Written by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honoured, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, O Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may increase and I may decrease, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, grant me the grace to desire it.
The Catholic Church dedicates the entire month of March to Saint Joseph and urges us to pay special attention to his life and example. In the 20th century, several popes had a deep devotion to Saint Joseph and Pope Saint Pius X (1903-14) approved a public litany, the Litany of Saint Joseph, while Pope John XXIII (1958-63) wrote A Prayer for Workers, asking Saint Joseph to intercede for them.
Fathers, in particular, should cultivate devotion to Saint Joseph, whom God Himself chose to care for His Son. As we learn more about Saint Joseph, we can teach our own boys about the virtues of fatherhood through his example.
Litany of St. Joseph
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God, the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Saint Joseph,
Illustrious Scion of David,
Light of Patriarchs,
Spouse of the Mother of God,
Chaste guardian of the Virgin,
Foster-father of the Son of God,
Watchful defender of Christ,
Head of the Holy Family,
Joseph most just,
Joseph most chaste,
Joseph most prudent,
Joseph most valiant,
Joseph most obedient,
Joseph most faithful,
Mirror of patience,
Lover of poverty,
Model of workmen,
Glory of home life,
Guardian of virgins,
Pillar of families,
Solace of the afflicted,
Hope of the sick,
Patron of the dying,
Terror of demons,
Protector of Holy Church, pray for us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
L. He made him lord over his house,
R. And the ruler of all his possessions.
Let us pray.
O God, who in Your ineffable providence did vouchsafe to choose blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Your most holy Mother: grant, we beseech You, that we may have him for an intercessor in heaven, whom we venerate as our protector on earth. Who lives and reigns world without end. Amen.
Saint of the Day – 3 March – St Katharine Drexel S.B.S (Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament) (1858-1955-AGED 96) – was an American heiress, philanthropist, religious sister, missionary, educator, and foundress. She was canonised by the Roman Catholic Church in 2000; her feast day is observed on March 3. She is the only canonised saint to have been born a United States citizen – Patron of Philanthropy, racial justice
Francis A. Drexel, a world-renowned banker and a man of faith, provided his family a life of ease. And Emma Bouvier, her stepmother, trained Katharine and her two sisters in generous giving. Mrs. Drexel believed God gave wealth to the family to aid others and regularly involved her daughters in distributing food, medicine, clothing and rent money to the poor. The experience shaped Katharine’s future.
As a rich girl, Katharine also had a grand debut into society. But when she nursed her stepmother through a three-year terminal illness, she saw that all the Drexel money could not buy safety from pain or death and her life took a profound turn. Both parents died by 1885, leaving Katharine and her sisters to share the annual income from a fourteen-million-dollar estate. Right away Katharine began to donate thousands of dollars to the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions for the construction and staffing of schools for Native American children, which became her life’s passion. Katharine had always been interested in the plight of the Indians, having been appalled by what she read in Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of Dishonour. While on a European tour, she met Pope Leo XIII and asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming for her friend Bishop James O’Connor. The pope replied, “Why don’t you become a missionary?” His answer shocked her into considering new possibilities.
Back home, Katharine visited the Dakotas, met the Sioux leader Red Cloud and began her systematic aid to Indian missions.
At this time, however, Katharine’s spirit was in turmoil. Bishop James O’Connor, her spiritual director, thought she should remain a single woman serving in the world. But she wished to become a contemplative nun. “My heart is very sorrowful, she wrote him in 1886, because like the little girl who wept when she found that her doll was stuffed with sawdust and her drum was hollow, I, too, have made a horrifying discovery and my discovery like hers is true. I have ripped both the doll and the drum open and the fact lies plainly and in all its glaring reality before me: All, all, all (there is no exception) is passing away and will pass away.”
In 1891, Katharine resolved the tension by founding a new religious community, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Coloured People, that combined prayer and social action. By 1904, 104 sisters had joined her. After three and a half years of training, Mother Drexel and her first band of nuns–Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Coloured–opened a boarding school in Santa Fe. A string of foundations followed. By 1942, she had a system of black Catholic schools in 13 states, plus 40 mission centers and 23 rural schools. Segregationists harassed her work, even burning a school in Pennsylvania. In all, she established 50 missions for Indians in 16 states.
Two saints met when Mother Drexel was advised by Mother Cabrini about the “politics” of getting her order’s Rule approved in Rome. Her crowning achievement was the founding of Xavier University in New Orleans, the first Catholic university in the United States for African Americans.
Katharine established 145 Catholic missions and twelve schools for Native Americans and fifty schools for blacks. During her lifetime she gave away about twenty million dollars, mostly for these causes.
In 1935, Katharine suffered a severe heart attack. Two years later she retired and got her heart’s desire—eighteen years of quiet contemplation before she died in 1955 at age ninety-six.
St Katharine Drexel (Optional Memorial)
—
St Anselm of Nonantola
St Arthelais of Benevento
Bl Benedetto Sinigardi da Arezzo
St Calupan
St Camilla
St Cele-Christ
St Cunegundes
St Foila
Bl Frederick of Hallum
St Gervinus
Bl Innocent of Berzo
Bl Jacobinus de’ Canepaci
St Lamalisse
St Non
Bl Peter de Geremia
Bl Pierre-René Rogue
St Sacer
St Teresa Eustochio Verzeri
St Titian of Brescia
St Winwallus of Landévennec
—
40 Martyrs in North Africa – A group of Christians martyred together in North Africa, date unknown. No details have survived, but we know these names – Antonius, Artilaus, Asclipius, Astexius, Basil, Bosimus, Carissimus, Castus, Celedonius, Claudianus, Cyricus, Donata, Emeritus, Emeterius, Euticus, Felix, Fortunatus, Frunumius, Gajola, Georgius, Gorgonius, Hemeterus, Isicus, Janula, Julius, Luciola, Luciolus, Marcia, Marinus, Meterus, Nicephorus, Papias, Photius, Risinnius, Sabianus, Savinianus and Solus
Martyrs of Pontus – 3+ saints – A large group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Emperor Maximian Galerius and governor Ascleopiodato. We have some details on three of them – Basiliscus, Cleonicus and Eutropius. 308 in Pontus (in modern Turkey)
Martyrs of Caesarea;
Asterius
Marinus
Martyrs of Calahorra
Cheledonius
Emeterius
Martyrs of Gondar, Ethiopia:
Bl Antonio Francesco Marzorati
Bl Johannes Laurentius Weiss
Bl Michele Pío Fasol
Purification of Spirit through fasting and almsgiving
by St Pope Leo the Great (died 461 AD) Doctor of the Church
Dear friends, at every moment the earth is full of the mercy of God and nature itself is a lesson for all the faithful in the worship of God. The heavens, the sea and all that is in them bear witness to the omnipotence of their Creator and the marvelous beauty of the elements as they obey him demands from the intelligent creation a fitting expression of its gratitude.
But with the return of that season marked out in a special way by the mystery of our redemption and of the days that lead up to the paschal feast, we are summoned more urgently to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit.
The special note of the paschal feast is this: the whole Church rejoices in the forgiveness of sins. It rejoices in the forgiveness not only of those who are then reborn in holy baptism but also of those who are already numbered among God’s adopted children.
Initially, men are made new by the rebirth of baptism. Yet there is still required a daily renewal to repair the shortcomings of our mortal nature and whatever degree of progress has been made there is no one who should not be more advanced. All must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life.
Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food but above all by the renunciation of sin.
There is no more profitable practice as a companion to holy and spiritual fasting than that of almsgiving. This embraces under the single name of mercy many excellent works of devotion, so that the good intentions of the faithful may be of equal value, even where their means are not. The love that we owe both God and man is always free from any obstacle that would prevent us from having a good intention. The angels sang: Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth. The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction is blessed, not only with the virtue of good will but also with the gift of peace.
The works of mercy are innumerable. Their very variety brings this advantage to those who are true Christians, that in the matter of almsgiving not only the rich and affluent but also those of average means and the poor are able to play their part. Those who are unequal in their capacity to give can be equal in the love within their hearts.
Sometimes we have to break out of the mold into which others have placed us and hew our own unique pathway to God. A princess is expected to be a princess but St Agnes saw something more valuable and more important and refused the throne of an empress. She knew what she wanted and would let nothing stand in her way. When God calls, we leave all else behind!
“Happy the soul to whom it is given to attain this life with Christ, to cleave with all one’s heart to Him whose beauty all the heavenly hosts behold forever, whose love inflames our love, the contemplation of whom is our refreshment, whose graciousness is our delight, whose gentleness fills us to overflowing, whose remembrance makes us glow with happiness, whose fragrance revives the dead, the glorious vision of whom will be the happiness of all the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. For He is the brightness of eternal glory, the splendour of eternal light, the mirror without spot.”
St Clare of Assisi to St Agnes of Prague
(Read the entire letter here: http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/bread_on_the_trail/2011/08/a-letter-of-st-clare-to-blessed-agnes-of-prague-on-christian-contemplation.html)
May the Lord……make you overflow with love for one another and for all…………1 Thes 3:12
REFLECTION – “Therefore, most beloved sister, or should I say, Lady worthy of great respect because You are the spouse and the mother and the sister of my Lord Jesus Christ and have been adorned resplendently with the sign of inviolable virginity and most holy poverty. Be strengthened in the holy service which You have undertaken out of an ardent desire for the Poor Crucified, Who for the sake of all of us took upon Himself the Passion of the Cross and delivered us from the power of the Prince of Darkness to whom we were enslaved because of the disobedience of our first parents and so reconciled us to God the Father.”………….St Clare of Assisi to St Agnes of Prague
PRAYER – Loving Father, grant me the grace to strive after perfect love. Help me to bring forth frequent acts of love so that I may grow in this greatest of virtues. Help me to be a loving support to all you need me in any way, stranger or friend. Fill my heart with the love You have for me and the unceasing love of Your Divine Son who died for me. St Agnes of Prague, pray for us! Amen
Make my heart, Jesus, one with Yours,
that I may love others as You have loved me,
not for selfish gain but for Your sake alone.
By the power of Your Sacred Heart,
like the power of fire to transform
everything to itself,
make us one in loving You
by drawing all humantity to Yourself.
For You are the Paschal Lamb,
offered for sins,
who, in the Blessed Sacrament,
shines out like a spiritual rainbow.
You radiate in this new
and everlasting covenant,
the very beauty of paradise,
always before the eyes of the Father,
perpetuating here Your perfect sacrifice
on the Cross,
a sacrifice so pleasing that the Father grants
everything good, asked for
in Your Holy Name.
Amen
By Fr Vincent Martin Lucia
Saint of the Day – 2 March – St Agnes of Prague/Bohemia (1211-1282) Princess, Nun, Foundress, Abbess, Missionary of Charity and Mercy – Patron of the Czech Republic and Prague
Agnes was born in Prague sometime around the year 1211. She was the daughter of the Czech King Premysl Ottokar I of Bohemia and Queen Constancia. Her father promised that she would marry the son of German Emperor Friedrich II, later King Henry VII, Duke of Swabia and sent her to the Austrian Babenberg court to study court manners. However, Duke Leopold VI of Babenberg persuaded the Emperor to allow his son to marry with his daughter Margaret – so Agnes returned to Bohemia. She was later engaged to marry the English king Henry and even his father, emperor Friedrich II, who in the meantime had become a widower. However, when inspired by the holy life of Francis and Clare of Assisi, who left their rich families and lived in smaller monasteries and shared the destiny with the poor, Agnes decided to become a bride of Christ.
In around 1232, supported by her brother and mother, Agnes founded the Hospital of St. Francis for poor and ill people and established the Hospital Brotherhood that later developed into the Order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star. A year later, two monasteries were founded near the Hospital: the male monastery for the Smaller Brothers of St. Francis and the female convent for the Clares. The three building complex created the first dominating Gothic landmark in Prague which could compete with the residential palace at Hradčany.
Agnes joined the Clares, the female branch of the Franciscans, in 1234, along with another seven girls from wealthy Czech noble families. She became the abbess of the later St. Agnes Convent for a lengthy 47 years maintaining a great friendship through letters with St Clare of Assisi, some which still survive.
St Clare of Assisi and St Agnes of Prague
Agnes always aimed for peace within the Czech lands. It was she who negotiated the reconciliation between King Wenceslas I and his son Premysl Ottokar II averting a possible civil war which would otherwise become unavoidable. In addition, her intervention miraculously prevented a Tatar invasion.
Agnes died in March 1282 in the St. Agnes Convent. She was spoken of highly due to her education, charity and mercy and she was a very important personality of political, cultural and social life. Legends about her extraordinary life appeared instantly after her death.
Although Elisabeth of Bohemia and Emperor Charles VI made great effort in terms of Agnes’ beautification, it did not happen until 1874 upon proposal by Prague Archbishop and Cardinal Friedrich Joseph Schwarzenberg. She was canonised on 12 November 1989 by Pope John Paul II. The canonisation ceremony in Rome was witnessed by an unbelievable ten-thousand Czech pilgrims.
St Absolon of Caesarea
St Agnes of Prague/Bohemia
St Angela of the Cross Guerrero
St Basileus the Martyr
Chad of Mercia
Bl Charles the Good
St Cynibild of Laestingaeu
Bl Engelmar Unzeitig
St Felix of Treves
St Fergna the White
Bl Girolamo Carmelo di Savoia
St Gistilian
St Joavan of Brittany
St John Maron
St Jovinus the Martyr
St Lorgius of Caesarea
St Lucius of Caesarea
St Luke Casali
St Quintus the Thaumaturge
St Slebhene
St Troas
St Willeic
—
Martyrs of Campania – Approximately 400 northern Italian Christians martyred for their faith by pagan Lombards. Their story was recorded by Pope Saint Gregory the Great, who reports that they people spent their final days supporting each other with prayer. c579 in Camnpania, Italy.
Martyrs of Porto Romano – 4 saints – Group of Christians martyred in the persecution of Diocletian. The only other information that survives are the names of four of them – Heraclius, Januaria, Paul and Secondilla. c305 at Porto Romano at the mouth of the River Tiber, Rome.
The peoples of South Africa and Venezuela are suffering under corrupt leadership. Both countries are in great need of prayer. A Venezuelan friend, Carlos and I, are praying the Holy Rosary every day for a year with the special intention of requesting divine assistance for our countries. We believe, that with the Help of our Blessed Mother, most especially in this year of the 100th Anniversary of the Fatima Apparitions, our Father will come to the assistance of these two beautiful countries.
Please join us in prayer and help spread the word.
HOW TO AVOID PURGATORY By Fr. Paul O’Sullivan O.P.
For those who have not read this little book and to refresh myself, I will be posting the entire book in daily doses. (To read later find in the Purgatory Category).
Chapter 12
THOSE WHO EARNESTLY HELP THE HOLY SOULS MAY WELL HOPE TO AVOID PURGATORY
The Holy Souls whom we relieve or release by our Masses and good works pray
for us with such indescribable fervour that God cannot refuse to hear their
prayers. One of the principal graces they ask for their friends is that
these shall have little or no Purgatory. No one knows better than they the
awful intensity of the Purgatorial flames; no one, therefore, can pray for
us as they do. Let us remember that:
a) God thanks as done to Himself what we do to others. When we relieve or
release any of the Holy Souls, we relieve or release, as it were, God
Himself. How ready, therefore, will He not be to hear the prayers offered
by these souls for us.
b) Our Blessed Lord lays down clearly the great law: “By that measure by which you measure, it will be measured to you again” In proportion,
consequently, to our generosity towards the Holy Souls will God’s mercy and
generosity be towards us. Those who work heart and soul for the relief of
the Holy Souls may thus well hope that their Purgatory will be entirely
remitted, or notably lessened. On the other hand, those who neglect the
Holy Souls may justly fear a severe judgment and a long Purgatory.
RESOLUTION
Let everyone without fail join the Association of the Holy Souls. All the
members of the family should do so. The conditions are very easy. If the
Association is not established in your Parish, write to: Association of the
Holy Souls, Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary, Pius XII Monastery, Rua
do Rosario 1, 2495 Fatima, Portugal, which is one of the centres of the
devotion.
St. James the Apostle gives another very effectual method of avoiding or
lessening our stay in Purgatory. He says: “He who saves a soul, saves his own, and satisfies for a multitude of sins”
If someone were fortunate enough to save the life of a King’s only son, the
heir to his throne, from a horrible death, what reward might he not expect
to receive from the grateful monarch? No King, however, could be as
grateful to and anxious to reward the person who saved his son as God is
grateful and ready to reward the person who saves one soul from Hell.
All of us may, in a thousand different ways, save not one but many souls from Hell. For instance :
1. We can do so by praying earnestly for them. How often does not a mother
save her son’s soul by her fervent prayers. We can save souls by giving
good advice and also by our good example. How many boys owe their sterling
qualities to the wise counsels of a good Father or friend!
2. Another efficacious method of saving souls is by propagating the Faith,
viz., Catholic Action.
The incredible ignorance, apathy and indifference of Catholics is the evil
of the day!
It is the bounden duty of Catholics to spread about thousands and thousands
of pamphlets of all kinds, full of life, vigour and burning interest,
crisp, incisive, clear and strong. Otherwise, these are useless.
Each pamphlet or leaflet must carry a message straight to the heart of the
reader, rousing him, convincing him, galvanising him into action.
“And so we begin a new spiritual journey today – a journey of preparation to rise with the Risen Lord on the day of Easter. As part of our preparation, the Gospel sets before us reflections on three cardinal works necessary for our spiritual life: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These three works deal with three important areas of our life. Prayer is our relationship with God; fasting aims at our personal growth and almsgiving reveals our relationship with our neighbour and our responsibilities toward them.
During the Eucharistic celebration today we will be marked with ashes. By imposing ashes on our foreheads, we are reminded to repent of our sins, to believe in the Gospel and to aim at what is permanent – life with the Risen Lord.” Fr Devasia Joseph SSP
“What the Christian should be doing at all times
should be done now (during Lent) with greater care and devotion,
so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles
may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food
but above all by the renunciation of sin.” – St Pope Leo the Great
“There is still time for endurance, for patience, time for healing, time for change. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand among sinners but leap aside. For when you turn away and weep, then you will be saved.”
“Whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me
scatters”………Luke 11:23
REFLECTION – “The devil desires to keep souls prisones but the Lord desires to set them free. The devil incites us to evil but the Saviour invites us to practise good. What accord is there between works that are so contrary?”…………..St Jerome
PRAYER – My Lord and my Saviour let me never give up the freedom from sin which You won for me. Help me to cling to You and shun all contact with evil. Help me Lord to renew my zeal and ambition to attain holiness in my Lenten journey. May my daily striving be because I love You, Lord Jesus, my love above all things! Amen
O Lord,
The house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it that You may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases Your sight.
I confess it, I know.
But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord,
and spare Your servant from strange sins.
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the season of preparation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. (In Eastern Rite Catholic churches, Lent begins two days earlier, on Clean Monday.)
Ash Wednesday always falls 46 days before Easter. While Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation, all Roman Catholics are encouraged to attend Mass on this day in order to mark the beginning of the Lenten season.
The Distribution of Ashes
During Mass, the ashes which give Ash Wednesday its name are distributed. The ashes are made by burning the blessed palms that were distributed the previous year on Palm Sunday; many churches ask their parishioners to return any palms that they took home so that they can be burned. After the priest blesses the ashes and sprinkles them with holy water, the faithful come forward to receive them. The priest dips his right thumb in the ashes and, making the Sign of the Cross on each person’s forehead, says, “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return” (or a variation on those words).
A Day of Repentance
The distribution of ashes reminds us of our own mortality and calls us to repentance. In the early Church, Ash Wednesday was the day on which those who had sinned and who wished to be readmitted to the Church, would begin their public penance. The ashes that we receive are a reminder of our own sinfulness and Catholics should leave them on their foreheads all day as a sign of humility.
Fasting and Abstinence Are Required
The Church emphasises the penitential nature of Ash Wednesday by calling us to fast and abstain from meat. Catholics who are over the age of 18 and under the age of 60 are required to fast, which means that they can eat only one complete meal and two smaller ones during the day, with no food in between. Catholics who are over the age of 14 are required to refrain from eating any meat, or any food made with meat, on Ash Wednesday.
Taking Stock of Our Spiritual Life
This fasting and abstinence is not simply a form of penance, however; it is also a call for us to take stock of our spiritual lives. As Lent begins, we should set specific spiritual goals we would like to reach before Easter and decide how we will pursue them—for instance, by going to daily Mass when we can and receiving the Sacrament of Confession more often.
Saint of the day – 1 March – St David of Wales (c 542-c 601) Bishop in Caerfai, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Bishop, Prince, Monk, Confessor, Missionary, founder. Died 1 March 589 at St David’s, Pembrokeshire, Wales). Patron of Wales, Pembrokeshire; Naas; vegetarians; poets, doves.
Born to the Welsh royalty, the son of King Sandde, Prince of Powys and of Saint Non, the daughter of a chieftain of Menevia (western Wales). Grandson of Ceredig, Prince of Cardigan. Uncle of King Arthur. Priest. David studied under Saint Paul Aurelian. Worked with Saint Columbanus, Saint Gildas the Wise and Saint Finnigan. Missionary and founder of monasteries.
Following his contribution to the synod of Brevi in Cardiganshire, he was chosen primate of the Cambrian Church. Archbishop of Caerleon on Usk, he moved the see to Menevia. Presided at the Synod of Brefi which condemned the Pelagian heresy. He encouraged the life of austerity and founded monasteries. David was the first to build a chancel to Saint Joseph of Arimathea’s wattle church at Glastonbury.
After a vision in his monastery in the Rhos Valley, he set out next day with two monks to Jerusalem to aid the Patriarch. While there his preaching converted anti-Christians. Legend says that once while he was preaching, a dove descended to his shoulder to show he had the blessings of the Spirit and that the earth rose to lift him high above the people so that he could be heard by them all. Another time when was preaching to a crowd at Llandewi Brefi, people on the outer edges could not hear, so he spread a handkerchief on the ground, stood on it and the ground beneath rose up in a pillar so all could hear.
Though the exact date of his death is not certain, tradition holds that it was on March 1, which is the date now marked as Saint David’s Day. The two most common years given for his death are 601 and 589. The monastery is said to have been “filled with angels as Christ received his soul.” His last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday. The Welsh Life of St David gives these as, “Lords, brothers and sisters, Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. And as for me, I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us.” “Do ye the little things in life” is today a very well known phrase in Welsh. The same passage states that he died on a Tuesday, from which attempts have been made to calculate the year of his death.
David was buried at St David’s Cathedral at St Davids, Pembrokeshire, where his shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. During the 10th and 11th centuries the Cathedral was regularly raided by Vikings, who removed the shrine from the church and stripped off the precious metal adornments. In 1275 a new shrine was constructed, the ruined base of which remains to this day which was originally surmounted by an ornamental wooden canopy with murals of David, Patrick and Denis. The relics of David and Justinian of Ramsey Island were kept in a portable casket on the stone base of the shrine. It was at this shrine that Edward I came to pray in 1284. During the reformation Bishop Barlow (1536–48), a staunch Protestant, stripped the shrine of its jewels and confiscated the relics of David and Justinian.
David was officially recognised at the Holy See by Pope Callixtus II in 1120, thanks to the work of Bernard, Bishop of St David’s. Over 50 churches in South Wales were dedicated to him in pre-Reformation days.
In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, David is listed under 1 March with the Latin name Dávus. He is recognised as bishop of Menevia in Wales who governed his monastery following the example of the Eastern Fathers. Through his leadership, many monks went forth to evangelise Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and Armorica (Brittany and surrounding provinces).
Welsh tradition says that during a battle against the Anglo-Saxons, David advised the Welsh warriors each to wear a leek in his hat or armour so that the warriors might distinguish themselves from their enemies. Ever since then, the Welsh wear leeks every March 1 in memory of David.
Ash Wednesday (2017)
—
St Abdalong of Marseilles
St Adrian of Numidia
St Agapios of Vatopedi
St Agnes Cao Guiying
St Albinus of Angers
St Albinus of Vercelli
St Amandus of Boixe
St Antonina of Bithynia
Bl Aurelia of Wirberg
Bl Bonavita of Lugo
St Bono of Cagliari
Bl Christopher of Milan
Bl Claudius Gabriel Faber
St David of Wales
St Domnina of Syria
St Donatus of Carthage
St Eudocia of Heliopolis
St Felix III, Pope
Bl George Biandrate
Bl Giovanna Maria Bonomo
Bl Gonzalo de Ubeda
St Hermes of Numidia
St Jared the Patriarch
St Leo of Rouen
St Leolucas of Corleone
St Lupercus
St Marnock
St Monan
Bl Pietro Ernandez
Bl Roger Lefort
St Rudesind
St Seth the Patriarch
St Simplicius of Bourges
St Siviard
St Swithbert
St Venerius of Eichstätt
Martyrs of Africa – A group of 13 Christians executed together for their faith in Africa. The only details about them to survive are ten names – Abundantius, Adrastus, Agapius, Charisius, Donatilla, Donatus, Fortunus, Leo, Nicephorus and Polocronius. c290
Martyrs of Antwerp – A group of Christians martyred together, buried together and whose relics were transferred and enshrined together. We know nothing else but their names – Benignus, Donatus, Felician, Fidelis, Filemon, Herculanus, Julius, Justus, Maximus, Pelagius, Pius, Primus, Procopius and Silvius. Died in the 2nd Century in Rome. They are buried in the St Callistus Catacombs and their relics were enshirned in the Jesuit Church in Antwerp on 28 February 1600.
Martyrs of the Salarian Way – A group of 260 Christians who, for their faith, were condemned to road work on the Salarian Way in Rome, Italy during the persecutions of Claudius II. When they were no longer needed for work, they were publicly murdered in the amphitheatre. Martyrs. c269 in Rome.
Martyrs Under Alexander – A large but unspecified number of Christians martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Alexander Severus and the praefect Ulpian who saw any non-state religion to be a dangerous treason. c219
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