Category: Of BACHELORS

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, DOCTORS, / SURGEONS / MIDWIVES., FATHERS of the Church, Of BACHELORS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 25 February – Saint Caesarius of Nazianzen (c329-369) Layman

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 25 February – Saint Caesarius of Nazianzen (c329-369) Single Celibate Layman, a prominent Physician and Politician, Son of Saint Gregory of Nazianzen the Elder and Saint Nonna, Brother of Saint Gorgonia and Saint Gregory of Nazianzen. Born in c329 in Arianzus, near Nazianzen in modern day Turkey and died in c369 in Constantinople of natural causes. Patronages – of Physicians and bachelors.

It is maintained by historical writers that, while Caesarius and his brother Gregory were very close, they were very different characters. As Gregory pursued a devout religious life, his vivacious, outgoing brother was at home in the world of Byzantine politics. The two were complementary figures; Caesarius relied on his brother to guide him through troubles, while he encouraged Gregory’s literary and rhetorical talents.

The younger son of Gregory the Elder, the Bishop of Nazianzen and his wife, Nonna, Caesarius was born at the family villa of Arianzus, near Nazianzen. He probably studied at Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia in preparation for the elite school of Alexandria in Egypt. His favourite studies there were geometry, astronomy and especially medicine. In the last-named science, he surpassed all his fellow students.[

His fame as a Physician spread quickly and in 355 he travelled to the Imperial Capital of Constantinople. About 3 years later, in 358, Caesarius had already acquired a great reputation for his medical skill in Constantinople, when his brother Gregory, homeward bound from Athens, arrived ther. Caesarius sacrificed a remunerative and honourable post to return with Gregory to their home near Nazianzen.

The Capital, however, soon proved to be too great an attraction for him and he returned there to eventually become an eminent Physician at the Byzantine Court of Emperor Constantius II and then, much to the regret of his family, at that of Julian the Apostate. But Julian failed in his efforts to win him over to briefly restored Paganism. Caesarius, more appreciative of his Faith than of imperial favour, ultimately left the Court but returned to Constantinople after Julian’s death in 363.

Under the Emperor Valens, Caesarius became Quaestor of Bithynia, a position which included the treasury and tax collection responsibilities. After escaping from the earthquake which shook Nicaea (11 October, 368), his brother wrote to him, pleading with him to leave his political position and withdraw to a religious life. However, Caesarius was suddenly killed by the widespread Plague which followed the earthquake, shortly after having received Baptism which he, like many others at the period, had deferred until late in life.

After his death, his very considerable estate was rapidly pillaged by servants and creditors. His brother Gregory insisted that what remained of the estate be distributed to the poor and to surviving relatives. His remains were interred at Nazianzen, where his brother delivered the funeral Sermon in the presence of his parents. In the Sermon, “On His Brother: St Caesarius” St Gregory portrays Caesarius as a model Christian devotion and asceticism, providing the main source for the details of his life and setting the groundwork for his elevation to the honour of Sainthood.

Posted in Of BACHELORS, Of BEGGARS, the POOR, against POVERTY, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 8 February – Saint Cuthman of Steyning (Died 8th Century)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 8 February – Saint Cuthman of Steyning (Died 8th Century) Hermit, builder of Churches, Miracle-worker. Born in c681 at Chidham, near Bosham, Sussex (some legends say Devon or Cornwall) in England and diedin the 8th Century at Steyning, Sussex, England. Patronages – against poverty, bachelors, poor people, shepherds, of Steyning, England. Also known as – Cuthmann, Cutmano, Cutmanus.

Modern statue of St Cuthman by Penny Reeve, looking over the road to the Church he founded at Steyning.

The earliest surviving written record of Cuthman’s life is a volume of the Acta Sanctorum, published by the Bollandists at Antwerp in 1658. According to the story, Cuthman was a shepherd who grew up either in the West Country or at Chidham, near Chichester. He was probably born in the late seventh century and may have been Baptised by St Wilfrid himself, the ‘Apostle of Sussex.’

Even as a young boy, Cuthman showed signs of his closeness to God. One day, while tending his sheep, he drew a line around them with his staff so that he could get away to collect food. On his return, he found that the flock had not left the invisible boundary. This miracle may have taken place in a field near Chidham, which, for centuries was known as ‘St Cuthman’s Field’ or ‘St Cuthman’s Dell.’ It was said that a large stone in the field, ‘on which the holy shepherd was in the habit of sitting,’ held miraculous properties.

A turning point in Cuthman’s life was the death of his father, which left both him and his mother destitute. They decided to leave their home and journey eastwards – in the direction of the rising sun. By this time, Cuthman’s mother was an invalid and so he had to push her in a wheeled wooden cart. A rope that stretched from the handles to the Saint’s shoulders helped carry the burden. When the rope snapped, he made a new one out of withies (willow tree branches used for basketry). The local haymakers laughed at Cuthman’s rather pathetic efforts but Providence soon responded to their merriment by sending a sudden rainstorm, destroying their harvest. Later versions of the story say that, from that moment onwards, it always rained in that field during the haymaking season!

Cuthman decided that once this replacement rope made of withies broke, it would be a sign from God to settle at that place and build a Church. This happened at Steyning, which, according to the Acta Sanctorum, was ‘a place lying at the base of a lofty hill, then woody, overgrown with brambles and bushes but now rendered by agriculture fertile and fruitful, enclosed between two streams springing from the hill above. The Bollandist Monks have also provided us with Cuthman’s prayer as he reached this blessed spot:

“Father Almighty, Thou hast brought my wanderings to an end; now enable me to begin this work. For who am I, Lord, that I should build a house to Thy Name? If I rely on myself, it will be of no avail but it is Thou Who will assist me. Thou hast given me the desire to be a builder; make up for my lack of skill and bring the work of building this holy house to its completion.”

And so, this unlikely builder began constructing a worthy Sanctuary in honour of the One who had guided him safely along his journey ad orientem. Many of the local inhabitants helped him in this great task and on one occasion, according to the legend, he even received Divine assistance. The builders were having trouble with a roof-beam, when a stranger appeared and provided them with a solution. When asked his name, the newcomer replied: ‘I am He in Whose name you are building the Church.‘

He built a wooden Chapel in Steyning, probably on the site of the present Church of St Andrew’s. This building was certainly well established by 857, when King Ethelwulf (father of St Alfred the Great) was buried there.

It seems that pilgrims visited the Tomb of St Cuthman and that his intercession led to many miraculous cures. During the reign of St Edward the Confessor, the Church at Steyning was given to the Abbey of the Holy Trinity at Fécamp, Normandy. This Benedictine house, founded in the seventh century, is famous for its ‘Benedictine’ liqueur, which today is commercially produced in the grounds of the old Abbey. It was to this Monastery that the Black Monks took the body of St Cuthman and his Feast (8 February) was celebrated at many of the religious houses of Normandy. Thus, St Cuthman became well known on the continent – as can be seen in a mid fifteenth century German engraving of the saint by Martin Schongauer and in the writings of the seventeenth century Bollandists.

Meanwhile, the Church at Steyning was rebuilt and dedicated to St Andrew. However, St Cuthman was not forgotten in his beloved land. A ‘Guild of St Cuthman’ was in existence at Chidham on the eve of the Reformation and a misericord in Ripon Cathedral depicts him pushing his mother in a three-wheeled barrow. There are quite a few Churches dedicated to St Cuthman in England but in Steyning, he is particularly loved and venerated.

St Andrew’s Church in Steyning

The colourful tale of St Cuthman presents us with a charming example of filial piety, prayer, evangelisation and Church building in Saxon England. In the words of Christopher Fry:

It is there in the story of Cuthman, the working together
Of man and God like root and sky; the son
Of a Cornish shepherd, Cuthman, the boy with a cart,
The boy we saw trudging the sheep-tracks with his mother
Mile upon mile over five counties; one
Fixed purpose biting his heels and lifting his heart.
We saw him; we saw him with a grass in his mouth, chewing
And travelling. We saw him building, at last,
A Church among whortleberries…

Posted in INCORRUPTIBLES, Of BACHELORS, Of BUILDERS, CONSTRUCTION WORKERS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 14 April – St Benezet the Bridge Builder (c 1163-1184)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 14 April – St Benezet the Bridge Builder (c 1163-1184) Shepherd, Mystic, miracle-worker, Founder of the Fratres Pontifices – the Bridge-Building Brotherhood.   St Benezet is also known as Benezet of Hermillon, Benedict, Bennet, Benet, Benoit, Little Benedict the Bridge Builder.   Born in c 1163 at Hermillon, Savoy, France and died in 1184. Patronages – Avignon, bachelors, bridge-builders and construction workers.   His body is incorrupt.st beneset header

St Benezet, also known as Little Benedict the Bridge Builder, was born somewhere in the countryside of eastern or northeastern France.   As he grew up he tended his mother’s sheep.   Though uneducated and unskilled, gentle Benedict was a quiet, devout youth, thoughtful of others.

One day in 1177, while the sun was in eclipse, Benezet heard a voice, he believed was Jesus, commanding him three times to go to Avignon, where the Rhone current was especially swift and to build a bridge there.   He was also told that angels would watch over his flocks in his absence.  st-benezet holy card

He obeyed the Divine order, without delay and reported immediately to the Bishop of Avignon.   Naturally, the Bishop was hesitant about accepting the word of the frail teenager.   But little Benezet lifted a massive stone to begin the work and announced that it would be the start of the foundation.   This would become the Pont Saint-Bénézet.   Thus he succeeded in convincing the Bishop that the construction of the bridge would be an act of true Christian charity.   Permission was granted and the youth set about his task.   According to the legend, there were shouts of “Miracle! Miracle!” when Bénézet had lifted and laid that first huge stone.   Eighteen miracles occurred in total during the project – the blind had their vision restored, the deaf could hear again, cripples could walk and hunchbacks had their backs straightened.512px-Saint_Bénézet,_Notre_Dame_des_Doms,_Avignon

For the next seven years Benedict worked hard on the project and around 1181 he won support for his project from wealthy sponsors who formed themselves into a Bridge Brotherhood to fund its construction.   This was a religious association active during the 12th and 13th centuries and begun in Avignon but by it’s inspiration, it spread across Europe and whose purpose was building bridges, especially to assist pilgrims.   It was customary for a bishop to grant indulgences to those who, by money or labour, contributed to the construction of a bridge.   They also maintained and/or built hospices at the chief fords of the principal rivers, besides building bridges and looking after ferries.   The Brotherhood consisted of three branches– knights, clergy and artisans, where the knights usually had contributed most of the funds and were sometimes called donati, the clergy were usually monks who represented the church and the artisans were the workers who actually built the bridges.   Sisters are sometimes mentioned as belonging to the same association.   In addition to the construction of bridges, the brotherhood often attended to the lodging and care of pilgrims and travellers and the collection of alms, in this area, the sisters were most active.st benezet sml glass

In 1184, sadly, young Benezet died, some four years before the great stone bridge at Avignon was completed.   The wonders that occurred during the bridge’s erection and the miracles wrought at the Bridge Builder’s tomb convinced the people of Avignon that the young man was a Saint and he was referred to as such as early at 1237.   They, therefore, built a Chapel on the “Bridge of St Benezet” to enshrine his relics  . There the body was venerated until 1669, when floodwaters carried away a large segment of the bridge.   His remains were rescued from the flood and on examination, were found to be incorrupt.   Now they repose in the local church of St Didier.st benezet and relics

Understandably, bridge builders adopted little Benedict as their Patron Saint.   The remains of the bridge still remain a pilgrimage site.  Below are artworks and images showing the bride through the ages.   The last shows it as it is today, only about half is left and that half if filled with pilgrims.

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St Benezet’s bridge has another claim to fame – it achieved worldwide fame through its commemoration by the song “Sur le Pont d’Avignon” (“On the Bridge of Avignon”).

One can build in a figurative as well as a literal sense.   Bishops, the pope in particular, are often called “pontiffs”, a title derived from the Latin word for “builder of bridges”. Building bridges between God and mankind is their special calling.   Our Lord Himself was a “pontiff” in the sense that He made his Cross a bridge, on which souls could enter heaven.   The beatitude “Blessed are the peacemakers” promises heaven to those who work for reconciliation, that is, “build bridges”.

Some persons labour to raise walls, or “iron curtains” to divide mankind.   Others labour to tear down the walls that divide, straighten the paths that connect, bridge the crevices that separate people.   Surely they come close to fulfilling the great commandment to love our neighbour as oneself.   St Benezet was one such.   He promoted the unity of God’s children.    Little St Benezet, Pray for us!st BENEZET bY becker

st benezet the bridge builder

Posted in Of BACHELORS, Of GARDENERS, Horticulturists, Farmers, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 23 February – St Serenus the Gardener (Died 307) Martyr

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 23 February – St Serenus the Gardener (Died 307) Martyr – born in Greece and was beheaded on 23 February 303 at Sirmiun, Pannonia (modern Hungary). Patronages – bachelors, falsely accused people, gardeners.

st serenus the gardener 2

Serenus was by birth a Grecian.   He left his family estate, friends and country to serve God in celibacy, penance and prayer.   With this design he bought a garden in Sirmium in Pannonia, which he cultivated with his own hands and lived on the fruits and herbs it produced.

One day a woman came to his garden with her two daughters.   Serenus, seeing them come up, advised them to withdraw and to conduct themselves in future as decency required in persons of their sex and condition.   The woman, stung at our Saint’s charitable remonstrance, retired in confusion but resolved on revenging the supposed affront.   She accordingly wrote to her husband that Serenus had insulted her.

He, on receiving her letter, went to the emperor to demand justice, whereupon the emperor gave him a letter to the governor of the province to enable him to obtain satisfaction.   The governor ordered Serenus to be immediately brought before him. Serenus, on hearing the charge, answered, “I remember that, some time ago, a lady came into my garden at an unseasonable hour and I own I took the liberty to tell her it was against decency for one of her sex and quality to be abroad at such an hour.”   This plea of Serenus having put the officer to the blush for his wife’s conduct, he dropped his prosecution.

But the governor, suspecting by this answer that Serenus might be a Christian, began to question him, saying, “Who are you and what is your religion?”   Serenus, without hesitating one moment, answered, “I am a Christian. It seemed a while ago as if God rejected me as a stone unfit to enter His building but He has the goodness to take me now to be placed in it; I am ready to suffer all things for His name, that I may have a part in His kingdom with His Saints”   The governor, hearing this burst into rage and said, “Since you sought to elude by flight the emperor’s edicts and have positively refused to sacrifice to the gods, I condemn you for these crimes to lose your head.”

st serenus the gardener

The sentence was no sooner pronounced than the Saint was carried off and beheaded, on 23 February, in 307.

Posted in ALTAR BOYS, DEACONS, SACRISTANS, BREWERS, BRIDES and GROOMS, ENGAGED COUPLES, Of BACHELORS, Of BANKERS, Of BEGGARS, the POOR, against POVERTY, Of Catholic Education, Students, Schools, Colleges etc, Of FISHERMEN, FISHMONGERS, Of GARDENERS, Horticulturists, Farmers, Of LAWYERS & CANON Lawyers, Attorneys, Solicitors, Barristers, Notaries, Para-Legals, Of PHARMACISTS / CHEMISTS, Of TRAVELLERS / MOTORISTS, PATRONAGE - HAPPY MARRIAGES, of MARRIED COUPLES, PATRONAGE - ORPHANS,ABANDONED CHILDREN, PATRONAGE - PENITENTS, PATRONAGE - PRISONERS, PATRONAGE - VINTNERS, WINE-FARMERS, PATRONAGE-INFERTILITY & SAFE CHILDBIRTH, SAILORS, MARINERS, NAVIGATORS, SAINT of the DAY, Spinsters - Single LAYWOMEN

Saint of the Day – 6 December – St Nicholas (270-343) Bishop

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 6 December – St Nicholas (270-343) Bishop

The absence of the “hard facts” of history is not necessarily an obstacle to the popularity of saints, as the devotion to Saint Nicholas shows.   Both the Eastern and Western Churches honour him and it is claimed that after the Blessed Virgin, he is the saint most pictured by Christian artists.   And yet historically, we can pinpoint only the fact that Nicholas was the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a city in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor.st nicholas - Jaroslav_Čermák_(1831_-_1878)_-_Sv._Mikuláš.jpg

As with many of the saints, however, we are able to capture the relationship which Nicholas had with God through the admiration which Christians have had for him—an admiration expressed in the colourful stories which have been told and retold through the centuries.

Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters of marriageable age.   Rather than see them forced into prostitution, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through the poor man’s window on three separate occasions, thus enabling the daughters to be married.   Over the centuries, this particular legend evolved into the custom of gift-giving on the saint’s feast.

ANGELICO_Fra_Story_Of_St_Nicholas_Giving_Dowry_To_Three_Poor_Girls
Fra Angelico’s St Nicholas donating the dowries

In the English-speaking countries, Saint Nicholas became, by a twist of the tongue, Santa Claus—further expanding the example of generosity portrayed by this holy bishop.saint-nicholas4st nicholas - glass

Posted in BREWERS, DOCTORS, / SURGEONS / MIDWIVES., FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, Of BACHELORS, Of LAWYERS & CANON Lawyers, Attorneys, Solicitors, Barristers, Notaries, Para-Legals, SAINT of the DAY, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Saint of the Day – 18 October – St Luke the Evangelist

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 18 October – St Luke the Evangelist

St Luke, the inspired author of the third Gospel and of the Acts of the Apostles, was a native of Antioch in Syria and a physician and one of the early converts from paganism. He accompanied St Paul on a considerable part of his missionary journey.   He was also his companion while in prison at Rome on two different occasions.   His account of these events, contained in the Acts, is first hand history.   His symbol is a Winged Ox anticipated by Ezekiel.    The ox, recognised as the animal of sacrifice, was applied to St Luke because his Gospel emphasises the atonement made by Christ’s sacrifice of Himself on the Cross.   His name means “bringer of light” (= luke).Saint Luke 1407x1409

Luke’s Gospel is, above all, the Gospel of the Merciful Heart of Jesus.   It emphasises the fact that Christ is the salvation of all men, especially of the repentant sinner and of the lowly.   Legend says that Luke painted the Blessed Virgin’s portrait.   It is certainly true that he painted the most beautiful word-picture of Mary ever written.

St Luke came from Antioch, was a practising physician and was one of the first converts to Christianity.   He accompanied St Paul, who converted him, on his missionary journeys and was still with him in Rome when St Paul was in prison awaiting death.   We hear no more of him afterwards and nothing is known of his last years.   The Church venerates him as a Martyr.St+luke+wow web

St Luke’s Gospel is principally concerned with salvation and mercy – in it are preserved some of our Lord’s most moving parables, like those of the lost sheep and the prodigal son.   Dante calls St Luke the “historian of the meekness of Christ.”   It is also St Luke who tells us the greater part of what we know about our Lord’s childhood.bronzino-saint-luke-header

“According to tradition he was an artist, as well as a man of letters and with a soul alive to all the most delicate inspirations, he consecrated his pencil to the holiest use and handed down to us the features of the Mother of God.   It was an illustration worthy of the Gospel which relates to the divine Infancy and it won for the artist a new title to the gratitude of those who never saw Jesus and Mary in the flesh.   Hence St Luke is the patron of Christian art.” …-Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.

St Luke did not personally know our Lord and like St Mark, the author of the second Gospel, he is not included among the apostles.   For this reason the Gospel chosen for their feast is the account of the sending forth of the seventy-two disciples.   According to St Jerome, St Luke died in Achaia (Greece) at the age of 84 and it is unknown whether or not he died a martyr’s death. st luke evangelist.2

His symbol is a Winged Ox anticipated by Ezekiel.    The ox, recognised as the animal of sacrifice, was applied to St Luke because his Gospel emphasises the atonement made by Christ’s sacrifice of Himself on the Cross.  His name means “bringer of light” (= luke).st luke - glass 2

Posted in ADVENT, Against STORMS, EARTHQUAKES, THUNDER & LIGHTENING, FIRES, DROUGHT / NATURAL DISASTERS, ALTAR BOYS, DEACONS, SACRISTANS, BREWERS, BRIDES and GROOMS, CHEFS and/or BAKERS, CONFECTIONERS, MORNING Prayers, Of BACHELORS, Of BANKERS, Of BEGGARS, the POOR, against POVERTY, Of Catholic Education, Students, Schools, Colleges etc, Of FISHERMEN, FISHMONGERS, Of GARDENERS, Horticulturists, Farmers, Of LAWYERS & CANON Lawyers, Attorneys, Solicitors, Barristers, Notaries, Para-Legals, Of PHARMACISTS / CHEMISTS, Of TRAVELLERS / MOTORISTS, ON the SAINTS, PATRONAGE - HAPPY MARRIAGES, of MARRIED COUPLES, PATRONAGE - ORPHANS,ABANDONED CHILDREN, PATRONAGE - PENITENTS, PATRONAGE - PRISONERS, PATRONAGE - VINTNERS, WINE-FARMERS, PATRONAGE-INFERTILITY & SAFE CHILDBIRTH, SAILORS, MARINERS, NAVIGATORS, SAINT of the DAY, Spinsters - Single LAYWOMEN

Saint of the Day – 6 December – St Nicholas (270-343)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 6 December – St Nicholas (270-343)  Confessor, Bishop, Miracle-Worker, Apostle of Charity.   Also known as – • Nicholas of Bari• Nicholas of Lpnenskij • Nicholas of Lipno • Nicholas of Sarajskij • Nicholas the Miracle Worker • Klaus, Mikulas, Nikolai, Nicolaas, Nicolas, Niklaas, Niklas. Nikolaus, Santa Claus.   st nicholas header

Patronages -• against fire • against imprisonment • against robberies • against robbers • against storms at sea • against sterility • against thefts • altar servers • archers • boys • brides • captives • children • choir boys • happy marriages • lawsuits lost unjustly • lovers • maidens • penitent murderers • newlyweds • paupers • pilgrims • poor people • prisoners • scholars • schoolchildren, students • penitent thieves • travellers • unmarried girls • apothecaries • bakers • bankers • barrel makers • boatmen • boot blacks • brewers • butchers • button makers • candle makers • chair makers • cloth shearers • coopers • dock workers • educators • farm workers, farmers • firefighters • fish mongers • fishermen • grain merchants • grocers • grooms • hoteliers • innkeepers • judges • lace merchants • lawyers • linen merchants • longshoremen • mariners • merchants • millers • notaries • parish clerks • pawnbrokers • perfumeries • perfumers • poets • ribbon weavers • sailors • ship owners • shoe shiners • soldiers • spice merchants • spinners • stone masons • tape weavers  • toy makers • vintners • watermen • weavers • Greek Catholic Church in America • Greek Catholic Union • Varangian Guard • Germany • Greece • Russia • 3 Diocese • 78 Cities.

Attributes – • anchor • bishop calming a storm • bishop holding three bags of gold • bishop holding three balls • bishop with three children • bishop with three children in a tub at his feet • purse • ship • three bags of gold • three balls • three golden balls on a book • boy in a boat.   Saint Nicholas’ reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus through Sinterklaas.   St Nicholas was generous to the poor and special protector of the innocent and wronged.   Many stories grew up around him prior to his becoming associated with Santa Claus.

Some examples of the Miracles of St Nicholas and the reasons for various Patronages:

• Upon hearing that a local man had fallen on such hard times that he was planning to sell his daughters into prostitution, Nicholas went by night to the house and threw three bags of gold in through the window, saving the girls from an evil life.   These three bags, gold generously given in time of trouble, became the three golden balls that indicate a pawn broker’s shop.

• He raised to life three young boys who had been murdered and pickled in a barrel of brine to hide the crime.   These stories led to his patronage of children in general and of barrel-makers besides.

• Induced some thieves to return their plunder.   This explains his protection against theft and robbery and his patronage of them – he’s not helping them steal but to repent and change.   In the past, thieves have been known as Saint Nicholas’ clerks or Knights of Saint Nicholas.

• During a voyage to the Holy Lands, a fierce storm blew up, threatening the ship.   He prayed about it and the storm calmed – hence the patronage of sailors and those like dockworkers who work on the sea.

St Nicholas died in 346 at Myra, Lycia (in modern Turkey) of natural causes and his  relics are believed to be at Bari, Italy.bari-shrine3-detail

Here is the story of St Nicholas by Prosper Dom Gueranger:

Nicholas was born in the celebrated city of Patara, in the province of Lycia.   His birth was the fruit of his parents’ prayers.  Evidences of his great future holiness were given from his very cradle.   For when he was an infant, he would only take his food once on Wednesdays and Fridays and then not till evening but on all other days he frequently took the breast:  he kept up this custom of fasting during the rest of his life.

Having lost his parents when he was a boy, he gave all his goods to the poor.   Of his Christian kindheartedness there is the following noble example.   One of his fellow-citizens had three daughters but being too poor to obtain them an honourable marriage, he was minded to abandon them to a life of prostitution.   Nicholas having learned of the case, went to the house during the night and threw in by the window a sum of money sufficient for the dower of one of the daughters;  he did the same a second and a third time and thus the three were married to respectable men.

Having given himself wholly to the service of God, he set out for Palestine, that he might visit and venerate the holy places.   During this pilgrimage, which he made by sea, he foretold to the mariners, on embarking, though the heavens were then serene and the sea tranquil, that they would be overtaken by a frightful storm.   In a very short time, the storm arose.   All were in the most imminent danger, when he quelled it by his prayers.

His pilgrimage ended, he returned home, giving to all men example of the greatest sanctity.   He went, by an inspiration from God, to Myra, the Metropolis of Lycia,which had just lost its Bishop by death and the Bishops of the province had come together for the purpose of electing a successor.   Whilst they were holding council for the election, they were told by a revelation from heaven, that they should choose him who, on the morrow, should be the first to enter the church, his name being Nicholas.   Accordingly, the requisite observations were made, when they found Nicholas to be waiting at the church door:  they took him and, to the incredible delight of all, made him the Bishop of Myra.

During his episcopate, he never flagged in the virtues looked for in a bishop;  chastity, which indeed he had always preserved, gravity, assiduity in prayer, watchings, abstinence, generosity and hospitality, meekness in exhortation, severity in reproving. He befriended widows and orphans by money, by advice and by every service in his power.   So zealous a defender was he of all who suffered oppression, that, on one occasion, three Tribunes having been condemned by the Emperor Constantine, who had been deceived by calumny and having heard of the miracles wrought by Nicholas, they recommended themselves to his prayers, though he was living at a very great distance from that place:   the saint appeared to Constantine and angrily looking upon him, obtained from the terrified Emperor their deliverance.

Having, contrary to the edict of Dioclesian and Maximian, preached in Myra the truth of the Christian faith, he was taken up by the servants of the two Emperors.  He was taken off to a great distance and thrown into prison, where he remained until Constantine, having become Emperor, ordered his rescue and the Saint returned to Myra.   Shortly afterwards, he repaired to the Council which was being held at Nicaea:  there he took part with the three hundred and eighteen Fathers in condemning the Arian heresy (Tradition has it that he became so angry with the heretic Arius during the Council that he struck him in the face).St Nicholas of Myra slapping Arius at the Council of Nicaea.

Scarcely had he returned to his See than he was taken with the sickness of which he soon died.   Looking up to heaven and seeing Angels coming to meet him, he began the Psalm, In thee, O Lord, have I hoped and having come to those words, Into your hands I commend my spirit, his soul took its flight to the heavenly country.   His body, having been translated to Bari in Apulia, is the object of universal veneration.

st nicholas beautifulst nicholas.2

For St Nicholas traditional biscuits see here:  https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2016/12/06/st-nicholas-6-december/

Posted in BREWERS, DOCTORS, / SURGEONS / MIDWIVES., FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, Of BACHELORS, Of LAWYERS & CANON Lawyers, Attorneys, Solicitors, Barristers, Notaries, Para-Legals, SAINT of the DAY, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Saint of the Day – St Luke the Evangelist – 18 October

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – St Luke the Evangelist – 18 October – Physician,Ddisciple of St Paul, Evangelist, Author of the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.   Tradition says he was an Artist too.  He was born at Antioch and Died in c 74 in Greece.   Some say he was Martyred, others that he died of natural causes.  His relics reside at Padua, Italy.   Patronages – artists, bachelors, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, doctors, glass makers, glassworkers, glaziers, gold workers, goldsmiths, lacemakers, lace workers, notaries, painters, physicians, sculptors, stained glass workers, surgeons, 2 cities.   Attributes – Evangelist, Physician, a Bishop, a book or a pen, a man accompanied by a winged ox/winged calf/ox, a man painting an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a brush or a palette (referring to the tradition that he was a painter).   St Luke is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical Gospels.   The early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel according to Luke and the book of Acts of the Apostles, which would mean Luke contributed over a quarter of the text of the New Testament, more than any other author.   Prominent figures in early Christianity such as Jerome and Eusebius later reaffirmed his authorship.   The New Testament mentions Luke briefly a few times and the Pauline epistle to the Colossians refers to him as a physician (from Greek for ‘one who heals’);  thus he is thought to have been both a physician and a disciple of Paul. Christians since the faith’s early years have regarded him as a saint.   He is believed to have been a martyr, reportedly as having been hanged from an olive tree, though some believe otherwise.

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Luke came from the large metropolitan city of Antioch, a part of modern-day Turkey.   In Luke’s lifetime, his native city emerged as an important center of early Christianity. During the future saint’s early years, the city’s port had already become a cultural center, renowned for arts and sciences.   Historians do not know whether Luke came to Christianity from Judaism or paganism, although there are strong suggestions that Luke was a gentile convert.SOD-1018-SaintLuke-790x480

Educated as a physician in the Greek-speaking city, Luke was among the most cultured and cosmopolitan members of the early Church.   Scholars of archeology and ancient literature have ranked him among the top historians of his time period, besides noting the outstanding Greek prose style and technical accuracy of his accounts of Christ’s life and the apostles’ missionary journeys.LUKE!!!luke

Other students of biblical history adduce from Luke’s writings that he was the only evangelist to incorporate the personal testimony of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose role in Christ’s life emerges most clearly in his gospel.   Tradition credits him with painting several icons of Christ’s mother and one of the sacred portraits ascribed to him – known by the title “Salus Populi Romano – Salvation of the Roman People”– survives to this day in the Basilica of St Mary Major.

Some traditions hold that Luke became a direct disciple of Jesus before His ascension, while others hold that he became a believer only afterward.   After St Paul’s conversion, Luke accompanied him as his personal physician– and, in effect, as a kind of biographer, since the journeys of Paul on which Luke accompanied him occupy a large portion of the Acts of the Apostles.   Luke probably wrote this text, the final narrative portion of the New Testament, in the city of Rome where the account ends.

Luke appears in Acts during Paul’s second journey, remains at Philippi for several years until Paul returns from his third journey, accompanies Paul to Jerusalem and remains near him when he is imprisoned in Caesarea.   During these two years, Luke had time to seek information and interview persons who had known Jesus.   He accompanied Paul on the dangerous journey to Rome where he was a faithful companion   After the martyrdom of St Paul in the year 67, St Luke is said to have preached elsewhere throughout the Mediterranean and possibly died as a martyr.   However, even tradition is unclear on this point.   Fittingly, the evangelist whose travels and erudition could have filled volumes, wrote just enough to proclaim the gospel and apostolic preaching to the world.

Luke’s unique character may best be seen by the emphases of his Gospel, which has been given a number of subtitles:
1) The Gospel of Mercy
2) The Gospel of Universal Salvation
3) The Gospel of the Poor
4) The Gospel of Absolute Renunciation
5) The Gospel of Prayer and the Holy Spirit
6) The Gospel of Joy

luke 3.Евангелист Лука

Posted in Against EPIDEMICS, GOUT, KNEE PROBLEMS, ARTHRITIS, etc, Of BACHELORS, Of the SICK, the INFIRM, All ILLNESS, PATRONAGE - OF DOGS and against DOG BITES and/or RABIES, SAINT of the DAY, SKIN DISEASES, RASHES

Saint of the Day – 16 August- St Roch (1295-1327) Confessor

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 16 August- St Roch (1295-1327)  Confessor, Pilgrim, Hermit, Apostle of the Sick, Miracle Worker.   Born in 1295 at Montpelier, France and died in 1327 at Montpelier or Angleria, France of natural causes).   His relics are in Venice, Italy in the Church of San Rocco,some reside in Rome and others in Arles, France.   Patronages –  against cholera, against diseased cattle, against epidemics, against knee problems, against the plague, against skin diseases and rashes, bachelors, of dogs, falsely accused people, invalids, relief from pestilence, surgeons, tile makers, Tagbilaran, Philippines, diocese of, Constantinople, 24 other assorted Cities around the world.   Attributes – angel, bread, dog, pilgrim with staff, often displaying a plague wound on his leg, pilgrim with a dog, pilgrim with a dog licking the wound, pilgrim with a dog carrying a loaf of bread in its mouth.

According to his Acta and his vita in the Golden Legend, he was born at Montpellier, at that time “upon the border of France”, as the Golden Legend has it, the son of the noble governor of that city.   Even his birth was accounted a miracle, for his noble mother had been barren until she prayed to the Virgin Mary.   Miraculously marked from birth with a red cross on his breast that grew as he did, he early began to manifest strict asceticism and great devoutness;  on days when his “devout mother fasted twice in the week and the blessed child Rocke abstained him twice also, when his mother fasted in the week, and would suck his mother but once that day”.

On the death of his parents in his twentieth year he distributed all his worldly goods among the poor like Francis of Assisi—though his father on his deathbed had ordained him governor of Montpellier—and set out as a mendicant pilgrim for Rome.   Coming into Italy during an epidemic of plague, he was very diligent in tending the sick in the public hospitals at Acquapendente, Cesena, Rimini, Novara and Rome, and is said to have effected many miraculous cures by prayer and the sign of the cross and the touch of his hand.   St Roch Praying to the Virgin for an End to the Plague Creator(s- Jacques-Louis DavidIn In Rome, according to the Golden Legend he preserved the “Cardinal of Angleria in Lombardy” by making the Sign of the Cross on his forehead, which miraculously remained!    Ministering at Piacenza he himself finally fell ill.   He was expelled from the Town and withdrew into the forest, where he fashioned a shelter of boughs and leaves, which was miraculously supplied with water, by a spring wic arose in the place;.   He would have perished, had not a dog belonging to a nobleman named Gothard Palastrelli, supplied him with bread and licked his wounds, healing them.   Count Gothard, following his hunting dog carrying the bread, discovered Saint Roch and became his acolyte.

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On his return incognito to Montpellier he was arrested as a spy (by orders of his own uncle) and thrown into prison, where he languished five years and died on 16 August 1327, without revealing his name, to avoid worldly glory.   After his death, according to the Golden Legend;

“anon an angel brought from heaven a table divinely written with letters of gold into the prison, which he laid under the head of St Rocke.   And in that table was written that God had granted to him his prayer, that is to wit, that who that calleth meekly to St Rocke he shall not be hurt with any hurt of pestilence.”

The townspeople recognised him as well by his birthmark;  he was soon canonised in the popular mind and a great church erected in veneration.

The story that when the Council of Constance was threatened with plague in 1414, public processions and prayers for the intercession of Roch were ordered and the outbreak ceased, is provided by Francesco Diedo, the Venetian governor of Brescia, in his Vita Sancti Rochi, 1478.   The cult of Roch gained momentum during the bubonic plague that passed through northern Italy in 1477–79.

His popularity, originally in central and northern Italy and at Montpellier, spread through Spain, France, Lebanon the Low Countries, Brazil and Germany, where he was often interpolated into the roster of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, whose veneration spread in the wake of the Black Death.   The magnificent 16th-century Scuola Grande di San Rocco and the adjacent church of San Rocco were dedicated to him by a confraternity at Venice, where his body was said to have been surreptitiously translated and was triumphantly inaugurated in 1485;  the Scuola Grande is famous for its sequence of paintings by Tintoretto, who painted St Roch visited by an angel, in a ceiling canvas (1564).

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Tomb of St Roch in San Rocco in Venice

We know for certain that the body of St Roch was carried from Voghera, instead of Montpellier as previously thought, to Venice in 1485.   Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) built a Church and a hospital in his honour.   Pope Paul III (1534–1549) instituted a confraternity of St Roch.   This was raised to an Arch-confraternity in 1556 by Pope Paul IV;  it still thrives today.

Saint Roch had not been officially recognised as a Saint as yet, however.   In 1590 the Venetian Ambassador to Rome reported to the Serenissima that he had been repeatedly urged to present the witnesses and documentation of the life and miracles of St Rocco, already deeply entrenched in the Venetian life because Pope Sixtus V “is strong in his opinion either to Canonise him or else to remove him from the ranks of the Saints.”    The Ambassador had warned a Cardinal of the general scandal that would result, if the widely venerated St Rocco, were impugned as an impostor.   Sixtus did not pursue the matter but left it to later Popes to proceed with the Canonisation process.   His successor, Pope Gregory XIV (1590–1591), added Roch of Montpellier, who had already been memorialised in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for two centuries, to the Roman Martyrology, thereby fixing 16 August as his universal Feast Day.

Numerous brotherhoods have been instituted in his honour.   He is usually represented in the garb of a pilgrim, often lifting his tunic to demonstrate the plague sore in his thigh and accompanied by a dog carrying a loaf in its mouth.   The Third Order of Saint Francis, by tradition, claims him as a member and includes his Feast on its own calendar, observing his Feast on 17 August.

Posted in EUCHARISTIC Adoration, Of BACHELORS, Of BEGGARS, the POOR, against POVERTY, Of PILGRIMS, PATRONAGE - MENTAL ILLNESS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 16 April – St Benedict Joseph Labre TOSF (1748-1783)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 16 April – St Benedict Joseph Labre TOSF (1748-1783) “Beggar of Perpetual Adoration” – Patronages – against insanity and mental illness,bachelors, beggars, homeless people, mentally ill people, people rejected by religious orders, pilgrims – Attributes – beggar in a tri-cornered hat sharing his alms.

St Benedict Joseph Labre was born in 1748 in the village of Amettes, near Arras, in the former Province of Artois in the north of France.    He was the eldest of fifteen children of a prosperous shopkeeper, Jean Baptist Labre and his wife, Anne Grandsire.

Labre had an uncle, a parish priest, living some distance from his family home;   this uncle gladly received him and undertook his early education for the priesthood.    At the age of sixteen, he approached his uncle about becoming a Trappist monk but his parents told him he would have to wait until he grew older.    When Benedict was about eighteen, an epidemic fell upon the city, and uncle and nephew busied themselves in the service of the sick.    While the uncle took care of the souls and bodies of the people, Benedict went to and fro caring for the cattle.    He cleaned their stalls and fed them;   exchanging the life of a farm labourer for that of a student under his uncle’s roof.    Among the last victims of the epidemic was the uncle himself.

Labre set off for La Trappe Abbey to apply to the Order but did not come up to their requirements.   He was under age, he was too delicate, he had no special recommendations.    He later attempted to join the Carthusians and Cistercians but each order rejected him as unsuitable for communal life.    He was, for about six weeks, a postulant with the Carthusians at Neuville.    In November 1769 he obtained admission to the Cistercian Abbey of Sept-Fonts.    After a short stay at Sept-Fonts his health gave way and it was decided that his vocation lay elsewhere.

Labre, according to Catholic tradition, experienced a desire, which he considered was given to him by God and inspired by the example of Saint Alexius of Rome and that of the holy Franciscan tertiary pilgrim, Saint Roch, to “abandon his country, his parents, and whatever is flattering in the world to lead a new sort of life, a life most painful, most penitential, not in a wilderness nor in a cloister but in the midst of the world, devoutly visiting as a pilgrim the famous places of Christian devotion”.

Labre joined the Third Order of Saint Francis and settled on a life of poverty and pilgrimage.    He first traveled to Rome on foot, subsisting on what he could get by begging.    He then travelled to most of the major shrines of Europe, often several times each.    He visited the various shrines in Loreto, Assisi, Naples, and Bari in Italy, Einsiedeln in Switzerland, Paray-le-Monial in France and Santiago de Compostela in Spain.    During these trips he would always travel on foot, sleeping in the open or in a corner of a room, with his clothes muddy and ragged.    On one occasion he stopped at the farmhouse of Matthieu and Marie Vianney, who would later become the parents of the future saint, the Curé d’Ars.    He lived on what little he was given and often shared the little he did receive with others.    He is reported to have talked rarely, prayed often and accepted quietly the abuse he received.

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Benedict Joseph Labre depicted by Antonio Cavallucci (1752–1795)

In so doing, Labre was following in the role of the mendicant, the “Fool-for-Christ” . He would often swoon when contemplating the crown of thorns, in particular, and, during these states, it is said he would levitate or bilocate.    He was also said to have cured some of the other homeless he met and to have multiplied bread for them.    In the last years of his life (his thirties), he lived in Rome, for a time living in the ruins of the Colosseum and would leave only to make a yearly pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Loreto.   He was a familiar figure in the city and known as the “saint of the Forty Hours” (or Quarant’ Ore) for his dedication to Eucharistic adoration.

The day before he died, Labre collapsed in the church of Santa Maria ai Monti, blocks from the Colosseum and despite his protestations was charitably taken to a house behind the church at Via dei Serpenti 2.    He died there of malnutrition on 16 April, during Holy Week, in 1783 and was buried in the Church of Santa Maria ai Monti.

S.Maria ai Monti: Tomb of St Benedict Joseph Labrerome2007_img_1029-1

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Posted in Against EPIDEMICS, CHILDREN / YOUTH, INCORRUPTIBLES, Of BACHELORS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 4 March – St Casimir (1458-1484) Confessor

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Saint of the Day – 4 March – St Casimir- (1458-148) aged 25 Confessor, Prince, Celibate, Ascetic, Apostle of Prayer, Apostle of Charity and Mercy, Marian Devotee, Eucharistic Adorer, Confessor – Patronages – against plagues/epidemics, of bachelors, kings, princes, Lithuania (proclaimed by Pope Urban VIII in 1636, Poland, Grodno, Belarus, Diocese of, youth. His body is incorrupt.

Casimir Jagiellon was born in 1458, the third of thirteen children born to Poland’s King Casimir IV and his wife Elizabeth of Austria.   He and several of his brothers studied with the Priest and Historian, John Dlugosz, whose deep piety and political expertise influenced Casimir in his education.

The young Prince had a distaste for the luxury of courtly life and instead chose the way of asceticism and devotion.   He wore plain clothes with a hair shirt beneath them, slept frequently on the ground and would spend much of the night in prayer and meditation on the suffering and death of Christ.

Casimir showed his love for God through these exercises of devotion and also through his material charity to the poor.   He was known as a deeply compassionate young man who felt others’ pains acutely.

The young Prince was only 13 years old when his father was asked by the Hungarians to offer his son as their new King. Casimir was eager to aid the Hungarians in their defence against the Turks and went to be crowned.   This plan was unsuccessful, however and he was forced to return to Poland.

After his return Casimir resumed his studies with Fr Dlugosz, while developing a canny grasp of politics by observing his father’s rule.   In 1479 the King left Poland to attend to state business in Lithuania, leaving Prince Casimir in charge of the realm .between 1481 and 1483.

Advisers to the p=Prince joined his father in trying to convince Casimir to marry.   But he preferred to remain single, focusing his life on the service of God and the good of his people.

After experiencing symptoms of tuberculosis, Casimir foresaw his death and prepared for it by deepening his devotion to God.   He died en route to Lithuania on 4 March 1484 and was buried with a copy of the Marian Hymn he sang daily “Daily, Daily Sing to Mary.” Pope Adrian VI Canonised him in 1522.   After a lapse of one hundred and twenty years, his body was taken up, and found without the slightest sign of corruption.

Five centuries after his death, John Paul II recalled how St Casimir “embraced a life of celibacy, submitted himself humbly to God’s will in all things, devoted himself with tender love to the Blessed Virgin Mary and developed a fervent practice of adoring Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament.”