Bl Hugolinus Magalotti Bl Jean Laurens Blessed Jerome Ranuzzi OSM (c 1410-c 1468) “The Angel of Good Counsel,” “The Blessed Bachelor,” Priest and Friar of the Order of the Servants of Mary, the Servites Bl Kazimierz Tomasz Sykulski
Bl Martín Lumbreras Peralta Bl Martino de Melgar Bl Melchor Sánchez PérezPens Bl Pilar Villalonga Villalba Bl Severin Ott Martyrs of Saint Aux-Bois – (3 saints): Two Christian missionaries and one of their local defenders who faith in the persecutions of governor Rictiovarus – Fuscian, Gentian and Victoricus. They were beheaded in 287 in Saint Aux-Bois, Gaul (in modern France).
Martyrs of Rome – (3 saints): Three Christians murdered in the persecutions of Diocletian for giving aid to Christian prisoners – Pontian, Practextatus and Trason. They were imperial Roman citizens. They were martyred in c 303 in Rome, Italy.
Saint of the Day – 10 December – Saint John Roberts (1577-1610) Priest Martyr, Monk, Missionary. Born in 1577 at Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, Gwynedd, northern Wales and died by being hung, drawn and quartered on 10 December 1610 at Tyburn, London, England. Additional Memorials – • 25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, 1 December as one of the Martyrs of Oxford University.
John Roberts was the eldest son of Robert and Anna of Rhiw Goch Farm, Trawsfynydd. He was a descendant of the Welsh Princes, including Maelgwn Gwynedd, Hywel Dda and Llewelyn the Great.
Despite being raised a Protestant, it is believed that he received his early education from a Monk who had been forced to leave nearby Cymer Abbey after Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.
St John Robert’s Birthplace
John studied at St John’s College at Oxford. However, he left without earning a degree and entered as a law student at one of the Inns of Court. He travelled throughout the continent and more so, Paris and through the influence of a Catholic fellow traveller, he was converted to Catholicism. By the advice of John Cecil, an English Priest, he decided to enter the English College, at Douai in 1598.
He left College the following year for the Abbey of St Benedict and was sent to make his novitiate at San Martin Pinario, Santiago de Compostela. He made his profession towards the end of 1600. He was Ordained and set out for England in December 1602. Although a Government spy observed him, John and his companions succeeded in entering the country in April 1603 but he was arrested and banished in May. He soon managed to return to England, and worked among the plague victims in London. In 1604 while preparing to leave for Spain with four postulants, he was arrested again. Not recognised as a Priest, he was released and again banished but he returned to England, once again.
In 1605, he was found at the house of Mr And Mrs Thomas Percy, who was involved in the Gunpowder Plot. Although he was not found guilty of being involved, in July 1606. he was imprisoned in the Gatehouse Prison at Westminster for seven months and then exiled This time he was gone for fourteen months, nearly all of which he spent at Douai where he founded and became the first Abbot of a house for English Benedictine Monks, who had entered through Spanish Monasteries. This was the beginning of the Monastery of St Gregory at Douai.
In October 1607, John returned to England. In December, he was again arrested and placed in the Gatehouse at Westminster. After several months, he escaped. He lived in London for about a year and in May 1609, he was taken to Newgate Prison. He would have been executed but the French Ambassador interceded on his behalf and his sentence was reduced to banishment. He visited Spain and Douai but returned to England within the year. He was captured again on 2 December 1610, just as he was concluding Mass. They took him to Newgate in his Vestments. On 5 December he was tried and found guilty under the Act forbidding Priests to minister in England.
On 10 December he was hung, drawn and quartered along with Father Thomas Somers at Tyburn, London. His body was recovered and taken to St Gregory’s at Douai. His arm was found in the possession of the Spanish Royal family before being returned to Santiago de Compostela, where he served as a novice. One of his fingers is kept in the Sacred Cross Church, Gellilydan, while another is at the Tyburn convent and one more in Taunton.
He was Beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886 and Canonised by Pope Paul VI as one of the “Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.”
His life is commemorated in Trawsfynydd’s heritage centre, Llys Ednowain. There is an information board about him outside the centre, one of six posted along a walk past significant locations in his life.
The title Our Lady of Loreto refers to the Holy House of Loreto, the house in which Mary was born and where the Annunciation occurred and to an ancient statue of Our Lady which is found there. Tradition says that a band of angels scooped up the little house from the Holy Land and transported it first to Tersato, Dalmatia in 1291, then Recanati, Italy in 1294 and finally to Loreto, Italy where it has been for centuries. It was this flight that led to her patronage of people involved in aviation and the long life of the house that has led to the patronage of builders, construction workers, etc. It is the first shrine of international renown dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and has been known as a Marian centre for centuries. Popes have always held the Shrine of Loreto in special esteem and it is under their direct authority and protection.
The Holy House of Loreto – The feast is so named from the tradition that the house where the Holy Family lived in Nazareth, was transported by angels to the city of Loreto, Italy. The Holy House is now encased by a basilica. It has been one of the famous shrines of the Blessed Virgin since the 13th century.
St Abundius St Albert of Sassovivo St Angelina of Serbia Bl Brian Lacey BL Bruno of Rommersdorf St Caesarius of Epidamnus St Carpophorus St Deusdedit of Brescia
Bl Guglielmo de Carraria St Guitmarus St Hildemar of Beauvais Bl Jerome Ranuzzi Bl John Mason St John Roberts (1577-1610) Priest Martyr St Julia of Merida St Lucerius Bl Marco Antonio Durando St Maurus of Rome St Mercury of Lentini St Pope Miltiades St Polydore Plasden Bl Sebastian Montanol Bl Sidney Hodgson St Sindulf of Vienne St Swithun Wells St Thomas of Farfa Bl Thomas Somers St Valeria Martyrs of Alexandria – 3 saints – A group of Christians murdered for their faith in the persecutions of Galerius Maximian – c312. The only details that have survived are three of the names – Eugraphus, Hermogenes and Mennas.
Saint of the Day – 9 December – Saint Syrus of Pavia (1st Century) the First Bishop of Pavia, Italy, Confessor, miracle-worker, Defender of the Faith, Evangeliser. His birthplace is unknown but he died at Pavia where his relics are enshrined in the City’s Cathedral. Also known as – Cyrus, Cyril, Siro.Patronages – the City and the Diocese of Pavia, Italy.
Detail of St Syrus on Pavia Cathedral facade. Full image below.
The Roman Martyrology states: “At Pavia, St Syrus, the first Bishop of that City, who was renowned for miracles and virtues worthy of an apostle.”
Nothing is known of St Syrus early life but some believe that he was the little boy with the five loaves and 2 fish, who appears in the Gospels.
Syrus is said to have followed Saint Peter to Rome and from there he was sent to the Po valley to preach and convert the people to the Christian faith. He preached in all of the major cities of northern Italy.
Another tradition, from the eighth century, states that Syrus was also a disciple of St Hermagoras, the first Bishop of Achilles, himself a disciple of St Mark the Evangelist.
In the company of St Juventius, Syrus fought against Arianism. Syrus worked to challenge and convert those who followed Arianism in his Diocese.
St Syrus refuting the Arians
Syrus’ relics are enshrined in the Chapel of Saint Syrus in the Pavia Cathedral on the facade of which the Statue below is displayed.
Nostra Signora dell’Immacolata Concezione / Our Lady of the Conception, Naples, Italy (1618) – 9 December:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of the Conception, at Naples, so called because, in the year 1618, the Viceroy, with all his Court and the soldiery of Naples, made a vow, in the Church of Our Lady the Great, to believe and defend the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin.”
Pedro Tellez-Giron, 3rd Duke of Osuna, was the Viceroy of Naples under King Philip III of Spain. He was a Spanish nobleman born in 1574 and married in 1594. He joined the army of the Archduke of Austria as a mere private but his ability and courage, must have been considerable, as he was soon placed in command of two cavalry companies. He fought in several battles and was seriously wounded on two occasions before being made the Viceroy of Sicily in 1610. When he took this new position as Viceroy, the Spanish had not a single galley on the island that was seaworthy. It was necessary to remedy that problem at once, as Sicily was vulnerable to Barbary pirates as well as potential attacks of the fleet of the Ottoman Empire. Within two years he was no longer in a weak position, and as he had 8 galleys and several other ships in the new navy, he used them to attack Ottoman territory. In the summer of 1613 his fleet encountered a larger Ottoman fleet under the command of Sinari Pasha. The encounter lasted three hours and became known as the Battle of Cape Corvo. Sinari Pasha was captured, and Mahamet, Bey of Alexandria and son of Muezzinzade Ali Pasho, Commander of the Ottoman fleet at the battle of LepanTo, was also captured. In 1616 Pedro Tellez-Giron was promoted to Viceroy of Naples and it was during this time, that the now Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece ,made his vow to defend what would later become a Dogma of the Catholic Faith, the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This doctrine was not actually formally proclaimed by the Church until the Blessed Pope Pius IX formally proclaimed it, on 8 December 1854, in the Papal Bull, Ineffabilis Deus. The Napule have a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin of the Immaculate Conception as manifested by this immense “Guglia” Column or Spire proudly displayed in Naples.
St Adam Scotus Bl Agustín García Calvo * Bl Antonio Martín Hernández * St Auditor of Saint-Nectaire St Balda of Jouarre St Bernhard Mariea Silvestrelli St Budoc of Brittany Bl Carmen Rodríguez Banazal * St Caesar of Korone St Cephas Bl Clara Isabella Fornari St Cyprian of Perigueux Bl Dolores Broseta Bonet * Bl Estefanía Irisarri Irigaray * St Ethelgiva of Shaftesbury St Gorgonia Bl Isidora Izquierdo García * Bl José Ferrer Esteve * Bl José Giménez López * Bl Josefa Laborra Goyeneche * Bl Josep Lluís Carrera Comas * St Julian of Apamea Bl Julián Rodríguez Sánchez *
Bl María Pilar Nalda Franco * St Michaela Andrusikiewicz St Nectarius of Auvergne
St Peter Fourier CRSA (1565-1640) “The Good Father of Mattaincourt,” Priest, Founder, Reformer, Confessor, Ascetic, Theologian, Teacher, Preacher, Apostle of Prayer, Penance and Charity, Marian devotee. Together with the Blessed Alix Le Clerc, in 1597, Fourier founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Canonesses Regular of St Augustine, who were committed to the free education of children, taking a fourth vow to that goal. Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/09/saint-of-the-day-9-december-st-peter-fourier-c-r-s-a-1565-1640/
St Proculus of Verona Bl Recaredo de Los Ríos Fabregat * St Syrus of Pavia (1st Century) Bishop St Valeria of Limoges St Wulfric of Holme
Blessed Mercedarian Fathers – (10 beati): The memorial of ten Mercedarian friars who were especially celebrated for their holiness. • Arnaldo de Querol • Berengario Pic • Bernardo de Collotorto • Domenico de Ripparia • Giovanni de Mora • Guglielmo Pagesi • Lorenzo da Lorca • Pietro Serra • Raimondo Binezes • Sancio de Vaillo
Martyred Salesians of Valencia – (5 beati) Martyrs of North Africa – (4 saints): Twenty-four Christians murdered together in North Africa for their faith. The only details to survive are four of their names – Bassian, Peter, Primitivus and Successus.
Martyrs of Paterna – (7 beati) Martyrs of Samosata – (7 saints): Seven martyrs crucified in 297 in Samosata (an area of modern Turkey) for refusing to perform a pagan rite in celebration of the victory of Emperor Maximian over the Persians. They are – Abibus, Hipparchus, James, Lollian, Paragnus, Philotheus and Romanus. They were crucified in 297 in Samosata (an area in modern Turkey).
Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War – (13 beati): • Blessed Agustín García Calvo • Blessed Antonio Martín Hernández • Blessed Carmen Rodríguez Banazal • Blessed Dolores Broseta Bonet • Blessed Estefanía Irisarri Irigaray • Blessed Isidora Izquierdo García • Blessed José Ferrer Esteve • Blessed José Giménez López • Blessed Josefa Laborra Goyeneche • Blessed Josep Lluís Carrera Comas • Blessed Julián Rodríguez Sánchez • Blessed María Pilar Nalda Franco • Blessed Recaredo de Los Ríos Fabregat
St Gunthildis of Ohrdruf Bl Jacob Gwon Sang-yeon Bl Johanna of Cáceres Bl José María Zabal Blasco St Macarius of Alexandria St Marin Shkurti St Patapius Bl Paul Yun Ji-chung St Rafael Román Donaire St Romaric of Remiremont St Sofronius of Cyprus
Quote/s of the Day – 7 December – Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent and the Memorial of St Ambrose (c 340-397)- Father and Doctor of the Church
“Let us take refuge like deer beside the fountain of waters. Let our soul thirst, as David thirsted, for the fountain. What is that fountain? Listen to David – With you is the fountain of life. Let my soul say to this fountain, When shall I come and see You face to face? For the fountain is God Himself.”
“All the children of the Church are priests. At Baptism, they received the anointing that gives them a share in the priesthood. The sacrifice that they must offer to God is completely spiritual – it is themselves.”
“If you have two shirts in your closet, one belongs to you and the other to the man who has no shirt.”
“The devil tempts, that he may ruin; God tests, that He may crown.”
St Ambrose (340-397) Father and Doctor of the Church
One Minute Reflection – 7 December – Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent, Readings: Isaiah 40: 1-11; Psalm 96: 1-3 and 10-13; Matthew 18: 12-14 and the Memorial of St Ambrose (c 340-397) Father and Doctor of the Church
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?” Matthew 18:12
REFLECTION – “Imagine to yourself the sadness of the poor shepherd, whose sheep has strayed. The only thing to be heard in the fields roundabout, is the call of this unfortunate lad who, having abandoned the better part of the flock, runs about in woods and hills, passes by thicket and bush, mourning and calling out as hard as he can, unable to make up his mind to go back, until he has found his sheep again and led it back to the fold.
Here is what the Son of God did when men had gone astray, through their disobedience, from their Creator’s way of behaving. He came down to earth and did not stint, either care or labour ,to restore us again to the state from which we had fallen. It is what He still does daily for those who separate themselves from Him by sin. He tracks them down, so to speak, never ceasing to call them back, until He has restored them to the way of salvation. And indeed, if He did not wear Himself out in this way, you well know what would become of us after the first mortal sin – it would be impossible for us to come back again … It is He who has to make all the advances, Who must show us His grace, Who must follow after us, Who must invite us to take pity on ourselves, without which, we would never dream of asking His mercy …
The zeal with which God pursues us is undoubtedly the result of a very great mercy. But the sweetness by which this zeal is accompanied shows an even more wonderful goodness. Notwithstanding the immense desire He has to cause us to return, He never uses force; He only makes use of gentleness for this purpose. In all the Gospel I see no sinner who was invited to repent except by endearments and kindness.” – St Claude la Colombière SJ (1641-1682) “Apostle of the Sacred Heart” (A sermon preached in London before the Duchess of York).
PRAYER – Lord God, You made St Ambrose a teacher of the Catholic Faith and a pattern of apostolic fortitude. Raise up in the Church today, men after Your own heart, to lead Your people with wisdom, strength and courage in the face of widespread evil. And may his prayers intercede for us all. We make our prayer, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 7 December – St Charles Garnier SJ (1606-1649) Priest Martyr, Missionary. Born in 1606 in Paris, France and died by being shot in the chest and abdomen and then tomahawked in the head on 7 December 1649 at Fort Saint Jean, Canada, he was just 43 years old. Additional Memorials – 19 October as one of the Martyrs of North America, 26 September in Canada.
Charles was the son of a secretary to King Henri III of France. He attended the Collège de Clermont in Paris and joined the Jesuit Seminary in Clermont in September 1624
After his novitiate, he returned to the College of Clermont as Prefect. When he finished his studies in rhetoric and philosophy, he spent two years teaching at the College of Eu. Completing years of studies in language, culture and theology, he was Ordained in 1635.
Charles had to be persistent in asking to become a missionary because his father, a wealthy Parisian gentleman, opposed his desires and obstructed his first request. That same persistence proved invaluable as he worked with the Petun people who initially were hostile to the Black Robes, as they called the Jesuits.
Garnier spent his first three years in New France learning the Huron language and ministering at the mission in Ossossané. In November 1639 he and Father Isaac Jogues were sent to the Petuns who would not accept them because they remembered the accusation that the Black Robes had caused the epidemic that swept through the Huron lands in 1636. The two Jesuits spent the winter months among the Petun, then returned to Ossossané because they thought they had failed. Father Garnier returned the following autumn and then left again. Finally he returned during the winter of 1647 and founded two missions. For now, the people were more responsive than on his previous visits.
For several years the Iroquois had been increasing their attacks on the Huron world; they had already killed Father Anthony Daniel in 1648, so Garnier took the report very seriously, which he received in November 1649, that the Iroquois were on the warpath against the Petun and threatened to burn their villages. He sent his newly-arrived assistant, Father Noel Chabanel back to the mission headquarters because he did not want to leave him at risk but Charles himself was firm in wanting to stay with his people. On 7 November at mid-afternoon, the Iroquois attacked, killing anyone they found. Garnier was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the abdomen. He was stripped of his cassock and left to die in the cold but he regained consciousness and tried to move towards a Petun man who had been wounded. An attacker scalped him and then killed him with a blow to the head. Another Jesuit came to the village the next day and buried the gentleman’s son, our Saint, in a shallow grave among the people he so wanted to bring to Christ.
Charles Garnier was Canonised on 29 June 1930 by Pope Pius XI with the seven other Canadian Martyrs (also known as the North American Martyrs).
Vigil of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – 7 December On this vigil day, Catholics stand in the remains of the night as the dawn makes its appearance. This resplendent dawn is that Singular Conception, the Immaculate Conception, who ushers in the Light of Christ. A day of Fast and Abstinence following the Rubrics of Pope Pius X for the Universal Calendar of the Church.
“It is through the most Blessed Virgin Mary, that Jesus Christ came into the world and, it is also through her, that He will reign in the world.” – St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
Virgen del Castillo, Inmaculada Concepción / Virgin of the Castle, Yecla, Spain (1642) – 7 and 8 December:
The Virgen del Castillo, Inmaculada Concepción, is venerated as Patron in the City of Yecla ( Murcia, Spain ). The Sanctuary constitutes a pilgrimage centre not only for the people of Yecla but also for the inhabitants of the entire region and even the neighboring Provinces. The name of Virgen del Castillo or Virgin of the Castle, even though it is not the official title, is the popular name with which the faithful have called their Patron because she is enshrined in the Castle Sanctuary, which is next to the medieval fortress that crowns the hill on which the City is situate. The invocation actually corresponds to the Immaculate Conception, being venerated in the aforementioned Sanctuary since time immemorial. The existence in that same place of a Mozarabic Church, dedicated to Santa María, which even became a Parish until the middle of the 16th century, is documented .
But the event that marked the transcendence of the old Sanctuary would occur during the reign of Felipe IV, when a group of Yeclans led by Captain Martín Soriano Zaplana, returned to the City after fighting against the French troops that had invaded Catalonia. The combatants return to Yecla without having suffered any casualties, a fact that they knew was miraculous, due to their devotion to the Virgin Mary and for which, they went to the hermitage of the Castle in thanksgiving. That act was an event for the City, which from then on would see in the image of Our Lady of the Castle, a symbol of protection.
The Church where the Virgin is enshrined has undergone numerous reconstructions and restorations throughout its history. The current building dates from the 19th century . The carving that is venerated today, is not the original either, since it disappeared in the Spanish Civil War – it is a replica made by Miguel Torregrosa in 1941 in the likeness of the original one, which was canonically crowned in 1954. The Procession is held on 7 December and the High Mass on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December.
St Agatho of Alexandria St Anianas of Chartres St Antonius of Siya St Athenodoros of Mesopotamia St Buithe of Monasterboice St Burgundofara St Charles Garnier SJ (1606-1649) Priest Martyr St Diuma St Geretrannus of Bayeux Bl Humbert of Clairvaux St Martin of Saujon
Saint of the Day – 6 December – Saint Asella of Rome (Died c 406) Virgin Hermit Friend of St Jerome., Ascetic, Prioress, “A Flower of the Lord.” She died in c 406 of natural causes. Also known as Osella and Ocella.
The Roman Martyrology states: “At Rome, St Asella, Virgin, who according to the words of St Jerome, being blessed from her mother’s womb, lived to old age in fasting and prayer.”
Asella was a disciple and friend of Saint Jerome, who spoke of her in his writings. She was a member of a noble and wealthy Roman Christian family, perhaps the sister of Marcella, another ascetic and saint.
When Asella was ten years old, she heard St Athanasius speak during his third and final visit to Rome and that, already being a “pious child”, inspired her to “dedicate her life to the service of Christ.” At first, her parents would not allow her to wear the garments usually worn by ascetics but she secretly sold a gold necklace, paid for the garment’s production and when she was 12, surprised her parents by appearing to them in “this garb of consecration.”
From that time on, Asella lived in silence and seclusion, living in a small cell, sleeping on the ground or on a stone, upon which she also prayed. She fasted all year, living on bread, salt, and water, often eating nothing for two or three days,and would fast for many weeks at a time during Lent. She lived a life of self-isolation, leaving her cell only to visit the Churches of the Martyrs and often, without being seen by others and rarely by her own sister.
According to historian Claude Fieury, Asella never spoke to any man. As hagiographer Agnes Dunbar stated, “She worked with her hands and sang psalms.” Despite her austere lifestyle, it did not affect her health. Jerome wrote that “with a sound body and even sounder soul, she found for herself a monkish cell in the midst of a busy Rome.” Fleury also said about Asella: “Her life was simple and regular and in the midst of Rome led a life of perfect solitude.”
St Jerome also cited Asella as an example and role model for young women, widows and virgins, calling her “A Flower of the Lord.”
In 405, the Bishop and Historian ,Palladius of Galatia visited Rome and met Asella, who was 70 years old at the time. He called her “the gentlest of women” and reported that she was in charge of a community of nuns.
Notre-Dame de Séez/ Our Lady of Séez, Normandy, France (5th Century) – 6 December:
Saint Latuinus (Died c 440), the first Bishop of Séez, built the first Cathedral to Our Lady in the Diocese of Seez. The original Cathedral would date back to the middle of the 5th century. A later Church replaced it – one dedicated under the title of Notre-Dame-du-Vivier. The Normans, at the beginning of the 5th century, destroyed this structure. A third Church was built, a hundred meters away on the site of a pagan temple. This one had added to it, the names of the martyrs Saints Fervais and Protase, whose relics were enshrined there. A special Chapel in the Cathedral recalled the memory of the first cathedral dedicated to Our Lady of Seez, for Mary remained the principal Patroness of the Diocese. Many famous people made pilgrimages to Our Lady of Seez – among them were Saint Germain, Bishop of Paris; Saint Evroult, Founder of the Abbey of Ouche; Saint Osmond, Count of Seez, who became Bishop of Salisbury; Saint Thierry, Abbot of Saint Evroult; Saint Louis IX was there in 1259 and about the same time Blessed Giles, one of the early companions of Saint Francis of Assisi, came to recommend to Mary’s protection, the first French Franciscan Convent, which he was going to found at Seez. The Augustinians served the sanctuary from 1127. In the latter half of the 18th century, the Bishop of Seez, in response to the wishes of the entire Diocese, repaired and embellished the Chapel of Our Lady at considerable expense. Later the work of redoing the entire Cathedral was undertaken. In June of 1784, the Cathedral chapter asked the Bishop to consecrate the new Altar and the entire Cathedral under the patronage of Our Lady. This was done in 1786. Mary rewarded the prelates for their zeal in promoting her honour, by granting all of them the grace of Martyrdom in the violent persecution that broke out in 1792. The beautiful façade of the Cathedral was destroyed in 1795. A revolutionary bought the debris with the intent of building a private property, however, two attempts proved failures and he finally gave up the attempt. After the revolution, a new Cathedral was built when the Diocese was re-established by the Concordat of 1802.
St Aemilianus the Martyr Bl Angelica of Milazzo St Asella of Rome (Died c 406) Virgin Hermit Friend of St Jerome St Boniface the Martyr St Dativa the Martyr St Dionysia the Martyr St Gerard of La Charite St Gertrude the Elder St Giuse Nguyen Duy Khang St Isserninus of Ireland Bl Janos Scheffler St Leontia the Martyr St Majoricus the Martyr
Saint of the Day – 5 December – Blessed Bartholomew Fanti of Mantua O.Carm. (c 1443-1495) Carmelite Priest renowned Preacher. Born in c 1428 at at Mantua, Italy and died on 5 December 1495 of natural causes. Patronage – Mantua.
Bartholomew became a professed member of the Carmelite Order at the age of seventeen and by the age of 24 was already Ordained as a Priest.
On 1 January 1460, he became the Spiritual Director and the Rector of the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and composed their Rule and Statues. Long before he formalised the Confraternity’s Rule, he had been a member and remained so for all his life, serving the Confraternity and the Blessed Virgin faithfully for 35 years in his hometown of Mantua.
He became a spiritual teacher of the Carmelite Priest Blessed John Baptist Spagnuolo, a Poet and Writer who also served as Prior General of the Carmelite Order. Bartholonew became well known for being an effective preacher with an ardent devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
He died on 5 December 1495 in Mantua. His remains were relocated to another chapel in 1516 and again in 1783 to the Church of Saint Mark in Mantua before being relocated for the final time, in 1793.
Humble and gentle, Bartholomew gave an example to everyone of a life of prayer, of loving kindness and generosity to all and of faithful service to the Lord. He was remembered and revered, even during his life, for his great love ot the Blessed Sacrament, which was the source and the summit of his apostolic life, together with his love and devotion to the Virgin Mother.
His Beatification received the papal approval of Pope Pius X on 18 March 1909 (cultus confirmed).
Prayer: Lord God, You made Blessed Bartholomew Fanti outstanding in his zeal for the salvation of souls, in his devotion to the Holy Eucharist and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. May we experience, by his intercession, the same fullness of devotion and love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen
The Sodality of Our Lady / Our Lady of the Jesuit College, Rome (1584) – 5 December:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “In the year 1584 was instituted, the first congregation of Our Lady at the Jesuits’ college, at Rome, whence is derived their custom of establishing it in all their houses.”
The Sodality of Our Lady, or the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was actually founded in 1563 by a Belgian Jesuit, Father John Leunis, at the Collegio Romano in Rome. It was established for young schoolboys and the Papal Bull Superna Dispositione opened it to adults, under the authority of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. A Jesuit historian recorded that it was originally “made up especially of younger boys from the college, who agreed to go to daily Mass, weekly confession, and monthly Communion, as well as to engage in a half-hour of meditation each day and do some other pious exercises.” The youths who felt drawn to the spirit of the Jesuits and were often called the “Congregation Mariana.” Once formed into a Sodality of Our Lady, they were to do apostolic work in the City of Rome, while also serving the poor. Since the time of its humble beginnings in 1563, twenty-two Sodalists have become Popes. After Fr Leunis’ death in 1584, Pope Gregory XIII canonically established the Sodality Group of the Roman College in his bull “Omnipotentis Dei.” The sodality of Fr Leunis was declared to be the mother of all such subsequent sodalities. Having attained the status of Prima Primaria, it had gained the right to partner with other similar groups, and through that affiliation ,all could share in the indulgences and privileges of the Prima Primaria, with the General of the Society of Jesus having the authority to grant such an affiliation. These sodalities were established all over Europe, India and Asia, as well as in the Americas and included both sexes. They reached their greatest number in the 17th century, when it was estimated that there were as many as 2500 such groups. In 1773, Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus and separated the sodalities from their jurisdiction. From that time on it was Catholic bishops who established Marian Sodalities throughout the world.
St Abercius St Anastasius St Aper of Sens Blessed Bartholomew Fanti of Mantua O.Carm. (c 1428-1495) Carmelite Priest St Basilissa of Øhren St Bassus of Lucera St Bassus of Nice St Cawrdaf of Fferreg St Christina of Markyate St Consolata of Genoa St Crispina St Cyrinus of Salerno St Dalmatius of Pavia St Firminus of Verdun St Gerald of Braga St Gerbold St Gratus
St Joaquín Jovaní Marín St John Almond Bl Giovanni/John Gradenigo St Justinian St Martiniano of Pecco Bl Narcyz Putz St Nicetius of Trier Bl Niels Stenson St Pelinus of Confinium
St Vicente Jovaní Ávila — Martyrs of Thagura – (12 saints): A group of twelve African Christians who were martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. The only details about them that have survived are five of their names – Crispin, Felix, Gratus, Juliua and Potamia. 302 in Thagura, Numidia
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: • Blessed Joaquín Jovaní Marín • Blessed Vicente Jovaní Ávila
Saint of the Day – 4 December – Blessed Pietro Tecelano TOSF (c 1200 – 1289) Layman, Widower, Franciscan Tertiary, Apostle of the sick and the poor, spiritual and secular adviser, miracle-worker. Born in c 1200 at Campi, Tuscany, Italy and died in early December 1289 in Siena, Italy of natural causes. Patronages – Siena, Italy and Comb-makers. Also known as – Pietro Pettinaio, Peter…. Pier…. Additional Memorials – 16 March, 4 and 11 November, 10 December – Memorials on different Calendars.
The Roman Martyrology states: “In Siena, Blessed Pietro Pettinario, religious of the Third Order of St Francis, distinguished for his particular charity towards the needy and the sick and for his life of humility and silence.”
Pietro was born around 1200 in Campi, a village of Castelnuovo Berardenga near Siena and moved with his parents to Siena at some point during his childhood.
He married but the couple remained childless. In order to provide for his new wife he worked as a comb-maker, that is a merchant of bone and mother-of-pearl combs used in spinning. .. He purchased a house in which vines flourished so as to make wine. Sadly his wife died and Pietro then lived alone and devoted his time to his business and soon became rich and famous.
Perhaps converted thanks to the newly born Franciscan Order, he became famous once more but now for his generosity towards his competitors – on market days he arrived late to sell, so as not to damage them too much. In addition to carrying out his working activity, he also dedicated himself to assisting the sick at the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala where he bound wounds and sores and helps the most needy. In this work he was assisted by eight friends – merchants and lawmen, who he had encouraged to join him in his apostolate.
He lived a simple life, giving excess wealth to the Franciscans and he spent his evenings in meditation and devoting such nights to God in prayer.
Pietro left no writings and is remembered for his silences, we often see him depicted with a finger on his lips. The few things he said and the many he did, were very effective, to the point that some traffickers, after having defrauded the City, returned the money to him, he then returned it to the relevant section of the City administration. The governors, in turn, often called upon him for help and advice – in 1282 , for example, he was asked to choose the five inmates to be amnestied.
When the Franciscans of Siena had doubts about the authentic vocation of their novices , they had them examined by him. His life was inspired by the most rigorous followers of St Francis of Assisi, the spirituals.
The Dominican preacher, Blessed Ambrogio Sansedoni, who went to Pietro for spirtual guidance, renounced his election as a Bishop on Pietro’s advice.
Seeking solitude, he sold his home and business, donating the proceeds to the poor and spent the last few years of his life, as a guest of the Franciscans. There, considered himself far too talkative, Pietro aimed at living amongst them in silence.He undertook several pilgrimages to religious sites including Assisi, where Saint Francis of Assisi worked and lived.
During his lifetime he was hailed as a miracle-worker and was considered a great saint. He became a sought after adviser to Priests as well as to the people of Siena and was considered charismatic.
Pietro died in early December 1289 (possilby the 4th) at an advanced age and was buried at the Franciscan Church in Siena. His grave soon became a pilgrimage site and the scene of miracles. A Shrine was built over his grave in 1326 and an annual local feast in his honour was established in 1329. The Shrine was lost to fire in 1655 and remaining relics were preserved when the Poor Clare nuns took them into their care
The people of Siena adored Pietro and called for his Canonisation. Official recognition of Pietro’s holiness led to Pope Pius VII confirming his “cultus” acting as formal Beatification on 18 August 1802.
Dante Alighieri included Pietro in his work (Divina Comedia) in “Canto XIII” through the character of Pier the Comb-Seller.
Notre-Dame-de-la-Chapelle d’Abbeville / Our Lady of La Chapelle, at Abbeville, France(1400) – 4 December:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “This Church was built about the year 1400, on a small hill, where formerly they worshipped idols.”
The Town of Abbeville is located in Picardy in the northern region of France. It is located on the Somme River. Fortunately for us, there still exists today a plan for the Town of Abbeville that was etched in the year 1653. Our Lady of La Chapelle can easily be distinguished in the foreground of the etching, dominating the City though built outside the walls. The church was initially only a Chapel in which there was exhibited a religious icon of Our Lady that earned the Church its name, of Our Lady of the Chapel. The structure was indeed erected on the remains of a temple devoted to paganism. The growing number of the faithful coming to pray there, made it a true Parish, and so, the Church expanded to have 3 naves and 7 Altars, reflecting the expansion of the City. The Church was built in limestone in the flamboyant Gothic style. It survived numerous dangers and setbacks over the coming centuries, exposed to wind and rough weather at the top of the hill, including being struck several times by lightning. In 1619, the high Bell Tower did not survive a violent storm,and was rebuilt the following year. All of this is nothing compared to the danger that the Church faced in 1637-1638. At that time, Spain and France were at war. King Louis XIII came to Abbeville, a strategic Town and realised that the Chapel could serve as a type of fortress in case of a siege. Aware of the danger, Cardinal Richelieu gave the order to demolish the Church. The Mayor at the time, Guilaume Sanson and his aldermen, managed to talk him out of it. The Church was saved, but for how long? Then, in 1789, came the French Revolution. The Church that had survived so much was destroyed in 1794. Yet, in 1804 another large Chapel was built to replace the lost church, a building retaining the tower of 1620. (That bell tower has been classified as an Historic Monument since 1901. The cemetery that once surrounded the Church was preserved and has been significantly expanded to become the cemetery of the City since the year 1844.
The original Bell Tower still remains a part of the new Church
St Bernardo degli Uberti St Bertoara of Bourges St Christianus St Clement of Alexandria St Cyran of Brenne St Eraclius St Eulogio Álvarez López St Ezequiel Álvaro de La Fuente St Felix of Bologna Bl Francis Galvez St Francisco de la Vega González St Giovanni Calabria St Heraclas of Alexandria St Jacinto García Chicote Bl Jerome de Angelis St John the Wonder Worker St Maruthas St Melitus of Pontus
Blessed Pietro Tecelano TOSF (c 1189-1289) Layman, Widower, Tertiary of the Order of Friars Minor St Prudens St Robustiano Mata Ubierna St Sigiranus Bl Simon Yempo St Sola St Theophanes
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: • Blessed Eulogio Álvarez López • Blessed Ezequiel Álvaro de La Fuente • Blessed Francisco de la Vega González • Blessed Jacinto García Chicote • Blessed Robustiano Mata Ubierna
Our Morning Offering – 3 December – Friday of the First week of Advent and The Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)
I Love Thee, God, I Love Thee By St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) Translated by Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889)
I love Thee, God, I love Thee— Not out of hope for heaven for me Nor fearing not to love and be in the everlasting burning. Thou, my Jesus, after me Didst reach Thine arms out dying, For my sake suffered nails and lance, Mocked and marred countenance, Sorrows passing number, Sweat and care and cumber, Yea and death and this for me, And Thou could see me sinning. Then I, why should not I love Thee, Jesu so much in love with me? Not for heaven’s sake, not to be Out of hell by loving Thee, Not for any gains I see, But just the way that Thou didst me I do love and will love Thee. What must I love Thee, Lord, for then? For being my King and God. Amen
Saint of the Day – 3 December – St Birinus of Dorchester (c 660-650) the first Bishop of Dorchester, England, “Apostle to the West Saxons,” for his conversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity., Benedictine Monk. Born in c 600 in France and died on 3 December 650 at Dorchester, of natural causes. Also known as – Birinus of Genoa. Apostle of Wessex, Berin, Birin, Birch.Patronages – Berkshire county and Dorcester City and Diocese.
In the 7th century, an Italian Monk, (though probably born in France), named Birinus was consecrated Bishop in Milan by Archbishop Asterius. Subsequently, he was sent to Britain by Pope Honorius I to continue the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity began so courageously by St Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow Missionaries. Our Saint definitely seems to be endowed with a great Missionary spirit, zeal and charism of a great preacher, for in a very short time after his arrival in what is now Southampton, he had endowed the area with a Church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which still remains, although of course, restored many times.
Bishop Birinus’ original plan was to penetrate well into the interior of the country where no teacher had been before. But we know from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History that ‘on arriving in Britain and first coming to the nation of the West Saxons, where he found all to be confirmed pagans, he thought it more useful to preach the word there, rather than to go further looking for people to whom he should preach’.
In 635 King Oswald of Northumbria, who had already been converted to Christianity by Celtic Christians in Iona (Scotland), wanted to marry the daughter of Cynegils, King of the West Saxons and, therefore, came to Dorchester to visit Cynegils. There he found Cynegils receiving instruction in the Christian faith from Birinus. The outcome was that Birinus Baptised Cynegils, with Oswald standing as Godfather. The two Kings then granted land to Birinus in Dorchester for the establishment of his Episcopal See and Cathedral. Birinus thus became the first Bishop of the West Saxons.
St Birnus baptising King Cynegils,
Birinus died in 650 and was buried in Dorchester; he was canonised soon after. His relics (bones) were moved to Winchester around 690 by Bishop Hedda of Winchester but they were moved again to new Shrines in 980, by Bishop Ethelwold and in 1150, by Henri de Blois. In the early part of the 13th century the Augustinian Canons of Dorchester claimed to possess the relics of Birinus and this was accepted on very slender evidence following an enquiry instigated by Pope Honorius III and presided over by Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Whatever the truth about the Birinus relics, the Abbey became a popular place of pilgrimage. This led to an extensive programme of rebuilding including in c1320 the south choir aisle and a marble Shrine dedicated to St Birinus. The Shrine was destroyed and the relics lost in 1536 by the excesses of the English reformation but fragments of the vaulting were found in a walled-up doorway in the 1870s and these were incorporated in the 1960s in the reconstructed shrine that stands today in the south aisle of St Birnus’ Cathedral in Dorchester..
The stained glass roundel below, dated c1225, is in the east window of the St Birinus Chapel. It shows Birinus (spelt Bernius) with bowed head being blessed by an enthroned Archbishop, probably Asterius of Milan who consecrated Birinus for his mission to Britain. The third person is a layman, shown praying.
The Great East Window has a panel depicting Birinus preaching before King Cynegils and some of his people.
St Birinus built many Churches and we have records of him laying the foundations for St Mary’s Church in Reading and others such as the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Checkendon, near Reading. Tradition believes that Birinus built the first Church at Ipsden, as a small Chapel on Berins Hill, about two miles east of the present Church. Birinus Baptised King Cynegils’s son Cwichelm in 636 and grandson, Cuthred in 639, to whom he stood as Godfather too. The Catholic Church in Dorchester, one of the first built after the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in the United Kingdom in 1850 by Pope Pius IX and was dedicated to Birinus.
Vergine di Montesanto / Our Lady of the Holy Mountain, Rome, Italy (1659) – 3 December:
On the Piazza del Popolo in Rome, there used to be a small Church run by Carmelite Friars, called St Mary of the Holy Mountain after Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. The Church housed a miraculous Madonna and Child, believed to have been painted by a young aspiring female painter, Plautilla Bricci, with supernatural help. It is said that Plautilla Bricci, a Roman painter but also to become the first female architect, had some difficulties in shading Mary’s face and, at a certain point, decided to put down her brush and rest – upon awakening from sleep, she found the face of the Virgin finished to perfection!
After the painting was canonically crowned on 3 December 1659, Cardinal Gerolamo Gastaldi decided to build the Madonna a more splended Sanctuary. It was the work of three great architects. Gian Lorenzo Bernini modified Carlo Rainaldi’s original plan to give the building an oval shape more in keeping with its site and Carlo Fontana supervised its completion in 1679. Around the same time the “twin” Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli was built next door. The painting, hard to date but typical of the 1500s, occupies a large columned Altarpiece with stucco angels by Filippo Carcani. In 1953, Pope Pius XII designated the Basilica di Santa Maria in Montesanto the official Church for artists, who still come before the Virgin seeking divine help.
St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552) (Memorial) Priest, Missionary, co-Founder with St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) and St Peter Faber (1506-1546) of the Society of Jesus. One of the Greatest Missionaries since St Paul. His body is incorrupt.
St Abbo of Auxerre St Abran St Agapius St Agricola of Pannonia St Alvaro González López St Anthemius of Poitiers St Attalia of Strasbourg Bl Bernard of Toulouse OP Martyr St Birinus of Dorchester (c 660-650) Bishop, “Apostle to the West Saxons,” St Cassian of Tangiers St Claudius of Africa St Claudius the Martyr St Crispin of Africa St Edward Coleman St Eloque of Lagny
St John of Africa St Juan Bautista Ferris Llopis St Julián Heredia Zubia St Lucius St Lucy the Chaste St Magina of Africa St Mamas St Manuel Santiago y Santiago St Marcos García Rodríguez St Maurus the Martyr St Seleucus St Stephen of Africa St Theodore of Alexandria St Theodulus of Edessa St Valeriano Rodríguez García St Veranus Zephaniah the Prophet
Martyrs of Nicomedia: Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian – Ambicus, Julius and Victor. c 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (modern Izmit, Turkey).
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939. • Blessed Alvaro González López • Blessed Francisco Delgado González • Blessed Francisco Fernández Escosura • Blessed Juan Bautista Ferris Llopis • Blessed Julián Heredia Zubia • Blessed Manuel Santiago y Santiago • Blessed Marcos García Rodríguez • Blessed Valeriano Rodríguez García
Saint of the Day – 2 December – Saint Athanasius of the Caves (Died c 1176) Monk, Hermit, miracle-worker and healer. Also known as – Athanasius of Macedonia, Athanasius of the Resurrection, Athanasius of Kiev, Afanasij of …
Athanasius was grievously ill for a long time. When he died, the Monks prepared him for burial. However, they all saw the dead man alive. He was sitting up and weeping. To all their questions he replied only: “Seek salvation, obey the Abbot in everything, repent each hour and pray to our Lord Jesus Christ, to His All-Pure Mother and to Saints Anthony and Theodosius, to allow you to end your life here. Do not ask me anything else, for I must pray.”
After this he lived for twelve years longer in solitude in a cave. During that time he spoke not a word to anyone. He wept day and night and partook of a little bread and water only every other day. Just before his death, he assembled the Monks and repeated his earlier words to them, and then he peacefully departed unto the Lord (in about the year 1176).
st Athanasius’ cave
The Monk Babylas, who had suffered illness and an infirmity of the legs for many years, was healed at his relics. “As I lay there,” he told the brethren, “I cried out in pain. Suddenly, Saint Athanasius appeared to me and said, ‘Come to me, and I shall heal you.’ I wanted to ask him how and when he had returned her, but he became invisible. I believed his words and asked to be taken to his relics. And indeed, I have been healed.” Saint Athanasius was buried in the Antoniev Cave.
Our Lady of Didinia, Cappadocia, Turkey (363) – 2 December:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of Didinia is in Cappadocia. It was before this Shrine that Saint Basil had begged the Blessed Virgin to remedy the disorders caused by Julian the Apostate. The Saint was granted a vision from Mary, which foretold the death of the emperor.”
The godless Emperor Julian threatened the City of Caesarea with destruction because of a grudge he bore. Saint Basil the Great (329-379) gathered the frightened inhabitants on Mount Didinia, where there was a Marian Church . After three days of prayer and fasting, Basil had a vision in which he saw Mary surrounded by celestial hosts and heard her say: “Go call Mercury to me. He shall kill the blasphemer of my Son.” Saint Mercurius (Mercury) was a Saint/Martyr who died in the year 250. He was a powerful man physically but also courageous. According to tradition, he was once facing a much superior army of Berbers when St Michael the Archangel appeared to him. St Michael gave Mercurius a sword shortly before the battle, telling him: “Mercurius, servant of Jesus Christ, do not be afraid. Take this sword from my hand and fight the Berbers with it. Do not forget your God when you come back victoriously. I am Michael the Archangel, whom God sent to inform you, that you should suffer for the Lord’s Name. I shall be with you and support you until you complete your testimony. The Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you.” Mercurius felt a strength and confidence granted to him from the sword of Saint Michael and was invincible in the combat. Not much later, however, he refused to burn incense before the false idols in thanksgiving for the victory and was subsequently tortured and killed for his faith in the true God. After the vision of the Mother of God, both Saint Basil and Libanius went to the Church of Saint Mercury. Upon their arrival they found that the arms of Saint Mercurius, which were usually hung there on display, were now missing. Remembering the words of the Blessed Virgin, they then went back to Mount Didinia rejoicing and spread the news of the death of the tyrant to the inhabitants. When the faithful went back to the City and the Church of Saint Mercurius, they found the lance of Mercury back in its accustomed place, although now it was wet with blood. The Emperor Julian had gone on campaign in Persia,but was forced to retreat from the region. It was later learned that he had died in that foreign land on that same night that Saint Mercurius’ weapons had disappeared. History records that he received a wound from a spear that had pierced his liver and intestines, suffering a major hemorrhage from the wound which killed him.
St Athanasius of the Caves (Died c 1176) Hermit St Avitas of Rouen
St Evasius of Brescia Bl Francisco del Valle Villar St Habakkuk the Prophet Bl Ivan Sleziuk Bl John Amero
Bleared Jan van Ruysbroec (c 1293-1382) Known as John “the Admirable,” “the Ecstatic Doctor,” “the Divine Doctor.” Priest, Hermit, Mystic, Spiritual Director and Spiritual Writer. Beatified on 1 December 1908 by Pope Pius X. About Blessed Jan: https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/02/saint-of-the-day-2-december-blessed-john-van-ruysbroeck/ St Lupus of Verona Bl Maria Angela Astorch St Nonnus of Edessa St Oderisius de Marsi St Pimenio in Rome St Pontian
Bl Robert of Matallana St Silvanus St Pope Silverio — Greek Martyrs of Rome – (9 saints): Several Greek Christians martyred in the persecutions of Valerian – Adria, Aurelia, Eusebius, Hippolytus, Marcellus, Mary Martana, Maximus, Neon and Paulina. They were martyred by various means between 254 and 259 in Rome, Italy and are buried in the Callistus catacombs, Rome.
Martyrs of Africa – (4 saints): Four Christians martyred in Africa in the persecutions of Arian Vandals – Januarius, Securus, Severus and Victorinus.
Quote/s of the Day – 1 December – The Memorial of St Edmund Campion SJ (1540-1581) and Bl Charles of Jesus de Foucauld (1858-1916) Both Martyrs
“To be a Catholic is my greatest glory.”
St Edmund Campion (1540-1581 Martyr
“The Gospel showed me that the first commandment is to love God with all one’s heart and that, we should enfold everything in love; everyone knows, that the first effect of love is imitation.”
“Every person is a child of God, who loves them infinitely: it is, therefore, impossible to want to love God, without loving human beings – the more one loves God, the more one loves people. The love of God, the love of people, is my whole life; it will be my whole life, I hope.”
“When you love, you feel like speaking the whole time with the one you love, or at least, you want to look at Him without ceasing. Prayer is nothing else. It is the familiar meeting with our Beloved. We look at Him, we tell Him we love Him, we rejoice to be at His feet.”
“I would like to be sufficiently good that people would say: ‘If such is the servant, what must the Master be like.’”
From the (Auto)Biography of
Blessed Charles of Jesus de Foucauld (1858-1916) Martyr
Saint of the Day – 1 December – “Good St Eligius”- St Eligius of Noyon (c 588-660) Bishop, Goldsmith, Royal Courtier and adviser to the King, peace-maker, servant of the poor and of slaves. He founded Monasteries and donated his own property for the founding of the first female Monastery in the area. Born in c 588 at at Catelat, near Limoges, France and died on 1 December 660 at Noyon, France of high fever, Also known as – Alar, Elaere, Elar, Elard, Eler, Eloi, Eloy, Eloye, Iler, Loie, Loije, Loy, Additional Memorials – 24 June (translation of relics, and blessing of horses), 8 November as one of the Saints of the Diocese of Evry. Patronages – carpenters, cartwrights, clock/watch makers, coin collectors, craftsmen of all kinds, cutlers, gilders, goldsmiths, harness makers, horses especially sick horses, jewelers; jockeys; knife makers; labourers, locksmiths, metalworkers in general, miners, minters, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, saddlers, tool makers, Veterinarians, against boils, against epidemics, against equine diseases, against poverty, against ulcers, agricultural workers, basket makers, Eloois-Vijve, Belgium, Sint-Eloois-Winkel, Belgium, Schinveld, Netherlands.
The Roman Martyrology states: “In Noyon in Neustria, now in France, Saint Eligius, Bishop, who, goldsmith and adviser to King Dagobert, after having contributed to the foundation of many Monasteries and built Sepulchral buildings of outstanding art and beauty in honour of the Saints, was raised to the See of Noyon and Tournai, where he zealously evangelised.”
The Legend of Saint Eligius and Saint Godeberta, by Petrus Christus.
Eligius was born around 588, originally from Chaptelat in Limousin. He belonged to a wealthy rural family who worked their own land, unlike many landowners who left the cultivation to slaves. He left the care of the family farm to one of his brothers and entered trade as a Goldsmith apprentice in a shop in which the Royal Coin was hammered, according to ancient Roman methods. He saved some of the income from his family and gave it in charity to the poor and to slaves. He was as clever in enamel as in gold chiselling. These professional qualities went hand-in-hand with a scrupulous honesty. When they asked him to make a golden throne for King Clothair II (613-629), he made a second with the extra gold he did not want to hold for himself.
This gesture, extraordinary at the time, earned him the trust of the King, who asked him to reside in Paris as the Royal Goldsmith, a Royal Court Officer and Court Counselor. Named coinmaster in Marseilles, he would redeem many of the slaves sold at the Port. When Dagobert became King in 629, he was summoned to Paris where he directed the shops of the Frankish kingdom in which coin was minted, which were in Paris on the Quai des Orfèvres at the present-day Rue de la Monnaie. Among others, he had the task of embellishing the tombs of Saint Genevieve and Saint Denis.
He made Reliquaries for Saint Germain, Saint Severinus, Saint Martin and Saint Columba and numerous Liturgical objects for the new Abbey of Saint Denis. Thanks to his honesty, his frankness and his capacity for peaceable judgement, he came so far into the King’s trust, that the latter called him to himself, and entrusted him with a peace mission to the Breton king, King Judicael.
St Eligius Consecrated Bishop of Novon
Great was the piety and prayer life of this layman, who often attended monastic offices. In 632 he founded the Solignac Monastery south of Limoges. While Eligius still lived, the Monastery had grown to count more than 150 Monks under the two rules of St Benedict and St Colomba: – the Monastery was under the protection of the King and not under the authority of the Bishop. The religious fervour and the ardour of the Monks, made it one of the most illustrious Monasteries of the time. One year after the foundation of Solignac, Eligius founded, in his Ile de la Cité home, the first Monastic house for women religious in Paris, whose direction he entrusted to Saint Aurea.
A year after the death of King Dagobert, whom he had seen in the last moments of his life, Eligius left the Court together with Saint Audenus, who had served as adviser and Chancellor under Dagobert . Like Audenus, Eligius also entered formation and was Ordained Priest. On the same day, 13 May 641, they received the Episcopate: Saint Audenus to the See of Rouen; Eligius to that of Noyon and Tournai. Eligius put all his zeal into apostolic mission.
He died in 660, on the eve of his departure for Cahors. Holy Queen Bathilde travelled to greet him but she arrived too late.
There is a wonderful legend of St Eligius – the devil appeared to him dressed as a woman and he, Eligius, quickly grabbed him by the nose with his pincers. This colourful legend is depicted in two French Cathedrals (Angers and Le Mans) and in the Milan Cathedral, with the stained glass window by Niccolò da Varallo, a gift from the Milanese Goldsmiths in the fifteenth century. Ungfortunately, I cannot find any of these artworks.
In Paris, a Church was dedicated to him in the quarter of the blacksmiths, locksmiths and cabinet-makers. The Church of Saint Eligius was rebuilt in 1967. A church destroyed in 1793 was dedicated to him in the Rue des Orfèvres near the Hôtel de la Monnaie (the mint). In Notre Dame Cathedral, in the Chapel of Saint Ann, once home to the jewellers’ and goldsmiths’ confraternity, the jewellers and goldsmiths of Paris have placed his Statue and restored his Altar.
These are the Representations of this our little-known but o so holy and worthy Saint: • anvil • Bishop with a Crosier in his right hand, on the open palm of his left a miniature Church of chased gold • Bishop with a hammer, anvil and horseshoe • Bishop with a horse • Courtier • Goldsmith • hammer • horseshoe • man grasping a devil’s nose with pincers • man holding a Chalice and Goldsmith’s hammer • man holding a horse’s leg, which he detached from the horse in order to shoe it more easily • man shoeing a horse • man with hammer and crown near a smithy • man with hammer, anvil and Saint Anthony • pincers • man with Saint Godebertha of Noyon • man giving a ring to Saint Godebertha • man working as a Goldsmith. (catholicsaintsinfo.mobi).
St Eligius at the feet of the Virgin and Child by Gerard Seghers
Our Lady of Ratisbon, Bavaria (1842) – 1 December:
One of the most famous examples of Our Lady’s bounty in granting favours to the wearers of the Miraculous Medal occurred less than ten years after the Medal had been struck. Alphonse Ratisbonne was a French Jew who had no religion. When his brother, Theodore became a Catholic and then a Priest, Alphonse was filled with aversion. He was a typical intellectual of the nineteenth century, a worshipper of humanity, who sneered at anything spiritual. In November 1841, Alphonse found himself in Rome, although his itinerary had not called for a stop in the Eternal City. There he met Baron de Bussiere. The Baron urgently requested him to wear the Miraculous Medal and to recite daily the prayer of St Bernard, “The Memorare”. Alphonse did so in the spirit of acceptance and of dare but without the slightest bit of faith. On 20 January 1842, Monsieur de Bussiere saw Alphonse walking along the street and invited him into his carriage. They stopped at St Andrea Delle Fratee because the Baron wished to see a Priest there. In order to kill time, Ratisbonne entered the Church. He was not very much impressed and was walking around rather listlessly. Suddenly the Church seemed to be plunged into darkness and all the light concentrated on one Chapel. Very much startled he saw there, our Blessed Mother bathed in glorious light, Her face radiant. He went toward her. She motioned with her right hand for him to kneel. As he knelt, he realised, at last, the sad state of his soul. He perceived, that mankind had been redeemed through the Blood of Christ and he was seized with a great longing to be taken into the Church of Christ. The Blessed Virgin spoke not a word but these things came to him as he knelt before her. The next day Alphonse was baptised by Cardinal Patrizi, Vicar of Pope Gregory XVI. The Holy Father as Bishop of Rome, ordered an official inquiry and after four months, the authenticity of the miracle was recognised. Alphonse Maria Ratisbonne, as he was named after his Baptism,bwcame a Priest too and devoted the remainder of his life to winning over his fellow Jews to Christ.
St Agericus of Verdun St Agnofleta St Alexander Briant Bl Alphonsine Anuarite Nengapeta St Ambon of Rome St Ananias of Arbela St Ansanus the Baptizer Bl Antony Bonfadini Bl Bruna Pellesi St Candida of Rome St Candres of Maestricht St Cassian of Rome St Castritian of Milan
St Eligius (c 588-660) Bishop St Evasius of Asti St Filatus of Rome St Florence of Poitiers St Florentius St Grwst St Jabinus of Rome and Companions Bl John Beche Bl Kazimierz Tomasz Sykulski St Latinus of Rome St Leontius of Fréjus Bl Liduina Meneguzzi St Lucius of Rome Bl Maria Clara of the Child Jesus St Marianus St Marina of Rome St Martinus St Nahum the Prophet St Natalia of Nicomedia St Olympiades St Proculus of Narni St Ralph Sherwin St Resignatus of Maastricht Bl Richard Langley St Rogatus of Rome St Simon of Cyrene St Superatus of Rome St Ursicinus of Brescia — Martyrs of Oxford University: A joint commemoration of all the men who studied at one of the colleges of Oxford University, and who were later martyred for their loyalty to the Catholic Church during the official persecutions in the Protestant Reformation. They are: • Blessed Edward James • Blessed Edward Powell • Blessed Edward Stransham • Blessed George Napper • Blessed George Nichols • Blessed Hugh More • Blessed Humphrey Pritchard • Blessed James Bell • Blessed James Fenn • Blessed John Bodey • Blessed John Cornelius • Blessed John Forest • Blessed John Ingram • Blessed John Mason • Blessed John Munden • Blessed John Shert • Blessed John Slade • Blessed John Storey • Blessed Lawrence Richardson • Blessed Mark Barkworth • Blessed Richard Bere • Blessed Richard Rolle de Hampole • Blessed Richard Sergeant • Blessed Richard Thirkeld • Blessed Richard Yaxley • Blessed Robert Anderton • Blessed Robert Nutter • Blessed Robert Widmerpool • Blessed Stephen Rowsham • Blessed Thomas Belson • Blessed Thomas Cottam • Blessed Thomas Pilcher • Blessed Thomas Plumtree • Blessed Thomas Reynolds • Blessed William Filby • Blessed William Hart • Blessed William Hartley • Saint Alexander Briant • Saint Cuthbert Mayne • Saint Edmund Campion • Saint John Boste • Saint John of Bridlington • Saint John Roberts • Saint Ralph Sherwin • Saint Thomas Garnet • Saint Thomas More.
Saint of the Day – 30 November – Blessed Frederick of Regensburg OSA (Died 1329) Lay Friar of the Order of St Augustine, devotee of the Blessed Sacrament. Born in the late 13th century in Regensburg, Bohemia (in modern Germany) and died on 30 November 1329 in Regensburg, of natural causes. Additional Memorial – 29 November in the Augustinian Order.
The Holy Communion of the Blessed Frederick of Regensburg by Jan van den Hoecke (1611-1651) (detail)
History has not left us a great deal of factual information about Blessed Frederick. Perhaps this is an indication of the ‘ordinariness’ of this servant of God, who spent his religious life in fidelity to the daily cycle of prayer and work, which characterises so many religious of his day and ours. Frederick reminds us that loyal devotion to one’s state in life, lived in fidelity to the Gospel is the means to holiness.
Blessed Frederick was born of poor parents in Regensburg, Germany. He entered the Augustinian Monastery of Saint Nicholas in that City as a lay brother. At that time, the Monastery of Saint Nicholas was considered to be the most important community of the Bavarian Province of the Order and even hosted the General Chapter of 1290, at which the first Constitution of the Augustinians was promulgated.
His life as an Augustinian was marked by humility and generosity, dedication to prayer and great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
His talents served the community principally as carpenter and woodcutter, activities in which he demonstrated his concern for his fellow religious and the needs of the Moonastery.
Frederick died on 30 November 1329 in Regensburg where devotion to him continued without interruption and the testimony of miracles attributed to his intercession, were gathered. Frederick is buried at St Cecelia Church in the City of Regensburg.
St Pius X Beatified him on 12 May 1909.
Blessed Frederick’s secret to holiness and message to us, is one of humble service and generous offering of self for the well being of others. His life of prayer and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament were the food that nourished his spirit and strengthened his daily resolve, to live for God and to practice love for his brothers – which is the heart of the Gospel.
PRAYER
Almighty and eternal God, source of all that is good, You gave to Blessed Frederick a wonderful spirit of dedication, of penance and a love for the Holy Eucharist. Through his prayers and example may we grow to be like him as your good and faithful servants. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen
The Holy Communion of the Blessed Frederick of Regensburg by Jan van den Hoecke (1611-1651)
Virgen de la Concepción, San Juan de los Lagos / Mary Immaculate of Saint John of the Lakes, Mexico) (1524) – 30 November, 2 February, 24 June, 15 August, 8 December:
Fray Miguel de Bolonia, of the Spanish Netherlands, was one of the first Franciscans to enter Mexico in 1524. A saintly missionary who learned the native languages and stood up for natives when Spanish rulers threatened them, he travelled through Mexico, teaching and building, until his death in 1580. In 1542, he founded the village of San Juan Bautista de Mezquititlán (land of mesquite trees), where he built a hospital and Chapel in which he placed a half metre tall Statue of Mary Immaculate. In 1623, some trapeze artists brought the body of their daughter to the San Juan Chapel for burial. The young acrobat had fallen during practice onto some upright blades, buried blade side upward, in the earth to ensure the show was more dangerous and exciting. The chapel caretaker, an old woman named Ana Lucia put the Virgin’s Statue on the girl’s breast and the child revived. The grateful father took the fragile Statue, made of cornstalks and glue, to Guadalajara for restoration. From then on, the Shrine’s fame and miracles multiplied.
Meanwhile, the Town grew, changing its name to San Juan de los Lagos (St. John of the Lakes). A new Church was built and then another–each larger, more splendid, more worthy of the Immaculate Virgin. On 30 November, 1769, the Statue was installed in the third Church which is now a Basilica.
San Juan de los Lagos began holding a market fair in commemoration, annually around 30 November with festivities extending to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December. The celebration eventually became so rowdy that the hierarchy decided to move the feast of the Virgen de San Juan de los Lagos to 2 February (Candlemas). The Candelaria fiesta has evolved into a month-long, mass pilgrimage to the Shrine from all over Mexico but 8 December is still observed, as well as 15 August (Feast of the Assumption). The beauty of the Sanctuary that hosts the Virgin, has become the main promoter of tourism in the region. After Our Lady of Guadalupe, it is the most visited Shrine in Mexico.
St Abraham of Persia Bl Alexander Crow St Anders of Slagelse Bl Andrew of Antioch Bl Arnold of Gemblours St Castulus of Rome St Constantius of Rome St Crider of Cornwall St Cuthbert Mayne St Domninus of Antioch St Euprepis of Rome Bl Everard of Stahleck Blessed Frederick of Regensburg OSA (Died 1329) Lay Friar of the Order of St Augustine St Galganus St Isaac of Beth Seleucia
Bl Joscius Roseus St Joseph Marchand St Justina of Constantinople Bl Ludwik Gietyngier St Mahanes the Persian St Maura of Constantinople St Merola of Antioch St Mirocles of Milan St Sapor St Simeon of Persia St Thaddeus Liu Ruiting St Trojan St Tudwal of Tréguier Bl William de Paulo Zosimus the Wonder Worker — Martyrs of Saxony – 6 saints: Missionaries who worked with Saint Willehad of Bremen. Martyrs. – Attroban, Benjamin, Emmingen, Folkard, Gerwald and Grisold. They were martyred on 30 November 782 at River Weser, Lawer Saxony, Germany.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War – Martyred Augustinians of Madrid – 51 beati and Martyred Hospitallers of Madrid – 7 beati – Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939.
Saint of the Day – 29 November – Saint Brendan of Birr (Died c 573) Abbot known as “Prophet of Ireland,” Founder of the Monastery at Birr in Central Ireland. Brendan is one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland and a friend and disciple of Saint Columba. Born in Ireland and died in c 573 at Birr, Ireland of natural causes. Patronage – Birr, Ireland. Also known as – Brendan mac Nemain, Brendan of Biorra, Brendan the Elder, (to distinguish him from his contemporary and friend, St Brendan the Navigator of Clonfert.) Prophet of Ireland, Brandan, Brandon, Breandan, Brenainn, Brendanus. Additional Memorial – 6 January, as one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
In early Christian Ireland the druid tradition collapsed with the spread of the new faith. Study of Latin learning and Christian theology in monasteries flourished. Brendan became a pupil at the Monastic school at Clonard Abbey. During the sixth century, some of the most significant names in the history of Irish Church studied at the Clonard Monastery. It is said that the average number of scholars under instruction at Clonard, was 3,000. Twelve students who studied under Saint Finian became known as the Twelve Apostles of Ireland; Brendan of Birr was one of these.
Brendan of Birr is said to have been of a noble Munster family. It was at Clonard that Brendan became a friend and companion of St Kierán and St Brendan the Navigator.
Brendan founded the Monastery at Birr in central Ireland in about 540, serving as its first Abbot. He emerges from early Irish writings as a man of generous hospitality with a reputation for sanctity and devotion who was an intuitive judge of character. He was considered one of the chief prophets of Ireland. This is evidenced both in his title (‘Prophet of Ireland’) and by his attendance at the Synod of Meltown, in which Saint Columba was brought to trial over his role in the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne in 561. Brendan spoke on Columba’s behalf, prompting the assembled clerics to sentence Columba with exile, rather than excommunication. His friendship and support for Columba resulted in important connections between Birr and the Columban foundations. An adviser of Columba said that the saint saw a vision of Brendan’s soul being carried away by angels after his death. He thereupon ordered a mass to be said in his honour.
Ruins of Birr Monastery
Brendan’s monastery at Birr was later to produce the MacRegol Gospels, which are now housed at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
Most glorious ascetic and chief of Ireland‘s Prophets, O Father Brendan, thou wast a bright beacon in the western isle, guiding many to salvation. At thy heavenly birthday, the Angels rejoiced and miraculously announced their joy to our Father Columba. The prayers of the righteous avail much for us sinners. Wherefore O Saint, pray to God for us that He will find us a place in the Mansions of the Blest. Amen Hymn of Saint Brendan of Birr
Notre Dame au Coeur d’Or / Our Lady of the Golden Heart of Beauraing, Belgium (1932) – 29 November:
On the evening of 29 November 1932, five children, fun-loving, mischievous playmates, ranging from the fifteen to nine years of age, were walking toward the railway viaduct in the Vallon part of Belgium, in the simple and quiet village of Beauraing. Suddenly one of them exclaimed that there was a bright light moving at the viaduct. First they thought these the lights of a moving car. Very soon, however, they discovered the figure of a lady and they instantly recognised that this could be nothing less than the Blessed Virgin.
Nobody wished to believe what the children related. But the next evening they came home with the same story. The village laughed at them and their parents were angry. The next time the children related with more details that they had seen a lady who was more beautiful than her Statues, dressed in pure white, with a crown of golden rays on her head.
On 2 December the children asked the lady some questions; she, smiling, confirmed that she was the Immaculate Virgin and demanded they “always be good.” As the visions continued, more people came to Beauraing, including police officials, doctors and psychologists. There were thirty-three apparitions in all. On 29 December the children related, the Blessed Virgin revealed, on her breast, a heart of gold. The next evening she asked for more prayers. On 1 January 1933, Our Lady of Beauraing reiterated this request and told Fernande, the fifteen year old girl:
“If you love my Son and love me, then sacrifice yourself for me.”
The Belgian Bishops forbade any processions or cults and started an investigation that was to last for ten years, during which serious objections were brought against the children. Finally, in 1943, a Decree was issued by the Bishop of Namur authorising the cult of Our Lady of Beauraing. On 18 July 1947, Msngr. Charue personally received the Papal blessings for the Sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Beauraing – the Virgin of the Golden Heart. This devotion has since taken on new and ever increasing proportions. The final approbation was given on 2 July1949. The cures of Miss Van Laer and Mrs. Acar were declared miraculous by a Decree given by Msgr. Charue. Many conversions and graces have been obtained through the intercession of Our Lady of Beauraing. The editor of the Belgian Communist paper, “Le Drapeau Rouge” (the Red Flag), was one of the first to become Catholic at the Shrine of Our Lady of Beauraing.
All Saints of the Seraphic Order (Franciscan): the Church celebrates the many Franciscan saints who followed in the footsteps of St Francis. It is a special day for all Franciscans to celebrate the feast of ‘All the Saints of the Seraphic Order.’ Also on this day in 1223, the final Rule of life for Franciscan Friars was approved. To commemorate this and all the saintly examples produced in the Franciscan Order, on this day all the saints of the Seraphic order are remembered at Franciscan Churches.
St Blaise of Veroli St Brendan of Birr (Died c573) Abbot St Demetrius of Veroli Blessed Denis of the Nativity OCD (1600-1638) Priest Martyr Bl Edward Burden
Bl Frederick of Ratisbon Bl George Errington St Hardoin of Brittany St Illuminata of Todi St James of Saroug Bl Jutta of Heiligenthal St Paphnutius of Heracleopolis St Paramon St Philomenus of Ancyra St Radbod of Utrecht Bl Redemptorus of the Cross St Sadwen of Wales St Saturninus of Rome St Saturninus of Toulouse St Sisinius of Rome St Walderic of Murrhardt Bl William Gibson Bl William Knight
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