Jerome

Saint Jerome

Also known as
· Eusebius Hieronymus Sophronius
· Girolamo
· Hieronymus
· Man of the Bible

Memorial
· 30 September

Profile
Jerome was born to a rich pagan family. He studied in Rome and became a Lawyer. He was baptized in 365, for show, it didn’t really “take” with him spiritually, it was a political expediency. Imagine that, a politically connected individual claiming to be Catholic, but not really….astonishing.

It was only after he began to read and study the faith that he had a true conversion. Before it was popular he became a hermit and a monk in the Syrian desert. There is a legendary story about Jerome early on, while in solitude; he came upon a lion in agony with a thorn in its paw. Jerome pulled out the thorn, and the ferocious lion became his lifelong friend. Sounds a heck of a lot like the Aesop Fable, Androcles and the Lion, but what do I know?

Jerome, later became secretary to Pope Damasus I who commissioned him to compile and translate the various scriptures into what would be the first Latin texts of the Bible. Latin being the common tongue of the Empire. Jerome worked on this for 30 years and produced what is called the Latin Vulgate Bible; this translation was the basis for many other translations of the Bible going forward.

American Catholics can find an English translation of Jerome’s document in the Douay-Rhemis Bible. This version of the Bible was the source document for biblical scholars for centuries. The “Bishop’s Version” used in England was lifted from Jerome. Later King James wanted an updated version of the Bible, translators used Jerome’s Latin Vulgate as a source again for what the Protestants call “The King James” Bible still in use today. The flatulent Martin Luther used the Vulgate to make his German translation; apparently it’s all Catholic even to the Sola Scriptura knuckleheads….

It was said that Jerome had a nasty temper and was generally unpleasant and impatient with morons, goofs, and dolts, add to this his renown and popularity in the church, Jerome decided it was better an empty apartment than a bad tenant so he moved back to his desert and his Lion and lived his last 34 years in the Holy Land, near Bethlehem as a semi-recluse.

He wrote translations of histories, biographies, the works of Origen, and much more. He is also one of the original 4 Doctors of the Church; Jerome was, obviously, brilliant. This is testified to by no less than St. Augustine who himself is no slouch in the cerebral department; St. Augie says, “What Jerome is ignorant of, no man has ever known.”

In medieval art and statuary Saint Jerome is very often depicted in a cardinal’s dress and hat, although the office of “Cardinal” was not known until three centuries later, but as the other Fathers held exalted positions in the Church, and were represented in ecclesiastical costumes it seemed fitting to picture Our Saint as a cardinal. When Jerome is depicted as working, translating etc. he is a semi naked bald hermit.

Born
· 347 at Strido, Dalmatia

Died
· 419 of natural causes

Patronage
· archeologists
· archivists
· Bible scholars
· librarians
· libraries
· schoolchildren
· students
· translators

Gabriel the Archangel

Gabriel the Archangel

Also known as

Fortitudo Dei
Gabr-el
Gabrielus
Gavri’el
Gavriel
Jibrail
Jibril

Memorial
29 September
formerly 24 March

Profile
Today is the feast of the Archangels; all the Archangels listed and not listed in the biblical canon. There are seven Archangels who stand before the throne of God. Only three are listed in the Bible; Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. The church moved the feasts of the three named Archangels from their respective days to today which was originally the feast of Michael only.

The remaining 4 are sometimes listed as Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel and Zadkiel, all from the apocryphal book of Enoch. Legend says that Uriel was the angel of death who did a job on the Egyptian firstborn at Passover, Chamuel was the angel who comforted Jesus in Gethsemane, Jophiel was the angel sent with the flaming sword to guard the Garden of Eden, and Zadkiel was the angel sent to stop Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Some other names pop into the list like Raguel, Azrael et al. replacing one of the seven noted above.

The angels are known by various names throughout the churches that recognize them. The names of these angels are probably derived from the Exile when the Hebrews adopted Babylonian names of gods (and demons) for their Yahwistic messengers (and the satanic court)…

Unfortunately for us, angels in general, and the Archangels in particular have a lot of garbage thrown around lately on the internet and elsewhere by spiritualist weirdoes who find them interesting and popular among their circle of nutcases. There is little accuracy in their rantings….. At the best they’re fluffy/silly at the worst they’re borderline new-age/ wiccan.

Gabriel is usually the one who delivers messages directly from God to us heralding lots of important happenings:

· Appeared to the prophet Daniel to explain the prophet’s visions relating to the Messiah. (Daniel 8:16-26; 9:21-27)

· Appeared to Zachary in the temple to announce the coming of Zachary’s son, John the Baptist, and to strike Zachary mute for his disbelief. (Luke 1:11-20)

· Appeared to Mary to let her know she’d been selected to bear the Savior. (Luke 1:26-38)

· The “Herald Angel” who announced the birth of Jesus to the Shepherds is not named “Gloria” as the nativity figure would suggest but is traditionally identified as Gabriel.

In Islam, Gabriel is the messenger of Allah. They say he dictated the Koran directly to the herder later known as the Prophet Mohammed. He is revered by Muslims as the created Holy Spirit, which is not to be confused with OUR Holy Spirit…God Himself.

The Archangel Gabriel also finds mention in the writings of the non Abrahamic Bahá'í Faith, most notably in Bahá'u'lláh's metaphysical work The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys.

St. Gabriel is honored with an “Hour Father” in the Chaplet of St. Michael.

Born
wasn’t

Died
hasn’t

Name Meaning
God is mighty
God is my strength
man of God
my master is God
strong man of God
the strength of God

Patronage
Argentinian ambassadors
broadcasters
clergy
communications workers
diplomats
messengers
philatelists
Portugal
post offices
postal services
postal workers
radio
radio workers
secular clergy
stamp collectors
telecommunications workers
telegraphs
telephones
television
television workers

Representation
lily
shield
spear
trumpet

Eucarpus

Today is the feast of Good King Wenceslaus. I like the song so I tend to do him every year. That really isn’t fair to:

Saint Eucarpus
memorial
28 September

Profile

His name means “Good Wrist.” I don’t really want to know why, maybe he was good at darts or tennis…..

The 8 wrist bones are collectively called the Carpal Bones. FYI if you sustain trauma to the wrist, like falling on an outstretched hand, and you have tenderness in the anatomic snuff box this is a sign of fracture of the scaphoid bone…a carpus; this type of fracture is not readily seen on plane x-rays, In the ER I would cast folk with this sign in a thumb spica cast and bring them back in 2 weeks…..I'm not working anymore so I don't need to think about this stuff......

Anyhoo….Eucarpus is one of a bunch of about 30 Christians who were martyred in the early days of the Church during some local persecution in Asia Minor (Turkey).

Vincent de Paul

Saint Vincent de Paul

Memorial
· 27 September

Profile

Our Saint today was a very bright youth. Prior to his ordination at age 20 he earned a living as a tutor to the children of the wealthy.

He was taken captive by Turkish pirates to Tunis, and sold into slavery. He converted one of his owners to the true Faith and was freed.

After regaining his freedom he returned to France and served as a parish priest but always to an eye to help the poor, nurse the sick, find jobs for the unemployed, etc. He founded organizations to help him in these efforts. He was appointed Chaplain to the king of France. With Louise de Marillac, he founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity. Worked always for the poor, the enslaved, the abandoned, the ignored, the pariahs.

He died on the 27 September in 1660 at Paris, France of natural causes. In the year 1712 his bodine was dug up and found to be incorrupt. Sometime later there was a flood and his pristine bodine was damaged, and basically defleshed leaving only the bones, and the heart. The Vincentians encased the skeleton in a wax effigy and it is kept in the house of the Vincentian fathers in Paris. His incorrupt heart is displayed in a reliquary in the chapel of the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity also in Paris

Through the modern Society of St. Vincent de Paul many poor and indigent are helped to this day. Time to clean out the closet again?

Born
· 24 April 1581 France, The town he was born in was later named for him

Patronage
· against leprosy
· Brothers of Charity
· charitable societies
· charitable workers
· charities
· horses
· hospital workers
· hospitals
· lepers
· lost articles (Tony’s better though)
· Madagascar
· prisoners
· spiritual help
· Saint Vincent de Paul Societies
· Sisters of Charity
· Vincentian Service Corps
· volunteers

Representation
· 16th century cleric performing some act of charity usually wearing a zucchetto

· cleric carrying an infant
· priest surrounded by the Sisters of Charity
· cannon-ball and swords

Coprio

Saint Coprio
memorial
24 September

Profile

Our Saint for today was unceremoniously abandoned by his parents on a dung heap as an infant. He was found by a bunch of Greek Monks with a scatological sense of humor. They named him Coprio. The Greek word for Doody/Poo/Caca is kopria, hence his unfortunate name through life.

He became a monk and grew into a model of holiness, living his 90 years in the monastery, probably embarrassed to meet anyone, it being difficult to get past the initial introduction.

Patronage
Protection against swarms of flies
Protection against malodors

Padre Pio

Today is also the feast of the second Bishop of Rome, St. Linus:

Saint Padre Pio

Also known as
Francesco Forgione
Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Pio of Pietrelcina

Memorial
23 September

Our Saint for today is a very popular one; if you go into any given Italian Deli or “Salumeria” you will likely see his image somewhere, usually next to St. Anthony. My late father introduced me to our saint today back in 1967 with a popular paperback he was reading at the time recounting the marvelous things the then living Padre Pio was doing. To my cynical mind I was amazed at the fact that Padre Pio bore the stigmata of Christ; my father and I were fascinated and maybe skeptical at this modern day miracle, happening in our lifetimes not back in the dim past of church history. Padre Pio died on September 23rd 1968; my father’s birthday is September 23rd. He was beatified on May 2nd 1999, my birthday. There are no coincidences. He has popped up so many times in my life since that afternoon in 1967; I had to view him as a Personal Protector...because he is.

Profile
Born 25 May 1887 to a poor southern Italian farm family, he joined the Capuchins at age 15. He suffered several health problems, and at one point his family thought he had tuberculosis. Ordained at age 22 on 10 August 1910.

While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. His hands and feet were pierced, as was his side. His wounds continued to bleed until just before his death. He lived in constant pain from the wounds. His bandages and gloves exuded a fragrant aroma similar to the fragrance exuded from the tomb of St. Nicholas in Bari.

Padre Pio would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. To this day I am fascinated by the confession stories of Padre Pio. He was, reportedly able to bilocate (appear in two places at once), levitate, and heal by touch. He founded a hospital called the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920's he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.

Like other miracle workers He became a spectacle as word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, (ask me about the American Bomber pilots story for example) much to the consternation of the church, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. For more than a decade he was forbidden from saying Mass in public. When this ban was lifted the Capuchins moved his sacrifice of the Mass earlier and earlier in the day to avoid the crowds that would come to see him perform the liturgy. They decided this was futile when his 4 AM Mass was crowded to overflowing spilling into the streets. They ordered him to always wear gloves covering the obvious stigmata on his hands.

The stigmata vanished after his death.

The stories of cures due to his intervention are too numerous to count. So today I suggest:

Prayer for protection and healing from Coronavirus:

Padre Pio I turn to you with this prayer to ask for your clemency, protect us from the coronavirus and let those who have already fallen ill all over the world and who regain their health grow in faith and hope for recovery. Padre Pio illuminate the minds of researchers and scientists, guide their hands so that they can find an effective end to this virus, extend your blessing on them. Padre Pio give strength to healthcare workers who work in hospitals to treat coronavirus patients, make their hearts compassionate give them wisdom make them recognize Jesus in every patient. I thank you with all my heart for the coronavirus patients you are healing, I thank you for those who, with your great compassion and mercy, are visiting and giving heavenly comfort to those who have been called to the house by the Father

Beatified
2 May 1999 by Pope John Paul II

Canonized
16 June 2002 by Pope John Paul II at Rome, Italy

Link to the Padre Pio foundation of America: http://www.padrepio.com/

Gerulph

Today is the Feast of Saint Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist.  A real, and important Feast, but I figured, we always do him…so this year I figured we’d discuss:

Saint Gerulph

Also known as
Gerulfo
Gerolfo

memorial
21 September

Profile

Our Saint today has a name that sounds like an expression of disdain, disbelief, protest, or dismissal; a huff, grunt, or snort. As in, “I didn't get a gerulph out of that guy!”

“Give the Governor a gerulph!”

In any case he was a young man, drawn to the spiritual life, set to inherit a fortune on his way to his Confirmation. Gerulph was going to give much of his wealth to the poor, when he came into his inheritance. A greedy relative murdered him, hoping to have his inheritance, and therefore use it for his personal gain; not wasted on the needy. True to form, as he died, Gerulph forgave his murderer.

Died
746 in Flanders, Belgium

Eustace

Saint Eustace

Also known as
• Eustachius
• Placidus

memorial
• 20 September

Profile

Our saint for today is often confused with St. Hubert of Lieges due to similar stories about hunting and finding male deer with crucifixes in their antlers, perhaps this was common back in the 2-4 centuries…affixing crucifixes between deer antlers….who knows? Hubert and Eustace share this symbol.

Eustace is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and as such has a special place in my heart. He is the patron saint of hunters, if you look at a bottle of the adult beverage Jaegermeister (which means Hunt Master) their trademark is the symbol of our saint for today. Jaeger Schnitzel is Hunters style schnitzel…..one of my favorite foods with spaetzel and red cabbage….I digress

Eustace was a successful Roman general in the army of the emperor Trajan. He and his family all converted to Christianity following a hunting trip during which he saw a glowing cross between the antlers of a stag, after which he received a prophecy that he would suffer for Christ. The prophesy was true.

As these things went in the second century he was eventually denounced as a Christian, he lost his property, was reduced to abject poverty, and Roman authorities took his wife and children.

However, being a capable general, he was recalled to duty by Trajan to help repel barbarians from Rome. Rather than telling Trajan to go scratch, Eustace answered the call. He once again served the Empire well and was victorious. He and his family were reunited with the expectation they would sacrifice to Roman idols in thanks for a military victory. When the Eustace family all refused, an enraged and ungrateful Emperor ordered them thrown to the lions; the big cats played like kittens around them, so they were martyred together by being cooked in the belly of a bronze bull in the year 188. I assume the Emperor manufactured Hollow Bronze Bulls for just such an emergency.

Patronage
• against fire
• against torture
• difficult situations
• fire prevention
• firefighters
• hunters
• hunting
• huntsmen
• torture victims
• trappers

Representation
• bull
• crucifix
• horn
• oven
• stag with a crucifix between it’s antlers as on a Jagermieister bottle

Robert Bellarmine

Saint Robert Bellarmine

Also known as
· Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine
· Roberto Bellarmino
· Roberto Francesco Romolo Cardinale Bellarmino

Memorial
· 17 September

Profile
Our Saint today was educated by Jesuits as a boy and then joined the Jesuits over the opposition of his father who wanted Robert to enter politics. To Roberts’s father I would ask, “What’s the difference?”

Robert became a professor of theology he wrote various works defending the church against Protestant attacks plus he wrote a children’s catechism, and a catechism for teachers.

He worked tirelessly to defend the church against various intellectual attacks. For all his work Pope Clement VIII made him Cardinal-priest. In spite of this Robert lived an austere life in Rome, giving most of his money to the poor. At one point he used the tapestries in his living quarters to clothe the poor, saying, “the walls won’t catch cold.” St. Robert was unaware of viruses as the vector for the common cold and other diseases, this was before Pasteur. But then again Pasteur probably had no idea what the fillioque was….

When it came to people’s rights he took a fundamentally democratic position - authority originates with God, is vested in the people, who entrust it to fit rulers, a concept which brought him trouble with the kings of both England and France, but apparently espoused by Tommy Jefferson and others two centuries later. The Government belongs to us…..

Contrary to popular teaching, the church had a problem with Galileo over his insulting remarks about the Pope in his writings, not his scientific findings…..the church funded Galileo after all, and inspired him to perfect the scientific method among other things. The scientific method is a tool ostensibly at least used by all scientists to the present day. Since Galileo‘s discoveries reinforced the theories of Copernicus they did not prove them conclusively to the scientific world of the time. Science is a process for inquiry, not a belief system. This needs to be reinforces even to this very day….The Science is never settled…it always leads to more questions.

Anyhoo, Galileo refused to continue to teach the Copernican model as a theory as he felt his observations proved them conclusively, there were few scientists who agreed with him at the time, but his work was indeed promising. When the church, who ran the schools, tried to reason with Galileo, (just because it is your work Gallileo, it isn’t really proven yet, use the scientific method you perfected…it is still a theory), he became stubborn and insulting. An Italian becoming stubborn and insulting when contradicted? Nonsense! In all the science classes I have ever taken it is never taught; Galileo was punished for teaching unproven theories as facts in violation of the discipline of science, not for saying the sun was the center of the solar system. A modern analogy; if I got up in front of a class at MIT and started to teach string theory was a fact they would ride me out of town on a rail! Those particle theorists can be violent if you get them mad.

Maybe the church went too far in the punishment, life in prison….at home fully cared for and able to continue to write and teach….but at his own home…..(where can I sign up for that punishment? Throw in the Flintstones and that’s my retirement dream). Anyhoo, St. Robert opposed action against Galileo Galilei in 1615, and established a friendly correspondence with him, but was forced to deliver the order for the scientist to submit to the Church. He died 17 September 1621 in Rome, Italy of natural causes

Robert was a part of the conclave of 1621, and was considered for Pope. He is a Doctor of the Church

Born
· 4 October 1542 Tuscany, Italy as Roberto Francesco Romolo

Patronage
· canon lawyers
· canonists
· catechists
· catechumens

 

 

 

Cyprian

Saint Cyprian

Memorial:

16 September 

Cyprian was a bishop in Carthage during and after the persecutions of the Emperor Decius. Some called him a coward, as he was NOT martyred during this reign of terror so the rumor was he must have hidden himself.

Cyprian supported Pope Cornelius in his efforts to forgive and have apostates re enter the church after the persecutions of Emperor Decius. This was a hot button issue at the time. Further Cyprian supported Cornelius in a schism begun by the Antipope Novitian. Cyprian was later said to have been martyred along with Cornelius, who’s feast is also today. Cyprian was the first martyr from North Africa. Both men are mentioned in the never ending Roman Canon at Mass, (Eucharistic Prayer #1):

"We honor Joseph, her husband, the apostles and martyrs Peter and Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Jude; we honor Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian] and all the saints."

Patronage:
North Africa

Catherine of Genoa

Saint Catherine of Genoa
memorial
15 September

Our saint today was born about the year 1477 in Genoa to well connected parents, her father was the viceroy of Naples.

In a political ploy to establish family ties, at the age of only sixteen, Catherine was married off by her parents to a young Genoese nobleman. The new husband proved to be immature, faithless, violent-tempered, and a spendthrift to boot. He made the life of Our Saint a total disaster.

Catherine spent years in prayer for relief from her misery. Or at least to be sick so she can remain in bed constantly. Vomiting and diarrhea are likely cures for most amorous advances. In 1473, Catherine had her first mystical experience, and it was a doozy, let’s face it. It was no more and no less than the revelation of God‘s love and her own sinfulness.

She returned home, and passed this on in a convincing way to her wayward husband. This time Catherine was very firm and filled with the inspiration and strength of the Holy Spirit. Her husband had no idea what to do! So, he came back to the faith, and the two lived together chastely the rest of their lives, working with the sick and poor till the husband’s death. Catherine continued to experience remarkable mental and at times almost pathological mystic episodes.

For about twenty-five years, towards the end of her life, St. Catherine, met with a priest who became her spiritual guide; he took copious notes of their encounters and conversations. She died 15 September 1510.

41 years after her death, the notes this priest, Father Marabotti, took were turned into a book about her life and teaching called Libro de la vita mirabile et dottrina santa de la Beata Caterinetta de Genoa. In this tome on her Life and Holy Teachings there are two parts often published separately: "Dialogues on the Soul and the Body" and her "Treatise on Purgatory.” Her writings inspired other religious leaders they are quite insightful, speaking of God’s infinite love for us. I highly recommend them. You might be able to find them for free on line.

Patronage:

Brides, Childless People, Difficult Marriages, Temptations, Victims Of Adultery, Victims Of Unfaithfulness, Widows

Notburga

Today is the feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross.   A real Feast, a big thing.  We discussed this last year.   Remember:  Adoramus te, christe, et benedicimus tibi, quia per crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

It is also:
Saint Notburga

Also known as
Noitburgis
Notburga of Eben
Notburga of Tyrol
Notburga of Rattenberg

memorial
14 September

Profile

Our Saint today was born c 1265 to a peasant family in Austria. To support herself she became a kitchen maid at the house of good Count Henry of Rattenberg at age 18. I really don’t know how this happens but the good count married a hardhearted, nasty, stubborn woman named, Ottilia. For some reason this happens to good men….notably on 27 August 1983.

Ottilia became the new mistress of the house and so ordered Our Saint to feed leftover food to the house swine. In a precursor to what we call today the organization known as “City Harvest” instead of the pigs, she gave this food to the poor. The nasty Ottilia did not like being crossed so she threatened to fire our Saint if this behavior continued. So Nortburga fed the leftovers to the pigs, and gave much of her own food to the poor. Ottilia saw even this as a form of disobedience, and canned her anyway. Good Count Henry, like Cinderella’s father, had little to say.

She then became a servant girl for a farmer. Time wounds all heels and the nasty lady Ottilia died relatively young, so the good but spineless count rehired Notburga, and she spent the rest of her life as a serving girl in his house. Although a peasant herself, Notburga worked to assist the poor. During her lifetime she was known as a miracle worker. After her death many miracles were reported at her shrine in the Tyrolese mountains.

Notburga's life was filled with miracle stories and was the reason for her local popularity some of these yarns are:

Nasty Ottilia once saw her leaving the house with something bundled in her apron. Thinking she had caught her disobeying the order to not give away food, she demanded to see what she carried. To keep her out of trouble, the food and wine had turned into wood shavings and vinegar. A similar legend surrounds a few female saints most notably St Elizabeth of Hungary where the food miraculously became roses.

On one occasions, her employer tried to get her to keep working instead of attending Mass. Notburga said she would let her sickle decide the matter, and threw it into the air. The sickle hung suspended in the air, and Notburga went to Church.

Shortly before her death she told Count Henry to place her corpse on a wagon drawn by two oxen, and to bury her wherever the oxen would stop on their own. She died 16 September 1313. The animals drew the wagon to the chapel of Saint Rupert, where she was buried.

Patronage
agricultural workers
farm workers
farmers
field hands
husbandmen
peasants
servers
waiters
waitresses

Representation

holding an ear of corn
holding flowers and a sickle in her hand
with a sickle suspended in the air nearby

John Chrysostom

St. John Chrysostom

Memorial
13 September

Also known as:
Greatest of the Greek Fathers
Golden-Mouth
Giovanni Crisostomo

Our saint for today was born to Christian parents, about the year 344, in Antioch.

For some reason John got stung by the kooky anchorite bug and at the age of 30 he moved to the mountains near Antioch. This lasted for 12 years, John got sick and had to come back to civilization…or he finally realized living all alone in a cave in the mountains was a wacky thing to do. More than likely it was because the Holy Spirit had other plans for Johnny….He was ordained a priest and got to the work for which he was intended. It was for his sermons that John earned the title Chrysostom = golden mouthed. They were always on point, they explained the Scriptures with clarity, and they sometimes went on for hours.

In the late 300’s he was made the Archbishop of Constantinople reluctantly, and became one of the greatest lights of the Church; unfortunately this was a move that involved him in the Byzantine (literally) world of imperial politics. John was very vocal and critical of the affairs of the Byzantine Empire, as the Archbishop he was heard and heard quite clearly. He criticized the rich for not helping the poor, he fought to reform the clergy, prevented the sale of ecclesiastical offices, called for fidelity in marriage, encouraged practices of justice and charity plus he revised the Greek Liturgy.

Because John’s sermons advocated a change in their lives, and hit a little too close to home, frankly, some nobles and bishops worked to remove him from his diocese; he had enemies in high places, including the Patriarch of Alexandria, Theophilus.

You see Theophilus believed and taught the Holy Spirit proceeds from God the Father, only, and from there, through the Son. This notion is still the norm in certain Eastern, Dopey hat wearin' Churches, it is called the “fillioque” controversy. The Eastern Orthodox say this is one of the big reasons we cannot be united again.

The Latin Church and the Pope and many theologians in the west including our Saint today, have always disputed this, idea. We are taught and believe what is said in the Nicene Creed at Mass “I believe in the Holy Spirit the Lord and the Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son……” in fact that part about the Holy Spirit Proceeding from the Father and the Son came about because of this Theological debate with our Saint for today. In my opinion, this whole fillioque controversy is a misunderstanding and semantics. Does the Spirit proceed from the Father and the Son? Or does He proceed from the Father through the Son? Does he proceed from the father and sent by the Son? (John 16:7-8 and ff). Remember also in John, Jesus says “The father and I are one…” (John 10:30). I’m sure we are arguing stupidly as the Devil laughs. Let’s talk about those Dopey Hats…something that is more irreconcilable in my opinion.

Several accusations were brought against Our Saint in a pseudo-council, and he was sent into exile. He found it important that even with this exile; the Pope remained his friend, and did for him what lay in his power. In the true Christian spirit, spurred on by this noble theological controversy, I’m sure, his enemies were not satisfied with the sufferings he had already endured, and they banished him still further, to Pythius, which was, literally, the end of nowhere as far as the empire was concerned. John died on his way there on September 14, 407. He is one of the 36 Doctors of the Church.

Patronage
· against epilepsy
· Constantinople (and modern Istanbul)
· epileptics
· lecturers
· orators
· preachers
· speakers

Representation
· bees
· dove

Nicholas of Tolentine

Saint Nicholas of Tolentine

Also known as
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino
Niccolò da Tolentino
Nicola da Tolentino
Nicolás de Tolentino
Patron of Holy Souls

memorial
10 September

Profile

Like with Saint Nicholas of Flue, I think I avoid doing Our Saint for today because I don’t want to confuse myself or you with all these saint Nicks roaming around. What fun is a Saint Nick that doesn’t drive a sleigh anyway?

Anyhoo…..Nick of Tolentine had parents who were childless and were generally beyond the child bearing years. That is until a prayerful visit to a shrine of Saint Nicholas of Myra at Bari, Italy. They were blessed with a son and named him Nicholas in gratitude.

Nicholas became an Augustinian friar and received visions of angels reciting the phrase “to Tolentino.” He listened to the heavenly choir and moved to Tolentino he lived there for the rest of his life. I’m glad that wasn’t me…I think I would have heard “To Toblerone” and spent the rest of my days eating triangular chocolate bars…..

With the constant fasting, Nicholas received visions. He claimed to have seen the souls in purgatory, and as such he had a special devotion to praying for the recently dead and dying, as well as the imprisoned.

In his lifetime he was called a wonderworker, he was a known healer and a peacemaker. He always told those he helped “Say nothing of this.”

Legends abound about our saint, it is said he was very sick, and in this state he was visited in his visions by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Augustine of Hippo and Saint Monica. They instructed him to eat a certain type of roll that had been dipped in water, which cured him. He began healing others by administering bread over which he recited Marian prayers. The rolls became known as Saint Nicholas Bread, and are still distributed at his shrine.

In what may be confusion with the legends that surround Nicholas of Myra it is said he resurrected over one hundred dead children, including several who had drowned together.

As such a potent miracle worker cannot be left unmolested by the infernal regions, the Devil himself came to beat Nicholas with a stick; the stick was displayed for years in his church.

My favorite story about our Saint involves his dietary habits; he was a vegetarian, accidentally Nicholas was once served a roasted fowl; he made the sign of the cross over the bird, and it flew out a window. More miracles: He miraculously quenched the burning flames engulfing the palace of the Doge of Venice.

It was said that after his death, his bones would exude blood when the Church was in danger. For a while his relics were lost, they were re-discovered at Tolentino in 1926. The cause for his sainthood recognized over 300 miracles.

There is a big beautiful Church in the Bronx run by the Augustinians named for Our Saint today on the corner of Fordham Road and University Ave. In 2010 a suspicious fire broke out in the sanctuary, the church was evacuated through the rectory as the doors were blocked. A few of New York’s Bravest were injured fighting the blaze from debris falling from the ceiling. There were a string of Church arson attacks in the Bronx around that time.  

Born
1245

Died
10 September 1305 following a long illness

Patronage
animals
babies
boatmen
dying people
mariners
sailors
sick animals
souls in Purgatory
Tolentino, Italy
watermen

Representation
Augustinian giving bread to a sick person
Augustinian holding a container of bread
Augustinian holding a container of money
Augustinian holding a lily
Augustinian holding crucifix garlanded with lilies
Augustinian with a star above him
Augustinian with a star on his breast
basket with bread rolls
crucifix garlanded with lilies
lily