*ST. EUGENIUS* July 13

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July  1⃣3⃣

_Feast_ 🌟

*ST. EUGENIUS*

The episcopal see of Carthage had remained vacant for 24 years, when, in 481, the Arian King Huneric of north Africa permitted the Catholics on certain conditions to choose a Bishop.

The Catholics, impatient to enjoy the comfort of a Bishop, pitched upon Eugenius, a citizen of Carthage, eminent for his learning, zeal, piety, and prudence.

But soon King Huneric sent him an order never again to sit on the episcopal throne, preach to the people, or admit any Catholic into the Church.

Bishop Eugenius boldly answered that the laws of God commanded him not to shut the door of His church to anyone that desired to serve Him in it.

King Huneric, enraged at this answer started, persecuting the Catholics in various ways. Many nuns were so cruelly tortured that they died on the rack. Great numbers of bishops, priests, deacons, and eminent Catholic laymen were banished into the African desert filled with scorpions and venomous serpents.

Bishop Eugenius was banished into the desert of Tripoli. under the custody of a man named Antonius who dwelt in the desert &.treated him with the utmost barbarity.

Gontamund, who succeeded King Huneric, recalled Bishop Eugenius to Carthage, opened the Catholic churches, and allowed all the exiled priests to return. After reigning for twelve years, King Gontamund died, and his brother Thrasimund ascended the throne.

Soon Bishop Eugenius was again arrested & banished into exile at Vienne, near Albi, where Eugenius built a monastery over the tomb of St. Amaranthus the martyr, and led a penitential life till his death on 13 July, 505 AD.

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ஆண்டெஸ் நகர் இயேசுவின் புனித தெரசா(1900-1920)July 13

ஜூலை 13

ஆண்டெஸ் நகர் இயேசுவின் புனித தெரசா

(1900-1920)

இவர் சிலி நாட்டில் உள்ள சந்தியாகு என்ற நகரில் பிறந்தவர். இவருடைய பெற்றோர் வசதியானவர்கள். ஆனாலும், இறைவன் மீது மிகுந்த நம்பிக்கை கொண்டவர்களாகத் திகழ்ந்தார்கள்.

இதனாலேயே அவர்கள் இவரை இறைநம்பிக்கையிலும் பிறரன்பிலும் நல்ல முறையில் வளர்த்து வந்தார்கள். 

சிறுவயதில் முன் கோபக்காரராக இருந்த இவர், படிப்படியாக வளர்ந்து வந்தபோது, கோபம் கொள்வதை அப்படியே குறைத்துக்கொண்டார். 

இதற்குப் பிறகு இவர் கார்மேல் சபையில் சேர்ந்து துறவியானார். துறவு மடத்தில் இவரது வாழ்க்கை பலருக்கும்  எடுத்துக்காட்டாக இருந்தது.

ஆனால், யாரும் எதிர்பாராதவிதமாக இவர் துறவியான அடுத்த ஆண்டிலேயே தீராத நோயினால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு, இறையடி சேர்ந்தார்.

இவர் இறக்கும்போது இவருக்கு வயது வெறும் 20 தான். இவருக்கு புனித திருத்தந்தை இரண்டாம் ஜான் பால் 1993 ஆம் ஆண்டு, மார்ச் திங்கள் 21 ஆம் நாள் புனிதர் பட்டம் கொடுத்தார்.

இவர் இளைய தலைமுறையினருக்குப் பாதுகாவலியாக இருக்கிறார்.

அருளாளர் மார்ஸியானோ நகர் ஏஞ்சலின் ✠ July 13

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(ஜூலை 13)

✠ அருளாளர் மார்ஸியானோ நகர் ஏஞ்சலின் ✠

(Blessed Angeline of Marsciano)

சபை நிறுவனர்/ மடாலய தலைவி:

(Foundress and Abbess)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 1357

மான்ட்டேகியோவ், ஊம்ப்ரியா, திருத்தந்தையர் மாநிலங்கள்

(Montegiove, Umbria, Papal States)

 

இறப்பு: ஜூலை 14, 1435

ஃபாலிக்னோ, ஊம்ப்ரியா, திருத்தந்தையர் மாநிலங்கள்

(Foligno, Umbria, Papal States)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

அருளாளர் பட்டம்: மார்ச் 8, 1825

திருத்தந்தை பன்னிரெண்டாம் லியோ

(Pope Leo XII)

முக்கிய திருத்தலம்:

சீசா டி சேன் ஃபிரேன்செஸ்கோ, ஃபோலிக்னோ, இத்தாலி

(Chiesa di San Francesco, Foligno, Perugia, Italy)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: ஜூலை 13

“மார்ஸியானோ நகர் ஏஞ்சலின்” (Angeline of Marsciano) என்றும், “மான்ட்டேகியோவ் நகர் ஏஞ்சலினா” (Angelina of Montegiove) என்றும் அழைக்கப்படும் இவர், ஒரு இத்தாலிய கத்தோலிக்க அருட்சகோதரியும், “ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கன் மூன்றாம்நிலை சபையின் அருட்சகோதரிகளின் சபையின்” (Congregation of Religious Sisters of the Franciscan Third Order Regular) நிறுவனரும் ஆவார். இன்று இச்சபை, "அருளாளர் ஏஞ்சலினின் ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கன் அருட்சகோதரிகள் சபை" (Franciscan Sisters of Blessed Angeline) என்றழைக்கப்படுகிறது.

கி.பி. 1357ம் ஆண்டு, ஊம்ப்ரியாவிலுள்ள மூதாதையர்களின் “மான்ட்டேகியோவ்” என்னும் கோட்டையில் (Castle of Montegiove) பிறந்த இவருடைய தந்தை பெயர் “ஜாகோபோ” (Jacopo Angioballi) ஆகும். இவருடைய தாயார் “அன்னா” (Anna) ஆவார்.

தமது ஆறு வயதிலேயே தமது ஒரு சகோதரியுடன் அனாதரவாகவும் தனிமையிலும் விடப்பட்ட ஏஞ்சலினா, தமது பதினைந்து வயதில், “ஸிவிடெல்லா டெல் ட்ரொன்டோ” (Count of Civitella del Tronto) நகரின் பிரபுவான “கியோவன்னி ட டேர்னி” (Giovanni da Terni) என்பவருக்கு திருமணம் செய்து வைக்கப்பட்டார். ஆனால், இரண்டே வருடங்களில் அவரது கணவர் மரணமடைந்ததால், குழந்தைகளற்ற ஏஞ்சலினா, விதவையானார். தமது கணவரின் தோட்டங்களை நிர்வகிக்கும் பொறுப்பேற்றார்.

பின்னர், தமது வாழ்வினை இறைவனுக்கு அர்ப்பணிக்க தீர்மானித்தார். தமது திருமணத்தின் முன்னரே செயல்படுத்த விரும்பியதை இப்போது சாதித்தார். "மூன்றாம் நிலை ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கன்" சபையில் அருட்சகோதரியாக இணைந்தார்.

பல துணைவர்களுடன் இணைந்து நாட்டின் கிராமங்களில் செயல்படும் வகையில் 'அப்போஸ்தலிக்க சபை' ஒன்றினை தொடங்கினார். "மனம் திரும்புதல் மற்றும் கன்னித்தன்மையின் மதிப்புகளை" போதிக்க ஆரம்பித்தார். அத்துடன், அவசியப்படுபவர்களுக்கு தேவைப்படும் உதவிகளையும், சேவைகளையும் செய்ய ஆரம்பித்தார்.

நாட்டின் இளம்பெண்களை கத்தோலிக்க வாழ்வு வாழ அழைத்த காரணத்தால், இவர் ஒரு மந்திரவாதி என்றும், பெண்களுக்கெதிராக - திருமணம் செய்வதை தடுக்கும் வகையில் போதனைகள் செய்வதாகவும் குற்றம் சாட்டப்பட்டதால் இவரது மத போதனைகளும் செயல்பாடுகளும் தடுத்து நிறுத்தப்பட்டன. நேப்பிள்ஸ் அரசர் “லாடிஸ்லாஸ்” (Ladislas, the King of Naples) அவர்களின் முன்னர் நிறுத்தப்பட்ட ஏஞ்சலினா, தமது தரப்பு வாதங்களை எடுத்து வைத்தார். அவற்றை ஏற்றுக்கொண்ட அரசர், ஏஞ்சலினாவை குற்றச்சாட்டுக்களிலிருந்து விடுவித்தார். ஆனால், மீண்டும் பிரச்சினைகள் ஏற்படாதிருக்கும் பொருட்டு, ஏஞ்சலினாவையும் அவரது தோழர்களையும் நாடு கடத்த உத்தரவிட்டார்.

அதன்பிறகு, ஏஞ்சலினா “அசிசி” (Assisi) பயணமானார். வழியில், "ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கன் சபையின் தொட்டில்" (The Cradle of the Franciscan Order) என அழைக்கப்படும் பேராலயமான “சான்ட மரியாவில்” (Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli) இளைப்பாருதலுக்காகவும் செபிப்பதற்காகவும் தங்கினார். அங்கே, அவருக்கு ஆண்டவர் இயேசு காட்சியளித்தார். 'ஃபோலிக்னோ' (Foligno) என்னும் இடத்தில் “மூன்றாம் நிலை ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கன் சபையின்” (Third Order of Saint Francis) சட்டப்படி நடக்கும் “துறவியர் மடம்” ஒன்றினை தொடங்க இறைவன் கட்டளை இட்டார். இதற்கு அங்குள்ள உள்ளூர் ஆயர் ஒப்புதலளித்தார்.

கி.பி. சுமார் 1394ம் ஆண்டு “ஃபோலிக்னோ” (Foligno) என்ற இடத்தில் தங்கிய ஏஞ்சலினா, “புனித அன்னா” (St. Anna) என்ற சிறிய மடாலயத்தில் இணைந்தார். அங்கே தலைமைப் பொறுப்பினை ஏற்ற அவர், கி.பி. 1397ம் ஆண்டு, பன்னிரண்டு பெரும் சபைகளை நிறுவி, அதன் தலைமை பொறுப்பேற்றார். கி.பி. 1435ம் ஆண்டு, இவருடைய மரணத்தின் முன்னரே, இவருடைய சபை “ஃப்ளோரன்ஸ்” (Florence), “ஸ்போலேடோ” (Spoleto), “அசிசி” (Assisi) மற்றும் “விடெர்போ” (Viterbo) ஆகிய இடங்களிலும் விரிவடைந்தது.

கி.பி. 1435ம் ஆண்டு, ஜூலை மாதம், 14ம் நாளன்று, மரணமடைந்த ஏஞ்சலினா, ஃபோலிக்னோவில் (Foligno) உள்ள “புனித ஃபிரான்சிஸ் ஆலயத்தில்” (Church of St. Francis) அடக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டார்.

கி.பி. 1825ம் ஆண்டு, மார்ச் மாதம், 8ம் நாளன்று, திருத்தந்தை பன்னிரெண்டாம் லியோ (Pope Leo XII) அவர்களால் ஏஞ்சலினாவுக்கு அருளாளர் பட்டம் அளிக்கப்பட்டது.

† Saint of the Day †

(July 13)

✠ Blessed Angeline of Marsciano ✠

Foundress and Abbess:

Born: 1377 AD

Montegiove, Umbria, Papal States

Died: July 14, 1435

Foligno, Umbria, Papal States

Venerated in:

Roman Catholic Church

(Third Order of St. Francis and the Poor Clares)

Beatified: March 8, 1825

Pope Leo XII

Major shrine:

Chiesa di San Francesco, Foligno, Perugia, Italy

Feast: July 13

The Blessed Angelina of Marsciano, T.O.R., or Angelina of Montegiove was an Italian Religious Sister and foundress and is a beta of the Roman Catholic Church. She founded a congregation of Religious Sisters of the Franciscan Third Order Regular, known today as the Franciscan Sisters of Blessed Angelina. She is generally credited with the founding of the Third Order Regular for women, as her religious congregation marked the establishment of the first Franciscan community of women living under the Rule of the Third Order Regular authorized by Pope Nicholas V.

Unlike the Second Order of the Franciscan movement, the Poor Clare nuns, they were not an enclosed religious order, but have been active in serving the poor around them for much of their history. She is commemorated by the Franciscans on June 4; her liturgical feast is July 13.

Biographical selection:

Angelina was born in 1377 in Montegiove, near Orvieto, Italy, descending from the Counts of Marsciano on her father's side and the Counts of Corbara on her mother's. At age 12 she consecrated her virginity to God, but three years later her father arranged a marriage for her with the Count of Civitella del Tronto in the Abruzzo region in the Kingdom of Naples.

The girl implored her father to let her consecrate herself to God, but her pleas were made in vain. He even threatened his daughter with death if she would not consent to marry in eight days. 

Afflicted in spirit, Angelina had recourse to Our Lord, Who told her to observe the will of her father. Following this counsel, she agreed to marry the Count. The ceremony was performed with great pomp and the traditional feasting. 

On the wedding night, the young lady fled to her room, filled with anguish, and knelt at the feet of a crucifix asking Our Lord to protect her. When the Count arrived, he asked the reason for her tears and she told him about her vow. Hearing this, he was touched by grace and desired to follow her example.

Therefore, he knelt beside his young spouse and promised to respect her vow and to live chastely with her as a sister. Both thanked God for the great grace they had received. Two years later, the Count died leaving Angelina free to manage her life. 

Angelina entered the Third Order of St. Francis and dedicated herself to works of charity and the conversion of sinners. The many miracles she worked made her famous, which caused her to move to Civitella. When many other young ladies from great families entered Angelina's convent, the nobles of the city became displeased and complained to the King that she was opposing the married vocation. In response to these complaints, the King expelled her from his Kingdom. 

She and her companions went to Assisi and then Foligno, where her community of Third Order sisters received papal approval in 1397. She had soon established 15 similar communities of women who followed the Franciscan Rule in other Italian cities. She died on July 14, 1435, as a mother of a great religious family, and was beatified in 1825.

Comments:

This is a very beautiful biography that presents us with the great trials through which Blessed Angelina passed and the great confidence in Divine Providence she showed. 

She had made the vow of virginity. Her father determined that she should marry and threatened her with death if she did not obey his command. It is the eternal position of the liberal: When a person makes the vow of virginity, he will even threaten to kill him to prevent him from fulfilling it. 

On the contrary, if the person were to choose to be bad and commit a sin, he would grant him full liberty to do so, alleging that every person is free to choose what he wants. Probably, if Angelina’s father would have had a licentious daughter, he would have closed his eyes to her wayward behavior; but since she was not, he became a veritable tyrant.

Someone could object: You are talking about liberalism, but at that time in the Middle Ages liberalism did not exist. 

I respond: Liberalism did not exist as a clearly explained doctrine, but liberalism as an impulse, as a habitual state of contradiction and a constant hatred of those who are truly good has always existed since original sin. Hence, here we can properly speak of liberalism. 

She turned to God to ask Him what to do; God revealed to her that she should marry. She was obedient, but conserved at the depth of her soul the hope that she would not be asked to lose her beloved virginity. Then, after a day of feasting – a tragic day for the poor young lady – she knelt before the Crucifix and asked Our Lord to come to her aid so that she might remain a virgin in the new state He had ordered her to enter. 

Her spouse entered the room and found her weeping near the Crucifix. He asked for the reason. She told him, and he made the decision to live with her as a brother. What a beautiful transformation! It is a true moral miracle!

This change in the attitude of her spouse occurred to reward her confidence because until the last minute she had continued to hope against all hope. Nothing indicated that she would escape the inevitable, but at the last moment there was a miracle and an escape appeared. 

Two years later, the young man died and she was free. She had not lost her virginity and was in conditions to consecrate herself fully to her vocation. 

She founded a convent that bloomed and attracted many young women. Again, we witness the bad attitude of the parents: They did not want their daughters to follow Angelina and called for her expulsion from the Kingdom of Naples. 

Blessed the time when a Saint could found a convent without persecution and become it's superior, attracting young noblewomen who could have a much more agreeable and easy life living in the world! Blessed the time when there was such receptivity for the vocations God gives! 

She was expelled from the Kingdom of Naples, but she founded other convents wherever she went. Her work was completed: She had founded a religious congregation. From one failure to another, from trial after trial, she accomplished her whole mission. Many persons became furious with her, but they could not prevent her from fulfilling her vocation. Why?

Because Our Lady had her hand on St. Angelina and, as the hymn of the Marian Congregations records: “The swords of a thousand soldiers are not feared, By one who fights in the shadow of the Immaculate.” Our Lady resolved everything, she conquered everything. 

This life gives us a lesson for our apostolate. We must understand that at times we will face unexpected obstacles in the way of the higher, the more difficult, the nobler things that we desire to do, and that this is because Our Lady wants to resolve the case by herself. All human efforts are ineffective in the face of obstacles. But it does not matter. A moment will come when Our Lady intervenes and what was inspired by grace will be accomplished. 

We must have confidence in the interior voice in our souls, in what God Our Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady, tells us in the interior of our soul because it will be accomplished.

The Book of Confidence starts with these words: “O Voice of Christ, mysterious voice of grace that resounds in the silence of our souls, Thou murmurs in the depths of our hearts words of sweetness and peace.” How many times indeed do we feel in our soul's movements of grace-filled with sweetness and peace, which lead us to ask things that seem to be impossible to obtain! But, as we continue to hope against all hope in that sweetness and peace, as we continue to pray and act, those promises end by being accomplished. 

What is the great hope at the present moment? More than ever, we should hope that in the present tragic siege of the enemies against Our Lady and the Catholic Church, Our Lady will intercede with God to prompt Him to start to act and work His great restoration. We must hope that she wakes up Our Lord, Who seems to be sleeping in the Bark of Peter so that He will start to move and work His wonders. We see the Catholic Cause suffering so many persecutions everywhere, beset by so many trials… But when God will start to move, we will understand what the powerful arm of God is.

~ Late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

புனித இரண்டாம் ஹென்றி(St.Henry)அரசர் July 13

இன்றைய புனிதர் :

(13-07-2020)

புனித இரண்டாம் ஹென்றி(St.Henry)

அரசர்

பிறப்பு : 973

பவேரியா (Bavaria), ஜெர்மனி

    

இறப்பு : 1024

பாம்பர்க்(Bamberg), ஜெர்மனி

புனிதர்பட்டம்: 1146, திருத்தந்தை 3 ஆம் யூஜின்

இவர் பவேரியா நாட்டு அரசராக 995 ல் உரோம் பேரரசின் மன்னராக 1002 ல் உயர்வுப்பெற்றார். திருச்சபையின் நலனுக்காகவும், வளர்ச்சிக்காகவும் போர்களில் ஈடுபடத் தயங்காதவர். இவர் துறவற மடத் தலைவர்களையும், ஆயர்களையும் நியமனம் செய்யும் அதிகாரத்தை பெற்றிருந்தார். இவரின் துணைவியாரும் புனித வாழ்க்கை வாழ்ந்து புனிதர் பட்டம் பெற்றார். உரோம் நகரில் ஏற்பட்ட கலகத்தை நசுக்க திருத்தந்தை 8ஆம் ஆசீர்வதிப்பருக்கு மன்னர் உறுதுணையாயிருந்தார். இவர் மற்ற நாடுகளில் அமைதி நிலவ அரும்பாடுபட்டார். 

இவர் தன் நாட்டு மக்களுக்கு பின்வரும் இறைவசனத்தை அடிக்கடி கூறிவந்தார். "அழிந்து போகும் செல்வத்தை துறந்துவிட்டு என்றும் அழியா, நிலையான செல்வத்தை வான்வீட்டில் சேர்த்து இடத்தை தக்க வைத்துக்கொள்ளவேண்டும்" என்பதை மறக்கக்கூடாது என்பார். இவ்வுலகில் நாம் பெறும் புகழ் புகையாக மறைந்துவிடும். எனவே நிலையான பேரின்பத்தை அடைய முயற்சிக்கவேண்டும் என்று அடிக்கடி கூறுவார். தன் நாட்டில் கடவுளின் இரக்கத்தைப் பெற, பெரிய பெரிய ஆலயங்களைக் கட்டினார். அவற்றின் பராமரிப்பிற்காக செல்வங்களை வாரி வழங்கினார். பாக்பெர்கில்லிருந்து பணத்தை செலவிட்டார். இறுதிவரை இறைப்பணியாற்றி அவ்வாலய பணியின்போதே உயிர் துறந்தார். 

செபம்:

எல்லாம் வல்லவரே! அரசரான போதும் கூட, இவ்வுலக காரியங்களின் மேல் அக்கறை கொள்ளாமல், உம் மேல் அக்கறைகொண்டு வாழ்ந்தார் அரசன் ஹென்றி. தன் நாட்டு மக்களையும், விண்ணகத்தில் செல்வம் சேர்க்க தூண்டினார். இவரால் பவேரியா முழுவதும் இறைபக்தி பரவிற்று. இப்பக்தியானது அம்மக்களிடையே 

எப்போதும் நிலைக்க, அவர்களை வழிநடத்தியருள வேண்டுமென்று உம்மை மன்றாடுகின்றோம்.

---JDH---தெய்வீக குணமளிக்கும் இயேசு கிறிஸ்து /திண்டுக்கல்.

† Saint of the Day †

(July 13)

✠ St. Henry II ✠

Holy Roman Emperor:

Born: May 6, 973

Abbach, Bavaria, Germany, Holy Roman Empire

Died: July 13, 1024 (Aged 51)

Near Göttingen, Germany, Holy Roman Empire

Venerated in: Roman Catholic Church

Feast: July 13

Henry II knew as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor from 1014 until his death in 1024 and the last member of the Ottonian dynasty of Emperors as he had no children. The Duke of Bavaria from 995, Henry became King of Germany following the sudden death of his second cousin, Emperor Otto III in 1002, who was crowned King of Italy in 1004 and was crowned by the Pope as Emperor in 1014.

The son of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, and his wife Gisela of Burgundy, Emperor Henry II was a great-grandson of German King Henry I and a member of the Bavarian branch of the Ottonian dynasty. Since his father had rebelled against two previous emperors, the younger Henry was often in exile. This led him to turn to the Church at an early age, first finding refuge with the Bishop of Freising and later being educated at the cathedral school of Hildesheim. He succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria in 995 as "Henry IV". As Duke, he attempted to join his second-cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, in suppressing a revolt against imperial rule in Italy in 1002. Before Henry II could arrive, however, Otto III died of fever, leaving no heir. After defeating several other claimants to the throne, Henry II was crowned as King of Germany on July 9, 1002, and as King of Italy on 15 May 1004. Henry II in 1004 aided Jaromír, Duke of Bohemia against the Poles, definitively incorporating the Duchy of Bohemia into the Holy Roman Empire.

Unlike his predecessor, who had focused upon imperial attention in Italy, Henry spent most of his reign concerned with imperial territory north of the Alps. His main focus was on a series of wars against the Polish Duke Bolesław I, who had already conquered a number of countries surrounding him. Henry did, however, lead three expeditions into Italy to ensure imperial dominion over the peninsula: twice to suppress secessionist revolts and once to challenge the Byzantine Empire for dominance over southern Italy. On 14 February 1014, Pope Benedict VIII crowned Henry as Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.

The rule of Henry II is seen as a period of centralized authority throughout the Empire. He consolidated his power by cultivating personal and political ties with the Catholic Church. He greatly expanded the Ottonian dynasty's custom of employing clergy as counter-weights against secular nobles. Through donations to the Church and the establishment of new dioceses, Henry strengthened imperial rule across the Empire and increased control over ecclesiastical affairs. He stressed service to the Church and promoted monastic reform. For his personal holiness and efforts to support the Church, Pope Bl. Eugene III canonized him in 1146, making Henry II the only German monarch to be a saint. Henry II married Cunigunde of Luxembourg, who later became his queen and empress. As the union produced no children, after Henry's death the German nobles elected Conrad II, a great-great-grandson of Emperor Otto I, to succeed him. Conrad was the first of the Salian dynasty of Emperors.

He placed his army under the blessing of God and used to invoke the patron saints of his people, especially St. Adrian, a military martyr, whose sword was carefully conserved as a relic for a long time in Walbach.

With this protection, he organized an army and defeated the barbarians from the East who were invading Western Europe. Before facing the pagan Slavs, who were much superior in strength, he called on his army to pray and receive Communion. When the troops entered combat, an unexpected panic took hold of the enemy soldiers, who broke ranks and fled en masse. An Angel and three martyrs led his troops, causing the enemy to take flight in despair. The Slavs submitted to his rule, and Bohemia, Moravia, and Poland were in turn annexed to the Holy Empire. 

In 1006, he called a meeting of the Bishops in Frankfurt with the objective of regulating many points of discipline and enforcing a stricter observance of the ecclesiastical canons. Later, he would support the reform movement of Cluny. 

Twice he defeated the Lombards, who resisted the consolidation of the Empire and threatened the Pontifical States. After his first victory in 1004, he was crowned King of Lombardy in Pavia with the famous Iron Crown of that Kingdom. The second time, he had to do more than pacify the Lombards, since grave problems were afflicting the Church. Henry drove out an antipope and brought the legitimate Pope Benedict VIII back to Rome. 

When he and Empress Cunigunde went to Rome to visit the Pope, they were crowned Emperor and Empress of the Romans. The Sovereign Pontiff gave St. Henry a golden orb, a symbol of the imperial dignity, inlaid with pearls and topped by a cross. St. Henry, dignified by the many honors, gave the orb to St. Odilon, Abbot of Cluny, who was present at the ceremony so that those symbols would be conserved at the Monastery of Cluny.

St. Henry approached Stephen, King of Hungary, who was still a pagan and had not been received into the bosom of the Church. St. Henry II made an alliance with him, offering him the hand of his sister, Gisele, as his wife. Soon afterward King Stephen was baptized and the whole nation was brought to the faith of Christ. With the marvelous conversion of Stephen, Henry won a great King for the Church and a Saint for Heaven. 

After other military expeditions in Italy that resulted in the re-establishment of peace in the peninsula, he returned to Germany. On his way back, when he reached Luxembourg, he had a famous meeting with Robert, King of France, to resolve various political problems of Europe. The meeting was scheduled to take place on the banks of the Meuse River, which occasioned a problem of the protocol. If one Sovereign crossed the river to enter the other’s domain, the former would be subject to the laws of the latter. To resolve the delicate situation, it was planned for the Sovereigns to meet in boats in the middle of the river – a neutral area. But St. Henry disregarded the protocol and crossed to the French side in consideration for the virtues of the French King.

Comments:

This selection is somewhat wide-ranging because of the life of St. Henry is full of memorable acts that should be reported. For us to have a good understanding of the ensemble of these facts, it is necessary to place them in their historical context.

We are in the Middle Age, in the early 1000s. As you know, the Middle Age began with the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. It was invaded by incalculable hordes of barbarians. Those barbarians established themselves inside the imperial territory and ended by subjecting the Romans to their control. 

Gradually the Roman population also fell into barbarianism. The roads were abandoned with no one to care for them; the aqueducts that supplied the cities with water broke and no one repaired them; the palaces occupied by barbarians became dirty and disorganized; works of art in public places were ruined, and the cities fell into chaos. Everything that represented culture and civilization was miserably destroyed. In this situation Europe became illiterate and its level of customs sunk to unimaginably low levels. It took centuries to bring Europe to a state of civilization again. 

While everything was being crushed, the Catholic Church remained as the one existing institution. Those barbarians began to convert under her influence. The work the Church did with the European peoples was not so different from the work she later undertook to convert and civilize the Indians in the New World. The missionaries arrived, preached the catechism, and through successive generations, the Indians became civilized and acquired a certain culture. The same took place with those European tribes.

In the year 1000, civilization had already achieved much in relation to the original barbarian way of living, but Catholic Civilization was still far below the standards it would reach 200 or 300 years later. That is to say, at the time of St. Henry II, we are in a semi-barbarian situation. 

Some peoples were more civilized than others. In Europe, there were islands of an incipient Catholic civilization amid a sea of barbarian peoples who continued to go and come at will and attack the established kingdoms. Catholic life was very difficult with adversaries coming from all directions. 

One of the earliest conversions took place with the Germanic peoples who occupied the territory of present-day Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland. Those peoples became civilized and constituted a political entity called the Holy Roman German Empire. It was called Empire because it encompassed different peoples as a federation. Those free peoples agreed to be led – not governed – by a single political chief, elected by the various heads of State. So, as a league including a large territory and different peoples, it was called an Empire. It was called Roman because its model was the old Roman Empire; it was called German because it had been founded by German peoples, and it was called Holy because its principal finality was to defend the Catholic Church against the aggression of the pagans.

In the person of St. Henry II, we see an Emperor who was also a Saint. What a great political leader and head of an army were a saint does not fit very well with the lives of the saints taught by certain sentimental piety. Indeed, he held the highest office in the most important political organization of his time and was, therefore, the most powerful man in Europe. Simultaneously he was the greatest warrior of Europe and the first son of the Church. He was par excellence the son of the Church. He was the one who always protected the Church against the attacks of her enemies. 

He also had to face the peoples of the East who continuously attacked the Empire. So he gathered together a large army and counter-attacked those barbarians. He waged many wars and acted as a Catholic hero who had the spirit of Faith, relying more on supernatural help than on his natural forces. He asked God for the might to win his battles. To show St. Henry how his prayers were pleasing to Him, God gave him a miraculous victory on one occasion. As the two armies came face to face, the enemy troops fled the battlefield in panic for apparently no reason. In fact, to terrify his enemies, God had sent an Angel and the holy martyrs to whom Henry II had prayed. God was so pleased with the prayers of the warriors that he gave them the victory even without the combat. 

With this victory, the pagan forces from the East were broken and the claws of Paganism lost their strength.

But danger still threatened Christendom: the presence of the Lombards in North Italy. Lombardy was not a land of pagans, but heretics who were enemies of the Catholic Faith. They used to attack the Pope and the Papal territories and opposed the Catholic Empire. So St. Henry, with the support of the Italian Bishops, entered Lombardy, defeated its army, and then went on to Rome to visit and pay homage to Pope Benedict VIII.

It was on this occasion that the Pope crowned him Emperor of the Holy Roman German Empire. In a ceremony realized with great splendor, he gave St. Henry a golden orb inlaid with pearls representing the power of the Emperor over the world. But St. Henry did not keep that treasure. To prove his love for the Church, he offered the precious gift to the Holy Abbot Odilon, the head of the largest religious order of Europe at that time. 

After inflicting new defeats on the revolted Lombards, he returned to Germany. There he assisted the Bishops to exert their role of maintaining discipline in the Church. He also was instrumental in the conversion of a pagan King. He offered an alliance with Stephen, King of Hungary, together with the hand of his sister Gisela. She married Stephen and converted him. She did so good a job that he became a saint, St. Stephen, who afterward converted all of Hungary to the Catholic Faith.

Behind this conversion was the intelligent diplomatic maneuver of St. Henry. With this, he won a precious ally close to those Slavic enemy peoples who had just been pacified. His diplomatic sense was also demonstrated in the episode at the Meuse River, in which he gave up his privileges in order to please the French King. Crossing over to the French banks, St. Henry was implicitly paying homage to the King. That is, he who was more – an Emperor – paid homage to the one who was less in order to maintain cordial relations and to resolve the complicated problems of Europe. 

After all these services to the Church and Christendom, St. Henry died in 1024 in the peace of God as a great saint, warrior, diplomat, and politician. This is the glorious story of St. Henry II, Emperor. 

Let us pray to him to help us establish the foundation of a new Christendom that will be the Reign of Mary.

~ Late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira