Saint of the Week Database for 2008
January 6th
ST. ADRIAN
(b. circa 635 A.D./d. 710 A.D. – Feast Day, January 9th)
A native of Africa, St. Adrian was abbot of Nerida, near Naples, Italy, when Pope Vitalian offered him the see of Canterbury, occupied at that moment by Bishop Uphard, whom Rome refused to recognize. Too mistrustful of himself to face such a mission, St. Adrian told the pope that Theodore of Tarsus was better fitted to fill the post. However, he agreed to accompany and help him with all his power. This arrangement was agreed to by the Roman pontiff, and the two envoys set off for England, going by way of France. There, suspected of being a political agent of the Eastern emperor, St. Adrian was arrested by Ebroin, mayor of Neustria, and Theodore alone was able to proceed on his way to Canterbury.
When, later, St. Adrian arrived in Great Britain, he found Theodore there, confirmed to his see, and was named by him abbot of the monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul at Canterbury. For more than thirty years he edified his abbey and the neighboring country by his teaching and saintliness. He himself undertook the teaching of Greek and Latin to his monks so that they might more easily understand and draw profit from the Scriptures.
His body was preserved from corruption for some centuries and his tomb has re-appeared during excavations in the 20th Century.
Englebert/Howley
January 13th
ST. CANUTE
(b. (?)/d. 1086 A.D. – Feast Day, January 19th)
Sueno II, king of Denmark, had died without legitimate heirs, leaving several illegitimate children. Among them Harold, called the Idle, was chosen to succeed him while St. Canute (or Knut) retired to Sweden. When Harold died, St. Canute ascended to the throne.
The beginning of his reign of six years was marked by victories and timely reforms. In addition, the king gave an example of all the private virtues and of great zeal for the conversion of his subjects.
St. Canute suffered his first setback when he attempted to press his rights over England where William the Conqueror had just established himself. His expedition proved disastrous and a good number of his subject then gave signs of rebellion. They refused to pay taxes, especially ecclesiastical tithes. Assisted by his brother Benedict, St. Canute wished to bring them to reason, but he was ill-informed and ill-advised. Instead of marching against them, he tarried in the town of Odense and was surprised by a rebel attack.
While hearing Mass in the Church of St. Alban he learned he was lost. Having received Communion and forgiven his enemies, he prostrated himself in the form of a cross before the altar, and awaited death. Soon the conspirators invaded the church and fearful butchery took place in which the king, his brother Benedict, and seventeen of their companions were massacred.
Englebert/Howley
January 20th
ST. ILDEPHONSUS
(B. 606 A.D./d. 667 A.D. – Feast Day, January 23rd)
St. Ildephonsus was born at Toledo, Spain, of royal blood, on December 8th, 606 A.D. His parents attributed his birth to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin.
He became a monk, then abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Agalia. Later he was chosen to be bishop at the church of Toledo; he hid himself, was found and dragged by force to the consecration. During the ten years that he occupied the bishopric showed himself a model shepherd, watching over his flock with solicitude, and combined preaching with the writing of several books. The most celebrated of them is The Perpetual Virginity of Mary against Jovinianus, Helvidius, and a Jew.
St. Ildephonsus was also an ardent protagonist of the feast of December 18th, called Expectatio partus or “the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” Two miracles which Our Lady accomplished in his favor are reported. One year, on the eve of December 18th, he was entering the church with his clergy for matins, he found the Virgin seated on the bishop’s throne surrounded with angels. Beckoning to him, she put on him a splendid chasuble and said: “Here is a present my Son sends you to wear when in future you celebrate the offices in my honor.” The tenth Council of Toledo instituted a liturgical feast in order to perpetuate the memory of this apparition.
The other miracle took place when, in company with King Recesvint, the pious bishop was praying one day in the church of St. Leocadia. The patroness of Toledo, whose relics were believed lost, appeared to him and pointed out to him the place where the relics lay; then she said to him: “Praiseworthy art thou, Ildephonsus, for having so well defended the honor of Our Queen.”
Englebert/Howley
January 27th
ST. FRANCIS de SALES
(b. 1567 A.D./d. 1622 A.D. – Feast Day, January 29th)
St. Francis de Sales is the patron saint of the deaf, journalists and the Catholic press.
St. Francis de Sales was born of an old family of Savoy at the Chateau of Thorens, France in 1567 A.D. He began his studies at La Roche and Annecy; he continued them from 1581 to 1588 A.D. at Clermont College in Paris and completed his education at the University of Padua, Italy, in 1591 A.D.
In 1591 A.D., as an act of obedience to his father, he became an advocate in the senate of Savoy, France. The following year, free at last to follow his true vocation, he became a priest, and at once began the ministry of preaching and spiritual direction in which he was to display such mastery. From 1594 to 1598 A.D., he strove to convert the Protestants of the Chablais and met with success.
He was appointed bishop of Geneva, France, in 1603 A.D. From then on his renown traveled beyond the frontiers of the Duchy of Savoy. At Paris, where he preached with success, he became friends with St. Vincent de Paul and directed Madame Acarie and Mother Angelique Arnauld. Henry IV said: “The bishop of Geneva has all the virtues and not a single fault.” He proposed to give him a fine and famous French bishopric, but St. Francis refused. “Sire,” he replied, “I am married; my wife is a poor woman. I cannot leave her for a richer one.”
During that year, in the course of preaching on the season of Lent at Dijon, France, he met Madame de Chantal, with whom seven years later he founded the Order of the Visitation.
St. Francis de Sales was a great correspondent. His “Introduction to the Devout Life” is only a compilation of notes and letters addressed by him to Madame de Charmoisy. When this work appeared, the general of the Carthusians begged him never again publish anything, fearing that he might be disappointed. But when, in 1614 A.D., there appeared “Treatise on the Love of God,” the same adviser begged him never to stop writing.
St. Francis died in 1622 A.D. with the calm he had always shown. He was counseled to repeat the words of St. Martin: “Lord, if I am still necessary to your people, I do not refuse the labor.” St. Francis replied: “I, necessary? No, no, I am but a useless servant!” He then repeated the word “useless” three times, as his spirit entered the Kingdom of God.
Englebert/Howley
February 3rd
ST. APOLLONIA
(b. ?/d. 249 A.D. – Feast Day, February 9th)
In the last year of the reign of Roman Emperor Philip, an uprising against the Christians broke out at Alexandria, Egypt. Led by a so-called prophet, the pagans seized an old man, named Metras, and tried to force him to blaspheme. When he refused, they beat him until blood came, put out his eyes with pointed reeds, and finally stoned him to death.
Then they seized a Christian woman named Quinta and led her to a temple to force her to adore the idol there. As she refused, she was dragged, hands and feet bound, over pointed cobbles, and she too was stoned to death.
It was during the same disorders that the virgin Apollonia ended her long and virtuous existence. These fanatics struck her so hard on the jaw that they broke all her teeth. They then led her outside the town, lit a great fire, and threatened to throw her on to it alive if she did not agree to repeat certain words, for her equivalent to apostasy. However, a short time was allowed to her for reflection. She made a show of accepting, then, taking advantage of the inattention of her torturers and impelled by a movement of the Holy Spirit, she flung herself into the flames and was quickly consumed.
Englebert/Howley
February 11th
ST. ELIAS
(b. ?/d. 309 A.D. – Feast Day, February 16th)
With four Egyptian compatriots, St. Elias had accompanied some Christians condemned to the mines of Cilicia, in order to bring them comfort. He was returning to his country when, traveling through Palestine, he was arrested with his companions at the gates of Caesarea. On being questioned, they made no secret of their beliefs and were put in irons.
They appeared then before Firmilian, governor of Palestine, who first asked what their names were. They replied that they were named Elias, Jeremias, Isaias, Samuel and Daniel. These were in fact the names that they had taken for their own at baptism.
Firmilian asked whence they came. Elias, their spokesman, said that they all came from Jerusalem. “Does not St. Paul say,” he added, “that Jerusalem, Jerusalem on high, is our mother?”
“And where is this Jerusalem on high?” asked Firmilian. “This Jerusalem,” replied
St. Elias, “is the true country of Christians; it is situated in the East, beside the true Sun and only Light.”
It is to be supposed that Firmilian could understand nothing of this symbolic language borrowed from the Scriptures. He did not, however, succeed in making the Christians use any other language. Perhaps, furthermore, he believed that they were speaking of an Eastern city where the Christians were organizing themselves against the Romans. In any case, these strange words threw him into a fury and he passed a sentence of death on the five travelers.
St. Elias was martyred by beheading.
Englebert/Howley
February 17th
ST. PETER DAMIAN
(b. 1007 A.D./d. 1072 A.D. – Feast Day, February 21st)
A native of Ravenna, Italy, this future cardinal and doctor of the Church had the most lowly beginnings. The youngest child of a large family, his mother refused to nurse him. She died soon afterwards and so did her husband. An elder brother took charge of little Peter and sent him out to watch the swine. Another brother, named Damian, later rescued him and enabled him to go to school. It was in memory of this second brother that Peter added his first name to his own.
St. Peter Damian became a brilliant teacher at Faenza and Ravenna, but, fearing for his salvation, entered Fonte-Avellana in Umbria when he was about eighteen. Here the eremitic life was followed and he endeared himself to the austere monks and soon became their prior. He founded hermitages similar to Fonte-Avellana and kept a firm hand over them; he had disciples who themselves were saints, such as St. John of Lodi, who wrote his life, St. Rodolfo, bishop of Gubbio, and St. Dominic, called Loricatus. Despite the occasional sharpness of his zealous nature, no one has so loved the Blessed Virgin or spoken more beautifully of her than this ascetic.
There exist a hundred and fifty-eight of his letters, sixty minor works, several lives of the saints, and a number of admirable sermons. With sharp frankness he wrote to popes, to anti-popes, to the emperor, to prelates, abbots and abbesses. It is true that scandals abounded at that time in all ranks of the Church.
In 1057 A.D., in order to persuade St. Peter Damian to let himself be named cardinal-bishop of Ostia, it was necessary to threaten him with excommunication. From that time on, he was employed on the most difficult missions. However, after five years he succeeded in having his resignation accepted and returned to Fonte-Avellana. He died on a journey to Faenza at the monastery of St. Mary of the Angels. He was buried there and the following epitaph, composed by himself, was placed on his tomb: “What you are, I was; what I am, you will be. Remember me, I pray you. Have pity on the dust of Peter who lies here. Pray, weep, and beg God to spare him.”
St. Peter Damian, who had much insomnia and suffered terribly with headaches, is invoked against these maladies.
Englebert/Howley
February 24th
ST. MATTHIAS
(d. 1st century A.D. – Feast Day, February 24th)
St. Matthias is the patron saint of carpenters, tailors and repentant drunkards. He is invoked against smallpox.
Everything that is known about St. Matthias can be found in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.
There, it is recounted that, after seeing Jesus ascend to heaven, the apostles came down from the Mount of Olives and returned to Jerusalem. They went to their habitual meeting place to await the Holy Spirit promised by the Savior. With them were the Virgin Mary, the holy women, and those who had followed Our Lord during His ministry; in all, about one hundred and twenty persons.
To this gathering Peter began to speak, “Brethren,” he said, “there is a prophecy in scripture that must be fulfilled; that which the Holy Spirit made…about Judas, who showed the way to the men that arrested Jesus. Judas was counted among our number and had been given a share in this ministry of ours. (With the price of his treachery, this man came into possession of a field; and, afterwards, when he fell from a height, and his belly burst open, so that he was disemboweled, all Jerusalem heard of it, and the field came to be called, in their language, Haceldama, that is, the Field of Blood.) Well, in the book of Psalms the words are written, let their camping place be deserted, and let no man be found to dwell in it. And again, let another take over his office. There are men who have walked in our company all through the time when the Lord Jesus came and went among us…One of these ought to be added to our number as a witness of His resurrection. So they named two of these, Joseph called…Justus, and Matthias. And they offered this prayer, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show us which of these two thou hast chosen to take his place in this work of apostleship, from which Judas has fallen away, and gone to the place which belonged to him. They gave them lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he took rank with the eleven apostles” (Acts 1, 15-26.)
Such is the account given in the Acts. Some add that St. Matthias evangelized Palestine and there suffered martyrdom; others, that it was in Ethiopia that he preached the gospel and shed his blood.
These are only opinions.
Englebert/Howley
March 2nd
ST. COLETTE
(b. 1381 A.D./d. 1447 A.D. – Feast Day, March 6th)
This great Franciscan reformer was born at Corbie, near Amiens, France, January 13th, 1381. Her parents, almost sexagenarians, called her Nicolette in gratitude to St. Nicholas for her birth. Her father, Robert Boelet, was a wealthy and virtuous artisan; her mother went to confession every week. They died within a short space of one another, leaving their daughter of eighteen under the guardianship of Dom de Roye, Benedictine abbot of Corbie.
The latter wished to see her married; St. Colette refused and distributed her goods to the poor. He allowed her to enter the beguinage at Amiens, but she stayed only a year, finding the life too soft. She entered the hospital of the Benedictines at Corbie, and left that too. Then she became a Poor Clare in the convent of Moncel, near Port-Saint-Maxence; but the rule of Pope Urban IV that followed there appeared not severe enough, and she left the convent.
Then she became a tertiary of St. Francis, and her guardian authorized her to take the vow of seclusion. On September 17th, 1402, on the feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis, she was immured in a cell between two buttresses of Notre Dame of Corbie, giving on to the church by a grill. There she lived for three years. Then, on the orders of St. Francis and St. Clare who had appeared to her, she undertook the reform of the Franciscan order.
The West was in full schism, and France, like Spain and Scotland, ranged themselves on the side of obedience to Avignon. St. Colette went to Nice to see Pedro de Luna, now called Pope Benedict XIII. He imposed the veil and the seraphic cord upon her and named her superior general of all the convents of the Poor Clares which she should found or reform. The Colettine reform, which still endures, quickly spread in France, Spain, Flanders, and Savoy. It even extended in part to the order of the friars minor.
St. Colette traveled enormously, worked many miracles, endured every kind of suffering, and worked with St. Vincent Ferrer in extinguishing schism. She died at Ghent, France, on March 6th, 1447 A.D.
Englebert/Howley
March 9th
ST. LOUISE DE MARILLAC
(b. August 15, 1591 A.D./d. March 15, 1660 A.D. – Feast Day, March 15th)
Born in Paris, France, on August 15th, 1591 A.D., of Louis de Marillac, counselor to the Parliament, and of his second wife, Margurite le Camus, St. Louise lost her mother when very young. Carrying out her father’s wishes she read extensively, learned drawing and the management of a house at an early age. In 1613 A.D., she married Antoine le Gras who, nine years later, was stricken with an incurable illness. St. Louise saw in this a divine punishment for having broken an earlier vow that she had made to enter the Capuchin order. This obsession and other interior griefs caused her to suffer for a long time. During the thirteen years she was married, she always reconciled the practices of piety with her duties as wife and mother. After she became a nun she still took good care of her only son that St. Vincent de Paul found it almost a fault. “You have more tenderness than any mother in the world,” he wrote to her. “In the name of God, leave your son to the care of his Heavenly Father who loves him more than you; or at least, don’t fuss so.”
It was, in fact, under the guidance of “Monsieur Vincent” that she placed herself within the Sisters of Charity in 1624 A.D. He immediately associated herself with his projects. The first Sisters of Charity were five “good country girls” whom Madame Le Gras assembled in 1633 A.D., and to whom she gave a rule: “It was such a good one,” said Monsieur Vincent, “that I desired to add nothing to it.”
The sisters at first employed themselves in teaching the catechism to little girls. Becoming more numerous, they devoted themselves to small schools, to retreats, to galley slaves, and to abandoned children. Later they founded hospitals for the poor and cared for the insane. The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity received the king’s approval in 1657 A.D., and that of the supreme pontiff in 1668 A.D., St. Louise, its superior-general, whished for continued simplicity, cordiality, and gaiety.
She died of gangrene on March 15th, 1660, A.D. Monsieur Vincent was gravely ill and unable to come to her succor. He sent her a message by one of his priests, “that she should go on ahead and he would hope to see her soon in heaven.”
Englebert/Howley
March 16th
ST. ALEXANDER OF JERUSALEM
(b. (?)/d. 251 A.D. – Feast Day, March 18th)
A native, it would seem, of Asia Minor, St. Alexander was brought up at the theological school of Alexandria, Egypt; he had Pantaenus and Clement as masters and the famous Origen as a fellow student.
In the first years of the 3rd century, he became bishop of a town in Cappadocia of which the identity is not known. During the persecution of Septimius Severus, he was arrested and spent many days in prison. Released after the accession of Caracalla, he made a pilgrimage to the holy places. The Episcopal see of Jerusalem was at the time occupied by St. Narcissus, who in view of his advanced age, had need of assistance. St. Alexander was given him as coadjutor and became his successor.
Among the prelates of this time, writes Origen, none was more distinguished for his goodness and gentleness. He was, moreover, a faithful friend. He received in Cappadocia his master Clement when he was driven out of Alexandria; at Jerusalem he received the persecuted Origen, ordained him priest, allowed him to preach and teach, and upheld him against his enemies. Unable to do more for the great man ini desperate straits, he procured for him at least a peaceful refuge at Caesarea.
St. Alexander had founded a library at Jerusalem where were gathered the writings and letters of the learned men of his time. Under Decius, he was imprisoned anew. “Crowned with his white hair,” writes Eusebius, “he bore witness to his faith in the Praetoria and died in chains at Caesarea in Palestine.”
Englebert/Howley
March 23rd – Easter Sunday, 2008
ST. LUDGER
(b. about 742 A.D./d. 809 A.D. – Feast Day, March 26th)
Born in Frisia (northwestern Germany) about 742 A.D., St. Ludger evinced from childhood a great aptitude for study. After having his first schooling in the monastery near Utrecht, ruled by St. Gregory, he left in 767 A.D. for York, England, where for four years he was a disciple of the celebrated Alcuin.
Returning to the Continent, he taught for a time at Utrecht, received the priesthood at Cologne, devoted several years to the conversion of Frisia, and then spent three years at Monte Cassino in order to familiarize himself with Benedictine institutions. Charlemagne met him there in 787 A.D. and sent him into his country to Christianize the peoples dwelling around the delta of the Ems River. St. Ludger worked for the conversion of Saxony and Westphalia. He founded a monastery at Werden, in the county of Mark, another at Helmstedt, and a third at Mimigardeford, which later gave rise to the city of Münster.
Becoming bishop of that city in 802 A.D., St. Ludger devoted himself entirely to the training of a virtuous and learned clergy. He himself gave a lesson each day from Scripture, led the most austere of lives, and almost all of his revenue went to charity. He was represented to Charlemagne as having wasted the possessions of his see and as having neglected the upkeep of the churches. The emperor hailed him to court. St. Ludger obeyed, and was saying his breviary when a chamberlain informed him that his turn for audience had come. He replied that he would go when he had finished. When he presented himself, Charlemagne was vexed and said: “Bishop, it is not at all respectful to make me wait like that.” “Sire,” replied St. Ludger, “is not God infinitely above your Majesty, and do I not obey you by putting his service before all, since you bade me to do so when you appointed me bishop?” “That is true,” said Charlemagne. Then he added: “I am happy to find you as I believed you to be; and I will not give any credence to those who misconstrue your conduct.”
Englebert/Howley
March 30th
ST. GERARD OF SAUVE-MAJEURE
(b. ?/d. 1095 A.D. – Feast Day, April 5th)
A monk at Corbie, France, his native town, and cellarer of the abbey, St. Gerard was attacked by fearful headaches which rendered him almost incapable of any work. In 1050 A.D. he left for Rome, and was ordained a priest by Pope Leo IX. In the pilgrimages which he made on that occasion to Monte Gargano, Monte Cassino, and the apostles’ tombs, he sought his cure in vain. He obtained it some years later at the intercession of St. Adelard of Corbie, whose biography he wrote out of gratitude.
About 1073 A.D., St. Gerard made a journey to the Holy Land. On his return, the monks of St. Vincent of Laon asked for him as their abbot. He accepted, in order to try to reform them, but he did not succeed and at the end of five years left them, taking with him the two best monks. A recluse named Ebroin joined them, as well as five knights, inspired by the same desire for a life of fervor.
The little flock visited successively the sanctuary of St. Denis near Paris, the church of the Holy Cross at Orléans, and the tomb of St. Martin at Tours. They reached Poitiers on the day that William III, duke of Aquitaine, entered the city. Having questioned our pilgrims as to their intentions, the prince offered to help them and pointed out the forest of Grande-Sauve. St. Gerard took possession of it on October 28th, 1079 A.D. On May 11th, 1081 A.D., he laid the foundation stone of the monastery he established there, under the rule of St. Benedict, reinforced by special statutes. Dedicated to the Holy Virgin and to the apostles St. Simon and St. Jude, this abbey later took the name of Notre Dame de la Grande-Sauve.
St. Gerard is the author of a Hagiology or Martyrology, in which he mentions several holy personages whose names, but for him, would not have come down to us.
When he was ready to die, he received the last sacraments, blessed and embraced all his monks, then asked them to retire in order to give place to the angels and saints who, he said, were coming to fetch his soul and take it to heaven.
Englebert/Howley
April 6th
BLESSED HERMANN JOSEPH
(b. 1150 A.D./d. 1241 A.D. – Feast Day, April 7th)
This holy person is supposed to have been one of the most devoted servants of Mary and one of the greatest contemplatives of the middle ages. From his childhood, it is said the Virgin treated him with a maternal familiarity, talking to him in German, caressing him, putting the Infant Jesus into his arms, bidding the angels to keep visible watch over him. His whole life was, indeed, filled with visions and ecstasies; and a hundred instances are cited of the gift he had for reading hearts.
Born of poor parents at Cologne, Germany, he entered the Premonstratensians at Steinfeld at the age of twelve; they first sent him to finish his studies in a Frisian monastery, then received his profession and made him their sacristan. The duty was particularly agreeable to Hermann Joseph, allowing him to be continually in church during the day without affecting the long visits which he made during the night.
Having become a priest, he was entrusted with the direction of convents of Norbertine and Cistercian nuns. He composed various pious treatises for them and, like many another mystic desirous of expressing his sublime experiences, wrote a commentary on the Song of Songs.
Besides the many ailments from which he suffered throughout his life, he was continually troubled with headaches which only ceased when he went up to the altar to celebrate Mass; they redoubled their violence at the approach of the liturgical solemnities, which made him say, playing on words: “Festa sunt mihi infesta; On feast days I am not feasting.” All of this did not, however, prevent him from dying in his nineties.
“Hermann Joseph thought so much about God,” wrote his biographer, “that he was completely indifferent to the world. However,” he adds, “his heart was like a general hospital where, beginning with the afflicted and his fellow monks, all men found a tender welcome and a sure refuge.”
Englebert/Howley
April 13th
ST. PERFECTO
(b. (?)/d. 850 A.D. – Feast Day, April 18th)
Cordova, Spain, where this holy person was born, lived, and died, was at that time still in the power of the Arabs. St. Perfecto, who was exercising his priestly ministry there, was stopped in the street one day by some Moors who asked him what he thought of Jesus and of Mohammed. He declared that Jesus was the Son of God and God Himself, that He had suffered to redeem us, and that His merits would obtain salvation for us. As for Mohammed, he would prefer to be silent in order not to irritate his questioners. As they urged him to speak frankly, promising not to get angry, St. Perfecto said finally that Mohammed was a false prophet and that they must renounce him to be saved. They would not listen further, but having given their word, they left him on the occasion to return in peace to his house.
Nevertheless, when they judged that enough time had gone by to render their promised void, The Moors charged some fellow believers to execute their vengeance. Thus it was that St. Perfecto was unexpectedly arrested, brought before the Arab judge and condemned to death as a blasphemer. His execution took place on the Moslem Easter; his last words were to bless Christ and to curse Mohammed and his Koran.
Englebert/Howley
April 20th
ST. OPPORTUNA
(b. (?)/d. 770 A.D. – Feast Day, April 22nd)
This holy abbess, to whom so many French churches were dedicated, was born at the castle of Exmes, not far from Argentan. Her brother, Chrodegang, became bishop of Séez; her aunt, St. Lanthilda, was abbess of Almenèches. It was in the neighborhood of this abbey, in a little monastery whose name is lost, that the youthful St. Opportuna became a nun. Her gentleness and patience caused her to be chosen unanimously as superior of the community.
Two charming miracles are told of her. One was accomplished to teach a lesson to a peasant who had stolen the convent donkey, and who persisted in keeping it despite all claims to its possession. The abbess had recourse to God, and the next morning the peasant meadow was covered with a layer of salt, which made him decide to think better of the matter and take the donkey back to the nuns. He also gave them his meadow, which from that time was known as the salt-meadow (pré̷salé).
The same year, a flock of birds came and ate all the seeds in the garden. St. Opportuna told all these pillagers that they were to regard themselves as prisoners. When they appeared, the abbess reproached them with their conduct, then dismissed them. But instead of going, they fluttered around her for a long time, chirping their repentance and good resolutions.
St. Opportuna died of a sorrow caused her by the death of Chrodegang, killed by an opponent in the village of Nonant. She interred his body at the abbey then asked God to reunite her to this beloved brother. She gave up the ghost after twelve days of illness, in a state of ecstasy, greeting the Virgin who, she said, was coming to meet her.
Englebert/Howley
April 27th
ST. ZITA
(b. 1218 A.D./d. 1272 A.D. – Feast Day, April 27th)
The little maid of Lucca, Italy, formulated in her youth this maxim: “Do what pleases God and avoid what displeases him,” and sanctified herself in her humble state.
Her parents cultivated a little piece of land near Lucca. When she was twelve, they sent her with a basket on her arm to sell the garden produce in the town. She had so much charm that she always came home with her basket empty. Among her customers the Fatinelli family was one of the richest. St. Zita went into their service at the age of eighteen and stayed there until her death.
She is shown to us sacrificing an hour of sleep every morning to attend Mass; continually fasting to save the greater part of her food for the poor; giving her bed to homeless women and sleeping on the floor at their feet. Her habits of piety never prevented her from being amiable and exact in her duties. If from jealousy some fellow worker misquoted her words or accused her unjustly, she believed that he only wished her well and went to thank and embrace her denouncer.
One might have thought that after so many years of service with the Fatinelli family they would have wished to treat her as a friend rather than as a servant, and would have spared her certain duties, but St. Zita never consented to leave to others the unpleasant tasks which she still could do. She died after five days of sufferings endured with the same joy and serenity which she had always shown.
Englebert/Howley
May 4th
ST. ANGELUS
(b. 1185 A.D./d. 1222 A.D. – Feast Day, May 5th)
Of Jewish origin, St. Angelus was born at Jerusalem in 1185 A.D. He had a twin brother named John. Their mother had them baptized when she became a Christian, and after their parents’ death both entered the Carmelite order. At the age of twenty-six, St. Angelus was sent to Jerusalem for his ordination. Afterwards, he went about Palestine, working many miracles, for which he became celebrated. To escape his popularity, he withdrew into seclusion, until the day when God inspired him to depart for Italy. No writings confirm the tradition, evidenced in certain pictures, according to which he met St. Dominic and St. Francis in Rome at the Lateran Council. In Sicily, where his fame as a worker of wonders had followed him, he wished to convert a knight of Alicata named Berenger, who was scandalizing that district by his conduct, became enraged by his conviction, and had him massacred before the Church of St. James. St. Angelus was placed by Pope Honorius II among the martyrs.
Englebert/Howley
May 11th
ST. UBALDUS
(b. (?)/d. 1160 A.D. – Feast Day, May 16th)
A native of Gubbio near Assisi, Italy, St. Ubaldus first studied in the school attached to the Church of St. Marianus and St. James; he continued with the clerics of the Church of St. Secundus; then his parents wanted him to marry, but he refused; he was ordained priest and nominated prior of the chapter of St. Marianus and St. James. St. Ubeldus succeeded in reforming these canons whose fervor left much to be desired. This reform took place at the time when St. Francis of Assisi often passed through Gubbio and, as we learn from the Fioretti, there converted a very bad wolf.
In 1226 A.D., the same year in which St. Francis died, the inhabitants of Perugia chose St. Ubaldus as bishop. After a strenuous resistance, he agreed to undertake this task at Gubbio, and carried it out to perfection for more than thirty years. Like St. Francis, his neighbor and doubtless his friend, he was humble, charitable, courageous, and patient. In order to become reconciled with him, he embraced an angry mason who had thrown him into a heap of fresh mortar. He went out to meet Frederick Barbarossa, who offered him gifts instead of sacking Gubbio, as he had intended. He twice broke his leg and once his arm, and rejoiced in being able to practice in his turn the patience he often preached in his sermons.
Englebert/Howley
May 18th
STS. DONATIAN AND ROGATIAN
(b. ?/d. 304 A.D. – Feast Day, May 24th)
There was a renewal of persecution of the Christians in 304 A.D.; an edict was published by Emperor Diocletian which obliged everyone to sacrifice publicly to the gods.
At that time there lived at Nantes, France, two brothers of a noble family, still young, of whom one, St. Donatian, had received baptism and was full of zeal, and the other, St. Rogatian, although having faith, had not yet been baptized. Denounced by their fellow citizens, they appeared in turn before the legate. He said to St. Donatian: “It appears that, not satisfied with refusing to adore Jupiter and Apollo, you propagate the cult of the Crucified and draw a great number of people after you.”
“I wish,” answered the accused, “to snatch them all from error and turn them towards Him who alone merits our adoration.”
The judge had him put in a dungeon. He thought he would get on better with St. Rogatian. “Although converted by your brother,” he said to him, “you have not yet been soiled by baptism; forswear your error in order to preserve your life and merit the favor of our divine emperor.”
St. Rogatian was no less steadfast than his elder brother. Then the legate said to the wardens: “Let this imbecile go and rejoin his master in folly; tomorrow a single blow of the sword will make them both expiate their insults to the princes and the gods.”
The next day, after being tortured on the rack, the two youths had their heads cut off.
Englebert/Howley
May 25th
ST. GERMAIN OF PARIS
(b. (?)/d. 576 A.D. – Feast Day, May 28th)
St. Fortunatus tells us that St. Germain escaped death twice; first before his birth, when his mother tried to do away with him by criminal means, and afterwards when one of his aunts, whose guest he was, put poison into his drink.
Born in the Autun country of France, St. Germain pursued his studies at Avallon, Scapillon, and was ordained priest by Agrippinus, bishop of Autun. St. Nectarius, successor of Agrippinus, then asked him to direct the abbey of St. Symphorian, where the monk’s followed St. Basil’s rule.
It was about 555 A.D. that St. Germain was appointed by King Childebert to the bishopric of Paris. As bishop he continued to lead the rigorous life which had always been his, fasting, keeping vigils, and not permitting himself a fire at any time. One of the first miracles he accomplished was to restore King Childebert to health. Together they founded the celebrated abbey at Paris later known as Saint/Germain/des/Prés.
St. Germain exercised the good influence he had had on King Childebert also on his successor King Clotaire, and his wife, Radegonde. Widowed, she withdrew to Poitiers, where she had as distributer of alms the poet St. Fortunatus, who later became her biographer and that of St. Germain. The last years of the aged bishop were shadowed by the crimes and scandals of King Clotaire’s sons. He had, in fact, to excommunicate Charibert, king of Paris, an incorrigible adulterer. He died in his eighty-first year and was interred in the abbey he had founded.
Englebert/Howley
June 1st
ST. CLOTILDA
(b. (?)/d. 545 A.D. – Feast Day, June 3rd)
At that time three brothers divided the sovereignty of the kingdom of Burgundy, France; Chilperic, Godegisil, and Gundobad. When Chilperic died, Caretena, his widow, left Lyons, which fell to Gundobad, and, taking her daughters, Sedeleuba and St. Clotilda, she withdrew to Geneva, where Godegisil lived. There was celebrated the bethroal by proxy of St. Clotilda, a Catholic princess, with Clovis, the Frankish king, still a pagan. Their wedding took place in 493 A.D.
Unfortunately, their first child died shortly after his baptism. The second, also baptized, seemed likely to succumb in the same way, but his mother’s prayers saved him, and the Frankish king ceased to bear a grudge against the God of the Christians. Better still, his wife’s influence over him grew to the point where at Tolbiac, expecting defeat, Clovis promised to receive baptism if St. Clotilda’s God gave him the victory. He was, in fact, victorious, and was baptized at Rheims on Christmas Day 496 A.D., with three thousand of his warriors. The conversion of the Franks to Catholicism contributed to the downfall of Arianism and the triumph of the true faith in the West.
Though St. Clotilda could not prevent her husband from being bloodthirsty, at least she brought him to occasional acts of generosity. The friendly relations she had with the most virtuous of her subjects, particularly with St. Genevieve for whom she built a church, are well known.
Her widowhood lasted thirty-four years and was full of sorrows. Five of her children survived, four sons and a daughter. The last was taken away from her to be married to the Arian king of Spain. Her sons committed horrible crimes; Childebert and Clotaire went so far as to stab the children of their brother, Clodomir, in her presence. Then St. Clotilda retired to Tours, near St. Martin’s tomb, where she passed her last years in the construction of numerous churches and in prayer. After her death, her body was taken to Paris and placed in the Basilica of St. Genevieve beside Clovis and the patroness of Paris.
Englebert/Howley
June 8th
ST. MEDARD
(b. 456 A.D./d. 545 A.D. – Feast Day, June 8th)
Among the missionaries of the Merovingian period who worked for the conversion of the Franks, one of the most popular is St. Medard, bishop of Noyon, France. He was born not far from that town, in the village of Salency and studied at St. Quentin. It is from him that St. Radegunde received the deaconess’ habit when she left king Clotaire, her murderer husband.
Several sayings are still current in France which make mention of the old bishop of Noyon:
“It is St. Medard watering his colts,” say the farming people, speaking of the June rains which often vex them. And again:
Should St. Medard’s day be wet
It will rain for forty yet;
At least until St. Barnabas
The summer sun won’t favor us.
It appears that one day in the fields, St. Medard took one of his father’s horses and gave it to a poor man who had lost his. A deluge followed which soaked everyone except St. Medard who, says the legend, was not even damp. He is credited with a host of other charitable and miraculous acts in aid of the small holders and poor in his diocese.
He is also supposed to have instituted the feast called “of the rose-queen.” He had arranged, it is said, that every year the revenue of a dozen acres of his ground at Salency should be given to the most virtuous girl in the village. This example was imitated here and there; and in the course of centuries an annual ceremony took place in French churches of crowning with roses the girl who had most edified the parish.
Englebert/Howley