Our Lady of the Snows ~ Feast of St. Mary Major~ August 5th

A feast celebrated on 5 August to commemorate the dedication of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. The church was originally built by Pope Liberius (352-366) and was called after him "Basilica Liberii" or "Liberiana". It was restored by Pope Sixtus III (432-440) and dedicated to Our Lady. From that time on it was known as "Basilica S. Mariæ" or "Mariæ Majoris"; since the seventh century it was known also as "Maria ad Præsepe". The appellation "ad Nives" (of the snow) originated a few hundred years later, as did also the legend which gave this name to the church. The legend runs thus: During the pontificate of Liberius, the Roman patrician John and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to Our lady. They prayed to her that she might make known to them in what manner they were to dispose of their property in her honour. On 5 August, during the night, snow fell on the summit of the Esquiline Hill and, in obedience to a vision which they had the same night, they built a) basilica, in honour of Our Lady, on the spot which was covered with snow. From the fact that no mention whatever is made of this alleged miracle until a few hundred years later, not even by Sixtus III in his eight-lined dedicatory inscription [edited by de Rossi, "Inscript. Christ.", II, I (Rome, 1888), 71; Grisar (who has failed to authenticate the alleged miracle), "Analecta Romana", I (Rome, 1900), 77; Duchesne, "Liber Pontificalis", I (Paris, 1886), 235; Marucchi, "Eléments d'archéologie chrétienne", III (Paris and Rome, 1902), 155, etc.] it would seem that the legend has no historical basis. Originally the feast was celebrated only at Sta Maria Maggiore; in the fourteenth century it was extended to all the churches of Rome and finally it was made a universal feast by Pius V. Clement VIII raised it from a feast of double rite to double major. The mass is the common one for feasts of the Blessed Virgin; the office is also the common one of the Bl. Virgin, with the exception of the second Nocturn, which is an account of the alleged miracle. The congregation, which Benedict XIV instituted for the reform of the Breviary in 1741, proposed that the reading of the legend be struck from the Office and that the feast should again receive its original name, "Dedicatio Sanctæ Mariæ".

St Ignatius of Loyola

Saint Ignatius of Loyola (Basque: Loiolako Inazio, Spanish: Ignacio de Loyola) (1491[1] – July 31, 1556) was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and became its first Superior General.[2] The Jesuits emerged during the Counter-Reformation in reaction of the Catholic Church against the theology of Protestantism. Loyola's devotion to the Church can be summed up in Rule 13 of the Jesuits' "Rules for Thinking with the Church" by him: "I will believe that the white that I see is black if the hierarchical Church so defines it".[3]

After being seriously wounded at the Battle of Pamplona in 1521, he underwent a spiritual conversion while in recovery. De Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony inspired Loyola to abandon his previous military life and devote himself to labour for God, following the example of spiritual leaders like Francis of Assisi. He experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus while at the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat in March 1522. Thereafter he went to Manresa, where he began praying for seven hours a day, often in a nearby cave, while formulating the fundamentals of the Spiritual Exercises. In September 1523, Loyola reached the Holy Land to settle there, but was sent back to Europe by the Franciscans.

Between 1524 and 1537, Ignatius studied theology and Latin in Spain and then in Paris. In 1534, he arrived in the latter city during a period of anti-Protestant turmoil which forced John Calvin to flee France. He and a few followers bound themselves by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In 1539, they formed a permanent union approved as the Society of Jesus in 1540 by Pope Paul III, who also approved his Spiritual Exercises in 1548. Loyola also composed the Constitutions of the Society. He died in July 1556, was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1609 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622, and declared patron of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. The feast day of Ignatius is celebrated on July 31. Ignatius is a foremost patron saint of soldiers, the Society of Jesus, the Basque Country, and the provinces of Guipúzcoa and Biscay

Virgin of Montserrat

The Virgin of Montserrat is a statue of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ venerated at the Santa Maria de Montserrat monastery in the Montserrat mountain in Catalonia. It is one of the black Madonnas of Europe, hence its familiar Catalan name, la Moreneta ("The little dark-skinned one"). Believed by some to have been carved in Jerusalem in the early days of the church, it is a Romanesque sculpture in wood from the late 12th century.

Legend has it that the Benedictine monks could not move the statue to construct their monastery, choosing to instead build around it. The statue's sanctuary is located at the rear of the chapel, where an altar of gold surrounds the icon, and is now a site of pilgrimage.

Upon his recovery from battle wounds, Ignatius of Loyola visited the Benedictine monastery of Montserrat (March 25, 1522), where he hung his military accoutrements before the image. Then he led a period of asceticism before later founding the Society of Jesus.

On September 11, 1844, Pope Leo XIII declared the virgin of Montserrat patroness of Catalonia (Saint George is another patron saint.)

The hymn to the Virgin of Montserrat, known as Virolai and sung every day by the Escolania de Montserrat, begins with the words: "Rosa d’abril, Morena de la serra..." (April rose, dusky lady of the mountain chain...). Therefore this virgin is sometimes also known as “Rosa d’abril”.



Photos: Montserrat Shrine

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/spain/montserrat-photos/

St. Peter in Chains Feast Day Aug.1st

The Liberation of Saint Peter is a story told in the Acts of the Apostles in which Saint Peter is rescued from prison by an angel. Although described in a short textual passage, the tale has given rise to theological discussions and has been the subject of a number of artworks.

Biblical narrative
Acts 12:3-19 tells how Peter was put into prison by King Herod, but the night before his trial an angel appeared to him, and told him to leave. Peter's chains fell off, and he followed the angel out of prison, thinking it was a vision (verse 9). The prison doors opened of their own accord, and the angel led Peter into the city.


When the angel suddenly left him, Peter came to himself and returned to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. A servant girl called Rhoda came to answer the door, and when she heard Peter's voice she was so overjoyed that she rushed to tell the others, and forgot to open the door for Peter (verse 14). Eventually Peter is let in and describes "how the Lord had brought him out of prison" (verse 17). When his escape is discovered, Herod orders the guards put to death (verse 19).

[edit] Theological significance
F. F. Bruce argues that "direct divine intervention is strongly indicated" in this narrative. He contrasts the story of Peter to that of James, who was reported in verse 2 as having been executed by Herod, and notes that "James should die while Peter should escape" is a "mystery of divine providence."[1]

James B. Jordan suggests that this incident is portrayed as being a type of resurrection for Peter. Noting that one of the major themes of the Book of Acts is that "Christ’s servants follow in His footsteps," Jordan argues that the events of the chapter "recapitulate the resurrection of Jesus."[2] Amy-Jill Levine and Marianne Blickenstaff, like Jordan, relate the disbelief of Rhoda's message to Luke 24:1-12, where most of the disciples refuse to believe the news of the resurrection brought by a group of women.[3]



The Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula, the parish church of the Tower of London.Acts 12:7 is referred to in Charles Wesley's hymn And Can it Be:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

A number of churches are named after "St Peter in Chains" (Latin St Peter ad Vincula, Italian San Pietro in Vincoli), including in Rome, in Pisa, in London, and in Cincinnati.

The traditional festival of "St Peter in Chains" was on 1 August, and had the collect:

O God, who didst deliver thy holy Apostle Saint Peter from his bonds and suffer him to depart unhurt:
vouchsafe, we pray thee; to deliver us from the bonds of our sins, and of thy mercy preserve us from all evil.[4]

St. Mary Magdalene

Saint Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross
West: Penitent
East: Myrrhbearer and Equal of the Apostles
Born early 1st century AD
Magdala?
Died mid to late 1st century AD
Ephesus, Asia Minor or Marseilles[1]
Venerated in Eastern Orthodoxy
Roman Catholic Church
Anglican Communion
Lutheranism
other Protestant churches
Feast July 22
Attributes Western: alabaster box of ointment, long hair, at the foot of the cross[2]

Eastern: container of ointment (as a myrrhbearer), or holding a red egg (symbol of the resurrection); embracing the feet of Christ after the Resurrection

Patronage apothecaries; Atrani, Italy; Casamicciola Terme, Ischia; contemplative life; converts; glove makers; hairdressers; penitent sinners; people ridiculed for their piety; perfumeries; pharmacists; reformed prostitutes; sexual temptation; tanners; women[2]

Mary Magdalene or Mary of Magdala (original Greek Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή)[3] is described, in the New Testament, as one of the most important women in the movement of Jesus throughout his ministry.[4]

The late 20th and early 21st century has seen a restoration of the New Testament figure of Mary Magdalene as a patron of women's preaching and ministry. Her new popularity has stemmed in part from the recognition that Mary Magdalene has suffered from what some believe to have been a historical defamation of character. She has been thought to be misidentified as a repentant prostitute in historical tradition, and depicted in art as a weeping sinner wiping Jesus' feet with her hair. Some New Testament scholarship has shown that this picture of Mary Magdalene is not true.[5]

According to Luke 8:2 and Mark 16:9, Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons," a concept usually associated in the New Testament with healing from illness,[6] not forgiveness of sin. Mary Magdalene is the leader of a group of women disciples who are present at the cross, when the male disciples (excepting John the Beloved) have fled, and at his burial. Mary was a devoted follower of Jesus, entering into the close circle of those taught by Jesus during his Galilean ministry. She became prominent during the last days, accompanying Jesus during his travels and following him to the end. She witnessed his Crucifixion and burial. According to all four Gospels in the Christian New Testament, she was the first person to see the resurrected Christ.[7]

Mary Magdalene is referred to in early Christian writings as "the apostle to the apostles." In apocryphal texts, she is portrayed as a visionary and leader of the early movement, who was loved by Jesus more than the other disciples.[8] Several Gnostic gospels, such as the Gospel of Mary, written in the early second century, see Mary as the special disciple of Jesus who has a deeper understanding of his teachings and is asked to impart this to the other disciples. Many speculations (though unsupported in most canons) in antiquity and in modern times, have emerged regarding Mary, including claims that she was Jesus' wife and even that she bore some children by him.[9]

According to Ambrose in De virginitate, Mary Magdalene was a virgin after she witnessed the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Mary Magdalene is considered by the Catholic Church, as well as the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches to be a saint, with a feast day of July 22. The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers which is the second Sunday after Pascha (Easter


Gregory of Tours, writing in Tours in the sixth century,[22] supports the tradition that she retired to Ephesus, with no mention of any connection to Gaul.

How a cult of Mary Magdalene first arose in Provence has been summed up by Victor Saxer[23] in the collection of essays in La Magdaleine, VIIIe – XIIIe siècle[24] and by Katherine Ludwig Jansen, drawing on popular devotions, sermon literature and iconology.[25]

Mary Magdalene's relics were first venerated at the abbey of Vézelay in Burgundy. Jacobus de Voragine gives the common account of the transfer of the relics of Mary Magdalene from her sepulchre in the oratory of Saint Maximin at Aix-en-Provence to the newly founded abbey of Vézelay;[26] the transportation of the relics is entered as undertaken in 771 by the founder of the abbey, identified as Gerard, duke of Burgundy.[27] The earliest mention of this episode is the notice of the chronicler Sigebert of Gembloux (died 1112), who asserts that the relics were removed to Vézelay through fear of the Saracens. There is no record of their further removal to the other St-Maximin; a casket of relics associated with Magdalene remains at Vézelay.

Afterwards, since September 9, 1279, the purported body of Mary Magdalene was also venerated at Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, Provence. This cult attracted such throngs of pilgrims that the earlier shrine was rebuilt as the great Basilica from the mid-thirteenth century, one of the finest Gothic churches in the south of France.

The competition between the Cluniac Benedictines of Vézelay and the Dominicans of Saint-Maxime occasioned a rash of miraculous literature supporting the one or the other site. Jacobus de Voragine, compiling his Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend) before the competition arose, characterized Mary Magdalene as the emblem of penitence, washing the feet of Jesus with her copious tears (although it is now known that Mary of Bethany was the woman known for washing or anointing the feet of Jesus)[28] protectress of pilgrims to Jerusalem, daily lifting by angels at the meal hour in her fasting retreat and many other miraculous happenings in the genre of Romance, ending with her death in the oratory of Saint Maximin, all disingenuously claimed to have been drawn from the histories of Hegesippus and of Josephus.


Mary Magdalene attributed to Gregor Erhart (Louvre).The French tradition of Saint Lazare of Bethany is that Mary, her brother Lazarus, and Maximinus, one of the Seventy Disciples and some companions, expelled by persecutions from the Holy Land, traversed the Mediterranean in a frail boat with neither rudder nor mast and landed at the place called Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer near Arles. Mary Magdalene came to Marseille and converted the whole of Provence. Magdalene is said to have retired to a cave on a hill by Marseille, La Sainte-Baume ("holy cave." baumo in Provençal), where she gave herself up to a life of penance for thirty years. When the time of her death arrived she was carried by angels to Aix and into the oratory of Saint Maximinus, where she received the viaticum; her body was then laid in an oratory constructed by St. Maximinus at Villa Lata, afterwards called St. Maximin.

In 1279, when Charles II, King of Naples, erected a Dominican convent at La Sainte-Baume, the shrine was found intact, with an explanatory inscription stating why the relics had been hidden.

In 1600, the relics were placed in a sarcophagus commissioned by Pope Clement VIII, the head being placed in a separate reliquary. The relics and free-standing images were scattered and destroyed at the Revolution. In 1814, the church of La Sainte-Baume, also wrecked during the Revolution, was restored. In 1822, the grotto was consecrated afresh. The head of the saint now lies there and has been the centre of many pilgrimages.

The traditional Roman Catholic feast day dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene celebrated her position as a penitent. The Magdalene became a symbol of repentance for the vanities of the world to various sects. In 1969, the Catholic Church allegedly admitted what critics had been saying for centuries: Magdalene's standard image as a reformed prostitute is not supported by the text of the Bible. They reportedly have revised the Roman Missal and the Roman Calendar, and now neither of those documents mention Mary Magdalene as a repentant sinner of ill repute.[29] St. Mary Magdalene was the patron of Magdalen College, Oxford, and Magdalene College, Cambridge (both colleges pronounce her name as "maudlin"). In contrast, her name was also used for the Magdalen Asylum, institutions for "fallen women".

Easter Egg tradition

Icon of St. Mary Magdalene holding a red Easter egg with the words Christ is Risen.

Red-colored Belarussian Easter Eggs.

For centuries, it has been the custom of many Christians to share dyed and painted eggs, particularly on Easter Sunday. The eggs represent new life, and Christ bursting forth from the tomb. Among Eastern Orthodox Christians (including Bulgarian, Czech, Greek, Lebanese, Macedonian, Russian, Romanian, Serbian and Ukrainian) this sharing is accompanied by the proclamation "Christ is risen!" (in Greek "Christos anesti") and the response "Truly He is risen!" (in Greek - "Alithos anesti").

One tradition concerning Mary Magdalene says that following the death and resurrection of Jesus, she used her position to gain an invitation to a banquet given by Emperor Tiberius. When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed "Christ is risen!" Caesar laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it. Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red, and she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house.[33]

Another version of this story can be found in popular belief, mostly in Greece. It is believed that after the Crucifixion, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary put a basket full of eggs at the foot of the cross. There, the eggs were painted red by the blood of the Christ. Then, Mary Magdalene brought them to Tiberius Caesar (see above).

Nunc dimittis

Nunc dimittis


Simeon's Song of Praise by Aert de Gelder, around 1700–1710.The Nunc dimittis [1] (also Song of Simeon or Canticle of Simeon) is a canticle from a text in the second chapter of Luke (Luke 2:29–32) named after its first words in Latin.[2]

Simeon was a devout Jew who, according to the book of Luke, had been promised by the Holy Ghost that he would not die until he had seen the Saviour. When Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem for the ceremony of consecration of the firstborn son (not the circumcision, but rather after the time of Mary's purification: at least 40 days after the birth), Simeon was there, and he took Jesus into his arms and uttered words rendered variously as follows.



The start of the Nunc dimittis in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de BerryOriginal Greek (Novum Testamentum Graece):

νῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου, δέσποτα, κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου ἐν εἰρήνῃ·
ὅτι εἶδον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου τὸ σωτήριόν σου,
ὃ ἡτοίμασας κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν λαῶν,
φῶς εἰς αποκάλυψιν ἐθνῶν καὶ δόξαν λαοῦ σου Ἰσραήλ.
Latin (Vulgate):

Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace:
Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum
Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum:
Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
English (Douay-Rheims, 1582):

Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace;
Because my eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples:
A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

St. Martha

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
- (Luke 10:38-42, New International Version)


Catholic Traditions

Martha from the Isabella Breviary, 1497In Roman Catholic tradition, Martha's sister Mary is equated with Mary Magdalene. Therefore, additional information is supposed for Martha as well:

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are represented by St. John as living at Bethania, but St. Luke would seem to imply that they were, at least at one time, living in Galilee; he does not mention the name of the town, but it may have been Magdala, and we should thus, supposing Mary of Bethania and Mary Magdalene to be the same person, understand the appellative "Magdalene". The words of St. John (11:1) seem to imply a change of residence for the family. It is possible, too, that St. Luke has displaced the incident referred to in Chapter 10. The likeness between the pictures of Martha presented by Luke and John is very remarkable. The familiar intercourse between the Saviour of the world and the humble family which St. Luke depicts is dwelt on by St. John when he tells us that "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus" (11:5). Again the picture of Martha's anxiety (John 11:20-21, 39) accords with the picture of her who was "busy about much serving" (Luke 10:40); so also in John 12:2: "They made him a supper there: and Martha served." But St. John has given us a glimpse of the other and deeper side of her character when he depicts her growing faith in Christ's Divinity (11:20-27), a faith which was the occasion of the words: "I am the resurrection and the life." The Evangelist has beautifully indicated the change that came over Martha after that interview: "When she had said these things, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying: The Master is come, and calleth for thee."[2]

Golden Legend

According to legend, St Martha left Judea after Jesus's death, around AD 48, and went to Provence with her sister Mary (conflated with Mary Magdalene) and her brother Lazarus. With them, Martha first settled in Avignon (now in France). The Golden Legend, compiled in the 13th century, records the Provençal tradition:

Saint Martha, hostess of our Lord Jesus Christ, was born of a royal kindred. Her father was named Syro and her mother Encharia. The father of her was duke of Syria and places maritime, and Martha with her sister possessed by the heritage of their mother three places, that was, the castle Magdalen, and Bethany and a part of Jerusalem. It is nowhere read that Martha had ever any husband ne fellowship of man, but she as a noble hostess ministered and served our Lord, and would also that her sister should serve him and help her, for she thought that all the world was not sufficient to serve such a guest.

After the ascension of our Lord, when the disciples were departed, she with her brother Lazarus and her sister Mary, also Saint Maximin [actually a 3rd-century figure] which baptized them, and to whom they were committed of the Holy Ghost, and many others, were put into a ship without sail, oars, or rudder governail, of the paynims, which by the conduct of our Lord they came all to Marseilles, and after came to the territory of Aquense or Aix, and there converted the people to the faith. Martha was right facound of speech, and courteous and gracious to the sight of the people.[5]

The Golden Legend also records the grand lifestyle imagined for Martha and her siblings in its entry on Mary Magdalene:

Mary Magdalene had her surname of Magdalo, a castle, and was born of right noble lineage and parents, which were descended of the lineage of kings. And her father was named Cyrus, and her mother Eucharis. She with her brother Lazarus, and her sister Martha, possessed the castle of Magdalo, which is two miles from Nazareth, and Bethany, the castle which is nigh to Jerusalem, and also a great part of Jerusalem, which, all these things they departed among them. In such wise that Mary had the castle Magdalo, whereof she had her name Magdalene. And Lazarus had the part of the city of Jerusalem, and Martha had to her part Bethany. And when Mary gave herself to all delights of the body, and Lazarus entended all to knighthood, Martha, which was wise, governed nobly her brother's part and also her sister's, and also her own, and administered to knights, and her servants, and to poor men, such necessities as they needed. Nevertheless, after the ascension of our Lord, they sold all these things.[6]

[edit] St. Martha in Tarascon

St Martha's Collegiate Church in TarasconA further legend relates that Martha then went to Tarascon, where a monster, the Tarasque, was a constant threat to the population. Martha managed to tame the monster and eventually died in Tarascon, where she was buried. Her tomb is located in the crypt of the local Collegiate Church. Again, the Golden Legend provides the details:

There was that time upon the river of Rhone, in a certain wood between Arles and Avignon, a great dragon, half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than an horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent, and defended him with two wings on either side, and could not be beaten with cast of stones ne with other armour, and was as strong as twelve lions or bears; which dragon lay hiding and lurking in the river, and perished them that passed by and drowned ships. He came thither by sea from Galicia, and was engendered of Leviathan, which is a serpent of the water and is much wood, and of a beast called Bonacho, that is engendered in Galicia. And when he is pursued he casts out of his belly behind, his ordure, the space of an acre of land on them that follow him, and it is bright as glass, and what it toucheth it burneth as fire. To whom Martha, at the prayer of the people, came into the wood, and found him eating a man. And she cast on him holy water, and showed to him the cross, which anon was overcome, and standing still as a sheep, she bound him with her own girdle, and then was slain with spears and glaives of the people. The dragon was called of them that dwelled in the country Tarasconus, whereof, in remembrance of him that place is called Tarasconus, which tofore was called Nerluc, and the Black Lake, because there be woods shadowous and black. And there the blessed Martha, by licence of Maximin her master, and of her sister, dwelled and abode in the same place after, and daily occupied in prayers and in fastings, and thereafter assembled and were gathered together a great convent of sisters, and builded a fair church at the honour of the blessed Mary virgin, where she led a hard and a sharp life. She eschewed flesh and all fat meat, eggs, cheese and wine; she ate but once a day. An hundred times a day and an hundred times a night she kneeled down and bowed her knees.[5]

The dedication of the Collegiate Church at Tarascon to St. Martha is believed to date from the 9th century or earlier. Relics found in the church during a reconstruction in 1187 were identified as hers, and reburied in a new shrine at that time.[7] In the Collegiate Church crypt is a late 15th century cenotaph, also known as the Gothic Tomb of Saint Martha. It is the work of Francesco Laurana, a Croatian sculptor of the Italian School, commissioned by King René. At its base are two openings through which the relics could be touched. It bears three low reliefs separated by fluted pilasters representing : on the left, Saint Martha and the Tarasque; in the center, Saint Mary Magdalene born aloft by the angels; on the right, Lazarus as Bishop of Marseille with his mitre and staff. There are two figures on either side: on the left, Saint Front, Bishop of Perrigueux, present at the funeral of Saint Martha, and on the right, Saint Marcelle, Martha’s servant.[8]

The Church’s Year

The perfect book for family reading. Part I: texts and commentaries for the Epistles, Gospels, and most other Mass prayers (e.g., Introit, Collect, Gradual, etc.) for every Sunday and Holy Day of the liturgical year. Part II: The Saints—Epistles and Gospels. Focuses on teaching doctrine and morals through the liturgy. Question & Answer format.

• Almsgiving
• Manner of Following Mass at Home
• Bible and Tradition
• Blessings
• Process of Canonization
• Excommunication
• Detraction
• Education of Children
• Consolation in Sickness
• Love of Enemies
• Indulgences
• Holy Orders
• Why Christ Spoke in Parables
• The Rosary
• Processions
• Relics
• Holy Water
• Temptation
• The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
• Ceremonies
• Regarding the Spirit of the Liturgical Seasons
• Miracles
• Sacraments
• Origins of Church Feasts
• Drunkenness
• Good Intention
• more Hows? Whys? and What-fors?

The Church’s Year follows the calendar in effect at the time it was first published (1880), yet all of it is applicable with the use of the 1962 Missal. Totally re-typeset. Keepsake edition. “It will bring blessings on any house in which it is kept and used” (Wm. Henry Elder, Archbishop of Cincinnati, 1884). Gold-embossed leatherette cover.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Pilgrimage of Grace

A banner bearing the Holy Wounds of Jesus Christ, which was carried at the Pilgrimage of Grace

Pilgrimage of Grace

Location York, Yorkshire, England
Date October 1536 – January 1537
Attack type Uprising and subsequent supression
Death(s) 216 executed
Belligerent(s) Thomas Cromwell, Vicegerent in Spirituals to Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Participant 40,000 pilgrims
Defender(s) Robert Aske
Thomas Darcy, Baron Darcy
Robert Constable
John Bigod

The Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular rising in York, Yorkshire during 1536, in protest against England's break with Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, as well as other specific political, social and economic grievances. Technically the term Pilgrimage of Grace refers specifically and inclusively to the uprising around York, though sometimes it is used in relation to the risings in general which took place around Northern England; first from Lincolnshire, twelve days before the actual Pilgrimage of Grace.



Lincolnshire Rising

The Lincolnshire Rising was a brief dissent of Catholics against the establishment of the Church of England by Henry VIII and the dissolution of the monasteries set in motion by Thomas Cromwell's suggested plan of asserting the nation's religious autonomy and the king's supremacy over religious matters.

It began at St. James Church, Louth, after evensong on 1 October 1536, shortly after the closure of Louth Abbey. The uprising was only against the attempt to suppress the religious houses, these being Catholic, and was not against the king or the church. It quickly gained support in Horncastle, Market Rasen, Caistor and other nearby towns. Angry with the actions of commissioners, the protesters/rioters demanded the end of the collection of a subsidy, the end of the Ten Articles, an end to the dissolution, an end to taxes in peacetime, a purge of heretics in government, and the repeal of the Statute of Uses. With support from local gentry, a force of demonstrators, estimated at up to 40,000 marched on Lincoln and, by 14 October, occupied Lincoln Cathedral. They demanded the freedom to continue worshiping as Catholics, and protection for the treasures of Lincolnshire churches.

The moratorium effectively ended on 4 October 1536, when King Henry sent word for the occupiers to disperse or face the forces of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, which had already been mobilised. By 14 October, few remained in Lincoln. Following the rising, the vicar of Louth and Captain Cobbler, two of the main leaders, were captured and hanged at Tyburn.[1] Most of the other local ringleaders met the same fate over the next twelve months, with a lawyer from Willingham, being hanged, drawn and quartered for his involvement. Soon, however, the Lincolnshire Rising helped inspire the more widespread Pilgrimage of Grace.

Pilgrimage of Grace, the early Tudor crisis

The movement broke out on 13 October 1536, immediately following the failure of the Lincolnshire Rising, and at this point was the term 'Pilgrimage of Grace' used. The causes of the expostulations have long been debated by historians, but several key themes can be identified:

Economic grievances. The northern gentry had concerns over the new Statute of Uses. There were also popular fears of a new sheep tax. The harvest of 1535 had also led to high food prices, which may have contributed to discontent.
Political grievances. Many people in northern England had disliked the way in which Henry VIII had 'cast off' Catherine of Aragon. Although her successor, Anne Boleyn, had been unpopular, both as Catherine's replacement, a rumoured Protestant and a Southerner, her execution in 1536 on trumped-up charges of adultery, witchcraft and treason, had done much to undermine the monarchy's prestige and the king's personal reputation. There was also anger at the rise of Thomas Cromwell who was 'base born' and the aristocracy objected to this strongly.
Religious grievances. The local church was, for many in the north, the centre of community life. Many ordinary peasants were worried that their church plate would be confiscated. There were also popular rumours at the time which hinted that baptism might be taxed. The recently released Ten Articles and the new order of prayer issued by the government in 1535 had also made official doctrine more reformed. This went against the conservative beliefs of most northerners.

Pilgrimage of GraceRobert Aske was chosen to lead the insurgents; he was a London barrister, a resident of the Inns of Court, and the youngest son of Sir Robert Aske of Aughton near Selby. His was an old Yorkshire family from Richmondshire (Aske Hall). In 1536 Aske led a band of nine thousand followers, who entered and occupied York. There he arranged for the expelled monks and nuns to return to their houses; the king's newly installed tenants were driven out and Catholic observance resumed. The success of the rising was so great that the royal leaders, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, opened negotiations with the insurgents at Doncaster, where Aske had assembled between thirty and forty thousand men.

Henry authorised Norfolk to promise a general pardon and a Parliament to be held at York within a year, as well as a reprieve for the abbeys until the parliament had met. Trusting in the king's promises, Aske dismissed his followers.

Suppression

The King's promises were not kept, and in January 1537 a new rising took place in Cumberland and Westmorland called Bigod's Rebellion (which Aske attempted to prevent) under Sir Francis Bigod, of Settrington in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Upon this the king arrested Aske and several of the other leaders, such as Darcy, Constable, and Bigod, who were all convicted of treason and executed. Aske was hanged in chains from the walls of York Castle as a warning to other would-be 'rebels'. Sir John Bigod, Sir Thomas Percy, Sir Henry Percy, Sir John Bulmer, Sir Stephan Hamilton, Sir Nicholas Tempast, Sir William Lumley, Sir Edward Neville, Sir Robert Constable, the abbots of Barlings, Sawley, Fountains and Jervaulx Abbeys, and the prior of Bridlington were executed in July 1537. In all, 216 were put to death; lords and knights, half a dozen abbots, 38 monks, and 16 parish priests. The loss of the leaders enabled the Duke of Norfolk to quell the rising and martial law was imposed upon the demonstrating regions, ending predication.

Successes and failure

The Lincolnshire Rising and the Pilgrimage of Grace have traditionally been seen as complete failures. They did, however, achieve several results.

Successes

Contrary to popular myth, there were some partial successes because of the rebellions:

The government postponed the collection of the October subsidy. This had been a major grievance amongst the Lincolnshire organisations.
The Statute of Uses was negated by a new law, the Statute of Wills.
Four of the seven sacraments that were omitted from the Ten Articles, were restored in the Bishop's Book of 1537. This marked the end of the drift of official doctrine towards Protestantism. The Bishop's Book was followed by the Six Articles of 1539.
An onslaught upon heresy was promised in a royal proclamation in 1538.



Failures

The dissolution of the monasteries continued unabated, with the largest monasteries being dissolved by 1540.
Great tracts of land were seized from the Church and divided among the monarchy and its supporters.
The moves towards official Protestantism achieved by Cromwell were not reversed except during the five-year reign of Mary I of England (1553–1558).

THE GOLDEN LEGEND: WHEN SAINTS WERE SAINTS

THE GOLDEN LEGEND: WHEN SAINTS WERE SAINTS
Sandra Miesel
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In the Late Middle Ages, spiritual reading meant the . With the exception of the Bible, this vastly influential collection of saints' lives was the favorite book of the era.
More than 100 editions in various languages were printed before the Reformation. In addition, handwritten copies were so numerous that 1,000 venerable manuscripts still survive.

At long last, this medieval bestseller has made it into modern English. Jacobus de Voragine's (hardback, 791 pp., $90), complete with imprimatur, is now available in a handsome, two-volume set from Princeton University Press.

Gracefully translated by Fr. William Granger Ryan, this is the first complete English edition of the since Jacobus finished his Latin original around 1260.

The medieval English version published by pioneer London printer William Caxton in 1483 adds and subtracts material. An earlier—and entirely different—translation done by Ryan and Helmut Ripperger in 1941 is abridged.

But Ryan's version offers every line Jacobus wrote, with a bare minimum of scholarly apparatus—just a brief introduction and footnotes to translate the Latin verse.

As Ryan explained, this "is not a study of the ; it is the ."

means "what is read"; the word is derived from the Latin , "to read." By the 14th century, the English word

was used to describe stories about saints, simply because that was the most popular kind of edifying reading matter. The modern usage of legend as "an unhistorical traditional story" emerged only after 1600.

Benchmark Collection

While Jacobus thought he was writing a collection in the late medieval meaning of the word "legend" posterity views his work as unreliable fable. Still, all critics agree that, as the benchmark collection, his deserves its nickname , "Golden."

In any event, Jacobus did the best he could with the materials at harid. It is estimated that he used about 130 different sources. Although no one has untangled all the threads of influence knotted into the , it obviously draws from Patristic writers, apocryphal Scriptures, lives of the Desert Fathers, medieval historians, encyclopedists, liturgists and hagiographers.

As a preacher and a composer of sermons, Jacobus probably intended his to be a source book for preachers, starting with his own brethren in the Dominican order.

Jacobus offers theological reflection as well as information about the major feasts and seasons of the Church year, often tidily numbered like sermon outlines. His text is studded with edifying or droll anecdotes easily borrowed for preaching. He even moralizes in such digressions as a biography of the wicked Emperor Julian the Apostate or a history of the Lombards.

The work and its audience were perfectly matched. Unlike modern readers paging through the latest reference book, medieval readers were not seeking factual data. They wanted inspiring stories that would make the names on the Church calendar come alive—stories that illuminated the Scriptures, glowed with prodigies and miracles, and were certified by reputable authorities.

Authenticity was not an issue. Jacobus occasionally admits a story is apocryphal, but recounts it anyway.

The makes no attempt to present historically accurate characters. In its pages, the past is not a foreign country, and they do not do things differently there. Alien lands look just like home, and everyone wears medieval costume.

This technique made narratives seem real and vivid to a medieval audience. As translator Ryan explained, the highlights saints who "move and talk and act like the men and women Jacobus saw passing by his window on the road to heaven."

The book is also filled with implausible marvels. Although they typically repel modern readers, the marvels enthralled medieval ones. By multiplying miracles, Ryan explained, the declares that God is "not a philosophical abstraction but a living, ever-present, caring actor, the creator and giver of life."

Jacobus deploys his saints within the round of the Church year, meshing what used to be called the sanctoral and temporal cycles. He covers all the liturgical seasons and major feasts, except for the Immaculate Conception, which was not yet universally celebrated or accepted.

Although Jacobus organizes his material oddly for modern tastes, many of the ideas he develops remained familiar into recent times.

Flesh and Hearts

For example, Jacobus states: "The Lord's advent is celebrated for four weeks to signify that his coming is fourfold: He came to us in the flesh, he comes into our hearts, he comes to us at death, and he will come to judge us."

This key paragraph could still generate a sound and comprehensible Advent sermon. The continuity of the Catholic tradition shines through the .

Still, saints are the work's principal interest. Jacobus' choice of holy subjects is most revealing. His 182 chapters cover about 200 saints and some groups such as the Theban Legion and St. Ursula's 11,000 virgins.

Only 41 individuals mentioned are female (one anonymous}, and only five had been married. Several saints get multiple feasts (e.g., the Chair of Saint Peter and St. Peter in Chains) besides their principal commemoration. One feast is duplicated.

Jacobus includes important figures—apostles, evangelists, the four great Latin Fathers, the martyrs of the Roman canon—and others with especially colorful stories, some heroic early popes, wonder-working bishops, a few Desert Fathers, missionaries and so forth. He even honors the Holy Maccabees, martyrs in Old Testament times.

However, the Dominican covers only two of the great Greek Fathers—St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom. St. Margaret of Antioch and St. Catherine of Alexandria are there, but not the other two Holy Maidens—St. Barbara and St. Dorothy—who are usually grouped with them.

Jacobus lists only five of the great saints from the High Middle Ages—St. Thomas Becket, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Dominic, St. Francis and St. Elizabeth of Hungary. He also highlights fellow Dominican St. Peter of Verona, who was cruelly murdered while Jacobus was composing the .

Medieval biases affected coverage.

Jacobus presents four female penitents—St. Mary Magdalen, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Thais and St. Pelagia—but none of the powerful noble matrons from Patristic times.

Virgin martyrs interest him more than non-virgin ones. Thus, the legend-encrusted St. Lucy, St. Cecilia, St. Agatha and St. Agnes get more space than the well-documented St. Perpetua and St. Felicity.

Likewise, Jacobus relies on fables instead of the historic account of St. Ignatius' martyrdom. He sketches an accurate picture of St. Augustine from the and , but appends curious miracle stories.

Besides repeating various legends, Jacobus treats allegorical figures—St. Felicity and Her Seven Sons, St. Sophia and Her Three Daughters—and fairy tale characters—the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus—as real. Fortunately, he could not know that his tale of St. Barlaam and St. Joseph is ultimately derived from an account of the Buddha's conversion.

Perhaps the most medieval touch is Jacobus' peculiar etymology. For him and his readers, the name was the thing.

Therefore, a saint's name must symbolize his nature. Jacobus discerns deep significance in the person's name—whether or not his explanation of a name's meaning is correct.

For example, his entry on St. Amand, the apostle of Belgium, begins: "The name Amand means lovable, and the name fitted the man, for he had three qualities that make a person lovable." This explanation is true as far as it goes, but isn't terribly specific.

Fanciful Entries

The next entry, on St. Valentine, gets more fanciful. " is made up of , value and , holding; and Saint Valentine held on to—persevered in—holiness. Or the name is like , valiant soldier of Christ."

The name actually comes from , "to be strong."

Alas, these word plays drew jeers in the Renaissance.

Humanist scholars knew, for instance, that St. George bore a common Greek name meaning "farmer." They mocked Jacobus' preposterous derivation of the name from ", holy, and , sand, therefore holy sand; for he was like sand, heavy with the weight of his virtues, small by humility, and dry of the lusts of the flesh."

"The man who wrote the ," sneered critic Luis Vives, "had a mouth of iron and a heart of lead."

After the Reformation, when the Catholic Church was anxious to emphasize historically important saints and eliminate dubious cults, Jacobus' reputation plummeted. The tools of historical scholarship were applied to hagiography, most notably by the Bollandists, a team of learned Jesuits that has been preparing the definitive since the 17th century.

Yet, even though modern medievalists recognize many of the stories in the as pious fantasies, they have come to appreciate the work as an in valuable guide to the art and literature of the Middle Ages. Its naive and earnest charm opens a window into the medieval mind.

It also heavily influenced contemporaneous literature. Important examples of medieval literature drawn straight from Jacobus are the English mystery play "The Harrowing of Hell" and "The Second Nun's Tale" in Chaucer's .

After Vatican II, academic interest in the saints soared while clerical enthusiasm sank. Now popular curiosity seems to be returning. Mainstream publishers are scurrying to serve this emerging market.

Pivotal Publication

Thus, Ryan's translation, issued by a university press, is a pivotal publication. Above all, his version of the is a wonderful way to meet the saints as our ancestors knew them.

As the great Bollandist Hippolyte Delehaye declared, "Legend, like all poetry, can claim a higher degree of truth than history itself."


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Sandra Miesel is a CATHOLIC TWIN CIRCLE contributing writer.


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A HOLY AND BUSY MAN

Sandra Miesel

Authoring the was only one element in Jacobus' de Voragine's busy life, which was spent against the backdrop of terminal conflict between the papacy and the imperial Hohenstaufen dynasty.

Born near Genoa about 1230, he joined the Dominicans at age 14. He became a fine preacher and trained young friars in theology and biblical studies. His prudence and intelligence earned him election as provincial superior while he was still in his 30s. Jacobus was such a respected figure that he was chosen Archbishop of Genoa in 1286, an unusual honor for a friar. But he refused the post.

The archbishop humility did not go unnoticed. He was sent as the pope's special envoy to Genoa to lift a politically motivated interdict. His tactful performance was rewarded with a second election to the see of Genoa in 1292. This time he was pressured into accepting.

Jacobus amazed his flock by hewing to the strict observance of the Dominican rule and continuing to keep his vow of poverty. He turned the huge income of his office over to charity and the maintenance of churches. The rich of the archdiocese were moved to new levels of generosity.

Jacobus became famous as a builder and restorer of religious institutions. As an astute, reform-minded administrator, he was a model for other Italian bishops of his day.

But Jacobus was sorely disappointed by his inability to halt the bloody feuds between pro-papal and pro-imperial factions in his city. Try as he might he was only able to impose a short truce on the warring parties.

Besides the and books of sermons, Jacobus wrote about a dozen works, including a history of Genoa and a defense of the Dominicans. He is supposed to have been the first man to translate the Bible into Italian, but no trace of this project survives.

One of his odder efforts at supporting a media apostolate was organizing some Dominican novices as jugglers and acrobats to evangelize as they entertained. It was the medieval equivalent of today's "clown ministry."

Dominican writer Sr. Mary Jean Dorcy praises Jacobus for his zeal, charity and uncommon good sense.

"He was a genius at getting things done," she said, "and, fortunately, his whole heart was bent on doing for the glory of God."

Jacobus died in 1298. His reputation for holiness won him beatification by popular acclaim. His cult was ratified by the papacy in 1816. His feast day is July 13.