Bl Józef Zaplata St Lucia Yi Zhenmei St Mansuetus of Milan St Odran St Proclus of Bisignano St Quodvultdeus (Died c 450) Bishop, Confessor St Valerius of Antibes St Zambdas of Jerusalem
Notre Dame-de-Bonne Nouvelle / Our Lady of Good Tidings, Lempdes, France (1500’s) – 18 February:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of Good Tidings, near Rouen, where a great number of people are seen, particularly on Saturdays.”
It was on 23 December 1563, when the Bishop of Lucon, Jean-Baptiste Tiercelin, consecrated the Church under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle. This first Chapel came into the world in the midst of religious convulsions that were then taking place in Switzerland, Germany and England, by the leaders of the ‘Reformation’ and must necessarily be seen, as an action bravely going against the tide. The religious wars that began raging in France ten years after its erection, began to be another reason for some concern for faithful Catholics but the pilgrimages to the Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle continued undisturbed. From time immemorial, there had been venerated at Notre Dame a Statue of the Blessed Virgin, holding in her arm the Infant Jesus. Many went to her in procession, especially children, who came each year to ask Mary for perseverance after their first Communion. The revolutionary turmoil in France, which was to take the throne and the altar, could not leave behind the parish of Our Lady of Good Tidings. In 1790 the National Assembly decreed a new law in which the Church of Our Lady of Good Tidings was dissolved. As the Priest, Fr M Fabre, had the courage to refuse the oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, he was thrown into the street. A short time later, on 22 May 1791, the Abbot Fourquet de Damalis, convened in the Church an assembly of the faithful and there were very many who responded. This occurred under the noses of twelve national guardsmen and so the Police Commissioner, a man named Cafin, responded there quickly. He asked the Abbot why there was such a meeting and the Abbot answered him, that he was explaining to the faithful the decrees of the National Assembly for the public good. The Police Commissioner accepted the explanation and the meeting, having been perfectly peaceful, the police commissioner was obliged to agree to the monthly meetings and record it in his minutes. One might think that the worship would be suspended at Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle during the Terror but we have evidence to the contrary. As at Chartres, a great number of the faithful remained active and opposed the removal of the sacred ornaments of the Church and defended their Priests and eager to fulfil their religious duties, they were not to be intimidated by the fear of imprisonment and even death. From the registry of marriages and baptisms, including a few that date back to 1793, we know that there were religious ceremonies such as baptisms and weddings held there secretly, sometimes in an oratory, sometimes in the Church. In the year 1818, a severe epidemic was ravaging the country. The faithful vowed, with the agreement of their Bishop, to go in procession to Our Lady of Good Tidings and celebrate in perpetuity the feast of the Visitation, which was the feast of the Chapel. The procession took place and God quickly put an end to the scourge of the plague. At about that time, a young boy began making regular visits to the Church of Our Lady of Good Tidings, who was the patroness of the village. He was a poor boy materially, for Lempdes was one of the poorer villages in France and he had been born into a peasant family, that was struggling to eke out a living in the wreck of post-revolutionary France. He kept the faith and when he grew up, Jean Baptiste Lamy was Ordained a Priest, eventually becoming the first Archbishop of Sana Fe, New Mexico.
Bl Józef Zaplata St Lucia Yi Zhenmei St Mansuetus of Milan St Odran St Proclus of Bisignano St Quodvultdeus St Valerius of Antibes St Zambdas of Jerusalem
Bl Józef Zaplata
St Lucia Yi Zhenmei
St Mansuetus of Milan
St Odran
St Proclus of Bisignano
St Quodvultdeus
St Valerius of Antibes
St Zambdas of Jerusalem
Saint of the Day – 19 February – St Barbatus of Benevento (c 610-682) “Apostle of the South” Bishop of Benevento, Preacher, Reformer, Confessor – Patronages – Benevento, Cicciano, Castelvenere, Casalattico and Valle dell’Angelo. St Barbatus was the bishop of Benevento from 663 to 682. He succeeded Hildebrand in this capacity. He assisted in a church council called by Pope Agatho in Rome in 680 and in 681 attended the Third Council of Constantinople against the Monothelites.
St Barbatus was born in 610, in the village of Vandano, near Cerreto Sannita. St Barbatus received a Christian education and spent most of his time studying Sacred Scriptures. He had a desire from an early child to become a Priest and was ordained as soon as his age would allow. The local Bishop immediately assigned him to preaching, which he had a great talent for. Soon after that, he was made the Curate of St Basil’s Church in nearby Morcone. He caused discomfort with the parishioners there, as he continued preaching on their falling short of living the ideal Christian life. They soon persecuted him, in order to get him to allow them to continue in their sinful lifestyles. He didn’t let up and this caused the parishioners to slander his character. It wasn’t long until he was to cease his charitable works because of these slanders.
Eventually he returned to Benevento, where he was welcomed back by those that remembered him from his earlier position there. These people were living a Christian life and loved his spiritual direction and preaching. Eventually they turned to indulging in many idolatrous behaviours, including veneration of a golden viper and a specific local tree. The local Lombard Prince Romuald I, son of Grimoald I, was himself seriously involved in these activities. St Barbatus regularly preached against these pagan rituals, only to be ignored.
He started to tell the people of the city of great trials they would soon suffer at the hands of the East Roman Emperor Constans II, and his army. Shortly after, the army landed in the area and laid siege to Benevento. The people, in their fear, renounced the practices that St Barbatus had been criticising. He then cut down the tree they worshipped, and melted the viper into a Chalice for use in the Church. As St Barbatus had foretold, the siege ended with the defeat of Emperor Constans.
The presiding Bishop of Benevento, Bishop Hildebrand, had died during the siege. After the withdrawal of the invaders, St Barbatus was made Bishop on10 March 633. He took advantage of his new position and quickly destroyed the remaining superstitious artifacts hidden by the Prince and the locals. In 680, St Barbatus assisted in a council held by Pope Agatho and took part in the sixth General Council held in Constantinople in 681 regarding the Monothelites. Shortly after that Council, on 19 February 682, St Barbatus died at the age of seventy. His relics rest partly in the Cathedral of Benevento and partly in Montevergine.
Bl Alvarez of Cordova
St Auxibius
St Baoithin
St Barbatus of Benevento (c 610-682)
St Beatus
St Belina
St Boniface of Lausanne
St Conon of Alexandria
St Conrad of Piacenza
Bl Elizabeth of Mantua
St Gabinus
St George of Lodeve
Bl Józef Zaplata
St Lucia Yi Zhenmei
St Mansuetus of Milan
St Odran
St Proclus of Bisignano
St Quodvultdeus
St Valerius of Antibes
St Zambdas of Jerusalem
AnaStpaul 
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