Saints – Page 35

Saint Basil the Great and the Holy Spirit

The Church prays today,

O God, who were pleased to give light to your Church by the example and teaching of the bishops Saints Basil and Gregory: Grant, we pray, that in humility, we may learn your truth and practice it faithfully in charity.

Though it is the feast of two saints, I want to concentrate on Basil and his emphasis on the Holy Spirit. We began the new year with the praying of the Veni Creator Spiritus to set new year with a renewed relationship with Triune-God.

One of the great patristic source of our Christian pneumatology comes from Saint Basil the Great. Catholics are frequently, and with good reason, accused of forgetting the work of the Holy Spirit. Some will even call the Spirit the forgotten God. Systematic theologians of the West make the claim that theological reflection, especially in the 20th century, have neglected the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; and I would also claim that these same theologians have neglected the activity of the Holy Spirit in the sacred Liturgy. Too often in theological reflection, catechesis, and preaching the Holy Spirit is forgotten sacramentally and the Mass. No Holy Spirit, no Trinity. The good news is that Dominican Cardinal Yves Congar helped to restore a working knowledge of the Holy Spirit with the publication of his 3 volume work, I Believe in the Holy Spirit.

One of the key parts of Basil’s work, On the Holy Spirit, is his use of the baptismal formulation –the lex orandi, lex credendi– found in Saint Matthew’s Gospel to show that the Holy Spirit is integrally connected with the Father and Son as God; this formulation is now the tradition of the Church.

“What makes us Christians? “Our faith,” everyone would answer. How are we saved? Obviously through the regenerating grace of baptism. How else could we be? We are confirmed in our understanding that salvation comes through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit . . . If we now reject what we accepted at baptism, we will be found further away from our salvation than when we first believed,” (On the Holy Spirit, 10).

His teaching is clear: we are saved by the regenerating waters of baptism: washed of sin, and anointed as priest, prophet and king, we become by adoption what Christ is by nature. The door of salvation is opened in this sacrament of illumination, regeneration, and adoption. The baptismal grace, therefore, is from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and it is salvific because it makes the beatific vision possible. We make the salvation known today through baptizing of people “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28:19).

Saint Basil the Great

Since it is impossible to be saved unless we perform our works in accordance with the commandment of God, and since we disregard none of the commandments without peril — for it is a terrible arrogance to set ourselves up as the critics of our Lawgiver, now approving some of his laws, now dismissing others — let us who are combatants for piety and who esteem the life of tranquility and freedom from affairs as our collaborator in the keeping of the Gospel decrees, set before ourselves a common mind and purpose: that not so much of a single one of the commandments escape us. For if the man of God must be perfect — as it is written and as our earlier discourse on these matters has shown — it is entirely necessary that he be pruned. (cf. John 15:1) by every one of the commandments unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13); for according to the divine law a beast with a blemish even though clean, was unacceptable as a sacrifice to God (cf. Lev. 21. 19-20).

Saint Basil the Great

Saint Basil (329/30-379) was the bishop in what is modern Turkey in a city called Casesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia. Basil was attentive the needs of the poor and he is famous for for us rule for monasteries that focussed on the common life, the sacred liturgy and manual labor. Saint Benedict used Basil’s rule as one of a few for his own rule for monasteries. Basil is called the “revealer of heavenly mysteries.” Together with Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus is known as the Cappadocian Fathers. Saint Basil was a firm supporter of the Nicene Creed and fought heresy.

Let’s pray for hospital administrators today through the intercession of Saint Basil.

Pedro Calungsod, Batang Martir

I hold that one way of knowing the contours of the bible, the New Testament in particular, is knowing the lives of the saints. Hence, I advocate taking in the lives of the saints from across history and cultures. A little known saint in the USA is Saint Pedro Calungsod, the second Filipino saint in the Church martyred in 1672. Saint Pedro was a layman, catechist, and was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on 21 October 21, 2012. Therefore, look to the recent movie on St. Pedro Calungsod, “Pedro Calungsod, Batang Martir”,

The movie was entered into the 2013 Metro Manila Film Festival.

“We hope to bring St. Pedro Calungsod closer to the students through new evangelization such as this film. With all our collaborative efforts, we can inspire more children and young students to be heroes and saints (in the future). We hope that Pedro Calungsod will be an inspiration for the Filipino people with the message that we can reach sainthood through our everyday lives especially as we can all relate to him for he was a youth, an overseas Filipino worker, a catechist, a missionary and a faithful friend,” Br. Narciso Erguiza, FSC, said.

Holy Innocents

The day on which we recall those innocent children, the boys we call holy, who unknowingly gave their lives for their Savior, let’s hear the words of Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Today, dearest brethren, we celebrate the birthday of those children
who were slaughtered, as the Gospel tells us, by that exceedingly cruel king,
Herod. Let the earth, therefore, rejoice and the Church exult — she, the
fruitful mother of so many heavenly champions and of such glorious virtues.
Never, in fact, would that impious tyrant have been able to benefit these
children by the sweetest kindness as much as he has done by his hatred. For as
today’s feast reveals, in the measure with which malice in all its fury was
poured out upon the holy children, did heaven’s blessing stream down upon them.

Saint John the Evangelist

Come, let us worship the Lord, the King of apostles.

On the 3rd Day of Christmas we are given the liturgical memorial of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist.

“[W]hat we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1Jn 1:3).

From what is revealed in sacred Scripture we know that John is present to the central events of Jesus’ life, the many miracles, including the Transfiguration, the institution of the Eucharist, the Lord’s Crucifixion, and the discovery of the Resurrection.

John is “the disciple whom Jesus loved” and the one to whom Jesus confided the care of his mother and the Church. He is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles; later he was exiled to the island of Patmos. He wrote a Gospel, three Epistles, and the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse). Saint John is said to have died at Ephesus (in current day Turkey). On this day the Church blesses wine.

Saint Stephen

Come, let us worship the new-born Christ; today he has crowned Saint Stephen.

Saint Stephen is known as the first Martyr. After such a brilliant, holy and happy day as the Nativity of the Lord, we are given the sobering liturgical memorial of one of the early deacons.

Stephen was elected by the 12 Apostles to care for the temporal needs of the poor through the distribution of food and clothing (Cf. Acts). He is the first almoner of the Church. Stephen performed many miracles and confounded the religious authorities in theological disputation while facing false charges. At his trial, Stephen preached the risen Jesus as the Christ to his detractors. He was stoned to death. He prayed for his persecutors as he was dying. One of those who conspired against Stephen was Saul of Tarsus, who later converted and became the great missionary, Saint Paul; he faced death, too, because his belief in Jesus as Messiah.

Saint Stephen, pray for us!

Saint Ambrose

Saint Ambrose is venerated in the Churches of the East and the West. He is a pivotal figure in Church history of sincerity but also because of his clear defense and teaching of the faith, his good administration of the Church and his witness so that others could become saints.

What comes to mind is my own desire to pray for the great Church in Milan, and this feast helps me to remember the missionary work of so many from Milan to other parts of the world. All us are on mission.

One of Ambrose’s gifts was “repacking” church teaching into verse, giving it a melody, and encouraging the people to sing their faith. Singing reinforces what you read and learn. A good example follows (though without music):

Redeemer of the nations, come;
reveal yourself in virgin birth,
the birth which ages all adore,
a wondrous birth, befitting God.

From human will you do not spring,
but from the Spirit of our God;
O Word of God, come; take our flesh
and grow as child in Mary’s womb.

You came forth from the eternal God,
and you returned to that same source.
You suffered death and harrowed hell,
and reigned once more from God’s high throne.

With God the Father you are one,
and one with us in human flesh.
Oh, fill our weak and dying frame
with godly strength which never fails.

You cradle shines with glory’s light;
its splendor pierces all our gloom.
Our faith reflects those radiant beams;
no night shall overcome it now.

All praise, O unbegotten God,
all praise to you, eternal Word,
all praise life-giving Spirit, praise,
all glory to our God Triune.

Saint Saba

Prayer and simple living characterize the saint Mother Church offers to us today. Saint Saba (439-532) is known for simple things, died at 93 of natural causes, dedicated himself to God; it is said that his vocation was to the anchorite way of life; he’s not a well-educated man. The Byzantine Church calls Saba “the Sanctified.” In monastic circles Saba is honored as being one of the great Patriarchs of Eastern monasticism. Said before on these pages, saints beget saints, Saba was a spiritual son of Saint Euthymius the Great and a collaborator with Saint Theodosius.

Saint Saba was the founder of a now famous lavra named after him in the Kidron Valley, close to Jerusalem, and Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found). Saba’s lavra is the second oldest continually functioning monastery in the world, after that of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai. Under Saba’s direction several famous saints are counted, men like Saint John of Damascus.

He is an intercessor for rain, healings, and against temptations from the devil.

A previous post on Abbot Saint Saba is here.

Saint John of Damascus

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that we may be helped by the prayers of the Priest Saint John Damascene, so that the true faith, which he excelled in teaching, may always be our light and our strength.

Saint John of Damascus lived when the heresy of Iconoclasm prevailed, a scourge for the Church in the East (that also crept West later) during the eighth and ninth centuries. It was Saint John who fought vigorously against the decrees of Emperor Leo III which outlawed the use of icons by Christians since they were interpreted as idols in the Old Testament.

Saint John argues in his Discourses against those who speak against the icons that man can progress from the knowledge of the senses to knowledge of the Divinity:

Since He is no longer physically present, we hear His words read from books and by hearing our souls are sanctified and filled with blessing, and so we worship, honoring the books from which we hear His words. So also, through the painting of images, we are able to contemplate the likeness of His bodily form, His miracles, and His passion, and thus are sanctified, blessed, and filled with joy. Reverently we honor and worship His bodily form, and by contemplating His bodily form, we form a notion, as far as is possible for us, of the glory of His divinity. Since we are fashioned of both soul and body…it is impossible for us to think without using physical images. Just as we physically listen to perceptible words in order to understand spiritual things, so also by using bodily sight we reach.

One of the gifts Pope Benedict XVI gave the Church was his weekly teachings on the Church Fathers. He explored the richness of the life and teachings of various Fathers of the Church. Saint John of Damascus is known to be “among the first to distinguish in the cult, both public and private, of the Christians, between worship (latreia) and veneration (proskynesis).” This distinction has been in use ever since.

The Damascene taught, more precisely, he distinguished, that our worship is due to God alone, while veneration, a lesser form of honor, but not worship, was to be given to Mary, the Mother of God, and to the saints. The Damascene, hence, taught that icons could be venerated because they were images of Christ (and the Theotokos and the saints) which called to mind and taught about the invisible God who loved humanity and entered in human history.

Saint Nahum, prophet

Th Nahum e Catholic Church honors the Old Testament prophets on canon of saints, they’re listed in the Martyrologium Romanum. Today, the Church liturgical recalls Saint Nahum, the prophet:

Commemoratio sancti Nahum, prophetae, qui Deum praedicavit cursum temporum regentem et populos in iustitia iudicantem.

“The memorial of St. Nahum, the prophet, who preached that God was ruling the path of time and was judging the peoples in justice.”

Have you read from the book of Nahum? Do you know where it is in the Bible? It is between Micah and Habakkuk. He is one of the 12 minor prophets in sacred Scripture. The prophetic message uttered by Nahum differs from other prophets in that he does not issue a call to repentance, nor does he denounce Israel for infidelity to God. Some scholars take Nahum’s work as history.

Historically, there is not much documentation on the Prophet Nahum. His name means “God consoles.” We know that he was from the town Alqosh (what is likely now Galillee) living close to the end of the Assyrian reign. Nahum warns Ninevah of its destruction (612 BC).

Some members of the Church ask Saint Nahum to intercede on behalf of those with mental disorders. The Latin, Byzantine and Armenian Churches honor Nahum on different days.