Saint John I, Pope and Martyr

Saint John I, Pope and Martyr

Pope John I was a Tuscan, who began to rule the Church in 523 ; and almost immediately it became necessary to get the help of the Emperor Justinian, because of the troubles which the heretical King Theodoric was then causing in Italy. Whereupon Pope John went to Constantinople, where he was met by the Emperor and an immense multitude of people, who had come forth with Justinian to do him honour. There, at the entering in of the golden Gate of Constantinople, it is said that is the presence of them all John gave sight to a blind man. When he had arranged his business with Justinian he returned into Italy, bidding them hallow for Catholic worship the churches of the Arians, and adding these words : We ourselves when we were at Constantinople on some matters pertaining to the Catholic religion, and others pertaining to King Theodoric , hallowed as Catholic all their Churches which we were able to find in those parts. Theodoric took this rule very ill ; and having enticed John by fraud to come to Ravenna, he cast him into prison, wherein, in a few days, died of filth and hunger, for which reason he is venerated as a Martyr. He had sat in the Chair of Peter two years, nine months, and fourteen days, within which time he had ordained fifteen bishops. A little while afterward Theodoric also died. The body of John was carried from Ravenna to Rome, and there buried in the Church of Saint Peter.

　

 

Collect:

Be merciful to the people of thy flock, O Lord thou eternal Shepherd and Bishop of the souls of men : and keep us in thy continual protection ; at the intercession of thy blessed Martyr, the Holy Father John, whom thou didst raise up in thy Church to be thine under-shepherd, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint Bede the Venerable, Priest, Confessor and Doctor

Saint Bede the Venerable, Priest, Confessor and Doctor

　
Bede the Priest was born about the year 673, at Jarrow, on the borders of England and Scotland. At the age of seven, as he himself hath left on record, he was placed under the care of holy Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, to be educated. Thereafter he became a monk, and so ordered his life that, whilst he should devote himself wholly to the study of the sciences and of doctrine, he might in nothing relax the discipline of his Order. There was no branch of learning in which he was not thoroughly versed, but his chief care was the study of the Holy Scriptures ; and that he might the better understand them he acquired a knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew tongues. When he was nineteen, as he himself hath told us, he was ordered deacon ; and at thirty by command of his Abbot he was ordained priest ; and immediately on the advice of Acea, Bishop of Hexham, undertook the work of expounding the Sacred Books. In his interpretations he so strictly adhered to the teaching of the holy Fathers that he would advance nothing which was not approved by their judgement, and had the warrant of their very words. He ever hated sloth, and by habitually passing from reading to prayer, and in turn from prater to reading, he so inflamed his soul that often amid his reading and teaching he was bathed in tears. Lest his mind should be distracted by the cares of transitory things, he never would take the office of Abbot when it was offered him. * The name of Bede soon became so famous for learning and piety that Saint Sergius the Pope thought of calling him to Rome, where, certainly, he might have helped to solve the very difficult questions which had then arisen concerning sacred things. He wrote many books for the bettering of the lives of the faithful and for the defending and extending the Faith. By those he gained everywhere such a reputation that the holy Martyr Bishop Boniface styled him the Light of the Church ; Lanfranc called him The Teacher of the English ; and the Council of Aix la Chapelle termed him The Admirable Doctor. But as his writings were publicly read in the churches during his life, and as it was not allowable to give him officially the title of Saint, they spoke of him as The Venerable, a title which in all times after hath remained peculiarly his. The power of his teaching was the greater also, in that it was attested by a holy life and the graces of religious observance. In this way, by his earnestness and example, his disciples, who were many and distinguished, were made eminent, not only in letters and in sciences, but in personal holiness. * Broken at length by age and labour, he was seized, in the year 735, by a grievous illness. Though he suffered under it for more than seven weeks. He ceased not from his prayers and his interpreting of the Scriptures ; for at that time he was turning the Gospel of blessed John into English for the use of his people. But when, on the Eve of the Ascension, he perceived that death was coming upon him, he sought to be fortified with the last Sacraments of the Church. Then his young amanuensis said to him : There remaineth yet, dear master, one sentence not written down. And when the holy man had painfully supplied the translation, and heard the scribe say that it was finished, he exclaimed : Well said, It is finished. Whereupon, after he had embraced his companions, and was laid on a piece of sackcloth on the ground, he repeated the words : Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost : and fell asleep in the Lord. His body, incorrupt, (or, as it is related, breathing sweet odour,) was buried in the monastery of Jarrow, and afterwards was translated to Durham with the relics of Saint Cuthbert.
　

Collect:

O God, who hast enlightened thy Church with the wondrous learning of blessed Bede thy Confessor and Doctor : mercifully grant to us thy servants ; that we, being in all things enlightened by his wisdom, may at all times feel the effectual succour of his righteousness, through Jesus Christ our Lord

Saint Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop and Confessor

Saint Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop and Confessor

　
From the Ecclesiastical History by St. Bede the Venerable

Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Apostle of the English, was sent into England by blessed Gregory, and came thither in the year 597. At that time King Ethelbert held the chief power in Kent, and his sway reached even to the Humber. When this King had heard for what reason the holy man was come, he received him kindly, and bade him and his companions, who were all monks, to come to his own capital city of Canterbury ; being struck with astonishment the perfect blamelessness of their lives, and the power of the heavenly doctrine which they preached, and which God confirmed with signs following.
They drew nigh to the city in solemn procession, singing the Litany, and bearing before them for their standard a silver cross and a picture of the Lord our Saviour painted on a panel. Hard by the city, upon the east side, there was a church builded of old time in honour of Saint Martin, and wherein the Queen, who was a Christian, was used to pray. There they first began to meet together, to sing, to pray, to celebrate Masses, to preach and to baptize, until the King was turned to the Faith, and the most part of his people was led by his example, but not his authority, to take the name of Christian ; for he had learned from his teachers and his own soul’s physicians, that men are to be drawn, and not driven to heaven. And now, Augustine, being ordained Archbishop of the English and of Britain, lest he should leave unraveled any part of the Lord’s vineyard, asked from the Apostolic See a new band of labourers, among whom were Mellitus, Justus, Paulinus, and Rufinian.
By them Gregory sent hallowed vessels, altar-cloths, church vestments, and also relicks of the holy Apostles and Martyrs. He instructed them to turn the temples of the idols into places of Christian worship, by sprinkling them with hallowed water, building altars in them, and putting relicks therein. The Britons who, nearly an hundred and fifty years before, had been thrust into the uttermost part of the island, had some bishops, whom Augustine vehemently urged to lay aside their error concerning the keeping of Easter, and to labour along with him for the conversion of the English, but they left it all to him. He toiled much for the saving of souls. He was illustrious for his life. He made Mellitus Bishop of London and Justus Bishop of Rochester, and named Lawrence to succeed himself at Canterbury, and then finished his work in peace, and passed away to that life which is perfect blessedness, upon May 26^th, in the year of our Lord 604, in the reign of Ethelbert.

Collect:

O God, who by the preaching and miracles of blessed Augustine thy Confessor and Bishop, hast caused the light of the true Faith to shine forth among the peoples of England: grant that by his intercession the hearts of them that are gone astray may return to the unity of thy truth ; and that we may dwell together in peace according to thy will, through Jesus

Saint Aldhelm, Bishop & Confessor

Saint Aldhelm, Bishop & Confessor

Saint Aldhelm

　
Aldhelm, who was a Saxon of royal blood, took the habit of a monk in the Monastery at Malmesbury. But he resorted again and again to Canterbury to sit at the feet of the Abbot Hadrian, and so advanced under his instruction, that not only himself became famous as a teacher, but was also the first Englishman who ventured on a publishing books. According to the testimony of Bede, he was a man of wide and varied learning, a brilliant speaker, and wonderfully well read both in ecclesiastical and worldly writers. * He read often, and prayed constantly, so that , to use his own expression, whilst he read, he seemed to hear God speaking to him, and whilst he prayed, himself did speak to God there present. He was indifferent to hunger, and careless about money. Further, he as far as possible remained inside his monastery, where he proclaimed an unceasing war against idleness and desire. However, when a Church Synod had discussed the corrupt doctrines of the British Christians, and had come to the unanimous conclusion that it was better to lead schismatics by reason than to drive them by force, Aldhelm took upon himself the task of confuting their errors. This he did by writing a book, which was the means of leading back many of the wanderers into the bosom of the Universal Church. * After the death of Saint Hedda, Bishop among the West-Saxons, Aldhelm was induced, against his own wishes, to accept the See of Sherborne. When he entered on this duty, he already felt that the end of his life was near, and, to make the best of what time remained, he preached day and night, visited about his diocese, and practiced fasting, and the like, as much as in the prime of his life. He died four years after his consecration as bishop, in the year of our Lord’s Incarnation 709, and was buried in the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel at Malmesbury.
　

Collect:

O god, who as on this day didst exalt thy blessed Bishop Saint Aldhelm to everlasting felicity : we pray thee, that by his merits and intercession, thy mercy may bring us unto that place whither he is gone before, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
　

Saint Vincent of Lerins, Confessor, (May 24)

Saint Vincent of Lerins, Confessor

　
This Vincent, whom the ancients describe as a man pre-eminent in eloquence and learning, was a priest in the island-monastery once called Lerins, but now known as Saint Honorat, after its holy founder. About the year 434 he wrote a celebrated treatise as a warning against heresies, and an examination in the means of establishing Christian truth. Therein he laid down a rule of faith which is sometimes called the Vincentian Canon, to wit : the Catholic Faith is that which hath been held always, everywhere, and by all : which is to say, that doubtful points are to be settled by the test of antiquity, universality, and consent. In this little book he describes himself as a stranger and pilgrim who fled from the military service of this world, with its passing pleasures and empty vanities, that he might enter the service of Christ. He is believed to have been a brother of that Saint Lupus who was also a monk at Lerins, and afterwards became Bishop of Troyes ; and about the year 445, he went to God in peace.

Collect:

O God, who didst raise up thy blessed confessor Vincent to proclaim the rule of faith : grant that all thy people may stedfastly witness to the fulness of the truth ; that the same may be received everywhere, always, and by all, even as thou hast taught us through thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
　

Saint Urban I, Pope and Martyr

Saint Urban I, Pope and Martyr

Mosaic of St. Peter

Urban I was Pope from 222 to 230, during which time the Church had surcease from the bitter persecutions of the times immediately before and afterwards. Concerning him very little is known, except that from his death he was revered as a Saint, and afterwards given the title of Martyr. Tradition saith that he was a Roman, who in the reign of the Emperor Alexander Severus, by his teaching and holy life, brought many to believe in Christ. To him is ascribed the authorship of this ancient rule : Those things which the Lord’s faithful ones make as an offering unto him, must never be turned to any other use than that of the Church, or of our Christian brethren, or of the poor ; for such things are the free-will offerings of faithful believers, the trespass-offerings of sinners, and the inheritance of the poor. He is said to have held five ordinations in December, wherein he ordained nine Priests, five Deacons, and eight Bishops for divers places, and to have been buried on May 25^th in one of the catacombs of Rome, probably in that of Saint Callistus where his burial inscription hath been found.
　

Collect:

O God, who didst lay the foundations of thy Church upon the solid rock of the apostolic confession, whereby it was made secure against the fearsome gates of hell : grant unto us , we beseech thee, at the intercession of thy blessed Martyr, the Holy Father Urban, so to stand fast in thy truth, that in this thine house of defence, which thou hast set very high, we may ever abide in continual safety, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint Venantius, Martyr

Saint Venantius, Martyr

　
The Book of the Acts of St. Venantius relateth that at the age of seventeen he came before the judge to pmartyred with him are believed to be buried under Church of Saint Venantius at Camerino, Italy.rofess himself a Christian. Whereupon he was scourged, seared with torches, and his teeth knocked out and his jaws broken, and then he was cast to the lions. But when they refused to touch his mangled body, he was thrown off a cliff, and finally beheaded. And because of his constancy under sufferings for his Master Christ, many were converted. And thus he hath come to be invoked by boys and young men in temptation. He and others martyred with him are believed to be buried under Church of Saint Venantius at Camerino, Italy.
 

Hymn.

 O Noble champion of the Lord,
No fear of death could hinder thee!
Thy youthful zeal doth thee afford,
Full armour ‘gainst idolatry!

They stripped thy naked body bear,
And bound with thongs thy hands and feet,
So thorns and rocks thy flesh could tear
When thou wast flung a-down the steep.

When, spent with toil, the savage crew,
Grew faint and weak from burning thirst,
Then thou didst sign the Cross, and lo!
From out the rock the waters burst.

O Christ’s brave warrior-youth who thus,
Thy persecutors could forgive,
Obtain the dew of grace for us,
That our faint spirits too may live.

We praise thee, three-fold Unity,
The Three in One and One in Three,
And beg, by grace of charity,
To share this Martyr’s sanctity. Amen. 

Collect:

O God, who hast consecrated this day with the triumph of thy blessed Martyr Venantius : mercifully hear the prayers of thy people ; and grant that we who venerate his righteousness, may imitate the constancy of his faith in thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.