Category: Saints

St Pachomius the Great

Our venerable father among the saints, Pachomius, the great, is liturgically commemorated. He is a central figure in the monastic life, East and West.

Pachomius was born in 292. As a young man, he served in the army under the emperor Constantine. The hardship of military life in Egypt was lightened by the kindness the soldiers encountered in every Christian settlement along their march. Pachomius was so impressed that he was baptized and embraced the monastic life.

He withdrew to the Egyptian wilds to live with Palemon, one of the desert fathers. After his guide and teacher died, Pachomius’ brother John came to live with him. Before long there were others, and Pachomius was soon the abba of a whole colony of monastics, totaling about seven thousand. His gift of leadership and skill in organization has been raised by later tradition to the level of direct divine inspiration, which is expressed in the story of an angel, dressed in the monastic habit, appearing to Pachomius and instructing him to adopt this garb for his monks. Aside from such embellishments, Pachomius remained a model of practical genius.

He established the Lavra of Tabenna on the Nile, with a school for boys and a hospice for travelers. He wrote a typi­con in Coptic, probably the first such rule in monastic history, and insisted that all the monks learn to read the scriptures. He organized teams of cooks, bakers, and gardeners. Each dwelling for these professional families included a library and a scriptorium for the copying of sacred texts.

His sister begged him to start a monastery for women. Her persistence and the number of nuns already at the gates moved him to consent. It was built on the opposite bank of the Nile. Twenty years after the council of Nicaea, a plague swept through the Nile valley. Pachomius died nursing his stricken monks.

(NS typicon)

The Orthodox and Catholic Churches remember him today, May 15th while the Coptic Church celebrates his feast on May 9th.

St. Damien of Molokai

May 10th is the liturgical memorial of St. Damien of Molokai. He’s become the famous leper priest with the famous leper nun, St. Maryann Cope. Some of thoughts are worth reflecting upon:

“I feel no disgust when I hear the confessions of those near their end, whose wounds are full of maggots…This may give you some idea of my daily work. Picture to yourself a collection of huts with 800 Lepers. No doctor; in fact, as there is no cure, there seems no place for a doctor’s skill.

The Blessed Sacrament is indeed the stimulus for us all, for me as it should be for you, to forsake all worldly ambitions. Without the constant presence of our Divine Master upon the altar in my poor chapels, I never could have persevered casting my lot with the lepers of Molokai; the foreseen consequence of which begins now to appear on my skin, and is felt throughout the body. Holy Communion being the daily bread of a priest, I feel myself happy, well pleased, and resigned in the rather exceptional circumstances in which it has pleased Divine Providence to put me.”

~St. Damien of Molokai
Canonized by Benedict XVI, 2009

Saint Isaiah, the prophet

I love the prophets. For Catholics we place a great emphasis on the work and prophecies of the men called by God to call us into relation to him. Yet, the prophets are not well known among Catholics. Thanks to the Byzantine Church for keeping a liturgical commemoration alive.

As you know, the Holy Prophet Isaiah lived 700 years before the birth of Jesus. Some fun facts on Isaiah to recall: he had a royal lineage and is revered as a martyr. In another blog I remembered for the readers that the Jewish king Manasseh ordered that he cut in half by a wood-saw. Isaiah was buried near the Pool of Siloam but his bones were moved to Constantinople in the church of Saint Laurence at Blachernae. Part of the head of the Prophet Isaiah is preserved at Athos in the Hilandar monastery. The importance of being buried near the Pool of Siloam comes from a miracle he performed through God’s power to quench the thirst of those defending Jerusalem from her enemies. Siloam means i.e. “sent from God.” The holy prophet is known to be wonderworking. Genealogy shows us that Isaiah’s father Amos, raised him in the fear of God and in the law of the Lord.

In addition to the virtue of life of Isaiah, he important because he is clear in his prophesies about the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, Christ the Savior. The prophet names the Messiah as God and Man, teacher of all the nations, founder of the Kingdom of peace and love.

In the Kondakion the Church sings,

You were favored with the gift of prophecy, O martyr and seer, Isaiah, preacher of the things of God, and you announced the Incarnation to all when you proclaimed: Behold, a virgin will be with child.

By Isaiah’s prayers, may our souls be saved. May we, like the Holy Prophet make the Incarnation known.

Blessed Celestyna Faron

On the liturgical calendar of the Church in Poland today is Blessed Celestyna Faron, IHM (1913 – 1942) a Religious Sister of the Congregation of the Little Sister Servants of the Immaculate Conception. Within the Congregation she served variously as a teacher and catechist. In history she was known as Katarzyna Stanisława Faron 24 April 1913 born in Zabrzez, Malopolskie, [southern] Poland and died on Easter morning, 9 April 1944 in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Blessed Celestyna’s biography reveals that before her first profession of vows, she wrote to the Mother General saying, “Through my vows I long to belong entirely to Jesus Christ as a total sacrificial offering. I always desire to walk the way of love and devotion so that I can approach the Immaculate Lamb.”

Faron is remembered for her charity and courage, even in the face of death. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II with other 107 other Polish Martyrs of World War II on 13 June 1999. The collective feast day of the martyrs is 12 June.

The Little Sister Servants of the Immaculate Conception published this brief reflection on Blessed Celestyna AND  there is this biographical note on the Blessed which includes some witnesses on the Blessed making her person better known.

I didn’t know about Blessed Celestyna until this morning when my friend Bill brought her to my attention.

As a side note, the Little Sister Servants of the Immaculate Conception (USA) have  several witnesses of holiness from their ranks: 5 sisters who cause for canonization is being studied, in addition to the founder Blessed Edmund Bojanowski and Blessed Celestyna. Let’s pray for Edmund and Celestyna’s canonization.

May Blessed Celestyna intercede for us before the Throne of Grace asking for the gifts of charity, courage, poverty of spirit and the ability to sacrifice ourselves for the Lord of Life. Blessed Celestyna, pray for us.

The Venerable Father John Climacus

John was abbot of St Catherine’s on Mt Sinai in the first half of the seventh century. His name derives from his most famous work, called The Ladder to Paradise. Its thirty steps detail a system of monastic spirituality. This manual is the most widely used around the east. His popularity among monastics, the custom of reading his work at the monastery table during Great Lent, and the fact that the calendar feast of St John falls in this season.

St John is known as the new Moses. So if you want to understand this attribution you have to know the the Book of Exodus. Moses was the holy man of his day, went to the desert for 40 years, the one who spoke with God on Mt Sinai, the one recorded and taught God’s Law (the 10 Commandments) and he is the one who led the people in the walk of liberation from slavery to freedom.

St. John spent forty years in the desert, ascended Mt. Sinai, the same mountain as Moses, brought down the mountain like Moses the tablets of the Law, though John’s “law” is called The Ladder of Divine Ascent, a book that describes how we can ascend to God, like the Ten Commandments. One cannot underestimate the role both Moses and John had in their student’s liberation in Christ. For the Christian the only liberation is known in the Paschal Mystery of the Lord: His life, death, resurrection and ascension, no other path of liberation is the liberation experienced in the sacraments (the Holy Mysteries) of Eucharist and the Confession of sins. Liberation is the newness of life in the Lord of Life and His Church.

In addition to the commemoration today, this 6th century Palestinian father has been given a fixed commemoration on the 4th Sunday of Lent. (NS edited)

St. John, point us to Christ.

Why Mary of Egypt

Today, we in the Greek Catholic Churches, honored Mary of Egypt who was a great a sinner; other Byzantine churches on the older calendar will honor her on April 1.

The Canon of St Andrew speaks of the angels being in amazement of her ability to overcome sin and live in grace. Fleeing to the desert she wanted to meet the Living God of mercy and of love. The desert is the place of asceticism and prayer, a place of encounter, a place to give testimony to the ways God continues to create us anew.

In decisive moment she changed her life and went to the hiddenness of the desert. She lived without the sacraments for years. Mary lived a Christian life all the years in the desert without the sacraments in communion with God. Before her death Abba Zosimus brought her the Body and Blood of Christ.

Mary could say that “The word of salvation gently touched the eyes of my heart and revealed to me that it was my unclean life which barred the entrance to me.”

This image of St Clare and St Mary of Egypt is telling for us who living in this period of penance: Great Lent and the Coronavirus. They rejected fear, negativity and sin. Both were spouses of the Lord of Life. It is striking to me that the artist linked both these women saints in art because in reality they represent the virtues, especially purity of heart. They both knew the virtue of being united in prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Image: Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Vallo di Nera, Perugia, Italy

St Henry Morse the “Priest of the Plague”

St Henry Morse, the “Priest of the Plague”, is someone particularly apropos for this time as he spent himself in tireless service and devotion to victims of the plague in 17th century England before he was eventually martyred for his faith at Tyburn. His example to us is important at this time.

May we endeavor to selflessly help those not only directly affected by the Corona virus, but those suffering from the effects of it, social distancing and self quarantining, which can certainly take its toll.

Too, may he intercede for us all!

St Henry Morse, Pray for us.

St Ambrose

Today is the liturgical memorial of the great St. Ambrose of Milan (c. A.D. 340–397).

You know the narrative: born in what is now France, a successful lawyer and politician in Milan, Italy; following the death of the bishop of Milan, the people demanded that the catechumen Ambrose and not yet a Christian, become the successor. (Ambrose hid in an attempt to escape the nomination; even the emperor forbade giving him shelter, forcing him to give himself up and submit.)

Ambrose was a holy leader: author of hymns, theology, correct teaching, serving the poor and donating his patrimonial land to the Church, and being available to all. Bishop Ambrose defended orthodox doctrine against the pervasive Arian heresy which denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. As a beekeeper and as one who appreciates and loves liturgical theology, I have an appreciation for Ambrose’s nickname: “honey-tongued doctor.” In fact, one of hives is named for St Ambrose.

Bishop Ambrose introduced lectio divina to his local church: the practice of prayerfully meditating on the Sacred Scriptures. This method of prayer spread all over the Church. You will recall that it was Ambrose as the bishop who converted and baptized St. Augustine of Hippo. He is one of the four original Doctors of the Church, and his statue is one of four that upholds the Chair of St. Peter inside St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Today, prayers for the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation meeting in NYC’s Mother Cabrini Shrine for the Advent Day of Recollection. 40+ are gathering. A fitting day for us since Communion and Liberation was founded in the Diocese of Milan.

St Andrew –first called

O Glorious St. Andrew, you were the first to recognize and follow the Son of God. With your friend, St. John, you remained with Jesus, for your entire life, and now throughout eternity.
Just as you led your brother, St Peter, to Christ and many others after him, draw us also to Him.
Teach us how to lead them, solely out of love for Jesus and dedication to His service. Help us to learn the lesson of the Cross and carry our daily crosses without complaint, so that they may carry us to God the Almighty Father. Amen.