Category: Saints

St Anthony of Egypt

Today we liturgically commemorate St. Anthony of Egypt (251-356), a holy abbot of the 3rd century, called “the father of monks”. He is the considered the founder of Christian monasticism.

What motivated Anthony to live the Gospel so radically? He heard a reading from the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus tells a rich young man, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor.” Antony heard the truth of Jesus’ teaching and saw himself as that rich young man; he immediately did exactly as Jesus instructed.

Anthony challenges the way we lead our lives viz. the challenges of the soul: “Wherever you find yourself, do not go forth from that place too quickly. Try to be patient and learn to stay in one place.”

He retired to the desert at about the age of eighteen in order to live in perfect solitude.

Anthony saw the Christian’s task as both simple and formidable: become a “lover of God” by resisting the Devil and yielding only to Christ. Are we lovers of God?

St Vitalis of Gaza

Amazing what comes across the desk. Today, on International Human Trafficking Awareness Day, we liturgically recall St Vitalis of Gaza, who frequented brothels. I am aware of the work of countless people work for those trafficked, including our Florence.

St Vitalis biography, in part, reads,

“In the 600s, prostitution was a terribly exploitative profession. Often young peasant girls with no prospects would be sold into slavery or captured by pimps. They would then be taken to the poor areas of towns and live in terrible conditions while being forced to sell themselves for sex.

“St Vitalis could not tolerate this misery and so he set out to collect the name and address of every prostitute in the city. He then would work as a poor day laborer, which itself wasn’t much better than slavery, and would collect his wages at the end of the day and take it to a different brothel. He pretended to be a paying customer, which allowed him to enter without notice. Once he was alone with the woman he would give her his money, which she would use to escape, and tell her about her dignity and value as a woman, saying it was wrong for her to be abused and objectified by men. He would then leave and repeat this process every day.

“St Vitalis rescued countless women during his life, and ended up sacrificing his life in the process. He was killed one day entering a brothel, because he was recognized as a monk. Ironically, it was not a pimp who killed him for recognizing him as a rescuer. Rather, it was a Christian who killed him, believing him to be visiting the brothel to break his vow of chastity.

St Vitalis often said, “Do not judge your neighbor as a sinner.”

St Elizabeth Ann Seton

Today, we honor the first native born saint of the United States of America, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, with a liturgical memorial. She arrived arrived in Baltimore on June 16, 1808 taking up residence on Paca Street. Saint Elizabeth Ann would also profess her first vows as a woman religious in the presence of Bishop John Carroll. Seton would go on to be one of the greatest saints of America and religious educators.

“Let your chief study be to acquaint yourself with God because there is nothing greater than God, and because it is the only knowledge which can fill the Heart with a Peace and joy, which nothing can disturb.” (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton)

St Thomas Becket

For me, one of the key figures in English Catholic history is St. Thomas Becket, the famed martyr and archbishop of Canterbury. It is not to say that the other notable figures of Christian history are unimportant or second to Becket, they are not, but Becket is part of a narrative of faith that is eerily contemporary to the Catholic experience for every generation. While Becket’s early life may have been filled with questionable alliances and compromises, after his conversion to Christ and subsequent Church service as archbishop is notable. And that is the key for us: the journey to salvation, no matter at what point in life it is picked up, is significant. You pick your cross and you walk with with it. From the moment Christ enters your heart is THE moment of grace. The moment of conversion is the moment our discipleship with the Lord begins with great flourish. The past is prologue, as it is said.

One thing I learned today is that St. Thomas Becket was slaughtered between the altars of Our Lady and St. Benedict. Note, that the brutal killing of Becket was not at the hands of just a disgruntled person but at the the behest of his former friend and benefactor, King Henry II. It is meaning may be particular to each person but loving the Mother of God and St. Benedict speaks volumes. As Becket himself said, “The whole company of saints bears witness to the unfailing truth that without real effort no one wins the crown.”

So, 1170 will always be relevant. It is the year that Becket met his Savior; it is the year that we ought to reflect upon viz. our own era when Catholic life, for persons and the Christian body, is under assault from various sectors in society.

Let me recommend three books on Becket that come from a friend:

Frank Barlow’s Thomas Becket (1990) and Thomas Becket and His Clerks (1987)

John Butler’s Quest for Becket’s Bones: The Mystery of the Relics of St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury (1995).

Holy Innocents

Today is the feast of Innocent Martyrs, the children who in Bethlehem of Judas were killed by the unholy King Herod. Their shed blood was for the Son of God and Savior, and for us.

The Holy Innocents have been honored by the Church as martyrs since the first centuries. Today, their import keeps us vigilant on threats to human life, from conception to natural death. The Innocents are the witnesses to the Pro-Life work we are engaged in. They bring us into relationship with Christ and humanity at a deeper level.

Let the final word be just as Saint Thérèse would have it: Nisi efficiamini sicut parvuli  (Unless you become like unto little children. Mt 18:3)

NB: The Byzantine Church (UGCC) this feast on December 29.

St Ambrose

Today is the liturgical memorial of St. Ambrose reputed to be the greatest Archbishop of Milan (at a time it was the center of the Roman Empire). Ambrose was elected bishop when he was still a catechumen who was competent in civil and ecclesial administration but he’s also known for his acumen in theology and hymnody. It is his relationship with the Holy Trinity that orients our attention, especially with regard to the Incarnation. If we don’t get the Incarnation of the Eternal Word of God correct, nothing else in our Catholic life will be correct. In this period of preparation for the Nativity of the Lord, Ambrose sets our meditation in a way no other can.

He wrote of the Son of God: “And the Word was with God. This that he said is to be understood thus: The Word was just as was the Father; since He was together with the Father, He was also in the Father, and He was always with the Father. […] It is of the Word to be with the Father; it is of the Father to be with the Word, for we read that the Word was with God. So if, according to your opinion, there was a time when He was not, then, according to your opinion, He too was not in the beginning with whom was the Word. For through the Word I hear, through the Word I understand that God was. For, if I shall believe that the Word was eternal, which I do believe, I cannot doubt about the eternity of the Father, whose Son is eternal” (The Sacrament of the Incarnation of our Lord (III, 15-18, from the Vatican web site).

And again, Ambrose says, “He lay in the crib, that you might stand at the altar. He came to earth, that you might come to the stars” (Exposition of Luke 2.41).

St Nicholas Day

 

Blessed feast day of St Nicholas!

 

Thy just works have shown Thee to thy flock as an example of faith, an image of meekness and a teacher of abstinence. By humility Thou didst achieve exaltation, and by meekness, riches. O Father Bishop Nicholas, intercede with Christ our God to save our souls.

(Troparion for St. Nicholas)

St John of Damascus

Today being the feast of Saint John of Damascus, it is crucial that we think of the Trinity:

“Think of the Father as a spring of life begetting the Son like a river and the Holy Ghost like a sea, for the spring and the river and sea are all one nature. Think of the Father as a root, and of the Son as a branch, and the Spirit as a fruit, for the substance in these three is one. The Father is a sun with the Son as rays and the Holy Ghost as heat.”

Brother Santiago named a Martyr for the Faith

Yesterday, 7 November 2018, Pope Francis received in audience Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, where it was decided that James Alfred Miller was a martyr for the faith.

James Alfred Miller – in religion he was Leo William and known also as Brother Santiago. He was a professed member of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Miller was a native of Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Brother Santiago was a missionary in several Central America countries and over the years his life was threatened. The Brothers of the Christian Schools sent to him to teach agricultural studies and give witness to Jesus Christ. On February 13, 1982, Brother Santiago’s life was sacrificed for the faith as he was shot several times by three hooded men and he died instantly. Pope Francis and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints recognized that Brother Santiago was indeed a martyr.

You may read a brief biography of Brother Santiago here.

St Denys of Paris

 

 

Saint Denys, first bishop of Paris, and a 3rd century martyr. Since 1568, Denys has been on the Roman liturgical calendar for today.

Saint Denys is one of two patron saints of Paris. He is commonly thought to be one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and is regularly invoked to intercede with God for those who live with headaches.

Saint Denys, pray for us.