Saints of the Month: August

Saints of the Month: August

Saints of the Month: August

GO TO MARY

Saints of the Month: August Copyright © by E. Phang. All Rights Reserved.

Contents Introduction ................................................................................. X Saint Alphonsus Liguori ..................................................... 11 Saint Joan of Aza ................................................................. 14 Saint Lydia of Thyatira ....................................................... 16 Saint John Vianney ............................................................. 18 Our Lady of the Snows ....................................................... 20 Saint Oswald of Northumbria ............................................. 23 Transfiguration of Our Lord ............................................... 25 Blessed Anna Maria Rubatto .............................................. 27 Pope Saint Sixtus II ............................................................ 29 Saint Dominic ..................................................................... 31 Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross .................................. 33 Saint Lawrence ................................................................... 35 Saint Clare of Assisi ............................................................ 37 Saint Jane Frances de Chantal ........................................... 39 Saint Cassian of Imola ........................................................ 42 Saint Maximilian Kolbe ....................................................... 44 Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary ................................. 46 Saint Tarcisius .................................................................... 48 Saint Roch .......................................................................... 50 Saint Hyacinth of Poland .................................................... 52 Saint Helena ....................................................................... 55 Saint John Eudes ................................................................ 58 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux ................................................. 60 Pope Saint Pius X ................................................................ 63 Queenship of Mary ............................................................. 65 Saint John Kemble .............................................................. 67 Saint Rose of Lima .............................................................. 69

Saint Bartholomew the Apostle .......................................... 71 Saint Genesius of Rome ...................................................... 73 Saint Orontius of Lecce ...................................................... 75 Saint Monica ....................................................................... 77 Saint Augustine of Hippo .................................................... 79 Passion of Saint John the Baptist ........................................ 81 Saint Sabina of Rome ......................................................... 84 Saint Fiacre ........................................................................ 86 Saint Raymond Nonnatus ................................................... 88 Appendix ........................................................................................

Introduction

Please see Go to Mary for more information.

For Our Lady’s intentions.

X

Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Saint Alphonsus Liguori.

T

he 1st of August is the feast day of Saint Alphonsus Liguori CSsR (14th June 1696–1st August 1787). He is also known as Alphonsus Maria Liguori and is the patron saint of Pagani, Cancello, Naples (co-patron); arthritis, confessors, and moralists.

He was an Italian bishop, author, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: 11

Saints of the Month: August

ST. ALPHONSUS was born of noble parents, near Naples, in 1696. His spiritual training was intrusted to the Fathers of the Oratory in that city, and from his boyhood Alphonsus was known as a most devout Brother of the Little Oratory. At the early age of sixteen he was made doctor in law, and he threw himself into this career with ardor and success. A mistake, by which he lost an important cause, showed him the vanity of human fame, and determined him to labor only for the glory of glory He entered the priesthood, devoting himself to. the most neglected souls; and to carry on this work he founded later the missionary Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. At the age of sixty-six he became Bishop of St. Agatha, and undertook the reform of his diocese with the zeal of a Saint. He made a vow never to lose time, and, though his life was spent in prayer and work, he composed a vast number of books, filled with such science, unction, and wisdom that he has been declared one of the Doctors of the Church. St. Alphonsus wrote his first book at the age of forty-nine, and in his eighty-third year had published about sixty volumes, when his director forbade him to write more. Very many of these books were written in the half-hours snatched from his labors as missionary, religious superior, and Bishop, or in the midst of continual bodily and mental sufferings. With his left hand he would hold a piece of marble against his aching head while his right hand wrote. Yet he counted no time wasted which was spent in charity. He did not refuse to hold a long correspondence with a simple soldier who asked his advice, or to play the harpsichord while he taught his novices to sing spiritual canticles. He lived in evil times, and met with many persecutions and disappointments. For his last seven years he was prevented by constant sickness from offering the Adorable Sacrifice; but he received Holy Communion daily, and his love for Jesus Christ and his trust in Mary’s prayers sustained him to the end. He died in 1787, in his ninetyfirst year.

Reflection.—Let us do with all our heart the duty of each day, leaving the result to God, as well as the care of the 12

Saints of the Month: August

future.

13

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Joan of Aza

Juana de Aza with her son St Dominic

T

he 2nd of August is the feast day of Saint Joan of Aza (c.1135 – 4 August 1205). She is also known as Juana de Aza, Joanna or Juana of Aza. She is the mother of Saint Dominic.

She was born into a noble family in Spain and was married to a nobleman at a young age. They had five children altogether and she was well known for her piety, prayer life and generosity to the poor. Her two sons became priests and she went to the church of 14

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Dominic Silos, known to be a miracle worker and is the patron saint of pregnant women, to pray for another son who would be able to carry on the family’s name. She dreamt that she will have a son who would be a shining light to the Church. She dreamt a dog with a torch in its mouth lept from her womb, setting the world on fire. She indeed gave birth to a son and gave him the name of Dominic in gratitude. She brought him to the altar of Saint Dominic Silos and offered him to God. When he was baptised, his godmother witnessed a star shining from his forehead. Dominic grew up with great sanctity and virtue. When he turned 7 years old, Saint Joan gave him to be educated as a priest, leaving the family without a heir. Saint Dominic founded the Order of Preachers or the Dominicans, also known as the “Hounds of the Lord,� a preaching order against heresy and defending the Catholic faith.

15

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Lydia of Thyatira

Baptism of Lydia by Marie Ellenrieder (1861)

T

he 3rd of August is the feast day of Saint Lydia of Thyatira (1st. Century, Greek: Λυδία). She is also known as Lydia Purpuraria and “of Philippi.”

She was a wealthy and pious woman who traded in textiles in Philippi, Macedonia. They mainly sold purple dyes and fabrics which was a luxury item to the elite. Lydia was a worshipper of the true God and her family became converts to Christianity when Saint Paul’s came to Philippi in 50 A.D. Lydia served the Lord by her hospitality especially to Saint Paul and Saint Timothy who stayed at her home which also became a meeting place for the early Christians. When Paul and Silas were released from prison 16

Saints of the Month: August

they came to Saint Lydia’s home to encourage the Christians who gathered there.

17

Saints of the Month: August

Saint John Vianney

Saint John Vianney

T

he 4th of August is the feast day of Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, T.O.S.F. (8 May 1786 – 4 August 1859), also known as John Vianney and the “Curé d’Ars” (i.e., Parish Priest of Ars). He is the patron saint of parish priests; Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney; Archdiocese of Dubuque; confessors; and Archdiocese of Kansas City.

Saint John Vianney was born to a French farming family, one of six children with devout Catholic parents. He was baptised the same day he was born. At the age of four years old, the French Revolution started and the Catholic priests had to go into hiding.

As they risked their lives every day to offer up the Sacrament, 18

Saints of the Month: August

Saint John Vianney looked to them as heroes. He took his First Holy Communion and Confirmation in secrecy. When peace returned, Saint John Vieney studied to enter the priesthood.

However, he had difficulty with his studies because of his education due to the revolution’s disruption. But he eventually became ordained as a parish priest and was sent to a small country town of Ars. Due to the French Revolution, many souls in the little town were indifferent to or had ignorance of the Faith.

Saint John made many penances for the people and in return received graces for their conversion. He was known as a miracle worker, for his gift of prophecy, hidden knowledge and discernment of spirits. People came from far away to see him. He would spend 11-12 hours a day in the confessional and 16 hours in the summer. 20,000 pilgrims travelled annually to Ars by 1855.

He was tormented by evil spirits throughout his life, especially when he tried to sleep. When he died he had served 40 years as a parish priest and in his funeral over 300 priests and 6,000 people attended his funeral.

19

Saints of the Month: August

Our Lady of the Snows

The Miracle of the Snow by Masolino da Panicale. Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary observe Pope Liberius, who marks in the legendary snowfall the outline of the basilica.

T

he 5th of August is the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (In Dedicatione basilicae S. Mariae), which up to 1969 was known as the Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Nives (Dedication of the Church of Our Lady of the Snows).

20

Saints of the Month: August

The following is from Catholic Encyclopedia: (“Dedicatio Sanctæ Mariæ ad Nives”).

A feast celebrated on 5 August to commemorate the dedication of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. The church was originally built by Pope Liberius (352-366) and was called after him “Basilica Liberii” or “Liberiana”. It was restored by Pope Pope Sixtus III (432-440) and dedicated to Our Lady. From that time on it was known as “Basilica S. Mariæ” or “Mariæ Majoris”; since the seventh century it was known also as “Maria ad Præsepe”. The appellation “ad Nives” (of the snow) originated a few hundred years later, as did also the legend which gave this name to the church. The legend runs thus: During the pontificate of Liberius, the Roman patrician John and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to Our lady.

They prayed to her that she might make known to them in what manner they were to dispose of their property in her honour. On 5 August, during the night, snow fell on the summit of the Esquiline Hill and, in obedience to a vision which they had the same night, they built a) basilica, in honour of Our Lady, on the spot which was covered with snow. From the fact that no mention whatever is made of this alleged miracle until a few hundred years later, not even by Sixtus III in his eight-lined dedicatory inscription [edited by de Rossi, “Inscript. Christ.”, II, I (Rome, 1888), 71; Grisar (who has failed to authenticate the alleged miracle), “Analecta Romana”, I (Rome, 1900), 77; Duchesne, “Liber Pontificalis”, I (Paris, 1886), 235; Marucchi, “Eléments d’archéologie chrétienne”, III (Paris and Rome, 1902), 155, etc.] it would seem that the legend has no historical basis. Originally the feast was celebrated only at Sta Maria Maggiore; in the fourteenth century it was extended to all the churches of Rome and finally it was made a universal feast by Pius V. Clement VIII raised it from a feast of double rite to double major. The mass is the common one for feasts of the Blessed Virgin; the office is also the common one of the Bl. Virgin, with the exception of the second Nocturn, which is an account of 21

Saints of the Month: August

the alleged miracle. The congregation, which Benedict XIV instituted for the reform of the Breviary in 1741, proposed that the reading of the legend be struck from the Office and that the feast should again receive its original name, “Dedicatio Sanctæ Mariæ”.

Analecta Juris Pontificii, XXIV (Rome, 1885), 915; HOLWECK, Fasti Mariani (Freiburg, 1892), 164-6.

MICHAEL OTT

22

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Oswald of Northumbria

A 12th-century painting of St Oswald in Durham Cathedral

T

he 5th of August is the feast day of Saint Oswald of Northumbria (c 604 – 5 August 641/642). From 634 till his death, he was King of Northumbria and a martyr.

Saint Oswald was the second son of a pagan king of Northumbria which is in northern England. His father was killed in battle and the kingdom split. His uncle took the throne and Oswald with his 23

Saints of the Month: August

mother and brothers fled to Scotland. His family converted to the Christian faith by the works of the monks of Iona. Educated by the monks, Oswald grew up to brave and pious. His uncle died and so did his older brother, Oswald then tried to reclaim his throne and liberate his people from their enemies. He received a vision of Saint Columba, promising him success during the eve of a decisive battle. Before the battle, Oswald erected a cross and knelt before it praying, with the rest of his army. After the victory of the battle, Saint Oswald was made King, reuniting Northumbria. He was considered an Emperor of most of Britain, as he united the Britons, Picts, Scots and the English. Ushering in Northumbria’s “golden age� he requested a bishop to be sent to assist in converting the people to Christianity, he invited Saint Aidan with a group of monks from Iona to found a monastery in Lindisfarne. Northumbria became known as an important centre for learning and the arts. Saint Oswald was humble and generous to the poor and strangers. He was killed in battle and the place where he was martyred was known for its miracles.

24

Saints of the Month: August

TransďŹ guration of Our Lord

The Transfiguration by Raphael, c.

1520

T

he 6th of August is the feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: OUR divine Redeemer, being in Galilee about a year before His sacred Passion, took with Him St. Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, Sts. James and John, and led 25

Saints of the Month: August

them to a retired mountain. Tradition assures us that this was Mount Thabor, which is exceedingly high and beautiful, and was anciently covered with green trees and shrubs, and was very fruitful. It rises something like a sugar-loaf, in a vast plain in the middle of Galilee. This was the place in which the Man-God appeared in His glory. Whilst Jesus prayed, He suffered that glory which was always due to His sacred humility, and of which, for our sake, He deprived it, to diffuse a ray over His whole body. His face was altered and shone as the sun, and His garments became white as snow. Moses and Elias were seen by the three apostles in His company on this occasion, and were heard discoursing with Him of the death which He was to suffer in Jerusalem. The three apostles were wonderfully delighted with this glorious vision, and St. Peter cried out to Christ, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tents: one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias” Whilst St. Peter was speaking, there came, on a sudden, a bright shining cloud from heaven, an emblem of the presence of God’s majesty, and from out of this cloud was heard a voice which said, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him” The apostles that were present, upon hearing this voice, were seized with a sudden fear, and fell upon the ground; but Jesus, going to them, touched them, and bade them to rise. They immediately did so, and saw no one but Jesus standing in his ordinary state. This vision happened in the night. As they went down the mountain early the next morning, Jesus bade them not to tell any one what they had seen till He should be risen from the dead.

Reflection.—From the contemplation of this glorious mystery we ought to conceive a true idea of future happiness; if this once possess our souls, we will think nothing of any difficulties or labors we can meet with here, but regard with great indifference all the goods and evils of this life, provided we can but secure our portion in the kingdom of God’s glory.

26

Saints of the Month: August

Blessed Anna Maria Rubatto

Blessed Anna Maria Rubatto

T

he 6th of August is the feast day of Blessed Anna Maria Rubatto (14 February 1844 – 6 August 1904). She was an Italian nun who took the name of Francesca Maria. She is the patron saint of the Capuchin Sisters of Mother Rubatto.

Blessed Maria Francesca of Jesus Rubatto came from an Italian family of 8 children. At the age of four, her father died. She received an offer of marriage when she was a teenager, but she 27

Saints of the Month: August

had taken a vow of virginity when she was younger and decline.

Her mother died and when she was nineteen years old, Maria moved to Turin. She taught catechism to a noblewoman’s children as well as other children in the city and visited the sick and the poor.

A construction worker who was building a convent had an accident and Maria happened to be walking nearby. She gave him money to aid his recovery and helped him. Her act of charity caught the attention of the sisters of the convent and they asked if she will join their community which she accepted. She later became the superior of the Capuchin Franciscan sisters. She then became interested in overseas missions and in 1892 left Italy to South America. She founded the Catholic missions in Uruguay and Argentina, crossing the Atlantic Ocean seven times in the process.

28

Saints of the Month: August

Pope Saint Sixtus II

Pope Sixtus II by Sandro Botticelli (1480s)

T

he 7th of August is the feast day of Pope Saint Sixtus II (died 6 August 258). He was martyred with Saint Lawrence of Rome and 6 other deacons when the Catholic Church was persecuted by Emperor Valerian.

Pope Saint Sixtus II became the Pontiff in 257 A. D. He mended the relationship between the churches of Rome, the East and 29

Saints of the Month: August

Africa due to the controversy of rebaptism and converted heretics. He served as the Pope for one year and was forbidden to celebrate Mass. He, however, continued to worship and it was while he was offering mass in a cemetery chapel that he was caught and beheaded by Roman soldiers.

30

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Dominic

The Perugia Altarpiece, Side Panel Depicting St. Dominic by Fra Angelico 1437

T

he 8th of August is the feast day of Saint Dominic (Spanish: Santo Domingo, 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221). He is also known as Dominic of Osma and Dominic of Caleruega, Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán. He is the patron saint of astronomers; astronomy; Dominican Republic; Santo Domingo Pueblo, Valletta, Birgu (Malta), and Managua.

31

Saints of the Month: August

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: ST. DOMINIC was born in Spain, in 1170. As a student, he sold his books to feed the poor in a famine, and offered himself in ransom for a slave. At the age of twenty-five he became superior of the Canons Regular of Osma, and accompanied his Bishop to France. There his heart was well-nigh broken by the ravages of the Albigenian heresy, and his life was henceforth devoted to the conversion of heretics and the defence of the Faith. For this end he established his threefold religious Order. The convent for nuns was founded first, to rescue young girls from heresy and crime. Then a company of apostolic men gathered around him, and became the Order of Friar Preachers.

Lastly came the Tertiaries, persons of both sexes living in the world. God blessed the new Order, and France, Italy, Spain, and England welcomed the Preaching Friars. Our Lady took them under her special protection, and whispered to St. Dominic as he preached. It was in 1208, while St. Dominic knelt in the little chapel of Notre Dame de la Prouille, and implored the great Mother of God to save the Church, that Our Lady appeared to him, gave him the Rosary, and bade him go forth and preach. Beads in hand, he revived the courage of the Catholic troops, led them to victory against overwhelming numbers, and finally crushed the heresy. His nights were spent in prayer; and, though pure as a virgin, thrice before morning broke he scourged himself to blood. His words rescued countless souls, and three times raised the dead to life. At length, on August 6, 1221, at the age of fiftyone, he gave up his soul to God. Reflection.—”God has never,” said St. Dominic, “refused me what I have asked;” and he has left us the Rosary, that we may learn, with Mary’s help, to pray easily and simply in the same holy trust.

32

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Stein in 1938 or 1939

T

he 9th of August is the feast day of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942). She is also known as Teresa Benedicta a Cruce OCD, and her previous name was Edith Stein. She is the patron saint of Europe; loss of parents; converted Jews; martyrs; and World Youth Day.

33

Saints of the Month: August

Edith Stein lived between 1891 to 1942 and was born in Prussia, the youngest of eleven children of Jewish parents. Edith was an atheist and gained a doctorate in philosophy. However, she was greatly affected by several friends who were Catholic. One day at her friend’s home, she read the book on the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila. After finishing the book she exclaimed that “This is the Truth,” and was baptised in Cologne, Germany in 1922. She taught at a Dominican school and studied Saint Thomas Aquinas as well as other Catholic philosophers. Edith wrote a letter to Pope Pius XI asking him to denounce the Nazis when anti-Semitism rose and she had to leave her teaching post.

She became a Carmelite nun in Cologne in 1934 and took the name of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Her convent moved to the Netherlands in order to escape the Nazi threat that was growing in Germany. She then desired to offer her life for the salvation of souls and when the Nazis came, she and another sister, Rose, who was also a convert, was sent to the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz. Both sisters were killed in the gas chamber.

34

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Lawrence

St. Lawrence Distributing the Treasures of the Church by Bernardo Strozzi (c.1625)

T

he 10th of August is the feast day of Saint Lawrence (Latin: Laurentius, lit. “laurelled”; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258). He is also known as Laurence and is the patron saint of Rome, Rotterdam (Netherlands), Huesca (Spain), San Lawrenz, Gozo and Birgu (Malta), Barangay San Lorenzo San Pablo (Philippines), Canada, Sri Lanka, comedians, librarians, students, miners, tanners, chefs, roasters, the poor, and firefighters.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: ST. LAURENCE was the chief among the seven deacons of 35

Saints of the Month: August

the Roman Church. In the year 258 Pope Sixtus was led out to die, and St. Laurence stood by, weeping that he could not share his fate. “I was your minister,” he said, “when you consecrated the blood of Our Lord; why do you leave me behind now that you are about to shed your own?” The holy Pope comforted him with the words, “Do not weep, my son; in three days you will follow me.” This prophecy came true. The prefect of the city knew the rich offerings which the Christians put into the hands of the clergy, and he demanded the treasures of the Roman Church from Laurence, their guardian. The Saint promised, at the end of three days, to show him riches exceeding all the wealth of the empire, and set about collecting the poor, the infirm, and the religious who lived by the alms of the faithful. He then bade the prefect “see the treasures of the Church” Christ, whom Laurence had served in his poor, gave him strength in the conflict which ensued. Roasted over a slow fire, he made sport of his pains. “I am done enough,” he said, “eat, if you will.” At length Christ, the Father of the poor, received him into eternal habitations. God showed by the glory which shone around St. Laurence the value He set upon his love for the poor. Prayers innumerable were granted at his tomb; and he continued from his throne in heaven his charity to those in need, granting them, as St. Augustine says, “the smaller graces which they sought, and leading them to the desire of better gifts” Reflection.—Our Lord appears before us in the persons of the poor. Charity to them is a great sign of predestination. It is almost impossible, the holy Fathers assure us, for any one who is charitable to the poor for Christ’s sake to perish.

36

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Clare of Assisi

Detail depicting Saint Clare from a fresco (1312–20) by Simone Martini in the Lower basilica of San Francesco, Assisi

T

he 11th of August is the feast day of Saint Clare of Assisi (July 16, 1194 – August 11, 1253). She is also known as Chiara Offreduccio, Clair, or Claire. She is the patron saint of eye disease, goldsmiths, laundry, television, embroiderers, gilders, good weather, needleworkers, Santa Clara Pueblo, and Obando.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: 37

Saints of the Month: August

ON Palm Sunday, March 17, 1212, the Bishop of Assisi left the altar to present a palm to a noble maiden, eighteen years of age, whom bashfulness had detained in her place. This maiden was St. Clare. Already she had learnt from St. Francis to hate the world, and was secretly resolved to live for God alone. The same night she escaped, with one companion, to the Church of the Portiuncula, where she was met by St. Francis and his brethren. At the altar of Our Lady, St. Francis cut off her hair, clothed her in his habit of penance, a piece of sackcloth, with his cord as a girdle. Thus she was espoused to Christ. In a miserable house outside Assisi she founded her Order, and was joined by her sister, fourteen years of age, and afterwards by her mother and other noble ladies.

They went barefoot, observed perpetual abstinence, constant silence, and perfect poverty. While the Saracen army of Frederick II. was ravaging the valley of Spoleto, a body of infidels advanced to assault St. Clare’s convent, which stood outside Assisi. The Saint caused the Blessed Sacrament to be placed in a monstrance, above the gate of the monastery facing the enemy, and kneeling before it, prayed, “Deliver not to beasts, O Lord, the souls of those who confess to Thee.” A voice from the Host replied, “My protection will never fail you.” A sudden panic seized the infidel host, which took to flight, and the Saint’s convent was spared. During her illness of twenty-eight years the Holy Eucharist was her only support and spinning linen for the altar the one work of her hands. She died in 1253, as the Passion was being read, and Our Lady and the angels conducted her to glory.

Reflection.—In a luxurious and effeminate age, the daughters of St. Clare still bear the noble title of poor, and preach by their daily lives the poverty of Jesus Christ.

38

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal

T

he 12th of August is the feast day of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal (28 January 1572 – 13 December 1641). She is also known as Jeanne-Françoise Frémiot or Jeanne de Chantal. She is the patron saint of forgotten people; in-law problems; loss of parents; parents separated from children; and widows.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints:

39

Saints of the Month: August

AT the age of sixteen, Jane Frances de Frémyot, already a motherless child, was placed under the care of a worldlyminded governess. In this crisis she offered herself to the Mother of God, and secured Mary’s protection for life.

When a Protestant sought her hand, she steadily refused to marry “an enemy of God and His Church,” and shortly afterwards, as the loving and beloved wife of the Baron de Chantal, made her house the pattern of a Christian home.

But God had marked her for something higher than domestic sanctity. Two children and a dearly beloved sister died, and, in the full tide of prosperity, her husband’s life was taken by the innocent hand of a friend.

For seven years the sorrows of her widowhood were increased by ill-usage from servants and inferiors, and the cruel importunities of friends, who urged her to marry again. Harassed almost to despair by their entreaties, she branded on her heart the name of Jesus, and in the end left her beloved home and children to live for God alone.

It was on the 19th of March, 1609, that Madame de Chantal bade farewell to her family and relations. Pale, and with tears in her eyes, she passed round the large room, sweetly and humbly taking leave of each. Her son, a boy of fifteen, used every entreaty, every endearment, to induce his mother not to leave them, and at last passionately flung himself across the door of the room. In an agony of distress, she passed on over the body of her son to the embrace of her aged and disconsolate father.

The anguish of that parting reached its height when, kneeling at the feet of the venerable old man, she sought and obtained his last blessing, promising to repay in her new home his sacrifice by her prayers. Well might St. Francis call her “the valiant woman.” She was to found with St. Francis de Sales a great Order. Sickness, opposition, want, beset her, and the death of children, friends, and of St. Francis himself followed, while eightyseven houses of the Visitation rose under her hand. Nine long years of interior desolation completed the work of God’s grace; and in her seventieth year St. Vincent of Paul saw, at the moment of her death, her soul ascend, as a ball of fire, to heaven.

Reflection.—Profit by the successive trials of life to gain 40

Saints of the Month: August

the strength and courage of St. Jane Frances, and they will become stepping-stones from earth to heaven.

41

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Cassian of Imola

Martyrdom of Saint Cassian of Imola (San Cassiano) by Innocenzo di Pietro Francucci da Imola (c.1500)

T

he 13th of August is the feast day of Saint Cassian of Imola (d. August 13, 363). He is also known as Cassius and is the patron saint of Imola, Mexico City, San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Las Galletas (Tenerife), schoolteachers, shorthand-writers, and parish clerks.

Saint Cassian of Imola was the Bishop of Brescia, near Milan Italy in the 4th Century. When the Roman Emperor persecuted Christians, Saint Cassian fled to Imola where he worked as a schoolmaster teaching children how to read and write. He taught them Christianity as well as a form of shorthand that helped them to write as fast as they can speak. A city official found out he was a Christian and reported him to the government authorities. Saint Cassian was arrested and ordered to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods which he refused. As punishment, he was stripped, and tied 42

Saints of the Month: August

to the stake where he was given to his pagan students to be tortured to death. The students numbered about 200 and used their iron styli, their writing instrument, to carve into his skin and stab him to death.

43

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Saint Maximilian Kolbe

T

he 14th of August is the feast day of Saint Maximilian Kolbe (Polish: Maksymilian Maria Kolbe; 8 January 1894 – 14 August 1941). He is the patron saint of families, imprisoned people, journalists, political prisoners, prisoners, pro-life movement, amateur radio, Esperantists, and Militia Immaculatae.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe was born in Poland, his family were devout Christians. When he was a young boy, he had a vision of 44

Saints of the Month: August

Our Lady. She showed him two crowns, one white representing virginity, the other red for martyrdom. She asked him which he would accept, he replied that he would accept both. He joined the Franciscans and while studying for the priesthood in Rome, he founded a group of friars called the Militia of the Immaculata. The group started in 1917 and was to crusade for the consecration to the Immaculate Heart and oppose Freemasonry. From the group came the Knights of the Immaculate magazine and a radio show.

He also founded a monastery of 800 friars, which was at the time, the largest in the world. In 1930 he founded another monastery in Nagasaki, Japan. In 1936 he returned to Poland. During World War II, Saint Maximillian Kolbe housed 3000 over Polish refugees in his monastery. He was, however, imprisoned because of his work and in 1941 was sent to Auschwitz. Saint Maximillian offered to replace the position of a father, condemned to death by starvation. This was accepted and he and a group of 9 other men were kept in a cell without food or water. He led the men in prayer to Our Lady. After 2 weeks only Saint Maximillian remained alive. He was then given a dose of lethal injection on 14th of August 1941. His remains were cremated the next day on the 15th of August, the feast day of the Assumption of Our Lady.

45

Saints of the Month: August

Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary

Assumption of Mary by Titian (1516-1518)

T

he 15th of August is the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: IN this festival the Church commemorates the happy departure from life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her 46

Saints of the Month: August

translation into the kingdom of her Son, in which she received from Him a crown of immortal glory, and a throne above all the other Saints and heavenly spirits.

After Christ, as the triumphant Conqueror of death and hell, ascended into heaven, His blessed Mother remained at Jerusalem, persevering in prayer with the disciples, till, with them, she had received the Holy Ghost. She lived to a very advanced age, but finally paid the common debt of nature, none among the children of Adam being exempt from that rigorous law. But the death of the Saints is rather to be called a sweet sleep than death; much more that of the Queen of Saints, who had been exempt from all sin. It is a traditionary pious belief, that the body of the Blessed Virgin was raised by God soon after her death, and taken up to glory, by a singular privilege, before the general resurrection of the dead. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the greatest of all the festivals which the Church celebrates in her honor. It is the consummation of all the other great mysteries by which her life was rendered most wonderful; it is the birthday of her true greatness and glory, and the crowning of all the virtues of her whole life, which we admire single in her other festivals.

Reflection.—Whilst we contemplate, in profound sentiments of veneration, astonishment, and praise, the glory to which Mary is raised by her triumph on this day, we ought, for our own advantage, to consider by what means she arrived at this sublime degree of honor and happiness, that we may walk in her steps. No other way is open to us. The same path which conducted her to glory will also lead us thither; we shall be partners in her reward if we copy her virtues.

47

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Tarcisius

Tarcisius, martyr children 1868, musée d’Orsay (1898)

T

he 15th of August is the feast day of Saint Tarcisius (d. 3rd century). He is also known as Tarsicius. He is the patron saint of altar servers and first communicants.

The following is from Catholic Encyclopedia: Martyr. The only positive information concerning this Roman martyr is found in the poem composed in his honour by Pope Damasus (“Damasi epigrammata”, ed.

Ihm, 14). In these lines Damasus compares Tarsicius to the protomartyr Stephen: just as the latter was stoned by the people of Judea so Tarsicius, carrying the Blessed Sacrament, was attacked by a heathen rabble, and he suffered death rather “than surrender the Sacred Body [of 48

Saints of the Month: August

Christ] to the raging dogs�. This tradition so positively asserted by Damasus is undoubtedly historical. Nothing definite is known concerning the personality of this martyr of the Eucharist. He may have been a deacon, as Damasus compares him to Stephen. An addition to the sixth-century legend of the martyrdom of Pope St. Stephen makes Tarsicius, for some unknown reason, an acolyte; this addition, however, is based on the poem of Damasus. It is evident that the death of this martyr occurred in one of the persecutions that took place between the middle of the third century and the beginning of the fourth. He was buried in the Catacomb of St. Callistus, and the inscription by Damasus was placed later on his tomb. In the seventh century his remains rested in the same grave as those of Pope Zephyrinus; according to Willpert they lay in the burial vault above ground (cella trichora) which was situated towards the west over the Catacomb of St. Callistus. The feast of the saint is observed on 15 August.

J.P. KIRSCH

49

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Roch

San Roque by Francisco Ribalta (c.1600-c.1610)

T

he 16th of August is the feast day of Saint Roch (c. 1295 – 16 August 1327). He is also known as Rocco and is the patron saint of Girifalco, Italy, invoked against: cholera, epidemics, knee problems, plague, skin diseases; patron saint of bachelors, diseased cattle, dogs, falsely accused people, invalids, Istanbul, surgeons, tile-makers, gravediggers, second-hand dealers, pilgrims, and apothecaries.

50

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Roch was born in Montpellier, France, with a red cross on his chest, a visible sign from Our Lady to answer his mother’s prayers against her barrenness. His father was the city’s governor, but both his parents died when he was 20. He then gave his wealth to the poor and the government of the city to his uncle. After doing this, he set off on a pilgrimage to Italy where he came across a town struck by the plague. He stayed there for a while, curing many people with the sign of the cross. This miraculous cure occurred at every place that he passed that were struck by the plague. However, when he reached Piacenza he was also struck by the plague on his leg, and he waited for his death in a remote hut in the forest. A hunting dog belonging to a count found him and brought him food, licking his wounds. He also found a spring nearby that provided fresh water. The count, followed the dog one day and found the saint and helped him in his recovery. Saint Roch’s health was eventually restored and he turned back to return to Montpellier. He did not disclose his identity to the townspeople. This provoked suspicion among the people that he might be a spy and he was thrown into prison by his own uncle. Five years later, Saint Roch died in prison, and his identity was only discovered by the red mark on his chest. During his funeral, many miracles occurred and a church was erected.

51

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Hyacinth of Poland

Apparition of The Virgin to Saint Hyacinth by Ludovico Carracci (1594)

T

he 17th of August is the feast day of Saint Hyacinth of Poland O.P., (Polish: Święty Jacek or Jacek Odrowąż; ca. 1185 – 15 August 1257). He is the patron saint of Lithuania, University of Santo Tomas-College of Tourism and Hospitality Management, invoked by those in danger of drowning; and the Basilica of St. Hyacinth.

52

Saints of the Month: August

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: HYACINTH, the glorious apostle of Poland and Russia, was born of noble parents in Poland, about the year 1185.

In 1218, being already Canon of Cracow, he accompanied his uncle, the bishop of that place, to Rome. There he met St. Dominic, and received the habit of the Friar Preachers from the patriarch himself, of whom be became a living copy. So wonderful was his progress in virtue that within a year Dominic sent him to preach and plant the Order in Poland, where he founded two houses. His apostolic journeys extended over numerous regions. Austria, Bohemia, Livonia, the shores of the Black Sea, Tartary, and Northern China on the east, and .Sweden and Norway to the west, were evangelized by him, and he is said to have visited Scotland. Everywhere multitudes were converted, churches and convents were built; one hundred and twenty thousand pagans and infidels were baptized by his hands. He worked numerous miracles, and at Cracow raised a dead youth to life. He had inherited from St. Dominic a most filial confidence in the Mother of God; to her he ascribed his success, and to her aid he looked for his salvation. When St. Hyacinth was at Kiev the Tartars sacked the town, but it was only as he finished Mass that the Saint heard of the danger. Without waiting to unvest, he took the ciborium in his hands, and was leaving the church. As he passed by an image of Mary a voice said: “Hyacinth, my son, why dust thou leave me behind? Take me with thee, and leave me not to mine enemies.” The statue was of heavy alabaster, but when Hyacinth took it in his arms it was light as a reed. With the Blessed Sacrament and the image he came to the river Dnieper, and walked dry-shod over the surface of the waters. On the eve of the Assumption he was warned of his coming death. In spite of a wasting fever, he celebrated Mass on the feast, and communicated as a dying man. He was anointed at the foot of the altar, and died the same day, 1257.

Reflection.—St. Hyacinth teaches us to employ every effort in the service of God, and to rely for success not on 53

Saints of the Month: August

our own industry, but on the prayer of His Immaculate Mother.

54

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Helena

Saint Helena by Cima da Conegliano (1495)

T

he 18th of August is the feast day of Saint Helena (Greek: Ἁγία Ἑλένη, Hagía Helénē, Latin: Flavia Iulia Helena Augusta; c.

250 – c. 330). She is also known as Saint Helen and is the patron saint of divorced people, empresses, difficult marriages, converts, and archaeologists.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints:

55

Saints of the Month: August

IT was the pious boast of the city of Colchester, England, for many ages, that St. Helena was born within its walls; and though this honor has been disputed, it is certain that she was a British princess. She embraced Christianity late in life; but her incomparable faith and piety greatly influenced her son Constantine, the first Christian emperor, and served to kindle a holy zeal in the hearts of the Roman people. Forgetful of her high dignity, she delighted to assist at the Divine Office amid the poor; and by her alms-deeds showed herself a mother to the indigent and distressed. In her eightieth year she made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, with the ardent desire of discovering the cross on which our blessed Redeemer suffered. After many labors, three crosses were found on Mount Calvary, together with the nails and the inscription recorded by the Evangelists. It still remained to identify the true cross of Our Lord. By the advice of the bishop, Macarius, the three were applied successively to a woman afflicted with an incurable disease, and no sooner had the third touched her than she arose, perfectly healed. The pious empress, transported with joy, built a, most glorious church on Mount Calvary to receive the precious relic, sending portions of it to Rome and Constantinople, where they were solemnly exposed to the adoration of the faithful. In the year 312 Constantine found himself attacked by Maxentius with vastly superior forces, and the very existence of his empire threatened. In this crisis he bethought him of the crucified Christian God Whom his mother Helena worshipped, and kneeling down, prayed God to reveal Himself and give him the victory. Suddenly, at noonday, a cross of fire was seen by his army in the calm and cloudless sky, and beneath it the words, In hoc signo vinces—”Through this sign thou shalt conquer.” By divine command, Constantine made a standard like the cross he had seen, which was borne at the head of his troops; and under this Christian ensign they marched against the enemy, and obtained a complete victory.

Shortly after, Helena herself returned to Rome, where she expired, 328.

Reflection.—St. Helena thought it the glory of her life to find the cross of Christ, and to raise a temple in its honor.

56

Saints of the Month: August

How many Christians in these days are ashamed to make this life-giving sign, and to confess themselves the followers of the Crucified!

57

Saints of the Month: August

Saint John Eudes

Saint Jean Eudes ca. 1673

T

he 19th of August is the feast day of Saint Jean Eudes (French: Jean Eudes; 14 November 1601 – 19 August 1680). He is the patron saint of Eudists; Order of Our Lady of Charity; Diocese of Baie-Comeau and missionaries.

Saint John Eudes was born in Normandy, France, to a farming family. As a child, he was consecrated to the Blessed Virgin and at the age of 14, he took a vow of chastity. The Jesuits taught him 58

Saints of the Month: August

and he was a good student. He became a priest and ministered to the countrymen during an outbreak of the plague. Later, he became a missionary priest and travelled around France, preaching in churches, fields, and in the royal and noble courts.

He was well known for his preaching and spread the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in France, especially during a time when people were turning away from religion. He influenced the Church to have these two devotions become liturgical feasts, writing the Mass and Office for them. He also founded organisations including the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge, that provides shelter for prostitutes that repent their past life, and the Society of Jesus and Mary, also known as the Eudist Fathers, which improves the training of seminarians by promoting virtue and the preaching of parish missions.

59

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Vision of St Bernard with Sts Benedict and John the Evangelist by Fra Bartolomeo (1504)

T

he 20th of August is the feast day of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux O.Cist (Latin: Bernardus Claraevallensis; 1090 – 20 August 1153). He is the patron saint of Cistercians, Burgundy, beekeepers, candlemakers, Gibraltar, Algeciras, Queens’ College, Cambridge, Speyer Cathedral, Knights Templar, Binangonan, Rizal, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish Binangonan, Rizal.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: 60

Saints of the Month: August

BERNARD was born at the castle of Fontaines, in Burgundy. The grace of his person and the vigor of his intellect filled his parents with the highest hopes, and the world lay bright and smiling before him when he renounced it forever and joined the monks at Citeaux. All his brothers followed Bernard to Citeaux except Nivard, the youngest, who was left to be the stay of his father in his old age. “You will now be heir of everything,” said they to him, as they departed. “Yes,” said the boy; “you leave me earth, and keep heaven for yourselves; do you call that fair?” And he too left the world. At length their aged father came to exchange wealth and honor for the poverty of a monk of Clairvaux. One only sister remained behind; she was married, and loved the world and its pleasures.

Magnificently dressed, she visited Bernard; he refused to see her, and only at last consented to do so, not as her brother, but as the minister of Christ. The words he then spoke moved her so much that, two years later, she retired to a convent with her husband’s consent, and died in the reputation of sanctity. Bernard’s holy example attracted so many novices that other monasteries were erected, and our Saint was appointed abbot of that of Clairvaux. Unsparing with himself, he at first expected too much of his brethren, who were disheartened at his severity; but soon perceiving his error, he led them forward, by the sweetness of his correction and the mildness of his rule, to wonderful perfection. In spite of his desire to lie hid, the fame of his sanctity spread far and wide, and many churches asked for him as their Bishop. Through the help of Pope Eugenius III., his former subject, he escaped this dignity; yet his retirement was continually invaded: the poor and the weak sought his protection; bishops, kings, and popes applied to him for advice; and at length Eugenius himself charged him to preach the crusade. By his fervor, eloquence, and miracles Bernard kindled the enthusiasm of Christendom, and two splendid armies were despatched against the infidel. Their defeat was only due, said the Saint, to their own sins. Bernard died in 1153. His most precious writings have earned for him the titles of the last of the Fathers and a Doctor of Holy Church.

61

Saints of the Month: August

Reflection.—St. Bernard used to say to those who applied for admission to the monastery, “If you desire to enter here, leave at the threshold the body you have brought with you from the world; here there is room only for your soul.” Let us constantly ask ourselves St. Bernard’s daily question, “To what end didst thou come hither?”

62

Saints of the Month: August

Pope Saint Pius X

Portrait of Pope St. Pius X 23 April 1910

T

he 21st of August is the feast day of Pope Saint Pius X (2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914). He was born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, and is the patron saint of the Society of Saint Pius X, Archdiocese of Atlanta, Georgia; Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa; first communicants; Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana; Archdiocese of Kottayam, India; Esperantists; pilgrims; Santa Luċija, Malta; Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Archdiocese of Zamboanga, Philippines; emigrants from Treviso; 63

Saints of the Month: August

Patriarchy of Venice; and Catechists.

Giuseppe Melchoire was born in 1835, from a family in Venetia and was one of ten children. His parents ensured Giuseppe had good education and Giuseppe had to walk nearly four miles to school each day. He received a scholarship to enter in one of the best seminaries available in his day. He was ordained in 1858.

Pope Leo II made him cardinal and after he died, Giuseppe was elected to be Supreme Pontiff in 1903 and he took the name of Pius X. He is known as one of the greatest reforming popes in history. He helped reform the elections of the pope, seminary life, the liturgy, studies of the bible, the Divine Office, catechesis, how the Roman Curia is organised and canon law. He denounced Modernism as “the summation of all heresies� and lowered the age of First Holy Communion to the age of reason. He was especially devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Confidence. He died in 1914 on the 20th of August at the age of 79.

64

Saints of the Month: August

Queenship of Mary

Coronation of the Virgin by Diego Velázquez (c.1635-c.1636)

T

he 22nd of August is the feast of the Queenship of Mary.

The title Queen of Heaven, or Regina Caeli, is based on biblical history where the title “Queen Mother” was given to the mother of Israel’s King. According to the tradition of the Church, Our Lady was crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth once her body and soul were assumed into heaven to reign with Her Son, Jesus, the 65

Saints of the Month: August

King of Kings.

66

Saints of the Month: August

Saint John Kemble

T

he 22nd of August is the feast day of Saint John Kemble (1599 – 22 August 1679). He was an English martyr and is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

The following is from Catholic Encyclopedia: Martyr, b. at Rhydicar Farm, St. Weonard’s, Herefordshire, 1599; d. at Widemarsh Common, Hereford, 22 August, 1679; son of John Kemble, formerly of Kemble, Wiltshire, afterwards of Llangarren, and of Urchinfield (now part of the parish of Hardwicke), and Anne, daughter of John Morgan, of The Waen, Skenfrith, Monmouthshire. His uncle, George Kemble, of Pembridge Castle, Welsh Newton, was the father of Captain Richard Kemble, who saved Charles II at the battle of Worcester.

Ordained priest at Douai College, 23 February, 1625, he was sent on the mission 4 June, and in his old age lived with his nephew at Pembridge Castle. Arrested there by Captain John Scudamore of Kentchurch, he was lodged in Hereford Gaol in November, 1678, and condemned under 27 Eliz. c. 2 at the end of March following. Ordered to London with Father Charles Baker, he was lodged in Newgate and interviewed by Oates, Bedloe, and Dugdale.

Sent back to Hereford, the aged priest spent three more months in gaol. Before leaving for his execution he smoked a pipe and drank a cup of sack with the undersheriff, this giving rise to the Herefordshire expressions “Kemble pipe”, and “Kemble cup”, meaning a parting pipe or cup. Sir John Hawkins in a note to “The Compleat Angler” turns Kemble into a Protestant in Mary’s reign.

67

Saints of the Month: August

One of the martyr’s hands is preserved at St. Francis Xavier’s, Hereford. His body rests in Welsh Newton churchyard.

Bromage, Ven. Fr. John Kemble (London. 1902); Catholic Record Society’s Publications (London. privately printed 1905-), II. 295. 297; Gillow, Bibl. Dict. Eng. Cath., s.v. ; Archbold in Dict. Nat. Biog., s.v.; Challoner, Memoirs of the Missionary Priests (Leamington s.d.), II, 411; Walton, Compleat Angler (London, 1808), 394.

John B. Wainewright.

68

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Rose of Lima

Saint Rose of Lima

by Claudio Coello (1642–1693), in the Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain

T

he 23rd of August is the feast day of Saint Rose of Lima T.O.S.D. (April 20, 1586 – August 24, 1617). She is the patron saint of embroiderers; sewing lace; gardeners; florists; Latin America; people ridiculed or misunderstood for their piety; for the resolution of family quarrels; indigenous peoples of the Americas; Peru; Philippines; Villareal; Santa Rosa, California; Santa Rosa,

69

Saints of the Month: August

Laguna; Alcoy, Cebu; against vanity; and Lima.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: THIS lovely flower of sanctity, the first canonized Saint of the New World, was born at Lima in 1586. She was christened Isabel, but the beauty of her infant face earned for her the title of Rose, which she ever after bore. As a child, while still in the cradle, her silence under a painful surgical operation proved the thirst for suffering already consuming her heart. At an early age she took service to support her impoverished parents, and worked for them day and night. In spite of hardships and austerities her beauty ripened with increasing age, and she was much and openly admired. From fear of vanity she cut off her hair, blistered her face with pepper and her hands with lime. For further security she enrolled herself in the Third Order of St. Dominic, took St. Catherine of Siena as her model, and redoubled her penance. Her cell was a garden hut, her couch a box of broken tiles. Under her habit Rose wore a hair-shirt studded with iron nails, while, concealed by her veil, a silver crown armed with ninety points encircled her head. More than once, when she shuddered at the prospect of a night of torture, a voice said, “My cross was yet more painful.” The Blessed Sacrament seemed almost her only food. Her love for it was intense.

When the Dutch fleet prepared to attack the town, Rose took her place before the tabernacle, and wept that she was not worthy to die in its defence. All her sufferings were offered for the conversion of sinners, and the thought of the multitudes in hell was ever before her soul.

She died in 1617, at the age of thirty-one.

Reflection.—Rose, pure as driven snow, was filled with deepest contrition and humility, and did constant and terrible penance. Our sins are continual, our repentance passing, our contrition slight, our penance nothing. How will it fare with us?

70

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Bartholomew the Apostle

St John and St Bartholomew by Dosso Dossi (1537)

T

he 24th of August is the feast day of Saint Batholomew the Apostle (Ancient Greek: Βαρθολομαῖος; d. 1st Century AD). He is the patron saint of Armenia; bookbinders; butchers; Florentine cheese and salt merchants; Gambatesa, Italy; Catbalogan, Samar; Għargħur, Malta; leather workers; neurological diseases; plasterers; shoemakers; curriers; tanners; trappers; twitching; whiteners ; and Los Cerricos (Spain).

71

Saints of the Month: August

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: ST. BARTHOLOMEW was one of the twelve who were called to the apostolate by our blessed Lord Himself.

Several learned interpreters of the Holy Scripture take this apostle to have been the same as Nathaniel, a native of Cana, in Galilee, a doctor in the Jewish law, and one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, to whom he was conducted by St. Philip, and whose innocence and simplicity of heart deserved to be celebrated with the highest eulogium by the divine mouth of Our Redeemer.

He is mentioned among the disciples who were met together in prayer after Christ’s ascension, and he received the Holy Ghost with the rest. Being eminently qualified by the divine grace to discharge the functions of an apostle, he carried the Gospel through the most barbarous countries of the East, penetrating into the remoter Indies. He then returned again into the northwest part of Asia, and met St. Philip, at Hierapolis, in Phrygia.

Hence he travelled into Lycaonia, where he instructed the people in the Christian Faith; but we know not even the names of many of the countries in which he preached. St. Bartholomew’s last removal was into Great Armenia, where, preaching in a place obstinately addicted to the worship of idols, he was crowned with a glorious martyrdom. The modern Greek historians say that he was condemned by the governor of Albanopolis to be crucified.

Others affirm that he was flayed alive, which might well enough consist with his crucifixion, this double punishment being in use not only in Egypt, but also among the Persians.

Reflection.—The characteristic virtue of the apostles was zeal for the divine glory, the first property of the love of God. A soldier is always ready to defend the honor of his prince, and a son that of his father; and can a Christian say he loves God who is indifferent to His honor?

72

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Genesius of Rome

Statue of St. Genesius with mask and baptismal font in St. Giles Church in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany

T

he 25th of August is the feast day of Saint Genesius of Rome.

He is the patron saint of actors, clowns, comedians, comics, converts, dancers, musicians, stenographers, printers, lawyers, epileptics, thieves, and torture victims.

The following is from Catholic Encyclopedia:

73

Saints of the Month: August

A comedian at Rome, martyred under Diocletian in 286 or 303. Feast, 25 August. He is invoked against epilepsy, and is honoured as patron of theatrical performers and of musicians. The legend (Acta SS., Aug., V, 119) relates: Genesius, the leader of a theatrical troupe in Rome, performing one day before the Emperor Diocletian, and wishing to expose Christian rites to the ridicule of his audience, pretended to receive the Sacrament of Baptism.

When the water had been poured upon him he proclaimed himself a Christian. Diocletian at first enjoyed the realistic play, but, finding Genesius to be in earnest, ordered him to be tortured and then beheaded. He was buried on the Via Tiburtina. His relics are said to be partly in San Giovanni della Pigna, partly in S. Susanna di Termini and in the chapel of St. Lawrence. The legend was dramatized in the fifteenth century; embodied in later years in the oratorio “Polus Atella” of Löwe (d. 1869), and still more recently in a work by Weingartner (Berlinn 1892). The historic value of the Acts, dating from the seventh century, is very doubtful, though defended by Tillemont (Mémoires, IV s. v. Genesius). The very existence of Genesius is called into question, and he is held to be a Roman counterpart of St. Gelasius (or Gelasinus) of Hierapolis (d. 297). He was venerated, however, at Rorne in the fourth century: a church was built in his honour very early, and was repaired and beautified by Gregory III in 741.

74

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Orontius of Lecce

Image of Saint Oronzo (Orontius), from Lecce

T

he 26th of August is the feast day of Saint Orontius of Lecce (Italian: Sant’Oronzo, Oronzio, Aronzo). He is the patron saint of Lecce (city and province); Ostuni; and Turi.

Saint Orontius of Lecce lived in the 1st Century, his father the Roman imperial treasurer in Lecce, Italy. When his father died, Saint Orontius took over his position. A disciple of Saint Paul, 75

Saints of the Month: August

Justus, converted Orontius as well as his nephew Fortunatus. He was then later reported to authorities that he was a Christian and was ordered to offer a sacrifice to the pagan gods. He refused to do this and was arrested, his position removed, tortured and with Fortunatus was exiled to Corinth. He met Saint Paul the Apostle in Corinth and Orontius was made the first bishop of Lecce.

Orontius and Fortunatus returned to Lecce where they were both imprisoned again and then released with the order to not to continue preaching. However, they continued to preach in the surrounding cities. They were arrested for the third time and executed.

76

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Monica

St Monica (on the pillar)

by Benozzo Gozzoli (1464-1465)

T

he 27th of August is the feast day of Saint Monica (AD 322–387). She is also known as Monica of Hippo. She is the patron saint of difficult marriages, disappointing children, victims of adultery or unfaithfulness, victims of (verbal) abuse, and conversion of relatives.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: 77

Saints of the Month: August

MONICA, the mother of St. Augustine, was born in 332. A, a girlhood of singular innocence and piety, she was given in marriage to Patritius, a pagan. She at once devoted herself to his conversion, praying for him always,and winning his reverence and love by the holiness of her life and her affectionate forbearance. She was rewarded by seeing him baptized a year before his death. When her son Augustine went astray in faith and manners her prayers and tears were incessant. She was once very urgent with a learned bishop that he would talk to her son in order to bring him to a better mind, but he declined, despairing of success with one at once so able and so headstrong. However, on witnessing her prayers and tears, he bade her be of good courage; for it might not be that the child of those tears should perish. By going to Italy, Augustine could for a time free himself from his mother’s importunities; but he could not escape from her prayers, which encompassed him like the providence of God. She followed him to Italy, and there by his marvellous conversion her sorrow was turned into joy. At Ostia, on their homeward journey, as Augustine and his mother sat at a window conversing of the life of the blessed, she turned to him and said, “Son, there is nothing now I care for in this life. What I shall now do or why I am here, I know not. The one reason I had for wishing to linger in this life a little longer was that I might see you a Catholic Christian before I died. This has God granted me superabundantly in seeing you reject earthly happiness to become His servant. What do I here?” A few days afterwards she had an attack of fever, and died in the year 387.

Reflection.—It is impossible to set any bounds to what persevering prayer may do. It gives man a share in the Divine Omnipotence. St. Augustine’s soul lay bound in the chains of heresy and impurity, both of which had by long habit grown inveterate. They were broken by his mother’s prayers.

78

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Augustine of Hippo

The Four Doctors of the Western Church, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Attributed to Gerard Seghers (c.1600)

T

he 28th of August is the feast day of Saint Augustine of Hippo (13 November 354 – 28 August 430). He is the patron saint of the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: ST. AUGUSTINE was born in 354, at Tagaste in Africa. He was brought up in the Christian faith, but without receiving baptism. An ambitious school-boy of brilliant 79

Saints of the Month: August

talents and violent passions, he early lost both his faith and his innocence. He persisted in his irregular life until he was thirty-two. Being then at Milan professing rhetoric, he tells us that the faith of his childhood had regained possession of his intellect, but that he could not as yet resolve to break the chains of evil habit. One day, a however, stung to the heart by the account of some sudden conversions, be cried out, “The unlearned rise and storm heaven, and we, with all our learning, for lack of heart lie wallowing here.” He then withdrew into a garden, when a long and terrible conflict ensued.

Suddenly a young fresh voice (he knows not whose) breaks in upon his strife with the words, “Take and read;” and he lights upon the passage beginning, “Walk honestly as in the day.” The battle was won. He received baptism, returned home, and gave all to the poor. At Hippo, where he settled, he was consecrated bishop in 395. For thirtyfive years he was the centre of ecclesiastical life in Africa, and the Church’s mightiest champion against heresy; whilst his writings have been everywhere accepted as one of the principal sources of devotional thought and theological speculation. He died in 430.

Reflection.—Read the lives of the Saints, and you will ill find that you are gradually creating a society about you to which in some measure you will be forced to raise the standard of your daily life.

80

Saints of the Month: August

Passion of Saint John the Baptist

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist by Caravaggio (c.1610)

T

he 29th of August is the Passion of Saint John the Baptist. It is also known as the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, Decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the Beheading of the Forerunner.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints: ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST was called by God to be the forerunner of His divine Son. In order to preserve his innocence spotless, and to improve the extraordinary 81

Saints of the Month: August

graces which he had received, he was directed by the Holy Ghost to lead an austere and contemplative life in the wilderness, in the continual exercises of devout prayer and penance, from his infancy till he was thirty years of age. At this age the faithful minister began to discharge his mission. Clothed with the weeds of penance, be announced to all men the obligation they lay under of washing away their iniquities with the tears of sincere compunction; and proclaimed the Messias, Who was then coming to make His appearance among them. He was received by the people as the true herald of the Most High God, and his voice was, as it were, a trumpet sounding from heaven to summon all men to avert the divine judgments, and to prepare themselves to reap the benefit of Vie mercy that was offered them. The tetrarch Herod Antipas having, in defiance of all laws divine and human, married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, who was yet living, St. John the Baptist boldly reprehended the tetrarch and his accomplice for so scandalous an incest and adultery, and Herod, urged on by lust and anger, cast the Saint into prison. About a year after St. John had been made a prisoner, Herod gave a splendid entertainment to the nobility of Galilee. Salome, a daughter of Herodias by her lawful husband, pleased Herod by her dancing, insomuch that he promised her to grant whatever she asked. On this, Salome consulted with her mother what to ask. Herodias instructed her daughter to demand the death of John the Baptist, and persuaded the young damsel to make it part of her petition that the head of the prisoner should be forthwith brought to her in a dish. This strange request startled the tyrant himself; he assented, however, and sent a soldier of his guard to behead the Saint in prison, with an order to bring his head in a charger and present it to Salome, who delivered it to her mother. St. Jerome relates that the furious Herodias made it her inhuman pastime to prick the sacred tongue with a bodkin. Thus died the great forerunner of our blessed Saviour, about two years and three months after his entrance upon his public ministry, about a year before the death of our blessed Redeemer.

Reflection.—All the high graces with which St. John was 82

Saints of the Month: August

favored sprang from his humility; in this all his other virtues were founded. If we desire to form ourselves upon so great a model, we must, above all things, labor to lay the same deep foundation.

83

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Sabina of Rome

The relics of St. Sabina

T

he 29th of August is the feast day of Saint Sabina of Rome (d. c.126 AD).

The following is from Catholic Encyclopedia: Widow of Valentinus and daughter of Herod Metallarius, suffered martyrdom about 126. According to the Acts of the martyrdom, which however have no historic value, she lived at Rome and was converted to Christianity by her female slave Serapia. Serapia was put to death for her faith and later, in the same year, Sabina suffered martyrdom. In 430 her relics were brought to the Aventine, where a basilica, which is very interesting in the history of art, is called after St. Sabina. Originally the church was dedicated to both saints. The feast of St. 84

Saints of the Month: August

Sabina is celebrated on 29 August.

Klemens Lรถffler.

85

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Fiacre

Stained glass window, Notre-Dame, Bar-le-Duc, France, 19th century.

T

he 30th of August is the feast day of Saint Fiacre (Irish: Fiachra, Latin: Fiacrius; c.600 – 18 August 670). He is the patron saint of gardeners; herbalists; victims of hemorrhoids and venereal diseases; and Saint-Fiacre, Seine-et-Marne, France.

The following is from Butler’s Lives of the Saints:

86

Saints of the Month: August

ST. FIAKER was nobly born in Ireland, and had his education under the care of a bishop of eminent sanctity who was, according to some, Conan, Bishop of Soder or the Western Islands. Looking upon all worldly advantages as dross, he left his country and friends in the flower of his age, and with certain pious companions sailed over to France, in quest of some solitude in which he might devote himself to God, unknown to the rest of the world.

Divine Providence conducted him to St. Faro, who was the Bishop of Meaux, and eminent for sanctity. When St. Fiaker addressed himself to him, the prelate, charmed with the marks of extraordinary virtue and abilities which he discovered in this stranger, gave him a solitary dwelling in a forest called Breuil which was his own patrimony, two leagues from Meaux. In this place the holy anchorite cleared the ground of trees and briers, made himself a cell, with a small garden, and built an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin, in which he spent a great part of the days and nights in devout prayer. He tilled his garden and labored with his own hands for his subsistence. The life he led was most austere, and only necessity or charity ever interrupted his exercises of prayer and heavenly contemplation. Many resorted to him for advice, and the poor for relief. But, following an inviolable rule among the Trish monks, he never suffered any woman to enter the enclosure of his hermitage. St. Chillen, or Kilian, an Irishman of high birth, on his return from Rome, visited St. Fiaker, who was his kinsman, and having passed some time under his discipline, was directed by his advice, with the authority of the bishops, to preach in that and the neighboring dioceses. This commission he executed with admirable sanctity and fruit.

St. Fiaker died about the year 670, on the 30th of August.

Reflection.—Ye who love indolence, ponder well these words of St. Paul: “If any man will not work, neither let him eat.�

87

Saints of the Month: August

Saint Raymond Nonnatus

Saint Raymund Nonnatus being fed by Angels

by Eugenio CaxĂŠs, 1630

T

he 31st of August is the feast day of Saint Raymund Nonnatus O. de M. (1204 – 31 August 1240). He is the patron saint of Baitoa, Dominican Republic; childbirth; expectant mothers; pregnant women; newborn babies; infants; children; obstetricians; midwives; fever; the falsely accused; confidentiality of confession.

The following is from Catholic Encyclopedia: (In Spanish SAN RAMON).

88

Saints of the Month: August

Born 1200 or 1204 at Portello in the Diocese of Urgel in Catalonia; died at Cardona, 31 August, 1240. His feast is celebrated on 31 August. He is pictured in the habit of his order surrounded by ransomed slaves, with a padlock on his lips. He was taken from the womb of his mother after her death, hence his name. Of noble but poor family, he showed early traits of piety and great talent. His father ordered him to tend a farm, but later gave him permission to take the habit with the Mercedarians at Barcelona, at the hands of the founder, St. Peter Nolasco. Raymond made such progress in the religious life that he was soon considered worthy to succeed his master in the office of ransomer. He was sent to Algiers and liberated many captives. When money failed he gave himself as a hostage.

He was zealous in teaching the Christian religion and made many converts, which embittered the Mohammedan authorities. Raymond was subjected to all kinds of indignities and cruelty, was made to run the gauntlet, and was at last sentenced to impalement. The hope of a greater sum of money as ransom caused the governor to commute the sentence into imprisonment. To prevent him from preaching for Christ, his lips were pierced with a red-hot iron and closed with a padlock. After his arrival in Spain, in 1239, he was made a cardinal by Gregory IX. In the next year he was called to Rome by the pope, but came only as far as Cardona, about six miles from Barcelona, where he died. His body was brought to the chapel of St. Nicholas near his old farm. In 1657 his name was placed in the Roman martyrology by Alexander VII. He is invoked by women in labour and by persons falsely accused. The appendix to the Roman ritual gives a formula for the blessing of water, in his honour, to be used by the sick, and another of candles.

BUTLER, Lives of the Saints; STADLER, Heiligenlexicon; GAMS, Kirchengesch. von Spanien, III; Acta SS., VI, 729.

FRANCIS MERSHMAN

89

Saints of the Month: August

For more information see Go to Mary.

For Our Lady’s intentions.

90