Memorial Day: June 5th

In a little chapel in Forli, built as a tomb for honored dead, there are three Dominicans laid in close proximity. One side is occupied by Blessed Marcolino of Forli. The center position is held by Carino of Balsamo, the assassin of saint Peter Martyr, whose long penance and popular holiness are now under consideration for his possible beatification; the third place is that of Blessed James of Saomomio, who was the spiritual director of Carino.

James was born in Venice, in 1231, the only child of noble parents. His father died when he was very small, and his mother became a Cistercian nun, leaving him to the care of his grandmother. She did well by her orphaned grandson, and James became a good and studious boy who responded eagerly to any spiritual suggestions. Under the direction of a Cistercian monk, he learned to meditate, and on the monk’s counsel, James became a Dominican at the convent of Sts. John and Paul, in Venice, as soon as he was old enough. He gave most of his money to the poor, and arrived at the convent with just enough left to buy a few books. Seeing that one of the lay brothers there was in need of clothing, he gave his small sum to the lay brother and entered empty-handed.

James wore the Dominican habit with dignity and piety, if not with any worldly distinction, for sixty-six years. He was humble and good and obedient, and there was nothing spectacular about his spirituality. He was well-known for his direction of souls, but he fled even from the distinction this work brought him.

Even his retiring habits did not protect him, for the people of Venice beat a path to his door. In self -defense, he transferred to another house, that of Forli. This was a house of strict observance and very poor. Nothing could suit him better. For the remainder of his life he worked and prayed in Forli, going out to visit the sick in the hospitals and spending long hours in the confessional. His charity to the poor and the sick gave him the name ” Father of the Poor.” He is represented in art surrounded by a horde of petitioners of this sort.

 

Born: 1231 at Venice, Italy

Died: March 31,1314 of cancer at Forli, Italy; buried in the chapel at Forli

Beatified: He was beatified in 1526 by Clement VII

Patronage: invoked against cancer

Representation: Dominican surrounded by a horde of petitioners; Dominican with a staff and book and the Christ-child over his heart; Dominican holding a heart with the letters “IHS” on it.

 

 

Memorial Day: May 30th

Blessed Andrew was born into the noble dei Franchi Boccagni family. He entered the Dominican Order at Pistoia about 1351, when the Italian peninsula was still under the shadow of the plague and was deeply involved in fratricidal wars. Another theory has it that he entered at Florence in 1348, which was the year the plague reached its peak. Whichever date he entered, he did so to give attention to his immortal soul, at a time when the world around him was apparently falling to pieces.

Andrew proved to be a good religious and an able administrator. He served as prior in three convents while still quite young. In 1378, he was appointed bishop of Pistoia, an office he filled with distinction and holiness for 23 years.

It is written of Andrew that he devoted himself to the poor, and spent his revenues to relieve their misery and to rebuild the ruined churches. He had a great personal devotion to Our Lady, to the Holy Childhood, and to the Three Holy Kings. As bishop, he lived a life of extreme simplicity, retaining his religious habit, and as much as he could of the rule. A year before his death, he resigned his office and retired to die at his old convent of Pistoia.

Born: Born in Pistoia, Italy, in 1335

Died: died 1401

Beatified: Benedict XV in 1921 declared him Blessed

 

 

 

Memorial Day: May 29th

Nothing is known about William’s early life. In 1234, he and two other Dominicans were commissioned as inquisitors by Pope Gregory IX to combat Albigensianism in Languedoc, France. He and his companions were driven out of Toulouse, Narbonne, and several other towns by the heretics.

With him on the preaching mission were a fellow Dominican, Bernard of Rochefort; the Franciscans, Steven of Narbonne and Raymond of Carbonier, and two unnamed others; the Benedictine, Prior Raymond; the clerks, Bernard Fortanier and Admer; and the Dominican lay brother, Garcia d’Aure; and Peter the Notary. There were others who worked with him through the long and difficult years in Toulouse, but these were the ones who died in the martyrdom of Avignonet.

After the death of Saint Dominic, the party of Count Raymond of Toulouse rose to power again. In a short time it regained possession of Toulouse and several armed strongholds nearby. When William Arnaud and his companions came into the vicinity, they found every gate closed against them. None of the cities under the command of Raymond’s troops would allow them to come in, and, by order of the heretic commander, the citizens of Toulouse were forbidden under pain of death to supply the inquisitor’s party with any food. They took refuge in a farmhouse outside of Avignonet and preached around the countryside for some time. Because they had some measure of success, the heretics intensified their efforts to entrap and kill the inquisitors.

The members of the commission realized that they were only one step from death. They might have escaped and gone safely to some other part of the country had they chosen to do so. Instead, they remained where obedience had assigned them, and at the end of May 1242, they were given a heavenly warning that they were about to receive the crown of martyrdom. William was absent from the rest of the group when the plot was formed to kill them. Being told of a vision of martyrdom by one of the brothers, he hurried back to rejoin his group. The heretics completed their plans to massacre the entire party.

Scheming carefully, they set the scene at the country castle of one of the wealthy members of their group. In order to make sure of getting the inquisitors into the trap, they sent word to William that a confirmed heretic of his acquaintance wished to abjure his heresy and return to the faith.

Knowing well that it was a trap, William still could not refuse to go. He and his eleven companions went, on the evening of the Ascension, May 28, to the castle of Count Raymond VII of Toulouse. The soldiers of Raymond were concealed in the great hall. They fell upon the helpless group and killed all but four of the members. These four were taken out by friends who had know about the plot and hurried to the church.

William Arnaud and Steven of Narbonne were murdered in the sanctuary of the church as they sang the Te Deum. This was a crime almost unparalleled in medieval times when the right of sanctuary was one of the few strongholds against barbarism. The bodies of the martyrs were thrown into a deep ravine, and rocks were rolled down on them. During the night, some hours after the martyrdom, bright lights radiating from the bodies of the martyrs brought the faithful to gather up the relics.

The church of Avignonet was placed under interdict because of the sacrilege, and for 40 years no Mass was said there. The doors remained closed. Finally, when the interdict was lifted, the bells rang of themselves, according to legend, to let people know that Avignonet was once more a member of the living Church.

There is a striking footnote to this story of martyrdom. Shortly after the interdict was lifted, there appeared one day on the steps of the church a fairly large statue of the Blessed Virgin. Who had put it there has never been discovered. It is difficult to see how anyone in such a small town could have successfully concealed a statue of that size, for small towns are notoriously poor places to hide secrets. The statue appeared on the steps in broad daylight, yet no one saw it being placed there. The people took it as a sign that they were forgiven for their part in the outrage, and also as a sign that they should rebuild the devotion to Our Lady, which the Dominicans had preached. The statue was named “Our Lady of Miracles,” and they petitioned for a special feast in honor of their own Miracle lady.

Until very recently, a beautiful little ceremony was held in the Church of Our Lady of Miracles on every May 28. It was a night ceremony, in memory of the night martyrdom of William Arnaud and his companions, and it was called “The Ceremony of the Vow.” Carrying lighted candles, the people proceeded across the entire width of the church on their knees, praying for forgiveness for the people who committed the massacre.

Born: ?

Died: 1242

Beatified: Pius IX confirmed their cult in 1866

Patronage: Blessed William Arnaud is invoked by people who suffer from neuralgia, in memory of a miracle of healing which he performed on one of the sisters of Prouille.

Memorial Day: May 28th

Marietta was a beautiful and appealing child, with big eyes and a constant smile. Because she was tiny, she was always called Marietta, rather than Mary. Her mother neglected her when she was a baby, leaving her to the casual care of others, and the little girl was often hungry and cold. She never protested, but was always gay and charming, and she was the special darling of her sister, who was a Dominican nun.

The sisters made quite a pet of the little girl, and she ran through the cloisters unhampered, singing for the sisters from the throne of the community-room table. What brought about her utter disgust with marriage is hard to tell. When her father proposed that she marry an eligible young man, she reacted with horror. She had been managing the household since the death of her mother, and her father felt that having a home of her own would be the best thing in the world for her. When he suggested this, Marietta fell into a faint, and she remained in that condition for days. When she recovered, she could not stand up, and had to be put to bed.

At this point a strange interlude brings, which can only be explained by the fact that God does not operate in the same fashion we do. Marietta’s father was fond of quack doctors, and quacks of the 16th century were really fantastic. Without protest the girl endured all the weird and frightful treatments they devised, suffering more from the treatments than she ever had from the malady. Today her ailment would probably be diagnosed as some type of spastic nerve malady. Packing her in mud and winding her in swaddling bands until she, according to her own account, “felt like a squashed raisin” could not have helped anything but the quack doctor’s purse. The ailments continued unabated for 34 years.

Marietta had hoped to be a nun; four of her sisters were already in the convent. Because such a life was, of course, impossible for an invalid, her father attempted to better her spirits by having her accepted into the Third Order. A priest came from Santa Maria Novella and received her into the order in 1544, but he excused her from the obligation of saying the Office because of the desperate nature of her illness. When he came the following year, she made her profession. For a little while after her profession, Marietta was able to get out of bed and could even walk a little. She could see and enjoy the beauties of the city. The she fell ill again and went back to bed; this time she had asthma, pleurisy, and a kidney ailment.

The doctors continued their experimentation through all the years of her life. A mystic, who sometimes conversed with the angels, saints, and devils, Marietta was suspected by the neighbors of being in league with the devil. Her protests that “she had seen him all right but he wasn’t a friend of hers,” fell on deaf ears; they obtained permission to have her exorcised. Her confessor left her; he was afraid of becoming involved. Another priest who came to her, mostly out of curiosity, stayed on as her confessor and directed her strange and troubled path for 22 years.

Marietta’s little room became a sort of oratory, and troubled people came there to find peace. She had an unusually soothing effect on animals; several pet cats made her the object of their affection. One of them used to sleep on the foot of her bed, and if she became sick during the night would go out to find someone to care for her. Once, when the cat felt that Marietta was being neglected, it went out and fetched her a large cheese. The cats, according to the legend, did not even glance at the songbirds that she had in a cage beside the bed.

Marietta’s spiritual life is hard to chronicle against such an odd background. In her last years, she was in almost constant ecstasy. The chaplain said Mass in her room, and she went to confession daily. She never discussed the sorrowful mysteries, because she could not do so without crying, but she often talked with great animation and a shining face, about the glorious mysteries. Once she was raised out of her bed in ecstasy. She shared her visions with another mystic, the Carmelite, Mary Magdalen de Pazzi. Because of her devotion to Saint Bartholomew, she added his name to her own, and usually used it instead of her family name.

Born: August 15, 1514 at Florence, Italy

Died: May 28, 1577 at Florence, Italy of natural causes

Beatified: July 11, 1804 by Pope Pius VII

Patronage: loss of parents, sick people, victims of abuse

Memorial Day: May 24th

The body of the holy patriarch, Saint Dominic, had been laid to rest, according to his own desire, in the Church of Saint Nicholas at Bologna, beneath the feet of his Brethren, and, in spite of continual prodigies and Divine favors granted to the faithful who prayed day and night at his tomb, his children allowed the sacred deposit to remain under the plain flagstone originally laid over it and took no steps for obtaining his canonization. Lest they should be thought to be seeking their own emolument under the appearance of piety, the Friars even broke and threw away the votive offerings brought by the people and would not permit any exterior marks of devotion to be exhibited. It was necessity which at length compelled them to undertake the first translation of the sacred relics. The ever-increasing numbers of the Community obliged them to enlarge the Convent, and to pull down the old church and build a new and more spacious one. To do this the tomb of Saint Dominic would have to be disturbed. They accordingly applied for the requisite permission to Pope Gregory IX., who was no other than the Saint’s old friend, Cardinal Ugolino. He joyfully granted the petition, at the same time administering a sharp rebuke to the Friars for their long negligence.

The solemn translation accordingly took place on Whit-Tuesday, May 24, 1233 A.D., during the General Chapter, which was held that year at Bologna. The Pope wished to have attended in person, but, being prevented from doing so, he deputed the Archbishop of Ravenna to represent him, in company with a number of other distinguished prelates. Three hundred Friars Preachers from all countries assembled to assist at this function, not without a secret fear on the part of some as to the state in which the sacred remains might be found, as they had long been exposed to rain and heat, owing to the dilapidated condition of the church. The opening of the tomb took place before daybreak, in the presence of Blessed Jordan, then Master-General of the Order, and the fathers of the Chapter, together with the Bishops, Prelates and Magistrates who were to assist at the ceremony. All stood round in silence while the Procurator, Father Rodolph of Faenza, raised the stone. Hardly had he begun to remove the earth and mortar that lay beneath an extraordinary odor became perceptible , which increased in power and sweetness as they dug deeper, until at length, when the coffin appeared and was lifted out of the grave , the whole church was filled with the perfume as though from the burning of some rich and precious gums. The bystanders knelt on the pavement, shedding tears and emotion as the lid was raised, and the exposed to their eyes.

It was the Master-General who raised the body of his beloved father and reverently laid it in a new coffin. The faithful were then admitted, and the Archbishop of Ravenna sang the Mass of the day, while the fragrance diffused from the open coffin flooded the whole of the sacred edifice. Blessed Jordan in his circular letter to the Order thus described the solemn function: “As the choir intoned the Introit, ‘Receive the joy of your glory, giving thanks to God, who was called you to the celestial kingdom,’ the Brethren in their gladness of heart took the words as if spoken from heaven. The trumpets sounded, the people displayed a countless multitude of tapers; and, as the procession moved along, there everywhere resounded the words, ‘Blessed be Jesus Christ!” He goes on to speak of the vast number of miraculous graces which were poured forth both before and after the ceremony. ‘Sight “he says , “was granted to the blind, power of walking to the lame, soundness to the paralyzed, speech to the dumb…..I myself saw Nicholas, an Englishman, who had long been paralyzed, leaping at this solemnity.”

The coffin was then laid in the marble tomb prepared for it. But eight days later, to satisfy the devotion of some distinguished persons who had not been present on the previous occasion. The holy remains were again exposed to view. Then it was that Blessed Jordan, taking the sacred head between his hands, kissed it, while tears of tenderness flowed from his eyes; and, so holding it, he desired all the fathers of the Chapter to approach and gaze at it for the last time. One by one they came and kissed the venerable relics. All were conscious of the same extraordinary fragrance; it remained on the hands and clothes of those who touched or came near the body. Nor was this the case merely when the grave was first opened. The tomb remained unclosed for fifteen days, during which interval it was guarded by officers appointed by the city magistrates; and all this times the same exquisite odor was sensible to all who visited the spot; and Flaminius, who lived three hundred years later, thus writes (1527 A.D.): “This divine odor adheres to the relics even to the present day.”

A second translation of Saint Dominic’s relics took place in the year 1267 A.D., when the holy body was removed to amore richly ornamented tomb. This translation, like the first, was made at a time of the General Chapter; and the head of the Saint, after being devoutly kissed by the Brethren and several Bishops who were present, was exposed to the veneration of the people from a lofty stage erected outside the Church of Saint Nicholas. The tomb was again opened in 1383 A.D., when apportion of the head was placed in a silver reliquary, in order the more easily to satisfy the devotion of the faithful. Finally, 1469 A.D., the remains of the Saint were deposited in the magnificently sculptured shrine in which they now rest, which is regarded as the masterpiece of Nicholas Pisano.

Feast Day: May 22nd

 

Saint Servatius was of noble birth, and he was renewed alike for his learning and sanctity. He became Bishop of Tongres in Belgium, which then formed part of Gaul, and in that capacity assisted at the Council of Sardica, where he strenuously defended the Catholic Faith against the Arians. He likewise stoutly resisted these heresies at the Council of Rimini, and labored to prevent the ill consequences which threatened the Church through their frauds and the weakness of the Bishops. Being sent by the tyrant Magnentius, together with Saint Maximin, Bishop of Treves, as ambassador to the Emperor Constantius, he was honorably entertained by Saint Athanasius at Alexandria.

Saint Gregory of Tours states that Saint Servatius foretold the invasion of Gaul by the Huns and implored the Divine mercy by watching. fasting, prayers and many tears to avert so great a calamity from the flock entrusted to his care. For this intention he undertook a penitential pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Peter in Rome. As he was weeping and praying there, the Prince of the Apostles appeared to him and thus addresses him: “Wherefore dost thou importune me? The Lord has decreed that the Huns should enter Gaul and lay it waste in a terrible manner. Take my counsel, therefore; lose no time; set thy house in order, prepare thy grave, make ready a clean winding-sheet. Behold , thou shalt depart this life and shalt not witness the evils which the Huns are to bring upon Gaul, as the Lord our God hath spoken.”

 

The holy Bishop, therefore returned in all haste to his diocese, and with many tears imparted the sad tidings to his heart-broken flock. “Holy Father , do not abandon us,” they exclaimed; “Good Shepherd, forget us not.” Very shortly afterwards he fell ill, as Saint Peter had foretold, and closed his saintly life by a holy death on May 13th, 384 A.D., after an episcopate of thirty-seven years. It is recorded that when all the country round was white with snow his tomb at Maestricht always remained free from it until the time a church was raised over his holy remains.

 

Saint Servatius was declared Protector of the Dominican Order in consequences of the following circumstances. In the fourteenth century the Church and the Order of Preachers were suffering bitter persecution from the schismatical Emperor, Lewis of Bavaria. Learning that the General Chapter was convoked to meet in his dominions , at the city of Cologne, 1330, A.D., this prince secretly plotted the death of the capitular Fathers. They had just assembled, when Saint Servatius appeared in a dream to one of their number, a very holy religious, warned him of the danger which threatened himself and his brethren , and bade them to flee to Maestricht. This they accordingly did, thus escaping the snares which had been laid for them. And though their coming to Maestricht was wholly unexpected, God disposed the hearts of the inhabitants to receive them with the utmost kindness.

 

In gratitude for this providential intervention, the Fathers decreed that the festival of Saint Servatius should henceforth be celebrated in the Order to the end of time. But, as it was at first instituted only under the rite of a Feast of the Three Lessons, the great increase of festivals of higher rank caused it, after the lapse of years, to fall into disuse. To preserve the memory of so great a benefit, the Fathers, therefore, obtained permission from Pope Leo XII that the festival of Saint Servatius should be henceforth celebrated throughout the entire Order with the rank of a Totum Duplex, or Greater Double.

Born: Armenia, unknown date

Died: May 13th 384 at Tongres, Belgium of fever

Canonized: Pre- Congregation

Patronage: against foot problems, against lameness, against leg problems, against mice/rats, against rheumatism, success

Representation: bishop holding a key and accompanied by an angel meeting burghers at a city gate, bishop holding a key in one hand while placing his crozier on a dragon, bishop reading desk where nearby sits a shield with three wooden shoes, bishop with three wooden shoes, man striking water with a staff, pilgrim sleeping in the sun while an eagle fans him

 

Memorial Day: May 20th

 

Blessed Colomba of Rieti is always called after her birthplace, though she actually spent the greater part of her life away from it. Her celebrity is based — as it was even in her lifetime — mainly on two things: the highly miraculous nature of her career from its very beginning, and her intense devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. She was one amongst a number of saintly Dominican women who seem to have been expressly raised up by God in protest against, and as a sharp contrast to, the irreligion and immorality prevalent in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. These women, nearly all of the Third Order, had an intense devotion to St. Catherine of Siena, and made it their aim to imitate her as nearly as possible. Many seculars, men as well as women, shared this devotion, amongst these being Ercole I, Duke of Ferrara, who had a deep admiration for Colomba and for some other holy Dominican religious, her contemp oraries, the most notable of whom were Blessed Osanna of Mantua and Blessed Lucy of Narni.

 

For the latter Ercole’s veneration was so great that he never rested until he had got her to come with some of her nuns to live in Ferrara, where he built her a convent and where she died after many troubles. She began when quite a girl to practice austere penances and to subsist almost entirely on the supernatural food of the Holy Eucharist, and continued this for the greater part of her life. At nineteen she joined the Dominican Tertiaries, of whom there were many in town, though still living at home; and she soon won the veneration of her fellow townspeople by her personal holiness as well as by some miracles that she worked. But Colomba was not destined to remain in Rieti. In 1488 she left home and went to Perugia, where the inhabitants received her as a saint, and in the course of time built her the convent of St. Catherine, in which she assembled all the Third Order Dominicanesses, who desired her as superior in spite of her youth. In 1494, when a terrible plague was raging in Perugia, she offered herself as victim for the city. The plague was stayed, but Colomba herself was struck down by the scourge. She recovered only to save her sanctity severely tried by widely spread calumnies, which reached Rome, whence a commission was sent to examine into her life. She was treated for some time as an imposter, and deposed from her office of prioress; but finally her innocence triumphed.

 

In 1495 Alexander VI, having heard of Colomba’s holiness and miracles from his son the Cardinal Caesar Borgia, who had been living in Perugia, went himself to the city and saw her. She is said to have gone into ecstasy at his feet, and also to have boldy told him of all personal sins. The pope was fully satisfied of her great sanctity, and set the seal of approval on her mode of life. In the year of 1499 she was consulted, by authorities who were examining into the manner, concerning the stigmata of Blessed Lucy of Narni, and spoke warmly in favor of their being genuine, and of her admiration for Blessed Lucy’s holiness. Her relics are still venerated at Perugia, and her feast is kept by her order on 20 May.

 

Born: February 2, 1467 at Rieti, Umbria, Italy as Angelella Guardagnoli

Died: May 20, 1501 at Perguia, Italy of natural causes; at the moment of her death, her friend, Blessed Osanna Andreasi, saw Columba’s soul as a radiance rising to heaven; the whole city turned out for her funeral, which was paid for by the city fathers

Beatified: February 25, 1625 by Pope Urban VIII

Patronage: against sorcery; against temptation and Perugia, Italy

Representation: Dominican tertiary receiving the Eucharist from a hand reaching down from heaven; Dominican tertiary receiving the Eucharist from an angel; Dominican tertiary with a dove, lily, and book; Dominican tertiary with a wreath of roses, cross, lily, and rosary