Saints – Page 35

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.

Blessed Giacomo Alberione

A fascinating priest and zealous missionary of the twentieth century is today’s blessed, Giacomo Alberione (1884-1971). His call to do something striking for the Lord came while he was adoring the eucharistic Lord during the night of the change of year 1900 to 1901. He may be most known in the USA for the foundation of the Daughters of St Paul in 1915 but there are several other congregations forming the Pauline Family. Alberione founded a family devoted to the great evangelizer, Saint Paul, that has active and contemplative sisters, priests and brothers, the laity, and various other institutes. All of the various Pauline congregations collaborate in some way, according to a divine gift given, to spread the message of the gospel and to assist in the devotional life of the Christian.

On 27 April 2003, Blessed John Paul beatified Father Giacomo Alberione We look forward to his definitive place at the altar.

In all ways, Blessed Alberione is a keen example of work of the new evangelization and the formation of Christians.

Blessed Giacomo Alberione, pray for us.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Saint Catherine of Alexandria whom we honor today in our liturgical memory. For centuries the church had listed Catherine on the ordo but with the liturgical renewal and revision following the Second Vatican Council she was removed from calendar; in 2002, John Paul returned her to the ordo. Her importance for us is what tradition says of her, namely, that she climbed Mount Sinai, the place where Torah was given, and an image which prefigures calvary when Jesus died. A journey each disciple of the Lord is called to make. Our more contemporary theological view of Catherine is that she is the bridge for the work of unity among Christians. Saint Catherine is a saint honored by the Eastern Churches and her memory is highly esteemed in the West. Hence, we, the Churches of East and West, are united in Jesus Christ through the person of Saint Catherine.

The reliability of the historical sources on Catherine is questionable, but liturgical legend is not to be dismissed. How the Churches came to know, love and reverence the holy disciples of the Lord is to be honored and studied. Historical accounts are not always that important: the witness, the experience, the faithfulness is what moves our heart. What is meant by legend does not mean fiction and nor is it an idea from a vigorous imagination. Legend in the Church is received wisdom. We consider her to be learned that, once converted to Christian faith, she defeated in debate fifty pagan philosophers working for the Roman emperor. Her defense of the truth of the Gospel and reality of the Church was reasonable enough that opened the door for the philosophers to accept Christianity themselves. Centuries later a famous monastery on Mount Sinai acquired both her relics and her name. Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage to the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai in Egypt on February 26, 2000.

Saints beget saints. After the year 1000, devotion to Catherine was widely accepted in the West. It is said that Catherine was both honored as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers to whom the faithful asked to intercede for them before the Throne of Grace; and in the 15th century Catherine was one of the saints who appeared to Saint Joan of Arc, giving her God’s mission. It is a similar mission we receive when we are Baptized, it was the mission of Daniel and his friends seeking to be faithful in a foreign land, the mission of the poor widow and her little coins, the mission to witness to Jesus Christ as Catherine did with the philosophers.

Saint Cecilia, virgin and martyr

1. O God of tune and rhyme,
Whose song the world has made,
Whose Word before all time
The universe displayed:
We praise in song this woman’s fame,
Who, in the face of death and shame,
Gave glory to her Savior’s name.

2. O Christ, who summoned all
To follow in your way,
That we might bear our cross
And live in endless day:
We thank you for Cecilia’s stand;
And trusting in your loving hand,
We too will sin and death withstand.

3. O Spirit, Lord of life,
Whose gifts all faith maintain,
Your leading through earth’s strife
Let us your heav’n attain.
Grant us firm faith that, as did she,
We follow you, O Wind most free,
That Christians true we e’er may be.

4. O Trinity, One God,
O Source of music’s art,
Guide us through ways untrod
Until, within your heart,
With all your saints and angels’ throng
We live with you, and there prolong
Our endless alleluia song.