The Holy Innocents ~ by Fr. Bryan Wolf

This year, the joy of Christmas has been tempered by great sadness. The unfathomable horror of the shootings within an elementary school in Connecticut, have shaken us all to the foundations of our faith.

We can take some small comfort, in the knowledge that as Christmas passes we approach The Feast of the Holy Innocents within the Catholic church calendar. This year that is December 28,2012. This day commemorates a similar tragedy that occurred around the birth of Jesus. (The Catholic Encyclopedia states: “It is impossible to determine the day or year of the slaughter of the Holy Innocents. All we know is that the infants were slain within two years of the apparition of The Star to The Wise Men.)

When Jesus was born, King Herod became afraid that the ancient prophesy foretelling of the birth of a King of the Jews had come true. The Magi had entered his kingdom, telling of the star they had been following and inquired if Herod had knowledge of the birth. Herod consulted with his chief priests and teachers. “He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” [Matthew 2:8]

But as we know, the Wise Men did not return to Herod- because as we know, Herod did not have worship in his heart. Warned in a dream not to return, the Magi traveled another route home. “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious and gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old or younger.’ [Matthew 2:16]

I do not dare to compare the massacre of The Holy Innocents to those unfortunate targeted victims of a crazed gunmen, but we can take comfort in a quote of Saint Augustine as he commented in his day on the former. “The death of these children is precious in the sight of God. For already at the beginning of their lives, they pass on. The end of this present life is for them, the beginning of glory. Those who [Herod] cruely tore from their mother’s bosom, are now justly hailed as infant martyr flowers- the church’s first blossoms, matured by the frost of persecution during a winter of unbelief.”

We can interpret that these children from Connecticut, much like those Holy Innocents of biblical times, are now at peace in God’s loving embrace. “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for it is to such as these, that the kingdom of God belongs.” [Mark 10:14]

God did not cause these terrible things to happen. Mankind has been given his glorious gift of freewill. To accept and seek God, not for fear of God, but because of a desire to love God; to please God and be with God. When these horrific things happen, God to is saddened. He joins with us in his tears and invites us to lay our grief and burden at the foot of his cross. The only place in times like this, where it can be left.

In the history of all of Christmas, there is only one Christmas Carol know to have been written to tell of the grief of The Holy Innocents. The Coventry Carol, written sometime in the sixteenth century, reflects a mother’s lament for the death of her child.
“That woe is me, poor child for thee- and ever mourn and sigh.
For thy parting is neither say or sing. Bye, bye, lully- lullay.”

Most merciful God, we cry out to you through tears. Just now, we celebrate the glory of your birth and are abruptly silenced by the evil that is brought upon us. Only in reflecting upon your promise of eternal life, can we once again secure a sense of happiness in such chaos. We pray you accept and embrace these littlest innocent lambs of your flock, for they truly are too- Holy Innocents. Grant your grace and comfort upon all who suffer from this senseless act, the parents and families, the community and those who responded to help. Reassure us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, that your are God. Amen.

Blessed John of Vercelli, C.O.P.

1 December   John Garbella was born early in the 13th century, somewhere near Vercelli. He studied at Paris and was ordained priest before 1229. He taught canon law at the University of Paris. While he was professor there, Jordan of Saxony (who was a friend of Saint Albert the Great) came to Paris, and John saw one after another of his best pupils desert their careers to join the Dominicans. He seems to have considered them quite objectively, without reference to himself, until one day he had an interior voice that spoke to him that it was God’s will for him to join the Dominicans. No one can say that John did not respond with alacrity; he dropped everything and ran down the street. (“Let me go; I am on my way to God!”) Jordan received him happily and gave him the habit.

In 1232, John was sent to Vercelli to establish a convent there. He built this and several other convents in Lombardy as houses of regular observance. While provincial of Lombardy, he also became inquisitor. It was a particularly difficult moment. His brother in religion, Peter of Verona, had just been killed by the heretics in Como. The entire countryside was in a state of war, with roving bands of heretics and robbers. It was the task of the new inquisitor to try to bring order out of this chaos, and what John did was remarkable, considering the situation. In spite of his heavy labors, which included the supervision of 600 friars in 28 different cities (he reached them only by walking), John of Vercelli established the ideals of study and regular observance in all of his houses.

It was the good fortune of John of Vercelli to live in an age that was well peopled by saints. He formed a close friendship with Saint Louis, the king of France. Several of his tasks in the order, particularly the Commission on the Program of Studies, he shared with Saint Albert the Great, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Peter of Tarentaise (the future Pope Innocent V). In such company one would need to have a superior set of talents; John did.

In 1264 the chapter of the order met at Paris. Blessed Humbert had resigned as master general of the order. John went to the chapter hoping that he could resign as provincial of Lombardy. Instead of escaping one office, he fell heir to a still more difficult one. He was elected master general in 1264 and served in that capacity until 1283. John was then a man in his sixties and was, moreover, handicapped by a crippled leg. However, he accepted the office which would require him to walk, not only all over Lombardy, but all over Europe. It took a brand of courage and obedience that was little short of heroic.

During the generalate of John of Vercelli, the relics of Saint Dominic were transferred to the new tomb that had been prepared for it by Nicholas of Pisa. When the transfer was made, John of Vercelli fixed his seal on the tomb; the seals were still intact on their examination in 1946. During the translation of the relics, according to the account in the Vitae Fratrum, when the body of Saint Dominic was exposed to view, the head was seen to turn towards John of Vercelli. John, embarrassed, moved to another part of the church and gave his place to a cardinal. Whereupon, the head of Saint Dominic was seen by all to turn again in John’s direction.

On the death of Clement IV, John of Vercelli was very nearly elected pope. Being warned of the possibility, he fled in fright. However, his good friend Cardinal Visconti, was elected and took the name Gregory X. He appointed John as legate on several different missions.

He was commissioned by the pope to draw up the Schema for the second ecumenical council of Lyons in 1274–that council to which Saint Thomas Aquinas was hurrying when death found him on the road. At the council John distinguished himself for his assistance by offering to the council the talents of his best men. At the council, he accepted for the Dominican Order the special commission of promoting reverence for the Holy Name of Jesus and fighting blasphemy, which was, in that day as in ours, a prevalent vice. He can thus be considered the founder of the Holy Name Society, even though the Confraternity was not formed until 1432.

Several precious relics were suitably enshrined by John of Vercelli. These included several thorns from the Crown of Our Lord, which had been given him by Saint Louis of France. The cord of Saint Thomas, with which he had been guided by the angels and which he had worn until death, was given into the care of the master general, who gave it to the convent of Vercelli for safe keeping.

John’s career was rapidly reaching its end. In 1279, he presided over the famous chapter of Paris at which the order made the doctrine of Saint   Thomas officially its own. The following year he laid the foundations of the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. One of his last official acts was to provide for a work on the instruction of novices (Benedictines, Dorcy).

Born: 1205 at Mosso Santa Maria, Italy as John Garbella

Died: September 1283 at Montpelier, France of natural causes; buried at the Dominican convent at Montpelier; his tomb was desecrated by Calvinists in 1562, and his body disappeared.

Beatified: 1903 by Pope Pius X (cultus confirmed), 1909 elevated him to the honors of the altar

Blessed James Benefatti

Blessed James Benefatti, James is known as the Father of the Poor.  He was a Dominican at Mantua, Italy in 1290, and was a  Doctor of theology and a priest. He was also a friend and brother friar of Nicholas Boccasino who later became Pope Benedict XI, and for whom James held several support offices including papal legate.  He was the Bishop of Mantua in 1303, and noted for his devotion to the poor. James rebuilt his cathedral and refurbished churches and was appointed Papal legate for Pope John XXII.  He died 19 November 1332 at Mantua, Italy of natural causes.  His body was found incorrupt when exhumed both in 1480 and 1604.  He was beatified in 1859 by Pope Pius IX.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

.  Saint Catherine of Alexandria.   According to the traditional story, Catherine was the daughter of Costus, a pagan governor of Alexandria, where she was born.  She is said to have announced to her parents that she would only marry someone who surpassed her in beauty, intelligence, wealth, and social status. This has been interpreted as an early foreshadowing of her eventual discovery of Christ. “His beauty was more radiant than the shining of the sun, His wisdom governed all creation, His riches were spread throughout all the world.” Though raised a pagan, she converted to Christianity in her late teens. It is said that she visited her contemporary, the Roman Emperor Maximinus Daia, and attempted to convince him of the moral error in persecuting Christians. She succeeded in converting his wife, the Empress, and many pagan philosophers whom the Emperor sent to dispute with her, all of whom were subsequently martyred. Upon the failure of the Emperor to win Catherine over, he ordered her to be put in prison; and when the people who visited her converted, she was condemned to death on the breaking wheel, an instrument of torture. According to legend, the wheel itself broke when she touched it, so she was beheaded.

According to Christian tradition, angels carried her body to Mount Sinai, where, in the 6th century, the Eastern Emperor Justinian established Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mount Sinai, the church being built between 548 and 565 in Saint Catherine, Egypt, on the Sinai peninsula. Saint Catherine’s Monastery survives, a famous repository of early Christian art, architecture and illuminated manuscripts that is still open to visiting scholars. The historian Harold T. Davis says that Catherine’s story dates only from the 10th century AD, and that “assiduous research has failed to identify Catherine with any historical personage”; Davis suggests that the invention of Catherine may have been inspired by the story of the martyred pagan philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria. She did certainly form an exemplary counterpart to Hypatia in the medieval mindset; and it has been suggestedthat she was invented specifically for that purpose. Like Hypatia, she is said to have been highly learned (in philosophy and theology), very beautiful, sexually pure, and to have been brutally murdered for publicly stating her beliefs. The story of Catherine is placed a hundred years before Hypatia’s death, but there are no contemporary sources for her life.

Because of the fabulous character of the account of her martyrdom and the lack of reliable documentation, the Roman Catholic Church in 1969 removed her feast day from the Calendar. But she continued to be commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on November 25. In 2002, her feast was restored to the General Roman Calendar as an optional memorial.

The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia describes the historical importance of the belief in her as follows:

Ranked with St Margaret and St Barbara as one of the fourteen most helpful saints in heaven, she was unceasingly praised by preachers and sung by poets. It is believed that Jacques-Benigne Bossuet dedicated to her one of his most beautiful panegyrics and that Adam of St. Victor wrote a magnificent poem in her honour: Vox Sonora nostri chori, etc. In many places her feast was celebrated with the utmost solemnity, servile work being suppressed and the devotions being attended by great numbers of people. In several dioceses of France it was observed as a Holy Day of Obligation up to the beginning of the seventeenth century, the splendor of its ceremonial eclipsing that of the feasts of some of the Apostles. Numberless chapels were placed under her patronage and her statue was found in nearly all churches, representing her according to medieval iconography with a wheel, her instrument of torture. Meanwhile, owing to several circumstances in his life, Saint Nicholas of Myra was considered the patron of young bachelors and students, and Saint Catherine became the patroness of young maidens and female students. Looked upon as the holiest and most illustrious of the virgins of Christ after the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was natural that she, of all others, should be worthy to watch over the virgins of the cloister and the young women of the world. The spiked wheel having become emblematic of the saint, wheelwrights and mechanics placed themselves under her patronage. Finally, as according to tradition, she not only remained a virgin by governing her passions and conquered her executioners by wearying their patience, but triumphed in science by closing the mouths of sophists, her intercession was implored by theologians, apologists, pulpit orators, and philosophers. Before studying, writing, or preaching, they besought her to illumine their minds, guide their pens, and impart eloquence to their words.  At the  beginning of the fifteenth century, it was rumored that she had spoken to Joan of Arc and, together with St. Margaret, had been divinely appointed Joan’s adviser.

The Feast of Christ the King ~ Fr. Seraphim McCune

Grace and peace to you, from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are in the sight of his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the leader over the kings of the earth, who has loved us and has washed us from our sins with his blood, and who has made us into a kingdom and into priests for God and for his Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Behold, he arrives with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth shall lament for themselves over him. Even so. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
– Apocalypse 1:4b-8, Catholic Public Domain Version
On 4 July, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That was the day the monarchy of Great Britain died in the 13 former colonies. Since then, the ideals of republicanism and democracy have competed for supremacy in America. We have lived the conflict of our “noble experiment” ever since. In our day as government and culture have grown increasingly secular and hostile to religion in general, I am, as an historian, reminded of one of the rally cries of the War of Independence: “No King but King Jesus!” How different our times are from theirs!
We must remember that the Church of Jesus Christ is not a democracy and it is not a republic. It is a monarchy and an absolute monarchy at that. From the very beginning of our Faith, we have been mocked for our allegiance to our Monarch. Pilate asked, “Are you the King of the Jews?” The Christians of the Apostolic and sub-Apostolic ages gave their lives rather than let Caesar share in Christ’s glory. One of the great saints of the Apostolic age, Ignatius of Antioch, actually looked forward to his martyrdom! He was so confirmed in his fealty to his King that he begged his brothers and sisters in Christ on his way to Rome not to try and save him or beg for mercy for him. A culture of willing martyrdom was one of the marks of the Church in that age.
But what about later? Martyrdom was, and still is, very much a possibility for any Christian. I once watched a Mennonite street preacher get violently attacked by a thug who had grown weary of hearing him. He calmly accepted whatever God was willing to send his way. Then he went back to preaching as soon as the thug grew weary of harassing him. The Twentieth Century produced more martyrs for the Christian Faith than all the 19 before it combined. The new onslaught of radical Islam, the Communist revolutions, the Cristero War, and other events took the lives of many dedicated Christians. The 21st Century is shaping up to match or surpass it. The million plus population of the Catholic Church in Iraq has dwindled to mere tens of thousands. The Coptic Christians of Egypt are now being actively persecuted and the president of Egypt says,”Amen,” to a prayer calling for the destruction of Jews and Christians. Communist China actively and aggressively persecutes any Christian who dares not register a church, passes out Bibles, or who protests human rights abuses.
But for all this, these are not the poorest Christians. No, not them. It is us, here in the west. We are the poorest Christians of all. In our safety we have grown complacent. We have invented the worst heresies to tickle the ears of the weak-in-faith. The so-called prosperity gospel, stage productions, popular music-style bands in mass, and so many other things that belittle and demean our liturgies. We wonder that there is no stability of parishioners in churches today and that so many fall away from their faith altogether and have started pantomiming the latest non sequiturs about faith. How often do we hear today, “I am spiritual, but not religious?” How does one have a spirituality that is not practiced? Spirituality is what we believe, and religion is nothing more than what we do about that spirituality. There simply is no way to be spiritual without also being religious.
This brings me to my next point. Many of us are so ready to die for Christ, we tell ourselves. Are we really? None of us knows for sure until we are in that position. But what about the other side of the coin? I mean to say, Christ already did the dying. He died for you and me and everyone else. Are we willing to live for Him? Are we willing to lay down our lives as a “living sacrifice,” to use St. Paul’s words? Are we willing to do the little things for our neighbors? Can we give up our comforts in order for others to have food and utilities turned on?
If you honestly answered no to this, then good, you’re off to a good start with that honesty. Now pray for God’s grace to change your heart to match His! No doubt some of you have answered yes to this. For you I go one step further: Did you just throw money in the offering plate or write a check to your favorite charity? Why? Why did you not instead go down to a shelter to help feed the homeless? Why did you not seek a relationship with the poor or shut-in person you helped? Why do you hide behind your donation? Lives don’t change because of your money, they change because you were there.
To everyone I ask when was the last time you said, “I’ll pray for you,” and actually did it? Have you gone before the Blessed Sacrament and forgotten yourself in order to pray for others? Take those requests for prayer as a chance to storm the gates of heaven for others. Make it personal. And those of you who have been on the receiving end of others’ help, pray for your benefactors as if they were your children! St. James tells us, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?” (Jas. 2:5, KJV) If He has given you this special grace of faith, use it! Make sure you pray for the salvation and sanctification of you benefactors.
What does all this have to do with the Kingship of Christ? It is nothing more than faithful obedience to the commands of our Sovereign Lord. The Great Commandment and the Golden Rule are about our love of and for God. For God in Himself and for God’s image in our fellow man. In the Sheep and Goat Judgment, we will not be challenged on what we believed, how much we knew, or what church we attended. We will be challenged on who we fed, clothed, housed, visited in prison, and so forth. It is what we did to bless others and build up the Image and Likeness of God in them that will be our final exam in this life. Why? Because the life lived out here and now is how we show our King, and those around us, that we really do love our King, that we really do believe Him, and that He really does reward those who seek Him diligently. Jesus’ own words were, “By their fruits you will know them.”
Many are willing to die for Christ, if called upon to do it. Very few are willing to live out their Faith in Him even though all are called upon to do so now. Are you? Is Christ your Monarch?

Thy Will Be Done~ by Fr. Bryan Wolf

“Thy will be done”….

Most of us know those words come from our Lord’s Prayer.  Found in Matthew 6:9-13  they are some of the famous words spoken by Jesus during his Sermon on the Mount.  They are also probably the most known words.  As children, be us Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist or any other Christian denomination we all learned the Lord’s Prayers.  Whether one is a frequent church goer or hasn’t been into a church in many many years- we can still readily recall all the words of the Lord’s Prayer.  For those who seek a closer relationship with God or to strengthen their spiritual being- you really need pray nothing else but the Lord’s Prayer.  In fact Christ warns us, “do not be like the hypocrites… do not keep on babbling” [Matthew 6:5 and 6:7].  “This then, is how you should pray:” [Matthew 6:9 et al.] and Christ imparts to us his Lord’s Prayer.

But in a largely secular society, what is God’s will?

In high school and college, I knew I always wanted to be a priest.  But the feasibility of such a dream, was not a practical pursuit then.  Though my heart heard God’s call, there seemed to be other pressing family and personal demands. As such, I entered law enforcement and enjoyed a lengthy and proud career.  Nearing retirement, I could still hear God calling to me to become a priest.  I finished my studies and am happy to finally be in a position, I wanted my whole life to be in.  But God continued to speak to me, and let me in on a little secret-  I had been a priest serving God my whole life!

We are told in scripture: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is to give, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” [Romans 12:6-8] “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.” [Romans 12:13]

Christ is telling us that we need not be deacons, priests, bishops or confirmed to a religious order to lead a religious life. Christ is telling us that those of us who are parents, teachers, shop keepers, laborers, police officers and firefighters and every other occupation- are also called by God to serve his people.  We meet them where we are at- together in that moment of time- which may be their moment of greatest need, and we become the means by which God accomplishes his will.  “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received, to serve others as faithful servants of God’s grace in all its various forms.” [1 Peter 4:10]

We must all come to realize that each of has a God given gift, that will be of benefit to someone else. These gifts, no matter how small or how insignificant they may seem- may be the most important thing someone is waiting for- praying for.  Perhaps it may be as simple as being that person who directs a lost motorist, angry that their GPS is not working- or we become the helpful stranger and warm smile to the frustrated shopper.  These are all acts of God’s intervention and care for us.  We may not know it then, but God is using us to accomplish his will. In a simple way. To ease someone’s burden, to brighten their day and just be a friend.

We are told; “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care- watching over them not because you must, but because you are willing- not pursuing a dishonest gain, but eager to serve- not lording over those entrusted to you, but being an example.”  [1 Peter 5:2-3]

Let us perform those Corporal Works of Mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned and bury the dead.  Let us strive to fulfill the Spiritual Works of Mercy to instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish sinners, bear wrongs patiently, forgive willingly, comfort the sick and afflicted and always- to pray.

Christ reminds us: “Whoever does God’s will, is my brother and my sister” [Mark 3-35]  So let us live our lives as brothers and sisters of Christ!  Serving the children of God, not matter how simply. For by doing so- Thy Will Be Done!

Blessed Lucy of Narni

Blessed Lucy of Narni was the eldest of eleven children of Bartolomeo Broccadelli and Gentilina Cassio. When she was only five years old, she had a vision of the Virgin Mary. Two years later, she had another vision, this time of the Virgin Mary accompanied by Saint Dominic. Dominic is said to have given her the scapular at this time. When she was twelve years old, Lucy made a private vow of chastity, and determined to become a Dominican nun.

Circumstances, however, changed to make doing so difficult.  The next year her father died, leaving her in the care of an uncle. This uncle determined that the best course of action he could take would be to get Lucy married as quickly as possible.

He made several attempts to do so. One of these included holding a large family party. He had invited the man he had chosen as Lucia’s husband to the party, with the intention of having the couple publicly betrothed. He however had not informed Lucia of his intentions. The suitor made an attempt to put a ring on Lucia’s finger, only to be slapped repeatedly for his efforts by Lucia.

A later attempt involved Count Pietro de Alessio of Milan, an acquaintance of the family. Lucia was actually quite fond of him, but felt her earlier vow to become a nun made the possibility of marriage impossible. The strain Lucia felt as a result of the conflicting feelings made her seriously ill. During this time, the Virgin Mary and Saint Dominic again appeared to her, this time accompanied by Catherine of Siena. They reportedly advised Lucia to contract a legal marriage to Pietro, but to explain that her vow of virginity would have to be respected and not violated. Pietro agreed to the terms, and the marriage was formalized.

In 1491 Lucia became Pietro’s legal wife and the mistress of his household, which included a number of servants and a busy social calendar. Despite her busy schedule, Lucia made great efforts to instruct the servants in Christianity and soon became well known locally for her charity to the poor.

Pietro observed Lucia’s behavior, and occasional quirks, quite indulgently. He never objected when she gave away clothing and food nor when she performed austere penances, which included regularly wearing a hair shirt under her garments and spending most of the night in prayer and acting to help the poor. He also seemed to have taken in stride the story he was told by the servants that Lucia was often visited in the evenings by Saint Catherine, Saint Agnes, and Saint Agnes of Montepulciano who helped her make bread for the poor.

However, when one of the servants came up to him one day and told him that Lucia was privately entertaining a handsome young man she appeared to be quite familiar with, he did react. He took up his sword and went to see who this person was. When he arrived, he found Lucia contemplating a large crucifix. The servant told him that the man he had seen Lucia with looked like the figure on the crucifix.

Lucia left one night for a local Franciscan monastic community, only to find it closed. She returned home the following day, stating that she had been led back by two saints. That was enough for Pietro. He had her locked away for the bulk of one Lenten season. She was only visited by servants who brought her food. When Easter arrived, however, she managed to escape from Pietro back to her mother’s house and on 1494 May 8 became a Dominican tertiary. Pietro expressed his disapproval of this in a rather dramatic form, by burning down the monastery of the prior who had given her the habit.

In 1495 Lucia went to Rome and joined a group of Third order Dominican tertiaries. The next year she was sent to Viterbo and here she found she was frequently the object of unwanted attention. It was here, on February 25, 1496 that she is reported to have received the stigmata. Lucia did her best to hide these marks, and was frequently in spiritual ecstasy. The house had a steady stream of visitors who came to speak to Lucia, and, often, just look at her. Even the other nuns were concerned about her, and at one point called in the local bishop who watched Lucia go through the drama of the Passion for twelve hours straight.

The bishop would not make a decision on Lucia, and called in the local inquisition. Reports here vary, some indicating that he referred the case directly to the Pope, who is said to have spoken with her and, with the assistance of Columba of Rieti, ultimately decided in her favor, telling her to go home and pray for him. Other sources question the accuracy of these reports.

At that time Pietro also came to her, making a final plea to persuade Lucia to return with him as his wife. She declined, and Pietro left alone. He would himself later become a Franciscan monk and a famous preacher.

When Lucy returned to the convent in Viterbo, she found that the Duke of Ferrara, Ercole d’Este I, had determined to build a convent in Ferrara and that, having heard of her, he determined that she would be its prioress. In summer of 1497, he invited her to be the founder of this new monastery. Lucia herself, the Dominican order, and the Pope all agreed quickly to the new proposal. The municipal council of Viterbo, however, objected, not wanting to lose Lucy. Lucia had been praying for some time for a way to create a new convent of strict observance, and agreed to go to the new convent.

 

Lucia’s departure precipitated a conflict between Ferrara and Viterbo which would continue for two years. Viterbo wanted to keep the famous mystic for themselves, and the duke wanted her in Ferrara. After extensive correspondence between the parties, on April 15, 1499 Lucia escaped secretly from Viterbo and was officially received in Ferrara on May 7, 1499. Thirteen young girls immediately applied for admission to her new community; the construction of the monastery began in June and was completed two years later, in August 1501. It contained 140 cells for sisters and the novices, but to fill it with suitable vocations proved to be very difficult. Lucia expressed the wish to have there some of her former friends from Viterbo and Narni. Duke Ercole, in September 1501 sent his messenger to Rome asking for the help of the pope’s daughter Lucrezia Borgia, who was preparing to marry Duke’s son Alfonso. She collected all eleven candidates Lucia had indicated and sent them, as a special wedding present to Lucia and to the Duke, a few days ahead of her bridal party. She herself solemnly entered Ferrara on February 2, 1502.

The Duke petitioned the local bishop for some help for Lucia in governing her new community, and he sent ten nuns from another community to join Lucia’s convent. Unfortunately, these ten nuns were members of the Dominican second order, who were canonically permitted to wear black veils, something Lucia and the members of the Dominican third order community were not allowed to do.

Tensions were heightened when one of these veiled outsiders, Sister Maria da Parma, was made the prioress of the convent on September 2, 1503. When Duke Ercole died on January 24, 1505 the new prioress quickly found Lucia to be guilty of some unrecorded transgression, most probably of the support for the Savonarolan church reform, and placed her on a strict penance. Lucia was not allowed to speak to any person but her confessor, who was chosen by the prioress. The local provincial of the Dominican order would also not permit any member of the order to see Lucia. There are records that at least one Dominican, Catherine of Racconigi, did visit her, evidently by bilocation, and that Lucia’s earlier visitation by departed saints continued. In response to Lucia’s insistent prayer her stigmata eventually disappeared, which caused some of the other nuns to question whether they had ever been there at all. When Lucia finally died, in 1544, many people were surprised to find that she had not died years earlier.

Then suddenly everything changed. When her body was laid out for burial so many people wanted to pay their last respects that her funeral had to be delayed by three days. Her tomb in the monastery church was opened four years later and her perfectly preserved body was transferred to a glass case. When Napoleon in 1797 suppressed her monastery the body was transferred to the Cathedral of Ferrara; and on 1935 May 26 – to the Cathedral of Narni.

Lucia was beatified by Pope Clement XI on March 1, 1710

Saint Albert the Great

Saint Albert the Great was born sometime between 1193 and 1206, to the Count of Bollstädt in Lauingen in Bavaria.  Contemporaries such as Roger Bacon applied the term “Magnus” to Albertus during his own lifetime, referring to his immense reputation as a scholar and philosopher.  Albertus was educated principally at Padua, where he received instruction in Aristotle’s writings. A late account by Rudolph de Novamagia refers to Albertus’ encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary, who convinced him to enter Holy Orders. In 1223 (or 1221) he became a member of the Dominican Order, against the wishes of his family, and studied theology at Bologna and elsewhere. Selected to fill the position of lecturer at Cologne, Germany, where the Dominicans had a house, he taught for several years there, at Regensburg, Freiburg, Strasbourg and Hildesheim. In 1245 he went to Paris, received his doctorate, and taught for some time as a master of theology with great success. During this time Thomas Aquinas began to study under Albertus.

In 1254, Albertus was made provincial of the Dominican Order, and fulfilled the arduous duties of the office with great care and efficiency. During his tenure he publicly defended the Dominicans against attacks by the secular and regular faculty of the University of Paris, commented on St. John, and answered what he perceived as errors of the Arabian philosopher Averroes.

In 1260, Pope Alexander IV made him Bishop of Regensburg, an office from which he resigned after three years. During the exercise of his duties he enhanced his reputation for humility by refusing to ride a horse—in accord with the dictates of the Dominican order—instead walking back and forth across his huge diocese. This earned him the affectionate sobriquet, “boots the bishop,” from his parishioners. After his stint as bishop, he spent the remainder of his life partly in retirement in the various houses of his order, yet often preaching throughout southern Germany. In 1270, he preached the eighth Crusade in Austria. Among the last of his labors was the defense of the orthodoxy of his former pupil, Thomas Aquinas, whose death in 1274 grieved Albertus. After suffering a collapse of health in 1278, he died on November 15, 1280, in Cologne, Germany. His tomb is in the crypt of the Dominican church of St. Andreas   in Cologne,   and his relics at the Cologne Cathedral.

Albertus was beatified in 1622. He was canonized and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. St Albert’s feast day is celebrated on November 15.

 

Blessed John Licci

Blessed John Licci, born to a poor farmer, his mother died in childbirth. His life from then on, all 111 years, was a tale of miracles.  His father, who fed the baby on crushed pomegranates, had to work the fields, and was forced to leave the infant alone. The baby began crying, and a neighbor woman took him to her home to feed him. She laid the infant on the bed next to her paralyzed husband – and the man was instantly cured. The woman told John’s father of the miracle, but he was more concerned that she was meddling, and had taken his son without his permission. He took the child home to feed him more pomegranate pulp. As soon as the child was removed from the house, the neighbor’s paralysis returned; when John was brought back in, the man was healed. Even John’s father took this as a sign, and allowed the neighbors to care for John.

A precocious and emotional child, John began reciting the Daily Offices before age 10. While on a trip to Palermo, Italy at age 15, John went to Confession in the church of Saint Zita of Lucca where his confession was heard by Blessed Peter Geremia who suggested John consider a religious life. John considered himself unworthy, but Peter pressed the matter, John joined the Dominicans in 1415, and wore the habit for 96 years, the longest period known for anyone.

He founded the convent of Saint Zita in Caccamo, Italy. Lacking money for the construction, John prayed for guidance. During his prayer he had a vision of an angel who told him to “build on the foundations that were already built.” The next day in the nearby woods he found the foundation for a church called “Saint Mary of the Angels,” a church that had been started many years before, but had never been finished. John assumed this was the place indicated, and took over the site.

During the construction, workmen ran out of materials; the next day at dawn a large ox-drawn wagon arrived at the site. The driver unloaded a large quantity of stone, lime and sand – then promptly disappeared, leaving the oxen and wagon behind for the use of the convent. At another point a well got in the way of construction; John blessed it, and it immediately dried up; when construction was finished, he blessed it again, and the water began to flow. When roof beams were cut too short, John would pray over them, and they would stretch. There were days when John had to miraculously multiply bread and wine to feed the workers. Once a young boy came to the construction site to watch his uncle set stones; the boy fell from a wall, and was killed; John prayed over him, and restored him to life and health.

John and two brother Dominicans who were working on the convent were on the road near Caccamo when they were set upon by bandits. One of the thieves tried to stab John with a dagger; the man’s hand withered and became paralyzed. The gang let the brothers go, then decided to ask for their forgiveness. John made the Sign of the Cross at them, and the thief‘s hand was made whole.

One Christmas a nearby farmer offered to pasture the oxen that had come with the disappearing wagon-driver. John declined, saying the oxen had come far to be there, and there they should stay. Thinking he was doing good, the layman took them anyway. When he put them in the field with his own oxen, they promptly disappeared; he later found them at the construction site, contentedly munching dry grass near Father John.

While he did plenty of preaching in his 90+ years in the habit, usually on Christ’s Passion, he was not known as a great homilist. He was known, however, for his miracles and good works. His blessing caused the breadbox of a nearby widow to stay miraculously full, feeding her and her six children. His blessing prevented disease from coming to the cattle of his parishioners.  A noted healer, curing at least three people whose heads had been crushed in accidents, he was Provincial of Sicily, and Prior of the abbey on several occasions.