Robert of Molesme

Today is the feast of St Catherine of Siena. We did her last year. But no less worthy but certainly less famous we have:

Saint Robert of Molesme

Also known as
• Robert of Cîteaux

memorial
• 29 April
• 26 January as one of the Founders of the Cistercians

Profile

Our saint today was born to the nobility, and answered God’s call he became a Benedictine monk in the year 1044. He eventually became the Abbott of his particular monastery but considered it to have lax standards. Saint Robert felt a more literal return to what St. Benedict put in place was in order; in 1075, in an attempt to return to a simpler form of Benedictine life requested by a group of hermits from the forests around Colan, France, he helped found a monastery around, Molesme France, with more severe rules.

The group, especially Robert, gained a reputation for piety, which led to heavy duty donations and with big bucks comes big interest so this led to an increase in size of the monastery. Naturally a lot of these newcomers were more interested in the dough than in the soul which led to internal difficulties, and suddenly there were many brothers that objected to the severe life practiced by the founders.

Robert twice left to live on his own, but was ordered back to his position by the pope. In early 1098 Robert, Saint Stephen Harding, Saint Alberic of Citeaux and 18 other monks left Molesme, and on 21 March they founded the monastery of Cîteaux near Dijon, France, with the goal of living strictly by the Benedictine Rule, strict vows of poverty, and frequent retreats; Robert served as the first abbot.

However, with conditions deteriorating at the Molesme house he was re-assigned as abbot there in 1100 with a mandate to reform; he lived and worked there the rest of his life. The house at Citeaux is traditionally considered where the Cistercians order of Monks began. These guys live a simple, quiet life doing manual labor…farming, working the fields etc. During the “Glorious” reformation especially in England but also in France under Robespierre, the Cistercians suffered and were almost disbanded. In the 1800’s the small communities grew again, the Trappists are an offshoot of the Cistercians. The Trappists make great jams, jellies, beer, wine and fruitcake. If anything happens to the Whip look for me at the Trappist Abby near Spencer Massachusetts….they speak only twice a year and they make beautiful vestments. Look here: http://www.spencerabbey.org

Born
• 1027 near Troyes, Champagne (in modern France)

Died
• 21 March 1110 of natural causes

Peter Chanel

Saint Peter Chanel

Also known as
Peter Louis Mary Chanel
Pierre-Louis-Marie Chanel

memorial
28 April

Profile

Our saint today was born to poor peasants and was a shepherd as a boy. He was very bright and the antithesis of Joseph of Cupertino; an excellent student. The church recognized this and steered Pete to a religious education his peasant status notwithstanding.

He was ordained at age 24. His first assignment was to a parish in decline; he turned it around, in part because of his ministry to the sick, and brought a spiritual revival.

Eventually he led a band of missionaries to the New Hebrides in 1836, an area where cannibalism had only recently been outlawed.

He converted many, often as a result of his work with the sick. He learned the local language, and taught in the local school.

Eventually, Peter was ordered killed by Niuliki, a native king who was jealous of Peter's influence particularly over his own son who converted and was baptized by our saint. As Peter was being clubbed he said that “It was well for me that you do this thing.” After all this, his lifeless bodine was hacked to pieces with hatchets. His brave martyrdom was inspirational to many and resulted in the conversion of the entire population and the forcible ouster of Niuliki. His son was a better ruler.

Born
12 July 1803

Patronage
Oceania
World Youth Day

Asicus

Saint Asicus

Also known as
Ascicus
Assic
Tassach

memorial
27 April

Profile

Our saint today was a metalworker converted by Saint Patrick himself. With his skill in working with copper and silver, he made beautiful vessels to drink beer from, which qualified him to become the first bishop of the diocese of Elphin, Ireland.

Died
c.490 of natural causes, probably an elevated GGT (SGPT) enzyme, at Racoon, Donegal, Ireland

Pope Cletus

Pope Saint Cletus

Also known as:
Anacletus

memorial
26 April

Profile

Our Saint for today was the third Pope, after Peter, and Linus but before Evaristus, Alexander, Clement and Sixtus. He was converted to the faith and ordained by Saint Peter himself. He ordained an undetermined number of priests during his reign, and he divided Rome into parishes, but almost nothing else is known about him other than he was a martyr.

Cletus, along with Linus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Chyrisoginous and almost everyone else except Saints Evaristus and Alexander, for some reason, is mentioned in the never ending Eucharistic Prayer #1 the Roman Canon. He was martyred around the year 78 his relics are in the Church named after his predecessor, Saint Linus, Vatican City

Theodore of Sykeon

Saint Theodore of Sykeon

memorial
22 April

Profile;

The mother, aunt and grandmother of our Saint today were all prostitutes his father was an itinerant circus acrobat and bareback rider who had a brief professional relationship with Theodore’s mom; and promptly abandoned him.

This is hardly a good life for a young boy, as these things go, Saint George appeared to Ted’s mother and instructed her to educate him in the faith and amend her ways. She promptly did so converting the house of ill repute into a restaurant.

Theodore was a bad student, unable to pray his Psalter without help, I think it was that interminable Canticle of Daniel, that and flipping between ribbons to try and follow the appropriately named Te Deum…. in spite of this he became a priest and a hermit who lived a life so austere and severe, he spent the time from Christmas to Palm Sunday in a wooden cage wearing an iron girdle and shackles on his ankles and wrists, sometimes the cage was suspended above a sharp rock. The Mandarin once imprisoned Iron Man in a thing like that.

Much like Jack LaLane, who told everyone to exorcize, Theodore was a famous and popular exorcist. Once while exorcizing a demon from a young girl, the unclean spirit became visible under the girl’s skin and was seen running up and down her arm….it was either Asmodeus or a hookworm….

Around the year 590 Theodore became the Local Bishop. As Bishop he let his beard grow below his waist and engaged in continued austere practices. In spite of this hirsutism Ted was very effective in counseling unhappily married couples. The bride got a gander of Cousin It in a miter and decided she didn’t have it so bad after all.

Unfortunately the years of austerity took its toll on Ted; his biographer said he smelled like a corpse, he eventually retired as bishop to a monastery where he continued to perform miracles like curing the Emperor’s son of elephantitis.

Died:
April 22, 613

Patronage:
For rain
From rain
For reconciling unhappy marriages
Tonsorial parlors   

Anselm of Canterbury

Saint Anselm of Canterbury

Also known as
Anselm of Aosta
Anselmo d’Aosta
Anselmo of Canterbury
Doctor of Scholasticism

Memorial
21 April

Profile

Our Saint for today is one of the 36 Doctors of the church named by Pope Clement XI. He is one of the most profound theologians of the Middle Ages.

Anselm was born to the Italian nobility. He felt called to the religious life but his arrogant noble Italian dad would not hear of it. He took away the keys to the IROC Z, cut off his pizza allowance, took away his hair gel and did other things to keep young Anselm in line. When his mother died Anselm ran away to a Benedictine monastery in Normandy, and fulfilled his own desire for the vocation.

Anselm was in repeated contact with Church officials across the Channel. In 1092 Anselm reluctantly, accepted elevation to the Seat of Saint Augustine; the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is said that Church Officials in England waited until Anselm got the flu or the ague or the grippe or some such malady, in the middle of his illness in a physically weakened state, he could not really put up a fight and so he agreed just to get them out of the garderobe.

As bishop he fought the Kings of England, William II and Henry I, who tried to wrestle power from the Church, this story is repeated over and over throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. Anselm was exiled twice for his independence. He went to Rome where he was the advisor to Pope Blessed Urban II. In 1100 King Henry I invited Anselm to return to England, but they disputed over who gets to choose the new bishops, and Anselm was exiled again only to return in 1106 when Henry agreed not to interfere with the selection of Church officials.

Historically, Anselm opposed slavery, and through his work and writings obtained English legislation prohibiting the sale of men; Anselm was a man truly ahead of his time.

He died Wednesday of Holy Week in 1109. No one is sure but his mortal remains are believed to be in the cathedral church at Canterbury

Born
1033 at Piedmont, Italy

Died
Holy Wednesday 21 April 1109

Representation
Benedictine monk admonishing an evil-doer
archbishop
performing an exorcism on a monk
ship
with Our Lady appearing before him
with a ship

Agnes of Montepulciano

Saint Agnes of Montepulciano

memorial
20 April

Profile

Agnes was born to a wealthy family. She was quite pious and precocious. At age six she began to insistently nag her parents to let her join a convent. When I was six I nagged my parents to let me stay up to watch Candid Camera. Anyhoo…by the time she was nine years old her parents had had enough and so she was admitted to the convent at Montepulciano, Italy. When I was nine I was having anxiety over playing third base for the John McCord Storer Funeral Home Little League Team, but I digress.

Her spiritual director at the convent was appointed abbess elsewhere and she took Agnes with her. Agnes’s had a big reputation for holiness and as such she attracted a whole bunch of other sisters.

If you can believe this, she became the Abbess at age fifteen after receiving special permission from Pope Nicholas IV to be put in charge. When I was 15 I was nervous that the Clearasil I was using wasn’t going to be effective, again I digress.

Agnes subjected herself to many austerities; she lived off bread and water, slept on the ground, used a stone for a pillow.

I chose Agnes for today’s Saint because she has an inordinate number of stories about her fantastic life, some of them quite ridiculous and implausible. For example, it was said her birth was announced by flying lights surrounding her family’s house this years before area 51 or project Blue Book. 

 Like Joseph of Cupertino it was said that she would levitate in the air while praying. She said she often received Communion from an angel, and had visions of the Virgin Mary who let her hold the infant Jesus. On the day she was chosen abbess as a teenager, small white crosses showered softly onto her and the congregation; she could feed the convent with a handful of bread, once she’d prayed over it. Where she knelt to pray, violets, lilies and roses would suddenly bloom; and every little breeze seemed to whisper Louise. 

 While being treated for her terminal illness, she brought a drowned child back from the dead. At the site of her treatment, a spring welled up that did not help her health, but healed many other people. She died 20 April 1317 of natural causes following a lengthy illness legend says that at the moment of her death, all the babies in the region, no matter how young, began to speak of Agnes, her piety, and her passing.

Agnes died at the age of forty-nine. The Dominican friars attempted to obtain balsam (or myrrh) to embalm her body. It was found, however, to be producing a sweet odor on its own, and her limbs remained supple. Miracles were reported at her tomb and as you might suspect her bodine is pristine, she was bound to be an incorruptible.

Born
1268

Expeditus

Saint Expeditus

Also known as:

Expedite
Expédit
Expedius

memorial

19 April

Our saint for today is very popular and useful during times when one needs to write term papers or proposals for work or school, he is invoked against procrastination. It is widely questioned by heathens, Protestants scoffers and malcontents, whether or not Expeditus actually existed. Because we know the truth and are trying to go to heaven (with the grace of God of course) we KNOW he did exist and that he was a Roman centurion in Armenia who became a Christian and was beheaded during the Diocletian Persecution in 303.

The most popular legend surrounding the saint says that the day when he decided to become a Christian, the Devil took the form of a crow (a snake in some versions) and told him to defer his conversion until the next day, but Expeditus stomped on the bird and killed it, declaring, "I'll be a Christian today!" In Latin the sound a crow makes is “CRAS” like we would say “CAW”. In Latin the word “Cras” is translated as “Tomorrow”.

Many erroneous stories commonly circulated about the saint's origin say the veneration of Expeditus began when a package marked expedite arrived with unidentified relics or statues. One of these stories takes place in 1781, when a case containing the relics of a saint who was formerly buried in the Denfert-Rochereau catacombs of Paris arrived at a convent. The senders had written expedite on the case, to ensure fast delivery of the remains. The nuns assumed that "Expedite" was the name of a martyr, prayed for his intercession, and when their prayers were answered, veneration spread rapidly through France and on to other Catholic countries.

Another version of the story takes place in New Orleans. The story says that the chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe received a large shipment of assorted saint statues, one case of which did not have an identifying label. However, the crate did say Expedite (Expédit in French), so the residents assumed that must be the saint's name. In New Orleans, St. Expédit still figures prominently in the local Creole folklore and is revered through amulets, flowers, candles and intercession prayers. These Creole cults are really not Christian at all but polytheists similar to Santaria who would worship a clod of mud if it had eyes.

Poor Expedius, doubted because of his name. It’s a good thing there is no martyr named Fragile or First Class or they would be going through the same thing. But if there was a Christian named Fragile during Diocletian’s reign, you can bet your Chaplet of St Michael the emperor would have made a martyr of him…like he did with Expedius.

The legitimacy of these stories is easily disproved, since Expeditus appears in martyrologies in Italy before 1781. There is also a tradition in the past that Saint Expeditus being called upon to help settle overly long legal cases.

Whatever St. Expeditus may or may not be in addition to the foregoing, geeks, hackers, repentant slackers, folks who run E-commerce sites and those who rely on brains and sheer luck to survive have all claimed the saint as their Patron.

Died 303, Melitene, Turkey

Depicted as a Roman soldier, holding a palm leaf in his left hand, and raising a cross with the word "hodie" (today) on it. His right foot is stepping on a crow, which is speaking the word "cras" (tomorrow).

Patronage Emergencies, expeditious solutions, against procrastination, merchants, being late, navigators, overly long legal cases, programmers, e-commerce merchants, and computer hackers

Mundus of Argyle

Monks? 

Saint Mundus of Argyle

Also known as
Mundus
Munde
Mund
Mond

memorial
15 April

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Our saint today was a monk who founded several communities. Their habits probably included fancy socks in addition to the cowl and cincture.

Died

c.962

Pope Martin I

Pope Saint Martin I

Memorial
13 April

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Our Saint for today was chosen 74th pope in 649 without imperial approval. He conducted the Lateran Council which condemned the Patriarch of Constantinople for Monothelitism. This was, yet another heresy that stated Jesus had only divine will and motivation…. so divinely he could have gone to the cross thereby negating the real, human sacrifice part of the whole “Cross thing.”

This decision and Council itself by the way, put Martin in direct opposition to the powers that be. The emperor had Martin arrested and tortured to have him reverse his theological opinion. Fat chance. Finally the Patriarch of Constantinople had a change of heart and returned to the truth of Jesus’ natures and put a stop to the torture. Martin later died from the privations done to him while in jail….the last of the Popes martyred so far.

Died
655 at Cherson, Crimea from starvation.

Sabas the Lector

 

Saint Sabas the Lector

 

Also known as

 

Sabas the Goth

Saba

Sabbas

Sava

Savo

Savva

 

memorial

12 April

 

Profile

 

In the early Church, each of the old clerical minor and major orders of Clergy were for the most part, permanent orders based on one’s function at the Mass, generally not just offices a man passes through on his way to the priesthood.     This is not always the case, but generally speaking.  

 

So there were men ordained as permanent Porters, Lectors, Exorcists, and Acolytes.    Likewise, there were men ordained as Sub-Deacons, Deacons, Priests and Bishops.    As time went on, for various reasons, these permanent orders sort of became more private and held only in the seminary and bestowed on men going through the process of ordination to the priesthood.     The Order of Deacons, here in the Western Church was re-instituted as a permanent Order, not just a passing through order, with Vatican 2.   So today we have Deacons and Transitional Deacons.  The “minor orders” of clergy along with the order of Sub Deacon were done away with, for the most part.  Some religious orders still have Sub Deacons.  

 

We still have the office of Lector (or "reader"), and Acolyte, but these are not ordinations they are formal institutions, on men and now women, since Francis changed the Canon relating to this office in January 2021.    Usually in practice instituted Lectors and Acolytes, will go on to become deacons or priests.   If these men do not continue the formation process to become ordained as a deacon or priest, their institution as a Lector and/or Acolyte remains valid for life.  It will be interesting to see if the inclusion of women will produce more instituted lectors and acolytes who are not on the path to ordination, serving in the parish.            

 

Anyhoo, Sabas was a “permanent” Lector in what we call Romania today, he was captured by the Goths and tortured for not sacrificing to their idols.   His bodine was tied to a stone and thrown into the river Mussovo; it was eventually recovered.  

 

Born

334 in Romania

Died

12 April 372

Patronage

lectors

torture victims

So.....Opinion, new look

 

What do you think of the new email service?   Reply and let me know....

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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

Julia Billiart

Saint Julia Billiart

Julia of Billiart
Julie Billart
Mary Rose Julia Billiart

memorial
8 April

Profile

I chose our saint today because I liked the picture…she looks like Buddy Hackett. Julia was sixth of seven children of peasant farmers in France. She knew her catechism by age 7 but the rest of her learning…not so much.

When she was 22, some nefarious individual took a pot shot at her father, while Julie was sitting right next to him. This incident shocked her so much she was partially paralyzed.

During the French Revolution, she iused her house to hide priests and religious. This made her very unpopular with the Robespierres of the country, so she was forced from her house at least 6 times. Julia was miraculously healed of her paralysis (or she stopped the malingering when the stuff got serious) on 1 June 1804.

She organized a group of friends to educate girls in the Christian Catholic tradition. This organization became the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame (Institute of Notre Dame; Sisters of Notre Dame). Our saint died of natural causes in the middle of Vespers….lights out.

Born
12 July 1751 Picardy, France

Died
8 April 1816

Canonized
22 June 1969 by Pope Paul VI

Patronage
against poverty
bodily ills
impoverishment
poverty
sick people
sickness

Goren

Saint Goren

Also known as

Gorran
Goron

Goran
Woranus

memorial
7 April

Profile

Today is also the feast of Saint John Baptiste De La Salle. It is also the feast of this saint from Cornwall, England in the 6th century. Little is known about today’s saint other than he is Detective Eames’s partner on the major case squad…he has a quirky manner about him too…..Anyhoo, Several Cornish churches are named for him.

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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

Gennard

Saint Gennard

memorial
6 April

Profile

No, not Saint Gerard or Saint Gennaro, today we have Saint Gennard. Our Saint for today was a holy monk and hermit who spent most of his life in prayer, until he died of natural causes in the year 720 or so. Sounds like a good job if you can get it……..

He is NOT the patron saint of Blood Banks nor is he the patron saint of Pregnant women....That's the other two guys.....

Vincent Ferrer

 According to the future timeline of Star Trek on this date in the year 2063, Zephram Cochrane will pilot the first Warp Drive starship, the Phoenix, and make First Contact with Vulcans aboard the starship T'Plana-Hath ….until this happens we will need to rely on today’s saint to center our celebrations:

Saint Vincent Ferrer

Also known as

Vincent Ferreri

Memorial

5 April

Profile

The Scottish father of our saint today had a dream in which he was told that Vincent would be a world famous Dominican friar. With that sort of pressure what could Vincent do?   The boy joined the Dominicans in 1367.   His Spanish mother was delighted.  

 

During a severe fever in 1398, Vincent had a vision of Christ, Saint Dominic de Guzman and Saint Francis of Assisi. It was a life changing experience - Vincent received supernatural gifts much like Doctor Fate Master of the Mystic Arts. 

 

After this, he believed that he was a messenger of penance, an “angel of the apocalypse” sent to prepare humankind for the Judgment of Christ.    Some think the fever was meningitis and had an effect on Vinny’s noggin.  

 

No matter what else you think of Vincent, he was a great preacher who converted thousands in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, and Ireland. He was even invited to preach in the Muslim city, Granada in southern Spain. 

 He had the gift of tongues (he spoke only Spanish, but all listeners understood him).  He was constantly fasting; he underwent other mortifications like sleeping on the floor.    Known as a miracle worker all over Europe, it is reported he brought a murdered man back to life to prove the power of Christianity to the onlookers.    It is reported that on more than one occasion he healed an entire hospital full of patients just by praying in front of it.   He didn’t even try to bill Medicare.    He worked so hard to build up the Church that he became the patron of people in building trades.

 

At his canonization, they read aloud stories of his validated miracles, there were over 800.   There were more to be read, but the celebrants turned to the lector and said “Skip on down brother,” and simply moved on with the recognition, people were getting bored….

 

 

Born

23 January 1350 in Valencia

Died

5 April 1419

Patronage

brick makers

builders

construction workers

pavement workers

plumbers

tile makers

 

Representation

Bible

cardinal’s hat

Dominican preacher with a flame on his hand

Dominican preacher with a flame on his head

Dominican holding an open book while preaching

Dominican with a cardinal’s hat

Dominican with a crucifix

Dominican with a trumpet nearby, often coming down from heaven, referring to his vision

Dominican with wings, referring to his vision as being an ‘angel of the apocalypse’

pulpit, representing his life as a preacher

flame, referring to his gifts from the Holy Spirit