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[edit] September 1 2007
Saint Giles (Latin: Ægidius, French: Gilles, Italian: Egidio; c. 650 - c. 710) was a Christian hermit saint, whose legend is centered in Provence and Septimania. The tomb in the abbey Giles was said to have founded, in St-Gilles-du-Gard, became a place of pilgrimage and a stop on the road that led from Arles to Santiago de Compostela.
As a hermit Giles first lived in retreats near the mouth of the Rhône and by the River Gard, in Septimania, today's southern France. The story that he was the son of King Theodore and Queen Pelagia of Athens is probably an embellishment of his early hagiographers; it was given wide currency in Legenda Aurea.
His early history, as given in Legenda Aurea, links him with Arles, but finally he withdrew deep into the forest near Nîmes, where in the greatest solitude he spent many years, his sole companion being a deer, or hind, who in some stories sustained him on her milk. This last retreat was finally discovered by the king's hunters, who had pursued the hind to its place of refuge. An arrow shot at the deer wounded the saint instead, who afterwards became a patron of cripples. The king, who by legend was Wamba, an anachronistic Visigoth, but who must have been (at least in the original story) a Frank due to the period, conceived a high esteem for the hermit, whose humility rejected all honors save some disciples, and built him a monastery in his valley, Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, which he placed under the Benedictine rule. Here Giles died in the early part of the eighth century, with the highest repute for sanctity and miracles.
Attributes: arrow; crosier; hermitage; hind
Patronage: beggars; blacksmiths; breast cancer; breastfeeding; cancer patients; cripples; disabled people; Edinburgh (Scotland); epilepsy; epileptics; fear of night; forests; handicapped people; hermits; horses; insanity; lepers; leprosy; mental illness; mentally ill people; noctiphobics; physically challenged people; paupers; poor people; rams; spur makers; sterility; woods
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[edit] September 2 2007
Saint Agricola (Agricol, Agricolus) of Avignon (c. 630-c. 700) was a bishop of Avignon. According to tradition, Agricola was the son of Saint Magnus, also a bishop of the city.
At the age of sixteen, he was professed a monk at the Abbey of Lérins. However, at the age of thirty, he was summoned by his father Magnus to Avignon, where he was appointed coadjutor. When his father died in 660, he succeeded as bishop. He built a church in the city that was staffed by the monks of Lérins. He built a convent for Benedictine nuns. He was a well-known preacher, and famous for his charity and defense of the poor and sick against civil authorities.
He died of natural causes.
A charter of 919 mentions that Saint Agricola had been buried in the Avignon church dedicated to Saint Peter (Saint-Pierre). At the end of the eleventh century, Bishop Arbert of Avignon made a donation that referred to an abbey of Saint-Agricol. The church of Saint-Agricol (Saint Agricola) seems to have been built in the twelfth century, and made collegial in 1321 by Pope John XXII, one of the Avignon-based popes, who equipped it with a statute and income. It is possible that on this occasion that the transfer of the relics of St. Agricola from the church of Saint-Pierre to Saint-Agricol occurred. They are still preserved in this church.
The cult of Saint Agricola increased in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and in 1647, he was declared patron of the city by Archbishop César Argelli. He was called upon time and again to obtain rain during times of drought.
Attributes: stork
Patronage: Avignon, storks; invoked against the bubonic plague and misfortune of all kinds. Devotees prayed to him for good weather, fine harvests, and rain.
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[edit] September 3 2007
| Pope Saint Gregory I or Gregory the Great (c. 540 – March 12, 604) was pope from September 3, 590 until his death. Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of the four great Latin Fathers of the Church.
The date of Gregory's birth is estimated to be around the year 540. He was born into a wealthy noble Roman family. Gregory's great-great grandfather had been Pope Felix III. Gregory's mother Silvia herself is a saint. While his father lived, Gregory took part in Roman political life and at one point was prefect of the city. However, on his father's death, he converted his family home, into a monastery dedicated to the apostle, St. Andrew. Gregory himself entered as a monk.
Eventually, Pope Pelagius II ordained him a deacon and solicited his help in trying to heal the schism of the Three Chapters in northern Italy. In 579, Pelagius chose Gregory as his apocrisiarius or ambassador to the imperial court in Constantinople. On his return to Rome Gregory acted as first secretary to Pelagius, and was elected Pope to succeed him.
When he became Pope in 590. At that time the See had not exerted effective leadership in the West since the pontificate of Gelasius.
Gregory's action in appointing governors to cities, providing munitions of war, giving instructions to generals, sending ambassadors to the Lombard king, and even negotiating a peace without consulting the Emperor's legate, Romanus, Exarch of Ravenna, mark the decisive acts that revealed the papacy as an independent temporal power.
In line with his predecessors, Gregory asserted the primacy of the office of the bishop of Rome.
Gregory's relations with the Merovingian kings laid the foundations for the papal alliance with the Franks that would transform the Germanic kingship into an agency for the Christianization of the heart of Europe — consequences that remained in the future. He is also known in the East as a tireless worker for communication and understanding between East and West. He is also credited with increasing the power of the papacy.
Attributes: in full pontifical robes with the tiara, a dove whispering in Gregory's ear
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[edit] September 4 2007
Saint Rose of Viterbo (1235–March 6, 1252) was a virgin saint, born at Viterbo, Italy.
The chronology of her life must always remain uncertain, as the Acts of her canonization, the chief historical sources, record no dates. Those given above are accepted by the best authorities.
Born of poor and pious parents, Rose was remarkable for holiness and for her miraculous powers from her earliest years. When but three years old, she raised to life her maternal aunt. At the age of seven, she had already lived the life of a recluse, devoting herself to penances. Her health succumbed, but she was miraculously cured by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who ordered her to enroll herself in the Third Order of Francis of Assisi, and to preach penance to Viterbo, at that time (1247) held by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and a prey to political strife and heresy.
Her mission seems to have extended for about two years, and such was her success that the prefect of the city decided to banish her. The imperial power was seriously threatened. Accordingly, Rose and her parents were expelled from Viterbo in January 1250, and took refuge in Soriano nel Cimino. On 5 December 1250, Rose foretold the speedy death of the emperor, a prophecy realized on 13 December. Soon afterwards she went to Vitorchiano, whose inhabitants had been perverted by a famous sorceress. Rose secured the conversion of all, even of the sorceress, by standing unscathed for three hours in the flames of a burning pyre, a miracle as striking as it is well attested. With the restoration of the papal power in Viterbo (1251) Rose returned.
She wished to enter the monastery of St. Mary of the Roses, but was refused because of her poverty. She humbly submitted, foretelling her admission to the monastery after her death. The remainder of her life was spent in the cell in her father's house, where she died. The process of her canonization was opened in that year by Pope Innocent IV, but was not definitively undertaken until 1457. Her feast is celebrated on 4 September, when her body—believed by the faithful to be still incorrupt, despite the passage of time—is carried in procession through Viterbo.
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Patronage: people in exile; people rejected by religious orders; tertiaries; Viterbo, Italy
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[edit] September 5 2007
St. Bertin (c. 615-c. 709) is a saint and abbot of Saint-Omer.
He was born near Coutances. At an early age he entered the monastery of Luxeuil in France where, under the austere Rule of St. Columban, he prepared himself for his future missionary career. About the year 638 he set out, in company with two confrères, Mummolin and Ebertram, for the extreme northern part of France in order to assist his friend and kinsman, Bishop St. Omer, in the evangelization of the Morini. This country, now in the Pas-de-Calais département, was then one vast marsh, studded here and there with hillocks and overgrown with seaweed and bulrushes. On one of these hillocks, Bertin and his companions built a small house whence they went out daily to preach the word of God among the natives, most of whom were still heathens.
Gradually some converted heathens joined the little band of missionaries and a larger monastery had to be built. A tract of land called Sithiu had been donated to Omer by a converted nobleman named Adrowald. Omer now turned this whole tract over to the missionaries, who selected a suitable place on it for their new monastery. But the community grew so rapidly that in a short time this monastery also became too small and another was built where the city of St. Omer now stands. Shortly after Bertin's death it received the name of St. Bertin. Mummolin, perhaps because he was the oldest of the missionaries, was abbot of the two monasteries until he succeeded the deceased St. Eligius as Bishop of Noyon, about the year 659. Bertin then became abbot. The fame of Bertin's learning and sanctity was so great that in a short time more than 150 monks lived under his rule, among them St. Winnoc and his three companions who had come from Brittany to join Bertin's community and assist in the conversion of the heathen. When nearly the whole neighbourhood was Christianized, and the marshy land transformed into a fertile plain, Bertin, knowing that his death was not far off, appointed Rigobert, a pious monk, as his successor, while he himself spent the remainder of his life preparing for a happy death. Bertin began to be venerated as a saint soon after his death. His feast day is celebrated on 5 September.
In medieval times the Abbey of St. Bertin was famous as a centre of sanctity and learning. The Annales Bertiniani (830-882; Mon. Germ. Hist. Script., I, 419-515) are important for the contemporary history of the West Frankish Kingdom. The abbey church, now in ruins, was one of the finest fourteenth-century Gothic edifices. In later times its library, archives, and art-treasures were renowned both in and out of France. The monks were expelled in 1791 and in 1799 the abbey and its church were sold at auction.
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[edit] September 6 2007
Begga (also Begue) (died 17 December 693) was the daughter of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, and his wife Itta. On the death of her husband, she took the veil, founded several churches, and built a convent at Andenne on the Meuse River where she spent the rest of her days as abbess.
Some hold that the beguine movement which came to light in the 12th century was actually founded by St. Begga; and the church in the beguinage of Lier, Belgium, has a statue of St. Begga standing above the inscription: St. Begga, our foundress. The Lier beguinage dates from the 13th century. More than likely, however, is that the beguines derived their name from that of the priest Lambert le Begue, under whose protection the witness and ministry of the Beguines flourished.
She married Ansegisel, son of Arnulf, Bishop of Metz, and had three children:
- Pepin of Heristal
- Martin of Laon
- Clotilda of Heristal, who was married to Theuderic III of the Franks
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[edit] September 7 2007
Saint Clodoald (522 - c. 560), better known as Cloud, was the son of King Chlodomer of Orleans.
Clodoald was raised in Paris by his grandmother, Saint Clotilde. One of three brothers, he was targeted for assassination by his uncle, Clotaire I. His two brothers, Theodoald and Gunther, were killed by Clotaire when they were ten and nine respectively - Clodoald survived by escaping to Provence.
Clodoald renounced all claims to the throne, and lived as a studious hermit and disciple of Saint Severinus of Noricum.
Visited by many for counsel and healing, Clodoald gained in effect nothing by keeping himself remote from society. Therefore, he returned to Paris, where he was received with joy. At the earnest request of the people, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Eusebius of Paris, in 551, and served that church for some time.
He established a holy place near Paris at Nogent-sur-Seine, which is now a collegiate church of canons regular called Saint Cloud, wherein his relics are kept. The village hosting his tomb was renamed Saint-Cloud accordingly.
Attributes: a Benedictine abbot giving his hood to a poor man as a ray of light emanates from his head; with royal insignia at his feet or instructing the poor
Patronage: against carbuncles; nail makers; Diocese of Saint Cloud, Minnesota
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[edit] September 8 2007
Saint Adrian or Hadrian of Nicomedia was a Herculian Guard of the Roman Emperor Galerius Maximian. After becoming a convert to Christianity, Adrian was martyred at Nicomedia on March 4 ca. 306.
It is said that while presiding over the torture of a band of Christians, he asked them what reward they expected to receive from God. They replied, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (I Corinthians 2:9). He was so amazed at their courage that he publicly confessed his faith, though he had not himself yet been baptised. He was then immediately imprisoned himself. He was forbidden vistiors, but accounts state that his wife Saint Natalia of Nicomedia came to visit him dressed as a boy to ask for his prayers when he entered Heaven. The next day his limbs were struck off on an anvil, and he was then beheaded, dying in the arms of Natalia. After he was killed, Adrian and several other martyrs were taken to be burned. When the executioners began to burn their bodies, a thunderstorm arose and the furnace was extinguished; lightning killed several of the executioners. Natalia had to be restrained to not throw herself on the fire when Adrian's body was being burned. Later, Christians took Adrian's body and buried him on the outskirts of Byzantium, at Argyropolis.
Natalia went to live there herself, taking one of Adrian's hands which she had recovered. When she herself died, she was buried with the martyrs.
Attributes: depicted armed, with an anvil in his hands or at his feet
Patronage: plague, epilepsy, arms dealers, butchers, guards, soldiers
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[edit] September 9 2007
Saint Peter Claver (in Spanish: Pedro Claver) was a Jesuit who, due to his remarkable life and work, become the patron saint of slaves, of Colombia and of African Americans.
Although his detractors often accused Claver of lacking intelligence, boldness and self-confidence, he became a compassionate leader who lived out the commitment he added to his vows: that he was Peter Claver, forever a servant to the blacks. He insisted on seeing the slaves taken from Africa as his brothers in Christ and demanded that his fellow-Christians treat them as equals.
As new slaves arrived, Claver ran out to meet them, carrying food and clothes to the living and removing the bodies of those who had died. He cared for the weakest first and took the sick to a nearby hospital he had built. Using natives as interpreters, he then began sharing the Gospel with all who would hear. Having won their good will, he instructed and baptized them into the Faith. Claver dedicated his life to the service of these people, humbly caring for the lepers and those suffering from smallpox, cleaning their sores and consoling them when other were disgusted by their diseases. He and the slaves he ministered to would prepare great banquets to celebrate holy days; inviting and ministering to the lepers, slaves, and beggers.
The apostle was accused of indiscreet zeal, and of having profaned the Sacraments by giving them to "creatures" deemed to scarcely possess a soul, even though Pope Paul III had proclaimed in his encyclical Sublimis Deus that non-European peoples had souls and were eligible to receive the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Despite the contempt for him among the merchant and landed classes, his work which he continued until his death in 1654 was supported by the Jesuit Order. His work and writings along with others such as Bartolomé de las Casas, while broadly rejected in his time laid the foundation for the eventual rejection of the institution of slavery by the Catholic Church and the European powers by the early 19th Century.
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Patronage: Slaves, Colombia, Race relations, and African Americans.
Prayer: God of mercy and love, you offer all peoples the dignity of sharing in your life. By the example and prayers of Saint Peter Claver, strengthen us to overcome all racial hatreds and to love each other as brothers and sisters.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[edit] September 10 2007
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (Italian: Nicola da Tolentino) (c. 1246 — 1305), known as the Patron of Holy Souls, was an Italian saint.
He was born at Sant' Angelo, near Fermo, in Italy in the March of Ancona. His parents, Compagnonus de Guarutti and Amata de Guidiani, were originally unable to have a child, but after praying at a shrine of St. Nicholas of Myra, Amata became pregnant, and they named their son after the saint.
At the age of 18, Nicholas became an Augustinian Friar and was a student with Blessed Angelus de Scarpetti. He became a monk at Recanati and Macerata, and at the age of 25, he was ordained. He was a canon of Saint Saviour's. Had visions of angels reciting "to Tolentino"; he took this as a sign to move to that city in 1274, where he lived the rest of his life.
He became ill and received a vision of Blessed Virgin Mary and Saints Augustine and Monica who told him to eat a certain type of bread roll that had been dipped in water. He started distributing these rolls while praying to Mary. These rolls became known as Saint Nicholas Bread.
Worked as a peacemaker in a city torn by civil war. Preached every day, wonder-worker and healer, and visited prisoners. He always told those he helped, "Say nothing of this." Received visions, including images of Purgatory, which friends ascribed to his lengthy fasts. Had a great devotion to the recently dead, praying for the souls in Purgatory as he travelled around his parish, and often late into the night.
Attributes: Augustinian giving bread to a sick person; Augustinian holding a container of bread; Augustinian holding a container of money; Augustinian holding a lily; Augustinian holding crucifix garlanded with lilies; Augustinian with a star above him; Augustinian with a star on his breast; basket with bread rolls; crucifix garlanded with lilies; lily
Patronage: animals; babies; boatmen; diocese of Cabanatuan, Philippines; dying people; Lambunao, Philippines; mariners; diocese of Mati, Philippines; sailors; sick animals; souls in purgatory; diocese of Tandag, Philippines; watermen
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[edit] September 11 2007
The saints Felix and Regula, together with their servant Exuperantius, are the patron saints of Zürich, their feast day being 11 September.
According to legend, Felix and Regula were siblings, and members of the Theban legion under Saint Maurice, stationed in Agaunum in the Valais. When the legion was to be executed in 286, they fled, reaching Zürich via Glarus before they were caught, tried and executed. After decapitation, they are said to have walked forty paces uphill. They were buried on the spot where they fell down.
The legend cannot be traced beyond an 8th century account, according to which the story was revealed to a monk called Florentius. In the 9th century there was a small monastery at the location, outside the settlement of Zürich which was situated on the left side of the Limmat. The Grossmünster was built on their graves from ca. 1100, while at the site of their execution stands the Wasserkirche. From the 13th century, images of the saints were used in official seals of the city and on coins. On the saints' feast day, their relics were carried in procession between the Grossmünster and the Fraumünster, and the two monasteries vied for possession of the relics, which attracted enough pilgrims to make Zürich the most important pilgrimage site in the bishopric of Konstanz. The Knabenschiessen of Zürich originates with the festival.
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[edit] September 12 2007
Saint Guy of Anderlecht (also, Guido, Guidon, Wye of Láken) (ca. 950-1012) was a Belgian Christian saint. He was known as the "Poor Man of Anderlecht."
Born to poor parents, he lived a simple agricultural life until starting as a sacristan in the local church. He remained so until persuaded to invest in a trading venture. When the ship carrying the cargo in which he had invested sank in the harbour, Guy believed he was being punished for being greedy and went on a pilgrimage, first to Rome as penance, and then to Jerusalem where he worked as a guide to other pilgrims. He died on his way home.
His grave was said to have been found when a horse kicked it. Cabdrivers of Brabant led an annual pilgrimage to Anderlecht until the beginning of World War I in 1914. They and their horses headed the procession followed by farmers, grooms, and stable boys, all leading their animals to be blessed. The village fair that ended the religious procession was celebrated by various games, music, and feasting, followed by a competition to ride the carthorses bareback. The winner entered the church on bareback to receive a hat made of roses from the parish pastor.
Attributes: A peasant praying with an angel plowing a nearby field; a pilgrim with a book or with a hat, staff, rosary, and an ox at his feet
Patronage:Anderlecht, Belgium; against mad dogs; against rabies; bachelors; epileptics; horned animals; laborers; protection of outbuildings, stables, and sheds; sacristans; work horses
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[edit] September 13 2007
John Chrysostom (349– ca. 407, Greek: Ιωάννης ο Χρυσόστομος, Ioannes Chrysostomos) was the archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities. After his death he was given the Greek surname chrysostomos, "golden mouthed", rendered in English as Chrysostom.
The Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches honor him as a saint (feast day, November 13) and count him among the Three Holy Hierarchs (feast day, January 30), together with Saints Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian. He is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a saint and a Doctor of the Church. Churches of the Western tradition, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, and the Lutheran church, commemorate him on September 13. His relics were looted from Constantinople by Crusaders in 1204 and brought to Rome, but were returned on 27 November 2004 by Pope John Paul II. Chrysostom is known within Christianity chiefly as a preacher and liturgist, particularly in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Outside the Christian tradition Chrysostom is noted for eight of his sermons which played a considerable part in the history of Christian antisemitism, and were extensively misused by the Nazis in their ideological campaign against the Jews.
He is sometimes referred to as John of Antioch, but that name more properly refers to the bishop of Antioch named John (429-441), who led a group of moderate Eastern bishops in the Nestorian controversy. He is also confused with Dio Chrysostom.
Attributes:represented in art by bees, a dove, a pan
Patronage:Constantinople; epilepsy; lecturers; orators; preachers
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[edit] September 14 2007
Saint Notburga, also known as Notburga of Rattenburg or Notburga of Eben, (c. 1265-September 16, 1313) is an Austrian saint from modern Tyrol. She is the patron saint of servants and peasants.
Notburga was a cook in the household of Count Henry of Rottenburg, and used to give food to the poor. But Ottilia, her mistress, ordered her to feed any leftover food to the pigs. To continue her mission, Notburga began to save some of her own food, especially on Fridays, and brought it to the poor. According to her legend, one day her master met her and commanded her to show him what she was carrying. She obeyed but instead of the food he saw only shavings, and instead of wine, vinegar. As a result of Notburga's actions, Ottilia dismissed her, but soon fell dangerously ill. Notburga remained to nurse her and prepared her for death.
Next, Notburga worked for a peasant in Eben am Achensee, on the condition that she be permitted to go to church evenings before Sundays and festivals. One evening her master urged her to continue working in the field. Throwing her sickle into the air she supposedly said: "Let my sickle be judge between me and you," and the sickle remained suspended in the air. In the meantime, Count Henry had suffered difficulties, which he ascribed to his dismissal of Notburga, so he rehired her. Shortly before her death she is said to have told her master to place her corpse on a wagon drawn by two oxen and to bury her wherever the oxen stood still. The oxen drew the wagon to the chapel of St. Rupert near Eben, where she was buried.
Attributes: with an ear of corn, or flowers and a sickle in her hand; sometimes the sickle is suspended in the air.
Patronage: poor peasants and servants in the Tyrol
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[edit] September 15 2007
Saint Nicomedes was a Martyr of unknown era, whose feast is observed 15 September.
The Roman Martyrologium and the historical Martyrologies of Bede and his imitators place the feast on this date. The Gregorian Sacramentary contains under the same date the orations for his Mass. The name does not appear in the three oldest and most important Manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, but was inserted in later recensions ("Martyrol. Hieronymianum", ed. G. B. de Rossi-L. Duchesne, in Acta SS., November II, 121). The saint is without doubt a martyr of the Roman Church.
He was buried in a catacomb on the Via Nomentana near the gate of that name. Three seventh century Itineraries make explicit reference to his grave, and Pope Adrian I restored the church built over it (De Rossi, Roma Sotterranea, I, 178-79). A titular church of Rome, mentioned in the fifth century, was dedicated to him (titulus S. Nicomedis).
Nothing is known of the circumstances of his death. The legend of the martyrdom of Saints Nereus and Achilleus introduces him as a presbyter and places his death at the end of the first century. Other recensions of the martyrdom of St. Nicomedes ascribe the sentence of death to the Emperor Maximianus (beginning of the fourth century).
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[edit] September 16 2007
Saint Ludmila (c. 860 - September 15, 921) is a saint and martyr venerated by the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics. She was born in Mělník, the daughter of a Slavic prince. Saint Ludmila was the grandmother of Saint Wenceslaus, who is widely referred to as Good King Wenceslaus.
Ludmila was married to Bořivoj I of Bohemia, who was the first Christian Duke of Bohemia. The couple was converted to Christianity around 873. Their efforts to convert Bohemia to Christianity were initially not well received, and they were driven from their country for a time by the pagans. Eventually the couple returned, and ruled for several years before retiring to Tetín, near Beroun.
The couple was succeeded by their son Spytihněv, who ruled for two years before he died. Spytihněv was succeeded by his brother Vratislav. When Vratislav died in 921, his eight year old son Wenceslas became the next ruler of Bohemia. It was mainly Ludmila who raised her grandson.
Wenceslaus' mother Drahomíra became jealous of Ludmila's influence over Wenceslaus. She had two noblemen murder Ludmila at Tetín, and part of Ludmila's story says that she was strangled with her veil. Initially Saint Ludmila was buried at St. Michael's at Tetín. Sometime before the year 1100 her remains were removed to the church of St. George at Prague, Czech Republic.
Attributes: veil
Patronage: Bohemia,converts, Czech Republic, duchesses, problems with in-laws, and widows
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[edit] September 17 2007
Hildegard of Bingen (German: Hildegard von Bingen; Latin: Hildegardis Bingensis; 1098 – 17 September 1179), also known as Blessed Hildegard and Saint Hildegard, was a German magistra who founded two women's communities (Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165) in the 3rd quarter of the 12th century. Although today she has commonly acquired the title of abbess, it is important to note that she never held that title during her lifetime and remained under the jurisdiction of the abbot of her parent monastery at Disibodenberg.
Hildegard of Bingen was an artist, author, counselor, dramatist, linguist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, poet, political consultant, prophet, visionary, and a composer of music. She is the first composer for whom a biography exists and one of her works, the Ordo Virtutem is one of the first known liturgical dramas. Some have mistakenly linked this work as the precursor that led to opera, but there is no plausible link between Hildegard and the Florentine Camerata, the creators of opera.
She wrote theological, naturalistic, botanical, medicinal, and dietary texts, also letters, liturgical songs, poems, and the first surviving morality play, while supervising brilliant miniature illuminations. A biographer, Carmen Acevedo Butcher, described Hildegard of Bingen as a polymath.
Attributes: abbess with book and pen at an escritoire, giving a letter to a messenger, three bright towers on the side
Patronage: natural scientists and linguists
Prayer:O budded, greening branch! You stand as firmly rooted in your nobility As the dawn advances. Now rejoice and be glad. Consider us frail ones worthy To free us from our destructive ways. Put forth your hand and Raise us up.
[edit] September 18 2007
Saint Joseph of Cupertino (or Giuseppe da Copertino, born Giuseppe Maria Desa) (June 17, 1603 – September 18, 1663) was an Italian saint. He was said to have been remarkably unclever, but prone to miraculous levitation and intense ecstasies that left him gaping.
Joseph was born in Copertino, Apulia. As a child, Joseph was a remarkably slow witted. He is also said to have had a violent temper.
When he was 17, Joseph attempted to join the Friars Minor Conventuals, but his lack of education prevented him from gaining admittance. Eventually, in his early twenties, he was admitted into a Franciscan friary near Cupertino. He had a learning disability, and legend has it that he would study intently for one small section of the material, because that was all he was able to do, and prayed that the material he studied would be what he was tested on.
On hearing the names of Jesus or Mary, the singing of hymns, during the feast of St. Francis, or while praying at Mass, he would go into dazed state and soar into the air, remaining there until a superior commanded him under obedience to revive.
Among other paranormal events associated with him, Joseph is said to have possessed the gift of healing. Legend holds he once cured a girl who was suffering from a severe case of measles. Another story holds that an entire community suffering from a drought asked Joseph to pray for rain, which he did with success.
When he accompanied his provincial on his visitations, Joseph would fall into ecstasy and inspire other friars to a greater evangelical perfection. Joseph was made an honorary citizen of Assisi and a full member of the Franciscan community.
Over time, Joseph attracted a huge following. To stay this, Pope Innocent X decided to move Joseph from Assisi and place him in a secret location. Pope Alexander VIII released Joseph to the friary in Osimo, where the Pope's nephew was the local bishop. There, Joseph was ordered to live in seclusion.
He died on the evening of September 18, 1663.
Attributes: Levitation, dullness
Patronage: Aviation, astronomy, mental handicaps, test taking
Prayer:
[edit] September 19 2007
Saint Januarius, or San Gennaro, bishop of Benevento, is a saint and martyr in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. According to legendary sources, he died in 305 during the persecution of Diocletian near Puteoli at the sulphur mines near the Solfatara, where he was visiting imprisoned deacons. After many tortures he was beheaded along with many other companions (see Saint Proculus of Pozzuoli). According to an early hagiography, his relics were first translated to the catacombs, called from his presence there of San Gennaro extra moenium by Saint Severus, bishop of Naples. Later the body was removed to Beneventum by Sico, duke of Benevento, then, in the turmoil at the time of Frederick Barbarossa, to the abbey of Montevergine, where the relics were rediscovered in 1480. At the instigation of Oliviero Cardinal Carafa, his body was translated in 1497 to Naples, of which he is now the chief patron saint. Carafa commissioned the richly decorated Succorpo in the crypt of the cathedral to properly house the reunited relics, for the saint's head had remained in Naples; it was finished in 1506 and is a prominent monument of the High Renaissance in the city.
Januarius is known for the miracle of the annual liquefaction of his blood, first reported in 1389. The dried blood is safely stored in small capsules in a reliquary. When these capsules are brought into the vicinity of his body on his feast day or on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, the dried blood becomes liquid.
Thousands of persons assemble to witness this event in the cathedral of Naples each year. The archbishop, at the high altar amid prayers and invocations holds up a glass phial that is said to contain the dried blood of San Gennaro, the city’s patron saint, and declares that it has liquefied. The announcement of the liquefaction is greeted with a 21-gun salute at the 13th-century Castel Nuovo.
Attributes: cloth of a bishop
Patronage: blood banks; Naples; volcanic eruptions
Prayer:
[edit] September 20 2007
St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon was Korea's first Roman Catholic priest. In the early 17th century, Roman Catholicism in Korea was primarily introduced by laypeople. It wasn't until the mid-1800s that Korea saw its first missionaries arrive only to find out that the people there were already practicing Christianity.
Born out of Korean nobility, Kim Taegon's parents were converts and his father was subsequently martyred for practicing Christianity; a prohibited activity in heavily Confucian Korea. He studied at a seminary in Macau and was ordained a priest in Shanghai six years later. He then returned to Korea to preach and evangelize. During the Joseon Dynasty, Christianity was heavily suppressed and many Christians were persecuted and executed. Catholics had to covertly practice their faith. Kim Taegon was one of several thousands of Christians who were executed during this time. In 1846, at the age of 25, he was tortured and beheaded.
On May 6, 1984 Pope John Paul II canonized Andrew Kim Taegon along with 102 other martyrs, including Paul Chong Hasang.
Attributes:
Patronage: Korean Clergy
Prayer:
[edit] September 21 2007
Matthew the Evangelist (מתי, "Gift of the LORD", Standard Hebrew and Tiberian Hebrew: Mattay; Septuagint Greek: Ματθαίος, Matthaios), most often called Saint Matthew, is an important Christian figure, and one of Jesus' Twelve Apostles.
Very little about Matthew's life is certain, and many accounts of it are contradictory. The Gospel of Matthew introduces him as a publican, or tax-collector, probably near Capernaum.
Some contend that Matthew's father, Alphaeus, may be the same Alphaeus who was father to the apostle, James (also called James the Lesser), and that the two were brothers. However, the Gospels never describe Matthew as John's brother, even in passages where John and James or Peter and Andrew are described as brothers.
According to Luke's Gospel, on the same day Jesus called him, he made a "great feast" (Luke 5:29) to which he invited Jesus and his disciples. The last notice of him in the New Testament is in Acts 1:13. He is one of the few disciples mentioned by name in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, suggesting he was of more importance in the early Church than surviving evidence indicates. Legend speculates that he preached the gospel for a long time after the Ascension and carried it all the way to Ethiopia, where he was killed.
The time and manner of Matthew's death are also unclear. According to Edward Ullendorff, the seventh book of a work he calls the "Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles" contains an account of the baptism of King Aeglippus of Ethiopia by Matthew, after having travelled to its capital, Naddayer. However, Matthew is said to have been killed by Aeglippus' brother, Hyrtacus, when he took the throne. Hyrtacus is said to have killed Matthew because the evangelist refused to sanction his marriage to Epiphigenia, Aeglippus' daughter. Other traditions say that Matthew was martyred in Hierapolis of Parthia. According to Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, Matthew was martyred in Hierapolis."
Attributes: tax collector
Patronage:Accountants, bank employees, moneychangers, tax collectors, customs officers, Salerno, Italy and against alcoholism
Prayer: Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him: "Follow me". Jesus saw Matthew, not merely in the usual sense, but more significantly with his merciful understanding of men."
[edit] September 22 2007
Saint Emmeram of Regensburg (also Emmeramus, Emmeran, Emeran, Heimrammi, Haimeran, or Heimeran) was born in Poitiers and was a Christian bishop and a martyr. He died died circa 652 and is buried in St. Emmeram's in Ratisbon, Germany. His feast day in the Catholic calendar of saints is 22 September.
The literature tells the story of Emmeram, born into a noble family in Aquitaine. According to some, he became bishop of Poitiers, though his name does not appear on the rolls. Having heard of idolatry in Bavaria, he decided to journey to Ratisborn (Regensburg) some time after the year 649 to the court of the Agilofing, Theodo I, Duke of Bavaria. Theodo welcomed Emmeram to his court, where Emmeram labored for three years carrying out missionary work. During this time he gained a reputation as a pious man.
Uta (or Ota), the daughter of the duke, confided to Emmeram that she was expecting a child out of wedlock. According to Arbeo, the father was one Sigipaldus from her father's own court. Moved with compassion, Emmeram advised her to name himself, whom every one respected, hoping to mitigate some of her shame. Shortly thereafter, the legend goes, Emmeram abruptly went on a pilgrimage to Rome. At this point Uta named Emmeram as the father.
When Duke Theodo and his son Lantpert learned of Uta's pregnancy, Lantpert went after the bishop. Lantpert caught up to Emmeram in Helfendorf (now part of the Munich suburb of Aying). Lantpert and his followers tied Emmeram to a ladder and proceeded to torture and cut Emmeram to pieces.
Attributes: carrying a ladder
Patronage: diocese of Ratisbon
Prayer:
[edit] September 23 2007
Saint Adomnán of Iona (627/8-704) was abbot of Iona (679-704), hagiographer, statesman and clerical lawyer; he was the author of the most important Vita of Saint Columba and promulgator of the "Law of Innocents", lex innocentium, also called Cáin Adomnáin, "Law of Adomnán". In Ireland, a popular anglicised form of his name is Saint Eunan from the Gaelic Naomh Adhamhnán.
Adomnán was a descendant of Colmán mac Sétna, a cousin of Saint Columba and the ancestor, through his son Ainmire, of the kings of Cenél Conaill.
It is thought that Adomnán may have begun his monastic career at a Columban monastery called Druim Tuamma. He probably joined the Columban familia (i.e. the federation of monasteries under the leadership of Iona Abbey) after but around the year 640. Some modern commentators believe that he could not have come to Iona until sometime after the year 669, the year of the accession of Abbot Failbe, the first abbot of whom Adomnán gives any information. However, Richard Sharpe argues that he probably came to Iona during the abbacy of Ségéne (d. 652). Whenever or wherever Adomnán received his education, Adomnán attained a level of learning rare in Early Medieval northern Europe. It has been suggested by Alfred Smyth that Adomnán spent some years teaching and studying at Durrow, and while this is not accepted by all scholars, remains a strong possibility.
In 679, Adomnán became the ninth abbot of Iona after Columba. Abbot Adomnán enjoyed a friendship with King Aldfrith of Northumbria. In 684, Aldfrith had been staying with Adomnán in Iona. In 686, after the death of Aldfrith's brother King Ecgfrith of Northumbria and Aldfrith's succession to the kingship, Adomnán was in Northumbria on the request of King Fínnecta Fledach of Brega, in order to gain the freedom of sixty Gaels who had been captured in a Northumbrian raid two years before. This Adomnán achieved. Adomnán, in keeping with Ionan tradition, made several more trips to the lands of the English during his abbacy, including one the following year. It is sometimes thought, after the account given by Bede, that it was during his visits to Northumbria, under the influence of Abbot Ceolfrith of Jarrow, that Adomnán decided to adopt the Roman dating of Easter that had been agreed some years before at the Synod of Whitby.
In 697, it is generally believed that Adomnán promulgated the Cáin Adomnáin, meaning literally the "Canons" or "Law of Adomnán". The Cáin Adomnáin was promulgated amongst a gathering of Irish, Dal Ríatan and Pictish notables at a location known as Birr. It is a set of laws designed, among other things, to guarantee the safety and immunity of various types of non-combatant in warfare. For this reason it is also known as the "Law of Innocents". It is the earliest initiative of this kind recorded from Europe, and as such is often regarded, however dubiously, as a proto-type for the Geneva Convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Attributes:
Patronage: Diocese of Raphoe
Prayer:
[edit] September 24 2007
Rupert of Salzburg (also Ruprecht, Hrodperht, Hrodpreht, Roudbertus, Rudbertus, Robert)[1] (660?[2] - 710) is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and a founder of the Austrian city of Salzburg. He was a contemporary of Childebert III, king of the Franks.[1]
Tradition states that Rupert was a scion of the Frankish royal Merovingian family.
Rupert was a Frank and bishop of Worms until around 697, at which point he was sent to become a missionary to Regensburg in Bavaria. There, he may have first baptized Duke Theodo of Bavaria,[3] whose permission was necessary for further missionary work, and then baptized a number of the nobles. After such success, Rupert moved on to Altötting and converted the locals. He soon had converted a large area of the Danube. As well as converting the locals, Rupert introduced education and other reforms. He promoted the salt mines of Salzburg, then a ruined Roman town of Juvavum, and made it his base and renamed the place "Salzburg." He reportedly died on Easter Sunday around 710.
Attributes: Holding a container of salt
Patronage: Salzburg, The State of Salzburg
Prayer:
[edit] September 25 2007
Saint Fermin of Amiens (also Firmin, from Latin, Firminus; in Spanish, Fermín) is one of many locally venerated Catholic saints. Fermin is the co-patron of Pamplona, where his feast, the 'San Fermín', is forever associated with the Encierro or 'Running of the Bulls' made famous by Ernest Hemingway. Fermin was long venerated also at Amiens, where he met martyrdom.
Fermin is said to have been the son of a Roman of senatorial rank in Pamplona in the 3rd century, who was converted to Christianity. According to tradition, he was baptised by Saint Saturnin at the spot now known as the Pocico de San Cernin, the "Small Well of San Cernin," across from the facade of the church dedicated to St Cernin, which is built on the foundations of a pagan temple.
In Toulouse, the earliest church dedicated to Notre-Dame du Taur ("Our Lady of the Bull") still exists, though rebuilt; though the 11th century Basilica of Saint Sernin, the largest surviving Romanesque structure in France, has superseded it, the church is said to be built where the bull stopped, but more credibly must in fact be on a site previously dedicated to a pre-Christian sacred bull, perhaps the bull of Mithras.
Fermin was ordained a priest in Toulouse, according to the local legend, and returned to Pamplona as its first bishop. On a later voyage preaching the gospel, Fermin was beheaded in Amiens, France, on September 25, AD 303.
Attributes: cloth of a bishop, holding his own head, with sword or unicorn
Patronage: Amiens, France, Lesaka, Spain, Navarre, Spain, Pamplona, Spain
Prayer:
[edit] September 26 2007
Saints Cosmas and Damian (Κοσμάς και Δαμιανός) (died ca. 303) were twins and early Christian martyrs, born in Cilicia, or in Arabia (CE), who practiced the art of healing in the seaport of Ægea (modern Ayash) in the Gulf of Iskanderun, then in the Roman province of Syria. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, they accepted no payment for their services, which led them to be nicknamed anargyroi or The Silverless. It is said that by this, they led many to the Christian faith. Cosmas' name is rendered as Côme in French, as Cosimo in Italian, as Cosme in Portuguese, as Козма (Kozma) in Serbian and Bulgarian or as Kozman in Coptic.
During the persecution under Diocletian, Cosmas and Damian were arrested by order of the Prefect of Cilicia, one Lysias who is otherwise unknown, who ordered them under torture to recant. However, according to legend they stayed true to their faith through a series of gruesome tortures that did not harm them, and finally suffered execution by beheading. Anthimus, Leontius and Euprepius, their younger brothers, who were inseparable from them throughout life, shared in their martyrdom.
Their most famous miraculous exploit was the grafting of a leg from a recently deceased Ethiopian to replace a patient's ulcered leg, and was the subject of many paintings and illuminations.
Attributes: depicted as twins, beheaded, or with medical emblems
Patronage: surgeons, physicians, protectors of children, barbers, pharmacists, veterinarians
Prayer:
[edit] September 27 2007
Saint Vincent de Paul (April 24, 1581 – September 27, 1660) was born at Pouy, Landes, Gascony, France to a peasant family. His feast was formerly kept on July 19, but is now observed on September 27 - the day of his death.
He studied humanities at Dax with the Cordeliers and he graduated in theology at Toulouse. Vincent de Paul was ordained in 1600, remaining in Toulouse until he went to Marseille for an inheritance. On his way back from Marseille, he was taken captive by Turkish pirates to Tunis, and sold into slavery. After converting his owner to Christianity, Vincent de Paul was freed in 1607.
Vincent returned to France and served as priest in a parish near Paris. He was at once discouraged by the number of babies brought to Notre Dame, so he established a home for these foundlings.
He founded many charitable organizations such as Congregation of the Daughters of Charity, with Louise de Marillac, and the Congregation of Priests of the Mission (Lazarists).
Attributes:
Patronage:charities; horses; hospitals; leprosy; lost articles; Madagascar; prisoners; Richmond, Virginia; spiritual help; Saint Vincent de Paul Societies; Vincentian Service Corps; volunteers
Prayer:
[edit] September 28 2007
Leoba (also Lioba and Leofgyth) (c. 710 - September 28, 782) was an Anglo-Saxon nun who was part of Boniface's mission to the Germans, and a saint.
Her birth date is unknown, but she was born Leofgyth in Wessex to a noble family. She entered Wimborne Minster as an oblate and corresponded with Boniface.
Boniface established a convent in the Franconian town Tauberbischofsheim, where she became the abbess. Boniface, whose relationship to her could be as near as that of uncle, entrusted Leoba with a great deal of authority, and Rudolf of Fulda indicates that she was not merely in charge of her own house, but all of the nuns who worked for Boniface. In 754, when Boniface was preparing a missionary trip to Frisia, where he would suffer martyrdom, he gave his monastic cowl to Leoba to indicate that, when he was away, she was his delegate.
She was a learned woman, and in the following years she was involved in the foundation of nunneries in Kitzingen and Ochsenfurt. She had a leading role in evangelizing her area, and, during her life, she was credited with quelling a storm with her command. Additionally, bishops in Fulda consulted with her, and she was the only woman allowed to enter into monasteries in Fulda to consult with the ecclesiastical leaders on issues of monastic rule. She was also favored in the court of Pippin III, and Hildegard, wife of Charlemagne, was her friend.
In her later years, she retired with a few other Anglo-Saxon nuns to an estate near Mainz in Schornsheim. The estate was given by Charlemagne for her exclusive use. She died on September 28 in 782. Boniface's will had originally designated that Leoba was to be buried in his own tomb. However, when Leoba died, she was, instead, placed near him, but not in the same grave.
Attributes: abbess with book and bell, sourrounded by lightning
Patronage:
Prayer:
[edit] September 29 2007
Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael
Michael (Hebrew: מיכאל, Micha'el or Mîkhā’ēl) is the archangel. He is generally presented as the field commander of the Army of God. There Michael appears as "one of the chief princes" who in Daniel's vision comes to the angel Gabriel's aid in his contest with the angel of Persia, and is also described there as the advocate of Israel. The Catholic Church honors Michael as the Christian angel of death, carrying the souls of all the deceased to heaven, where they are weighed in his perfectly balanced scales (hence Michael is often depicted holding scales). At the hour of death, Michael descends and gives each soul the chance to redeem itself before passing, thus consternating the devil and his minions. Michael is guardian of the Church; it was thus not unusual for the angel to be revered by the military orders of knights during the Middle Ages. Last, he is the supreme enemy of Satan and the fallen angels.
Attributes: Treading on Satan or a serpent; carrying a banner, scales, and sword
Patronage: Paratroopers; Police Officers; Mariners; Grocers; the sick; Paramedics; the Germans
Prayer:
Gabriel (גַּבְרִיאֵל, Standard Hebrew Gavriʼel, literally "Master, of God", i.e., a Master, who is "of God") is an angel who is thought to serve as a messenger from God. He is referred to as the "Left Hand of God and the embodiment of the Holy Spirit". Christians believe him to have foretold the births of John the Baptist and Jesus to Zacharias and the Virgin Mary respectively. To Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and Anglicans he is St. Gabriel the Archangel.
' A glowin angel, holding a lily in his hands
' postmen, delivery men, philatelists, communications and against infecundity in marriage
Prayer:
Raphael (Standard Hebrew רפאל, "God has healed", "God Heals", "God, Please Heal", and many other combinations of the two words, is the name of an archangel, who performs all manner of healing. Raphael appears only in the Book of Tobit (Tobias). Tobit is considered canonical by Catholics, Orthodox and some Protestants. Raphael first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias". During the adventurous course of the journey the archangel's protective influence is shown in many ways including the binding of the demon in the desert of upper Egypt. After the return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobias, Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord".
Attributes: An Angel with cloth of a pilgrim, leading young Tobias, holding a caugth fish
Patronage: Sick, pharmacists travellers emigrants, mariners, roofers, against sickness of the eyes and pest
Prayer:
[edit] September 30 2007
Jerome (ca. 347 – September 30, 420; Greek: Ευσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ιερώνυμος, Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus) is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. He also was a Christian apologist. Jerome's edition, the Vulgate, is still an important biblical text of the Roman Catholic Church.
During an illnesses (about the winter of 373-374), he had a vision which led him to lay aside his secular studies and devote himself to the things of God.
In 378 or 379, he was ordained by Bishop Paulinus, apparently unwillingly and on condition that he continue his ascetic life. Soon afterward, he went to Constantinople to pursue a study of Scripture under Gregory Nazianzen. He seems to have spent two years there; the next three (382-385) he was in Rome again, attached to Pope Damasus I and the leading Roman Christians. Invited originally for the synod of 382, held to end the schism of Antioch, he made himself indispensable to the pope, and took a prominent place in his councils.
Soon after the death of his patron Damasus (December 10, 384), Jerome was forced to leave his position at Rome after an inquiry by the Roman clergy into allegations that he had improper relations with the widow Paula.
He undertook a revision of the Latin Bible, to be based on the Greek New Testament. He also updated the Psalter then at use in Rome based on the Septuagint. Though he did not realize it yet at this point, translating much of what became the Latin Vulgate Bible would take many years, and be his most important achievement (see Writings- Translations section below).
Attributes: lion, cardinal attire, cross, skull, trumpet, owl, books and writing material
Patronage: archeologists; archivists; Bible scholars; librarians; libraries; schoolchildren; students; translators
Prayer: O Lord, show your mercy to me and gladden my heart. I am like the man on the way to Jericho who was overtaken by robbers, wounded and left for dead. O Good Samaritan, come to my aid, I am like the sheep that went astray. O Good Shepherd, seek me out and bring me home in accord with your will. Let me dwell in your house all the days of my life and praise you for ever and ever with those who are there.
