^ THE ^^ O LIBRARIES q GENERAL LIBRARY LIVES OF THE SAINTS H^ith Flsfiections for Every Day in the Tear COMPILED FROM THE ** LIVES OF THE SAINTS »» BY Rev. ALBAN BUTLER I BL>.ZIC ER I. !<7>r.» V? ^ New Yobk, Cincinnati, Chicago^ BENZIGER BROTHERS PRINTERS V* TWK holy APOSTOLIC SEE 3m|niitmlitr. ^ Michael Augustine, Archbishop ofNcv> 7«v«r Jttipr roBK. January 21. 1887 ....... .. . •*....• . .••••« . ...... • •.••.... ... .. • . *.* *.. •. .. ..... • . ... ... • .. ..... . ...» .. ,*. <• • • •* «. ...... Otpyright, 1878. 1887. 1894, by Bbnziqbs Bbotbam Printed in the United Sutes of America. INDEX All-Saints, 348 All-Souls, 348 The Annunciation, 123 The Assumption, 281 Sts Abraham and Mary, 109 Sts. Adrian and Eubulus, 97 St. Aelved, 33 St. Agapetus, 284 St. Agatha, 63 St. Agnes, 43 St. Albinus, 92 St. Alexius, 252 St. Aloysius Gonzaga, 224 St. Alphonsus Liguori, 268 St. Ambrose, 374 St. Andrew, Apostle, 369 St. Andrew Avellino, 354 St. Anicetus, 149 St. Anne, 262 St. Anselm, 152 St. Antoninus, 175 St. Antony, 39 et. Antony of Padua, 216 St. Apollinaris, Apclcgiss 23 St. Apollinaris, Martyr. 259 St. Apollonia and the Maityib of AlexandJi&i, . 62 : .' : St. Appollonius 150 St. Athanasius, 165 ' - St. Attalus, 202 St. Augustine, 193 St. Augustine of Kippo, 336 St. Avitus, 220 St. Bademus, 142 St. Barachisius. 129 St. Barbara, 372 St. Barbatus, 79 St. Barnabus, 214 St. Bartholomew, 292 St. Basil the Great, 217 St. Basilissa, 30 St. Bathildes, 53 Ven. Bede, 195 St. Benedict, 119 St. Benedict of Anian, 71 St. Benezet, 146 St. Benjamin, 130 St. Bernard, 287 St. Bernardine of Siena, 186 St. Bertha, 237 St. Bertille, 351 St. Bibiana, 370 St. Blandina, 202 St. Blase, 61 Blessed Virgin Mary, The An- nunciation of, 123 I Blessed Virgin Mary, The Aa- ' sumption of, 281 Blessed Virgin Mary, The Im- maculate Conception of. 374 Blessed Virgin Mary, The Na- .- , iivity of, 308 Bie9*e^HE word Epiphany means " manifestation," and it has %mJ passed into general acceptance throughout the univer- gal Church, from the fact that Jesus Christ manifested to the eyes of men His divine mission on this day first of all, when a miraculous star revealed His birth to the kings of the East, who, in spite of the difficulties and dangers of a long and tedious journey through deserts and mountains almost impassable, hastened at once to Bethle- hem to adore Him and to offer Him mystical presents, as to the King of kings, to the God of heaven and earth, and to a Man withal feeble and mortal. The second manifes- tation was when, going out from the waters of the Jordan after having received Baptism from the hands of St. John, the Holy Ghost descended on Him in the visible form of a dove, and a voice from heaven was heard, saying, " This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." The third manifestation was that of His divine power, when at the marriage-feast of Cana He changed the water int© wine, at the sight whereof His disciples believed in Him. The remembrance of these three great events, concurring to the same end, the Church has wished to celebrate in one and the same festival. Reflection. — Admire the almighty power of this little Child, Who from His cradle makes known His coming to the shepherds and magi — to the shepherds by means of His angel, to the magi by a star in the East. Admire the docility of these kings. Jesus is born ; behold them at His feet ! Let us be little, let us hide ourselves, and the divine strength will be granted to us. Let us be docile and quick in following divine inspirations, and we shall then become wise of the wisdom of God, powerful in His almighty power. January 8] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 29 January 7.— ST. LUCIAN, Martyr. ^T. LuciAN was born at Samosata in Syria. Having lost his parents in his youth, he distributed all his "worldly goods, ot which he inherited an abundant share, to the poor, and withdrew to Edessa, to live near a holy man named Macarius, who imbued his mind with a knowl- edge of the Holy Scriptures, and led him to the practice of the Christian virtues. Having become a priest, his time was divided between the external duties of his holy state, the performance of works of charity, and the study of sacred literature. He revised the books of the Old and New Testaments, expunging the errors which had found their way into the text either through the negligence of copyists or the malice of heretics, thus preparing the way for St. Jerome, who shortly after was to give to the world the Latin translation known as " The Vulgate." Having been denounced as a Christian, Lucian was thrown into prison and condemned to the torture, which was protracted for twelve whole days. Some Christian visited him in prison, on the feast of the Epiphany, and brought bread and wine to him; while bound and chained down on his back, he consecrated the divine mysteries upon his own breast, and communicated the faithful who were present. He finished his glorious career in prison, and died with the words, " I am a Christian," on his lips. Reflection. — If we would keep our faith pure, we must study its holy truths. We cannot detect falsehood till we know and love the truth; and to ns the truth is not an abstraction, but a Person, Jesus Christ, God and Man. January 8.— ST. APOLLINARIS, THE APOLO- GIST, Bishop. CLAUDIUS Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, was one of the most illustrious prelates of .the second age. Notwithstanding the great encomiums ))estowed on him by Eusebius, St. Jerome, Theodoret, and others, but little is known of his actions; and his writ- so LIYE8 OF TEE SAINTS [Janttaet « ings, which then were held in great esteem, seem now to be all lost. He wrote many able treatises against the heretics, and pointed out, as St. Jerome testifies, from what philosophical sect each heresy derived its errors. Nothing rendered his name so illustrious, however, as his noble apology for the Christian religion which he ad- dressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, about the year 175, soon after the miraculous victory that prince had ob- tained over the Quadi by the prayers of the Christians. St. Apollinaris reminded the emperor of the benefit he had re- ceived from God through the prayers of his Christian sub- jects, and implored protection for them against the perse- cution of the pagans. Marcus Aurelius published an edict in which he forbade any one, under pain of death, to accuse a Christian on account of his religion ; by a strange incon- sistency, he had not the courage to abolish the laws then in force against the Christians, and, as a consequence, many of them suffered martyrdom, though their accusers were also put to death. The date of St. Apollinaris' death is not known; the Eoman Martyrology mentions him on the 8th of January. Reflection.— " Therefore I say unto you, all things whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall receive : and they shall come unto you." January 9.— SS. JULIAN and BASILISSA, Martyrs. T. Julian and St. Basilissa, though married, lived, . _ ' by mutual consent, in perpetual chastity ; they sanc- tified themselves by the most perfect exercises of^ an as- cetic life, and employed their revenues in relieving the poor and the sick. For this purpose they converted their house into a kind of hospital, in which they sometimes entertained a thousand poor people. Basilissa attended those of her sex, in separate lodgings from the men ; these were taken care of by Julian, who from his charity is named the Hospitalarian. Egypt, where they lived, had then begun to abound with examples of persons who, either in the cities or in the deserts, devoted themselves to the most perfect exercises of charity, penance, and mortifica- Januaby 10] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 31 tion. Basilissa, after having stood seven persecutions, died in peace; Julian survived her many years and re- ceived the crown of a glorious martyrdom, together with Celsus, a youth, Antony, a priest, Anastasius, and Mar- cianilla, the mother of Celsus. Many churches and hos- pitals in the East, and especially in the West, bear the name of one or other of these martyrs. Four churches at Eome, and three out of five at Paris, which bear the name of St. Julian, were originally dedicated under the name of St. Julian, the Hospitalarian and martyr. In the time of St. Gregory the Great, the skull of St. Julian was brought out of the East into France, and given to Queen Brunehault ; she gave it to the nunnery which she founded at Etampes; part of it is at present in the monastery of Morigny, near fitampes, and part in the church of the reg- ular canonesses of St. Basilissa at Paris. Reflection. — God often rewards men for works that are pleasing in His sight by giving them grace and opportunity to do other works higher still. St. Augustine said, "I have never seen a compassionate and charitable man die a bad death." January lo. — ST. WILLIAM, Archbishop. JLLIAM Berruyer, of the illustrious family of the an- _ cient Counts of Nevers, was educated by Peter the Hermit, Archdeacon of Soissons, his uncle by the mother's Bide. From his infancy William learned to despise the folly and emptiness of the world, to abhor its pleasures, and to tremble at its dangers. His only delight was in exercises of piety and in his studies, in which he employed his whole time with indefatigable application. He was made canon, first of Soissons and afterwards of Paris ; but he soon resolved to abandon the world, and retired into the solitude of Grandmont, where he lived with great regular- ity in that austere Order until finally he joined the Cistercians, then in wonderful odor of sanctity. After some time he was chosen Prior of the Abbey of Pontignj^ and afterwards became Abbot of Chaalis. On the death of Henri de Sully, Archbishop of Bourges, William was 32 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Januaey n chosen to succeed him. The announcement of this new dignity whiek had fallen on him overwhelmed him with grief, and he would not have accepted the office had not the Pope and his General, the Abbot of Citeaux, com- manded him to do so. His first care in his new position was to conform his life to the most perfect rules of sanctity. He redoubled all his austerities, saying it was incumbent on him now to do penance for others as well as for himself. He always wore a hair-shirt under his religious habit, and never added to his clothing in winter or diminished it in summer; he never ate any flesh-meat, though he had it at his table for strangers. When he drew near his end, he was, at his request, laid on ashes in his hair-cloth, and in this posture expired on the 10th of January, 1209. His body was interred in his cathedral, and, being honored by many miracles, was taken up in 1217, and in the year fol- lowing William was canonized by Pope Honorius III. Reflection. — The champions of faith prove the truth of their teaching no less by the holiness of their lives than by the force of their arguments. Never forget that to convert others we must first see to our own souls. January ii.— ST. THEODOSIUS, THE CENOBI- ARCH. ^^^xHEODOSius was born in Cappadocia in 423. The ex- Wx ample of Abraham urged him to leave his country, and his desire to follow Jesus Christ attracted him to the religious life. He placed himself under Longinus, a very holy hermit, who sent him to govern a monastery near Bethlehem. Unable to bring himself to command others, he fled to a cavern, where he lived in penance and prayer. His great charity, however, forbade him to refuse the charge of some disciples, who, few at first, became in time a vast number, and Theodosius built a large monastery and three churches for them. He became eventually Su<. perior of the religious communities of Palestine. Theo^ dosius accommodated himself so carefully to the characters of his subjects that his reproofs were loved rather than dreaded. But once he was obliged to separate from the Januaey 12] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 33 communion of the others a religious guilty of a grave fault. Instead of humbly accepting his sentence, the monk was arrogant enough to pretend to excommunicate Theodosius in revenge. Theodosius thought not of indignation, nor of his own position, but meekly submitted to this false and unjust excommunication. This so touched the heart of his disciple that he submitted at once and acknowledged his fault. Theodosius never refused assistance to any in pov- erty or affliction; on some days the monks laid more than a hundred tables for those in want. In times of famine Theodosius forbade the alms to be diminished, and often miraculously multiplied the provisions. He also built five hospitals, in which he lovingly served the sick, while by assiduous spiritual reading he maintained himself in per-' feet recollection. He successfully opposed the Eutychian heresy in Jerusalem, and for this was banished by the em- peror. He suffered a long and painful malady, and refused to pray to be cured, calling it a salutary penance for his former successes. He died at the age of a hundred and six. Reflection. — St. Theodosius, for the sake of charity, sacrificed all he most prized — his home for the love of God, and his solitude for the love of his neighbor. Can ours be true charity if it costs us little or nothing ? January 12.— ST. AELRED, Abbot. ♦♦/^NE thing thou lackest." In these words God called V^ Aelred from the court of a royal Saint, David of Scotland, to the silence of the cloister. He left the king, the companions of his youth, and a friend most dear, to obey the call. The conviction that in the world his soul was in danger alone enabled him to break such ties. Long afterwards the bitterness of the parting remained fresh in his soul, and he declared that, "though he had left his dear ones in the body to serve his Lord, his heart was ever with them." He entered the Cistercian Order, and even there his yearning for sympathy showed itself in a special attraction to one among the brethren named Simon. This holy monk had left the world in his youth, and ap- 34 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Januaey 13 peared as one deaf and dumb, so absorbed was he in God. One day Aelred, forgetting for the moment the rule of perpetual silence, spoke to him. At once he prostrated himself at his feet in token of his fault; but Simon's look of pain and displeasure haunted him for many a year, and taught him to let no human feeling disturb for one moment his union with God. A certain novice once came to Ael- red, saying that he must return to the world. But Aelred had begged his soul of God, and answered, " Brother, ruin not thyself ; nevertheless thou canst not, even though thou wouldst." However, he would not lis- ten, and wandered among the hills, thinking all the while he was going far from the abbey. At sunset he found himself before a convent strangely like Eieveaux, and so it was. The first monk he met was Aelred, who fell on his neck, saying, " Son, why hast thou done so with me ? Lo ! I have wept for thee with many tears, and I trust in God that, as I have asked of Him, thou shalt not perish." The world does not so love its friends. At the command of his superiors Aelred composed his great works, the Spiritual Friendship and the Mirror of Charity. In the latter he says that true love of God is only to be obtained by joining ourselves in all things to the Passion of Christ. He died in 1167, founder and Abbot of Eieveaux, the most austere monastery in England, and Superior of some three hun- dred monks. Reflection. — When a man has given himself to God, God gives back friendship with all His other gifts a hun- dredfold. Friends are then loved no longer for themselves only, but for God, and that with a love lively and tender; for God can easily purify feeling. It is not feeling, but self-love, which corrupts friendship. January 13.— ST. VERONICA OF MILAN. Veronica's parents were peasants of a village near Milan. From her childhood she toiled hard in the house and the field, and accomplished cheerfully every menial task. Gradually the desire for perfection grew within her ; she became deaf to the jokes and songs of her January 13] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 35 companions, and sometimes, when reaping and hoeing, would hide her face and weep. Knowing no letters, she began to be anxious about her learning, and rose secretly at night to teach herself to read. Our Lady told her that other things were necessary, but not this. She showed Veronica three mystical letters which would teach her more than books. The first signified purity of intention; the second, abhorrence of murmuring or criticism; the third, daily meditation on the Passion. By the first she learned to begin her daily duties for no human motive, but for God alone; by the second, to carry out what she had thus begun by attending to her own affairs, never judging her neighbor, but praying for those who manifestly erred; by the third she was enabled to forget her own pains and sor- rows in those of her Lord, and to weep hourly, but silently, over the memory of His wrongs. She had constant ec- stasies, and saw in successive visions the whole life of Jesus, and many other mysteries. Yet, by a special grace, neither her raptures nor her tears ever interrupted her labors, which ended only with death. After three years' patient waiting she was received as a lay-sister in the con- vent of St. Martha at Milan. The community was ex- tremely poor, and Veronica's duty was to beg through the city for their daily food. Three years after receiving the habit she was afflicted with secret but constant bodily pains, yet never would consent to be relieved of any of her labors, or to omit one of her prayers. By exact obedience she became a living copy of the rule, and obeyed with a smile the least hint of her Superior. She sought to the last the most hard and humbling occupations, and in their per- formance enjoyed some of the highest favors ever granted to a Saint. She died in 1497, on the day she had foretold, after a six months' illness, aged fifty-two years, and in the thirtieth of her religious profession. Reflection. — When Veronica was urged in sickness to accept some exemption from her labors, her one answer was, " I must work while I can, while I have time/' Dare ^e, then, waste ours? 3'6 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Januaey 14 January 14.— ST. HILARY OF POITIERS. [t. Hilary was a native of Poitiers in Aquitaine. Born and educated a pagan, it was not till near middle age that he embraced Christianity, moved thereto mainly by the idea of God presented to him in the Holy Scriptures. He soon converted his wife and daughter, and separated himself rigidly from all un-Catholic com- pany. In the beginning of his conversion St. Hilary would not eat with Jews or heretics, nor salute them by the way ; but afterwards, for their sake, he relaxed this severity. He entered Holy Orders, and in 353 was chosen bishop of his native city. Arianism, under the protection of the Emperor Constantius, was just then in the height of its power, and St. Hilary found himself called upon to support the orthodox cause in several Gallic councils, in which Arian bishops formed an overwhelming majority. He was m consequence accused to the emperor, who banished him to Phrygia. He spent his three years and more of exile in composing his great works on the Trinity. In 359 he at- tended the Council of Seleucia, in which Arians, semi- Arians, and Catholics contended for the mastery. With the deputies of the council he proceeded to Constantinople, and there so dismayed the heads of the Arian party that they prevailed upon the emperor to let him return to Gaul. He traversed Gaul, Italy, and Illyria, wherever he came discomfiting the heretics and procuring triumph of ortho- doxy. After seven or eight years of missionary travel he returned to Poitiers, where he died in peace in 368. Reflection. — Like St. Hilary, we, too, are called to a lifelong contest with heretics; we shall succeed in propor- tion as we combine hatred of heresy with compassion far its victinis. ZAiiVA^r 15] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 87 January 15.--ST. PAUL, the First Hermit. [t. Paul was born in Upper Egypt, about the year 230, and became an orphan at the age of fifteen. He was very rich and highly educated. Fearing lest the tortures of a terrible persecution might endanger his Christian perseverance, he retired into a remote village. But his pagan brother-in-law denounced him, and St. Paul, rather than remain where his faith was in danger, entered the barren desert, trusting that God would supply his wants. And his confidence was rewarded ; for on the spot to which Providence led him he found the fruit of the palm-tree for food, and its leaves for clothing, and the water of a spring for drink. His first design was to return to the world when the persecution was over; but, tasting great delights in prayer and penance, he remained the rest of his life, ninety years, in penance, prayer, and contempla- tion. God revealed his existence to St. Antony, who sought him for three days. Seeing a thirsty she-wolf run through an opening in the rocks, Antony followed her t» look for water, and found Paul. They knew each other at once, and praised God together. When St. Antony visited him, a raven brought him a loaf, and St. Paul said, " See how good God is ! For sixty years this bird, has brought me half a loaf every day; now thou art come, Christ has doubled the provision for His servants." Having passed the night in prayer, at dawn of day Paul told Antony that he was about to die, and asked to be buried in the cloak given to Antony by St. Athanasius. Antony hastened to fetch it, and on his way back saw Paul rise to heaven in glory. He found his dead body kneeling as if in prayer, and two lions came and dug his grave. Paul died in his one hundred and thirteenth year. Reflection. — We shall never repent of having trusted in God, for He cannot fail those who lean on Him ; nor shall we ever trust in ourselves without being deceived. S8 LIVE8 OF TEE SAINTS [Januabt 16 January 16.— ST. HONORATUS, Archbishop. [t. Honoratus was of a consular Eoman family settled in Gaul. In his youth he renounced the worship of idols, and gained his elder brother, Venantius, to Christ. Convinced of the hollowness of the things of this world, they wished to renounce it with all its pleasures, but a fond pagan father put continual obstacles in their way. At length, taking with them St. Caprais, a holy hermit, for their director, they sailed from Marseilles to Greece, with the intention to live there unknown in some desert. Venantius soon died happily at Methone, and Honoratus, being also sick, was obliged to return with his conductor. He first led a hermitical life in the mountains near Frejus. Two small islands lie in the sea near that coast; on the smaller, now known as St. Honore, our Saint settled, and, being followed by others, he there founded the famous monastery of Lerins, about the year 400. Some of his followers he appointed to live in community; others, who seemed more perfect, in separate cells as anchorets. His rule was chiefly borrowed from that of St. Pachomius. Nothing can be more amiable than the description St. Hilary has given of the excellent virtues of this company of saints, especially of the charity, concord, humility, com- punction, and devotion which reigned among them under the conduct of our holy abbot. He was, by eompulsioij!, consecrated Archbishop of Aries in 426, and died, ex- hausted with austerities and apostolical labors, in 429. Refiection. — The soul cannot truly serve God while it is involved in the distractions and pleasures of the world. St. Honoratus knew tbis, and chose to be a servant of Christ his Lord. Eesolve, in whatever state you are, to live absolutely detacbed from the world, and to separate yourself as much as possible from it. JANUAEY 17] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 39 January 17.— ST. ANTONY, Patriarch of Monks. JT. Antony was born in the year 251, in Upper Egypt. Hearing at Mass the words, " If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor," he gave away all his vast possessions. He then begged an aged hermit to teach him the spiritual life. He also visited various solitaries, copying in himself the principal virtue of each. To serve God more perfectly, Antony entered the desert and immured himself in a ruin, building up the door so that none could enter. Here the devils assaulted him most furiously, appearing as various monsters, and even wounding him severely; but his courage never failed, and he overcame them all by confidence in God and by the sign of the cross. One night, whilst Antony was in his solitude, many devils scourged him so terribly that he lay as if dead. A friend found him thus, and believing him dead carried him home. But when Antony came to him- self he persuaded his friend to carry him, in spite of his wounds, back to his solitude. Here, prostrate from weak- ness, he defied the devils, saying, " I fear you not ; you cannot separate me from the love of Christ." After more vain assaults the devils fled, and Christ appeared to Antony in glory. His only food was bread and water, which he never tasted before sunset, and sometimes only once in two, three, or four days. He wore sackcloth and sheepskin, and he often knelt in prayer from sunset to sunrise. Many souls flocked to him for advice, and after twenty years of solitude he consented to guide them in holiness — thus founding the first monastery. His numerous miracles at- tracted such multitudes that he fled again into solitude, where he lived by manual labor. He expired peacefully at a very advanced age. St. Athanasius, his biographer, says that the mere knowledge of how St. Antony lived is a good guide to virtue. Reflection. — The more violent were the assaults of temptation suffered by St. Antony, the more firmly did he grasp his weapons, namely, mortification and prayer. Let us Imitate him in this if we wish to obtain vietoriea likf his. 40 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Januabt 18 January i8.— ST. PETER'S CHAIR AT ROME. [t. Peter having triumphed over the devil in the East, the latter pursued him to Eome in the person of Simon Magus. He who had formerly trembled at the voice of a poor maid now feared not the very throne of idolatry and superstition. The capital of the empire of the world, and the centre of impiety, called for the zeal of the Prince of Apostles. God had established the Eoman Empire, and extended its dominion beyond that of any former mon- archy, for the more easy propagation of His Gospel. Its. metropolis was of the greatest importance for this enter- prise. St, Peter took that province upon himself, and, repairing to Eome, there preached the faith and established his ecclesiastical chair. That St. Peter preached in Eome, founded the Church there, and died there by martyrdom under Nero, are facts the most incontestable, by the testi- mony of all writers of different countries who lived near that time; persons of unquestionable veracity, and who could not but be informed of the truth in a point so inter- esting and of its own nature so public and notorious. This is also attested by monuments of every kind; by the prerogatives, rights, and privileges which that church en- joyed from those early ages in consequence of this title. It was an ancient custom observed by churches to keep an annual festival of the consecration of their bishops. The feast of the Chair of St. Peter is found in ancient martyr- ologies. Christians justly celebrate the founding of this mother-church, the centre of Catholic communion, in thanksgiving to God for His mercies to His Church, and to implore His future blessings. Reflection. — As one of God's greatest mercies to His Church, let us earnestly beg of Him to raise up in it zealous pastors, eminently replenished with His Spirit, with which He animated His apostles. January 19] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 41 January 19.— ST. CANUTUS, King, Martyr. (t. Candtus, King of Denmark, was endowed with ex- cellent qualities of both mind and body. It is hard to say whether he excelled more in courage or in conduct and skill in war; but his singular piety eclipsed all his other endowments. He cleared the seas of pirates, and subdued several neighboring provinces which infested Den- mark with their incursions. The kingdom of Denmark was elective till the year 1660, and, when the father of Canutus died, his eldest brother, Harold, was called to the throne. Harold died after reigning for two years, and Canutus was chosen to succeed him. He began his reign by a successful war against the troublesome, barbarous enemies of the state, and by planting the faith in the con- quered provinces. Amid the glory of his victories he humbly prostrated himself at the foot of the crucifix, lay- ing there his diadem, and offering himself and his king- dom to the King of kings. After having provided for the peace and safety of his country, he married Eltha, daugh- ter of Eobert, Earl of Flanders, who proved a spouse worthy of him. His next concern was to reform abuses at home. Por thus purpose he enacted severe but necessary laws for the strict administration of justice, and repressed the vio- lence and tyranny of the great, without respect to persons. He countenanced and honored holy men, and granted many privileges and immunities to the clergy. His charity and tenderness towards his subjects made him study by all possible ways to make them a happy people. He showed a royal munificence in building and adorning churches, and gave the crown which he wore, of exceeding great value, to a church in his capital and place of residence, where the kings of Denmark are yet buried. To the virtues which constitute a great king, Canutus added those which prove the great saint. A rebellion having sprung up in his king- dom, the king was surprised at church by the rebels. Per- ceiving his danger, he confessed his sins at the foot of the altar, and received Holy Communion. Stretching out his arms before the altar, the Saint fervently recommended his Boul to his Creator; in this posture he was struck by a 42 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Januabt 20 javelin thrown through a window, and fell a victim for Christ's sake. Reflection. — The soul of a man is endowed with many noble powers, and feels a keen joy in their exercise; but the keenest joy we are capable of feeling consists in pros- trating all our powers of mind and heart in humblest adoration before the majesty of God. January 20. — ST. SEBASTIAN, Martyr. [T. Sebastian was an officer in the Eoman army, es- teemed even by the heathen as a good soldier, and honored by the Church ever since as a champion of Jesus Christ. Born at Narbonne, Sebastian came to Rome about the year 284, and entered the lists against the powers of evil. He found the twin brothers Marcus and Marcellinus in prison for the faith, and, when they were near yielding to the entreaties of their relatives, encouraged them to despise flesh and blood, and to die for Christ. God con- firmed his words by miracle : light shone around him while he spoke; he cured the sick by his prayers; and in this divine strength he led multitudes to the faith, among them the Prefect of Eome, with his son Tiburtius. He saw his disciples die before him, and one of them came back from heaven to tell him that his own end was near. It was in a contest of fervor and charity that St. Sebastian found the occasion of martyrdom. The Prefect of Eome, after his conversion, retired to his estates in Campania, and 'took a great number of his fellow-converts with him to this place of safety. It was a question whether Polycarp the priest or St. Sebastian should accompany the neophytes. Each was eager to stay and face the danger at Eome, and at last the Pope decided that the Eoman church could not spare the services of Sebastian. He continued to labor at the post of danger till he was betrayed by a false disciple. He was led before Diocletian, and, at the em- peror's command, pierced with arrows and left for dead. But God raised him up again, and of his own accord he Vent before the emperor and conjured him to stay the JANUABT 21] LIVES OF THE bAINTS 43 persecution of the Church. Again sentenced, he was at last beaten to death by clubs, and crowned his labors by the merit of a double martyrdom. Reflection. — Your ordinary occupations will give you opportunities of laboring for the faith. Ask help from St. Sebastian. He was not a priest nor a religious, but a soldier. January 21.— ST. AGNES, Virgin, Martyr. [t. Agnes was but twelve years old when she was led ._' to the altar of Minerva at Eome and commanded to obey the persecuting laws of Diocletian by offering incense. In the midst of the idolatrous rites she raised her hands to Christ, her Spouse, and made the sign of the life-giving cross. She did not shrink when she was bound hand and foot, though the gyves slipped from her young liands, and the heathens who stood around were moved to tears. The bonds were not needed for her, and she hastened gladly to the place of her torture. Next, when the judge saw that pain had no terrors for her, he inflicted an insult worse than death: her clothes were stripped off, and she had to stand in the street before a pagan crowd ; yet even this did not daunt her. " Christ," she said, "will guard His own." So it was. Christ showed, by a miracle, the value which He sets upon the custody of the eyes. Whilst the crowd turned away their eyes from the spouse of Christ, as she stood exposed to view in the street, there was one young man who dared to gaze at the innocent child with immodest eyes. A flash of light struck him blind, and his companions bore him away half dead with pain and terror. Lastly, her fidelity to Christ was proved by flattery and offers of marriage. But she answered, " Christ is my Spouse : He chose me first, and His I will be." At length the sentence of death was passed. For a moment she stood erect in prayer, and then bowed her neck to the sword. At one stroke her head was severed from her body, and the angels bore her pure soul to Paradise. 44 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [January 22 Reflection. — Her innocence endeared St. Agnes to Christ, as it has endeared her to His Church ever since. Even as penitents we may imitate this innocence of hers in our own degree. Let us strictly guard our eyes, and Christ, when He sees that we keep our hearts pure for love of Him, will renew our youth and give us back the years which the canker-worm has wasted. January 22.— ST. VINCENT, Martyr. VINCENT was archdeacon of the church at Saragossa. Valerian, the bishop, had an impediment in his speech; thus Vincent preached in his stead, and answered in his name when both were brought before Dacian, the president, during the persecution of Diocletian. When the bishop was sent into banishment, Vincent remained to suffer and to die. First of all, he was stretched on the rack; and, when he was almost torn asunder, Dacian, the president, asked him in mockery " how he fared now." Vincent answered, with joy in his face, that he had ever prayed to be as he was then. It was in vain that Dacian struck the executioners and goaded them on in their savage work. The martyr's flesh was torn with hooks; he was bound in a chair of red-hot iron ; lard and salt were rubbed into his wounds; and amid all this he kept his eyes raised to heaven, and remained unmoved. He was cast into a solitary dungeon, with his feet in the stocks; but the angels of Christ illuminated the darkness, and assured Vincent that he was near his triumph. His wounds were now tended to prepare him for fresh torments, and the faithful were permitted to gaze on his mangled body. They came in troops, kissed the open sores, and carried away as relics cloths dipped in his blood. Before the tor- tures could recommence, the martyr's hour came, and he breathed forth ,his soul in peace. Even the dead bodies of the saints are precious in the sight of God, and the hand of iniquity cannot touch them, A raven guarded the body of Vincent where it lay flung upon the earth. When it was sunk out at sea the waves cast it ashore; and his relics are preserved to this day in Januaby 23] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 45 the Augustinian monastery at Lisbon, for the consolation of the Church of Christ. Reflection. — Do you wisli to be at peace amidst suffer- ing and temptation? Then make it your principal en- deavor to grow in habits of prayer and in union with Christ. Have confidence in Him. He will make you victorious over your spiritual enemies and over yourseLf. He will enlighten your darkness and sweeten your suffer- ings, and in your solitude and desolation He will dra\f nigh to you with His holy angels. January 23.— ST. RAYMUND OF PENNAFORT, ^ORN A. D. 1175, of a noble Spanish family, Kaymund, at the age of twenty, taught philosophy at Barce- lona with marvellous success. Ten years later his rare abilities won for him the degree of Doctor in the Uni- versity of Bologna, and many high dignities. A tender devotion to our blessed Lady, which had grown up with him from childhood, determined him in middle life to renounce all his honors and to enter her Order of St. Dom- inic. There, again, a vision of the Mother of Mercy in- structed him to cooperate with his penitent St. Peter Nolasco, and with James, King of Aragon, in founding the Order of Our Lady of Eansom for the Kedemption of Cap- tives. He began this great work by preaching a crusade against the Moors, and rousing to penance the Christians, enslaved in both soul and body by the infidel. King James of Aragon, a man of great qualities, but held in bond by a ruling passion, was bidden by the Saint to put away the cause of his sin. On his delay, Eaymund asked for leave to depart from Majorca, since he could not live with sin. The king refused, and forbade, under pain of death, his conveyance by others. Full of faith, Eaymund spread his cloak upon the waters, and, tying one end to his staff as a sail, made the sign of the cross and fearlessly stepped upon it. In six hours he was borne to Barcelona, where, gather- ing up his cloak dry, he stole into his monastery. The king, overcome by this miracle, became a sincere penitent and the disciple of the Saint till his death. In 1230, ^e LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Januaey 24 Gregory IX. stimmoneti Eaymund to Eome, made him his confessor and grand penitentiary, and directed him to compile " The l5ecretals/' a collection of the scattered de- cisions of the Popes and Councils. Having refused the archbishopric of Tarragona, Eaymund found himself in 1238 chosen third General of his Order; which post he again succeeded in resigning, on the score of his advanced age. His first act when set free was to resume his labors among the infidels, and in 1256 Eaymund, then eighty- one, was able to report that ten thousand Saracens had received Baptism. He died a. d. 1275. Reflection. — Ask St. Eaymund to protect you from that fearful servitude, worse than any bodily slavery, which even one sinful habit tends to form. January 24.— ST. TIMOTHY, Bishop, Martyr. ^^IMOTHY was a convert of St. Paul. He was born at ^X Lystra in Asia Minor. His mother was a Jewess, but his father was a pagan; and though Timothy had read the Scriptures from his childhood, he had not been circumcised as a Jew. On the arrival of St. Paul at Lystra the youthful Timothy, with his mother and grand- mother, eagerly embraced the faith. Seven years later, when tlie Apostle again visited the country, the boy had gi'own into manhood, while his good heart, his austerities and zeal had won the esteem of all around him; and holy men were prophesying great things of the fervent youth. St. Paul at once saw his fitness for the work of an evan- gelist. Timothy was forthwith ordained, and from that time became the constant and much-beloved fellow-worker of the Apostle. In company with St. Paul he visited the cities of Asia Minor and Greece — at one time hastening on in front as a trusted messenger, at another lingering behind to confirm in the faith some recently founded church. Finally, he was made the first Bishop of Ephesus ; and here he received the two epistles which bear his name, the first wi'itten from Macedonia and the second from Rome, in which St. Paul from his prison gives vent to his longing desire to see his " dearly beloved son," if possible. Jakuast 25] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 47 once more before his cleatli. St. Timothy himself not many years after the death of St, Paul, won his mat tyr's crown at Ephesus. As a child Timothy delighted in read- ing the sacred books, and to his last hour he would remem- ber the parting words of his spiritual father, " Aitende lectioni — Apply thyself to reading." Reflection. — St. Paul, in writing to Timothy, a faithful and well-tried servant of God, and a bishop now getting on in years, addresses him as a child, and seems most anxious about his perseverance in faith and piety. The letters abound in minute personal instructions for this end. It ia therefore remarkable what great stress the Apostle lays on the avoiding of idle talk, and on the application to holy reading. These are his chief topics. Over and over again he exhorts his son Timothy to " avoid tattlers and busy- bodies; to give no heed to novelties; to shun profane and vain babblings, but to hold the form of sound words; to be an example in word and conversation; to attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine." January 25.— THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. CKhe great apostle Paul, named Saul at his circumcision, wJ was born at Tarsus, the capital of Silicia, and was by privilege a Koman citizen, to which quality a great dis- tinction and several exemptions were granted by the laws of the empire. He was early instructed in the strict ob- servance of the Mosaic law, and lived up to it in the most scrupulous manner. In his zeal for the Jewish law, which he thought the cause of God, he became a violent persecutor of the Christians. He was one of those who combined to murder St. Stephen, and in the violent persecution of the faithful which followed the martyrdom of the holy deacon, Saul signalized himself above others. By virtue of th^ power he had received from the high priest, he dragged the Christians out of their houses, loaded them with chains, and thrust them into prison. In the fury of his zeal he applied for a commission to take up all Jews at Damascus who confessed Jesus Christ, and bring them bound to Jertwalem, that they might serve as examples for 48 ZIVES 'OF THE SAINTS IJanuabt 25 the others. But God was pleased to show forth in him His patience and mercy. While on his way to Damascus, he and his party were surrounded by a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, and suddenly struck to the ground. And then a voice was heard saying, " Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute Me ? " And Saul answered, " Who art Thou, Lord?" and the voice replied, " I am Jesus, Whom thou dost persecute." This mild expostulation of Our Eedeemer, accompanied with a powerful interior grace, cured Saul's pride, assuaged his rage, and wrought at once a total change in him. Wherefore, trembling and astonished, he cried out, " Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ? " Our Lord ordered him to arise and to proceed on his way to the city, where he should be informed of what was expected from him. Saul, arising from the ground, found that, though his eyes were open, he saw nothing. He was led by hand into Damascus, where he was lodged in the house of a Jew named Judas. To this house came by divine appointment a holy man named Ananias, who, laying his hands on Saul, said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to thee on thy journey, hath sent me that thou mayest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost." Immediately something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he recovered his sight. Then he arose and was baptized; he stayed some few days with the dis- ciples at Damascus, and began immediately to preach in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. Thus a blasphemer and a persecutor was made an apostle, and chosen as one of God's principal instruments in the con- version of the world. Reflection. — Listen to the words of the " Imitation ot Christ," and let them sink into your heart : " He who would keep the grace of God, let him be grateful for grace when it is given, and patient when it is taken away. Let him pray that it may be given back to him, and be careful and humble, lest he lose it." jAisuAEY 26] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 49 January 26. — ST. POLYCARP, Bishop, Martyr. j^T. PoLYCARP^ Bishop of Smyrna, was a disciple of St John. He wrote to the Philippians, exhorting therti to mutual love and to hatred of heresy. When the apostate Marcion met St. Polycarp at Korae, he asked the aged Saint if he knew him. "Yes," St, Polycarp an- swered, " I know you for the first-born of Satan." These were the words of a Saint most loving and most char- itable, and specially noted for his compassion to sinners. He hated heresy, because he loved God and man so much. In 1G7, persecution broke out in Smyrna. When Poly- carp heard that his pursuers were at the door, he said, " The will of God be done ; " and meeting them, he begged to be left alone for a little time, which he spent in prayer for " the Catholic Church throughout the world." He was brought to Smyrna early on Holy Saturday; and, as he entered, a voice was heard from heaven, " Polycarp, be strong." When the proconsul besought him to curse Christ and go free, Polycarp answered, " Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He never did me wrong; how can I blaspheme my King and Saviour?" When he threat- Hied him with fire, Polycarp told him this fire of his lasted but a little, while the fire prepared for the wicked lasted forever. At the stake he thanked God aloud for letting him drink of Christ's chalice. The fire was lighted, but it did him no hurt; so he was stabbed to the heart, and his dead body was burnt. " Then," say the writers of his acts, " we took up the bones, more precious than the rich- est jewels or gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, at which may God grant us to assemble with joy to celebrate the birthday of the martyr to his life in heaven ! " Reflection. — If we love Jesus Christ, we shall love the Church and hate heresy, which rends His mystical body, and destroys the souls for which He died. Like St. Poly- carp, we shall maintain our constancy in the faith by loYO of Jesus Christ, Who is its author and its finisher. so LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Janttaet 27 January 27.— ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. T. John was bom at Antioch in 344. In order_ to ' break with a world which admired and courted him, he in 374 retired for six years to a neighboring mountain. Having thus acquired the art of Christian silence, he re- turned to Antioch, and there labored as priest, until he ■was ordained Bishop of Constantinople in 398. The effect of his sermons was everywhere marvellous. He was very urgent that his people should frequent the holy sac- rifice, and in order to remove all excuse he abbreviated the long Liturgy until then in use. St. Nilus relates that St. John Chrysostom was wont to see, when the priest began the holy sacrifice, " many of the blessed ones coming down from heaven in shining garments, and with bare feet, eyes intent, and bowed heads, in utter stillness and silence, assisting at the consummation of the tremendous mys- tery," Beloved as he was in Constantinople, his denuncia- tions of vice made him numerous enemies. In 403 these procured his banishment ; and although he was almost im- mediately recalled, it was not more than a reprieve. In 404 he was banished to Cucusus in the deserts of Taurus. In 407 he was wearing out, but his enemies were impatient. They hurried him off to Pytius on the Euxine, a rough journey of nigh 400 miles. He was assiduously exposed to every hardship, cold, wet, and semi-starvation, but noth- ing could overcome his cheerfulness and his consideration for others. On the journey his sickness increased, and he was warned that his end was nigh. Thereupon, exchang- ing his travel-stained clothes for white garments, he re- ceived Viaticum, and with his customary words,^ " Glory be to God for all things. Amen," passed to Christ. Reflection. — We should try to understand that the most productive work in the whole day, both for time and eternity, is that involved in hearing Mass. St. John Chrysostom felt this so keenly that he allowed no con- sideration of venerable usage to interfere with the easiness of hearing Mass. Tanuaby 28] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 51 January 28.--ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. [t, Cyril became Patriarch of Alexandria in 412. Having at first thrown himself with ardor into the party politics of the place, God called him to a nobler conflict. In 428, Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, began to deny the unity of Person in Christ, and to refusa to the Blessed Virgin the title of " Mother of God." Ha was strongly supported by disciples and friends through- out the East. As the assertion of the divine maternity of Our Lady was necessary to the integrity of the doc- trine of the Incarnation, so, with St. Cyril, devotion to the Mother was the necessary complement of his devotion to the Son. St. Cyril, after expostulating in vain, accused Nestorius to Pope Celestine. The Pope commanded re- traction, under pain of separation from the Church, and intrusted St. Cyril with the conduct of the proceedings. The appointed day, June 7, 431, found Nestorius and Cyril at Ephesus, with over 200 bishops. After waiting twelve days in vain for the Syrian bishops, the council with Cyril tried Nestorius, and deposed him from his see. Upon this the Syrians and Nestorians excommunicated St. Cyril, and complained of him to the emperor as a peace- breaker. Imprisoned and threatened with banishment, the Saint rejoiced to confess Christ by suffering. In time it was recognized that St. Cyril was right, and with him the Church triumphed. Forgetting his wrongs, and careless of controversial punctilio, Cyril then reconciled himself with all who would consent to hold the doctrine of the In- carnation intact. He died in 444. Reflection. — The Incarnation is the mystery of God's dwelling within us, and therefore should be the dearest object of our contemplation. It was the passion of St. Cyril's life ; for it he underwent toil and persecution, and willingly sacrificed credit and friends. h2 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Januaey 29 January 29.— ST. FRANCIS OF SALES. HiUNCis was born of noble and pious parents, near Annecy, 1566, and studied with brilliant success at Paris and Padua. On his return from Italy he gave up the grand career which his father had marked out for him in the service of the state, and became a priest. When the Duke of Savoy had resolved to restore the Church in the Chablais, Francis offered himself for the work, and set out on foot with his Bible and breviary and one companion, his cousin Louis of Sales. It was a work of toil, privation, and danger. Every door and every heart was closed against him. He was rejected with in- sult and threatened with death. But nothing could daunt or resist him, and ere long the Church burst forth into a second spring. It is stated that he converted 72,000 Cal- vinists. He was then com.pelled by the Pope to become Coadjutor Bishop of Geneva, and succeeded to the see in 1603. At times the exceeding gentleness with which he received heretics and sinners almost scandalized his friends, and one of them said to him, "Francis of Sales will go to Paradise, of course ; but I am not so sure of the Bishop of Geneva : I am almost afraid his gentleness will play him a shrewd turn." " Ah," said the Saint, " I would rather account to God for too great gentleness than for too great severity. Is not God all love? God the Father is the Father of mercy; God the Son is a Lamb; God the Holy Ghost is a Dove — that is, gentleness itself. And are you wiser than God?" In union with St. Jane 'Frances of Chantal he founded at Annecy the Order of the Visitation, which soon spread over Europe. Though poor, he refused provisions and dignities, and even the great see of Paris. He died at Avignon, 1622. Reflection. — "Y©u will catch more flies," St. Francis used to say, " with a spoonful of honey than with a hun- dred barrels of vinegar. Were there anything better or fairer on earth than gentleness, Jesus Christ would have taught it us; and yet He has given us only two lessons to iearn of Him — meekness and humility of heart." January 30] LIVES OF THE SAINTS SS January 30. — ST. BATHILDES, Queen. [t. Bathildes was an Englishwoman, who was carried over whilst yet young into France, and there sold for a slave, at a very low price, to ErkenwaM, mayor of the palace under King Clovis II. When she grew up, her master was so much taken with her prudence and virtue that he placed her in charge of his household. The renown of her virtues spread through all France, and King Clovis II. took her for his royal consort. This unexpected elevation produced no alteration in a heart perfectly grounded in humility and the other virtues; she seemed to become even more humble than before. Her new sta- tion furnished her the means of being truly a mother to the poor; the king gave her the sanction of his royal authority for the protection of the Church, the care of the poor, and the furtherance of all religious undertakings. The death of her husband left her regent of the kingdom. She at once forbade the enslavement of Christians, did all in her power to promote piety, and filled France with hos- pitals and religious houses. As soon as her son Clotaire was of an age to govern, she withdrew from the world and entered the convent of Chelles. Here she seemed entirely to forget her worldly dignity, and was to be distinguished from the rest of the community only by her extreme humility, her obedience to her spiritual superiors, and her devotion to the sick, whom she comforted and served with wonderful charity. As she neared her end, God visited her with a severe illness, which she bore with Christian patience until, on the 30th of January, 680, she yielded up her soul in devout prayer. Reflection. — In all that we do, let God and His holy will be always before our eyes, and our only aim and desire be to please Him. 54 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Febhuaet 1 January 31.— ST. MARCELLA, Widow. ?T. Marcella, whom St. Jerome called tl-.e glory of ' the Eoman women, became a widow in the seventh month after her marriage. Having determined to conse- crate the remainder of her days to the service of God, she rejected the hand of Cerealis, the consul, imcle of Gallus Caesar, and resolved to imitate the lives of the ascetics of the East. She abstained from wine and flesh-meat, em' ploj^ed all her time in pious reading, prayer, and visiting the churches, and never spoke with any man alone. Her example was followed by many who put themselves under her direction, and Eome was in a short time filled with monasteries. When the Goths under Alaric plundered Eome in 410, our Saint suffered severely at the hands of the barbarian^ who cruelly scourged her in order to make her reveal the treasures which she had long before dis- tributed in charity. She trembled only, however, for the innocence of her dear spiritual daughter, Principia, and falling at the feet of the cruel soldiers, she begged with many tears that they would offer no insult to that pure virgin. God moved them to compassion, and they con- ducted our Saint and her pupil to the Church of St. Paul, to which Alaric had granted the right of sanctuary, with that of St. Peter. St. Marcella, who survived this but a short time, closed her eyes by a happy death, in the arms of St. Principia, about the end of Au^st, 410. February i. — ST. BRIDGID, Abbess, and Patroness of Ireland. DEXT to the glorious St. Patrick, St. Bridgid, whom we may consider his spiritual daughter in Christ, has ever been held in singular veneration in Ireland. She was born about the year 453, at Pochard in Ulster. Dur- ing her infancy, her pious father saw in a vision men clothed in white garments pouring a sacred unguent on her head, thus prefiguring her future sanctity. While yet very young, Bridgid consecrated her life to God, bestowed February 1] L1VE8 OF THE SAINTS SS everything at her disposal on the poor, and was the edifi- cation of all who knew her. She was very beautiful, and fearing that efforts might be made to induce her to break the vow by which she had bound herself to God, and to be- stow her hand on one of her many suitors, she prayed that she might become ugly and deformed. Her prayer was heard, for her eye became swollen, and her whole coun- tenance so changed that she was allowed to follow her vocation in peace, and marriage with her was no more thought of. When about twenty years old, our Saint made known to St. Mel, the nephew and disciple of St. Patrick, her intention to live only to Jesus Christ, and he consented to receive her sacred vows. On the appointed day the solemn ceremony of her profession was performed after the manner introduced by St. Patrick, the bishop offering up many prayers, and investing Bridgid with a snow-white habit, and a cloak of the same color. While she bowed her head on this occasion to receive the veil, a miracle of a singularly striking and impressive nature oc- curred: that part of the wooden platform adjoining the altar on which she knelt recovered its original vitality, and put on all its former verdure, retaining it for a long time after. At the same moment Bridgid's eye was healed, and she became as beautiful and as lovely as ever. Encouraged by her example, several other ladies made their vows with her, and in compliance with the wish of the parents of her new associates, the Saint agreed to found a religious residence for herself and them in the vicinity. A convenient site having been fixed upon by the bishop, a convent, the first in Ireland, was erected upon it; and in obedience to the prelate Bridgid assumed the supe- riority. Her reputation for sanctity became greater every day; and in proportion as it was diffused throughout the country the number of candidates for admission into the new monastery increased. The bishops of Ireland, soon perceiving the important advantages which their respective dioceses would derive from similar foundations, persuaded the young and saintly abbess to visit different parts of the kingdom, and, as an opportunity offered, introduce into each one the establishment of her institute. While thus engaged in a portion of the province of Con- S6 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Febeuaby l naught, a deputation arrived from Leinster to solicit the Saint to take up her residence in that territory; but the motives which they urged were human, and such could have no weight with Bridgid. It was only the prospect of the many spiritual advantages that would result from com- pliance with the request that induced her to accede, as she did, to the wishes of those who had petitioned her. Tak- ing with her a number of her spiritual daughters, our Saint journeyed to Leinster, where they were received with many demonstrations of respect and joy. The site on which Kildare now stands appearing to be well adapted for a religious institute, there the Saint and her companions took up their abode. To the place appropriated for the new foimdation some lands were annexed, the fruits of which were assigned to the little establishment. This do- nation indeed contributed to supply the wants of the com- munity, but still the pious sisterhood principally depended for their maintenance on the liberality of their benefactors. Bridgid contrived, however, out of their small means to relieve the poor of the vicinity very considerably; and when the wants of these indigent persons surpassed her slender finances, she hesitated not to sacrifice for them the movables of the convent. On one occasion our Saint, imi- tating the burning charity of St. Ambrose and other great servants of God, sold some of the sacred vestments that she might procure the means of relieving their necessities. She was so humble that she sometimes attended the cattle on the land which belonged to her monastery. The renown of Bridgid's unbounded charity drew multi- tudes of the poor to Kildare; the fame of her piety at- tracted thither many persons anxious to solicit her prayers or to profit by her holy example. In course of time the number of these so much increased that it became neces- sary to provide accommodation for them in the neighbor- hood of the new monastery, and thus was laid the founda- tion and origin of the town of Kildare. The spiritual exigencies of her community, and of those numerous strangers who resorted to the vicinity, having suggested to our Saint the expediency of having the local- ity erected into an episcopal see, she represented it to the prelates, to whom the consideration of it rightlv belonged. fEBBUAEY 1] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 57 Deeming the proposal just and useful, Conlath, a recluse of eminent sanctity, illustrious by the great things which God had granted to his prayers, was, at Bridgid's desire, chosen the first bishop of the newly erected diocese. In process of time it became the ecclesiastical metropolis of the prov- ince to which it belonged, probably in consequence of the general desire to honor the place in which St. Bridgid had so long dwelt. After seventy years devoted to the practice of the most sublime virtues, corporal infirmities admonished our Saint that the time of her dissolution was nigh. It was now half a century since, by her holy vows, she had irrevocably con- secrated herself to God, and during that period great results had been attained ; her holy institute having widely diffused itself throughout the Green Isle, and greatly ad- vanced the cause of religion in the various districts in which it was established. Like a river of peace, its prog- ress was steady and silent ; it fertilized every region fortu- nate enough to receive its waters, and caused it to put forth spiritual flowers and fruits with all the sweet per- fume of evangelical fragrance. The remembrance of the glory she had procured to the Most High, as well as the services rendered to dear souls ransomed by the precious blood of her divine Spouse, cheered and consoled Brid- gid in the infirmities inseparable from old age. Her last illness was soothed by the presence of Nennidh, a priest of eminent sanctity, over whose youth she had watched with pious solicitude, and who was indebted to her prayers and instructions for his great proficiency in sublime per- fection. The day on which our abbess was to terminate her course, February 1, 523, having arrived, she received from the hands of this saintly priest the blessed body and blood of her Lord in the divine Eucharist, and, as it would seem, immediately after her spirit passed forth, and went to possess Him in that heavenly country where He is seen face to face and enjoyed without danger of ever losing Him. Her body was interred in the church adjoining her convent, but was some time after exhumed, and deposited in a splendid shrine near the high altar. In the ninth century, the country being desolated by the Danes^ the remains of St. Bridgid were removed in order 58 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Febbuaby 1 to secure them from irreverence ; and, being transferred to Down-Patrick, were deposited in the same grave with those of tlie glorious St. Patrick. Their bodies, together with that of St. Columba, were translated afterwards to the cathedral of the same city, but their monument was de- Btroyed in the reign of King Henry VIII. The head of St. Bridgid is now kept in the church of the Jesuits at Lisbon. Reflection. — Outward resemblance to Our Lady was St. Bridgid's peculiar privilege ; but all are bound to grow like her in interior purity of heart. This grace St. Bridgid has obtained in a wonderful degree for the daughters of her native land, and will never fail to procure for all her devout clients. ST. IGNATIUS, Bishop, Martyr. [T. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was the disciple of St. John. When Domitian persecuted the Church, St. Ignatius obtained peace for his own flock by fasting and prayer. But for his part he desired to suffer with Christ, and to prove himself a perfect disciple. In the year 107, Trajan came to Antioch, and forced the Chris- tians to choose between apostasy and death. " Who art thou, poor devil," the emperor said when Ignatius was brought before him, "who settest our commands at naught ? " " Call not him * poor devil,' " Ignatius an- swered, "who bears God within him." And when the emperor questioned him about his meaning, Ignatius ex- plained that he bore in his heart Christ crucified for his sake. Thereupon the emperor condemned him to be torn to pieces by wild beasts at Eome. St. Ignatius thanked God, Who had so honored him, " binding him in the chains of Paul, His apostle." He journeyed to Eome, guarded by soldiers, and with no fear except of losing the martyr's crown. He was de- voured by lions in tlie Eoman amphitheatre. The wild beasts left nothing of his body, except a few bones, which were reverently treasured at Antioch, until their removal to the Churdi scf St. Clement at Rome, in 637. After th& Febeuaby 2] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 69 martyr's death, several Christians saw him in vision stand- ing before Christ, and interceding for them. Reflection. — Ask St. Ignjitius to obtain for you the grace of profiting by all you have to suffer, and rejoicing in it as a means of likeness to your crucified Redeemer. February 2.— THE PURIFICATION, COMMONLY CALLED CANDLEMAS-DAY. OHE law of God, given by Moses to the Jews, ordained that a woman, after childbirth, should continue for a certain time in a state which that law calls unclean, dur- ing which she was not to appear in public, nor presume to touch anything consecrated to God. This term was of forty days upon the birth of a son, and double that time for a daughter. On the expiration of the term, the mothet "Was to bring to the door of the tabernacle, or Temple, a lamb and a young pigeon, or turtle-dove, as an oliering to God. These being sacrificed to Almighty God by the priest, the woman was cleansed of the legal impurity and reinstated in her former privileges. A young pigeon, or turtle-dove, by way of a sin-offer- ing, was required of all, whether rich or poor; but as the expense of a lamb might be too great for persons in poor circumstances, they were allowed to substitute for it a second dove. Our Saviour having been conceived by the Holy Ghost, and His blessed Mother remaining always a spotless virgin, it is evident that she did not come under the law; but as the world was, as yet, ignorant of her miraculous concep- tion, she submitted with great punctuality and exactness to every humbling circumstance which the law required. Devotion and zeal to honor God, by every observance pre- scribed by His law, prompted Mary to perform this act of religion, though evidently exempt from the precept. Be- ing poor herself, she made the offering appointed for the poor ; but, however mean in itself, it was made with a per- fect heart, which is what God chiefly regards in all that is olStired to Him. Besides the law which obliged the mother to purify herself, there was another which ordered that the 60 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Febbuasy 2 first-l)orn son should be offered to God, and that, after its presentation, the child should be ransomed with a certain sum of money, and peculiar sacrifices offered on the occa- sion. Mary complies exactly with all these ordinances. She obeys not only in the essential points of the law, but has strict regard to all the circumstances. She remains forty days at home; she denies herself, all this time, the liberty of entering the Temple ; she partakes not of things sacred ; and on the day of her purification she walks several miles to Jerusalem, with the world's Redeemer in her arms. She waits for the priest at the gate of the Temple, makes her offerings of thanksgiving and expiation, presents her divine Son by the hands of the priest to His Eternal Father, with the most profound humility, adoration, and thanksgiving. She then redeems Him with five shekels, as the law ap- points, and receives Him back again as a sacred charge committed to her special care, till the Father shall again demand Him for the full accomplishment of man's re- demption. The ceremony of this day was closed by a third mystery — the meeting in the Temple of the holy persons Simeon and Anne with Jesus and His parents. Holy Simeon, on that occasion, received into his arms the object of all his desires and sighs, and praised God for being blessed with the happiness of beholding the so-much-longed-for Messias. He foretold to Mary her martyrdom of sorrow, and that Jesus brought redemption to those who would accept of it on the terms it was offered them ; but a heavy judgment on all infidels who should obstinately reject it, and on Chris- tians, also, whose lives were a contradiction to His holy maxims and example. Mary, hearing this terrible pre- diction, did not answer one word, felt no agitation of mind from the present, no dread for the future ; but courageously and sweetly committed all to God's holy will. Anne, also, the prophetess, who in her widowhood served God with great fervor, had the happiness to acknowledge and adore in this great mystery the Eedeemer of the world. Simeon, having beheld Our Saviour, exclaimed : " Now dismiss Thy servant, Lord, according to Thy word, because mv «yes have seen Thy salvation.'* Febbuaey 3] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 6i This feast is called Candlemas, because the Church blesses the candles to be borne in the procession of the day. Reflection. — Let us strive to imitate the humility of the ever-blessed Mother of God, remembering that humility is the path which leads to abiding peace and brings us near to the consolations of God. February 3. — ST. BLASE, Bishop and Martyr. (g^T. Blase devoted the earlier years of his life to th^ ]S/ study of philosophy, and afterwards became a physi- cian. In the practice of his profession he saw so much of the miseries of life and the hollowness of worldly pleasures, that he resolved to spend the rest of his days in the service of God, and from being a healer of bodily ailments to be- come a physician of souls. The Bishop of Sebaste, in Ar- menia, having died, our Saint, much to the gratification of the inhabitants of that city, was appointed to succeed him. St. Blase at once began to instruct his people as much by his example as by his words, and the great virtues and sanctity of this servant of God were attested by many mira- cles. From all parts the people came flocking to him for the cure of bodily and spiritual ills. Agricolaus, Governor di Cappadocia and the Lesser Armenia, having begun a persecution by order of the Emperor Licinius, our Saint was seized and hurried off to prison. While on his way there, a distracted mother, whose only child was dying of a throat disease, threw herself at the feet of St. Blase and implored his intercession. Touched at her grief, the Saint offered up his prayers, and the child was cured ; and since that time his aid has often been effectually solicited in cases of a similar disease. Refusing to worship the false gods of the heathens, ,St. Blase was first scourged ; his body was then torn with hooks, and finally he was beheaded in the year 316. Reflection. — There is no sacrifice which, by the aid of grace, human nature is not capable of accomplishing. When St. Paul complained to God of the violence of the temptation, God answered, " My grace is sufficient for thee, for power is made perfect m infirmity," &2 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Febbuabt 4 February 4.~Sl JANE OF VALOIS. ORN of the blood royal of France, herself a qneen^ _ ' Jane of Valois led a life remarkable for its humilia- tions even in the annals of the Saints. Her father, Louis XI., who had hoped for a son to succeed him, Vanished Jane from his palace, and, it is said, even atten^^ted her life. At the age of five the neglected child offered her whole heart to God, and yearned to do some special service in honor of His blessed Mother. At the king's wish, though against her own inclination, she was married to the Buke of Orleans. Towards an indifferent and unworthy husband her conduct was ever most patient and dutiful. Her prayers and tears saved him from a traitor's death and shortened the captivity which his rebellion had merited. Still nothing could win a heart which was al- ready given to another. When her husband ascended the throne as Louis XII., his first act was to repudiate by false representations one who through twenty-two years of cruel neglect had been his true and loyal wife. At the final sen- tence of separation, the saintly queen exclaimed, " God be praised Who has allowed this, that I may serve Him better than I have heretofore done.'' Eetiring to Bourges, she there realized her long-formed desire of founding the Order of the Annunciation, in honor of the Mother of God. Under the guidance of St. Francis of Paula, the director of her childhood, St. Jane was enabled to overcome the serious obstacles which even good people raised against the foundation of her new Order. In 1501 the rule of the An- nunciation was finally approved by Alexander VI. The chief aim of the institute was to imitate the ten virtues practised by Our Lady in the mystery of the Incarnation, the superioress being called "Ancelle," handmaid, in honor of Mary's humility. St. Jane built and endowed the first convent of the Order in 1502. She died in heroic sanctity, 1505, and was buried in the royal crown and purple, beneath which lay the habit of her Order. Reflection. — During the lifetime of St. Jane, the An- gelus was established in France. The sound of the Avp Febbuaut 5] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 63 thrice each day gave her hope in her sorrow, and fostered in her the desire still further to honor the Incarnation. How often might we derive grace from the same beautiful devotion, so enriched by the Church, yet neglected by so many Christians! February 5.— ST. AGATHA, Virgin, Martyr. [T. Agatha was born in Sicily, of rich and noble par- ents — a child of benediction from the first, for she was promised to her parents before her birth, and conse- crated from her earliest infancy to God. In the midst of dangers and temptations she served Christ in purity of body and soul, and she died for the love of chastity. Quin- tanus, who governed Sicily under the Emperor Decius, had heard the rumor of her beauty and wealth, and he made tlie laws against the Christians a pretext for summoning her from Palermo to Catania, where he was at the time. " Jesus Christ ! " she cried, as she set out on this dreaded journey, ** all that I am is Thine ; preserve me against the tyrant.'^ And Our Lord did indeed preserve one who had given herself so ntterly to Him. He kept her pure and undefiled while she was imprisoned for a whole month under charge of an evil woman. He gave her strength to reply to the offer of her life and safety, if she would but consent to sin, " Christ alone is my life and my salvation.'' When Quin- tanus turned from passion to cruelty, and cut off her breasts. Our Lord sent the Prince of His apostles to heal her. And when, after she had been rolled naked upon potsherds, she asked that her torments might be ended, her Spouse heard her prayer and took her to Himself. St. Agatha gave herself without reserve to Jesus Christ ; she followed Him in virginal purity, and then looked to Him for protection. And down to this day Christ has shown His tender regard for the very body of St. Agatha. Again and again, during the eruptions of Mount Etna, the people of Catania have exposed her veil for public venera- tion, and found safety by this means; and in modern times, on opening the tomb in which her body lies waiting 64 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Febeuaey 5 for the resurrection, they heheld the skin still entire, and felt the sweet fragrance which issued from this temple of the Holy Ghost. Reflection. — Purity is a gift of God: we can gain it and preserve it only by care and diligence in avoiding all that may prove an incentive to sin. THE MARTYRS OF JAPAN. HBOUT forty years after St. Francis Xavier's death ff persecution broke out in Japan, and all Christian rites were forbidden under pain of death. A confraternity of martyrs was at once formed, the object of which was to die for Christ. Even the little children joined it. Peter? a Christian child six years old, was awakened early and told that he was to be beheaded, together with his father. Strong in grace, he expressed his joy at the news, dressed himself in his gayest clothing, and took the hand of the soldier who was to lead him to death. The headless trimk of his father first met his view; calmly kneeling down, he prayed beside the corpse, and, loosening his collar, pre- pared his neck for the stroke. Moved by this touching Bcene, the executioner threw down his sabre and fled. None but a brutal slave could be found for the murderous task; with unskilled and trembling hand he hacked the child to pieces, who at last died without uttering a single ciy. Christians were branded with the cross, or all but buried alive, while the head and arms were slowly sawn ofl with blunt weapons. The least shudder under their an- guish was interpreted into apestasy. The obstinate wera put to the most cruel deaths, but the survivors only envied them. Five noblemen were escorted to the stake by 40,000 Christians with flowers and lights, singing the litanies of Our Lady as they went. In the great martyrdom, at which thousands also assisted, the martyrs sent up a flood of melody from the fire, which only died away as one after another went to sing the new song in heaven. Later on, a more awful doom was invented. The victims were lowered into a sulphurous chasm, called the " mouth of hell," near which no bird or beast could live. The chief of these, Febeuaby 6] LIVES OF THE .SAINTS 65 Paul Wiborg, whose family bad been already massacred for the faith, was thrice let down; thrice he cried, with a loud voice, " Eternal praise be to the ever-adorable Sacra- ment of the Altar." The third time he went to his reward. Reflection. — If mere children face torture and death with joy for Christ, can we begrudge the slight penance He asks us to bear? February 6.— ST. DOROTHY, Virgin, Martyr. [t. Dorothy was a young virgin, celebrated at Caesarea, where she lived, for her angelic virtue. Her parents seem to have been martyred before her in the Diocletian persecution, and when the Governor Sapricius came to Coesarea he called her before him, and sent this child of martyrs to the home where they were waiting for her. She was stretched upon the rack, and offered marriago if she would consent to sacrifice, or death if she refused. But she replied that " Christ was her only Spouse, and death her desire.'' She was then placed in charge of two women who had fallen away from the faith, in the hope that they might pervert her ; but the fire of her own heart rekindled the flame in theirs, and led them back to Christ. When she was set once more on the rack, Sapricius himself was amazed at the heavenly look she wore, and asked her the cause of her joy. ** Because,'' she said, " I have brought back two souls to Christ, and because I shall soon be in heaven rejoicing with the angels." Her joy grew as she was buffeted in the face and her sides burned with plates of red-hot iron. "Blessed be Thou," she cried, when she was sentenced to be beheaded, — "blessed be Thou, Thou Lover of souls ! Who dost call me to Para- dise, and invitest me to Thy nuptial chamber." St. Dorothy suffered in the dead of winter, and it is said that on the road to her passion a lawyer called Theophilus, who had been used to calumniate and persecute the Chris- tians, asked her, in mockery, to send him " apples or roses from the garden of her Spouse." The Saint promised to grant his request, and, just before she died, a little child stood by her side bearing three apples and three roses. $6 LIVES Oj^' the saints [Febbuabt i She bade him take them to Theophilus and tell him this ■was the present which he sought from the garden of her Spouse. St. Dorothy had gone to heaven, and Theophilus was still making merry over his challenge to the Saint when the child entered his room. He saw that the child was an angel in disguise, and the fruit and flowers of no earthly growth. He was converted to the faith, and then shared in the martyrdom of St. Dorothy. Reflection. — Do you wish to he safe in the pleasures and happy in the troubles of the world? Pray for heav- enly desires, and say, with St. Philip, "Paradise, Para- dise!" February 7.— ST. ROMUALD, Abbot. XN 976, Sergius, a nobleman of Eavenna, quarrelled witF a relative about an estate, and slew him in a duel. His son Eomuald, horrified at his father's crime, entered the Benedictine monastery at Classe, to do a forty days* penance for him. This penance ended in his own vocation to religion. After three years at Classe, Eomuald went to live as a hermit near Venice, where he was joined by Peter lUrseolus, Duke of Venice, and together they led a most austere life in the midst of assaults from the evil spirits. St. Eomuald founded many monasteries, the chief of which was that at Camaldoli, a wild desert place, where he bui-lt a church, which he surrounded with a number of separate cells for the solitaries who lived under his rule. His disci- ples were hence called Camaldolese. He is said to have seen here a vision of a mystic ladder, and his white-clothed monks ascending by it to heaven. Among his first dis- ciples were Sts. Adalbert and Boniface, apostles of Eussia, and Sts. John and Benedict of Poland, martyrs for the faith. He was an intimate friend of the Emperor St. Henry, and was reverenced and consulted by many great men of his time. He once passed seven years in solitude and complete silence. In his youth St. Eomuald was much troubled by temp- tations of the flesh. To escape them he had recourse to buntinir. and in the woods first conceived his love for **«»t.^T 8] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 6> solitude. His father's sin, as we have seen, first prompted him to uu^-lertake a forty days' penance in the monastery, which he forthwith made his home. Some bad example of his fellow- monks induced him to leave them and adopt the solitary mode of life. The penance of Urseolus, who had obtained h\s power wrongfully, brought him his first disciple ; the temptations of the devil compelled him to his severe life; and finally the persecutions of others were the occasion of his settlement at Camaldoli, and the founda- tion of his Order, He died, as he had foretold twenty years before, alone, in his monastery of Val Castro, on the ioth of June, 1027. Reflection. — St. Eomuald's life teaches us that, if we only follo\r the impulse of the Holy Spirit, we shall easily find good everywhere, even on the most unlikely occa- sions. Our own sins, the sins of others, their ill will against us, or our own mistakes and misfortunes, are egnally capable of leading us, with softened hearts, to the Ae^t of God's mercy and love. February 8.— ST. JOHN OF MATHA. j^=nHE life of St. John of Matha was one long course of V^ self-sacrifice for the glory of God and the good of his neighbor. As a child, his chief delight was serving the poor; and he often told them he had come into the world for no other end but to wash their feet. He studied at Paris with such distinction that his professors advised him to become a priest, in order that his talents might render greater service to others; and, for this end, John gladly sacrificed his high rank and other worldly advan- tages. At his first Mass an angel appeared, clad in white, with a red and blue cross on his breast, and his hands re- posing on the heads of a Christian and a Moorish captive. To ascertain what this signified, John repaired to St. Felix of Valois, a holy hermit living near Meaux, under whose direction he led a life of extreme penance. The angel again appeared, and they then set out for Eome, to learn the will of God from the lips of the Sovereign Pontiff, who told them to devote themselves to thtj redemption of 68 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Febbuaby 9 captives. For this purpose they founded the Order of the Holy Trinity. The religious fasted every day, and gather- ing alms throughout Europe took them to Barbary, to re- deem the Christian slaves. They devoted themselves also to the sick and prisoners in all countries. The charity of St. John in devoting his life to the redemption of cap- tives was visibly blessed by God. On his second return from Tunis he brought back one hundred and twenty lib- erated slaves. But the Moors attacked him at sea, over- powered his vessel, and doomed it to destruction, with all on board, by taking away the rudder and sails, and leaving it to the mercy of the winds. St. John tied his cloak to the mast, and prayed, saying, " Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered. Lord, Thou wilt save the humble, and wilt bring down the eyes of the proud.'' Suddenly the wind filled the small sail, and, without guidance, car- ried the ship safely in a few days to Ostia, the port of Eome, three hundred leagues from Tunis. Worn out by his heroic labors, John died in 1213, at the age of fifty- three. Reflection. — Let us never forget that our blessed Lord bade us love our neighbor not only as ourselves, but as He loved us. Who afterwards sacrificed Himself for us. February g.— ST. APOLLONIA AND THE MAR- TYRS OF ALEXANDRIA. aT Alexandria, in 249, the mob rose in savage fury against the Christians. Metras, an old man, per- ished first. His eyes were pierced with reeds, and he was stoned to death. A woman named Quinta was the next victim. She was led to a heathen temple and bidden worship. She replied by cursing the false god again and again, and she too was stoned to death. After this the houses of the Christians were sacked and plundered. They took the spoiling of their goods with all joy. St. Apollonia, an aged virgin, was the most famous among the martyrs. Her teeth were beaten out; she was led outside the city, a huge fire was kindled, and she was told she must deny Christ, or else be burned alive. Sho Februaey 10] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 69 was silent for a while, and then, moved by a special in- spiration of the Holy Ghost, she leaped into the fire and died in its flames. The same courage showed itself the next year, when Decius became emperor, and the persecu- tion grew till it seemed as if the very elect must fall away. The story of Dioscorus illustrates the courage of the Alex- andrian Christians, and the esteem they had for martyr- dom. He was a boy of fifteen. To the arguments of the judge he returned wise answers : he was proof against tor- ture. His older companions were executed, but Dioscorus was spared on account of his tender years; yet the Chris- tians could not bear to think that he had been deprived of the martyr's crown, except to receive it afterwards more gloriously. "Dioscorus,'' writes Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria at this time, "remains with us, reserved for some longer and greater combat." There were indeed many Christians who came, pale and trembling, to offer the heathen sacrifices. But the judges themselves were struck with horror at the multitudes who rushed to mar- tyrdom. Women triumphed over torture, till at last the judges were glad to execute them at once and put an end to the ignominy of their own defeat. Reflection. — Many saints, who were not martyrs, have longed to shed their blood for Christ. We, too, may pray for some portion of their spirit; and the least suffering for the faith, borne with himiility and courage, is the proof that Christ has heard our prayer. February lo.—ST. SCHOLASTICA, Abbess^ OF this Saint but little is known on earth, save that she was the sister of the great patriarch St. Benedict, and that, under his direction, she founded and governed a numerous community near Monte Casino. St. Gregory sums up her life by saying that she devoted herself +0 God from her childhood, and that her pure soul went to God in the likeness of a dove, as if to show that her life had been enriched with the fullest gifts of the Holy Spirit. Her brother was accustomed to visit her every year, for " she could Mot be sated or wearied with the words of grace 70 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Februabt u which flowed from his lips." On his last visit, after a day passed in spiritual converse, the Saint, knowing that her end was near, said, " My brother, leave me not, I pray you, this night, but discourse with me till dawn on the bliss of those who see God in heaven." St. Benedict would not break his rule at the bidding of natural affection ; and then the Saint bowed her head on her hands and prayed ; and there arose a storm so violent that St. Benedict could not return to his monastery, and they passed the night ia heavenly conversation. Three days later St. Benedict saw in a vision the soul of his sister going up in the likeness of a dove into heaven. Then he gave thanks to God for the graces He had given her, and for the glory which had crowned them. When she died, St. Benedict, her spiritual daughters, and the monks sent by St. Benedict mingled their tears and prayed, "Alas I alas! dearest mother, to •whom dost thou leave us now? Pray for us to Jesus, to Whom tliou art gone.*' They then devoutly celebrated holy Mass, " commending her soul to God ; " and her body was borne to Monte Casino, and laid by her brother in the tomb he had prepared for himself. " And they bewailed her many days;'* and St. Benedict said, "Weep not, sis- ters and brothers; for assuredly Jesus has taken her be- fore us to be our aid and defence against all our enemies, that we may stand in the evil day and be in all things per- fect." She died about the year 543. Reflection.— Our relatives must be loved in and for God; otherwise the purest affection becomes inordinate and is so much taken from Him, February ii.— ST. SEVERINUS, Abbot of Agaunuitu [T. Severinus, of a noble family in Burgundy, was educated in the Catholic faith, at a time when the Arian heresy reigned in that country. He forsook the world in his youth, and dedicated himself to God in the monastery of Agaunum, which then only consisted of scattered ceils, till the Catholic King Sigismund built there the great abbey of St. Maurice. St. Severinus was the holy abbot of that place, and had governed his com- Febbuaey 12] LIVES OF THE SAINTS U mimity many years in the exercise of penance and charity, when, in 504, Clovis, the first Christian king of France, lying ill of a fever, which his physicians had for two years ineffectually endeavored to remove, sent his chamberlain to conduct the Saint to court ; for it was said that the sick from all parts recovered their health by his prayers. St, Severinus took leave of his monks, telling them he should never see them more in this world. On his journey he healed Eulalius, Bishop of Nevers, who had been for some time deaf and dumb; also a leper, at the gates of Paris; and coming to the palace he immediately restored the king to perfect health, by putting on him his own cloak. The king, in gratitude, distributed large alms to the poor and released all his prisoners. St. Severinus, returning to- ward Agaunum, stopped at Chateau-Landon in Gatinois, where two priests served God in a solitary chapel, among whom he was admitted, at his request, as a stranger, and was soon greatly admired by them for his sanctity. He foresaw his death, which happened shortly after, in 507. The place is now an abbey of reformed canons regular of St. Austin. The Huguenots scattered the greats? part of his relics when they plundered this church. Reflection. — God loads with His favor those who de- light in exercising mercy. " According to thy ability be merciful: if thou hast much, give abundantly; if thou hast little, take care even so to bestow willingly a little.'' February 12.— ST. BENEDICT OF ANIAN. (TI^ENEDiCT was the son of Aigulf, Governor of Langue- ^^kL^ doc, and was born about 750. In his early youth he served as cup-bearer to King Pepin and his son Charle- magne, enjoying under them great honors and possessions. Grace entered his soul at the age of twenty, and he re- solved to seek the kingdom of God with his whole heart. Without relinquishing his place at court, he lived there a most mortified life for three years; then a narrow escape from drowning made him vow to quit the world, and he entered the cloister of St. Seine. In reward for his heroic austerities in the monastic state, Go^ bestowed upon n LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Febeuabt is him the gift of tears, and inspired him with a knowledge of spiritual things. As procurator, he was most careful of the wants of the brethren, and most hospitable to the poor and to guests. Declining to accept the abbacy, he built himself a little hermitage on the brook Anian, and lived some years in great solitude and poverty; but the fame of his sanctity drawing many souls around him, he was obliged to build a large abbey, and within a short time governed three hundred monks. He became the great restorer of monastic discipline throughout France and Germany. First, he drew up with immense labor a code of the rules of St. Benedict, his great namesake, which he collated with those of the chief monastic found- ers, showing the uniformity of the exercises in each, and enforced by his " Penitential " their exact observance ; secondly, he minutely regulated all matters regarding food, clothing, and every detail of life; and thirdly, by prescribing the same for all, he excluded jealousies and insured perfect charity. In a Provincial Council held in 813, under Charlemagne, at which he was present, it was declared that all monks of the West should adopt the rule of St. Benedict. He died February 11, 821. Reflection. — The decay of monastic discipline and its restoration by St. Benedict prove that none are safe from loss of fervor, but that all can regain it by fidelity to grace. February 13.— ST. CATHERINE OF RICCI. 'lexandrina of Eicci was the daughter of a noble Florentine. At the age of thirteen she entered the Third Order of St. Dominic in the monastery of Prato, taking in religion the name of Catherine, after her patron and namesake of Siena. Her special attraction was to the Passion of Christ, in which she was permitted miraculously to participate. In the Lent of 1541, being then twenty-one years of age, she had a vision of the crucifixion so heart- rending that she was confined to bed for three weeks, and was only restored, on Holy Saturday, by an apparition of St. Mary Magdalene and Jesus risen. During twelve years she passed every Friday ia ecstasy. She received the sa- Febeuabt 14] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 73 cred stigmata, the wound in the left side, and the crown of thorns. All these favors gave her continual and intense suffering, and inspired her with a loving sympathy for the yet more bitter tortures of the Holy Souls. In their be- half she offered all her prayers and penances; and her charity toward them became so famous throughout Tus- cany that after every death the friends of the deceased hastened to Catherine to secure her prayers. St. Cath- erine offered many prayers, fasts, and penances for a cer- tain great man, and thus obtained his salvation. It was revealed to her that he was in purgatory; and such was her love of Jesus crucified that she otrered to suffer all the pains about to be inflicted on that soul. Her prayer was granted. The soul entered heaven, and for forty days Catherine suffered indescribable agonies. Her body was covered with blisters, emitting heat so great that her cell seemed on fire. Her flesh appeared as if roasted, and her tongue like red-hot iron. Amid all she was calm and joyful, saying, " I long to suffer all imaginable pains, that souls may quickly see and praise their Redeemer." She knew by revelation the arrival of a soul in purgatory, and the hour of its release. She held intercourse with the Saints in glory, and frequently conversed with St. Philip Neri at Eome without ever leaving her convent at Prato. She died, amid angels' songs, in 1589. Reflection. — If we truly love Jesus crucified, we must long, as did St. Catherine, to release the Holy Souls whom He has redeemed but has left to our charity to set free. February 14.— ST. VALENTINE, Priest and Martyr. VALENTINE was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on find- ing all his promises to make him renounce his faith in- effectual, commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and afterward to be beheaded, which was executed on the 14th of February, about the year 270. Pope Julius I, is said tf> 74 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Febeuabt 15 have built a churcli near Ponte Mole to his memory, which for a long time gave name to the gate now called Porta del Popolo, formerly Porta Valentini. The greater part of his relics are now in the Church of St. Praxedes. To abolish the heathens' lewd superstitious custom of boys drawing the names of girls, in honor of their goddess Feb- ruata Juno, on the 15th of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of Saints in billets given on this day. Reflection. — In the cause of justice and truth, prudence should not be held in account; otherwise prudence is mere human respect. St. Paul says: "The wisdom of the flesh is death." February 15.— STS. FAUSTINUS and JO VITA, Martyrs. HAUSTiNTTS and Jovita were brothers, nobly born, and zealous professors of the Christian religion, which they preached without fear in their city of Brescia, while the bishop of that place lay concealed during the persecu- tion. Their remarkable zeal excited the fury of the heathens against them, and procured them a glorious death for their faith at Brescia in Lombardy, under the Em- peror Adrian. Julian, a heathen lord, apprehended them : and the emperor himself, passing through Brescia, when neither threats nor torments could shake their constancy, commanded them to be beheaded. They seem to have suffered about the year 121. The city of Brescia honors them as its chief patrons, possesses their relics, and a very ancient church in that city bears their names. Reflection. — The spirit of Christ is a spirit of martyr- dom — at least of mortification and penance. It is al- ways the spirit of the cross. The more we share in the suffering life of Christ, the greater share we inherit in His spirit, and in the fruit of His death. To souls _ mortified to their senses and disengaged from earthly things, God gives frequent foretastes of the sweetness of eternal life, and the most ardent desires of possessing Hira in His Febbuart 16] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 75 glory. This is the spirit of martypdom, which entitles a Christian to a happy resurrection and to the bliss of the life to come. February i6.— BLESSED JOHN DE BRITTO, Martyr. ^oisr Pedro II. of Portugal, when a child, had among- his little pages a modest boy of rich and princely parents. Much had John de Britto — for so was he called — to bear from his careless-living companions, to whom his holy life was a reproach. A terrible illness made him turn for aid to St. Francis Xavier, a Saint so well loved by the Portuguese; and when, in answer to his prayers, he recovered, his mother vested him for a year in the dress worn in those days by the Jesuit Fathers. From that time John's heart burned to follow the example of the Apostle of the Indies. He gained his wish. On December 17, 1663, he entered the novitiate of the Society at Lisbon; and eleven years later, in spite of the most determined opposition of his family and of the court, he left all to go to convert the Hindus of Madura. When Blessed John's mother knew that her son was going to the Indies, she used all her influence to prevent him leaving his own tountry, and persuaded the Papal Nuncio to interfere. " God, Who called me from the world into religious life, now calls me from Portugal to India," was the reply of the future martyr. " Not to answer the vocation as I ought, would be to provoke the justice of God. As long as I live, I shall never cease striving to gain a passage to India." For fourteen years he toiled, preaching, converting, bap- tizing multitudes, at the cost of privations, hardships, and persecutions. At last, after being seized, tortured, and nearly massacred by the heathens, he was banished from the country. Forced to return to Portugal, John once more broke through every obstacle, and went back again to his labor of love. Like St. John the Baptist, he died a victim to the anger of a guilty woman, whom a convert king had put aside, and, like the Precursor, he was beheaded] after a painful imprisonment. 76 LIVES OF. THE SAINTS [February 17 Reflection. — " It is a great honor, a great glory to serve; God, and to contemn alMhings for God. They will have a great grace who freely subject themselves to God's most holy will." — The Imitation of Christ. ST. ONESIMUS, Disciple of St. Paul. "te^E was a Phrygian by birth, slave to Philemon, a person 4-J5 of note of tiie city of Colossas, converted to the faith by St. Paul. Having robbed his master and being obliged to fly, he providentially met with St. Paul, then a prisoner for the faith at Rome, who there converted and baptized him, and sent him with his canonical letter of recommen- dation to Philemon, by whom he was pardoned, set at liberty, and sent back to his spiritual father, whom he afterwards faithfully served. That apostle made him, with Tychicus, the bearer of his Epistle to the Colossians, and afterwards, as St. Jerome and other Fathers witness, a preacher of the Gospel and a bishop. He was crowned with martyrdom under Domitian in the year 95. Reflection. — With what excess of goodness does God communicate Himself to souls that open themselves to Him ! With what caresses does He often visit them ! With what a profusion of graces does He enrich and strengthen them! In our trials and temptations let us then offer our hearts to God, remembering, as St. Paul says, " To them that love God all things work together unto good." February 17.— ST. FLAVIAN, Bishop, Martyr. HLAVIAN was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 447. His short episcopate of two years was a time of conflict and persecution from the first. Chrysaphius, the emperor's favorite, tried to extort a large sum of money from him on the occasion of his consecration. ■ His fidelity in refusing this simoniacal betrayal of his trust brought on him the enmity of the most powerful man in the empire. A graver trouble soon arose. In 448 Flavian had to Febeuaby 18] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 77i condemn the rising heresy of the monk Eutychcs, who ob- stinately denied that Our Lord was in two perfect natures after His Incarnation. Eutyches drew to his cause all the bad elements which so early gathered about the Byzantine court. His intrigues were long bafiled by the vigilance of Flavian; but at last he obtained from the emperor the assembly of a council at Ephesus, in August 449, presided over by his friend Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria. Into this " robber council," as it is called, Eutyches en- tered, surrounded by soldiers. The Eoman legates could not even read the Pope's letters; and at the first sign of resistance to the condemnation of Flavian, fresh troops entered with drawn swords, and, in spite of the protests of the legates, terrified most of the bishops into acquies- cence. The fury of Dioscorus reached its height when Flavian appealed to the Holy See. Then it was that he so forgot his apostolic office as to lay violent hands on his adversary. St. Flavian was set upon by Dioscorus and others, thrown down, beaten, kicked, and finally carried into banishment. Let us contrast their ends. Flavian clung to the teaching of the Roman Pontiff, and sealed his faith with his blood. Dioscorus excommunicated the Vicar of Christ, and died obstinate and impenitent in the heresy of Eutyches. Reflection. — By his unswerving loyalty to the Vicar of Christ, Flavian held fast to the truth and gained the martyr's crown. Let us learn from him to turn instinc- tively to that one true guide in all matters concerning our salvation. February i8.— ST. SIMEON, Bishop, Martyr. ^T. Simeon was the son of Cleophas, otherwise called Alpheus, brother to St. Joseph, and of Mary, sister to the Blessed Virgin. He was therefore nephew both to St. Joseph and to the Blessed Virgin, and cousin to Our Saviour. V/e cannot doubt but that he was an early fol- lower of Christ, and that he received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, with the Blessed Virgin and the apostles. VvHien the Jews massacred St. James the Lesser, ^8 LIVES OE THE SAINTS [Febeuaby is his brother Simeon reproached them for their atrocious cruelty. St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, being put ta death in the year 62, twenty-nine years after Our Saviour's Resurrection, the apostles and disciples met at Jerusalem to appoint him a successor. They unanimously chose St. Simeon, who had probably before assisted his brother in the government of that Church. In the year 66, in which Sts. Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom at Rome, the civil war began in Judea, by the seditions of the Jews against the Romans. The Christians in Jerusalem were warned by God of the impending de- struction of that city. They therefore departed out of it the same year, — before Vespasian, Nero's general, and afterwards emperor, entered Judea, — and retired beyond Jordan to a small city called Pella, having St. Simeon at their head. After the taking and burning of Jerusalem they returned thither again, and settled themselves amidst its ruins, till Adrian afterwards entirely razed it. The Church here flourished, and multitudes of Jews were con- verted by the great number of prodigies and miracles ■wrought in it. Vespasian and Domitian had commanded all to be put to death who were of the race of David. St. Simeon had escaped their searches; but, Trajan having given the same order, certain heretics and Jews accused the Saint, as being both of the race of David and a Christian, to Atticus, the Roman governor in Palestine. The holy bishop was con- demned to be crucified. After having undergone the usual tortures during several days, which, though one hundred and twenty years old, he suffered with so much patience that he drew on him a universal admiration, and that of Atticus in particular, he died in 107. He must have gov- erned the Church of Jerusalem about forty-three years. Reflection. — We bear the name of Christians, but are full of the spirit of worldlings, and our actions are in- fected with the poison of the world. We secretly seek ourselves, even when we flatter ourselves that God is our only aim; and whilst we undertake to convert the world, we suffer it to pervert us. When shall we begin to study to crucify our passions and die to ourselves, that we may x.fiBBUAEY 19] LIVES OF THE SAINTS »9 lay a solid foundation of true virtue and establish it& leign in our hearts? February 19.— ST. BARBATUS, Bishop. fT. Barbatus was born in the territory of Benevento in Italy, toward the end of the pontificate of St. Greg- ory the Great, in the beginning of the seventh century. His parents gave him a Christian education, and Barbatus in his youth laid the foundation of that eminent sanctity which recommends him to our veneration. The innocence, simplicity, and purity of his manners, and his extraordi- nary progress in all virtues, qualified him for the service of the altar, to which he was assumed by taking Holy Orders as soon as the canons of the Church would allow it. He was immediately employed by his bishop in preaching, for which he had an extraordinary talent, and, after some time, made curate of St. Basil's in Morcona, a town near Benevento. His parishioners were steeled in their irregu- larities, and they treated him as a disturber of their peace, and persecuted him with the utmost violence. Finding their malice conquered by his patience and humility, and his character shining still more bright, they had recourse to slanders, in which their virulence and success were such that he was obliged to withdraw his charitable endeavors among them. Barbatus returned to Benevento, where he was received with joy. When St. Barbatus entered upon his ministry in that city, the Christians themselves re- tained many idolatrous superstitions, which even their duke, Prince Eomuald, authorized by his example, though son of Grimoald, King of the Lombards, who had edified all Italy by his conversion. They expressed a religious veneration for a golden viper, and prostrated themselves before it; they also paid superstitious honor to a tree, on which they hung the skin of a wild beast ; and those cere- monies were closed by public games, in which the skin served for a mark at which bowmen shot arrows over their shoulders. St. Barbatus preached zealously against these abuses, and at length he roused the attention of the people by foretelling the distress of their city, and the calamities 80 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Februaby 20 which it was to suffer from the army of the Emperor Constans, who, landing soon after in Italy, laid siege to Benevento. lldebrand, Bishop of Benevento, dying dur- ing the siege, after the public tranquillity was restored St. Barbatus was consecrated bishop on the 10th of March, 663. Barbatus, being invested with the episcopal char- acter, pursued and completed the good work which he had so happily begun, and destroyed every trace of super- stition in the whole state. In the year 680 he assisted in a council held by Pope Agatho at Eome, and the year following in the Sixth General Council held at Constanti- nople against the Monothelites. He did not long survive this great assembly, for he died on the 29th of February, 682, being about seventy years old, almost nineteen of which he had spent in the episcopal chair. Reflection. — St. Augustine says: "When the enemy has been cast out of your hearts, renounce him, not only in word, but in work; not only by the sound of the lips, but in every act of your life.'* February 20.— ST. EUCHERIUS, Bishop. ^^vHis Saint was born at Orleans, of a. very illustrious Wi/ family. At his birth his parents dedicated him to God, and set him to study when he was but seven years old, resolving to omit nothing that could be done toward cultivating his mind or forming his heart His improve- ment in virtue kept pace wdth his progress in learning: he meditated assiduously on the sacred writings, especially on St. Paul's manner of speaking on the world and its enjoy- ments as mere empty shadows that deceive Us and vanish away. These reflections at length sank sc deep into his mind that he resolved to quit the world. To put this design in execution, about the year 714 he retired to the abbey of Jumiege in Normandy, where he spent six or seven years in the practice of penitential austerities and obedience. Suavaric, his uncle, Bishop of Orleans, having died, the senate and people, with the clergy of that city, begged permission to elect Eucherius to the vacant see. The Saint entreated his monks to screen him fi^9**« ^he S*EBBUAEY 21] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 91 dangers that threatened him ; but they preferred the pablie good to their private inclinations, and resigned him for that important charge. He was consecrated with uni- versal applause in 721. Charles Martel, to defray the expenses of his wars and other undertakings, often stripped the churches of their revenues. St. Eucherius reproved these encroachments with so much zeal that, in the year 'J'37, Charles banished him to Cologne. The extraordinary esteem which his virtue procured him in that city moved Charles to order him to be conveyed thence to a strong place in the territory of Liege. Eobert, the governor of that country, was so charmed with his virtue that he made him the distributor of his large alms, and allowed him to retire to the monastery of Sarchinium, or St. Tron's. Here prayer and contemplation were his whole employment till the year 743, in which he died, on the 20th of February. Reflection. — ]!^othing softens the soul and weakens piety so much as frivolous indulgence. God has revealed what high store He sets by " retirement " in these words : "I will lead her into solitude, and I will speak to her heart." February 21.—ST. SEVERIANUS, Martyr, Bishop. XN the reign of Marcian and St. Pulcheria, the Council of Chalcedon, which condemned the Eutychiaa heresy, was received by St. Euthymius and by a great part of the monks of Palestine. But Theodosius, an ig- norant Eutychian monk, and a man of a most tyrannical temper, under the protection of the Empress Eudoxia, widow of Theodosius the Younger, who lived at Jerusalem, perverted many among the monks themselves, and having obliged Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, to withdraw, un- justly possessed himself of that important see, and, in a cruel persecution which he raised, filled Jerusalem with blood; then, at the head of a band of soldiers, he carried desolation over the country. Many, however, had the courage to stand their ground. No one resisted him with greater zeal and resolution than Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, and his recompense was the crown of martyr- gg LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Febbtjabt 22 ^om; for the furious soldiers seized his person, dragged him out of the city, and massacred him, in the latter part of the year 453 or in the beginning of the year 453. Reflection. — With what floods of tears can we suffi- ciently bewail so grievous a misfortune, and implore the divine mercy in behalf of so many souls! How ought we to be alarmed at the consideration of so many dreadful examples of God's inscrutable judgments, and tremble for ourselves ! " Let him who stands beware lest he fall." *^Hold fast what thou hast," says the oracle of the Holy Ghost to every one of us, "lest another bear away thy crown." February 22.--ST. PETER'S CHAIR AT ANTIOCH. >^^HAT St. Peter, before he went to Rome, founded the ^y see of Antioch is attested by many Saints. It was just that the Prince of the Apostles should take this city under his particular care and inspection, which was then the capital of the East, and in which the faith took so early and so deep root as to give birth in it to the name of Christians. St. Chrysostom says that St. Peter made there a long stay; St. Gregory the Great, that he was Beven years Bishop of Antioch; not that he resided there all that time, but only that he had a particular care over that Church. If he sat twenty-five years at Rome, the date of his establishing his chair at Antioch must be within three years after Our Saviour's Ascension; for in that supposition he must have gone to Rome in the second year of Claudius. In the first ages it was customary, es- pecially in the East, for every Christian to keep the anni- versary of his Baptism, on which he renewed his baptismal vows and gave thanks to God for his heavenly adoption: this they called their spiritual birthday. The bishops in like manner kept the anniversary of their own consecra- tion, as appears from four sermons of St. Leo on the anniversary of his accession or assumption to the pon- tifical dignity; and this was frequently continued after their decease by the people, out of respect for their mem- ory. St. Leo says we ought to celebrate the chair of St. Febbuaey 23] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 83 Peter with no less joy than the day of his martyrdom; for as in this he was exalted to a throne of glory in heaven, so by the former he was installed head of the Church on earth. Reflection. — On this festival we are especially bound to adore and thank the Divine Goodness for the establish- ment and propagation of His Church, and earnestly to pray that in His mercy He preserve the same, and dilate its pale, that His name may be glorified by all nations, and by all hearts, to the boundaries of the earth, for His di- vine honor and the salvation of souls, framed to His divine image, and the price of His adorable blood. February 23.— ST. PETER DAMIAN. ^T. Peter Damian was born in 988, and lost both! parents at an early age. His eldest brother, in whose hands he was left, treated him so cruelly that a younger brother, a priest, moved by his piteous state, sent him to the University of Parma, where he acquired great distinction. His studies were sanctified by vigils, fasts, and prayers, till at last, thinking that all this was only serving God by halves, he resolved to leave the world. He joined the monks at Font-Avellano, then in the greatest repute, and by his wisdom and sanctity rose to be Superior. He was employed on the most delicate and difficult mis- sions, amongst others the reform of ecclesiastical commu- nities, which was effected by his zeal. Seven Popes in succession made him their constant adviser, and he was at last created Cardinal Bishop of Ostia. He withstood! Henry IV. of Germany, and labored in defence of Alex- ander II. against the Antipope, whom he forced to yield and seek for pardon. He was charged, as Papal Legate, with the repression of simony; again, was commissioned) to settle discords amongst various bishops, and finally, in 1072, to adjust the affairs of the Church at Ravenna. He was laid low by a fever on his homeward journey, and diedi at Faenza, in a monastery of his order, on the eighth day of his sickness, whilst the monks chantsd matins around him. 94' LIVES OF TUB SAINTS [Febbtjaby 23 Reflection. — The Saints studied, not in order to be ac- caunted learned, but to become perfect. This only is wis- dom and true greatness, to account ourselves as ignorant, and to adhere in all things to the teachings and instincts of the Church. ST. SERENUS, a Gardener, 'VTartyr. [ERENUS was by birth a Grecian. Iff fitted estate, friends, and country to serve God in Ct^ibacy, pen- ance, and prayer. With this design he bought a garden in Sirmium in Pannonia, which he cultivated with his own hands, and lived on the fruits and herbs it produced. One day there came thither a woman, with her two daughters. Serenus, seeing them come up, advised them to withdraw, and to conduct themselves in future as decency required in persons of their sex and condition. The woman, stung at our Saint's charitable remonstrance, retired in confusion, but resolved on revenging the supposed affront. She ac- cordingly wrote to her husband that Serenus had insulted her. He, on receiving her letter, went to the emperor to demand justice, whereupon the emperor gave him a letter to the governor of the province to enable him to obtain satisfaction. The governor ordered Serenus to be imme- diately brought before him. .Serenus, on hearing the charge, answered, " I remember that, some time ago, a lady came into my garden at an unseasonable hour, and I own I took the liberty to tell her it was against decency for one of her sex and quality to be abroad at such an hour." This plea of Serenus having put the officer to the blush for his wife's conduct, he dropped his prosecution. But the governor, suspecting by this answer that Serenus might be a Christian, began to question him, saying, " Who are you, and what is your religion ? " Serenus, without hesitating one moment, answered, " I am a Christian. It seemed a while ago as if God rejected me as a stone unfit to enter His building, but He has the goodness to take me now to be placed in it; I am ready to suffer all things for His name, that I may have a part in Hia kingdom with His Saints.'* Hie governor, hearing this. 'Febbuaet 24] LIVES OF TEF SAINTS 85 burst into rage and said, " Since you sought to elude by flight the emperor's edicts, and have positively refused to sacrifice to the gods, I condemn you for these crimes to lose your head." The sentence was no sooner pronounced than the Saint was carried off and beheaded, on the 23d of February, in 307. Reflection. — The garden affords a beautiful emblem of a ChrLstian's continual progress in the path of virtue. Plants always mount upwards, and never stop in their growth till they have attained to that maturity which the Author of nature has prescribed. So in a Christian, everything ought to carry him toward that perfection which the sanctity of his state requires; and every desire of his soul, every action of his life should be a step ad- vancing to this in a direct line. February 24.— ST. MATTHIAS, Apostle. FTER our blessed Lord's Ascension His disciples met ._^ . together, with Mary His mother and the eleven apostles, in an upper room at Jerusalem. The little com- pany numbered no more than one hundred and twenty souls. They were waiting for the promised coming of the Holy Ghost, and they persevered in prayer. Meanwhile there was a solemn act to be performed on the part of the Church, which could not be postponed. The place of the fallen Judas must be filled up, that the elect number of the apostles might be complete. St. Peter, therefore, as Vicar of Christ, arose to announce the divine decree. That which the Holy Ghost had spoken by the mouth of David concern- ing Judas, he said, must be fulfilled. Of him it had been written, " His bishopric let another take.'' A choice, there- fore, was to be made of one among those who had been their companions from the beginning, who could bear wit- ness to the Resurrection of Jesus. Two were named of equal merit, Joseph called Barsabas, and Matthias. Then, after praying to God, Who knows the hearts of all men, to show which of these He had chosen, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, who was forthwith numbered with the apostles. It is recorded of the Saint, thus wonderfully m LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Febbuaby 25 elected to so high a vocation, that he was above all remarkr able for his mortification of the flesh. It was thus that he made his election sure. Reflection. — Our ignorance of many points in St. Mat- thias's life serves to fix the attention all the more firmly .upon these two — the occasion of his call to the apostolate, and the fact of his perseverance. We then naturally turn in thought to our own vocation and our own end. February 25.— ST. TARASIUSu ^^ARASius was born at Constantinople about the middle vl/ of the eighth centiiry, of a noble family. His mother Eucratia, brought him up in the practice of the most eminent virtues. By his talents and virtue he gained the esteem of all, and was raised to the greatest honors of the empire, being made consul, and afterwards first secre- tary of state to the Emperor Constantine and the Empress Irene, his mother. In the midst of the court, and in ita highest honors, he led a life like that of a religious man. Paul, Patriarch of Constantinople, the third of that name, though he had conformed in some respects to the then reigning heres}'', had several good qualities, and was not only beloved by the people for his charity to the poor, but highly esteemed by the whole court for his great prudence. Touched with remorse, he quitted the patriarchal see, and! put on a religious habit in the monastery of Floras in ■Constantinople. Tarasius was chosen to succeed him by the unanimous consent of the court, clergy, and people. Finding it in vain to oppose his election, he declared that he could not in conscience accept of tlie government of a eee which had been cut off from the Catholic communion, except on condition that a general council should be called to compose the disputes which divided the Church at that time in relation to holy images. This being agreed to, he was solemnly declared patriarch, and consecrated soon after, on Christmas Day. The council was opened on the 1st of August, in the Church of the Apostles at Constanti- nople, in 786 ; but, being disturbed by the violences of thf^ Iconoclasts, it adjourned, and met again the year following Febeuaey 26] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 87 in the Church of St. Sophia at Nice. The council, having declared the sense of the Church in relation to the matter in debate, which was found to be the allowing to holy (pictures and images a relative honor, was closed with the usual acclamations and prayers for the prosperity of the emperor and empress; after which, synodal letters were sent to all the churches, and in particular to the Pope, who approved the council. The life of this holy patriarch was a model of perfection to his clergy and people. His table contained barely the necessaries of life; he allowed himself very little time for sleep, being always up the first and last in his family. Eeading and prayer filled all his leisure hours. The emperor having become enamoured of Theo- dota, a maid of honor to his wife, the Empress Mary, was resolved to divorce the latter. He used all his efforts to gain the patriarch over to his desires, but St. Tarasius resolutely refused to countenance the iniquity. The holy man gave up his soul to God in peace on the 25th of Feb- ruary, 806, after having sat twenty-one years and two months. Reflection. — The highest praise which Scripture pro- nounces on the holy man Job is comprised in these words, " He was simple and upright." February 26.— ST. PORPHYRY, Bishop. ["t the age of twenty-five. Porphyry, a rich citizen of Thessalonica, left the world for one of the great re^ ligious houses in the desert of Scete. Here he remained five years, and then, finding himself drawn to a more soli- tary life, passed into Palestine, where he spent a similar period in the severest penance, till ill health obliged him to moderate his austerities. He then made his home in Jeru- salem, and in spite of his ailments visited the Holy Places every day; thinking, says his biographer, so little of his sickness that he seemed to be afflicted in another body, and not his own. About this time God put it into his heart to sell all he had and give to the poor, and then in reward of «he sacrifice restored him by a miracle to perfect health. In 393 he was ordained priest and intrusted with the care 88 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Febeuabt 27 of the relics of the true cross ; three years later, in spite of all the resistance his humility could make, he was conse- crated Bishop of Gaza. That city was a hotbed of pagan- ism, and Porphyry found in it an ample scope for his apostolic zeal. His labors and the miracles which at- tended them effected the conversion of many; and an imperial edict for the destruction of the pagan temples, obtained through the influence of St. John Chrysostom, greatly strengthened his hands. When St. Porphyry first went to Gaza, he found there one temple more splendid than the rest, in honor of the chief god. When the edict went forth to destroy all traces of heathen worship, St. Porphyry determined to put Satan to special shame where he had received special honor. A Christian church was built upon the site, and its approach was paved with the marbles of the heathen temple. Thus every worshipper of Jesus Christ trod the relics of idolatry and superstition underfoot each time he went to assist at the holy Mass. He lived to see his diocese for the most part clear of idol- atry, and died in 420, Reflection. — All superstitious searching into secret things is forbidden by the First Commandment equally with the worship of any false god. Let us ask St. Por- phyry for a great zeal in keeping this commandment, lest we be led away, as so many are, by a curious and prying mind. February 27.— ST. LEANDER, Bishop. Jt. Leander was born of an illustrious family at Cartha- gena in Spain. He was the eldest of five brothers, several of whom are numbered among the Saints. He entered into a monastery very young, where he lived many years and attained to an eminent degree of virtue and sacred learning. These qualities occasioned his being pro- moted to the see of Seville; but his change of condition made little or no alteration in his method of life, though it brought on him a great increase of care and solicitude. Spain at that time was in possession of the Visig-oths. These Goths, being infected with Arianism, established this Febbuaby 28] LIVES OF THE SAINTS heresy wherever they came; so that when St. I^ander was made bishop it had reigned in Spain a hundred years. This was his great affliction; however, by his prayers to God, and by his most zealous and unwearied endeavors, he became the happy instrument of the conversion of that nation to the Catholic faith. Having converted, among others, Hermenegild, the king's eldest son and heir ap- parent, Leander was banished by King Leovigild. This pious prince was put to death by his unnatural father, the year following, for refusing to receive Communion from the hands of an Arian bishop. But, touched with remorse not long after, the king recalled our Saint; and falling sick and finding himself past hopes of recovery, he sent for St, Leander, and recommended to him his son Recared. This son, by listening to St. Leander, soon became a Cath- olic, and finally converted the whole nation of the Visi- goths. He was no less successful with respect to the Suevi, a people of Spain, whom his father Leovigild had per- verted. St. Leander was no less zealous in the reformation of manners than in restoring the purity of faith; and he planted the seeds of that zeal and fervor which afterwards produced so many martyrs and Saints. This holy doctor of Spain died about the year 596, on the 27th of February, as Mabillon proves from his epitaph. The Church of Seville has been a metropolitan see ever since the third century. The cathedral is the most magnificent, both as to ctructure and ornament, of any in all Spain. February 28.— STS. ROMANUS and LUPICINUS, Abbots. (j^\oMANUS at thirty-five years of age left his relatives J^ and spent some time in the monastery of Ainay at Lyons, at the great church at the conflux of the Saone and Rhone which the faithful had built over the ashes of the famous martyrs of that city ; for their bodies being burned by the pagans, their ashes were thrown into the Rhone, but a great part of them was gathered by the Christians and deposited in this place. Eomanus a short time after re- 90 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Febbuabt 2& tired into the forests of Mount Jura, between France and Switzerland, and fixed his abode at a place called Condate, at the conflux of the rivers Bienne and Aliere, where he found a spot of ground fit for culture, and some trees which furnished him with a kind of wild fruit. Here he spent his time in praying, reading, and laboring for hia subsistence. Lupicinus, his brother, came to him some time after in company with others, who were followed by several more, drawn by the fame of the virtue and miracles of these two Saints. Their numbers increasing, they buili several monasteries, and a nunnery called La Beaume, which no men were allowed ever to enter, and where St. Eomanus chose his burial-place. The brothers governed the monks jointly and in great harmony, though Lupicinui •was the more inclined to severity of the two, Lupicinus* used no other bed than a chair or a hard board; neve-# touched wine, and would scarcely ever suffer a drop eithev ©f oil or milk to be poured on his pottage. In summer hii •subsistence for many years was only hard bread moistened in cold water, so that he could eat it with a spoon. His tunic was made of various skins of beasts sewn together, ■with a cowl ; he used wooden shoes, and wore no stockings unless when he was obliged to go out of the monastery. St. Eomanus died about the year 460, and St. Lupicinua survived him almost twenty years. February 29. — ST. OSWALD, Bishop. OSWALD was of a noble Saxon family, and was endowed with a very rare and beautiful form of body and •with a singular piety of soul. He was brought up by his uncle, St. Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was chosen, ■while still young, dean of the secular canons of Winchester, then very relaxed. His attempt to reform them was a failure; and he saw, with that infallible instinct which so often guides the Saints in critical times, that the true remedy for the corruptions of the clergy was the restora- tion of the monastic life. He therefore went to France and took the habit of St. Benedict, but returned, only to receive the news of Odo's death. He found, however, a oyiABCH 1] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 91 new patron in St. Dunstan, now metropolitan, through whose influence he was nominated to the see of Worcester. To these two Saints, together with Ethelwold of Win- chester, the monastic revival of the tenth century is m-ainly due. Oswald's first care was to deprive of their benefices the disorderly clerics, whom he replaced as far as possible by regulars, and himself founded seven religious houses. Considering that in the hearts of the secular canons there were yet some sparks of virtue, he would not at once expel them, but rather entrapped them by a holy artifice. Adjoining the cathedral he built a church ia honor of the Mother of God, causing it to be served by a body of strict religious. He himself assisted at the divine Office in this church, and his example was followed by the people. The canons, finding themselves isolated and their cathedral deserted, chose rather to embrace the religious life than to continue not only to injure their own souls, but to be a mockery to their people by reason of the con- trast offered by their worldliness to the regularity of their religious brethren. As Archbishop of York a like success attended St. Oswald's efforts; and God manifested His approval of his zeal by discovering to him the relics of his great predecessor, St. Wilfrid, which he reverently trans- lated to Worcester. He died February 29, 992. Reflection. — ^A soul without discipline is like a ship without a helm ; she must inevitabl}'' strike unawares upon the rocks, founder on the shoals, or float unknowingly into the harbor of the enemy. March i.— ST. DAVID, Bishop. [t. David, son of Sant, Prince of Cardigan and oU Non, was born in that country in the fifth century, and from his earliest years gave himself wholly to the service of God. He began his religious life under St. Paulinus, a disciple of St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, •^rho had been sent to Britain by Pope St. Celestine to stop the ravages of the heresy of Pelagius, at that time abbot, as it is said, of Bangor. On the reappearance of that heresy, in the beginning of the sixth century, the bishops 9g LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Mabch 1 assembled at Brevi, and, unable to address the people that came to hear the word of truth, sent for St. David from his cell to preach to them. The Saint came, and it is related that, as he preached, the ground beneath his feet rose and became a hill, so that he was heard by an innumerable crowd. The heresy fell under the sword of the Spirit, and the Saint was elected Bishop of Caerleon on the resignation of St. Dubricius; but he removed the eee to Menevia, a lone and desert spot, where he might, with his monks, serve God away from the noise of the world. He founded twelve monasteries, and governed his Church according to the canons sanctioned in Kome. At last, when about eighty years of age, he laid himself down, knowing that his hour was come. As his agony closed, Our Lord stood before him in a vision, and the Saint cried out : " Take me up with Thee," and so gave up his soul on Tuesday, March 1, 561. ST. ALBINUS, Bishop. [t. Albinus was of an ancient and noble family in Brit- tany, and from his childhood was fervent in every exercise of piety. He ardently sighed after the happiness which a devout soul finds in being perfectly disengaged from all earthly things. Having embraced the monastic state at Tintillant, near Angers, he shone a perfect model of virtue, living as if in all things he had been without any will of his own; and his soul seemed so perfectly gov- erned by the spirit of Christ as to live only for Him. At the age of thirty-five years he was chosen abbot, in 504, and twenty-five years afterwards Bishop of Angers. He everywhere restored discipline, being inflamed with a holy zeal for the honor of God. His dignity seemed to make no alteration either in his mortifications or in the constant recollection of his soul. Honored by all the world, even fey kings, he was never afltected with vanity. Powerful in works and miracles, he looked upon himself as the most unworthy and most unprofitable among the servants of God, and had no other ambition than to appear such in ttie eyes of others slh he was in those of his own humility. liABCH 2] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 93 In the third Council of Orleans, in 538, he procured the thirtieth canon of the Council of Epaone to be revived, by which those are declared excommunicated who presume to contract incestuous marriages in the first or second degree of consanguinity or affinity. He died on the 1st of March, in 549. Reflection, — With whatever virtues a man may be en- dowed, he will discover, if he considers himself attentively, a sufficient depth of misery to afford cause for deep humility; but Jesus Christ says, "He that humbleth him- self shall be exalted." March 2.— ST. SIMPLICIUS, Pope. [t. SnrPLicius was the ornament of the Eoman clergy under Sts. Leo and Hilarius, and succeeded the latter in the pontiUcate in 46S. He was raised by God to com- fort and support his Church amidst the greatest storms. All the provinces of the Western Empire, out of Italy, were fallen into the hands of barbarians. The emperors for many years were rather shadows of power than sov- ereigns, and, in the eighth year of the pontificate of Simplicius, Eome itself fell a prey to foreigners. Italy, by oppressions and the ravages of barbarians, was left almost a desert without inhabitants; and the imperial armies consisted chiefly of barbarians, hired under the name of auxiliaries. These soon saw that their masters were in their power. The Heruli demanded one third of the lands of Italy, and upon refusal chose for their leader Odoacer, one of the lowest extraction, but a resolute and intrepid man, who was proclaimed king of Eome in 476. He put to death Orestes, who was regent of the empire for his son Augustulus, whom the senate had ad- vanced to the imperial throne. Odoacer spared the life of Augustulus, appointed him a salary of six thousand pounds of gold, and permitted him to live at full liberty near Xaples. Pope Simplicius was wholly taken up in comforting and relieving the afflicted, and in sowing the seeds of the Catholic faith among the barbarians. The East gave his zeal no less emplo^Tuent and concern. Peter 94 Z77ii'>b' OF TEE SAINTS Di?abch c Cnapheus, a violent Eutychian, was made by the heretic? Patriarch of Antioch ; and Peter Mongus, one of the most profligate men, that of Alexandria. Acacius, the Patri- arch of Constantinople, received the sentence of St. Sim- plicius against Cnapheus, but supported Mongus against him and the Catholic Church, and was a notorious change- ling, double-dealer, and artful hypocrite, who often made religion serve his own private ends. St. Simplicius at length discovered his artifices, and redoubled his zeal to maintain the holy faith, which he saw betrayed on every Bide, whilst the patriarchal sees of Alexandria and An- tioch were occupied by furious wolves, and there was not one Catholic king in the whole world. The emperor measured everything by his passions and human views. St. Simpli«ius, having sat fifteen years, eleven months, and six days, went feo receive the reward of his labors in 483. He was buried in St. Peter's on the 2d of March. Reflection. — " He that trusteth in God shall fare never the worse," saith the Wise Man in the Book of Ecclesi- asticus. March 3.— ST. CUNEGUNDES, Empress. [t. Cunegundes was the daughter of Siegfried, the first Count of Luxemburg, and Hadeswige, his pious wife. They instilled into her from ber cradle the most tender sentiments of piety, and married her to St. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who, upon the death of the Emperor Otho III., was chosen king of the Eomans, and crowned on the 6th of 'June, 1002. She was crowned at Paderborn on St. Laurence's day. In the year 1014 she went with her hus- band to Eome, and received the imperial crown with him from the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. She had, by St- Henry's consent, before her marriage made a vow of vir- ginity. Calumniators afterwards made vile accusations against her, and the holy empress, to remove the scandal of such a slander, trusting in God to prove her innocence, walked over red-hot ploughshares without being hurt. The emperor condemned his too scrupulous fears and cre- dulity, and from that time they lived in the strictest union Ma«cs 3] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 95 of hearts, conspiring to promote in everything God's honor and the advancement of piety. Going once to make a retreat in Hesse, she fell danger- ously ill, and made a vow to found a monastery, if she re- covered, at Kaffungen, near Cassel, in the diocese of Pader- loorn, which she executed in a stately manner, and gave it (o nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. Before it was fin- isheni St. Henry died, in 1024. She earnestly recom- mended his soul to the prayers of others, especially to her ilear nuns, and expressed her longing desire of joining ihem. She had already exhausted her treasures in found- ing bishoprics and monasteries, and in relieving the poor, and she had therefore little left now to give. But still thirsting to embrace perfect evangelical poverty, and to renounce all to serve God without obstacle, she assembled a great number of prelates to the dedication of her church of Kaffungen on the anniversary day of her husband's death, 1035 ; and after the gospel was sung at Mass she offered on the altar a piece of the true cross, and then, putting off her imperial robes, clothed herself with a poor habit; her hair was cut off, and the bishop put on her a veil, and a ring as a pledge of her fidelity to her heavenly Spouse. After she was consecrated to God in religion, she seemed entirely to forget that she had been empress, and behaved as the last in the house, being persuaded that she was so before God. She prayed and read much, worked with her hands, and took a singular pleasure in visiting and comforting the sick. Thus she passed the last fifteen years of her life. Her mortifications at length reduced her to a very weak condition, and brought on her last sickness. Perceiving that they were preparing a cloth fringed with gold to cover her corpse after her death, she changed color and ordered it to be taken away; nor could she be at rest till she was promised she should be buried as a poor religious in her habit. She died on the 3d of March, 1040. Her body was carried to Bamberg and buried near that of her husband. She was solemnly can- onized by Innocent III. in 1200. Reflection. — Detachment of the mind, at least, is need- ful to those who cannot venture on an effectual renuncia- 96 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Mabch 4 "tion. " So likewise every one of 5'oti," saith Jesus Christ, " that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be My disciple/' March 4.--ST. CASIMIR, King. GASiMiR, the second son of Casimir III., King 01 Poland was born a. d. 1458. From the custody of a most virtuous mother, Elizabeth of Austria, he passed to the guardianship of a devoted master, the learned and pious John Dugloss. Thus animated from his earliest years by precept and example, his innocence and piety soon ripened into the practice of heroic virtue. At the age of twenty- five, sick of a lingering illness, he foretold the hour of his death, and chose to die a virgin rather than take the life and health which the doctors held out to him in the mar- ried state. In an atmosphere of luxury and magnificence the young prince had fasted, worn a hair-shirt, slept upon the bare earth, prayed by night, and watched for the open- ing of the church doors at dawn. He had become so ten- derly devoted to the Passion of Our Lord that at Mass he seemed quite rapt out of himself, and his charity to the poor and afflicted knew no bounds. His love for our blessed Lady he expressed in a long and beautiful hymn, familiar to us in our own tongue. The miracles wrought by his body after death fdl a volume. The blind saw, the lame walked, the sick were healed, a dead girl was raised to life. And once the Saint in glory led his countrymen to battle, and delivered them by a glorious victory from the schismatic Eussian hosts. One hundred and twenty-two years after his death the Saint's tomb in the cathedral of Vienna was opened, that the holy body might be transferred to the rich marble chapel where it now lies. The place was damp, and the very vault crumbled away in the hands of the workmen; yet the Saint's body, wrapped in robes of silk, was found whole and incorrupt, and emitted a sweet fragrance, which filled the church and refreshed all who were present. Under his head was found his hymn to Our Lady, which he had had buried with hini. The following night three Mabch 51 LIVES OF THE SAINTS 97 young men saw a brilliant light issuing from the open tomb and streaming through the windows of the chapel. Reflection.— Let the study of St. Casimir's life make us increase in devotion to the most pure Mother of God a sure means of preserving holy purity. March 5.— STS. ADRIAN and EUBULUS, Martyrs. XNthe seventh year of Diocletian's persecution, con- tinued by Galerius Maximianus, when Firmilian, the most bloody governor of Palestine, had stainud Csesarea with the blood of many illustrious martyrs, Adrian and Eubulus came out of the country called Magantia to Cffisarea, in order to visit the holy confessors there. At the gates of the city they were asked, as others were, whither they were going, and upon what errand. They ingenuously confessed the truth, and were brought before the president, who ordered them to be tortured and their sides to be torn with iron hooks, and then condemned them to be exposed to wild beasts. Two days after, when the pagans at Cssarea celebrated the festival of the public Genius, Adrian was exposed to a lion, and not being de- spatched by that beast, but only mangled, was at length killed by the sword. Eubulus was treated in the same manner two days later. The judge offered him his liberty if he would sacrifice to idols; but the Saint preferred a glorious death, and was the last that suffered in this perse- cution at Cffisarea, which had now continued twelve years, under three successive governors, Flavian, Urban, and Fir- milian. Pivine vengeance pursuing the cruel Firmilian, he was that same year beheaded for his crimes, by the emperor's order, as his predecessor Urban had been two years before. Reflection. — It is in vain that we take the name of Christians, or pretend to follow Christ, unless we carry our crosses aft-^r Him. It is in vain that we hope to share in His glory, and in His kingdom, if we accept not the con- dition. We cannot arrive at heaven by any other road but that which Christ held. Who bequeathed His cross to all His elect as their portion and inheritance in this world. LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Maech e March 6.— ST. COLETTE, Virgin. HFTER a holy childhood, Colette joined a society of devout women called the Beguines; but not finding their state sufficiently austere, she entered the Third Order of St, Francis, and lived in a hut near her parish church of Corbie in Picardy. Here she had passed four years of extraordinary penance when St. Francis, in a vision, bade her undertake the reform of her Order, then much re- laxed. Armed with due authority, she established her reform throughout a large part of Europe, and, in spite of the most violent opposition, founded seventeen convents of the strict observance. By the same wonderful prudence she assisted in healing the great schism which then afflicted the Church. The Fathers in council at Constance were in doubt how to deal with the three claimants to the tiara — John XXIII., Benedict XIII., and Gregory XII. At this crisis Colette, together with St. Vincent Ferrer, wrote to the Fathers to depose Benedict XIII., who alone refused his consent to a new election. This was done, and Martin iV. was elected, to the great good of the Church, Colette equally assisted the Council of Basle by her advice and prayers; and when, later, God revealed to her the spirit of revolt that was rising, she warned the bishops and legates to retire from the council. St, Colette never ceased to pray for the Church, while the devils, in turn, never ceased to assault her. They swarmed round her as hideous insects, buzzing and stinging her tender skin. They brought into her cell the decaying corpses of public criminals, and assuming themselves monstrous forms struck her savage blows ; or they would appear in the most seduc- tive guise, and tempt her by many deceits to sin. St. Co- lette once complained to Our Lord that the demons pre- vented her from praying. " Cease, then," said the devil to her, " your prayers to the great Master of the Church, and "^e will cease to torment you ; for you torment us more by your prayers than we do you," Yet the virgin of Christ triumphed alike over their threats and their allurements, and said she would count that day the unhappiest of her life in which she suffered nothing for her God, She died Marcu 7] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 99 March 6, 1447, in a transport of intercession for sinners and the Church. Reflection. — One of the greatest tests of being a good Catholic is zeal for the Church and devotion to Christ's Vicar. March 7.— ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. [t. Thomas was born of noble parents at Aquino in Italy, in 1236. At the age of nineteen he received the Dominican habit at Naples, where he was stud,ying. Seized by his brothers on his way to Paris, he suffered a two 5-ears' captivity in their castle of Eocca-Secca; but neither the caresses of his mother and sisters, nor the threats and stratagems of his brothers, could shake him in his vocation. While St. Thomas was in confinement at Eocca-Secca, his brothers endeavored to entrap him into sin, but the attempt only ended in the triumph of his purity. Snatching from the hearth a burning brand, the Saint drove from his chamber the wretched creature whom they had there concealed. Then marking a cross upon the wall, he knelt down to pray, and forthwith, being rapt in ecstasy, an angel girded him with a cord, in token of the gift of perpetual chastity which God had given him. The pain caused by the girdle was so sharp that St. Thomas uttered a piercing cry, which brought his guards into tho room. But he never told this grace to any one save only to Father Eaynald, his confessor, a little while before his death. Hence originated the Confraternity of the " An- gelic Warfare," for the preservation of the virtue of chas- tity. Having at length escaped, St. Thomas went to Cologne to study under Blessed Albert the Great, and after that to Paris, where for many years he taught philosophy and theology. The Church has ever venerated his numerous writings as a treasure-house of sacred doc- trine; while in naming him the Angelic Doctor she has indicated that his science is more divine than human. The rarest gifts of intellect were combined in him with the tenderest piety. Prayer, he said, had taught him more than study. His singular devotion to the Blessed Sacra- 100 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Mabch 8 ment shines forth in the Office and hymns for Corpus Christi, which he composed. To the words miraculously uttered by a crucifix at Naples, "Well hast thou written concerning Me, Thomas. What shall I give ihee as a reward?" he replied, "Naught save Thyself, O Lord." He died at Fossa-Nuova, 1274, on his way to the Gen- eral Council of Lyons, to which Pope Gregory X. had sum- moned him. Reflection. — The knowledge of God is for all, but hid- den treasures are reserved for those who have ever followed the Lamb. March 8.— ST. JOHN OF GOD. DOTHING in John's early life foreshadowed his future sanctity. He ran away as a boy from his home in Portugal, tended sheep and cattle in Spain, and served as a soldier against the French, and afterwards against the Turks. When about forty years of age, feeling remorse for his wild life, he resolved to devote himself to the ran- som of the Christian slaves in Africa, and went thither with the family of an exiled noble, which he maintained by his labor. On his return to Spain he sought to do good by selling holy pictures and books at low prices. At length the hour of grace struck. At Granada a sermon by the celebrated John of Avila shook his soul to its depths, and his expressions of self-abhorrence were so extraordi- nary that he was taken to the asylum as one mad. There he employed himself in ministering to the sick. On leaving he began to collect homeless poor, and to support them by his work and by begging. One night St. John found in the streets a poor man who seemed near death, and, as was his wont, he carried him to the hospital, laid him on a bed, and went to fetch water to wash his feet. When he had washed them, he knelt to kiss them, and started with awe : the feet were pierced, and the print of the nails bright with an unearthly radiance. He raised his eyes to look, and heard the words, " John, to Me thou doest all that thou doest to the poor in My name : I reach forth My hand for the alms thou givest; Me dost thou clothe, Mine are the Maech 9i LIVES OF THE SAINTS 101 feet thou dost wash." And then the graeiotis vision dis- appeared, leaving St. John filled at once with confusion and consolation. The bishop became the Saint's patron, and gave him the name of John of God. When his hos- pital was on fire, John was seen rushing about uninjured amidst the fiames until he had rescued all his poor. After ten years spent in the service of the suffering, the Saint's life was fitly closed. He plunged into the river Xenil to save a drowning boy, and died, 1550, of an illness brought on by the attempt, at the age of fifty-five. Reflection. — God often rewards men for works thai are pleasing in His sight by giving them grace and oppor- tunity to do other works higher still. St. John of God "used to attribute his conversion, and the graces which enabled him to do such great works, to his self-denying char it V in Africa. March 9.— ST. FRANCES OF ROME. ''ranges was born at Eome in 1384. Her parents wers of high rank. They overruled her desire to become a nun, and at twelve years of age married her to Eorenzo Ponziano, a Eoman noble. During the forty years ot their married life they never had a disagreement. While spending her days in retirement and prayer, she attended promptly to every household duty, saying, " A married woman must leave God at the altar to find Him in her domestic cares ; " and she once found the verse of a psalm in which she had been four times thus interrupted com- pleted for her in letters of gold. Her ordinary food was dry bread. Secretly she would exchange with beggars good food for their hard crusts; her drink was water, and her cup a human skull. During the invasion of Kome, in 1413, Ponziano was banished, his estates confiscated, his house destroyed, and his eldest son taken as a hostage. Prances saw in these losses only the finger of God, and blessed His holy name. When peace was restored Pon- ziano recovered his estate, and Frances founded the Oblates. After her husband's death, barefoot and with a cord about her neck she begged admission to the com- 10» LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Makch id munity, and was soon elected Superioress. She lived al- ways in the presence of God, and amongst many visions was given constant sight of her angel guardian, who shed such brightness around him that the Saint could read her midnight Office by this light alone. He shielded her in the hour of temptation, and directed her in every good act. But when she was betrayed into some defect, he faded from her sight; and when som.e light words were spoken before her, he covered his face in shame. She died on the day she had foretold, March 9, 1440. Reflection. — God has appointed an angel to guard each one of us, to whose warnings we are bound to attend. Let us listen to his voice here, and we sliall see him here- after when he leads us before the throne of God. March 10.— THE FORTY MARTYRS OF SEBASTE. Y^ HE Forty Maetyrs were soldiers quartered at Sebaste ^^ in Armenia, about the year 320. When their legion was ordered to offer sacrifice they separated themselves from the rest and formed a company of martyrs. After they had been torn by scourges and iron hooks they were, chained together and led to a lingering death. It was a cruel winter, and they were condemned to lie naked on the icy surface of a pond in the open air till they were frozen to death. But they ran undismayed to the place of their combat, joyfully stripped off their garments, and with one voice besought God to keep their ranks unbroken. "Forty," they cried, '"we have come to combat: grant that forty may be crowned." There were warm baths hard by, ready for any one amongst them who would deny Christ. The soldiers who v/atched saw angels descending with thirty-nine crowns, and, while he wondered at the defi- ciency in the number, one of the confessors lost heart, re- nounced his faith, and, crawling to the fire, died body and soul at the spot where he expected relief. But the soldier was inspired to confess Christ and take his place, and again the number of forty was complete. They remained steadfast while their limbs grew stiff and frozen, and died Maech 11] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 103 one by one. Among the Forty there was a young soldier who held out longest against the cold, and when the offi- cers came to cart away the dead bodies they found him still breathing. They were moved with pity, and wanted to leave him alive in the tope that he would still change his mind. But his mother stood by, and this valiant woman could not bear to see her son separated from the band of martyrs. She exhorted him to persevere, and lifted his frozen body into the cart. He was just able to make a sign of recognition, and was borne away, to be thrown into the flames with the dead bodies of his brethren. Reflection. — All who live the life of grace are one in Christ. But besides this there are many special ties — of religion, of community life, or at least of aspirations in prayer, and pious works. Thank God if He has bound you to others by these spiritual ties ; remember the character yon have to support, and pray that the bond which unites you hem may last for eternity. March ii.— ST. EULOGIUS, Martyr. (t. Eulogius was of a senatorian family of Cordova, at that time the capital of the Moors in Spain. Our Saint was educated among the clergy of the Church of St. Zoilus, a martyr who suffered with nineteen others under Diocletian. Here he distinguished himself, by his virtue and learning, and, being made priest, was placed at the head of the chief ecclesiastical school at Cordova. He joined assiduous watching, fasting, and prayer to his studies, and his humility, mildness, and charity gained him the affection and respect of every one. During the persecution raised against the Christians in the year 850, St. Eulogius was thrown into prison and there wrote his Exhortation to Martyrdom, addressed to the virgins Flora and Mary, who were beheaded the 24th of November, 851. Six days after their death Eulogius was set at liberty. In the year 853 several others suffered the like martyrdom. St. Eulogius encouraged all these martyrs to their tri^ limphs, and was the support of that distressed flock. The Archbishop of Toledo dying in 858. St. Eulogius waa 104 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Maech li elected to succeed him; but there was some obstacle that hindered him from being consecrated, though he did not outlive his election two months. A virgin, by name Leo- eritia, of a noble family among the Moors, had been in- structed from her infancy in the Christian religion by one of her relatives, and privately baptized. Her father and mother used her very ill, and scourged her day and night to compel her to renounce the Faith. Having made her condition known to St. Eulogius and his sister Anulona, intimating that she desired to go where she might freely exercise her religion, they secretly procured her the means of getting away, and concealed her for some time among faithful friends. But the matter was at length discov- ered, and they were all brought before the cadi, who threat- ened to have Eulogius scourged to death. The Saint told him that his torments would be of no avail, for ho would never change his religion. Whereupon the cadi gave orders that he should be carried to the palace and be presented before the king's council. Eulogius began boldly to propose the truths of the Gospel to them. But, to prevent their hearing him, the council condemned him immediately to lose his head. As they were leading him to execution, one of the guards gave him a blow on the faca for having spoken against Mahomet; he turned the other cheek, and patiently received a second. He received the stroke of death with great cheerfulness, on the 11th of March, 859. St. Leocritia was beheaded four days after him, and her body thrown into the river Guadalquivir, but taken out by the Christians. Reflection. — Beg of God, through the intercession of these holy martyrs, the gift of perseverance. Their ex. ample will supply you with an admirable rule for obtain., ing this crowning gift. Eemember that you have re- nounced the world and the devil once for all at yout Baptism. Do not hesitate ; do not look back ; do not listen to suggestions against faith or virtue; but advance, day by day, along the road which you have chosen, to God^ Who is your portion forever. Mabch 12] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 105 March 12.— -ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. fREGORY was a Eoman of noble birth, and while still young was governor of Rome. On his father's death he gave his great wealth to the poor, turned his house on the Coelian Hill into a monastery, which now bears his name, and for some years lived as a perfect monk. The Pope drew him from his seclusion to make him one of the •Jeven deacons of Rome; and he did great service to the Ohurch for many years as what we now call Nuncio to the jnperial court at Constantinople. While still a monk the •Saint was struck with some boys who were exposed for •^ale in Rome, and heard with sorrow that they were pagans. •^ And of what race are they ? " he asked. " They are Angles." " Worthy indeed to be Angels of God," said he. "And of what province?" "Of Deira," was the reply. " Truly must we rescue them from the wrath of God. And what is the name of their king ? " " Ha is called Ella." " It is well," said Gregory ; " Alleluia must be sung in their land to God." He at once got leave from the Pope, and had set out to convert the English when the murmurs of the people led the Pope to recall him. Still the Angles were not forgotten, and one of the Saint's first cares as Pope was to send from his own monastery St. Augustine and other monks to England. On the death of Pope Pelagius II., Gregory was compelled to take the government of the Church, and for fourteen years his pontificate was a perfect model of ecclesiastical rule. He healed schisms ; revived discipline ; saved Italy by convert- ing the wild Arian Lombards who were laying it waste; aided in the conversion of the Spanish and French Goths, who were also Arians; and kindled anew in Britain the light of the Faith, which the English had put out in blood. He set in order the Church's prayers and chant, guided and consoled her pastors with innumerable letters, and preached incessantly, most effectually by his own example. He died a. d. 604, worn out by austerities and toils ; and the Church reckons him one of her four great doctors, and re\eres him as St. Gregory the Great. 3106 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [March IS Reflection. — The champions of faith proTe the truth of their teaching no less by the holiness of their lives than bf the force of their arguments. Never forget that to coa Vert others you must first see to your own soul, March 13— ST. EUPHRASIA, Virgin. /^UPHRASIA was the daughter of pious and noble parents. vIa After the death of her father his widow withdrew privately with her little daughter into Egypt, where she was possessed of a very large estate. In that country she fixed her abode near a holy monastery of one hundred and thirty nuns. The young JEuphrasia, at seven years of age, begged that she might be permitted to serve God in this monastery. The pious mother on hearing this wept for joy, and not long after presented her child to the abbess, who, taking up an image of Christ, gave it to Euphrasia. The tender virgin kissed it, saying, " By vow I consecrate myself to Christ.'* Then the mother led her before an image of Our Eedeemer, and lifting up her hands to heaven said, "Lord Jesus Christ, receive this child under your special protection. You alone doth she love and seek: to you doth she recommend herself." Then leaving her in the hands of the abbess, she went out of the monas- tery weeping. Some time after this the good mother fell sick, and soon slept in peace. Upon the news of her death the Emperor Theodosius sent for the noble virgin to come to court, having promised her in marriage to a favorite young senator. But the virgin wrote hirn refusing the alliance, repeating her vow of virginity, and requesting that her estates should be sold and divided among the poor, and all her slaves set at liberty. The Emperor punctu- ally executed all she desired, a little before his death in 395. St. Euphrasia was a perfect pattern of humility, meekness, and charity. If she found herself assaulted by any temptation, she immediately sought the advice of the abbess, who often enjoined her on such occasions some humbling and painful penitential labor, as sometimes to carry great stones from one place to another; which em- ployment she once, under an obstinate assault, continued Maech 14J, LIVES OF THE SAINTS 107 thirty days together with wonderful simplicitj'', till the devil, being vanquished by her humble obedience and chas- tisement of her body, left her ir peace. She was favored with miracles both before and after her death, which hap- pened in the year 410, the thirtieth of her age. March 14.— ST. MAUD, Queen l^>His princess was daughter of Theodoric, a powerful Wi/ Saxon count. Her parents placed her very young in the monastery of Erford, of which her grandmother Maud was then abbess. Our Saint remained m that house, an accomplished model of all virtues, till her parents mar- ried her to Henry, son of Otho, Duke of Saxony, in 913, who was afterwards chosen king of Germany. He was a pious and victorious prince, and very tender of his sub- jects. Whilst by his arms he checked the insolence of the Hungarians and Danes, and enlarged his dominions by adding to them Bavaria, Maud gained domestic victories over her spiritual enemies more worthy of a Christian and far greater in the eyes of Heaven. She nourished the precious seeds of devotion and humility in her heart by assiduous prayer and meditation. It was her delight to visit, comfort, and exhort the sick and the afflicted; to serve and instruct the poor, and to afford her char- itable succor to prisoners. Her husband, edified by her example, concurred with her in every pious undertaking which she projected. After twenty-three years' marriage God was pleased to call the king to himself, in 936. Maud, during his sickness, went to the church to pour forth her soul in prayer for him at the foot of the altar. As soon as she understood, by the tears and cries of the people, that he had expired, she called for a priest that was fasting to offer the holy sacrifice for his soul. She had three sons: Otho, afterwards emperor; Henry, Duke of Bavaria; and St. Brunn, Archbishop of Cologne. Otho was crowned king of Germany in 937, and emperor at Eome in 962, after his victories over the Bohemians and Lombards. The two oldest sons conspired to strip Maud of her dowry, on the unjust pretence that she had 108 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Maech 15 squandered the revenues of the state on the poor. The unnatural princes at length repented of their injustice, and restored to her all that had been taken from her. She then became more liberal in her alms than ever, and founded many churches, with five monasteries. In her last sickness she made her confession to her grandson William, the Archbishop of Mentz, who yet died twelve days before her, on his road home. She again made a public confession before the priests and monks of the place, received a second time the last sacraments, and, lying on a sack-cloth, with ashes on her head, died on the a4th of March in 968. Reflection. — The beginning of true virtue is most ar- dently to desire it, and to ask it of God with the utmost assiduity and earnestness. Fervent prayer, holy medita- tion, and reading pious books, are the principal means by which this virtue is to be constantly improved, and the interior life of the soul to be strengthened. March 15.— ST. ZACHARY, Pope. ©T. Zachary succeeded Gregory III., in 741, and was a man of singular meekness and goodness. He loved the clergy and. people of Eome to that degree that he hazarded his life for them on occasion of the troubles which Italy fell into by the rebellion of the Dukes of Spoleto and Benevento against King Luitprand. Out of respect to his sanctity and dignity, that king restored to the Church of Eome all the places which belonged to it, and sent back the captives without ransom. The Lom- bards were moved to tears at the devotion with which they heard him perform the divine service. The zeal and pru- dence of this holy Pope appeared in many wholesome regulations which he had made to reform or settle the discipline and peace of several churches. St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, wrote to him against a certain priest named Virgilius, that he labored to sow the seeds of dis- cord between him and Odilo, Duke of Bavaria, and taught, besides, many errors. Zachary ordered that Virgilius should be sent to Eome, that his doctrine might be ex- Mabch 16] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 109 amined. It seems that he cleared himself; for we find this same Virgilius soon after made Bishop of Salzburg, Certain Venetian merchants having bought at Rome many slaves to sell to the Moors in Africa, St. Zachary forbade such an iniquitous traffic, and, paying the merchants their price, gave the slaves their liberty. He adorned Eome with sacred buildings, and with great foundations in favor of the poor and pilgrims, and gave every year a considerable sum to furnish oil for the lamps in St. Peter's Church. He died in 753, in the month of March. March i6.— STS. ABRAHAM and MARY. ^BRAHAM was a rich nobleman of Edessa. At his par- ents' desire he married, but escaped to a cell near the city as soon as the feast was over. He walled up the cell-door, leaving only a small window through which he received his food. There for fifty years he sang God's praises and implored mercy for himself and for all men. The wealth which fell to him on his parents' death he gave to the poor. As many sought Mm for advice and consola- tion, the Bishop of Edessa, in spite of his humility, or- dained him priest. St. Abraham was sent, soon after his ordination, to an idolatrous city which had hitherto been deaf to every messenger. He was insulted, beaten, and three times banished, but he returned each time with fresh zeal. For three years he pleaded with God for those souls, and in the end prevailed. Every citizen came to him for Baptism. After providing for their spiritual needs he went back to his cell more than ever convinced of the power of prayer. His brother died, leaving an only daughter, Mary, to the Saint's care. He placed her in a cell near his own, and devoted himself to training her in (perfection. After twenty years of innocence she fell, and fled in despair to a distant city, where she drowned the voice of conscience in sin. The Saint and his friend St. Ephrem prayed earnestly for her during two years. Then he went disguised to seek the lost sheep, and had the joy of bringing her back to the desert a true penitent. She received the gift of miracles, and her countenance after aiOi LIVES OF, TEE SAINTS [March 17 death shone as the sun. St. Abraham died five years before her, about 360. All Edessa came for his last bless- ing and to secure his relics. Reflection. — Oh, that we realized the omnipotence of prayer! Every soul was created to glorify God eternally; and it is in the power of every one to add by the salvation of his neighbor to the glory of God. Let us make good use of this talent of prayer, lest our brother's blood be re- quired of us at the last. March 17.— ST. PATRICK, Bishop, Apostle of Ireland. XF the virtue of children reflects an honor on their parents, much more justly is the name of St. Pat- rick rendered illustrious by the innumerable lights of sanctity with which the Church of Ireland shone during many ages, and by the colonies of Saints with which it peopled many foreign countries; for, under God, its in- habitants derived from their glorious apostle the streams of that eminent sanctity by which they were long conspicu- ous to the whole world. St. Patrick was born towards the close of the fourth century, in a village called Bonaven Tabernias, which seems to be the town of Kilpatrick, on the mouth of the river Clyde, in Scotland, between Dum- barton and Glasgow. He calls himself both a Briton and a Roman, or of a mixed extraction, and says his father was of a good family named Calphurnius, and a denizen of a neighboring city of the Eomans, who not long after abandoned Britain, in 409. Some writers call his mother Conchessa, and say she was niece to St. Martin of Tours. In his sixteenth year he was carried into captivity by certain barbarians, who took him into Ireland, where he was obliged to keep cattle on the mountains and in the forests, in hunger and nakedness, amidst snow, rain, and ice. Whilst he lived in this suffering condition, God had pity on his soul, and quickened him to a sense of his duty by the impulse of a strong interior grace. The young man had recourse to Him with his whole heart in fervent prayer and fasting; and from that time faith and the love March 17] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 111 of God acquired continually new strength in his tender soul. After six months spent in slavery under the same, master, St. Patrick was admonished by God in a dream' to return to his own country, and informed that a ship was then ready to sail thither. He went at once to the sea-coast, though at a great distance, and found the ves- sel ; but could not obtain his passage, probably for want of money. The Saint returned towards his hut, praying as he went; but the sailors, though pagans, called him back and took him on board. After three days' sail they made land, but wandered twenty-seven days through deserts, and were a long while distressed for want of provisions, find- ing nothing to eat. Patrick had often spoken to the com- pany on the infinite power of God; they therefore asked him why he did not pray for relief. Animated by a strong faith, he assured them that if they would address them- selves with their whole hearts to the true God He would hear and succor them. They did so, and on the same day met with a herd of swine. From that time provisions never failed them, till on the twenty-seventh day they came into a country that was cultivated and inhabited. Some years afterwards he was again led captive, but re- covered his liberty after two months. When he was at home with his parents, God manifested to him, by divers visions, that He destined him to the great work of the conversion of Ireland. The writers of his life say that after his second captivity he travelled into Gaul and Italy, and saw St. Martin, St. Germanus of Auxerre, and Pope Celestine, and that he received his mission and the apostolical benediction from this Pope, who died in 432. It is certain that he spent many years in preparing him- self for his sacred calling. Great opposition was made against his episcopal consecration and mission, both by his own relatives and by the clergy. These made him great offers in order to detain him among them, and endeavored to affright him by exaggerating the dangers to which he exposed himself amidst the enemies of the Eomans and Britons, who did not know God. All these temptations threw the Saint into great perplexities; but the Lord, Whose will he consulted by earnest prayer, supported him, and he persevered in his resolution. He forsook his fam- 112 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [T^Iabch i? ily, sold his birthright and dignity, to serve strangers, and consecrated his soul to God, to carry His name to the ends of the earth. In this disposition he passed into Ireland, to preach the Gospel, where the worship of idols still gener- ally reigned. He devoted himself entirely to the salvation of these barbarians. He travelled over the whole island, penetrating into the remotest corners, and such was the fruit of his preachings and sufferings that he baptized an infinite number of people. He ordained everywhere clergymen, induced women to live in holy widowhood and continence, consecrated virgins to Christ, and instituted monks. He took notliing from the many thousands whom he baptized, and often gave back the little presents which some laid on the altar, choosing rather to _ mortify the fervent than to scandalize the weak or the infidels. He g-ave freely of his own, however, both to pagans and Christians, distributed large alms to the poor in the prov- inces where he passed, made presents to the kings, judging that necessary for the progress of the Gospel, and main- tained and educated many children, whom he trained up to serve at the altar. The happy success of his labors cost him many persecutions. A certain prince named Corotick, a Christian in name only, disturbed the peace of his flock. This tyrant, having made a descent into Ireland, plundered the country where St. Patrick had been just conferring confirmation on a great number of neoph}i;es, who were yet in their white garments after Baptism. Corotick massacred many, and carried away others, whom he sold to the infidel Picts or Scots. The next day the Saint sent the barbarian a letter entreating him to restore the Christian captives, and at least part of the booty he had taken, that the poor people might not perish for want, but was only answered by railleries. The Saint, therefore, wrote with his own hand a letter. In it he styles himself a sinner and an ignorant man; he declares, nevertheless, that he is established Bishop of Ireland, and pronounces Corotick and the other parricides and accomplices separated from him and from Jesus Christ, Wliose place he holds, forbidding any to eat with them, or to receive their alms, till they should have satisfied God by the tears of sincere penance, and restored March 17] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 113 the servants of Jesus Christ to their liberty. This letter expresses his most tender love for his flock, and his grief for those who had been slain, yet mingled with joy be- cause they reign with the prophets, apostles, and martjTS. Jocelin assures us that Corotick was overtaken by the di- vine vengeance. St. Patrick held several councils to settle the discipline of the Church which he had planted. St. Bernard and the tradition of the country testify that St. Patrick fixed his metropolitan see at Armagh. He established some other bishops, as appears by his Council and other monuments. He not only converted the whole country by his preaching and wonderful miracles, but also cultivated this vineyard with so fruitful a benediction and increase from heaven as to render Ireland a most flourishing garden in the Church of God, and a country of Saints. ^ Many particulars are related of the labors of St. Pat- rick, which we pass over. In the first year of his mission he attempted to preach Christ in the general assembly of the kings and states of all Ireland, held yearly at Tara, the residence of the chief king, styled the monarch of the whole island, and the principal seat of the Druids, or priests, and their paganish rites. The son of Neill, the chief monarch, declared himself against the preacher; however, Patrick converted several, and, on his road to that place, the father of St. Benignus, his immediate successor in the see of Armagh. He afterwards converted and baptized the kings of Dublin and Munster, and the seven sons of the king of Connaught, with the greatest part of their subjects, and before nis death almost the whole island. He fouaded ?. monastery at Armagh; another called Domnach-Padraig, or Patrick's Church; also a third, named Sabhal-Padraig; and filled the country with churches and schools of piety and learning, the reputation of which, for the three suc- ceeding centuries, drew many foreigners into Ireland. He died and was buried at Down in Ulster. His body was found there in a church of his name in 1185, and trans- lated to another part of the same church. Ireland is the nursery whence St. Patrick sent forth his missionaries and teachers. Glastonbury and Lindisfarne, Eipou and Malmesbury, bear testimony to the labors of 114 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Mabch 18 Irish priests and bishops for the conversion of England, lona is to this day the most venerated spot in Scotland. Columban, Fiacre, Gall, and many others evangelized the "rough places" of France and Switzerland. America and Australia, in modern times, owe their Christianity to the faith and zeal of the sons and daughters of St. Pa's- rick. Refiection. — By the instrumentality of St. Patrick the Faith is now as fresh in Ireland, even in this cold nine- teenth century, as when it was first planted. Ask him to obtain for you the special grace of his children — to pre- fer the loss of every earthly good to the least compromise in matters of faith. March i8.— ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM. GYRiL was born at or near the city of Jerusalem, about the year 315. He was ordained priest by St. Masi- mus, who gave him the important charge of instructing and preparing the candidates for Baptism. This charge he held for several years, and we still have one series of his instructions, given in the year 347 or 348. They are of singular interest as being the earliest record of the systematic teaching of the Church on the creed and sacra- ments, and as having been given in the church built by Constantine on Mount Calvary. They are solid, simple, profound; saturated with Holy Scripture; exact, precise, and terse; and, as a witness and exposition of the Catholic faith, invaluable. On the death of St. Maximus, Cyril was chosen Bishop of Jerjsalem. At the beginning of his episcopate a cross was seen in the air reaching from Mount Calvary to Mount Olivet, and so bright that it shone at noonday. St. Cyril gave an account of it to the emperor; and the faithful regarded it as a presage of victory over the Arian heretics. While Cyril was bishop, the apostate Julian resolved to falsify the words of Our Lord by rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem. He em- ployed the power and resources of a Eoman emperor; the Jews thronged enthusiastically to him and gave munifi- cently. But Cyril was unmoved. "The word of God! Mabch 19] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 115 abides," he said ; " one stone shall not be laid on another." When the attempt was made, a heathen writer tells us that horrible flames came forth from the earth, rendering the place inaccessible to the scorched and scared workmen. The attempt was made again and again, and then aban- doned in despair. Soon after, the emperor perished mis- erably in a war against the Persians, and the Church had rest. Like the other great bishops of his time, Cyril was persecuted, and driven once and again from his see; but on the death of the Arian Emperor "Valens he returned to Jerusalem. He was present at the second General Coun- cil at Constantinople, and died in peace in 386, after a troubled episcopate of thirty-five years. Reflection. — " As a stout staff," says St. John Chrysos^ tom, " supports the trembling limbs of a feeble old man, 60 does faith sustain our vacillating mind, lest it be tossed about by sinful hesitation and perplexity." March ig.— ST. JOSEPH, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin and Patron of the Universal Church. ^T. Joseph was by birth of the royal family of David, but was living in humble obscurity as a carpenter when God raised him to the highest sanctity, and fitted him to be the spouse of His Virgin Mother, and foster- father and guardian of the Incarnate Word. Joseph, sayg the Holy Scripture, was a just man; he was innocent and pure, as became the husband of Mary; he was gentle and tender, as one worthy to be named the father of Jesus ; he was prudent and a lover of silence, as became the master of the holy house ; above all, he was faithful and obedient to divine calls. His conversation was with angels rather than with men. When he learned that Mary bore within her wom.b the Lord of heaven, he feared to take her as his wife; but an angel bade him fear not, and all doubts vanished. When Herod sought the life of the divine In- fant, an angel told Joseph in a dream to fly with the Child and His Mother into Egypt. Joseph at once arose and obeyed. This sudden and unexpected flight must have exposed Joseph to many inconveniences and sufferings in 116 LI7II8 OF TEE SAINTS [Maboh 19 so long a journey with a little babe and a tender virgin, the greater part of the way being through deserts and among strangers ; yet he alleges no excuses, nor inquires a-t what time they were to return. St. Chrysostom observes that God treats thus all His servants, sending them fre- quent trials to clear their hearts from the rust of self-love, but intermixing seasons of consolation. " Joseph," saj's he, "is anxious on seeing the Virgin with child; an angel removes that fear. He rejoices at the Child's birth, but a great fear succeeds: the furious king seeks to destroy the Child, and the whole city is in an uproar to take away His life. This is followed by another joy, the adoration of the Magi ; a new sorrow then arises : he is ordered to fly into a foreign unknown country, without help or acquaintance." It is the opinion of the Fathers that upon their entering Egypt, at the presence of the child Jesus, all the oracles of that superstitious country were struck dumb, and the statues of their gods trembled and in many places fell to the ground. The Fathers also attribute to this holy visit the spiritual benediction poured on that country, which made it for many ages most fruitful in Saints. After the death of King Herod, of which St. Joseph was informed in another vision, God ordered him to return with the Child and His Mother into the land of Israel, which our Saint readily obeyed. But when he arrived in Judea, hearing that Archeiaus had succeeded Herod in that part of the country, and apprehensive that he might be infected with his father's vices, he feared on that account to settle there, as he would othe'-wise probably have done for the education of the Child; and therefore, being directed by God in another vision, he retired into the dominions of Herod Antipas, in Galilee, to his former habitation in Nazareth. St. Joseph, being a strict observer of the Mosaic law, in conformity to its direction annually repaired to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Our Saviour, now in the twelfth year of His age, accompanied His parents thither. Having performed the usual ceremonies of the feast, they were re- turning with many of their neighbors and acquaintances towards Galilee; and never doubting but that Jesus was with some of the company, they travelled en for a whole Maech 20], LIVES OF. TEE SAINTS 117 day's journey before they discovered that He was not with them. But when night came on and they could hear no tidings of Him among their kindred and acquaintance, they, in the deepest affliction, returned with the utmost speed to Jerusalem. After an anxious search of three days they found Him in the Temple, discoursing with the learned doctors of the law, and asking them such questions as raised the admiration of all that heard Him, and made them astonished at the ripeness of His understanding ; nor were His parents less surprised on this occasion. When His Mother told Him with what grief and earnestness they had sought Him, and asked, " Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? behold Thy Father and I sought Thee in great affliction of mind," she received for answer, " How is it that you sought Me ? did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" But though thus staying in the Temple unknown to His parents, in all other things He was obedient to them, returning with them to Nazareth, and there living in all dutiful subjection to them. As no further mention is made of St. Joseph, he must have died! before the marriage of Cana and the beginning of our divine Saviour's ministry. We cannot doubt that he had the happiness of Jesus and Mary attending at his death, praying by him, assisting and comforting him in his last moments; whence he is particularly invoked for the great grace of a happy death and the spiritual presence of Jesus in that hour. Reflection.— St. Joseph, the shadow of the Eternal "Father upon earth, the protector of Jesus in His home at Nazareth, and a lover of all children for the sake of the Holy Child, should be the chosen guardian and pattern of every true Christian family. March 20.--ST. WULFRAN, Archbishop. ^is father was an officer in the armies of King Dago- bert, and the Saint spent some years in the court of King Clotaire III. and of his mother, St. Bathildes, but i^scupied his heart only on God, despising worldly great- 118 L1VE8 OF TEE SAINTS [Mabch 20 ness as empty and dangerous, and daily advancing in virtue. His estate of Maurilly he bestowed on the Abbey of Fontenelle, or St. Vandrille, in Normandy. He was chosen and consecrated Archbishop of Sens in 683, which diocese he governed two years and a half with great zeal and sanctity. A tender compassion for the blindness of the idolaters of Friesland, and the example of the English zealous preachers in those parts, moved him to resign his bishopric, with proper advice, and after a retreat at Fon- tenelle to enter Friesland in quality of a poor missionary priest. He baptized great multitudes, among them a son of King Eadbod, and drew the people from the barbarous custom of sacrificing men to idols. On a certain occasion, one Ovon having been selected as a victim of a sacrifice to the heathen gods, St. Wulfran earnestly begged his life of King Eadbod; but the people ran tumultuously to the palace, and would not sufl'er what they called a sacrilege. After many words they consented, but on condition that Wulfran's God should save Ovon's life. The Saint betook himself to prayer; the man, after hanging on the gibbet two hours, and being left for dead, fell to the ground by the breaking of the cord ; being found alive he was given to the Saint, and became a monk and priest at Fontenelle. Wulfran also miraculously rescued two children from being drowned in honor of the idols. Eadbod, who had been an eye-witness to this last miracle, promised to become a Christian; but as he was going to step into the baptismal font he asked where the great number of his ancestors and nobles were in the next world. The Saint replied that hell is the portion of all who die guilty of idolatry; at which the prince refused to be baptized, saying he would go with the greater number. This tyrant sent afterwards to St. Willibrord to treat with him about his conversion, but before the arrival of the Saint was found dead. St. Wul- fran retired to Fontenelle that he might prepare himself for death, and expired there on the 20th of April, 730. Reflection. — In every age the Catholic Church is a mis- sionary church. She has received the world for her in- heritance, and in our own ^3ays many missioners have watered with their blood the lands in which they labored. March 21] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 119 Help the propagation of the faith by alms, and above all by prayers. You will quicken your own faith and gain a part in the merits of the glorious apostolate. March 21.— ST. BENEDICT, Abbot. [T. Benedict, blessed by grace and in name, was bom of a noble Italian family about 480. When a boy he Vv'as sent to Rome, and there placed in the public schools. Scared by the licentiousness of the Roman youth, he fled to the desert mountains of Subiaco, and was directed by the Holy Spirit into a cave, deep, craggy, and almost inaccessi- ble. He lived there for three years, unknown to any one save the holy monk Romanus, who clothed him with the monastic habit and brought him food. But the fame of his sanctity soon gathered disciples round him. The rigor of his rule, however, drew on him the hatred of some of the monks, and one of them mixed poison with the abbot's drink; but when the Saint made the sign of the cross on the poisoned bowl, it broke and fell in pieces to the ground. After he had built twelve monasteries at Subiaco, he re- moved to Monte Casino, where he founded an abbey in which he wrote his rule and lived until death. By prayer he did all things: wrought miracles, saw visions, and prophesied. A peasant, whose boy had just died, ran in anguish to St. Benedict, crying out, " Give me back my son! " The monks joined the poor man in his entreaties; but the .Saint replied, " Such miracles are not for us to work, but for the blessed apostles. Why will you lay upon, me a burden which my weakness cannot bear ? " Moved at length by compassion he knelt down and, prostrating himcelf upon the body of the child, prayed earnestly. Then rising, he cried out, " Behold not, Lord, my sins, but the faith of this man, who desireth the life of his son, ■^ restore to the body that soul which Thou hast taken away." Hardly had he spoken when the child's body began to t^-emble, and taking it by the hand he restored it alive to its father. Six days before his death he ordered his grave to be opened, and fell ill of a fever. On the sixth day he raquested to be borne into the chapel, and, having 130 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Mabch 22 received the body and blood of Christ, with hands uplifted, and leaning on one of his disciples, he calmly expired in prayer on the 21st of March, 543. Reflection. — • The Saints never feared to undertake any work, however arduous, for God, because, distrusting self, they relied for assistance and support wholly upon prayer. March 22.— ST. CATHARINE OF SWEDEN, Virgin. [t. Catharine was daughter of Ulpho, Prince of Neri- cia in Sweden, and of St. Bridget. The love of God seemed almost to prevent in her the use of her reason. At seven years of age she was placed in the nunnery of Eis- burgh, and educated in piety under the care of the holy abbess of that house. Being very beautiful, she was, by her father, contracted in marriage to Egard, a young noble- man of great virtue ; but the virgin persuaded him to join with her in making a mutual vow of perpetual chastity. By her discourses he became desirous only of heavenly graces, and, to draw them down upon his soul more abun- dantly, he readily acquiesced in the proposal. The happy couple, having but one heart and one desire, by a holy emulation excited each other to prayer, mortification, and works of charity. After the death of her father, St. Catha- rine, out of devotion to the Passion of Christ and to the relics of the martyrs, accompanied her mother in her pilgrimages and practices of devotion and penance. After her mother's death at Eome, in 1373, Catharine returned to Sweden, and died abbess of Vadzstena, or Vatzen, on the 24th of March in 1381. For the last twenty-five years of her life she every day purified her soul by a sacramental eonfession of her sins. Reflection. — Whoever has to dwell in the world stands in need of great prudence ; the Holy Scripture itself assures ms that " the knowledge of the holy is prudence/'- Kabch 233 LIVES OF THE SAINTS laj March 23.—STS. VICTORIAN AND OTHERS, Martyrs. nUNERlc, the Arian king of the Vandals in Africa,' succeeded his father Genseric in 477. He behaved himself at first with moderation towards the Catholics, but in 480 he began a grievous persecution of the clergy and holy virgins, which in 484 became general, and vast num- bers of Catholics were put to death. Victorian, one of the principal lords of the kingdom, had been made gov- ernor of Carthage, with the Eoman title of Proconsul. He was the wealthiest subject of the king, who placed great confidence in him, and he had ever behaved with an inviolable fidelity. The king, after he had published his cruel edicts, sent a message to the proconsul, promising, if he would conform to his religion, to heap on him the greatest wealth and the highest honors which it was in the power of a prince to bestow. The proconsul, who amidst the glittering pomps of the world perfectly understood its emptiness, made this generous answer : " Tell the king that I trust in Christ. His Majesty may condemn me to any torments, but I shall never consent to renounce the Catholic Church, in which I have boen baptized. Even if there were no life after this, I would never be ungrateful and perfidious to God, Who has granted me the happiness of knowing Him, and bestowed on me His most precious graces." The tyrant became furious at this answer, nor can the tortures be imagined which he caused the Saint to endure. Victorian suffered them with joy, and amidst them finished his glorious martyrdom. The Eoman Mar- tyrology joins with him on this day four others who were crowned in the same persecution. Two brothers, who were apprehended for the faith, had promised each other, if possible, to die together; and they begged of God, as a favor, that they might both suffer the same torments. The persecutors hung them in the air with great weights at their feet. One of them, under the excess of pain, begged to be taken down for a little ease. His brother, fearing that this might move him to deny his faith, cried out from the rack, " Gad forbid, dear brother, that you should ask such 123 LiyES OF THE SAINTS [March 24 a thing. Is this what we promised to Jesus Christ?" The other was so wonderfully encouraged that he cried out, " No, no ; I ask not to be released ; increase my tortures, exert all your cruelties till they are exhausted upon me.'* They were then burned with red-hot plates of iron, and tor- mented so long that the executioners at last left them, say- ing, " Everybody follows their example ! no one now em- braces our religion/' This they said chiefly because, not- withstanding these brothers had been so long and so griev- ously tormented, there were no scars or bruises to be seen upon them. Two merchants of Carthage, who both bore the name of Frumentius, suffered martyrdom about the same time. Among many glorious confessors at that time, one Liberatus, an eminent physician, was sent into banish- ment with his wife. He only grieved to see his infant children torn from him. His wife checked his tears by these words : " Think no more of them : Jesus Christ Him- self will have care of them and protect their souls." Whilst in prison she was told that her husband had conformed. Accordingly, when she met him at the bar before the judge, she upbraided him in open court for having basely aban- doned God ; but discovered by his answer that a cheat had been put upon her to deceive her into her ruin. Twelve young children, when dragged away by the persecutors, held their companions by the knees till they were torn away by violence. They were most cruelly beaten and scourged every day for a long time ; j'et by God's grace every one of them persevered in the faith to the end of the persecution. March 24.— ST. SIMON, Infant Martyr. «<1P=T. Mark was converted to the Faith by the Prince of the Apostles, whom he afterwards accompanied to Eome, acting there as his secretary or interpreter. When St. Peter was writing his first epistle to the churches of 'Asia, he affectionately joins with his own salutation that of his faithful companion, whom he calls " my son Mark." The Eoman people entreated St. Mark to put in writing for them the substance of St. Peter's frequent discourses on Our Lord's life. This the Evangelist did under the eye and with the express sanction of the apostle, and every page of his brief but graphic gospel so bore the impress of St. Peter's character, that the Fathers used to name it " Peter's Gospel.'^ St. Mark was now sent to Egypt to found the Church of Alexandria. Here his disciples be- came the wonder of the world for their piety and asceti- cism, so that St. Jerome speaks of St. Mark as the father of the anchorites, who at a later time thronged the Egyp- tian deserts. Here, too, he set up the first Christian school, the fruitful mother of many illustrious doctors and bishops. After governing his see for many years, St. Mark was one day seized by the heathen, dragged by ropes over stones, and thrown into prison. On the morrow the torture was repeated, and having been consoled by a vision of angels and the voice of Jesus, St. Mark went to his re- ward. It is to St. Mark that we owe the many slight touches which often give such vivid coloring to the Gospel scenes, and help us to picture to ourselves the very gestures and looks of our blessed Lord. It is he alone who notes that in the temptation Jesus was " with the beasts ; " that He slept in the boat " on a pillow; " that He " embraced " the little children. He alone preserves for us the commanding words " Peace, be still ! " by which the storm was quelled ; or even the very sounds of His voice, the "Ephpheta" and "Talitha curai," by which the dumb were made to speak and the dead to rise. So, too, the "looking round about with anger," and the "sighing deeply," long treas- ured in the memory of the penitent apostle, who was him- 158 LIVES OF TUB SAINTS [Apbh. 26 eelf converted by his Saviour's look, are here recorded by his faithful interpreter. Reflection. — Learn from St. Mark to keep the image of the Son of man ever before your mind, and to ponder every syllable which fell from His lips. April 26.— STS. CLETUS and MARCELLINUS, Popes, Martyrs. [T. Cletus was the third Bishop of Rome, and suc- ceeded St. Linus, which circumstance alone shows his eminent virtue among the first disciples of St. Peter in the West. He sat twelve years, from 76 to 89. The canon of the Roman Mass, Bede, and other martyrologists, style him a martyr. He was buried near St. Linus, in the Yatiean, and his relics still remain in that church. St. Marcellinus succeeded St. Caius in the bishopric of Rome in 296, about the time that Diocletian set himself up for a deity, and impiously claimed divine honors. In those stormy times of persecution Marcellinus acquired great glory. He sat in St. Peter's chair eight years, three months, and twenty-five days, dying in 304, a year after the cruel persecution broke out, in which he gained much honor. He has been styled a martyr, though his blood was not shed in the cause of religion. Reflection. — It is a fundamental maxim of the Chris- tian morality, and a truth which Christ has established in the clearest terms and in innumerable passages of the Gos- pel, that the cross or sufferings and mortification are the road to eternal bliss. They, therefore, who lead not here a crucified and mortified life are unworthy ever to possess the unspeakable joys of His kingdom. Our Lord Himself, our model and our head, walked in this path, and His great Apostle puts us in mind that He entered into bliss only by His blood and by the cross. fABSiL 27] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 159! April 27— ST. ZITA, Virgin. JTA lived for forty-eight years in the service of Fati- nelli, a citizen of Lucca. During this time she rose each morning, while the household were asleep, to hear Mass, and then toiled incessantly till night came, doing the work of others as well as her own. Once Zita, absorbed in prayer, remained in church past the usual hour of her bread-making. She hastened home, reproaching herself with neglect of duty, and found the bread made and ready for the oven. She never doubted that her mistress or one of her servants had kneaded it, and going to them, thanked them; but they were astonished. ISTo human being had made the bread. A delicious perfume rose from it, for angels had made it durinp: her prayer. For years her mas- ter and mistress treated her as a mere drudge, while her fellow-servants, resenting her diligence as a reproach to themselves, insulted and struck her. Zita united these Bufferings with those of Christ her Lord, never changing the sweet tone of her voice, nor forgetting her gentle and quiet ways. At length Fatinelli, seeing the success which attended her undertakings, gave her charge of his children and of the household. She dreaded this dignity more than the worst humiliation, but scrupulously fulfilled her trust. By her holy economy her master's goods were multiplied, while the poor were fed at his door. Gradually her unfail- ing patience conquered the jealousy of her fellow-servants, and she became their advocate with their hot-tempered master, who dared not give way to his anger before Zita. In the end her prayer and toil sanctified the whole house, and drew down upon it the benediction of Heaven. She died in 1272, and in the moment of her death a bright star appearing above her attic showed that she had gained eternal rest. Reflection. — "Wliat must I do to be saved?" said a certain one in fear of damnation. " Work and pray, pray and work," a voice replied, " and thou shalt be saved.'' The whole life of St. Zita teaches us this trutli. 160 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [April 28 April 28.— ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS. ^nHE eighty-one years of this Saint's life were modelled V^ on the Passion of Jesus Christ. In his childhood, when praying in church, a heavy bench fell on his foot, but the boy took no notice of the bleeding wound, and epoke of it as " a rose sent from God." A few years later, the vision of a scourge with "love" written on its lashes assured him that his thirst for penance would be satisfied. In the hope of dying for the faith, he enlisted in a crusade against the Turks ; but a voice from the Tabernacle warned him that he was to serve Christ alone, and that he should founid a congregation in His honor. At the command of his bishop he began while a layman to preach the Passion, and a series of crosses tried the reality of his vocation. All his first companions, save his brother, deserted him; the Sovereign Pontiff refused him an audience ; and it was only after a delay of seventeen years that the Papal appro- bation was obtained, and the first house of the Passionists was opened on Monte Argentario, the spot which Our Lady had pointed out. St. Paul chose as the badge of his Order a heart with three nails, in memory of the sufferings of Jesus, but for himself he invented a more secret and dura- ble sign. Moved by the same holy impulse as Blessed Henry Suso, St. Jane Frances, and other Saints, he branded on his side the Holy Name, and its characters were found there after death. His heart beat with a supernatural pal- pitation, which was especially vehement on Fridays, and the heat at times was so intense as to scorch his shirt in the region of his heart. Through fifty years of incessant bodily pain, and amidst all his trials, Paul read the love of Jesus everywhere, and would cry out to the flowers and grass, " Oh ! be quiet, be quiet," as if they were reproaching him with ingratitude. He died whilst the Passion was being read to him, and so passed with Jesus from the cross to glory. ^BiL 29] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 161 ST. VITALIS, Martyr. [t. Vitalis was a citizen of Milan, and is said to have . _ ' been the father of Sts. Gervasius and Protasius. The divine providence conducted him to Eavenna, where he saw a Christian named Ursicinus, who was condemned to lose his head for his faith, standing aghast at the sight of death, and seeming ready to yield. Vitalis was extremely moved at this spectacle. He knew his double obligation of preferring the glory of God and the eternal salvation of his neighbor to his own corporal life : he therefore boldly and successfully encouraged Ursicinus to triumph over death, and after his martyrdom carried off his body, and re- spectfully interred it. The judge, whose name was Paulinus, being informed of this, caused Vitalis to be apprehended, stretched on the rack, and, after other tor- ments, to be buried alive in a place called the Palm-tree, in Eavenna. His wife, Valeria, returning from Eavenna to Milan, was beaten to death by peasants, because she refused to join them in an idolatrous festival and riot. Reflection. — We are not all called to the sacrifice of martyrdom ; but we are all bound to make our lives a con- tinued sacrifice of ourselves to God, and to perform every action in this perfect spirit of sacrifice. Thus we shall both live and die to God, perfectly resigned to His holy will in all His appointments. April 29.— ST. PETER, Martyr. XN 1205 the glorious martyr Peter was born at Verona of heretical parents. He went to a Catholic school, and his Manichean uncle asked what he learnt. "The Creed," answered Peter ; " I believe in God, Creator^ of heaven and earth." ISTo persuasion could shake his faith, and at fifteen he received the habit from St. Dominic him- eelf at Bologna. After ordination, he preached to the heretics of Lombardy, and converted multitudes. St. Peter was constantly obliged to dispute with heretics, and although he was able to confound them, still the devil took 162 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Apeh 2S occasion thence to tempt him once against faith. Instantly he had recourse to prayer before an image of Our Lady, and heard a voice saying to him the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, " I have prayed for thee, Petei^, that thy faith may not fail ; and thou shalt confirm thy brethren in it." Once when exhorting a vast crowd under the burning sun, the heretics defied him to procure shade. He prayed, and a cloud overshadowed the audience. In spite of his sanctity, he was foully slandered and even punished for immorality. He submitted humbly, but complained in prayer to Jesus crucified. The crucifix spoke, " And I, Peter, what did I do ? " Every day, as he elevated at Mass the precious blood, he prayed, " Grant, Lord, that I may die for Thee, Who for me didst die." His prayer was an- swered. The heretics, confounded by him, sought his life. Two of them attacked him as he was returning to Milan, and struck his head with an axe. St. Peter fell, com- mended himself to God, dipped his finger in his own blood, and wrote on the groimd, "I believe in God, Creator of heaven and earth." They then stabbed him in the side, and he received his crown. Reflection. — From a boy St. Peter boldly professed his faith among heretics. He spent his life in preaching the faith to heretics, and received the glorious and long-de- sired crown of martyrdom from heretics. We are sur- rounded by heretics. Are we courageous, firm, zealous, full of prayer for their conversion, unflinching in our pro- fession of faith? ST. HUGH, Abbot of Cluny. [t. Hugh was a prince related to the sovereign house of the dukes of Burgundy, and had his education under the tuition of his pious mother, and under the care of Hugh, Bishop of Auxerre, his great-uncle. Prom his infancy he was exceedingly given to prayer and meditation, and his life was remarkably innocent and holy. One day, hearing an account of the wonderful sanctity of the monks of Cluny, under St. Odilo, he was so moved that he set out that moment, and going thither, humbly begged the monas- Apbil 30] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 163 tic habit. After a rigid novitiate, he made his profession in 1039, being sixteen years old. His extraordinary virtue, especially his admirable humility, obedience, charity, sweet- ness, prudence, and zeal, gained him the respect of the whole community; and upon the death of St. Odilo, in 1049, though only twenty-five years old, he succeeded to the government of that great abbey, which he held sixty- two years. He received to the religious profession Hugh, Duke of Burgundy, and died on the twenty-ninth of April, in 1109, aged eighty-five. He was canonized twelve years after his death by Pope Calixtus II, April 30— ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA. GATHERING, the daughter of a humble tradesman, was raised up to be the guide and guardian of the Church in one of the darkest periods of its history, the fourteenth century. As a child, prayer was her delight. She would say the " Hail Mary " on each step as she mounted the stairs, and was granted in reward a vision of Christ in glory. When but seven years old, she made a vow of vir- ginity, and afterwards endured bitter persecution for re- fusing to marry. Our Lord gave her His Heart in exchange for her own, communicated her with His own hands, and stamped on her body the print of His wounds. At the age of fifteen she entered the Third Order of St. Dominic, but continued to reside in her father's shop, where she united a life of active charity with the prayer of a contemplative Saint. From this obscure home the seraphic virgin was summoned to defend the Church's cause. Armed with Papal authority, and accompanied by three confessors, she travelled through Italy, reducing re-> bellious cities to the obedience of the Holy See, and win^ ning hardened souls to God. In the face well-nigh of the whole world she sought out Gregory XI. at Avignon, brought him back to Home, and by her letters to the kings and queens of Europe made good the Papal cause. She was the counsellor of Urban VI., and sternly rebuked the disloyal cardinals who had part in electing an antipope. Long had the holy virgin foretold the terrible schism which 164 LIYE8 OF THE SAINTS [Mat 1 began ere s"he died. Day and night she wept and prayed for unity and peace. But the devil excited the Eoman people against the Pope, so that some sought the life of Christ's Vicar. With intense earnestness did St. Catherine beg Our Lord to prevent this enormous crime. In spirit she saw the whole city full of demons tempting the people to resist and even slay the Pope. The seditious temper was subdued by Catherine's prayers; but the devils vented their malice by scourging the Saint herself, who gladly endured all for God and His Church. She died at Eome, in 1380, at the age of thirty-three. Reflection. — The seraphic St. Catherine willingly sacri- ficed the delights of contemplation to labor for the Church and the Apostolic See. How deeply do the troubles of the Church and the consequent loss of souls afflict us? How often do we pray for the Church and the Pope ? May I.— STS. PHILIP and JAMES, Apostles. CHiLiP was one of the first chosen disciples of Christ. On the way from Judea to Galilee Our Lord found Philip, and said, "Follow Me." Philip straightway obeyed; and then in his zeal and charity sought to win Nathaniel also, saying, "We have found Him of Whom Moses and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth;" and when Nathaniel in wonder asked, " Can any good come out of Nazareth ? " Philip simply answered, " Come and see," and brought him to Jesus. Another character- istic saying of this apostle is preserved for us by St. John. Christ in His last discourse had spoken of His Father ; an(J Philip exclaimed, in the fervor of his thirst for God, " Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough.'^ St. James the Less, the author of an inspired epistle, was also one of the Twelve. St. Paul tells us that he was favored by a special apparition of Christ after the Resur- rection. On the dispersion of the apostles among the nations, St. James was left as Bishop of Jerusalem; and even the Jews held in such high veneration his purity, mortification, and prayer, that they named him the Just. The earliest of Church historians has handed down many May 2] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 165 traditions of St. James's sanctity. He was always a virgin, says Hegesippus, and consecrated to God. He drank no wine, wore no sandals on his feet, and but a single gar- ment on his body. He prostrated himself so much in prayer that the skin of his knees was hardened like a camel's hoof. The Jews, it is said, used out of respect to touch the hem of his garment. He was indeed a living proof of his own words, " The wisdom that is from above first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, full of mercy and good fruits." He sat beside St. Peter and St. Paul at the Council of Jerusalem; and when St. Paul at a later time escaped the fury of the Jews by appealing to Caesar, the people took vengeance on James, and crying, " The just one hath erred," stoned him to death. Reflection. — The Church commemorates on the same day Sts. Philip and James, whose bodies lie side by side at Eome. They represent to us two aspects of Christian holi- ness. The first preaches faith, the second works; the one holy aspirations, the other purity of heart. May 2.--ST. ATHANASIUS, Bishop. THANASius was bom in Egypt towards the end of __ , the third century, and was from his youth pious, learned, and deeply versed in the sacred writings, as be- fitted one whom God had chosen to be the champion and defender of His Church against the Arian heresy. Though only a deacon, he was chosen by his bishop to go with him to the Council of Nicasa, in 335, and attracted the atten- tion of all by the learning and ability with which he defended the faith. A few months later, he became Pa- triarch of Alexandria, and for forty-six years he bore, often well-nigh alone, the whole brunt of the Arian assault. On the refusal of the Saint to restore Arius to Catholic com- munion, the emperor ordered the Patriarch of Constanti- nople to do so. The wretched heresiarch took an oath that he had always believed as the Church believes; and the patriarch, after vainly using every effort to move the emperor, had recourse to fasting and prayer, that God would avert from the Church the frightful sacrilege. The 166 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [May 3 day came for the solemn entrance of Arius into the great chureli of Sancta Sophia. The heresiarch and his party set out glad and in triumph. But before he reached the church, death smote him swiftly and awfully, and the dreaded sacrilege was averted. St. Athanasius stood un- moved against four Eoman emperors; was banished five times; was the butt of every insult, calumny, and wrong the Arians could devise, and lived in constant peril of death. Though firm as adamant in defence of the Faith, he was meek and humble, pleasant and winning in con- verse, beloved by his flock, unwearied in labors, in prayer, in mortifications, and in zeal for souls. In the year 373 his stormy life closed in peace, rather that his people would have it so than that his enemies were weary of persecuting him. He left to the Church the whole and ancient Faith, defended and explained in writings rich in thought and learning, clear, keen, and stately in expression. He is honored as one of the greatest of the Doctors of the Church. Reflection. — The Catholic Faith, says St. Augustine, is more precious far than all the riches and treasures of earth; more glorious and greater than all its honors, all its possessions. This it is which saves sinners, gives light to the blind, restores penitents, perfects the just, and is the crown of martyrs. May 3— THE DISCOVERY OF THE HOLY CROSS. 3'oD baying restored peace to His Church, by exalting Constantino the Great to the imperial throne, that pious prince, who had triumphed over his enemies by the miraculous power of the cross, was very desirous of ex- pressing his veneration for the holy places which had been honored and sanctified by the presence and sufferings of our blessed Redeemer on earth, and accordingly resolved to build a magnificent church in the city of Jerusalem. St. Helen, the emperor's mother, desiring to visit the holy places there, undertook a journey into Palestine in 326, though at that time near eighty years of age; and on her arrival at Jerusalem was inspired with a great desire to May 3] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 167 find the identical cross on which Christ had suffered for our sins. But there was no mark or tradition, even amongst the Christians, to show where it lay. The heathens, out of iin aversion to Christianity, had done what they could to conceal the place where Our Saviour was buried, by heap- ing on it a great quantity of stones and rubbish, and building on it a temple tc Venus. They had, moreover, erected a statue of Jupiter in the place where Our Saviour rose from the dead. Helen, to carry out her pious design, consulted every one at Jerusalem and near it whom she thought likely to assist her in finding out the cross; and was credibly informed that, if she could find out the sepulchre, she would likewise find the instruments of the punishment ; it being the custom among the Jews to make a hole near the place where the body of a criminal was buried, and to throw into it whatever belonged to his execution. The pious empress, therefore, ordered the pro- fane buildings to be pulled down, the statues to be broken in pieces, and the rubbish to be removed ; and, upon digging to a great depth, the holy sepulchre, and near it three crosses, also the nails which had pierced Our Saviour's body, and the title which had been fixed to His cross, were found. By this discovery they knew that one of the three crosses was that which they were in quest of, and that the others belonged to the two malefactors between whom Our Saviour had been crucified. But, as the title was found eeparate from the cross, it was difficult to distinguish which of the three crosses was that on which our divine Redeemer consummated His sacrifice for the salvation of the world. In this perplexity the holy Bishop Macarius, knowing that one of the principal ladies of the city lay extremely ill, suggested to the empress to cause the three crosses to be carried to the sick person, not doubting but God would dis- cover which was the cross they sought for. This being done, St. Macarius prayed that God would have regard to their faith, and, after liis prayer, applied the crosses singly to the patient, who was immediately and perfectly recov- ered by the touch of one of the three crosses, the other two having been tried without effect. St. Helen, full of joy at having found the treasure which she had so earnestly sought and so highly esteemed, built a church on the spot, and 168 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [May 4 lodged the cross there with great veneration, having pro- vided an extraordinarily rich case for it. She afterwards carried part of it to the Emperor Constantino, then at Con- stantinople, who received it with great veneration; another jpart she sent or rather carried to Rome, to be placed in the church which she had built there, called Of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, where it remains to this day. The title was sent by St. Helen to the same church, and placed on the top of an arch, where it was found in a case of lead in 1492. The inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin is in red letters, and the wood was whitened. Thus it was in 1492 ; but these colors are since faded. Also the words Jesus and Judceorum are eaten away. The board is nine, but must have been twelve, inches long. The main part of the cross St. Helen inclosed in a silver shrine, and committed it to the care of St. Macarius, that it might be delivered down to posterity, as an object of veneration. It was accordingly kept with singular care and respect in the magnificent church which she and her son built in Jerusalem. St Paulinus relates that, though chips were almost daily cut off from it and given to devout persons, yet the sacred wood suffered thereby no diminution. It is affirmed by St/ Cyril of Jerusalem, twenty-five years after the discovery^ that pieces of the cross were spread all over the eartli; he compares this wonder to the miraculous feeding of five thousand men, as recorded in the Gospel. The discovery of the cross must have happened about the month of May, or early in the spring; for St. Helen went the same year to Constantinople, and from thence to Eome, where she died in the arms of her son on the 18th of August, 326. Reflection. — In every pious undertaking the beginning merely does not suffice. " Whoso shall persevere unto tfeo end, he shall be saved." May 4.— ST. MONICA. yjP^ONiCA, the mother of St. Augustine, was born in 332. >^ After a girlhood of singular innocence and piety, she was given in marriage to Patritius, a pagan. She at once devoted herself to his conversion, praying for him always. May 5] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 169 and winning his reverence and love by the holiness of her life and her afTectionate forbearance. She was re- warded by seeing him baptized a year before his death. When her son Augustine went astray in faith and man- ners her prayers and tears were incessant. She was once very urgent with a learned bishop that he would talk to her son in order to bring him to a better mind, but he de- clined, despairing of success with one at once so able and so headstrong. However, on witnessing her prayers and tears, he bade her be of good courage ; for it might not be that the child of those tears should perish. By going to Italy, Augustine could for a time free himself from his mother's importunities; but he could not escape from her prayers, which encompassed him like the providence of €rod. She followed him to Italy, and there by his marvel- lous conversion her sorrow was turned into joy. At Ostia, on their homeward journey, as Augustine and his mother sat at a window conversing of the life of the blessed, she turned to him and said, " Son, there is nothing now I care for in tliis life. What I shall now do or why I am here, I know not. The one reason I had for wishing to linger in this life a little longer was that I might see you a Catholic Christian before I died. This has God granted me supera- bundantly in seeing you reject earthly happiness to become His servant. What do I here?" A few days afterwards she had an attack of fever, and died in the year 387. Reflection. — It is impossible to set any bounds to what persevering prayer may do. It gives man a share in the Divine Omnipotence. St. Augustine's soul lay bound in the chains of heresy and impurity, both of which had by long habit grown inveterate. They were broken by his mother's prayers. May 5— ST. PIUS V. Dominican friar from his fifteenth year, Michael Ghislieri, as a simple religious, as inquisitor, as bishop, and as cardinal, was famous for his intrepid defence of the Church's faith and discipline, and for the spotless purity of his own life. His first care as Pope was to reform 170 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Mat 6 the Eoman court and capital by the strict example of His household and the severe punishment of all offenders. He next endeavored to obtain from the Catholic powers the recognition of the Tridentine decrees, two of which he urgently enforced — the residence of bishops, and the estab- lishment of diocesan seminaries. He revised the Missal and Breviary, and reformed the ecclesiastical music. Nor was he less active in protecting the Church without. We see him at the same time supporting the Catholic King of France against the Huguenot rebels, encouraging Mary Queen of Scots, in the bitterness of her captivity, and ex- communicating her rival the usurper Elizabeth, when the best blood of England had flowed upon the scaffold, and the measure of her crimes was full. But it was at Lepanto that the Saint's power was most manifest ; there, in Octo- ber, 1571, by the holy league which he had formed, but etill more by his prayers to the great Mother of God, the aged Pontiff crushed the Ottoman forces, and saved Chris- tendom from the Turk. Six m.onths later, St. Pius died, having reigned but six years. St. Pius was accustomed to kiss the feet of his crucifix on leaving or entering his room. One day the feet moved away from his lips. Sorrow filled his heart, and he made acts of contrition, fearing that he must have committed some secret offence, but still he could not kiss the feet. It was afterwards found that they had been poisoned by an enemy. Reflection. — "Thy cross, Lord, is the source of all blessings, the cause of all graces: by it the faithful find strength in weakness, glory in shame, life in death." — St, Leo. May 6.— ST. JOHN BEFORE THE LATIN GATE. XK the year 95, St. John, who was the only surviving apostle, and governed all the churches of Asia, was apprehended at Ephesus, and sent prisoner to Rome. The Emperor Domitian did not relent at the sight of the vener- able old man, but condemned him to be cast into a caldron of boiling oil. The martyr doubtless heard, with great joy, this barbarous sentence : the most cruel torments seemed Mat 7] ' LIVES OF THE SAINTS 171 to him light and most agreeable, because they would, he hoped, unite him forever to his divine Master and Saviour. But God accepted his will and crowned his desire; He conferred on him the honor and merit of martyrdom, but suspended the operation of the fire, as He had formerly preserved the three children from hurt in the Babylonian furnace. The seething oil was changed in his regard into an invigorating bath, and the Saint came out more re- freshed than when he had entered the caldron. Domitian saw this miracle without drawing from it the least advan- tage, but remained hardened in his iniquity. However, he contented himself after this with banishing the holy apostle into the little island of Patmos. St. John returned to Ephesus, in the reign of Nerva, who by mildness, during his short reign of one year and four months, labored to restore the faded lustre of the Eoman Empire. This glorious triumph of St. John happened without the gate of Rome called Latina. A church which since has always borne this title was consecrated in the same place in memory of this miracle, under the first Christian em- iperorg. Reflection. — St. John suffered above the other Saints a martyrdom of love, being a martyr, and more than a martyr, at the foot of the cross of his divine Master. All his sufferings were by love and compassion imprinted in his soul, and thus shared by him. singular happiness, to have stood under the cross of Christ ! extraordinary privilege, to have suffered martyrdom in the person of Jesus, and been eye-witness of all He did or endured ! If nature revolt within us against suffering, let us call to mind those words of the divine Master : " Thou knowest not now wherefore ; but thou shalt know hereafter.'* May 7.— ST. STANISLAS, Bishop, Martyr. /S^TANiSLAS was born in answer to prayer when his par- jStJ ents were advanced in age. Out of gratitude they educated him for the Church, and from a holy priest he became in time Bishop of Cracow. Boleslas II, was then King of Poland — a prince of good disposition, but spoilt 17^ LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Mat 8 by a long course of victory and success. After many acta of lust and cruelty, he outraged the whole kingdom by carrying off the wife of one of his nobles. Against this public scandal the chaste and gentle bishop alone raised; his voice. Having commended the matter to God, he went down to the palace and openly rebuked the king for his crime against God and his subjects, and threatened to ex- communicate him if he persisted in his sin. To slander the Saint's character, Boleslas suborned the nephews of one Paul, lately dead, to swear that their uncle had never been paid for land bought by the bishop for the Church. The Saint stood fearlessly before the king's tribunal, though all his witnesses forsook him, and guaranteed to bring the dead man to witness for him within three days. On the third day, after many prayers and tears, he raised Paul to life, and led him in his grave-clothes before the king. Boleslas made a show for a while of a better life. Soon, however, he relapsed into the most scandalous excesses, and the bishop, finding all remonstrance useless, pronounced the sentence of excommunication. In defiance of the cen- sure, on May 8, 1079, the king went down to a chapel where the bishop himself was saying Mass, and sent in three com- panies of soldiers to dispatch him at the altar. Each in turn came out, saying they had been scared by a light from heaven. Then the king rushed in and slew the Saint at the altar with his own hand. Reflection. — The safest correction of vice is a blameless life. Yet there are times when silence would make us answerable for the sins of others. At such times let us, in the name of God, rebuke the offender without fear. May 8.— THE APPARITION OF ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL. XT is manifest, from the Holy Scriptures, that God ia pleased to make frequent use of the ministry of the heavenly spirits in the dispensations of His providence in this world, and especially towards man. Hence the name of Angel (which is not properly a denomination of nature, but office) has been appropriated to them. The angels are Mat 8] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 173 all pure spirits; they are, by a property of their nature, immortal, as every spirit is. They have the power of moving or conveying themselves from place to place, and such is their activity that it is not easy for us to conceiva it. Among the holy archangels, there are particularly distinguished in Holy Writ Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. St. Michael, whom the Church honors this day, was the prince of the faithful angels who opposed Lucifer and his associates in their revolt against Gad. As the devil is the sworn enemy of God's holy Church, St. Michael is its special protector against his assaults and stratagems. This holy archangel has ever been honored in the Christian Church as her guardian under God, and as the protector of the faithful ; for God is pleased to employ the zeal and charity of the good angels and their leader against the malice of the devil. To thank His adorable goodness for this benefit of His merciful providence is this festival in- stituted by the Church in honor of the good angels, in which devotion she has been encouraged by several appari- tions of this glorious archangel. Among others, it is re- corded that St. Michael, in a vision, admonished the Bishop of Siponto to build a church in his honor on Mount Gar- gano, near Manfredonia, in the kingdom of Naples. When the Emperor Otho III. had, contrary to his word, put to death, for rebellion, Crescentius, a Eoman senator, being touched with remorse he cast himself at the feet of St. Eomuald, who, in satisfaction for his crime, enjoined him to walk barefoot, on a penitential pilgrimage, to St. Michael's on Mount Gargano, which penance he performed! in 1002. It is mentioned in particular of this special guardian and protector of the Church that, in the perse- cution of Antichrist, he will powerfully stand up in her defence : " At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people." Reflection. — St. Michael is not only the protector of the Church, but of every faithful soul. He defeated the devil by humility: we are enlisted in the same warfare. His arms were humility and ardent love of God: the same must be our weapons. We ought to regard this archangel as our leader under God : and, courageously resisting the 174 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [May 9 devil in all his assaults, to cry out, Who can be compared to God? May 9.— ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN. ^^[Yregort was born of saintly parents, and was the V-A chosen friend of St. Basil. They studied together at Athens, turned at the same time from the fairest worldly prospects, and for some years lived together in seclusion, Belf-discipline, and toil. Gregory was raised, almost by force, to the priesthood; and was in time made Bishop of ISTazianzum by St. Basil, who had become Archbishop of Csesarea. When he was fifty years old, he was chosen, for his rare gifts and his conciliatory disposition, to be Patri- arch of Constantinople, then distracted and laid waste by Arian and other heretics. In that city he labored with wonderful success. The Arians were so irritated at the decay of their heresy that they pursued the Saint with out- rage, calumny, and violence, and at length resolved to take away his life. For this purpose they chose a resolute young man, who readily undertook the sacrilegious commission. But God did not allow him to carry it out. He was touched with remorse, and cast himself at the Saint's feet, avowing his sinful intent. St. Gregory at once forgave him, treated him with all kindness, and received him amongst his friends, to the wonder and edification of the whole city, and to the confusion of the heretics, whose crime had served only as a foil to the virtue of the Saint. St. Jerome boasts that he had sat at his feet, and calls him his master and his catechist in Holy Scripture. But his lowliness, his austerities, the insignificance of his person, and above all his very success, drew down on him the hatred of the enemies of the Faith. He was persecuted by the magistrates, stoned by the rabble, and thwarted and deserted even by his brother bishops. During the second General Council he resigned his see, hoping thus to restore peace to the tormented city, and retired to his native town, where he died in 390. He was a graceful poet, a preacher at once eloquent and solid ; and as a champion of the Faith so well equipped, so strenuous, and so exact, that he is called St. Gregory the Theologian. iiAY 10] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 175 Reflection. — " "We mnst overcome our enemies," said St. Gregory, " by gentleness ; win them over by forbearance Let them be punished by their own conscience, not by our wrath. Let us not at once wither the fig-tree, from which a more skilful gardener may yet entice fruit." May lo.— ST. ANTONINUS, Bishop. 'ntoninus, or Little Antony, as he was called from his , small stature, was born at Florence in 1389. After a childhood of singular holiness, he begged to be admitted into the Dominican house at Fiesole ; but the Superior, to test his sincerity and perseverance, told him he must first learn by heart the book of the Decretals, containing several hundred pages. This apparently impossible task was_ ac- complished within twelve months ; and Antoninus received the coveted habit in his sixteenth year. While still very young, he filled several important posts of his Order, and was consulted on questions of difficulty by the most learned men of his day ; being known, for his wonderful prudence, as " the Counsellor." He wrote several works on theology and history, and sat as Papal Theologian at the Council of Florence. In 1446 he was compelled to accept the arch- bishopric of that city ; and in this dignity earned for him- Belf the title of " tlie Father of the Poor," for all he had was at their disposal. St. Antoninus never refused an alms which was asked in the name of God. When he had no money, he gave his clothes, shoes, or furniture. One day, being sent by the Florentines to the Pope, as he approached Rome a beggar came up to him almost naked, and asked him for an alms for Christ's sake. Outdoing St. Martin, Antoninus gave him his whole cloak. When he entered the city, another was given him ; by whom he knew not. His household consisted of only six persons; his palace con- tained no plate or costly furniture, and was often nearly destitute of the necessaries of life. His one mule was fre- quently sold for the relief of the poor, when it would be bought back for him by some wealthy citizen. He died emliracing the crucifix. May 2d, 1459, often repeating the V, ords, " To serve God is to reign." 176 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Mat il Reflection. — "Alms-deeds" says St. Augustine, "com- prise every kind of service rendered to our neighbor who needs such assistance. He who supports a lame man bestows an alms on him with his feet; he who guides a blind man does him a charity with his eyes; he who car- ries an invalid or an old man upon his shoulders imparts to him an alms of his strength. Hence none are so poor but they may bestow an alms on the wealthiest man in the world." May II.— ST. MAMMERTUS, Archbishop. [t. Mammeetfs, Archbishop of Vienne in Dauphine, was a prelate renowned for his sanctity, learning, and miracles. He instituted in his diocese the fasts and supplications called the Rogations, on the following occa- sions. Almighty God, to punish the sins of the people, visited them with wars and other public calamities, and awaked them from their spiritual lethargy by the terrors of earthquakes, fires, and ravenous wild beasts, which last were sometimes seen in the very market-place of cities. These evils the impious ascribed to blind chance; but re- ligious and prudent persons considered them as tokens of the divine anger, which threatened their entire destruction. Amidst these scourges, St. Mammertus received a token of the divine mercy. A terrible fire happened in the city of Vienne, which baffled the efforts of men ; but by the prayers of the good bishop the fire on a sudden went out. This miracle strongly affected the minds of the people. The holy prelate took this opportunity to make them sensible of the necessity and efficacy of devout prayer, and formed a pious design of instituting an annual fast and supplica- tion of three days, in which all the faithful should join, with sincere compunction of heart, to appease the divine indignation by fasting, prayer, tears, and the confession of sins. The Church of Auvergne, of which St. Sidonius was bishop, adopted this pious institution before the year 475, and it became in a very short time a universal practice. St. Mammertus died about the year 477. Mat 12] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 1Y7 Reflection. — '' Know ye that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you continue with perseverance in fastings and prayers in the sight of the Lord" (Judith iv. 11). May 12.— ST. EPIPHANIUS, Archbishop. [t. Epiphanius was born about the year 310, in Pales- tine. In his youth he began the study of the Holy Scriptures, embraced a monastic life, and went into Egypt to perfect himself in the exercises of that state, in the deserts of that country. He returned to Palestine about the year 333, and built a monastery near the place of his birth. His labors in the exercise of virtue seemed to some to surpass his strength ; but his apology always was : " Gk)d gives not the kingdom of heaven but on condition that we labor ; and all we can do bears no proportion to such a crown." To his corporal austerities he added an indefati- gable application to prayer and study. Most books then in vogue passed through his hands; and he improved himself very much in learning by his travels into many parts. Although the skilful director of many others, St. Epi- phanius took the great St. Hilarion as his master in a spiritual life, and enjoyed the happiness of his direction and intimate acquaintance from the year 333 to 356. The reputation of his virtue made St. Epiphanius known to distant countries, and about the year 367 he was chosen Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus. But he still wore the mo- nastic habit, and continued to govern his monastery in Palestine, which he visited from time to time. He some- times relaxed his austerities in favor of hospitality, pre- ferring charity to abstinence. No one surpassed him in tenderness and charity to the poor. The veneration which all men had for his sanctity exempted him from, the per- secution of the Arian Emperor Valens. In 376 he undeF- took a journey to Antioch in the hope of converting Vitalis, the Apollinarist bishop; and in 382 he accompanied St. Paulinus from that city to Eome, where they lodged at the house of St. Paula; our Saint in return entertained her afterward ten days in Cyprus in 385. The very name of 178 LIVES OF THE SAINTS' [jvIat 13 an error in faith, or tlie shadow of danger of evil, affrighted him, and the Saint fell into some mistakes on certain occa- sions, which proceeded from zeal and simplicity. He was on his way back to Salamis, after a short absence, when he died in 403, having been bishop thirty-six years. Reflection. — " In this is charity : not as though we had loved God, but because He hath first loved us." May 13.— ST. JOHN THE SILENT. ^"YoHN was born of a noble family at Nicopolis, in Ar- V^ menia, in the year 454 ; but he derived from the virtue of his parents a much more illustrious nobility than that of their pedigree. After their death, he built at Nicopolis a church in honor of the Blessed Virgin, as also a monastery, in which, with ten fervent companions, he shut himself up when only eighteen years of age. with a view of making the salvation and most perfect sanctification of his soul his only and earnest pursuit. Not only to shun the danger of sin by the tongue, but also out of sincere humility and con- tempt of himself, and the love of interior recollection and prayer, he very seldom spoke; and when obliged to, it was always in a very few words, and with great discretion. To his extreme affliction, when he was only twenty-eight years old, the Archbishop of Sebaste obliged him to quit his retreat, and ordained him Bishop of Colonian in Arme- nia, in 482. In this dignity John preserved always the same spirit, and, as much as was compatible with the duties of his charge, continued his monastic austerities and exercises. Whilst he was watching one night in prayer, he saw before him a bright cross formed in the air, and heard a voice which said to him, " If thou desirest to be saved, follow this light." It seemed to move before him, and at length point out to the monastery of St. Sabas. Being satisfied what the sacrifice was which God required at his hands, he found means to abdicate the episcopal charge, and retired to the neighboring monastery of St. Sabas, which at that time contained one hundred and fifty fervent monks. St. John was then thirty-eight years old. After living there unknown for some years, fetching water, Mat 14] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 179 carrying stones, and doing other menial work, St. Salbas, judging him worthy to be promoted to the priesthood, presented him to the Patriarch Elias. .St. John took the patriarch aside, and, having obtained from him a promise of secrecy, said, " Father, I have been ordained bishop ; but on account of the multitude of my sins have fied, and am come into this desert to wait the visit of the Lord." The patriarch was startled, but God revealed to St. Sabas the state of the affair, whereupon, calling for John, he complained to him of his unkindness in concealing the matter from him. Finding himself discovered, John wished to quit the monastery, nor could St. Sabas prevail on him to stay, but on a promise never to divulge ths secret. In the year 503, St. John withdrew into a neighv boring wilderness, but in 510 went back to the monastery, and confined himself for forty years to his cell. St. John, by his example and counsels, conducted many fervent soula to God, and continued to emulate, as much as this mortal state will allow, the glorious employment of the heavenly spirits in an uninterrupted exercise of love and praise, till he passed to their blessed company, soon after the year 558 ; having lived seventy-six years in the desert, which had only been mterrupted by the nine years of his episcopal dignity. Reflection. — A love of Christian silence is a proof that a soul makes it her chiefest delight to be occupied on God, and finds no comfort like that of conversing with Him. This is the paradise of all devout souls. May 14.— ST. PACHOMIUS, Abbot. XN the beginning of the fourth century great levies of troops were made throughout Egypt for the service of the Eoman emperor. Among the recruits was Pacho- mius, a young heathen, then in his twenty-first year. On his way down the Nile he passed a village, whose inhabit- ants gave him food and money. Marvelling at this kind- ness, Pachomius was told they were Christians, and hoped for a reward in the life to come. He then prayed God to show him the truth, and promised to devote his life to His 180 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Mat 15 service. On hemg discharged, he returned to a Christian village in Egypt, where he was instructed and baptized. Instead of going home, he sought Palemon, an aged soli- tary, to learn from him a perfect life, and with gTeat joy embraced the most severe austerities. Their food was bread and water, once a day in summer, and once in two days in winter; sometimes they added herbs, but mixed ashes with them. They only slept one hour each night, and this short repose Pachomius took sitting upright with- out support. Three times God revealed to him that he was to found a religious order at Tabenna ; and an angel gave him a rule of life. Trusting in God, he built a monastery, although he had no disciples; but vast multitudes soon flocked to him, and he trained them in perfect detachment from creatures and from self. One day a monk, by dint of great exertions, contrived to make two mats instead of the one which was the usual daily task, and set them both out in front of his cell, that Pachomius might see how diligent he had been. But the Saint, perceiving the vainglory which had prompted the act, said, '" This brother has taken a great deal of pains from morning till night to give his work to the devil." Then, to cure him of his delusion, Pachomius imposed on him as d. penance to keep his cell for five months and to taste no food but bread and water. His visions and miracles were innumerable, and he read all hearts. His holy death occurred in 348. Reflection, — " To live in great simplicity," said St. Pachomius, " and in a wise ignorance, is exceeding wise." May 15.— STS. PETER and DIONYSIA. XN the Decian persecution the blood of the Christians flowed at Lampsacus, a city of Asia Minor. St. Peter was the first who was led before the proconsul and condemned to die for the name of Christ Young though he was, he went joyfully to his torments. He was bound to a wheel by iron chains, and his bonCvS were broken, but he raised his eyes to heaven with a smiling countenance and said, "I give Thee thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, be' cause Thou hast given me patience, and made me victori- l^Y 16] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 181 ous over the tyrant." The proconsul saw how little suffer- ing availed, and ordered the martyr to be beheaded. But a little later, in the same cit}^, the virgin Dionysia showed a like eagerness to suffer. St. Dionysia gained the crown which an apostate lost, and his history may teach us that those who lose Christ rather than suffer with Him lose all. With the strength that was left he cried out, " I never was a Christian. I sacrifice to the gods." Therefore he was taken down, and he offered sacrifice. But he was pos- sessed by the devil, whom he had chosen for his master. He fell to the earth in a fit, bit out his tongue, and so expired. He escaped a little pain, and instead he went to the endless torments of hell, and forfeited eternal rest. '^0 wretched man!" Dionysia cried, "why have you feared a little suffering and chosen eternal pain instead ? " She was seized and led away to horrible outrage, but her angel guardian appeared by her side and protected the spouse of Christ. Escaping from prison, she still burned with the desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. She threw herself upon the bodies of the martyrs, saying, " I would fain die with you on earth, that I may live with you in heaven." And Christ, Who is the crown of virgins and the strength of martyrs, gave her the desire of her heart. Reflection. — The martyrs were even like us, with natures which shrank from suffering. They were patient under it because they looked to the eternal recompense, and en-i dured as seeing Him Who is invisible. May i6.— ST. JOHN NEPOMUCEN. ^T. John" was born, in answer to prayer, 1330, of poop parents, at Nepomuc in Bohemia. In gratitude they consecrated him to God ; and his holy life as a priest led to his appointment as chaplain to the court of the Em- peror Wenceslas, where he converted numbers by his preaching and example. Amongst those who sought his advice was the empress, who suffered much from her husband's unfounded jealousy. St. John taught her to bear her cross with joy; but her piety only incensed the emperor, and he tried to extort hei: confessions from the 182 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Mat 17 Saint. He threw St. John into a dungeon, but gained nothing; then, inviting him to his palace, he promised him riches if he would yield, and threatened death if he re- fused. The Saint was silent. He was racked and burnt with torches ; but no words, save Jesus and Mary, fell from his lips. At last set free, he spent his time in preaching, and preparing for the death he knew to be at hand. On Ascension Eve, May 16, Wenceslas, after a final and fruit- less attempt to move his constancy, ordered him to be cast into the river, and that night the martyr's hands and feet were bound, and he was thrown from the bridge of Prague. As he died, a heavenly light shining on the water discovered the body, which was buried with the honors due to a Saint. A few years later, Wenceslas was deposed by his own sub- jects, and died an impenitent and miserable death. In 1618 the Calvinist and Hussite soldiers of the Protestant Elector Frederick tried repeatedly to demolish the shrine of St. John at Prague. Each attempt was miraculously frustrated ; and once the persons engaged in the sacrilege, among whom was an Englishman, were killed on the spot. In 1620 the imperial troops recovered the town by a victory which was ascribed to the Saint's intercession, as he was seen on the eve of the battle, radiant with glory, guarding the cathedral. When his shrine was opened, three hundred and thirty years after his decease, the flesh had disappeared, and one member alone remained incorrupt, the tongue; thus still, in silence, giving glory to God. Keflection. — St. John, who by his invincible sacramental eilence won his crown, teaches us to prefer torture and death to offending the Creator with our tongue. How many times each day do we forfeit grace and strength by «ins of speech ! May 17.— ST. PASCHAL BAYLON. EROM a child Paschal seems to have been marked out for the service of God; and amidst his daily labors lie found time to instruct and evangelize the rude herds- men who kept their flocks on the hills of Arragon. At the age of twenty-four he entered the Franciscan Order, in May 18] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 183 which, however, he remained, from humility, a simple lay- brother, and occupied himself, by preference, with the roughest and most servile tasks. He was distinguished by an ardent love and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He would spend hours on his knees before the tabernacle — often he was raised from the ground in the fervor of his prayer — and there, from the very and eternal Truth, he drew such stores of wisdom that, unlettered as he was, he was counted by all a master in theology and spiritual sci- ence. Shortly after his profession he was called to Paris on business connected with his Order. The journey was full of peril, owing to the hostility of the Huguenots, who were numerous at the time in the south of France ; and on four separate occasions Paschal was in imminent danger of death at the hands of the heretics. But it was not God's will that His servant should obtain the crown of martyr- dom which, though judging himself all unworthy of it, ha 60 earnestly desired, and he returned in safety to his con- vent, where he died in the odor of sanctity, May 15, 1592. As Paschal was watching his sheep on the mountain- side, he heard the consecration bell ring out from a church in the valley below, where the villagers were assembled for Mass. The Saint fell on his knees, when suddenly there stood before him an angel of God, bearing in his hands the Sacred Host, and offering it for his adoration. Learn from this how pleasing to Jesus Christ are those who honor Him. in this great mystery of His love ; and how to them espe- cially this promise is fulfilled : " I will not leave you orphans: I will come unto you^' (John xiv. 18). Reflection. — St. Paschal teaches us never to suffer a day to pass without visiting Jesus in the narrow chamber where He, Whom the heaven itself cannot contain, abides day; and night for our sake. May i8.— ST. VENANTIUS, Martyr. ^T. Venantius was born at Camerino in Italy, and at the age of fifteen was seized as a Christian and carried before a judge. As it was found impossible to shake his constancy either by threats or promises, he was 184 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [May 18 condemned to be scourged, but was miraculously saved by an angel. He was then burnt with torches and hung over a low fire that he might be suffocated by the smoke. The judge's secretary, admiring the steadfastness of the Saint, and seeing an angel robed in white, who trampled out the fire and again set free the youthful martyr, proclaimed his faith in Christ, was baptized with his whole family, and shortly after won the martyr's crown himself. Venantius was then carried before the governor, who, unable to make him renounce his faith, cast him into prison with an apos- tate, who vainly strove to tempt him. The governor then ordered his teeth and jaws to be broken, and had him thrown into a furnace, from which the angel once more delivered him. The Saint was again led before the judge, who at sight of him fell headlong from his seat and ex- pired, crying, " The God of Venantius is the true God ; let us destroy our idols." This circumstance being told to the governor, he ordered Venantius to be thrown to the lions ; but these brutes, forgetting their natural ferocity, crouched at the feet of the Saint. Then, by order of the tyrant, the young martyr was dragged through a heap of brambles and thorns, but again God manifested the glory of His servant ; the soldiers suffering from thirst, the Saint knelt on a rock and signed it with a cross, when immediately a jet of clear, cool water spurted up from the spot. This miracle con- verted many of those who beheld it, whereupon the governor had A'^enantius and his converts beheaded together in the year 250. The bodies of these martyrs are kept in the* church at Camerino which bears the Saint's name. Reflection. — ^Love of suffering marks the most perfeci; degree in the love of God. Our Lord Himself was con- sumed with the desire to suffer, because He burnt with the love of God. We must begin with patience and detachment. At last we shall learn to love the sufferings which confornv us to the Passion of our Eedeemer. May 19] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 185 May 19.— ST. PETER CELESTINE. s a child, Peter had visions of our blessed Lady, and . of the angels and saints. They encouraged him in his prayer, and chided him when he fell into any fault. His mother, though only a poor widow, put him to school, feeling sure that he would one day be a Saint. At the age of twenty, he left his home in Apulia to live in a mountain solitude. Here he passed three years, assaulted by the evil spirits and beset with temptations of the flesh, but consoled by angels' visits. After this his seclusion was invaded by disciples, who refused to be sent away ; and the rule of life which he gave them formed the foundation of the Celestine Order. Angels assisted in the church which Peter built; unseen bells rang peals of surpassing sweet- ness, and heavenly music filled the sanctuary when he offered the Holy Sacrifice. Suddenly he found himself torn from his loved solitude by his election to the Papal throne. Resistance was of no avail. He took the name of Celestine, to remind him of the heaven he was leaving and for which he sighed, and was consecrated at Aquila. After a reign of four months, Peter summoned the cardinals to his presence, and solemnly resigned his trust. St. Peter built himself a boarded cell in his palace, and there con- tinued his hermit's life ; and when, lest his simplicity might be taken advantage of to distract the peace of the Church, he was put under guard, he said, " I desired nothing but a cell, and a cell they have given me." There he enjoyed his former loving intimacy with the saints and angels, and sang the Divine praises almost continually. At length, on Whit-Sunday, he told his guards he should die within the week, and immediately fell ill. He received the last sacra- ments ; and the following Saturday, as he finished the con- cluding verse of Lauds, '" Let every spirit bless the Lord ! " he closed his eyes to this world and opened them to the vision of God. Reflection. — "Whoso," says the Imitation of Christ, " withdraweth himself from acquaintances and friends, to him will God draw near with His holy angels." 186 LIVES OF TEE 'SAINTS [Mat 21 May 20.— ST. BERNARDINE OF SIENA. XN 1408 St. Vincent Ferrer once suddenly interrupted his sermon to declare that there was among his hearers a young Franciscan who would be one day a greater preacher than himself, and would be set before him in honor by the Church. This unknown friar was Bernard- ine. Of noble birth, he had spent his youth in works of mercy, and had then entered religion. Owing to a de- fective utterance, his success as a preacher at first seemed doubtful, but, by the prayers of Our Lady, this obstacle was miraculously removed, and Bernardine began an apos- tolate which lasted thirty-eight years. By his burning words and by the power of the Holy Name of Jesus, which he displayed on a tablet at the end of his sermons, he obtained miraculous conversions, and reformed the greater part of Italy. But this success had to be exalted by the cross. The Saint was denounced as a heretic and his de- votion as idolatrous. After many trials he lived to see his innocence proved, and a lasting memorial of his work established in a church. The Feast of the Holy Name commemorates at once his sufferings and his triumph. He died on Ascension Eve, 1444, while his brethren were chanting the antiphon, " Father, I have manifested Thy Name to men." St. Bernardine, when a youth, under- took the charge of a holy old woman, a relation of his, who had been left destitute. She was blind and bedridden, and during her long illness could only utter the Holy Name. The Saint watched over her till she died, and thus learned the devotion of his life. Reflection. — Let us learn from the life of St. Bernardine the power of the Holy Name in life and death. May 21.— ST. HOSPITIUS, Recluse. J|T. HospiTius shut himself up in the ruins of an old tower near Villafranca, one league from Nice in Pro- vence. He girded himself with a heavy iron chain and lived on bread and dates only. During Lent he redoubled his austerities, and, in order to conform his life more May 22] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 187 closely to that of the anchorites of Egypt, ate nothing but roots." For his great virtues Heaven honored him with the gifts of prophecy and of miracles. He foretold the ravages which the Lombards would make in Gaul. These barbarians, having come to the tower in which Hospitius lived, and seeing the chain with which he was bound, mis- took him for some criminal who was there imprisoned. On questioning the Saint, he acknowledged that he was a great sinner and unworthy to live. Whereupon one of the soldiers lifted his sword to strike him; but God did not desert His faithful servant : the soldier's arm stiffened and became numb, and it was not until Hospitius made the sign of the cross over it that the man recovered the use of it. The soldier embraced Christianity, renounced the world, and passed the rest of his days in serving God. When our Saint felt that his last hour was nearing, he took off his chain and knelt in prayer for a long time. Then, stretching himself on a little bank of earth, he calmly gave up his soul to God, on tlie 21st of May, 681. Reflection. — If we do not love penitence for its own sake, let us love it on account of our sins ;_ for we should ** work out our salvation in fear and trembling." May 22.— ST. YVO, Confessor. T. Yvo Heloei, descended from a noble and virtuous . _ ' family near Treguier, in Brittany, was born in 1253. At fourteen years of age he went to Paris, and afterwards to Orleans, to pursue his studies. His mother was wont frequently to say to him that he ought so to live as became a Saint, to which his answer always was, that he hoped to be one. This resolution took deep root in his soul, and was a continual spur to virtue, and a check against the least shadow of any dangerous course. His time was chiefly divided between study and prayer ; for his recreation he visited the hospitals, where he attended the sick with great charity, and comforted them under the severe trials of their suffering condition. He made a private vow of perpetual chastity ; but this not being known, many honor- able matches were proposed to him, which he modestly 188 LIVES OP THE SAINTS [May 22 rejected as incompatible with liis studious life. He long deliberated whether to embrace a religious or a clerical state; but the desire of serving his neighbor determined him at length in favor of the latter. He wished, out of humility, to remain in the lesser orders; but his bishop compelled him to receive the priesthood, — a step which cost him many tears, though he had qualified him-self for that sacred dignity by the most perfect purity of mind and body, and by a long and fervent preparation. He was ap- pointed ecclesiastical judge for the diocese of Eennes. St. Yvo protected the orphans and widows, defended the poor, and administered justice to all with an impartiality, appli- cation, and tenderness which gained him the good-will even of those who lost their causes. He was surnamed the advo- cate and lawyer of the poor. He built a house near his own for a hospital of the poor and sick; he washed their feet, cleansed their ulcers, served them at table, and ate himself only the scraps which they had left. He dis- tributed his corn, or the price for which he sold it, among the poor immediately after the harvest. When a certain person endeavored to persuade him to keep it some months^ that he might sell it at a better price, he answered, '' I know not whether I shall be then alive to give it.-** Another time the same person said to him, "I have gained a fifth by keeping my corn.'* " But I," replied the Saint, " a hun- dredfold by giving it immediately away.'* During the Lent of 1303 he felt his strength failing him; yet, far from abating anything in his austerities, he thought himself obliged to redouble his fervor in proportion as he advanced nearer to eternity. On the eve of the Ascension he preached to his people, said Mass, being upheld by two persons, and gave advice to all who addressed themselves to him. After this he lay down on his bed, which was a hurdle of twigs plaited together, and received the last sacra- ments. From that moment he entertained himself with God alone, till his soul went to possess Him in His glory. Hifi death happened on the 19th of May, 1303, in the fiftieth year of his age. Reflection. — St, Yvo was a Saint amidst the dangers of the world; but he preserved his virtue untainted only hy) May 23] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 1B9 arming himself carefully against them, by conversing as- siduously with God in prayer and holy meditation, and by most watchfully shunning the snares of bad company. Without this precaution all the instructions of parents and all other means of virtue are ineffectual ; and the soul_ is sure to split against this rock which does not steer wide of it. May 23.— ST. JULIA, Virgin, Martyr. [t. Julia was a noble virgin of Carthage, who, when . _ ' the city was taken by Genseric in 439, was sold iov a slave to a pagan merchant of Syria named Eusebius. Under the most mortifying employments of her station, by cheerfulness and patience she found a happiness and com- fort which the world could not have afforded. All the time she was not employed in her master's business was devoted to prayer and reading books of piety. Her master, who was charmed veith her fidelity and other virtues, thought proper to carry her with him on one of his voyages to Gaul. Having reached the northern part of Corsica, he cast anchor, and went on shore to join the pagans of the place in an idolatrous festival. Julia was left at some dis- tance, because she would not be defiled by the superstitious ceremonies which she openly reviled. Felix, the governor of the island, who was a bigoted pagan, asked who this woman was who dared to insult the gods. Eusebius in- formed him that she was a Christian, and that all his authority over her was too weak to prevail with her to re- nounce her religion, but that he found her so diligent and! faithful he could not part with her. The governor offered him four of his best female slaves in exchange for her. But the merchant replied, " No ; all you are worth will not purchase her; for I would freely lose the most valuable thing I have in the world rather than be deprived of her." However, the governor, while Eusebius was drunk and asleep, took upon him to compel her to sacrifice to his gods. He offered to procure her liberty if she would comply. The Saint made answer that she was as free as she desired to be as long as she was allowed to serve Jesus Christ. 190 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [I^Iat 24 Felix, thinking himself derided by her undaunted and reso- lute air, in a transport of rage caused her to be struck on the face, and the hair of her head to be torn off, and, lastly, ordered her to be hanged on a cross till she expired. Oertain monks of the isle of Gorgon carried off her body; but in 763 Desiderius, King of Lombardy, removed her relics to Brescia, where her memory is celebrated with great devotion. Reflection. — St. Julia, whether free or a slave, whether in prosperity or in adversity, was equally fervent and de- vout. She adored all the -sweet designs of Providence ; and far from complaining, she never ceased to praise and thank God under all His holy appointments, making them always the means of her virtue and sanctification. God, by an admirable chain of events, raised her by her fidelity to the honor of the saints, and to the dignity of a virgin and martyr. May 24.— STS. DONATIAN and ROGATIAN, Martyrs. I^nHERE lived at Nantes an illustrious young nobleman Vi^ named Donatian, who, having received the holy Sacra- ment of Eegeneration, led a most edifying life, and strove with much zeal to convert others to faith in Christ. His elder brother, Eogatian, was not able to resist the moving example of his piety and the force of his discourses, and desired to be baptized. But the bishop having withdrawn and concealed himself for fear of the persecution, he was not able to receive that sacrament, but was shortly after baptized in his blood; for he declared himself a Christian at a time when to embrace that sacred profession was to become a candidate for martjTrdom. Donatian was im- peached for professing himself a Christian, and for having withdrawn others, particularly his brother, from the wor- ship of the gods. Donatian was therefore apprehended, and having boldly confessed Christ before the governor, was cast into prison and loaded with irons. Eogatian was also brought before the prefect, who endeavored first to gain him by flattering speeches, but finding him inflexible, May 25] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 191 sent him to prison with his brother. Eogatian grieved that he had aot been able to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and prayed that the kiss of peace which his brother gave him might supply it. Donatian also prayed for him that his faith might procure for him the effect of Baptism, and the effusion of his blood that of the Sacrament of Confirma- tion. They passed that night together in fervent prayer. They were the next day called for again by the prefect, to "sphom they declared that they were ready to suffer for the name of Christ whatever torments were prepared for them. By the order of the inhuman judge they were first stretched on the rack, afterwards their hands were pierced with lancet,, and lastly cut off, about the year 287. Reflection. — Three things are pleasing unto God and man : concord among brethren, the love of parents, and the union of man and wife. May 25— ST. GREGORY VII. QREGOKY VII., by name Hildebrand, was born in Tus- cany, about the year 1013. He was educated in Eome. From thence he went to France, and became a monk at Cluny. Afterwards he returned to Eome, and for many years filled high trusts of the Holy See. Three great evils then afflicted the Church: simony, concubinage, and the custom of receiving investiture from lay hands. Against these three corruptions Gregory never ceased to contend. As legate of Victor II. he held a Council at Lyons, where simony was condemned. He was elected Pope in 1073, and at once called upon the pastors of the Catholic world to lay down their lives rather than betray the laws of God to the will of princes. Eome was in rebel- lion through the ambition of the Cenei. Gregory excom- municated them. They laid hands on him at Christmas during the midnight Mass, wounded him, and cast him into prison. The following day he was rescued by the people. Next arose his conflict with Henry IV., Emperor of Ger- many. This monarch, after openly relapsing into simony, pretended to depose the Pope. Gregory excommunicated the emperor. His subjects turned against him, and at last 192 LIVES OF THJ^ SAINTS [May 23 he souglit absolution of Gregory at Canossa. But he did not persevere. He set up an antioope, and besieged Greg-- cry in the castle of St. Angelo. The aged pontiff was obliged to flee, and on May 25, 1085, about the seventy- second year of his life and the twelfth year of his pontifi- cate, Gregory entered into his rest. His last words were full of a divine wisdom and patience. As he was dying, he said, " I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile." His faithful attendant answered, " Vicar «f Christ, an exile thou canst never be, for to thee God has given the Gentiles for an inheritance, and the uttermost ends of the earth for thy possession." Reflection. — Eight hundred years are passed since St. Gregory died, and we see the same conflict renewed before our eyes. Let us learn from him to suffer any persecution from tbe world or the state, rather than betray the rights of the Holy See. May 26— ST. PHILIP NERL Y^iiiLip was one of tbe noble line of Saints raised up by A^ God in the sixteenth century to console and bless His Church. After a childhood of angelic beauty the Holy Spirit drew him away from Florence, the place of his birth, showed him the world, that he might freely renounce it, led him to Eome, modelled him in mind and heart and will, and then, as by a second Pentecost, came down in visible form and filled his soul with light and peace and joy. He would have gone to India, but God reserved him for Eome. There he went on simply from day to day, drawing souls to Jesus, exercising them in mortification and charity, and binding them together by cheerful devotions; thus, uncon- sciously to himself, under the hands of Mary, as he said, the Oratory grew up, and all Eome was pervaded and trans- formed by its spirit. His life was a continuous miracle, his habitual state an ecstasy. He read the hearts of men, foretold their future, knew their eternal destiny. His touch gave health of body; his very look calmed souls in trouble and drove away temptations. He was gay, genial, IVlAY 26] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 193 and irresistibly winning; neither insult nor wrong could dim the brightness of his joy. Philip lived in an atmosphere of sunshine and gladness which brightened all who came near him. " When I met him in the street," says one, " he would pat my cheek and say, * Well, how is Don Pellegrino ? ' and leave me so full of joy that I could not tell which way I was going." Others said that when he playfully pulled their hair or their ears, their hearts would bound with joy. Marcio Altieri felt such overflowing gladness in his presence that he said Philip's room was a paradise on earth. Fabrizio de Massimi would go in sadness or perplexity and stand at Philip's door ; he said it was enough to see him, to be near him. And long after his death it was enough for many, when troubled, to go into his room to find their hearts lightened and gladdened. He inspired a boundless confi- dence and love, and was the common refuge and consoler of all. A gentle jest would convey his rebukes and veil his miracles. The highest honors sought him out, but he put them from him. He died in his eightieth year, in 1595, and bears the grand title of Apostle of Eome. Reflection. — Philip wished his children to serve God, like the first Christians, in gladness of heart. He said this was the true filial spirit; this expands the soul, giving it liberty and perfection in action, power over temptations, and fuller aid to perseverance. ST. AUGUSTINE, Apostle of England. "uGUSTiNE was prior of the monastery of St. Andrew on the Coelian, and was appointed by St. Gregory the great chief of the missionaries whom he sent to England- St. Augustine and his companions, having heard on their journey many reports of the barbarism and ferocity of the pagan English, were afraid, and wished to turn back. But St. Gregory replied, " Go on, in God's name i The g-reater your hardships, the greater your crown. May the grace of Almighty God protect you, and give me to see the fruit of your labor in the heavenly country ! If I cannot share your toil, I shall yet share the harvest, for God knows 194 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [May 27 that it is not good-will which is wanting." The band of missionaries went on in obedience. Landing at Ebbsfleet, between Sandwich and Eamsgate, they met 'King Ethelbert and his thanes under a great oak-tree at Minster, and announced to hiin the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Instant and complete success attended their preaching. On Whit-Sunday, 596, King Ethelbert wai baptized, and his example was followed by the greater number of his nobles and people. By degrees the Faith spread far and wide, and Augustine, as Papal Legate, set out on a visitation of Britain. He failed in his attempt to enlist the Britons of the west in the work of his apostolate through their obstinate jealousy and pride ; but his success was triumphant from south to north. St. Augustine died after eight years of evangelical labors. The Anglo-Saxon Church, which he founded, is still famous for its learning, zeal, and devotion to the Holy See, while its calendar com- memorates no less than 300 Saints, half of whom were of royal birth. Reflection. — The work of an apostle is the work of the right hand of God. He often chooses weak instruments for His mightiest purposes. The most sure augury of last- ing success in missionary labor is obedience to superiors and difBdence in self. May 27.— ST. MARY MAGDALEN OF PAZZL [T. Mary Magdalen" of Pazzi, of an illustrious house in Florence, was born in the 3'ear 1566, and baptized by the name of Catherine. She received her first Com- munion at ten years of age, and made a vow of virginity at twelve. She took great pleasure in carefully teaching the Christian doctrine to the ignorant. Her father, not knowing her vow, wished to give her in marriage, but she persuaded him to allow her to become a religious. It was more difficult to obtain her mother's consent; but at last she gained it, and she was professed, being then eighteen years of age, in the Carmelite monastery of Santa Mnria degli Angeli in Florence, May 17, 1584. She changed her name Catherine into that of Mary Magdalen on becoming a May 27] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 195 mm, and took as her motto, " To suffer or die ; " and her life henceforth was a life of penance for sins not her own, and of love of Oiir Lord, Who tried her in ways fearful and strange. She was obedient, observant of the rule, humble and mortified, and had a great reverence for the religious life. She loved poverty and suffering, and hungered after Communion. The day of Communion she called the day of love. The charity that burned in her heart led her in her youth to choose the house of the Carmelites, because the religious therein communicated eveiy day. She re^ joiced to see others communicate, even when she was not allowed to do so herself; and her love for her sisters grew when she saw them receive Our Lord. God raised her to high states of prayer, and gave her rare gifts, enabling her to read the thoughts of her novices, and filling her with wisdom to direct them aright. She was twice chosen mistress of novices, and then made superioress, when God took her to Himself, May 25, 1607. Her body is incorrupt. Reflection. — ^^St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi was so filled with the love of God that her sisters in the monastery observed it in her love of themselves, and called her " the Mother of Charity " and " the Charity of the Monastery." VENERABLE BEDE. VENERABLE Bede, the illustrious ornament of the Anglo- Saxon Church and the first English historian, was consecrated to God at the age of seven, and intrusted to the care of St. Benedict Biscop at Wearmouth. He became a monk in the sister-house of Jarrow, and there trained no less than six hundred scholars, whom his piety, learning, and sweet disposition had gathered round him. To the toils of teaching and the exact observance of his rule he added long hours of private prayer, and the study of every branch of science and literature then known. He was familiar with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In the treatise which he compiled for his scholars, still extant, he threw together all that the world had then stored in history, chronology, physics, music^ philosophy, poetry, arithmetic-. 196 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [May 28 and medicine. In his Ecclesiastical History he has left us beautiful lives of A'bglo-Saxon Saints and holy Fathers, while his commentaries on the Holy Scriptures are still in use by the Church. It was to the study of the Divine Word that he devoted the whole energy of his soul, and at times his compunction was so overpowering that his voice would break with weeping, while the tears of his scholars mingled with his own. He had little aid from others, and during his later years suffered from constant illness ; yet he worked and prayed up to his last hour. The Saint was employed in translating the Gospel of St. John from the Greek up to the hour of his death, which took place on Ascension Day, 735. " He spent that day joyfully," writes one of his scholars. And in the even- ing the boy who attended him said, " Dear master, there is yet one sentence unwritten." He answered, " Write it quickly." Presently the youth said, " Now it is written." He replied, " Good ! thou hast said the truth — consum- matum est; take my head into thy hands, for it is very pleasant to me to sit facing my old praying-place, and there to call upon my Father." And so on the floor of his cell he sang, " Glory be to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost;" and just as he said "Holy Ghost," he breathed his last, and went to the realms above. Reflection. — " The more," sa3^s the Imitation of Christ, *' a man is united within himself and interiorly simple, so much the more and deeper things doth he understand without labor ; for he receiveth the light of understanding from on high." May 28.— ST. GERMANUS, Bishop. [T. Germ ANUS, the glory of the Church of France in the sixth century, was born in the territory of Autun, about the year 469. In his youth he was conspicuous for his fervor. Being ordained priest, he was made abbot of St. Symphorian's ; he was favored at that time with the gifts of miracles and prophecy. It was his custom to watch the great part of the night in the church in prayer, whilst his monks slept. One night, in a dream, he thought Mat 291 LIVES OF THE SAINTS 197 a venerable old man presented him with the keys of tha city of Paris, and said to him that God committed to his care the inhabitants of that city, that he should save them from perishing. Four years after this divine admonition, in 554, happening to be at Paris when that see became vacant on the demise of the Bishop Eusebius, he was ex- alted to the episcopal chair, though he endeavored by many tears to decline the charge. His promotion made no al- teration in his mode of life. The same simplicity and frugality appeared in his dress, table, and furniture. His» house was perpetually crowded with the poor and the af- flicted, and he had always many beggars at his own table. God gave to his sermons a wonderful influence over the minds of all ranks of people ; so that the face of the whole city was in a very short time quite changed. King Childe- bert, who till then had been an amlntious, worldly prince, was entirely converted by the sweetness and the powerful discourses of the Saint, and founded many religious in- stitutions, and sent large sums of money to the good bishop, to be distributed among the indigent. In his old age St. Germanus lost nothing of that zeal and activity with which he had filled the great duties of his station in the vigor of his life; nor did the weakness to which his cor- poral austerities had reduced him make him abate anything in the mortifications of his penitential life, in which he redoubled his fervor as he approached nearer to the end of his course. By his zeal the remains of idolatry were extirpated in France. The Saint continued his labors for the conversion of sinners till he was called to receive the reward of them, on the 28th of May, 576, being eighty years old. Reflection. — " In the churches bless ye God the LorcL From Thy temple kings shall offer presents to Thee." May 29.— ST. CYRIL, Martyr. [t. Cyril suffered while still a boy at Csesarea in Cap- padocia, during the persecutions of the third century. He used to repeat the name of Christ at all times, and confessed that the mere utterance of this name moved him 198 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [May 30 strangely. He was beaten and reviled by his heathen father. But he bore all this with joy, increasing in the strength of Christ, Who dwelt within him, and drawing many of his own age to the imitation of his heavenly life. When his father in his fury turned him out of doors, he said he had lost little, and would receive a great recom- pense insteajd. Soon after, he was brought before the magistrate on account of his faith. No threats could make him show a sign ©f fear, and the judge, pitying perhaps his tender years, offered him his freedom, assured him of his father's forgiveness, and besought him to return to his home and inheritance. But the blessed youth replied, "I left my home gladly, for I have a greater and a better which is waiting for me.'* He was filled with the same heavenly desires to the end. He was taken to the fires as if for exe- cution, and was then brought back and re-examined, but he only protested against the cruel delay. Led out to die, he hurried on the executioners, gazed unmoved at the fiames which were kindled for him, and expired, hastening, las he said, to his home. Reflection. — Ask Our Lord to make all earthly joy in- sipid, and to fill you with the constant desire of heaven. This desire will make labor emj and suffering light. It will make you fervent and detached, and bring you even here a foretaste of that eternal joy and peace to which you are hastening. May 30.— ST. FELIX I., Pope and Martyr. [t. Felix was a Roman by birth, and succeeded St. Dionysius in the government of the Church in 269. iPaul of Samosata, the proud Bishop of Antioch, to the guilt of many enormous crimes added that of heresy, teach- ing that Christ was no more than a mere man, in whom the Divine Word dwelt by its operation and as in its tem- ple, with many other gross errors concerning the capital mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation. Three councils were held at Antioch to examine his cause, and in the third, assembled in 269, being clearly convicted of heresy. Max 31] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 199 pride, and many scandalous crimes, he was excommuni- cated and deposed, and Domnus was substituted in his place. As Paul still kept possession of the episcopal house, our Saint had recourse to the Emperor Aurelian, who, though a pagan, gave an order that the house should be- long to him' to whom the bishops of Eome and Italy ad- judged it. The persecution of Aurelian breaking out, St. Felix, fearless of danger, strengthened the weak, encour- aged all, baptized the catechumens, and continued to exert himself in converting infidels to the Faith. He him- self obtained the glory of martyrdom. He governed the Church five years, and passed to a glorious eternity in 274. Reflection. — The example of Our Saviour and of all His saints ought to encourage us under all trials to suffer with patience and even with joy. We shall soon begin to feel that it is sweet to tread in the steps of a God-man, and shall find that if we courageously take up our crosses, He will make them light by sharing the burden with us. May 31.— ST. PETRONILLA, Virgin. 'mono the disciples of the apostles in the primitive . age of saints this holy virgin shone as a bright star in the Church. She lived when Christians were more solicitous to live well than to write much : they knew how to die for Christ, but did not compile long books in which vanity has often a greater share than charity. Hence no particular account of her actions has been handed down to us. But how eminent her sanctity was we may judge from the lustre by which it was distinguished among apostles, prophets, and martyrs. .She is said to have been a daugh- ter of the apostle St. Peter; that St. Peter was married before his vocation to the apostleship we learn from the Gospel. St. Clement of Alexandria assures us that his wife attained to the glory of martyrdom, at which Peter himself encouraged her, bidding her to remember Our Lord. But it seems not certain whether St. Petronilla was more than the spiritual daughter of that apostle. She flourished at Eome, and was buried on the way to Ardea, 200 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 1 where in ancient times a cemetery and a church bore her name. Reflection. — With the saints the great end for which they lived was always present to their minds, and they thought every moment lost in which they did not make some advances toward eternal bliss. How will their ex- ample condemn at the last day the trifling fooleries and the greatest part of the conversation and employments of the world, which aim at nothing but present amusements, and forget the only important affair — the business of eternity. June I.— ST. JUSTIN, Martyr. [t. Justin" was born of heathen parents at Neapolis in Samaria, about the year 103. He was well educated, and gave himself to the study of philosophy, but always with one object, that he might learn the knowledge of God. He sought this knowledge among the contending schools of philosophy, but always in vain, till at last God himself appeased the thirst which He had created. One day, while Justin was walking by the seashore, meditating on the thought of God, an old man met him and questioned him on the subject of his doubts ; and when he had made Justin confess that the philosophers taught nothing certain about God, he told him of the writings of the inspired prophets and of Jesus Christ Whom they announced, and bade him seek light and understanding through prayer. The Scriptures and the constancy of the Christian martjTS led Justin from the darkness of human reason to the light of faith. In his zeal for the Faith he travelled to Greece, Egypt, and Italy, gaining many to Christ. At Eome he sealed his testimony with his blood, surrounded by his dis- ciples. " Do you think," the prefect said to Justin, " that by dying you will enter heaven, and be rewarded by God ? " *'l do not think," was the Saint's answer; "I know." Then, as now, there were many religious opinions, but only one certain — the certainty of the Catholic faith. This certainty should be the measure of our confidence and our zeal. June 1] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 201 Reflection. — We have received the gift of faith with little labor of our own. Let us learn how to value it from those who reached it after long search, and lived in the misery of a world which did not know God. Let us fear, as St. Justin did, the account we shall have to render for the gift of God. ST. PAMPHILUS, Martyr. [t. Pamphilus was of a rich and honorable family, and a native of Berytus, in which city, at that time famous for its schools, he in his youth ran through the whole circle of the sciences, and was afterward honored with the first employments of the magistracy. After he began to know Christ, he could relish no other study but that of salvation, and renounced everything else that he might apply himself wholly to the exercise of virtue and the studies of the Holy Scriptures. This accomplished master in profane sciences, and this renowned magistrate, was not ashamed to become the humble scholar of Pierius, the successor of Origen, in the great catechetical school of Alexandria. He afterward made CjEsarea, in Palestine, his residence, where, at his private expense, he collected a great library, which he bestowed on the church of that city. The Saint established there also a public school of sacred literature, and to his labors the Church was indebted for a most correct edition of the Holy Bible, which, with infinite care, he transcribed himself. But nothing was more remarkable in this Saint than his extraordinary hu- mility. His paternal estate he at length distributed among the poor; towards his slaves and domestics his behavior was always that of a brother or a tender father. He led a most austere life, sequestered from the world and its company, and was indefatigable in labor. Such a virtue was his apprenticeship to the grace of martyrdom. In the year 307, IJrbanus, the cruel governor of Palestine, caused him to be apprehended, and commanded him to be most inhvimanly tormented. But the iron hooks which tore the martyr's sides served only to cover the judge with con- fusion. After this, the Saint remained almost two years 203 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 2 in prison. TJrbanus, the governor, was himself beheaded by an order of the Emperor Maximinus, but was suc- ceeded by Firmilian, a man not less barbarous than bigoted and superstitious. After several butcheries, he caused St. Pamphilus to be brought before him, and passed sentence of death upon him. His flesh was torn off to the very bones, and his bowels exposed to view, and the torments were continued a long time without intermission, but he never once opened his mouth so much as to groan. He finished his martyrdom by a slow fire, and died invoking" Jesus, the Son of God. Reflection. — A cloud of witnesses, a noble army of mar- tyrs, teach us by their constancy to suffer wrong with patience, and strenuously to resist evil. The daily trials we meet with from others or from ourselves are always sent us by God, Who sometimes throws difficulties in our way on purpose to reward our conquest; and sometimes, like a wise physician, restores us to our health by bitter potions. June 2.— STS. POTHINUS, Bishop, SANCTUS, AT- TALUS, BLANDINA, and the other Martyrs of Lyons. 'fter the miraculous victory obtained by the prayers of the Christians under Marcus Aurelius, in 174, the Church enjoyed a kind of peace, though it was often disturbed in particular places by popular commotions, or by the superstitious fury of certain governors. This ap- pears from the violent persecution which was raised three years after the aforesaid victory, at Vienne and Lyons, in 177, whilst St. Pothinus was Bishop of Lyons, and St. Irenseus, who had been sent thither by St, Polycarp out of Asia, was a priest of that city. Many of the principal Christians were brought before the Eoman governor. Among them was a slave, Blandina : and her mistress, also a Christian, feared that Blandina lacked strength to brave the torture. She was tormented a whole day through, but she bore it all with joy till the executioners gave up^ con- June 3] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 203 fessing themselves outdone. Eed-hot plates were held to the sides of Sanctiis, a deacon of Vienne, till his body be- came one great sore, and he looked no longer like a man; but in the midst of his tortures he was "bedewed and strengthened by the stream of heavenly water which flows from the side of Christ." Meantime, many confessors were kept in prison and with them were some who had been terrified into apostasy. Even the heathens marked the joy of martyrdom in the Christians who were decked for their eternal espousals, and the misery of the apostates. But the faithful confessors brought back those who had fallen, and the Church, "that Virgin Mother,*' rejoiced when she saw her children live again in Christ. Some died in prison, the rest were martyred one by one, St. Blandina last of all, after seeing her younger brother put to a cruel death, and encouraging him to victory. Reflection. — In early times the Christians were called the children of joy. Let us seek the joy of the Holy Spirit to sweeten suffering, to temper earthly delight, till we en- ter into the joy of Our Lord. June 3.— ST. CLOTILDA, Queen. |T. Clotilda was daughter of Chilperic, younger * brother to Gondebald, the tyrannical King of Bur- gundy, who put him and his wife, and his other brothers, except one, to death, in order to usurp their dominions. Clotilda was brought up in her uncle's court, and, _ by a singular providence, was instructed in the Catholic re- ligion, though she was educated in the midst of Arians. Her wit, beauty, meekness, modesty, and piety made her the adoration of all the neighboring kingdoms, and Clovis I., surnamed the Great, the victorious king of the Franks, demanded and obtained her in marriage. She honored her royal husband, studied to sweeten his warlike temper by Christian meekness, conformed herself to his humor in things that were indifferent, and, the better to gain his affections, made those things the subject of her discourse and praises in which she knew him to take the greatest de- light. When she saw herself mistress of his heart she did ®04 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [June 4 not defer the great work of endeavoring to win him to God, but the fear of giving offence to his people made him delay his conversion. His miraculous victory over the Alemanni,, and his entire conversion in 496, were at length the fruit of our Saint's prayers. Clotilda, having gained to God this great monarch, never ceased to excite him to glorious ac- tions for the divine honor; among other religious founda- tions, he built in Paris, at her request, about the year 511, the great church of Sts. Peter and Paul, now called St. Genevieve's. This great prince died on the 27th of No- vember, in the year 511, at the age of forty-five, having reigned thirty years. His eldest son, Theodoric, reigned at Eheims over the eastern parts of Prance, Clodomir reigned at Orleans, Childebert at Paris, and Clotaire I. at Soissons. This division produced wars and mutual jeal- ousies, till in 560 the whole monarchy was reunited under Clotaire, the youngest of these brothers. The dissension in her family contributed more perfectly to wean Clotilda's heart from the world. She spent the remaining part of her life in exercises of prayer, almsdeeds, watching, fast- ing, and penance, seeming totally to forget that she had been queen or that her sons sat on the throne. Eternity filled her heart and employed all her thoughts. She fore- told her death thirty days before it happened. On the thirtieth day of her illness, she received the sacraments, xnade a public confession of her faith, and departed to the Lord on the 3d of June, in 545. Reflection. — St. Peter defines the mission of the Chris- tian woman; to win the heart of those who believe not the word. June 4.--ST. FRANCIS CARACCIOLO. 'rancis was born in the kingdom of Naples, of thl princely family of Caracciolo. In childhood he shunned all amusements, recited the Rosary regularly, and loved to visit the Blessed Sacrament and to distribute his food to the poor. An attack of leprosy taught him the vileness of the human body and the vanity of the worlds June 4] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 205 Almost miraculously cured, he renounced his home to study for the priesthood at Naples, where he spent his leisure hours in the prisons or visiting the Blessed Sacra- ment in unfrequented churches. God called him, when only twenty-five, to found an Order of Clerks Eegular, whose rule was that each day one father fasted on bread and water, another took the discipline, a third wore a hair- shirt, while they always watched by turns in perpetual adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. They took the usual vows, adding a fourth — not to desire dignities. To establish his Order, Francis undertook many journeys through Italy and Spain, on foot and without money, con- tent with the shelter and crusts given him in charity. Being elected general, he redoubled his austerities, and de- voted seven hours daily to meditation on the Passion, be- sides passing most of the night praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Francis was commonly called the Preacher of Divine Love. But it was before the Blessed Sacrament that his ardent devotion was most clearly perceptible. In presence of his divine Lord his face usually emitted bril- liant rays of light; and he often bathed the ground with his tears when he prayed, according to his custom, pros- trate on his face before the tabernacle, and constantly repeating, as one devoured by internal fire, " The zeal of Thy house hath eaten me up." He died of fever, aged forty-four, on the eve of Corpus Christi, 1608, saying, " Let us go, let us go to heaven ! " When his body was opened after death, his heart was found as it were burnt up, and these words imprinted around it: Zelus domus Tuse comedit me " — " The zeal of Thy house hath eaten me up." Reflection. — It is for men, and not for angels, that our blessed Lord resides upon the altar. Yet angels throng our churches to worship Him while men desert Him. Learn from St. Francis to avoid such ingratitude, and to spend, as he did, every possible moment before the Most Holy Sacrament. 206 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [June 5 June 5.— ST. BONIFACE, Bishop, Martyr. Jt. Boniface was born at Crediton in Devonshire, England, in the year 680. Some missionaries stay- ing at his father's house spoke to him of heavenly things, and inspired him with a wish to devote himself, as they did, to God. He entered the monastery of Exminster, and was there trained for his apostolic work. His first attempt to convert the pagans in Holland having failed, he went to Eome to obtain the Pope's blessing on his mission, and returned with authority to preach to the German tribes. It was a slow and dangerous task; his own life was in con- stant peril, while his flock was often reduced to abject poverty by the wandering robber bands. Yet his courage never flagged. He began with Bavaria and Thuringia, next visited Friesland, then passed on to Hesse and Saxony, everywhere destroying the idol temples and raising churches on their site. He endeavored, as far as possible, to make every object of idolatry contribute in some way to the glory of God; on one occasion, having cut down on im- mense oak which was consecrated to Jupiter, he used the tree in building a church, which he dedicated to the Prince of the Apostles. He was now recalled to Eome, conse- crated Bishop by the Pope, and returned to extend and organize the rising German Church. With diligent care he reformed abuses among the existing clergy, and estab- lished religious houses throughout the land. At length, feeling his infirmities increase, and fearful of losing his martyr's crown, Boniface appointed a successor to his monastery, and set out to convert a fresh pagan tribe. While St. Boniface was waiting to administer Confirma- tion to some newly-baptized Christians, a troop of pagans arrived, armed with swords and spears. His attendants would have opposed them, but the Saint said to his fol- lowers : " My children, cease your resistance ; the long- expected day is come at last. Scripture forbids us to resist evil. Let us put our hope in God : He will save our souls." Scarcely had he ceased speaking, when the barbarians fell upon him and slew him with all his attendants, to the number of fifty-two. June 6] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 207 Reflection. — St. Boniface teaches us how the love of Christ changes all things. It was for Christ's sake that he toiled for souls, preferring poverty to riches, labor to rest, suffering to pleasure, death to life, that by dying he might live with Christ. Juno 6.— ST. NORBERT, Bishop. OF noble rank and rare talents, IsTorbert passed a most pious youth, and entered the ecclesiastical state. By a strange contradiction, his conduct now became a scan- dal to his sacred calling, and at the court of the Emperor Henry IV. he led, like many clerics of that age, a life of dissipation and luxury. One day, when he was thirty years of age, he was thrown half dead from his horse, and on recovering his senses, resolved upon a new life. After a severe aaid searching preparation, he was ordained priest, and began to expose the abuses of his Order. Silenced at first by a local council, he obtained the Pope's sanction and preached penance to listening crowds in France and the Netherlands. In the wild vale of Premontre he gave to some trained disciples the rule of St. Austin, and a white habit to denote the angelic purity proper to the priesthood. The Canons Eegular, or Premonstratensians, as they were called, were to unite the active work of the country clergy with the obligations of the monastic life. Their fervor renewed the spirit of the priesthood, quickened the faith of the people, and drove out heresy. A vile heretic, named Tankelin, appeared at Antwerp, in the time of St. Norbert, and denied the reality of the priesthood, and especially blasphemed the Blessed Eucharist. The Saint was sent for to drive out the pest. By his burning words he ex- posed tlie impostor and rekindled the faith in the Blessed Sacrament. Many of the apostates had proved their con- tempt for the Blessed Sacrament by burying it in filthy places. ISTorbert bade them search for the Sacred Hosts. They found them entire and uninjured, and the Saint bore them back in triumph to the tabernacle. Hence he is generally painted with the monstrance in his hand. In 1136 Norbert found himself appointed Bishop of Magde- 208 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June > burg; and there, at the risk of his life, he zealously car- ried on his work of reform, and died, worn out with toil, at the age of fifty-three. Reflection. — Separation for the injuries offered to the Blessed Sacrament was the aim of St. iSTorbert's great work of reform — in himself, in the clergy, and in the faithful. How much does our present worship repair for our own past irreverences, and for the outrages offered by others to the Blessed Eucharist. June 7.— ST. ROBERT OF NEWMINSTER. Xisr 1132 Eobert was a monk at Whitby, England, when news arrived that thirteen religious had been violently expelled from the Abbey of St. Mary, in York, for having proposed to restore the strict Benedictine rule. He at once set out to join them, and found them on the banks of the Skeld, near Eipon, living in the midst of winter in a hut made of hurdles and roofed with turf. In the spring they affiliated themselves to St. Bernard's reform at Clairvaux, and for two years struggled on in extreme poverty. At length the fame of their sanctity brought another novice, Hugh, Dean of York, who endowed the community with all his wealth, and thus laid the foundation of Fountains Abbey. In 1137 Eaynulph, Baron of Morpeth, was so edified by the example of the monks at Fountains that he built them a monastery in Northumberland, called New- minster, of which St. Eobert became abbot. The holiness of his life, even more than his words, guided his brethren to perfection, and within the next ten years three new communities went forth from this one house to becom^ centres of holiness in other parts. The abstinence of St. Eobert in refectory alone sufficed to maintain the mortified spirit of the community. One Easter Day, his stomach, weakened by the fast of Lent, could take no food, and he at last consented to try to eat some bread sweetened with honey. Before it was brought, he felt this relaxation would be a dangerous example for his subjects, and sent the food untouched to the poor at the gate. The plate was received by a young man of shining countenance, who JuNF 7j LIVES OF THE SAINTS 209 gtraightway disappeared. At the next meal the plate de- scended empty, and by itself, to the abbot's place in the refectory, proving that what the Saint sacrificed for his brethren had been accepted by Christ. At the moment of Kobert's death, in 1159, St. Godric, the hermit of Finchale, saw his soul, like a globe of fire, borne up by the angels in a pathway of light; and as the gates of iaeaven opened before them, a voice repeated twice, "Enter now, my friends," Reflection. — Eeason and authority prove that virtue ought to be practised. But facts alone prove that it is practised; and this is why examples have more power to move our souls, and why our individual actions are of such fearful importance for others as well as for ourselves, ST. CLAUDE, Archbishop. J^iiE province of Eastern Burgundy received great lustre Km/ from this glorious Saint. He was born at Salins, about the year 603, and was both the model and the oracle of the clergy of Besangon, when, upon the death of Arch- bishop Gervaise, about the year 683, he was chosen to be his successor. Fearing the obligations of that charge, he fled and hid himself, but was discovered and compelled to take it upon him. During seven years he acquitted him- self of the pastoral functions with the zeal and vigilance of an apostle; but finding then an opportunity of resigning his see, which, out of humility and love of solitude, he had always sought, he retired to the great monastery of St. Oyend, and there took the monastic habit, in 690. Violence was used to oblige him soon after to accept the abbatial dignity. Such was the sanctity of his life, and his zeal in conducting his monks in the paths of evangel- ical perfection, that he deserved to be compared to the Antonines and Pachomiuses, and his monastery to those of ancient Egypt. Manual labor, silence, prayer, reading of pious books, especially the Holy Bible, fasting, watching, humility, obedience, poverty, mortification, and the close union of their hearts with God, made up the whole occupa- tion of these fervent servants of God, and were the rich 210 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [June 8 patrimony which St. Claude left to his disciples. He died in 703. June 8.— ST. MEDARD, Bishop. [T. Medard, one of the most illustrious prelates of the Church of France in the sixth century, was born of a pious and noble family, at Salency, about the year 457. From his childhood he evinced the most tender compas- sion for the poor. On one occasion he gave his coat to a •destitute blind man, and when asked why he had done so, he answered that the misery of a fellow-member in Christ so affected him that he could not help giving him part of his own clothes. Being promoted to the priesthood in the thirty-third year of his age, he became a bright ornament of that sacred order. He preached the word of God with an unction which touched the hearts of the most hardened ; and the influence of his example, by which he enforced the precepts which he delivered from the pulpit, seemed irresistible. In 530, Alomer, the thirteenth bishop of that country, dying, St. Medard was unanimously chosen to fill the see, and was consecrated by St. Eemigius, who had baptized King Clovis in 496, and was then exceeding old. Our Saint's new dignity did not make him abate anything of his austerities, and, though at that time seventj^-two years old, he thought himself obliged to redouble his la- bors. Though his diocese was very wide, it seemed not to suffice for his zeal, which could not be confined; wherever he saw the opportunity of advancing the honor of God, and of abolishing the remains of idolatry, he overcame all obstacles, and by his zealous labors and miracles the rays of the Gospel dispelled the mists of idolatry throughout the whole extent of his diocese. "What rendered this task more difficult and perilous was the savage and fierce dis- position of the ancient inhabitants of Flanders, who were the most barbarous of all the nations of the Gauls and Franks. Our Saint, having completed this great work in Flanders, returned to Noyon, where he shortly after fell sick, and soon rested from his labors at an advanced age, in 545. The whole kingdom lamented his death as the June 9] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 211 loss of their common father and protector. His body was buried in his own cathedral, but the many miracles wrought at his tomb so moved King Clotaire that he trans- lated the precious remains to Soissons. Reflection, — The Church takes delight in styling her founder " The amiable Jesus/' and He likewise says of Himself, " I am meek and humble of heart." June 9— STS. PRIMUS and FELICIANUS, Martyrs. ^^HESE two martyrs were brothers, and lived in Rome, W^ toward the latter part of the third century, for many years, mutually encouraging each other in the prac- tice of all good works. They seemed to possess nothing but for the poor, and often spent both nights and days with the confessors in their dungeons, or at the places of their torments and execution. Some they encouraged to perseverance, others, who had fallen, they raised again, and they made themselves the servants of all in Christ, that all might attain to salvation through Him. Though their zeal was most remarkable, they had escaped the dangers of many bloody persecutions, and were grown old in the heroic exercises of virtue, when it pleased God to crown their labors with a glorious martyrdom. The pagans raised so great an outcry against them that they were both apprehended and put in chains. They were in- humanly scourged, and then sent to a town twelve miles from Eome to be farther chastised, as avowed enemies to the gods. There they were cruelly tortured, first both to- gether, afterward separately. But the grace of God strengthened them, and they were at length both beheaded on the 9th of June, Reflection, — A soul which truly loves God regards all the things of this world as nothing. The loss of goods, the disgrace of the world, torments, sickness, and other afflic- tions are bitter to the senses, but appear light to him that loves. If we cannot bear our trials with patience and silence, it is because we love God only in words. " One who is slothful and lukewarm complains of everything, 312 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 9 and calls the lightest precepts hard," says Thomas a Kempis. ST. COLUMBA, or COLUMKILLE, Abbot. [t. Columba, the apostle of the Picts, was born of a noble family, at Gartan, in the county of Tyrcon- nel, Ireland, in 521. From early childhood he gave himself to God. In all his labors — and they were many — his chief thought was heaven and how he should secure the way thither. The result was that he lay on the bare floor, with a stone for his pillow, and fasted all the year round; yet the sweetness of his countenance told of the holy soul's interior serenity. Though austere, he was not morose; and, often as he longed to die, he was untiring in good works, throughout his life. After he had been made abbot, his zeal offended King Dermot; and in 565 the Saint departed for Scotland, where he founded a hundred religious houses and converted the Picts, w^ho in gratitude gave him the island of lona. There St. Columba founded his celebrated monastery, the school of apostolic mission- aries and martyrs, and for centuries the last resting-place of Saints and kings. Four years before his death, our Saint had a vision of angels, who told him that the day of his death had been deferred four years, in answer to the prayers of his children; whereat the Saint wept bitterly, and cried out, " Woe is me that my sojourning is pro- longed ! " for he desired above all things to reach his true home. How different is the conduct of most men, who dread death above everything, instead of wishing " to be dissolved, and to be with Christ " ! On the day of his peaceful death, in the seventy-seventh year of his age, surrounded in choir by his spiritual children, the 9th of June, 597, he said to" his disciple Diermit, "This day is called the Sabbath, that is, the day of rest, and such will it truly be to me; for it will put an end to my labors." Then, kneeling before the altar, he received the Viaticum, and sweetly slept in the Lord. His relics were carried to Down, and laid in the same shrine with the bodies of St. Patrick and St. Brigid. ffuTTE 10] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 2l3 Reflection. — The thought of the world to come will always make us happy, and yet strict with ourselves in all our duties. The more perfect we become, the sooner shall we behold that for which St. Columba sighed. June 10.— ST. MARGARET OF SCOTLAND. [T. Margaret's name signifies "pearl;" "a fitting name/' says Theodoric, her confessor and her first biographer, "for one such as she." Her soul was like a precious pearl. A life spent amidst the luxury of a royal court never dimmed its lustre, or stole it away from Him who had bought it with His blood. She was the grand- daughter of an English king; and in 1070 she became the bride of Malcolm, and reigned Queen of Scotland till her death in 1093. How did she become a Saint in a position where sanctity is so difficult? First, she burned with zeal for the house of God. She built churches and monasteries ; she busied herself in making vestments; she could not rest till she saw the laws of God and His Church observed throughout her realm. Next, amidst a thousand cares, she found time to converse with God — ordering her piety with such sweetness and discretion that she won her hus- band to sanctity like her own. He used to rise with her at night for prayer; he loved to kiss the holy books she used, and sometimes he would steal them away, and bring them back to his wife covered with jewels. Lastly, with virtues so great, she wept constantly over her sins, and begged her confessor to correct her faults. St. Margaret did not neglect her duties in the world because she was not of it. Never was a better mother. She spared no pains in the education of her eight children, and their sanctity was the fruit of her prudence and her zeal. Never was a better queen. She was the most trusted counsellor of her husband, and she labored for the material improvement of the country. But, in the midst of the world's pleasures, she sighed for the better country, and accepted death as a release. On her death-bed she re- ceived the news that her husband and her eldest son were slain in battle. She thanked God, Who had sent this last 214 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 11 affliction as a penance for her sins. After receiving Holy Yiaticum, she was repeating the prayer from the Missal, *' Lord Jesus Christ, Who by Thy death didst give life to the world, deliver me." At the words " deliver me," says her biographer, she took her departure to Christ, the Author of true liberty. Reflection. — All perfection consists in keeping a guardl upon the heart. Wherever we are, we can make a solitude in our hearts, detach ourselves from the world, and con- verse familiarly with God. Let us take St. Margaret for our example and encouragement. June II.— ST. BARNABAS, Apostle. ^l^E read that in the first days of the Church, " the \U multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul; neither did any one say that aught of the things which he possessed was his own." Of this fervent com- pany, one only is singled, out by name, Joseph, a rich Levite, from Cyprus. " He having land sold it, and brought the price and laid it at the feet of the apostles." They now gave him a new name, Barnabas, the son of consolation. " He was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and was soon chosen for an important mission to the rapidly-growing Church of Antioch. Here he per- ceived the great work which was to be done among the Greeks, so he hastened to fetch St. Paul from his retire- ment at Tarsus. It was at Antioch that the two Saints were called to the apostolate of the Gentiles, and hence they set out together to Cyprus and the cities of Asia Minor. Their preaching struck men with amazement, and some cried out, " The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men," calling Paul Mercury, and Barnabas Jupiter. The Saints travelled together to the Council of Jerusalem, but shortly after this they parted. When Agabus prophesied a great famine, Barnabas, no longer rich, was chosen by the faithful at Antioch as most fit to bear, with St. Paul, their generous offerings to the Church of Jerusalem. The gentle Barnabas, keeping with him Jolm, surnamed Mark, whom St, Paul distrusted, betook June 12] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 315 himself to C3'prus, where the isacred history leaves him; and here, at a later period, he won his martyr's crown. Reflection. — St. Barnabas's life is full of suggestions to us who live in days when once more the abundant alms of the faithful are sorely needed by the whole Church, from, the Sovereign Pontiff to the poor children in our streets. June 12.— ST. JOHN OF ST. FAGONDEZ. T. John was born at St. Fagondez, in Spain.^ At an early age he held several benefices in the diocese of Burgos, till the reproaches of his conscience forced him_ to resign them all except one chapel, where he said Mass daily, preached, and catechised. After this he studied theology at Salamanca, and then labored for some time as a most devoted missionary priest. Ultimately he became a her- mit of the Augustmian Order, in the same city. There his life was marked by a singular devotion to the Holy Mass. ■Each night after Matins he remained in prayer till the hour of celebration, when he offered the Adorable Sacrifice with the most tender piety, often enjoying the_ sight of Jesus in glory, and holding sweet colloquies with Him. The power of his personal holiness was seen in his preach- ing, which produced a complete reformation in Salamanca. He had a special gift of reconciling differences, and was enabled to put an end to the quarrels and feuds among noblemen, at that period very common and fatal. The boldness shown by St. John in reproving vice endangered; his life. A powerful noble, having been corrected by the Saint for oppressing his vassals, sent two assassins to slay him. The holiness of the Saint's aspect, however, caused by that peace which continually reigned in his soul, struck such awe into their minds that they could not execute their purpose, but humbly besought his forgiveness. And the nobleman himself, falling sick, was brought to repent- ance, and recovered his health by the prayers of the Saint whom he had endeavored to murder. He was also most zealous in denouncing those hideous vices which are a fruitful source of strife, and it was in defence of holy purity that he met his death. A lady of noble birth but 216 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 13 evil life, whose companion in sin St. John had converted, contrived to administer a fatal poison to the Saint. After several months of terrible suffering, borne with unvarying patience, St. John went to his reward on June 11, 1479. Reflection. — All men desire peace, but those alone enjoy it who, like St. John, are completely dead to themselves, and love to bear all things for Christ. June 13— ST. ANTONY OF PADUA. XN 1221 St. Francis held a general chapter at Assisi; when the others dispersed, there lingered behind, un- known and neglected, a poor Portuguese friar, resolved to ask for and to refuse nothing. Nine months later, Fra Antonio rose under obedience to preach to the religious assembled at Forli, when, as the discourse proceeded, " the Hammer of Heretics," " the Ark of the Testament," " the eldest son of St. Francis," stood revealed in all his sanctity, learning, and eloquence before his rapt and astonished brethren. Devoted from earliest youth to prayer and study among the Canons Eegular, Ferdinand de Bulloens, as his name was in the world, had been stirred, by the spirit and example of the first five Franciscan martyrs, to put on their habit and preach the Faith to the Moors in Africa. De- nied a martyr's palm, and enfeebled by sickness, at the age of twenty-seven he was taking silent but merciless revenge upon himself in the humblest offices of his community. From this obscurity he was now called forth, and for nine years France, Italy, and Sicily heard his voice, saw his miracles, and men's hearts turned to God. One night, when St. Antony was staying T.i-ith a friend in the city of Padua, his host saw brilliant rays streaming under the door of the Saint's room, and on looking through the key- hole he beheld a little Child of marvellous beauty standing upon a book which lay open upon the table, and clinging with both arms round Antony's neck. With an ineffable sweetness he watched the tender caresses of the Saint and his wondrous Visitor. At last the Child vanished, and Fra Antonio, opening the door, charged his friend, by the ]ove of Him Whom he had seen, to " tell the vision to no June 14] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 217 man" as long as he was alive. Suddenly, in 1231, our Saint's brief apostolate was closed, and the voices of chil- dren were heard crying along the streets of Padua, " Our father, St. Antony, is dead." The following year, the church-bells of Lisbon rang without ringers, while at Rome one of its sons was inscribed among the Saints of God. Reflection. — Let us love to pray and labor unseen, and cherish in the secret of our hearts the graces of Goti and the growth of our immortal souls. Like St. Antony, let us attend to this, and leave the rest to God. June 14.— ST. BASIL THE GREAT. [t. Basil was born in Asia Minor. Two of his brothers became bishops, and, together with his mother and sister, are honored as Saints. He studied with great suc- cess at Athens, where he formed with St. Gregory Nazian- zen the most tender friendship. He then taught oratory ; but dreading the honors of the world, he gave up all, and became the father of the monastic life in the East. The Arian heretics, supported by the court, were then perse- cuting the Church; and Basil was summoned from his retirement by his bishop to give aid against them. His energy and zeal soon mitigated the disorders of the Church, and his solid and eloquent words silenced the heretics. On the death of Eusebius, he was chosen Bishop of Cassarea. His commanding character, his firmness and energy, his learning and eloquence, and not less his humility and the exceeding austerity of his life, made him a model for bishops. When St. Basil was required to admit the Arians to Communion, the prefect, finding that soft words had no effect, said to him, " Are you mad, that you resist the will before which the whole world bows? Do you not dread the wrath of the emperor, nor exile, nor death ? " " No," said Basil calmly ; " he who has nothing to lose need not dread loss of goods; you cannot exile me, for the whole earth is my home ; as for death, it would be the greatest kindness you could bestow upon me; torments cannot harm me : one blow would end my frail life and my suffer- ings together." " Never," said the prefect, " has any one 218 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 15 dared to address me thus." "Perhaps," suggested Basil, "you never before measured your strength with a Chris- tian bishop." The emperor desisted from his commands. St. Basil's whole life was one of suffering. He lived amid jealousies and misunderstandings and seeming disappoint- ments. But he sowed the seed which bore goodly fruit in the next generation, and was God's instrument in beating back the Arian and other heretics in the East, and restop ing the spirit of discipline and fervor in the Church. He died in 379, and is venerated as a Doctor of the Church. Reflection. — " Fear God," says the Imitation of Christ, "and thou shalt have no need of being afraid of any man." June 15— STS. VITUS, CRESCENTIA, and MO- DESTUS, Martyrs. VITUS was a child nobly born, who had the happiness to be instructed in the Faith, and inspired with the most perfect sentiments of his religion, by his Christian nurse, named Crescentia, and her faithful husband, Modes- tus. His father, Hylas, was extremely incensed when he discovered the child's invincible aversion to idolatry; and finding him not to be overcome by stripes and such like chastisements, he delivered him up to Valerian, the gov- ernor, who in vain tried all his arts to work him into com- pliance with his father's will and the emperor's edicts. Hg escaped out of their hands, and, together with Crescentia iand Modestus, fled into Italy. They there met with the crown of martyrdom in Lucania, in the persecution of Diocletian. The heroic spirit of martyrdom which we admire in St. Vitus was owing to the early impressions of piety which he received from the lessons and example of a virtuous nurse. Of such infinite importance is the choice of virtuous preceptors, nurses, and servants about children. Reflection. — What happiness for an infant to be formed naturally to all virtue, and for the spirit of simplicity, meekness, goodness, and piety to be moulded in its tender frame ! Such a foundation being well laid, further graces June 16] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 219 are abundantly communicated, and a soul improves daily these seeds, and rises to the height of Christian virtue often without experiencing severe conflicts of the passions. June i6.— ST. JOHN FRANCIS REGIS. ;-^T. John Francis Eegis was born in Languedoc, in 1597. From his tenderest years he showed evi- dences of uncommon sanctity by his innocence of life, modesty, and love of prayer. At the age of eighteen he entered the Society of Jesus. As soon as his studies were over, he gave himself entirely to the salvation of souls. The winter he spent in country missions, principally in mountainous districts; and in spite of the rigor of the weather and the ignorance and roughness of the inhabi- tants, he labored with such success that he gained in- numerable souls to God both from heresy and from a bad life. The summer he gave to the towns. There his time was taken up in visiting hospitals and prisons, in jDreach- ing and instructing, and in assisting all who in any way stood in need of his services. In his works of mercy God often helped him by miracles. In November, 1637, the Saint set out for his second mission at Marthes. His road lay across valleys filled with snow and over mountains frozen and precipitous. Zn climbing one of the highest, a bush to which he was clinging gave way, and he broke his leg in the fall. By the help of his companion he accomplished the remaining six miles, and then, instead of seeing a surgeon, insisted on being taken straight to the confessional. There, after several hours, the curate of the parish found him still seated, and when his leg was examined the fracture was found to be miraculously healed. He was so inflamed with the love of God that he seemed to breathe, think, speak of that alone, and he offered up the Holy Sacrifice with such attention and fervor that those who assisted at it could not but feel something of the fire with which he burned. After twelve years of unceasing labor, he rendered his pure and innocent soul to his Creator, at the age of forty-four. 220 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [June i7 Reflection. — "Ulien St. Jolm Francis was struck in the face by a sinner whom he was reproving, he replied, " If you only knew me, you would give me much more than that." His meekness converted the man, and it is in this spirit that he teaches us to win souls to God. How much might we do if we could forget our own wants in remem- bering those of others, and put our trust in God ! June 17.— ST. AVITUS, Abbot. [T. AviTUS was a native of Orleans, and, retiring into Auvergne, took the monastic habit, together with St. Calais, in the abbey of Menat, at that time very small, though afterward enriched by Queen Brunehault, and by St. Boner, Bishop of Clermont. The two Saints soon after returned to Miscy, a famous abbey situated a league and a half below Orleans. It was founded toward the end of the reign of Clovis I. by St. Euspicius, a holy priest, honored on the 14th of June, and his nephew St. Maximin or Mes- nim, whose name this monastery, which is now of the Cistercian Order, bears. Many call St. ]\Iasimin the first abbot, others St. Euspicius the first, St. Maximin the sec- ond, and St. Avitus the third. But our Saint and St. Calais made not a long stay at Miscy, though St. Maximin gave them a gracious reception. In quest of a closer re- tirement, St. Avitus, who had succeeded St. Maximin, soon after resigned the abbacy, and with St. Calais lived a recluse in the territory now called Dunois, on the frontiers of La Perche. Others joining them, St. Calais retired int-o a forest in Maine, and King Clotaire built a church and monastery for St. Avitus and his companions. This is at present a Benedictine nunnery, called St. Avy of Chateaudun, and is situated on the Loire, at the foot of the hill on which the town of Chateaudun is built, in the diocese of Chartres. Three famous monks, Leobin, after- wards Bishop of Chartres, Euphronius, and Eusticus, attended our Saint to his happy death, which happened about the year 530. His body was carried to Orleans, and buried with great pomp in that city. June 181 LIVES OF THE SAINTS 221 June i8.~STS. MARCUS and MARCELLIANUS, Martyrs. yKAECUS AND MARCELLIANUS Were twin brothers of an %*A illustrious family in Rome, who had been converted to the Faith in their youth and were honorably married. Diocletian ascending the imperial throne in 284, the heathens raised persecutions. These martyrs were thrown into prison, and condemned to be beheaded. Their friends obtained a respite of the execution for thirty days, that they might prevail on them to worship the false gods. Tranquillinus and Martia, their afflicted heathen parents, in company with their sons' own wives and their little babes, endeavored to move them by the most tender en^ treaties and t-ears. St. Sebastian, an officer of the em- peror's household, coming to Eome soon after their commitment, daily visited and encouraged them. The issue of the conferences was the happy conversion of the father, mother, and wives, also of Nicostratus, the public register, and soon after of Chromatius, the judge, who set the Saints at liberty, and, abdicating the magistracy, re- tired into the country. Marcus and Marcellianus were hid by a Christian officer of the household in his apart- ments in the palace; but they were betrayed by an apostate, and retaken. Fabian, who had succeeded Chromatius, condemned them to be bound to two pillars, with their feet nailed to the same. In this posture they remained a day and a night, and on the following day were stabbed with lances. Reflection. — We know not what we are till we have been tried. It costs nothing to say we love God above all things, and to show the courage of martyrs at a distance from the danger; but that love is sincere which has stood the proof. " Persecution shows who is a hireling, and ,who a true pastor," says St. Bernard. 23S, LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [June 19 June 19.— ST. JULIANA FALCONIERI. ^"YuLiAisrA Falconieri was born in answer to prayer, in KJ- 1270. Her father built the splendid church of the 'Annunziata in Florence, while her uncle, Blessed Alexius, became one of the founders of the Servite Order. Under his care Juliana grew up, as he said, more like an angel than a human being. Such was her modesty that she never used a mirror or gazed upon the face of a man dur- ing her whole life. The mere mention of sin made her shudder and tremble, and once hearing a scandal related she fell into a dead swoon. Her devotion to the sorrows of Our Lady drew her to the Servants of Mary ; and, at the age of fourteen, she refused an offer of marriage, and re- ceived the habit from St. Philip Benizi hunself. Her sanctity attracted many novices, for whose direction she was bidden to draw up a rule, and thus with reluctance she became foundress of the " Mantellate." She was with her children as their servant rather than their mistress, while outside her convent she led a life of apostolic charity, con- verting sinners, reconciling enemies, and healing the sick by sucking with her own lips their ulcerous sores. She was sometimes rapt for whole days in ecstasy, and her prayers saved the Servite Order when it was in danger of being suppressed. She was visited in her last hour by angels in the form of white doves, and Jesus Himself, as a beautiful child, crowned her with a garland of flowers. She wasted away through a disease of the stomach, which prevented her taking food. She bore her silent agony with constant cheerfulness, grieving only for the privation of Holy Communion. At last, when, in her seventieth year, she had sunk to the point of death, she begged to be al- lowed once more to see and adore the Blessed Sacrament. It was brought to her cell, and reverently laid on a corporal, which was placed over her heart. At this moment she expired, and the Sacred Host disappeared. After her death the form of the Host was found stamped upon her heart in the exact spot over which the Blessed Sacrament had been placed. Juliana died a. d. 1340. June 20] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 223 Reflection.— " Meditate often," says St. Paul of the Cross, " on the sorrows of the holy Mother, sorrows in- separable from those of her beloved Son. If you seek the Cross, there you will find the Mother; and where the Mother is, there also is the Son." June 20.— ST. SILVERIUS, Pope and Martyr. [iLVERius was son of Pope Hermisdas, who had been married before he entered the ministry. Upon the death of St. Agapetas, after a vacancy of forty-seven days, Silverius, then subdeacon, was chosen Pope, and ordained on the 8th of June, 536. Theodora, the empress of Justinian, resolved to promote the sect of the Acephali. She endeavored to win Silverius over to her interest, and wrote to him, ordering that he should acknowledge Anthimus lawful bishop, or repair in [person to Constantinople and reexamine his cause on the spot. Without the least hesitation or delay, Silverius re- turned her a short answer, by which he peremptorily ga^'3 her to understand that he neither could nor would obey h: r unjust demands and betray the cause of the Catholic faith. The empress, finding that she could expect nothing from him, resolved to have him deposed. Vigilius, archdeacon of the Eoman Church, a man of address, was then at Con- stantinople. To him the empress made her application, and finding him taken by the bait of ambition, promised to make him Pope, and to bestow on him seven hundred pieces of gold, provided he would engage himself to con- demn the Council of Chalcedon and receive to Communion the three deposed Eutvchian patriarchs, Anthimus of Con- stantinople, Severus of Antioch, and Theodosius of Alexan- dria. The unhappy Vigilius having assented to these con' ditions, the empress sent him to Eome, charged with a letter to the general Belisarius, commanding him to drive out Silverius and to contrive the election of Vigilius to the pontificate. Vigilius urged the general to execute the proj- ect. The more easily to carry out this projeci^ the Pope "Was accused of corresponding with the enemy and a letter was produced which was pretended to have been written 224 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 21 by him to the king of the Goths, inviting him into the city, and promising to open the gates to him. Silverius was banished to Patara in Lycia. The bishop of that city received the illustrious exile with all possible marks of honor and respect; and thinking himself bound to under- take his defence, repaired to Constantinople, and spoke boldly to the emperor, terrifying him with the threats of the divine judgments for the expulsion of a bishop of so great a see, telling him, "There are many kings in the world, but there is only one Pope over the Church of the whole world." It must be observed that these were the words of an Oriental bishop, and a clear confession of the supremacy of the Koman See. Justinian appeared startled at the atrocity of the proceedings, and gave orders that Silverius should be sent back to Eome, but the enemies of the Pope contrived to prevent it, and he was intercepted on his road toward Eome and carried to a desert island, where he died on the 20th of June, 538. June 21.— ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. HLOTsius, the eldest son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, Marquis of Castiglione, was born on the 9th of March, 1568. The first words he pronounced were the holy names of Jesus and Mary. When he was nine years of age he made a vow of perpetual virginity, and by a special grace was ever exempted from temptations against purity. He received his first Communion at the hands of St. Charles Borromeo. At an early age he resolved to leave the world, and in a vision was directed by our blessed Lady to Join the Society of Jesus. The Saint's mother rejoiced on learning his determination to become a religious, but his father for three years refused his consent. At length St. Aloysms obtained permission to enter the novitiate on the 25th of November, 1585. He took his vows after two years, and went through the ordinary course of philosophy and theology. He was wont to say he doubted whether without penance grace would continue to make head against nature, which, when not afflicted and chastised, tends grad- ually to relapse into its old state, losing the habit of suffer- June 22] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 225 ing acquired by the labor of years. " I am a crooked piece of iron," he said, " and am come into religion to be made straight by the hammer of mortification and penance.'^ During his last year of theology a malignant fever broke out in Eome; the Saint offered himself for the service of the sick, and he was accepted for the dangerous duty. Several of the brothers caught the fever, and Aleysius was of the number. He was brought to the point of death, but recovered, only to fall, however, into slow fever, which carried him off after three months. He died, repeating the Holy Name, a little after midnight between the 20th and 21st of June, on the octave-day of Corpus Christ:, being rather more than twenty-three years of age. Reflection. — Cardinal Bellarmine, the Saint's confessor, testified that he had never mortally offended God. Yet he chastised his body rigorously, rose at night to pray, and shed many tears for his sins. Pray that, not having fol- lowed his innocence, you may yet imitate his penance. June 22.— ST. PAULINUS OF NOLA. fiAULINUs was of a family which boasted of a long line of senators, prefects, and consuls. He was educated with great care, and his genius and eloquence, in prose and verse, were the admiration of St. Jerome and St. Au- gustine. He had more than doubled his wealth by mar- riage, and was one of the foremost men of his time. Though he was the chosen friend of Saints, and had a great devotion to St. Felix of Nola, he was still only a catechu- men, trying to serve two masters. But God drew him to Himself along the way of sorrows and trials. He received baptism, withdrew into Spain to be alone, and then, in consort with his holy wife, sold all their vast estates in various parts of the empire, distributing their proceeds 60 prudently that St. Jerome says East and West were filled with his alms. He was then ordained priest, and retired to Nola in Campania. There he rebuilt the Church of St. Felix with great magnificence, and served it night and day, living a life of extreme abstinence and toil. In 409 he was chosen bishop, and for more than thirty years so ruled as to 226 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 23 be conspicuous in an age blessed with many great and wise bishops. St. Gregory the Great tells us that when the Vandals of Africa had made a descent on Campania, Pau- linus spent all he had in relieving the distress of his people and redeeming them from slavery. At last there came a poor Avidow; her only son had been carried off by the son- in-law of the Vandal king. " Such as I have I give thee/' said the Saint to her; "we will go to Africa, and I, will give myself for your son." Having overborne her resist- ance, they went, and Paulinus was accepted in place of the widow's son, and employed as gardener. After a time the king found out, by divine interposition, that his son-in- law's slave was the great Bishop of Nola. He at once set him free, granting him also the freedom of all the towns- men of Nola who were in slavery. One who knew him well says he was meek as Moses, priestlike as Aaron, innocent as Samuel, tender as David, wise as Solomon, apostolic as Peter, loving as John, cautious as Thomas, keen-sighted as Stephen, fervent as Apollos. He died in 431. Reflection. — " Go to Campania," writes St. Augustine ; " there study Paulinus, that choice servant of God. With what generosity, with what still greater humility, he has flung from him the burden of this world's grandeurs to take on him the yoke of Christ, and in His service how serene and unobtrusive his life ! " June 23.— ST. ETHELDREDA, Abbess. ^ORN" and brought up in the fear of God — her mother and three sisters are numbered among the Saints — ' Etheldreda had but one aim in life, to devote herself to His service in the religious state. Her parents, however, had other views for her, and, in spite of her tears and prayers, she was compelled to become the wife of Tonbercht, a trib- utary of the Mercian king. She lived with him as a virgin for three j^ears, and at his death retired to the isle of Ely, that she might apply herself wholly to heavenly things. This happiness was but short-lived; for Egfrid, the power- ful King of Northumbria, pressed his suit upon her with such eagerness that she was forced into a second marriage^^ June 24] LIVES OF. THE SAINTS 227 Her life at his court was that of an ascetic rather than a queen: she lived with him not as a wife, but as a sister, and, observing a scrupulous regularity of discipline, devoted her time to works of mercy and love. After twelve years, she retired with her husband's consent to Coldingham Abbey, which was then under the rule of St. Ebba, and received the veil from the hands of St. Wilfrid. As soon as Etheldreda had left the court of her husband, he re- pented of having consented to her departure, and followed her, meaning to bring her back by force. She took refuge on a headland on the coast near Coldingham; and here a miracle took place, for the waters forced themselves a pas- sage round the hill, barring the further advance of Egfrid. The Saint remained on this island refuge for seven days, till the king, recognizing the divine will, agreed to leave her in peace. God, Who by a miracle confirmed the Saint's vocation, will not fail us if, with a single heart, we elect for Him. In 672 she returned to Ely, and founded there a double monastery. The nunnery she governed herself, and was by her example a living rule of perfection to her sisters. Some time after her death, in 679, her body was found incorrupt, and St. Bede records many miracles worked by her relics. Reflection. — The soul cannot truly serve God while it is involved in the distractions and pleasures of the world. Etheldreda knew this, and chose rather to be a servant of Christ her Lord than the mistress of an earthly court. Eesolve, in whatever statj you are, to live absolutely de- tached from the world, and to separate yourself as much as possible from it. June 24.— ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. [he birth of St. John was foretold by an angel of the Lord to his father, Zachary, who was offering in- cense in the Temple. It was the ofSce of St. John to pre- pare the way for Christ, and before he was born into the world he began to live for the Incarnate God. Even in the womb he knew the presence of Jesus and of Mary, and he leeped with joy at the glad coming of the Son of man. In 228 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 24 his youth he remained hidden, hecanse He for Whom he waited was hidden also. But hefore Christ's public life began, a divine impulse led St. John into the desert ; there, with locusts for his food and haircloth on his skin, in si- lence and in prayer, he chastened his own soul. Then, as crowds broke in upon his solitude, he warned them to flee from the wrath to come, and gave them the baptism of penance, while they confessed their sins. At last there stood in the crowd One Whom St. John did not know, till a voice witbin told him that it was his Lord. With the bap- tism of St. John, Christ began His penance for the sins of His people, and St. John saw the Holy Ghost descend in bodily form upon Him. Then the Saint's work was done. He had but to point his own disciples to the Lamb, he had but to decrease as Christ increased. He saw all men leave him and go after Christ. " I told you," he said, " that I am not the Christ. The friend of the Bridegroom rejoiceth because of the Bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled." St. John had been cast into the fortress of Machserus by a worthless tyrant whose crimes he had re- buked, and he was to remain there till he was beheaded, at the will of a girl who danced before this wretched king. In this time of despair, if St. John could have known de- spair, some of his old disciples visited him. St. John did not speak to them of himself, but he sent them to Christ, that they might see the proofs of His mission. Then the Eternal Truth pronounced the panegyric of the Saint who had lived and breathed for Him alone: "Verily I Gay unto you. Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.'' Reflection. — St. John was great before God because he forgot himself and lived for Jesus Christ, Who is the source of all greatness. Eemember that you are nothing; your own will and your own desires can only lead to misery and sin. Therefore sacrifice every day some one of your natural inclinations to the Sacred Heart of Our Lord, and learn little by little to lose yourself in Him. June 25] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 229 June 25.— ST. PROSPER OF AQUITAINE.— ST WILLIAM OF MONTE-VERGINE. [t. Prosper was born at Aquitaine, in the year 403. His works show that in his youth he had happily applied himself to all the branches both of polite and sacred learning. On account of the purity and sanctity of his manners, he is called by those of his age a holy and vener- able man. Our Saint does not appear to have been any more than a layman; but being of great virtue, and of extraordinary talents and learning, he wrote several works in which he ably refuted the errors of heresy. St. Leo the Great, being chosen Pope in 440, invited St. Prosper to Eome, made him his secretary, and employed him in the most important affairs of the Church. Our Saint crushed the Pelagian heresy, which began again to raise its head in that capital, and its final overthrow is said to be due to his zeal, learning, and unwearied endeavors. The date of his death is uncertain, but he was still living in 463. St. William, having lost his father and mother in his infancy, was brought up by his friends in great sentiments of piety; and at fifteen years of age, out of an earnest desire to lead a penitential life, he left Piedmont, his native country, made an austere pilgrimage to St. James's in Galicia, and afterward retired into the kingdom of Naples, where he chose for his abode a desert mountain, and lived in perpetual contemplation and the exercises of most rigor- ous penitential austerities. Finding himself discovered and his contemplation interrupted, he changed his habita- tion and settled in a place called Monte- Vergine, situated between Nola and Benevento, in the same kingdom ; but his reputation followed him, and he was obliged by two neigh- boring priests to permit certain fervent persons to live with him and to imitate his ascetic practices. Thus, in 1119, was laid the foundation of the religious congregation called de Monte-Vergine. The Saint died on the 25th of June, 114g. 230 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 27 June 25.--STS. JOHN AND PAUL, Martyrs. ^he Saints." As soon as the Saint was gone by, the beggars, calling upon their companion to rise and take his share of the booty, were surprised to find him really dead. Seized with sudden fear and grief, they shrieked in the utmost consternation, and immediately ran after the man of God, cast themselves at his feet, confessed the cheat, begged forgiveness, and besought him by his prayers to restore their unhappy companion to life, which the Saint did. The most famous miracle of our Saint was that by which he protected his native city from the barbarians. Sapor II., the haughty King of Persia, besieged Nisibis with the whole strength of his empire, whilst our Saint was Bishop. The Bishop would not pray for the destruction of any one, but he implored the Divine Mercy that the city might be delivered from the calamities of so long a siege. Afterward, going to the top of a high tower, and turning his face towards the enemy, and seeing the prodigious mul- titude of men and beasts which covered the whole country, he said, " Lord, Thou art able by the weakest means to humble the pride of Thy enemies ; defeat these multitudes by an army of gnats.'' God heard the humble prayer of His servant. Scarce had the Saint spoken those words, when whole clouds of gnats and flies came pouring down upon the Persians, got into the elephants' trunks and the horses' ears and nostrils, which made them chafe and foam, throw their riders, and put the whole army into confusion and disorder. A famine and pestilence, which followed, carried off a great part of the army ; and Sapor, after lying above three months before the place, set fire to all his own engines of war, and was forced to abandon the siege and return home with the loss of twenty thousand men. Sapor received a third foil under the walls of Nisibis, in 359, upon which he turned his arms against Amidus, took that strong city, and put the garrison and the greatest part of JULY 12] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 24T the inhabitants to the sword. The citizens of Nisibis at- tributed their preservation to the intercession of their glorious patron, St. James, although he had already gone to his reward. He died in 350, July 12.— ST. JOHN GUALBERT. [t. JoHiT GuALBERT was born at Florence, A. d. 999. Following the profession of arms at that troubled period, he became involved in a blood-feud with a near relative. One Good Friday, as he was riding into Florence accompanied by armed men, he encountered his enemy in a place where neither could avoid the other. John would have slain him; but his adversary, who was totally unpre- pared to fight, fell upon his knees with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross, and implored him, for the sake of Our Lord's holy Passion, to spare his life. St. John said to his enemy, " I cannot refuse what you ask in Christ's name. I grant you your life, and I give you my friendship. Pray that God may forgive me my sin.'* Grace triumphed. A humble and changed man, he entered the Church of St. Miniato, which was near ; and whilst he pra}ed, the figure of our crucified Lord, before which he was kneeling, bowed its head toward him as if to ratify his pardon. Abandoning the world, he gave himself up to prayer and penance in the Benedictine Order. Later he was led to found the congregation called of Vallombrosa, from the shady valley a few miles from Florence, where he established his first monastery. Once the enemies of the Saint came to his convent of St. Salvi, plundered it, and set fire to it, and having treated the monks with ignominy, beat them and wounded them. St. John rejoiced. " Now," he said, " you are true monks. Would that I my- self had had the honor of being with you when the soldiers came, that I might have had a share in the glory of your crowns ! " He fought manfully against simony, and in many ways promoted the interest of the Faith in Italy. After a life of great austerity, he died whilst the angels were singing round his bed, July 11, 1073. 348 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [July 13 Reflection. — The heroic act which merited for St, John Gualbert his conversion was the forgiveness of his enemy. Let us imitate him in this virtue, resolving never to revenge ourselves in deed, in word, or in thought. July 13,— ST. EUGENIUS, Bishop. ^^HE episcopal see of Carthage had remained vacant ^y twenty-four 3'ears, when, in 481, Huneric permitted the Catholics on certain conditions to choose one who should fill it. The people, impatient to enjoy the comfort of a pastor, pitched upon Eugenius, a citizen of Carthage, eminent for his learning, zeal, piety, and prudence. His charities to the distressed were excessive, and he refused' himself everything that he might give all to the poor. His virtue gained him the respect and esteem even of the Arians; but at length envy and blind zeal got the ascend- ant in their breasts, and the king sent him an order never to sit on the episcopal throne, preach to the people, or admit into his chapel any Vandals, among whom several were Catholics. The Saint boldly answered that the laws of God commanded him not to shut the door of His church to any that desired to serve Him in it, Huneric, enraged at this answer, persecuted the Catholics in various ways. Many nuns were so cruelly tortured that they died on the rack. Great numhers of bishops, priests, deacons, and eminent Catholic laj^men were banished to a desert filled with scorpions and venomous serpents. The people fol- lowed their bishops and priests with lighted tapers in their hands, and mothers carried their little babes in their arms and laid them at the feet of the confessors, all crying out with tears, " Going yourselves to your crowns, to whom do you leave us? AVho will baptize our children? Who will impart to us the benefit of penance, and discharge us f^m the bonds of sin by the favor of reconciliation and pardon ? Who will bury us with solemn supplications at our death? By whom will the Divine Sacrifice be made?" The Bishop Eugenius was spared in the first storm, but after- wards was carried into the uninhabited desert country in the province of Tripolis, and committed to the guard of /BLY 14] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 249 Antony, an inhuman Arian bishop, who treated him with the utmost barbarity. Gontamund, who succeeded Hu- neric, recalled our Saint to Carthage, opened the Catholic churches, and allowed all the exiled priests to return. After reigning twelve years, Gontamund died, and his brother Thrasimund was called to the crown. Under this prince St. Eugenius was again banished, and died in exile, on the loth of July, 505, in a monastery which he built and governed, near Albi. Reflection. — "Alms shall be a great confidence before the Most High God to tksm that give it. Water quencheth a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sin." July 14.— ST. BONAVENTURE. [anctity and learning raised Bonaventure to the Church's highest honors, and from a child he was the companion of Saints. Yet at heart he was ever the poor Franciscan friar, and practised and taught humility and mortification. St. Francis gave him his name ; for, having miraculously cured him of a mortal sickness, he propheti- cally exclaimed of the child, "0 bona ventura!" — good luck. He is known also as the " Seraphic Doctor," from the fervor of divine love which breathes in his wi-itings. He was the friend of St. Thomas Aquinas, who asked him one day whence he drew his great learning. He replied by pointing to his crucifix. At another time St. Thomas found him in ecstasy while writing the life of St. Francis, and exclaimed, '' Let us leave a Saint to write of a Saint." They received the Doctor's cap together. He was the guest and adviser of St. Louis, and the director of St. Isa- bella, the king-'s sister. At the age of thirty-five he was made general of his Order ; and only escaped another dig- nity, the Archbishopric of York, by dint of tears and en- treaties. Gregory X. appointed him Cardinal Bishop of Albano. When the Saint heard of the Pope's resolve to create him a Cardinal, he quietly made his escape from Italy. But Gregory sent him a summons to return to Eome. On his way, he stopped to rest himself at a con- vent of his Order near Florence; and there two Papal 250 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [July 15 messengers, sent to meet him with the Cardinal's hat, found him washing the dishes. The Saint desired them to hang the hat on a bush that was near, and take a walk in the garden until he had finished what he was about. Then taking up the hat with unfeigned sorrow, he joined the messengers, and paid them the respect due to their char- acter. He sat at the Pontiff's right hand, and spoke first at the Council of Lyons. His piety and eloquence won over the Greeks to Catholic union, and then his strength failed. He died while the Council was sitting, and was buried by the assembled bishops, A. D. 1274. Reflection. — " The fear of God," says St. Bonaventure, " forbids a man to give his heart to transitory things, which are the true seeds of sin." July 15.— ST. HENRY, Emperor. Y*^ENRT, Duke of Bavaria, saw in a vision his guardian, M-Ji St. Wolfgang, pointing to the words " after six." This moved him to prepare for death, and for six years he continued to watch and pray, when, at the end of the sixth year, he found the warning verified in his election as em- peror. Thus trained in the fear of God, he ascended the throne with but one thought — to reign for His greater glory. The pagan Slavs were then despoiling the empire. Henry attacked them with a small force; but angels and Saints were seen leading his troops, and the heathen fled in despair. Poland and Bohemia, Moravia and Burgundy, were in turn annexed to his kingdom, Pannonia and Hun^ gary won to the Church. With the Faith secured in Ger- many, Henry passed into Italy, drove out the Antipope Gregory, brought Benedict Vltl. ba^k to Eome, and was crowned in St. Peter's by that Pontiff, in 1014. It was Henry's custom, on arriving in any town, to spend his first night in watching in some church dedicated to our blessed Lady. As he was thus praying in St. Mary Major's, the first night of his arrival in Rome, he " saw the Sovereign and Eternal Priest Christ Jesus " enter to say Mass. Sts- Laurence and Vincent assisted as deacon and sub-deacon. Saints innumerable filled the church, and angels sang in juLT 16] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 251 the choir. After the Gospel, an angel was sent by Our Lady to give Henry the book to kiss. Touching him lightly on the thigh, as the angel did to Jacob, he said, " Accept this sign of God's love for your chastity and jus- tice;" axid from that time the emperor always was lame. Like holy David, Henry employed the fruits of his con- quests in the service of tlie temple. The forests and mines of the empire, the best that his treasury could produce, were consecrated to the sanctuary. Stately cathedrals, noble monasteries, churches innumerable, enlightened and sanctified the once heathen lands. In 1022 Henry lay on his bed of death. He gave back to her parents his wife, St. Cunegunda, " a virgin still, as a virgin he had received her from Christ," and surrendered his own pure soul to God. Reflection.— St. Henry deprived himself of many things to enrich the house of God. We clothe ourselves in purple and fine linen, and leave Jesus in poverty and neglect. July i6.— ST. SIMON STOCK. £S^iMOiT was born in the county of Kent, England, and IS/ left his home when he was but twelve years of age, to live as a hermit in the hollow trunk of a tree, whence he was known as Simon of the Stock. Here he passed twenty years in penance and prayer, and learned from Our Lady that he was to join an Order not then knowm in England. Ee waited in patience till the White Friars came, and then entered the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. His great holiness moved his brethren in the general chapter held at Aylesford, near Eochester, in 1245, to choose him prior-general of the Order. In the many persecutions raised against the new religious, Simon went with filial confidence to the Blessed Mother of God. As he knelt m prayer in the White Friars' convent at Cambridge, on July 16, 1251, she appeared before him and presented him with the scapular, in assurance of her protection. The devo- tion to the blessed habit spread quickly throughoiit the Christian world. Pope after Pope enriched it with indul- gences, and miracles innumerable put their seal upon its 252 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [July 17 efficacy. The first of them was worked at Winchesiter on a man dying in despair, who at once asked for the Sacra- ments, when the scapular was laid upon him by St. Simon Stock. In the year 1636, M. de Guge, a cornet in a cav- alry regiment, was mortally wounded at the engagement of Tehin, a bullet having lodged near his heart. He was then in a state of grievous sin, but had time left him to make his confession, and with his own hands wrote his last testa- ment. When this was done, the surgeon probed his wound, and the bullet was found to have driven his scapular into his heart. On its being withdrawn, he presently expired, making profound acts of gratitude to the Blessed Virgin, who had prolonged his life miraculously, and thus pre- served him from eternal death. St. Simon Stock died at Bordeaux in 1265. Reflection. — To enjoy the privileges of the scapular, it is sufficient that it be received lawfully and worn de- voutly. How, then, can any one fail to profit by a devotion so easy, so simple, and so wonderfully blessed? "He that shall overcome, shall thus be clothed in white garments, and T will not blot out his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels" (Apoc. iii. 5). July 17.— ST. ALEXIUS. [t. Alexius was the only son of parents pre-eminent among the Koman nobles for virtue, birth, and wealth. On his wedding-night, by God's special inspira- tion, he secretly quitted Eome, and journeying to Edessa, in the far East, gave away all that he had brought with him, content thenceforth to live on alms at the gate of Our Lady's church in that city. It came to pass that the serv- ants of St. Alexius, whom his father sent in search of him, arrived at Edessa, and seeing him among the poor at the gate of Our Lady's church, gave him an alms, not recognizing him. Whereupon the man of God, rejoicing, said, " I thank thee, Lord, Who hast called me and granted that I should receive for Thy name's sake an alms from my own slaves. Deign to fulfil in me the work Thou July 18] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 25% hast begun." After seventeen years, when his sanctity was miraculously manifested by the Blessed Virgin's image, he once more sought obscurity by flight. On his way to Tarsus contrary winds drove his ship to Eome. There no one recognized in the wan and tattered mendi- cant the heir of Eome's noblest house; not even his sor- rowing parents, who had vainly sent throughout the world in search of him. From his father's charity he begged a mean corner of his palace as a shelter, and the leavings of his table as food. Thus he spent seventeen years, bear- ing patiently the mockery and ill-usage of his own slaves, and witnessing daily the inconsolable grief of his spouse and parents. At last, when death had ended this cruel martyrdom, they learned too late, from a writing in his own hand, who it was that they had unknowingly shel- tered. God bore testimony to His servant's sanctity by many miracles. He died early in the fifth century. Reflection. — ^We must always be ready to sacrifice our dearest and best natural affections in obedience to the call of our heavenly Father. "Call none your father upon earth, for one is your Father in heaven" (Matt, xxiii, 9). Our Lord has taught us this not by words only, but by His own example and by that of His Saints. July i8.— ST. CAMILLUS OF LELLIS. 'he early years of Camillus gave no sign of sanctity. ' At the age of nineteen he took service with his father, an Italian noble, against the Turks, and after four years' hard campaigning found himself, through his vio- lent temper, reckless habits, and inveterate passion for gambling, a discharged soldier, and in such straitened cir- cumstances that he was obliged to work as a laborer on a Capuchin convent which was then building. A few words from a Capuchin friar brought about his conversion, and he resolved to become a religious. Thrice he entered the Capuchin novitiate, but each time an obstinate wound in his leg forced him to leave. He repaired to Eome for medical treatment, and there took St. Philip as his con^ •254 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [July IS fessor, and entered the hospital of St. Giacomo, of which he became in time the superintendent. The carelessness of the paid chaplains and nurses towards the suffering patients now inspired him with the thought of founding a congregation to minister to their wants. With this end he was ordained priest, and in 1586 his community of the Servants of the Sick was confirmed by the Pope. Its use- fulness was soon felt, not only in hospitals, but in private houses. Summoned at every hour of the day and night, the devotion of Camillus never grew cold. ^Yith a woman's tenderness he attended to the needs of his patients. He wept with them, consoled them, and prayed with them. He knew miraculously the state of their souls; and St. Philip saw angels whispering to two Servants of the Sick who were consoling a dying person. One day a sick man said to the Saint, " Father, may I beg you to make up my bed? it is very hard." Camillus replied, "God forgive you, brother ! You beg me ! Don't you know yet that you are to command me, for I am your servant and slave." " Would to God," he would cry, " that in the hour of my death one sigh or one blessing of these poor creatures might fall upon me ! " His prayer was heard. He was granted the same consolations in his last hour which he had so often procured for others. In the year 1614 he died with the full use of his faculties, after two weeks' saintly prep- aration, as the priest was reciting the words of the ritual, " May Jesus Christ appear to thee with a mild and joyful countenance ! " Reflection. — St. Camillus venerated the sick as living images of Christ, and by ministering to them in this spirit did penance for the sins of his youth, led a life precious in merit, and from a violent and quarrelsome soldier became a gentle and tender Saint. July 19.— ST. VINCENT OF PAUL. [t. Yixcent was born in 1576. In after-years, when adviser of the queen and oracle of the Church in Prance, he loved to recount how, in his youth, he had guarded his father's pigs. Soon after his ordination he July 19] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 255 was captured by corsair?, and carried into Barbary. He converted his renegade master, and escaped with him to France. Appointed chaplain-general of the galleys of France, his tender charity brought hope into those prisons where hitherto despair had reigned. A mother mourned her imprisoned son. Vincent put on his chains and took his place at the oar, and gave him to his mother. His charity embraced the poor, young and old, provinces deso- lated by civil war. Christians enslaved by the infidel. The poor man, ignorant and degraded, was to him the image of Him Who became as " a leper and no man." " Turn the medal," he said, "and you then will see Jesus Christ." He went through the streets of Paris at night, seeking the children who were left there to die. Once robbers rushed upon him, thinking he carried a treasure, but when he opened his cloak, they recognized him and his burden, and fell at his feet. Not only was St. Vincent the saviour of the poor, but also of the rich, for he taught them to do works of mercy. When the work for the foundlings was in danger of failing from want of funds, he assembled the ladies of the Association of Charity. He bade his most fervent daughters be present to give the spur to the others. Then he said, " Compassion and charity have made you adopt these little creatures as your children. You have been their mothers according to grace, when their own mothers abandoned them. Cease to be their mothers, that you may become their judges; their life and death are in your hands. I shall now take your votes: it is time to pronounce sentence." The tears of the assembly were his only answer, and the work was continued. The Society of St. Vincent, the Priests of the Mission, and 25,000 Sisters of Charity still comfort the afflicted with the charity of St. Vincent of Paul. He died in 16G0. Reflection. — Most people who profess piety ask advice of directors about their prayers and spiritual exercises. Few inquire whether they are not in danger of damnation from neglect of works of charity. 256 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [July 20 July 20.— ST. MARGARET, Virgin and Martyr. accoRDiNG to the ancient Martyrologies, St. Margaret suffered at Antioch in Pisidia, in the last general persecution. She is said to have been instructed in the Faith by a Christian nurse, to have been persecuted by her own father, a pagan priest, and, after many torments, to have gloriously finished her martyrdom by the sword. From the East, her veneration was exceedingly propagated in England, France, and Germany, in the eleventh century, during the holy wars. Her body is now kept at Monte- Fiascone in Tuscany. ST. JEROME EMILIANI. [T. Jerome Emiliani was a member of one of the patri- cian families of Venice, and, like many other Saints^ in early life a soldier. lie was appointed governor of a fortress among the mountains of Treviso, and whilst bravely defending his post, was made prisoner by the en- emy. In the misery of his dungeon he invoked the great !Moiher of God, and promised, if she would set him free, to lead a new and a better life. Our Lady appeared, broke his fetters, and led him forth through the midst of his enemies. At Treviso he hung up his chains at her altar, dedicated himself to her service, and on reaching his home at Venice devoted himself to a life of active charity. His special love was for the deserted orphan children whom, in the times of the plague and famine, he found wandering in the streets. He took them home, clothed and fed them, and taught them the Christian truths. From Venice he passed to Padua and Verona, and in a few years had founded orphanages through Northern Italy. Some pious clerics and laymen, who had been his fellow- workers, fixed their abode in one of these establishments, and devoted themselves to the cause of education. The Saint drew up for them a rule of life and thus was founded the Congrega- tion, which still exists, of the Clerks Regular of Somascha. St. Jerome died February 8, 1537, of an illness which he had caught in visiting the sick. July 21] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 257 Reflection. — Let us learn from St. Jerome to exert our- selves in behalf of the many hundred children whose souls are perishing around us for want of some one to show them the way to heaven. July 21.— ST. VICTOR, Martyr. ^^HE Emperor Maximian, reeking with the blood of the V*<' Thebsean legion and many other martyrs, arrived at Marseilles, where the Church then flourished. The tyrant breathed here nothing but slaughter and fury, and his coming filled the Christians with fear and alarm. In this general consternation, Victor, a Christian officer in the troops, went about in the night-time from house to house, visiting the faithful and inspiring them with contempt of a temporal death and the love of eternal life. He was sur- prised in this, and brought before the prefects Asterius and Eutychius, who exhorted him not to lose the fruit of all his services and the favor of his prince for the worship of a dead man, as they called Jesus Christ. He answered that he renounced those recompenses if he could not enjoy them without being unfaithful to Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, Who vouchsafed to become man for our salvation, but Who raised Himself from the dead, and reigns with the Father, being God equally with Him. The whole court heard him with shouts of rage. Victor was bound hand and foot and dragged through the streets of the city, ex- posed to the blows and insults of the populace. He was brought back bruised and bloody to the tribunal of the pre- fects, who, thinking his resolution must have been weak- ened by his sufferings, pressed him again to adore their gods. But the martyr, filled with the Holy Ghost, ex- pressed his respect for the emperor and his contempt for their gods. He was then hoisted on the rack and tortured a long time, until, the tormentors being at last weary, the prefect ordered him to be taken down and thrown into a dark dungeon. At midnight, God visited him by His angels; the prison was filled with a light brighter than that of the sun, and the martyr sung with the angels the praises of God. Three soldiers who guarded the prison. 258 LIVES OF. TEE SAINTS [July 22 seeing this light, cast themselves at the martyr's feet, asked his pardon, and desired Baptism. Victor instructed them as well as time would permit, sent for priests the same night, and, going with them to the seaside, had them bap- tized, and returned with them again to his prison. The next morning Maximian was informed of the conversion of the guards, and in a transport of rage sent officers to bring them all four before him. The three soldiers persevered in the confession of Jesus Christ, and by the emperor's orders ■were forthwith beheaded. Victor, after having been ex- posed to the insults of the whole city and beaten with clubs and scourged with leather thongs, was carried back to prison, where he continued three days, recommending to God his martyrdom with many tears. After that term the emperor called him again before his tribunal, and com- manded the martyr to offer incense to a statue of Jupiter. Victor went up to the profane altar, and by a kick of his foot threw it down. The emperor ordered the foot to be forthwith chopped ofF, which the Saint suffered with great joy, offering to God these first-fruits of his body. A few moments after, the emperor condemned him to be put under the grindstone of a hand-mill and crushed to death. The executioners turned the wheel, and when part of his body was bruised and crushed the mill broke down. The Saint still breathed a little, but his head was immediately ordered to be cut off. His and the other three bodies were thrown into the sea, but, being cast ashore, were buried by the Christians in a grotto hewn out of a rock. July 22.--ST. MARY MAGDALEN. OF the earlier life of Mary Magdalen we know only that she was " a woman who was a sinner." From the depth of her degradation she raised her eyes to Jesus with sorrow, hope, and love. All covered with shame, she came in where Jesus was at meat, and knelt behind him. She said not a word, but bathed His feet with her tears, wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed them in humility, and at their touch her sins and her stain were gone. Then 8he poured on them the costly unguent prepared for far July 23] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 259 other uses; and His own divine lips rolled away her re- proach, spoke her absolution, and bade her go in_ peace. Thenceforward she ministered to Jesus, sat at His feet, and heard His words. She was one of the family " whom Jesus so loved " that He raised her brother Lazarus from the dead. Once again, on the eve of His Passion, she brought the precious ointment, and, now purified and be- loved, poured it on His head, and the whole house of God is still filled with the fragrance of her anointing. She stood with Our Lady and St. John at the foot of the cross, the representative of the many who have had much for^ given. To her first, after His blessed Mother, and through her to His apostles. Our Lord gave the certainty of His res- urrection ; and to her first He made Himself known, calling her by her name, because she was His. When the faithful were scattered by persecution the family of Bethany found refuge in Provence. The cave in which St. Mary lived for thirty years is still seen, and the chapel on the mountain- top, in which she was caught up daily, like St. Paul, to ''visions and revelations of the Lord." When her ^ end drew near she was borne to a spot still marked by a " sa- cred pillar," where the holy Bishop Maximin awaited her ; and when she had received her Lord, she peacefully fell asleep in death.. Reflection.—" Compunction of heart," says St. Bernard, " is a treasure infinitely to be desired, and an unspeakable gladness to the heart. It is healing to the soul ; it is_ re- mission of sins ; it brings back again the Holy Spirit into the humble and loving heart." July 23.— ST. APOLLINARIS, Bishop and Martyr. /g^T. Apollinaeis was the first Bishop of Eavenna ; he sat fZJ twenty years, and was crowned with martyrdom in the reign of Vespasian. He was a disciple of St. Peter, and made by him Bishop of Eavenna. St. Peter Chrysolo- gus, the most illustrious among his successors, has left us a sermon in honor of our Saint, in which he often styles him for myself, is it not in cold and nakedness that, according to St. Paul, I am to tame my flesh and to serve God ? " While St. Lambert enjoyed the quiet of holy retirement, he wept to see the greatest part of the churches of France laid waste. In the mean time the political clouds began to break away, and Lambert was restored to his see, but his zeal in suppressing the many and notorious disorders which existed in his diocese led to his assassination on the .17th of September, 709. Reflection. — How noble and heroic is this virtue of fortiv tude ! how necessary for every Christian, especially for a pastor of souls, that neither worldly views nor fears may ever in the least warp his integrity or blind his judgment I September i8.— ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. ST. Thomas, the glory of the Spanish Church in the six- teenth century, was born in 1488. A thirst for the science of the Saints led him to enter the house of the Austin Friars at Salamanca. Charles V. listened to him as an oracle, and appointed him Archbishop of Valencia. On being led to his throne in church, he pushed the silken cushions aside, and with tears kissed the ground. His first visit was to the prison; the sum with which the chapter presented him for his palace was devoted to the public hospital. As a child he had given his meal to the poor, and two thirds of his episcopal revenues were now annually- spent in alms. He daily fed five hundred needy persons, brought up himself the orphans of the city, and sheltered the neglected foundlings with a mother's care. During his eleven years' episcopate not one poor maiden was married without an alms from the Saint. Spurred by his example, the rich and the selfish became liberal and generous; and when, on the Nativity of Our Lady, 1555, St. Thomas came to die, he was well-nigh the only poor man in his see. Reflection. — "Answer me, sinner!" St. Thomas would say, " what can you purchase with your money better or more necessary than the redemption of your sins?" S18 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Septembee 20 September 19.— -ST. JANUARIUS, Martyr. J'*Kant centuries ago, St. Januarius died for the Faith >^ in the persecution of Diocletian, and to this day God confirms the faith of His Church, and works a con- tinual miracle, through the blood which Januarius shed for Him. The Saint was Bishop of Beneventum, and on one occasion he travelled to Misenum in order to visit a deacon named Sosius. During this visit Januarius saw the head of Sosius, who was singing the gospel in the church, girt with flames, and took this for a sign that ere long Sosius would wear the crown of martyrdom. So it proved. Shortly after Sosius was arrested, and thrown into prison. There St. Januarius visited and encouraged him, till the bishop also was arrested in turn. Soon the number of the confessors was swollen by some of the neighboring clergy. They were exposed to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre. The beasts, however, did them no harm; and at last the Governor of Campania ordered the Saints to be beheaded. Little did the heathen governor think that he was the in- etrument in God's hand of ushering in the long succession of miracles which attest the faith of Januarius. The relics of St. Januarius rest in the cathedral of Naples, and it is there that the liquefaction of his blood occurs. The blood is congealed in two glass vials, but when it is brought near the martyr's head it melts and flows like the blood of a living man. Reflection. — Thank God Who has given you superabun- dant motives for your faith ; and pray for the spirit of the first Christians, the spirit which exults and rejoices in be- lief. September 20.— STS. EUSTACHIUS and Compan- ions, Martyrs. /^DSTACHius, called Placidus before his conversion, was V^ a distinguished officer of the Eoman army under the Emperor Trajan. One day, whilst hunting a deer, he suddenly perceived between the horns of the animal the September 21] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 319 image of our crucified Saviour. Responsive to what he considered a voice from heaven, he lost not a moment in becoming a Christian, In a short time he lost all his pos- sessions and his position, and his wife and children were taken from him. Eeduced to the most abject poverty, he took service with a rich land-owner to tend his fields. In the mean time the empire suffered greatly from the ravages of barbarians. Trajan sought out our Saint, and placed him in command of the troops sent against the enemy. During this campaign he found his wife and children, whom he despaired of ever seeing again. Eeturning home victorious, he was received in triumph and loaded with honors; but the emperor having commanded him to sac- rifice to the false gods, he refused. Infuriated at this, Trajan ordered Eustachius with his wife and children to be exposed to two starved lions; but instead of harming these faithful servants of God, the beasts merely frisked and frolicked about them. The emperor, grown more furious at this, caused the martyrs to be shut up inside a brazen bull, under which a fire was kindled, and in this horrible manner they were roasted to death. Reflection. — It is not enough to encounter dangers with resolution; we must with equal courage and constancy vanquish pleasure and the softer passions, or we possess not the virtue of true fortitude. September 21.— ST. MATTHEW, Apostle. ONE day, as Our Lord was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw, sitting at the receipt of custom, Matthew the publican, whose business it was to collect the taxes from the people for their Eoman masters. Jesus said to him, "Follow Me;" and leaving all, Matthew arose and followed Him. Now the publicans were abhorred by the Jews as enemies of their country, outcasts, and notorious sinners, who enriched themselves by extortion and fraud. No Pharisee would sit with one at table. Our Saviour alone had compassion for them. So St. Matthew made a great feast, to which he invited Jesus and His disciples, with a number of these publicans^ who henceforth began 320 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Septembee 22 eagerly to listen to Him. It was then, in answer to the murmurs of the Pharisees, that He said, " They that are in health need not the physician. I have not come to call the just, but sinners to penance." After the Ascension, St. Matthew remained some years in Judgea, and there wrote his gospel, to teach his countrymen that Jesus was their true Lord and King, foretold by the prophets. St. Matthew afterward preached the Faith far and wide, and is said to have finished his course in Parthia. Reflection. — Obey all inspirations of Our Lord as promptly as St. Matthew, who, at a single word, " laid down," says St, Bridget, " the heavy burden of the worl(J to put on the light and sweet yoke of Christ." September 22.— THE THEBAN LEGION. ^=nHE Theban legion numbered more than six thousand Wi*' men. They marched from the East into Gaul, and proved their loyalty at once to their Emperor and to their God. They were encamped near the Lake of Geneva, un- der the Emperor Maximian, when they got orders to turn their swords against the Christian population, and refused to obey. In his fury Maximian ordered them to be deci- mated. The order was executed once and again, but they endured this without a murmur or an effort to defend themselves. St. Maurice, the chief captain in this legion of martyrs, encouraged the rest to persevere and follow their comrades to heaven. " Know, Emperor," he said, " that we are your soldiers, but we are servants also of the true God. In all things lawful we will most readily obey, but we cannot stain our hands in this innocent blood. W© have seen our comrades slain, and we rejoice at their honorr iWe have arms, but we resist not, for we had rather die without shame than live by sin." As the massacre began, these generous soldiers flung down their arms, offered their necks to the sword, and suffered themselves to be butchered in silence. Reflection. — Thank God for every slight and injury yon have to bear. An injury borne in meekness and silence is September 24] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 321 a true victory. It is the proof that we are good soldiers of Jesus Christ, disciples of that heavenly wisdom which is first pure, then peaceable. September 23.— ST. THECLA, Virgin, Martyr. (t. Thecla is one of the most ancient, as she is one of the most illustrious. Saints in the calendar of the Church. It was at Iconium that St. Paul met St. Thecla, and kindled the love of virginity in her heart. She had been promised in marriage to a young man who was rich and generous. But at the Apostle's words she died to the thought of earthly espousals; she forgot her beauty; she was deaf to her parents' threats, and at the first opportunity she fled from a luxurious home and followed St. Paul. The rage of her parents and of her intended spouse fol- lowed hard upon her; and the Eoman power did its worst against the virgin whom Christ had chosen for Jlis own. She was stripped and placed in the public theatre ; but her innocence shrouded her like a garment. Then the lions were let loose against her; they fell crouching at her feet, and licked them as if in veneration. Even fire could not harm her. Torment after torment was inflicted upon her without effect, till at last her Spouse spoke the word and called her to Himself, with the double crown of virginity and martyrdom on her head. Reflection. — It is purity in soul and body which will make you strong in pain, in temptation, and in the hour of death. Imitate the purity of this glorious virgin, and take her for your special patroness in your last agony. September 24.— THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY OF MERCY. [t. Petek, of the noble family of Nolasco, was born in Languedoc, about 1189. At the age of twenty-five he took a vow of chastity, and made over his vast estates to the Church, Some time after, he conceived the idea of establishing an order for the redemption of captives. The 332 LIVES OF THE 8AINT8 [Septembeb 25 divine will was soon manifested. The Blessed Virgin ap- peared on the same night to Peter, to Eaymund of Penna- fort, his confessor, and to James, King of Arragon, his ward, and bade them prosecute without fear their holy designs. After great opposition, the Order was solemnly established, and approved by Gregory IX., under the name of Our Lady of Mercy. By the grace of God, and under the protection of His Virgin Mother, the Order spread rap- idly, its growth being increased by the charity and piety of its members, who devoted themselves not only to collecting alms for the ransom of the Christians, but even gave them- eelves up to voluntary slavery to aid the good work. It is to return thanlcs to God and the Blessed Virgin that a feast was instituted which was observed in the Order of Mercy, then in Spain and France, and at last extended to the whole Church by Innocent XII., and the 24th September named as the day on which it is to be observed. Reflection. — St. Peter Nolasco and his knights were lay- men, not priests, and yet they considered the salvation of their neighbor intrusted to them. We can each of us by counsel, by prayer, but above all by holy example, assist tJae salvation of our brethren, and thus secure our own. September 25.— ST. FIRMIN, Bishop, Martyr.— ST, FINBARR, Bishop. [t. Firmin" was a native of Pampelone in Navarre, initiated in the Christian faith by Honestus, a dis- ciple of St. Saturninus of Toulouse, and consecrated bishop by St. Honoratus, successor to St. Saturninus, in order to preach the Gospel in the remoter parts of Gaul. He preached the Faith in the countries of Agen, Anjou, and Beauvais, and being arrived at Amiens, there chose his residence, and founded there a numerous church of faith- ful disciples. He received the crown of martyrdom in that city, whether under the prefect Eictius Varus, or in some other persecution from Decius, in 250, to Diocletian, in 303, is uncertain. St. Finbaer, who lived in the sixth century, was a na- tive of Connaught, and instituted a monastery or school at Septembek 26] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 323 Lough Eire, to which such numbers of disciples flocked, as changed, as it were, a desert into a large city. This was the origin of the city of Cork, which was built chiefly upon stakes, in marshy little islands formed by the river Lea. The right name of our Saint, under which he was baptized^ was Lochan; the surname Finbarr, or Barr the White, was afterward given him. He was Bishop of Cork seventeen years, and died in the midst of his friends at Cloyne, fif- teen miles from Cork. His body was buried in his own cathedral at Cork, and his relics, some years after, were put in a silver shrine, and kept there, this great church bearing his name to this day. St. Finbarr's cave or her- mitage was shown in a monastery which seems to have been begun by our Saint, and stood to the west of Cork. September 26.--STS. CYPRIAN arid JUSTINA, Martyrs. ^^HE detestable superstition of St. Cyprian's idolatrous V»^ parents devoted him from his infancy to the devil, and he was brought up in all the impious mysteries of idol- atry, astrolog}^, and the black art. When Cyprian had learned all the extravagances of these schools of error anCi delusion, he hesitated at no crimes, blasphemed Christ, and committed secret murders. There lived at Antioch a young Christian lady called Justina, of high birth and great beauty. A pagan nobleman fell deeply in love with her, and finding her modesty inaccessible, and her reso- lution invincible, he applied to Cyprian for assistance. Cyprian, no less smitten with the lady, tried every secret with which he was acquainted to conquer her resolution. Justina, perceiving herself vigorously attacked, studied to arm herself by prayer, watchfulness, and mortification against all his artifices and the power of his spells. Cyprian finding himself worsted by a superior power, be- gan to consider the weakness of the infernal spirits, and resolved to quit their service and become a Christian. Agladius, who had been the first suitor to the holy virgin, was likewise converted and baptized. The persecution of Diocletian breaking out, Cyprian and Justina were seized, 334 LIYE8 OF TEE SAINTS [Septemeee 27 and presented to the same judge. She was inhumanly- scourged, and Cyprian was torn with iron hooks. After this they were both sent in chains to Diocletian, who com- manded their heads to be struck off, which sentence was executed. Reflection. — ^If the errors and disorders of St. Cyprian show the degeneracy of human nature corrupted by sin and enslaved to vice, his conversion displays the power of grace and virtue to repair it. Let us beg of God to send us grace to resist temptation, and to do His holy will in all things. September 27.— STS. COSMAS and DAMIAN, Martyrs. [TS. CosMAs and Damian were brothers, and born in Arabia, but studied the sciences in Syria, and be- came eminent for their skill in physic. Being Christians, and full of that holy temper of charity in which the spirit of our divine religion consists, they practised their pro- fession with great application and wonderful success, but never took any fee. They were loved and respected by the people on account of the good offices received from their charity, and for their zeal for the Christian faith, which they took every opportunity to propagate. When the per- secution of Diocletian began to rage, it was impossible for persons of so distinguished a character to lie concealed. They were therefore apprehended by the order of Lysias, Governor of Cilicia, and after various torments were bound hand and foot and thro^vn into the sea. Reflection. — We may sanctify our labor or industry, if actuated by the motive of charity toward others, even whilst we fulfil the obligation we owe to ourselves and our families of procuring an honest and necessary subsistence, which of itself is no less noble a virtue, if founded in motives equally pure and perfect. Septembee 29] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 325 September 28.— ST. V/ENCESLAS, Martyr. ^f^ENCESLAs was the son of a Christian Duke of Bohemia, \A/ but his mother was a hard and cruel pagaiL Through the care of his holy grandmother, Ludmilla, her- self a martyr, Wenceslas was educated in the true faith, and imbibed a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, On the death of his father, his mother, Drahomira, usurped the government and passed a series of persecuting laws. In the interests of the Faith Wenceslas claimed and ob- tained, through the support of the people, a large portion of the country as his own kingdom. His mother secured the apostasy and alliance of her second son, Boleslas, who became henceforth her ally against the Christians. Wen- ceslas meanwhile ruled as a brave and pious king, pro- vided for all the needs of his people, and when his kingdom was attacked, overcame in single combat, by the sign of the cross, the leader of an invading army. In the service of God he was most constant, and planted with his own hands the wheat and grapes for the Holy Mass, at which he never failed daily to assist. His piety was the occasion of his death. Once, after a banquet at his brother's pal- ace, to which he had been treacherously invited, he went, as was his wont at night, to pray before the tabernacle. There, at midnight on the feast of the Angels, 938, he received his crown of martyrdom, his brother dealing him the death-blow. Reflection. — St. Wenceslas teaches us that the safest place to meet the trials of life, or to prepare for the stroke of death, is before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. September 29.— ST. MICHAEL, Archangel. ««j^i-CA-EL," or « Who is like to God ? " Such was the >fi< cry of the great Archangel when he smote the rebel Lucifer in the conflict of the heavenly hosts, and from that hour he has been known as " Michael,'' the captain of the armies of God, the type of divine fortitude, the charn^ pion of every faithful soul in strife \Y\tl\ the powers of evil. 336 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Septembeb 30 Thus h« appears in Holy Scripture as the guardian of the children of Israel, their comfort and protector in times of sorrow or conflict. He it is who prepares for their return from the Persian captivity, who leads the valiant Macca- bees to victory, and who rescues the body of Moses from the envious grasp of the Evil One. And since Christ's coming the Church has ever venerated St. Michael as her special patron and protector. She invokes him by name in her confession of sin, summons him to the side of her chil- dren in the agony of death, and chooses him as their escort from the chastening flames of purgatory to the realms of holy light. Lastly, when Antichrist shall have set up his kingdom on earth, it is Michael who will unfurl once more the standard of the Cross, sound the last trumpet, and binding together the false prophet and the beast, hurl them for all eternity into the burning pool. Reflection. — "Whenever," says St. Bernard, "any grievous temptation or vehement sorrow oppresses thee, invoke thy guardian, thy leader ; cry out to him, and say, * Lord, save us, lest we perish ! ' " September 30.— ST. JEROME, Doctor. [T. Jerome, born in Dalmatia, in 329, was sent to school at Rome. His boyhood was not free from fault. His thirst for knowledge was excessive, and his love of books a passion. He had studied under the best mas- ters, visited foreign cities, and devoted himself to the pursuit of science. But Christ had need of his strong will and active intellect for the service of His Church. St. Jerome felt and obeyed the call, made a vow of celi- bacy, fled from Eome to the wild Syrian desert, and there for four years learnt in solitude, penance, and prayer a new lesson of divine wisdom. This was his novitiate. The Pope soon summoned him to Eome, and there put upon the now famous Hebrew scholar the task of revising the Latin Bible, which was to be his noblest work. Ee- tiring thence to his beloved Bethlehem, the eloquent her- mit poured forth from his solitary cell for thirty years a etream of luminous writings upon the Christian world. OcTOBEB 2] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 327 Reflection. — " To know," says St. Basil, " how to sub- mit thyself with thy whole soul, is to know how to imitate Christ." October i.— ST. REMIGIUS, Bishop. /^^EMiGius, or Eemi, was born of noble and pious parents. J^ At the age of twenty-two, in spite of the canons and of his own reluctance, he was acclaimed Archbishop of Kheims. He was unusually tall, his face impressed with blended majesty and serenity, his bearing gentle, humble, and retiring. He was learned and eloquent, and had the gift of miracles. His pity and charity were boundless, and in toil he knew no weariness. His body was the outward expression of a noble and holy soul, breathing the spirit of meekness and compunction. For so choice a workman God had fitting work. The South of France was in the hands of Arians, and the pagan Franks were wresting the :N'orth from the Eomans. St. Eemigius confronted Clovis, their king, and converted and baptized him at Christmas, in 496. With him he gained the whole Frank nation. He threw down the idol altars, built churches, and ap- pointed bishops. He withstood and silenced the Arians, and converted so many that he left France a Catholic kingdom, its king the oldest and at the time the only crowned sou of the Church. He died in 533, after an episcopate of seventy-four years, the longest on record. Reflection. — Few men have had such natural advan- tages and such gifts of grace as St. Eemi, and few have done so great a work. Learn from him to bear the world's praise as well as its scorn with a lowly and chas- tened heart. October 2.— THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS. CD does not abandon to mere chance any of His hantii- _ . works ; by His providence He is everywhere present ; not a hair falls from the head or a sparrow to the ground without His knowledge. Not content, however, with 838 UVES OF THE SAINTS [Octobeb s yielding such familiar help in all things, not content with affording that existence which He communicates and per- petuates through every living being, He has charged His angels with the ministry of watching and safeguarding every one of His creatures that behold not His face. Kingdoms have their angels assigned to them, and men have their angels; these latter it is whom religion desig- nates as the Holy Guardian Angels. Our Lord says in the Gospel, "Beware lest ye scandalize any of these little ones, for their angels in heaven see the face of My Father." The existence of Guardian Angels is, hence, a dogma of the Christian faith: this being so, what ought not our respect be for that sure and holy intelligence that is ever present at our side; and how great should our solicitude be, lest, by any act of ours, we ojffend those eye& which are ever bent upon us in all our ways ! Reflection. — Ah! let us not give occasion, in the lan- guage of Holy Scripture, to the angels of peace to weep bitterly. October 3.— ST. GERARD, Abbot. [t. Gerard was of a noble family of the county of Namur, France. An engaging sweetness of temper, and a strong inclination to piety and devotion, gained him from the cradle the esteem and affection of every one. Having been sent on an important mission to the Court of France, he was greatly edified at the fervor of the monks of St. Denis, at Paris, and earnestly desired to consecrate himself to God with them. Eeturning home he settled his temporal affairs, and went back with great joy to St. Denis'. He had lived ten years with great fervor in this monastery, when in 931 he was sent by his abbot to found an abbey upon his estate at Brogne, three leagues from Namur. He settled this new abbey, and then built him- self a little cell near the church, and lived in it a recluse until God called him to undertake the reformation of many m.onasteries, which he did successfully. When he had spent almost twenty years in these zealous labors, he shut himself up in his cell, to prepare his soul to receive the OcTOBEu 4] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 339 recompense of his labors, to which he was called on the 3d of October in 959. Reflection. — Though we are in the world, let us strive to separate ourselves from it and consecrate ourselves to God, remembering that "the world passeth away, but he that doth the will of God abideth forever." October 4.— ST. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. ^T. Francis, the son of a merchant of Assisi, was born in that city in 1182. Chosen by God to be a living manifestation to the world of Christ's poor and suffering life on earth, he was early inspired with a high esteem and burning love of poverty and humiliation. The thought of the Man of Sorrows, Who had not where to lay His head, filled him with holy envy of the poor, and constrained him to renounce the wealth and worldly station which he ab- horred. The scorn and hard usage which he met with from his father and townsmen when he appeared among them in the garb of poverty were delightful to him. " Now,^' he exclaimed, '' I can say truly, ' Our Father Who art in heaven.' " But divine love burned in him too mightily not to kindle like desires in other hearts. Many joined themselves to him, and were constituted by Pope Innocent III. into a religious Order, which spread rapidly throughout Christendom. St. Francis, after visiting the East in the vain quest of martyrdom, spent his life like his Divine Master — now in preaching to the multitudes, now amid desert solitudes in fasting and contemplation. During one of these retreats he received on his hands, feet, and side the print of the five bleeding wounds of Jesus. With the cry, "Welcome, sister Death," he passed to the glory of his God October 4, 1226. Reflection. — ^"'My God and my all," St. Francis' coa stant prayer, explains both his poverty and Ms wealth. 330 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Octobeb 6 October 5.— ST. PLACID, Martyr. It. Placid was born in Eome, in the year 515, of a patrician family, and at seven years of age was taken by his father to the monastery of Subiaco. At thirteen years of age he followed St. Benedict to the new foundation at Monte Casino, where he grew up in the practice of a wonderful austerity and innocence of life. He had scarcely completed his twenty-first year when he was selected to establish a monastery in Sicily upon some estates which had been given by his father to St. Benedict. He spent four years in building his monastery, and the fifth had not elapsed before an inroad of barbarians burned everything to the ground, and put to a lingering death not only St. Placid and thirty monks who had joined him, but also his two brothers, Eutychius and Victorimis, and his holy sister Flavia, who had come to visit him. The monastery was rebuilt, and still stands under his invocation. Reflection. — Adversity is the touchstone of the soul, be- cause it discovers the character of the virtue which it possesses. One act of thanksgiving when matters go wrong with us is worth a thousand thanks when things are agreeable to our inclinations. October 6.— ST. BRUNO. a RUNG was born at Cologne, about 1030, of an illus- trious family. He was endowed with rare natural gifts, which he cultivated with care at Paris. He became «anon of Cologne, and then of Eheims, where he had the direction of theological studies. On the death of the bishop the see fell for a time into evil hands, and Bruno retired with a few friends into the country. There he resolved to forsake the world, and to live a life of retire- ment and penance. With six companions he applied to Hugh, Bishop of Grenoble, who led them into a wild soli- tude called the Chartreuse. There they lived in poverty, self-denial, and silence, each apart in his own cell, meet- October 7] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 331 ing only for the worship of God, and employing themselves in copying books. From the name of the spot the Order of St. Bruno was called the Carthusian, Six years later, Urban II. called Bruno to Eome, that he might avail himself of his guidance. Bruno tried to live there as he had lived in the desert; but the echoes of the great city disturbed his solitude, and, after refusing high dignities, he wrung from the Pope permission to resume his monas- tic life in Calabria. There he lived, in humility and mor- tification and great peace, till his blessed death in 1101. Reflection. — " everlasting kingdom," said St. Augus- tine ; " kingdom of endless ages, whereon rests the un- troubled light and the peace of God which passeth all understanding, where the souls of the Saints are in rest, and everlasting joy is on their heads, and sorrow and sighing have lied away! When shall I come and appear before God?'' October 7.— ST. MARK, Pope. [t. Mark was by birth a Eoman, and served God with such fervor among the clergy of that Church, that, advancing continually in sincere humility and the knowl- edge and sense of his own weakness and imperfectionSf, he strove every day to surpass himself in the fervor of his charity and zeal, and in the exercise of all virtues. The persecution ceased in the West, in the beginning of the year 305, but was revived a short time after by Maxentius. St. Mark abated nothing of his watchfulness, but endeav- ored rather to redouble his zeal during the peace of the Church; knowing that if men sometimes cease openly to persecute the faithful, the devil never allows them any truce, and his snares are generally most to be feared in the time of the calm. St. Mark succeeded St. Sylvester in the apostolic chair on the 18th of January, 336. He held that dignity only eight months and twenty days, dy- ing on the 7th of October following. He was buried in a cemetery in the Ardeatine Way, which has since borne his name. 332 LIVES OF. THE SAINTS [Octobeb 9 Reflection. — A Christian ought to be afraid of no en- emy more than himself, whom he carries always about with him, and from whom he is not able to flee. He should therefore never cease to cry out to God, " Unless Thou, Lord, art my light and support, I watch in vain." October 8.— ST. BRIDGET OF SWEDEN. ©RiDGET was born of the Swedish royal family, in 1304. In obedience to her father, she was married to Prince Ulpho of Sweden, and became the mother of eight children, one of whom, Catherine, is honored as a Saint. After some years she and her husband separated by mutual consent. He entered the Cistercian Order, and Bridget founded the Order of St. Saviour, in the Abbey of Wastein, in Sweden. In 1344 she became a widow, and thenceforth received a series of the most sublime revela- tions, all of which she scrupulously submitted to the judg- ment of her confessor. By the command of Our Lord, Bridget went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and amidst the very scenes of the Passion was further in- structed in the sacred mysteries. She died in 1373. Reflection. — " Is confession a matter of much time or expense ? " asks St. John Chrysostom, " Is it a difficult and painful remedy? Without cost or hurt, the medicine is ever ready to restore you to perfect health.'' October g.— ST. DIONYSIUS and his Companions, Martyrs.— ST. LOUIS BERTRAND. OF all the Homan missionaries sent into Gaul, St. Dionysius carried the Faith the furthest into the country, fixing his see at Paris, and by him and his dis- ciples the sees of Chartres, Senlis, Meaux, and Cologne were erected in the fourth century. During the persecu- tion of Valerian he was arrested and thrown into prison, and after remaining there for some time was beheaded, together with St. Eusticus, a priest, and Eleutherius, a deacon. OcTOBEB 10 J LIVES OF THE SAINTS 333 St. Louis Bertrand was born at Valencia, in Spain, in 1526, of the same family as St. Vincent Ferrer. In 1545, after severe trials, he was professed in the Dominican Order, and at the age of twenty-five was made master of novices, and trained up many great servants of God. When the plague broke out in Valencia he devoted himself to the sick and dying, and with his own hands buried the dead. In 1562 he obtained leave to embark for the Amer- ican mission, and there converted vast multitudes to the Faith. He was favored with the gift of miracles, and while preaching in his native Spanish was understood in various languages. After seven years he returned to Spain, to plead the cause of the oppressed Indians, but he was not permitted to return and labor among them. He spent his remaining days toiling in his own country, till at length, in 1580, he was carried from the pulpit in the Cathedral at Valencia to the bed from whence he never rose. He died on the day he had foretold — October 9, 1581. Reflection. — The Saints fasted, toiled, and wept, not only for love of God, but for fear of damnation. How shall we, with our self-indulgent lives and unexamined consciences, face the judgment-seat of Christ? October lo.— ST. FRANCIS BORGIA. HRANCis Borgia, Duke of Gandia and Captain-General of Catalonia, was one of the handsomest, richest, and most honored nobles in Spain, when, in 1539, there was laid upon him the sad duty of escorting the remains of his sovereign. Queen Isabella, to the royal burying-place at Granada. The coffin had to be opened for him that he might verify the body before it was placed in the tomb,, and so foul a sight met his eyes that he vowed never again to serve a sovereign who could suffer so base a change. It was some years before he could follow the call of his Lord; at length he entered the Society of Jesus to cut himself off from any chance of dignity or preferment. But his Order chose him to be its head. The Turks were threatening Christendom, and St. Pius V. sent his nephew 334 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Octobee U to gather Christian princes into a league for its defence. The holy Pope chose Francis to accompany him, and, worn out though he was, the Saint obeyed at once. The fatigues of the embassy exhausted what little life was left. St. Francis died on his return to Eome, October 10, 1572. Reflection. — St. Francis Borgia learnt the worthlessness of earthly greatness at the funeral of Queen Isabella. Do the deaths of friends teach us aught about ourselves ? October ii.— ST. TARACHUS and his Companions. XN the year 304, Tarachus, Probus, and Andronicus, differing in age and nationality, but united in the bonds of faith, being denounced as Christians to ISTumerian, Governor of Cilicia, were arrested at Pompeiopolis, and conducted to Tharsis. They underwent a first examina- tion in that town, after which their limbs were torn with iron hooks, and they were taken back to prison covered with wounds. Being afterwards led to Mopsuestia, they were submitted to a second examination, ending in a man- ner equally cruel as the first. They underwent a third examination at Anazarbis, followed by greater torments still. The governor, unable to shake their constancy, had them kept imprisoned that he might torture them further at the approaching games. They were borne to the amphi- theatre, but the most ferocious animals, on being let loose on them, came crouching to their feet and licked their wounds. The judge, reproaching the jailers with conniv- ance, ordered the martyrs to be despatched by the gladia- tors. Reflection. — Such is true Christian devotion. " Neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus." OcxoBEB 13] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 335 October 12.— ST. WILFRID, Bishop. QUICK walker, expert at all good works, with never a sour face " — such was the great St. Wilfrid, whose glory it was to secure the happy links which bound Eng- land to Eome. He was born about the year 63i, and was trained by the Celtic monks at Lindisfarne in the peculiar rites and usages of the British Church. Yet even as a boy Wilfrid longed for perfect conformity in discipline, as in doctrine, with the Holy See, and at the first chance set off himself for Eome. On his return he founded at Eipon a strictly Eoman monastery, under the rule of St. Bene- dict. In the year 664 he was elected Bishop of Lindis- farne, and five years later was transferred to the see of York. He had to combat the passions of wicked kings, the cowardice of worldly prelates, the errors of holy men. He was twice exiled and once imprisoned; yet the battle which he fought was won. He swept away the abuses of many years and a too national system, and substituted in- stead a vigorous Catholic discipline, modelled and de- pendent on Eome. He died October 12, 709, and at his death was heard the sweet melody of the angels conducting his soul to Christ. Reflection. — To look towards Eome is an instinct planted in us for the preservation of the Faith. Trust in the Vicar of Christ necessarily results from the reign of His love in our hearts. October 13.— ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. /^DWARD was unexpectedly raised to the throne of Eng- \2X land at the age of forty years, twenty-seven of which he had passed in exile. On the throne, the virtues of his earlier years, simplicity, gentleness, lowliness, but above all his angelic purity, shone with new brightness. By a rare inspiration of God, though he married to content his nobles and people, he preserved perfect chastity in the wedded state. So little did he set his heart on riches, that Uirice when he saw a servant robbing his treasury he let 336 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Octobee 14 him escape, saying the poor fellow needed the gold more than he. He loved to stand at his palace-gate, speaking kindly to the poor beggars and lepers who crowded about him, and many of whom he healed of their diseases. The long wars had brought the kingdom to a sad state, but Edward's zeal and sanctity soon wrought a great change. His reign of twenty-four years was one of almost un- broken peace, the country grew prosperous, the ruined churches rose under his hand, the weak lived secure, and for ages afterwards men spoke with affection of the " laws of good St. Edward.'' The holy king had a great devotion to building and enriching churches. Westminster Abbey was his latest and noblest work. He died January 5, 1066. Reflection. — ^David longed to build a temple for God's service, Solomon reckoned it his glory to accomplish the work. But we, who have God made flesh dwelling in our tabernacles, ought to think no time, no zeal, no treasures too much to devote to the splendor and beauty of a Chris- tian church. October 14.— ST. CALLISTUS, Pope, Martyr. eARLY in the third century, Callistus, then a deacon, was intrusted by Pope St. Zephyrinus with the rule of the clergy, and set by him over the cemeteries of the Christians at Eome ; and, at the death of Zephyrinus, Cal- listus, according to the Eoman usage, succeeded to the Apostolic See. A decree is ascribed to him appointing the four fasts of the Ember seasons, but his name is best known in connection with the old cemetery on the Appian Way, which was enlarged and adorned by him, and is called to this day the Catacomb of St. Callistus. During the persecution under the Emperor Severus, St. Callistus was driven to take shelter in the poor and popislous quar- ters of the city; yet, in spite of these troubles, and of the eare of the Church, he made diligent search for tlie b«dy of Calipodius, one of his clergy who had suffered martyr- dom shortly before, by being cast into the Tiber. When he found it he was full of joy, and buried it, with hymns of praise. Callistus was martyred October 14, 223. OcTX)BEB 16] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 337 Reflection. — In the body of a Christian we see that which has been the temple of the Holy Ghost, which even now is precious in the eyes of God, Who will watch over it, and one day raise it up in glory to shine forever in His kingdom. Let our actions bear witness to our belief in these truths. October 15.— ST. TERESA. ^W^HEN a child of seven years, Teresa ran away from hei- vl/ home at Avila in Spain, in the hope of being mar- tyred by the Moors. Being brought back and asked the reason of her flight, she replied, " I want to see God, and I must die before I can see Him." She then began with her brother to build a hermitage in the garden, and was often heard repeating " Forever, forever." Some years- later she became a Carmelite nun. Frivolous conversa> tions checked her progress towards perfection, but at last, in her thirty-first year, she gave herself wholly to God. A vision showed her the very place in hell to which her own ligiit faults would have led her, and she lived ever after in the deepest distrust of self. She was called to reform her Order, favored with distinct commands from Our Lord, and her heart was pierced with divine love ; but she dreaded nothing so much as delusion, and to the last acted only under obedience to her confessors, which both made her strong and kept her safe. She died on October 4, 1583. Reflection.— '^ After all I die a child of the Church." These were the Saint's last words. They teach us the les^ son of her life — to trust in humble, childlike obedience to our spiritual guides as the surest means of salvation. October 16.— ST. GALL, Abbot. [t. Gall was born in Ireland soon after the middle of the sixth century, of pious, noble, and rich parents. When St. Columban left Ireland, St. Gall accompanied him into England, and afterward into France, where they 338 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Octobee 17 arrived in 585. St. Columban founded the monastery of Anegray, in a wild forest in the diocese of Besangon, and two years afterward another in Luxenil. Being driven thence by King Theodoric, the Saints both withdrew into the terri'tories of Theodebert. St. Columban, however, retired into Italy, but St. Gall was prevented from bearing him company by a grievous fit of ilbiess. St. Gall was a priest before he left Ireland, and having learned the lan- guage of the country where he settled, near the Lake of Constance, he converted to the faith a great number of idolaters. The cells which this Saint built there for those who desired to serve God with him, he gave to the mon- astery which bears his name. A synod of bishops, with the clergy and people, earnestly desired to place the Saint in the episcopal see of Constance; but his modesty refused the dignity. He died in the year 646. Reflection. — "If any one would be My disciple," says Our Saviour, " let him deny himself." The denial of self is, then, the royal road to perfection. October 17.— ST. HEDWIGE.--SAINT MAR- GARET MARY AiACOQUE. |Wt. Hedwige, the wife of Henry, Duke of Silesia, and ^J the mother of his six children, led a humble, austere, and most holy life amidst all the pomp of royal state. Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was the key-note of her life. Her valued privilege was to supply the bread and wine for the Sacred Mysteries, and she would attend each morning as many Masses as were celebrated. After the death of her husband she retired to the Cistercian convent of Trebnitz, where she lived under obedience to her daugh- ter Gertrude, who was abbess of the monastery, growing day by day in holiness, till God called her to Himself, in 1242. Margaret Mart was born at Terreau in Burgundy, on the 22d July, 1647. During her infancy she "showed a wonderfully sensitive horror of the very idea of sin. In 1671 she entered the Order of the Visitation, at Paray-le- Monial, and was professed the following vear. After ooTOBEB 18? LIVE8 OF TEE SAINTS 339 purifying her by many trials, Jesus appeared to her in numerous visions, displaying to her His Sacred Heart, sometimes burning as a furnace, and sometimes torn and bleeding on account of the coldness and sins of men. Id. 1675 the great revelation was made to her that she, in union with Father de la Colombiere, of the Society of Jesus, was to be the chief instrument for instituting the feast of the Sacred Heart, and for spreading that devotion throughout the world. She died on the 17th October, 1690. Reflection. — Love for the Sacred Heart especially non- ors the Incarnation, and makes the soul grow rapidly in humility, generosity, patience, and union with its Be- loved. October i8.— ST. LUKE. (t. Luke, a physician at Antioch, and a painter, be- came a convert of St. Paul, and afterwards his fellow- laborer. He is best known to us as the historian of the New Testament. Though not an eye-witness of Our Lord's life, the Evangelist diligently gathered information from the lips of the apostles, and wrote, as he tells us, all things in order. The acts of the Apostles were written by this Evangelist as a sequel to his Gospel, bringing the history of the Church down to the first imprisonment of St. Paul at Home. The humble historian never names himself, but by his occasional use of " we '^ for " they " we are able to detect his presence in the scenes which he describes. We thus find that he sailed with St. Paul and Silas from Troas to Macedonia ; stayed behind apparently for seven years at Philippi, and, lastly, shared the shipwreck and perils of the memorable voyage to Eome. Here his own narrative ends, but from St. Paul's Epistles we learn that St. Luke was his faithful companion to the end. He died a mar- tyr's death some time afterwards in Achaia. Reflection. — Christ has given all He had for thee; do thou give all thou hast for Him. S40 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [October 20 October 19.— ST. PETER OF ALCANTARA. QETER, while still a youth, left his home at Alcantara in Spain, and entered a convent of Discalced Fran- ciscans. He rose quickly to high posts in the Order, but his thirst for penance was still unappeased, and in 1539, being then forty years old, he founded the first convent of the " Strict Observance." The cells of the friars resem- bled graves rather than dwelling-places. That of St. Peter himself was four feet and a half in length, so that he could never lie down; he ate but once in three days; his sack-cloth habit and a cloak were his only garments, and he never covered his head or feet. In the bitter win- ter he would open the door and window of his cell that, by closing them again, he might experience some sensation of warmth. Amongst those whom he trained to perfection was St. Teresa. He read her soul, approved of her spirit of prayer, and strengthened her to carry out her reforms. St. Peter died, with great joy, kneeling in prayer, Oc- tober 18, 1562, at the age of sixty-three. Reflection. — If men do not go about barefoot now, nor undergo sharp penances, as St. Peter did, there are many ways of trampling on the world; and Our Lord teaches them when He finds the necessary courage. October 20.— ST. JOHN CANTIUS. [T. John was born at Kenty in Poland in 1403, and studied at Cracow with great ability, industry, and success, while his modesty and virtue drew all hearts to him. He was for a short time in charge of a parish; but he shrank from the burden of responsibility, and returned to his life of professor at Cracow. There for many years he lived a life of unobtrusive virtue, self-denial, and char- ity. His love for the Holy See led him often in pilgrim- age to Eome, on foot and alone, and his devotion to the Passion drew him once to Jerusalem, where he hoped to win a martyr's crown by preaching to the Turks. He died in 1473, at the age of seventy. OcTOBEE 22] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 3411 Reflection. — He who orders all his doings according to the will of God may often be spoken of by the world as simple and stupid; but in the end he wins the esteem and confidence of the world itself, and the approval and peace of God. October 21.— ST. URSULA, Virgin and Martyr. NUMBER of Christian families had intrusted the edu- cation of their children to the care of the pious Ursula, and some persons of the world had in like manner placed themselves under her direction. England being then harassed by the Saxons, Ursula deemed that she ought, after the example of many of her compatriots, to seek an asylum in Gaul. She met with an abiding-place on the borders of the Khine, not far from Cologne, where she hoped to find undisturbed repose ; but a horde of Huns having invaded the country, she was exposed, together with all those who were under her guardianship, to the most shameful outrages. Without wavering, they pre- ferred one and all to meet death rather than incur shame. Ursula herself gave the example, and was, together with her companions, cruelly massacred in the year 453. The name of St. Ursula has from remote ages been held in great honor throughout the Church; she has always been regarded as the patroness of young persons and the model of teachers. Reflection. — In the estimation of the wise man, "the guarding of virtue" is the most important part of the education of youth. October 22.— ST. MELLO, Bishop.— ST. HI- LARION, Abbot. (t. Mello is said to have been a native of Great Britain; his zeal for the Faith engaged him in the sacred ministry, and God having blessed his labors with wonderful success, he was consecrated first bishop of Rouen in Normandy^ which see he is said to have held forty years. 343 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Octobeb 23 He died in peace, about the beginning of the fourth cen- tury. St. Hilarion was born of heathen parents, near Gaza, and was converted while studying grammar in Alexandria. Shortly after, he yisited St. Antony, and, still only in his fifteenth year, he became a solitary in the Arabian desert. A multitude of monks, attracted by Ms sanctity, peopled the desert where he lived. In consequence of this, he fled from one country to another, seeking to escape the praise of men; but everywhere his miracles of mere}'' betrayed his presence. Even his last retreat at Cyprus was broken by a paralytic, who was cured by St. Hilarion, and then spread the fame of the Saint. He died with the words, " Go forth, my soul ; why dost thou doubt ? Nigh seventy years hast thou served God, and dost thou fear death?" October 23.— ST. THEODORET, Martyr. BBOUT the year 361, Julian, uncle to the emperor of that name, and like his nephew an apostate, was made Count of the East. He closed the Christian churches at Antioch, and when St. Theodoret assembled the Christians in private, he was summoned befor*? the tribunal of the Count and most inhumanly tortured,- His arms and feet were fastened by ropes to pulleys, and stretched until his body appeared nearly eight feet long, and the blood streamed from his sides. " most wretched man," he said to his judge, "you know well that at the day of judgment the crucified God Whom you blaspheme will send you and the tyrant whom you serve to hell." Julian trembled at this awful prophecy, but he had the Saint despatched quickly by the sword, and in a little while the judge himself was arraigned before the judg- ment-seat of God. Reflection. — Those who do not go down to hell in spirit are very likely to go there in reality. Take care to meditate upon the four last things, and to live in holy fear. You will learn to love God better by thinking how "He punishes those who do not love Him. OcTOBEB 25] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 343 October 24.— ST. MAGLOIRE, Bishop. [T. Magloire was born in Brittany towards the end of the fifth century. When he and his cousin St. Sampson came of an age to choose their way in life, Samp- son retired into a monastery, and Magloire returned home, where he lived in the practice of virtue. Amon, Samp- son's father, having been cured by prayer of a dangerous disease, left the world, and with his entire family conse- crated himself to God. Magloire was so affected at this that, with his father, mother, and two brothers, he re- solved to fly the world, and they gave all their goods to the poor and the Church. Magloire and his father at- tached themselves to Sampson, and obtained his permis- sion to take the monastic habit in the house over which he presided. When Sampson was consecrated bishop, Magloire accompanied him in his apostolical labors in. Armorica, or Brittany, and at his death he succeeded him in the Abbey of Dole and in the episcopal character. After three years he resigned his bishopric, being seventy years old, and retired into a desert on the continent, and some time after into the isle of Jersey, where he founded and governed a monastery of sixty monks. He died about the year 575. Reflection. — "Be mindful of them that have rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God, whose faith, follow, considering the end.'' October 25.— STS. CRISPIN and CRISPINIAN, Martyrs. |^=vHESE two glorious martyrs came from Rome to preacH ^J the Faith in Gaul toward the middle of the thirdj century. Fixing their residence at Soissons, they in- structed many in the Faith of Christ, which they preached publicly in the day, and at night they worked at making shoes, though they are said to have been nobly born, and brothers. The infidels listened to their instructions, and were astonished at the example of their lives, especially of 344 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Octobee 26 their charity, disinterestedness, heavenly piety, and con- tempt of glory and all earthly things; and the effect was the conversion of many to the Christian faith. The brothers had continued their employment several years when a complaint was lodged against them. The em- peror, to gratify their accusers and give way to his savage cruelty, gave orders that they should be convened before Eictius Varus, the most implacable enemy of the Chris- tians. The martyrs were patient and constant under the most cruel torments, and finished their course by the sword about the year 287. Reflection. — Of how many may it be said that "they labor in vain," since God is not the end and purpose that inspires the labor? October 26.— ST. EVARISTUS, Pope and Martyr. [T. EvARisTus succeeded St. Anacletus in the see of Eome, in the reign of Trajan, governed the Church nine years, and died in 112. The institution of cardinal priests is by some ascribed to him, because he first divided Rome into several titles or parishes, assigning a priest to each ; he also appointed seven deacons to attend the bishop. He conferred holy orders thrice in the month of December, when that ceremony was most usually performed, for holy orders were always conferred in seasons appointed for fasting and prayer. St. Evaristus was buried near St. Peter's tomb on the Vatican. Reflection. — The disciples of the apostles, by assiduous meditation on heavenly things, were so swallowed up in the life to come, that they seemed no longer inhabitants of this world. If Christians esteem and set their hearts on earthly goods, and lose sight of eternity in the course of their actions, they are no longer animated by the spirit of the primitive Saints, and are become children of this world, slaves to its vanities, and to their own irregular passions. If we do not correct this disorder of our hearts, and conform our interior to the spirit of Christ, we cannofe be entitled to His promises. OcTOBEB 28] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 345 October 27.— ST. FRUMENTIUS, Bishop. ^T. Frumentius was yet a child when his uncle, Mero- pius of T3ri'e, took him and his brother Edesius on a voyage to Ethiopia. In the course of their voyage the vessel touched at a certain port, and the barbarians of that country put the crew and all the passengers to the sword, except the two children. They were carried to the king, at Axuma, who, charmed with the wit and sprightliness of the two boys, took special care of their education; and, not long after made Edesius his cup-bearer, and Prumen- tius, who was the elder, his treasurer and secretary of state; on his death-bed he thanked them for their serv- ices, and in recompense gave them their liberty. After his death the queen begged them to remain a' court, and assist her in the government of the state until the young king came of age. Edesius went back to Tyre, but St. Athanasius ordained Frumentius Bishop of the Ethiopians, and vested with this sacred character he gained great numbers to the Faith, and continued to feed and defend his flock until it pleased the Supreme Pastor to recom- pense his fidelity and labors. Reflection. — "The soul that journeys in the light and the truths of the Faith is safe against all error." October 28.— STS. SIMON and JUDE. [iMON was a simple Galilean, called by Our Lord to be one of the pillars of His Church. Zelotes, " the zealot," was the surname which he bore among the disci- ples. Armed with this zeal he went forth to the combat against unbelief and sin^, and made conquest of many souls for His divine Lord. The apostle Jude, whom the Church commemorates on the same day, was a brother of St. James the Less. They were called '^brethren of the Lord," on account of their relationship to His Blessed Mother. St. Jude preached •first in Mesopotamia, as St. Simon did in Egypt; and finally they both met in Persia, where they won their crown together. 346 LIVES OF THE SAINTS IOctobeb 29 Reflection, — Zeal is an ardent love which makes a man fearless in defence of Grod's honor, and earnest at all costs to make known the truth. If we would be children of the Saints, we must be zealous for the Faith. October 29.— ST. NARCISSUS, Bishop. [t. Narcissus was consecrated Bishop of Jerusalem about the year 180. He was already an old man, and God attested his merits by many miracles, which were long held in memory by the Christians of Jerusalem. One Holy Saturday in the church the faithful were in great trouble, because no oil could be found for the lamps whi<;h were used in the Paschal feast. St. Narcissus bade them draw water from a neighboring well, and, praying over it, told them to put it in the lamps. It was changed into oil, and long after some of this oil was preserved at Jeru- salem in memory of the miracle. But the very virtue of the Saint made him enemies, and three wretched men charged him with an atrocious crime. They confirmed their testimony by horrible imprecations: the first prayed that he might perish by fire, the second that he might be wasted by leprosy, the third that he might be struck blind, if they charged their bishop falsely. The holy bishop had long desired a life of solitude, and he withdrew secretly into the desert, leaving the Church in peace. But God epoke for His servant, and the bishop's accusers suffered the penalties they had invoked. Then Narcissus returned to Jerusalem and resumed his office. He died in extreme old age, bishop to the last. Reflection. — God never fails those who trust in Him; He guides them through darkness and through trials se- cretly and surely to their end, and in the evening time there is light. OcTOBEK 31] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 347 October 30.— ST. MARCELLUS, THE CEN- TURION, Martyr. ^=^HE birthday of the Emperor Maximian Herciileus, in %*>• the year 298, was celebrated with extraordinary feast- ing and solemnity. Marcellus, a Christian centurion or captain in the legion of Trajan, then posted in Spain, not to defile himself with taking part in those impious abom- inations, left his company, declaring aloud that he was a soldier of Jesus Christ, the eternal King. He was at once <;ommitted to prison. When the festival was over, Marcel- lus was brought before a judge, and, having declared his faith, was sent under a strong guard to Aurelian Agrico- laus, vicar to the prefect of the prsetorium, who passed sentence of death upon him. St. Marcellus was forthwith led to execution, and beheaded on the 30th of October. Cassian, the secretary or notary of the court, refused to write the sentence pronounced against the martyr, because it was unjust. He was immediately hurried to prison, and was beheaded, about a month after, on the 3d of December. Reflection. — " We are ready to die rather than to trans- gress the laws of God ! " exclaimed one of the Machabees. This sentiment should ever be that of a Christian in pres- ence of temptation. October 31.--ST. QUINTIN, Martyr. ^T. QuiNTiN" was a Eoman, descended from a senatorial family. Full of zeal for the kingdom of Jesus Christ, he left his country, and, attended by St. Lucian of Beauvais, made his way to Gaul. They preached the Faith together in that country till they reached Amiens in Pic- ardy, where they parted. Lucian went to Beauvais, and, having sown the seeds of divine faith in the hearts of many, received the crown of martyrdom in that city. St. Quintin stayed at Amiens, endeavoring by his prayers and labors to make that country a portion of Our Lord's inheri- tance. He was seized, thrown into prison, and loaded with chains. Finding the holy preacher proof against promises 348 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Novembeb 2 and threats, the magistrate condemned him to the most barbarous torture. His body was then pierced with two iron wires from the neck to the thighs, and iron nails were thrust under his nails, and in his flesh in many places, par- ticularly into his skull; and, lastly, his head was cut off. His death happened on the 31st of October, 287. Reflection. — Let ns bear in mind that the ills of this life are not worthy to be compared to the glory " God has reserved for those who love Him.'' November i.— ALL-SAINTS. ^^HE Church pays, day by day, a special veneration to ^^ some one of the holy men and women who have helped to establish it by their blood, develop it by their labors, or edify it by their virtues. But, in addition to those whom the Church honors by special designation, or has inscribed in her calendar, how many martyrs are there whose names are not recorded ! How many humble virgins and holy penitents! How many just and holy anchorites or young children snatched away in their innocence ! How many Christians who have died in grace, whose merits are known only to God, and who are themselves known only in heaven ! Now should we forget those who remember us in their intercessions? Besides, are they not our brethren, our ancestors, friends, and fellow- Christians, with whom we have lived in daily companionship — in other words, our own family? Yea, it is one family; and our place is marked out in this home of eternal light and eternal love. Reflection. — Let us have a solicitude to render ourselves ■worthy of " that chaste generation, so beautiful amid the glory where it dwells.'' November 2.— ALL-SOULS. j^xHE Church teaches us that the souls of the just who V^ have left this world soiled with the stain of venial sin remain for a time in a place of expiation, where they Buffer such punishment as may be due to their offences. It November 2] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 349 is a matter of faith that these suffering souls are relieved by the intercession of the Saints in heaven and by the prayers of the faithful upon earth. To pray for the dead is, then, both an act of charity and of piety. We read in Holy Scripture : " It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins." And when Our Lord inspired St. Odilo, Abbot of Cluny, towards the close of the tenth century, to establish in his Order a general commemoration of all the faithful de- parted, it was soon adopted by the whole Western Church, and has been continued unceasingly to our day. Let us, then, ever bear in mind the dead and offer up our prayers for them. By showing this mercy to the suffering souls in purgatory, we shall be particularly entitled to be treated with mercy at our departure from this world, and to share more abundantly in the general suffrages of the Church, continually offered for all who have slept in Christ. ST. MALACHI, Bishop. ^URING his childhood Malachi would often separate him- self from his companions to converse in prayer with God. At the age of twenty-five he was ordained priest; his devotion and zeal led to his being consecrated Bishop of Connor, and shortly afterwards he was made Archbishop of his native city, Armagh. This see having by a long- standing abuse been held as an heirloom in one family, it required on the part of the Saint no little tact and firmness to allay the dissensions caused by his election. One day, while St. Malachi was burying the dead, he was laughed at by his sister. When she died, he said many Masses for her. Some time afterwards, in a vision, he saw her, dressed in mourning, standing in a churchyard, and saying that she had not tasted food for thirty days. Remembering that it was just thirty days since he last offered the Adorable Sac- rifice for her, he began again to do so, and was rewarded by other visions, in the last of which he saw her within the church, clothed in white, near the altar, and surrounded by bright spirits. He twice made a pilgrimage to Eome, to consult Christ's Vicar;, the first time returning as Papal 350 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Novembeb 4 Legate, amid the joy of his people, with the pall for Armagh; but the second time bound for a happier home. He was taken ill at Clairvaux. He died, aged fifty-four, where he fain would have lived, in St. Bernard's monastery, on the 2d of November, 1148. Reflection. — Our Lord said to St. Gertrude, " God ac- cepts every soul you set free, as if you had redeemed him from captivity, and will reward you in a fitting time for the benefit you have conferred.' }> November 3.— ST. HUBERT, Bishop. Jt. Hubert's early life is so obscured by popular tradi- tions that we have no authentic account of his actions. He is said to have been passionately addicted to hunting, and was entirely taken up in worldly pursuits. One thing is certain: that he is the patron saint of hunters. Moved by divine grace, he resolved to renounce the world. His extraordinary fervor, and the great progress which he xnade in virtue and learning, strongly recommended him to 8t. Lambert, Bishop of Maestricht, who ordained him priest, and entrusted him with the principal share in the administration of his diocese. That holy prelate being barbarously murdered in 681, St. Hubert was unanimously chosen his successor. With incredible zeal he penetrated into the most remote and barbarous places of Ardenne, and abolished the worship of idols; and, as he performed the office of the apostles, God bestowed on him a like gift of miracles. He died on the 30th of May, in 727, reciting to his last breath the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. Reflection. — What the Wise Man has said of Wisdom may be applied to Grace : " That it ordereth the means with gentleness, and attaineth its end with power." November 4.— ST. CHARLES BORROMEO. BBOUT fifty years after the Protestant heresy had broken out, Our Lord raised up a mere youth to renew the face of His Church. In 1560 Charles Borromeo, then twenty-two years of age, was created cardinal, and by NovEMBEE 5] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 351 the side of his uncle, Pius IV., administered the affairs of the Holy See. His first care was the direction of the Council of Trent. He urged forward its sessions, guided its deliberations by continual correspondence from Eome, and by his firmness carried it to its conclusion. Then he entered upon a still more arduous work — the execution of its decrees. As Archbishop of Milan he enforced their observance, and thoroughly restored the discipline of his see. He founded schools for the poor, seminaries for the clerics, and by his community of Oblates trained his priests to perfection. Inflexible in maintaining discipline, to his flock he was a most tender father. He would sit by the roadside to teach a poor man the Pater and Ave, and would enter hovels the stench of which drove his attendants from the door. During the great plague he refused to leave Milan, and was ever by the sick and dying, and sold even his bed for their support. So he lived and so he died, a faithful image of the Good Shepherd, up to his last hour giving his life for his sheep. Reflection. — Daily resolutions to fulfil, at all cost, every duty demanded by God, is the lesson taught by St. Charles ; and a lesson we must learn if we would overcome our cor- rupt nature and reform our lives. November 5.— ST. BERTILLE, Abbess. [t. Bertille was born of one of the most illustrious families in the territory of Soissons, in the reign of Dagobert I. As she grew up she learned perfectly to de- spise the world, and earnestly desired to renounce it. Not daring to tell this to her parents, she first consulted St. Ouen, by whom she was encouraged in her resolution. The Saint's parents were then made acquainted with her desire, which God inclined them not to oppose. They conducted her to Jouarre, a great monastery in Brie, four leagues from Meaux, where she was received with great joy and trained up in the strictest practice of monastic perfection. By her perfect submission to all her sisters she seemed every one's servant, and acquitted herself with such great charity ftnd edification that she was chosen prioress to assist the 352 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Novembee 7 abbess in her administration. About the year 646 she was appointed first abbess of the abbey of Chelles, which she governed for forty-sis years with equal vigor and discre- tion, until she closed her penitential life in 693. Reflection. — It is written that the Saints raise them selves heavenward, going from virtue to virtue, as by step&. November 6.— ST. LEONARD. KEONARD, one of the chief personages of the court of Clovis, and for whom this monarch had stood as sponsor in baptism, was so moved by the discourse and ex- ample of St. Eemigius that he relinquished the world in order to lead a more perfect life. The Bishop of Eheims having trained Leonard to virtue, he became the apostle of such of the Franks as still remained pagans; but fearing that he might be summoned to the court by his reputation for sanctity, he withdrew secretly to the monastery of Micy, near Orleans, and afterwards to the solitude of Noblac nea^ Limoges. His charity not allowing him to remain inactive while there was so much good to be done, he undertook the work of comforting prisoners, making them understand that the captivity of sin was more terrible than any mere bodily constraint. He won over a great many of these unfortunate persons, which gained for him many disciples, in whose behalf he founded a new monastery. St. Leonard died about the year 550. Reflection. — " The wicked shall be taken with his own iniquities, and shall be held by the cords of his own sin.'' November 7.— ST. WILLIBRORD. ^¥