Tag: Constantinople

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 18 August

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Within the Octave of the Assumption of Our Lady

St Agapitus the Martyr (c 259- c 274) Roman Youth aged 15

St Helena (c 250 – c 330) Mother of Constantine the Great

St Macarius the Wonder-Worker (Died 850) Monk, Abbot, Defender of Icons, Miracle worker 

St Crispus of Rome
St Daig Maccairaill
Bl Domenico de Molinar
St Eonus of Arles
St Ernan
St Evan of Ayrshire
St Firminus of Metz
St Florus of Illyria
Bl Francus of Francavilla
Bl Gaspar di Salamanca
St Hermas of Rome
St John of Rome
St Juliana of Myra
St Juliana of Stobylum
St Laurus of Illyria
St Leo of Myra
Bl Leonard of Cava
St Maximus of Illyria
Bl Milo of Fontenelle
St Polyaenus of Rome
St Proculus of Illyria

Blessed Rinaldo of Concorezzo (c 1245 – 1321) Bishop of Vicenza from 1296 until his 1303 appointment as the Archbishop of Ravenna-Cervia holding that until his death, Doctor of Canon Law, Papal envoy, Arbitrator and Peace-maker. Archbishop Rinaldo was also a close friend of Dante Alighieri.

St Ronan of Iona
St Serapion of Rome

Massa Candida: Also known as Martyrs of Utica and the White Company: Three hundred 3rd century Christians at Carthage, who were ordered to burn incense to Jupiter or face death by fire. Martyrs. Saint Augustine of Hippo and the poet Prudentius wrote about them. They were forced to cast themselves into a pit of burning lime c 253 at Carthage, North Africa.

Happy, indeed, is she
to whom it is given to share this sacred banquet,
to cling with all her heart to Him
whose beauty all the heavenly hosts admire unceasingly,
whose love inflames our love,
whose contemplation is our refreshment,
whose graciousness is our joy,
whose gentleness fills us to overflowing,
whose remembrance brings a gentle light,
whose fragrance will revive the dead,
whose glorious vision will be the happiness
of all the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem

St Clare of Assisi

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 27 July – Saint Anthusa of Mantinea

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint Anthusa of Mantinea or the Confessor. She is easily confused with Saint Anthusa the daughter of the iconoclast emperor Constantine V, but it was Saint Anthusa of Mantinea whom he summoned to ask for prayers for the labouring mother of Saint Anthusa of Constantinople, the infant daughter who was subsequently named after her.

She was an anchoress and abbess in Constantinople during the 8th century.

After the death of her parents while still very young, the saint distributed her inheritance, left her family home, and withdrew to a cave. Ninety virgins gathered around her, entrusted themselves to her guidance, and followed her example. She founded two monasteries, one for men and the other for women, and became abbess of the monastery for nuns, who “were known for their obedience to their abbess and for their spiritual discipline”.

She openly defied Emperor Constantine V’s iconoclastic prohibitions, so she, her nuns, and her nephew, who was abbot of the second monastery, were arrested and tortured. When Anthusa correctly prophesied that the emperor’s wife, who was close to death from childbirth, would safely deliver twins, a boy and a girl, the empress intervened. Anthusa’s life was spared, and the empress donated several estates to her. The empress’ daughter was named after Anthusa, educated by her, and also became a saint, founding the first orphanage in the Christian world.

Saint Anthusa of Constantinople, daughter of the emperor

Anthusa returned to her monastery, where she lived to old age. She died in 759 and was buried in her cell.