Tag: blrabanusmaurus

Posted in CARMELITES, FRANCISCAN OFM, JESUIT SJ, MARIAN TITLES, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY

First Saturday, Nostra Signora del Fuoco / Our Lady of the Fire, Forli, Italy (1428), St Andrew Corsini and Memorials of the Saints – 4 February

Posted on by AnaStpaul

First Saturday

Nostra Signora del Fuoco / Our Lady of the Fire, Forli, Italy (1428) – 4 February:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/04/our-lady-of-fire-forli-italy-1428-and-memorials-of-the-saints-4-february/

St Andrew Corsini O.Carm (1302-1373) Bishop of Fiesole from 1349 until his death,Confessor, known as the “Apostle of Florence,” Carmelite Friar, Penitent, Apostle of the poor, Peacemaker, Papal Legate.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-saint-andrew-corsini-o-carm-1302-1373-bishop/

Saint Aventinus of Troyes (Died c538) Hermit
Bl Dionisio de Vilaregut
St Donatus of Fossombrone
St Eutychius of Rome
St Filoromus of Alexandria
St Firmus of Genoa
Bl Frederick of Hallum
St Gelasius of Fossombrone
St Geminus of Fossombrone
St Gilbert of Limerick (c 1070–1145) Bishop

St Gilbert of Sempringham (c 1083-1189) Priest, Founder of the Gilbertine Order, Founder of 13 Monasteries and Churches, schools, homes and hostels for the sick and orphanages, Miracle-worker. He was Canonised in 1202 by Pope Innocent III.
His Zealous Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-st-gilbert-of-sempringham-c-1083-1189/

St Isidore of Pelusium

St Jane de Valois O.Ann.M and TOSF (1464-1505) Princess, Queen, Founder, Religious Sister, Mystic, Teacher. Founded the monastic Order of the Sisters of the Annunciation of Mary. From this Order later sprang the religious congregation of the Apostolic Sisters of the Annunciation, founded in 1787 to teach the children of the poor. She was Canonised on 28 May 1950 by Pope Pius XII.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-saint-jane-of-valois-o-ann-m-1464-1505/

St John de Britto SJ (1647-1693) Martyr, Priest, Missionary to India, Confessor, Preacher. Canonised on 22 June 1947 by Pope Pius XII.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-st-john-de-britto-sj-1647-1693-martyr/

St John of Irenopolis
Bl John Speed

St Joseph of Leonissa OFM (Cap) (1556-1612) Friar of the Capuchin Franciscans, Missionary Preacher, Confessor. He was Canonised on 29 June 1746 by Pope Benedict XIV.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-st-joseph-of-leonissa/

St Liephard of Cambrai
St Magnus of Fossombrone
St Modan
St Nicholas Studites
St Nithard
St Obitius
St Phileas of Alexandria

Blessed Rabanus Maurus OSB (776-856) Archbishop, Monk, Abbot,Theologian, Poet, Writer, Teacher, Encyclopedist, “The Teacher of Germany.”
Blessed Rabanus’ Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-saint-rabanus-maurus-osb-776-856/

St Rembert
St Themoius
St Theophilus the Penitent
St Vincent of Troyes
St Vulgis of Lobbes

Jesuit Martyrs of Japan: A collective memorial of all members of the Jesuits who have died as Martyrs for the faith in Japan.

Martyrs of Perga – 4 Saints: A group of shepherds Martyred in the persecutions of Decius. The only details we have about them are the names – Claudian, Conon, Diodorus and Papias. They were Martyred in c 250 in Perga, Asia Minor (in modern Turkey).

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Posted in CARMELITES, FRANCISCAN OFM, JESUIT SJ, MARIAN TITLES, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY, YouTube VIDEOS

Nostra Signora del Fuoco / Our Lady of the Fire, Forli, Italy (1428) and Memorials of the Saints – 4 February

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Nostra Signora del Fuoco / Our Lady of the Fire, Forli, Italy (1428) – 4 February:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/04/our-lady-of-fire-forli-italy-1428-and-memorials-of-the-saints-4-february/

St Andrew Corsini O.Carm (1302-1373) Bishop of Fiesole from 1349 until his death, known as the “Apostle of Florence,” Carmelite Friar, Penitent, Apostle of the poor, Peacemaker, Papal Legate.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-saint-andrew-corsini-o-carm-1302-1373-bishop/

Bl Dionisio de Vilaregut
St Donatus of Fossombrone
St Eutychius of Rome
St Filoromus of Alexandria
St Firmus of Genoa
Bl Frederick of Hallum
St Gelasius of Fossombrone
St Geminus of Fossombrone
St Gilbert of Limerick (c 1070–1145) Bishop
St Gilbert of Sempringham (c 1083-1189) Priest, Founder of the Gilbertine order,
St Isidore of Pelusium

St Jane de Valois O.Ann.M and TOSF (1464-1505) Princess, Queen, Founder, Religious Sister, Mystic, Teacher. Founded the monastic Order of the Sisters of the Annunciation of Mary. From this Order later sprang the religious congregation of the Apostolic Sisters of the Annunciation, founded in 1787 to teach the children of the poor.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-saint-jane-of-valois-o-ann-m-1464-1505/

St John de Britto SJ (1647-1693) Martyr, Priest, Missionary to India, Confessor, Preacher.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-st-john-de-britto-sj-1647-1693-martyr/

St John of Irenopolis
Bl John Speed

St Joseph of Leonissa OFM (Cap) (1556-1612) Friar of the Capuchin Franciscans, Missionary Preacher, Confessor.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-st-joseph-of-leonissa/

St Liephard of Cambrai
St Magnus of Fossombrone
St Modan
St Nicholas Studites
St Nithard
St Obitius
St Phileas of Alexandria

Blessed Rabanus Maurus OSB (776-856) Archbishop, Monk, Abbot,Theologian, Poet, Writer, Teacher, Encyclopedist, “The Teacher of Germany.”
Blessed Rabanus’ Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-saint-rabanus-maurus-osb-776-856/

St Rembert
St Themoius
St Theophilus the Penitent
St Vincent of Troyes
St Vulgis of Lobbes

Jesuit Martyrs of Japan: A collective memorial of all members of the Jesuits who have died as Martyrs for the faith in Japan.

Martyrs of Perga – 4 Saints: A group of shepherds martyred in the persecutions of Decius. The only details we have about them are the names – Claudian, Conon, Diodorus and Papias. They were martyred in c 250 in Perga, Asia Minor (in modern Turkey).

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for SEASONS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY SPIRIT

Our Morning Offering – 4 February – Veni Creator Spiritus By Blessed Rabanus Maurus

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 4 February – The Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Veni Creator Spiritus
The Golden Sequence
By Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Come, Creator, Spirit,
come from Your bright heavenly throne,
come take possession of our souls
and make them all Your own.
You who are called the Paraclete,
best gift of God above,
the living spring,
the vital fire,
sweet christ’ning and true love. . . .
O guide our minds with Your best light,
with love our hearts inflame
and with Your strength,
which ne’er decays,
confirm our mortal frame.
Far from us drive our deadly foe,
true peace unto us bring
and through all perils lead us safe,
beneath Your sacred wing.
Through You, may we the Father know,
through You, th’eternal Son
and You, the Spirit of them both,
thrice-blessed Three in One. . . .
Amen!

Posted in CARMELITES, FRANCISCAN OFM, MARIAN TITLES, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY

Nostra Signora del Fuoco / Our Lady of Fire, Forli, Italy (1428) and Memorials of the Saints – 4 February

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Nostra Signora del Fuoco / Our Lady of Fire, Forli, Italy (1428) – 4 February:

The best-known print in early times was certainly the miraculous woodcut of Forli in north-eastern Italy, which became famous as Our Lady of Fire, or Nostra Signora del Fuoco / Our Lady of the Fire. It is the subject of the earliest monograph on a printed picture, which also fixes the earliest date that can be attached to a surviving Italian print. This book is Giuliano Bezzi’s “Il Fuoco Trionfante,” printed in 1637 at Forli, between Florence and Ravenna and he speaks of the miracle remembered as Our Lady of Fire.
“Around the year of our Lord 1420, in a pleasant house by the Cathedral at Forli, the devout and learned Lombardino Brussi of Ripetrosa imitated Christ among the disciples at Emmaus by breaking the bread of the fear of the Lord and of humane letters with school boys. Their household devotion turned to the Virgin. They ever began and ended their literary exercises by praising and praying to this great sovereign of the universe. They said their prayers before an image of Our Lady rudely printed from a woodblock on a paper about a foot square. Printing was then new and who knows if this may not have been the first print by the first printmaker? The simplicity of the image certainly matched the well-mannered scholar’s simplicity of heart. It showed and still shows, the most Blessed Virgin holding her Holy Infant and surrounded by saints like King Solomon by his guard. Above to the right and left shine the sun and the moon, luminously forecasting that the Virgin was to consecrate this paper with a power like the moon’s over water and the sun’s over fair weather.

The devotion to the Virgin had advanced these happy boys from easy letters to graver studies when, on 4 February 1428, fire broke out in the downstairs classroom. Whether it started by accident or by design, is not known but certain it is, that the outcome so glorified God and His Blessed Mother that fires nowadays cause joy where they burn! When this fire had feasted on the benches and cupboards of the school, it followed its nature to ascend and sprang at the sacred paper. In awe at the sight of the most holy image, the flames stopped and – wonder of wonders – like the blameless fingers of a loving hand, they detached it from the wall to which it was tacked. The fire thought the wall too base a support for so sublime a portrait and longed to uphold the heaven of that likeness, like the other heaven, on a blazing sphere. Above the flames raging in the closed room the unscorched image floated as on a throne. When the fire had consumed the ceiling beams it wafted out the revered leaf, not to burn but to exalt it. With this leaf on its back it flew to the second floor, to the third, to the roof, then through the roof and behold, the Virgin’s image burst above the wondrous pyre like a phoenix, triumphant and unconsumed! The miracle drew the eyes of all the populace and came to the ears of Monsignor Domenico Capranica, the Papal Legate, who carried the paper in a procession, accompanied by all the people, to the Cathedral of Santa Croce, where it was placed in a holy but simple chapel.”

The building burned to the ground but the image of Our Lady of Fire was not forgotten. Copies were made of the image and they could be found in every Christian home in the region. The original print itself, was the focus and centre of religious life in the town of Forli, which had been blessed to witness such a great miracle.

St Andrew Corsini O.Carm (1302-1373) Bishop

Bl Dionisio de Vilaregut
St Donatus of Fossombrone
St Eutychius of Rome
St Filoromus of Alexandria
St Firmus of Genoa
Bl Frederick of Hallum
St Gelasius of Fossombrone
St Geminus of Fossombrone
St Gilbert of Sempringham
St Isidore of Pelusium
St Jane de Valois O.Ann.M and TOSF (1464-1505)
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-saint-jane-of-valois-o-ann-m-1464-1505/

St John de Britto SJ (1647-1693) Martyr Priest
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-st-john-de-britto-sj-1647-1693-martyr/

St John of Irenopolis
Bl John Speed
St Joseph of Leonissa OFM (Cap) (1556-1612)
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-st-joseph-of-leonissa/
St Liephard of Cambrai
St Magnus of Fossombrone
St Modan
St Nicholas Studites
St Nithard
St Obitius
St Phileas of Alexandria
Blessed Rabanus Maurus OSB (776-856)
Blessed Rabanus’ Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-saint-rabanus-maurus-osb-776-856/
St Rembert
St Themoius
St Theophilus the Penitent
St Vincent of Troyes
St Vulgis of Lobbes
—
Jesuit Martyrs of Japan: A collective memorial of all members of the Jesuits who have died as martyrs for the faith in Japan.

Martyrs of Perga – 4 saints: A group of shepherds martyred in the persecutions of Decius. The only details we have about them are the names – Claudian, Conon, Diodorus and Papias. They were martyred in c 250 in Perga, Asia Minor (in modern Turkey).

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, FATHERS of the Church, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for SEASONS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY SPIRIT

Our Morning Offering – 4 February – Veni Creator Spiritus

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 4 February – Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A and The Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Veni Creator Spiritus
By Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Come, Creator, Spirit,
come from Your bright heavenly throne,
come take possession of our souls
and make them all Your own.
You who are called the Paraclete,
best gift of God above,
the living spring,
the vital fire,
sweet christ’ning and true love. . . .
O guide our minds with Your best light,
with love our hearts inflame
and with Your strength,
which ne’er decays,
confirm our mortal frame.
Far from us drive our deadly foe,
true peace unto us bring
and through all perils lead us safe
beneath Your sacred wing.
Through You may we the Father know,
through You th’eternal Son
and You the Spirit of them both,
thrice-blessed Three in One. . . .veni-creator-spiritus-bl-rabanus-maurus-4-feb-2018 and 4 feb 2020

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 4 February – Saint Rabanus Maurus OSB (776-856)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 4 February – Saint Rabanus Maurus OSB (776-856) Archbishop, Monk, Abbot,Theologian, Poet, Writer, Teacher, Encyclopedist – also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus and “The Teacher of Germany” – born in 776 at Mainz, Germany and died on 4 February 856 at Winkel, Germany of natural cause.   In the most recent edition of the Roman Martyrology (Martyrologium Romanum, 2004, pp. 133), his feast is given as today and he is qualified as a Saint (‘sanctus’).bl rabaus maurus

Rabanus was born of noble parents in Mainz.   The exact date of his birth remains uncertain, but in 801 he was ordained a deacon at Benedictine Abbey of Fulda in Hesse, where he had been sent to school and had become a monk.  At the insistence of Ratgar, his abbot, he went to complete his studies at Tours.   There he studied under St Alcuin(735-804) , who in recognition of his diligence and purity gave him the surname of Maurus, after the favourite disciple of Benedict, Saint Maurus.

Returning to Fulda, in 803 he was entrusted with the principal charge of the abbey school, which, under his direction, became one of the most pre-eminent centres of scholarship and book production in Europe and sent forth many erudite and saintly pupils.   It was probably at this period that he compiled his excerpt from the grammar of Priscian, a popular textbook during the Middle Ages.   According to Alban Butler’s Lives of the Saints, Rabanus ate no meat and drank no wine.

In 814 Rabanus was ordained a priest.   Shortly afterwards, apparently on account of disagreement with Abbot Ratgar, he withdrew for a time from Fulda.   This banishment has long been understood to have occasioned a pilgrimage to Palestine, based on an allusion in his commentary on Joshua.    Rabanus returned to Fulda in 817 on the election of a new abbot, Eigil, and at Eigil’s death in 822, Rabanus himself became abbot.He handled this position efficiently and successfully but in 842 he resigned so as to have greater leisure for study and prayer, retiring to the neighbouring monastery of St Petersberg.

bl Raban-Maurus_Alcuin_Otgar
Rabanus Maurus (left) with Alcuin presents his work to Otgar of Mainz (right).   Illustration from a Fulda manuscript, c. 830–840.

In 847, he was chosen to be Archbishop of Mainz, at the age of sixty-three and the last years of his life were spent directing the affairs of his Diocese, holding provincial Synods and directing a multitude of charitable works.   During a famine, he fed three hundred poor people at his own house.   He became bedridden shortly before his death and from the moment of his death was regarded as a saint.

Blessed Rabanus composed a number of hymns, the most famous of which is the Veni Creator Spiritus.   This is a hymn to the Holy Spirit often sung at Pentecost and at ordinations.   It is known in English through many translations, including Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest and Creator Spirit, by whose aid. Veni Creator Spiritus was used by Gustav Mahler as the first chorale of his eighth symphony.

One of his most popular and enduring works is a spectacular collection of poems centred on the cross, called De laudibus sanctae crucis or In honorem sanctae crucis, a set of highly sophisticated poems that present the cross (and, in the last poem, Rabanus himself kneeling before it) in word and image, even in numbers.

He was buried at the monastery of St Alban’s in Mainz but later his relics were transferred to Halle.

Posted in FRANCISCAN OFM, JESUIT SJ, SAINT of the DAY, YouTube VIDEOS

Memorials of the Saints – 4 February

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Bl Dionisio de Vilaregut
St Donatus of Fossombrone
St Eutychius of Rome
St Filoromus of Alexandria
St Firmus of Genoa
Bl Frederick of Hallum
St Gelasius of Fossombrone
St Geminus of Fossombrone
St Gilbert of Sempringham
St Isidore of Pelusium
St Jane de Valois O.Ann.M and TOSF(1464-1505)
Biography:  https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-saint-jane-of-valois-o-ann-m-1464-1505/

St John de Britto SJ (1647-1693) Martyr
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-st-john-de-britto-sj-1647-1693-martyr/

St John of Irenopolis
Bl John Speed
St Joseph of Leonissa OFM (Cap) (1556-1612)
Biography:  https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/saint-of-the-day-4-february-st-joseph-of-leonissa/

St Liephard of Cambrai
St Magnus of Fossombrone
St Modan
St Nicholas Studites
St Nithard
St Obitius
St Phileas of Alexandria
Blessed Rabanus Maurus OSB (776-856)
St Rembert
St Themoius
St Theophilus the Penitent
St Vincent of Troyes
St Vulgis of Lobbes
—
Jesuit Martyrs of Japan: A collective memorial of all members of the Jesuits who have died as martyrs for the faith in Japan.

Martyrs of Perga – 4 saints: A group of shepherds martyred in the persecutions of Decius. The only details we have about them are the names – Claudian, Conon, Diodorus and Papias. They were martyred in c 250 in Perga, Asia Minor (in modern Turkey).

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, FRANCISCAN OFM, JESUIT SJ, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on EVANGELISATION, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY SPIRIT, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 4 February – Bl Rabanus Maurus, St Joseph of Leonissa & St John de Britto

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 4 February – The Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus OSB (776-856), St Joseph of Leonissa OFM CAP (1556-1612) and St John de Britto SJ (1647-1693) Martyr

Veni Creator Spiritus

Come, Creator, Spirit,
come from Your bright heavenly throne,
come take possession of our souls
and make them all Your own.
You who are called the Paraclete,
best gift of God above,
the living spring,
the vital fire,
sweet christ’ning and true love. . . .
O guide our minds with Your best light,
with love our hearts inflame
and with Your strength,
which ne’er decays,
confirm our mortal frame.
Far from us drive our deadly foe,
true peace unto us bring
and through all perils lead us safe
beneath Your sacred wing.
Through You may we the Father know,
through You th’eternal Son
and You the Spirit of them both,
thrice-blessed Three in One. . . .

By Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)veni-creator-spiritus-bl-rabanus-maurus-4-feb-2018.jpg

“Every Christian must be a living book
wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel.
This is what St Paul says to the Corinthians.
Our heart is the parchment; through my ministry
the Holy Spirit is the writer because
‘my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe’
(Psalm 45:1).”

St Joseph of Leonissa OFM CAP (1556-1612)every-christian-must-be-a-living-book-st-joseph-of-leonissa-4-feb-2018.jpg

“God, Who called me
from the world into religious life,
now calls me from Portugal to India….
Not to answer the vocation as I ought,
would be to provoke the justice of God.”

St John de Britto SJ (1647-1693) Martyrgod who called me - st john de britto - 4 feb 2019.jpg

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, HYMNS, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY SPIRIT

Our Morning Offering – 4 February – The Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 4 February – The Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Veni Creator Spiritus
By Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Come, Creator, Spirit,
come from Your bright heavenly throne,
come take possession of our souls
and make them all Your own.
You who are called the Paraclete,
best gift of God above,
the living spring,
the vital fire,
sweet christ’ning and true love. . . .
O guide our minds with Your best light,
with love our hearts inflame
and with Your strength,
which ne’er decays,
confirm our mortal frame.
Far from us drive our deadly foe,
true peace unto us bring
and through all perils lead us safe
beneath Your sacred wing.
Through You may we the Father know,
through You th’eternal Son
and You the Spirit of them both,
thrice-blessed Three in One. . . .Veni, Creator Spiritus - bl rabanus maurus - 4 feb 2018

Today, 4 February, us the Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus.

Rabanus Maurus was a young boy who loved to study and became a disciple of the great Englishmen who brought learning and holiness to the kingdom of Charlemagne.   He was born in 784, when the Carolingian renaissance was at its height and his parents sent him to be educated at St Boniface’s great monastery of Fulda, which had a famous school.   So remarkable was he as a student that the Abbot of Fulda sent him to study under Charlemagne’s own schoolmaster, Alcuin, at Tours and it was under this teacher that he received the name Maurus, after St. Benedict’s favourite disciple.   On returning to Fulda, he was first a teacher, then head of the school there, which became famous all over Europe.

He continued the tradition of sacred learning begun by St Boniface and Alcuin.   He wrote homilies, scientific treatises, poetry, hymns and commentaries on most of the books of the Bible.   Like St Bede, he was the marvel of his time for his learning and was unequalled in his time for his scriptural and patristic learning.

In 822, Blessed Rabanus Maurus was elected abbot of Fulda and the monastery flourished under his guidance. He increased the library, built new buildings and fostered learning of every kind.  In 842, he retired, planning to live a life of prayer in solitude for the rest of his life.

In 847, he was chosen to be archbishop of Mainz, at the age of sixty-three and the last years of his life were spent directing the affairs of his diocese, holding provincial synods, and directing a multitude of charitable works.   During a famine, he fed three hundred poor people at his own house.   He became bedridden shortly before his death and from the moment of his death was regarded as a saint.

He was buried at the monastery of St Alban’s in Mainz but later his relics were transferred to Halle.

Posted in MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Our Morning Offering – 4 February

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 4 February

Veni, Creator Spiritus

Come, Creator, Spirit,
come from Your bright heavenly throne,
come take possession of our souls
and make them all Your own.
You who are called the Paraclete,
best gift of God above,
the living spring,
the vital fire,
sweet christ’ning and true love. . . .
O guide our minds with Your best light,
with love our hearts inflame
and with Your strength,
which ne’er decays,
confirm our mortal frame.
Far from us drive our deadly foe,
true peace unto us bring
and through all perils lead us safe
beneath Your sacred wing.
Through You may we the Father know,
through You th’eternal Son
and You the Spirit of them both,
thrice-blessed Three in One. . . .
— Blessed Rabanus Maurus

veni-creator-spiritus

Today – 4 February – is also the Memorial of Bl Rabanus

St Rabanus Maurus had three careers.   He was a schoolmaster, then an abbot, and finally an archbishop.  He lived during the reign of Charlemagne when Christianity was being established in Europe.   We are indebted to Rabanus and saints like him, for they built the church from which most of us received our gift of faith.

Rabanus was a scholar saint.   He was a lifelong student of Scripture, the great Christian writers, and Catholic teaching.   He used his mind to explore the faith and his study drew him closer to Christ.   We should take him for a model, for study is essential to our Christian growth.   Young Rabanus was sent to school at Fulda in central Germany, the chief monastery founded by St. Boniface.   Rabanus astounded his teachers with his quickness to learn. He also spent a year studying at Tours with Alcuin, Charlemagne’s adviser.   Rabanus learned Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac so that he could better understand Scripture.   He also read the church Fathers and wrote summaries of their works.

In 799 he was ordained deacon and in 815 became a priest.   Sometime during that period he was appointed master of Fulda’s school.   In that office he had the opportunity to form young monks who would help create a tradition of Christian learning in the West.   He became the abbot at Fulda in 822.   During this, his second career, he probably wrote most of his works, including a martyrology and numerous commentaries on Scripture.   He was in constant demand as an expert at synods and councils.   However, care for the monks caused him to hone his pastoral and administrative gifts.   He completed Fulda’s buildings and founded other monasteries.

After a brief retirement, Rabanus unexpectedly took up a third career. In 847, at age 71, he was appointed archbishop of Mainz. He undertook the job aggressively. With a team of priests, Rabanus went about the diocese teaching, preaching, and administering the sacraments.   He held synods that called Christians to a stricter observance of church laws and that condemned a local heresy.   Once during a famine he fed 300 people a day from his house.   With great energy he led the diocese and continued his writing until his death in 856.

Special among Rabanus’s gifts to the church is the Veni, Creator Spiritus. Monks carried the hymn to communities throughout the continent and it became part of the Pentecost liturgy.   Praying the Come, Creator Spirit seems to have occasioned life-changing moments for numerous saints, including Lutgarde, Clare and Teresa of Ávila.   Apparently, Rabanus’s hymn is extraordinarily effective in releasing the gifts of the Spirit, so when we pray it we can expect God to act.