St. Aurea October 6

 St. Aurea

Feastday: October 6

Death: 8th century

Abbess of Rouen. Born in Amiens, France, Aurea entered the religious life and became abbess of a very large community. She was known for her piety and wisdom.

St. Ceollach October 6

St. Ceollach

Feastday: October 6

Death: 7th century

Irish bishop of the Mercians or Middle Angles of England. He retired to lona, Scotland, but died in Ireland

Bl. Diego Luis de San Vitores October 6

 Bl. Diego Luis de San Vitores

Feastday: October 6

Birth: 1627

Death: 1672

Beatified: October 6, 1985, Vatican by Pope John Paul II

Image of Bl. Diego Luis de San Vitores

Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores (1627-1672) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary who founded the first Catholic church on the island of Guam. He is responsible for establishing the Spanish presence in the Mariana Islands.

Diego Luis de San Vitores (November 12, 1627 – April 2, 1672) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary who founded the first Catholic church on the island of Guam. He is responsible for establishing the Christian presence in the Mariana Islands. He is a controversial figure to some today due to his conflict with the indigenous Chamorro leader Mata'pang.

Early life

A son of a nobleman, he was baptised Diego Jerónimo de San Vitores y Alonso de Maluendo. He was born on November 12, 1627, in the city of Burgos, Spain to Don Jerónimo de San Vitores and Doña María Alonso Maluenda. His parents attempted to persuade him to pursue a military career, but San Vitores instead chose to pursue his religious interests. In 1640, he entered the Jesuit novitiate and was ordained a priest in 1651. San Vitores was granted his request for a mission in the Philippines.

In 1662, San Vitores stopped in Guam on the way to the Philippines and vowed to return. Three years later, through his close ties to the royal court, he persuaded King Philip IV of Spain and Queen Maria Ana of Austria to order a mission in Guam be established.

Mission to Guam

In 1668, San Vitores set sail from Acapulco to Guam. San Vitores called the Chamorro archipelago "Islas Marianas" (Mariana Islands) in honour of the Queen Regent of Spain, Maria Ana of Austria, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The missionary landed on Guam in the village of Hagåtña and was greeted by Chief Kepuha. Kepuha's family donated land to establish the first Catholic mission on Guam. On February 2, 1669, Padre San Vitores established the first Catholic Church in Hagåtña and dedicated it to "the sweet name of Mary," "Dulce Nombre de Maria."

According to former journalist and Guampedia editor, Tanya Champaco Mendiola: "The Chamorros initially welcomed San Vitores and the other Catholic missionaries and hundreds were readily converted. The nobles of the community may have believed this would elevate their social status while others village chiefs desired priests for their own village, probably as symbols of status. Some islanders apparently also received the sacrament of baptism more than once for the gifts of beads and clothing they were given. This enthusiasm for Catholicism did not last long, however, as several factors quickly came into play including the conflicts it created in the hierarchal caste system of the Chamorros. The church preached that once baptized, people were equal in the eyes of God. The missionary’s dogmatic zeal was also not well received as the Jesuits shunned long-standing traditional beliefs and practices in trying to assimilate the Chamorros in Christian doctrine. This included the rejection of the Chamorros long standing veneration of ancestors. As part of the religious practices of Chamorro culture, people had the skulls of deceased family members placed in baskets in places of honor in their homes. The Chamorros believed that this allowed their deceased to have a place to stay and often sought the guidance of their ancestors and favors from them in their daily endeavors. The missionaries told the Chamorros that their ancestors (including parents and grandparents) were burning in hell because they had not been baptized as Christians." [1]

The destruction of venerated ancestral skulls is often cited as a grave and insensitive offense by the missionaries against the indigenous Chamorro people.

After Chief Kepuha's death in 1669, Spanish missionary and Chamorro relations worsened and the Chamorro - Spanish War began in 1671, led on the Chamorro side by Maga'låhi (Chief) Hurao. After several attacks on the Spanish mission, a peace was negotiated. Though San Vitores claimed to want to emulate Francis Xavier, who did not use soldiers in his missionization efforts in India, as his model priest, he also felt that a military presence would be necessary to protect the priests serving Guam.[citation needed] In 1672, San Vitores ordered Churches built in four villages, including Merizo. Later that year, Chamorro resistance increased.

Martyrdom

A Chinese man named Choco, a criminal from Manila who was exiled in Guam, began spreading rumours that the baptismal water used by missionaries was poisonous. As some sickly Chamorro infants who were baptized eventually died, many believed the story and held the missionaries responsible. Choco was readily supported by the macanjas (medicine men) and the urritaos (young males) who despised the missionaries.

In their search for a runaway companion named Esteban, San Vitores and his Visayan companion Pedro Calungsod came to the village of Tumon, Guam on 2 April 1672. There they learnt that the wife of the village chief Matapang gave birth to a daughter, and they immediately went to baptise the child. Influenced by the calumnies of Choco, the chief strongly opposed;[2] to give Mata'pang some time to calm down, the missionaries gathered the children and some adults of the village at the nearby shore and started chanting with them the tenets of the Catholic religion. They invited Mata'pang to join them, but he shouted back that he was angry with God and was fed up with Christian teachings.

Determined to kill the missionaries, Mata'pang went away and tried to enlist another villager, named Hurao, who was not a Christian. Hurao initially refused, mindful of the missionaries' kindness towards the natives, but when Mata'pang branded him a coward, he became piqued and capitulated. Meanwhile, during that brief absence of Mata'pang from his hut, San Vitores and Calungsod baptised the baby girl, with the consent of her Christian mother.

When Mata'pang learnt of his daughter's baptism, he became even more furious. He violently hurled spears first at Pedro, who was able to dodge the spears. Witnesses claim that Calungsod could have escaped the attack, but did not want to leave San Vitores alone. Those who knew Calungsod personally meanwhile believed that he could have defeated the aggressors with weapons; San Vitores however banned his companions to carry arms. Calungsod was hit in the chest by a spear and he fell to the ground, then Hurao immediately charged towards him and finished him off with machete blow to the head. San Vitores absolved Calungsod before he too was killed.

Mata'pang took San Vitores' crucifix and pounded it with a stone whilst blaspheming God. Both assassins then denuded the corpses of Calungsod and San Vitores, tied large stones to their feet, brought them out to sea on their proas and threw them into the water.[3]

Cultural references

While San Vitores remains venerated by many, he is also a figure of criticism in indigenous Chamorro art and literature today. The controversy over his bloody legacy in the Marianas remains strong. The well-known Chamorro poet Craig Santos Perez critically considers San Vitores's negative impact in his poem "from achiote" and other works. The spoken-word poet Jay Baza Pascua seeks to rehabilitate Mata'pang's image as a great chief and leader in his poem "A Descendant of Mata'pang."

Academic critiques

Vince Diaz focuses on San Vitores, the canonization movement, and San Vitores's legacy of "mass destruction" among the indigenous peoples of the Marianas in his book Repositioning the Missionary.

Cynthia Ross Wiecko describes San Vitores and other Jesuit missionaries as "agents of empire": "Using the lens of ecological change brings Jesuits into a different perspective, one where it is difficult to see them as heroes. Although the socially disruptive effects of militarization and forced catholicization were immediately visible, the two forces also worked hand in hand to destroy ancient Chamorro settlements and profoundly disrupt land use patterns." [4]

Wiecko also states: "Population estimates ranged from 35,000 to 60,000, with an estimated total Chamorro population throughout the Marianas between 40,000 and 100,000. Introduced diseases—especially smallpox, influenza, and tuberculosis—contributed to most of the decline after 1668, but deaths from the Spanish-Chamorro Wars certainly played a role in the indigenous population's decline as well. Reflecting the devastating blows to Guam's native population, the first official Spanish census in 1710 indicated the Chamorro population to be 3,197. At that time, twenty percent of the population lived in and around Agaña, with the remaining population spread among the other reducción villages. By 1760, the total population numbered just 1,654 and later fell to only 1,318 in 1786. This was just a shadow of the once-thriving Chamorro society Europeans first encountered. . . . The evidence here indicates that imperial dominance and catholicization shared similar roots of brutality, directly affecting changes in the landscape, settlement patterns, and land use. The combined effects of both fundamentally altered the island's people and environmental history." [4]

Robert Haddock on A History of Health on Guam: “. . . as the Spanish eventually quelled the Chamorro rebellion, “peace” was established at the price of the extinction of a race.”

Francis X. Hezel, SJ writes: “ What began as a religious mission to proclaim the gospel of peace soon degenerated into an out-and out war of military conquest which, as the histories have it, killed off vast numbers of native Chamorros before the missionaries were finally able to make believers out of the few survivors.” (From Conversion to Conquest: the Early Spanish Mission in the Marianas, Journal of Pacific History, pp 115-137, 1982.)

Nicholas Goetzfridt states: "A good non-action example would be the Spanish non-response to massive Chamorro depopulation. The first census of 1710 revealed that—although published interpretative variations eventually find middle ground in the 3,500 range—3,539 Chamorros (the most commonly cited number) remained out of early or pre-San Vitores ‘contact’ estimates ranging from as high as 100,000 to as low as 35,000 Chamorros living in the Mariana Islands. Regardless of the unrecoverable correct number, this figure represents a massive decline in the Chamorro population that went even further after the forced centralization of Chamorros onto Guam (with the exception of a few hundred “refugees” on Rota—Underwood 1973) and into the established, church-centered enclaves of Pago, Inapsan, Inarahan (Inarajan/Inalåhan), Merizo (Malesso’), Umatac (Humåtac), and Agat (Hågat) enforced by Joseph de Quiroga y Losada following his administrative destruction of many Chamorro villages after his 1680 arrival on Guam. By the 1758 full census, only 1,711 “native Indians” remained, along with 170 soldiers and 830 “Spanish & Filipinos.” This Spanish non-action is evident in the paucity of details concerning any Spanish effort to, if not stem the tide of this decline (often linked to an impending or even realized “extinction” of Chamorros), then render some form of medical response, particularly to the several epidemics and disease outbreaks that pepper the Spanish record. To find any reference to a Spanish effort on this front is to hold a wilting moment of history that cannot be extended into the context of Spain's centuries-long colonization of the Mariana Islands. And yet as scholarship has concerned itself with the chronological and interpretative “facts” of Guam's history, such a blatant gap in the telling of the Spanish colonial era—extending, of course, to the northern Mariana Islands—has gone unaccounted for and has yet to materialize simply because it is not part of this regurgitated record."

St. Epiphania of Pavia October 6

St. Epiphania of Pavia

Feastday: October 6

Death: 800

Benedictine nun of Pavia, Italy. She was reported to be the daughter of King Ratchis of the Lombards, who became a monk at Monte Cassino.

Epiphania, Epifania or Pyphania (died 800) is recorded in the late medieval traditions of Pavia as daughter of Ratchis (744/749 – 756/757), King of the Lombards and of Italy.

She was buried in the monastery of S. Maria Foris Portam, which was founded in Pavia, the Lombard capital, by her father.

St. Erotis October 6

 St. Erotis

Feastday: October 6

Death: 4th century

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Greek martyr who died at the stake. He is sometimes identified with St. Erotheis.

Bl. Isidore of Saint Joseph October 6

 Bl. Isidore of Saint Joseph

Feastday: October 6

Birth: 1881

Death: 1916

Beatified: 1984, Rome, Italy by Pope John Paul II

Image of Bl. Isidore of Saint Joseph

Blessed Isidore of Saint Joseph, also known as 'the Brother of the Will of God' born Isidore de Loor, a lay brother of the Passionist Congregation, born on April 13, 1881 in Vrasene, Belgium; died October 6, 1916 at Kortrijk, Belgium. Beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1984.

St. Francis Trung October 6

 St. Francis Trung

Feastday: October 6

Death: 1858

Canonized: Pope John Paul II

Martyr of Vietnam. He was born at Phon-xa, Vietnam, in 1825 and joined the army. Arrested as a Christian, Francis was beheaded at An­hoa. He was canonized in 1988.

The Vietnamese Martyrs (Vietnamese: Các Thánh Tử đạo Việt Nam), also known as the Martyrs of Annam, Martyrs of Tonkin and Cochinchina, Martyrs of Indochina, or Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions (Anrê Dũng-Lạc và các bạn tử đạo), are saints on the General Roman Calendar who were canonized by Pope John Paul II. On June 19, 1988, thousands of overseas Vietnamese worldwide gathered at the Vatican for the Celebration of the Canonization of 117 Vietnamese Martyrs, an event chaired by Monsignor Tran Van Hoai. Their memorial is on November 24 (although several of these saints have another memorial, as they were beatified and on the calendar prior to the canonization of the group).

History

The Vatican estimates the number of Vietnamese martyrs at between 130,000 and 300,000. John Paul II decided to canonize those whose names are known and unknown, giving them a single feast day.

The Vietnamese Martyrs fall into several groupings, those of the Dominican and Jesuit missionary era of the 18th century and those killed in the politically inspired persecutions of the 19th century. A representative sample of only 117 martyrs—including 96 Vietnamese, 11 Spanish Dominicans, and 10 French members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (Missions Etrangères de Paris (MEP))—were beatified on four separate occasions: 64 by Pope Leo XIII on May 27, 1900; eight by Pope Pius X on May 20, 1906; 20 by Pope Pius X on May 2, 1909; and 25 by Pope Pius XII on April 29, 1951.[citation needed] All these 117 Vietnamese Martyrs were canonized on June 19, 1988. A young Vietnamese Martyr, Andrew Phú Yên, was beatified in March, 2000 by Pope John Paul II.

Vietnamese martyrs Paul Mi, Pierre Duong, Pierre Truat, martyred on 18 December 1838.

The tortures these individuals underwent are considered by the Vatican to be among the worst in the history of Christian martyrdom. The torturers hacked off limbs joint by joint, tore flesh with red hot tongs, and used drugs to enslave the minds of the victims. Christians at the time were branded on the face with the words "tà đạo" (邪道, lit. "Left (Sinister) religion")[1] and families and villages which subscribed to Christianity were obliterated.[2]

The letters and example of Théophane Vénard inspired the young Saint Thérèse of Lisieux to volunteer for the Carmelite nunnery at Hanoi, though she ultimately contracted tuberculosis and could not go. In 1865 Vénard's body was transferred to his Congregation's church in Paris, but his head remains in Vietnam.[3]

There are several Catholic parishes in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere dedicated to the Martyrs of Vietnam (Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Parishes), one of which is located in Arlington, Texas in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.[4] Others can be found in Houston, Austin, Texas,[5] Denver, Seattle, San Antonio,[6] Arlington, Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, and Norcross, Georgia. There are also churches named after individual saints, such as St. Philippe Minh Church in Saint Boniface, Manitoba.[7]

The Nguyen Campaign against Catholicism in the 19th century

The Catholic Church in Vietnam was devastated during the Tây Sơn rebellion in the late 18th century. During the turmoil, the missions revived, however, as a result of cooperation between the French Vicar Apostolic Pigneaux de Behaine and Nguyen Anh. After Nguyen's victory in 1802, in gratitude to assistance received, he ensured protection to missionary activities. However, only a few years into the new emperor's reign, there was growing antipathy among officials against Catholicism and missionaries reported that it was purely for political reasons that their presence was tolerated.[8] Tolerance continued until the death of the emperor and the new emperor Minh Mang succeeding to the throne in 1820.

Converts began to be harassed without official edicts in the late 1820s, by local governments. In 1831 the emperor passed new laws on regulations for religious groupings in Viet Nam, and Catholicism was then officially prohibited. In 1832, the first act occurred in a largely Catholic village near Hue, with the entire community being incarcerated and sent into exile in Cambodia. In January 1833 a new kingdom-wide edict was passed calling on Vietnamese subjects to reject the religion of Jesus and required suspected Catholics to demonstrate their renunciation by walking on a wooden cross. Actual violence against Catholics, however, did not occur until the Lê Văn Khôi revolt.[8]

During the rebellion, a young French missionary priest named Joseph Marchand was living in sickness in the rebel Gia Dinh citadel. In October 1833, an officer of the emperor reported to the court that a foreign Christian religious leader was present in the citadel. This news was used to justify the edicts against Catholicism, and led to the first executions of missionaries in over 40 years. The first executed was named Francois Gagelin. Marchand was captured and executed as a "rebel leader" in 1835; he was put to death by "slicing".[8] Further repressive measures were introduced in the wake of this episode in 1836. Prior to 1836, village heads had only to simply report to local mandarins about how their subjects had recanted Catholicism; after 1836, officials could visit villages and force all the villagers to line up one by one to trample on a cross and if a community was suspected of harbouring a missionary, militia could block off the village gates and perform a rigorous search; if a missionary was found, collective punishment could be meted out to the entire community.[8]

Missionaries and Catholic communities were able to sometimes escape this through bribery of officials; they were also sometimes victims of extortion attempts by people who demanded money under the threat that they would report the villages and missionaries to the authorities.[8] The missionary Father Pierre Duclos said:

with gold bars murder and theft blossom among honest people.[8]

The court became more aware of the problem of the failure to enforce the laws and applied greater pressure on its officials to act; officials that failed to act or those tho who were seen to be acting too slowly were demoted or removed from office (and sometimes were given severe corporal punishment), while those who attacked and killed the Christians could receive promotion or other rewards. Lower officials or younger family members of officials were sometimes tasked with secretly going through villages to report on hidden missionaries or Catholics that had not apostasized.[8]

The first missionary arrested during this (and later executed) was the priest Jean-Charles Cornay in 1837. A military campaign was conducted in Nam Dinh after letters were discovered in a shipwrecked vessel bound for Macao. Quang Tri and Quang Binh officials captured several priests along with the French missionary Bishop Pierre Dumoulin-Borie in 1838 (who was executed). The court translator, Francois Jaccard, a Catholic who had been kept as a prisoner for years and was extremely valuable to the court, was executed in late 1838; the official who was tasked with this execution, however, was almost immediately dismissed.[8]

A priest, Father Ignatius Delgado, was captured in the village of Can Lao (Nam Định Province), put in a cage on public display for ridicule and abuse, and died of hunger and exposure while waiting for execution; [1] the officer and soldiers that captured him were greatly rewarded (about 3 kg of silver was distributed out to all of them), as were the villagers that had helped to turn him over to the authorities.[8] The bishop Dominic Henares was found in Giao Thuy district of Nam Dinh (later executed); the villagers and soldiers that participated in his arrest were also greatly rewarded (about 3 kg of silver distributed). The priest, Father Joseph Fernandez, and a local priest, Nguyen Ba Tuan, were captured in Kim Song, Nam Dinh; the provincial officials were promoted, the peasants who turned them over were given about 3 kg of silver and other rewards were distributed. In July 1838, a demoted governor attempting to win back his place did so successfully by capturing the priest Father Dang Dinh Vien in Yen Dung, Bac Ninh province. (Vien was executed). In 1839, the same official captured two more priests: Father Dinh Viet Du and Father Nguyen Van Xuyen (also both executed).[8]

In Nhu Ly near Hue, an elderly catholic doctor named Simon Hoa was captured and executed. He had been sheltering a missionary named Charles Delamotte, whom the villagers had pleaded with him to send away. The village was also supposed to erect a shrine for the state-cult, which the doctor also opposed. His status and age protected him from being arrested until 1840, when he was put on trial and the judge pleaded (due to his status in Vietnamese society as both an elder and a doctor) with him to publicly recant; when he refused he was publicly executed.[8]

A peculiar episode occurred in late 1839, when a village in Quang Ngai province called Phuoc Lam was victimized by four men who extorted cash from the villagers under threat of reporting the Christian presence to the authorities. The governor of the province had a Catholic nephew who told him about what happened, and the governor then found the four men (caught smoking opium) and had two executed as well as two exiled. When a Catholic lay leader then came to the governor to offer their gratitude (thus perhaps exposing what the governor had done), the governor told him that those who had come to die for their religion should now prepare themselves and leave something for their wives and children; when news of the whole episode came out, the governor was removed from office for incompetence.[8]

Many officials preferred to avoid execution because of the threat to social order and harmony it represented, and resorted to use of threats or torture in order to force Catholics to recant. Many villagers were executed alongside priests according to mission reports. The emperor died in 1841, and this offered respite for Catholics. However, some persecution still continued after the new emperor took office. Catholic villages were forced to build shrines to the state cult. The missionary Father Pierre Duclos (quoted above) died in prison in after being captured on the Saigon river in June 1846. The boat he was traveling in, unfortunately contained the money that was set for the annual bribes of various officials (up to 1/3 of the annual donated French mission budget for Cochinchina was officially allocated to 'special needs') in order to prevent more arrests and persecutions of the converts; therefore, after his arrest, the officials then began wide searches and cracked down on the catholic communities in their jurisdictions. The amount of money that the French mission societies were able to raise, made the missionaries a lucrative target for officials that wanted cash, which could even surpass what the imperial court was offering in rewards. This created a cycle of extortion and bribery which lasted for years.[8]

St. Magnus October 6

 St. Magnus

Feastday: October 6

Bishop of Heraclea or Citta Nuova in Italy He was a Venetian, and became bishop of Oderzo. When the Lombards invaded in 638, Magnus transferred his see to Citta Nuova.

St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds of Jesus October 6

 St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds of Jesus

Feastday: October 6

Patron: of Naples (co-patron); Gallo World Family Foundation

Birth: 1715

Death: 1791

Mystic and stigmatic, a Franciscan tertiary. She was born in Naples and became a Franciscan tertiary at the age of sixteen. Maria lived at home where she was abused until she became a priest's housekeeper in 1753. She had visions, bore the wounds of Christ's Passion, and was a known prophetess; among her predictions was the coming of the French Revolution. Maria was canonized in 1867 by Pope Pius IX.

Martyrs of Trier October 6

 Martyrs of Trier

Feastday: October 6

Innumerable martyrs slain in Trier, modem Germany. They were put to death under Roman Governor Rictiovarus during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian.

St. Nicetas October 6

 St. Nicetas

Feastday: October 6

Opponent of Iconoclasticism also called Nicetas of Constantinople. Born in Paphlagonia, Asia Minor (modem Turkey), he was a relative of Empress Irene and served in the imperial court of Constantinople. He served as her official representative to the Council of Nicaea and was named prefect of Sicily. In 811 he gave up his political career and became a monk in Constantinople. At the onset of the Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V the Armenian, Nicetas fled with an icon of Christ, but was caught and placed under arrest. Years later, he and other monks were exiled, finally ending up at a farm in Katisia, Paphlagonia. He spent his remaining years there.

St. Pardulphus October 6

 St. Pardulphus

Feastday: October 6

Birth: 657

Death: ~737

A Benedictine abbot. Originally from Sardent, Gueret, Limoges, France, He entered the Benedictine monastery at Gueret and subsequently became its much respected abbot. According to tradition, Parduiphus remained behind and alone in the monastery during the onslaught of the Arabs across southern France. He supposedly won the safety of the monastery through his assiduous prayer.

Saint Pardulphus (Pardulf, Pardoux) (657 – c. 737 AD) was a Frankish saint and Benedictine abbot. He is the author of the Vita Pardulfi, which is notable for the insight it provides into life in Aquitaine at the time.

He was born at Sardent, from a family of peasants. His legend states that he was a shepherd who decided to live as a hermit after experiencing a terrible storm. Lantarius, the count of Limoges, had built a monastery at Guéret. Pardulphus joined this monastery, later serving as its abbot. He followed strict penances, never keeping himself warm, and only eating once a week. He is alleged to have rejected heat from any source but the rays of the sun. However, as he grew old he did occasionally make use of “hot stones” to keep himself warm.[1] He rejected the consumption of all poultry, eating only the mushrooms the local peasants brought him.[2]

The Vita Pardulfi records a miracle performed by Pardulphus. Some carpenters were cutting wood with which to build the church of Saint-Aubin at Guéret. After they loaded the wood onto carts and returned to the building works, it was determined that the wood was too short. The carpenters’ superintendent wished to have the carpenters whipped in punishment for this, but Pardulphus intervened with a miracle that made the wood the right size and even surpassed the intended length. As a result, the excess wood was sawn off and hung in the church as an object of veneration.[3]

The Church of Saint-Pardoux, Haute-Vienne, is dedicated to Pardulphus.

According to tradition, during the Umayyad invasion of southern France, Pardulphus remained in his monastery. Umayyad forces, retreating after the Battle of Tours, arrived at the monastery. However, his monastery was spared from attack; this was attributed to Pardulphus’ prayers.

Veneration

His feast day is October 6. A reliquary that contained his arm had been preserved at the church of Sardent. However, it is now found at the Museum of Fine Art at Guéret.[4] A number of places in France, such as Saint-Pardoux-de-Drône, take their name from him.

St. Sagar October 6

 St. Sagar

Feastday: October 6

Death: 175

Martyred bishop of Laodicea, in Phrygia (modern Turkey). While supposedly a disciple of St. Paul (an unacceptable tradition), it is known that he was put to death, most likely during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Saint Sagar was supposedly a disciple of St. Paul (an unacceptable tradition),[1] it is known that he was Bishop of Laodicea, Phrygia. He suffered martyrdom during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Bl. Adalbero October 6

 Bl. Adalbero

Feastday: October 6

Death: 1090

Image of Bl. Adalbero

A bishop and defender of papal authority who endured trials for his loyalty. Adalbero was the son of an Austrian count of Lambach and studied in Paris. He was named the bishop of Wurzberg, Germany, but was forced into exile after defending Pope Gregory VII against King Henry IV. He retired to the Benedictine abbey in Lambach, where he remained until his death.

புனித ஃபிதஸ் (அ) ஃபெயித் (மூன்றாம் நூற்றாண்டு)அக்டோபர் 06

புனித ஃபிதஸ் (அ) ஃபெயித் 

(மூன்றாம் நூற்றாண்டு)

அக்டோபர் 06

இவர் பிரான்ஸ் நாட்டைச் சார்ந்தவர்.

கிறிஸ்துவின்மீது மிகுந்த நம்பிக்கை கொண்டதற்காக இவர், உரோமை மன்னன் தியோகிளயனால் உரோமைக் கடவுளை வழிபடுமாறு பணிக்கப்பட்டார்.

இதற்கு இவர் மறுப்புத் தெரிவித்ததால், உரோமை மன்னனால் பலவாறாகச் சித்திரவதை செய்து கொல்லப்பட்டார்.

இவர் கொல்லப்பட்ட ஆண்டு 303 ஆம் ஆண்டாக இருக்கலாம் என்று நம்பப்படுகிறது.

இவர் திருப்பயணிகள், சிறைக் கைதிகள், படைவீரர்கள் ஆகியோருக்குப் பாதுகாவலராக இருக்கிறார்.

St. Faith's feast day is October 6th. Her unreliable legend is that she was haled before Dacian, procurator at Agen, France, for her Christianity during Diocletian's persecution of the Christians. She was then tortured to death for her Christianity on a red-hot brazier. Also executed with her was St. Alberta (March 11th); when some of the spectators objected, Dacian had them beheaded.

Saint Faith or Saint Faith of Conques (Latin: Sancta Fides; French: Sainte-Foy; Spanish: Santa Fe) is a saint who is said to have been a girl or young woman of Agen in Aquitaine. Her legend recounts how she was arrested during persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire and refused to make pagan sacrifices even under torture. Saint Faith was tortured to death with a red-hot brazier. Her death is sometimes said to have occurred in the year 287 or 290, sometimes in the large-scale persecution under Diocletian beginning in 303. She is listed as Sainte Foy, "Virgin and Martyr", in the martyrologies.

The center of her veneration was transferred to the Abbey of Sainte-Foy, Conques, where her relics arrived in the ninth century, stolen from Agen by a monk from the Abbey nearby at Conques.

Legend

A number of legends exist regarding Faith, and she was confused with the three legendary sisters known as Faith, Hope, and Charity.[2] She is recorded in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum under October 6, but the date of her death is not given.[3] A Passio, now lost, once existed, and appears in summarized form in the ninth-century martyrology of Florus of Lyon.[3][4] Her legends portray her as a patron who could turn against those who only gave small donations to her church at Conques.[2]

It is believed that Saint Faith, a young girl from Agen, was martyred at the end of third or beginning of the fourth century,[4] in which she was tortured over a brazier.[5] The first extant reference to the martyrdom of Faith exists in the late sixth-century manuscript copy of the martyrology of Jerome, who died in 420, in which her feast day is listed as 6 October.[4] Faith's martyrdom was later recounted in the Passio in the mid-ninth-century.[4]

Accounts

Medieval depiction of Faith's martyrdom.

Her popular[a] hagiography, Liber miraculorum sancte Fidis,[6] attributed to the churchman Bernard of Angers (composed between ca 1013 and after 1020), calls miracles associated with Faith joca—Latin for "tricks" or "jokes", the kind that "the inhabitants of the place call Sainte Foy's jokes, which is the way peasants understand such things."[7] One such joke was the following story: a local castellan holds onto a ring that his dying wife had promised to the saint. The castellan, whose name is Austrin, uses the ring, however, to wed his second wife. Saint Faith causes the finger of the second wife to swell up in unbearable pain. Austrin and his new wife visit the saint's shrine, and on the third night, "when the sorrowful woman happened to blow her nose, the ring flew off without hurting her fingers, just as if it had been hurled from the strongest siege engine, and gave a sharp crack on the pavement at a great distance."[8] She was also known to restore the eyes and eyesight of those who lost them while being faithful to her, often retracting their eyesight when they became arrogant.[9]

The Cançó de Santa Fe, celebrating Saint Faith in 593 octosyllabic lines, is the earliest known written work in the Catalan language, set down during the reign of Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, between 1054 and 1076 (often dated c. 1070[10]). It was primarily based on a now lost Latin Passio sanctorum Fidis et Caprisii.[11]

Saint Faith's life and martyrdom has been recounted in several other verse narratives and martyrologies. A French verse narrative of Saint Faith, La Vie de Sainte Foy, was written by Simon of Walsingham, a monk at the Bury St Edmunds Abbey based on Latin sources.[12]

Veneration

During the 12th century,[13] Faith's cult (i.e., devotion and religious practices associated with her)[14] was fused with that of Caprasius of Agen (Caprais) and Alberta of Agen, both associated with Agen[15] Caprasius' cult in turn was also fused with that of Primus and Felician, who are called Caprasius' brothers.[16] Simon of Walsingham's 12th-century verse narrative of Saint Faith's life, La Vie de Sainte Foy, Dacian, Caprais, and Primus and Felician figure heavily.[17]

One legend, retold in La Vie de Sainte Foy by Simon of Walsingham in the 12th century, states that during the persecutions of Christians by the prefect Dacian, Caprasius fled to Mont-Saint-Vincent, near Agen. He witnessed the execution of Faith from atop the hill. Caprasius was condemned to death, and was joined on his way to execution by Alberta, Faith's sister (also identified as Caprasius' mother[16]), and two brothers, named Primus and Felician. All four were beheaded.

Cult and reliquary

Ninth-century reliquary of Saint Faith at Conques.

Abbey of Sainte-Foy, Conques.

In the fifth century, Dulcitius, bishop of Agen, ordered the construction of a basilica dedicated to her, later restored in the 8th century and enlarged in the 15th. It was demolished in 1892 due to an urban planning effort at Agen.[3]

The center of her cult was not the basilica but the abbatial church of Saint Foy at Conques.[3] In the year 866, her remains had been transferred to Conques, which was along the pilgrimage route to Compostela. Her cult, centered at the Abbatiale Sainte-Foy de Conques, spread along the pilgrim routes on the Way of St. James—and beyond, for her cult became popular in England, Italy, and South America.[2] In c. 1105, a priory dedicated to Saint Faith was erected in Horsham, a village in Norfolk, by Robert and Sybil Fitzwalter, in which murals of Saint Faith have survived, discovered in 1969 hidden behind a refectory wall.[14]

The gilded reliquary at Conques was described in Bernard of Angers's Book of Miracles of Sainte Foi, about 1010. Bernard of Anger's Book of Miracles of Sainte Foy provides an insightful testimony of his reaction towards Sainte Foy as a Medieval cleric and his ambivalent attitude towards reliquaries in general. His change in attitude came when he witnessed an "economically charged [miracle]" in which another cleric, Odalric, claimed he was beaten by Sainte Foy. Thus, Bernard of Angers believed that Sainte Foy punishes non-believers, and, despite previously attacking the statue, he justified his newfound devotion by stating by claiming that the idol was a "vehicle to the saint and not the saint herself." [18]It has since been repeatedly adapted and enriched, into the nineteenth century. The head itself, made of a different gold from the body—which is fashioned of thin plates over a yew wood—has been tentatively identified as an imperial portrait of the Later Roman Empire. Thomas Hoving, former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has alternately theorized that the life-size golden face is a portrait or death mask of Charlemagne.[19]

Part of her relics were moved to the monastery of Sant Cugat in Catalonia in 1365. However, the reliquary can be seen in the Abbey at Conques, in France.[1] Important churches were also dedicated to her at Conches-en-Ouche in Normandy and at Sélestat, in Alsace (see St. Faith's Church, Sélestat).[3][20]

In culture

Several geographical locations have been named after Saint Faith in North America: In the United States, the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well as the Santa Fe Springs in Los Angeles, California, take their namesake from Saint Faith.[21]

✠ அருளாளர் மேரி ரோஸ் டியுரோச்சர் ✠(Blessed Marie Rose Durocher)அக்டோபர் 6

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(அக்டோபர் 6)

✠ அருளாளர் மேரி ரோஸ் டியுரோச்சர் ✠

(Blessed Marie Rose Durocher)

“இயேசு மற்றும் மரியாவின் புனித பெயர்களின் சகோதரியர்” எனும் அமைப்பின் நிறுவனர்:

(Foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary)

பிறப்பு: அக்டோபர் 6, 1811

தூய அந்தோனி-சுர்-ரிச்செளியு, லோயர் கனடா, பிரிட்டிஷ் பேரரசு

(Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Lower Canada, British Empire)

இறப்பு: அக்டோபர் 6, 1849 (வயது 38)

லாங்குவெய்ல், கனடா மாகாணம், பிரிட்டிஷ் பேரரசு

(Longueuil, Province of Canada, British Empire)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை (கனடா மற்றும் அமெரிக்கா)

(Roman Catholic Church - Canada and the United States)

முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: மே 23, 1982

திருத்தந்தை இரண்டாம் ஜான் பால்

(Pope John Paul II)

முக்கிய திருத்தலங்கள்:

மேரி-ரோஸ் சிற்றாலயம், தூய பதுவை அந்தோனியார் இணைப் பேராலயம், லாங்குவெய்ல், கியூபெக், கனடா

(Chapelle Marie-Rose, Co-cathedral of St. Anthony of Padua in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: அக்டோபர் 6

அருளாளர் மேரி ரோஸ் டியுரோச்சர், ஒரு கனடிய ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க அருட்சகோதரியும், “இயேசு மற்றும் மரியாவின் புனித பெயர்களின் சகோதரியர்” (Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary) எனும் கல்வி கற்பிக்கும் அமைப்பின் நிறுவனருமாவார்.

தொடக்க கால வாழ்க்கை:

“யூலலி மெலனி டியுரோச்சர்” (Eulalie Mélanie Durocher) எனும் இயற்பெயர் கொண்ட இவர், கிழக்கு கனடா நாட்டின் காடுகள் நிறைந்த பிரதேசமான “கியூபெக்” (Quebec) பகுதியில், “தூய அந்தோனி-சுர்-ரிச்செளியு” (Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu) எனும் கிராமத்தில் பிறந்தார். வசதியுள்ள விவசாய குடும்பத்தைச் சேர்ந்த ‘ஒலிவர்” (Olivier) இவரது தந்தை ஆவார். இவரது தாயாரின் பெயர், “ஜெனீவீ டியுரோச்சர்” (Geneviève Durocher)ப் ஆகும். இவரது பெற்றோருக்குப் பிறந்த பதினோரு குழந்தைகளில் இவர் பத்தாவது குழந்தை ஆவார். மூன்று சகோதரர்கள் குழந்தைப் பருவத்திலேயே மரித்துப் போக, அவரது சகோதரர்களான “ஃபிலேவியன்”, “தியோபில்”, மற்றும் “யூசெப்” (Flavien, Théophile, and Eusèbe) ஆகிய மூவர் ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையின் குருக்களானார்கள். ஒரு சகோதரி “செரஃபின்” (Séraphine) கனடாவின் “மாண்ட்ரீல்” (Montreal) எனுமிடத்திலுள்ள “நோட்ரே டேம் சபையில்” (Congregation of Notre Dame) இணைந்து துறவறம் பூண்டார்.

டியுரோச்சர், தமது பத்து வயதுவரை, தமது தந்தை வழி பாட்டனார் “ஒலிவர் டியுரோச்சரிடம்” (Olivier Durocher) கல்வி பயின்றார். 1821ம் ஆண்டு இவரது பாட்டனார் மரித்துப் போனதும், “செயின்ட்-டெனிஸ்-சுர்-ரிச்செலியு” (Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu) எனுமிடத்திலுள்ள “நோட்ரே டேம் சபையினர்” நடத்தும் பள்ளியில் 1823ம் ஆண்டுவரை கல்வி கற்றார். தமது பன்னிரண்டு வயதில் அங்கேயே “புதுநன்மை” (First Communion) அருட்சாதனம் பெற்றார். பின்னர், வீட்டிலிருந்தே கல்வியைத் தொடர்ந்தார். இக்காலகட்டத்தில், “சீசர்” (Caesar) எனும் பெயர் கொண்ட குதிரையை சொந்தமாக வாங்கிய இவர், தகுதிவாய்ந்த குதிரையேற்றம் (Equestrian) செய்பவரானார்.

தமது பதினாறு வயதில், “மாண்ட்ரீல்” (Montreal) எனுமிடத்திலுள்ள “நோட்ரே டேம் சபையின்” உண்டுறை பள்ளியில் சேர்ந்த டியுரோச்சர், அதே சபையில் ஏற்கனவே அருட்சகோதரியாயுள்ள தமது தமக்கை “செரஃபினை” போலவே தாமும் அச்சபையிலேயே துறவற புகுநிலையில் (Novitiate) இணைய விரும்பினார். ஆனால், அவரது உடல்நிலை மிகவும் நலிவடைந்துள்ளதாக நிரூபிக்கப்பட்டதால், துறவற பயிற்சியை பூர்த்தி செய்ய இயலாத டியுரோச்சர், இரண்டு வருடங்களின் பின்னர் வீடு திரும்பினார்.

கி.பி. 1830ம் ஆண்டு, டியுரோச்சரின் தாயார் “ஜெனீவீ” மரித்துப் போனதால், வீட்டைக் கவனித்துக்கொள்ளும் பொறுப்பு இவரிடம் வந்தது. பின்னர் 1831ம் ஆண்டு, தமது சகோதரர் “தியோஃபில்” உதவி பங்குத் தந்தையாக பணியாற்றும் பங்கின் குருக்கள் மற்றும் அலுவலர்கள் தங்கும் இல்லத்துக்கு தமது தந்தையுடன் வந்து தங்கிய இவர், அவ்வில்லத்தின் பணிப்பெண்ணாகவும், தமது சகோதரரின் செலயலராகவும் கி.பி. 1843ம் ஆண்டுவரை பணியாற்றினார். இந்த காலகட்டத்தில், சுற்றுப்புற கிராமப்புறங்களில் பள்ளிகள் மற்றும் ஆசிரியர்களின் கடுமையான பற்றாக்குறை பற்றி அவர் அறிந்திருந்தார். வசதியுள்ள, மற்றும் ஏழைச் சிறுவர்களின் கல்விக்காக அர்ப்பணிப்புள்ள ஒரு மத சமூகத்தின் அவசியம் பற்றி தமது குடும்பத்தினர் மற்றும் பரிச்சயமுள்ளவர்களுடன் விவாதித்தார்.

நிறுவனர்:

கி.பி. 1841ம் ஆண்டு, “லாங்குவெய்ல்” (Longueuil) பங்குத்தந்தை “லூயிஸ்” (Louis-Moïse Brassard), ஃபிரான்ஸ் நாட்டின் “மார்செய்ல்ஸ்” (Marseilles) மறைமாவட்ட ஆயர், “சார்ள்ஸ்” (Charles-Joseph-Eugène de Mazenod) என்பவருடன் கனடாவின் “கியூபெக்” (Quebec) மாகாணத்தில் நிறுவப்படவேண்டிய புதிய சபை பற்றிய பேச்சுவார்த்தையில் இறங்கினார். முன்மொழியப்பட்ட பணியைப் பற்றி அறிந்துகொண்ட டியுரோச்சர், கனடாவுக்கு வரவிருக்கும் புதிய சபையின் துறவற புகுநிளைக்காக தமது சிநேகிதியான “மெலடி” (Mélodie Dufresne) என்பவருடன் சேர்ந்து தந்தை லூயிஸ் மூலமாக அதற்கு விண்ணப்பித்தார். ஆனால், இப்புதிய சபைக்கான பணிகள் மேற்கொண்டு நடக்கவில்லை.

கி.பி. 1841ம் ஆண்டு, டிசம்பர் மாதம், 2ம் தேதி, “ஒப்லேட் தந்தையர்” (Oblate Fathers) எனப்படும், “மாசற்ற மரியாளின் ஒப்லேட் மறைப்பணியாளர் சபையின்” (Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate) குழுவொன்று “மோன்ட்ரீல்” (Montreal) வந்து சேர்ந்தது. 1842ம் ஆண்டு ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம், “லாங்குவெய்ல்” (Longueuil) நகரில் ஒரு ஆலயத்தைக் கட்டி திறந்தனர். இந்த தந்தையர் குழுவிலுள்ள அருட்தந்தை “டெல்மன்” (Father Pierre-Adrien Telmon) என்பவர் டியுரோச்சரின் ஆன்மீக வழிகாட்டியானார். கி.பி. 1843ம் ஆண்டு, அக்டோபர் மாதம், தமது சகோதரர் “யூசூபின்” (Eusèbe) சத்திய பிரமாண வைபவங்களைக் காண்பதற்காக “லாங்குவெய்ல்” (Longueuil) பயணித்த டியுரோச்சர், அங்கே ஆயர் “போர்கேட்” (Bishop Bourget) என்பவரைச் சந்தித்தார். அங்கே, இவரது ஆன்மீக வழிகாட்டியான தந்தை “டெல்மன்” மற்றும் ஆயர் “போர்கேட்” இருவரும் புதிதாய் ஆரம்பிக்கப்படவுள்ள, இளைஞர்களின் கல்விக்கு அர்ப்பணிக்கப்பட்ட ஆன்மீக சபையின் தலைமைப் பொறுப்பினை ஏற்குமாறு டியுரோச்சரை வேண்டினர். இதனை ஏற்றுக்கொண்ட இவர், தமது சிநேகிதியான “மெலடி” (Mélodie Dufresne) மற்றும் உள்ளூரின் ஆசிரியையாக பணியாற்றி வந்த “ஹென்றியட்” (Henriette Céré) ஆகியோருடன் இணைந்து தமது பணிகளை தொடங்கினர்.

கி.பி. 1844ம் ஆண்டு, ஃபெப்ரவரி மாதம், 28ம் தேதி, ஆயர் “போர்கேட்” (Bishop Bourget) நடத்திய ஒரு சிறு விழாவில், இம்மூவரும் தமது துறவற புகுநிலையைத் (Novitiate) தொடங்கினர். துறவற சீருடைகளைப் பெற்றுக்கொண்ட இவர்கள், தமது ஆன்மீக பெயர்களையும் தேர்ந்து கொண்டனர். டியுரோச்சர், “சகோதரி மேரி-ரோஸ்” (Sister Marie-Rose) என்றும், “மெலடி” (Mélodie Dufresne), “சகோதரி மேரி-அக்னேஸ்” (Sister Marie-Agnes) என்றும், “ஹென்றியட்” (Henriette Céré), “சகோதரி மேரி-மகதலின்” (Sister Marie-Madeleine) என்றும் பெயர்களை ஏற்றுக்கொண்டனர். புதிதாய் தொடங்கப்பட்ட சபைக்கு மறைமாவட்ட அங்கீகாரமளித்த ஆயர் போர்கேட், புதிய சபைக்கு “இயேசு மற்றும் மரியாவின் புனித பெயர்களின் சகோதரியர்” (Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary) எனும் பெயரிட்டார். கி.பி. 1844ம் ஆண்டு, டிசம்பர் மாதம், 8ம் நாளன்று, மூவரும் தமது சத்திய பிரமாணங்களை ஏற்றுக்கொண்டனர். போர்கேட், சகோதரி மேரி ரோசை புதிய சபையின் தலைமை அன்னை என்றும், பயிற்சித்துறவியரின் தலைவர் என்றும் அங்கீகரித்தார். அருட்சகோதரியர் மூவரும் “சகோதரி மேரி-மகதலினுடைய” பள்ளி இல்லத்தில் கற்பிக்கும் பணியைத் தொடங்கினர். ஆனால் இவர்களது பணிக்கான வேண்டுதல்கள் அசாதாரணமானதாக இருந்தது. அவர்களுக்கிருந்த இடம் போதாமையால் பெரிய இடத்துக்கு மாறினார்கள். மாணவர்களின் எண்ணிக்கை எதிர்வரும் வருடங்களில் கூடிக்கொண்டே போனதால், அடுத்தட ஐந்து வருடங்களுக்குள் இன்னும் நான்கு பள்ளிகளை திறந்தார்கள். முப்பது புதிய ஆசிரியைகளை சேர்த்தார்கள். தொடக்கத்தில் சிறுமிகளுக்கு மட்டுமே கல்வி என்று ஆரம்பித்த இவர்களது பணி, பின்னர் வேறு வழியின்றி, சிறுவர்களுக்குமாக என்றானது.

கி.பி. 1845ம் ஆண்டு, மார்ச் மாதம், 17ம் தேதி, கனடிய பாராளுமன்றம் தமது நடவடிக்கை மூலம் இச்சகோதரியரை இணைத்தது. 1846ம் ஆண்டு, கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையிலிருந்து விலகி, எதிர்த்திருச்சபைக்கு சென்ற அருட்தந்தை “சார்ள்ஸ்” (Charles Chiniquy) என்பவருடன் சகோதரி மேரி ரோஸுக்கு மோதல் ஏற்பட்டது. இவர், அருட்சகோதரியரின் பள்ளிக்கூடங்களை தமது கட்டுப்பாட்டில் கொண்டுவர எண்ணினார். இவரது இந்த எண்ணம் சகோதரி மேரி ரோசால் உடைக்கப்பட்டதால், இவர் அருட்சகோதரியரைப் பற்றி வெளிப்படையாக பொதுவில் இழிவுபடுத்தி விமர்சிக்க தொடங்கினார்.

மரணமும் முக்திபேறும்:

தமது வாழ்நாள் முழுதும் மோசமான உடல்நிலையால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டிருந்த அருட்சகோதரி மேரி ரோஸ், கி.பி. 1849ம் ஆண்டு, அக்டோபர் மாதம், 6ம் நாள், ஒரு வீணான நோயின் காரணமாக மரித்தார். அவரது வயது, முப்பத்தெட்டு ஆகும்.

† Saint of the Day †

(October 6)

✠ Blessed Marie Rose Durocher ✠

Foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary:

Born: October 6, 1811

Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Lower Canada, British Empire

Died: October 6, 1849 (Aged 38)

Longueuil, Province of Canada, British Empire

Venerated in:

Roman Catholic Church

(Canada and the United States)

Beatified: May 23, 1982

Pope John Paul II

Major Shrine:

Chapelle Marie-Rose Co-cathedral of St. Anthony of Padua in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada

Feast: October 6

The Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, S.N.J.M., was a Canadian Roman Catholic religious sister, who founded the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. She was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 1982.

Durocher Eulalie (baptized Eulalie Mélanie Durocher), named Mother Marie-Rose, founder and first superior of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in Canada; b. 6 Oct. 1811 in Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Lower Canada, daughter of Olivier Durocher and Geneviève Durocher; d. 6 Oct. 1849 in Longueuil, Lower Canada.

Eulalie Durocher was the tenth of 11 children, 3 of whom died in infancy. Her father, a wealthy farmer, had partially completed his classical studies, and her mother had been given the most attentive schooling at the Ursuline convent in Quebec. Consequently, both were in a position to ensure that their children obtained a good education. Eulalie’s brothers Flavien*, Théophile, and Eusèbe entered the priesthood, and her sister Séraphine joined the Congregation of Notre-Dame.

Eulalie did not attend the village school; her paternal grandfather Olivier Durocher, a distinguished and scholarly man who served in the militia, undertook to be her teacher at home. Upon his death in 1821, however, the little girl went as a boarding-pupil to the convent run by the Congregation of Notre-Dame in Saint-Denis on the Richelieu. After taking her first communion at the age of 12, she returned home; there she was again tutored privately by Abbé Jean-Marie-Ignace Archambault, a teacher at the Collège de Saint-Hyacinthe. Eager to dedicate herself to God in the religious life, she entered the boarding-school of the Congregation of Notre-Dame in Montreal in 1827, intending to do her noviciate there as had her sister Séraphine. But after two years of study broken by long periods of rest, she had to abandon her plans for the religious life because of poor health. She went back home, to await God’s good time.

At her mother’s death in 1830 Eulalie took over her role and became the life and soul of the family. Of an ardent temperament, easily peremptory, deeply pious, she had a special influence on those around her. Her brother Théophile, curé of Saint-Mathieu parish in Belœil, managed to persuade his father to move from the ancestral farm to the presbytery at Belœil; Eulalie assumed the housekeeping duties, which she carried out from 1831 till 1843. In the comings and goings of the busy presbytery, Eulalie’s calling gradually took shape. The serious political, educational, and religious problems of the day were freely discussed there. She took an interest in them and became aware of the urgent need to make education accessible to children in the countryside whether rich or poor. As there was an alarming shortage of schools and teachers, she began to dream of a religious community that could easily establish more convents. When in 1841 the parish priest of Longueuil, Louis-Moïse Brassard*, appealed to the Sœurs des Saints-Noms de Jésus et de Marie of Marseilles, in France, Eulalie enrolled herself in advance, with her friend Mélodie Dufresne, as a novice in this congregation. But the French sisters did not proceed. The bishop of Marseilles, Charles-Joseph-Eugène de Mazenod, who had founded the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, then advised the bishop of Montreal, Ignace Bourget*, to set up a fledgeling religious community with the two women who had been eager to be part of the anticipated French group.

In the meantime, an initial party of Oblates, including Father Adrien Telmon, had arrived in Montreal. Telmon came to Belœil to conduct popular missions, and he quickly recognized in Eulalie a mentor able to gather kindred souls about her and guide them in the ways of the spirit. He lost no time in encouraging her to found a religious community typically Canadian in its dedication to educating the young. She, Mélodie, and Henriette Céré, the first three candidates, began to prepare themselves for the religious life under the guidance of the Oblates in October 1843. They moved into a building in Longueuil used as a school, in which Henriette Céré taught. On 28 Feb. 1844, Bishop Bourget conducted the ceremony when the three young women took the habit. Eulalie became Sister Marie-Rose in the community, which assumed the name and the institutions of the Sœurs des Saints-Noms de Jésus et de Marie of Marseilles. On 8 December of that year, Bourget received the religious vows of all three in the parish church. Marie-Rose was then named superior, mistress of novices, and depositary.

Mother Marie-Rose faced many difficulties, not the least being her community’s disputes with Abbé Charles Chiniquy*. Chiniquy entered the Oblates’ noviciate in 1846 and wanted to take control of the teaching in the schools established by the sisters When he met with refusals from the perspicacious superior, he publicly disparaged the community. Despite the storms, Mother Marie-Rose stood firm. A woman of great virtue, in close communion with the Lord and a peerless educator, she gave the community an impetus that has not been lost with the passage of time. When she died on 6 Oct. 1849, on her 38th birthday, the community already had 30 teachers, 7 novices, 7 postulants, and 448 pupils in 4 convents.

After the funeral, Bourget told the mourning sisters: “I confess to you with heartfelt sincerity that I was deeply moved to see so many virtues knit together in one soul... I begged her to procure me the same zeal for governing my diocese as she had for directing you.” Thirty years later, in 1880, Bourget was to say: “I invoke her aid as a saint for myself, and I hope that the Lord will glorify her before men by having the church award her the honours of the altar.” His last wish was fulfilled on Sunday 23 May 1982 in St Peter’s Square in Rome, when before a huge crowd Pope John Paul II proclaimed Marie-Rose Durocher blessed.

~ Marguerite Jean

புனித புரூனோ St. Brunoநினைவுத் திருநாள் : அக்டோபர் 6

இன்றைய புனிதர்: 

(06-10-2020)

புனித புரூனோ 

St. Bruno

நினைவுத் திருநாள் : அக்டோபர் 6

பிறப்பு : 1030, கொலோன் Köln, ஜெர்மனி

இறப்பு : 6 அக்டோபர், செர்ரா சான் புரூனோ Serra San Bruno

புனிதர்பட்டம்: 17 பிப்ரவரி 1623, திருத்தந்தை 15 ஆம் கிரகோரி

பாதுகாவல்: கலாப்ரியா நகர்(Calabria)

இவர் தனது கல்வியை பிரான்சிலுள்ள ரைம்ஸ் (Rheims) நகரில் முடித்தார். 1056 ஆம் ஆண்டு ரைம்சில் இறையியல் பேராசிரியராக பணியாற்றினார். அப்போது அக்கல்லூரியின் தலைமைப் பேராசிரியராகப் பொறுப்பையும் ஏற்றார். பின்னர் 1075 ஆம் ஆண்டில் ரைம்சில் ஆலய நிர்வாகியாக (Chancellor) நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். அதன்பிறகு 1088 ல் திருத்தந்தை 2 ஆம் ஊர்பான் (Urban II) அவர்களுக்கு ஆலோசகராக நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். 

இவர் மிக தைரியத்துடன் விசுவாசத்தை அறிவித்தார். திருச்சபையில் சிறந்த எழுத்தாளராக திகழ்ந்தார். பல புத்தகங்களை எழுதினார். இவரின் இளமைப் பருவ வாழ்வைப் பற்றி அதிகம் அறியப்படவில்லை. இவர் புனித பவுலைப் பற்றியும், திருப்பாடல்களைப் பற்றியும் Commentary on St. Paul and Psalms) எழுதிய புத்தகம் புகழ்பெற்றது.

திருச்சபையில் திருத்தந்தைக்கு எதிராக நடக்கும் அநீதிகளை அகற்ற, திருத்தந்தை 7 ஆம் கிரகோரிக்கு பெரிதளவில் உதவினார். இறைவனின் மேல் கொண்ட பற்றால், கர்த்தூசியன் (Carthusian) சபையை தொடங்கினார். இச்சபை தொடங்கிய காலத்தில், திருச்சபையால் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்படவில்லை. 1514 ஆம் ஆண்டிலிருந்து திருத்தந்தை 10 ஆம் லியோ மீண்டும் அச்சபையை ஊக்கமூட்டி வளர்த்தெடுத்தார். 

செபம்:

எங்கள் தாயும் தந்தையுமான மூவொரு இறைவா! சிறந்த அறிவாளியான புனித புரூனோவை, எம் திருச்சபைக்கு, கொடையாகத் தந்தமைக்காக உமக்கு நன்றி கூறுகின்றோம். அற்புதமான முறைய்ல் பணியை ஆற்றிய புரூனோவைப்போல, நீர் எமக்குத் தந்த அறிவை பயன்படுத்தி, சிறப்பாக செயல்பட உம் ஆசீரைத் தாரும்.

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

Saint of the Day: (06-10-2020)

Saint Bruno

Educated in Paris and Rheims, France. Ordained c.1055. Taught theology; one of his students later became Pope Blessed Urban II. Presided over the cathedral school at Rheims from 1057 to 1075. Criticized the worldliness he saw in his fellow clergy. He opposed Manasses, Archbishop of Rheims, because of his laxity and mismanagement. Chancellor of the archdiocese of Rheims. Following a vision he received of a secluded hermitage where he could spend his life becoming closer to God, he retired to a mountain near Chartreuse in Dauphiny in 1084 and with the help of Saint Hugh of Grenoble, he founded what became the first house of the Carthusian Order; he and his brothers supported themselves as manuscript copyists. Assistant to Pope Urban II in 1090, and supported his efforts at reform. Retiring from public life, he and his companions built a hermitage at Torre, where, 1095, the monastery of Saint Stephen was built. Bruno combined in the religious life the eremetical and the cenobitic; his learning is apparent from his scriptural commentaries.

Born : 

1030 at Cologne, Germany

Died: 

1101 at Torre, Calabria, Italy of natural causes

• buried in the church of Saint Stephen at Torre

Canonized: 

1623

Patronage: 

possessed people

• Ruthenia

---JDH---Jesus the Divine Healer---