24 September 2020
செப்டம்பர் 24#இரக்கத்தின்_அன்னை
செப்டம்பர் 24
#இரக்கத்தின்_அன்னை
பதின்மூன்றாம் நூற்றாண்டில் ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டில் பிறந்தவர் புனித பீட்டர் நோலாஸ்கா.
மிகப்பெரிய செல்வந்தரான இவர், மூர் இனத்தவரால் ஆப்பிரிக்கச் சிறைகளில் அடைத்து வைக்கப்பட்டு, கடுமையாகச் சித்திரவதை செய்யப்பட்ட கிறிஸ்தவர்களை எப்படியாவது மீட்கவேண்டும் என்று முடிவுசெய்தார். அதற்காகத் தன் சொத்துக்களையெல்லாம் விற்றார்.
இவருடைய இந்த முயற்சிக்கு ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டில் உள்ள அரகோனை ஆண்டுவந்த முதலாம் ஜேம்ஸ் என்ற மன்னரும், பெனபோர்ட் நகர்ப் புனித ரெய்மெண்டும் பெரிதும் உதவினர்.
இவர்களுடைய உதவியினால் புனித பீட்டர் நோலாஸ்கா, மூர் இனத்தவரிடம் அடிமைகளாக இருந்த கிறிஸ்தவர்களை மீட்க முயற்சி செய்துகொண்டிருக்கும்போதுதான், அன்னை மரியா இவருக்கு இரண்டு பைகள் நிறைய தங்கக் காசுகளோடு தோன்றினார்.
தங்கக் காசுகள் இருந்த அந்த இரண்டு பைகளையும் புனித பீட்டர் நோலாஸ்காவிடம் கொடுத்த அன்னை மரியா, இவற்றைக் கொண்டு மூர் இனத்தவரிடம் அடிமைகளாக இருக்கும் கிறிஸ்தவர்களை மீட்டு வா என்றார். கூடவே அவரோடு சேர்ந்து பணிபுரியக்கூடியவர்கள் அணியவேண்டிய வெந்நிற ஆடையையும் கொடுத்துவிட்டு அங்கிருந்து மறைந்தார்.
இவ்வாறு அன்னை மரியா, புனித பீட்டர் நோலாஸ்காவிற்குத் தோன்றிய நாள் 1281 ஆம் ஆண்டு, ஆகஸ்ட் திங்கள் 1.
✠ சான் செவரினோ நகர் புனிதர் பஸிஃபிகஸ் ✠(St. Pacificus of San Severino)
† இன்றைய புனிதர் †
(செப்டம்பர் 24)
✠ சான் செவரினோ நகர் புனிதர் பஸிஃபிகஸ் ✠
(St. Pacificus of San Severino)
குரு:
(Priest)
பிறப்பு: மார்ச் 1, 1653
சான் செவரினோ, மேக்கராடா, திருத்தந்தையர் மாநிலங்கள்
(San Severino, Macerata, Papal States)
இறப்பு: செப்டம்பர் 24, 1721 (வயது 68)
சான் செவரினோ, மேக்கராடா, திருத்தந்தையர் மாநிலங்கள்
(San Severino, Macerata, Papal States)
ஏற்கும் சமயம்:
ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை
(Roman Catholic Church)
முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: ஆகஸ்ட் 4, 1786
திருத்தந்தை ஆறாம் பயஸ்
(Pope Pius VI)
புனிதர் பட்டம்: மே 26, 1839
திருத்தந்தை பதினாறாம் கிரகோரி
(Pope Gregory XVI)
நினைவுத் திருநாள்: செப்டம்பர் 24
புனிதர் பஸிஃபிகஸ், ஒரு இத்தாலி நாட்டைச் சேர்ந்த ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையின் குரு ஆவார். இவர், தாம் நிகழ்த்திய அற்புதங்களின்பேரில் பிரபலமானவர்.
“கார்லோ அன்டோனியோ டிவைனி” (Carlo Antonio Divini) எனும் இயற்பெயர் கொண்ட இவர், கி.பி. 1653ம் ஆண்டு, மார்ச் மாதம், முதலாம் தேதியன்று, “சான் செவரினோ” (San Severino) எனுமிடத்தில் பிறந்தார். “அன்டோனியோ மரியா டிவைனி” (Antonio Maria Divini) இவரது தந்தை ஆவார். இவரது தாயாரின் பெயர், “மரியேஞ்சலா புரூனி” (Mariangela Bruni) ஆகும். மூன்று வயதான இவர் உறுதிப்பூசுதல் அருட்சாதனம் பெற்றதும், இவருடைய பெற்றோர் மரித்துப் போயினர். கி.பி. 1670ம் ஆண்டும், டிசம்பர் மாதம் வரை, இவர் மிகுந்த கஷ்டங்கள் அனுபவித்தார். பின்னர், “மார்ச் அன்கோனா” (March of Ancona) நகரிலுள்ள சீர்திருத்தப்பட்ட ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கன் சபையில் இணைந்து அதன் சீருடைகளைப் பெற்றார்.
மிகுந்த கஷ்டங்களினூடே படித்த இவர், கி.பி. 1678ம் ஆண்டு, ஜூன் மாதம், 4ம் தேதியன்று, குருத்துவ அருட்பொழிவு பெற்றார். 1680ம் ஆண்டு முதல், 1683ம் ஆண்டு வரையான காலத்தில், தமது சபையின் புதிய உறுப்பினர்களுக்கு தத்துவ பாடம் கற்பிக்கும் பேராசிரியர் பணியாற்றினார். இதைத் தொடர்ந்து நான்கு அல்லது ஐந்து ஆண்டுகளுக்கு ஒரு மிஷனரியாக சுற்றியிருந்த பகுதிகளில் மறைபணிபுரிந்தார். ஆனால், அதனைத் தொடர்ந்து ஏற்பட்ட நடை தடுமாற்றம் (Lameness), செவிட்டுத் தன்மை (Deafness) மற்றும் கண்பார்வைக் குறைபாடு (Blindness) போன்றவற்றினால் அவரால் தொடர்ந்து மறைப் பணியாற்ற இயலாமல் போனது. பின்னர் அவர், அவர் தியான வாழ்க்கையை தொடங்கினார். அவரது வாழ்நாள் முழுவதும் ஆழ்ந்த உடல் வேதனைகள் தொடர்ந்தாலும், அவர் கடவுளிடம் மட்டுமே ஆறுதலையும் நிவாரணத்தையும் தேடிக்கொண்டிருந்தார். அதிசயமான இயற்கை சக்திகள் மற்றும் உழைக்கும் அற்புதங்களின் பரிசுகள் அவருக்கு கடவுளால் வழங்கப்பட்டிருந்தன. அவர், ஒரு தேவதூதனின் பொறுமையுடன் நோய்களின் வேதனைகளைத் தாங்கிக் கொண்டு, பல அற்புதங்களைச் செய்தார். மென்மேலும் கடவுளால் ஆசீர்வதிக்கப்பட்டார்.
இவர் ஒரு நிலையான நோயாளியாக இருந்தபோதிலும், கி.பி. 1692ம் ஆண்டு முதல் 1693ம் ஆண்டுவரை, "சான் சவரினோ" (San Severino) நகரிலுள்ள "சான்ட மரியா டெல் கிரேஸி" கான்வென்ட்டில் (Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie) பாதுகாவலர் பதவியை வகித்தார். பின்னர், அங்கேயே கி.பி. 1721ம் ஆண்டு, செப்டம்பர் மாதம், 24ம் நாளன்று, மரித்தார்.
† Saint of the Day †
(September 24)
✠ St. Pacificus of San Severino ✠
Priest:
Born: March 1, 1653
San Severino, Macerata, Papal States
Died: September 24, 1721 (Aged 68)
San Severino, Macerata, Papal States
Venerated in: Roman Catholic Church
Beatified: August 4, 1786
Pope Pius VI
Canonized: May 26, 1839
Pope Gregory XVI
Feast: September 24
Saint Pacificus of San Severino, born Carlo Antonio Divini, was an Italian Roman Catholic priest known for being a miracle-worker.
He was beatified on 4 August 1786 and canonized as a saint in 1839.
Biographical selection:
Pacificus was born into the impoverished Divini family on March 1, 1653, in the city of San Severino, Italy. He was one of 13 children. At age three he lost his father and his mother. Along with his siblings, he was brought to the house of an uncle to be raised. The children suffered greatly there, mistreated by two servants in the household.
From infancy, Pacific had received a good religious formation from his mother, which helped him to not fall into despair and to follow the religious vocation that early attracted him. At age 17 he entered the Franciscans of Forano, where he studied and received Holy Orders on June 4, 1678, subsequently becoming Professor of Philosophy at the Monastery.
The words of Our Lord, “the harvest is great but the workers are few,” refused to leave his mind, and he concluded that the world did not need doctors, but apostles. He spoke about this concern to his Provincial, who directed him in 1683 to take up missionary work. For five or six years he actively preached to the people of the surrounding regions. His idea was to convert the infidel and suffer martyrdom. But God had reserved to this hunter of souls another apostolate: suffering.
His feet became swollen and covered with wounds, which prevented him from walking, a condition he suffered until his death. For a while, he held the post of guardian in the Monastery and dedicated many hours to hearing confessions. However, he could no longer do so after he became deaf and could not communicate with those around him. This intensified his union with God.
The loss of this sense was not enough. Pacific also became blind. In the last years of his life, he could no longer celebrate Mass or go to the choir. To these physical pains were added other psychological ones. Religious life for him became a pilgrimage through a desert where he suffered a great sense of abandonment and anguish.
And, since the worse enemies of man are his neighbours, St. Pacific found some persons in his Monastery – like the sacristan and nurse – who mistreated him with words and deeds. The Saint bore all this with inextinguishable and firm patience. He became a model for all those who carry this cross. He died on September 24, 1721.
Comments:
Here we are before one of the most beautiful vocations that exist in the Holy Church, which is the vocation of the expiatory victim. No one should offer himself as an expiatory victim without the permission of his confessor, because Divine Providence can accept the offering in order to punish a man's presumption and give him sufferings for which he is not prepared. Despite this admonition of prudence, we should recognize that there is no vocation more beautiful than this one.
You see that St. Pacific first studied and became a professor. Later, moved by zeal, he dedicated himself to preaching, doing good to many souls. But Providence called him to superior preaching, a superior apostolate: the most painful apostolate of the Cross.
He followed the pathway of other expiatory victims. Life becomes like a tunnel that grows increasingly narrow because of the adversities that fall on the victim until reaching a paroxysm and he dies. These victims follow the path of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who received in His most holy Soul and His divine Body more and more torments until He was crucified and died in extreme pain. So also, these souls are harassed and tormented until the moment when they die of pain, so to speak. They deliver their lives to God like pure, immaculate and holy hosts to expiate for sinners.
This is what happened to St. Pacific. You see that first, he contracted a disease that condemned him to immobility. He could only be in the confessional where he could sit and hear confessions. Then, he became deaf.
Today, with so many hearing aids and surgeries readily available, people have lost the idea of the isolation into which a deaf man falls. He sees persons talking around him and he cannot hear. If he asks what they are saying, he becomes a nuisance in the group. A friend tries to explain the subject to him with hand gestures once or twice but then ignores him. At the most, he makes a sign meaning: “I will explain it to you later.”
We could think that being almost paralytic and deaf, he had reached the apex of his suffering. But, there was more to come: He became blind. So, he lost another means to communicate with the world, his sight. Being both deaf and blind, he could only communicate through touch. Two taps on his hand mean “It is time to retire to bed;” three taps mean “here is a glass of water,” etc. So, a man in this state relies on his nurse for everything. The nurse is his only channel of contact with the living world. A deaf and blind man is effectively entombed in the world. But, there was more still that he was called to endure.
Divine Providence allowed the nurse of St. Pacific to become another source of suffering for him. He was mistreated by words and deeds. When Catholic charity called for the nurse to exercise the greatest attention, patience and humility in dealing with a helpless person like St. Pacific, he did the opposite. The selection does not reveal the actual mistreatment inflicted by the nurse and the sacristan, but we can suspect that it could have even involved physical violence. It is very vile to persecute a person in this helpless condition.
St. Pacific received such maltreatment calmly, with patience, without holding any grudge or personal hatred in his soul. With this serene disposition of soul, he ended his martyrdom in this life.
Besides the interior anguish that he suffered, you can imagine the temptations of the Devil he had to conquer. If he sinned, he could not even communicate with a confessor since St. Pacific could not hear his words or counsels. This is what comprised the journey of this poor soul on earth. When he died, we could say that he imitated Our Lord: From the top of his head to the soles of his feet, there was nothing sound in him.
What is the reason for this mysterious vocation? Why should someone suffer this much? It is to expiate for sinners. Our Lord’s sufferings in the Passion were more than sufficient to redeem mankind. But He wants the sufferings of men to be added to His own. He desires some souls to closely unite themselves to His Passion to pay for the sins of men. This is the mission of the expiatory victims. They mix their blood with His.
In the liturgy of the Mass, there is a part that makes us think of this mission. It is the moment before the Consecration when the priest puts a drop of water in a small spoon and places that water into the chalice with the wine. The water mixed with the wine, which will become the Body and Blood of Our Lord, indicates the human suffering that enters like a drop into the immensity of the divine suffering in order to expiate for the sins of men.
These victims also help us to understand, admire and love suffering. The great aim of life is to serve Our Lord and one of the best means to do so is to suffer the pain He sends us. This makes a fully realized vocation: St. Pacific walked to Calvary like Our Lord. This is his supreme glory, his magnificent example.
There are many who are willing to work for the Church, there is a good deal of persons to pray for the Church; there are just a few to fight for the Church, but, to suffer for the Church, there is almost none. Therefore, those who suffer serve the Holy Catholic Church in an eminent way.
A great number of souls went to Heaven and shine there forever, thanks to the sufferings of St. Pacific. If he had lacked faith, if he had not maintained the conviction of the efficacy of his suffering, he would not have endured it. He bore it with the idea that his suffering, his example, his prayers would do a great deal of good for many souls.
Today, we are here glorifying his name and his sufferings. He did not know that he would help the Counter-Revolution in this way in the future. He did not know then, but now he sees our meeting from Heaven and how his example is valuable to us today.
Generally speaking, as counter-revolutionaries we do not have the vocation to be expiatory victims. But we are given sufferings and we should love them as the gifts that Our Lady gives us, like pieces of the Cross of Christ that she wants us to carry.
We should endure these sufferings with valour, decision, and joy, understanding that the more Our Lady makes us suffer, the more she shows her love for us and the more opportunity she gives us to earn merit in Heaven.
These are the considerations that the life of St. Pacific suggests to us tonight.
~ Late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
புனித ஜெரார்ட் சார்கிரேடோ St. Gerard Sargredoநினைவுத் திருநாள்: செப்டம்பர் 24
புனித ஜெரார்ட் சார்கிரேடோ
St. Gerard Sargredo
நினைவுத் திருநாள்: செப்டம்பர் 24
பிறப்பு : 980
இறப்பு : 24 செப்டம்பர் 1046
புனிதர்பட்டம் : 1083, திருத்தந்தை 7 ஆம் கிரகோரி
பாதுகாவல் : ஹங்கேரி, புடாபெஸ்ட் நாடு
இவர் கசானாட் (Csanad) என்ற மறைமாவட்டத்தில் ஆயராக இருந்தார். வெனிஸ் நகர் ஆயர் ஹங்கேரி நாட்டு அரசருக்கு பலவிதங்களில் உதவினார். அதனால் புனித ஜெரார்ட் வெனிஸ் நகர ஆயருக்கு மறைமாவட்டத்திற்கு தேவையான உதவிகளை செய்து கொடுத்தார். பின்னர் ஹங்கேரி நாட்டு அரசர் புனித ஸ்டீபனின் மகன் வெனிஸ் நகர் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் படிக்கும்போது, அவருக்கும், படிப்பிற்கு தேவையான உதவிகளை செய்து கொடுத்தார். ஹங்கேரி நாட்டில் கிறிஸ்தவம் வளர்வதற்கு அந்நாட்டு அரசர் புனித ஸ்டீபனிற்கும் பெரும் உதவியாளராக இருந்தார்.
இவர் ஹங்கேரியில் மலைப்பகுதியில் செல்லும்போது, அவர் சென்ற இரு சக்கர வண்டி கீழே சரிந்ததில், மலை உச்சியிலிருந்து விழுந்துள்ளார். அவர் கீழே பாதாளத்தில் விழுந்ததும் இறந்துவிட்டார் போல காணப்பட்டார். ஆனால் அவரின் உடலில் சிறிதும் அடிபடாமல் தன் கைகளை கூப்பி, தான் இறப்பதற்காக செபித்துள்ளார் என்று கூறப்படுகின்றது. இவர் இறந்தப்பிறகு அம்மலையானது கில்லர்ட் ஹில் (Gillert Hill) என்று பெயரிட்டு அழைக்கப்படுகின்றது. இவர் இறக்கும் வரை வெனிஸ் மற்றும் ஹங்கேரி நாட்டு மக்களுக்காக பெரிதும் உழைத்து மறைப்பணியை ஆற்றியுள்ளார்.
செபம்:
அருள் பொழியும் அருள்நாதரே! உமது சிறந்த போதகராக மறைப்பணியாளராம் புனித ஜெரார்டை நீர் திருச்சபைக்கு தந்தீர். தனது நலன்களினாலும், போதனையாலும் இடைவிடா இறைவேண்டலினாலும், எங்கள் வாழ்வில் எங்களுக்கு அவர் துணையாய் இருக்கவேண்டுமென்று உம்மை மன்றாடுகின்றோம்.
---JDH---தெய்வீக குணமளிக்கும் இயேசு /திண்டுக்கல்.
Saint of the Day: (24-09-2020)
Saint Gerard Sagredo
St Gerard was Abbot of the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore at Venice. On a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, when passfng through Hungary, he was detained by King St Stephen and persuaded to work for the conversion of the Magyars and to be the tutor of his son, Prince St Emeric. In 1035 Gerard, who was known in Hungary as “Collert”, became the first Bishop of Csanad, Hungary. He administered his See with great zeal and his flock owed their great devotion to the Blessed Virgin to his apostolic efforts. However, with the death of King St Stephen in 1037, a reaction to Christianity set in. In 1046, Gerard, the staunch Christian that he was, and many of his followers were either lanced or stoned to death at Buda. St Gerard, whose body was thrown into the Danube, is revered as the Apostle of Hungary.
Born:
23 April 980 in Venice, Italy
Died :
stabbed to death with a lance on 24 September 1046 at Buda, Hungary
• body thrown into the Danube River
• surviving relics enshrined in the Basilica of San Donato in Murano, Venice, Italy
Canonized :
1083 by Pope Saint Gregory VII
Patronage : Hungary
---JDH---Jesus the Divine Healer---
23 September 2020
St. Xantippa & Polyxena. September 23
St. Xantippa & Polyxena
Xantippa and Polyxena (d. late first century) + Virgins described in the pre-1970 Roman Martyrology as being disciples of the Apostles who died in Spain. Little is known of them. Feast day: September 23.
The Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca is a New Testament Apocryphadating from the third or fourth century. Regarding its place in literature, twentieth century classicist scholar Moses Hadaswrites: "Christians learned not only from pagan preachers but also from pagan romancers. The perfectly orthodox Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena ... has all the thrilling kidnapings, deliveries, and surprises of the typical Greek romance".
The tale is set in the time of Nero and consists of essentially two almost completely separate stories: the tale of Xanthippe and the tale of Polyxena. Although a third woman named Rebeccais included in the title, she doesn't figure as a major character. The liturgical feast of these figures is Sept. 23.[1]
The Tale of Xanthippe
Hagiography, fresco, of Saint Xanthippe in a Greek Orthodox Church.
Having briefly witnessed Paul preach in Rome, a servant returns to Spain and falls sick due to wishing to have heard Paul properly. The master's wife, Xanthippe, overhears the servant explaining this, so she speaks privately with the servant, which causes statues of the household gods to fall down. Xanthippe thereupon proceeds to fast, pray, lose sleep, and enter into celibacy, gradually wasting away.
Paul is led by God to come to Xanthippe but, when she expresses a desire to be baptized, her husband throws Paul out and locks Xanthippe up. Xanthippe then prays that her husband will fall asleep at dinner, which he does, so she is able to escape the house by bribing the porter. On her way to Paul, Xanthippe is attacked by demons wielding fire and lightning, from which she is saved by a vision of Jesus (as a beautiful youth) and Paul finding her. Paul then takes her indoors where she is baptised and given the Eucharist.
Returning home, Xanthippe has a vision and collapses. Her husband soon awakes and, having had a dream, asks some wise men for an interpretation. They declare that the dream reveals the struggle between Satan and Christ and advise that the husband be baptized. When they look in on his wife Xanthippe, expecting her to be near death, they discover her singing praises to Jesus. This impresses the wise men to the extent that they have Xanthippe take them to Paul. All of this induces her husband to likewise convert.
The Tale of Polyxena
Xanthippe and Polyxene (Menologion of Basil II)
Xanthippe's younger sister, Polyxena, later has a dream in which she is swallowed by a dragon but then rescued by a beautiful youth. Xanthippe thinks this means that Satan will win Polyxena unless she is immediately baptized. But Polyxena's initial attempts to secure baptism fail and she is abducted in the night by an enemy of Polyxena's boyfriend and put on a ship to Babylonia.
The winds, however, force the ship to approach one bearing the apostle Peter, who had been directed by a vision. But demons prevent them meeting. The ship, instead, goes off course to Greece, where the apostle Philip has come. Having been directed by a vision, Philip rescues Polyxena. When his thirty servants, armed with a cross, go to meet the abductor's army of 8,000, they slay 5,000 soldiers before the remainder flee. But Polyxena has meanwhile fled in fear.
She ends up lost and unintentionally walks into the empty den of a lioness. When the lioness returns, Polyxena begs the animal not to eat her before she is baptized. So the lioness leads her east out of the woods to a road and then goes back to her den. The apostle Andrewcoincidentally walks past and Polyxena asks for baptism. So they find a well and rescue Rebecca, a Jewish slave held captive there. Then both are baptized when the lioness returns and asks Andrew to perform the task.
Later, after Andrew departs, the women briefly gain the company of an ordinary Christian driving a cart but lose it when they are abducted by a passing prefect. Rebecca later manages to escape and flee to an old woman's house (and disappears from the story). Meanwhile, Polyxena begs the prefect's servants to preserve her virginity; so they tell the prefect that she is ill. The prefect's son, a convert to Christianity after witnessing Paul's effect on Thecla, disguises her in his clothing and sends her to the shore to catch a ship. But a villainous servant overhears and reports them. They are captured and thrown to a lioness in the arena. But the lioness turns out to be the one previously encountered and does no harm. As a result, the entire city takes this to be proof of the truth of Christianity and so convert en-masse.
The narrator reveals himself as Onesimus, a sailor who has received a vision telling him to go to a certain part of Greece and pick up both Polyxena and the prefect's son. However, after his arrival, a storm keeps everyone there for seven days. So Lucius, who is on board, teaches Christianity to the entire city. The prefect then gratefully supplies provisions to the ship and it leaves. Then it comes to rest on an island. The fierce inhabitants there attack but are defeated, though Polyxena fearfully dives into the sea and has to be rescued. Eventually all arrive back in Spain and meet Paul. When Polyxena's abductor returns, Paul converts him as well.
Bibliography
- Gorman, Jill. Reading and Theorizing Women's Sexualities: The Representation of Women in the Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena(Dissertation: Temple University, 2003).
- Gorman, Jill. Thinking with and about "Same-Sex Desire": Producing and Policing Female Sexuality in the Acts of Xanthippe and PolyxenaJournal of the History of Sexuality - Volume 10, Number 3 and 4, July/October 2001, pp. 416–441.
- Moses Hadas. Three Greek Romances, The Liberal Arts Press, Inc., a division of The Bobbs Merrill Company, Inc.: Indianapolis, Indiana. 1953. ISBN 0-672-60442-6
Bl. William Way September 23
Bl. William Way
Martyr of England. Born in Exeter, England, he went to Reims, France, where he was ordained in 1586. Using the name Flower, William started his labors, but was arrested within six months. He was executed at Kingston-on-Thames by being hanged, drawn, and quartered.
William Way (alias May, alias Flower) (died 1588) was an English Catholicpriest and martyr executed under Elizabeth I after the Protestant Reformation. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church.
Early life and education
Wiliam Way was born in the Diocese of Exeter about c. 1560. Bishop Richard Challoner said he was born in Cornwall, and earlier authorities say in Devonshire.[2]
Since the Protestant Reformation had closed Catholic seminaries in England, Way went to France to study. On 31 March 1584, he received his first tonsurein the Cathedral of Reims from the Cardinal of Guise. On 22 March he was ordained subdeacon, on 5 April deacon, and priest on 18 September 1586, at Laon, probably by Bishop Valentine Douglas (Valentine Duglas), O.S.B.[2]
Career
Way departed for England on 9 December 1586, and by June 1587, was imprisoned. He was indicted at Newgatein September 1588, for being a Roman Catholic priest. He declined to be tried by a secular judge, whereupon the Bishop of London was sent for. Way, refusing to acknowledge him as a bishop or Elizabeth I as head of the Church, was immediately condemned as a traitor and to death.[2]
He was austere. When called to trial at the Sessions in August, "he had so much joy that he seemed past himself".[3] Way was "hung, drawn and quartered" at Kingston upon Thames.[2] The date is variously given as either 23 September or 1 October 1588.[3]
St. Linus September 23
St. Linus
Linus was a native of Tuscany. He succeeded St. Peter as Pope about the year 67. St. Irenaeussays he is the Linus mentioned by St. Paul in the second letter to Timothy, chapter 4, verse 21, and that he was consecrated bishop by St. Paul. His feast day is Sisten); died c. AD 76) was the second bishop of Rome. His pontificate endured from c. AD 67 to his death. Among those to have been Pope, Peter, Linus, and Clement are specifically named in the New Testament.[1] Linus is named in the valediction of the Second Epistle to Timothy as being with Paul the Apostle in Rome near the end of Paul's life.
Early bishops of Rome
Patrobulus, Hermas, Linus, Caius, Philologus of 70 disciples (Menologion of Basil II)
The earliest witness to the episcopate of Linus was Irenaeus, who in c. AD 180 wrote that "the blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate."[2]The Oxford Dictionary of Popes mentions that according to the earliest succession lists of bishops of Rome, passed down by Irenaeus and Hegesippus and attested by the historian Eusebius, he was entrusted with his office by the apostles Peter and Paul after they had established the Christian church in Rome. By this primitive reckoning he was therefore the first pope, but from the late 2nd or early 3rd century the convention began of regarding Peter as first pope.[3]Jerome described Linus as "the first after Peter to be in charge of the Roman Church"[4] and Eusebius described him as "the first to receive the episcopate of the church at Rome, after the martyrdom of Paul and Peter".[5] John Chrysostomwrote that "this Linus, some say, was second Bishop of the Church of Rome after Peter",[6] while the Liberian Catalogue[7] described Peter as the first bishop of Rome and Linus as his successor in the same office.
The Liber Pontificalis[8] also enumerated Linus as the second Bishop of Romeafter Peter, and stated that Peter consecrated 2 bishops, Linus and Cletus/Anacletus for the priestly service of the community, while devoting himself instead to prayer and preaching, and that it was Clement to whom he entrusted the universal Church and appointed as his successor. Tertullian also wrote of Clement as the successor of Peter.[9]Jerome named Clement as "the fourth bishop of Rome after Peter, if indeed the second was Linus and the third Anacletus, although most of the Latins think that Clement was second after the apostle."[10]
The Apostolic Constitutions[11] note that Linus, whom Paul the Apostleconsecrated, was the first Bishop of Rome and was succeeded by Clement, whom Peter the Apostle ordained and consecrated.
Life
The Liberian Catalogue and the Liber Pontificalis date the episcopate of Linus as AD 56 to 67, during the reign of Nero, but Jerome dated it as AD 67 to 78, and Eusebius dated the end of his episcopate in the second year of the reign of Titus, scire licet, AD 80.
Linus is named in the valediction of the Second Epistle to Timothy.[12] In that epistle, Linus is noted as being with Paul the Apostle in Rome near the end of Paul's life. Irenaeus stated that this is the same Linus who became Bishop of Rome, and this conclusion is generally still accepted.
According to the Liber Pontificalis, Linus was an Italian born in Volterra in Tuscany. His father's name was recorded as Herculanus. The Apostolic Constitutions denominated his mother Claudia; immediately after the name Linus in 2 Timothy 4:21 a Claudia is named, but the Bible does not explicitly identify Claudia as Linus' mother. According to the Liber Pontificalis, Linus decreed that women should cover their heads in church, created the first 15 bishops, died a martyr, and was buried on the Vatican Hill (presently Vatican City) adjacent to Peter the Apostle.[13] It dated his death as 23 September, on which date his feast is still celebrated.[14]His name is included in the Roman Canon of the Mass.
With respect to Linus' purported decree prescribing the covering of women's heads, J.P. Kirsch commented in the Catholic Encyclopedia that "without doubt this decree is apocryphal, and copied by the author of the Liber Pontificalis from Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (11: 5) and arbitrarily attributed to the first successor of the Apostle in Rome. The statement made in the same source, that Linus suffered martyrdom, cannot be proved and is improbable. For between Nero and Domitian there is no mention of any persecution of the Roman Church; and Irenaeus (1. c., III, iv, 3) from among the early Roman bishops designates only Telesphorus as a glorious martyr."[1] The Roman Martyrology does not enumerate Linus as a martyr as does the Liber Pontificalis; the entry in the former regarding him states: "At Rome, commemoration of Saint Linus, Pope, who, according to Irenaeus, was the person to whom the blessed Apostles entrusted the episcopal care of the Church founded in the City, and whom blessed Paul the Apostle mentions as associated with him."[14]
A tomb that Torrigio discovered in Saint Peter's Basilica in 1615 and that was inscribed with the letters LINVS was assumed to be the tomb of Linus. However a note by Torrigio reveals that these were merely the final 5 letters of a longer name, e.g. "Aquilinus" or "Anullinus". A letter on the martyrdom of Peter and Paul was attributed to Linus, but in fact it was determined to date to the 6th century.[1] Absent evidence to the contrary, presumably the Liber Pontificalis is correct that Linus was buried on the Vatican Hill adjacent to Peter the Apostle in what is now the Vatican Necropolis beneath Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City despite any absence of recent, corroborating evidence.
The city of Saint-Lin-Laurentides in Canada is named in his honour.
St. Irais. September 23
St. Irais
Also Rhais, an Egyptian martyr. She was put to death at Alexandria or at Antinoe, Egypt, during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian.
Rais, also known as Iraida, Irais, Herais or Rhais,[1] is a martyr venerated by the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches. According to one account, she was the daughter of a Christian priest living in Alexandria, Egypt. At age twelve, she was sent to live in a women's monastery at Tamman. One day in 303 AD, during a time of widespread persecution of Christians during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian, she went to a well to draw water with other nuns. On the way, they saw a ship with a group of nuns, monks, and other Christians in chains, being abused by Loukianos. Rais berated the abusers and insisted that they kill her as well if they were killing Christians. They imprisoned her as well. When the ship reached Antinoöpolis, Rais was one of the first to die. When Loukianos yelled, "I spit upon the Christian God," Rais objected, stepped up and spat in the tyrant's face. Loukianos ordered the girl to be tortured and beheaded.[2]
St. Cissa September 23
St. Cissa
A Benedictine hermit in Northumbria, England. It is believed he resided near Lindisfarne.
Bl. Bernardina Maria Jablonska. September 23
Bl. Bernardina Maria Jablonska
Bernardina was raised in a pious family. Co-foundress of the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis Servants of the Poor. Known as a mystic with a great concern for those who are suffering. As superior of the Sisters she founded hospices for the sick and poor.
St. Adamnan. September 23
St. Adamnan
Adamnan, born in Drumhome, Donegal, Ireland, became a monkat the monastery there. Later at Iona, of which he became ninth abbotin 679. He gave sanctuary to Aldfrid when the crown of Northumbria was in dispute after the death of Aldfrid's father, King Oswy. In 686, when Aldfrid had ascended the throne, Adamnan visited him to secure the release of Irish prisoners. Two years later Adamnan visited several English monasteries and was induced by St. Ceolfrid to adopt the Roman calendar for Easter. Adamnan worked ceaselessly thereafter with much success to get Irish monks and monasteries to replace their Celtic practices with those of Rome. His success in convincing the Council of Birr that women should be exempt from wars and that women and children should not be taken prisoners or slaughtered caused the agreement to be called Adamnan's law. A scholar noted for his piety, he wrote a life of St. Columba, one of the most important biographies of the early Middle Ages. He also wrote DE LOCIS SANCTIS, a description of the East told to him by a Frank bishop, Arculf, whose ship was driven ashore near Iona on the way back from Jerusalem. Adamnan is thought by some in Irelandto be the same as St. Eunan, though this is uncertain. He died at Iona on September 23 which is his feast day.
Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (Latin: Adamnanus, Adomnanus; c. 624 – 704), also known as Eunan (/ˈjuːnən/ YOO-nən; from Irish Naomh Ádhamhnán), was an abbot of Iona Abbey (r. 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and saint. He was the author of the book on the life of his cousin St Columba, the Vita, probably written between 697 and 700. The biography is by far the most important surviving work written in early medieval Scotland, and is a vital source for our knowledge of the Picts, and an insight into the life of Iona and the early medieval Gaelic monk.
Adomnán promulgated the Law of Adomnán or "Law of Innocents" (Latin: Lex Innocentium). He also wrote the treatise De Locis Sanctis (i.e. "On Holy Places"), an account of the great Christian holy places and centres of pilgrimage. Adomnán got much of his information from a Frankish bishop called Arculf, who had personally visited the Egypt, Rome, Constantinople and the Holy Land, and visited Iona afterwards.
Life
Adomnán was born about 624, a relative on his father's side of Columba.[2] He was the son of Rónán mac Tinne by Ronat, a woman from the Northern Uí Néill lineage known as the Cenél nÉnda. Adomnán's birthplace was probably in or near Raphoe, a town in what later became Tír Chonaill (now mainly County Donegal), in Ulster in the north of Ireland. Some of Adomnán's childhood anecdotes seem to confirm at least an upbringing in this fertile eastern part of present-day County Donegal, not far from the modern city of Derry.
It is thought that Adomnán may have begun his monastic career at a Columban monastery called Druim Tuamma, but any Columban foundation in northern Ireland or Dál Riata is a possibility, although Durrow is a stronger possibility than most. He probably joined the Columban familia (i.e. the federation of monasteries under the leadership of Iona Abbey) around the year 640. Some modern commentators believe that he could not have come to Iona until sometime after the year 669, the year of the accession of Fáilbe mac Pípáin, the first abbot of whom Adomnán gives any information. However, Richard Sharpe argues that he probably came to Iona during the abbacy of Ségéne (d. 652). Whenever or wherever Adomnán received his education, Adomnán attained a level of learning rare in Early Medieval Northern Europe. It has been suggested by Alfred Smyth that Adomnán spent some years teaching and studying at Durrow,[3] and while this is not accepted by all scholars, it remains a strong possibility.
Iona Abbey
In 679, Adomnán became the ninth abbot of Iona after Columba.[4] Abbot Adomnán enjoyed a friendship with King Aldfrith of Northumbria. In 684, Aldfrith had been staying with Adomnán in Iona. In 686, after the death of Aldfrith's brother King Ecgfrith of Northumbria and Aldfrith's succession to the kingship, Adomnán was in the Kingdom of Northumbria on the request of King Fínsnechta Fledachof Brega in order to gain the freedom of sixty Gaels who had been captured in a Northumbrian raid two years before.[3]
Adomnán, in keeping with Ionan tradition, made several more trips to the lands of the English during his abbacy, including one the following year. It is sometimes thought, after the account given by Bede, that it was during his visits to Northumbria, under the influence of Abbot Ceolfrith, that Adomnán decided to adopt the Roman dating of Easter that had been agreed some years before at the Synod of Whitby. Bede implies that this led to a schism at Iona, whereby Adomnán became alienated from the Iona brethren and went to Ireland to convince the Irish of the Roman dating. Jeffrey Wetherill sees Adomnán's long absences from Iona as having led to something of an undermining of his authority; he was thus unable to persuade the monks to adopt the Roman dating of Easter, let alone the tonsure.[2]It is clear that Adomnán did adopt that Roman dating, and moreover, probably did argue the case for it in Ireland.[4]
Cáin Adomnáin
It is generally believed that in 697, Adomnán promulgated the Cáin Adomnáin, meaning literally the "Canons" or "Law of Adomnán". The Cáin Adomnáin was promulgated amongst a gathering of Irish, Dál Riatan and Pictishnotables at the Synod of Birr. It is a set of laws designed, among other things, to guarantee the safety and immunity of various types of non-combatants in warfare. For this reason it is also known as the "Law of Innocents".
Works
Adomnán's most important work, and the one for which he is best known, is the Vita Columbae (i.e. "Life of Columba"), a hagiography of Iona's founder, Saint Columba,[5] probably written between 697 and 700. The format borrows to some extent from Sulpicius Severus' Life of Saint Martin of Tours.[6] Adomnán adapted traditional forms of Christian biography to group stories about Columba thematically rather than chronologically,[7] and present Columba as comparable to a hero in Gaelic mythology.[8] Wetherill suggests that one of the motivations for writing the Vita was to offer Columba as a model for the monks, and thereby improve Adomnán's standing as abbot.[2] The biography is by far the most important surviving work written in early medieval Scotland, and is a vital source for our knowledge of the Picts, as well as a great insight into the life of Iona and the early medieval Gaelic monk.
However, the Vita was not his only work. Adomnán also wrote the treatise De Locis Sanctis (i.e. "On Holy Places"), an account of the great Christian holy places and centres of pilgrimage. Adomnán got much of his information from a Frankish bishop called Arculf, who had personally visited the Egypt, Rome, Constantinople and the Holy Land, and visited Iona afterwards. Adomnán gave a copy to the scholar-king Aldfrith of Northumbria (685–704).[3] Also attributed to him is a good deal of Gaelic poetry, including a celebration of the Pictish King Bridei's (671–93) victory over the Northumbrians at the Battle of Dun Nechtain (685).
Death
Adomnán died in 704, and became a saint in Scottish and Irish tradition, as well as one of the most important figures in either Scottish or Irish history. His death and feast day are commemorated on 23 September. Along with St. Columba, he is joint patron of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raphoe, which encompasses the bulk of County Donegal in the north west of Ireland. The Cathedral of St. Eunan and St. Columba(popularly known as St. Eunan's Cathedral), the Catholic cathedral in that diocese, is in Letterkenny.
Legacy
In his native Donegal, the saint has given his name to several institutions and buildings including:
- The Cathedral of St. Eunan and St Columba in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal; the current seat of the Bishop of Raphoe,
- The Anglican St Eunan's Cathedralin Raphoe, Donegal,
- St Eunan's NS, a national school in the town of Raphoe, Donegal,
- St Eunan's College, a secondary school in Letterkenny,
- St Eunan's NS, a national school in the small village of Laghey, just south of Donegal Town,
- St Eunan's GAA, a GAA club in Letterkenny, County Donegal
In Co. Sligo, just to the south, he is venerated as the founder of Skreen Abbey, now the site of the C. of I. church of Skreen Parish.
✠ புனிதர் தெக்லா ✠(St. Thecla). செப்டம்பர் 23
† இன்றைய புனிதர் †
(செப்டம்பர் 23)
✠ புனிதர் தெக்லா ✠
(St. Thecla)
கன்னியர்/ மறைசாட்சி:
(Virgin and Martyr)
பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 30
கொன்யா, துருக்கி (லிகவோனியா)
(Konya, Turkey (Lycaonia)
இறப்பு: கி.பி. முதலாம் நூற்றாண்டு
ஏற்கும் சமயம்:
ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை
(Roman Catholic Church)
கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை
(Eastern Orthodox Churches)
ஓரியண்டல் மரபுவழி திருச்சபை
(Oriental Orthodoxy)
எபிஸ்கோபல் திருச்சபை
(The Episcopal Church)
நினைவுத் திருநாள்: செப்டம்பர் 23
புனிதர் தெக்லா, ஆதி கிறிஸ்தவ திருச்சபையின் புனிதரும், திருத்தூதர் பவுலை பின்பற்றிய சீடரும் ஆவார். அவரது வாழ்நாளின் ஆரம்ப பதிவு, “பவுல் மற்றும் தெக்லாவின் பழமையான ஐயத்திற்கிடமான சட்டங்களில்” (Ancient Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla) இருந்து வருகிறது.
புனிதர் இசிடோர் (St. Isidore of Pelusium) இவரை முதல் பெண் மறைசாட்சியாகவும் திருத்தூதர்களின் நூற்றாண்டின் மிக அழகான ஆபரணங்களில் ஒன்றாகவும் கருதினார். இவருக்கு சமூக தத்துவம் மற்றும் இலக்கியம் ஆகியவற்றில் நல்ல அறிவு இருந்ததாக, “புனிதர் மெத்தோடியஸ்” (St. Methodius of Olympus) "கன்னியரின் பெருவிருந்து" எனும் நூலில் குறிப்பிடுகிறார். வலிமை மற்றும் சொற்பொழிவுகளில் சிறந்த இவர், தம்மை இனிமையாக வெளிப்படுத்துபவராகவும் மெத்தோடியஸ் குறிப்பிடுகிறார். திருத்தூதர் புனிதர் பவுலால் கிறிஸ்தவத்திற்கு மனம்மாற்றப்பட்ட இவர், நமது மதத்தில் அறிவார்ந்தவராக ஆனார். தமது விசுவாசத்திற்கான பல்வேறு போராட்டங்களில் இயேசு கிறிஸ்துவின்பால் அவர் கொண்டிருந்த அன்பை வெளிப்படுத்தினார். பவுல் இதனை பாராட்டினார்.
புனிதர் அகஸ்டின் (St. Augustine), புனிதர் எபிஃபனியஸ் (St. Epiphanius), மற்றும் புனிதர் அம்புரோஸ் (St. Ambrose) ஆகியோரின் கூற்றின்படி, அவர் கி.பி. 34ம் ஆண்டில் திருத்தூதர் பவுலால் "இக்கோனியம்" (Iconium) (இன்றைய தென் மத்திய துருக்கியில் - South Central Turkey) கிறிஸ்தவ மதத்திற்கு மனம்மாற்றப்பட்டார். புனிதர் பவுலின் தூய்மை பற்றின பிரசங்கங்களால் கவரப்பட்ட தெக்லா, தாம் வாழ்நாள் முழுதும் கன்னியாகவே வாழ தீர்மானித்திருந்தார். தெக்லா, தமது உறவினர்களிடமிருந்தும், மண உறுதி செய்யப்பட்ட ஆணிடமிருந்தும் மிகப்பெரிய பயங்கரமான அழுத்தங்களை அவர் அனுபவித்தார். ஆனால் மென்மையான வார்த்தைகளாலோ, அல்லது அச்சுறுத்தல்களாலோ அவரது முடிவிலிருந்து அவரை நகர்த்த முடியவில்லை. தமக்கு நெருக்கமாக இருந்தவர்கள் உண்மையில், சாத்தானின் தீய செயல்களாக செயல்படுவதை உணர்ந்த புனிதர் தெக்லா, அவர்களை கத்தோலிக்க எதிரிகளாக கருதி ஒதுக்கினார். ஆயினும்கூட, அவர்களுடைய வற்புறுத்தல்கள் அவருக்கு உண்மையான துன்புறுத்தலாக அமைந்தது.
கிறிஸ்தவர் என்ற காரணத்துக்காகவே அவரது தாயார் அதிகார வர்க்கத்தினரால் கண்டிக்கப்பட்டார். புனிதர் தெக்லா கூறிய மரக்குற்றிகளில் கட்டப்பட்டு எரியூட்ட தயார் செய்யப்பட்டார். ஆனால் அவர்கள் அவரைத் தொட்டதுமே வானினிற்று கொட்டிய மழையால் தீ அணைக்கப்பட்டது. இதன்காரணமாக தடுமாற்றமடைந்த ஆளுநர், இக்கோனியத்தை (Iconium) விட்டு வெளியேறுமாறு அவருக்கு உத்தரவிட்டு, அவரை விடுவித்தார்.
தெக்லா, சிரியாவிலிருந்த (Syria) அந்தியோக்கியாவுக்குச் (Antioch) சென்றார். அங்கே, ஒரு ஆர்வலர் தமக்கு தந்த வசதிகளை அவர் மறுத்துவிட்ட காரணத்தால், அந்த ஆர்வலர் அவரை மறுத்து ஒதுக்கினார். அரங்கிலிருந்த மிருகங்களுக்கு அவரை இரையாக வழங்கப்பட்டபோது, மிருகங்கள் அவரை தொடாமல் அவரது காலடியில் கிடந்தன. அவரைக் கொல்ல எடுக்கப்பட்ட மற்ற முயற்சிகள் தோல்வியடைந்த பிறகு, தெக்லா மீண்டும் விடுதலை செய்யப்பட்டார். தமது மீதமிருந்த வாழ்க்கையை, உலக நடவடிக்கைகளிலிருந்து விலக்கிக்கொண்ட துறவியாக செலவிட்டார். அங்கேயே மரித்த அவர், சிரியாவில் (Syria) அடக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டார்.
முதல் கிறிஸ்தவ ரோம பேரரசர்களின் கீழ், ஒரு பேராலயம் அவரது கல்லறையில் கட்டப்பட்டு, எண்ணற்ற புனித யாத்ரீகர்களின் தளமாக அது மாறியது. மிலன் கதீட்ரல் (Cathedral of Milan) புனிதர் தெக்லாவுக்கு அர்ப்பணிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. நல்மரணம் வேண்டி, பலர் அவரிடம் ஜெபிக்கிறார்கள்.
† Saint of the Day †
(September 23)
✠ St. Thecla ✠
Virgin and Martyr:
Born: 30 AD
Konya, Turkey (Lycaonia)
Died: 1st century AD
Venerated in:
Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Churches
Oriental Orthodoxy
The Episcopal Church
Feast: September 23
Saint Thecla was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul the Apostle. The earliest record of her life comes from the ancient apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla.
Biographical selection:
St. Thecla was considered by St. Isidore of Pelusium as the first woman martyr and one of the most beautiful ornaments of the century of the Apostles.
St. Methodius of Olympus wrote in The Banquet of the Virgins that she had great knowledge in profane philosophy as well as literature. He also stated that she expressed herself with strength and eloquence, as well as sweetness and affability. She was converted by St. Paul and became knowledgeable in our religion. He praised her love for Jesus Christ, which she demonstrated on countless occasions, principally in her combats for the Faith.
According to St. Augustine, St. Epiphanius, and St. Ambrose, she was converted in Iconium (present-day south-central Turkey) by St. Paul in the year 34. Particularly inspired by his preaching on chastity, she determined to remain a virgin. She suffered tremendous pressures from her relatives and fiancé who were opposed to her conversion. But neither tender words nor threats could move her from her decision. St. Thecla realized that those who were closest to her were, in fact, acting as instruments of evil and thus avoided them as enemies of the Catholic cause. Nonetheless, their insistence constituted true persecution.
She was denounced as a Christian to the authorities by her mother. She was tied to a stake to be burned, but the flames were put out by rains from Heaven before she was even touched by them. She was released by the embarrassed governor with orders to leave Iconium.
She went to Antioch in Syria, and there she was denounced by an admirer whose advances she refused. When she was offered to the beasts in the arena, they lay down at her feet without touching her. After other failed attempts to kill her, Thecla was released again. She spent the rest of her life as an ascetic, removed from the world. She died and was buried in Syria.
Under the first Christian Roman Emperors, a basilica was built over her tomb and became a site of countless pilgrimages. The Cathedral of Milan was dedicated to St. Thecla. Many pray to her asking to obtain a good death.
Comments:
The presence of persecutors against St. Thecla among her very relatives and fiancé shows how vigilant we should be regarding enemies, and offers us a theme for meditation.
First, you certainly recall that in the battle of the angels against the devils at the beginning of History, there were two categories of devils. Some clearly rebelled against God; others just allowed themselves to be dragged along by the first ones.
God condemned them all, but the first ones were sent straight to Hell, while the second ones remained wandering in the air until the end times when they also will be sent to Hell. The devils of Hell are the ones who invite a man to sin, and the devils of the air are the ones who predispose man in different ways to succumb to the temptations.
Second, this division of devils is quite accurate psychologically and also applies to evil men. If you analyze the ensemble of evil men, some are the torch bearers of evil, while there are others who just allow themselves to be dragged along by the first type.
Third, for us, who have given our lives to fight for the victory of Our Lady over the Devil, it is relatively easy to see the evil of the first kind of man, since they are bold and blatant revolutionaries. But it is not so simple to see the evil of the second kind. Since they are soft people who follow the Revolution out of weakness and allow themselves to be dragged along rather than take initiative as leaders, we have a natural tendency to be indulgent with this second type. Many times we think that these persons are, deep down, good individuals. We are mistaken. This judgment is equivalent to that of someone who would say that the devils of the air are also good. No, they are not. They clearly sided with the bad party, and for this reason, were condemned by God. An analogous criterion applies to men, even though they will only be judged at their deaths.
What is the reason for this? If a man, habitually and without remorse, follow evil and forms a common front with the worst enemies of the good cause, then he is bad. He has a hatred for someone who converts and begins to truly serve Our Lady and Our Lord. So, even if such persons know how to disguise their sentiment well, at heart they hate the Catholic cause. We should be vigilant when facing them.
You can see a confirmation of this in the life of St. Thecla. She was a prominent person in her city. She had a great culture in an epoch when the culture was a factor of prestige, almost as prestigious as being a movie star or good football player is in our days. She had her relatives and a fiancé to support her.
As soon as she converted she realized that she should avoid those very persons who had been close to her before. Why? Because she probably noticed that they were firmly rooted in the ways of evil and would not convert. She was right. For it was her relatives who tried to make her renounce her faith. Her own mother was the one who denounced her before the pagan authorities to be tortured and killed.
After she moved to Antioch the text reports an admirer who made advances toward her. Was he her betrothed from Iconium? If so, the man would have had to journey in pursuit of her only to denounce her in Syria, as her mother had done in Iconium. Today many people would say that he was in love and that he only denounced her as an act of despair over her refusal.
To say he loved her is fallacious. The true sentiment that was inspiring him was egotism and hatred for the Catholic cause. St. Thecla resisted, and he denounced her as a Catholic, a denunciation that would result in her death. You can see how deep was his hatred, which appears to many as love.
She suffered many tortures. The text doesn’t make a full description, but such torments usually took place in large amphitheatres, or circuses, with great numbers of persons watching. Even from the brief description given, one can see that many miracles were made by God to preserve her and keep her alive and unharmed.
The selection does not indicate that there were any other conversions among those who witnessed the miracles. That is, all those people concurred with her mother and her admirer. Since they saw all the miracles God made to save her but didn’t care about them, those people were also bad.
She was saved miraculously and released, and she spent the rest of her life separated from the world. She renounced everything she could normally expect in life in order to serve the Catholic cause. She understood the hostility of the world and because she was vigilant, she was victorious over it.
I believe it is very important to ask St. Thecla to help us have the same understanding and vigilance, because, in our fight, one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome is to see the bad side of the second type of evil men – the ones who are being dragged along by the Revolution and can appear to be good.
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