All Saints' Day November 1

 All Saints' Day

All Saints' Day is a solemn holy day of the Catholic Church celebrated annually on November 1. The day is dedicated to the saints of the Church, that is, all those who have attained heaven. It should not be confused with All Souls' Day, which is observed on November 2, and is dedicated to those who have died and not yet reached heaven.

Although millions, or even billions of people may already be saints, All Saints' Day observances tend to focus on known saints --that is those recognized in the canon of the saints by the Catholic Church.

All Saints' Day is also commemorated by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church as well as some protestant churches, such as Lutheran and Anglican churches.

Generally, All Saints' Day is a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, meaning all Catholics are required to attend Mass on that day, unless they have an excellent excuse, such as serious illness.

Other countries have different rules according to their national bishop's conferences. The bishops of each conference have the authority to amend the rules surrounding the obligation of the day.

All Saints' Day was formally started by Pope Boniface IV, who consecrated the Pantheon at Rome to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs on May 13 in 609 AD. Boniface IV also established All Souls' Day, which follows All Saints.

The choice of the day may have been intended to co-opt the pagan holiday "Feast of the Lamures," a day which pagans used to placate the restless spirits of the dead.

The holy day was eventually established on November 1 by Pope Gregory III in the mid-eighth century as a day dedicated to the saints and their relics. The May 13 celebration was subsequently abandoned.

In Ireland, the Church celebrated All Saints' Day on April 20, to avoid associating the day with the traditional harvest festivals and pagan feasts associated with Samhain, celebrated at the same time.

Following the establishment of the Frankish Empire, and following the reign of Charlemagne, the holy day, which was already celebrated on November 1, became a holy day of obligation by decree of Pope Gregory IV and Louis the Pious, who was king over a portion of Charlemagne's former empire.

Following the Protestant Reformation, many Protestants retained the holy day, although they dismissed the need to pray for the dead. Instead, the day has been used to commemorate those who have recently died, usually in the past year, and to remember the examples of those who lived holy lives.

The Catholic practice however, celebrates all those who have entered heaven, including saints who are recognized by the Church and those who are not.

Holy day customs vary around the world. In the United States, the day before is Halloween and is usually celebrated by dressing in costumes with themes of death commonly associated. Children go door-to-door in costume, trick-or-treating, that is soliciting candy from their neighbors. The holiday has lost much of its connection to its religious origins.

Although nearly everyone celebrates Halloween for the fun of the secular holiday, the following religious solemnity, is not widely practiced or acknowledged by most Americans unless they are Catholic.

In other countries, such as Portugal, Spain and Mexico, traditional practices include performance of the play, "Don Juan Tenorio" and offerings made to the dead. All Saints' Say occurs on the same day as the Mexican "Dide los Innocentes" a day dedicated to deceased children.

Across much of Europe, the day is commemorated with offerings of flowers left on the graves of the dead. In Eastern Europe, candles are lit on graves instead of offerings of flowers.

In some places, such as the Philippines, graves can be painted and repaired by family members. Many of these practices blur the distinction between All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

These celebrations often blur the distinction between All Saints' Day, which is properly dedicated to those who are in heaven, and All Souls' Day, on which prayers are offered for all those who have died, but have not yet reached heaven.

In Mexico, the Day of the Dead holy days extend from October 31 through November 2.

It is important to remember these basic facts:

Halloween is a secular holiday that comes the night before All Saints' Day.

All Saints' Day is on November 1, and it is a Holy Day of Obligation.

All Souls' Day in on November 2, and it is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation.

The Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday that has spread in popularity into parts of the United States and across Latin America. It is celebrated from October 31 through November 2, to coincide with both the American tradition and the Catholic holy days. Those three days are dedicated to all of the dead.to all of the dead.

More about All Saints' Day from Wikipedia

All Saints' Day (in the Roman Catholic Church officially the Solemnity of All Saints and also called All Hallows or Hallowmas[1]), often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by parts of Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity, in honor of all the saints, known and unknown.

In Western Christian theology, the day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in Heaven. It is a national holiday in many historically Catholic countries. In the Roman Catholic Church, the next day, All Souls' Day, specifically commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been purified and reached heaven. Catholics celebrate All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day in the fundamental belief that there is a prayerful spiritual communion between those in the state of grace who have died and are either being purified in purgatory or are in heaven (the 'church penitent' and the 'church triumphant', respectively), and the 'church militant' who are the living. Other Christian traditions define, remember and respond to the saints in different ways.

In the East

 Eastern Orthodox icon of All Saints. Christ is enthroned in heaven surrounded by the ranks of angels and saints. At the bottom is Paradise with the bosom of Abraham (left), and the Good Thief (right).

Eastern Christians of the Byzantine Tradition follow the earlier tradition of commemorating all saints collectively on the first Sunday after Pentecost, All Saints' Sunday.

St. Vigor November 1

 St. Vigor

Feastday: November 1

Death: 537

Bishop and missionary. Born at Artois, France, he studied at Arras under St.Vedast and considered the idea of becoming a priest so overwhelmmg that he ran away when his father expressed his opposition to his ordination. Subsequently ordained, he preached at Raviere and worked as a missionary until 513 when he was named bishop of Baycux. As bishop, he opposed paganism and founded a church on the site of a one-time pagan idol. He also founded a monastery nearby, later known as St. Vigeur le Grand.

Saint Vigor (French: Saint Vigor, Vigeur; Latin: Vigor, Vigorus) (died circa 537 AD) was a French bishop and Christian missionary. An early vita was composed about 750–775, probably in Bayeux, where he had been bishop and was venerated from an early date.[1] Born in Artois, he studied at Arras under Saint Vedast. His noble father, preoccupied with worldly prestige, would not grant approval for him to become a priest, so he ran away from home, taking nothing with him, accompanied by an acolyte, Theodimir. Thereafter, he became a hermit preacher at Reviers, Calvados,[2] and worked as a missionary. Saint Vigor was named bishop of Bayeux in 514.[3]

He fervently opposed paganism and founded a monastery, later known as Saint-Vigor-le-Grand. In Bayeux, Normandy, he destroyed a pagan temple that was still in use and built a church on the grounds.[citation needed]

Veneration

In Normandy, Vigor was venerated and churches are dedicated to him. Normandy was the site for the establishment of his cult after the successful Norman conquest of England. Two English churches have been dedicated to Vigor; one in Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire, the other in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset.[4] His feast falls on All Saints' Day (November 1), and as a result is often moved to another date.[5] Saint Vigor is mentioned in the life (vita) of Saint Paternus.[5]

Bl. Teodor Romza November 1

 Bl. Teodor Romza

Feastday: November 1

Birth: 1911

Death: 1947

Beatified: Pope John Paul II

The Servant of God Bishop Theodore Romzha was born on 14 April 1911, in the village of Veliky Bychkiv, Transcarpathia. From 1930-1933, he studied philosophy in Rome and completed his theological education also in Rome from 1933-1937, culminating in a Licentiate. Shortly thereafter, he became an administrator of the parish in Berezovo. Beginning in 1939, he was a professor of philosophy at the seminary in Uzhorod. On 24 September 1944, he was ordained to the episcopacy for the Mukachevo eparchy. During the Red Army presence in the Carpathian region of Ukraine, he was tireless in his defence of the rights of the Catholic Church there. On 27 October 1947, the Soviets attempted to kill Bishop Romzha. Heavily wounded, he was taken to the hospital in Mukachiv, where he was subsequently poisoned and died on 1 November 1947.

St. Severinus November 1

 St. Severinus

Feastday: November 1

Death: 609

Benedictine monk and hermit. He lived at Tivoli, near Rome, and his relies are enshrined in that city.

St. Salaun November 1

 St. Salaun

Feastday: November 1

Death: 1358

Confessor, also called Salomon. He was a poor man who lived at Leseven, in Brittany. For years he was the object of contempt and disdain from his local community for being a fool. Later his level of spiritual attainment was recognized and he was venerated as a saint.

Bl. Peter Onizuko November 1

 Bl. Peter Onizuko

Feastday: November 1

Death: 1622

Japanese martyr. A native of Arima, Japan, Peter was converted to Christianity and became a Jesuit postulant. With Blessed Paul Navarro, whom he assisted in his work, he was seized by Japanese authorities and burned alive at Shimabara

Bl. Paul Navarro November 1

Bl. Paul Navarro

Feastday: November 1

Death: 1622

 

Martyr of Japan. A native of Laino, Cassano, Italy, Paul received an excellent education before becoming a Jesuit in 1587. He was sent to India where he was ordained, and subsequently went to Japan where he helped to build the rapidly growing Catholic community there, holding the post of superior. Arrested by Japanese authorities, he was burned alive at Shimabara along with two other Jesuits and an assistant. Blessed Paul Shinsuki was his catechist

St. Pabiali November 1

 St. Pabiali

Feastday: November 1

Death: 5th or 6th century

Welsh patron saint. He is believed to have been one of the saintly descendant of a local Welsh king. A chapel in Wales is dedicated in his honor.

St. Mathurin November 1

 St. Mathurin

Feastday: November 1

Patron: of comic actors, jesters, and clowns, as well as the patron saint of sailors (in Brittany), of tinmen (in Paris) and of plumbers; invoked against mental illness and infertility.

Death: ~300

Evangelist and confessor, sometimes called Maturinus. He was born in a pagan family at Larchant, France. Baptized at age twelve, he was ordained a priest by St. Polycarp. A successful missionary, Mathurin was also an exorcist. He died in Rome.

 

For the place, see Saint-Mathurin. For Maturinus Corderius, see Corderius.

Saint Maturinus, or Mathurin[4] (died ca. 300 AD[2]) was a French exorcist and missionary venerated as a saint.

The first source to mention Maturinus is the Martyrology of Usuard, written in 875.[2] In the next century, a biography of Maturinus was composed. According to his legend, Maturinus was born in Liricantus (now Larchant). His parents, Marinus and Euphemia, were pagan. His father was entrusted by Maximian with the task of exterminating the Christians of the region.

His son Maturinus, however, was secretly baptized by Polycarp,[5] when the boy was twelve. According to legend, he began to perform miracles, drive out demons, and calm rowdy or riotous individuals. He eventually converted his parents to Christianity.[6]

He became a priest at the age of twenty, and took care of the diocese when the local bishop went to Rome.[6]

His fame grew, and emperor Maximian himself requested that he come to Rome so that his daughter-in-law Flavia Maximiana Theodora, who had been possessed by an evil spirit, could be cured by the saint. The demon in Theodora’s body was expelled. Maturinus lived for three more years in Rome, interceding with the emperor on behalf of persecuted Christians. He died on November 1, and was buried in a Roman cemetery. However, Maturinus miraculously indicated that he wished to be buried in Larchant; his body was taken to Sens and then to Larchant.[2]

Veneration

Basilica of Saint Mathurin in Larchant

Maturinus' relics were kept at Saint-Mathurin, Larchant, as well as in the church of Saint-Mathurin in Paris, situated in the Latin Quarter.[2] Saint-Mathurin de Larchant, a property of the chapter of Notre-Dame de Paris since 1005,[7] was rebuilt beginning in 1153, and the church became a popular pilgrimage site, which Harry Bailey, host of the Tabard Inn of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales was recalling, when he swore "by that precious corpus Madrian".[8] Both Louis XI and Henry IV visited the church.[2] In Patricia Highsmith's novel The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980), the two principal characters visit the basilica en route to an outing in the Forest of Fontainebleau.[9]

Maturinus’ cult became popular during the Middle Ages. He was invoked against mental illness and infertility,[2] and the faculty of medicine of the University of Paris kept their great seal safely in the Church of Saint-Mathurin.[10] Due to his association with madness and mental illness, he also became the patron saint of comic actors, jesters,[11] and clowns.[2] He was also the patron saint of sailors (in Brittany), of tinmen (in Paris),[2] and of plumbers.[3]

In France, Trinitarian friars were known in France as “Mathurins”; this is because the Trinitarians were based in the church of Saint-Mathurin in Paris from 1228 onwards.[6]

His relics were destroyed by the Huguenots.[3]

St. Mary the Slave November 1

 St. Mary the Slave

Feastday: November 1

Death: 300

St. Martin of Tours

Martyr and slave of a Roman patrician named Tertullus. Delivered to the local prefect on charges of being a Christian, despite Tertullus' effort to save her, Mary suffered unspeakable tortures. Spectators demanded her release, and the prefect turned her over to the custody of a soldier. He aided her escape. She died a natural death but is venerated as a martyr because of the intensity of her sufferings.

St. Licinius November 1

 St. Licinius

Feastday: November 1

Death: 616

Bishop and Frankish nobleman. TheCount of Anjou under the Merovingian king Chilperic, he gave up his title and became a monk. However, after a number of years, he was chosen bishop of Angers, receiving ordination at the hands of St. Gregory of Tours. According to tradition, Licinius desired to retire from his office, but was prevented from doing so by the people of Angers.

St. John & James November 1

 St. John & James

Feastday: November 1

Death: 344

Persian martyrs who were executed by King Shapur II. Tradition states that John was a bishop

St. Jerome Hermosilla November 1

St. Jerome Hermosilla

Feastday: November 1

Death: 1861

Canonized: Pope John Paul II

Bishop and martyr in Vietnam. Born in La Calzada, in Old Castile, he entered the Dominicans and was sent to Asia. He went first to Manila, where he was ordained in 1828, and then went on to the missions in Vietnam. Consecrated a bishop and succeeding St. Ignatius Delgado as vicar apostolic, Jerome was arrested by Vietnamese authorities and was horribly tortured and then beheaded. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988. 

St. Floribert November 1

 St. Floribert

Feastday: November 1

Death: 660

Benedictine abbot of Ghent, Belgium, also called Florbert. He was appointed abbot of Mont-Bladin and Saint-Bavon by St. Amandus.

St. Dingad November 1

 St. Dingad

Feastday: November 1

Death: 5th century

Reportedly the hermit son of Chieftain Brychan of Brecknock. He lived in Llangingad, Llangovery, in Dyfed, Wales.

St Dingad's Church, Dingestow

Dingad was a late 5th century Welsh saint and early Christian church founder.

He is recorded in all the early 'Brychan documents' as a son of King Brychan, King of the Welsh kingdom of Brycheiniog in south-east Wales.

He was patron of Llandingat Church (in Llandovery) in Carmarthenshire and of Dingestow in Monmouthshire. It is, however, sometimes suggested that the latter village's titular is Dingad ap Nudd Hael, so-called 'King of Brynbuga' (Usk in Monmouthshire).

St. Cyrenia & Juliana November 1

 St. Cyrenia & Juliana

Feastday: November 1

Death: 306

Martyred woman burned to death at Tarsus, Turkey, in the reign of co-Emperor Galerius.

St. Ceitho November 1

 St. Ceitho

Feastday: November 1

Death: 6th century

Welsh saint, one of five brothers of Cunedda. A church at Pumpsant was dedicated to the brothers. Ceitho founded a church in Liangeith, in Dyfed.

Ceitho was an abbot and a saint living in West Wales in the 6th Century. According to legend he was one of the five sons born to Cynyr Barbtruc (Welsh: Cynyr Farfdrwch) of Cynwyl Gaeo, and a descendant of the ancient Welsh king Cunedda Wledig. Along with his brothers Gwynno, Gwynoro, Celynin, and Gwyn, he became a saint. The five brothers are said to have founded the village Llanpumsaint.[1]

Ceitho is also the patron Saint of Llangeitho parish, Ceredigion, and is said to have founded an abbey in which he secluded himself to live as a hermit. Near the village can be found Ceitho's Spring, a natural spring which is said to run cold in summer and warm in winter.[2]

St. Caesarius & Julian November 1

 St. Caesarius & Julian

Feastday: November 1

Death: unknown

Martyrs of Terracina, Italy. Caesarius was a deacon from Africa visiting Italy. Julian was a local priest. During a sacrificial rite of the pagan god Apollo. Caesarius protested the murder of a youth. He was imprisoned and then drowned with Julian. The chinch of St. Caesarius the African is on the Appian Way in Rome.

St. Caesarius & Companions November 1

 St. Caesarius & Companions

Feastday: November 1

Death: unknown

With Dacius and five other companions, martyrs of Damascus, Syria

St. Cadfan November 1

 St. Cadfan

Feastday: November 1

Death: 6th century

Author and Publisher - Catholic Online

Missionary to Wales, venerated in Owynedd and Bardsey Island as a companion of Towyn. He was a native of Brittany, France, and founded monasteries in Wales.

For other uses, see Cadfan.

Saint Cadfan (Latin: Catamanus), sometimes Anglicized as Gideon, was the 6th century founder-abbot of Tywyn (whose church is dedicated to him) and Bardsey, both in Gwynedd, Wales. He was said to have received the island of Bardsey from Saint Einion Frenin, king of Llŷn, around 516 and to have served as its abbot until 542.[2]

Life and legacy

Most of the information we have about Cadfan is from the awdl by Llywelyn the Bard in the 12th century. According to this he sailed from Brittany to Tywyn with 12 other saints, although some suggest that they came instead from Llanilltud Fawr.

A Breton nobleman, he was said to be the son of Eneas Ledewig (Aeneas of Brittany) and Gwen Teirbron (Gwen Three Breasts), daughter of Budic II of Brittany.[3] He journeyed to Britain accompanied by the children of Ithel Hael o Lydaw (of Brittany): Baglan, Flewyn, Gredifael, Tanwg, Twrog, Tegai, Trillo, Tecwyn and Llechid.[4][5] Other reputed followers include Maël and Ilar. Wade-Evans thought Kentinlau, who accompanied Cadfan to Ceredigion, should be identified with Cynllo.[6] They may have fled the Franks.

At Llangadfan in northern Powys he founded a church before moving on to Bardsey. He also established a clas at Tywyn (traditionally the first such clas in Wales) which became a wealthy site, served by an abbot and clerics from 1147 to 1291, mother church of the cantref of Meirionnydd south of the River Dysynni.

His feast day is 1 November.[1]

St. Austremonius November 1

 St. Austremonius

Feastday: November 1

Death: 4th century

Bishop, one of seven missionaries, also called St. Stremoine, in Clermont, France. Austremonius was sent with six other missionaries from Rome to evangelize Gaul. Another tradition states that Austremonius was martyred. He was supposedly slain by a Jewish rabbi for converting the man's son.

Stremonius or Saint Austremonius or Saint Stramonius or Austromoine, the "apostle of Auvergne," was the first bishop of Clermont.

Legend

During the consulship (in 250 AD) of the Emperor Decius and Vettius Gratus, according to Gregory of Tours, who calls him Stremonius, Pope Fabian sent out seven bishops from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturninus to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Martial to Limoges, and Austromoine to Clermont (Historia Francorum, i.30).

At Clermont he is said to have converted the senator Cassius of Clermont and the pagan priest Victorinus, to have sent St. Serenus to Thiers, St. Marius to Salers, and Antoninus into other parts of Auvergne, and to have been beheaded.[1] A tradition states that Saint Austremonius ordered Nectarius of Auvergne to Christianize the plain of Limagne in the Massif Central.[2]

Veneration

His veneration was highly localized, but at Clermont he was moved back in time, to the 1st century AD, along with others of the Apostles to Gaul, such as Saint Martial, to become one of the "seventy-two Disciples of Christ", and was claimed to have been a converted Jew who came with St. Peter from Palestine to Rome and subsequently became the Apostle of Auvergne, as well as of Berry and Nivernais.

This local view found its origin in a life of St. Austremonius written in the 10th century in the Abbey of Mozac, where the body of the saint was transferred in 761.[3] The Vita was rewritten and amplified by the monks of Issoire, who retained as a relic the saint's head. There is a further elaborated Vita of the late 11th century, with new episodes, made at the same time as a forgery of a charter of Pippin (the Short or one of two kings of Aquitaine being intended). The tomb was opened in 1197.

Gregory of Tours, who was born in Auvergne in 544 and was well versed in the history of that country, looks upon Austremonius as one of the seven envoys who, about 250, evangelized Gaul; he relates how the body of the saint was first interred at Issoire, being there the object of great veneration, before the body, though not the head, was translated to Clermont.

The possibility that the major dioceses of Gaul each needed an apostolic figure, and that where the historical details had lapsed (compare Gatien of Tours) one had to be supplied, to serve local pride, should not be entirely dismissed.

St. Amabilis November 1

 St. Amabilis

Feastday: November 1

Patron: of invoked against fire, snakes and snake bites; also invoked against demonic possession, mental illness, poison, wild beasts; Auvergne; Riom

Death: 475

Patron against fire and snakes. Amabilis served at the Clermont Cathedral and then Auvergne. He gained a reputation for holiness and effectiveness against fire and snakes.

Saint Amabilis of Riom (or Amabilis of Auvergne) (French: Saint Amable, Italian: Sant'Amabile) was a French saint. Sidonius Apollinaris brought Amabilis to serve at Clermont.[4]

He served as a cantor in the church of Saint Mary at Clermont and as a precentor at the cathedral of Clermont and then as a parish priest in Riom. He acquired a reputation for holiness in his lifetime.

Saint Amabilis is not to be confused with a female saint (also known as Saint Mable) with this name who died in 634 AD; she was the daughter of an Anglo-Saxon king and became a nun at Saint-Amand monastery, Rouen. Her feast day is July 11.

St. Valentine Berrio-Ochoa November 1

 St. Valentine Berrio-Ochoa

Feastday: November 1

Death: 1861

Canonized: Pope John Paul II

Image of St. Valentine Berrio-Ochoa

Bishop and martyr of Vietnam. A native of Ellorio, Spain, he entered the Dominican Order and was sent to the Philippines. From there he went to Vietnam in 1858, serving as a vicar apostolic and titular bishop until betrayed by an apostate. He was martyred by beheading with St. Jerome Hermosilla and Blessed Peter Amato, by enemies of the Church. He was canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.

Not to be confused with Valentinus (Gnostic) or Valentine of Passau.

For the holiday, see Valentine's Day. For the Canadian city, see Saint-Valentin, Quebec.

For other uses of "San Valentino", see San Valentino (disambiguation).

Saint Valentine (Italian: San Valentino, Latin: Valentinus) was a widely recognized 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Christianity on February 14. From the High Middle Ages his Saints' Day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is also a patron saint of epilepsy.[2]

Saint Valentine was a clergyman – either a priest or a bishop – in the Roman Empire who ministered to persecuted Christians.[3] He was martyred and his body buried at a Christian cemetery on the Via Flaminia close to the Ponte Milvio to the north of Rome, on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine (Saint Valentine's Day) since 496 AD.

Relics of him were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino in Rome, which "remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV".[4] His skull, crowned with flowers, is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome; other relics of him were taken to Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland, where they remain; this house of worship continues to be a popular place of pilgrimage, especially on Saint Valentine's Day, for those seeking love.[5][6] For Saint Valentine of Rome, along with Saint Valentine of Terni, "abstracts of the acts of the two saints were in nearly every church and monastery of Europe", according to Professor Jack B. Oruch of the University of Kansas.[7]

Saint Valentine is commemorated in the Anglican Communion[8] and the Lutheran Churches on February 14.[9] In the Eastern Orthodox Church, he is recognized on July 6; in addition, the Eastern Orthodox Church observes the feast of Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on July 30.[10][11] In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church removed his name from the General Roman Calendar, leaving his liturgical celebration to local calendars, though use of the pre-1970 liturgical calendar is also authorized under the conditions indicated in the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of 2007.[12] The Roman Catholic Church continues to recognize him as a saint, listing him as such in the February 14 entry in the Roman Martyrology,[13] and authorizing liturgical veneration of him on February 14 in any place where that day is not devoted to some other obligatory celebration, in accordance with the rule that on such a day the Mass may be that of any saint listed in the Martyrology for that day.[14]

Saint Valentine doesn't occur in the earliest list of Roman martyrs, the Chronography of 354, although the patron of the Chronography's compilation was a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus.[15] However, it is found in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum,[16] which was compiled between 460 and 544 from earlier local sources. The feast of St. Valentine of February 14 was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among all those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God."

The Catholic Encyclopedia[17] and other hagiographical sources[18] speak of three Saints Valentine that appear in connection with February 14. One was a Roman priest, another the bishop of Interamna (modern Terni, Italy) both buried along the Via Flaminia outside Rome, at different distances from the city. The third was said to be a saint who suffered on the same day with a number of companions in the Roman province of Africa, of whom nothing else is known.

Though the extant accounts of the martyrdoms of the first two listed saints are of a late date and contain legendary elements, a common nucleus of fact may underlie the two accounts and they may refer to a single person.[19] According to the official biography of the Diocese of Terni, Bishop Valentine was born and lived in Interamna and while on a temporary stay in Rome he was imprisoned, tortured, and martyred there on February 14, 269. His body was hastily buried at a nearby cemetery and a few nights later his disciples retrieved his body and returned him home.[20]

The Roman Martyrology, the Catholic Church's official list of recognized saints, for February 14 gives only one Saint Valentine: a martyr who died on the Via Flaminia.[21]

The name "Valentine" derived from valens (worthy, strong, powerful), was popular in Late Antiquity. About eleven other saints having the name Valentine are commemorated in the Roman Catholic Church.[22] Some Eastern Churches of the Western rite may provide still other different lists of Saint Valentines.[23] The Roman martyrology lists only seven who died on days other than February 14: a priest from Viterbo (November 3); Valentine of Passau, papal missionary bishop to Raetia, among first patrons of Passau, and later hermit in Zenoburg, near Mais, South Tyrol, Italy, where he died in 475 (January 7); a 5th-century priest and hermit (July 4); a Spanish hermit who died in about 715 (October 25); Valentine Berrio Ochoa, martyred in 1861 (November 24); and Valentine Jaunzarás Gómez, martyred in 1936 (September 18). It also lists a virgin, Saint Valentina, who was martyred in 308 (July 25) in Caesarea, Palestine.[24]

Hagiography and testimony

Saint Valentine of Terni oversees the construction of his basilica at Terni, from a 14th-century French manuscript (BN, Mss fr. 185)

The inconsistency in the identification of the saint is replicated in the various vitae that are ascribed to him.

A common hagiography describes Saint Valentine as a priest of Rome or as the former Bishop of Terni, an important town of Umbria, in central Italy. While under house arrest of Judge Asterius, and discussing his faith with him, Valentinus (the Latin version of his name) was discussing the validity of Jesus. The judge put Valentinus to the test and brought to him the judge's adopted blind daughter. If Valentinus succeeded in restoring the girl's sight, Asterius would do whatever he asked. Valentinus, praying to God, laid his hands on her eyes and the child's vision was restored.[25] Immediately humbled, the judge asked Valentinus what he should do. Valentinus replied that all of the idols around the judge's house should be broken, and that the judge should fast for three days and then undergo the Christian sacrament of baptism. The judge obeyed and, as a result of his fasting and prayer, freed all the Christian inmates under his authority. The judge, his family, and his forty-four member household of adult family members and servants were baptized.[26] Valentinus was later arrested again for continuing to evangelize and was sent to the prefect of Rome, to the emperor Claudius Gothicus (Claudius II) himself. Claudius took a liking to him until Valentinus tried to convince Claudius to embrace Christianity, whereupon Claudius refused and condemned Valentinus to death, commanding that Valentinus either renounce his faith or he would be beaten with clubs and beheaded. Valentinus refused and Claudius' command was executed outside the Flaminian Gate February 14, 269.[27]

Saint Valentine is said to have ministered to the faithful amidst the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.[3]

An embellishment to this account states that before his execution, Saint Valentine wrote a note to Asterius's daughter signed "from your Valentine", which is said to have "inspired today's romantic missives".[28]

The Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, compiled about 1260 and one of the most-read books of the High Middle Ages, gives sufficient details of the saints for each day of the liturgical year to inspire a homily on each occasion. The very brief vita of St Valentine states that he was executed for refusing to deny Christ by the order of the "Emperor Claudius"[29] in the year 269. Before his head was cut off, this Valentine restored sight and hearing to the daughter of his jailer. Jacobus makes a play with the etymology of "Valentine", "as containing valor".

A popularly ascribed hagiographical identity appears in the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493). Alongside a woodcut portrait of Valentine, the text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. Helping Christians at this time was considered a crime. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner. However, when Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor, he was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stones; when that failed to kill him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. Various dates are given for the martyrdom or martyrdoms: 269, 270, or 273.[30]

There are many other legends behind Saint Valentine. One is that in the 3rd century AD[citation needed] it is said that Valentine, who was a priest, defied the order of the emperor Claudius and secretly performed Christian weddings for couples, allowing the husbands involved to escape conscription into the pagan army. This legend claims that soldiers were sparse at this time so this was a big inconvenience to the emperor.[31] The account mentions that in order "to remind these men of their vows and God’s love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment", giving them to these persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St. Valentine's Day.[32]

Another legend is that Valentine refused to sacrifice to pagan gods. Being imprisoned for this, Valentine gave his testimony in prison and through his prayers healed the jailer's daughter who was suffering from blindness. On the day of his execution, he left her a note that was signed, "Your Valentine".[28]

Churches named after Saint Valentine

St Valentine Kneeling in Supplication (David Teniers III, 1600s) – Valentine kneels to receive a rosary from the Virgin Mary

There are many churches dedicated to Saint Valentine in countries such as Italy. Saint Valentine was venerated no more than other Christian martyrs and saints.[33]

A 5th- or 6th-century work called Passio Marii et Marthae made up a legend about Saint Valentine's Basilica being dedicated to Saint Valentine in Rome. A later Passio repeated the legend and added the adornment that Pope Julius I (357–352) had built the ancient basilica S. Valentini extra Portam on top of his sepulchre, in the Via Flaminia.[34] This church was really named after a 4th-century tribune called Valentino, who donated the land on which it is built.[34] It hosted the martyr's relics until the 13th century, when they were transferred to Santa Prassede, and the ancient basilica decayed.[35]

Saint Valentine's Church in Rome, built in 1960 for the needs of the Olympic Village, continues as a modern, well-visited parish church.

St. Abaidas October 31

 St. Abaidas

Feastday: October 31

I am the confessor, and Ethiopian follower of Acirianus.

St. Quentin October 31

 St. Quentin

Feastday: October 31

Quentin was also known as Quintinus. According to legend, he was a Roman, went to Gaul as a missionary with St. Lucian of Beauvais, and settled at Amiens in Picardy. He was so successful in preaching that he was imprisoned by prefect Rictiovarus, tortured, and then brought to Augusta Veromanduorum (Saint-Quentin), where he was again tortured and then was beheaded. His feast day is October 31st.

St. Antoninus October 31

 St. Antoninus

Feastday: October 31

Death: 660

 

Archbishop of Milan, Italy, for one year. In 1581, his relics were enshrined in St. Simplician's church in Milan by St. Charles Borromeo.

St. Arnulf October 31

St. Arnulf

Feastday: October 31

Death: 840

Benedictine martyred by the Saracens.Arnulf was a monk at Novalese, in Piedmont, Italy. When the area was overrun by the Saracens, he was put to death.

St. Bega October 31

 St. Bega

Feastday: October 31

Death: 7th century

A princess of Ireland and hermitess-foundress, also listed as Bee. Bega fled the royal court rather than marry a prince from Norway. Tradition states that she was miraculously transported to Cumberland, in England.There St. Oswald counseled her in a hermitage, and St. Aidan received her vows as a nun. Bega founded St. Bee's Monastery. She served as abbess there until her death. She is also remembered in the village of Kilbees, in Scotland.

Not to be confused with Saint Begga or Begu.

Saint Bega was reputedly a saint of the Early Middle Ages; an Irish princess[1][2] who valued virginity. Promised in marriage to a Viking prince who, according to a medieval manuscript The Life of St Bega,[3] was "son of the king of Norway", Bega "fled across the Irish sea to land at St. Bees on the Cumbrian coast. There she settled for a time, leading a life of exemplary piety, then, fearing the raids of pirates which were starting along the coast, she moved over to Northumbria". The most likely time for this would have been after AD 850, when the Vikings were settling Ireland.[3]

The life of St. Bega

The account of Bega's flight from Ireland is found in the Life of St Bega,[4] part of a collection of various English saints' lives that belonged to Holmcultram Abbey and is dated to the mid-13th century. The Life continues:

Bega found the place covered with a thick forest, admirably adapted for a solitary life. Wishing to dedicate her life to God she built for herself a virgin cell in a grove near the seashore, where she remained for many years in strict seclusion. In the course of time the district began to be frequented by pirates. The good saint however dreaded not death, nor mutilation, nor the loss of temporal goods, of which she was destitute except her bracelet (armilla), but she feared the loss of her virginity, the most precious treasure with which heaven can endow her sex. By divine command Bega hastened her departure from the place, but she was induced to leave her bracelet behind her, that miracles in ages to come might be performed in that neighbourhood in testimony of her holy life.

— Victoria County History, Cumberland, ed. J. Wilson[5]

So the account has Bega living in seclusion, and after a time travelling to Northumbria, where she was admitted to sacred vows. It also states that she founded Hartlepool Abbey, a convent at Hartlepool, but modern historians believe the writer of the Life created a composite St Bega,[6] with events from the lives of Heui, who founded that convent, and Begu; who was mentioned in Bede's life of St Hilda of Whitby.[3] This confusion put Bega into the 7th century, which is clearly inconsistent, as the Vikings, whose raids supposedly led to her fleeing to St Bees, only appeared in the area and started raiding Ireland from Ca.795 onwards.[3]

The miracles

The 10th century cross at St Bees Priory, indicating a pre-Norman religious site.

Bega is associated in legend with a number of miracles, the most famous being the "Snow miracle", which is described in the Life of St Bega thus:

"Ranulf le Meschin (sic) had endowed the monastery with its lands, but a lawsuit later developed about their extent. The monks feared a miscarriage of justice. The day appointed for a perambulation of the boundaries arrived – and, lo and behold, there was a thick snowfall on all the surrounding lands but not a flake upon the lands of the priory."

This version describes it as happening long after her death and concerns the monks of the Norman Priory.

However, a version of the Snow Miracle is also found in the Sandford manuscript. This was written in English after the dissolution of the Benedictine Priory (after 1539), and was formerly in the Dean and Chapter archives at Carlisle Cathedral. This garbled account is a less probable version than that in the Life,[3] and sets the miracle in the days of St Bega herself.

The Life manuscript contains accounts of nine miracles brought about by the influence of St Bega.[3] They are earthy folk tales with miraculous interpretation. The first concerns a raider from Galloway, who set out to steal a horse. His mother warned him against theft on the land of St Bega, but her son was scornful and moving his hands to the private parts of his buttocks he tauntingly said, "what can that little old woman do to me?" As he escaped on the horse, arrows were fired after him as he crouched low, and the inevitable happened. The third concerns Godard of Millom, whose men would not remove their horses from the monks' pasture to which they had strayed. When the men came to saddle the horses, they found the hooves almost severed, and in penance Godard gave the field to the Monks. The seventh miracle tells of three men of Workington, who were imprisoned in Egremont Castle for killing a man in a drunken brawl, but having confessed their sins to St Bega, were rescued by her and found sanctuary at St Bees. The ninth miracle tells of two sick brothers who, after seeing a vision at Tynmouth, travelled to St Bees in a cart, and were healed; leaving the cart as thanks.

The register of St Bees Priory records several miracles by the power of prayer to St Bega. In 1310 "God worked many miracles by the prayers and merits of St Bega...to the edification of all the people with many eye-witnesses". In 1313 "A certain Irish boy received his sight in the chapel of St Bega through the merits and prayers of the said virgin, all the community seeing it".[3]

The cult

The "Vision of St. Bega", St Bees Priory, by Josefina de Vasconcellos

The name of the village Kirkeby Becok used in the charters of St Bees Priory from the times of Henry II and Richard I, and the phraseology of the early charters indicates a pre-Norman church at St Bees dedicated to St Bega.[6] At the granting of the first charter of the Benedictine priory one of the witnesses was Gillebecoc; meaning devotee of Beghoc, indicating a Bega cult already in existence.[3] The writer of the Life relates that St Bega was given a bracelet in Ireland by a heavenly being,[3] which she left behind in St Bees when she travelled to Northumberland. It was described as having a holy cross upon it, which fits a style of the 9th and 10th centuries. The bracelet is mentioned several times in the charters of St Bees Priory; one instance is in the middle of the 13th century, when an oath was taken by John of Hale "having touched the sacred things ... and upon the bracelet of St Bega".[3] An account roll from as late as 1516/1517 records offerings of 67s. 9d to the bracelet of St Bega;[3] so the cult and the relic were still a going concern at that late time.

Celebration

St Bega's Day

About 1400 it is recorded that St Bega's day was celebrated 'in albs' (for a lesser saint) at the mother house of St Mary's Abbey, York. A fifteenth-century Book of Hours in the Bodleian Library from St Mary's records the day as 7 November.[3] Since this discovery in the late 20th century, St Bega's day has been celebrated in St Bees on this date.[7]

Hymn to St Bega

The Hymn to St Bega, "Oracio ad Sanctam Begam", was discovered in the late 20th century in the 15th-century book of hours mentioned above.[3] It would undoubtedly have been sung on St Bega's day, and the full text is printed in John Todd's article reproduced on the St Bees website [1]. The Hymn received its first modern performance on St Bega's Day 1981 at St Bees Priory, using an original composition for orchestra, change ringing tower bells and choir by Hugh Turpin.

Cult or person?

Present day scholarship tends to treat St Bega not as a historical personage but a cult. As one scholar states; "The discovery of inconsistencies between these medieval texts, coupled with the significance attached to her jewellery (said to have been left in Cumbria on her departure for the north-east), now indicate that the abbess never existed. ... More plausible is the suggestion that St Bega was the personification of a Cumbrian cult centred on 'her' bracelet (Old English: beag)".[8] The 1999 edition of the Dictionary of National Biography includes an article (by Professor Robert Bartlett) that treats St Bega as a mythical figure. A 1980 paper by John Todd offers a comprehensive review of the historical references to that date, including a discussion on her existence. He finishes with the words "We must search for the historical St Bega, not in the glorious years of the Northumbrian Kingdom, but the dark years of its fall. But our search may well be disappointed".[3]

The modern legend

The 16th-century historian John Leland seems to have been responsible for starting the "convent" legend by reference to a "humble little monastery".[5] Unfortunately some 19th-century local historians unquestioningly accepted the pre-Viking era date given in the Life, and presumably prompted by Leland, they embellished the tale with the founding of a convent. In the words of John Todd writing in 1980, "Local historians in the last century had no doubt about the answer. She was an Irish saint who crossed the sea about 650 to found a convent at St Bees, which was destroyed in the Viking invasion. But there is no evidence in the Life or elsewhere that Bega's life at St Bees was other than solitary".[3] Regrettably, the very dubious 7th-century date and the imaginary convent are perpetuated today in many guidebooks, including the pages of Pevsner.[9]

St. Bega in modern writing

Melvyn Bragg wrote the long historical novel Credo,[10] with St Bega as the central character. He telescoped the events and dates of several centuries into the lifespan of the saint. However, this is freely admitted as an artistic device; unlike the medieval writer of the Life. The work re-awakened interest in St Bega.[citation needed]

In 2000, local author Jill Hudson was commissioned by St Bees Priory PCC to write a play about St Bega to celebrate the Millennium. This play, 'The Bracelet of St Bega' was staged in the Priory for three nights in November 2000. A fresh adaptation by Gus Kennedy was similarly staged in the Priory in November 2010 in the week of the feast of St Bega.

Lorna Goodison wrote a poem Across the fields to St Begas reprinted in The Guardian

Churches of St Bega

The parish church of Bassenthwaite, Cumbria, some distance south of the village near Bassenthwaite Lake, is dedicated to St Bega. It was built around 950AD and is still used for regular services and weddings; it is a graded II* listed building.[11][12]

The Roman Catholic 1860s church of St Begh in Whitehaven,[13] near St Bees, is dedicated to St Bega.

The Orthodox Parish, worshipping in Keswick and at Braithwaite Chapel, is dedicated to St Bega, St Mungo, and St Herbert.

புனித_நோட்பர்கா (1265-1313)அக்டோபர் 31

புனித_நோட்பர்கா (1265-1313)

அக்டோபர் 31

இவர் (#Notburga) ஜெர்மனியில் உள்ள ரோட்டன்பர்க்கைச் சார்ந்தவர்.

ரோட்டன்பர்க்கில் இருந்த ஹென்றி என்ற பிரபுவிடம் சமையல்காரராய்ப் பணிசெய்து வந்த இவர், அங்கு எஞ்சிய உணவை வறியவர்களுக்கும் ஏழைகளுக்கும் கொடுத்து வந்தார்.

இதை அறிந்த ஹென்றியின் மனைவியான ஒடிலியா இவரிடம் அவ்வாறு செய்யக் கூடாது என்று கட்டளையிட, இவர் ஒவ்வொரு வெள்ளிக்கிழமையும் நோன்பிருந்து, அப்பொழுது கிடைக்கிற உணவை ஏழைகளுக்கும் வறியவர்களுக்கும் பகிர்ந்து கொடுத்தார்.

அதுவும் ஒடிலியாவிற்குத் தெரியவர, அவர் இவரை வேலையிலிருந்து நீக்கினார். இதற்குப் பிறகு இவர் எபின் என்ற இடத்தில் இருந்த ஒரு விவசாயிடம், 'வாரத்தில் ஆறு நாள்கள் வேலை செய்வேன்; ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை கோவிலுக்குச் செல்வேன். அந்நாளில்  எனக்கு எந்தவொரு வேலையும் கொடுக்கக்கூடாது' என்ற நிபந்தனையோடு வேலை செய்தார்.

எல்லாம் நன்றாகப் போய்க்கொண்டிருந்த நேரத்தில், ஒரு நாள்  விவசாயி இவரிடம் ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை வேலை பார்க்க வேண்டும் என்று கட்டாயப்படுத்தியபோது, அதெல்லாம் முடியாது என்று இவர் வேலையிலிருந்து விலகிக் கொண்டார்.

இதற்கிடையில் ஹென்றியின் மனைவியான ஒடிலியா இறந்துவிட, இவர் அவரிடம் வேலைக்குச் சேர்ந்து, அங்கு கிடைத்த உணவை வறியவர்களுக்கும் ஏழைகளுக்கும் பகிர்ந்து கொடுத்தார்.

இவர் தன்னுடைய இறப்பு நெருங்கி வருவதை உணர்ந்து, ஹென்றியிடம், "என்னுடைய உடலை ஒரு மாட்டு வண்டியில் வைத்து விடுங்கள். வண்டி எங்கே நிற்கிறதோ அங்கே என்னை அடக்கம் செய்து விடுங்கள்" என்று சொன்னார். அதன்படியே ஹென்றி செய்ய, மாட்டு வண்டி, எபின் என்ற இடத்தில் இருந்த புனித ரூபர்ட்  திருக்கோயிலுக்கு முன்பாக நின்றது. அங்கு இவர் நல்லடக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டார். 

இவருக்கு 1862 ஆம் ஆண்டு, திருத்தந்தை ஒன்பதாம் பயஸால் புனிதர் பட்டம் கொடுக்கப்பட்டது.

ரெகென்ஸ்பர்க் நகர் புனிதர் வோல்ஃப்காங்க் ✠(St. Wolfgang of Regensburg அக்டோபர் 31

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(அக்டோபர் 31)

✠ ரெகென்ஸ்பர்க் நகர் புனிதர் வோல்ஃப்காங்க் ✠

(St. Wolfgang of Regensburg)

தர்மம் செய்பவர் & ரேகன்ஸ்பர்க் நகர ஆயர்:

(The Almoner & Bishop of Regensburg)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 934

ஃபுல்லிங்கன், ரியுட்லின்ஜென், ஜெர்மனி

(Pfullingen, Reutlingen, Germany)

இறப்பு: அக்டோபர் 31, 994

புப்பிங், இஃபெர்டிங், ஆஸ்திரியா

(Pupping, Eferding. Austria)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை

(Eastern Orthodox Church)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: அக்டோபர் 8, 1051

திருத்தந்தை ஒன்பதாம் லியோ

(Pope Leo IX)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: அக்டோபர் 31

பாதுகாவல்: 

மூளை இரத்தக் கசிவு (Apoplexy), தச்சர்கள் மற்றும் மர வண்டிகள், பக்கவாதம், ரெகென்ஸ்பர்க் (Regensburg), ஜெர்மனி (Germany), வயிறு நோய்கள், பக்கவாதம்

புனிதர் வோல்ஃப்காங்க், கி.பி. 972ம் வருட கிறிஸ்துமஸ் தினம் தொடங்கி, மரிக்கும்வரை “பவேரியா’விலுள்ள” (Bavaria) “ரேகன்ஸ்பர்க்” (Regensburg) மறைமாவட்டத்தின் ஆயராக பணியாற்றியவர் ஆவார். இவர், ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்கம் மற்றும் கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபைகள் இவரை புனிதராக ஏற்கின்றன. பத்தாம் நூற்றாண்டில் ஜெர்மனியின் நன்கு அறியப்பட்ட மூன்று புனிதர்களில் இவர் ஒருவராவார்.

புனிதர் வோல்ஃப்காங்க், தென்மேற்கு ஜெர்மனியின் “ஸ்வாபியா” (Swabia) அமைப்பு குடும்பமொன்றினைச் சார்ந்தவர் ஆவார். “ரெய்செனவ்” (Reichenau Abbey) துறவற மடத்திற்கு சொந்தமான ஒரு பள்ளியில் தனது கல்வி கற்றார். இவர் இங்கே கற்கும்போதுதான், “ஹென்றி” (Henry of Babenberg) என்பவரின் நண்பரானார். 

பின்னர், கி.பி. 956ம் ஆண்டு, “டிரையர்” (Trier) உயர்மறைமாவட்ட பேராயராக ஹென்றி நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். பேராயர் ஹென்றியின் அழைப்பை ஏற்று டிரையரிலுள்ள பேராலயப் பள்ளிக்கு கி.பி. 964ம் ஆண்டு, ஆசிரியராக பணியாற்றும் பொறுப்பை ஏற்றார். அத்துடன், பல எதிர்ப்புகளுக்கிடையே உயர்மறைமாவட்டத்தின் சீர்திருத்தத்திற்காகவும் உழைத்தார். அச்சமயத்தில்தான், தானும் குருவாக வேண்டுமென்று விருப்பம் கொண்டார். 

கி.பி. 964ம் ஆண்டு, பேராயர் ஹென்றியின் மரணத்தின் பின்னர், வோல்ஃப்காங்க் “ஸ்விட்சர்லாந்து” (Switzerland) நாட்டின் “மரியா எய்ன்ஸியேடெல்ன்” (Abbey of Maria Einsiedeln) துறவு மடத்திலுள்ள “பெனடிக்டைன்” (Benedictine order) சபையில் இணைந்தார். அங்கு தனது விருப்பத்தை தெரிவித்து வார்த்தைப்பாடுகளை பெற்றார். 4 ஆண்டுகள் கழித்து “ஆக்ஸ்பர்க் ஆயர்” (Bishop of Augsburg) புனிதர் “உல்ரிச்” (St. Ulrich) அவர்களால் குருத்துவ அருட்பொழிவு பெற்றார்.

கி.பி. 955ம் ஆண்டு, நடந்த “லெக்ஃபீல்ட் போரில்” (Battle of Lechfeld) மோசமான தோல்வியை தழுவிய “ஹங்கேரியர்கள்” (Hungarians), பண்டைய ரோமப் பேரரசின் பிராந்தியமான “பன்னோனியா’வில்” (Pannonia) குடியேறியிருந்தனர். வெகு காலம் வரை கிறிஸ்தவ மதத்திற்கு மனம் மாறாத இவர்கள், பேரரசுக்கு ஒரு நிலையான அச்சுறுத்தலாகவே இருந்தனர். தூய ரோமப் பேரரசின் (Holy Roman Empire) பேரரசர் “முதலாம் ஒட்டோ’வின்” (Emperor Otto I) விருப்பத்தின்படி, ஆயர் “உல்ரிச்” (St. Ulrich) வோல்ஃப்காங்க்கை ஹன்கேரியர்களிடையே சென்று அவர்களுடைய மனமாற்றத்திற்காக மறை போதிக்க கேட்டுக்கொண்டார். ஹன்கேரியர்களிடையே செல்வது ஆபத்தான காரியம் என்று தெரிந்திருந்தும், வோல்ஃப்காங்கின் மறைபோதக திறமையின் மீது நம்பிக்கை வைத்திருந்தார். வோல்ஃப்காங்க், “பன்னோனியா” (Pannonia) சென்று, ஹங்கேரியர்களிடையே மறை போதனை செய்து அவர்களை கிறிஸ்தவர்களாக மனம் மாற்றி சாதனை புரிந்தார்.

கி.பி. 972ம் ஆண்டு, செப்டம்பர் மாதம், 23ம் தேதி, “ரேகன்ஸ்பர்க்” ஆயர், மிக்கேல்” (Bishop Michael of Regensburg) மரணமடைந்தார். பேரரசரிடமிருந்து ஆயர் நியமனம் பெற்ற வோல்ஃப்காங்க், கி.பி. 972ம் ஆண்டு, கிறிஸ்துமஸ் தினத்தன்று ஆயராக பதவியேற்றார்.

இவர் ஏறக்குறைய 22 ஆண்டுகள் ரேகன்ஸ்பர்க் மறைமாவட்டத்தில் ஆயராக இருந்தார். தன்னுடைய பதவி காலத்தில் மறைமாவட்டத்திற்கு ஏராளமான பணிகளை செய்தார். பல துறவற இல்லங்களை கட்டினார். பெண் துறவிகள் கற்பதற்கென்று சில துறவற மடப்பள்ளிகளையும் கட்டினார். ஏழைகளுக்கும், நோயாளிகளுக்கும் தேவையான வீடுகளையும், மருத்துவமனைகளையும் கட்டினார். இவர் வாழும்போதே மக்கள் இவரை புனிதர் என்று அழைத்தனர். 

வாழ்க்கையின் இறுதி காலத்தில் ஆயர் பதவியிலிருந்து ஒய்வு பெற்ற இவர், வெளிப்படையான ஒரு அரசியல் மோதல் காரணத்தால், “அப்பர் ஆஸ்திரியாவின்” (Upper Austria) பொழுதுபோக்கு பகுதியான “சல்ஸ்கம்மெர்கட்” (Salzkammergut) எனுமிடத்திலுள்ள “வொல்ப்காங்” (Lake Wolfgang) எரிப்பகுதியில் தனிமைத் துறவியாய்ப் போனார். ஒரு வேட்டைக்காரரால் கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்ட இவர், மீண்டும் ரேகன்ஸ்பர்க் நகருக்கு கொண்டுவரப்பட்டார்.

ஒருமுறை, “லோவர் ஆஸ்திரியா’வின்” (Lower Austri) “மெல்க்” (Melk) மாவட்டத்திலுள்ள “போச்லர்ம்” (Pöchlarn) எனுமிடத்திற்கு “டனுப்” அல்லது “வோல்கா” (Danube or Volga River) நதியில் பயணிக்கையில் நோய்வாய்ப்பட்டு, “புப்பிங்” (Pupping) எனும் கிராமத்தில் வீழ்ந்தார். அவரது வேண்டுகோளின்படி “செயிண்ட் ஒத்மார் சிற்றாலயம்” (Chapel of Saint Othmar) கொண்டுவரப்பட்ட புனிதர் வோல்ஃப்காங்க், அங்கேயே மரித்தார்.

இவரது உடல் ரேகன்ஸ்பர்க்கில் உள்ள “புனிதர் எம்மரம்” (Crypt of St. Emmeram) நிலவறையில் அடக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டது.

† Saint of the Day †

(October 31)

✠ St. Wolfgang of Regensburg ✠

The Almoner:

Born: 934 AD

Died: October 31, 994

Venerated in:

Roman Catholic Church

Eastern Orthodox Church

Canonized: October 8, 1051

Pope Leo IX

Feast: October 31

Patronage:

Apoplexy; Carpenters and Wood Carvers; Paralysis; Regensburg, Germany; Stomach Diseases; Strokes

Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg was bishop of Regensburg in Bavaria from Christmas 972 until his death. He is a saint of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. He is regarded as one of the three great German saints of the 10th century, the other two being Saint Ulrich and Saint Conrad of Constance.

We recognize at once that a St. Wolfgang must have been the patron saint of that great musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Not too many Americans, even those of German descent, have chosen to give their sons such a lupine baptismal name. Yet St. Wolfgang of Regensburg remains one of the truly great saints of medieval Germany, and the model of a reforming Bishop.

Wolfgang, the son of a nobleman, attended school first at the Benedictine monastery school of Reichenau, and then at the cathedral school of Wuerzburg. Because of his talent, he was then invited to teach in the cathedral school at Trier. Although still layman, he fell under the spell of the great local Benedictine monastery of St. Maximin and became a willing assistant to the reforming bishop of Trier.

After the death of this bishop, Wolfgang himself joined the Benedictines, although not at Trier but at Einsiedeln in Switzerland. Here he was ordained a priest in 968 by St. Ulrich, bishop of Augsburg.

Soon after ordination Father Wolfgang was sent to present Hungary to preach the gospel to the pagan Magyars, who had only lately settled there. He did his best, but without any visible success. In 972 he was brought back to Germany and named bishop of Regensburg. (The church authorities, in promoting his bishop after his Hungarian “failure” must have thought no less of him on account of his missionary unsuccess. For his part, the failure was probably an incentive to greater humility and stronger effort as he took over his episcopal duties.)

It seems that the diocese of Regensburg at that point needed a thorough reform, and Bishop Wolfgang was the man to accomplish it.

What do we mean by necessary reform? Well, we are human beings, and it is all too easy for us to become relaxed in Christian practices through one bad influence or another. Then it is hard to return to the straight and narrow path. Catholics begin to go downhill particularly when the members of their religious orders enter a decline, for the religious orders are normally a major inspiration to high standards. Wolfgang, therefore, focused his efforts particularly on jacking up two local monasteries of monks, that of St. Emmeram and that of Altach. There were also two monasteries of nuns that had become slipshod in observing the rule that was theoretically their key to holiness. These nuns he also brought back to good discipline.

Wolfgang’s method of reform was interesting. No doubt he lowered the boom when that was necessary. But he seems to have depended most on shaming people into better ways by a good example. When he became bishop he did not assume the princely ways of his fellow bishops in the Empire (although like them, he was a civil as well as it church ruler). No, he continued to wear his monk’s habit and to follow the monastic austerities, and he saw to it that his household was free of worldly lifestyle. Likewise, he corrected the nuns of the two rundown monasteries, less, it seems, by scolding them than by founding at Regensburg a convent that excelled in a good example through its careful observance of the rule.

We may be sure, nevertheless, that Bishop Wolfgang gained enemies among the monks and nuns that he felt obliged to correct, and among the clerics and laypeople to whom he laid down the law. No matter how highly placed a corrector, people who have fallen into waywardness of teaching or behaviour simply do not like to be corrected. We have seen examples of this all-too-human trait in our own day. I am sure that Wolfgang felt pain at their resistance. Maybe that was why, at one point, he fled his diocese and tried to set up as a hermit on the shores of what is now called Lake St. Wolfgang. His escape didn’t succeed. A hunter discovered him and brought him back home to face once more the unpopularity that is the occupational hazard of a bishop or any superior who has the duty of enforcing the law.

But opposition to him was in the short run. In the long run, the religious and laity of the diocese of Regensburg came to appreciate the idealism and courage and holiness of their bishop. When he died in 994 while on a trip down the Danube, his body was brought back and enshrined in Regensburg. It quickly became a centre of pilgrimage, and in 1054 the pope canonized St. Wolfgang as a model of the bishop who is ready to correct as well as direct the flock entrusted to him.

~ Father Robert F. McNamara

✠ ஃபுளோரன்ஸ் நகர் அருளாளர் தாமஸ் ✠(Blessed Thomas of Florence)அக்டோபர் 31

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(அக்டோபர் 31)

✠ ஃபுளோரன்ஸ் நகர் அருளாளர் தாமஸ் ✠

(Blessed Thomas of Florence)

மறைப்பணியாளர்:

(Religious)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 1370

ஃபுளோரன்ஸ், ஃபுளோரன்ஸ் குடியரசு

(Florence, Republic of Florence)

இறப்பு: அக்டோபர் 31, 1447 (வயது 77)

ரியேட்டி, திருத்தந்தையர் மாநிலங்கள்

(Rieti, Papal States)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: கி.பி. 1771

திருத்தந்தை பதினைந்தாம் கிளமென்ட்

(Pope Clement XIV)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: அக்டோபர் 31

பாதுகாவல்:

மாமிசம் விற்பவர்கள் (Butchers),பாவ மன்னிப்புக் கோருபவர்கள் (Penitents), மறைப்பணியாளர்கள் (Missionaries)

அருளாளர் தாமஸ், இத்தாலி நாட்டின் ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையைச் சேர்ந்தவரும், புனிதர் ஃபிரான்ஸிசின் மூன்றாம் நிலை (Third Order of Saint Francis) சபையின் ஒப்புக்கொள்ளப்பட்ட உறுப்பினரும் (Professed Member) ஆவார். இவர், “டொம்மேசோ பெல்லாக்கி” (Tommaso Bellacci) எனும் பெயரிலும் அறியப்படுகிறார். ஆரம்பத்தில், மாமிசம் விற்கும் வியாபாரம் செய்துவந்த இவர், தாம் செய்த ஒரு பாவத்திற்காக மனம் வருந்தி, தமது வாழ்க்கையையே திருப்பி மறைப்பணியாளராக ஆனார்.

தாமஸ், தாம் ஒரு குருத்துவம் பெற்ற குருவாக இல்லாவிடினும், மத்திய கிழக்கு மற்றும் இத்தாலிய தீபகற்பம் முழுவதும் பயணம் செய்து, மக்களுக்குப் பயிற்சியளிக்கவும், மறையுரைகளாற்றவும் செய்தார்.

தாமஸ், கி.பி. 1370ம் ஆண்டு, மேற்கு மத்திய இத்தாலியின் (Western Central Italy) “டுஸ்கனி” (Tuscany) மாகாணத்தின் தலைநகரான ஃபுளோரன்ஸ் (Florence) நகரின் மாமிச வியாபாரி ஒருவரின் மகனாகப் பிறந்தார். தமது இளமையில் ஒரு காட்டுமிராண்டித்தனமாக நடந்து கொண்ட அவரிடமிருந்து தமது மகன்களை தூர விலகி இருக்குமாறு அக்கம்பக்கத்திலுள்ள பெற்றோர் எச்சரிக்கை செய்வது வழக்கமாயிருந்தது. அவர், தமது தந்தையைப் போலவே தாமும் ஒரு இறைச்சி வியாபாரி ஆனார். அவர் தனது குழந்தை பருவத்திலேயே பல்வேறு சந்தர்ப்பங்களில் நிறைய பிரச்சனைகளைச் சந்தித்தார்.

கி.பி. 1400ம் ஆண்டு, ஒரு தீவிரமான குற்றத்தை செய்ததாக தாமஸ் குற்றம் சாட்டப்பட்டார். உண்மையில் அவர் அக்குற்றத்தைச் செய்திருக்கவில்லை. ஆகவே அவர் ஃபுளோரன்ஸ் நகர தெருக்களில் அலைந்து திரிந்தார். பின்னர், ஒரு கத்தோலிக்க குருவானவர் தாமசை சந்தித்தார். தாமஸ் கூறுவனவற்றை கருணையுடன் செவிமடுத்தார். பின்னர் தாமசின் பெயருக்கு ஏற்பட்ட களங்கத்தை நீக்க உதவினார். நடந்த அந்த சம்பவம் அவரை மிகவும் அதிர்ச்சிக்குள்ளாக்கியிருந்தது. குருவின் பாராட்டுதல்களால் கட்டுண்ட அவர், தமது பாவங்கள் நிறைந்த வாழ்க்கையை கொட்டித் தீர்த்தார். கடவுளுக்க சேவை செய்யக்கூடிய முழு தவ வாழ்க்கை வாழ தீர்மானித்தார். கி.பி. 1405ம் ஆண்டு, ஃபுளோரன்ஸ் பெருநகரிலுள்ள சிறிய நகரான “ஃபியசோல்” (Fiesole) நகரிலுள்ள புனிதர் ஃபிரான்ஸிசின் மூன்றாம் நிலை சபையில், குருத்துவம் பெறாத மறைப்பணியாளராக இணைந்தார். விழித்திருத்தல், தவம் மற்றும் உபவாசம் ஆகியவற்றில் குறிக்கப்படுமளவு முன்னேறினார். குருத்துவ அருட்பொழிவு பெற்ற குருவாக இல்லாதிருந்தும் புகுமுக துறவியரின் (Novice Master) தலைவரானார்.

தாமஸ், ஃபிரான்ஸ் (France) நாட்டின் கோர்சிகா தீவிலுள்ள (Island of Corsica) “கோர்சியா” (Corscia) நகரில் பல்வேறு துறவு மடங்களை நிறுவினார். இவரை அழைத்த திருத்தந்தை ஐந்தாம் மார்ட்டின் (Pope Martin V), ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கன் துறவியர்க்கெதிராக பிரச்சாரம் செய்யும் (Group of Heretical Franciscans) குழுவினருக்கு எதிராய் பிரச்சாரம் செய்ய அறிவுறுத்தினார். திருத்தந்தையின் கட்டளைப்படி அவரை தலைமை குருவாக (Vicar General) நியமித்தார். கி.பி. 1438ம் வருடம், திருத்தந்தை இவரையும், அருளாளர் “ஆல்பெர்ட் பெர்டினி” (Blessed Albert Berdini of Sarteano) ஆகிய இருவரையும் மத்திய கிழக்கு நாடுகளின் (Middle East) “டமாஸ்கஸ்” (Damascus) மற்றும் “கெய்ரோ” (Cairo) ஆகிய நகரங்களுக்கு, கிழக்கு மற்றும் மேற்கத்திய திருச்சபைகளை (Eastern and Western Churches) ஒருங்கிணைப்பதை ஊக்குவிப்பதற்காக அனுப்பினார். அப்போது, தாமசின் வயது எழுபது.

அவர் எத்தியோப்பியாவுக்குச் (Ethiopia) பயணம் செல்ல முயன்றார், ஆனால் துருக்கியர்கள் (Turks) அவரை மூன்று முறையும் பிடித்துச் சென்றனர். ஃ ப்ளோரன்ஸ் வியாபாரிகள் இரண்டு தடவை அவரை விடுவிக்க உதவினார்கள். மூன்றாம் முறை, அவர் துருக்கியர்களால் கொல்லப்படுவார் என எதிர்பார்க்கப்பட்டதால், திருத்தந்தை நான்காம் யூஜின் (Pope Eugene IV) தலையிட்டு அவரை விடுவித்தார். கி.பி. 1444ம் ஆண்டு நாடு திரும்பிய தாமஸ், தெற்கு இத்தாலியின் “அப்ருஸ்ஸோ” (Abruzzo) பிராந்தியத்திலுள்ள பள்ளியில் கி.பி. 1446ம் ஆண்டு வரை தங்கினார். தாமஸ் வெறும் தண்ணீரையும் காய்கறிகளையுமே தமது உணவாக எடுத்துக்கொண்டார்.

ரோம் நகருக்கு திருத்தந்தையை காணச் செல்லும் வழியில், மத்திய இத்தாலியின் “லாஸியோ” (Lazio) பிராந்தியத்தின் “ரியேட்டி” (Rieti) எனும் நகரில் மரித்தார்.

† Saint of the Day †

(October 31)

✠ Blessed Thomas of Florence ✠

Religious:

Born: 1370 AD

Florence, Republic of Florence

Died: October 31, 1447 (Aged 77)

Rieti, Papal States

Venerated in: Roman Catholic Church

Beatified: 1771 AD

Pope Clement XIV

Feast: October 31

Patronage: Butchers, Penitents, Missionaries

Blessed Thomas of Florence or “Tommaso Bellucci” was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member of the Third Order of Saint Francis. Bellucci was a butcher and became religious after turning his life around from one of sin to one of penance and servitude to God. Bellucci travelled across the Middle East and the Italian peninsula to preach and administer to people despite not being an ordained priest.

The rite of beatification was celebrated in 1771.

Life:

Thomas of Florence was born in Florence in 1370 as the son of a butcher. His parents came from Castello di Linari in Val d'Elsa. He was born in a house that was situated on the Ponte Alle Grazie. He led a wild and dissolute life as an adolescent that parents warned their sons to keep their distance from him. He became a butcher like his father. He got into a lot of trouble on various occasions during his childhood.

Thomas was accused of having committed a serious crime in 1400 that he in fact did not do and so he wandered the streets of Florence until he met a priest who listened to Thomas and took him in and helped clear his name. The incident shocked him so much - coupled with his appreciation of the priest - that he shed his life of sin and decided to live a life of total penance and service to God. He joined the Third Order of Saint Francis in Fiesole in 1405 as a religious rather than a priest and became noted for keeping vigils and fasting. He also became a novice master despite not being a priest.

He founded friaries in Corsica Pope Martin V called him to preach in the northern cities against the "Fraticelli" who were a group of heretical Franciscans and was also made Vicar General at the pope's behest; he and Alberto da Sarteano in 1438 were later sent to the Middle East to cities such as Damascus and Cairo in order to promote the reunification of the Eastern and Western Churches when he was over 70. Alberto had to leave due for back home due to his ill health which left Thomas on his own.

He attempted to travel to Ethiopia but the Turks captured him three times. The Florentine merchants helped to secure his release the first two times while he was later imprisoned for his faith and work the third time and expected that he would be killed though Pope Eugene IV helped secure his release. He returned home in 1444 and spent his time in a convent in Abruzzo until 1446. He was known for his diet of water and vegetables.

Thomas died in Rieti while on a visit to Rome to visit the pontiff. He planned to ask him for permission to return to the Orient. His remains were relocated in 2006.