SAINT ADAMNAN
Saint Adamnan was born in Ireland. Saint Ceolfrid persuaded him to adopt the Roman calendar for Easter. Adamnan worked to get Irish monks and monasteries to replace their Celtic practices with those of Rome. He convinced the Council of Birr that women should be exempt from wars and that women and children should not be taken prisoners or slaughtered caused the agreement to be called Adamnan’s law. Died: at Iona, September 23, Feastday: September 23.
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SAINT AGNES of ASSISI
Abbess and miracle worker, the younger sister of St. Clare of Assisi. Born in Assisi, Agnes was the youngest daughter of Count Favorino Scifi and Countess Hortulana (now Blessed). On March 18, 1212, Clare renounced her inheritance and family and founded the Poor Clares, the Franciscan cloistered Order. Agnes joined her sixteen days later at the Benedictine cloister of St. Angelo in Panso, where they received their initial training. Her father, Count Favorino, sent armed men to carry Agnes away. She was badly beaten but was not taken back to her father because of the miraculous efforts of Clare. Agnes was accepted by St. Francis and placed in St. Damian’s. She and Clare were soon joined by other noblewomen of Assisi, and there Agnes achieved perfection as a religious at a young age. She was eventually named abbess, and in 1219, was sent by St. Francis to direct the Poor Clares at Monticelli, near Florence. Agnes wrote a letter to Clare, and this surviving document clearly demonstrates her love of poverty and her loyalty to Clare’s ideals. Agnes also established Poor Clares in Mantua, Padua, and Venice. In 1253, she was summoned to Clare’s deathbed and assisted at her funeral. Agnes followed quickly as Clare had predicted, dying three months later, on November 16 of the same year. Her mother, Hortulana, and a younger sister, Beatrice, had already died, and Agnes was buried near them in the Church of St. Clare of Assisi. Died: 1253, Feastday: November 16.
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SAINT RITA
Born at Rocca Porena in the Diocese of Spoleto, 1386; died at the Augustinian convent of Cascia, 1456. Feast, 22 May.
Represented as holding roses, or roses and figs, and sometimes with a wound in her forehead. According to the “Life” (Acta SS., May, V, 224) written at the time of her beatification by the Augustinian, Jacob Carelicci, from two older biographies, she was the daughter of parents advanced in years and distinguished for charity which merited them the surname of “Peacemakers of Jesus Christ”.
Rita’s great desire was to become a nun, but, in obedience to the will of her parents, she, at the age of twelve, married a man extremely cruel and ill-tempered. For eighteen years she was a
model wife and mother. When her husband was murdered she tried in vain to dissuade her twin sons from attempting to take revenge; she appealed to Heaven to prevent such a crime on their part, and they were taken away by death, reconciled to God. She applied for admission to the Augustinian convent at Cascia, but, being a widow, was refused. By continued entreaties, and, as is related, by Divine intervention, she gained admission, received the habit of the order and in due time her profession. As a religious she was an example for all, excelled in mortifications, and was widely known for the efficacy of her prayers. Urban VIII, in 1637, permitted her Mass and Office. On account of the many miracles reported to have been wrought at her intercession she received in Spain the title of La Santa de los impossibiles.
She was solemnly canonized 24 May, 1900.
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SAINT FRANCES OF ROME
St. Frances of Rome
Saint Frances was born in Rome in 1384 to a wealthy noble family. Her father had promised her in marriage to the son of another wealthy family. She stubbornly prayed to God to prevent the marriage until her confessor pointed out, “Are you crying because you want to do God’s will or because you want God to do your will?” She reluctantly gave in to the marriage to Lorenzo. Saint Frances only thirteen was thrust into the whirl of parties and banquets and collapsed from the strain. For months she lay close to death, unable to eat, move or speak.
Saint Frances had a vision of Saint Alexis and he told her God was giving her an important choice. Did she want to recover or not? she whispered, “God’s will is mine.” Saint Alexis replied,” Then you will live to glorify His Name.” Her recovery was immediate and complete.
The beginning of the fifteenth century brought the birth of her first son, Battista, named after John the Baptist. After two more children were born to her a boy, Giovanni Evangelista, and a
girl, Agnes.
A flood brought disease and famine to Rome. Frances gave orders that no one asking for alms
would be turned away. Her father-in-law, furious that she was giving away their supplies during a famine, took the keys of the granary and wine cellar away from her. Saint Frances was so
desperate for food to give to the poor that she went to the empty corn loft and sifted through the straw searching for a few leftover kernels. After she left Lorenzo came in and was stunned to find the previously empty granary filled with yellow corn. Frances drew wine out of their one cask until one day her father in law went down and found it empty. Everyone screamed at Frances. After saying a prayer, she led them to cellar, turned the spigot on the empty cask, and out flowed the most wonderful wine.
Civil war came to Rome. Lorenzo was seriously wounded and his brother was arrested. Troja sent word that Lorenzo’s brother would be executed unless he had Battista. When Frances heard this she grabbed Battista by the hand and fled. She ran into her spiritual adviser, Don Andrew, who told her she was choosing the wrong way and ordered her to trust God. Slowly she turned around and made her way to Capitol Hill where Count Troja was waiting. Troja put Battista on a soldier’s horse but every horse they tried refused to move. Finally the governor gave in to God’s wishes. Frances was left alone against the attackers after sending Lorenzo out of Rome to avoid capture. Invaders broke into her house, tortured and killed the servants and demolished the palace. Battista was kidnapped and taken to Naples. A plague took the live of Frances’ nine-year-old son, Evangelista.
One year after his death Evangelista came to her in a vision and told her that Agnes was going to die and in return God was granting her a special grace by sending an archangel to be her
guardian angel for the rest of her life. She would always been able to see him. The angel commanded her to stop her severe penances. “You should understand by now,” the
angel told her, “that the God who made your body and gave it to your soul as a servant never intended that the spirit should ruin the flesh and return it to him despoiled.”
After the wars ended Battista and her husband returned home. Her husband returned broken in mind and body. Frances had to restore Lorenzo back to his old self. Battista married a woman named Mabilia.
Frances started a lay order of women attached to the Benedictines called the Oblates of Mary. The women lived in the world but pledged to offer themselves to God and serve the poor. Frances nursed Lorenzo until he died. His last words to her were, “I feel as if my whole life has been one beautiful dream of purest happiness. God has given me so much in your love.” After his death, Frances moved into the house with the other Oblates and was made superior. At 52 she had the life she dreamed of when she was eleven.
Frances died four years later. Her last words were “The angel has finished his task. He beckons me to follow him.” Her Feastday is March 9.
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SAINT RAPHAEL
Saint Raphael is one of seven Archangels who stand before the throne of the Lord. He was sent by God to help Tobit, Tobiah and Sarah. Tobit was blind and Tobiah’s betrothed, Sarah, had seven bridegrooms perish on the night of their weddings. Raphael accompanied Tobiah into Media disguised as a man named Azariah. Raphael helped him through his difficulties and taught him how to safely enter marriage with Sarah. Tobiah said that Raphael caused him to have his wife and that he gave joy to Sarah’s parents for driving out the evil spirit in her. He also gave Raphael credit for his father’s seeing the light of heaven and for receiving all good things through his
intercession. Raphael, Michael and Gabriel are the only Archangels mentioned by name in the bible. Raphael’s name means God heals. This identity came about because of the biblical story which claims that he healed the earth when it was defiled by the sins of the fallen angels in the apocryphal book of Enoch. Raphael is also identified as the angel who moved the waters of the healing sheep pool.
He is the patron of the blind, of happy meetings, of nurses, of physicians and of travelers. His
feast day is celebrated on September 29th.
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SAINT THOMAS MORE
Scholar|
Writer|
Friends|
King Henry Divorce|
Avoid Divorce Issue|
Martyrdom
A Scholar
Saint Thomas More was born February 7, 1478 and died July 6, 1535 at fifty-seven. Thomas went to St. Anthony’s School in London and then was taken to serve as a page in the household of the famous Cardinal Morton, then Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord High Chancellor of England. Thomas thought of and prayed about a vocation. Was it to be a Religious in a Monastery, a secular priest or a husband and father of a family? To him each was a sacred vocation and
required his studied thoughts and almost detached prayer. In 1504 when he was twenty-seven years old he decided on marriage. Thomas and Jane were very happily married for more than five years untill her death in 1511, leaving four children: Margaret (Meg) born in 1505, Elizabeth
(Beth)1506, Cicily (Cecy) 1507, and John (Jack ) in 1509.
Shortly after his first wife’s death he married a still older woman, a widow, Alice Middleton, who brought to his household her daughter, Alice. Thomas More’s household was delightful. His family was always his first concern. He believed in developing the minds of his children, his daughters’ as well as his son’s. His eldest, Meg, was an enthusiastic student and her father’s pride and joy. She was an excellent Latin student and on one occasion when the King arrived unexpectedly at their home in Chelsea by barge down the Thames River, Meg held conversation with him in that language, much to the expressed pleasure of Henry VIII who in his better youthful days was interested in such scholarly attainments.
A Writer and Lecturer
More’s intellect was not only quick and witty but profound and erudite. As early as 1503 he wrote a number of poems and verses, some in Chaucerian format; some witty, some sentimental, all philosophical and one, especially, historical. “Lamentation at the Death of Queen Elizabeth” the widow of Henry VII whose marriage joined the White Rose to the Red after the Wars that lasted years. Thomas wrote the life of John Pico, Earl of Mirandola whose life pattern he wished to emulate. Pico had thought of becoming a Religious but like More he decided to remain a layman but to give his life to Christ’s teachings. He translated the Latin biography of Pico and adds to it paraphrases in verse of Pico’s Rules for a Christian Life, Weapons of Spiritual Warfare and Properties of a Lover. By 1513 More was at work on the History of Richard III and the next year this scholar and wit was appointed Commissioner of Sewers for River Thames! In 1515 he wrote his famous Utopia Book II and Book I the following year. There were excellent ideas on the reforms both of State and Church.
By 1517 More had undertaken at least two trips for London merchants and the King and High Lord Chancellor (Cardinal Wolsey) were so impressed with his handling of these matters that they persuaded him by Christmas to enter the King’s service as Privy Counselor and the following year as a Judge to hear the complaints of poor people.
In 1528 he received permission from Bishop Tunstal to read and refute heretical books and for the next six years he enters a literary crusade against the heresies of Luther, Frith and Tyndale. As a matter of fact, there are more than 600 quotes from Holy Scripture two thirds for the New Testament and one third from the Old.
Two Dear Friends
Meg records a most interesting conversation between Erasmus and her father. “Says
Erasmus to Father, ‘I marvel you have never entered into the King’s service in some public
capacity, wherein your learning both of men and things would not only serve your own interest but that of your friends and the public.’ Father smiled and made answer: ‘I am better and happier as I am. As for my friends, I already do for them all I can, so they can hardly consider me in their debt. As for myself the yielding to their solicitations that I would put myself forward, for the benefit of the world in general, would be like printing a book at the request of friends that the public may be charmed with what in fact it values as little as a Doit (a small copper coin formerly in use in the Netherlands, Erasmus’ country.) The Cardinal offered me a pension a retaining fee to the King but I told him I did not care to be a mathematical point, to have position without substance.’
More entered into the King’s service and while he needed neither the prestige nor the increase in income, he began by complying with the request of Cardinal Wolsey who was High Chancellor at the time. More was sent on various diplomatic missions in behalf of the merchants of England, one to France in 1528. So successful was he that in the same year he was appointed Chancellor of Lancaster and High Steward of Cambridge University. He had been made High Steward of Oxford the year before. Mention is made of it here because the suggestion was made several years later by the forty year old Dr. Thomas Cranmer that the opinion of the University students should be polled regarding the validity of the dispensation by the Pope given Henry to marry his brother’s widow. It was like suggesting that the opinion of the students taught by Hans Kung at Tubingen should be sought on his denial of the Pope’s infallibility. To Thomas More heresy was not merely a matter of semantics. “Heretics,” he wrote, “be all that obstinately hold any self minded opinion contrary to the doctrine that the common known Catholic Church teacheth and holdeth as necessary to salvation.”
The story of Henry VIII’s divorce is admittedly sordid. Henry had been given a dispensation to marry his sister-in-law when widowed. It was a legitimate decision, as the Church can make any
regulation concerning marriage and any changes with the exception, of course, of changing the essence or substance of the Sacrament itself which Christ instituted. In simple terms a valid marriage holds until death parts the spouses. And it is the teaching of the Church that sufficient grace is contained in that Sacrament to solve any problems arising throughout its existence. But like all grace it must be accepted by the individuals concerned. The prohibition concerning the brother or sister-in-law of the spouses was a wise regulation to protect a family relationship while the parties were alive. However the Church, being a wise and loving mother, has given through the centuries, a dispensation after the death of one of the spouses not only to royalty but in any particular case for which there was a justifiable reason and no impediments. Henry’s frail and sickly brother, Edward, was married to Catherine of Aragon when she was not quite 16 years old and Edward died when he was fifteen. Their marriage was never consummated. Henry VIII petitioned Rome for a dispensation to marry Catherine after his brother’s death as he, then, was successor to the throne.
Thomas More was in his forty-seventh year when he was given the Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster. Wolsey, the high Chancellor of England was fifty-two. Henry was thirty-four and his Queen was forty-one. Anne Boleyn was between twenty and twenty-three years of age.
In 1521 Henry fancied himself quite a theologian. With the help of some others had prepared a document on The Assertion of the Seven Sacraments written in Latin and assisted by Bishop Fisher and More.
“When I found the Pope’s authority highly advanced and with strong arguments
mightily defended,” said More, “I said unto his Grace: ‘I must put your Highness in remembrance of one thing, and that is this. The Pope, as your Highness knoweth, is a prince as you are, and in the League with all other Christian princes. It may hereafter so fall out that your Grace and he may vary on some points of the League, whereupon may grow breach of amity and war between you both. I think it best that the place be amended and his authority more slenderly touched.’ ”
More was only pointing out to his sovereign that at that time Leo X had secular powers as well as spiritual and it was these that the chancellor was being prudent about. It had always been taught and certainly accepted by Thomas More that the Pope was the supreme head of the Church and his decisions final in the matters of Faith and Morals. There are no new doctrines in the Church since the time of Christ and supremacy of the Pope goes back to the establishment of Peter by Our Lord Himself. No individual who is not a successor to Peter, even a king, can claim that authority for himself any more than could Luther or Calvin or Mary Baker Eddy, Brigham Young or you or I.
King Henry Persists in Seeking a Divorce
King Henry decided to divorce his wife, Catherine. At Blackfriars convent in London, the Papal Court of Inquiry began hearing the testimony and less than six months later the Pope requested the case to be sent to Rome. Cardinal Wolsey had been carrying on, unsuccessfully, negotiations for the King’s divorce and because of his failure he was dismissed and Sir Thomas More became the first layman to become the High Lord Chancellor of England.
In November, 1534 he opened the Reformation Parliament called for by the King to reform “divers new enormities sprung up among the people” but More now is not speaking necessarily of the “reforms” Henry had in mind. It was also referred to as Henry’s Long Parliament. It left a permanent mark on England as no other parliament had done before or since.
The first attack was on the Clergy. When the House of Commons met the slogan at their
meeting seemed to have been “Down with the Church,” according to Bishop John
Fisher, who ascribed it to their lack of Faith only. This was resented in the House of Commons for they considered this equivalent to declaring they were as ill as Turks or Saracens. The next year More was asked to sign a new divorce plea to the Pope but he refused. Charles had been told of the many ways in which More spoke favorable in Catherine’s cause. He sent a letter to More through his ambassador but More refused it. He explained to the delegate that while these things concerned him no less than his own life not only for the sake of Catherine and the Emperor but for Henry’s soul and the consequences to England. Therefore he could not accept a private letter officially. These are the words of Thomas More on the sacredness of the marriage bond: “This Holy Sacrament was begun by God in Paradise and He there instituted it to signify the conjunction between Christ and His church. Yet in that coupling matrimony (if they couple in Him) He coupleth Himself also to their souls, with grave according to the sign that is to say which He hath set to signify that grace and with that grace if they apply to work therewith He helpeth them to make their marriage honourable and their bed undefiled. And with that grace also He helpeth them toward the good education and bringing up of such children as shall come between them.”
Impossible to Avoid Divorce Issue
When the king continued to press More on the subject of his divorce, Thomas reminded
him that when he first came into the Royal Service the most virtuous lesson that the King taught him – that he wished Thomas to look unto God and after God unto him. In good faith he said that he did or else might his Grace account him his most unworthy subject.
In the process of time the Lord High Chancellor found it more and more difficult to avoid the issue. Henry was a typical (pious fraud). He knew he couldn’t persuade his Chancellor to abandon his belief in the indissolubility of a valid marriage for the purpose of remarrying another woman so he approached the subject from another angle. His conscience, he declared solemnly, bothered him that he had lived as husband with Catherine for so many years although she was his brother’s widow. True he had received a dispensation from the Pope but his own conscience bothered him nevertheless.
Thomas More, who never wanted to be the Chancellor in the first place, begged to resign
because of ill health. This was by no means only a pretense for he was troubled with a disease of the breast for many months and was told by his physicians that such long diseases were dangerous.
In Rome on March 23, 1534 the validity of Henry and Catherine’s marriage was confirmed. Shortly after, the Act of Succession, passed by Parliament declared Anne’s children the first in succession to the crown and by law Catherine’s daughter, Mary, was deliberately made illegitimate. Anyone who would not accept the law was guilty of treason. More received the
news on Easter Sunday when he had attended Mass with his son-in-law, William Roper and
together they had visited More’s stepdaughter and her husband. It was at their home that
Thomas was summoned to appear before the Royal Commission.
Our Lord’s Church began with twelve bishops eleven of whom were faithful and all eleven of whom were martyrs. The first thirty-one popes were martyrs but we were never told how many members of the Church Our Lord will be with to the consummation of the world. In England the only loyal successor to the Apostles, John Fisher, remained true to the Faith and a month before Thomas, was executed by royal command, who likewise was executed and his head put on a spike on London Bridge.
Martyrdom
In the Spring of 1534 More is committed to the Tower of London where in addition to the many letters he wrote to his family and friends wrote his famous “A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation,” a Eucharist Treatise , History of the Passion and beautiful meditations.
In June Cardinal John Fisher was executed and on July 6, Thomas More. His body was buried in St. Peter’s Chapel Tower. His head, like Fisher’s was posed on London Bridge but taken by Margaret and placed in the Roper vault at St. Dunstan’s, Canterbury.
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SAINT ABEL
Archbishop and Benedictine abbot. Abel was probably born in Ireland, and was a noted churchman, accompanying St. Boniface on his missions to the European Continent. He was chosen as archbishop of Remis by Pope St. Zachary, a nomination ratified by the Council of Soissons in 744. However, a usurper named Milo occupied the see and would not relinquish it. Abel retired to a monastery at Lobbes, and was installed as abbot. He died there in the “odor of sanctity.” Feastday: August 5 Died: 751.
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SAINT AGAPE
Martyr and follower of St. Valentine. She belonged to a group of virgins started by St. Valentine. A church in Termi was dedicated to her until the twelfth century, and she is listed in early martyrologies. Died: 273, Feastday: February 15.
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SAINT ABDAS
Bishop and martyr, also called Audas. A Persian bishop, Abdas was arrested with seven priests, nine deacons, and seven consecrated virgins. These arrests initiated the persecution of Christians in Persia in that era. Abdas and his companions went to their deaths professing Christ. Died 420, Feastday: May 16.
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SAINT AGATHA
Although we have evidence that Agatha was venerated at least as far back as the sixth century, the only facts we have about her are that she was born in Sicily and died there a martyr.
In the legend of her life, we are told that she belonged to a rich, important family. When she was young, she dedicated her life to God and resisted any men who wanted to marry her or have sex with her. One of these men, Quintian, was of a high enough rank that he felt he could force her to acquiesce. Knowing she was a Christian in a time of persecution, he had her arrested and brought before the judge (himself). He expected her to give in to him when faced with torture and possible death, but she simply affirmed her belief in God by praying: “Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil.”
Legend tells us that Quintian imprisoned her in a brothel in order to get her to change her mind. Quintian brought her back before him after she had suffered a month of assault and humiliation in the brothel, but Agatha had never wavered, proclaiming that her freedom came from Jesus. Quintian sent her to prison, instead of back to the brothel which was a move intended to make her more afraid, but which probably was a great relief to her. When she continued to profess her faith in Jesus, Quintian had her tortured. He refused her any medical care but God gave her all the care she needed in the form of a vision of St. Peter. When she was tortured again, she died after saying a final prayer: “Lord, my Creator, you have always protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Receive my soul.”
Because one of the tortures she supposedly suffered was to have her breasts cut off, she was often depicted carrying her breasts on a plate. It is thought that blessing of the bread that takes place on her feast may have come from the mistaken notion that she was carrying loaves of bread.
Because she was asked for help during the eruption of Mount Etna she is considered a protector against the outbreak of fire. She is also considered the patroness of bellmakers for an unknown reason. Some speculate it may have something to do with the fact that bells were used as fire alarms.
Prayer:
Saint Agatha, you suffered sexual assault and indignity because of your faith. Help heal all those who are survivors of sexual assault and protect those women who are in danger. Amen
Feastday: February 5.
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