July 30th, Saints Abdon and Sennen, Martyrs

July 30^th, Saints Abdon and Sennen, Martyrs

Abdon and Sennen, as we know from ancient records, were Persians who suffered for Christ at Rome, probably under Diocletian, early in the fourth century. For their feast was already kept in the City in the year 354. It is believed that they had been brought to Rome either as hostages, or as prisoners of the Emperor, after his campaign in their country. In later days it was said that they were apprehended in Rome on the charge that they had interred, on their own farm, the bodies of Christians, which had been thrown out unburied. Whereat they were ordered to sacrifice to the gods, which they refused to do, and so were put into strict confinement. And afterwards when the Emperor returned to Rome, he had them led in chains in his triumph. And being thus dragged into the City and up to the idols, they spat upon them, for which they were cast to bears and lions. And because the beasts were afraid to touch them, they were butchered with the sword. And their corpses, with their feet bound together, were dragged before the image of the sun. Thereafter their remains were stolen away, and Deacon Quirinus buried them in his own house.

Collect:

O God, who on thy servants Abdon and Sennen didst bestow abundant grace to attain unto the crown of glory : grant unto thy servants the remission of all their sins ; that, by the intercession of the merits of thy Saints, they may be found worthy to be defended against all adversities, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 29th, Saint Martha, Virgin and Martyr

July 29^th, Saint Martha, Virgin and Martyr


Martha, (whose feast is kept on the Octave of St. Mary Magdalene,) lived with her sister Mary and her brother Lazarus, in their home in Bethany. Which same was a place of such noble hospitality that they are believed to have been of gentle birth and ample means. But chiefly Martha is remembered as the loving hostess of our Lord ; for whose sake, and for Mary’s he raised to life again his friend Lazarus, after he had been three days dead, and over whose grave, as the Evangelist saith : Jesus wept. For the Gospel prayeth them this great tribute : Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. According to the ancient fathers. Mary is to be considered a type of the contemplative vocation, but Martha that of the active : that is to say, of a life devoted to God in good works for one’s neighbour. * In the Middle Ages in France a strange story came into belief concerning these three Saints, as followeth. After the Ascension, they and their household were baptized by Maximin, who was one of the seventy-two disciples of the Lord Christ. They all, with many other Christians, were taken by the Jews, and turned adrift upon the open sea in a ship without sail or oars, to meet with certain wreck ; but by the governance of God, the shop came to land at Marseilles with all safe. Through this miracle and the preaching of the Saints, the people round about came to believe in Christ, and Lazarus was made Bishop of Aix. * Mary continued, as it were, to sit at Jesus’ feet, for she ever was altogether given to prayer and the contemplation of heavenly blessedness ; and in order that the good part which she had chosen might not be taken away from her, she withdrew herself to a cave in an exceeding high mountain, where she lived for thirty years, utterly cut off from all conversation with mankind, but having the holy Angels as her familiars. And Martha drew upon herself, by the wondrous holiness and charity of her life, the love of all the inhabitants of Marseilles, until she withdrew in company with some other honorable women, into an out-of-the-way place, to prepare for her going to him who loved her, and whence she passed away to be ever with him.

Collect:

Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation : that, like as we do rejoice in the festival of blessed Martha thy holy Virgin ; so we may learn to follow her in all godly and devout affections, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saints Nazarius & Celsus, Martyrs. Victor I, Pope & Martyr & Innocent I, Pope & Confessor

Saints Nazarius & Celsus, Martyrs. Victor I, Pope & Martyr & Innocent I, Pope & Confessor

Nazarius and Celsus were early venerated at Milan as Martyrs, and there blessed Ambrose searched for their remains and believed that he had found them. Nazarius was baptized by Saint Pope Linus, and afterwards went to Gaul. Where he met with the boy Celsus, whom he instructed in the Faith, and baptized. Therefore these twain went to Treves, and in Nero’s persecution were both thrown into the sea, whence they had a marvellous escape, and fled to Milan, where they spread the Faith, for which they were apprehended and beheaded, and buried outside the Roman Gate. There their bodies lay unknown and unhonoured till blessed Ambrose found them, and laid them in an honorable sepulchre in Milan. * Pope Victor I was by birth an African, and governed the Church under the Emperor Severus. To his efforts it is chiefly due that the Western Church came to agreement in the celebration of the paschal feast by our present method of reckoning. But Saint Irenaeus interceded with him, that he would not provoke into schism certain of the Church whose custom in this matter was different. He is reputed also to have decreed that , if need be, Baptism can be administered with any water, so long as it be natural. He cast out of the Church Theodotus the Tanner, who came from Constantinople, and taught that Christ was nothing but a man. He wrote upon the subject of the Passover, and composed some other small works. According to the Pontifical Book, he held two December ordinations, wherein he made four priests, seven deacons, and twelve bishops for divers places, and sat in the Chair of Peter nine years, on month and twenty-eight days. He is believed to have received the crown of his testimony, and his burial on Vatican Hill, on July 28^th, about the year 197, and by tradition is revered as a Martyr. * Pope Innocent I flourished in the days of Saints Jerome and Augustine, when the times were troublous, and Alaric sacked the Eternal City; on behalf of which he had gone to get the help of the Emperor Honorius at Ravenna, whereby the man of God escaped the grief of seeing the destruction of the Roman people, even as righteous Lot, by God’s providence, escaped the burning of Sodom. This holy Pope was a vigorous administrator of the duties of his office, whereby he left his mark on Christianity for all time. He it was who condemned Pelagius and Caelestius, and made a decree against their heresy, ordering that little children even those whose mothers were Christians, must be born again in Baptism, that their original sin might be done away. Numerous other notable things were done by him. For he befriended and protected holy John Chrysostom. He wrote letters containing prudent decisions which are now observed as laws. To the Bishop of Tolouse he wrote that absolution and holy Communion is never to be denied to dying penitents. To the Bishop of Gubbio he wrote that bishops only (because they alone have the fulness of the priesthood) are administer Confirmation. According to the Pontifical Book, he sat in the throne of Peter fifteen years, one month, and ten days, and held four December ordinations, wherein he made thirty priests, fifteen deacons, and forty-four bishops for divers places. He went to God on March 12^th, 417, and was buried in the cemetery known as the Place of the Bear-and-the-Cap, but is honored on the reputed date of his translation.

Collect:

We pray thee, O Lord : that the glorious confession of thy blessed Saints, Nazarius, Celsus, Victor, and Innocent, may strengthen us against all temptations, and obtain for the frailty of our mortal nature the succour of thy bounteous goodness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 27th, Saint Pantaleon, Martyr.

July 27^th, Saint Pantaleon, Martyr.


Pantaleon (whose name by interpretation is The-All-Compassionate) died the death of a martyr, as Theodoret and others do testify, and the year thereof was probably 305. Little more than this is certainly known of him, but in after years his story came to be told on this wise. He was of a noble family of Nicomedia, a learned man and a Christian, who became the physician of the Emperor Galerius Maximian. At whose wicked court he was seduced into sin, and became an apostate. But when he had been brought back to Christ by a zealous Christian named Hermolaus, he gave all that he had to the poor, and out of his great compassion served them without pay. Whereat he was denounced as a Christian by some jealous fellow-physicians, and put to the torture under the Emperor Diocletian ; first on the rack, and then by searing of his body with red-hot metal, and in divers other ways. All which bitterness of suffering he bore with a quiet and brave heart, and at last received the stroke of the sword, and the crown of martyrdom. He is counted as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, being venerated as a patron of the sick and those who care for them. In the east he is entitled : Great Martyr and Healer : and is numbered along with Saints Cosmas and Damian, among those known as The-Holy-and-Moneyless-Physicians, which three saints all Catholics do honour, next after Luke the Beloved Physicians, and Patrons of medical men.

Collect:

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God : that by the prayers of thy holy Martyr blessed Pantaleon, we may be delivered from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 26th ,ST. ANNE, MOTHER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

July 26th ,ST. ANNE, MOTHER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

From a Sermon by St. John Damascene

The home of Anne is set before us, that herein we may see an ensample both of married and of maiden life, the one in the person of Anne the mother, the other in that of Mary her daughter. Whereof one hath but now ceased to be barren, and the other is in a little while destined, beyond the course of nature, to become the Mother of the Messiah by a singular birth, specially designed of God to build up anew our nature. We can imagine, then, how Anne, filled with the Holy Ghost, with joyful and jubilant spirit, might have sung aloud: Rejoice with me, for out of my barren womb I have borne the bud of promise, and, as I have longed to do, I nourish at my breasts the fruit of benediction ; I have laid aside the mournful garments of barrenness, and put on the joyful raiment of fruitfulness ; let Hannah, the adversary of Peninnah, make merry with me, and join with me for fellow-feeling, in the singing of this new and unhoped-for wonder that is wrought in me ; let Sarah be glad that was joyfully pregnant in her old age. She was but a shadow cast before of my conception, even before me that hitherto have been barren. Let all the barren and fruitless break forth into singing, when they behold in what wondrous wise I have been visited from heaven.

Let all other mothers also, when they like Anne are gifted with fruitfulness, say : Blessed be he that gave their desire unto them that besought him! that gave fruitfulness unto her that was barren! that granted unto her that from her should bud forth the joy-bringing Virgin! Who, according to the flesh, was Mother of God, and whose womb was a heaven wherein he dwelt whom no place can contain. Let us also with them offer our praises to her that was called barren, but now is become the mother of a maid-child ; let us say unto her in the words of the Scripture : O how blessed is the house of David from whence thou art sprung! and that womb wherein God hath fashioned the ark of his holiness! her, by whom he was himself conceived without man's seed!

Right blessed art thou, yea, thrice blessed, whom God hath so blest as to make thee to bring forth, as his own gift, the babe Mary! Whose very name is highly honourable, out of whom Christ, the Flower of life, blossomed! A maiden whose rising is glorious, and whose delivery is worth more than the world. We also, O Anne, woman right blessed, do with thee joy. In sooth thou hast brought forth what we all have hoped for, and God hath given us, namely, the babe of promise. Blessed indeed art thou, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb! The tongues of all the godly do magnify thine offspring, and every glad word is spoken concerning her of whom thou art delivered. It is indeed meet and right, and our bounden duty, to praise her who received a revelation from the goodness of God, and bore for us such and so great a fruit, from whom sweet Jesus sprang.

　

　

Collect

O God, who didst vouchsafe to give grace to blessed Saint Anne that she might be worthy to bear the Mother of thine only-begotten Son : mercifully grant that we who rejoice in the observance of her feast day, may by her intercession find favour in thy sight. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who livest and reignest with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

July 23rd, Saint Apollinaris, Bishop & Martyr

July 23^rd, Saint Apollinaris, Bishop & Martyr



Apollinaris was the first to be Bishop of Ravenna, and Saint Peter Chrysologus, the most illustrious of his successors, in a sermon which hath come down to us, referred to him as a Martyr, but added that although he frequently shed his blood for Christ, his persecutors did not take away his life. However, he was venerated in the early days as one f the greatest of Martyrs, and it is therefore to be presumed that he suffered much and often for Christ. * The Book of his Acts saith that he came to Rome along with blessed Peter, and that the Apostle himself consecrated him as bishop, and sent him to Ravenna to preach the Gospel, where he converted many to the Christian Faith. For which the idolatrous priests caught him and gave him a sharp flogging. Whereafter a second riot was got up against him because he healed Boniface, a nobleman who had long been dumb, and delivered his daughter from an unclean spirit. On this occasion Apollinaris was flogged again, and made to walk barefoot over hot embers, and them expelled from the city. Whereupon he hid for a while with certain Christians, and afterwards went to Emilia, where he brought many to Christ. For which the ruler of that city also had him driven from place to place and country to country, until he was thus driven back to Ravenna, where he was denounced by the same idolatrous priests as before. * After which things Apollinaris fled away again, but was followed after, and caught and beaten, and left for dead by the roadside, where some Christians found him, and took him and cared for him, so that he lived seven days, exhorting them to stand firm in the Faith. And so he departed this life with the glorious splendour of martyrdom, and his body was buried hard by the wall of the city.

Collect:

O God, who rewardest the souls of the faithful, who hast likewise made this day holy with the martyrdom of thy blessed Priest Apollinaris : grant, we pray thee, that we thy servants, who here observe his solemn festival, may by his intercession obtain the pardon of thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 22, Saint Mary Magdalene

From a Sermon by St. Gregory the Pope

When even Christ’s disciples went away to their own homes, Mary Magdalene still stood without at his sepulchre, weeping. She sought him whom her soul loved, but she found him not. She searched for him with tears, and yearned with strong desire for him who (as she believed) had been taken away. And this it befell her that being the only one who had remained to seek him, she was the only one that saw him. How true it is that the backbone of a good work is perseverance. At first when she sought him, she found him not. But she went on searching, and so it came to pass that she found him. And this was so, to the end that her longing might grow in earnestness, and so in its earnestness might find what it sought. Hence is it that the Bride in the Song of Songs saith as representing the Church : By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. We seek on our bed for him whom our soul loveth, when, having got some little rest in this world, we still sigh for the presence of our Redeemer. But it is by night that we so seek him, for though our mind may be on the alert for him, yet still he is hidden from our eyes by the darkness that now is.

But if we find not him whom our soul liveth, it remaineth that we should rise and go about the city ; that is, by thought and questioning, go through the holy Church of the elect. We should seek him in the streets, and in the broad ways; that is , walk, anxiously looking about us, both in the narrow and the broad places, if so be, that we may find his footsteps there ; for there be some even of those who live for the world, from whom the godly may learn a thing or two worth imitating. As we this go wakefully about, the watchmen, that keep the city, find us ; that is, the holy Fathers (who are in effect the Church) come to meet our good endeavours, and to teach us either by their words or by their writing. And it needeth but little to pass form them, but w3e find him whom our soul loveth ; that is, even by passing through a little of their teaching, we may find our Redeemer. For he in lowliness became as a man among men, yet by right of his divine nature he is still above them.

Collect:

O Almighty God, whose blessed Son didst call and sanctify Mary Magdalene to be a witness to his resurrection : mercifully grant that by thy grace we may be healed of all our infirmities, and always serve thee in the power of his endless life, through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, unto ages of ages. Amen.

July 21st, Saint Praxedes, Virgin.

Apse of the Church of St. Praxedes

July 21^st, Saint Praxedes, Virgin.





This Praxedes (as we know from ancient records ) was a maiden of Rome in the second century who was buried in the Cemetery of holy Priscilla, next to the maiden Pudentiana, who is therefore reputed to be her sister, and whose Legend is given on May 19^th. The story that hath been told for many centuries concerning Praxedes is that she constantly assisted with money, labour, comfort, and every helpful office of Christian charity, all those Christians whom the Emperor Marcus Antoninus was at that time hunting down like wild beasts. Some she his in her house, some she exhorted to firmness in professing the Faith, of some she buried the bodies. For those in prison, and those toiling in slavery, she supplied every need. At last the sight of such butchery of Christians was more that she could bear, and she implored God that she might die, if it were expedient for her so to do, and to be released form such suffering. And on July 21^st, she went to god. Whereupon Pastor the Priest, so it is said, laid her body in the double-grave of her father and sister, and Saints Pudens and Pudentiana, in the cemetery of Saint Priscilla.

Collect:

Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation : that, like as we do rejoice in the festival of thy blessed Virgin Saint Praxedes, so we may learn to follow her in all godly and devout affections, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 20th, Saint Margaret of Antioch, Virgin and Martyr



St.Margaret of Antioch

　

July 20^th, Saint Margaret of Antioch, Virgin and Martyr




This Margaret is one of the most widely venerated Saints of the Church East and West, who suffered death for Christ at Antioch. In the East she is called The Great-Martyr Marina, which name, like Margaret, signifieth a pearl ; and her feast is kept on July 12^th. From the East her fame spread to the West, and in the seventh century her name, changed to Margaret, appeared in an English Litany. During the middle ages she came to be much beloved throughout Europe, being invoked against demoniac possession, and by women in childbirth, and by those who were fearful. In 908 her relicks were stolen from Antioch, and brought to Europe, and finally enshrined in the Cathedral of Monte-fiascone. * According to the late compiled volume of her Acts, she was bon at Antioch in Pisidia, her father being the heathen priest Aedesius, which same put her out to nurse with a Christian woman. From her she learnt Christ, whereupon her father would have none of her. And so she was forced to make her living as a shepherdess, and was seen by the Prefect Olybrius, who for her rare beauty desired her to wife, if she were a free woman, but sin with, if she were a slave ; but she would have nothing to do with him. At his judgement-seat she was questioned by him thus : What is thy name and birth and religion? To whom she answered : Margaret is my name ; I am of noble birth ; and by religion I am a Christian. * Then said the Prefect : The first and second answers befit thee, but the third is a folly, for who can make a god out of one crucified? To whom the Virgin replied : Whence didst thou learn that the Lord Jesus was crucified? To which the Prefect answered : Out of the books of the Christians. And Margaret made answer : Is this thy wisdom? That when in the same books both the passion and glory of Christ are witnessed to thou dost believe one and reject the other? Whereupon she was tried with all kinds of tortures ; and in the darkness of her prison it seemed to her that the devil came as a great and swallowed her up, but could not stomach the cross which she carried, and therefore spewed her forth. And other spiritual trials and agonies came to her during her physical conflict; but in her patience she in such wise possessed her soul in Christ that many came to believe in him ; whereupon she went in triumph to him her Spouse by beheading, namely, in the reign and persecution of Diocletian, early in the fourth century.

Collect:

Grant, O Lord, that, like as blessed Margaret, thy Virgin and Martyr : by the merits of her chastity and godliness of conversation did ever walk acceptably in thy sight ; so she may at all times effectually intercede for our forgiveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 17th, St. Symphorosa and her seven sons, Martyrs.

July 17^th, St. Symphorosa and her seven sons, Martyrs.

Church of the Holy-Angel-in-Fish-Market

Symphorosa was martyred on July 18^th, about the year 135. And at that time seven young men, who died for Christ, were in such wise associated with her testimony that they have ever since been called her sons, albeit it is no longer known whether she mothered them in the flesh or only in the spirit like unto the similar case of the Seven Holy Brethren and blessed Felicity. Symphorosa is reputed to have been a woman of Tivoli, the wife of the Martyr Getulius. And such a mother in Israel was she that these seven young men (who, if they were not brethren because of common blood, were brethren by the blood which they shed in common for Christ), were constrained by her faith to persevere unto death. And it is no longer certainly known how they died. But it is said that a stone was tied to the neck of Symphorosa, and that she was then thrown into the river, and that afterwards her body was found by one of her family. Of he seven sons, however, it is related that they were tied each to a stake, and all pt to death in divers ways. Crescens, the eldest was stabbed in the throat ; Julian in the breast ; Nemesius in the heart ; and Prinitivus in the navel. Justin was hacked limb from limb. Stacteus was shot to death with darts. Eugene was cut into two parts across his breast, from the head downwards. Thus, so it is said, were these sacrifices of sweet savour offered to God. Their bodies were thrown into a deep pit, on the road between Rome and Tivoli, at the Ninth Milestone from Rome, but were afterwards brought to Rome and buried in the Church of the Holy-Angel-in-Fish-Market.

Collect:

O God, who vouchsafest unto us to keep the heavenly birthday of thy holy Martyrs Symphorosa and her sons, grant, we beseech thee, that we may rejoice in the perpetual felicity of their friendship, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 17th, Saint Alexius, Confessor

July 17^th, Saint Alexius, Confessor


Early in the fifth century there lived in Edessa, Syria, a beggar. Which same was of such sanctity that he was revered as a Saint, and was known by no other name than The-Man-of-God. Sometime after his death, probably between the years 450 and 475, and unknown writer wrote an account of him. Wherein we are told that he lived by begging at church doors, and that he shared the alms with other poor folk, and himself existed on what little was left when their needs were supplied. And when he died, he was buried in the potter’s field of Edessa. But before his death he confided to the man that was nursing him that he was a member of one of the noblest Roman families. A later rescension of this book saith (on what authority no one knoweth) that his name was Alexius. And that from his penitent love for Jesus Christ, he received a particular command from God not to touch the bride that he was about to take unto himself, but rather to undertake a pilgrimage to the most famous churches of the world. So that for many years he remained occupied in these journeys and utterly unknown. In the course of which he came back to Rome, and fared to the house of his won father. Who knew him not, but gave him shelter in a space under the stairs leading up to the house, where he lived unrecognized by any for many years. Who by such a hard and hidden penitent life sheweth unto worldlings that God hath servants who have loved Christ Jesus with a love passing that of women, for which same they count the world well lost.

Collect:

O God, who makest us glad with the yearly feast of blessed Alexius, thy Confessor, mercifully grant, that, as we now observe his heavenly birthday, so we may follow him in all virtuous and godly living, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 15th, Translation of Saint Swithun, Bishop and Confessor

Translation of Saint Swithun, Bishop and Confessor


Swithun entered the monastery of Winchester, and became a priest therein. King Egbert of the West Saxons heard of his fame and gave his son Ethelwulf into his care ; and when this prince years afterwards succeeded to the kingdom, he nominated Swithun Bishop of Winchester, with the consent of the Archbishop of Canterbury and his clergy. Thereafter, in his duty towards his See, Swithun left nothing undone which is the part of a faithful shepherd. * He shrank from all display and gaining of glory in the sight of men, and desired nothing more than that all the good which he did should be unknown save to God and to his own conscience. When he was dying, (to wit, on July 2^nd, 862,) he expressed the wish that his body should be laid in the earth outside the church, under the open sky, that the feet of them that came thither might pass over him, and that the rain and the dew might fall upon him ; and his lowly wish was carried out. * Wherefrom hath spring the belief that because of his love of both sunshine and rain, God doth ever grant his request for either, whichever he preferreth for his feast day, and for forty days continuously thereafter. But when the new Cathedral Church of Winchester was built, the relicks of blessed Swithun were translated thereto, to wit, in 1093.

Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast made this day honorable unto us by reason of the festival of blessed Swithun thy Confessor and Bishop : grant, we beseech thee, that thy Church may so rejoice in this solemnity, that e which on this day do honour him on earth may by his intercession obtain thy succour in heaven, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

July 15th, Saint Henry, Emperor and Confessor

Saint Henry, Emperor and Confessor.


Henry II, surnamed the Good, was born in 972, and became successively Duke of Bavaria, King of Germany, and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, of which he was one of the best and holiest of rulers.  Some say that he once wished to become a monk, and vowed obedience to the Abbot of Verdun ; whereupon the Abbot put him under obedience to retain his royal power, and use it always for the extension of God's kingdom.  As Emperor, he earnestly set himself to the furtherance of the cause of godliness.  He restored churches which had been ruined, built and endowed monasteries, founded new dioceses, and ordered various synods of bishops to assemble, and legislate for the better ordering of things ecclesiastical.  * He waged many wars, some against oppressors of the Church, some for the consolidation of the Empire, but all against injustice.  He made frequent visitations throughout his dominions to relieve the poor, prevent oppressions, and enquire into public abuses.  But he never forgot that governance of himself was his first obligation, and so he never undertook anything until he made it a subject of prayer.  Once in battle he is said to have seen, leading his army, the Angel of the Lord, and his own patrons Saints Lawrence, George, and Adrian, under whose protection he had placed his soldiers. * He gave his sister in marriage to King Stephen of Hungary, to whom his example and friendship was of much worth, for Stephen grew in holiness, and is revered as the Saint who brought the Hungarians to Christ.  Henry himself wedded the maiden Cunegunda, who is commemorated in the Martyrology on March 3rd, and revered as a virgin-Saint ; for it is believed that before their marriage they both vowed themselves to virginity.  The perfume of his holy life spread its sweetness far and wide, and the glory of his holiness outshone the splendour of his crown.  When the work of his life was done, he was called by the Lord to the possession of an eternal kingdom, namely, on July 13th, 1024, and his body was buried in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul at Bamberg.  In 1146 he was numbered among the Saints.

Collect:

O God, who as on this day didst cause thy blessed Confessor Saint Henry to9 pass from the crown of earthly empire to thy everlasting kingdom : we humbly beseech thee, that as by the abundance of thy grace preventing him, thou didst enable him to overcome the temptations of this life, so thou wouldest suffer us, following his pattern, to avoid the deceits of this world, and in perfect purity of heart to attain unto thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 11th, Saint Benedict, Abbot, Father of Western Monasticism.

I had posted the same commemoration on March 21, but I think that date is probably a modern Roman Catholic revision, though not Vatican II, and so to resynchronize with Orthodox Calendars, I present again...

July 11^th, Saint Benedict, Abbot, Father of Western Monasticism.

Benedict was born at Norcia in Umbria about the year 480. He is reputed to have been of noble birth and to have studied at Rome. Desiring to give himself wholly to Christ Jesus, he betook himself to a deep cave at a place called Subiaco, wherein he hid himself in prayer and contemplation for three years. But then his fame spread abroad, and some monks living nearby put themselves under him for guidance. Which same, it is said, turned against him because of his insistence upon complete dedication to God, and even plotted to poison him. But when Benedict made the Sign of the Cross over the cup, it brake. Whereupon the holy father left his unworthy monks and retired to a desert place alone.

Nevertheless, disciples came to him again, and finally he established for them the famous Abbey of Monte Cassino, and set holy laws to govern them. Up until his time the monasteries in the West, for want of proper direction, had not flourished. The regulations which this father wrote are known as the Holy Rule, and in time nearly all the monasteries of Europe adopted the same, so that Saint Benedict became the Lawgiver and Patriarch of monks in the West as Saint Basil was in the East. The monks of Saint Benedict of later times, schooled under the Holy Rule, taught the barbarians of Europe to think and work, and to worship Christ. For which reason ho9ly Benedict might well be called the father of western civilization.

The little which we know of Saint Benedict, apart from his Rule, is to be found in Book II of the Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great, wherein it is shewn that he was a man as loveable as he was great. He passed to God on the twenty-first of March, in the year 543. He was famous for prophecy and miracles , and two of his monks said that at his death they saw him going to God, clothed in glistering white raiment, and surrounded with light.

Collect:

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that the prayers of thy holy Abbot, blessed Benedict may commend us unto thee : that we, who have no power of ourselves to help ourselves, may by his advocacy find favour in thy sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 11th, St. Pius I, Pope and Martyr

St. Pius I, Pope and Martyr

Pius, the first of that name to be Pope, was successor to Saint Hyginus, and is said to have been a brother of that Hermas who wrote the treatise known as The Shepherd. According to the Pontifical Book, he was from Aquileia, but was a priest in Rome when he was elected Pope ; in which office he served God during the time of the Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, and held five ordinations in the month of December, wherein he ordained twelve bishops and eighteen priests. In his day the church was greatly troubled by the hereticks, Valentinus and Marcion. Pius vigorously opposed their heresy of Gnosticism, with the aid of Saint Justin Martyr who was in Rome at that time ; and he excommunicated Marcion, who had come thither also. The conflicts which he sustained won for him the title Martyr. But some say that he was beheaded for Christ, namely, on July 11^th 154, and buried on the Vatican Hill.



Collect: Be merciful to the people of thy flock, O Lord, eternal Shepherd and Bishop of the souls of men, and keep us in thy continual protection, at the intercession of thy Martyr, the holy Father Pius, whom thou didst raise up in thy Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 10th, Seven Holy Brethren, Martyrs, and Saints Rufina and Secunda, Virgins and Martyrs

July 10^th, Seven Holy Brethren, Martyrs, and Saints Rufina and Secunda, Virgins and Martyrs

During the course of the second century, as we know, the seven young men whose feast is kept today, suffered martyrdom at Rome for Christ’s sake. According to the book of their Acts (which was probably put in its present form in the sixth century) these seven men were brethren, sons of the holy woman Felicity, whom the Prefect Publius first essayed to cajole by kindness, and then to shake by fear, that he might seduce them to deny Christ and worship the gods. But, by their own bravery and the exhortation of their mother, they remained firm in their confession, and were all put to death in divers ways. Januarius was lashed to death with whips loaded with lead ; Felix and Philip were beaten with cudgels ; Silvanus was thrown over a precipice ; Alexander, Vitalis and Martial were beheaded. Their mother, however, did not gain her palm of martyrdom until four months afterwards, to with, on November 23rh, on which day her feast is kept. But the seven Brethren gave up their sols to god on the tenth day of July. * Rufina and her sister Secunda were maidens of Rome, who in 257 died for Christ, and were buried on the Aurelian Way, at a place afterwards known as Santa Rufina. According to the Acts of these Saints, (which Acts are also a compilation of a date much later than their martyrdom,) they were betrothed to two Christian young men who, to escape persecution, forsook Christ. However, the two maidens would not follow the example of their lovers, nor would they marry them. Rather, to escape from the apostate young men, they endeavored to leave Rome secretly. Whereupon thy were overtaken not far from the City, and there first tortured, and then beheaded, and so went to Christ as to the true Bridegroom of their souls. * Concerning the aforesaid seven brethren, and Felicity who is reputed to be their mother, Saint Gregory preached a beautiful sermon, as is noted on her feast-day, November 23^rd. And holy Augustine also celebrated their praises in the following words. Wonderful is the sight, my brethren, which is set before the eyes of our faith, a mother of more than human love, watching her sons leaving this life before her. All men would fain depart hence before their children, but she was ready to die last. Departing from her, they were not lost, but gone before. And she looked, not to the life they were ending, but to the life they were beginning. They laid aside a life which must needs end in death, and began that life wherein they are alive forever. The least of her work was that she was an on-looker ; more amazing is it, when we remember that she was their exhortress. Her courage was more fruitful than her womb, and when she saw them contending and conquering, he heart contended and conquered in each.

Collect:
Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that, like as we have known thy glorious Martyrs to be constant in their confession of thy Faith, so we may feel the succour of their loving intercession, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint Procopius, Martyr

Saint Procopius, Martyr

According to Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, who was a contemporary of Saint Procopius, and wrote an account of his death, this holy man, was the first Martyr of Palestine during the persecution of Diocletian. He lived on bread and water, and sometimes fasted for a week at a time ; meditation so filled his being that he remained absorbed in it day and night, without sense of fatigue ; and because therefrom he was filled with goodness and gentleness, he edified everyone by his discourses. He was born at Jerusalem, but lived at Bethsan, where he acted as lector. Then, sent with some others to Caesarea Maritima, he was at once arrested as a Christian, and brought before the judge. To whom he straightway preached the Kingdom of Christ in such wise that he was immediately condemned to beheading ; and so passed happily to eternal life by the shortest possible road on July 8^th, 303.



Collect:
Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who this day keep the heavenly birthday of blessed Procopius, thy holy Martyr, may by his prayers be stablished in the love of thy holy Name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Two Saints are commemorated this day, July 7th

St. Palladius, Bishop and Confessor

Palladius was a deacon in Rome, who stirred up saint Pope Celestine I to send Saint Germanus against the Pelagians of Britain. And later this same Pope consecrated Palladius as first Bishop of Ireland, and sent him to minister to the Christians there. But he met with such cruel opposition from the heathen that he was unable to do much in the way of organizing the mission ; and I less than a year was driven out of Ireland, and went over to the Picts in Scotland. Where he died in peace, near Aberdeen, about the year 432, and was locally venerated as a Martyr because of the great things that he had suffered for Christ.



Saint Willibald, Bishop and Confessor

This Willibald was blood-brother to Saints Wunnibald and Walburga, the holy children of the West Saxon thane Saint Richard. He went with his father and brother on a six year pilgrimage through the shrines of Europe and the Holy Land, and finally became a monk at Monte Cassino. Whence he was sent to Germany, to assist his kinsman Saint Boniface ; who consecrated him Bishop of Eichstadt, as a reward for his apostolic labours in that region. Where he founded a double monastery, namely, at Heidenheim ; over which he set his brother Saint Wunnibald to rule the monks, and his sister Saint Walburga to rule the nuns. He went to God in peace, about the year 786.







Collect:Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that the devout observance of this festival of blessed
N, they Confessor and Bishop, may be profitable unto us for our advancement in all godliness, and for the attainment of everlasting salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Antiochian WRV Parochial Divine Office yields timely message,

While praying the Office this morning, the appointed psalms seemed very apt in contrast to all the vengeful venting online and in public regarding the Casey Anthony verdict. Many people are quite exercised that she was not found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, or at least life without parole.

"...but grieve not thyself at him whose way doth prosper, against the man that doeth after evil counsels. Leave off from wrath, and let go displeasure: * fret not thyself, else shalt thou be moved to do evil. Wicked doers shall be rooted out; * and they that patiently abide the LORD, those shall inherit the land. Yet a little while, and the ungodly shall be clean gone: * thou shalt look after his place, and he shall be away." psalm 37

One point lost on many is that in our system of jurisprudence, if the state cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused did the deed, the jury is required to exonorate. This high standard is so important for the liberty of all the citizens of our Republic, and that is the way we want it, lest the government be empowered to do away with its opponents by juridical chicanery.

While she may indeed be guilty, she will face divine justice. That's an awful lot fierier than the human variety.

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - From a Sermon by St. John Chrysostom

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

From a Sermon by St John Chrysostom



As soon as our Redeemer was come among us, he went with haste, while as yet he was in his mother’s womb, to visit his friend John. And John, in the one womb, as if conscious of the presence of Jesus in the other womb, dashed himself impatiently against the narrow walls of his natural prison, as though crying out : I perceive the very Lord that gave nature her bounds! Why therefore should I wait for the due season of my birth? What need is there for me to linger here till none months are ended, now that the Timeless One is with me! I would break out of my dark cell? I would proclaim my manifold knowledge of marvellous things! I am meant to be a sign, and so even now I would shew that the Christ is here! I am the trumpet-voice, and I desire to peal forth the news that the Son of God is come in the flesh. Let me sound as a trumpet, and bless and loose my father’s tongue, and make it speak again! Let me sound as a trumpet and quicken my mother’s womb!

Thou seest, O brethren beloved, how new and how strange a mystery is here! John is not yet born, but by leaping he speaketh. He is as yet unseen, but he giveth warning. He is not yet able to cry, but by his acts he beareth witness. He draweth not yet the breath of life, but he preacheth God. He seeth not yet the light, but he maketh known the Sun. He is not yet come out of the womb, but he hateth to play the Forerunner. In the presence of the Lord he cannot restrain himself, but rebelled against the bounds set by nature, and struggleth to break out of the prisoning womb, eager to herald the coming Saviour. He saith, as it were : Behold, the Deliverer cometh, and why am I yet in bonds, and made to abide here? The Word cometh, that he may set right all things, and am I still to tarry in prison? I would go forth! I would run before him, and proclaim to all mankind : Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world!

But do thou tell us, O John, how it came to pass that while thou wast still in the darkness of thy mother’s womb, thou didst see and hear? How didst thou behold the things of God? How didst thou leap and bound for joy? If we could hear him answer, he would say : Great is the mystery of that which here taketh place. Beyond the understanding of men are these doings! It is meet that I should shew forth a new thing in nature for the sake of him who is making new things which are beyond nature. Even though I be yet in the womb, I perceive, for forth upon me from another womb the Sun of Righteousness shineth. As it were, with mine ears I understand, for I was created to be the Voice of the Great Word. I would cry aloud, for I contemplate the only-begotten Son of the Father clothed in flesh. I tremble for joy, for I perceive that he, by whom all things were made, hath taken upon him the form of a servant. I leap as I think of the Redeemer of the world being made flesh, for I would run before his coming. Nonetheless, I herald his approach unto you as best I can, and make on this wise my confession of him whose Forerunner I am.

Collect:

We beseech thee, O Lord, pour into our hearts the abundance of thy heavenly grace : that like as the child-bearing of the blessed Virgin Mary was unto us thy servants the beginning of salvation, so the devout observance of her Visitation may avail for the increasing of our peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.