St. Theophilus
Feastday: October 2
Death: 750
Monk and martyr. Originally from Bulgaria, he joined a monastery in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and was an outspoken opponent of the imperial policies of lconoclasticism. For this he was sent into exile by Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (r. 717-741) and was brutally mistreated.
St. Thomas of Hereford
Feastday: October 2
Death: 1282
Image of St. Thomas of Hereford
Bishop of Hereford, also called Thomas Cantilupe. Born at Buckinghamshire, England, circa 1218, he studied at Oxford, Paris, and Orleans. Returning to England, he became chancellor of Oxford University in 1261, using his influence to aid the barons in their struggle against King Henry III (r. 1216-1272). In 1265, after the defeat of Henry's forces at the battle of Lewes, Thomas was named chancellor of England, although he was soon compelled to retire to Paris after the barons lost their grip on power. Returning to Oxford, he served once more as chancellor of the university in 1273. Two years later he was appointed bishop of Hereford, acquiring a wide reputation for sanctity and charity and serving as one of the most capable counselors of King Edward I (r. 1272-1307). He also was a stern opponent of simony and all forms of secular encroachment upon his episcopal rights. His relationship with Thomas John Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury, deteriorated over matters of jurisdiction, culminating in Thomas' excommunication by the archbishop in 1282. He appealed to the papal court but died before any decision was reached by the pope. Despite the controversy, Thomas was revered in England and miracles were reported at his tomb; in 1320, he was canonized.
"Modern" arms of Thomas de Cantilupe: Gules, three leopard's faces reversed jessant-de-lys or. These arms were subsequently assumed by the See of Hereford
Thomas de Cantilupe (c. 1218 – 25 August 1282) (alias Cantelow, Cantelou, Canteloupe, etc., Latinised to de Cantilupo)[2] was Lord Chancellor of England and Bishop of Hereford. He was canonised in 1320 by Pope John XXII.
Origins
Thomas was the third son of William II de Cantilupe (died 1251) (anciently Cantelow, Cantelou, Canteloupe, etc, Latinised to de Cantilupo), 2nd feudal baron of Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire,[3] who was steward of the household to King Henry III (as his father William I de Cantilupe (died 1239) had been to Henry's father King John). Thomas's mother was Millicent (or Maud) de Gournai (d.1260), a daughter of Hugh de Gournai and widow of Amaury VI of Montfort-Évreux (d. 1213), Earl of Gloucester.[4] He was born at Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, a manor belonging to his mother's first husband but awarded to her during her lifetime as her dowry.[5] Thomas's uncle was Walter de Cantilupe (d. 1266), Bishop of Worcester.
Career
Cantilupe was educated at Oxford, Paris and Orléans, and was a teacher of canon law at the University of Oxford, where he became Chancellor in 1261.[6]
During the Second Barons' War, Cantilupe favoured Simon de Montfort and the baronial party. He represented the barons before King Louis IX of France at Amiens in 1264.
On 25 February 1264, when he was Archdeacon of Stafford, Cantilupe was made Lord Chancellor of England,[7] but was deprived of the office after de Montfort's death at the Battle of Evesham, and lived abroad for a while. Following his return to England, he was again appointed Chancellor of Oxford University, where he lectured on theology and held several ecclesiastical appointments.[6]
Bishop of Hereford
Mandorla-shaped seal of Bishop Thomas de Cantilupe. Legend: TOMAS DEI GRATIA HEREFORDENSIS EP(ISCOPU)S (Thomas by the grace of God Bishop of Hereford). The arms of Cantilupe ancient are displayed on each side of the bishop: three fleurs-de-lys. Hereford Cathedral Archives 6460. He stands on a wolf (Latin lupus), a canting charge seen on pre-heraldic seals of the Cantilupe family[8]
In 1274 Cantilupe attended the Second Council of Lyons[9] and on 14 June 1275 he was appointed Bishop of Hereford, being consecrated on 8 September 1275.[10]
Cantilupe was now a trusted adviser of King Edward I and when attending royal councils at Windsor Castle or at Westminster he lived at Earley in Berkshire. Even when differing from the king's opinions, he did not forfeit his favour.
Cantilupe had a "great conflict" in 1290 with the "Red Earl", Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, 6th Earl of Hertford, concerning hunting rights in Malvern, Worcestershire, and a ditch dug by de Clare. The issue was settled by costly litigation.[11]
After the death in 1279 of Robert Kilwardby, Archbishop of Canterbury, a friend of Cantilupe's, and formerly his confessor, a series of disputes arose between him and John Peckham, the new archbishop.[6] The disagreements culminated in Peckham excommunicating Cantilupe, who proceeded to Rome to pursue the matter with the pope.[12]
Death, burial, and canonisation
The restored tomb of Thomas de Cantilupe in Hereford Cathedral
Cantilupe died at Ferento, near Orvieto, in Italy, on 25 August 1282.[6][10] He is buried in Hereford Cathedral.[6] Part of the evidence used in his cause of canonisation was the supposed raising from the dead of William Cragh, a Welsh rebel who was hanged in 1290, eight years after Cantilupe's death. A papal inquiry was convened in London on 20 April 1307 to determine whether or not Cantilupe had died excommunicate, since this would have precluded his being canonised. Forty-four witnesses were called and various letters produced, before the commissioners of the inquiry concluded that Cantilupe had been absolved in Rome before his death.[12] It was difficult for his cause of death to be determined as much of his body had disintegrated.
After a papal investigation lasting almost 13 years, Cantilupe was canonised by Pope John XXII on 17 April 1320.[13] His feast day was fixed on 2 October.[14] His shrine became a popular place of pilgrimage, but only its base survived the Reformation until a new upper section (a feretory) was recently[when?] recreated under the guidance of architect Robert Chitham. The new section is in vivid colours with a painted scene of the Virgin and Child holding the Mappa Mundi. A reliquary containing his skull has been held at Downside Abbey in Somerset since 1881.
In the current Latin edition of the Roman Martyrology (2004 edition), Cantilupe is listed under 25 August as follows: "At Montefiascone in Tuscia, the passing of Saint Thomas Cantelupe, Bishop of Hereford in England, who, resplendent with learning, severe toward himself, to the poor however showed himself a generous benefactor".[15]
Legacy
Cantilupe appears to have been an exemplary bishop in both spiritual and secular affairs. His charities were large and his private life blameless. He was constantly visiting his diocese, correcting offenders and discharging other episcopal duties, and he compelled neighbouring landholders to restore estates which rightly belonged to the see of Hereford. Cantilupe has been lauded as the "Father of Modern Charity," and is cited as an inspiration by Mother Teresa and Melinda Gates.[16]
The Cantilupe Society was a text publication society founded in 1905 to publish the episcopal registers of the See of Hereford, of which Cantilupe's is the earliest to survive, and other records relating to the cathedral and diocese. It fell into abeyance after 1932.[17][18]
Cantilupe is referenced in Graham Greene's novel Travels With My Aunt (1969), when the narrator's sharp-tongued aunt opines "I would have thought he was very lucky to die in Orvieto rather than in Hereford. A small civilized place even today with a far, far better climate and an excellent restaurant in the Via Garibaldi."[19]
St. Abreha and Atzbeha (Aizan and Sazana)
Feastday: October 1
We are Christian kings of Abyssinia (the first, after Queen Candace).
We helped protect Frumentius (Aba Salamah), from Emperor Constantius
St. Aizan and Sazana (Abreha and Atzbeha)
Feastday: October 1
We are Christian kings of Abyssinia (the first, after Queen Candace). We helped protect Frumentius (Aba Salamah), from Emperor Constantius. 1 Oct. Ethiopian Coptic Calendar.
St. Aretas and Companions
Feastday: October 1
Death: unknown
St. Benedict Home Blessing Door Hanger BOGO 50% OFF
Martyrs, numbering 505, who suffered in Rome. They were listed in early martyrologies and were numbered by Usuardus.
St. Bavo
Feastday: October 1
Patron: of Ghent; Haarlem; Lauwe
Birth: 622
Death: 659
Image of St. Bavo
This famous hermit, also called Allowin, was a nobleman, and native of that part of Brabant called Hesbaye. After having led a very irregular life he was left a widower, and was moved to conversion to God by a sermon which he heard St. Amand preach at Ghent. Going home he distributed all his money among the poor, and went to the monastery at Ghent that was afterwards called by his name. Here Bavo received the tonsure at the hand of St. Amand and was animated to advance daily in the fervor of his penance and the practice of virtue. St. Bavo seemed to have accompanied St. Amand on his missionary journeys in France and Flanders, setting an example by the humiliation of his heart, the mortification of his will, and the rigor of his austerities. St. Amand after some time gave him leave to lead an eremitical life, and he is said first to have chosen for his abode a hollow trunk of a large tree, but afterward, built himself a cell at Mendonck, where vegetables and water were his chief subsistance. St. Bavo is said on one occasion to have done penance for selling a man into serfdom by making the man lead him by a chain to the common lockup. Bavo at length returned to the monastery at Ghent, where St. Amand had appointed St. Floribert Abbot; and with his approval Bavo built himself a new cell in a neighboring wood, where he lived a recluse until the end of his life. St. Amand and St. Floribert attended him on his death bed and his peaceful passage made a deep impression on all who were present. As in the diocese of Ghent so that in Haarlem in Holland, St. Bavo is titular of the Cathedral and patron of the diocese. His feast day is October 1.
Bl. Caspar Fisogiro
Feastday: October 1
Death: 1617
Martyr of Japan. A convert, he became a member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. Arrested for befriending Blessed Alphonse Navarrete, O.P., Caspar was put to death at Nagasaki. He was beatified in 1867.
St. Dodo
Feastday: October 1
Death: 750
Benedictine abbot trained by St. Ursmar. A monk at Lobbes, Belgium, he became abbot of Wallers-en-Faigne, France.
Bl. Edward James
Feastday: October 1
Death: 1588
English martyr. He was born near Breaston, and studied at Oxford, England. Converting to the faith, Edward studied at Reims, France, and Rome, and was ordained in 1583. Returning as a missionary to England, he was arrested and martyred at Chichester. He was beatified in 1929.
St. Fidharleus
Feastday: October 1
Death: 762
Irish abbot who restored Rathin Abbey, Iredland.
Bl. John Robinson
Feastday: October 1
Death: 1588
Martyr of England. He was from Ferrensby, Yorkshire, and a widower who went to Reims for ordination. Ordained in 1585, John went back to England and was executed at Ipswich, receiving beatification in 1929.
St. Melorius
Feastday: October 1
Death: unknown
Prince of Cornwall, England, who was murdered as a child. Also listed as Mylor, Melar, and Melorus, he was the victim of an uncle's ambitions. He was venerated in Amesbury, England, in Brittany, and in Cornwall. The tale has several versions, most dating to the Middle Ages.
St. Nicetius of Trier
Feastday: October 1
Birth: 513
Death: 566
Nicetius, of Auvergne, France, had been serving as abbot of a monastery in Limoges when he was nominated by the Frankish King Theodoric I to become bishop of Trier, Germany. While journeying to Trier to be consecrated, Nicetius did not hesitate to condemn the royal officials accompanying him when one evening these men released their horses into the wheat fields of the local peasants, ruining their crops. In response to Nicetius' threat to excommunicate the perpetrators, the officers laughed at him, but he continued: "The king has drawn me, a poor abbot, from my quiet cloister, to set me over this people, and by God's grace I will do my duty by them and protect them from wrong and robbery." Nicetius then went after the horses himself to drive them out of the peasants' fields. As bishop of Trier, Nicetius manifested great apostolic courage in excommunicating those who entered into incestuous marriages and in denouncing from the pulpit public officials guilty of grave evils. For a time he suffered banishment for condemning the crimes of King Clotaire I.
For other uses, see Nicetius (disambiguation).
Saint Nicetius (French: Saint Nizier) (c.525 - c.566) was a bishop of Trier, born in the latter part of the fifth century, exact date unknown; died in 563 or more probably 566.[2]
Nicetius was the most important bishop of the ancient see of Trier, in the era when, after the disorders of the Migrations, Frankish supremacy began in what had been Roman Gaul. Considerable detail of the life of this zealous bishop is known from various sources, from letters written either by or to him, from two poems of Venantius Fortunatus and above all from the statements of his pupil Aredius, later Abbot of Limoges, which have been preserved by Gregory of Tours.[3]
Life
Pastoral work
Nicetius came from a Gallo-Roman family; he was a native of Aquitaine.[4] From his youth he devoted himself to religious life and entered a monastery. Theuderic I (511-34) had encouraged clerics from Acquitaine to work in the Rhineland. The king came to esteem Nicetius despite his often remonstrating with him on his wrongdoing without, however, any loss of favour. After the death of Bishop Aprunculus of Trier, an embassy of the clergy and citizens of Trier came to the royal court to elect a new bishop. They desired Saint Gallus, but the king refused his consent. It was through Theuderic's patronage that Nicetius was confirmed as bishop. About 527 Nicetius set out as the new bishop for Trier, accompanied by an escort sent by the king, and while on the journey had opportunity to make known his firmness in the administration of his office.[3]
Trier had suffered terribly during the disorders of the Migrations. One of the first cares of the new bishop was to rebuild the cathedral church, the restoration of which is mentioned by the poet Venantius Fortunatus. He imported Italian craftmen to work on churches. Archæological research has shown, in the cathedral of Trier, the existence of mason-work belonging to the Frankish period which may belong to this reconstruction by Nicetius. A fortified castle (castellum) with a chapel built by him on the river Moselle is also mentioned by the same poet. Bishop Nicetius replanted vineyards on the slopes above the Moselle, to restore the area's wine business.[4]
The bishop devoted himself with great zeal to his pastoral duty. He preached daily, opposed vigorously the numerous evils in the moral life both of the higher classes and of the common people, and in so doing did not spare the king and his courtiers. Disregarding threats, he steadfastly fulfilled his duty. He excommunicated King Chlothar I (511-61), who for some time was sole ruler of the Frankish dominions, on account of his misdeeds; in return the king exiled the determined bishop in 560. The king died, however, in the following year, and his son and successor Sigebert I, the ruler of Austrasia (561-75), allowed Nicetius to return home. Nicetius took part in several synods of the Frankish bishops: the synod of Clermont (535), of Orléans (549), the second synod of Council of Clermont (549), the synod of Toul (550), at which he presided, and the synod of Paris (555).[3]
Correspondence and personal life
Nicetius corresponded with ecclesiastical dignitaries of high rank in distant places. Letters are extant that were written to him by Abbot Florianus of Romain-Moûtier (Canton of Vaud, Switzerland), by Bishop Rufus of Octodurum (now Martigny, in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland), and by Archbishop Mappinius of Reims.
The general interests of the Church did not escape his watchful care. He wrote an urgent letter to Emperor Justinian of Constantinople in regard to the emperor's position in the controversies arising from Monophysitism. Another letter that has been preserved is to Chlothsind, wife of the Lombard King Alboin, in which he exhorts this princess to do everything possible to bring her husband over to the Catholic faith.
In his personal life Nicetius was very ascetic and self-mortifying; he fasted frequently, and while the priests and clerics who lived with him were at their evening meal he would go, concealed by a hooded cloak, to pray in the churches of the city. He founded a school of his own for the training of the clergy. The best known of his pupils is the later Abbot of Limoges, Aredius, who was the authority of Gregory of Tours for the latter's biographical account of Nicetius. Gregory of Tours, wrote the oldest Nicetius Vita, and praised the fearless advocacy of the Bishop.
Veneration
Nicetius was buried in the church of St. Maximin at Trier. In the diocese of Trier, he is revered as a saint. His feast day is celebrated at Trier on 1 October; in the Roman Martyrology his name is placed under 5 December.[5][6][7]
