St. Polycarp of Smyrna
† இன்றைய புனிதர் †
(ஃபெப்ரவரி 23)
✠ புனிதர் பொலிகார்ப் ✠
(St. Polycarp)
மறைசாட்சி, திருச்சபை தந்தையர், ஆயர்:
(Martyr, Church Father and Bishop)
பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 69
இறப்பு: கி.பி. 156
ஸ்மைரனா, ஆசியா, ரோமப் பேரரசு
(Smyrna, Asia, Roman Empire)
ஏற்கும் சமயம்:
கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை
(Roman Catholic Church)
கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை
(Eastern Orthodox Church)
ஆங்கிலிக்கன் ஒன்றியம்
(Anglican Communion)
லூதரனியம்
(Lutheran Church)
ஓரியண்டல் மரபுவழி திருச்சபை
(Oriental Orthodox Church)
நினைவுத் திருவிழா: ஃபெப்ரவரி 23
சித்தரிக்கப்படும் வகை :
பாலியம் அணிந்தவாறு, ஒரு நூலினை ஏந்தியவாறு
பாதுகாவல்:
காது வலியால் அவதியுறுவோர், இரத்தக்கழிசல்
குறிப்பிடத்தக்க படைப்புகள்:
பொலிகார்ப் பிலிப்பியர்களுக்கு எழுதிய திருமுகம்
புனிதர் பொலிகார்ப், கி.பி. 2ம் நூற்றாண்டில் வாழ்ந்த, “ஸ்மைரனா” (Smyrna) நகரின் ஆயராவார். “பொலிகார்ப்பின் மறைசாட்சியம்” (Martyrdom of Polycarp) என்னும் நூலின்படி, அடுக்கப்பட்ட விரகுகளின்மீது இவரை வைத்து உயிருடன் தீயிட்டு கொளுத்த முயன்றபோது, தீ இவரை தொட தவறியதால், இவர் கத்தியால் குத்திக் கொலை செய்யப்பட்டார். கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை, கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை, ஓரியண்டல் மரபுவழி திருச்சபை, ஆங்கிலிக்கன் மற்றும் லூதரனியம் இவரை புனிதர் என ஏற்கின்றன.
இவரை “திருத்தூதர் யோவானின்” (John the Apostle) சீடர் என “இரனேயுஸ்” (Irenaeus) மற்றும் “டேர்டுல்லியன்” (Tertullian) ஆகியோர் குறிக்கின்றனர். பொலிகார்ப், யோவானின் சீடர் என்றும், யோவானே இவரை ஸ்மைர்னா நகரின் ஆயராக திருப்பொழிவு செய்தார் எனவும் புனிதர் ஜெரோம் (Saint Jerome) கூறியுள்ளார்.
“ரோமின் கிளமெண்ட்” (Clement of Rome) மற்றும் “அந்தியோக்குவின் இஞ்ஞாசியார்” (Ignatius of Antioch) ஆகியோரோடு புனித பொலிகார்ப்பும், அப்போஸ்தலிக்க தந்தையர்களுல் (Apostolic Fathers) மிக முக்கியமானவராகக் கருதப்படுகின்றார்.
இவரால் எழுதப்பட்டதாக தற்போது உள்ள ஒரே ஆவணம், பொலிகார்ப் பிலிப்பியர்களுக்கு எழுதிய திருமுகம் (Letter to the Philippians) ஆகும். இதனை முதன் முதலில் பதிவு செய்தவர் இரனேயு (Irenaeus of Lyons) ஆவார்.
பொலிகார்ப், ஆரம்பகால கிறிஸ்தவ திருச்சபை வரலாற்றில் ஒரு முக்கியமான இடத்தை ஆக்கிரமித்துள்ளார். ஆரம்பகால கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் பலருள் இவரது எழுத்துக்கள் இன்னமும் இருக்கின்றன. இவர், கிறிஸ்தவ திருச்சபைகளை நிறுவுவதில், பெரும் பங்களிப்பாக இருந்த ஒரு முக்கிய சபையின் மூப்பராவார். முக்கிய மரபுகளைக் கொண்டிருந்த இவருடைய சகாப்தம் அனைத்து திருச்சபைகளாலும் பரவலாக ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட்டன. விவிலிய அறிஞரான “டேவிட் ட்ரோபிக்” (David Trobisch) என்பவரின் கூற்றுப்படி, பொலிகார்ப் புதிய ஏற்பாட்டினை தொகுத்து, திருத்தி, வெளியிட்டவர்களுள் ஒருவராக இருந்திருக்கலாம். இவையனைத்தும், இவரது எழுத்துக்களை பெரும் ஆர்வம் கொண்டவைகளாக ஆக்கின.
Feastday: February 23
Patron: against earache, dysentery
Birth: 69
Death: 155
Bishop of Smyrna, martyr, and one of the foremost leaders of the Church in the second century. Few details of his life are extant with any reliability beyond his famous martyrdom, which was recounted in the Martyrium Polycarpi. It is believed, however, that he was converted to the faith by St. John the Evangelist about 80 A.D. and became bishop of Smyrna about 96 A.D. He was, as was his friend St. Ignatius of Antioch, one of the most important intermediary links between the apostolic and the patristic eras in the Church, especially in Christian Asia Minor. A defender of orthodoxy, he opposed such heretical groups as the Marcionites and Valentinians. He also authored a surviving epistle to the Philippians, exhorting them to remain strong in the faith. The letter is of great interest to scholars because it demonstrates the existence of New Testament texts, with quotes from Matthew and Luke, the Acts of the Apostles, and the first letters of Peter and John. When Ignatius was being taken to Rome to be put to death, he wrote of Polycarp being clothed "with the garment of grace." Polycarp was himself arrested by Roman officials in Smyrna soon after returning from a trip to Rome to discuss the date for Easter. He refused to abjure the faith, telling his captain that he had served Christ for eighty six years. The Romans burned him alive with twelve companions. The year of his death has been put at 155 or 156, although Eusebius of Caesarea places the year at 167 or 168, meaning it would have fallen in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. If so, changes in the year of his birth would be necessary. The most detailed account of his death was the Martyrium Polycarpi.
For other uses, see Polycarp (disambiguation).
Polycarp (/ˈpɒlikɑːrp/; Greek: Πολύκαρπος, Polýkarpos; Latin: Polycarpus; AD 69 – 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna.[1] According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his body.[2] Polycarp is regarded as a saint and Church Father in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches. His name means "much fruit" in Greek. Both Irenaeus and Tertullian[3] record that Polycarp had been a disciple of John the Apostle, one of Jesus’ disciples.[4] In Illustrious Men.17, Jerome writes that Polycarp was a disciple of John the Apostle and that John had ordained him as a bishop of Smyrna.[5] Polycarp is regarded as one of three chief Apostolic Fathers, along with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch.
Surviving writings and early accounts
The sole surviving work attributed to him is the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, a mosaic of references to the Greek Scriptures, which, along with an account of The Martyrdom of Polycarp, forms part of the collection of writings called Apostolic Fathers. After the Acts of the Apostles, which describes the death of Stephen, the Martyrdom is considered one of the earliest genuine accounts of a Christian martyrdom.[1] Charles E. Hill argues extensively that the teachings Irenaeus ascribes to a certain apostolic "presbyter" throughout his writings represent lost teachings of Polycarp, his teacher.[6]
Life
The chief sources of information concerning the life of Polycarp are The Martyrdom of Polycarp, Adversus Haereses, The Epistle to Florinus, the epistles of Ignatius, and Polycarp's own letter to the Philippians. In 1999, the Harris Fragments, a collection of 3rd- to 6th-century Coptic texts that mention Polycarp, were published.[7]
Papias
According to Irenaeus, Polycarp was a companion of Papias, another "hearer of John", and a correspondent of Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius addressed a letter to him and mentions him in his letters to the Ephesians and to the Magnesians.[8]
Irenaeus regarded the memory of Polycarp as a link to the apostolic past. In his letter to Florinus, a fellow student of Polycarp who had become a Roman presbyter and later lapsed into heresy, Irenaeus relates how and when he became a Christian:[9]
I could tell you the place where the blessed Polycarp sat to preach the Word of God. It is yet present to my mind with what gravity he everywhere came in and went out; what was the sanctity of his deportment, the majesty of his countenance; and what were his holy exhortations to the people. I seem to hear him now relate how he conversed with John and many others who had seen Jesus Christ, the words he had heard from their mouths.[10]
In particular, he heard the account of Polycarp's discussion with John and with others who had seen Jesus. Irenaeus reports that Polycarp was converted to Christianity by apostles, was consecrated a presbyter, and communicated with many who had seen Jesus. He writes that he had had the good fortune, when young, to know Polycarp, who was then far advanced in years.[11]
Visit to Anicetus
According to Irenaeus, during the time his fellow Syrian Anicetus was Bishop of Rome, Polycarp visited Rome to discuss differences in the practices of the churches of Asia and Rome. Irenaeus states that on certain things the two speedily came to an understanding, while as to the observance of Easter, each adhered to his own custom, without breaking off full communion with the other.[12] Polycarp followed the Eastern practice of celebrating the feast on the 14th of Nisan, the day of the Jewish Passover, regardless of the day of the week on which it fell, while Anicetus followed the Western practice of celebrating the feast on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox. Anicetus allowed Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in his own church, which was regarded by the Romans as a great honor.[12]
Date of martyrdom
Polycarp miraculously extinguishing the fire burning the city of Smyrna
In the Martyrdom, Polycarp is recorded as saying on the day of his death: "Eighty and six years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong." This could indicate either that he was then eighty-six years old[13] or that he had lived eighty-six years after his conversion.[2] Polycarp goes on to say: "How then can I blaspheme my King and Savior? You threaten me with a fire that burns for a season, and after a little while is quenched; but you are ignorant of the fire of everlasting punishment that is prepared for the wicked."[10] Polycarp was burned at the stake and pierced with a spear for refusing to burn incense to the Roman Emperor.[14] On his farewell, he said: "I bless you, Father, for judging me worthy of this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs I may share the cup of Christ."[10]
The date of Polycarp's death is in dispute. Eusebius dates it to the reign of Marcus Aurelius, c. 166–167. However, a post-Eusebian addition to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, dates his death to Saturday, February 23, in the proconsulship of Lucius Statius Quadratus, c. 155 or 156. These earlier dates better fit the tradition of his association with Ignatius and John the Evangelist.
Great Sabbath
The Martyrdom of Polycarp states that Polycarp was killed on "the Great Sabbath". English patristic scholar William Cave (1637–1713) believed that this was evidence that the Smyrnaeans under Polycarp observed the seventh-day Sabbath, i.e. assembled on Saturdays.[15] J. B. Lightfoot records as a common interpretation of the expression "the Great Sabbath" to refer to Pesach or another Jewish festival.[16] This is contradicted by the standard Jewish calendar, under which Nisan 14, the date of the Pesach, can fall no earlier than late March and hence at least a month after the February 23 dating. Hence, Lightfoot understood the expression in reference to the Purim festival, celebrated a month before Pesach,[17] while other scholars suggest that at the time the Jewish calendar had not yet been standardized, and that this day, both Jews and Christians celebrated Pesach and a (Quartodeciman) Christian Passover, respectively.[18]
Importance
Engraving by Michael Burghers, ca 1685
Polycarp occupies an important place in the history of the early Christian Church.[7] He is among the earliest Christians whose writings survived. Jerome wrote that Polycarp was a "disciple of the apostle John and by him ordained presbyter of Smyrna".[19] He was an elder of an important congregation that was a large contributor to the founding of the Christian Church. He is from an era whose orthodoxy is widely accepted by Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Church of God groups, Sabbatarian groups, mainstream Protestants and Catholics alike.
According to Eusebius, Polycrates of Ephesus cited the example of Polycarp in defense of local practices during the quartodeciman controversy.[20]
Irenaeus, who as a young man had heard Polycarp preach, described him as[21] "a man who was of much greater weight, and a more steadfast witness of truth, than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics". Polycarp lived in an age after the deaths of the apostles, when a variety of interpretations of the sayings of Jesus were being preached. His role was to authenticate orthodox teachings through his reputed connection with the apostle John: "a high value was attached to the witness Polycarp could give as to the genuine tradition of old apostolic doctrine"[2] "his testimony condemning as offensive novelties the figments of the heretical teachers". Irenaeus states (iii. 3) that on Polycarp's visit to Rome, his testimony converted many disciples of Marcion and Valentinus.
Relics
In the church Sant' Ambrogio della Massima in Rome, Italy, there are guarded relics of Polycarp.
St. Jurmin
Feastday: February 23
Death: 7th century
Prince of East Anglia, England, and a relative of King Anna . He is honored as a confessor, and his relics were enshrined at Bury St. Edmunds.
Anna (or Onna; killed 653 or 654) was king of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death.
He was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles, and one of the three sons of Eni who ruled the kingdom of East Anglia, succeeding some time after Ecgric was killed in battle by Penda of Mercia. Anna was praised by Bede for his devotion to Christianity and was renowned for the saintliness of his family: his son Jurmin and all his daughters – Seaxburh, Æthelthryth, Æthelburh and possibly a fourth, Wihtburh – were canonised.
Little is known of Anna's life or his reign, as few records have survived from this period. In 631 he may have been at Exning, close to the Devil's Dyke. In 645 Cenwalh of Wessex was driven from his kingdom by Penda and, due to Anna's influence, he was converted to Christianity while living as an exile at the East Anglian court. Upon his return from exile, Cenwalh re-established Christianity in his own kingdom and the people of Wessex then remained firmly Christian.
Around 651 the land around Ely was absorbed into East Anglia, following the marriage of Anna's daughter Æthelthryth. Anna richly endowed the coastal monastery at Cnobheresburg. In 651, in the aftermath of an attack by Penda on Cnobheresburg, Anna was forced to flee into exile, perhaps to the western kingdom of the Magonsæte. He returned to East Anglia in about 653, but soon afterwards the kingdom was attacked again by Penda and at the Battle of Bulcamp the East Anglian army, led by Anna, was defeated by the Mercians, and both Anna and his son Jurmin were killed. Anna was succeeded by his brother, Æthelhere. Botolph's monastery at Iken may have been built in commemoration of the king. After Anna's reign, East Anglia seems to have been eclipsed by its more powerful neighbour, Mercia.
Sources
The kingdom of East Anglia (Old English: Ēast Engla Rīce) was a small independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that comprised what are now the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and perhaps the eastern part of the Cambridgeshire Fens.[1]
In contrast to the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex, little reliable evidence about the kingdom of the East Angles has survived, because of the destruction of its monasteries and the disappearance of the two East Anglian sees that occurred as the result of Viking raids and settlement.[2] The main primary sources for information about Anna's life and reign are the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People), completed in Northumbria by Bede in 731, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, initially written in the ninth century, which mentions Anna's death. The mediaeval work known as the Liber Eliensis, written in Ely in the twelfth century, is a source of information about Anna's daughters Æthelthryth and Seaxburh, and also describes Anna's death and burial.[3]
Early life and marriage
Colour photograph
The Devil's Dyke, near Exning. Anna may have been at Exning in 631.
Anna was the son of Eni, a member of the ruling Wuffingas family, and nephew of Rædwald, king of the East Angles from 600 to 625.[4] East Anglia was an early and long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom in which a duality of a northern and a southern part existed, corresponding with the modern English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.[5]
Anna was married: Bede refers to the saint Sæthryth as "daughter of the wife of Anna, king of the East Angles".[6] In Abbott Folcard's Life of St Botolph, written in the 11th century, Botolph is described as having been at one time the chaplain to the sisters of a king, Æthelmund, whose mother was named Sæwara. Folcard names two of Sæwara's kinsmen as Æthelhere and Æthelwold. Since these are the names of two of Anna's brothers, Steven Plunkett suggests that it is "tempting" to consider that Sæwara was married to Anna, and that Æthelmund might either be Anna's full name, or the name of an otherwise unknown East Anglian sub-king.[7]
The Liber Eliensis, on the other hand, names Hereswith, the sister of Hild, abbess of Whitby, as Anna's wife and the mother of Sæthryth, Seaxburh of Ely and Æthelthryth.[8] However, the Liber Eliensis is regarded with caution by historians: Rosalind Love says that the mediaeval writers who interpreted Bede's information about Hereswith made an "erroneous assumption" regarding her connection with Anna and his family.[4][9] Bede is clear that Hereswith had left East Anglia as a widow before Hild visited the kingdom, at which time Anna was very much alive. Historians now believe that Hereswith was Anna's sister-in-law, and some have thought that around the time that she married into the East Anglian royal family, Anna had already been king for a decade.[10]
In 631 Anna was probably at the Suffolk village of Exning, an important settlement with royal connections,[11] and, according to the Liber Eliensis, the birthplace of his daughter Æthelthryth.[12] By tradition, Æthelthryth is said to have been baptised at Exning in a pool known as St Mindred's Well.[13] Exning was an important place strategically, as it stood just on the East Anglian side of the Devil's Dyke, a major earthwork stretching between the Fen edge and the headwaters of the River Stour, built at an earlier date to defend the East Anglian region from attack. An early Anglo-Saxon cemetery discovered there suggests the existence of an important site nearby, possibly a royal estate or regio.[14]
King of the East Angles
Accession and rule
Map of Anglo-Saxon Britain
The main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
During 632 or 633 Edwin of Northumbria, with his centre of Christian power north of the River Humber, was overthrown. Edwin was slain and Northumbria was ravaged by Cadwallon ap Cadfan, supported by the Mercian king, Penda.[15] The Mercians then turned on the kingdom of the East Angles and their king, Ecgric. At an unknown date (possibly in the early 640s),[16] they routed the East Anglian army and Ecgric and his predecessor Sigeberht were both slain.[17] D. P. Kirby has suggested that as Sigeberht was alive when the Irish monk Fursey left for Gaul and found Erchinoald, (which happened after Erchinoald became Mayor of the Neustrian palace in 641), Sigeberht was probably killed around 640 or 641.[18] Penda's victory marked the end of the line of kings of the East Angles who were directly descended from Rædwald.[19] Some time after Penda's victory, Anna became king of the East Angles, though the date of his accession is quite uncertain. The Liber Eliensis says that Anna died in the nineteenth year of his reign, and since he died in the mid-650s this would indicate a date around 635.[20] However, the Liber Eliensis is regarded by some historians as unreliable on this point,[4] and Barbara Yorke suggests a possible date in the early 640s for Anna's accession, noting that it could not have been after 645 as Anna is recorded as giving refuge to Cenwalh of Wessex in that year.[21][note 1] It is probable that Anna became king with the assistance of the northern Angles.[24] Throughout his reign he was the victim of Mercian aggression under Penda, but he also seems to have challenged the rise of Penda's power.[25] The British medievalist David Dumville has written that due to their rivalry for control over the Middle Anglian people, Mercia and East Anglia probably became hereditary enemies and Penda repeatedly attacked the East Angles from the mid-630s to 654.[26]
Anna arranged an important diplomatic marriage between his daughter Seaxburh and Eorcenberht of Kent, cementing an alliance between the two kingdoms.[27] It was by means of marriages such as this that the kings of Kent became well-connected to other royal dynasties.[28] Not all of Anna's daughters were married into other royal families. During the 640s Anna's daughter Æthelburg and his stepdaughter Sæthryth entered Faremoutiers Abbey in Gaul to live religious lives under abbess Fara.[27] They were the first royal Anglo-Saxons to become nuns, making religious seclusion "an acceptable and desirable vocation for ex-queens and royal princesses", according to Barbara Yorke.[note 2]
D. P. Kirby uses the presence of East Anglian princesses living under the veil in Gaul as evidence of the Frankish orientation of Anna's kingdom at this time, continued since the reign of his predecessor Rædwald.[31] The Wuffingas dynasty may have been connected with monastic foundations in the area around Faramoutiers through Anna's predecessor Sigeberht, who had spent several years as an exile in Gaul and had become a devout and learned Christian due to his experiences of monastic life.[32]
The kingdom of East Anglia during the reign of Anna
In 641 Oswald of Northumbria was slain in battle by Penda (probably at Oswestry in Shropshire). Due to his death, Northumbria was split into two. The northern part, Bernicia, accepted Oswald's brother Oswiu as their new king, but the southern Deirans refused to accept him and were ruled instead by a king of the original Deiran house, Oswine.[33] Soon afterwards Cenwalh of Wessex, the brother of Oswald's widow and himself married to Penda's sister, renounced his wife.[34] In 645, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Penda drove Cenwalh from his kingdom and into exile. During the following year, while a refugee at Anna's court, he was converted to Christianity,[35] returning in 648 to rule Wessex as a Christian king.[4] Anna probably provided military support for Cenwalh's return to his throne.[36]
Anna's hold on the western limits of his kingdom, which bordered on the Fen lands that surrounded the Isle of Ely, was strengthened by the marriage in 651 (or slightly later) of his daughter Æthelthryth to Tondberht, a prince of the South Gyrwe, a people living in the fens who may have been settled in the area around Ely.[21][note 3] Æthelthryth, accompanied by her minister Owine, travelled from Ely to Northumbria when she married for the second time, to Ecgfrith.[38]
Exile
Monochrome drawing
The ruins of Burgh Castle, the possible site of the monastery at Cnobheresburg, as depicted in 1845
During his reign Anna endowed the monastery at Cnobheresburg with rich buildings and objects.[39] The monastery was built in about 633 by Fursey after he arrived in East Anglia. In time, weary of attacks on the kingdom, Fursey left East Anglia for good, leaving the monastery to his brother Foillan.[17] When in 651 Penda attacked the monastery, Anna and his men arrived and held the Mercians back. This gave Foillan and his monks enough time to escape with their books and valuables, but Penda defeated Anna and drove him into exile, possibly to the kingdom of Merewalh of the Magonsætan, in western Shropshire.[40] He returned to East Anglia in about 654.[41]
Death, burial place and successors
Soon after 653, when Penda made his son Peada the ruler of the Middle Angles (but still continued to rule his own country),[42] the Mercian assault on East Anglia was repeated. The opposing armies of Penda and Anna met at Bulcamp, near Blythburgh in Suffolk. The East Anglians were defeated and many were slain, including King Anna and his son Jurmin.[17] Anna's death is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the entry for 653 or 654, "Her Anna cining werð ofslagen ..." – 'Here Anna was killed' – but no other details of the battle in which he died are given.[43][note 4]
drawing
A drawing of the writing-tablet found near a possible monastic site at Blythburgh
Blythburgh, a mile from Bulcamp and situated near the fordable headwaters of the Blyth estuary, was afterwards believed to be the location of the tombs of Anna and Jurmin.[4][38] It is a candidate for a monastic site or a royal regio (estate). According to Peter Warner, the Latin derivation of part of the nearby place-name 'Bulcamp' indicates its ancient origins, and mediaeval sources which claim continuous Christian worship at Blythburgh throughout the Anglo-Saxon period provide circumstantial evidence of its connections with East Anglian royalty and Christianity.[45] Part of an 8th-century whalebone diptych or writing-tablet, used for liturgical purposes, has been found near the site.[46]
Saint Botolph began to build his monastery at Icanho, now conclusively identified as Iken, Suffolk,[47] in the year that Anna was killed, possibly to commemorate the king.[38] Anna was succeeded in turn by his two brothers Æthelhere and Æthelwold, who may have ruled jointly.[48] It is possible that Æthelhere was set up as a puppet ruler by Penda or was his ally, as he was one of the 30 duces that accompanied Penda when he attacked Oswiu of Northumbria at an unidentified location called the Winwæd in 655 or 656. Penda himself was killed at the Winwæd, after having steadily increased his power over a period of 13 years.[49] Æthelhere (who was also slain at the Battle of the Winwæd) and Æthelwold were succeeded by the descendants of Anna's youngest brother, Æthelric.[50]
Bede praised Anna's piety in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People,[51] and modern historians have since regarded Anna as a devout king,[52] but his reputation as a devoted Christian is mainly because he produced a son and four daughters who were all made into Anglo-Saxon saints.[53] Five hundred years after his death, his tomb at Blythburgh was (according to the Liber Eliensis) still "venerated by the pious devotion of faithful people".[54]
Descendants
Anna's children were all canonised. The eldest, Seaxburh, was the wife of Eorcenberht of Kent. She ruled Kent from 664 until her son Ecgberht came of age. Æthelthryth, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, founded the monastery at Ely in 673. Another daughter, Æthelburh, spent her life at the nunnery of Faremoutiers. Anna's son, Jurmin, was of warrior age in 653 when he was killed in battle.
By tradition, Anna is said to have had a fourth daughter, Wihtburh, an abbess at Dereham (or possibly West Dereham), where there was a royal double monastery.[55] She may never have existed: Bede fails to mention her and she first appears in a calendar in the late 10th century Bosworth Psalter.[56] She may have been a character specifically created by the religious community at Ely, where her remains were supposed to have been taken after being stolen from Dereham[38][57] and subsequently used as visual proof of the incorruptibility of a saint's body, a substitute for her sister Æthelthryth, whose body had to remain unexamined in her tomb.[58] Manuscript F of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which dates from about 1100, mentions Wihtburh's death when it records that her body was found uncorrupted in 798, 55 years after she died. The resulting date for her death of 743 is far too late for her to have been a sister of Æthelthryth, who was born in 636
St. Lazarus Zographos
Feastday: February 23
Death: 867
Lazarus (Greek: Λάζαρος), surnamed Zographos (Ζωγράφος, "the Painter"), is a 9th-century Byzantine Christian saint.[1] He is also known as Lazarus the Painter and Lazarus the Iconographer. Born in Armenia on November 17, 810, he lived before and during the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm.[2] Lazarus is the first saint to be canonized specifically as an iconographer. He was later followed by Saint Catherine of Bologna.
Life and times
Lazarus became a monk at an early age and is thought to have studied the art of painting at the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople.[3][4] Lazarus was noted to possess the following virtues: love for Christ, asceticism, prayer, and rejection of the vanities of the world.[5] He was further recognized for his acts of self-control, discipline and alms-giving, then made a priest. In his lifetime he was highly regarded and well known for his frescos. He used faith and ritual as a means to transcribe his inner contemplation onto the images he painted.[6] Thus, his ability to paint icons was seen as a gift given by God. During the reign of Theophilos (r. 829–842), an iconoclast emperor opposed to all holy images, Lazarus stubbornly continued his craft of painting icons and began restoring images defaced by heretics.[7] Theophilos sought out Lazarus, who was then famous for his painting, and intended to make an example of him. After being asked several times to cease painting, Lazarus was brought before the emperor where he refused to destroy any of the images he painted. The emperor soon found that Lazarus was above flattery and bribery.[8] He was then threatened with the death penalty, which at the time was not an uncommon outcome for those who favored icons (iconodules). However, Lazarus being a man of the cloth, could not be put to death and so he was instead thrown in prison. During his imprisonment he was subjected to such “severe torture that the ladders flesh melted away along with his blood.”[9] He was left to die of his wounds but recovered. He then began to paint holy images on panels from his prison cell. Hearing of this, Theophilos gave orders to have “sheets of red hot iron to be applied to the palms of his hands where, as a result, he lost consciousness and lay half dead.”[10] It is also said his hands were burned with red-hot horseshoes until his flesh melted to the bone.
As Lazarus lay on his deathbed, the Empress Theodora, an iconodule, convinced Theophilos to release Lazarus from prison. Lazarus found refuge at Tou Phoberou, a secluded church of St. John the Forerunner once located in Phoberos on the Asiatic shore of the Bosporus.[11] The Church is believed to have once functioned as an imperial monastery that housed as many as one-hundred and seventy monks.[12] After the death of Theophilos in 842, Theodora asked Lazarus to forgive her husband’s actions, to which he replied “God is not so unjust, O, Empress, as to forget our love and labors on his behalf, and attach greater value to that mans hatred and extraordinary insanity.”[13] Lazarus served as a model of perseverance for those who had suffered from iconoclast persecution.[14]
Attributed artworks
After the restoration of the icons in 843, Lazarus was again free to pursue his painting. Despite his previous wounds, Lazarus was said to have painted a large fresco of St. John at the Phoberos Monastery.[15] The painted icon was known to have the power to perform cures and miracles.[16] That same year, he also famously restored a portrait of Christ known as the Christ Chalkites (Christ of the Chalke) over the Chalke Gate, a ceremonial entrance of the Great Palace of Constantinople.[17] Neither of these two works survive today. Lazarus was also accredited with the mosaic decoration of the apse of Hagia Sophia within the pilgrim accounts of Antony, Archbishop of Novgorod during a visit to Constantinople. Antony described the mosaic as depicting the Mother of God holding a Child Christ flanked by two angels, which was noted to have been seen by both Emperor Basil l and Michael III (r. 842–867) before his death the same year. However, these accounts are dated several centuries later in c. 1200.[18]
Ambassador to Rome
In 856, Lazarus was served as a diplomat for Michael III, Theophilos and Theodora’s son, who sent him as an emissary to visit Pope Benedict III to discuss the possibility of reconciliation between the Catholic Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, who at this point had very strained relations.[3][19] In 865, during his second mission to the Pope, Lazarus died at Rome on 28 September, although Raymond Janin disputes the date.[3][20] He was buried in the Monastery of Evanderes, near Constantinople.[21]
The feast day of Saint Lazarus Zographos is 17 November in the Orthodox calendar, and 23 February in the Roman Catholic calendar.
Bl. Daniel Brottier
Feastday: February 23
Birth: 1876
Death: 1936
Beatified: November 25, 1984 by Pope John Paul II
Blessed Daniel Jules Alexis Brottier, C.S.Sp. (September 7, 1876 - February 28, 1936) was a French Roman Catholic priest in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost. He was awarded the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur for his services as a chaplain during World War I, did missionary work in Senegal, and administered an orphanage in Auteuil, a suburb of Paris. He was declared venerable in 1983, and beatified on November 25, 1984, by Pope John Paul II.
Daniel Jules Alexis Brottier, C.S.Sp. (7 September 1876 – 28 February 1936), was a French Roman Catholic priest in the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (who currently refer to themselves as Spiritans). He was awarded the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur for his services as a chaplain during World War I, did missionary work in Senegal, and administered an orphanage in Auteuil, a suburb of Paris. He was declared venerable in 1983, and then beatified on the 25 November 1984, by Pope John Paul II.
Early life
Brottier was born in La Ferté-Saint-Cyr, a commune in the Loir-et-Cher Department of France on 7 September 1876, the second son of Jean-Baptiste Brottier, coachman for the Marquis Durfort, and his wife Herminie (née Bouthe).[1] A story from his childhood recounts that his mother asked him what he would like to be when he grew up. Daniel's answer was, "I won't be either a general or a pastry chef—I will be the Pope!" His mother reminded him that to be the pope, he would first have to become a priest. Little Daniel piped up, "Well, then I'll become a priest!" [a] At the age of 10, Brottier made his First Communion, and enrolled a year later in the minor seminary at Blois. In 1896, at the age of 20, he did one year of military service at Blois.[2] He was ordained on 22 October 1899, after which he was assigned to teach for three years at a secondary school in Pontlevoy, France.[1]
Missionary work in Africa
A young Father Brottier in 1903, ready to set out for Senegal, posed for a picture with his parents, Jean-Baptiste and Herminie
Restless in his life as a teacher and determined to be a missionary, the young Abbé Brottier joined the Congregation of the Holy Spirit at Orly in 1902. After completing his novitiate, Brottier was sent by the congregation to serve as a vicar in a mission parish in Saint-Louis, Senegal in 1903. He was disappointed that he had been assigned to a city rather than the more difficult interior.[3]
Nevertheless, Brottier immediately set to work. He gave weekly instructions to secondary school students, founded a center for child welfare, and published a parish bulletin, The Echo of St. Louis.[3] His health suffered from the climate, however, and he spent a six-month period of convalescence in France in 1906.[1] In 1911 his poor health would force him to return to France for good.[4]
After his final departure from Senegal, Brottier spent a brief, but personally significant, stay at the Trappist monastery at Lérins—the same island monastery associated with Saint Patrick's preparation for evangelization in Ireland. Brottier had felt called to a more contemplative life than he had been living as a missionary in Africa, but the stay at Lérins rid him of that idea. As Brottier wrote to his sisters, "I lived unforgettable hours in the recollection of the cloister in an atmosphere of sacrifice and immolation. But the lack of sleep, and especially of food, wore me down, and after a few days I had to yield to the evidence: I was not made for this kind of life".[3]
Even after he had left Senegal, Brottier was asked by Bishop Hyacinthe Jalabert, the Apostolic Vicar of Senegal, to conduct a fund-raising campaign to build a cathedral in Dakar.[1] To this end, Brottier was appointed the Vicar General of Dakar, even though he was residing in Paris.[3] Brottier focused on this project for seven years over two periods (i.e., 1911–1914 and 1919–1923), the interlude being a result of the First World War.[3] The so-called "African Memorial Cathedral" was consecrated on February 2, 1936, just a few weeks before Brottier's death.
My secret is this: help yourself and heaven will help you. ... I have no other secret. If the good God worked miracles [at Auteuil], through Thérèse's intercession, I think I can say in all justice that we did everything, humanly speaking, to be deserving, and that they were the divine reward of our work, prayers and trust in providence.
—Daniel Brottier[3]
Service during World War I
At the outbreak of the First World War, Brottier became a volunteer chaplain for France's 121st Infantry Regiment. He was cited six times for bravery, and awarded the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur. He attributed his survival on the front lines to the intercession of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and built a chapel for her at Auteuil when she was canonized: the first church dedicated to the saint.[5] After the war, Brottier founded the National Union of Servicemen (L'Union Nationale des Combattants), an organization of French veterans of various conflicts.[1]
Work with the orphans of Auteuil
In November 1923, the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, Louis-Ernest Dubois, asked the Congregation of the Holy Spirit to assume charge of an orphanage in an arrondissement of Paris, the Orphan Apprentices of Auteuil. Brottier, with his associate chaplain Yves Pichon, labored for 13 years to expand the facilities and worked for the welfare of the orphans. He dedicated his work to two aims: to save the most poor and unfortunate, and to dedicate those efforts to the intercession of Saint Thérèse.[1] In 1933, Brottier pioneered a program that placed the children in the households of Catholic paysans associated with the Orphan Apprentices. The fruit of his labors at Auteuil included the construction of workshops, opening a printing house and a cinema, and launching magazines. At the time of his arrival, the facility was in charge of 140 orphans; when Brottier died, there were more than 1,400.[1]
Particularly notable of Brottier's work with the orphans of Auteuil, and perhaps of his work in general, was his eagerness to expand to previously unexplored means of seeking financial support. An example of this is that he mastered the art of the camera and offered instruction on film making to the children. He even produced a popular film on the life of his personal patron, Saint Thérèse.[3]
Brottier died on 28 February 1936 in the Hospital of St. Joseph in Paris.[1] Fifteen thousand Parisians attended his funeral Mass.[2] He was buried in the Chapel of St. Thérèse in Auteuil on 5 April 1936.[1]
Veneration
Brottier was declared venerable on 13 January 1983 with a decree of heroic virtue by Pope John Paul II. He was beatified by John Paul II in Paris on 25 November 1984.[4] The cause for his canonization was greatly advanced by the claim, in 1962, that his body was as intact as on the day of his burial.[2] In addition, many miracles have been attributed to his intercession.[3] His feast day is celebrated by the Spiritan Fathers on 28 February.
Legacy
A residence hall at Duquesne University—an American university founded and administered by the Spiritan Fathers—is named Brottier Hall in memory of Blessed Daniel Brottier.[6]
Brottier Refugee Services is a Non Profit organization set up to assist private sponsors welcome refugees to Canada
St. Cerneuf
Feastday: February 23
Serenus, the Gardener, also known as Cerneuf, according to his probably fictious legend, was born in Greece. He imigrated to Sirmium (Metrovica, Yugoslavia), and was known for his gardening. He went into hiding for a time to escape a persecution of Christians that had just begun, and on his return, rebuked a lady for walking in his garden at an unseemly time. She reported to her husband that he had insulted her, and the husband, a member of the imperial guards, reported the matter to Emperor Maximian. Upon orders from the Emperor the governor investigated the matter, found Serenus innocent of insulting the woman, but while examining him, found that he was a Christian. When Serenus refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, he was beheaded. His feast day is February 23rd.
Saint Serenus the Gardener, also known as "Serenus of Billom", "Sirenatus", and, in French, French: Cerneuf is a 4th-century martyr who is venerated by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Biography
According to pious legend, he was born in Greece;[3] quit his life there and decided to live a celibate life of penance and prayer; emigrated to Sirmium, Pannonia in the Roman Empire (presently Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia); purchased, cultivated, and lived off of a garden there; and was known for his horticultural skill. He rebuked the wife of a Roman imperial guard for walking in his garden with her daughters, this purportedly being contrary to the mores of the time without male accompaniment. Her pride wounded, the wife informed her husband of the affair in writing, and he reported Serenus to Emperor Maximian, who gave the husband a letter to deliver to the governor of Pannonia that permitted the governor to remedy the supposed injustice. On the testimony of Serenus to the governor, the husband retracted his accusation and the governor judged Serenus innocent of insulting the wife. However, the governor suspected from the words of Serenus' testimony that he might be a Christian, and inquired of his religion. When Serenus testified to being one and refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods, the governor had him decapitated on 23 February 307.[1][2]
Parts of this narrative are probably fictitious,[4] however according to Butler there may possibly be some historical basis to the story.[5]
A tradition centered in Clermont-Ferrand, France maintains that St. Austremonius sent Serenus to evangelize Thiers, also in Auvergne.[6]
Veneration
The Church of Saint-Cerneuf à Billom
The commune of Billom, Auvergne, France claimed a portion of Serenus' relics.[5] Serenus became known as "Saint Cerneuf" in France, and "L'église Saint-Cerneuf" (the Church of Saint Serenus" in Billom is dedicated to him).
Saint Willigis of Mainz
மைன்ஸ் பேராயர் வில்லிஜிஸ் Willigis von Mainz
பிறப்பு
10 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டு,
நீடர்சாக்சன், ஜெர்மனி
இறப்பு
23 பிப்ரவரி 1011,
மைன்ஸ் Mainz, ஜெர்மனி
இவர் ஓர் ஏழைக் குடும்பத்தில் பிறந்தவர். இவரது இளம் பருவத்தைப் பற்றி குறிப்புகள் ஏதும் வழங்கப்படவில்லை. 970 ஆம் ஆண்டு அரசர் 2 ஆம் ஓட்டோ என்பவர் இவரை மைசன் Meißen நகருக்கு ஆயராகத் தேர்ந்தெடுத்தார். அதன்பிறகு ஆயர் அரசரின் ஆலோசகராகவும் இருந்தார். பிறகு 975 ஆம் ஆண்டு மைன்ஸ் நகரின் பேராயராக தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டார். முதல் ஜெர்மனி ஆயர் என்றழைத்த திருத்தந்தை 5 ஆம் கிரகோர் வில்லிஜிஸை உரோமிற்கு மாற்றினார்.
வில்லிஜிஸ் உரோமையில் 1002 ஆம் ஆண்டு அரசர் 2 ஆம் ஹென்றிக்கு அரசராக முடிசூட்டும் பட்டத்தை முன்னின்று வழிநடத்தினார். அதன்பிறகு அரசர் ஜெர்மனியிலுள்ள பாம்பெர்க்கிற்கு தன் இருப்பிடத்தை மாற்ற தேவையான உதவிகளை வில்லிஜிஸ் செய்துக் கொடுத்தார். பின்னர் ஏழை மக்களின் நல்வாழ்வுக்காக அரசரிடம் பெரிதும் பரிந்து பேசினார். ஒவ்வொரு நாளும் ஏறக்குறைய 30 ஏழைகள் தேவையான அளவு உணவு உட்கொள்ள ஏற்பாடு செய்து உதவினார். இவர் ஏழைகளின் தந்தை என்றழைக்கப்பட்டார்.
இவர் இறந்தபிறகு, மைன்சில் உள்ள புனித ஸ்டீபன் பேராலயத்தில் அடக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டு வணக்கம் செலுத்தப்பட்டது. செயின் ஸ்டீபன் ஆலயமானது வில்லிஜிஸ் அவர்கள்தான் ஆயராக இருக்கும் எழுப்பினார் என்று கூறப்படுகின்றது.
Profile
Son of a wheelwright. Well educated. Priest. Canon at Hildesheim, Germany. Noted speaker. Chaplain to Emperor Otto II. Chancellor of Germany in 971. Archbishop of Mainz, Germany in 973. Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire in 975. Vicar apostolic to Germany in 975, ordained by Pope Benedict VII. He crowned the infant Otto III as Holy Roman Emperor in 983, and served in the regencies of Empress Theophano and Empress Adelaide. Assisted at the consecration of Pope Gregory V in 996. Participated in the synod in 996, and spoke for the return of Saint Adalbert of Prague, whom he had consecrated as bishop, to his diocese. Worked to insure the choice of Emperor Henry II in 1002, and consecrated the the emperor. Presided at the Synod of Frankfort in 1007. He sent missionaries to Scandinavia, founded churches, built roads and bridges, supported artists and monasteries, and rebuilt the cathedral of Mainz. Though he was known as a brilliant statesman and politician, he was a Church man first, and was also known for the care he took in educating priests, and choosing them for their assignments.
Born
at Schoningen, Germany
Died
• 23 February 1011 of natural causes
• interred in the Church of Saint Stephen
Blessed Josephine Vannini
Also known as
• Giuditta Vannini
• Giuseppina Vannini
Profile
Orphaned as a small child. Raised in the Torlonia Conservatory on Via Sant' Onofrio, under the guidance of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. Entered the Daughters' novitiate in Siena, Italy, but was forced to leave due to poor health.
On retreat in 1891 she met Blessed Louis Tezza, procurator general of the Camillians. He had been thinking of founding a women's community for the care of the sick. He invited Josephine to help establish the new community, she prayed over it, and decided "yes." In 1892 she and two companions received the scapular of Camillian tertiaries, and a year later professed private vows, adding service to the sick, even at risk of their lives. They took their perpetual vows in 1895, and Josephine was elected Superior General. Blessed Louis was sent to Lima, Peru in 1900, responsibility for the new congregation rested with Mother Vannini, and under her leadership the congregation spread to France, Belgium and Argentina.
Born
7 July 1859 at Rome, Italy
Died
23 February 1911 in Rome, Italy of natural causes
Beatified
16 October 1994 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized
on 13 May 2019 Pope Francis promulgated a decree of a miracle received through the intercession of Blessed Josephine
Blessed Ludwik Mzyk
Also known as
• Ludivico Mzyk
• Ludvig Mzyk
Additional Memorial
12 June as one of the 108 Polish Martyrs
Profile
The fifth of ten children born in the family of a pious coal miner. Early feeling a call to the priesthood, Ludwyk entered the seminary in Heiligenkreuz in his teens; when there was a break in the classes, he would go home to work in the mines to help support his family. Joined the Society of the Divine Word. He continued his theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. Ordained a priest on 30 October 1932. Served three years as director of novices at the Chludowie monastery near Poznan, Poland where he taught theology, and became rector of the house. When the German army invaded Poland in 1939, Father Ludwyk came into immediate conflict with the Gestapo for trying to defend his novices against Nazi demands and propaganda. He was arrested on 25 January 1940, and assigned to barracks 7 at the Poznan death camp. Between bouts of torture, Ludwyk ministered to other prisoners until the Nazis finally gave up trying to break him and simply killed him. Martyr.
Born
22 April 1905 in Chorzów, Slaskie, Poland
Died
23 February 1942 in Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland
Beatified
13 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Giovanni Theristi
Additional Memorial
24 February (monastery of Bivongi, Italy)
Also known as
• Giovanni Terestes
• Giovanni Theristus
• John the Reaper
Profile
When his mother was pregnant with Giovanni, she was enslaved and taken to Palermo, Sicily by Saracen raiders; his father was killed in the same attack. At age 14, Giovanni returned to his parent’s home town of Stilo, Italy and was baptized by his bishop, Giovanni, at one of the old monasteries around the town. The area Christians, including the bishop, were surprised and suspicious that a young man dressed as an Arab wanted to become a Christian. As an adult, Giovanni was drawn to religious life, and became an Eastern style monk. He would help reapers in the field and then give all he had earned to the poor. A miracle worker, he once prayed for help to save a harvest that was about to be destroyed by a storm; an angel appeared and instantly harvested the crop, saving the peasants from starving. Founded the monastery at Bivongi, Italy; the house was later re-named in his hounour.
Born
c.995 in Palermo, Italy
Died
• c.1050 in Stilo, Calabria, Italy of natural causes
• relics in the church of San Giovanni Theristi in Stilo, Italy
Patronage
Stilo, Italy
Blessed Alerinus de Rambaldis
Also known as
Alerino Rembaudi
Profile
Born to the Italian nobility, from his youth Alerinus was drawn to religious life. He became a canon of the cathedral of Alba, Italy, and was chosen bishop of Alba by Pope Martin V on 10 September 1419; he led the diocese for over 36 years.
Following a vision, Bishop Alerino rediscovered the lost burial site and relics of Blessed Theobald Roggeri on 31 January 1429; legend says that all the bells of the local churches rang out on their own the next morning. Alerino conducted the Synod of Alba in 1434. He invited the Augustinians to work in his diocese, supported the vocation and work of Blessed Margaret of Savoy, and in 1446 he laid the first stone of her Dominican monastery. On 27 April 1455, he translated the relics of Saint Frontiniano and others to the cathedral in Alba, and proclaimed 27 April to be the feast of the patrons of the city of Alba.
Born
late 14th century in Alba, Cuneo, Italy
Died
21 July 1456 of natural causes
Blessed Rafaela Ybarra Arambarri de Villalonga
Profile
Born to a wealthy and pious family, the daughter of Gutiérrez de Cabiedes and Rosaria de Arambarri y Mancebo. Rafeala was a pious girl, made her first Communion at age 11, and was given to long meditations on the suffering of Christ. In 1861, at age 18, she married the wealthy and pious Giuseppe Vilallonga of Catalonia. The couple had seven children of their own, and took in many relatives who were poor, sick, frail or neglected. In her mid-thirties, and with Giuseppe’s approval, Rafaela took personal vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. Widowed, she spent her life and fortune caring for others. She founded the Institute of the Sisters of Guardian Angels to work with abandoned and neglected children.
Born
16 January 1843 in Bilbao, Vizcaya, Spain
Died
23 February 1900 in Bilbao, Vizcaya, Spain
Beatified
30 September 1984 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Alexander Akimetes
Also known as
Alexandros
Profile
Born to the nobility. Studied in Constantinople. Soldier and officer in the imperial army for four years. Adult convert to Christianity who read himself into the faith, and took his example from the words of Christ to the young rich man - he sold all his goods and became a hermit in Syria for several years. At one point he came back to the city; there he burned a pagan temple, and was imprisoned; he spent his time there bringing his jailers to Christianity. Released, he returned to the life of a hermit for several years, but felt called missionary work, and worked in Antioch, but with no success. Founded monasteries in Mesopotamia, Constantinople and Gomon, and at one point led 400 monks. Converted Rabulas, bishop of Edessa. Alexander began the liturgical service in which his monks sang the Divine Office continuously day and night.
Born
4th century on one of the Aegean Islands of Greece
Died
403 in Gomon of natural causes
Saint Romana
Profile
Daughter of an imperial Roman official, Romana was drawn to Christianity. Around age 16, to avoid marriage, she fled her family home. With the help of an angel, she made it to the cave on Mount Soracte where Pope Saint Sylvester was hiding from the persecutions of Diocletian. She explained to him her desire for Christian religious life; he baptized her and left, leaving her the cave as a home. Her reputation for holiness soon spread, and she attracted so many students that they founded a community around her cave.
While such a saint may well have lived in the cave, and such people certainly attracted would-be students and followers, the tales that grew up around her are likely pious fiction that was later mistaken for history.
Born
c.308
Died
• c.324 in her cave on Mount Soracte near Rome, Italy of natural causes
• her parents were brought to the cave, and buried her there
Saint Milburga
#புனித_மில்பர்கா (-715)
பிப்ரவரி 23
இவர் (#StMilburga) இங்கிலாந்தில் உள்ள மெர்சியாவை ஆண்ட ஒரு குறுநில மன்னரின் மகள்.
இவர் சிறு வயது முதலே கடவுள்மீது ஆழமான பற்றுறுதி கொண்டிருந்தவர். அதனால் இவர் வளர்ந்து பெரியவரானதும் புனித பெனடிக்ட் துறவற சபையில் சேர்ந்து, துறவியானார்.
சோபிஷேர் என்ற இடத்தில் துறவுமடத்தைத் தொடங்கிய இவர், அம்மடத்தின் தலைவியாக உயர்ந்தார்.
இவரது பகுதியில் இருந்த விளைநிலங்களில் பறவைகள் புகுந்து, கதிர்களையெல்லாம் நாசம் செய்தன. அப்பொழுது இவர் அதற்காக வேண்ட, பறவைகளின் தொந்தரவு முற்றிலுமாகக் குறைந்தது.
இப்படிப் பல வல்ல செயல்களைச் செய்த 715 ஆம் ஆண்டு இறையடி சேர்ந்தார்.
Also known as
Milburg, Milburge, Mildburg, Mildburga, Milburgh
Additional Memorial
25 June (translation of relics)
Profile
Daughter of Merewalh, King of Mercia, and Saint Ermenburga. Sister of Saint Mildred and Saint Mildgytha. Took the veil from archbishop Saint Theodore. Benedictine nun. Founded Much Wenlock abbey in Shropshire, England, and was abbess there. Miracle worker. Had a mysterious power over birds; they would avoid damaging the local crops when she asked them to.
Born
7th century England
Died
• 715 at the Much Wenlock Abbey, Shropshire, England of natural causes
• relics re-discovered in 1101 and enshrined in the nearby priory church
Patronage
birds
Blessed Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski
Profile
Ordained on 13 March 1937. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1939, Stefan was shuttled through the concentration camps Fort Seven, Stutthof, Grenzdorf, Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen and finally Dachau. Spiritual leader of other prisoners wherever he was imprisoned. He contracted typhus while working with fellow prisoners dying of the disease, and is thus considered a martyr of charity.
Born
22 January 1913 in Chelmza, Poland
Died
23 February 1945 of typhus at the Dachau concentration camp, Germany
Beatified
7 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II at Torun, Poland
Blessed Nicolas Tabouillot
Profile
Priest in the diocese of Verdun, France. Imprisoned on a ship in the harbor of Rochefort, France and left to die during the anti-Catholic persecutions of the French Revolution. One of the Martyrs of the Hulks of Rochefort.
Born
16 February 1745 in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse, France
Died
23 February 1795 of unspecified disease aboard the prison ship Washington, in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France
Beatified
1 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II
Blessed Milo of Benevento
Also known as
• Milo of Auvergne
• Milone...
Profile
Studied for the priesthood in Paris, France. Priest in Auvergne, France. Canon of the cathedral of Auvergne. He was the teacher of the young Saint Stephen of Muret. Milo’s reputation for piety led to the people of Benevento, Italy to choose him as their bishop where he served the remaining two years of his life.
Born
Auvergne, France
Died
c.1073 in Benevento, Italy of natural causes
Blessed Giovannina Franchi
Profile
Born to a wealthy family, she grew up wanting and working to help the poor. Nun in the diocese of Como, Italy. Founded the Nursing Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Born
24 June 1807 in Como, Italy
Died
23 February 1872 in Como, Italy of smallpox
Beatified
20 September 2014 by Pope Francis
Saint Boswell
Also known as
Boisil
Profile
Spiritual student of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne. Monk. Abbot at the abbey of Melrose, Scotland. Teacher and spiritual director of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne and Saint Eghert. Bible scholar. Had the gift of prophecy. Noted preacher.
Born
Northumbrian (in modern England)
Died
• 661 of the yellow plague
• relics at Durham, England
Blessed Juan Lucas Manzanares
Also known as
Braulio Carlos
Profile
Professed religious in the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Brothers). Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.
Born
10 December 1913 in Cortiji-Lorca, Murcia, Spain
Died
23 February 1937 in Madrid, Spain
Beatified
13 October 2013 by Pope Francis
Blessed Anselm of Milan
Profile
15th century Franciscan friar. His body is enshrined in the church of Santa Maria della Pace in Milan, Italy, but all records about him have been lost, and we know nothing about him.
Died
1481
Saint Martha of Astorga
Profile
Virgin martyr in the persecutions of Decius.
Died
• beheaded in 250 at Astorga, Spain
• relics enshrined in the abbey of Ribas de Sil and at Ters
Saint Zebinus of Syria
Profile
Hermit in Syria. Spiritual teacher of many monks, including Saint Maro and Saint Polychronius.
Died
5th century of natural causes
Saint Medrald
Also known as
Merald, Merault, Meraut
Profile
Benedictine monk at Saint-Evroult, Ouche, France. Abbot of Vendome, France.
Died
850 of natural causes
Saint Felix of Brescia
Profile
Bishop of Brescia, Italy for 40 years. Fierce opponent of Arianism.
Born
6th century
Died
650
Saint Polycarp of Rome
Profile
Priest in Rome, Italy who was known for his ministry to people imprisoned for their faith.
Died
c.300
Saint Dositheus of Egypt
Profile
Sixth-century desert hermit whose deep prayer life led to deep personal holiness.
Born
Egypt
Blessed John of Hungary
Profile
Born
French
Died
1287 of natural causes
Saint Ordonius
Profile
Benedictine monk in Sahagun, Leon, Spain. Bishop of Astorga, Spain in 1062.
Died
1066 of natural causes
Saint Florentius of Seville
Profile
Martyr.
Died
c.485 in Seville, Spain
Martyrs of Syrmium
Profile
73 Christians who were martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know no details about them, and only six of their names - Antigonus, Libius, Rogatianus, Rutilus, Senerotas and Syncrotas.
Died
c.303 at Syrmium, Pannonia (modern Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia)
