Saint of the Day – 28 June – Saint Pope Paul I (Died 767) Papacy 29 May 757-28 June 767, Confessor. He first served as a Roman Deacon and was frequently employed by his brother, Pope Stephen II, in many delicate negotiations and Ecclesiastical matters. Born at Rome, Italy and died on 28 June 767 at Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls, Rome, Italy of natural causes.
Paul was a Roman aristocrat. He and his brother, Stephen had been educated for the Priesthood at the Lateran Palace. Stephen, became Pope in 752. Stephen entrusted his brother, who approved of the Pope’s course in respect to King Pepin of the Franks, with many important ecclesiastical affairs, among others – with the restoration to the Roman States of the Cities which had been seized by the Lombards.
While Paul was with his dying brother at the Lateran, a party of the Romans gathered in the house of Archdeacon Theophylact in order to secure the latter’s succession to the papal see. However, immediately after the burial of Stephen (died 26 April, 757), Paul was elected by a large majority and received episcopal Consecration on 29 May. Paul continued his predecessor’s policy towards the Frankish King, Pepin and thereby, continued the Papal supremacy over Rome and the districts of central Italy in opposition to the efforts of the Lombards and the Eastern Empire.
Pepin sent a letter to the Roman people, exhorting them to remain steadfast to St Peter. In the reply sent by the Senate and the people of Rome, he was urged to complete the enlargement of the Roman province which he had wrested from the barbarians and to persevere in the work he had begun.
In 758 a daughter was born to Pepin and the King sent the pope the cloth used at the Baptism as a present, renewing, in this way, the Papal sponsorship. Paul returned thanks and informed Pepin of the hostile action of Desiderius, who had failed to deliver, as agreed, to Rome, the occupied Cities . A major crises ensued, with the Pope seeking assistance from King Pepin and the Lomba\rd King threatening war against Rome. King Pepin gave the Pope some support and acted as arbiter between the Roman and Lombard claims.
In 765, Papal privileges were restored in the duchies of Benevento and Tuscany and partially in Spoleto. Meanwhile, the alienation from Eastern Roman Empire grew greater. Several times, especially in 759, Paul feared that the Emperor would send an armament against Rome. Paul lived in continual dread lest Eastern Roman ambitions turn the Frankish influence in favour of the Lombards. This was actually attempted but Pepin held to his original foreign policy regarding Italy.
In 767 a Frankish synod was held at Gentilly, near Paris, at which the Church Doctrines concerning the Trinity and the veneration of images were maintained. Paul showed great activity and zeal in encouraging religious life at Rome. He turned his paternal home into a Monastery and built nearby the |Church of San Silvestro in Capite. The founding of this Church led to his holding a Synod at Rome in 761. To this Church and other Churches of Rome, Paul transferred the bones of numerous Martyrs from the decayed Sanctuaries in the Catacombs, devastated by the Lombards in 756. He transferred the relics of St Petronilla from the Catacomb of St Domitilla to a Chapel in St.Peter’s erected by his predecessor for this purpose. The legend of St Petronilla caused her, at that era, to be regarded as a daughter of St Peter and as such, she became the special Roman Patroness of the Frankish rulers.
Paul also built an Oratory of the Blessed Virgin in St Peter’s and a Church in honour of the Apostles on the Via Sacra beyond the Roman Forum. He died near the Church of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, where he had gone during the heat of summer. He was buried in this Church but after three months, his body was transferred to St Peter’s.
The “Liber Pontificalis” also praises the Christian charity and benevolence of the Pope which he united with firmness. His feast is celebrated today and he is listed in today’s Martyrology as Pope and Confessor.
Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ / Institution of the Angelus of Our Lady, Europe, (1456) – 28 June:
The institution of the Angelus occurred on 28-29 June about 1456 by Pope Callistus. The Turks had been threatening Europe and it was the Pope’s request that the Faithful recite the Angelus for the safety of Christendom against the Turks and for peace. The Angelus was first recited about sunset, a general practice throughout Europe in the first half of the 14th century, recommended by Pope John XXI. The morning Angelus seems to have started somewhat later, again, for peace. The recitation of the midday Angelus began sometime in the 14th or 15th century; it was called the “Peace Bell.” This present-day custom of reciting the Angelus is a short practice of devotion in honour of the Incarnation, repeated three times each day, morning, noon, and evening, at the sound of the Church bell.
It is curious how the Angelus is associated historically with the invasion of the Turks, again, in 1683, when they laid siege to Vienna. Emperor Leopold of Austria fled and begged for assistance and help from John Sobieski, a great Polish general, who gathered his army and hastened to the rescue, stopping at one of Our Lady’s Shrines in Poland, for blessing. On 11 September 1683, Sobieski was on the heights of Kahlenberg, near Vienna and the next day engaged in battle with the Turks. Brilliantly leading his troops, he forced the Turks into a trap but the number of the foe was so great, that he could not penetrate their ranks; then Sobieski’s cavalry turned in retreat, interpreted by the Turks as flight. The Turks rushed forward but were re-attacked. The shouts and cries of Sobieski’s men threw terror into the Turks, when they learned that Sobieski himself, “The Northern Lion,” was on the battlefield, for he had defeated the Turks in Poland on previous occasions and they feared him, therefore, the Turks fled panic-stricken. The battle raged for a time; all along the front was Sobieski commanding, fighting, encouraging his men and urging them forward. The Turks were finally defeated, Vienna and Christendom saved and the news was sent to Pope Innocent XI at Rome. Sobieski was a humble man, for in the height of his greatest victory, in a letter to Pope Innocent XI, he said it was God’s cause he was fighting for and Mary’s honour. His message to the Pope on the victory read: “I came, I saw but God and Mary conquered.” The day after the Battle, Sobieski entered Vienna victoriously. Later, he pursued the Turks into Hungary, again attacking and defeating them. The Turkish threat to Europe had been vanished forever, or at least until the 21st century.
Pope Innocent XI, after the battle of Vienna, requested the whole Christian world to recite the Angelus for peace. In our own time, we see the peaceful Moslem invasion of Europe, which once again, Poland is resisting.
The 500th anniversary of the Institution of the Angelus by Pope Callistus III, was a reminder to recite the centuries old prayer for peace and for the protection of the Christian world. Let us renew this pious practice if we have become lax in our devotion and let us pray the Angelus, for the protection of the Church in our own times, from the many menaces, on all fronts, internally and exteriorly facing the Faith and the world and the whole existence of the Catholic Church.
Bl Almus of Balmerino St Argymirus of Córdoba St Attilio of Trino St Austell of Cornwall St Benignus of Utrecht St Crummine Bl Damian of Campania St Egilo St Heimrad St Lupercio St Papias the Martyr
Martyrs of Africa – 27 saints: 27 Christians martyred together. The only details about them to survive are the names – Afesius, Alexander, Amfamon, Apollonius, Arion, Capitolinus, Capitulinus, Crescens, Dionusius, Dioscorus, Elafa, Eunuchus, Fabian, Felix, Fisocius, Gurdinus, Hinus, Meleus, Nica, Nisia, Pannus, Panubrius, Plebrius, Pleosus, Theoma, Tubonus and Venustus. Unknown location in Africa, date unknown.
Martyrs of Alexandria – 8 saints: A group of spiritual students of Origen who were martyred together in the persecutions of emperor Septimius Severus – Heraclides, Heron, Marcella, Plutarch, Potamiaena the Elder, Rhais, Serenus and Serenus. They were burned to death c.206 in Alexandria, Egypt.
Quote/s of the Day – 27 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – The Memorial of St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father and Doctor of the Church ) – “The Pillar of Faith” & “Seal of all the Fathers” – Doctor Incarnationis (Doctor of the Incarnation)
“Christ has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped but His, by essence and by nature.”
“Our lives are all controlled by the Spirit now and are not confined to this physical world that is subject to corruption. The light of the Only-begotten has shone on us and we have been transformed into the Word, the source of all life.”
“We must note, therefore, that he that does things pleasing to God, serves Christ but he that follows his own wishes, is a follower, rather of himself and not of God.”
“My sheep follow me,” says Christ. By a certain God-given grace, believers follow in the footsteps of Christ. No longer subject to the shadows of the Law , they obey the commands of Christ, and guided by His words, rise through grace, to His own dignity, for they are called children of God. When Christ ascends into heaven, they also follow Him.”
“The mark of Christ’s sheep is their willingness to hear and obey, just as disobedience is the mark of those who are not His. We take the word ‘hear’ to imply obedience to what has been said.”
“…[The Kingdom of God] … is within you. That is, it depends on your own wills and is in your own power, whether or not you receive it. Everyone, that has attained to justification, by means of faith in Christ and decorated by every virtue, is counted worthy, of the kingdom of heaven.”
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God By St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Virgin and Mother! Morning Star, perfect vessel. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Holy Temple in which God Himself was conceived. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Chaste and pure dove. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, who enclosed the One Who cannot be encompassed in your sacred womb. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, From you flowed the true light, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Through you the Conqueror and triumphant Vanquisher of hell, came to us. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Through you, the glory of the Resurrection blossoms. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, You have saved every faithful Christian. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen
St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father and Doctor of the Church
Saint of the Day – 27 June – Blessed Benvenutus of Gubbio OFM ) (Died 1232) Lay Brother of the Order of the Friars Minor of St Francis, ex-Soldier, apostle of the sick and of lepers. Benvenutus was graced with an ardent and mystical devotion to the Blessed Eucharist and to the Mother of God. So ardent was his faith and contemplation that he was seen to hold the Divine Infant in his arms. Born in the 12th-century Gubbio, Italy and died in 1232 in Corneto, Italy of natural causes. Also known as – Benvenuto.
In the Umbrian town of Gubbio, north of Assisi, there lived a Knight named Benvenutus, who had achieved great martial fame for his valour. When St Francis came to Gubbio in 1222 in order to preach in that vicinity, Benvenutus saw him and listened to him with astonishment. His martial spirit took great pleasure in the Saint’s perfect mortification and contempt of the world.
The grace of God so touched his heart, that, after a few days, Benvenutus presented himself to St Francis in complete knightly attire and entreated him humbly to admit him as a lay brother. Francis always had great esteem for soldiers who distinguished themselves in obedience, self-denial and fearless courage, for he considered such training a very good preparation for the religious life. Since Benvenutus evinced, in addition to these good qualities, a very profound humility, Francis recognised in him, the true soldier of Jesus Christ and gladly received him among his brethren.
Clad in a poor garment and girded with a cord, the stately warrior was now seen heroically overcoming himself. The poorest in clothing, dwelling and food was his choice. The purity of his heart shone in his countenance and in his entire external appearance. He seemed to have no will whatsoever of his own, so perfect in obedience was he at all times.
St Francis charged him with the care of the sick in a leper hospital. There he had, in truth, daily and hourly opportunities to practice heroic charity and self-denial. But Benvenutus was always seen, to wait upon the patients, even the most repulsive among them, with such cheerful devotion and care, as if he were serving his Divine Lord. Jesus Himself. Otherwise very serious and reserved, he was very sociable when he spoke to the sick and the depressed in order to cheer them up.
Benvenutus was also favoured by God with a high degree of contemplation. Sometimes he spent whole nights in prayer, pleading with God with burning tears ,for the conversion of sinners. Towards the Blessed Sacrament he entertained an ardent devotion filled with lively faith and frequently, our Diving Lord descended into his arms in the form of a charming child. He also had a very special devotion to Mary, the Blessed Mother of God.
The more completely, to purify his soul and increase his merit, God allowed Blessed Benvenutus to be seized with a severe illness, after he had himself tended the sick for many years. As his active charity formerly edified everybody, so his patience and perfect resignation to God’s holy will did so now in a greater degree. Blessed Benvenutusof Gubbio died ten years after his entrance into the Order, in 1232, in the City of Corneto.
Astonishing miracles wrought at the grave of Blessed Benvenutus gave evidence of his holiness, and attracted a great concourse of pilgrims, so that only a few years after his death, Pope Gregory IX sanctioned his public veneration in Corneto and the surrounding country. Pope Innocent XI extended the devotion to the entire Franciscan Order in the year 1697.
Matka Boża / Mother of God of Gietrzwald, Gietrzwałd, Olsztyński, Warmia, Poland, 1877 – 27 June, 8 September;
Our Lady appeared for the first time to Justyna Szafrynska (13) when she was returning home with her mother after having taken an examination prior to receiving the First Holy Communion. The next day, Barbara Samulowska (12) also saw the ‘Bright Lady’ sitting on the throne with Infant Christ among Angels over the maple tree in front of the church while reciting the rosary. The girls asked “Who are you?” she answered, “I am the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception!” “What do you require, Mother of God?” they asked, the answer was: “I wish you recite the Rosary everyday!” There were 13 more apparitions from 27 June 1877 to 16 September 1877. 2 February 1970 – Pope Paul VI elevated the Church in Gietrzwald to the rank of Basilica Minor.
St Adeodato of Naples St Aedh McLugack St Anectus of Caesarea St Arialdus of Milan St Arianell of Wales Blessed Benvenutus of Gubbio OFM ) (Died 1232) Lay brother of the Order of the Friars Minor of St Francis St Brogan St Crescens of Galatia St Crescentius of Mainz Bl Daniel of Schönau Bl Davanzato of Poggibonsi St Desideratus of Gourdon St Dimman St Felix of Rome St Ferdinand of Aragon St Gudene of Carthage
Bl Hemma of Gurk St Joanna the Myrrhbearer St John of Chinon
Blessed Maria Pia Mastena St Sampson of Constantinople St Spinella of Rome St Tôma Toán St Zoilus of Cordoba — Martyrs Killed Under Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe: Among the thousands of Christians murdered by various Communist regimes in their hatred of the faith, there were 25 members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Russian Byzantine Catholic Church, priests, bishops, sisters and lay people, whose stories are sufficiently well documented that we know they were murdered specifically for their faith in eastern Europe and whose Causes for Canonization were opened. Their Causes were combined and they were beatified together. They have separate memorials but are remembered together today. They are – • Andrii Ischak • Hryhorii Khomyshyn • Hryhorii Lakota • Ivan Sleziuk • Ivan Ziatyk • Klymentii Sheptytskyi • Leonid Feodorov • Levkadia Harasymiv • Mykola Konrad • Mykola Tsehelskyi • Mykolai Charnetskyi • Mykyta Budka • Oleksa Zarytskyi • Ol’Ha Bida • Ol’Ha Matskiv • Petro Verhun • Roman Lysko • Stepan Baranyk • Symeon Lukach • Vasyl Vsevolod Velychkovskyi • Volodomyr Bairak • Volodymyr Ivanovych Pryima • Yakym Senkivsky • Yosafat Kotsylovskyi • Zenon Kovalyk. Beatified – 27 June 2001 by Pope John Paul II in Ukraine.
Saint of the Day – St Anthelm of Belley O. Cart. (c 1105-1178) Bishop of Belley, France, Prior of the Carthusian Grand Chartreuse. Reformer, talented Administrator, founder of the female Carthusians and originated of the Carthusian Rule (with the zealous and llearned assistance of Bless John the Spaniard whom we celebrated yesterday), Apostle of the poor, the sick and the needy. Born in c 1105 near Chambéry, Savoy, France. and died in 1178 at Belley, France. Also known as – Anthelm de Chignin and Anthelme, Anthelmus.
Anthelm was a nobleman, born in the Castle of Chignin. He became a Priest early in life but after visiting the tranquil Carthusian Monastery of Portes, he decided to become a Monk and joined the Carthusians about 1137.
He was elected as the 7th Prior of the Grande Chartreuse, two years later, in 1139. Anthelm was responsible for guiding the Carthusians in their evolution into a unique religious order separate from the Benedictines. Charter houses had previously been separate and independent, subject only to local Bishops. Not only did he revitalise the Order, he also restored the physical facilities of the Charterhouse.
He summoned the first General Chapter and Grande Chartreuse became the Motherhouse. Anthelm commissioned Blessed John the Spaniard to draw up a Constitution for a community of women who wished to live under Carthusian rule.
He resigned as Prior in 1152 to live as a Hermit but was made Prior of Portes Monastery instead. During this time (1154-1156) he ordered the bounty that had accumulated as a result of the Monastery’s prosperity. to be distributed to those in need.
He returned to Grande Chartreuse, still wishing to live a solitary life but then he actively entered the conflict over the nomination of Pope Alexander III, whom he supported, against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa’s choice, Victor IV. With the Cistercian Abbot Geoffrey, Anthelm galvanised support for Pope Alexander III, who then nominated him to the See of Belley in 1163.
There he set out to reform the clergy, a particular concern being that of celibacy because some Priests practiced their priestly duties, while, at the same time, being openly married. He also punished evil-doers. So much did Anthelm endear himself to the people, that, after his death, the City was renamed Athelmopolis.
When Count Humbert III of Maurienne violated the Church’s jurisdiction over the clergy by imprisoning a Priest, Anthelm sent a clergyman to handle the matter. After the Priest was killed in a scuffle to rearrest him, Anthelm excommunicated the Count. The Pope invalidated the ban but Anthelm would not relent and returned to Portes in protest. Relations between the Pope and Anthelm remained open, however. He was asked by the Pope to go to England to try to bring about a reconciliation between King Henry II and Saint Thomas a Becket but unfortunately was unable to travel due to ill health.
By Francisco de Zurbarán
Anthelm established a community for women solitaries. To the end of his life, his heart was in his beloved Charterhouse, which he visited on every possible occasion.
The good Bishop spent his last years tending to the lepers and the poor. He was distributing food in a famine when he was felled by fever. As Anthelm lay dying, he was visited by Count Humbert who sought his forgiveness.
Miracles occurred at his tomb, one being. that, as he was lowered into the tomb, a lamp lit only for great festivals kindled spontaneously and shone brightly for some weeks.
Matka Boża Tęskniąca / Longing Mother of God, Warsaw, Poland – 26 June:
One of the oldest Churches in the Archdiocese of Warsaw is St Elizabeth Powsin Located on the main Altar is a painting of th Longing Mother of God– artist unknown – from the first half of the seventeenth century. At either side, the image is surrounded by statues of Saints Adalbert and Stanislaus – Polish Bishops and Martyrs. The testimony of miracles and graces relating to the Longing Mother of God icon, have been collected at least since the mid-seventeenth century. On 28 June 1998, the image became the fourth image of Mary in the Archdiocese of Warsaw to be canonically Crowned.
Bl Andrii Ischak St Anthelm of Belley O. Cart. (c 1105-1178) Bishop, Prior St Babolenus of Stavelot-Malmédy St Barbolenus of Fossés Bl Bartholomew of Vir St Corbican St David of Thessalonica St Deodatus of Nola St Dionysius of Bulgaria St Edburga of Gloucester St Hermogius of Tuy St Iosephus Ma Taishun St John of Rome St John of the Goths St José Maria Robles Hurtado
Blessed Jacques Ghazir Haddad OFM Cap (1875-1954) the “St Vincent de Paul of Lebanon,” “the Apostle of the Cross” and “the Apostle of Lebanon.” Priest, Religious of the Order of Friars Minor as a Capuchin Friar, Founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Cross of which he is the Patron, noted Preacher and founder of many orphanages and schools across Lebanon. Beautiful Blessed Jacques: https://anastpaul.com/2019/06/26/saint-of-the-day-blessed-jacques-ghazir-haddad-ofm-cap-1875-1954/
St Maxentius of Poitou St Medico of Otricoli Bl Mykola Konrad St Paul of Rome St Pelagius of Oviedo St Perseveranda of Poitiers Bl Raymond Petiniaud de Jourgnac St Salvius Bl Sebastian de Burgherre St Soadbair St Superius St Terence of Rome St Vigilius of Trent Bl Volodymyr Ivanovych Pryima — Martyrs of Africa – 4 saints: Four Christians who were martyred together – Agapitus, Emerita, Felix and Gaudentius at an unknown location in Africa, date unknown.
Martyrs of Alexandria – 3 saints: Three Christians who were martyred together, but we really know little more that the names – Agatho, Diogenes and Luceja. They were martyred in Alexandria, Egypt, date unknown.
Martyrs of Cambrai – 4 beati: Four Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul nuns at Arras, France. Imprisoned together in 1792 and executed together two years later in the anti-Catholic excesses of the French Revolution. They were: • Jeanne Gerard • Marie-Françoise Lanel • Marie-Madeleine Fontaine • Thérèse-Madeleine Fantou They were guillotined on 26 June 1794 at Cambrai, Nord, France and Beatified in June 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.
Saint of the Day – 25 June – Saint Adalbert of Egmond (Died c 740) Deacon, Confessor, Missionary, disciple of St Willibrord. Born in Northumbria, England and died in c 740 in Egmond, Holland of natural causes. Also known as – Adelbert, Aedelbert, Aedelbertus.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “In Holland, St Adalbert, Confessor, disciple of the sainted Bishop, Willibrord.”
Painting of Saints Boniface, Gregory the Great, Adalbert and a Priest, Jeroen van Noordwijk [nl], by Jan Joesten van Hillegom, 1530
According to our earliest source about Adalbert of Egmond, the tenth-century Vita Sancti Adelberti, Adalbert was born in Northumbria and came to Frisia as one of the companions of the Missionary, St Willibrord (d. 739).
Adalbert concentrated his efforts in preaching the Gospel to the area around present-day Egmond, North-Holland. He was beloved by the locals, who erected a little wooden Chapel in his honour at the site of his grave.
A prayer Shrine to St Adalbert in Egmond
Soon after his death in c 740, miracles started to take place: a widow who had prayed to the saint received her daily bread with the incoming tide; marauding Vikings who had their eyes set on Egmond were deceived by miraculously appearing mists.
In the tenth century, Adalbert visited the Nun, Wilfsit three times in a dream and told her that his bones should be exhumed and translated to her nunnery in Hallem (present-day Egmond-Binnen). Wilfsit contacted Count Dirk I of Holland (d. 939), who had the Church demolished and Adalbert’s bones dug up. As they did so, water welled up along with the saintly bones and a well was established on the site. Ever since, this well has been a holy place and has been visited by various pilgrims, among whom the blind Anglo-Saxon Folmar, whose sight was restored by drinking water from the well of Adalbert. A thousand years later, water can still be drunk from the well and for those of faith, miracles still occur.
The foundations of the original Church and St Adalbert’s Well
In the 18th century, in particular, water from the well was used to heal cows and other livestock. Interestingly, a nearby Abbey, named after Saint Adalbert, uses water from the well to brew its own beer. The beer is entitled ‘Sancti Adalberti Miraculum Novum’ – the latest miracle of Saint Adalbert!
St Adalbert of Egmond (Died c 740) Deacon, Missionary_ St Amand of Coly Bl Burchard of Mallersdorf St Cyneburga of Gloucester St Domingo Henares de Zafra Cubero Bl Dorothy of Montau St Eurosia of Jaca St Febronia of Nisibis Bl Fulgentius de Lara St Gallicanus of Embrun St Gallicanus of Ostia St Gohard of Nantes Bl Guy Maramaldi Bl Henry Zdick Bl John the Spaniard St Luceias and Companions
One Minute Reflection – 24 June – The Solemnity of the Nativity of St John the Baptist – Readings: Isaiah 49:1-6, Psalm 139:1-3, 13-15, Acts 13:22-26, Luke 1:57-66, 80
“The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.” – Isaias 49:1
REFLECTION – “The birth of John the Baptist is full of miracles. An Archangel announced the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus; similarly, an Archangel announced the birth of John (Lk 1:13) and said: “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb.” The Jewish people did not see that our Lord did “signs and wonders” and healed their illnesses but John leapt for joy when he was still in his mother’s womb. It was impossible to hold him back and when the mother of Jesus arrived, the child already tried to come out of Elizabeth’s womb. “The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby leapt in my womb for joy.” (Lk 1:44) Still in his mother’s womb, John had already received the Holy Spirit …
Scripture then says: “Many of the sons of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.” (Lk 1:16) John brought back “a large number,” the Lord brought back not a large number but everyone. For it is his task to bring all men back to God the Father …
I, for my part, think that the mystery of John is being fulfilled in the world until the present. The spirit and the power of John, must first fill the soul of whoever is destined to believe in Christ Jesus, “to prepare for the Lord a people well-disposed” (Lk 1:17) and to “make ready the way of the Lord, [to] clear him a straight path” (Lk 3:5) in the roughness of their hearts. Not only at that time were “the winding paths … made straight and the rough ways smooth;” rather, the spirit and the power of John still go before the Lord and Saviour’s coming today. Oh greatness of the Lord’s mystery and of his plan for the world! ” – Origen Adamantius (c 185-253) Priest, Theologian, Exegist, Writer, Apologist, Father – Homilies on St Luke, no. 4, 4-6
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, You sent St John the Baptist, to the people of Israel to make them ready for Christ the Lord. Give us the grace of joy in the Spirit and guide the hearts of all the faithful, in the way of salvation and peace, as they harken to the voice of John, the Lord’s herald and bring them safely to Jesus, whom John foretold. St John the Baptist, may your intercession for the Church, bring us to the Light and the Way. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God with You, forever amen.
Saint of the Day – 23 June – St John Theristus (c 1049-1129) Italian Basilian Monk and Hermit, called Theristus or “Harvester,” miracle-worker. Born in c 1049 im Palermo, Sicily and died on 24 June 1129 at Calabria, Sicily.
John’s father, Arconte di Cursano, a farmer near Botterio Signore in the territory of Stylus, was killed in a Saracen raid on the coasts of Calabria. His Calabrian mother was captured Saracens and brought to Palermo, where she gave birth. He grew up in the Christian faith in a Muslim environment. At the age of 14, he was encouraged by his mother to flee to his native country. He crossed the Strait of Messina in a boat without oars or sail and reached Monasterace. The inhabitants, seeing him dressed as a Moor, took him to the Bishop, who interrogated him. The boy answered that he was seeking Baptism but the bishop subjected him to harsh trials before giving him his name, being ‘John” after St John the Baptist, whose feast day it was, telling little John to spend his life in imitation of the great Precursor of Christ.
Once he grew up, he felt more and more attracted to the life of the Monks who lived in the caves around Stylus, fascinated by the example of two Basilian ascetics, Ambrose and Nicholas. After much insistence, despite his young age, he was admitted into the community. He distinguished himself by virtue, so such an extent, that he was later elected Abbot. He found in Cursano a treasure that belonged to his family and following the rule of Saint Basil. he distributed it to the poor.
St John’s cell
Once in June, at harvest time, he went to visit a knight who had provided food for the Monastery. He took with him a flask of wine and some bread. When he arrived at two fields, called Marone and Maturavolo, he offered the farmers the bread and wine. A furious storm arose, risking destruction of the harvest but through John’s prayer the storm retreated until the wheat had been harvested and gathered in sheaves. Thus he helped to miraculously harvest a large crop ahead of destructive weather, saving the locals from starvation. This and other miracles testifying to the help given to the farmers, earned him the nickname of Therìstis, that is “harvester” or “reaper.” The owner of the fields, struck by the incident, donated much of his harvest to the Monastery.
According to tradition, King Roger, suffering from an incurable wound on his face, was healed upon contact with John’s tunic and many others were healed: crippled, blind, deaf and demonic. Roger II then founded the Monastery of St. John in Nemore and named it after John Theristus.
The memory of John Theristus is found in all Greek traditions. It also entered the Roman Martyrology on 24 June. In 1660 Pope Alexander VIII had his body transferred to Stylus to avoid the raids of brigands and earthquakes. On 12 March 1662, together with the relics of Saints Ambrose and Nicholas, the remains were placed in a Church built by the Minims Fathers and later purchased by the Basilians who dedicated it to our Saint In 1791 it passed to the Redemptorists, who embellished the Church and Convent with marble works. In the left aisle, under the Altar, are venerated the relics of St John and his fellow Monks and mentors, Ambrose and Nicholas. The Convent is accessed through a marble portal. In the centre of the Cloister stands an ancient well in pink granite with four columns, covered by a canopy surmounted by a tin ship, with a praying child holding a Cross, in memory of the young John’s miraculous journey by sea.
Madonna della Navicella / Our Lady of the Ship , Chioggia, Venezia, Veneto, Italy (1508) – 24 June:
On 24 June 1508, in the afternoon, a strong storm, with disastrous effects, hit the inhabited area of Chioggia and Sottomarina. Rain, wind and storm had lashed the coast for a few hours. In the evening, fortunately, the storm abated and the weather improved. A greengrocer, Baldissera Zalon, went to the vegetable gardens, where the Sanctuary now stands , to see for himself the damage that the powerful storm had caused. Baldissera was a simple man, a peasant, who lived near his fields and lived on his work in the vegetable gardens. As soon as he left the house, after scanning the clouds of the sky that were moving away and the setting sun was peeping, he heard himself called by name. After the first moments of amazement, Baldissera turned and saw a majestic Lady, all dressed in black, who sat on a treetrunk thrown on the beach by the waves of the stormy sea. The greengrocer was stunned, so much so, that he was about to pass out, when the Lady revealed to him that she was the Mother of God, giving him courage and inviting him to go to the Bishop to warn him that the sins of the Chioggia challenged the justice of God and that penance had to be preached tenaciously, to avoid worse punishment. Then the Lady got on a craft that was near the shore but before leaving and disappearing, she opened her cloak showing the wounded and bleeding body of Jesus, making it clear that it had also been reduced by the sins of the Chioggiotti.
Baldiserra wasted no time and went to the Bishop, who organised a pilgrimage to the place of the apparition and the turnout of the faithful became more and more consistent day after day. In a short time, a Chapel was built on the spot and then, in 1515, a Sanctuary which was, however, destroyed in 1814. The current Church was built between 1952 and 1958 and was Consecrated on 24-25 June 1958 by Bishop Piasentini. The miraculous image was found, according to popular belief, a few days after the apparition, together with the log on which the Madonna sat when she appeared to Baldissera. The image and the LOG are preserved and are visible in the Basilica of San Giacomo.
St Aglibert of Créteil St Agoard of Créteil St Alena of Brussels St Amphibalus of Verulam
Bl Christopher de Albarran St Erembert I of Kremsmünster St Faustus of Rome and Companions St Festus of Rome St Germoc St Gohardus of Nantes Bl Henry of Auxerre/the Hagiographer St Ivan of Bohemia St John of Rome St John Theristus (c 1049-1129) Monk St John of Tuy St Joseph Yuan Zaide Bl Maksymilian Binkiewicz
St Rumold St Simplicio of Autun Bl Theodgar of Vestervig St Theodulphus of Lobbes — Martyrs of Satala: Seven Christian brothers who were soldiers in the imperial Roman army. They were kicked out of the military, exiled and eventually martyred in the persecutions of Maximian. We know little more about them than their names – Cyriacus, Firminus, Firmus, Longinus, Pharnacius, Heros and Orentius. The martyrdoms occurred in c 311 at assorted locations around the Black Sea.
Quote/s of the Day – 23 June – The Memorial of St Joseph Cafasso (1811-1860)
“A single word from him – a look, a smile, his very presence – sufficed to dispel melancholy, drive away temptation and produce holy resolution in the soul.”
St John Bosco, writing about St Joseph
“All a person’s holiness, perfection and profit lies in doing God’s will perfectly…. Happy are we, if we succeed in pouring out our heart into God’s, in uniting our desires and our will to His, to the point, that one heart and one will are formed, wanting, what God wants, wanting, in the way, in the time and in the circumstances, what He desires and willing it all, for no other reason, than that God wills it.”
“We are born to love, we live to love and we will die, to love still more.”
“Never do anything that your heart tells you, is displeasing to Mary and, in addition, never deny her anything that you know she would welcome and desire from you.”
“Heaven is filled with converted sinners , of all kinds and there is room for more!”
Saint of the Day – 23 June – Blessed Marie of Oignies (1167-1213) Recluse, Mystic, Ascetic, chastely married in continence, spiritual advisor., gifted with supernatural insight and prophesy. Marie had a deep devotion to the Passion, the Blessed Virgin and for the Souls in Purgatory, for whom she offered many prayers and penances. Born in 1167 at Nivelles, Diocese of Liege, Belgium and died n 23 June 1213 of natural causes. Patronages – against fever, of women in labour . Also known as Mary, Maria, Mariam. Miriam.
Marie of Oignies was born of very wealthy parents. But while still very young, she rejected everything childish or vain — games, beautiful clothing, ornaments. At the age of fourteen, despite her desire to be a nun, she was obliged to marry a virtuous young lord. Her holy life caused admiration in her spouse and decided him to follow her examples and together they resolved to practice continence for life, to distribute their wealth to the poor and consecrate themselves to works of piety. The demon tried every artifice to make them relent in their holy resolution but failed. They drew down on themselves the most abundant blessings, as well as sarcasms and insults from the worldly.
Marie had the gift of tears and could not look at a Crucifix without breaking into a torrent of tears or being ravished in ecstasy. When a Priest told her to cease these exhibitions, she asked God to make him understand that it was not possible for a creature to arrest tears which the Holy Spirit obliges to well up. And the Priest, that same day while saying his Mass, began to shed so many tears that the Altar cloths and his vestments, were wet with them.
She had a great devotion to Saint John the Evangelist and conversed with him, as well as with her Guardian Angel. By vision and revelation, she often knew the temptations and secrets of the hearts of the persons who consulted her. She converted many, obtained graces by her prayers for the living and especially for the dead, for whom she offered prayers and sacrifices and suffered various illnesses with invincible patience. Her many visitors made her life of contemplation difficult and she decided to change her residence; her husband permitted her to go to Oignies, where she lived in retreat amidst her heavenly favours and conversations.
She saw the place destined for her in heaven and gave up her holy soul surrounded by angelic songs of bliss. The faithful who had addressed her, were so impressed with the value of her intercession, that her relics became the object of great respect. Buried at Oignies, her remains in 1609 were placed in a silver reliquary in its Parish Church of Our Lady; in 1817 they were transferred to the Church of Saint Nicolas at Nivelle, near her birthplace.
Saint John‘s Eve Vigil of the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Madonna del Sasso, Bibbiena, Arezzo, Toscana, Italy (1347) – 23 June:
The little seer , Caterina, 7 years old, while her mother was washing clothes in the Vessa stream, moved away a little, placing herself near a stone . Here she saw a beautiful lady dressed all in white who, having entered the nearby field of beans, collected several and placed them in the bosom of the girl. Meanwhile, the mother was busy and the little girl ran to tell her of the lady and showed her the beans she had received but the mother paid no attention to her daughter’s meeting.
Returning to the village, Caterina complained to her mother because the beans had grown so much that their weight was difficult for her to bear but her mother told her to be patient as they would soon be home. In the evening, the mother wanted to cook some of those beans but she noticed that they were full of blood. The whole country ran to see the prodigy. The following morning, everyone went in procession to the stone and here they decided to build a Chapel in honour of the Madonna. The apparition of the Madonna del Sasso was preceded and followed by two further miraculous events.
Also in 1347, shortly before the vision, a white dove appeared on the top of the stone and was approached only by children and an old hermit , Beato Martino da Poppi, a Camaldolese Monk, who had his hermitage nearby . When the children approached it, the dove pecked at their fingers and hands but if adults approached, it flew away. In 1444, several people saw golden-blue light globes inside and outside the C hurch these appeared for about three months The podestà, together with some family and friends, returning from a hunting party, about 300 meters away from the sacred stone, saw a crowd of white-dressed young men heading in procession to the Church. A small Chapel was immediately built next to the boulder, later enlarged to include the entire boulder. It now host sthe beautiful image of the Madonna del Sasso, painted by Bicci di Lorenzo in 1435 . This image miraculously remained intact in the fire that completely destroyed the Church in 1486.
The Dominican Fathers were custodians of the Sanctuary since 1468,. They immediately worked on the construction of the current Sanctuary, in pure Renaissance style, based on a design by Giuliano da Maiano. A great amount of funds for the construction of the Sanctuary and Convent, came from Savonarola in 1495, who solicited help from noble families of Florence and from the Medici in particular.
Bl Félix of Cîteaux St Felix of Sutri Bl Frances Martel Bl Francis O’Sullivan St Hidulphus of Hainault St James of Toul St John of Rome
St Joseph Cafasso (1811-1860) “Priest of the Gallows”, Priest, Theology Lecturer, Social Reformer, Confessor, Spiritual Director (of St John Bosco and quite a few other Saints), Rector of a post-Ordination Theological College, member of the Third Order of St Francis. His will bequeathed everything to aid the Little House of Divine Providence which was the religious order founded by St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842). St John Bosco (1815-1888) preached the funeral Mass homily. Patronages – Italian prisons, Prison chaplains, Prisoners, those condemned to death. St Joseph Cafasso’s Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/23/saint-of-the-day-23-june-st-joseph-cafasso-1811-1860-priest-of-the-gallows/
Bl Lupo de Paredes Blessed Marie of Oignies (1167-1213) Recluse, Mystic, Ascetic St Moeliai of Nendrum Bl Peter of Juilly Bl Thomas Corsini of Orvieto St Thomas Garnet Bl Walhere of Dinant St Zenas of Philadelphia St Zeno of Philadelphia — Martyrs of Ancyra: A family of converts who were arrested, tortured and sent in chains to Ancyra, Galatia (modern Ankara, Turkey) where he was tortured more by order of governor Agrippinus during the persecutions of Diocletian. Martyr. They were – Eustochius, Gaius, Lollia, Probus, Urban. They were roasted over a fire and finally beheaded c 300 in Ancyra, Galatia (modern Ankara, Turkey).
Martyrs of Nicomedia: During the persecutions of Diocletian, many Christians fled their homes to live in caves in the area of Nicomedia. In 303 troops descended on the area, systematically hunted them down and murdered all they could find.
Quote/s of the Day – 22 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – The Memorial of St Paulinus of Nola (c 354-431)
“He is the Light of Truth, the Path of life, the Power and Mind, Hand and Strength of the Father. He is the Sun of Justice, Source of Blessings, Flower of God, God’s Son, Creator of the world, Life of our mortality and Death to our death. He is the Master of the virtues. He is God to us …!”
“By His rights as Lord, He demands wholly our hearts, tongues and heads. He wishes to be the object of our thought and understanding, our belief and reading, our fear and love. . . ”
Above Poem 10, from The Poems of St. Paulinus of Nola,
“With all my heart I pray, for the hope of heaven because hope and faith, are of much more value, than all the riches of this world.”
“The man without Christ is dust and shadow.”
St Paulinus of Nola (c 354-431) Bishop, Confessor, Father of the Church
Saint of the Day – 22 June – Blessed Pope Innocent V OP (c 1225-1275) Bishop of Rome and Ruler of the Papal States from 21 January to 22 June 1276 (the date of his death), Friar of the Order of Preachers, Theologian, renowned Preacher, Scholar, Writer, Dominican Office bearer, disciple of St Albert the Great and collaborator and friend of St Thomas Aquinas.and St Bonaventure. He acquired a reputation as an effective preacher. He held one of the two “Dominican Chairs” at the University of Paris, the other being held by St Albert the Great and was instrumental in helping with the compilation of the “program of studies” for the Order. In 1269, Peter of Tarentaise was Provincial of the French Province of Dominicans. He was a close collaborator of Blessed Pope Gregory X, who named him Bishop of Ostia and raised him to Cardinal in 1273. Upon the death of Gregory in 1276, Peter was elected Pope, taking the name Innocent V. He died about five months later but during his brief tenure facilitated a peace between Genoa and King Charles I of Sicily. Innocent V was Beatified on 9 March 1898 by Pope Leo XIII. Born in c 1225 at Tarentaise, Burgundy, France as Petrus a Tarentasia and died on 22 June 1276 at Rome, Italy of natural causes. Also known as – Doctor famosissimus, Petrus a Tarentasia, Peter of Tarentaise.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “At Rome, Blessed Innocent V, Pope who laboured with mildness and prudence, to maintain liberty for the Church and harmony among Christians. The veneration paid to him. Pope Leo XIII approved and confirmed.”
Petrus a Tarentasia, was barely 10 years old when he was admitted to the Dominican Order by Blessed Jordan of Saxony as a boy-novice and sent to Paris to study. Like Saint Thomas Aquinas, Blessed Ambrose of Siena and other luminaries of the 13th century, he fell under the masterly tutelage of Saint Albert the Great. He received his Master’s Degree in theology in 1259, then he taught for some years in Paris, where he contributed a great deal to the Order’s reputation for learning. He wrote a number of commentaries on Scripture and the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard but he devoted most of his time to the classroom. He soon became famous as a preacher and theologian, and in 1259, with a committee including his friend Thomas Aquinas, composed a plan of study that is still the basis of Dominican teaching.
At age 37, Peter began the long years of responsibility in the various offices he was to hold in his lifetime as Prior Provincial of France. He visited ,on foot, all Dominican houses under his care and was then sent to Paris to replace Thomas Aquinas at the University of Paris. Twice Provincial, he was chosen Archbishop of Lyons in 1272 and administered the affairs of the Diocese for some time, though he was never actually Consecrated for that See.
The next year Peter was appointed Cardinal-Archbishop of Ostia, Italy, while still administering the See of Lyons. With the great Franciscan, Saint Bonaventure, he assumed much of the labour of the Council of Lyons, to which Saint Thomas was hastening at the time of his death. To the problems of clerical reform and the healing of the Greek schism the two gifted Friars devoted their finest talents. Before the Council was over, Bonaventure died, and Peter of Tarentaise preached the funeral panegyric.
In January 1276, Peter was with Blessed Pope Gregory X when the latter died at Arezzo. The conclave was held in the following month. On 21 January, 1276, Peter of Tarentaise received every vote except his own. With a sad heart, he left the seclusion of his religious home to ascend the Fisherman’s Throne as Pope Innocent V.
The reign of the new Pope, which promised so much to a harassed people, was to be very brief. But, imbued with the spirit of the Apostles, he crowded a lifetime into the short space given him.
He instigated a new crusade against the Saracens and began reforms in the matter of regular observance. He actually succeeded in solving many of the questions of the Greek schism and in establishing a short-lived truce. He struggled to reconcile the Guelphs and Ghibellines, restored peace between Pisa and Lucca and acted as mediator between Rudolph of Hapsburg and Charles of Anjou. He restored the custom of personally assisting at choral functions with the canons of the Lateran and he inspired all, with the love that animated his heart.
Had the measures begun by Innocent V had time to be fully realised, he might have accomplished great good for the Church; he did at least open the way for those who were to follow him.
Death stopped the hand of the zealous Pope when he had reigned only five months. Like his friends Saint Thomas and Saint Bonaventure, he was untouched by the honours and dignity with which he had been favoured and death found him exactly what he had been for more than 40 years–a simple, humble Friar.
Madonna Ta’ Pinu, Gharb, Gozo, Malta ( 1883) – 22 June and 15 Augus,the Feast of the Assumpton:
“Ta’ Pinu” means “Philip’s,” a reference to Pinu (Philip) Gauchi, who financed restoration of the country Chapel and in 1619, commissioned its Altarpiece, a painting of the Assumption by Amadeo Perugino. The Chapel was again in disrepair by 22 June 1883, when Karmela Grima, a 40, year old woman, heard a female voice coming from the Chapel on her way home from the nearby fields: “Come, because it will be another year before you will be able to return.” After Karmela knelt to pray in the Chapel, the voice said, “Recite three Hail Marys in honour of the three days my body remained in the tomb” (before being assumed into heaven). Very soon the pious woman fell ill, remaining bedridden over a year without telling anyone about the voice. In 1885, she told a friend, Francesco Pinelli, who revealed that about the same time, he also had heard a woman’s voice, asking for devotion to the “hidden wound” of her Son from carrying the Cross. When Francesco’s mother was miraculously healed after praying to Our Lady of Ta Pinu, the isolated Chapel began attracting pilgrims. Soon a better building was needed. A new Church, begun in 1920, was finally Consecrated in 1932. Still a place of pilgrimage, its major festival is the Assumption, on 15 August.
Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Of Ta’ Pinu.
Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary holds an annual ceremony of the presentation of babies to Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu, during which. Baptised babies are presented to The Blessed Mother of Ta’ Pinu, while the parents pray to the Mother of God that she may keep her maternal protection over their children and families. The Virgin of Ta’ Pinu has often been connected to several miraculous cures and graces, of both Maltese and foreigners, who have been saved, cured or helped through the intercession of the Virgin. The Sanctuary is adorned with many ex-votos which have been left by those who have either been cured, saved or received favours and graces through the intercession of Our Lady Of Ta’ Pinu. Today, these can still be seen by the many people who everyday visit the Basilica.
A mosaic of the Altarpiece image, one of 6 mosaics. There are also 76 stained glass windows in the Basilica.
Some of the ex-voto in the Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary.
St Paulinus of Nola (c 354-431) Bishop, Confessor, Poet, Writer, Apostle of Charity, Preacher, Orator, Senator and Governor. St Paulinus was an inspiration to many—including six great Saints of the Church, who referenced him in letters of encouragement to others: St Augustine, St Jerome, Melania, St Martin of Tours, St Gregory and St Ambrose. St Augustine wrote, “Go to Campania– there study Paulinus, that choice servant of God. With what generosity, with what still greater humility, he has flung from himself the burden of this world’s grandeurs to take on him the yoke of Christ and in His service how serene and unobtrusive his life!” About St Paulinus: https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/22/saint-of-the-day-22-june-st-paulinus-of-nola-c-354-431/
St Aaron of Brettany St Aaron of Pais-de-Laon St Alban of Britain Bl Altrude of Rome St Consortia St Cronan of Ferns St Eberhard of Salzburg St Eusebius of Samosata St Exuperantius of Como St Flavius Clemens St Gregory of Agrigento St Heraclius the Soldier St Hespérius of Metz Blessed Pope Innocent V OP (c 1225-1275) Papal Ascesion 21 January 1276 St John IV of Naples St Julius of Pais-de-Laon Bl Kristina Hamm Bl Marie Lhuilier St Nicetas of Remesiana St Precia of Epinal St Rotrudis of Saint-Omer St Rufinus of Alexandria — Martyrs of Samaria – 1480 saints: 1480 Christians massacred in and near Samaria during the war between the Greek Emperor Heraclius and the pagan Chosroas of Persia. c 614 in the vicinity of Samaria, Palestine.
Thought for the Day – 21 June – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
St Aloysius Gonzaga
“St Aloysius Gonzaga is one of the outstanding models of holy purity, for young and old alike. We are told, that when he was nine years of age and went to the City of Florence, he went to the Church of the Annunziata, to pray before the picture of our Blessed Lady. It was then, that he experienced the ardent desire to consecrate himself to God. He was the eldest son of Prince Ferdinand de Gonzaga and, therefore, heir to his father’s title. But, from this moment, he was determined to spend his life in the service of God. He made a vow of perpetual chastity and placed himself under the protection of the Blessed Virgin.
Now, his life became a continual ascent towards perfection. Hs chastity, which he had offered to Our Lady, remained spotless until his death. The spirit of evil could make no headway against his angelic virtue. This was a grace which he merited as a result of his prayers and penances. He often spent three or four hours, kneeling in prayer and contemplation. Even at night, he rose from his bed, in order to pray. His mind and heart where in Heaven, rather than upon earth. His prayer was an intimate conversation with Jesus, Mary and the Saints. Innocent though he was, he practised servere mortifications. Believing himself to be a great sinner, he scourged his body until his blood flowed freely and deprived himself of food and sleep.
Do we wish to preserve our purity and to become saints? If so, let us remember that without prayer and mortification, this is impossible. Jesus said to His disciples “that they must always pray and not lose heart” (Lk 18:1) “Pray” He said again, “that you may not enter into temptation” (Lk 22:40) and further, “Unless you repent, you will all perish” (Lk 13:5).”
Quote/s of the Day – 21 June – The Memorial of St Aloysius de Gonzaga SJ (1568-1591)
“There is no more evident sign that anyone is a saint and of the number of the elect, than to see him leading a good life and, at the same time, a prey to desolation, suffering and trials.”
O Holy Mary, my mistress, into your blessed trust and special custody and into the grasp of your mercy I this day, everyday and in the hour of my death, commend my soul and my body. To you, I commit, all my anxieties and miseries, my life and the end of my life, that by your most holy intercession and by your merits all my actions may be directed and disposed according to your will and that of your Son. Amen
Saint of the Day – 21 June – Saint Alban of Mainz (Died c 400) Martyr, Priest, Missionary, Confessor Born in Greece or Albania (sources vary) and died in c 400 by pagan Vandals at Hanum, Germany. His body was beheaded post-mortem. Patronages – against epilepsy, of epileptics, against kidney stones, against hernia; hernia victims. Also known as – Albano di Magonza, Albinus of Mainz.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “St Alban. Martyr, who was made worthy of the crown of life, after long laours and severe combats.”
The oldest surviving substantial source about Alban of Mainz is the Martyrologium (c 845) of Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856), who had two separate entries for the Mainzer Alban and the English Alban. Concerning Alban of Mainz, he wrote:
21 June: The Martyr Alban from native Moguntia [Mainz], who during the reign of Emperor Theodosius went forward from the island of Namsia with the Saint Theonestus and Ursus and reached Mediolanum [Milan] and from there he went out and, with the help of the Lord, he arrived in the provinces of Gaul, and stayed there in the Saviour’s name, willing to suffer Martyrdom in the service of God. But after Martyrdom took the blessed Ursus in the City of Augusta, Theonestus arrived with Alban in Moguntiacum [Mainz]; while preaching the word of God there, his pupil Alban fulfilled Martyrdom and was buried there, near the City.
— Rabanus Maurus, Martyrologium. Iunius (c. 845)
The second substantial source is the Passio sancti Albani, an incomplete hagiography written in the 1060s or 1070s by schoolmaster Gozwin, who lamented that very little evidence about Alban had survived to his day. Gozwin’s account is much longer and adds many elements not found in Rabanus’ Martyrologium, including a prologue about the First Council of Nicaea (325) which condemned Arianism, that, nevertheless, persisted until Honorius and Arcadius succeeded Theodosius (395). In that time, Alban is mentioned as one of four disciples of St Theonestus, the others being Sts Ursus, Tabraha and Tabratha. These five Catholic clerics are forced to flee from North Africa to Italy after being persecuted by Huneric, the fiercely Arian King of the Vandals, travelling to St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. The most wise Ambrose teaches Theonestus and his disciples refined theology and sends them out to convert the ‘Arian beasts’ in Gaul and Germany. They pass a City called Augusta, where Ursus is killed by Arians, and Alban is eventually beheaded in Mainz by local Arians to whom he was preaching the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity. The legend finishes by narrating, that Alban carried his head in his hands to the place where he wanted to be buried.
A Church and Monastery were built in Mainz in 804 to honour Alban. A map of Fulda from 786 seems to have already mentioned a chapel in Mainz dedicated to Alban. It became the centre of Saint Alban’s Abbey, a large Benedictine Monastery, which was renovated by Charlemagne in 806. The Monastery was devastated in 1557 and never restored.
Albert II, Count of Namur founded the collegiate Church of St Alban at Namur in 1047. When the Diocese of Namur was created in 1559, it was expanded as St Aubin’s Cathedral, which claims to possess relics of Alban of Mainz.
Madonna dei Miracoli / Our Lady of the Miracles, Alcamo, Sicily (1547) – 21 June:
The Processional Statue
The cult of Our Lady of the Miracles in Alcamo dates to 21 June 1547, the day people remember the Madonna’s apparition to some women near a stream running north of Alcamo. According to tradition while washing their clothes in the stream, the women, with a blind and a deaf one among them, saw the apparition of a woman with a child and were hit by a gust of pebbles, during the apparition but without receiving any injury or pain; on the contrary, after being hit by the pebbles, they strangely felt a certain sense of wellbeing and recovered their health. After learning the news, the women’s husbands, thinking that it was a joke, went to investigate, thinking that someone was hidden among the bushes but they didn’t find anybody. Then the local authorities inquired on the spot, cut down the near grove and found the ruins of a “cuba,” an old arc of a mill that nobody remembered any longer and insidem there was a fresco on a stone made by an anonymous painter of the 13th century representing Our Lady with the Child Jesus, which at first. the believers called “Madonna Fons Misericordiae” (that is Our Lady Source of Mercy).
A representation of the discovery of Our Lady of Miracles’ image (inside its Chapel in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption in Alcamo).
After this discovery, all the people started praying before the rediscovered image and in the following days there were several miracles. Our Lady of Miracles became the Patron of Alcamo, in substitution of the Holy Crucified, who was the Patron Saint of Alcamo and other near small towns (among which Calatafimi and Salemi). The old Patron Saint’s memory however, remains: in fact, they call St Francesco of Paola “santu patri” (whose translation means “Patron Saint”) as the Church named after him was called the Holy Crucified Church. The Madonna’s discovered image was first called “Our Lady Source of Mercy” but thanks to the high number of subsequent miracles, in 1583 the name was changed into “Our Lady of Miracles”. Further to these events, Don Fernando Vega, Alcamo’s governor, ordered the construction of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Miracles, which hosts the Madonna’s image. Inside the Church there is a white marble sarcophagus containing the mortal remains of the governor Don Fernando Vega, according to his will.
The Crowned Painting of the Madonna of Miracles in the Sanctuary at Alcamo
Every year in Alcamo there are the celebrations in honour of Our Lady of Miracles from 19 June until 21 of June. This is the most important religious festivity in Alcamo. The real celebrations are often anticipated by other events, so extending the feast to about two weeks, in this way the beginning of the celebrations changes every year, while the last day is always the 21 June. The celebrations include: The pealing of church bells” which opens the celebrations together with the burst of fireworks and the passing of the band through the town streets; in the past Alcamo’s band also joined the musical band of Partinico (a neighbouring small town). The Holy Mass in honour of Our Lady of Miracles in the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta (also called “Mother Church”), in which all confraternities and laity groups in Alcamo take part. The procession to the Sanctuary of Madonna of Miracles (called “calata”), in which all civil and religious authorities of the town (together with the Mayor) take part; they are preceded by the band of the town. In old times people took also the animals that had recovered from an illness. Inside the Sanctuary they sing Vespers and then there is the Eucharistic Blessing/Benediction.
St Raymond of Barbastro St Rufinus of Syracuse St Suibhne the Sage St Terence St Ursicenus of Pavia — Martyrs of Taw – 3+ saints: Three Christians of different backgrounds who were martyred together – Moses, Paphnutius, Thomas. They were beheaded in Taw, Egypt, date unknown.
Saint of the Day – 20 June – Blessed Francisco Pacheco SJ (1566-1626) Martyr, Priest of the Society of Jesus, Missionary to India, China and Japan, Provincial Superior. Born in 1566 in Ponte de Lima, Braga, Portugal and died by being burned at the stake on 20 June 1626 in Nagasaki, Japan. Also known as – Francesco, Francis.
Francisco Pacheco was the most experienced Jesuit who died a Martyr during the Great Persecution in Japan between 1617 and 1632. At the time of his arrest, he was Provincial Superior of the Jesuits and Apostolate Administrator of the Diocese and his imprisonment was a serious loss to the Christian community struggling to survive the persecution.
Fr Pacheco was born in Ponte di Lima, near Braga, Portugal, of noble parents. As a youth he heard of the exploits of Missionaries in Japan and dreamed of imitating them. While at the Jesuit school in Lisbon, he also watched the annual departure of the Jesuit Nissionaries and this further strengthened his resolve and thus he decided to join the Society in 1585. His request to go to the missions was only granted seven years later and his first stop was Goa, India where he continued his studies. He then went on to Macau to further continue his studies before being Ordained.
Fr Pacheco finally set forth for Japan in 1604 and spent four years in the capital of Osaka, Miyako (today’s Kyoto) before taking up his next appointment as Head of the Jesuit college in Macau. In 1614, he returned to Japan and became Vicar General to Bishop Luis de Cerqueira and was based in Nagasaki until the promulgation of the shogun’s decree in 1614 banishing all foreign Missionaries and forbidding Japanese Christians to practice their religion.
Fr Pacheco’s exile in Macau was a short one as he returned secretly to Japan the following year, disguised as a merchant and took up Missionary work at Takaku and the islands of Amakusa and Kani. During those years of fierce persecution he sadly saw thousands of Christians give up their religion under governmental pressure and fear of torture. He also witnessed the terrible deaths of his brother Jesuits and hundreds of Christians who remained steadfast in their faith, though it meant beheading or death by slow fire. Fr Pacheco knew that the longer he remained in Japan the closer was his Martyrdom.
Following his appointment as the Jesuits’ Provincial Superior, Fr Pacheco moved his residence from Nagasaki to the seaport of Kuchinotsu in Arima which had better security and better contact with the Jesuits in Japan. The search for Jesuit Missionaries was intensified when more spies were recruited by Shogun Iyemitsu. Fr Pacheco was betrayed by his former host, an apostate who because of the reward money and hoping to gain favour with the district governor, revealed where he was With 200 soldiers surrounding the house, Fr Pacheco and two of his Catechists, Paul Kinsuke and Peter Kinsei were arrested with two others living in the next house. The Jesuits, the Catechists, their hosts and families were all arrested and placed in a dungeon in Shimabara where they had to endure the damp and cold winter. Within a few days, Fr John Baptist Zola and his Catechist, Vincent Kaun, were added to their number.
While in prison, Fr Pacheco admitted the four Catechists into the Society and transformed his group of prisoners, including the lay persons into a quasi-religious community with set times for rising, prayer, meditation, fasting and doing penance to prepare and strengthen them for the Martyrdom to come. Their greatest sorrow was their inability to celebrate Mass, recite the Breviary and recite the Rosary as all these had been taken away from them, although, of course, they could still count on their fingers and added their own meditations. Finally, on 20 June 1626, the prisoners were brought to Nagasaki where two other prisoners, Fr Balthazar de Torres SJ and his Catechist, Michael Too, were included. The final number was nine Jesuits and nine lay Christians and all were escorted to the Martyrs’ Hill where the executions were to take place.
The Jesuits rejoiced in seeing each other and embraced for the last time. They were the first to die. The government kept the Christians aside hoping that some would apostatize but watching the Martyrs die only strengthened their faith. They were kept in a prison in Nagasaki, determined to die for Christ. They were Martyred on 12 July 1626.
Fr Pacheco and his eight Jesuit companions, together with the nine lay Christians, were included among the 205 M,artyrs Beatified by Blessed Pope Pius IX on 7 May1867. Their ashes thrown into the sea and no relics remain.
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Traditional Calendar) +2021 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time +2021
Notre-Dame-de-Grace / Our Lady of Grace in Equemauville, Honfleur, France – also known as Our Lady of Consolation (1524) 20 June (The Crowning) and 23 October:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of Consolation, near Honfleur. This Chapel is much frequented; two children have been raised to life there, in memory of which ,their figures are there in silver.”
Also known as Our Lady of Grace, or Notre-Dame-de-Grace, the first thing that can be seen among the trees upon the height is a large Crucifix that seems to bless the sea, although the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Grace is still invisible, hidden under the old trees that surround it. The present Chapel is a small one, located a short distance from that Crucifix and the tall trees and lawns that surround the Church are in stark contrast to the Church’s humble dimensions.
Once inside, everything is modest but exudes an atmosphere of holiness. There is a low arch, and passing beneath it, the view from the windows inside, is obscured by the thick foliage of the surrounding trees. On the Gospel side is the Statue of the Blessed Virgin on a short pillar. A fabric canopy frames the Statue which depicts the Mother of God holding her Divine Child. At the feet of Our Lady are placed small anchors and hearts of silver gilt that shine on the dais and we see a small amount of flowers that are the humble obeisance’s of children and the poor. There are votive offerings hundreds of years old, and paintings of ships battered by storms, or broken upon the rocks, beneath which are brief accounts of the perils and the salvation sent after prayer to Notre-Dame-de Grace. Crutches lean against the wall as trophies demonstrating the victorious prayers of the healed cripples who now walk, and burning candles, are constantly renewed beneath the holy image, exhibiting the persevering ardoUr of the faithful. It is a collective testimony of piety and edification from the servants of Mary.
The origin of the pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Grace goes back to the eleventh century. According to tradition, in the year 1034, Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy, was sailing to England. He was suddenly assailed by a violent storm and at the height of the danger he promised to build three Chapelsdevoted to the Blessed Virgin if he returned safely to his lands. The storm ended at once and the Prince immediately returned home to take care of his vow. He built one of the Chapels promised near his Castle, and dedicated it to Our Lady of Mercy. Another he built near Caen, which he called Notre-Dame de la Deliverance,and the third he built on the plateau in Equemauville overlooking Honfleur, which was named Notre Dame de Grace. This Chapel near Honfleur, soon became a busy place of pilgrimage. There is an authentic document at the Church from King Louis XI dated 28 January 1478 and letters showing that the Chapel was endowed with a certain tract of land containing a house, a barn, etc.
The Chapel partially collapsed and the sea swallowed part of the cliff near the Church during a violent earthquake that occurred on 29 September 1538. Only a section of one wall, the Altar, and the Statue of the Virgin Mary remained standing but such was the devotion of the people to this special place that many pilgrims continued to come and pray kneeling amid the debris. Unfortunately the landslides did not cease, so finally, in 1602, the last vestiges of the Sanctuary were removed to prevent the faithful from exposing their lives to the unremitting danger. The faithful regretted the loss of their Chapel, and one of them, Mr. Gonnyer, undertook to raise a new one. He dug the foundations one hundred paces from the old Church to the south-west but he was forced to stop at that point for lack of money. Offerings from the inhabitants of Honfleur did the rest and in 1613 the Chapel was acquired. It was a small building three times as long as it was wide;,thatched, isolated among the heather and looked more like a barn than a chapel. The Capuchins took possession on 16 March 1621, and they planted a large wooden Crucifix amid the ruins of the old chapel. They eventually replaced it with a stone Crucifix that they placed closer to the chapel than the old one had been. In the Middle Ages people understood that the Church provided for the moral and physical welfare of the people, as well as, the state. They knew that the apostolate of the monastic orders was necessary to form and maintain the ties of charity between the rich and poor, adjust the opulent life of one to soften the sufferings of others and to communicate to all, through preaching and by the Sacraments and example, the secret of living and dying well. When the Revolution erupted there was wide-spread desecration throughout France and all religious communities were dissolved. In vain the faithful recipients of so many graces endeavoured to protect their Sanctuary and the religious who served there. At one time it was hoped Honfleur could keep the Capuchins and so, a petition was drafted for that purpose in 1790. “Through the removal of religious communities,” said the petitioners, “we fear being deprived of the significant relief that we receive from the Capuchins. These men are religious at all times, labour for the good of the City and the neighbouring countryside and through the uprightness of their intentions and the justice of their actions, they have earned public esteem and confidence. They have a small Chapel, located on the coast under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin, which is held in great reverence throughout the Country and we urge its conservation.” The petition was sent to the National Assembly, who refused it. The Chapel was plundered and converted into a tavern. The old Statue was destroyed and sadly “those who were but lately to pray and ask for graces forgot themselves to commit orgies in a place where everything, even the walls, reproached them for their apostasy.” That was so long ago and now the tides of commercial prosperity have come to caress the people and promote the development of the City and the Port of La Havre. Hanfleur possesses all the signs of a prosperous City that is increasing in wealth and population, regardless of the attendant demoralisation and miseries of every kind, that accompany the seeming prosperity. La Havre is the seat of business where speculators contest in the commercial sphere where they work without ceasing to earn their fortune and contribute to each other’s ruin. Without the aid of the Blessed Virgin, there was no longer any hope for relief. After the atrocities had subsided the Chapel was restored and a copy of the original Statue created from Church records.
It was on 15 February 1912 that the Chapter of Saint Peter in Rome awarded the Golden Crown to the sSatue of Our Lady of Grace. The solemn Feasts of her Coronation were celebrated on 20 June 1913. Many people from Honfleur think that it is thanks to the intercession of Notre Dame de Grâce that Honfleur is the only Norman city not to have been bombed during the Second World War. The Chapel was classified as a historical monument in 1938.
Still, it was here, at this remote Chapel about 5 kilometers from Honfleur, that Marie-Francoise-Therese Martin came with her father and sister Celine in July of the year 1887 to pray to Notre-Dame-de Grace that she might be able to enter Carmel. That woman is better known today as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, or simply Therese of Lisieux, the “Little Flower.”
Irish Martyrs – 17 beati – This is the collective title given to the 260 or more persons who are credited with dying for the faith in Ireland between 1537 and 1714. Seventeen of them were beatified together on 27 September 1992 by St Pope John Paul II. • Blessed Conn O’Rourke• Blessed Conor O’Devany• Blessed Dermot O’Hurley• Blessed Dominic Collins• Blessed Edward Cheevers• Blessed Francis Taylor• Blessed George Halley• Blessed John Kearney• Blessed Matthew Lambert• Blessed Maurice Eustace• Blessed Patrick Cavanagh• Blessed Patrick O’Healy• Blessed Patrick O’Loughran• Blessed Peter Higgins• Blessed Robert Meyler• Blessed Terrence Albert O’Brien• Blessed William Tirry
Martyrs of Lower Moesia: Martyred on the Black Sea at Lower Moesia (in modern Bulgaria), date unknown. St Cyriacus St Paul
Martyred in Nagasaki: 9 Beati : burned alive on 20 June 1626 in Nagasaki, Japan. Their ashes were thrown into the sea and no relics remain. They were Beatified on 7 May 1867 by Pope Pius IX. • Blessed Baltasar de Torres Arias • Blessed Francisco Pacheco • Blessed Gaspar Sadamatsu • Blessed Giovanni Battista Zola • Blessed Ioannes Kisaku • Blessed Michaël Tozo • Blessed Paulus Shinsuke • Blessed Petrus Rinsei • Blessed Vincentius Kaun
Saints of the Day – 19 June – Saints Gervase and Protase (Died c 165) Martyrs, Twin Brothers of Martyr Parents, Laymen Died c 165. Patronages – for the discovery of thieves, haymakers, Archdiocese of Perugia-Città della Pieve, Italy, City of Milan and 4 Cities. Also known as – Gervasius and Protasius
The Roman Martyrology states of them today: “In Milan, Saints Gervase and Protase. The Judge Astasius ordered that Gervase be beaten to death with leaded scourges and Protase beaten with sticks and beheaded. By divine revelation blessed Ambrose discovered their bodies, flecked with blood and incorrupt as if they had just died that day. During the translation of their bodies, a blind man gained his sight by touching the bier and many were set free who had been possessed by demons.”
Gervase and Protase were the twin sons of Martyrs. Their Father, Saint Vitalis of Milan, a man of consular dignity, suffered Martyrdom at Ravenna, possibly under Nero. Their Mother, Saint Valeria, died for her faith at Milan. When their parents died, the two brothers sold the family assets, distributed the proceeds to the poor and retired to a small house where they spent ten years in prayer and meditation. Denounced as Christians in Astasio, they were imprisoned and refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods, they were, therefore, sentenced to death. Gervase died under the blows of the scourges, Protase was instead beheaded.
The Martyrdom
The legend around our Martyrs was enriched with further clarifications: the Datiana historia eccle siae Mediolanensis states that the two saints were converted to Christianity, together with their parents, noble citizens of Milan, by the Bishop St Gaius who would have ruled the Church of the City from 63 to 85 and their Martyrdom would have occurred in the time of Nero (54-68), therefoe. a discrepancy exists as to the date of their death.
Saint Ambrose, in 386, had built a magnificent Basilica at Milan, now called the Basilica Sant’Ambrogio. Asked by the people to consecrate it in the same solemn manner as was done in Rome, he promised to do so if he could obtain the necessary relics. In a dream, he was shown the place where such relics could be found. He ordered excavations to be made outside the City, in the cemetery Church of Saints Nabor and Felix, who were at the time the primary patrons of Milan and there found the relics of Saints Gervasius and Protasius. In a letter, St Ambrose wrote: “I found the fitting signs and on bringing in some, on whom hands were to be laid, the power of the holy Martyrs became so manifest, that even whilst I was still silent, one was seized and thrown prostrate at the holy burial-place. We found two men of marvellous stature, such as those of ancient days. All the bones were perfect, and there was much blood.”
St Ambrose had their relics removed to the Basilica of Fausta (now the Church of Saints Vitalis and Agricola) and on the next day, moved into the Basilica, accompanied by many miracles, emblematic of divine favour in the context of the great struggle then taking place between St Ambrose and the Arian Empress Justina. Of the vision, the subsequent discovery of the relics and the accompanying miracles, St Ambrose wrote to his sister Marcellina describing thee events..
Saint Augustine, not yet baptised, witnessed these events and relates them in his “Confessions” (IX, vii), and in “De Civitate Dei” (XXII, viii) as well as in his “Sermon 286 in natal. “.
They are also referred to by Saint Paulinus in his life of Saint Ambrose. The latter died in 397 and by his own wish was buried in his Basilica by the side of these Twin Brpther Martyrs. The Brescia Casket was made for or used to hold the relics of all three – St Ambrose, St Gervase and St Protase.
The Crypt in Sant’Ambrogio Basilica. Embossed silver urn, (the Brescia Casket) displaying the skeletons of Saints Ambrose, Gervase and Protase.
The two Saints immediately enjoyed considerable popularity, especially in the West – they were particularly venerated in Italy, in Miam. Ravenna, in Brescia and in Rome, where, under the Pontificate of Pope Innocent I (402-417), the matron Vestina erected a dedicated Church in their honour, the current St Vitale in via Nazionale; in Gaul, in Vienne and in Rouen; in Spain, in Carmona; in Africa, in Carthage. The anniversary of the invention of their bodies soon entered the most important Calendars and Sacramentaries, such as the Carthaginian Calendar, the Gregorian Sacramentary and the Geronymian Martyrology which all remember them, unanimously, on 19 June. The Geronymian, then, also remembers them other times – 20 May (apparently due to a reading and transcription error); 28 July, the day of Saints Nazario and Celso, in whose Acts. our twin Martyrs are also remembered.
Nostra Signora d Montesenario / Our Lady of Monte Senario, Florence, Italy – Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis (OSM) (1240) – 19 June:
The cradle of the Order of the Servants of Mary began at Monte Senario in the year 1233 in the City of Florence, Italy, by a group of Hermits now known as the Seven Holy Founders Saints of the Servite Order – Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis (OSM). They were sons of wealthy families and they retired from the world for a life of prayer and devotion to the praises of Mary. Leaving La Camarzia, a Suburb of Florence, the seven went to Monte Senario in the region of Tuscany. Uncertain of what way of life to follow, they turned to Our Lady in prayer and supplication and she appeared to them on the Feast of the Assumption in the year 1240.
Monte Senario
The Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Monte Senario, presented the Seven Holy Founders with the Habit of their new Order and an Angel stood nearby bearing a scroll that was marked, “Servants of Mary.” He read to the Seven Holy Founders the following words: “You will found a new order, and you will be my witnesses throughout the world. This is your name: Servants of Mary. This is your rule: that of Saint Augustine. And here is your distinctive sign: the black scapular, in memory of my sufferings.”
From that day in 1240, the seven were known as the Servants of Mary, the Order of Servants of Mary, or the Servites. under her title of Mother of Sorrows (Italian: Madonna Addolorata) Members of the Order take solemn vows to especially honour the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The sorrows are, in order, the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the Holy Child at Jerusalem, meeting Jesus on His Way to Calvary, standing at te foot of the Cross, Jesus taken down from the Cross, and the burial of Christ. According to an ancient document called the “Legenda de Origin ordini,” “Our Lady wanted to begin her Order with seven men to show everyone, with absolute clarity, that she wanted to adorn her Order, endowing it with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.”
The Order gained official recognition in 1249 but was not officially approved until Pope Benedict IX issued a Bull in 1304. Their Church on Monte Senario, rebuilt in 1700, is a favourite resort of pilgrims from Florence especially. Mary here, as Our Lady of Monte Senario, as well as elsewhere, proves herself the miraculous Mother of God. The names of the Seven Holy Founders are Saint Alexis Falconieri, Saint Bartholomew degli Amidei, Saint Benedict dell’Antella, Saint Buonfiglio Monaldi, Saint Gherardino Sostegni, Saint Hugh dei Lippi-Uguccioni, and Saint John Buonagiunta Monetti.
St Adleida of Bergamo Bl Arnaldo of Liniberio St Culmatius of Arezzo St Deodatus of Jointures St Deodatus of Nevers St Gaudentius of Arezzo St Gervase and St Protase (Died c 165) Martyrs, Twin Brothers of Martyr Parents, Laymen St Hildegrin of Châlons-sur-Marne Bl Humphrey Middlemore St Innocent of Le Mans
St Modeste Andlauer St Nazario of Koper Bl Odo of Cambrai St Rémi Isoré Bl Sebastian Newdigate Bl Thomas Woodhouse Bl William Exmew St Zosimus of Umbria
Saints of the Day – 18 June – Saints Marcus and Marcellian (Died c 286) Martyrs, Twin Brothers, Laymen, Confessors. Sons of Saint Tranquillinus of Rome who raised them as pagans before his own conversion. They may have been Deacons. Imprisoned for their faith during the persecutions of Diocletian. They were visited in prison by Saint Sebastian who encouraged them in perseverance in the footsteps of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Also known as Mark and Marcellianus, respectively.
The Roman Martyrology states of them today: “At Rome, on the Ardeatine Road, in the persecution of Diocletian, the birthday of the saintly brothers, Marcus and Marcellian, Martyrs, who were arrested by the Judge Fabian, tied to a stake and had sharp nails driven into their fet. As they ceased not, to praise the name of Christ, they were pierced through the sides with lances and thus went to the Kingdom of Heaven, with the glory of Martyrdom.”
Saint Marcus and Saint Marcellian were twin brothers of an illustrious family in Rome, who had been converted to the Faith in their youth and were honourably married.
When Diocletian ascended the imperial throne in 284, the pagans raised persecutions; the brothers were then thrown into prison and condemned to be beheaded. Their friends obtained a delay of the execution for thirty days, that they might prevail on them to worship the false gods. Tranquillinus and Martia, their afflicted pagan parents, accompanied by their sons’ wives and their little babes, endeavoured to move them by the most tender entreaties and tears. But Saint Sebastian, an officer of the Emperor’s household, arriving in Rome soon after their confinement, daily visited and encouraged them.
The issue of the conferences was the happy conversion of the father, mother and wives, also of Nicostratus, the public stenographer and soon afterwards, of Chromatius, the Judge, who set the Saints at liberty and abdicating the magistracy, retired into the country. Marcus and Marcellian were concealed by a Christian officer of the imperial household, in his apartments in the palace but they were betrayed by an apostate and re-imprisoned. Fabian, a Judge who had succeeded Chromatius, condemned them to be bound to two pillars, their feet nailed to them. In this posture they remained a day and a night and on the following day were stabbed with lances. Their Martyrdom occurred in the year 286.
Saints Mark and Marcellinus being led to Martyrdom by Paolo Veronese (1528–1588)
The bodies of Marcus and Marcellianus and that of their father, Saint Tranquillinus, were moved, probably during the ninth century, to the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian. They were re-discovered there in 1583 during the reign of Pope Gregory XIII. The bodies now remain there in a tomb, next to the Martyred Pope, Saint Felix II. Nearby is an ancient painting of the two Martyrs with a third person, who appears to be the Virgin Mary. In 1902, their basilica in the catacombs of Saint Balbina was rediscovered.
They are honoured particularly in Spain, where the City of Badajoz escaped destruction by their intercession.
Saints Marcus and Marcellianus (to the right) with Saint Sebastian. From a medieval French manuscript.
Notre-Dame-des-Oliviers / Our Lady of Olives (Murat, Cantal, France) (1881 – 18 June:
In a pleasant valley of France there lies a little Town where, by the favour of God, lightning never strikes. This favour, unique in the world, dates to the time when the Church of Murat (Cantal) was burned by lightning, except for a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary. In 1493, and ever since, the Town has been named Our Lady of Olives. The Virgin Mary is the Olive recalled in the scriptures (Sirach 24:14) by whose intercession the Town was protected.
By virtue of the Medallion of Our Lady of Olives, the persons who carry it are preserved from lightning, wherever they may be during a storm. It is a privilege attached to the medallion which bears the unique name in the annals of the Church, “Our Lady of Olives.” This marvellous way of being protected against lightning, deserves to be known throughout the world and ought to be extended to the four corners of the universe. The second privilege of the Medallion is to protect, in an unmistakable manner, women who are about to become mothers and to assist them in the hour of deliverance. Those who are afflicted with sickness and who pray to the Divine Mother, are promptly relieved. The Virgin was Crowned on 18 June1881, by an Apostolic Brief given by Leo XIII on the tenth day of May 1878.
Prayer to Our Lady of Olives
Kneeling at thy feet, we pray thee Virgin Mary, that through thine intercession, there may be borne a new generation who will unite all hearts and souls in the same faith and the same charity. We pray thee “Divine Olive of Peace,” to implore God, that harmony may reign between nations, that true liberty be given to all people, that heresies and all bad doctrines condemned by the Pope may disappear. We pray that all the treasures of the Divine Heart be showered upon all men and that we be preserved from all harm. Pray for us, help us and save us. Amen.
St Abraham of Clermont St Alena of Dilbeek St Amandus of Bordeaux St Arcontius of Brioude St Athenogenes of Pontus St Calogero of Sicily St Calogerus of Fragalata St Calogerus the Anchorite St Colman mac Mici St Cyriacus of Malaga St Demetrius of Fragalata St Edith of Aylesbury
St Elpidius of Brioude St Equizio of Telese St Erasmo St Etherius of Nicomedia Bl Euphemia of Altenmünster St Fortunatus the Philosopher St Gerland of Caltagirone
St Gregory of Fragalata St Guy of Baume St Jerome of Vallumbrosa Sts Marcus and Marcellianu (Died c 286) Martyrs, Twin Brothers St Marina of Alexandria St Marina of Bithynia Bl Marina of Spoleto
St Osanna of Northumberland St Osmanna of Jouarre St Paula of Malaga Bl Peter Sanchez — Hermits of Karden: A father (Felicio) and his two sons (Simplicio and Potentino)who became pilgrim to various European holy places and then hermits at Karden (modern Treis-Karden, Germany). (Born in Aquitaine (in modern France. ) Their relics transferred to places in the Eifel region of western Germany at some point prior to 930. They were canonised on 12 August 1908 by Pope Pius X (cultus confirmation).
Martyrs of Ravenna – 4 saints: A group of four Christians martyred together. We have no details but their names – Crispin, Cruciatus, Emilius and Felix. They were martyred in Ravenna, Italy, date unknown.
Martyrs of Rome – 3 saints: Three Christians martyred together . We have no details but their names – Cyriacus, Paul and Thomas. In Rome, Italy, date unknown.
Martyrs of Tripoli – 3 saints: Three imperial Roman soldiers, at last two of them recent converts, who were imprisoned, tortured and executed for their faith. Martyrs – Hypatius, Leontius and Theodulus. They were Greek born and they died c135 at Tripoli, Phoenicia (in modern Lebanon).
Saint of the Day – 17 June – St Botolph of Ikanhoe (Died 680) Abbot, Missionary, Founder of the Monastery of Ikanhoe, Spiritual Director. Born in c 610 in East Anglia, England and died on 17 June 680 of natural causes following a lengthy illness. Also known as – Botolph, Botulf, Botwulf. , Patronages – agricultural workers, farm workers, farmers, sailors, mariners, watermen, travellers. 7 cities. Additional Memorial – 1 December – translation of his relics.
Little is known about Botolphf’s life, other than details in an account written four hundred years after his death by the 11th-century Monk Folcard. Botulph, a seventh century Saxon from an aristocratic Christian family is the brother of Saint Adolph of Utrecht. He was educated with his brother, at the Monastery of Cnobersburg (Burgh Castle), Suffolk under the direction of its Founder, Saint Fursey. When Mercian forces under King Penda invaded the region, the boys were sent to study at the Monastery at Bosanham, Sussex.
He became a Benedictine Monk at Farmoutiere-en-Brie, Gaul (modern northeastern France) and was sent back to the British Isles in 647 to establish the Benedictine Order there.
With the support of Saint Syre, Saint Aubierge and their brother, King Anna of East Anglia, Botulph founded the Monastery of Ikanhoe in East Anglia, declining the offer of a part of the Royal estate and settling for a wild, barren site that was removed from people, reported to be haunted by demons and which would require endless work to sustain the Monks.
For many years it was believed that the area that grew up around it came to be called Botulph’s Town, contracted to Botulphston and later contracted to Boston in Lincolnshire but recent research has shown, that the original site is another location. The Saxon Chronicle indicates, that by 654, Botulph had attracted enough brother Monks and hermits that work began on the Monastery. Through hard work and faith, the Monastery grew in population; the Monks built several structures, turned large areas of marsh and scrub into productive farming and grazing lands and dispelled the people’s fears of demons.
Botulph served as Spiritual Director for Saint Ceolfrith and worked as a travelling missionary through rough, bandit-plagued areas of East Anglia, Kent and Sussex.
His legacy continued for centuries in the strength of the Benedictine movement in the Isles and in the dozens of Churches named for him, many of them built at City gates to serve as safe-haven for travellers in times when robbers roamed the roads and many in port or river towns.
He died while being carried to Chapel for compline services and was buried at Ikanhoe. His relics were moved in 870 to keep them from being destroyed by invading Danes and then transferred to Grundisburgh in 983. They were later distributed to Monasteries at Thornery, Westminster, and Edmundsburg, Suffolk. Tradition says that for safety, the cask of relics destined for Edmundsburg were taken there in the middle of the night but the travellers were guided by a light that hovered above the relics’ new Shrine. In our times too, processions of the relics through Edmundsburgh has ended droughts there by the intercession of St Botolph.
Heilige Maria im Walde / Holy Maria in the Forest, Dolina, Grafenstein, Carinthia, Austria (1849) – 17 June:
The Apparitions occurred, as the Immaculate Conception, in a wooded area near Dolina, Grafenstein, Carinthia, Austria on the 17, 18 and 19 June 1849 to three young shepherdesses, prior to the public proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception ion 1854. Thus began the influx of pilgrims and in the woods, just where she had appeared as the Immaculate Conception, a wooden Chapel was erected. The Church, begun in 1861 but was never fully completed. A local artist painted an image called the Madonna del Bosco, inspired by the descriptions of the three shepherdesses. This painting was a picture of grace that inspired faith and devotion of many.
St Antidius of Besançon Bl Arnold of Foligno St Avitus of Perche St Blasto of Rome St Botolph of Ikanhoe (Died 680) Abbot St Briavel of Gloucestershire St David of Bourges St Dignamerita of Brescia St Diogenes of Rome St Emily de Vialar St Gundulphus of Bourges
St Himerius of Amelia St Hypatius of Chalcedon St Molling of Wexford St Montanus of Gaeta St Nectan of Hartland Bl Paul Burali d’Arezzo Bl Peter Gambacorta St Phêrô Ða Bl Philippe Papon
St Prior St Rambold of Ratisbon Bl Ranieri Scaccero St Theresa of Portugal — Martyrs of Apollonia – 7 saints: A group of Christians who fled to a cave near Apollonia, Macedonia to escape persecution for his faith, but were caught and executed. The names we know are – Basil, Ermia, Felix, Innocent, Isaurus, Jeremias and Peregrinus. They were beheaded at Apollonia, Macedonia.
Martyrs of Aquileia – 4 saints: Four Christian martyrs memorialised together. No details about them have survived, not even if they died together – Ciria, Maria, Musca and Valerian. c.100 in Aquileia, Italy.
Martyrs of Chalcedon – 3 saints: Three well-educated Christian men who were sent as ambassadors from King Baltan of Persia to the court of emperor Julian the Apostate to negotiate peace between the two states, and an end of Julian’s persecutions of Christians. Instead of negotiating, Julian imprisoned them, ordered them to make a sacrifice to pagan idols and when they refused, had them executed. Their names were Manuel, Sabel and Ismael. They were beheaded in 362 in Chalcedon (part of modern Istanbul, Turkey) and their bodies burned and no relics survive.
Martyrs of Fez – 4 beati: A group of Mercedarians sent to Fez, Morocco to ransom Christians imprisoned and enslaved by Muslims. For being openly Christian they were imprisoned, tortured, mutilated and executed. Martyrs – Egidio, John, Louis and Paul. They were martyred in Fez, Morocco.
Martyrs of Rome – 262 saints: A group of 262 Christians martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian. In c303 in Rome, Italy. They were buried on the old Via Salaria in Rome.
Martyrs of Venafro – 3 saints: Three Christian lay people, two of them imperial Roman soldiers, who were converts to Christianity and were martyred together in the persecutions of Maximian and Diocletian – Daria, Marcian and Nicander. They were beheaded c.303 in Venafro, Italy. By 313 a basilica had been built over their graves which were re-discovered in 1930. They are patrons of Venafro, Italy.
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