Saint Adalbert

Saint Adalbert, Bishop of Prague

Saint Adalbert was born in Bohemia, of noble parentage, about the middle of the tenth
century. His father, a Slavonian, sent him to study at Magdeburg, under the care of the
Archbishop Adalbert; who placed him in a school, under the direction of a holy monk,
named Odericus, where the pupils, by serious attention to their studies, and most
exemplary morals, edified one another.

Saint Adalbert, having remained nine years in this school, made considerable progress in
human sciences, but still more in the science of the saints; for whatever time was allowed
for recreation, he spent in holy prayer, in relieving the poor, and visiting the sick. Having
made a copious collection of books, consisting chiefly of the writings of the Fathers and
Doctors of the Church, he returned to Bohemia, and entered the ecclesiastical state at
Prague. Diethmar, bishop of that city, was greatly enamored of his virtue, and ordained him
sub deacon shortly before his death.

An assembly was held to propose a successor, at which the prince of Bohemia and other
grandees were present, and, by unanimous consent, Saint Adalbert was chosen.
Notwithstanding all his reluctance, and his pleas of unworthiness and youth, he was obliged
to accept the onerous charge; and the election having met the approval of the emperor, our
saint received the Episcopal consecration at the hands of Villegisus, Archbishop of Mayence.
He immediately proceeded to Prague, to take possession of his see, and was received amid
the acclamations of the people. In assuming the government of his Church, his
extraordinary piety became manifest; for on all festivals he distributed abundant alms, and
supported twelve poor persons continually. He slept upon the bare floor, or upon sack-cloth,
and passed a considerable part of the night in prayer. His continual preaching, and frequent
visits to the sick and those in prison, manifested how totally he was devoted to the glory of
God and the welfare of his flock.

But they treated his admonitions with an obstinacy surpassing the enthusiasm with which
they had at first hailed his arrival; and Saint Adalbert accordingly resolved to leave them,
having first consulted, and obtained permission from Pope John XV. His first intention was
to make a pilgrimage on foot to the Holy Land; but on his arrival at Mount Cassino, the
Abbot and some of the monks induced him to remain with them for some time, until it
became known who he was; whereupon the holy bishop proceeded to Rome, and, by the
advice of the Pope, received the religious habit in the monastery of St. Alexis, in the year
900. Here he lived in tranquility for three years and a half, until the Duke of Bohemia,
moved by the wretched state of the Church at Prague, induced the Pope to send him back.

Upon his return, the most ample promises of obedience were made, but never fulfilled. So
the saint again abandoned his rebellious flock, and went to preach the Gospel to the
idolaters of Hungary. His success here, however, was not proportionate to his zeal; and the
Bohemians continuing as obstinate as ever, he again returned to his monastery at Rome.

He was obliged by the Pope to repair a second time to Prague. The saint set out in
obedience to this command; but being informed that his ungrateful flock had shown their
implacable hatred of him by murdering his bothers, he requested the Duke of Poland to
ascertain whether they were willing to receive him. The Bohemians replied: “Adalbert is a
saint, and we are sinners; so it is impossible to expect that we can live quietly together.”
The saint took this as a sufficient exoneration from the solicitude of his Church, and went to
undertake the conversion of the pagans who were then in Prussia.

After he had suffered many hardships on this mission, the idolaters one day assembled in
great numbers, and demanded of him why he had entered their country. The saint replied
that he had come for their salvation, and exhorted them to abandon the worship of idols,
and to adore the true God. But the barbarians were displeased at his words, and Siggo, the
priest of the idols, ran him through the breast with his lance, whereupon the others rushed
upon his also, while the saint, raising his hands to heaven, prayed to the Lord for their
conversion. The inhuman wretches placed his head upon a pole, and bore it away amid
shouts of exultation. His martyrdom happened on the 23rd of April, of the year 997, and the
Lord honored him by many subsequent miracles.

by Saint Alphonsus Liguori

St Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

St Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

Died: 251

This holy virgin and martyr, St Agatha, is held in great veneration by the Greek as well as
the Latin Church; and although her original Acts have not been preserved, many well-
authenticated facts concerning her martyrdom are found in the Bollandists, Surius, and
others.

St Agatha was a native of Sicily, and descended of a noble and opulent family. These
circumstances, added to her extraordinary beauty, inflamed Quintianus, a man of consular
dignity, with such love of her, that he resolved to compel her to become his wife. The edicts
of the emperor Decius against the Christians having been published, he ordered Agatha to
be arrested as a Christian, and conducted to Catania, where he then resided.

The holy virgin, St Agatha, having heard the proclamation against the Christians, retired to
a solitary place in order to avoid the snares of Quintinus, concerning which she had received
some intimation.

The emissaries of the governor, however, discovered her place of concealment, and after
having been arrested, she prayed after the following manner: “O Jesus Christ, Lord of all
things, Thou seest my heart, and knowest my desire, which is to possess only Thee, since I
have consecrated myself entirely to Thee. Preserve me, dear Lord, from this tyrant, and
enable me to overcome the devil, who layeth snares for my soul.

When St Agatha appeared before Quintianus, in order the more easily to overcome her
modesty, he gave her up to Aphrodisia, an abominable woman, who, together with her
daughters, publicly professed immodesty. In her infamous house the saint suffered greater
torture than the darkest and most fetid dungeon could afford. All the arts of Aphrodisia and
her partners in crime were unceasingly applied, in order to induce the saint to comply with
the wishes of Quintianus; but Agatha, who from her infancy had been consecrated to Jesus
Christ, was enabled by his divine grace to overcome all their attempts.

Quintianus, having been informed that the efforts of Aphrodisia for an entire month had
been employed in vain, commanded that the saint should be again brought before him. He
upbraided her, that, being a free woman and noble, she had allowed herself to be seduced
into the humble servitude of the Christians.

The holy virgin courageously confessed that she was a Christian, and that she knew of no
nobility more illustrious, nor liberty more real, than to be a servant of Jesus Christ.

Quintianus, irritated at her rebuke, commanded her to be buffeted and led to prison. The
following day she was again summoned, and asked whether she had resolved to save her
life.

St Agatha replied: “God is my life and my salvation.” The governor then put her to the
torture, which was executed with barbarous cruelty.

Quintianus then remanded the saint to prison, commanding that her wounds should be left
undressed, in order that she might expire under the torture.

But at midnight St. Peter appeared to her in a vision, perfectly cured her wounds, and freed
her from all pain; during the entire of that night there appeared in the interior of the prison
so resplendent a light that the guards fled in terror, leaving the door of her dungeon open,
so that she could have escaped, as the other prisoners advised her, but that she was
unwilling, as she said, to lose by flight the crown which was being prepared for her in
heaven.

Quintianus, nothing moved by her miraculous cure, but on the contrary more irritated, after
four days devised new torments for the saint.

He commanded that she should be rolled over broken tiles, mixed with burning coals; but
she endured all with constancy; and while the tyrant was planning fresh torments, the saint,
perceiving that her life was drawing to a close, made the following prayer:

“O Lord, my Creator, who hast preserved me from infancy, hast given me strength to
overcome these torments, and hast taken from me the love of the world, receive now my
soul. It is time that I should at last pass from this miserable life to the fruition of Thy glory.”

Just as she had finished these words, she tranquilly expired, and went to be united to God,
to praise him and love him forever. This happened in 251. Her name is mentioned in the
Canon of the Mass.

*Story told by St. Alphonsus de Liguori

The incorrupt body of St Agatha was transferred to Constantinople in the 11th century, and
then returned to Catania. The body is now preserved in different reliquaries. "The arms,
legs, and breasts are preserved in a glass case in an incorrupt condition, although rather
dried and dark after more than 17 centuries. The skull and principal relics are at Catania,
enclosed in an effigy on which rests a costly jeweled crown. The reliquary consists of the
figure of the Saint from the head to the waist and is situated in an upright position. The
figure is entirely covered with precious gems, rings, bracelets, pins, chains, and jeweled
flowers and crosses..."

* "The Incorruptibles", Cruz

St Agnes of Prague

St Agnes de Prague
(St Agnes of Prague)

Feast Day – March 2

On the eve of the feast of the holy virgin and martyr Agnes, in the year 1205, a daughter
was born to the king of Bohemia, Primislaus Ottokar I. St Agnes of Prague, she also
received the name Agnes in baptism. Her mother, who was an aunt of St Elizabeth of
Hungary, rejoiced when she noticed an admirable seriousness in her infant. At times she
saw how St Agnes of Prague folded her little hands in the form of a cross, and then, as if
absorbed in deep devotion, would lie quite still.

According to the custom of the time, the king's daughter was betrothed at the age of three
years to the son of the duke of Silesia, and hence was sent to the Silesain convent at
Trebnitz, where St Hedwig was superior at that time, to be educated there. Her betrothed
died after three years, and St Agnes of Prague was then taken to the convent at Doxan in
Bohemia, where the seeds of sanctity which had been sown by St Hedwig budded forth in
marvelous bloom. The child appeared to be destined for the heavenly Spouse rather than
for an earthly one; but earthly monarchs renewed their suit for her hand.

Emperor Frederick II desired to secure St Agnes of Prague as the bride of his son and
successor to the throne, Henry, and Agnes, who was now a mature young woman, was sent
to the court of the German emperor. But when the union with Henry came to naught as the
result of the prayers of the virgin, King Henry III of England sought her hand in marriage,
and finally, even Emperor Frederick II himself, whose consort had meanwhile died. All the
opposition raised by St Agnes of Prague, who desired to belong entirely to the Divine
Bridegroom, seemed in vain. Then she begged Pope Gregory IX to intervene, and as a result
she obtained her freedom. The emperor declared himself satisfied since Agnes chose not a
human being but the God of heaven in preference to him.
Now, however, Agnes strove to embrace the religious state in order to achieve her union
with the Divine Bridegroom. The fame of Poor Clare convents had reached Bohemia, and
Agnes resolved, with the assistance of her brother, who had meanwhile ascended the royal
throne, to establish a convent of Poor Clares in the capital city of Prague. Pope Gregory
cheerfully gave his consent, and, at his command, St. Clare sent five sisters from the
convent of St. Damian in Assisi, to Prague. Agnes and seven other young women of the
highest ranks of society entered the new convent together with these sisters.

Within a short time Agnes distinguished herself among them as a model of virtue; in fervor
at prayer, in obedience, in religious discipline, in self-denial, and in humility. The command
of the pope to accept the position of abbess was a great trial for her humility; however, she
obtained permission not to carry the title, but rather to be known as the "senior sister."
Holy zeal, similar to that of her holy mother St. Clare, characterized her vigilance regarding
the observance of holy poverty; she declined the royal gifts sent to her by her brother, and
would not tolerate that any sister possess anything of a personal nature.

God blessed her with the gift of miracles; she recalled to life the deceased daughter of her
brother.

Enriched with heavenly merits, she departed from this life in the odor of sanctity, to enter
into eternal union with her Divine Bridegroom, on March 6, 1282, having served Him for
forty years in the religious state. Devotion to her, which has existed since time immemorial,
received apostolic sanction from Pope Pius IX, and her feast, which has long been
celebrated in Prague on March 2nd, has been extended to the entire Franciscan Order.
Saint Anthony of Padua

Saint Anthony of Padua

Feast Day – June 13

Saint Anthony of Padua was born in the year 1195 at Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, where
his father was a captain in the royal army. Already at the age of fifteen years the youth had
entered the Congregation of Canons Regular of St Augustine, and was devoting himself with
great earnestness to study and to the practice of piety in the monastery at Coimbra, when a
significant event, which occurred in the year 1220, changed his entire career.

The relics of St Berard and Companions, the first martyrs of the Franciscan Order, were
being brought from Africa to Coimbra. At the sight of them, Saint Anthony of Padua was
seized with an intense desire to suffer martyrdom as a Franciscan missionary in Africa. In
response to his repeated and humble petitions, the permission of his superiors to transfer to
the Franciscan Order was reluctantly given. At his departure, one of the canons said to him
ironically, "Go, then, perhaps you will become a saint in the new order." Saint Anthony of
Padua replied, "Brother, when you hear that I have become a saint, you will praise God for
it."

In the quiet little Franciscan convent at Coimbra Saint Anthony of Padua received a friendly
reception. In the very same year his earnest wish to be sent to the missions in Africa
seemed to be fulfilled, but God had actually decreed otherwise. Anthony had scarcely set
foot on African soil when he was seized with a grievous illness. Even after recovering from
it, he was so weak that, resigning himself to the will of God, he boarded a boat back to
Portugal. But a storm drove the ship to the coast of Sicily, and Anthony went to Assisi,
where the general chapter of the order was held in May, 1221.

As Saint Anthony of Padua still looked weak and sickly, and gave no evidence of his
scholarship, no one paid any attention to the stranger until Father Gratian, provincial of
Romagna, had compassion on him and sent him to the quiet little convent near Forli. There
Anthony remained nine months occupied in the lowliest duties of the kitchen and convent,
and practiced to his heart's content interior as well as exterior mortification.
The hidden jewel was soon to appear in all its brilliance. Saint Anthony was sent to Forli
with some other brethren, to attend the ceremony of ordination. At the convent there the
superior wanted somebody to give an address for the occasion. Everybody excused himself,
saying that he was not prepared, until Anthony was finally asked to give it. When he, too,
excused himself most humbly, his superior ordered him by virtue of the vow of obedience to
give the sermon. Anthony began to speak in a very reserved manner; but soon holy
animation seized him, and he spoke with such eloquence, learning, and unction that
everybody was fairly amazed.

When St Francis was informed of the event, he gave Saint Anthony of Padua the mission to
preach all over Italy. At the request of the brethren, Anthony was later commissioned also
to teach theology, "but in such a manner, St Francis distinctly wrote, "that the spirit of
prayer be not extinguished either in yourself or in the other brethren."

Saint Anthony of Padua himself placed greater value on the salvation of souls than on
learning. For that reason he never ceased to exercise his office as preacher along with the
work of teaching. The concourse of hearers was sometimes so great that no church was
large enough to accommodate the audiences and he had to preach in the open air. He
wrought veritable miracles of conversion. Deadly enemies were reconciled with each other.
Thieves and apologized, usurers made restitution of their ill gotten goods. He was so
energetic in defending the truths of the Catholic Faith that many heretics re-entered the
pale of the Church, so that Pope Gregory IX called him "the ark of the covenant."

St Anthony preached in Italy speaking perfect Italian, and would speak in France using
flawless French. The saint never learned these languages, but was given the gift of tongues.
When he spoke to crowds of Greeks, where there were also Latins, French and Englishmen,
all could hear him in their own language. His words were always clearly understood, and
could be heard at remarkable distances.

Once he was preaching at Rimini on the seacoast. Saint Anthony of Padua noticed that a
group of heretics turned their backs to him and started to leave. Promptly the preacher
turned to the sea and called out to the fishes: "Since the heretics do not wish to listen to
me, do you come and listen to me!" And marvelous to say, shoals of fish came swimming
and thrust their heads out of the water as if to hear the preacher. At this the heretics fell at
Anthony's feet and begged to be instructed in the truth.

The blessings of St Anthony's preaching were not confined to Italy. St Francis sent him to
France, where for about three years (1225-1227) he labored with blessed results in the
convents of his order as well as in the pulpit. In all his labors he never forgot the
admonition of his spiritual Father, that the spirit of prayer must not be extinguished. If he
spent the day in teaching, and heard the confessions of sinners till late in the evening, then
many hours of the night were spent in intimate union with God.

Once a man, at whose home Anthony was spending the night, came upon the saint and
found him holding in his arms a child of unspeakable beauty surrounded with heavenly light.
It was the Child Jesus.

In 1227, Anthony was elected minister provincial of upper Italy; and then he resumed the
work of preaching.
There were many remarkable incidents that occurred during the life of Saint Anthony. One
such incident involved Saint Anthony’s father, who was wrongly accused of murdering a
nobleman. Saint Anthony was made aware of his father’s imprisonment through
supernatural means, and began the journey to assist his father after the trial had already
begun.

Saint Anthony of Padua prayed that he might arrive before the trial had concluded, when in
an instant he suddenly he found himself in Lisbon, hundreds of miles away. He entered the
courtroom to the amazement of the judges, and asked to speak in defense of his father.

Saint Anthony told the judges that the murdered man would himself declare his father’s
innocence, and led them all to his burial site. The murdered man’s remains were dug up and
uncovered. Saint Anthony then ordered the man to speak in the name of God when he sat
up and announced that Saint Anthony’s father was guiltless. He then asked Saint Anthony to
give him absolution before returning to his former position.

Out of the abundance of his love he worked his wonders. Like a good husbandman, he went
to and fro sowing peace in the field of dissension. At his approach, bringing with him as he
did an atmosphere that penetrated the hardest heart and softened it, he attuned
longstanding discords; he harmonized the inharmonious home circle.

To the wife fleeing from the wrath of an enraged and unreasonable husband, he said:
"Return to your own home in peace." And when she had come to her own house, a kindly
welcome awaited her. To the infant whose lips had not yet framed a syllable, and whose
father had unjustly accused his wife of infidelity, Anthony said: "My child, I adjure thee, in
the name of the Infant God of the Manger, to declare publicly, in clear and positive terms,
to whom thou owest thy existence." The child, in the arms of its mother, turned toward the
accuser and pronounced distinctly these three words: "Behold my father!" Then, Anthony,
taking the babe and placing it in the arms of the husband, said: "Love this child for it is
indeed your own. Love also your wife, who has been proved to be faithful, devoted, and
worthy of your affection."

What a sermon, in a few words, on true and false love, he preached at the funeral of the
Florentine notable! Anthony's text was: "Where thy treasure is there thy heart is also."
Pausing suddenly, he beheld in a vision the soul of that rich man in torment. He exclaimed:
"This rich man is dead and his soul is in torture! Go open his coffers and you will find his
heart." The astonished relatives and friends hastened to do his bidding; and there, half
buried among the gold pieces, they found the still palpitating heart of the dead Croesus.

Due to his taxing labors and his austere practice of penance, he soon felt his strength so
spent that he prepared himself for death. After receiving the last sacraments he kept
looking upward with a smile on his countenance. When he was asked what he saw there, he
answered, "I see my Lord." Then he breathed forth his soul on June 13, 1231, being only 36
years old. Soon the children in the streets of the city of Padua were crying, "The saint is
dead. Anthony is dead."

Pope Gregory IX enrolled him among the saints in the very next year. At Padua a
magnificent basilica was built in his honor, his holy relics were entombed there in 1263.
From the time of his death up to the present day, countless miracles have occurred through
St. Anthony's intercession, so that he is known as the Wonder-Worker. In 1946 he was also
declared a Doctor of the Church.
St Bernard of Corleone

St Bernard of Corleone, or St Bernard de Corleon

January 12

St Bernard of Corleone was born on the island of Sicily in the year 1605. His father was a
shoemaker and taught his son the ways of the trade. But it was difficult for the lively youth
to interest himself in this work. Upon the death of his father, he immediately left the shop
and, led by the love of adventure, he took up fencing. It was not long before he became
quite adept at wielding the sword. His unusual corporal vigor qualified him to challenge any
comer to a contest.

From then on St Bernard of Corleone spent the greater part of his time in training and
eagerly seized every opportunity to match swords with his hot tempered countrymen.

Although this manner of life led him far away from God, nevertheless many noble
characteristics were perceptible in Bernard. In taking up any quarrel he liked to defend old
people and other helpless and defenseless persons against violence. He frequently made
devout visits to a crucifix that was highly honored by the people, and provided that a lamp
be kept burning before it. Moreover, he cherished great devotion towards St. Francis. God
and St. Francis soon led him to realize what a disorderly course he was pursuing.

Bernard had been challenged to a sinful duel, in the course of which he wounded his
opponent mortally. In order to escape from his avengers, he sought refuge in flight. In this
extremity, as so frequently happens, grace knocked at his heart. Bernard heeded the call.
He acknowledged his godless and dangerous conduct for what it was, bewailed it bitterly,
and resolved upon a complete change of sentiments.

In order to atone for his sins, St Bernard of Corleone begged for admission among the
Capuchins as a lay brother, and on December 13, 1632, he was invested with the holy
habit. If in the past Bernard had yielded his bodily members to wayward purposes, he now
used them as an atoning sacrifice unto salvation. Seven times a day he scourged himself to
the blood. His sleep was limited to three hours on a narrow board, with a block of wood
under his head. He fasted for the most part on bread and water. If anything delicious was
placed before him, he would carry the food to his mouth so as to whet his appetite, and
then lay it down without having tasted it. In spite of his austere life, he still undertook the
most unpleasant and annoying tasks as being his due.

Almighty God showed how agreeable to Him was the penitential life Bernard was leading; he
favored him with extraordinary graces, particularly with ardent devotion at prayer. Bernard
cherished special love for our Blessed Lady, and encouraged others to do the same. Often
our Lady appeared to him and placed the Divine Child in his arms. Moreover, she gave him
knowledge of the day of his death four months in advance. He died at Palermo on January
12, 1667.

Attracted by the fame of his sanctity, there gathered for his burial so many people who
raised their voices in praise of the deceased, that it was less a funeral cortege than a
triumphal procession. Numerous miracles occurring at his grave promoted the cause of his
beatification by Pope Clement XIII in the year 1767.
Saint Clare of Assisi

Feast Day - August 12

At the beginning of the 13th century, when luxury and sensuality held sway, St Francis of
Assisi made his appearance, giving to men the example of a poor and penitential life. But
God wished also to give the vain and pleasure-loving women of that period an example of
contempt of the world's vanities. For this mission he chose Saint Clare, the daughter of a
prominent and noble family of Assisi, born January 20, 1194.

Saint Clare's father was Favarone de Offreduccio, count of Sassorosso; her mother, the
servant of God Ortolana, who died in the odor of sanctity.

Before the child's birth it was revealed to the mother that her offspring would be a brilliant
light in the world. This light the mother detected in her daughter from her earliest years.
Besides being favored with personal beauty, Saint Clare possessed a charming personality
and rare qualities of mind. She was a favorite in the family, and hardly had she attained to
young womanhood, when several suitors sought her in marriage.But her virtues surpassed
the gifts with which nature endorsed her. She interested herself in the poor and frequently
denied herself things so as to be able to give more to the poor members of Christ.

Saint Clare loved prayer, and it was her sweetest delight to surrender her heart to
sentiments of ardent devotion before Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Beneath her
beautiful garments she wore a sharp penitential belt in order to honor the sufferings of
Christ and to preserve herself a chaste virgin for His sake.
Clare was 18 years old when she heard St Francis preach in the cathedral of Assisi during
the Lent of 1212. His words on contempt of the world and on penance, and particularly the
holy example he set, so earnestly affected Clare, that she conferred with him and soon
recognized that God was calling her to lead a life similar to his in the seclusion of a convent.

Saint Clare did not hesitate to carry out God's plans. Realizing that her family, intent only
on a brilliant future for her in the world, would oppose her vocation in every way, she had to
leave home in secret.

On Palm Sunday Clare went to church, dressed in her richest garments, to attend divine
services. That night, attended by an elderly relative, she went to the little chapel of St Mary
of the Angels, where St Francis and his brethren came to meet her with lighted candles in
their hands. Before the altar she removed her beautiful head-dress, then St Francis cut off
her hair and covered her head with a veil of common linen. In place of rich garments, she
received a coarse penitential garb and was girded with a white cord. This was the way in
which the mother and founder of the Poor Clares was invested on March 18, 1212.

For the time being, St Francis placed Saint Clare in a convent of Benedictine sisters. When
Clare had successfully overcome the great opposition of her family, who had intended to
force her to return home, her sister Agnes joined her in the sacrifice. St Francis arranged a
little convent for them near the church of St Damian. There the number of consecrated
virgins soon increased.

They served God in great poverty, strict penance, and complete seclusion from the world
according to a rule which St Francis gave them as his Second Order. Clare was obliged in
obedience to accept the office of abbess in 1215 and to continue in it for 38 years until her
death. But her love for humility found compensation in the performance of the lowliest
services toward her sisters. In spite of her great physical sufferings, she set her sisters a
striking example of zeal in penance and prayer.

In the year 1240 an army of Saracens who were in the service of Emperor Frederick II drew
near Assisi. They rushed upon the little convent of St Damian that lay outside the city and
had already scaled the walls of the monastery. In mortal fear the sisters had recourse to
their mother, who was ill in bed.

The saint, carrying the pyx containing the Most Blessed Sacrament, had herself carried to a
convent window. There she pleaded fervently with the Lord of heaven in the words of the
Psalmist (Ps 73:19), "Deliver not up to beasts the souls, that confess to thee, and shield thy
servants whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood."

A mysterious voice coming from the Host said, "I shall always watch over you."

Immediately panic seized the besiegers. A ray of brilliant light which emanated from the
Blessed Sacrament had dazzled them. They fell down from the walls and fled from the
place. The convent was saved and the town of Assisi was spared.

After suffering from serious illness for 30 years, Clare felt that her end was drawing nigh.
After she had received the last sacraments, she and one of her sisters beheld the Queen of
Virgins coming with a large escort to meet her, the spouse of Jesus Christ.
On August 11, 1253, Saint Clare entered into the joys of eternity and on the following day
her body was buried. Pope Alexander IV canonized her already in the year 1255.

Seven years after the death of Saint Clare, her incorrupt body was interred in the Church of
Saint Clare in Assisi. By the 19th century when a new crypt was built for the Saint’s
remains, it was discovered that Clare was no longer completely incorrupt, alhtough her
skeleton was in perfect condition. Today Saint Clare’s relics lie in a state of repose,
completely covered in a wax likeness of her dressed in the habit of her Order.
Saint Dominic

Saint Dominic

Feast Day – August 4

Eight centuries ago battlemented parapets raised their bold turrets around the town of
Calaruega, standing by the Roman road some thirty miles northward from Osma, the
Episcopal see of Old Castile. These medieval walls guarded the castle of the Guzmans, a
family of Visigothic knights whose chivalry was famously jealous of its Christian faith as well
as of its family honor. Within this ancient town and of this blue-blooded Guzman stock Saint
Dominic was born, about 1170. His father, Felix, seems to have been happily blessed with
the qualities of Chaucher’s “perfect, gentle knight,” although we know but little more about
him. His mother, Joanna d’Aza, had strains of Europe’s noblest blood, and so renowned was
her sanctity that she was beatified by Pope Leo XII. Besides Dominic, two other children of
this union lived saintly lives, one, Mannes, having also been beatified.

Marvels accompanied Dominic’s birth. Before her delivery, his mother dreamed that she
bore in her womb a dog, and that it escaped from her, holding in its mouth a burning torch,
with which it set fire to the world. On the day of his baptism the godmother of the Saint had
a vision in which the blessed child appeared to her marked on the forehead with a radiant
star, the splendor of which illuminated the entire earth.

Dominic’s infancy was passed amid ordinary circumstances. At the age of seven Saint
Dominic's parents placed him under the tutelage of his maternal uncle, a parish priest at the
collegiate church of Gumiel d’Izan, not far distant from Calaruega. Here the young lad
received his primary instructions, which, according to the medieval custom, consisted
mainly in reading from the Latin Fathers. His piety was already intense, and he would
wander into the church to listen to the chant, or when his mood so disposed, he would sit a
long while gazing at the paintings in the church, which made their appeal to his religious
instincts.
When fourteen, Saint Dominic left his uncle’s care and entered the schools of Palencia, then
the best in Spain. Even at this youthful age he probably had a canon’s title, which defrayed
the expenses of this long education. His course at Palencia lasted about ten years. The first
five or six were given to the medieval arts course, including logic; the rest of his time was
devoted to the study of theology. A serious student, Saint Dominic is said to have shown
rather the mature gravity of an old man than the boisterous vivacity of a university student.
Always he blended his studies with pious devotions. His charity was revealed at this period,
during one of those terrible plagues which were the frequent scourges of medieval towns. In
order to relieve the distress and misery of the poor of Palencia, he sold his books. Those
were precious possessions before the invention of printing and were annotated by his own
hand.

The date of Saint Dominic’s ordination is not certain, but was probably 1194. Soon after this
event he undertook his duties as canon at the Osma Cathedral. The new priest’s reputation
for holiness and prudence must have preceded him, for the regular life of these canons was
a reform measure, and Dominic was made sub-prior immediately. Two years later, when
d’Azevedo became bishop of Osma, he appointed Dominic prior of the canons. The nine
years of hidden life at the cathedral were given up to the holy practices of conventual life.

At once he began to appear among his brother canons as a burning torch, the first in
sanctity, the lowest of all in humility, shedding around him an odor of quickening life, a
perfume like incense on a summer’s day. Like an olive tree which throws out its branches,
like a growing cypress, he grew in holiness. He remained day and night in the church. One
special demand he constantly addressed to God, that there might be bestowed on him a
true charity, a love which should count nothing too dear for the salvation of men. He was
accustomed to read the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the Epistles of Saint Paul, and The
Confrences of the Fathers, by Cassian. These books, assisted by divine grace, raised him to
a purity of conscience, to abundant illumination in contemplation, and to an eminent degree
of perfection.

At length this quiet, contemplative life was intruded upon. In 1203 Dominic’s bishop,
Didacus d’Azevedo, took him on a diplomatic journey to Denmark, there to arrange a
marriage for the son of King Alfonso VIII of Castile. This journey brought them through
southern France, and thus occasioned the directive inspiration of Dominic’s life. It appears
that one night, while lodging in an inn at Toulouse, Dominic discovered his host was an
Albigensian, an adherent of the pernicious heresy then demoralizing Languedoc. With a
newborn apostolic fervor he ingeniously threw himself, heart and mind, into the work of
rooting out his host’s errors and of implanting again the true faith in the misguided soul. He
argued all night, we are told, with a sweet and kindly charity, and won his host over to the
truth of the Catholic faith. From that time, he cherished in his heart the project of spending
himself for the salvation of misbelievers, and of instituting to that end a preaching Order, to
be devoted to the evangelization of the nations.

With this fresh inspiration hot in his heart, Dominic’s interest in his bishop’s mission must
have flagged. Nevertheless, he journeyed to Denmark, made the necessary negotiations,
then returned to Spain and with a large retinue began the second trip to the north to fetch
the young betrothed. When they reached Denmark the second time he and his bishop
attended the obsequies of the fair lady for whom they had come. Then the retinue was
dispatched to Spain with the sad news. But Dominic and his bishop went to Rome,
presumably because of a mutual desire for missionary work among the heathen Cumans
who inhabited the steppes of Russia. For this pious project they sought the papal sanction.
Innocent III heard the apostolic desires of the two holy men, but saw a greater need for
their preaching among the Albigensian heretics. He instructed d’Azevedo to retain his
bishopric and to preach in southern France before returning to Spain. Dominic, likewise, was
to preach with his bishop. Leaving Rome with the pope’s blessing, the commissioned
preachers went to Languedoc.

Early in 1205, Didacus and Dominic arrived at Monpellier, just as the Cistercian missionaries
were holding a conference to discuss whether or not they should discontinue their preaching
on account of their meager success.

On becoming aware of the presence in the town of the Bishop of Osma and his companion,
the Cistercians asked their counsel on the gloomy outlook of the mission. The Bishop
perceived that the rich equipages of the missionaries, while befitting their dignity as papal
legates, were a source of scandal and were quite in contrast with the show of poverty
practiced by the Albigensian itinerant preachers. With keen insight into the situation,
Didacus and Dominic reminded the Cistercians of the importance of example in affecting the
simple Midi folk. By pretentious holiness and by evangelical poverty, the heretics
predisposed the people for the acceptance of their false teachings. The Bishop d’Azevedo,
speaking also for Dominic, said, “The missionaries of Christ must drive out one nail by
another; must put to flight the show of holiness by the practices of sincere religion.” He
made it clear that the success of their preaching would be proportionate to the intensity
with which they imitated the primitive apostolic spirit. This apostolic spirit could be had only
by extreme sacrifices. This, in substance, was the Bishop’s counsel. Hard indeed it was, but
it was received in the spirit in which it was offered. B his encouragement and inspiration,
Didacus created a new zeal in the preachers. After the conference was finished the
Cistercians sent away their magnificent retinues and, following the example of Didacus and
Dominic, went about on foot to preach in any place they could win a hearing.

Besides the feature of evangelical poverty, a systematic method of conducting the

instruction of the heretics was now adopted. A series of public debates was arranged, in
which the Catholic missionaries matched their arguments with those of the most skilful
heretics. This mode of missionary activity, more modern than medieval, seems remarkable.
Another striking practice is even more interesting. This was the practice of balloting at the
end of each discussion, by which the auditors signified which side they thought victorious.
One of he liveliest of these religious debates was held at the town of Servain, in which Saint
Dominic had a notable victory. The discussion lasted seven days. Each day the most acute
and adroit of the Albigensian teachers hurled at him their most terrific blows. But after the
week’s debate there was a popular acclamation of Dominic’s victory. So please were the
people that they followed him and his companions for three miles out of the town.

Such success as attended the preaching at Servain was not always achieved. For instance,
at Verfeil, Dominic became angry over the obstinacy of its inhabitants and launched his
anathema upon them:

“Cursed be ye, unmannerly heretics; I should have credited you with better sense!”

Dominic’s earnest efforts for the dissemination of Catholic truth continued with varying
success – now more, now less. He visited every town and village in the Midi, instructing
where and how he could – sometimes on the public square, sometimes in the most spacious
room of a castle, sometimes in a church. His headquarters were at Fanjeaux, where the
Bishop of Toulouse granted him a chaplaincy. He had six companions. They were all priests,
mature scholars and generally well equipped to render the greatest assistance to him in his
preaching, which at this time was still under the direction and authority of the Bishop of
Osma.

Probably the most consoling incident during this period was the conversion in 1206 of nine
female heretics. They came to Dominic, confessing that their hearts had been drawn to him
by the beauty of the doctrine he expounded in a recent open-air sermon. They declared that
heretofore their minds had been deceived by the heretic leaders, for they truly thought
these false teachers were good men. Dominic graciously received these nine women back to
the faith, but was not content with this. He threw about them the protection of the cloister.
They became the first community of Our Lady of Prouille, the mother house of all Dominican
sisters. In this work he was aided by Bishop Foulques of Toulouse, who granted to the
community the revenue of the Church of Our Lady. The prelate also donated a neighboring
house, in which the little community lived and grew in fervor under the saintly founder’s
spiritual guidance.

Dominic’s joy over this first foundation was counteracted in 1206 by the sorrow of the
departure of the Bishop of Osma, who, in accordance with the Pope’s orders, returned to
Spain. Shortly after the nuns were established at Saint Mary’s, Prouille, a neighboring house
was opened for the associates of Dominic. Besides the preachers, he had a couple of
helpers, who later on became lay-brothers. These lay helpers attended to all the business
concerns of the nuns. Not until 1215 did the Preachers receive definite organization. This
was by the recognition of Bishop Foulques, who approved them as a diocesan congregation.

But this local character was not in keeping with the universal apostolate of which Dominic
dreamed. Consequently, when he went to Rome in 1215, as consultor to Bishop Foulques,
at the Fourth Lateran Council, he requested Pope Innocent III to give papal sanction to his
Preaching Order. Grave difficulties were in the way of such a confirmation, because the
council, then in session, expressly laid down restrictions against the multiplication of
religious orders, with provision that all future communities must adopt one of the existing
rules.

Saint Dominic was greatly saddened by the loss of souls of those who had embraced the
Albigensian heresy, and so he had a lifelong apostolate among heretics, especially
Albigensians, in France. He founded the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans) in 1215, a
group who live a simple, austere life, and an order of nuns (already mentioned) dedicated to
the care of young girls.

We can hardly help dwelling for a moment on Saint Dominic’s outer appearance, since it
was the shrine and expression of the inner soul.

Everything about Saint Dominic betokened the finest fabric of a human existence; the figure
more than medium; the long, gracefully molded fingers; the shoulders slightly bent, as if in
hourly deference to all; the noble head nobly crowned with a corona of auburn, flashing
golden in the sun; the sweet smile, so homely on his cheeks; the tender, resolute, pathetic,
sympathetic eye – a very lamp of light set in a brow of amber ivory; and then that mystic
nebula that glowed from his forehead, filling the dark souls of the despairing with peace and
bringing thoughts of God and of the angel-trod cloisters of the Great City nearer to the
hearts of men.

Legend says that Saint Dominic received a vision of a beggar who, like Dominic, would do
great things for the Faith. Dominic met the beggar the next day. He embraced him and said,
"You are my companion and must walk with me. If we hold together, no earthly power can
withstand us." The beggar was Saint Francisof Assisi. St Dominic asked St Francis for his
cord, which he was given to wear, thus becoming a cord bearer of St Francis of Assisi.

At the home of Cardinal Ugolino Saint Dominic met Saint Francis of Assisi; this was the
second meeting of the Saints, for they met before, on an earlier visit of Dominic in Rome.
The two Saints became the warmest friends. Both had similar aims; both were burning with
divine charity for the salvation of souls and, although by diverse means and with distinct
spirits and geniuses, both worked harmoniously together. Perhaps no sainted friendship has
received such a happy perpetuation. On the feast of Saint Francis Domincans celebrate the
Mass and are honored guests at the Franciscan friaries, and on the feast of Saint Dominic
the compliments is returned by the Fanciscans.

At one point Saint Dominic became discouraged at the progress of his mission; the heresies
remained. The Blessed Virgin came to his relief, as he received a vision from Our Lady who
showed him a wreath of roses, telling him to say the rosary daily and teach it to all who
would listen. Eventually the true faith won out, as Saint Dominic’s words rescued countless
souls, and three times he raised the dead to life. He is often credited with the invention of
the rosary, but it predates him.

Saint Dominic founded the Dominican Order, which grew at a rapid pace. On one occasion
at San Sisto Saint Dominic and his brethren had to suffer from hunger. In the morning
several of the friars had been sent out to beg, but they had given to the poor the few loaves
they had received. When Saint Dominic was told there was no food, he had the signal given
for the meal. By this time there were about forty people in the convent, and the friars came
and recited the prayers of grace. Whilst each one, seated in order, awaited the meal, two
young men of comely aspect entered the refectory with white cloths hung from their necks,
in which they carried bread sent by the Celestial Breadmaker. In silence the two
messengers placed loaves first at the lowest tale, and so on up to the place occupied by the
Blessed Dominic, and then they disappeared without anyone having attained to the
knowledge of whence they had came and whither they were gone.

During the installation of the sisters at San Sisto a great miracle was performed by Saint
Dominic. Cardinal Orsini's nephew, named Napoleon, was killed by falling from his horse.
The messengers broke into the chapel and informed the cardinal-uncle of the youth's
misfortune. In extreme grief Orsini whispered the news to Saint Dominic, who with
characteristic charity gave orders to have the corpse brought to the convent. The body,
having been brought in, was laid on the chapel floor. Before it Saint Dominic said Mass for
the youth. Then, standing by the mangled body, he cried in a loud voice, "Young man,
Napoleon, I say to thee, in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, arise." In the sight of the
cardinals, nuns, and friars, the young man arose alive and without a sign of the least injury.

On August 6th, 1221, Saint Dominic died of a fever. Thirteen years later he was canonized
by his friend, Cardinal Ugolino, who had become Pope Gregory IX.
Solemnity of Saint Francis

Solemnity of our Seraphic Father

Saint Francis

Feast Day – October 4

St Francis was the son of Peter Bernardone, a wealthy merchant of Assisi. Peter intended
that his first-born should follow him in his career. But Francis was in no way avaricious as
was his father. Rather, he was very generous and in gay good humor readily disposed of
anything at his command.

Our Lord, whose delight it is to show mercy to the merciful, intended to tear St Francis
away from the danger of worldly pleasures and draw him to Himself. He permitted Francis
to become seriously ill.

As St Francis lay in the solitude of the sick chamber, exhausted in body, his soul was being
prepared by God for higher things. He felt a great longing for perfection, and heroic self-
conquest was needed as a foundation for that edifice.

When St Francis recovered his health, he was one day crossing the plain of Assisi on
horseback, when he met a leper. The unexpected sight filled him with horror, and he was
minded to turn back. But he remembered his resolution, dismounted, and hastened to kiss
the hand of the leper and then pressed on alms into it. As he remounted and turned to
salute the leper once more, there was no one to be seen anywhere on the plain. It was
Christ Himself who had appeared to Francis in the form of a leper.
St Francis so loved the poor that he frequently associated with them. Complying with a
divine command, he also begged stones to repair three ruined churches. His father was
enraged at the strange conduct, and had his son brought before the bishop of Assisi. There
Francis returned to his father not only the money he had but the clothes he wore, saying:

"Now I can truly say, Our Father, who art in heaven."

The bishop gave him an old gardener's cloak, on the back of which Francis drew a cross with
a piece of white chalk. He now begged our Lord to make known to him His will regarding the
future.

Soon after, St Francis was at holy Mass in the Portiuncula. Hearing the Gospel in which our
Lord commissioned His apostles to carry about with them neither gold, nor silver, nor two
coats, nor shoes, the heart of Francis was filled with joy, for he recognized in it the will of
God regarding his own life. In a coarse penitential garb, girded with a cord, without shoes,
he entered upon a life of complete poverty and began to preach penance. This occurred in
the year 1208. Francis was then about 26 years old.

Several companions soon joined him. When there were eleven in number, he went with
them to Rome, where Pope Innocent III gave his approval to the new order. They lived in
the severest poverty and in brotherly harmony, preaching penance to the people both by
their example and by their words. The holy founder called them Friars Minor, so that they
might always regard the virtue of humility as the foundation of perfection. He himself was
so humble that, when the people proclaimed him a saint, he called himself the greatest
sinner.

"For," St Francis said, "if God had given the greatest criminal the graces He has given me,
he would have used them to better advantage than I have done."

The order grew rapidly. In 1219, at the renowned Chapter of the Mats, more than 5,000
brethren were gathered together. As Christ sent His apostles to preach the Gospel to all
nations, so Francis sent out his brethren. He himself courageously faced the Sultan of Egypt
and announced to him that salvation could be found only in Christ.

St Francis of Assisi was a wonderful director of souls. Thomas of Celano tells us, "...by
means of a revelation of the Holy Spirit, Francis knew the actions of his absent brothers,
laid open the secrets of their hearts, and explored their consciences! Of how many he
admonished in their sleep, commanded them things to be done, forbade things not to be
done!"

In order to open the way of perfection for all who wished to imitate his life, Francis
established a Second Order headed by St Clare,and a Third Order, for people of both sexes
living in the world. His love for souls inspired him to labor for all his fellowmen.

Still, his desire to be more intimately united with God caused St Francis to retire again and
again to a solitary place to fast and pray. He was consumed with ever increasing love for
the highest and greatest Good.

"In the beauty of things," says St Bonaventure, "he saw the Author of all beauty, and
followed in the footsteps of his Beloved, who has imprinted His image on all created things."
Drunk with love, he could call upon creatures to extol the Creator with him, and the birds
joined him in singing the praises of God.

There were many other great saints living at this time. St Fernando III was King of Castile
and Leon, St Louis IX was King of France, andSaint Dominic was converting the heretics.
Both Saint Francis and Saint Dominic embraced holy poverty, and through their prayer,
preaching and example, in less than two decades they restored and regenerated all of
Christendom. The preaching of the Franciscan friars and Domincan priest elevated the
culture and spread scholasticism wherever they went. Their work, and the work of their
orders, goes on even in our own time.

It was above all the passion and death of Christ on the Cross that filled his heart with love
of his Saviour, and he strove to become as similar to the object of his love as possible. Two
years before his death, on Mount La Verna, the crucified Saviour appeared to Francis in the
form of a seraph and impressed on his body the marks of the five sacred wounds.

St Francis, of course, was also a great miracle worker. There are too many to tell here, but
let a few suffice to tell the tale of his sanctity.

On one occasion a great multitude followed St Francis, and they helped themselves to the
grapes they found growing in a church vineyard. The pastor of the church began to regret
that the saint had stayed with him, for the vineyard was nearly destroyed. St Francis
learned of the pastor's inner thoughts through supernatural means, and so asked the pastor
how many measures of wine the vineyard typically produced. The pastor responded twelve,
so St Francis asked the priest to be patient with the people for the love of God, promising
that the vineyard would produce twenty measures that year. By the time St Francis left
there were only a few meager grapes to be found, but the priest placed them in the wine
press anyway. As St Francis had promised, the priest miraculously obtained twenty
measures of the very best wine.

Another time, when St Francis was staying at Gubbio, the saint learned of a large and fierce
wolf that was eating animals and even human beings. People lived in such fear of the
creature that they carried weapons with them everywhere they went. St Francis determined
to go find the wolf, and a few of the bravest townsmen went with him. St Francis did find
the wolf, for it bared its teeth upon seeing him and charged. St Francis was unmoved,
making the sign of the cross in the direction of the closing wolf.

The wolf closed his mouth and slowed, creeping up meekly to St Francis. The Saint
commanded the wolf never to hurt anyone again, and then made a bargain with the wolf
that the people of the town would bring it food if it would not attack them. The wolf
remained docile, following St Francis back to town where he explained the bargain he had
made with the wolf, which the towns-people kept.

Francis knew in advance the day of his death. Painful suffering preceded it, but Francis
thanked God for it and declared himself ready to suffer a hundred times more if God so
willed.

Prepared by all the consolations of Holy Church, and lying on the bare ground in imitation of
his Saviour's death on the cross, Francis passed to his heavenly home on October 3, 1226.
Thomas of Celano was an eye-witness, and he wrote: "...his flesh, which before had been
dark, was now gleaming with a dazzling whiteness and giving promise of the rewards of the
blessed resurrection by reason of its beauty. They saw, finally, that his face was like the
face of an angel, as though he were living and not dead; and the rest of his members had
taken on the softness and pliability of an innocent child's members...his skin had not
become hard, his members were not rigid. And because he glowed with such wondrous
beauty before all who looked upon him, and his flesh had become even more white, it was
wonderful to see. In the middle of his hands and feet, not indeed the holes made by the
nails, but the nails themselves formed out of his flesh and retaining the blackness of iron,
and his right side was red with blood. These signs of martyrdom did not arouse horror in the
minds of those who looked upon them, but they gave his body much beauty and grace.
Blessed Gregory X

Blessed Gregory X
(Pope Gregory X)

January 10

This holy Tertiary pope of the thirteenth century and friend of St Bonaventure was a true
son of St Francis, distinguished himself by his love for the holy places in Palestine and his
incessant efforts to establish peace everywhere. Theobald Visconti, as he was called before
he became pope, was born at Piacenza in 1210. He was conspicuous from his youth by his
virtue as well as his success in studies. He devoted himself especially to the study of canon
law, first in Italy, then in Paris and Liege.

In Paris, where he was associated with the intellectual circles surrounding the university for
more than two decades, his closest friends were the Franciscans, especially St Bonaventure.
After he was named archdeacon of Liege, Pope Clement IV commissioned him to preach the
Crusades. Theobald himself took up the cross, but instead was sent on a peace mission to
England.

When his friend, the Tertiary King Louis IX died in 1270, Theobald hastened eastward to
comfort the king’s son and the other Crusaders and also to satisfy his devotion by visiting
the holy places. At this time the Holy See was vacant. It had been such for almost three
years, ever since the death of Clement IV in November, 1268.

Finally, on September 1, 1271, a committee of six cardinals, to whom the rest had referred
the election, chose a new pope. Much to the surprise of everyone, their choice fell on
Theobald, who was still in the Holy Land. St Bonaventure had been summoned from Paris to
assist in nominating a candidate; and he had recommended the Archdeacon of Liege, who
was then about sixty years old.

Returning to Rome, Theobald was first ordained a priest, then consecrated a bishop; and on
March 27, 1272, he was crowned Pope Gregory X.
The reign of Blessed Gregory X as pope was short, only three years and nine months; but in
that short time he accomplished much as a peacemaker. Sometimes he called on the
Franciscans to work for peace, for instance, during the trouble between Bologna and Venice.

It was Blessed Gregory X who convoked the Fourteenth General Council, the Second of
Lyons, which was in session for two months from May to July, 1274, and was attended by
five hundred bishops. The previous year he made St Bonaventure a Cardinal, and told him
to accept the red hat “in humility of spirit.” He wanted the Seraphic Doctor at his side
during the Council.

On the way to France, the Pope was joined by St Bonaventure; and together they reached
Lyons six months before the opening of the Council. St Bonaventure died July 15, two days
before the final session.

The more public affairs claimed his attention, so much the more did Gregory X strive for
personal holiness and perfection. Abstemious in diet and sparing in speech, he managed to
devote much time to prayer and to carry out his many duties in a prayerful spirit and
constant union with God.

Blessed Gregory X's death occurred at Arezzo on January 10, 1276. Pope Benedict XIV
inserted his name in the Roman martyrology.
 St Ignatius of Antioch
St Ignatius of Antioch, also called Theophorus, that is, one that carries
God, lived in the first century of the Church. He was a disciple of the
apostles, particularly of St John; by them he was baptized, and
subsequently ordained Bishop of the Church of Antioch which had the
honor of having been founded by the Apostle St. Peter, and as the
place where the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians.

St Ignatius of Antioch undertook the government of this church after the death of Evodius,
the successor of St Peter, which occurred in the year of the Lord 69. Our saint governed his
flock with such zeal that all the churches of Syria consulted him as an oracle. In the
persecution of Domitian he had to suffer much, and labored, at the risk of his life, for the
preservation of the faith, animating his flock to be faithful to the death. St Ignatius of
Antioch longed for the glory of martyrdom, frequently saying that he could not be
persuaded of his love for Christ till he had testified it with his blood.

Upon the death of Domitian in the year 96, the tempest abated under Nerva, his successor.
But during this time heretics did not cease to trouble the Church; this is the reason why the
saint, writing to the faithful of Smyrna, recommended them not to have any communication
with them: “Be satisfied,” he said to them, “with merely praying to God for those who
abstain from the Eucharist, because they deny it to be the flesh of Jesus Christ, who died for
our sins.”

In the year 105 the persecution was renewed by the Emperor Trajan. This prince, after his
conquest of the Scythians and the Dacians, published an edict which obliged all, under pain
of death, to offer sacrifice to the gods.

Marching afterwards against the Parthians, he arrived at Antioch; and, hearing with how
much zeal and success St Ignatius propagated the Christian religion, he called him to his
presence and thus addressed St Ignatius of Antioch thusly: “Art thou that wicked demon
called Theophorus, who taketh pleasure in violating our edict of sacrificing to the gods, and
dost continue to seduce the inhabitants of this city by preaching the law of Christ?”

Saint Ignatius replied: “Yes, prince, I am called Theophorus; by no one can Theophorus be
called a demon, because the devils fly from the servants of God. If thou callest me a devil
because I endeavor to defeat the machinations of the devil, I well deserve the name.”

Trajan asked St Ignatius the signification of the term Theophorus; the saint replied: “It
signifies ‘the bearer of God.’”

The emperor replied: “Thou carriest God in thy heart; and we, have we not also in ourselves
the gods that assist us?”

St Ignatius of Antioch answered with enthusiasm: “It is an error, O prince! To give the
name of gods to the demons that you adore: there is only one true God, the Creator of
heaven and earth, and Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.”

The emperor replied, “Dost thou speak of Him who was crucified under Pontius Pilate?”
“Yes,” answered the saint, “of Him I speak who has confounded the malice of devils, and
placed them beneath the feet of those Christians who carry God in their hearts.” St Ignatius
of Antioch added that Trajan would be more happy, and his empire more prosperous, if he
would believe in the Lord Jesus; but the emperor, heedless of these exhortations, offered to
make him a priest of Jupiter and a member of the senate if he would sacrifice to the gods.
The saint replied that he was content to be a priest of Jesus Christ, for whom he ardently
desired to shed his blood.

Trajan, filled with anger, then pronounced the sentence upon the saint-that he should be
conducted in chains to Rome, and devoured by be wild beasts at the public games.

St Ignatius of Antioch, having heard the sentence, raised his eyes to heaven, and
exclaimed: “I thank Thee, O Lord, because that Thou hast vouchsafed to make me worthy
of giving Thee a proof of my love by sacrificing my life for Thy faith; I desire, O Lord, that
the beasts may hasten to devour me, that I may make to Thee the sacrifice of myself.”

St Ignatius of Antioch then stretched forth his hands to be chained, kissing the manacles as
they bound him; and with tears recommending his church to God, he was conducted by the
soldiers to Seleucia, and thence to Smyna, accompanied by two of his deacons, Philo and
Agathopodus, who are believed to be the authors of his acts.

Wherever the saint passed, he ceased not his exhortations to the faithful to persevere in
faith and prayer, to be enamored of the riches of heaven, and to despise those of this earth.

The Christians came, in great numbers, to meet St Ignatius of Antioch and to receive his
blessing, especially the bishops and priests of the churches of Asia, who, as they perceived
him going so joyfully to martyrdom, wept in the tenderness of affection.

Having arrived at Smyrna, he embraced St Polycarp, and they mutually consoled each
other; he thence wrote to the churches of Ephesus, Magnesia, and Trallia. Amongst other
things, he says to the Ephesians: “I carry my chains for Christ, which are to me spiritual
pearls, more prized than all the treasures of the world.”

Knowing that from Smyrna some Ephesians had to go to Rome by a route shorter than his,
St Ignatius of Antioch conveyed by them his celebrated letter to the Romans; the letter is
long, but a few passages are particularly worthy of being transcribed; they are as follows:

“Suffer me to be the food of wild beasts, whereby I may attain unto God. I am the wheat of
God, and am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, in order that I may be found the pure
bread of Christ…I earnestly wish for the wild beasts that are prepared for me, whom I
heartily desire may soon dispatch me; I will entice them to devour me entirely and
suddenly, that they may not spare me as they have others whom they feared to touch; but,
if they are unwilling to meddle with me, I will even compel them to it.

Pardon me, my children, I know what is good for me; I now commence to be a disciple of
Christ, since I have no desire for anything visible or invisible, so that I may attain to Jesus
Christ. Let fire or the cross, or the concourse of wild beasts-let cutting or tearing of the
flesh-let breaking of bones and cutting off limbs-let the shattering in pieces of my entire
body, and all the torments invented by the devil, come upon me, so I may but attain unto
Jesus Christ…
It is better for me to die for the sake of Jesus Christ, than to rule to the ends of the
earth…Pardon me, brethren; be not my hindrance in attaining to life, for Jesus Christ is the
life of the faithful; whilst I desire to belong to God, do not ye yield me back to the world…

Permit me to imitate the Passion of Christ my God; let none of you who are present attempt
to succor me-be rather on my side, that is, on God’s; entertain no desire of the world;
having Jesus Christ in your mouths, let no envy find place in your breasts. Even were I
myself to entreat you, when present, do not obey me, but rather believe what I now signify
to you by letter…

My love is crucified!...

I take no pleasure in the food of corruption, nor in the enjoyment of this life. I desire the
bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, and for drink his blood…

Pray for me, that I may possess God. If I consummate my sacrifice this will be a sign that
you have given your consent, and that ye truly love me.”

He next arrived at Troas, whence he wrote epistles to the churches of Philadelphia and
Smyrna, and to his friend St Polycarp, to whom he recommended the church of Antioch. The
soldiers fearing that they would arrive too late at Rome, because the public games were
nearly at an end, hastened their march, to the great satisfaction of the holy martyr, who
ardently desired to be at the place of execution.

When he was near Rome, the Christians came in great numbers to meet and salute him.
They thought, as Fleury relates, ‘to induce the people to solicit his pardon, but the saint
repeated what he had stated in his letters, and prevented all interference.’

On entering Rome, he knelt down with the other Christians to offer himself to God, and
fervently prayed that peace might be restored to the Church.

St Ignatius of Antioch was then conducted to the amphitheatre, where immense numbers
were assembled; and, hearing the bellowing of the wild beasts, he repeated the memorable
words of the epistle to the Romans: “I am the wheat of God, and am to be ground by the
teeth of wild beasts, in order that I may be found the pure bread of Christ.”

St Ignatius of Antioch was instantly devoured by lions, as he had desired to be, and at the
moment of his death he was heard to invoke the adorable name of Jesus.

Only the larger bones of his body were left; these were collected and brought to Antioch by
his two deacons, to whom St Ignatius of Antioch appeared on the following night,
resplendent with glory. His martyrdom took place on the 20th of December, of the year
107. After the destruction of Antioch by the Saracens, his relics were removed to Rome, and
placed in the Church of St Clement where at the present day they are venerated with great
devotion. His name has been inserted into the canon of Mass.
St Joan of Arc

St Joan of Arc

January 1412 – 30 May 1431

Feast day May 30

St Joan of Arc is a figure known to almost everyone, so it is somewhat surprising to realize

that she gained such fame in so short a period of time. Her mission began in the year 1428,
and she won her greatest victory the following year. She was martyred only two years later,
having accomplished her mission of saving France. She was not yet 20 years old, and yet
her deeds were so significant that she is one of the patron saints of France, along with King
St. Louis IX, St. Martin of Tours, St. Denis, and St. Therese of Lisieux.

After the French defeat at Agincourt in 1415, the English continued their victories until they
gained the ascendancy against France with an important victory at Fresnay - le - Vicomte,
killing 3,000 French soldiers while also capturing their commander. The victory forced
Charles VI to allow King Henry V of England to wed his daughter Catherine, who intended to
unite the two countries under English control by that marriage. King Charles was to
recognize their son as the heir to the throne, disinheriting his own son, the Dauphin
Charles. The French living in the unconquered heartland refused to go along with these
arrangements, but they were the smaller region of what had once been France, and as Paris
and Rheims were already under English control, they were in a far weaker position than
their English adversaries.

King Henry V of France died unexpectedly in 1422, leaving his infant son as heir to the
throne of England and those areas of France under English control. The death of King Henry
was a blow to the English, yet they still had very capable generals who continued to win
victories against the French armies. After a devastating loss at Verneuil in 1424, France was
so weak that they were unable to even field another army.

When it seemed that only a miracle could save France, thirteen-year-old St Joan of Arc
suddenly came upon the scene to change the world.

It was during the summer of 1425 when St Michael began appearing to Joan, eventually
informing her that God had an important mission for her to accomplish. He told her that
Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine would soon appear to her. The apparitions of these
saints were so real that St Joan of Arc could touch them, and she often listened to their
instructions while hugging them about their legs. After instructing Joan the Maid for three
years, they revealed to her the mission for which God had chosen her. She was responsible
to see that the Dauphin was crowned King of France!

Like Judith, who beheaded Halofernes of the Assyrians, God had chosen a weak and humble
woman to shame the strong and save her nation.

St Joan of Arc was told to go to the knight Robert de Baudricourt, and ask him to officially
send her to the Dauphin. Baudricourt listened to her request, but sent St Joan away, adding
that her father should box her ears.

The next year, 1429, at the insistence of her guides, St Joan of Arc went back to
Vaucouleurs, and again Baudricourt turned her down flat. One of his knights, however, Jean
de Metz, listened to her when she explained why she had come back.

“I have come here to the royal chamber to speak to Robert de Baudricourt, so that he may
take me or have me taken to the King; but he does not care about me or my words.
Nonetheless, before mid-Lent, I must go to the king, even if I have to walk my feet off to
my knees. No one else in the world can restore the kingdom of France, nor will the king
have any help, except from me, although I would rather stay with my poor mother, for this
is not my station in life. But I must go, and I must do this, because my Lord wants me to do
it.”

Jean de Metz believed her, and soon Baudricourt was also convinced when St Joan of Arc
told him about the French defeat at the battle of Rouvray several days before a courier
brought the news.

St Joan of Arc met the Dauphin Charles in early March, and by means of revealing to him a
secret known only to him and God, she convinced him that she was truly sent by God and
gained his favor. Later the same month she sent the following letter to the Duke of Bedford:

“Jesus, Mary. King of England, and you duke of Bedford, calling yourself regent of France;
William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk; John Lord Talbot, and you, Thomas Lord Scales, calling
yourselves lieutenants of the said Bedford…deliver the keys of all the good towns you have
taken and violated in France to the Maid who has been sent by God the King of Heaven…Go
away, for God’s sake, back to your own country; otherwise await news of the Maid, who will
soon visit you to your great detriment…I have been sent by God the King of Heaven, to
drive you, body for body, out of all France…If you will not believe the news sent you by God
and the Maid, wherever we find you we will strike you.”
By late April Joan was riding with a small French army of 4,000 to attempt the relief of
Orleans. She rode in full armor upon a white horse holding aloft her battle standard. That
standard depicted Our Lord holding the world in his hand, with an angel kneeling on either
side, and the names of Jesus and Mary proudly displayed.

The city of Orleans had been under siege for over half a year, and if it fell it would open up
the conquest of the remainder of France. Joan and her army were able to enter the city to
reinforce it. On May 4th Joan was suddenly awakened from her sleep by her voices, urging
her to attack the enemy at once.

St Joan of Arc leapt upon her horse and rode through town gathering and inspiring her
troops, and then led them against the English forces laying siege to Orleans. She first
attacked Fort St. Loup, which her army defeated so badly that three-quarters of the English
garrison were put to the sword. Next was Fort Augustins, and finally Fort Tourelles.

St Joan of Arc and her army attacked Fort Tourelles for 13 hours, and on one of the assaults
Joan was wounded by an English arrow which she immediately removed by herself. When it
seemed they were bested and about to retreat, Joan led a final charge carrying her
gleaming standard that carried the day. The rest of the English army retreated the next day
at the same time that Joan rode into Tours in triumph to meet the Dauphin.

Sir John Fastolf was approaching with a strong force. Too late to save the English at
Orleans, he was ordered to advance to meet the French army where they were attacking
the castle of Beaugency.

Once again, they arrived too late, and met the remainder of the English forces as they were
in full retreat after Joan’s latest victory.

Joan, who was actively pursuing the English, came upon the retiring force and Sir John
Fastolf’s army in a disorganized condition on the open field, so she seized the opportunity
and ordered her army to attack the English.

“You have spurs, use them!” she ordered.

The French attacked with such vigor that it didn’t matter that they were a mere rabble
challenging two of the finest commanders the English possessed. The battle was over in
moments, with 2,000 English dead, 200 taken captive, and Lord Scales and Lord Talbot
captured. In an amazingly short period of time, the situation in France had completely
changed.

On Sunday, July 17, 1429, St Joan of Arc stood with the Dauphin at Reims cathedral at his
coronation. Weeping for joy, she told him:
“Gentle king, now is executed the pleasure of God, Who wanted the siege of Orleans to be
raised, and Who had brought you to this city of Reims to receive your holy consecration,
showing you that you are the true king, and that the kingdom of France belongs to you.”

St Joan of Arc had thus completed what God wanted her to accomplish for France, though
her greatest battle still lay before her. It was one she would fight alone.

The new king did not want Joan to continue engaging the English, and so did not support
her as she continued to fight in minor battles. Joan was warned by her voices that she
would soon be captured, and it was at Compiegne where she was pulled from her horse and
taken captive. She was then sold to the English, who intended to have her tried for
imaginary crimes and heresy.

For three months Joan was subjected to intense interrogation by Bishop Cauchon and his
staff, who never intended to give Joan a fair trial, as he was merely a tool of the English.
Joan had mercy even for this man who so hated her, telling him at one point:

“You say that you are my judge; beware of what you do, for truly I have been sent by God,
and you are placing yourself in great danger.”

St Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431.

In a scene that must have been most terrifying for Bishop Cauchon (if he had any
conscience left at all), at one point Saint Joan of Arc looked him directly in the eye and said:

“Bishop, I die through you.”

St Joan of Arc prayed, and then was fastened to the stake. She asked for a cross when the
wood was set ablaze all about her, and died with the name of Jesus on her lips.

Joan's body was consumed by the flames, except for her heart, which remained perfectly
intact. One is left to wonder if God permitted that courageous heart, which could not be
defeated, to remain as her only witness. A condemnation to her murderers, it was thrown
into the river, as if that could somehow wash away the truth. The King of England’s
secretary fled from the scene shouting, “We are lost; we have burned a saint!”

Indeed, the English were lost. In was not long before they were completely driven from
France, excepting the region around Calais. When England later left the Church under King
Henry VIII, they did not take the French with them into the darkness of schism. The
conclusion of the farcical trial was later justly overturned, and St Joan of Arc was declared a
saint by Pope Benedict XV.
St John Bosco

St John Bosco

Feast Day – January 31

St John Bosco, considered one of the greatest saints of modern times, was born in a
Piedmontese village in 1815. When he was 2 years old he lost his father, a humble peasant
farmer, and he was brought up by his saintly Tertiary mother, Margaret. It was no doubt
due to her example and influence that John too joined the Third Order of St. Francis.

Even as a youngster, John recognized that it was his vocation in life to help poor boys; and
he began to teach catechism to the boys of his own village and bring them to church.
Acrobatic stunts and conjuring tricks were the means he used to get them together.

At 16 he entered the seminary at Chieri. He was so poor at the time, that the mayor
contributed a hat, the parish priest a cloak, one parishioner a cassock, and another a pair of
shoes. After he was ordained a deacon he passed on to the seminary in Turin; and there,
with the approbation of his superiors, he began to gather together on Sundays poor
apprentices and waifs of the city.

Not long after his ordination to the priesthood in June, 1841, he established what he called
a Festive Oratory, a kind of Sunday school and recreation center for boys, in Turin. His
mother came to be his housekeeper and mother of the Oratory. Two more Oratories in the
same city followed. When Father John Bosco's mother did in 1856, the Oratories housed 150
resident boys; and there were four Latin classes and four workshops, one of them a printing
press. Ten young priests assisted Father John in his work. Father John was also much in
demand as a preacher; and he spent half of his nights in writing popular books in order to
provide good reading.

There were many lean times for the saint, although God always provided. One time the local
baker refused to give Father John further credit, and the boy who had gone for the rolls
returned with only 15 rolls for over 300 boys. The boys got in line as Father John began to
distribute to rolls, one to each boy. He continued to draw out fresh rolls until each of the
boys was fed. The last boy in line counted how many rolls remained in the basket, and
found there were 15.

St John Bosco's confessor and spiritual director was the Tertiary priest Saint Joseph
Cafasso;and Father John too gained the reputation of being a saint. Miracles, mostly of
healing, were attributed to him. By his kindness and sympathy and his marvelous power of
reading the thoughts of his boys, he exercised a profound influence upon his charges. He
was able to rule them with apparent indulgence and absence of punishment, something the
educationists of the day could not understand. When necessary, he was known to bilocate
even to distant places to help care for his boys.

St John Bosco himself admitted that God had given him the ability to discern hypocrites, as
the saint stated that when one of these boys came near him he would be overcome by a
sickening odor, as if the sinners darkened soul gave off the stench.

St John Bosco also had the gift of prophesy. One day he told his boys in school: "Let us be
ready for death, for before a month is over one uf us has to appear before God." One of the
boys died later that month of blood poisoning caused by an insect bite.

In 1854 St John Bosco founded the religious order of Salesians, so called in honor of St
Francis de Sales. Its members devote themselves to the education of poor boys. The new
society grew rapidly. Father John lived to see 38 houses established in the Old World and 26
in the New World. Today it is one of the largest orders of men in the Church.

St John Bosco also founded a sisterhood called Daughters of St. Mary Auxiliatrix; and he
organized many outside helpers into the Salesian Co-operators, who are pledged to assist in
some way the educational labors of the Salesians. Prior to Vatican II, they totaled
800,000. Father John's last great work was the building of Sacred Heart Church in Rome, a
task which was entrusted to him by Pope Pius IX after it has seemed to be a hopeless
project. The holy priest, who was everywhere acclaimed as a saint and wonderworker,
gathered funds for the church in Italy and France; and somehow he succeeded where others
had failed. But in doing so he wore himself out.

On January 31, 1888, he was called to his reward. Forty thousand persons came to pay
their respects as his body lay in state in the church at Turin; and his funeral resembled a
triumphal procession.
Saint Louis IX

King Saint Louis IX

Feast Day – August 25

King Saint Louis IX was born in the castle at Poissy near Paris on April 25, 1215. His devout
mother, Blanche, was determined that he should be educated not only for the earthly
kingdom he was to govern, but still more for the kingdom of heaven. She accustomed him
to look upon all things in the light of faith, and thus laid the foundation for that humility in
good fortune and endurance in misfortune which characterized the holy king.

Louis was crowned king when he was only 12 years old. His mother, however, was
entrusted with the actual government of the kingdom during his minority. Meanwhile, Louis
was being educated in all the duties of a Christian prince. Among his instructors there were
several Franciscan friars, and later on the young king himself joined the Third Order of St
Francis.

Saint Louis IX had governed his kingdom for several years in his own name, when he
vowed, in the course of a serious illness, that if he would recover, he would make a crusade
to the Holy Land, to wrest the holy places from the hands of the infidels. Upon regaining his
health he at once carried out his vow. He took the fortress of Damietta from the Saracens,
but he was nowhere near as successful in his crusade as was his first cousin King Saint
Fernando III of Castile and Leon. Apparently it was not God's will that Saint Louis IX was
successful, for he was taken captive after his army had been weakened by an epidemic.

After he had borne the sufferings of a prisoner of the infidels for several months with holy
serenity, the terms for his release were submitted to him; but there was attached to these
terms an oath, that if he did not fulfill them, he would deny Christ and the Christian religion.

The holy king replied: "Such blasphemous words shall never cross my lips." They threatened
him with death. "Very well," he said, "you may kill my body, but you will never kill my soul."
Filled with admiration at his steadfast courage, the finally released him without
objectionable condition. After securing many other terms favorable to the Christians, he was
obliged to return to France, since his mother had died in the meantime.

In the government of his kingdom, Saint Louis IX proved how profitable piety is in every
respect. He promoted the welfare of the country and his people in a remarkable manner. His
life as a Christian and as a Christian father was so exemplary that he has been found worthy
to be chosen as the patron and model of Tertiaries.

The most important principal of his life was the observance of the laws of God under all
circumstances. His biographer assures us that he never lost his baptismal innocence by
mortal sin. He himself set such store by the grace of baptism that, in confidential letters, he
took pleasure in signing himself "Louis of Poissy," because it was in the parish church there
that he had been baptized.

Saint Louis IX never tolerated cursing or sinful conversation either among the servants or
among the courtiers; and never was he heard to utter an unkind or impatient word. he
wished to avoid all unnecessary pomp and luxury at court, so that more help could be
rendered to the poor, of whom he personally fed and served several hundred. His wardrobe
was as simple as it could fittingly be, and at all times he wore the insignia of the Third Order
under his outer garments. On special occasions he publicly wore the habit of the Tertiaries.

In order to curb sensuality he not only observed all the fasts of the Church with unusual
severity, but denied himself certain food for which he had a special craving. He was a most
solicitous father to the 11 children with which God blessed his marriage. He himself prayed
with them daily, examined them in the lessons they had learned, guided them in the
performance of the works of Christian charity, and in his will bequeathed to them the most
beautiful instructions.

He fostered special devotion to the sufferings of Christ; and it was a great consolation for
him when he gained possession of the Crown of Thorns, for the preservation of which he
had the magnificent Holy Chapel built in Paris. When serious complaints concerning the
oppression of the Christians in the Holy Land reached his ears, he undertook a second
crusade in 1270, but on the way he died of the plague, contracted while visiting his sick
soldiers.

Amid exclamations of holy joy because he was going into the house of the Lord, Saint Louis
IX surrendered his soul to God on August 25. St. Louis was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII
in 1297.
Pius X

Pope Saint Pius X

Feast Day – September 3

It is the way of almighty God to bring honor to those who are mean in their own eyes. That
has been demonstrated in the life of Joseph Sarto, later Pope Saint Pius X. He was born in
1835 in the little Venetian village of Riese, where his parents, who were unimportant but
devout people, reared a family of ten children during a period of great need.

The clergy of the parish interested themselves in Joseph, the well-behaved leader of the
Mass servers, and assisted him in securing an education. In the year 1858, when he was 24
years old, he received holy orders. For nine years he was chaplain in Tombolo. His superior
wrote of him: "I am convinced that some day he will wear the mitre, and then -- who
knows?" Chaplain Sarto took the great Franciscan St Leonard of Port Maurice as his model in
life and in the pulpit. At four in the morning he was already kneeling before the tabernacle.

For 9 years he was pastor in Salzano. It was during this period that he joined the Third
Order of St Francis and established 2 fraternities of Tertiaries. Henceforth he strove in his
words and in his writings, especially by Franciscan simplicity and frugal standards of life, to
emulate the ideals of the seraphic saint.

For another space of 9 years he was vicar general, canon, and regent of the seminary of the
diocese of Treviso.

"He will not die in Treviso," was significantly said of him at that time.

He was bishop of Mantua for 9 years. This made no change in his habits of life; he would
not tolerate any festive receptions. He devoted himself with unflinching zeal to the ever
important apostolate of the press, the pulpit of modern times. At the same time, the poor
were his favorites.

As patriarch of Venice he wore the purple of the cardinalate for another period of nine
years, always remaining a faithful son of the poor St Francis.
The death of Pope Leo XIII in 1903 brought him to Rome for the papal election. Who would
be the new pope? Cardinal Sarto answered: "Leo XIII, who enlightened the world by his
wisdom, will be succeeded by a pope who will impress the world by the saintliness of his
life." Without suspecting it, he gave a description of himself.

After he had been elected pope he announced his program: To renew all things in Christ. He
did much for religious revival, especially by promoting early and daily Communion, by
enacting measures for the sanctification of the clergy, by encouraging the Third Order, and
last, but not least, by his own holy life.

His great heart broke when the catastrophe of the World War befell us.

"I wish to suffer, Pius X said in his illness, "I wish to die for the soldiers on the battlefield."
On August 20, 1914, Pius X died peacefully at the age of 79. His will was genuinely
Franciscan: "I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to die poor."

Many miracles occurred at his tomb, and the process of his beatification was introduced in
1923, and he was beatified in 1951 and canonized in 1954.
 Saint Stephen

Claiming Hungary for the Faith:

Stephen, Saint and King

by Colleen Drippe’

In times past, kingship has meant many things – head of state, father (or grandfather) of
the people, steward of the land – in short, the king was someone set apart. Such ideas have
withered in our time, but they were once so clear to all right-thinking people that virtually
no one could fail to see and be moved by them.

It is true that some kings began life leading armies perhaps, or carousing with their future
subjects, like Shakespeare’s version of Henry V – indeed, some kings were chosen and
elevated by their own people. Yet once the crown settled on their heads, these men became
something more than they had been. There is a mystique to kingship, a plain instance of
two plus two coming out to something greater than four.

In pagan times, people often believed their kings were descended from gods, or that they
actually were gods, or that they would become gods when they died. The ancient Romans
frequently deified their dead emperors, building them temples and establishing their
worship with priests and sacrifices. Some of the martyrs died to avoid burning incense to
these dead emperors. But even a Christian king bears a mark, something not divine in itself,
but coming from God nevertheless. The crown of a Christian king is more than gold, more
than the heavy thing of metal pressed down on his head – it is an answerability, a promise
and a duty that can be as crushing as any pagan idea of godhood, for a Christian king must
answer to the true God.

Nowhere is this kingly ideal more plainly seen than in the long veneration we give to the
best of Christendom’s early kings – Constantine who saw the Cross in the sky, Clovis who
led the way for the conversion of the Franks, St. Wenceslaus, martyred king of the Czechs,
Charlemagne who built a Christian empire on the ruins of Roman civilization, and many
many more. Seldom does this great light from the past shine so brightly as it gleams from
the crown of St. Istvan (Stephen), first king of Hungary.

The tale of Saint Stephen’s life and accomplishments is the tale of unending, carefully
thought out work. He built and he secured what he built. He devised a strategy, a master
plan – and he dedicated his life to carrying it out. He was truly the father of Christian
Hungary and in death, a renowned patron and holy advocate for much of Eastern Europe.

To tell Saint Stephen’s story, one hardly knows where to begin, mainly because tracing
Hungary’s early history is a slippery business. It’s easy enough to say something about the
Magyars. We can refer glibly to tribes and chieftains, to Asian nomads, a few battles, some
missionaries, and plenty of political maneuvering on the part of Byzantium. It would be
overly simple to say that King Stephen, like another Clovis, brought the Faith to his country
in one sweeping fiat, for neither history nor Hungarians have ever been so simple as that.

The story of Hungary’s conversion is mixed up with a great many events, with a certain
amount of what would appear random history – though we know that nothing is random in
the providence of God. To unravel His plan for this nation, we need first to know who they
were – how did these Magyars become the Hungarians we know today? It is certainly true
that their forebears wandered in from the Asian steppes just as many other peoples had
been doing for thousands of years. Ancient history is full of accounts of migrating tribesmen
– Scythians, Huns, and others whose names are almost forgotten. And from time to time,
the migrations went the other way. The Tocharians, for example, who spoke an Indo-
European language (which the Magyars do not) and certainly looked like Europeans, ended
up scattered as far east as China. The national and even continental boundaries we know
had not yet come into existence. To be sure, there was Asia and certainly there was Europe,
but just exactly where one ended and the other began was no settled matter in early times.

Then, like most late-comers to Europe, the Magyars were not a pure nationality. Their early
history, as far as we know it, was somewhat chaotic, their tribal identity far from clear.
Coming together first in what is now the Ukraine, the Magyar “nation” already included
Khazars, Turks, Slavs, and even Iranians. More or less united, they moved, conquering, into
the valley of the Danube. They were not at all a peaceful people when they arrived.

Because the Magyars used horses, they were mislabeled Scythians, though the original
Scythians were centuries gone. Because they came from the east, they were sometimes
mistaken for Huns. The name “Hungary” is generally thought to derive from the Bulgarian
name, “Onogur” but we really can’t be sure. To add to the confusion, when they first
attracted European attention (by raiding Bulgaria during the ninth century), the Magyars
were also called “Avars”. It was at this time they took for themselves, under their chief,
Arpad, the region that later became modern Hungary.

To the south of the new Magyar territory, Saints Cyril and Methodius, apostles to the Slavs,
had been very busy. Pannonia and Bulgaria had already been converted and the good saints
having worked out a Greek-based alphabet for the Bulgarians, the Holy Scriptures were
being translated into their own language. At the time, none of this had much affect on the
pagan Magyars. They were just not interested.
There is no doubt the Magyars knew at least something about Christianity. They could
hardly help picking up some knowledge of the Faith in the course of their depredations into
France and Northern Italy. But so far no one had made much effort to convert them. The
initiative actually had to come from the Magyars themselves – and it eventually did.

The thought occurred to one of Arpad’s successors, High Prince (or Duke – different sources
give him a different title) Geza, who led the little nation, that his territory was hemmed in
by Christians on all sides. His neighbors in the Byzantine Empire had their collective eye
upon him. After a few dealings with the Orthodox, an alliance or two, and some battles that
did not go especially well, the writing was on the wall. No one could deny, the High Prince
concluded, that the Byzantines would gladly accept his people into the Faith – but, not
distinguishing very clearly between Church and Empire, they would also gobble up his
country. In a decision as politically astute as it was sweeping, Geza chose to ally himself
with Rome.

We might say, because of this, that it was Geza and not really his son, the as yet unborn
saint, who brought Hungary into the Church. Indeed, Geza dutifully married a Christian
princess (Sarolta, mother of Vajk, later baptized Stephen), and when his first wife died, he
married another Christian, this time a Polish princess. She it was who arranged for the
baptism of Geza, Vajk, and quite a few of the nobles.

But Geza himself, to be quite honest, was not too well-instructed in spiritual matters.
Neither were the other nobles. These conversions were definitely a matter of policy and did
not go very deep. We may hope their souls were saved, for God knew just how far they
were from savagery (not very) and that they had done the best they knew. But it was only
young Vajk, now Stephen, who, taught by both his mother and his step-mother, had a real
grasp of what it meant to be a Christian.

By the time he was twenty, Stephen was in a position to realize the plans he had made for
the conversion of Hungary. Geza died in 997, having for the duration of his Christian life,
maintained the worship of both Christ and the traditional Magyar gods. Asked about this
(according to a story that may have been apocryphal) he was said to have replied that, rich
as he was, he could afford to sacrifice to both and saw no reason why he should not.
Needless to say, things were different when young Stephen came into power.

The new high prince set to work energetically, calling in missionaries and sometimes
accompanying them incognito to smooth over the cultural hurdles they would of necessity
encounter. Some sources add that he made some effort to protect his people from excessive
zeal, believing that no one should be forcibly compelled to accept the Faith. This may or
may not be true. Tenth century rulers were not known for such broad-minded scruples,
particularly in matters as weighty as the religious conversion of their countries.

I include here a bit of oral history shared with me by an elderly count, now deceased, a
descendant of one of Saint Stephen’s contemporaries. The count told me that his ancestors
were among a group of high-born Magyars who refused to accept the Faith. For their
intransigence they were ordered to be buried alive but, since they were of noble birth, they
were granted the privilege of being buried on horseback, a boon they accepted with alacrity.
Their children were then raised as Christians. Whether this was done with the king’s
permission, the count did not say. Whether such things may be found in “official” recorded
history, I would not claim to know.
Whatever the case, Prince Stephen’s attempt to incorporate Hungary into Europe was not
universally popular. A rebellion, actually precipitated by the migration of German Christians
into the area, nearly put a stop to his efforts. The high prince had welcomed these
newcomers to his sparsely populated lands but the Magyars, still half pagan, resented the
incursion bitterly. Calling on St. Martin of Tours for aid, Prince Stephen defeated the rebels
in the year 998. Afterwards, he built a monastery in honor of St. Martin and filled it with
German, French, and Italian missionaries. He set them to work immediately, building,
teaching and sometimes – his people being what they were – suffering martyrdom.

Next on his agenda was the organization of a formal ecclesiastical structure with bishops
and dioceses. Stephen asked the pope to grant him the title of king. Pope Sylvester was
happy to do so. He even provided the crown (still kept and venerated in Hungary) and sent
with it a bull confirming all of Stephen’s ecclesiastical organizing and appointing. King
Stephen I was formally crowned in 1001.

After the crowning, the new king began a veritable frenzy of building – churches,
monasteries, hospices for pilgrims. Not all of these were in Hungary itself, as he wanted to
ease the route of Pilgrims going to the Holy Land. He set up tithes to support religious
foundations, instituted Christian laws and took the poor, especially widows and orphans
under his personal protection. He was so fond of giving alms (and of learning the real needs
of his subjects) that he often went about in disguise, mingling with the common people
even at the risk of his own life.

Naturally the rule of such a king in such a country could never be uneventful. The
Hungarians were still newly or only partially converted tribal pagans. Amid various wars and
revolts, King Saint Stephen struggled to set up a form of feudalism, making the nobles
vassals of the crown while also conquering and incorporating a bit more territory through
various family claims. Few tribal chieftains submit to this sort of thing willingly. But
continual warfare was not only the price of nationhood but of survival itself amid the
clamoring kingdoms of the time. Through battles, treaties, and some well-earned public
hangings, a secure and law-abiding Christian commonwealth began to emerge.

Then tragedy struck. The king’s only son and heir, Prince Emeric, died as the result of a
hunting accident in 1031. King Stephen had trained this son well for the responsibility he
was to shoulder – and now his hope was gone. There was no other heir suitable among the
royal relations who were for the most part an ambitious and bloodthirsty crew. One cousin
had even tried to have the king assassinated. There are different accounts of what became
of the would-be usurper, ranging from gracious pardon to bloody retribution, depending on
who recorded the tale.

When King Saint Stephen died on Assumption Day, 1038, the young commonwealth was
plunged once more into disorder. Somehow the nation survived intact (despite greedy
neighbors and internal dissensions) for forty years, after which time God granted them
another holy and competent king, St. Ladislas. While Saint Stephen had undoubtedly been
keeping an eye on his kingdom from heaven, he surely must have breathed a sigh of relief
when the new king was crowned.

There had been many miracles at King Stephen’s tomb during this time, his subjects
expecting no less. He was canonized in 1083. His festivals – since he could hardly lay claim
to the Feast of the Assumption – are September 2, the day when Buda (one half of the
modern Budapest which was not joined together until somebody finally built the big bridge
over the Danube) was retaken from the Turks in the sixteenth century, no doubt with Saint
Stephen’s help; August 20, and also August 16. He is patron saint of Hungary, patron of
kings, and of builders in stone. His right hand, beautifully preserved, remains as a relic. As
for the rest of his body, only a few bits of bone are left, enshrined in various churches
throughout the region.

In a show of ecumenism, or perhaps to show that there are no hard feelings about Prince
Geza’s choice of Rome over Byzantium, the Greek Orthodox Church also saw fit to canonize
King Stephen recently – in the year 2000. The attendant celebrations, awash in the
ecumenical spirit, were attended by leaders of the Calvinist and Lutheran sects (both active
in the region – the leader of the revolt that brought down the communist regime in
neighboring Rumania was a Hungarian Lutheran), Orthodox dignitaries and also a
representative of the Vatican. Considering that veneration of Hungary’s saint king spreads
far beyond the borders of his country, this additional “canonization” is not really so
surprising.

Hungary’s history has remained turbulent and the people, forged into a sturdy nation, have
suffered much during the millennium since King Stephen’s crowning. There have been
Turkish invaders, world wars, a Communist revolution, and long domination by the
Russians. A multitude of scars remain both on the country itself and in the souls of the
people, many of whom have lost the Faith. Now that Hungary is threatened anew by the
culture-destroying European Union as well as Europe’s new incursion of Islam, we might ask
Saint Stephen to watch over his people once more and to bring them through trials still to
come.
Blessed Thomas of Florence

Blessed Thomas of Florence

(Beato Tommaso da Firenze)

Feast Day – October 29

Thomas was the son of a butcher of Florence, named Bellaci. His parents raised him in the
fear of God; but when he had grown to young manhood, he strayed from the path of virtue
by associating with bad companions. Matters came to a point where parents warned their
sons to have nothing to do with Thomas Bellaci, and it was a disgrace to be found in his
company. Then a rich man in town, who was also very wicked, made Thomas his friend and
used the daring young man for many a villainous act. There came a day when a grievous
crime was committed in Florence, and Thomas was accused of it. Although this time he was
really guiltless, his reputation put him in danger of being condemned to severe punishment.

In his extremity he appealed to his patron, only to learn the worthlessness of such
friendship. Thomas was not even received at the home of his patron. Calling again, he was
told in plain words that so disreputable a person as he should never again venture to
approach.

Crushed at the turn of events, Thomas paced the streets until he met a pious priest who
had succeeded in bringing more than one such young man to his senses. Thomas at first
rebuffed the priest, but when the priest continued to show him much sympathy, Thomas
opened up his heart and told his story. The priest consoled him, and invited him to his
home, saying that he would do everything in his power for him. Actually he had Tomas
declared innocent of the crime imputed to him.

Thomas now resolved to make amends for his disorderly life under the direction of his
rescuer. He broke off his former associations and joined a pious society of which the priest
was director. Instead of wandering about the streets and taverns, he was now seen busy at
his work and visiting churches; instead of indulging in games and riotous pleasures, he now
devoted himself to prayer and works of penance. The more Blessed Thomas of Florence was
filled with the grace of God, the more he longed to leave the world and to give himself to a
life of penance.

Near Fiesole, the Friars Minor had recently built a convent that was renowned for the saintly
lives of its members. There Thomas asked to be admitted as a lay brother. His request was
considered carefully and then granted. The penance Thomas did in the convent proved the
sincerity of his conversion. By fasting, keeping vigils, and scourging himself, he became a
model friar. His clothing consisted of the cast-off clothes of his brethren. He performed the
humblest tasks with the most perfect obedience.

The sincere conversion of Brother Thomas was rewarded by God with extraordinary graces.
At prayer Blessed Thomas of Florence was frequently rapt in ecstasy, so that his body was
often seen raised on high. He was favored with remarkable spiritual gifts so that, although
he was a lay brother, he was appointed master of novices. He trained many holy men who
in time became glories of the order.

In the course of time Pope Martin V entrusted Thomas with the task of preaching against
the heretical Fraticelli, whose complete extinction is attributed to him and his fellow Friars
Minor. Thomas also founded many convents in southern Italy and elsewhere. Pope Eugene
IV finally sent him with other Franciscans to the Orient to promote the reunion of the
Eastern with the Western Church. There Blessed Thomas of Florence encountered great
hardships, hunger, and cruel imprisonment; and he had hopes of winning the martyr’s
crown. However, he was released when the pope sent a large sum of money on his ransom.

Returning to Italy, Thomas intended to make the request to be sent back to the Orient. But
Blessed Thomas of Florence died on the journey to Rome, in the convent of Rieti, on
October 31, 1447. Because of the many miracles which were wrought through his
intercession, his veneration increased steadily; and Pope Clement XIV beatified him.
Saint Yves of Brittany

Saint Yves of Brittany

(Saint Yves de Bretagne)

Feast Day – May 19

Yves, or Ivo, was born of noble parents in Brittany in 1253. The lessons his pious mother
instilled in the heart of the boy through Christian training, preserved him amid the grave
dangers to which he was exposed during his student years at Paris and Orleans.

To the study of theology Yves joined the study of civil and ecclesiastical law. He applied
himself so diligently to his studies that his instructors and fellow students marveled at his
knowledge, but he was much more intent on acquiring virtue and piety. Not only did he go
to church in the morning to attend holy Mass, but every evening he performed his devotions
there. Besides studying his textbooks, he delighted in reading the lives of the saints, and
the reading drew him very strongly to imitate them. He drank no wine, and his pastime
consisted in visiting the sick in the hospitals.

After he had completed his studies, Saint Yves of Brittany was assigned to the diocese of
Rennes, and later his bishop appointed him judge of the church court of his native diocese
of Treguier. Although Yves in his humility did not desire it or ask for it, the bishop of
Treguier also ordained him a priest and entrusted him with a parish.

As judge, the young priest-lawyer always let justice hold sway without regard to persons,
and the wisdom of his decisions was remarkable. He did not derive this wisdom only from
his learning, but he prayed often and long for enlightenment. Before making grave
decisions, he always said a Mass in honor of the Holy Ghost. By preference he helped the
poor, the widows, and the orphans to obtain justice, even when the duty of his office did not
oblige him to help. As a son of St Francis, to whose Third Order he had been admitted, he
felt particularly attracted to the poor, and interested himself in their needs with such zeal
that he was called the attorney of the poor.

The high office with which Yves was entrusted and the honors which were accorded him
because of it, were not to his taste. He begged the bishop until he yielded and allowed him
to resign his office, for he wished to take personal care of his parish, which until then had
been attended by an administrator.

Yves arranged his household and his wardrobe in the simplest fashion. All his time and labor
he devoted to his flock, to whom he was a true shepherd and father. He strove to uproot
vices of long standing, especially usury and immorality, and by his zeal, charity, holy
example, and fervent prayers, he succeeded. Here, too, the poor were his special friends.
His home was an open guest-house for the poor, the blind, the lame, and the helpless of the
entire vicinity. During a famine God almighty came to the assistance of his generosity by
visible miracles. A flour bin which a domestic had found empty was found filled when Yves
himself went with the domestic to examine it. Once he fed two hundred hungry persons with
seven loaves of bread; at another time he fed twenty-four persons with a small loaf.

Saint Yves of Brittany's labors and his strict life sapped all his energy. He was hardly fifty
years old when he felt his end nearing. Fortified with the last sacraments, he commended
his soul to the hands of his Creator and died with a smile on May 19, 1303. His body was
entombed in the cathedral of Treguier. The finest eulogy was tendered him by the poor, who
flocked thither in great numbers and raised such lamentations that all present were deeply
touched.

After many miracles at his grave, Pope Clement VI added Saint Yves of Brittany to the list of
saints of the Catholic Church.
Blessed Christina of Tuscany
Blessed Christina of Tuscany
(Beata Cristina di Toscana)
(Oringa, Christiana)

Virgin, Third Order

Blessed Christina Macabai or Menabuoi of Valderno (meaning Valley of the Arno) was a holy
Tertiary of the thirteenth century, and may have been born while St Francis was still living.
The town of her birth was Santa Croce, in Tuscany, on the lower Arno, between Florence
and Pisa. Her parents were poor; and as a girl, Oringa, as she was then called, was a
shepherdess. While tending the flocks, she devoted much time to prayer. So sensitive was
her purity that she trembled and even became ill when she heard an unclean word.

Oringa was a very beautiful girl, and hence there was no lack of suitors who came to ask
her hand; but she refused all offers of marriage. Her brothers maltreated her, trying to
force her into marriage. Oringa fled to Lucca, and found a position as a servant girl. She
began to lead a life of severe penance, going barefoot even in winter, sleeping on the bare
ground, and fasting at times for several days in succession without taking any food. By her
prayers and example she converted many sinners, and came to be known as “the
missionary of Lucca.”

With her mistress she made a pilgrimage to Rome, where people began to call her Christina
or Christiana because of her holy life. From Rome they went to Assisi; and here a young
lawyer was so attracted by her beauty that he wanted to marry her by all means. But
Christina had made up her mind to lead a life of virginity and once more took refuge in
flight.

There is a tradition that St Veridiana, the holy Tertiary recluse at Castelfiorentino in the Val
d-Elsa, who died in 1242, advised Christina to return to her home town, Santa Croce, and to
join the Third Order. Anyhow, that is what Christian did; and many young women followed
her example and placed themselves under her direction. Thus she founded a religious
community, which, according to some, observed the Rule of St Augustine. That may well
have been the case, because at this time religious sisterhoods of the Third Order Regular
were still unknown.

Many years later, in 1310, Blessed Christina of Tuscany died a holy death. If the story about
St Veridiana is true, she must have been in her eighties. Many miracles followed her death;
and Pope St Pius V approved the cult paid to her. At Lucca and at Miniato the feast of
Blessed Christian is observed on January 4.

lessed Isabella of France

(Bl. Isabelle de France)
Feast Day - February 23

Isabella was the sister of King Saint Loius IX of France. Her mother, the saintly Queen
Blance, bore this child special affection because, after the death of her husband, Isabella
was the only daughter still living. Her cousin was King Saint Fernando III of Castile and
Leon. Isabella was endowed with remarkable gifts, and special attention was paid to
educate her in the requirements of her high position. She knew Latin perfectly and could
read the writings of the Gathers of the Church in that language. She was, however, no less
capable in accomplishments that are peculiarly feminine. With consummate artistry she
embroidered vestments for divine services, and took great pleasure in working for the poor
and the sick.

The princess loved and honored her saintly brother Louis, who was her senior by ten years
and had then been king for many a year. But her love for God was still greater. One day she
was knitting a new-fashioned nightcap. The king asked her to give it to him when finished.

“No,” she said, “this is the first of its kind and I must make it for my Savior Jesus Christ.”

Accordingly, she gave it to a poor sick person, and then made another for the king.

Her life in the royal palace was as retired as that of a nun in her convent. Hardly ever did
she speak at mealtime. The choicest food she sent to the sick, and she ate so little even of
the ordinary food that it was remarkable how she could live. Blessed Isabella of France
fasted three days every week. All the court considered the princess a saint. One of the court
ladies, who wrote her life, says,

“We beheld in her a mirror of innocence, and at the same time an admirable model of
penance, a lily of purity, a fragrant rose of patience and self-renunciation, and endless
fountain of goodness and mercy.”

Isabella’s only desire was to belong entirely to God, and so she took the vow of perpetual
virginity. However, Emperor Frederick II sought her consent for marriage with his eldest son
Conrad. Her mother, her brother, the king, and even Pope Innocent IV would have liked to
see the marriage take place for the good of the State and the Church. But Isabella wrote
the Holy Father a letter in which she expressed such high regard for consecrated virginity
and so strong a desire to persevere in it, that the pope praised her highly and encouraged
Blessed Isabella of France in her noble sentiments.

When her mother died, Isabella wished to withdraw from the court in order to consecrate
herself entirely to God in a convent. With the king’s assistance she built a convent for the
Poor Clares at Longchamps near Paris, and then with several ladies of the court she
obtained admission. At the request of the Holy Father, the strict rule of St Clare was
mitigated for this community by St Bonaventure, who was minister general of the
Franciscan Order at that time, and the modified rule was confirmed anew by Pope Urban IV.

At Isabella’s request, the convent was named for the Humility of Our Blessed Lady. Blessed
Isabella of France lived there nine years and desired nothing more than to be a humble
subject although she surpassed everyone in sanctity. At her death in 1270 angels were
heard singing. Several miracles occurred also after her death, and so Pope Leo X beatified
her.
Saint Bridget of Sweden

Saint Bridget of Sweden

Feast Day – October 8

Saint Bridget of Sweden was born about the year 1302 in Sweden, and belonged to an
illustrious as well as pious family. Shortly after her birth Bridget lost her saintly mother. Her
father then undertook to raise her with the aid of an aunt.

As a very young girl St Bridget manifested a decided inclination for things spiritual. At the
age of ten God favored her with a vision of the Crucified. The thought of the unspeakable
torments which our Lord endured on Calvary affected her so deeply that she shed copious
tears, and from that moment the sacred Passion was the subject of her meditation.

Saint Bridget of Sweden wished to consecrate her virginity to the Lord, but obedient to the
wish of her father she married Prince Ulf, a young man of solid virtue and in every way
deserving of her. Both joined the Third Order in order to strengthen themselves in the
works of piety and the practice of penance. God blessed their marriage with eight children,
and Bridget made it her sacred duty to raise them in the fear of God.

Among her charities there stands out especially her service to the poor and the infirm; she
waited on them with great care, sometimes even washing their feet and kissing them.

During the return journey from Compostela, where they visited the grave of the Apostle St
James, Ulf fell seriously ill at Arras. St Denis then appeared to Bridget at night and assured
her that her husband would recover. He also foretold events which would take place in their
lives. Ulf soon afterwards entered the Cistercian monastery of Alvastra, where he died in the
odor of sanctity in 1344.

Saint Bridget of Sweden now divided her estate among her children and the poor, clothed
herself in a coarse garment with a cord for a girdle, and began to lead a very austere life.
She built a convent for nuns at Vadstena and gave them the rule of St Augustine, thus
founding the Order of Our Savior. She spent two more years partly at Vadstena and partly
at Alvastra, where her husband had died. Then, at God's command, she went to Rome,
where she practiced the virtues in a high degree.

St Bridget labored much for the return of the papacy to Rome, and was charged by God to
deliver several messages to Popes Innocent VI, Urban V, and Gregory XI.

In 1371 she made a visit to the Holy Land in compliance with a command from our Lord.
There He bestowed on her extraordinary graces and imparted to her a knowledge of His
sacred mysteries.

Upon her return to Italy she was stricken with a grievous illness, which afflicted her for an
entire year. Having foretold the day of her death, she passed into the joys of eternity on
July 23, 1373, at the age of 71 years.

St Bridget was laid to rest in the Poor Clare convent of St Lawrence in Panisperna. The
following year her body was removed to the convent at Vadstena in Sweden. Many miracles
were wrought at her intercession, and Pope Boniface IX canonized her.