rummaged through garbage heaps.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Isidore of Seville)

2006-04-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

ISIDORE OF SEVILLE

(ca. 560-363)

Archbishop of Seville, Doctor of the Church,

Father of the Church

Also known as: Isidore the Bishop; Schoolmaster

of the Middle Ages

The last of the great Latin Fathers, Isidore was born at Cartagena, Spain, about 560, into a noble Hispano-Rome family. His elder brother Leander, younger brother Fulgentius and sister Florentina also came to hold senior positions withhin the Christian Church.

Isidor received his elementary education in the cathedral school of Seville, the first of its kind in Spain. His brother Leander, then archbishop of Seville, was one of his teachers. As he matured, Isidore most likely assisted Leander in governing the archdiocese, because he succeeded him as archbbishop in 601.

As archbishop, Isidore devoted himself to strengthening the Spanish Church. He worked hard too turn the Visigoths away from the Arian heresy, rewriting liturgies and breviaries for their use. He convened councils at Seville in 613 and Toledo in 633. At the latter, attended by all the bishops of Spain, he was given precedence over the local archbishop on the basis of his exceptional merit as the greatest teacher in the country. Indeed, it was in the area of education that Isido made his greatest mark, earning him him sobriquet, "Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages." At the Toledo council, he introduced and saw passed a degree commanding all dioceses to establish cathedral schools along the lines of that school he himself had attended in Seville. He compiled a 20-volume encyclopedia of knowledge (containing information on everything that was known in seventh century Europe), a chronicle of events from the Creation to his own time, and history of the Goths and Vandals He completed and updated St. Jerome's biographies of the great men and women of the Bible. He also wrote books on theology, astronomy and geography, as well as new rules for monasteries.

As he felt his death approaching, he invited two bishops to visit him. On April 4, 636, they accompanied him to the church, where one covered him with a sackcloth while the other put ashes on his head. Thus dressed in the habit of a penitent, Isidore raised his hands to heaven and prayed for for-giveness. After receiving the viaticum, he asked for the prayers of those present, forgave those who had sinned against him, exhorted all to charity, bequeathed his earthly possessions to the poor and gave up his soul to God.

In art, IIsidore is depicted as an elderly bishop with a pen and a book, or with his encyclopedia. Sometimes he is shown with his brothers and sisters, SS. Leander, Fulgentius and Florentina. More rarely, he is a bishop standing near a beehive, or surrounded by bees--bees symbolizing oratorical eloquence.

PRAYER

Lord, hear our prayers, which we offer on the commemoration of St. Isidore. May Your Church be instructed by his teaching. Amen.

Canonized: 1598 by Pope Clement VIII

Declared Doctor of the Divinity of Christ: 1722 by

Pope Innocent XIII

Feast: April 4

Patronage: computer technicians; computer users;

computers; the Internet; savants; students

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TODAY'S SAINT (Mary of Egypt)

2006-04-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

MARY OF EGYPT

(d. fifth or sixth century)

Egyptian hermit

Much of the life of Mary of Egypt is legend. According to the Life of St. Cytracus by Cyril of Scythopolos, Cyrracus was traveling in the Jordanian desert with companions when he found a woman who said her name was Mary, and that she was a famous singer and actress who had sinned and was atoning for her sins by living as a heremit. On their way back, they found the woman dead. From this was spun a legend that became popular during the Middle Ages.

According to a version written by St. Andrew of Crete (d,. 740), who quotes St. Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem (ca. 560-638), an elder of a monastery in Palestine, Zosimus, went out into the Jordanian desert to fast and pray during Lent. After 20 days he came upon a naked woman witth long white hair. He gave her his cloak. She addressed him by name and told him her story.

The woman said she was from Egypt. She ran away from her parents at age 12 and went Alexandria, where she lead a life of sin and debauchery, seducing every man she could find. She rarely took money, and lived by begging and spinning flax. One day she encountered Libyans and Egyptians going to Jerus-alem and decided to go with them, though she had no money to pay for her passage across the sea. She paid her way with sexual favors, even forccing youths against their will.

In Jersualem, on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, she experienced a conversion before an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She heard a voice tell her that if she crossed the River Jordan she would find glorious rest. A stra-nger gave her money, with which she bought three loaves of bread. She was-hed in the river, crossed it and took up life as a hermit.

The three loaves of bread dried and lasted her several years. For 17 years she went through a dark night of the soul, fighting temptation and despair. She lived on herbs and whatever she could find. Another 30 went by before she was found by Zosimus.

Zosimus wanted to become he disciple, but she demurred. Instead, she asked him to bring her Communion on the next anniversarry of the Last Supper. He agreed, but told his story to no one. The following year, he returned to the desert with the body and blood, and a small amount of food. He waited by the banks of the river. Mary appeared and walked across the water. She took Communion, and told him to come again the next year, and to pray for her.

Zosimus returned again as requested, but found heer lying dead on the opposite shore of the river. She had written in the sand that he should bury her on the spot. He was having little success digging in the earth when a lion appeared and licked Mary's feet. It dug a hole, and Zosimus buried Mary in the cloak he had given her. Zosimus lived to age 100 and died in hhis monastery.

Various dates are given for Mary. Zosimus is said to have found her in 430. Her date of death also is given as 522.

Feast: April 3

FURTHER READING

"The Life of Our Holy Mother Mary of Egypt." From The Great Canon,

the Work of Saint Andrew of Creete.

URL: http://www.ofc.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/st.mary.html .

Downloaded September 24, 2000.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Francis of Paola)

2006-04-02T03:21:00.000-07:00

FRANCIS OF PAOLA

(ca. 1416-1507)

Founder of the Minim Friars

Also known as: "The Miracle Workers" and "God's Miracle Worker Supreme

St. Francis of Paola was born around 1416 in Paola, Italy, to a humble family. Childless for years, the parents had prayed earnestly to St. Francis of Assisi for a son. When Francis was conceived, tongues of fire were seen dancing harmmlessly over the family roof. At birth the boy was named after the saint. When he was 13, they sent him to the Franciscan friary at San Marco to be educated. The austere lifestyle appealed to Francis.

After a year, he took a pilgrimage with his parents to Assisi, Rome and other places. When they returned, Francis went into seclusion, first slightly outside Paola and then in a remote location in a cave by the sea. By 1436 he was joined by two companions. Neighbors built them cells and a chapel. A story is told that one day a goat rushed into Franccis's cave, seeking refuge from hunters. Francis took it as a sign from God that he was to leave his her-miitage and work for the Church.

Thus began Francis's order. The date of foundation is considered to be 1452. Seventeen years later a church and monastery were built, and Francis established a discipline for the order based on penance, charity and humility, and also on a perpetual Lent that required a strict vegetarian diet.

Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471-84) approved the new order in 1474. Initially, they were called the Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis had this changed in 1492 to the Minim Friars, as he desired that they be recognized as the least (minimi) in the household of God.

In 1481 the dying King Louis XI of France sent for Francis and asked him to heal him in exchange for assistance to his order. Francis replied that the lives of kings are in the hands of God. The two men shared numerous meetinngs, and Louis died in Francis's arms. His succeessor, Charles VIII, relied upon Francis for much advice. He built for Francis three monasteries: two in France at Plessias and Amboise, and one at Rome.

Francis remained in France for the last 25 years of his life. He became ill on Palm Sunday, 1507, and died the following Good Friday, at age 91.

Franccis was renowned as a miracle-worker. He was reported to bilocate, and was seen simultaneously in prayer in the chappel and out on the street talking to people, or working in the kitchens while he also attended the altar. He had the gift of miraculous transport, and took companions across water using his cloak for a boat. In 1483 he was observed by the king of Naples to levitate in an ecstasy and to be bathed in supernatural light in the middle of the night. The saint also levitated objects. Suring the building of his first church and monastery, he raised a large boulder that was in the way.

On numerous occasions, Franncis multiplied food and wine, sometimes for large crowds of several hundred. Though portions were small, each person felt fully satisfied.

Thrrroughouut his life, Francis was very popular and wads often mobbed by enthusiastic ccrowds when he ventured out in public.. He was said to make mimself invisiible whenever he wished to traveeel undetecccted, orr to quiet momeents ffor prayer and meditationn. He also had thfe giifttts of prophesy, clairrrvoyance, supernatural dnowledge and control of

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TODAY'S SAINT (Melito)

2006-04-01T17:07:00.000-08:00

MELITO

(d. ca. 180)
Bishop of Sardis, Father of the Church

Few facts are known about the life of Melito. He was regarded in his day as one of the leading authoities in the Eastern Church. St. Eusebius praised him, Teretullian wrote favorably of him and St. Jerome noted that he was a highly respected prophet. Melito taught the dual nature of Jesus. He became bishop of Sardis, died there and was buried there.

Almost all of Melito's works have been lost. Eusebius gave account of most of them, along with some extracts. Best known is his An Apology for the Christian Faith written for Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Feast: April 1

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TODAY'S SAINT (John Climacus)

2006-03-29T10:57:00.002-08:00

www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=3957

JOHN CLIMACUS

(ca. 570-ca. 6649)

Abbot of Sinai,mystic, Father of the Church

Also known as: John the Scholastic, the Sinaita

Little is known about the detail of John Climacus's life, and the estimated dates of his life vary considerably. The prevailing view is that he was born in or shortly before 579 and died around 649. Some scholars have placed his life at ca. 525-600 or 605. Others have fixed his date of death as late as 670-680.

John was born in Syria sometime around 525, and had at least one brother, named George. At the time, Mouunt Sinai was famous for its hermits, and at age 16 John decided to witthdraw from the world and study under Abba Martyrius. He received his tonsure at age 19 or 20.

Soon thereafter Martyrius died, and John withdrew to a hermitage called Tholas at the foot of the mountain. There he lived in near isolation in a cave for about 20 years, studying the lives of the saints. He practiced stringent mortific-ations and austerities, reducing sleep to an absolute minimum. He received the grace of continuual prayer and the gift of tears, a sign of the presence of God and the purification of body and soul. His spiritual depth gained him recognition as a spiritual father among his fellow monks.

At some point during his stay at Tholas, John visited monks in Egypt, staying at a large monastery outside of Alexandria. He was impressed by the unity he witnessed there. He even spent time in "the Prison," a place about a mile from the monastery where erring monks were sent to do penance.

In 600 he was persuaded to become abbot of the central monastery at Sinai. On the day of his instalation, a larg group of 600 pilgrrims arived and had to be fed. During the meal, John saw what he described as "a man with short hair, dressed like a Jew in a white tunic, going round with an air of authority and giving orders to the cooks, cellarers, stewards and other servants." As soon as the meal was finished, the man mysteriously disappe-ared. John said the stranger was Mose, and his monks took this as a sign that they had found in him another Moses.

John attracted many disciples. Pope St. Gregory the Great (r. 590-604) wrote to him asking for his recommendation in prayers, and sent him money for the hospital at Sinai that took care of pilgrims. Toward the end of his years, he turned his responsibilities over to his brother, George, and retired again to solitude. He died at Mount Sinai, probably around 649.

John is best-known for his imporrtant work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, from which he later earned his surname. Klimakis is "ladder," and John Climacus means "John of the Ladder." He composed the book during his years as abbot.

The Ladder of Divine Ascent is composed in 30 chapters, intended to correspond to the age of Jesus at the time of his baptism by st. John the Baptism. The 30 chapters are 30 steps, or logoi, of the spiritual life. Each step describes a certain virtue or passion, and the path that can lead from it. The book offers no formulae, but instructs that "the life you have is hidden with Christ in God." The stages of the spiritual life set forth in the book are the break with the world; the practice of asceticism; the struggle against passions; the practice of simplicity, humility and discernment; and union with God.

The union with God is achieved through heyschia, an Eastern Orthodox method of mystical prayer in which one arrives at a deep interior peace and stillness "at the very center of the mysteries" through the constant remembr-ance of God. Hesychast prayer featured breathing techniques and constant repetition of a prayer, especially the "Jesus Prayer"; "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me."

Other ways to achieve union with God are apatheia or detachment, in which the soul stretches out toward God; and charity.

Ladder became one of the most important texts in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Through his years of intense study, John was able to synthesize the traditional teachings of the Fathers of the Churrch, including the Desert Fathers. It was written at a significant time of transition. Arab invaders were destroying the monasteries of Egypt and Palestine, and monasticism withdrew to Mounnt Athos. John's work served as a significant bridge.

Because of his stature, John is celebrated in feasts twice a year in the Eastern church. His book continues to inspire monastics and people interested in the spiritual life. The Trappist monk Thomas Merton was inspired by it and wrote a review of it.

The monastery where John lived, first dedicated to Our Lord's Holy Trans-figuration, is now dedicated to St. Catherine.

PRAYER

Lord, amid the things of this world, let us be wholeheartedly committed to heavenly things in imitation of the example of evangelical perfection You have given us in St. John the Abbot. Amen.

Feast: March 30 and the fouth Sunday of the Great Lent

FURTHER READING

Climacus, John. The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Mahwah, N.J.:

Paulist Press, 1982.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Joseph of Arimathea)

2006-03-29T10:57:00.001-08:00

www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4081

JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA

Joseph of Aarimathea was a just and devout man who was looking for the Kingdom of God. Although during our Lord's public life he was afraid to show himself openly as His disciple, after the crucifixion he had the courage to seek out Pilate and ask for the Body of Jesus.Aided by Nicodemus, he took the the Body of the Savior frrom the Cross, bound it up in wrappings of cloth with with perfumed oil, and laid it in his own new tomb which had been hewn from a formation of rocck (Jn. 19, 38-42).

PRAYER

God, You alone are holy and without You no one is good. Through the interces-sion of St. Joseph, grant that we may so live as not to be deprived of Your glory. Amen.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Sixtus III)

2006-03-29T10:57:00.000-08:00

SIXTUS III

(d. 440)

Pope

Also known as: Xystus III

Not much is known about Sixtus III. He was prominent in the Roman church when he was elevated to the Chair of St. Peter, succeeding St. Celestine I (r. 422- 432) on July 31, 432.

Sixtus III was falsely accused of sympathy toward Nestorianism and Pela-gianism, against both of wich heresies he acted. He also defended the pope's right of supremacy over the ecclesiastical province of Iyricumm against Proclus of Constantinople.

In Rome, he restored the basilica of Liberius (now St. Mary Major) and enlarged the basilica of St. Lawrence-Outside-the-Walls. He received precious gifts from Emperor Valentinian III for St. Peter's and the Lateran basilica.

Sixtus III died 440.

Feast: March 28

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TODAY'S SAINT (Rupert of Salzburg)

2006-03-26T14:34:00.000-08:00

RUPERT OF SALZBURG

Bishop

Rupert, a Frank by nationality, was Bishop of Worms until the last years of the 7th century (697) when he became a missionary to Regensburg in Bavaria. After converting and baptizing Duke Theodo, without whose permission nothing could take place in the territory, St. Rupert and his followers converted many of the nobles and encountered no serious opposition to their work of evangelization among the people.

Meeting with conspicuous success at Regensburg, the zealous Bishop went on to Altotting and then extended his activities over a wide area along the Danube--always with singular success. As his center, he took the old ruined town of Juvavum, which he renamed Salzburg, and rebuilt.

In addition to Christianizing the people and building churches and monasteries for them, this holy man also civilized his converts and promoted the development of the salt mines of Salzburg. He thus contribbbuted to the bodies and souls of his flock. The Lord called this devoted servant to his reward on Easter Sunday about the year 710.

PRRAYER

God, You built up Your Church by means of the religious zeal and apostolic care of St. Rupert. Grant by his intercession that she may ever experience a new increase of Faith and holiness. Amen.

Feast: March 27

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TODAY'S SAINT (Margaret Clitherow)

2006-03-26T04:09:00.000-08:00

MARGARET CLITHEROW

Martyr

Bless Margaret Clitherow was born at Middleton, England in 1555, of Protestant parents. Possessed of good looks and full of wit and merriment, she was a charminng personality. In 1571, she married John Clitherow, a well-to-do grazier and butcher (to whom she bore two children), and a few years later she entered the Catholic Church. Her zeal led he to harbor fugitive priests, for which she was arrested and imprissoned by the hostile authorities.

Recourse was had to every means in an attempt to make her deny her Faith, but the holy woman stood firm. Finally, she was condemned to be pressed to death on March 25, 1586. She was stretched out on the ground with a sharp rock on her back and crushed under a door overladen with unbearable weights. Her bones were broken and she died within fifteen minutes.

The humanity and holiness of this servant of God can be readily glimpsed in her words to a friend when she learned of her condemnation: "The sheriffs have said that I am going to die this coming Friday; and I feel the weakness of my flesh which is troubled at this news, but my spirit rejoices greatly. For the love of God, pray for me and ask all good people to do likewise."

PRAYER

God, by Your gift virtue is perfected in weakness. Grant to all who recall the glory of St. Margaret that she who obtained strength from You the grace to enable us to triumph. Amen.

Feast: March 26

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TODAY'S SAINT (Conrad of Pincenaz)

2006-02-19T02:26:00.000-08:00

CONRAD OF PIACENZA

Hermit

Born into the noble family of Piacenza, Italy, in 1290, St. Conrad married a noblemam's daughter in his youth. While on a hunting party, he had some brush set afire to flush a quarry; the fire spread and destrouyed an entire grain field and a neighboring forest.

Unable to put out the flames, Conrad and his men fled to the city, and an innocent peasant was aprehended, tortured, and condemned to death as the perpetrator of the deed. When Conrad saw the doomed man on the way to being executed, he was horrified and publicly confessed his responsibility for the disaster. He and his wife sacrificed their wealth to make restitution.

This event inspired the two of them to enter religious life. Conrad, then twenty-five years old, joined a group of Third Order Franciscan hermits and his wife entered the Poor Clares. In quest of more solitude, Conrad retired to a hermitage in the Noto Valley near Syracuse, Sicily, where for the next thirty-six years he lived a life of prayer and severe penance, spending a great part of his time caring for the sick in a nearby hospital. He died in 1351.

PRAYER

Lord God, You alone are holy and no one is good without You.

Through the interecession of St Conrad help us to live in such a

way that we may not be deprived of a share in Your glory. Amen.

Feast: Febuary 19

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TODAY'S SAINT (John Bosco)

2006-01-31T01:22:00.000-08:00

JOHN BOSCO

(1815-1888)

Founder of the Society of St. Francis de Sales,

known as the Salesians

Name meaning: "God is gracious"

John Bosco, mentor to St. Dominic Savio, was renowned for his work with boys. He could well be called the "Dreaming Saint," for he used his frequent and vivid, lucid dreams not only for his own guidance but also as teaching tools to his young charges. At the request of Pope Pius IX (r. 1846-78), he kept detailed records of his dreams.

John Melchior Bosco was born in Becchi, Piedmont, to a peasant family. His father died when he was two, and he was raised by his mother. He had his first lucid dream when he was about nine years old, which left an impression on him for the rest of his life. In it he learned of his spiritual mission, which he never wavered.

In the dream, John was in a field with a crowd of children. They began currsing and misbehaving. Shocked, John jumped into their midst and shouted at them to stop. John wrote of his dream:

At that moment a Man appeared, nobly attired, with a manly and imposing bearing. He was clad with a white flowing mantle, and His face radiated such light that I could not lok directly at Him. He called me by name and told me to place myself as leader of those boys, adding these words:

"You will have to win these friends of yours not with blows but with gentleness and kindness. So begin right now to show them that sin is ugly and virtue beautiful."

Confused and afraid, I replied that I was only a boy and unable to talk to these youngster about religion. At that moment the fighting, shouting and cursing stopped, and the crowd of boys gathered around the Man who was talking. Almost unconsciously, I asked:

"But how can you orderr me to do something so impossible?"

"What seems so impossible you must achieve by being obedient and by acquiring knowledge."

The Man (perhaps Jesus), said he would give John a teacher. Then appeared a Lady (perhaps Mary) of majestic appearance, wearing a beautiful mantle, glowing as if bedecked with stars. The children all vanished and were replaced by wild animals. The Lady told John this was his field where he must work, and to make himself humble, steafast and strong. The animals the turned into gentle lambs. The Lady said to the confused John, "In due time everything will be clear to you."

John shared his dream with his family the next morning. His brothers laughed, and predicted that he would become a shepherd of animals or the leader of a gang of robbers. His mother said, "Who knows? Maybe you will become a priest." And his grandmother said, "You mustn't pay attention to dreams."

John was inclined to agree with his grandmother, but his lucid dreams only increased as he got older.

At age 16 he began studying for the priesthood and was ordained on June 5, 1841, at age 26. He was so poor that all of his clothes came from charity. He went to Turin and enrolled at the Convitto Ecclesiastico, a theological college that trained young priests for the pastoral life. There he began a Sunday catechism for poor boys, a sort of wandering oratory that changed locations several times in Turin. This proved to be quite successful, and soon John was taking in and housing destitute boys. In 1853 he opened workshops for tailors and shoemakers. He succceeded in constructing a church, placing it under the patronage of his favorite saint, Francis de Sales. By 1856 he had 150 resident boys, plus four workshops and some 500 children in the oratories. This effort became the Society of St. Francis de Sales in 1859, when John received permission to establish a religious congregation from Pope Pius IX.

In 1872 John established an order of women called Daughters of Our Lady, Help of Christians, which also grew rapidly.

John was adept at buiding churches, and raised funds for a large basilica in Turin, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. In Rome he undertook a project to build a church in honor of the Ssacred Heart. But funds were not forthcoming, so he went to France, where he was hailled as a miracle worker. The church was built and consecrated in 1887.

By then, John's health was failing due to overwork. He deteriorated and died on January 31, 1888. Forty thousand people came to see his body prior to burial.

Today the Salesians extend around the world.

John's unusual dream life attracted the interest of Pop Piux IX who instructed him to write his dreams down for the pope. More than 150 of john's unusual dreams were collected and recorded by his followers. Many of the dreams were prophetic and concerned his boys and the Salesian Order. Other dreams were pedagogical and still others were parables. These dreams were in harmony with his religious training and beliefs, couched in symbols of his religious life, and concerned the need to follow Catholic doctrine in order to attain salvation.

John's lucid dreams were quite long and involved much specific detail. Unlike most ordinary dreams, they were logical and followed a complete story line from beginning to end. He was usually accompanied by a guide figure, variously an angel, St. Francis de Sales, St. Dominic Savio, or a man he referred to as "the man with the cap." He would carry on long conversations with others in his dreams, which he was able to remember. The dreams seemed more like real experiences than dreams. His sensory impressions were so strong that sometimes he would clap his hands or touch himself in the dream to try to ascertain whether he was dreaming or was awake. This is a technique used today by lucid dreamers to verrify that their experience is real.

Sometimes physical phenomena followed him out of the dream and into waking consciousnes. He would awaken exhausted. In one dramatic dream where he was shown the horrors of hell, the putrid smell of evil remained after he awakened. This bleed-through between worlds is characteristic of shamanistic journeys, and belongs to Jung's "psychoid unconscious," a level in the unconscious that is not acessible to consciousness, but has properties in common with the physical world. Similarly, St. Jerome was beaten in a dream and awakeded bruised and sore.

John derived a great deal of guidance from his lucid dreams. He was intensely devoted to his young charges, and his prophetic dreams seem to have had the purpose of learning about certain boys' spiritual misconduct so that he could try to set them on the right course again. His dreams were uncannily accuurate in revealing the secrets of others, and also in matters concerning impending deaths.

John would recount his dreams in lectures to his young audience. He would sometimes say that "it was a dream in which one can know what one does; can hear what is said, can ask and answer questions."He cautioned his boys not to speak of his dreams in the outside community, for others would consider them fables. When peers and superiors questioned his dreams, he would gravely reply, "It was a great deal more than a dream." If he did not wish to answer probing questions, he said that he could remember so much detail "by means of Fotis Botis Pia Tutis." This was a meaningless phrase that served to deflect further questioning.

If not for the papal interest, John's dreams may have been lost to history. They remain interesting to researchers who study dreams and prophecy.

In addition to his unsual dreams and powers of prophecy and clairvoyance, John is credited with multiplying food--some nuts--for his boys, levitating during Mass, and influencing the weather, In 1864, John was invited to preach at the feast of the asumption in Montemagno, which was suffering a severe drought. He promised rain if the people would make good confessions, attend three nights of prayer and receive Communion, and if farmers would invoke the intercesion of Mary when in a state of grace. On the night of the feast, a great storm broke and pelted the town with rain.

John was protected by a mysterious dog who suddenly appeared whenever he was in danger. The dog looked like a large and ferocious Alsatian. John named it Grigio because it was gray in color. in the 1850's religious factions were opposed to his teachings and threatened him. Once someone even shot at him; the bullet passed under his arm, making a hole in the cassock but leaving his flesh untouched. John also was accosted as he walked about, especially in lonely places. Grigio would suddenly appear and attack anyone who assaulted him or seemed threatening. The dog would mysteriously disappear when he returned safely to his oratory. Grigio refused offers of food; however, others could see him and touch him. Grigio's vigilance lasted far longer than the typical lifespan of a dog. Some people suggested he was an angel in animal form.

John's scapular was found in rerfect condition when the saint's body was exhumed the first time. All other fabric in the coffin had deteriorated.

PRAYER

God of mercy, You called St. John Bosco to be a father

and teacher of the young. Grant that inspired by his

ardent charity we may serve You alone and never tire of

bringing others to Your Kingdom. Amen.

Canonized: 1934 by Pope Pius XI

Feast: January 31

Patronage: appretices; editors

FURTHER READING

Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco. Rockford, Ill.: TAN books and

Publishers, 1996.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Felix IV)

2006-01-30T13:43:00.000-08:00

FELIX IV

(d. 530)

Pope

Felix was a cardinal in Samnium when Pope St. John I (r. 523-526) died in prison in May 526. John I had been arrested by Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths and of Italy, who was threatened by John's appeal to members of the Eastern as well as Western Church. Theodoric put forward Felix as a candidate for the Chair of St. Peter, and the Roman clergy and laity acquiesced to his wishes. Felix was consecrated on July 12.

On August 30, Theodoric died. The throne passed to his grandson, Athalaric, cut because he was then a minor, the government was put in the hands of his mother, Theodoric's daughter, Amalasuntha. Fortunately, she was well disposed toward the Catholics. She allowed Felix the traditional privilege of judging clergy who were accused of misconduct and she gave him as gifts a pagan temple, which he had reconstructed as the church of SS. Cosmas and Damian. This church still exists; in its apse there is a large and magnificent mosaicexecuted on Felix's order.

In 529, Felix sent 25 pronouncements on grace annd free will to Caesarius of Arles, who presented them before the Synod of Orange. The synod accepted them as a confirmation of the teachings of St. Augustine and a condemation of simi-Pelagianism.

Felix grew increastingly concerned about the Roman Church. On the one hand, many believers supported the Goths, while on the other, many leaned toward Byzantium. When he fell fatally ill in September 530, in the hopes of keeping peace Felix gave his pallium to his archdeacon Boniface and let it be known that Boniface was to be his successor. However, in the papal elections that followed his death, his wishes were disregarded. Felix's relics rest in the porrtico of St.Basilica in the Vatican.

Feast: January 30

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TODAY'S SAINT (Gildas the Wise)

2006-01-29T12:54:00.000-08:00

GILDADS THE WISE

ABBOT

Born about 500 in the Valley ot the Clyde, St. Gildas is a very celebrated teacher and the first British historian. The facts of his life are rather uncertain. According to the earliest version we possess, he was forced to flee to Wales, where he married and, after his wife's death, became a pupil of St. Illtyd. arter spending some time in Ireland, he made a pilgrimage to Rome about 520 and founded a religious house at Ruys in Brittany on his way back, reaching Wales in 527. Later he visited Ruys and Ireland again and died at Ruys on January 29, 570, surrounded by his disciples.

St. Gildas wrote a famous history condemning British vice, which is the only history of the Celts. It covers the period from the coming of the Romans to Gildas' own time, but its purpose is more hortatory than strictly historical. Hence, it may have taken an exaggerated view of the evils of its times. St. Gildas also wrote some penitential canons.

PRAYER

Lord, amid the things of this world, let us be wholeheartedly

committed to heavenly things in imitation of the example of

evangelical perfection which You have given us in St. Gildas.

Amen.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Timothy)

2006-01-26T00:14:00.000-08:00

TIMTHY

(d. 97)
Disciple of St. Paul; Evangelist; by tradation, the first

bishop of Eptesus;martyr

Also known as: Timotheus

Timothy was born in Lystra, Lycaonia; his father was Greek, his mother Jewish. His mother, Eunice, her mother, Lois, and Timothy converted to Christianity during St. Paul's visit to Lycaoniaa. Because Timothy's mother was Jewish by birth, St. Paul allowed him to be circumcised to satisfy the Jews.

When Paul returned to Lystra seven years later, Timothy replaced St. Barnabas at the evangelist's side. When Jewish opposition forced Paul to leave Beroeea, Timothy remained behind to baptize, organize and confirm new Christian converts. Later he was sent to thessalonica to report on the status of Christianity there, and to support believers faced with persecution from Rome. His report served as the basis for Paul's First Letter to the earliest writing in the New Testment.

In A.D. 58, Timothy went with St. Erastus to Corinth. They then accompanied Paul into Tphesus and Asia Minor. It is likely that Timothy was with Paul when the latter was imprisoned in Caearea and in Rome. Timothy himself was imprisoned in Rome for a while.

Paul sent Timothy two epistles, one from Macedonia around A.D. 65, the other from Rome, during his third and last imprisonment, while he was awaiting his death. These letters instructed Timothy to correct false doctrine and to appoint bishops and deacons.

According to tradition, Timothy went to preach in Ephesus and established the Church there. After demouncing the Dionysian festical of Katagogia, the tradition continues, he was stoned and clubbed to death about the year 97. His relics are said to have been translated to Constantinople in 356, and cures at his shrine there were later mentioned by St. Jerome and St. John Chrysostom.

In art, Thimothy often is portryed as a bishop with a club and stone, or being stoned to death. He is also shown receiving an epistle from Paul.

Feast: January 26 (formerly 24 in the West); January 22 (in the East)

Patronage: against intestinal disorders; against stomach diseases

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TODAY'S SAINT (Fulgentius of Ruspe)

2006-01-01T00:12:00.000-08:00

FULGENTIUS OF RUSPE

(468-533)

Bishop of Ruspe, Father of the Church

Fabius Claudius Gordianus Fulgentius was born at Telepte (Thelepte), in the North African province of Byzacena, in 468. His Grandfather, Gordianus, had been a seator in Carthage who had been exiled to Italy by the Vandals; but the family still owned property and had status in the region. Fulgentius's father, Claudius, died soon after his birth, and he was brought up by his mother, Mariana. He was well educated and when he came of age help Mariana manage the family estate, Proving himself in his abilities, he was appointed procurater of Telepte and tax receiver of Byzacena.

However, he was drawn to the religious life. After practicing austerities privately for a time, he entered a local monstery when he was 22. There he became ill form excessive abstinence, but recovered. When renewed persecutions forced the abbot to flee, Fulgentius also left, going to another monastery, this run by a friend of his named Felix. Felix tried to abdicate in favor of Fulgentius, but the two finally agreed on a corule, Felix caring for the house while Fulgentius instructed the brethren.

Felix and Fulgentius rulled together for six years until in 499 they were forced to flee invading Numidians. They went to Sicca Veneria, where they were arrested on the demand of an Arian priest, Scourged, and tortured, but finally released when they refused to deny their faith. The two monks then split up, Fulgentius intending to visit the anchorites in the Egyptian desert, though he instead went to Rome where in 500 he visited the tombs of the Apostles. when he returned to Byzacena, he built his own monastery, though he chose to live apart as a hermit.

During this peiod, the Vandals did not allow orthodox Catholic bishops to be elected in Africa, and several sees fell vacant. Finally, in 508, the remaining North African bishops decided to get new bishops in place before the Vandals could stop them. Fearing he would be elected, Fulgentius went into hidinng. He returned when he thought all of the vacancies had been filled, but unfortunately for him landed at the seaport of Ruspe (now Kudiat Rosfa, Tunisia), where the election had been delayed. He was promptly elected and consecrated bishop of a town he had never before seen.

He quickly erected a new monastery, placing Felix in charge. However, it was not long before he and the 60 other new bishops were exiled to Sardinia. Fulgentius quickly emerged as spokesman of this community, and in Cagliari founded yet another monastery. There he began writing an important series of theological works addressing the Arian heresy, some of which came to the attention of the Vandal king Thrasimund. In 515, Thrasimund had Fulgentius taken to Carthage for discussions with the Arian clergy.

In Carthage, Fulgentius found a receptive audience among the city folk. His presence became a threat to the Aarians, who insisted that he be deported. He was put aboard ship one night but contrary winds keept it in port for the next several days and many were able to take his leave and to receive Holy Communion from his hands. To one weeping religious man, he prophesied his speedy return and the liberty of the african Church. This came with the death of Thrasimund in 523. Fulgentius returned to his monastery outside Ruspe, where he continued to rule for the remaining years of his life, insisting on austerity for himself and his priests.

Perhaps sensing his end was near, in 532 Fulgentius suddenly left Ruspe and retired to a small monastery he had caused to be built on the island of Circinia (Circe). His flock did not permit him to remain there long, however, and shortly after his return to Ruspe, he fell ill. He was sick for 70 days before expiring on January 1, 533. He was 65, and in the 25th year of his episcopate. So beloved was he for his gifts of oratory that he was buried within his church, contrary to the law and custom of his age.

Feast: January 1 (Foormerly January 3)

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TODAY'S SAINT (Sylvester I)

2005-12-31T00:10:00.000-08:00

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)

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TODAY'S SAINT (Anysius)

2005-12-30T00:23:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Thomas Becket)

2005-12-29T12:12:00.000-08:00

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

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THE HOLY INNOCENTS

2005-12-28T12:31:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (John the Divine)

2005-12-27T00:13:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Stephen)

2005-12-26T02:42:00.000-08:00

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

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CHRISTMAS DAY

2005-12-25T13:16:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Adele)

2005-12-24T00:38:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (John of Kanty)

2005-12-23T00:32:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (SS. Chaeremon and Ischyrion)

2005-12-22T00:36:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Peter Canisius)

2005-12-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

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

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

2005-12-20T00:19:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Anastasius I)

2005-12-19T00:18:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Gatian)

2005-12-18T00:44:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Olympias)

2005-12-17T00:54:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Adelaide)

2005-12-16T12:03:00.000-08:00

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.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Nino)

2005-12-15T12:50:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (John of the Cross)

2005-12-14T12:03:00.000-08:00

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.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Lucy of Syracuse)

2005-12-13T00:28:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Finian of Clonard)

2005-12-12T00:03:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (DAMASUS I)

2005-12-11T00:35:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Miltiades)

2005-12-10T00:06:00.000-08:00

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)

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TODAY'S SAINT (Gorgonia)

2005-12-09T00:11:00.000-08:00

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.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Eutychianus)

2005-12-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

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

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TODAY'S SAINT (Ambrose)

2005-12-07T00:36:00.000-08:00

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.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Nicholas)

2005-12-06T02:39:00.000-08:00

NICHOLAS

(d. ca. 345-352)

Bishop of Myra; identified with Santa Claus

Also known as: Nicholas of Myra, Nicholas of Bari

The only certainty aboutt Nicholas's life is that he lived in the fourth century and was bishop of Myra in Lycia. legends grew up around him, making him one of the most popular saints in both Western and Eastern churches. Tradittion holds that he was born in Parara, Asia minor, and went to Egypt and Palestine on pillgrimages when young. After he became bishop of Myra, he was jailed during the doilcletian presecutions, and was released after Constantine the Great became emperor in 324. Nicholas died sometime bettween 345 and 352 and was buried in Myra. Saracens took Myra in 1034, and several Italian cities competed for securing the saint's relics. On May 9, 1087, they were trannslated to Bari and enshrined. Immediately many miracles of healing were reported.

While still in Myra, Nicholas's bones were discovered to exude an oil or manna. According to an anonymous 13th-century account of the translation to Bari, a considerable quantity of this oil was found with the relics. The oil has been observed to exude from the pores of the bone and to collect and drip. It is collected in ampules.

The oil hhas stopped four times: in 887, when a legitimate successor to Nicholas was expelled from office; in 1086, the year before the relics were moved; from 1916 to 1917, during World War I; and from 1953 to 1957, when the basilica was being restored. It started again when the relics were restored to the basilica, then stopped and then resumed on April 10, 1961.

The oil has been examined scientifically, and has been determined not to come from water or humidity.

Nicholas became the progenitor of Santa Claus, perhaps from the legend about his generosity in gift-giving. Tradition holds that he secretly provided the dowries of three young women by throwing bags of gold through their father's open window (another version says that he saved three young women from prostitution by throwing bags of gold through their windows). Much later, Nicholas became identified with Father Christmas and Santa Claus. Gift-giving on his feast day, December 6, is still a tradition is some countries.

PRAYER

We call upon Your mercy, O Lord. Through the intercession

of St. Nicholas, keep us safe amid all dangers so that we may

go forward without hindrance on the road of salvation. Amen.

Feast: December 6

Patronage: Bakers; boys; brewerrs; brides; children; coopers;

dockwworkers; mariners; merchants; pawnbrokers; spin-

sters; travelers; Greece: Russia; Naples; Sicily; Loraine,

France; the diocese of Liege; Campen, Netherlands; corfu,

Greece; Freiburg, Switzerland; Moscow, Russia; and many

other cities in Italy, Germany, Austria and Belgium

FURTHER READING

Anonymous. The Translation of St. Nicholas. Tr. J. M. McGinley

and H. Mursurillo.

URL: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/nicholas-bari.html

Downloaded; September 10, 2000.

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TODAY'S SAINT (Crispina)

2005-12-05T00:42:00.000-08:00

CRISPINA

(d. ca. 304)

Noblewoman and martyr, acclaimed by St.Augustine

Born in Thagara to a noble family, Crispina was raised as a Christian. During persecutions she was arrested and brought before the proconsul Anulinus. She refused to renounce her faith when threatened with punishment. Anulinus had here head shaved (asign of degradation) and told her she would be executed if she did not deny her faith. Crispina replied that she cared not for this life. She was beheaded on December 5 in about 304.

In his sermons, Augustine held Crispina as a model for Christians: she could have lived a life of luxury and ease, but chose eternal glory.

Feast: December 5

FURTHER READING

St. Alphonsus Liguor. Victories of the Martyrs. Brooklyn:

Redemptorist Fathers, 1954.

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TODAY'S SAINT (John Damascene)

2005-12-04T00:03:00.000-08:00

John Damascene

(ca. 676-754 to 787)

Patriarch of Jerusalem, last Eastern Father of the church,

Doctor of the Church, poet

Also known as: John of Damascus; the Doctor of Christian Art

Only one account of the life of John Damascene exists. It was written by John of Jeusalem about 200 years after the death of the saint, and contains both fact and legend.

John was born about 676 in Damascus to a wealthy family. His father, a Christian, enjoyed high rank in judicial offices serving the Muslim caliph. When John was 22, his father searched for a suitable tutor for him. He happened upon a learned monk named Cosmas, who had been captured by Saracen pirates and was being sold as a slave. The father either bought Cosmas or begged his life, and gave him his freedom and set him up as tutor. When the schooling was finished, Cosmas retired to the monastery of St. Sabas and then became the bishop of majuma.

When John's father died, he reluctantly took his position. He resighed in 719 and became a monk at the monastery of St. Sabas near Jerusalem.

John became involved in the Iconoclast heresy over the veneration of religious images, a well-established practice in the Eastern Church. In 726 Emperor Leo III prohibited the veneration of religious images. Around 730, John wrote his famous defense of the use of icons, On Holy Images. The fact that he lived in Muslim teritory gave him a freedom of expression that he might not have had otherwise. Legend has it that the irate emperor forged a letter, purportedly from John to him, offering to betray the city of Damascus, and had it sent to the caliph. The caliph ordered John's hand to be cut off in punishment. John prayed to the blesed Virgin Mary that his hand might be restored. He fell asleep by her image, and when he awwoke his hand had been miraculously restored. The caliph sought to reinstate him, but John went to the monastery of St.Sabas instead. The story, however, is indeed legend, for John was already at the monastery, and not in the service of the caliph, at the time he wrote the treatise.

At the monastery, John spent his time writing and in prayer. He wrote more than 150 works on philosophy, religious education, theology and hagiographies. His friends called him Chrysoorhoas ("golden stream") for his oratorical gifts. His legacy is noted not so much for original theology as for his ability to compile the works of others in encyclopedic fashion.

His most famous work is The Fountain of Wisdom, which is divided into three parts: "Philosophical Chapters," "Concerening Heresy" and "An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith." The book was the first summary of connected theological opinions and basic truths of the faith, drawing on such eminent theologians as SS. Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Basil the Great, Cyril of Alexandria, Leo the Great, Athanasius, John Chrysostom and Epiphanius. It became a standard work for the Scholastics, among them the great St. Thomas Aquinas.

John also wrote numerous sermons and treatises, including a defense of the Blessed Virgin Mary's title as Theotokos ("God-beater"), and three great hymns or canons on Easter, the Ascension and St. Thomas's Sunday.

John's defense of icons earned him the undying hatred of the Iconoclasts, who anathematized him posthumously at a pseudo-synod of Constantinople in 754. This was rectified in 787 by the Sevnth Geneal Council of Nicaea. The Iconoclastic controversy finally ended in 843 when Empress Theodora restored the use of icons.

An Arabic romance, Barlaam and Josaphat, popular in the Middle Ages, is sometimes attributed to John, but it is doubtful that he authored it.

Declared Doctor of the Church: 1890 by Popfe Leo XIII

Feast: December 4

FURTHER READING

"Saint John of Damascus."

URL: http://www.balamand.edu.lb/theology/WritingsSJD.htm

Downllooaded: October 1, 2000

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TODAY'S SAINT (Bibiana)

2005-12-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

BIBIANA

Virgin and Martyr

Other than the name nothing is known for certain about this saint. However, we have the following account from a later tradition.

In the year 363, Julian the Apostate made Apronianus Goveernor of Rome. St. Bibiana suffered in the persecution started by him. She was the Daughter of Christians, Flavian, a Roman knight, and Dafrosa, his wife. Flavian was tortured and sent into exile, where he died of his wounds. Dafrosa was beheaded, and their two daughters, Bibiana and Demetria, were stripped of their possessions and left to suffer poverty. However, they remained in their house, spending their time in fasting and prayer.

Apronianus, seeing that hunger and want had no effect upon them, summoned them. Demetria, afte confessing her Faith, fell dead at the feet of the tyrant. St. Bibiana was reserved for greater sufferings. She was placed in the hands of a wicked woman called Rufina, who in vain endeavored to seduce her. She used blows as well as persuasion, but the Christian virgin remained faithful.

Inraged at the constancy of this saintly Virgin, apronianus ordered her to be tied to a pillar and beated with scourges, laden with lead plummets, until she expired. The saint endured her torments with joy, and died under the blows inflicted by the hands of the executioner.

PRAYER

Lord God, You showered heavenly gifts on St. Bibiana. Help us

to imitate her virtues during our earthly life and enjoy eternal

happiness with her in heaven. Amen.

Feast: December 2

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TODAY'S SAINT (Florence)

2005-12-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

FLORENCE

Laywoman

St. Florence was the daughter of a Roman colonist who was residing in Asia Minor on the road that led from Frigia to Seleucia. St. Hilary of Poitiers met here during a stop on his journey toward Seleucia where the Synod of 359 was to be held. Florence requested Baptism from the holy Bishop and followed him on his return to Poitou the next year.

She then retired to Commble, Vienne, France, where she led the life of a hermit. She communed with God day and night, practicing much penance and combating the assaults of the devil. Finally worn out by her labors, she died in 366 at twentynine years of age. Her relics were transfered to the Cathedral of Poitieres in the 11th century.

PRAYER

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

attain Your Kingdom at the end of her pilgrrrimage on earth. Str-

engthen us through her intercession that we may advance rejoic-

ing in the way of love. Amen.

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TODAY'S SAINTS (Andrew the Apostle)

2005-11-30T01:12:00.000-08:00

ANDREW THE APOSTLE

(d. 60)

One of Jesus' Twelve Disciples or Apostles

Name meaning: Strong, manly, valorous

Also known as: Andreas; Endres

Andrew was born at Bethsaida on Lake Genesareth (the Sea of Galilee). He was the brother of St. Peter and in adulthood lived with him in a house at Capharnaum, on Lake Genesareth. The brothers were prosperous fisherman. They were also followers of St. John the Baptist, through whom they came into contact with Jesus. Andrew was the first to meet Jesus; immediately recognizing him as the Christ, he introduced him to Peter. They followed Jesus on an evangelizing tour and later were called by him to be among his twelve regular disciplis or apostles.

Not much is known about Andrew's subsequent career. Together with St. Philip, he presented the Gentiles to Christ (as described in John 12: 20-22). When as a result of the persecutions of Herod Agrippa I (r. 24-44) the apostles were forced to flee Galilee, Andrew is believed to have preached in many regions. By tradition, he spent some time in Byzantium, where he appointed St. Stachys as the First bishop. There is another unfounded tradition that he preached in Russia, reaching as far as Kiev in the Ukraine, whence the conversion of the Slavs spread in the 11th century.

The exact whereabouts and circumstances of Andrew's death are not known. According to a early account now know to be a forgery intended to counter Rome's claim to the relics of SS. Peter and Paul, Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross (today called a St. Andrew's Cross) at Patras (Patrae) in Achaia. This tradition has it that the Roman governor, Aegeas or Aegates, had him tied rather than nailed to the cross to extend his suffering, but that he used the opportunity to preach to all who came to view his execution. In any event, his martyrdom came during the reign of Nero, perhaps on November 30, A.D. 60.

Andrew's relics were translated to Constantinople, where they were deposited in the Church of the Apostles, about the year 357. Tradition has it that some were conveyed to Scotland in the fourth century, in response to a dream of St. Rule (Regulus) in which he was guided by an angel to a place called St. Andrew's where he built a church to house the relics. Rule became the first bishop of St. Andrews and spent the next three decades evangelizing the Scots. When the French Lombards took Constantinople at the start of the 13th century, Cardinal Peter of Capua carried the remaining relics to Italy and placed them in the cathedral of Amalfi, where most are to be found today. Andrew's head, however, was returned to Constantinople by Pope Paul VI (r. 1963-78).

Andrew's feast has been universal in the West since the sixth century.

Andrew is represented as an old man with a book and an x-shaped cross; a man bound to a cross; a man sitting in a boat; a preacher holding some fish. His symbols include a fishing net, an x-shaped cross (saltire) and fish. In the oldest images, he is depicted with a normal Latin cross. The saltire became associated with Andrew beginning in the 10th century, becoming common only in the 14th.

PRAYER

Lord, You raised up St. Andrew, Your Apostle, to preach and rule

in Your Church. Grant that we may allways expereience the bene-

fit of his intercession with You. Amen.

Feast: November 30

Patronage: anglers; fisshmongers; fishermen; against gout; maidens;

old maids; singers; against sore throats; spinsters; against stiff-

neck; unmarried women; women who wish to become mothers;

Achaia; Amalfi, Italy; Avranches; brabant; Brunswick; burgundy;

Greece; Holstein; Luxembourg; Minden; Patras, Greece; Pesaro;

Russia; Scotland; University of Patras

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TODAY'S SAINT (Saturninus)

2005-11-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

SATURNINUS

Bishop and Martyr

The life of St. Saturninus is shrouded in mystery. However, a late tradition says that he was sent from Rome to Gaul by Pope Fabian, about the year 245, to preach the Faith to the people of that country. In the year 250, during the consulate of Decius and Gratus, he fixed his See at Toulouse, and converted a number of idolaters by his preaching and miracles.

One day, as he was passing the principal temple in the city, the priests seized him and dragged him into it, declaring that he should either appease the offended deities by offering sacrifices to them or die. On his positive refusal, they abused him and finally tied his feet to a wild bull which had been brought there for sacrifice. They then drove the beast from the temple and the martyr was dragged after it. He soon expired, but his body was literally torn to pieces. This probably happened under Valerian, in 257.

PRAYER

God, You gave splendor to Your Church by ganting St. Saturninus

the victor of martyrdom. Grannt that, as he imitated the Lord's Pas-

sion, so we may follow in his footsteps and attain everlasting joys.

Amen.

Feast: November 29

Patron of Toulouse

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TODAY'S SAINT (James of the March)

2005-11-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

JAMES OF THE MARCH

Priest

James Gangala was born in 1391 in the March of Ancona, Italy, and was therefore surname "of the March." Though of humble origin he was able to attend the University of Perugia and won the laurels of Doctor of Laws. However, after a short stint at teaching, he renounced the world to become a Franciscan friar. He was ordained and for fifty years preached the Faith to thousands in season and out of season. Together with St. John of Capistrano heretical sects known as the Fraticelli, and helped reconcile the moderate Hussites to the Church at the Council of Basle.

Everywhere he went James stood as a luminous figure of sanctity and the Fanciscan apostolate. Such was the fervor and power of his preaching that he is said to have converted fifty thousand heretics and countles sinners, including thirty-six harlots through a single sermon on St. Mary Magdalene. He traveled all over Europe as the Ambassador of Popes and rulers, sleeping little and praying much.

His love for the poor led him to establish pawnshops where they might borrow money at low rates, a work which was made very popular by his protege, St. Bernardine of Feltre. Despite a vigorous life schedule, rigorous penances, and never-ending activity, St. James died at the age of eighty-five on November 28, 1476.

PRAYER

God, You made St. James an illustrious preeacher of the Gospel

to save souls and to bring back sinners from thfe mire of sin to

the pathway of virtue. Through his intercession may we be cle-

ansed from all sin and obtain eternal life. Amen.

Feast: November 28

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TODAY'S SAINT (Maximus)

2005-11-27T00:15:00.000-08:00

MAXIMUS

Bishop

St. Maximus was born in Provence, France. From his earliest years he gave evidence of more than ordinary virtue. After living a ssintly life in the world for some years, he finally retired to the famous monastery of Lerins, where he was kindly receiveed by St. Honoratus, by whom it was governed. When the latter had become Archbishop of Aries in 426, St Maximus was chosen second abbot of Lerins.

The reputation of his sactity drew crowds to the island; the monastery prospered under his benevolent administration. He had governed it about seven years when the See of Riez in Provence became vacant. Finding that he was wanted to fill it, he fled to the coadt of Italy; buy he was overtaken, brought back, and forced to accept the new dignity. In this position, he continued to wear a hair shirt and to observe the monastic rule insofar as his duties allowed.

He assisted at the Council of Riez in 439, the first held on Orange in 441, and at that of Arles in 454. He died before the year 462.

PRAYER

Almighty and ever-living God, You willed to make Bishop

St. Maximus rule over Your people. Grant by his interceding

merits that we may receive the grace of Your mercy. Amen.

Feast: November 27

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TODAY'S SAINT (Conrad)

2005-11-26T00:14:00.000-08:00

CONRAD

(d. 975)

Bishop and companion of Emperor Otto I

Also known as: Conrad of Constance

Conrad was born into the famous Guelph family and was the son of Count Henry of Altdorf. He was educated at the cathedral school of Constance, Switerland, and was ordained. In 934 he was made provost of the cathedral and was elected bishop of Constance , a post he held for 42 years. He avoided all secular matters.

Conrad gave all of his wealth to the Church and to the poor, built three grand churches and renovated many more in his see. In 862 he accompanied Emperor Otto I to Italy. He also is said to have take three pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

According to lore, Conrad was saying mass one Easter when a large spider dropped into the chalice. It was commonly believed at the time that most spiders were poisonous, but the plucky saint wallowed the spider, anyway, and suffered no harm.

Conrad is best known for his grand vision, experienced in 948 when he was asked to dedicate the Chapel of Our Lady of the Hermits at Einsiedeln, Switzerland, the spot where the murdered St. Meinrad once had his hermit's hut and Chapel. Conrad arrived in the Dark. Wood on September 13 with a party of knights, princes and the bishop of Augsburg. Near midnight, he and several others went into the chapel to pray. Conrad prayed to Mary to accept the shrine and help it to become a place of pilgrimage.

At midnight, Conrad aand the others heard a beautiful chanting. The chapel was filled with dazzling light, and the altar was illuminated. A procession of angels came down from heaven, led by michael the Archangel. Some of the angels sang and others swung censers. Then came St. Peter with a crozier, and the apostles SS. Mark, Luke, Matthew and John, followed by three of the greatest Doctors of the Church, SS. Ambrose, Augustine and Gregory the Great. Then came the martyred SS. Lawrence and Stephen, and finally Jesus Christ, clothed magnificently as high priest. Mary, attended by angels, installed herself over the altar. Jesus conducted Mass in minute detail and dedicated the chapel to his mother. The vision lasted for more than an hour. Conrad remained in ecstatic meditation for hours.

The next day, Conrad proclaimed to the crowd gathered that God had already dedicated the chapel, but he was pressed to continue with the service by others who did not believe his story. As he began, a booming voice heard by everyone said three times, "Stop! Stop, Brother. The chapel has been divinely consecrated."

In 864, Pope Leo VIII (r. 963-964) issued a bull confirming the miraculous dedication.

The Chapel of Our Lady of the Hermits is one of the most poular pilgrimage sites in Europe, attracting up to 200,000 people a year; many mirracles are reported there. A basilica and monastery were built in the first part of the 18th century.

In art Conrad usually is represented with a chalice and a spider.

Canonized: 1123 by Pope Callistus II

Feast: November 26

Patronage: hernia sufferers

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TODAY'S SAINT (Catherine Laboure)

2005-11-25T00:49:00.000-08:00

CATHERINE LABOURE

Vigin

St. Catherine Laboure was born on May 2, 1806. At an early age she entered the community of the Daughters of Charity, in Paris, France. There times in 1830 the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Catherine Laboure, who then was a 24-year-old movice.

On July 18, the first apparition occurred in the community's motherhouse. St. Catherine beheld a lady seated on the left side of the sanctuary. When St. Catherine approached her, the heavenly visitor told her how to act in time of trial and pointed to the altar as the source of all consolation. Promising to entrust St. Catherine with a mission which would cause her great suffering, the lady also predicted the anticlerical revolt which occurred at Paris in 1870.

On Immacuuulate Conception, Now universalluyy known as "Thfe Maraculous Medal." She commissioned St. Catherine to havve one made, and to spread devotion to theis medal.

At that time, only her spirituaal director, Father Aladel, knew of the apparitions. Forty-five years oater, St. Cathereine spoke fully of the apparritions to one of her superiors. She died on December 31, 1876, and was canonized on July 27, 1947.

PRAYER

O Lord Jesus Christ, You were pleased to gladden the holy

Virgin Catherine by the wonderful apparition of Your Imm-

aculate Mother. Grant that we may follow the example of

the same saint in honoring Your most holy Mother with

filial devotion and obtain the joy of eterenal life. Amen

Feast: November 25

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TODAY'S SAINTS (Flora and Mary)

2005-11-24T00:32:00.000-08:00

FLORA AND MARY

Virgins and Martyrs

The daughter of a Mohammedan father, St. Flora was secretly instructed in the Christian Faith by her mother during the rule of the Moors in 9th century Spain. She was brought to the attention of the authorities by her Mohammedan brother, brutally tortured, and then returned to her brother so that her resolution in the Faith might be broken. However, she escaped and hid with one of her sisters for some time.

Such was the steadfastness of her Faith that she then returned to Cordova and prayed publicly in the Church of St. Acisclus the Martyr. Here she made the acquaintance of Mary, whose deacon-brother had just been martyred. They decided to give themselves up to the authorities and were imprisoned with some loose women.

St. Eulogius, who was himself in another prison, wrote to exhort them to martyrdoom and to bolster their Faith and courage. In 851, Sts. Flora and Mary were beheaded together for their heavently Spouse after pledging to intercede for the release of St. Eulogius and the other imprisoned Christians. One week after the death of these heroic girls, all were set free.

PRAYER

Lord God, You showered heavenly gifts on Sts. Flora and

Mary. Help us to imitate virtues during our earthly life and

enjoy happiness with hher in heaven. Amen.

Feast: November 24

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TODAY'S SAINT (Clement I)

2005-11-23T23:28:00.000-08:00

CLEMENT I

(d. 99)

Pope and martyr

Also known as: Clemens Romanus

The identity of Clement is uncertain, though prrobably he was a freedman or the soon of a freedman of Emperor Nero's household. It is also possible that he was of Jewish descent. He is said to have been bapitzed--and ordained a priest--by St. Peter and is accepted by most authorities as the Fourth pope, following SS. Peter, Linus and Anaclitus.

Clement is best known from an apostolic letter he wrote to the Church of Corinth when it faced an internal crisis. The letter is important not only as a homily on Christian life, but also for the example it gives of the bishop of Rome intervening authoritatively in the affairs of another apostolic church. On the basis of this letter, Clement is considered the first of the Apostolic Fathers.

It appears that Clement may have been forced into exile from Rome, thus ending his reign. Tradition has it that he converted Theodora, wife of Sisinnius, a courtier of Nerva, and then--after miracles--Sisinnius himself, together with 423 other persons of rank. Emperor Trajan then banished him to the Crimea, where he was made to work in the quarries. The nearrest dinking water was six miles away, but--assisted by a miracle--Celement discovered a spring close by. Soon he had brought in so many new converts that 75 churches were needed to serve them. His success so enraged Trajan that he orded him thrown into the Black Sea with an iron anchor around his neck. Angels came and built him a tomb under the water, but every year, the tide receded far enough to reveal it.

This acount is no older than the Fourth century, and there is no way of knowing how much of the truth it represents. About 868, St. Cyril, in the Crimea, dug up some bones and an anchor from a burial mound said to be Clement's, and carried them to Rome. The relics were deposited by Pope Adrian (r. 867-872) with those of St. Ignatius of Antioch in the high altar of the basilica of St. Clemens Church. However, they may or may not be Clement's in fact.

In art, Clement is represented as a pope with an anchor and fish. Sometimes he is shown lying in a temple in the sea. He may also be shown with a millstone; keys; a fountain that has sprung forth at his prayers; or a book.

Feast: November 23

Patronage: Guild, Fraternity, and Brotherhood of the

Most Glorious and Undivided Trinity of London

(responsible for lighthouses and lightships); mar-

ble workers

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TODAY'S SAINT (Cecilia)

2005-11-22T00:06:00.000-08:00

CECILIA

(second century?)

Roman virgin and marytr

The story of Cecilia, a popular saint, is thought to be fiction built upon fact. Cecilia is said to have been born in Rome to a patrician family and was brought up Christian. Dates of her life vary; by some accounts, she is believed to have lived in the seconnd century and died about 177, and by other accounts she lived in the third century.

She decided at a young age that she would remain a virgin for the love of God. Her father, however, pledged her to marry a young patrician man named Valerian. On the day of her marriage, Cecila wore sackclloth next to here skin, fasted, and invoked the saints and angels to help her guard her virginity. She told her husband, "I have a secret to tell you. You must know that I have an angel of God watching over me. If you touch me in the way of marriage he will be angry and you will suffer; but if you respect my maidenhood he'll love you as he loves me." Valerian said, "Show me this angel. If he be of God, I will refrain as you wish." Cecilia answered, "If you believe in the living and one true God and receive the water of baptism, then you shall see the angel." Valerian agreed.

Cecilia sent him to Urban (destined to be pope from 223 to 230), who baptized him. When he returned, he found Cecilia praying in her chamber. Standing beside her was an angel with flaming wings, holding two crowns of roses and liles. The angel placed the crowns on their heads and vanished. Shortly after, Tibertius, the brother of Valerian, entered the chamber and marveled at the fragrance and beauty of the flowers at that season of the year. He also consented to be baptized.

Valerian and Tibertius devoted themselves to burying the martyrs slain daily by the prefect of the city, Turcius Almachius. [Note: There is no record of a prefect by that name.] They were arrested and brought before the prefect, and when they refused to sacrifice to the gods they were beheaded. Dying with them was a man named Maximus, who declared himself a Christian after witnessing their courage.

Cecilia was called upon to renounce her faith. Instead she began preaching and converting others. She summoned 400 persons to her home, where Urban baptized them all. Cecilia was arrested and was condemned to be suffocated in the bathroom of her own house. She was shut in for a night and a day. The furnace was stoked with seven times the amount of normal fuel, but Cecilia was not harmed. When Almachius heard this he sent a soldier to cut off her head in the bath. The man struck three times without being able to sever her head. He left her bleeding. Cecilia lived three days. Crowds came and collected her bloood with napkins and sponges while she preached to them or prayed. After she died, she was buried by Urban and his deacons in the catacomb of St. callistus.

Pope Paschal I (r. 817-824) wished to transfer the saint's body to a place of honor but could not locate it. In a dream, she told him where to find it. He translated the relics, along with the bones of Valerian, Tibertius and Maximus, to the Church of St. Cecilia, an old and decayed church dedicated to the saint, and believed to be built on the site of her family home. He founded a monastery in their honor.

In 1599 Cardinal Paul Emilius Sfondrati, nephew of Pope Gregory XIV (r. 1590-91), rebuilt the church of St. Cecilia. The sarcophagus of Cecilia was opened and her body and colthing were found intact. The cypress casket was put on display for a month until November 22, the feast of Cecilia. A sweet fragrance issued from it. The relic was then placed in a silver coffin and interred behind the main altar.

The story of Cecilia may have arisen along with other stories that glorified virginity and were popular at the time. A Greek religious romance on the "Loves of Cecilia and Valerian" appeared in the fourth century, apparently intended to replace more sensual romances. The Roman calendar of the fourth century, and the Carthaginian calendar of the fifth century make no mention of Cecilia, which surely would have been the case had her story been true.

Additionally, Christians were not persecuted and condemned by Emperor Alexander Severus, who reigned when urban was pope, though it is possible some may have suffered. As for the prefect, Urbanus served in that capacity during the time of Pope Urban. Other versions of the story of Cecilia say events took place under the reigns of the emperors Commodus or Marcus.

Reportedely a church was dedicated to Cecilia in Rome in the fifth century, in which Pope Symmachus (r. 498-514) held a counccil in 500. But Symmachus held no council in that year, and subsequent councils were held elsewhere. Cecilia does not appear to have been known or venerated in Rome until about the time when pope St. Gelasius (r. 492-496) Introduced her name into his Sacramentary. Her name was entered into the Eucharistic prayer.

Cecilia is regarded as the patron of music because on the day of her marriage she heard heavenly music and sang to God in her heart. In art she is represented with an organ or organ-pipes in her hand.

Feast: November 22

Patronage: composeres; music; musicians; organ builderes; singers

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TODAY'S SAINT (Gelasius I)

2005-11-21T00:27:00.000-08:00

GELASIUS I

(d. 496)

Pope

Gelasius, the son of an African named Valerius, was born in Rome. He served as secretary to Pope St. Simplicius (r. 468-483) and Pope St. Fellix III (r. 483-492), holding the position of archdeacon under the latter. He was elected Felix's successor in the Chair of St. Peter on March 1, 492.

Durning his pontificate, Gelasius made little attempt to breach the schism between the Western and Eastern Churches that had arisen at the end of Simplicius's reign. His more modest aim was to assert papal authoritty over the Church of Constantinople, which had emerged as a see second only to Rome and as leader of the Easteren Church. Although he meet with little success in this regard, he did exercise a deep influence on the development of Catholic ecleesiastical discipline and liturgy. A considerable number of his decrees were incorporated into canonn law. He also composed many hymns, prefaces and collects, and aranged a standard missal, although the Sacramentarium Gelasianum actually belongs to the next century and it is not known how much of Gelasius's work it contains.

In his private life, Gelasius was much devoted to prayer, penance and study. He delighted in the company of monks and gave freely to the poor, dying penniless as a result of his lavish charity.

Gelasius died in Rome on November 19, 496, and was buried in St. Peter's on November 21.

Feast: November 21

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US Catholic

TODAY'S SAINT (Valentine)

TODAY'S SAINT (Julian the Hospitaller)

TODAY'S SAINT (Paschal I)

TODAY'S SAINT (Scholastica)

TODAY'S SAINT (John of Capistrano)

TODAY'S SAINT (Bernard of Clairvaux)

TODAY'S SAINT (Sixtus II)

TODAY'S SAINT (Optatus of Milevis)

TODAY'S SAINT (Augustine of Canterbury)

TODAY'S SAINT (Edward Jones & Anthony Middleton)

TODAY'S SAINT (George)

TODAY'S SAINT (Bendict Joseph Labre)

TODAY'S SAINT (Isidore of Seville)

TODAY'S SAINT (Mary of Egypt)

TODAY'S SAINT (Francis of Paola)

TODAY'S SAINT (Melito)

TODAY'S SAINT (John Climacus)

TODAY'S SAINT (Joseph of Arimathea)

TODAY'S SAINT (Sixtus III)

TODAY'S SAINT (Rupert of Salzburg)

TODAY'S SAINT (Margaret Clitherow)

TODAY'S SAINT (Conrad of Pincenaz)

TODAY'S SAINT (John Bosco)

TODAY'S SAINT (Felix IV)

TODAY'S SAINT (Gildas the Wise)

TODAY'S SAINT (Timothy)

TODAY'S SAINT (Fulgentius of Ruspe)

TODAY'S SAINT (Sylvester I)

TODAY'S SAINT (Anysius)

TODAY'S SAINT (Thomas Becket)

THE HOLY INNOCENTS

TODAY'S SAINT (John the Divine)

TODAY'S SAINT (Stephen)

CHRISTMAS DAY

TODAY'S SAINT (Adele)

TODAY'S SAINT (John of Kanty)

TODAY'S SAINT (SS. Chaeremon and Ischyrion)

TODAY'S SAINT (Peter Canisius)

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

TODAY'S SAINT (Anastasius I)

TODAY'S SAINT (Gatian)

TODAY'S SAINT (Olympias)

TODAY'S SAINT (Adelaide)

TODAY'S SAINT (Nino)

TODAY'S SAINT (John of the Cross)

TODAY'S SAINT (Lucy of Syracuse)

TODAY'S SAINT (Finian of Clonard)

TODAY'S SAINT (DAMASUS I)

TODAY'S SAINT (Miltiades)

TODAY'S SAINT (Gorgonia)

TODAY'S SAINT (Eutychianus)

TODAY'S SAINT (Ambrose)

TODAY'S SAINT (Nicholas)

TODAY'S SAINT (Crispina)

TODAY'S SAINT (John Damascene)

TODAY'S SAINT (Bibiana)

TODAY'S SAINT (Florence)

TODAY'S SAINTS (Andrew the Apostle)

TODAY'S SAINT (Saturninus)

TODAY'S SAINT (James of the March)

TODAY'S SAINT (Maximus)

TODAY'S SAINT (Conrad)

TODAY'S SAINT (Catherine Laboure)

TODAY'S SAINTS (Flora and Mary)

TODAY'S SAINT (Clement I)

TODAY'S SAINT (Cecilia)

TODAY'S SAINT (Gelasius I)