Bl. Antoinette Roussel
Feastday: July 17
Death: 1794
One of the Carmelite nuns martyred in Paris by the French Revolution. Sixteen Cannelites were guillotined in Paris, ascending the scaffolds while singing Salve Regina. They had been arrested for living in a religious community. On July 12 the Carmelites were taken to Paris and martyred on July 17. In 1906, these nuns were beatified.
St. Ansueris
Feastday: July 17
Death: 1066
Benedictine martyr with twenty-eight companions. Ansueris was a nobleman and abbot of St. Georgenberg Abbey, near Ratzburg, in Denmark. He and twenty-eight other monks were stoned to death by the Wends following the death of Emperor Henry III.
Bl. Frances Brideau
Feastday: July 17
Death: 1794
A member of the martyred Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne. She was executed with her fellow nuns by authorities of the French Revolution.
St. Felix of Pavia
Feastday: July 17
Death: 521
Bishop and martyr. The details of his life and martyrdom no longer exist.
Magnus Felix Ennodius (473 or 474 – 17 July 521 AD) was Bishop of Pavia in 514, and a Latin rhetorician and poet.
He was one of four Gallo-Roman aristocrats of the fifth to sixth-century whose letters survive in quantity: the others are Sidonius Apollinaris, prefect of Rome in 468 and bishop of Clermont (died 485), Ruricius bishop of Limoges (died 507) and Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus, bishop of Vienne (died 518). All of them were linked in the tightly bound aristocratic Gallo-Roman network that provided the bishops of Catholic Gaul.[1] He is regarded as a saint, with a feast day of 17 July.[2]
Life
Ennodius was born at Arelate (Arles) and belonged to a distinguished but impecunious family. As Mommaerts and Kelley observe, "Ennodius claimed in his letters to them to be related to a large number of individuals. Unfortunately, he seldom specified the nature of the relationship."[3] Because his sister Euprepia (born 465 or 470) is known to have had a son named Flavius Licerius Firminus Lupicinus, who was named for his grandfather, Vogel argued that Ennodius' father was named Firminus. Jacques Sirmond suggested that Ennodius was the son of one Camillus of Arles, whose father was a proconsular and the brother of Magnus, the consul of 460; but Mommaerts and Kelley dismiss Sirmond's identification as untenable.[3]
Having lost his parents at an early age, Ennodius was brought up by an aunt at Ticinum (Pavia); according to some, at Mediolanum (Milan). After her death he was received into the family of a pious and wealthy young lady, to whom he was betrothed. It is not certain whether he actually married this lady; she seems to have lost her money and retired to a convent, whereupon Ennodius entered the Church, and was ordained deacon (about 493) by Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia.[4]
From Pavia he went to Milan, which Ennodius made his home until his elevation to the see of Pavia about 515. During his stay at Milan he visited Rome and other places, where he gained a reputation as a teacher of rhetoric. As bishop of Pavia he played a considerable part in ecclesiastical affairs. On two occasions (in 515 and 517) he was sent to Constantinople on an embassy to the emperor Anastasius, to endeavour to bring about a reconciliation over the Acacian schism that divided the Eastern and Western churches.[5] Ennodius' epitaph still exists in the basilica of San Michele Maggiore, Pavia.[4][6]
Writings
Ennodius is one of the best representatives of the two-fold (pagan and Christian) tendency of 5th century literature, and of the Gallo-Roman clergy who upheld the cause of civilization and classical literature against the inroads of barbarism. But his anxiety not to fall behind his classical models—the chief of whom was Virgil—his striving after elegance and grammatical correctness, and a desire to avoid the commonplace have produced a turgid and affected style, which, aggravated by rhetorical exaggerations and popular barbarisms, makes his works difficult to understand. It has been remarked that his poetry is less unintelligible than his prose.[4]
The numerous writings of this ecclesiastic may be grouped into four types: letters, miscellanies, discourses, and poems. His letters on a variety of subjects, addressed to high church and state officials, are valuable for the religious and political history of the period. Of the miscellanies, the most important are:
The Panegyric of Theodoric, written to thank the Arian king for his tolerance of Catholicism and support of Pope Symmachus (probably delivered before the king on the occasion of his entry into Ravenna or Milan); like all similar works, it is full of flattery and exaggeration, but if used with caution is a valuable authority
The Life of St Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia, the best written and perhaps the most important of all his writings, an interesting picture of the political activity and influence of the church
Eucharisticon de Vita Sua, a sort of confessions, after the manner of Augustine of Hippo
the description of the enfranchisement of a slave with religious formalities in the presence of a bishop
Paraenesis didascalica, an educational guide, in which the claims of grammar as a preparation for the study of rhetoric, the mother of all the sciences, are strongly insisted on.[4]
The discourses (Dictiones) are on sacred, scholastic, controversial and ethical subjects. The discourse on the anniversary of Laurentius, bishop of Milan, is the chief authority for the life of that prelate; the scholastic discourses, rhetorical exercises for the schools, contain eulogies of classical learning, distinguished professors and pupils; the controversial deal with imaginary charges, the subjects being chiefly borrowed from the Controversiae of Seneca the Elder; the ethical harangues are put into the mouth of mythological personages (e.g. the speech of Thetis over the body of Achilles).[4]
Amongst the poems mention may be made of two Itineraria, descriptions of a journey from Milan to Brigantium (Briançon) and of a trip on the Po River; an apology for the study of profane literature; an epithalamium, in which Love is introduced as execrating Christianity; a dozen hymns, after the manner of Ambrose, probably intended for church use; epigrams on various subjects, some being epigrams proper—inscriptions for tombs, basilicas, baptisteries—others imitations of Martial, satiric pieces and descriptions of scenery.[4]
Critical editions
The editio princeps of Ennodius was published by Johann Jakob Grynaeus in 1569 at Basel. Sirmond edited his works in 1611, organizing the individual works into the four groupings described above; this presentation remained "the classic text" until Guilelmus Hartel (vol. vi. of Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Vienna, 1882). However, it was not until 1885 that Friedrich Vogel prepared an edition for the Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Auctores Antiquissimi, vol. vii), that the individual works were once again presented in the miscellaneous order of the manuscripts.[7] Vogel did so seeing traces of a chronological sequence in that order, which Sr. Genevieve Cook notes led to "a series of studies on the chronology of the works of Ennodius".[8]
A modern edition of Ennodius' correspondence is under way: Stéphane Gioanni, Ennode de Pavie, Lettres, tome I: Livres I et II, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2006, based on his 2004 Ph.D. thesis. See a first review (Joop van Waarden) and Stéphane Gioanni, Ennode de Pavie, Lettres, tome II, livres III et IV, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2010.
Bl. Juliette Verolot
Feastday: July 17
Death: 1794
One of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne, France. She was called Sister St. Francis Xavier, and she and her Camelite community were guillotined at Compiegne. Pope St. Pius X beatified her in 1906.
Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne
Feastday: July 17
Death: 1794
Sixteen Carmelites caught up in the French Revolution and martyred. When the revolution started in 1789, a group of twenty-one discalced Carmelites lived in a monastery in Compiegne France, founded in 1641. The monastery was ordered closed in 1790 by the Revolutionary government, and the nuns were disbanded. Sixteen of the nuns were accused of living in a religious community in 1794. They were arrested on June 22 and imprisoned in a Visitation convent in Compiegne There they openly resumed their religious life. On July 12, 1794, the Carmelites were taken to Paris and five days later were sentenced to death. They went to the guillotine singing the Salve Regina. They were beatified in 1906 by Pope St. Pius X. The Carmelites were: Marie Claude Brard; Madeleine Brideau, the subprior; Maire Croissy, grandniece of Colbert Marie Dufour; Marie Hanisset; Marie Meunier, a novice; Rose de Neufville Annette Pebras; Anne Piedcourt: Madeleine Lidoine, the prioress; Angelique Roussel; Catherine Soiron and Therese Soiron, both extern sisters, natives of Compiegne and blood sisters: Anne Mary Thouret; Marie Trezelle; and Eliza beth Verolot. The martyrdom of the nuns was immortalized by the composer Francois Poulenc in his famous opera Dialogues des Carmelites.
The Martyrs of Compiègne were the 16 members of the Carmel of Compiègne, France: 11 Discalced Carmelite nuns, three lay sisters, and two externs (or tertiaries). They were executed by the guillotine towards the end of the Reign of Terror, at what is now the Place de la Nation in Paris on 17 July 1794. They are the first people viewed as martyrs killed during the French Revolution who were named as saints. Ten days after their execution, Maximilien Robespierre himself was executed, ending the Reign of Terror.[1][2] Their story has inspired a novella, a motion picture, a television movie, and an opera, Dialogues of the Carmelites, written by French composer Francis Poulenc.
The Conciergerie, the prison the sisters were held while awaiting trial
According to writer William Bush, the number of Christian martyrs greatly expanded in the early years of the French Revolution. Thousands of Christians were killed by the guillotine, as well as by mass deportations, drownings, imprisonments, shootings, mob violence, and "sheer butchery".[3] In 1790, the French Revolutionary government passed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which outlawed religious life.[1]
The community of Carmelite sisters at Compiègne, a commune in northern France, 72 km north of Paris, was founded in 1641, a daughter house of the monastery in Amiens. The community grew rapidly, and "was renowned for its fervor and fidelity".[4] It was supported by the French court from its beginnings, until interrupted by the French Revolution, which was hostile towards religion and the Catholic Church.[4] Shortly after Bastille Day, on 4 August 1790, government officials, with armed guards, interviewed each sister at their convent in Compiègne and forced them to choose between breaking their vows or risking further punishment. They all refused to abandon their lives of obedience, chastity, and poverty.[1][5] They were allowed to stay at the convent, becoming wards of the state, which entitled them to receive government pensions. The revolutionary government, at the end of 1791, required all clergy to swear a civic oath supporting the Civil Constitution or risk losing their pensions and becoming destitute. At Easter in 1792, the government plundered churches and interrupted services; it was the last Easter the sisters celebrated at Compiègne. Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, the convent's prioress, suggested to the community that they commit themselves to execution, and offer themselves as a sacrifice for France and for the French Church.[6] She almost missed participating in the sacrifice she proposed because she had to return to her family's home in Paris to care for her elderly, widowed mother. She returned to Compiègne four days before their execution and along with the rest of the sisters, was arrested.[7]
In August 1792, the government ordered all women's monasteries closed; the seizure and removal of the Compiègne convent's furnishings occurred on 12 September, and the sisters were forced to leave the convent and re-enter the world on 14 September, the end of their cloistered community. Mother Teresa made arrangements for the 20 sisters living in the convent at the time to hide in the city in four separate apartments and find civilian clothes for them to wear, since the wearing of habits and religious apparel had been outlawed.[8][9] They were dependent on the charity of friends, and "courageously continued to practice community prayer",[1] despite the government's orders.
In 1794, after the Terror began, the government searched the sisters' apartments for two days; they found letters revealing their "crimes" against the Revolution, which included hostility to the Revolution, strong sympathies to the monarchy, and evidence that they continued to live as a community of consecrated Christian women.[10] They also found two letters written by "the unfortunate"[11] Mulot de la Ménardière to his cousin, Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception, containing unfavorable criticisms of the Revolution. Mulot was accused of helping them and of being a non-juring priest, even though he was married, and was arrested and imprisoned with the sisters.[12] On 22 June, the sisters and Mulot were arrested and locked up in the former convent of the Visitation, an improvised jail for political prisoners in Compiègne. On 10 July 1794, they were transferred to the Conciergerie Prison in Paris to await trial.[1][13][9] The sisters recanted their civic oath while in prison.[9][14]
During their trial on 17 July 1794, in which they received no legal counsel,[9] Sister Mary-Henrietta tried to force the prosecutor to define the word "fanatic", one of the charges against them. She pretended she did not know what the word meant, thus getting him to admit their fanaticism was due to their religion, which made them "criminals and annihilators of public freedom".[15] Mother Teresa claimed full responsibility for the charges of being counter-revolutionaries and religious fanatics, and defended and insisted on the others' innocence.[16] All 16 sisters, along with Mulot, were sentenced to death.[1] At one point, while waiting for the transportation from the Conciergerie to the site of their executions, one of the nuns, Sister St. Louis, after consulting with Mother Teresa, bartered a fur wrap she owned for a cup of chocolate for the sisters to drink from to give them strength after not being able to eat anything all day.[17] There were 26 nights between their arrest and execution.[18]
Execution
Plaque at Picpus Cemetery dedicated to the Martyrs of Compiègne
On the night of 17 July 1794, the sisters were transported through the streets of Paris in an open cart, a journey that took two hours. During that time, they sang "hymns of praise",[1] including the Miserere, the Salve Regina, the evening vespers, and the Compline. Other sources state that they sang a combination of the Office of the Dead, the vespers, the Compline, and other shorter texts.[19] Onlookers berated them, yelling insults and throwing things at them. While waiting to be executed, a sympathetic woman from the crowd offered the sisters water, but Sister Mary-Henrietta stopped one sister from accepting, insisting that it would break their unity and promising that they would drink when they were in heaven.[20][15] A crowd gathered, as usual, at the Place du Trône Renversé (now called Place de la Nation),[20] the site of the executions, to watch, but the sisters showed no fear and forgave their guards. The final song the sisters sang was Psalm 117, "Laudate Dominum".[20] Sister Constance, a novice, the youngest of the group and the first to die, "spontaneously"[21] began the chant, but it was cut short by the guillotine blade. Each sister joined her and were silenced in the same way.[21]
The crowd became quiet[20] as each sister approached Mother Teresa, kissed the statue of the Virgin Mary she held in her hands, and asked her for permission to die. After watching each sister die, she was the last one to place her head under the guillotine.[1] Each sister knelt and chanted the "Veni Creator Spiritus" before their execution, "as at a profession",[20] then renewed their baptismal and religious vows. Sister Charlotte, who at 78 years of age was the oldest sister, walked with a crutch and was unable to stand up and get out of the cart because her hands were tied and the other sisters were unable to help her. Eventually a guard gathered her up in his arms and threw her on the street; she lay face down on the pavement stones, with no signs of life as the crowd protested the guard's treatment of her. She stirred, lifted up her blood-smeared face, and warmly thanked the guard for not killing her, "thereby depriving her of her share in her community's glorious witness for Jesus Christ".[22] Sister Mary-Henrietta stood by her prioress until it was her turn to die, helping the 14 other sisters climb the scaffold steps before climbing them herself, and was the second-to-last to die.[15] Mother Teresa died last.[20]
There are no surviving relics of the Martyrs of Compiègne because their heads and bodies were buried, along with 128 other victims executed that day, in a deep, 30-feet square sand-pit in the Picpus Cemetery.[20] Their burial site, located in the back of the cemetery, is marked with two large, gravel-covered quadrangles. The heads and torsos of the 1,306 people who were guillotined at the Place de la Nation between 13 June and 27 July 1794 are buried there. Their names, including the 16 Martyrs of Compiègne as well as Mulot de la Ménardière, are inscribed on marble plaques covering the walls of a nearby church, where prayer is offered continuously.[23] 24 other victims died with the sisters the day they were killed.[24]
Legacy
Ten days after their deaths, Maximilien Robespierre was executed himself, ending the Reign of Terror.[1][2] The Martyrs of Compiègne, who are the first victims of the French Revolution recognized as saints,[20] might have "helped bring about the end to the horrors of the revolution"[1] and hastened the end of the Reign of Terror.[25] The sisters were beatified in 1906. Their feast day is 17 July.[1]
Three of the sisters were away from the community at the time of the arrests and so were not executed along with the others. One of these, Marie de l'Incarnation (Françoise Geneviève Philippe), later wrote an account of the execution, History of the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, which was published in 1836.[26] The story of the Martyrs of Compiègne has inspired a novella, an unproduced film, a play, and an opera.[2] In 1931, German writer Gertrude von le Fort, a student of Ernst Troeltsch and a convert to Catholicism, drew on the History to write a novella, The Song at the Scaffold, told from the viewpoint of the fictional character Blanche de la Force, "a young aristocrat haunted by fear, who seeks peace in the convent".[25]
French Dominican Raymond-Leopold Bruckberger and cinematographer Phillippe Agostini developed a film based on the novella, and in 1947, they persuaded Georges Bernanos to write the dialogue. The film was never produced, but the text written by Bernanos was staged as a play that premiered in 1951 in Zurich and ran for 300 performances the following year.[25] Bernanos’ text, due to Bruckberger’s efforts, was used as the basis for the French film Le Dialogue des Carmélites, which was written and directed by Agostini and released in 1960.[27] James Travers and Willems Henri stated that the film, even with its cast and production values, "stood the test of time and deserves to be more widely known".[28] Travers and Henri also said that the film "more than does justice to Georges Bernanos’ play and provides a thoughtful and emotionally involving reflection on the power and limits of faith".[28] The cast was compromised of well-known French actors: Pierre Brasseur, Jeanne Moreau, Madeline Renaud, Alida Valli, Georges Wilson, and Jean-Louis Barrault.[28] In 1984, a version, directed by Pierre Cardinal, based upon Bernanos’ dialogue, was produced for French television. The television version included more of Bernanos’ dialogue than the 1960 film, and Anne Caudry, who was his granddaughter, was featured in it.[27]
French composer Francis Poulenc was commissioned to write a ballet based on Bernanos' dialogue for La Scala and Casa Ricordi, but he wrote an opera instead, titled Dialogues of the Carmelites. As of 2019, the Metropolitan Opera had performed the opera 59 times, first in English, then in its original French, since its premiere in 1977, to sold-out audiences.[2]
Choir Nuns
Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, prioress (Madeleine-Claudine Ledoine). Born in Paris, 22 September 1752. Professed May 1775. She was the only child of an employee of the Paris Observatory. According to Bush, "she received every educational advantage available to young ladies of the time".[29] Her artistic and poetic gifts were cultivated; some of her work has been preserved at the Carmels of Compiègne and Sens. Her dowry to enter the convent was paid by Marie Antoinette.[29]
Mother St. Louis, sub-prioress (Marie-Anne [or Antoinette] Brideau). Born in Belfort, 7 December 1752. Professed Sept, 1771. Her father was a professional soldier, probably stationed at Compiègne at some point in his career.[30]
Mother Henriette of Jesus, ex-prioress for two terms, elected by the community in 1779 and 1782; novice mistress (Marie-Françoise Gabrielle de Croissy). Born in Paris, 18 June 1745. Professed February 1764, prioress from 1779 to 1785. Mother Henriette was the great-niece of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, King Louis XIV's minister. She had already spent half her life as a Carmelite at the time of her execution, coming to Compiègne when she was 16. She was refused entrance at first by the prioress at the time because of her youth. She was sent home in Amiens for another year, and finally made her profession in 1764.[31] According to Mother Teresa, Henriette "won all hearts by her natural gentleness and affection, as might a real mother".[32] Like Mother Teresa, Henriette wrote verses and was a talented artist; her some of her works have also been preserved at the Carmels of Compiègne and Sens.[32]
Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified (Marie-Anne Piedcourt). Born 1715, professed 1737. According to writer John B. Wainewright, while mounting the scaffold she said, "I forgive you as heartily as I wish God to forgive me".[20]
Sister Charlotte of the Resurrection, ex-sub-prioress (1764 and 1778) and sacristan (Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret). Born in Mouy, 16 September 1715. Professed August 1740. Sister Charlotte was the oldest sister of the group of martyrs. She "possessed a very lively mind" and was "naturally inclined towards gaiety".[33] Her father died early in her life; her mother remarried, but Sister Charlotte resented her stepfather. She entered the religious life after witnessing a tragedy at one of the balls she attended as a young girl. She nursed other sickly nuns, despite the toll it took on her own body. She was miraculously healed after toxic exposure to paint lead left her seriously cognitively impaired for two years.
Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception (Marie-Claude Cyprienne). Born in 1736 in Bourth. Professed in 1757; entered Compiègne in 1756, at the age of 20. She was witty, humorous, and "possessed an undeniable exterior charm".[35] Sister Euphrasia wrote priests and others in the religious life for spiritual direction and "left a voluminous correspondence"[36] during her 30 years in the community. Her letters reveal "a strong personality plagued by a certain restlessness, something always potentially problematic in a cloistered community".[36]
Sister Teresa of the Sacred Heart of Mary (Marie-Antoniette Hanisset). Born in Rheims in 1740 or 1742. Professed in 1764. She was the daughter of a saddle maker. She served as the carmel's interior turn sister, receiving goods for the community from the outside world.[37]
Sister Julie Louise of Jesus, widow (Rose-Chrétien de la Neuville). Born in Loreau (or Évreux), in 1741. Professed probably in 1777. She had married a cousin despite her calling to the religious life. After her husband died prematurely, she became so depressed and disconsolate, she went into deep mourning, to the point that her family feared for her sanity. She received help from a cleric associated with her family and recovered with a new sense of her calling. She wrote five stanzas of verse for her and her sisters to recite as they prepared for their deaths.[38]
Sister Teresa of St. Ignatius (Marie-Gabrielle Trézel) Born in Compiègne, 4 April 1743. Professed in 1771. She was a native of Compiègne. She was called "a mystic with a sense of the Absolute".[23]
Sister Mary-Henrietta of Providence (Anne Petras). Born in Cajarc, 17 June 1760. Professed in October 1786. Sister Mary-Henrietta, before joining the Carmelite order, was a member of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. She was afraid "her natural beauty might prove a danger in a congregation where she was constantly exposed to the outside world",[39] so she sought a more cloistered life. She came from a large, pious family; five of her sisters were also nuns in the Nevers order, and two of her brothers were priests.
Sister Constance of St. Denis, novice (Marie-Geneviève Meunier). Born in Saint-Denis, 28 May 1765 or 1766. Sister Constance was the youngest member of the community. She was barred from making her final vows as a nun due to the revolutionary laws outlawing it, so she professed them to Mother Teresa before going to her death.[21] When it became obvious to her family that she would not be able to legally profess her vows, they sent her brother to force her to return home. She refused, so he brought in the police, but they were convinced that she was in Compiègne by her own choice and did not force her to leave with her brother.
St. Charbel
Feastday: July 17
Birth: 1828
Death: 1898
Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born in 1828, in Bekaa Kafra (North Lebanon). He had a true Christian upbringing, which had given him a passion for prayer. Then he followed his two hermit uncles in the hermitage of the St Antonious Kozhaya monastery and was converted to monastic and hermetical life.
In 1851, he left his family village and headed for the Our Lady of Maifouk monastery to spend his first monastic year, and then he went to the St Maron monastery in Annaya, where he entered the Maronite Order, carrying the name Charbel, a name of one of the Antioch church martyrs of the second century. On November 1st. 1853, he exposed his ceremonial vows in St Maron's monastery - Annaya. Then he completed his theological studies in the St Kobrianous and Justina monastery in Kfifan, Batroun.
He was ordained a priest in Bkerky, the Maronite Patriarchate, on July 23rd, 1859. He lived 16 years in the St Maron's monastery - Annaya. From there, he entered, on February 15th, 1875, the St Peter & Paul hermitage, which belongs to the monastery. He was a typical saint and hermit, who spent his time praying and worshipping. Rarely had he left the hermitage where he followed the way of the saintly hermits in prayers, life and practice.
St Charbel lived in the hermitage for 23 years. On December 16th, 1898 he was struck with an illness while performing the holy mass. He died on Christmas' eve, December 24th, 1898, and was buried in the St Maron monastery cemetery in Annaya.
Few months later, dazzling lights were seen around the grave. From there, his corpse, which had been secreting sweat and blood, was transferred into a special coffin. Hordes of pilgrims started swarming the place to get his intercession. And through this intercession, God blessed many people with recovery and spiritual graces.
In 1925, his beatification and canonization were proposed for declaration by Pope Pious XI. In 1950, the grave was opened in the presence of an official committee which included doctors who verified the soundness of the body. After the grave had been opened and inspected, the variety of healing incidents amazingly multiplied. A multitude of pilgrims from different religious facets started flocking to the Annaya monastery to get the saint's intercession.
Prodigies reached beyond the Lebanese borders. This unique phenomenon caused a moral revolution, the return to faith and the reviving of the virtues of the soul.
Bl. Ceslaus
Feastday: July 17
Birth: 1184
Death: 1242
Blessed Ceslaus was the son of a noble Silesian family and possibly St. Hyacinth's brother. Hee was ordained, became a canon in Cracow, Poland, a provost at St. Mary's in Sandomir, went to Rome, and was received into the Dominicans by St. Dominic. Blessed Ceslaus preached in Poland, Silesia, Pomerania, and Bohemia, was spiritual adviser to St. Hedwig, was elected provincial of the Polish province, and became prior of a priory at Breslau. His prayers were credited for the defeat of Tartans attacking Breslau in Silesia during their invasion of 1240. His cult was confirmed in 1713. His feast day is July 17.
Ceslaus, O.P., (Polish: Czesław) (c. 1184 – c. 1242) was born in Kamień Śląski in Silesia, Poland, of the noble family of Odrowąż, and was a relative, possibly the brother, of Hyacinth of Poland.
Biography
Having studied philosophy at Prague, he pursued his theological and juridical studies at the University of Bologna, after which he returned to Cracow, where he held the office of canon and custodian of the church of Sandomierz.
About 1218 he accompanied his uncle Ivo, Bishop of Cracow, to Rome. Hearing of the great sanctity of Dominic of Osma, who had recently been attributed the miracle of resuscitating the nephew of Cardinal Stefano di Fossa Nova who had been killed in a fall from his horse,[1][2] Ceslaus, together with Hyacinth, sought admission into the Order of Friars Preachers.
In 1219 Pope Honorius III invited Dominic and his companions to take up residence at the ancient Roman basilica of Santa Sabina, which they did by early 1220. Hyacinth and Ceslaus along with their companions Herman and Henry were among the first to enter the studium of the Dominican Order at Rome out of which would grow the 16th-century College of Saint Thomas at Santa Maria sopra Minerva and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in the 20th century. After an abbreviated novitiate Ceslaus, Hyacinth and their companions received the religious habit of the Order from Dominic himself in 1220.[3]
Their novitiate completed, Dominic sent the young friars back as missionaries to their own country. Establishing a friary at Friesach in Austria, they proceeded to Cracow whence Ceslaus was sent by Hyacinth to Prague, the metropolis of Bohemia.
Labouring with much fruit throughout the Diocese of Prague, Ceslaus went to Wrocław, where he founded a large priory, and then extended his missionary labours over a vast territory, embracing Bohemia, Poland, Pomerania, and Saxony.
Sometime after the death of Hyacinth he was chosen the Provincial Superior for Poland. Whilst he was superior of the convent of Wrocław all Poland was threatened by the Mongols. The city of Wrocław being besieged, the people sought the aid of Ceslaus, who by his prayers miraculously averted the impending calamity. Four persons are said to have been raised to life by him. He died at Wrocław.
The tomb of Bl. Ceslaus, Wrocław, Poland
Warsaw, All Saints Church
Having always been venerated as a blessed, his cult was finally confirmed by Pope Clement XI in 1713. His feast is celebrated throughout the Dominican Order on 16 July.
Bl. Rose Chretien
Feastday: July 17
Birth: 1741
Death: 1794
One of the Carmelites of Compiegue, France, born in 1711. She was originally from Evreux, and after becoming a widow, entered the Carmelites at Compiegne. With her fellow sisters, she was guillotined by French revolutionaries at Paris.
Rose-Chrétien de la Neuville (1741 - 17 July 1794) was a French Carmelite nun and one of the Martyrs of Compiègne. She married young but was widowed. She was professed as a choir nun in 1777, taking the name Sister Julie Louise of Jesus. In 1794, de la Neuville was guillotined in Place du Trône Renversé in Paris.[1]
On 27 May 1906 she and the other Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne were beatified by Pope Pius X
St. Nicholas, Alexandra, and Companions
Feastday: July 17
Last Romanov rulers of Russia and martyrs. Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra are considered martyrs for the Russian people and were canonized soon after the Russian Orthodox Church was established in exile, following the Russian Revolution and the assassination of the Tsar and his family. Joining the Tsar and Tsarina as saints were their children, Alexis, Tatiana, Olga, Marie, and the famed Anastasia, along with a large number of monks, nuns, and priests who died because of their direct associations with the imperial family. The veneration of the last of the Romanov rulers of Russia has been especially heightened in the last decade, given the collapse of the Soviet Union and the lifting of the oppression against the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in Russia.
Martyrs of Scillium
Also known as
• Scillitan Martyrs
• Martyrs of Scilla
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A group of twelve Christians martyred together, the final deaths in the persecutions of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Upon their conviction for the crime of being Christians, the group was offered 30 days to reconsider their allegiance to the faith; they all declined. Their official Acta still exist. Their names -
• Acyllinus • Cythinus • Donata • Felix • Generosa • Januaria • Laetantius • Narzales • Secunda • Speratus • Vestina • Veturius •
Blessed Pavol Gojdic
Also known as
• Pavel Peter Gojdic
• Peter Gojdic
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Son of the Greek-Catholic priest Stefan Gojdic and Anna Gerberyová. Attended elementary school at Cigelka, Bardejov and PreSov, finishing in 1907. Studied theology at PreSov, Slovak Republic and then Budapest where he consecrated himself and his work to the Sacred Heart. Finishing his studies on 27 August 1911, he was ordained soon after. Worked briefly as assistant parish priest with his father. Prefect of the eparchial seminary, and taught religion in a higher secondary school. Supervised protocol and the archives in the diocesan curia. Assistant parish priest in Sabinov. Director of the episcopal office in 1919.
In a surprise move, he joined the Order of Saint Basil the Great at Cernecia Hora on 20 July 1922, making his vows on 27 January 1923, and taking the name Pavol. Apostolic administrator of PreSov on 14 September 1926; during his installation he said, "With the help of God I want to be a father to orphans, a support for the poor and consoler to the afflicted." His first official act was a pastoral letter on the 1100th anniversary of the birth of Saint Cyril, apostle to his Pavol's people.
Bishop on 7 March 1927; his episcopal motto: God is love, let us love Him! Promoted the spiritual life of the clergy and laity. Founded new parishes, and insured proper and valid liturgical celebrations. Built orphanages, founded the Greek-Catholic school in PreSov in 1936, and supported the publications Messenger of the Gospel and Thy Kingdom Come. Great devotion to the Real Presence and the Sacred Heart.
Apostolic administrator at Mukacevo in Slovakia on 13 April 1939. Due to difficulties between Pavol and the local government, he tendered his resignation from the position. The Pope refused to accept it, and instead ordained him residential bishop of PreSov on 8 August 1940. On 15 January 1946 he was confirmed in his jurisdiction over the Greek-Catholics in the whole of Czecho-Slovakia.
The Church in the region received a serious blow with the seizure of power by the Communists in 1948, and their immediate fight against the Greek-Catholic Church. Bishop Gojdic refused to submit the Greek-Catholics to Russian Orthodoxy, or dismantle the Church in accord with Communist ideology. The government isolated him from the clergy and the faithful, and simultaneously tried to bribe him with offers of support and power if he would break from Rome. "I will not deny my faith," he said. "Do not even come to me."
On 28 April 1950, the Communists outlawed the Greek-Catholic Church. Bishop Pavol was imprisoned, and in a show-trial in January 1951, convicted of treason. Sentenced to life without parole and stripped of civil rights, he was moved from prison to prison, constantly abused; in response he prayed in silence, and celebrating the liturgy in secret. In the amnesty of 1953, his sentence was commuted to 25 years in prison, which in practical terms was a life sentence. At one point he was advised that he could straight from prison to PreSov, on condition that he become patriarch of the Orthodox church in Czecho-Slovakia; bishop Pavol explained that this would be a sin against God, a betrayal of the Holy Father, of his conscience and of the persecuted faithful. His sentence continued, the abuse continued, and his health finally broke; he spent his remaining months in the prison hospital, and died there.
Bishop Pavol was legally rehabilitated on 27 September 1990, and has posthumously received the Order of T. G. Masaryk - II class, and with the Cross of Pribina - 1st class, one of the great honours of his native land.
Born
17 July 1888 at Ruské Peklany, PreSov, Slovak Republic as Peter Gojdic
Died
• 17 July 1960 in the prison hospital at Leopoldov, Hlohovec, Slovak Republic of illness and maltreatment received in prison
• buried in the prison cemetery with a marker reading only "681"
• relics translated to PreSov on 29 October 1968
• relics relocated to the chapel of the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in PreSov on 15 May 1990
Beatified
4 November 2001 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Alexius of Rome
உரோம் நாட்டின் புனித அலெக்சிஸ்
குணமாக்குதலும் உதவுதலும்
திருப்பயணியர் மற்றும் பிச்சைக்காரர்களின் காவலர்
அலெக்ஸிஸ் என்பவர் அலெக்ஸியஸ் மற்றும் அலெசியோ என்றும் அழைக்கப்பட்டவர் உரோமை நகரிலுள்ள உயர்குடும்ப பெற்றோருக்கு ஒரே மகன். சிறுவயதிலிருந்தே அலெக்சிஸ் மதப்பற்று மிக்கவராக இருந்தார். ஓர் அரசிளங்குமரிக்கு திருமணம் நிச்சயிக்கப்பட்டு, அவரை ஆடம்பரமாகத் திருமணம் செய்து கொண்டார். திருமணம் நடைபெற்ற அந்த இரவில் அலெக்ஸின் மனைவி அவரை விடுவிக்க மனிமிசைந்தார். அவர் இரகசியமாக தனது தந்தை வீட்டிலிருந்து விடுவித்துக் கொண்டு சிரியாவுக்கு கால்நடையாகச் சென்றடைந்தார். அவர் அங்கு குடியேறி ஒரு பிச்சைக்காரராக, எடிசா மாதா கோவிலிலருகில், ஒரு குடிசையில் 17 ஆண்டுகளாக வாழ்ந்து வந்தார். அந்த நேர்மையான கிறிஸ்தவர் தனக்குத் தேவையானதை மட்டும் பெற்றுக்கொண்டார். இதற்கிடையில் அலெக்சிஸின் பெற்றோரின் பணியாளர்கள் அவரைத் தேடி சிரியாவுக்கு வந்தனர். அலெக்சி‘க்கு மகிழ்ச்சியும் எதிர்பாராத அதிர்ச்சியுமாக அவர்கள் அலெக்சிஸை அடையாளம் கண்டுகொள்ளவில்லை. அவர்கள் அவரை பிச்சைக்காரன் என்றெண்ணி அவருக்க பிச்சை போட்டனர்.
கடவுளின் மனிதர் :
கன்னிமரியாள் அலெக்சி‘க்குக் காட்சி தந்து, அதிசயமாக அவரிடம் பேசியதையும் அவரைக் கடவுளின் மனிதர் என்று அழைத்ததையும் கண்டு, அலெக்சிஸ் எல்லோருக்கும் தெரிந்த மனிதராக மாறினார். மறைவாக வாழமுடியாமல், தர்சு நகரிலுள்ள தூய பவுலின் இல்லத்திற்கு செல்ல கப்பலேறினார். ஆனால் இத்தாலியில் உரோம் நகரை நோக்கிக் காற்று வீசியதால், அவர் உரோம் வந்து சேர்ந்தார். அலெக்சிஸ் தனது குடும்பத்தாரின் வீட்டுக்குச் சென்றார். அவரது பெற்றோர் அவரை இனம் கண்டுகொள்ளவில்லை. அலெக்சிஸ் தங்குவதற்கு இடம் கேட்டதின்பேரில், படிக்கட்டுகளின் கீழ் படுத்துறங்க அனுமதி அளிக்கப்பட்டது. அங்கேயே மேலும் 17 ஆண்டுகள் தங்கியிருந்து ஜெபிப்பதும் குழந்தைகளுக்கு மறைக்கல்வி கற்றுக்கொடுப்பதுமாக வாழ்ந்து வந்தார். இறப்பு தன்னை நெருங்குவதை உணர்ந்த அலெக்சிஸ், அவர் தனது வாழ்க்கைச் சரிதையை பற்றி கதையாகக் கடிதத்தில் எழுதினார். 404 ஆம் ஆண்டு போப் நிகழ்த்திய திருப்பலியில் ஒரு அசரீரீ குரல் கேட்டது. கடவுளின் மனிதரைத் தேடுங்கள், அவர் உரோமுக்காக வேண்டுவார். கடவுள் அவருக்கு செவிசாய்ப்பார். அவர் வெள்ளிக்கிழமையன்று இறப்பார். அந்த வாரம் அலெக்சிஸ் படிக்கட்டின் கீழ் தனது கையில் கடிதத்துடன் இறந்து கிடந்தார்.
Also known as
• Alexis of Rome
• Alexis the Beggar
• The Man of God
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The only son of a wealthy Christian Roman senator. The young man wanted to devote himself to God, but his parents arranged a marriage for him. On his wedding day his fiancee agreed to release him and let him follow his vocation. He fled his parent's home disguised as a beggar, and lived near a church in Syria. A vision of Our Lady at the church pointed him out as exceptionally holy, calling him the "Man of God". This drew attention to him, which caused him to return to Rome, Italy where he would not be known. He came as a beggar to his own home. His parents did not recognize him, but were kind to all the poor, and let him stay there. Alexis lived for seventeen years in a corner under the stairs, praying, and teaching catechism to small children. At his death an unseen voice was heard to proclaim him 'The Man of God', and afterwards his family found a note on his body which told them who he was and how he had lived his life of penance from the day of his wedding until then, for the love of God.
Died
early 5th century
Patronage
• Alexians
• beggars
• belt makers
• nurses
• pilgrims
• travellers
Blessed Benigno of Vallumbrosa
Also known as
• Benigno Benizzi
• Benigno Visdomini
• Benignus, Bénigne
Additional Memorial
1 August as one of the Ten Blessed of Vallumbrosa
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May have been related to Saint John Gualbert. Young priest probably ordained in the region of Florence, Italy. He seems to have had a failure at clerical discipline; his biographer wrote that Benigno “fell into sin”. To re-examine his life and call to vocation, he made a pilgrimage to the graves of the apostles in Rome, Italy, after which, to reform his life, he joined the Benedictine Vallombrosans, c.1180. As a monk he became a model of penance, piety and humility. To concentrate on his penance, he lived as a hermit in a cell near the Vallombrosa monastery. Abbot of the San Salvi monastery outside Florence, Italy c.1190. Abbot of the Vallombrosa monastery and General of the Order in late 1201 or early 1202; he served for over 30 years and ruled during the period of the Order‘s greatest prosperity and expansion. He worked to maintain discipline to the Vallumbrosan Rule, and bring peace to Orders and houses in conflict of the claim of anti-pope Callistus III. Abbot Benigno enshrined the relics of Saint John Gualbert on 10 October 1210, built the new church in Vallombrosa, a project that took six years to complete, added more cells to the monastery for those desiring to live as hermits, and built an oratorium. In his final years, some time in 1234, Benigno gave up his leadership position, and retired to live in a hermit‘s cell, doing daily penance for the errors of his youth.
Born
c.1136 in Montevarchi, Arezzo, Italy
Died
• 17 July c.1236 in Vallumbrosa, Italy of natural causes
• his grave was one of several that were rediscovered in May 1600; they were exhibited for veneration on 21 August 1600 while preparations were made for their enshrinement
• relics enshrined on 1 August 1604 in a new chapel of the church at the abbey of Vallumbrosa
Saint Colman of Stockerau
Also known as
• Colman of Melk
• Coloman, Colomannus, Koloman, Kálmán
Additional Memorial
13 October (traditional in the region of Austria)
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May have been of noble or royal birth. Monk. While on a pilgrimage to the Holy Lands, Colman was stopped by the Viennese on suspicion of being a Moravian spy; there was continual fighting between Austria, Moravia and Bohemia, and a stranger who spoke no German was immediately suspect. With no evidence other than being a stranger, he was convicted of espionage, tortured, and hanged with two thieves.
In the tradition of the time, the bodies were left to rot as a warning to others. Colman's body hung there for 18 months, incorrupt, and untouched by animals. Miracles were reported at the site, including the scaffolding taking root and putting out branches. In 1015, bishop Megingard transferred Colman's relics to Melk, Austria where they were entombed in an abbey on the Danube. The tomb became a site of miracles, and four popes have granted indulgences to those who call on his intercession. There is an annual blessing of horses and cattle held at Melk and near Füssen, Germany on his feast.
Born
in the British Isles, exact location undetermined
Died
hanged in October 1012 at Stockerau, Austria
Patronage
• against gout
• against hanging
• against plague
• hanged men
• horned cattle
• horses
• Austria
• Melk, Austria
Saint Hedwig, Queen of Poland
புனித எட்விக் (St.Hedwig)
போலந்து நாட்டு அரசி (Queen of Poland)
பிறப்பு
1374
ஹங்கேரி (Hungary)
இறப்பு
17 ஜூலை 1399
கிராகொவ்(Krakau, Poland)
இவரின் தந்தை ஹங்கேரி நாட்டு அரசர் அன்ஜோய்(Anjou) என்பவரின் மகள் லூட்விக்(Ludwig). எட்விக் 10 வயது இருக்கும்போதே தந்தை இறந்துவிட்டார். இதனால் தன் தந்தைக்குப்பிறகு எட்விக் ஹங்கேரி நாட்டு அரசியாக முடிசூட்டப்பட்டார். தனது 11 ஆம் வயதில் யாகிலோ(Jagiello) என்பவருக்கு திருமணம் செய்து வைக்கப்பட்டார். அரசி எட்விக் மிகவும் பக்தியுள்ளவர். திருமணம் செய்யும் முன் ஞானஸ்நானம் பெறவேண்டுமென்று கூறி, தன் கணவரையும் அதற்கு இணங்கவைத்தார்.
எட்விக்கின் கணவர், எட்விக்கின் பக்தியை பார்த்து பரவசமடைந்தார். இதனால் எட்விக் செபிப்பதற்காக போலந்து நாட்டில் , தன் மறைமாநிலத்தில் ஆலயங்களை கட்டினார். 1388 ஆம் ஆண்டு எட்விக்கும், யாக்கிலியோவும் சேர்ந்து வில்னா(Wilna) என்ற மறைமாநிலத்தை உருவாக்கினர். இவர்கள் ஏழைகளுக்கும், கைவிடப்பட்ட பெண்களுக்கும், அனாதை குழந்தைகளுக்கும் எல்லா உதவிகளையும் செய்து வாழ்வை வழங்கினர். அவர்களுக்காக ஆலயங்களையும் பல கல்வி நிறுவனங்களையும் எழுப்பினார். 1297 ஆம் ஆண்டு தனது 23 ஆம் வயதில், தன் பெயரில் கிராகோவ் மறைமாநிலத்தில் இறையியல் கல்லூரி ஒன்றையும் கட்டினார். பின்னர் எட்விக் என்ற பெயரில் ஒரு துறவற மடத்தையும் தொடங்கினார். திருத்தந்தை 2 ஆம் ஜான்பால் திருத்தந்தையாக தேர்ந்தெடுத்தப்பின் 1979 ஆம் ஆண்டு போலந்து நாட்டை முதன்முறையாக பார்வையிடச் சென்றார். அப்போதுதான் எட்விக் என்ற பெயர் கொண்ட புதிய துறவற இல்லத்தைத் திறந்துவைத்தார். இவர் கிராகோவ் நாடு முழுவதும் பல நன்மைகளை செய்து, மக்களை வாழவைத்தார். எட்விக் இறந்தபிறகு கிராக்கோவ் மாநிலத்திற்கு சொந்தமான பேராலயத்தில் அடக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டார்.
Also known as
• Hedwig of Anjou
• Hedwig Andegawenska
• Eduviges, Jadwiga, Jadvyga, Hedvig, Hedvigis
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Youngest daughter of King Louis I of Hungary. Because she was great-niece to King Casimir III of Poland, she became Queen of Poland in 1382 upon her father's death. She was engaged to William, Duke of Austria, whom she loved, but broke off the relationship in order to marry Jagiello, non-Christian Prince of Lithuania, at age 13 for political reasons. She offered her misery in this marriage to Christ, and she eventually converted her husband; Jagiello was later known as King Landislaus II of Poland after the unification of the kingdoms, a union that lasted over 400 years. Noted for her charity to all, but especially the sick and poor, and for a revision of the laws to help the poor.
Born
18 February 1374 in Buda (in modern Budapest, Hungary
Died
• 17 July 1399 during in Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland in child birth
• miracles reported at her tomb
Beatified
• 31 May 1979 by Pope John Paul II (cultus confirmation)
• 17 December 1996 by Pope John Paul II (decree of heroic virtues)
Canonized
8 June 1997 by Pope John Paul II
Patronage
queens
Saint Clement of Ohrid
Also known as
• Clement of Okbrida
• Kliment Ohridski
• one of the Seven Apostles of Bulgaria
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Student of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius in Moravia and Panonia. Building on their work, he helped found Slavic literature and culture in Macedonia. He was the first Slavic writer, translated dozens of works, wrote a biography of Saints Cyril and Methodius, and founded the first Slavic university in Ohrid. Friend of Saint Naum. Served in the Bulgarian court. Taught from 886 to 893 at Kutmicevica, being a great influence on over 3,000 students, many of whom became priests and spread the Slavic liturgy through the region. Spiritual teacher of Saint Constantine the Presbyter. Bishop of Belica, the first organized Slav Church on the Balkan Peninsula. Bishop of Ohrid. Founded Saint Pantaleimonth's monastery.
Born
9th century in the Thesaloniki district of modern Bulgaria
Died
• 17 July 916 in Ohrid, Macedonia of natural causes
• buried at Saint Pantaleimonth's monastery near Ohrid
Patronage
• Macedonia
• Ohrid, Macedonia
Saint Ennodius of Pavia
Also known as
• Ennodio of Pavia
• Magnus Felix Ennodius
• Magno Felice Ennodio
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Born to the Gallo-Roman nobility. Well educated in the sciences and rhetoric. Married to a wealthy member of the nobility. Recovering from a serious illness, Ennodius examined his life, decided to put away worldly things, and consecrated himself to God. His wife retired to a convent to become a nun, and Ennodius became a deacon, serving under Saint Epiphanius of Pavia. Taught rhetoric in Milan, Italy. Bishop of Pavia, Italy in 510 where he was known for his concern for the life of his flock in this world, and for their spiritual training. Twice served as legate for Pope Hormisdas to Emperor Anastasius in whose court he worked against the heresy of Eutychianism; on his second trip, in 517, he was so ill-treated for supporting orthodox Christianity that he had to escape the city. Some of his poetry, hymns and ascetical writings have survived.
Born
c.473 in Cisalpine Gaul (an area of modern northern Italy)
Died
• 17 July 521 of natural causes
• entombed in the church of San Michele in Pavia, Italy
Saint Andrew Zorard
Also known as
Sverad, Svorad, Swierad, Swirad, Wszechrad, Zoerardus, Zoërard, Zurawek, Zórawek
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Missionary hermit in the area of Olawa, Silesia (in modern Poland). Monk in Tropie, Poland. Hermit and then Benedictine monk on Mount Zobar, Hungary c.1003 where, at the request of King Saint Stephen of Hungary, he helped establish a hermitage. Spiritual teacher of Saint Benedict of Szakalka. Known for his austere, contemplative life and personal piety. A biography of him was written by Blessed Maurus of Pecs.
Born
c.980 in Opatowiec, Poland
Died
• c.1010 of natural causes
• relics translated to the Cathedral of Saint Emmeram in Nitra, Slovakia in 1083
Canonized
1085 by Pope Saint Gregory VII
Patronage
• Abbey of Saint Andrew, Cleveland, Ohio
• Hungary
• diocese of Nitra, Slovakia
• diocese of Tarnów, Poland
Saint Kenelm
Also known as
Cynehelm, Chenelmo
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Mercian prince, the son of King Coenwulf. Venerated as a boy king and martyr in the Middle Ages, though his biography became mixed with pious legends, one of which says he was killed on orders of his sister.
Mentioned in the Canterbury Tales's Nun's Priest's Tale. Venerable John Henry Newman made frequent pilgrimages to the shrine of Saint Kenelm's martyrdom. For many years the villagers of Kenelstowe, England celebrated Saint Kenelm's Day with the ancient custom of "crabbing the parson" - bombarding the parson with crab apples!
Died
• killed in battle in 821 at Clent Hills near Birmingham, England
• relics discovered after a vision and taken to the abbey of Winchcombe, England
Saint Marcellina
புனித மார்செலினா (327-397)
இவர் இத்தாலி நாட்டில் உள்ள கால் என்ற இடத்தில் பிறந்தவர். இவரது தந்தை ஓர் அரசு அதிகாரி. இவருடைய சகோதரர்தான் புனித அம்புரோஸ்.
354 ஆம் ஆண்டு இவரது குடும்பம் உரோமைக்குக் குடிபெயர்ந்தது. அங்கு சென்ற ஒரு சில ஆண்டுகளிலேயே இவருடைய பெற்றோர் இறந்து போனார்கள். இதனால் இவரே தன் சகோதரன் அம்புரோசையும், சகோதரி ஒருவரையும் பராமரிக்க வேண்டிய சூழ்நிலை ஏற்பட்டது.
இறைவேண்டலுக்கும் நோன்புக்கும் ஒறுத்தல் முயற்சிகளுக்கும் மிகுந்த முக்கியத்துவம் கொடுத்து வந்த இவர், தனது எடுத்துக்காட்டான வாழ்வால் தன் சகோதரர், சகோதரிக்கு முன்மாதிரியாக விளங்கினார்.
இவரது முன்மாதிரியான வாழ்வால் தொடப்பட்ட இவரது சகோதரர் அம்புரோஸ் பின்நாளில் அருள்பணியாளராகவும், தொடர்ந்து மிலன் நகரின் ஆயராகவும் உயர்ந்தார் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.
இவர் 398 ஆம் ஆண்டு இறையடி சேர்ந்தார்.
Profile
Daughter of the Roman imperial prefect of Gaul. Elder sister of Saint Ambrose of Milan and Saint Satyrus. She moved to Rome, Italy when very young, and was raised by her older brothers. A consecrated virgin (like a modern nun), receiving the veil from Pope Liberius on Christmas Day 353 in Saint Peter's Basilica. Never cloistered, she lived with her mother, and in other private homes. Worked with Ambrose in Milan after his consecration as bishop. Noted for such austerities that her brother encourged her to relax in her later years. Ambrose dedicated his treatise on holy virginity to her.
Born
c.330 at Trier, Gaul (in modern Germany)
Died
• c.398 of natural causes
• buried in the crypt under the altar of the Ambrosian Basilica in Milan, Italy
Pope Saint Leo IV
Profile
Cardinal-priest. 103rd pope. He saw the Saracens attack Rome, Italy in 846; upon his ascension, to prevent its recurrence he fortified the city and its suburbs, building a wall around the Vatican, fortifying the part of Rome still called the Leonine City. Rebuilt Saint Peter's Basilica. Rebuked Saint Ignatius of Constantinople for deposing bishops without his knowledge. Crowned Louis II joint Holy Roman Emperor with Lothair I in 850. Crowned Alfred as king of England in 853.
Born
Rome, Italy
Papal Ascension
847
Died
855 at Rome, Italy of natural causes
Saints Justina and Rufina of Seville
Profile
A pair of sisters, the daughters of a potter who became potters themselves. A wealthy customer offered to purchase a large part of their earthenware for a very good price, but when the girls learned that the pots would be used in pagan rituals, they smashed them all. They were imprisoned and executed for heresy against the gods. Martyr.
Died
mauled by lions in 287
Patronage
• potters
• Seville, Spain
Saint Petrus Liu Zeyu
Also known as
• Peter Liu Ziyu
• Baiduo
Additional Memorial
28 September as one of the Martyrs of China
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Layman in the apostolic vicariate of Southeastern Zhili, China. During the Boxer Rebellion, he was ordered by the Mandarin to renounce Christianity; he refused. Martyr.
Born
c.1843 in Zhujiaxie, Shenzhou, Hebei, China
Died
beheaded on 17 July 1900 in Zhujiaxie, Shenzhou, Hebei, China
Canonized
1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Frédégand of Kerkelodor
Also known as
Fregaut, Fridigand, Frégaud
Profile
Spiritual student of Saint Foillan of Fosses. Missionary monk and then abbot at Kerkelodor Abbey near Antwerp, Belgium.
Born
Ireland
Died
c.740 at Deurne, near Antwerp, Brabant (in modern Belgium)
Saint Nerses Lambronazi
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Nephew of Saint Nerses Glaietsi. Bishop. Archbishop of Tarsus. Helped reunify Armenia with the Church of Rome in 1198. Translated many important Church documents into Armenian including the Rule of Saint Benedict, and Saint Gregory's Dialogues.
Born
1153
Died
1198 of natural causes
Blessed Sebastian of the Holy Spirit
Profile
Mercedarian lay brother at the convent of the Holy Spirit in Lima, Peru. Miracle worker known to heal the sick by singing the Magnificat.
Died
1721 in Lima, Peru of natural causes
Saint Theodota of Constantinople
Profile
Born to the nobility of Constantinople. Martyred in the iconoclast persecutions of Emperor Leo the Isaurian.
Died
735 in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey)
Blessed Biagio of the Incarnation
Profile
Mercedarian deacon at the Incarnation convent in Valdonquillo, Spain.
Died
1612 of natural causes
Blessed Arnold of Himmerod
Also known as
Arnoldus
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Cistercian monk at Himmerod monastery in Trier, Germany. Renowned for his personal piety.
Saint Hyacinth of Amastris
Profile
Christian who cut down a tree dedicated to a pagan god. Martyr.
Died
Amastris, Paphlagonia (in modern Turkey)
Saint Theodosius of Auxerre
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Bishop of Auxerre, France c.507 to 516. Attended the Council of Orleans in 511.
Died
516
Saint Turninus
Profile
Priest. Missionary. Worked with Saint Foillan of Fosses in the Netherlands and near Antwerp, Belgium.
Born
Ireland
Died
8th century
Saint Cynllo
Also known as
Cynlio
Profile
Several churches are dedicated to this saint in Wales, but no details about him have survived.
Died
5th century
Saint Generosus
Profile
Martyr.
Died
relics enshrined under the high altar of the cathedral of Tivoli, Italy
Saint Gorazd
Profile
One of the Seven Apostles of Bulg
