Saint of the Day – 3 May – Saint Ansfrid of Utrecht (c 940-1010) Bishop, Count of Huy and the sword-bearer and Knight for Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. He became Bishop of Utrecht in 995. He appears to have been the son or grandson of Lambert, a nobleman of the Maasgau, the area where he later founded the Abbeys of Thorn and Heiligenberg and to have been related to various important contemporaries including the royal family. Born in c 940 in the Brabant region of the Netherlands and died on 3 May 1010 in Amersfoort, Netherlands of natural causes. Patronage – Amersfoort. He is also known as Ansfridus, Ansfried, Ansfrido.
The young Knight St Ansfrid in the Abbey Church of Heiligenberg
The principal source of information regarding Ansfrid is the De diversitatem temporum by the Benedictine Albert of Metz, written around 1022.
Ansfrid had the same name as a paternal uncle, Ansfrid the elder, a Count who held 15 counties. The young Ansfrid studied secular and clerical subjects under another paternal uncle, Robert, Archbishop of Trier, before attending the Cathedral school at Cologne.
In 961, Otto I took Ansfrid into his personal service and made him his swordbearer. When Otto was in Rome the following year to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor, he directed Ansfrid to keep close at hand ,with the sword as a precaution against any unforeseen eventualities.
Because of his Christian commitment, he was highly respected and an important Knight of the Emperor’s circle, holding rich possessions along the Meuse, in Brabant and Gelderland. Possibly all or some of his counties were inherited from his paternal uncle of the same name. As Count, he had considerable success in suppressing piracy and armed robbery. In 985, Otto III granted Ansfrid the right to mint coins at Medemblik, on the north-south shipping route through the Vlie, as well as, the income from tolls and tax collecting.
He was married to Heresuint or Hilsondis. They had one child, Benedicta. He founded a Romanesque Abbey Church on his wife’s estate at Thorn under the patronage of St Michael. The Abbey itself had a double cloister that housed both man and women religious. Ansfrid planned it as a place of retirement for himself and his family after he left public service. His wife was to be the first Abbess but she died on her way there and Benedicta, their daughter, took her place.
sT Ansfrid and Hilsondis. Stained glass windows in the Abbey of Thorn
After his wife’s death, Ansfrid desired to retire and become a Monk. However, in 995, Emperor Otto III and Bishop Notker of Liège persuaded the reluctant Ansfrid to assume the then vacant Aee of Utrecht. Ansfrid objected that as he had borne weapons as a Knight, he was unworthy of the office but the Emperor prevailed. The elderly Count laid down his sword on the Altar of St Mary in Aachen and was Ordained Priest and Consecratedas the eighteenth Bishop of Utrecht, in the same ceremony. Bishop Ansfrid never took a commission in the royal army, in contrast to Notger and the Bishop of Cologne.
In 1006 Bishop Ansfrid founded the Abbey of Heiligenberg, also under the patronage of St Michael. Toward the end of his life he became increasingly weakened through fasting and retired there as a Monk, caring for the sick, although almost blind himself.
Upon his death, during the funeral, the faithful of Heiligenberg took possession of his body, while the people of Utrecht were extinguishing a not coincidental fire. The Abbess of Thorn mediated and Ansfrid was buried in the Cathedral of Saint Martin in Utrecht.
St Ansfrid, fine bronze of the fountain “Li bassinia” in Huy
Virgen de la Carrasca, Bordón, Teruel, Aragón, Spain (1212) – 3 May:
Commemorated on First Monday of May
In 1212, a herder found an image of the Virgin in a holm oak (carrasca) in the rocky countryside of Aragón in Spaon. There are several stories about what happened then, all of them ending with a Shrine in Bordón. Templars carried the Statue to Castellote, 12 miles north but the next day the image was back in the oak, the Virgin made those carrying her to Castellote keep turning toward Bordón and springs arose at each turn.
Original Statue
In the place where it was found, a hermitage was built to house it, which would later be replaced by the building that today is the Parish Church of Bordón, built in 1306 by the Templar Order (The Order was dissolved by Pope Clement V in 1312 ).
Although its exterior hardly stands out, its interior is magical and fascinating, a place full of mystery. In one of the Chapels inside, the Templar novices who previously made a pilgrimage on foot from Castellote, capital of the Templar Commandery, performed initiation rites to become Knights of the Order.
In the 18th century, the interior of the Church was covered with marvellous frescoes, which have been recently restored. Unfortunately, the venerated carving of the Black Virgin of the Carrasca was lost during the Civil War, along with another very famous Romanesque carving with a reputation for miraculously calming storms, the Virgin of the Spider, only a series of photographs being preserved, which allowed the making a replica.
Replica Statue
On the first Monday in May, the faithful from the three towns to the south—Tronchón, Olocau del Rey and Mirambel—conduct a processional pilgrimage to the Virgin de la Carrasca. They have done this “from time immemorial,” according to a document of 1390 in the Parish archives of Tronchón.
St Adalsindis of Bèze Bl Adam of Cantalupo in Sabina St Ahmed the Calligrapher St Aldwine of Peartney St Pope Alexander I St Alexander of Constantinople Bl Alexander of Foigny St Alexander of Rome Bl Alexander Vincioli St Ansfrid of Utrecht (c 940-1010) Bishop St Antonina of Constantinople St Diodorus the Deacon
St Ethelwin of Lindsey St Eventius of Rome St Fumac St Gabriel Gowdel St Juvenal of Narni Bl Maria Leonia Paradis St Maura of Antinoe St Peter of Argos St Philip of Zell Bl Ramon Oromí Sullà St Rhodopianus the Deacon St Scannal of Cell-Coleraine Bl Sostenaeus
Thought for the Day – 2 May – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Intercession of Our Lady
“There is a passage in the Gospel which illustrates, in outstanding fashion, Mary’s great power of intercession. St John relates (Cf Jn 2:1-2) that, along with Mary and the Apostles, Jesus took part at a wedding celebration in Cana of Galilee. During the banquet, the wine ran short. Mary realised how embarrassing this would be for the young couple and took pity on them. She said to Jesus in a tone of request: “They have no wine.” But Jesus seemed quite indifferent to her appeal. “What would thou have me do, woman?” He said, “My hour has not yet come.”
One would have imagined from the coolness of this reply, that it would have been useless to press the matter and further. Mary, on the other hand, was sure, that Jesus would not refuse the favour which she asked. She turned without any hesistation to the attendants and directed them: “Do whatever he tells you.”
As if disarmed by His Mother’s trustfulness, Jesus then worked His first miracle through her intercession. When we pray we should do so with the same confidence and we shall certainly be answered.
Remember Mary’s words,however, “Do whatever he tells you.” We must do whatever Jesus tells us, if we want Mary to listen to us and to work in us, the miracle of our sanctification. If we desire to be true sons of Mary, her advice to us, is to carry out the commands of Jesus Christ.”
Quote/s of the Day – 2 May – “Mary’s Month” – and the Memorial of St Athanasius (297-373) Father & Doctor of the Church
“If we follow Christ closely we shall be allowed, even on this earth, to stand, as it were, on the threshold of the heavenly Jerusalem and enjoy the contemplation, pf that everlasting feast, like the blessed Apostles, who, in following the Saviour as their leader, showed and still show, the way to obtain the same gift from God. They said – See, we have left all things and followed You. We too follow the Lord and we keep His feast by deeds rather than by words.”
“He cries out, saying: See, I am with you all the days of this age. He is Himself the shepherd, the high priest, the way and the door, and has become all things at once for us.”
“Mary, Mother of Grace, it becomes you to be mindful of us, as you stand near Him who granted you all graces, for you are the Mother of God and our Queen. Help us for the sake of the King, the Lord God and Master, Who was born of you.”
One Minute Reflection – 2 May – The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Readings: Acts 9:26-31, Psalm: Psalms 22: 26-27, 28, 30, 31-32 (26a), Second: First John 3: 18-24, Gospel: John 15: 1-8 and the Memorial of St Athanasius (297-373)
“I am the vine, you the branches; he that abides in me and I in him, the same bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
REFLECTION – “I must warn each of you about His vine – for who has never cut back everything that is superfluous in himself ,to the point of thinking that there is nothing more to cut?
Believe me, what has been cut, grows back; the vices that have been chased away return and we see tendencies that had gone to sleep, waking up again. It is, therefore, not enough to cut one’s vine once; rather, we have to do it again and often and if possible, even without ceasing. For if you are sincere, you ceaselessly find in yourself ,something to cut…
Virtue cannot grow among the vices; for virtue to develop, we must prevent the vices from increasing. So suppress what is superfluous; then the necessary will be able to spring up.
For us, Brothers, it is always the time for cutting, it is always necessary. For I am sure that we have already left winter behind us, we have left behind the fear without love, which introduces us all to wisdom but which doesn’t let anyone grow in perfection. When love comes, it chases away that fear just as the summer chases away the winter… So may the winter rains stop, that is say, the tears of anguish that arise because of the memory of your sins and the fear of judgement… If “the winter is over” and “the rain has topped” (Song 2:11)… the sweetness of the spring of spiritual grace shows us, that the time has come to cut our vine. What else is there for us to do other than to become entirely committed to this work?” – St Bernard (1091-1153) Mellifluous Doctor of the Church – Sermon 58 on the Song of Songs
PRAYER – Holy God and Father, help us to discern through prayer and meditation what You truly want of us. Then enable us to offer it to You and indeed, to offer ourselves and all we have and all we are, to You. When You bring us sufferings to mould us closer and make us more like You, help us to accept them and offer them back to You. Following Your divine Son, let us pick up those crosses in peace and love. Our Lady Holy Mother of Our Lord and our own, pray for us! St Athanasius, pray for us. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 2 May – Fifth Sunday of Easter
Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary Before Holy Mass
O most blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of tenderness and mercy, I, a miserable and unworthy sinner, fly to you with all the affection of my heart and I beseech your motherly love, that, as you stood by your most dear Son, while He hung on the Cross, so, in your kindness, you may be pleased to stand by me, a poor sinner, and all Priests who today are offering the Sacrifice here and throughout the entire holy Church, so that with your gracious help we may offer a worthy and acceptable oblation in the sight of the most high and undivided Trinity. Amen.
(This prayer is adapted from the Priests’ Prayers Before each Mass)
Saint of the Day – 2 May – Saint St Zoe of Pamphylia (Died 127) Martyr, Laywoman, Wife and Mother. The Roman Martyrology states of her and her family: “The holy mMartyrs , Exuperius and Zoe, his wife, with their sons, Cyriacus and Theodolus, who suffered under the Emperior Adrian.”
Zoe was married to Saint Exuperius. They had 2 sons, Saint Cyriacus and Saint Theodulus.
They were slaves, and were owned by a rich devout worshipper of the ancient Roman gods in Atalia, Pamphylia. One of Zoe’s duties was to tend the house dogs and prevent them from biting visitors. She rarely saw her husband as he worked the fields, a distance from the house.
Since she worked near a roadway, she gave of her own meagre rations to those even poorer than herself. One pagan feast day, the slaves were given meat to sacrifice to an idol. They refused and the entire family was tortured and murdered.
Nuestra Señora de Oviedo / Our Lady of Oviedo, Spain (711) – 2 May:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of Oviedo, Spain, where they possess some of the Blessed Virgin’s hair.”
The Cathedral of Oviedo was founded in 781 AD, and enlarged by Alfonso the Chaste, who made Oviedo the Capital of the Kingdom of Asturias. The Chapel was once called the Sancta Ovetensis, owing to the quantity and quality of relics contained in the Camara Santa (Holy Chamber).
There is in the City of Oviedo a Holy Chest that contains many and varied relics. It rests in the Town where King Alfonso II, the Chaste, built a Shrine to house it and there it can be seen even today as it was well over a millennium ago. Like the Arc of the Covenant, or the Holy Grail, it is a singular thing the like of which is almost utterly unknown in the entire history of mankind.
This Holy Chest is made of oak and was skillfully constructed without the use of any nails. It measures roughly four feet by three feet by two feet and has been venerated, by faithful Catholics, since apostolic times. Indeed, it is believed to have been fashioned by devoted disciples of the twelve Apostles. Many men and woman throughout history have given their entire lives in service to the holy relics contained therein, or to save the chest from pagans who sought its destruction. The chest originated in the Holy City of Jerusalem. When the Persain’s attacked and conquered Jerusalem in 614, many priceless relics from the region were gathered and placed in it for protection, as the Persians sought relics to destroy them. The chest was taken for safekeeping to a small community of Catholiacs in Alexandria, Egypt. A short time later, Alexandria was also sacked by the Muslims and the chest was taken across the Mediterranean Sea to Spain, where St Isidore kept it in Seville. Upon St. Isidore’s death, the chest was transferred to the City of Toledo, which was then becoming an important centre in Spain. When the wave of Muslim aggression reached even Toledo in 711, the Holy Chest was taken to the Asturias and hidden in a well in Pelayo’s mountain. The chest has a lock and key but by the time of the eleventh century it had not been opened for hundreds of years. The last time it was known to have been opened was when it was done by a living saint, St Ildephonsus, for in it he had placed a chasuble that the Mother of God herself had given him during an apparition. By the year 1030, the exact contents of the Holy Chest were no longer known. Bishop Ponce of Oviedo and with him many clerics, determined to examine the chest to unlock its secrets. As soon as the lid was raised only the slightest bit, “there burst forth so stupendous a light that the terrified clerics, some of them stricken blind, dropped the lid and fled, leaving the mystery unsolved.” After Mass, on Friday, 13 March 1075, the key was again placed in the lock. On this occasion, God was pleased to reveal the contents of the Holy Chest. The chest contained the Sudarium, mentioned by St John the Evangelist in his Gospel, as the cloth that covered the face of Christ, after the crucifixion. On it can be seen the bloodstains of Our Lord that evidence his passion and death. It alone is a treasure without reckoning… The chest also contained a piece of the True Cross of Our Lord, a small stone of the sepulcher in which He was buried, some of the cloths in which He was wrapped in the manger, several thorns from the Crucifixion, a piece of the earth of Mount Olivet touched by His feet when He ascended into heaven, one of the thirty coins given to Judas, a lock of the Blessed Mother’s hair, the chasuble given by the Virgin Mary to Saint Ildephonsus, a chest of gold and precious stones containing the forehead of St John the Baptist and his hair and a host of other relics from many saints and prophets, including St Stephen, the first martyr, St Mary Magdalene, St Peter the Apostle, St Vincent and the rod of Moses which parted the Red Sea and the manna supplied from heaven during the Exodus from Egypt, and many other priceless relics.
King Alfonso VI commissioned a silversmith to sheath the Holy Chest in gilded silver, adorning it with figures of Our Lord and His angels and saints. It can still be seen even today.”
Cathedral of Oviedo
There are numerous Marian images, in their different invocations, which can be seen in the Cathedral of Oviedo. The month of May dedicated to the Virgin inspires a tour of different chapels and altarpieces in which the Immaculate, Virgin Asuntas are preserved, also affectionate Mothers with a Child in their arms, without forgetting the suffering Mothers of the Piedades and ,of course ,the Virgin from Covadonga, our Santina. In the Chapel of Santa María del Rey Casto a small Altarpiece houses one of the most precious Marian images of the Cathedral of Oviedo and which, perhaps, due to its modest size, goes unnoticed. The Altarpiece of Our Lady of Light . This Altarpiece was donated in 1552 by Gutierre González de Cienfuegos, magistrate of Medina del Campo and Salamanca and was placed in the retrochoir of the Cathedral, where it served as an Altar.
Bl Bernard of Seville St Bertinus the Younger Bl Boleslas Strzelecki Bl Conrad of Seldenbüren St Cyriacus of Pamphylia St Eugenius of Africa St Exsuperius of Pamphylia St Felix of Seville St Fiorenzo of Algeria St Gennys of Cornwall St Germanus of Normandy (Died c 460) St Gluvias St Guistano of Sardinia
St Joseph Luu Bl Juan de Verdegallo St Longinus of Africa St Neachtain of Cill-Uinche St Theodulus of Pamphylia St Ultan of Péronne St Vindemialis of Africa St Waldebert of Luxeuil
Bl William Tirry St Zoe of Pamphylia (Died 127) Martyr, Laywoman — Martyrs of Alexandria – 4 saints: A group of Christians marytred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know little more than their names – Celestine, Germanus, Neopolus and Saturninus. 304 in Alexandria, Egyp
Thought for the Day – 1 May – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Month of Mary
“This work of eradicating of our faults and replacing them by their opposite virtues, is a difficult task which we cannot carry out on our own. Prayer is necessary if we are to obtan the grace which we need. During Mary’s month, we should beseech our heavenly Mother, with greater earnestness, to obtain for us, from her divine Son, the grace which we need to correct the evil in our nature and to perfect it in goodness.
Mary wants us to pray to her because she wishes to obtain for us, the graces which we require. She loves us very much and is ready to help us to become, like her, living imitations of Jesus, insofar as the weakness of our nature will permit.
Among our other prayers, let us remember to give pride of place to the Holy Rosary, whether we recite it in Church or with the family. Let us include, at least a quarter of an hour meditation; a daily visit, however short, to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Lady’s Altar; an examination of conscience in the evening and many ejaculatory prayers during the day, which will express our love for Mary and for her divine Son.”
Rejoice! It’s 1 May The Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The May Magnificat By Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889)
May is Mary’s month, and I Muse at that and wonder why: Her feasts follow reason, Dated due to season-
Candlemas, Lady Day: But the Lady Month, May, Why fasten that upon her, With a feasting in her honour? Ask of her, the mighty Mother: Her reply puts this other Question: What is Spring? Growth in everything- All things rising, all things sizing Mary sees, sympathising With that world of good, Nature’s motherhood.
Well but there was more than this: Spring’s universal bliss Much, had much to say To offering Mary May.
Quote/s of the Day – 1 May – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 13:44-52, Psalm 98:1-4, John 14:7-14
“If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:7
“We will follow You, Lord Jesus. But in order for us to follow You, call us,because without You, no-one will ascend towards You. For You are the way, the truth, the life. You are also our help, our trust, our reward. Welcome those who belong to You, You who are the way; strengthen them, You who are the truth; give them life, You who are the life.”
St Ambrose (340-397) Father & Doctor of the Church
“O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? … Behold – daily He humbles Himself as when from heaven’s royal throne He came down into the womb of the Virgin. Daily, He Himself, comes to us with like humility; daily He descends from the bosom of the Father, upon the Altar, in the hands of the Priest.”
One Minute Reflection – 1 May – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 13:44-52, Psalm 98:1-4, John 14:7-14
“He who has seen me has seen the Father…”… John 14:9
REFLECTION – “Beloved, Jesus Christ is our salvation, He is the high priest through whom we present our offerings and the helper who supports us in our weakness. Through Him, our gaze penetrates the heights of heaven and we see, as in a mirror, the most holy face of God. Through Christ, the eyes of our hearts are opened and our weak and clouded understanding, reaches up toward the light. Through Him the Lord God willed that we should taste eternal knowledge, for Christ is the radiance of God’s glory and as much greater than the angels as the name God has given Him is superior to theirs. … Think, my brothers, of how we first came into being, of what we were at the first moment of our existence. Think of the dark tomb out of which our Creator brought us into His world, where He had His gifts prepared for us, even before we were born. All this we owe to Him and for everything, we must give Him thanks. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.” … St Pope Clement of Rome (c 35-99), Apostolic Father, Bishop of Rome and Martyr – An excerpt from his Letter to the Corinthians
PRAYER – Since it is from You God, our Father, that redemption comes to us, Your adopted children, look with favour on the family You love, give us true freedom and to all who believe in Christ and bring us all alike to our eternal heritage. Grant we pray, that by the prayers of Your holy angels and saints, Blessed Giovanni Benincasa and most especially our beloved Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, we may run this race always in prayer, trusting in Your divine Son’s intercession, to attain the Glory of Your Kingdom and the Light of Your Face. Through Jesus Christ, in the union of the Holy Spirit, God with You, forever and ever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 1 May – “Mary’s Month” and Friday of the Third Week of Easter
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God By St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father & Doctor of the Church
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Virgin and Mother! Morning Star, perfect vessel. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Holy Temple in which god Himself was conceived. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Chaste and pure dove. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Who enclosed the One who cannot be encompassed in your sacred womb. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, From you flowed the true light, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Through you the Conqueror and triumphant Vanquisher of hell came to us. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Through you, the glory of the Resurrection blossoms. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, You have saved every faithful Christian. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen
Saint of the Day – 1 May – St Sigismund of Burgundy (Died 524) King and Martyr. King of the Burgundians from 516 until his death, Reforemer, Penitent, apostle of the needy and the poor. Patronages – Czech Republic, Monarchs, Germanic peoples, bibliophiles, Monasteries.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “At Siom, i Switzerland, Saint Sigismund, King of the Burgundians, who was drowned in a well and afterwards became renowned for miracles.”
Sigismund succeeded his father Gundobad asKking of the Burgundians in 516. At the time, Burgundy was perhaps the most powerful of all the kingdoms of Gaul – not least because of its strong links with the Byzantine court – and both the Franks and the Ostrogoths were keen to limit Burgundian power.
Sigismund soon established his reputation as a statesman and lawmaker by issuing (in 517) a legal compendium, the Lex Gundobada (more properly known as the Liber Constitutionum). He was equally enthusiastic about reforming the Church and, in the same year, he convened a Council of Burgundiam Bishops with a view to establishing ecclesiastical discipline and dismantling the infrastructure of the Arian Church in Burgundy.
Gundobad had been an Arian, though he seems to have contemplated conversion to Catholicism,and Sigismund converted by 515 – thanks in large part to his association with the Catholic Bishop of Vienne, St Avitus (a poet and man of letters who remained a beacon of classical civilisation in a barbarian world), with whom he maintained a correspondence.
Shortly after his conversion, Sigismund founded the Monastery of St Maurice at Agaune, where he instituted the practice of the laus perennis, according to which (as happened in other royal monasteries in the Germanic world) groups of Monks would chant the psalms in relays in an unceasing round of praise (the sixth century equivalent of perpetual adoration).
In spite of such positive beginnings, Sigismund’s relationship with his Bishops deteriorated. Much more seriously, in 522 his second wife persuaded him that Sigistrix, his son by his deceased first wife, was plotting against him with the intention of killing him and taking control not only of Burgundy but also of Italy.
In a fit of uncontrolled rage, Sigismund had Sigistrix strangled. Once his anger had subsided, he was appalled at the enormity of his crime and retired to St Maurice to do penance, devoting himself to the poor in whose service he distributed part of his wealth.
Whatever he undertook by way of reparation, however, seemed wholly inadequate in view of the horrific nature of the murder of his own son and Sigismund came to believe, that only by suffering some equivalent calamity, could he atone for his sin.
Such a calamity duly occurred when Burgundy was attacked by Chlodomer, the King of Orleans, together with his brothers Childebert and Chlothar (the three brothers were the sons of the Frankish King Clovis whose father had been murdered by Sigismund’s father Gundobad). Sigismund escaped, disguising himself as a monk and hiding in a cell at Agaune, but was captured and taken to Orleans as a prisoner where he was executed (524), by being thrown down a well.
His bones having been recovered, a shrine developed at Agaune and he was soon recognised as a Martyr, though strictly speaking he did not die for his faith, as the motives for his assassination had to do with politics and blood-feuds, rather than with Arian persecution of Catholics.
St Sigismund: Fresco by Piero della Francesca
In fact, he is best remembered not primarily as a Martyr (for all that he endured death in a spirit of faith and courage) but as one of the great penitents – as a man whose profound repentance, culiminating in a death, which at some level he seems to have sought (at least in prayer) by way of atonement for his gravest of crimes, was rightly perceived not only by his contemporaries but also by subsequent generations as a paradigm of a particular kind of Christian sanctity.
A bust of St Sigismund n Plock
His body was kept honourably at Agaune, until it was removed to the Cathedral of Prague by the Emperor Charles IV. His tomb has been venerated for centuries and has been famous for many miracles. He became a Patron of the Czech Republic, see his Statue on Charles Bridge in Prague, below.
Maria Santissima di Giubino, Siciliy / Madonna of Giubino, Sicily (1655) – 1 May:
The Church of the Madonna of Giubino was built in 1721 to house a miraculous marble-relief icon of the Madonna. (A copy of the relief is housed in the Church of St Joseph in Brooklyn, New York, giving testimony to the large emigrant community of Calatafimesi who lived in Brooklyn in the early 20th century). The Church of Maria Santissima di Giubino is dedicated to the Patroness of the Town. It has a single nave, with an elegant barrel vault decorated with frescoes and ornamental motifs. Inside there are some important works – the painting with the Assumption, Our Lady with Angels and Saints dated 1617, the Altarpiece of All Saints, an 18th-century wooden organ and a 15th-century marble alto-rilievo representing Madonna of Giubino with the Infant Jesus. In 1655 an invasion of grasshoppers was destroying all the crops in the countryside of Calatafimi. The people, assembled in a Church, decided that, after putting all the names of the Saints who had an aAtar in Town inside a ballot box, they would choose as a Patron that one whose name had been drawn. After they invoked the Holy Ghost, it was chosen the name of Maria Santissima di Giubino by lots. The central part of the triptych with the image of the Virgin was soon taken out from the wall in the country Church of Giubino and taken in procession: with prayer and Holy Mass and thereafter, Calatafimi was free from grasshoppers.
Maria Santissima di Giubino was elected Patroness of the Town (25 April 1655) and the bas-relief of the Virgin of Giubino was then placed on the high Altar of the new Church, designed by Giovanni Biagio Amico (the same planner of the Church of Santissimo Crocifisso) in 1721. In 1931 the triptych was recomposed in the Town Sanctuary and restored.
St Aceolus of Amiens St Acius of Amiens St Aldebrandus of Fossombrone St Amator of Auxerre St Ambrose of Ferentino St Andeolus of Smyrna Bl Arigius of Gap St Arnold of Hiltensweiler St Asaph of Llanelwy St Augustine Schöffler St Benedict of Szkalka OSB (Died 1012) Monk and Hermit St Bertha of Avenay St Bertha of Kent St Brieuc of Brittany St Ceallach of Killala St Cominus of Catania Evermarus of Rousson Bl Felim O’Hara St Grata of Bergamo St Isidora of Egypt St Jeremiah the Prophet St John-Louis Bonnard Bl Klymentii Sheptytskyi St Marculf St Orentius of Auch St Orentius of Loret St Patientia of Loret
St Romanus of Baghdad St Sigismund of Burgundy (Died 524) King and Martyr St Theodard of Narbonne St Thorette St Torquatus of Guadix Blessed Vivald of Gimignano
Martyrs of Amiens: Aceolus Acius
Martyrs of Loret: Orentius Patientia
Martyrs of Vietnam: Augustine Schöffler John-Louis Bonnard
Our Morning Offering – 30 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter +2021, Readings: Acts 13:26-33, Psalm 2:6-11, John 14:1-6
Jesus said to his disciples: “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. ” – John 14:1
O Christ Jesus, When All is Darkness By St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)
O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of Your presence, Your love and Your strength. Help us to have perfect trust in Your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to You, we shall see Your hand, Your purpose, Your will through all things. Amen
Saint of the Day – 30 April – Blessed Benedict Passionei of Urbino OFM Cap (1560– 1625) Priest of the Order of the Friars Minor of St Francis, Capuchin, Missionary, apostle of the poor, renowned preacher, doctor of civil and canon law. Born on 13 September 1560 in Urbino, Duchy of Urbino, Papal States (part of modern Italy) as Marco Passionei and died on 30 April 1625 in Fossombrone, Pesaro-Urbino, Italy of complications following surgery. Also known as – Benedetto da Urbino, Benito of Urbino. Marco Passionei. Patronage – Missionaries.
It is most striking today, to see a scion of one of the richest and noblest families of Umbria give himself to strenuous manual work in various Friaries. He was sensitive to the poor and full of compassion for them, without distinction. He wanted to preach only in insignificant little towns. He abounded in piety and devotion, poverty and penance, humility and simplicity. He was indeed a ‘classic’ Capuchin friar.
Marco was born into the noble family of the Passioneis in the duchy of Urbino. He was baptised Marco in 1560. He was orphaned by the age of seven and was put into the care of tutors with his ten brothers and sisters. He received the Doctor of Law at the University of Perugia and then rejoined his family, now living at Fossombrone. He made friends with the Capuchin brother questors and was attracted by their charism. Because of his poor health this was opposed by the local superior but, after waiting a year, the newly elected Provincial allowed him to join in 1584. Named Benedict he soon found his place among the preachers and joined St Lawrence of Brindisi in his missionary work in Bohemia. He thrived on it especially when preaching to the poor. He died in Fossombrone in 1625 and was Beatified by Blessed Pius IX on 15 January 1867.
Nearly all the information we have for the life of Blessed Benedict derives from a manuscript biography compiled by Brother Ludovico da Rocca Contrada (†1654) immediately after Benedetto’s death. This biography is the one and only actual contemporary witness and was used in the processes necessary for his Beatification. It is has an enormous documentary value thanks to its reliability and the seriousness of the information gathered, from the most direct sources, whom the author often consulted personally. And the author was, moreover, guardian of the Friary of San Giovanni Battista in Fossombrone. He was present for the happenings at the end of his holy confrere’s life and was present at his deathbed. Therefore, his account is very detailed in its telling of Benedetto’s final sickness and death and of the uninhibited expressions of popular piety regarding Benedetto’s body.
Born on 13 November 1560 in the duchy of Urbino, he was the seventh of the eleven children in the noble family of Domenico Passionei and Maddalena Cibo. He was orphaned while still young and led his life in Cagli where he did his first study at home. At seventeen he then went to Perugia and onto Padua for higher studies. On 28 May 1582, at just twenty two years, he received a degree in Civil and Church law. His career began in the Roman court of Cardinal Pier Girolamo Albani. He found this disagreeable.
Marco Passionei returned to the Marches and settled in Fossombrone where his family had meanwhile taken up residence. He was nourishing a secret call of the spirit and longed for the humble and austere life of the Capuchins. Above Metauro the Capuchins had built a devout hermitage. However, it was not easy for him to get permission both from the family and from the friars until the new provincial minister, Giacomo da Pietrarubbia who, according to the wish of the chapter, admitted him to the novitiate of San Cristina in Fano. His fragile health made his novitiate year difficult. In fact, after a few months, he became ill to the point that his superiors had him leave Fano to go to the friary in Fossombrone. After three months it was considered to send him home but his indomitable will won out in the end. He said that he had been clothed in the habit to live and to die as a Capuchin: “If they had sent him out from one door he would have come back in again through another.” He entrusted himself to prayer and obtained the grace of healing. And so he was able to make his religious profession at the end of May 1585, much to the consolation of the poor who, on the occasion, benefitted economically. He continued his religious formation in Ancona. By 1590 he was already a Priest, a humble preacher, in various Friaries such as Fano and Ostra.
In 1600 the General Minister, Girolamo da Castelferretti, included him in the mission band led by Saint Lorenzo da Brindisi to spread the Order in Bohemia and reinforce there the Catholic faith. Although he had not asked to go he was ready to leave immediately. Exemplary and capable men were needed and the General Minister, also from the Marches, knew him well and considered him suitable for the difficult undertaking. Benedetto confided his difficulties to a letter. However he was very obedient under the guidance of Lorenzo da Brindisi. He had to endure many injuries from heretics who hated him. At the end of the triennium (1602) he was called back to the province where he travelled around various Friaries as preacher, superior and as a simple Friar. He also went questing, both in the city and in the countryside. He said, “It is better to carry the weight of bread rather than sins.” He was so humble, and loved silence so much, that he seemed naïve and uneducated. When he was guardian in the friary in Pesaro the duke of Urbino went to visit him. Accustomed to help in the kitchen after lunch, Benedetto let the illustrious visitor wait until he had finished washing the dishes.
His devotion was carefully organised around night and daylight hours of prayer which extended beyond the pious exercises of the fraternity. As all his biographers relate, he used to begin his day with one or two hours of prayer in the Church before the community recitation of matins. After the office he returned to his cell to rest for half an hour. Then he would be in the church again where he prayed the rosary on his knees. After the rosary he did the discipline and then immersed himself in mental prayer until dawn. He never tired of prayer. Each day he recited the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as the seven penitential psalms, the Office of the Holy Spirit and of the Holy Cross, many decades of the rosary and Our Fathers. He spent most of his time in spiritual reading, making the Stations of the Cross, visiting the tabernacle and the Our Lady altar. Frail, emaciated and weak he seemed to derive his strength from prayer. If sometimes he arrived late to meditation, he would turn the hour glass the recoup the time for prayer. In this he was very exacting, even with the others. As superior he never dispensed the Friars from the two hours of mental prayer each day. Even when he was not in the Friary he maintained his strict and austere style.
For his preaching he said he preferred the towns that had a public clock that struck the hours day and night. In this way he was able to organise his practices of prayer and penance as he did in the friary. He was enamoured of the Crucifix, the Passion, the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin who he affectionately called “mamma.” He invented many gestures of love, such as an hour of prostration on the ground, his “prayer in the garden” with his arms open and face down on the floor. His continuous meditation on the Passion filled his heart with an intense contrition which urged him to go often to confession, as often as three times a week. His confessors however did not see sufficient matter for absolution.
Austere and heroic in his bodily penance he never gave into himself in anything. He was emaciated and weak in appearance, with hunger pangs and kidney stones that prostrated him. His first biographer noted that “he seemed to suck in his breath through his teeth, as they say. But as for his spiritual exercises he seemed like a man of steel.” Always on his feet in his frequent preaching, he had to drag himself along with annoying wounds on his legs. He had to undergo fifteen hernia operations. But he never stopped. He always started up again with courage.
He did not like big cities. If, rarely, he had to preach in Pesaro (1612), and in Urbino and Genoa (1619), he preferred those remote, humble and “little places” hardly mentioned on the general maps. More than once he took on the task of building or restoring churches, as in Barchi and Castelleone. He did not write his talks. He confined himself to brief schemas on scraps of paper. His preaching came from the heart, like a humble exhortation for the humble, but nonetheless all was the word of God, able to move and convert. He preached his last Lent in Saccorvaro.
The journey was all on foot and he had to stop in Urbania due to starvation. After about ten sermons in Saccorvaro he had to stop. He was taken to Urbino and then to Fossombrone. He had to undergo yet another hernia operation which this time brought him to the end of his life. He had a crucifix placed on a little table. He kept his gaze fixed on it, his spirit focused there. If anyone blocked his view he immediately gestured that they should move. He remained silent in this way as if he were resting quietly, so much so that the Friars barely realised when his life faded like a gently quenched candle on 30 April 1625 in the light of the Passion which he wanted read to him. He was nearly sixty five years old, and had lived forty one years of religious life with immense love and joy.
Prayer
Holy Father, the depth of Your love for us, revealed in the Cross of Jesus, transformed Benedict into a warm and loving minister of your Gospel. May we experience Your love and be eager to share it with others. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God, for ver and ever. Amen
Onze Liewe-Vrouw van Afrika / Heilige Maria van Afrika / Notre Dame d’Afrique / Our Lady of Africa , Algiers (1876) (Feast) – 30 April:
North Africa, the land of Saints Monica, Augustine, among others, as part of Roman Empire began to become Christian in the 3rd century under Emperor Constantine. It remained Christian until the Arab invasions in later centuries. The French re-established themselves early in the 19th century. The first Bishop, Bishop Dupuch, found it impossible to build a Church because the local population was hostile to the French. He went back to France for assistance. The Sodality of Our Lady in Lyon offered the Bishop a bronze statue of the Immaculate Conception ,with the understanding, that she would be the Protectress of both the Mohammedans and the natives. It was brought from France in 1840 and was entrusted to the Cistercian Monks of Staueli. Later, Cardinal Lavigiers, Founder of the White Sisters, enshrined it in the new Basilica at Algiers, where in 1876 the image was crowned. This bronze statue, very dark in colour, is known as Onze Liewe-Vrouw van Afrika / Heilige Maria van Afrika / Our Lady of Africa. Pilgrims began to come to venerate the image where the lame, the blind and the crippled were miraculously cured and sailors came also, to beg for protection of their long and perilous voyages.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, or Notre Dame d’Afrique, was eventually built, and is situated on a height overlooking the Bay of Algiers. It took fourteen years to construct in an attractive Neo-Byzantine style and was consecrated in the year 1872.
The Statue venerated in Algiers today, is this same bronze image, very dark in colour but with European features. The walls of the basilica are now covered with votive offerings testifying to the assistance the faithful have received from the Mother of Mercy.
At this and other North African Shrines the veneration given to Mary by Mohammedans is very marked. The full name of Cardinal Lavigiers’ congregation of White Sisters is Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. There is an indulgenced prayer to Mary under that title for the conversion of the Africans on the apse: Notre Dame d’Afrique priez pour nous et pour les Musulmans (Our Lady of Africa, pray for us and for the Muslims.)
This feast commemorates the crowning of the Algiers statue.
St Pope Pius V (1504-1572) Bishop of Rome, Ruler of the Papal States, Pope of the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, the Battle of Lepanto, the Holy Rosary and the Pope who declared St Thomas Aquinas as a Doctor of the Church (Optional Memorial) Wonderful blessed St Pius V: https://anastpaul.com/2019/04/30/saint-of-the-day-saint-pope-pius-v-1504-1572/
St Adjutor of Vernon St Aimo of Savigny St Amator of Córdoba St Aphrodisius of Alexandria Blessed Benedict Passionei of Urbino OFM Cap (1560– 1625) Priest St Cynwl St Dedë Plani St Diodoro of Aphrodisias St Donatus of Euraea
St Lawrence of Novara St Louis of Córdoba St Mariano of Acerenza St Maximus of Ephesus St Mercurialis of Forlì St Peter of Córdoba St Pomponius of Naples St Quirinus of Rome St Rodopiano of Aphrodisias St Sophia of Fermo St Swithbert the Younger Bl Ventura of Spello Bl William Southerne
Thought for the Day – 29 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Pride
“Just as humility is the most difficult of the virtues to acquire, pride is the most common of the vices. We are all conceited and take pride in things, which do not belong to us but to God! One would imagine, that it would be easy to understand that we are nothing without God but, in practice, it is the other way round. It is not only prominent personalities, noted scientists and men of letters but also the most ordinary men, who believe, that they are unique and superior to their fellows.
Other vices follow pride. There is a presumption which leads us to believe that we are more important than we really are and attempt things which are beyond the power which God has given us.
There is ambition ,which drives us to make an immoderate quest for honours and responsibilities, our main goal in life, as if our hearts could be satisfied by these things, rather than by God and by our own sanctification.
There is empty vanity, the futile but burning desire to be praised and esteemed, as if our merits (if we have any) were anything else but a gift from God, which we have been able to develop only by His assistance and grace.
Let us examine ourselves in this regard and we shall find many distortions in our own personality. We shall discover many vain notions, which we ought to dispel and many selfish detractions from God’s glory of which we are and have been, guity. “Take away pride,” said St Augustine “and what are men but men?” Remove the mask of arrogance and affectation and who will find, that even those men, who regard themselves as outstanding personalities, are very insignificant creatures after all. Let us keep constantly in our mind the words of Jesus: “Amen, amen I say to you, the servant is not greater than his lord; neither is the apostle greater than he that sent him” (John 13:16).” We can learn a great deal from a meditation on this subject.
Quote/s of the Day – 29 April – The Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
“Speak the truth in a million voices. It is silence that kills!”
“Be strong and kill yourself with the sword of hate and love, then you will not hear the insults and abuse. which the enemies of the Church throw at you. Your eyes will not see anything, which seems impossible, or the sufferings, which may follow but only the light of faith and in that light , everything is possible and remember , God never lays greater burdens on us than we can bear.”
“You are rewarded, not according to your work, or your time but according to the measure of your love.”
St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
One Minute Reflection – 29 April – Thursday Fourth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 13:13-25, Psalm 89:2-3, 21-22, 25, 27, John 13:16-20 and the Memorial of St Hugh the Great of Cluny (1024-1109)
“A servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” … John 13:16
REFLECTION – “Remember the wonders He has done for us (Ps 104[105]:5) in the past and those he does still. … In response to what He has done for us let us do even more and return what we owe Him, most venerable brethren. And what He wants from us is surely that we should fear Him, love Him with all our heart and all our mind (cf. Mt 22:37) and imitate His life in the flesh insofar as we can?
He made Himself a stranger, by leaving heaven for earth, so that we too might become strangers, to thoughts that come from self-will. He obeyed His Father ,so that you too should unhesitatingly obey …. He humbled Himself even to death (cf. Phil 2:8), so that you too should share this sentiment, abasing and humbling yourselves in thought, deed, word and act. Where is divine and true glory to be found, if not in becoming, without glory amongst men for God’s sake? … That which is small and despised, that is what He has chosen, my Saviour and God, who put on our flesh to confound (1 Cor 1:27-28) human fame and wealth.
This is why He was born in a cave, was laid in a manger, was called the son of a carpenter, called a Nazarene. He was clothed in one poor tunic and a single cloak; He went by foot, suffered, was stoned by the Jews (cf. Jn 10:31), insulted, arrested, crucified, pierced with a lance, placed in the tomb, after which He rose again. And so, He wishes to persuade us, brethren, to choose the same things as Himself before the angels, so that we may be crowned in the Kingdom of Heaven, into Christ our Lord Himself, to whom belongs glory and power, together with the Father and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.” … St Theodore the Studite (759-826) Monk and Theologian at Constantinople – Catechesis 78
PRAYER – Lord God, stand by us in Your saving work and stay with us in Your gifts of grace. You have rescued us from the darkness, keep us ever in Your light. May the ways of truth and life which Jesus Christ Your Son taught us, be our anchor and our light. We ask that You hear the intercession of Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother and Saint Hugh of Cluny, Your servant, whom we beseech for help as we work to reach our heavenly home. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen
Acts 13: 13-25 13 Now when Paul and they that were with him, had sailed from Paphos, they came to Perge in Pamphylia. And John departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. 14 But they, passing through Perge, came to Antioch in Pisidia and entering into the synagogue on the sabbath day, they sat down. 15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying: Ye men, brethren, if you have any word of exhortation to make to the people, speak. 16 Then Paul rising up and with his hand bespeaking silence, said: Ye men of Israel and you that fear God, give ear. 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers,and exalted the people when they were sojourners in the land of Egypt and with an high arm brought them out from thence, 18 And for the space of forty years endured their manners in the desert. 19 And destroying seven nations in the land of Chanaan, divided their land among them, by lot, 20 As it were, after four hundred and fifty years and after these things, he gave unto them judges, until Samuel the prophet. 21 And after that, they desired a king:and God gave them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised them up David to be king to whom giving testimony, he said: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to my own heart, who shall do all my wills. 23 Of this man’s seed, God according to his promise, has raised up to Israel a Saviour, Jesus. 24 John first preaching, before his coming, the baptism of penance to all the people of Israel. 25 And when John was fulfilling his course, he said: I am not he, whom you think me to be: but behold, there comes one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.
Gospel: John 13: 16-20 16 Amen, amen I say to you: The servant is not greater than his lord; neither is the apostle greater than he that sent him. 17 If you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them. 18 I speak not of you all, I know whom I have chosen. But that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eats bread with me, shall lift up his heel against me. 19 At present I tell you, before it come to pass, that when it shall come to pass, you may believe that I am he. 20 Amen, amen I say to you, he that receives whomsoever I send, receives me and he that receives me, receives him that sent me.
Our Morning Offering – 29 April – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
O God of Truth and Love By St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
O omnipotent Father, God of truth, God of love permit me to enter into the cell of self-knowledge. I admit, that of myself, I am nothing but that all being and goodness in me comes solely from You. Show me my faults, that I may detest them, and thus I shall flee from self-love and find myself clothed again in the nuptial robe of divine charity, which I must have, in order to be admitted to the nuptials of life eternal. Amen
Saint of the Day – 29 April – St Hugh of Cluny (1024-1109) St Hugh the Great, Priest, Abbot of Cluny from 1049 until his death., Founder-builder of numerous Monasteries, Convents , Hospitals and the biggest Church in Europe (the Abbey Church at C luny) prior to the building of St Peter’s, Apostle of the poor, the sick, the marginalised by the feudal system, Ecclesiastical Reformer, holy father to his Monks and servant to all who needed him,. He was one of the most influential leaders of the monastic orders from the Middle Ages. Born on 13 May 1024 at Semur-en-Brionnais, Brionnais (now Saône-et-Loire), in the Diocese of Autun, France as Hugues de Semur and died on 28 April 1109 at Cluny Monastery, Brionnais (now Saône-et-Loire), France. Patronage – aganst fever, bodily ills. Also known as Hugh of Semur.
Saint Hugh was a Prince related to the Sovereign House of the Dukes of Burgundy and received his education under the tutelage of his pious mother and by the solicitude of Hugh, Bishop of Auxerre, his great-uncle. From his infancy he was given to prayer and meditation and his life was remarkably innocent and holy.
One day, hearing an account of the wonderful sanctity of the Monks of Cluny under Saint Odilo, he was so moved, that he set out at that moment and going there, he humbly begged the monastic habit. After a rigid novitiate, he made his profession in 1039, at the age of sixteen years. His extraordinary virtue, especially his admirable humility, obedience, charity, sweetness, prudence and zeal, gained him the respect of the entire community.
At the death of Saint Odilo in 1049, though Saint Hugh was only twenty-five years old, he succeeded to the government of that great Abbey, which he continued for sixty-two years. During those years, the role of Cluny was immense. From it came four very illustrious Popes, including Pope Urban II and Pope Pascal II, both disciples of Saint Hugh.
The King of Castille, Alphonsus VI, owed his deliverance from an imprisonment to the prayers and intervention of Saint Hugh. A Count of Macon entered the Monastery with thirty knights and a great many servants, while the Countess, his wife, retired to a convent founded by Saint Hugh. Donations of large terrains were made to this Abbey, permitting innumerable foundations. Abbot Hugh built the third Abbey Church at Cluny, the largest structure in Europe for many centuries.
Pope Urban II gave Saint Hugh the right to wear pontifical ornaments for the solemn feast days.
For the Monks under his care, Hugh was a model of fatherly forethought, of devotion to discipline and prayer and of unhesitating obedience to the Holy See. In furtherance of the great objects of his order, the service of God and personal sanctification, he strove to impart the utmost possible splendour and solemnity to the liturgical services at Cluny. Some of his liturgical ordinances, such as the singing of the Veni Creator at Tierce on Pentecost Sunday (subsequently also within the octave), have since been extended to the entire Roman Church. He began the magnificent church at Cluny — now unfortunately entirely disappeared — which was, until the erection of St Peter’s at Rome, the largest Church in Christendom, and was esteemed the finest example of the Romancsque style in France.
Hugh gave the first impulse to the introduction of the strict cloister into the Convents of nuns, prescribing it first for that of Marcigny, of which his sister became first prioress in 106 and where his mother also took the veil. Renowned for his charity towards the suffering poor, he built a hospital for lepers, where he himself performed the most menial duties. It is impossible to trace here the effect which his granting of personal and civic freedom to the bondsmen and colonists feudatory to Cluny and the fostering of tradesmen’s guilds — the nuclei from which most of the modern Cities of Europe sprang — have had on civilisation.
In the case of comparatively few of our Saints has the decision of their own and subsequent ages, been so unanimous, as in that of St.Hugh. Living in an age of misrepresentation and abuse, when the Church had to contend with far greater domestic and external inimical forces ,than those marshalled by the so-called Reformation, not a single voice was raised against his character — for we disregard the criticism of the French Bishop, who in the heat of a quarrel, pronounced hasty words, afterwards to be recalled and who, was subsequently one of Hugh’s panegyrists.
In one of his letters Pope Gregory declares that he confidently expects the success of ecclesiastical reform in France through God’s mercy and the instrumentality of Hugh, “whom no imprecation, no applause or favours, no personal motives can divert from the path of rectitude” (Gregorii VII Registr., IV, 22). In the “Life of Bishop Arnulf of Soissons,” Arnulf says of Hugh: “Most pure in thought and deed, he is the promoter and perfect guardian of monastic discipline and the regular life, the unfailing support of the true religious and of men of probity, the vigorous champion and defender of the Holy Church” (Mabillon, op. cit. infra, saec. VI, pars II, P. 532). And of his closing years Bishop Bruno of Segni writes: “Now aged and burdened with years, reverenced by all and loved by all, he still governs that venerable Monastery with the same consummate wisdom — a man in all things most laudable, difficult of comparison,and of wonderful sanctity” (Muratori, “Rerum Ital. script.”, III, pt. ii, 347).
Emperors and Kings vied with the sovereign Pontiffs in bestowing on Hugh marks of their veneration and esteem. Henry the Black, in a letter which has come down to us, addresses Hugh as his “very dear father, worthy of every respect,”,declares that he owes his own return to health and the happy birth of his child to the Abbot’s prayers and urges him to come to the Court at Cologne the following Easter to stand sponsor for this son (the future Henry IV).
Hugh was chosen by the Kings and Princes of the various Christian Kingdoms of Spain as arbiter to decide the question of succession. When Robert II of Burgundy refused to attend the Council of Autun (1065), at which his presence was necessary, Hugh was sent to summon the Duke and remonstrated with him, so eloquently, in the interests of peace that Robert accompanied the Abbot unresistingly to the Council, became reconciled with those who had put his son to death and promised to respect ,thenceforth, the property of the Church.
William the Conqueror of England, shortly after the Battle of Hastings (1066), made rich presents to Cluny and begged to be admitted a confrater of the Abbey like the Spanish Kings. St Anselm of Canterbury, was one of the many Bishops, who consulted Hugh in their difficulties and trials and, on three occasions — once during his exile from England — visited the Abbot at Cluny.
Cluny Abbey
In the spring of 1109, Hugh, worn out with years and labours and feeling his end approaching, asked for the Last Sacraments, summoned around him his spiritual children and, having given each the kiss of peace, dismissed them with the greeting: Benedicite. Then, asking to be conveyed to the Chapel of our Blessed Lady, he laid himself in sackcloth and ashes before her Altar and thus breathed forth his soul to his Creator on the evening of Easter Monday (28 April).
His tomb in the Abbey Church was soon the scene of miracles,and to it Pope Gelasius I made a pilgrimage in 1119, dying at Cluny on 20 January. Elected at the Monastery on 2 February, Callistus II began immediately the process of Canonisation, and, on 6 January, 1120, declared Hugh a saint, appointing 29 April his feast-day.
In honour of St.Hugh ,the Abbot of Cluny was ,henceforth, accorded the title and dignity of a cardinal. At the instance of Honorius III the translation of the Saint’s remains took place on 23 May 1220 but, during the uprising of the Huguenots (1575), the remains and the costly Shrine disappeared with the exception of a few relics.
St Hugh of Cluny in the Refectory of the Carthusians, 1633 St Hugh on the right
Abbots of Cluny: A feast that recognises the great and saintly early abbots of Cluny Abbey: • Saint Aymardus of Cluny • Saint Berno of Cluny • Saint Hugh of Cluny • Saint Mayeul • Saint Odilo of Cluny • Saint Odo of Cluny • Saint Peter the Venerable
— St Antonius Kim Song-u St Ava of Denain St Daniel of Gerona St Dichu St Endellion of Tregony St Fiachan of Lismore St Hugh of Cluny (1024-1109) St Hugh the Great, Priest, Abbot
Bl Robert Gruthuysen St Senan of Wales St Severus of Naples St Theoger St Torpes of Pisa St Tychicus St Wilfrid the Younger — Martyrs of Cirta: A group of clergy and laity martyred together in Cirta, Numidia (in modern Tunisia) in the persecutions of Valerian. They were – Agapius, Antonia, Emilian, Secundinus and Tertula, along with a woman and her twin children whose names have not come down to us.
Martyrs of Corfu: A gang of thieves who converted while in prison, brought to the faith by Saint Jason and Saint Sosipater who were had been imprisoned for evangelizing. When the gang announced their new faith, they were martyred together. They were – Euphrasius, Faustianus, Insischolus, Januarius, Mammius, Marsalius and Saturninus. They were boiled in oil and pitch in the 2nd century on the Island of Corcyra (modern Corfu, Greece. Also known as: • Martyrs of Corcyra • Seven Holy Thieves • Seven Holy Robbers • Seven Robber Saints
Thought for the Day – 28 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Only Remedy for All Our Ills
“Life is a continual battle. “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?” (Job 7:1). If we consider, only the material aspect of this battle, we are all among the vanquished. Admittedly, there is some joy and some victory. But, our pleasures are as short-lived as the flowers of the field, they are soon “withered and dried up like grass” (Cf Ps 101:5). Our conquests are also very insignificant; they can inflate us for a while but they do not last long and cannot satisfy us. After death, only our triumphs in virtue will persist. Moreover, whereas the joys of this life are few and fleeting, the physical and moral sufferings, are innumerable. Sometimes, they are so heavy and overwhelming, that they cause us to despair. But, surely there is a remedy for all the evils which afflict us? God is infinitely good and He has permitted suffering. Will He not give us the means of enduring it and the medicine to cure it? In fact, Our Lord, has given us a remedy for all our ills, even for the most distressing. It is a bitter medicine but, it will heal anyone who has the courage to swallow it and, it will give him perfect peace of soul. The treatment consists of three stages: (1) Doing the will of God in all things with complete resignation. (2) Doing everything for the love of God. (3) Doing everything and enduring everything for the love of God alone. When a man reaches this highest peak of the spiritual life, he acquires that perfect peace of soul, which the Saints possessed.”
Quote/s of the Day – 28 April – The Memorial of Quote/s of the Day – 28 April – The Memorial of St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
“Take advantage of little sufferings even more than of great ones. God considers not so much what we suffer, as how we suffer. . . Turn everything to profit as the grocer does in his shop.”
“The salvation of the whole world began with the “Hail Mary.” Hence, the salvation of each person is also attached to this prayer.”
“Mary is the great mould of God … He who is cast in this divine mould is soon formed and moulded in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ in him. With little effort and in a short time, he will become divine, since he is cast in the same mould which formed a God.”
“The Rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who loves His Mother.”
One Minute Reflection – 28 April – Wednesday of the Fourth week of Easter, Readings: Acts 12:24–13:5, Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6, 8, John 12:44-50 and the Memorial of St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
“I am come as light into the world, that whosoever believes in me, may not remain in darkness..” – John 12:46
REFLECTION – “The humility with which Christ “emptied himself, assuming the condition of a servant” (Phil 2:7) is our light. His denial of the world’s glory, He who chose to be born in a stable rather than a palace and to undergo a shameful death on the cross, is light for us. Owing to this humility, we can know just how detestable is the sin of a creature of clay (Gn 2:7), a wretched man of no worth, when he puffs himself up, vaunts himself and refuses to obey, while we see the infinite God, humiliated, despised and delivered up to men.
A light for us, too, is the meekness with which He bore hunger, thirst and cold, insults, blows and wounding, when “like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep before its shearers, he did not open his mouth” (Is 53:7). Indeed, in view of this meekness, we see how pointless anger is, as also threats. Then we consent to suffer and do not serve Christ out of habit. Thanks to this, we learn to pay heed to all that is asked of us, weeping for our sins in submission and silence and patiently bearing the sufferings that come our way. For Christ bore His torments with such great meekness and patience, not for sins He had not committed but for those of others.
From now on, dearest brethren, ponder over all the virtues Christ taught us by the example of His life, that He recommends to us through His preaching and. gives us the strength to imitate, by the aid of His grace.” – Lanspergius the Carthusian (1489-1539) Monk, theologian – Sermon 5
PRAYER – Lord God, life of those who believe in You, glory of the humble and happiness of the Saints, listen kindly to our prayer. We long for what You promises, fill us from Your abundance, give us true faith and obedience. May the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Your Son, be our constant recourse. and may her cliet and Yours, St Louis Marie de Montfort, pray for us all. Through Our Lord, Jesus with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Acts 12: 24 — 13: 5a 24 But the word of the Lord increased and multiplied. 25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, having fulfilled their ministry, taking with them John, who was surnamed Mark. 13:1 Now there were in the church which was at Antioch, prophets and doctors, among whom was Barnabas and Simon who was called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and Manahen, who was the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Ghost said to them: Separate me Saul and Barnabas, for the work whereunto I have taken them. 3 Then they, fasting and praying and imposing their hands upon them, sent them away. 4 So they being sent by the Holy Ghost, went to Seleucia and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they were come to Salamina, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.
Gospel: John 12: 44-50 44 But Jesus cried and said: He that believes in me, does not believe in me but in him that sent me. 45 And he that sees me, sees him that sent me. 46 I am come as light into the worl, that whosoever believes in me, may not remain in darkness. 47 And if any man hears my words and keeps them not, I do not judge him: for I came not to judge the world but to save the world. 48 He that despises me and receives not my words, has one that judges him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken of myself but of the Father who sent me, he gave me commandments what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting. The things, therefore, that I speak, even as the Father said unto me, so do I speak.
Our Morning Offering – 28 April – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easte and the Memorial of St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
Morning Offering By St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
My God, just as I wish to love nothing more than You, so I wish to live, only for You. I offer You all my thoughts, all my words, all my actions and all my sufferings of this day; please bestow Your holy blessing, upon them all. Amen
Saint of the Day – 28 April – Saint Vitalis of Ravenna (Died c 171) – Martyr, Husband and Father , Confessor. Died in c 171 in Ravenna by being buried alive. Patronage – Ravenna, Italy and Thibodeaux, Louisiana. Also known as St Vitalis of Milan,
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “At Ravenna, the birthday of St Vitalis, Martyr, father of the Saint Gervasius and Protasius. When he had taken up and reverently buried the body of blessed Ursicinus, he was arrested by the ex-consul Paulinus and after being racked and thrown nto a deep pit, was overwhelmed with earth and stones and by this kind of martyrdom, went to Christ.”
Saint Vitalis was a first century Christian citizen of Milan, a consular knight (miles consularis) in the time of Nero who got into trouble when he publicly exhorted a Christian to stand firm under torture. He was the father of the twin brothers and future Martyrs, Saints Gervasius and Protasius. He is the principal Patron of Ravenna, where he was martyred.
As an important military figure, St Vitalis is shown on an impressive white horse in the picture above. St.Valeria stands at his side, dressed as a distinguished matron of the 16th century.
Divine providence had conducted him to that city, where he saw come before the tribunal there, a Christian Physician named Ursicinus, who had been tortured and who then was condemned to lose his head for his faith. Suddenly the captive grew terrified at the thought of death and seemed ready to yield. Vitalis was extremely moved by this spectacle. He knew his double obligation to prefer the glory of God and the eternal salvation of his neighbour to his own corporal life; he, therefore, boldly and successfully encouraged Ursicinus to triumph over death, saying, “Ursicinus, you who cured others would want to drive into your soul the dagger of eternal death? Do not lose the crown the Lord has prepared for you!” Ursicinus was touched and deeply strengthened – he knelt down in prayer and then asked the executioner to strike him. After his martyrdom, Saint Vitalis carried away his body and respectfully interred it.
Saint Vitalis now resigned his post as judiciary and consular assistant to Paulinus, who had been absent on the occasion of the sentence of Ursicinus.Paulinus had his former assistant apprehended,and after having him tortured, commanded that if he refused to sacrifice to the gods, he be buried alive, which sentence was carried out.
St Vitalis on St Peter’s Colonnade
Afterwards, his wife, Valeria, as she was on her way from Ravenna to Milan, was beaten by peasants because she refused to join them in an idolatrous festival and riot. She died two days later in Milan and is also honoured as a Martyr . Their twin sons, Saint. Gervasius and Protasius, sold their heritage and for ten years before their own martyrdom, lived a penitential life of prayer.
We are not all called to the sacrifice of martyrdom; but we are all bound to make our lives a continuing sacrifice of ourselves to God,and to perform every action ,in this spirit of sacrifice. Thus we shall both live and die to God, perfectly resigned to His holy will in all He ordains or permits.
These relics were eclaimed from the Catacombs and are believed to be the body of St Vitalis. They now rest at his Basilca in Ravenna.
The 6th century Basilica of San Vitalis is dedicated to St Vitalis. The mosaic of him, first image above, is one of the many famous mosaics in this most important surviving example of early Christian Byzantine art and Architecture. It is one of eight structures in Ravenna inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Its foundational inscription describes the Church as a Basilica, though its centrally-planned design is not typical of the Basilica form. The Vatican has designated the building a “basilica,”,an honorific title bestowed on exceptional Church buildings of historic and ecclesial importance.
The Apse Mosaic at San Vitale
St Vitalis left, on the Colonnade at St Peter’s Basilica
AnaStpaul 
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