Notre-Dames-des-Miracles / Our Lady of Miracles, St Maur des Fosses, France (1328) – 12 March;
The Abbot Orsini wrote: โOur Lady of Miracles, in the cloister of Saint Maur des Fosses, near Paris. It is said that this image was found made, when the sculptor, named Rumold, was going to work at it in 1328.โ
Saint-Maur-des-Fosses is a city that may be considered to be a suburb of Paris, France. There is a miraculous Statue of the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Miracles, located in the Church of Saint Nicholas in the city. The Town owes its name to an Abbey that was founded by Queen Nanthild in the year 638 at Les Fosses, which means โthe moatsโ in French. The Abbey was called Sanctus Petrus Fossatensis and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as saints Peter and Paul. When the Monks of the Abbey of Saint-Maur de Glanfeuil in western France fled from the Vikings in the year 868, Holy Roman Emperor, King Charles the Bald, asked them to settle at Sanctus Petrus Fossatensis. They did so, bringing with them their relic of Saint Maurus and introducing the rule of Saint Benedict to France in the 6th century. The Abbey, located in a loop of the Marne just before it joined the Seine, became an important pilgrimage site when the relics of Saint Maurus were found to be effective in curing those who suffered from gout and epilepsy. Due to this sudden popularity and, in recognition of it, the name of the Abbey was changed to, Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, or St Maurus of the Moats. In the drought year of 1137, all of Western Europe was without rain. The Monks of the Abbey led a procession of the relics of St. Maurus and, at the conclusion of Mass, there was a violent thunderstorm which brought rain to the region. As should not be surprising, the Abbey was seized during the French Revolution by the enthusiastic proponents of liberty, equality, and brotherhood. Anything of value was looted and the property then sold to speculators. After they were stripped of everything of value, the buildings that remained were demolished and the material used in other building projects, so that today nothing remains but a few vestiges that were collected for display in a museum. Fortunately, the Statue of Our Lady of Miracles miraculously survived. The Statue had been venerated since 1328 because of the miraculous circumstances of its creation and was saved by a locksmith named Hazar. It is now kept at the Church of Saint Nicholas (see below) in Saint Maur-des-Fosses.
St Maximilian of Thebeste St Mura McFeredach St Paul Aurelian St Peter the Deacon St Seraphina (1238-1253) Virgin St Theophanes the Chronographer โ Martyrs of Nicomedia โ 8 saints: Eleven Christians who were martyred in succession in a single incident during the persecutions of Diocletian. First there were the eight imprisoned Christians, Domna, Esmaragdus, Eugene, Hilary, Mardonius, Maximus, Mรญgdonus and Peter, about whom we know little more than their names. Each day for eight days one of them would be strangled to death in view of the others so that they would spend the night in dread, not knowing if they were next. Peter was the chamberlain or butler in the palace of Diocletian. When he was overheard complaining about this cruelty, he was exposed as a Christian, arrested, tortured and executed by having the flesh torn from his bones, salt and vinegar poured on the wounds and then being roasted to death over a slow fire. Gorgonio was an army officer and member of the staff in the house of emperor Diocletian, Doroteo was a staff clerk. They were each exposed as Christians when they were overhead objecting to the torture and murder of Peter. This led to their own arrest, torture and executions. Died in 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (in modern Turkey) Additional Memorial โ 28 December as part of the 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia.
Saint of the Day – 11 March – Saint Vindician of Cambrai (c 632-c 712) Bishop of Arras-Cambrai. He was a spiritual follower of Saint Eligius (588- 660) (Saint Eloi). Born in c 632 at Bullecourt, France and died in c 712 at Brussels, Belgium of natural causes. St Vindician was a dedicated prelate who visited his Parishes and promoted Monasticism. He also courageously opposed the actions of the Frankish king Thierry III ( 670-687) and his Mayor of the palace, Ebroin, in executing Bishop St Leodegarius of Autun and he secured reparations for the sin from the ruler,
We have no artworks of St Vindician – this is an unknown Bishop Saint
Vindician’s birthplace is given as Bullecourt, near Bapaume. This is the birthplace indicated in the documents dating much later than the Saint’s death but which claim to reproduce an ancient local tradition. Nothing is known of his early years.
On the death of St Aubert, Bishop of Cambrai-Arras (about 668), Vindician was elected his successor. Legend has crept into the history of the holy bishop, but the following facts may be regarded as certain.
In 673 Vindician supervised the translation of the body of St Maxellende to Caudri. In the same year, he Consecrated the Monastery of Honnecourt sur l’Escaut, which was given in 685 to St Bertin. In 675 he signed a charter of donation in favour of the Abbey at Maroilles, rendered illustrious by St Humbert. In the same year, he Consecrated the Church at Hasnon.
In 681, he claimed for his Diocese, the honour of possessing the body of St Lรฉger, the unfortunate victim of the political strife which was then filling Neustria with blood but he did not succeed, the remains of St Lรฉger being confided to Ansoald, the Bishop of Poitiers. His predecessor, St Aubert, had founded the Monastery of St Vaast, the building of which he had been unable to complete, therefore, Vindician ensured that the construction was completed, apparently in 682 and placed it under the protection of King Thierry III, who conferred numerous gifts on the Monastery.
In 685 a certain Abbot Hatta was placed at its head by Vindicianus. In the following year the latter dedicated the Church at Hamaye and acted at the exhumation of the bodies of Sts Eusebia and Gertrude, who had been Abbesses of the Monastery of that name.
He spent his final years at St Vaast Monastery, Arras, which Vindician had completed and an institution that King Thierry supported. Vindician died while on a visit to Brussels, Belgium.
The events of his life after this date (686) are unknown. He was buried at Mont-St-Eloi. The region was ravaged by the Normans in the ninth century and on more than one occasion the relics of the Saint were in danger, until in 1030 Bishop Gerard I of Cambrai had his body removed to the episcopal City. After having been at Douai and Arras, the relics were returned to Mont-St-Eloi in 1453. After still further translations, especially in 1598 and 1601, the body was finally placed in the Cathedral at Arras, which is dedicated to Our Lady and to St Vaast. The Cathedral was badly damaged during World War II but it seems, St Vindician’s relics were safely re-instated after the restoration.
His successor on that See about 695 was St. Abelbert.
Nossa Senhora das Florestas,/Our Lady of the Forests, Porto, Portugal (12th Century) – 11 March:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: โThis image was found again in a forest, where it had been hidden by Queen Matilda, wife of Alphonsus I.โ
In searching for information about this title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I could find no specific reference to Our Lady of the Forests. There are a great number of Catholic Churches and Cathedrals in Porto, Portugal but none of them, seem to speak of an image once known as Our Lady of the Forests. Porto, Portugal, is a City second only to Lisbon in size. Checking with the Diocese, there does not appear to be a Church by the name of Our Lady of the Forests and I could find no mention of such an image. Alphonsus I was the first King of Portugal. His wife, Queen Matilda, better known as Mafalda of Savoy (1125-1158), married him in the year 1146. She was the daughter of Amadeus III of Savoy, Count of the Holy Roman German Empire and her sister was Blessed Umberto. Matilda died young, long before Alphonsus was King – yet her life still had great significance. Alphonsus I was almost constantly at war with the Moors of Andalusia and Portugal did not become formally recognised as an independent Kingdom, until 1179, when Alphonsus I was recognised as King by the Pope. Perhaps there was a crisis during these years of upheaval, when Queen Matilda was forced to hide, in a forest, with a cherished image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and although this seems not unlikely, I can find no story relating to such an event. Although little is known of Queen Matilda, it is believed that she built a small Abbey Chapel in honour of the Blessed Virgin on the outskirts of Fatima, in a place called the Rock of Fatima. There was also an attached Monastery at this site, that was built by the Cistercians, although nothing remains of that Monastery now and its foundations have become the floor for the Parish Church at Fatima. Built in the 18th century, it was originally called Our Lady of the Rosary. One of Queen Matildaโs descendants was Blessed Margaret of Savoy, who founded a Convent for women. On 16 October 1454, Blessed Margaret was present, when her dying cousin, Sister Filipina, spoke aloud the names of the Saints who came to assist her on her way to heaven. Sister Filipina revealed during that last ecstasy, that in the future, there would be terrible wars and that there would be a monster who would rise in the East as a scourge of all mankind. He would eventually be slain by Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fatima. She said: โThe Most Holy Virgin will speak about very grave future events, for Satan will wage a terrible war. But he will lose because the Most Holy Virgin Mother of God and of the Most Holy Rosary of Fatima, more terrible than an army in battle array, will defeat him forever.โ After saying this, Sister Filipina died in the arms of the holy Foundress, Blessed Margaret. The documents attesting to these events surfaced in the year 2000 but keep in mind. that this revelation was nearly 500 years before the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima at the Cova da Ira!
St Firmian the Abbot St Firmus the Martyr St Gorgonius the Martyr St Heraclius of Carthage Bl John Kearney Bl John Righi of Fabriano St Marcus Chong Ui-Bae St Peter the Spaniard St Pionius St Piperion the Martyr St Rosina of Wenglingen St Sophronius of Jerusalem St Thalus the Martyr Bl Thomas Atkinson St Trophimus the Martyr St Vigilius of Auxerre St Vincent of Leon St Vindician of Cambrai (c 632-c 712) Bishop St Zosimus of Carthage โ Martyrs of Antioch: A group of Christians martyred together by Emperor Maximian Galerius. Martyred in c 300 in Antioch, Syria.
โI have come, not to abolish but to fulfil.โ โฆ Matthew 5:17
REFLECTION โ โIn Him the promise made through the shadows of prophecy stands revealed, along with the full meaning of the precepts of the law. He is the one who teaches the truth of prophecy through His presence and makes obedience to the commandments possible, through grace. In the preaching of the holy Gospel all should receive a strengthening of their faith. No-one should be ashamed of the Cross of Christ, through which the world has been redeemed. No-one should fear to suffer for the sake of justice, no-one should lose confidence in the reward that has been promised. The way to rest is through toil, the way to life is through death. Christ has taken on Himself the whole weakness of our lowly human nature. If then we are steadfast in our faith in Him and in our love for Him, we win the victory that He has won, we receive what He has promised. When it comes to obeying the commandments or enduring adversity, the words uttered by the Father should always echo in our ears โ โThis is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased, listen to Him.โ โฆ St Pope Leo the Great (400-461) โ An excerpt from Sermo 51
PRAYER – Shed your clear light on our hearts, Lord, so that walking continually in the way of Your commandments, we may never be deceived or misled. May your Angels and the FortyHoly Martyrs of Sebaste, pray for us. May the Mother of Our God and our Mother, be at our side and guide our way. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.
Saints of the Day – 10 March – The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, Armenia (Died 320). The Forty Martyrs were a group of Roman soldiers in the Legio XII Fulminata (Armed with Lightning) whose martyrdom in 320, for the Christian faith, is recounted in the Roman Martyrology. The Forty Martyr are also honoured on 9 March, particularly in the Eastern Church but the Roman Martyrology places them today, on 10 March.
They were killed near the City of Sebaste, in Lesser Armenia (present-day Sivas in Turkey), victims of the persecutions of Licinius, who after 316, persecuted the Christians of the East. The earliest account of their existence and martyrdom is given by Bishop Basil of Caesarea, that is, St Basil the Great (329-379) in a homily he delivered on their feast day. The Feast of the Forty Martyrs is thus older than Basil himself, who eulogised them, fifty or sixty years after their deaths.
As St Basil tells the story – forty soldiers who had openly confessed themselves Christians were condemned by the prefect to be exposed naked upon a frozen pond near Sebaste on a bitterly cold night, that they might freeze to death.
Among the confessors, one yielded and, leaving his companions, sought the warm baths near the lake which had been prepared for any who might prove inconstant. Upon immersion into the cauldron, the one who yielded went into shock and immediately died. So this lone soldier died, deprived of both earthly and heavenly life.
One of the guards, Aglaius, was set to keep watch over the Martyrs and beheld a supernatural brilliance in the form of halos over their heads, overshadowing them. He at once proclaimed himself a Christian, threw off his garments and joined the remaining thirty-nine. Thus the number of forty remained complete.
At daybreak, the stiffened bodies of the confessors, which still showed signs of life, were burned and the remains cast into a river. Christians, however, collected the precious remains as best they could and the relics were distributed throughout many cities. In this way, veneration of the Forty Martyrs became widespread and numerous Churches were erected in their honour. But in Sebaste itself, a 40-domed Cathedral was built. The Cathedral of Sebastia stood for nearly 1,000 years, until the invasion of Tamerlane and the Mongols at the end of the 14th century. However, the “Forty Martyrs Cathedral” name has survived to this day.
A Church was built at Caesarea, in Cappadocia and it was in this Church, that St Basil delivered his homily. St Gregory of Nyssa was especially devoted to the Forty Martyrs – two discourses in praise of them, preached by him in the Church dedicated to them, are still preserved and upon the death of his parents, he laid them to rest beside the relics of the confessors. St Ephrem the Syrian has also eulogised the Forty Martyrs. Sozomen,a Roman Lawyer and Historian, who was an eye-witness, has left an interesting account of the finding of the relics in Constantinople, in the Shrine of Saint Thyrsus built by Caesarius, through the instrumentality of Empress Pulcheria.
The cult of the Forty Martyrs is widespread all over in the Eastern Church. The Forty Saints Monastery in Sarandรซ, modern day Albania, which gave its name in Greek to the City itself, was built in the 6th century and was an important pilgrimage site. The Churches of St Sophia in Ohrid (modern-day North Macedonia) and Kiev (Ukraine) contain their depictions, datable to the 11th and 12th centuries, respectively. A number of auxiliary Chapels were dedicated to the Forty and there are several instances, when an entire Church is dedicated to them – for example Xeropotamou Monastery on Mount Athos and the 13th-century Holy Forty Martyrs Church, in Bulgaria. a Church of the 40 saints located in Constantinople.. In Syria, the Armenian Cathedral of Aleppo and the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Homs are dedicated to the Forty Martyrs.
Ivory relief icon from Constantinople, 10th century
The feast day of the Forty Martyrs falls is intentionally placed that it will fall during Lent. There is an intentional play on the number forty being both the number of Martyrs and the days in the fast. Their feast also falls during Lent so that the endurance of the Martyrs will serve as an example to the faithful to persevere to the end. in order to attain heavenly reward..
A prayer mentioning the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste is also placed in the Orthodox Wedding Service (referred to as a “crowning”) to remind the bride and groom that spiritual crowns await them in Heaven also if they remain as faithful to Christ as these saints of long ago.
Special devotion to the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste was introduced at an early date into the West. Bishop St Gaudentius of Brescia (died about 410 or 427) received particles of the ashes of the Martyrs during a voyage in the East and placed them, with other relics, in the altar of the Basilica which he had erected, at the Consecration of which, he delivered a discourse, still extant.
The Church of Santa Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum, built in the fifth century, contains a Chapel, built like the Church itself, on the ancient site and Consecrated to the Forty Martyrs. A sixth or seventh-century mural there depicts their martyrdom. The names of the confessors, as we find them also in later sources, were formerly inscribed on this fresco. There is a beautiful Chapel of the Forty Martyrs in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Chapel of the Forty Martyrs in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.
Acts of these Martyrs, written subsequently, in Greek, Syriac and Latin, are yet extant, also a “Testament” of the Forty Martyrs.
Santa Maria della Querce /ย Our Lady of the Oak, Tuscany, Italy (1467) – 10 March:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: โOur Lady of the Vine, Tuscany, Italy. A fine Church, located near Viterbo, occupied at present by Dominicans.โ The city of Viterbo is located at the foot of Mount Cimino in the province of Rome. Viterbo itself currently has 34 separate Parishes, with 8 religious houses for men and 18 houses for sisters. I can find no reference to Our Lady of the Vine, or Madonna della Vito, anywhere in the entire region of Tuscany. I found two references to Dominican convents. The first was Our Lady of the Oak, or Madonna della Quercia, which also has a Dominican convent attached. The second was Santa Maria dei Gradi, of which only the Church still remains. It was one of the earliest Dominican convents, although it is now used mainly as a retreat house. The Heavenly Mother, like all mothers, does not discriminate between children, for her help is for everyone. We now continue with Our Lady of the Oak, which is almost surely the place referred to be the good Abbot as Our Lady of the Vine. At one time in Viterbo there was a certain man named Mastro Baptist Magnano Iuzzante, who was a very God-fearing devotee of the glorious Virgin Mary. He hired a painter named Monetto in the year 1417 to paint an image on a tile of the most glorious Virgin Mary, holding her Son in her arms. Mastro Baptist then lovingly laid the tile on an oak tree that stood at the edge of his vineyard, near the road leading to Bagnaia and along which robbers often awaited to attack unwary travellers. The image remained there for about 50 years under cover of the oakโs branches and after a while, only a few women who passed by ever stopped to say a prayer and to admire the beauty of a natural tabernacle that a wild vine, which had embraced the oak, had created.
During this period a hermit of Siena, Pier Domenico Alberti, whose hermitage was at the foot of Palanzana, went around the countryside and the nearby towns of Viterbo, saying, “Among Bagnaia and Viterbo there is a treasure.” Many people, driven by greed, started digging there but found nothing and asked for an explanation from the hermit. Domenico then brought them under the oak tree chosen by the Virgin and pointed to the real treasure, the Madonna. He told them of the day he had decided to take away the sacred image to his hermitage and of how it had returned to the oak. Dominico was not alone in this experience. A devout woman named Bartolomea often walked past the oak tree and stopped each time to pray to the Blessed Virgin. One day she also decided to take the tile to her home. After saying her evening prayers, Bartolomea went to bed but woke up in the morning to find the image missing. She at first thought that her family had taken it to place it somewhere else but upon learning that this was not so, she ran to the oak tree and saw what she had already guessed – the tile had miraculously returned to its place amid the tendrils of the vine. Bartolomea tried again but always the sacred image returned to the tree. At first she did not say anything to anyone, to avoid being regarded as lying or insane. Then, in 1467, during the month of August, the whole region was struck by the greatest scourge of those times: the plague. Everywhere there were the bodies of the dead lying in the deserted streets and there was everywhere, great weeping and mourning. Some then remembered the image painted on the humble tile, and, as if driven by an inexplicable force, went to kneel beneath the oak. Nicholas of Tuccia, an historian, said that on one day 30,000 people were there to beg for mercy. A few days later the plague ceased and then 40,000 of the faithful came back to thank the Virgin Mary. The people of Viterbo were headed by their Bishop Pietro Gennari and there were many, from other regions. In early September of the same year another extraordinary event happened. A good knight of Viterbo had many enemies, as will often happen to a follower of Christ. One day he was surprised by his enemies outside the walls of Viterbo. Alone and unarmed and having no way to deal with the mortal danger, he fled into the nearby woods. Fatigued and desperate to reach his destination, the knight heard the cries of the enemy draw nearer and nearer. Eventually he arrived at the oak with the sacred image of Mary, where he fell at her feet with great faith and embraced the trunk of the tree, putting his life into the hands of his Heavenly Mother. The knightโs enemies reached the oak but were surprised that they could no longer see the knight. They began to look behind every tree and bush but not one could see him since he had disappeared before their very eyes. Failing to find him after a long time spent in searching, they gave up in disgust. Then the knight, after thanking the Virgin Mary, returned to Viterbo and told everyone what had happened. Bartolomea heard his tale and encouraged by his words, she described the miracles to which she had been a witness. They told everyone what had happened to them with so much enthusiasm and devotion. The stories spread like wildfire and many people, coming from the most diverse regions of Italy, flocked to the feet of the oak to implore help from the Blessed Virgin.
It was decided to build an Altar and then a Chapel of planks before Pope Paul II gave the necessary permission to build a small Church in 1467. Many Popes and Saints have been devotees of the image, including St Charles Borromeo, St Paul of the Cross, St Ignatius Loyola, Saint Crispin of Viterbo and St Maximilian Kolbe, among many others. On 20 January 1944, during the bombing of Viterbo, a squadron of 12 bombers headed for the oak but upon arriving at their destination, inexplicably veered to the right and the bombs dropped, did not destroying anything outside of the Church, which was empty. The remains of the bombs, 3 large chunks, are kept behind the Altar of the Madonna. In 1986, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Our Lady of the Oak, Patroness of the new Diocese of Viterbo, formed from the union of those of Viterbo, Tuscania, Montefiascone, Acquapendente and Bagnoregio. Even today the Virgin protects her devotees and the devotion to the Blessed Virgin of the Oak is very strong. Every year on the second Sunday of September, the faithful commemorate the “Benefits from the Sacred Image of Our Lady of the Oak.” Many cities and towns, with their brotherhoods, participate in the procession of thanksgiving, called the “Covenant of Love “ The Mayor of Viterbo, on behalf of all participants, renews the Consecration made of old by the whole region, back in 1467.
__ St Alexander of Apema St Anastasia the Patrician St Andrew of Strumi St Attalas of Bobbio St Blanchard of Nesle-la-Rรฉposte St Caius of Apema St Cordratus of Nicomediรซ St Droctoveus of Paris Bl Elias del Socorro Nieves St Emilian of Lagny St Failbhe the Little St Gustav the Hermit St Himelin Bl Jean-Marie Joseph Lataste St John Ogilvie SJ (1579-1615 died aged 36) MARTYR Biography: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/saint-of-the-day-10-march-st-john-ogilvie/ St John Ogilvie, his Rosary and the Baron: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/st-john- ogilvie-sj-10-march/
Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, Armenia (Died 320) โ Forty Christian soldiers of the Thunderstruck Legion of the Imperial Roman army who were tortured and murdered for their faith during the persecutions of Emperor Licinius. They were exposed naked on a frozen pond to freeze to death at Sebaste, Armenia in 320 and their bodies afterward were burned.
One Minute Reflection – 9 March – Tuesday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: Daniel 3:25,ย 34-43,ย Psalms 25:4-5,ย 6ย andย 7,ย 8ย andย 9,ย Matthew 18:21-35 and the Memorial of St Frances of Rome (1384-1440)
โShould you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?โ โฆMatthew 18:33
REFLECTION – โWhat is human mercy like? It makes you concerned for the hardship of the poor. What is divine mercy like? It forgives sinnersโฆ In this world God is cold and hungry in all the poor, as He Himself said (Mt 25:40)โฆ What sort of people are we? When God gives, we want to receive, when He asks, we refuse to give? When a poor man is hungry, Christ is in need, as He said Himself: โI was hungry and you gave me no foodโ (v. 42). Take care not to despise the hardship of the poor, if you would hope, without fear, to have your sins forgivenโฆ What He receives on earth He returns in heaven. I put you this question, dearly beloved โ what is it you want, what is it you are looking for, when you come to Church? What indeed if not mercy? Show mercy on earth and you will receive mercy in heaven. A poor man is begging from you and you are begging from God, he asks for a scrap, you ask for eternal lifeโฆ And so, when you come to Church, give whatever alms you can to the poo,r in accordance with your means.โ – St Caesarius of Arles (470-543) Sermon 25
PRAYER โ Infinite Lord, help me to serve You always in accord with Your holy will. Show us how to make You our Lord and our All. St Frances of Rome, you showed us all the way of holiness within the confines of our lives, always seeking to do the will of God and serve all His children, most especially those in need but remaining always true to the vows of your marriage. Please pray for us all, amen.
Saint of the Day – 9 March – Saint Bosa of York OSB (Died c 705) Fourth Bishop of York, Benedictine Monk, ecclesiastical reformer St Bosa was highly regarded by the Venerable St Bede who praised his humility and sanctity.
A window in York Minster showing various Bishops, one of whom is St Bosa.
Nothing is known of the birth or early life of Bosa. Bosa was a Northumbrian, educated at Whitby Abbey under the Abbess St Hilda. He subsequently joined the Monastery as a Monk and became one of five men educated at Whitby who went on to become Bishops. The other four were Oftfor, รtla, St John of Beverley, and St Wilfrid II.
In 678, after Wilfrid was removed from the Bishopric of York and banished from Northumbria, the Diocese of York was divided into three. Bosa was appointed to the now greatly reduced Diocese of York, which included the sub-kingdom of Deira, thanks to the support of King Ecgfrith of Northumbria and St Theodore of Tarsus, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Bosa was Consecrated in his Cathedral at York in 678 by Theodore but Wilfrid declared that he was unable to work with Bosa because he did not consider him to be a member of the Catholic Church. Bosa’s episcopate lasted nine years but with Wilfrid back in favour, in 687, Bosa was removed just as his predecessor had been. He returned to York in 691, after Wilfrid was once again expelled. While Bishop, Bosa introduced a communal life for the clergy of the Cathedral and set up a continuous liturgy in the Cathedral.
York Minster
The date of Bosa’s death is unknown; he was still alive in 704 but must have died before 706, when his successor was named. His successor at York was St John of Beverley, the Bishop of Hexham. A contemporary writer, the Venerable St Bede, praised Bosa as a man of “singular merit and sanctity.” St Bede also praised Bosa’s humility. Bosa was also responsible for the early education of St Acca, later Bishop of Hexham, who grew up in his household.
Bosa appears as a saint in an 8th-century liturgical calendar of York, the only sign that he was venerated as a saint before the Norman Conquest of England. The 16th-century English antiquary John Leland included Bosa in his list of saint’s resting places in England, giving it as York.
Notre-Dame de Savigny /Our Lady of Savigny, France (1112) – 9 March:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: โFoundation of Savigny, in the Diocese of Avranches, in Normandy, in honour of the Blessed Virgin, about the year 1112, by the blessed Vitalis, hermit, who was its first Abbot.โ About the year 1112, in the Diocese of Avranches, the Blessed Vitalis (Vital de Mortain) established the foundation of the Abbey of Savigny (Abbaye de Savigny) in honour of the Blessed Mother. This day commemorates the event. The Abbey was founded near the village of Savigny-le-Vieux in the north of France and Blessed Vitalis became the first Abbot. It was initially Benedictine but soon was given over to Cistercian Monks. Within only thirty years it had over thirty daughter houses. Initially, Vitalis had gone into the forest of Savigny to become a hermit. His fame for sanctity, however, drew disciples to him. These disciples needed shelter from the elements and soon Vitalis found those crude structures had become a kind of Monastery requiring a rule of life. When the Lord of Fougeres granted the land to Vital, the Monastery was founded, and the hermit became the reluctant Abbot. In 1119 Pope Celestine II took the Abbey under his protection. Serlo, also known as Serlon, was the third Abbot of Savigny. During his period of office, one of the monks was known to have a deep and tender devotion to the Blessed Mother and while he was saying Mass in honour of Our Lady, he beheld the Virginโs hand making the Sign of the Cross over the Chalice at the consecration of the wine. At the same time, a deliciously sweet odour surrounded the Monk. Thereafter, as often as he recalled this, he was refreshed by the sweetness of the scent which had encompassed him at the time. Maryโs presence was frequently experienced at this Shrine, particularly during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and numerous miracles were wrought, prayers answered and graces bestowed for the asking. During the 16th century the Abbey was pillaged and burned by Calvinists but it was not until the French Revolution that the Abbey was reduced to a pile of ruins.
Unlike the Abbey, the Church Our Lady of Savigny, still stands. According to an inscription on one of the capitals in the choir, the Church was dedicated to our Lady in 1128 and it is believed, that there is no Church in the district, that is older. It was restored in the year 1869 and serves the surrounding areas to this day..
Quote/s of the Day โ 8 March โ Monday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-15, Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4, Luke 4:24-30 and the Memorial of St John of God (1495-1550)
โLove the poor tenderly, regarding them as your masters and yourselves as their servants.โ
โFor just as water extinguishes a fire, just so does charity blot out our sins.โ
One Minute Reflection โ 8 March โ Monday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-15,Psalms 42:2,ย 3;ย 43:3,ย 4,ย Luke 4:24-30 and the Memorial fo St John of God (1495-1550) and Blessed Vincent Kadlubek O.Cist (c 1160-1223)
โThere were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months and a great famine came over all the land. Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.โ – Luke 4:25-26
REFLECTION – โThe poor widow had gone out to look for two blocks of wood to bake some brea,: it is at this time that Elijah meets her. This woman is the symbol of the Church because a cross is made of two pieces of wood, the woman, who was destined to die, searches for something by which to live eternally. There is a hidden mystery in this โฆ Elijah tells her: โGo, feed me first with your poverty and you will not run out of your goods.โ What a blessed poverty! If the widow received here on earth such retribution, what a reward may she hope to receive in the life to come!
I insist on this point – let us not expect to harvest the fruit of our sowing now, at the time we sow. Here on earth, we sow with difficulty what will be the harvest of our good works but only later on, will we gather the fruits of this with joy, according to what is said: โThose who go forth weeping, carrying sacks of seed, will return with cries of joy, carrying their bundled sheavesโ (Ps 125:6). Actually Elijah’s act towards this woman was not her reward, but only a symbol of it. For if this widow would have been rewarded here on earth for having fed the man of God, what a miserable sowing, what a poor crop! She received just a temporal good – a jar of flour that did not empty and a jug of oil that did not run dry, until the day the Lord watered the earth with His rain. This sign that was given to her by God, for a few days was, therefore, the symbol of the future life where our reward could not be lessened. Our flour will be God himself! As the flour of this woman did not run out in these days, we will not be deprived of God for all the rest of eternity โฆ Sow with faith and your harvest will surely come; it will come later on but when it will come, you will reap it endlessly.โ – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, Father, Doctor of the Church – Sermon 11, 2-3
PRAYER โ Lord our God, make us love You above all things and all our fellow-men, with a love that is worthy of You. May we look to Your Divine Son in love and imitation. Grant we pray, that by the prayers of the St John of God and Bl Vincent Kadlubek we too may be granted the grace to follow Your only Son, no matter our sufferings. We make our prayer, through Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever amen.
Saint of the Day – 8 March – Blessed Vincent Kadlubek O.Cist (c 1160-1223) Bishop, Cistercian Monk, noted Historian, prolific Writer and renowned Precher. His Episcopal mission was to reform the Diocesan Priests and to re-invigorate the faithful. Born in 1160 as Wincenty at Karnow, Duchy of Sandomir, Poland and died on 8 March 1223 at Jedrzejow, Poland of natural causes. Patronages – Writers, Sandomierz, Diocese of Kielce, Jฤdrzejรณw. He is also known as – Vincent Kadlubo, Vincent Kadlubko, Vincent of Cracow, Wincenty Kadlubek.
Wincenty Kadlubek was born of noble family about the year 1160 at Karnow, in the Duchy of Sandomir in Poland. He studied at the Cathedral school in Krakรณw. It was while at the latter that he studied under Mateusz Cholewa. It was the latter’s patronage that allowed Vincent to be sent abroad for further studies. He was sent to France and Bolgona in Italy, where met the future Pope Innocent III when the two were students and he also encountered John of Salisbury, the historian and poet. He received Priestly Ordination in 1189 and became Canon and Dean of Cathedral School of Krakow. A document dated 1212 bears his signature as โPraepositus Sandomirensis of the quondam,โ namely the Provost of the Cathedral of Sandomir.
On the death of Bishop Fulk of Krakow on 11 September 1207, the chapter voted in favour of the election of Vincent. Pope Innocent III confirmed the decision in a papal bull on 28 March 1208 and Vincent received his Episcopal Consecration from the Archbishop of Gniezno, two months later. Innocent III’s bull referred to Vincent’s wisdom as the motivation for his selection, while referring to him as a “master and preacher.”
Vincent set out to reform the Diocesan Priests to ensure their holiness, while also seeking to invigorate the faithful to active participationthe life of the Church. He also supported the construction of Monasteries in the Diocese. He Consecrated Saint Florian’s Basilica and was said to have once been the Chaplain to Casimir II the Just.
The Bishop was noted for his linguistic skills, for his charismatic preaching and for his expertise in Canon law as well as for his renowned rhetoric abilities. He knew of the natural sciences as well, since he had studied them while in Paris and Bologna. But it was while in Europe that he started reading the life and works of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and became enthralled with the charism of the Cistercians, to whom he granted attention as Bishop.
In 1214, thanks to the providential intervention of Bishop Vincent, a long-running dispute about the possession of Galicia was resolved. In 1215 he participated in the Fourth Council of the Lateran.
In 1218 he resigned from his Diocese, which Pope Honorius III accepted and entered the Cistercian Monastery in Jฤdrzejรณw. He became the first Pole to join the Cistercians.
Vincent died on 8 March 1223 and his remains were buried before the high altar of the Monastery Church. His remains were exhumed on 26 April 1633 with his pallium found intact though his remains had become skeletal. Measurements were taken and it was surmised that he was of “fair height.” His remains were moved to a new location before the high altar on the following 16 August. Kadลubek’s remains were again exhumed and reinterred in mid-1765 and some were moved to Sandomierz in 1845 for veneration. Other parts to his remains were moved in 1903 to Wawel and placed in a silver urn.
Relics at the Monastery Church in Jฤdrzejรณw
In 1682, the King Jan III Sobieski petitioned for his Beatification and a similar petition was made in 1699 by the General Chapter of the Order of Citeaux, though it was not until 18 February 1764, under pressure from Wojciech Ziemicki, Abbot of Jedrzejow, that Pope Clement XIII granted confirmation of cult as โBlessedโ although he is popularly known as ‘Saint’ in Poland.
Finally worthy of note that the works of Blessed Wincenty Kadlubek composed as the first Polish journalist: โChronica seu originale et principum Regum Poloniaeโ in four volumes. The first three are in the form of dialogue between the Archbishop of Gnesen John (1148-65) and Matthew Bishop of Krakow (1145-65). The first is legendary, the second is based on a chronicle of a Gallo, the third and fourth summarize the experience of the author. The period in which the work saw the light does not find the experts agree: it was commissioned by King Casimir, or when Leszek Vincent was already a bishop, while others, he devoted himself to it now imprisoned in the monastery.
Some of Blessed Vincent’s writings had a huge impact on the Polish political doctrine of the 14th and 15th centuries. Some suggest that his most well-known book “Chronicles of the Kings and Princes of Poland” was written at the request of Prince Casimir II others suggest that it at the request of Prince Leszek while Blessed Vincent was a Bishop; still others claim that it was not written until after his retirement.
Nossa Senhora das Virtudes / Our Lady of Virtues, Lisbon, Portugal (15th Century) – 8 March:
The Church of the Monastery of Our Lady of Virtues, or Nossa Senhora das Virtudes, until recently was nothing more than a ruin, located north of Lisbon. A small Church was constructed in 2009 and further work is planned. The site is now protected because of its historical importance but for no other reason, as pilgrimages and devotion to the Blessed Virgin declined from the 19th century until the 21st century, when there remained almost no memory of the glory that once was here. According to tradition, the origin of the Church of Our Lady of Virtues, relates to the appearance of Our Lady to a keeper of cows back in the early fifteenth century. The apparition gave rise to a pilgrimage to the site, as well as the later construction of a primitive Chapel, presumably made of wood and other perishable materials. A short time later, due to the growing importance of the site and the devotion of the faithful, King Duarte commanded that a Franciscan Monastery be built, that would be attached to the Chapel. Following upon the construction of the Monastery, a hospital was also soon built and subsequently inns and other businesses supporting the thriving community that grew up around the Chapel. Pilgrimages to the Shrine became widespread throughout the remainder of the fifteenth century. Of unquestionable importance throughout the Middle Ages, the more recent centuries have seen the abandonment of pilgrimages to the Shrine, as well as the decay of the buildings and the eventual abandonment of the site by the Franciscans. At the beginning of the 1990โs, when excavations were made at the Monastery, all that remained was ruins. Despite the fact that the Monastery was almost completely destroyed, there are still some structural remains located on the north side of the Church and most of these structures are assumed to still be buried beneath the earth. This is believed because the Church of Our Lady of Virtues itself, was partially buried before the archaeological work revealed it.
St Apollonius of Antinoรซ St Arianus of Alexandria St Beoadh of Ardcarne St Duthus of Ross St Felix of Burgundy St Humphrey of Prรผm St Jon Helgi Ogmundarson St Litifredus of Pavia St Philemon of Antinoรซ St Pontius of Carthage St Provinus of Como St Quintilis of Nicomedia St Rhian St Senan of Scattery St Stephen of Obazine St Theophylact of Nicomedia St Theoticus of Alexandria St Veremundus of Irache Blessed Vincent Kadlubek O.Cist (c 1160-1223) Bishop โ Martyrs of North Africa โ 9 saints โ A bishop and some of his flock who were martyred together in North Africa. The only details that have survived are nine of the names โ Beata, Cyril, Felicitas, Felix, Herenia, Mamillus, Rogatus, Silvanus, Urban.
Saint of the Day – 7 March – Saint Simรฉon-Franรงois Berneux MEP (1814-1866) Bishop, Martyr, Missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, Professor and Spiritual Director at the Mans seminary. Born on 14 May 1814 in Chรขteau-du-Loir, Sarthe, France and died by being tortured, blinded by having quicklime thrown in his eyes and then beheaded on 7 March 1866 on a beach beside the Han River in Sae-nam-teo, Seoul, South Korea. St Simรฉon-Franรงois is also venerated along with the rest of the 103 Korean Martyrs on 20 September.
Simรฉon-Franรงois was born to a poor and pious family. He felt a call to the Priesthood at the age ten and in 1831 at the age of seventeen, he entered the Seminary in Mans, France. Due to health problems, he had to leave the Seminary for two years, during which time he worked as a tutor. Finally he was Ordained a Diocesan Priest on 20 May 1837. Initially, Father Berneux served as a Professor and Spiritual Director at the Mans seminary which specifically trained Priests for the Missions.
In 1839 Simรฉon joined the Paris Foreign Missions Society and left for the Asian missions on 13 January 1840. He arrived first in Manila, Philippines before being assigned to the Tonkin region of modern Vietnam on 17 January 1841.
He began his work near a small Convent outside the town of Moi-yen, learning the Annam language. But he was barely started, when he was arrested on Holy Saturday 1841 during one of the periodic antiโChristian persecutions, Simรฉon and a brother Priest were dragged from place to place, ordered to renounce Christianity, ordered to convince lay people to renounce the faith and when their persecutors finally realised that the 2 Priests would not co-operate, they were sentenced to death on 8 October 1842.
However, before the sentence could be officially approved, a French official learned of their imprisonment and on 7 March 1843, had them released. Father Berneux was sent to the Chinese province of Manchuria where he continued his missionary work for the next ten years, sometimes in Singapore or Macao.
On 5 August 1854 he was chosen the fourth Vicar Apostolic of Korea by Pope Pius IX and arrived there with some fellow Missionaries in early 1856. For administrative reasons, he was also appointed Titular Bishop of Capsa and was Consecrated on 27 December 1954.
He learned Korean and then, as Bishop, spent time on the road visiting rural Christians, started a Seminary in Pae-ron, founded several schools and started a printing house that published Catholic works in Korean.
Thousands were Baptised during his time as Bishop but a palace coup in 1864 and threats of Russian invasion, led to a resurgence in anti-Western, antiโChristian nationalism and official persecution of the Church.
Bishop Berneux was arrested on 23 February 1866. He was taken to the capital and from 3 to 7 March he was repeatedly beaten and interrogated under torture until the bones in his legs were shattered. As he was dragged to his death, Bishop Simรฉon preached to the people who had come out to witness the execution and to remind his fellow sufferers, that they died for the glory of the Kingdom of God, imitating their Redeemer.
The interrogation of Bishop Simรฉon
The deaths of Berneux and other Catholic Missionaries in Korea, was followed by a French punitive expedition which only served to reinforce the Korean policy of isolationism.
The Korean Martyrs were Canonised on 6 May 1984.
St Simรฉon-Franรงois relics were brought to Berlin in 2001 and are held in the Institute of St Philipp Neri in Berlin, Germany.
Nossa Senhora da Estrela / Our Lady of the Star, Villa Vicosa, Portugal (1050) – 7 March:
In the year 1050 there were two Benedictine Monks who lived in the convent of Monte Cassino. They decided to go on pilgrimage, teaching and catechising all those they met along the way. One night they found themselves wandering on the coast of Normandy, France, near a place called Grand Champ. Tired and sleepy, they decided to spend the night on the beach under the stars. Father Rogerio slept on the cool sand and the other Monk found himself a place to rest in a small boat nearby. As the night went on, the tide came up and the little boat was gently drawn out onto the sea. Without realising it, the Monk was going on an adventure in which he would not awaken until he was just off the coast of England. In Salisbury, England, everyone was amazed to see the Monk in the little boat, convinced that it was a miracle that he had crossed the French Sea in a small boast and lived to see the shores of England. Soon, the Monk was made Bishop and his period in office was marvellous to the people because he was a humble man of prayer, who sacrificed everything for God. The Monk who had stayed on the beach, Father Rogerio, knew nothing of what had happened to his friend. All he knew was that he and the boat had disappeared and, giving his concerns into the hands of God, he determined to continue on his journey alone. One night not long afterward, Father Rogerio went to sleep and had a dream that would change his life forever. In his dream he saw a great star fall from the sky, burning all the bushes and trees and heard a voice that said: “Our Lady wants a Church built in this place.” When he awoke, Father Rogerio looked about himself. He was not injured but this indeed was the place he had seen in his dream, for everything around him was burned. Father understood that Our Lady really did desire that he should build a Church there in her honour. He also felt in his heart, the desire to give Mary the title of “Our Lady of the Star” because of the star he had seen in his dream. Due to the poverty of those who inhabited that region, Father Rogerio was only able to build a small Altar and a tiny Chapel which would be the seed of the great Abbey of Our Lady of the Star of Monteburgo. One day an immense Chapel would be built, sheltering not only the Church but a very large convent as well. King William, who was the Duke of Normandy and he who had conquered England, learning of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Star, sent his private doctor to visit the little Chapel to find out for himself how it had all come about. Upon arriving there, the doctor discovered that he was the brother of the Monk Rogerio! He listened to his brother’s account of how he had been separated from his friend and then told about his dream. The doctor believed everything at once and to Father Rogerio’s surprise, the doctor knew the Monk who had crossed the channel in a small boat and informed his brother, that his lost friend had become the Bishop of Salisbury! The two brothers excitedly thanked Our Lady for providing this reunion. The Bishop of Salisbury, our former friend of the Monk Rogerio, asked King William to help his brother in the faith, for they were both blessed by Our Lady on their pilgrimage. William the Conqueror, with a glad heart, donated to Father Rogerio the entire region of Monteburg, along with the resources to build a great Church and an Abbey there that became a great seminary. The work was finished by the son of King William, King Henry. He, taking the throne, continued the work until its completion. The Abbey of Our Lady of the Star was, for many centuries, a centre of the Church for the whole region. Dark centuries ensued and the Church and Abbey suffered a decline until in 1842, the Vicar General of Coutances took possession of what was by that time little more than an enclosure of ruins. He turned it over to the Brothers of Mercy, a new order meant to promote Catholic education. The Abbey Church was rebuilt but as time went on, the Brothers of Mercy also left and all is now used as part of an agricultural school. As for Our Lady of the Star, it is a story almost completely forgotten, even to Catholics.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Star
“O, Our Lady of the Star, to you our gaze turns and our childlike hearts. You are the Morning Star, that announces the arrival of the day. You are the Evening Star, that shines in our night. You are the Star of the Sea, who sends us her son Jesus, the eternal Light of the world. Through the darkness and storms of life, in the hour of doubt or of temptation, in the revolt, be our clarity and our peace. Be our hope and our purity, be our sweetness and our strength, O Lady of the Star. May our gaze and our hearts forever rest on you. O Lady of the Star, Pray for us. Amen”
St Ardo of Aniane St Deifer of Bodfari St Drausinus of Soissons St Enodoch St Esterwine of Wearmouth St Eubulus of Caesarea St Gaudiosus of Brescia Bl Henry of Austria Blessed Leonid Feodorov (1879-1935) Martyr His Life and Death: https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/07/saint-of-the-day-7-march-blessed-leonid-feodorov-1879-1935-martyr/ St Paul of Prusa St Paul the Simple St Reinhard of Reinhausen Bl William of Assisi โ Martyrs of Carthage โ 4 saints: A catechist and three students martyred together for teaching and learning the faith. We know little more than their names โ Revocatus, Saturninus, Saturus and Secundulus. Mauled by wild beasts and beheaded 7 March 203 at Carthage, North Africa
Martyrs of Korea St Simรฉon-Franรงois Berneux MEP (1814-1866) Bishop, Martyr St Bernard-Louis Beaulieu St Ioannes Baptista Nam Chong-Sam St Pierre-Henri Dorie St Simon-Marie-Just Ranfer de Breteniรจres
Martyrs of Laos Bl Luc Sy Bl Maisam Pho Inpรจng Martyrs of Tyburn Bl German Gardiner Bl John Ireland Bl John Larke
Saint of the Day – 6 March – Blessed Sylvester of Assisi OFM (Died 1240) Priest, Franciscan Frria. One of the first 4 followers of St Francis of Assisi and was the first Priest in the Franciscan Order.
Sylvester was a member of one of the noblest and wealthiest families of the City of Assisi, the Uncle of St Clare Of Assisi.
When St Francis embarked on his campaign to “rebuild My church” Sylvester sold Francis stones which were to be used to rebuild the little Church of St Damiano. When, a short while later, he saw Francis and Blessed Bernard of Quintavalle distributing Bernard’s wealth to the poor, Sylvester complained that he had been poorly paid for the stones and asked for more money.
Though Francis obliged, the handful of money he gave Sylvester later caused him to regret this spirit of greed he found in himself, his conscience rebuked him and he was filled with guilt. He sold all of his goods and gave the money to the poor and began a life of penance. Sylvester was Ordained a Priest and became a Canon of the Cathedral of San Rufino in Assisi.
Thereafter, he joined St Francis. Sylvester became a holy and prayerful man and a favourite of Francis. He was known in the Order for his strict observance of the life of poverty and contemplation. Together with his cousin, Clare, he later prayed for enlightenment to discern the will of God for Francis, when Francis sought advice on how he should best serve God. Should he go out to preach rather than by devoting himself solely to prayer?
The cave at the Eremo delle Carceri, near Assisi, where Blessed Sylvester spent long periods in solitary prayer
Sylvester often accompanied Francis during his preaching tours. Once, in the city of Arezzo, it was claimed by the residents, that Sylvester’s preaching and prayers brought peace to the City, which was falling prey to hatred and violence amongst its citizens. In another City where civil war was raging, Sylvester was commanded by Francis to drive the devils out. At the City gate Sylvester cried out: “In the name of almighty God and by virtue of the command of His servant Francis, depart from here, all you evil spirits.” The devils departed and peace returned to the City.
St Bonaventure, in a special way, mentions the visions which Sylvester had concerning Francis.
Sylvester died in Assisi in 1240, surviving Francis by 14 year. He is one of Francis’ four original companions who are buried near his tomb in the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.
Nossa Senhora da Nazarรฉ/Our Lady of Nazareth, Pierre Noire, Portugal, (1150) – 6 March:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: โThis image was honoured at Nazareth in the time of the Apostles, if we may believe a writing which was found, by a hunter, attached to this image, in the year 1150.โ
The Shrine of Our Lady of Nazareth, known in Portugal as Nossa Senhora da Nazare, is found in the village of Nazare on the Atlantic coast in Portugal. Indeed, the village is named after this miraculous statue of the Blessed Mother and the Christ Child, that was brought to the area many centuries ago. According to tradition, this miraculous image was carved by the hands of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of Christ, while in the very presence of the Infant Jesus and the Mother of God. Later, the faces and hands of the images were painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist. This remarkable image is still preserved in a Church where it can be viewed by anyone and the story surrounding it is a fascinating one. It is known that the statue of Our Lady of Nazareth came from the Holy Land where it was one of the oldest images ever venerated by Christians. It was saved from destruction at the hands of the iconoclasts sometime early in the 5th century by a Monk named Ciriaco, who gave the statue to Saint Jerome. Saint Jerome later gave it to Saint Augustine in Africa, to protect the statue by removing it from the Holy Land. Saint Augustine then gave it into the safekeeping of the Monastery of Cauliniana, near Merida, a Monastery on the Iberian Peninsula. When the Arabs invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the year 711, King Roderic met them with his Visigothic army at the battle of Guadalete, where he was soundly defeated. It is a fact of history, that the body of Roderic was never found upon the field of battle, although his horse was found and it is often assumed by historians, that Roderic died that day when he lost his kingdom. According to this legend, however, Roderic was not killed but survived the battle and disguised himself as a beggar as he travelled north. Alone and unknown, he made his way to the Monastery of Cauliniana where he sought shelter for the night. Going to Confession, he, of necessity, revealed his true identity to the friar, Frei Romano. As it turned out, the Monks were preparing to leave the Monastery in advance of the Arabs and so Frei Romano asked the King if he could accompany him in his travels. Roderic agreed and the friar took with him the statue of Our Lady of Nazareth and the relics of Saint Bras and Saint Bartholomew. They travelled together until they arrived at a place later named Monte de Saint Bartolomeu in November of the year 714. They made for themselves a hermitage with the friar living in a small cave at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the sea. He placed the image in a niche among the stones upon a pedestal of simple rocks. Roderic went a little ways off by himself to a hill where he also began to live the life of a hermit. After a year, though, King Roderic left the hermitage and nothing else is said of him in this legend. One wonders if he ever learned of his kinsman Pelayo, who had retreated into the mountains and continued to heroically defy the invaders. Before his death, Frei Romano hid the image in his small cave, where it remained undisturbed for some centuries until it was discovered by shepherds, who came there to venerate the statue. Inside that little, ancient sanctuary they had found the renowned and sacred image of Our Lady of Nazareth. Carved of wood, it was unlike any other statue of the Madonna they had ever seen, for it depicts the Blessed Virgin breastfeeding her Divine Child while seated upon a simple bench. When miracles began to frequently occur, it became a major pilgrimage site. Then, in the early morning of 14 September in the year 1182, the Mayor of Porto de Mos, Dom Fuas Roupinho, was hunting on his land when he observed a deer. Chasing it up a steep slope on horseback that misty morning, the fog became heavier all of a sudden. The deer, later suspected to be the devil in the guise of a deer, jumped off the edge of the hilltop into the empty void. Despite his efforts to stop his horse, the spirited mount was determined to follow after the deer. Helpless to save himself, the rider suddenly recognised that he was near the sacred grotto where he would often come to pray. Fuas Roupinho cried out to the Blessed Virgin, praying aloud: โOur Lady, Help Me!โ
The horse stopped immediately, as if he were digging his hooves into the rocky cliff above the void. Suspended in an unnatural manner at the edge of the cliff, Fuas Rouphinho knew the drop to be over 100 meters and surely would mean his death if he had fallen. He was then able to back slowly away from the edge, looking down to see the evidence of the impossible and unimaginable – for there in the hard stone was the imprint of one of his horseโs hooves. One of those marks can still be seen in the native rock. Faus Rouphinho dismounted and went to the grotto to pray and give thanks, subsequently causing a chapel โCapela da Memoria,โ or โThe Chapel of Remembrance,โ to be built very near the spot where his life had been miraculously saved. When the masons he had hired took apart the primitive altar in the cave, they found an ivory box of sorts that contained the relics of Saint Bras and Saint Bartholomew. There was also an ancient scroll that they carefully removed. Opening the scroll, they found that it explained the history of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Divine Child, now known as Our Lady of Nazareth, as outlined above. The church Santuario de Nossa Senhora da Nazare was later built on the hilltop overlooking Nazare by King Ferdinand I of Portugal in the year 1377. Its construction was necessary due to the large number of pilgrims who continued to come to venerate the image.
Over the years it was often rebuilt, or had additions made, especially in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The profusely decorated and gilded apse displays the statue of Nossa Senhora da Nazare in a lighted niche above the main altar, flanked by twisted columns. The first King of Portugal, Don Afonso Henriques, as well as the chief nobles of his court, were among the early pilgrims to the shrine. Many notable figures came to visit Our Lady of Nazareth throughout history, including Vasco de Gama, who came as a pilgrim before setting out for India and Pedro Alvares Cabral, who later discovered Brazil. St Francis Xavier, the Apostle of the East, went on pilgrimage to Our Lady of Nazareth before later leaving for Goa.
A close-up of the little Statue in it’s niche above the Altar – at Christmas, see the little trees.
According to a plaque placed in the Chapel in 1623, the image was carved by Saint Joseph in Galilee when Jesus was a baby. Some decades later St Luke the Evangelist painted the faces and hands of the images. It remained in Nazareth until brought by the Greek Monk Ciriaco to the Iberian Peninsula. It is believed to be one of the oldest images venerated by Christians.
Nossa Senhora de Nazarรฉ in its Sanctuary of the Portuguese village of Nazarรฉ.
St Cyriacus of Trier St Cyril of Constantinople St Evagrius of Constantinople St Fridolin Vandreren of Sรคckingen Bl Guillermo Giraldi St Heliodorus the Martyr Bl Jordan of Pisa St Julian of Toledo St Kyneburga of Castor St Kyneswide of Castor St Marcian of Tortona Bl Ollegarius of Tarragona St Patrick of Malaga St Sananus Blessed Sylvester of Assisi OFM (Died 1240) Priest
St Tibba of Castor St Venustus of Milan โ Martyrs of Amorium โ 42 saints โ Also known as Martyrs of Syria and Martyrs of Samarra A group of 42 Christian senior officials in the Byzantine empire who were captured by forces of the Abbasid Caliphate when the Muslim forces overran the city of Amorium, Phrygia in 838 and massacred or enslaved its population. The men were imprisoned in Samarra, the seat of the Caliphate, for seven years. Initially thought to be held for ransom due to their high position in the empire, all attempts to buy their freedom were declined. The Caliph repeatedly ordered them to convert to Islam and sent Islamic scholars to the prison to convince them; they refused until the Muslims finally gave up and killed them. Martyrs. We know the names and a little about seven of them: โข Aetios โข Bassoes โข Constantine โข Constantine Baboutzikos โข Kallistos โข Theodore Krateros โข Theophilos but details about the rest have disappeared over time. However, a lack of information did not stop several legendary and increasingly over-blown โActsโ to be written for years afterward. One of the first biographers, a monk name Euodios, presented the entire affair as a judgement by God on the empire for its official policy of Iconoclasm. Deaths: โข beheaded on 6 March 845 in Samarra (in modern Iraq) on the banks of the Euphrates river by Ethiopian slaves โข the bodies were thrown into the river, but later recovered by local Christians and given proper burial.
Saint of the Day – 5 March – Saint Piran (Died 480) Abbot, Hermit, Missionary, miracle-worker. Died on 5 March 480 of natural causes. Patronages – Cornwall, England, miners, Piran, Slovenia, tin miners, tinners. He is also known as Pyran, Peranus, Peran.
Piran’s family origins are obscure; tradition says he was born in Ireland but spent his youth in south Wales where he founded a Church in Cardiff. He received religious schooling at the Monastery of Saint Cadog at Llancarfon, where he met Saint Finnian of Clonard. The two returned together to Ireland where Finnian founded six Monasteries, including his most famous one at Clonard. Piran lived there before visiting Saint Enda on Aran Island and then Saint Senan on Scattery Island. He founded his own community at Clonmacnoise, known as “Ireland’s University.”
Cornish legend says Piran was captured in his middle years by pagan Irish, jealous of his miraculous powers, especially his ability to cure many illnesses. They tied a millstone around his neck and threw him off a cliff into the sea during a storm. As Piran hit the water the storm abated and the millstone bobbed to the surface like a cork. On his stone raft, Piran sailed for Cornwall, landed at Perran Beach, built a small Chapel on Penhale Sands and made his first converts – a badger, a fox and a bear. He lived there for years as a Hermit, working miracles for the locals.
Piran founded Churches at Perran-Uthno and Perran-Arworthal, a Chapel at Tintagel and a holy-well called the “Venton-Barren” at Probus. He made trips to Brittany, France, where he worked with Saint Cai. Arthurian tradition from Geoffrey of Monmouth, says he was Chaplain to King Arthur as well as being appointed as the Archbishop of York after Saint Samson was exiled by Saxon invasions, though it is doubtful he ever took up his See.
Piran’s Patronage of Cornwall derives from his popularity with the Cornish tin-miners. Legend says that Piran discovered tin in Cornwall when he used a large black rock to build a fireplace and found that the heat made a trickle of pure white metal ooze from the stone. He shared this discovery with the locals, providing the Cornish with a lucrative living. The people were so delighted that they held a sumptuous feast where the wine flowed like water. Piran was fond of the odd tipple, resulting in the Cornish phrase “As drunk as a Perraner.” The trickle of white metal upon a black background remains as the White Cross of Saint Piran on the Cornish National flag.
Piran died at his little Hermitage near the beach. His relics were a great draw to pilgrims but, due to being inundation by the sands, they were moved inland to the Parish Church of Perran-Zabulo, built to house them.
St Piran’s tiny Hermitage
St Piran’s Day is popular in Cornwall and the term ‘Perrantide’ has been coined to describe the week prior to this day. The largest St Piran’s Day event is the pilgrimage across the dunes to St Piran’s Cross which hundreds of people attend, generally dressed in black, white and gold, and carrying the Cornish Flag and a Crucifix.
There are many Churches and even towns and villages decicated to St Piran in both Cornwall and Brittany.
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours/Our Lady of Good Help, Montreal, Canada (1657) – 5 March:
This is the original Statue brought to the Chapel by St Marguerite Bourgeoys and which survived the fire intact, which though destroyed the entire Chapel, It is tiny, only 17cm tall.
Dedicated to Our Lady of Good Help, Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, has been for 350 years the Sanctuary for seamen leaving Montreal for the seven seas. A wooden Chapel was built in 1657, replaced in 1675 by a building whose foundations serve the present Church which was erected in 1771.
Over the entrance is an inscribed message: โIf the love of Mary is graven in your heart, forget not a prayer in passing.โ
Our Lady of Good Help is a beautiful little Church, with fine paintings. On the walls are mosaics of St Marguerite Bourgeoys, who inspired the first Chapel and of Maisonneuve, Founder of Montreal, said to have felled the first oak for the Chapel. A narrow stairway, lined with pilgrimsโ acknowledgments, leads to an aerial Chapel set in the roof. Here is a facsimile of the Santa Casa, the house of the Virgin carried by angels from Nazareth to Loreto. Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys was the Founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame. When she returned from France in 1673 she brought back with her a wooden statue of Our Lady of Good Help. It can still be seen in the reliquary on the gospel side of the altar, for when the Church burned in 1754, the statue was saved from the fire. This is not to say that someone took the statue from the Church, for after the fire had ravaged the original Chapel, the statue was found uninjured among the smouldering embers that remained. The mortal remains of Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys were interred in the Sanctuary of the Church in the year 2005, the 350th anniversary of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours. She rests now at the feet of the statue she herself had brought from France. In 1849 the Bishop of Montreal placed a statue of the Blessed Virgin, Star of the Sea, atop the tower facing the harbour. For this reason, the Chapel is also known as the Sailorโs Church. There are votive offerings, carved ships, models of sailing ships suspended from the vault of the Chapel in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin for her assistance in their safe return from the sea.
St Adrian of Caesarea St Caron St Carthach the Elder Bl Christopher Macassoli of Vigevano St Clement of Santa Lucia St Colman of Armagh St Conon of Pamphylia Bl Conrad Scheuber St Eusebius of Cremona St Eusebius the Martyr St Gerasimus Bl Giovanna Irrizaldi Bl Ion Costist St John Joseph of the Cross OFM (1654-1734) โ Priest Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/05/saint-of-the-day-5-march-st-john-joseph-of-the-cross-ofm-1654-1734/ St Kieran Bl Lazรซr Shantoja St Lucius I, Pope St Mark the Ascetic St Oliva of Brescia St Phocas of Antioch St Piran (Died 480) Abbot
Bl Roger Bl Romeo of Limoges St Theophilus of Caesarea St Virgilius of Arles
One Minute Reflection โ4 March โ Thursday of the Second week of Lent, Readings Jeremiah 17:5-10,ย Psalms 1: 1-2,ย 3, andย 6,ย Luke 16: 19-31 and the Memorial of St Casimir- (1458-1484)
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abrahamโs bosom. The rich man also died and was buried and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. โฆ Luke 16:22-23
REFLECTION – By St Nerses Chnorhali (1102-1173) Armenian Bishop – Jesus, Only Son of the Father, 624 f.
Like the rich man who loved a life of pleasure I, too, have loved pleasures that pass away With this animal body of mine, In the pleasures of that fool.
And from so many and such great blessings That You have so freely given me I have not paid back the tenth From Your own gifts.
But, out of everything under my roof, Gathered from earth and sky and sea, I believed Your numberless blessings To be my own possession.
Nothing of these have I given to the poor, Nor set anything aside for his needs: Neither food for the hungry Nor covering for the naked body,
Neither shelter for the homeless Nor abode for the foreign guest, Nor visit to the sick Nor even concern for the prisoner (cf. Mt 25:31 f.).
I was not saddened for the sorrow Of the one cast down by his burdens, Nor shared the joy of the joyful But burned with jealousy against him.
All of them were another Lazarus, (โฆ) They lay outside at my gate; โฆ Yet I, deaf to their appeal, Never gave them the crumbs from my table. โฆ
The dogs of your Law outside Comforted them, at least with their tongues; Yet I, who listened to Your commandment, Wounded the one who bore Your likeness with my tongue (Mt 25:45). (โฆ)
Yet only grant me repentance here below That I may make reparation for my sins, โฆ That these tears may extinguish the blazing furnace With its burning flames. โฆ
And, instead of acting like the merciless, Set merciful compassion within me, That, by showing mercy to the poor, I may obtain Your mercy.
PRAYER โ Dear and Holy God, let us offer You all our daily struggles against sin and evil. Grant us the strength to resist all forms of idolatry, to seek only You and never to allow the material goods of this world to seduce us. Sustain us ever more with Your word and help us to find in it, the source of life. Grant that by the intercession of St Casimir we may grow in charity us during our life on earth. Grant this, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen
Saint of the Day – 4 March – Blessed Placida Viel SSC (1815โ1877) Virgin, Religious Sister of the Sisters of the Christian Schools of Mercy, which focused on the education of girls. Born Eulalie-Victoire Jacqueline Viel on 26 September 1815 at Quettehou, Normandy, France and died on 4 March 1877 at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, France of natural causes. She is also known as Eulalie Victoire Jacqueline Viel, Eulalie-Victoire Viel, Placide Viel .
Vittoria Eulalia Giacomina Vicl, the future second Superior General of the Sisters of the Christian Schools of Mercy, was born in 1815 in the village of Val-Vacher in Normandy. Vittoria was the eighth of eleven children, (she was baptised just moments after her birth). Her family, formerly wealthy and respected throughout Quettehou, eventually degraded to the status of a small farmer. Vittoria, between five and twelve years of age, attended a girls’ school, then studied sewing for a year. She, therefore, received minimal education, which, however, being very devout, she was able to enrich by attending Catechism courses at the Parish of the town, where later she also taught. She made her First Communion before the mandated age because the Parish Priest believed she was mature and devout enough. At eighteen she was a tall, generous and cheerful girl but very shy.
Her father’s cousin, Maria, always considered as Vittoria’s Aunt, was first a disciple and then one of the first companions of St Marie-Madeline Postel (1756-1846) (16 July), of whose small community she had also been treasurer. Sr Marie-Madeline invited Vittoria to visit the group that had recently settled in Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte. Vittoria was immediately fascinated by the Superior and conceived the desire to share the extremely poor but obviously happy life of the nuns. In May 1833 she left home to join the community. She was greatly saddened by the separation from her father but was also overjoyed at her vocation.
In 1833, when Vittoria arrived, she found a community made up of fourteen professed and nine novices who lived in extreme poverty. She also found a saint of about eighty, from whom she absorbed her virtues, her knowledge and her charity. The postulant embraced her new life with great enthusiasm and received the novice habit in 1835 along with ten other young women and was given the name of Placida. She worked as an assistant cook until 1838, the year in which she made her Profession and in which she began a long series of ever new tasks.
Firstly, the Superior sent her back to school so that she could improve her level of education. The course of studies was supposed to last two years but Sr Placida completed it within three months and after obtaining her Diploma she even became a teacher at the college, was appointed head of the novices and also a councillor. Maria soon understood that the Mother Superior had decided to prepare that young girl for the highest responsibilities and her attempts to guide her niece towards the strictest religious observance turned into evident hostility. The Aunt did nothing but point out and underline Placida’s faults and seemed to want her to be removed from the Monastery of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte. The Mother Superior, however, was adamant and even appointed Placida Assistant Superior and gave her the task of founding a new Convent.
One day, while the Bishop was expressing his concern for the future, to the elderly Foundress, Placida passed by and Mary Magdalene said: “It will be that twenty-four-year-old nun who will succeed me. God will tell you how to do it.” He then ordered Placida to go to Paris and raise the necessary funds to restore the Church. He told her to go to the Queen and the most important Ministers of the Government and to collect what was still needed, begging from door to door. For four years Placida carried out this task, committing herself and accepting the refusals, disdain and profound solitude, with a great spirit of obedience, humility and sacrifice.
In May 1846 she was recalled to Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte because the Superior was dying. St Mary Magdalene Postel died on 16 July 1846 . The General Chapter for the election of the new Superior was held in September of the same year and all but two votes were in favour of Placida, who felt completely unworthy and apologised on her knees. While her Aunt and the Chaplain, were of the opinion that the role of Superior belonged to the Aunt, the Bishop was adamant and validated the votes . A very strange period followed. Placida submitted to the Chapter her need to complete the task entrusted to her for the raising of funds and suggested that she postpone her taking Office for a year and keep only some functions in the interim. The Chapter agreed and entrusted the daily leadership of the community to her Aunt. However, that situation lasted ten years, years in which the Mother Superior, Placida, extended the range of her travels outside of Paris, always moving on foot and often spending the night outdoors.
She kept in correspondence with the members of the community and gave instructions for the assignment of tasks but her short stays at the Convent were rather sad. Maria had taken possession of the Superior’s rooms, while Placida was relegated to an attic; the Aunt humiliated the young Superior in front of the whole community, gave her orders, opened her post, made decisions together with the Chaplain and instructed her on what she should do.
Why was all this possible? Had Placida abdicated her role? Shouldn’t she have taken some more vigorous action towards Maria? In the end, her great sufferings paid off; forcing the Aunt into submission would have jeopardised the already fragile balance of the congregation, which the true Mother Superior knew she had to avoid at all costs.
Shortly after the Consecration of the Abbey Church, which had been completed with the vast funds Placida had raised, Maria died. Placida ran the Community for thirty more years and received Papal approval for the order in 1859 from Pope Pius IX. Her tenure as Mother Superior saw Sisters in the Order increase from 150 to more than 1000, as well as seeing an increase in the number of Convents. Placida’s ambition was to do for the students, the same, that St John the Baptist de La Salle had done for the boys.
Placida died on 4 March 1877 at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte after having been organising relief during the Franco-Prussian War. Placida was Beatified 6 May 1951 by Pope Pius XII.
The Roman Martyrology states – “In the Monastery of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte in Normandy in France, Blessed Placida (Eulalia) Viel, virgin, who distinguished herself in leading the Congregation of the Christian Schools of Mercy with commitment and humility.”
Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde / Our Lady of the Guard , Marseille, France (1221) – 4 March:
The Statue inside the Basilica
Late one afternoon during the thirteenth century, a solitary French fisherman was fishing off the harbour of Marseille. Before he became aware of it, a terrific storm descended upon him. His boat tossed around like a shell and filled with water faster than he could bail it out. His rudder was lost. his mast snapped. Cutting himself free from the rigging with a knife, he had saved himself temporarily from certain drowning. Still, everything looked hopeless and he felt he could never get back to the harbour. The fisherman thought of the family he would never see again and cast a despairing look at the City, the huge rock standing like a sentinel or guard on the mountain which overlooked the City and harbour. Dimly through the gloom, he suddenly saw a solitary figure of a lady, dressed in white, standing firmly on the very top of the rock. She seemed to be extending her hand as if she would help him to the shelter and safety of the harbour. At once it came to him that the Lady so calmly defying the wind and rain could only be the Blessed Mother, so he prayed to her to help him. Almost immediately his boat ceased its wild tossing, righted itself and pushed by a friendly gust of wind, raced into the calm water of the harbour until it drove onto the shore at the very foot of the mountain. Stepping onto the shore, the fisherman fell to his knees and poured out his thanks to the Blessed Virgin and then hurried home to his worried family. The story of his rescue through the assistance of Our Lady, quickly spread throughout the port. It was remembered that other sailors, on numerous occasions during severe storms, had also seen the figure of the Lady on top of the rock. Always when she had appeared, the angry seas had calmed and their crafts had ridden safely into the shelter.
Soon everyone came to believe that the rock was the spot on which the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Guard, would appear whenever her help was desperately required. In thanksgiving to her the sailors of Marseille, in 1213-1218, erected a Chapel on top of the rock . In it they enshrined a lovely Statue of Our Lady. Around 1544, the Chapel was replaced by a large Church and the Statue transferred to it. Sometime during the French Revolution the Statue of Our Lady of Guard was destroyed but during the 1830โs a new Statue was dedicated. That Mary did not confine her help only to sailors was proved in the year 1832, when a severe epidemic of cholera struck Marseille, the people decided to appeal to Mary. Forming a procession, they climbed the mountain, removed the Statue from the Chapel, brought it down and solemnly carried it through the streets of the City. Almost immediately the epidemic waned and in a few days vanished. So they called Mary, Our Lady of Help โ the sailors called her Our Lady of Mariners. Some years later, as the fame of the shrine on top of the mountain spread, more and more people made pilgrimages to venerate the Blessed Virgin. The shrine acquired still another name, a name more reflective of who Our Lady truly is for all who call upon her โ Notre Dame de la Guarde โ Our Lady of Guard, or Guardian.
In Marseilles today, the hill of Notre Dame de la Garde is topped by a beautiful Basilica, built in 1864, at an altitude of 550 feet. This commanding site, however, has been occupied by a Chapel since the year 1214. The interior has a multitude of sailorsโ votive offerings and model ships are hung in all parts of it, as signs of thanksgiving for all the mariners who have been assisted by their heavenly mothe, the beautiful Stella Maris.. A golden statue of the Virgin and Child suitably dominates the City from its place on top of the western tower spire.
Votive replicas of ships saved at sea hang everywhere from the vaults of the Basilica
โ St Adrian of May St Adrian of Nicomedia Bl Alexander Blake St Appian of Comacchio St Arcadius of Cyprus St Basinus of Trier Bl Christopher Bales St Felix of Rhuys St Gaius of Nicomedia Bl Humbert III of Savoy St Leonard of Avranches St Nestor the Martyr St Owen Bl Paolo of Brescia St Peter of Pappacarbone Blessed Placida Viel SSC (1815โ1877) Virgin, Religious Sister Bl Rupert of Ottobeuren โ Martyrs on the Appian Way โ 900 saints โ Group of 900 martyrs buried in the catacombs of Saint Callistus on the Appian Way, Rome, Italy.c260
Martyrs of Nicomedia โ 20 saints โ A group of 20 Christians murdered together for their faith. The only details about them to survive are three of their names โ Archelaus, Cyrillos and Photius. Nicomedia, Bithynia (in modern Turkey)
Martyrs of the Crimea โ 7 saints โ A group of 4th century missionary bishops who evangelized in the Crimea and southern Russia, and we martyred for their work. We know little else beyond the names โ Aetherius, Agathodorus, Basil, Elpidius, Ephrem, Eugene and Gapito.
Martyred by Communists: Bl Giovanni Fausti, Bl Gjelosh Lulashi, Bl Kolรซ Shllaku, Bl Zoltรกn Lajos Meszlรฉnyi
Martyred by Elizabeth I: Bl Alexander Blake, Bl Christopher Bales, Bl Nicholas Horner
Saint of the Day – 3 March – Blessed Pietro de Geremia OP (1381-1452) Dominican Priest and Friar, renowned and brilliant Preacher, miracle-worker. In addition to his many miracles and conversions of sinners, he founded the University of Catania and help establish several Dominican Monasteries. Born in 1381 at Palermo, Sicily and died on 3 March 1452 in the Convent of Santa Zita, Palermo, Sicily of natural causes. He is also known as Peter Geremia. Patronages – Palermo, Preachers.
Pietro Geremia was born in Palermo on 10 August 1399 to aristocrats. ad He studied at the Bologna college and was perceived to be an excellent law student and his own pride led him to believe this.
One night in 1422 as he meditated on his vain success and what his future would bring, a recently deceased relative knocked on his third floor window. Pietro sat upright and asked who was there. The relative told him that his constant seeking after worldly glory had caused him to be eternally lost. He warned Pietro not to repeat the fatal errors of sin and pride and thus lose his eternal salvation!
The shaken Geremia purchased an iron chain to wear in mortification and began to seriously pray for guidance in his vocation. He received a sign that he was to enter the Order of Preachers.
His enraged father came to Bologna to stop him but saw how changed Pietro was and the peace and happiness which he emanated. He began his novitiate in Fiesole and was Ordained to the Priesthood in 1424. He made his vows in 1423 and returned to Palermo in 1433, where his superiors appointed him Prior at the Convent of Santa Cita in Palermo, Sicily.
His fame as a Preacher caught the attention of St Vincent Ferrer who once visited him and the two discussed spiritual matters at great lengths. Pietro was seen as one of the finest Preachers on the island and preached in the open often because the Churches never could hold the vast number of people who flocked to hear him.
On one particular occasion there was no food for the people and he asked a fisherman for a donation but the fisherman refused him in a rude manner. So he got into a boat and rowed out to sea and made a sign to the fish who broke the nets in the water and followed him back to the shore. The fisherman apologised and so he made another sign to the fish who returned to the nets in the sea. In 1444 he was preaching on repentance in Catania, when Mount Etna erupted. The people begged him to save them and he went to the Saint Agatha Shrine and removed the Saint’s veil. He held the veil towards the flow of lava heading towards the town and the eruption and lava flow ceased.
These and countless other miracles he performed which caused him to be revered as a saint. He raised the dead to life, healed the crippled and the blind and brought obstinate sinners to the feet of God.
Pope Eugene IV (1431-47) had a great appreciation for his skills and during the Council of Florence (1431-45), which briefly reconciled the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, the Pontiff relied on Pietro to help mediate between the two sides.
He died on 3 March 1452 in the Santa Zita Convent in Palermo and was Beatified on 12 May 1784 by Pope Pius VI.
Notre-Dame des Anges de Toulouse / Our Lady of Angels of Toulouse, France (1212) – 3 March:
In the year 1212, three merchants from Angers were passing through the forest of Bondy in France, when they were set upon by robbers. After being robbed, they were bound to trees and left to their fate. Since it was a wild and lonely place, known to be the haunt of robbers, their chances of rescue were few. They prayed earnestly to God and Our Lady and, after a day and a night, angels came in visible form and released them. The men discovered a spring near the place where they had been bound, which they considered to be miraculous. They determined to set up a Shrine of Our Lady on the spot in thanksgiving for their deliverance. The first statue they put into the Shrine was only intended to be temporary, to be used until something better could be made or purchased. However, almost immediately there began a stream of miraculous cures among those who prayed before the rough little statue. In the years that followed, fervent pilgrims came in droves to the Shrine, as evidenced by the numerous drinking vessels found during archaeological excavations carried out on the site. In 1260 the little Chapel was enlarged to enclose also the spring. In 1663 the Chapel was rebuilt and redecorated and so remained until the French Revolution, when it was completely destroyed. However, after the Terror had passed, the Chapel was rebuilt in 1808. One of the many thank-offerings in the Chapel is a ship suspended above the altar, as an ex-voto from a group of sailors who were saved from shipwreck at the intercession of Our Lady. On Sunday, 9 September 2012, the Diocese of Saint-Denis celebrated the 800th anniversary of the pilgrimage to Notre-Dame-des-Anges in Clichy-sour-Bois, under the leadership of Bishop Pascal Delannoy. The pilgrimage to the small Shrine always takes place on the second Sunday of September, and is thought by some to be the second oldest pilgrimage site in France.
__ St Katharine Drexel SBS (1858-1955) (Optional Memorial) Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2017/03/03/saint-of-the-day-3-march-st-katharine-drexel/ โ St Anselm of Nonantola St Arthelais of Benevento Bl Benedetto Sinigardi da Arezzo St Calupan St Camilla St Cele-Christ St Cunegundes St Foila Bl Frederick of Hallum St Gervinus Bl Innocent of Berzo Bl Jacobinus deโ Canepaci St Lamalisse St Non Blessed Pietro de Geremia OP (1381-1452) Priest Bl Pierre-Renรฉ Rogue St Sacer St Teresa Eustochio Verzeri St Titian of Brescia St Winwallus of Landรฉvennec โ 40 Martyrs in North Africa โ A group of Christians martyred together in North Africa, date unknown. No details have survived, but we know these names โ Antonius, Artilaus, Asclipius, Astexius, Basil, Bosimus, Carissimus, Castus, Celedonius, Claudianus, Cyricus, Donata, Emeritus, Emeterius, Euticus, Felix, Fortunatus, Frunumius, Gajola, Georgius, Gorgonius, Hemeterus, Isicus, Janula, Julius, Luciola, Luciolus, Marcia, Marinus, Meterus, Nicephorus, Papias, Photius, Risinnius, Sabianus, Savinianus and Solus
Martyrs of Pontus โ 3+ saints โ A large group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Emperor Maximian Galerius and governor Ascleopiodato. We have some details on three of them โ Basiliscus, Cleonicus and Eutropius. 308 in Pontus (in modern Turkey) Martyrs of Caesarea; Asterius Marinus Martyrs of Calahorra Cheledonius Emeterius
Martyrs of Gondar, Ethiopia: Bl Antonio Francesco Marzorati Bl Johannes Laurentius Weiss Bl Michele Pรญo Fasol
One Minute Reflection โ 2 March – Tuesday of the Second week of Lent and the Memorial of St Chad (c 620-672) Bishop of York and Lichfield, Readings: Isaiah 1:10,ย 16-20,Psalms 50: 8-9,16-17,ย 21ย andย 23,ย Matthew 23: 1-12
โWhoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.โ โฆ Matthew 23:12
REFLECTION โ โHumility is a secret power the saints receive when they bring all their lifeโs ascetical practices to a successful conclusion. For indeed, this power is only bestowed on those who attain to the perfection of virtue through the strength of grace โฆ It is the same power the blessed Apostles received in the form of fire. Our Saviour commanded them, in fact, not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the power from on high (Acts 2:3; 1:4). Here Jerusalem stands for virtue; the power is humility and the power from on high, is the Paraclete, in other words the Consoler Spirit.
Now this is exactly what Sacred Scripture had said โ these mysteries are revealed to the humble (Lk 10:21). To the humble it is given to receive within themselves that Spirit of revelation that uncovers mysteries. That is why certain saints have said that humility is what brings the soul to fulfilment in divine contemplation. So let no-one start thinking they have attained complete humility because at some moment a thought of compunction came to them or because they shed a few tears โฆ. But if someone has overcome every contrary spirit โฆ, if he has overturned and subjected all the strongholds of the enemy and if he then feels that he has received that grace in which โthe Spirit bears witness to our spiritโ (Rom 8:16), in the Apostle Paulโs words, then there is the perfection of humility. Blessed are they who possess it. For they continually embrace the breast of Jesus (cf. Jn 13,25).โ โฆ St Isaac the Syrian of Nineveh (c 613-c 700) Bishop of Nineveh, Monk at Mosul โ Ascetical discourses, 1st series, no 20
PRAYER โ Almighty Father, look with favour on Your family and as You have given us Your Son as Master and Redeemer, grant that we may be strengthened by Your grace, to follow His teachings. May the prayers of St Chad be heard for ou needs. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 2 March – Saint Chad (c 620-672) Bishop of Lichfield, Confessor, Abbot, Monk, known as the Apostle of Mercia. St Chad was a man of holy humility and mortification. He was an great carer of the poor and a man of zealous energy, visiting all in his massive Diocese on foot. Born in c 620 in Northumbria, England and died on 2 March 672 at Lichfield, England of natural causes after a brief illness, which is thought might have been the plague. Patronages – Birmingham, England, Archdiocese of, Lichfield, England, Diocese of. Also known as St Chad of Mercia, of Lichfield, Ceadda.
St Chad, or Ceadda, was the youngest of the four brothers – Cedd, Cynebil, Celin and Chad, all eminent Priests. Despite attempts to claim him as both a Scottish and an Irish saint, he was certainly an Angle, born of noble parents in Northumbria around 620. Bede tells us, that Chad, along with his elder brothers, was a pupil of St Aidan at his Lindisfarne school. The Bishop required the young men who studied with him, to spend much time in reading Holy Scripture and in learning, by heart, large portions of the Psalter, which they would require in their devotions. Upon the death of Aidan, in 651, the four young men went to Ireland to complete their training. The Emerald Isle was then full of men of learning and piety and Chad, there, made the acquaintance of Egbert, afterwards Abbot of Iona.
Meanwhile, Chadโs brother, Cedd, had returned to England and evangelised the East Saxons. In 658, at the request of King Aethelwald of Deira, he also established a Monastery at Lastingham in Yorkshire, standing just on the edge of the North York Moors. Though often absent, he frequently returned there from his London Diocese and, at a time of the 664 plague, he died there. Upon his death-bed, Cedd bequeathed the care of the Monastery to his brother, Chad, who was then still in Ireland.
On his return, Chad ruled the Lastingham Abbey with great care and prudence and received all who sought his hospitality with kindness and humility. However, he arrived in Northumbria during a period of religious change and political upheaval. Eventually, the heavily pro-Roman and, therefore to some factions, unpopular St Wilfred, was given the Northumbrian Bishopric which he transferred to York.
The Altar at Lastingham Abbey where St Chad and St Cedd said Mass
The following year, while St Wilfred was away, King Oswiu of Northumbria became impatient for some religious guidance in his kingdom and decided to send Chad to Kent to be Consecrated Bishop of the Northern Church. He was accompanied by the Kingโs Chaplain, Edhed, who was, some years afterwards, made Abbot of Ripon. However, upon their arrival in Canterbury, the two Priests found that Archbishop Deusdedit had died of the Plague. His successor, Wigheard, was journeying to Rome for his Consecration and Bishop Ithamar of Rochester was too close to death to be of any help. So they turned aside to Wessex where, at Dorchester-on-Thames, they were greeted by Bishop Wine. He was the only canonically ordained bishop available in England, yet the required ceremony demanded three. Wine therefore called upon two Welsh and/or Cornish Bishops to help him and Chad was duly Consecrated Bishop of York in Dorchester Cathedral.
Bishop Chad began, at once, to apply himself to the practice of humility, continence and study. He travelled about his new Diocese, not on horseback but after the manner of the Apostles, on foot, to preach the gospel in the towns and the open countryside, according to the example of both St Aidan and his late brother, Cedd. Wilfred returned to England in AD 666 and, finding himself, deposed, quietly retired to his Abbey at Ripon. He remained, however, an opponent of Chad who was constantly criticised for the manner of his appointment. Three years later, Theodore of Tarsus, a new Archbishop arrived in Canterbury from the Continent. Being naturally a staunch supporter of the Roman doctrine, he soon charged Chad with holding an uncanonical office. The northern prelate humbly replied that if this were true, he would willingly resign for he never thought himself worthy of the position and had only consented out of a sense of duty. Theodore was so moved, that he completed Chadโs ordination himself in the Roman manner. Though the latter still preferred to resign in favour of Wilfred and he thus retired to Lastingham. Though Chad was Bishop of York for so short a time, he left his mark on the affections of the people, for we find that at least one oratory was dedicated in his name at York Minster.
In 669, Bishop Jaruman of Mercia died and King Wulfhere asked Archbishop Theodore to send his people a new Christian leader. The primate did not wish to consecrate a fresh bishop, so he persuaded King Oswiu to release Chad from the Abbacy of Lastingham to be the new Mercian Bishop. Soon after his election, Chad set out for Repton in Derbyshire, where Diuma, the first Bishop of Mercia, had established his see. Theodore, knowing that it was Chadโs custom to travel on foot, bade him ride, whenever he had a long journey to perform. However, finding Chad unwilling to comply, the Archbishop was forced to lift him onto his horse, with his own hands and oblige him to ride.
Chad did not stay long at Repton but removed the centre of the Mercian See to Lichfield in Staffordshire. Whether this was through a desire for a more central position, or was influenced by a wish to do honour to a spot enriched with the blood of martyrs, is unknown. For Licetfield was then thought to translate as โField of the Deadโ where one thousand British Christians were said to have been butchered. Possibly also, he wished to be closer to the popular Royal Palace at Tamworth.
Chadโs new Diocese was not much less in extent than that of Northumbria. It comprised seventeen counties and stretched from the banks of the Severn to the shores of the North Sea. For the Dioceses of Worcester, Leicester, Lindsey and Hereford had still to be detached. Though such an area may be thought far beyond the power of one man to administer effectively, Chad apparently rose to the challenge. King Wulfhere gave him the land of fifty families upon which to build a Monastery, where the ancient Saxon Church still stands.
Mercia in the time of St Chad
Chad built himself a small oratory beside Stowe Pool at Lichfield. It adjoined a large well and a small Church (St Chadโs), not far from his new Cathedral. He would immerse himself in the deep well every morning and meditate in the icy waters before setting out around his Diocese to care for the needy. When time allowed, Chad was also wont to pray and read with seven or eight other brethren in his cell. If it happened that there blew a strong gust of wind, when he was reading or doing anything else, he at once called upon the Lord for mercy. If it blew stronger, he, prostrating himself, prayed more earnestly. But if it proved a violent storm of wind or rain, or of thunder and lightning, he would pray and repeat Psalms in the Church until the weather became calm. He explained to his followers that the Lord moves the air, raises the winds, darts lightning and thunders from heaven to excite the inhabitants of the earth to fear him, to dispel their pride, vanquish their boldness and to put them in mind of their future judgement.
It was to Bishop Chadโs little cell that Prince Wulfade of Mercia happened to chase a handsome deer whilst out hunting one day. Struck by the words of the pious holyman, the Prince was converted and was Baptised in the Bishopโs well. His brother, Rufine, soon followed suit. Their father, King Wulfhere, had relapsed into Paganism and was furious at his sons. Having his mind further poisoned by their enemy โ a thane named Werbode โ he rode out and slew them both with his own hands. Immediately stung with remorse, however, the King fell ill and was counselled by his Queen to ask Chad to give him absolution. As a penance, the saint told him to build several abbeys and, amongst the number, he completed Peterborough Minster (Cathedral), which his brother had begun. He was converted to Christianity and, often afterwards, sought the Bishopโs advice.
After a rule of two and a half years, a deadly plague began to ravage the Midlands. Many of the Lichfield brethren were felled by the disease and it was not long before Bishop Chadโs time came near. This was heralded by a heavenly audition, witnessed by Owin, a Monk of great merit who had joined Chad at Lastingham from the entourage of St Etheldreda, whilst he worked outside the Bishopโs oratory. Chad immediately called upon him to gather the brethren, then praying in the Church, around him. He encouraged them to preserve the virtue of peace amongst themselves and follow his example in all things when he had gone. He explained to Owin that his death would come to pass within seven days and so it did.
Chad died on the 2nd March 672 and was first buried in St Maryโs Church at Lichfield. Like many Cathedrals of the time, however, there were many Churches in the Episcopal complex and when the Church of St Peter was completed, his bones were translated there. Frequent miraculous cures were attested in both places.
Though Chadโs episcopate was short, it was abundantly esteemed by the warm-hearted Mercians, for thirty-one Churches are dedicated in his honour, all in the midland counties, either in or near the ancient Diocese of Lichfield. His relics were translated to the present Cathedral, when it was rebuilt by Bishop Roger, in honour of the Blessed Virgin and St Chad. There, they reposed in a beautiful shrine erected by Bishop Walter Langton in his newly-built Lady Chapel from the early 14th century until the Reformation. Some of them were saved from destruction and are now on display in Birmingham Roman Catholic Cathedral.
Chadโs emblem is a branch, perhaps this was suggested by the Gospel of St John which speaks of the fruitful branches of the vine. This was formerly read on the Feast of Chadโs Translation, which was celebrated with great pomp at Lichfield every year. However, he is most easily recognised in art through his cradling a little church with three spires, Lichfield Cathedral.
Nuestra Seรฑora de las Apariciones / Our Lady of Apparitions, Madrid, Spain (1449) – 2 March:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: โOur Lady of Apparitions, at Madrid, so called because, in the year 1449, the Blessed Virgin appeared during eight following days to a young woman named Yves and ordered her to build a Church in her honour, on the spot where she should find a Cross planted to Our Lady.โ
Cubas de la Sagra is a municipality in Spain in the Province and autonomous community of Madrid. The approved apparitions of Our Lady in 1449 that occurred there, are now almost inexplicably unknown, barely mentioned in passing, or treated as a legend in some books, if even recognised as a point on some ancient map. It is true that the hosts of Napoleon looted and destroyed the Sanctuary and Monastery built there and that, the war in 1936 did not leave one stone upon another but, the memory of what happened there in 1449 must not be forgotten, at least by Catholics! In the year 1449, Cubas was only a village with a simple Church dedicated to Saint Andrew. The population of Cubas, however, lived quite forgetful of their duties to God and their sins were so many, that it seemed even to them, that the hand of God must be hovering over the land, ready to punish them. The Chronicles speak then of a young girl of 12, named Ines, (sometimes Yves or Agnes), who was but of humble birth. Still, there was something about her that made her different from other girls her age. She fasted, confessed regularly, and prayed daily the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. Perhaps her deep faith and religiosity may explain what happened next. On Monday, 3 March 1449, Ines was tending pigs on the outskirts of town in a place called Cecilia, when at noon a woman appeared, a lady bright and beautiful dressed in cloth of gold. She was surrounded by ligh, and asked Ines what she was doing there. Ines stated that she was tending the pigs. The Lady then said that the people were no longer keeping the fasts and told Ines the necessity of fasting. The lady said that the people of Cubas must change their ways, confess and cease their debauchery and offences against God, or He would soon punish them. There would be a great pestilence that would come upon them from which many would die. Perhaps knowing the hardheartedness of the people, Ines asked if she, too, or her mother and father, would die of this pestilence. She was told only that it would be as God desired. The lady then disappeared. At first Ines did not tell anyone of the incident, for she thought no-one would believe what had happened. On Tuesday, 4 March, Ines was again tending the pigs, this time near the stream of Torrejon . At about the same time of day, at noon, just as the day before, the Lady reappeared. She asked Ines if she had told the people what she had been told to say but Ines answered that she dared not to, for she suspected that she would not be believed. The Lady then commanded Ines to warn the people and that if they did not believe, she would give her a sign. Ines asked the Lady who she was but she said she would not yet reply, before once again disappearing. Finally Ines decided to tell her father, Alfonso Martinez, who did not give any importance to the events recounted by his daughter but thought it a childrenโs story, a story invented in the imagination of a young girl. He told Ines to be quiet when she tried to tell anyone about the warning. On Friday, 7 March, Ines was keeping the pigs in New Prado, when the Lady reappeared again as before. She asked Ines if she had told what she had been commanded to say. Ines answered that she had told her mother and father and many others. The Lady told Ines to publish what she had said to all the people without any fear or trepidation. When Ines went home at the end of the day, she told her parents what had happened. Her father told her she was lying and to โshut upโ but her mother encouraged Ines, saying, โWell, still, say it.โ By Sunday, 9 March, word had spread. A Priest, Juan Gonzalez, with some other men, went to Inesโ home and talked to her parents. Afterwards, the Priest went to say Mass . Ines went out with the pigs, accompanied by her brother Juan, to a place called The Ciroleda. Inesโ father left them and went to Mass. The Ciroleda was a watery meadow that the pigs liked. Ines left her brother after a time, looking for one of the pigs that had slipped away and soon lost sight of her brother. All by herself, she knelt on the soft earth, asking the lady to return, even though she was afraid. The Lady appeared again as before, telling Ines to rise. โLady, who are you?โ Ines asked. โI am the Virgin Mary,โ the lady answered and approaching Ines, took her right hand and squeezed her fingers and thumb together making some kind of a sign . She then told Ines to go to the Church and show the sign to the people as they left Mass. Ines told her brother to watch after the pigs and went to the Church, arriving just as Mass was finished. She was crying and went to kneel before the Altar of Mary. There, she told everyone what had happened. I cannot decipher what the sign was in Inesโ hand but whatever it was, the people examined her hand and many believed. The following day the Priest led the notables of the town and the faithful in a procession to the place of the last apparitions, carrying a wooden Cross. When they arrived, Ines walked forward alone with the Cross. The Virgin Mary herself took the Cross, telling Ines to have a Church built there in her honour. Th Cross was permanently placed where the Virgin, Our Lady of Apparitions, had been last seen and many miracles occurred there, including 11 people who were brought back to life . A Church was begun shortly after the apparitions of the Virgin were approved. It stood for nearly five centuries, when it was destroyed in the 1936 fire, caused during the Civil War. Many of the Nuns who were living in the Convent nearby, were martyred. In 1949 the reconstruction was completed in part by the Regiones Devastadas, who placed the current Cross in the same place where the first had been. According to tradition, Ines ended her life in the Monastery of Santa Maria de la Cruz after having children and being widowed. It is said that anyone who goes to visit the place, with faith, receives special graces and that miracles still occur there.
Bl Charles the Good St Cynibild of Laestingaeu Bl Engelmar Unzeitig St Felix of Treves St Fergna the White Bl Girolamo Carmelo di Savoia St Gistilian St Joavan of Brittany St John Maron St Jovinus the Martyr St Lorgius of Caesarea St Lucius of Caesarea St Luke Casali St Quintus the Thaumaturge St Slebhene St Troas St Willeic โ Martyrs of Campania โ Approximately 400 northern Italian Christians martyred for their faith by pagan Lombards. Their story was recorded by Pope Saint Gregory the Great, who reports that they people spent their final days supporting each other with prayer. c579 in Camnpania, Italy.
Martyrs of Porto Romano โ 4 saints โ Group of Christians martyred in the persecution of Diocletian. The only other information that survives are the names of four of them โ Heraclius, Januaria, Paul and Secondilla. c305 at Porto Romano at the mouth of the River Tiber, Rome.
One Minute Reflection โ 1 March – Monday of the Second week of Lent, Readings: Daniel 9:4-10,ย Psalms 79:8,ย 9,ย 11ย andย 13,ย Luke 6:36-38 and the Memorial of Saint Albinus of Angers (469-549) Bishop
โFor the measure you give, will be the measure you get back.โโฆ Luke 6:38
REFLECTION – โLet us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things – they leave behind them in this world but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.โ – St Francis of Assisi (c 1181โ1226)
PRAYER โ We beseech Your mercy Lord, let Your Spirit come upon us in power and fill us with His gifts, to render our minds and hearts pleasing to You and make us docile and merciful as Your Son has taught us. May our Lord Jesus, Your Son, guide us and may the prayers of St Albinus of Angers assist us to engrave Your precepts in our hearts and actions. Through Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 1 March – Saint Albinus of Angers (469-549) Bishop, Confessor, Monk, Abbot, miracle-worker. Born in 469 at Vannes, Brittany, France and died in 1 March 549 of natural causes. Patronage – invoked against pirate attacks. Also known as Aubin of Angers, Albino of Angers.
Albinus was born of an ancient and noble family in Brittany and from his childhood, was fervent in every exercise of piety. He ardently sighed after the happiness which a devout soul finds in being perfectly disengaged from all earthly things. Having embraced the monastic state at Cincillac, called afterwards Tintillant, a place somewhere near Angers, he shone a perfect model of virtue, especially of prayer, watching, universal mortification of the senses and obedience, living as if in all things he had been without any will of his own and his soul seemed so perfectly governed, by the Spirit of Christ, as to live only for Him.
In 504, at the age of thirty-five years, he was chosen Abbot and remained so for twenty-five years and thereafter, was chosen as the Bishop of Angers. He restored discipline, being inflamed with a holy zeal for the honour of God. His dignity seemed to make no alteration either in his mortifications, or in the constant recollection of his soul. Honoured by all the world, even by Kings, he was never affected with vanity. Powerful in works and miracles, he looked upon himself as the most unworthy and most unprofitable among the servants of God and had no other ambition than to appear such, in the eyes of others, as he was in those of his own humility. By his courage in maintaining the law of God and the canons of the church, he showed that true greatness of soul is founded in the most sincere humility.
At the third Council of Orleans, in 538, he procured the thirtieth Canon of the Council of Epaone to be revived, by which those are declared excommunicated who presume to contract incestuous marriages in the first or second degree of consanguinity or affinity (marriage between those closely related through blood), as well as other immoral practices. This action caused a great deal of persecution by the wealthy families of the time, who were guilty of these sins.
Many Christians of his Diocese had fallen into slavery through the invasions of the barbarians and Saint Albinus used every resource available to him for their redemption. To the graces of charity from which his people benefitted, were joined those deriving from his public miracles. He resurrected a young child and when one of his servants died during his absence, those who carried the man to his grave were unable to lower him until the Bishop arrived to give the final benediction.ย
One of the miracles recorded states that as St Albinus passed a prison tower in Angers he heard the cries and moans of badly treated prisoners. He entered and added his moans to those of the prisoners in his pleading for clemency. He then went to the local Magistrate and formally submitted a plea for their release but it was refused. He returned to the tower and prayed in front of it, after several hours, a landslide brought down part of the tower, the prisoners escaped, followed Albinus to the Church of Saint Maurichies, reformed their ways and became model citizens and Christians.
Albinus was a contemporary of St Bede. We owe appreciation to St Albinus for assisting St Bede in composing his โEcclesiastical History of the English.โ St Bede records this fact in the letter he sent to Albinus with a copy of the work. St Bede also spoke very highly of Albinus, stating that he was a most learned man in all the sciences and giving Albinus credit for his assistance.
He died on the 1st of March, in 549. In 556, his relics were taken up and enshrined by St Germanus of Paris and a council of Bishops, with Eutropius, the Saintโs successor, at Angers. The most considerable part still remains in the Church of the famous Abbey of St Albinus at Angers, built upon the spot where he was buried, by King Childebert, a little before his relics were enshrined.
Many Churches in France and several Monasteries and Villages, bear his name. He was honoured by many miracles, both in his lifetime and after his death. Several are related in his life written by Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, who came to Angers to celebrate his festival seven years after his death, also by St Gregory of Tours. From St Gregory of Tours too, we know that the cult of St Albinus was extremely widespread, spreading to Germany, England and Poland, making Albinus one of the most popular Saints of the Middle Ages.
St Albinus, we need your intercession in our times, please pray for us!
Madonna Della Croce, โHoly Mary of the Cross,โCrema, Italy (1490) – 1 March:
There is a Sanctuary of the Madonna on the Bergamo Road, about a mile away from the city of Crema, Italy. The structure is a circular form, with four additions in the shape of a cross, which gave rise to the name: โHoly Mary of the Cross,โ or Our Lady Della Croce. The Sanctuary is located in a place where, in years gone by, there stood a dense little wood called โIl Novelletto.โ
In the late 15th century, a young woman named Caterina Uberti lived with her brother in the city of Crema. When she arrived at marriageable age, her brother induced her to wed one Bartolomeo Petrobelli; it was an unfortunate arrangement โ Caterina was good and pious; Bartolomeo was quite the opposite, tending toward the wicked and corrupt. The marriage was unhappy for Caterina and uncomfortable for Bartolomeo โ his rather crude and brutal ways shamed her, while her refined and holy life was a silent reproach to his somewhat scandalous mode of living. So, after a year of turmoil, Bartolomeo decided to kill Caterina. Having made up his mind, he lost no time in carrying out his evil design. He suggested that they journey to Bergamo and visit his parents; she agreed and in the late afternoon of 3 April 1490, they mounted their horses and set forth from the city. When they arrived at the wood about a mile from Crema, Bartolomeo left the highway and rode into the forest; Caterina was puzzled but not knowing what else to do, followed him. When they reached the middle of the wood, Bartolomeo dismounted and made Caterina get down from her horse. Then, without warning, he drew his sword, raised it and fiercely brought it down, intending to split her head with one clean cut. Instinctively she drew up her arm to ward off the savage blow, saved her head but lost her right hand โ the poor severed hand hung from the stump of her arm by a strip of skin and Bartolomeo brutally tore it off and flung it to one side. He then slashed at her like a maniac until she fell to the ground in a pool of blood; thinking her dead, he leaped on his horse and fled. Caterina was not dead, nor was she afraid to die, though she felt her time was short. With all her dying heart she wished for the Last Sacraments; so she prayed to the Mother of God, who heard her prayer. A glow of light pushed back the gathering darkness and a beautiful lady approached her. Reaching down, the Lady, Our Lady Della Croce, took her by the arm and helped her rise โ the blood stopped flowing and new life coursed through her mutilated body. The Lady bade Caterina follow her but Caterina asked if she might look for her lost hand. The Lady promised it would be returned to her in due time. Taking Caterina to a hut, she told her these people would help her and then vanished. The kind peasants did all they could for Caterina, and the next morning they placed her on a rude stretcher and tenderly carried her back to Crema. As they passed through the wood, one of the men found the severed hand and returned it to Caterina. They took her to the Church of St Benedetto, where the Priest, after hearing the story, anointed Caterina who died there. The story spread rapidly; some believed, others doubted that the Blessed Virgin worked such wonders. An eleven year old boy, living in Crema plagued with an unhealable abscess on a foot, begged to be taken to the wood to put his foot on the spot where the Lady appeared. His mother and a group of relatives carried him there and he was instantly cured, all abscess traces gone. Many other sick and infirm came also and were cured . The people erected a small Chapel on the spot and placed in it a plaster image of Our Lady. More favours followed; many offerings were made by the faithful and by 1500, in a few years a fitting Sanctuary to the Madonna was completed. Later a fine new statue of Mary was enshrined in the Sanctuary and in 1873, Our Lady Della Croce was crowned with a golden crown by order of the Vatican.
St Abdalong of Marseilles St Adrian of Numidia St Agapios of Vatopedi St Agnes Cao Guiying St Albinus of Angers (469-549) Bishop St Albinus of Vercelli St Amandus of Boixe St Antonina of Bithynia Bl Aurelia of Wirberg Bl Bonavita of Lugo St Bono of Cagliari Bl Christopher of Milan Bl Claudius Gabriel Faber St David of Wales (c 542-c 601) Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2017/03/01/saint-of-the-day-1-march-st-david-of-wales/ St Domnina of Syria St Domnina of Syria St Donatus of Carthage St Eudocia of Heliopolis St Felix III, Pope Bl George Biandrate Bl Giovanna Maria Bonomo Bl Gonzalo de Ubeda St Hermes of Numidia St Jared the Patriarch St Leo of Rouen St Leolucas of Corleone St Lupercus St Marnock St Monan Bl Pietro Ernandez Bl Roger Lefort St Rudesind St Seth the Patriarch St Simplicius of Bourges St Siviard St Swithbert St Venerius of Eichstรคtt
Martyrs of Africa โ A group of 13 Christians executed together for their faith in Africa. The only details about them to survive are ten names โ Abundantius, Adrastus, Agapius, Charisius, Donatilla, Donatus, Fortunus, Leo, Nicephorus and Polocronius. c290
Martyrs of Antwerp โ A group of Christians martyred together, buried together and whose relics were transferred and enshrined together. We know nothing else but their names โ Benignus, Donatus, Felician, Fidelis, Filemon, Herculanus, Julius, Justus, Maximus, Pelagius, Pius, Primus, Procopius and Silvius. Died in the 2nd Century in Rome. They are buried in the St Callistus Catacombs and their relics were enshirned in the Jesuit Church in Antwerp on 28 February 1600.
Martyrs of the Salarian Way โ A group of 260 Christians who, for their faith, were condemned to road work on the Salarian Way in Rome, Italy during the persecutions of Claudius II. When they were no longer needed for work, they were publicly murdered in the amphitheatre. Martyrs. c269 in Rome.
Martyrs Under Alexander โ A large but unspecified number of Christians martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Alexander Severus and the praefect Ulpian who saw any non-state religion to be a dangerous treason. c 219.
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