Bl. Oleksa Zaryckyj
Feastday: October 20
Birth: 1912
Death: 1963
Beatified: Pope John Paul II
Oleksa Zaryckyj was born October 17, 1912 in the village of Bilco, region of Ukraine in Lviv (Lvov). In 1931 he entered the seminary in Lviv and five years after he was ordained to the priesthood by Metropolitan Sheptytsky as a diocesan priest of the Archeparchy of Lviv of the Ukrainians. In 1948 he was captured by the Bolsheviks and was sentenced to ten years in prison and deported to Karaganda in Kazakhstan. Released early in 1957, Oleksa Zaryckyj was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Kazakhstan and Siberia, but did not have time to receive episcopal consecration. Shortly after he was re-interned in concentration camp Dolinka near Karaganda, where he died a martyr of the faith October 30, 1963. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II June 27, 2001, along with 24 other victims of the Soviet regime of Ukrainian nationality.
Athanasius Schneider (born Anton Schneider on 7 April 1961) is a Kazakh Roman Catholic bishop, the auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan. He is a member of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra. He is known for championing the pre-Vatican II liturgical traditions and practices of the church and for protesting certain current policies, including some associated with Pope Francis.
Family and early life
Anton Schneider was born in Tokmok, Kirghiz SSR, in the Soviet Union. His parents were Black Sea Germans from Odessa in Ukraine.[1] After the Second World War they were sent by Stalin to a gulag in Krasnokamsk in the Ural Mountains, where the family was closely involved with the underground church. Schneider's mother Maria was one of several women to shelter the Blessed Oleksa Zaryckyj, a Ukrainian priest later imprisoned at the infamous Karlag and in 1963 martyred by the Soviet regime for his ministry. The family traveled to the Kirghiz SSR after being released from the camps,[2] then left Central Asia for Estonia.[3] As a boy, Schneider and his three siblings would attend clandestine Masses with their parents, often traveling sixty miles from the family's home in Valga to Tartu, taking the first train in the morning under the cover of darkness and returning with the last train at night. Due to the great distance, infrequent visits by the clergy, and crackdowns by the Soviet authorities, they were able to make the trip only once a month.[1] In 1973, shortly after making his first Holy Communion in secret, Schneider emigrated with his family to Rottweil in West Germany.[4]
Training and priesthood
In 1982 in Austria, Schneider joined the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra, a Roman Catholic religious order within the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum, and took the religious name Athanasius. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Manuel Pestana Filho of Anápolis on 25 March 1990, and spent several years as a priest in Brazil before returning to Central Asia.[5] Starting in 1999, he taught Patristics at Mary, Mother of the Church Seminary in Karaganda. On 2 June 2006 he was consecrated a bishop at the Altar of the Chair of Saint Peter in the Vatican by Cardinal Angelo Sodano. In 2011 he was transferred to the position of auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Astana.[6] He is the General Secretary of the Bishops' Conference of Kazakhstan.[7]
Schneider speaks German, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, English, French and Italian, and he reads Latin and Ancient Greek.[8]
Views
Schneider is known for his traditionalism. He has criticized clergy members who he believes do not fully adhere to the faith and instead surrender to what he calls a "cruel pagan world." In 2014, he compared them to "members of the clergy and even bishops who put grains of incense in front of the statue of the emperor or of a pagan idol or who delivered the books of the Holy Scripture to be burned." He alleged that the present Catholic Church is beset by "traitors of the Faith."[9]
Schneider has frequently travelled to conferences hosted by conservative and traditional Catholics. In 2018, he was warned by the Holy See to limit his travel outside his diocese, as canon law only allows a bishop to be absent for no more than a month unless on official duty. This led to him increasingly appearing at conferences via video.[10]
Holy Communion
Schneider passionately supports the liturgical tradition of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue while kneeling, as a sign of love for the body and blood of Jesus.[11] This is the theme of his 2008 book Dominus Est,[12][13] published in Italian, and since translated into English, German, Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish, Hungarian and Chinese. The book contains a foreword written by Malcolm Ranjith, then the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, currently Archbishop of Colombo and Metropolitan head of the church in Sri Lanka.[14] In the book, Schneider writes that receiving Holy Communion in this way had become standard practice in the church by the 5th century, and that Pope Gregory I strongly chastised priests who refused to follow this tradition.[11] He wrote in 2009: "The awareness of the greatness of the eucharistic mystery is demonstrated in a special way by the manner in which the body of the Lord is distributed and received."[15]
Schneider offering Mass in 2009
Schneider has vigorously upheld the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church that divorce and remarriage outside of it constitutes the mortal sin of adultery, and thus makes one ineligible to receive Holy Communion.[9][16] In a 2014 interview, Schneider said that calls to change this practice came from "anti-Christian media." He suggested this was "a false concept of mercy," saying: "It is comparable to a doctor who gives a [diabetic] patient sugar, although he knows it will kill him."[9] In 2016, Pope Francis released the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia which seemed to allow divorced and civilly remarried persons to take the Eucharist under some circumstances, and this was put into practice by some bishops, arousing intense controversy. Schneider strongly criticized this, asserting that the perennial teaching is "more powerful and surer than the discordant voice and practice of admitting unrepentant adulterers to Holy Communion, even if this practice is promoted by a single Pope or the diocesan bishops."[16] On April 7, 2018, Schneider, along with conservative cardinals Raymond Leo Burke and Walter Brandmüller, participated in a conference rejecting the outline proposed by German bishops to allow divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive the Eucharist. Schneider spoke of the duty of popes to be "custodians" of authority.[17]
Clergy sex abuse
On August 25, 2018, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former apostolic nuncio to the United States, released an 11-page letter describing a series of warnings to the Vatican regarding sexual misconduct by Theodore McCarrick, accusing Francis of failing to act on these reports and calling on him to resign.[18] Schneider said that there was "no reasonable and plausible cause to doubt the truth content of the document." He demanded "ruthlessness and transparency" in cleansing the church of evils, particularly "homosexual cliques and networks" in the curia that he and some others have blamed for helping to cause the abuse epidemic. Schneider called on all "cardinals, bishops and priests to renounce any compromise and any flirtation with the world."[19]
Interreligious relations
Schneider stated in a January 2013 interview that proselytizing by "false religions and sects" should be restricted in majority-Catholic counties. "When there is (a Catholic majority) then false religions and sects have not the right to make propaganda there," he said. Schneider added that this does not mean that governments can "suppress them, they can live, but (governments) cannot give them the same right to make propaganda to the detriment of Catholics."[20]
Schneider has spoken out against Muslim immigration into Europe. He stated in a 2018 interview that heavy Muslim immigration during the 2010s was orchestrated by "international powerful political organizations...to take away from Europe its Christian and its national identity. It is meant to dilute the Christian and the national character of Europe." Schneider alleged that the Syrian Civil War was orchestrated by international powers with a view to stirring up a migrant crisis to de-Christianize Europe, and that mass immigration into Europe from Northern Africa was likewise "artificially created."[21]
Liturgy
Schneider is a strong promoter of the Tridentine Mass.[22] He has rebuked priests for using "a careless and superficial–almost an entertainment style" of liturgy, adding that liturgy must be conducted with "beauty and reverence." According to Schneider, "You cannot change the liturgy by the tastes of the time. The liturgy is timeless." Schneider has offered Mass in the Byzantine Rite numerous times, praising it as "permeated with respect, with reverence, with a supernatural spirit and adoration."[21]
Schneider criticized the closing of churches during the COVID-19 pandemic, remarking that numerous other establishments remained open, and proposing that churches could safely remain open if sanitary procedures were followed and additional Masses were offered to limit crowding.[23]
Declaration of Truths
At a theological conference in Rome in December 2010, Schneider proposed the need for "a new Syllabus" (recalling the Syllabus of Errors of 1864), in which papal teaching authority would correct erroneous interpretations of the documents of the Second Vatican Council.[24][25][26]
On June 10, 2019, Schneider, along with cardinals Burke and Jānis Pujats, as well as Kazakh archbishops Tomasz Peta of Astana and Jan Paul Lenga, published a 40-point "Declaration of Truths" claiming to reaffirm traditional church teaching. The bishops wrote that such a declaration was necessary in a time of "almost universal doctrinal confusion and disorientation." Specific passages in the declaration implicitly reply to writings of Pope Francis. The declaration states that "the religion born of faith in Jesus Christ" is the "only religion positively willed by God," seemingly alluding to the Document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis which stated that the "diversity of religions" is "willed by God." Following recent changes to the Catechism to oppose capital punishment, the declaration states that the church "did not err" in teaching that civil authorities may "lawfully exercise capital punishment" when it is "truly necessary" and to preserve the "just order of societies."[27]
Amazon Synod
In September 2019, Schneider and Burke published an 8-page letter denouncing six alleged theological errors in the working document for the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, and asking that Pope Francis "confirm his brethren in the faith by an unambiguous rejection of the errors." Burke and Schneider criticized the Synod document for its "implicit pantheism," support for married clergy, a greater role for women in the liturgy, and excessive openness to Amazonian pagan rituals and practices. They asked the laity and clergy to pray at least one decade of the Rosary and to fast weekly for the rejection of such ideas over a 40-day period from September 17 to October 26.[28]
Second Vatican Council
In an article dated May 31, 2020 Schneider publicly affirmed the opinion of many traditional Catholics regarding the Second Vatican Council. He argued the Council introduced erroneous statements never before taught by the magisterium of the church. He also states the novelties of the Council are directly responsible for the crisis of faith experienced in the Catholic Church in the second half of the 20th century and in the 21st century.
St. Bertilla Boscardin
✠ புனிதர் மரியா பெர்டில்லா போஸ்கார்டின் ✠
(St. Maria Bertilla Boscardin)
அருட்சகோதரி மற்றும் செவிலியர்:
(Nun and Nurse)
பிறப்பு: அக்டோபர் 6, 1888
பிரெண்டோலா, வெனேடோ, இத்தாலி
(Brendola, Veneto, Italy)
இறப்பு: அக்டோபர் 20, 1922 (வயது 34)
ட்ரெவிஸோ, இத்தாலி
(Treviso, Italy)
ஏற்கும் சமயம்:
ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை
(Roman Catholic Church)
முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: ஜூன் 8, 1952
திருத்தந்தை பன்னிரெண்டாம் பயஸ்
(Pope Pius XII)
புனிதர் பட்டம்: மே 11, 1961
திருத்தந்தை இருபத்துமூன்றாம் ஜான்
(Pope John XXIII)
முக்கிய திருத்தலம்:
விசென்ஸா, வெனடொ, இத்தாலி
(Vicenza, Veneto, Italy)
நினைவுத் திருநாள்: அக்டோபர் 20
புனிதர் மரியா பெர்டில்லா போஸ்கார்டின், முதலாம் உலகப் போரின்போது, விமானப்படை தாக்குதல்களினால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்களுக்கும், நோயுற்ற சிறார்களுக்கும் தன்னலமற்ற சேவையாற்றுவதில் உன்னத முத்திரை பொறித்த இத்தாலி நாட்டு கத்தோலிக்க அருட்சகோதரியும் செவிலியருமாவார். பின்னாளில், இவர் ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையினால் புனிதராக அருட்பொழிவு செய்விக்கப்பட்டு, கௌரவிக்கப்பட்டார்.
ஆரம்ப வாழ்க்கை:
“அன்னா ஃபிரான்செஸ்கா போஸ்கார்டின்” (Anna Francesca Boscardin) எனும் இயற்பெயர் கொண்ட இவர், இத்தாலி நாட்டின் “வெனேடோ” (Veneto) பிராந்தியத்தின் “பிரெண்டோலா” (Brendola) எனும் நகரில் பிறந்தவர். இவரது பெற்றோர் விவசாய குடும்பத்தினைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள் ஆவர். இவரது தந்தையான “ஆன்ஜெலோ போஸ்கார்டின்” (Angelo Boscardin), பின்னாளில் தமது மகள் மரியா பெர்டில்லா’வின் முக்திபேறு பட்டமளிக்கும் முன்னேற்பாட்டு செயல்முறை நடவடிக்கைகளின்போது, தாம் ஒரு பொறாமை குணமுள்ளவரென்றும், அடிக்கடி மது அருந்திவிட்டு, மகளை அடிக்கும் வன்முறையாளரென்றும் சாட்சியமளித்தார்.
குழந்தைப் பருவத்திலேயே குடும்பத்திற்காக வயல்வெளிகளில் வேலை செய்ய வேண்டியிருந்த காரணத்தால், தொடர்ந்து பள்ளிக்கு செல்ல இயலாதவராய் இருந்தார். பள்ளிக்கு சென்ற காலத்தில் கூட, அருகாமையிலுள்ள ஒரு வீட்டின் பணிப்பெண்ணாக பணி புரிந்தார். அவரால் குறிப்பிட்ட அளவு திறமைகளை காட்ட இயலவில்லை. குறிப்பாக, அவர் ஒரு புத்திசாலி பெண் இல்லை என்று கருதப்பட்டார். மேலும், பெரும்பாலும் அவர் பிறரின் நகைச்சுவையின் இலக்காக இருந்தார். இவையுள்ளிட்ட இவரது மந்தமான தன்மைக்காக, உள்ளூர் மதகுரு, இவரை வாத்து என்று கிண்டல் வார்த்தைகளால் அழைப்பார்.
அக்காலத்தில், பொதுவாக புதுநன்மை அருட்சாதனம் வாங்குவதற்கான வயது பன்னிரெண்டாகும். ஆனா இவர் தமது எட்டு வயதிலேயே புதுநன்மை அருட்சாதனம் வாங்க அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டார். இவர் தமது பங்கு மக்களின் “மரியாளின் குழந்தைகள் சங்கம்” என்னும் அமைப்பில் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட்டிருந்தார். மரியா பெர்டில்லாவின் பங்குத்தந்தை இவருக்கு மறைக்கல்வி புத்தகமொன்றினை (Catechism) பரிசாக இவருக்கு அளித்திருந்தார். இவர் மரித்தபோது, அவர் அணிந்திருந்த துறவற சீருடைப் பையில் அப்புத்தகம் இருந்தது.
விசென்ஸா (Vicenza):
இவரது வழக்கமான மந்தத் தன்மை காரணமாக இவர் சேருவதற்காக விண்ணப்பித்திருந்த துறவற சபை ஒன்று இவரை நிராகரித்தது. பின்னர், 1904ம் ஆண்டு, விசென்ஸா நகரின் “தூய இருதயத்தின் மகள்கள்” (Daughters of the Sacred Heart) அமைப்பின் “புனித டோரதி’யின் ஆசிரியைகளின்” (Teachers of Saint Dorothy) உறுப்பினராக மரியா பெர்டில்லா ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட்டார். அங்கே வைத்துதான் “மரியா பெர்டில்லா” எனும் பெயரை ஏற்றுக்கொண்டார்.
தம்மைப்பற்றிய முந்தைய விமர்சனங்களை ஏற்கனவே மனதிற்குள் உள்வாங்கியிருந்த பெர்டில்லா, “புகுநிலை துறவியரின் தலைவியிடம்” (Novice-mistress), “என்னால் எதையும் செய்ய முடியாது; நான் எதற்கும் லாயக்கில்லாத பெண்; நான் ஒரு வாத்து; எனக்கு கற்பியுங்கள்; நான் ஒரு புனிதையாக வேண்டும்.” என்று அடிக்கடி சொல்வார். பெர்டில்லா, அந்த துறவு மடத்தில், ஒரு சமையலறை பணிப்பெண்ணாகவும், துணி துவைக்கும் பணிப்பெண்ணாகவும் மூன்று வருடங்கள் பணியாற்றினார்.
ட்ரெவிஸோ (Treviso) :
பின்னர், ட்ரெவிஸோ நகரிலுள்ள, அவர்களது சபையின் கீழுள்ள நகரசபை மருத்துவமனையில் செவிலியர் கல்வி கற்பதற்காக பெர்டில்லா அனுப்பப்பட்டார். பயிற்சிக் காலத்திலேயே ஒருமுறை இவர் சமையலறை பணிக்கு அனுப்பப்பட்டார். எப்படியும் பயிற்சியை முடித்த பெர்டில்லா, மருத்துவமனையின் சிறுவர்கள் வார்டில், “டிப்தீரியா” (Diphtheria) எனப்படும் தொண்டை அழற்சி நோய் பாதித்த நோயாளிகளுக்கு சேவை செய்ய அனுப்பப்பட்டார். “கேபர்ட்டோ” போரின் (Battle of Caporetto) பேரழிவினைத் தொடர்ந்து, ட்ரெவிஸோ (Treviso) நகரம் விமான தாக்குதலுக்கு உள்ளானபோது, அம்மருத்துவமனை இராணுவத்தின் கட்டுப்பாட்டின் கீழே வந்தது. மிகவும் மோசமாக பாதிக்கப்பட்டிருந்த நோயாளிகளுக்கு பெர்டில்லா ஆற்றிய நிகரற்ற சேவை இராணுவத்தால் கவனிக்கப்பட்டு வந்தது.
பெர்டில்லாவின் இத்தகைய அர்ப்பணிப்புமிக்க சேவைகள், உள்ளூரிலுள்ள ஒரு இராணுவ மருத்துவமனை நிர்வாகத்தின் கவனத்தை ஈர்த்தது. எப்படியும் அருட்சகோதரி பெர்டில்லாவின் சேவையை பாராட்ட மனமில்லாத அவருக்கு மேலுள்ள அருட்சகோதரியர், அவரை மீண்டும் சலவைப் பணிக்கு அனுப்பினார்கள். தொடர்ந்து நான்கு மாதங்கள் அதே சலவைப் பணியில் இருந்த பெர்டில்லா, அவரது தலைமை சகோதரியால் அங்கிருந்து மாற்றப்பட்டு, மருத்துவமனையின் குழந்தைகள் தனிமை வார்டுக்கு மாற்றப்பட்டார். அதன்பின்னர், விரைவிலேயே அவரது ஏற்கனவே நலிவடைந்திருந்த உடல் நலம், மேலும் மோசமானது. ஏற்கனவே பல ஆண்டுகளாக அவரது உடலிலிருந்த ஒரு கட்டியானது, மேலும் முற்றி, அறுவை சிகிச்சை வரை கொண்டுபோனது. நடந்த அறுவை சிகிச்சையில் அவர் பிழைக்கவில்லை. 1922ம் ஆண்டு, அக்டோபர் மாதம் இருபதாம் தேதி, 34 வயதான அருட்சகோதரி மரியா பெர்டில்லா போஸ்கார்டின் மரித்தார்.
Feastday: October 20
Birth: 1888
Death: 1922
Virgin, also called Mary Bertilla. She was born in Brendola, in northern Italy. A member of the Congregation of Teachers of St. Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred hearts, she spent her life caring for children and the sick. She was canonized in 1961.
Maria Bertilla Boscardin (6 October 1888 – 20 October 1922) was an Italian nun and nurse who displayed a pronounced devotion to duty in working with sick children and victims of the air raids of World War I. She was later canonised a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
Life
Early life
She was born Anna Francesca Boscardin at Brendola, Veneto. In her family and town she was known as Annette.[1] She was a member of a peasant family. Her father, Angelo Boscardin, would testify during her beatification process that he was jealous, violent, and frequently drunk. As a child she could only attend school irregularly, as she was needed to help at home and in the fields. When she did attend school she also worked as a servant in a nearby home. She did not display any particular talents, was thought to be not particularly intelligent, and was often the target of insulting jokes. These included being referred to as a "goose" for her slowness by a local clergyman.[2]
She was allowed to make her First Holy Communion at eight and a half years old, when the authorized age in those years was eleven. At twelve years old, she was accepted into the parish association of the “Children of Mary” association.[1] The parish priest gave her a catechism as a gift. They found it in the pocket of her habit, when she died, at 34 years old.[1]
Vicenza
After being rejected for admission to one order because of her slowness, she was accepted as a member of the Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Heart at Vicenza in 1904, taking the name "Maria Bertilla". She herself internalized some of her earlier criticism, telling the novice-mistress of the order, "I can't do anything. I'm a poor thing, a goose. Teach me. I want to be a saint."[2] She worked there as a kitchen maid and laundress for three years.
Treviso
She was then sent to Treviso to learn nursing at the municipal hospital there, which was under the direction of her order. During her training period, she was once placed to work in the kitchen. However, upon completing her training, she was promoted to working with victims of diphtheria in the hospital's children's ward. During the air raids of Treviso following the disastrous Battle of Caporetto, the hospital fell under the control of the military. Sister Bertilla was noted for her unwavering care of her patients, particularly those who were too ill to be moved to safety.[3]
This devotion to duty attracted the attention of the authorities of a local military hospital. However, her superioress did not appreciate Sister Bertilla's work and reassigned her to work in the laundry, a position she remained in for four months until being reassigned by a higher superior, who put Sister Bertilla in charge of the children's isolation ward at the hospital. Shortly thereafter, Sister Bertilla's already poor health got worse. A painful tumor which she had had for several years had progressed to the point of requiring an operation, which she did not survive. She died in 1922.[3]
Veneration
Her reputation for simplicity and devoted, caring hard work had left a deep impression on those who knew her. A memorial plaque placed on her tomb refers to her as "a chosen soul of heroic goodness ... an angelic alleviator of human suffering in this place."[2] Crowds flocked to her first grave at Treviso. After a tomb was erected for her at Vicenza, it became a pilgrimage site where several miracles of healing were said to have taken place.
In 1961, 39 years after her death, she was canonised as a saint. The crowd in attendance included members of her family as well as some of her patients.[3] Her feast day is October 20.
Bl. Francis Serrano
Feastday: October 20
Death: 1748
Dominican martyr of China. A Spaniard, Francis entered the Dominicans and was sent to Fukien, China. Arrested with Blessed Peter Sanze in 1746, Francis was elected titular bishop of Tipasa while in prison. He and his Dominican companions, including Francis Diaz, were strangled. He was beatified in 1893.
This article is about the Catholic martyrs of the 17th to 20th centuries. For other Christian martyrs in China, see Chinese Martyrs.
The Martyr Saints of China (traditional Chinese: 中華殉道聖人; simplified Chinese: 中华殉道圣人; pinyin: Zhōnghuá xùndào shèngrén), or Augustine Zhao Rong and his Companions, are 120 saints of the Catholic Church. The 87 Chinese Catholics and 33 Western missionaries[1] from the mid-17th century to 1930 were martyred because of their ministry and, in some cases, for their refusal to apostatize.
Many died in the Boxer Rebellion, in which anti-colonial peasant rebels slaughtered 30,000 Chinese converts to Christianity along with missionaries and other foreigners.
In the ordinary form of the Latin Rite, they are remembered with an optional memorial on July 9.
Saint Cornelius the Centurion
Profile
Centurion of the Roman cohort stationed at Caesarea, Palestine in the early 1st century. A Roman pagan, he received the Holy Spirit while listening to the preaching of Saint Peter the Apostle; he sent for Peter who baptized the entire family. He was the first known Gentile convert to Christianity, and the baptism of his whole household points to the first century use of infant baptism. First bishop of Caesarea.
Readings
Now in Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Cohort called the Italica, devout and God-fearing along with his whole household, who used to give alms generously to the Jewish people and pray to God constantly. One afternoon about three o'clock, he saw plainly in a vision an angel of God come in to him and say to him, "Cornelius." He looked intently at him and, seized with fear, said, "What is it, sir?" He said to him, "Your prayers and almsgiving have ascended as a memorial offering before God. Now send some men to Joppa and summon one Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with another Simon, a tanner, who has a house by the sea." When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from his staff, explained everything to them, and sent them to Joppa.
The next day, while they were on their way and nearing the city, Peter went up to the roof terrace to pray at about noontime. He was hungry and wished to eat, and while they were making preparations he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something resembling a large sheet coming down, lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all the earth's four-legged animals and reptiles and the birds of the sky. A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat." But Peter said, "Certainly not, sir. For never have I eaten anything profane and unclean." The voice spoke to him again, a second time, "What God has made clean, you are not to call profane."e This happened three times, and then the object was taken up into the sky.
While Peter was in doubt about the meaning of the vision he had seen, the men sent by Cornelius asked for Simon's house and arrived at the entrance. They called out inquiring whether Simon, who is called Peter, was staying there. As Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said [to him], "There are three men here looking for you. So get up, go downstairs, and accompany them without hesitation, because I have sent them." Then Peter went down to the men and said, "I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your being here?" They answered, "Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, respected by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear what you have to say."g So he invited them in and showed them hospitality. The next day he got up and went with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him.
On the following day he entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and, falling at his feet, paid him homage. Peter, however, raised him up, saying, "Get up. I myself am also a human being." While he conversed with him, he went in and found many people gathered together and said to them, "You know that it is unlawful for a Jewish man to associate with, or visit, a Gentile, but God has shown me that I should not call any person profane or unclean. And that is why I came without objection when sent for. May I ask, then, why you summoned me?" Cornelius replied, "Four days ago at this hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, I was at prayer in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling robes stood before me and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your almsgiving remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter. He is a guest in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.' So I sent for you immediately, and you were kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to listen to all that you have been commanded by the Lord."
Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. You know the word [that] he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,k what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.m We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and (in) Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised (on) the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.n He commissioned uso to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name."
While Peter was still speaking these things, the holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word. The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the holy Spirit should have been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they could hear them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter responded, "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people, who have received the holy Spirit even as we have?"q He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for a few days. - Acts 10:1-49
Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin
Also known as
• Ann Francis Boscardin
• Anna Francesca Boscardin
• Maria Bertilla
Profile
Born to a poor peasant family headed by Angelo Boscardin who, by his own account, was a violently abusive drunk. Anna had little education, was simple and innocent, and was considered mentally slow; referred to as the goose (as in, "silly as a..."). Worked as a house servant in her youth. Joined the Sisters of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Heart at Vincenza, Italy in 1904, taking the name Bertilla. After working in the convent's kitchen and laundry, she trained as a nurse in 1907.
Assigned to the hospital in Treviso, Italy, a facility managed by the Sisters of Saint Dorothy. Sister Maria worked in the children's ward, becoming a great favorite for her simple, gentle way with the young patients. She cared for wounded Italian soldiers during World War I, and was noted by local authorities for staying with patients in 1917 while the area was being bombed. A supervisor, angry at Bertilla's growing reputation, reassigned her to the hospital laundry. Her congregation's mother-general heard of this vindictive treatment, and transferred Bertilla back to nursing, making her the supervisor of the children's ward in 1919.
Born
6 October 1888 at Brendola, Italy as Anna Francesca Boscardin
Died
• 20 October 1922 of cancer at Treviso, Italy
• many healing miracles reported at her tomb
Canonized
• 11 May 1961 by Pope John XXIII
• the crowds gathered for the recognition included family members and an unknown number of her patients
Saint Acca of Hexham
Additional Memorial
19 February (translation of relics)
Profile
Grew up in the household of Saint Bosa of York, and became his spiritual student, aide, and travelling companion. Benedictine monk. Close friend of and chaplain to Saint Wilfrid, and accompanied him on trips to the continent. Friend of the Venerable Bede, who dedicated some of his writings to Acca. Abbot of Saint Andrews at Hexham, England in 709, nominated by Saint Wilfrid just before that holy man died. Bishop of Hexham.
Built churches, and re-outfitted the principal church at Hexham. Had a beautiful singing voice, and encouraged the revival of vocal music in British liturgy. First English prelate to appeal to Vatican in a dispute. Believed the Church in England needed to be more like Rome in liturgical form. Bible scholar with a large theological library who supplied information for Bede's Ecclesiastical History.
Political intrigues led to king Ceolwulf of Northumbria being kidnapped in 731, and forced to enter a monastery. Ceolwulf's supporters later restored him to the throne, and Acca was exiled, which probably indicates his involvement in the coup. Some records imply that he fled west, and was appointed bishop of Whithorn.
Born
c.660 in Northumbria, England
Died
• 20 October 742 at Whithorn, Galloway, Scotland of natural causes
• buried beside the east wall of Hexham Cathedral between two huge stone crosses decorated with vines and tendrils, which survive to today and can be seen in the abbey church
• relics translated in the late 10th century, in 1154, and in 1240
Patronage
learning
Blessed James of Strepar
Profile
Born to the Polish nobility. Franciscan. Guardian of the Franciscan friary in Lviv, Poland. Defended mendicant friars from attacks by secular clergy. Was especially close to the Orthodox community in the area, and worked to reduce tensions between them and Catholic Christians. Vicar-general of Franciscan missions in western Russia, he worked and preacher to revitalize the faithful, and promoted devotion to Mary. Helped organized the Travellers for Christ c.1360, a group of Franciscan and Dominican friars who lived and traveller together to conduct parish missions. Archbishop of Halicz, Galacia in 1392; he served for 19 years, all the while continuing to wear his Franciscan habit, travel on foot, and live as a friar. He built religious houses, schools, hospitals and churches, and brought Polish priests to his diocese to staff his new institutes. Worked with the Polish parliment on practical, secular matters to improve the lot of the people.
Born
c.1350 in Galacia, Poland
Died
• 1 June 1411 at Lviv, Poland (in modern Ukraine) of natural causes
• buried in the Franciscan church in Lviv
Beatified
1791 by Pope Pius VI (cultus confirmed)
Saint Artemius Megalomartyr
Also known as
• Artemios of Antioch
• Artemois the Greatmartyr
• Challita, Shallita
Profile
Noted soldier and military leader under Emperor Constantine the Great. Imperial prefect (viceroy) of Egypt and Duke of Alexandria, appointed by Emperor Constantius; he used his position to spread the faith. During the reign of Julian the Apostate, Artemius became a fanatical Arian heretic, hunting and persecuting monks, nuns and bishops, including Saint Athanasius. However, through prayer and the horror of the persecutions, Artemius converted to orthodox Christianity, supported the faith, and turned on pagans, including Julian. He was accused by heathens of destroying idols, arrested, taken to Antioch, tortured and martyred.
Died
• beheaded in 363 in Antioch
• buried by local Christians in Antioch
• relics later transferred to Constantinople
Saint Maximus of Aquila
Also known as
• Maximus of Aveia
• Massimo...
Profile
Raised in a pious family, Maximus became a zealous deacon at Aveia, Italy. He aspired to the priesthood, but his open and unapologetic Christianity led to him being imprisoned, tortured and executed during the persecutions of Decius. Martyr.
Born
c.228 in Aveia, Italy
Died
• thrown off a cliff in Aveia, Italy c.250
• relics transferred to Civitas Sancti Maximi (modern Forcona, Italy), date unknown; know to have been there in 10 June 956
• relics enshrined in the cathedral in Aquila, Italy in 1256
• relics destroyed by an earthquake in 1703
Patronage
Aquila, Italy
Saint Andrew of Crete
Also known as
Andrea il Calibita
Profile
Eighth-century hermit on Crete. When the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Copronymus published his edict against venerating icons, Andrew went to Constantinople and denounced the iconoclast heresy so forcefully that he was taken before the emperor himself. Martyr.
Born
Crete
Died
• tortured and flogged to death c.763 in Constantinople
• body thrown off the city walls into the garbage dump
Saint Caprasius of Agen
✠ புனிதர் காப்ரஸியஸ் ✠
(St. Caprasius of Agen)
கிறிஸ்தவ மறைசாட்சி:
(Christian martyr)
பிறப்பு: ---
இறப்பு: கி.பி. 303
அகென்
(Agen)
ஏற்கும் சமயம்:
ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை
(Roman Catholic Church)
நினைவுத் திருநாள்: அக்டோபர் 20
புனிதர் காப்ரஸியஸ், ஒரு கிறிஸ்தவ மறைசாட்சியாகவும் நான்காம் நூற்றாண்டின் புனிதராகவும் அருட்பொழிவு செய்யப்பட்டவர் ஆவார். அவருடன் தொடர்புடைய மிகுதிகள் ஐந்தாம் நூற்றாண்டில் “அகென்” (Agen) என்னும் இடத்தில் கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டன.
பதினான்காம் நூற்றாண்டின் இலக்கியவியலாளர் “அல்பன் பட்லர்” (Alban Butler) என்பவர், அவரை “அகென்” (Agen) மறை மாவட்டத்தின் முதல் ஆயர் என எழுதியிருக்கின்றார். அவருடைய எழுத்துக்களே புனிதர் காப்ரஸியஸ் பற்றிய ஒரே நிரூபணம் ஆகும்.
புனிதர் காப்ரஸியஸி'ன் வழிபாடு ஒன்பதாம் நூற்றாண்டில் “புனிதர் ஃபெய்த்” (Saint Faith) எனும் புனிதருடனும், “அகென்” மறை மாவட்டத்துடன் தொடர்புடைய “அல்பெர்ட்டா” (Alberta of Agen) என்பவருடனும் தொடர்புடையதாக இருந்தது. “புனிதர் ஃபெய்த்” (Saint Faith), புனிதர் காப்ரஸியஸி'ன் தாய் மாமனாக அறியப்படுகின்றார். காப்ரஸியஸி'ன் வழிபாடு, அவரது சகோதரர்கள் எனப்பட்ட “பிரைமஸ்” மற்றும் “ஃபெலிகன்” (Primus and Felician) ஆகியோருடனும் தொடர்புடையதாக இருந்தது.
“பிரேஃபெக்ட் டாசியன்” (Prefect Dacian) என்பவனால் கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் துன்புறுத்தப்பட்ட போது, காப்ரஸியஸ் “அகென்” மறை மாவட்டத்தின் அருகாமையிலுள்ள “மாண்ட்-செயின்ட்-வின்சன்ட்” (Mont-Saint-Vincent) எனும் இடத்திற்கு தப்பித்து ஓடிப்போனார். அங்கே, “புனிதர் ஃபெய்த்” (Saint Faith), “அடால்ப் மலையில்” (Atop the hill) துன்புறுத்தப்பட்டு கொல்லப்பட்டதை கண்டார்.
அல்பெர்ட்டா (Alberta), காப்ரஸியஸ், அவருடைய தாயார் (புனித காப்ரஸியஸி'ன் சகோதரி), காப்ரஷியஸி'ன் சகோதரர்கள் எனப்படும் “பிரைமஸ்” மற்றும் “ஃபெலிக்கன்” (Primus and Felician) ஆகிய அனைவருக்கும் மரண தண்டனை அளிக்கப்பட்டது. அனைவரும் தலை துண்டிக்கப்பட்டு மரித்தனர்.
Also known as
Caprasio
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Tried to hide out in the hills near his home during the persecutions of Diocletian, but the courage shown by Saint Faith led Caprasius to openly proclaim his own Christianity. Martyr.
Born
Agen, France
Died
beheaded in 303
Saint Lucas Alonso Gorda
Also known as
Father Lucas of the Holy Spirit
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Dominican priest. Martyr.
Born
18 October 1594 in Carracedo de Vidriales, Zamora, Spain
Died
20 October 1633 in Nishizaka, Nagasaki, Japan
Canonized
18 October 1987 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Aderald
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Archdeacon. Pilgrim to Palestine where he was imprisoned by Saracens for his faith. He returned to France with a number of relics of the saints. Built the Holy Sepulchre Abbey at Samblières, France.
Born
Troyes, France
Died
1004 in Troyes, France of natural causes
Saint Bernard of Bagnorea
Also known as
• Bernard of Castro
• Bernard of Vulcia
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Bishop of Vulcia, Italy. Moved the diocese to Ischia de Castro.
Born
Bagnorea, Italy
Died
c.800
Saint Adelina
Also known as
Adeline
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Grand-daughter of William the Conqueror. Sister of Saint Vitalis. Benedictine nun. Abbess of the convent of La Blanche, Moriton, Normandy, a house her brother had founded.
Died
1125 of natural causes
Saint Barsabias
Also known as
Barsabas
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Monk. Abbot. Martyred with eleven of his monks in the persecutions of King Shapur II.
Born
Persian
Died
342 near the ruins of Persepolis (in modern Iran)
Blessed Gundisalvus of Silos
Also known as
Gonzalo
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Benedictine monk at Silos, Old Castile (Spain) under Saint Dominic of Silos.
Died
c.1073 of natural causes
Saint Vitalis of Salzburg
புனித விட்டாலிஸ்
( St. Vitalis of Salzburg )
நினைவுத்திருநாள்; அக்டோபர் 20
சால்ஸ்பூர்க் நகர் ஆயர் :
பிறப்பு : 7ம் நூற்றாண்டு
இறப்பு : 20 அக்டோபர் 730 சால்ஸ்பூர்க் Salzburg, ஆஸ்திரியா
பாதுகாவல் : குழந்தைகள், கர்ப்பிணி பெண்கள்
புனித விட்டாலிஸ், தனது இளம் வயதிலிருந்தே மறைப்பணியாளராக வேண்டுமென்று ஆசைக்கொண்டார். இவர் சால்ஸ்பூர்க் ஆயர் ரூபர்ட் (Rubert) என்பவரிடம் கல்வி கற்றார். பிறகு ஆயர் ரூபர்ட் 27ம் நாள் மார்ச் 718ம் ஆண்டு இறந்துவிடவே, அவருக்கு பிறகு, அவரின் ஆசிரியர் பதவியை விட்டாலிஸ் (Vitalis) ஏற்றார்.
12 ஆண்டுகள் தொடர்ந்து அப்பணியை செய்தார். அதன்பிறகு விட்டாலிஸ் சால்ஸ்பூர்க்கில் ஆயர் பதவியை ஏற்றார். ஆயர் ரூபர்ட் பெரிய மறைபரப்பு பணியாளராக வேண்டுமென்று ஆசைக்கொண்டார். ஆனால் விட்டாலிஸ் அவ்விருப்பத்தை தன் பணியின் வழியாக நிறைவேற்றினார். இவர் சால்ஸ்பூர்க்கில் புகழ் வாய்ந்த மறைபரப்பு பணியாளராக திகழ்ந்தார்.
செபம் :
ஆற்றல் மிக்க இறைவா!
குழந்தை பருவத்திலிருந்தே உம்மீது ஆர்வம் கொண்டு வாழ புனித விட்டாலிசை தூண்டினீர். உமது இறைத்திட்டத்தை அவரில் நிறைவேற்றினீர். இன்று எம்மை நீர் தயையுடன் கண்ணோக்கியருளும். உமது அன்பால் நாங்கள் தூண்டப்பட்டு என்றும் உம்பணியில் ஆர்வம் கொண்டு செயல்பட நீர் அருள்புரிய வேண்டுமென்று இறைவா உம்மை மன்றாடுகின்றோம்.
ஆமென்
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Monk. Spiritual student of Saint Rupert of Salzburg. Abbot of Saint Peter's Abbey in Salzburg, Austria. Archbishop of Salzburg from 717 to 745.
Died
745
Saint Leopardo of Osimo
Also known as
Leopardus
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First bishop of Osimo, Italy, serving in the 5th century.
Patronage
archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo, Italy
Saint Usthazanes
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Monk. Abbot in Persia. Tortured and executed with twelve of his brother monks during the persecutions of Sapor. Martyr.
Died
beheaded in 341 at Ishtar, Persia
Saint Sindulf of Rheims
Also known as
Sindulphus
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Hermit in Aussonce, France.
Born
Gascony, France
Died
660
Saint Irene
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Nun in Portugal, possibly at Santarem where her memory is especially revered. Died fighting off a rape attempt.
Died
c.653
Saint Martha of Cologne
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Martyr. May have been part of the group that travelled with Saint Ursula.
Died
Cologne, Germany
Saint Aidan of Mayo
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Eighth-century bishop of Mayo, Ireland.
Died
768
Saint Saula of Cologne
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Martyr.
Died
Cologne, Germany
Saint Bradan
Also known as
Bradano
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Saint venerated on the Isle of Man.
Saint Orora
Also known as
Crora
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Saint venerated on the Isle of Man.
