Brigid of Ireland

Saint Brigid of Ireland

Also known as
• Bride
• Bride of the Isles
• Bridget of Ireland
 Bridget
• Brigid of Kildare
• Brigit
• Ffraid
• Mary of the Gael

memorial
• 1 February

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Today is the feast of one of the big three Irish Saints, Patrick, Columba and Brigid.

Our saint today was the product of a Pagan Scottish king having relations with a Christian Slave. Brigid’s mother was supposedly baptized by St Patrick himself. Who knows, beer was already invented by this time so first hand historical accounts from Ireland, are questionable. Just before Brigid’s birth, the Pagan King sold her mother to a wealthy Druid landowner. Brigid remained with her mother, even though she was not part of the deal, till she was old enough to serve her legal owner; her father. You see the sale of mom did not include the “set” so to speak. So when she was old enough she was sent back to her father the King as a slave.

Brigid was a sensitive, high spirited child who cared for everyone. She could not bear to see anyone hungry or cold, and to help them, often gave away things that were her owners/father’s. Her father tried to sell her off because of this. Can you possibly imagine a father selling his daughter into slavery over his stuff?

While haggling over her price with a prospective buyer, Bridgid gave a treasured sword of her father’s to a leper. Her father was furious and was about to wail the tar out of her when the buyer a King, and a Christian, forbade the trouncing saying “Her merit before God is greater than ours”. This domestic problem was solved by giving Brigid her freedom.

With her new freedom Brigid went back to her mother and took charge of the bookkeeping chores her mother did for HER master. Brigid often gave away the produce. But the dairy prospered under her (hence her patronage of milk maids, dairy workers, cattle, etc.). With this success the Druid owner freed Brigid’s mother.

Brigid returned to her father, who arranged a marriage for her with a young bard. She refused, and to keep her virginity, went to her Bishop, and took her first vows. Legend says that she prayed that her beauty be taken from her so no one would seek her hand in marriage; her prayer was granted, she turned into what must have looked like a cousin of mine; this naturally drove all suitors away. After she took her vows to enter the religious life and become a bride of Christ, her natural beauty returned. Since it was Saint Patrick who administered the taking of vows, I am certain more than a few rounds of beer were included in the celebration afterwards; this can make anyone look better frankly.

Her father, on his deathbed, was very restless and emotional over the impending meeting with his maker, so his servants summoned Brigid to his beside in the hope that the saintly woman may calm his restless spirit. Brigid is said to have sat by his bed, consoling and calming him and it is here that she picked up the rushes from the floor and began weaving them into the distinctive St Brigid's cross pattern. As she weaved, she explained the meaning of the cross to her sick father and it is thought her calming words brought peace to his soul, and that he was so enamored by her words that the old Chieftain requested to be baptized as a Christian just before his passing.

Another tale says that when Saint Patrick heard her final vows, he mistakenly used the form for ordaining priests. When told of it he replied, “So be it, my son, she is destined for great things.”

She started convents all over Ireland and traveled extensively. One of the Convents she started installed a bell that allegedly lasted 1000 years. These led to her patronage of those who assist travelers like boatmen and those who work with metal like blacksmiths.

She was buried locally but in 878 her relics were moved and re-buried with Saint Patrick and Saint Columba. This grave was eventually forgotten and re-discovered on 9 June 1185, at that time they took her skull and brought it to Portugal to a Church in Lisbon run by Jesuits.

As a sinister but interesting aside, tonight is the eve of Candlemas, a Satanic festival.   Remember the prayer to Saint Michael tonight.  

Born
• 453 County Louth, Ireland

Died
• 1 February 523 at Kildare, Ireland of natural causes

Patronage
• babies
• blacksmiths
• boatmen
• cattle
• chicken farmers
• children whose parents are not married
• dairymaids
• dairy workers
• fugitives
• infants
• Ireland
• mariners
• midwives
• milk maids
• newborn babies
• nuns
• poets
• poultry farmers
• poultry raisers
• printing presses
• sailors
• scholars
• travelers
• watermen

Representation

• abbess, usually holding a lamp or candle, often with a cow nearby
• abbess with her hand on an altar

Thomas Aquinas

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Also known as
·Angelic Doctor
·Doctor Angelicus
·Doctor Communis
·Great Synthesizer
·The Dumb Ox
·The Universal Teacher
·The fat one

Memorial
·28 January

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Our Saint for today was born to Lombardy royalty, the son of the Count of Aquino. He was sent to the best schools of his day at Monte Cassino monastery and at the University of Naples.

Without his family knowing, Tom secretly joined the Dominican friars. His family hit the ceiling and had him kidnapped and imprisoned for a year to keep him out of sight, and deprogram him, from the wild ideas the monks put into his head: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself….radicals. Thankfully they failed to sway him, the Holy Spirit had plans;….Thy Will Be done….he rejoined his order in 1245.

The Dominicans saw the inherent intellectual gifts Tom possessed and sent him to the University of Paris to learn at the feet of the intellectual giant of the day, Saint Albertus Magnus. Thomas had a very powerful memory, it was almost superhuman.

Thomas stayed on at the University to teach. He wrote lots of stuff including commentaries on Aristotle. His study of Aristotle versus Plato has lead the Latin Church to a more “process oriented” type of sacramental theology; how does the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ? Versus the, more mystical Eastern Church which focuses more on Plato, and how the Sacrifice on Earth is reflected in Heaven; the work of the Priest is connected to the work of the high priest Christ‘s Eucharistic table. Doing versus being; both very valid sacramental theologies that tend to complement each other…but we don’t wear those dopey hats.

Tom’s teaching was in demand all over Europe especially in France and all over Italy; eventually he went back to Naples to teach. It was where he began working on his magnum opus; the Summa Theologica, a summary of Christian belief, which is quite a read if you have the cerebrum for it. Let’s face it; most of our understanding of the Faith today comes from Thomas’s theology. The five volume set: Latin/English…with notes, has been on my Amazon wish list for at least 12 years…still waiting……

Thomas was immensely fat. After reading and writing, eating was his best endeavor. He had a semicircular indentation cut out of the dinner table so his immense belly could fit into it.

He was constantly lost in thought, like an absent minded professor…he would often sit quietly then expostulate some profound end to a thought process like, “That will silence those Monophosytes!” Startling everyone around him.

On 6 December 1273 he experienced a divine revelation which so enraptured him that he abandoned the Summa Theologica, saying that it and his other writing were so much straw in the wind compared to the reality of the divine glory. He died four months later while giving a talk on the Song of Songs; overweight and with his health broken by overwork. The Summa was finished by his secretary….

No one except perhaps Saint Augustine of Hippo has had more of an influence on church teachings. Tom’s work systematized her great thoughts and teaching, and combined Classic philosophy and scholarship methods with the truth of Christianity. Pope Leo VIII commanded that his teachings be studied by all theology students. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1567. During the Council of Trent, the Summa Theologica of Thomas was placed on the altar in a place of honor during the proceedings, right next to the Bible.

Thomas’ relics are in Toulouse France.

Born
·c.1225 at, Naples, Italy

Died
·7 March 1274 near Rome of apparent natural causes he was enormous…his heart probably gave out

Patronage
·academics
·against storms
·against lightning
·apologists
·book sellers
·Catholic academies
·Catholic schools
·Catholic universities
·chastity
·colleges
·learning
·pencil makers
·philosophers
·publishers
·scholars
·schools
·students
·theologians
·universities

Representation
·chalice
·monstrance
·ox
·star
·sun
·teacher with pagan philosophers at his feet
.teaching

Gilduin of Dol

Saint Gilduin of Dol

memorial
27 January

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Our Saint for today was a devout young priest in northern France; a town called Dol. He was elected bishop of Dol at age 23. It is not clear if it was a talent issue or his young age but in any case he felt unworthy of the post. And so he bogarted to Rome and submit his resignation directly to Pope Gregory VII, who released him from the office instructing Gildun to choose his successor.

On the way back home he met his destiny, he fell ill and died in his mommy's house. The moral of the story, is well recounted in the Book of Jonah…God holds all the cards. Gildun would not really be remembered except after his death, miracles were reported at his tomb.

Born
1052

Died
1077 of natural causes he was 25 years old

Patronage:
Emigrants

Tortgith of Barking

Today is the feast of Saint Timothy and Saint Titus…but it is also the feast of:

Saint Tortgith of Barking

Also known as
Thordgith
Theoregitha

memorial
26 January

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Our saint was a Benedictine nun at the abbey where St. Ethilburga was the abbess. Sister Barking was put in charge of the young nuns; the novices. Saint Ethilburga probably had to break up the disrupted meetings when the young nuns made fun of the fact that their leader was named “Barking”.

Died
c.700

Conversion of Paul the Apostle

Conversion of Paul the Apostle

Feast
25 January

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Today is a real Feast, not just a memorial. You have to do Lauds using the psalms from week 1 with the interminable canticle of Daniel, if you do the Office of Readings you have to pray the appropriately named Te-Deum (Tedium).

Anyhoo…Paul was a Pharisee and a Tent-maker by trade. He was born Saul. He hated and persecuted Christians as heretical, even assisting at the stoning of Saint Stephen the First Deacon and first Martyr.

What we celebrate today is the event chronicled by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. Saul/Paul had an order from the High Priest to go to Damascus to arrest another group of Christians. Enroute he was knocked to the ground, struck blind by a heavenly light, and given the message that in persecuting Christians, he was persecuting Christ. The experience had a profound spiritual effect on him, causing his immediate conversion to Christianity. Rarely does conversion happen like this.

Like a reformed smoker or a successful dieter, Paul became the most ardent supporter of the church. He engaged in three missionary journeys throughout Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece and Rome. His writings are probably the earliest preserved Christian writings we have….1 Thessalonians was probably written only 20 years or so after the Resurrection. He probably didn’t write the letter to the Hebrews, personally I believe Barnabas wrote Hebrews. The rest is history……Let’s review; Paul was a trained Pharisee, but grew up in the secular Greek business world of his parents, and he was a Roman Citizen. He was uniquely qualified for his apostolic mission. The Lord knows how to pick ‘em.

Born
c.3 as Saul at Tarsus, Cilicia (modern Turkey)

Died
Beheaded c.65 at Rome, Italy

Patronage

against snakes; authors; Catholic Action; evangelists; hailstorms; hospital public relations; journalists; diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada; lay people; Malta; missionary bishops; musicians; Newspaper editorial staff; poisonous snakes; public relations personnel; public relations work; publishers; reporters; Rome; rope braiders; rope makers; saddlemakers; saddlers; snake bites; tent makers; writers

Representation

thin-faced elderly man with a high forehead, receding hairline and long pointed beard; man holding a sword and a book; man with 3 springs of water nearby; sword; book

Hi Saint Gang

Hi Saint Gang!

I will be out of the office from the feast of Hilary of Poitiers, and plan to return on the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul . During that time there will fall several feasts: Sebastian, Agnes of Rome, Vincent of Saragossa, and Marianne Cope. Celebrate Accordingly.

Tom
Sub tutela vel sancti… Under the personal protection of Saints:

George
Thomas Becket
Anthony
Jude
Nicholas
Gabriel Possenti
Therese of Lisieux
Genesius
Michael the Archangel
Laurence
Stephen
Francis
Padre Pio

Benedict Biscop

Saint Benedict Biscop

Also known as
Benet Biscop
Biscop Baducing

memorial
12 January

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Benet was raised in privilege as an Anglo-Saxon noble. Grew up and held high offices in the court of the King of Northumbria.

The rich then, and now, travel. As I have said in the past, the thing to do in the 7th century, with no Disney Worlds anywhere, was to go on religious pilgrimages. Sometimes they work, and folk experience an epiphany…. For our hero, following a pilgrimage to Rome, something hit home. He renounced his wealth and position, and dedicated himself to prayer and scripture study. He became a monk in France in 666, taking the name Benedict. In 668 the pope sent Benedict as an advisor to Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury England.

Benedict was a guy who liked to build stuff to last. Until his time in England churches were wooden thatched structures. He introduced the construction of stone churches and glass church windows to England, and brought in many foreign craftsmen to do the work and teach the English.

He tried to introduce more Universal Roman rituals to English worship, like the rest of Europe used instead of the Saxon rites and other mumbo jumbo the locals stuck to. He founded monasteries and built a large library and scriptorium.

In late life Benedict suffered a painful paralysis, and was confined to his bed for his last three years. He continued to work from his bed, buying books, establishing the Benedictine Rule. Generally doing the Lord’s work…..

Born
c.628

Died
12 January 690 of natural causes

Patronage
English Benedictines
musicians
painters

Representation
Benedictine abbot dressed as a bishop

Peter Balsam

Saint Peter Balsam

Also known as
Peter Apselamus
Peter Balsamus
Pietro Apselamo

memorial
11 January

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Our saint was arrested and tried for being a Christian during the persecutions of Emperor Maximinus. The transcript of his trial was well read among early Christian Literature (see below).
He was sentenced to be crucified in the year 311.

Peter: I know the laws of God the sovereign of the universe

Judge: You shall quickly know that there is an edict of the most clement emperors commanding all to sacrifice to the gods or be put to death

PETER: You will also know one day that there is a law of the eternal king proclaiming that every one shall perish who offers sacrifice to devils which do you counsel me to obey and which do you think should be my option to die by your sword or to be condemned to everlasting misery by the sentence of the great king the true God

Judge: Seeing you ask my advice it is then that you obey the edict and sacrifice to the gods

PETER: I can never be prevailed upon to sacrifice to gods of wood and stone as those are which you adore

Judge: I would have you know that it is in my power to revenge these affronts by your death

PETER: I had no intention to affront you I only expressed what is written in the divine law

Judge: Have compassion on yourself and sacrifice

PETER: If I am truly compassionate to myself I ought not to sacri fice

Judge: My desire is to use lenity I therefore still do allow you time to consider with yourself that you may save your life

PETER: This delay will be to no purpose for I shall not alter my mind do now what you will be obliged to do soon and complete the work which the devil your father has begun for I will never do what Jesus Christ forbids me

Candida

Saint Candida 
memorial
7 January
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Today either commemorates

A) An early martyr we know nothing about, other than she was martyred 2nd century Christian convert in Rome

Or

B) It is a genus of fungi (yeasts) that is the most common type of fungal infection on the planet.

You can get an overgrowth of the fungus with overuse of antibiotics….. Treatments used to manage Candida infections vary substantially and are based on the anatomic location of the infection, the patients' underlying disease and immune status, the patients' risk factors for infection, the specific species of Candida responsible for infection, and, in some cases, the susceptibility of the Candida species to specific antifungal drugs. Fluconazole is still considered a first-line agent in nonneutropenic patients with candidemia or suspected invasive candidiasis.

If you chose A the early martyr she died in the early church of the east

If you chose B the yeast infection I advise you to eat a lot of Yogurt it has “good bacteria”

The Magi

The Magi
AKA:
Caspar, Bathasar, Melchior
Gaspar, Bathasar, Melchior
The Three Kings
The Three Wise Men
The White One; The Asian One; and The Black One

Today is the feast of the Three Kings. It is the 12th day of Christmas so if you haven't gotten your true love the 12 drummers drumming yet your time is running out. It is the classic date for the Epiphany, The Whip’s Birthday, and time to take the tree down already, and re-discover how big your living room really is.

We celebrated the Epiphany this past Sunday. Everywhere in the world other than the US today is still the Epiphany and a Holy day of Obligation. Epiphany is defined as: a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience. In this case an insight of Redemption to the whole world including the gentiles.

As you may know there is nowhere stated in the Bible actually how many Magi there were. We say three because of the three gifts they brought. They’re also not kings in the bible either; they’re simply “Wise Men”; Magi. They are depicted, classically as a White man, an Asian man, and a Black man, Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar respectively, symbolizing all the races of the earth. Several churches claim to have the remains of one or more of the Three Kings. In the Apocryphal Acts of Thomas it is said Thomas the apostle baptized the three wise men while in India.

The Magi were probably Persian astrologers, who saw an unprecedented celestial event and attributed this to the birth of the King of Judah based on Hebrew Scripture. Perhaps our Magi were from a remnant of the Jewish population taken to Babylon (Persia) during the time of the prophet Daniel which would explain why they were concerned about the birth of the King of the Jews, and why they did not recognize Herod the Great as that King. Magi were common back then; there were many schools of them in Persia. They were learned men used as court philosophers, scientists and advisors. The root of our word “magic” comes from the word Magi.

Present day astronomers speculate as to what the celestial event the Magi saw actually was, or if it even really happened. There are a few theories; this year, the big hoopla was that it was a conjunction of the major planets Jupiter and Saturn that was happening again, in a once in a lifetime event this Christmas Folk were disappointed when all they saw were two relatively bright stars close together in the southeast. Another theory was it was a supernova in the Andromeda galaxy, which happened around the year 4 BC. Or a series of astronomical events only an astrologer would note.

I tend to believe that last one. What the Magi saw was the retrograde motion of the planet Jupiter (the King Planet to the ancients) around the star Regulus (the King star to the ancients) in the constellation Leo the lion constellation, lion is the symbol of the tribe of Judah. Jupiter circled Regulus three times in 2 BC, a pretty rare event. This was followed by a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus (the King and Queen planets) 9 months later. There’s more, but for a really fascinating analysis of the historical nature of the Bethlehem Star I refer you to: www.bethlehemstar.com.

In any event, the spiritual and theological take away for today is that the Magi and the Epiphany represents the fact that Jesus came for all mankind. God loves us all especially you. Remember, Wise men STILL seek Him...so Have yourself a Merry.........LITTLE CHRISTMAS now.....

Patronage

:
Pilgrims
Travelers

Elizabeth Ann Seton

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Also known as
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton
Mother Seton
The first affirmative action saint

Memorial
· 4 January

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Born into a wealthy and influential Episcopalian (Junior Varsity Catholic) family, the daughter of a big shot doctor; she was raised in the New York snooty high society of the time. After the death of her mother and baby sister She married a wealthy businessman William Seaton also an Episcopalian. Money goes to money…. She gave birth to five children.

The way these things go, her husband’s business failed and he caught himself a case of consumption, which eventually killed him. The way these people worked back then, she was now on her own, she had no family willing to support her. Elizabeth was forced to get up off the cushions and stop eating Bon Bons and get to working as she had no income after Bill’s death.

After much prayer and thought, Elizabeth felt drawn to the Catholic Church away from the upper crust Episcopal community she was raised in, So, on March 14, 1805 She walked into St Peter’s Church on 22 Barclay Street in New York, around the corner from the highfaluting Episcopal Church, St Paul’s, where George Washington prayed. She declared her intention to convert to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic faith. Once she converted to Catholicism, her strict Episcopalian family in a stunning show of upper class Protestant Christian understanding and support, once and for all, disowned her.

To support her family, and insure the proper education of her children, she opened a school in Boston. It was founded as a secular school, but it styled itself after Catholic education, chewing gum on the nose, standing in the corner, the whole nine yards. She approached various religious communities in an attempt to become a nun and run a religious school. No religious order had the facility to take in a woman and her five small children.

However, at the invitation of the archbishop, she established a Catholic girl’s school in Baltimore, Maryland. This basically founded the parochial school system in all of America. In order to staff and run the school system she started her own religious order, the Sisters of Charity. They’re the nuns who wear the bonnets.

Ann Seaton, as some of you know, is not my favorite of saints. Before the reform of canonization by John Paul II the church wanted a non-martyr to have proof of four miracles to reach sainthood. Elizabeth Seaton had only three…..The Pope (Paul VI) waved the last miracle….just waived it….because he wanted to make the American’s happy and have a native born American finally become a saint. There are other European Beati with 20-30 miracles to their name and this Ann Seaton, three lousy miracles. I understand two were card tricks…..Next thing you know they’ll want to make the Amazing Kreskin a saint…..Saint Amazing Kreskin they’ll probably call him. I was very upset by this for a long while, until I read about the travesty that is Saint Kateri Tekakwitha with her one and only miracle, I think Kateri cured a kid of acne …….but I digress. Actually Elizabeth Seaton’s miracles were much better than the lip fungus Kateri cured, through her intercession:

1) She Cured Sister Gertrude Korzendorfer, of cancer;

2) She cured Ann Theresa O'Neill, (b.1948), of Baltimore, from acute, lymphatic leukemia;

3) She Cured Carl Kalin, (1902-1976), of New York, from a rare form of encephalitis.

In all honesty, when I see this now, Saint Elizabeth did a lot of work for the poor and the under classes of society; the forgotten and the minority, the immigrant and the unwanted; in fact, Some of the earliest sustained social service institutions and health care facilities in New York City were started by Ann and the sisters. As such she has earned my true respect. Not that she needs my approval actually.

The hospital on Staten Island, formerly known as the “Marine Hospital,” then the US Public Health Hospital is now named after our Saint for today. My father went there for medical care back when it was free for Merchant marine folk…the attraction for my frugal dad was, “free.”

Born
· 28 August 1774 in New York City, New York, as Elizabeth Ann Bayley

Died
· 4 January 1821 in Maryland

Canonized
· 14 September 1975 by Pope Paul VI…with only three miracles

Patronage
· against in-law problems
· Apostleship of the Sea (two of her sons worked on the sea)
· death of children (her young sister)
· loss of parents
· opposition of Church authorities
· people ridiculed for their piety
· widows

Quotes (spurious):

“Wanna see something miraculous? Take a card…any card.”