April 1:
St.
Hugh of Grenoble (1052-1132)
Today’s
saint could be a patron for those of us who feel so overwhelmed by all
the problems in the world that we don’t know where to begin. Hugh, who
served as a bishop in France for 52 years, had his work cut out for him
from the start. Corruption seemed to loom in every direction: the
buying and selling of Church offices, violations of clerical celibacy,
lay control of Church property, religious indifference and/or
ignorance. After serving as bishop for two years, he’d had his fill. He
tried disappearing to a monastery, but the pope called him back to
continue the work of reform. Ironically, Hugh was reasonably effective
in the role of reformer — surely because of his devotion to the Church
but also because of his strong character. In conflicts between Church
and state he was an unflinching defender of the Church. He fearlessly
supported the papacy. He was eloquent as a preacher. He restored his
own cathedral, made civic improvements in the town and weathered a
brief exile. Hugh may be best known as patron and benefactor of St.
Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Order. Hugh died in 1132. He was
canonized only two years later. (AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 2:
St. Francis of Paola (1416-1507)
Francis of Paola was a man who deeply loved contemplative solitude and
wished only to be the "least in the household of God." Yet, when the
Church called him to active service in the world, he became a
miracle-worker and influenced the course of nations. After accompanying
his parents on a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, he began to live as a
contemplative hermit in a remote cave near Paola, on Italy's southern
seacoast. Before he was 20, he received the first followers who had
come to imitate his way of life. Seventeen years
later, when his
disciples had grown in number, Francis established a Rule for his
austere community and sought Church approval. This was the founding of
the Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi, who were approved by the Holy See
in 1474. In 1492, Francis changed the name of his community to "Minims"
because he wanted them to be known as the least (minimi) in the
household of God. Humility was to be the hallmark of the brothers as it
had been in Francis's personal life. Besides the vows of poverty,
chastity and obedience, Francis enjoined upon his followers the fourth
obligation of a perpetual Lenten fast. He felt that heroic
mortification was necessary as a means for spiritual growth. It was
Francis's desire to be a contemplative hermit, yet he believed that God
was calling him to the apostolic life. He began to use the gifts he had
received, such as the gifts of miracles and prophecy, to minister to
the people of God. A defender of the poor and oppressed, Francis
incurred the wrath of King Ferdinand of Naples for the admonitions he
directed towards the king and his sons. Following the request of Pope Sixtus IV, Francis traveled to Paris to help Louis XI of France prepare
for his death. While ministering to the king, Francis was able to
influence the course of national politics. He helped to restore peace
between France and Brittany by advising a marriage between the ruling
families, and between France and Spain by persuading Louis XI to return
some disputed land. Francis died while at the French court.
The life of Francis of Paola speaks plainly to an overactive world. He
was a contemplative man called to active ministry and must have felt
keenly the tension between prayer and service. Yet in Francis's life it
was a productive tension, for he clearly utilized the fruits of
contemplation in his ministry, which came to involve the workings of
nations. He responded so readily and so well to the call of the Church
from a solid foundation in prayer and mortification. When he went out
to the world, it was not he who worked but Christ working through
him—"the least in the household of God."
(AmericanCatholic.org)
St. Francis
of Paola
Francis was born at Paola, Italy and was educated at the Franciscan
friary of San Marco there, and when fifteen became a hermit near Paola. In 1436,
he and two companions began a community that is considered the foundation of the
Minim Friars. He built a monastery where he had led his eremitical life some
fifteen years later and set a Rule for his followers emphasizing penance,
charity, and humility, and added to the three monastic vows, one of fasting and
abstinence from meat; he also wrote a rule for tertiaries and nuns. He was
credited with many miracles and had the gifts of prophesy and insight into men's
hearts. The Order was approved by Pope Sixtus IV in 1474 with the name Hermits
of St. Francis of Assisi (changed to Minim Friars in 1492). Francis established
foundations in southern Italy and Sicily, and his fame was such that at the
request of dying King Louis XI of France, Pope Sixtus II ordered him to France,
as the King felt he could be cured by Francis. He was not, but was so comforted
that Louis' son Charles VIII, became Francis' friend and endowed several
monasteries for the Minims. Francis spent the rest of his life at the monastery
of Plessis, France, which Charles built for him. Francis died there on April 2nd
and was canonized in 1519. His feast day is April 2. (Catholic.org)
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April 3:
St.
Benedict the African (1526-1589)
Benedict held important posts in the
Franciscan Order and gracefully adjusted to other work when his terms
of office were up. His parents were slaves brought from Africa to
Messina, Sicily. Freed at 18, Benedict did farm work for a wage and
soon saved enough to buy a pair of oxen. He was very proud of those
animals. In time he joined a group of hermits around Palermo and was
eventually recognized as their leader. Because these hermits followed
the Rule of St. Francis, Pope Pius IV ordered them to join the First
Order. Benedict was eventually novice master and then guardian of the
friars in Palermo— positions rarely held in those days by a brother. In
fact, Benedict was forced to accept his election as guardian. And when
his term ended he happily returned to his work in the friary kitchen.
Benedict corrected the friars with humility and charity. Once he
corrected a novice and assigned him a penance only to learn that the
novice was not the guilty party. Benedict immediately knelt down before
the novice and asked his pardon. In later life Benedict was not
possessive of the few things he used. He never referred to them as
"mine" but always called them "ours." His gifts for prayer and the
guidance of souls earned him throughout Sicily a reputation for
holiness. Following the example of St. Francis, Benedict kept seven
40-day fasts throughout the year; he also slept only a few hours each
night. After Benedict’s death, King Philip III of Spain paid for a
special tomb for this holy friar. Canonized in 1807, he is honoured as
a patron saint by African-Americans. Among Franciscans a position of
leadership is limited in time. When the time expires, former leaders
sometimes have trouble adjusting to their new position. The Church
needs men and women ready to put their best energies into leadership—
but men and women who are gracefully willing to go on to other work
when their time of leadership is over.
"I did not come
to be served but to serve (see Matthew 20:28), says the Lord. Those who
are placed over others should glory in such an office only as much as
they would were they assigned the task of washing the feet of the
brothers. And the more they are upset about their office being taken
from them than they would be over the loss of the office of [washing]
feet, so much the more do they store up treasures to the peril of their
souls (see John 12:6)" (Francis of Assisi, Admonition IV).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
St. Benedict the African (1526-1589)
Benedict held important posts in the Franciscan Order and gracefully adjusted to
other work when his terms of office were up. His parents were slaves brought
from Africa to Messina, Sicily. Freed at 18, Benedict did farm work for a wage
and soon saved enough to buy a pair of oxen. He was very proud of those animals.
In time he joined a group of hermits around Palermo and was eventually
recognized as their leader. Because these hermits followed the Rule of St.
Francis, Pope Pius IV ordered them to join the First Order. Benedict was
eventually novice master and then guardian of the friars in Palermo— positions
rarely held in those days by a brother. In fact, Benedict was forced to accept
his election as guardian. And when his term ended he happily returned to his
work in the friary kitchen. Benedict corrected the friars with humility and
charity. Once he corrected a novice and assigned him a penance only to learn
that the novice was not the guilty party. Benedict immediately knelt down before
the novice and asked his pardon. In later life Benedict was not possessive of
the few things he used. He never referred to them as "mine" but always called
them "ours." His gifts for prayer and the guidance of souls earned him
throughout Sicily a reputation for holiness. Following the example of St.
Francis, Benedict kept seven 40-day fasts throughout the year; he also slept
only a few hours each night. After Benedict’s death, King Philip III of Spain
paid for a special tomb for this holy friar. Canonized in 1807, he is honoured
as a patron saint by African-Americans.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
St. Richard
of Wyche
Richard of Wyche, also known as Richard of Chichester,
was born at Wyche (Droitwich), Worcestershire, England. He was orphaned when he
was quite young. He retrieved the fortunes of the mismanaged estate he inherited
when he took it over, and then turned it over to his brother Robert. Richard
refused marriage and went to Oxford, where he studied under Grosseteste and met
and began a lifelong friendship with Edmund Rich. Richard pursued his studies at
Paris, received his M.A. from Oxford, and then continued his studies at Bologna,
where he received his doctorate in Canon Law. After seven years at Bologna, he
returned to Oxford, was appointed chancellor of the university in 1235, and then
became chancellor to Edmund Rich, now archbishop of Canterbury, whom he
accompanied to the Cistercian monastery at Pontigny when the archbishop retired
there. After Rich died at Pontigny, Richard taught at the Dominican House of
Studies at Orleans and was ordained there in 1243. After a time as a parish
priest at Deal, he became chancellor of Boniface of Savoy, the new archbishop of
Canterbury, and when King Henry III named Ralph Neville bishop of Chichester in
1244, Boniface declared his selection invalid and named Richard to the See.
Eventually, the matter was brought to Rome and in 1245, Pope Innocent IV
declared in Richard's favour and consecrated him. When he returned to England,
he was still opposed by Henry and was refused admittance to the bishop's palace;
eventually Henry gave in when threatened with excommunication by the Pope. The
remaining eight years of Richard's life were spend in ministering to his flock.
He denounced nepotism, insisted on strict clerical discipline, and was ever
generous to the poor and the needy. He died at a house for poor priests in
Dover, England, while preaching a crusade, and was canonized in 1262.
(Catholic.org)
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April 4:
St.
Isidore of Seville (560?-636)
The 76 years of Isidore's life were a time of
conflict and growth for the Church in Spain. The Visigoths had invaded
the land a century and a half earlier and shortly before Isidore's
birth they set up their own capital. They were Arians—Christians who
said Christ was not God. Thus Spain was split in two: One people
(Catholic Romans) struggled with another (Arian Goths). Isidore
reunited Spain, making it a centre of culture and learning, a teacher
and guide for other European countries whose culture was also
threatened by barbarian invaders. Born in Cartagena of a family that
included three other saints, he was educated (severely) by his elder
brother, whom he succeeded as bishop of Seville. An amazingly learned
man, he was sometimes called "The Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages"
because the encyclopaedia he wrote was used as a textbook for nine
centuries. He required seminaries to be built in every diocese, wrote a
Rule for religious orders and founded schools that taught every branch
of learning. Isidore wrote numerous books, including a dictionary, an
encyclopaedia, a history of Goths and a history of the world—beginning
with creation! He completed the Mozarabic liturgy, which is still in
use in Toledo, Spain. For all these reasons Isidore (as well as several
other saints) has been suggested as patron of the Internet. He
continued his austerities even as he approached 80. During the last six
months of his life, he increased his charities so much that his house
was crowded from morning till night with the poor of the countryside.
Our country can well use Isidore's spirit of
combining learning and holiness. Loving, understanding knowledge can
heal and bring a broken people back together. We are not barbarians
like the invaders of Isidore's Spain. But people who are swamped by
riches and overwhelmed by scientific and technological advances can
lose much of their understanding love for one another. So vast was
Isidore's knowledge that some moderns have proposed him as the patron
of Internet users. (AmericanCatholic.org)
St. Isidore of Seville Doctor of the Church
Isidore was
literally born into a family of saints in sixth century Spain. Two of his
brothers, Leander and Fulgentius, and one of his sisters, Florentina, are
revered as saints in Spain. It was also a family of leaders and strong minds
with Leander and Fulgentius serving as bishops and Florentina as abbess.
This didn't make
life easier for Isidore. To the contrary, Leander may have been holy in many
ways, but his treatment of his little brother shocked many even at the time.
Leander, who was much older than Isidore, took over Isidore's education and his
pedagogical theory involved force and punishment. We know from Isidore's later
accomplishments that he was intelligent and hard-working so it is hard to
understand why Leander thought abuse would work instead of patience.
One day, the young
boy couldn't take any more. Frustrated by his inability to learn as fast as his
brother wanted and hurt by his brother's treatment, Isidore ran away. But though
he could escape his brother's hand and words, he couldn't escape his own feeling
of failure and rejection. When he finally let the outside world catch his
attention, he noticed water dripping on the rock near where he sat. The drops of
water that fell repeatedly carried no force and seemed to have no effect on the
solid stone. And yet he saw that over time, the water drops had worn holes in
the rock.
Isidore realized
that if he kept working at his studies, his seemingly small efforts would
eventually pay off in great learning. He also may have hoped that his efforts
would also wear down the rock of his brother's heart.
When he returned
home, however, his brother in exasperation confined him to a cell (probably in a
monastery) to complete his studies, not believing that he wouldn't run away
again.
Either there must
have been a loving side to this relationship or Isidore was remarkably forgiving
even for a saint, because later he would work side by side with his brother and
after Leander's death, Isidore would complete many of the projects he began
including a missal and breviary.
In a time where it's
fashionable to blame the past for our present and future problems, Isidore was
able to separate the abusive way he was taught from the joy of learning. He
didn't run from learning after he left his brother but embraced education and
made it his life's work. Isidore rose above his past to become known as the
greatest teacher in Spain.
His love of learning
made him promote the establishment of a seminary in every diocese of Spain. He
didn't limit his own studies and didn't want others to as well. In a unique
move, he made sure that all branches of knowledge including the arts and
medicine were taught in the seminaries.
His encyclopedia of
knowledge, the Etymologies, was a popular textbook for nine centuries. He also
wrote books on grammar, astronomy, geography, history, and biography as well as
theology. When the Arabs brought study of Aristotle back to Europe, this was
nothing new to Spain because Isidore's open mind had already reintroduced the
philosopher to students there.
As bishop of Seville
for 37 years, succeeding Leander, he set a model for representative government
in Europe. Under his direction, and perhaps remembering the tyrannies of his
brother, he rejected autocratic decision- making and organized synods to discuss
government of the Spanish Church.
Still trying to wear
away rock with water, he helped convert the barbarian Visigoths from Arianism to
Christianity.
He lived until
almost 80. As he was dying his house was filled with crowds of poor he was
giving aid and alms to. One of his last acts was to give all his possessions to
the poor.
When he died in 636,
this Doctor of the Church had done more than his brother had ever hoped; the
light of his learning caught fire in Spanish minds and held back the Dark Ages
of barbarism from Spain. But even greater than his outstanding mind must have
been the genius of his heart that allowed him to see beyond rejection and
discouragement to joy and possibility. (Catholic.org)
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April 5:
St. Vincent Ferrer (1350?-1419)
The polarization in the Church today is a mild breeze compared with the
tornado that ripped the Church apart during the lifetime of this saint.
If any saint is a patron of reconciliation, Vincent Ferrer is. Despite
parental opposition, he entered the Dominican Order in his native Spain
at 19. After brilliant studies, he was ordained a priest by Cardinal
Peter de Luna — who would figure tragically in his life. Of a very ardent
nature, Vincent practiced the austerities of his Order with great
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He was chosen prior of the Dominican house in Valencia shortly
after his ordination. The Western Schism divided Christianity first
between two, then three, popes. Clement VII lived at Avignon in France,
Urban VI in Rome. Vincent was convinced the election of Urban was
invalid (though Catherine of Siena was just as devoted a supporter of
the Roman pope). In the service of Cardinal de Luna, he worked to
persuade Spaniards to follow Clement. When Clement died, Cardinal de
Luna was elected at Avignon and became Benedict XIII. Vincent worked
for him as apostolic penitentiary and Master of the Sacred Palace. But
the new pope did not resign as all candidates in the conclave had sworn
to do. He remained stubborn despite being deserted by the French king
and nearly all of the cardinals. Vincent became disillusioned and very
ill, but finally took up the work of simply "going through the world
preaching Christ," though he felt that any renewal in the Church
depended on healing the schism. An eloquent and fiery preacher, he
spent the last 20 years of his life spreading the Good News in Spain,
France, Switzerland, the Low Countries and Lombardy, stressing the need
of repentance and the fear of coming judgment. (He became known as the
"Angel of the Judgment.") He tried, unsuccessfully, in 1408 and 1415,
to persuade his former friend to resign. He finally concluded that
Benedict was not the true pope. Though very ill, he mounted the pulpit
before an assembly over which Benedict himself was presiding and
thundered his denunciation of the man who had ordained him a priest.
Benedict fled for his life, abandoned by those who had formerly
supported him. Strangely, Vincent had no part in the Council of
Constance, which ended the schism.
The split in the Church at the time of Vincent Ferrer should have been
fatal—36 long years of having two "heads." We cannot imagine what
condition the Church today would be in if, for that length of time,
half the world had followed a succession of popes in Rome, and half, an
equally "official" number of popes in, say, Rio de Janeiro. It is an
ongoing miracle that the Church has not long since been shipwrecked on
the rocks of pride and ignorance, greed and ambition. Contrary to
Lowell's words, "Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the
throne," we believe that "truth is mighty, and it shall prevail"—but it
sometimes takes a long time. (AmericanCatholic.org)
St. Vincent Ferrer
St. Vincent Ferrer is the patron saint of builders because of his fame for
"building up" and strengthening the Church: through his preaching, missionary
work, in his teachings, as confessor and adviser. At Valencia in Spain, this
illustrious son of St. Dominic came into the world on January 23, 1357. In the
year 1374, he entered the Order of St. Dominic in a monastery near his native
city. Soon after his profession he was commissioned to deliver lectures on
philosophy. On being sent to Barcelona, he continued his scholastic duties and
at the same time devoted himself to preaching. At Lerida, the famous university
city of Catalonia, he received his doctorate. After this he laboured six years
in Valencia, during which time he perfected himself in the Christian life. In
1390, he was obliged to accompany Cardinal Pedro de Luna to France, but he soon
returned home. When, in 1394, de Luna himself had become Pope at Avignon he
summoned St. Vincent and made him Master of the sacred palace. In this capacity
St. Vincent made unsuccessful efforts to put an end to the great schism. He
refused all ecclesiastical dignities, even the cardinal's hat, and only craved
to be appointed apostolical missionary. Now began those labours that made him
the famous missionary of the fourteenth century. He evangelized nearly every
province of Spain, and preached in France, Italy, Germany, Flanders, England,
Scotland, and Ireland. Numerous conversions followed his preaching, which God
Himself assisted by the gift of miracles. Though the Church was then divided by
the great schism, the saint was honourably received in the districts subject to
the two claimants to the Papacy. He was even invited to Mohammedan Granada,
where he preached the gospel with much success. He lived to behold the end of
the great schism and the election of Pope Martin V. Finally, crowned with
labours, he died April 5, 1419.(Catholic.org)
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April 6:
St. Crescentia Hoess (1682-1744)
Crescentia was born in 1682 in a little town near Augsburg, the
daughter of a poor weaver.
She spent play time praying in the parish
church, assisted those even poorer than herself and had so mastered the
truths of her religion that she was permitted to make her holy
Communion at the then unusually early age of seven. In the town she was
called "the little angel." As she grew older she desired to enter the
convent of the Tertiaries of St. Francis. But the convent was poor and,
because Crescentia had no dowry, the superiors refused her admission.
Her case was then pleaded by the Protestant mayor of the town to whom
the convent owed a favour. The community felt it was forced into
receiving her, and her new life was made miserable. She was considered
a burden and assigned nothing other than menial tasks. Even her
cheerful spirit was misinterpreted as flattery or hypocrisy. Conditions
improved four years later when a new superior was elected who realized
her virtue. Crescentia herself was appointed mistress of novices. She
so won the love and respect of the sisters that, upon the death of the
superior, Crescentia herself was unanimously elected to that position.
Under her the financial state of the convent improved and her
reputation in spiritual matters spread. She was soon being consulted by
princes and princesses as well as by bishops and cardinals seeking her
advice. And yet, a true daughter of Francis, she remained ever humble.
Bodily afflictions and pain were always with her. First it was
headaches and toothaches. Then she lost the ability to walk, her hands
and feet gradually becoming so crippled that her body curled up into a
fetal position. In the spirit of Francis she cried out, "Oh, you bodily
members, praise God that he has given you the capacity to suffer."
Despite her sufferings she was filled with peace and joy as she died on
Easter Sunday in 1744. She was beatified in 1900 and canonized by Pope
John Paul II in 2001.
Although she grew up in poverty and willingly embraced it in her
vocation, Crescentia had a good head for business. Under her able
administration, her convent regained financial stability. Too often we
think of good money management as, at best, a less-than-holy gift. But
Crescentia was wise enough to balance her worldly skills with such
acumen in spiritual matters that heads of State and Church both sought
her advice. (AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 7:
St.
John Baptist de la Salle (1651-1719)
Complete dedication to what he saw as
God's will for him dominated the life of John Baptist de la Salle. In
1950, Pope Pius XII named him patron of schoolteachers for his efforts
in upgrading school instruction. As a young seventeenth-century
Frenchman, John had everything going for him: scholarly bent, good
looks, noble family background, money, refined upbringing. At the early
age of 11, he received the tonsure and started preparation for the
priesthood, to which he was ordained at 27.
He seemed assured then of a
life of dignified ease and a high position in the Church. But God had
other plans for John, which were gradually revealed to him in the next
several years. During a chance meeting with M. Nyel of Raven, he became
interested in the creation of schools for poor boys in Raven, where he
was stationed. Though the work was extremely distasteful to him at
first, he became more involved in working with the deprived youths.
Once convinced that this was his divinely appointed mission, John threw
himself wholeheartedly into the work, left home and family, abandoned
his position as canon at Rheims, gave away his fortune and reduced
himself to the level of the poor to whom he devoted his entire life.
The remainder of his life was closely entwined with the community of
religious men he founded, the Brothers of the Christian School
(Christian Brothers, or De La Salle Brothers). This community grew
rapidly and was successful in educating boys of poor families using
methods designed by John, preparing teachers in the first training
college for teachers and also setting up homes and schools for young
delinquents of wealthy families. The motivating element in all these
endeavours was the desire to become a good Christian. Yet even in his
success, John did not escape experiencing many trials: heartrending
disappointment and defections among his disciples, bitter opposition
from the secular schoolmasters who resented his new and fruitful
methods and persistent opposition from the Jansenists of his time,
whose heretical doctrines John resisted vehemently all his life.
Afflicted with asthma and rheumatism in his last years, he died on Good
Friday at 68 and was canonized in 1900.
Complete dedication to one's
calling by God, whatever it may be, is a rare quality. Jesus asks us to
"love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with
all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30b, emphasis
added). Paul gives similar advice: "Whatever you do, do from the
heart..." (Colossians 3:23). "What is nobler than to mould the character
of the young? I consider that he who knows how to form the youthful
mind is truly greater than all painters, sculptors and all others of
that sort" (St. John Chrysostom). (AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 8:
St.
Julie Billiart (1751-1816)
Born in Cuvilly, France, into a family of well-to-do
farmers, young Marie Rose Julia Billiart showed an early interest in
religion and in helping the sick and poor. Though the first years of
her life were relatively peaceful and uncomplicated, Julie had to take
up manual work as a young teen when her family lost its money. However,
she spent her spare time
teaching catechism to young people and to the
farm labourers. A mysterious illness overtook her when she was about
30. Witnessing an attempt to wound or even kill her father, Julie was
paralysed and became a complete invalid. For the next two decades she
continued to teach catechism lessons from her bed, offered spiritual
advice and attracted visitors who had heard of her holiness. When the
French Revolution broke out in 1789, revolutionary forces became aware
of her allegiance to fugitive priests. With the help of friends she was
smuggled out of Cuvilly in a haycart; she spent several years hiding in
Compiegne, being moved from house to house despite her growing physical
pain. She even lost the power of speech for a time. But this period
also proved to be a fruitful spiritual time for Julie. It was at this
time she had a vision in which she saw Calvary surrounded by women in
religious habits and heard a voice saying, "Behold these spiritual
daughters whom I give you in an Institute marked by the cross." As time
passed and Julie continued her mobile life, she made the acquaintance
of an aristocratic woman, Francoise Blin de Bourdon, who shared Julie's
interest in teaching the faith. In 1803 the two women began the
Institute of Notre Dame, which was dedicated to the education of the
poor as well as young Christian girls and the training of catechists.
The following year the first Sisters of Notre Dame made their vows.
That was the same year that Julie recovered from the illness: She was
able to walk for the first time in 22 years. Though Julie had always
been attentive to the special needs of the poor and that always
remained her priority, she also became aware that other classes in
society needed Christian instruction. From the founding of the Sisters
of Notre Dame until her death, Julie was on the road, opening a variety
of schools in France and Belgium that served the poor and the wealthy,
vocational groups, teachers. Ultimately, Julie and Francoise moved the
motherhouse to Namur, Belgium. Julie died there in 1816. She was
canonized in 1969.
Julie's immobility in no way impeded
her activities. In spite of her suffering, she managed to co-found a
teaching order that tended to the needs of both the poor and the
well-to-do. Each of us has limitations, but the worst malady any of us
can suffer is the spiritual paralysis that keeps us from doing God’s
work on earth.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 9:
St. Casilda
(11th century)
Some saints’ names are far more familiar to us than others, but even
the lives of obscure holy persons teach us something. And so it is with
St. Casilda, the daughter of a Muslim leader in Toledo, Spain, in the
10th century. Casilda was herself raised as a Muslim and showed special
kindness to Christian prisoners. She became ill as a young woman but
was not convinced that any of the local Arab doctors could cure her.
So, she made a pilgrimage to the shrine of San Vicenzo in northern
Spain. Like so many other people who made their way there — many of them
suffering from haemorrhages — Casilda sought the healing waters of the
shrine. We’re uncertain what brought her to the shrine, but we do know
that she left it relieved of illness. In response, she became a
Christian and lived a life of solitude and penance not far from the
miraculous spring. It’s said that she lived to be 100 years old. Her
death likely occurred around the year 1050. Tensions between Muslims
and Christians have often existed throughout history, sometimes
resulting in bloody conflict. Through her quiet, simple life Casilda
served her Creator — first in one faith, then another.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 10:
St. Magdalen of
Canossa (1774-1835)
Wealth and privilege did nothing to prevent today’s saint from
following her calling to serve Christ in the poor. Nor did the protests
of her relatives, concerned that such work was beneath her.
Born in northern Italy in 1774, Magdalen knew her mind — and spoke it. At
age 15 she announced she wished to become a nun. After trying out her
vocation with the cloistered Carmelites, she realized her desire was to
serve the needy without restriction. For years she worked among the
poor and sick in hospitals and in their homes and among delinquent and
abandoned girls. In her mid-twenties Magdalen began offering lodging to
poor girls in her own home. In time she opened a school, which offered
practical training and religious instruction. As other women joined her
in the work, the new Congregation of the Daughters of Charity emerged.
Over time, houses were opened throughout Italy. Members of the new
religious congregation focused on the educational and spiritual needs
of women. Magdalen also founded a smaller congregation for priests and
brothers. Both groups continue to this day. She died in 1835. Pope John
Paul II canonized her in 1988.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 11, 2008:
St.
Stanislaus (1030-1079)
Anyone who reads the history of Eastern Europe cannot help but chance
on the name of Stanislaus, the saintly but tragic bishop of Kraków, patron of Poland. He is remembered with Saints Thomas
More and Thomas Becket for
.jpg)
vigorous opposition to the evils of an
unjust government. Born in Szczepanow near Kraków on July 26,
1030, he was ordained a priest after being educated in the cathedral
schools of Gniezno, then capital of Poland, and at Paris. He was
appointed preacher and archdeacon to the bishop of Kraków, where
his eloquence and example brought about real conversion in many of his
penitents, both clergy and laity. He became bishop of Kraków in
1072.
During an expedition against the Grand Duchy of Kiev, Stanislaus became
involved in the political situation of Poland. Known for his
outspokenness, he aimed his attacks at the evils of the peasantry and
the king, especially the unjust wars and immoral acts of King Boleslaus
II.. The king first excused himself, then made a show of penance, then
relapsed into his old ways. Stanislaus continued his open opposition in
spite of charges of treason and threats of death, finally
excommunicating the king. The latter, enraged, ordered soldiers to kill
the bishop. When they refused, the king killed him with his own hands.
Forced to flee to Hungary, Boleslaus supposedly spent the rest of his
life as a penitent in the Benedictine abbey in Osiak.
John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Thomas More and Stanislaus are a few
of the prophets who dared to denounce corruption in high places. They
follow in the footsteps of Jesus himself, who pointed out the moral
corruption in the religious leadership of his day. It is a risky
business: "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to
throw a stone..." (John 8:7b). "Men desire authority for its own sake
that they may bear a rule, command and control other men, and live
uncommanded and uncontrolled themselves" (St. Thomas More, A Dialogue
of Comfort). (AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 12:
St. Teresa of Los
Andes (1900-1920)
One needn’t live a long life to leave a deep imprint. Teresa of Los
Andes is proof of that.
As a young girl growing up in Santiago, Chile, in the early 1900s, she
read an autobiography of a French-born saint — Therese, popularly known
as the Little Flower. The experience deepened her desire to serve God
and clarified the path she would follow. At age 19 she became a
Carmelite nun, taking the name of Teresa. The convent offered the
simple lifestyle Teresa desired and the joy of living in a community of
women completely devoted to God. She focused her days on prayer and
sacrifice. “I am God’s, ” she wrote in her diary. “He created me and is
my beginning and my end.”
Toward the end of her short life, Teresa began an apostolate of
letter-writing, sharing her thoughts on the spiritual life with many
people. At age 20 she contracted typhus and quickly took her final
vows. She died a short time later, during Holy Week. Teresa remains
popular with the estimated 100,000 pilgrims who visit her shrine in Los
Andes each year. She is Chile’s first saint.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 13:
St. Martin I (d. 655)
When Martin I became pope in
649, Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine empire and the
patriarch of Constantinople was the most influential Church leader in
the eastern Christian world. The struggles that existed within the
Church at that time were magnified by the close cooperation of emperor
and patriarch.
A teaching, strongly supported in the East, held that
Christ had no human will. Twice emperors had officially favoured this
position, Heraclius by publishing a formula of faith and Constans II by
silencing the issue of one or two wills in Christ. Shortly after
assuming the office of the papacy (which he did without first being
confirmed by the emperor), Martin held a council at the Lateran in
which the imperial documents were censured, and in which the patriarch
of Constantinople and two of his predecessors were condemned. Constans
II, in response, tried first to turn bishops and people against the
pope. Failing in this and in an attempt to kill the pope, the emperor
sent troops to Rome to seize Martin and to bring him back to
Constantinople. Martin, already in poor health, offered no resistance,
returned with the exarch Calliopas and was then submitted to various
imprisonments, tortures and hardships. Although condemned to death and
with some of the torture imposed already carried out, Martin was saved
from execution by the pleas of a repentant Paul, patriarch of
Constantinople, who himself was gravely ill. Martin died shortly
thereafter, tortures and cruel treatment having taken their toll. He is
the last of the early popes to be venerated as a martyr.
The real significance of the word
martyr comes not from the dying but from the witnessing, which the word
means in its derivation. People who are willing to give up everything,
their most precious possessions, their very lives, put a supreme value
on the cause or belief for which they sacrifice. Martyrdom, dying for
the faith, is an incidental extreme to which some have had to go to
manifest their belief in Christ. A living faith, a life that
exemplifies Christ's teaching throughout, and that in spite of
difficulties, is required of all Christians. Martin might have
temporized; he might have sought means to ease his lot, to make some
accommodations with the civil rulers. The breviary of the Orthodox
Church pays tribute to Martin: “Glorious definer of the Orthodox
Faith...sacred chief of divine dogmas, unstained by error...true
reprover of heresy...foundation of bishops, pillar of the Orthodox
faith, teacher of religion.... Thou didst adorn the divine see of
Peter, and since from this divine Rock, thou didst immovably defend the
Church, so now thou art glorified with him.”
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 14:
Blessed Peter Gonzalez (d. 1246)
St. Paul had a conversion experience on the road to Damascus. Many
years later, the same proved true for Peter Gonzalez, who triumphantly
rode his horse into the Spanish city of Astorga in the 13th century to
take up an important post at the cathedral. The animal stumbled and
fell, leaving Peter in the mud and onlookers amused. Humbled, Peter
re-evaluated his motivations (his bishop-uncle had secured the cathedral
post for him) and started down a new path. He became a Dominican priest
and proved to be a most effective preacher. He spent much of his time
as court chaplain, and attempted to exert positive influence on the
behaviour of members of the court. After King Ferdinand III and his
troops defeated the Moors at Cordoba, Peter was successful in
restraining the soldiers from pillaging and persuaded the king to treat
the defeated Moors with compassion. After retiring from the court Peter
devoted the remainder of his life to preaching in northwest Spain. He
developed a special mission to Spanish and Portuguese seamen. He is the
patron of sailors. Peter Gonzalez died in 1246 and was beatified in
1741.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 15:
Blessed
Caesar de Bus (1544-1607)
Like so
many of us, Caesar de Bus struggled with the decision about what to do
with his life. After completing his Jesuit education he had difficulty
settling between a military and a literary career. He wrote some plays
but ultimately settled for life in the army and at court. For a time
life was going rather smoothly for the engaging, well-to-do young
Frenchman. He was confident he had made the right choice. That was
until he saw firsthand the realities of battle, including the St.
Bartholomew's Day massacres of French Protestants in 1572. He fell
seriously ill and found himself reviewing his priorities, including his
spiritual life. By the time he had recovered Caesar had resolved to
become a priest. Following his ordination in 1582, he undertook special
pastoral work: teaching the catechism to ordinary people living in
neglected, rural, out-of-the-way places. His efforts were badly needed
and well received. Working with his cousin, Caesar developed a program
of family catechesis. The goal—to ward off heresy among the people—met
the approval of local bishops. Out of these efforts grew a new
religious congregation: the Fathers of Christian Doctrine. One of
Caesar's works, Instructions for the Family on the Four Parts of the
Roman Catechism, was published 60 years after his death. He was
beatified in 1975.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 16:
St.
Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879) (Pictures:
incorrupt body of Bernadette and the home of
Bernadette)
Bernadette Soubirous was born in 1844, the first child of an extremely
poor miller in the town of Lourdes in southern France. The family was
living in the basement of a dilapidated building when on February
11,1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in a cave above
the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes.
Bernadette,
14 years old, was
known as a virtuous girl though a dull student who had not even made
her first Holy Communion. In poor health, she had suffered from asthma
from an early age. There were 18 appearances in all, the final one
occurring on the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, July 16. Although
Bernadette's initial reports provoked skepticism, her daily visions of
"the Lady" brought great crowds of the curious. The Lady, Bernadette
explained, had instructed her to have a chapel built on the spot of the
visions. There the people were to come to wash in and drink of the
water of the spring that had welled up from the very spot where
Bernadette had been instructed to dig. According to Bernadette, the
Lady of her visions was a girl of 16 or 17 who wore a white robe with a
blue sash. Yellow roses covered her feet, a large rosary was on her
right arm. In the vision on March 25 she told Bernadette, "I am the
Immaculate Conception." It was only when the words were explained to
her that Bernadette came to realize who the Lady was. Few visions have
ever undergone the scrutiny that these appearances of the Immaculate
Virgin were subject to. Lourdes became one of the most popular Marian
shrines in the world, attracting millions of visitors. Miracles were
reported at the shrine and in the waters of the spring. After thorough
investigation Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the
apparitions in 1862. During her life Bernadette suffered much. She was
hounded by the public as well as by civic officials until at last she
was protected in a convent of nuns. Five years later she petitioned to
enter the sisters of Notre Dame. After a period of illness she was able
to make the journey from Lourdes and enter the novitiate. But within
four months of her arrival she was given the last rites of the Church
and allowed to profess her vows. She recovered enough to become
infirmarian and then sacristan, but chronic health problems persisted.
She died on April 16, 1879, at the age of 35. She was canonized in
1933.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 17:
St. Benedict Joseph Labre
(d. 1783)
Benedict Joseph Labre was truly eccentric, one of God's special little
ones. Born in France and the eldest of 18 children, he studied under
his uncle, a parish priest. Because of poor health and a lack of
suitable academic preparation he was unsuccessful in his attempts to
enter the religious life. Then, at 16 years of age, a profound change
took place. Benedict lost his desire to study and gave up all thoughts
of the priesthood, much to the consternation of his relatives. He
became a pilgrim, travelling from one great shrine to another, living
off alms. He wore the rags of a beggar and shared his food with the
poor. Filled with the love of God and neighbour, Benedict had special
devotion to the Blessed Mother and to the Blessed Sacrament. In Rome,
where he lived in the Colosseum for a time, he was called "the poor man
of the Forty Hours Devotion" and "the beggar of Rome." The people
accepted his ragged appearance better than he did. His excuse to
himself was that "our comfort is not in this world." On the last day of
his life, April 16, 1783, Benedict Joseph dragged himself to a church
in Rome and prayed there for two hours before he collapsed, dying
peacefully in a nearby house. Immediately after his death the people
proclaimed him a saint. He was officially proclaimed a saint by Pope
Leo XIII at canonization ceremonies in 1883. (AmericanCatholic.org)
-----------------------------------Return
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April 18:
Blessed James
Oldo (1364-1404)
James of Oldo
was born in 1364, into a well-to-do family near Milan. He married a
woman who, like him, appreciated the comforts that came with wealth.
But an outbreak of plague drove James, his wife and their three
children out of their home and into the countryside. Despite those
precautions, two of his daughters died from the plague, James
determined to use whatever time he had left to build up treasures in
heaven and to build God’s realm on earth. He and his wife became
Secular Franciscans. James gave up his old lifestyle and did penance
for his sins. He cared for a sick priest, who taught him Latin. Upon
the death of his wife, James himself became a priest. His house was
transformed into a chapel where small groups of people, many of them
fellow Secular Franciscans, came for prayer and support. James focused
on caring for the sick and for prisoners of war. He died in 1404 after
contracting a disease from one of his patients. James Oldo was
beatified in 1933.
The death of those we love brings a troubling awareness of our own
mortality. James had that experience when he gazed into his friend’s
grave, and it brought him to his senses. He determined to use whatever
time he had left to build up treasures in heaven and to build God’s
realm on earth. Our time is limited, too. We can use it well or
foolishly: The choice is ours.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 19:
Blessed Luchesio
and Buonadonna (d.1260)
Luchesio and his wife Buonadonna wanted to follow St. Francis as a
married couple. Thus they set in motion the Secular Franciscan Order.
Luchesio and Buonadonna lived in Poggibonzi where he was a greedy
merchant. Meeting Francis — probably in 1213 — changed his life. He began
to perform many works of charity. At first Buonadonna was not as
enthusiastic about giving so much away as Luchesio was. One day after
complaining that he was giving everything to strangers, Buonadonna
answered the door only to find someone else needing help. Luchesio
asked her to give the poor man some bread. She frowned but went to the
pantry anyway. There she discovered more bread than had been there the
last time she looked. She soon became as zealous for a poor and simple
life as Luchesio was. They sold the business, farmed enough land to
provide for their needs and distributed the rest to the poor. In the
13th century some couples, by mutual consent and with the Church’s
permission, separated so that the husband could join a monastery (or a
group such as Francis began) and his wife could go to a cloister.
Conrad of Piacenza and his wife did just that. This choice existed for
childless couples or for those whose children had already grown up.
Luchesio and Buonadonna wanted another alternative, a way of sharing in
religious life, but outside the cloister. To meet this desire, Francis
set up the Secular Franciscan Order. Francis wrote a simple Rule for
the Third Order (Secular Franciscans) at first; Pope Honorius III
approved a more formally worded Rule in 1221. The charity of Luchesio
drew the poor to him, and, like many other saints, he and Buonadonna
seemed never to lack the resources to help these people. One day
Luchesio was carrying a crippled man he had found on the road. A
frivolous young man came up and asked, "What poor devil is that you are
carrying there on your back?" "I am carrying my Lord Jesus Christ,"
responded Luchesio. The young man immediately begged Luchesio’s pardon.
Luchesio and Buonadonna both died on April 28, 1260. He was beatified
in 1273. Local tradition referred to Buonadonna as "blessed" though the
title was not given officially. (AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 20:
St. Conrad of Parzham
(1818-1894)
Conrad spent most of his life as porter in Altoetting, Bavaria, letting
people into
the friary and indirectly encouraging them to let God into
their lives. His parents, Bartholomew and Gertrude Birndorfer, lived
near Parzham, Bavaria. In those days this region was recovering from
the Napoleonic wars. A lover of solitary prayer and a peacemaker as a
young man, Conrad joined the Capuchins as a brother. He made his
profession in 1852 and was assigned to the friary in Altoetting. That
city’s shrine to Mary was very popular; at the nearby Capuchin friary
there was a lot of work for the porter, a job Conrad held for 41 years.
At first some of the other friars were jealous that such a young friar
held this important job. Conrad’s patience and holy life overcame their
doubts. As porter he dealt with many people, obtaining many of the
friary supplies and generously providing for the poor who came to the
door. He treated them all with the courtesy Francis expected of his
followers. Conrad’s helpfulness was sometimes unnerving. Once Father
Vincent, seeking quiet to prepare a sermon, went up the belltower of
the church. Conrad tracked him down when someone wanting to go to
confession specifically requested Father Vincent. Conrad also developed
a special rapport with the children of the area. He enthusiastically
promoted the Seraphic Work of Charity, which aided neglected children.
Conrad spent hours in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. He regularly
asked the Blessed Mother to intercede for him and for the many people
he included in his prayers. The ever-patient Conrad was canonized in
1934.
"It was God’s will that I should leave everything that was near and
dear to me. I thank him for having called me to religious life where I
have found such peace and joy as I could never have found in the world.
My plan of life is chiefly this: to love and suffer, always meditating
upon, adoring and admiring God’s unspeakable love for his lowliest
creatures" (Letter of Saint Conrad).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 21:
St. Anselm
(1033-1109)
Indifferent
toward religion as a young man, Anselm became one of the Church's
greatest theologians and leaders. He received the title "Father of
Scholasticism" for his attempt to analyse and illumine the truths of
faith through the aid of reason. At 15, Anselm wanted to enter a
monastery, but was refused acceptance because of his father's
opposition. Twelve years later, after careless disinterest in religion
and years of worldly living, he finally fulfilled his desire to be a
monk. He entered the monastery of Bec in Normandy, three years later
was elected prior and 15 years later was unanimously chosen abbot.
Considered an original and independent thinker, Anselm was admired for
his patience, gentleness and teaching skill. Under his leadership, the
abbey of Bec became a monastic school, influential in philosophical and
theological studies. During these years, at the community's request,
Anselm began publishing his theological works, comparable to those of
St. Augustine. His best-known work is the book Cur Deus Homo ("Why God
Became Man"). At 60, against his will, Anselm was appointed archbishop
of Canterbury in 1093. His appointment was opposed at first by
England's King William Rufus and later accepted. Rufus persistently
refused to cooperate with efforts to reform the Church. Anselm finally
went into voluntary exile until Rufus died in 1100. He was then
recalled to England by Rufus's brother and successor, Henry I.
Disagreeing fearlessly with Henry over the king's insistence on
investing England's bishops, Anselm spent another three years in exile
in Rome. His care and concern extended to the very poorest people; he
opposed the slave trade. Anselm obtained from the national council at
Westminster the passage of a resolution prohibiting the sale of human
beings.
"No one will have any other desire in
heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of
all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of
God" (St. Anselm, Opera Omnia, Letter 112). (AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 22:
St. Adalbert
of Prague (956-97)
Opposition to the Good News of Jesus did not discourage Adalbert, who
is now remembered with great honor in the Czech Republic, Poland,
Hungary and Germany. Born to a noble family in Bohemia, he received
part of his education from St. Adalbert of Magdeburg. At the age of 27
he was chosen as bishop of Prague. Those who resisted his program of
clerical reform forced him into exile eight years later. In time the
people of Prague requested his return as their bishop. Within a short
time, however, he was exiled again after excommunicating those who
violated the right of sanctuary by dragging a woman accused of adultery
from a church and murdering her. After a short ministry in Hungary, he
went to preach the Good News to people living near the Baltic Sea. He
and two companions were martyred by pagan priests in that region.
Adalbert's body was immediately ransomed and buried in Gniezno
cathedral (Poland). In the mid-11th century his body was moved to St.
Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
Preaching the Good News can be dangerous work whether the audience is
already baptized or not. Adalbert fearlessly preached Jesus' gospel and
received a martyr's crown for his efforts. Similar zeal has created
modern martyrs in many places, especially in Central and South America.
Some of those martyrs grew up in areas once evangelized by Adalbert.
“God our Father, you have honored the Church with the victorious
witness of St. Adalbert, who died for his faith. As he imitated the
suffering and death of the Lord, may we follow in his footsteps and
come to eternal joy” (adapted from the Common of a Martyr in the Easter
season). (AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 23:
St. George
If Mary Magdalene was the victim of misunderstanding, George is the object of a
vast amount of imagination. There is every reason to believe that he was a real
martyr who suffered at Lydda in Palestine, probably before the time of
Constantine. The Church adheres to his memory, but not to the legends
surrounding his life. That he was willing to pay the supreme price to follow
Christ is what the Church believes. And it is enough. The story of George's
slaying the dragon, rescuing the king's daughter and converting Libya is a
twelfth-century Italian fable. George was a favourite patron saint of crusaders,
as well as of Eastern soldiers in earlier times. He is a patron saint of
England, Portugal, Germany, Aragon, Genoa and Venice.
Human nature seems unable to be satisfied with mere cold historical data.
Americans have Washington and Lincoln, but we somehow need Paul Bunyan, too. The
life of St. Francis of Assisi is inspiring enough, but for centuries the
Italians have found his spirit in the legends of the Fioretti, too. Santa Claus
is the popular extension of the spirit of St. Nicholas. Both fact and legend are
human ways of illumining the mysterious truth about the One who alone is holy.
"When we look at the lives of those who have faithfully followed Christ, we are
inspired with a new reason for seeking the city which is to come" (Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church, 50).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 24:
St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622)
If a poor man needed some clothing, Fidelis would often give the man the clothes
right off his back. Complete generosity to others characterized this saint's
life. Born in 1577, Mark Rey (Fidelis was his religious name) became a lawyer
who constantly upheld the causes of the poor and oppressed people. Nicknamed
"the poor man's lawyer," Fidelis soon grew disgusted with the corruption and
injustice he saw among his colleagues. He left his law career to become a
priest, joining his brother George as a Franciscan friar of the Capuchin Order.
His wealth was divided between needy seminarians and the poor. As a follower of
Francis, Fidelis continued his devotion to the weak and needy. Once, during a
severe epidemic in a city where he was guardian of a friary, Fidelis cared for
and cured many sick soldiers. He was appointed head of a group of Capuchins sent
to preach against the Calvinists and Zwinglians in Switzerland. Almost certain
violence threatened. Those who observed the mission felt that success was more
attributable to the prayer of Fidelis during the night than to his sermons and
instructions. He was accused of opposing the peasants' national aspirations for
independence from Austria. While he was preaching at Seewis, to which he had
gone against the advice of his friends, a gun was fired at him, but he escaped
unharmed. A Protestant offered to shelter Fidelis, but he declined, saying his
life was in God's hands. On the road back, he was set upon by a group of armed
men and killed.
Fidelis's constant prayer was that he be kept completely faithful to God and not
give in to any lukewarmness or apathy. He was often heard to exclaim, "Woe to me
if I should prove myself but a half-hearted soldier in the service of my
thorn-crowned Captain." His prayer against apathy, and his concern for the poor
and weak make him a saint whose example is valuable today. The modern Church is
calling us to follow the example of "the poor man's lawyer" by sharing ourselves
and our talents with those less fortunate and by working for justice in the
world. "Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of
the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the
Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church's mission for the redemption of the
human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation" ("Justice in the
World," Synod of Bishops, 1971).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 25:
Saint Mark, evangelist
Most of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New Testament. He is
usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. (When Peter escaped from prison,
he went to the home of Mark's mother.)
Paul and Barnabas took him along on the
first missionary journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem.
It is evident, from Paul's refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second
journey despite Barnabas's insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Later,
Paul asks Mark to visit him in prison so we may assume the trouble did not last
long. The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark
emphasizes Jesus' rejection by humanity while being God's triumphant envoy.
Probably written for Gentile converts in Rome — after the death of Peter and Paul
sometime between A.D. 60 and 70 — Mark's Gospel is the gradual manifestation of a
"scandal": a crucified Messiah. Evidently a friend of Mark (Peter called him "my
son"), Peter is only one of the Gospel sources, others being the Church in
Jerusalem (Jewish roots) and the Church at Antioch (largely Gentile). Like one
other Gospel writer, Luke, Mark was not one of the 12 apostles. We cannot be
certain whether he knew Jesus personally. Some scholars feel that the evangelist
is speaking of himself when describing the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane: "Now a
young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They
seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked" (Mark 14:51-52).
Others hold Mark to be the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Venice, famous for
the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint; the large basilica there
is believed to contain his remains. A winged lion is Mark's symbol. The lion
derives from Mark's description of John the Baptist as a "voice of one crying
out in the desert" (Mark 1:3), which artists compared to a roaring lion. The
wings come from the application of Ezekiel's vision of four winged creatures
(Ezekiel, chapter one) to the evangelists.
There is very little in Mark that is not in the other Gospels—only four
passages. One is: “...This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a
man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and
the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land
yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And
when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come”
(Mark 4:26-29).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 26:
St. Pedro de San José
Betancur (1626-1667)
Central America can claim its first saint with the July 30 canonization
of Pedro de Betancur by Pope John Paul II in Guatemala City. Known as
the "St. Francis of the Americas," Pedro de Betancur is the first saint
to have worked and died in Guatemala. Calling the new saint an
“outstanding example” of Christian mercy, the Holy Father noted that
St. Pedro practised mercy “heroically with the lowliest and the most
deprived.” Speaking to the estimated 500,000 Guatemalans in attendance,
the Holy Father spoke of the social ills that plague the country today
and of the need for change. “Let us think of the children and young
people who
are homeless or deprived of an education; of abandoned women
with their many needs; of the hordes of social outcasts who live in the
cities; of the victims of organized crime, of prostitution or of drugs;
of the sick who are neglected and the elderly who live in loneliness,”
he said in his homily during the three-hour liturgy. Pedro very much
wanted to become a priest, but God had other plans for the young man
born into a poor family on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Pedro was a
shepherd until age 24, when he began to make his way to Guatemala,
hoping to connect with a relative engaged in government service there.
By the time he reached Havana, he was out of money. After working there
to earn more, he got to Guatemala City the following year. When he
arrived he was so destitute that he joined the bread line which the
Franciscans had established. Soon, Pedro enrolled in the local Jesuit
college in hopes of studying for the priesthood. No matter how hard he
tried, however, he could not master the material; he withdrew from
school. In 1655 he joined the Secular Franciscan Order. Three years
later he opened a hospital for the convalescent poor; a shelter for the
homeless and a school for the poor soon followed. Not wanting to
neglect the rich of Guatemala City, Pedro began walking through their
part of town ringing a bell and inviting them to repent. Other men came
to share in Pedro's work. Soon they became the Bethlehemite
Congregation, which went on to earn official papal approval after
Pedro's death.
He is sometimes credited with originating the Christmas Eve posadas
procession in which people representing Mary and Joseph seek a night's
lodging from their neighbours. The custom soon spread to Mexico and
other Central American countries. Pedro was beatified in 1980.
Speaking of Pedro and the four others beatified with him, Pope John
Paul II said: "God lavished his kindness and his mercy on them,
enriching them with his grace; he loved them with a fatherly, but
demanding, love, which promised only hardships and suffering. He
invited and called them to heroic holiness; he tore them away from
their countries of origin and sent them to other lands to proclaim the
message of the gospel, in the midst of inexpressible toil and
difficulties" (L'Osservatore Romano).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 27:
St. Louis Marie de Montfort (1673-1716)
Louis's life is inseparable from his efforts to promote genuine devotion to
Mary, the mother of Jesus and mother of the Church. Totus tuus (completely
yours)
was Louis's personal motto; Karol Wojtyla chose it as his episcopal motto. Born
in the Breton village of Montfort, close to Rennes (France), as an adult Louis
identified himself by the place of his Baptism instead of his family name,
Grignion. After being educated by the Jesuits and the Sulpicians, he was
ordained as a diocesan priest in 1700. Soon he began preaching parish missions
throughout western France. His years of ministering to the poor prompted him to
travel and live very simply, sometimes getting him into trouble with Church
authorities. In his preaching, which attracted thousands of people back to the
faith, Father Louis recommended frequent, even daily, Holy Communion (not the
custom then!) and imitation of the Virgin Mary's ongoing acceptance of God's
will for her life. Louis founded the Missionaries of the Company of Mary (for
priests and brothers) and the Daughters of Wisdom, who cared especially for the
sick. His book, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, has become a classic
explanation of Marian devotion. Louis died in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, where a
basilica has been erected in his honour. He was canonized in 1947.
Like Mary, Louis experienced challenges in his efforts to follow Jesus. Opposed
at times in his preaching and in his other ministries, Louis knew with St. Paul,
“Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God,
who causes the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7. Any attempt to succeed by worldly
standards runs the risk of betraying the Good News of Jesus. Mary is “the first
and most perfect disciple,” as the late Raymond Brown, S.S., described her.
“Mary is the fruitful Virgin, and in all the souls in which she comes to dwell
she causes to flourish purity of heart and body, rightness of intention and
abundance of good works. Do not imagine that Mary, the most fruitful of
creatures who gave birth to a God, remains barren in a faithful soul. It will be
she who makes the soul live incessantly for Jesus Christ, and will make Jesus
live in the soul” (True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 28:
St. Peter Chanel (1803-1841)
Anyone who has worked in loneliness, with great adaptation required and with
little apparent success, will find a kindred spirit in Peter Chanel. As a young
priest he revived a parish in a "bad" district by the simple method of showing
great devotion to the sick. Wanting to be a missionary, he joined the Society of
Mary (Marists) at 28. Obediently, he taught in the seminary for five years.
Then, as superior of seven Marists, he travelled to Western Oceania where he was
entrusted with a vicariate. The bishop accompanying the missionaries left Peter
and a brother on Futuna Island in the New Hebrides, promising to return in six
months. The interval lasted five years. Meanwhile he struggled with this new
language and mastered it, making the difficult adjustment to life with whalers,
traders and warring natives. Despite little apparent success and severe want, he
maintained a serene and gentle spirit and endless patience and courage. A few
natives had been baptized, a few more were being instructed. When the
chieftain's son asked to be baptized, persecution by the chieftain reached a
climax. Father Chanel was clubbed to death, his body cut to pieces. Within two
years after his death, the whole island became Catholic and has remained so.
Peter Chanel is the first martyr of Oceania and its patron.
Suffering for Christ means suffering because we are like Christ. Very often the
opposition we meet is the result of our own selfishness or imprudence. We are
not martyrs when we are "persecuted" by those who merely treat us as we treat
them. A Christian martyr is one who, like Christ, is simply a witness to God's
love, and brings out of human hearts the good or evil that is already there. "No
one is a martyr for a conclusion, no one is a martyr for an opinion; it is faith
that makes martyrs" (Cardinal Newman, Discourses to Mixed Congregations).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 29:
St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
The value Catherine makes central in her short
life and which sounds clearly and consistently through her experience is
complete surrender to Christ. What is most impressive about her is that she
learns to view her surrender to
her Lord as a goal to be reached through time. She was the 23rd child of Jacopo and Lapa
Benincasa and grew up as an intelligent, cheerful and intensely religious
person. Catherine disappointed her mother by cutting off her hair as a protest against being overly encouraged to improve her appearance in order to attract a
husband. Her father ordered her to be left in peace and she was given a room of
her own for prayer and meditation. She entered the Dominican Third Order at 18
and spent the next three years in seclusion, prayer and austerity. Gradually a
group of followers gathered around her—men and women, priests and religious. An
active public apostolate grew out of her contemplative life. Her letters, mostly
for spiritual instruction and encouragement of her followers, began to take more
and more note of public affairs. Opposition and slander resulted from her mixing
fearlessly with the world and speaking with the candour and authority of one
completely committed to Christ. She was cleared of all charges at the Dominican
General Chapter of 1374. Her public influence reached great heights because of
her evident holiness, her membership in the Dominican Third Order, and the deep
impression she made on the pope. She worked tirelessly for the crusade against
the Turks and for peace between Florence and the pope. In 1378, the Great Schism
began, splitting the allegiance of Christendom between two, then three, popes
and putting even saints on opposing sides. Catherine spent the last two years of
her life in Rome, in prayer and pleading on behalf of the cause of Urban VI and
the unity of the Church. She offered herself as a victim for the Church in its
agony. She died surrounded by her "children." Catherine ranks high among the
mystics and spiritual writers of the Church. In 1970 Paul VI named her and
Teresa of Avila as doctors of the Church. In recent years, it has been suggested
that she (among other possibilities) should be named patron of the Internet.
Her
spiritual testament is found in The Dialogue. Catherine's book
Dialogue contains four
treatises—her testament of faith to the spiritual world. She wrote, "No one
should judge that he has greater perfection because he performs great penances
and gives himself in excess to the staying of the body than he who does less,
inasmuch as neither virtue nor merit consists therein; for otherwise he would be
an evil case, who for some legitimate reason was unable to do actual penance.
Merit consists in the virtue of love alone, flavoured with the light of true
discretion without which the soul is worth nothing." (AmericanCatholic.org)
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April 30:
St. Pius V
(1504-1572)
This is the pope whose job was to implement the historic Council of Trent. If we
think recent popes have had difficulties in implementing Vatican Council II,
Pius V had even greater problems after that historic council more than four
centuries ago. During his
papacy (1566-1572), Pius V was faced with the almost
overwhelming responsibility of getting a shattered and scattered Church back on
its feet. The family of God had been shaken by corruption, by the Reformation,
by the constant threat of Turkish invasion and by the bloody bickering of the
young nation-states. In 1545 a previous pope convened the Council of Trent in an
attempt to deal with all these pressing problems. Off and on over 18 years, the
Church Fathers discussed, condemned, affirmed and decided upon a course of
action. The Council closed in 1563. Pius V was elected in 1566 and was charged
with the task of implementing the sweeping reforms called for by the Council. He
ordered the founding of seminaries for the proper training of priests. He
published a new missal, a new breviary, a new catechism and established the
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) classes for the young. Pius zealously
enforced legislation against abuses in the Church. He patiently served the sick
and the poor by building hospitals, providing food for the hungry and giving
money customarily used for the papal banquets to poor Roman converts. His
decision to keep wearing his Dominican habit led to the custom of the pope
wearing a white cassock. In striving to reform both Church and state, Pius
encountered vehement opposition from England's Queen Elizabeth and the Roman
Emperor Maximilian II. Problems in France and in the Netherlands also hindered
Pius's hopes for a Europe united against the Turks. Only at the last minute was
he able to organize a fleet which won a decisive victory in the Gulf of Lepanto,
off Greece, on October 7, 1571. Pius's ceaseless papal quest for a renewal of
the Church was grounded in his personal life as a Dominican friar. He spent long
hours with his God in prayer, fasted rigorously, deprived himself of many
customary papal luxuries and faithfully observed the Dominican Rule and its
spirit.
In their personal lives
and in their actions as popes, Pius V and Paul VI (d. 1978) both led the family
of God in the process of interiorizing and implementing the new birth called for
by the Spirit in major Councils. With zeal and patience, Pius and Paul pursued
the changes urged by the Council Fathers. Like Pius and Paul, we too are called
to constant change of heart and life. "In this universal assembly, in this
privileged point of time and space, there converge together the past, the
present, and the future. The past: for here, gathered in this spot, we have the
Church of Christ with her tradition, her history, her Councils, her doctors, her
saints; the present: we are taking leave of one another to go out toward the
world of today with its miseries, its sufferings, its sins, but also with its
prodigious accomplishments, values, and virtues; and the future is here in the
urgent appeal of the peoples of the world for more justice, in their will for
peace, in their conscious or unconscious thirst for a higher life, that life
precisely which the Church of Christ can give and wishes to give to them" (from
Pope Paul's closing message at Vatican II). (AmericanCatholic.org)