Feet tv 

 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OB 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 SAN DIEGO
 
 MRS. W. C. BAYLIES, 
 
 5 Commonwealth Ave., 
 BOSTON', MASS.
 
 SAINTS AND 
 FESTIVALS 
 
 of tbc 
 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 BY 
 
 H. POMEROY BREWSTER 
 
 Author of " The Cross in Iconography, Archaeology, Architecture 
 and Christian Art," "Christian Symbols," etc. 
 
 Ulluetratefc 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 Copyright, 1904, 
 BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. 
 
 Copyright, 1902, 
 BY THE UNION AND ADVERTISER COMPANY. 
 
 Published in October, 1904. 
 Jll rights reserved.
 
 TO 
 
 THE CHERISHED MEMORY 
 
 OF 
 
 M. P. B.
 
 PUBLISHER'S NOTE 
 
 A considerable part of the matter presented in the following 
 pages was printed a series of articles in the Union and Advertiser 
 of Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 The absolute truthfulness of these articles from both archaeolog- 
 ical and historic standpoints as well as their entire freedom from 
 all denominational bias, with the knowledge of profane and eccle- 
 siastical history and canon law shown in them, at once attracted 
 a wide circle of readers and won the hearty approval of the clergy 
 and laity of both the Protestant and Roman branches of the 
 Christian Church. 
 
 On their completion, at the request of many eminent divines, 
 the author has carefully revised the entire work, adding to the 
 original MSS. much valuable material, and he has thus produced 
 what is practically a Church Year Book in which is told the origin, 
 history and present status of each of the chief festivals of the en- 
 tire Christian Church as well as of a number of local feasts and 
 festivals which obtain in certain parts of Europe. While it is be- 
 yond the scope of the present work to attempt to tell the story of 
 every one of the numerous canonized saints whom the Church has 
 chosen to honour, the author has each day throughout the year 
 selected a few of the most noted among them and made brief 
 sketches of the lives of those who are remembered on that day. 
 But in the Alphabetical Index are given the name and " saint-day" 
 of a far more comprehensive list ; while in the general index will 
 be found the names of those especially mentioned. 
 
 As the largest number of the feasts, fasts, and festivals of the 
 Church occur on dates dependant upon the date of Easter, these 
 are spoken of at approximate dates to be found in the general 
 index; while others, like Christmas, whose dates are fixed are 
 treated of on their proper days. 
 
 In conclusion we may say that this book is the only one pub- 
 lished except those huge tomes extending into from twelve to 
 twenty volumes wherein may be found such complete and tersely 
 told hagiology.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTORY . . VII 
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH . i 
 A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE BISHOPS AND POPES 
 OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH FROM THE DEATH 
 
 OF SAINT PETER 502 
 
 ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF CANONIZED SAINTS AND 
 
 OTHERS 507 
 
 GENERAL INDEX 536
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 KALENDARS THEIR ORIGIN WHEN FIRST USED 
 CLOG ALMANACS. 
 
 It was the custom in ancient Rome for an official to post in 
 some public place upon the first day of each month a notice to ap- 
 prise the people what religious ceremonies would occur during 
 that current month. Thus the first day of every month came to 
 be known as the Kalendae, from the Greek word " kaleo " (I call, 
 or I proclaim) and so in turn our word " kalendar " or " calendar" 
 (a book referring to days) was derived therefrom and by custom 
 its original meaning broadened. 
 
 A similar custom to that of the Romans just mentioned also 
 prevailed in Greece, but there the original Kalendar was not made 
 public, an excerpt only of such portions of it being given out as 
 the priests deemed best, and usually confined to notices of the 
 feasts and festivals in prospect. The Kalendar in its entirety, 
 with its astronomical calculations and astrological deductions, was 
 preserved as a part of the esoteric learning of the priests, and to 
 advise them when proper legal proceedings might be instituted. 
 
 About 300 B. C. one Encius Flavius, secretary of Claudius (Ap- 
 pius Caecus the Blind), a consul of Rome and the builder of the 
 first aqueduct through the Pontine marshes, exhibited these " fasti 
 calendares," as the monthly proclamations came to be termed, 
 upon marble tablets, which he placed in the Forum at Rome. 
 
 It has been said, but upon what, or how good authority I am 
 unable to learn, that the Greeks of Alexandria during the time (or 
 very soon after) of Ptolemy, the famous Egyptian astronomer, 
 mathematician and geographer of the II, century, constructed
 
 viii INTRODUCTORY 
 
 written almanacs. In a similar way, and far from being proven, it 
 has been claimed that there were Christian almanacs made in the 
 IV. century. Whether these assertions are true or not, the first 
 written almanacs of which we have any fairly authentic record 
 date nearly a thousand years after those claimed for the Greeks of 
 Alexandria. These were prepared by a learned Jew, a rabbi 
 and an author, whose name is given by different writers as Ben 
 Solomon Jarchi, or Raschi, and as Solomon Jarchus, the last 
 being the one by which he is most widely known. He was born 
 in 1104 and died in 1180, his almanac being dated in 1150. 
 
 Without doubt the most famous of these older almanacs is the 
 manuscript almanacs preserved in the Savilian Library, Oxford, 
 England, and was prepared by Petrus de Dacia and is dated " A. 
 D. 1300." This almanac comments on the influence of the 
 planets and the author has the credit of formulating the " Homo 
 Signorum" (the Man of Signs) so commonly seen in our almanacs 
 to-day. 
 
 The first printed almanac was published in Buda, Hungary in 
 1475, and the first one in England appeared in 1497, and bore the 
 title of the " Sheapherds' Kalendar." 
 
 The first almanac " with predictions " was issued by Michael 
 Nostrandum, which, strange as it sounds, was the man's real 
 name. He was "a doctor of Oxford, "a member of the Royal 
 College of Physicians and a voluminous writer ; born in 1 503 and 
 died in 1 566, two years after his almanac appeared. By his con- 
 temporaries he was variously regarded. Not a few considered 
 him " as a driveling idiot," while others held him in high esteem. 
 Some of the stories told of him border on the ridiculous for his 
 predictions were not confined to the weather but ranged over 
 every possible subject, and being rather a shrewd guesser, he 
 gained not a little reputation, especially among the more supersti- 
 tious as " a prophet." 
 
 The next class of almanacs, and those which in some ways are 
 the most interesting, since they give us an insight into the reli- 
 gious feelings of the people by " signs," not words, are the famous 
 " Clog Almanacs," of which my readers will see many examples 
 in the series of articles which will follow, for these " Clogs " were
 
 INTRODUCTORY ix 
 
 the household Kalendar on which the common people relied, to 
 tell them when the feasts, fasts and festivals of the Church would 
 occur and who the especial saint of the day was. There seems to 
 be no date as to when, where or how, they came into existence, 
 but, like the " tally-stick," or Robinson Crusoe's " calendar," were 
 the outcome of necessity by people who could neither read nor 
 write, yet must have some means of recording their daily life, 
 transactions and, above all, their church obligations, until at last 
 these " Clogs " were devoted wholly to the latter purpose. This 
 was the case when we find the first mention of them in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 In a folio written in 1636 by Dr. Robert Plot, an antiquarian 
 and a somewhat voluminous author, there is a long account of 
 them. Dr. Plot has been often and widely quoted on many sub- 
 jects, and was a man of whom as noted a writer as Mr. Hargrave 
 Jennings said : " He was both a very painstaking and reliable 
 writer." For this reason I condense the long description of these 
 " Clog Almanacs " for the benefit of my readers, though they 
 have been published many times in more elaborate shape. 
 Already when Dr. Plot wrote (1636) their use in England was 
 widespread. 
 
 These Clog Almanacs consisted of a series of sticks, some- 
 times three or more, frequently four in number, formed of some 
 kind of hard wood, upon which signs or symbols could be 
 engraved. They were from two and a half to three inches square 
 and eight to twelve inches long, with a knob or handle at the top 
 of each. Each stick served, according to their number, for the 
 record of three or four calendar months. When four were used 
 the fourth side was used for miscellaneous emblems. The angle 
 or corner of the stick was notched (see illustrations) each marking 
 one day. Each seventh day was made prominent by a patulous 
 stroke turned upward. Against these notches, as the case might 
 be, a saint's day or some feast, fast or festival of the Church, sym- 
 bols were engraved to denote the event. These symbols were in 
 a large measure arbitrary creations and thus the Clogs of one 
 locality varied from those of another, save in regard to the fixed 
 church days, as one saint would be especially regarded in one
 
 x INTRODUCTORY 
 
 locality, where in another some different saints' emblem would 
 appear. 
 
 Occasionally these " Clog sticks " when intended for some 
 public place were made very large and elaborately carved ; but as 
 a rule they were rather crude affairs and the 
 engraving, even on the best of them, was 
 seldom clear cut and clean, and in the speci- 
 mens I shall give I have had them copied as 
 nearly as possible exact, with all their im- 
 perfections, just as they appear in the set of 
 Clogs from which they are taken, the origi- 
 nal now being in Copenhagen, Denmark. 
 These Clogs were first introduced into England from Holland, 
 but in these, as in the Danish ones, the symbols used seldom 
 correspond with those used in Christian art and iconography, or 
 even when they attempt this are little more than the rudest 
 possible copies. To give an idea in advance of the character of 
 these symbols the accompanying symbol of the New Year is pre- 
 sented. The perpendicular line being the angle or corner of the 
 " Clog stick " and the one notch marks the first day, while the 
 circle is supposed to represent the complete New Year. 
 
 To illustrate the crudeness of these em- 
 blems in many cases I copy the Clog Alma- ' 
 nac emblem of St. Matthias the Apostle, 
 which appears February 24th and which one 
 would hardly guess is supposed to represent 
 a leg. 
 
 These " Clogs " have sometimes been 
 termed " Runic Kalendars," from certain 
 " supposed " Runic characters found upon 
 some of the earliest specimens, more espe- 
 cially those used during the reign of Queen ; 
 Elizabeth in England. But it was no infre- 
 quent case that the owners of these sticks 
 interpolated upon them designs of their own' 
 to mark some date or event which they wished still to keep secret, 
 and when we recall the fact that the original meaning of the word
 
 INTRODUCTORY xi 
 
 " Runic " is " secret," it is but a fair venture to believe that they 
 received this name from this fact and not from the implied antiq- 
 uity the name Runic gives. 
 
 The following illustration shows two of these Clog sticks, and if 
 examined closely both of the illustrations of the symbol of New 
 Year's and the emblem of St. Matthias will be found. 
 
 To turn, however, from these quaint and curious Kalendars, of 
 which a small volume would hardly serve to tell their story, to the 
 subject that will occupy the succeeding articles in this series, the 
 mediaeval Church made a marked distinction between the Feasts 
 of Obligation and Days of Devotion. At the time of the Reforma- 
 tion, the Reformed church discarded most or all of the latter, but 
 retained in the church a great number of the former, while the 
 Roman Church still regard them as sacred. 
 
 As the articles to follow this are to be of a purely archaeological 
 nature and not theological, there will be no difference made in 
 considering all the days recognized by both branches of the 
 Christian Church and none intentionally omitted. 
 
 The list of the canonized saints who are recognized by the 
 Roman Church and whose names were retained by the Reformed 
 church and thus found a place in the Kalendar of the English 
 church is a very long one ; far too extended to be given in its 
 entirety, much less for comment upon each. In the daily Kalen- 
 dar prepared will be found the names of the most prominent of 
 these saints, and mention is made of one or more, with a brief 
 sketch of the life and the especial characteristics for which they 
 were honoured by canonization. In so doing I necessarily refer to 
 the popular legends of these saints for in very many cases these 
 traditions are almost the only records left beyond a few bald, dry 
 statistics. Nor shall I attempt to prove or disavow the authentic- 
 ity or error of any of the legends which will be recorded. I can 
 only repeat them as I find them ; but where actual facts regarding 
 the lives and work of the holy men is given it will be taken from 
 undoubted authorities and will be given as fully as my space will 
 admit. The order in which these names will be recorded follows 
 that of the Kalendars and is not arbitrarily chosen. 
 
 It is a very curious fact and one seldom noticed, that these
 
 XII 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 saints' days now only in a 
 limited number of cases ob- 
 served by the Protestant 
 church were all retained and 
 observed by them after the 
 Reformation in common 
 with their Roman brethren, 
 and appear in all their 
 Kalendars down to the time 
 in 1752 when the change in 
 " style " from the " old to 
 the new style " took place, 
 as everyone may see by ex- 
 amining one of those old 
 quaint " Poor Robin's " 
 Almanacs. Even t h e n a 
 very large number of the 
 names of these holy men re- 
 mained in the Anglican 
 Kalendar, and thus by some, 
 but utterly without reason, 
 termed " Anglican saints," 
 for there are no such saints. 
 It is, however, ample evi- 
 dence of the reverence in 
 which these holy men were 
 and still are held by the 
 Protestant church to read 
 the list of saints in whose 
 honour so many thousand 
 church edifices have been 
 built and named in Eng- 
 land, Germany and our own 
 country and which will for 
 ever keep their " s a i n t s' 
 days " sacred. 
 
 In the Alphabetical Index
 
 INTRODUCTORY xiii 
 
 appended will be found the names of many saints not named in 
 the daily Kalendar which includes only the more prominent of 
 these personages. 
 
 The dates given are those which the Roman Church has fixed 
 for their festivals. 
 
 On only a few especial festivals will the canonical colour for the 
 day be given as every Church Almanac furnishes this information. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 ADVENT 
 
 The beginning of the Christian Year has for ages been fixed by 
 every branch of the Christian Church, Greek, Latin, Coptic and 
 Reformed, upon Advent Sunday. This day always occurs upon 
 the nearest Sunday to the Feast of St. Andrews, which is Novem- 
 ber 30th in every year; whether this Sunday falls upon a day 
 before or after St. Andrew's day, and the four weeks thus included 
 are termed the Advent Season. Thus Advent Sunday becomes a 
 moveable feast, dependent upon the day when Christmas falls and 
 therefore cannot come before November 2/th in any year or later 
 than upon December 3rd. Added to the universal usage, the 
 Latin Church by ecclesiastical decree, at a very early period also 
 fixed this day and selected the term " Advent " for the four 
 weeks which immediately precede Christmas as a collective title to 
 indicate the approach of the time which had been selected as the 
 date of the Birth of Our Lord and Saviour, Christ. 
 
 " The Church has set aside," says an old writer, " the Sundays 
 of Advent and the week days which follow after them as a solemn 
 time of preparation for the great Feast of the Nativity ; as Lent is 
 before the Feast of the Resurrection, and therefore this time is 
 called by some ' Altera Quadragesima.' " 
 
 It is claimed that this holy season was instituted by St. Peter, 
 and therefore z's apostolic. Be this as it may, while it is impossible 
 as is the case with many of the services of the Church to fix its
 
 xiv INTRODUCTORY 
 
 exact date of adoption, there is no doubt in regard to the extreme 
 antiquity of the custom of observing these days in the most solemn 
 manner. An homily written by Maximus Tauriensis, in 450, upon 
 the observance of this day shows that it was regarded even then 
 as " ancient," but unfortunately it fails to tell of its earlier history. 
 
 The canonical colour for the First Sunday in Advent is violet 
 but at Vespers or Even- song the colour changes to red. 
 
 For the reason above given, I have selected the date November 
 27th whereon to begin the record of the Saints and Festivals of 
 the Christian Church.
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 NOVEMBER 2;th 
 
 Is sacred to the memory of one of those holy men who in the 
 early centuries of the Christian Era did not hesitate to lay aside 
 wealth or rank that they might serve the Great Master St. Maxi- 
 mus, erstwhile bishop of Reiz. To him as a young man the world 
 presented peculiar attractions. He had ample wealth, while his 
 unusual manly beauty, his genial temperament and his wit made 
 him an especial favourite both among men and women. Thus for 
 years after reaching manhood he lived in the world and enjoyed 
 its pleasures. But even during these years he felt there was " yet 
 one thing lacking. " His heart and conscience told him what that 
 was, and at last he cast everything aside that he might attain the 
 prize he sought. 
 
 Following Christ's teaching, he first distributed his worldly 
 goods to the poor and then sought refuge in the monastery of 
 Lerins. It seems needless to say his life here was in conformity 
 to the great purpose which had led him to seek it, winning for 
 him the love and respect of his brethren. It was this display 
 of earnest purpose which induced St. Honoratus, the founder of 
 the monastery and its first abbot, to select Maximus as his suc- 
 cessor in the abbacy, when the saint was made archbishop of 
 Aries in 426. 
 
 The chronicles of the day show that the monastery, already 
 in high repute for its sanctity and learning, under the new 
 abbot " seemed to gain new lustre," while the cheerfulness of the
 
 2 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 abbot made the " monks scarcely to feel the severity of the rules," 
 and drew crowds of eager devotees to it. 
 
 True worth in man has in no age of the world allowed its pos- 
 sessor to remain hidden and thus it was that in 433, when the 
 see of Reiz became vacant, Maximus was sought for to fill the 
 episcopate. Much as he loved the peaceful retirement of his 
 monastery, duty at all times took precedence above all else, and 
 he reluctantly accepted the high honour. But with his new dig- 
 nity he still remained the same humble, self-sacrificing, gener- 
 ous man he ever had been and in him his people found not alone 
 a pastor, but also a physician and a teacher whom they loved and 
 trusted. His ministrations continued during twenty-seven years 
 until his death in 460. He is the patron saint of the diocese of 
 Boulogne in Picardy, and the common people universally called 
 him "Masse." 
 
 I must not omit mention of another saint whose festival is held 
 this day, St. James, surnamed " Intercisus," a Persian, though I 
 have not space for details in regard to this distinguished martyr 
 of the time when Theodosius the Younger apostatized to win 
 favour from King Isdegerdes. In many respects it is the old story 
 of refusal by St. James to abjure the Christian faith ; but the man- 
 ner of his execution was brutal, being literally cut to pieces. 
 When his fingers and toes had been chopped off he calmly said : 
 " Now the boughs are gone, cut down the trunk. " But instead 
 of this, one by one, his feet, hands, arms and legs were cut off and 
 at last his head. The high rank borne by St. James as a noble of 
 the first class added to his reputation for probity and justice made 
 this vindictive exhibition of wrath against the Christians a most 
 impressive object lesson for the moment, but it has served also to 
 render the name of the faithful prince an immortal one in the Kal- 
 endar of the Church. 
 
 NOVEMBER 28th. 
 
 In the name of St. Stephen, " The Younger," of St. Auxentius 
 Mount, which is remembered by the Church to-day, is presented
 
 STEPHEN, "THE YOUNGER" 3 
 
 one of the most renowned martyrs of the so-called "Persecution of 
 the Iconoclasts." 
 
 Born in Constantinople, of a family of immense wealth, he 
 had entered the monastery of St. Auxentius as a novitiate when 
 fifteen years of age, and though we may not take time to follow 
 his monastic life and his attainments, the latter are evident from 
 the fact that at the age of thirty he was chosen abbot of the 
 monastery, 
 
 Leo III., Emperor of the East, surnamed " The Isaurian" (718- 
 741), infamous for his plunder of the Christian Churches, had also 
 grievously persecuted the Jews, but at last had been "bought 
 off " and " possibly as a part of the bargain " was prevailed on 
 " to oppose the respect paid by the faithful to holy images." 
 
 In another place I shall remark upon these images, which dated 
 even from the time of our Saviour. They included His, as well as 
 many of His followers, but were neither adored nor worshipped ; 
 the Christians only holding them in reverence as the representa- 
 tions of holy men. With this as a pretext, Leo instituted a cruel 
 persecution which his son, Constantine V., surnamed Copronunus, 
 carried on for twenty years after he (in 741) became emperor, 
 against these images. He died in 775. In 754 Constantine caused 
 a council composed of 338 bishops known as '' Iconoclast bishops " 
 from their coinciding with his decree suppressing the use of images 
 and to compel the " Catholics " (readers should recall the origin 
 of this word ) to conform to his decree. To this St. Stephen 
 refused and soldiers were sent to drag him from his cell. At the 
 same time " suborned witnesses," his legend tells us, charged him 
 with "criminal converse with the holy widow Anne." He was 
 examined and condemned to be beheaded, but this decree was 
 changed to one ordering him to be scourged to death in prison. 
 Learning later that St. Stephen still lived in spite of his scourging, 
 the emperor cried out: " Will no one rid me of this pestilential 
 monk ? " It was then that certain courtiers went to the prison 
 and dragged him forth through the streets with his feet tied by 
 cords, and at last dashed out his brains with stones and clubs. 
 The date of this deed is placed in 764, and took place under what 
 has been called " Persecution of the Iconoclasts."
 
 4 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 NOVEMBER 29th. 
 
 The holy man whom the Church honours this day is another of 
 those early martyrs for the faith ; St. Saturninus, Bishop of 
 Toulon. The more I study the lives of these early Christians, the 
 more I feel convinced that we in these modern days do not half 
 appreciate the true heroism of these men who went forth of their 
 own volition, under the guidance of their superiors to fulfil 
 Christ's injunction to preach the Gospel to all the world. 
 
 It was in 245 that under the direction of the Pope Fabian, Sat- 
 urninus went into Gaul to preach the faith to the idolatrous people 
 of that nation. As we read the history of those days, we know 
 what risks they ran both from the pagan priests and the neglect of 
 those who should have protected them, as Roman citizens. 
 
 St. Saturninus fixed his see at Toulouse in 250, when Decius and 
 Gratus were consuls, but they evidently gave but little aid toward 
 protecting the holy man from the fury of the priests of the heathen 
 gods. Yet for seven years this faithful man worked on until the 
 pagan priests one day were able to secure his person and carried him 
 into their temple and strove to make him worship at their shrines. 
 Failing, they brought into the temple a wild bull, to which Satur- 
 ninus was firmly bound by cords. Then after the bull was mad- 
 dened by torture, they turned it loose and it started on its wild 
 race, dragging the holy man by its side till, mangled and with 
 broken bones, at last the cord broke and left the limp, lifeless body 
 without the gates of the city. 
 
 NOVEMBER 
 
 This day is the feast of St. Andrew, as the Apostle and Martyr, 
 and both of these festivals are rigidly observed in all branches of 
 the Christian Church. He was a brother of St. Peter, but strangely, 
 after the Ascension his name is not mentioned in the New Testa- 
 ment. His legends tell of his travels in Scythia, Cappadocia and 
 Bythinia, and Russian folk-lore of his labours among the Musco- 
 vites in Sarmatia. He also was in Greece and from thence came 
 to Patras, " a city of Achaia." It was here that, having converted
 
 ST. ANDREW 
 
 Maximilla, the wife of JEgus the proconsul, he 
 was condemned to be scourged and crucified. 
 The form of the St. Andrew cross reaches almost 
 every angle, from the acute to the right angle. It 
 is said he chose this form of the cross out of his 
 humility, saying he " was not worthy to suffer 
 death as his Master had done." 
 
 Fastened to the cross by cords, not nailed there, 
 but allowed to die amid the torment of thirst and 
 starvation, who can realise his unutterable suf- 
 fering ? After four centuries a part of the relics 
 |Of St. Andrew were brought to Scotland and since 
 (then he has been the patron saint of that coun- 
 try. He is also the patron saint of the " Order of 
 the Golden Fleece of Burzmund," and in Russia 
 of the " Order of the Cross of St. Andrew." 
 Connecting St. Andrew with the Feast of the Ad- 
 vent, Wheatly says : " He was the first who 
 found the Messiah (John I., 38) and the first 
 who brought others to Him (idem I., 42) so 
 the Church for his greater honour commem- 
 orates him as the first in her anniversary 
 course of holy days and places his festival 
 at the beginning of Advent, as the most 
 proper to bring the news of Our Saviour's 
 coming. St. Andrew is one of the most pop- 
 ular saints in the English Kalendar. An 
 account of the churches in England says : 
 "Every county except Westmoreland has 
 several churches dedicated to St. Andrew." 
 
 He has been represented upon a cross shaped like the letter Y, 
 but to speak of this opens an unending discussion I may not enter 
 on here. 
 
 S. ANDREW. 
 
 From 
 
 Stained Glass 
 
 in Winchester 
 
 Cathedral.
 
 DECEMBER 
 
 Like the preceding months of October and November, December 
 takes its name from the place it held in the Kalendar when ten 
 months comprised the year. By the ancient Saxons, December 
 was styled Winter-monat, or Winter month ; a term which after 
 their conversion to Christianity was changed to Hiligh-monat or 
 Holy month, from the anniversary which occurs in it of the birth 
 of Christ. Among the modern Germans, December is still from 
 this circumstance distinguished as the Christ-monat. 
 
 DECEMBER ist. 
 
 On this day the memory of St. Eligius, Bishop of Noyon and Con- 
 fessor, is commemorated. A man who by his virtue and holy liv- 
 ing rose from being the apprentice of a goldsmith to the high dig- 
 nity of a Bishop. Being a youth of rare genius he soon not only 
 became an adept in his chosen craft but had gained a wide repu- 
 tation for the beauty and ingenuity of his designs. What, how- 
 ever, was far better, he had won by his unostentatious purity and 
 upright life the confidence and affection of all who knew him. Hav- 
 ing been sent to France on some business, Bobo, then Treasurer of 
 Clotaire II., King of Paris (584-628), heard of him and brought him 
 to the notice of the king who gave him an order to design and 
 make him a chair of State, to be decorated with gold and precious 
 stones, placing at his disposal the needed materials. So great was 
 the satisfaction of the king at the manner the young man executed 
 this command that Eligius was retained in the employ of the court. 
 His former master, besides being a goldsmith, held the position 
 of " Master of the Mint " at Limoges, and thus Eligius had also 
 gained a knowledge of coinage, of which the French made use; 
 for coins bearing Eligius' name issued during the reigns of Dago-
 
 ST. ELIGIUS 7 
 
 bert and Clovis II. as appears from Le Blanc's " History of Coins," 
 arc yet extant. But his chief employment seems to have been 
 the designing and building of shrines for the relics of saints and 
 the tombs of St. Martin of Tours and St. Dionysius (St. Dennis) 
 are named as among those in the exceptionally long list credited to 
 his wonderful skill as a designer and artisan. The favour of the 
 king did not end here for he recognised in Eligius the higher traits 
 of character which every one who came in contact with him did, 
 also his great virtues, the purity of his life and his unbounded 
 charity. Prosperous as he was his wealth was not lavished upon 
 himself. The king often therefore, gave Eligius both clothing and 
 money, which the latter in turn distributed to the poor, while at the 
 same time he daily fed many of these from his own table even 
 though he himself was fasting. He also was zealous in other 
 good works, ransoming captives, providing for the sick and burying 
 the dead of the poor, buying and freeing the slaves especially 
 the Saxons who had been taken prisoners, and setting them free. 
 One of these Saxons (afterward known as St. Theau, whose festi- 
 val occurs on January 7th) Eligius brought up in his own house- 
 hold. But I must cease details, even omitting mention of the 
 religious houses he founded and endowed, until in 640 (some put 
 this date 646) Eligius went to Rouen, abandoning the honours of 
 court life, and with his friend St. Owen received the episcopal 
 office. Very soon after this our saint was chosen Bishop of Noyon, 
 a district then still largely under pagan influence. With his usual 
 zeal he threw his whole soul into his new work, and his success 
 was equalled by few of his contemporaries, until on December ist, 
 in 658 the good man was called to his reward. 
 
 DECEMBER 2d 
 
 Is the passion of St. Bibiana, to whom a church in Rome, 
 behind the Trophies of Marius, is dedicated. Her legend says : 
 
 In the time of Julian the Apostate there dwelt in Rome a Chris- 
 tian family consisting of Flavian, his wife Dalfrosa and his two 
 daughters, Bibiana and Demetria. All these died for their faith. 
 Flavian was exiled and died of starvation ; Dalfrosa was beheaded ;
 
 8 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the sisters imprisoned (A. D. 362) and scourged, Demetria dying 
 at once under the torture. Bibiana glorified God by longer suffer- 
 ing's. Apronius, the prefect of the city, astonished by her beauty, 
 conceived a guilty passion for her and placed her under the care of 
 one of his creatures named Rufina, who was gradually to bend her 
 to his will. But Bibiana repelled his proposals with horror and her 
 firmness excited him to such fury that he commanded her to be 
 bound to a column, and scourged to compliance. 
 
 I cannot, however, allow myself to describe the brutal manner in 
 which the command was executed as it is too horrible for repeti- 
 tion, beyond saying she died, but retained her virtue. 
 
 The column to which St. Bibiana was bound still stands in the 
 old church between the Santa Croce and Porto Maggiore in 
 Rome. 
 
 DECEMBER 3d 
 
 Is the anniversary of the death of St. Francis Xavier, Apostle of 
 India. This noted Jesuit was born April 7, 1 506, and was educated 
 at the University of Paris, where he later lectured and there 
 shared a room with Peter Faber, a Savoyard, to whom he became 
 tenderly attached. In 1528, Loyola arrived at their college a 
 middle-aged man, meanly clad, worn with austerities and burning 
 with zeal. Loyola made friends with Faber, but Xavier could 
 not endure him and repulsed his approaches. Loyola discerning 
 a desirable spirit in Xavier, nevertheless persevered. One day 
 Xavier had been lecturing on philosophy and having met with 
 much applause, was walking about in a high state of elation when 
 Loyola whispered in his ear : " What shall it profit a man if he 
 gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? " The question 
 startled Xavier, and changed the current of his feelings towards 
 Loyola. He associated with him and Faber in study and devotion. 
 Three other students joined them Lainez, Bobadilla, and 
 Rodriguez and on the i$th of August, 1534, the six met in a 
 subterranean chapel of the church of Montmartre and took vows 
 of perpetual celibacy, poverty, and labour for the conversion of
 
 ST. FRANCIS XAVIER 9 
 
 infidels. Such was the humble beginning of the Society of Jesuits. 
 They resolved to place their lives at the service of the pope, and 
 when preaching at Rome in 1 540, Xavier was chosen to go as a 
 missionary to India. A voyage to India was a tedious enterprise 
 in the sixteenth century. He sailed from Lisbon on the 7th of 
 April, 1541, wintered in Africa on the coast of Mozambique, and 
 his ship did not reach Goa until the 6th of May, 1542. He found 
 the Portuguese of Goa were leading worse lives than the heathen 
 except that they did not worship idols, and their conversion was 
 his first business. He learned the language of Malabar, and went 
 preaching among the pearl-fishers, of whom it is said he converted 
 10,000. For seven years he faithfully laboured in those far off 
 lands. At Malacca, then a great centre of trade, he met three 
 Jesuits, whom Loyola had sent to his aid, and with them made a 
 tour through the Moluccas. At Malacca, he had also met a Jap- 
 anese whose account of his strange and populous country decided 
 Xavier to visit it. He picked up as much of the language as he 
 could, and in August, 1549, landed in Japan and for about two 
 years travelled through the islands making a host of converts. His 
 mission was continued with great vigour by the Jesuits for nearly 
 a century, when for some cause or other the government took 
 fright, massacred the Christians foreign and native, and sealed 
 Japan against Europeans until our own day. He next determined 
 to plant his faith in China, but the Portuguese merchants pleaded 
 with him not to make the attempt, as he would assuredly be the 
 cause of their utter destruction. Xavier was not to be moved by 
 such alarms and persuaded a Chinaman to run him ahsore by 
 night near Canton. 
 
 It was here, on December 2, 1552, the holy man died aged only 
 forty-seven and in the twelfth year of his Asiatic ministry. His 
 body was carried to Goa, and his shrine is to Catholics the holiest 
 place in the Far East. In 1662 he was canonized, and by a papal 
 brief in 1747 was pronounced the patron saint of the East Indies. 
 His festival is observed on the 3d of December. 
 
 The pathetic story of this noble man is one of continuous labour in 
 the cause of Christ and uncomplaining self-sacrifice on his own 
 part.
 
 io SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 DECEMBER 4th 
 
 Is th festival of a man who was somewhat noted in history, St. 
 Anno, Archbishop of Cologne. He was a nobleman and an 
 officer in the army when his uncle, a canon of Baneberg, first urged 
 him to abandon the world for a religious life. He had long been 
 a favourite of Henry III., "The Black," Emperor of Germany 
 1039-56, who made him provost of Goslar in Lower Saxony ; later 
 naming him in 1056 Archbishop of Cologne. From the time he 
 entered upon his duties at Cologne the record of his life is one con- 
 tinued story of acts of love and charity to the poor and an earnest 
 but well digested and firmly executed plan for the reformation of 
 the monasteries in his diocese, which he found to be in a sadly 
 demoralized state ; lax in their ecclesiastical duties as well as in 
 their habits of life. He added two new monasteries of the Regu- 
 lar Canons at Cologne and also three of the Benedictine Order 
 elsewhere. After the death of Henry III. the Empress Agnes 
 and the States elected him Regent and Prime Minister during the 
 minority of Prince Henry (afterward Henry IV.) and he assumed 
 the high and responsible position fulfilling its grave duties with 
 such conscientious fidelity that he won for himself the love of the 
 noblest and best but the utter hatred of a class of debauchees who 
 had hoped through the Prince to profit by the death of Henry III. 
 At last, the Prince now nearing majority grew restless under 
 Anno's strict rules of life and succeeded in securing his removal as 
 Regent. But the extortions and injustice of these debauchees 
 whom the Prince thus placed in power caused so great an outcry 
 that " the States " were compelled to recall Anno in 1072, again to 
 assume the administration of the kingdom. The burden of his 
 double duties soon told upon his physical system and on Decem- 
 ber 4, 1075, he died, honoured and loved by all save the men whom 
 he had thwarted in their purposes of public plunder. His name 
 therefore stands to-day in Roman Martyrology as a true patriot 
 and a faithful prelate of the Holy Church. 
 
 DECEMBER 5th. 
 
 The name of St. Sebas, one of the most renowned patriarchs of 
 the monks of Palestine, is the first that is mentioned in Roman
 
 ST. SEBAS ii 
 
 Martyrology on this day. He was the son of a soldier and was 
 born in 439. His father, being ordered to Alexandria, took his wife 
 with him and left his son arid the care of his estates with his brother 
 Hermias whose wife treated Sebas so harshly that the boy fled to 
 another uncle named Gregory for protection. Then quarrels arose 
 between the two uncles, which finally led Sebas to seek a home in 
 a monastery called Flavinia. A reconciliation of the uncles was at 
 last made but in their avarice they wished to retain possession of the 
 estate, and therefore left Sebas in the monastery. At length through 
 fear or perhaps prompted by conscience, the uncles sought to induce 
 Sebas to leave his retreat and to marry ; but the young man had 
 already made his election and nothing could bring him to change his 
 mind, his hope and desire being to be allowed to join a band of con- 
 verts in " a Laura " (retreat) some twelve miles from Jerusalem 
 under the direction of St. Euthymius. But this good man decided 
 that Sebas was too young for such a life and sent him to a monas- 
 tery under the care of one Theoctistus, the house being a kind of 
 " noviceship " to the Laura. Sebas was again tempted to resign 
 his religious life ; this time by his father in Alexandria, but his pur- 
 pose was already fixed and he soon found a place of retirement far 
 from human habitations, and for years lived a hermit and at last 
 built for himself and a few devoted men cells in an almost inacces- 
 sible spot, over which the Patriarch of Jerusalem made him 
 " exaroh," or superior-general, and which grew at length into an 
 extensive monastery with several hospitals attached. Here, until 
 at the extreme old age of ninety-four, the holy man devoted his 
 life to good works and holy living. He died December 5, 532. 
 
 DECEMBER 6th 
 
 Is the festival of the noted St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. His 
 story is a most marvellous one. From his infancy it is said he dis- 
 played such devotional tendencies that his legend says : " He 
 refused to suckle on Wednesdays and Fridays, the fast days 
 appointed by the Church." At an early age he entered the mon- 
 astery of Sion, later becoming its abbot, a position he held until he 
 was made Archbishop of Myra, where he became noted for his
 
 12 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 humility and charity. Beyond doubt 
 St. Nicholas is one of the most pop- 
 ular saints of Christendom ; he is in- 
 voked as the protector of sailors, and 
 as the patron saint of schoolboys. 
 Mr. Warton says that the custom of 
 going ad montem at Eton originated 
 in an imitation of some of the ceremo- 
 nies and processions usual on this 
 day ; but there was no similarity in 
 the two festivities. The procession 
 ad montem was held about June 25th. 
 Many legends and miracles are related 
 of this saint, the following being among 
 s - A ^ CHO , LA f ' . those by which he is best known. 
 
 From a MS. in the Bodleion 
 
 Library. He early succeeded to large riches 
 
 which he devoted to charity; a special instance of which was 
 exhibited in the case of a nobleman in the city where the saint 
 lived, who being reduced to poverty contemplated abandoning his 
 three daughters to a sinful course as the only means of keeping 
 them from starvation ; but Nicholas, hearing of this, went to his 
 house secretly three nights in succession, and, by throwing in at 
 the window at each visit a purse of gold, saved them from infamy. 
 
 From this incident in his life is 
 derived apparently the practise for- 
 merly, if not still, customary in vari- 
 ous parts of the continent, of the eld- 
 er members and friends of a family 
 placing on the eve of St. Nicholas' 
 Day, little presents such as sweet- 
 meats and similar gifts in the shoes 
 or hose of their younger relatives, 
 who on discovering them in the 
 morning are supposed to attribute 
 them to the munificence of St. Nich- 
 olas. In convents the young lady-boarders used on the same 
 occasion to place silk-stockings at the door of the apartment of
 
 ST. NICHOLAS 13 
 
 the abbess, with a paper recommending themselves to '' Great St. 
 Nicholas of her chamber." The next morning they were sum- 
 moned together to witness the results of the liberality of the 
 saint who had bountifully filled the stockings with sweetmeats. 
 From the same instance of munificence recorded of St. Nicho- 
 las, he is often represented bearing three purses, or three 
 gold balls ; the latter emblem forming the well-known pawn- 
 brokers' sign, which with a fair degree of probability has been 
 traced to this origin. It is true indeed that this emblem is proxi- 
 mately derived from the Lombard merchants who settled in Eng- 
 land at an early period, and were the first to open establishments 
 for the lending of money. The three golden balls were also 
 the sign of the Medici family of Florence, who, by a successful 
 career of merchandise and money-lending, raised themselves to 
 the supreme power in their native state. But the same origin is 
 traceable in both cases the emblematic device of the charitable 
 St. Nicholas. 
 
 Another legend is told in two different ways. One is that dur- 
 ing a famine a certain landlord of an inn was in the habit of steal- 
 ing children and cutting up their bodies which he pickled as pork, 
 and that St. Nicholas made the horrid discovery of this, and by his 
 making the sign of the cross over the tub where the children 
 lay they were returned to life. It is from this that St. Nicholas is 
 represented almost always as in our illustration with three children 
 in a tub. The other version of the legend makes the victims 
 young men who were travellers. 
 
 St. Nicholas as the patron of sailors sometimes has an anchor 
 or ship represented in his pictures. 
 
 Perhaps nothing proves more conclusively how popular St. 
 Nicholas is in England than that no less than three hundred and 
 seventy-five churches have been dedicated to him in England 
 alone. 
 
 To tell the story of " THE FEAST OF ST. NICHOLAS " 
 would occupy far more space than I have allotted me ; but it has 
 become such an "household tale" that mine will hardly be 
 missed.
 
 14 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 DECEMBER 7th. 
 
 The date of the ordination of St. Ambrose, whose festival occurs 
 on April 4th, is observed this day at Milan. On the above date a 
 short sketch of this eminent man will be given, though in part 
 repeated here : 
 
 " The election of Ambrose to the bishopric 
 of Milan is perhaps unequalled in the singu- 
 larity of all its circumstances. He was care- 
 fully educated when young for the civil service, 
 becoming an advocate and practising with such 
 success that at the age of thirty-one he was 
 appointed governor of Liguria. In this capa- 
 city he had resided five years at Milan, and 
 was renowned for his prudence and justice 
 when Auxentius, the Arian bishop, died A. D. 
 
 374-" 
 
 It was the opportunity thus offered which 
 roused the Catholics to exert all their power to secure a man of 
 orthodox faith as a successor of the late bishop. So intense \. ~s 
 the feeling of both parties that a riot seemed imminent and 
 Ambrose, then prefect of Milan, deemed it his duty to attend the 
 conclave not dreaming of the result. Therefore he hastened to 
 the church where the people had assembled and exhorted them to 
 peace and submission to the laws. His speech was no sooner 
 ended than a child's voice was heard in the crowd, " Ambrose 
 is bishop ! " The hint was taken at once and the whole assembly 
 cried out, " Ambrose shall be the man ! " The contending fac- 
 tions agreed and thus a layman whose pursuits seemed to ex- 
 clude him altogether from the notice of either party was chosen 
 by universal consent. 
 
 DECEMBER 8th. 
 
 THE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 
 
 This Feast which is recognised in the Kalendar of the English 
 church as well as in that of the Roman, is one regarding which a 
 long controversy prevailed.
 
 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 15 
 
 It is well known that the doctrine of the immaculate conception 
 of the Virgin, of her conception without the taint of original sin, 
 was till recently a theological dogma on which the Church of 
 Rome had pronounced no positive decision. Though accepted by 
 a majority of doctors and strenuously maintained by many theo- 
 logical writers, it was, nevertheless, denied by some, more espe- 
 cially by the Dominicians, and was pronounced by several popes 
 to be an article of faith which was neither to be absolutely enforced 
 nor condemned a point in short on which the members of the 
 church were free to use their private judgment. 
 
 For centuries this question had been the subject of many 
 learned and earnest discourses. 
 
 The Feast was instituted by St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, about the year 1070, to commemorate the escape of the fleet 
 of William the Conqueror from a violent storm. Even from the 
 first the Feast seems to have had those 
 who opposed its recognition, and the dis- 
 cussion went on in England until the 
 Council of Oxford in 1220, when it was 
 decided to leave its observance optional. 
 Indeed it is only within our own day 
 and generation that through the action 
 of Pope Pius IX. in 1854, that the mooted 
 point was settled when he as the head of the Roman Church 
 officially recognised it as a feast of the universal church and 
 named this December 8th as the day for its observance. 
 
 In Christian art the conception of the Virgin in most cases shows 
 the Holy Virgin as trampling on the head of a serpent or dragon. 
 Le Clerc represents the Virgin as kneeling in prayer and a bright 
 star appearing to her entranced vision. In the Clog almanacs a 
 plain, unadorned heart is the simple emblem used to mark the day. 
 
 Readers must not confound the above Clog symbol with that 
 of the Annunciation of the Virgin, on March 25th, for they are very 
 similar and easily mistaken the one for the other. 
 
 In Roman Martyrology we read that to-day at Rome the 
 memory of the Blessed Eulychian, or Eulychianus, Bishop of
 
 16 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Rome and Pope (275-283), is kept sacred: one "who with his 
 own hands buried in diverse places, three hundred and forty-two 
 martyrs. Under the Emperor Numerian, he became their com- 
 panion, being crowned with martyrdom and buried in the cemetery 
 of Callistus." 
 
 This day is also the festival of St. Romaric or Romaricus, abbot 
 of the monastery of Luxeuil, who being the first nobleman at the 
 court of King Theodobert, renounced the world and by his saintly 
 life and the strict observance of the severe monastic discipline has 
 since his death in 653, been held up as a model and example to 
 be followed by all members of monastic orders. 
 
 DECEMBER 9th. 
 
 When in 297 Emperor Maximian returned victorious from the 
 defeat of the Persian army he celebrated " the quinquennial 
 games " at Samosata, the captial of Syria Comagene, on the banks 
 of the Euphrates ; commanding all the inhabitants to assist in 
 the solemn supplication of the gods. The entire populace seem- 
 ingly responded to the summons, and the air was filled with the 
 noise of trumpets and infected with the odour rising from the 
 burning victims which were being offered in honour of their god. 
 Two men, however, of noble birth and of wealth, had not joined 
 in the general ovation. These were Hipparchus and Philotheus, 
 who had some time prior to this embraced the Christian faith and 
 were then in the house of Hipparchus on the eastern wall engaged 
 in their devotions. With them were five younger men who were 
 seeking instruction from their elders. This was on the third day 
 of Maximian's festival and the emperor had been enquiring in 
 regard to any who had failed to obey his mandate. Then it was 
 that the names of these two nobles came up and messengers were 
 dispatched to bring them into the emperor's presence. Of course 
 the five young men were found with their friends and the whole 
 party was taken into the audience chamber ; when the customary 
 form was gone through with and condemnation to the rack and 
 scourge ensued, and after, imprisonment coupled with torture to
 
 ST. MELCHIADES 17 
 
 induce them to do honour to the gods. But each remained true to 
 the faith until at last Maximian, out of patience at their firmness, 
 ordered them to be crucified, a by no means uncommon mode 
 of inflicting the death penalty both before the time of our Lord's 
 crucifixion and centuries afterward, without the gates of the city. 
 These are the Seven Martyrs of Samosata, whom the Church 
 honours this day. 
 
 DECEMBER loth. 
 
 St. Melchiades, who succeeded Eusebius in the see of Rome in 
 311 and filled this high office until his death on December 10, 
 314, is remembered this day for the persecution he suffered dur- 
 ing the reign of Maxentin until the tyrant was vanquished by 
 Constantine. 
 
 This day is also the festival of a young virgin and martyr, St. 
 Eulalia of Merida, whose triumphant death is celebrated by the 
 great poet Aurelius Prudentius Clemens. This maid was but 
 twelve years of age when Dioclesian promulgated his fearful de- 
 cree which caused the martyrdom of so many thousand faithful 
 Christians. On learning of the edict Eulalia went to the prefect 
 of Merida then the capital city of Lustiania in Spain, now the 
 dilapidated town of Estremadura and reproached him for his 
 cruelty to the Christians. Indignant at what he declared an insult 
 from "a chit of a girl," the governor at once seized upon her, 
 placing the implements of torture on one side and on the other the 
 offerings for the idols, bidding her choose between them. She 
 cast the offerings on the floor and trampled upon them, and in 
 Roman Martyrology for this day we read : " Finally she was 
 stretched on the rack, torn with iron claws, had her sides burned 
 with lighted torches, and when fire was forced down her throat 
 she expired." 
 
 St. Leocadia, a native of Toledo and a friend of Eulalia, when 
 she heard of her death, was already in prison under order of 
 Dacian who had condemned Eulalia, and she kneeled and prayed 
 she might not be separated in death from her loved friend, when
 
 i8 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 as if in answer to her prayer she almost immediately died. The 
 festival of St. Leocadia is fixed for December gth, a day before 
 that of St. Eulalia. 
 
 DECEMBER nth. 
 
 St. Daniel, " the Stylite," whose festival occurs this day, is 
 another of those eccentric holy men who for reasons that seem 
 beyond our comprehension, of their own free will elected to pass 
 their days in the narrow limits afforded by the 
 top of a pillar or column, and who are known 
 as " pillar saints," of whom I shall speak more 
 fully in another place. St. Simon, whose festival 
 occurs on September 3d, was one of these 
 " pillar saints." His column was in Antioch, 
 and it was from seeing him that Daniel was 
 inspired to lead a similar life. For this pur- 
 pose he chose a spot in the desert mountain 
 bordering on the Euxine sea about seven miles 
 north of Constantinople. Here a friend built 
 for him a pillar, or rather two pillars one above 
 the other, and on the top one surrounded by a balustrade was 
 a vessel like a half barrel in which he dwelt. In 463 the lord 
 of the manor built for Daniel a new (and funny as it sounds) 
 " more commodious pillar." But exposure had its natural result 
 and his limbs were covered with ulcers. Still, he would not leave 
 his chosen home and when he was ordained as a priest Gennadius, 
 Bishop of Constantinople, who performed the ceremony, the 
 ordaining priest, read a portion of the service at the foot of the 
 column, and then climbed to the top to complete it, perhaps 
 the most unique ceremony of its kind in the annals of the Church. 
 A barbarian prince whom Daniel had converted built for the 
 saint a third pillar in part sheltered from storms, and Emperor Leo 
 caused a roof to be placed over his usual standing place for the 
 saint slept standing from which he ministered to his disciples. 
 An endless list of miracles and prophecies that were fulfilled are 
 credited to St. Daniel, who thus lived to the ripe age of four
 
 ST. FINIAN 19 
 
 score years, foretelling his own death, which occurred on his pillar 
 December 1 1 , 494. 
 
 DECEMBER I2th 
 
 Is sacred to one of the most noted as well as most learned men 
 of his age, St. Finian or Finan, Bishop of Cluin-Irard (called 
 Clonard); of whom and of whose celebrated monastic school I 
 shall speak especially in connection with St. Columba, who 
 was one of his pupils, and also the incident of the stolen Psal- 
 ter and its denoument, which made St. Columba the first Chris- 
 tian missionary to the-Picts and whose monastery at lona was 
 the beginning of the Christian Church in what is now Scotland. 
 
 Next to that of St. Patrick among the primitive teachers in those 
 splendid monastic schools which made Ireland famous during the 
 V., VI. and VII. centuries, stands the name of St. Finan. In 
 his youth he had been taught by the disciples of St. Patrick but 
 like the true student, his thirst for knowledge led him at an early 
 age to seek for this in the famous schools in Wales which had 
 been founded by SS. David and Gildas. After a long residence in 
 Wales St. Finan returned to Ireland in 520, and among other 
 monastic schools which he founded was that of Clonard in Meath, 
 from which came many of the most famous saints, scholars and 
 doctors of Ireland. In the long list of these we read the names of 
 Klaran, "the Younger" Columkille, the two Brendans, Columba, 
 and others equally noted for their piety and learning. Indeed it is 
 not too much to claim that Clonard was in its day the most famous 
 seminary of sacred learning in Ireland, through the wonderful 
 inspiration of its leading spirit. In this school Mr. Skene, in his 
 " Celtic Scotland," says " there were no fewer than three thousand 
 monks." In speaking thus, my readers should remember the full 
 signification of this word " monk " in those earlier days, embrac- 
 ing as it did not only those in holy orders, but the students them- 
 selves. I have no space to deal in detail with the influence exerted 
 by this wonderful man ; but a single quotation from Dr. Skene's 
 " Monastic Church in Ireland " shows the estimate placed upon 
 St. Finian by this clear-headed discerning Scotch writer. He
 
 20 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 says : " These expressions all point to an effete, decaying church, 
 restored through the medium of Finian and his monastic school at 
 Clonard and to a great revival and spread of Christianity through a 
 new and living organisation, based upon the monastic institution." 
 
 Interesting as the subject is, I cannot enlarge upon it beyond 
 saying that it was by and through the efforts of Finian these 
 monastic schools came to be hardly second to those of Rome. 
 Finian died on December 12, 552. 
 
 The St. Columba whose festival is also held this day must not 
 be confounded with St. Columba the " Apostle of the Picts," yet 
 both were pupils of St. Finian. 
 
 DECEMBER 13th. 
 
 The story of St. Lucy or Lucia, whose name appears in both the 
 Roman and English Church Kalendars, is, even as told in an " Eng- 
 lish Church Year Book," like some fairy tale ; 
 but there is much in her sad life which alas ! is 
 only too true. She was born in Sicily, very 
 wealthy, and endowed with almost angelic 
 beauty, a fatal gift which had inspired both the 
 passion and love of a noble (by birth but not 
 as will be seen, character) pagan who against 
 her wishes was betrothed to her. It was in 
 vain that she pleaded with her mother Eutycia, 
 to prevent this betrothal even when assured 
 that Lucia had taken on herself vows of chastity 
 until the mother was stricken with what 
 seemed a mortal malady. Persuaded at last 
 by the pleading of her daughter, Eutycia 
 visited Cantania to pay her vows at the shrine 
 of St. Agatha. As the mother and daughter 
 kneeled at the shrine, Lucia had a vision in 
 which St. Agatha assured her that her mother 
 was healed of her infirmity and that she (Lucia) should obtain 
 the favour of Heaven for Syracuse, the city where she then lived. 
 When Eutycia found herself restored she at last yielded to the 
 
 s. LUCY. 
 
 From a Painting in 
 the Spanish 
 Gallery at 
 Louvre.
 
 ST. LUCY 21 
 
 importunities of Lucia to annul her betrothal. This did not suit 
 the young pagan, who swore " her beautiful eyes haunted him 
 day and night." With an heroic resolution to end the trying affair 
 Lucia deliberately " cut her eyes out of their sockets and sent 
 them to him ; begging that henceforth she might be left in 
 peace." But to quote still from the legend : " God rewarded 
 her for her sacrifice by restoring her eyes, an hundredfold more 
 beautiful than ever before." After this she gave her entire dowry 
 to be distributed to the poor of Syracuse. This last act so 
 enraged her lover that he went to Pascasius, who under the edict 
 of Dioclesian, ordered her to sacrifice to the gods. She refused. 
 Then came the most brutal of the means (not uncommon then used) 
 to secure her consent to sacrifice. She was taken to a brothel, 
 there to be defiled. A fact that is literally true. But she 
 had such strength given her that even the brutes employed at last 
 desisted and she was carried to prison. Once 
 more the Governor ordered her to do sacrifice to 
 the gods or be condemned to death. Again she 
 refused ; but when the soldiers attempted to re- 
 move her by force for execution she stood as if 
 rooted to the ground, and they could not move her. 
 Even when ropes and pulleys were applied they 
 proved powerless. A fire was kindled on the 
 stone floor around her, but that too, did her no 
 harm ; at last one of the servants of the Governor, 
 thinking to pleasure him, stabbed her in the neck ' 
 with a dagger. Thus in most Clog Almanacs a dagger marks 
 St. Lucy's day. An English Clog has a gridiron for the emblem 
 of St. Lucy, but this would seem far more fitting for St. Laurence. 
 In Christian art St. Lucy is usually represented as in our first 
 illustration, holding a plate in one hand on which are her eyes 
 and a palm branch in the other. Sometimes a pilgrim's shell is 
 substituted for the plate. Again in allusion to her name, Lucia, 
 she sometimes holds a lamp and more rarely still is standing by 
 a flaming cauldron.
 
 22 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 DECEMBER 
 
 The study of the lives of the saints of the early Church con- 
 stantly brings us in contact with the history of the various parts of 
 Europe where the man under consideration lived, and to under- 
 stand the man and his life we must know of his surroundings. It 
 is for this reason that the scraps of history which I shall record 
 will be introduced. It is thus to-day, when speaking of St. Ni- 
 casius and his band of Christians at Rheims, in the beginning of 
 the V. century, then a part of Gaul and in which city a flourishing 
 church had existed for a long time, as St. Nicasius was its ninth 
 bishop, we know in Germany not a few of the Vandals were 
 Arian Christians while the Goths were yet pagans. But both the 
 Goths and Vandals were at enmity at all times with Gaul and it is 
 a mooted point therefore with historians whether the " barbarians " 
 who are said to have besieged and plundered Rheims in 407 were 
 Goths or Arian Vandals. As we have ample evidence of the deadly 
 hatred existing in the hearts of the Arians toward Orthodox Chris- 
 tians, practically it mattered little to the faithful in Rheims which 
 they were who attacked them. Those old worthies of the Church 
 were sturdy men of valour and as such at all times of danger they 
 became leaders not only of their disciples but of others. Thus 
 it was Nicasius appears in the forefront of the battle of the 
 denizens of Rheims for their homes. From the first the Bishop saw 
 defeat was almost certain ; but this was no reason why they should 
 not do their duty, and everywhere on that eventful day he was 
 seen going from door to door and from one armed band to another 
 regardless of the personal danger for his own life that he might 
 save others. But the barbarians were too strong and well trained 
 for the peaceful citizens long to resist. Still when they entered 
 the city they met the doughty Bishop fighting them at every step 
 with his Deacon and Lector at his side and thus it happened the 
 holy man was one of the first who fell beneath their sword. Not 
 very far away from this scene of battle, his sister Eutropia 
 watched and waited the outcome for she knew only too well 
 that the defeat of the citizens and capture of herself by their 
 enemies meant the despoiling of her honour though she had done
 
 N ICENE CREED 23 
 
 nobly her share and welcomed death rather than to yield to what 
 was worse. These are the saints the Church still keeps in memory 
 by the services held this day in their honour. 
 
 DECEMBER isth 
 
 Is the festival of St. Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli (now in Pied- 
 mont) and whose name is especially remembered from the fact that 
 Pope Liberius deputised him with Lucifer of Cagliari to ask the 
 Emperor Constantine to assemble the council which met at Milan 
 in 355, at which time Constantine laid the Nicene creed on the 
 table insisting that all present sign that rule of faith to govern 
 them, before they took up the case of St. Athanasius the cham- 
 pion of the Orthodox Church which was then to be considered. 
 The Arians were in the majority of those present but violent as 
 they ever seemed to be, either dared not or would not submit 
 to the demand of the Emperor. Thus, when Dionysius of Milan 
 rose to affix his signature to the paper, Valeus, Bishop of Mursia 
 one of the most violent of the Arians "darted forward and 
 snatched the obnoxious document from his (Dionysius) hands, 
 tearing it into fragments which he cast on the floor and then 
 broke the pen into pieces." An adjournment to the palace of the 
 emperor followed and the hasty condemnation of St. Athanasius. 
 To this verdict St. Eusebius objected and refused to sign as did 
 Dionysius and Lucifer of Cagliari, believing St. Athanasius inno- 
 cent. Whereon the Emperor in rage cried out : " Obey me, or 
 you shall be banished." On a second refusal soldiers entered 
 and tore the holy prelates from the altar, conveying Dionysius into 
 Cappadocia where he died ; Lucifer to Syria, and Eusebius to 
 Scythopolis in Palestine to be dealt with by the Arian Bishop 
 Patrophilis. Pope Liberius, powerless to help them, still wrote 
 encouraging letters. The story of Eusebius' sufferings is too 
 long to repeat but on the death of Constantine in 361, Julian 
 gave permission for the banished Bishops to return to their sees. 
 The Bishop seems to have travelled extensively in the East and 
 through Illyricum, preaching and confirming many who had gone 
 astray from the true faith, before his death in 371.
 
 24 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 The Roman Missal and Breviary place his office for December 
 1 5th. This, however, is supposed to be the date when his relics 
 were translated to Vercelli, as his death is believed to have occurred 
 on August ist. 
 
 DECEMBER 1 5th. 
 
 On this day the first of a series of nine anthems in the Latin 
 service of the English pre-Reformation Church used to be sung in 
 honour of Christ's Advent, taking their place in the ritual, and the 
 anthems were continued to Christmas Eve. 
 
 This day is the festival of St. Alice, or as she is often called, 
 Adelaide, whose eventful life might well serve for an historical 
 story of the early part of the X. century as it covers a period full 
 of stirring events in continental history and life in several promi- 
 nent courts of Europe. I have not the space to tell this story as it 
 should be told ; for abridged as it must be it loses much in historic 
 interest. 
 
 The second Burgundy, often called Aries in early days, was 
 erected by Charles II. (The Bold) in 877. In 931 Rudolph or 
 Ralph II. was king of Burgundy when his wife bore him a daugh- 
 ter whom they christened Alice ; though she is often spoken of as 
 Adelaide. Her father died in 937 when she was but six years of 
 age and when sixteen she married Lothaire, king of Italy, and her 
 daughter Emma married Lothaire, king of France. Lothaire, king 
 of Italy and husband of Alice, died in 949, at which time the 
 trials of the young widow began. Berengarius III., the Margrave 
 of Jurea, who by conquests had already possessed himself of 
 Lombardy, and who was an openly declared enemy of Lothaire, 
 succeeded the late king and almost immediately upon some pre- 
 text imprisoned Alice the late queen. After some years Queen 
 Alice managed to escape from her prison and fled toward 
 Germany, being met, however, before her arrival by Prince 
 Otho (afterward Otho I.) who at the solicitation of Pope Agapetus 
 II. had raised an army of 50,000 men and was marching to secure 
 her release. Continuing his march he conquered Paris and finally 
 made a treaty with Berengarius, which was soon broken by the
 
 ST. OLMYPIAS 25 
 
 latter and a second expedition was sent out which captured the 
 faithless king of Italy, and he was sent a prisoner to Germany 
 where he died. In 963 Otho was crowned Emperor of Germany 
 at Rome, and was married to Alice immediately after his 
 coronation. Otho (the Great) died in 973 and his son Otho II. 
 became emperor, and while under the guidance of his mother, 
 Queen Alice, all went well, but under evil advisors her son at 
 length banished her from court. After nine years, when Otho II. 
 died, Alice was recalled and made regent. Such was the tortuous, 
 trying life of this good woman of whose inner life I have not 
 spoken as it seems so separate and apart from her outer and 
 public life. Except by following her day by day, this hidden life 
 can hardly be told. Neither the pomp and flattery of courts 
 where every kind was beset before her nor the trials adversity 
 brought, ever changed her from being the meek and humble 
 Christian she truly was. Whether wielding the sceptre of 
 state, governing the destinies of her kingdom, or as the imprisoned 
 captive of a tyrant, the same spirit of Christ dominated her every 
 act. As one writer says of her : " Her own household appeared 
 as regular as the most edifying monastery." To do good both by 
 precept and example, was her one aim in life. Her last journey 
 on which she was engaged was as a peacemaker between 
 rebellious subjects of her nephew Ralph in Burgundy and their 
 ruler. Thus it was that while on the road she died at Salces, in 
 Alsace, on December 16, 999. 
 
 DECEMBER 
 
 Is the festival of another widow, St. Olmypias, whom one vener- 
 able writer calls " the glory of the widows in the eastern church." 
 Born of an illustrious family, possessed of immense wealth and of 
 unusual personal beauty, she was early sought for in marriage and 
 in 368 was wedded to Nebridius, treasurer of Emperor Theodosius 
 the Great. But a brief twenty days elapsed after her marriage 
 when death claimed her husband. When the customary term of 
 mourning was ended suitors innumerable asked her hand in 
 marriage, among them men of the most ancient and noble of the
 
 26 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 patrician families, officials of high rank and gallants from the 
 court, but to one and all she gave the same reply, that during her 
 life she should remain unmarried. Even when the emperor 
 interceded in behalf of one of his nobles she still held to her set 
 purpose. Beset thus on every side she placed her great fortune in 
 the hands of the prefect of Constantinople as her trustee, until she 
 should reach the age of 30. This gave the prefect peculiar 
 authority over her, and to aid one of Olmypias' rejected suitors 
 who thought thus to coerce the widow into compliance, she was 
 interdicted from either going to church or seeing her bishop and 
 spiritual adviser. Complaining to Theodosius, she desired her 
 fortune to be divided between the poor and the church ; but the 
 emperor instead directed in 391 the prefect to restore the control 
 of her fortune to the widow herself who thenceforth under the 
 wise counsel of St. Chrysostom began a systematic division of 
 her revenues to both the church and charity until the worthy 
 bishop was so ruthlessly banished in 404. Like other of St. 
 Chrysostom's friends, she suffered in the persecutions which 
 followed and owing to sickness was obliged to leave the city but 
 in 405 she was brought back, heavily fined for refusal to " com- 
 municate with Arsocius," her goods sold and the community of 
 nuns she headed scattered. But ever true to her faith no suffering 
 or physical ailment though she had been for years an invalid 
 could induce her to waver in her constant conscientious purposes. 
 Thus after many years of trials and sickness this noble specimen 
 of the women of the early church died about 410, the exact year 
 being, like many dates in the early centuries, uncertain. The 
 Greeks honour St. Olmypias on July 25th, but in Roman Martyr- 
 ology the date is fixed for December i7th. 
 
 DECEMBER i8th 
 
 Is sacred to St. Winebald, the son of an Anglo-Saxon king, and a 
 family highly honoured in Roman Martyrology as both the father, 
 St. Richard, and our saints' brother, St. Willibald, and their sister, 
 St. Walburga, appear in its Kalendar. 
 
 The story has its more especial interest from the evidence it
 
 SS. WINEBALD, NEMESION 27 
 
 bears of the deep and conscientious purpose of those Anglo-Saxon 
 Christians of whom at best we know very little and must therefore 
 judge them rather from their scantily recorded lives than by the 
 more elaborate records of Churchman of later days. 
 
 St. Richard, having determined upon a pilgrimage, also resolved 
 to take his two sons with him. Embarking at Hamble-Haven, 
 they passed through Normandy ; but on arriving at Lucca the 
 King sickened and died in 722. After the burial of their father 
 the sons completed their pilgrimage to Rome. Later, Willibald 
 extended his pilgrimage to Palestine but Winebald returned to 
 England. In 738 Winebald and a younger brother accompanied 
 their cousin St. Boniface once more to Rome and from there 
 Winebald, still clinging to his patron St. Boniface, came to Thurin- 
 gia, where the holy man ordained him as a priest and committed 
 to his care seven of the churches which he (Boniface) had founded, 
 among them being that at Erfust. In 781 St. Willibald, then Bishop 
 of Aychstadt in Franconia, wished to establish one of those double 
 monasteries which were at that time regarded with so much favour 
 by the church, and invited Winebald and their sister, Walburga, to 
 take charge of it as Abbot and Abbess. The neighbourhood was 
 intensely idolatrous, and frequent attempts were made upon the 
 life of Winebald but he was preserved through each, until at last 
 his faithful labours bore fruit among the very men who had 
 endeavoured to harm him. In this effort a grievous malady which 
 for years afflicted him was never allowed to interfere with the task 
 he had set himself and so he is often held up by his biographers 
 as an example of perseverance under trials, thus to quote from a 
 chronicler " having been tried and purified * * * as pure gold in 
 the furnace, he went to God, on December 18, 760." 
 
 DECEMBER 
 
 St. Nemesion, whom the Church honours this day, was an 
 Egyptian who spent his life labouring among thieves and the low- 
 est classes in striving to bring them back to a right course of living. 
 His life work and character were well enough known to have 
 exempted him from the accusation of being a thief but under the
 
 28 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 persecution of Decius, for lack of a better reason, this was charged 
 against him. He quickly and easily disproved the false accusation ; 
 but once their victim was in their hands these idolaters never let 
 loose their deathly grip. Thus it was that when cleared of the 
 false charge he was questioned as to his faith and true as Christ's 
 followers were in those days, Nemesion failed not to testify against 
 himself when he proclaimed he was a Christian, and was at once 
 sent to the " Augustal " Prefect of Egypt to be dealt with. Two 
 questions only were put to the Egyptian Evangelist : " Are you 
 a Christian ? " and " Will you repent from your error and do sac- 
 rifice to the gods ? " Well knowing what awaited his reply, Neme- 
 sion without hesitation responded, acknowledging his faith and in 
 burning words then gave his reasons why death was preferable to 
 denying his Lord and Christ. Thus our saint with four Roman 
 soldiers and a civilian who, like Nemesion, held firm to their con- 
 victions, were all led forth on the igth of December to an execu- 
 tion more merciful than was often the case for they were 
 beheaded. 
 
 DECEMBER 2oth 
 
 Is the feast of St. Philogonius, Bishop of Antioch, and whose name 
 is especially remembered from the fact that he with the saintly 
 Bishop Alexander and others first began the combat now so 
 famous, against Arius and in support of true Catholicism. He was 
 educated for a lawyer and had won for himself fame as an eloquent 
 speaker, but even more for his keen, clear logic, his wonderful 
 knowledge of the canon law and above all for the purity of his life. 
 In 318 Arius had broached his heresies at Alexandria and had 
 been condemned by Alexander for them. It was just then the see 
 of Antioch was made vacant and the need felt for a strong man to 
 fill it. The high-toned, true characteristics of Philogonius were 
 well known and fully justified the church in his case dispensing 
 with the canons and placing him as it did, in the bishopric. The 
 condemnation and sentence of Arius by Alexander were conveyed 
 to Philogonius in a synodical letter and the latter's defence of the 
 Catholic faith before the Council of Nice, has most justly made his
 
 ST. THOMAS 29 
 
 name famous, even without the added lustre gained by his earnest, 
 effective labours during the storms raised against the Church by 
 Maximian II. and afterward by Licinius, which made our saint 
 deserving of the noble title of confessor. He died in 322, but it 
 was not until 386 his festival was first celebrated and was the 
 occasion seized upon by St. Chrysostom to pronounce a panegyric 
 on the wonderful character of the noted bishop, though he left to 
 Bishop Flavias the honour of speaking in detail of his great and 
 arduous work for the Catholic Church, an effort on the part of St. 
 John Chrysostom which even in these modern days is regarded as 
 one of the most wonderful displays of eloquence of the many that 
 have made the name of Chrysostom famous. Yet no one who 
 reads the life of St. Philogonius can for an instant doubt how fully 
 deserving he was of the eulogy. 
 
 This day is the Vigil of St. Thomas the Apostle, and in both 
 the English and Roman churches is marked by especial and 
 appropriate offices. 
 
 DECEMBER 2ist. 
 ST. THOMAS' DAY. 
 
 The festival of St. Thomas was instituted in the twelfth cen- 
 tury and as an old author alleges was assigned an early place in 
 the ecclesiastical calendar from this apostle having been vouch- 
 safed the most indisputable evidence of the resurrection. 
 
 St. Thomas, surnamed Didymus, or The Twin, appears to have 
 been a Jew and probably a Galilean ; he is said to have travelled 
 and promulgated Christianity among the Parthians, Medes and 
 Persians, to have been the apostle of the Indies, and to have been 
 martyred at Meliapore on the coast of Caromandel at the instiga- 
 tion of the Brahmins. After being stoned and struck with darts 
 he was finally transfixed with a lance. A Christian church exists to 
 this day on the coast of Malabar which traditionally traces its ori- 
 gin to the preaching of St. Thomas, and names itself after him. 
 Wheatly suggests that the church recommends St. Thomas to our 
 meditation at this season as a fit preparative to our Lord's Nativity,
 
 30 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 for although he first openly doubted the truth of our Lord's 
 Resurrection all doubts fled when he saw his Divine Master. 
 
 St. Thomas as the pa- 
 tron of architects and 
 builders has for his sym- 
 bol a builder's or carpen- 
 ter's square and in 
 Danish clogs his day is 
 marked by one, but upon 
 the English clogs it has, 
 as shown in the second 
 illustration, a purely 
 Runic sign. The square 
 was assigned to St. 
 Thomas about the IX. 
 century from a quaint 
 legend, but too long for 
 repetition here except 
 very much abridged. 
 When the Apostle was in 
 Cassarea, the Lord ap- 
 peared to him and said : 
 " Gondoforus, king of 
 the Indies, wishes a 
 palace built for himself 
 which shall exceed in 
 splendour that of the 
 emperor at Rome. Be- 
 hold, now I will send thee 
 to build it." Gondoforus 
 received the Apostle 
 graciously, gave into his 
 S. THOMAS. hands immense treasures 
 
 From Mural Painting in S. Alban's Abbey. of gold and silver with 
 
 which to build the palace ; then started on a journey to a far 
 country and was absent two years. After the king's departure 
 Thomas, instead of building the palace, distributed to the last
 
 ST. THOMAS 31 
 
 farthing all of the treasures given him among the poor, sick and 
 needy. Upon the king's return and when he found his coveted 
 palace unbuilt and learned what had been done with his immense 
 treasure he was full of wrath and ordered the Apostle imprisoned 
 and commanded he should be put to an horrible death. Meanwhile 
 the king's brother died, and Gon- 
 doforus resolved to erect for him a 
 magnificent tomb. But on the fourth 
 day after his brother's death, while 
 the king sat beside the catafalco, his 
 brother rose and sat upright in his 
 sarcophagus and said . ' The man 
 whom thou tortured is a servant of 
 God. I have been in Paradise and 
 the angels showed me a wondrous 
 palace, built of silver, gold and pre- 
 cious stones and they said : ' This is 
 the palace the architect Thomas hath built for thy brother Gon- 
 doforus.' " When the king heard these words he ran to the prison 
 and liberated the Apostle who said : " Knowest thou not that they 
 who wouldst possess heavenly things care little for the gauds of 
 this world ? There are in heaven such places without number which 
 are prepared for those who purchase the possession of them 
 through faith and charity. Thy riches, 
 O king, may prepare for thee such a 
 palace but they cannot follow thee. " 
 A representation of this legend is painted 
 on one of the windows of the Cathedral 
 at Bourges ; an appropriate offering from 
 the company of builders of that ancient 
 city. For while the most devout regard 
 the legend as a purely religious fiction 
 or an allegory, like some of the parables of our Saviour, as in- 
 vented for the instruction of the people, the moral lesson it teaches 
 has and will give it a place always in the story of St. Thomas. 
 
 After the dispersion of the Apostles, St. Thomas is said to have 
 preached the gospel to the Medes, Persians, Barbarians, Ethiopians
 
 32 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 and the Indians: and it was among the latter that he suffered mar- 
 tyrdom at Miliapore. Legends in great number are told of St. 
 Thomas, among them the curious in such matters should read 
 the story told by Sir John Mandeville of St. Thomas' arm, 
 " which yet " i. e., in Sir John's day gives judgment between 
 litigants by casting aside the scroll of the unworthy one, when 
 presented " at his fair tomb in the city of Calvary." 
 
 St. Thomas' Day falls on the winter solstice, the shortest day in 
 the year, as expressed in the following couplet : 
 " St. Thomas gray. St. Thomas gray, 
 The longest night and the shortest day." 
 
 DECEMBER 22d. 
 
 This day has been selected by the Roman Church to commem- 
 orate two missionaries of the IX. century. These two men are 
 sometimes spoken of as " brothers," but this probably came from 
 the fact that they were brethren of the Order of St. Basil. One 
 of these, Cyril, was a philosopher while Methodius was an artist 
 of rare skill as were many monks of the early ages, men who pro- 
 duced those wonderful illuminated missals which are unsur- 
 passed even by the best artists of modern days. Originally Cyril 
 had been named Constantine, but by a very common custom that 
 obtains even now, had changed his name at the time of his con- 
 secration. He was born of a Roman " senatorial family," and 
 received every possible advantage which the age afforded ; while his 
 bright, analytic mind nature endowed him with and an ardent love 
 for study enabled him to make the most of his resources, so that 
 he early won the rare sobriquet of " The Philosopher." But his 
 piety and virtue were his most shining characteristics, and thus 
 after his ordination to the priesthood his zeal in the service of the 
 Church brought him into notice. His first public recognition 
 came in his defence of St. Ignatius, when in 846 that worthy was 
 advanced to patriarchal dignity and was attacked by Photius as 
 related by Anastasius " the bibliothecarian." 
 
 It was about this time when the Chazari, a tribe descended from 
 the ancient Turci, one of the most numerous of the powerful
 
 ST. CYRIL 33 
 
 nation of the Huns in European Scythia, had possessed themselves 
 of a territory on the banks of the Danube near Germany, with 
 Moravia on the west, and a tribe of Bulgarians, " the Scrobati," 
 in the mountains on the south, and sent an embassy to Michael 
 III. the Drunkard Emperor of the East (died 867), and joined 
 his pious mother in asking that some priest be sent to instruct 
 them in the Christian Faith. The dowager empress at once con- 
 sulted Ignatius the patriarch and Cyril was selected for the pur- 
 pose and started on his mission in 848. The selection of Cyril is 
 only an illustration of the care and foresight of those Fathers of 
 the Church in all things. The language of the Chazari was not 
 the Sclavonian then so common among many of the tribal nations, 
 therefore was one to be learned by the missionary. As a student 
 Cyril had learned Greek, Latin and the Sclavonic languages and 
 thus had a solid foundation upon which to build in his study of this 
 new language ; his first work was its acquisition which he accom- 
 plished in a very short time. Then and not until then, did he 
 attempt to teach ; thus avoiding many mistakes that under similar 
 circumstances had retarded if not wholly ruined the efforts of 
 worthy but less critically educated men. Once feeling himself 
 fully equipped for this work he began it, and his success was 
 equalled by the care he had taken in his preparation. I have been 
 thus prolix only to illustrate a fact which will often be seen in the 
 lives of others of the missionaries sent out in those dark ages. For 
 it was through them that the Latin Church, by their arduous labours 
 and missionary work, was laying those broad foundations upon 
 which they later built such a solid structure. When Cyril had 
 completed his work among the Chazari, and arranged for their 
 spiritual welfare in the future, he returned to Constantinople. But 
 he was quickly sent upon his second mission and it was then 
 " his brother Methodius " became his associate in endeavouring to 
 bring the Bulgari under Christian influence. These Bulgari were 
 also a Scythian nation though not of the Huns but of the Sclavi, 
 and their language entirely different from either the Turci or Huns. 
 They were located in ancient Myria and Dacia on both sides of 
 the Danube, now part of Wallachia, Moldavia, and of modern 
 Hungary. The earliest seeds for the conversion of these barba-
 
 34 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 rians had been sown in the beginning of the reign of Basil II. 
 (The Macedonian), Emperor of the East from 867 to 886 by 
 Grecian captives, but was in Cyril's day nearly dead. The two 
 monks worked each in his own way, but in perfect harmony. 
 Cyril from the pulpit, but Methodius by what we now would call 
 object lessons, through the wonderful power he possessed with 
 his pencil and brush supplementing and illustrating Cyril's burning 
 words. A single instance of their effective work must suffice to 
 show their success. Bogoris (or Boigoris), then king of Bulgaria, 
 a man devoted to the pleasures of the chase and a bonhomme 
 (easy-going fellow) as a Frenchman terms him, desired Metho- 
 dius to paint for him a picture to adorn the wall of his ban- 
 quet-hall. Instead of selecting a hunting scene, or some other 
 that would please the King but which would carry no lesson with 
 it, the monk chose for his illustration " The Last Judgment," 
 with kings, princes and peasants all standing in a heterogeneous 
 mass without distinction of rank or person before the Great Judge. 
 When completed it was shown the King who demanded an 
 explanation of the meaning of the picture. This Cyril gave in 
 such a realistic manner that the monarch and his courtiers stood 
 awe stricken and terrified. But the result was attained, for in 865 
 (authorities differ as to this date, some placing it in 86 1) he was 
 baptised when he took the name of Michael, and in 867 he sent 
 ambassadors to Pope Nicholas I. with presents and a request for 
 instructions as to his future conduct. 
 
 But I must refrain from any further comment on these interest- 
 ing men beyond saying that in Muscovite Kalendars both Cyril and 
 Methodius are termed " Moravian Bishops," and in Roman Mar- 
 tyrology the same title is given them. In the Polish Breviary it 
 is stated Cyril died a monk and that only Methodius was conse- 
 crated as an Archbishop sometime after his " brother's " death, by 
 Adrian II. 
 
 Stredowski in his " Sacra Moravia? Historia," styles SS. Cyril 
 and Methodius " Apostles of Moravia, Upper Bohemia, etc., etc., 
 and almost all of the Sclavonian nations." 
 
 The Greeks and Muscovites honour St. Cyril on Feburary I4th, 
 and St. Methodius on the nth of May. The dates of their death 
 are uncertain beyond being between the years 880 and 894.
 
 THE EVE OF THE NATIVITY 35 
 
 Roman Martyrology honours these saints on March pth. This 
 22d of December, however, is that named by Dr. Butler in his 
 " Lives of the Saints." 
 
 DECEMBER 23d. 
 
 The story of St. Servulus, whose festival recurs this day, reminds 
 one in its main features of the parable of Dives and Lazarus. 
 From his infancy Servulus had been a paralytic and a beggar. As 
 a baby his mother had carried him to the porch of the historic 
 church of St. Clement's in Rome, and there laid him down to wait 
 for the alms which passers might drop to him. During his whole 
 life he never could sit upright but lay prone at the feet of those 
 who stopped to look at him and thus soon became well known to 
 all about the church. St. Gregory especially became deeply inter- 
 ested in this beggar when by accident he discovered him sharing 
 the alms he had received with his fellow beggars who had been 
 less fortunate than himself reserving only a bare moiety for his 
 own needs. As he lay by the church door he heard and learned 
 to join in the anthems sung within and when he was dying his 
 legend tells : " He suddenly cried out ' Silence! Do you not hear 
 the sweet melody and praises resounding from heaven ? ' " St. 
 Gregory made this beggar cripple the subject of one of his most 
 noted efforts (Homily 15), drawing from his life and his efforts to 
 aid his fellowmen even amid his own afflictions a lesson which 
 the prosperous world may well take to heart, though St. Gregory's 
 eulogy was spoken in 590, when Servulus died. 
 
 DECEMBER 24th. 
 
 This is the Vigil of the Nativity of Our Blessed Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and is a day of fasting and abstination in both the English 
 and Roman churches. 
 
 The eves or vigils of the different ecclesiastical festivals of the 
 Christian year are, according to the strict letter of canonical rule, 
 times of fasting and penance, but as in the case of All Saints' Eve 
 and of Christmas Eve, common custom has ignored and inconti- 
 ently transformed them into seasons of mirth and jollity. Per-
 
 3 6 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 haps nothing better can be found to describe this than Sir Walter 
 Scott's " Marmion," and I would advise my gentle readers to take 
 from their shelves that glorious poem and read from where it 
 begins : 
 
 " On Christmas Eve the bells were rung ; 
 On Christmas Eve the mass was sung ; 
 That only night, iti all the year, 
 Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear, 
 The damsel donned her kirtle sheen ; 
 The hall was dressed with holly green ; 
 Forth to the wood did merry-men go, 
 To gather in the mistletoe.'' 
 
 By far the largest number of the Christmas customs still extant in 
 England and which in a limited way obtain among ourselves are but 
 the survivals of old pagan rites and ceremonies. These, it is need- 
 less here to repeat, were extensively retained after the conversion of 
 Britain to Christianity, partly because the Christian teachers found 
 it impossible to wean their converts from their cherished supersti- 
 tions and observances, and partly because they themselves, as a 
 matter of expediency, ingrafted the rites of the Christian religion on 
 the old heathen ceremonies, believing that thereby the cause of 
 the cross would be rendered more acceptable to the generality of 
 the populace and thus be more effectually promoted. By such 
 an amalgamation, no festival of the Christian year was more 
 thoroughly characterized than Christmas, the festivities of which 
 were originally derived from the Roman Saturnalia, had afterwards 
 been intermingled with the ceremonies observed by the British 
 Druids at the period of the winter solstice, and at a subsequent 
 period became incorporated with the grim mythology of the ancient 
 Saxons. Two popular observances belonging to Christmas are 
 more especially derived from the worship of our pagan ancestors 
 the hanging up of the mistletoe and the burning of the yule log. 
 
 But I must not enter upon any description of these festivities 
 here. Yet I am tempted to quote from the genial pen of Herrick 
 in regard to the yule log : 
 
 " Come bring a noise, 
 My merry, merry boys, 
 The Christmas log to the firing ;
 
 THE NATIVITY 37 
 
 While my good dame she 
 Bids ye all be free, 
 
 And drink to your heart's desiring. 
 
 With the last year's brand 
 Light the new block, and, 
 
 For good success in his spending, 
 On your psalteries play 
 That sweet luck may 
 
 Come while the log is a-teending. * 
 
 Drink now the strong beer, 
 Cut the white loaf here, 
 
 The while the meat is a-shredding ; 
 For the rare mince-pie, 
 And the plums stand by, 
 
 To fill the paste that's a-kneading." 
 
 The allusion in the second verse to the " last year's brand " 
 refers to the old custom of laying aside the charred remains of the 
 yule log of one year and with it to kindle the new log. The same 
 custom prevailed regarding the yule candle from whose remnant 
 the candle which held the central place on the table at the Christ- 
 mas Eve supper was lighted. While in Germany where, by the 
 way, the Christmas tree first was raised, the candles of the tree are 
 lighted from the last year's yule candle. 
 
 At Vespers and Evensong the canonical colour is on this day 
 changed to white. 
 
 DECEMBER 2$th. 
 The canonical colour for Christmas Day is white. 
 
 THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST. 
 
 The birth of Jesus Christ, the deliverer of the human race and 
 the mysterious link connecting the transcendent and incomprehen- 
 sible attributes of Deity with human sympathies, is and should be 
 regarded as the most glorious event which finds a place in the 
 Ecclesiastical or Civil Kalendars, and as such should be observed 
 with appropriate and solemn religious services. 
 
 The question of whether this 25th day of December is really the 
 
 * Burning.
 
 38 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 anniversary of the birth of Christ was for a long time a mooted 
 one, and the evidence of its truth is at best traditional. 
 
 In the earliest periods of which we have any record we find this 
 feast was observed at various periods, the ist and 6th of January 
 being the dates on which a portion of the Christians celebrated it ; 
 others doing so on March 29th, the time of the " Jewish Passover," 
 while yet others selected September 29th, that being " The Feast 
 of the Tabernacles." There were those also who observed it on 
 April 2oth, and yet another class who thought it occurred on May 
 2oth, while SS. Epiphanius and Cassian state that in Egypt Christ 
 was believed to have been born on January 6th. For a long time 
 the Greeks celebrated our Lord's birth on the Feast of Epiphany. 
 In a sermon preached by St. Chrysostom at Antioch on Decem- 
 ber 25, in 386, he says : " It is not ten years since this day (Christ- 
 mas, December 25th) was clearly known to us; but it has been 
 familiar from the beginning to those who dwell in the West. The 
 Romans have from the earliest days celebrated it (Christmas on 
 December 25th) and thus from ancient tradition transmitted 
 the knowledge to us." 
 
 The " Kirchenlexikon " (an accepted and undoubted authority) 
 says that " the special feast in honour of the Saviour's birth was 
 introduced in the year 354 under Pope Liberius, and soon after 
 in Constantinople in 378, but previous to this the feast was 
 celebrated upon Epiphany." 
 
 In passing I note Chambers names Pope Julius as having intro- 
 duced the feast in the church ritual, but if 354, the year named by 
 the Kirchenlexikon is co'rrect, Julius could not have promulgated 
 the office for he died in 352, and Liberius was chosen as his 
 successor. 
 
 Be this as it may for I have no space to argue such a point - 
 it is but reasonable to believe that the Holy Father did not select 
 this day at a random guess, though the reasons or traditions on 
 which he founded his determination are not (as far as I can learn 
 after careful search) upon record; but that he followed what 
 seemed to be the best authoritative traditions in fixing the " Festo- 
 rum omnium metropolis," as it is styled by Chrysostom. 
 
 One curious fact or coincidence yet confronts us, that this date
 
 THE NATIVITY 39 
 
 exactly corresponds both in its inception and the length of the 
 festival with the great festival of pagan Rome, the Saturnalia. 
 
 Though Christian nations have thus from an early period in the 
 history of the church celebrated Christmas about the period of the 
 winter solstice or the shortest day, it is well known that many and 
 indeed the greater number of the popular festive observances by 
 which it is characterized, are referable to a much more ancient ori- 
 gin. Amid all the pagan nations of antiquity there seems to have 
 been a universal tendency to worship the sun as the giver of life 
 and light and the one visible manifestation of the Deity. Various 
 as were the names bestowed by different peoples on this object of 
 their worship, the sun was still the same divinity. Thus at Rome 
 he appears to have been worshipped under one of the characters at- 
 tributed to Saturn, the father of the gods ; among the Scandinavian 
 nations he was known under the name of Odin or Woden, the 
 father of Thor, who seems afterwards to have shared with his 
 parent the adoration bestowed on the latter as the divinity of 
 which the sun was the visible manifestation ; whilst with the an- 
 cient Persians the appellation for the god of light was Mithras, 
 apparently the same as the Irish Mithr, and with the Phoenicians 
 or Carthaginians it was Baal or Bel, an epithet familiar to all 
 students of the Bible. 
 
 In the early ages of Christianity its ministers frequently experi- 
 enced the utmost difficulty in inducing the converts to refrain from 
 indulging in the popular amusements which were so largely partic- 
 ipated in by their pagan countrymen. Among others the revelry 
 and license which characterized the Saturnalia called for special 
 animadversion. But at last, convinced partly of the inefficacy of 
 such denunciations, and partly influenced by the idea that the 
 spread of Christianity might thereby be advanced, the Church en- 
 deavoured to amalgamate as it were the old and new religions, 
 and sought by transferring some of the heathen ceremonies to the 
 solemnities of the Christian festivals to make them subservient 
 to the cause of religion and piety. 
 
 Thus it has been suggested, and not without some reason, that 
 in the selection of this day for Christmas, instead of the time- 
 honoured Epiphany, the Holy Father may have been influenced.
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 The name given by the ancient Goths and Saxons to the festival 
 of the winter solstice was Jul or Yule, the latter term forming to 
 the present day the designation in the Scottish dialect of Christ- 
 mas, and preserved also in the name of the yule log. Perhaps 
 the etymology of no term has excited any greater discussion among 
 antiquaries. The most probable derivation of the word is from 
 the Gothic gigul or hiul, the origin of the modern word wheel, and 
 bearing the same signification. According to this very probable 
 explanation the yule festival received its name from its being the 
 turning point of the year or the period at which the fiery orb of 
 day made a revolution in its annual circuit and entered his north- 
 ern journey. A confirmation of this view is afforded by the cir- 
 cumstance that in the old Clog almanacs a wheel is the device 
 employed for marking the season of yule-tide. 
 
 Of the interesting subject of Christmas 
 carols I am obliged to limit myself to a brief 
 line or two. The term is believed to be 
 derived from the Latin cantare (to sing) and 
 rola ! an interjection expressive of joy. The 
 practice appears to be as ancient as the 
 celebration of Christmas itself, and we are 
 informed that in the early ages of the Church 
 the bishops were accustomed to sing carols 
 on Christmas Day among their parishioners 
 and clergy, which in time developed into 
 the joyous hymns of our present Christmas 
 carol. 
 
 DECEMBER 26th. 
 This is a day of abstination. The canonical colour is red. 
 
 ST. STEPHEN'S DAY. 
 
 No more appropriate day could have been selected for the 
 Feast of St. Stephen, the great Proto-Martyr of the Church than 
 this, the first day following Christmas in the Christian Kalendar. 
 Beyond the somewhat terse accounts we have of this Holy
 
 ST. STEPHEN 
 
 Deacon given in the Acts of the Apostles (vi., 5) and of his arrest, 
 defence and martyrdom in same chapter (8-15) and in vii., and 
 viii., 2, where " devout men carried Stephen to his burial and 
 made great lamentations over him," tradition has added little to 
 the history of the man. He was chosen deacon during the first 
 ministry of Peter. Later, he was falsely accused of speaking 
 blasphemously of the Temple and Jewish law and for this, tried, 
 condemned to death and stoned outside the gate of Jerusalem 
 that now bears his honoured name ; and buried by " devout men." 
 Where he was laid there is no record to show and for four 
 hundred years it was a mystery what became 
 of his body. Then his legend tells " that a 
 certain priest of Cariagmala, in Palestine, 
 named Lucian, had a vision in which St. 
 Gamaliel appeared to him." Readers will find 
 this vision told in detail elsewhere and how the 
 relics of St. Stephen were placed side by side 
 those of St. Laurence. St. Stephen is repre- 
 sented in art as a young, handsome, beardless 
 man in the full dress of a deacon. The dal- 
 matica is square and straight at the bottom, 
 with heavy gold tassels hanging from his 
 shoulders. It is always crimson in colour 
 and richly embroidered. The palm branch is 
 often given him and stones in one hand are s. STEPHEN. 
 at all times his attributes while a book is held in the other. He is 
 supposed to have suffered his martyrdom in the year of our 
 Lord 31, but some authorities place the date in 33. 
 
 DECEMBER 27th. 
 
 In. the Reformed or English church this day is held as especially 
 sacred as St. John the Evangelist's Day. 
 
 A special reverence and interest is attached to St. John " the 
 disciple whom Jesus loved." Through a misapprehension of the 
 Saviour's words, a belief we are informed came to be entertained 
 among the other apostles that this disciple should never die, and
 
 42 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the thought was doubtless fostered by the circumstance that John 
 outlived all his brethren and coadjutors in the Christian ministry 
 and he was indeed the only apostle who died a natural death. It is 
 stated he expired peacefully at Ephesus, at the advanced age of 
 94, in the reign of the Emperor Trajan, and the year of our Lord 
 ico, thus as Brady observes " marking the first century of the 
 Christian era and the apostolic age which terminate together." 
 , , r _ TT r-g 1-> u Though John thus escaped 
 
 actual martyrdom he was 
 nevertheless called upon to 
 endure great persecution in 
 the cause of his Friend and 
 Master. Various fathers of 
 the church, among others 
 Tertullian and St. Jerom, 
 relate that in the reign of 
 Domitian the evangelist, hav- 
 ing been accused of attempt- 
 ing to subvert the religion of 
 the Roman empire, was 
 transported from Asia to 
 Rome and there in presence 
 of the emperor and senate, 
 before the gate called Porta 
 Latina or the Latin Gate, he 
 was cast into a caldron of 
 boiling oil in which he not 
 only remained for a long 
 S. JOHN EVANGELIST. t i m e uninjured, but ulti- 
 
 mately emerged therefrom with renovated health and vigour. In 
 commemoration of this event the Roman Catholic Church retains 
 in its calendar, on the 6th of May a festival entitled " St. John 
 before the Latin Gate." In my article of April 3oth this festival 
 will be especially mentioned. 
 
 St. John was a younger brother of St. James the Great, with 
 whom he was brought up in the trade of fishing. Before his coming 
 to Christ he seems for some time to have been disciple to John the
 
 ST. JOHN EVANGELIST 43 
 
 Baptist, being probably that other disciple that was with Andrew 
 when they left the Baptist to follow our Saviour, so particularly 
 does he relate all circumstances of that transaction though 
 modestly (as in other parts of his gospel) concealing his own 
 name. He was at the same time with his brother called by our 
 Lord both to the discipleship and apostolate. He was by far the 
 youngest of all the apostles. He was banished to the Isle of 
 Patmos where he wrote his Revelations, and at the death of 
 Domitian he returned to Ephesus where he ended his days about 
 the year 99. His gospel was written many years after the other 
 three and seems designed to fill up what they had omitted relative 
 to our Lord's Godhead. The last chapter appears to have been 
 subsequently added by him in order to controvert an opinion then 
 current in the church, " that that disciple should not die," but 
 should tarry on the earth until the second coming of his Lord. 
 He outlived all the apostles, and as before spoken of was probably 
 the only one who did not attain to the crown of martyrdom in 
 deed as well as in will. 
 
 His gospel was without doubt written by him after his return 
 to Ephesus, and at the earnest entreaty and solicitation of the 
 Asian churches ; he first, however, caused them to proclaim a gen- 
 eral fast to seek the blessing of Heaven on so great and solemn 
 an undertaking which being done he set about his task. Two 
 causes especially contributed to the writing of it : the one, that 
 he might controvert the early heresies of those times especially of 
 Ebion, Cerinthus, and the rest of that set who began openly to 
 deny Christ's divinity and this was why the Evangelist is so 
 express and copious on that subject. The other was that he 
 might supply those passages of the evangelical history which the 
 rest of the sacred writers had omitted. Collecting therefore the 
 other three evangelists, he first ratified the truth of them with his 
 approbation and consent ; and then added his own gospel to the 
 rest, principally insisting upon the acts of Christ from the first 
 commencing of His ministry to the death of John the Baptist, 
 wherein the others are most defective, giving scarce any account 
 of the first year of our Saviour's ministry. He particulary records 
 (as Gregory Nazianzin observes) our Saviour's discourses, but
 
 44 
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 takes little notice of His miracles probably because they are so 
 fully related by the other evangelists. 
 
 As an Apostle he is represented with a chalice 
 from which a serpent is issuing (as in illustration) 
 alluding to the legend which tells how St. John, 
 previous to being taken without the Porta Latina 
 had been offered a cup of poison from which the 
 Devil being thus expelled, he drank and remained 
 unhurt. As an Evangelist he is represented as 
 in first illustration writing in a book. 
 
 Over two hundred churches are dedicated to St. 
 John in England alone. 
 
 The canonical colour for this day is white. 
 
 s. JOHN 
 
 EVANGELIST. 
 
 DECEMBER 28th. 
 INNOCENTS' DAY. 
 
 This festival, which is variously styled Innocents' Day, The 
 Holy Innocents' Day, and Childermas Day or Childremas, has 
 been observed from an early period in the history of the church 
 as a commemoration of the barbarous massacre of children in 
 Bethlehem ordered by King Herod, with the view of destroying 
 among them the infant Saviour, as recorded in the Gospel of St. 
 Matthew. It is one of those anniversaries which was retained in 
 the ritual by the English church at the Reformation. 
 
 In reference to the three consecutive commemorations, on the 
 26th, 27th and 28th of December, Wheatly informs us that in these 
 are comprehended three descriptions of martyrdom all of which 
 have their peculiar efficacy though differing in degree. In the 
 death of St. Stephen, an example is furnished of the highest class 
 of martyrdom, that is to say, both in will and deed. St. John the 
 Evangelist who gave practical evidence of his readiness to suffer 
 death for the cause of Christ, though through miraculous inter- 
 position he was saved from actually doing so, is an instance of the
 
 INNOCENTS' DAY 45 
 
 second description of martyrdom in will, though not in deed. 
 And the slaughter of the Innocents affords an instance of 
 martyrdom in deed and not in will, these 
 unfortunate children having lost their lives 
 though involuntarily on account of the 
 Saviour, and it being therefore considered 
 " that God supplied the defects of their will 
 by His own acceptance of the sacrifice." 
 
 Childermas was ever in the old days re- 
 garded with superstitious dread. Even the 
 unprincipled Louis XL held it in such fear 
 that he would do no work on that day ; and 
 when it was discovered that the day set for 
 the coronation of Edward IV. of England 
 was Childermas Day, the ceremony was at 
 once postponed until the following day. 
 
 The canonical colour for Innocents' Day 
 is violet. 
 
 DECEMBER 2Qth. 
 
 The canonical colour changes this day again to white. 
 
 St. Thomas a Becket's name takes precedence in the list of 
 saints who are honoured by a portion of the English and the entire 
 Roman Church on this day. The career and fate of this cele- 
 brated ecclesiastic was one of the most remarkable episodes to be 
 found in the history of England during the XII. century. The 
 story has been so often told and widely read that it is a work of 
 superogation seemingly to repeat it. How the merchant's son 
 from a minor clerkship in the office of the Sheriff-of-London 
 attracted the attention of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 by whom he was sent to study civil and ecclesiastical law in Italy 
 and France ; of his rapid and merited advancement, due to his 
 wonderful acumen, until he attracted the notice of Henry II., then 
 King of England, who became so much attached to him personally
 
 46 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 and held his abilities in such high esteem that in 1158, he created 
 him Chancellor of the Realm. Indeed the story of his varied 
 attainments reads like some old romance, of a consummate court- 
 ier who in addition to his accomplishments as a clear-headed, 
 sagacious statesman, showed military talents and power of no ordi- 
 nary character, as proved when he accompanied his royal master 
 into France and at the head of a company of gallant Knights took 
 active part in several sieges, and covered himself with glory and 
 in a single combat " unhorsed " a French Knight of high renown 
 for his bravery and feats of arms, winning if possible, a higher 
 place in the estimation of the King. Then, in 1162, came the 
 change, when it was proposed to make Becket Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, a preferment he sedulously strove to avoid, until his 
 scruples were overborne by the Cardinal of Pisa and Legate from 
 the Holy See at Rome, who cast into the scales both his advice 
 and the weight of his authority. 
 
 From the hour of his consecration the gay and worldly chancel- 
 lor who had joined his sovereign in all his amusements and had 
 indulged himself in every obtainable luxury and splendour, was 
 transformed into the austere and ascetic monk. The silken robes 
 gave place to the " hair-shirt " (now shown in a reliquary, in the 
 English college at Doway) and his sumptuous table which hereto- 
 fore had rivalled any in the land was reduced to the simplest neces- 
 sities of life, and his magnificent retinue forever abandoned. 
 
 I must not enter on the vexed points which disrupted the 
 affection that had in the old days bound the King and Prelate, nor 
 the cause of his exile, nor of the hollow truce by which Becket was 
 again restored to his see. These, with the events which led up at 
 last to Becket's brutal murder, are all historic, and may be read in 
 a score of places. 
 
 From the time of his death, Becket's shrine was one of the most 
 popular places for pilgrims in all England. 
 
 The spoliation of Becket's shrine and the burning of his bones 
 by the Cromwell party was one of those episodes of the English 
 Civil War which even the most ardent admirer of the " Great 
 Commoner " have never been able to condone, and it is this no 
 doubt that leads the so-called " High Church Party " in the Eng-
 
 ST. MAXIMUS 47 
 
 lish church to join with their Roman Catholic brethren in com- 
 memorating his memory and martyrdom on December 29, 1170. 
 
 DECEMBER 
 
 St. Maximus, one of the saints the Church selects for honour on 
 this day was one of those men Providence seems to bring to the 
 front at critical times when peculiar traits of character are needed 
 to meet the emergency. He was born at Constantinople in 580 
 and educated as befitted his high rank, coming as he did from one 
 of the most ancient and noble families of the city. By nature he 
 was retiring and modest but his rare abilities had by the time he 
 had reached the prime of early manhood attracted the attention of 
 Heraclius (Emperor of the East 612-641), who appointed him his 
 First Secretary of State. The heresy of Monothelism had already 
 made marked progress to the disgust of Maximus who found him- 
 self lacking the power to check it, fostered as it was by the 
 Emperor. It was in 608 that Mahomet or Mohammed, had begun 
 to put forth his pretended revelations, though it was not until some 
 time later that he, with the aid of a Jew and a Nestorian monk, 
 compiled the " Alcoran " or " Koran " as it is commonly called. 
 But it was through the indolence and lethargy of Heraclius that 
 the sect of Mahomet was able to establish itself among the Sara- 
 cens and lay the foundation of their formidable empire. I must 
 not follow the interesting bit of history to the death of Heraclius in 
 641 and the complications that followed, during which Monothe- 
 lism had made such dangerous progress that they caused his retire- 
 ment. From his retreat in the monastery of Chrysopolis, Maxi- 
 mus had regretfully watched all this, but was helpless, until in 645 
 the patrician Gregory, Governor of Africa, summoned him to hold 
 a conference at Carthage, with Pyrrus, the Patriarch of Constanti- 
 nople and who favoured the heresy. It was then that Maximus 
 came to the front as a Defender of the Faith, and while I cannot 
 enter upon this remarkable encounter it is enough to say his 
 work in the good cause would have kept his name alive even if he 
 had not suffered the torture unjustly inflicted upon him of being
 
 48 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 whipped, " having his tongue torn from his mouth and his right 
 hand cut off " by order of a synod of the Monothelites. In spite 
 of his fourscore years the venerable saint lived on fully six months 
 after this inhuman treatment, dying on this day in 662. The 
 Greeks, however, celebrate two feasts in honour of St. Maximus ; 
 one on January 2ist and the other on August I3th. 
 
 DECEMBER 3151. 
 
 On this day St. Sylvester or Silvester as it is sometimes writ- 
 ten is honoured. His name is one of those that were retained in 
 the Kalendar of the Reformed Church and still holds a place in 
 that of the Church of England. He was a native of Rome and 
 had been carefully instructed in the Christian faith by his mother, 
 Justina. He was installed as the head of the Church upon the 
 death of Pope Melchiades in 314. During his incumbency of the 
 pontificate two important events occurred ; the great Synod of 
 Aries, and the (Ecumenical Council of Nice in 325. Owing to age 
 and infirmities the venerable prelate did not appear at either of 
 these famous meetings but was represented by his legates ; when at 
 the latter they did their part against Arianism. It was Sylvester 
 who baptised Constantine the Great and the legend of this event 
 adds that the Emperor, who had been afflicted with leprosy, was 
 instantly cured. St. Sylvester is credited with the conversion of 
 St. Helen and Constantine the Great through having restored to 
 life a dead ox which the Magicians had killed but were unable to 
 resuscitate. He died December 31, 335, and was buried in the 
 cemetery of Priscilla. Pope Gregory IX. in 1227, fixed his festival 
 for this day. The Greeks celebrate it on January i6th.
 
 JANUARY 
 
 Came old January, wrapped well 
 
 In many weeds to keep the cold away ; 
 Yet did he quake and quiver like to quell, 
 And blowe his nayles to warm them if he may ; 
 For they were numbed with holding all the day 
 An hatchet keene, with which he felled wood, 
 And from the trees did lop the needlesse spray. 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, who died in 672 B. 
 C., is credited with promulgating what we now term " The Roman 
 Calendar," which divided the year into twelve months instead of 
 ten which had previously constituted the year, and to have decreed 
 that the year should begin on the first day of January or Januaries, 
 the name he gave the month in honour of the god Janus, the deity 
 supposed to preside over doors (Latin Janua a door). The 
 ancient Jewish New Year the 2$th of March however, con- 
 tinued to be held by law in most Christian countries as the initial 
 day of the year until 1752 when January ist became the legal New 
 Year in England, and the " New Style," as it is popularly termed, 
 came into vogue. In France this change had been made in 1 564 ; 
 in Holland, Protestant Germany and Russia in 1700; while 
 Sweden fell into line in 1753. 
 
 The ancient Saxons called January the " Wolf-monat " (Wolf- 
 month), later changing it to " Aefter-Yule." In many parts of 
 Germany even now the month is termed " Jesu-monat." I have a 
 German Kalendar for 1902 lying before me which thus designates 
 January.
 
 50 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 JANUARY ist 
 
 Is the festival of " Circumicisio Domini," the circumcision of 
 Jesus Christ, on the Octave of Christmas. The Clog Almanac 
 symbol for the day is as in the illustration, a circle, which was also 
 the symbol universally adopted in early days, as is seen by the 
 paintings on the walls of the Roman Catacombs. Almost as 
 common as the first is the hatchet which appears frequently as a 
 symbol for New Years and no doubt it was this that suggested 
 the lines I quote above from Spenser. In modern art a dove hold- 
 ing a ring in its beak is often used as the 
 symbol of Christ's circumcision. 
 
 This day is the festival of St. Odilo or 
 Olon, the sixth abbot of Cluni, and the origi- 
 nal founder of All Souls' Day. He was a 
 man of strong convictions and fearless to 
 live up to them. No better evidence per- 
 haps can be given than his act in 1006 dur- 
 ing the severe famine when he melted down 
 the rich, sacred vessels and ornaments of his church and sold the 
 gold crown of St. Henry, which had been presented the abbey, 
 that he might by the means thus obtained relieve the necessities 
 of his suffering people. The sanctity in which such utensils are 
 and should be held by every Christian, would from the stand- 
 point of to-day perhaps justify 
 their sacrifice for such an object. 
 But in those early days the 
 superstitious reverence in which 
 they were held required a man 
 of rare courage and firm con- 
 victions of his duty, to take upon 
 himself so great a responsibility. 
 Odilo was not only a brilliant 
 pulpit orator but no mean poet, 
 as some of his poems, still ex- 
 tant, show. He died on January i, 1049.
 
 ST. ADALARD 51 
 
 JANUARY 2d. 
 
 St. Adalard, whom the Church honours among others on this 
 day was of a most illustrious birth ; his father being the brother of 
 King Pepin, and therefore Adalard was cousin-german to the 
 Emperor Charlemagne, with whom he was a great favourite and 
 his preferment to high honours only a question of arriving at a 
 suitable age. But from his earliest youth Adalard had determined 
 to lead a monastic life and at the age of twenty in 773, of his own 
 volition, when to most youths the splendour and gaiety of court life 
 would have been so attractive, he abandoned them and took the 
 habit and vows of a monastic life at Corbie in Picardy. For a 
 time later he lived in close retreat at Mount Cassino but returned 
 to Corbie to become its abbot. Charlemagne, however, had not 
 lost sight of his kinsman for in 796 we find him among the "King's 
 Councillors " and the chief minister, and instructor to the young 
 Prince Pepin at Milan where he (Pepin) died in 810. Later, Char- 
 lemagne sent him to appear before Leo III. to discuss an important 
 clause in the creed " concerning the procession of the Holy Ghost 
 from the Father and the Son." Charlemagne died January 28, 814, 
 Lewis le Debonnaire succeeding to the throne. Adalard in some 
 way had incurred the displeasure of this king and he was banished 
 to a monastery on the little island of Heri on the coast of Aquitain. 
 Here he spent his days in prayer and study until in 823 he was 
 allowed to resume his Abbacy at Corbie, where he was received 
 with unfeigned love and gratitude and where, in addition to his 
 labours among the people and deeds of charity, he built several 
 hospitals then greatly needed and founded the great monastery 
 of " New Corbie," or Corwey, as it is sometimes called, an imperial 
 abbey. He also wrote several books. He died on January 2, 847. 
 
 JANUARY 3d. 
 
 STE. GENEVIEVE. 
 
 Sainte Genevieve, who has occupied from the time of her death 
 to the present day, the distinguished position of Patroness Saint of 
 the City of Paris, lived in the fifth century when Christianity under 
 adverse circumstances was contending with paganism for domina-
 
 52 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 tion over the minds of rude and warlike races of men. Credible 
 facts of this early period are few, obscure, and not easily separated 
 from the fictions with which they have been combined. 
 
 Sainte Genevieve, or Genoveffa, as it is sometimes written, was 
 born in the year 422 at Nanterre, a village about four miles from 
 Paris. At the early age of seven years she was consecrated to 
 the service of religion by St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, who 
 happened to pass through the village and was struck with her 
 devotional manners. At the age of fifteen years she received the 
 veil from the hands of the Archbishop of Paris, in which city she 
 afterwards resided. By strict observance 
 of the services of the Church, and by the 
 practice of those austerities which were then 
 regarded as the surest means of obtaining 
 the blessedness of a future state, she acquired 
 a reputation for sanctity which gave her 
 considerable influence over the rulers and 
 leaders of the people. When the Franks 
 under Clovis had subdued the city of Paris, 
 her solicitations are said to have moved the 
 conqueror to acts of clemency and gener- 
 osity. The miracles ascribed to Ste. Gen- 
 evieve must be passed over though they 
 were numerous and very remarkable. The 
 date of her death has been fixed on as Jan- 
 uary 3, 512, five months after the decease 
 of King Clovis. She was buried near him in 
 the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, since named the Church of 
 Ste. Genevieve. The present handsome structure was completed 
 in 1764. During the revolutionary period it was withdrawn from 
 the services of religion and named the Pantheon, but has since 
 been restored to ecclesiastical uses and to its former name of 
 Sainte Genevieve. Details of her life are given in Bollandus's 
 " Acta Sanctorum," and in Butler's " Lives of the Saints." 
 The Clog symbol given above is from an English stick.
 
 EVE OF EPIPHANY 53 
 
 JANUARY 4th 
 
 Is the Octave of the Holy Innocents. The canonical colour for this 
 day is white. 
 
 St. Titus, a disciple of St. Paul, is to-day honoured by the Roman 
 Church the day being named in Martyrology as his " birthday. " 
 This disciple was an especial favourite of the Apostle Paul, by 
 whom he was converted. He is many times referred to in St. 
 Paul's Epistles and styled his brother and co-partner in his labours. 
 That the Apostle trusted him to a high degree is evident from 
 many sources. He accompanied the Apostle in 51 to the council 
 held in Jerusalem to consider the Mosaic rites. In 56 Paul sent 
 Titus from Ephesus to Corinth, to remedy the scandals and allay 
 the dissensions then disturbing the church there. 
 
 It was while on his return from Rome, after his first imprison- 
 ment that Paul stopped at Crete and ordained Titus as Bishop of 
 that island. The confidence reposed in Titus by the great Apostle 
 seems to have been unbounded. Even in 65 when Titus was an 
 old man Paul sent him to Dalmatia to preach. From here Titus 
 returned to Crete and died in the ninety-fourth year of his age at 
 Cardia, a metropolis built by the Saracens and which to-day is 
 under the control of suffragan Bishops of the Greek Church, 
 
 JANUARY 5th 
 
 Eve of the Epiphany of Our Lord ; or Twelfth Night. 
 
 St. Simeon Stylites, the saint honoured by the Church this day is 
 so named from being the founder of an order of monks or rather 
 solitary devotees, called pillar-saints. Of all the forms of voluntary 
 self-torture practised by the early Christians this was one of the 
 most extraordinary. Simeon was originally a shepherd in Cilicia ; 
 about the year 408 when only thirteen years of age he entered a 
 monastery, later taking Holy Orders. From that time his asceti- 
 cisms and the austerities of his life became notable for their sever- 
 ity and especially for his almost total abstinence from food or drink 
 during Lent. Owing to a vision Simeon had in or about the year 
 425, he determined to make his residence on the top of a pillar 
 which was at first nine feet high, but was successfully raised to the
 
 54 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 somewhat incredible height of sixty feet (forty cubits). The diam- 
 eter of the top of the pillar was only three feet but it was surrounded 
 by a railing which secured the saint from falling off and afforded 
 him some relief by leaning against it. His clothing consisted 
 of the skins of beasts and he wore an iron collar round his neck. 
 He exhorted the assembled people twice each day 
 and spent the rest of his time in assuming various 
 postures of devotion. Sometimes he prayed kneel- 
 ing, sometimes in an erect attitude with his arms 
 stretched out in the form of a cross but his most 
 frequent exercise was that of bending his meagre 
 body so as to make his head nearly touch his feet. 
 A spectator once observed him make more than 
 1,240 such reverential bendings without resting. 
 ^J In this manner he lived on his pillar more than 
 I thirty years and there he died in the year 459. His 
 I remains were removed to Antioch with great solem- 
 I nity. His predictions and the miracles ascribed to 
 I him are mentioned at large in Theodoretus. 
 ^^ The pillar-saints were never numerous and the 
 propagation of the order was almost exclusively in 
 the warm climates of the East. Among the names recorded is 
 that of another Simeon, styled the younger, who is said to have 
 dwelt sixty years on his pillar. 
 
 Twelfth-Day Eve is a rustic festival in England. Persons who 
 are engaged in rural employments or have heretofore been, are 
 accustomed to celebrate it ; and the purpose appears to be to secure 
 a blessing for the fruits of the earth. 
 
 JANUARY 6th. 
 
 THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD. 
 
 This day called Twelfth-Day as being that number after 
 Christmas is a festival of the Church in commemoration of the 
 Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles ; more expressly to the 
 three Magi or Wise Men of the East who came led by a star
 
 THE EPIPHANY 
 
 55 
 
 THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 
 From an Ancient Embroidery. 
 
 to worship Him, immediately after his birth (Matt, ii., 1-12). 
 
 The Epiphany appears to have been first observed as a separate 
 
 feast in the year 8 13. Pope Julius I. is reputed to have taught 
 
 the Church to distinguish between the Feasts of the Nativity and 
 
 Epiphany, about the 
 
 middle of the fourth 
 
 century. The primitive 
 
 Christians celebrated the 
 
 Feast of the Nativity for 
 
 twelve days observing 
 
 the first and last with 
 
 great solemnity ; and 
 
 both were denominated 
 
 Epiphany, the first the 
 
 Greater Epiphany, from 
 
 our Lord having on that 
 
 day become Incarnate, or 
 
 made His appearance in 
 
 " the flesh " ; the latter, 
 
 the Lesser Epiphany, from the three-fold manifestation of His 
 
 Godhead the first, by the appearance of the blazing star which 
 
 conducted Melchior, Jasper and Balthuzar, the three Magi or Wise 
 
 Men (often styled the three Kings of Cologne), out of the 
 
 East, to worship the Messiah, and to offer Him presents of " Gold, 
 Frankincense and Myrrh " Melchoir 
 the Gold in testimony of his royalty as 
 the promised King of the Jews ; Jasper 
 the Frankincense in token of his Divin- 
 ity ; and Balthuzar the Myrrh, in allusion 
 to the sorrows which, in the humiliating 
 condition of a man, our Redeemer vouch- 
 safed to take upon him. Again the 
 second of this three-fold manifestation 
 
 was the descent of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove, at the 
 
 Baptism ; and the third, of the first miracle of our Lord turning 
 
 water into wine at the marriage in Cana. While all of these 
 
 three manifestations of the Divine nature happened on the same 
 day, they did not occur in the same year.
 
 56 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 To render due honour to the memory of the ancient Magi who 
 are supposed to have been kings, the monarch of Italy, either 
 personally or through his chamberlain, offers annually at the altar 
 on this day Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh ; and the kings of 
 Spain, where the Feast of Epiphany is likewise called the " Feast 
 of Kings," were accustomed to make the 
 like offerings. 
 
 The primitive Christians celebrated the 
 Feast of the Nativity during a period of 
 twelve days culminating on Epiphany. The 
 dove on an olive branch with a star was 
 often used in early days as a symbol of 
 Epiphany. 
 
 On this day in 1904, Pope Pius X. issued 
 a decree for the beatification of Joan of Arc, 
 "the Maid of Orleans." In passing it 
 should, however, be remembered that the 
 beatification of any one by the Roman 
 Church is but the first step toward canoniza- 
 tion and by no means implies that the latter honour will follow. 
 Even when this does occur it is granted, in most cases, only after 
 a lapse of some years. 
 
 Nor is this first step of the beatification taken except after long 
 and careful consideration by the prelates of the Church who 
 have the works in charge. By a long established ecclesiastical 
 rite of the Church, there are no less than thirteen or fourteen 
 ceremonies which must be observed in every minute detail. 
 
 But before the final " Bull of Canonization " is issued there yet 
 remain certain imperative conditions which 
 must be fulfilled, such as miracles per- 
 formed by the (prospective) saint in person, 
 or by his or her relics after death, each of EPIPHANY. 
 
 which must be proven beyond a possible doubt ; the exercise " in 
 a heroic degree " of all theological and cardinal virtues, like 
 " Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, Justice and Temperance " ; as 
 well as the fulfilment of many other conditions too numerous 
 to be recorded in my brief mention. Then, only, is the Bull issued.
 
 ST. DISTAFF'S DAY 
 
 57 
 
 When a decree of beatification has been given, the person 
 thus "beatified " is entitled to the appellation of "Venerable," so 
 frequently found in these pages. 
 
 Thus it happens that many who attain to the first degree of 
 beatification fail to reach the supreme honour of sainthood. 
 
 There are many of these persons who have been thus " beati- 
 fied " whose names are yet held in abeyance by the Prelates of the 
 Roman Church during late years. I have before me the names 
 of a number of these but refrain from quoting them. 
 
 JANUARY 7th. 
 
 In the old days in England this day while not a church festival 
 was widely observed as St. Distaff's Day or " Rock Day," when 
 the women were supposed to resume their work. The word rock 
 from the German " rocken," was applied to the spinning appara- 
 tus, and the gathering of the women was called a rocking. 
 
 " On Fasten's Eve we had a rocking. " 
 
 Therefore on not a few old Clog sticks a 
 rude distaff with the wool upon it marks 
 the day. 
 
 On this day St. Lucian of Antioch is 
 named both in the Roman and English 
 Kalenders. He was born at Samosata in 
 Syria and was one of the most learned 
 men of his day. He revised the Old Testa- 
 ment translations and by comparing the 
 different editions of the Septuagint and- 
 correcting the Hebrew text, as he was a 
 thorough master of that language, produced an edition of the 
 Scriptures which ranked very high and was especially esteemed 
 by St. Jerom. For a time he seems to have been separated from 
 the Catholic communion but later returned to it. He was impris- 
 oned under the Dioclesian edicts and after being almost starved, 
 he was offered as an insult dainty meats and food which had
 
 58 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 previously been used in sacrifice to idols. After this he suffered 
 on the rack, later dying in prison from famine or, according to St. 
 Chrysostom, " by the sword," in 312. 
 
 JANUARY 8th. 
 
 Another St. Lucian known as "of Beauvais," in contradistinction 
 from St. Lucian of Antioch, is honoured this day in both the 
 Reformed and Roman churches. 
 
 There is a great deal of obscurity about this saint's history ; but 
 he is believed to have been the companion of St. Denis in his 
 mission in Gaul and although only a priest his name is among the 
 first mentioned in the Kalendar of the English church, and from 
 their martyrology we learn that he suffered martyrdom at 
 Beauvais in 290 and by this gained the surname " of Beauvais." 
 
 This day is also the festival of St. Gudula, the patroness saint of 
 Brussels. She was of noble birth, her mother having been niece to 
 the eldest of the Pepin who was Maire of the Palace to Dagobert 
 I. Her father was Count Witger. She was educated at Nivelle, 
 under the care of her cousin St. Gertrude, after whose death in 
 664, she returned to her father's castle and dedicated her life to 
 the service of religion. She spent her future years in prayer and 
 abstinence. Her revenues were expended on the poor. She was 
 most devout and constant in attending upon church service, it 
 being her custom to attend midnight Mass at the Church of St. 
 Morgell some two miles distant from her father's mansion, going 
 and returning with no other escort than a female servant, while 
 she herself carried a lighted lantern, to. enable them to find their 
 path. " Her devoutness," her legend tells us, " had so enraged 
 the Devil, who was envious of her for the influence her piety gave 
 her among the people, that he constantly endeavoured to entrap 
 her." The pathway to the church was somewhat dangerous, and 
 Satan frequently would by some means extinguish the taper in her 
 lantern, in hopes she would be misled ; but by her prayers the 
 taper was always on the instant relighted, and she and her maid
 
 ST. GUDULA 
 
 59 
 
 went safely on their way. Thus it is that both in art and in the 
 clog almanac her symbol is a lantern. 
 
 She died January 8th, 712 and was buried at Ham, near 
 Villevord. Her relics were transferred to Brus- 
 sels in 978 and deposited in the church at St. 
 Gery, but in 1047 were removed to the collegiate 
 church of Michael, since named after her the 
 Cathedral of St. Gudula. This ancient Gothic 
 structure commenced in 1010 still continues to be 
 one of the architectural ornaments of the city of 
 Brussels. Her life was written by Hubert of 
 Brabant not long after the removal of her relics 
 to the Church of St. Michael. 
 
 JANUARY pth. 
 
 St. Fillan or, as he is named in ancient Scottish records, Felan 
 or Foelan, is famous among the Scottish saints from his piety and 
 good works. He spent a considerable part of his holy life at a 
 monastery which he built in Pittenweem of which some remains 
 of the later buildings yet exist in a habitable condition. It is stated 
 that while engaged here in transcribing the Scriptures his left 
 hand sent forth sufficient light to enable him at night to continue 
 his work without a lamp. For the sake of seclusion he finally 
 retired to a wild and lonely vale still called from him Strathfillan 
 in Perthshire, where he died and where his name is still attached 
 to the ruins of a chapel, to a pool, and a bed of rock. 
 
 Mr. Skene, in his Celtic Scotland, gives a number of interesting 
 details of this saint saying that Fillan was called " an lobar " (the 
 leper), that according to the Irish Calendars he was of the " Rath 
 Evenn in Albarr " (or the Fort of Earn in Scotland), and that the 
 parish of St. Fillans at the east end of Loch Earn derived its name 
 from him. And again in speaking of Scotch monasteries refers to 
 that of Fillan in Strathfillan, where in ancient days there was a 
 holy pool called St. Fillan's pool in which insane people were dipped 
 and healed. Of the crocier of St. Fillan, called the " Quigrich,"
 
 60 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 and which it is said is now preserved somewhere in Canada I am 
 not able to learn where which " is of silver gilt elegantly carved 
 and with a jewel in front," Mr. Skene gives some interesting details 
 but too long for quotation here, showing not alone the authenticity 
 of the relic but how the hereditary privilege of bearing it was pre- 
 served from the days of King Robert Bruce, and quoting from a 
 letter of King James in 1487 in regard to " ane relik of Saint 
 Fulane called the quigrith * * * * since the tyme of Kyng Robert 
 the Bruys, and before." 
 
 Hector Boece, the never 
 over-veracious historian, re- 
 lates a miracle connected 
 with St. Fill an . King 
 Robert Bruce when going to 
 the battle of Bannockburn, 
 had directed the silver case 
 
 QUIGRICH OF ST. FILLAN. which contained the arm of 
 From Wilson's " Pre-Historic the saint to be brought along 
 as a talisman. The chap- 
 Iain of the king fearing to trust the fortunes of war 
 had removed the arm and brought the case only, 
 which was upon the altar before which the king was 
 praying to God and St. Fillan for succor. When, at 
 the king's command, the case was opened by the 
 chaplain, " lo ! there lay the arm of the saint in its 
 customary resting place." 
 The number of miracles credited to St. Fillan would fill a 
 good sized volume, therefore I must not try to repeat any of them. 
 His death is supposed to have taken place about 690. 
 
 This is also the festival of SS. Julian martyr, and Basilissa his 
 virgin wife who ended her days in peace. Their story cannot be 
 better told than to quote verbatim from Roman Martyrology in its 
 terse completeness. " But Julian after the death by fire of a multi- 
 tude of priests and ministers of the Church of Christ, who, driven 
 by the atrocity of the persecution, had fled to them, was by the 
 command of the President Marcian tormented in many ways and
 
 ST. WI LLIAM 61 
 
 executed. With him suffered Antony, a priest, and Anastasius, 
 raised from the dead and made a partaker of the grace of Christ 
 by Julian ! also Celsus, a boy, and his mother Marciannilla, seven 
 brothers and many others." This Anastasius and Marciannilla 
 had been converted by Julian, hence the expression " raised from 
 the dead." Their martyrdom was in the year 313 and took place 
 at Antinopolis in Egypt. 
 
 JANUARY loth. 
 
 St. William, Archbishop of Bourges, was one of the noted charac- 
 ters in monastic life during the closing years of the twelfth century 
 and the first decade of the thirteenth. He was educated by Peter 
 the Hermit, archdeacon of Soissons, who was his uncle. He took 
 the habit at the Abbey of Pontigny ultimately becoming its prior. 
 On the death of Henry de Sully, the Archbishop of Bourges, the 
 clergy requested his brother, Eudo, Bishop of Paris, to assist them 
 in selecting some abbot of the Cistercian order for his successor. 
 The method adopted by the reverend prelate was at least unusual. 
 Bishop Eudo first wrote three names upon separate slips of paper, 
 laying them upon the altar. After the prayers were over, closing 
 his eyes, he turned and drew the first slip his finger touched and 
 found it to contain the name of William, and by a majority of the 
 votes of the clergy he was chosen to fill the high office on Novem- 
 ber 23, 1 200. 
 
 It was far from William's desire to leave Pontigny and the mon- 
 asteries affiliated with it, but yielded to what he deemed his duty. 
 The sanctity of this man's life is told in the following quotation 
 from Dr. Butler : 
 
 " St. William was deemed a model of monastic perfection. The 
 universal mortification of his senses and passions laid in him the 
 foundation of an admirable purity of heart and an extraordinary 
 gift of prayer, in which he received great heavenly lights and tasted 
 of the sweets which God has reserved for those to whom he is pleased 
 to communicate himself. The sweetness and cheerfulness of his 
 countenance testified the uninterrupted joy and peace that over- 
 flowed his soul and made virtue appear with the most engaging
 
 62 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 charms in the midst of austerities. * * * He always wore a hair 
 shirt under his religious habit, and never added or diminished 
 anything in his clothes either winter or summer." 
 
 JANUARY nth 
 
 Is the Octave of the Epiphany of Our Lord. The canonical colour 
 for this day is white. 
 
 This day is kept in memory of St. Hyginus, who as head of the 
 Church was placed in the chair of St. Peter after the martyrdom 
 of St. Telesphorus in 139. He filled the high office hardly four 
 years, dying in 142. In Roman Martyrology he is styled as 
 " Martyr," but there is no evidence of his having suffered an 
 untimely or cruel death. Dr. Butler concurs in this, suggesting 
 that the persecutions of Christians in those perilous days was of 
 itself martyrdom. 
 
 To-day also is held the feast of St. Theodosius who died in 529 
 at the age of 104. He was a native of Cappadocia but when a 
 young man removed to Jerusalem, in the vicinity of which city he 
 resided during the remainder of his life. He is said to have lived 
 for about thirty years as a hermit in a cave but having been joined 
 by other saintly persons he finally established a monastic com- 
 munity not far from Bethlehem. He was enabled to erect a suit- 
 able building to which by degrees he added churches, infirmaries, 
 and houses for the reception of strangers. The monks of Pales- 
 tine at that period were called Coenobites ; and Sallustius, Bishop 
 of Jerusalem, having appointed Theodosius superintendent of 
 the monasteries, he received the name of Coenobiarch. He was 
 banished by the Emperor Anastasius about the year 513, in conse- 
 quence of his opposition to the Eutychian heresy but was recalled 
 by the Emperor Justinus II., surnamed the Ancient, Emperor of 
 the East (450-527). 
 
 The first lesson which he taught his monks was that the con- 
 tinual remembrance of death is the foundation of religious perfec- 
 tion ; to imprint this more deeply on their minds, he caused a great 
 grave or pit to be dug which might serve for the common burial-
 
 PLOUGH MONDAY 63 
 
 place of the whole community, that by the presence of this memo- 
 rial of death and by continually meditating on that object, they 
 might more perfectly learn to die daily. 
 Theodosius died January nth, 529. 
 
 JANUARY 1 2th. 
 
 In old days in England the first Monday after Twelfth Day 
 was called " Plough Monday," as like St. Distaff Day it marked 
 the resumption by the ploughmen and other farm hands of their 
 usual labours, and in the days when the Roman Church was 
 dominant prior to the Reformation, the Ploughmen on the 
 Plough Monday always burned candles at the shrines or before 
 the images of their own especial saint. The Reformation put out 
 the lights but not the frolics that followed on Plough Monday 
 Night, which were maintained in some parts of England even into 
 the earlier years of the eighteenth century. 
 
 This day is the festival of St. Benedict (or Bennet) Biscop, one of 
 the most remarkable men of his day. A man who was a thinker, 
 he was far in advance of his day ; for he was one who believed in 
 educating the common classes and knowing as he did how impos- 
 sible under existing circumstances it was to educate the masses to 
 read, sought to teach them to use his admirable phrase through 
 " their visual organs," and for this purpose brought to his church 
 from Rome the first paintings and bits of sculpture he could 
 gather to be held up before them that they might carry away some 
 memory of the scenes these pictures taught of the life of Our 
 Lord, and His Holy Followers. I wish I had space to devote to 
 some of his reasons when " brought to book " for his innovation of 
 all previous customs. They are often epigrammatic but most con- 
 vincing. " They have eyes to see," (he says) " but not minds to 
 understand God's written teachings." So he told the story of (for 
 example) the Crucifixion, and then by exhibiting the painting left 
 on the minds of those simple folk an impression no eloquence of 
 his could have done, by pointing to the picture. The same was 
 true of music. It was Bennet Biscop who first put it to practical 
 use in the service of the Church in England. He was a Northum-
 
 64 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 brian monk but a man of action ; not a sentimentalist to spend his 
 hours in dreaming. Thus he built the two celebrated monasteries 
 at Weremerith (now Wearmouth) and at Girwy (now Jarrow), six 
 miles distant from Weremouth at a point on the Tyne. The first 
 was called St. Peter's and the latter St. Paul's. From these two 
 monasteries his monks went forth, literally scouring the country 
 and teaching the people. 
 
 Lambarde, who seems to have been no admirer of ornamental 
 architecture or the fine arts, thus speaks of St. Benedict Biscop : 
 " This man laboured to Rome five several tymes, for what other 
 things I find not save only to procure pope-holye privileges, and 
 curious ornaments for his monasteries Jarrow and Weremouth ; 
 for first he gotte for theise houses, wherein he nourished 600 
 monks, great liberties ; then brought he them home from Rome 
 painters, glasiers, free-masons and singers to th' end that his 
 buildings might so shyne with workmanshipe and his churches so 
 sounde with melodye, that simple souls ravished therewithe should 
 fantasie of theim nothinge but heavenly holynes. In this jolitie 
 continued theise houses, and others by theire example embraced 
 the like, till Hinguar and Hubba, the Danish pyrates, A. D. 870, 
 were raised by God to abate their pride, who not only fyred and 
 spoyled them, but also almost all the religious houses on the 
 northeast coast of the island." 
 
 In early life Biscop was one of the higher officers at the court of 
 Oswi, king of Northumbria, and possessed of much wealth but at 
 the age of twenty- five he visited Rome and retired from thence to 
 the monastery of Levins where he took the monastic habit. When 
 at last he returned to Northumbria, Egfrid, son of Oswi, sat on the 
 throne and like his father was a true Christian, therefore lent his 
 old friend much aid when he set about building his new monastery. 
 But I may not take further space for this interesting man who 
 passed from his labours on January 1 2th in 690. 
 
 JANUARY 1 3th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Veronica of Milan. Originally, Veronica was 
 only a poor girl employed in the fields near Milan, but her parents
 
 ST. VERONICA 65 
 
 though poor were good and pious people and the maid had from 
 infancy been taught to love and reverence sacred things. Thus it 
 was that in her early maidenhood her heart was inspired to become 
 a " religieuse," and she was permitted to enter the nunnery of St. 
 Martha of the Order of St. Austin in Milan where after three years 
 of preparation she took the habit of St. Martha. Her exemplary 
 life was such that in due time she became the Superioress of the 
 nunnery and was looked upon as the model of evangelical perfec- 
 tion. Indeed so highly was she esteemed that after her death, 
 which took place in 1497, Pope Leo X. by a bull issued in 1517 
 permitted her to be honoured in her monastery in the same manner 
 as if she had been beatified after the usual form. 
 
 This name of Veronica brings to mind a very curious legend. 
 It is stated that the Saviour at his passion had his face wiped with 
 a handkerchief by a devout female attendant and that the cloth be- 
 came miraculously impressed with the image of his countenance. 
 It became Vera Iconica, or a true portrait of those blessed fea- 
 tures. The handkerchief, being sent to Abgarus, king of Odessa, 
 passed through a series of adventures but ultimately settled at 
 Rome where it has been kept for many centuries in St. Peter's 
 Church, under the highest veneration. There seems even to be a 
 votive mass, " de Sancta Veronica seu vultu Domini." the idea be- 
 ing thus personified after a manner peculiar to the ancient church. 
 From the term Vera Iconica has come the name Veronica. 
 
 This portrait, it is stated in an article in the London Art Journal 
 for 1 86 1, has been traced back to the days of the early Catacombs 
 in Rome where it is supposed for a time to have been hidden. 
 Festullian who wrote in A. D. 160, mentions portraits of Christ on 
 sacramental vessels used by the early Christians. 
 
 This is also the feast of St. Kentigern, around whom so much 
 mystery has ever clustered. 
 
 He appears to have flourished throughout the sixth century and 
 to have died in 601. Through his mother named Thenew, he was 
 connected with the royal family of the Cumbrian Britons a rude 
 state stretching along the west side of the island between Wales 
 and Argyle. After being educated by Serf at Culross, he returned
 
 66 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 among his own people and planted a small religious establishment 
 on the banks of a little stream which falls into the Clyde where 
 now the city of Glasgow stands. Upon a tree beside the clearing 
 in the forest he hung his bell to summon the savage neighbours to 
 worship ; and the tree with the bell still figures in the arms of 
 Glasgow. Thus was the commencement made of what in time 
 became a seat of population in connection with an episcopal see ; 
 and by and by, an industrious town ; ultimately what we now see, 
 a magnificent city with half a million of inhabitants. Kentigern, 
 though his amiable character procured him the name of Mungo or 
 the Beloved, had great troubles from the then king of the Strath- 
 clyde Britons ; and at one time he had to seek refuge in Wales 
 where he employed himself to some purpose as he there founded 
 under the care of a follower, St. Asaph, the religious establishment 
 of that name, now the seat of an English bishopric. 
 
 St. Kentigern died at a very advanced age and was buried on 
 the spot where the cathedral bearing his name now stands in 
 Glasgow. 
 
 JANUARY I4th. 
 
 St. Hilary, whom both the Anglican and Roman churches honour 
 to-day was born at Poictiers in Gaul and was brought up in pagan- 
 ism, but became a convert to Christianity, and in the year 354 was 
 elected Bishop of Poictiers. The first general council, held at 
 Nice (Nicaea) in Bithynia in 325, under the Emperor Constan- 
 tine, had condemned the doctrine of Arius but had not suppressed 
 it, and Hilarius about thirty years afterwards, when he had made 
 himself acquainted with the arguments, became an opponent of 
 the Arians who were then numerous and were patronized by the 
 Emperor Constantius. The council of Aries held in 353 had con- 
 demned Athanasius and others who were opponents of the Arian 
 doctrine, and Hilarius in the council of Beziers held in 356 defended 
 Athanasius in opposition to Saturninus, Bishop of Aries. He 
 was in consequence deposed from his bishopric by the Arians, 
 and banished by Constantius to Phrygia. During his banishment
 
 FIRST HERMIT 67 
 
 of four years he was a prolific writer and his works are still extant 
 and highly esteemed. 
 
 After the death of Constantius in 361 Hilary 
 was restored to his bishopric, where he died in 
 368. 
 
 The symbol for St. Hilary given here is from 
 an English Clog stick ; but the Danish sticks 
 present nothing to mark the day for this saint. 
 
 I notice that in both English church books 
 and American church almanacs the feast of St. 
 Hilary is set for January I3th, but both Cham- 
 bers' and Roman Martyrology place the date on 
 the 1 4th. 
 
 JANUARY 
 
 Is the festival of St. Paul, said to be the first hermit of whom 
 there is mention in church menologies. The account given by 
 Dr. Butler from which this abridged note is made was compiled 
 from the biography written by St. Jerom in 365. 
 
 Paul was a native of the Lower Thebias in Egypt. When the 
 bloody persecutions of Decius began in 250, Paul for a time kept 
 himself concealed in the house of his brother-in-law, but con- 
 vinced of his relative being about to denounce him in order that 
 he might succeed to his estates, he fled to the deserts, where he 
 found shelter in some caverns that in the days of Queen Cleopatra 
 had been used by money coiners. Here, with a spring of water 
 to drink from and palm trees which furnished him both food and 
 raiment, for he clothed himself with garments made from the 
 palm leaf, he remained in security. Paul's legend tells that he 
 was twenty-two years old when he fled to the desert and that 
 for twenty-one years he lived on the fruit he gathered from his 
 palm tree. After that, however, " till his death, he was like Elias 
 of old, miraculously fed with bread brought to him daily by a 
 raven." 
 
 Dr. Butler in his account of this hermit says that when St.
 
 68 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Anthony was ninety years old he made a pilgrimage into the 
 desert in search of this noted hermit and after two days found 
 him. Then he says : " While they were discoursing together a 
 raven flew towards them and dropped a loaf of bread before them. 
 Upon which St. Paul said : ' Our good God has sent us a dinner. 
 In this manner have I received half a loaf every day these sixty 
 years past. Now you have come to visit me, Christ has doubled 
 His provision for His servants.' " Dr. Butler adds several other 
 remarkable incidents, among them how Paul foretold his own 
 death and of his burial by St. Anthony and of the trouble he was 
 in as to how he should dig the grave for the hermit. " While he 
 stood thus perplexed, two lions came up quietly and as it were, 
 mourning and tearing up the ground, made a hole large enough to 
 receive the body." St. Paul died in 342 in the ii3th year of his 
 age and the ninetieth of his solitary life, and is credited in all 
 places, with being the first Christian hermit or recluse. 
 
 JANUARY 1 6th. 
 
 This day is kept in memory of St. Marcellus, Pope. He had 
 been a priest under Pope Mercellinus, after whose death the see 
 had remained vacant for three and a half years, when, in 308 he 
 was elected to fill the high office ; though " as God willed it for 
 only one year and twenty days," as he died on January 16, 310. 
 Roman Martyrology says he " by command of the tyrant Maxen- 
 tius was first beaten with clubs, then sent to take care of criminals 
 with a guard to watch him." His trials, however, were of short 
 duration. His body is said to lie in the church which bears his 
 name in Rome. 
 
 One of the favourite methods of St. Francis of Assisi of whom 
 we shall make mention on October 4th, and also of the foundation 
 of the celebrated Order of the Franciscans, for the advance- 
 ment of Christianity was by means of missionary labour. It was 
 thus that he sent forth the " Five Friar Minors " whose festival is 
 celebrated in the Roman Church to-day, to preach to the
 
 FIVE FRIAR MINORS 69 
 
 Mahometans of the West while he in person went to those of the 
 East. These five preached first to the Moors in Seville, suffering 
 many persecutions. Thence they crossed into Morocco but were 
 quickly banished and compelled to return to Seville. The renewal 
 of their preaching at once roused the anger of the infidels who 
 sought to drive them out even as they had been expelled from 
 Morocco. For persevering in their holy labours, they were 
 arrested and brought before an infidel judge. 
 
 The antagonism and bitter feeling between the infidel Moors and 
 Christians were intense. Already the impending fate which drove 
 the Moors in 1238 to found the Kingdom of Granada and which 
 was to be their last refuge must have been foreseen. Henry I. was 
 then king, but civil wars were constantly breaking out. Suppressed 
 in one quarter the Friars arose in another; until in 1238, Ferdi- 
 nand III. (The Holy) ascended the throne. But while this inter- 
 esting chapter in Spanish history was being enacted our Five Friar 
 Minors were in the hands of an infidel judge, beyond the protec- 
 tion of Henry. These five, Berardus, Peter, Acursius, Adjustus, 
 and Otto, as they are named in Latin Martyrology, were brave, fear- 
 less men as Francis must have known them to be when he selected 
 them for this arduous task. Yet, seemingly, they had hardly 
 judged the intense hatred of these infidels or they would not have 
 ventured again into this dangerous region. Be that as it may, for 
 there are no records to show the motives that induced them to do 
 as they did, this judge ceused them to be scourged, and added 
 to his cruelty by ordering " boiling oil and vinegar to be poured 
 into their wounds and then' that their bodies should be rolled over 
 potsherds." Then their legend continues, " the king caused them 
 to be brought before him and with his own hands with his cimeter 
 he clove their heads asunder to the middle of their foreheads." 
 
 It was not until 1481 that these martyrs were canonized by Pope 
 Sixtus IV., though at some earlier date (unrecorded), their relics 
 were ransomed and placed in the monastery of the Holy Cross in 
 Coimbra. 
 
 This festival was fixed for January i6th by Pope Sixtus the day 
 he issued his bull of canonization.
 
 70 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 JANUARY i;th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Antony, or Anthony as the name is sometimes 
 written, or again Antonius. He was born at Coma in Upper 
 Egypt, in 251. His parents were Christians and by them he was 
 most carefully trained. When about twenty years of age, by his 
 parents' death he found himself possessed of a very considerable 
 estate and the care of a sister. Taking Christ's words to a rich 
 young man home to himself, he interpreted them literally. Having 
 first placed his sister " in a house of virgins " (which in passing it 
 is interesting to note is the^/fr^/ mention made in Church history 
 of a nunnery) he sold his lands and all his personal effects and 
 saved what was needful to secure his sister from want or bring a 
 burden upon any one he distributed his wealth among the poor 
 and henceforth led the life of a hermit, and thereby is held in 
 reverence as " The Patriarch of Monks " ; as he seems to have 
 been the one who introduced this mode of solitary life into Egypt. 
 
 The temptations of St. Antony as related in his legends were 
 almost endless. Satan we are informed first tried by bemuddling 
 his thoughts to divert him from the design of becoming a monk. 
 Then he appeared to him in the forms successively, of a handsome 
 woman and a black boy but without in the least disturbing him. 
 Angry at the defeat, Satan and a multitude of attendant fiends fell 
 upon him during the night and he was found in his cell in the 
 morning lying to all appearances dead. On another occasion these 
 devils expressed their rage by making such a dreadful noise that 
 the walls of his cell shook. They transformed themselves into 
 shapes of all sorts of beasts, lions, bear's, leopards, bulls, serpents, 
 asps, scorpions and wolves ; but he overcame them all by his 
 prayers and holy life. 
 
 I must not, however, attempt to speak of these in detail for they 
 fill a volume. During the persecution under Maximinus about the 
 year 310 some of the solitaries were seized in the wilderness and 
 suffered martyrdom at Alexandria whither Antonius accompained 
 them, but he was not subjected to punishment. After his return 
 he retired farther into the desert but went on one occasion to 
 Alexander in order to preach against the Arians. 
 
 The two monastic orders of St. Anthony originated long after
 
 ST. PETER'S CHAIR 71 
 
 the time of the saint one in Dauphine, in the eleventh century ; 
 and the other, a military order in Hainault in the fourteenth century. 
 In Dauphine the people were cured of the erysipelas by the aid, as 
 they thought, of St. Anthony ; and the disease from this fact was 
 afterward called St. Anthony's Fire. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to remark that St. Anthony is one of the 
 most notable of all the saints in the Romish Kalendar. One can- 
 not travel anywhere in Europe at the present day and particularly 
 in Italy, without finding in churches, monasteries and familiar con- 
 versation of the people, abundant memorials of this early Egyptian 
 anchorite. Even in Scotland, at Leith, a street reveals by its name 
 where a monastery of St. Anthony once stood ; while, on the hill 
 of Arthur's Seat overhanging Edinburgh, we still see a fragment 
 of a small church that had been dedicated to him, and a fountain 
 called St. Anton's Well. 
 
 St. Anthony reached an extreme old age, dying when one hun- 
 dred and five years old in 356, in semi-solitude attended only by 
 two of his disciples, Macarius and Amathas, who had for fifteen 
 years remained by him to watch over his needs in his old age. 
 
 The Saturday before the second Sunday after Epiphany is one 
 of the " Movable Feasts " of the Roman Church, the " Feast of 
 the Holy Name of Jesus." 
 
 JANUARY i8th. 
 ST. PETER'S CHAIR. 
 
 This day at St. Peter's Church in Rome is held a festival with 
 offices and services of an especial character entitled as above. Of 
 this feast Dr. Butler tells us that it is well evidenced to be of 
 great antiquity, being adverted to in a martyrology copied in the 
 time of St, Willibrod in 720. " Christians," he says, "justly 
 celebrate the founding of this mother church, the centre of 
 Catholic communion, in thanksgiving to God for his mercies on his 
 church and to implore his future blessing." The celebration takes 
 place in St. Peter's Church under circumstances of the greatest 
 solemnity and splendour.
 
 72 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 This fungioni (function) is not only one of unusual magnificence 
 for even this grand old church, which beyond a doubt has been 
 the scene of a greater number of the most splendid ecclesiastical 
 displays than any other one building now standing in the whole 
 world, but the function itself is also one of great solemnity as 
 befits the occasion. 
 
 This chair of the first pope of the church is said to be still pre- 
 served in the Church of St. Peter's at Rome. 
 
 This day is also the festival of St. Prisca, a virgin martyr under 
 the Emperor Claudius, of whom little is really known. According 
 to her legend she was a Roman virgin of illustrious 
 birth, who, at the age of thirteen was exposed 
 in the amphitheatre because she had confessed she 
 was a Christian. A fierce lion was let loose upon 
 her but her youth and innocence disarmed the fury 
 of the savage beast which, instead of tearing her 
 to pieces, humbly licked her feet, to the great con- 
 solation of Christians and the confusion of the 
 idolaters. Being led back to prison she was there 
 beheaded. Sometimes she is represented with 
 a lion, sometimes with an eagle, because it is 
 related that an eagle watched by her body till 
 it was laid in the grave, for thus, says the story, 
 was virgin-innocence honoured by kingly bird as 
 well as by kingly beast. A church bearing St. 
 Prisca's name was built by Pope Eutychianus in 
 280 in Rome and is still standing. According to 
 an old tradition this church stands on the site of the house of 
 Aquila and Priscilla where St. Peter lodged when at Rome and 
 who are the same mentioned by St. Paul as tent-makers, while 
 here is also shown the font from which, according to the same 
 tradition, St. Peter baptised the first Roman converts to Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 St. Prisca's is one of the names that were retained in the 
 Kalendar of the Reformed Church after its division from the 
 Church of Rome, and the day of her festival coincides with that of 
 
 S. PRISCA. 
 
 From glass in 
 Winchester 
 Cathedral.
 
 ST.WULSTAN 73 
 
 the Romans. The Clog symbol for this saint is the palm branch 
 of martyrdom. 
 
 Another of the names this day honoured is St. Deicolus or St. 
 Deel, an Irish priest who spent his best days in 
 France and whose memory is preserved in 
 Franche-comte where his name Deel is still 
 frequently given in baptism. He appears to 
 have been one of a group of missionaries who 
 in an early but unfortunately unknown period 
 went to Egypt to propagate the faith and be- 
 came martyrs. 
 
 JANUARY 1 9th 
 Is given to St. Wulstan who was the last saint of the Anglo- 
 Saxon church and is the connecting link between the old English 
 church and hierarchy and the Norman. He was a monk indeed 
 and an ascetic ; still his vocation lay not in the school or cloister 
 but among the people of the market-place and the village, and 
 he rather dwelt on the great broad truths of the gospel than 
 followed them to their dogmatic results. Though a thane's son, 
 a series of unexpected circumstances brought him into the relig- 
 ious profession and he became prior of a monastery at Worcester. 
 Born at Long Itchington in Warwickshire, he was educated at 
 the monasteries of Eversham and Peterborough, the latter one of 
 the richest houses and the most famous schools in England. 
 
 Wulstan was one of those blunt outspoken men so easy of 
 access and frank in his conservatism that it made him the idol of 
 the common people though he had little respect for titles and 
 rebuked the high in state as he did his own parishioners. In 1062 
 two Roman cardinals came to Worcester with Aldred, the late 
 bishop, but who was then Archbishop of York. They spent the 
 whole of Lent at the cathedral monastery where Wulstan was 
 prior, and they were so impressed with his austere and hard work- 
 ing way of life, that partly by their recommendation, as well as 
 the popular voice at Worcester, Wulstan was elected to the vacant 
 bishopric.
 
 74 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 It was this prelate who stuck his staff into the tomb of the 
 Confessor which none could remove until they acknowledged 
 Wulstan's sanctity. Anti-slavery men of the old days should have 
 especial reverence for Wulstan, for he was a brave antagonist 
 against the slave trade, which in his day did such a thriving busi- 
 ness out from Bristol with the merchants of Ireland. He died on 
 the i pth of January, 1095, in the eighty-seventh year of his age and 
 the thirty-third of his episcopate. Contrary to the usual custom, 
 the body was laid out, arranged in the episcopal vestments and 
 crosier, before the high altar, that the people of Worcester might 
 look once more on their good bishop. His stone coffin is, to this 
 day, shown in the presbytery of the cathedral, the crypt and early 
 Norman portions of which were the work of Wulstan. 
 
 In this cathedral there is both a statue of St. Wulstan and the 
 monument of King John. This last is only remarkable from the 
 fact that it is the oldest royal monument now standing in England. 
 
 JANUARY 2oth. 
 
 St. Fabian, Bishop of Rome, whom the 
 Church honours on this day, is yet another in 
 that notable list whose names were retained 
 in the Kalendar of the Reformed Church 
 when the division came, and who still holds 
 its place in the Kalendar of the English as 
 it also does in the Roman Church. His 
 election to succeed Pope Anterus in 236 as 
 told by Eusebius is at least somewhat re- 
 markable. He was a stranger to most of 
 those who had assembled to take a part in 
 the election, when a dove entered the room 
 through an open window. Circling the 
 apartment it hovered over the audience for 
 a moment and then alighted on the head of 
 Fabian, who until then had not been consid- 
 ered as a contestant for the honoured 
 position, as he was but a layman. This omen was regarded by all 
 as a miraculous sign and he was at once chosen. He filled the 
 
 S. FABIAN. 
 
 From Bodleian MS. 
 
 Liturg. 383.
 
 ST.AGNES'EVE 75 
 
 pontifical chair during a period of sixteen years, his most notable 
 act being the sending of Dionysius and other preachers into Gaul 
 as missionaries, and the condemnation of Privatus, who had 
 broached a new heresy in Africa. Under the persecution of 
 Decius, Fabian suffered martyrdom by being beheaded. He is 
 therefore represented as kneeling at the block wearing the triple 
 crown. Often he carries a book and sword, or palm branch, but 
 usually as in our illustration wears the triple crown and bears a 
 cross. 
 
 This day too is sacred to St. Sebastian, a noble Roman soldier 
 and the Commander of the First Cotfort. His story is a most 
 interesting one but unfortunately too long for repetition here and 
 must be summed up in the brief words of the Roman Martyrology : 
 " For professing Christianity he was tried in the middle of the 
 camp, shot with arrows, and lastly struck with clubs until he 
 expired." This noble man is also honoured in the Kalendar of the 
 English church. His martyrdom took place in 288. 
 
 ST. AGNES' EVE. 
 
 In the olden days in England when superstitious rites were 
 common, there was no festival more strictly observed by a certain 
 class than St. Agnes' Eve ; and if reports are true, even now 
 these customs are not obsolete, by which a maid through divina- 
 tion learned who her future spouse would be. Few of us who 
 ever read Keats' poem " The Eve of St. Agnes," will forget it : 
 
 " They told her how, upon St. Agnes' Eve, 
 Young virgins might have visions of delight, 
 And soft adorings from their loves receive 
 Upon the honey'd middle of the night, 
 If ceremonies due they did aright ; 
 As, supperless to bed they must retire, 
 And couch supine their beauties lily white ; 
 Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require 
 Of heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire."
 
 ;6 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 JANUARY 2ist. 
 
 ST. AGNES. 
 
 The legend of St. Agnes is not only the oldest, but it is the 
 most authentic of all the stories told of the early saints and mar- 
 tyrs of the Christian Church. She was one of the four " Great Vir- 
 gins " of the Latin Church, and her story has been sung by poets 
 in every age and tongue, told from the pulpits in every land, in 
 homilies from the lips of venerable and venerated men, until it 
 seems almost like a household word. Even as early as during the 
 IV. century when St. Jerom wrote of her he speaks of others who 
 had already told her story. " So ancient," says Mrs. Jameson, 
 " is the worship paid to St. Agnes, that next to the Evangelists 
 and Apostles there is no saint whose effigy is older." 
 
 To abridge the legend of St. Agnes is 
 to rob it of its chief beauties but my readers 
 may find it in Mrs. Jameson's " Legendary 
 and Sacred Art " very fully told though even 
 there somewhat cut. S. Baring-Gould in 
 his " Virgin Saints and Martyrs," also tells 
 the famous story more fully. 
 
 Agnes was a maid of but thirteen years 
 yet already a devoted disciple of Christ, 
 when her transcendent beauty of person and 
 the great wealth she was dowered with 
 attracted the son of the prefect of Rome 
 and he fell violently in love. But Agnes 
 repulsed his costly gifts and told him she 
 was the " Bride of Christ." Whereupon the 
 young man fell sick as he confessed "for 
 love," and the father tried his persuasive 
 powers and bribes upon the maiden without effect, then threats, 
 later imprisonment and torments, such as the decrees of Dioclesian 
 permitted against Christians. 
 
 " As neither temptation nor the fear of death could prevail 
 with Agnes, Sempronius thought of other means to vanquish her 
 resistance ; he ordered her to be carried by force to a place of 
 
 S. AGNES. 
 From painted glass.
 
 ST. VINCENT 77 
 
 infamy and exposed to the most degrading outrages. The soldiers 
 who dragged her thither stripped her of her garments and when 
 she saw herself thus exposed she bent down her head in meek 
 shame and prayed ; immediately her hair which was already long 
 and abundant became like a veil covering her whole person from 
 head to foot ; and those who looked upon her were seized with 
 awe and fear as of something sacred and dared not lift their eyes." 
 So they shut her within a chamber, and there as she prayed an 
 angel bearing a white robe appeared and clothed her. At the last 
 the prefect ordered her to be burned, and when she had been 
 thrown on the pile of fagots they were at once extinguished 
 around her but their heat caused the two soldiers who guarded her 
 to fall dead. 
 
 In his anger the prefect ordered her to be stabbed to death and 
 a soldier thus put an end to her trials by mounting the pile of 
 fagots and thrusting her through with a sword. St. Agnes is 
 usually represented in art with a lamb at her feet, possibly from 
 the significance of her name and her spotless purity. She often 
 bears a palm branch and at times a sword is piercing her throat. 
 Her martyrdom occurred in 304. Two churches are dedicated to 
 her in Rome. 
 
 JANUARY 22d. 
 
 The legend of St. Vincent whose festival occurs this day has, to 
 use Mrs. Jameson's quaint expression, been so " extravagantly 
 embroidered " that one finds difficulty in selecting truth from fic- 
 tion. He was born in Saragossa in Aragon, a city Prudentius 
 says in his famous hymn which had produced more saints and mar- 
 tyrs than any city in Spain. Dr. Butler says it was " most proba- 
 bly at Osca (now Huesca), in Grenada," where he was educated. 
 The interim until we find Vincent in the clutches of the pro- 
 consul, Dacian, infamous even in Spanish annals of cruelty, is so 
 vague I omit it. He then was not more than twenty years of age, 
 but an ordained deacon. When brought before Dacian he defied 
 the tortures threatened him. What follows is but the repetition 
 of the story so often told of torments such as one would think
 
 ^ " 
 
 78 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 only a devil could invent. His body was lacerated by iron hooks, 
 later half broiled over a spiked gridiron from which the Clog 
 Almanacs take the symbol that marks St. Vincent Day. When 
 these torments were ended, he was turned " torn, bleeding and 
 half consumed by fire," into a cell " strewn with potsherds for him 
 to lie upon." But even then his jailor saw his dungeon filled with 
 heavenly light and heard the angel attending him singing songs of 
 triumph. Then Dacian changed his tactics, perfidious as he ever 
 was, gave him a bed of down and allowed his friends to minister 
 to his comfort hoping so to restore him that he might be subjected 
 to further torments, but the martyr had already 
 endured all his human body could and he died 
 , almost immediately. So furious was Dacian 
 ^.1 f '*\, at this that he ordered the body to be thrown 
 out for the wild beasts to devour ; ' but the 
 ravens drove the wolves away. Then the 
 pro-consul ordered the body of the saint to be 
 ' sewn in an oxhide, as was done to parricides, 
 and cast into the sea, but when the minions 
 who performed the task returned to the shore, 
 the body of the saint lay on the beach where 
 it was left until the waves covered it with 
 sand. This resting place was miraculously revealed many years 
 later and the relics received Christian burial at Valencia. Not, 
 however, to rest in peace, for the Moors carried his relics away. 
 I may not take space to follow their wanderings until these sacred 
 relics found rest in Lisbon. Spanish legends make St. Vincent 
 and St. Laurence brothers but there seems no just grounds to 
 believe this is true. 
 
 St. Vincent is also one of those whose names were retained by 
 the Reformed Church and still holds a place in the Kalcndar of 
 the Church of England. 
 
 JANUARY 23d. 
 
 St. Raymund, who is remembered this day, is another Spanish 
 saint of the order of St. Dominic, who by his wonderful exertions
 
 ST. TIMOTHY 79 
 
 restored many of his countrymen who had been led astray by the 
 Moors, to Christianity. He toward the end of his life accompanied 
 King James of Aragon to the island of Majorca, where he con- 
 verted many pagans. It was now that the immoral life of the 
 king so affected him he wished to return to Spain, but the king 
 forbid him and ordered severe penalties for any who aided him in 
 his efforts to do so. Therefore he walked boldly to the waters, 
 spread his cloak upon them, tied one corner of it to a staff for a 
 sail and having made the sign of the cross, stepped upon the cloak 
 without fear whilst his timorous companion stood trembling and 
 wondering on the shore. On this new kind of vessel the saint was 
 wafted with such rapidity that in six hours he reached the harbour 
 of Barcelona, sixty leagues distant from Majorca. Those who 
 saw him arrive in this manner met him with acclamations. But he, 
 gathering up his cloak which was perfectly dry, put it on, strode 
 through the crowd and entered his monastery. 
 
 The above is condensed from the bull of his canonization pub- 
 lished by Clement VIII. in 1601. His office was fixed by Clement 
 X. for January 23d. He died in 1275. 
 
 JANUARY 24th 
 
 Is sacred to St. Timothy, a disciple of St. Paul. When in 51 Paul 
 was preaching in Iconium and Lystra, he heard such accounts of 
 Timothy that he took the young man for his companion and he 
 accompanied him into Philippi and elsewhere and in 64 Paul 
 made him Bishop of Ephesus with a general supervision over the 
 churches in Asia. 
 
 From an account ascribed to Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, 
 who died in 196, it is said that : " Under the Emperor Nerva, in 
 the year 97 * * * Timothy was slain with stones and clubs 
 by the heathen while he was endeavouring to oppose their idola- 
 trous ceremonies on one of their festivals called ' Catagogia,' 
 kept on the 22d of January when the idolaters called in troops 
 carrying in one hand an idol and in the other a club." 
 
 From another source it is said that the relics of St. Timothy
 
 8o SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 were translated in the year 356 from their resting place in Ephesus 
 to Constantinople. 
 
 JANUARY 25th. 
 
 The festival of the Apostle Paul celebrated to-day is not com- 
 memorated by either the Roman or Protestant branches of the 
 Christian Church, as is customary at the date of the birth, death 
 or martyrdom of the saints honoured in their Kalendar ; but upon 
 what the Apostle regarded as the most momentous day of his life, 
 his conversion. In like manner the Holy Fathers, in their grati- 
 tude for so miraculous and important an instance of the Divine 
 power as well as in recognition of the influence this wonderful 
 event had in the establishment of the Christian Church, instituted 
 the Feast of St. Paul. There was also another and potent reason 
 that moved them to this act, that in St. Paul the world has " a per- 
 fect model of true conversion '' to which the celebration of this 
 feast will always bring to their attention. 
 
 Just when the feast first originated or by whom it was first cele- 
 brated is not perfectly clear. Dr. Butler says : " We find mention 
 of it in the Kalendar and Missals of the VIII. and IX. centuries, 
 and also that Pope Innocent III. (1198-1216) commanded it to be 
 observed with solemnity." Mention is made of it as being "a 
 solemn festivalin the records of the Council of Oxford held in 1222 
 during the reign of Henry III., but so far as the English church 
 chronicles show, it had no official recognition until the Diocesan 
 Synod held at Exeter in 1827 when this feast (with several others) 
 was prescribed and duly ordered to be observed. It had, however, 
 prior to this been long observed by all the churches of the West. 
 
 It would be a work of supererogation to recount here the life 
 and work of St. Paul, while the story of his martyrdom will be told 
 on June 29. 
 
 The legend that St. Paul visited England has been a hotly con- 
 tested question among English divines of many faiths ; but that he 
 has ever been regarded by Londoners with an especial reverence 
 needs no better evidence than that they have dedicated to him 
 their grandest cathedral and that the Sword of St. Paul holds its
 
 KING JAMES BIBLE 
 
 place in the dexter quarter of the City Arms, just as the Red 
 Cross refers to St. George, the patron saint of England. The Clog 
 symbol given here is taken from an English stick but I have to 
 confess my inability to make out its import. 
 
 As it is with the Saint Day of most of the 
 noted saints in the Kalendar endless supersti- 
 tions clustered about St. Paul's Day. One 
 must suffice, a translation of a French belief, 
 though written in old Monkish Latin : 
 
 ' If St. Paul's day be fair and clear, 
 It does betide a happy year; 
 But if it chance to snow or rain, 
 Then will be dear all kind of grain ; 
 If clouds or mists do dark the skie, 
 Great store of birds and beasts shall die 
 And if the winds do flie aloft, 
 Then war shall vexe the kingdoms oft." 
 
 u 
 
 In passing it may not be out of place to say that in 1604, on this 
 day the Hampton Court Conference put forth what is now called 
 the "King James Bible " as an "Authorized version of the Bible," 
 just then translated into English. 
 
 JANUARY 26th. 
 
 St. Polycarp, who is remembered this day, was one of the 
 earliest " Fathers of the Church " and was a disciple of St. John 
 the Evangelist. He became Bishop of Smyrna before the 
 persecution of Christians which took place in the reign of Marcus 
 Aurelius when Statius Quadratus was pro-consul of Asia. Having 
 incurred the enmity of the infidels, Polycarp was condemned to be 
 burned at the stake. When the fire was lighted his legend tells, 
 " the flames formed themselves into an arch over his head 
 encircling his body but leaving him unharmed. When it was 
 seen that Polycarp was thus miraculously preserved from burning 
 a spearman was ordered to pierce him through his heart which 
 he did, and such a quantity of blood issued from his body that it
 
 82 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 quenched the fire." But their end had been obtained for the 
 story continues : " At 2 o'clock in the afternoon which these 
 infidels call the eighth hour St. Polycarp received his crown." 
 They also after his death burned his body to ashes. There are 
 two dates given as to when this took place, Tillemont placing it in 
 1 66 and Basnage in 169. He was according to the best authori- 
 ties 1 20 years old when he suffered and according to his own 
 writing had " served Christ for eighty-six years." 
 
 St. Conon another saint honoured this day was a Scotchman 
 and for some time Bishop of Man. His name will long be 
 remembered in the Highlands if for no other reason than the 
 celebrated and still frequently quoted Highland proverb : " Claw 
 for claw, as Conon said to Satan ; and the devil take the shortest 
 claw." 
 
 JANUARY 27th 
 
 Is the festival of St. John Chrysostom or Chrysostomus as some 
 writers make it ; a man whose wise words and writings are per- 
 haps more often quoted than those of any of the early fathers, 
 by Christians of every shade of faith unless it be the words of 
 St. Jerom. 
 
 St. John Chrysostomus is also one of the most celebrated 
 fathers of the Eastern, or Greek church. He was born about the 
 year 347 at Antioch. His father was commander of the imperial 
 army in Syria. He was educated for the bar but became a con- 
 vert to Christianity and as the solitary manner of living then 
 being held in great esteem and very prevalent in Syria, he re- 
 tired to a mountain not far from Antioch where he lived some 
 years in solitude practising the usual austerities. He returned to 
 the city in 381 and was ordained by Meletius, Bishop of Antioch, 
 to the office of deacon and to that of presbyter in 386. He became 
 one of the most popular preachers of the age ; his reputation 
 extending throughout the Christian world ; and in 398 on the 
 death of Nectarius he was elected Bishop of Constantinople. He 
 was zealous and resolute in the reform of clerical abuses and two
 
 ST. CYRIL 83 
 
 years after his consecration, on his visitation in Asia Miner, he 
 deposed no less than thirteen bishops of Lydia and Phrygia. His 
 denunciations of the licentious manners of the court drew upon 
 him the resentment of the Empress Eudoxia who encouraged 
 Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, to summon a synod at 
 Chalcedon at which a number of accusations were brought 
 against Chrysostom. He was condemned, deposed and banished 
 to Cucusus, a place in the mountain range of Taurus whence 
 after the death of the empress it was determined to remove him to 
 a desert place on the Euxine. He travelled on foot and caught a 
 fever which occasioned his death at Camana in Pontus, September 
 14, 407, at the age of 60, but his festival is kept on the day of his 
 burial by the Latin Church, the Greeks honouring him on Novem- 
 ber 1 3th. 
 
 The works of Chrysostom are very numerous consisting of 700 
 homilies and 242 epistles as well as commentaries, orations and 
 treatises on points of doctrine. His life has been written by 
 Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret and other early writers and by 
 Neander in more recent times. 
 
 The name Chrysostomus or golden-mouthed, on account of his 
 eloquence, was not given to him until some years after his death. 
 Socrates and the other early writers simply call him John, or John 
 of Constantinople. 
 
 JANUARY 28th. 
 
 St. Cyril, or Cyrillus whom the Church honours this day was the 
 nephew of Theophilus who caused St. Chrysostom to be banished. 
 Upon the death of Theophilus St. Cyril was elected to succeed 
 him as Patriarch of Constantinople. In a later article I will have 
 occasion to refer to Kingsley's celebrated novel, " Hypatia," 
 where the author refers to the life of St. Cyril. The story of the 
 murder of Hypatia, the daughter of the mathematician Theon of 
 Alexandria, has been related by Socrates, Nicephorus, and other 
 ecclesiastical historians. Hypatia was a lady of such extraordinary 
 ability and learning as to have been chosen to preside over the 
 school of platonic philosophy in Alexandria, and her lectures were
 
 84 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 attended by a crowd of students from Greece and Asia Minor. 
 She was also greatly esteemed and treated with much respect by 
 Orestes, the governor of Alexandria, who was a decided opponent 
 of the patriarch. Hence the malice of Cyril who is related to have 
 excited a mob of fanatical monks to assault her in the street who 
 dragged her into a church, and there murdered her, actually tearing 
 her body to pieces. 
 
 Of St. Cyril's controversy with Nestorius a monk and priest 
 of Antioch, who was made Bishop of Constantinople in 428 as 
 to whether Mary was entitled to be termed " the Mother of God," 
 curious and interesting as it is I have not space to enter save to 
 speak of the strange result when Pope Celestine deposed Nestorius 
 and Cyril was called on to execute judgment and summoned a 
 council of sixty at Ephesus and John, Patriarch of Antioch, sum- 
 moned a counter-council of forty at Antioch who in turn excom- 
 municated Cyril ; whereupon the Emperor Theodosius committed 
 both the patriarch and bishop to prison where Cyril remained until 
 through the efforts of Pope Celestine he was in 431 liberated and 
 returned to his see, which he filled until his death in 444. 
 
 JANUARY 
 
 Is the festival of the noted St. Francis of Sales. We not infre- 
 quently hear expressions of surprise at the seeming ease with which 
 the Roman Church regained the influence it had lost in Europe 
 through the Reformation. When, however, we read the story of 
 such a remarkable man as St. Francis the mystery is at once dis- 
 pelled. The son of pious parents Francis, Count of Sales, had 
 every possible educational advantage as a child at Rocheville and 
 Annecy, later in Paris and afterward in Padua where he went in 
 1554 to study law under the celebrated preceptor Guy Pancerola. 
 While he was a " past master " in all the polite accomplishments 
 of his day, could ride, dance and hold his own even against experts 
 in the use of the foils, these had not hindered him in the study of 
 the Greek and Hebrew of which he was a perfect master and at 
 Padua he won his degree of doctor of law with the greatest possi- 
 ble eclat. The story of his life has been too often told to need
 
 ST. GILDAS THE WISE 85 
 
 repetition of how he cast fame and fortune behind him for the love 
 of Christ, and was named to the provostship of a church in Geneva 
 where his sermons were of a character to excite even the admira- 
 tion of modern clerics of every class. But what chiefly won for 
 him the affection of every one who came under his influence was 
 his personal purity and humility. So potent was this that it is said 
 that through his efforts no less than 70,000 Genevese Calvinists 
 were brought back into the communion of the Roman Church. 
 Afterward, in 1 594 Francis with a cousin undertook a mission to 
 Chablais on the shores of Lake Geneva where the Catholic religion 
 was already extinct, but within four years he had gained such a 
 power over the hearts of the people that the Protestant form of 
 worship was interdicted by the State. His writings breathe only 
 of divine love and there are extant 520 of these epistles while his 
 " Introduction to a Devout Life " is a model work which cannot 
 be too highly praised and is recognized by many devout clerics of 
 other than the Roman faith. Pope Paul V. erected the Congrega- 
 tion of the Visitation (the Order founded by Francis of Sales) into 
 a religious order. He died at Avignon in 1622. He was canonized 
 in 1665 by Alexander VII. and his feast fixed for January 29th. 
 
 This day is also the festival of St. Gildas. 
 
 According to his legend he was the son of Can, King of the 
 Britons, of Alclyde (Dumbarton) one of twenty-four brothers who 
 with their father were always at war with King Arthur. But Gil- 
 das having shown a disposition for learning was sent to the school 
 of the Welsh saint Iltutus. He afterwards went to study in Gaul 
 whence he returned to Britain and set up a school of his own in 
 South Wales. Subsequently at the invitation of St. Bridget he 
 visited Ireland where he remained a long time and founded several 
 monasteries. He returned to England bringing with him a won- 
 derful bell which he was carrying to the pope ; and after having 
 been reconciled with King Arthur who had killed his eldest 
 brother in battle, he proceeded on his journey to Rome. 
 
 After his return from Rome he was for a time a hermit in the 
 fastnesses of Wales but later settled in Glastonbury where he 
 died about 570 it is said, though this date is very uncertain.
 
 86 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 There were two St. Gildas, both of whom are named on this 
 day. Roman Martyrology gives to one the title of Gildas Badon- 
 icus or the Historian, because of the tracts attributed to him. It 
 says that he was born in the year when King Arthur defeated the 
 Saxons in the battle of Mount Badon in Somersetshire ; the other 
 they call Gildas the Albanian or Scot, supposing that he was the 
 one who was born at Alclyde. The first has also been called Gil- 
 das the Wise. The Gildas spoken of above is known as the author 
 or supposed author, of a book entitled " De Excidio Britanniae," 
 consisting of a short and barren historical sketch of the struggle 
 between the Britons and the Picts and Saxons. 
 
 JANUARY 30th. 
 
 St. Bathildas or Baldechilde and metamorphosed in French into 
 Bauteur, whose name is to-day honoured by the Church, presents 
 yet another of those romantic stories which we constantly meet 
 in conning the lives of the saints. An English girl by birth she 
 was taken to France and sold as a slave to one Erchinoald, the 
 " Mayor of the palace of Clovis II." when he was a boy. As she 
 matured into womanhood, her beauty and worth attracted the 
 King's attention and in 649 he married her. It is a " far cry " 
 from being a slave, to the throne of France and not without many 
 striking incidents if I had time to tell them. 
 
 Bathildas was the mother of three Kings of France, Clotaire III., 
 Childeric II., and Thierry I., all reigning in the above successive 
 order. The death of Clovis II. in 655 when Clotaire was but five 
 years old made her Regent of the kingdom and her power was 
 used with such rare judgment ; and the encouragement she gave 
 to the prelates of the Church so great and her own charities so 
 numerous though so unostentatiously bestowed, that her name 
 became a synonym throughout her territory for all that was noble 
 and good. In 665 she resigned her Regency but in those ten years 
 of power she had left many lasting evidences of her devotion to 
 the Church and Christianity. Then she retired to the Royal Nun- 
 nery of Chelles founded by St. Clotildes and of which I shall soon 
 speak, and here she died in 680 on January 3oth leaving a name
 
 KING CHARLES 87 
 
 which even after these long centuries is held in loving reverence 
 in France. 
 
 In the English church this day is kept sacred to the memory of 
 King Charles The Martyr. The only name thus honoured of 
 post-Reformation date in the English church.
 
 FEBRUARY 
 
 Then came old February, sitting 
 
 In an old wagon, for he could not ride, 
 Drawn of two fishes for the season fitting, 
 Which through the flood before did softly slide 
 And swim away ; yet had he by his side 
 His plough and harness fit to till the ground. 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 When Numa Pompilius revised the Roman Kalendar which 
 increased the number of months into which the year was divided 
 from ten to twelve, he named those he then added Januarius and 
 Februare. The last signifies " to expiate or to purify." Numa 
 also gave this month twenty-nine days except in " leap-years " 
 when it was to have twenty-eight. But when Augustus to honour 
 his own month increased the days of August to thirty-one he took 
 the day from Februare leaving that month in ordinary years but 
 twenty-eight days. 
 
 Among the Saxons this month was known as " Sproutkale," and 
 later, as the " Sol-monat, '' while in early days in England it was 
 called " February fill-dyke " as the melting snows filled and over- 
 flowed the dykes and rivers. 
 
 Brady, the noted antiquarian, says : " The common emblemati- 
 cal representation of February is a man in a sky-coloured dress 
 bearing in his hand the astronomical sign Pices." This, doubt- 
 less, Spenser had in mind when he wrote the lines quoted above. 
 
 FEBRUARY ist. 
 
 St. Ignatius, the Bishop of Antioch and Martyr, whose name 
 heads the list of saints the Church honours on this day, occupies 
 a most important place in the history of Christianity from his hav- 
 ing been a disciple and the immediate successor of the Apostles.
 
 ST. BRIDGET 89 
 
 For forty years he filled the important position of Bishop of 
 Antioch ; and Christians of every sect and creed unite in testify- 
 ing to his virtue and pious zeal and his life presents a perfect 
 model of all that goes to make up a true Christian. 
 
 In the ninth year of Trajan's reign (107) the emperor set out 
 for the East on an expedition against the Parthians and made a 
 triumphal entry into Antioch on January 7th, and his first order 
 thereafter was for a sacrifice to the gods. Already many Chris- 
 tians had suffered by his orders in and near Antioch. It was 
 therefore only what was to be expected that the refusal of any for 
 this especial sacrifice should suffer. Ignatius' refusal and con- 
 demnation to be sent to Rome to be devoured by wild beasts in 
 the ampitheatre is a long but not uncommon story ; save that his 
 journey was a continued series of ovations by the Christians in 
 every city through which the noble man and his guard of Roman 
 soldiers passed and that not a few of these loyal Christians later 
 paid severe penalties for their enthusiam. The journey was a 
 long and tedious one, not a small part of it being made on foot 
 which of itself, for a man of his age, was a severe trial but borne 
 with true Christian fortitude and without complaint. 
 
 It was therefore not until December 2oth of the same year (107) 
 the party arrived in Rome and their victim was at once on reach- 
 ing the city given to the lions in the Ampitheatre to be devoured. 
 After that, devout brethren gathered up his bones and St. Chrysos- 
 tom is authority for saying that the casket in which they were 
 placed was " carried in triumph through all the cities from Rome 
 to Antioch." The Greeks keep the feast of St. Ignatius on De- 
 cember 2oth but the Latin Church have always held it upon this 
 first day of February. 
 
 This day is also the festival of St. Bridget who next to St. 
 Patrick is the one saint above all others dear to the Irish heart. 
 She was the daughter of a prince in Ulster and was born at 
 Fochard. She received the veil from the hands of St. Mel, a 
 nephew of St. Patrick, and has ever been reverenced as the 
 " Mother of Nunneries " in Ireland. She built her first cell 
 under a large oak which had perhaps been the site of pagan
 
 90 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 worship in earlier times and from whence it was named Kil-dara 
 or the cell of the oak. Round this first Irish nunnery eventually 
 arose the city of Kildare. The date at which St. Bridget founded 
 her cell is said to have been about the year 585. An almost end- 
 less number of miracles are credited to her. She died in 523 and 
 was buried at Downpatrick, in the church in which it is said lie 
 the bodies of SS. Patrick and Columba. 
 
 St. Bridget or as in these countries she is called St. Bride is 
 almost if not equally reverenced in both England and Scotland. 
 In London adjoining St. Bride's Churchyard, Fleet street, is an 
 ancient well dedicated to the saint and commonly called Bride's 
 well. A palace erected near by took the name of Bridewell. 
 This being given by Edward VI. to the city of London as a 
 workhouse for the poor and a house of correction, the name 
 became associated in the popular mind with houses having the 
 same purpose in view. Hence it has arisen that the pure and 
 innocent Bridget the first of Irish nuns is now inextricably 
 connected in ordinary English parlance with a class of beings of 
 the most opposite description. 
 
 FEBRUARY 2d. 
 
 THE PURIFICATION OF THE VIRGIN, COMMONLY CALLED 
 CANDLEMAS DAY. 
 
 From a very early, indeed wholly unknown, date in the Chris- 
 tian history the 2d of February has been held as the festival of 
 the Purification of the Virgin, and it is still a holiday of the 
 Church of England, as well as a holy feast of the Latin Church. 
 From the coincidence of the time being the same as that of the 
 Februation or purification of the people in pagan Rome some 
 consider this was a Christian festival engrafted upon a heathen 
 one in order to take advantage of the established habits of the 
 people ; but the idea is at least open to a good deal of doubt. 
 The popular name Candlemas is derived from the ceremony which 
 the Church of Rome dictates to be observed on this day ; namely, 
 a blessing of candles by the clergy and a distribution of them
 
 amongst the people by whom they are afterwards carried lighted 
 in solemn procession. In the Protestant churches this ceremony 
 did not obtain after the Reformation but especial services have 
 always been held in honour of the occasion and are part of the 
 regular ritual of the English church. Down to the end of the 
 XVIII. century in many of the churches in England candles were 
 burned on this day. 
 
 At Rome the Pope every year officiates at this festival in the 
 beautiful chapel of the Quirinal. 
 When he has blessed the candles 
 he distributes them with his own 
 hand amongst those in the church 
 each of whom going singly up to 
 him, kneels to receive it. The car- 
 dinals go first ; then follow the 
 bishops, canons, priors, abbots, 
 priests, etc., down to the sacris- 
 tans and meanest officers of the 
 church. This candle-bearing has a 
 deeper significance than appears at 
 first as it is intended to refer to 
 what Simeon said when he took 
 the infant Jesus in his arms, and 
 declared that He was " The light 
 to lighten the Gentiles." 
 
 In passing I must allude to a 
 strange custom which prevailed in 
 England in early days and which 
 came from the custom of carrying candles at the Purification of 
 the Virgin ceremonials, which led every woman after child-birth 
 to carry candles with her, occasionally lighting them until her own 
 day for " churching." 
 
 What in the old days superstition demanded fashion, now the 
 greater power, commands that the holly used for decorations both 
 in church and house should be taken down on Candlemas Eve 
 or misfortune will come on parish or people. In taking down 
 holly in some parts of England it is thought unlucky to prick the 
 
 THE PURIFICATION. 
 
 Painting- on Wall, S. Stephen's 
 
 Chapel, Westminster.
 
 92 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 finger if the blood comes, but if a leaf sticks to dress or coat it is a 
 good omen. In old days a branch of holly picked on Christmas 
 Eve was regarded as efficacious as the rowan or mountain ash 
 in protecting from witches and warlocks or evil spells. A twig of 
 holly brought from church might be kept, like the Easter palm, for 
 the same purpose. 
 
 FEBRUARY sd. 
 
 St. Wereburg whose festival is kept this day, was one of the 
 earliest and most celebrated of the Anglo-Saxon saints contempo- 
 rary with the beginning of Christianity in Mercia, and she had 
 a prominent part in establishing the first nunneries known in 
 England. Her father Wulfhere was king of Mercia, and while 
 nominally a Christian was, it is said, kept from paganism only 
 through the influence of his queen and her children and at one 
 time even did apostatise from the Christian faith but was brought 
 back by St. Chad. 
 
 Here as is so often the case love and romance enters the life of 
 our saint when a pagan prince named Werbode sued for the 
 hand of Wereburg, and being refused, we are told " he died raving 
 mad." It was after this love passage that Wereburg with no little 
 trouble secured permission from the king her father to enter 
 the monastery of Ely of whose foundation I shall remark on 
 later then governed by a cousin, Ethelreda. As a nun of 
 Ely she soon became very famous for her piety and her miracles. 
 Thus when Etheldrod, a brother of Wulfhere, succeeded to the 
 throne in 675 Wereburg was called from Ely and commissioned to 
 found nunneries in Mercia ; of which those at Trentham, Hanbury 
 (now Tutbury) in Staffordshire and Wedon in Northamptonshire 
 were the most noted and of which she was at one and the same 
 time the superior. St. Wereburg died at Trentham on February 
 
 3- 699- 
 
 This brief sketch only in part tells the story of this saint. For 
 years after her death her relics caused the fire kindled by the 
 Danes to burn the city to be extinguished. It is for this she was 
 made the patroness of Chester.
 
 ST. BLASIUS 
 
 93 
 
 St. Blasius or Blase is another saint who is honoured to-day, by 
 both the Roman and Reformed Churches and who has a place in 
 the English church Kalendar. He was Bishop of Sebaste in 
 Armenia and was crowned with martyrdom 
 in the persecution of Licinius in 316. From 
 the fact that among the many cruel tor- 
 ments the good man was subjected to his 
 body was torn by iron combs such as the 
 wool-combers used in old days in England, 
 he became their patron saint. In Bradford,. 
 Norwich, and many English towns wherel 
 woolen manufacture is the leading factor St. 
 Blase's Day is even now celebrated with 
 great pomp, when poems are read and pro- 
 cessions, in which the Lord Mayor and 
 city officials take part. In early days per- 
 sons representing the king and queen, the 
 royal family and their guards and atten- 
 dants, followed. Jason, with his golden 
 
 fleece and proper attendants, next appeared. 
 Then came Bishop Blase in full canonicals, 
 followed by shepherds and shepherdesses, 
 wool-combers, dyers and other appropriate fig- 
 ures, some wearing wool wigs. 
 
 Many legends tell of Blase in hiding from 
 the minions of Licinius and of wild animals 
 that " waited " upon him. For this in Callot's 
 images and Le Clerc's Almanac, he is sur- 
 rounded by wild beasts, and the words from 
 Job v., 23. 
 
 S. BLASIUS. 
 
 Glass in Oxford 
 
 Cathedral. 
 
 FEBRUARY 4th. 
 
 St. Jane, or Joan, Queen of France, who is this day honoured by 
 the Church is another of those sad romances in real life that con- 
 stantly come up in studying the lives of the holy men and women.
 
 94 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 She was the daughter of Louis XI. and Charlotte of Savoy, born 
 in 1464. Her poor, deformed body made her an object of disgust 
 to her father who was only too glad to be rid of her by marrying 
 her to Louis, Duke of Orleans, her cousin-german, in 1476. It was 
 one of those alliances so often seen among royal kinsfolk. Louis 
 abhorred his wife yet historical students will not forget how Joan 
 repaid his brutal treatment by obtaining for him his life from 
 Charles VIII. which he had forfeited by rebellion ; and so we may 
 say in the end, securing for him the crown of France. This of 
 itself should have bound her husband to her even without the 
 quiet Christian patience with which she had borne his tyranny and 
 abuse. But when he as Louis XII. attained this coveted bauble, 
 in 1498, and having in view a marriage with Anne of Brittany (the 
 late king's widow), he made a claim of having been " forced into 
 his marriage with Joan by Louis XL" and for that he sought a 
 divorce which in due course Pope Alexander V. granted. To this 
 decree Joan submitted without a murmur, only too happy to be 
 able at last to follow the bent of her wishes. Thus she retired to 
 Brouges, where wearing always " sackcloth " she consecrated 
 herself and her great revenues to charity. Of this noble work 
 Dr. Butler says : " By the assistance of her confessarius, a virtuous 
 Franciscan friar called Gabriel Maria, she instituted in 1500 the 
 Order of the Nuns of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. It 
 was approved by Julius II., Leo X., Paul V., and Gregory XV." 
 The costume of these nuns is peculiar. They wear black veils, a 
 white cloak, a red scapular, a brown habit with a red cross, and a 
 cord for a girdle. Their superior they call Ancelle (servant). In 
 humility St. Joan took this habit and the vows of the order in 1 504 
 but wore it less than a year as she died on February 4, 1505. 
 The Huguenots " for wanton bigotry and hate " burned her 
 remains in 1562. She was canonized by Clement XII. in 1738. 
 
 FEBRUARY sth. 
 
 This day is devoted among others to a most interesting char- 
 cter, St. Agatha, virgin, martyr and patroness of Malta and
 
 ST. AGATHA 
 
 95 
 
 Cantania as well as regarded a protectress against dangers from 
 fire. 
 
 In her history we can read between the lines how it was that 
 the Emperor Decius who had put to death his predecessor, Philip, 
 on the pretext that he was a Christian, first organized his persecu- 
 tions against all Christians as a cloak to cover his own ambitions 
 and to attain which he had sacrificed Philip. He then made 
 Quintianius " king of Sicily " where Agatha dwelt in Catania. 
 Her resplendent beauty had excited Quintianius' lusts and he 
 resolved to attain his purpose at all hazards. He knew his dan- 
 ger for she was the daughter of a rich and illustrious house who 
 unfortunately under the decrees of Decius had placed themselves 
 in peril, even had not Agatha's beauty excited 
 Quintianius to do the evil he intended her, 
 who taught as she had been from infancy in 
 the Christian faith rejected every offer and gift 
 of the base " king," who then resorted to the 
 not uncommon tactics of men in power by 
 employing a vile woman to further his inter- 
 ests. But even she at the end of many days 
 told Quintianius how useless were her efforts. 
 It was then that Agatha's torment began. In 
 his wrath the wretched Quintianius ordered her 
 breasts to be cut off " but in the night St. 
 Peter and an angel appeared and healed them 
 with celestial ointment." Then he ordered 
 she should be burned but scarcely had the fires 
 been lighted when an earthquake shook the 
 city and in their terror the citizens begged her 
 release and she was sent back to her prison 
 where she died from her burns. She was em- 
 balmed and buried in Catania. Near the city is a volcanic moun- 
 tain named Mongibello which in 254 burst into action and her 
 legend tells how her veil taken from her tomb stayed the river of 
 fire and lava, and again how in 1551, by her miraculous intervention 
 she saved Malta from invasion by the Turks. She suffered mar- 
 tyrdom in 253 and is one of the early saints who was retained in 
 
 S. AGATHA. 
 
 Glass in 
 Winchester 
 Cathedral.
 
 96 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the Kalendar by the reformers and still has her place in the Eng- 
 lish church Kalendar on the same day with that assigned her by 
 the Latin Church. Her name appears in the Kalendar of Carthage 
 as early as 530. 
 
 FEBRUARY 6th. 
 
 Of the early history of St. Vedast whose festival occurs to-day, 
 nothing reliable seems to be known. His legend tells of his early 
 departure from his home in the west of France, of his life even as 
 a boy, being spent in solitude and holy devotion in the diocese of 
 Toul where he was at last discovered by the bishop, who charmed 
 by his virtues, ordained him to the priesthood. When Clovis I., 
 king of France (481-511, and the son of Childeric, king of the 
 Franks) was returning in 490 from his victory over the Alemanni 
 and was going to Rheims to receive baptism he desired some one 
 to instruct him and Vedast was selected. En route the legend 
 continues Vedast performed a miracle by restoring a blind man to 
 sight, a fact which not only confirmed Clovis in the faith, but won 
 many of his courtiers to embrace Christianity. In 499 he was 
 consecrated Bishop of Arras and it is said that as he entered the 
 city he restored sight to another blind man and cured one who 
 was lame and was thus greatly aided in his holy labours among the 
 infidels. In 510 the great diocese of Cambray which extended 
 beyond Brussels was committed to his care and he jointly 
 governed both of these sees for many years. For nearly forty 
 years without a rest this goodly man had thus devoted himself to 
 the work of his Master when on February 6, 539, his labours came 
 to a peaceful end and he was laid at rest in the cathedral church 
 at Arras which had grown up under his tireless efforts. 
 
 FEBRUARY 7th. 
 
 In the Roman Church, on the Saturday before Septuagesima 
 
 Sunday, " the Canticle of the Lord Alleluia ceases to be said." 
 
 St. Romuald, whose name appears in the Kalendar of the Roman
 
 SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY 97 
 
 Church this day presents yet a fresh example of the means God in 
 His Providence uses to lead men to Him. Brought up as he was 
 in luxury he was daily growing more enamoured of the joys and 
 pleasures of worldly life. When about twenty his father, a proud, 
 haughty man, in order to settle a dispute regarding some estate 
 had recourse to a then common custom of a duel with a relative. 
 In spite of protests Romuald was compelled to be present and 
 saw his father kill his opponent. The horror of the scene greatly 
 affected him and in expiation of his share in the affair the young 
 man in penance resolved to seclude himself for a time in the 
 Benedictine monastery of Classis. Before his self-imposed 
 penance was ended the discourse of the pious lay-brother who 
 waited upon him had so impressed his mind that he sought 
 admission as a penitent to the religious habit. This resolution 
 was easier taken than carried out so bitterly was he opposed by 
 his father, but in the end he not only prevailed but by his example 
 led his father himself later to enter the monastery of St. Sevenes 
 as a penitent of St. Benedict's Order. 
 
 But I must not take space to follow St. Romuald, until he 
 became Abbot of Classis and later founded the Order of Camai- 
 doll, and a power with the Emperor Otho III., as well as with his 
 successor, St. Henry II, 
 
 It is the story of a long, worthy and interesting life of service 
 in the work of a true Christian Knight. His Order is now 
 divided into five, but in each the memory of this remarkable man 
 lives. He died June 19, 1027, on which day I will again speak of 
 him, but his feast was appointed by Clement VIII. for the 7th of 
 February. 
 
 FEBRUARY 8th. 
 
 SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 
 
 The three Sundays preceding Lent are respectively termed 
 Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima. Many reasons 
 have been assigned for these names ; but to my mind the simplest 
 and most reasonable is that of Bishop Sparrow in his " Rationale 
 on the Common Prayer," who says ; " But on my apprehension,
 
 98 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the best is a consequentia numerandi, because the First Sunday in 
 Lent is called Quadragesima, counting about forty days from 
 Easter ; therefore the Sunday before that, being still farther from 
 Easter, it is called Quinquagesima, five being the next number 
 above four and so the Sunday before that is Sexagesima and the 
 next Septuagesima." 
 
 These days are the first which appear in the Church Kalendar 
 of the so-called " Movable Feasts, or Festivals " from the fact the 
 date of each is dependent upon the date fixed for Easter. 
 
 Whatever may be the antiquity of the institution of Septuages- 
 ima and the two Sundays that follow, there apparently is no men- 
 tion of them in the records of the Roman Church as to where they 
 originated or from whence they were incorporated into the ritual 
 of the Reformed Church nor is there mention of them until 
 about the close of the V. or in the early years of the VI. century. 
 Gelasius and Gregory notice these days in their Sacramentaries 
 and the latter assigned specific offices for 
 each of these days ; just as the Reform- 
 ers did in framing their ritual ; with a 
 design that both the clergy and laity 
 should prepare for Lent. 
 
 St. John of Matha, the Founder of 
 the Order of Trinitarians, whose festival 
 is celebrated by the Church this day, pre- 
 sents a very interesting story. He was 
 born at Faucon on the borders of Pro- 
 vence, of a noble family, educated first 
 at Aix in all the customary accomplish- 
 ments of young noblemen of his day, such as riding, fencing, 
 dancing, etc., as well as grammar and other things which now we 
 would regard as but the rudiments of an education ; though then 
 were considered all that any gentleman need to learn. But fond 
 as John was of the sports of his companions he was both ambi- 
 tious for greater knowledge and had already shown by his conduct 
 while at Aix that love of his fellowmen that later was so marked 
 a feature of his character. Toward the close of the XII. century
 
 ST. JOHN OF MAT HA 99 
 
 Paris became a favourite centre for religious students and while 
 yet a young man John went there to study, passed through the 
 various classes with great credit, graduated with the degree of 
 Doctor of Divinity and was ordained a priest. As historical 
 students are aware Mahometan slavery was then at its height 
 and not a few good men gave up their time and in many cases 
 sacrificed their lives to secure the redemption of Christian captives 
 and to this John resolved to devote himself. With the consent 
 of Innocent III. then in the Pontifical chair a new Order was 
 instituted for the purpose and approved by the Pope in 1198 and 
 took the name of the Holy Trinity, which was confirmed by a 
 second bull in 1209. St. John was the first minister general of 
 the Order. Their habit was a white robe with a red and blue 
 cross on the breast. While I cannot follow the labours of these 
 noble brethren the fact that in their first expedition to Morocco in 
 1201 they succeeded in rescuing 186 Christian slaves from bond- 
 age evidences their practical and earnest work. In passing let me 
 remark that the Order of Mercy instituted by St. Peter Nolaseo in 
 1235, that had a similar purpose in view, was an outgrowth of the 
 Order of the Holy Trinity. The life of St. John was given to his 
 chosen work and has been eulogized many times for his self- 
 sacrificing labour. He died December 21, 1213, aged sixty-one 
 years ; his festival was fixed, however, for this day. There have 
 been many chapters of the Order instituted since, a noted one 
 being that of the " Barefooted Trinitarians," created by " John 
 Baptist of the Conception " in Spain in 1 594. 
 
 FEBRUARY 9th. 
 
 St. Apollonia, the ancient Virgin and Martyr whom the Church 
 remembers to-day, presents one or two features in her story quite 
 out of the ordinary run in the lives we have been considering. 
 Her parents had in spite of their prayers to heathen gods long been 
 childless when three Christian Pilgrims appeared in Alexandria 
 and preached of Jesus and his Virgin mother ; and of the power of 
 her intercession. The wife was led by these Pilgrims to make
 
 ioo SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 intercession with the Virgin and in answer to her prayers Apol- 
 lonia was born. The legend continues, the child grew up under 
 Christian teaching and " sought St. Leontine to baptise her. As 
 he did so an Angel appeared with a garment of dazzling whiteness 
 which was thrown over her and a voice said : This is Apollonia 
 the servant of God ! Go now to Alexandria and announce the 
 faith of Christ." This she did with great success. 
 
 In the last year of the reign of Philip when Apollonia had 
 grown old and weak, riots against Christians became very preva- 
 lent and many victims fell. In their fury they seized upon the 
 venerable saint bound her to a pillar and pulled out her teeth with 
 pincers Dr. Butler says they were broken out with blows upon 
 her jaws and because she would not pay her vows to their idols 
 they built a huge fire threatening to burn her. She begged a 
 moment of respite, then to show that her sacrifice was voluntary 
 she slipped from their grasp and leaped into the burning pile, 
 which quickly consumed her. This took place on February 9, 
 249, but a civil war among the pagans broke out just after and 
 for a time put an end to the persecution of the faithful, only to be 
 renewed under the decree of Decius in 250. The attributes of St. 
 Apollonia are a pair of pincers or sometimes a gold tooth on a 
 chain. She was in old days regarded as a protection against 
 toothache and all other troubles with the teeth. 
 
 FEBRUARY loth. 
 
 St. Scholastica whose festival is held this day, as the sister of 
 the celebrated St. Benedict is widely respected by the Roman 
 Church .though less of her life is known than of many others who 
 have been canonized by the church. She founded and governed 
 a nunnery at Plombariola about five miles south of the monastery 
 of St. Benedict. Her legend tells of the last visit St. Benedict 
 paid to his sister that when he rose to depart she begged of him 
 to stay a little longer and on his declining owing to other engage- 
 ments she bent her head in prayer and on the instant a violent 
 storm arose that kept him a prisoner and the evening was spent
 
 ST. THEODORA 101 
 
 in pious discourses and on the following morning he departed. 
 Three days later she died and St. Benedict who at the moment 
 was alone " in silent contemplation as he raised his eyes to heaven 
 saw the soul of his sister rising thither, in the form of a dove." 
 From this St. Scholastica has been represented in art with a dove, 
 either pressed to her heart or lying at her feet, while in her hand 
 she holds a lily emblematical of her spotless purity of character. 
 Her death occurred in 543. 
 
 FEBRUARY nth. 
 
 On this day the Greeks honour as a saint the Empress Theodora 
 whom the Roman Church do not so recognise though their writers 
 never fail to speak of her in terms of high praise as well they may. 
 Theodora was the wife of Theophilus, Emperor of the East, who 
 died in 842. Her influence over this brutish man was almost 
 unbounded strange as it sounds when we recall his life and to 
 her alone belongs the credit of " softening," though no human 
 power could wholly control the cruel temper of this fiendish man, 
 and even at times protecting from harm the defenders of the Holy 
 Images whom he so relentlessly persecuted. By the death of 
 Theophilus, Theodora became Regent of the Empire during the 
 minority of Michael II. who succeeded his father. And it was she 
 who put an end to the persecutions that Leo the Isaurian had in- 
 stituted 1 20 years before and enabled the Patriarch Methodius 
 to restore on the first Sunday in Lent in 844, the Holy Images to 
 the great church in Constantinople, an event which the Greeks 
 celebrate with great pomp and ceremony calling it " The Feast of 
 Orthodoxy." She held her sway as Regent during twelve years 
 (842-854) and then through the machinations of her unnatural son 
 and his infamous uncle she was banished. She spent the remain- 
 der of her life in a monastery, dying in 867. 
 
 In passing, it may not be out of place to mention this is the 
 anniversary of the death of Caedmon about 680, the most ancient 
 of the English poets whose name is known ; his home was near 
 the monastery of Streaneshalch (later known as Whitby) made 
 famous by St. Hilda and with whom the poet was a great favour-
 
 102 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 ite and not 'infrequent guest within the monastery. This poet 
 wrote a poem in praise of St. Hilda. 
 
 FEBRUARY I2th. 
 
 St. Benedict of Anian (as he is called, to distinguish him from 
 others of the same name) whom the Church honours in its Kalen- 
 dar to-day was the son of Aigul, Count or Governor of Languedoc, 
 who spent his youth at the court of King Pepin (Pepin-le-Vrel) 
 where he served as " cup-bearer," and later as an officer in the 
 army of Charlemagne and evidently as the world terms it, was 
 " a Favourite of Fortune," for he had both wealth family and court 
 favour at his command. An incident, however, in an hour changed 
 the entire course of his life. He seems to have been an amateur 
 athlete and a proficient in manly sports and when his brother was 
 in danger of drowning he did not hesitate to endeavour to save him, 
 but to cut a long story short it nearly cost our saint his life before 
 he succeeded. What it did do was to bring him to realise how 
 valueless earthly treasures and honours are compared k with a higher 
 and nobler life. This was in 774, at which time he sought out an 
 holy man to advise and direct him. Under his guidance he spent 
 two years at the monastery of St. Seine five leagues from Dijon, 
 after that becoming a hermit on the banks of the Anian where 
 later he with some monks who had joined him in his hermitage 
 founded a Benedictine monastery, of which he was the abbot. 
 His first prominent public effort was at the council at Frankfurt 
 where he combated the heresy of Felix, Bishop of Urgel, "That 
 Christ was not the natural but only the adoptive Son of the Eter- 
 nal Father." Later he wrote four treatises on this subject. But 
 his one great aim in life was the reformation of monastic life, then 
 at a low state, and in 817 he presided at Aix-la-Chapelle over the 
 council that had been assembled for this purpose where the stat- 
 utes he formulated were added to the rules of the great St. Bene- 
 dict who founded the order. He was seventy-one years of age 
 when he died in Inde, in 821 on February nth. His festival is kept 
 at Anian on this day, but elsewhere he is remembered on the I2th, 
 the day he was laid at rest in the monastery of St. Cornelius.
 
 ST. VALENTINE 103 
 
 FEBRUARY I3th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Gregory II., Pope. He was born at Rome to 
 an affluent fortune, educated in the Palace of the Popes and or- 
 dained as sub-deacon by Pope Sergius I. Under Popes John VI., 
 VII., Sisinnius and Constantine, he was Treasurer of the Church, 
 Keeper of the library and also held many other important offices. 
 Gregory was chosen as successor to Pope Constantine on May 19, 
 715. The most important events of his pontificate were his de- 
 posing of John IV. the monothelite, the false patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, the sending of missionaries into Germany and the 
 consecration of the celebrated St. Boniface as Bishop of Mentz. 
 Gregory held his high office nearly sixteen years dying on 
 February 10, 731, but his festival is kept on the day he was 
 buried in the Vatican. 
 
 This is also St. Valentine's Eve, a festival which in early days 
 in England was celebrated by giving and receiving gifts usually 
 anonymously presented and bearing labels such as " St. Valentine's 
 Love " or " Good morrow, Valentine." 
 
 FEBRUARY I4th. 
 ST. VALENTINE'S DAY. 
 
 The endless number of times the story of St. Valentine has 
 been told leaves little that need be said. Briefly St. Valentine was 
 a priest of Rome who during the persecution of Christians under 
 Claudius II., aided by St. Marius did noble work in assisting the 
 martyrs. It was for this he was apprehended and sent to the 
 prefect of Rome. While in the custody of one Asterius the saint 
 performed a miracle by restoring the sight of his daughter and 
 as a result all of the family became converts to Christianity, later 
 proving the truth of their faith by suffering martyrdom. After a 
 year of imprisonment Valentine was brought before the prefect, 
 who tried in vain to induce him to renounce his faith. Whereupon 
 he was condemned to be beaten with clubs then to be stoned and 
 lastly to be beheaded outside the gate now called Porta del Popolo
 
 104 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 but which for a time bore the name Porta Valentini. This was 
 about the year 270, and the greater part of his relics are preserved 
 in the Church of St. Praxedes at Rome. His name was early 
 enrolled among other martyrs and was retained in the Kalendar 
 of the Reformers when the Christian church became divided. 
 
 Just why St. Valentine was chosen the patron of Love seems a 
 little obscure. Wheatly says : " He was a man of admirable parts 
 and so famous for his love and charity that 
 the custom of choosing valentines upon his 
 festival which is still practised, took rise 
 from thence." While Dr. Butler, in his 
 " Lives of the Saints," says : " To abolish 
 the heathens' lewd custom of boys drawing 
 the names of girls in honour of their god- 
 dess Februata Juno on the I4th of this 
 month several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints 
 on the billets that were drawn," and thus in the mutation of time 
 the custom has grown which now takes the form of " valentines." 
 Many learned treatises have been written on the subject but beyond 
 the adoption of the date of St. Valentine's martyrdom the holy 
 man had literally nothing to do with the matter of sending love 
 messages on this day. 
 
 FEBRUARY 
 
 The Christian faith had been preached in Sweden by St. Aus- 
 carius as early as 830 ; but as was true elsewhere throughout 
 Europe, as soon as the missionaries died, or departed, Paganism at 
 once revived, the Christians lapsed from their faith and it became 
 as we know was the case in England after St. Ninian died, a myth. 
 It was so in Sweden when Olaus (Olaf Scobcong) asked of his 
 friend Eldred, the Saxon King of England, to send some person 
 who would revive Christianity in Sweden. Eldred selected for 
 this purpose, Sigefride, who is mentioned as " an eminent priest of 
 York.'" Yet prior to this Sigefride's name seems to be unrecorded 
 in the ecclesiastical history in England and we find him arriving
 
 ST. ONESIMUS 105 
 
 at Wexlow in Gothland on June 2ist, in 950, to take up his new 
 duties. He first we are told " set up a cross and then built a 
 church of wood, celebrated the Divine mysteries and preached to 
 the people." His success was very great. In a brief period the 
 twelve leaders of the twelve tribes into which the people of South 
 Gothland were divided became converts and it is said that the 
 fountain where Sigefride baptised the catechumens retained for 
 several centuries a monument bearing the names of the twelve 
 leaders who had become Christians. Later on Sigefride widened 
 his sphere to embrace West Gothland and finally extended it to 
 the Midland and Northern provinces. Thus he became literally 
 " The Apostle of Sweden," the honoured name by which he was 
 everywhere known. He died in 1002, and his tomb at Wexlow 
 became famous for the miracles wrought there by his relics. He 
 was canonized by Pope Adrian IV. (who was also an Englishman), 
 in 1158. 
 
 FEBRUARY i6th. 
 
 St. Onesimus, the disciple of St. Paul whom the Church remem- 
 bers this day ranks among the earliest of those who sealed their 
 faith with their blood. The great Apostle made him with Tychi- 
 cus the bearer of his Epistle to the Colossians (Col. IV.) and 
 ordained him Bishop of Ephesus, after Timothy. The Greeks 
 claim he suffered martyrdom in 95, under Domitian (Consul of 
 Rome who died in 96), while Latin Martyrology says : " Being 
 led to Rome, a prisoner, he was stoned to death. He was first 
 buried at Rome and later his relics were translated to Ephesus." 
 
 This is also the festival of Gregory X. who was elected to the 
 pontificate September I, 1271. Prior to this he had borne the 
 name of Theobald but took the title of Gregory X. when installed 
 as Pope. He was born at Placentia, Tuscany, and had become 
 Archbishop of Leige. He attended the second Council of Lyons 
 in May, 1274, when the Greek ambassadors were admitted into the 
 unity of the Church. He was a fervent and earnest advocate of 
 the crusades for the recovery of the Holy Land. He died at
 
 106 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Arezzo on January loth, 1276. His name was inserted in Roman 
 Martyrology by Benedict XIV. on February i6th. 
 
 FEBRUARY i;th. 
 
 St. Flavian who was a priest of distinguished merit and treas- 
 urer of the Church of Constantinople until 447, when he suc- 
 ceeded Proclus as archbishop is named among the saints for 
 honour this day. At this time simony (buying and selling ecclesi- 
 astical preferment) had become a crying evil in Constantinople 
 and Flavian had at once when he assumed the episcopate resolved 
 to crush it, if it was in his power. For this he roused the enmity 
 of the eunuch Chrysaphius the chamberlain of Theodosius the 
 Younger who profited largely by the practice and when it was 
 hinted to Flavian he should send the Emperor a present upon his 
 promotion, he sent him in accord with the custom of the church 
 at that time some " blessed bread." When the chamberlain 
 objected and intimated that something more valuable should be 
 forthcoming from the revenues of the church the holy bishop told 
 him plainly they were destined for other purposes. The story is 
 one of a long and bitter battle that culminated at the council called 
 at Ephesus where Chrysaphius by, as we in these modern days 
 would say, " packing the council," gained a point against Flavian 
 and his adherents, who at once appealed to the pope-legates then 
 present ; an act that cost the bishop his life for it had so incensed 
 certain of the chamberlain's party that at Epipus he was set upon 
 and so beaten, kicked and bruised that in a few days he died. 
 The general council of Chalcedon in 451 taking cognizance of the 
 affair declared Flavian a saint and a martyr. 
 
 At Florence on this day is celebrated the festival of " The 
 Blessed Alexius Falconeri, " one of the seven who founded the 
 Order of the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of whom 
 we read in Roman Martyrology : " In the one hundred and tenth 
 year of his life being comforted by the presence of Jesus Christ 
 and the angels, terminated his blessed career."
 
 S T . S I M O N 107 
 
 FEBRUARY :8th. 
 
 Aside from the fact that St. Simeon or Simon (for the names are 
 synonymous) was a kinsman of Jesus, he was a very prominent 
 character in the story of the Christian church after the Ascension ; 
 while there is little doubt that he was one of those who received 
 the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. When in 62 St. James, 
 Bishop of Jerusalem, was put to death twenty-nine years after 
 Christ's crucifixion, St. Simon was chosen bishop as his suc- 
 cessor. In 66 the year in which SS. Peter and Paul suffered mar- 
 tyrdom the civil war broke out in Judea and we find the Christians 
 seeking shelter in Pella, a small city beyond Jordan, with St. Simeon 
 as their head and chief, as he was after they returned to Jerusa- 
 lem. It was then the two first heresies entered the church known 
 as the Nazareans and Ebonites. They recognized Christ as a 
 great prophet but denied his divine paternity with many other 
 added errors. While Simeon lived he was by the strength of his 
 character and the unbounded influence he held able to hold these 
 heretics in check, but Eusebius tells us : " He was no sooner dead 
 than a deluge of execrable heresies broke out of hell upon the 
 church." When we remember Simeon's great age this alone 
 speaks in strong terms of the power he must have wielded. 
 
 During the persecutions of Vespasian and Domitian, St. 
 Simeon escaped capture but when Trajan found him he subjected 
 him to terrible tortures borne with such patience that even his 
 persecutors could not restrain their admiration ; in particular we 
 have that given by Atticus. St. Simeon was 120 years old when 
 in 107 he died, having governed the church of Jerusalem for forty- 
 three years. 
 
 FEBRUARY 
 
 This day is the festival of St. Barbatus or Barbas, Bishop of 
 Benevento, who was born near the close of the pontificate of 
 Gregory the Great. He took holy orders when quite a young 
 man and was at once assigned as curate of St. Basil's at Morcona, 
 a town near Benevento. It was a peculiarly trying position for the
 
 io8 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 people of his parish were not only noted for their irregularities but 
 determined that no priest should dictate to or restrain them and 
 it is not at all wonderful that young and inexperienced as he was 
 they soon drove him from among them to return to his home in 
 Benevento. The history of this old town is a peculiarly interest- 
 ing one as Christianity had first been preached there by St. Potin 
 who had been sent out as a missionary by St. Peter, but by 305 
 they like so many in the early days of Christianity after accepting 
 the faith lapsed into idolatry and martyred St. Januarius, then 
 bishop of the see. In 545 the Goths laid the city in ruins. When 
 the Lombards at last obtained possession of the country in 598 
 they rebuilt the city and King Autharis gave it as a Duchy to 
 Zolion, a general of the invaders with the title of Duke. These 
 Lombards were mostly Arians but many were still idolaters and 
 even the Christians retained many idolatrous superstitions, among 
 these a holy veneration for a golden viper, before whom they 
 prostrated themselves. They also paid superstitious honour to a 
 certain tree on which they hung the skin of some wild animal and 
 worshipped it. 
 
 When these ceremonies were over there followed public 
 games in which this skin served as a mark at which " the bowmen 
 shot arrows, over their shoulders." Such was the class of people 
 Barbatus found when he returned to Benevento and took up his 
 work among them, naturally finding it no easy task. They 
 laughed at his expostulations at their irreligious superstitions. 
 However, he did not desist from his efforts even though they 
 seemed to bring no results. But at last he aroused their attention 
 when he prophesied the distress to the city which was to come 
 from the army of Emperor Constans, who shortly after as Barba- 
 tus had foretold landed in Italy and laid siege to Benevento. 
 Then it was they gave heed to his words and began to renounce 
 their idolatrous practices and at length allowed Barbatus to cut 
 down the sacred tree while they melted the golden viper into an 
 ingot from which a chalice was made for the altar of the church. 
 Ildebrand, Bishop of Benevento, had died during the siege and 
 Barbatus was elected Bishop in 653. When the terrors of the 
 siege were at their height and escape seemed to be impossible
 
 ST.SADOTH 109 
 
 Barbatus had once more prophesied that relief would be sent. In 
 due time it came as foretold, and now the Bishop's influence was 
 as great as formerly it had been of no account. Thus it was in the 
 end the last remnant of superstition was rooted out in Benevento. 
 In 680 he participated in the general council at Rome and the 
 next year at the council held at Constantinople against the 
 monothelites. But soon after his return his own summons came, 
 for on February 2gth in 682 when he was seventy years of age he 
 died. His festival is fixed for this igth day of the same month. 
 
 FEBRUARY 2Oth. 
 
 On this day is commemorated one of the most terrible scenes 
 of which we read in the early history of the Christian church, in 
 which St. Sadoth, Bishop of Selec, or Selucia, and Ctesiphon (then 
 the two capital cities of Persia) took so prominent a part and in 
 which St. Simeon, the former bishop, had, in the persecution 
 begun in 341 by Sapor II. attained the crown of martyrdom. 
 Hardly had Sadoth been chosen as the successor of Simeon when 
 the edict was published which made it a capital crime with death 
 as its penalty for any one to confess Christ. There was nothing 
 uncertain about this edict, for all who heard it knew what their 
 fate would be if they disobeyed and none knew this better than 
 Sadoth himself. 
 
 Sadoth as he is named by both the Greeks and Latins, was 
 called in the Persian, Schiadurte, which signifies " friend of the 
 king," Schia king, and durt friend. He was a man of unspot- 
 ted purity of character, ardent zeal and the courage of his belief. 
 He feared naught but to sin. Yet while brave and fearless for 
 himself he felt that for a time " prudence was the better part of 
 valour," at least for his faithful followers, and therefore for a little 
 he with some of his clergy lay hid from the vengeance of Sapor 
 while still he watched over his flock. It was while in his retreat 
 Sadoth had a vision and saw St. Simeon at the top of a ladder 
 who called to him saying: "Mount up Sadoth ; fear not! I 
 mounted yesterday ; it is your turn to-day." By this he knew he
 
 no SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 was not to escape the wrath of Sapor. And it proved so for that 
 year Sapor came to Selucia, Sadoth with several of his priests 
 with the monks and nuns from his church were apprehended and 
 cast into dungeons. For five months they were thus confined but 
 twice in this interval were they brought forth, tempted, threat- 
 ened, scourged and tortured on the rack until their breaking 
 bones could be heard to crack. On the final day chained two by 
 two together these martyrs were led forth for execution to which 
 they went singing psalms and canticles of joy which ceased not 
 until the last one of this glorious company had been crowned. 
 Sadoth, however, was separated from the noble band and sent into 
 a neighbouring province where he was beheaded in the year 342. 
 
 FEBRUARY 2ist. 
 
 The Blessed Pepin whose festival is observed this day, held the 
 high and responsible office of " mayor of the palace," under Kings 
 Clotaire II., Dagobert and Sigebert of France, and his story forms 
 an interesting chapter in French history which I may only repeat 
 in a very brief way. He was a son of Carloman one of the most 
 powerful noblemen of Austrasia and the ancestor of Pepin (the 
 Short) King of France in whom began the Carlovingian race. 
 
 Pepin of Landen was Lord of Brabant and his biographers 
 say " a lover of peace, the constant defender of truth and justice, 
 the friend to all servants of God, the terror of the wicked, the 
 support of the weak and the father of his country." He was also 
 governor of Austrasia, when Theodebert II. its king, was defeated 
 by Theodoric II., king of Burgundy, in 611. When in 613 Theo- 
 doric died Clotaire II., king of Soissons, reunited Burgundy, 
 Neustia and Austrasia he thus became sole monarch of France. It 
 was to Pepin that King Clotaire owed the pacification of Austrasia 
 without a bloody struggle and he was rewarded when Clotaire 
 in 622 named Dagobert I. king of Austrasia and Neustia by mak- 
 ing Pepin mayor of Dagobert 's palace, and when by the death of 
 his father in 628 Dagobert became king of all France save some 
 minor provinces settled on his younger brother he continued the 
 favours shown to Pepin, though the latter when the king lapsed as
 
 S. PETER'S CHAIR, ANTIOCH in 
 
 he did from the straight and narrow paths of religion and moral- 
 ity, did not hesitate to condemn in very plain language these 
 shortcomings. It was a long and arduous battle between the 
 king and his minister before Dagobert yielded. When we remem- 
 ber the autocratic power of kings in those days it shows what 
 sterling character was required by Pepin to thus assail his royal 
 master because of his wrongdoings. But Pepin was a brave man 
 who dared to do right because it was his duty and Dagobert 
 evidently appreciated this for he made him tutor of his son, 
 Sigebert, who later under Pepin's careful training became one of 
 the best of the early kings of France. Such briefly is the story of 
 Pepin of Landen. Renowned for his probity, piety and Christian 
 charity, he died February 21, 640. His name appears in Belgic 
 martyrologies, though no other act of public veneration is com- 
 mitted than the enshrining of his relics which are still annually 
 carried in procession at Nivelles, and his name is found in the 
 Litany published by the authority of the Archbishop of Mechlin. 
 
 FEBRUARY 22d. 
 
 My readers will recall that on January I3th I spoke of the festi- 
 val, held at Rome on that day, called " The Chair of St. Peter." 
 
 Before St. Peter went to Rome he had formed the see of An- 
 tioch. Dr. Butler places this date three years after the Ascension 
 of our Lord. 
 
 In the early ages of the Church it was customary especially in 
 the East but also frequently observed in the West, for every 
 Christian to keep sacred the anniversary of their baptism when 
 they renewed for themselves the vows others had in their infancy 
 taken for them. In like manner priests and all ecclesiasts kept 
 the anniversary of their consecration and thus it seemed fitting 
 that the founding of the see of Antioch should be observed and 
 for reasons analogous to those given for the observance at Rome 
 of the festival of " The Chair of St. Peter," that of " St. Peter's 
 Chair at Antioch " obtains. But this long antedated the festival 
 at Rome. Indeed the festival of St. Peter's Chair, " Natale
 
 ii2 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Petri de Cathedra," is marked in the most ancient Kalendar 
 extant, made in the time of Liberius about the year 354. It also 
 occurs in the sacramentary of St. Gregory and as appears from 
 the records of the Council of Tours, was kept in France in the 
 VI. century ; but curiously it is omitted in the ancient Kalendars 
 of Carthage. 
 
 Therefore this day is most appropriately set aside by the Roman 
 Church to be observed at Antioch, where the disciples were 
 first called " Christians " for this second festival of the Chair of 
 St. Peter. 
 
 This day is also the festival of St. Margaret of Cortona, " The 
 Penitent." In the story of St. Margaret we have another of those 
 romances of the saints we constantly meet in the chronicles of the 
 early Christian church. She was a Tuscan by birth, a girl of that 
 rich type of southern beauty we all know so well and of that hot 
 impatient temperament from which just as they are guided in 
 childhood are evolved noble men and women or the reverse. 
 Unfortunately Margaret's mother died while the child was but 
 little beyond infancy and the treatment she had from her step- 
 mother and the unkindness of her father combined to drive her in 
 youth to seek pleasures outside of her home. The lax morals 
 that obtained in every city of Italy at the close of the XIII. 
 century need no comment and it is easy to understand how a 
 girl endowed with such rare beauty of person and vivacious 
 spirits with a home such as Margaret had, should be led astray. 
 For years her evil life was continued. Lovers came and went ; 
 but as the story of many an abandoned woman even in our own 
 day proves she could and did love one man. And it was through 
 his death that at last her salvation came. It was one of those 
 tragedies so common in that day. A faithful dog the constant 
 companion of his master led her to the scene where his life had 
 been taken. On the instant her own sins, the terror of Divine 
 justice and the treachery of the world came to her, and her first 
 act of repentance was to seek out her father to confess to him. 
 But her stern stepmother stood at the door and by her influence
 
 BLESSED PETER DAMI AN 113 
 
 Margaret was again driven forth into the world by her father. 
 She wandered into a vineyard half tempted to return to her old 
 life of sin, when the impulse to implore Divine aid came upon her, 
 and in the solitude she knelt while still praying she seemed to 
 hear a voice that told her what to do, and she obeyed. Rising, 
 she went first to the parish church in Alvino. With a rope 
 around her neck as was then the prescribed formula she 
 publicly confessed her sins and then barefooted as a penitent 
 sought out the monastery of Carlona under the Order of St. 
 Francis and begged admission. For twenty-three years she gave 
 herself to penance and her exemplary life and deeds of love and 
 charity won for her at last peace and the reverence of all who knew 
 her. She died February 22, 1297. 
 
 Dr. Butler informs us that Pope Leo X. granted an office in her 
 honour to the city of Cartona. She was canonized by Benedict 
 XIII. in 1728. 
 
 FEBRUARY 23d. 
 
 I can but briefly speak of a man, the Blessed Peter Damian, 
 Cardinal, whose festival occurs this day, though from his fidelity, 
 charity and learning he deserves a more extended notice. Born at 
 Ravenna in 988, his childhood and youth were spent in abject 
 poverty yet by his true force of character rising above them all, 
 until we find him employed by four successive popes Gregory 
 VI., Clement II., Leo IX., and Victor II., and then by Stephen 
 IX. in 1057 was made Cardinal Bishop of Ostia. When in 1058 
 Stephen IX. died, he was succeeded by Nicholas I., who 
 recognized the rare ability of Peter Damian as his predecessors 
 had, and used him in several delicate missions where firm purpose 
 and rare judgment were required. Already Peter was feeling the 
 weight of years and the arduous work he had been called upon to 
 perform and desired to retire from his more active life but it was 
 not until 1062 when Alexander I. filled the pontifical chair that his 
 wishes were gratified, and in the retirement of his monastery he 
 was allowed once more to assume the habit and duties of a simple
 
 n 4 SAINTSAND FESTIVALS 
 
 monk and give himself to the composition of several treatises that 
 are still held in high esteem by the ecclesiasts of the Roman 
 Church. But even in his retirement the wise counsels and services 
 of this highly gifted man were constantly sought. We find him 
 sent as a legate of the pope to France in 1063 and again, in 1069, 
 as presiding at the synod held in Frankfurt to determine upon the 
 divorce Henry IV. of Germany desired from his wife Bertha. 
 But in every place he proved himself something more than simply 
 a keen, shrewd diplomat in being an honest, upright Christian 
 man. He died February 22, 1072, aged eighty-three years, but his 
 festival is named for the 23d of the month the day when he was 
 honoured as patron of the city of Faenza where he died. 
 
 FEBRUARY 24th 
 
 Is sacred in all Christian churches to the 
 memory of St. Matthias, and the Apostle 
 St. Clement of Alexandria is the author- 
 ity for saying he was the one who was 
 chosen by lot from the seventy-two who had 
 been assembled and from which number a 
 successor to the traitor Judas was to be 
 selected. There were two only who from 
 the first seemed worthy of the great honour. 
 One was Joseph, called Barsabas, who be- 
 cause of his probity and piety had been sur- 
 named " The Just " ; and the other Matthias. 
 Tradition tells how after devout prayer for 
 Divine guidance the " Lot " was cast and 
 it fell upon Matthias. After the Ascension 
 there is no perfectly authentic account of St. 
 Matthias' life. It is only from the traditions 
 of the Greeks as recounted in their menol- 
 ogies that the legend is preserved ; that 
 after preaching the faith in and about Cap- 
 padocia and later on the coast of the Caspian sea he received 
 the crown of martyrdom in Calchis which in these menologies 
 
 S. MATTHIAS. 
 
 Reredos, 
 
 Bampton Church, 
 Oxon.
 
 ASH-WEDNESDAY-- LENT 115 
 
 is called Ethiopia, where he was stoned and afterward beheaded. 
 Another legend places his death in Judea where it is said he 
 suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Jews, being either thrust 
 through by a lance, or killed by an axe. In Italian art St. 
 Matthias has as his attribute a lance, while 
 in Germany this is an axe. But for some 
 reason this Apostle very seldom is repre- 
 sented in art, and quite as rarely appears 
 in the series showing the Apostles. For 
 some occult reason the Clog Almanacs have 
 assigned what may be designed to repre- 
 sent a leg as his attribute but no one yet 
 has been able to understand why this was 
 selected. 
 
 FEBRUARY 25th. 
 
 ASH-WEDNESDAY. 
 
 The first day of the season of Lent is called Ash-Wednesday 
 and its date is dependent upon that of Easter. It is a day of 
 strict fasting and the same is true of each of the remaining days 
 of the week under the canons of both the Roman and Reformed 
 Churches. The canonical colour for these days is violet. 
 
 LENT. 
 
 The word Lent is derived from the Saxon word " Lengten-tide " 
 and from an early day applied to the customary spring fast which 
 was kept by Christians during the forty days preceding Easter. 
 This fast originally began on the first Sunday in Lent but since 
 Sunday is not properly a Fast Day and by omitting Sunday there 
 remain but thirty-six days, Pope Gregory directed that this fast 
 should commence four days earlier, viz., on what is denominated 
 " Ash- Wednesday." 
 
 This name arose from a notable custom intended to remind the 
 faithful that they were all but " dust and ashes." Therefore on 
 the first day of the penitential season the priests took ashes and
 
 ii6 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 after sprinkling them with Holy-water, as the worshipper came 
 forward arrayed in sackcloth the priest took some of the ashes on 
 his finger, made with them the sign of the cross upon the peni- 
 tent's forehead, saying : " Memento, homo, quta tints es, et in 
 pulverem reverteris " (Remember, man, that you are of ashes, and 
 unto dust will return). The ashes used were usually made from 
 the consecrated palms which had been used on Palm Sunday of 
 the previous year. With the Reformation in the Protestant church 
 this custom was declared " a vain show " but the day itself was 
 kept with great solemnity and strangely, the name " Ash- Wednes- 
 day " was retained. In the early days this first day of Lent had 
 two names, the first " Caput Jejunii" (Head of the Fast), the 
 other " Dies Cinerum " (Ash-Wednesday). 
 
 The Christian Lent took its rise beyond a doubt from the 
 " Preparation for the Expiation," by the Jews, who began their 
 solemn humiliation forty days before the Expiation. Thus the 
 primitive Christians in the earliest days of Christianity set their 
 great Fast at a date forty days before that of Easter, in com- 
 memoration of the miraculous abstinence of our Saviour when 
 under temptation. 
 
 Even during the controversy about the date on which to cele- 
 brate Easter, which arose between the Eastern and Western 
 churches, there was no dispute on this point of fasting for forty 
 days prior to the Easter festival, the whole Church being in har- 
 mony recognising it as of Apostolic institution. 
 
 FEBRUARY 26th. 
 
 This day is held sacred to the memory of St. Alexander, Patriarch 
 of Alexandria. It was during his episcopate that the celebrated 
 Arius came to the front and whose heresy was to be such a sore 
 trial to the Orthodox church. As I must often allude to this Arian 
 heresy I will briefly speak of the man. He had been excommuni- 
 cated in 300 from the Church by St. Peter, a predecessor of St. 
 Alexander. The successor of St. Peter, St. Achillas, had been
 
 ALEXANDER ARIUS 117 
 
 induced to restore him also making him curate of the Church of 
 Baucales, one of the quarters of Alexandria. Dr. Butler says Arius 
 " was well versed in profane literature, was a subtle dialectician, 
 had an extensive show of virtue and an insinuating behaviour, but 
 was a monster of pride, vainglory, ambition, envy and jealousy." 
 These traits of character naturally made him peculiarly angry when 
 Alexander was chosen as successor of St. Achillas for he knew 
 Alexander bitterly opposed the heresy he was then publicly teach- 
 ing (that Christ was not God) ; that he had no other soul than his 
 created divinity. In short that he was simply a man like all other 
 men. The heresy soon spread, drawing to the support of Arius 
 two bishops, seven priests, twelve deacons and others^ They 
 called themselves Arians, and the Orthodox Christians Colluthians, 
 as one Colluthus a curate of Alexandria, was the most prominent 
 in his violent denunciations of the heresy while Alexander himself 
 prompted by his gentle, peaceful character was inclined to be more 
 lenient. But Colluthus was persistent and in 320 at a Council held 
 in Alexandria Arius and his followers were excommunicated. 
 Still this by no means ended the spread of the Arian doctrine. I 
 may not, however, follow its history further except to speak of the 
 celebrated Council called at Nice in June, 325, when this heresy was 
 considered and their declaration that the Son was consubstantial 
 to the Father embodying it in what is known as the Nicene deed. 
 In this Council Alexander naturally took a prominent part and 
 was present at the magnificent entertainment given the Prelates 
 by Constantine August 25, 325, After this Alexander returned to 
 Alexandria but the strain upon him had been too much for on the 
 29th of February, 326, he died. 
 
 FEBRUARY 2;th. 
 
 In the story of St. Leander, Bishop of Seville, who is this day 
 remembered by the Church we are again confronted with the 
 Arian heresy. I have several times stated that the Goths were all 
 largely tainted with Arianism. The Kingdom of Seville at the 
 time when Leander was promoted to the see was possessed by the
 
 n8 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Visigoths or Western-Goths, while the Ostrogoths or Eastern- 
 Goths had passed the Alps and founded their kingdom first at 
 Languedoc in Italy. But I must not be tempted into this inter- 
 esting bit of history, beyond saying that at the time of Leander's 
 advent these Visigoths had reigned in Spain fully one hundred 
 years and it was through Leander's efforts, the larger part of the 
 people were reclaimed from their heresy in spite of the opposition 
 he met with from King Leovigild then ruling. 
 
 Leander had converted Hermenegild the eldest son of Leovigild, 
 and heir to the throne. Nothing can illustrate the fierce animosity 
 of the Arians than the fact that a year after Hermenegild's conver- 
 sion his father caused him to be put to death " because he refused 
 to receive the communion from the hands of an Arian bishop." 
 But later Leovigild felt such remorse for his act that he sent for 
 Leander and committed to his care his second son, Recared, who 
 was converted to the Catholic faith and by his aid the Visigoths 
 were as above stated in turn converted. 
 
 It is too long a story to repeat here of the labours of this holy 
 prelate both in Seville and in Suevi, another Spanish province. 
 But his entire life was given up to combating the then widened 
 heresies of the Arian clergy. One point must not be forgotten 
 which was prominent in this good man's life, his faith in the effi- 
 cacy of prayer which he constantly taught, preached and exem- 
 plified. He died on February 27, 596, and the cathedral he 
 founded in Seville is one of the most magnificent in all Spain. 
 
 FEBRUARY 28th. 
 
 The Roman Church this day honours an unnamed and unnum- 
 bered host of men who are truly called in its martyrology " mar- 
 tyrs, who died in the great pestilence in Alexandria." 
 
 It is not those noble men and women who willingly gave up 
 their lives in defence of and to testify to their faith who are alone 
 entitled to the name of martyr, for we find them in every age, of 
 every race and shade of religious belief. Men and women who like 
 those commemorated to-day gave their lives for the love of their
 
 ALEXANDRIAN MARTYRS 119 
 
 fellow men. The world's history hardly furnishes a parallel to 
 the violent pestilence which swept over the greater portion of the 
 Roman empire during the twelve years from 249 to 263. It is 
 said that in one day in Rome in 262, 5,000 persons died from it. 
 It was during this period that sedition and civil war filled the city 
 with crime, murder and tumults, which rendered it unsafe for any 
 one to venture upon the streets. While this state of affairs was 
 yet at its height pestilence came upon the great city and its streets 
 were filled with unburied dead and to the noisome exhalations 
 from these was added the infectious vapours which rose from the 
 Nile which came to increase the dreadful contagion, and not a 
 house escaped furnishing its quota. It was then when the pagans, 
 infidels and heathen fled leaving their own friends, brethren and 
 families to perish, the Christians, who during the persecutions of 
 Decius, Gallus and Valerian had been compelled to secure safety 
 in hiding, came forth like angels of mercy and took up the almost 
 superhuman task of endeavouring to bring some succor and relief 
 to their stricken fellow citizens. Regardless of the peril their own 
 lives were in they went from house to house, nursing the sick, 
 comforting the dying and burying the dead. Nor did they confine 
 their attention to those of their own faith. It was enough that one 
 was sick to command at once such help as these heroic followers 
 of Christ could render. " Thus," says St. Dionysius, speaking of 
 these men, " the best of our brethren have departed this life ; 
 some of the most valuable, both of priests, deacons and laics ; and 
 it is thought that this kind of death is nothing different from mar- 
 tyrdom.'.' Who can deny the saintly prelate's assertion, and if 
 it is proper to honour the memories of other martyrs these of a 
 surety should not be forgotten. Thus it is that to-day the 
 Roman Church honours this nameless " noble army of martyrs."
 
 MARCH 
 
 Sturdy March, with brows full sternly bent, 
 And armed strongly, rode upon a ram, 
 The same which over Hellespontus swam, 
 
 Yet in his hand a spade he also bent 
 And in a bag all sorts of weeds, y same 
 
 Which on the earth he strewed as he went, 
 
 And filled her womb with fruitful hope of nourishment. 
 
 Spenser 
 
 As already said, March was for many years the first month in 
 the calendar year and was dedicated by the Romans to Mars, 
 called Martius, from which our name was derived. The Saxons 
 termed it " Lenet-monat" (length-month) as referring to the length- 
 ening of the days at this season. By some it has been claimed 
 that the word "Lent" is derived from the Saxon name for this 
 month. 
 
 MARCH ist. 
 
 St. David, the patron saint of Wales, is the most prominent of 
 those honoured by the Church this day. His name appears in the 
 Kalendar of the Reformed church, and has been retained by the 
 English church. He is reputed to have been the son of Xantus, 
 a prince of Ceretica (now Cardiganshire) of the ancient regal line 
 of Cunedda Wledig. His mythical Welsh history as told in the 
 " Cotton MSS." makes him a lineal descendant of the Virgin Mary 
 from whom he was of the eighteenth generation. His legends 
 all ascribe to him the power to work miracles from the hour of 
 his birth and some even give him the preternatural faculty while 
 yet unborn. An angel, it is told us, attended him at all times 
 to minister to his needs. He was early ordained into the priest- 
 hood and almost immediately thereafter retired to the Isle of Wight
 
 ST. D AVI D 
 
 121 
 
 where for a time he led the life of an anchorite but in the mean- 
 time preparing himself for his ministry. Returning from the Isle 
 of Wight David first built a chapel at Glastonbury but later 
 founded many monasteries and a hermitage 
 and chapel at Lanthony. When the Pelagian 
 heresy sprang up a second time in Britain 
 the bishops held a Brevi in what is now 
 Cardiganshire, where David took a most 
 prominent part and for this he was made 
 Bishop of Caerleon but he soon transferred 
 the see to Menervia (now St. David's) then 
 a populous city where he died in 544. 
 
 An eminent English writer says of St. 
 David: "There is no doubt of the inesti- 
 mable services rendered by St. David to the 
 British church in those early days which 
 entitle him to a most distinguished place 
 in its annals." He is remembered in the " Triads" with Teilo and 
 Caturg, as one of the " three canonized saints of Britain," while 
 Giraldus terms him " a mirror and pattern to all, instructing both 
 by word and example ; excellent in his preaching but still more so 
 in his works." If the legends of St. David have been somewhat 
 " extravagantly embroidered" one can hardly 
 wonder since prior to the Reformation in the 
 old church at Sarum in England the following 
 collect was annually read in the service on 
 March ist : " Oh, God, who by thy angel didst 
 foretell Thy blessed Confessor, St. David, thirty 
 years before he was born, grant unto us, we 
 beseech Thee, that celebrating his memory, we 
 may, by his intercession, attain to joys ever- 
 lasting." 
 
 St. David was canonized by Pope Calixtus 
 II. about five hundred years after his death. 
 Though no mention is anywhere made of St. 
 David being at all musical his attribute on Clog sticks is always 
 an ancient harp doubtless selected because of his name. The two 
 given above were copied from English sticks of different dates.
 
 122 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 MARCH 2d. 
 
 St, Ceadda, or Chad as the name is Anglicised, is honoured 
 to-day by both the Reformed and Roman Churches. He was a 
 brother of St. Cedd, Bishop of London, and of the two holy priests 
 Celin and Cymbal. When St. Wilfrid went to France to be con- 
 firmed Bishop of Northumbria (or York) he remained so long that 
 King Oswi in 666 named Chad as Bishop and he was so confirmed 
 by Wini, Bishop of Winchester and two British prelates. But 
 when Theodorus, Archbishop of Canterbury, came to judge the 
 matter he decided Chad's ordination irregular and the holy man at 
 once withdrew, later becoming the Bishop 
 of the Mercians and fixing his see at Litch- 
 field. 
 
 St. Chad is regarded as the missionary 
 who introduced Christianity among the East 
 Saxons. He was educated at the monastery 
 of Lindesfarne or Holy Island, of which he 
 became the bishop. When old age com- 
 pelled him to retire he settled with seven or 
 eight monks, near Litchfield, where he died 
 in 673 from the pestilence then afflicting the 
 land. When the old church where St. Chad 
 was buried fell in 1788, among the few relics of old days saved 
 was the ancient wood figure of St. Chad that is now kept in the 
 new church at Shrewsbury. 
 
 After his canonization St. Chad became the patron saint of 
 medicinal springs. 
 
 The emblem given above which marks St. Chad's Day upon the 
 Danish Clogs is supposed to represent a fruitful branch. 
 
 MARCH 3d 
 
 Is the festival of St. Cunegunda who was the daughter of Sigfrid, 
 Count of Luxembourg. She was when quite young betrothed to 
 Henry, Duke of Bavaria, whom she subsequently married. Prior
 
 ST. CUNEGUNDA 123 
 
 to her marriage she had with the consent of Henry made a vow 
 of virginity, which was always faithfully kept. On the death of 
 Otho III., Emperor of Germany in 1002 Henry was chosen King 
 of Rome and was crowned at Mentz on June 6th of that year ; 
 while Cunegunda was crowned at Paderborn on August 10, 
 1 002 (St. Laurence Day), on which occasion she enriched the 
 churches of the city by many lavish gifts. Henry of Bavaria was 
 a soldier but above that in his esteem he was a Christian and 
 his devotion to the Church brought on a revolt among certain 
 powerful nobles who objected to the lavish gifts of both Henry 
 and his Empress for religious uses. This rebellion was quickly 
 quelled. In this love of the Church the two were most cordially 
 united. Together they founded and endowed the cathedral and 
 convent at Bamberg in Franconia where I note in passing 
 Henry was buried in 1024. 
 
 They also founded many other religious edifices both in Ger- 
 many and Italy. One was the work of Cunegunda herself that 
 at Cafungen (now Kaffungen) which she gave to the nuns of the 
 Order of St. Benedict. A base and wicked slander regarding 
 Cunegunda was at one time circulated that despite her vows of 
 virginity she had been unfaithful to her husband. Henry could 
 not and did not for a moment believe these accusations. Yet she 
 to vindicate her honour begged to be put to " trial by ordeal." 
 Much as Henry objected he at last gave his consent and in public 
 she "walked over burning ploughshares unharmed," a very com- 
 mon ordeal in those days. From that hour Henry's devotion and 
 the reverence he felt for his wife, true as both had been before 
 became unbounded. On the anniversary of the death of her hus- 
 band (August 10, 1024) she, in 1025, put aside her imperial robes 
 and had her beautiful hair, once her pride, cut off and she donned 
 the habit and veil of the Order of St. Benedict at Kaffungen, 
 which she had completed during the year. From that time until 
 her death March 3, 1040, her life was devoted to her duties as a 
 nun. She steadfastly refused every indulgence working with her 
 hands like her fellow sisters. Her body was laid beside that of her 
 loved husband at Bamberg. She was canonized by Pope Innocent 
 III. in 1200.
 
 124 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 MARCH 4th. 
 
 This day is sacred to a most interesting character, Casimir, 
 Prince of Poland, the second son of Casimir III., king of Poland 
 and Elizabeth of Austria, a daughter of Albert II. of Austria. 
 Casimir's eldest brother, Uladislas, became king of Bohemia in 
 1471 and king of Hungary in 1490, while a younger brother, John 
 Albert, succeeded his father as king of Poland in 1492. It was by 
 no means want of opportunity that Casimir did not also sit upon an 
 earthly throne. The Palatines and other nobles of Hungary were 
 dissatisfied with Matthias Corvin, their king, and begged of the 
 King of Poland to place his son Casimir on the throne. He was 
 then only fifteen years of age and had almost from his infancy 
 been religiously inclined and had no taste for the offer but would 
 no doubt have been obliged to accept had not the differences 
 between the king and people been adjusted by Pope Sixtus IV. 
 who acted as mediator. Later he refused the crown of Hungary 
 bestowed on his brother long years afterward. Instead of seeking 
 these worldly honours, his entire life was given up to deeds of 
 kindness and acts of love in unostentatious privacy until his name 
 was the synonym for goodness though when he died in 1482 he 
 was but twenty-three years of age. He died at Vilna and was 
 there buried, but a portrait of him now hangs in the chapel of St. 
 Germains des Prez in Paris, which, by the way, was built by 
 John Casimir, king of Poland, the last of the family of Waza 
 who renounced his crown and died abbot of St. Germain. 
 
 MARCH 5th. 
 
 While both profane and ecclesiastical history accords most 
 justly to St. Patrick (of whom I shall speak on March i7th) the 
 honour of having founded the Christian faith in Ireland, it is also 
 true that for nearly a century before the advent of this noted saint 
 there were Christians scattered through the island and one of 
 these, St. Kiaran, or Kenerin (called by the Britons Piran), the 
 Church honours on this day, and whom the Irish style " the first- 
 born " of their saints. According to some he was a native of
 
 ST. KIARAN 125 
 
 Ossory, while others claim Cork as his birthplace. Usher places 
 his birth about the year 352. His legend tells that having 
 received some imperfect information in regard to the Christian 
 faith he, when thirty years of age in or about 382, made a journey 
 to Rome to assure himself of its truth. After a long sojourn " in 
 the Holy City," where by Irish writers he is said to have been 
 ordained as a bishop he returned to Ireland " accompanied by 
 four holy clerks," whose names as given by these writers were 
 " Lugacius, Columban, Lugad and Cassan." Dr. Butler, how- 
 ever, says : " What John of Tinmouth affirms seems far more 
 probable, that he was one of the Twelve Apostles whom St. 
 Patrick consecrated bishops in Ireland to aid him in planting the 
 gospel in the island." Whichever statement is true he had 
 evidently begun his missionary labours before the advent of the 
 great man to whom Ireland owes her early and effectual teach- 
 ings. He built himself a cell near the water at Fuaran where a 
 town afterwards was built called Saigar, now from this saint 
 named Sier-keran. Here he converted to the faith not only his 
 own family but after giving to his mother " the religious veil " 
 appointed her to a cell or monastery near his own " called by the 
 Irish Ceall Lidain " ; her name having been Liadan. In his old 
 age he passed over into Cornwall where he led an eremitical life 
 near to the Severn Sea not far from Padstow where he died. A 
 tower was later built there which was called in his honour Piran's 
 in the Sands. 
 
 This day is also the festival of St. John Joseph of the Cross, one 
 of the later of the canonized saints of the Church, the bull for his 
 canonization having been promulgated on Trinity Sunday, May 26, 
 1839. He was born in 1654 on the island of Ischia, belonging 
 to the Kingdom of Naples and assumed the name of John Joseph 
 of the Cross in 1671, at the time of his taking his habit. He 
 was then but seventeen years old yet we soon see him as " Master 
 of Novices " and by 1690 promoted to the office of " Definitor." 
 In 1702 he rendered his Order a signal service with the Pontifi- 
 cate by which the Alcantarines in Italy were established in the 
 form of a province and the arduous duties of its government
 
 126 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 forced upon our saint. Finally in 1722 the convent of St. Lucy 
 in Naples was made over to the Alcantarines to which John 
 Joseph retired spending the remainder of his life in good works 
 and where he died March 5, 1734. 
 
 MARCH 6th. 
 
 To-day is the festival of St. Colette, a carpenter's daughter of 
 Corbie in Picardy whose parents were ardent admirers of the good 
 St. Nicholas and in his honour christened their child Colette* which 
 is the diminutive of the saint's name. After the death of her 
 parents she took the vows and habit of the Third Order of St. 
 Francis called the Penitents, and three years later that of the 
 Mitigated Clares, called Urbanists. From her earliest entrance 
 upon her holy life her austerities were marked and severe and she 
 early resolved to make an effort to re-establish the primitive spirit 
 and practices of the Order. After visiting several convents she 
 made a journey to Nice in which city Benedict XIII., then hap- 
 pened to be. Apparently unaided save by her own strong pur- 
 pose to revive the rule and spirit of St. Francis, she received from 
 the Pope her nomination as " Superioress in General of the whole 
 Order of St. Clare with power to establish such regulations as she 
 thought to be conducive to God's honour." She foretold the 
 date of her death which occurred at Ghent oo March 6, 1447. 
 She was never canonized nor is her name mentioned in Roman 
 Martyrology, but Clement VIII., Paul V., Gregory XIII., and 
 Urban VIII. all approved an office in her honour by the whole 
 Franciscan Order as the "Blessed Colette ! " 
 
 MARCH 7th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Thomas of Aquino, a doctor of the Church, 
 a man who is most highly honoured, who died March 7, 1274, at 
 the famous Cistercian Abbey of Fossa Nuova in Terracina. The 
 translation of his relics to France at every point presented most 
 wonderful scenes proving the veneration in which he was held.
 
 ST. PERPETUA 
 
 127 
 
 At Toulouse an hundred and fifty thousand people gathered to 
 receive the sacred relics, and the procession into the city was 
 headed by Louis, Duke of Anjou brother of Charles V., and also 
 by the Archbishop of the see. St. Thomas was canonized by 
 Pope John XXII. in 1323 while Pope Pius V. in 1567, commanded 
 his festival to be kept equal with those of the " Four Doctors of 
 the Western Church." 
 
 This day is also the festival of St. Perpetua, a martyr at 
 Carthage under the persecution of Emperor Severus in 303 when 
 she, with her companions, won their crown of glory by their blood 
 shed for the faith. 
 
 St. Perpetua is one of the saints whose names was retained by 
 the Fathers of the Reformed church and which still has a place 
 in the Kalendar of the Church of England. 
 
 The martyrdom of Perpetua and her companions was a pecu- 
 liarly brutal affair even for those brutal times, and her fortitude 
 during her trials was beyond praise and won for 
 her commendation and reverence. She was thrown 
 into the amphitheatre and tossed by a wild cow 
 but when this had not entirely extinguished life she 
 was put to death in the " spoliarium " (the place 
 where the wounded were dispatched by young 
 gladiators) by the sword. But before her death 
 she had a wondrous vision of a ladder reaching 
 to Heaven though each rung was beset by spikes 
 and a dragon lying at the bottom upon whose head 
 she was obliged to tread before mounting the first 
 step. This vision is represented in Callot's images 
 and has been adopted by Clog Almanacs, though in art she is 
 usually shown with a wild cow standing before her. 
 
 MARCH 8th. 
 
 St. John, surnamed " of God," is one of the saints honoured by 
 the Church on this day. He was born in Portugal in 1495 f 
 parents of the humblest class, and his early days were spent as a
 
 128 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 shepherd of the Count of Oropeusa in Castile; but in 1522 he 
 became a soldier, serving in the wars between Spain and France, 
 then in the Hungarian war and lastly, when Charles V. was King 
 of Spain, against the Turks. Thus for fourteen years he lived in 
 camps and subjected to the temptations besetting a soldier. In 
 1536 when his troop was disbanded he once more took up his life 
 as a shepherd, in the service of a rich lady near Seville. Humble 
 as his parents were they had in his youth instilled into his mind 
 the right principles and even amid the debauchery of camp life the 
 licentiousness of his companions had at first disgusted him ; but, 
 alas, he was only human, and like many another, by slow degrees 
 fell but never to the depths of degradation which some of his com- 
 panions did. Now in the quiet of his pastoral occupations he 
 began to reflect upon his conduct and how he could by penance 
 and service regain what he felt he had lost. At last he resolved to 
 leave his present occupation and pass over into Africa there to 
 strive to succour and comfort the captive slaves of whom just 
 then there were so many. At Gibraltar he met a Portuguese gen- 
 tleman who was banished to Barbary and John went with him into 
 exile serving him for two years without compensation, then return- 
 ing to Granada in Spain in 1538. It was here he first heard John 
 D'Avila, " The Apostle of Andalusia," preach and he set about the 
 fulfilment of his purpose of striving to redeem the sins of his past 
 life. From trading and other sources he seems to have accumu- 
 lated a little money. With this in 1540 he hired and furnished a 
 house in Granada, into which he brought such of the sick poor as 
 he found, tending them with his own hands and providing for 
 them as best he could. This effort came to the knowledge of the 
 Archbishop and to curtail a long and interesting story of not only 
 noble efforts in behalf of the sick but of reclaiming from vice many 
 a fallen one, of surmounting endless difficulties and not a little 
 opposition, until at last he evolved, through the aid of the Bishop 
 of Tuy, President of the Royal Court of Judicature of Granada, the 
 Order of Charity. John had no thought of founding a Religious 
 Order and it was not until six years after his death it really took 
 form and the religious vows were not introduced until 1570; but 
 practically it had been founded and he is the recognised
 
 ST. JOHN OF GOD 129 
 
 " Founder." The name " John of God " was bestowed upon him 
 by the good Bishop of Tuy. 
 
 I wish I might tell something more of his work, of how the King 
 and princes at last came to vie with each other to aid him when he 
 came to Valladolid, and the honours bestowed upon him. It is 
 only one of the many stories that show how none of us are so 
 poor or helpless that if we but will we may do good. 
 
 John of God died on his knees before the altar on March 8, 
 1550. He was beatified by Urban VIII. in 1630 and canonized by 
 Alexander VIII. in 1690. 
 
 MARCH 9th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Gregory of Nyssa, Bishop and Confessor, a 
 younger brother of St. Basil the Great and the author of many 
 learned works still extant and which were republished in three 
 huge folios between 1615 and 1638. As a rhetorician and orator 
 he had few in his generation who were his equal. In youth he 
 had been highly educated and became a married man but later 
 resigned worldly honours and was ordained lector. In 372 he 
 was chosen Bishop of Nyssa, a city in Cappadocia, near the Lesser 
 Armenia. His eloquence made him a terror to the Arians, who at 
 length prevailed on Demosthenes, the Vicar or deputy governor of 
 the province, to banish him, but after the death of Valens in 378 
 the Emperor Gratian restored him to his see. Aside from his 
 learned writings Gregory of Nyssa, as he is usually termed, was 
 most noted for his determined opposition to the Arian heresy. 
 He died on January 10, 400, the date on which the Greeks have 
 always honoured him but the Latin Church has for ages kept his 
 festival on this 9th of March. 
 
 MARCH loth. 
 
 The Church this day holds in sacred memory the martyrdom 
 of perhaps as remarkable a body of men as ever testified to their 
 faith with their blood. They were Roman soldiers, brave and
 
 130 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 fearless who knowing their duty, never failed to do it for they 
 belonged to " The Thundering Legion" so famous under Marcus 
 Aurelius, that Twelfth Legion, the flower of the army who were in 
 320 quartered in Armenia with Lysias as duke or general of the 
 army while Agricola was governor of the province. The latter, by 
 orders of the Emperor Licinius, promulgated his command that all 
 should sacrifice to the Roman gods. It was then these " Forty 
 Martyrs of Sebaste," as they are called in Roman Martyrology, 
 rose to the higher duty they owed to their faith holding it above 
 any they were bound by, as Roman soldiers. Thus it was they 
 appeared before Agricola telling him they were Christians and as 
 such could not obey the order, at the same time pointing to their 
 record as true, faithful soldiers of the empire. Agricola tried to 
 reason with them but without avail. Then they were rent with 
 iron hooks, scourged and cast into prison. After some days Lysias 
 who happened to be in Coesarea at the time returned, but no 
 promises of wealth or aught else could make them waver. It was 
 then Agricola conceived a horrid punishment for them. It was 
 intensely cold and close to the town was a pond which was then 
 frozen over and it was ordered they should be stripped naked and 
 compelled to stand on the ice. Yet of them all only one of their 
 number faltered, and, strangely, as he came forward to recant he 
 fell dead. When morning broke both those who had died during 
 the night from exposure and the living were alike cast upon a fire 
 and burned. These are the heroes whom the Church honours 
 this day. 
 
 MARCH nth. 
 
 Among others that are named this day in the Roman Kalendar 
 is St. ^Engus, Abbot of the monastery of Cluain-Edneach in 
 Ireland, and a bishop. Dr. Butler says : " It was then usual in 
 Ireland for the abbots of the chief monasteries to be made bishops. 
 ^Engus was distinguished by the surname of Kele-De (Worshipper 
 of God) or what came to be known as the Culdees ; of whom we 
 read so much in early Scotch history. There has been a world of
 
 ST. GREGORY THE GREAT 131 
 
 historical and polemic controversy over the origin of this word 
 Culdee. The Cele-De of Armagh Ireland) and the Colidee of 
 York, canons of the cathedral, seemingly were identical. In 
 Scotland the name first took the form of Keledio, almost the 
 same as that bestowed upon St. ^Engus, who for a time lived an 
 eremitical life, and this gives a slight reason for Burton's (the 
 Scotch historian) opinion that the word Culdee may have come 
 from the Celtic word Kill (a cell). But Dr. Reeves, the celebrated 
 Celtic etymologist, glosses the word Cele-De as " Spouse of God," 
 which apparently settles the question of name. Important, how- 
 ever, as the Culdees appear in the ecclesiastical history of Scot- 
 land, it would seem as though they were not under an episcopal 
 hierarchy like the secular side of the church. That they married 
 is patent. The gracious Duncan, who married the daughter of 
 Malcolm II., was the son of Cronan or Crinan, Abbot of the 
 Culdees of Dunkeld. Yet these Culdees were monks and 
 evidently under canonical rule by the Roman Church just as our 
 St. yEngus was whose title led me into this digression. St. ^Engus 
 is especially noted for having written several books on .the Irish 
 Saints of the church and for compiling " a longer and shorter Irish 
 martyrology." He died at Desert yngus, a famous Irish monas- 
 tery named for him, about the year 824. 
 
 MARCH 1 2th 
 
 Is esteemed by the Roman Church as a festival of more than 
 usual importance, as it is that of Gregory I., " The Great," who 
 sat in the pontifical chair from 590 to 604. 
 
 There have been popes of every shade of human character but 
 Gregory the Great is one distinguished by his modesty, disinter- 
 estedness and sincere religious zeal, tempered by a toleration 
 which could only spring from pure benevolence. The son of a 
 Roman Senator, with high mental gifts and all the accomplish- 
 ments of his age, he was drawn early into prominent position but 
 always against his will. He would fain have continued to be an 
 obscure monk or a missionary but his qualities were such that at
 
 132 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 length even the popedom was thrust upon him (on the death of 
 Pelagius II. in 590). On this occasion he wrote to the sister of 
 the emperor : " Appearing to be outwardly exalted I am really 
 fallen. My endeavours were to banish corporeal objects from my 
 mind that I might spiritually behold heavenly joys. ... I am 
 come into the depths of the sea, and the tempest hath drowned 
 me." 
 
 In exercising the functions of his high station Gregory, while he 
 exhibited great firmness, it was always tempered by mildness and 
 forbearance and he remembered that from his position he was 
 " the father of the sick and needy." With him to relieve the poor 
 was the first of Christian graces. He devoted a large proportion 
 of his revenue and a vast amount of personal care to this object. 
 He in a manner took the entire charge of the poor upon his own 
 hands. He removed their necessities with so much sweetness 
 and affability as to spare them the confession of receiving alms ; 
 the old men he out of deference, called his fathers. He often 
 entertained several of them at his own table. He kept by him an 
 exact catalogue of the poor called by the ancients " matriculae " 
 and he liberally provided for the necessities of each. 
 
 It was this Gregory of whom (before he attained his great 
 dignity) the well-known" story is told of seeing certain slaves in 
 the market asked who they were and from what country they 
 came ; and on being told they were " Angli," he was so impressed 
 by their beauty of person that he cried out " Verily Angeli." 
 His one great hope and ambition from that time was to become a 
 missionary to the heathen of Britain and he once actually started 
 on his journey thither when on the third day he was recalled to 
 Rome by the Apostolic Father. Missionaries, however, thanks to 
 Gregory's influence were shortly thereafter sent to Britain. 
 
 Gregory during his pontificate was a prolific writer. Among 
 his productions there are extant forty homilies upon the Gospels ; 
 twenty-two on Ezekiel ; not to speak of others which fill four 
 large folio volumes and are highly prized by Roman ecclesiastics. 
 He was one of the " Four Great Doctors of the Latin Church " 
 and next to St. Jerom the most popular, and therefore he is so 
 often presented in art singly. In these pictures he bears the tiara
 
 ST. NICEPHORUS 133 
 
 of the Pope and the crosier with the double cross and the dove his 
 special attribute. A legend tells that John the Deacon who was 
 St. Gregory's secretary declared that as the saint sat writing, the 
 Holy Spirit, in the form of a Dove, sat upon his shoulder. The 
 legends told of St. Gregory are numerous and touching in their 
 pathos. Especially so is the one often referred to as " The 
 Supper of St. Gregory," which has been made the subject of 
 several noted works of art. 
 
 Personally, St. Gregory is said to have been tall, corpulent and 
 of a swarthy complexion with jet black hair but having a thin 
 beard. He presented his portrait with others of the family to the 
 monastery of St. Andrew which he founded, and which now is 
 the Church of San Gregorio in Rome of which Mrs. Jameson 
 wrote of that view from the " Garden of Sta Slivia " so many of 
 us remember : 
 
 " To stand here on the summit of the flight of steps which 
 leads to the portal, and look across to the ruined palace of the 
 Caesars, makes the mind giddy with the rush of thoughts. There 
 before us, the Palatine Hill pagan Rome in the dust ; here 
 the little cell a few feet square where slept in sackcloth the man 
 who gave the last blow to the power of the Caesars, and first set 
 his foot as sovereign on the cradle and capital of their greatness." 
 
 A volume would hardly suffice to recount all that one would 
 wish to write of this remarkable man and therefore I must let this 
 meagre and unsatisfactory account pass as it is written. 
 
 MARCH 1 3th. 
 
 St. Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople, is one of those 
 whom the Latin Church honoured this day and who first came into 
 notice after Constantine and Irene ascended the throne and gave 
 to Christians protection from the persecution they had suffered 
 under Constantine Copronymus. Nicephorus had early attracted 
 the attention of the emperor and was elevated to the dignity of 
 secretary. He distinguished himself by his zeal against the Icono- 
 clasts and was made secretary to the second Council of Nice. Tn
 
 134 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 806 he was chosen Patriarch of Constantinople and was noted for 
 his unwearied effort to restore the old-time manners and teaching 
 of the early Fathers, especially in regard to the reverence of 
 images, claiming that the Iconoclasts were inconsistent when they 
 venerated the figure of the cross and the book of the four Gospels 
 but condemned like honour paid to the images of Christ ; using 
 the same argument which had so often been put forward, that : 
 " For these eight hundred years, since the time of Christ, there 
 had been pictures of Him and He had been honoured in them." 
 In 813 Leo the Armenian, former Governor of Natolia, became 
 emperor and being an Iconoclast encouraged his soldiers to mal- 
 treat an image of Christ on a cross on the brazen gate of the city 
 and ordered it removed. The protests against this act and subse- 
 quent trial of St. Nicephorus by a court of Iconoclast bishops 
 resulted in his condemnation to exile and deposition from office. 
 He died in exile on June 2d, 828. His body was by order of 
 Empress Theodora, brought back with great pomp and ceremony 
 on March I3th, 846. This day was therefore selected on which 
 to commemorate his memory. 
 
 MARCH I4th. 
 
 St. Maud or Mathildis, queen of Germany, is to-day most espe- 
 cially honoured in that country. In older days the names Maud, 
 Mathildis, Matilda and Mathilda were in England and on the Con- 
 tinent used synonymously. The wife of Henry I. of England was 
 styled Maud or Matilda as the writer happened to choose. In 
 speaking of St. Henry so much of the story of the life of St. Maud 
 has been told, how from their cradles they had been playmates and 
 lovers, that little now need be added save a few words of eulogy 
 of which not many women of her rank are more deserving. Her 
 entire life outside of the beautiful domestic circle had but one great 
 purpose in view, to visit, comfort and teach the poor, the sick and 
 the ignorant. When at the moment of her husband's death she 
 was at the altar in prayer for him, she saw by the eyes of those 
 about her that he had already gone to his reward, she rose hum-
 
 LONGINUS 135 
 
 bly bowing to the Divine will. Then in token of her resolution 
 she cut from her garments the jewels she wore and gave them to 
 the priest to be disposed of for the poor. From that hour her 
 remaining life was a succession of noble deeds of charity and in 
 the use of her wealth to build and endow churches, hospitals and 
 monasteries. Of the latter it is told that in the one at Poldeu in 
 the Duchy of Brunswick she maintained 3,000 monks. Indeed 
 the charities were only limited by a lack of knowledge as to where 
 they were most needed. She not only gave of her wealth but 
 her personal service was at all times added to enhance the value 
 by her example of perfect self-sacrifice. 
 
 She died March 14, 968 and her relics still rest at Quedlinbourg. 
 
 MARCH 1 5th, 
 
 In certain old English and German Kalendars there appears a 
 name not to be found in either Latin or Greek Martyrology, named 
 in the Old English Longinus and who according to mediaeval 
 legends was the centurion who under orders of Pontius Pilate 
 pierced our Saviour's side with a spear. This strange legend also 
 says: "This man was blind " but fails to enlighten us how a 
 blind man could have been a centurion, or why he was chosen for 
 such a purpose ; but adds that as the " blood and water " flowed 
 from Christ's wounds, " some drops fell upon the eyes of this 
 soldier and his sight was miraculously restored," and still further 
 attributing to him the words recorded by SS. Matthew and Mark, 
 as made by a centurion at the death of our Lord : " Truly this 
 man was the Son of God." Then follows an account of how he, 
 Longinus, at once affiliated with the Apostles and became " an 
 active soldier of the faith." Soon we are told Longinus was 
 arrested and brought before Octavius, the prefect, when he at once 
 confessed himself a Roman soldier and a convert to Christianity. 
 They then the legend continues discussed Paganism vs. Christian- 
 ity; only resulting in Longinus being ordered into the hands of the 
 tormentors. These torments were borne uncomplainingly until at 
 last a curious compromise was made to which Octavius con-
 
 136 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 sented that Longinus might work his will upon the pagan idols 
 and if he successfully overcame them, then the pagans should 
 desert their gods and become Christians. 
 
 In due season Longinus " broke all their idols in pieces and 
 trampled over them," but as the Devils were fleeing from them the 
 old soldier stopped them and demanded of them their secret. 
 Then they too confessed the power of God, and that they sought 
 refuge in the idols as a place secure from having the name of 
 Christ invoked upon them or the " sign of the Cross " made upon 
 them. All this did not save poor Longinus from death for Octa- 
 vius feared the Roman power. Yet the story tells in the end that 
 even Octavius later became a convert. "These things," the 
 legend closes, " were acted in the city of Cassarea of Cappadocia 
 on the ides of March, under Octavius the Prefect." 
 
 St. Abraham, whose festival the Church keeps this day, is 
 another example of the fascination the life of a Hermit and Recluse 
 had for so many in the early centuries of the Church. Abraham 
 came from a wealthy Mesopotamian family. Of his own free will 
 he married a woman whom he greatly admired. But the hour the 
 wedding feast ended, he announced to his bride his resolution to 
 lead an eremitical life and at once retired to a cell near Edessa 
 where his friends found him after searching during seventeen 
 days. He was not a priest but he told them he desired to spend 
 his life in solitude and in secret adoration of God. No pleas of 
 any kind availed and his friends were obliged to leave him in his 
 cell where he remained for fifty years except once when the Bishop 
 persuaded him to act as a missionary to a country town near 
 Edessa which was given over to paganism. In this work our 
 recluse was eminently successful but as soon as it was completed 
 he returned to his cell. Through his friends he distributed in 
 charity the revenues of the vast estates his parents had left him. 
 A brother of Abraham who died shortly after the return of the 
 recluse had left to his care his only daughter. For her Abraham 
 built a cell near his own and placed her there teaching her his 
 doctrines of retirement and devotion. The girl soon wearied of 
 this life and the legend tells that under the seductions of a wily,
 
 ST. JULIAN OF CILICIA 137 
 
 wicked monk she fell and went to the city where she led a life of 
 infamy, until at last to reclaim her if possible Abraham once 
 more for awhile abandoned his cell and sought her out. With 
 not a little difficulty he at length gained her consent to return 
 with him where during the fifteen years of her remaining life she 
 spent her time in penance and prayer. Abraham died five years 
 before his niece, in or about 360. His name appears in all the 
 early Latin, Greek and Coptic Kalendars ; while that of St. Mary 
 his niece is found only in those of the Greeks. 
 
 MARCH i6th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Julian of Cilicia. Born of a senatorian family 
 in Anazarbus, he became a minister of the gospel, but under the 
 persecutions of Dioclesian he, like so many thousand others, was 
 made to suffer and prove his faith. While none escaped from the 
 brutal torments of those edicts, Julian was called on to undergo a 
 series of torments which it would seem only fiends could invent. 
 He chanced to fall under the orders of a judge, who knowing his 
 character, by a system of refined cruelty had him daily for a whole 
 year dragged through the streets of the cities of Cilicia as a base 
 malefactor, to be scoffed and jeered at by the populace. When 
 threats of torture were added to this disgrace, and lavish promises 
 were made of wealth and civic honour if he would yield and wor- 
 ship the idols, had all proved vain and unavailing, to quote from 
 his legend : " The bloody executioners had torn his flesh, furrowed 
 his sides, laid bare his bones and his bowels exposed to view, 
 scourges, fire and the sword were used to torment him." When 
 at last the fiends saw his life was waning and human nature could 
 endure no more, this judge, as if to surpass all former cruelties, 
 caused this martyr to be sewed up in a sack containing " scor- 
 pions, serpents and vipers," after which he was cast into the sea 
 at JEgea. But the sea gave up this horrid sack and some of the 
 faithful recovered the sacred relics, which at last were conveyed 
 to Antioch.
 
 138 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 MARCH 1 7th 
 
 Is the festival of the most noted saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. 
 Probably no man ever lived over whom so many battles have been 
 fought as to where his birthplace was. From a carefully trans- 
 lated edition of the Confessions of St. Patrick, annexed to Miss 
 Cusack's " Life of St. Patrick," and generally accepted by ecclesi- 
 astics as authority, it seems certain that " Patricius" was born of 
 Christian parents at Bannavem of Tabernia, a Roman provincial 
 village in Britain. St. Patrick also proves he was of gentle birth, 
 for in his Confessions he says his father was a " decurio," that is 
 one of the council or magistracy of a Roman town. As near as 
 we can learn he was born about the year 372 and until he was 
 sixteen lived the simple life of a farmer's son. Then an event not 
 uncommon in those days happened to him for he was captured by 
 pirates and sold into Irish slavery where for some years he was 
 employed as a swineherd on the Sleamish mountains in County 
 Antrim. He once escaped but was recaptured. His second 
 attempt was successful and he reached his native land. He had 
 during his captivity learned the Irish language and after his escape 
 a vision warned him to return to Ireland as a missionary but 
 before doing so some of his biographers state he travelled into 
 Gaul and Italy and received from Pope Celestine in 432 his Apos- 
 tolic benediction. In his Confessions Patrick does not tell how or 
 where he was consecrated as bishop but that he exercised the 
 powers and functions of that office is clear while his authority to 
 do so was never doubted. Yet his Confessions evidently written 
 toward the close of his life seem to infer he had been serving as a 
 missionary many years before he was consecrated. These Con- 
 fessions Dr. Skene, the eminent Scotch historiographer, takes 
 pains to assert are in all respects authentic and reliable but adds 
 that at a later period " this simple narrative became incrusted with 
 a mass of traditional, legendary and fictitious matter." 
 
 Of St. Patrick's life work in " lerne " (Ireland), space cannot be 
 given to speak, in detail ; though we know his principal enemies 
 were the Druid priests who then held sway. There were also 
 magicians, the " Magi," or " Druadh " who acted as physicians and
 
 ST. PATRICK 139 
 
 as such their influence was unbounded. From a metrical life of 
 St. Patrick attributed to " Fiacc of Sleibhte," we learn : 
 
 " He preached three-score years 
 The Cross of Christ to the Tuatha of Feni ; 
 In the Tuatha of Erin there was darkness, 
 The Tuatha adored the Side." 
 
 From the Book of Armagh we learn the Side, or Sidhe, were 
 "gods of the earth, phantoms," mysterious beings who were sup- 
 posed to dwell alike in heaven or on earth, in the sea, the sky, the 
 rivers, mountains and valleys, at will. Spirits to be dreaded and 
 conciliated, who were to be worshipped and invoked both by 
 themselves and through the natural objects in which they dwelt. 
 This was the secret cause of the fear that the people felt and 
 their reverence for the sanctity of the Druid oak and stone circles 
 we so constantly read of in early English, Scotch and Irish history. 
 But I must not venture into this interesting story of Druidisrn. 
 Still we may well believe nothing but the power of God, delegated 
 to St. Patrick, could have overcome the dangers and difficulties 
 these Druid priests interposed in the holy man's path. Of the 
 endless number of miracles ascribed to St. Patrick only a volume 
 would suffice to tell them. That of his driving the snakes out of 
 Ireland is too patent for repetition. Another that is duly vouched 
 for in his " Legendary Life," is not as well known when he made 
 a fire out of ice and snowballs : 
 
 " Saint Patrick, as in legends told, 
 The morning being very cold, 
 In order to assuage the weather, 
 Collected bits of ice together ; 
 Then gently breathed upon the pyre, 
 When every fragment blazed on fire." 
 
 Of the well known legend in regard to the shamrock having 
 been used by St. Patrick to illustrate the Unity of the Trinity, there 
 is little doubt ; still less as to its fitness as an emblem but it is 
 certainly a curious coincidence if nothing more that the trefoil in 
 Arabic is called " shamrakh " and was held sacred in Iran as em- 
 blematical of the Persian Triads. 
 
 I may not enter on the mooted question of the date of St. 
 Patrick's death which has been placed in two different years, 464
 
 140 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 and 493. Mr. Skene devotes a great number of pages to show 
 that this discrepancy comes through an error in regard to the 
 length of his Irish captivity. Dr. Butler and most authorities 
 place it in 464. Phillips' Biographical Dictionary revised by 
 Weitenkamp, places it in 466. 
 
 As the birthplace of St. Patrick has been disputed so has that of 
 his burial. But the general evidence indicates that he was 
 buried at Downpatrick and that the remains of St. Columba and 
 St. Bridget were laid beside him according to the old monkish 
 Leonine distich : 
 
 " In Burgo Dunp, tumulo tumulantur in uno, 
 Brigida, Patricius, atque Columba pius." 
 
 Which may be thus rendered : 
 
 " On the hill of Down, buried in one tomb, 
 Were Bridget and Patricius, with Columba the pious." 
 
 MARCH 1 8th. 
 
 St. Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem, is the most noted of the 
 saints honoured by the Roman Church this day both for his 
 sanctity and his wonderful writings but even more so for his 
 gallant struggle against the heresies and schisms which had crept 
 into the Christian Church, the chief among them being Arianism. 
 But I must leave unsaid what is due to the learning and holy life 
 of St. Cyril who died in 386 and is honoured by both the Greek 
 and Latin Churches on this day. 
 
 St. Edward, King of England, who has a place both in that 
 of the Roman Martyrology and the Church of England has his 
 festival this day. The old story of his assassination at Corfe 
 Castle is far too trite to repeat again in full for it has been told in 
 every English history. The unfortunate king was by order of his 
 mother-in-law, buried in unhallowed ground at Wareham but at 
 once, most wonderful sights began to appear about his tomb and
 
 ST. JOSEPH 141 
 
 marvellous miracles were performed. " Then lights shone from 
 above ; there the lame walked ; there the dumb resumed his 
 faculty of speech ; there every malady gave wey to health," are the 
 words of that quaint old Saxon chronicler, William of Malmesbury. 
 From this resting place Edward's relics were translated three 
 years after his death, in 978, to the monastery of Shaftesbury. 
 
 MARCH 
 
 Is the festival of St. Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary. 
 As far back as the traditions of the Christian Church extend 
 we find the name of Joseph honoured as a saint. The one simple 
 fact of his having been chosen as the guardian of the Virgin and 
 her Divine Son is alone enough to justify the esteem in which the 
 Fathers of the Early Church held him. It was not until the bulls 
 of Pope Gregory XV. in 1621, and Urban VIII. 1642, that this 
 festival became obligatory. The Syrians and other Eastern 
 churches held this festival on July 29th but the Western church 
 observed it on this igth day of March. 
 
 Outside of what is told in Holy Writ there is little of an authen- 
 tic character known of Joseph. The legend of the Virgin and her 
 marriage with Joseph given in the " Protevangelion " lies before 
 me as I write, but it is too elaborate for transcribing here. When 
 the priest Zacharius was directed " by an angel " to assemble 
 together " all the widowers among the people " from whom was 
 to be selected the spouse of Mary, each was commanded to bring 
 his " rod," or staff, and Joseph came with the rest. When he 
 appeared before the priest and presented his rod " lo ! a dove 
 issued out of it a dove dazzling white as snow, and after settling 
 on his (Joseph's) head, flew away to heaven." 
 
 The time of Joseph's death is a mooted point. Some, on what 
 ground I am unable to say, put the date at the time Jesus Christ 
 was eighteen years old. A crutched staff is the usual attribute of 
 Joseph but I find none upon any of the Clog sticks I have seen. 
 In art Joseph carries a wallet and a pilgrim's staff. His dress is a 
 gray tunic and a saffron mantle.
 
 H2 SAINTS AND FESTIVAL'S 
 
 MARCH 2oth. 
 
 Few of my readers who have visited Melrose Abbey, Scotland, 
 will have had told them the legend of " Muilros," the old Melrose 
 and its famous Saint Cuthbert, whom the Church honours to-day. 
 He was a Northumbrian shepherd lad born near the old monastery 
 to whom as he watched his flock at night, " angels came and 
 talked with him," a legend full of material fora poet's idyl though 
 the truth is hardly less beautiful. For the shepherd lad came at 
 last to enter the Monastery of Muilros as a novice where St. Aidan 
 had been prior. None ever claimed for Cuthbert wondrous learn- 
 ing, but he had in him that which was better, " the beauty of holi- 
 ness." When the time came he went forth from the old monastery 
 as one inspired, wandering far away into mountainous regions 
 deemed almost inaccessible and by his magnetism of voice and 
 manner won the hearts and love of those wild, untamed people 
 and though he became the Prior of Muilros and Bishop of Lindis- 
 farne it is as a preacher and a missionary that his name, even now 
 after more than twelve centuries are gone, is held in loving rever- 
 ence in the " country-side " where he laboured and on the island of 
 Fame, where he died in 687. The story of his relics is a long and 
 most strange one until at last they were recovered from the Danes 
 in the XI. century still as fresh and uncorrupted as at the hour of 
 death. 
 
 By turning to September 4th of this volume the reader will find 
 another and more extended notice of this saint. 
 
 MARCH 2ist. 
 
 The Roman Church this day honours a saint who is also one 
 whose name was retained by the Reformed church, St. Benedict 
 or Bennett as he is at times called, Patriarch of the Western Monks, 
 and founder of the celebrated Benedictine Order. As the father 
 of Western monarchism and the great and durable influence he 
 exerted both in England and upon Northern Continental Europe, 
 it seems almost idle to try to sum up his history in the few lines I
 
 ST. BENEDICT 
 
 am compelled to do. He was born at Norcia in Umbria, A. D. 
 480. He began his studies at Rome but being disgusted with the 
 world resolved to leave it and went into retirement in the mountains 
 of Subiaco when he was scarcely 
 fourteen years old. There meet- 
 ing with a monk of some neigh- 
 bouring community he received 
 from him the religious habit and 
 became remarkable for austerity 
 and piety. It was on Mount 
 Cassino that he founded his first 
 monastery and bound the monks 
 by those rules which afterward 
 became so popular. It is re- 
 lated that he would often roll 
 himself in a heap of briars as a 
 means of self-mortification. St. 
 Gregory tells us that the Goths 
 set fire to his cell which burned 
 around him without doing him 
 the least hurt and that they then 
 threw him into a hot oven 
 closely stopping it up but upon 
 coming the next day they found 
 him safe neither his flesh being ST. BENEDICT. 
 
 scorched nor his clothes singed. 
 
 The early Anglo-Saxon monks led a very loose life, to apply no 
 more severe term. It was St. Dunstan who restored the strict rule 
 of St. Benedict and his Order. 
 
 MARCH 22d. 
 
 Mid-Lent Sunday or the fourth Sunday in Lent, is in England 
 universally called 
 
 " MOTHERING SUNDAY." 
 
 This title came from one of the oldest and most rigidly observed 
 of the earlier customs in England but long since obsolete though
 
 H4 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the name still clings to the day. On this day it was the custom for 
 children, no matter what their age might be to pay a formal visit 
 to their parents, but most especially the mother ; at which time 
 they carried with them a present of cakes called " Simnel Cakes," 
 and the visit was termed : " Going A-Mothering." Upon the 
 occasion the mother bestowed upon her child her blessing. The 
 genial Herrick, in a canzonet addressed to Dianeme, says : 
 
 " I'll to thee a simnel bring, 
 'Gainst thou go a-mothering ; 
 So that, when she blesses thee, 
 Half that blessing thou'lt give me." 
 
 But the use of " Simnel Cake," was not confined to this gift 
 brought to the mother of the family. It was almost a universal 
 custom to make these cakes during Lent, at Easter and Christmas. 
 They were a very rich sort of " plum-cake, with plenty of candied 
 lemon-peel and other good things " entering into their composition. 
 After they were made they were tied up in a cloth, boiled for several 
 hours then brushed over with a coating of egg and sugar and baked 
 so that when ready the outer crust was almost as hard as wood. 
 They were sold at every " Bake-Shop." It was also an old French 
 custom to make these cakes with a figure of Christ or the Virgin 
 Mary. 
 
 The name Simnel is supposed to be derived from the Latin 
 " simila," fine flour of the choicest quality. 
 
 This day is observed at Carthage in honour of St. Deogratias. 
 In 439 Genseric, the Arian King of the Vandals, captured Car- 
 thage inflicting many cruelties upon the Christians, and banished 
 their Bishop Quodvultdeus and a large number of others, and it 
 was not until 454, that another orthodox prelate was allowed in 
 Carthage. That year St. Deogratias was made Archbishop. In the 
 meantime Genseric had plundered Rome and carried off from 
 many places innumerable captives into Africa, where the Moors 
 and Vandals shared them. As soon as Deogratias was installed 
 he not only sold everything of his own but all the gold and silver 
 vessels of the church and began the redemption of these captives. 
 He also personally laboured in this humane service until 457, liter-
 
 ST. I REN jE US 145 
 
 ally worn out by his arduous work, he died, on March 22d. It 
 is for this the Church honours him to-day ; though the old Car- 
 thage Kalendars name his festival for Jannary 5th. 
 
 MARCH 23d. 
 
 The Church this day remembers St. Alphonsus Turibius, a 
 Spaniard by birth from the Kingdom of Leon. After passing 
 through the varied gradations necessary for preparing him for the 
 important position Turibius was named as Archbishop of Lima 
 and sent to Peru to care for the infant Church, then struggling 
 for existence in that far off country. His story is almost the same 
 as that of all those early labourers in the missionary fields of both 
 North and South America. Travelling on foot through trackless 
 wildernesses, suffering for food, shelter and raiment, yet always 
 without complaint or a regret for the wealth and splendour of his 
 early life until after twenty-five years of arduous work, worn out 
 in the service of Christ he died at Santa, a town distant an hun- 
 dred and ten leagues from Lima, on March 23d, 1606, at the age 
 of sixty-eight years. He was beatified by Innocent XI. in 1659 
 and canonized in 1726 by Benedict XIII., while Benedict XIV. 
 makes especial mention of many miracles wrought through his 
 intercession. 
 
 MARCH 24th 
 
 Commemorates the martyrdom of St. Irenasus, Bishop of Sirmium, 
 the capital of a part of Pannonia. It is now a village twenty-two 
 leagues from Buda in Hungary. The far reaching power of Dio- 
 clesian can hardly be better illustrated than it is by the case of Ire- 
 nasus. We are apt to think of these persecutions as confined to 
 Rome and Palestine but there was no quarter of the Roman em- 
 pire that escaped. It was so with our saint, far away in a quiet 
 hamlet teaching Christ's loved lessons and doing good to all as 
 his hands found the opportunity. His is but a repetition of the oft 
 told tale. A refusal to worship idols, a farce of a trial, condemna-
 
 146 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 tion to death. Then he was beheaded and his body thrown into 
 the river. 
 
 MARCH 25th. 
 
 THE ANNUNCIATION. 
 
 This day is held in like reverence by the Latin, Greek and Re- 
 formed Churches everywhere, as the day when the Angel brought 
 the happy tidings to the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Incarnation of 
 the Son of God as told in the Gospel of St. Luke I., 28. 
 
 The antiquity of this festival is un- 
 questioned for among the sermons of 
 St. Augustine or Austin (who died 
 August 28, 430) often called " The 
 Greatest of the Fathers," are two upon 
 this festival and in one of these he 
 says : " According to ancient tradition 
 this mystery was completed on the 
 25th of March." At least we know 
 that from the V. century this has been the date upon which the 
 solemn festival has been celebrated for Pope Gelasius I., in 492, 
 mentions the fact. The tenth council of Toledo, in 656, calls the 
 solemnity " The Festival of the Mother of God." Indeed at all 
 times and in all ages the day and the festival have been devoutly 
 reverenced by all branches of the Christian Church. 
 
 The illustration here given is the one found upon English sticks 
 to mark the day and is not intended as the attribute of the Virgin. 
 In representations of the Annunciation the Virgin Mary is shown 
 kneeling or seated at a table reading. The lily (her emblem) is 
 usually placed between her and the Angel Gabriel who holds in 
 one hand a sceptre surmounted by a fleur-de-lis on a lily stalk ; 
 generally a scroll is proceeding from his mouth with the words 
 " Ave Maria gratia plena " and sometimes the Holy Spirit is repre- 
 sented as a dove descending towards the Virgin. 
 
 In England this day is usually called " Lady Day " and in France 
 " Notre Dame de Mars."
 
 ST. LUDGER 147 
 
 MARCH 26th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Ludger, Bishop of Munster, and the Apostle 
 of Saxony. The early life of Ludger may be briefly told. Born in 
 Friesland in 743 he was the son of a nobleman of the first rank. 
 At his own request when young, he became the pupil of Gregory 
 who succeeded St. Boniface in the see of Utrecht and from him he 
 received the cleric tonsure. Readers, however, should remember 
 that this was a common custom among students at monastic 
 schools in those early days, and by no means meant that they were 
 either under holy vows or in holy orders. As an ardent student 
 and desirous of widening his education, Ludger, after leaving the 
 school of Gregory, went to the famous school at York, England, 
 then under that celebrated teacher, Alcuin. Here he spent four 
 and a half years in the then customary study of ecclesiastical litera- 
 ture and the ancient languages. Shortly after 776 he returned to 
 Utrecht and was ordained to the priesthood when Alberic, succes- 
 sor of Gregory, sent him to his native Friesland to missionate 
 among the pagans of that country ; but the ravages of the pagan 
 Saxons at length drove him out. When however, in 787 Charle- 
 magne overcame the Saxons, conquered Friesland and the coast of 
 the Germanic ocean as far as Denmark, our saint saw the way open 
 for his return to his missionary work and it was through his efforts 
 that the Saxons in Friesland and in the province of Sudergou (now 
 called Westphalia) were converted to the Christian faith. Thus he 
 was able to found the celebrated monastery of Werden in La 
 Mark, twenty-nine miles from Cologne. From this he gained the 
 title of the " Apostle of Saxony." Ludger would gladly have 
 rested at his monastery but in 802 Hildebald, Archbishop of 
 Cologne, drew him from his retirement and ordained him Bishop 
 of Mimigardeford, a city whose name was later changed to Mun- 
 ster. Five cantons of Friesland were also joined to his diocese. 
 His strict rules drew down upon him the enmity of the more 
 lax of his clergy, who brought accusations against him before the 
 Emperor Charlemagne. But he easily proved his faithfulness to 
 the church and his office. Ludger was favoured by a singularly 
 clear gift of prophecy. At a time when such an event was the
 
 148 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 last thing to be dreamed of, he foretold the invasion of the Nor- 
 mans from Denmark and Norway and of the ravages they would 
 make in the French empire. So, too, he foretold his own death on 
 March 26, 809. 
 
 MARCH 27th. 
 
 In the story of the life of the Hermit St. John of Egypt whom 
 the Church honours this day we have a picture of one of the 
 earliest of the many holy men who adopted an eremitical life ; at 
 the same time presenting some curious features. John was born 
 about 305, of a parentage from the lower class, and was a carpen- 
 ter by trade until he was twenty-five years of age. Then im- 
 pelled by a desire for a better i. e., a holier life he placed 
 himself under the guidance of a venerable anchoret who, to teach 
 him implicit obedience, imposed on him the " seemingly ridiculous 
 task of watering a dead dry stick as if it had been a living plant." 
 This Rufinus in his second book of the lives of the fathers, tells us 
 John did with fidelity and unquestioning. He lived thus with his 
 mentor for twelve years learning the lessons of humility and sub- 
 mission to God. After the old anchoret died John spent three or 
 four years in neighbouring monasteries but his love for the life of 
 a hermit had so won his heart that when he was about forty years 
 of age he selected a rock near Lycopolis and erected for himself 
 a cell. This he walled in save for one small window through 
 which he received his necessary supplies. On certain days he al- 
 lowed persons to converse with him provided they were men, as 
 he never spoke to or looked on a woman ; the rest of his time 
 was spent in prayer and devotion. 
 
 Like St. Ludger he had the gift of prophecy, though he exercised 
 it sparingly. One prophecy stands on record. Theodosius the 
 Elder was attacked by the tyrant Maximus ; emboldened by his 
 success in 383 against Gratian, in 387 dethroning Valentinian. 
 When Theodosius consulted John he prophesied his success, and 
 upon this the Emperor marched into the West, crossed the Alps 
 and took the tyrant in Aquelia, the soldiers cutting off Maximus'
 
 ST. GONTRAN 149 
 
 head. He also foretold many other events regarding the Empire 
 all of which were fulfilled. Many miraculous powers were attrib- 
 uted to him such as reading the unspoken thoughts of those who 
 came to him as was the case recorded by Dr. Butler, when, a short 
 time prior to his death, the Bishop of Helenopolis came to him. 
 
 John of Egypt died near the close of 394. " Probably," says 
 Dr. Butler, " on the xyth of October, on which day the Copths or 
 Egyptian Christians keep his festival, but Roman and other Latin 
 Martyrologies mark it on March 27th." 
 
 MARCH 28th 
 
 Is sacred in the Roman Church to St. Sixtus III., Pope, who was 
 raised to the pontifical chair in 432 and died on this day in 440. 
 
 It is also the festival of St. Gontran, king of Orleans and a grand- 
 son of Clovis I. He was especially notable for having in those 
 days when "might was right " governed his kingdom rather on 
 the principles laid down in the Gospels than by the universal 
 tyranny of his day, a man whose life and conduct kept even pace 
 with his profession as a Christian. He was very strict in punish- 
 ing offenders against the laws but to those who only offended 
 against himself he was lenient and forgiving. During his last 
 years he was almost a recluse amid the courtly pageant that 
 surrounded him, spending all the time he could take from the 
 cares of state in prayer and penance. A just and upright king 
 living in such an age deserves mention. He died on March 28, 
 593 when 68 years of age after a reign extending a little over 
 thirty-one years, and marked as one of the bright spots in early 
 French history. 
 
 To show the bitter antagonism of the Huguenots to Romanism 
 in the XVI. century it is recorded they dug up the relics of St. 
 Gontran after a peaceful rest of nearly a thousand years and 
 scattered their dust to the winds to satisfy their fury.
 
 150 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 MARCH 29th. 
 PASSION SUNDAY. 
 
 This Sunday which immediately precedes Palm Sunday is the 
 beginning of the most solemn part of the Lenten season, it being 
 that which is devoted to the commemoration of the terrible 
 sufferings which our Saviour was called upon to undergo before 
 that memorable day upon Calvary ; the Day of Days, never to be 
 forgotten by Christians. It, therefore, has been most appropriately 
 called Passion Sunday as the week is also termed Passion Week 
 though in some of the early menologies it was identified (incor- 
 rectly) with Holy Week. Among early Christians on this day 
 when in every orthodox church images of not only our Lord 
 Christ were set up, but also those of the apostles and other saintly 
 personages when these images were all invariably draped with 
 violet a custom still observed in the Roman Church reference 
 being thereby made to the words of the Gospel for this day in 
 the Liturgy of the Roman Church of John vill., 59 : " Then 
 took they up stones to cast at Him ; but Jesus hid himself, and 
 went out of the temple, going through the midst of them and so 
 passed by." It is impossible to trace the origin of this custom 
 though we know it is very ancient. 
 
 In connection with the celebration of Passion Sunday and Pas- 
 sion Week it may not be uninteresting to speak of a few of the 
 emblems used by the early Christians to designate the Passion of 
 Our Lord. 
 
 These are very numerous. In my own limited collection I have 
 fully fifty combinations. As an illustration ; in the celebration of 
 the " Mass of St. Gregory " in olden days it was customary to dis- 
 play upon the altar of the church " The Cross, the Three Nails, 
 the Spear, the Sponge, the Pillar and Cords, the two Scourges, the 
 three Dice, the Thirty Pieces of Silver, the Hammer and Pincers, 
 the Ladder, the Sword, the Lantern and the three boxes of Spice 
 for embalming." (From " Die Attribute der Hallingen," Hanover, 
 1843). While the crosses used varied in form it is a fact worthy 
 of notice that on them there was found no direct allusion to the 
 Crucifixion or among them anything akin to what we now call
 
 EMBLEMS OF PASSION 151 
 
 " a Crucifix." There have been many explanations of this marked 
 omission, the most satisfactory being that the presenting of our 
 Saviour as crucified would have given the pagans an opportunity 
 to taunt the Christians. Whatever may have been the reason, it 
 is authoritatively stated that prior to the VI. century no example 
 of the crucifix had been discovered save in one 
 single instance and that even in the VIII. cen- 
 tury these examples are rare, but in the Middle 
 Ages they became frequent. 
 
 The first of the emblems of Christ's Passion 
 are the two swords, that of the Apostle and of 
 St. Peter, in form usually as in the illustration. 
 In many early paintings the Ear of Malchus is also shown. 
 
 These shields are copied from the " Poppyheads " in Cumnor 
 Church, Berk's, England, XIV. century edifice, showing the 
 
 Hammer, Nails and 
 Pincers in the first, 
 the Five Wounds 
 in the second, the Lad- 
 der, Spear and Reed 
 with a Sponge in the third, and the Purse, Cock and seamless gar- 
 ment in the fourth. 
 
 " The Agony " is usually illustrated 
 by a chalice from which a cross is 
 seen to rise. This cross is always the 
 Latin Cross, the recognized " Cross 
 of Suffering," though some artists 
 use the cup with a contraction of the I. H. C, 
 in place of the cross as the emblem of " The 
 Agony." 
 
 The Betrayal of Jesus Christ is represented 
 by eight emblems, always, however, used in 
 combination, viz., the Sword, the Club, the 
 Torch, the Lantern, the Ear, the Cords, the 
 Thirty Pieces of Silver and the Head of Judas. 
 Only five of these are usually combined or to 
 i suit artistic taste, frequently but two as in 
 
 t
 
 152 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 illustration, of the Head of Judas and the Thirty Pieces of Silver 
 arranged around it. 
 
 The emblems of Our Lord's Condemnation in the Common Hall 
 are divided into seven numbers to separately tell of His great suf- 
 
 fering. They consist of the Ewer and Basin used by Pilate, the 
 Rope and the Pillar to which Christ was bound, the Scourge, the 
 Scarlet or Purple Robe, the Crown of Thorns and the Reed. 
 Separate combinations rule in the use of these as shown in the two 
 illustrations given below which my readers can easily interpret for 
 themselves. Yet quite often these emblems are used singly 
 
 though it is seldom in art that we find the same implement repre- 
 sented twice in the same form, as in the case of the scourge in 
 illustration, the two being taken from different pictures. It should 
 also be remembered that the chances are but slender that any of
 
 PATRON SAINTS 
 
 153 
 
 these are accurate illustrations of the implements used at the time 
 our Lord suffered but that in each case the form is doubtless the 
 artist's own conception derived perhaps 
 from some description he may have seen 
 of the article. 
 
 PATRON SAINTS OF COUNTRIES, 
 CITIES, ETC. 
 
 I have several times been asked to give 
 a list of the Patron Saints of Countries, 
 Cities, Trades, etc. I do it now as briefly as possible and by no 
 means complete as the list is almost endless. First, as to countries, 
 England had St. George ; Scotland, St. Andrew ; Ireland, St. 
 Patrick ; Wales, St. David ; France, St. Dennis and (in a less 
 degree) St. Michael ; Spain, St. James (Jago) ; Portugal, St. 
 Sebastian ; Italy, St. Anthony ; Sardinia, St. Mary ; Switzerland, 
 St. Gall and the Virgin Mary ; Germany, St. Martin, St. Boniface 
 and St. George Cataphractus ; Hungary, St. Mary of Aquisgrana 
 and St. Lewis ; Bohemia, St. Winceslaus ; Austria, St. Colman 
 and St. Leopold ; Flanders, St. Peter ; Holland, St. Mary ; Den- 
 mark, St. Anscharius and St. Canute ; Sweden, St. Anscharius, 
 St. Eric and St. John ; Norway, St. Olaus and St. Anscharius ; 
 Poland, St. Stanislaus and St. Hederiga ; Prussia, St. Andrew 
 and St. Albert ; Russia, St. Nicholas, St. Mary and St. Andrew. 
 Then as to cities, Edinburgh had St. Giles, Aberdeen St. Nicholas, 
 and Glasgow St. Mungo ; Oxford had St. Frideswide ; Paris, St. 
 Genevieve ; Rome, St. Peter and St. Paul ; Venice, St. Mark ; 
 Naples, St. Januarius and St. Thomas Aquinas; Lisbon, St. 
 Vincent ; Brussels, St. Mary and St. Gudula ; Vienna, St. 
 Stephen ; Cologne, the three kings, with St. Ursula and the 
 eleven thousand virgins. To give an entire list of these would 
 include almost every town in Continental Europe. 
 
 St. Agatha presides over nurses. St. Catherine and St. Gregory 
 are the patrons of literati and studious persons ; St. Catherine also 
 presides over the arts. St. Christopher and St. Nicholas preside 
 over mariners. St. Cecilia is the patroness of musicians. St. Cos-
 
 154 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 mas and St. Damian are the patrons of physicians and surgeons, 
 also of philosophers. St. Dismas and St. Nicholas preside over 
 thieves; St. Eustace and St. Hubert over hunters; St. Felicitas 
 over young children. St. Julian is the patron of pilgrims. St. 
 Leonard and St. Barbara protect captives. St; Luke is the patron 
 of painters. St. Martin and St. Urban preside over tipsy people, 
 to save them from falling into the kennel. Fools have a tutelar 
 saint in St. Mathurin, archers in St. Sebastian, divines in St. 
 Thomas, and lovers in St. Valentine. St. Thomas a Becket presides 
 over blind men, eunuchs and sinners. St. Winifred over virgins, 
 and St. Yves over lawyers and civilians. St. Aethelbert and St. 
 Aelian were invoked against thieves. 
 
 Of trades and various occupations in life, St. Joseph naturally 
 presided over carpenters, St. Peter over fishmongers, and St. Cris- 
 pin over shoemakers. St. Arnold was the patron of millers, St. 
 Clement of tanners, St. Eloy of smiths, St. Goodman of tailors, St. 
 Florian of mercers, St. John Port-Latin of booksellers, St. Louis of 
 periwig-makers, St. Seveurs of fullers, St. Wilfried of bakers, St. 
 William of hatters, and St. Windeline of shepherds. The name of 
 St. Cloud obviously made him the patron saint of nailsmiths ; St. 
 Sebastian became that of pinmakers, from his having been stuck 
 over with arrows; and St. Anthony necessarily was adopted by 
 swineherds, in consequence of the legend about his pigs. It is not 
 easy, however, to see how St. Nicholas came to be the presiding 
 genius of parish clerks, or how the innocent and useful fraternity 
 of potters obtained so alarming a saint as " St. Gore with a pot 
 in his hand and the devil on his shoulder." 
 
 In the old superstitious days there was another class of saints 
 termed medicating saints, whose power to heal disease was re- 
 garded as unquestioned, provided, always, the saint " was will- 
 ing." This list is so long I can name but a few : 
 
 St. Apolin, for aching or decayed teeth ; St. Otilia, for sore eyes 
 and other ophthalmic troubles ; St. Rooke, for safety from plague 
 and infectious diseases ; St. Vitus, for nervous troubles ; St. 
 Erasums heals colic and kindred trouble ; St. Blase, quinsy ; St. 
 Leonard is the patron of prisoners, with power to free them ; St. 
 Perne cured quartan ague ; St. Mark, from sudden and unexpected
 
 PALM SUNDAY 155 
 
 death ; St. Anne, as she so wished, could give wealth to all ; St. 
 Susan protected all children from reproach and infamy ; St. 
 Romanus drove away sprites and milled devils ; St. Wolfgang 
 healed the good and kept sheep and oxen fat ; St. Anthony did the 
 same for hogs ; St. Gertrude rid the house of mice and rats ; St. 
 Nicholas was the patron of sailors ; St. Agatha preserved the house 
 from fire. Nor does this list name even a tithe of this class of 
 saints. 
 
 All saints are in a certain sense " Patron Saints," either as pro- 
 tectors of some particular nation, province or city, or of some 
 avocation, trade or condition of life, or possibly of some individ- 
 ual selected by him for some peculiar reason. But there is a vast 
 difference to be drawn between merely local saints and those of a 
 nation universally accepted and revered. Again, not a few of these 
 patron saints had neither Scriptural nor Apostolic sanction but 
 were invested as such by a popular and universal faith which 
 became paramount to other authority. 
 
 Many of these saints like St. George of England were patrons of 
 both the Greeks and of chivalry from the Euphrates to the Pillars 
 of Hercules. So, too, even the great patron saints had many 
 minor powers tacked on to them, as for example St. Gregory was 
 supposed to make children learn their lessons when invoked, and 
 St. Christopher to keep servants in order. Thus the list is almost 
 endless, and I must desist from recounting them. 
 
 The Sunday which immediately precedes Easter is 
 
 PALM SUNDAY. 
 
 The canonical colour for this day and each day during the week 
 is violet. 
 
 This is one of the most sacred days of the entire Kalendar of 
 the Christian Church. Nor is this feeling confined to the Roman 
 Church, but it finds expression in the Greek and the Reformed 
 Protestant churches of England and America, and even in modern 
 days among many of the so-called dissenting churches of the
 
 156 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Protestant faith, since it commemorates that one day of brief 
 popular enthusiasm enjoyed by our Lord, as recorded in the 
 Gospels of Matthew (xxi.), Mark (XI.), and Luke (xix.), but 
 more especially in John (xn., 13) when the people " took branches 
 of palm trees and went forth to meet Him and cried Hosanna ! 
 Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord." 
 
 HISTORICAL. 
 
 The "Procession of Palms" was customary in Jerusalem as 
 early as 386 when the first mention is made of it, in the life of 
 Euthymius who died in 472 and thence it passed to other 
 churches of the East, soon afterward to those of the West as 
 attested to by Isidore of Seville, who died in 636. 
 
 The custom of " Blessing of the Palms," hardly antedates the 
 VIII. century ; but its exact date is far too uncertain for me to 
 attempt to fix it except in the above indefinite manner the VIII. 
 century when it was everywhere observed. 
 
 The custom of reading one or more accounts of the Passion of 
 our Saviour, as part of the regular service of the day, as told by 
 the Evangelists, dates from the IV. century and beyond doubt its 
 observance is coeval with that of the celebration of Palm Sunday, 
 as it is first mentioned as occurring in Jerusalem. That portion 
 preferring to the capture of Jesus by the soldiers in Gethsemane 
 was read on the night before "Good Friday." Can any one 
 imagine a more solemn ceremony than such an one as this in the 
 silent gloaming of the oncoming night, at the very spot where the 
 act transpired, and told of the holy zeal of those who partici- 
 pated in it. Later on during the same night in the Church of the 
 Holy Cross the story of the trial of Christ before Pilate was read ; 
 but those graphic accounts of that last wondrous scene on Cal- 
 vary were reserved to be read in solemn silence on Good Friday 
 at the morning service, while at the evening service the account of 
 Christ's burial was given. In a sermon of St. Augustine (born 
 354, died 439), he says that he found it customary in Africa to
 
 HOLY WEEK 157 
 
 read on one day in Holy Week the account of our Lord's 
 betrayal, trial and crucifixion as given by St. Matthew and that 
 his (St. Augustine's) ordinance to have the reading from the four 
 Gospels occasioned considerable displeasure among the people. 
 Since the VIII. century the Roman Church has observed the fol- 
 lowing order in regard to reading, beginning on Palm Sunday, the 
 account as given by Matthew is read ; on Tuesday, that of Mark ; 
 on Wednesday, Luke, and on Good Friday John's version of the 
 wondrous story. 
 
 Prior to the Reformation, Palm Sunday was observed in Eng- 
 land by the most elaborate services. The flowers and branches 
 designed for use by the clergy were placed upon the high altar, 
 those for the laity upon the south step of the altar. The priest 
 arrayed in a red cope then consecrated them by a prayer that 
 began with these words : " I conjure thee, these creatures of 
 flowers and branches, in the name of God, the Father," etc. 
 Later in the same prayer the blessing of God is invoked : " that 
 the truth may sanctify these creatures of flowers, branches and 
 slips of palms, or boughs of trees which we offer." After the 
 flowers, etc., had been fumed with " frankincense " and sprinkled 
 with holy water they were distributed and the procession headed 
 by two priests bearing the crucifix marched through the streets 
 and on their return to the church " a solemn Mass was said, com- 
 munion given to the clergy, and the branches and flowers laid 
 upon the high altar, as an offering." Of the many other customs 
 that obtained in some places like the " Procession of the Ass," in 
 which our Saviour's entry into Jerusalem was depicted in a real- 
 istic and reverent manner, I cannot enter into any detailed 
 descriptions ; but they are to be read in many books on " Early 
 English Customs." 
 
 HOLY WEEK. 
 
 This ever memorable week in the Christian Church, has been 
 the theme upon which many eminent writers, both among the 
 " Ancient Fathers of the Church " and antiquarians of every age
 
 158 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 who have spoken of it under a variety of names such as " The 
 Great Week," " The Week of the Holy Passion," " The Week of 
 Forgiveness," as well as " The Holy Week." Irensus, the Greek 
 Bishop of Lyons, and a most celebrated writer on ecclesiastical 
 matters, who was born in 140 and died in 202, was one of these. 
 While Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, and a celebrated historian 
 who was born in 270 and died 338, from his writings shows he 
 regarded the observance of this week as one that dated from 
 Apostolic days. 
 
 In the Eastern church in primitive times each day of Holy 
 Week was one of " strict, rigid fasting." In the "Apostolic Con- 
 stitution " a very ancient Christian work it was prescribed 
 that only " bread, salt, vegetables and water " should be eaten 
 during the entire period of Holy Week. St. Epiphanius also 
 declares that during those six days the faithful should observe 
 the " Xerophagie " that is, to use " bread, salt and water," and 
 these to be taken only at evening: while St. Dionysius, Archbishop 
 of Alexandria (died November 17, 265), states that it was usual 
 in his time to abstain wholly from food of any kind during the 
 last two days of Holy Week, viz : Good Friday and Holy Satur- 
 day. But this strict fast was not observed as universally in the 
 Western church. 
 
 In the Roman Church each day of this week has its especial 
 office, as is true of the Church of England and the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of America. 
 
 Those of my readers who are interested in regard to these 
 ceremonies of the Roman Church will find them fully and cor- 
 rectly described in " The Ceremonies of Holy Week in Rome," 
 by Rt. Rev. Montague Baggs, published 1854. 
 
 MAUNDV THURSDAY. 
 
 In the earlier days of the Church the Thursday preceding Good 
 Friday was always marked by especial acts of humility by Chris- 
 tians, in imitation of Christ's lesson, taught by the washing of the 
 feet of His disciples on the eve of His passion. These acts of
 
 MAUNDAY THURSDAY 
 
 159 
 
 humility most naturally took the form of charity done by " one's 
 own hand " not relegated to others : 
 
 " And here the monks their Maundies make with sundry solemn 
 
 rites, 
 
 And signs of great humility, and wondrous pleasant sights ; 
 ******* 
 
 As he himself a servant made, to serve us every way, 
 
 Then straight the loaves do walk, and pots in every place they 
 
 skink,* 
 Wherewith the holy fathers, oft to pleasant damsels drink." 
 
 wrote Neogeorgus, in his " Popish Kingdom," as translated by 
 Googe. 
 
 Again in an old history we read of Cardinal Wolsey, who at 
 Peterborough Abbey, in 1 580 : " made his Maundy, in Our Lady's 
 chapel," etc., after which follows a description of his washing the 
 feet of fifty-nine men and what his doles consisted of. By a natu- 
 ral sequence thus the word Maund and Maundy came to signify 
 the articles given as well as the day and thus from its Maunds 
 came to be commonly termed " Maundy Thursday." It also had 
 in England still another title, " Shere Thursday" derived from the 
 custom observed by the monks of shearing " their hair on this 
 day." But throughout 
 Catholic Europe, the 
 day has ever been 
 known as " Holy 
 Thursday." Even as 
 late as 1843 Maundy 
 money was coined for 
 English royalty's use 
 on this day as shown 
 in the accompanying 
 illustration. But I 
 may not take further space for an almost endless variety of customs 
 connected with this day, both in England and upon the Continent, 
 especially at Rome where " The Blessing of the Oils," " The 
 Silencing of the Bells of Sistine Chapel," " The Feet Washing at 
 
 *draw.
 
 160 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Peter's," " The Pope Serving at Supper," " The Grand Peni- 
 tentiary," and other solemn ceremonies are observed. 
 
 GOOD FRIDAY. 
 
 A day which beyond question has been observed by Christians 
 of every shade of faith and doctrine since the Apostolic days ; 
 nothing need or can be said here to testify to the- holy sanctity in 
 which the day has always been held. 
 
 GOOD FRIDAY IN ROME. 
 
 At Rome the services in the churches on Good Friday are of 
 the same solemn character as on the preceding day. At the 
 Sistine Chapel, the yellow colour of the candles and torches, 
 coupled with the nakedness of the Pope's throne and of the 
 other seats, denote the desolation of the church. The cardinals 
 do not wear their rings and their dress is of purple which is their 
 mourning colour ; in like manner nor do the bishops wear rings, 
 and their stockings are black. The mace, as well as the soldier's 
 arms are reversed. The Pope is habited in a red cope while 
 he neither wears his ring nor gives his blessing. A sermon is 
 preached by a conventual friar. Among other ceremonies the 
 crucifix is partially unveiled and kissed by the Pope, whose shoes 
 are taken off on approaching to do this homage. A procession 
 takes place (across a vestibule) to the Paolina Chapel where Mass 
 is celebrated by the Great Penitentiary. In the afternoon the last 
 Miserere is chanted in the Sistine Chapel. After the Miserere 
 the Pope, cardinals and other clergy, proceed through a covered 
 passage to St. Peter's in order to venerate the relics of the True 
 Cross, the Lance, and the Volto Santo, which are shown by the 
 canons from the balcony above the statue of St. Veronica. 
 
 Taking up the story of the emblems of the Passion where they 
 ended we begin with that for Good Friday the Holy Cross ; or 
 according to the period the Crucifix. Whether the T (tau) cross
 
 HOLY SATURDAY 
 
 161 
 
 is used on this day, or the Latin, it is imperative that it must be 
 either red or green. 
 
 In art like all the emblems of the Pas- 
 sion, artistic taste and the nature of the 
 picture have much to do with the fact of 
 whether some single emblem or a com- 
 bination of those especially connected 
 with the crucifixion of our Saviour are 
 used. These combinations are varied. 
 In the first of the illustrations given 
 here, we have the Cross, the Spear, the 
 Sponge on the Reed the Hammer, 
 the Nails, the Pincers and the Inscription I N R I : " Jesus 
 Nasareus Rex Judaecorum," and is more elaborate than is usually 
 to be found. It dates from the (so-called) 
 
 /\ ^L^^ S\ I Renaissance of art ; but I am unable to 
 '^ "^ ^^ ' fix its exact year. Many others of a far 
 earlier date are found ; one from the cata- 
 combs near Rome of the Crown of Thorns 
 and Three Nails ; and 
 one with the seamless 
 garment hanging on \_ 
 the cross, with the ". 
 Dice in the angles and 
 in the foot of the cross. But more ancient than any of these is 
 that of the Pelican, shedding its blood for its young. 
 
 HOLY SATURDAY. 
 
 The " Silencing of the Bells " on Holy Thursday is followed on 
 this day by a renewal of their use. 
 
 On the reading of a particular passage in the service of the 
 Sistine Chapel, which takes place about half-past eleven o'clock, 
 the bells of St. Peter's are rung, the guns of St. Angelo are fired, 
 and all the bells in the city immediately break forth as if rejoicing 
 in their renewed liberty of ringing. This day at St. Peter's, the
 
 i62 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 only ceremony that need be noticed is the blessing of the fire and 
 the paschal candle. For this purpose, new fire (as it is called), is 
 employed. At the beginning of Mass a light, from which the 
 candles and the charcoal for the incense is enkindled, is struck 
 from a flint in the sacristy, where the chief sacristan privately 
 blesses the water, the fire, and the five grains of incense which are 
 to be fixed in the paschal candle. Formerly, all the fires in Rome 
 were alighted anew from this holy fire but this is now naturally 
 impossible and is no longer even thought of. After the service 
 the cardinal vicar proceeds to the baptistry of St. Peter's where 
 having blessed and exorcised the water for baptism and dipped 
 into it the paschal candle, he concludes by sprinkling some of the 
 water on the people. Catechumens are afterwards baptised and 
 deacons and priests are ordained and the tonsure is given. 
 
 EASTER. 
 
 The Christian Church has from its earliest days celebrated 
 three great festivals : Christmas, Whitsuntide and this queen of 
 festivals Easter. In primitive times upon the morning of this 
 joyous day when Christians met they saluted each other by 
 exclaiming " Christ is risen ! " to which the friend would reply, 
 " Christ is risen, indeed ! " Often adding " And hath appeared 
 unto Simon." This beautiful custom was once common among 
 all Christians but is now almost obsolete save that in the East it 
 is still retained by members of the Greek church. 
 
 There is an opinion even now widely held by many Christians 
 of divers creeds, that the Holy Apostles ordained the anniversa- 
 ries of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord, and 
 the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, and 
 therefore it may not be improbable that they also ordained the 
 celebration of Easter. On one point all churchmen agree that 
 the observance of the day of the " taking away of the Bride- 
 groom " was kept from the earliest times with extraordinary 
 humiliation and sanctity, with the strictest fasting and fervent 
 prayer. It therefore was but natural that the fulfilment of their
 
 EASTER 163 
 
 ardent hope, that culminated in Christ's wonderful resurrection 
 from the dead, when hope became certainty, would be observed 
 with reverent but joyous ceremonies. What form those glad 
 ceremonies took on none now knows ; we can only imagine them. 
 In later times we know how elaborate they became. 
 
 With that tendency to realism which is so marked in the 
 Miracle plays of the early drama, which illustrated scriptural leg- 
 ends and the suffering of the martyrs the forerunner of the 
 modern drama we can easily understand why in not a few of 
 the oldest churches in England and on the Continent they erected 
 in the church edifice what was then called a " Holy Sepulchre," 
 or tomb, near the altar and which at Easter-tide was the centre 
 of attraction in the Easter ceremonies. These were of wood or 
 stone not a few of the later being even now preserved 
 supposed to represent the tomb where Joseph of Arimathea 
 laid our Lord. Some like that at Heckington in Lincolnshire 
 in England (still preserved) are very elaborate. This one just 
 named has carved figures of the Roman soldiers either on guard, 
 watching, or " the relief " sleeping around the tomb. More com- 
 monly, however, these " Easter sepulchres " were only " sepul- 
 chral recesses" in the wall by the side of the chancel near the 
 altar ; but not a few of these were real tombs. Before these 
 tombs from Good Friday till the dawn of Easter when the 
 choir broke forth in that glad anthem " Christ is Risen" a 
 watch was kept and the " sepulchral or paschal light " was 
 burned and the guard maintained with military exactitude. Prior 
 to the Reformation this custom was invariable in all churches and 
 even after that the custom was still kept up in not a few 
 " Reformed " churches, but like many another old-time ceremony, 
 it passed into desuetude even among those who had remained 
 faithful to the elder church. 
 
 With the advent of Easter Day the church services began, 
 varied in some respects according to locality I refer to the 
 Reformed church, for those of the elder church were invariable, 
 and continued until vespers. 
 
 In the East the name first given to this festival was "the 
 paschal feast," because it was kept at the same time as the
 
 1 64 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Pascha, or Jewish Passover. In the sixth Ancyran Canon it is 
 called the " Great Day." Just how the festival derived its name 
 Easter is a mooted point not likely to be settled in our day. 
 Some suppose it was derived from the name of the Saxon goddess 
 Eostre whose feast was celebrated in the spring about the same 
 time when the Christian festival was observed and that while the 
 character of the ceremonies was wholly changed, the name was 
 retained from prudential reasons. Others believe the name was 
 derived from the word "Oster" which means "rising." The 
 question is one which has been so often and strenuously discussed 
 that no possible good can come from entering upon it here. 
 
 The feast of Easter is one of those known in ecclesiastical par- 
 lance as one of the "movable feasts." While there never has 
 been any question as to the perfect propriety of its celebration 
 and but slight difference as to the character of its observance, as 
 early as the II. century of the Christian era very great diversity 
 of opinion rose as to the proper time when its celebration should 
 take place. 
 
 In the churches of Asia Minor there were many "Judaizing 
 Christians " who kept the paschal feast on the same day when 
 the Jews kept their Passover, that being on the I4th of Nisan, the 
 Jewish month corresponding with our March and April. The 
 churches of the West knowing that the resurrection of our Lord 
 took place on Sunday, and in order to more effectually distinguish 
 their paschal feast from the Jewish Passover, observed it on the 
 Sunday following the i4th of Nisan. Polycarp, the venerable 
 Bishop of Smyrna, who had celebrated the feast with St. John on 
 the I4th of Nisan pleaded that this proved that day to be the cor- 
 rect one, while Anicetus, Bishop of Rome, adduced the practice 
 of SS. Peter and Paul of observing it on the Sunday after the 
 I4th of Nisan. This was about A. D. 158. 
 
 The controversy was a long and heated one since neither 
 party would grant any concessions to the other. Early in the 
 IV. century the matter had assumed such importance that the 
 Emperor Constantine felt it his duty to have the controversy set- 
 tled so as to insure uniformity of practice in the future by both 
 branches of the church. After a long and tedious consideration
 
 EASTER EM BLEMS 
 
 165 
 
 of the whole subject the great (Ecumenical Council of Nice (A. 
 D. 325) decided the question and laid down the rules to govern 
 the fixing of Easter by directing "that the 2ist day of March 
 should be accounted the vernal equinox. That the full moon 
 happening upon or next after the 2ist of March shall be taken 
 for the full moon of Nisan." 
 
 " That the Lord's Day next following first full moon shall be 
 Easter Day." 
 
 " But if the full moon happens on Sunday Easter Day shall be 
 the Sunday after." 
 
 This is the rule now observed. But it was long after the 
 canon of the Council of Nice was decreed before it was en- 
 tirely effective, for the history of the Irish Church and conse- 
 quently of the Church in Scotland that as late as the VI. century 
 they were still in opposition to the canon, a fact which proves 
 how deep and strong the feelings of churchmen had been. 
 
 There have been a number of symbols for 
 the resurrection of our Lord such as the 
 Lion, Phoenix and Peacock, but the one 
 above all others universally recognised is 
 that which is known in Christian art and 
 iconography as " The Resurrection Cross," a 
 cross that differs from all others of the large 
 number as the illustrations here show it. 
 It is this cross that Christ holds when rep- 
 resented in Christian art as a symbol both 
 when rising from the tomb and in His glori- 
 ous ascension into Heaven. It is no longer 
 the tree of suffering but it has become a 
 staff, and those sharp pointed ends to its 
 arms that told of suffering now terminate in balls, or circles 
 like those in that form of the cross known as " The Cross 
 Pomme." It is the form of cross almost invariably borne by the 
 Agnus Dei, and the only one recognized in art as correct, and 
 we find it even on the Clog Almanac as shown in the illustration 
 herewith. It is in fact the Cross Triumphant and therefore, the 
 proper symbol of Easter. It may be either white, silver (repre-
 
 1 66 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 seating white), gold, or bright yellow, since white is the emblem 
 of purity, innocence, faith, joy, life and light. While yellow 
 (pure) and gold signify God's goodness 
 and also faith. A dull or dingy yellow 
 being on the contrary symbolical of faith- 
 lessness, deceit and evil. It is for this 
 reason Judas is almost always repre- 
 sented in art clad in dirty yellow. 
 
 For the same reasons the canonical 
 colours for the altar upon Easter Day are 
 white, gold or yellow. Indeed the sym- 
 bolism of colours for all holy days as 
 recognised by the Church offers a beauti- 
 ful lesson for those who can read it. 
 
 As might be naturally expected Easter Day at Rome is an 
 event once seen will never be forgotten. It is a full half cen- 
 tury since such was my privilege ; but the magnificent solemnity 
 of that Easter at St. Peter's lingers in my memory more vividly 
 than any of the many, perhaps more gorgeous pageants, it has 
 fallen to my lot to witness. Of course the magnificent old basilica 
 was in holiday attire. The altars decked in fresh rich embroideries 
 wonderful to behold ; the lights around the tomb and figures of St. 
 Peter after their temporary extinction were once more ablaze in full 
 glory, and the music beyond compare ravishing; while the Pope 
 who had been brought in, in state, officiated at high mass at the 
 altar ; but all these externals were forgotten in the solemn gran- 
 deur of the service. Even the Pope seated in his Sedia Gesta- 
 toria, with his vestments blazing in gold and his triple crown 
 typical of spiritual power, temporal power and the union of the 
 two and the wonderful flabelli (huge fans composed of ostrich 
 feathers, in which are set the eye-like parts of peacock feathers to 
 signify the eyes or vigilance of the church) all fade for the 
 moment from sight and mind amid the sanctity of the ceremonies. 
 We entered the sacred place amid the boom of cannons from the 
 castle of St. Angelo to witness a pageant, but left it in reverent 
 silence after the impressive services. 
 
 An interesting story might well be added here if space were
 
 EASTER CUSTOMS 167 
 
 allowed regarding Easter customs in olden days in every country 
 in Europe from those sweet-voiced singers which wake the trav- 
 eller in the Tyrol on Easter morning to the games on some Eng- 
 lish village green. But it would fill a volume. Everywhere one 
 feature is in evidence, the " pace," or " pascho," eggs, typical of 
 both the mysterious birth and resurrection of our Lord. In no 
 two countries exactly the same yet in their gorgeous colouring all 
 are alike ; a unique feature in Tyrol being the addition of original 
 mottoes written upon the shell, each being of an individual char- 
 acter to fit the relations between donor and recipient. Especial 
 dishes supposed to be peculiarly fitting for the day are also found 
 in many countries, as in England tansy cakes, and puddings mark 
 the Easter feast. 
 
 With Easter Monday in earlier days in England there began a 
 variety of rather rough games in which all partook, one being 
 what was called "lifting" of the men by the women, a compli- 
 ment that was repaid by the men who on Tuesday " lifted" the 
 women. The process being for two men or women to make 
 what children call " a chair " by crossing hands, into which the 
 victim was lifted by others and carried to the village green, when 
 he, or she, had " to pay the carriage " as they termed it, a forfeit 
 which those gathered there decided. 
 
 Since Easter is a movable feast and therefore no fixed date can 
 be assigned it and the holy days that precede it, I have chosen 
 to interpolate their stories at this point near the close of the month 
 of March. I therefore resume the Kalendar of the Saints which 
 the Christian Church has chosen to honour on 
 
 MARCH 29th. 
 
 Among the names mentioned this day is one St. Mark, a Greek 
 whose name while it appears in all the Greek menologies, I do 
 not find in either Roman Martyrology or in the Kalendar of the 
 Reformed church. Yet his authenticated story reveals so truly 
 the character of Julian (the Apostate) that I select it from others 
 for this day.
 
 i68 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 When Constantius put to death his uncle, Julius Constantius, 
 the brother of Constantine " The Great " together with his eldest 
 son, the two younger ones, Gallus and Julian, narrowly escaped 
 the same fate. It was then that Mark, who had known these 
 lads, with his instinctive dread of cruelty and bloodshed had 
 succored and concealed them till their danger was over. 
 
 Ad interim, at the request of Constantius, and doubtless in full 
 accord with his own feelings, Mark had razed a magnificent temple 
 of the heathen ; one held in especial reverence by the idolaters 
 and on its site erected a Christian church. 
 
 When at length Julian became the Emperor the story needs no 
 repetition here of how he decreed that the temples which the 
 Christians had destroyed should be rebuilt at their expense. 
 Thus authorised the heathen once more set out for revenge upon 
 the Christians. How vindictive, historical readers know too well 
 to repeat here that sad story. For the time Mark with prudence 
 hid himself. But when he found that his brethern " in Christ " 
 were being made to suffer for his own acts he promptly came to 
 the front, throwing off all efforts to conceal his individual respon- 
 sibility to shield himself thus at the cost of others. 
 
 One shudders at the torments these fiends inflicted upon him 
 without thought or compassion and I hesitate to record even a 
 few of these indignities. How they stripped him naked and cast 
 him into the public jakes (cesspool), from which they drew him 
 only to add to his torment the scourge and later, after smearing 
 him with honey, to confine him in an open iron cage to be at the 
 mercy of flies and wasps on a hot, midsummer day when helpless 
 because of his shackled hands to defend himself in any way 
 from these pests. The Arch-fiend could hardly have invented a 
 greater torment. And all this that, under an edict of Julian they 
 might exact from him something that he could not do even had 
 he wished ; to rebuild the pagan temple which under orders, he 
 had destroyed ; or that he would be bound to make his fellow 
 Christians do so. Yet this Julian whom he had succored and 
 saved from death, refused to interfere or in any way alleviate his 
 suffering. Throughout it all Mark had borne himself so meekly 
 and without even a plea for leniency that at last the brutes them-
 
 S T. J O H N C L I M A C U S 169 
 
 selves were struck with admiration and relented even while he 
 was still preaching to them the words of Christ. By common 
 consent at last Mark was liberated on a pledge of a nominal pay- 
 ment for his act. To even this, he protested that it was " im- 
 piety ; " but some of the faithful of " Arethusa " came to his 
 rescue and the remainder of his life was spent in still teaching the 
 religion that had enabled him to bear such trials and he died in 
 peace in this same city about the middle of the IV. century. 
 
 Beyond doubt, the " Semi-Arian " doctrines he held had rend- 
 ered him somewhat obnoxious to the Orthodox and Catholic 
 Churchmen. But the encomiums paid to his memory by SS. 
 Gregory Nazianzin, Theodore and Sozomen, when at the last he 
 came into the Orthodox communion are ample evidence of the 
 purity of purpose of this noted Greek to entitle him to a high 
 place in the esteem of all Christians. 
 
 MARCH 
 
 St. John Climacus, whom the Church honours this day was 
 born in Palestine about 525. He received his surname from a 
 most remarkable book entitled " The Climax " or the " The Ladder 
 of Perfection " which it is said is still extant but where I am 
 unable to learn. At a very early age he was given the surname 
 of " Scholastic " for his remarkable attainments. While he 
 renounced the world and became a novice at the age of sixteen, 
 his education was at a hermitage, an " afranage " to some of the 
 many monasteries that had already been built on the summit 
 of Mt. Sinai, under the care of an ancient anchorite named Mar- 
 tyrius, where he remained for nineteen years until the death of 
 his tutor in 560. Like so many of the holy men of the early 
 Church the attractions of an eremitical life were too great for him, 
 and after the death of his loved mentor he built for himself a cell 
 in the plain of Thole at the foot of Mt. Sinai and five miles from 
 the church which had been erected by order of Emperor Justinian
 
 1 70 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 in honour of the Blessed Virgin. Here he spent his days in 
 prayer and the s'tudy of the Scriptures as expounded by the 
 Fathers, and became one of the most learned of the Doctors of 
 the Church. Here he remained until the year 600 when he was 
 chosen as Abbot of the Monks of Mt. Sinai. His legend tells 
 how like a second Elias, during a period of great drouth he by 
 earnest prayer secured for the famine stricken districts an abun- 
 dant rain, and thus saved the country from certain starvation. 
 He built a hospital for the use of pilgrims, and St. Gregory the 
 Great, then upon the Pontifical throne aided him with gifts of 
 money and furniture. It was here that he wrote the celebrated 
 book above mentioned. The burden of his office at the end of 
 four years caused him to resign his dignity and retire once more 
 to his hermitage where he died the next year (March 30, 605) at 
 the ripe age of four-score years. 
 
 MARCH 
 
 Isdegerdes, the son of Sapor III., put an end to the cruel 
 persecution Sapor II. had instituted against the Christians of 
 Persia. For twelve years the Church enjoyed immunity until 
 in 420, a Christian bishop named Abdas with " indiscreet " zeal 
 caused the destruction of the Pyraeum (temple of fire) of the 
 great divinity of Persia. Thus Isdegerdes' anger was roused and 
 he threatened to destroy all the Christian churches in Persia, un- 
 less the temple were rebuilt, a thing which was not done and Isde- 
 gerdes literally carried out his threat, also putting Abdas to death. 
 Isdegerdes died the next year but the general persecution he 
 began against all Christians was kept up by his son Varanes and 
 continued for forty years as the penalty of Abdas' work. 
 
 It was then that St. Benjamin, a deacon whose name appears on 
 this day, arose in defence of his fellow Christians. It is only the 
 old, old story, so often told of these noble champions of Christ's 
 faith. So I need hardly repeat the cruel details. How he could 
 have " saved himself " by renouncing his belief. But the heroic 
 question which he put to the king, when brought before him, is
 
 ST. BENJ AM IN 171 
 
 one not to be forgotten : " What opinion he would have of any 
 of his subjects who renounced his allegiance to him and joined in 
 a war against him ? " 
 
 I cannot recount the refinement of cruelty with which this 
 martyr was treated from " reeds run under his finger-nails," and 
 onward through tortures it seems impossible to credit yet their 
 record is undoubted until a " knotty stake driven through his 
 bowels" released the poor sufferer on March 3151, 424.
 
 APRIL 
 
 According to the Kalendar of ancient Alban, the year con- 
 sisted of ten months, and in this April was the first with thirty-six 
 days in it. In the Kalendar of Romulus, it had but thirty and 
 was regarded as " Venus' month " and its first day set aside as a 
 festal day. It has, therefore, been supposed that the name was 
 given it from " Aphrilis " which they derived from the Greek 
 name of the goddess " Aphrodite." 
 
 APRIL ist. 
 
 If modesty was a virtue to entitle any one to become a 
 canonized saint then St. Hugh erst-while Bishop of Grenoble 
 and whom the Church remembers to-day was one who should 
 not be forgotten. He was the son of a loyal, brave soldier, born 
 in the territory of Valence in 1053. With every advantage of 
 family and social station to make a worldly life attractive, he, to 
 quote from his legend, " from the cradle appeared to be a child 
 of benediction." He went through his course of studies with a 
 degree of applause from which he shrunk. As it was through 
 all his life he dreaded personal notice even though he must 
 have been aware of his remarkable attainments in many branches 
 of learning. He had early accepted a canonry in the Cathedral of 
 Valence in order that he might devote his life to the service of 
 religion and his fellow men, and wholly without either the wish or 
 hope of ecclesiastical preferment. But in the church as it is in 
 the world at large, great merit cannot hide itself even if it 
 tries and is also sure to be acknowleged. Thus it was when 
 Hugh, Bishop of Die and afterward Archbishop of Lyons came
 
 ST. FRANCIS OF PAULA 173 
 
 to Valence he would not be content until the young man became 
 a member of his own household. 
 
 We cannot follow in detail all the story of Hugh's life until the 
 Synod of 1080 at Avignon when he was named Bishop of 
 Grenoble, nor yet the state in which he found his new diocese so 
 sunk in sin ; or how church lands had been usurped by 
 laymen, and the herculean task he was confronted with, or how 
 bravely he performed all these duties. He prayed Innocent II. 
 for leave to resign so arduous a task but could not obtain 
 consent and so patiently fulfilled his duty until called to his 
 reward April ist, 1132. So holy had been his life that he was 
 canonized in 1134 by Innocent II. 
 
 APRIL 2d. 
 
 In St. Francis of Paula who is commemorated this day we 
 have an interesting example of the truth that pure goodness 
 belongs to no rank or station in life but is largely the result of 
 environment and often the outgrowth of early training in the 
 home circle. Francis was born in 1416 at Paula, a small city 
 near the Tyrrhenian sea, in Calabria midway between Naples and 
 Reggio. His parents, poor peasants but God fearing and loving 
 people, whose sole wish in life was to so bring up their child that 
 he should also be like them and also have what they had not 
 received, an education. For this last purpose, when he was 
 thirteen years of age they placed him in the Franciscan monas- 
 tery at St. Mark's, the episcopal town of their province. Two 
 years later he returned not to his own home but to a cell built for 
 him in the neighbourhood. Here, young as he was, he spent five 
 years in solitary prayer and reflection ; at which time he was 
 joined by two companions. Thus was the foundation laid for 
 the Order of the Minims which seventeen years later was to 
 take form. Meantime they had received many accessions from 
 devout young men and in 1454 by the consent of the Archbishop 
 of Cosenza a church and monastery was built for these de-
 
 174 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 voted self-sacrificing men and a " community " was formed, the 
 chief tenets were " penance, charity and humility." They also 
 observed " a perpetual Lent " and always abstained not only 
 from all flesh food but also from all " white meats " (food made 
 from milk such as cheese, butter, etc.) as well as from eggs, 
 which the ancient canons of the Church forbid being used in 
 Lent. But charity was the true motto of the Minims, and as 
 far as possible to do this charity in secret. Personally Francis 
 even from boyhood had sedulously sought seclusion from the 
 world and his " humility '' was his most marked characteristic for 
 he assumed nothing for himself. The Order which he had thus 
 founded from an insignificant following of two was first approved 
 by the Archbishop of Cosenza in 1471. Pope Sixtus IV. con- 
 firmed it by a bull on May 23d, 1474, making Francis " Superior- 
 General." It was at that time composed chiefly of laymen with 
 but one priest, Balthasas de Spino afterward Confessor to Pope 
 Innocent VIII., but in 1476 new houses for the Order began to 
 be established which gradually increased in number until in 
 1480 Ferdinand, King of Naples, offended at some wholesome 
 reprimand Francis had given him and his sons, caused his arrest 
 " for having built monasteries without royal consent." Through 
 the influence of a younger son of the King, Prince Frederick of 
 Tarentum, the order for arrest was rescinded. 
 
 Francis' gift of prophecy was remarkable. In 1447-8 and 9 
 he foretold the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, an event 
 that took place May 29th, 1453. He also foretold the fall of 
 Otranto the key of the Kingdom of Naples, which was 
 taken by the infidels three months later on August 3ist, 1480, 
 while he promised success to the Christians later, which was ful- 
 filled the next year when the Turks were driven out of Italy. 
 But I must not prolong the list of his prophecies. 
 
 On Palm Sunday 1508 he was taken ill with a fever and died 
 April 2d, of that year, at the extreme age of ninety-one. He 
 was canonized by Leo X. in 1519. In 1562, the Hugenots sacked 
 the church of Plessis-les-Tours, where his remains had been 
 buried, and after many indignities offered to the body burned it 
 in a fire made from a large wooden crucifix. Not the only work
 
 ST. AEBBA 175 
 
 of the kind which was done by the more fanatical of this noted 
 body of men as will be recorded in these pages. 
 
 Another saint whose anniversary falls on this day was a 
 noted Scotch Abbess, Aebba or Ebba who was the daughter of 
 King Aedilfrid, and sister of Kings Oswald and Oserin. Her 
 monastery was a double one, with distinct communities for men 
 and women as Skene in his " Celtic Scotland " describes it 
 and was founded by Aiden the first Columban bishop in Scotland. 
 In passing let me say Columba was an Irish priest and at great 
 self-sacrifice became the first Christian missionary to the Picts in 
 Scotland and thus founded the Christian Church in the northern 
 part of Britain. 
 
 St. Ebba's monastery Bede (the Saxon historian) located at 
 " Urbs Coludi," the Saxon equivalent for Coldingaham now 
 called Coldingham and was built on a rock overhanging the sea a 
 short way south from St. Abb's Head which, by the way, was 
 named for St. Aebba. The monastery was destroyed by the 
 Danes in 870, but when Edgar, the son of the Saxon Queen 
 Margaret came to the throne in 1093, he by aid of the English 
 refounded the monastery at Coldingham. 
 
 Aebba from all reports was a woman of great beauty and 
 when the Danes assaulted the monastery and it was certain that 
 they must become prisoners of the vile and lustful invaders who 
 respected no woman the Abbess assembled the nuns in the chap- 
 ter house and telling them the fate which awaited them if these 
 brutal Danes ever secured their persons unimpaired, the Abbess 
 deliberately mutilated her own face by cutting off her nose and 
 lips. The nuns all followed her example and when at last the 
 invaders were in possession of the monastery and after they had 
 plundered it they sought out the nuns to gratify their baser pas- 
 sions but the horrible spectacle of those mutilated faces so 
 angered and disgusted them that they penned the helpless 
 women within their cells and set the house on fire, the nuns all 
 being literally burned alive but saved true to their vows. It is 
 one of those horrible pictures of early Scotch warfare like that
 
 1 76 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Mariannus describes when Thorkil Fosti burned Duncans Gen- 
 eral Moddan in his " Rath."* 
 
 APRIL 3d. 
 
 St. Richard, Bishop of Chichester, England, of whom we are 
 about to speak and whose anniversary occurs this day must not be 
 confounded with other saints of the same name since there are 
 no less than four whose names will appear in these Kalendars. 
 
 St. Richard died April 3d, A. D. 1253. 
 He was born at Wich now called Droitwich 
 near to Worcester. He was a student at 
 Oxford and later at Paris and Bologna. After 
 his return to England he was Chancellor of 
 the University of Oxford and created Bishop 
 of Chichester in 1245 though bitterly op- 
 posed by King Henry III. who was so in- 
 censed at his election that he confiscated the 
 entire revenues of the see, leaving the bishop 
 so utterly helpless that he was dependent 
 even for the necessities of life upon the 
 benevolence of others. He, however, main- 
 tained his position and went about his diocese 
 from town to village discharging his episco- 
 pal duties with conscientious fidelity. After 
 two years of these privations King Henry 
 under threats of excommunication from 
 Pope Innocent III. was compelled to restore the revenues of the 
 see. He was not only a man of great piety and fervent zeal, but 
 possessed a remarkable degree of executive ability by which his 
 diocese profited largely. 
 
 His election as bishop was marked by an extraordinary event. 
 During the celebration of the Holy Eucharist either from faint- 
 ness or fatigue St. Richard fell while holding in his hand the 
 chalice filled with consecrated wine ; but miraculously the sacred 
 
 * Fortress
 
 ST. AMBROSE 177 
 
 wine was preserved and not a drop spilled. For this in Christian 
 art, St. Richard holds a chalice as his emblem but in the Clog 
 Almanacs he has a plough-share to distinguish his day. Possibly 
 a quaint conceit to typify his labours in the field of Christ. 
 
 APRIL 4th. 
 
 St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Confessor and Doctor, died on 
 April 4th, A. D. 397. In the entire Kalendar of the Saints of the 
 Christan Church there are few names more deserving of especial 
 note, than that of St. Ambrose. This ex- 
 traordinary man so statesmanlike, practical 
 and benevolent, even if somewhat despotic, 
 was one in whose person this priestly 
 character assumed an importance and dignity 
 which till then had been seldom met with. 
 He was the son of a prefect of Gaul and 
 was born at Treves December 7th, 340. 
 Paulinus relates that while yet in his cradle 
 a swarm of bees settled upon his lips with- 
 out injuring him just as a similar story is 
 told of Plato and also of Archilocus a pro- 
 phecy of his future eloquence. It is from 
 this circumstance St. Ambrose is always rep- 
 resented in Christian art with a bee-hive 
 near him. 
 
 Young Ambrose was educated at Rome and at an early age 
 was appointed prefect of Aemilea and Liguria (Piedmont and 
 Genoa) and in this capacity had resided for five years in Milan, 
 when in A. D. 374 Auxentius, Bishop of Milan, died. Just at this 
 time the Church was badly disturbed by the contending factions of 
 the Arian and Orthodox beliefs and naturally the election of a new 
 bishop was an important event, since it meant victory to the 
 faction that elected its bishop, A tumult, almost akin to a riot 
 was in progress when Ambrose, as prefect appeared on the scene 
 at the church where the people were assembled. By his per-
 
 1 78 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 suasive eloquence the excited multitude was soon hushed into 
 silence when he exhorted them to peace and submission to the 
 laws. But he had hardly ceased speaking before the cry was 
 raised : " Ambrose shall be our bishop." The cry was echoed 
 by all in spite of his protests and attempted flight. He pleaded 
 that although he was a professed Christian, he had never been 
 baptized. The people would accept no excuse and eight days 
 later, having received the rite of baptism he was duly consecrated 
 Bishop of Milan. He at once distributed his worldly goods 
 among the poor to render himself worthy of the new and higher 
 dignity of his office. The grandeur and magnificence with which 
 he invested the sacred services of the church would alone have 
 made his name memorable. He was a great lover of music and 
 it was he who introduced the antiphonal method of chanting the 
 service, since called the Ambrosian chant. 
 
 His was no undecided character. What he believed he taught 
 in the clearest and plainest words. His views upon " Celibacy " 
 for both sexes were very strong and he advocated them in such 
 eloquent terms that it is said that the mothers of Milan used to 
 shut up their daughters " lest they should be seduced by the per- 
 suasive eloquence of the enthusiastic bishop, into taking on them- 
 selves vows of chastity." 
 
 Another point which in the days of Ambrose was but the 
 assertion of the might of Christianity over heathenism and 
 tyranny ; but which has since caused infinite trouble and even 
 bloodshed was the setting of ecclesiastical over sovereign or 
 civil power. How he acted up to his convictions, is shown 
 by his treatment of the Emperor Maximus and even more so 
 in his famous conflict with the Emperor Theodosius so fully 
 told in history that the details need not be repeated beyond 
 calling attention to the fact that in hot-headed anger over the 
 death of Bothius, an imperial officer in Thessalonia who had 
 been killed in a seditious riot, Theodosius caused seven 
 thousand men, women and children, the most of whom were 
 wholly innocent, to be slain. For this cruel act and the staining 
 his hands with innocent blood the bishop wrote the emperor 
 that famous letter, which by its plain unvarnished truths fearlessly
 
 LEGENDS OF AMBROSE 179 
 
 spoken but then an unheard of act first struck terror into 
 the hearts of churchmen then won for Ambrose undisguised 
 admiration. Nor did the noble bishop stop there, but he 
 interdicted the emperor from even entering the church edifice, 
 in fact excommunicated him. The emperor pleaded the 
 example of David : " Then," said the bishop, " imitate him 
 in his repentance as well as his sin." How Theodosius 
 threatened and Ambrose stood firm, is historic and when at 
 last Ruffinius informed him : " The emperor is coming," and 
 the brave cleric replied : " I will not hinder him ; yet if he will 
 play the king I will offer him my throat ; " is authentic as is 
 the final denouement at once dramatic and remarkable when the 
 powerful emperor, clad in sack-cloth bowed before the stern 
 representative of the church saying : " I come to offer myself 
 and submit to what you prescribe." 
 
 What a picture this ! To quote Mrs. Jameson's words : 
 " Grovelling on the earth, with dust and ashes on his head lay 
 the master of the world before the altar of Christ because of inno- 
 cent blood hastily and wrongfully shed." 
 
 The following illustration from " Callot's Images " shows 
 St. Ambrose as he usually is represented in art with the " bee- 
 hive" and the kneeling figure is Emperor Theodosius, making 
 his submission to the bishop. A " triple scourge " in the hands 
 of St. Ambrose is sometimes added to these pictures referring to 
 the punishment of Theodosius. 
 
 The poetical legends and apologues related regarding St. 
 Ambrose are almost endless, but all testify to his wonderful 
 character and worth and not a few to his marvelous gift of pro- 
 phecy. 
 
 Ambrose pleaded with the Prefect Macedonius for a condemned 
 wretch but was refused, when he said : " Thou, even thou, shalt 
 fly to the church for refuge and shalt not enter." This prophecy 
 was literally fulfilled. 
 
 Again on a visit to a Tuscan nobleman Ambrose inquired as to 
 the state of his host, who replied : " I have never known adversity, 
 every day hath seen me increasing in fortune, honour and posses- 
 sions. I have a numerous family of sons and daughters who
 
 i8o SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 have never caused me a pang of sorrow. * * * I have never 
 suffered with sickness or pain," and more to the same purport. 
 
 " Arise ! " cried Am- 
 brose : " Fly from this 
 roof ere it fall on us, for 
 tne Lord is not here," 
 and the prelate hastily 
 rising from the table fled ; 
 scarcely had he left the 
 house and escaped in 
 safety when an earth- 
 quake swallowed the 
 castle and all who were 
 within it. 
 
 It is told that Honorat, 
 Bishop of Vercelli, at- 
 tended Ambrose upon his 
 S. AMBROSE. death-bed, and having 
 
 gone to sleep an angel wakened him saying : " Arise ! for he de- 
 parts in this hour," and Honorat had barely time to administer 
 the sacrament when Ambrose expired. 
 
 After St. Ambrose was canonized he became the patron saint of 
 Milan. The Basilica of Tant Ambrogio Maggiore founded by 
 the bishops in 387 in honour of St. Ambrose is one of the oldest 
 and most interesting churches in Christendom. 
 
 St. Ambrose was one of what are known as the " Four Latin 
 Fathers of the Church," the others being SS. Jerom, Augustin 
 and Gregory. 
 
 THE EASTER OCTAVE. 
 
 The first Sunday after Easter concluded the paschal feast and 
 was long observed, with but little less ceremony than Easter 
 itself. On this day the neophytes, or newly baptised persons laid 
 aside their white garments and committed them to the repository 
 of the church.
 
 CROSSES 181 
 
 From the fact this day completed the " Octave," it received the 
 name " Octave of Easter " ; but on account of the ceremony just 
 alluded to, it was also known as the " Sunday of Albes '' (gar- 
 ments of white) and is mentioned by St. Augustine as such, in 
 one of his sermons on the observance of the day. 
 
 SAINTS AND SAINT DAYS. 
 
 In an edition of Roman Martyrology the original of which was 
 first published under Gregory XIII., the Most Reverend Arch- 
 bishop of Baltimore in 1869 writes in the introduction : "If the 
 world has its ' Legions of Honour ' why should not also, the 
 Church of the Living God ? " 
 
 The question is not only pertinent but it can have only one 
 answer. The holy men and women who in the early days of the 
 Christian Church, whether they shed their blood as martyrs for 
 their faith in Christ, or devoted their lives to deeds of love and 
 charity, sacrificing those things men held most dear in life, 
 home, friends, ambition and personal comfort for the good of 
 their fellow men, are as truly heroes and heroines as those who 
 have won fame and immortal names in history by valiant deeds on 
 fields of battle, or by their sacrifice for their love of country, and 
 it was beyond doubt this feeling which led the Fathers of the 
 early Churches to bestow this recognition of their worth on their 
 memories ; just as we set aside a day in memory of men like 
 Washington and Lincoln and which make us as the anniversaries 
 of each come round, recall their virtues and the sacrifices they 
 made and learn a personal lesson from their lives. This is the 
 true spirit of what we term saint's days. 
 
 Only a very few of the holy men who have filled the pontificate 
 and were later canonized have any especial symbols or emblems 
 in most cases the usual " Triple Cross " being used. For this 
 reason it is well to understand the significance of crosses 
 having more than one transverse bar or arm and which are
 
 182 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 known as "Ecclesiastical crosses." The cross when worn by a 
 
 prelate or it is given him as an emblem, is as an insignia of rank, 
 (pectoral) or when carried before him (pro- 
 cessional) as indicative of jurisdiction. The 
 greater the number of these bars or arms, 
 the higher the rank and wider the jurisdic- 
 tion of the person to whom it is assigned. 
 The triple cross in the illustration is that of 
 the Pope and corresponds with the mitre. 
 The first bar signifies 
 jttrisdictio temporalis ; 
 the second jurisdictio 
 in ecclestam militant em ; 
 third jurisdictio in 
 ecclesiam patientem. 
 This cross is of Greek 
 origin and aside from 
 this indication of rank 
 
 and power has no especial significance. 
 
 The cross with two transverse bars as in the illustration, is 
 
 assigned to archbishops and bishops. 
 
 APRIL sth. 
 
 The names of two Irish saints find a place in the Kalendar for 
 this day, SS. Tigernach and Becan. But unfortunately for our 
 chronicles in but a limited number of cases is there much reliable 
 information to be had regarding Irish saints, owing to the mass of 
 mythical romance which the early Irish writers mixed with their 
 facts. Therefore in each of the two I mention I must eliminate 
 pages of the matter before me. 
 
 St. Tigernach was the son of Corbre, " a famous general, and 
 his mother Dearfraych was the daughter of an Irish King named 
 Eochod ; * * * * he was baptised by Coulathe Bishop of Kildare, 
 and St. Brigide was his God-mother. As we know the kidnapping 
 of youths and maidens in both Britain and Ireland for the pur-
 
 ST. SIXTUS 
 
 183 
 
 pose of selling them into slavery was a common custom, St. 
 Patrick being such a victim. According to his legend Tigernach 
 thus fell into the hands of pirates and was taken to Britain where 
 he was sold to a British King." Here follows a story too myth- 
 ical to be worthy of being accepted as fact, except that the 
 youth became such a favourite with the King that he was placed at 
 school in the monastery of Rosnat ; for in the VI. century the 
 monastery was the only school in Britain, or, for that matter any- 
 where. And thus we again have presented to us the debt due to 
 the early Christian Church in their effort to educate the peoples. 
 The story of his manumission if I may use the word is also 
 somewhat mythical for he seems to have been a somewhat " mau- 
 vat's sujet," for we are told : " he was after his return to Ireland 
 compelled to receive episcopal consecration " and later, that " he 
 refused to administer the see of Clogher which had been con- 
 ferred upon him " in 506. Yet he must have had " the root of 
 this matter in him," for he soon built the Abbey of Cluanois in 
 the County Monaghan " where he taught a great multitude to 
 serve God in primitive purity and simplicity." In his old age he 
 became blind, but still continued to minister to his people until 
 his death in 550. 
 
 St. Becan the other saint named this 
 day was also of royal blood being of 
 the regal family of Munster, and his 
 name appears as one of " The Twelve 
 Apostles of Ireland." 
 
 APRIL 6th. 
 
 St. Sixtus (or Xistus) Pope and 
 Martyr is remembered on April 6th. 
 He was one of the primitive fathers 
 of the Church chosen in 1 19 and dying 
 in 128. He, like all of the Popes, has for his symbol the triple 
 cross.
 
 184 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 This is also the anniversary of another of the Fathers, St. 
 Celestine I., Pope, who died in 432. A native of Rome and a 
 man who held a high place in the esteem not alone of his fellow 
 clergy, but of all who knew him. On the death of Pope Boniface 
 in 422 Celestine was the unanimous choice of the people as his 
 successor. It was this Pope who sent St. Palladius to the Scots 
 of North Britain and St. Patrick to Ireland. He was especially 
 active in suppressing the Pelagian heresy in Britain. He died 
 August i, 432, but his festival has been fixed for this day. The 
 Clog symbol above is from the English sticks, the Danish have 
 none for this day. 
 
 APRIL 7th 
 
 Is the saint-day of St. Albert, Recluse Bishop of Vercelli and 
 Patriarch of Jerusalem. He was a man of deep piety but his 
 devotions from early life were devoid 
 of ostentation and while he attended 
 public worship his secret and private 
 devotions were far more frequent and 
 it was this that led him to become a 
 recluse in the monastery of Cropin 
 where bread was seldom tasted, herbs 
 being their chief diet and a fire was 
 unknown or " any food dressed by a 
 fire," says Butler in his " Lives of the 
 Saints." Later he founded the 
 " Order of Carmelites." He was 
 murdered at Acre when on his way to 
 Rome, and is given "the palm branch," as a symbol. 
 
 It is also the day set aside for St. Francis Xavier, Apostle of 
 India. This noted Jesuit was born April yth, 1506, at the base of 
 the Pyrenees on the Spanish side and curiously, not far from which 
 the man who was to mould his life, Ignatius Loyola, was then liv- 
 ing. Xavier was educated at the University of Paris where he
 
 ST. FRANCIS XAVIER 185 
 
 later lectured. When Loyola came first to Paris Xavier rejected 
 his advances but when one day, exultant over a remarkably suc- 
 cessful lecture, Loyola let drop the words : " What shall it profit a 
 man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? " he was 
 startled by the thought and he sought out the man he had 
 repulsed. We all know the result and how from an humble 
 quartette of earnest young men the Society of Jesuits originated in 
 1 540 and his selection as a missionary to India and the wonderful 
 results. Also how he then journeyed on to India intending to 
 push on to China and how at last, by treachery he was cast on the 
 barren island of Samian in sight of the mainland of China, and 
 there died. The pathetic story of noble work and self-sacrifice 
 have been too often told to need repetition. It is one continued 
 story of heroism in the cause of Christ and an almost endless list 
 of miracles are credited to him. He was canonized in 1662 and 
 in 1747, by a Papal brief, was made the patron saint of East 
 Indies His death occurred December 3d, 1553. 
 
 APRIL 8th. 
 
 Of the several names mentioned in the Roman Church Kalen- 
 dar for honour this day that of the Blessed Albert, Patriarch of 
 Jerusalem, presents an interesting story. He was an Italian by 
 birth from the diocese of Parma and of a noble family. Highly 
 educated he was a proficient in canon and civil laws ; he received 
 the habit of " a canon regular " in the Carmelite monastery of 
 Mortuva; later was made Bishop of Bobio and afterward of Ver- 
 celli, over which latter see he presided for twenty years. His 
 knowledge and integrity were recognised when he was chosen to 
 arbitrate the differences between Clement III. and Emperor 
 Frederick I., surnamed Barbarossa, Emperor of Germany ; and 
 when Henry VI., successor of Frederick, created him, " a Prince 
 of the Empire." In 1204 Monochus the eleventh Latin Patriarch 
 of Jerusalem died and Innocent III. selected Albert as his succes- 
 sor. But as Jerusalem was in the hands of the Saracens when in 
 1206 Albert arrived at Aeon, he made this city the seat of his see.
 
 1 86 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 As legislator of the Carmelites (or White Friars) he compiled the 
 rules of the Order. 
 
 There is a curious fact connected with the Carmelite Order 
 not generally known by the laymen of the Church, and I repeat it 
 for their benefit since clerics must of course be familiar with 
 it. 
 
 It is said that from the time of Elias the Prophet his successors 
 had uninterruptedly as hermits occupied Mount Carmel where the 
 Carmelites had their house. That these hermits having embraced 
 Christianity, continued their succession to the XII. century when 
 the Order began to extend its work into wider fields. This suc- 
 cession was long a contested point and neither Popes Innocent X. 
 or XII. were willing to decide; while the latter, by a brief dated 
 November 29th, 1698, "enjoined silence, on the subject." Yet this 
 is the legend as it is found in ancient ecclesiastical history. 
 
 In 1214 Albert was summoned into the West by Pope Innocent 
 III. to attend a " Council of Lateran " which was to meet in 1215. 
 But he was assassinated on September i4th, 1214 while assisting 
 at the " Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross." He has, however, 
 always been honoured in Roman Martyrology on April 8th. 
 
 APRIL 9th. 
 
 St. Mary of Egypt whose festival occurs on this day, is one of 
 the most curious in legendary history told as it doubtless was in 
 its inception " with a purpose," its lesson has lost nothing by 
 age. 
 
 The legend is a very old one but when vouched for by St. 
 Jerom who, aside from his reliability as a cleric, has ever ranked 
 as one of the most faithful chroniclers of his day its truth is 
 unquestioned. The story it is said even ante-dates the legend of 
 Mary Magdalene. I must tell it, condensed and in my own 
 words rather than in the elaborate detail in which I read it. 
 
 The story of " Mary Egyptica," appeared in written form first 
 in the VI. century as an ancient tradition of a " female " hermit in 
 Palestine. St. Jerom repeating it said her wickedness " exceeded
 
 ST. MARY OF EGYPT 187 
 
 that of Mary Magdalene." She was an Alexandrian noted for 
 her beauty, for the luxury of her life, and the wiles by which she 
 led her victims on to their destruction. " Kismet ! " no doubt the 
 Egyptians said ; but as we read her legend we can clearly see the 
 hand of Providence in the act which led to her changed mode of life. 
 
 One day in 365 she was walking by the sea when she saw a 
 vessel laden with pilgrims about to depart for Jerusalem to attend 
 the " Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross." 
 
 For seventeen years this woman had lived a life of shame ; yet 
 in this moment an irresistible impulse came upon her to join the 
 pilgrims not for a holy purpose but rather for adventure. She 
 had no money ; but to quote the quaint phrase of her historian : 
 " She sold herself to the sailors " and thus reached Jerusalem 
 with the pilgrims. How she spent the interval before the day of 
 the festival is not told. On that day she joined the throng 
 around the entrance of the Basilica; yet at the moment when 
 she was about to enter some invisible power restrained her. As 
 often as she tried to cross the threshold an unseen hand seemed 
 to draw her back. What it was she knew not, but suddenly, 
 without premonition she felt the full sense of her sinful life come 
 over her. Her utter unworthiness even to look upon that sacred 
 emblem. She fell upon her knees there on the pavement, which 
 was soon wet with her repentant tears and for the first time in 
 her life she prayed. While yet praying she seemed to hear a 
 voice that said : " If thoti goest beyond Jordan to dwell there 
 thou shall find rest and comfort." 
 
 That night at the city gate she bought three loaves of bread 
 and walked on until she came to the river where the church of 
 St. John the Baptist stood. There she paid her devotions and in 
 the morning passed over the river and for forty-seven years lived 
 a hermit in the wilderness. As her garments worn out by age 
 and use dropped from her, her hair became a cloak. It was thus 
 clad that Zosimus, a holy man, at last found her. To him she 
 confessed and from his hands received the holy sacrament ; but 
 then begged him to leave her and not return until a year had 
 passed. 
 
 At the appointed time on Maunday Thursday Zosimus came
 
 1 88 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 forth to meet her but only found her dead body ; while in the 
 sand beside her were written the words : " Oh, Father Zosimus, 
 bury the body of the poor sinner, Mary of Egypt. Give earth to 
 earth and dust to dust for Christ's sake." 
 
 A legend tells that as Zosimus digged the grave his strength 
 failed him for he was an old man ; but then a lion came and 
 helped him digging with his paws. 
 
 Dr. Alban Butler in his life of St. Mary of Egypt puts the date 
 of her conversion in 383 and her death in 421. Others place 
 these as given above, 365 and 433. 
 
 APRIL loth. 
 
 One of the most interesting events connected with the loth of 
 April is the fact that on this day in 787 King Pepin of France 
 introduced an organ into the Church of St. Corneill at Compiegne, 
 thus in a measure fixing the advent of this instrument into 
 church service. 
 
 The story of St. Bademus whom the Church names this day for 
 honour is interesting, if only for the curious means adopted to 
 secure his " taking off " while it in no degree takes from him the 
 claim of being a Martyr to the Faith as he is termed in Roman 
 Martyrology. 
 
 He was a nobleman of Persia, living at Bethlapeta who out of 
 his great estates dedicated the larger portion to found a monas- 
 tery near his home, and of which he became Abbot. While 
 Sapor the all powerful was relentless in persecuting the Chris- 
 tians, he hesitated before he allowed his pursuivants to apprehend 
 Bademus and the seven of his monks. Yet hating him as he did, 
 Sapor felt he must be prudent with the man, however merciless 
 he was to other Christians ; for Dioclesian in his persecutions of 
 the Christians hardly equalled those of Sapor. It was for this 
 Bademus and his monks were cast into prison rather than that 
 more terrible penalties were inflicted. Still it was a sore puzzle 
 to Sapor how to dispose of him.
 
 ST. BAD EM US 189 
 
 About the same time Bademus was confined, a Christian 
 Lord of the Persian Court was arrested, named Nersan, a Prince 
 of Aria and imprisoned because he refused to worship the sun. 
 He was for a time resolute but his faith at the crucial moment 
 failed him and he promised to conform. To test him, the king 
 through his intermediaries made proposals to Nersan who was 
 confined in a prison that was part of the royal palace. Bademus 
 with his chains stricken off was brought to Lapeta and introduced 
 into the chamber where Nersan was confined with the intention 
 that, during their interview, Nersan should slay his fellow 
 Christian and for this purpose had been provided with a sword. 
 
 Again at the crucial moment Nersan 's nerve failed him ; but 
 the Abbot had already seen through the plot and as Nersan 
 hesitated, he said : " Unhappy Nersan, to what a pitch of 
 impiety hath thy apostacy carried thee. With joy I run to my 
 death ; but would have wished another executioner." 
 
 Angered at the taunt implied, in a half-hearted manner 
 Nersan strove to carry out the command of Sapor ; but his 
 strokes were so unsteady that the martyr was covered with an 
 infinite number of wounds before the fatal blow was struck. 
 
 The monks at that time were called by Syrians and Persians 
 " mourners " and these mourners, the legend tells us, after the 
 body of Bademus had been " reproachfully treated by the infidels 
 and cast out of the city " secured and buried it on April loth in 
 376. 
 
 APRIL nth 
 
 Is the anniversary of Pope Leo I. called " The Great." He 
 was the forty-seventh in line of succession who held the sacred 
 office. As one reads the story of his life it is easy to see how 
 justly he was entitled to the appellation " The Great," not alone 
 because of the manner in which he exercised his ecclesiastical 
 powers, but in every way. The many affairs of the churches in 
 the East during the period of his pontificate demanded in the 
 highest degree rare executive ability and endless vigilance, but 
 in no case was he found wanting. So too, in matters pertaining
 
 190 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 more especially to public affairs he ever stood ready not only 
 to advise with clear, well considered judgment, but to act. The 
 most notable event in this respect is on that memorable occasion 
 when Attila the Hun enriched by the plunder of many nations 
 and cities, marched against Rome just then helpless and panic 
 stricken, and the people as with one voice called on this great 
 man to come to their aid. How well he fulfilled the difficult and 
 dangerous task of meeting and placating the haughty tyrant is 
 history and cannot be repeated here ; but it saved Rome in her 
 direst hour of peril. As a scholar and a pulpit orator he was 
 indeed " great." His sermons on the obligations of the rich not to 
 hoard their wealth or lavish it on selfish superfluities are wonder- 
 ful examples of pulpit oratory and clear logical deductions. 
 Modern theologians often now preach on the " Love of God " 
 as if it was some new discovery ; but that was the keynote of this 
 venerable man's teaching adding as well humility and to walk 
 according to the spirit of Christ in charity to all. 
 
 As a pulpit orator his diction was pure and elegant, his style 
 terse and clear, while his logic was at all times unassailable. 
 
 Another saint whose anniversary comes on this day is St. Guth- 
 lac (or Guthlake) one of the most interesting of the old Saxon 
 anchorites and his story in his early years, was similar to that of 
 many young men of his times ; and a now nearly forgotten legend 
 tells us that " at the time of his birth a hand of ruddy splendour 
 was seen extending from the clouds to a cross which stood at his 
 mother's door." 
 
 Like all youths of his day he was devoted to warlike enterprises 
 Not what we now regard as such, but which then were not 
 esteemed at all illegitimate. He was wild and reckless as well as 
 fearless. Thus at the age of sixteen he became the head and 
 commander of a body of reivers and robbers ; although he 
 seems to have been something of the " Robin Hood " order in the 
 division of the spoils he captured and never leaving his victims 
 utterly helpless " frequently giving back to those he had robbed 
 one-third of the plunder he had captured." Later on he became 
 a soldier under Ethelred, King of Mercia, with some distinction.
 
 POPE JULIUS I. 191 
 
 In his 24th year he seems to have had a change of heart, for he 
 laid aside his warlike purposes and entered the monastery of 
 Repanden where he studied for two years. Then he determined 
 to lead a hermit's life selecting for his retreat Croyland Isle in the 
 fen country. Here he built a small oratory and passed fifteen 
 years in prayer and solitude. At this time Ethelbald, afterward 
 King of Mercia, who was then an exile, often came to Guthlac 
 for counsel while he was hiding in the marshes. When Ethelbald 
 came into power he had not forgotten the saintly man in his dreary 
 cell amid the fens ; therefore after St. Guthlac died the king 
 caused the marshes to be drained and on the site of the hermit's 
 cell erected a monastery in his honour. This Croyland monas- 
 tery must have been an immense establishment since its ruins 
 cover twenty acres. 
 
 Croyland Isle has through drainage now wholly disappeared 
 and rich farms now fill the place once so desolate. 
 
 APRIL 1 2th 
 
 Marks the anniversary of Pope Julius I. who died in 352, the most 
 noted event of whose life was the fixing on December 2 5th as the 
 correct date of the birth of our Lord. A date which until then 
 had been celebrated by the churches at various dates. But Julius, 
 St. Chrysostom informs us, after a strict examination of the 
 traditions regarding the event set it on the day we now observe. 
 
 St. Zeno whose festival occurs on April I2th is styled by St. 
 Gregory the Great, as a martyr, but by most of the chronicles of 
 the Church is honoured only by the title of Confessor. He was by 
 education a Latin but of the African race and made bishop in 362 
 during the reign of Julian " The Apostate." St. Ambrose writes 
 of him with great admiration, especially mentioning his Easter 
 services and the ordination of virgins " consecrated to God," who 
 unlike the nuns " lived in their own houses." 
 
 Love-feasts at Agapis established on the festivals of martyrs 
 and celebrated in their cemeteries were then in vogue, but had
 
 192 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 degenerated into occasions of intemperance and frivolity, if not 
 worse. These St. Zeno severely condemned. 
 
 He is chiefly known for his boundless charity and willing pov- 
 erty in his personal life as well as his sufferings and the persecu- 
 tion he endured for the faith. 
 
 SYMBOLS. 
 
 St. Augustine called these representations " libri idtotarum " 
 (books of the simple), and beyond doubt his definition in those 
 early days was literally correct, for outside the clergy and a few 
 savants, none could read or write. Indeed not a few of the 
 nobles affected to despise learning of any kind and still later rele- 
 gated to their henchmen and subordinates the arduous duties and 
 the task of acquiring a knowledge of reading, rather than devote 
 their time to learning to do so and thereby be compelled to forego 
 their daily pleasures. With the common people the serfs and 
 laborers, even had they wished, teachers were lacking or refused 
 to enlighten them. Thus these crude representations found upon 
 Clog Almanacs came into vogue. Early in the Christian era 
 symbols, emblems and monograms, began to be used to signify 
 certain rites of the church and to indicate the persons of the 
 Holy Trinity and also some of the apostles. Later many others 
 were added as attributes for the more prominent personages of 
 the church, and many of these may yet be seen in the catacombs 
 about Rome and the excavations at Pompeii and elsewhere. 
 These symbols or signs were used only for the purpose of expres- 
 sing a fact or sentiment, or as an attribute of some character- 
 istic personality, or some especial event in the life of the holy man 
 or woman to whom they were given. 
 
 In early Christian art as seen in the catacomb frescoes they 
 seem to aim only at a realistic representation and the crudest 
 attempt satisfied them. With the growth of art this was all 
 changed. The ideal gradually replacing the real, or it was ideal- 
 ised to a point of beauty.
 
 ST. HERMENEGILD 193 
 
 APRIL 1 3th. 
 
 In Roman Martyrology the first name which appears on this day 
 is Hermenegild. He was desended from a noted family, his 
 father being Liuvigild, king of the Visigoths in Spain and pro- 
 fessed the Arian doctrine, therefore educated his son in that faith 
 but by his marriage with Ingondes, a daughter of Seigbert king of 
 Austrasia in France who was a 
 zealous Catholic, Hermenegild be- 
 came convinced of the errors of 
 Arianism and renounced its teach- 
 ings. For this Liuvigild cut him 
 off from his inheritance of the 
 throne. But Hermenegild had in- 
 herited what his father could not 
 deprive him of his sturdy Goth 
 independence and as a sovereign 
 prince he stood firmly for his rights. 
 The story of the conflict between 
 father and son is a quaint bit of 
 history in ancient warfare. At last Hermenegild allied himself 
 with some Roman generals who bound themselves to protect him 
 and received his wife Ingondes and her infant son as hostages but 
 corrupted by Liuvigild's gold they betrayed their trust. Thus it was 
 Hermenegild was besieged in Seville where for a year he success- 
 fully resisted but then fled to Cordova with 300 faithful followers. 
 His place of refuge was taken by Liuvigild and Hermenegild 
 sought protection in a church where Recared his younger brother 
 sent by King Liuvigild found him. Then by sacred promises if 
 he would submit and ask forgiveness all would be well. Her- 
 menegild returned and the king received him kindly, embraced 
 him, but treacherously ordered while his promise had hardly fal- 
 len from his lips and the father's kiss was yet warm on the son's 
 cheek, that Hermenegild should be "stripped of his royal robes; 
 be loaded with chains and confined in a dungeon in the tower of 
 Seville." For two years the king alternately used threats and 
 promises to lead this faithful man to renounce the orthodox faith,
 
 i 9 4 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 but in vain. On Easter Eve (which that year was the I3th of 
 April) an Arian bishop came to the prisoner from the king with 
 an offer of pardon if he would take communion from the hand of 
 any Arian prelate. The offer was sternly refused and the bishop 
 
 so reported to the king and 
 orders were given the soldiers ; 
 * who entered the prison and 
 ^^F without further words and by 
 ^^^L^^ a blow from an axe, ended his 
 ^^^^ff 1'fe- Thus while sometimes 
 / ^^r this saint has for his attribute a 
 / cross, grasped by a hand, as in 
 
 f the first illustration, he often 
 
 f has an axe as an emblem 
 
 j This briefly told is the story 
 
 of the heroic courage that won 
 from St. Gregory of Tours such 
 enthusiastic admiration of this 
 martyr. 
 
 APRIL I4th. 
 
 On this day at Avignon there are offices celebrated in honour 
 of their patron saint. The following from Butler's " Lives of the 
 Saints " tells the story of St. Benezet or Little Bennet : 
 
 " He kept his mother's sheep in the country * * * when moved 
 by charity to save the lives of many poor persons who were fre- 
 quently drowned in passing the Rhone, and inspired by God he 
 undertook to build a bridge over that rapid river at Avignon.'' 
 
 A gigantic enterprise for a poor boy ! yet, like many another en- 
 thusiast and philanthropist he accomplished his work ; beginning 
 it in 1 1 77 but completed after his death in 1184. "Many were 
 the miracles which were wrought " during those years from the 
 first laying of its foundation until its completion in 1188 four 
 years after his death, while his tomb is appropriately placed in a 
 little chapel built on the bridge itself.
 
 ST. PETER GONZALES 195 
 
 But the most remarkable part of the story that is well vouched 
 for is that after nearly five hundred years in 1670 when repairs to 
 the bridge made the opening of St. Benezet's tomb necessary and 
 the body was found " without the least sign of corruption * * * 
 and the colour of the eyes lively and sprightly though through the 
 dampness of the situation the iron bars about the tomb were 
 much damaged." 
 
 APRIL 
 
 Of the many saints of world-wide renown among certain 
 classes none perhaps, is more devoutly reverenced by sailors of 
 the Roman faith especially those of Spain, than St. Peter Gon- 
 zales whose festival day occurs on the i$th of April. Albeit 
 he was a youth of such singular purity of character that he won 
 the favour of his uncle the Bishop of Astorga who procured for 
 him a canoncy ; he had all the pride and haughtiness of the Span- 
 ish nobility of his day. But his pride in the very bloom of 
 young manhood was humbled when through an accident or mis- 
 step of his prancing horse the young dean found himself wallow- 
 ing in a filthy gutter. Still this mishap bore wondrous fruit, for 
 from being proud, vain and haughty he became a model of 
 humility and in his zeal to teach the truths of Christ he devoted 
 himself to the peasants of Galacia and along the coast where his 
 labours among the mariners won for him that frank generous love 
 for which sailors the world over have ever been noted, when they 
 encounter a brave honest self-sacrificing, unselfish man. His 
 labours at this time and later made him the " Patron Saint of 
 Mariners." 
 
 Many miracles have been attributed to him. While yet at 
 court in his younger days his upright virtuous life had made 
 him noted. It may have been in jest or banter that some of the 
 nobles told a famous courtezan that if she ever heard Gonzales 
 preach she would reform her life. To this she replied : " If I 
 could but once speak to him alone he could not resist my charms, 
 any more than some others."
 
 196 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 To cut the story short she secured such an interview beginning 
 by a mock confession ; but when Gonzales discovered the trend of 
 her efforts he left her and went to an adjoining room where he 
 wrapped himself in a cloak and cast himself on the blazing coals 
 on the hearth calling on her to look. But the flames had refused 
 to scorch even the hem of his cloak. Amazed, confounded and 
 convinced, she from that hour became a penitent, converted 
 woman. 
 
 Even more remarkable legends are told of this faithful man. 
 An ancient galleon is the attribute usually 
 given to St. Peter Gonzales, but none 
 appears on any Clog stick I have ever 
 seen. 
 
 In Roman Martyrology for April i $th 
 we read of SS. Basilissa and Anastasia 
 that these two " noble women were dis- 
 'ciples of the apostles and as they per- 
 severed courageously in the confession 
 'of their faith under the Emperor Nero 
 they had their hands and feet cut off and thus obtained the crown 
 of martyrdom." This is undoubtedly correct ; but another author- 
 ity says of St. Anastasia: "She was condemned to the flames." 
 
 In " Legendary and Sacred Art," Mrs. 
 Jameson says : 
 
 " Notwithstanding her beautiful Greek 
 name and her fame as one of the great 
 saints of the Greek calendar St. Anas- 
 tasia is represented as a noble Roman 
 lady who perished during the persecu- 
 tion of Dioclesian. She was persecuted 
 by her husband and family for openly 
 professing the Christian faith, but being 
 sustained by the eloquent exhortations 
 of St. Chrysogonus she passed triumph- 
 antly, receiving in due time the crown of 
 martyrdom by being condemned to the flames. Chrysogonus also 
 was put to death by the sword and his body thrown into the sea.
 
 ST. DRUG N 197 
 
 " According to the best authorities, these two saints did not 
 suffer in Rome, but in Illyria ; yet in Rome we are assured that 
 Anastasia after her martyrdom was buried by her friend Apollina 
 in the garden of her house under the Palatine hill and close to the 
 Circus Maximus." 
 
 The stake fagots and palm branch (as in illustration) appear on 
 some Clogs as the attribute of this martyred woman. 
 
 APRIL i6th. 
 
 St. Druon or Drugo, whose festival the Church observes to-day 
 has an especial place in the Kalendar as the " Patron of Shep- 
 herds." This is rather the more singular from the fact that our 
 saint was of a noble family in Flanders. From his childhood he 
 had evinced a desire to lead a religious life. His father died 
 before he was born and his mother passed to the unknown 
 " beyond " almost at the hour of his birth. Thus his youth lacked 
 the help he needed, though in some manner replaced by the teach- 
 ings and advice of the priests who directed his education. It was 
 not, therefore, a great surprise that at the age of twenty he 
 bestowed all his money and goods upon the poor of his neighbour- 
 hood, renounced all claim to his family estates to other heirs that 
 he might pursue a life of poverty and penance which accorded 
 with his views. Thus it was that clad only in poor garments worn 
 over the '' hair shirt " which he had donned, he went forth into 
 the world. His legend does not show clearly what his purpose 
 was so we can only follow his " trail " and each reader must judge 
 for himself. After visiting several " Holy Shrines " he engaged 
 in the service of a devout lady named Elizabeth de la Haire at 
 Sebourg, two leagues from Valenciennes, as a shepherd where he 
 spent six years. But his modesty, piety and charity had bruited 
 his name abroad as well as drawn to him the attention of his 
 mistress. Thus from various sources he received many presents all 
 of which in turn went to the poor and needy ; for his disguise had 
 been penetrated and added much to the veneration in which he 
 was held by the peasantry ; who were not slow to show their feel-
 
 198 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 ings. It was to avoid applause like this that he at last fled once 
 more and became a recluse in a narrow cell near the church at 
 Sebourg; where until he was eighty-four years of age he led his 
 saintly life, teaching and expounding the scriptures to those who 
 came to him and in deeds of love to such as he was able to aid. 
 Then on April i6th, 1186 he went to his reward, and his relics 
 were laid at rest in the Church of St. Martin at Sebourg where 
 his shrine is yet shown. 
 
 APRIL i ;th 
 
 Is sacred to the memory of one of the early rulers of the Church, 
 St. Anicetus, who succeeded St. Pius " in the latter part of the 
 reign of Antonius Pius the Roman Emperor," as Dr. Butler tells 
 us. Dates however conflict as Antonius Pius died in 161 and 
 this prelate ruled from 165 to 173. These early dates oftentimes 
 contradict each other. But I accept without a question Dr. 
 Butler's dates. While in Roman Martyrology Pope Pius is styled 
 a martyr he did not in fact shed his blood for the faith. Dr. 
 Butler in commentating on the life of Pius, says : ''The thirty-six 
 first bishops of Rome down to Liberius and this one excepted, all 
 the Popes to Symmachus the fifty-second in 498, are honoured 
 among and out of two hundred and forty-eight Popes, from 
 St. Peter to Clement XIII., seventy-eight are named in Roman 
 Martyrology." 
 
 Beyond the record of a faithful care of his flock the life of Pius 
 presents few striking features beyond the trials every true Chris- 
 tian was compelled to undergo. 
 
 APRIL i8th. 
 
 In the story of St. Apollonius, " The Apologist " as he is 
 surnamed, we have two somewhat curious features brought out. 
 The first that " look for the woman " far ante-dates in fact, its use 
 in modern literature.
 
 ST. APOLLONIUS 199 
 
 Marcus Aurelius as a pagan persecuted the Christians seemingly 
 rather as a matter of principle than from pure vindictiveness a 
 point which strange as it sounds might I fancy be fully main- 
 tained from his pagan teachings. But when in 180 his son 
 Commodus succeeded him in the Empire, a new element entered for 
 he had made Marcia an admirer of the faith Empress, and 
 woman's influence stayed the tide of persecution even though the 
 edict was in no wise changed. During this " calm " the number 
 of the faithful was largely increased. Among these was Apollonius, 
 a Roman senator ; a man well versed in law, philosophy and the 
 knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. It is here the second curious 
 feature of the times and the Roman laws comes in. Ignorant 
 of his fate ; impelled by some wish for revenge against his master ; 
 a slave named Severus denounced Apollonius as a Christian, and 
 he was haled before Perennis prefect of the Prsetorium. By what 
 seems a strange contradiction Marcus Aurelius had issued an edict 
 whereby without revoking or repealing the former laws against 
 convicted Christians the accuser should be put to death, and 
 therefore under the terms of this law Severus was^EXy/ condemned 
 " to have his legs broken and then after put to death." The slave 
 having been duly executed by the same judges who had con- 
 demned him ordered Apollonius to renounce his newly professed 
 religion as he valued his life and fortune. 
 
 Upon the refusal of the senator to do this to secure safety, 
 the judge no doubt gladly availed himself of the law and sent 
 Apollonius before the Roman Senate to plead his own case. 
 Then it was he made his celebrated speech in the vindication of 
 the Christian religion, which won for him the surname of " The 
 Apologist." No record or (so far as I can learn) only an excerpt 
 from this celebrated plea has been preserved. " St. Jerom " 
 we are told by Dr. Butler, " who had perused it, did not 
 know whether more to admire the eloquence or the profound 
 learning both sacred and profane of this illustrious man." 
 
 It was ineffectual, for upon Apollonius' refusal to comply with 
 the decree of the Senate to renounce his faith, he was condemned 
 and beheaded in the year 186. The sixth year of the reign of 
 Commodus.
 
 200 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 APRIL 1 9th. 
 
 On this day occurs the anniversary of St. Anicetus who suc- 
 ceeded St. Pius I. as Pope who held the sacred office from 165 to 
 173 the year of his death. 
 
 The day also is set aside for St. Step- 
 hen, Abbot of Citeaux. He was an Eng- 
 lish gentleman of wealth named Stephen 
 Harding, who became a monk and noted 
 in the Church for his ascetic life as well 
 as for his learning having in 1109 with 
 some of his fellow monks of Citeaux 
 mac ^ e f rom Hebrew manuscripts, a " very 
 correct copy of the Bible in Latin." In 
 
 1133 he laid down his office of abbot on 
 account of his age. He died March 28th, 
 
 1 1 34 but his Order, "the Benedictine," 
 keep his festival on April I5th, while 
 in Roman Martyrology he is honoured 
 on the iyth day of that month the day 
 he was supposed to have been canonized. 
 
 On this day the Church honours Leo 
 IX. the 1 55th Pope. He held his high 
 office from 1048 to 1054 the year of his 
 death. 
 
 Again to-day comes the anniversary of 
 another noted Englishman, St. Elphege 
 or Alphege as it is sometimes called who 
 has a most interesting story connecting 
 him with the early incursions of the Danes 
 in England and as Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury. His saint-day still holds a place 
 in the Kalendar of the Church of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 He was an Englishman from a noble 
 ST. ELPHEGE. an( j verv wealthy famliy. Fearing the 
 
 snares of riches, at an early age he renounced the world and be-
 
 ST. ELPHEGE 201 
 
 came an enthusiastic Benedictine not in garb alone but in all that 
 their holy vows implied. Austere and ascetic as the life of a monk 
 of this Order was, Elphege felt it was not severe enough to satisfy 
 his conscience therefore he denied himself in every way especially 
 by his long and frequent fasts, until his body became so attenuated 
 that when he held up his hand as an old ballad says : 
 
 " It was so wan and transparent of hue 
 You might have seen the moon shine through." 
 
 In 984 St. Dunstan appointed Elphege Bishop of Westchester 
 and he left the cloisters. For twenty-two years he governed that 
 see until in 1006 on the death of Alfred, he was translated to 
 Canterbury. 
 
 If my readers will turn to their English history and read of the 
 massacre of the Danes by the Anglo-Saxons on St. Brice's day 
 (November I3th, 1002) a massacre which only finds a parallel in 
 the Sicilian Vespers, the atrocities of St. Bartholomew's Day, or 
 in the barbarism of the French Revolution they will easily under- 
 stand why the fierce Danes vowed revenge, though at that time 
 they had to wait before they could accomplish their purpose it had 
 not lessened their hatred. In ion the Danes came again to 
 Canterbury ; but history has not recounted their deeds of pitiless 
 fury and Elphege's unavailing efforts to " pity the women and 
 spare the children." 
 
 On the day before Easter in 1012 the Archbishop received 
 notice that unless his ransom of 3,000 pieces of silver was 
 paid within eight days, his life would be the forfeit. At last 
 on Easter Sunday he was brought from the prison where for 
 seven months he had suffered untold torments and stood before 
 the commanders of the Danish ships then lying at Greenwich. 
 It was after a banquet when these brutal men were all drunken 
 with wine and their cry came : " Money ! Money for your ran- 
 som, bishop." 
 
 With a calm voice he replied : " Silver and gold have I none ; 
 what is mine I freely offer, the knowledge of the true God." 
 
 Amid scornful laughter and angry shouts some one struck him
 
 202 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 with the flat side of a battle-axe and knocked him down and at 
 once the mob began to stone him. Bruised and suffering from 
 mortal wounds yet not dead, he lay in agony when some one 
 more merciful than his fellows raised his battle-axe and with a 
 single blow put the holy man beyond earthly pain. 
 
 A parish church at Greenwich marks the place of his martyr- 
 dom and first burial. Ten years later when his remains were 
 transferred to the Cathedral at Canterbury, William of Malms- 
 bury (the historian) informs us they were found wholly incorrupt ; 
 a story an English church " year-book " incorporates in its text. 
 
 St. Elphege is usually represented in art with his chasuble full 
 of stones and sometimes holding in his hand a battle-axe. The 
 admirable picture I give above is from an engraving of a sculp- 
 tured figure of this saint in Wells Cathedral, England. 
 
 SYMBOLS OF THE EVANGELISTS. 
 
 'Round the throne, 'midst Angels' natures 
 Stand four holy Living Creatures, 
 Whose diversity of features 
 Maketh good the Seer's plan : 
 
 This an Eagle's visage knoweth, 
 That a Lion's image showeth ; 
 Scripture on the rest bestoweth 
 The twin forms of Ox and Man. 
 
 Symbols quadriform uniting, 
 They of Christ are thus inditing ; 
 Quadriform His acts, which writing 
 They produce before our eyes ; 
 
 Man Whose birth man's law obeyeth ; 
 Ox Whom victim's passion slayeth ; 
 Lion Whom on death he preyeth, 
 Eagle soaring to the skies. 
 
 -Translated from " Jucundare Plebs Fidelis," by Rev. J. M. 
 Neal.
 
 EVANGELISTS' SYMBOLS 203 
 
 Before any especial symbol had been given to each of the 
 
 Evangelists one was in use for all, a Greek cross (often of an 
 
 ornamental pattern as shown 
 
 in illustration) with the four 
 
 gospels in the angles of it. 
 
 The weird-winged symbols 
 
 came much later and were 
 
 beyond a doubt suggested 
 
 by the four beasts named in 
 
 the Apocalypse. 
 
 Another quaint symbol of 
 
 this character (see illustra- 
 tion) is often found in the 
 
 catacombs, being the Agnus 
 
 Dei standing on a mount, 
 
 and the four rivers of the Paradise the Gihon, the Tigris, the 
 
 Euphrates and the Pison representing the Four Evangelists and 
 
 their gospels. The Gihon being St. Matthew, the Tigris St. Mark 
 
 the Euphrates St. Luke and the Pison St. John. 
 
 Just when the mysterious.'winged, 
 creatures were first used is uncer- 
 tain but probably in the early part 
 of the V. century. St. Jerom 
 (326-420) mentions them and gives 
 at some length the reasons why 
 each symbol was assigned the par- 
 ticular Evangelist. Thus St. Mark 
 received the lion : " Because he 
 set forth the royal dignity of Christ 
 and His power as displayed in 
 His Resurrection and Victory over 
 Death." It was from St. Mark's 
 account of the resurrection that 
 the lion was at times used as a 
 symbol of Christ. 
 The infinite variety of shapes into which these winged lions have 
 
 been twisted has been limited only by the inventive genius of
 
 204 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 artists, from the early days in Greece and Rome until our own 
 day. 
 
 After the introduction of these winged creatures as symbols of 
 the four Evangelists they generally took the place of the books 
 
 when used to embrace all of them, and 
 
 as shown in the illustration and placed 
 
 in the arms of the 
 
 cross instead of in 
 
 the angle, but 
 
 when so done a 
 
 monogram of 
 
 Christ or His figure 
 
 was set in the cen- 
 ter of the cross. 
 The same style of cross is also at times used as an emblem of 
 the four great events in the life of our Lord. The following form 
 will explain the significance in each case however used : 
 
 Symbol : 
 Event : 
 Evangelist : 
 
 j Winged Man. 
 \ Winged Lion. 
 
 Incarnation. 
 Resurrection. 
 
 St. Matthew. 
 St. Mark. 
 
 Winged Ox. 
 Eagle. 
 
 Passion. 
 Ascension. 
 
 St. Luke. 
 St. John. 
 
 APRIL 2oth. 
 
 St. James of Sclavonia is one of the saints which the Roman 
 Church remembers this day. A Dalmatian by birth but as he 
 spent the most of his life on the opposite coast of the Adriatic 
 Sea, in Italy, his name has come down to us as "of Sclavonia." 
 He was a lay-brother of the Observantine Franciscan Friars at 
 Bitecto nine miles from Bari. While but an humble member of 
 his Order his reputation and the reason for his canonization rests 
 upon his wonderful " prophetic spirit " through the efficacy 
 of fervent prayer, by which he made some remarkable pro-
 
 ST. A NS ELM 205 
 
 phecies. By nature he was extremely emotional finding vent 
 in tears. 
 
 In his humble state he was employed like others of the Order 
 in menial duties but often while so engaged he fell into a 
 state of ecstacy. Once, when acting as a cook for his brethren in 
 the midst of his duty he stood " ravished in spirit " and his tears 
 which he could not restrain fell into the dish of beans which he 
 happened at the moment to be preparing for the brethren. It 
 so happened that on this day the Duke of Adria, on whose estates 
 the monastary of Conversano stood was a guest. Unnoticed by 
 the holy man the Duke had watched him in his moment of ecstacy 
 while he mechanically proceeded with his work and had seen 
 the tears fall into the dish he was preparing but he made no 
 remark. When the hour for the meal came and St. James as was 
 his place asked the honoured guest what he would eat, the Duke 
 replied as he chose the beans : " Blessed are they whose meals 
 are seasoned by such tears." St. James died April 2yth, 1485 but 
 his festival was fixed by Pope Benedict XIV. for the 2oth of this 
 month. 
 
 APRIL 2ist. 
 
 Few English prelates have ever exercised as great an influence 
 on the politics, literature and learning of his own age as Anselm, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, in whose honour services will be held 
 on this day in the most beautiful of all England's many noble 
 cathedrals. 
 
 Though not an Englishman by birth he became one in fact 
 after his translation to the see of Canterbury. He was born in 
 1033 at Aoust in Piedmont, and from early years displayed a 
 predeliction for study and monastic life. But his father sternly 
 opposed this course and young Anselm secretly left home. After 
 three years of wandering in Burgundy and France he reached Bee 
 in Normandy and there studied under Lanfranc, later, in 1060 
 becoming a monk in the abbey of Bee. Six years later he was 
 made prior of the abbey and in 1078 was advanced to the office of
 
 206 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 abbot. It was at this time he wrote many of those works which 
 spread his fame throughout western Europe. In 1092 at the 
 invitation of Hugh, Earl of Chester, Anselm visited England to 
 establish monks from Bee in the new monastery the earl had 
 lately founded. 
 
 For four years King William Rufus had kept the see of Canter- 
 bury vacant that he might enjoy its revenues. However, in 1093 
 William was induced to name Anselm as archbishop and he was 
 consecrated on December 4th of that year. Within a fortnight 
 the king and Anselm were at odds from the greed of William and 
 the refusal of Anselm to allow the revenues of the church to be 
 plundered. But far more important was the quarrel between the 
 king and the prelate on the question of the temporal power of the 
 Church. This controversy continued after Henry I. came to 
 the throne but it is too long for record here beyond noting the 
 prominent role which Anselm played throughout, until by mutual 
 concessions the vexed question was for the time closed only, as 
 all historical students know, later to become so important. 
 
 Anselm was a man of remarkable firmness of purpose, purity of 
 life and of great intellectual powers. It was to him England 
 owed the introduction of metaphysical reasoning into theology 
 and thus a new school for the latter science. 
 
 APRIL 22d. 
 
 This day is the joint festival of two Popes of the early Roman 
 Church although their deaths occurred an hundred and twenty 
 years apart. The first of these was St. Soter who succeeded St. 
 Anicetus in 173. The mention of his name brings once more 
 prominently to mind how early " heresies " began to creep into 
 the Christian Church. For the chief events we find regarding 
 the Bishop as they then were termed was his opposition to 
 the " heresy of Montanus." A remarkable letter addressed by this 
 prelate to the church at Corinth drew from St. Dionysius, a letter 
 of thanks and the words " that the letter should be read for their
 
 ST. GEORGE 207 
 
 edification every Sunday at their assemblies to celebrate the 
 Divine mysteries." 
 
 This bishop died in 1 76 or 7 (dates conflict) on April 
 22d. He is termed " a martyr " in the Roman Martyrology but 
 like others of the earlier bishops his martyrdom was rather from 
 the persecutions of the Church than of a death by violence. 
 
 The second of these bishops whose festival occurs this day was 
 St. Caius, who succeeded St. Eutychian in the Apostolic see in 283. 
 He like others of the earlier rulers of the Church did not escape 
 from the penalties of their day but held faithful to his belief and 
 governed the Church for over twelve years. He died April 2ist, 
 296, but his festival is fixed by Roman Martyrology for April 22d, 
 the day of his burial. 
 
 APRIL 23d. 
 
 This day is dedicated to one of the most noted and at the 
 same time most mysterious saints in the entire Kalendar St. 
 George of Cappadocia. " He is honoured in the Catholic 
 Church as one of the most illustrious martyrs of Christ " 
 writes Butler in his " Lives of the Saints." Yet if we accept the 
 account given by Gibbon (the historian), we learn that " this 
 martial hero owes his position in the Christian Kalendar to no 
 merit of his own." A remark which can hardly be true even 
 though some of the legends regarding him are somewhat mythi- 
 cal for his fame depends on no one country. The Greek and 
 Latin Churches alike honour him and Saxon Martyrology set 
 aside one day as especially dedicated to him and after " the 
 Conquest " he is thus honoured in England, while long before 
 that Knights in France, Burgundy, Hainault, Brabant, Flanders 
 and Germany were ever ready to " hold the lists " in honour of 
 this saint and the Greeks entitled him " The Great Martyr." He 
 is the tutelar saint of Genoa, and in 1222 the great national 
 council held at Oxford during the reign of Henry III. (surnamed 
 Winchester), ordained his feast to be kept as a holiday, and in
 
 208 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 1344 the Order of the Knights of St. George, or " The Blue 
 Garter " was instituted in honour of this saint. 
 
 There has long been a controversy over St. George. Calvin 
 and the Centurcators call him an "imaginary saint," Alban 
 Butler warning his readers not to " confound him with George, 
 the Arian, usurper of the see of Alexandria," etc. 
 
 Indeed a cloud of mystery hangs about his whole life save on 
 one or two points. That he was from young manhood a 
 military man engaged in warfare with the pagans at whose hand 
 he at last met his death, all seemingly agree. Beyond that with- 
 out taking too much space to give the varied versions of the 
 several stories as reported, I cannot here speak. 
 
 Endless legends are told 
 of him, such as the appari- 
 tion of St. George to 
 Richard I. in his expedition 
 against the Saracens and the 
 effect of the vision on the 
 king's army when told them ; 
 while there are few I imagine 
 who have not heard the 
 legend of St. George and the 
 Dragon and have seen pic- 
 tures of the gallant knight. 
 The one given here is a rare 
 and curious one taken from 
 an old MS. in the Bodleian 
 Library, England. 
 Even this legend is condemned as a myth, and as Butler writes 
 like " the stories of the combat of St. George with the magician 
 Athanasius, and other trumpery came from the mint of the Arians." 
 An old English ballad runs : 
 
 " Some say there was no George, 
 Some, that there no Dragon was, 
 Pray God, there was at least a maid." 
 
 The scene of the legend is sometimes laid in Telene a city of 
 Libya, and others at Berytus (Bayreuth) Syria. The inhabitants 
 
 ST. GEORGE.
 
 LEGENDS OF ST. GEORGE 209 
 
 of the city were in terror owing to a terrible dragon that lived in 
 the adjacent marshes. To prevent the monster from entering the 
 city two children were daily chosen by lot and sent out for 
 the dragon to feed upon. At last the lot fell on Cleodolinda the 
 king's daughter, and whom he greatly loved. In his grief he 
 offered anything, nay all he possessed, to save her from this 
 horrible fate. But the people insisted and the king submitted 
 only asking for a respite of eight days. At the end of the time 
 decked in her royal robes the princess went out toward the place 
 where the dragon came for his daily meal. Just then St. George 
 on his way to join his legion, appeared. Learning the cause of 
 her tears, the knight said to her : " Fear not, for I will deliver 
 you." She replied : " Noble youth, tarry not lest thou perish with 
 me but fly at once, I beseech thee. " 
 
 " Think not that I will fly," said the knight. " God forbid ! I 
 will lift my hand against this loathsome thing and through the 
 power of Jesus Christ deliver you." 
 
 Making the sign of the cross, St. George began the terrible 
 struggle and at length pinned the dragon to the earth and bound 
 him with the girdle of the princess and the subdued monster was 
 led by them like a dog. As they approached the city the people 
 were filled with terror but St. George cried : " Fear not ! Only 
 believe in the God through whose might I have conquered the 
 adversary and be baptized, and I will destroy him before your 
 eyes." That day twenty thousand people were baptized. After 
 that St. George slew the dragon and cut off his head before the 
 eyes of all the people. 
 
 After this he proceeded on his journey into Palestine, where 
 the edict of Dioclesian against the Christians had just been 
 posted at the temple and in the market places. Men read it with 
 terror but St. George indignantly tore it down and .trampled 
 it under foot. He was of course arrested and taken before 
 Dacian, the. proconsul, and condemned to eight days of cruel 
 torture. Bound to a cross, scratched by sharp iron nails, scorched 
 and burned by torches and salt rubbed into his wounds. Then a 
 cup of poisonous wine was given him. Making the sign of the 
 cross and recommending himself to heaven he drank off the
 
 210 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 contents of the chalice without injury. He was bound to a wheel 
 with sharp knives but the wheel was broken by two angels 
 that came to his aid. He was cast into boiling oil and when they 
 thought him subdued they brought him to the temple and 
 bade him offer sacrifice, but he prayed 
 to God ; and the temple and the priests 
 were destroyed by thunder and lightn- 
 ing. Then Dacian in rage, ordered 
 St. George beheaded, and the gallant 
 Christian knight willingly bent his neck 
 to the stroke of the executioner. 
 
 Such in brief are a few only of the 
 many legends told of this most noted 
 saint. In some Clog Almanacs St. 
 George has a shield with his cross 
 upon it ; others, like our illustration, 
 have a spearhead. In Christian art 
 he is always represented in armour 
 bearing a spear and shield. 
 
 APRIL 24th. 
 
 This is the festival day of St. Fidelis of Sigmarengen in 
 Germany; one of the martyrs of the XVII. century. Thus, from 
 an historic standpoint even to come nearer home than when 
 we talk of those brave Fathers of the early Church. He was 
 christened Mark in honour of the Evangelist, who is everywhere 
 commemorated to-morrow. His name was " Mark Rey," his 
 birth in 1 577, and his education at Fribourg, Switzerland. 
 
 In 1610 after a then common custom of having acted for six 
 years as a travelling tutor for three young men during their 
 journeys through Europe, he resolved to become 'a Capuchin 
 Friar. This Order was a reformed section (if I may use the 
 term) of the Franciscan or Gray Friars, which was organized in 
 1528 by Matthew de Basei and later approved by Clement VIII., 
 and of which in its place will be spoken of. While from youth
 
 ST. FIDELIS 211 
 
 he had been devout yet from his taking the habit of the Capuchin 
 Friars in 1612 he became notably more humble and austere. 
 It was at this time that he was given the religious name by which 
 he was henceforth known of " Fidelis " or " the Faithful." 
 Almost immediately after ordination he was sent to the convent 
 of Weltkirchen, a district over which the Calvinists had gained 
 almost the entire control of the people ; but his earnest preach- 
 ing won back from among these disciples of Calvin quite a num- 
 ber of converts. Even then his zeal had roused the anger of 
 these Reformers and his life was threatened. It was at this time 
 in 1622 " The Congregation de Propaganda " decided to send 
 " Father Fidelis " as a missionary among the Girsons and he 
 penetrated the territory as far as Pretigvat where he made many 
 converts to the Orthodox faith. This added to other things, had 
 induced the Calvinists of the province to rebel against the 
 Emperor and to bear with them no longer. This revolt involves 
 too many pages of history for me to enter on here, or of the 
 demands of the Calvinists for the privilege of freely expressing 
 their own religious beliefs irrespective of the rule of the Church 
 of Rome or of the Emperor. On April 24th in 1622 Fidelis had 
 preached at Gruch. Then he had confessed to his brethren and 
 written several letters in which he " foretold his death." From 
 Gruch he went to preach at Sevis where he spoke with unusual 
 eloquence ; but on his way returning to the city, a party of 
 Calvinists met him " one of their ministers at its head, " who 
 reviled him and a musket was discharged at him as they entreated 
 him to leave the district. His refusal drew forth a blow from 
 " a backsword " which felled him and he lay " weltering in his 
 blood." 
 
 He was buried the next day by the Catholics of Gruch, 
 He was " beatified "by Pope Benedict XIII. in 1729 and canon- 
 ised by Pope Benedict XIV. in 1746. 
 
 Roman Martyrology states that the " minister " who had led 
 this attack on Fidelis was " converted and made a public abjura- 
 tion of his heresy."
 
 212 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 APRIL 25th 
 
 Is St. Mark's day. The Evangelist was a Jew and while it is 
 not mentioned in the gospels tradition points to him as having 
 been the man bearing a pitcher of water Mark xiv., 13-15 
 and in whose room the " last supper " was prepared. His con- 
 version apparently took place after the Ascension and when he 
 became the companion and assistant of SS. Paul and Barnabas. 
 He was converted by St. Peter and became his favourite disciple 
 attending him to Aquileia and thence to Rome where tradition 
 says he wrote his gospel. Later, during twelve years or more he 
 preached in Egypt, Libya and Thebias. Thence he was sent to 
 Alexandria then the second city only to Rome in all the known 
 world. There he founded the Church of Alexandria, one of the 
 most celebrated churches of the early Christians. But the anger 
 of the heathen was stirred up by his miracles and teachings and 
 they reviled him as a magician. Here it was that at Easter, 
 when the unconverted were holding their feast in honour of 
 their god Serapis, that he denounced their idolatry. This so in- 
 censed the Egyptians that they seized him, bound him with cords, 
 dragged him through the highways and over stony, rocky places 
 
 until he became insensible and died. 
 A storm such as never before had 
 been known, of hail and lightning 
 followed and dispersed the murdering 
 . crowd. 
 
 The Christians of Alexandria re- 
 [verentially gathered his remains and 
 ' placed them in a sepulchre which for 
 'centuries they visited and his tomb 
 was a shrine where the faithful wor- 
 shiped. In A. D. 815 certain Venetian 
 merchants who were then trading in 
 Alexandria secured (not a few writers say " stole ") the relics of 
 St. Mark and conveyed them to Venice where the stately church 
 many of my readers will remember was built over them. Since 
 then St. Mark has been the titular saint of the city.
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 213 
 
 In Christian art the winged lion is given to St. Mark as has 
 been stated but as St. Jerom also has a lion as an emblem, it 
 should be remembered that 
 this latter is in nearly every 
 instance " unwinged," while 
 in but exceptional cases does 
 the lion of St. Mark appear 
 without the wings. 
 
 There are two Clog Al- 
 manac symbols for St. Mark, 
 the first and more simple is 
 given above ; the other as in 
 the illustration here. In 
 some cases the lines inter- 
 secting the square are of 
 irregular shape but follow 
 the general form as above. 
 
 In portraitures St. Mark usually wears the habit of a bishop as 
 he was the first bishop of Alexandria. 
 
 This day is observed in 
 both 
 
 the Roman and 
 Protestant Church as a 
 fast and the canonical 
 colours for it are red, the 
 colour for all " feasts of 
 the martyrs." 
 
 The colour in general 
 signifies divine love, 
 power and royal dignity 
 as well as blood, war and 
 suffering. 
 
 In the Bod leia n Li- 
 brary there is a rare and 
 curious MS. " Canon Lit 
 99 " with the annexed 
 illustration of St. Mark, 
 
 that may interest some of my artist readers and therefore is 
 
 copied. It is only one among thousands extant.
 
 2i 4 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 APRIL 26th. 
 
 Again by the coincidence of time constantly recurring in 
 human life ; the festivals of two of the earlier bishops of the 
 Christian Church occur. 
 
 The first is that of St. Cletus, the successor of St. Linus and 
 the third bishop among those holy men of old. Beyond the fact 
 that -he governed the Church from A. D. 76 to 89, little is 
 recorded beyond the fact of his devotion to the faith. He is like 
 most of these early prelates designated in Martyrology as a 
 martyr. But there is nothing to show that he really testified to 
 his faith by his blood. To be a Christian in those days, was in 
 fact to be a martyr. 
 
 The second of these holy men is St. Marcellinus who was 
 chosen as the head of the Church in 296, and near the time when 
 Dioclesian set himself up for a deity. Marcellinus governed the 
 Church for eight years ; and although he is styled a martyr in 
 Roman Martyrology, the Liberian Calendar gives his name in the 
 list of the early Popes, who did not shed his blood for the faith. 
 He was eighty years of age when in 304 he died. But all readers 
 will remember that this year was the one during which the brutal 
 edicts of Dioclesian caused the death of more Christians in Jeru- 
 salem than fell within the whole length of time while they were 
 strictly enforced. Thus his name no doubt came to be embraced 
 in this terrible list of these faithful Christians. 
 
 APRIL 2;th. 
 
 DIOCLESIAN MARTYRS. 
 
 A bit of Roman history to refresh our memory is not out of 
 place here. After Emperor Numerian (son of Carus) was slain 
 by conspirators in 284 Dioclesian a native of Dalmatia and a 
 soldier of fortune was proclaimed emperor by the army then 
 in Chalcedon. Dioclesian soon found himself unequal to govern
 
 NICOMEDIAN MARTYRS 215 
 
 the vast Roman empire therefore he selected Maximian Herculeus 
 as his aid honouring him with the title of Augustus. This 
 Maximian was a man of a cruel and savage temper but con- 
 sidered one of the best commanders of his day. There was a 
 second and probably very potent reason for this selection in 
 the fact that the Pretorian guard had for three hundred years 
 indulged themselves in the playful amusement of at will murder- 
 ing their emperors and as a buffer possibly Dioclesian thought 
 Maximian Herculeus might stand between him and the guards in 
 case the latter should again feel inclined to gratify themselves in 
 their peculiar style of amusement. Still later these two emperors 
 again selected two inferior emperors to aid them, naming each 
 " a Cassar." Dioclesian selected Maximian Galerius (a Dacian 
 peasant by birth and a man of brutal ferocity) for the East and 
 Herculeus chose Constantine surnamed Chlorus, for the West. 
 
 We must omit the long story of the earlier persecutions of 
 Christians until the issuing of that famed edict which St. George 
 is credited with having pulled down at Nicomedia where Dio- 
 clesian then had his residence and how prompted by Galerius he 
 had despoiled the churches of the Christians, burned their Script- 
 ures and slaughtered the people. But the insatiable brutality 
 of Galerius demanded more victims and he so plotted that on two 
 occasions the palace of Dioclesian was set on fire and the crime 
 fastened upon the Christians. Then began those fearful scenes 
 which have made this emperor's name the synomym for cruelty. 
 Every Roman history tells the story of how Dioclesian beginning 
 with his wife, Prisca, and his daughter Valerin, (both of whom 
 were Christians) compelled all persons to sacrifice to idols, under 
 the penalty of torture and death. 
 
 It began in the palace extending to the clergy, the judges, and 
 so downward to the common people. All who refused suffer- 
 ing tortures till then unheard of. Altars were erected in the very 
 courts of justice and idols placed in every market place. There- 
 fore in Roman Martyrology the 27th of April is set aside to com- 
 memorate these martyrs of Nicomedia of whom St. Anthimus, the 
 then faithful bishop of the city, was the first mentioned in our 
 Kalendar as the chief martyr.
 
 216 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 APRIL 28th. 
 
 This day is sacred to the memory of two other victims of 
 Dioclesian, SS. Didymus and Theodora. A wonderful story if 
 space could be given to tell it in its entirety ; of the Divine aid 
 given a maiden in her hour of trial when unsupported by friends 
 or family, she stood alone before Eustratius Proculus the Impe- 
 rial Prefect of Alexandria. Dr. Butler gives in part the details of 
 this celebrated trial of Theodora with the questions put by the 
 prefect and her prompt, daring answers. Charged with being a 
 Christian she had at once acknowledged her " crime " (?) against 
 the well-known ordinance of the emperors. Struck by her won- 
 drous beauty of person but even more by her noble, firm reliance 
 upon Divine power, this heartless man recognized such traits of 
 true virtue and character that he bore with her an unusually long 
 controversy until his patience at last wearied and possibly in the 
 hopes of saving her from the inevitable penalty which must ensue 
 should she persist in defying the laws, ordered : " Give her two 
 great buffets to cure her of her folly and teach her to sacrifice." 
 Her reply came quickly : " You are master of my body, the law 
 has left that at your disposal ; but my soul you cannot touch ; that 
 is in the power of God alone ! " When at last neither arguments, 
 threats of torture nor entreaties had availed, and Proculus had said 
 he would execute the edict, adding : " / myself would be guilty 
 of disobeying the emperors were I to dally any longer." Even 
 then the prefect in his reluctancy to carry out his decision granted 
 her a respite of three days in which to reflect and if she would 
 recant " Look on these three days as already expired ; " she 
 replied': "You will find me the same then as now. * * * My 
 only request is that in the meantime I may be secured from 
 insults on my chastity." For she knew too well the common cus- 
 tom of the imperial guards. 
 
 To his credit, if hereto an act can be regarded in that light, 
 Proculus did so protect her from the troop of debauchees who at 
 such times by bribes given the soldiers were wont to gratify their 
 vile passions. 
 
 On the fatal day an unusual event occurred when a young man,
 
 SS. DIDYMUS-THEODORA 217 
 
 a zealous Christian named Didymus, by the liberal use of money 
 gained access to her place of confinement. He was disguised as a 
 soldier and after much entreaty he at last persuaded her to 
 change their garments. Thus disguised she escaped her prison. 
 When the guards discovered how they had been cheated of 
 their prisoner, Didymus of course was at once haled before the 
 prefect and in reply to the queries of why he had done this thing 
 and where Theodora was he said : " I am a Christian and 
 God inspired me to rescue his hand-maid " and then declared 
 he knew nothing more of her than that : " She is a servant of 
 God and He has preserved her spotless. God hath done to her 
 according to her faith in Him." 
 
 Didymus was sentenced to be beheaded and his body burned. 
 When he heard his fate declared he cried aloud : " Blessed be 
 God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ who hath not despised 
 my offering but hath preserved spotless His hand-maid Theo- 
 dora, for God hath thus crowned me doubly." 
 
 But this was not to be. St. Ambrose in his " De Virgin " 
 describes the wonderful and pathetic scene ; how Theodora when 
 she heard of the sentence of Didymus at once hastened to dis- 
 close herself and ran to the place of execution to die in his place, 
 urging that she indeed owed her temporary preservation to him : 
 " You were bail for my modesty," she cried : " not for my life. If 
 my virginity yet be in danger, your bond still holds good ; but 
 if my life be required, it is a debt that / alone can discharge." 
 
 Again there was a halt in the tragedy while a new examination 
 was had. But their condemnation was a foregone conclusion 
 and although full of striking incidents I must refrain from repeat- 
 ing them. The two were executed on April 28th, A. D. 304. 
 
 APRIL 29th 
 
 Is the day set apart for the honour of St. Robert, Abbot of 
 Molesme, the founder of the Order of the Cistercians. At the 
 early age of fifteen he became a Benedictine monk. Later he 
 connected himself with a company of monks in the desert of
 
 218 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Colan but they subsequently moved into the forest of Molesme 
 where they lived in cells built from tree boughs and where St. 
 Robert was their superior. Not to follow in detail his life we 
 find him with other ardent, zealous followers retired to the unin- 
 habited forests of Citeaux or Cistercium, by the side of a 
 little river where they could live as they felt more truly in accord 
 with the rigor of St. Bennet. They arrived there on that saint's 
 day March 2ist, 1098. From that epoch the origin of the Cister- 
 cian Order dates. They followed the strictest rules laid down by 
 St. Bennet abstaining entirely from the use of meat at all times. 
 The habit worn was of a tawny colour at first but under St. 
 Alberic the successor of St. Robert, this was changed to white 
 and the Order for the first time took the Virgin Mary as its 
 especial protectress. It was also under St. Alberic that the Cis- 
 tercian nuns were instituted. Within fifty years this Order had 
 increased to 500 abbeys and soon after A. D. 1200 the -records 
 show they numbered about 1,800 separate houses. Under Pope 
 Sixtus IV. in 1475 the more strict rules of abstinence from flesh 
 were relaxed. But it was in 1664 under the celebrated La Trappe 
 that the austere reformation of the Order took place. The story 
 of this Order is an interesting one and it numbers among its 
 devout followers many noted names not only in church history 
 but in public life. Ancient chronicles place the date of St. 
 Robert's birth in 1018 and his death in mo. 
 
 APRIL 30th. 
 
 On this day the Church honours St. Catharine of Siena a 
 woman of most remarkable strength of character as well as 
 ardent charity and self-sacrifice. When in 1375 the people of 
 Florence, Perugia, a great part of Tuscany and even the ecclesias- 
 tical state, entered into a league against the Holy See and were 
 excommunicated, Catharine was selected as the mediator. Her 
 keen wisdom and rare judgment not only brought about a recon- 
 ciliation but more, since she not only saw but dared to show 
 where some of the moving causes lay and secured their correc-
 
 ST. CATHARINE 219 
 
 tion. Her life is full of stirring incident and without verging a 
 hair's breadth from strict truth, it became almost a romance in 
 some of the situations in which we find her as a nurse at the bed- 
 side of those afflicted by the most loathsome diseases, then as the 
 adviser of nobles and later the intermediary between thousands 
 and the high authority of the Church. Worn out, not rusted out 
 after an easy life, this wonderful woman died when but thirty- 
 three years of age. She was canonized by Pope Pius II. in 1461. 
 She died April apth, 1380, but Urban VIII. transferred the festival 
 to the 3Oth of the month,
 
 MAY 
 
 " Then came fair May, the gayest mayd on ground, 
 Deckt all with dainties of her season's pryde." 
 
 Spenser, 
 
 May was the second month of the old Alban Kalendar, the third 
 in that of Romulus, and the fifth in that instituted by Numa 
 Pompilius. The Saxons called it " Tri-Milchi " since their cows 
 then gave milk thrice daily. At one time the name was supposed 
 to be in honour of Maia the mother by Jupiter of the god Hermes 
 or Mercury. But the best accepted authorities represent it as be- 
 ing assigned in honour of the Majores or Maiores ; the Senate 
 under the old Roman constitutions, just 
 y^ as " Junius " or June was a compliment to 
 1^^ \/s the Juniores, or minor branch of the 
 
 . j Roman legislature. Ancient proverbs 
 innumerable are extant about May. 
 
 The illustration here given is the one 
 we find on Clog Sticks for the ist of 
 May and is supposed to represent a 
 growing leaf or shrub. 
 
 MAY ist. 
 
 This day holds an especial place in 
 both the Anglican and Roman Kalendars, 
 as the festival of SS. Philip and James Minor (or the Less), 
 Apostles. 
 
 Of St. Philip we have little authentic imformation beyond that
 
 SS. PHILIP AND JAMES 221 
 
 he was a married man and had several daughters and that he 
 
 preached in Phrygia after Christ's Ascension. Nor can we be 
 
 perfectly sure that he suffered as a martyr. His legend tells how 
 
 when at Heiropolis in Phrygia while preaching, he saw the 
 
 heathen worship a dragon or the god Mars under that form. 
 
 Then the Apostle commanded the 
 
 dragon in the name of the cross, 
 
 which he held in his hand to dis- 
 appear. When it is said it glided 
 
 beneath the altar, emitting such 
 
 a hideous stench, that many people 
 
 died therefrom among them the 
 
 King's son ; but the Apostle by 
 
 divine power restored him to life. 
 
 Whereupon the priests of the 
 
 dragon crucified him and while 
 
 still bound on the cross stoned him. 
 
 Thus the attribute of St. Philip is 
 
 usually a T (tau) cross, the usual 
 
 form used in early days. Sometimes he is given a Latin cross 
 and more rarely a double or " Bishop's " 
 cross. At times loaves of bread are 
 placed in his hands in reference to St. 
 John vi., 5-7. St. Philip's four daughters 
 were prophetesses. See Acts xxi., 9. 
 One of them, St. Miriamne appears in 
 Greek calendars. 
 
 St. James Minor or the Less who is 
 honoured to-day is also called " the Just " 
 as well as " the Brother of the Lord." 
 He was the first Bishop of Jerusalem. 
 The terms Minor, or the Less may have 
 been given him either because of his 
 stature, or on account of his being 
 younger then St. James the Great. Early 
 traditions tell of his wonderful likeness
 
 222 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 to Jesus, and that this was the secret reason why Judas kissed 
 Christ in order to point him out beyond doubt to the soldiers. 
 
 The fervour of his teaching so angered the Scribes and Pharisees 
 especially Ananus, the high priest, that they flung the Apostle 
 
 from the parapet of the 
 Temple and then killed 
 him with a fuller's club 
 of a peculiar shape. He 
 was then in his ninety- 
 sixth year of age. In 
 the illustration taken 
 from the reredos of the 
 church at Bampton, Eng- 
 land, the two saints are 
 shown one with fuller's 
 club and the other with 
 the T (tau) cross. 
 
 MAY 2d. 
 
 This day is the festival 
 of St. Athanasius, Pa- 
 triarch of Alexandria and 
 a Doctor of the Church. 
 
 St. Gregory Nazianzen 
 begins his panegyric upon 
 this saint : " When I 
 praise Athanasius, Vir- 
 
 ST. JAMES MINOR. ST. PHILIP. fug itsel f j s my theme 
 
 * * *. His life and conduct were the rule of the Bishops and his 
 doctrine the rule of the orthodox faith." In these two brief 
 sentences is summed up the character of this noted man though 
 a ponderous folio now before me is filled with details that con- 
 firm the truth of the venerable prelate's assertion. But I shall 
 hardly even sketch the outline of his life in the brief mention of 
 some facts connected with it.
 
 ST. ATHANASIUS 223 
 
 He was a native Alexandrian, born of Christian parents in 296. 
 In youth noted alike for his virtues and " the pregnancy of his 
 wit." While an "all round" scholar to use a modern phrase 
 of rare attainments, he made especial study of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures ; from which he was wont to quote with such ease and apt- 
 ness that his hearers almost believed he had committed the sacred 
 book to memory. This at least is true ; that he had studied it in 
 every way from its historical point of view to those unique para- 
 bles of our Saviour, which were intended each to teach its own 
 lesson. And next to this, he had made ecclesiastical and the 
 canon laws of the Church an especial study to which he added a 
 rare knowledge of civil law, so unusual among clerics that Sul- 
 picius Severus called him " a lawyer." 
 
 It was this rare combination that made Athanasius the power 
 he was in his day in the Church and among his fellow citizens in 
 Alexandria ; feared by the pagans ; while his own loveable traits, 
 his charity and wisdom made him to be venerated and trusted 
 and loved by his fellow Christians. Such a man was not likely to 
 be unnoticed by the " Fathers of the Church " ; especially by one 
 like St. Alexander then Patriarch of Alexandria, who upon his 
 death-bed recommended Athanasius to the clergy as one worthy 
 to succeed him. It was therefore but the natural sequence when 
 in 326 the bishops of all Egypt assembled in council, elected him 
 as Patriarch. 
 
 To write the story of Athanasius from this point on would be 
 to write the history of the Church in Alexandria with all its con- 
 troversies ; internal and external, including the effort by Arians, to 
 eject him from his position, frustrated by Pope Julius in 341, and 
 at other times. It was a long and bitter struggle, therefore must 
 be omitted since it covered a period of forty-six years, or the 
 entire Patriarchal life of Athanasius. To quote once more from 
 St. Gregory Nazianzen : " After innumerable conflicts and as 
 many victories, this glorious saint having governed the Church of 
 Alexandria for forty-six years was called to a life exempt from 
 labour and suffering on May 2d in the year 373. 
 
 As a writer Athanasius had few in his day who were his peers 
 for the elegance of his style and beauty of diction.
 
 224 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 The Greeks honour St. Athanasius on this day as it is the anni- 
 versary when his relics were translated to the church of St. 
 Sophia in Constantinople from Alexandria, and also on January 
 1 8th when they commemorate the name of St. Cyril ; though Cyril 
 died in June. 
 
 MAY 3d. 
 
 THE INVENTION OF THE CROSS 
 
 Is celebrated on the 3d of May, but the name of the festival is 
 misleading since it was in fact the discovery or finding of the 
 cross on which our Saviour suffered that is honoured. 
 
 The Clog Almanac symbol has the Invention of 
 the Cross as the ancient T (tau) cross. In an 
 English Clog which I have seen this is shown as a 
 Latin cross. 
 
 The history of the cross as an instrument for the 
 punishment of criminals is one of the most curious 
 in the whole range of archaeological study. No 
 one, not even the most erudite, pretends to know 
 when the cross was " invented." Long before the 
 Christian era it was in common use throughout 
 the then known world ; while legends and tradi- 
 tions trace the tree upon which Christ was crucified 
 back to slips or seeds (for there are two versions 
 of the legend) taken from the " tree of life " in the garden of 
 Eden. All of this must be omitted here and only that part of the 
 story told which relates to the finding of the true cross by the 
 Empress Helena, when in A. D. 326 she made a journey to 
 Palestine and which is strictly historical. 
 
 St. Helena, according to the best authorities, was born in Eng- 
 land but just where is in doubt. She married Constantine 
 Chlorus (" The Pale ") and was the mother of Constantine the 
 Great. When the latter embraced Christianity she is reported as 
 saying : "It would have been better had he been born a Jew."
 
 INVENTION OF THE CROSS 225 
 
 THE INVENTION OR DISCOVERY OF THE CROSS BY ST. HELENA. 
 
 Engraved from a print in a Dutch " Legendary History of the Cross," first published in 
 
 1423. Facsimile reprint 1876.
 
 226 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Later she too became a convert to the Christian faith. In its 
 proper place in the Kalendar on August i8th, a more detailed 
 account of this noted woman will be given. 
 
 As the legends regarding the cross run, after the crucifixion the 
 cross on which Christ had hung, with the two crosses of the 
 thieves were thrown into the town ditch, or according to some 
 into an old vault near by and soon covered with the refuse and 
 ruin of the city. 
 
 In her extreme old age the Empress Helena made a pilgrimage 
 to Jerusalem to recover the cross and threatened all the Jewish 
 inhabitants with torture and death if they did not produce the 
 holy cross from the place where their ancestors had concealed it. 
 At last an old Jew named Judas who had been put into prison 
 and was nearly famished, consented to reveal the secret. He 
 accordingly petitioned Helena. Whereupon the earth trembled 
 and from the fissures in the ground a delicious aromatic odour 
 issued and on the soil being removed the three crosses were dis- 
 covered, and near them the superscription but it was not known to 
 which of them it belonged. " Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, in 
 company with the empress repaired to the house of a noble lady 
 who was afflicted with an incurable disease but who was immedi- 
 ately restored to health by touching the true cross ; while the body 
 of a young man who was being carried to his burial was brought 
 to life when it was laid on the holy wood." * * * 
 
 At the sight of these miracles Judas, the Jew, became a Chris- 
 tian and was baptised by the name of Quiricus to the great indig- 
 nation of the devil for he said : " By the first Judas I gained 
 much profit, but by this one's conversion I shall lose many souls." 
 
 This greatly abbreviated is the legend as it is told. 
 
 The temple of Venus which profaned the sacred spot where 
 this is reputed to have occurred was destroyed by order of 
 Empress Helena A. D. 326. Some writers on apparently strong 
 authority say that it was beneath this temple of Venus that three 
 crosses were found. But whichever story is true the fact is indu- 
 bitable that it was through St. Helena's efforts the true cross of 
 Christ was found. The date 326 given is by some placed in 328. 
 
 At the same time St. Helena also secured the four nails with
 
 ROGATION DAYS 227 
 
 which our Saviour had been fastened to the horrid wood. Of 
 these four nails, two were placed in the imperial crown of Con- 
 stantine, one was at a later period brought to France by Charle- 
 magne and tradition tells of the fourth as being cast into the 
 Adriatic to calm that stormy sea. But to attempt to follow the 
 history of these nails as well as that of the ultimate disposition 
 of the wood of the cross opens a too widely mooted question. 
 
 Constantine erected a basilica on the site of the temple of 
 Venus in 335 and St. Helena herself erected in 327 the " Church 
 of the Nativity " at Bethlehem, said to be the oldest edifice in the 
 world. 
 
 MAY 4th. 
 
 ROGATION DAYS. 
 
 The dates of what are termed Rogation Days depend entirely 
 upon the date of Easter and the fifth Sunday after Easter is 
 " Rogation Sunday " so called, and the Monday, Tuesday and 
 Wednesday following are Rogation Days. These three days 
 immediately preceding Holy Thursday, or Ascension Day are 
 observed in both the Roman and Protestant branches of the 
 church as days of abstination. They originated it is said when 
 St. Mammertus, Bishop of Vienna, about the year 452 ordained 
 that these three days should be observed as a public fast with 
 solemn processions and supplications to God on account of some 
 great public or national calamity. They were continued and in 
 time were by ecclesiastical enactment incorporated into a law of 
 the Latin Church when it was decreed that they should be 
 observed annually " with processions and supplications to secure 
 God's blessing on the product of the earth and the temporal 
 interests of men." 
 
 At the time of the Reformation the English church directed 
 that the public processions should be discontinued, but at the 
 same time ordained that each of these three Rogation Days should 
 be observed as days of private fasting. The Roman Church still 
 observes the days as of old.
 
 228 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 At a very early day in England these Rogation Days took on 
 also a secular type and were known as " Gange Days," from a 
 peculiar custom of " perambulating the boundaries of each par- 
 ish " during these three days before Holy Thursday. This name 
 was given them from the Saxon word " gangen " to go. These 
 perambulations were performed with great pomp and ceremony, 
 the procession being composed of the priests and prelates of the 
 church and a select number of the " substantial men of the par- 
 ish " carrying with them " lights, handbells and banners," which 
 by the law the borough was bound to furnish. During its prog- 
 ress the procession made frequent stops sometimes for a feast, 
 at others to listen to an admonitory sermon from some of the 
 church dignitaries. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth the 
 laws regarding these perambulations were modified and it was or- 
 dered that only " the curate of the parish with certain substantial 
 men " should make the tour of the boundaries and then " return 
 to the church for prayers by the curate." I have before me an 
 account of these perambulations written in 1864, in which the 
 writer says that in his own boyhood he well remembers such a 
 perambulation in his parish ; that it was headed by the vicar and 
 occupied " two days of merry ramble by us juveniles who followed 
 the vicar and his substantial men." The writer then recounts a 
 score or more of funny incidents and the tricks that were played 
 on the processional party. 
 
 In many parts of England these Rogation Days were set aside 
 for some special local service, as in Dorsetshire down to 1830, 
 Rogation Monday was a special festival called the Bezant and 
 was a sort of thanksgiving for the water supply of the town of 
 Shaftsbury. 
 
 The canonical colour for each of the Rogation Days is violet. 
 Its general significance is passion, suffering and sorrow ; but it 
 also signifies humility, deep love and truth, and in these it is used 
 on the church altar on these days. 
 
 This day in May is also the festival of St. Monica, the mother of 
 St. Augustine, and she is held in especial veneration as the 
 patroness of the Augustine nuns. She is very often met with in
 
 ST. HI LA RY 229 
 
 Christian art, one famous picture being in Florence. Here she 
 wears a black robe with a coif of white. This coif is often 
 replaced by a veil sometimes white and at others grey. 
 
 MAY 5th. 
 
 St. Hilary, Archbisop of Aries whose festival occurs on this day 
 must not be confounded with St. Hilary (A. D. 368) who is 
 especially honoured by the Anglican church. 
 
 Michael Ghisleri afterwards Pope Pius V., also is honoured on 
 this day. He was from a noble Bologenese family, born January 
 27th, 1504 and elevated to the pontificate January 7th, 1606. He 
 died May ist, 1572 ; was "beatified " by Clement X. in 1672 and 
 canonized by Clement XI. in 1712. 
 
 He was a man of strong marked character. He saw and 
 knew the evils of intemperance and may be cited as one of the 
 earliest of those who have striven to counteract these evils ; as he 
 published severe regulations regarding the " excesses in taverns " 
 (the saloon of old Rome) and curiously, as we study his story, we 
 see how history repeats itself ; or rather that men have not 
 changed. Yet this Holy Father did much toward checking the 
 evil he battled against. At the same time, to further good mor- 
 als, Pius V. banished from Rome or confined in safe quarters all 
 lewd women. Indeed he was a reformer of a fearless type with 
 but one purpose at heart, to serve his Great Master. His story 
 would be interesting to follow but in these brief sketches I am 
 not able to elaborate. 
 
 MAY 6th 
 
 Is the festival of St. John the Evangelist, " ante Portam Lati- 
 nam." This festival is named from a very early legend told by 
 Tertullian and verified by St. Jerom and Eusebius of the persecu- 
 tion of St. John by order of Domitian "the last of the twelve 
 Caesars." A tyrant who deluged Rome in the blood of martyrs 
 yet a creature we cannot ennoble him by calling him a man
 
 2 3 o SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 of such cruel instinct that it is told of him that in his closet he 
 
 amused (?) himself by catching flies and impaling them alive with 
 
 needles. One so lost to all sense of morals that he hesitated not 
 
 to debauch his own niece to 
 gratify his sexual lusts. 
 
 The legend which must be 
 condensed into a few brief 
 words is that when St. John 
 was brought to Rome he was 
 taken without the gate called 
 " Latina " and there cast into 
 a caldron of boiling oil. But 
 to quote from " Butler's Lives 
 of the Saints " : " This seething 
 oil was changed in his regard 
 into a refreshing bath, and the 
 
 saint came out more fresh and lively than when he entered the 
 
 caldron." 
 
 Like all the heathen of his day Domitian believed in the art of 
 
 magic and set St. John's deliverance 
 
 down to that, and contented himself by 
 
 banishing the Evangelist to the Isle of 
 
 Patmos. On December 27th, St. John's 
 
 Day, we shall further speak of him. This 
 
 especial deliverance of St. John is cele- 
 brated on this day. In the Clog Almanac 
 
 there are two symbols given for the day. 
 
 One a bleeding heart such as is often 
 
 given to martyrs. The other, referring 
 
 to St. John's suffering outside the Latin 
 
 gate, a caldron with the flames beneath 
 
 it. 
 
 MAY 7th. 
 
 St. Benedict II., Pope and Confessor is recognised this day. 
 His pontificate was very brief lasting less than eleven months. 
 He died in 686.
 
 ASCENSION DAY 231 
 
 St. John of Beverley whose festival occurs also on this day was 
 from a noble Anglo-Saxon family and was born at Harpham, a 
 favourite place of residence for the Northumbrian kings. The 
 fact that he received a scriptural name instead of one of the 
 usual Anglo-Saxon kind evidences that his family were Christians. 
 His early education was under the Abbess Hilda of Whitby 
 who was a great-granddaughter of King Edwin. Later he 
 completed his studies at Canterbury. Bede (the Anglo-Saxon 
 historian) gives a very full account of his long and peaceful life. 
 Indeed from Bede's account his one desire was to escape notori- 
 ety and to live in seclusion, especially during the season of Lent. 
 For this purpose he built for himself a cell in the forest of Deiri 
 beyond the Tyne and far from the haunts of men, on a little 
 stream where the beavers made their home and called in Anglo- 
 Saxon Beofer leag or the lea of beavers which was softened 
 in modern days into Beverley. 
 
 It was here one of the remarkable miracles credited to this 
 saint was performed, when by his prayers he gained for a poor 
 dumb boy whom he had taken into the forest with him, the power 
 of speech. A monastery was built here at Beverley of which 
 John became the abbot. Later he was translated to the arch- 
 bishopric of York. He died May 7th, 721. 
 
 MAY 8th. 
 
 ASCENSION DAY. 
 
 Holy Thursday or Ascension Day is a movable feast and 
 fixed to occur forty days after Easter Sunday. It is one of the 
 earliest festivals known to have been kept by the Christian 
 Church. Its first celebration was as tradition tells us held in 
 the year 68. 
 
 The sacred story is too well known by all Christians to need 
 repetition or to give any reason why the glorious ascension of 
 our Saviour into heaven " leading captivity captive " and " opening 
 the kingdom of heaven to all believers," should be thus held in 
 reverence. Nor need I explain why white, the most joyous of all
 
 232 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the canonical colours is selected as the appropriate one for use 
 upon the altars of the church this marvelous day. 
 
 In the use of the Rosary by devout members of the Roman 
 Church an account of which and its festival, October ist will be 
 duly given, this day is marked as the seventh in series of the 
 mythical " Sorrows and Joys of the Virgin." Her legend saying 
 that she too was present on this great day, and prayed : " My 
 Son, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. 
 Leave me not long after Thee, my Son." 
 
 ANCIENT ENGLISH CUSTOMS ON ASCENSION DAY. 
 
 Throughout England many quaint customs most of which 
 have passed into desuetude marked Ascension Day. I must 
 limit myself to brief mention of one only, which it was my privi- 
 lege to witness in 1854 when I happened to be at Chatsworth that 
 " show house " of the north of England when I heard of the 
 festival that was to take place and drove from Matlock to 
 Tissington, "the village of holy wells," to witness the unique 
 ceremony of the " Well Dressing," on Holy Thursday. We 
 entered the village about 10 o'clock in the morning but already 
 the village had donned its gala attire and its one broad street was 
 crowded by a motley collection of people, men, women and chil- 
 dren and (pity them) babies in arms, who had come from miles 
 around to take part in the " feast " as they regarded it. Booths 
 of all kinds occupied every available space as usual at English 
 fairs from gingerbread toys to " Brighton Tipper " ale. 
 
 Following the good advice of our landlady at Matlock we went 
 directly to the church, but alas, too late to get inside for it was 
 already full ; thus we lost the sermon but perhaps were more 
 than repaid by the amusing scenes outside the church until the 
 vicar had finished and came forth to take his place at the head of 
 the procession to the " wells." 
 
 This last word is in a way a misnomer for with but one excep- 
 tion they were fountains fed from the springs on the hills above 
 the town, one only being an old-time well with its pump. 
 
 These cascades have like that of the " Hall Well " at the
 
 WELL DRESSING 
 
 233 
 
 Fitzherbert mansion (shown in illustration) stone arches or fronts 
 with the fountain basin below. On this day, however, they were 
 all hidden from view behind screens of fresh flowers fastened on 
 wooden frames. I recall one where a text of Scripture had been 
 traced in yellow field ranunculus on a dark background with very 
 pretty effect. With the lavish profusion of gorgeous flowers used 
 at each of the five 
 wells it is difficult for 
 my memory at this 
 distant date to recall 
 much beyond the 
 general beauty of 
 them all. 
 
 The ceremony at 
 each of the wells is 
 the same. Very sim- 
 ple but most pleasing, 
 while the picture made 
 by the peasantry in 
 their holiday attire as 
 they stood grouped 
 around the clergyman 
 and the white-robed 
 choir-boys was one 
 not soon to be for- 
 gotten. First came an 
 invocation for God to 
 bless and keep pure, 
 the waters of the well. 
 Then the first of the 
 three Psalms appointed for the day was read, the choir-boys 
 chanting the responses, after that one of Bishop Heber's beautiful 
 hymns then another Psalm, followed by the " Gloria," and the 
 last Psalm and a prayer completed the service. From the last 
 well the clergyman and choir-boys returned to the church. 
 
 Not so with the people for their holiday was but just then 
 begun and from that time until the " wee sma hours " games of
 
 234 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 all kinds were kept up on the village green, with dancing round 
 a May pole while the booths, side shows and gypsy fortune tellers 
 did business to full houses. Full in more than one sense since 
 the taverns and ale booths had not been forgotten. 
 
 The origin of this custom of " Well Dressing " is of very 
 ancient date some asserting it was once a pagan festival. In its 
 present form it seems to date from 1615. In that year a severe 
 drought occurred throughout Derbyshire when most of the wells 
 were dried up and the smaller streams were all dry though the 
 wells at Tissington were never empty. The people from the 
 countrysides for ten miles round coming there to get water to 
 supply their cattle and stock at home. Then it was that this 
 thanksgiving service was appointed, for Ascension Day. 
 
 THE APPARITION OF ST. MICHAEL. 
 
 The Archangel St. Michael whom the Church honours on May 
 8th is the acknowledged " Prince of the faithful angels." His 
 name even in Hebrew signifies " Who is like God," has a grand 
 sound. It was he whom God commissioned to expel from 
 Heaven Lucifer and his associate rebellious angels when they re- 
 volted. To quote : " His office now is believed to be two-fold ; 
 that of patron saint of the church on earth, and the Lord 
 of the souls of the dead." 
 
 The legends of St. Michael are numerous and elaborate. They 
 begin far back in the mystic days of the Old Testament and tell 
 of his appearance to Hagar (Genesis xxi., 17) while another 
 describes him as the angel who forbadeAbraham to sacrifice Isaac 
 (Genesis xxii., 1 1) and still another when he contested with Satan 
 for the body of Moses (Jude 5). While in many Bible stories it 
 is said he represented his great Master, God. These legends also 
 tell of his announcement to the Virgin of the time when her 
 death would occur. Of his appearance to St. Gregory both 
 before and when the plague at Rome was stayed. These and 
 many of the other apparitions of St. Michael are the reasons for 
 and the title given this festival.
 
 ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN 235 
 
 MAY 9th. 
 
 St. Gregory Nazianzen whose festival occurs this day holds a 
 somewhat unique place in the Kalendar of the Saints, since not 
 only was his father St. Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzeno ; his mother 
 St. Nonna ; his two sisters St. Gorgonia and St. Cesarca ; but 
 he also was honoured by the Church by canonization. 
 
 St. Gregory from his profound learning, is surnamed " The 
 Theologian " and was one of the " Doctors of the Church." In 
 his early years he had careful training in " grammar-learning " in 
 the schools in Cappadocia and thereafter sent to Palestine 
 " where the study of eloquence flourished " and subsequently 
 studying in Alexandria and Athens. He was not baptised until 
 he was nearly thirty years of age but from that time became an 
 ardent earnest religious student. He was his father's coadjutor 
 and in 362 succeeded him in his bishopric. Later in life he lived 
 on a small estate and it was here we find him in a new role which 
 gives him still another claim for being honoured. For it was 
 here he wrote those hymns and lyrics which place his name 
 among the very earliest of the Christian poets. These poetic 
 effusions are like his other writings of more than usual merit and 
 express his naturally intense imaginative nature. His death took 
 place May Qth, but whether in 389 or 390 some doubt exists. 
 
 As a writer and chronicler he has ever been regarded as one 
 of the most reliable of those who left on record the history of the 
 Church during his day, as well as for the beauty of his diction. 
 
 MAY loth. 
 
 I think I am not far astray when I say that outside of the 
 clerics of the Roman Church certain antiquarians, archaeologists 
 and a limited class of ardent delving students only a few general 
 readers are aware how far in advance in all educational matters 
 many of the Irish clergy were from the V. to the VIII. cen- 
 turies of the best educated men in or out of the church in 
 ancient Britain ; or what grand schools of learning for their 
 day and generations those old Irish monastic schools were.
 
 236 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Indeed those of Germany, Italy and Greece were by no means so 
 far in advance of them as we would at first suppose. One of the 
 most noted of these educational centers was the Monastery 
 Cluain-Aidhnech at. the foot of the Bladma hills from which 
 rise the two rivers Barrow and Nore in Queen's county. It was 
 here St. Cornwall whose festival is celebrated this day, an Ulster 
 born man, was trained under that celebrated teacher, St. Finian, 
 becoming by 550 one of the most accomplished men of his age 
 there to found the great abbey of Benchor or Bangor, county 
 Down which in its turn became another remarkable school of 
 learning, and made St. Comgall's name famous. He later founded 
 another monastery called Cell-Comgail now called Saynkille and 
 attached to the archbishopic of Dublin. Comgall died May loth, 
 601. 
 
 MAY iith. 
 
 The Sunday intervening between Ascension Day and Whit- 
 sunday is termed 
 
 SUNDAY IN THE OCTAVE OF ASCENSION. 
 
 Roman Martyrology records that on this day is celebrated : 
 " At Rome on the Salarian road the birthday of the blessed 
 Anthimus, a priest who after having distinguished himself by his 
 virtues and preaching, was cast into the Tiber during the persecu- 
 tions of Diocletian. He was rescued by an angel and restored to 
 his oratory; " but later was decapitated. 
 
 This day is also marked as the festival of St. Mammertus, Arch- 
 bishop of Vienne, whose memory is highly venerated by the 
 Church both for his sanctity and learning and for having instituted 
 the three days Latines immediately before the Ascension of our 
 Lord ; and for the many miracles he performed such as the stay- 
 ing of the great fire by his prayers and which had baffled the 
 efforts of men and seemed destined to destroy his city, when 
 the archbishop took his place at the altar and ceased not his
 
 ST. FRANCIS DI GIROLAMO 237 
 
 supplications until his prayers were answered. His faith in the 
 efficacy of fasting and prayer, never for an instant failed him and 
 this it was which led him to institute the Rogation Days. The 
 mass and lessons appointed for these days in Gaul, are still pre- 
 served in the ancient Gallican liturgy. He was an author also of 
 a number of noted theological works. One " On Nature and the 
 Soul," alone would keep his memory green. 
 
 St. Francis di Girolamo who is also remembered on this day 
 was the famous Jesuit pulpit orator of Naples ; a volume would 
 hardly suffice to record the wonderful effect of his eloquence. 
 " His voice " says Butler " was loud and sonorous, * * * 
 and the style of his preaching simple and impressive. * * * 
 His descriptions forcible and graphic and his pathetic appeals 
 were sure to draw tears while his energy astounded and terrified," 
 yet there must have been much of the magnetism of the popular 
 orator in his manner for whenever he spoke whether in the streets 
 of Naples a constant habit of his or in the church great 
 crowds followed him and not a few of the sudden conversions 
 made by him of hardened sinners sound like the records of some 
 modern " Revivalist " preachers. 
 
 He was an earnest untiring faithful worker to the very last. 
 Born in 1642, at a very early age he became a prefect in the 
 " College of Nobles of the Society of Jesus " and soon after his 
 novitiate was completed took high rank in the society. It was as 
 a preacher and evangelist that he excelled. He died May nth, 
 1716. Was beatified by Pius VII. on the feast of St. Joseph in 
 1806, and canonized by Gregory XVI., on Trinity Sunday 1839. 
 
 MAY 1 2th. 
 
 On this day the " boy martyr " St. Pancras is honoured by the 
 Church and one of the most famous churches in London was 
 erected in his honour. Mrs. Jameson in her" Sacred and Legendary 
 Art " sums the brief story of this youth so well that I quote it 
 verbatim.
 
 238 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 " In the persecution under Diocletian this young saint who was 
 only fourteen years of age offered himself voluntarily as a martyr, 
 defending boldly before the emperor the cause of the Christians. 
 He was therefore beheaded by the sword 
 and his body was honourably buried by 
 Christian women. His church near the 
 gate of St. Pancrazio has existed since 
 the year 500. St. Pancras was in the 
 middle ages regarded as the protector 
 against false oaths and the avenger of 
 perjury. It was believed that those who 
 swore falsely by St. Pancras were im- 
 mediately and visibly punished, hence his 
 popularity." 
 
 The Danish Clog Almanac marks the 
 day as in illustration by a sword. 
 
 A somewhat peculiar trio are also 
 honoured this day. St. Flavia Domitilla, 
 and SS. Nereus and Achilleus (brothers) 
 who were eunuchs or chamberlains to 
 Flavius Clemens her uncle and herself. 
 These latter were members of the imperial family, but because of 
 their faith as Christians they were banished to Pontia, by Emperor 
 Domitian. But prior to this the uncle had suffered martyrdom. 
 The faithful eunuchs accompanied St. Flavia Domitilla in her exile. 
 Her legend says she with Nereus and Achilleus returned to 
 Terracina where under Trajan she was burned at the stake for 
 refusing to sacrifice to idols. The legend of her eunuchs says 
 they were beheaded by order of Domitian because they had per- 
 suaded Flavia not to marry Aurelian the son of the consul to 
 whom she was betrothed because he was an idolator. Both 
 legends may easily be true and not conflict. 
 
 Some of my readers will recall a most interesting little church, 
 SS. Nereo and Achilleo near the baths of Caracalla. Tradition 
 says that when St. Peter was going to execution he dropped here 
 one of the bandages of his wounds. The watchful Christians
 
 ST. JOHN THE SILENT 239 
 
 marked the spot and an " oratory " was built which bore the name 
 of Fasciola and later it became a small church, and in 524 the 
 relics of the two brothers were transferred thither from Terracina 
 by John I. and in 795 the building was restored by Leo III. and 
 enlarged. Again in the sixteenth century Cardinal Baronius who 
 took his title from hence, rebuilt the church as we now know it. 
 
 MAY 1 3th. 
 
 In A. D. 399 the Pantheon, a temple dedicated to the Roman 
 gods was closed by order of Emperor Honorius. By permis- 
 sion of Emperor Phocos, Pope Boniface IV. rebuilt the Pantheon 
 as a Christian church and in so doing preserved many of the 
 architectural features of the old temple. Its dedication as a 
 Christian church in 608 to the honour of the Virgin is especially 
 observed this day in Rome. The story of the Pantheon is a very 
 interesting one and is told in all the guide books to Rome. 
 
 MAY I4th 
 
 Is the festival of St. John " The Silent," a surname given him for 
 his almost utter silence at all times and under every provocation 
 to speech. Yet of him it was truthfully said, that while he was 
 earnest and fervent in prayer, he was never slothful in business, his 
 duties were each and all so carefully and faithfully fulfilled. One 
 of those rare characters who have but little to say but who are 
 always prompt to act ; because they have thought rather than 
 spoken much. When he did speak it was simply and to the 
 point, and with a degree of wisdom that seemed inspired. 
 Naturally a man of this character was one to be brought forward 
 even if, as was the case with our saint, he was reluctant. There- 
 fore in 482 when he was but twenty-eight years of age he, we 
 may say, was driven from his retreat by the Archbishop of 
 Sebaste to become Bishop of Coloman in Armenia. But the 
 position was no bed of down for many reasons. The principal
 
 2 4 o SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 one being that John's brother-in-law who was then governor of 
 Armenia, was so offensive to the Church that he was compelled 
 to appeal to the Emperor Zeno for help. Yet for nine years he 
 fulfilled faithfully his duties. Then he was permitted to retire to 
 a " Laura " (an hermitage attached to or adjacent to some mon- 
 astery. A sort of outlying house under the supervision of some 
 holy man ; and usually devoted to novices before their admission 
 to the monasteries proper) where for three years he lived in 
 retirement. Then when promotion was again forced upon him 
 he refused and from that time spent forty years in eremitical life 
 save when instructing those who sought him, until he passed to 
 the blessed company above soon after 558. 
 
 MAY 1 5th. 
 
 To anyone who takes an interest in hagiology there are two 
 books to which they can turn with perfect confidence that every 
 statement is founded on fact. One of these is the " Acta Sanc- 
 torum " and Alban Butler's " Lives of the Saints," is the other. 
 Few laymen, I fancy, ever waded through the sixty ponderous 
 folios of the former, but many have and will read the latter 
 and not a few of the facts given in this series of articles are 
 gleaned from this invaluable book ; therefore it is eminently 
 proper that his name be mentioned on this anniversary of his 
 death, which occurred in 1773. 
 
 This ardent student devoted thirty years of his life to this work 
 and even the cynic Gibbon is compelled to say of it : " It is a work 
 of merit ; the sense and the learning belong to the author his 
 prejudices are those of his profession." Yet no candid reader can 
 fail to see how careful he has been to verify his every word. 
 
 In the Kalendar for this day are the names of SS. Peter, An- 
 drew and their companions. Theirs is only the oft repeated story 
 of the persecution of Christians in those early days yet in it is the 
 material for a romance. 
 
 In the persecutions of Decius near Lampsacus, a city of Lesser 
 Asia near the Hellespont, a young man called Peter remarkable for
 
 ST. JOHN NEPOMUCEN 241 
 
 his beauty of person and endowments of mind was captured and 
 by order of Optimus broken on a wheel. The proconsul was just 
 setting out for Troas, a city in Phrygia when three other young 
 men named Andrew, Paul and Nicomachus were brought before 
 him and on confession that they also were Christians, were or- 
 dered to sacrifice to the goddess Venus. On their refusal they 
 too were condemned to the rack. One of these, Nicomachus 
 when put to torture recanted, and offered to sacrifice to the gods. 
 But the legend tells us no sooner had he done so " than the Devil 
 seized him and beat his head on the ground until he expired. " 
 Among those who witnessed this was a young virgin named 
 Denysa who called out to Optimus : " Unfortunate wretch ! 
 Wouldst thou bring upon thyself eternal torments for the sake of 
 a moment's ease ? " Confessing that she also was a Christian the 
 proconsul gave orders a thing then by no means uncommon 
 for her punishment, in a manner that death would have been a 
 boon instead of it for she was given to two young men to be " de- 
 prived " of her virtue. But such strength was given her that she 
 was able to resist them until about midnight when " an angel glit- 
 tering with light " appeared to rescue her and the young men over- 
 come with fear fell before the apparition and besought mercy. 
 The next morning the mob stirred by the priests of Diana were 
 still calling for Andrew and Paul but when Optimus ordered 
 them to be brought forth Denysa came with them crying : " That 
 I may live with you eternally in heaven I will die with you now on 
 earth." But she was taken from them and later the two martyrs 
 Andrew and Paul were beheaded in some obscure place. The 
 legend is silent as to the fate of the damsel Denysa, 
 
 MAY i6th. 
 
 The legend of St. John of Nepomucen or Nepomuc, canon of 
 the Metropolitan Church and martyr, whose memory is honoured 
 on this day is somewhat out of the customary order, since it is an 
 evidence of the sanctity in which " the Confession " has at all 
 times been held by the Roman Church. He was born in 1330, in
 
 242 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Nepomuc near Prague and educated at the University of that city 
 which had been founded in 1356 by Charles IV., Emperor of Ger- 
 many and King of Bohemia, and here St. John distinguished him- 
 self in philosophy, divinity and canon law and was also devoted to 
 music. When he was preferred to his Canonry his attendance 
 in the choir did not hinder his zeal for the 
 cause of souls. A bit of history is needed 
 here to understand what is to follow. The 
 Emperor Charles IV. was renowned for his 
 wisdom and piety, neither of which his son 
 Wenceslas inherited, instead he won for 
 himself the infamous surname of " the 
 Slothful" and " the Drunkard." Wenceslas 
 had through the influence and largess of his 
 father been in 1376 when he was but 
 sixteen years old chosen by the electors 
 as King of Rome. Later he had married the good and beautiful 
 Princess Joan of Bavaria, daughter of Albert of Bavaria, Earl of 
 Hainault and Holland. John of Nepomuc became her confessor. 
 Wenceslas curious to know the secrets of his wife and utterly 
 unmindful of the seal of confidence under which they had been 
 confided to her confessor ordered him to disclose them. In his 
 anger at being refused the tyrant directed he should be imprisoned 
 in a dungeon and then tortured until he obeyed. The inhuman 
 sufferings which John endured could not be believed if they were 
 not proven by evidence that is beyond doubt. At last by the 
 intercession of the Empress Joan when John was " half dead," 
 he was released and by her majesty's own hands nursed back to 
 life. But it was only for a time that the saint was left in peace 
 for when Wenceslas again demanded of him to reveal the secrets 
 of the confessional and again refused, the emperor in his anger 
 ordered him bound and thrown into the river Muldaw from the 
 bridge that joins the " Great and Little Prague." This occurred 
 on the " Vigil of the Ascension " on May l6th, 1383. The legend 
 tells of five bright stars which appeared in the sky at that moment 
 where an instant before all had been utter darkness. In Christian 
 art, therefore, five stars appear as the attribute of St. John of
 
 ST. BRENDAN 243 
 
 Nepomuc ; but the Clog symbol is a " pandean pipe ; " doubtless 
 referring to his love of music. 
 
 Of St. Brendan whose name appears in the Kalendar of this 
 day the first mention we have is as a child under the tuition of 
 St. Itha or Ita, a protege of St. Ere. This noted woman who 
 will be duly mentioned later is also named as the " foster-mother " 
 of SS. Pulcherius and Cumine, seemingly was what we in later 
 days would term the keeper of the " Dames School ; " though 
 when Brendan was committed to her care he was only a year old 
 and remained under her care until he was five years of age. 
 How precocious he was may be judged from the question he once 
 asked : " What were the works in her opinion, most pleasing to 
 God ? " 
 
 " Faith out of a pure heart, sincerity of life and tender charity," 
 was her reply. 
 
 " And what," he then asked " are most displeasing to God ? " 
 
 " A spiteful tongue, a love of what smacks of evil and avarice," 
 was her answer. 
 
 On leaving Itha Brendan for a time was under the care of Ere, 
 Bishop of Slane, and afterward at the celebrated monastic school 
 of Finan of Clonard while he finally founded the monastery of 
 Clonfert. 
 
 It was natural in those early days of the Church that North 
 Britain and the islands which lay between it and Ireland should 
 attract missionaries to their shores. When on June 9th I speak of 
 St. Columba I shall enter more fully on this subject in connection 
 with the life of Columba. But among the earliest to give prac- 
 tical aid to such missionaries was Brendan of Clonfert. 
 
 It is at this point one of the strangest legends told of any of 
 the canonized saints comes in since it reads like a fairy story or 
 some of the voyages of Sinbad when St. Brendan sailed away 
 from Ireland to find the paradise of Adam and Eve. As it fills 
 one hundred and fifty pages I can hardly tell the story of how he 
 and his companions after forty days and forty nights ^of sailing 
 first came to the fair " Island of Sheep," where the sheep were 
 as big as oxen and where it was never cold and the pastures ever
 
 444 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 green, how from there they went on to the " Paradise of Birds " 
 and later to an island inhabited by devils until after seven years 
 they found the looked for island and then they returned to 
 Ireland. The legend is full of fabulous stories of conversation 
 with birds, of their landing on the back of a great fish that they 
 mistook for land and how when they built a fire on it the crea- 
 ture moved away and they fled to their ship in fright where St. 
 Brendan comforted them by explaining : " That it was a great fish 
 named Jason which laboured day and night trying to put its tail 
 in its mouth but could not on account of its size." 
 
 The narrative of this seven-year voyage of St. Brendan and his 
 fourteen monks who accompanied him was one of the popular 
 " folk-lore tales " of the Middle Ages, and many editions of it are 
 now extant. But at best it is only regarded as a romance, or a 
 monkish dream of an imaginary voyage to some unknown re- 
 gions. Still it must have had some historic foundation, of some 
 journey of the real Brendan in his effort to extend, by missionary 
 work the borders of the Christian Church. And further evidence 
 of this is found in the expeditions sent out by the Spaniards to 
 discover St. Brendan's island even as late as in 1721 the date 
 when the last one was undertaken. Indeed there are many in- 
 dications that Brendan did make some such voyage ; for Fordun 
 (the Anglo-Saxon historian) tells us that after his return from it he 
 went to Britain to visit St. Gildas and afterward he went to the 
 Western Isles and established monasteries "at Ailech and Heth." 
 Of the latter Skeen says : " This land of Heth we now know to 
 have been the Island of Tyree." Fordun also speaks of Brendan 
 in the Island of Bute. 
 
 St. Brendan was one of St. Finan's "Twelve Apostles of 
 Ireland." 
 
 MAY i7th. 
 
 In the reign of Valerianus who died 269 St. Restituta's name 
 appears a"s one of the martyrs to the Christian faith in Africa. 
 The fiendish ingenuity of those early Roman officials in seeking 
 out means of torture for their victims seems beyond belief. This
 
 WHITSUNDAY 245 
 
 virtuous Christian woman, after she had endured every kind of 
 indignity and suffering to induce her to abjure her faith under 
 orders of Proculus was placed in a boat and bound so that she 
 could not escape. Then the boat was filled with pitch and tow 
 mixed and it was later taken out to sea where the pitch was set 
 fire to and the poor woman abandoned to her fate. The skiff or 
 boat burned to the water's edge and with the charred remains of 
 St. Restituta, drifted to the island of Ischia, near Naples where 
 the relics of the martyr fell into Christian hands and were rever- 
 ently cared for. 
 
 Verily in those early days it required much courage to be a 
 Christian. 
 
 MAY 1 8th. 
 
 As a movable feast, the date of Whitsunday is dependent upon 
 that of Easter. 
 
 WHITSUNDAY. 
 
 THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 
 
 Whitsunday is the third of the three greater festivals celebrated 
 by the Christian Church and commemorates the descent of the 
 Holy Ghost on the apostles " when they were all with one 
 accord in one place " after the Ascension of our Lord, and 
 when they received the gift of tongues. As this event occurred 
 on the day of Pentecost, Whitsunday is naturally associated with 
 the great Jewish festival held, as the name denotes fifty days 
 after the feast of unleavened bread. A coincidence which con- 
 nects the two days in our memory. The rabbinical account of this 
 event is an ample reason for both its celebration and the impor- 
 tance given to it. It is a remarkable fact that in the languages 
 peculiar to Western Europe this day seems to have had no partic- 
 ular name, and the English word " Whitsunday " it is said was 
 derived from some of the characteristics of the early Roman cere- 
 monies on the day. This fact seems more singular as Pentecost
 
 246 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 in mediaeval Western Europe was such a marked day. In the 
 Middle Ages a great wax candle was then blessed and was sup- 
 posed to be emblematic of the light of faith shown forth upon the 
 world. Numerous ceremonies then in vogue have now passed 
 into desuetude, especially in the English church. One of these 
 strikes us as peculiarly unaccountable, the distribution by the 
 church of " Whitsun ale." Yet the accounts of the church war- 
 dens of the seventeenth century show many entries where they 
 paid for "Whitsun ale." The best ex- 
 planation I have found for it is that it 
 was a survival of the ancient Agape, or 
 " love feast," which early Christians in- 
 dulged in. 
 
 A dove descending from Heaven was 
 the emblem of the descent of the Holy 
 Ghost adopted by the church. The illus- 
 tration is taken from a banner used at 
 Whitsuntide in a Dorsetshire church 
 during the seventeenth century. A dove 
 was often suspended above an image of 
 Christ on Whitsunday. 
 
 The canonical colour for Whitsunday 
 is red. While this colour signifies divine 
 love and royal dignity as well as blood, 
 war and suffering, being thus emblematic 
 of martyrs, it also according to Dr. 
 Nicholas Gihr a recognised authority in 
 such matters symbolises " that burning 
 glowing love which is enkindled in the 
 hearts of the faithful through the Holy 
 Spirit, that self-sacrificing triumphant love which in martyrdom 
 makes an offering of the greatest and dearest earthly good 
 even life itself. (Song of Solomon, viii. 6)." Thus on Whitsun- 
 day red symbolises the fiery tongues that came upon the apostles 
 (Acts ii. 6), typifying that the apostles should be eloquent in 
 words, fervent in charity. " This also," says another eminent 
 scholar, ' is the birthday of the church fructified by the blood of
 
 ST. DUNSTAN 
 
 247 
 
 Christ and the martyrs." I have been thus explicit because others 
 like myself may have found it difficult to reconcile the canonical 
 colour of this day with the recognised emblematical colour of 
 suffering and martyrdom. 
 
 MAY 1 9th. 
 
 Of the entire list of saints whose names appear in the Kalendar 
 of the Church, there is no one who from the different stand- 
 points from which he has been judged, is so misunderstood as St. 
 Dunstan. He has received such unstinted adulation that at 
 times they bordered on the ridiculous from the ill-advised 
 admiration of his 
 friends ; while from 
 malevolent critics he 
 has been pictured as 
 not only bigoted but 
 as utterly unscrupu- 
 lous in the use of any 
 means to gain his end 
 that both in their ex- 
 treme views are not 
 only wrong but most 
 unjust. That St. 
 Dunstan was one of 
 those remarkable men 
 who stamp their own 
 character on the age 
 they live in is beyond 
 question but that he has also like others suffered from this may 
 be seen by any who take the trouble to study the man from an 
 honest point of view. 
 
 Dunstan was born in the isle of Glastonbury in 924 or 5 (dates 
 conflict on this point) and was of noble and even royal descent. 
 Glastonbury has always been regarded as a sacred spot. It was 
 there King Arthur was buried and legends tell us that it was 
 
 ST. DUNSTAN AND THE DEVIL.
 
 248 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 there also that Joseph of Arimathea found his final resting place 
 on earth and that St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, was buried ; 
 one of the many places assigned him as his last resting place. 
 Here in Dunstan's youth there was a famous monastery where 
 many Irish monks of learning resided. It was within this abbey 
 that Kings Arthur and Edgar were buried, as well as many nobles 
 of ancient Britain ; and it is said that its last abbot was hanged, 
 because he refused to surrender the abbey to Henry VIII. but 
 amid the ruins the chapel of St. Joseph and the abbot's kitchen 
 now alone can -now be seen. 
 
 It was in this monastic school young Dunstan received his 
 early education. While somewhat delicate in his bodily health 
 he early displayed a " giant mind " far out-stripping his compan- 
 ions, his special studies beside Scriptural history being arithme- 
 tic, geometry, astronomy and music ; but at the same time 
 developing wonderful skill in drawing, illumination and sculpture. 
 
 He also spent some time at the 
 monastery of P'leury in France. 
 As a sort of amusement he be- 
 came an expert worker in metals, 
 silver, copper, iron and brass, and 
 in his cell at Glastonbury he set 
 up a forge in addition to the usual 
 appointments of a monastic cell. 
 
 He at an early age went to the 
 Court of Athelston and later be- 
 came a great friend and favourite 
 with Kings Athelston, Edmund 
 and Edred, as they succeeded each 
 other, his influence over the latter 
 being so great that Dunstan was 
 accused by the courtiers with sorcery. One great aim Dunstan had 
 was to establish the Benedictine rule in all English monasteries 
 and he was therefore regarded as the father of the English Bene- 
 dictines. During Edred's reign the power of Dunstan was almost 
 supreme. With Edred's death came a change the kingdom being 
 ruled by his profligate son, Edwy. The romantic story of Edwy
 
 LEGENDS OF ST. DUNSTAN 249 
 
 and Elgiva needs no repetition here ; beyond recalling that it was 
 Dunstan's frank condemnation and remonstrance with Edwy for 
 his shameless life that brought about the prelate's banishment 
 from court, to Glastonbury where he erected the famous cell 
 with its oratory, and in which occurred the temptations of the devil 
 that gave rise to the often repeated legend. Shorn of its roman- 
 tic details the legend tells us that the devil sought out St. 
 Dunstan in his cell to lure him into sin. To effect this purpose 
 the devil had assumed the likeness of a beautiful woman and 
 came on St. Dunstan at a time when he was working at his forge. 
 The saint at once detected the imposition and taking a pair of 
 red-hot tongs from the forge seized him with them by the nose, 
 which caused the devil to appear in his true character. The 
 picture of this scene as shown above is from a window in the 
 Bodleian library. With the death of Edwy his brother Edgar 
 became king and Dunstan was restored to favour. Edgar made 
 him successively Bishop of Worcester, London, and later Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury. Over the last he presided for twenty-seven 
 years, and was a great promoter of ecclesiastical law and disci- 
 pline as well as a patron of useful and fine arts ; and his almost 
 contemporary b i o g - 
 raphers say he was a 
 fine musician, an arch- 
 itect and painter of 
 great ability and won- 
 derfully skilled in 
 working metals of all 
 kinds. 
 
 To attempt to re- 
 count the legends told 
 of St. Dunstan one ' 
 
 would need a small volume ; while his life as told by Butler in 
 plain, simple words leaves no doubt of his purity of life, his earn- 
 est efforts to lead all who came under his influence in the paths 
 of peace and virtue. A truly holy and good man whose aim was 
 ever for the good of his people and by his own life and example 
 to teach them. In A. D. 960 he went to Rome and as Primate
 
 250 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 of the Anglo-Saxon nation received great honours. He died on 
 May ipth, 988. The Clog Almanacs give St. Dunstan several em- 
 blems. The two given above are from English sticks and are 
 very puzzling to know just what they intend to represent. The 
 last is a Danish one and easily understood as the " tongs " which 
 are regarded as St. Dunstan's proper emblems. 
 
 The origin of the Abbey of Glastonbury 
 is lost in antiquity and I can only give the 
 legend as it runs which is that when the 
 Apostle Philip came to France he sent 
 Joseph of Arimathea with eleven disciples 
 to Britain. Arviragus, King of Britain, (said 
 to have died in A. D. 74) was so pleased 
 and so enchanted by the beauty of their 
 lives and the courage which had brought 
 them through the dangers of their journey 
 from Palestine that he gave them the island 
 of Avelon, as Glastonbury was then called. 
 Here he built a church with " wattled walls " 
 that is by placing two rows of upright 
 stakes, twining willow or other flexible 
 branches between the stakes, and filling the 
 intervening space with adobe, or earth and they then began to 
 live and preach as Christ had set the example. They made a few 
 converts only at first. During the Danish invasion King Alfred 
 found here a refuge. It was here too, so the legend runs, " the 
 mystic thorn " first bloomed on the feast of the Nativity and that 
 Joseph of Arimathea came to Avelon in the fifteenth year after 
 the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was from this small be- 
 ginning the monastery of Glastonbury at last came into existence. 
 This day is also the festival of SS. Prassede and Pudenziana, 
 sisters, daughters of St. Pudens and his wife, Claudia, with whom 
 SS. Peter and Paul lodged in Rome, and all were among the early 
 converts. Pudens was a patrician of great wealth, with houses 
 and public baths at the foot of the Esquiline. The first of these 
 sisters, Prassede, died on July 2ist, A. D. 146, and the last 
 named May ipth, A. D. 148. They were not martyrs but their
 
 ST. EHELBERT 251 
 
 story is one which shows the true devotion of those early Chris- 
 tains. By the death of their parents and an only brother these 
 noble women had inherited the wealth of the family. It was just 
 then that the earliest persecutions of Christians began and the 
 sisters resolved to devote their wealth and lives to aid the .suffer- 
 ers. They nursed the wounded, visited those in prison and buried 
 the dead ; aided by a holy man named Pastorus. So tender was 
 the care they showed these martyrs that it is said they soaked up 
 their blood on sponges and hid them in a well in their home. 
 Pudenziana after her sister's death gave shelter in her house to 
 a number of persecuted Christians, twenty-three of whom were 
 discovered and martyred in her presence. She then buried their 
 bodies in the catacombs of her grandmother, Sta. Priscilla, but 
 collecting their blood in a sponge, placed it in a well in her own 
 house, where she herself was afterwards buried. An oratory is 
 said to have been erected on the site by Pius I., A. D. 160, and 
 was certainly in existence in A. D. 499, when it is mentioned in 
 the acts of a council. In A. D. 822 the original church was de- 
 stroyed and the present church erected by Paschal I., of whose 
 time are the low tower, the porch, the terra-cotta cornices and 
 the mosaics. During the absence of the Popes at Avignon, St. 
 Prassede was one of the many churches which fell almost to ruin 
 and it has since suffered terribly from injudicious modernizations 
 first in the fifteenth century from Rosellini, under Nicholas V., 
 and afterwards under St. Carlo Borromeo in 1 564. 
 
 This is one of the most interesting churches in Rome to-day. 
 A mosaic in the pavement marks the grave of forty martyrs 
 whose remains Paschal I. collected. Take down your " Walks 
 in Rome," or any guide book of Rome, and you will be amply 
 repaid your time in reading of its beauties, but this is not the 
 place to repeat them. 
 
 MAY 20th. 
 
 St. Ethelbert, King of the East-Angles, is honoured in Roman 
 Martyrology on this day as a martyr. That he was a Christian
 
 252 
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 ruler we have ample evidence but his death was rather a base 
 piece of treachery on the part of Quendreda, wife of Offa, King 
 of the Mercias, when Ethelbert was on a visit to Offa to solicit the 
 hand of his daughter, Alfreda, in marriage. 
 
 On this day also the Church recognises St. Bernardino of Siena, 
 a saint celebrated alike for his devotion to the poor and afflicted 
 and his rare learning and valuable writings upon prayer, Divine 
 love, etc., and a " Life of Christ." It was this man who insti- 
 tuted the " Monte de Piete " in France, the original of the modern 
 pawnshop. He died May 2oth, 1444. 
 
 MAY 2ist 
 
 Is the festival of St. Felix of Cantalicio, a native of Cittas 
 Ducale in Umbria, a Capuchin monk, who spent his life in beg- 
 ging bread and wine for his fellow monks, 
 and so successfully that never during his 
 life was there a lack of either among 
 his brotherhood. Many miracles were 
 ascribed to him and he foretold the time 
 of his own death. He was beatified by 
 Urban VIII. in 1625, canonized by Cle- 
 ment XI. in 1721, though the bull of 
 his canonization was only published by 
 Benedict XIII. in 1724. He was the first 
 of the Capuchins who was canonized. 
 
 The Clog symbol for this saint is a 
 beggar's scrip, and always open. 
 
 MAY 22d. 
 
 That the two names given in the Kalendar of B.Yvo on the 
 21 st and St. Yvo on the 22d shall not be confused, I need only 
 call attention to the two dates ; the first in 1115 and the last in 
 1353.
 
 EMBER DAYS 253 
 
 The first was connected with the monastery of the Regular 
 Canons of St Austin's order, the last named being from Treguier 
 in Brittany. A scholar of great parts, he was selected as official 
 or ecclesiastical judge of Rennes. He is reputed to have pro- 
 tected the widows and orphans, to have defended the poor and 
 administered justice with an impartial hand. His charities were 
 only limited by his means. He built a hospital for the sick poor 
 near his own house and devoted much of his time to personally 
 caring for its inmates. The Bretons founded a collegiate church 
 at Paris in 1348 to honour his memory. 
 
 MAY 23d. 
 
 EMBER DAYS. 
 
 The term Ember, it is said, was derived from the Saxon Em- 
 bren or imb-ryne, denoting a course, or circuit, as these days 
 occur at stated periods in the four quarters of the year. Another 
 and fairly plausible theory is that it came from 
 the early practice of sprinkling ashes on the 
 head on fast days in token of humility, and 
 from the custom on these days of eating only 
 cakes baked upon embers and termed " ember- 
 bread." 
 
 These ember-days or periodical fasts were, it 
 is said, instituted by Pope Calixtus I. (219-22), 
 to implore the blessing of God on the pro- 
 ducts of the earth. It was not until the Coun- 
 cil of Placentia in A. D. 1095 that any uniformity 
 in the dates for observing these fasts was de- 
 termined on. Then the first Wednesday, Friday 
 and Saturday following respectively the first Sunday in Lent, 
 Quadragesima Sunday, Whitsunday, Holyrood day (the I4th of 
 September) and St. Lucy's day (the I3th of December), the days 
 observed at the present time, were chosen. The weeks when these 
 days occur are termed " ember weeks " and in the Roman ritual
 
 254 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the " ember days " are denominated " Jeguniaquatuor temporum," 
 or the fasts of the four seasons. 
 
 The Clog Almanac symbol is repeated in each of the four quar- 
 ters. But I find none for these days upon any English Clog sticks. 
 
 This day, May 23d, is the festival of St. Julia, one of those vir- 
 gin martyrs of ancient days of whom Christian women may well 
 be proud. She was a Carthagenian who was captured when 
 Genseric (or as some historians name him " Genzric ") the Van- 
 dal King of Spain (425-455) in one of his incursions took Car- 
 thage in 439. She was sold as a slave to a pagan merchant of 
 Syria. But being a Christian she held herself true to her faith, 
 though faithful and obedient to her master. Her unswerving 
 fidelity in all things and especially to her religion added to her 
 virtues of many kinds won even from this pagan respect and 
 trust, such as was seldom then accorded to one in her station. 
 Therefore he treated her kindly and permitted her daily devotions. 
 The merchant was a man engaged in commerce with many lands ; 
 and upon an occasion in about the year 445, when business took 
 him upon a journey to Gaul, he elected that the slave Julia 
 should be one of his suite to attend upon him and his family on 
 the journey. The merchant was a most upright man who in 
 addition to his tolerance of Julia's religion, had also respected 
 her virtue and had never offered her any indignity. 
 
 On their arrival on the northern coast of Corsica, now called 
 Capo-Corso, an idolatrous festival was in progress in which the 
 sacrifice of a bull was one of its features. For the purpose 
 of joining in these pagan rites the merchant and suite landed ; 
 but Julia was at her request left behind as she could not even by 
 her unwilling presence recognise such rites. Indeed, she had 
 openly reviled them to her fellow slaves. 
 
 Felix, the pagan Governor of Corsica, received the merchant with 
 honour ; but had noticed Julia as left behind and soon asked : 
 " Who this woman was who thus dared to insult their gods ? " 
 
 Eusebius, the merchant, told her story. Then the governor 
 offered to buy her by giving four of his finest female slaves in 
 exchange ; but the merchant replied : " No ! all you are
 
 ST. VINCENT OF LERINS 255 
 
 worth would not purchase her for I would freely lose the most 
 valuable thing I have in the world rather than be deprived of 
 her." 
 
 But Felix was both cunning and determined upon his pur- 
 pose and resorted to the means so often used, by plying Eusebius 
 with the wine-cup until he was drunk. Even then until he fell 
 asleep the merchant was obdurate. Then, while he was in his 
 stupor, Felix had Julia brought to him and strove to compel her 
 to sacrifice, to the pagan gods. But in vain. Then he promised 
 her liberty ; but she told him she was " free " while she served 
 Jesus Christ. In his rage the Governor ordered Julia to be 
 hanged on a cross, and the hair torn from her head. 
 
 Thus it was the Carthagenian slave won her martyr's crown. 
 
 In 763 monks from the isle of Gorgon, now called " La Gor- 
 gona," lying between Corsica and Leghorn rescued her relics and 
 by the order of Desiderius, King of Lombardy, they were depos- 
 ited in Brescia where to-day her memory is celebrated with the 
 utmost reverence. 
 
 MAY 24th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Vincent of Lerins ; whose " Commonitortum 
 Adversus Hereticos " has come down to us from A. D. 434 when 
 it was written ; and curiously some half century or so since, repub- 
 lished with an ENGLISH preface utilized by Dr. Alban Butler in 
 his " Lives of the Saints," with others when he speaks of this 
 saint. 
 
 Vincent was an officer in the Roman Army, of "Gaulish extrac- 
 tion," and for a long time was in active service before he began 
 to consider seriously religious matters. When he did so he 
 resolved to make thorough work of it. The camp, forum, or the 
 busy city, teeming with incidents and interests of every-day life, 
 he felt were no place for him to carry out his purpose, where 
 ephemeral matters dominated ; and no better evidence is needed 
 to prove how sincere he was than his acts. For resigning his 
 position as an officer he sought a place of retirement where he
 
 256 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 could work out the problem of life ; selecting the smaller of the 
 two islands which formerly bore the name of " the Lerins," to 
 which he retired. It was here after careful study of the Holy 
 Scriptures and with a thorough knowledge of the trend of the 
 religious beliefs of his day that three years after the celebrated 
 Council of Ephesus (in 431) he wrote a book in support of the 
 decision of that Council condemning the Nestorian heresy. He 
 entitled it " A Commonitory against Heretics " ; aimed especially 
 against Nestorians and "the Apollinarists." He disguised his 
 identity under the name of Peregrinus ; as a pilgrim or stranger 
 who is separated from the world, his principal point being : 
 " That all novelty in faith is a mark of heresy " when it steps 
 aside from the traditions of the Apostles as expounded in the 
 Holy Scriptures. 
 
 From the verdict of others his style of diction seems to have 
 been peculiarly elegant and his logic " clear and close." 
 
 St. Vincent was never in Holy Orders though living an eremitical 
 life and died in his retirement during the reigns of Theodosius II. 
 " or Valentinian III." and therefore before the close of the year 456. 
 
 MAY 25th. 
 
 TRINITY SUNDAY. 
 
 The mystery of the Holy Trinity has been celebrated by the 
 Church from very ancient days but its observance as a festival 
 was first introduced into England by Thomas a Becket toward the 
 close of the XII. century. 
 
 The earliest attempt at representing the Trinity by means of 
 some symbol began in the earliest days of the Christian Church as 
 is seen by the relics preserved from the catacombs about Rome. 
 Here we find them the most prominent. The simple triangle ; a 
 combination of three fishes, heads and tails crossing so as to form 
 a triangle or these circles interwoven into the semblance of a tri- 
 angle. In fact, the equilateral triangle was the first accepted 
 symbol of the Trinity. The beautiful symbol of the shamrock
 
 SYMBOLS OF THE TRINITY 257 
 
 leaf so often used had its origin with St. Patrick, Bishop of 
 Armagh and patron saint of Ireland who died A. D. 466. The 
 good bishop was preaching as he often did in the open air and 
 trying to illustrate the unity in Trinity. He read in the faces of 
 his hearers the fact that they did not, nay could not comprehend 
 such unity and equality. He was at a loss to know how to make 
 it clear to these dull, simple folk. Just then he cast his eye upon 
 the ground and saw at 
 his feet the three-leaved 
 shamrock. He plucked 
 it and held it before his 
 audience. The mystery 
 was solved ; here was the 
 " three in one." This 
 these simple-minded folk 
 at once understood and 
 from that time the sham- 
 rock became a symbol of 
 the H oly Trinity. If, 
 however, my reader will 
 turn back to March i2th Drawn from a xv - Century MS. 
 
 he will find more regarding this matter. 
 
 When first the early Christians sought for some symbol for 
 God the Almighty, they used a hand projecting from a cloud, 
 later part of the arm and then the bust was shown. Somewhere 
 in the V. century, the hand was displaced for a face in the 
 cloud, but it was not until the latter part of the XI. or early 
 in the XII. century that God was first represented in human 
 form. Not so with Jesus Christ. Almost from the first He is 
 represented in human form, while from the earliest days a dove 
 had been the favourite symbol for the Holy Ghost. When at first 
 Christian artists endeavoured to represent the Holy Trinity, God 
 the Father and God the Son were shown as men, the Holy Ghost 
 was shown by the symbol of the dove. But strangely for a long 
 time, God the Father and Jesus Christ were identical in feature. 
 Towards the end of the XIII. century the incongruity of this 
 duality broke on the minds of the artists and from thence ( as
 
 258 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 shown in the following illustration), an effort was made to show 
 the Father as an old man and later, as is seen in the first illustra- 
 tion, by giving Him some outward sign of supremacy. Thus 
 
 sometimes he wears the 
 triple crown, again he bears 
 in his hand a globe (the 
 earth) surmounted by a 
 cross. This history is too 
 long to be elaborated here 
 and I must not attempt it. 
 Still later, artists again 
 sought to be more explicit 
 and evolved a symbol that 
 embodied the thought, as 
 shown in the Anagram 
 copied here which also ex- 
 emplifies the Athanasian 
 creed. 
 
 To be made a Pope 
 against one's will sounds a 
 little strange, yet such was 
 the case with Hildebrand, 
 afterward Gregory V. whose name is honoured on this 2$th day 
 of May. He was a man of great learning and highly esteemed 
 by Pope Leo IX. who often consulted him. In 1073, on the death 
 of Alexander II., Hildebrand was chosen to p ATE 
 fill St. Peter's chair entirely against his will. 
 " He left nothing unattempted to keep that 
 heavy burden from his shoulders and among 
 other expedients he wrote Henry IV., King 
 of Germany, who was then in Bavaria, to 
 interfere " but it was unavailing. 
 
 Gregory must have had a premonition of 
 the stormy times that awaited him in his 
 new office for he was a man of very deter- 
 mined character. Just then " simony," or the buying and selling 
 of ecclesiastical preferments, was sadly common and this Gregory 
 
 The Trinity, each Person wearing the 
 Cruciform Nimbus, i3th Century.
 
 POPE GREGORY THE GREAT 259 
 
 abhorred from his soul, and one of his first acts was to depose 
 Godfrey, Archbishop of Milan for such a crime, and thus brought 
 down a storm upon himself. Indeed, the whole of the twelve 
 years he filled the pontifical chair was a continued struggle against 
 evil and wrong in the Church even to the last, and he gladly 
 answered the call of the Great Master when in 1085 he was called 
 higher. His letters have been the admiration of many who have 
 read them. " They are penned with great eloquence * * * 
 and we boldly say no Pope since Gregory I. wrote such strong 
 and firm letters as this Gregory did," is what Dr. Butler writes 
 of him. 
 
 MAY 26th. 
 
 POPE GREGORY, THE GREAT. 
 
 Some thirteen hundred years ago a group of captives, women 
 and children attracted the attention of Gregory (afterward Pope 
 Gregory I. known as " the Great "), a monk from the monastery 
 of St. Andrew at Rome, and he asked what nation they be- 
 longed to. The reply was " they are Angles." " And," replied 
 the monk, " rightly so called for they have the faces of Angels, 
 and ought to be our fellow heirs of heaven." 
 
 This no doubt lingered in the mind of Gregory and when he 
 became Pope and saw a favourable opportunity he resolved to 
 send missionaries to Britain. Remembering his old convent on 
 the Ccelian Mount, and its prior, St. Augustine whose name, 
 both as a saint and the " Apostle of the English " is honoured 
 this day he selected this faithful man with a company of forty 
 monks from the monastery and sent them forth to the pagans of 
 Britain. Ethelbert, the Saxon King of Kent, had married Bertha, 
 daughter of Charibut, King of Paris, a Christian. She had 
 brought with her a French priest, Luidhard, as her chaplain, and 
 their capital was Canterbury on the island of Thanet, for at that 
 time an arm of the sea surrounded it. Ethelbert was still a 
 pagan in spite of his marriage with a Christian ; yet this latter
 
 2 6o SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 fact induced Augustine to choose Thanet as the safest place for 
 him to land. 
 
 It must have been a picturesque sight that first meeting be- 
 tween the Saxon king and the missionaries. " The son of the 
 ash-tree " and his pagan warriors in one group, and the Italian 
 prior and his fellow monks in cassock and cowl, with their white- 
 robed choristers around them. After a long interview Ethelbert 
 consented to the prior and his fellow monks residing for a time in 
 Canterbury, and the strange sight was witnessed of a procession 
 of monks headed by one carrying a silver cross on which was 
 painted an image of our Saviour, followed by the choristers sing- 
 ing one of those grand Gregorian chants. 
 
 On the following Whitsunday, June 2, 597, Ethelbert was 
 baptised ; perhaps except the baptisms of Floric and Constantine, 
 
 the most important 
 baptism of a monarch 
 that has ever taken place 
 in its ultimate influence 
 on the h i s to r y of the 
 Christian Church. 
 
 In these brief sketches 
 we cannot follow Augus- 
 i tine through his long and 
 varied experiences. In 
 597 he was consecrated 
 " Bishop of the English " 
 and fixed his see at Can- 
 terbury. He died in 604, 
 but before that had con- 
 secrated bishops to 
 London and Rochester 
 and laid the foundation for the Christian Church in England. Bede 
 calls St. Augustine " the beloved of God " and Capgrave de- 
 scribes him as : " Tall of statue, of a dark complexion, his face 
 beautiful, but withal majestic." He is represented usually wear- 
 ing the Benedictine habit as in the illustration given above, which 
 is copied from an Harlien Mass. 
 
 ST. AUGUSTINE.
 
 ST. BED E 261 
 
 On thfc Jay also is held the festival of St. Philip Neri, the 
 founder of the Order of Oratorians. A Florentine, born in 1515, 
 he by his intellect, eloquence and purity of life became a leader in 
 the religious movements of his day. He was ever employed in 
 charity and gathered round him a company of young nobles and 
 men of learned professions, who went about reading with and car- 
 ing for the sick and needy. They were bound by no vows nor 
 secluded from the world. They simply did what their hands 
 found to do, in love and charity. They called themselves Ora- 
 torians, and from them sprang a similar order termed " Peres de 
 1'Oratoire of France " and the " Oratorians of England," of whom 
 Cardinal Newman and the poet Frederick Wilfrid Faber were 
 zealous members. 
 
 The unostentatious self-sacrifice and earnest work of these men 
 drew to them everywhere noble good helpers from princes and 
 church dignitaries through all classes of community and none can 
 read their story and not admire their work for the sick poor. 
 
 Under Gregory XIII. in 1575, the order was confirmed and 
 afterward in 1612 reconfirmed by Paul V. Through this noble 
 order houses of refuge and hospitals were built in many places. 
 The story is replete with interest and instructive detail ; for it 
 tells what one godly man may do if his heart is in his work. St. 
 Philip was canonized by Gregory XV. in 1622. 
 
 MAY 27th. 
 
 St. John, Pope and martyr, is honoured this day. He was a 
 Tuscan by birth and in his youth among his fellow students was 
 distinguished and regarded as an oracle. He was elected to the 
 pontificate in 523, and in 526 died at Romania, a martyr under 
 Theodoric. 
 
 This day is also the day when St. Bede, or Beda " the Vener- 
 able," is remembered. Of all the early Anglo-Saxon chroniclers, 
 historians and biographers, Bede is perhaps the one above all 
 others on whom modern writers have been obliged to rely for not 
 only church history but for much secular matter that would have
 
 262 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 been lost save for his careful chronicles. He was born in Jarrow, 
 Northumberland in 673. He became eminent for his learning 
 and erudition and died dictating a translation of the Gospel of 
 St. John. There is a legendary account of the manner in which 
 he gained the title " venerable " that runs thus : His pupils wish- 
 ing to put an inscription on his tombstone wrote : 
 " Hac sunt in fossa, 
 
 Bede ossa," 
 
 leaving the blank because they had not a fitting title to fill it. 
 The next morning some unknown hand had inserted the word 
 " venerable." But none can doubt he truly deserved the title. 
 He died in 735. 
 
 Though hardly coming within the scope of these articles some 
 may be interested to know this day also is the anniversary of the 
 death of the noted Reformer, John Calvin in 1 564. 
 
 MAY 28th. 
 
 St. Germanus, the glory of the Church of France, whose festival 
 occurs on this day was a man of noble and marked characteris- 
 tics ; but by far the largest portion of his clerical life fell during 
 troublous times in France. King Childebert, a son of Clovis, was 
 then on the throne but until he came under the influence of Ger- 
 manus had been a worldly, ambitious prince. Soon after the re- 
 turn of Childebert and his brother Clotaire from an expedition 
 undertaken in 542 against Spain, Childebert was taken sick ; 
 medical aid had proved ineffectual and he sent for Bishop Ger- 
 manus to come to his palace at Celles, near Melun. The good 
 man spent the whole night with the king in prayer and in the 
 morning laid hands on the monarch who was at once restored to 
 health. It was not long after, however, before the king died. 
 Clotaire succeeded his brother and was the last of the sons of the 
 great Clovis to sit on the united throne of France. On Clotaire's 
 death France was again divided by his sons. Paris was given to 
 Charibert, Orleans and Burgundy to Gontran, Austrasia to Sige-
 
 CORPUS CHRISTI DAY 263 
 
 bert and Soissons to Chilperic. Then through their own ambi- 
 tions and the intrigues of their wives trouble began. 
 
 In speaking of St. Augustine it will be remembered I men- 
 tioned Bertha, wife of the Saxon King of Kent, as the daughter 
 of Charibert by his wife Ingoberga, but he had divorced her to 
 marry her maid, Mariovesa. Germanus' reproof for Charibert's 
 misconduct in this and many ways was the first of the good 
 man's troubles which grew with the fraternal wars between the 
 brothers. But the story is too long to tell and even our saint 
 lived not to see the ending for he died in 576. His life had been 
 a busy, useful one. The most noted literary work of St. Ger- 
 manus is " An Exposition of the Liturgy " in which is reproduced 
 the ancient Gallican liturgy or Mass as used in France before the 
 Roman was introduced in the time of Charlemagne and Pope 
 Adrian I. In this curious work St. Germanus also explains and 
 describes the ceremonies of the liturgy and all of the vestments 
 worn, a work which alone will keep his name alive in hagiology. 
 
 MAY 29th. 
 
 CORPUS CHRISTI DAY 
 
 Is an ancient festival in the Roman Church, but after the 
 Reformation was discontinued by those who had separated from 
 the " mother church, " with whom it is highly honoured. It 
 comes on the Thursday following Whitsunday and therefore is a 
 movable feast. Its design is to honour the doctrine of transub- 
 stantiation, and was formerly observed with much pomp and 
 show, a procession, with the pyx containing the consecrated 
 wafer being at the head carried by the church dignitaries. In 
 past days this procession was not confined to church and was 
 accompanied by figures costumed to represent certain favourite 
 saints of the Church where the festival was held. Thus St. 
 Ursula with her many maidens, St. George leading the captive 
 dragon, St. Christopher wading the river with the infant Saviour, 
 St. Sebastian with his body full of arrows, St. Catharine with
 
 264 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 her wheel and others. The priests also carried in their hands 
 pieces of sacred plate belonging to the church. The streets were 
 decorated with wreaths and boughs and strewn with flowers. 
 When the sacred pyx appeared every person kneeled while it 
 passed. Later and after the procession, games and mystery 
 plays were universal, with music and dancing. Save in certain 
 purely Catholic countries the street processions are now seldom 
 seen, but they are never omitted in the church. 
 
 MAY 30th. 
 
 St. Felix I., Pope and martyr, who succeeded St. Dionysius in 
 269 in the government of the Church is remembered this day, 
 when after filling his high office for five years he attained the 
 glory of martyrdom in 274. 
 
 On this day also the name of another of those royal personages 
 whom the Church has deemed worthy of honour appears, St. 
 Ferdinand III., King of Castile and Leon. He was the hero of 
 many battles against the Moors and took part in that celebrated 
 battle of Xeres, where, as the legend runs, St. lago appeared at 
 the head of the Spanish troops and while the Moors were slaugh- 
 tered by the thousand only one Christian was slain. His 
 daughter, Elenora, married Edward I. of England in 1253, and it 
 was she who sucked the poison from her husband's wound for 
 she had inherited not a little of her father's courage. It was 
 Ferdinand who built that wondrous cathedral of Borgos which 
 points to heaven with spires more rich and delicate than any of 
 all the famed cathedrals of the world. He was preparing an 
 expedition against the Moors in Africa when death called him in 
 1252. St. Ferdinand was canonized by Clement X. in 1671. 
 
 MAY 3 1 st. 
 
 In the Roman Church this day is sacred to St. Petronilla, a 
 daughter of St. Peter. 
 
 The legends of this virgin tell us that she accompanied St.
 
 ST.PETRONILLA 265 
 
 Peter to Rome. Butler says St. Peter was married before he 
 became an Apostle and that his wife " attained to martyrdom, at 
 which the Apostle encouraged her." The name of this virgin is 
 Petronilla, the feminine and diminutive of Peter. She was a 
 cripple it is said from palsy, and her legend says " that one day 
 when the Apostle sat at meat with some of the disciples they 
 asked why it was that while he could heal others his own child 
 remained helpless." 
 
 St. Peter replied that it was the will of God, and therefore 
 good that she should be thus. But that the glory of Christ 
 should be manifested, he commanded her to rise and serve them. 
 This she immediately did but when her service was over " she lay 
 down as helpless as before." The legend then tells how by her 
 own prayers she at last recovered and also that she was very 
 beautiful, and a young Roman named Valerius Flaccus fell in 
 love with her and wished to marry her. Feeling that she could 
 not do this and fulfil her duties to the church, yet afraid to refuse 
 him, she begged of him a respite of three days, when she would 
 reply. When he came for his answer, however, he found her 
 dead. He lamented her sorely, and with his attendants " covered 
 her body with roses." 
 
 She was buried in a cemetery " on the way to Arden, where a 
 church stood that anciently bore her name." Gregory III. estab- 
 lished there a station for public prayer.
 
 JUNE 
 
 After her came jolly JUNE, arrayed 
 
 All in green leaves, as he a player were ; 
 
 Yet in his time he wrought as well as played, 
 That by his plough-irons mote right well appear. 
 
 Upon a crab he rode, that did him bear, 
 With crooked crawling steps, an uncouth pace, 
 
 And backward rode, as bargemen wont to fare. 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 Ovid in his " Fasti " makes Juno claim the honour of naming this 
 month. But standing as it does the fourth in the Roman Kalen- 
 dar it was dedicated " a Junioribus " as May was "a Majortbus." 
 Romulus assigned to it thirty days, though in the old Alban Kal- 
 endar it had but twenty-six days. Numa robbed it of one but 
 Julius Caesar restored that and its number of days has since been 
 unchanged. 
 
 This month since the old Roman days has been considered the 
 most propitious for consummating marriage ties. Even down to 
 the Middle Ages this pagan superstition was retained and if we 
 may hazard the remark still holds good as a favourite month for 
 "the wedding. " But this passes beyond the scope of these pa- 
 pers ; or I could fill a volume on ancient marriage customs, from 
 the ring, to the casting of rice and old shoes for neither are of 
 modern date. 
 
 JUNE i st. 
 
 The first Sunday after Trinity holds an especial place in the lit- 
 urgy of both the Roman and Reform Churches while its canonical 
 colour is green symbolical of bountifulness, mirth, youth and pros-
 
 ST. PAMPHILLUS 267 
 
 perity. In its place I shall take occasion to speak of the signifi- 
 cance of both colours and precious stones as symbols but in passing 
 may remark that the emerald is peculiarly appropriate for this day 
 and its significance from its glorious colour : 
 
 " The Emerald burns, intensely bright, 
 With radiance of an olive light : 
 This is the faith that highest shines, 
 No deed of charity declines, 
 And seeks no rest and shuns no strife, 
 In working out a holy life." 
 
 One of the first names of noted saints which we meet in June is 
 that of St. Pamphillus priest and martyr whose learning and eru- 
 dition not only made for him a great name in those early days in 
 which he lived but has preserved it for almost sixteen centuries. 
 He was a native of Berytus a city famous for its schools. He 
 came from a rich and noble family and after perfecting himself in 
 every science taught there became a magistrate. It was not until 
 he had passed his early manhood that he became a Christian, and 
 then it was not upon a sudden impulse that this accomplished 
 master of profane sciences and the renowned magistrate yielded 
 to the convictions forced upon him by a careful study of Holy 
 Writ. He soon moved to Caesarea in Palestine, where he col- 
 lected a vast library said to have contained 30,000 volumes. Here 
 he also established a school of sacred literature. Dr. Butler says : 
 " To his labour the Church was indebted for the most correct edi- 
 tion of the Holy Bible." In the persecutions of Galerius Maximus 
 he was first to be tortured for his faith in Christ while later and 
 under Governor Urbanus cast into prison, but even there he wrote 
 several books. His imprisonment began in 307 and continued 
 for two years, when Fermilian, the successor of Urbanus ordered 
 him to be tortured. His flesh was torn from his bones by iron 
 hooks ; but it is said even under such torment he opened not his 
 mouth or allowed a groan to escape him. He finished his mar- 
 tyrdom before a slow fire and died invoking " Jesus the Son of
 
 268 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 God," in the year 309. Such is the brief story of this noble 
 scholar, who gave his life in testimony of his faith in Christ. 
 
 Under this date mention must be made of St. Peter of Pisa the 
 founder of the " Hermits of St. Jerom " who observed four sea- 
 sons of Lent in each year fasting on all Mon- 
 ( days, Wednesdays and Fridays. He died in 
 1435, aged 80 years. Pius V. termed him 
 " blessed." He was beatified by Innocent XII. 
 in 1693. 
 
 To-day also in the Anglican Kalendar there 
 appears the name of St. Nicomede priest and 
 martyr in the year 90. He was a scholar of St. 
 Peter and for conferring on his sister Felicula 
 (a virgin martyr) a Christian burial, a thing he 
 knew was done at the peril of his life, he was 
 discovered to be a Christian. Whereupon 
 Domitian ordered him to sacrifice to the Roman 
 gods which he refused to do and was beaten to 
 death with spiked clubs. From this came his 
 emblem in the Clog Almanac. 
 
 JUNE 2d. 
 
 The martyrs of Lyons in the year 177 are among the most 
 noted of the saints of the Church owing to the ferocity with which 
 the pagans of Gaul pursued them to their death. Unfortunately 
 the story is too long for a detailed repetition as it furnishes such 
 an illustration of the fortitude of those heroes who took their lives 
 in their hands and went forth to teach "Christ and Him cruci- 
 fied." Although they are called the " martyrs of Lyons " not a 
 few of those who fell came from Vienne and elsewhere. After those 
 terrible trials prior to 174 so carefully chronicled by historians of 
 the Church God in a plain and direct answer to the prayers of 
 Christians under Marcus Aurelius granted them for a time partial 
 relief from their trials, but in 177 they were once more renewed
 
 ST.CLOTILDIS 269 
 
 by the pagans in Gaul. St. Pothinus was then Bishop of Lyons 
 and naturally from his office was the most prominent in this trag- 
 edy though his associates Attalus, Sanctus Blandina and others 
 were equally sufferers. Many of these were Greeks and came from 
 Asia as a great traffic had then sprung up- between Asia and Mar- 
 seilles while Lyons had become a central point for the faithful mis- 
 sionaries of Christ. The martyrdom of these noble men is but the 
 repetition of many similar events. Torn by wild beasts, roasted 
 over slow fires and tortured in every conceivable way, yet always 
 they were " faithful unto death." It is fitting then for us all to 
 honour them on this day, named by the Church, since it is exam- 
 ples like theirs which show how much we of to-day owe to those 
 early Christians. 
 
 JUNE 3d. 
 
 St. Clotildis, or Clotilda, whose name appears in the Kalendar on 
 this day is a saint who was greatly reverenced in early days in 
 France. Her life was a romance from her infancy. She was the 
 daughter of Chilperic, a younger brother of Goudebald or Goude- 
 bud, fourth king of Burgundy, 491-516. a fierce brutal man who 
 caused Chilperic, his wife and his brothers to be murdered that he 
 might usurp the control of the entire nation. For some unknown 
 reason Clotilda and her sister then infants were spared in this 
 wholesale massacre. Her sister later became a nun and Clotilda 
 though brought up in the court of Goudebald, by some providence 
 had received a Christian education. In due time Clovis I. sur- 
 named " the Great," the victorious king of the Franks whose 
 reign begun in 481 when he was but fifteen years old saw and 
 fancied Clotilda and in 493 they were married at Soissons. As 
 the average royal marriage goes it was for those days a most 
 happy one and the young queen set up an oratory in the palace. 
 She evidently was a most discreet woman. She honoured her war- 
 like husband and by slow degrees led him by her Christian meek- 
 ness to respect and honour her and more to the purpose to listen 
 to her as she discoursed on sacred subjects and discredited the
 
 270 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 idols Clovis then worshipped. She led rather than tried to drive 
 him. At last in 496 Clovis was engaged in a battle with the 
 Alemanni (a word intended to mean a mixed race living between 
 the Danube and the Upper Rhine) he was near to defeat. Some- 
 thing inspired him to call on " Clotilda's God " for help. From 
 that hour the tide of battle turned and Clovis won an historic 
 victory. 
 
 The impression made upon the pagan king was so great and 
 lasting that on his return home he was baptized. Thus stripped 
 of verbiage we see how through the love and devotion of one 
 faithful soul France came to have its first Christian king and to 
 become Christianized. At the baptism of Clovis the oil used it is 
 said, was brought to the prelate at St. Remi where the ceremony 
 occurred by a dove and that an angel brought also to the king 
 three white lilies which he in turn gave to St. Clotilda and that 
 from this circumstance the " fleurs-de-lys,"were substituted for the 
 three crapauds (toads) which had formerly held their place in the 
 royal arms of France. At her request Clovis built in Paris 
 the Church of SS. Peter and Paul, but now called St. Genevieve, 
 in this church her remains now rest. Her death occurred on 
 June 3, 545. 
 
 JUNE 4th. 
 
 St. Quirinus who is honoured this day was one of those strong 
 characters we are constantly meeting with among the fathers of 
 the Church in early days. He was Bishop of Siscia a city in 
 Pannonia upon the river Save, in what is now Hungary. Owing 
 to his earnest fervent preaching he had fallen under the ban of 
 Galerius Maximus as the story is related by Prudentius, and con- 
 demned to have a mill-stone tied to his neck and to be cast into 
 the river. The legend as it is preserved states that the mill-stone 
 instead of sinking floated and then recounts a long conversation 
 held between the saint and Maximus who seemingly was watch- 
 ing and desired to save his life. But to all of the overtures the 
 saint remained true to his great Master Christ. In this conver-
 
 ST. BONIFACE 271 
 
 sation Maximus said : " Now confess the power of the gods 
 the great Roman empire adore. Obey and I will make you a 
 priest of Jupiter." When at last Quirinus tired at the long delay 
 while the mill-stone still floated prayed that having given testi- 
 mony of his faith and trust he might be allowed to depart. Then 
 slowly the stone began to sink and the martyr passed to his 
 reward. This was in the year 304. 
 
 This day also marks the festival of St. Optatus, Bishop of Mile- 
 vum in Numidia. A learned African educated as an idolater 
 and who as St.' Austin puts it : " Passing from the dark shades of 
 paganism to the light of faith carried into the church the spoils of 
 Egypt ; that is human science and eloquence." His writings yet 
 remain as a marvelous testimony of the wisdom and learning of 
 those early ages and the purity of purpose which actuated the 
 Holy Fathers. St. Optatus survived the year 384 but the date of 
 his death is not positively known. 
 
 JUNE sth. 
 
 This day is given to one of the most noted saints in the Chris- 
 tian Kalendar of both the Roman and Anglican churches. St. 
 Boniface the Apostle of the Germans. He was the son of a West 
 Saxon chieftain born at Crediton in Devonshire about 680. He 
 was baptised under the name of Winfrid or Winfrith as the name 
 sometimes was then written. Showing from his infancy both 
 remarkable powers of mind and a serious tendency he was sent 
 when but seven years of age to the monastery at Exeter or Escan- 
 cester, as it was then called to be trained by the celebrated Abbot 
 Walphund. Later he studied at the monastery of Nutcell in 
 Winchester and from the first was noted for his proficiency in 
 acquiring learning. He was ordained to the priesthood in 710. 
 From youth his great hope had been to be able to carry the 
 gospel to the heathen of Germany and in 719 he went to Rome to 
 secure from Gregory II. permission to become a missionary to 
 the German infidels. This was granted, and he began his work in
 
 272 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Bavaria. In 723 he was elevated to the bishopric. Till then he 
 had been known by the name of Winfrid but the pope at that time 
 changed his name to Boniface. We cannot follow in detail the 
 long and arduous life work among the Germans, and its wonder- 
 ful success, interesting as it is, or the growing influence Boniface 
 gained with the Church and his preferment to the archbishopric 
 of Mentz. His entire life was one of earnest faithful devotion to 
 the cause of Christ. His story though is that of the foundation of 
 
 Christianity in Germany, 
 of which his letters 
 (thirty-nine in number) 
 published in 1605 give 
 many interesting 
 incidents. 
 
 When 74 years of age 
 he resigned his high posi- 
 tion as primate of Ger- 
 many and once more 
 donned his Benedictine 
 habit to resume his mis- 
 sionary labours only to 
 suffer the year following 
 with fifty-two of his com- 
 panions in holy work 
 martyrdom at the hands 
 of the pagans of Utrecht. 
 In Christian art St. 
 Boniface is represented 
 in full episcopal robes, hewing down an oak, or with an oak tree 
 lying prostrate at his feet and an axe in his hand. In some writ- 
 ings he is termed " the Oak of Jupiter." His Clog symbol is a 
 book pierced by a sword, symbolizing his learning and martyr- 
 dom.
 
 FEAST OF SACRED HEART 273 
 
 JUNE 6th. 
 
 SACRATISSIMI CORDIS JESU. 
 
 On this day recurs a festival peculiar to the Roman Church, 
 one that has never been recognized by the Anglican church the 
 Feast of the Sacred Heart. 
 
 The origin of this festival according to the traditions of the 
 Church was that while Margaret Mary Alacoque a "religieuse " of 
 " the Visitation of Paray-le-Monial " in France, was at her devo- 
 tions Jesus appeared to her as he had often done before, and 
 "showed her His Sacred Heart, in His open Breast, encircled 
 with fire and flames, * * and He revealed to her that He 
 desired to have an especial feast estab- 
 lished in honour of His Divine Heart." 
 In her statement written at the time in 
 which she describes the apparition of 
 Jesus she quotes among other words of 
 Christ then uttered : " For this reason I 
 ask thee that the first Friday in the 
 Octave of Corpus Christi be set apart as 
 a special feast consecrated to the honour 
 of My Heart," and later He added this 
 
 promise : 
 
 * I promise that My 
 
 Heart shall be opened to shed in richest 
 abundance the Influence of Its Divine 
 Love." 
 
 From this the feast was in due time 
 recognised as a sacred festival of the 
 Church by a bull of Benedict XIV. (pope 
 1740-1758) and has since been observed 
 throughout the world by the Roman 
 Church. 
 
 The quotations given above are taken from the second of a 
 series of six sermons on " Devotion to the Sacred Heart," by the 
 Rev. Ewald Beirbum, D.D., an eminent German priest. 
 
 On this day also appears the name of St. Norbert the founder
 
 274 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 of a somewhat celebrated German order of the Roman Church : 
 " Stifler der Pramonstratenser-Ordin." His father was Count 
 Gennep and his mother a relative of Emperor Heinrich IV. being 
 descended from the house of Lorraine. He was born at Sauten 
 in the duchy of Cleves in 1080. His parents had early dedicated 
 him to the service of the church but for a long time their hopes 
 seemed doomed to be disappointed. As a young man he was disso- 
 lute and his life was given to pleasure. He was instituted to a 
 canonry at Santen and ordained a sub-deacon, but received the ec- 
 clesiastical tonsure in an utterly worldly spirit and made no outward 
 change in his life. At the court of his cousin the emperor he was the 
 soul of mirth, and his wit and bon mots the life of social circles. He 
 refused any higher orders lest they might put some restraint upon 
 his pleasures. But the time came when this was all changed. 
 He was riding near the village of Freten in Westphalia on a richly 
 caparisoned horse when a sudden thunder storm burst upon him 
 from a cloudless sky and a bolt struck directly in front of him and 
 he was thrown from his horse and lay unconscious upon the 
 ground for some time. Then like a second Saul, the enormity of 
 his sins seemed to come over him as he recovered from the shock. 
 He went no more to court but retired to his canonry at Santen 
 leading a life of retirement and later became a missionary after 
 having been ordained deacon and priest. This roving life of 
 austerity and self-sacrifice he led until in 1119 by permission of 
 Calixtus II. he founded a small monastery with a few equally de- 
 voted men in a lonesome valley called Pre-montre. After many 
 years of faithful labour here in 1132 Norbert was elevated to the 
 bishopric of Magdeburg and died June 6, 1134. 
 
 JUNE 7th. 
 
 St.. Godeschalc who is honoured by the Church this day was 
 one of those old time fierce warriors whose lives read like ro- 
 mances. In the reign of Henry the Salic whose arms with those 
 of Knut, King of Denmark and Bernard, Duke of Saxony kept 
 the barbarians in order about the beginning of the IV. century,
 
 CANONIZATION OF SAINTS 275 
 
 one Uto a Western Vandal prince, was murdered by a Saxon 
 chief. The son of Uto, Godeschalc had been educated at the 
 monastic school of Lumburg under a Gothic bishop but had then 
 apostatized from whatever of Christianity he had ever accepted. 
 Joining two pagan princes after his father's murder he in revenge 
 harassed without mercy the Saxons until captured by Bernard the 
 Saxon Duke who held him prisoner for a long time. When he at 
 last gained his liberty he found his heritage possessed by one 
 Ratibor a powerful Slavic prince, but gathering a band of his par- 
 tisans Godeschalc with them joined the Danes. Then King Knut 
 was employed in his wars with Norway and later sent Gode- 
 schalc with his nephew Sueno, into England, where his prowess 
 and valour won for him such favour with the Danish king that he 
 gave him his daughter in marriage. After Knut's death Gode- 
 schalc returned from England and subdued his old enemy and the 
 entire Slavic country. Meantime he had under the influence of a 
 Saxon priest been converted to Christianity and reigned many 
 years in peace surpassing all his contemporary princes in prudence, 
 power and valour, as well as in piety and holy zeal. He built 
 many churches and monasteries and brought over to the faith a 
 great part of the idolaters among the nations subject to him. He 
 extended his missions into all the dominions of Godeschalc and 
 baptized many with his own hands, interpreting to the people in 
 the Slavonian language the sermons and instructions of the 
 priests. 
 
 Five years later the Vandals or Slavi who had remained idol- 
 aters, in the duchy of Mecklenburg, revolted, and began their 
 sedition by the murder of Godeschalc, in the city of Lenzin on 
 June 7, 1066. 
 
 CANONIZATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 The canonization of saints has only been accepted as a dogma 
 of faith by the Roman Church since the XII. century and it was 
 confined to those who had suffered martyrdom for their religious 
 principles. At that time bishops were permitted to name them 
 but the numbers increased so rapidly that it was soon necessary
 
 276 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 to limit the admission to the canon and this privilege was taken 
 from the bishops and the pope alone was given the authority, In 
 the same prudent spirit it was decreed that the holy man must 
 have been dead for a hundred years before he was eligible to be 
 canonized. 
 
 MONKS AND MONASTERIES. 
 
 From reading books like Scott's inimitable " Monastery and 
 Abbot " and similar stories a widespread misconception has come 
 to the general reader both as to the nature of the primitive mo- 
 nastic buildings but as well of the monks themselves and their 
 usual daily occupations. This arises from no fault of the authors 
 whose descriptions, like that of Scott speaking of Kennaquhair, 
 are accurate as to the time of which they wrote, but far from 
 being so in regard to earlier days. Especially is this true in refer- 
 ence to the primitive Irish, Scotch and English monasteries. 
 
 The description of these which follows it is proper for me to say 
 is a sort of wholesale quotation from Skene's " Celtic Scotland" 
 
 and Burton's " History 
 of Scotland," even 
 where I fail to put the 
 proper marks. A bit of 
 literary patchwork with 
 its pieces cut from long 
 and elaborate descrip- 
 tion, from which I will 
 endeavour to make a 
 ~ short, but I hope, clear 
 5=3 picture. 
 
 " The primitive Celtic monastery was a very simple affair, * * 
 * a village of rude huts," and " we must not suppose at all 
 resembled the elaborate stone structures of the Middle Ages." 
 In most instances the larger buildings were built with wattled 
 walls. Thus : " A wall plate was made by upright stakes having 
 twigs interlaced between them in the usual manner of basket 
 making. * * * A second wall was placed within the outer
 
 MONASTERIES 277 
 
 one and turf or clay was filled in between these walls." The 
 thickness varied from two to even four feet, and thus a very solid 
 wall was constructed, the roof being of poles above which was a 
 woven thatch of straw. Some legend, of course, lingered around 
 each of these structures. Skene tells how Ciaran of Saighir, one 
 of the twelve apostles of Ireland, began to build his huts and 
 church " when he went to the wood for his material a wild boar 
 assisted him by biting off with his sharp teeth the rods and 
 branches he needed." Still later came the timber buildings and 
 those constructed from hewn planks. It was not till the end of 
 the VIII. century when the ravages of the Danes and by re- 
 peated lessons of danger from fire any attempt was made to use 
 stone in their buildings, and then first are noticed some efforts 
 toward the internal comforts of the monks. " The monastic sys- 
 tem which characterised the Irish church in its second period * 
 
 * * presented features peculiarly adapted to the tribal organiza- 
 tions and social systems of the Irish. * * * These large 
 monasteries * * * were in reality Christian colonies into 
 which converts after being tonsured were brought." 
 
 My readers may remember that St. Brendan was first thus 
 cared for by St. Itha and later until he was ordained to the priest- 
 hood by Bishop Ere. It was not obligatory on these " converts " 
 to take upon themselves at a later time holy orders. Thus when 
 we read of 4,000 monks under the rule of Comgall, and other 
 large numbers elsewhere we must not think of them as " monks " 
 in the usual acceptation of the term. These were called '' Muintir 
 or familia," the elders " seniors," who gave themselves entirely to 
 devotions and the service of the church, whose chief occupation 
 in their cells was to transcribe the Scriptures and illuminate mis- 
 sals. Of one Bishop Marchata an Irish ballad says : 
 
 " Three score psalm-singing seniors, 
 Were his household, royal in number, 
 Without tillage, reaping or kiln drying, 
 Without work, except reading." 
 
 a somewhat strange exception. The rest of the household were 
 divided into classes for tilling of their fields, caring for herds and
 
 278 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 such as were skilled in the use of tools in mechanical labour, and 
 making clothing for the " family." Of this I will give other details 
 when speaking of lona. 
 These monasteries also claimed the " right of sanctuary." 
 
 JUNE 8th. 
 
 St. Maximus, the first Bishop of Aix in Provence, who is hon- 
 oured in the Kalendar this day is said but the authority for the 
 assertion is rather vague to have been one of Christ's personal 
 followers and disciples. His life whether this fact be true or not 
 is evidence of how soon the early Christians began to spread out 
 over the world teaching the Christian faith, for his preaching the 
 gospel in Marseilles and so establishing Christianity in Provence is 
 fully authenticated and his successor, " St. Sedonius, the second 
 Bishop of Aries," is said to have been the man who was born 
 blind and healed by our Lord. St. Maximus died about the close 
 of the I. century. 
 
 St. William, whose name also appears this day, was the son of 
 Earl Herbert and his mother Emma was a sister of King Stephen. 
 He received holy orders early in life and became treasurer of the 
 metropolitan church of York. In 1 144 he was elected Archbishop 
 and consecrated in September of that year at Winchester, but 
 through influence at Rome of his opponents, Pope Eugenius III. 
 deprived him of his see and he lived in retirement at Winchester 
 until in 1153 he was again elected Archbishop and went to Rome 
 where he received the pallium from his holiness Anastasius IV., 
 who had that year succeeded to the pontificate. His return to 
 York was the occasion of an immense ovation. The crowd that 
 had assembled was so great that it broke down the wooden 
 bridge over the Ouese in York, and it was only by miraculous in- 
 tervention no lives were lost and St. William has had the credit of 
 having by his timely prayer been the means of the preservation of 
 these people in their hour of danger. No less than thirty-six
 
 ST.COLUMBA 279 
 
 miracles are accorded to St. William. He died in 1 1 54 and was 
 canonized by Nicholas III. in 1280. 
 
 JUNE 9th. 
 
 This day marks the festival of the one man who above all his 
 self-sacrificing brethren to whom Scotland owes gratitude for the 
 first grand missionary work in behalf of the Christian religion 
 among the northern Picts, the then dominant power in Alban. 
 To understand clearly the grandness of St. Columba's work we 
 must first give a very brief page from Scotch history for, singular 
 as it sounds, the Scotch came originally from Ireland, and the 
 word " Scotia " in the earliest recorded history, was applied only to 
 inhabitants of Irish Dalriada. In 360, certain Scots came first to 
 Britain, not as colonists, but as allies to the Dalriadan Picts in 
 Alban. They soon disappeared and next are heard of in 501 
 when, according to Tighernac (an Irish annalist) Fergus mor mac 
 Ere, from County Antrim in Irish Dalriada, and of the 4< Irish 
 Gael," with a small colony settled in what is now " Southern Ar- 
 gyle " on the coast and founded the future monarchy of Scotland. 
 I must not follow further this most interesting part of Scotch his- 
 tory except to add that it was among the descendants of this 
 Fergus mor mac Ere, Columba first found friends when he came 
 to Alban. 
 
 Now to sketch briefly this wonderful man's career as student, 
 soldier, missionary and saint. Columba (commonly pronounced 
 Colme) was born December 7, 521, and was descended through his 
 father Fedhlmidh from the royal Hy Neill's, and by his mother 
 from a long line of Irish Dalriadan kings. Innumerable prophe- 
 cies attended his birth, among them one by St. Patrick who fore- 
 told his birth and : 
 
 That will not utter a falsehood ; 
 
 He'll be a saint and will be devout, 
 
 He'll be an Abbott, the King of royal graces, 
 
 He'll be lasting and ever good ; 
 
 The eternal kingdom be mine by his protection."
 
 2 8o SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Lack of space precludes a record of his brilliant student life at 
 Moghbile (his first school) under Gemma, a noted Bard, who in- 
 spired in him that poetic love of the beautiful of which I will later 
 speak. His education was completed and he took holy orders at 
 Cluin-Brad and I may say in passing became one of the historic 
 " Twelve Apostles of Ireland." 
 
 His life soon became a busy one both in ecclesiastic and public 
 affairs. His fervent Christian and poetic nature made him de- 
 vout ; yet he was a typical Irishman and allowed no one " to tread 
 on the tail of his coat." " Athletic Christianity " was then largely 
 in evidence, as we see by the number of " doughty men of valour " 
 who appear in the sanguinary battles of those days. So we find 
 Columba engaged in several pitched battles. 
 
 One feature of Columba 's character from his student days was 
 his love of rare manuscripts and it was this which under God's 
 providence sent him forth as a missionary ; for God works quite 
 as often by human as by Divine agencies. At Moghbile, Finnian, 
 Columba's old teacher, had a rare manuscript of the Psalter which 
 the pupil often desired to copy for he was a skilled penman 
 but was refused for Finnian was of the true " bookworm " nature 
 which keeps secret his treasures. 
 
 About 560 Columba visited his old tutor. He had not forgotten 
 the coveted Psalter and by some means managed surreptitiously to 
 obtain possession of the MS. When " the theft," as Finnian 
 termed it, was discovered and traced he demanded it should be 
 returned, but the demand was refused and then King Diarmid 
 took a hand in the matter uttering what became an Irish proverb : 
 " To every cow belongs her calf." 
 
 To sum up a long story short, the Hy Neills met King Diarmid 
 in the battle of Cuil-dreme and defeated him. 
 
 Columba's trouble was now serious ; a " synod of the Saints of 
 Ireland " was called and Columba was held responsible for the 
 loss of life at Cuil-dreme and it was decreed " he must rescue as 
 many souls from Paganism as lives had been lost in the battle." 
 Thus it came that Columba went forth on that pilgrimage to the 
 Picts which has made his name memorable. I only regret I can- 
 not give the many interesting details which throw such clear 
 " side-lights " on the story.
 
 IONA MONASTERY 281 
 
 Conal, a descendant of Fergus mor mac Ere, was then king of 
 the Dalriadan Scots who were Christians and who " by grace " 
 the powerful pagan Picts had allowed to remain thus far un- 
 molested in Argyle and in some of the islands along the coast ; 
 among them Mull and Hii, later corrupted into lona. 
 
 Conal knew the tender ground he stood on with the Picts ; 
 while at heart a Christian he could not defy these fierce pagans. 
 Indeed he stood " between the devil and the deep sea." So he 
 gladly took a middle course and sent Columba and his associates 
 on to Hii (or as I will from now call it lona) to let them work out 
 their own salvation on that utterly desolate barren strip of rocky 
 land. 
 
 With infinite toil they built their " bothies " (huts) and began 
 their strenuous struggle, first for the necessities of life. Even the 
 journey from Ireland had been an arduous one in their open 
 " cruaths," (wicker boats covered by raw skins of animals drawn 
 over the frame and thus allowed to dry there) and in these they 
 now carried their slender stock of provisions and other belongings 
 to this rugged, rock bound island so often and graphically de- 
 scribed by tourists to it. 
 
 The monastery at lona in most respects was like those of Ire- 
 land at that time, and the household ordered on similar lines, but 
 with some advance since Adamnan speaks of the " pincinco " or 
 butler, and " pistor " baker, adding as a curious fact that the latter 
 " was a Saxon." The elders and certain ones of the labourers were 
 tonsured from ear to ear ; that is, having the hair shaved from 
 the front of the head back to a line drawn from the ear, while 
 elsewhere it was allowed to grow. Their young men were not 
 tonsured as in Ireland. Their dress was of but two garments, a 
 " tunica " or white woolen undershirt and a " Camilla," or sleeved 
 woolen gown (unbleached), reaching the ankles. This had also a 
 hood. They wore hide sandals when travelling, but in the house 
 and field went barefooted. In such a rigourous climate such a 
 dress we to-day would not think even safe for health. But they 
 were hardened to this from childhood ; while the Picts, save for a 
 skin worn over the shoulders, even in winter were almost nude. 
 
 The food was of the simplest kind ; bread made from crushed
 
 282 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 barley or oatmeal, milk and fish, varied only by the addition on 
 festivals of seal flesh, wild fowls and eggs. In honour of guests or 
 some especial " high feast " beef would be added to the menu. I 
 must for lack of space omit mention of their daily lives and devo- 
 tions except to say that they followed in all ways the rules of the 
 Irish monasteries. St. Columba's cell was separated from the 
 brethren on one of those rugged " dunes " still so prominent a fea- 
 ture of the island. In his life he shared alike with the humblest 
 of his brethren in everything. Gentle, kind and affectionate, yet 
 beneath all his austerity (for he never forgot his mission) he had a 
 deep love for the beautiful and a quaint, subtle sense of humour ; 
 as one writer puts it " with a laugh always in the tail of his eye.'' 
 His teachings to the heathen were of the plainest, simplest truths 
 utterly free from dogmas not fully set forth in the " Word of 
 God," to use his own expression. But his real missionary work 
 had not yet begun and it is too important to be treated within the 
 small limit left me and therefore I must return to it later when I 
 can also speak of St. Comgall whom I intentionally passed on 
 May loth, as these fellow workers can hardly be separated. 
 
 Columba was now in the flower of manhood and is described as 
 a " type of manly beauty," endowed with a sweet, sonorous voice ; 
 a certain magnetism of manner which drew everyone toward him ; 
 yet never lacking in dignity. His fame had already spread far 
 beyond the narrow limits of lona among the northern Picts who 
 from the first had been his objective point. They were a race 
 strangely compounded. They were barbarians not savages, and 
 possessed of wonderfully quick, clear intellects, though utterly 
 untutored. This is shown by the manner in which they met the 
 Romans ; grasping instantly the secret of their " tactics " in war, 
 grafting the best on their own methods and surprising their in- 
 vaders by utilising them. Pagans they of course were but not 
 unthinking. Through the Romans they had seen something of 
 their religion and had laughed at it ; refusing to be cajoled yet 
 quick to learn the lessons the Romans had unconsciously taught 
 them. Immured by exposure from infancy they regarded the 
 warm, well-clad Romans as effeminate. They were a strong race 
 wholly devoid of tenderness or sentiment, yet superstitious from
 
 DRUIDS AND MAGI 283 
 
 their Druidic teachings ; still with an inborn, high sense of honour 
 and fidelity. Such were the people Columba had chosen to bring 
 back from paganism. Till now his work had only been what may 
 be termed predatory missionary labour, barely reaching the borders 
 of the great Pictish kingdom over which Brude then reigned ; a 
 man who beyond doubt was the most powerful that had ever sat 
 on the throne. A man of unusual penetration and perhaps the 
 only one among his people outside of the priesthood who saw 
 through the superstitions of the Druidical religion. How much of 
 Brude Columba knew is uncertain ; but he was well aware that 
 between lona and Inverness, where Brude held court, save the 
 comparatively safe districts of Morven and Lochaber, lay the dan- 
 gerous Drumalbans ; beset with difficulties from unknown paths 
 where fierce superstitious natives lurked under the guidance of the 
 Druid and Magi priests, ready to intercept his way ; yet his reso- 
 lution did not fail him. Unfortunately neither Adamnan or Mon- 
 telembert are able to give a clear account of this remarkable 
 journey. We only know that Comgall of Bangor and Caimach of 
 Achaboe were his companions. These two men were of the race 
 of Irish Picts from whom the Dalriadan Picts had come and so to 
 a certain extent they had kept in touch with their kinsmen in 
 Alban. 
 
 Beyond brief mention of hunger, lack of shelter and constant 
 opposition by the Druid and Magi priests, the chronicles are silent 
 save for some miraculous acts of Columba by which the party 
 were preserved until they reached the fortress of King Brude at 
 Loch Ness and which antiquarians have positively identified with 
 the vitrified fortress now termed " Craig-Phadrie " at Inverness, 
 so well known to Scotch tourists. 
 
 Here again at the arrival of Columba and his companions at 
 Inverness these chroniclers allow the miraculous to overshadow 
 the details we desire to know. Thus we are told that the gates 
 of the town and of the palace were closed against the strangers. 
 But at the sign of the cross made by Comgall the town gates 
 opened and when they had come to the doors of the royal house 
 St. Columba advanced and, making a similar sign, these also ad- 
 mitted them into the presence of the king. Angered beyond
 
 284 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 measure at such intrusion, Brude raised his sword to slay them, 
 but Caimach made the all-powerful sign of the cross over Brude's 
 hand and it fell withered at his side, and, the chronicles continue, 
 so remained until he (the king) believed in God. But what was 
 spoken or how the stern Pict was brought to terms is wholly un- 
 known. Some even declare that no such conversion took place. 
 That at Columba's intercession, Brude's strength was at once 
 restored, and that from then during his life he held Columba in 
 especial reverence is historic. But Bede records that in the ninth 
 year of Brude, or Bridius, which would be in 565 and thus corres- 
 pond with Columba's dates in leaving lona for his mission, he 
 was baptized by Columba. The Pictish chronicles also confirm 
 this in date and fact. 
 
 In the Irish life of St. Comgall I find an incident nowhere else 
 mentioned, " that then Mailcu the son of the king came with his 
 Drui (Druid priests) to contend (argue) against Columielle (Co- 
 lumba) through paganism ; but he and his Drui with him were 
 destroyed (overcome) by the name of God and through Columielle 
 He was magnified." 
 
 Just here it is interesting in some measure to understand what 
 the nature of this pagan belief was but it must be very sadly con- 
 densed. It was the same in all respects as met St. Patrick when 
 he came to Ireland, and perhaps cannot be better summed up 
 than by quoting from a metrical " Life of St. Patrick," by Fiacc 
 of Sleibhte, who says : 
 
 " He preached three-score years 
 The Cross of Christ to the Tuatha of Feni. 
 The Tuatha, adored the Side, 
 On the Tuatha of Erin there was darkness, 
 They believed not the true God-head 
 Of the Trinity." 
 
 The Book of Armagh explains that the " Side, or Sidhe," were 
 "gods of the earth, a phantom." Mysterious beings who were 
 supposed to dwell alike in heaven, on the earth, in the sea, sky, 
 rivers, mountains and valleys at will. Spirits to be dreaded and 
 conciliated, to be worshipped and invoked by themselves and 
 through the natural objects in which they were supposed to dwell.
 
 COLUMBATE CHURCH 285 
 
 Hence we see the sacredness of the Druidic oaks and stones. 
 The Druid and Magi priests contended they did not worship idols, 
 but their deities who dwelt in them ; that these natural objects 
 were not themselves powers, but that through them the Drudh 
 could consult their deity. 
 
 The Magi added soothsaying, enchantment and divination ; 
 while as doctors they practiced on the superstitions of their pa- 
 tients as did the Drui. In one of these metrical accounts I find 
 these lines : 
 
 " The Drui of Cruithnech in friendship 
 Discovered a cure for the wounded, 
 New milk in which they were washed 
 In powerful bathing." 
 
 And a little further on speaking of : 
 
 " Six demon like Druadh 
 Necromancy, idolatry and illusion. 
 In a fair well-walled house. 
 * * ****** 
 
 By them were taught 
 The hovering of the sreod and omens, 
 Choice of weather, lucky times, 
 The watching of the voice of birds 
 They practiced without disguise." 
 
 This word sreod Dr. Todd glosses as " sneezing." But I must 
 not enlarge further on this strangely interesting point. 
 
 As already said we are without any details of the methods used 
 by Columba to combat these pagan beliefs, but the conversion of 
 their king exercised no doubt a most powerful influence in aiding 
 Columba's efforts, and he seemed by kindness rather than by force 
 to have first won their confidence and then by degrees to have 
 taught the Christian faith, then following the Irish method of mo- 
 nastic colonies, or as they were termed, monasteries, and in many 
 places building churches. Thus for twelve years Columba, Corn- 
 gall and other faithful men worked steadily in laying the founda- 
 tions of the Columbate Church as it has been called in his honour, 
 and after these years broadening the sphere of their labours to in- 
 clude the Southern Picts, who under St. Ninian had been con-
 
 286 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 verted but who soon apostatized, all of which must be mentioned 
 under the notice of this great teacher Ninian on September i6th. 
 
 We cannot follow through Columba's work, so full of incidents 
 which prove his devotion ; his never failing hope even under dire 
 misfortunes and cruel wrongs, till at last he reaches his lona fam- 
 ily once more. Nor may I copy as I would like, the long and 
 touching description of those last days written by his biographer, 
 Cummene, until on the morning of June 9, 597, Columba called 
 his faithful attendant, Diormet, to him and said : " This day is 
 called in the sacred Scriptures a day of rest and truly to me it will 
 be such, for it is the last of my life and I shall enter into my rest 
 after the fatigues of my labours." 
 
 Thus peacefully passed to his reward one of God's noblest and 
 most faithful servants, leaving behind him an imperishable mem- 
 ory not alone in the affection and veneration of those of his own 
 day, but in the breasts of all true Christians who now after thir- 
 teen centuries study his character. 
 
 JUNE loth. 
 
 Of St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland, niece of Edward the Con- 
 fessor and daughter of Edmund Ironsides who is honoured by 
 the Church this day we may read in any Scotch history. 
 
 JUNE nth. 
 
 St. Barnabas, whose festival is celebrated this day, though not 
 one of the twelve was through his intimate association and the 
 prominent share he took in apostolic transactions termed by the 
 primitive Fathers of the Church " Apostle," and St. Luke also 
 gives him the honoured title. By birth he was a Jew of the tribe 
 of Levi. Aside from his labours as recorded in the " Acts of the 
 Apostles " his legend tells of his labours in Asia Minor, Greece and 
 Italy, and in the latter was made Bishop of Milan. At last when 
 preaching in Judea he was martyred by the Jews being stoned
 
 ST. BARNABAS 
 
 287 
 
 to death at Salamis. Tradition tells that St. Barnabas always 
 preached from the Gospel of St. Matthew and carried with him a 
 copy written by the Evangelist himself, and that when his remains 
 were found this manuscript was still in his bosom. 
 This was taken to Constantinople and a church 
 was built " under the invocation of the saint." 
 St. Mark and other Christians 
 buried him there. In Christian art 
 St. Barnabas is represented carry- 
 ing the gospel in one hand and in 
 the other a pilgrim's staff, but the 
 Clog Almanac gives him a rake. 
 There is no doubt that this is 
 from some legend or tradition as 
 most of these emblems are, but 
 what it is I am not able to learn. 
 
 mer solstice. 
 
 Before " the change of style " S T. BARNABAS, 
 the nth of June marked the sum- 
 Hence the old English proverb : 
 
 " Barnaby bright 
 
 The longest day and shortest night." 
 
 In " Ye olde dayes " it was customary for the priests and clerks 
 to decorate the church with garlands of roses. 
 
 This day was appointed as a festival by St. Charles Borromeo at 
 the sixth provincial council in 1 582. The canonical colour for this 
 day is red. 
 
 JUNE 1 2th 
 
 Is the festival of St. John of Sahagun ; a hermit of the Order of 
 St. Augustine. 
 
 Eremitic life had a peculiar fascination for many of the holy 
 men of the Church ; the secret of which it is hard for us with our 
 gregarious tendencies to understand. But how strong this feeling
 
 288 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 was is seen by the number who adopted a solitary life. And it 
 was so with St. John who early in his life as a Benedictine had 
 preferments in the Church and noted as a pulpit orator. But he 
 resigned each of his rich " livings " and became a hermit of St. 
 Austin in Salamanca in 1463 and was made " Prior " of the mon- 
 astery in 1471. The austerities of these monks were almost be- 
 yond belief in their devotions, prayer, penance, abstination from 
 food and self-sacrifice in all things being their rule for daily life. 
 When his last sickness overtook St. John he foretold his death 
 and calmly waited it when it came June i ith, 1479. For the many 
 miracles credited to him he was " beatified " by Pope Clement 
 VIII. in 1601 and canonized by Pope Alexander VIII. in 1690. 
 Pope Benedict XIII, directed an office to be inserted in the Ro- 
 man Breviary fixing the date for June i2th. 
 
 JUNE 
 
 The festival of St. Anthony, or Antonio of Padua, celebrated 
 to-day is one of the few of the mediaeval saints which has been 
 retained in the English church Kalendar as it holds its place in 
 
 that of the Roman Church, 
 and few of all the long list 
 of the canonized saints 
 have attained to greater 
 celebrity. Especially i s 
 this true in Italy but most 
 so at Padua. His legend 
 tells us that early in his 
 career miraculous power 
 came to aid him. Once, 
 it is said, that at Rimini, 
 in order to convince a per- 
 son of heretical belief St. 
 Anthony, by calling to the fishes caused them to lift their heads 
 from the water to testify to the truth of his assertions. But short 
 as his life was the list of his miracles is too long a one to be re-
 
 ST. ANTHONY 
 
 289 
 
 counted here. He was born in Lisbon in 1195. At the age of 
 fifteen he became one of the regular Canons of St. Austin, near 
 Lisbon. When twenty-three he became a Franciscan friar and 
 soon after the death of St. Francis in 1226, 
 he retired to his convent in Padua where 
 he died in 1231, aged only thirty-six years. 
 Yet so great was his sanctity that Pope 
 Gregory IX., who had known him person- 
 ally, canonized him in 1232. Padua claimed 
 him as its patron saint 1307, completed a 
 magnificent church in his honour where 
 have been gathered a wonderful variety of 
 sacred, saintly relics, not the least among 
 these being a gilt urn of somewhat fantastic 
 shape which it is said contains the magical 
 tongue of St. Anthony, which, once in each 
 year is, upon the day of his death, exhibited, 
 and then solemn and magnificently impos- 
 ing ceremonies are held in honour of " II 
 Santo," as everyone terms this eloquent 
 silver-tongued saint. 
 
 This saint must not be confounded with 
 another of the same title whose festival 
 occurs on January 1 7th, a noted man whose 
 memory has been recalled in its place. 
 
 JUNE I4th. 
 
 I can but briefly mention St. Basil the Great especially hon- 
 oured this day in the Greek church as the founder of the Order 
 of Basilicans. He was born in a family of great sanctity as 
 shown by his grandmother, father, mother, two brothers and a 
 sister, as well as himself having been honoured by canonization as 
 saints. He was ordained priest in 362, and in 370 called to the 
 bishopric of Caesarea. After a life full of usefulness and good
 
 2 9 o SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 works he died on June 14, A. D. 380. His emblem is a dove, 
 from a legend that tells that when preaching of the Holy Ghost a 
 dove lighted on his shoulder and remained during his sermon. 
 
 JUNE 1 5th. 
 
 Of the several noted names the Church honours on this day 
 none is perhaps more worthy than the Blessed Gregory Lewis 
 Barbadigo, a Venetian of a noble family and one who for his learn- 
 ing alone would be remembered. But his true Christian virtues 
 even outshone these ; while his character for wise counsel is shown 
 by his being chosen by the Republic of Venice to accompany its 
 ambassador, Aloysius Contarini, to that famous " Congress of 
 Ministers," when the celebrated treaty commonly called " of West- 
 phalia " was signed by the plenipotentiaries of Germany, France 
 and Sweden on October 24, 1648, which later was so far-reaching 
 in its influence throughout Europe. Gregory was consecrated 
 Bishop of Bergame in 1657 ; created Cardinal by Alexander VII. 
 in 1660 and translated to the bishopric of Padua in 1664. In 
 every state of life he was a model of zeal, watchfulness and piety. 
 His charities were unbounded, the actual known amount being in 
 excess of eight hundred thousand crowns ; while a stately sem- 
 inary and college one of the chief glories of Padua to-day was his 
 personal gift, and those who have seen its rare library, many of 
 its books having been selected by him or under his direction, can 
 but wonder at the far-reaching wisdom and learning of this man, 
 justly termed " Blessed " by the church. He was beatified by 
 Pope Clement XIII. on February 13, 1761. 
 
 Among other bounteous gifts I must not omit mention of one, 
 a printing office which was connected with the college above 
 named. 
 
 St. Vitus, whose festival occurs this day, Roman hagiology tells 
 us was the son of a Sicilian noble ; but under the care of his 
 Christian nurse and foster father from early infancy taught in the 
 faith of Christ. When twelve years of age this was discovered.
 
 ST. VITUS 291 
 
 The child and his foster parents were imprisoned. The legend 
 here tells how the father watching his son through a key hole saw 
 him surrounded by angels and the dazzling sight blinded him. 
 By the prayers of the son his sight was restored and the prisoners 
 were released ; but later they were again subjected to persecution 
 and fled in a boat, which the legend says : " Was steered by an 
 angel." But they reached Italy only to meet a worse fate ; for 
 being again accused of Christianity and boldly confessing it the 
 boy martyr was cast into a caldron of boiling oil. A chapel erec- 
 ted in his honour at Ulm later became famous for the miraculous 
 cures effected upon persons (women more especially) afflicted with 
 nervous or hysteric affection, and from this came to be known " as 
 St. Vitus dance," when violent motion accompanied the disease. 
 Whatever may be the truth of these miraculous cures through St. 
 Vitus' intercession, it remains a fact attested beyond a question 
 that this child and his nurse and foster father suffered martyrdom 
 in evidence of their faith in Christ in 303. St. Vitus is one of the 
 " Moth-helpers " or patron saints of Germany, as well as the 
 patron saint of actors and dancers and also the patron saint of 
 Saxony, Bohemia and Sicily. 
 
 I must name one other saint on this day, St. Bernard of Men- 
 thon, if for nothing more than his forty-two years of loving, faith- 
 ful preaching and care for the Savoyards. Yet many will 
 remember to have passed over the two roads, which I have, and 
 rested in the two great hospitals he founded, the Great and Little 
 St. Bernards. The St. Bernard dogs bred, trained and nurtured 
 by the devoted monks of these hospices need no eulogy any more 
 than do these faithful fathers who have so long never failed to 
 prove their courage or their devotion to Christ and to their fellow 
 men. Indeed, the man or woman who has passed over these 
 roads and fails in paying due reverence to this holy, devoted man 
 and his faithful followers is lacking in true human sympathy ; 
 for if ever a man's good works live after him, those of St. Ber- 
 nard of Menthon do. St. Bernard died at Novara where his body 
 has rested since June 15, 1008.
 
 292 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 JUNE i6th. 
 
 The Church of Rome this day recognises one of the most dis- 
 tinguished members of the Society of Jesus in St. John Francis 
 Regis. From his entry into the order he was an ardent, zealous 
 worker in missionary fields and in his efforts to crush out Calvin- 
 ism, then rapidly growing in strength. His biographers dwell 
 especially on his labours at Vivares which for many years was the 
 stronghold of Calvinism in France, and at Puy, hardly less noted. 
 But to us Regis has a special interest from being one of the Jesuit 
 Fathers who in 1634 came as missionaries to the Hurons and 
 Iroquois tribes, even though his stay among them was brief, as his 
 services and the wonderful eloquence of his preaching were 
 needed in France to resist the tide of Calvinistic doctrines. In 
 this role he was perhaps one of, if not the most successful work- 
 ers in his order. His strenuous life wore him out quickly and he 
 died in 1640 when but forty-three years old. St. John Francis 
 Regis was beatified by Clement XI. in 1716 and canonized by 
 Clement XII. in 1737. 
 
 JUNE I7th. 
 
 The Church of England honours the " Protomartyr of Eng- 
 land," St. Alban. In Roman Martyrology the date named for 
 this saint is the 22d of June and although the Kalendar of the 
 English church names the I7th, the best authorities fix the date 
 as the 22d. Alban was born in Vercelam in Hertfordshire, which 
 then was one of the strongest and most populous cities of Britain. 
 It is now called St. Albans and lies between the river Werlaim 
 and the famous Roman road called " Watling street " and after 
 the Saxon conquest fell into decay. Alban was a pagan ; a man 
 of some renown and had travelled as far as Rome to improve 
 himself in learning and the polite arts. 
 
 King Offa built a church for his honour in 794 and later a Bene- 
 dictine monastery was established, the abbot of which had prece-
 
 ST. ALBAN 
 
 293 
 
 dence over all other prelates as its tutelar saint had been England's 
 Protomartyr. A legend tells that one of the soldiers who led St. 
 Alban to execution was converted on the way and was executed 
 at the same time, literally " baptized in his own 
 blood." 
 
 The bloody persecutions of Dioclesian which 
 raged with such terrible fury in most parts of the 
 Roman empire had been held somewhat in check 
 in both Gaul and Britain by Constantius who 
 reigned with almost regal authority. At last these 
 persecutions reached Britain. Alban had returned 
 from his travels and was still a pagan when a 
 priest of Caerleon in Monmouthshire, named 
 Amphibalus, fleeing from persecution, sought 
 shelter with Alban. It was granted and during 
 the brief stay of Amphibalus Alban was converted. 
 Dressed in Alban's garments the priest escaped 
 but the fury of the pagans now turned on Alban and he was 
 called on to sacrifice to their gods ; but true to his new faith he 
 
 refused. After the usual 
 method Alban was first 
 brutally tortured and 
 then beheaded by an 
 axe, the attribute given 
 him in Clog Almanacs. 
 In art he appears with 
 sword in one hand and a 
 cross in the other and at 
 times with a fountain 
 springing from beneath 
 his feet. 
 
 ST. ALBAN. 
 
 JUNE 1 8th. 
 
 Under the first persecution of Nero the names of twin brothers, 
 Marcus and Marcellianus, sons of SS. Vitalis and Valeria, appear.
 
 294 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Arrested by Fabian, confessing that from youth they had been 
 Christians, they were tied to posts, sharp nails driven through 
 their feet, but still continuing their praise of Christ were at last 
 relieved from torture by being pierced by lances. 
 
 JUNE 
 
 Is the festival of St. Bruno afterward Archbishop Boniface. 
 Descended from a noble family in Saxony, he very early displayed 
 his inclination for a religious life and while yet a youth received 
 the clerical tonsure. Otto III. soon made him chaplain of his 
 person and court but the young devotee desired a more secluded 
 life and entered the cloisters. Later the missionary spirit took 
 hold upon him as it did on so many of the clerics of his day, and 
 he, under the protection of St. Henry II., Emperor of Germany 
 having first been consecrated a bishop at which time he received 
 the name of Boniface he began his labours among the savage 
 tribes of Prussia but was repulsed from among them and pushed 
 on to the other side of Poland into Russia. From many he 
 received rich gifts but used them all for the benefit of the poor 
 wherever he was. 
 
 The Russians were idolators and thus had abated nothing of 
 their ancient ferocity, and he was ordered to leave the country. 
 But the king of a small province at last promised to listen to him 
 " if he could see him walk through fire without it harming him." 
 A thing which the legend tells us he accomplished, " and the 
 king seeing the bishop thus preserved in the midst of flames, 
 asked to be instructed in the faith, and, with many, was baptized." 
 Thus the apostle of Russia began his work but the infidels later 
 seized him and eighteen of his companions and beheaded them. 
 But the seed had been sown and later bore fruit, and gave the 
 good man his title of the apostle of Russia. 
 
 This saint is mentioned in Greek menologies on this day. 
 
 On this day also occurs the anniversary of St. Juliana Fal- 
 conieri ; more especially honoured at Florence where she was
 
 ST. EDWARD 295 
 
 born in 1270, and where a little later her parents built at their own 
 expense one of the most beautiful among the many charming 
 churches adorning Florence to-day ; the Church of the Annuncia- 
 tion of Our Lady. In her sixteenth year she renounced all the 
 attractions held out before her of a life such as naturally would 
 have come from her rank and great fortune, and consecrated 
 her virginity to God and received the religious veil of the Man- 
 tellatae. The Mantellatae are a third order of the Servites, the 
 religious men being the first order, and the nuns the second and 
 third of the Servites. The Mantellatae take their name from a 
 particular kind of short sleeves which they wear especially fitted 
 for their peculiar duties in the service of the sick and their other 
 charitable work for which the order was first instituted. Many 
 devout women came to Juliana's aid, and she was obliged to 
 accept the place of prioress of the Sisters of the Order of the 
 Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary ; and the Sovereign Pontiff 
 Clement XII. placed her name among the holy Virgins. Her 
 own self-sacrifice and labour knew no rest and in her old age her 
 early labours had so reacted upon her that she was called on to 
 suffer great physical torment ; but it was borne with that meek- 
 ness that characterized her life. 
 
 JUNE 20th. 
 
 The Translation of St. Edward, king and martyr, is especially 
 observed by the Church of England on this day. Most readers 
 of English history will recall the tragedy at Corfe castle in 978 
 when the young King Edward II., surnamed " The Martyr," was 
 by a plot of his mother-in-law, Elfrida, murdered, while he was 
 visiting her at Corfe castle, Dorsetshire ; her object being to make 
 way for her son, Ethelred, Edward's half-brother. As the king 
 stood drinking the usual " grace cup " from one of those huge 
 wooden cups which required both hands to hold and so left him 
 defenseless, he was stabbed in the back. He was privately buried 
 at Wareham in unhallowed ground, but his legend tells of many
 
 296 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 miracles which were performed then and how : " wondrous lights 
 shown from above ; there the lame walked, there the dumb re- 
 covered speech, there every malady gave way to health. " 
 
 In 980, two years after King Edward's 
 interment at Wareham, yElphere "eal- 
 dorman " of Mercia caused the body to 
 be translated with great pomp and cere- 
 mony to Shaftsbury where it was 
 reinterred. It is historic that on opening 
 the coffin at this time, King Edward's 
 body was found to be as fresh and un- 
 tainted as when he had been so uncere- 
 moniously buried. According to the 
 legend St. Edward appeared to ^Iphere 
 in a dream and ordered this transfer of 
 his body to be made. In 1001 the body 
 was once more removed, this time to 
 Glastonbury where it has since rested. In Christian art a cup 
 and sceptre are the usual attributes of St. Edward, while his Clog 
 Almanac symbol is the huge wooden cup with a dagger above it. 
 
 This is also the anniversary of the birth of St. Silverius, pope 
 and martyr, who died in 538 after but two brief years in the ponti- 
 fical chair. For refusing to restore a heretical bishop deposed by 
 his predecessor, Empress Theodora exiled him to the isle of Pon- 
 tia where he passed to his reward. 
 
 JUNE 2ist 
 
 Is the festival of St. Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata, capital of 
 Comagene in Syria, now called Sempsat, and was an ancient epis- 
 copal see under the metropolitan of Heiropolis. He was elevated 
 to his bishopric in 361 at the time when the Arian emperor, Con- 
 stantius, was all powerful, and disguised under a military dress 
 Eusebius visited his churches to continue them in the orthodox
 
 ST. PAULINUS 297 
 
 faith. Valino, however, banished him to Thrace. When under 
 Theodosius peace was restored in the church, Eusebius was re- 
 called from exile. But when again he was visiting his churches, 
 an Arian woman cast down on his head a heavy tile from the roof 
 of her house as he passed along the street, fracturing his skull and 
 causing his death. A fact which fully illustrates the intense 
 hatred which then existed between the Arians and Orthodox fac- 
 tions of the Church. His death occurred in 379 and while the 
 Latins honour him on this 2ist day of June the Greeks make his 
 festival on the 22d. 
 
 JUNE 22d. 
 
 This day is celebrated in Roman Martyrology as the birthday 
 in 353, at Bourdeaux, of Pontius Meropius Paulinus, a man de- 
 scended from a long line of illustrious senators but who by his 
 virtues eclipsed the honours and triumphs of his ancestors and won 
 for him the admiration of such noted holy fathers as SS. Martin, 
 Sulpicius Severus, Ambrose, Austin, Jerome, Gregory of Tours 
 and many more who vie with each other in celebrating his heroism 
 and saintly virtues. Endowed with wealth and high rank in the 
 world, he received from nature a penetrating genius, elevated un- 
 derstanding, and by his carefully considered education, that needed 
 training and culture which brought to the highest perfection his 
 naturally rare and great gifts of mind, talents that from his infancy 
 were cultivated by the best teachers of his day. Among these he 
 had for his master in poesy and eloquence the famous Ansonius, 
 the first man of his age in those sciences, and as a rhetorician re- 
 nowned alike for his delicate wit and the elegant beauty of his 
 style. Under such a teacher Paulinus even more than fulfilled the 
 ardent hopes of his friends. " Everyone," says St. Jerom of this 
 gifted youth, " admired the purity and eloquence of his diction, 
 the delicacy and loftiness of his thoughts, the strength and sweet- 
 ness of his style." His probity, integrity and moral worth were 
 equally marked and everywhere recognised, as shown by the fact 
 that in 379 he was named as consul. He married a Spanish lady
 
 298 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 of great wealth who was a sincere, faithful Christian and thus his 
 home was equally happy and prosperous as his public life. It 
 would seem as if both were full and that nothing was lacking for 
 his personal happiness. Great wealth and honoured by all ; yet 
 the hollowness of earthly things already after fifteen years of suc- 
 cess began to dawn upon him, and with his wife, still in the prime 
 of her youth, they repaired to one of their Spanish estates where 
 the teachings of SS. Ambrose and Martin, whom he had met at 
 Vienne, gave him food for reflection. Encouraged by his devout 
 wife, he sold all his and her estates and bestowed them on the 
 poor and the church, thenceforth leaving the world behind them 
 and going forth as poor as they had been rich. In due time Pau- 
 linus was admitted to holy orders and began his work as a teacher 
 as well as a follower of Christ. In the pursuit of this purpose he 
 retired to Nola in Campania, just outside of whose walls was the 
 tomb of St. Felix with a church over it. It was here Paulinus 
 took up his abode for the following fifteen years. In 410 the 
 Goths in their plundering of Italy captured Nola, and in Roman 
 Martyrology we read : " He became poor and humble for Christ, 
 and, what is most admirable, became a slave to liberate a widow's 
 son who had been carried into Africa by the Vandals when they 
 devastated Campania." He died in 431. 
 
 JUNE 23d 
 
 Is the festival of St. Etheldreda, or as sometimes called " Audry." 
 She was the daughter of Annas, or Ina, a Christian king of the 
 East Angles and was born in Ermynge in Suffolk. She was twice 
 married, the first time to Tonbercht, or Toubercht, prince of the 
 southern Giroig (a tribe inhabiting what is now Rutland, North- 
 ampton, Huntingdon and part of Lincoln) who gave her as a 
 dowry the " Isle of Ely," in the fen country. Toubercht lived but 
 three years after his marriage. After his death Etheldreda retired 
 to the Isle of Ely and for five years lived a saintly life in solitude. 
 But the fame of her virtues had reached the ears of Egfrid, the
 
 ST. ETHELDREDA 299 
 
 powerful king of Northumberland, who sought her in marriage. 
 Her consent to this union was " extorted " rather by force than 
 voluntarily and for twelve years she reigned with him ; being to 
 him as Butler puts it : " As a sister, not as his wife." Then by 
 the advice of St. Wilfrid she left her husband, took the religious 
 veil withdrawing to the monastery of Coldingham beyond the 
 Berwick (already mentioned), where she lived under the devout 
 Abbess St. Ebba. Egfrid had consented to this at first, but re- 
 penting his leniency, later pursued her ; but a sudden rise in the 
 tide made the monastery inaccessible and he abandoned his quest 
 later marrying another wife. 
 
 Freed now from Egfrid St. Etheldreda returned to her old retire- 
 ment in Ely. Here in 670 she founded a double monastery for 
 monks and nuns, becoming abbess of the latter branch. In 870 
 this monastery like others in England was ravaged by the Danes 
 and pillaged. A century later King Edgar granted a charter 
 under which the monastery was rebuilt and in 1107 Henry I. 
 erected it into a bishopric. When Henry VIII. decreed the dis- 
 solution of the English monasteries the conventual church was 
 converted into what has now developed into the Cathedral of Ely 
 and which, despite its external defects from its varied styles of 
 architecture, has but few rivals in interior beauty. Thus the festi- 
 val of St. Etheldreda brings back the long and interesting story of 
 one of England's most noted cathedrals where to-day we may see 
 her sarcophagus, a relic of old Roman work, but which her legend 
 assures us was " wrought by angel hands." 
 
 JUNE 24th 
 
 Is known in England as Mid-Summer Day. In the Christian 
 Kalendar the day is held sacred as the " Nativity of St. John the 
 Baptist." The canonical colour for the day is white. 
 
 When we remember the prominent role St. John played in both 
 the advent and life of our Saviour it is not wonderful that this 
 anniversary has taken such a prominent place in the festivals of
 
 300 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the whole Christian Church. Indeed next to the Blessed Virgin, 
 SS. Peter, Andrew and Michael, St. John the Baptist is beyond 
 question the most popular among the saints in the Kalendar. In 
 England alone nearly four hundred churches are dedicated to him. 
 It is the usual custom for the Church to cele- 
 brate the festival of its saints on the day of 
 their death or to quote St. Austin " their birth- 
 day to eternal life " but St. John was sanctified 
 even from his mother's womb (see St. Luke I. 
 15, 41) and the exception in his case is, there- 
 fore, most appropriate. Beyond the story of 
 his life as told in the gospels there is compara- 
 tively little known of him. But there is no 
 lack of evidence that many marvellous signs 
 and wonders not only marked his birth but also 
 preceded it. That his parents, Zachary the holy 
 priest of the family of Abia and Elizabeth a 
 cousin of the Blessed 
 Virgin Mary, his mother 
 ST. JOHN. were under especial 
 divine protection and favour cannot for a 
 moment be doubted. His birthplace " pro- 
 bably was Hebron," a sacerdotal town in 
 the western part of the hilly country, some 
 twenty miles from Jerusalem occupied by 
 the tribe of Juda. And we are told that one 
 day while Zachary was in his turn 
 ministering at the golden altar in the 
 sanctum offering incense the angel Gabriel 
 appeared by the side of the altar and fore- 
 told the birth of this son who was to make 
 his name sacred throughout all coming time, 
 adding : " Thou shalt call his name 
 John " together with other wonderful pre- 
 dictions all of which were literally fulfilled. We all know the 
 remarkable story of the visit of the Holy Mother of Jesus to 
 Elizabeth while the entire story of the life of St. John is a per-
 
 MID-SUMMER FESTIVALS 301 
 
 petual sermon to teach us humility, in his three prominent roles 
 as Prophet, Preacher and Baptist. In Christian art St. John the 
 Baptist is usually represented wearing a long, loose mantle and 
 carrying a tall staff or wand surmounted by a cross ; accompanied 
 by a lamb ; but commonly he has a book in his hand. Frequently 
 his mantle is formed of skins or he has " a girdle of skin about 
 his loins," (St. Mark, I, 6) and a small pennon twined around a 
 cross with the legend : " Ecce Agnus Dei " upon it. At times but 
 rarely the cross is omitted. The Clog Almanac symbol is in allu- 
 sion to St. John's death which his legend tells us took place two 
 years before that of Jesus Christ at the royal fortified palace of 
 Macheronta near the Dead Sea on the river Jordan and that he 
 was buried at Sebaster. 
 
 MID-SUMMER DAY FESTIVALS. 
 
 From the fact that under the " old style " mid-summer occurred 
 on the Nativity of John the Baptist there was in the early days in 
 England a curious mixture of pagan and Christian ceremonies, 
 since for ages the pagan's had celebrated Mid-Summer Day as a 
 festival. Thus, in an inner court of Magdalen College Oxford, 
 there is a stone pulpit and upon St. John's Day this pulpit was 
 formerly transformed into a bower of green from boughs and 
 branches out of the woods after the pagan fashion. While from 
 the pulpit a sermon on the life of St. John the Baptist was 
 preached. When asked why they thus followed the old Druid 
 style the students said : " This is St. John in the Wilderness." 
 
 In many places in England down to the time of Cromwell Mid- 
 Summer night parades were common ; each man adorned with 
 garlands of flowers, ribbons, and if possible jewels. Tradition 
 tells of a private view Henry VIII. had of one of these proces- 
 sions in 1510 which so pleased him that on St. Peter's Eve (June 
 28th) when a similar parade used to occur, he came accompanied 
 by Queen Catherine and a long suite of courtiers to witness it. 
 Some very strange superstitions too, were held regarding St. 
 John's Eve. The Irish in old days believed that on this night the 
 soul of every person left the body and wandered on through space 
 till it came to the spot where the soul and body would have its
 
 302 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 final earthly parting and that after thus reaching this place it 
 returned to the mortal to whom it belonged. An English super- 
 stition was that anyone who would sit fasting all night on the 
 church porch on St. John's Eve would see pass before him all the 
 persons of his parish who were to die during the coming year. 
 
 JUNE 25th. 
 
 St. Prosper of Aquitain so surnamed to distinguish him from 
 the Bishop of Orleans, is this day honoured by the Church. He 
 apparently was a layman only but was a poet and author of great 
 merit. Pope Leo the Great recognized this, when in 440 he 
 called him to Rome and appointed him his secretary, while even 
 later St. Prosper's writings against the Pelagian heresy was 
 deemed of such value and importance that as late as 1711 a com- 
 plete edition of them was republished, and a revised edition again 
 in 1732 while in 1757 some of his writings were added to those of 
 St. Austin, and published in Paris thus showing the value placed 
 upon them by the Church of Rome. 
 
 The Church also on this day recognises St. Maximus Bishop of 
 Turin, another of the lights of the V. century whose name has 
 come down through the long centuries as one of the great and 
 strong writers of his generation, and whose Homilies are even 
 to-day read and regarded with veneration. 
 
 JUNE 26th. 
 
 In Roman Martyrology we read that on this day the Church 
 honours " at Rome on Mount Ccelian the holy martyrs John and 
 Paul who were brothers. The former was steward and the latter 
 secretary of the Virgin Constantia, daughter of the Emperor Con- 
 stantine." 
 
 I feel certain that some at least of my readers will recall this
 
 SS. JOHN AND PAUL 303 
 
 Ccelian Hill and the view from it looking across to the ruins of the 
 Palatine and the quaintly beautiful old Church of SS. Giovanni e 
 Paolo, which has stood on its brow since A. D. 499 and was 
 erected on the site of the dwelling of these two brothers, of whom 
 Mrs. Jameson, in her " Sacred and Legendary Art," says : " They 
 were officers in the service of Constantia, whom the old legends 
 persist in representing as a 
 most virtuous Christian 
 (though I Mrs. J. believe 
 she was far otherwise) * * 
 
 * The site of the hill being 
 one of the most beautiful in 
 ancient Rome." From their 
 rank and social position as 
 well as from their offices these 
 brothers naturally carried 
 great influence and trust. 
 When Julian the Apostate 
 came to the throne he at- 
 tempted to persuade them to sacrifice to Roman idols but they 
 refused, saying : " Our lives are at the disposal of the emperor 
 but our souls and our faith belong to our God." Then Julian, 
 fearing to bring them to public martyrdom lest their popularity 
 should cause a rebellion and the example of fortitude be an en- 
 couragement to others, sent off soldiers to behead them privately 
 in their own house. Hence the inscription on the spot " Locus 
 Martyrii SS. Joannis et Paoli in asdibus proprus." This church 
 was built by Pammachus the friend of St. Jerom on the site of 
 the house of the saints. 
 
 In this church lies the body of " St. Paul of the Cross," who 
 died in 1776, and who was the founder of the Order of Passionists 
 of whom I shall speak later. 
 
 In devotional art SS. John and Paul are always represented in 
 the ancient Roman military custom with sword and palm. In the 
 Clog Almanacs they also bear the sword and palm crossed as in 
 the illustration. 
 
 There is also a famous church in Venice erected to these martyrs
 
 by the Dominicians who emigrated from the convent in Rome 
 which stands near the church on Coelian Hill. 
 
 JUNE 27th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Crescius who was a disciple of the Apostle St. 
 Paul. He was born in Galatia and became a missionary in Gaul 
 where he was most successful in converting many to the Christian 
 faith. When the strength and vigour of his manhood began to fail 
 him and he was unable longer to endure the hardships of his mis- 
 sionary work in Gaul he once more returned to Galatia, where he 
 became Bishop and laboured faithfully to the end of his life con- 
 firming his people in the faith until Trajan condemned him to 
 suffer martyrdom. Only one more of that devoted band of early 
 Christians whose name is hardly known in these later days but it 
 is to just this class of noble martyrs that the Christian Church 
 owes its preservation nay even existence to-day. 
 
 Another royal personage St. Ladislas I. King of Hungary, is also 
 honoured this day, though we can give him but a brief mention. 
 He was a younger son of Bela I. who died in 1063 and, much 
 against his wishes after his elder brother's death, Ladislas was 
 compelled in 1077 to assume the sovereignty of his country. 
 While of a quiet retiring nature, when once he had put his hand to 
 the plough he looked not backward but devoted himself to his 
 country and yet more to his Divine Master. To his prowess in 
 war. his wisdom in diplomacy and his watchfulness at all times, 
 Hungary under his rule was freed from the Huns whom he drove 
 out of his domains as well as from the Poles, Russians and Tar- 
 tars, whom he vanquished. In 1095 Ladislas was about starting 
 at the head of his army on an expedition to the Holy Land against 
 the Saracens, when death suddenly came to him on July soth. 
 Roman Martyrology, however, has changed the date of his festival 
 to June 27th. His life was full of good deeds and endless num- 
 ber of miracles were placed to his credit, both before and after his 
 death. He was canonized by Celestine III. in 1198.
 
 ST. IREN^EUS 305 
 
 JUNE 28th. 
 
 St. Irenseus the noted man whose name is honoured this day by 
 the Church, was by his own statement born " near the times of 
 Domitian," or about the beginning of the reign of Adrian A. D. 
 1 20, still his fame seems to rest largely upon his power as a writer 
 against the heresies that even at that early day had begun to creep 
 into the church. Of these writings St. Gregory of Tours and St. 
 Jerom speak in most enthusiastic terms : for his zeal and earnest 
 work in the vineyard of the Lord was very great and we find him 
 in 177 selected as the second bishop of Lyons at a time when as 
 already alluded to the Christians at Lyons were being sorely tor- 
 mented and persecuted. It is thus we find St. Irenaeus named as 
 one among the " martyrs of Lyons." 
 
 Dates disagree somewhat as to the exact year when he testified 
 to his faith by yielding his life but most writers make the date in 
 202, but some fixing it in 208. 
 
 THE REASON THE POPE CHANGES HIS NAME. 
 
 A pertinent and proper inquiry as to why the popes change their 
 names when elevated to the pontificate is often asked. Prior to 
 884 this was not done, but in that year Peter di Porea was elected 
 pope and took the name of Tergius II. from a feeling of humility : 
 since he did not deem himself worthy to bear the title of Peter II. 
 and from the same sentiment no pope who has ever yet occupied 
 the pontifical chair has ever assumed the name of Peter. Just 
 why each successor of Peter di Porea has followed the example 
 which he set is not very clear, yet the fact remains that each of 
 the holy fathers upon assuming their high office have adopted a 
 name by which they chose to be known. 
 
 SYMBOLS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 From the earliest period to which archaeologists have been able 
 to trace Christian art the " Four Holy Evangelists " who recorded 
 the words and acts of our Lord have naturally taken precedence 
 of others. Next to them came those Apostles whom Christ
 
 3 o6 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 chose to preach His gospel " through all nations." The first rep- 
 resentation of those twelve apostles like those given the evangel- 
 ists were purely emblematical. They were figured as twelve 
 sheep, with Christ as the Good Shepherd standing in their midst 
 bearing a lamb in his arms. Soon we find Christ represented as 
 Himself the " Lamb of God," standing on a slight eminence, 
 crowned with a cruciform nimbus, with the apostles as sheep 
 standing on either side of Him. In some of 
 the oldest of the Roman churches this form is 
 in a degree varied and Christ is seen as " the 
 Lamb " standing on a hill from which the four 
 rivers of Paradise are flowing (see illustration 
 in article of April ipth), with six sheep coming 
 
 THE CRUCIFORM OUt fr m J erusalem on tne one side and s 
 NIMBUS. more sheep issuing from the city of Bethlehem, 
 on the other side of the hill. The next step shows the twelve 
 apostles as men, each however, accompanied by a sheep ; and 
 still later the apostles stand with scrolls in their hands, and 
 the sheep left out from the picture. The several especial em- 
 blems by which we in these later days have come to recognize each 
 apostle were assigned them at a far later period, not a few having 
 been given long after their death. Of these, I will speak as I 
 record the life of each one and therefore omit them here ; except 
 for convenience of the reader I will make a list of them : 
 
 St. Peter Keys, or a fish ; St. Paul One, or at times, two 
 swords ; St. Andrew A transverse cross ; St. James (Major) 
 A pilgrim s staff ; St. John A chalice with a serpent ; when an 
 eagle is given it is in his character of an evangelist ; St. Thomas 
 A builder's rule or square ; but sometimes a spear ; St. James 
 (Minor) A club; St. Philip A staff or crosier surmounted by 
 a cross ; or a small cross in his hand ; St. Bartholomew A large 
 knife; St. Matthew A purse; St. Simon A saw; St. Thad- 
 dius, or Jude A halberd or lance ; St. Matthias A lance.
 
 3 o8 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 JUNE 29th 
 
 Is the day which has been fixed upon by the Church as the " birth- 
 day " of " The Prince of the Apostles," as St. Peter is sometimes 
 termed. 
 
 In both Biblical and profane history the names of SS. Peter and 
 Paul are naturally, constantly and intimately connected. The 
 early Christian Church was at all times considered under its two 
 great divisions ; that of the converted Jews, and that of the con- 
 verted Gentiles, the former represented by St. Peter and the latter 
 by St. Paul, and this combined for the universal Church of Christ, 
 not as Apostles only, but also as founders of the church. For 
 this reason, in correct Christian art we find them constantly seen 
 together ; or where our Lord is introduced into the picture, they 
 are standing on either side of Him. The same is true where the 
 Blessed Virgin appears or where they are at 
 the altar, one being seen at each end of it. 
 In the Greek types the portrait of " the 
 Pilot of the Galilean lake " is taken from the 
 description (so often quoted) given by Nice- 
 phorus. He is : " A robust old man with a 
 broad forehead and rather coarse features, 
 with an open, undaunted countenance, 
 short gray hair and a short thick beard, 
 silvery white and curled." But, strangely, 
 according to this description Nicephorus 
 adds an unexpected feature that " he had 
 red, weak eyes," a peculiarity which has not 
 been preserved in his portraits. Mrs. 
 Jameson says :" In some of the early 
 pictures he is bald on the top of his head 
 and the hair grows thick around in a circle, somewhat like a 
 priestly tonsure, and in some examples this tonsure has the form 
 of a triple row of curls, close to the head, like a tiara." The same 
 authority says that in Anglo-Saxon art : " St. Peter is always 
 beardless and wears the tonsure." 
 
 One of the legends of St. Peter says the Gentiles shaved his 
 
 ST. PETER.
 
 ST. PETER'S KEYS 309 
 
 head to make him an object of derision, and that from this the 
 tonsure originated. In Greek art St. Peter's dress is a blue tunic 
 with white drapery thrown over it, but blue and green are now 
 regarded by the best artistic authorities for the saint's robes. 
 
 Of the two keys now universally recognized as St. Peter's pecu- 
 liar attribute there seems to be no mention until after the begin- 
 ning of the VIII. century. 
 In all the ancient mosaics 
 and upon the early catacomb 
 sarcophagi St. Peter (as in 
 the illustration) bears in his 
 hand a scroll or book, and 
 later examples show him still 
 with the gospel in one hand 
 and the cross in the other. 
 
 The keys seem to have 
 been given St. Peter only 
 after the commencement of 
 the VIII. century. While in 
 rare cases he bears a single 
 key, in general he has two, 
 one of gold and one of iron, 
 opening the gates of Heaven 
 and Hell. Or these keys are 
 of gold and silver, which is 
 interpreted to signify his power "to absolve or to bind." A 
 mosaic on the tomb of Otho II. (Lateran Mus.) shows St. Peter 
 with a third key, expressing dominion over Heaven, Earth and 
 Hell. But such examples are very rare. 
 
 At times St. Peter wears a papal tiara and carries his key, as 
 Milton drew him : 
 
 " Last came and last did go 
 The pilot of the Galilean lake , 
 Two massy keyes he bore of metal twain, 
 (The golden opes, the iron shuts amain) 
 He shook his mitred locks, and stern 
 
 bespake." 
 
 It would be a work of supererogation, (if not conceited on my
 
 310 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 part), after the many and graphic sketches of this wonderful man's 
 life and character which have been written by theologians of every 
 possible shade of Christian faith, for me to re-tell his remarkable 
 story, while a volume would be needed to recount the many 
 legends of his varied career. 
 
 Of his death we are all familiar with the story of how Nero 
 after the burning of Rome accused the Christians of the crime, 
 and how St. Peter, under the counsel of friends started to flee 
 from the city but was met by a vision of our Saviour who warned 
 him to return, as he did only to be seized by Nero's soldiers and, 
 with his fellow apostle, St. Paul cast into the Mamertine prison 
 from which he emerged only to meet his death. The records of 
 this event vary somewhat. According to one St. Peter suffered 
 martyrdom in the Circus of Caligula at the foot of the Vatican 
 and was crucified between two metae (i. e., the goals or terminal) 
 in the circus, round which the chariots turned in the races. 
 Another tradition says he was put to death in the courtyard of a 
 barrack or military station, on the summit of Mons Janicula where 
 the Church of San Pietro in Montoreo now stands on an eminence 
 above the site of the Circus of Caligula. Of this event Dr. 
 Butler writes : " St. Peter, when he was come to the place of exe- 
 cution, requested of the officers that he might be crucified with 
 his head downwards, alleging that he was not worthy to suffer in 
 the same manner his Divine Master had died before him. * * * 
 Accordingly the executioners easily granted the apostle his extra- 
 ordinary request. St. Chrysostom, St. Austin and St. Austerius 
 say that he was nailed to the cross ; Tertullian mentions that he 
 was tied with cords. He was probably both nailed and bound 
 with ropes." 
 
 JUNE 3oth 
 
 Is the festival of St. Paul the apostle and martyr, the fellow pris- 
 oner of St. Peter as he had been his companion and fellow worker 
 in earlier days. 
 
 There must have been as striking a contrast between St. Paul 
 and St. Peter in person as there evidently was in character. That 
 images, or what we to-day would call "statuettes" of noted per-
 
 ST. PAUL 311 
 
 sons even those of Christ, were common with the Romans is seen 
 by St. Augustine's allusions to the " Lalarium of Marcellina," 
 when he names among her household effects images of " Homer, 
 Pythagoras, Jesus Christ and Paul the Apostle," from which pic- 
 tures later were made. Lucian refers to St. Paul as " the bald- 
 headed Galilean with a hook nose." According to several ancient 
 traditions St. Paul was a man of " small and meagre stature," with 
 an aquiline nose, a high forehead and unusually bright, sparkling 
 eyes. In the early Greek pictures of him his face is long and oval, 
 the nose aquiline, the forehead high and quite bald. His beard 
 is always long, flowing and pointed and of a dark brown colour, 
 Mrs. Jameson saying : " I recollect no instance of St. Paul with a 
 gray beard." In dress the pictures of St. Paul give him the same 
 blue tunic and white mantle accorded to St. Peter. As attributes, 
 St. Paul in all the earliest pictures bears a scroll or book, or 
 twelve rolls intended to designate his epistles. Later on he was 
 awarded the sword, as in illustration, as a double attribute, first to 
 evidence the manner of his death, and next as emblematical of 
 the faithful battle fought with " the sword of the Spirit which is 
 the word of God," (Ephesians vi., 17) for, as we all know, his life 
 from the time of his conversion was one long spiritual struggle. 
 The position of the sword in every case is the point to be noticed. 
 If, as shown in illustration, the saint leans or rests upon it, it is his 
 attribute as a martyr. If held aloft or brandished it is then his 
 attribute as the apostle of Christ. Sometimes two swords are 
 given St. Paul to indicate the dual attributes, but this is not fre- 
 quent. The traditions regarding the martyrdom of SS. Peter and 
 Paul, (although in Roman Martyrology the death of St. Peter is 
 marked on the 2pth and that of St. Paul on the 3oth of June) as 
 generally accepted is that the two apostles attained their glorious 
 immortality on the same day, but in different places. As a Ro- 
 man citizen, St. Paul escaped the ignominy attached to public 
 execution in the circus, as well as the prolonged torture of death 
 upon the cross. That he was beheaded at a point two miles from 
 Rome beyond the Ostian way known as " Tre Fontane," is gener- 
 ally accepted, his legend running that as his head fell beneath the 
 sword it struck the earth three times before resting and at each of
 
 3 i2 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 these spots a fountain sprang forth that continues flowing even 
 now. Legends of St. Paul are far less numerous than those of St. 
 Peter, one, the last, being that a Christian Ro- 
 man matron named Plautilla stationed herself 
 on the Ostian way to look upon him for the last 
 time and ask his blessing. As the apostle 
 turned from her he begged that she would loan 
 him her veil to bind his eyes at the fatal 
 moment, promising to restore it after his death. 
 It was given him amid the mocking jests of the 
 laughing soldiers. But, the legend continues, 
 after St. Paul's death, true to his promise, he 
 did appear to Plautilla and returned her the 
 blood-stained veil. 
 
 A great monastery was later erected on this 
 dirk and marshy spot where a church " St. 
 Paolo alle Tre Fontane," was built in 1590 for 
 ST. PAUL. Cardinal Aldobrandini, which contains, it is 
 said, the marble pillar St. Paul was bound to when beheaded. 
 
 The following description of this historic martyr is from Cony- 
 beare and Housons' long and graphic account of the event : 
 " Through the dust and tumult of that busy throng, the small 
 troop of soldiers threaded their way silently under the bright sky 
 of an Italian midsummer. They were marching, though they 
 knew it not, in a procession more really triumphal than any they 
 had ever followed in the train of general or emperor along the 
 Sacred Way. Their prisoner, now at last and forever delivered 
 from captivity, rejoiced to follow his Lord 'without the gate.' 
 The place of execution was not far distant, and there the sword of 
 the headsman ended his long course of sufferings and released 
 that heroic soul from that feeble body. Weeping friends took up 
 his corpse, and carried it for burial to those subterranean laby- 
 rinths where, through many ages of oppression, the persecuted 
 church found refuge for the living and sepulchres for the dead." 
 
 For the same reasons I failed to comment on the life of St. 
 Peter, I must omit any remarks on that of St. Paul ; but rio Bible 
 reader need search long for such details.
 
 JULY 
 
 This month was originally the fifth month in the Roman year 
 and hence denominated Quintilis. In ancient Alban Kalendars it 
 had thirty-six days. Romulus gave it thirty-one and Numa 
 reduced it to thirty ; but Julius 
 Caesar restored the lost day and 
 it has so remained. After 
 Caesar's death, Mark Anthony 
 changed the name to July in 
 honour of the great Julius. 
 Among the Romans the influ- 
 ence of the " Dog-Star " was 
 believed to be all powerful. 
 Our illustration is from an an- 
 tique Roman gem and pictures 
 " The Dog-Star " as the Ro- 
 mans were used to call it. 
 
 The Saxons termed July the : 
 " Hey Monath " and also the 
 " Maed Monath," this being 
 the time of their hay-harvest and when the maed was in bloom. 
 
 JULY 1st 
 
 Is the Octave of St. John the Baptist, and has a typical office in 
 the liturgy of certain churches of the Roman faith. 
 
 Among a long list of saints the Roman Church honours this day 
 is St. Theobald, or Thibault, as he is sometimes designated. His
 
 3 i4 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 legend is only another which illustrates the peculiar fascination 
 that seemed to hang round devoutly inclined men and women 
 down to the Middle Ages, and was confined to no rank or station 
 in life. 
 
 Theobald belonged to a family of the " Counts Palatins " of 
 Champagne ; born at Provins in Brie in 1017, and was a nephew 
 of " Theobald Archbishop of Vienne " for whom he was named. 
 In his youth the lives of St. John the Baptist, St. Paul, the Hermit 
 St. Antony and St. Arsenius in their retreats in the wilderness 
 were always his favourite books over which he spent days and 
 nights " in ecstasies of delight " and they so charmed him that " he 
 sighed for the like sweet retirement." Frequent converse with a 
 hermit named Burchard who had a cell on a small island in the 
 Seine, only added to his fervent desire to become also a hermit. 
 The many days he spent with this holy man confirmed him in his 
 desires and strengthened his resolve to follow a life of solitude in 
 prayer and holy study. No attraction of Court life nor the bril- 
 liant marriage his family had arranged for him could wean him 
 from his set purpose. In 1034 Rodolph (the last King of Bur- 
 gundy), an uncle of Theobald died, and a cousin Eudo claimed 
 the crown and the sovereignty over Provence, Savoy, Viennois and 
 Burgundy, (though the Duke by a sort of vasselage yet held Bur- 
 gundy) but the Emperor Conrad " the Salic " seized upon it by 
 virtue of the will and testament of the late King and a war ensued 
 in which Theobald's father wished him to take the head of an 
 army he had raised to aid his cousin Eudo. Then it was Theo- 
 bald informed his father of his intended eremitical life and declined 
 in any way to take part in the struggle. Theobald then was 
 barely eighteen years old ; but with a young nobleman named 
 Walter the two, having given their courtly garments in exchange 
 for the robes of beggar pilgrims set out for their quest of a 
 hermitage. It all reads like one of those old tales ; how they 
 wandered barefooted through Germany and on to Rome and at 
 last found a spot named Salanigo near to Vincenza, Italy where 
 they built their cells and " Walter " died. For years Theobald 
 then led his lonely life known far and wide as " the Hermit 
 of Salanigo " whose sanctity had attracted the notice of the
 
 VISITATION OF VIRGIN 315 
 
 Bishop of Vincenza through whom at last the parents learned for 
 the first time of the whereabouts of their son. 
 
 The denouement is somewhat dramatic when the father and 
 mother found their son in rags, and came away with the enthusi- 
 asm of his pleadings, the mother resolved to become a hermit and 
 the son built for her a cell near his own. Theobald died in 1066 
 and was canonized by Clement III. 
 
 JULY 2d. 
 
 On this day is commemorated in both the Roman and Protes- 
 tant churches the " Visitation of the Virgin Mary," to her cousin 
 Elizabeth as recorded in St. Luke's (I., 39, 40) gospel, when the 
 Virgin went into the mountains of Judea to see the mother of St. 
 John the Baptist. This festival had been observed for some time 
 by the devout members of the church, but with no degree of 
 regularity, when in 1383 Urban VI. instituted it as a prescribed 
 festival. The council of Basle in 1441 enjoined it to be observed 
 in all the churches and fixed the date. It is also called " The 
 Salutation of Elizabeth." This scene has so often been repro- 
 duced by artists, that few tourists will not recall some one of the 
 many pictures in the galleries of Europe. 
 
 JULY 3 d 
 
 Is the festival of an humble but devoted servant of our Lord, St. 
 Phocas of Sinope, only a gardener, whose field served to furnish 
 food for his Christian brethren, and his cottage a shelter from the 
 storm. Yet this was enough to bring upon him the wrath of 
 those persecutors who in those fateful years of 303 and 4 pursued 
 every Christian with relentless hate. His legend tells of his 
 unremitted charities and self-sacrifice, until one stormy night 
 when two strangers sought shelter and received it. They told 
 him they were in search of one Phocas ; to slay him for his faith.
 
 316 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 From his humble stores he fed them and later, with his blessings, 
 sent them to rest. Then he went to his garden and beneath his 
 vines dug his own grave. In the morning, when questioned, he 
 
 led his guests to the open grave 
 and told them who he was. 
 The strangers, loth as they were 
 to slay so saintly a man, dared 
 not to disobey the orders they 
 had received and therefore be- 
 headed him by the grave he had 
 prepared in which he was 
 buried. He is only to be found 
 represented in Byzantian art ; 
 where he is shown in his 
 gardener's dress hold i n g his 
 spade which in Clog Almanacs 
 is given him as an attribute. 
 
 JULY 4th. 
 
 On November nth the fes- 
 tival of the Great St. Martin of 
 Tours occurs at which time we 
 
 must speak of him at some 
 length ; but on this day 
 both the Roman and An- 
 glican church celebrate the 
 translation of his remains in 
 A. D. 482 from the humble 
 resting place in which they .- 
 were deposited after his 
 death in 397 to that mag- 
 nificent cathedral at Tours 
 which many of us have seen 
 and admired. 
 
 ST. MARTIN OF TOURS.
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN BRITAIN 317 
 
 JULY sth. 
 
 I will mention to-day only St. Peter of Luxemburg though he is 
 one who well deserves more extended notice. One "whose 
 miracles " Dr. Butler says, " would fill volumes ; " one of which 
 made him the patron saint of Avignon. 
 
 The same is true of St. Modwina, a noble Irish virgin who 
 migrated to Scotland and there founded two monasteries, one at 
 Sterling and the other at Edinburgh. Later she came to England 
 and about A. D. 840 founded a monastery in the forest of Arden 
 where she secured and educated the daughter of the pious King 
 Ethelwolf, which bore her name, " St. Editha " and who became 
 its second abbess. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN BRITAIN. 
 
 While I in no way pretend to trace the story of the church, it 
 naturally is -interwoven with our subject matter, and before speak- 
 ing of St. Palladius, whose name is a prominent one in the Kalen- 
 dar of both the Roman and Reformed churches it is necessary to 
 speak of the progress Christianity had made in Britain before the 
 advent of this holy man. During the occupation of the island by 
 the Romans the Christian religion had unquestionably made some 
 progress in such provinces as were under the domination of 
 Roman arms ; but beyond or outside of this influence the natives 
 were pagans. When Severus, the Roman general, made his ad- 
 vance northward and came among the southern Picts there are 
 found some slight traces of Christianity having been taught the 
 conquered tribes. But it was nearly two centuries later that any 
 material progress seems to show itself in this direction ; or to be 
 more exact, a few years only before the Romans in 410 finally 
 evacuated Britain. Ptolemy places a tribe of the Novantae of the 
 Southern Picts along the north shore of Solway Frith at a point 
 he terms, " Leukopibia," on the west side of Wigton Bay. Before 
 that time a Christian missionary named Ninian had appeared 
 among them and built a church. Several important facts are con- 
 nected with this church. First, Ninian tells us he sent to Martin,
 
 318 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Bishop of Tours, for workmen to build his church " after the 
 Roman manner." That is, of stone and cement. Thus this is 
 the first stone structure we have any authentic record of built 
 north of the Solway Frith. Next from the fact that Ninian heard 
 of Martin's death while he was building his church we get an 
 almost exact date, not usual in those days ; for we know Martin 
 died in 397. On September i6th, on St. Ninian's festival, I shall 
 have more to say of this church and man. 
 
 Whatever advance may have been made after Ninian's death 
 the Novantas and any other of the Picts who had listened to 
 Ninian quickly apostatized and lapsed into paganism, for we hear 
 no more of Christianity till we come to the record of Palladius. 
 
 JULY 6th. 
 
 There is a long, dark interval of more than a century between 
 the death of Ninian and the advent of Columba (lately mentioned) 
 among the Southern Picts. In the meantime the only break 
 referring to Christianity is the advent of St. Palladius, who we are 
 told was sent by Pope Celestine in 430 as a missionary " to the 
 Scots." Now unfortunately as history shows, there were "no 
 Scots in Scotland," as both Burton and Skene tell us so conclu- 
 sively ; perplexing as the assertion sounds, for the land now 
 called Scotland was then called either Alban or Pictavia accord- 
 ing to the writer who was speaking of it, and the only Scots 
 then known were the Dalriadan Scots of the north of Ireland who 
 later colonized Argyle under Fergus mor mac Ere. Indeed the 
 story of Palladius taken from either ecclesiastical or profane his- 
 tory is at best a very tangled skein which I cannot undertake to 
 straighten out in these pages. 
 
 After careful study of a translation of a portion of the "Book of 
 Armagh" (compiled in or about 801), which contains the oldest 
 authentic life of St. Patrick, one cannot fail to be struck by the 
 fact that there is here no mention of St. Palladius. Again read- 
 ing the fictitious account of Fordun in which the Scots colonized 
 Scotland several centuries before Christ and had been converted
 
 ST. PALLADIUS 319 
 
 to Christianity by Pope Victor I. in the year 203, we wonder what 
 sort of a church they had until in 430 Palladius became their first 
 bishop. After thus sifting the various phases of the story of Pal- 
 ladius it seems the most natural to accept the one that he first 
 had gone to Ireland ; that while there, according to Fiech of 
 Sleibath, he founded three churches. " Nevertheless, (says Skene) 
 he was not well received by the people, but was compelled to go 
 round the coast to the north," and thus on his homeward way to 
 Rome came into Pictavia, where at a place called Forddun in the 
 plain of Girgin he died. Whether a martyr or not seems quite 
 too uncertain to be asserted. This place, Forddun, is beyond 
 doubt in Mearnes, and it seems a natural sequence that, driven 
 northward from Ireland through the Pentland Frith along the east 
 coast, Palladius reached Kincardineshire, to die at Forddun, fif- 
 teen miles from Aberdeen. 
 
 Of the character of this saint who is termed in Roman Martyr- 
 ology " the apostle of the Scots," it is hard to pass judgment upon 
 it with the scant material available ; but none can deny that only 
 heroes in those early days gave themselves to a missionary life 
 such as his was. In some of the old Scotch and English Kalen- 
 dars the festival of St. Palladius is named for December I5th, but 
 later English and Roman Kalendars agree upon July 6th as the 
 proper date. 
 
 JULY ;th 
 
 Marks the anniversary of St. Pantaenus one of the noted " Fathers 
 of the Church" in its early struggles. He was by birth a Sicilian 
 and by profession a Stoic philosopher, so remarkable for his elo- 
 quence that he gained the name of the " Sicilian Bee." Attracted 
 by the virtuous lives and the character of their conversation, he 
 entered the celebrated school which the disciples of St. Mark had 
 established at Alexandria in Egypt in order to study the Holy 
 Scriptures. Once convinced of their truth he delved still deeper 
 in the study of sacred learning. His natural ability and habits as 
 a critical student early won for him the rank and reputation he
 
 320 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 deserved. By choice he would have remained in obscurity devot- 
 ing himself entirely to his sacred studies ; but the need of such 
 men as he was urgent, and before A. D. 179 he was called to the 
 head of one of the schools where his rare ability as a teacher and 
 his depth of learning quickly raised the reputation of his seminary 
 to the first place among " the schools of the philosophers." His 
 reputation had long before extended beyond the confines of Alex- 
 andria and Christian envoys from India begged him to visit the 
 East to confute the subtle arguments of the Brachmans (Brah- 
 mins), and Demetrius, who had been made Bishop of Alexandria 
 in 189 appointed him " preacher to the Eastern nations," and he 
 spent several years in preaching and teaching in India. Then he 
 returned to Alexandria where the remainder of his arduous life 
 was passed as a leader and teacher in those famous schools, end- 
 ing his noble career, still " in the harness," about 216, leaving a 
 well earned reputation for his erudition and faithful labours in the 
 cause of Christ. 
 
 To-day is also sacred to the memory of St. Willibald, a son of 
 St. Richard one of those early Christian kings of West Saxony. 
 Willibald as early as 721 with one of his brothers made a pilgrim- 
 age to the Holy Land and later becoming a missionary to Aich- 
 stadt in Franconia, where he was ordained as Bishop and for 
 nearly forty-five years served his Great Master. He died the 7th 
 of June 790, but his festival has been held on July 7th. He was 
 canonized in 938 by Pope Leo VII. 
 
 This day also is the festival of St. Benedict XI. Pope and Con- 
 fessor. He was born in 1240 and when fourteen years of age 
 took on the habit of St. Dominick. In 1298 he became a cardinal 
 and on the death of Boniface VIII. on October n, 1303, was 
 chosen to fill the pontifical throne but he only occupied it for 
 eight months and seventeen days dying July 7, 1304.
 
 SANT ISABEL DE FEZ 321 
 
 JULY 8th 
 
 Is set apart by the Roman Church as the festival of Queen Elizabeth 
 of Portugal. She was the daughter of the King of Arragon and wife 
 of the profligate King Dionysius of Portugal to whom she was 
 married when but twelve years of age thus for forty years com- 
 pelled to do penance for the misdeed of those who had thus con- 
 demned her to this life of suffering. Yet through it all, bearing 
 her trials with such saintly submission as to win for her the love 
 and reverence of all who knew her. Indeed she won for herself 
 by her patience the title of " Sant Isabel de Fez." It may interest 
 some of my readers to know that she was the original of Schiller's 
 " Fridolin," a German, though the scene is laid in Germany and 
 the name given her : " Die Grafin von Savern." Her story is one 
 long sad romance. She died July 4, 1336. For her virtues and 
 charities she was canonized by Urban VIII. in 1625 who at that 
 time appointed this day as sacred to her memory. 
 
 To-day also is remembered for St. Grimald of St. Omer who 
 has the especial honour of being the first professor of divinity ever 
 appointed to the University of Oxford. On the death of Eldred, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, King Alfred strove to secure Grimald's 
 consent to accept the archbishopric, but he refused it. He died 
 in holy sanctity on July 8, 903, at the ripe old age of eighty-three. 
 
 One other name, that of St. Procopius, appears in the Kalendar 
 of this day and must not be passed if for no other reason than 
 that he was the proto-martyr at Bethsan under that fatal decree of 
 Dioclesian which reached Palestine in 303. He was an interpreter 
 of the Greek into the Syro-Chaldeac tongue ; but a devout Chris- 
 tian and being brought before Paulinus prefect of the province 
 was, as usual, ordered to sacrifice to the heathen gods or the four 
 great emperors, Diodesius, Herculius, Galerius and Constantius 
 but true to his faith refused and won the crown of martyrdom. 
 
 By a coincidence the festival of St. Procopius King of Bohemia 
 who relinquished his crown to become a hermit also falls on
 
 322 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the same day with that of his namesake, St. Procopius of Bethsan. 
 I find for King Procopius a Clog Almanac symbol, given here 
 _ which is almost identical with that 
 
 of St. Giles and was given for a 
 
 }tp similar reason, his kindness to the 
 
 Ow vl^ w ''^ an i m als around his hermitage. 
 
 JULY pth. 
 
 According to the Martyrology of 
 the Venerable Bede this day is the 
 festival of St. Ephrem of Edessa 
 of whom Dr. Butler in his " Lives 
 of the Saints " says : " This humble 
 deacon was the most illustrious of 
 all the doctors who by their doc- 
 trines and writings have adorned 
 the Syriac church." He was a hermit in Syria ; but his wonderful 
 writings even now after over fifteen centuries are yet read ; while 
 as late as 1743 they were esteemed worthy of being republished 
 in six folio volumes at Rome, a fact which fully justifies Butler's 
 assertion. 
 
 This day is also recognized as the festival of St. Veronica 
 Guiliani, virgin, who must not be confounded with the St. 
 Veronica whose festival occurs on Shrove Tuesday ; since St. 
 Veronica Guiliani was born in 1660. She was christened Ursula 
 and from her infancy was noted for her devout character. At the 
 age of eighteen she became a novitiate of the Capuchine nuns of 
 Citta del Castillo when she took the name of Veronica. She 
 successively filled every office in the community until when thirty- 
 four years of age she was appointed " Mistress of the Novices " 
 becoming in 1716 Abbess. 
 
 Without relating the legend in its entirety, mention should be 
 made of St. Veronica's remarkable vision and the terrible suffer- 
 ing she endured but it would be impossible to explain how after
 
 ST. FELICITAS' SONS ^323 
 
 that she bore upon her brow marks that were the counterpart of 
 those left by " the Crown of Thorns " which our Saviour bore 
 after His Crucifixion ; and to which those who were duly to examine 
 her " testified under oath " she bore these marks until her death, 
 as evidence of her " espousal " of Christ ; Butler, explaining this 
 word " espousal " as denoting : " A more intimate union formed 
 between God and the soul, by the most perfect love." 
 
 The legend is one of the most remarkable ones found in the 
 Lives of the Saints ; and yet is verified by authorities that it seems 
 impossible to question. Her death came from consumption. 
 
 Veronica was beatified by Pius VII., and canonized by Gregory 
 XVI. on Trinity Sunday, May 20, 1830. 
 
 JULY loth 
 
 Is somewhat remarkable as the festival of seven brothers the 
 sons of a noble and wealthy Roman widow who all fell victims 
 to the persecutions of Christians in the reign of Marcus Aurelius 
 Antoninus. One by one these noble young men were brought 
 before Publius the prefect first tempted then threatened and tor- 
 tured, but without avail for their mother St. Felicitas stood by and 
 exhorted them to remain faithful to Christ. One brother was 
 scourged to death with whips whose lashes were loaded with lead; 
 two were beaten to death with clubs and one cast over a precipice 
 while three were beheaded. These are commemorated this day ; 
 but the noble matron, their mother, is remembered on November 
 2 3 d. 
 
 JULY nth. 
 
 Pius I. Pope and martyr is this day honoured by the Roman 
 Church. He was elevated to the Papacy in 142. From the 
 records of Tillemont we see he had served with the clergy at 
 Rome a number of years and succeeded St. Hyginus in the 
 government of the Church. The records of his life are meager
 
 324 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 some contending against his title as a martyr. As there are emi- 
 nent writers on both sides I prefer not to judge. All that seems 
 certain regarding this early Pope is that he was born in Aquileia 
 and died in 157 ; being buried at the foot of Vatican Hill. 
 
 This day is also devoted to the honour of St. James, Bishop of 
 Nisibis. He was one of those early saints to whom according 
 to his legend had been given the gift of prophecy and who is 
 credited with many remarkable miracles. The most wonderful of 
 the latter being when he saved the city at the time it was besieged 
 by the Persian Sapor ; and utterly helpless. Then in answer to 
 the prayers of the Bishop as in the days of the Egyptians under 
 Moses clouds of gnats and flies came. They entered the ears and 
 nostrils of the elephants and horses stinging them to madness and 
 putting the army into utter confusion and disorder. After this 
 followed pestilence and a famine which in time caused the barba- 
 rian Persian to withdraw his hosts and the city was relieved. 
 
 Much confusion covers the date of the death of St. James rang- 
 ing from 301 to 350 the date accepted by Dr. Butler. Thus the 
 festival of the saint is recognized by the Latins on the nth of July 
 by the Eastern and on the 1 5th of July by the Western Churches, 
 by the Greeks on the 1 3th of January and 31 st of October; by 
 Syrians on the i8th of January and by Assyrians on a Saturday in 
 December. Certainly a variety of days to choose from. 
 
 The writings and learning of St. James have given him a rank 
 among the doctors of the Syriac Church, next to that of St. 
 Ephrem, while the Armenians honour him as one of the principal 
 doctors of their national church. 
 
 JULY I2th. 
 
 St. John Gualbert came of a rich and noble family in Florence. 
 He was given in his youth to all the usual follies of wealthy men 
 until in an hour he was suddenly taken from his worldly life. A 
 brother had been murdered. Impelled by a spirit of revenge he 
 sought for the assassin to mete out to him the vengeance which
 
 FESTIVAL OF MIRACLES 325 
 
 then honour seemed to require. At last the two met but to his 
 surprise the assassin fell on his knees and craved mercy in the 
 name of Jesus Christ. The plea seemed to touch an unusual 
 chord in John Gualbert's heart. 'He could not resist it. His feel- 
 ing of revenge was gone. Not only did he grant forgiveness but 
 promised future friendship. From this interview he hastened to 
 the monastery of St. Minias of the Order of St. Bennet and 
 applied for admission to the order. Despite his father's protest 
 and pleading he was at last admitted but in humility he never 
 would take even " Minor Orders," though he might have been 
 abbot of the monastery at a later time. 
 
 Sometime after this with a single companion he sought out 
 solitude where they could in privacy indulge in such austere 
 devotions as met their wishes happily finding two devout hermits 
 in a valley called Vallis Umbrosa a half day's journey from 
 Florence in Tuscany when the four established their new order 
 which in 1070 Alexander II. approved and from which the Order 
 Vallis Umbrosa grew. The order received lay brothers as well as 
 monks " who were exempt from certain penances and silence and 
 were employed in external offices." This, Dr. Butler says : " Is 
 said to be the first example of such distinction ; but it was soon 
 imitated by other orders." The holy man died at Passigrano at 
 the age of seventy-four in 1073. Pope Celestine III. canonized him 
 in the year 1193. 
 
 JULY I3th. 
 
 When the I3th day of July falls on Sunday (or upon the Sunday 
 immediately following the i3th) there is celebrated at Brussels 
 in Belgium, a local feast called 
 
 THE FESTIVAL OF THE MIRACLES. 
 
 The legend very much abridged runs as follows : 
 In 1369 a Jew named Jonathan lived in Enghien in Hainault 
 who was very rich. For the purpose of profanation he desired to 
 secure some of the consecrated wafers used in the Holy Sacra-
 
 326 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 ment of the Eucharist. To accomplish this he hired a poor Jew 
 named Jean de Louvain who after a time on an October night, 
 managed to steal from the altar of St. Catherine's Church in 
 Brussels the pix which contained the sacred wafers. In some- 
 what graphic words the legend tells of Jean's adventure. He 
 must have been a very stolid dolt or a most brave man to have 
 carried out his purpose as he did amid the strange demonstrations 
 that accompanied the theft. But he did so and duly delivered to 
 Jonathan his spoils receiving the reward the rich man had prom- 
 ised. Jonathan did not live to carry out his sacrilegious purpose 
 for very shortly thereafter while walking in his garden he was mur- 
 dered by unknown hands. His widow seems to have known his 
 wishes and soon after his death delivered to a coterie of Jews the 
 pix with its sacred contents. Upon a day, evidently selected with 
 the utmost malice for it was Good Friday in the year 1370 these 
 Jews assembled and taking from the pix the sixteen wafers it con- 
 tained spread them out on the table around which they stood. 
 At a signal they began to stab the wafers with their poinards. It 
 was then the Miracle occurred, for from each wafer there flowed a 
 stream of blood as the poinard was withdrawn. Affrighted and 
 amazed the sight struck them dumb as they stood unable to move. 
 At last they fled in terror ; but like all cowards they began to 
 take counsel with each other how to conceal their vile work. A 
 woman was found who was engaged to carry the defiled wafers 
 to Cologne. Just what was to be done with them there by some 
 strange inconsistency the legend does not tell nor yet where they 
 were left when the woman returned to Brussels. It was her 
 own conscience began to reproach her and she confessed to the 
 clergy of St. Guduli her share in the sacrilege and how the sacred 
 emblems could be recovered. 
 
 Later this was done and the sacred wafers confided to the care 
 of St. Guduli church where they yet may be seen bearing the 
 blood stains and marks of the Jewish poinards. Later the mis- 
 creants were captured, tried and condemned for their sacrilege 
 and on May 22, 1370 were burned at the stake for their crime. 
 
 On several occasions thereafter these holy wafers proved their 
 miraculous powers in staying epidemics. One most notable
 
 ST. EU GEN I US 327 
 
 instance being in 1529 when they caused a grievous epidemic 
 which then raged in Brussels to cease. From that time a festival 
 in their honour was ordained and duly observed ; until during the 
 political struggles of half a century later in the Netherlands, 
 from 1 579 to 1 585, they were omitted. Again during the Rev- 
 olution of 1789 to 92; they were neglected, but in 1804 with due 
 solemnity, they were renewed and have since been observed. 
 
 This day is set aside in especial memory of St. Eugenius and 
 his fellow martyrs who won their crowns of glory in 505. The 
 Roman provinces in Africa were for years the richest and 
 most favoured of the entire Roman empire. Cartagenian bar- 
 barism had given place to the lights of science and the true 
 religion of Christ had dispelled heathenism. African princes vied 
 with their kings in their efforts towards a higher and better life 
 when the Romans, to preserve Italy, abandoned many of their 
 outside provinces to preserve its great center from the onslaughts 
 of the Goths and Vandals. Already they had as our historical 
 readers know though they had abandoned Britain thus felt no 
 fear for Africa though Geneseric, King of the Vandals and Alaus 
 had gained a foothold in Spain. Strange as it sounds these 
 Vandals were mostly Christians but of the Arian types of faith. 
 When in 454 Geneseric late returned from plundering Rome he 
 allowed them to choose St. Deogratius for their bishop after 
 he had razed the public buildings of Carthage, while still per- 
 secuting those of the Orthodox faith. After a reign of thirty- 
 seven years this tyrant was succeeded by his son Huneric if 
 possible a more barbarous persecutor of Orthodox Christians 
 than his father. But in 481 Huneric so far relented that he 
 allowed the long vacant bishopric to be filled. The universal 
 choice fell upon Eugenius. From thence on life was indeed a 
 burden to the good bishop though he came safely through the 
 first stormy conflicts with the Arians, It was Dr. Butler says, 
 during this quarrel that the Orthodox church took the name of 
 " Catholic " they have since retained. We cannot follow 
 Eugenius in his arduous life ; while constantly opposed by 
 Thrasimund the African king then reigning, until with St.
 
 328 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Vindemial, Bishop of Caspa in Africa, he was condemned to die 
 unless he would accept the Arian heresy. Both he and Vinde- 
 mial refused and the latter was beheaded ; but for some reason 
 the king chose to send Eugenius into banishment in the Lan- 
 guedoc under the King of the Visigoths where he died in 505. 
 
 JULY I4th. 
 
 St. Bonaventure who is honoured by the Church this day was 
 one of the " bright lights " of the order of St. Francis who 
 for his attainments in sacred learning was given the title of 
 " Seraphic Doctor. " He advanced rapidly in the church and 
 in 1256, was made " Doctor of the Church " by Pope Alexander 
 IV. King Louis IX., (St. Louis) held Bonaventure in very high 
 esteem ; frequently sending for him to consult upon intricate 
 points and always having a place for him at his table. 
 
 The writings of Bonaventure hold a high place in the literature 
 of the Roman Church. Especially is this true of his homiletic 
 writings, though not a few of his controversial efforts show deep 
 learning and a great command of language. 
 
 The last public function where St. Bonaventure appeared was 
 the Council at Lyons to which he had accompanied Pope Gregory 
 X.. which he addressed on May 7th. Later his fatal illness came, 
 and he died when fifty-three years of age on this day in 1274, leav- 
 ing a memory for his learning, humility and loving charity such 
 as is not often accorded even to canonized saints. 
 
 JULY 
 
 Is the festival of St. Swithin (as the Saxons called him) or 
 Swithun, Bishop and patron of Winchester, a city which even 
 in the early days of the Romans in Britain had attained some 
 note, and is mentioned by Ptolemy under the name of Venta. 
 Later it was the chief seat of the kings of West Saxony, one of 
 whom in 625 built a church here. When, under Egbert, King of
 
 ST. S W I T H I N 
 
 329 
 
 Wessex, in 828, Britain came under one rule Winchester was the 
 capital of the kingdom, and it was here that King John in 1214 to 
 save his crown, under 
 orders from Pope Inno- 
 cent III. did homage to 
 the Papacy. 
 
 This is an historic spot 
 where Kenewalch, son 
 of Kinegils, in 643 com- ( 
 pleted the church his 
 father began and 
 founded the monastery 
 where St. Swithin re- 
 ceived both his educa- 
 tion and took upon him- 
 self monastic orders; 
 
 being ordained by Helinstan, Bishop of 
 
 M Winchester, and made provost or dean 
 of the " Old Monastery." Such was 
 Swithin's reputation thus early in his 
 career that King Egbert committed to 
 his care the education of his son Ethel- 
 
 Hwold, and also often consulted him in 
 affairs of his kingdom. After Egbert's 
 death (837-8) Ethelwold (who had been 
 ordained a sub-deacon) by a dispensa- 
 tion from Pope Leo returned to secular 
 life and succeeded his father as king, 
 and in 852 procured for his old teacher, 
 Swithin, the Bishopric of Winchester, 
 and also made him Chancellor. Swithin 
 accompanied Alfred the Great (the 
 youngest son of Ethelwold) when he 
 went to Rome to be confirmed. Through 
 the influence of Bishop Swithin King Ethelwold bestowed a tithe 
 or tenth part of all his lands in the kingdom on the Church.
 
 330 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 After presiding over the see of Winchester for nearly eleven 
 years the good man departed this life on July 2, 862, and through 
 humility requested his body should be buried outside of the Cathe- 
 dral, " Where the feet of 
 passersby might tread 
 and the rain of heaven 
 fall on his tomb." This 
 request was complied 
 with and his tomb was 
 on the north side of the 
 church, where it received 
 the droppings from the 
 eaves, and there it rested 
 until on July 15, in 971 
 his relics were with great 
 pomp and ceremony 
 translated to the tomb within the church, and again in 1094 to the 
 (then) new Cathedral where they now remain. It is said the old- 
 time quartrain : 
 
 " St. Swithin's day, if thou dost rain, 
 For forty days it will remain ; 
 St. Swithin's day, if thou be fair 
 For forty days 'twill rain nae mair." 
 
 originated from the eaves dripping on the saint's tomb and has 
 been repeated in a score of different ways. We find it in Poor 
 Robin's Almanac of 1697 in a poem of 
 twenty lines. The poet Gay also in his 
 " Trivia " recounts the story, but cautions 
 in finishing : 
 
 " Let not such vulgar tastes debase the 
 
 mind; 
 Nor Paul, Swithin, rules the clouds and 
 
 wind." 
 
 The Clog Almanac symbols given to 
 St. Swithin are three in number. The first is supposed to be his 
 attribute as a bishop. But it is beyond my power to guess even
 
 ST. EUSTATHIUS 331 
 
 vhat it or either of the other two are intended to signify. They 
 lo doubt had some runic signification to the possessors of these 
 Clog sticks, and no doubt it was cases like this which gave these 
 sticks the name of " runic." 
 
 JULY i6th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Eustathius, a native of Sida in Pamphylia, 
 who from being Bishop of the insignificant Beraea in Syria while 
 under the rule of the Arian emperor Constantius, by his learning, 
 sanctity and zeal for the orthodox faith became famous and in 324 
 he was made Patriarch of Antioch. Here as elsewhere the ardent 
 efforts of Eustathius against heresy made him many enemies 
 among the Arian bishops who laid a plot to secure his removal 
 from Antioch. In 331 these plotters assembled at Jerusalem, and 
 in a synod there convened tried and condemned Eustathius of an 
 heinous sin upon the testimony of a debauched woman, suborned 
 for the purpose. They also accused him of " Sabellianism." 
 Whereupon Eustathius was first sent to Constantinople whence he 
 was banished to Trajanopolis in Thrasia (Thrace), where he died 
 in exile. Before his death the base woman confessed her crime. 
 In a foot note Dr. Butler refers to the opinion St. Jerom held of 
 St. Eustathius and quotes from Sozomen to show the wonderful 
 eloquence of this saint and the inestimable value of his elegant 
 writings, though most of them have been lost. 
 
 JULY I7th 
 
 Commemorates St. Alexius, the son of Euphemian, a rich Roman 
 senator, whose story reads like a romance. From youth he had 
 been devoutly inclined and his life was patterned after the highest 
 types of virtue and true nobility. At the urgent solicitation of his 
 parents Alexius was induced to marry a young, beautiful and rich 
 maiden ; one whom he respected and it is said but herein is the 
 strange inconsistency loved. But even while consenting his
 
 332 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 mind was ill at ease, for he felt that the fascinations of such tem- 
 poral happiness and honour as then awaited him would draw him 
 aside from the higher purposes of his life. By what course of 
 reasoning he at last was led to act as he did is unknown. But 
 while he consented to follow out his parents' wishes even to the 
 point of permitting the ceremony of a marriage to be performed, 
 he on his wedding night, quietly slipped out of his house and was 
 seen no more. Disguised as a pilgrim he wandered into a distant 
 land, "living in poverty and sanctity." At last he returned to 
 Rome not as the Prodigal Son, for he did not disclose himself, but 
 as a beggar sought refuge in his father's house. He was received 
 as a mendicant by his father who never suspected his identity. 
 In those days it was no uncommon event for rich men to support 
 several mendicants in their great houses, and so for seventeen 
 years Alexius lived under his father's roof bearing meekly the con- 
 tempts of the pampered servants. Only after his death was the 
 truth made known by a letter his son left. 
 
 This day is also the festival of Leo IV., who was elected to the 
 pontificate in 847. To him the Roman Church owes the restora- 
 tion of St. Peter's after it had been plundered by the Saracens, and 
 also for his fortifying the city against future disasters from similar 
 causes. Among many miracles attributed to Leo was the extin- 
 guishment of the great fire in 853 which threatened the destruc- 
 tion of the Church of St. Peter. He died July 17, 855. 
 
 JULY i8th 
 
 Is sacred to St. Bruno, Bishop of Segni, and noted as the founder 
 of the famous Order of Carthusians and the first Abbot of that 
 Order. 
 
 He was from the illustrious family of the Lords of Asti in 
 Piedmont. Studying first at the monastery of St. Perpetuus in 
 Asti, later he was taught theology at Paris under " Raymond," and 
 then later himself taught as a theologian at Rheims, where Urban 
 II. was his pupil. When Urban became Pope he sent for Bruno
 
 THE CARTHUSIANS 333 
 
 and bestowed many honours on him. Already, in 1 08 r, Gregory 
 VII. had made him Bishop of Segni and Urban wished to make 
 him Archbishop of Reggio, but the honour was declined. With 
 six companions in not Bruno established the first Carthusian 
 monastery at Chartreux. Its rules are among the most severe of 
 all the many monastic orders, almost perpetual silence being im- 
 posed as the monks may talk with each other but one day in each 
 week. They never eat meat and take but one meal daily, and this 
 is eaten alone. The robes and hoods of the order are white, and 
 the entire head of each monk is closely shaven. 
 
 One curious fact is worthy of note, that in spite of their asceti- 
 cism they are great lovers and patrons of art. Indeed no other 
 monastic order in early days did as much for pure art as the 
 Carthusians. 
 
 St. Bruno died on August 31, 1125; was canonized by Lucius 
 III. in 1183, but his festival is kept on July i8th. 
 
 JULY 1 9th 
 
 Marks the saint's day of St. Vincent de Paul, one of the most 
 romantic as it is one of the most beautiful stories of a pure, spot- 
 less, Christian life, and a true philanthropist. Happily his story 
 has been often and well told so my brief mention is all that is 
 needed. 
 
 St. Vincent was born in Gascony near the Pyrenaen mountains 
 on a small farm. His father seeing in the lad such evidences of 
 talent placed him in the Franciscan monastery school at Acqs. 
 At the age of twenty he went to the University of Toulouse 
 where he spent seven years, and his course of study was marked 
 by many exhibitions of his great talent. In 1605 a legacy of 500 
 crowns was left him and he went to Marseilles to receive it. On 
 his homeward journey the fellucca in which he and his companions 
 were was captured by African brigands and Vincent was sold as a 
 slave to a fisherman, but later was bought by an alchemist and 
 physician who died within a year, and finally was sold to a " rene- 
 gado " Christian from Nice, whom in time he brought back from
 
 334 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 his apostacy and the two crossed the Mediterranean sea in a small 
 open boat. Vincent reached Rome in June, 1607, and entered 
 the Convent of Fate Beh-Fratelli. In 1609 he came to Paris. 
 The story of his founding of the " Lazarites," or " Fathers of the 
 Mission," and later " The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity," 
 and the wonderful work done by these good people and his own 
 self-sacrifices, have been so often and fully told, as well as the 
 story of his work for " The Magdalenes of Paris " and the " Hos- 
 pital La Magdalen " and the first of the " Foundling Hospitals " 
 for which Paris is noted it needs not be repeated. As a friend of 
 Cardinal Richelieu and of Louis XIII., he became a most influ- 
 ential man. I will therefore add no more, only to record his death 
 at St. Lazare, September 27, 1660, at the great age of four score 
 and five years ; and was buried in the Church of St. Lazarus in 
 Paris, leaving a memory sacred to every true Christian of what- 
 ever faith. He was canonized by Clement XII., in 1737. 
 
 JULY 2oth. 
 
 St. Margaret, virgin and martyr, in whose honour both the 
 Anglican and the Roman branches of the church hold this day 
 
 sacred has for ages been re- 
 garded as the special type of 
 maiden innocence and humility. 
 
 IHiHnHMBaj^^zfe^Kmjn 
 
 The name signifies a pearl. Her 
 I legend is one of the oldest 
 I among the many of the saints 
 I of the early days ; and even 
 
 T-V| HUH I from the Middle Ages was one 
 
 "^^^^^^^^^^ of the most popular. She was 
 
 the daughter of a pagan priest 
 
 jrafeM.! named Theodosius of Antioch ; 
 
 but being a delicate child she was sent into the country and placed 
 in the care of a nurse who proved to be a Christian and who 
 educated her young charge in that faith, a fact that was un- 
 known to her family. As she developed into maidenhood she
 
 ST. MARGARET 
 
 335 
 
 displayed such wonderful beauty both of feature and person, that 
 when by chance Olybrius, the Roman governor of the province 
 saw her, he was captivated and wished to marry her ; but the 
 young girl rejected his offers and to free herself from his attention 
 declared herself to be a Christian. The anger of her relatives 
 knew no bounds and when Olybrius in order to overcome her 
 opposition cast her into prison, they did not interfere. As she 
 remained obdurate, the governor next tried 
 torture and imprisonment in a dungeon, but 
 still she was inflexible. While thus confined, 
 the legend tells us the devil in the form of a 
 dragon appeared to her to frighten her from 
 her faith, but when she presented the cross 
 before the fiend he fled. Another form of 
 this legend says, the dragon swallowed her 
 bodily ; but immediately thereafter she burst 
 from him unhurt. Next, the devil appeared 
 to her as a man ; but she overthrew him and 
 with her foot on his head compelled him to 
 confess his base purposes. The fame of her 
 wonderful power was spreading and under 
 its influence many were being converted. 
 Once more she was tortured but with no re- 
 sult except to confirm her more surely in the 
 faith, and to prevent further trouble she was condemned and be- 
 headed. From her miraculous delivery from the dragon St. Mar- 
 garet became the patron of women, who call on her in time of 
 childbirth. Her attributes are usually the palm and a dragon. 
 She is often shown in art standing on the dragon and piercing him 
 with a tall cross with a sharpened foot. Occasionally she is seen 
 burst from the body of the dragon. The Clog Almanac symbol 
 is as shown above, two white crosses on a black background. St. 
 Margaret's popularity in England is best shown from the fact that 
 her festival-service is one of the very few found in the " MSS. of 
 Hours " and that 238 churches are named in her sole honour. 
 Only as interesting by comparison I add St. Nicholas has 380, 
 St. Laurence 250, St. George 170, and St. Martin 165. 
 
 ST. MARGARET.
 
 336 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Joseph Barsabas, whose festival is also held this day, was 
 one of the disciples of our Lord who competed to be the successor 
 of the traitor Judas. 
 
 JULY 2ist 
 
 Is the festival of St. Praxedis, a sister of St. Prudentia of whom I 
 spoke May 2 1 st. It was at the house of Pudens, the father of 
 these noted sisters, that St. Peter dwelt when he came to Rome. 
 After the death of their father these noble women devoted their 
 great wealth to the succour of suffering Christians in Rome, add- 
 ing thereto their time and persona) services in nursing those of 
 the faith who were sick or wounded by the persecuting Romans. 
 
 To-day also is the festival of a noted soldier, Victor of Mar- 
 seilles. When the Emperor Maximian arrived in Marseilles with 
 the blood of the Thebasan legions and other martyrs in Gaul yet 
 fresh upon his garments, he found there the most flourishing and 
 in numbers the most numerous church of the provinces. One of 
 the officers of the German army then stationed at Marseilles was 
 named Victor, who was a Christian and who in spite of his posi- 
 tion as an army officer dared to proclaim the fact, thus proving his 
 courage for it required brave men to profess Christianity in those 
 days. The emperor heard of Victor and directed him to be 
 brought before him, later ordering him to be tortured on the rack. 
 Faithful even in prison, Victor by words and example converted 
 two of his guards. When Maximian heard this he was more 
 incensed than ever and once more ordered Victor into his pres- 
 ence, having previously had a statue of Jupiter placed in the 
 presence chamber and an altar by its side. Here Victor was 
 commanded to worship, but instead the brave soldier kicked over 
 the altar and statue. For this act his foot was first chopped off 
 and later his body placed under a millstone and he was crushed 
 to death by its revolution. Even this did not abate the fury of 
 the vindictive emperor for he caused the lifeless body to be
 
 ST. MARY MAGDALENE 337 
 
 beheaded. In art Victor is represented as a Roman soldier with 
 his foot on a millstone. 
 
 JULY 22d 
 
 Is the day set apart both in the Roman and English Church 
 Kalendars for the festival of St. Mary Magdalene. Of all the 
 persons who figure in sacred history and in Christian art, Mary 
 Magdalene is one of the most difficult to treat of. So unreal, if 
 we attempt to fix her identity ; so real as the ac- 
 cepted and recognized impersonation of the peni- 
 tent sinner absolved through faith and love. 
 Whether Mary Magdalene, " out of whom Christ 
 cast seven devils," Mary of Bethany, and " the wo- 
 man who was a sinner " be, as some assert, three 
 separate persons or, as others affirm, one and the 
 same individual, under different designations is one 
 of those mooted points that it is not likely will 
 ever be settled, and since the doctors of the church 
 like St. Chrysostom hold one view and SS. Clement 
 and Gregory another, it is hardly fitting for a lay- 
 man to presume to decide. An eminent English 
 writer says in speaking of the matter " that since i 
 St. Gregory wrote a general opinion prevails that 
 if not all three, two at least, ' the woman who was 
 a sinner and Mary Magdalene,' are identical." 
 
 This day in memory of Mary Magdalene was retained in the 
 first Book of Common Prayer of Edward VI. and the Collect, 
 Epistle and Gospel this last from St. Luke vii., 36, to end of 
 the chapter most appropriate ; but the identity of the person 
 being questioned the service was omitted in the second of 
 Edward's prayer books. Nothing of any moment in the history of 
 Mary Magdalene which is perfectly authentic is known beyond 
 what is told in Holy Writ ; but it is believed that after our Lord's 
 Ascension she dwelt in Ephesus with the Blessed Virgin and St 
 John. There is a widely credited legend and not wholly unsup- 
 
 ST. MARY 
 MAGDALENE.
 
 338 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 ported by evidence that Mary Magdalene, the Blessed Virgin, 
 Martha and Mary of Salome, finding themselves much persecuted 
 by the Jews of Ephesus, set sail to cross the Mediterranean ; that 
 their boat was a poor and leaky craft, and that it was only by a 
 miraculous intervention the party was saved and landed on the 
 south coast of Gaul ; where they separated and Mary Magdalene 
 went to Marseilles and finally returned to St. Baume where she 
 spent the remainder of her days, and that it was in this retreat 
 she closed her earthly pilgrimage. The finding of her relics at a 
 place now called St. Maximin's, and those of St. Martha at 
 
 Zarascon on the Rhone 
 as related by Dr. Butler, 
 seems to bear out the 
 truth of the legend as 
 above told. Another 
 
 (legend, possibly a part of 
 the first one for these 
 tales often become sadly 
 mixed by their being fre- 
 quently orally repeated, 
 tells of St. Mary Mag- 
 dalene living for thirty 
 years in a cave near Mar- 
 seilles weeping for her 
 past sins, while angels 
 daily ministered to her wants. 
 
 In art Mary Magdalene is always represented carrying a vase, 
 or a box of a peculiar form supposed to contain the " precious 
 ointment." At times this box lies at her feet and in some rare 
 cases an angel is bringing it to her. Her hair is always golden 
 in colour and very abundant, falling down and covering her 
 shoulders. Again, she is represented as kneeling before a 
 " death's head " and clasping the foot of a cross, but the " alabas- 
 ter box " and her long, beautiful hair are never forgotten. From 
 her being the first witness of the Resurrection she is especially 
 reverenced by the Greek Church while both the Greek and Latin 
 Churches honour her on the same day.
 
 ST. BRIDGET OF SWEDEN 339 
 
 The Clog Almanac symbol given is supposed to represent the 
 " alabaster box," yet like many of these it requires a great stretch 
 of imagination to see it. 
 
 JULY 23d 
 
 Is the festival of St. Apollinaris, who, according to Bede, " was 
 crowned with martyrdom " during the reign of Vespasius 
 Roman Emperor from 9 to 79 " after having sat as Bishop for 
 twenty years." The saint had gone with the Apostle Peter to 
 Rome from Antioch. While at Rome St. Peter, " after having 
 laid hands upon him, sent him into east Italy to preach. Here, 
 later, he became the First Bishop of Ravenna. While Dr. Butler 
 styles Apollinaris " Martyr," he does not agree with Bede for he 
 thinks the " martyrdom," of the faithful bishop consisted in the 
 usual suffering and privations every true Christian must pass 
 through. 
 
 This day also is the festival of a very remarkable woman, St. 
 Bridget of Sweden, widow of Ulpho, Prince of Nevicia, who died 
 July 23, 1372. She seems to have been peculiarly favoured in 
 that she received a far higher degree of education than most 
 women of her times and is termed a " scholar," while her volumi- 
 nous writings on religious subjects are yet quoted and regarded 
 with esteem. She founded the Order of Brigantines, a peculiar 
 one from the fact that it associated under the same roof nuns and 
 monks. The regular establishment of a " House of Brigantines " 
 numbered sixty nuns and thirteen monks, four deacons, and eight 
 lay-brothers, all under the control and government of a " Lady 
 Abbess." Henry V. at about 1420 founded the " Brigantine 
 House of Sion," on the bank of the Thames (now the palatial 
 residence of the Duke of Northumberland) as a memorial of the 
 battle of Agincourt, the nuns being almost entirely ladies of rank. 
 It flourished until about 1589 then seems to have gone into 
 decadence, and the nuns there remaining went to sister orders on
 
 340 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the continent. St. Bridget of Sweden was canonized by Pope 
 Boniface IX. 
 
 JULY 24th. 
 
 SS. Romanus and David, Patrons of Muscovy, are this day 
 honoured by the Church. They were brothers and sons of 
 Uladimir, Muscovite Prince and a Christian, and were named 
 Boris and Hliba, or Cliba ; but in Latin were called Romanus 
 and David. Uladimir had in 908 founded a great monastery near 
 Klow, where these two for their faith were basely murdered in 
 1010 by their brother, Suatopelch, who had usurped his father's 
 throne. If for no other reason these two are worthy of mention, 
 in that they alone are honoured by the Catholic Russians of Lithu- 
 ania and Poland who keep this, and no other saints-day festival 
 except of these brothers, the Patrons of Muscovy. 
 
 JULY 25th 
 
 Is the anniversary of St. James (Major), the Apostle and brother 
 of the Evangelist St. John. Beyond what is told of him in the 
 gospels very little is known save that by order of Herod Agrippa, 
 sometimes called Herod the Great, he was beheaded about four- 
 teen years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and that he was 
 the first of the Apostles who suffered martyrdom. But in Spanish 
 legends as the patron saint of Spain they enter into other details 
 of his life that a volume would hardly suffice to repeat. They 
 say that Santiago (James) was not a poor fisherman, but a 
 nobleman's son who for pleasure accompanied his father and 
 brother attended by servants in their boat, but attracted by the 
 miracles of Christ he followed Him. That at thirty-eight differ- 
 ent times St. James after his death appeared at the head of the 
 Spanish army. That after Christ's death for a time he preached 
 in Judea, then came to Spain as a missionary. I may repeat here
 
 ST. JAMES MAJOR 
 
 the Spanish legend of his victory over Hermogenus, a noted 
 sorcerer, and how he converted him, and that they were beheaded 
 at the same time. 
 
 According to these Spanish legends St. James after preaching 
 the gospel in Spain returned to Palestine 
 and was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, 
 and that it was while preaching there he 
 was seized and thrown from the battle- 
 ments of the temple and killed by the 
 Jews. The recovery of his body was 
 more miraculous than any event in his 
 life as was the voyage of the ship from 
 Joppa, through the Pillars of Hercules 
 and its final arrival at Iria Flavia, or as 
 sometimes called, Padron. Here the 
 body was laid upon a stone which became 
 like wax, and the body sank into it until 
 at last it enveloped it and it became St. 
 James' sarcophagus. This stone was, 
 the legend continues, revealed by a vision 
 to a priest in 800 and the sacred remains 
 
 ST. JAMES MAJOR. 
 
 moved to Comportella where a church was built, and many won- 
 derful miracles wrought for pilgrims. Of these it is said often an 
 hundred thousand persons visited the shrine in a single year. Dr. 
 Butler says : " It was the accuser of St. James who, repenting, 
 was beheaded with the Apostle," and the same authority gives the 
 place of the burial of St. James at : " Iria Flavia " on the border 
 of Galicia, and that the relics were translated to Comportella to 
 which place Pope Leo III. transferred the see of Iria Flavia. The 
 military Order of St. James, surnamed the Noble, was instituted 
 by Ferdinand II., in 1175. 
 
 JULY 26th 
 
 Is sacred to the memory of St. Anne, the Mother of the Blessed 
 Virgin. This name Anne, in Hebrew signifies "gracious."
 
 342 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 ST. ANNE. 
 
 Among the Hebrews for a woman to be barren was looked upon 
 as the greatest possible affliction, and according to the legends of 
 St. Anne, this was her case, and it was 
 only in answer to her prayers that " the 
 curse " was removed. No doubt, there- 
 fore, that the earliest representations we 
 find in Christian art of St. Anne in the 
 attitude of prayer with her arms ex- 
 tended, refer to this. From the very 
 earliest records of the Church St. Anne 
 and her husband St. Joachim have been 
 honoured, and their names appear in both 
 the Roman and English Church Kalen- 
 dars ; though both history and Holy Writ 
 are silent as to their lives and acts. As 
 early as 550 a magnificent church was 
 erected in Constantinople in her honour 
 and in 710 her relics were translated from 
 Palestine and placed there. Even in the Catacombs about Rome 
 St. Anne's figure appears as above mentioned in the attitude of 
 prayer, often accompanied by a dove. In I 
 later times (as in illustration) she holds a 
 book and is teaching 
 the Blessed Virgin to 
 read. Occasionally 
 St. Joachim stands by 
 S St. Anne's side. The 
 Clog symbol here 
 given some may be 
 able to decipher ; I am 
 obliged to confess I 
 cannot. There is yet 
 another of these Clog 
 
 symbols quite as mysterious as the one given 
 and I copy it though I cannot explain it. There must .be as I 
 have said before, some " runic " significance to some of these 
 symbols lost to us of modern days.
 
 THE SEVEN SLEEPERS 343 
 
 JULY 27th. 
 THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SLEEPERS 
 
 Whose festival the Roman Church celebrates this day, is a curious 
 story, as the legend runs, transmitted orally as all those old Folk 
 Tales were. The Emperor Decius set up a statue in the city of 
 Ephesus (191-251) commanding every one to worship it. Seven 
 young men who were Christians disobeyed the mandate, but 
 unambitious to become martyrs they fled to Mount Coelius and 
 concealed themselves in a cavern. Decius, unable to locate them, 
 caused all of the caves on the mountain to be sealed up. From 
 that time nothing was heard of them until in the year 479, when 
 persons digging for the foundation of a stable they intended to 
 build disturbed the stones with which the cavern had been sealed 
 and the young men were awakened by the noise. Feeling hungry 
 they with due precaution sent one of their number into the city to 
 buy food. The strange dress and the antiquity of the coin the 
 young man offered for the food he had bought aroused the curi- 
 osity of the merchant, and he was tracked to the cave where all 
 were found well and alive after a miraculous sleep of two hundred 
 and twenty-nine years. 
 
 Like others of these legends there is in it a soupgon of truth. 
 The young men were walled in and it was the discovery of their 
 relics in 479 that gave rise to the fable. A similar one may be 
 read in the Koran, only in the Mohammedan legend a dog named 
 Kratius accompanied the sleepers who were all animals, and he, 
 with eight other animals, yet sit in the Mussulman paradise. These 
 are the ass of Balaam, the ant of Solomon, the whale of Jonah, 
 the ram of Isaac, the calf of Abraham, the camel of Falch, the 
 cuckoo of Belkia, the ox of Moses and the mare of Mohammed. 
 
 These Seven Sleepers are highly honoured by the Greek and 
 Oriental nations and in early martyrology have a prominent place 
 and are commemorated on this day.
 
 344 
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 JULY 28th. 
 
 Among those early fathers of the Church to whom we all owe a 
 great debt is St. Victor, who is this day remembered. He was a 
 native of Africa and succeeded St. Eleuthenus in the pontificate in 
 the year 192 and the XIX. of Commodus. Already heresys and 
 schisms had begun to enter the church one of which, " that Jesus 
 Christ was but a man," was then being taught, and which Victor 
 by his earnest efforts checked, even if he could not overcome. A 
 watchful, faithful servant whose strenuous life had but one pur- 
 pose in view. It was dur- 
 ing Victor's pontificate too, 
 that the first questions 
 about the time for celebrat- 
 ing Easter began and coun- 
 cils were held in Rome, 
 Gaul, Palestine, at Corinth 
 and elsewhere. The edicts 
 of Severus for Victor's per- 
 secution were issued in 202 
 but the good man had al- 
 ready gone to his reward 
 in 201. Some place this 
 date in 197 and others in 
 202. The date given is 
 from Dr. Butler's " Lives of 
 the Saints." 
 
 Another Pope, Innocent 
 I., is also honoured this 
 day. He ascended the 
 pontifical throne as succes- 
 sor of Anastatius in 402 
 when Alaric the Goth threatened to overrun Italy, and Innocent 
 personally strove to effect a reconciliation but in vain. The over- 
 throw of Alaric in 403 for a time gave Rome rest and after the
 
 ST. MARTHA 345 
 
 last struggle of the Goth in 410 the good Pope devoted himself to 
 his pontifical duties and to combating the Pelagian errors, which 
 brought forth those letters which have so long kept him in mem- 
 ory. He died in 417. 
 
 JULY 29th. 
 
 St. Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, is the saint whom 
 the Church honours this day. Beyond the story told of her in the 
 Gospels there is little known of her. After the Ascension of our 
 Lord her legend tells us that she accompanied Mary Magdalene 
 to Provence and, according to all the Provengal legends Martha 
 was the first person who founded a convent for holy women. 
 This it is said was at Aix. One of the legends told of Martha at 
 this time is that a fearful dragon called Tarasque ravaged the 
 country lying concealed during the day in the river Rhone. Mar- 
 tha watched for him, and meeting him, overcame him by sprinkling 
 holy water over the beast. Then she bound him with her girdle 
 (some say with her garter), and when thus he was helpless she slew 
 him. A magnificent church was built in the city of Tarasgon, the 
 alleged scene of Martha's conflict with the dragon, which was 
 richly endowed by King Louis XI., who also gave the church a 
 gold bust of St. Martha and which is reputed to contain her head. 
 The usual attribute of St. Martha is some implement for cooking. 
 Sometimes she is shown holding the asperge and the dragon lying 
 bound at her feet. St. Martha is the recognized patroness of 
 housewives and cooks. 
 
 JULY soth 
 
 Is the festival day of St. Julitta, one of the many martyrs who 
 proved their faith in that fatal year 303. When Dioclesian issued 
 his first edict against Christians in the year 303 he disbarred them 
 from all protection by the laws and to be without any of the 
 privileges of citizens, thus by one unjust act opening the door for
 
 346 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 fraud of many kinds, as was the case with Julitta. She was. rich, 
 had estates about Caesarea in Cappadocia with flocks and herds, 
 coveted by a wicked man who, when all other means had failed 
 him to obtain possession of her property haled her into court 
 where he accused her of being a Christian. The judge ordered 
 fire and incense brought into court and demanded the woman to 
 sacrifice to the Roman gods. Exasperated by her refusal the 
 usurper was awarded her estates. Because she bore her poverty 
 with such meekness exhorting her Christian brethren to hold firm 
 to the faith, she was condemned to be burned in the vault where 
 they confined her. Strangely though while stifled to death by the 
 dense smoke her body was untouched by the flames and her 
 friends buried her remains entire. 
 
 JULY 3ist 
 
 Is the anniversary of St. Ignatius Loyola, a man whose influence 
 has been more far-reaching in its results than many who have 
 filled the papal throne. The story of his life has been told many 
 times and from many points of view, from those who almost idolize 
 his memory to those who treated him with vindictive bigotry. He 
 has been pictured as an angel of light and as the incarnation of 
 evil. Space permits only a brief outline in which many of the 
 most dramatic scenes must be omitted. 
 
 He was born in 1491 of an ancient and noble family. Bred at 
 the court of Ferdinand V. as a page, but emulous of his brothers 
 he became a soldier and hidalgo, his veins full of hot Biscayan 
 blood when in 1521 in the defense of Pampeluna against the 
 French he was wounded. From boyhood he had high, noble 
 ideas free from avarice. He hated gaming but was addicted to 
 gallantry (as that word then implied) and full of the maxims of 
 worldly honour and a genius for poetry. His confinement dur- 
 ing convalescence was long and painful. We cannot undertake 
 to follow the train of his thoughts which upon his recovery led 
 him to seek the ancient monastery of Mount Serrat, where he 
 hung up his arms and on the morning of the Annunciation of the
 
 ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA 347 
 
 Blessed Virgin in 1522 took on himself the holy vows which 
 ordered his future life and started on a pilgrimage as a beggar 
 to Jerusalem, reaching there September 4th, 1523. On his return 
 to Spain he completed his university course and in 1528 went to 
 Paris. But let no reader think that either his pilgrimage or the 
 years since have been devoid of incident. Indeed they are full of 
 remarkable happenings though I cannot recall them here. At 
 Paris Ignatius completed his study of Latin and his course in 
 philosophy. It was here he met and became intimate with the 
 five young men Francis Xavier, Peter Faber, (a Savoyard), 
 James Laynez, Alphonso Bodadilla (a Spaniard), and Simon Rod- 
 riguez (a Portuguese) who with Loyola were to found his 
 famous Society of Jesus. By degrees Loyola inspired these 
 young men with his ardent spirit of devotion. It is a long and 
 interesting story which at last culminated in an underground 
 chapel of the Church of Montmartre where they took solemn 
 vows of celibacy, poverty, and the devotion of their lives to the 
 care of Christians and the conversion of infidels. Such on the 
 night of August I5th in 1534 was the beginning of the most 
 world renowned order but it was only completed at the time fixed 
 for the closing of their studies, the Feast of the Assumption of 
 Our Lady, January 25, 1537. 
 
 The plan of the new order was laid before Pope Paul III. who 
 after some objections finally approved it and a bull granting them 
 a constitution was issued September 27, 1540. 
 
 To write the story of Ignatius Loyola's life from this point 
 would be to write almost in its entirety the early history of the 
 Jesuits, as he was elected the first president and established at 
 Rome as the director of all the movements of the society. Even 
 the most casual reader must be aware of the vast and varied 
 manifestations of this famous society, but few can imagine the 
 wonderful executive ability required in its inception. The plan- 
 ning of the thousand and one details for the success which, to 
 quote from an ultra-Calvinistic writer, they secured " as sharp- 
 shooters and skirmishers, that made them the most dangerous 
 antagonists of Protestantism." The rules which Ignatius ordained 
 show his far-reaching foresight as well as the purity of his inten-
 
 348 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 tions, whatever the world may think or in later days may have been 
 the aim of the order, and no true Christian can read the " Spirit- 
 ual Exercises " Loyola wrote and not be sure the author was 
 inspired by only true and holy motives, for it is the man we are 
 considering and not the order he instituted. One of his best and 
 most truthful biographers gives us in a single sentence the true 
 inwardness of this man's character when he says : " This interior 
 strength he chiefly maintained by an eminent spirit of prayer and 
 the constant and closest union of his soul with God." 
 
 Worn out by his labours Loyola died July 31, 1556, aged sixty- 
 five years. He was beatified by Paul V. in 1609 and canonized 
 by Gregory XV. in 1622, though the bull was^not published until 
 the following year by Urban VIII.
 
 AUGUST 
 
 The eighth was August, being rich arrayed 
 
 In garment all of gold, down to the ground : 
 Yet rode he not, but led a lovely maid 
 
 Forth by the lily hand, the which was crowned 
 With ears of corn, and full her hand was found. 
 
 Spenser, 
 
 In the old Roman Kalendars August bore the name of Sextilis 
 as the sixth month and it contained but twenty-nine days. Julius 
 Caesar in reforming the Kalendar, added a day to it ; but when 
 Augustine conferred upon it his own name he took a day from 
 February and added it thus making the thirty-one days now 
 accorded it. 
 
 AUGUST ist. 
 
 LAMMAS. 
 
 This was one of the four great pagan festivals of Britain, the 
 others being on ist November, ist February and ist May. The 
 festival of the Gule of August as it was called most probably 
 celebrated the realization of the first-fruits of the earth and more 
 particularly that of the grain-harvest. When Christianity was 
 introduced the day continued to be observed as a festival for the 
 same reason, a loaf being the usual offering at the church service, 
 and consequently the day came to be called Hlaf-mass, subse- 
 quently corrupted into Lammas, just as hlaf-dig (bread-dispenser) 
 was applicable to the mistress of a house and came to be softened 
 into the familiar and extensively used term lady. This we would 
 call the rational definition of the word Lammas. There is an-
 
 350 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 other, but of a somewhat uncertain derivation pointing to the 
 custom of bringing a lamb on this day as an offering to the cathe- 
 dral church of York. Without doubt this custom which was 
 
 purely local had its rise 
 from the term Lammas, 
 after the true original 
 signification of that word 
 had been forgotten. 
 
 It was once customary 
 in England in contraven- 
 tion of the proverb, that 
 " a cat in mittens catches 
 no mice " to give money to 
 servants on Lammas-day 
 to buy gloves ; hence the 
 term Glove-Silver. The 
 Clog symbol is supposed to 
 represent the completion of 
 the first half of the year 
 and the gathering of the 
 First Fruits. 
 
 The Roman Church to-day celebrates the feast of 
 
 THE SEVEN MACHABEES. 
 
 This word is sometimes written Maccabees. These were seven 
 brothers but their mother must not be confounded, as is often the 
 case with St. Felicitas and her seven sons mentioned on July loth. 
 
 These seven brothers were holy Jewish martyrs who suffered 
 death in the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes the impious king 
 of Syria 164 B. C. Why they have a place in the Roman Church 
 Martyrology is a most natural question. In the Catholic Diction- 
 ary of Addis and Arnold many Old Testament saints are men- 
 tioned and attention is called to the fact that " Abel and Abraham 
 are invoked by name in the Liturgy for the dying prescribed by
 
 ST. PETER AD VINCULA 351 
 
 the Roman ritual." The same authority says: " The list of feasts 
 given by Manuel Comnenus mentions one feast of an Old Testa- 
 ment saint Elias, though the Church of Jerusalem had many such 
 feasts and at Constantinople churches were dedicated to Elias, 
 Isias, Job, Samuel, Moses, Zacharias and Abraham. But the Mac- 
 habees are the only Old Testament saints to whom the Latin 
 church assigned a feast to be kept by the whole church ; though 
 the Carmelites keep the feast of St. Elias and at Venice there are 
 churches dedicated to Job, Moses, etc." 
 
 In a personal letter from an eminent professor at St. Bernard's 
 Seminary to whom I wrote for reference, and to whom I am in- 
 debted for the above quotation as well as for an endless number 
 of kindly acts in citing to me historical authorities ; he replies to 
 my query why these Jewish martyrs who fell victims for the faith 
 of their Church, as truly as ever a Christian fell for his faith 
 were thus included in the Roman Church list of martyrs, he says : 
 " The reason, as Thomassen thinks for the exception in the case 
 of the Machabees is that the mode of their martyrdom so closely 
 resembled that suffered by Christian martyrs and that the date of 
 their suffering was so near to the Christian era," later adding : 
 " I suppose that as the Old Covenant or Dispensation was but a 
 preparation for the new the church authorities did not consider it 
 inconsistent to select certain personages of the Old Testament as 
 models of virtue even for Christians." 
 
 To-day at Rome, there is an especial office in honour of 
 
 ST. PETER AD VINCULA. 
 
 The chains and prisons of the saints have ever been their great- 
 est joy. All Bible readers are familiar with the story of St. Peter 
 when after Herod Agrippa had slain St. James the Great he cast 
 the Prince of the Apostles into prison and loaded him with chains 
 and how he was delivered the night before the day when Herod 
 had expected to win for himself great applause by permitting the 
 Holy Apostle to be put to death. Thus this is naturally a great 
 festival and kept by the Church in memory of that miraculous 
 event. The celebrated church Roman tourists are familiar with
 
 352 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Pietro in Vincoli is said to have been originally founded in A. 
 D. 109 by Theodora a sister of Hermes Prefect of Rome. A 
 bolder legend attributes the foundation to St. Peter himself who 
 is believed to have dedicated this church to his Divine Master. 
 But history can assign no earlier foundation for this church than 
 that in 442 by the Empress Eudoxia wife of Valentinian III., from 
 whom the church takes its name of the Eudoxian Basilica and who 
 placed there one of the famous chains which now form its great 
 attraction to Roman Catholic pilgrims. 
 
 Hemans gives also the following legend : 
 
 " The chains left in the Mamertine prisons after St. Peter's con- 
 finement there are said to have been found by the martyr, St. 
 Balbina, in 126, and by her given to Theodora, another sainted 
 martyr, sister to Hermes, Prefect of Rome, from whom they 
 passed into the hands of St. Alexander, the first Pope of that 
 name, and were finally deposited by him in the church erected by 
 Theodora, where they have since remained." 
 
 AUGUST 2d 
 
 Is sacred to the memory of St. Stephen " Pope and Martyr." 
 When St. Lucius was going to martyrdom he urged upon the 
 brethren to choose Stephen as his successor. Accordingly in May 
 253 this was done ; though Stephen filled the high office only a 
 little over four years. But they seem to have been four busy 
 anxious years. Between the internal disturbances in the Church 
 and persecution from without the holy Father had little rest. It 
 is a weary story of those early heresies which had entered the 
 Church and which Stephen was called on to combat, and my 
 readers would find scant satisfaction in them unless I told the 
 story in detail so that the merits of the controversy could be 
 understood ; a thing I cannot do. 
 
 But the fact remains that through all these troublous times 
 Stephen was ever true and loyal to the Catholic Orthodox 
 Church. In passing let me say, that in its proper place in the 
 course of these articles, I shall give readers the story of the origin
 
 RELICS OF ST. STEPHEN 353 
 
 of this word Catholic, and the significance attached to it by the 
 Church, as a distinguishing title. 
 
 St. Stephen died August 2, 257 and was buried in the cemetery 
 of Calixtus, Rome. He is styled martyr in the Sacramentary of 
 St. Gregory the Great, and in many ancient Martyrologies, though 
 nothing of a definite character is given. We know the persecu- 
 tion of Valerian began in 257 and it is but natural to suppose 
 Stephen would be among the first to be sought out as a victim. 
 
 St. Stephen's relics were translated to Pisar, in 1682, and Dr. 
 Butler says : " His head is kept with great respect at Cologne." 
 
 AUGUST 3d. 
 
 This day is sacred to the memory of the discovery of the relics 
 of St. Stephen the proto-martyr ; or as it is termed in Roman Mar- 
 tyrology, " The Invention of St. Stephen." The same puzzling 
 term that is used about the finding of the Cross of our Lord. 
 
 Through some fatality, neglect or whatever it was, the place of 
 burial of the First Martyr of the Church had been forgotten and 
 neglected though it was found to be but twenty miles from Jeru- 
 salem at a spot called Capahargmala (the borough of Gamaliel) 
 and while the story of St. Stephen had so often been related the 
 place where his mortal remains rested had seemingly been blotted 
 from the memory of those who told of his glorious martyrdom. 
 
 The legend is an interesting one. At Caphargamala in 415 
 there stood an old basilica in the charge of a venerable priest 
 named Lucian who slept in the baptistry. On the night of Decem- 
 ber third in 415 the old man lay half-waking, meditating upon 
 some sacred theme when he saw by his couch a tall comely old 
 man, of venerable aspect. He wore a long white beard and was 
 clothed in a garment of white bordered with plates of gold 
 whereon were crosses and in his hand he held a golden wand. 
 
 " Who " asked Lucian, " art thou ? " 
 
 " I " was the reply " am Gamaliel who instructed Paul the 
 Apostle in the law. But go thou to Jerusalem and tell the Bishop 
 John to come here and open the tombs in which on the east side
 
 354 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 lieth Stephen who was stoned by the Jews without the north gate. 
 His body lay unguarded for a day and a night but was untouched 
 by birds or beasts. Then I caused his relics to be secretly carried 
 to my house in the country, by the faithful and for forty days 
 funeral rites were celebrated when I had him laid here in my own 
 tomb. Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night did I also bring 
 into my house and he lies honourably buried in my tomb where I 
 likewise buried my son Abibas. His body is in the third sarcoph- 
 agi on higher ground next to that of my own. My wife and my 
 eldest son, Semelias lie in another spot called ' Capharsemalia.' 
 Go therefore and tell this to the bishop." 
 
 Lucian fearful lest he might be regarded as an impostor 
 hesitated. But Gamaliel appeared to him again this time with 
 two baskets one of gold filled with red and white roses and one of 
 silver full of saffron of delicious smell. Asking what they meant 
 he was told : " The red roses represent St. Stephen and the 
 white Nicodemus who was without stain." 
 But Lucian still hesitated, until, on the same day he was 
 upbraided by Gamaliel for his neglect. 
 To cut short the voluminous details 
 of the legend Lucian at last did re- 
 pair to Jerusalem and told of his 
 visions. Thus it was that the relics 
 of St. Stephen were recovered. 
 
 The relics of St. Stephen were first 
 translated to the Church of Sion and 
 later by the younger Theodosius to 
 Constantinople and, lastly, by Pope 
 Pelagius conveyed to Rome and when 
 lowered into the tomb where St. 
 Laurence lay the legend continues : 
 " St. Laurence moved aside to give 
 the place of honour on his right hand." 
 
 This was the origin of the Spanish title conferred upon St. Lau- 
 rence (of whom I will speak August loth) the title " II cortose 
 Spagnuolo " the courteous Spaniard. In art St. Stephen is repre- 
 sented as young with a mild and beautiful aspect always habited
 
 ST. DOMINIC 355 
 
 in the rich dress of a deacon, the Dalmatica being of a crimson 
 colour covered with delicate embroidery. The sleeves are loose 
 and flowing, while heavy gold tassels hang from his shoulders, 
 both over his breast and at the back. But the attribute that is 
 everywhere recognized as the one most fitting for the glorious 
 protomartyr is the simple palm branch of victory. On December 
 26th St. Stephen's Day I spoke at length of this holy man. 
 
 Naturally the festival day selected for St. Gamaliel and St. 
 Nicodemus was that of the discovery of the relics of St. Stephen. 
 Outside of what we read in Holy Writ regarding these two men 
 with what is told in the legend there is no record, beyond the fact 
 that Nicodemus when turned out of the synagogue and deserted 
 possibly persecuted by his former companions, sought out 
 Gamaliel and was by him given a home and Christian burial. 
 
 AUGUST 4th. 
 
 In the long list of the canonized saints of the Roman Church it 
 would be a difficult task to select the favourite one. But I run no 
 risk when I name St. Dominic as one of the foremost in the 
 affections of the laity of the Roman Church and of not a few of 
 the English church as well. Imprimis he was born a Spanish 
 gentleman, and I think that we of to-day, hardly realize the true 
 significance attached to those words in the XII., century; for 
 they implied then the best type of a true noble-man. Not a 
 hidalgo or bravado to whom might made right. A class of men 
 to whom Spaniards now look back upon with justifiable pride. 
 He was born in Old Castile at Calaruega in the diocese of Osma ; 
 of the famous family of Guzman of whom the ex-Empress 
 Eugenia is a descendant. Had Dominic de Guzman so chosen 
 there were few honours at the Spanish court he could not have 
 with a fair degree of security looked forward to ; but he preferred 
 to resign worldly honours for the service of his Great Master. I 
 have before me as I write a sketch of the life of St. Dominic writ- 
 ten by a clergyman of the Church of England forty years ago in
 
 356 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 which he says : " Protestants hardly do justice to such men. 
 Think of their objects as we will we must own that in confining 
 themselves to a diet of pulse and a bed of boards, in giving away 
 everything they had to the poor, in depriving themselves out of 
 every earthly indulgence and giving nearly their whole time to 
 religious exercises they established such a claim to popular 
 admiration, that the influence they acquired was not to be won- 
 dered at." And I am fain to believe with him as I read the life 
 of this man. 
 
 He was fourteen years of age when he entered the public schools 
 of Palentia from which he went to the University of Salamanca. 
 Even then we know the associations a young man met at those 
 universities were not such as to lead them in the paths of holiness. 
 Yet one incident in Dominic's life at the university when he was 
 but twenty-one years of age which is no legend or fable shows the 
 earnest heartfelt longing he had, to sacrifice himself when in his 
 walks one day he met a poor woman who begged alms to help 
 secure for her brother the ransom needed to save him from becom- 
 ing a slave to the Moors. Dominic had not money to secure this 
 yet at once offered himself as a substitute to take the place of the 
 captive. Happily this end was gained without such a sacrifice but 
 it proved the metal the man was made of. Let my readers turn to 
 the Gospel of St. John and read xv: v. 13. 
 
 Alphonsus IX. King of Castile, chose the Bishop of Osma as 
 Ambassador to arrange the marriage of Prince Ferdinand with 
 the daughter of the Earl of La Marche some claim this was a 
 province of North Germany and others of Sweden, while still 
 other historians make it France and the Bishop took Dominic 
 with him. As they passed through Languedoc then the center of 
 the Albigneses heresy Dominic's heart took fire. It was this 
 Waldensian " heresy " that first put him into great activity. His 
 success in restoring many of the Vaudois to the Church seems to 
 have suggested to him that he, and others associated with him, 
 might greatly advance the interests of religion by a practice of 
 going about preaching and praying continually, while at the same 
 time abstaining in their own persons from every sort of indulgence. 
 In the course of a few years he had thus established a new order
 
 ROMAN BASILICAS 357 
 
 of religious called the Black or Preaching Friars, or later after his 
 own name the Dominicans (the term black referring to the hue of 
 the cloak and hood which they wore). This order was sanctioned 
 by Pope Innocent III. in 1215 and very soon it had its establish- 
 ments in most European countries. There were in England at 
 the Reformation forty-three monasteries of the Blackfriars, and in 
 Scotland fifteen. Dominic was un- 
 remitting in his exertions to extend, 
 sustain and animate his institution. 
 He performed many journeys always 
 on foot. He braved every sort of 
 danger. He never showed the slight- 
 est symptom of pride in his success 
 for all with him was for the glory of 
 God and the saving of men. The 
 contemporary memoirs which describe 
 his life are full of miracles attributed 
 to him. He had on several occasions 
 restored to life persons believed to be 
 dead. Often in holy raptures at the 
 altar he appeared to the bystanders 
 elevated into the air. It was his 
 ardent desire to shed his blood for the cause he had espoused, but 
 in this he was not gratified. The founder of the Dominicans 
 calmly died of a fever at Bologna, at the age of 51. He was 
 canonized by Gregory IX. in 1224. St. Dominic has several 
 attributes. A dog is often given him as a symbol of fidelity. He 
 is also represented in the full canonical robes of a Bishop and 
 holding a lily in one hand and a book in the other while in Danish 
 Clogs he has a star as in illustration. 
 
 AUGUST 5th. 
 
 There are three patriarchal churches in Rome in which the 
 Pope officiates upon different festivals and in one of which he 
 resides when in the city. These are the Basilica of St. John
 
 358 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Lateran, St. Peter's on the Vatican Hill and Sta. Maria Maggiore, 
 the last named because of its antiquity and was the first church 
 erected in Rome to the honour of God, that was dedicated to the 
 Virgin Mary. It is sometimes called Liberian Basilica, as it was 
 founded by Pope Liberius and John a rich Roman patrician to 
 commemorate a miraculous event which has sometimes given it 
 the name of Sta. Maria Ad Nives. The legend was that on the 
 5th day of August there was a fall of snow that covered the plot 
 where the Basilica now stands and that the Holy Virgin appeared 
 there in a vision and that the snow covered no other ground than 
 that she had selected for the site of a new temple. 
 
 It is in commemoration of this event that on Mount Esquilin in 
 each year the " Festa La Madonna della Nive " is celebrated at 
 Sta. Maria Maggiore when, during a solemn high Mass in the 
 Borghese chapel, showers of white rose-leaves are thrown down 
 constantly through two holes in the ceiling "like a leafy mist 
 between the priests and worshippers." 
 
 This church, in spite of many alterations, is in some respects 
 internally the most beautiful and harmonious building in Rome, 
 and retains much of the character which it received when rebuilt 
 between 432 and 440 by Sixtus III., who dedicated it to Sta. Mater 
 Dei, and established it as one of the four patriarchal basilicas, 
 whence it is provided with the " porta santa," only opened by the 
 Pope with great solemnity four times in a century. 
 
 It is in this basilica that the manger from Bethlehem, in which 
 our Saviour lay, has been preserved and upon Christmas day it is 
 taken from its silver case and shown. 
 
 AUGUST 6th. 
 
 The Transfiguration of our Lord on Mount Tabor in the 
 presence of St. Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, SS. James 
 and John, who were later to be also witnesses of his bloody 
 agony in the garden, is one that marks a Holy Mystery as told in 
 Mat. xviii., Mark ix., and Luke ix. And thus the day has been
 
 MONOGRAMS 359 
 
 selected by all branches of the Christian Church as a sacred 
 festival. 
 
 Just when the festival was first observed is not quite certain. 
 The Greeks as their records show made it a holy day in the VI. 
 century and according to Dr. 
 Butler : " The ninety-fourth ser- 
 mon of St. Leo which is on this 
 mystery shows this festival to have 
 been observed at Rome in the 
 middle of the V. century." Pope 
 Calixtus III. made it more univer- 
 sal by a bull dated in 1457. The 
 only Clog symbol I find for this day is an English one, a simple 
 Latin cross. 
 
 This day also commemorates St. Xystus, or Sixtus II. the 25th 
 successor of St. Peter. He only filled the high office for a single 
 year and fell a martyr under the persecution of Valerian in 258. 
 
 AUGUST 7th. 
 
 The early Christians made constant use of a variety of mon- 
 ograms of the name of Christ in endless varieties. These mono- 
 grams were of Greek origin and the Latins long used the Greek 
 letters only modifying them to conform to the Roman letters at a 
 very late period and as in Clog symbol given, thus combining 
 both the Greek and Roman letters. A monogram of Christ was 
 written at Chartres in Latin in the XIII. century ; but the 
 first two letters are Greek, the third and fourth might be either 
 Greek or Latin, and the last two are exclusively Latin XPITVS. 
 
 " The first sigma is omitted. Here (referring to the illustration) 
 the monogram of Christ is Greek, while the adjective noster is 
 Latin." It will also be observed that the Greek letter chi takes 
 on the form of the Latin Cross, whereas in the usual monogram 
 of the letter X (chi) P (rho) the Greek Cross is used in some of the 
 raised familiar forms like these, or by contracting the names of
 
 360 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 our Lord by using the first and last letters I C which stood for 
 Jesus. The I (Iota) and C (ancient sigma) of IHCOYC are 
 Christ, the X (chi) 
 from XPICTOC and 
 these combined read 
 Christ. In the West, 
 .however, they altered the original Greek 
 letters into those used in their country and 
 time, and by using the first two and the 
 last letter of the name of Jesus in Greek 
 and the clever device of mak- 
 ing the sign of contraction 
 intersect the h (Eta), added 
 uhe significant Cross. 
 
 In another common form 
 the same result is arrived at 
 by crossing the Iota and using 
 the later form of the Greek 
 letter Sigma (S). 
 
 Referring to the very commonly used monogram given here I 
 wish to quote from the calendar of the Book of Common Prayer, 
 edited by the Rev. W. D. Macray of Oxford, Eng- 
 land : " It is a mistake to suppose that these initials 
 were originated to convey the meaning of 'Jesus 
 Hominum Salvator' (Jesus Saviour of Men), for they 
 were not, being of Greek and not Latin origin." A 
 verd simple form known as the Vesica 
 Picis (in illustration) is also often used as 
 an emblem of the name of Jesus. 
 
 The dedication of the 7th of August 
 to the name of our Blessed Lord was 
 introduced into the English church calendar at the 
 time of the Reformation from the Office Books of 
 the Sarum Use. In the Roman Church this feast, of 
 the name of Jesus is fixed for the second Tuesday after Epiphany.
 
 ST. ROMAN US 361 
 
 AUGUST 8th. 
 
 Under that fatal edict of Dioclesian in 303 the number of vic- 
 tims who suffered seems to be endless. Again to-day the Church 
 honours SS. Cyriacus, Largus and Sinaragdus, who with twenty 
 companions had been executed on the i6th of March and hur- 
 riedly buried by friends on the Salarian way ; but on this day 
 brought to the sacristy of Sta. Maria in Via Lata and placed at 
 rest. This is therefore a day of abstination. 
 
 AUGUST 9th 
 
 Is observed in the Roman Church as the " Vigil of St. Laurence 
 Martyr." 
 
 To-day the Church remembers St. Romanus, a Roman soldier 
 who was so convinced of the truth of Christianity as taught by St. 
 Laurence, while this holy man was in prison, that he begged of 
 him to be baptised then and there knowing as he did that the act 
 meant nothing less than death, that by making even the request 
 he was signing his own death warrant. If we needed evidence of 
 the potent power of St. Laurence as a preacher and earnest 
 worker in his master's vineyard, St. Romanus gives the proof for 
 the soldier was instantly arrested, tried, condemned, and on the 
 day before his worthy preceptor he won his crown of glory. 
 
 AUGUST loth. 
 
 Of St. Laurence, the principal saint whom the Church honours 
 this day, Mrs. Jameson truthfully says : " It is singular that of this 
 young and renowned martyr honoured at Rome next to SS. Peter 
 and Paul, so little should be known and it is no less singular that 
 there has been no attempt to fill up the lack of material by inven- 
 tion." Even Dr. Butler who terms him "the glorious St. Lau- 
 rence," confesses that " the ancient fathers made no mention of
 
 362 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 his birth and education," while at the same time he also says that 
 with St. Maximus " the whole church joins in a body to honour." 
 Nor is this honour confined to the Roman Church, for again to 
 quote from an eminent writer of the English church : " This saint 
 has ever been famous throughout all Christendom. His heroic 
 firmness and constancy under intense suffering 
 having caused him to be most highly honoured 
 since mediaeval days." 
 
 The claim of the Spaniards that St. Laurence 
 was of Spanish birth is generally conceded, but 
 beyond this Laurence appears as a deacon at 
 Rome under Bishop Xystus (Sixtus II.) while 
 his legend much condensed from the " Flos 
 Sanctorum," is as follows though my version 
 is not verbatim. 
 
 About the time Valerian was a prisoner of 
 Sapor, King of Persia, Sixtus II., Bishop of 
 'Rome had for his deacon a young and pious 
 priest named Laurence who was a Spaniard, 
 a native of Osca or Huesca in the kingdom 
 
 NetUesfJad e Ch g urc S h f Arra g on - Bein g ver y Y oun g he Walked SO 
 
 Kent. meekly and blamelessly before God that Sixtus 
 
 chose him for his archdeacon and gave into his care the treasures 
 of the church as they were then styled, consisting of a little money, 
 some vessels of silver and gold and copes of rich embroidery for 
 the service of the altar which had been presented to the church 
 by certain great and devout persons. 
 
 Sixtus, on being denounced to the prefect at Rome, was impri- 
 soned and soon after condemned to death. When Laurence saw 
 this he was in great affliction and clung to his friend and pastor, 
 saying : ' Whither goest thou, O my father, without thy son and 
 servant ? Am I found unworthy to accompany thee to death, and 
 to pour out my blood with thine in testimony to the truth of 
 Christ ? St. Peter suffered his deacon, Stephen, to die before 
 him. Wilt thou not suffer me to prepare thy way ? ' All this he 
 said and much more, when the holy man replied : ' I do not leave 
 thee, my son. In three days thou shall follow after me and thy 
 
 ST. LAURENCE.
 
 ST. LAURENCE 363 
 
 battle shall be harder than mine for I am old and weak and my 
 course shall be soon finished ; but thou who art young and strong 
 and brave, thy torments will be longer and more severe and thy 
 triumph the greater, therefore grieve not. Laurence the Levite 
 shall follow Sixtus the priest.' Then he commanded Laurence to 
 take all the possessions of the church and distribute them among 
 the poor. Then Sixtus was put to death and Laurence walked 
 through the city seeking out the poor, the sick, the naked and 
 hungry fulfilling Sixtus' command, arriving at night at a house on 
 Coelian Hill where dwelt a Christian woman named Cyriaca, who 
 sheltered many fugitives and ministered to their wants. When 
 Laurence reached there he found her sick, but healed her by lay- 
 ing his hands upon her. The legend follows Laurence for sev- 
 eral days in his good work before the satellites heard that the 
 possessions of the church had been confided to him and searched 
 him out (these details I omit) and arrested him, confining him in 
 a dungeon under a man named Hippolytus whose whole family 
 had been converted. 
 
 When brought before the prefect and the question put where 
 he had hid the treasures of the church, Laurence said that in three 
 days he would show them. To quote from this point as I have 
 not done before : " The third day being come, St. Laurence 
 gathered together the sick and poor to whom he had dispensed 
 alms and placing them before the prefect he said : ' Behold the 
 treasures of Christ's church.' Upon this 
 the prefect, thinking he was mocked, fell 
 into a great rage and ordered that St. Lau- 
 rence should be tortured till he made known 
 where the treasures were concealed, but no 
 suffering could subdue the patience and con- 
 stancy of the holy martyr. Then the pre- 
 fect commanded he should be carried by night to the baths of 
 Olimpias, near the villa of Sallust the historian, and that a new 
 kind of torture should be prepared for him more strange and cruel 
 than had ever before been used or had entered the heart of a 
 tyrant to conceive, for he ordered him to be stretched on a sort of 
 bed formed of iron in the manner of a gridiron and a fire to be
 
 364 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 lighted beneath which should gradually consume his body to 
 ashes," an order that was carried out literally, and is told in all 
 its horrid details and then continues thus : 
 
 " In the midst of his tortures Laurence, to further triumph over 
 the cruelty of the tyrant said : ' Seest thou not, oh foolish man, 
 that I am already roasted on one side and that, if thou wouldst 
 have me well cooked, it is time to turn me on the other." 
 
 The well-known attribute of St. Laurence is the gridiron (lagra- 
 ticola), to which the palm branch is often added. Sometimes the 
 gridiron is omitted and St. Laurence bears a dish with gold and 
 silver coins in it. 
 
 AUGUST nth. 
 
 As we turn the pages of history the terrible persecutions of 
 Dioclesian seem to meet us everywhere. In Roman Martyrology 
 we read to-day : " At Rome between the two laurels is celebrated 
 the birthday of St. Tiburtius the martyr, who under the judge 
 Fabian in the persecution of Dioclesian, after he had walked bare- 
 footed on burning coals still confessed Christ with great constancy, 
 and was led three miles from the city and there struck with the 
 sword." Dr. Butler locates the scene of the martyrdom on the 
 Lavican road. With Tiburtius' name is coupled that of Chroma- 
 tius and the somewhat curious cause for the conversion of this 
 man, erstwhile " vicar to the prefect of Rome," as told in Butler's 
 " Lives of the Saints " is that " in the first year of Dioclesian, St. 
 Tranquillinus being brought before him," Agustins Chromatius, 
 vicar to the prefect, " assured him that having been afflicted with 
 the gout he had recovered a perfect state of health by being bap- 
 tized. Chromatius was troubled with the same disease and being 
 convinced by this of the truth of the gospel sent for Polycarp, the 
 priest who had baptized Tranquillinus, and receiving the sacrament 
 was freed from that corporal infirmity, * * * and resigned his 
 dignity and was succeeded by Fabian," only to become himself a 
 martyr. This Tiburtius above mentioned was a son of Chroma- 
 tius and while all details are lacking, it is easy to see how as in
 
 ST. CLARE 365 
 
 other Roman families the truth of Christ had been discussed be- 
 tween father and son, and whatever first led up to their convic- 
 tions they were among those true heroes who gave up their earthly 
 lives rather than to recant and lose their life eternal. 
 
 AUGUST 1 2th 
 
 Is especially recognized as the festival of St. Clare virgin and 
 abbess named in Roman Martyrology to be honoured on this day. 
 " At Assisi in Umbria St. Clare Virgin who was the first of the 
 poor women of the Order of Minorites and being celebrated for 
 the holiness of her life was numbered among the holy virgins by 
 Alexander IV." But the story of St. Clare or Clara cannot end 
 with such brief mention. It has been told for ages as a folk-tale 
 repeated in grave severe form by the fathers of the church in the 
 middle ages and half-satirically told by an English clergyman of 
 late days. Each in their way do this noble woman injustice. Let 
 us strive to sift the true story, of a maiden born of a rich and 
 noble family in Assisium, in Italy whose father Phavirino Sciffo 
 had proved his prowess as a knight on more than one stricken 
 field. The period when St. Francis, (Francisco d'Assisi founder 
 of the Order of Franciscans, 1182-1226) appeared was one of 
 great darkness in the history of the Roman Church though the 
 enthusiastic faith of some barbarian kings and nobles, " bred of 
 the self-devotion and earnestness of the missionaries had led to 
 their endowing the church largely so that bishoprics begat wealth 
 and men of noble birth sued for them to the power which accom- 
 panied these places." The Church as we know from Dean Mil- 
 man and others, was not then prosperous. But the story of St. 
 Francis must not be intruded upon here beyond the point of the 
 influence the Saint had over St. Clare. 
 
 The first great gathering of the order St. Francis had founded 
 was in 1 21 2 on Palm Sunday and that day Francis spoke from the 
 pulpit. 
 
 Among those who heard him were Phavirino Sciffo, his wife 
 Hortulana (sometimes written Ortulania) and their daughters
 
 3 66 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Clare, Agnes and Beatrix. As Francis expounded his " golden 
 thought " of the duty of each to cast aside the world, wealth, lux- 
 ury and personal aggrandizement and accept even poverty for the 
 love of Christ, none listened with more rapt attention than Clare 
 Sciffo. The desire to serve her master had penetrated her soul. 
 She had all that wealth beauty and worldly station could give ; 
 but what were these compared to that 
 '"priceless treasure." From that hour 
 her mind was fixed and she would give 
 her whole life to the service of Christ. 
 
 That night she went to the Chapel of 
 the Portiuncula where Francis was in- 
 stalled, and implored to be received and 
 given work to do no matter what, at the 
 same time taking off her jewels and rich 
 garments. Francis was as unable as he 
 was unwilling to refuse the maiden, and 
 casting over her a coarse habit, she was 
 enrolled among the Champions of Pov- 
 erty. As Francis had no other female 
 adherent, he took Clare to the Bene- 
 'dictine convent of St. Paolo for the time 
 being and in spite of the protestations 
 of her parents, when Francis had com- 
 pleted a dwelling for her and others who also had joined her, 
 established the Order of Franciscan nuns, as they were later 
 called, the " Poor Clares," and she became the " Madre Serafica " 
 in October of the year 1212, As the rules of Francis enjoined 
 strict poverty, the only support of the nuns at St. Damian as the 
 little nunnery was called, was brought them by the monks. 
 Gregory IX. objected to such free intercourse as thus obtained, 
 but Clare was firm, telling him " that if the holy brothers may 
 not minister to us the Bread of Life, they shall not provide us 
 with the bread that perisheth." Gregory, who could defy an 
 emperor as he did Frederick at Barbarossa met his match in this 
 determined young woman and finally had to yield to her. But I 
 may not elaborate the long and interesting story of St. Clare and 
 
 ST. CLARE.
 
 ST. HIPPOLYTUS 367 
 
 the wonderful results attained by the Franciscan nuns. She died 
 in 1253 at the age of sixty. She was canonized by Alexander IV., 
 in 1255. 
 
 AUGUST 
 
 It is but the natural sequence that the bold Roman soldier Hip- 
 polytus converted by St. Laurence while awaiting his own crown 
 of glory, did not escape the fury of Decius, and it is equally fit- 
 ting that the Church honours him as it does this day. 
 
 The respite given Hippolytus was brief, between the horrible 
 death inflicted on his instructor and the time he and his family, 
 even to his aged nurse Concordia, stood before the implacable 
 tyrant not judge it could have been hardly less than torture 
 for the noble soldier to see the nurse he had loved from infancy 
 actually scourged to death because she would not yield her faith, 
 and then one by one to see nineteen of his own family beheaded 
 before him for the same cause, while he, not knowing yet his own 
 doom, was obliged to witness the horrid sight. We may well rev- 
 erence Roman courage with an example like this set before us, 
 when this hero, despising clemency if 
 he would apostatize preferred to be, as 
 he was, " tied to the tails of wild horses 
 and thus perish by a cruel and terrible 
 martyrdom." 
 
 By a curious mingling of pagan 
 mythology and Christian traditions this 
 Christian Hippolytus has received the 
 attributes of his pagan namesake, the 
 son of Theseus, and is the patron saint of horses. The name 
 in Greek signifies "one who is destroyed by horses." In art 
 Hippolytus is usually represented as a Roman soldier with a 
 bunch of keys at his belt. On the Clog sticks he has as an 
 attribute the same as is seen in St. Hippolytus' hand in a picture 
 in the Academy of Florence and is said to be an ancient curry 
 comb. There are several noted paintings of the martyrdom of
 
 368 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Hippolytus showing him fastened to the wild horses' tails, 
 who are rearing before starting on their mad race. 
 
 AUGUST i4th. 
 
 By a curious coincidence two saints bearing the same name are 
 honoured this day. One, St. Eusebius, who for his defense of the 
 Catholic faith was confined by the Arian emperor Constantine for 
 seven months and died from the effects of it. The other St. 
 Eusebius was a martyr of a time antedating the decrees of Dio- 
 clesian so often mentioned, and still his martyrdom in all its 
 essential features is like those of other days a few years later, his 
 offense being a refusal to sacrifice to the Roman gods. The 
 exact date of his death is not known, but was not far from 295. 
 
 AUGUST i sth. 
 
 On this festival the Church commemorates the translation of 
 the Mother of our Lord into His kingdom. There is literally 
 nothing known regarding the life of the Blessed Virgin after the 
 Ascension of our Lord. An endless number of legends exist and 
 not a few with more than a soup$on of truth in them. I wish I 
 might quote some of them, but I cannot. Still I can refer my 
 readers to Mrs. Jameson's invaluable and reliable " Legends of 
 the Madonna " that will more than repay the time required for 
 their perusal. 
 
 There seems little doubt that St. John the Evangelist fulfilled 
 the sacred trust committed to him. We find ample evidence th.it 
 St. John in his old age retired to Ephesus, but whether the Holy 
 Virgin went there with him is too " vexed " a question to enter 
 upon ; or whether, as many believe, she died at Ephesus or Jeru- 
 salem and was laid in " her sepulchre cut in the rock at Geth- 
 semane." All authorities agree that she lived to an advanced old 
 age before she paid the debt of nature. The festival of her 
 Assumption is one of the oldest recognized in the Roman Church
 
 ASSUMPTION OF VIRGIN 369 
 
 as well as that of the Greeks, mention being made of it in pontifi- 
 cal records of the early part of the VI. century. The Assump- 
 tion of the Virgin had even before this been recognized, as 
 mention is made of a sermon by St. Proclus in 428 " on the day of 
 her festival." 
 
 This festival is by far the most sacred of the many paid by the 
 Roman Church to the Blessed Virgin. 
 
 AUGUST i6th. 
 
 The saint which the Church honours this day, and whom eccle- 
 siastical historians call " the apostle of the North and the Thauma- 
 turgus of his age," is St. Hyacinth. He was descended from an 
 ancient house of the Oldrovans, one of the most illustrious of all 
 Silesia, then a part of Poland. He was born in 1185 in Breslau, 
 educated at the celebrated universities of Cracow, Prague and 
 Bologna, taking his degree as doctor of laws and divinity from the 
 last named university. Then he became prebend of the Cathe- 
 dral of Cracow. After that in 1218, accompanying his uncle Yvo 
 of Konski, chancellor of Poland, to Rome, Hyacinth there met St. 
 Dominic and took upon himself the habit and vows of the Domin- 
 ican Order and became a missionary on the banks of the Baltic, 
 and founded churches in Prussia, Pomerania and adjacent coun- 
 tries, including the Isle of Rugen and the peninsula of Geden. 
 Later he pushed on to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Gothia, 
 and yet later to Little, or Red Russia and penetrated the Tartar 
 country. 
 
 A typical man among that great army of those early mission- 
 aries that we of to-day do such scant justice to, who not only 
 " took his life in his hand," but forgetting self in the service of his 
 great Master, stands forth justly glorified among saintly heroes of 
 those bygone ages, to whom the Christian Church owes a debt I 
 am fain to believe few recognise. After travels which covered 
 over 4,000 leagues, he at last reached Cracow in 1257 when seventy- 
 two years of age and upon the feast of the Assumption of the
 
 370 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Blessed Virgin passed to his reward. He was canonized by Clem- 
 ent VII I. in 1594. 
 
 AUGUST 1 7th. 
 In Roman Martyrology this day is named as 
 
 THE OCTAVE OF ST. LAURENCE. 
 
 Perhaps no one story can better illustrate the bitter vindictive- 
 ness of the so-called Arian Christians toward their Orthodox 
 brethren than that of St. Liberatus and his six Brothers of the 
 Church who occupied a small monastery near Capsa in the prov- 
 ince of Ryzacecena, whom the Church honours this day. In 483 
 under Huneric, the Arian Vandal King in Africa, because they 
 would not abjure the orthodox faith of one baptism, they were 
 dragged from their quiet monastery and subjected to unheard of 
 torments. Lastly, when they refused to acknowledge any change, 
 they were bound to the wood by which they were to be burned. 
 Again and yet again did these vandals strive to light this wood, 
 but in vain ; the wood would not take fire. Then in his anger 
 Huneric commanded that they should be beaten to death by iron 
 bars, an order faithfully carried out. The event is worth remem- 
 bering to emphasize the bitterness of these Arians toward their 
 fellow Christians. 
 
 AUGUST 1 8th 
 
 Is the festival day of St. Helena, wife of Constantine Chloris (the 
 Pale) and mother of Constantine the Great. But perhaps the one 
 act of her varied life which has and ever will make her name 
 memorable was that, when over four score years of age, through 
 her agency the true cross upon which our Lord Christ had suf- 
 fered was discovered after nearly three centuries, during which 
 time its hiding place had been kept a profound secret. 
 
 Naturally the life of this woman has been often told, but it can 
 never fail to be of interest to every true Christian.
 
 ST. HELENA 371 
 
 French historians have vainly tried to prove that at the time she 
 married Constantine Chloris she was " an inn-holder " (Stabularia) 
 in Bithynia, but the most reliable traditions show her to have been 
 a Briton by birth and probably a native of Colchester, though 
 some eminent English historians name York as her birthplace. 
 To understand clearly the story the reader should turn to his 
 Roman history and read up the events which led the two Roman 
 emperors, Dioclesian and Maximian, in 293 to choose two other 
 " inferior emperors " to aid them in the government of the vast 
 empire. Dioclesian chose one Galerius and Maximian took Con- 
 stantine Chloris for assistants. Prior to this Constantine had 
 married Helena the Briton. Then read on through those long 
 pages of events which rendered it necessary from a diplomatic 
 standpoint, for Chloris to divorce Helena in order to marry Theo- 
 dora, the daughter of Maximian, and thus follow the wonderful 
 story by which Constantine the Great, the son of Chloris and 
 Helena, rose to power. All history of a most interesting nature 
 and which carefully read would add greatly to the clear under- 
 standing, not only of St. Helena's story, but of scores of the 
 saints referred to. 
 
 The Empress Helena and her son were not separated by the 
 divorce and he always honoured her, as shown by calling her 
 " Augusta," or empress of his armies. But Helena was not con- 
 verted at the time her son was ; indeed it was only after his mirac- 
 ulous victory that she renounced paganism. I will not give details 
 of her interesting life down to 325-6, when Constantine became 
 master of the East and concurred in the assembling of the Coun- 
 cil of Nice and resolved to build a magnificent church on Mount 
 Calvary. It was then that St. Helena took charge of the enter- 
 prise and, although over eighty years of age, went to Jerusalem, 
 to discover if possible where the true cross was then hidden. 
 As the legend is told under date of May 3d when speaking of 
 the " Invention of the Cross " it need not be repeated here. 
 
 The temple of Venus which profaned the sacred spot where 
 this is reputed to have occurred was destroyed by order of 
 Empress Helena A. D. 326. 
 
 On her return to Rome after this wonderful discovery, the noted
 
 372 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 empress passed quietly away in the year 328, on August i8th. 
 The " Church of the Nativity " at Bethlehem was built by St. 
 Helena in 327, and is the oldest church in the world. 
 
 AUGUST 
 
 While Dioclesian yet reigned and during the second year of the 
 great persecution of the Christians, Urban, then president of 
 Palestine, became especially vindictive against the faithful, visiting 
 condign punishment upon them for the most trivial offense 
 against Roman law, or in not a few cases on suspicion only that 
 any one was a Christian. This was so with the several saints 
 whose names are to be honoured by the Church grouped together 
 this day. In regard to St. Timothy no pretext seems to have 
 been offered for the cruel treatment he received except that he 
 openly avowed his faith, and for that was stretched upon the rack 
 and his flesh torn with iron combs to make him recant ; upon his 
 refusal, he was burned to death before " a slow fire," at Gaza, on 
 May i, 304, while SS. Agapius and Thecla, upon similar grounds 
 were sent to Caesarea under guards, where after being tortured, 
 they were condemned to be torn to pieces by wild beasts in the 
 amphitheater. Thecla was the first to fall a victim to this barba- 
 rous punishment ; then with a refinement of cruelty, Agapius was 
 remanded to his prison and only after two years of constant tor- 
 ment did he gain his martyr's crown in the same manner. By 
 common consent both the Latin and Greek churches have united 
 the festivals of these three saints and named the ipth day of 
 August for its celebration. 
 
 AUGUST 20th. 
 
 In every age and class of society there are men who seem to be 
 born leaders, men whom their associates recognize at once and 
 willingly follow. It has been thus in the Church as well as in the 
 world at large, as is seen in so many cases ; but never perhaps,
 
 BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX373 
 
 more strikingly illustrated than in the case of St. Bernard of Clair- 
 vaux, whose festival occurs this day, and who is often styled 
 " the last of the Fathers," while he was beyond question one of 
 the greatest men of the Middle Ages. 
 
 He was the son of a knight of a ancient and noble family, and 
 was born at Fontaines near Dijon in Burgundy, in 1091. His 
 mother Aliz was a devoutly pious woman and encouraged her son 
 in his religious tendencies which he began to show at a very early 
 age, and when he was still but a lad he declared his intention of 
 leading a monastic life. His mother died in mo when Bernard 
 was but nineteen years of age, and he soon thereafter entered the 
 Cistercian monastery of Citeaux, though his brothers and friends 
 plead against such a course. Instead and this early incident 
 shows that gift of leadership above spoken of in the end he 
 persuaded thirty of his companions including his brothers to join 
 him in his monastic life. The discipline of the Cistercians is very 
 rigourous but did not reach the standard Bernard set for himself, 
 and he imposed many restrictions on his life which the order 
 would permit but did not command, while in every way he was 
 rising in the estimation of his superiors. 
 
 A capable man like Bernard was not to be lost in privacy. As 
 Citeaux became crowded with devotees, the Abbot, a shrewd judge 
 of character, selected Bernard and sent him into the wilderness at 
 the head of twelve companions to found a new settlement. After 
 wandering northwards for ninety miles they fixed their abode in a 
 woody valley called Wormwood in Champagne, and erected a log 
 hut that, under Bernard's genius, grew into the renowned Abbey 
 of Clairvaux, of which he became abbot when he was but twenty- 
 four years of age. 
 
 I may not follow the interesting details of this great man's life. 
 An incident or two must suffice. 
 
 The saintly rigour of his life, his eloquence as a preacher, and 
 his courage in attacking civil and ecclesiastical wrong-doers 
 gradually raised Bernard into European fame, and letters and 
 visitors from far and near drifted to Clairvaux. The force of his 
 influence became especially manifest in 1130 when on the death 
 of Pope Honorius II. two popes Innocent II. and Anacletus II.
 
 374 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 each claimed to be the true and only vicar of Christ. The 
 rulers of Europe were at a loss to decide between the rivals. 
 Louis VI. of France convened a council to consider the question 
 to which Bernard was invited. The assembly waited with awe 
 for his opinion, believing that the Holy Spirit would speak 
 through his mouth. He declared for Innocent, and the council at 
 once broke up perfectly satisfied. 
 
 When Wordsworth wrote he no doubt imagined he had origin- 
 ated a thought, but St. Bernard anticipated him by centuries 
 when he wrote one of his pupils : " Trust to one who has had 
 experience. You will find something far greater in the woods 
 than you will find in books. Stones and trees will teach you that 
 which you will never learn from masters. Think you, you can 
 suck honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rocks ? Do not 
 the mountains drop sweetness, the hills run with milk and honey, 
 and the valleys stand thick with corn ? " One of his most notable 
 controversies was with Abelard, the Rationalist of the XII. 
 century, who was accused of unsound doctrine and dangerous 
 speculation on the mystery of the Trinity. Abelard challenged 
 Bernard to a public logical disputation. At first Bernard hesitated 
 and refused. " When all fly before his face," said Bernard, " he 
 selects me, the least, for single combat. I refuse, because I am 
 but a child, and he a man of war from his youth." These fears 
 were overcome by his friends and a council was called at Sens to 
 which the king of France and a crowd of nobles and ecclesiastics 
 repaired. Abelard came with a troop of disciples ; Bernard with 
 two or three monks, as it behoved a Cistercian abbot to travel. 
 Abelard seems to have discovered that he had made a mistake. 
 He was used to address the reason of scholars, and the gathering 
 at Sens was made up of men on whose minds his logic would have 
 slight effect whilst his adversary's impassioned oratory would be 
 irresistible. Bernard had scarcely opened his discourse when, to 
 the speechless astonishment of all, Abelard rose up, said he re- 
 fused to hear more or answer any questions. He appealed to 
 Rome and at once left the assembly. The council, nevertheless, 
 proceeded to condemn Abelard, and the pope affirmed the 
 decree. Two years afterwards, in 1 142, Abelard died.
 
 ST. JANE 375 
 
 Perhaps the crowning glory of St. Bernard's life was his efforts 
 for the second crusade when our saint was fifty-five years of age. 
 
 The writings of St. Bernard fill many volumes and are highly 
 prized. His first published book " On the Twelve Degrees of 
 Humility" even now widely read, was followed in 1120 by his 
 " Homilies on the Gospels." But I cannot enumerate. Perhaps 
 his masterpieces are " The Cross of Abelard " and his " Five 
 Books of Consideration." All of his writings are characterized by 
 their vigour, terseness and a high degree of literary ability, even 
 when judged by our modern standards. 
 
 St. Bernard died at Clairvaux, August 2oth, in the sixty-third 
 year of his age, and was buried before Our Lady's high altar in 
 the monastic church. 
 
 He was in every way a truly great man whether we view him 
 from an ecclesiastical or moral standpoint ; one of those rare men 
 whose virtues and accomplishments cannot be justly summed up 
 in a brief sketch like the present. 
 
 AUGUST 2ist 
 
 Is the festival of St. Jane Frances De Chantal, the grandmother of 
 the celebrated Mme. de Sevigne. The father of St. Jane was a 
 man of some note being one of the presidents of the Parliament 
 of Burgundy, but more particularly for his loyalty to Henry IV. in 
 his struggle with the league. While Jane Freniot was still an 
 infant she lost her mother by death, but her father by his prudent, 
 pious care, as far as possible supplied the mother's place. When 
 Jane was twenty years of age, in obedience to her father she was 
 married to the Baron de Chantal, an officer of distinction in the 
 French army and a favourite with King Henry IV. While thus 
 complying with her father's wishes the union was one that she 
 would have avoided not from any just reason so far as the baron 
 went, for he was in all ways a thoroughly acceptable man and 
 proved a kind husband, but that the maid had earnestly desired to 
 lead a religious life. In those days a father's command on such a 
 subject was recognized as supreme. She therefore yielded, but
 
 376 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 in so doing made a mental vow that if in God's providence she 
 became a widow, from that hour she would devote her life to the 
 service of God and the poor. 
 
 A happy, contented life followed for eight years during which 
 four children were born. Then on a day when the baron and a 
 friend were hunting deer in his forest at Bourbilly (the name of 
 his estate), this friend in the dim light mistook the dull, dun color 
 of the baron's hunting coat for a deer moving behind a clump of 
 bushes and shot him. The baron lived nine days only and then 
 the baroness found herself at twenty-eight years of age, the 
 widow she had pictured herself ; but hampered by her duty to 
 four young children, a duty she did not either shirk or deny, and 
 though her inclinations for a religious life were unchanged she 
 recognized where her paramount duty lay. After her year of 
 mourning was over she began her consultations with her old 
 friend, St. Francis de Sales, who after months of careful consider- 
 ation at last broached to her his project for the establishment of 
 "a Congregation of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary." In the 
 formation of this order the baroness lent him her aid and con- 
 tributed largely from her wealth. But her children were neither 
 neglected nor forgotten, and before she left the world to assume 
 the direction of the new order as " La Mere Chantal " she saw her 
 eldest daughter happily married to the young Baron de Thouns, a 
 nephew of St. Francis ; a second daughter also married to the 
 Count de Touloujon, a nobleman of great virtue, prudence and 
 honour ; while God, in his wisdom, had taken to himself the third 
 daughter. Her son the young Baron de Chantal, then fifteen 
 years old, she committed to the care of her father, President Fre- 
 niot. Thus when her children no longer needed her care, she 
 took upon herself the arduous duties she had determined upon. 
 The vicissitudes of her life from this point would fill a volume and 
 be the entire early history of the Order of the Visitation, as it was 
 known. How faithfully she fulfilled those duties is well known in 
 the Roman Church. She died December 13, 1641 ; was beatified 
 by Benedict XIV. in 1751, and canonized by Clement XIV. on 
 September 2, 1769, who then fixed the day of her feast for the 2ist 
 of August.
 
 ORDER OF SERVITES 377 
 
 AUGUST 22d. 
 
 Of St. Hippolytus, the primitive prelate and illustrious doctor, 
 who flourished in the beginning of the III. century, and whom 
 the Church honours this day, outside of his writings very little is 
 known. Even St. Jerom was obliged to say that he was unable 
 to learn of what city he was bishop, yet such was the force of his 
 wonderfully gifted pen that not a few of its products live even 
 now after seventeen centuries have come and gone, and we are 
 apt to wonder if the writings of any of the prelates of the twen- 
 tieth century will be found so wise and valuable that men will 
 read them in the thirty-seventh century, as a half score of this 
 man's writings are read to-day. Even in his own day or very 
 near it, his fame must have been beyond that of most of his con- 
 temporaries for there stands now in the Vatican library a statue 
 of St. Hippolytus which was dug up in 1551, and which bears 
 evidence of its having been erected far back in the dusty days of 
 the past, in his honour. " The Greeks and Ethiopians," Dr. Butler 
 says, " honoured St. Hippolytus on our 2pth of January ; the 
 Latins on the 22d or 23d of August." 
 
 AUGUST 23d. 
 
 Of the several saints named in the Kalendar of this day I will 
 take space to mention but one, St. Philip Beniti, or Benize as he is 
 sometimes called, the principal ornament and propagator of the 
 religious " Order of Servites " in Italy. 
 
 As a young man St. Philip had studied medicine in Paris and 
 later took his degree of doctor from the University of Padua, 
 whence he returned to Florence. 
 
 The Order of Servites or the servants of God had been founded 
 some fifteen years before his return. Some very rich merchants 
 of Florence by mutual agreement, had retired from the world 
 to Monte Senario, six miles from the city ; where in little cells 
 they lived, having all things in common. To St. Philip their lives 
 seemed to be peculiarly attractive as meeting his own ideal of
 
 378 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 self-sacrifice for others. Attending service one evening at their 
 chapel the Epistle was from Acts viii., 29, and in it the words 
 occur " Draw near and join thyself to the chariot," which were 
 addressed to his namesake, Philip ; and which he felt were 
 addressed to him in person. A vision which came to him that 
 night confirmed him in this, and with no little dread he applied, 
 and in due time was " admitted to the habit of the order by Father 
 Bonfilio," the superior of the community. This was in Sep- 
 tember, 1233. From thence his life was devoted to charity and 
 the propagation of his order, passing through every grade from 
 that of servitor to that of definitor and at last in 1267 he became 
 the fifth General of the Order. 
 
 After the death of Clement IV. he was sought for by many as 
 a successor to the pontifical throne ; but when he heard of this he 
 fled to the mountains and lay concealed until after the election of 
 Gregory X., and thenceforward gave his life to the service of his 
 order. He died in 1285 and for his sanctity was canonized in 
 1726 by Benedict XIII. 
 
 THE NOBLE ARMY OF MARTYRS PRAISE THEE. 
 
 In opening the chapter on early martyrs Mrs. Jameson says : 
 " When in the daily service of the church we repeat these words 
 of the sublime hymn I wonder sometimes whether it be with a full 
 appreciation of their meaning. Whether we do really reflect on 
 all that this noble army of martyrs hath conquered for us ? " As 
 I record in the Kalendar the names of these " noble " martyrs this 
 question constantly recurs to me, and how utterly, except for the 
 Roman Church we in this utilitarian age should forget them and 
 let the memory of their sacrifices sink into oblivion. From our 
 comfortable, well upholstered pew, with a due and reverent mien 
 we echo back the glorious words as they fall on our ears ; yet 
 how many of us in the privacy of our own homes ever give this 
 " noble army of martyrs " a second thought, much less to stop 
 and compute the debt every Christian no matter what his creed 
 may be, owes them, or reflect on the true heroism they displayed.
 
 ST. BARTHOLOMEW 
 
 379 
 
 Their names even are but empty sounds while their noble deeds 
 are quite forgotten though done in imitation of their Divine 
 Master and to prove their faith in His promises. 
 
 AUGUST 24th. 
 
 This is St. Bartholomew's Day. As this apostle is not 
 mentioned in any of the canonical books except when enumerat- 
 ing the names of the twelve, legend has filled the gap with the 
 usual result, and we find ourselves 
 much at a loss in regard to his true 
 history. One of these legends makes 
 him the son of an husbandman, while 
 another makes him the son of Prince 
 Ptolomcus, supposed to be the Tholo- 
 mew or Tolmai family mentioned by 
 Josephus, while Jensenius and other 
 learned writers take the apostle to 
 have been the same person with 
 Nathaniel, a native of Cana in Galilee, 
 a doctor of Jewish law. All legends 
 agree that after the Ascension of 
 Christ he travelled into many distant 
 lands preaching the gospel ; some say- 
 ing he even reached India in his 
 journeyings. It was at Hierapolis in 
 Phrygia he met St. Philip. It is said 
 that in all of his travels he carried 
 with him a copy of the Gospel of St. 
 Matthew from which he constantly quoted. Returning from his 
 travels he preached in Armenia and Cilicia and while in the city 
 of Albanopolis he was seized and condemned to a most cruel 
 death ; for he was first flayed alive and later crucified. The proper 
 attribute of St. Bartholomew is a knife of very peculiar form. If 
 we could get an exact copy of an ancient Jewish " flesher's knife " 
 
 ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 
 Winchester Glass.
 
 380 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 we should have it in its proper shape. The illustration copies 
 the knife in an old Florentine picture of St. Bartholomew and 
 I give it as found, not assuming to vouch for its correct form. 
 The other illustration is from an English Clog-stick, for I find 
 none of this saint on the Danish sticks. 
 
 The martyrs of Utica who had suffered under the decree of 
 
 Valerian in 258, are this day 
 honoured by the Roman 
 Church, in Carthage. St. 
 Austin places their number at 
 
 >one hundred and fifty-three 
 persons, and this holocaust is 
 universally spoken of as the 
 " White Mass " and the ques- 
 tion is often asked why. The 
 following, taken verbatim from 
 the American edition of 
 Roman Martyrology, not only 
 answers the query but shows 
 the propriety of the appella- 
 tion : " Among other torments 
 inflicted on them, a limekiln 
 was set on fire by order of the 
 governor and live coals with 
 incense being brought to him 
 he said to the confessors : 
 ' Choose one of these two things, to offer incense to Jupiter on 
 these coals or to cast yourselves into the kiln.' Armed with the 
 faith and confessing Christ to be the son of God, they each with 
 a rapid step precipitated 
 themselves into the kiln 
 and amidst the vapours 
 of the lime were reduced 
 to dust." It is difficult to conceive of a higher degree of moral 
 courage and heroism than this " Noble Army of Martyrs " dis- 
 played on that memorable 24th day of August in 258. Even 
 those gallant three hundred Spartan heroes at Thermopylae,
 
 ST. LOUIS 381 
 
 who for ages have been held up as models of courage were not 
 superior to these humble Christians. 
 
 AUGUST 25th 
 
 Is the feast of St. Louis, King of France, a saint who in France 
 has had few that have been held in greater esteem. He was born 
 in Poissey, in 1215, and therefore often signed himself " Louis of 
 Poissey." By the death of his grandfather, Philip II. in 1223 his 
 father, Louis VIII., became king, but only for three brief years 
 as he died November 7th, 1226, and our saint when only in his 
 twelfth year of age became nominally King of France. 
 
 His mother Blanche, a daughter of Alphonsus IX., (sometimes 
 called VIII.) King of Castile, was proclaimed regent during his 
 minority, and happily for the young monarch she proved herself a 
 woman of more than ordinary worth and ability. She was not 
 only a devout church-woman, but a most devoted mother from 
 the hour of the birth of the heir to the French throne. From 
 infancy Louis was a docile, loving child, and from the earliest 
 dawn of his intellect Queen Blanche directed and personally super- 
 vised his education. Even the burden of care which the regency 
 placed upon her was not allowed to interfere with this as she 
 felt it her paramount duty. She must have been a woman of 
 for that period unusual education, and to her care, and in part 
 we are told, by her personal teaching, young Louis became a per- 
 fect master of the Latin language, as well as to speak with a 
 grace, ease and dignity in public. But over all the teachings of 
 the Church at all times dominated ; while the tender, mutual love 
 between the mother and her son is one of the pleasantest pictures 
 of the life of St. Louis. In a like manner Louis was most fortu- 
 nate in the wife that was selected for him, Margaret of Provence, 
 whom he married May 27, 1234. But I must not enlarge on bio- 
 graphical matters. In Dr. Butler's notice of St. Louis I read the 
 following : " Baldwin II., the Latin emperor of Constantinople 
 in 1239, made St. Louis (in gratitude for his great largesses to the 
 Christians in Palestine and other parts of the East) a present of
 
 382 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the Holy Crown of Thorns which was formerly kept in the Im- 
 perial palace but was then in the hand of the Venetians, as a 
 pledge for a considerable loan of money borrowed of them and 
 which St. Louis discharged," and following this the author tells of 
 the disposition of this holy relic. 
 
 The story of the Crusades of King Louis to the Holy Land are 
 too trite to repeat here save to mention the date, when after hav- 
 ing gone to the Abbey of St. Denis " to take the Oriflame " (the 
 ancient standard borne by the kings of France in war and so 
 called from its being of a red or flame colour) he set sail from 
 Aiguesmortis on August 27, 1248, for Palestine and not to return 
 until after over six years of this terrible war, to Vincennes on 
 September 5, 1254. 
 
 The second crusade was undertaken March 25, 1267, but King 
 Louis only finally sailed with his army from Aiguesmortis July i, 
 1270, with his sons Philip, John (Count of Nevers) and Peter 
 (Count of Alengon) and a numerous retinue among whom was 
 Theobald, King of Navarre, a son-in-law of St. Louis. 
 
 It was to be the last of the great king's efforts, for he died from 
 "distemper" on August 25th in 1270 and his relics were brought 
 to Paris and deposited in the Church of St. Denis. He was 
 canonized by Benedict VIII. in 1297. 
 
 AUGUST 26th. 
 
 The Church to-day remembers St. Zephrinus, one of those 
 early fathers who filled the pontifical chair in 202 when Severus 
 raised the fifth of those bloody persecutions which mark the entire 
 history of the Christian Church from the day when our Lord suf- 
 fered upon Calvary. Like so many of those devoted men, little is 
 known of him beyond the fact of his having suffered for the cause 
 of Christ and that during the sixteen years he was looked up to as 
 the Head of the Church, he comforted the suffering, giving 
 strength to the wavering and at the last won his own immortal 
 crown of glory in 218.
 
 ST. GELASINUS (ACTOR) 383 
 
 Another saint who is also this day honoured is St. Gelasinus ; 
 who is one of whom we wish we knew more. At best his story 
 is a mythical " Folk-Tale, " told from the chronicles of Alexandria. 
 The man was an actor and for a jest in a warm bath, in a scene 
 in a play given on an Alexandrian stage, he had been in mock 
 solemnity baptized. From that moment a strange solemn feeling 
 had seized upon him. The thing which had begun as a jest had 
 materialized into a solemn reality, and as he came forth from his 
 bath he proclaimed himself a Christian in truth. The story of his 
 arrest, trial and condemnation is without any marked features 
 from others of its kind and the chronicle of his execution briefly 
 states " he was stoned to death." 
 
 AUGUST 27th. 
 
 In Roman Martyrology for this day we read of the death of St. 
 Joseph Calasanctus, Confessor : " Illustrious by the innocence of 
 his life, who to instruct youths in piety and letters founded the 
 Order of the Poor Regular Clerks of the pious schools of the 
 Mother of God." His life had been one continued self-sacrifice 
 for the sick and destitute ; for whom he gave up the wealth and 
 social station of the noble family in Arragon from which he came. 
 He was, in short, a man with an ideal priesthood in his mind 
 which he sought by both precept and example to establish. He 
 had laboured for this twenty years when in 1617 Paul V. allowed 
 him and his companions to form themselves into a congregation 
 under simple vows, which in 1621 Gregory XV. changed to reli- 
 gious vows and gave them the name they bear. The Order passed 
 through many vicissitudes. Alexander VII. in 1656 brought them 
 back to the simple vows of 1617. Clement IX., again in 1669 
 raised them to a religious order which Innocent XL confirmed 
 in 1689. They teach philosophy, divinity, mathematics, the learned 
 languages and all the classics as well as the elementary branches. 
 They have houses in most cities of Italy, Austria-Hungary, Poland 
 and Spain. St. Joseph Calasanctus died at the wonderful old age
 
 384 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 of ninety-two in 1648. An office in the Roman Breviary was 
 established for him in 1769. 
 
 AUGUST 28th. 
 
 St. Augustine, to whom this day is dedicated is often called 
 " The Greatest of the Fathers " and is one of those saints who 
 are held in equal reverence by both the Roman and Protestant 
 Churches. He was one of the " Four Latin Fathers " who as 
 logicians and advocates wrote and suffered for the church militant 
 in its early and fierce struggle, and who fixed 
 the articles of faith which thereafter were 
 received for their guidance. Of these " Latin 
 Fathers " St. Augustine appears as the third 
 in usual order, SS. Simon and Ambrose 
 occupying the first and second places and 
 St. Gregory the fourth. 
 
 Augustine was an African being born 
 at Tagaste, a city of Numidia, in 354. His 
 father was a pagan and his mother, Monica, 
 a Christian of earnest piety who longed with 
 exceeding desire for her son's conversion. 
 In his boyhood falling seriously ill, he desired 
 to submit to the rite of baptism, but the 
 danger being averted, the rite was deferred. 
 As he grew up, his morals became corrupted 
 and he lapsed into profligate habits. In his 
 nineteenth year the perusal of Cicero's Hor- 
 tensius ( a work now lost ) made a deep 
 impression on his mind, and stirred within 
 him aspirations after a nobler life. At this 
 juncture he became a convert of the Manichaens and for nine 
 years an able advocate of their opinions. The Manichaens were 
 a set founded by one Manes, about 261. He confounded the 
 teaching of Christ with that of Zoroaster and held that the 
 
 ST. AUGUSTINE 
 of Hippo.
 
 ST. AUGUSTINE 385 
 
 government of the universe was shared by two powers, one good 
 and the other bad ; the first, which he called Light, did nothing 
 but good ; the second, which he called Darkness, did nothing 
 but evil. Meanwhile, Augustine taught grammar at Tagaste and 
 then rhetoric at Carthage, but growing disgusted with the vicious 
 character of his pupils he determined to go to Rome, much against 
 the will of his mother. In Rome he attracted many scholars, but 
 finding them no better than on the other side of the Mediterranean, 
 he removed to Milan where he was elected professor of rhetoric. 
 The intrepid Ambrose ruled at that time as Archbishop in Milan 
 and by his ministry Augustine was delivered from the Manichaen 
 heresy. The vacation of 386 he spent at the country seat of his 
 friend Verecundus, in the diligent study of the Scriptures; and 
 in the Easter of the following year he and his son, Adeodatus, 
 a youth of singular genius, were baptized by Ambrose. 
 
 It was on this occasion it is said, that the " Te Deum " was 
 composed and chanted by Ambrose and Augustine alternately 
 as they advanced to the altar At the request of his mother, St. 
 Augustine accompanied her (who had been in Milan to witness 
 his baptism) to Aplina, but she died on the way and he retired to 
 a villa near Hippo where after three years spent in monastic 
 seclusion in 391 he took on himself holy orders, and in 396, was 
 made Bishop of Hippo, where he presided nearly thirty-five years 
 until in 430 when the town was besieged by the Vandals. It was 
 during this siege that he died in the month of March. When the 
 city some months after his death was captured and burned, his 
 library was fortunately saved, which contained his voluminous 
 writings two hundred and thirty-two separate books or treatises 
 on theological subjects, besides a complete exposition of the 
 psalter and the gospels, and a copious magazine of epistles and 
 homilies. The best account of Augustine is found in his Confes- 
 sions, in which with unflinching and sorrowful courage he records 
 the excesses of his youth, and the progress of his life in Christ. 
 
 It is these writings which have made St. Augustine the patron 
 saint of theologians and scholars. The representations of St. 
 Augustine in Christian art make too long a list for me to venture 
 upon them, beyond mentioning that such great names as Reubens
 
 3 86 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 and Vandyke head the list of artists, while Albert Diirer was 
 proud to be the engraver of Vandyke's picture. 
 
 AUGUST 29th. 
 
 This day in the Roman Church is held an office in memory of 
 the beheading of John the Baptist. The story as told by SS. 
 Matthew and Mark are like household words. We all have heard 
 it from our childhood. Pointing as this event does, to both a 
 great moral and an historic event of no ordinary character, it is 
 eminently fitting it should be remembered with suitable offices by 
 the Church. 
 
 Well authenticated traditions tell us that after the decollation of 
 John the Baptist his disciples secured his body and that they 
 entombed it at Sebasti, or Samaria, but that during those trou- 
 blous days when Julian the Apostate reigned, the tomb was devas- 
 tated and rifled by the pagans who then burnt a part of the sacred 
 bones, but that faithful Christians secured the rest and sent them 
 to Alexandria whence in later days they were distributed to many 
 places. Theodosius in 386 had built a church in honour of St. 
 John the Baptist on the site of the ancient temple of Serapis, which 
 had been destroyed. It was here the remainder of the relics were 
 preserved. But the head of John had never been found, until it 
 was discovered in Emesa in Syria. 
 
 According to a tradition for which I am indebted to my kind 
 friend at St. Bernard's Seminary, Herod in grief over his act had the 
 head of St. John the Baptist concealed and buried in his palace to 
 spare it from further indignities on the part of his courtiers. There 
 it remained until after the discovery of the holy cross by St. Helena 
 which, as history tells us, brought many pilgrims to Jerusalem, 
 and the head was found by two pilgrims to whom St. John had 
 appeared in a vision, and it was brought to Cilicia under Emperor 
 Valeses and later to Constantinople under Emperor Theodosius. 
 From Constantinople it was stolen by a Greek and brought to 
 Emesa in Syria, and its location was unknown until the year 453 
 when it was again brought to light by the Archimandite Marcellus.
 
 ST. JOHN'S DECOLLATION 387 
 
 Emesa was captured by the Moslems in 635 and the head of the 
 Baptist was saved from their hands by being taken to Cappadocia 
 or Armenia, and kept until in the year 850 it was again brought 
 back to Constantinople. Here it was at first kept in the imperial 
 palace but was afterwards confided to a monastery (Kloster 
 Studuim) where it still was in 1025. The front part of the head 
 was taken to Amiens, France, in the time of the Holy Roman 
 Empire, where it is still kept in great veneration. Dr. Butler says : 
 " Part of the head is said to be kept in St. Sylvester's Church in 
 Campo Marzo, Rome, though Sirmond thinks this to be the head 
 of St. John the Martyr of Rome." 
 
 The celebration of the feast of " the Decollation of St. John the 
 Baptist," according to the " Kirchenlexikon " seems to have origin- 
 ated from a particular 
 festival that has been ob- 
 served in Sebasti, 
 Palestine, since the IV. 
 century on the 29th of 
 August, though the event 
 itself may have taken place 
 earlier in the year ; " pos - 
 sibly in February." It has 
 according to ancient 
 Sacramentaries been ob- 
 served in Italy since the 
 V. century. In some 
 churches it was celebrated 
 within the octave of the 
 " Festurn Nativitatis of 
 St. Joannes." But it was 
 introduced into the Roman Missal from the Sacramentaries of 
 Pope Gelasius, and Gregory extended it to all churches of the 
 West, fixing the date (IV. Kal. Sept.) on August 29th. The 
 Greek Church in addition to this festival celebrates the Synalis 
 St. Joannes (Synalis " getting together ") as a triple festival. The 
 first, " the Inventio Caput Joannes " on February 29th, another on 
 the 3d, or 6th of May. The Clog symbol for this festival is an axe
 
 388 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 of an ancient form, doubtless the invention of the Clog-stick 
 maker. 
 
 AUGUST soth 
 
 Is the festival of the only canonical saint yet chosen from the 
 western shores of the Atlantic, St. Rose, or " Santa Rosa di 
 Lima." She was christened Isabel, but from the wondrous colour 
 of her complexion as she lay in her cradle, which resembled the 
 delicate tints of a rose, her mother called her : " My Rose," a 
 name which clung to her through life and by which she was 
 canonized. From infancy her life was one beautiful story of love 
 and patience. At a very early age she took the habit and vows of 
 the third Order of St. Dominic, and her legend tells that to keep 
 constantly her mind intent upon her Saviour she wore a thin 
 circlet of silver on her head within which were sharp points or 
 nails to remind her continually by their tiny prickings of the 
 crown of thorns. She died when but thirty-one years of age at 
 Lima, Peru, on August 24, 1617. 
 
 The Peruvian legend regarding her says that when Clement X. 
 was asked to canonize her he refused, exclaiming : " India y 
 Santa! asi como blueven rosas." (India and saint! as likely as 
 that it should rain roses). The words had hardly left Clement's 
 lips before a literal shower of roses began to fall in the Vatican and 
 " continued until the Pope acknowledged his incredulity." This 
 was in 1671 when, after the examination of one hundred and 
 eighty witnesses, Clement X. canonized St. Rose and named 
 August 3oth as her festal day. 
 
 AUGUST 3ist. 
 
 This day is the festival of St. Raymund Nonnatus. The sur- 
 name appended from the peculiar circumstances attending his birth. 
 His legend unfortunately is devoid of many details we would like
 
 ST. RAYMUND 389 
 
 to know. He was a Spaniard born at Portel, in Catalonia, in 
 1204. 
 
 As Raymund passed from youth to young manhood, with his 
 ability and agreeable manners he might, if he would have done so, 
 by pushing his fortune at the court of Arragon, backed by the influ- 
 ence of his friends and his family who all urged him to such a 
 course, have easily attained to almost any reasonable ambition, 
 either for wealth, rank, or official position he desired ; but he 
 would not consent. Almost from his cradle, certainly from the 
 time when he could reason with himself, he had a higher aim than 
 worldly power. It was only after strenuous opposition, and 
 through the mediation of his relative, the Count of Cordova, that 
 his father at last consented and young Raymund took the vows 
 and habit of the then newly organized " Order of Our Lady of 
 Mercy for the Redemption of Captives," an order which came 
 from the necessities of the time when so many Christians were 
 suffering captivity under the Moors. One of those organizations 
 which offered neither personal glory nor honour, whose members 
 were prompted and stimulated to action by pure love of their 
 fellowmen. Their convent was at Barcelona and Raymund early 
 took rank among his associates, so that hardly had three years 
 elapsed after his entry there before he was named by his superiors 
 to the office of " Ransomer," a position which demanded a high 
 degree not only of executive ability but a clear, cool head and 
 great judgment. 
 
 His first assignment to active service sent him into Barbary 
 with a considerable amount of money to negotiate for the release 
 of Christian slaves. This accomplished, he still found so many 
 captives remaining that his heart was wrung with pity, and to 
 secure their release he himself became a hostage that they might 
 go free while he remained until their ransom was paid. From 
 our standpoint Raymund's conduct during this interval may not 
 have been wise ; for urged by the love of Christ he preached to 
 the Mohammedans the doctrines of the Christian religion only to 
 be punished by chains, torture and imprisonment, and he would 
 have been put to death but for fear that by such an act the 
 ransom he was an hostage for would be lost. At last this was
 
 390 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 paid and Raymund returned to Barcelona but his sufferings had 
 brought upon him disease and when barely thirty-seven years of 
 age he died. He was made a Cardinal but he never took upon 
 himself either the dress or the usual equipage of his high office. 
 " Pope Alexander II. inserted his name in the Martyrology in 
 1657."
 
 SEPTEMBER 
 
 Next him September marched eke on foot, 
 Yet was he hoary, laden with the spoil 
 
 Of harvest riches, which he made his boot, 
 And him enriched with bounty of the soil. 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 When the year began in March as the seventh month, Septem- 
 ber was properly named, but when the Kalendar was changed by 
 placing two months before March, the name, like those of the 
 three following months, October, November and December, all 
 seem inappropriate, but through all the mutations their names 
 have not been changed as others have, though Julius Cassar added 
 a day to the month which Augustus again took away, and it has 
 since remained so. In old English days this month was called 
 Gerst monat or barley month, because of the barley harvest. 
 
 SEPTEMBER ist. 
 
 To the denizens of London there is no name in the entire list of 
 saints mentioned in the Kalendar more familiar than that of St. 
 Giles who is this day honoured by all branches of the Christian 
 Church, especially in France, Germany, England and Poland, as 
 well as in Greece and Rome, for he was by birth an Athenian of 
 noble extraction who in Latin is called Aequidius. 
 
 From a desire to secure perfect isolation from the world St. 
 Giles migrated into France and set up a hermitage in a forest 
 near the mouth of the Rhone in what is now the diocese of 
 Nismes, devoting himself wholly to his prayers and holy reflec- 
 tions. His legend tells us of a hind who came daily to his cell
 
 392 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 and thus furnished the hermit with milk. One day the King of 
 France while hunting happened to stalk this hind and chased it 
 until it found refuge in the cave of St. Giles and it was thus the 
 
 secret of his retirement was discovered ; but 
 
 nothing could induce him to leave his loved 
 - solitude. He did, however, consent to allow 
 
 a few disciples to join him, and a monastery, 
 
 ^"^^1 _^ which at its inception was like the early Irish 
 I C| monasteries, was begun and St. Giles be- 
 ^^^r came its abbot. From this later grew an 
 
 abbey of the 
 
 Benedictine 
 
 order bearing his name and the town 
 of St. Giles which was famous in the 
 wars of the Albigenses. The church, 
 it is said, still remains and is a remark- 
 able example of the architecture of 
 the VIII. century, being " covered 
 with bas-reliefs on the outside and 
 has a remarkable staircase in the in- 
 terior." St. Giles is the patron of 
 cripples from his refusal to be cured 
 of an accidental lameness, in order 
 that by his deformity he might be 
 able the more thoroughly and com- 
 pletely to mortify his pride. St. Giles' 
 Cripplegate is one of the many 
 churches that have been dedicated to 
 this saint. This church antedates the 
 Conquest. Where the Church of 
 " St. Giles-in-the-Fields " now stands 
 Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I., 
 erected a hospital for lepers. While 
 in Scotland to this day on one side of the coat-armorial of the city 
 of Edinburgh you may see figuring as a supporter the hind which 
 ancient legend represents as nurturing the holy anchorite in the 
 forests of Languedoc twelve hundred years ago. 
 
 ST. GILES.
 
 ST. STEPHEN OF HUNGARY 393 
 
 In art St. Giles is usually represented in full canonical dress with 
 a crosier and hind as in our illustration. In some cases the hind 
 has an arrow in its neck, but the usual Clog symbol is a mysteri- 
 ous emblem given above, the form often being varied into the 
 shape shown here and supposed to be some old Athe- 
 nian symbol or hieroglyphic. St. Giles died at his 
 abbey some time between the years 720 and 725. 
 The exact date is unknown but for centuries the feast 
 day of September ist has been observed both by 
 the English church and in Roman Martyrology in 
 honour of this saint. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 2d 
 
 Is sacred in the Roman Church as the festival of St. Stephen, the 
 first Christian king of Hungary. His father, Geysa, was the 
 fourth duke of the Hungarians, and with his wife, Sarloth, under 
 the teaching of Adalbert, a Northumbrian missionary and who 
 afterward became Bishop of Prague, were baptised. The legend 
 of St. Stephen tells that Sarloth, his mother, was warned in a 
 dream to give her son the name of the great proto-martyr and 
 when in 977 he was born he was at once thus christened, and 
 from his infancy educated in the tenets of the church. In 997 his 
 father, Geysa, died and the young duke set about the task of 
 Christianizing his province, he himself often acting as a mission- 
 ary. As his strength grew he added by conquest much territory, 
 and at last asked Pope Sylvester II. to confirm him as king of 
 Hungary. Not only was this done, but the pope sent him a 
 present of a cross which was to be carried before him, and the 
 legate of the Vatican, Astric, placed the crown on Stephen's head. 
 This was in the year 1000. I am reminded in passing of an inter- 
 esting historical fact connected with this crown, which was pre- 
 served at Presburg, that it was used to crown Maria Theresa as 
 empress. But I must not try to follow the intricate story of this 
 first Christian king of the Hungarians beyond referring to his 
 remarkable " code of laws " in fifty-five chapters, which even 
 to-day are noted for their justice, wisdom and moderation, and
 
 394 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 which are the foundation of Hungarian law. Of Stephen's fidel- 
 ity to the church and of his own personal purity of life, one can 
 hardly speak too highly. For three long years he suffered from 
 painful maladies borne with the true Christian patience, yet never 
 failing to watch his kingly duties. At the last on August 15, 
 1038, he passed to rest after forty-one years of rule and when 
 over three-score years of age. He was canonized by Pope Bene- 
 dict IX., but Pope Innocent XI., in 1686 fixed his festival for the 
 2d of September with an office for the whole church, that being 
 the day Emperor Leopold recovered Buda out of the hands of the 
 Turks. But in Hungary the festival is kept on August 2oth, the 
 day on which his relics were translated to the great Church of 
 Our Lady at Buda erected in St. Stephen's honour by the holy 
 King Ladislas. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 30 
 
 Is devoted to St. Simeon Stylites the Younger, of whom I may 
 make but brief mention. He was one of those famous " Pillar 
 Saints " of whom I already have made mention. His legend 
 reads : " For three-score and eight years he lived successively on 
 two pillars within the inclosure of the monastery in the exercise of 
 assiduous contemplation." He died in 592. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 4th. 
 
 St. Cuthbert, who died March 2oth in 687 or 8, and was Abbot 
 of " Old Melrose," is again especially honoured on this day, the 
 anniversary of the translation of his relics in the year 995. 
 
 Readers must not confound " Old Melrose " with the well- 
 known ruins of Melrose Abbey. Back in the VII. century in 
 a rude woody country occupied by a few half-savage tribes of 
 southern Picts and Angles, on a high promontory around two 
 sides of which flows the Tweed, stood the monastery of Mailros, 
 a small connection of " wattled huts " such as before described. 
 This was " Old Melrose " as it is termed, in order to distinguish it 
 from its successor whose beautiful ruins many of my readers have
 
 ST.CUTHBERT 395 
 
 seen. It was of this monastery of Mailros that Cuthbert, who 
 had entered it as a shepherd-boy, at last came to be its Abbot. 
 The incursions of the Danes had come before the death of St. 
 Cuthbert often disturbing the monks of Mailros, and the Abbot 
 had commanded if after his death the monks should be driven out 
 by these Danes, they should take his remains with them wherever 
 they went. The holy man was much honoured during his life, 
 but when eleven years after his death, in order to give his remains 
 a more prominent place, his tomb was opened, they found his 
 body untouched by decay ; the monks became convinced that he 
 was indeed a saint, and not a few miracles are recorded as having 
 been performed at his new shrine where his body remained until 
 875 when the monks, driven out by the Danes, took St. Cuthbert's 
 relics to find rest at Chester-le-Street. 
 
 But even this resting place was in a certain sense temporary, for 
 in 995, a new incursion of the Danes sent them off once more 
 upon their travels. They were kept some time at Rippon in 
 Yorkshire, and when the danger was past the monks set out on 
 their return to Chester-le-Street, bearing the relics with them. 
 They were miraculously arrested, at a spot called Duirholm (the 
 deer's meadow), on the River Wear, and there they finally settled 
 with the precious corpse of their holy patron, giving rise to what 
 has since been one of the grandest religious establishments of the 
 British empire, the cathedral of Durham. This is the event 
 which was for some ages celebrated as the Translation of St. 
 Cuthbert. 
 
 For upwards of an hundred years the tomb of St. Cuthbert 
 with his uncorrupted body continued to be visited by devout pil- 
 grims, and in 1104 on the erection of the present cathedral of 
 Durham it was determined to remove his remains to a shrine 
 within the new structure. Some doubts had been expressed as to 
 the permanence of his incorruptibility, and to silence all such mis- 
 givings the clergy of the church, having met in conclave beside 
 the saint's coffin the night before its intended removal, resolved to 
 satisfy themselves by an actual inspection. After preparing them- 
 selves for the task by prayer, they removed, with trembling hands, 
 the external fastenings and opened the first coffin within which a
 
 396 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 second was found, covered with rough hides and enclosing a third 
 coffin enveloped in several folds of linen. On removing the lid 
 of this last receptacle a second lid appeared, which on being 
 raised with much fear and agitation, the swathed body of the 
 saint lay before them " in a perfect state." 
 
 For the greater part of three centuries more the body of St. 
 Cuthbert lay here undisturbed. He was not forgotten during this 
 time but a legend prevailed that the site of his tomb was known 
 
 only to the Catholic 
 clergy, three of whom, it 
 was alleged, and no more 
 were intrusted with the 
 secret at a time, one being 
 admitted to a knowledge 
 of it as another died 
 all this being in the hope 
 of a time arriving when 
 his shrine might be re- 
 erected, and the incorrupt 
 body presented once 
 more to the veneration of 
 the people. 
 
 In 1827 St. Cuthbert's 
 tomb was opened once 
 more and lying on the breast of the swathings, was found the gold 
 cross St. Cuthbert is reported to have worn, and it is shown in 
 the illustration copied from an illustrated description of Durham 
 Cathedral. But as on March 2oth I spoke of this saint I will 
 not enlarge further upon his story here except to mention the 
 legend of " St. Cuthbert's Beads," as told in " Marmion " : 
 
 On a rock, by Lindisfarne, 
 Saint Cuthbert sits, and toils to frame 
 The sea-born beads that bear his name ; 
 Such tales had Whitby's fishers told, 
 And said they might his shape behold, 
 
 And hear his anvil sound ; 
 A deadened clang a huge dim form, 
 Seen but, and heard, when gathering storm 
 
 And night were closing round.
 
 ST. LAURENCE JUSTINIAN 397 
 
 It was an ancient Northumbrian legend a thousand years old 
 when Scott wrote, and while modern science shows these beads 
 with which the shore is strewn after every storm to be the fossil- 
 ized remains of animals 
 called c r i n o i d s which 
 once inhabited the deep 
 in myriads, now seldom 
 found complete, yet if 
 the reader examines 
 these illustrations, ST. CUTH BERT'S BEADS. 
 
 selected from thousands no two alike he will not wonder back in 
 the old days when superstition reigned, men could believe the 
 legend that St. Cuthbert forged these beads in his cave under the 
 sea for the faithful to use on their rosaries. 
 
 SEPTEMBER $th. 
 
 St. Laurence Justinian who is honoured by the Church this day 
 was a native of Venice, born in 1380 of an illustrious family, even 
 amid the host of Venetian nobles of that period ; but from his 
 earliest childhood he constantly desired to lead a religious life. 
 His mother, a devout woman, had been left a widow and there- 
 fore hoped to see the family honour perpetuated in her son, and 
 thus an honourable alliance had been arranged for Laurence when 
 he was nineteen years of age. But this was never completed as 
 the young man then secretly fled to the monastery of St. George 
 in Alga and was admitted to the religious habit. From that 
 time on his life was that of the usual novice save that it was 
 marked by an unusual degree of humility, a trait which he never 
 overcame even when his profound wisdom and learning had 
 placed him among the leaders of the church. 
 
 Talents such as Laurence Justinian displayed never are long 
 without recognition, and his reputation spread far beyond the 
 walls of his monastery. Pope Eugenius IV. in 1433, much 
 against the wish of Laurence, not only nominated him to the 
 episcopacy of Venice but insisted upon his accepting the high
 
 398 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 office which he so worthily filled until 1451, when Dominic 
 Michelli, the Patriarch of Grado, died, and Nicholas VI. trans- 
 ferred the patriarchal dignity to the see of Venice, and invested 
 Laurence with it ; thus conferring on him the high honour of 
 being the first Patriarch of Venice, an honour which he held until 
 January 8, 1455, when he passed peacefully to rest. The cere- 
 mony of beatification was performed by Clement VII. in 1524, 
 and that of his canonization by Alexander VIII. in 1690, when 
 September 5th, the anniversary of his consecration as bishop was 
 fixed upon for his festival. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 6th. 
 
 The especial name honoured at Rome in Martyrology on this 
 day is St. Eleutherius, a man noted for his beautiful simplicity of 
 character and noble virtues which won for him the friendship of 
 St. Gregory the Great, nay more, his love and reverence, and we 
 read in Roman Martyrology of " this servant of God who, accord- 
 ing to the testimony of Pope St. Gregory, raised a dead man to 
 life by his prayers and tears." St. Eleutherius died at the Monas- 
 tery of St. Andrew's in Rome about 585, and his remains were 
 translated later to Spoleto. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 7th 
 
 Is the saint-day or festival of St. Evurtius, or Evurchus who 
 holds a place in the Anglican Kalendar, as well as in that of the 
 Roman Church ; yet singularly almost nothing is known of him. 
 His brief legend tells that during the reign of Constantine (the 
 Great) he was sent to secure the release of some captives ; but 
 fails to tell by whom held, and that he arrived at Orleans just 
 when the faithful happened to be electing a bishop ; that as he 
 waited and watched the ceremony, a dove twice came and lighted 
 upon his shoulder and the last time remained there. 
 
 The incident so impressed the congregation as to his sanctity 
 that they elected him nem. con. Bishop of Orleans. This
 
 ST. CLOUD 399 
 
 election was duly confirmed and he assumed his office. Still 
 later, the legend tells when he was about to erect his Cathedral 
 Church of the Holy Cross he directed the men where to dig for its 
 foundation, and that as the workmen dug they came upon a spot 
 containing gold amply sufficient to meet the expense of the edifice. 
 Dr. Butler says : "His name is famous in the ancient Martyr- 
 ologies ; but his history has no authenticity, as Stilting complains," 
 and adds, " his relics had three translations," but beyond this 
 furnishes us with no details. He is supposed to have died in 340. 
 
 St. Cloud is another saint also honoured this day, a prince of 
 the royal family of the first race in France, a son of Chlodomir, 
 King of Orleans and a grandson of St. Clotilda, of whom and of 
 whose machinations to secure the control of the entire country I 
 spoke lately. In 524 Chlodomir was killed in Burgundy when 
 St. Cloud was hardly three years old. His grandmother at 
 that time came to Paris bringing with her his two older brothers, 
 Theobald and Gunthaire. 
 
 Childebert, King of Paris, and Clotaire, King of Soissons, the 
 brothers of Chlodomir, at once conspired to kill their children and 
 thus to secure Burgundy to be divided between them. They suc- 
 ceeded in murdering Cloud's two brothers, Childebert killing one 
 by his own hand and Clotaire in turn the other ; but by a mys- 
 terious Providence, Cloud escaped and was hidden in a monastery 
 until all danger was over. It is a long and interesting bit of 
 French history how Cloud might have gained the kingdom of 
 Burgundy until in 551, of his own wish he was ordained to the 
 priesthood by Eusebius, Bishop of Paris, and later built a monas- 
 tery at Nogent (now St. Cloud) and collected pious men to join 
 him in his efforts for the good of mankind, and his holy life, and 
 his death in 560, when his inheritance was by his directions 
 divided among the poor of Nogent and the churches of the see of 
 Paris. It is a true and beautiful story of one who might have 
 been a king, but preferred to serve his Great Master, and while I 
 would gladly tell it cannot do so here. The monastery built by 
 St. Cloud is now changed into a Collegiate Church of canons.
 
 400 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 SEPTEMBER 8th. 
 
 THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN 
 
 Is a sacred festival which is observed alike in the Greek, the 
 Roman and the English branches of the Christian Church. 
 
 In the birth of the Holy Virgin we come one step nearer to the 
 accomplishment of those prophecies which abound in the Old 
 Testament and to appreciate duly the wonderful importance of 
 this event " we must," as Dr. Butler says, " consider her trans- 
 cendant dignity and the singular privileges by which she was 
 distinguished above all other pure creatures." Her dignity is 
 expressed by the Evangelist when he says ; " Of whom was 
 born Jesus, who is called Christ." (Matthew i., 16). Again the 
 venerated St. Bernard says : " Choose which you will most 
 admire, the most beneficent condescension of the Son or the sub- 
 lime dignity of the Mother, etc." 
 
 The legends of the Nativity of the Virgin are almost endless in 
 number, a favourite one describing the Concert of Angels who 
 hovered over the mother and child. In Le Clerc's Almanac this 
 concert is presented and the Angels at the same time are seen 
 strewing flowers over them. 
 
 Most of the traditions regarding Joachim and Anne tell us that
 
 NATIVITY OF B. VIRGIN 401 
 
 they were " exceedingly rich," and thus in many of the early 
 works of art that present " La Nascita della B. Vergine " the 
 room is full of gorgeous furniture and magnificent decorations of 
 the ancient Hebrew type, and the child Mary as she rests on her 
 mother's breast is surrounded by "a 
 Glory" and never without " a Nimbus." The 
 Clog symbol is a simple heart without any 
 adornments. 
 
 The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin has 
 been kept by the Church with great solem- 
 nity from very early days. The " Roman 
 . Ordo" mentions homilies and litanies ap- 
 pointed by Pope Sergius (687-701) in 688 
 and a procession to be made on this day from St. Adrian's 
 Church to the Liberian basilica (Sta. Maria Maggiore, lately 
 mentioned) and a prescribed office for the ceremony, not to 
 speak of them in detail, many especial prayers and collects, at 
 close intervals from the feast as mentioned by St. Idlefonsus in 
 the VII. century down through intervening ages. The Greeks, 
 the Copts in Egypt and all Christian Churches in the East kept 
 this feast with the utmost solemnity and when after the Refor- 
 mation the ceremonials of the dissenting church were revived, this 
 feast was retained. 
 
 On this day also the festival of St. Adrian is observed. He was 
 a Roman officer and the church above mentioned was erected in 
 his honour. He suffered martyrdom under Maximian Galerius in 
 the year 306. 
 
 Under this date Dr. Butler speaks of " The Festival of the Holy 
 Name of the Virgin Mary " to be observed " on the Sunday within 
 the Octave of her Nativity." This festival was appointed by 
 Pope Innocent IX. and the occasion was a solemn thanksgiving 
 for the relief of Vienna when it was besieged in 1063.
 
 402 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 SEPTEMBER 9th. 
 
 Again this day the cruelties of Dioclesian are brought before us 
 by the names of SS. Dorotheus, Gorgonius and their companions, 
 who as martyrs for the faith of Christ suffered under those terri- 
 ble edicts of this brutal Roman emperor. Dorotheus was the 
 first chamberlain of the Emperor Dioclesian while Gorgonius and 
 Peter were under chamberlains. These three were the principal 
 eunuchs of the palace and had sometimes borne the weight of the 
 most difficult affairs of State and been the support of the emperor 
 and his court. When the palace of Nicomedia was set on fire, 
 an event already mentioned, which readers will remember was 
 charged to the Christians by Galerius, the joint emperor with Dio- 
 clesian, Dorotheus and a number of his companions who knew 
 how unjust and untrue the assertion was had the manhood to 
 deny boldly the falsehood. The anger and suspicions of the 
 emperor were aroused and he accused his eunuchs of being Chris- 
 tians. This was not true in fact yet once these three men had 
 been nearly converted to the faith. They were thoughtful men 
 not time servers and were considering in their own minds the 
 weighty question of the salvation of their souls. By a mere word, 
 an assertion and a vain act they could then have saved their 
 earthly lives but with solemn deliberation they saw the truth and 
 their noble Roman blood knew no deceit. They had decided for 
 themselves and the inexorable Dioclesian sacrificed these men, 
 true to him in all matters of state, but who refused to sacrifice to 
 Roman gods they knew were but myths. The cruelties they were 
 subjected to seem beyond the humanity of man to inflict on a 
 fellow man. The fiendish cruelties of the wildest savages are 
 gentle when compared with those these sturdy brave men were 
 called on to endure as the price they paid for holding fast to the 
 faith of Christ. The details of these horrors are told in the narra- 
 tive of their persecution and death that lies before me as I write, 
 but they are too brutal to transcribe. Yet I cannot help asking 
 myself whether I would have endured them as these " saints " did.
 
 ST.PULCEHRIA 403 
 
 SEPTEMBER loth. 
 
 St. Pulcehria, the Virgin Empress of the East whom the Roman 
 Church has chosen for honour on this day is one of those remark- 
 able and exceptional characters that from time to time come to light 
 as we turn the pages of ancient history. She was born in 399, the 
 granddaughter of Theodosius the Great. Her father, Arcadius, 
 was a weak man governed by his wife, Eudoxia, and his eunuchs ; 
 but his daughter, Pulcehria, had evidently inherited from her 
 grandfather the noble traits which marked her character. 
 
 She was hardly fifteen years of age when in 414, she with her 
 brother Augustus two years her junior were jointly invested 
 with imperial power ; while the care and education of her brother 
 devolved upon Pulcehria at an age when we to-day would 
 regard her as hardly more than a child herself. We must not 
 forget the fact too patent for debate that the women of the 
 East mature both mentally and physically at a much earlier age 
 than with us of the West. Yet there was a certain precocity of 
 wisdom and a provision of her future which induced Pulcehria to 
 make a public vow of chastity, and thus warn off possible suitors 
 for her hand. In like manner she induced her sisters to take sim- 
 ilar vows and thus save the empire from being embroiled by some 
 marriage that would be disastrous to the State. Her influence 
 over her brother was unbounded and whatever else may have 
 been the outcome of her teaching she at least held him true to the 
 faith of his grandfather, Theodosius, at a time when many here- 
 sies were creeping into the Church. A writer very near to this 
 period says : " The imperial palace under her discretion was as 
 regular as a monastery," while another of later date says : " Far 
 from making religion subservient to policy, all her views and pro- 
 jects were regulated by that virtue, and by this the happiness of 
 her government was complete." She was skilled in both the 
 Greek and Latin tongues, proficient in history and other branches 
 of science and literature, and a generous patron of art, but above 
 all, a just and generous ruler who by her wisdom had kept her 
 people at peace and in prosperity and won their love. 
 
 When her brother was about twenty years of age, an Athenian
 
 4 o 4 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 lady appeared at Court seeking aid to secure justice in her father's 
 will by which she was disinherited. The young man was capti- 
 vated by her beauty and he married her. 
 
 At first there was no change in any way so far as Pulcehria was 
 concerned. But soon the story, as old as the institution of kingly 
 powers, was again reenacted. The Queen Eudosia, jealous of the 
 influence Pulcehria exercised, plotted for her downfall. She had 
 neither grounds nor reason for so doing since the devoted sister 
 already weary of power was only too happy for an excuse to be 
 relieved and quickly sought retirement. 
 
 Eudosia had been brought up and educated by her father, an 
 Athenian philosopher, as an idolater ; but before her marriage had 
 been baptized, and as soon as Pulcehria was removed from her 
 path began those historic presecutions of 447 and 449. This 
 providentially was of but short duration, for the emperor died in 
 July of 450 and Pulcehria again resumed her control over the 
 Empire of the East and brought peace to the Christians. It was 
 then the Empress felt the need of help in her duties and was 
 married but with the agreement that she yet should be permitted 
 to keep her early vow. The man thus chosen was worthy of the 
 confidence reposed in him and to their joint efforts the Church 
 owed much of the peace it enjoyed in the East during this reign, 
 while Dr. Butler says of her : " Historians assure us that volumes 
 would be required to sum up all the churches, monasteries and 
 especially the hospitals which St. Pulcehria founded and richly 
 endowed." 
 
 She died upon September loth in 453, and for centuries both the 
 Greek and Latin Churches have celebrated hers as the feast of a 
 holy virgin. 
 
 SEPTEMBER I4th. 
 
 The history of the " Invention of the Cross " has been told 
 already ( see May 3d ) and how from this discovery by St. Helena, 
 Constantine the Great was led to build a magnificent church on 
 Mount Calvary for its preservation. But before this came the
 
 EXALTATION OF THE 
 
 wonderful " Labarum." This story as briefly told is that when 
 Constantine ( who was not then converted ) was about to meet 
 the Emperor Maxentius, he put up a prayer " to the One True 
 God," for help and in 
 response to this prayer 
 there appeared in mid- 
 day the monogram of 
 Christ known as t h e 
 Labarum ( see first 
 illustration ) and caused 
 a banner to be made, 
 that bore upon it the 
 monogram o f Christ 
 and beneath it the por- 
 traits of himself and 
 his two sons. This was 
 the banner carried in 
 the decisive battle 
 when Maxentius was 
 defeated and after 
 which as history tells 
 us, he drowned him- 
 self in the Tiber. Still 
 another form is given 
 which is said to have 
 born upon it the in- 
 
 scription ( as in illustra- "P 9P lOfle 
 tion ) in Greek the words : By this Conquer. 
 
 The first form, however, is beyond doubt the one placed upon 
 the banner. 
 
 Naturally the discovery of the true Cross, made Christians of 
 Jerusalem and the hosts of pilgrims who flocked to the city anxious 
 to see the sacred piece of wood. Therefore in 338 it was deter- 
 mined that the Holy Rood, (cross) should be "raised" or "ex- 
 alted " in full view of the people. 
 
 Our illustration given is taken from a reprint in 1876 of a Dutch 
 Legendary History of the Cross originally published in 1423.
 
 4 o6 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 This custom of the Exaltation of the Cross on this day was con- 
 tinued annually through several centuries. 
 
 In 603 Phocas, the cruel and covetous Emperor of the East, was 
 reigning, when Chosroes II., King of Persia, broke peace with him 
 
 upon a specious pretense and meet- 
 ing no serious opposition plundered 
 Mesopotamia and part of Syria. 
 Heraclius, then Prefect of Africa 
 (afterward Emperor of the East) 
 was begged by the people to as- 
 sume the purple and rid them of 
 the tyrant Phocas. This he did 
 though I may not tell the story 
 here and sought for peace with 
 Chosroes. But the barbarian re- 
 fused all overtures and pushed 
 forward until in 613 he captured 
 Damascus, and in 614 Jerusalem, 
 THE LABARUM. an( j m so doing secured the sacred 
 
 relic of the Cross. It was then that as history tells us Chosroes 
 defiled the sacred relic and carried it, 
 among his plundered treasures from 
 Jerusalem. Then, by his wonderful vic- 
 tory over Chosroes, Heraclius once more 
 secured the Holy Cross and brought it 
 to Jerusalem. The next illustration taken 
 from the same Dutch book already 
 spoken of is in two parts, the left show- 
 ing an angel closing the gates of the city, 
 on account of the pomp and show of 
 Heraclius, and the right where the veil 
 hides the Cross as it is being taken into 
 the Basilica. This last event occurred 
 in 629 when the ceremony of Elevation of 
 the Cross was for a time resumed but THE LABARUM BANNER 
 with the late prostitution of the holy relic , OF CONST ANTINE. 
 it ceased at Jerusalem until revived by decrees of the Church.
 
 HOLYROOD DAY 
 
 407 
 
 Many churches in Britain were dedicated to the Holy Rood or 
 Cross. One at Edinburgh became the nucleus of the palace of 
 the Scottish kings. Thus Holyrood Day was one of much sacred 
 observance all through the middle ages. The same feeling led to 
 a custom of framing, between the 
 nave and choir of churches what was 
 called a rood-screen or rood-loft, pre- 
 senting centrally a large crucifix with 
 images of the Holy Virgin and St. 
 John on each side. A winding stair 
 led up to it and the epistle and gospel 
 were often read from it. Some of 
 these screens still remain, models of 
 architectural beauty but numbers were 
 destroyed with reckless fanaticism at 
 the Reformation, when the people did 
 not distinguish between the objects 
 which had caused what they deemed 
 idolatry and the beautifully carved 
 work which was free from such a 
 charge. 
 
 THE CONSTANTINE 
 BOOM. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 
 
 Is the Octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin and is observed 
 in the Roman Church by an especial office. 
 
 In the " Ordo " for this day, I note an office for St. Nicomedes, 
 a holy priest, who during the persecution of Domitian, was beaten 
 to death with clubs, because of his aid and comfort to other mar- 
 tyrs and his refusal to sacrifice to idols, saying : " I do not sacrifice 
 except to the Omnipotent God, who reigns in Heaven." 
 
 Saints Sabas and Nicetas are the two most famous saints among 
 the Goths. The first of these Sabas is honoured on April 
 1 2th and the last on this day ; especially by the Greeks, who name 
 him as one of the '' great martyrs." When Valens became 
 Emperor of the East in 364 the nation of the Goths was divided 
 into two kingdoms. Athanaric, King of the Eastern Goths,
 
 408 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 whose territory bordered on the Roman empire toward Thrace, in 
 370, raised a furious persecution against the Christians. By his 
 orders an idol was placed in a chariot and carried through the 
 towns and villages and any Christian who refused to adore it was 
 
 put to death ; their usual custom being to burn them and their 
 children in their houses. Thus Nicetas, a noble Goth, who had 
 accepted the Christian faith and proved his constancy within the 
 holocaust of his own dwelling.
 
 ST. NINIAN 409 
 
 SEPTEMBER i6th. 
 
 This day the Roman Church honours another of those noble men 
 of whom she has so many to be proud of, St. Ninian, the Apostle 
 to the Southern Picts, and to whom I already have alluded. Of his 
 early life, as is the case with many of those old-time worthies, little 
 seems to be known beyond the fact that he was the son of a 
 Cumbrian Briton prince in or about Galloway ; in the borderland 
 between what is now England and Scotland, but then was in 
 North Umbria and a part of Bernecia. The same section I have 
 spoken of as that occupied in the II. century by a tribe which 
 Ptolemy termed the " Novantag " and who came to be known as 
 " the Picts of Galloway," and still later as the locus habitat of the 
 "Wild Scots of Galloway." How Ninian 's house had come to 
 know anything of Christianity is untold and we can only infer that 
 it had come about through intercourse with his Irish neighbours. 
 Thus in a vague, uncertain way we are told how Ninian had 
 quitted " court and its attractions " and made a journey to Rome 
 where he spent many years. The next we hear of him is toward 
 the close of the Roman occupation of Britain, as a missionary 
 located on the north shore of Solway Frith and on the west side of 
 Wigtown Bay, at a town which Ptolemy calls " Leukopibia," now 
 called Whithorn. St. Ninian's story here first connects him with 
 St. Martin of Tours for whom we know through many incidents in 
 his later life he had a great veneration and love. It also first 
 mentions the foundation of the "Magnum Monasterium " founded 
 by Ninian at Whithorn, and variously called " The House of 
 Martin " and " Candida Casa," the latter probably from the white 
 stone of which the church edifice was constructed. The legend 
 tells us that Ninian sent to St. Martin of Tours for workmen to 
 build this church " after the Roman manner," and it is the first 
 stone structure of which we have any authentic account north of 
 the Solway Frith. While no date is given in regard to this we 
 know St. Martin died in 397, and therefore this could not have 
 been at a later date. This monastery became known as a great 
 seminary for secular and religious learning. It was here that St. 
 Finian, or Finbarr, was educated and later established the great
 
 4 io SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 school at Magh-Bile, or Mogbile in county Down, Ireland, of 
 which I spoke on June 9th, when describing the life of St. 
 Columba. 
 
 From this great monastic school both Ninian and his pupils 
 went forth as missionaries among the Southern Picts and pagan 
 Britons from Mount Grampus as it was then called through 
 Cumbria and Northumbria ; and from this gained the title of the 
 " Apostle to the Southern Picts. " 
 
 In early days the residence of the Picts alternated between the 
 Northern and the Southern Picts and also the capitol of the nation 
 changing with each alternate dynasty, an interesting subject I can 
 not enter on here. Ethnologically these Picts were one race and 
 descended from the same cruithnigh ; but while united in general 
 purpose they were dual in certain essential points. In Ninian's 
 time the king was a Southern Pict, Tudivald by name ; as fierce an 
 idolater as Columba encountered in Brude at Inverness. Yet 
 Ninian seems to have overcome him as it was by his aid the won- 
 derful church which Ninian built was completed. It is singular 
 though, that there is no account of the conversion of King Tudi- 
 vald to be found either in Bede's or Siacginui's Chronicles, or in 
 any of the Folk-tales of the time as was the case when the doors 
 and gates fell before SS. Columba and Conegal at Inverness. 
 
 Whatever of Ninian's teachings resulted in had passed by St. 
 Columba's time and the tribes again lapsed with Ninian's depar- 
 ture into a state of semi-paganism. 
 
 Again there comes an aggravating hiatus in the life of Ninian ; 
 yet in an old " Irish Life of St. Ninian " it is recorded that he left 
 Whithorn and went to Ireland where he founded a church in 
 Leinster called Cluain Couairc, and in " Bollaudus Acta Sancta " 
 it is recorded he is commemorated on September i6th under the 
 name of Morenn. " Mointnd Tomain hi tuaiscert h Fallan " 
 glossed Monenni of Cluain Toman in the north of Hy-Fallan 
 in Leinster. The Martyrology of Talsnacht says " Monenni " is 
 merely Nenn, or Ninian, " i. e., Ninianus Episcopus Candida 
 Casa." Bede, the Saxon historian, is the authority now univer- 
 sally accepted for the date of St. Ninian's death in 432 ; but no 
 details of any kind exist, as to when, where or how he died except
 
 ST. CYPRIAN 411 
 
 that Montelambert's, " Monks of the West " says Ninian died at 
 Whithorn 432. 
 
 Another honoured name this day is St. Cyprian, one of the 
 most famous of the Latin Fathers and second only in eloquence 
 to Lactantius. He was a native of Carthage and became a con- 
 vert to Christianity at an advanced period of life having been led 
 to renounce paganism through conversation with an aged presby- 
 ter called Cecilius, whose name he adopted as an addition to his 
 own. The enthusiasm which he displayed on behalf of his new 
 faith caused him soon to be admitted as a priest, and within less 
 than a year afterwards to be raised to the dignity of Bishop of 
 Carthage as successor to Donatus. In the exercise of his office 
 he manifested such zeal that the pagans, in derision styled him 
 Coprianus, in allusion to a Greek term for filth ; and on the com- 
 mencement of the Christian persecution under the Emperor Decius 
 the heathen populace rushed into the market-place shouting: 
 " Cyprian to the lions ! Cyprian to the wild-beasts ! " The danger 
 that threatened him seemed so imminent that he deemed it expedi- 
 ent for a time to retire from Carthage though in doing so he 
 exposed himself to some severe animadversions from his brother- 
 clergy of Rome for thus shrinking from the storm and suffering 
 his flock to perish. From his place of retreat, however, which 
 seems to have been carefully concealed, he despatched numerous 
 letters to guide and animate his people under their trials. At last 
 on an abatement of the persecution taking place, Cyprian returned 
 to Carthage and continued his episcopal ministrations with great 
 zeal and success till a fresh season of tribulation commenced for 
 the church under the Emperor Valerian, in A. D. 257. On this 
 occasion the Bishop of Carthage showed no disposition to cower 
 before the blast but bravely remained at his post to encourage and 
 strengthen his hearers. In the autumn of the last-mentioned year 
 he was himself apprehended and brought before the African pro- 
 consul, who ordered him into banishment to the city of Curubis, 
 about fifty miles from Carthage. After remaining there for about 
 a twelve month the expectation of still bloodier edicts arriving 
 from Rome caused him to be brought back to Carthage and lodged
 
 4 i2 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 for a time under surveillance in his own country-house near the 
 city. On the reception of the fatal orders, the Proconsul Galerius 
 Maximus caused Cyprian to be brought before him at his country- 
 seat of Sextus, six miles from Carthage. The tide of popular 
 opinion had now turned entirely in favour of the bishop ; who had 
 while a pestilence was raging in the city, exerted himself with the 
 most heroic ardour both personally and by calling forth the co- 
 operation of others in relieving the sufferings and ministering to 
 the necessities of the sick. A noble large-heartedness had also 
 been shown by him in proclaiming to his people the duty of assist- 
 ing all sufferers in this terrible visitation without regard to the cir- 
 cumstance of their being Christian or pagan. An immense and 
 sympathizing crowd accompanied him on the road to the procon- 
 sul's house. The proceedings before that functionary appear to 
 have been of a very summary description as Cyprian on having 
 replied to a few interrogations and steadily refusing to conform 
 to the pagan ceremonies, was forthwith ordered to be beheaded. 
 This was in the year 238. 
 
 SEPTEMBER i;th. 
 
 In Roman Martyrology mention is made and in the Ordo for 
 this day there is in the Roman Church an especial office directed 
 in commemoration of the " Impression of the sacred wounds 
 which St. Francis, founder of the Order of Minorites, received 
 through a wonderful favour of God, in his hands, feet and sides 
 on Mount Alvernia." St. Francis' festival occurs on October 4th, 
 but this day is a special occasion to mark this event which won for 
 him the title of "the Seraphic." The legend is a very long one 
 and must be condensed into a few words devoid of the incidents 
 which make it a graphic picture. After a fast of fifty days in his 
 cell on Mount Alvernia he had a vision of a seraph with six wings 
 descending from Heaven and standing beside him. When the 
 angel left he found indelibly impressed on his hands, feet and side 
 imprints of the wounds our Saviour Lord had received on the 
 Cross of Calvary, imprints he carried with him until his death. It
 
 ST. THOMAS, "ALMONER' 413 
 
 is this event that the Roman Church celebrates to-day in especial 
 honour of St. Francis, though his festival occurs later in the year 
 when I shall have much to say of this notable man. 
 
 SEPTEMBER i8th. 
 
 The Roman Emperor Domilianus can hardly be counted a saint 
 but since the name of this heartless monster is closely connected 
 with the death of so many of the " noble Army of the Martyrs " 
 it seems proper to mention this as the anniversary of his death. 
 He was foully though no doubt deserving of his fate assassi- 
 nated in the year 96 as Roman history tells us, but I must forego 
 giving the details. 
 
 This day is the festival of St. Thomas of Villanova, or Villanu- 
 eva, surnamed " The Almoner ; " the glory of the Church of 
 Spain in these later days. He was born at Fuelana in Castile in 
 1488. When fifteen years of age he was sent to the University of 
 Alcala which was founded by Cardinal Ximenes, Prime Minister 
 under both Ferdinand and Charles X. Later on, after graduation 
 he taught moral philosophy at Alcala and at the celebrated Uni- 
 versity of Salamanca. In 1518 he took the habit and vows of the 
 Hermits of St. Austin at the house of that institute at Salamanca. 
 His legend tells us the singular coincidence that " he pronounced 
 his vows on the very day and in the same hour," when Luther 
 publicly renounced his connection with the Roman Church. The 
 title Almoner was bestowed upon him because of his generosity 
 to the poor. It is told of him that from a child his one aim in life 
 seemed his desire to help others. That as a lad he would disrobe 
 himself in the street even, in order to clothe some poor child he 
 met in rags and that throughout his life he was ever ready to 
 forego any comfort, deny himself every luxury and endure priva- 
 tion, even to the extent of personal physical suffering, if thereby 
 he was able to alleviate the necessities of others. As a pulpit 
 orator he was wonderfully eloquent and Charles V. held him in 
 such veneration that in 1544 he named him Archbishop of Val-
 
 4H SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 encia. Thomas reluctantly accepted the exalted position but 
 secretly resolved to use the wealth the office would inevitably 
 bring to him for the good of his jellow men. He arrived at 
 Valencia so poorly clad and provided for that his canons sent him 
 a purse of four thousand crowns with which to equip himself for 
 his new state. He thanked the donors and then sent the money 
 to a hospital for the sick and appeared wearing the same hat he 
 had worn for twenty-six years. He classified as philanthropists 
 to-day might well do ; the poor, dividing them into six classes to 
 be treated accordingly. First the bashful poor who once had 
 been independent and were now ashamed to beg. Second, poor 
 girls whose poverty enforced them to temptation, sin and shame. 
 Third, poor debtors. Fourth, orphans and foundlings. Fifth, 
 the lame, sick and infirm. And lastly strangers who found 
 themselves without the means to secure for themselves food and 
 lodging. 
 
 While he gave all his income save barely enough to maintain his 
 simple establishment, barren of every luxury or anything ostenta- 
 tious, his charities were not indiscriminately bestowed. A pro- 
 fessional beggar (tramp or hobo we term them) found no mercy 
 at his hand ; but the deserving never left him empty handed. 
 Had I the space to tell the story, some of his methods would give 
 points to our generous but unsystematic philanthropists. 
 
 But the choicest gift this holy man bestowed was given all 
 unconsciously to himself by his personal visits to the poor, sick 
 and suffering, where his presence seemed to bring comfort and 
 peace at all times. I regret thus to briefly memorize a life so full 
 of love and charity. He died in 1555 and \vas beatified by Paul 
 V. in 1618, who then directed St. Thomas' attribute should be 
 " An Open Purse." He was canonized by Alexander VII. in 1658. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 
 
 This day is the festival of St. Theodore, the first Archbishop of 
 Canterbury after St. Austin, who had been consecrated by Pope 
 Vitilian in 668.
 
 ST. AGAPETUS 415 
 
 The Roman Church holds this day in honour of SS. Januarius, 
 Bishop of Beuenvento ; Sosius, Deacon of Miseno ; Provennilus, 
 Deacon of Puzzuoli and two eminent laymen named Eutychius 
 and Acutius of Puzzuoli, all victims of the cruel persecution of 
 Dioclesian. This is but the repetition of the oft-told story of 
 chains, imprisonment, exposure to wild beasts in the ampitheater, 
 and they were at last beheaded in 305 because they had visited 
 and comforted Christian prisoners, and that they themselves held 
 firmly to the faith of Christ. The body of St. Januarius was 
 brought to Naples and with it a bottle which contained some of 
 his blood, and his legend says that even to-day after these centur- 
 ies of time have elapsed when this bottle is placed by the head of 
 its martyr the congealed blood at once liquifies. Pope Pius II. 
 mentions this as a fact in 1450. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 2oth 
 
 Is sacred to the honour of St. Agapetus, Pope and Confessor. 
 In 535 when Pope John II. died, Agapetus was only an Arch- 
 deacon of the Church of SS. John and Paul of Rome, but his 
 learning and sanctity were widely known and he was elected suc- 
 cessor to the Holy See and ordained on May 4, 535, ten days 
 after the death of John II. His influence was at once felt for by 
 his interposition the unhappy schism of Diosconis against Boni- 
 face II. in 529 was quickly healed. Justinian not only recognized 
 him but sent to him an especial profession of faith which Agape- 
 tus received as orthodox and the two became warm, loyal friends. 
 In February, 536, Agapetus went to Constantinople to interview 
 the emperor, where he died on April I7th of the same year after 
 a brief but eventful period of only eleven months and a few days 
 as a dominant power of the Church. His festival has been fixed 
 for this day. 
 
 THE SIBYLS. 
 
 The author has been asked several times in regard to the Sibyls 
 and their connection with the Church. While it cannot be said
 
 4 i6 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the Church recognised these mythical personages it seems clear it 
 used them as a quasi-argument in the early and middle ages as 
 shown by this verse, from a hymn said to have been written by 
 Pope Innocent III., (i72d Pope, 1198-1216) and translated in the 
 English version of the Missal as follows : 
 
 " The dreadful day, the day of ire 
 Shall kindle the avenging fire 
 
 Around the expiring world ; 
 And earth, as Sibyl said of old, 
 And as the prophet king foretold, 
 
 Shall be in ruin hurled." 
 
 Both the origin and number of the Sibyls is obscure and uncer- 
 tain. Varro one hundred years B. C. gave their number as ten 
 and their names came from their habitation : Sibylla Persica, from 
 Persia, Libyca (Libyea), Delphica (Delphi), Eryhaea (Erthyrae), 
 Cumana (Cumae), Samia (Samos), Sinomeria (Black Sea), Tibur- 
 tina (Tivoli), Hellespontina (Hellespont), and Phrygia (Phrygia). 
 There were others afterward named like the Agrippa, the Hebriaca 
 and the Europas ; while the Queen of Sheba is also termed one of 
 these wonderful creatures. They were prophetesses and foretold 
 the coming of Christ to the Gentiles as the Prophets of old did to 
 the Jews. Much disagreement existed among the Early Fathers 
 as to the value of their prophesies. Some even regarded them as 
 emissaries of the devil. Traditions and legends innumerable are 
 told of these Sibyls ; but I can make room for none, and only 
 mention the especial office of a few. 
 
 The Sibylla Persica was supposed to be a daughter-in-law of 
 Moses. She predicted the coming of the Messiah. She is repre- 
 sented as holding down a serpent beneath her feet and with a 
 lantern in her hand. 
 
 The Sibylla Libyea prophesied the manifestation of Christ to 
 the Gentiles. Her legend says she was twenty-four years old at 
 that time. Her attribute is a lighted torch. 
 
 The Sibylla Eryhaea seemed to have a varied mission. She 
 appears as the prophetess of divine vengeance and of the Trojan 
 war, and as such bears a naked sword as her attribute. But she
 
 THE SIBYLS 417 
 
 is said to have also foretold the Annunciation, and in this charac- 
 ter has for her attribute a white rose. 
 
 The Sibylla Cimmeria when eighteen years old prophesied the 
 crucifixion of Christ, and for this bears as an attribute a cross or 
 crucifix. 
 
 The Sibylla Cumana foresaw and foretold the Nativity and that 
 it should take place in a stable, and thus her attribute is an ancient 
 stone manger. 
 
 The Sibylla Delphica for her prophecy of the mock regal adorn- 
 ment of Christ, has for her attribute a crown of thorns. 
 
 The Sibylla Cania was of the time of Isaiah, and has as 
 attribute a reed and a cradle. Just why is not apparent in her 
 legend. 
 
 The Sibylla Phrygia prophesied the Resurrection of Christ, 
 and therefore bears the Resurrection Cross with its banner. 
 
 The Sibylla Tibertina is represented as dressed in skins of ani- 
 mals. Her attribute, a bundle of rods, seemingly symbolizes 
 Christ's flagellations, and in like manner the Sibylla Agrippa has 
 a scourge in her hand. 
 
 The Sibylla Hellespontina prophesied the incarnation and also 
 the crucifixion of Christ, and thus has the double attributes of a 
 crucifix and a budding rod. 
 
 Finally the Sibylla Europa is represented as but fifteen years old. 
 It was she who prophesied the massacre of the Innocents and 
 thus has a sword for her attribute. 
 
 From this brief mention of the Sibyls we can easily understand 
 the quasi-recognition given them by the Church, mythical though 
 they were. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 2ist. 
 
 This is the festival of St. Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist. 
 Among the Apostles St. Matthew ranks as the seventh or eighth, 
 but as an Evangelist is placed first, since theologians in general 
 concede it was the first of the Gospels written. Others place it as
 
 ST. MATTHEW 
 
 419 
 
 the third and its date is fixed by these in A. D. 66. There is very 
 little positive knowledge about St. Matthew's personality. He 
 alludes to himself but once in his own Gospel, while in the Gos- 
 pels of the other Evangelists he is named but twice and then only 
 incidentally. He was a Hebrew, the son of Alphaeus of the tribe 
 of Issachar ; by profession " a publican " or tax-gatherer under 
 the Romans, an office which while very lucrative to him was pecu- 
 liarly odious and offensive in the eyes of his fellow Jews. His 
 original name, Levi, in Hebrew signifies " Adhesian," (See Gene- 
 sis xxix., 34) while the name Matthew in the same language means 
 " Gift of Jehovah." To the point where Christ bids Matthew 
 follow him, the sacred records as well as traditional and legendary 
 history are equally scant. 
 Beyond this we have 
 almost wholly to depend 
 on tradition for every- 
 thing we find regarding 
 St. Matthew. From the 
 " Perfecto Legendario " 
 and other traditions that 
 confirm it, we learn that 
 St. Matthew wrote his 
 Gospel to satisfy the 
 wishes of the converts in 
 Palestine and that after 
 the Ascension when the 
 Apostles were dispersed, 
 he went into Egypt and 
 Ethiopia to preach ; that 
 while at the capital of 
 Ethiopia he lodged at the 
 house of the eunuch who had been baptised by Philip. At 
 that time there were two terrible magicians who by their spells 
 and enchantments held the Ethiopians in terror and subjection. 
 St. Matthew quickly overcame these magicians, and having bap- 
 tized the people they were free from the diseases which the incan- 
 tations of these sorcerers had inflicted on them. St. Matthew
 
 420 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 spent twenty-three years in Egypt and Ethiopia, and during that 
 time is reported to have performed many miracles. 
 
 Both Eusebius and St. Epiphanius in cheir chronicles claim that 
 St. Matthew spent several years preaching in Judea before he 
 went to the East and was richly rewarded by the number of con- 
 verts he made and that his Gospel was written before he departed 
 on his long mission. 
 
 That St. Matthew reached a very old age and died in the nine- 
 tieth year of the Christian Era seems to be generally believed ; 
 but the manner of his death is uncertain. The Greek legends tell 
 of him dying in peace in Parthia, but Venantius Fortunatus relates 
 that he suffered martyrdom at Nadabar. According to Dorotheus 
 he was honourably interred at Hierapolis in Parthia. His relics, 
 were long since brought to the West, Pope Gregory VII, in 1080, 
 saying they were kept in a church bearing his name at Salerno. 
 
 In art St. Matthew as an Evangelist, holds in his hand a book, 
 (see illustration) or a pen while an angel his proper attribute 
 stands by pointing toward heaven. As an Apostle he usually 
 holds a purse or money-bag as significant of his former voca- 
 tion. The grotesque winged-man, his frequent symbol, I 
 have before spoken of, while the Clog Almanac symbol is purely 
 " Runic." 
 
 SEPTEMBER 22d. 
 
 The story of St. Maurice and his noble companions of the 
 Thebean legion of which Maurice was the commandant may be 
 somewhat trite to readers of ancient history, but it is peculiarly 
 fitting to be told now as it marks the inception of what have come 
 to be known as the Dioclesian persecutions. 
 
 Among the troops which accompanied Maximian into Gaul was 
 the Thebean legion raised in Thebais, Upper Egypt, a country then 
 full of zealous Christians. Maximian's expedition was wonderfully 
 successful and when the army had crossed the Alps and reached 
 Octodurum on the Rhone ( now Martini in the Valais), Maximian
 
 THEBEAN LEGION 
 
 421 
 
 issued an order that the whole army join in sacrificing to the gods 
 for their success. 
 
 It was then the Thebean legion rose in their might, inspired by 
 the heroic Christian Maurice, and withdrew from the main army to 
 Agaunum (a village now called Maurice in honour of this brave 
 man) and to a man openly but firmly refused obedience to the 
 order to sacrifice to the Roman gods. 
 They were loyal, as soldiers ; would fight 
 the battles of the Empire " a la mort," 
 but they would worship only the one 
 God, whom Christ represented. The 
 anger of the emperor knew no bounds. 
 He ordered the legion decimated, one in 
 every ten as the lot fell to be put to death, 
 and that the rest return to camp and obey 
 his order. Encouraged by their officers 
 not one man faltered in his given purpose 
 even after that first decimation. Again 
 the emperor threatened them with death 
 to every man of them if they refused to 
 sacrifice to the gods. Their reply was as 
 before, adding : " We have arms in our 
 hands, but we shall not resist because we 
 would rather die than live by any sin." 
 This Thebean legion was six thousand 
 strong, the finest soldiers of the Roman 
 Army when by Maximian's order they 
 were surrounded. Although well armed 
 and while their officers were skilled men of war and brave ; yet 
 when the final order came they silently submitted without one 
 blow in self defense but allowed themselves from their comman- 
 ders Maurice, Exuperius and Candidus, down, to be slaughtered. 
 Save to encourage each other to stand firm in the faith and submit 
 to their martyrdom they opened not their lips. The camp was 
 literally filled with their dead bodies lying in pools of bood. 
 
 Maximian, to encourage his army to this brutal massacre, had 
 given them permission to Joot the Thebean camp and each tp
 
 422 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 retain such spoils as he could secure. While thus engaged a 
 veteran Roman soldier who had held aloof from the bloody work, 
 came among them. This soldier, Victor by name, they invited to 
 _ join the revels as they feasted 
 
 W on the viands they had 
 
 Ipk secured, but he refused. They 
 
 taunted him and cried : "Art 
 thou then, too, a Christian ? " 
 to which both he and a com- 
 
 ^i panion named Ursus replied : 
 
 ^k ^k '* We are, and glory in our 
 
 ^L ^^ profession." Whereupon they, 
 
 ^^ ^^ like their Thebean friends, were 
 
 ^^ ^W cut down. 
 
 B^^. ^ ^W This was on September 22d 
 
 J J in 286 and their festival was 
 
 long known as that of " the 
 Happy Legion." 
 
 SEPTEMBER 23d. 
 
 ^ On this day the Greek 
 
 ^^ Church especially honours St. 
 
 Thecla, a virgin martyr of the 
 
 first century. The Latin 
 
 I Church as well reverences her 
 
 SYMBOL OF THE HAPPY LEGION. with but Htt , e less vener ation. 
 
 She was a native of Isauria, and St. Methodius in his " Banquet 
 of Virgins " tells us she was " well versed in profound philosophy 
 and the various branches of polite literature." Her legend is 
 that she was betrothed to a youth named Thanryris ; but on 
 hearing St. Paul preach she resolved upon leading a religious life 
 and to do so refused to marry the young man. At last tired of 
 entreating Thecla, Thanryris applied to the governor, and this 
 caused Paul to be imprisoned. Bribing the jailor with her earrings 
 and a silver mirror, she gained access to Paul and sitting at his
 
 ST. THECLA 423 
 
 feet listened to his words and became all the more convinced in 
 her resolves. In the end Paul was scourged and driven from the 
 city, but St. Thecla was condemned to be burned. She was 
 brought naked to the stake and though a huge fire was built round 
 her, it burned itself out leaving the virgin unhurt. After this 
 her legend tells, but does not say how she escaped and went 
 with Paul to Antioch where she was again arrested and con- 
 demned by the governor to be torn to pieces in the amphitheatre 
 by wild beasts. The day came and she was again stripped of 
 her clothing and led by a chain fastened to a girdle around her 
 waist. But as the flames had refused to burn her, so now the 
 wild beasts came and lay quietly at her feet as if they slept. 
 The governor marvelled as well he might, and cried out : " Who 
 art thou, woman, that no beast will harm thee ? " " I," she replied. 
 " am a servant of the living God and His Son, Jesus Christ." The 
 governor ordered her clothing brought and said : " Put on thy 
 garments and get thee hence." 
 
 Then Tinsinia, a widow, took Thecla to her house where she 
 entertained her giving her " much money" to aid Paul in his work, 
 and with a store of clothing for the poor, she sent her again to 
 Paul. 
 
 At last Thecla retired to a mountain cave to dwell as a recluse 
 but the sick sought her out and she healed them by her prayers. 
 The physicians of Silicia said she was a priestess of Diana and 
 healed others by reason of her perfect chastity of thought and 
 deed. So they sent evil men to do her violence but as she ran with- 
 in her cave for safety a great rock rolled itself before its mouth 
 and shut the wicked men out from harrassing her. Her long 
 legend adds that thus, partly in journeying and partly in the mo- 
 nastic seclusion of her cave, she spent seventy-two years of her 
 life having been eighteen when she left Iconium and ninety " when 
 God translated her." Thecla was the first female honoured by 
 the Greek Church. Her attributes are a palm branch in her hand 
 and wild beasts of every kind lying quietly at her feet.
 
 424 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 SEPTEMBER 24th. 
 
 This day is marked in the Roman mass as the Feast of Our 
 Lady of Mercy. 
 In the English church the day is recognised as 
 
 THE FEAST OF INGATHERING. 
 
 Wherever throughout the earth there is such a thing as a formal 
 harvest, there also appears an inclination to mark it with a festjve 
 celebration. The wonder and gratitude felt towards the great 
 Author of Nature when it is brought before us that, once more, 
 as it has ever been, the ripening of a few varieties of grass has 
 
 furnished food for earth's 
 teeming millions, make it 
 natural that there should 
 everywhere be some sort of 
 feast of ingathering. In 
 England this festival passes 
 under the endeared name of 
 Harvest Home. In Scotland 
 where that term is unknown 
 the festival is hailed under 
 I the name of the Kirn. In 
 the north of England its 
 ordinary designation is the 
 Mell Supper. And there 
 are perhaps other local 
 names. 
 
 While this day is marked in the ritual of the Church it is not like 
 our Thanksgiving a national feast, but rather it may be called a 
 movable feast which every farmer regulates to suit his own Har- 
 vest Home, that few of the great estates or larger farmers even 
 now fail to observe. 
 
 But if you would read of the old-time Harvest Home take 
 down your volume of Herrick, that quaint, genial, lovable English 
 poet of the old days, and read his lines beginning
 
 ST. BARK. 425 
 
 " Come, sons of summer, by whose toile, 
 We are the Lords of wine and oile ; 
 By whose tough labours, and rough hands, 
 We rip up first, then reap our lands." 
 
 ***** 
 
 The only Clog Almanac symbol I find for this day is an English 
 one, which represents a sickle, the reaper's implement from the 
 earliest days. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 25th. 
 
 To St. Barr or Finbarr, as he is at times called (or yet again 
 Barrus, or Barrocus ; for in those old days seemingly, no two per- 
 sons spelled the same name in the same manner), every Irishman, 
 born in Cork, pays reverence on March i;th and December ist, 
 for it was to this saintly man, who established a monastery at 
 Lough Eric, that the city of Cork owes its inception. The church 
 has named this 25th of September his festival day. The name by 
 which he was baptized was Lochan ; that of Fin-bar, or Bar the 
 White was given him afterward. He served as Bishop at Cork 
 seventeen years and died at Cloygen, fifteen miles from there, but 
 his relics rest in a silver shrine in his cathedral at Cork. The old 
 monastery is called Gill Abbey, or Gill Acda o Mugin after the 
 famous Bishop of Cork in 1170, who had so increased its impor- 
 tance that it bore his name as if he had founded it. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 26th 
 
 Is dedicated to SS. Cyprian and Justina who were brought 
 together under somewhat peculiar circumstances, St. Cyprian has 
 as a surname the title " the Magician," for the reason that prior to 
 his conversion he was a soothsayer and practiced the arts of 
 magic. It was in this capacity that a young pagan nobleman 
 came to consult him and employed him to use his art of divination 
 to enable the young man to overcome the objections of a beautiful
 
 426 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 young Syrian lady named Justina with whom he was in love. 
 Her father was a " Priest of the Idols " in Antioch. But she had 
 been converted to Christianity and through her influence both her 
 parents had become Christians, and she naturally was very averse 
 to granting the wish of the young pagan. Cyprian was not loth 
 to make the trial and put forth every artifice he knew to accomplish 
 his purpose ; but soon found himself smitten with the charms of 
 the young lady as well as surprised at his want of success. 
 Justina was well aware of what Cyprian's purpose was, and in 
 his " Confessions " the Magician says : " She armed herself 
 with the sign of the Cross and overcame the invocations of 
 the demons," and wondering what the secret power could be 
 began in earnest to search for the truth. He consulted a 
 priest named Eusebius who encouraged him in the work of con- 
 version which he ultimately consummated by burning all his 
 magical books, giving his substance to the poor, and enrolling 
 himself among the Christian catechumens. On the breaking out 
 of the persecution under Dioclesian, Cyprian was apprehended and 
 carried before the Roman governor at Tyre. Justina, who had 
 been the original mover in his change of life, was at the same 
 time brought before this judge and cruelly scourged, whilst 
 Cyprian was torn with iron hooks. After this the two martyrs 
 were sent to Nicomedia to the Emperor Dioclesian who forthwith 
 commanded their heads to be struck off. The history of St. 
 Cyprian and St. Justina was recorded in a Greek poem by the 
 Empress Eudocia, wife of Theodosius the Younger, a work which 
 is now lost. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 2;th. 
 
 This day is the festival of another somewhat remarkable couple. 
 Saints Elzear, Count of Arian, and his wife, Delphina. Both 
 were from rich and noble families in the kingdom of Naples. 
 
 When Elzear was but ten years old, Charles II., King of Sicily 
 and Count of Provence, caused him to be betrothed to Delphina 
 of Glandeves, the daughter of the Lord of Pui-Michel, a girl of
 
 SS. ELZEAR AND DELPHINA 4 27 
 
 twelve years of age. In 1308, three years later, the marriage was 
 celebrated with great pomp. But as it happened, Delphina as 
 well as her husband was a devotee to religious life ; for the two 
 had been brought together solely for the aggrandizement of their 
 respective families and for state purposes. By a mutual agree- 
 ment, the newly wedded couple resolved to live together in perfect 
 chastity and sanctity as brother and sister, a compact which was 
 never broken. When Elzear was twenty-three years old, by the 
 death of his father, he inherited his rank, titles and great wealth. 
 But these the noble couple looked upon only as " talents " 
 entrusted to them for the benefit of the poor, sick and needy. 
 Delphina had also inherited the great estates of Glandeves. From 
 that hour their lives were unostentatiously given to the work of 
 their Master ; as in the meantime they both had been enrolled in 
 the " Third Order of St. Francis," of whom and his Orders of 
 Franciscans I shall speak on October ist. 
 
 I must omit all further details of his advancement at Court 
 though still living for the great purpose he set before him, until we 
 find Elzear, attended by the flower of the nobility of Naples, as 
 the ambassador of King Robert, at Paris, to demand of Charles 
 IV. the hand of Mary, the daughter of the Count of Valois in 
 marriage for the Duke of Calabria. It was in Paris he sickened 
 and died on September 27th, 1323, when in his twenty-eighth 
 year of age, leaving a memory for his brief life redolent for its true 
 beauty and sanctity. 
 
 After Elzear's death, Delphina spent some time at the court of 
 Naples as the friend and companion of Queen Saucia, wife of King 
 Robert. But on the king's death in 1343, Delphina was retired to 
 the nunnery of St. Clare, where she died, in the seventy-sixth 
 year of her age, on September 26th, 1369, but her festival has 
 most appropriately been kept on the same day with her sainted 
 husband. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 28th. 
 
 St. Lioba, who is this day honoured by the Roman Church, was 
 held up by them, both in England and Germany, at the close of
 
 428 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the X. century, as a model of Christian perfection which was to 
 be followed. She was of an illustrious Anglo-Saxon family and 
 born in West Saxony. At an early age she was placed in the 
 monastic school of the great double monastery of Winburn in 
 Dorsetshire where she was under the care of the Abbess Zetta. 
 For her day she was an unusually learned woman. St. Boniface 
 was fully aware of both her learning and her virtues, therefore was 
 anxious to secure her services for his infant church in Germany ; a 
 wish which Lioba shared most heartily, and which at length was 
 gratified and St. Boniface quickly placed her at the head of a 
 small monastery, called Bischafsheim, or the Bishop's House. Her 
 teachings and precepts soon made the little nunnery famous and 
 many nuns were sent from it to other parts of Germany to be 
 taught by her ; while kings and princes recognized her worth and 
 virtue. Especially among these was Pepin, the King of the 
 Franks, and later his son, Charles, or Charlemagne, when he came 
 into power, often sent for her to come to Aix-la-Chapelle for con- 
 sultation, and his wife, Hildegardis, would have kept her perpetu- 
 ally by her if she could have done so. The departure of St. 
 
 Boniface to Friesland and 
 his martyrdom was a crush- 
 ing blow from which Lioba 
 never fully recovered, and in 
 her old age she resigned her 
 cares and retired to a little 
 nunnery at Scornscheim near 
 Mentz, dying there in 779. 
 
 SEPTEMBER apth 
 
 Is the feast of St. Michael 
 and all the Angels, or as it 
 is popularly called, Michael- 
 mas Day. 
 
 Michael is regarded in the Christian world as the chief of 
 angels, or an archangel. His history is obscure. In Scripture he 
 
 s. MICHAEL.
 
 ST. MICHAEL 
 
 429 
 
 is mentioned five times and always in a warlike character ; namely, 
 
 thrice by Daniel as fighting for the Jewish church against Persia ; 
 
 once by St. Jude as fighting with 
 
 the devil about the body of Moses ; 
 
 and once by St. John as fighting at 
 
 the head of his angelic troops 
 
 against the dragon and his host. 
 
 The festival is one which is 
 strictly observed by both branches 
 of the Christian Church : the 
 Anglican and Roman. 
 
 On the Clog Almanac St. Mich- 
 ael has for his attribute a pair of 
 scales of the earliest type. 
 
 According to St. D i o n y s i u s 
 
 (called the Areopagite) and other 
 
 theologians there are three classes 
 
 of angels, each division consisting 
 
 of three orders, or choirs, thus making nine orders ; viz. : 
 
 ist THE COUNCILLORS OF THE MOST HIGH. 
 
 And of these First, SERAP- 
 HIMS. Usually represented as 
 covered with eyes. Second 
 CHERUBIMS, each having six 
 wings. Third THRONES. 
 
 lid GOVERNOR. 
 Of these First, DOMINA- 
 TIONS, who bear a sword, 
 triple crown and sceptre. 
 Second VIRTUES, in complete 
 armor. Third POWERS, 
 
 chaining devils. 
 
 Hid MESSENGERS. 
 
 Of these First, PRINCEDOMS. These hold a city, or are in 
 complete armor and bear a pennon. 
 
 Second ARCHANGELS.
 
 430 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Michael and St. Raphael, bearing a pilgrim's staff. St. 
 
 Gabriel, Angel of the Annunciation, and St. Uriel. All these 
 
 wear complete armor and 
 sometimes carry trumpets. 
 Third ANGELS. These 
 generally carry a wand. 
 
 Of the endless variety of 
 conception by artists as to 
 the forms of the Angels and 
 Archangels I cannot here 
 speak, though it is a most 
 interesting subject. The 
 two illustrations given are 
 from the painted glass win- 
 dows in the Chapel of New 
 College, Oxford, while the 
 
 CAEDMON MS. WINDOW IN ANTE- two others, a Cherubim 
 x. CENTURY. CHAPEL, MERTON and Seraph, are from sources 
 
 COLLEGE, OXFORD. a& shown j n ^ subscri p tion 
 
 of each. The canonical colour for this Feast of St. Michael and 
 All Angels is white. 
 
 I cannot take space to speak of why : 
 
 " September, when by custom (right divine) 
 Geese are ordained to bleed at Michael's shrine " 
 
 save to call attention to the custom. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 
 
 The day is especially sacred to St. Jerom in all Christian 
 churches ; not alone because he stands as the first, of the " Four 
 Latin Doctors of the Church," but because of his importance and 
 dignity as founder of Manachism in the West ; and also as the 
 author of the universally received translation of the Old and New 
 Testaments called "The Vulgate."
 
 ST. JEROM 431 
 
 Jerom as his name is spelled in the earlier writings of the 
 Fathers was born at Striddonium (now Idripui) on the confines 
 of Pannonia, Dalmatra and Italy in 342. His father, Eusebius, 
 was rich and as young Jerom displayed especial aptitude for study 
 he was sent to Rome for his later education, where he had for his 
 tutors the famous pagan grammarian Donatus and the celebrated 
 Victorinus, the rhetorician, who by a decree of the Senate was 
 honoured with a statue in Trajan's square later perfecting him- 
 self in logic by studying the works of Aristotle and Porphry. 
 Jerom tells us, that while thus engaged : " I was wont to visit the 
 tombs of the Apostles and Martyrs," and of the deep impression 
 they made upon his mind, In spite of it all, he like other students 
 even in modern days, fell into temptation and for a time aban- 
 doned himself to the pleasures of gay Roman life. But his in- 
 born love of virtue and learning at last triumphed over this 
 youthful lapse from " the straight and narrow way." His perfect 
 knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages and his naturally 
 critical mind led him to study for the bar, and he early became 
 eminent for his eloquence as a pleader before tribunals and his 
 accurate knowledge of law. When past thirty he began his 
 travels in Gaul, visiting the various schools of learning of Mar- 
 seilles, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Autun, Lyons and the then imperial 
 city of Triers. It was at this latter place he became converted 
 and was baptised, a most interesting story, as read in the " Chron- 
 icle and Letters of St. Jerom ; " though too long for repetition here ; 
 but culminating in his vowing perpetual celibacy on his return to 
 Rome, where for a time he was secretary to Pope Memasus. 
 
 In 373 he traveled in the East later studying divinity with Greg- 
 ory, Nazianzen, Epiphanius and Didymus, and the Hebrew with a 
 learned Jew named Barraban, but spending most of his time at 
 the monastery in Bethlehem in deep study ; later retiring into the 
 deserts of Egypt and Syria among Amhorites to gain instruction 
 and edification from their conversation. 
 
 But we cannot follow the details of his studious life though 
 from the day of his consecration in Holy Orders in 377, there is no 
 period that is not replete with interest. Twice before he began 
 the work that has made his name immortal, he had corrected from
 
 432 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 the ancient Italic, books of the Old Testament and Psalter, once 
 at Rome in 382 and next in 389 while yet in Palestine. 
 
 The new and correct translation of St. Jerom's Vulgate was 
 published only when Dom Martiany (1647-1717) the French Bene- 
 dictine and Commentator brought it before the world under the 
 title of " The Sacred Library " though the council of Trent had 
 in 1546 declared it to be the authentic version of the Bible. But 
 the history of this would of itself fill a volume to cover it in de- 
 tail, and cannot be crowded into a few lines, such as are at my 
 disposal. 
 
 After three years of residence in Rome, Jerom once more 
 
 returned to the monastery he 
 had founded in Bethlehem, 
 where he died in peaceful old 
 age in 420. 
 
 The legends and traditions 
 of St. Jerom are replete with 
 interest, but like the brief story 
 of his life which I have so un- 
 satisfactorily to myself told 
 must be curtailed. 
 
 Sitting at the gateway of his 
 monastery in Bethlehem, St. 
 Jerom saw a huge lion come 
 
 (From an ancient Venetianldition of his Hmping toward him holding one 
 
 writings and life.) front paw in the air. The holy 
 
 man did not move until the lion crouched at his feet and held his 
 paw before him. On examining, St. Jerom found the paw had 
 been penetrated by a sharp thorn which he carefully removed and 
 then applied some healing ointment, bound up the wounded foot 
 and assigned to the lion to lie down within his own cell where he 
 attended him until the paw was healed. From that time the lion 
 became the saint's constant companion, following him like a dog 
 everywhere. Later an ass that used to bring fire-wood for the 
 monks, was confided to the care of the lion while he grazed in a 
 neighbouring meadow, but while the lion slept the ass strayed 
 away. The lion searched in vain and returned to the monastery
 
 ST. JEROM'S LION 433 
 
 shame-faced and with a drooping head. Jerom, thinking the lion 
 had devoured the ass, ordered that the daily burden of fire-wood 
 should be packed on the lion's back, to which the beast humbly 
 submitted and performed the duties of the ass. One day the 
 lion having performed his duties, set out again to search for the 
 ass. A caravan was just then passing and the lion saw it was led 
 by an ass in whom he recognised his erstwhile charge, and the 
 ass also remembered the lion. At once the lion drove the camels, 
 merchants and attendants into the gates of the monastery, where 
 the merchants at last confessed to having stolen the ass. St. 
 Jerom pardoned them and set them free. From a score of such 
 legends the lion early became the attribute of St. Jerom and 
 appears in all pictures of the saint. Another reason being that 
 the proud, fiery nature of the lion was peculiarly characteristic 
 of St. Jerom.
 
 OCTOBER 
 
 Then came October, full of merry glee ; 
 
 For yet his noule was totty of the must, 
 
 Which he was treading in the wine-fat's see, 
 
 And of the joyous oyle, whose gentle gust 
 
 Made him so frolic and so full of lust: 
 
 Upon a dreadful Scorpion he did ride, 
 
 The same which by Dianae's doom unjust 
 
 Slew great Orion, and eeke by his side 
 
 He had his ploughing-share and coulter ready tyde. 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 October received its name from being 
 the eight month in the old Alban or 
 Latin Kalendars when there were but ten 
 months in the year. The ancient Saxons 
 styled this month the " Wyn-monath," or 
 "wine-month," yet there was no wine 
 made at that time in old Saxony. The 
 early Germans termed it " Winter-fyllith," 
 as being the precursor of winter. 
 
 OCTOBER ist. 
 
 St. Remigius, who is this day honoured by the Roman Church, 
 was the great Apostle of the French, and one of the brightest 
 lights of the Gaulish Church ; alike illustrious for his learning, 
 eloquence, sanctity and miracles. His name still has a place also 
 in the Calendar of the English church. Youthful precocity did
 
 ST. REMIGIUS 
 
 435 
 
 not, as it does sometimes, belie the future in Remigius ; for at the 
 age of only twenty-two years we find him (reluctantly on his 
 part) made Bishop of Rheims. The result proved that the 
 pontificate, in insisting upon his accepting the perferment, made 
 no mistake. Clovis was at this time king, and though yet a pagan, 
 held Remigius in high esteem and listened to him as he did to his 
 wife Clotildis, who was a Christian. It was not 
 until after the battle of Talbiac in 496 that Clovis 
 was converted as the result of securing Divine 
 interposition, the legend running that : " When 
 Clovis was starting to meet the Sueve and Alemani, 
 Clotildis had said : ' In the hour of your need, if 
 you cry to our God He will help you.' The battle 
 was going against Clovis ; his troops had already 
 begun to retreat before the enemy, when Clovis 
 in desperation cried : ' Oh Christ ! whom Clotildis 
 invokes as Son of the living God, I have called on 
 my gods, but they have no power ; I implore Thy 
 succor. Deliver me from my enemies and I will 
 be baptized in Thy name.' From then the legend 
 said, the tide of battle changed, and Clovis won 
 his great victory and soon after fulfilled his vow." 
 came to Rheims for the remarkable ceremony, Remigius perform- 
 ing the solemn rite. After his baptism Clovis bestowed many 
 lands and much wealth on Remigius who distributed them among 
 the churches. King Clovis died in 511 but Remigius survived 
 him many years, dying in 533'when ninety-four years of age and 
 after he had served as bishop and archbishop of Rheims over 
 seventy years. 
 
 S. REMIGIUS. 
 Many bishops 
 
 OCTOBER 2d. 
 
 In the Ordo of the Roman Church to-day is an office for " SS. 
 Angelonim Custodium," or " The Feast of the Holy Angel- 
 Guancaus." 
 This day is also the festival of a somewhat noted Englishman
 
 436 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 whose name is alike honoured in the one English church and in 
 Roman Martyrology, St. Thomas Cantelupe, some time High- 
 chancellor of England and Bishop of Hereford. His father was 
 the celebrated William Lord Cantelupe, one of those generals who 
 succeeded in the overthrow of the Barons and the French, thereby 
 fixing the crown on the head of Henry III . The family was 
 descended from one of the Norman Knights who made up the 
 train of William the Conqueror, and had by many felicitous 
 marriages by the XIII. century become one of the most powerful 
 families in England allied to the earls of Pembroke, the Fitz- Wal- 
 ters, earls of Hereford, the Brenses, earls of Abergavany and 
 others. Thomas was first placed under the care of Walter 
 Cantelupe, Bishop of Hereford, later under that remarkable man 
 Robert Kilwasby, the learned Dominican who was successively 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal, Bishop of Porto, and the 
 Founder of the Black Friars of London. 
 
 When Thomas resolved to consecrate his life to the church 
 after his studies in England, he perfected himself at Orleans 
 in the study of civil law as a preliminary to a better knowl- 
 edge of canon law. Pope Innocent IV. recognising his ability 
 nominated him as his chaplain but he within a few months 
 resigned his office and returned to England to complete his course 
 of canon law at Oxford and later was chosen chancellor of that 
 famous university ; an office he held when King Henry III. created 
 him lord high chancellor of the kingdom. At his own request 
 Thomas was granted leave by Edward I. to resign again and retire 
 to Oxford where his time was given to study and devotion. In 
 1275, he was canonically chosen Bishop of Hereford, an office he 
 filled until his death in 1282. The sanctity of the man and the 
 reverence in which he was held is testified by the fact that in 
 1287 Edward III. personally attended the translation of his relics 
 to the marble tomb where he now rests. He was canonized by 
 John XXII. in 1310, when his festival was fixed for October 2d.
 
 ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI 437 
 
 OCTOBER 3d 
 
 Is sacred to St. Dionysius, the Areopagite. 
 
 Among the judges of that most venerable and illustrious senate 
 of the Areopagites who listened to St. Paul on that memorable 
 day described in Acts xvii. about the year 51, was a noted scholar, 
 named Dionysius, an Athenian philosopher. The convincing logic 
 of Paul added to his own knowledge of the facts in regard to the 
 life and death of Jesus Christ left the philosopher no alternative 
 and he frankly and publicly acknowledged the same, receiving 
 from the Apostle the rite of baptism, and from his great learning 
 at once became an active and most valued assistant and later was 
 appointed by St. Paul as bishop of Athens. 
 
 Of the death of this holy man not a little uncertainty exists. 
 The Greeks in their menologies say he was burned at the stake in 
 Athens for his faith. 
 
 A long list of works written by St. Dionysius the Areopagite is 
 to be found in Butler's " Lives of the Saints." 
 
 OCTOBER 4th 
 
 Is the anniversary of one of the most interesting characters in the 
 entire list of the canonized saints of the Roman Church. St. 
 Francis of Assisi, " The Seraphic " as he was termed for his 
 fervid eloquence and his devout love and service of his Divine 
 Master. Yet with it all such a miracle of personal humility. A 
 large volume that lies before me finds scant room to record the 
 events of his noble life of self-sacrifice ; therefore this brief 
 mention can be but a testimony of his worth. The son of a mer- 
 chant of Assisi near Florence, he was baptized Giovanni (John) 
 but gained his name of Francis (the Frenchman) from his being 
 taught French as a preparation for the business he had been 
 intended for by his father ; but Providence changed this. In one 
 of those local provincial quarrels Francisco was taken a prisoner, 
 and for a year, held a captive in the fortress of Perugia. Sickness 
 followed upon his release, and as he lay upon his sick bed he
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 resolved to devote his life to God. From thenceforth his whole 
 life was one of poverty, for his father had cast him off ; yet he in 
 the midst of his own poverty still went bravely on in his life's 
 work until he succeeded in founding the Order of Friar Minors, or 
 better known as Franciscans, one of the three Mendicant Orders 
 of Friars, that later was supplemented by the Order of " Poor 
 Clare's " described in the account already given of St. Clare of 
 Assisi, the " Grey Sister." The fundamental character of each 
 being either personal poverty ; relying wholly upon the charity of 
 others not alone for their own meagre wants, but as well for the 
 means whereby to carry on their own great work for the benefit 
 of the sick, the suffering and the poor whom they fed. It is 
 a wonderful story which I regret not to repeat ; but it would 
 involve the entire early history of this noted order of Franciscans. 
 
 OCTOBER 5th. 
 
 THE FESTIVAL OF THE ROSARY. 
 
 The first Sunday in October is fixed by the Ordo of the Roman 
 Church as the Festival of the Rosary. By means of its beads and 
 their arrangement the rosary is used by members of this church to 
 assist their memory in the repetition and counting of the prayers 
 said in accordance with its ritual. These consist of fifteen Pater 
 Nosters and a hundred and fifty Ave Marias which, for the con- 
 venience of worshippers, are counted on a string of beads. Each 
 rosary or string of beads consists of fifteen decades, each of these 
 decades contains one Pater Noster marked by a large bead, and 
 ten Ave Marias, marked by ten smaller beads. The festival of the 
 rosary was instituted to implore Divine mercy in favour of the 
 church and all the faithful and to return thanks for the benefits 
 conferred on them, more especially for the victory of Lepanto in 
 1571 over the Turks. 
 
 Pope Pius V. ordained the festival for all the churches under the 
 title of Sta. Mary de Victoria, but Gregory XIII. changed the title 
 to that now used.
 
 THEROSARY 439 
 
 The rosary itself in its present form is said to have been invented 
 by St. Dominic ; though it had its first origin in the East and had 
 long been used by hermits, anchorets and the Benedictine monks 
 before its introduction into the use of the church as a body. 
 
 The Roman Church pays honour this day to St. Placidus, the 
 Abbott of Messina in Sicily and his companion martyrs. Placidus 
 was the son of Tertullus, a Roman senator, and like so many sons 
 of noble Roman families was at the age of seven committed to 
 the care of St. Benedict at his monastery at Sublaco. It was 
 here, legend tells us, St. Benedict performed a wonderful miracle. 
 The lad Placidus in some way had fallen into the water of the lake 
 and when St. Benedict was told of it he called a monk, named 
 Maurus and blessing him sent him to the rescue. The child, 
 " was floating a bow-shot from the shore when Maurus, walking 
 on the water, seized the lad and drew him ashore, his (Maurus) 
 melote (a sheep-skin the monks wore on their shoulders) not even 
 having been wetted." This power having been given Maurus 
 through the blessing of St. Benedict. 
 
 How much influence this rescue had on young Placidus in 
 determining his future is not told in direct words ; but it could 
 not have failed under all the circumstances and his surroundings 
 to have impressed him deeply ; for he took upon himself the 
 monastic vows at an early age. In or about 541 he went to Sicily 
 where he founded a monastery at Messina ; he then being twenty- 
 six years of age. In this act he was nobly aided by his father 
 Tertullus. Here, too, he was joined by his two brothers Euty- 
 chius and Victorinus, with his sister, Floria, devoting their lives to 
 devotion and to works of charity. A few short years only were 
 granted them when a party of Arian Goths headed by a pirate 
 named Manrechas landed on the island and some thirty or more 
 monks with Placidus, his virgin sister and his brothers were 
 brutally murdered and their monastery plundered and destroyed 
 on October 5, 546.
 
 440 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 OCTOBER 6th. 
 
 The memory of St. Faith to whom a crypt in the cathedral of 
 St. Paul in London is dedicated, is one of the saints which both 
 the Anglican and Roman Churches select for honour on this day. 
 Among those Christians whose invincible constancy triumphed 
 over the malice of Dacian under Dioclesian and Maximian, none 
 better deserves notice than the almost child whose parents 
 had named at her baptism " Faith." A girl endowed with such 
 exquisite, wondrous personal beauty of both 
 face and form, that even passing strangers 
 stopped and watched her with longing, linger- 
 ing eyes that they might fix in their memories 
 her pure, saintly face. No woman, however 
 young, is insensible of her own charms, nor was 
 Faith so. She knew also what such beauty as 
 hers could win for her in the outer world ; but 
 hers was a higher, purer and nobler ambition 
 for she had been taught only the simple faith 
 of Christ crucified, risen and all powerful to 
 save. Thus when apprehended and brought 
 before Dacian she needed none to instruct her 
 how to answer him. Her legend purports to 
 give these verbatim as she stood sturdy and 
 steadfast to her name and all it represented. 
 ST. FAITH. jvj ol . could a u ^g w jl e s, threats or promises 
 
 of Dacian avail against her strong purpose. Even the on-lookers 
 were struck with pity and horror as they exclaimed : " How can 
 this tyrant torment this innocent young virgin ! " For which 
 many were then and there arrested and suffered death as the 
 penalty of their sympathy. Of course St. Faith's fate was sealed 
 from the moment when she refused to sacrifice to Diana and 
 she was beheaded on October 6, 290. 
 
 To-day is also the festival of the celebrated St. Bruno, Founder 
 of the Carthusian Monks. 
 The story of how St. Bruno with his companions first conceived
 
 ST. BRUNO 441 
 
 the project of the order at Rheims and at a later date retired to 
 the wilderness of Chartreaux and founded a church and small 
 monastery from whence the order was finally evolved is a long 
 and interesting one. The event is said to have occurred in 1085 
 or 86, authorities differ, Dr. Butler naming June, 1084. 
 
 The rules of the Carthusians are the most severe of any of the 
 monastic orders. Almost perpetual silence is maintained among 
 the brothers, for they never speak if a sign can serve the purpose 
 except on one day in each week when for a time they may con- 
 verse together. They never taste meat and a single meal of 
 " pulse, bread and water," is allowed daily. This too is eaten 
 separately. Their dress is white. 
 
 St. Bruno might have had preferment in the Church but he 
 declined all to carry out his cherished ideal community. He died 
 in 1101. Pope Leo X. instituted an office for St. Bruno in 1514 
 for the church of St. Stephen; but in 1623 when he was canon- 
 ized by Gregory XV. the office was extended to the whole Church. 
 
 This St. Bruno must not be confounded with St. Bruno, Bishop 
 of Segni, mentioned July i8th, as he sometimes is, even by 
 writers, for I have a volume before me, purporting to be " Stories 
 of the Saints," in which the lives of the two saints are sadly 
 jumbled. 
 
 OCTOBER 7th 
 
 Commemorates St. Mark, Pope and Confessor, who held the high 
 and holy office but for eight months from January i8th, 336, 
 when he was placed in the Apostolic chair, until his death on 
 October 7th of the same year. 
 
 The day is also sacred to St. Justina, the patroness of both 
 Padua and Venice who like the gentle St. Faith was yet another 
 victim of the terrible persecutions of those twin monsters Diocle- 
 sian and Maximian ; who recognized neither youth, beauty nor 
 virtue as an excuse for the heinous crime of being a Christian. 
 This beautiful virgin was the daughter of King Vatalicino of
 
 442 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Padua, a Christian who educated her in his faith. On his death 
 Maximian accused the princess of holding the faith of her father. 
 Far from denying it, she boldly affirmed her belief in Christ. As 
 usual, no mercy was given and she was condemned to death and 
 her legend tells how when the executioner appeared, " she 
 opened wide her arms and received without flinching the fatal 
 sword thrust in her bosom." 
 
 OCTOBER 8th 
 
 The Church honours St. Bridget of Sweden, the Founder of the 
 Order of Brigitines, or Brigitta. She was the wife of Ulpho, 
 Prince of Nericia, who died in 1344. After her husband's death 
 and when she had distributed his estate among her children she 
 instituted the Order bearing her name, whose object was, in 
 addition to charity and other good works, to observe particular 
 devotions for the Passion of Our Lord and in honour of His Holy 
 Mother. She built the great monastery of Wastein in which were 
 housed sixty nuns, and in a separate building friars numbering 
 thirteen priests, four deacons, four doctors of the Church and 
 eight lay brothers of the Order. The Order itself apparently was 
 not confirmed until after her death when it was approved by 
 Martin V. (Pope 1417-1431), while she died in 1373. 
 
 The Order of the Brigitines appeared as the Third of the Order 
 of St. Augustine. One monastery only of this Order ever was 
 founded in England, that of Sion-house built in 1413, by Henry V. 
 and of which I have already given an account in a previous article. 
 
 St. Bridget was canonized in 1391 by Boniface IX., and her 
 canonization confirmed by Martin V. in 1419. 
 
 This day is also the festival of St. Pelagia, the penitent come- 
 dian, who is such a prominent character in Charles Kingsley's 
 remarkable novel, " Hypatia."
 
 ST. DENIS 
 
 OCTOBER 9 th. 
 
 443 
 
 This day is sacred to St. Denis, Denys, or Dionysius, who must 
 not be confounded, as is often the case, with St. Dionysius the 
 Areopagite spoken of on October 3d. 
 
 St. Denis was of all the Roman missionaries in Gaul the indi- 
 vidual who, in preaching the doctrines of the 
 Cross, penetrated furthest into the country, and 
 fixed his seat at Paris of which he became the 
 first bishop. He is said to have been put to 
 death during the persecution of Valerian, and 
 a well-known legend is related regarding him, 
 that after suffering decapitation, he miracul- 
 ously took up his head, carried it in his hands 
 for the space of two miles and then lay down 
 and expired. 
 
 The bodies of St. Denis and his companions 
 are recorded to have been interred by a Chris- 
 tian lady named Catalla not far from the place 
 where they had been beheaded. A chapel was 
 thereafter erected over their tomb and in the 
 fifth century a church which was greatly re- 
 sorted to by pilgrims. St. Denis is the patron 
 of France. 
 
 ST. DENIS. 
 
 To-day is also kept the festival of St. Lewis Bertrand. He was 
 one of a noble band for whom too high praise cannot be spoken, 
 who in those early days dared the dangers of crossing the broad 
 Atlantic to carry the gospel to the Indians of the New World. 
 
 He was a Spaniard by birth, born in Valencia, where as a youth 
 he became a novice in a Dominican monastery, passing through the 
 various degrees in the order with credit both to himself and his 
 teachers. For years his one ambition had been to become a mis- 
 sionary to the savages of America. He was not ignorant of the 
 discomforts and dangers which attended such a life or the proba- 
 bility of its costing him his own life. It was not until 1352 
 when he was thirty-six years of age, that he received permission to
 
 444 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 undertake such a mission, and South America was selected for 
 his field of work when accompanied by one of his fellow friars he 
 started, and after a long and tedious voyage landed at Golden 
 Castile. The scene of his labours for the next three years lay in 
 the Isle of Tobago, the province of Carthagena, and upon the 
 Isthmus of Panama. Even at that early day the Dominicans had 
 established themselves in South America but the territory St. 
 Lewis Bertrand penetrated was new ground and the hardships he 
 and his companion endured from hunger and exposure were 
 beyond description. A stone for a pillow, Mother Earth for a bed, 
 and wild fruits for their food. It would seem as if the " gift of 
 tongues " had been bestowed on this man, so quickly did he 
 acquire the varied dialects of these untutored savages ; but it was 
 this above other things which won for him their confidence. The 
 next objective point of our missionary was the Caribbees, where in 
 the mountains of St. Martha he baptized over 15,000 persons. 
 Again in the country of Mopaia and on the Isle of St. Thomas he 
 gained many converts to Christ, protected always by unseen 
 hands from dangers only later discovered. In 1569 to protect 
 these savages from ruthless plunder and persecutions of lawless 
 Spanish adventurers who infested these new countries, St. Lewis 
 Bertrand resolved to sail for Spain and seek from the Spanish throne 
 the needed relief in which he was partially successful ; but his 
 superiors thought they had other and more needed work for him 
 in Spain, and he could not therefore return to his missionary work, 
 much as he desired to ; but devoted himself to preparing others 
 for the Master's vineyard by his holy life, example and teachings, 
 until in 1 580 when one day preaching in the cathedral at Valencia, 
 he was taken ill and carried from the pulpit to what proved to be 
 his death bed. He was beatified by Paul V., in 1608, and canon- 
 ized by Clement X. in 1671. 
 
 OCTOBER roth. 
 
 This day is kept sacred to the memory of another of the noted 
 men of the Jesuits, St. Francis Borgia, the Fourth Duke of
 
 ST. FRANCIS BORGIA 445 
 
 Gandia and the Third General of the Jesuit Order, and named by 
 his mother out of love and devotion to St. Francis of Assisi. He 
 was a precocious child. At the age of seven he read fluently his 
 native Spanish language and as he advanced in years no pains or 
 expense were spared to furnish him with the best and most 
 learned tutors and masters in each branch of learning. He early 
 disclosed a desire for a strict religious life ; but his father opposed 
 it (his mother had died in 1520) and in 1528 when he was eighteen, 
 in order to turn his thoughts into other channels he was removed 
 from Saragossa and placed at the court of Charles V. , then one of 
 the gayest courts in Europe. Here he gained the esteem of the 
 Empress, who planned to marry him to Eleanor de Castro, a 
 Portuguese lady of the first rank, with great wealth and very 
 accomplished as well as possessed of rare beauty, while added to 
 these she was a woman of fervent piety, and Francis' father gave 
 him no opportunity to decline so advantageous an offer. 
 
 In 1 539 the pious Empress died and shortly thereafter the Mar- 
 quis was made Viceroy of Catalonia, and created knight of the 
 order of St. James or the " Red Cross," the most honourable order 
 of Spain. Barcelona was the seat of the government and it was 
 here that Francis first became acquainted with the tenets of the 
 Jesuit order and began to study their objects. Encouraged as he 
 had always been by his wife, Francis' life had at all times been a 
 devout and religious one ; but now he began to strive for some- 
 thing beyond the life he was then living. In the meantime 
 Francis' father had died, and he now was Duke of Gandia, and in 
 1543 he returned to his native town where he soon founded a 
 college for the Society of Jesus. In 1546 his devoted wife died 
 and about that time Peter Le Fever, one of St. Ignatius Loyola's 
 associates in founding the order, came to Gandia and laid the first 
 stone for the new college. It was then the Duke resolved on the 
 most momentous act of his life and applied for admission to the 
 Society of Jesus, laying aside wealth, honours, and rank to be a 
 servant and to renew his studies in order to become a doctor of 
 theology. 
 
 In 1549 St. Francis visited Rome and with the money he had 
 brought from Spain built a church for the " Professed House "
 
 446 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 and laid the foundation (though he declined the honour and title 
 of Founder) of the great Jesuit institution called the Roman Col- 
 lege completed by Pope Gregory XIII., then resigned his Duchy 
 to his eldest son and in January, 1551, took his final vows as a 
 member of the Society of Jesus. 
 
 The zeal with which Francis carried out his vows during the 
 succeeding years justly entitles him to the title given him by Dr. 
 Butler as " the second founder " of the Order, for while his gifts in 
 money had been lavish, his wisdom and prudence had done even 
 more for the Order. 
 
 On July 2, 1565, on the death of St. Laynez, the second General 
 of the Society, Francis Borgia was elected the third General in 
 succession, an office he filled until his death in 1572. 
 
 St. Francis Borgia was beati- 
 fied by Pope Urban VIII. in 
 1624, canonized by Clement IX. 
 in 1671 and his festival fixed for 
 October loth by Innocent XI. 
 in 1683. 
 
 OCTOBER nth. 
 
 This is the festival of St. 
 Ethelburge or Edeliburge, the 
 virgin Abbess of the first Bene- 
 dictine nunnery founded in 
 England by St. Erconwald, 
 Bishop of London. Ethelburge 
 was an Anglo-Saxon princess, 
 and a sister of Erconwald. Al- 
 though there were then no 
 English houses to which she could repair to carry out her vows 
 of religious life, she secluded herself from the world, even in her 
 father's " Rath " in the privacy of her own apartments. When, 
 however, her brother, Erconwald, then Bishop of London, founded 
 
 ST. ETHELBURGE.
 
 ST. WILFRID 447 
 
 a Benedictine nunnery at Barking in Essex, she consented to 
 become its head and was its first Abbess. Her life was one of 
 those quiet, unostentatious ones we sometimes see devoted to 
 silent and secret good works ; her greater and more sterling 
 qualities only once being called out when in 663 the plague 
 appeared within the walls of the Barking nunnery. Then her true 
 heroism displayed itself in a most marked manner by her attention 
 and devotion to her sick and dying sisters. Giving herself no rest, 
 performing even the most menial duties without complaint and 
 giving succor and support to all until the last victim had been 
 claimed by the dread disease no earthly power could resist. 
 
 When at last the survivors were safely removed from danger 
 and her hour of rest seemed near, she herself fell a victim to her 
 devotion to others and went to her reward, on this nth of Octo- 
 ber in 664. 
 
 OCTOBER 1 2th. 
 
 Both the Anglican and Roman Churches commemorate on this 
 day the memory of St. Wilfrid or as the Anglo-Saxons wrote it 
 Willferder, Bishop of York, who was born in the ancient kingdom 
 of Northumberland in 634 and educated at the monastery of Lindis- 
 farne, then one of the noted monastic schools. Indeed these 
 monastic schools were, down to the tenth century, the only ones in 
 Britain where any high degree of education was to be obtained. 
 At the age of nineteen in 653 ambitious still to attain a degree of 
 knowledge beyond that of Lindisfarne Wilfrid started for France 
 and Italy and in passing through Kent met the noted Bennet 
 Biscop the founder of the celebrated monasteries of Wearmouth 
 and Jarrow into whose churches this advanced thinker and theolo- 
 gian introduced the first paintings ever placed in a church in 
 Britain. In company with this learned man young Wilfrid 
 traveled to Rome, where by good fortune he met St. Boniface 
 then an archdeacon and through him was introduced to the pope. 
 From Rome he proceeded to Lyons where after three years of 
 study he received the ecclesiastical tonsure and was ordained 
 returning to Britain in 658 when the great controversy over
 
 448 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Easter was at its height and in which he had a part. From 
 thence on his was a busy missionary life, not only in Northumber- 
 land but in Bernecia and the North which if I might tell it in 
 detail would show how constant and earnest were those faithful 
 men who laid the foundation for Christianity in Britain. The 
 contest over his bishopric was long and tedious and would inter- 
 est none save ecclesiastics therefore I omit it. Yet even during 
 all this persecution Wilfrid was never idle in his Master's work 
 literally " dying in the harness " in 709. 
 
 OCTOBER 1 3th. 
 TRANSLATION OF THE RELICS OF EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 
 
 Towards the close of 1065 
 this pious m o n ar c h com- 
 pleted the rebuilding of the 
 Abbey at Westminster and 
 at Christmas " he caused 
 the newly-built church to be 
 hallowed in the presence of 
 the nobles assembled during 
 that solemn festival." 
 
 The king's health contin- 
 ued to decline till on the 5th 
 of January he felt that the 
 hand of death was upon him. 
 
 Every reader of history 
 knows how the Confessor's 
 last hours were embittered 
 by the bickerings of his 
 court as to who should suc- 
 ceed him until worn out he 
 at last told Harold and the 
 rest to settle the matter any 
 way they could, then turned 
 on his bed commending his 
 
 ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 
 
 soul to God thus dying on January 5, 1066.
 
 ST. EDWARD 
 
 449 
 
 The Confessor's first burial place was in front of the high altar 
 in the church dedicated to St. Peter (now called Westminster 
 Abbey) begun by Ethelbert and completed by his son Edward 
 surnamed "The Confessor." This tomb was then a very simple 
 affair and the early Chronicles tell us that William the Conqueror 
 presented a pall to cover it : " Very richly was it worked in fine 
 gold and silver, which King William had made to the honour and 
 fame of St. Edward." 
 
 When Westminster Abbey was rebuilt by Henry III. the coffin 
 of the Confessor was for a time placed in 
 the palace of Westminster from whence 
 it was brought to the gorgeous new 
 shrine the monarch had prepared for it, 
 in the new Abbey, on October 13, 1269. 
 The coffin on this occasion was carried 
 by King Henry, his brother Richard, 
 Earl of Cornwall (King of the Romans), 
 his two sons, Edward (afterwards Ed- 
 ward I.) and Edmund, Earl of Lancaster ; 
 the Earl of Warren ; Lord Basset and as 
 many other nobles " as could come near 
 to touch it." And we are told, " this was 
 the first time that Divine Service was 
 celebrated in this Church after the King 
 rebuilt it." 
 
 The present tomb that some of us have 
 seen is but the mutilated remains of the 
 magnificent structure erected by Henry 
 III. for only the basement of that XIII. 
 century work is now standing. It was Italian design erected in 
 Purbeck marble then profusely adorned with glass mosaic. The 
 material and workmen were brought from Italy by Abbot Ware 
 and an inscription may yet be seen that tells us " Peter the Ro- 
 man citizen finished the work in 1269." On either side of the 
 shrine north and south are the niches wherein in old days they 
 laid sick persons in hope of a miraculous cure from St. Edward 
 whose body now actually lies above those niches.
 
 450 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 To quote from Mr. Troutbeck's valuable monograph ; " The 
 body formerly lay in a golden shrine above the marble and 
 mosaic base and this shrine was adorned by many splendid 
 jeweled images. There were among others an image of St. 
 Edmund King and Martyr, his crown set with two large sapphires 
 a ruby and other precious stones, a figure of the Virgin and Child 
 set with rubies emeralds and garnets, a figure of St. Peter holding 
 in one hand a Church in the other the keys ; upon his breast there 
 appeared a large sapphire, meanwhile the saint was trampling 
 on the heart of Nero." This will give my readers a faint idea of 
 the splendors of this now vanished shrine. 
 
 Henry VIII. in 1536 despoiled the shrine of its treasures, while 
 all that he left of any value the " Reformers " of Cromwell carried 
 away. Lest these vandals should even desecrate the tomb itself 
 the Monks for a time, secreted the Confessor's body ; but in time 
 of Queen Mary it was restored to its proper place. This Queen 
 presented many jewels and images for St. Edward's shrine but its 
 pristine beauty had forever departed. 
 
 OCTOBER 
 
 Is the festival of St. Callistus, or Calixtus as that name is some- 
 times written. He was elected to the pontificate August 2, 218, 
 and held the high position for five years and two months ; but the 
 uncertainty of these early dates lead others to limit this time to 
 four years and a few months. 
 
 OCTOBER 1 5th 
 
 Is held sacred in memory of St. Teresa, or Theresa, Virgin 
 Foundress of "The Barefooted Carmelites." Her story, if I 
 could tell it in extenso is one of the many real romances that are 
 to be found among the devotees of the Roman Church. I take 
 space for but an epitome of it.
 
 ST. TERESA 
 
 She was Spanish, born at Avila in Castile in 1515. Her parents 
 were of gentle blood but not wealthy yet not in that most unhappy 
 of all lots in life, in any age or country, " genteel poverty." In 
 one of the fortress-houses of Avilon says Miss G. C. Graham in 
 her life of Santa Teresa : " Where on the shield over the gateway 
 the bucklers of the Davilas were quartered with the rampant lion 
 of the Cepedas she was born and passed her childhood." 
 
 For a time after her mother's death Teresa was in the Convent 
 of Encarnacion not as a novice but pupil. It is right here a 
 pretty love story comes in had I 
 place for it. For in spite of the 
 dearth of eligible suitors for many 
 maidens owing to the hegira of 
 the more enterprising young Span- 
 iards to the Eldorado of the New 
 World Teresa had no lack of them. 
 Then, too, she had fallen into the 
 habit of reading those old-time 
 thrilling anecdotes of Knight- 
 errantry then so much the vogue in 
 Spain. But the romances and fic- 
 tion each were ended by a sudden 
 
 and for a time dangerous illness. 
 
 During her convalescence at the 
 
 manor-house of her Uncle Pedro 
 
 de Cepeda, a grave formal man 
 
 who read religious books only ; 
 
 she was called upon to read to 
 
 him. The courteous respect of the 
 
 young for their elders, left her no 
 
 alternative while she concealed her 
 
 dislike to such books as best she 
 
 could. At last the epistles of St. Jerom were given her to read 
 
 and it was from the reading of these that her resolution came to 
 
 take upon herself the vows of a Carmelite nun. It was not the 
 
 inspiration of a moment but after a long struggle which fills many 
 
 pages in her own writings in describing ; for unlike many who 
 
 ST. TERESA.
 
 452 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 in those days entered religious retreats she was sincere and earn- 
 est. The nunnery of Encarnacion it may be said in passing was 
 then far from being what many think of such retreats. 
 
 Under her newly inspired devoutness this far from met Teresa's 
 ideas though perforce she for a long time endured it. In fact, 
 twenty years lapsed, full of many interesting experiences, failures 
 and falterings before the hoped for time came. 
 
 Even the story of the Reformation of the Carmelite Nuns must 
 be abridged. The discipline of the Encarnacion was lax, lacking 
 in almost every way the essential features of a religious house 
 during the twenty years St. Teresa waited before her opportunity 
 came and then, it was accomplished only through difficulties she 
 might well have shrank from. Briefly told it came about thus : 
 An elderly nun of the Carmelite Order had observed St. Teresa 
 often talking with her regarding the restoration of the primitive 
 rules that once governed houses like the Encarnacion. It was not 
 without hesitation that the Superior and the Provincial were in- 
 duced to give their consent that Teresa and thirteen nuns should 
 start a convent to be governed by the old-time strict rules. In- 
 deed the Provincial very quickly changed his mind and forbade 
 the new enterprise to be entered upon. But Teresa had forestalled 
 this. A house had been secured and through friends both a Papal 
 brief and the consent of the Bishop had been obtained and on St. 
 Bartholomew's Day in 1 562 the little band of enthusiastic ascetics 
 set up their altar in their new home. What followed seems to 
 us to-day a sort of comedy. The Prioress had taken alarm, the 
 Town-Council and Chapter of the Cathedral joined in the fray 
 when St. Teresa was ordered by them to return to the Encarna- 
 cion and close the new house. But she held the Papal brief and 
 the authority of the Bishop, which she flourished in the face of 
 the Provincial and to quote from a descriptive verse before me of 
 this affair : " The city magnates in high dudgeon appealed to the 
 sovereign Philip II." In the end but not until after a year Teresa 
 came off victor. 
 
 This then was the origin of the Reformation of Barefooted 
 Carmelites. But her eager active mind now that she had her dis- 
 calceated nuns, resolved to enlarge her field and secure an order of
 
 ST. GALL 453 
 
 friars as well which through a General of the Society of Jesus at 
 Medina she later succeeded in founding in 1568. A story quite as 
 curious in all its details as had been the founding of her discalce- 
 ated nuns. But I will not enlarge beyond saying that through 
 the aid of an excellent priest Antonio de Heredia and St. John of 
 the Cross the foundation for the Order of the Barefooted Friars 
 began in Medina and the Order soon began to spread under St. 
 Teresa's earnest work. For she was practical as well as enthusi- 
 astic and from the hour she started out from the Encarnacion 
 convent for her new purpose her life was one of incessant toil 
 until in October 1582 worn out with her labours for the Carmelites 
 Brothers and Sisters of the Strict Observance she went to her 
 reward. She was canonized by Gregory XV. in 1621. 
 
 OCTOBER i6th 
 
 Is devoted to the memory of St. Gall, one of those learned Irish- 
 men who went forth from those remarkable monastic schools of 
 Ireland as missionary to the pagans of the continent in the year 
 585 ; first preaching in Austrasia and Burgundy finally settling 
 with a few devoted brethren on the banks of Lake Constance in 
 the Switzerland of to-day : where they dwelt in their little cells. 
 The legend tells us " by the casting out of a devil, from the beauti- 
 ful daughter " of Gunzo, the Duke or Governor of the surrounding 
 country, St. Gall had won them great favour so that the Duke as 
 well as the Bishops, would have placed him in the Episcopal see 
 of Constance ; but he preferred his mission work and cell by Lake 
 Constance from which he only emerged to preach among the 
 pagans many of whom he brought to the knowledge of Christ. 
 He went out to be a missionary and as such he faithfully remained, 
 in spite of hardships and all tempting offers of ease until his death 
 October 18, 646. 
 His festival has been fixed for the i6th of this month.
 
 454 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 OCTOBER i ;th. 
 
 The Angelican Church honour in their Kalendar on this day 
 St. Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely for whom the Roman Church holds 
 a festival June 23d, on which day I told her history. 
 
 On this day the name of St. Hedwiges, Duchess of Poland, 
 appears in Roman Martyrology. A remarkable woman who 
 despite her almost royal birth saw nothing in the pomps and vani- 
 ties of Court life worthy to compare with the love of Christ in the 
 soul. Her father Bertold III. of An- 
 dectia, Marquis of Meran, Count of 
 Tivol and Prince of Carinthea had be- 
 stowed her in marriage on Henry, Duke 
 of Silesia when she was but twelve years 
 old. Henry was also descended from a 
 great and noble family and himself a 
 man of note. Not to dwell on the early 
 years of her married life in which she 
 faithfully fulfilled her marital duties we 
 hasten on for those stirring times in Po- 
 land. Henry of Silesia proved himself 
 no pawn on the board while the great 
 game was being played. In 1235 as all 
 readers of Polish history know, the crisis 
 S. HEDWIGES. came started in 1233 when the nobles of 
 
 Greater Poland expelled Ladislas Ortonis who had made Henry 
 their Duke. His wife urged him not to accept the flattering offer 
 for she foresaw what only too surely came as it did in most of the 
 governing houses of that period when her own sons would be 
 quarreling for supreme authority in the State. 
 
 This conflict came even sooner than Hedwiges had anticipated 
 for Duke Henry having marched against Cracow and some other 
 provinces of Poland had easily overcome them. Out of love for 
 his second son Conrad the Duke wished to place him in control. 
 To this Hedwiges demurred regarding the rights of the elder 
 brother Henry as paramount. To make our story brief the armies
 
 ST. LUKE, EVANGELIST 455 
 
 of the two brothers met in deadly conflict and despite the support 
 Conrad received" from his father Henry was victorious and Conrad 
 died soon afterward in retirement. But I must not follow Polish 
 history any further. 
 
 For years before Duke Henry died it had been the wish of the 
 Duchess to found a great monastery for Cistercian nuns at 
 Trebuitz, three miles from Breslau the capital of Silesia. To 
 this the Duke although at first opposed at last consented, but to 
 secure her end Hedwiges sacrificed her entire dower while her 
 husband aided by settling upon the new monastery as an endow- 
 ment the town of Trebuitz, and other estates thus providing for 
 the maintenance of one thousand persons. It was hither she 
 retired after her (amicable) separation from Duke Henry took 
 place that she might more earnestly fulfil her charitable and 
 religious ambitions. From this time her life was devoted solely 
 to penance and good works too numerous for detail here. Her 
 death took place on October 15th, 1243. In 1266 Pope Clement 
 IV. canonized her, but it was Pope Innocent IX. who fixed the 
 date for her festival. 
 
 OCTOBER i8th. 
 
 St. Luke, the third in rank among the Holy Evangelists is this 
 day remembered and honoured by Christians throughout the world. 
 He was not one of the Apostles having been converted after 
 Christ's ascension. But he was the companion and beloved friend of 
 Paul and after his death Luke preached the gospel in Greece and 
 Egypt. He was a proficient in the science of physics and also an 
 artist of no mean talent, as the pictures he drew of both our 
 Saviour and the Virgin Mary prove. One of these pictures of the 
 Blessed Virgin ascribed to the pencil of St. Luke, Pope Paul V. 
 had placed in the Borghesion chapel of Sta. Maria Via Lata in 
 Rome, where it is still shown. While Mrs. Jameson (see her 
 Sacred and Legendary Art ) does not credit St. Luke as having
 
 456 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 been an artist she concedes that he is the recognized Patron of 
 
 Painters. 
 
 His gospel was it is generally believed written much later 
 
 than either St. Matthew or St. 
 Mark. His s y m b o 1 is the 
 " Winged Ox." Callot's im- 
 ages represent him as paint- 
 ing the Virgin and Child. His 
 death occurred on or about A. 
 D. 63. The illustration above 
 is the Clog Almanac symbol 
 of St. Luke and purely Runic. 
 
 OCTOBER 
 
 It is curious, as I have al- 
 ready remarked, how in the 
 early days of the Church personal quarrels and a desire for revenge, 
 used the popular prejudice the laws and the antipathy to the Chris- 
 tian religion as a cloak beneath which any one of the Christian 
 Faith could be punished. Ptolemy, Lucius and another companion 
 in their martyrdom whom the Church remembers to-day furnishes 
 another instance of the truth of this remark. Ptolemy was a 
 zealous Christian at Rome and through his earnest endeavours and 
 pleadings with a Roman matron he had succeeded in converting her 
 and she openly proclaimed her belief. Her husband was deeply 
 angered and vowed vengeance not only upon her but also on 
 Ptolemy. Under a Roman law the matron at last secured a legal 
 separation from the man who had so wantonly abused her. This 
 was the signal for the Roman to use his best efforts to secure 
 vengeance against Ptolemy. Appearing before Antoninus ( Mar- 
 cus- Aurel a Consul of Rome, who died A. D. 202) a known 
 opponent of Christianity he lodged his complaint and it was sent to 
 Urbicius, the prefect. Here the Roman accused Ptolemy of being 
 a Christian, a crime that needed only the confession of the faithful 
 man to secure for him condemnation to death. It was then that
 
 ST. FRIDESWIDE 457 
 
 Lucius another Roman Christian came upon the scene and pro- 
 tested against the injustice of the decree and Urbicius demanded 
 of him : " Art thou too a Christian ? " The reply : " I am ! " was 
 enough ; Lucius was condemned to suffer with Ptolemy. Still a 
 third noble man rose to protest and declared his faith, a man whose 
 name has never been known though he like the other two suffered 
 at the same time, the same death, on October 19, 166 and is 
 honoured, according to Roman Martyrology : " At Rome with the 
 other faithful worthies. " 
 
 I can but briefly speak of St. Frideswide, Patroness of Oxford 
 whose father, Didon was Prince of Oxford and the neighbouring 
 territory during the early years of the VI II. century and who as a 
 Christian Prince in 750 founded a nunnery in honour of St. Mary 
 which he committed to the care of his daughter Firdeswide as its 
 Abbess. She had not been without a romance in her life. Before 
 she had become an Abbess her beauty, virtues and rank had 
 captivated a Mercian prince named Algar who had tried in vain to 
 secure her hand, since her resolution to live a religious life had 
 been taken in early life. Even when she had entered the nunnery 
 he pursued her and laid a plot to carry her off by force as her 
 legend tells of her escape by hiding for a long time in a hog-stye 
 and how the prince was mysteriously struck with blindness during 
 his search for her ; but he repented and after the earnest prayers 
 of the saint his sight was miraculously restored. Later St. Frides- 
 wide built for herself a cell and oratory near Thornbury to which 
 she retired living in holy sanctity until her death about 790. 
 
 OCTOBER 2oth. 
 
 The Church to-day honours a saint from out of Pagan Persia. 
 Euginius called by the Orientals Abus and the Chaldaens Avus 
 (both meaning Our Father) was a disciple of St. Anthony, and 
 one of the earliest missionaries into the far East. He established 
 a large monastery near Nisibis from whence he sent out his 
 emissaries through Syria and among the Persians and Saracens.
 
 458 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Among the converts thus made was one disciple of Abus named 
 Barsabias who with some companions suffered under the first 
 persecution of the Christians in Persia begun by Sapor or Chah- 
 pour II. and Sassanide, King (died 380) thus he is among the 
 earliest martyrs in that country and therefore remembered on 
 this day by the Church. With his ten monks Barsabias was 
 preaching against the religion of the Magians and teaching that 
 of Christ when they were apprehended loaded with chains and 
 brought before the Governor at Astahara a city near the famous 
 ruins Persepolis where after a mere farce of an examination 
 was had, a death sentence was pronounced. This was in 342 
 and is especially interesting as being the inception of those relent- 
 less persecutions of Christians in that region and which was to 
 continue for centuries. 
 
 St. Zenobius, Bishop of Florence and patron of that city, is also 
 honoured this day at Florence, although his name appears in 
 Roman Martyrology on May 25th. 
 
 OCTOBER 2ist 
 
 Is the festival of St. Ursula and her virgin companions. Few 
 tourists who ever visited Cologne have failed to listen to her leg- 
 end, as they gazed at the gruesome row of skulls ranged around 
 her chapel in the cathedral the remnant of the original eleven 
 thousand virgins. There are a score of versions of this legend 
 almost any of which would fill many pages, but probably the best 
 that may be read is that given in Mrs. Jameson's "Sacred and 
 Legendary Art," and known as the Cologne version. 
 
 It is impossible to condense any one of these legends within 
 reasonable space and I shall not attempt it but only mention a few 
 bald facts if any of these legends has a right to credence as 
 told. 
 
 First Ursula was the daughter of a king of Brittany, and her 
 beauty was hardly less than angelic while her mind was a perfect
 
 ST. URSULA 459 
 
 storehouse it was said of wisdom and a knowledge of every event 
 from the days of Adam in the Garden until her own time. But 
 rank, wealth, beauty and accomplishments were all secondary to 
 her love of Christ. Naturally she was early sought in marriage 
 and Prince Conon a pagan and the only son of King Agrippinus 
 of England was among those who desired to win her. Thinking 
 by onerous terms to escape any marriage she demanded that she 
 should have ten virgins of the noblest blood of the kingdom for 
 her ladies, that each of these should have a thousand virgins to 
 attend them and she herself should have another thousand maid- 
 ens, and lastly that she should have a respite of three years in 
 which "to honour her virginity." The report of the ambassadors 
 only made Prince Conon more eager and all she demanded was 
 granted. The virgins were therefore gathered and sent to Brit- 
 ain. The prince was also so anxious to see this marvel of beauty 
 and wisdom that he too came. Then Ursula had a revelation, 
 that before her marriage she must make a pilgrimage to Rome 
 with her virgins. At Cologne she had a vision that foretold that 
 on her return she and her virgins would suffer martyrdom at that 
 place. Prince Conon followed her to Rome where he was bap- 
 tized by Cyriacus, receiving the name Ethereus. Leaving out all 
 the details which led up to the event, St. Ursula and her virgins as 
 well as Ethereus, her betrothed were while on their homeward 
 journey, and in fulfillment of Ursula's vision slain by the pagan 
 Huns at Cologne. 
 
 The Ursuline Order named in honour of this virgin was founded 
 by Bishop Angela of Bresica in 1537. It was approved by Paul 
 III. in 1544 and declared a religious order under the rule of St. 
 Austin by Gregory III. in 1572. 
 
 OCTOBER 22d. 
 
 In the festival of SS. Nunelo and Alodia, Spanish Virgins and 
 Martyrs whom the Church honours this day we are again reminded 
 of how widely personal ambition or a desire for revenge lay back 
 of and were often the indirect cause of not a few Christian
 
 460 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 martyrs. In this case nearly two centuries intervened between 
 the original cause and these sufferers. But to tell it would be to 
 recount pages of Spanish history and tell how in revenge for the 
 vile outrages of Roderic the Gothic king had put on a sister of 
 Count Julian, he had first brought the Moors and Saracens into 
 Spain who later had possessed themselves of Mount Calpie which 
 became the world famed Gibraltar, and so trace that wonderful 
 conflict which continued long after the two virgins with which we 
 have to do, had sealed with their blood, their faith as Christians in 
 a town which through this conflict came under the control of the 
 Saracens. 
 
 The father of these sisters was a Mohammedan ; but like many 
 others of his day had married a Christian wife and the children 
 had been brought up in the faith of their mother. Had they as 
 they came to mature age been less lax in their views they could 
 have escaped their terrible fate. But their beauty won for them 
 the undesired attention of many Saracen lovers for whom they 
 were called upon to renounce their religion or surfer. Then was 
 enacted that often repeated story of persecution on one side and a 
 firm refusal to yield on the other. It involved a pretty romance 
 that I can make no record of here, beyond its hard unjust con- 
 clusion whereby when their lovers backed by all the persuasions of 
 the king's officers and endless promises of wealth and honour, these 
 virgins chose for themselves death rather than the loss of their 
 faith in Christ, and so, without a tremor, they went to their 
 execution on October 2 2d in 851. 
 
 OCTOBER 23d. 
 
 Under the persecutions which Julian the Apostate instituted 
 there was hardly a nobler example of Christian heroism and faith 
 than that displayed by St. Theodoret whom the Church remembers 
 on this day. 
 
 Julian the uncle of the emperor had been made " Count or 
 Governor of the East"; a district which embraced the city of 
 Antioch in which dwelt so large a number of Christians as well
 
 ST. THEODORET 461 
 
 also, a large contingent of Arians. Among the Orthodox, ( or as 
 I have before explained Catholic ) priests then living at Antioch, 
 was a zealous priest who had during the reign of Constan- 
 tine been active in destroying idols and in building churches 
 over the relics of martyrs. To this faithful man's hands had been 
 committed the care of the sacred vessels used by the church in its 
 various ordinances and ritual. The intrinsic value of these had 
 been greatly exaggerated but when Julian ( the Governor ) heard 
 that a vast store of gold and silver vessels were in the hands of 
 the Christians he resolved to confiscate them and as a first step 
 ordered the clergy to be banished from Antioch. The priest Theo- 
 doret refused to obey this mandate and he was brought bound 
 before Julian who accused him of having " thrown down the 
 statues of the gods " during the previous night. Then began a 
 series of tortures akin to those of the so-called Spanish Inquisition 
 such as the " bastinado," the " stretching of the body/' and similar 
 acts. But I cannot bring myself to transcribe all the acts this 
 fiend Julian ordered to be inflicted on this faithful man until in his 
 impotent rage he commanded he should be beheaded. 
 
 Julian secured the treasures of the Church but unsatisfied yet 
 he profaned and defiled them to crown his atrocities. Nemesis or 
 more truly God's vengeance quickly punished Julian but this story 
 my readers may find in any Roman history. This story of St. 
 Theodoret is only an incident in Julian's life. It occurred in 362. 
 
 OCTOBER 24th. 
 
 St. Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople, whose name appears 
 in the Kalendar of to-day was one of the marked characters of his 
 generation and his influence very widespread. He had from his 
 ordination as Deacon been famous as a pulpit orator and had 
 been chosen as the Archbishop of Cyzicus the metropolis of the 
 Hellespont but the people refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction 
 of the Bishop of Constantinople who had appointed him and for 
 this declined to receive Proclus who returned to his native city
 
 462 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 but daily gaining in reputation for wisdom, until in 434 when he 
 was promoted to the high honour of Archbishop of Constantinople. 
 
 Perhaps the most noted of the many writings which have kept 
 the name of St. Proclus in memory are those he addressed to the 
 Armenians in 436 when the Armenian Bishops came to consult 
 with Proclus about the doctrine and writings of Theodorus then 
 gaining ground among the Armenians. 
 
 The year 447 is yet notable for the earthquakes which befell 
 many parts of Egypt including Constantinople from whence the 
 people fled in consternation ; even the Emperor Theodosius and 
 his court being among these, but everywhere the figure of St. 
 Proclus is named in his arduous efforts to comfort his scattered 
 flock and it was through this incessant labour that death overtook 
 him on October 24, in 447. In addition to Roman Martyrology 
 St. Proclus' name appears in the Greek Menologues and in the 
 Muscovite Kalendar for this day. 
 
 In the Ordo for this day in the United States, I notice an 
 office in honour of the Feast of St. Raphael, Archangel. 
 
 OCTOBER 25th. 
 
 St. Crispin's Day is one of the most famous of the Saint Days 
 not only in England, but in many parts of Europe. 
 
 St. Crispin and his brother Crispianian were natives of Rome 
 and having become converts to Christianity traveled northwards 
 into France to propagate the faith. They fixed their residence at 
 Soissons where they preached to the people during the day and at 
 night earned their subsistence by the making of shoes. In this 
 they followed the example of the Apostle Paul, who worked at his 
 craft of tent-making and suffered himself to be a burden to no 
 man. They furnished the poor with shoes it is said at a very low 
 price and their legend adds that an angel supplied them with 
 leather. In the persecution under Emperor Maximian they 
 suffered martyrdom and according to a Kentish tradition their 
 relics after being cast into the sea were washed ashore at
 
 ST. EVARISTUS 463 
 
 Romncy Marsh. In medieval art the two brothers are repre- 
 sented as two men at work in a shoemaker's shop and the emblem 
 for the day in the Clog Almanacs is a 
 pair of sandals or feet shod with them. 
 
 From time immemorial Crispin and 
 Crispianian have been regarded as the 
 patron-saints of shoemakers who used to 
 observe and still in many places yet cele- 
 brate their day with great festivity and 
 rejoicings. One special ceremony used 
 to be a grand procession of the brethren 
 of the craft with banners and music 
 whilst various characters representing 
 King Crispin and his court were 
 sustained by different members. 
 
 OCTOBER 26th. 
 
 In the Roman Church this day is sacred to the memory of St. 
 Evaristus who in the year 102 succeeded St. Anacletus as the 
 head of the Christian Church in Rome and governed its affairs for 
 nine years. In Pontifical records this pope is honoured with the 
 title of Martyr, but beyond such trials as every Christian endured 
 during the reign of Trajan there seems to be no record of a cruel 
 death and he was buried : " near to St. Peter's tomb on the 
 Vatican," the chronicles record. It was Evaristus who first 
 divided Rome into separate parishes and assigned to each its 
 especial priests and a!sonamed seven deacons to attend upon the 
 Bishop. Some writers have ascribed to him the creation of the 
 rank of Cardinal ; but of this I cannot speak with any degree of 
 certainty. Pope Evaristus died in 112. 
 
 OCTOBER 27th. 
 
 This day the name of St. Frumentius, the Apostle of Ethiopia is 
 held in honour by the Church in Abyssinia.
 
 464 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 During the reign of Constantine the Great, a scholar named 
 Metrodosus had traveled into Farther Persia called by the 
 ancients Ethiopia. Although he had been despoiled of many 
 valuables by Sapor II. or Chahpour he brought home many rich 
 treasures, diamonds and precious stones. This had inspired 
 " Meropius, a philosopher of Tyre," (as chronicles call him) with 
 an ambition to secure like treasures ; he therefore planned for him- 
 self a similar expedition. On this, Meropius took with him his 
 two nephews who were then only lads. The ship which Meropius 
 had chartered for his voyage put into a small port to secure pro- 
 visions when the barbarians attacked them and slew all except 
 the two boys whom the prince took as his slaves. The lads 
 seem to have in some way won the heart of the barbarian for 
 they received only kindness at his hands and upon his death-bed 
 he gave them their liberty. The Queen also who during the 
 childhood of her son governed the land entreated them to remain 
 with her and aid her in the government for by that time they were 
 men. They consented and did so remain until the young prince 
 assumed the government. Then the younger of the two erst- 
 while slaves returned direct to Tyre but Frumentius the elder 
 who had never during all those years of his captivity failed to 
 wish for the conversion of these heathens went first to Alexan- 
 dria, where he sought out St. Athanasius to whom he related 
 his story and expressed a hope that the Archbishop would 
 send some one to Axuma as a missionary. A synod of Bishops 
 was called who after long and careful consideration selected 
 Frumentius himself as the proper person ; whereupon he was 
 duly ordained Bishop of Ethiopia. How truly and faithfully he 
 fulfilled this new and arduous duty is too long a story to repeat 
 here. But it is one of those records of early missionary work the 
 Church justly prides itself upon. The Bishop continued his earnest 
 work with apparently great success until about the year 405 when 
 the " Supreme Pastor called him to his recompense." The Latin 
 Church has ever honoured St. Frumentius on October 27th while 
 the Greek Church commemorates him on November 3oth. The 
 Abyssinians adding to his name the title of the " Apostle of the 
 Country of the Axumites. "
 
 SS. SIMON AND JUDE 465 
 
 OCTOBER 28th. 
 
 In passing it is not out of place to mention that this is the 
 anniversary of the birth in 1467 of Desiderius Erasmus, who 
 despite Luther's sarcasm was an influential factor in bringing 
 about the great Reformation of which Luther was the exponent. 
 Erasmus died on July 12, 1536. 
 
 In all Christian Churches this day is set apart for the honour of 
 SS. Simon Zelotus (the Zelot) and Jude (Thaddaeus, or Lebbeaus) 
 whose names have for ages been connected. Yet even in 
 ecclesiastical biographies there is so much uncertainty, contra- 
 diction and confusion in 
 regard to these Apostles 
 that one hesitates as to 
 what should be said. 
 According to one tradi- 
 tion these were the same 
 persons of whom St. 
 Matthew speaks as breth- 
 ren or kinsmen of our 
 Saviour. But in quick 
 succession another tradi- 
 tion tells us this could 
 not be so ; for according 
 to this last they were two 
 brothers who were 
 among the shepherds to 
 whom the angel revealed 
 the birth of Christ. The only point wherein all agree seemingly is, 
 that these Apostles preached the Gospel together in Syria and 
 Mesopotamia. But whether they suffered martyrdom together or 
 not is again a mooted point. One tradition claiming that both 
 were put to death in Persia ; St. Simon being sawn asunder with 
 a timber saw and St. Jude killed by a halbert. Thus in some of 
 the illustrations of the Apostles, St. Simon bears a saw as his 
 attribute and St. Jude a halbert. 
 
 ST. SIMON. 
 From Roodscreen 
 Fritton Church, 
 Norfolk. 
 
 ST. JUDE. 
 From Roodscreen 
 Fritton Church, 
 Norfolk.
 
 466 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 One tradition of St. Simon says that he came to England and 
 was there crucified by the ancient Britons. In Greek art, St. 
 Simon is represented as suffering martyrdom on a cross and so 
 much like those of our Saviour, that but for the superscription 
 " O CIMON " (the last O, being the Greek omega) they cannot 
 be distinguished. In Greek art also singu- 
 larly St. Jude and St. Thaddaeus are shown 
 as two distinct persons ; though we know 
 mm ^m^ St. Jude was called both Thaddaeus and 
 ^^^h Lebbaeus and the gospels show was a 
 ^^F^f kinsman of Christ. (See Matt, xiii., 55.) In 
 ~~ some of the Runic Clog Kalendars SS. 
 
 Simon and Jude's day is marked by a ship 
 to represent their occupation as fishermen. 
 The more common ones being like our illus- 
 tration. To conclude this list of contradic- 
 tions, I have before me another illustration 
 of the martyrdom of St. Jude showing him being shot to death 
 with arrows as if to add to the confusion already mentioned. 
 
 Even the careful painstaking Dr. Butler, finds it necessary to 
 qualify his words by saying : " If this Apostle preached in Egypt, 
 etc.," in his remarks on St. Simon. Thus showing how limited 
 the knowledge of our best authorities is in regard to these 
 Apostles. 
 
 OCTOBER 29th. 
 
 In St. Narcissus the venerable Bishop of Jerusalem whom the 
 Church honours on this day we have if in no other respect a most 
 remarkable instance of longevity. Born toward the close of the 
 first century he was almost four-score years of age when he was 
 placed at the head of the Church in Jerusalem as its Thirtieth 
 Bishop. In 195 we find him with Theophilis, Bishop of Cassarea, 
 jointly presiding at the council of the Bishop of Palestine held in 
 Csesarea convened to consider that vexed question which so long 
 troubled the Church as to the proper time for observing Easter.
 
 NEW YEAR CUSTOMS 467 
 
 Despite the reverence the holy Bishop was held in by good men 
 of his day it is evident he had his enemies even " in his own 
 household " because of his severity and strictness in observing 
 the obligations imposed upon all Christians by the laws of the 
 Church and by them was driven into exile for several years. But 
 in the end he returned and supported by his faithful flock aided by 
 a Coadjutor St. Alexander in his extreme old age once more min- 
 istered to his people until as I read in the Roman Martyrology for 
 this day : " The blessed Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem, distin- 
 guished by his holiness patience and faith went to God at the age 
 of one hundred and sixteen years." 
 
 OCTOBER soth. 
 
 The Church holds a festival this day for St. Asterius, one of the 
 early Fathers of the Church who wrote about A. D. 400 and 
 whose works even yet are held in reverence for their wisdom and 
 vigour. But they are more especially interesting to us from his 
 mention of the keeping of the festivals of the Resurrection and 
 Epiphany (or " of lights," as he calls it) as well as of Christmas. 
 Another most interesting point is his sermon (still preserved) 
 decrying against the pagan custom of going from door to door to 
 " wish each other a Happy New Year." Showing how ancient 
 that custom is, Asterius' objection being not the joyous wish but 
 the wild riotous conduct of those who engaged in the act. 
 
 Few of us I fancy realise the obligation antiquarians and 
 scholars owe to the Roman Church, for the preservation of ancient 
 manuscripts like these sermons of St. Asterius which throw such 
 a flood of light on those early customs in the old world ; filling out 
 many gaps where profane history is silent. 
 
 OCTOBER sist. 
 
 It is also the Vigil of All Saints and for which, both in the 
 Anglican and Roman Churches, especial offices are ordained.
 
 4 68 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 HALLOWE'EN. 
 
 There is perhaps no night in the year, which the popular imagi- 
 nation has stamped with a more peculiar character than the 
 evening of the 3ist of October, known as All Hallow's Eve, or 
 Hallowe'en. It is clearly a relic of pagan times, for there is nothing 
 in the church observance of the ensuing day of All Saints to have 
 originated such extraordinary notions as are connected with this 
 celebrated festival, or such remarkable practices as those by which 
 it is distinguished. 
 
 The leading idea respecting Hallowe'en is that it is the time of 
 all others when supernatural t influences prevail. It is the night 
 set apart for a universal walking abroad of spirits, both of the 
 visible and invisible world ; for one of the special characteristics 
 attributed to this mystic evening is the faculty conferred on the 
 immaterial principle in humanity to detach itself from its cor- 
 poreal tenement and wander abroad through the realms of space. 
 
 A good sized volume would hardly suffice to record the super- 
 stitions which even yet to some degree hover round this evening 
 and the variety of games which have become inseparably con- 
 nected with it. Burn's Hallowe'en gives some of them and is well 
 worth the reading again. 
 
 St. Quintin, the saint which is held in especial reverence this day 
 is another of those noble examples which the history of the early 
 Church furnish so many ; and prove how earnest were those men 
 who then professed the Christian faith. Descended from a Roman 
 senatorial family he was a soldier by profession and already held 
 high rank in the army when he became convinced of the truth of 
 Christianity. 
 
 No sooner had he done this, than casting aside his worldly 
 ambitions and a life of ease, he entered the service of his Divine 
 Master, and attended by a single friend St. Lucian they took up 
 the arduous life of missionaries, which then seemed to inspire the 
 best and noblest men who abjured the Roman gods and professed 
 the Christian faith ; the same spirit which had scattered Christ's
 
 ST. QUINTIN 469 
 
 disciples to the " ends of the earth." Thus they went into Gaul 
 in the end during 287, in the early years of the joint reign of 
 Maximian Herculeus and Dioclesian to receive their crown of mar- 
 tyrdom ; and win for themselves crowns of glory in another world.
 
 NOVEMBER 
 
 This month was anciently styled the " Wint Monat " or Wind 
 Month or Blot-Monath, Blood-Month, from the custom of slaugh- 
 tering the cattle during this month for use during the winter for 
 food ; and also from ancient pagan sacrifices held in this month 
 during which " blood offerings " to their deities formed part of the 
 ceremony. 
 
 NOVEMBER 1st. 
 
 ALL SAINTS DAY. 
 
 This festival takes its origin from the conversion in the seventh 
 century of the Pantheon at Rome into a Christian place of wor- 
 ship, and its dedication by Pope Boniface IV. to the Virgin and all 
 the martyrs. The anniversary of this event was at first celebrated 
 on the ist of May, but the day was subsequently altered to the ist 
 of November which was thenceforth, under the designation of the 
 " Feast of All Saints," set apart as a general commemoration in 
 their honour. The festival has been retained by the Anglican 
 church. 
 
 As early as 'the IV. century the Greeks kept a festival on the 
 first Sunday after Pentecost in honour of " All Martyrs and 
 Saints." There is still preserved in the archives of the Roman 
 Church a sermon preached by St. Chrysostom (died September 14 
 A. D. 407) upon one of these anniversaries. 
 
 The feast was introduced into the Western Church by Pope 
 Boniface IV. after the dedication of the ancient temple of the Pan- 
 theon as a Christian church under the name of " Sta Maria ad 
 Martyrs," in 608. The temple having been made over to him by
 
 ALL SAINTS DAY 47.1 
 
 the Emperor Phocas, the feast was held on May I3th. About 731 
 Gregory III. constructed a chapel in St. Peter's Church in honour 
 of " All Saints," since which time the " Feast of All Saints " or " All 
 Saints' Day " as it is popularly known, has been kept by the Church 
 on November ist. After the Reformation this festival was one of 
 those the Reformers retained, and in doing so they retained as 
 well the day fixed by Gregory III. as the one on which to cele- 
 brate it. In 834, Pope Gregory IV, at the request of Louis 
 " the Mild," extended the festival to the " Universal Church." 
 
 I can to-day name only one of the several saints whose names 
 appear in the Kalendar, that of St. Cassarius. 
 
 At Terracina among the pagan rites on certain occasions held 
 in honour of Apollo, the tutelar deity of the city, it was the custom 
 of some young man to offer himself as a voluntary sacrifice to the 
 god. After having been for weeks pampered, carried and hon- 
 oured by the citizens, decked with the richest apparel and most 
 glittering ornaments, on the specified day the young devotee, 
 immediately after the ceremonies of sacrifice to the god would 
 rush from the temple and running at full speed through a crowd 
 of eager spectators who lined each side of the way to a high 
 precipice he would plunge into the sea, and be forever lost 
 beneath its waves. According to pagan belief this act secured for 
 the voluntary victim such favour from the hands of the gods in 
 the next world, as could be no otherwise secured. 
 
 Cassarius was a Christian deacon lately come from Africa where 
 in A. D. 300 he happened to witness this vain, impious act, and 
 regardless of Dioclesian's lately promulgated decree, dared to 
 deprecate the act as useless. Two of the priests of Apollo over- 
 heard his words and hardly had they fallen from his lips, when he 
 was seized, bound and dragged before the governor and accused, 
 only of course to be condemned. The deacon did not deny his 
 words but gave testimony to his faith in Christ and was taken 
 from the presence of the governor, tied in a sack and cast from 
 the same precipice where Apollo's voluntary victim had made his 
 sacrifice.
 
 472 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 NOVEMBER 2d. 
 
 ALL SOULS' DAY. 
 
 This is a festival peculiar to the Roman Church and is celebra- 
 ted on behalf of the souls in purgatory, for whose release the 
 prayers of the faithful are offered and masses performed in the 
 churches from altars decked in black and with every insignia of 
 mourning. 
 
 In explanation Dr. Butler says : " By purgatory, no more is 
 meant by Catholics than a middle state of souls, namely of purga- 
 tion from sin by temporary chastisement for a punishment of some 
 sin and inflicted after death, which is not eternal. As to the 
 place, manner or kind of these sufferings, nothing has been 
 defined by the church. * * * " 
 
 This festival was first introduced by St. Odilo, the abbot of Cluni, 
 who, to quote verbatim from Roman Martyrology, "was the first 
 to prescribe that the commemoration of all the faithful departed 
 should be made in his monasteries on the next day after the 
 Feast of All Saints. This rite was afterward received and 
 approved by the universal church." 
 
 Odilo de Mercoeur was the sixth abbot of Cluni and born in 
 962, dying in 1049, and his festival occurs on January ist. This 
 especial festival of All Souls was instituted in the early part of the 
 XI. century but its observance soon was esteemed of such 
 importance that in event of its falling on Sunday it was directed 
 that it should not be postponed as in the case of some ceremo- 
 nials, until Monday ; " that the departed might suffer no detriment 
 from the lack of the prayers of the church of the faithful." 
 
 On this day the Church pays honour to the memory of St. 
 Victorinus, a father whom St. Jerom termed " one of the pillars 
 of the church." He was a professor of oratory in Greece and is 
 noted in Grecian annals of A. D. 290. It was as a writer and 
 commentator on the Scriptures that he most excelled, though as 
 Bishop of Pettan in Upper Pannonia, now in Styria, his eloquence
 
 ST. HUBERT 
 
 473 
 
 bore wonderful fruit. Like many another he could not escape the 
 far-reaching decrees of Dioclesian, and won his crown of glory in 
 34- 
 
 NOVEMBER 3d 
 
 Is sacred to St. Hubert, patron of huntsmen and of the chase. 
 His is one of those interesting legends constantly met with as we 
 read the lives of the saints of the Church, showing the mysterious 
 working of Providence in turning many lives by some slight inci- 
 dent. Young, gay, rich and very handsome, no noble at the court 
 of Theodebert III., King of Austrasia, was more courted or led a 
 wilder life. In passing I notice this king is called Theodore by 
 Dr. Butler and others. There was no king by that name in 
 Austrasia, and the two names evidently have been confounded. 
 Theodebert's father, Theode- 
 bert II., died in 612, and 
 Theodebert III. was, though 
 but a child, named his suc- 
 cessor. 
 
 It was when Theodebert's 
 court was at its height that 
 Hubert of Aquitaine first ap- 
 peared and made hunting in 
 the forest of Ardennes so 
 fashionable. There was no 
 day too sacred for Hubert to 
 refrain from his favourite sport and no remonstrance potent 
 enough to keep him from indulging in it. Thus it was that 
 in the early gloaming of an holy day in the forest of Ardennes, 
 a young white stag stood before him. Its first horns were just 
 sprouting and devoid of branches : but either from the shad- 
 ows of the branches, or in his fancy, Hubert thought he saw a 
 cross between them. The legend as told claims it was an actual 
 cross. Be that as it may, the effect was the same to set his 
 thoughts on the teachings he had neglected so long. His life
 
 474 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 quickly was a changed one. At first he sought out a band of 
 brigands who infested the forest and some of whom he had met 
 in his wanderings, and told them his story and won some of them 
 over to seek a better life. At length Hubert went to the ven- 
 erable St. Lambert, Bishop of Maestricht and patron of Leige, 
 with whom he studied and by whom he was ordained. In 68 1 
 the holy prelate was murdered. Already Hubert had been 
 advanced to the administration of the diocese as assistant of St. 
 Lambert, and on his death he became the Bishop of Leige, as the 
 see had been transferred thither. St. Hubert administered his 
 holy office until May 30, 727, when he died. He was buried in 
 the Church of St. Peter in Leige. His clog symbol is as in illus- 
 tration a stag, sometimes with a cross between its horns. 
 
 NOVEMBER 4th. 
 
 " St. Charles Borromeo, the model of pastors and the reformer 
 of ecclesiastical discipline in these degenerated ages," is the 
 manner in which Dr. Butler opens the narrative of the life of one of 
 the saints the Church remembers on this day. The story is too 
 long an one to repeat in detail, yet most difficult to condense. He 
 was the second son of Gilbert Borromeo, count of Arona, and 
 Margaret of Medicis, a sister of John Angelus, afterward Pope 
 Pius IV., while the Borromeo family was among the most ancient 
 of the long list of which Lombardy can boast. From infancy he 
 was destined for the church yet when a child of only 1 2 years of 
 age, an uncle Julius Caesar Borromeo, resigned to him the rich 
 revenues of the Benedictine monastery of SS. Gratinian and Felin, 
 uncontrolled by anyone older and wiser to guide him. He studied 
 Latin and " humanity " at Milan and civil and canon law at the 
 University of Pavia during which time in 1558 when 20 years old, 
 his father died, but he quickly returned from home and took his 
 degree in 1559 and in 1561 his uncle, Pius IV., created him a car- 
 dinal. Enough one might think between his great wealth and 
 rank to turn the head of an ordinary young man. 
 
 His uncle had been raised to the pontificate in 1559 and early
 
 ST. BERTILLE 475 
 
 in the next year named his nephew as the head of the council, and 
 another uncle added the benefices of another abbey or priory 
 which he controlled, to the young priest's income. The record 
 of his life shows that all this wealth, honour and power had no 
 influence upon his simple mode of living. Of his executive 
 abilities and the promptness with which he disposed of the vast 
 number of ecclesiastical affairs that came under his care, everyone 
 speaks in the highest terms ; but it was as a reformer of ecclesias- 
 tical abuses he was most noted. For this purpose he established 
 the noble college of the Borromeos at Pavia, and sent missionaries 
 into every part of his diocese to see that his people were cared 
 for. Naturally he won the hatred of a class of priests who had 
 used the Church revenues for their own indulgences, and one 
 attempted to kill him as he was celebrating evening service. 
 
 It seemed as if the world had combined to spoil him by heaping 
 wealth and honours on him, for King Philip. II. settled an annual 
 pension on him of 9,000 crowns and gave him the principality of 
 Osia, but none of all these favours ever changed his simple life or 
 led him to vary from the one great object set before him. As 
 became his rank, he gave feasts of which he personally never par- 
 took. He died at Milan on the 4th of November, 1584. His last 
 words were " Ecce Venio " ( Behold I come). 
 
 NOVEMBER $th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Bertille, Abbess of Chelles which was 
 refounded by St. Bathildes, wife of Clovis II., and was about four 
 leagues from Paris. This nunnery is chiefly remarkable for the 
 number of noted females, of royal and noble birth that from time 
 to time were gathered within its protecting walls, both of French 
 and of foreign lineage. Among them we read the names of 
 Hereswith, the Queen of East Angles, who became a nun at 
 Chelles in 646, and also of Queen Bathildes who retired here in 
 665 after the close of her regency and Clotaire III. ascended his 
 throne. 
 
 St. Bertille was herself from one of the noblest families in
 
 476 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Soissons in the reign of Dagobert I. and had been educated at 
 Jouarre, a great double monastery at Brie, the nuns of which were 
 under the famed St. Thilchildes ; who selected St. Bertille at the 
 request of Queen Bathildes as the first Abbess of the refounded 
 nunnery about 646, and over which she ruled forty-six years until 
 her death in 692. 
 
 NOVEMBER 6th 
 
 Is kept in honour of St. Leonard by both the Anglican and 
 Roman Churches. He was a nobleman of high rank at the Court 
 of Clovis I. where he was converted by St. Remigius who later 
 instructed him in divinity. 
 
 Leonard had been a favourite with the king and still retained 
 
 Kmuch of his old influence though he had after 
 his conversion spent far less time at court than 
 of old, his greatest pleasure now being to go from 
 prison to prison in Paris striving to comfort the 
 prisoners, learning from them their stories and 
 providing' for their wants. Not a few of those 
 he thus met he found either were unjustly held 
 or had by their long imprisonment been amply 
 punished for their offences as the lax laws and 
 indifferent judges often left such persons im- 
 prisoned for years awaiting even accusation. Such 
 were the cases Leonard took in charge and as he 
 discovered the truth brought them to the notice of Clovis and 
 thus many were set at liberty. It was for this we find in the Clog 
 Almanacs the symbol of a rude hammer is given him, or some- 
 times a broken chain. After a time Leonard decided in spite of 
 the entreaties of the king to enter the monastery of Micy in 
 Orleans, where he took on the religious habit and discipline, and 
 devoted himself to study and reflection. Later he became a her- 
 mit, building for himself a cell and oratory near Limoges. After 
 a period of retirement and devotion, though still leading his hermit
 
 ST. LEONARD 
 
 477 
 
 life he began to instruct the neighbouring peasantry, thus filling 
 
 up the measure of his years with good works until his death in 
 
 559. He had received the order of deacon but 
 
 declined further advancement and so is usually 
 
 represented in art in a deacon's dress and the 
 
 broken chains of prisoners. He has ever been 
 
 held in high honour by the English church as 
 
 evidenced by the dedication of about one hundred 
 
 and fifty churches to his name. 
 
 Sandringham 
 
 Church, Norfolk. 
 
 NOVEMBER ;th. 
 
 The Roman Church this day honours another 
 of those early missionaries who forgetful of them- 
 selves went forth to fulfil Christ's injunction, in 
 the person of St. Willibrord who was born in the 
 kingdom of Northumberland in 638 or about that 
 date. The story of St. Willibrord in certain ways * T - . 
 
 * J From Stained Glass, 
 
 resembles that already told of others except that 
 
 , t 
 
 he was in some respects a man of far greater ac- 
 complishments. Before he was seven years of age he had been 
 placed in the then celebrated monastery of Rippon, in Britain, 
 which was still under the control of St. Wilfrid, its founder, 
 a man of great learning and one who had the rare gift of inspiring 
 his pupils with ambitions of the highest and noblest character. 
 As I have before said, the Irish monastic schools were at that day 
 hardly second to those upon the continent and drew to them the 
 best class of students. Thus it was that when twenty years of 
 age Willibrord went to Ireland where he joined St. Egbert and 
 others and spent many years there in the study of the sacred 
 sciences. It was not until he was thirty years old that he was 
 ordained a priest. In the meantime one of Willibrord's early 
 companions who had come from Rippon with him had gone from 
 Ireland to Friesland as a missionary and after two years had 
 returned. His other friend, St. Egbert, had also wished to go to 
 Friesland, but for good reasons had not done so. Still this. Fries-
 
 478 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 land mission was one of such importance that Willibrord was 
 inspired by a desire to undertake himself the arduous task, and at 
 last in 699 he obtained permission to go to Lower Germany, or 
 Friesland. It had long before been a missionary field, but the 
 good work of the early workers had been nearly overcome by 
 pagan priests when he reached there with his companions, and 
 under the protection of Pepin of Herstel (or Pepin the Big), Duke 
 of Friesland began their work which was ultimately to become so 
 successful. I must not tell this long and interesting story for it is 
 the history of the Early Church in Lower Germany. His monas- 
 tery at Utrecht and the schools he built thus prepared the way for 
 the good St. Boniface thirty years later ; all under difficulties few, 
 save men of such energy as Willibrord, could have overcome. 
 Literally worn out with his labours his peaceful end came at 
 extreme old age. The chronicles are greatly at variance on the 
 point as to just when he died. If we accept Dr. Butler's dates 
 viz., birth about 638 and death in 738, he was a centenarian. All 
 concur in his having reached great age and in testifying to his 
 earnest, self-sacrificing labours and the wonderful ability which he 
 at all times displayed in the management of his ecclesiastical 
 duties, and of the love he inspired among his people and contem- 
 porary ecclesiasts. 
 
 NOVEMBER 8th. 
 
 By a coincidence, another Northumberland saint follows St. 
 Willibrord in the Kalendar of those whom the Roman Church so 
 justly honours, in the name of St. Willehad, Bishop of Bremen and 
 the Apostle of Saxony, and whose mission evidently was inspired 
 by the wonderful success of SS. Willibrord and Boniface in Fries- 
 land and Germany ; for his first effort in 772 was in Friesland at a 
 place called Docknow in West Friesland. His stay here was very 
 brief. Crossing the Issel he made his way through the country 
 now called Ober-Inel, not without a narrow escape of his life at 
 the hands of infidels at a village called Humark. But a Provi- 
 dence seemed to watch over him and he continued his journey to
 
 LATERAN OBELISK 479 
 
 Wigmore where Bremen now stands and was the first Christian 
 missionary to cross the Elbe. The Saxons had at that time spread 
 themselves from the Oder to the Rhine and the Germanic ocean ; 
 thus occupying the greater part of the provinces of Northern Ger- 
 many ; and though divided into several cantons or tribes, they 
 were in case of general war under one commander. It was here 
 that St. Willehad preached until the great Saxon rebellion against 
 Charlemagne broke out in 782 instigated by Whitikind, a West- 
 phalian Saxon, who had been in rebellion in 777 and escaping had 
 fled to Denmark. But we must not mix history, interesting as it 
 is, with our story. During the three years of active warfare 
 Willehad spent his time in retirement at the tomb of St. Willibrord 
 engaged in transcribing the epistles of St. Paul and other sacred 
 literature. 
 
 With the close of hostilities the Duke Whitikind was baptized, 
 and with restored peace St. Willehad resumed his missionary work 
 and upon July 15, 787, was ordained Bishop of Saxony fixing his 
 see at Bremen, the city seemingly having about this time been 
 founded and his cathedral church, we are told, was built of wood, 
 but his successor rebuilt it of stone. St. Willehad lived but a 
 short time after the completion of his church, his legend telling us 
 that he died in a Friesland village in 789. 
 
 NOVEMBER 9th. 
 THE DEDICATION OF ST. JOHN LATERAN. 
 
 It would be difficult to find a more remarkable group of build- 
 ings than those which surround the " Piazza di San Giovanni," in 
 Rome, in the center of which stands the Obelisk of the Lateran ; 
 the oldest object in all that wonderful city of antiquities, it having 
 been according to the translators of the hieroglyphics it bears 
 originally raised in memory of the Pharaoh Thothmes IV. in the 
 year 1740 B. C. It was brought from the Temple of the Sun in 
 Heliopolis, to Alexandria by Constantine, and later to Rome 
 where it was used together with the obelisk now standing in the
 
 480 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Piazza del Popolo, to ornament the Circus Maximus. By order of 
 Sixtus V. it was transferred in 158810 its present site. Facing 
 this venerable obelisk are the Baptistery and Basilica of the 
 Lateran. The remaining edifices I must not take space here to 
 notice. The Baptistery of the Lateran sometimes called " St. 
 Giovanni, in Fonte " was built by Sixtus III. (430-40), though 
 only portions of the original structure now remain. The Lateran 
 derives its name from its having -been the residence of a rich 
 patrician, Plautius Lateranus, whose estates Nero confiscated and 
 who was put to death for participating in the conspiracy of Piso. 
 It became an imperial residence and Maximianus gave a portion 
 of it to his daughter, Fausta, the second wife of Constantine. 
 When Constantine the Great, by his victory over Maxentius in 
 312, became master of Italy and Africa, Christians everywhere 
 began to erect sumptuous churches checked in the East for a 
 time in 319 by the persecutions and among them Constantine 
 built a church sometimes called " Constantinian Basilica," but 
 now universally termed St. John Lateran. It was given to Pope 
 Melchiades in 312 by Constantine who had laboured upon it with 
 his own hands. It was consecrated on November 9, 324. The 
 Lateran church is styled the heart, the mother and the mistress of 
 all churches as an inscription on its walls imports : " Sacrosancta 
 Lateranensis Ecclesia, Omnium Urbis et Orbis Ecclesianum Mater 
 et Caput." The chapter of the Lateran takes precedence even 
 over St. Peter's who once contested this, but by the bull of 
 Gregory IX. and Pius V. the right of the Lateran was confirmed 
 and therefore every newly elected Pope comes here for coronation. 
 The story of the old Basilica is full of interest, and is told in many 
 of the Roman guidebooks so fully I must not repeat it here. The 
 consecration of a church edifice with the Roman Church is a very 
 solemn observance and the rites and prayers are very strictly pre- 
 scribed, hence the anniversary of this, the acknowledged Mother 
 of Churches, is regarded as no ordinary festival.
 
 MARTINMAS 481 
 
 NOVEMBER loth. 
 
 St. Justus, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose name appears in 
 the Kalendars of both the Anglican and Roman Church this day 
 was a Roman by birth and a monk of St. Gregory's monastery ; 
 but his learning and virtues had won for him a very great reputa- 
 tion both in Rome and elsewhere. Therefore when St. Austin 
 begged for some one to be sent to aid him in preaching in England 
 Justus was selected as the man above all his brethren most fitted 
 for the position. He arrived in England in 601 but his wonderful 
 talent and the success that followed his work was so marked that 
 in 604 he was created Bishop of the important see of Rochester, 
 and for twenty years ministered to his people, winning not alone 
 their love but adding many souls to the number of the faithful. 
 In 624, on the death of St. Mellitus, Justus was raised to the Arch- 
 bishopric of Canterbury, but filled it only during three years when, 
 to quote Dr. Butler's quaint and most appropriate expression : 
 " He went to receive his reward from the hands of the Prince of 
 Pastors on the loth of November in 627," leaving a name so pure 
 and a memory so sweet that to quote again from a Church of Eng- 
 land prelate : " We keep green his memory both because of the 
 love we bear him and for the example he left us by his earnest 
 holy life." 
 
 NOVEMBER nth. 
 MARTINMAS 
 
 Is without doubt one of the most favourite festivals of both the 
 English and Roman Churches in England ; and the story of St. 
 Martin is one of the noblest and truest that it will be my privilege 
 to tell, even abridged as it must be. 
 
 St Martin, the son of a Roman military tribune, was born at 
 Sabaria in Hungary about 316. From his earliest infancy he was 
 remarkable for mildness of disposition ; yet he was obliged to be- 
 come a soldier, a profession most uncongenial to his natural 
 character. After several years' service he retired into solitude
 
 482 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 from whence he was withdrawn, by being elected Bishop of Tours 
 in the year 374. The zeal and piety he displayed in this office 
 were most exemplary. He converted the whole of his diocese to 
 Christianity, overthrowing the ancient pagan temples and erecting 
 churches in their stead. From the great success of his pious 
 endeavours Martin has been styled the Apostle of the Gauls ; and 
 being the first confessor to whom the Latin Church offered public 
 prayers, he is distinguished as the father of that church. In 
 remembrance of his original profession, he is also frequently 
 denominated the Soldier Saint. 
 
 The true story of St. Martin's life is in itself a romance while 
 the legends and fables told of him would fill a volume. 
 
 While a soldier he won the love of everyone with whom he 
 came in contact for his true whole-hearted benevolence. The 
 winter of 332 was one of unusual severity in Amiens where 
 Martin was then stationed. Marching with his company one 
 bitter day Martin saw a man scantily clothed shivering with the 
 cold. Many already had passed but none had tried to succour him. 
 Martin's impecuniosity was proverbial in the army, not from his 
 extravagance but from his never failing generosity. But this day 
 he surprised even those who knew him best. Having neither food 
 nor money for the poor stranger Martin took the cloak from his 
 shoulders and with the sharp blade of his sword divided it in 
 half laying one part over the shivering pauper and covering his 
 own exposed person with the rest. The act was quickly done and 
 so wholly unostentatiously that few saw it. Later he bore without 
 a word the witty jibes of his fellows over his abbreviated garment. 
 This much is literally true. His legend tells us that that night he 
 had a vision in which he saw Jesus Christ wearing the half of the 
 divided cloak, and saying to his angel host : " Martin, the catechu- 
 men hath clothed Me in this garment." 
 
 The name then given to this cloak was " chape " and according 
 to Collin de Planey, the English words "chapel " and " chaplain " 
 are both derived from it. 
 
 While I might fill pages with legends of St. Martin, I will limit 
 myself to one, which may be termed a palindrome. St. Martin 
 was enroute for Rome, journeying on foot. Satan, ever on watch,
 
 ST. MARTIN OF TOURS 483 
 
 took occasion to taunt him on his not having a conveyance more 
 suitable to his dignity as a bishop. On the instant St. Martin 
 touched his Satanic Majesty and he was transformed into a mule 
 upon whose back St. Martin rode. Whenever the transformed 
 demon grew lazy or tired the saint would spur him on at full 
 speed until the devil defeated and worn out exclaimed : 
 
 " Signa te Signa : temere me tangis et angis : 
 Roma tibi subito motibus ibit amor." 
 
 In English " Cross, cross thyself : thou plaguest and vexest me 
 without necessity ; for, owing to my exertions, thou wilt soon reach 
 Rome, the object of thy wishes." The singularity of this distich 
 consists in its being palindromical that is, the same, whether read 
 backwards or forwards. Angis, the last word of the first line, 
 when read backwards, forming signa, 
 and the other words admitting of being 
 reversed in a similar manner. 
 
 St. Martin, at the time of his vision 
 above spoken of, was yet unbaptized ; but 
 very soon thereafter the sacred rite was 
 performed, and when 40 years of age he 
 left the military taking holy vows and 
 for many years leading a hermit's life 
 until in 371 he was named as Bishop of j 
 Tours. His life was ever one of those examples of Christian 
 virtue that makes him one of the best loved both in the English 
 and Roman Churches of almost any in the entire Kalendars. In 
 art he is presented in the full robes of a Bishop with a naked 
 beggar at his feet, the illustration given above being one of 
 several of a similar design on Clog Almanacs. 
 
 NOVEMBER I2th 
 
 The Church remembers St. Martin, Pope and Martyr, who died 
 in 655. He was a man who early in life became renowned 
 for his learning, as was evidenced when Pope Theodorus sent
 
 484 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 him while yet but a deacon to Constantinople in the quality of 
 " Apocrisiarius," or nuncio. Pope Theodorus died in July, 649, 
 and in October of that year Martin was elected to the pontifical 
 chair. The enmity of the Emperor Constans to Martin was well 
 known but ineffective for when the time came for election he 
 was chosen without a dissenting voice. In June, 653 the exarch of 
 the Emperor arrived in Rome with orders to make charges against 
 the Pope of concealing arms in his palace but none were found. 
 Despite this, on the 1 8th of the same month the Pope, who had 
 been sick in the Lateran, was seized and carried in a boat down 
 the Tiber and thence to the island of Nixos where he was kept 
 under guard for a year and in September, 654, carried on to Con- 
 stantinople, and in December condemned to die. First he was 
 stripped of his clothing save a tunic, an iron collar was put on his 
 neck and thus he was dragged from the palace through the city to 
 his prison where he was confined until in May, 655, when for some 
 reason he was sent to Taurica Chersonesus, a pagan country where 
 at that time a famine prevailed through which he suffered great 
 privations, but happily on September i6th of that year death 
 released the sufferer. The Latin Church selected November i2th 
 for his festival, the Greeks naming April i3th and also Sepember 
 16 and 2oth for his honour, while the Muscovites hold their festival 
 for him on April i4th. 
 
 NOVEMBER 13th. 
 
 The list of canonized saints of the Roman Church has by no 
 means been confined to their priesthood or the holy women from 
 their nunneries. Thus to-day commemorates the name of St. 
 Homobonus, a merchant, who was happily thus named. A man 
 whose life story is a model for every young man nay, and old 
 men, too, if he has prospered in business to follow. An earnest, 
 hard-working Christian who was not " slothful in business ; " on 
 the other hand, a shrewd, far-seeing man but one whose honest 
 gains were not hoarded for self-gratification or the accumulation 
 of wealth. A man who provided liberally for his own household
 
 ST. LAURENCE 485 
 
 but who held himself responsible as an almoner of the Giver of all 
 good gifts for the use of the wealth entrusted him. I cannot, 
 of course, follow in detail the beautiful story of his " secret " 
 charity ; not content with paying " tithe of mint and anise and 
 cummin " he did not omit weightier matters and beyond doubt he 
 reaped his just reward when at matins in the very act of joining in 
 the Gloria in Excelsis his summons came. In 1198 Pope Inno- 
 cent III. canonized this just man. 
 
 Both the English and Roman Martyrologies name this day for 
 St. Britius, or St. Brice, the successor of St. Martin of Tours in 
 that famous bishopric. 
 
 This day is also named for one of the youngest saints in the 
 entire Kalendar of the Church, St. Stanislas Kostka, son of John 
 Kostka, a senator of Poland, and Margaret Kirska, sister of the 
 Palatine of Muscovia in 1550. His is one of those stories some- 
 times met with of a pure young life which even from infancy was 
 untainted by sin in any form and an inborn desire to do good to 
 others that was only and continually coupled with a desire to give 
 his life and service to the Society of Jesus. This last wish was 
 violently opposed by his father and therefore he left his home 
 secretly in 1567 and at length succeeded in reaching Rome and 
 becoming a disciple of St. Francis Borgia, then general of the 
 order. But his life was soon cut short for he died in August, 
 1568 when but seventeen years and nine months old. The 
 sanctity of his short life was so marked that in 1604 Pope Clement 
 VIII. was lead to beatify him that is, to " declare him happy." 
 He was canonized by Benedict XIII. in 1727. 
 
 NOVEMBER 
 
 Is the festival of St. Laurence, Archbishop of Dublin. He was 
 a son of Maurice O'Tool, a rich and powerful Prince in Leinster. 
 His experiences in life began young for he was only ten years of 
 age when his father was compelled to deliver his son to Dermond
 
 486 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 MacMerchad, King of Leinster, as a " hostage." This man 
 seems to have been a brutal fellow, and the sufferings of the poor 
 child were horrible. At last O'Tool heard of them and the 
 legend as it runs says " he obliged King MacMerchad to place 
 the child in the care of the Bishop at Glendaloch." 
 
 But how he was able to coerce the King is not apparent, still it 
 is evident the father must have been a man of more than ordinary 
 power to control thus the acts of a king. Glendaloch was in 
 County Wicklow and its Bishop was also Abbot of the monastery. 
 Here Laurence remained receiving his education and ordination 
 and ultimately, upon the death of the good prelate who had stood 
 by him for those fifteen years, the young man found himself 
 Abbot of the monastery and but for the canon of the Church 
 regarding age, would have been then raised to the episcopate. 
 When five years later Gregory, Archbishop of Dublin, died, so 
 well established had Laurence's reputation both for learning and 
 executive ability become, that he was chosen by a unanimous 
 vote as the successor to this metropolitan see despite the fact that 
 he was barely thirty years of age and just within the limit of 
 canonical law. The manner in which Laurence conducted his 
 see fully justified his having been chosen while yet so young. 
 
 In 1179 when Pope Alexander III. summoned the third general 
 council of Lateran " for the reformation of manners and extin- 
 guishing of heretical errors " Archbishop Laurence was one of 
 the delegates and made himself so valuable in many ways that the 
 Pope named him " Legate of the Holy See in the Kingdom of 
 Ireland." When Henry II. of England was offended at Doderic 
 the Irish monarch, Laurence attempted to mediate, but he was 
 refused by the King who soon set out for Normandy. But 
 Laurence was a man who seemed to know no such word as 
 " fail " and in due time followed Henry into France and renewed 
 his efforts for peace, and the King was so won by both his logic, 
 loyalty and piety that he at length yielded to the wishes of Lau- 
 rence. It was the last victory of the noble prelate for at the 
 monastery of Eu, on the confines of Normandy, when enroute 
 for home the worthy saint sickened and died November I4th 
 1 1 80. Pope Honorius issued the bull of his canonization in 1226.
 
 ST. EDMUND 487 
 
 NOVEMBER i$th 
 
 Is the festival of an English saint recognized by both the 
 Anglican and Roman Churches, St. Malo or Mallou, the first 
 Bishop of Aleth in Brittany. Though born in England he was 
 educated in Ireland, as was the case of most men who attained 
 any note for learning during the VI. century. His great ability 
 was early recognized by everyone and he might have had pre- 
 ferment in the church in his own country but there arose some 
 political difficulty just at the time that induced him to leave his 
 native land and seek a refuge in Bretagne where he settled as a 
 companion of a holy recluse near the city of Aleth. His name 
 had preceded him and in 541 when the city was erected into a 
 bishopric, he was chosen as its first Bishop, and later the city itself 
 came to be called after his name. He died in 565. 
 
 NOVEMBER i6th. 
 
 St. Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, whom the English and 
 Roman Church both honour to-day presents a rare combination of 
 characteristics. Possessed of an intense desire for the attainment 
 of knowledge with the facilities which were granted him, he 
 became a very learned man. Coupled with this was an equally 
 great love for religion and devotion to sacred thoughts. The two 
 naturally led him to seek retirement and seclusion from the world 
 but when circumstances called him to the front he laid aside his 
 personal wishes and threw himself into the work laid out for him 
 by his superiors. 
 
 As a child he had first been placed in the monastic schools at 
 Evesham, from thence going to Oxford and lastly to Paris where 
 for a time he taught in the schools, but later returned to his native 
 land and from 1219 to 1226 was a professor of logic in the, even 
 then, famous University of Oxford. A canonry at Salisbury 
 being offered, he accepted it but had been there only a short time 
 when a mandate from the Pope directed him to go forth and
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 " preach the crusade against the Saracens," which he did with 
 such vigour that his influence was felt far and near. 
 
 The see of Canterbury had long been vacant when Gregory IX. 
 selected Edmund to fill it, and Henry III. most gladly confirmed 
 the nomination and he was consecrated to his high office on 
 April 2d in 1234. The exactions laid upon the clergy by Henry 
 III. fill many pages in the life of Edmund and caused him endless 
 trials and conflicts we may not enter upon here, but they ulti- 
 mately compelled him to flee to France for safety where he died 
 near Provins in Champagne on November i6th in 1242. 
 
 St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland, whose name appears this day 
 in the Kalendar of the English church was one of those characters 
 of sterling virtue to whom all creeds alike pay a respectful hom- 
 age. Even if we pass the eulogy paid her by her confessor, 
 Turgot, as too flattering, enough remains of true history for us to 
 understand why Scotchmen revere her memory. She was a niece 
 of Edward the Confessor and Edmund Ironside. Her youth was 
 spent in exile under the guardianship of the King of Sweden, and 
 it was through being wrecked on the Scottish coast Margaret 
 came to meet King Malcolm, which resulted in their marriage. Her 
 charity to the poor was unbounded and her kindness to English 
 prisoners captured by the King won for her ihe veneration of the 
 English. It was through her influence that the observance of the 
 Sabbath, which had at that time become much neglected in Scot- 
 land, was again restored. Her last days were full of adversity 
 borne with exemplary resignation. The Roman Church observes 
 her festival on June loth but in the Kalendar of the English 
 church it appears on this day. 
 
 NOVEMBER I7th 
 
 Is the festival of St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, and the builder of 
 the Cathedral in this quaint, historic English town. The original 
 church had been founded by William II. surnamed Ruber the 
 Red sometimes improperly termed " Rupert or Rufus " at some
 
 ST. HUGH 
 
 489 
 
 period prior to 1 100 ; but the Cathedral was this church rebuilt 
 during the reign of Henry II. (1154-1189), the first building hav- 
 ing been wrecked by an earthquake. 
 
 The early life of St. Hugh until he was nineteen was spent in 
 Burgundy where he was born, but in 1159 he entered the monas- 
 tery at Chartreuse where he was educated and duly 
 ordained. In 1181 Henry II., who had founded 
 the first Carthusian monastery in England at 
 Witham in Somersetshire, sent for St. Hugh to 
 become its abbot. Despite the fact that St. Hugh 
 had not hesitated to criticise severely the King 
 for certain acts, Henry held him in such high 
 esteem that in 1 186 he named him Bishop of Lin- 
 coln and lent him all the aid in his power, added 
 to royal gifts of money to reconstruct the old 
 church which had been begun by Remigius as 
 early as 1086. As a result of St. Hugh's wonder- 
 ful taste and knowledge of architecture, the beauti- 
 ful Cathedral as it stands to-day, saving 
 York-Minster, is the finest specimen of pure Gothic 
 architecture to be found in England. No end of 
 legends are still told in Lincoln of St. Hugh dur- 
 ing the building of the Cathedral, of how, with 
 his own hands he carried material for the workmen 
 and even laid some of its stones. St. Hugh died 
 
 ST. HUGH. 
 
 on November 17, 1200, and so greatly was he re- prom S. Mary's 
 vered that King John (who came to the throne in Tower Oxford. 
 1199) and King William, assisted by many of their nobles, three 
 archbishops, fourteen bishops and more than one hundred abbots, 
 carried his body to the tomb where it rested in a silver shrine. 
 
 NOVEMBER i8th 
 
 Is honoured by especial Offices and Masses in the Roman Church 
 as the day of the dedication of the Vatican Churches of SS. Peter 
 and Paul, the second patriarchal church at Rome and in which
 
 490 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 rest the bodies of those sainted men. It is impossible to recount 
 the story of the Vatican here and a garbled one is quite out of 
 place ; but none can doubt the fitness of observing with solemn 
 rites the anniversary of this historic and venerable church. 
 
 St. Hild or Hilda is one of the several saints, named in the Kal- 
 endar for remembrance on this day. With royal blood in her 
 veins and all that it implied in those old days she, for the love she 
 
 bore her Great Master, voluntar- 
 ily laid aside earthly honours 
 and left the court of King 
 Edwin, her uncle, and took the 
 habit of a humble nun. Her 
 piety and holy life led S. Aiden 
 to secure her appointment as 
 abbess of (to quote a quaint 
 phrase often used) a " numer- 
 ous " monastery at Heartea, 
 now Hartlepool in the bishop- 
 ric of Durham. In passing it 
 may be added this nunnery was 
 in the " Isle of Stags," and 
 was founded by " Hein," the 
 first nun ever known in the 
 kingdom of Northumberland. 
 After some years spent here 
 Hilda founded another great, 
 double monastery i. e., for 
 
 ST. HILDA. 
 
 monks and nuns, in separate buildings on the bay of Light- 
 house afterward called Prestby (from the great number of priests 
 assembled and living there), and at present Whitebay in York- 
 shire. Both of these were destroyed by the Danes, and no vestige 
 is left of them. 
 
 The wonderful wisdom of St. Hilda not alone in spiritual but in 
 temporal affairs won for her so great a reputation that kings from 
 far and near came to seek from her advice and counsel. To 
 quote again from the chronicle of the period : " In the year of the
 
 ST. ELIZABETH 491 
 
 Incarnation of Our Lord 680, on the I7th of November, the Abbess 
 Hilda * * * died and was carried into Paradise by Angels, as 
 was beheld in a vision by one of her own nuns ; then at a distance 
 on the same night." The nun who saw this was later known as 
 " St. Bees." 
 
 Those who desire to know more of this saintly woman may read 
 a fuller account of her interesting life in S. Baring Gould's " Vir- 
 gin Saints and Martyrs." 
 
 NOVEMBER 
 
 Is the festival of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, daughter of the valiant, 
 Christian King, Alexander II. who was born in 1207. And 
 thereby hangs another of those old world, old-time tales ; when 
 children were betrothed by their parents while yet in their 
 cradles. Such was the fate of Elizabeth when Herman the Land- 
 grave of Thuringia and Hesse planned with King Alexander to 
 marry her to his son Lewis, a child of her own age. It thus came 
 that when Elizabeth was but four years of age she was sent from 
 her home to the court of the Landgrave to be brought up and 
 educated. Accompanied by twelve maidens from her father's 
 household, " a silver cradle and a rich wardrobe," she reached 
 the castle of Wartberg at Eisenach ; and on the next day amid 
 imposing ceremonies the babies were betrothed and laid side by 
 side in the cradle. From thence on for several years the two were 
 never separated and grew to love each other intensely. Despite 
 the fact that little or no attention was paid to religion or religious 
 ceremonies in the household of the Landgrave, our little saint 
 never slighted her duties, being taught them by an unusually 
 learned and pious priest, one Conrad of Marpurg. The charity 
 which was one of her marked characteristics in life, early showed 
 itself and in Herman she had a true friend ; but upon his death, 
 and when Lewis (or Louis as he is sometimes called) became 
 Landgrave great opposition arose against the marriage ; but Lewis 
 proved true to the love of his childhood and the two were mar- 
 ried when they were twenty years old and their life was one of
 
 492 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 perfect content. I will not recount her endless acts of kindness 
 to the poor or the wondrous miracles her legend tells of ; but I 
 must make room to record how in the famine in Thuringia and 
 during the plague which followed it she not only gave her jewels 
 for the benefit of the sick but clothed them in her own royal gar- 
 ments ; and how to his credit it should be recorded when the 
 state officials complained of her having depleted the treasury by 
 her gifts, her husband not only kissed, thanked and blessed her, 
 but bade his Ministers to : " Let her do as she will." 
 
 The next year, 1227 Lewis set forth for the Crusade in Pales- 
 tine but died in Calabria in the arms of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, 
 on September nth. 
 
 Then it was the hitherto suppressed hatred toward the loving, 
 generous Landgravine broke forth and the jealousy of Henry the 
 brother of Lewis, which during his lifetime he had not dared to 
 show, was vented on the devoted widow and mother of his chil- 
 dren whom he drove from her castle. In her poverty she sup- 
 ported herself and children by spinning wool. 
 
 When the Knights of the Holy Crusade returned they compelled 
 Henry to take a different course until Elizabeth's son, Herman, 
 came to his majority and to give her as her dower the city of 
 Marpurg. But in the meantime she had drunk of the very dregs 
 of sorrow. A brief three years later this saintly woman followed 
 her loved and loving husband and died on November 19, 1231. 
 
 Many pictures remain of St. Elizabeth, the most noted being 
 that painted by Murillo for the church of Castad, at Seville. 
 
 NOVEMBER 2oth. 
 
 St. Edmund, King of the East- Angles, whose festival is held 
 to-day, reached his throne when his cousin, Offe, resigned it to 
 spend the remainder of his days in penance at Rome. Edmund 
 was then but fifteen years of age but a boy of unusual qualities 
 and most persistent in his pursuit of learning, as well as devout 
 and religious. His reign for fifteen years was one of unusual peace
 
 ST. EDMUND 
 
 493 
 
 for his subjects, until the invasion of the Danes, under Hengar 
 and Hausa (or Hubba, as some write it) in 870. Of these bloody 
 raids by the Danes so many and full accounts have been written 
 in every English history no description need 
 be repeated. They all were alike in their 
 bloody, heartless fury. In this one King 
 Edmund and his court were made captives 
 and, had they consented to abjure their 
 Christian faith and adopt the religious 
 
 rites of the pagan Danes their lives might have been saved. St. 
 Edmund refused and after scourging he was tied to a tree and 
 shot to death with arrows. The Clog symbol above is intended 
 to represent a quiver of arrows. His legend tells how after his 
 death, his head was thrown among briars and bushes, and that 
 the Danes in departing from the scene of their 
 butchery were lost and constantly misled by 
 -. the head calling out " Here ! " " Here !" and 
 that the head was at last discovered by means 
 of a pillar of light which stood over it and 
 illuminated the space and that when found a 
 wolf was standing guard over it. St. Edmund 
 was buried at a place now called St. Edmunds- 
 bury and the arms of the town are the " three 
 crowns of the East-Angles, and has for its crest 
 a wolf, holding the King's head between its 
 paws." St. Edmund has always held a high 
 place in the Kalendar of the English church as 
 well as in that of the Roman Church. 
 ST. EDMUND. 
 
 From a Painting on 
 
 a Roodscreen in 
 Norfolk. 
 
 NOVEMBER 2ist. 
 
 THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN 
 
 Is one of the most impressive festivals of the Roman Church. It 
 had its origin from an ancient Jewish rite first mentioned in Holy 
 Writ in the history of Samuel, and one so universally followed
 
 494 
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 from that day. How early the festival was first introduced into 
 the Christian Church is not known ; but the most ancient of the 
 Greek menologies extant mention the entrance of the Virgin into 
 the Temple, and it was a Feast celebrated by the Greeks long 
 before it was adopted by the Latin Church. The one central 
 thought always being the consecration of herself (the Holy Virgin) 
 to God. 
 
 Many legends are extant of the act itself but far too often they 
 are confounded with the act of the presentation of the Christ-child 
 himself at the Temple. That Mary lived a retired life is plainly 
 
 true and some even claim the espou- 
 sals were at first simply a " betrothal " 
 instead of a marriage. In certain 
 places this espousal has an especial 
 office on January 22d, the date also 
 assigned by some for the marriage of 
 the Virgin. 
 
 NOVEMBER 22d 
 
 Is devoted to St. Cecilia, a virgin 
 martyr. 
 
 This saint was a Roman lady of 
 good family and having been educated 
 as a Christian was desirous of devot- 
 ing herself to heaven by her life of 
 celibacy. Compelled, by her parents 
 to wed a young nobleman named 
 Valerian, she succeeded in converting both her husband and his 
 brother to Christianity and afterwards shared with them the 
 honours of martyrdom. Accounts differ as to the death which she 
 suffered, some asserting that she was boiled in a cauldron, and 
 others that she was left for days to expire gradually after being 
 half decapitated. The legend states that the executioner, after 
 striking one blow found himself unable to complete his task. 
 
 ST. CECILIA. 
 From a print by Marcantonio.
 
 ST. CECILIA 495 
 
 St. Cecilia is regarded as the patroness of church music and of 
 music generally ; but the reason for her holding this office is not 
 very satisfactorily explained. Dr. Butler says that it was from her 
 assiduity in singing the divine praises, the effect of which she 
 often heightened by the aid of an instrument. She is generally 
 represented singing and playing on some musical instrument, or 
 listening to the performance of an angelic visitant. This last 
 circumstance is derived from an ancient legend which relates 
 that an angel was so enraptured with her harmonious strains as 
 to quit the abodes of bliss to visit the saint. Dryden thus alludes 
 to the incident in his ode for St. Cecilia's Day : 
 
 At last divine Cecilia came, 
 
 Inventress of the vocal frame ; 
 
 The sweet enthusiast from her sacred store, 
 
 Enlarg'd the former narrow bounds, 
 
 And added length to solemn sounds. 
 
 St. Cecilia is generally represented playing on the organ or harp, 
 or with organ-pipes in her hand. In the Church of St. Cecilia in 
 Trastevere at Rome (rebuilt on the site of a church founded in 
 the IX. century), she is represented as a recumbent figure, with 
 the face downwards and a deep wound on the back of her neck, 
 evidently alluding to the legend which says that the executioner 
 being unable to behead her, left her half dead to linger three days. 
 She is sometimes represented as being boiled in a cauldron and 
 occasionally carries a sword in one hand and an instrument of 
 music in the other. 
 
 NOVEMBER 2^d. 
 
 St. Clement, the third Pope of the Church of Rome, is this day 
 honoured both by the Roman and English Churches. 
 
 Clement was a Roman by birth but of Jewish extraction. He 
 was converted to the Christian faith by St. Paul and it is claimed 
 with much reason, that he is the person alluded to in the Philip- 
 pians iv, 3 ; since it is well known that Clement was a constant
 
 496 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 attendant of both St. Peter and St. Paul in their labours, and upon 
 the death of St. Cletus in A. D. 91 he was made Bishop or Pope of 
 Rome and accord ing to the Liberian Kalender sat in the Apostolic 
 chair for " nine years and eleven 
 months." It was through his teach- 
 ing that Domitilla, the daughter of 
 the Emperor Domitian, became a 
 Christian and through her influence 
 Clement secured immunity where 
 others suffered. But when Trajan, 
 who governed Rome during the 
 absence of the emperor, instituted his 
 persecution Clement was banished to 
 the island quarries worked by con- 
 victs ; a punishment but little less 
 terrible than death by torture. There 
 was no water for these miserable 
 creatures and Clement in prayer 
 begged for their deliverance. As he 
 opened his eyes he saw a lamb stand- 
 ing on a hill and went thither where he digged a well and found 
 a spring of clear fresh water. It was for this act his legends say, 
 he was condemned to death. This was accomplished by tying 
 him to an anchor and afterward cast into the sea. His 
 legend continues that when Christians prayed "the 
 waters of the sea were driven back and a ruined temple 
 was disclosed in which his body still fast to the anchor 
 
 was found," and still more marvelously it adds 
 that for many years on the anniversary of St. 
 Clement's death the water each year receded 
 and remained so for three days. For this 
 reason in art St. Clement is always, as in our 
 illustration represented with an anchor. 
 
 In Clog Almanacs his symbol is sometimes a 
 water bottle. Plot in describing a " Clog Ala- 
 manak " said, " that a pot is marked against the 23d of November 
 for the feast of St. Clement, from an ancient custom which doubt- 
 
 ST. CLEMENT. 
 Prom the Lubeck Passionale.
 
 BAREFOOTED CARMELITES 497 
 
 less took its rise from some tradition of the above mentioned 
 miracle of going about on that night to beg drink to make merry 
 with." Herewith also I give another from an English Clog but 
 it, like many of them, seems to have a secret or Runic meaning. 
 
 Many miracles are credited to St. Clement both before and after 
 his death, but I must omit mention of them. 
 
 NOVEMBER 24th. 
 
 St. John of the Cross whose festival the Church keeps this day, 
 was by birth a Spaniard from Old Castile ; who took upon himself 
 the habit of the Carmelites, when twenty-one years of age enter- 
 ing the monastery at Medina. When St. Teresa set about her 
 work of reforming the Carmelite Order the reputation of the 
 Medina monk had reached her ears and she sought him out. His 
 humility and the purity of his life won her admiration and she 
 chose him as one of her chief assistants in establishing the Order 
 of Our Lady of Carmel ; and on Advent Sunday in 1 568 John 
 entered the poor little house in the village of Dunville, from which 
 was evolved the " Barefooted Carmelite Friars," whose institution 
 was approved by Pope Pius V. and in 1580 confirmed by Gregory 
 VIII. The austerities of this order I have already commented on; 
 but John added if possible, even greater trials for himself, and his 
 life was indeed a series of crosses. The old Carmelite Friars did 
 not take kindly to St. Teresa's reformations and found in John the 
 victim whom they sought, and in their chapter condemned him to 
 imprisonment. After many months his release came and with it 
 a series of preferments, until in 1588 he became Vicar-Provincial 
 of Andalusia and first definitor of the Order. In 1591 he found 
 himself again in disfavour with the Order when its chapter met at 
 Madrid, and he retired in disgrace to the solitude of a small con- 
 vent in the mountains of Sierra Morena; where he composed 
 several works that have made his name famous and where he 
 passed his last hours. St. John was canonized by Benedict XIII. 
 in 1726, and his office in the Roman Breviary was fixed for this 
 day.
 
 498 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 NOVEMBER 25th. 
 
 St. Catharine, who is honoured alike by the Anglican and Ro- 
 man Churches on this day, was the daughter of Cortis (a half- 
 brother of Constantine), King of Egypt. 
 
 Among the earlier saints of the Romish Kalendar St. Catharine 
 holds an exalted position both from rank and intellectual abilities. 
 She was one of the most distinguished ladies 
 of Alexandria in the beginning of the fourth 
 century. From a child she was noted for her 
 acquirements in learning and philosophy and 
 while still very young she became a convert to 
 the Christian faith. During the persecution 
 instituted by the Emperor Maximinus II., St. 
 Catharine assuming the office of an advocate 
 of Christianity, displayed such cogency of 
 argument and powers of e 1 o q u e n c e as to 
 silence thoroughly her pagan adversaries. 
 Maximinus, troubled with this success, assem- 
 bled together the most learned philosophers in 
 Alexandria to confute the saint ; but they were 
 both vanquished in debate and converted to a 
 De H e f in the Christian doctrines. The enraged 
 
 , 
 
 tyrant thereupon commanded them to be put 
 tQ death by burning) but for St Catharine he 
 
 reserved a more cruel punishment. She was placed in a machine 
 composed of four wheels connected together and armed with 
 sharp spikes, so that as they revolved the victim might be torn to 
 pieces. A miracle prevented the completion of this project. 
 When the executioners were binding Catharine to the wheels a 
 flash of lightning descended from the skies, severed the cords with 
 which she was tied and shattered the engine to pieces, causing the 
 death both of the executioners and numbers of the bystanders. 
 Maximinus still bent on her destruction, ordered her to be carried 
 beyond the walls of the city where she was first scourged and then 
 beheaded. The legend proceeds to say that after her death her 
 body was carried by angels over the Red Sea to the summit 
 
 ST. CATHARINE. 
 
 From Stained Glass. 
 
 West Wickham 
 Church, Kent.
 
 ST. CATHARINE 499 
 
 of Mount Sinai. The celebrated convent of St. Catharine is 
 situated in a valley on the slope of that mountain and was founded 
 by the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century, and contains in its 
 church a marble sarcophagus, in which the relics of St. Catharine 
 are deposited. Of these the skeleton of the hand covered with 
 rings and jewels is exhibited to pilgrims and visitors. 
 
 In art St. Catharine bears a sword, indicative of the mode of 
 her death, but even thus, as seen in our illustration, the wheel, 
 symbolic of the suffering intended for her, is often 
 introduced. In the Clog Almanacs the wheel al- 
 ways appears. 
 
 The legend of St. Catharine of Alexandria is by 
 no means an ancient one as these saintly 
 legends run for even among the Greeks it can- 
 not be traced back beyond the eighth century, for ] 
 it is first told in the Greek menology of the Emperor Basil in the 
 ninth century. It apparently had its birth among the monks of 
 Mount Sinai and was brought from the east by the Crusaders of 
 the eleventh century who told it in gratitude for the protection 
 this " Invitissimo Ervina " was credited with giving protection to 
 the Christian Warriors in the Holy Land. In the fifteenth century 
 an attempt was made to remove St. Catharine from the Kalendar 
 by certain prelates of France and Germany, but she has not only 
 retained her place in Roman Martyrology but as well in the Eng- 
 lish Reformed Church, and probably, next to Mary Magdalene is 
 to-day the most popular among the female saints in both the 
 Kalendars. 
 
 St. Catharine of Alexandria must not be confounded with St. 
 Catharine of Siena, a saint of the fourteenth century, whose festi- 
 val is held April 3oth. 
 
 NOVEMBER 26th. 
 
 Among others of the saints the Church pays honour to on this 
 day is St. Conrad, Bishop of Constance, whose name has more 
 especial interest to my English readers, as he was connected by
 
 500 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 blood with the illustrious house of the Guelphs, whose pedigree is 
 derived from Clodion, King of the Franks, and Wittekind the 
 Great (first Duke of Saxony), and consequently from Woden, the 
 chief god, and thus of the stock of the principal royal families of 
 the Saxons who founded the Heptarchy in England. The name 
 Guelph, or Guelf, was only taken during the reign of Charlemagne, 
 when the family were simply " Counts of Altroff,"now called 
 Weingarten, in Suabia, and not to be confounded with the Altroff 
 near Nuremberg in Franconia, nor with the capital of Uri in 
 Switzerland. But I have digressed too far already, and I must 
 not follow this interesting genealogy of our saint, from Conrad 
 Rudolph, the second Count of Altroff, the founder of the house of 
 Guelph, to our St. Conrad. 
 
 From childhood Conrad had displayed his desire for a religious 
 life and the temptations and ambitions of worldly rank and power 
 had no influence over him, and from the time he entered the 
 monastery his biographer tells how " everyone approached him 
 with awe, veneration, mixed with confidence and affection inspired 
 by his tender charity and humility. " He was rapidly promoted 
 from the time of his ordination as a priest until in 934 he was 
 named as Bishop of Constance to fill a vacancy which happened 
 in that year. From his wealth he richly endowed the church at 
 Constance as well as providing for the poor of his flock. For 
 forty-two years he filled this sacred office, dying in 976 full of 
 years and good works. 
 
 Thus with this day we complete the list of the Feasts, Fasts and 
 Festivals of the Christian Church and mention of most of the holy 
 men, whom both the Roman and Reformed Churches have hon- 
 oured ; though to keep within required limits I have been com- 
 pelled to leave unmentioned not a few I would gladly have spoken 
 of. 
 
 In concluding this series of articles I should not be doing jus- 
 tice if I failed to acknowledge the great obligations I am under to 
 more than one of the reverend gentlemen connected with St. Ber- 
 nard's Seminary for not alone placing at my service many rare and 
 valuable books from the rich library of the Seminary, but far more
 
 AUTHORITIES QUOTED 501 
 
 than this ; their kindly suggestions as to where among these books 
 I would find the information I desired and without which I 
 many times would have been sadly at a loss for definite data. 
 
 It has been an ever-increasing debt, and one I cannot repay, 
 made all the greater by the gentle, kindly hearts behind which 
 constantly were ready to aid and advise me. 
 
 I also desire to acknowledge the references I have in many 
 cases made to such valuable books as : 
 
 " Die Attribute der Hallinger Hanover, 1843 ;" " Conybeare and 
 Housons;" "Catholic Dictionary of Addis and Arnold;" " Kir- 
 chenlexikon ; " "The Golden Legend," printed by Wynkin de 
 Worde from the Latin of Jacobus de Viragine, and re-printed by 
 T. Fisher Unwin with a preface by S. Baring-Gould and an intro- 
 duction by John Ashton. " The Catalogus Sanctorum et Ges- 
 torum,"etc. (1538). "The Lives of the Saints," by Dr. Alban 
 Butler, and many other works I have tried to name as I quoted 
 from them.
 
 A Chronological List 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BISHOPS AND POPES 
 
 of the Christian Church from the death of St. Peter. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 
 A. D. 
 
 65 
 
 St. Peter. 
 
 2 53- 2 57 St. Stephen. 
 
 65- 76 
 
 " Linus. 
 
 257-258 " Sixtus II. 
 
 76- 89 
 
 " Cletus. 
 
 259-269 " Dionysius. 
 
 89-100 
 
 " Clement. 
 
 269-275 " Felix. 
 
 100-109 
 
 " Anacletus. 
 
 275-283 " Eutychian. 
 
 109-109 
 
 " Evaristus. 
 
 283-296 " Caius. 
 
 109-119 
 
 " Alexander. 
 
 296-304 " Marcellinus. 
 
 119-128 
 
 " Sixtus I. 
 
 308-310 " Marcellus. 
 
 128-139 
 
 " Tilesphorus. 
 
 310-310 " Eusebius. 
 
 139-142 
 
 " Hyginus. 
 
 311-314 " Melchiades. 
 
 142-157 
 
 " Pius I. 
 
 3 1 4-3 3 5 " Sylvester. 
 
 157-168 
 
 " Anicetus. 
 
 336-336 " Mark. 
 
 168-176 
 
 " Soter. 
 
 337-35 2 " Julius. 
 
 176-192 
 
 " Eleutherius. 
 
 352-366 Liberius. 
 
 192-202 
 
 " Victor. 
 
 366-384 St. Damasus. 
 
 2O2-2I8 
 
 " Zephyrinus. 
 
 385-398 " Sericius. 
 
 218-223 
 
 " Calistus. 
 
 399-402 " Anastasius. 
 
 223-230 
 
 " Urban. 
 
 402-417 " Innocent I. 
 
 230-235 
 
 " Pontian. 
 
 417-418 " Zozimus. 
 
 235-236 
 
 " Anterus. 
 
 418-422 " Boniface. 
 
 236-250 
 
 " Fabianus. 
 
 422-432 " Celestine. 
 
 251-252 
 
 " Cornelius. 
 
 432-440 " Sixtus III. 
 
 252-253 
 
 " Lucius. 
 
 440-461 " Leo " The Great.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST 503 
 
 A. D. 
 
 461-468 St. Hilary. 
 468-483 " Simplicius. 
 483-492 " Felix II.* (or III ?) 
 492-496 " Gelasius. 
 496-498 " Anastasius. 
 498-514 Symmachus. 
 514-523 Hormisdas. 
 523-526 St. John I. 
 526-529 Felix III.* (or IV.) 
 529-531 Boniface II. 
 532-535 John II. 
 535-536 Agapetus. 
 536-538 St. Sylverius. 
 538-555 Vigilius. 
 555-559 Pelagius I. 
 559-572 John III. 
 573-577 Benedict I. 
 577-590 Pelagius II. 
 590-604 St. Gregory "the 
 
 Great." 
 
 604-605 Sabinian. 
 606-606 Boniface III. 
 607-614 Boniface IV. 
 614-617 Deusdedit or Adeodu- 
 
 tus. 
 
 617-625 Boniface V. 
 626-638 Honorius I. 
 640-640 Severinus. 
 640-642 John IV. 
 642-649 Theodorus. 
 649-655 St. Martin. 
 655-658 Eugenius I. 
 658-672 Vitalian. 
 672-676 Adeodatus. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 676-679 Domnus. 
 679-682 St. Agatho. 
 682-683 " Leo II. 
 684-685 Benedict II. 
 685-686 John V. 
 686-687 Conon. 
 687-701 Sergius. 
 701-705 John VI. 
 705-707 John VII. 
 708-708 Sisinnius. 
 708-715 Constantine. 
 715-731 St. Gregory II. 
 731-741 Gregory III. 
 741-752 St. Zachery. 
 752-752 Stephen II. (four days) 
 752-757 Stephen III. 
 757-767 Paul I. 
 768-772 Stephen IV. 
 772-795 Adrian. 
 795-816 Leo III. 
 816-817 Stephen V. 
 817-824 Paschal. 
 824-827 Eugenius II. 
 827-827 Valentine. 
 828-844 Gregory IV. 
 844-847 Sergius II. 
 847-855 St. Leo IV. 
 855-858 Benedict III. 
 858-867 Nicholas I. 
 867-872 Adrian II. 
 872-882 John VIII. 
 882-884 Marin or Martin II. 
 884-885 Adrian III. 
 885-891 Stephen VI. 
 
 * See Dr. Alban Butler's " Lives of the Saints."
 
 504 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 A. D. 
 
 891-896 Formosus. 
 
 896-897 Stephen VII. 
 
 897-898 Romanus. 
 
 898-898 Theodorus II. 
 
 898-900 John IX. 
 
 900-903 Benedict IV. 
 
 903-905 Leo V. 
 
 905-911 Sergius III. 
 
 911-913 Anastasius III. 
 
 913-914 Lando. 
 
 914-928 John X. 
 
 928-929 Leo VI. 
 
 929-931 Stephen VIII. 
 
 93 i -936 John XI. 
 
 936-939 Leo VII. 
 
 939-943 Stephen IX. 
 
 943-946 Martin III. 
 
 946-956 Agapetus II. 
 
 956-964 John XII. 
 
 964-964 Leo VIII. 
 
 964-965 Benedict V. 
 
 965-972 John XIII. 
 
 972-974 Benedict VI. 
 
 974-975 Domnus II. 
 
 976-984 Benedict VII. 
 
 984-985 John XIV. 
 
 986-996 John XV. * 
 
 996-999 Gregory V. 
 
 999-1003 Sylvester II. 
 1003-1003 John XVII. 
 1004-1009 John XVIII. 
 1009-1012 Sergius IV. 
 1012-1024 Benedict VIII. 
 1024-1033 John XIX. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1033-1044 Benedict IX. 
 1045-1046 Gregory VI. 
 1046-1047 Clement II. 
 1048-1048 Damasus II. 
 1049-1054 St. Leo IX. 
 1055-1057 Victor II. 
 1057-1058 Stephen X. 
 1058-1061 Nicholas II. 
 1061-1073 Alexander II. 
 1073-1085 St. Gregory VII. 
 1086-1087 Victor III. 
 1087-1099 Urban II. 
 1099-1118 Paschal II. 
 1118-1119 Gelasius II. 
 1119-1124 Calixtus II. 
 1124-1130 Honorius II. 
 1130-1143 Innocent II. 
 1143-1144 Celestine II. 
 1144-1145 Lucius II. 
 1145-1153 Eugenius III. 
 1153-1154 Anastasius IV. 
 1154-1159 Adrian IV. 
 1159-1181 Alexander III. 
 1181-1185 Lucius III. 
 1185-1187 Urban III. 
 1187-1187 Gregory VIII. 
 1187-1191 Clement III. 
 1191-1198 Celestine III. 
 1198-1216 Innocent III. 
 1216-1227 Honorius III. 
 1227-1241 Gregory IX. 
 1241-1241 Celestine IV. 
 1243-1254 Innocent IV. 
 1254-1261 Alexander IV. 
 
 * John XVI., appears as an antipope 997-8, when he died.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST 505 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1261-1265 
 1265-1268 
 1271-1276 
 1276-1276 
 1276-1276 
 1276-1277 
 1277-1280 
 I28I-I285 
 1285-1287 
 1288-1292 
 1294-1294 
 
 tine 
 1294-1303 
 
 Urban IV. 
 Clement IV. 
 Gregory X. 
 Innocent V. 
 Adrian V. 
 John XX. or XXL* 
 Nicholas III. 
 Martin IV. 
 Honorius IV. 
 Nicholas IV. 
 St. Peter Celes- 
 V. 
 Boniface VIII. 
 
 The following Popes sat at 
 Avignon. 
 
 1303-1304 Benedict XI. 
 1305-1314 Clement V. 
 1316-1334 John XXII. 
 1334-1342 Benedict XII. 
 1342-1352 Clement VI. 
 1352-1362 Innocent VI. 
 1362-1370 Urban V. 
 1370-1378 Gregory XI. 
 
 The following Popes sat at 
 Rome while others sat at Avig- 
 non. 
 
 1378-1389 Urban VI. 
 1389- Boniface IX. 
 
 Contemporary Popes at Avig- 
 non 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1378-1394 Clement VII. 
 1394-1398 Benedict XII. 
 Who was chosen by the French 
 and Spaniards. 
 
 In 1413 Benedict XIII. was 
 restored, but deposed in 1417 
 when Clement VII I. was elected 
 but not acknowledged. 
 1389-1404 Boniface IX. At 
 
 Rome. 
 
 1404-1406 Innocent VII. 
 1406 Gregory XII. 
 
 1409 Gregory XII. 
 Deposed. 
 
 1409-1410 Alexander V. 
 
 1410 John XXIII. 
 1415 John XXIII. 
 
 Deposed. 
 
 1417-1431 Martin V. 
 1431-1447 Eugenius IV. 
 1447-1455 Nicholas V. 
 1455-1458 Calixtus III. 
 1458-1464 Pius II. 
 1464-1471 Paul II. 
 1471-1484 Sixtus IV. 
 1484-1492 Innocent VIII. 
 1492-1503 Alexander VI. 
 1503-1503 Pius III. 
 1503-1513 Julius II. 
 1513-1521 Leo X. 
 1522-1523 Adrian VI. 
 1523-1534 Clement VII. 
 1534-1549 Paul III. 
 
 *St. John XVI. as Antipope makes the succeeding numbers 
 certain.
 
 506 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1555-1555 
 1555-1559 
 1559-1565 
 1566-1572 
 1572-1585 
 1585-1590 
 1590-1590 
 1590-1591 
 1591-1591 
 1592-1605 
 1605-1605 
 1605-1621 
 1621-1623 
 1623-1644 
 1644-1655 
 1655-1667 
 1667-1669 
 1670-1676 
 
 Julius III. 
 Marcellus II. 
 Paul IV. 
 Pius IV. 
 St. Pius V. 
 Gregory XIII. 
 Sixtus V. 
 Urban VII. 
 Gregory XIV. 
 Innocent IX. 
 Clement VIII. 
 Leo XI. 
 Paul V. 
 Gregory XV. 
 Urban VIII. 
 Innocent X. 
 Alexander VII. 
 Clement IX. 
 Clement X. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1676-1689 
 1689-1691 
 1691-1700 
 1700-1721 
 1721-1724 
 1724-1730 
 1730-1740 
 1740-1758 
 1758-1769 
 1769-1774 
 1775-1779 
 1800-1823 
 1823-1829 
 1829-1830 
 1831-1846 
 1846-1878 
 1878-1903 
 1903 
 
 Innocent XI. 
 Alexander VIII. 
 Innocent XII. 
 Clement XI. 
 Innocent XIII. 
 Benedict XIII. 
 Clement XII. 
 Benedict XIV. 
 Clement XIII. 
 Clement XIV. 
 Pius VI. 
 Pius VII. 
 Leo XII. 
 Pius VIII. 
 Gregory XVI. 
 Pius IX. 
 Leo XIII. 
 PiusX. 
 
 In the earlier days, the head or chief ruler of the Christian 
 Church was termed Bishop. 
 
 The name Pope (Latin Papa, or Father) was, according to the 
 Catholic dictionary : " given at first as a title of respect to eccle- 
 siastics generally, and among the Greeks is to-day given all 
 priests and was thus used as late as the Middle Ages by inferior 
 clerics. In the West it seems very early to have become the 
 spiritual title of Bishops. Even as late as the VI. century the 
 title of Pope was given to all Metropolitans in the West. Grad- 
 ually, however, the title was limited to the Bishops of Rome and 
 we find a synod of Pavia in 998 rebuked an Archbishop of Milan, 
 for calling himself Pope. " 
 
 Gregory VII. at a Roman council in the year 1073 formally 
 prohibited the use or assumption of this title by any other than 
 Roman Bishops.
 
 Alphabetical Index 
 
 OF 
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 AND OTHERS. 
 
 Letters indicate, A. Abbot ; Ab. Archbishop ; B. Bishop ; C. 
 Confessor* ; H. Hermit or Anchorit ; M. Martyr ; R. Recluse ; 
 V. Virgin ; V. A. Virgin Abbess. 
 
 The date indicates the day which the Roman Church has 
 selected as their saint-day, or the day on which they are 
 honoured. 
 
 A. 
 
 St. Aaron. A. June 21. 
 " Aaron, M. July i. 
 " Abbam, A. Oct. 27. 
 " Abdon, M. July 30. 
 " Abraamius, B. M. Feby 5. 
 " Abraham, H. March 15. 
 " Abrogastus, B. C. July 2. 
 " Acepsimas, A. March 14. 
 
 St. Adalard, A. Jan. 2. 
 " Adalbert, B. M. April 23. 
 " Adamnan, A, Sept. 23. 
 " Adelbert, C. June 25. 
 " Adjustre, Sept. 30. 
 " Ado, B. C. Dec. 16. 
 " Adhelm, M. May 25. 
 " Adrian, M. Sept. 8. 
 
 * CONFESSOR From the Dictionary of Addis and Arnold, I take the following : 
 " Confessor. A name used from the earliest times for persons who confessed 
 the Christian faith under persecution, thus exposing themselves to danger and 
 suffering, but who did not undergo martyrdom. For a time the martyrs were the 
 only saints who received special and public honour after death from the Church 
 and Martyrs only (with the Blessed Virgin and the Apostles) are mentioned in 
 the Canon of the Roman Mass, though the Cumbrosian Canon has the names of 
 other saints also. But at the beginning of the IV. century public honours were 
 also given to persons of heroic sanctity even if they had not been martyred. 
 Thus St. Anthony, as St. Jerom tells us, directed that his body after death should 
 be concealed, because he did not wish " Martyrium " enacted in his honour. 
 Thus the name Confessor got the technical meaning which it now has in the 
 Missal and Breviary i. e.\t was applied to all male saints who did not fall 
 under some special class, such as martyr, apostle, evangelist, etc. St. Martin, 
 Bishop of Tours, who died in 397, was the first or among the very earliest of the 
 Confessors that the church honoured with "an office and feast." In the office on 
 Good Friday, the word " Confessor," means " singer " because in the Scriptures 
 "confessing " to God is used for singing his praises.
 
 5o8 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Adrian of Scotland, B. M. 
 March 4. 
 
 " Adrian of Palestine, M. 
 March 5. 
 
 " Adrian, A. Jan. 9. 
 
 " Adulph, M. June 17. 
 
 " Aelred, A. Jan. 12. 
 
 " jEmilianus, M. Dec. 6. 
 
 " ALngus, B. C. March n. 
 
 ' Afra, M. Aug. 5. 
 
 " Agape, M. April 3. 
 
 " Agapetus, M. Aug. 18. 
 
 " Agapetus, Pope, C. Sept. 20. 
 
 " Agapius, M. Aug. 19. 
 
 " Agatha, V. M. Feb. 5. 
 
 " Agatho, Pope, Jan. 10. 
 
 " Agilbert, M. Jan. 25. 
 
 " Agilus, A. Aug. 30. 
 
 " Agnes, V, M. Jan. 21 and 
 Jan. 28. 
 
 " Agnes of Monte Pulciano, 
 V. A. April 20. 
 
 " Agoard, M. June 25. 
 
 " Agricola, M. Nov. 4. 
 
 " Agulus, B. C. Feb. 7. 
 
 " Aibert, B. April 7. 
 
 " Aicard, A. C. Sept. 15. 
 
 " Aid, A. April u. 
 
 " Aidan of Mayo, B. Oct. 20. 
 
 " Aidan of Lindisfarne, B. C. 
 Aug. 31. 
 
 " Aithilahas, M. March 24. 
 
 " Ajutre, R. C. April 30. 
 
 " Alban, Protomartyr of Bri- 
 tain, June 22. 
 
 Blessed Albert, Patriarch of Jer- 
 usalem, April 8. 
 
 St. Albeus, B. C. Sept. 12. 
 " Albinus, B. March i. 
 " Alcmund, M. March 19. 
 " Alchmund, B. C. Sept. 7. 
 " Aldegondes, V. A. Jan. 30. 
 " Alden, (see Maidoc). 
 " Aldehelm, B. May 25. 
 " Aldric, B. C. Jan. 27. 
 " Alexander of Caesarea, M. 
 
 March 28. 
 " Alexander, B. of Jerusalem, 
 
 M. March 18. 
 " Alexander, B. of Alexandria, 
 
 C. Feb. 26. 
 
 " Alexander, Pope, M. May 3. 
 " Alice, or Adelaide of Cologne, 
 
 V. A. Feb. 5. 
 " Alice or Adelaide, Empress 
 
 of Germany, Dec. 16. 
 " Alipius, B. C. August 1 5. 
 " Almachus, M. Jan. i. 
 " Aloysius Gonzaga, C. June 
 
 21. 
 
 " Alphaeus, M. Nov. 18. 
 " Alphonsus Turibius, M. 
 
 March 23. 
 
 " Alphonsus Liguori, Aug. 2. 
 " Alto, A. Sept. 5. 
 " Amand, B. C. June 18. 
 " Amandus, B. C. Feb. 6. 
 " Amator, B. C. May i. 
 " Amatus of Sion, B. C. Sept. 
 
 13- 
 " Amatus of Loraine, A. Sept. 
 
 13- 
 
 " Ambrose, B. C. Dec. 7. 
 
 " Ambrose, B, of Milan.Apr. 4.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 509 
 
 St. Ammon, H. Oct. 4. 
 " Amphilochius, B. C. Nov. 23. 
 " Anacletus, Pope, M.July 13. 
 " Anastasia, M. Dec. 25. 
 " Anastasia "the Elder," 
 
 Dec. 24. 
 
 " Anastasius, M. Jan. 22. 
 " Anastasius "the Sinaite," 
 
 Apl. 21. 
 " Anastasius, Patriarch, April 
 
 21. 
 
 " Anastasius " the Younger," 
 
 B. M. April 21. 
 " Anastasius, Pope, C. April 
 
 27. 
 
 " Andeolus, M. May i. 
 " Andrew Corsini, B. C. Feb. 
 
 4- 
 " Andrew of Crete, M. Oct. 
 
 17- 
 " Andrew Avellino, C. Nov. 
 
 10. 
 
 " Andrew, Apostle, Nov. 30. 
 " Angelus, M. May 5. 
 " Anian, B. C. Nov. 17. 
 " Anianus, B. April 25. 
 " Anicetus, Pope, M. April 17. 
 " Anysia, M. Dec. 30. 
 " Anne, Mother of the B. V. 
 
 Mary, July 26. 
 " Anno, B. C. Dec. 4. 
 " Ansbert, B. C. Feb. 9. 
 " Anscharius, B. C. Feb. 3. 
 " Anselm, B. C. March 18. 
 " Anstrudis, V. A. Oct. 17. 
 " Anterus, Pope, Jan. 3. 
 " Anthelm, B. C. June 26. 
 
 St. Anthimus, B. M. April 27. 
 " Anthony of Padua, C. June 
 
 13- 
 
 " Anthony, M. April 14. 
 " Antipas, M. April n. 
 " Antoninus, B. C. May 10. 
 " Antony (or Anthony), A. 
 
 Jan. 17. 
 " Anthony Cauleas, B. C. Feb. 
 
 12. 
 
 " Aper, B. C. Sept. 15. 
 " Aphraates, H. April 7, 
 " Apian, M. April 2. 
 " Apollinaris, B. Jan. 8. 
 " Apollinaris, B. M. July 23. 
 " Apollinaris Sidonius, B. C. 
 
 Aug. 23. 
 
 " Apollo, A. Jan. 25. 
 " Apollonia, V. M. Feb. 9. 
 " Apollonius in Egypt, M. 
 
 March 8. 
 
 " Apollonius " the Apolo- 
 gist," M. April 18. 
 " Arbogastus, B. C. July 21, 
 " Arcadius, M. July 12. 
 " Archinimus, M. March 29, 
 " Armogastes, M. March 29. 
 " Arnoul of Soissons, B. C. 
 
 Aug. 15. 
 
 " Arnoul, B. C. July 18. 
 " Arsenius, H. July 19. 
 " Artemius, M. Oct. 20. 
 " Augustine of England, B. 
 
 C. May 26. 
 " Augustine of Hippo, Aug. 
 
 28. 
 " Aulanus, M. April 28.
 
 5io SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Aunaire, B. Sept. 25. 
 " Aurea, V. A. Oct. 4. 
 " Aurelian, B. C. June 16. 
 " Austremonius, C. Nov, i. 
 " Auxentius, H. Feb. 14. 
 " Azades, M. April 22. 
 
 B. 
 
 St. Babolen, A. June 26. 
 " Babylas, B. M. Jan. 24. 
 " Bademus, A. M. April 10. 
 " Bain, B. June 20. 
 " Baldrede, B. C. March 6. 
 " Barachius, M. March 29. 
 " Baradat, Solitary, Feb. 22. 
 " Barbara, V. M. Dec. 4, 
 " Barbasceminus, M. Jan. 14. 
 " Barbatus, B. C. Feb. 19. 
 " Barhadbesciabas, M. July 21. 
 " Barlaam, M. Nov. 19. 
 " Barnabas, Apostle, June u. 
 " Barr, B. C. Sept. 25. 
 " Barsabias, M. Oct. 20. 
 " Barsanuphius, H. Feb. 6. 
 " Barsimaeus, B. M. Jan. 30. 
 " Bartholomew of Dunelin, C. 
 
 June 24. 
 " Bartholomew, Apostle, Aug. 
 
 24. 
 " Basil of Ancyra, M. March 
 
 22. 
 
 " Basil the Great, B. C. June 
 
 14- 
 
 " Basilides, Quirinus, etc., M. 
 
 M. June 12. 
 
 " Basiliscus, M. May 22. 
 " Basilissa, M. April 15. 
 
 St. Bathildes, Queen of France, 
 
 Jan. 30. 
 
 " Bavo, H. Oct. i. 
 " Bauhus, M. Oct. 7. 
 " Beanus, B. Dec. 16. 
 " Becan, A. April 5. 
 " Becket (Thomas a), M. 
 
 Dec. 29. 
 
 " Bede, C. May 27. 
 " Bega, V. Sept. 6. 
 " Begga, A. Dec. 17. 
 " Benedict Biscop, A. M. Jan. 
 
 12. 
 " Benedict of Anian, A. Feb. 
 
 12. 
 
 " Benedict, Patriarch of West- 
 ern Monks, March 21. 
 " Benedict II., Pope, C. May 
 
 7- 
 " Benedict XI., Pope, C. July 
 
 7- 
 
 " Benezet, C. April 14. 
 " Benignus, M, Nov. I. 
 " Benignus of Ireland, B. Nov. 
 
 9- 
 
 " Benjamin, M. March 31. 
 " Bernard of Menthon, C. 
 
 June 15. 
 " Bernard of Clairvaux, A. 
 
 Aug. 20. 
 " Bernard Ptolemy, C. Aug. 
 
 21. 
 " Bernardin of Sienna, C. May 
 
 20. 
 
 " Bernward, B. C. Nov. 20. 
 " Bertha, A. July 4. 
 " Bertille, A. Nov. 5.
 
 St. Berlin, A. Sept. 5. 
 " Bertran, B. July 3. 
 " Bettelin, H. C. Sept. 9. 
 " Beuno, A. April 21. 
 " Bibiana, V. M. Dec. 2. 
 " Birinus, B. C. Dec. 3. 
 " Blaan, B. Aug. 10. 
 " Blaithmaic, A. Jan. 19. 
 " Blase, B. M. Feb. 3. 
 " Bobo, C. May 22. 
 " Boisil. C. Feb. 23. 
 " Bolcan, A. July 4. 
 " Bona, V. A. April 24. 
 " Bonasus, M. April 21. 
 " Bonaventure, B. C. July 14. 
 " Boniface, M (under Dio- 
 
 clesian), May 14. 
 " Boniface of Scotland, B. C. 
 
 March 14. 
 " Boniface of Mentz, Apostle 
 
 of Germany, June 5. 
 " Boniface of Magdeburg, 
 
 Apostle of Russia, June 
 
 19- 
 
 " Boniface I., Pope, C. Oct. 25. 
 " Bonitus, B. Jan. 1 5. 
 " Bonosius, M. Aug. 21. 
 " Botulph, A. June 17. 
 " Braulio, B. C. March 26. 
 " Breaca, V. June 4. 
 " Brice, B. C. Nov. 13. 
 " Bridget or Bride, Patroness 
 
 of Ireland, Feb. i. 
 " Bridget of Sweden, Widow. 
 
 Oct. 8. 
 
 " Brieuc, B. C. May i. 
 " Brinstan, B. .Nov. 4. 
 
 St. Brithwald, B. Jan. 9. 
 " Briocus of Wales, M. May 
 
 i. 
 
 " Bronacha, V. A. April 2. 
 " Bruno of Segni, B. C. July 
 
 1 8. 
 
 " Bruno, C. Oct. 6. 
 " Brynoth, B. C. May 9. 
 " Burckard, B. C. Oct. 14. 
 " Buriana, June 4. 
 Dr. Butler (Alban), Author. 
 May 15. 
 
 C. 
 
 St. Cadoc or Cadroc, A. Jan. 24 
 
 " Cadroe, C. March 6. 
 
 " Caesarius, C. Feb. 25. 
 
 " Caesarius, B. C. Aug. 27. 
 
 " Caesarius, M. Nov. i. 
 PoetCeedmon, Feb. n. 
 St. Caius, Pope, Aug. 20. 
 
 " Cajetan, C. Aug. 7. 
 
 " Calais, A. July I. 
 
 " Calixtus, Pope, M. Oct. 14. 
 
 " Callinicus, M. Jan. 28. 
 
 " Camillus de Lellis, C. July 
 
 14. 
 
 " Cammin, A. March 25. 
 " Canicus or Kenny, A. Oct. 
 
 ii. 
 
 " Cantianus, M. May 31. 
 '' Cantius, M. May 31. 
 " Canut, Jan. 7. 
 " Canutus, King, M. Jan. 19. 
 " Caradoc, H. April 13. 
 '* Caraunus, M. May 28. 
 " Carpus, B. M. April 14.
 
 512 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Casimir '' the Good ", Earl 
 
 of Flanders, C. Mar. 4. 
 " Cassian, M. Aug. 13. 
 *' Castus, M. May 22. 
 " Cataldus, B. May 10. 
 " Cathan, B. C. May 17. 
 " Catharine of Alexandria, V. 
 
 M. Nov. 25. 
 " Catharine of Bologna, V. 
 
 Mar. 9. 
 '' Catharine of Genoa, Widow, 
 
 Sept. 14. 
 " Catharine of Sienna, V. 
 
 April 30. 
 " Catharine of Sweden, V. 
 
 Mar. 22. 
 " Catharine of Ricci, V. Feb. 
 
 13- 
 
 '' Ceadda, B. M. Mar. 2. 
 " Cecilia or Cecily, V. M. Nov. 
 
 22. 
 
 " Cecilius, C. June 3. 
 " Cedd, B. Jan. 7. 
 '* Celestine, Pope, C. April 6. 
 " Celsus, B. April 6. 
 " Ceolfrid, A. Sept. 25, 
 " Ceslas, C. July 20. 
 Chair of St. Peter, Antioch, 
 
 Feb. 22. 
 Chair of St. Peter, Rome. Jan. 
 
 1 8. 
 Blessed Charlemagne, E. Jan. 
 
 28. 
 St. Charles "the Good", M. 
 
 Mar. 2. 
 
 " Charles Borromeo, B. C. 
 Nov. 4. 
 
 St. Charles V. of Rome, Aug. i. 
 
 " Chef, A. Oct. 29. 
 
 '' Chelidonius, M. Mar. 3. 
 
 " Chillen or Kilian, C. Nov. 13. 
 
 " Christina, V. M. July 24. 
 
 " Christopher, M. July 25. 
 
 " Chrodegang, B. C. Mar. 6. 
 
 " Chromatius, C. Aug. 11. 
 
 " Chronan, A. April 28. 
 
 " Chuniald, Priest, Sept. 24. 
 
 " Chrysanthus, M. Oct. 25. 
 
 '' Chrysogonus, M. Nov. 24. 
 
 " Cianan, B. C. Nov. 24. 
 
 " Ciman, M. Dec. 12. 
 
 " Clare, V. A. Aug. 12. 
 (Founder of Order of Poor 
 
 Clares). 
 
 St. Clare of Monte Falio, V. 
 Aug. 1 8. 
 
 '' Clarus, M. Nov. 4. 
 
 " Claud, B. M. June 6. 
 
 " Claudius, M. Aug. 23. 
 
 " Clement I., Pope, M. Nov. 
 
 23- 
 " Clement of Alexandria, B. 
 
 C. Dec. 4. 
 
 '' Clement, B. M. Jan. 23. 
 " Cletus, M. April 26. 
 " Clotildis, Queen of France, 
 
 June 3. 
 
 " Clou, B. C. June 8. 
 " Cloud, C. Sept. 7. 
 " Coemgen, B. C. June 3. 
 Blessed Collette, V. M. Mar. 6. 
 St. Colman, B. C. June 7. 
 " Colman Elo, A. C. Sept. 26. 
 " Colman, M. Oct. 13.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 St. Colman, A. Dec. 12. 
 " Columba, Apostle of Picts, 
 
 A. June 9. 
 
 " Columba, V. M. Sept. 17. 
 " Columba, V. M. Dec. 31. 
 " Columba, A. Dec. 12. 
 '* Columban, A. C. Nov. 22. 
 " Comgall, A. May 10. 
 " Comgall, A. July 27. 
 " Conall, A. May 22. 
 '' Concordius, M. July 2. 
 " Conon, B. Jan : 26. 
 '* Conon and Son, MM. May 
 
 29. 
 
 " Conrad, B. C. Nov. 26. 
 " Conran, B. C. Feb. 14. 
 " Constant, C. Nov. 13. 
 Blessed Constantine, King of 
 
 Scotland, M. April 2. 
 St. Constantine (supposed to 
 have been a king in Britain), 
 
 Mar. 14. 
 
 " Constantine, one of the 
 Seven Sleepers, July 27. 
 11 Corbinian, B. C. Sept. 8. 
 " Corentin, B. C. Dec. 12. 
 " Cormac, B. C. Sept. 14. 
 " Cormac, A. Dec. 12. 
 " Cornelius, Pope, M. Sept. 
 
 1 6. 
 
 " Cosmas, M. Sept. 27. 
 " Crispin, M. Oct. 25. 
 " Crispinian, M. Oct. 25. 
 " Crispina, M. Dec. 5. 
 SS. Crowned Brothers, MM. 
 
 Nov. 8. 
 St. Cucufas, M. July 25. 
 
 St. 
 
 Cumin, B. Aug. 19. 
 Cunegunda, Empress, Mar. 
 
 3- 
 
 Cuthbert, B. C. March 30. 
 Cuthbert, Translation of 
 
 Relics, Sept. 4. 
 Cuthburge, Q. Aug. 31. 
 Cuthman, Founder of the 
 
 Order of Trinitarians, 
 
 Feb. 8. 
 
 Cybar, R. July i. 
 Cyprian, B. M. Sept. 16. 
 Cyprian, M. Sept. 26. 
 Cyriacus, M. Aug. 8. 
 Cyrian of Carthage, M. 
 
 Sept. 16. 
 
 Cyril, Patriarch of Alexan- 
 dria, Jan. 28. 
 Cyril, Ab. of Jerusalem. 
 
 Mar. 1 8. 
 
 Cyril, M. May 20. 
 Cyril, M. C. Dec. 22. 
 Cyrus, M. Jan. 31. 
 
 St. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dabius, C. July 22. 
 Damasus, Pope, C. Dec. 11, 
 Damhnade, V. June 13. 
 Damian, M. Sept, 27. 
 Daniel, M. Feb. 21. 
 Daniel, B. C. Nov. 23. 
 Daniel, the Stylite, C. 
 
 Dec. n. 
 
 Daria, M. Oct. 25. 
 Datira, M. Dec. 6. 
 Daterus, M. Feb. u.
 
 5H SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. David, of Wales, B. 
 
 March i. 
 " David, Patron of Muscovy, 
 
 July 24. 
 
 " Declan, B. July 24. 
 " Deicolus, A. Jan. 18. 
 " Delphine, M. Sept. 27. 
 " Dennis, see Dionysius. 
 " Desiderius, B. M. May 23. 
 " Deusdedit, C. Aug. 10. 
 " Didacus, C. Nov. 13. 
 " Didymus, M. April 28. 
 " Die, or Dio, B. June 19. 
 SS. Dionysia and Dativa, MM. 
 
 Dec. 6. 
 St. Dionysius, the Areopagite, 
 
 B. M. Oct. 3. 
 " Dionysius of Alexandria, B. 
 
 Nov. 17. 
 " Dionysius of Corinth, B. M. 
 
 April 8. 
 " Dionysius, or Dennis of 
 
 Paris, M. Oct. 9. 
 " Dionysius, Pope, C. Dec. 26. 
 " Dionysius, One of the Seven 
 
 Sleepers, July 27. 
 " Disen, B. C. Sept. 8. 
 " Docmail, C. June 14. 
 " Dominic, Founder of the 
 
 Order of Friar Preachers, 
 
 Aug. 4. 
 " Dominic Loricatus, C. Oct. 
 
 14. 
 
 " Domninus, M. Oct. 9. 
 " Donatian, B. C. Oct. 14. 
 " Donatus, B. C. Oct. 22. 
 " Donatus, B. M. Aug. 7. 
 
 St. Dorotheus, of Tyre, M. 
 
 June 6. 
 
 " Dorothy, V. M. Feb. 6. 
 " Dositheus, Monk, Feb. 23. 
 " Dotto, A. April 9. 
 " Droctrovius, A. March 10. 
 " Drostan, A. July n. 
 " Druon, B. April 16. 
 " Dubricius, B. C. Nov. 14. 
 " Dumhade, A. May 25. 
 " Dunstan, B. C. May 19. 
 " Duthak, B. C. March 8. 
 " Dympna, V. M. May 15. 
 
 E. 
 
 St. Eadbert, B. C. May 6. 
 " Eadburge, A. Dec. 12. 
 " Eanswide, V. A. Sept. 12. 
 " Ebba, M. April 2. 
 " Ebba or Abba of Colding- 
 
 ham, V. A. Aug. 25. 
 " Ecrigan, King of Scotland. 
 
 April 21. 
 
 " Edana, V. July 5. 
 " Edburge, V. Dec. 21. 
 " Edelburga, V. July 7. 
 " Edelwald, C. March 23. 
 " Editha, V. Sept. 16. 
 " Edmund, King of England, 
 
 M. Nov. 20. 
 
 " Edmund, B. C. Nov. 16. 
 " Edward, King of England, 
 
 M. March 18. 
 " Edward, King, Translation 
 
 of Relics of the Confessor, 
 
 June 20,
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 St. Edward "the Confessor," 
 
 King, Oct. 3. 
 " Edwin, King of Northum- 
 
 bria, Oct. 4. 
 " Egwin, B. Jan. n. 
 " Eingan, C. April 21. 
 " Elesbaan, King of Ethiopia, 
 
 C. Oct. 2.7. 
 
 " Eleutherius, B. M. Feb. 20. 
 " Eleutherius, Pope, M. May 
 
 26. 
 
 " Elias, M. Feb. 16. 
 " Elier, H. M. July 16. 
 " Eligius, B. C. Dec. i. 
 " Elizabeth o f Hungary, 
 
 Widow, Nov. 19. 
 " Elizabeth, Queen of Portu- 
 gal, July 8. 
 " Elizabeth of Sconauge, V. A. 
 
 June 1 8. 
 
 " Elizian, M. Sept. 27. 
 " Elphege, B. M. April 19. 
 " Elphege "the Bald," B. 
 
 April 19. 
 
 " Elzear, M. Sept. 27. 
 " Emerentiana, V. M. Jan. 23. 
 " Emiliana, V. M. Dec. 24. 
 " Emmeran, B. M. Sept. 22. 
 " Enna, A. March 21. 
 " Ennodius, B. C. July 17. 
 " Enric, Nov. 4. 
 " Ephrem, Deacon, C. July 9. 
 " Epimachus, M. Dec. 12. 
 " Epiphanius of Pavia, B. Jan. 
 
 21. 
 " Epiphanius of Salamis, B. 
 
 May 12. 
 
 St. Epipodius, M. April 22. 
 " Equitius, A. Aug. n. 
 " Erasmus of Antioch, B. M. 
 
 Nov. 25. 
 
 " Erasmus, B. M. June 2. 
 " Erhard, A. C. Feb. 9. 
 " Eric, King of Sweden, M. 
 
 May 1 8. 
 
 " Erlulph, B. M. Feb. 10. 
 " Eskill, B. M.June 12. 
 " Ethbin, A. Oct. 19. 
 " Ethelbert, King of Anglia, 
 
 M. May 20. 
 " Ethelbert, first Christian 
 
 king in Britain, C. Feb. 
 
 24. 
 " Ethelburge of Barking, V. A. 
 
 Oct. ii. 
 " Etheldreda or Audry, V. A. 
 
 June 23. 
 " Etheldreda or Audry, of Ely, 
 
 V. A. Oct. 17. 
 " Etheldritha, V. Aug. 2. 
 " Ethelwold, B. C. Aug. i. 
 " Eubulus, March i. 
 " Eucherius, B. C. Feb. 20. 
 " Eucherius, B. C. Nov. 16. 
 " Eugendus, A. Jan. i. 
 " Eugenia, V. M. Dec. 25. 
 " Eugenius, B. C. July 13. 
 " Eugenius, of Ireland, B. 
 
 Aug. 23. 
 " Eugenius of Paris, M. Nov. 
 
 IS- 
 
 " Eulalia, V. M. Dec. 10. 
 " Eulogius, M. March u.
 
 516 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Eulogius, Patriarch of Alex- 
 andria, B. C. Sept. 13. 
 
 " Eunan, B. Sept. 7. 
 
 " Euphemia, V. M. Sept. 16. 
 
 " Euphrasia, V. March 13. 
 
 " Euplius, M. Aug. 12. 
 
 " Eusebius, M. at Gaza, Sept. 
 8. 
 
 " Eusebius, B. M. June 21. 
 
 " Eusebius, A. Jan. 23. 
 
 " Eusebius, M. at Rome, Aug. 
 14. 
 
 " Eusebius, C. Aug. 14. 
 
 " Eusebius, Pope, C. Sept. 26. 
 
 " Eustachius, M. Sept. 20. 
 
 " Eustasius, A. March 29. 
 
 " Eustathius, B. C. July 16. 
 
 " Eustochium, V. Sept. 28. 
 
 " Eustochius, B. Sept. 19. 
 
 " Euthymius, A. Jan. 20. 
 
 " Eutropius, M. Jan. 12. 
 
 " Evaristus, Pope, M. Oct. 26. 
 
 " Everildis, V. July 9. 
 
 " Evertius, B. C. Sept. 7. 
 
 " Evroul, A. Dec. 20. 
 
 " Ewalds (The Two) MM. 
 Oct 3. 
 
 " Exuperius, B. Sept. 28. 
 
 F. 
 
 St. Fabian, Pope, M. Jan. 20. 
 " Faine, see Fanchea. 
 " Faith of Rome, V. M. Aug. i 
 " Faith of Gaul, V. M. Oct. 6, 
 " Fanchea, V. Jan. I. 
 " Fara, V. A. Dec. 7. 
 " Faro, B. C. Oct. 28. 
 
 St. Faustinus, M. July 29. 
 " Faustus, M. Oct. 13. 
 " Fechin, A, Jan. 20. 
 " Fedlemid, B. C. Aug. 9. 
 " Felan, A. Jan. 9. 
 " Felicitas, M. March 7. 
 " Felix of Nola, Priest, Jan. 
 
 14. 
 
 " Felix, B. C. Aug. 9. 
 " Felix of Cantalicio, C. May 
 
 21. 
 
 " Felix I, Pope, M. May 30. 
 
 " Felix, Pope, M. July 29. 
 
 " Felix of Nantes, B. C. July 
 
 7- 
 " Felix of Carthage, M. Sept. 
 
 10. 
 " Felix of Dunwich, M. Mar. 
 
 8, 
 " Felix of Thiabura, B. M. 
 
 Oct. 24. 
 
 " Felix of Valois, C. Nov. 20. 
 " Ferdinand III., King of 
 
 Castile and C. May 30. 
 " Ferreol, M. Sept. 18. 
 " Ferreolus, M. June 16. 
 " Ferrutius, M. June 16. 
 " Fiachna, C. April 29. 
 " Fiaker, H. C. Aug. 30. 
 " Fidelis o f Sigmaringen, 
 
 M. April 24. 
 " Fidharleus, A. Oct. i. 
 " Finan of Lindisfarne, C. 
 
 April 7. 
 
 " Finbar, A. July 4. 
 " Finian "the Leper" Mar. 
 16.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 St. Finian, B. C. Sept. 10. 
 " Finian, A. Oct. 21. 
 " Finian, B. C. Dec. 12. 
 " Fintan, A. Feb. 17. 
 " Fintan, A. Oct. 21. 
 " Flavia Domitilla, V. M. 
 
 May 12. 
 
 " Flavian, B. M. Feb. 17. 
 " Flora, V. M. Nov. 24. 
 " Florence (An Irish Saint) 
 
 A. Dec. 15. 
 
 " Flour, B. C. Nov. 3. 
 " Foilan, M. Oct. 31. 
 " Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, 
 
 March 10. 
 " Four Crowned Brothers, 
 
 M. Nov. 8. 
 " Francis of Assisium, C. 
 
 Oct. 4. 
 
 " Francis Borgia, C. Oct. 10. 
 " Francis di Girolamo, May 
 
 n. 
 " Francis of Paula, C. April 
 
 2. 
 " Francis of Sales, B. C. Jan. 
 
 29. 
 
 " Francis Solano, C. July 24. 
 " Francis, Stigmas of, Oct. 
 
 4- 
 
 " Francis Xavier, C. Dec. 3. 
 " Frances, Widow, March 9. 
 " Frederick of Utrecht, B. M. 
 
 July 1 8. 
 SS. Friar Minors, The Five, M 
 
 M. July 6. 
 " Friar Minors, The Seven, 
 
 MM. Oct. 13. 
 
 St. Frideswide, Patroness of 
 
 Oxford, V. Oct. 19. 
 " Fridian, B. C. March 18. 
 " Fridolin, C. March 6. 
 SS. Fructuosus, B. and others, 
 
 MM. Jan. 21. 
 
 St. Fructuosus, B. C. April 16. 
 " Frumentius, B. C. Oct. 27. 
 " Fulgentius, B. C. Jan. i. 
 " Fursey, A. and an Irish King 
 
 Jan 1 6. 
 " Fuscian, M. Dec. n. 
 
 G. 
 
 St. Gal, B. July i. 
 " Galdin, B. C. April 18. 
 " Galdus, B. Jan. 31. 
 " Gall, A. Oct. 1 6. 
 " Galla, Widow, Oct. 5. 
 " Galmier, C. Feb. 27. 
 " Gamaliel, C. Aug. 3. 
 " Gatian, B. C. Dec. 18. 
 " Gaucher, A. April 9. 
 " Gaudentius of Brescia, B. C. 
 
 Oct. 25. 
 
 " Gelasinus, M. Aug. 26. 
 " Gelasius, Pope, C. Nov. 21. 
 
 " Genebrard, M. May 1 5, 
 
 " Genesius, B. C. June 3. 
 
 " Genesius, M. Aug. 26. 
 
 " Genesius, of Aries, M. Aug. 
 26. 
 
 " Genevieve, V. Jan. 3. 
 
 " George, Patron of England, 
 M. April 23. 
 
 " Gerald, B. March 13. 
 
 " Gerald, A. April 5,
 
 518 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Gerald, Count of Aurillac, 
 
 C. Oct. 13. 
 " Gerard of Tours, B. C. Apr. 
 
 23- 
 " Gerard of Chonad, B. M. 
 
 Sept. 24. 
 
 " Gerard, A. Oct. 3. 
 " Gerimonia, Sept. 7. 
 " German, M. Feb. 21. 
 " Germanus, Patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, B. May 12. 
 " Germanus, B. C.May 28. 
 " Germanus of Auxerre, B. C. 
 
 July 26. 
 " Germanus of Capua, B. C. 
 
 Oct. 30. 
 
 " Germer, A. Sept. 24. 
 " Gertrude, V. A. Nov. 15. 
 " Gervasius, M. June 19. 
 " Gery, B. C. Aug. n. 
 SS. Getulius and others, MM. 
 
 June 10. 
 
 St. Gilasinus, M. Aug. 26. 
 " Gilbert, A. Feb. 4. 
 " Gilbert, B. April i. 
 " Gildard, B. C. June 6. 
 " Gildas " the Wise," A. Jan. 
 
 29. 
 " Gildas, " the Albanian," C. 
 
 Jan. 29. 
 
 " Giles, A. Sept. i. 
 " Glastian of Scotland, B. 
 
 Jan. 23. 
 
 " Goar, C. July 6. 
 " Gobain, M. June 20. 
 " Godard, B. C. May 4. 
 
 St. Godeschalc, Prince of the 
 
 Western Vandals, M. 
 
 June 7. 
 " Godfrey of Amiens, B. Nov. 
 
 8. 
 
 " Godric, H. May 21. 
 " Gontran, King of Burgundy, 
 
 C. Mar. 28. 
 " Gregory, B. Jan. 4. 
 " Gregory II. Pope, C.Feb. 13. 
 " Gregory X. Pope, C. Feb. 16. 
 " Gregory of Nyssa, B. C. 
 
 Mar. 9. 
 " Gregory " the Great" Pope, 
 
 C. Mar. 12. 
 " Gregory Nazianzen, B. C. 
 
 May 9. 
 " Gregory VII. Pope, C. May. 
 
 25- 
 
 Blessed Gregory, B. C. June 15. 
 St. Gregory of Ulnith, A. C. 
 Aug. 25. 
 
 " Gregory, Apostle of Arme- 
 nia, B. C. Sept. 30. 
 
 " Gregory Thaumaturgus, B. 
 C. Nov. 17. 
 
 " Gregory of Tours, B. C. 
 Nov. 17. 
 
 " Gregory, M. Dec. 24. 
 
 " Grimbald, A. July 8. 
 
 " Grimonia, V. A. C. Sept. 7. 
 
 " Gudula, V. Jan. 8. 
 
 " Gudwall, A. Oct. 9. 
 
 " Gummar, C. Oct. n. 
 
 " Gundleus, C. Mar. 29. 
 
 " Gunthiern, A. July 9. 
 
 " Guthlake, H. April n.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 St. Guy, C. March 31. 
 " Guy, C. Sept. 12. 
 " Gybrian, Priest, C. May 8. 
 
 H. 
 
 " St. Harold VI. of Denmark, 
 King, M. Nov. i. 
 
 " Hedda, B. C. July 7. 
 
 " Hedwiges, Widow, Oct. 17. 
 
 " Hegesippus, C. April 7. 
 
 " Helen, M.July 31. 
 
 " Helen, Empress, Aug. 18. 
 
 " Hemma, Widow, June 29. 
 
 " Henry, H. Jan. 16. 
 
 " Henry of England, Blessed, 
 B. M. Jan. 19. 
 
 " Henry of Treviso, C. June 
 10. 
 
 " Henry II., Emperor of Ger- 
 many, July 15. 
 Blessed Herman Joseph, C. 
 
 April 7. 
 St. Hermas, C. May 9. 
 
 " Hermenegild, M. April 13. 
 
 " Hermes, M. Aug. 28. 
 
 " Hidulphus, B.July 11. 
 
 " Hilarion, A. Oct. 21. 
 
 " Hilary, B. Jan. 14. 
 
 " Hilary of Aries, B. C. May 
 
 5- 
 
 " Hilda, A. Nov. 18. 
 " Hildegardis of Monte St. 
 
 Disibode, V. A. Sept. 17. 
 " Hippolytus, M. Aug. 13. 
 " Hippolytus, Early Author, 
 
 B. M. Aug. 22. 
 " Homobonus, C. Nov. 13. 
 
 St. Honoratus, B. Jan. 16. 
 " Honoratus, B. C. May 16. 
 " Honorius, B. C. Sept. 30. 
 " Hope of Rome, M. Aug. i. 
 " Hormisdas, M. Aug. 8. 
 " Hospitius, R. Oct. 15. 
 " Hubert of Liege, B. C. Nov. 
 
 3- 
 " Hugh of Lincoln, M. Aug. 
 
 27. 
 
 " Hugh, B. C. April i. 
 " Hugh of Cluni, A. C. Aug. 
 
 29. 
 " Hugh of Lincoln, B. C. 
 
 Nov. 17. 
 
 " Humbert, B. M. Nov. 20. 
 " Hyacinth, C. Aug. 16. 
 " Hyacinthus, M. Sept. n. 
 " Hyginus, Pope, M. Jan. n. 
 
 I. 
 
 St. Ibar, B. April 23. 
 
 " Ida, Widow, Sept. 4. 
 
 " Idaberga, V. June 20. 
 
 " Idus, B. July 14. 
 
 " Ignatius, B. M. Feb. I. 
 
 " Ignatius Loyola, C. July 31. 
 
 " Ignatius, Patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, Oct. 23. 
 
 " Ildephonsus, B. Jan. 23. 
 
 " Illidius, B. C. June 5. 
 
 " Iltutus, A. Nov. 6. 
 
 " Innocent I., Pope, C. July 
 28. 
 
 " Irchard, B. C. Aug. 24. 
 
 " Irenasus of Sirmium, B. M. 
 March 24.
 
 520 
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Irenasus, B. M. June 28. 
 
 " Isaac, B. M. Nov. 30. 
 
 " Isabel, V. Aug. 31. 
 
 " Ischyrion, M. Dec. 22. 
 
 " Isaias, M. Jan. 14. 
 
 " Isidore, Hospitaler of Alex- 
 andria, Priest, Jan. 15. 
 
 " Isidore of Scete, H. Jan. 15. 
 
 " Isidore of Pelusium, Monk, 
 Feb. 4. 
 
 " Isidore, Patron of Madrid, 
 C. May 10. 
 
 " Isidore of Seville, B. April 
 
 4- 
 
 " Ita, V. Jan. 15. 
 " Ivia, B. April 25. 
 
 J. 
 
 St. James of Sclavonia, C. April 
 
 20. 
 
 " James, M. April 30. 
 " James, " the Less " Apostle, 
 
 May i. 
 " James, " Major," Apostle, 
 
 July 25. 
 " James of Nisibis, B. C. 
 
 July ii. 
 " James (Intercisus) M. Nov. 
 
 27. 
 " James La Marca of An- 
 
 cona, C. Nov. 28. 
 " Jane, or Joan of Valois, 
 
 Queen of France, Feb. 4. 
 " Jane Frances de Chantal, 
 
 Widow, Abbess, Aug. 
 
 21. 
 
 St. Januarius and others, B. M. 
 
 M. Sept. 19. 
 " Januarius of Cordova, M. 
 
 Oct. 13. 
 
 " Jariat, B. C. Dec. 26. 
 " Jeremy, Cassarea, M. Feb. 
 
 16. 
 
 " Jerom ^miliani, C. July 20. 
 " Jerom, Priest, Doctor of 
 
 the Church, C. Sept. 30. 
 " Joachim, C. April 16. 
 " Jonas, M. March 29. 
 " Joannicius, A. Nov. 4. 
 " Joavan, B. C. March 2. 
 " Jodoc, C. Dec. 13. 
 " John, "the Almoner" Pa- 
 triarch, Jan. 23. 
 " John Calybite, R. Jan. 15. 
 " John Chrysostom, B. C. 
 
 Jan. 27. 
 " John of Rheomay, A. Jan. 
 
 28. 
 
 " John of Matha, C. Feb. 8. 
 " John Joseph of the Cross. 
 
 March 5. 
 
 " John of God, C. March 8. 
 " John of Egypt, B. March 27. 
 " John Climacus, A. Mar. 30. 
 " John at Latin gate, May 6. 
 " John Damascen, C. May 6. 
 " John of Beverley, B. C. May 
 
 7- 
 " John "the Silent." B. C. 
 
 May 13. 
 " John Nepomucen, M. May 
 
 16. 
 " John of Prado, M. May 24.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 521 
 
 St. John, Pope, M. May 27. 
 
 " John of Sahagun, C. June 
 12. 
 
 " John Francis Regis, C. June 
 1 6. 
 
 " John of Rome, M. June 26. 
 
 " John of Moutier, Priest, C. 
 June 27. 
 
 " John, one of the "Seven 
 Sleepers," July 27. 
 
 " John Gualbert, A. July 12. 
 
 " John Columbini, C. July 31. 
 
 " John the Baptist, Nativ- 
 ity of, June 24. 
 
 " John the Baptist, Decolla- 
 tion of, Aug. 29. 
 
 " John "the Dwarf," R. 
 Sept. 15. 
 
 " John of Bridlington, C. Oct. 
 10. 
 
 " John Capistran, C. Oct. 23. 
 
 " John Lateran, Dedication of 
 the Church, Nov. 9. 
 
 " John of the Cross, C. Nov. 
 
 24. 
 Blessed John Marinoul, C. Dec. 
 
 13. 
 St. John, Apostle, Evangelist, 
 
 Dec. 27. 
 SS. Jonas and others, MM. 
 
 March 29. 
 St. Joseph of Leonissa, C. Feb. 
 
 4- 
 " Joseph of Arimathea, Mar. 
 
 17. 
 
 " Joseph, Husband of the 
 Virgin Mary, Mar. 19. 
 
 St. Joseph Barsabas, C. July 20. 
 " Joseph Calasanctius, C. 
 
 Aug. 27. 
 " Joseph of Cupertino, C. 
 
 Sept. 1 8. 
 
 " Jude, Apostle, Oct. 28. 
 " Julia, V. M. May 23. 
 " Julian, M. Jan. 9. 
 " Julian of Manns, B. Jan. 27. 
 " Julian of Palestine, M. Feb. 
 
 17- 
 " Julian of Toledo, B. C. Mar. 
 
 8. 
 
 " Julian of Cilicia, M. Mar. 16. 
 " Julian, H. July 6. 
 " Julian Sabas, H. Oct. 18. 
 " Julian, M. Aug.- 28. 
 " Juliana, V. M. Feb. 16. 
 " Juliana Falconieri, V. June 
 
 19- 
 
 " Julitta, M. July 30. 
 " Julius, Pope, C. April 12. 
 " Julius, M. May 27. 
 SS. Julius and Aaron, MM. 
 
 July i. 
 " Justa and Rufina, MM. 
 
 July 20. 
 
 St. Justin, M. June i. 
 " Justin, M. Oct. 1 8. 
 " Justina, V. M. Oct. 7. 
 " Justinian, H. M. Aug. 23. 
 " Justus, B. C. Sept. 2. 
 SS. Justus and Pastor, MM. 
 
 Aug. 6. 
 
 St. Justus, B. C. Nov. 10. 
 SS. Juventin and Maximin, 
 MM. Jan. 25.
 
 522 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 K. 
 
 St. Kebius B. April 25. 
 " Kenelm, King of Mercia, 
 
 M. Dec. 13. 
 " Kenney, A. Oct. n. 
 " Kennocha, V. March 13. 
 " Kentigern. B. Jan. 13. 
 " Kentigerna, Widow, Jan. 
 
 7. 
 
 " Keyna, V. Oct. 8. 
 " Kiaran, B. C, March 5. 
 " Kiaran, A. Sept. 9. 
 SS. Kilian, Colman and others 
 
 MM. July 8. 
 St. Kings, V. July 24. 
 " Kinnia, V. Feb. I. 
 SS. Kyneburge, Kyneswide 
 etc. MM. March 6. 
 
 L. 
 
 St. Ladislas, King of Hungary, 
 
 C. Juoe 27. 
 
 " Lamalisse, C. March 2. 
 " Lambert, B. M. Sept. 17. 
 " Landelin, A. June 15. 
 " Landry, B. C. June 10. 
 " Largus, M. Aug. 8. 
 " Laserian, B. April 18. 
 " Laurence of Canterbury, B. 
 
 Feb. 2. 
 " Laurence the Spaniard, M, 
 
 Aug. 10. 
 " Laurence Justinian, B. C. 
 
 Sept. 5. 
 " Laurence of Dublin, B. C. 
 
 Nov. 14. 
 " Lea, Widow, March 22. 
 
 St. Leander, B. C. Feb. 27. 
 
 " Lebwin, C. Nov. 12. 
 
 " Leo, M. Feb. 18. 
 
 " Leo the Great, Pope, April 
 II. 
 
 " Leo IX., Pope, C. April 19. 
 
 " Leo II., Pope, C. June 28. 
 
 " Leo IV., Pope, C. July 17. 
 
 " Leocadia, V. M, Dec. 9. 
 
 " Leocritia, M. March 15. 
 
 " Leodegarius, B. M. Oct. 2. 
 
 " Leonard, H. Nov. 6. 
 
 " Leonides, M. April 22. 
 
 " Leonorus, B. July i. 
 
 " Leopold, Marquis of Mar- 
 gams, Austria, C. Nov. 
 
 IS- 
 
 " Lethard, B. C. Feb. 24. 
 " Leucius, M. (245) Jan. 28. 
 " Leufredus, A. June 21. 
 " Lewine, V. M. July 24. 
 " Lewis, B. C. Aug. 19. 
 " Lewis, King of France (see 
 
 Louis). 
 
 " Liberatus, M. Aug. 17. 
 " Liborius, B. C. July 23. 
 " Licinius, B. C. Feb. 13. 
 " Lidwina, V. April 14. 
 " Lifard, A. June 3. 
 " Limneus, M. Feb. 22. 
 " Linus, Pope, M. Sept. 23. 
 " Lioba,.V. A. Sept. 28. 
 " Livin, B. M. Nov. 12. 
 " Lo, B. Sept. 21. 
 " Loman, B. C. Feb. 17. 
 " Lomer, A, Jan. 19.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 523 
 
 St. Louis, King of France, C. 
 Aug. 25. 
 
 " Luanus, A. Aug. 4. 
 
 " Lucia, M. Sept. 16. 
 
 " Lucian, Priest, Jan. 7. 
 
 " Lucian of Beauvais, M. Jan. 
 8. 
 
 " Lucian of Nicomedia, M. 
 Oct. 26. 
 
 " Lucius, Pope, M. Mar. 4. 
 
 " Lucius, M. (166) Oct. 19. 
 
 " Lucius, an early king of Bri- 
 tain, C. Sept. 19. 
 
 " Lucy, V. Sept. 19. 
 
 " Lucy, V. M. Dec. 13. 
 
 " Ludger, B. March 26. 
 
 " Luican, C. July 27. 
 
 " Luke, Evangelist, Oct. 18. 
 
 " Lullus, B. C. Oct. 1 6. 
 
 " Lupicinius, M. Feb. 28. 
 
 " Lupus of Troyes, B. C. 
 July 24. 
 
 " Lupus of Sens, Archb. Sept. 
 
 i. 
 
 M. 
 
 SS, 
 St. 
 
 Macarius of Alexandria, H. 
 
 Jan. 2. 
 Macarius "the Elder," 
 
 Jan. 16. 
 
 Maccai, A. April n. 
 Mac-cartin, B. C. Aug. 15. 
 Macedonius, A. Jan. 24. 
 Machabees, " the Seven," 
 
 MM. Aug. i. 
 
 Mackessoge, B. C. Mar. 10. 
 Macrina, V. July 19. 
 
 St. Macull, C. April 25. 
 " Maculindus, B. Sept. 16. 
 " Madelberte, V. A. Sept. 7. 
 " Maden, C. May 17. 
 " Magloire, B. C. Oct. 24. 
 " Magnisius. B. Sept. 3. 
 " Maguil, May 30. 
 " Maharsapor, M. Nov. 27. 
 " Maidoc, (also called Alden), 
 
 B. Jan. 31. 
 
 " Maieul, A. May u. 
 " Main, A. Jan. 15. 
 " Majoricus, M. Dec. 6. 
 " Malchus of Caesarea, M. 
 
 March 28. 
 " Malchus, one of the Seven 
 
 Sleepers, July 27. 
 " Malachy, B. C. Nov. 3. 
 " Malo, B, November 15. 
 " Malrubius, A. April 21. 
 " Malrubius, B. M. August 27. 
 " Mamas, M. August 17. 
 " Mammertus, B. C. May n. 
 " Mammolin, M. October 16. 
 " Mans or Magnus of Orkney, 
 
 B, M. April 1 6. 
 " Mansuet, B. Sept, 3. 
 " Marcella, Widow, Jan. 31. 
 " Marcellina, V. July 17. 
 " Marcellinus, M. June 2. 
 " Marcellus, Pope, M. Jan. 16. 
 " Marcellus, M. Sept. 4. 
 " Marcellus, M. Oct. 7. 
 " Marcellus, M. Oct. 30. 
 " Marcellus, B. C. Nov. i. 
 " Marcellus, A. Dec. 29. 
 " Marcian, Priest, Jan. 10.
 
 524 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Martian, M. Oct. 4. 
 
 " Marcian, H. C. Nov. 2. 
 
 " Marciana, V. A. Jan. 9. 
 
 " Marcou, A. May i. 
 
 " Marcus, M. June 18. 
 
 " Marcus, M. Oct. 4. 
 Blessed Margaret, Princess of 
 
 Hungary, V. Jan. 28. 
 St. Margaret, Queen of Scot- 
 land, June 10. 
 
 " Margaret of England (XII. 
 century), V. Feb. 3. 
 
 " Margaret of Cortona, Peni- 
 tent, Feb. 22. 
 
 " Margaret of Antioch, V. M. 
 July 20. 
 
 " Margaret, V. M. Sept. 2. 
 
 " Marina, V. June 18. 
 
 " Marinus, M. March 3. 
 
 " Maris, M. Jan. 19. 
 
 " Marius, A. Jan. 27. 
 
 " Mark of Arethusa, Syria, B. 
 C. March 29. 
 
 " Mark, Evangelist, April 25. 
 
 " Mark, Pope, C. Oct. 7. 
 
 " Mark of Jerusalem, B. C. 
 Oct. 22. 
 
 " Marnan, B. C. March 2. 
 
 " Maro, A. Feb. 14. 
 
 " Martha, V. July 29. 
 
 " Martial, B. June 30. 
 
 " Martin of Tours, B. C. 
 Nov. u. 
 
 " Martin, Pope, M. Nov. 12. 
 
 " Martina, V. M. Jan. 30. 
 
 " Martinian, one of the Seven 
 Sleepers, July 27. 
 
 St. Martinanus, H. Feb. 13. 
 SS. Martyrs for the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, Jan. 2. 
 Martyrs of Japan, Feb. 5. 
 Martyrs of Alexandria (in the 
 
 pestilence) Feb. 28. 
 Martyrs Forty, of Sebaste, Mar. 
 
 10. 
 Martyrs of Alexandria in 303, 
 
 March 17. 
 
 Martyrs of Hadiab, April 6, 
 Martyrs of Massylitan, April 9. 
 Martyrs, Roman Captives, 
 
 April 9. 
 
 Martyrs of Saragossa, April 16. 
 Martyrs of Rome, under Nero, 
 
 June 24. 
 
 Martyrs of Gorcum, July 9. 
 Martyrs, Seven Brothers, July 
 
 10. 
 Martyrs, Seven Sleepers, July 
 
 27. 
 
 Martyrs of Utica, Aug. 24. 
 Martyrs, Twelve Brothers, Sept. 
 
 i. 
 
 Martyrs of Triers, Oct. 4. 
 Martyrs, Seven, of Samosata, 
 
 Dec. 9. 
 
 Martyrs, Ten, of Crete, Dec. 23. 
 St. Maruthas, B. C. Dec. 4, 
 Mary, B. V. Purification of, 
 
 Feb. 2. 
 Mary, B. V. Annunciation of, 
 
 March 25, 
 Mary, B. V. Visitation of, July 
 
 2. 
 Mary, B, V. ad Nives, Aug. 5.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 525 
 
 Mary, B. V. Assumption of, 
 
 Aug. 15. 
 
 Mary, B. V. Nativity of, Sept. 8. 
 Mary, B. V. Presentation of, 
 
 Nov. 21. 
 Mary, B. V. Conception of, 
 
 Dec. 8. 
 
 St. Mary of Egypt, April 9. 
 " Mary of Pazzi, V. May 23. 
 " Mary, niece of St. Abraham, 
 
 Penitent, March 15. 
 " Mary of Oignies, June 23, 
 " Mary Magdalen " the Sin- 
 ner," July 22. 
 " Mary, M. Nov. I. 
 " Mary of Cordova, V. M. 
 
 Nov. 24. 
 
 " Matthew, Apostle, Sept. 21. 
 " Matthias, Apostle, Feb. 24. 
 " Mathurin, C. Nov. 9. 
 " Maud, Queen of Germany, 
 
 March 14. 
 
 " Maura, V. Sept. 21. 
 " Maurice, M. Sept. 22. 
 " Maurilius, B. C. Sept. 13. 
 " Mauront, A. May 5. 
 " Maurus, A. Jan. 15. 
 " Maw, C. May 17. 
 " Maxentia, V. M. Nov. 21. 
 " Maxentius, A. June 26. 
 " Maximian, one of the Seven 
 
 Sleepers, M. July 27. 
 " Maximilian, M. March 12. 
 " Maximinus, B. C. May 29. 
 " Maximinus, B. C. June 8. 
 " Maximus, M. April 30. 
 
 St. Maximus of Normandy, M. 
 
 May 25. 
 
 " Maximus, B. C. June 25. 
 " Maximus of Riez, B. C. Nov. 
 
 27. 
 
 " Maximus, C. Dec. 30. 
 " Mechtildes, V. A. April 10. 
 " Medard, B. C. June 8. 
 " Mel, Feb. 6. 
 " Meen, A. June 21. 
 " Melania " the Younger," 
 
 Dec. 31. 
 
 " Melanius, B. C. Jan. 6. 
 " Melchiades, Pope, Dec. 10. 
 " Meleusippus, M. Jan. 17. 
 " Melito, B. C. April I. 
 " Mellitus, B. C. April 24. 
 " Mello, B. C. Oct. 22. 
 " Memmius, B. Aug. 5. 
 " Meneve, A. July 22. 
 " Mennas, M. Nov. II. 
 " Merriadec, B. C. June 7. 
 " Merri, A. Aug. 29. 
 " Methodius, Patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, C. June 14. 
 " Methodius of Tyre, B. M. 
 
 Sept. 1 8. 
 
 " Methodius, C. Dec. 22. 
 " Michael, Apparition of, May 
 
 8. 
 " Michael, Dedication of, Sept. 
 
 29. 
 " Milburge of Shropshire, 
 
 V. A. Feb. 23. 
 " Mildred, V. A. Feb. 20. 
 " Milgithe, V. Jan. 17. 
 " Milles, B. M. Nov. 10.
 
 526 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Mitrius, M. Nov. 13. 
 " Mochoemoc, A. Mar. 13. 
 " Mochteus, B. C. Aug. 19. 
 " Mochua or Cronan of Bella, 
 
 Ireland, A.Jan, i. 
 " Modan, A. Feb. 4. 
 " Modomnoc, B. C. Feb. 1 3. 
 " Modwena, V. July 5. 
 " Molingus, B.C.June 17. 
 " Moloc, B. C. June 25. 
 " Monan, M. March i. 
 " Monegondes, R. July 2. 
 " Monica, Widow, May 4. 
 " Moninna, V. July 6. 
 " Monon, M. Oct. 18. 
 " Montanus, M. Feb. 24. 
 " Mummolin, B. C. Oct. 16. 
 " Munde, A. April 15. 
 " Mungo, see Kentigern. 
 " Muredack, B. Aug. 12. 
 
 N. 
 
 St. Nabor, M. July 12. 
 " Narcissus, M. Oct. 29. 
 " Nathalan, B. C. Jan. 8. 
 " Nathy, Priest, Aug. 9. 
 " Nazarius, M. July 28. 
 " Nemesianus, M. Sept. 10. 
 " Nemesion, M. Dec. 19. 
 " Nennius, A. Jan. 17. 
 " Nennus of Aran, A. June 14. 
 " Nenoc, V. June 4. 
 " Neot, H. C. Oct. 28. 
 " Nereus, M, May 12. 
 " Nestabulus of Gaza, M. 
 
 Sept. 8. 
 " Nestor of Gaza, M. Sept. 8. 
 
 St. Nestor, B. M. Feb. 27. 
 " Nicander, M. June 17. 
 " Nicasius, B. M. Dec. 14. 
 " Nicephorus, M. Feb. 9. 
 " Nicephorus, Patriarch of 
 Constantinople, C. Mar. 
 
 13- 
 
 " Nicetas, A. April 3. 
 " -Nicetas, M. Sept. 1 5. 
 " Nicetius, B. C. April 2. 
 " Nicetius, B. C. Dec. 5. 
 " Nicholas of Lincopen, B. C. 
 
 May 9. 
 " Nicholas of Tolentino, C. 
 
 Sept. 10. 
 
 " Nicholas, B. C. Dec. 6. 
 " Nicodemus, Aug. 3. 
 " Nicomedes, M. Sept. 15. 
 " Nicon, C. Nov, 26. 
 " Nilammon, H. Jan. 6. 
 " Nilus " the Younger," A. 
 
 Sept. 26. 
 
 " Nilus, H. C. Nov. 12. 
 " Nincon, Jan. 4. 
 " Ninian, B. C. Sept. 16. 
 " Nissen, A. July 25. 
 " Norbert, B. C. June 6. 
 " Nunilo, V. M. Oct. 22. 
 " Nympha, V. M. Nov. lo. 
 
 O. 
 
 St. Odilo or Olon, A. Jan, i. 
 " Odo, B. C. July 4. 
 " Odo, A. C. Nov. 1 8. 
 " Odrian, B. May 8. 
 " Odulph, C. July 18.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 527 
 
 St. Oduvald or Odwald, A. C. 
 
 May 26. 
 " Olaus, King of Norway, M. 
 
 July 29. 
 
 " Olmypias, Widow, Dec. 17. 
 " Omer, B. C. Dec. 9. 
 " Onesimus, disciple of St. 
 
 Paul, Feb. 16. 
 " Onuphrius, H. June 12. 
 " Oportuna, V. A. April 22. 
 " Optatus, B. C. June 4. 
 " Osith, V. Oct. 7. 
 " Osmanna, V. Sept. 9. 
 " Osmund, B. C. Dec. 4. 
 " Oswald, B. Feb. 29, 
 " Oswald, King of Northum- 
 
 bria, M. Aug. 5. 
 " Oswin, King of Deira, M. 
 
 Aug. 20. 
 
 " Othilia, V. A. Dec. 13. 
 " Otho, B. C. July 2. 
 " Oudoceus, B. July 2. 
 " Ouen, B. C. Aug. 24. 
 
 P. 
 
 St. Pachomius, A. May 14. 
 " Pacian, B. C. March 9. 
 " Pacificus of San Severino, 
 
 Sept. 24. 
 
 " Palladius, B. C. July 6. 
 " Pambo of Nitria, A. Sept. 6. 
 " Pammachus, C. Aug. 30. 
 " Pamphilus, M. June I. 
 " Pancras, M. May 12. 
 " Pantasnus, Father of the 
 
 Church, July 7. 
 " Pantaleon, M. July 27. 
 
 St. Paphnutius, B. C. Sept. u. 
 " Papoul, M. Nov. 3. 
 " Paregorius, M (at Patara) 
 
 Feb. 1 8. 
 
 " Paschal, Baylon, C. May 17. 
 " Paschasius Radbert, A. C. 
 
 April 26. 
 
 " Pastor, M. Aug. 6. 
 " Paternus, B. C. April 15. 
 " Patiens, B. C. Sept. ir. 
 " Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, 
 
 B. C. March 17. 
 " Patricius, B. M, April 28. 
 " Paul, the first Hermit, Jan. 
 
 IS- 
 " Paul and 36 Companions in 
 
 Egypt, MM. Jan. 18. 
 " Paul of Verdun, B. C. Feb. 
 
 8. 
 " Paul " the Simple," H. Mar. 
 
 7- 
 
 " Paul of Leon, B. C. Mar. 12. 
 " Paul of Narbonne, B. C. 
 
 Mar. 22. 
 " Paul of Constantinople, B. 
 
 M. June 7. 
 " Paul, M. (at Rome, A. D. 
 
 362) June 26. 
 " Paul, Apostle, June 30. 
 " Paul, Conversion of, Jan. 
 
 25. 
 
 " Paul, H. Dec. 20. 
 " Paul of Gaza, M. July 25. 
 " Paula, Widow, Jan. 26. 
 " Paulinus, Patriarch, Jan. 28. 
 " Paulinus of Nola, B. C. 
 
 June 22.
 
 528 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Paulinus of York, B. C. Oct. 
 
 10. 
 
 " Pega, V. Jan. 8. 
 " Pelagia, V. M. June 9. 
 " Pelagia, Penitent, Oct. 8. 
 " Peleus, M. Sept. 19. 
 " Pellegrina, B. Aug. I. 
 Blessed Pepin of Landon, C. 
 
 Feb. 21. 
 
 St. Perpetua, M. Mar. 7. 
 " Perpetuus, B. C. April 8. 
 " Peter of Pisa, Founder of 
 Hermits of St. Jerom, 
 June I. 
 
 " Peter Balsam, M. Jan. 3. 
 " Peter of St. Austin's, A. 
 
 Jan. 6. 
 " Peter of Sebaste, B. C. Jan. 
 
 9- 
 
 " Peter Nolasco, C. Jan. 31. 
 
 " Peter Damian, B. Feb. 23. 
 
 " Peter Gonzales, C. April 15. 
 
 " Peter, M. (1252), April 29. 
 
 " Peter of Tarentaise, B. May 
 8. 
 
 " Peter Regalati, C. May 13. 
 
 " Peter, M. (250), May 15. 
 
 " Peter Celestine, Pope, C. 
 May 19. 
 
 " Peter, M. (about 304), June 
 2. 
 
 " Peter, Prince of the Apos- 
 tles, June 29. 
 
 " Peter of Luxemburg, B. C. 
 July 5. 
 
 " Peter of Alcantara, C. Oct. 
 
 St. Peter of Alexandria, B. M. 
 
 Nov. 26. 
 " Peter Chrysologus, B. C. 
 
 Dec. 4. 
 
 " Peter Paschal, B. M. Dec. 6. 
 " Peter ad Vincula, Aug. i. 
 SS. Peter and Paul, Dedication 
 
 of their churches at 
 
 Rome, Nov. 18. 
 St. Petroc, A. June 4. 
 " Petronilla, V. May 31. 
 " Petronius, B. C. Oct. 4. 
 " Phaebadius, B. C. April 25. 
 " Philastrius, B. C. July 18. 
 " Phileas, B. M. Feb. 4. 
 " Philibert, A. Aug. 22. 
 " Philomen, Nov. 22. 
 " Philoromus, M. Feb. 4. 
 " Philip, Apostle, May i. 
 " Philip Neri, C. May 26. 
 " Philip "the Deacon," June 
 
 6. 
 
 " Philip Beniti, C. Aug. 23. 
 " Philip of Heraclea, B. M. 
 
 Oct. 22. 
 
 " Philogonius, B. C. Dec. 20. 
 
 " Phocas, M. July 3. 
 
 " Piat, M. Oct. i. 
 
 " Pionius, M. Feb. I. 
 
 " Pius I., Pope, M. July 11. 
 
 " Pius V., Pope, M. May 5. 
 
 " Placidus, A. M. Oct. 5. 
 
 " Plato, A. April 4. 
 
 " Plechelm, B. C. July 15. 
 
 " Plutarch, M. June 28. 
 
 " Pcemen, A. Aug. 27. 
 
 " Pollio, M. April 28. ! .
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 529 
 
 St. Polycarp of Smyrna, B. M. 
 Jan. 26. 
 
 " Polyeuctus, M. Feb. 13. 
 
 " Pontian, Pope, M. Nov. 19. 
 
 " Pontius, M. May 14. 
 
 " Poppo, A. Jan. 25. 
 
 " Porphyrius, B. C. Feb. 26. 
 
 " Postidius, B. C. May 17. 
 
 " Potamiana, M. June 28. 
 
 " Potamon, B. M. May 18. 
 
 " Pothinus of Lyons, M. June 
 
 2. 
 
 Martyrs of Pontus, Feb. 5. 
 St. Praxedes, V. July 21. 
 
 " Pretextatus, B. C. Feb. 24. 
 
 " Primus, M. June 9. 
 
 " Prior, H. June 17. 
 
 " Prisca, V. M. Jan. 18. 
 
 " Priscus, M. Mar. 28. 
 
 " Prix, B. M. Jan. 25. 
 
 " Probus, M. Oct. 11. 
 
 " Processus, M. July 2. 
 
 " Proclus, B. C. Oct. 24. 
 
 " Procopius, M, July 8. 
 
 " Projectus, B. M. Jan. 25. 
 
 " Prosdecimus, B. M. Nov. 7. 
 
 " Prosper of Acquitain, C. 
 June 25. 
 
 " Protasius, M. June 19. 
 
 " Proterius, B. M. Feb. 28. 
 
 " Protus, M. Sept u. 
 
 " Prudentius, B. C. April 6. 
 
 " Psalmod, H. Mar. 8. 
 
 " Psalmodius, H. June 14. 
 
 " Ptolemy, M. Oct. 19. 
 
 " Publius, B. M. Jan. 21. 
 
 St. Publius, A. (near Zeugma, 
 
 in Syria), Jan. 25. 
 " Prudentiana, V. May 19. 
 " Pulcheria, V. Sept. 10. 
 
 Q- 
 
 St. Quadratus, B. C. May 26. 
 " Quintin, M. Oct. 31. 
 " Quiricus, M. June 16. 
 " Quirinus, B. M. June 4. 
 
 R. 
 
 St. Radbod, B. C. Nov. 29. 
 
 " Radegundes, Queen of 
 
 France, Aug 13. 
 Blessed Raingarda, " the Ven- 
 erable Widow, June 26. 
 St. Ralph, B. C. June 21. 
 
 " Randaut, M. Feb. 21. 
 
 " Raymund of Pennafort, C. 
 Jan. 23. 
 
 " Raymund Nonnatus, C. 
 Aug. 31. 
 
 " Regina, V. M. Sept. 7. 
 
 " Regobert, M. June 4. 
 
 " Regulus, B. Mar. 30. 
 
 " Remaclus, B. C. Sept. 3. 
 
 " Rembert, B. C. Feb. 4. 
 
 " Remigius, B.C. Oct. i. 
 
 " Respicius, M. Nov. 10. 
 
 " Restituta, V. M. May 17. 
 
 " Richard, King of West Sax- 
 ony, C. Feb. 7. 
 
 " Richard. B. C. April 3. 
 
 " Richard, B. C. June 9. 
 
 " Richard of Andria, B. C. 
 Aug. 21.
 
 530 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Richarius or Riquier, A. 
 April 26. 
 
 " Rictrudes, A. May 12. 
 
 " Rigobert, B. Jan. 4. 
 Blessed Robert of Arbrissal, C. 
 
 Feb. 23. 
 Blessed Robert of Chaise Dieu, 
 
 A. April 24. 
 St. Robert, A. April 29. 
 
 " Robert of Newminster, A. 
 June 7. 
 
 " Rock or Roch, C. Aug. 16. 
 Blessed Roger, A. Feb. 13. 
 St. Roger, C. Mar. 5. 
 
 " Romanus, Patron of Mus- 
 covy, A. Feb. 28. 
 
 " Romanus, M. July 24. 
 
 " Romanus (Roman Soldier), 
 M. Aug. 9. 
 
 " Romanus of Rouen, B. C. 
 Oct. 23. 
 
 " Romanus of Palestine, M. 
 Nov. 1 8. 
 
 " Romaric, A. Dec. 8. 
 
 " Romuald, A. Feb. 7. 
 
 " Rosa of Viterbo, V. Mar. 8. 
 
 " Rosalia, V. Sept. 4. 
 
 " Rose of Lima, V. Aug. 30. 
 
 " Rouin, A. Sept. 7. 
 
 " Ruadham, one of the 
 Twelve Apostles of Ire- 
 land, B. April 15. 
 
 " Ruffin, M. July 24. 
 
 " Rufina, V. A. July 10. 
 
 " Rufina, V. M. (under Dio- 
 clesian), July 20. 
 
 " Rufinus, M. June 14. 
 
 St. Rufus, H. April 22. 
 " Rufus, M. Dec. 18. 
 " Rumold, Patron of Mechlin, 
 
 B. M. July i. 
 " Rumon, B. C. Jan. 4. 
 " Rumwald, C. Nov. 3. 
 " Rupert or Robert of Saltz- 
 
 burg, B. C. Mar. 27. 
 " Rusticus, B. Sept. 24. 
 
 S. 
 St. Sabas, M. April 12. 
 
 " Sabas, A. Dec. 5. 
 
 " Sabina, M. Aug. 29. 
 
 " Sabinianus, M. Jan. 29. 
 
 " Sabinus, B. M. Dec. 30. 
 
 " Sadoth, B. M. Feb. 20, 
 Saints, All, Nov. i. 
 St. Salvius, B. Jan. 11. 
 
 " Salvius, B. Sept. 10. 
 
 " Sampson, B. C. July 28. 
 
 " Samthana, V. A. Dec. 19. 
 
 " Sapor, B. M. Nov. 30. 
 
 " Saturninus, B. M. Nov. 29. 
 
 " Saturninus, M. Feb. n. 
 
 " Saturninus, M. Nov. 29. 
 
 " Saturus, M. Mar. 29. 
 
 " Scholastica, V. Feb. 10. 
 
 " Sebastian, M. Jan. 20. 
 
 " Sebbi or Sebba, King of 
 Essex, C. Aug. 29. 
 
 " Secundin of Meath, Ireland, 
 B. Nov. 27. 
 
 " Secunola, M. (II. century), 
 July 10. 
 
 " Senan, B. C. Mar. 8. 
 
 " Sennen, M. July 30.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 St. Sequanus, A. Sept. 19. 
 " Serapion, M. Jan. 31. 
 " Serapion "the Sindonite," 
 
 Mar. 21. 
 " Serapion "the Scholastic," 
 
 A. March 21. 
 
 " Serapion, B. C. Mar. 21. 
 11 Serenus, M. Feb. 23. 
 " Serf, B. April 20. 
 " Sergius, M. Oct. 7. 
 " Servatius, B. May 13. 
 44 Servulus, C. Dec. 23. 
 " Severianus, B. M. Feb. 21. 
 " Severin, B. C. Oct. 23. 
 " Severin or Surin, B. Oct. 23. 
 " Severinus, A. Jan. 8. 
 " Severinus, A. Feb. u. 
 " Sexburg, A. July 6. 
 " Sidronius, M. Sept, 8. 
 " Sigebert II., King of Aus- 
 
 trasia, C. Feb. I. 
 " Sigefride, B. Feb. 15. 
 " Sigismund, King of Bur- 
 gundy, M. May i. 
 " Silave, B. C. May 17. 
 " Silverius, Pope, M. June 20. 
 " Silvin, B. C. Feb. 17. 
 " Simeon Stylites, C. Jan. 5. 
 " Simeon, B. M. Feb. 18. 
 " Simeon of Ctesiphon, B. M. 
 
 April 17. 
 
 " Simeon, July i. 
 " Simeon Stylites "the 
 
 Younger," Sept. 3. 
 " Simon, an Infant, M. Mar. 
 
 24. 
 " Simon Stock, C. May 16. 
 
 St. Simon, Apostle, May 28. 
 " Simplicius, Pope, C. Mar. 2. 
 " Simplicius, M. July 29. 
 " Sina, Deacon, M. Nov. 10. 
 " Sindulphus, Priest, Oct. 20. 
 " Siran, A. Dec. 4. 
 " Sisinnius, M. May 29. 
 " Sisoes, H. July 4. 
 " Sixtus I., Pope, M. April 6. 
 " Sixtus III., Pope, Mar. 28. 
 " Smaragdus, M. Aug. 8. 
 " Socrates of Britain, M. Sept. 
 
 17. 
 
 " Sola, H. Dec. 3. 
 " Sophia, V. M. April 30. 
 " Sophronius, B. C. Mar. n. 
 " Soter, Pope, M. April 22. 
 " Soteris, V. M. Feb. 10. 
 Souls, All, Nov. 2. 
 St. Speratus, M. July 17. 
 " Speusippus, M. Jan. 17. 
 " Spiridion, B. C. Dec. 14. 
 " Stanislas, B. M. May 7. 
 " Stanislas Kostka, C. Nov. 13. 
 " Stephen of Grandmont, A. 
 
 Feb. 8. 
 
 " Stephen, A. Feb. 13. 
 " Stephen of Citeaux, A. C. 
 
 April 17. 
 
 " Stephen, Pope, M. Aug. 2. 
 " Stephen, King of Hungary, 
 
 C. Sept. 2. 
 " Stephen of Britain, M. Sept. 
 
 17- 
 
 " Stephen " the Younger," M. 
 Nov. 28.
 
 532 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Stephen, Proto-martyr, Dec. 
 
 26. 
 " Stephen, " Invention of his 
 
 Relics," Aug. 3 
 " Sulpicius, Pious, B. C. Jan. 
 
 17. 
 " Sulpicius le Debonnaire, B. 
 
 Jan. 17. 
 
 " Sulpicius Severus, Jan. 29. 
 " Sulpicius, B. Jan. 29. 
 " Suranus, A. M. Jan. 24. 
 " Susanna, V. M. Aug. n. 
 " Swidbert "the Ancient," 
 
 B. C. Mar. i. 
 " Swithin, B. C.July 15. 
 " Syagrius, B. C. Aug. 27. 
 " Sylvester Gozzolini, A. Nov. 
 
 26. 
 
 " Sylvester, Pope, C. Dec. 31. 
 " Symmachus, Pope C. July 
 
 19. 
 
 " Symphorian, M. Aug. 22. 
 " Symphorosa and her Seven 
 
 Sons, MM. July 18. 
 " Syncletica, V. Jan 5. 
 " Syra, V. June 8. 
 
 T. 
 St. Tanco, B. M. Feb. 16. 
 
 " Tarachus, M. Oct. n. 
 
 " Tarasius, Patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, C. Feb. 23. 
 
 " Tecla, V. A. Oct. 15. 
 
 " Telesphorus VII., Pope, M. 
 Jan. 5. 
 
 " Teresa, V. Oct. 15. 
 
 " Ternan, B. C. June 12. 
 
 St. Tertius, M. Dec. 6. 
 " Thais, " the Penitent," Oct. 
 
 8. 
 
 " Thalassius, M. C. Feb. 22. 
 " ThaliUeus, R. C. Feb. 27. 
 " Thea, M. July 25. 
 " Thecla, V. M. Sept. 23. 
 " Theliau, B. C. Feb. 9. 
 " Theobald, C. July i. 
 " Theobald, A. July 8. 
 " Theodora, a Greek Saint, 
 
 Empress, Feb. 1 1. 
 " Theodora, V. M. April 28. 
 " Theodore, B. C. Sept. 19. 
 " Theodoret, M. Oct. 23. 
 " Theodorus (Stratilates), M. 
 
 Feb. 7. 
 
 " Theodorus, B. C. April 22. 
 " Theodorus (Tyro), M. Nov. 
 
 9- 
 " Theodorus " the Studite," 
 
 A. Nov. 22. 
 " Theodorus Grapt, C. Dec. 
 
 27. 
 " Theodorus of Tabenna, A. 
 
 Dec. 28. 
 " Theodosia of Cassarea, V. 
 
 M. April 2, 
 " Theodosius, Cenobiarch, 
 
 Jan. ii. 
 
 " Theodota, M. Sept. 29. 
 " Theodotus, M. May 18. 
 " Theodulus, M. Feb. 17. 
 " Theonas, B. C. Aug. 23. 
 " Theophanes, A. C. Mar. 13. 
 " Theophilus, B. C. Dec. 6. 
 " Thierri, A. July i.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 533 
 
 St. Thillo, R. Jan. 7. 
 " Thomas of Aquino, D. C. 
 
 March 7. 
 " Thomas of Alexandria, 
 
 Archb. Aug. 23. 
 " Thomas of Villanova, B. C. 
 
 Sept, 1 8. 
 " Thomas of Hereford, B. C. 
 
 Oct. 2. 
 
 " Thomas, Apostle, Dec. 21. 
 " Thomas a Becket, see 
 
 Becket. 
 
 Thomas a Kempis, Nov. 10, 
 St. Thrasilla, M. Dec. 24. 
 " Thyrsus, M. Jan. 28. 
 " Tibba, M. (VII. century) 
 
 March 6. 
 
 " Tibertius, M. Aug. ll. 
 " Tiburtius, M. April 14. 
 " Tigernach, B. C. April 5. 
 " Tilberht, B. C. Sept. 7. 
 " Timothy, disciple of St. 
 
 Paul, B. M. Jan. 24. 
 " Timothy of Caesarea, M. 
 
 Aug. 19, 
 " Timothy of Antioch, M. 
 
 Aug. 22. 
 
 " Titus, B. Jan. 4. 
 " Tochumra, V. June n. 
 " Totnan, M. July 8. 
 " Tresain, C. Feb. 7. 
 " Tron, C. Nov. 23. 
 " Trypho, M, Nov. 10. 
 " Turiaf, B. July 13. 
 " Turibius, B. April 16. 
 " Turninus, C. July 17. 
 " Tygrius, M. Jan. 12. 
 
 St. Tyrannic, M, Feb. 20. 
 
 U. 
 
 St. Ubaldus, B. May 16. 
 " Ulfrid, B. M. Jan. 18. 
 " Ulmar, A. July 20. 
 " Ulpian, M. April 3. 
 " Ulrick, R. Feb. 20. 
 " Ulrick, B. C. July 4. 
 " Ultan, B. Sept. 4. 
 " Urban, Pope, M. May 25. 
 " Ursmar, B. April 19. 
 " Ursula, M. Oct. 21. 
 
 V. 
 St. Valentine, Priest, M. Feb. 
 
 14. 
 
 " Valentina, V. M. July 25. 
 " Valerian, M. April 14. 
 " Valerian of Lyons, M. Sept. 
 
 4- 
 
 " Valery, A. Dec. 12. 
 " Vandrille, A. July 22. 
 " Vaneng, C. Jan. 9. 
 " Vanne, B. C. Nov. 9. 
 " Vauge or Vaught, H. June 
 
 I5 
 
 " Vedast, B, C. Feb. 6. 
 " Venantius, M. May 18. 
 " Venerand, M. (in Nor- 
 mandy), May 25. 
 " Verda, V. M. Feb. 21. 
 " Veronica of Milan, V. Jan. 
 
 13. 
 
 " Veronica Giuliani, V. July 9. 
 *** Vettius Epagatus, M. June 
 2.
 
 534 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Victor of Arcis, H. C. Feb. 
 
 26. 
 
 " Victor, M. April 12, 
 " Victor, M. (early) May 8. 
 " Victor of Marseilles, M. 
 
 July 21. 
 
 " Victor, Pope, M. July 28. 
 " Victoria, V. M. Dec. 23. 
 " Victorian, M. Mar. 23. 
 " Victoricus, M. Dec. n. 
 " Victorinus, M. Feb. 25. 
 " Victorinus, B. M. Nov. 2. 
 " Vigilius, B. M. June 26. 
 " Vimin, B. C. Jan. 21. 
 " Vincent or Vivian, M. Jan. 
 
 22. 
 
 " Vincent Ferrer, C. April 5. 
 " Vincent of Lerins, C. May 
 
 24. 
 
 " Vincent, M. June 9. 
 " Vincent de Paul, C. July 19. 
 " Virgil, B. C. Nov. 27. 
 " Vitalis, M. April 28. 
 " Vitalis, M. Nov. 4. 
 " Vitus, B. C. Feb. 5. 
 " Vitus, M. June 15. 
 " Vulgan, C. Nov. 2. 
 " Vulsin, B. C. Jan. 8. 
 
 W. 
 
 St. Walburge, V. A. Feb. 25. 
 " Walstan, C. May 30. 
 " Walter, A. May 8. 
 " Walter, A. June 4. 
 " Walthen, A. C. Aug. 3. 
 " Waltrude, Widow, April 9. 
 " Wasnulf, C. Oct. i. 
 
 St. Wenceslas, Duke of Bo- 
 hemia, M. Sept. 28. 
 " Wenefride, V. M. Nov. 3. 
 " Wereburge, V. A. Feb. 3. 
 " Werenfrid, C. Nov. 7. 
 " Wigbert, A. C. Aug. 13. 
 " Wilfrid of York, B. C. Oct. 
 
 12. 
 
 " Willehad, B. C. Nov. 8. 
 " William, B. C. Jan. 10. 
 " William of Maleval, H. Feb. 
 
 10. 
 " William of Norwich, M. 
 
 Mar. 24. 
 " William of Eskille, A. C. 
 
 April 6. 
 
 " William, B. C. June 8. 
 ' William of Monte Vergine, 
 
 June 25. 
 " William of Brieuc, B. C. 
 
 July 29. 
 " William of Roschild.B. C. 
 
 Sept. 2. 
 
 " Willibald, B. C. July 7. 
 " Willibrord, B. C. Nov. 7. 
 " Winebald, A. Dec. 18. 
 " Winoc, A. Nov. 6. 
 " Winwaloe, A. Mar. 3. 
 " Wiro, B. May 8. 
 " Wistan, M. June i. 
 " Witen, see Guy. 
 " Withburge, V. July 8. 
 " Wolfgang, B. Oct. 31. 
 " Wulfhad, M. July 24. 
 " Wulfhilde, V. A. Dec. 9. 
 " Wulfran, B. Mar. 20. 
 " Wulstan, B. C. Jan. 19.
 
 CANONIZED SAINTS 
 
 535 
 
 x. 
 
 St. Xistus, see Sixtus I. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Blessed Yvo of Chartres, B. C. 
 
 May 20. 
 St. Yvo, C. (1353), May 22. 
 
 Z. 
 
 St. Zachary, Pope, C. Mar. 15. 
 " Zachaeus, M. (under Dio- 
 clesian), Nov. 18, 
 
 Readers must not think this list comprises all of the Canonized 
 Saints, for it does not. There are many others, this list naming 
 only the more noted ones. 
 
 St. Zeno, B. C. April 12. 
 " Zeno, M. (at Gaza), Sept. 8. 
 " Zenobius, B. C. Oct. 20. 
 " Zenobius, M. Feb. 20. 
 " Zephyrinus, Pope, M. Aug. 
 
 26. 
 
 " Zita, V. April 27. 
 " Zoticus, B. M. July 21. 
 " Zozimus of Syracuse, B. 
 
 Mar, 30. 
 " Zozimus, M. (116). Dec. 18.
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Abelard, The Rationalist . 374 
 Abbey, Benedictine of St. 
 
 Giles . , . .392 
 
 Clairvaux . . 373 
 
 Denis (St) . .... 382 
 
 Mailros . . . 394 
 
 Melrose V . . . 394 
 
 Westminster . . 448 
 
 Acta Sanctorum . . 240 
 
 Advent (Introductory) XIII 
 
 Aiden, First Columban 
 
 Bishop in Scotland . 175 
 Alcuin, An early teacher 
 
 at York . . .147 
 Alfred, The Great . . 329 
 Almanac (Introductory) 
 
 XII . . . . 330 
 Alphonsus, King[of Castile 381 
 All Saints Day 470 et seq. 
 
 All Souls Day . 47 2 et seq. 
 Altera Quadragesima 
 
 (Introductory) . XIII 
 Ambrosian Chant . 178, 385 
 Andrews Cross (St) Edin- 
 burgh . . . .5 
 Agnes Eve (St) . . .75 
 Angels and Archangels 
 
 428 et seq. 
 Angel of Annunciation 146, 430 
 
 Animals, Sacred of Mussel- 
 men .... 343 
 Annunciation of Blessed 
 
 Virgin . . .146 
 
 Apostle to Andalusia . 128 
 
 " Axumites . ... . 464 
 
 " Ethiopia . . . 463 
 
 " France . . . 434 
 
 " Gaul . . . .482 
 
 " Germany . . .271 
 
 " India , . 184 etseq. 
 
 " Ireland . . .183 
 
 " North .... 369 
 
 " Picts Northern . . 280 
 
 " Picts Southern . . 408 
 
 " Russia . . . 294 
 
 Apostle of Saxony . 141,478 
 
 " " Sweden . 105 
 
 " The Twelve . . 306 
 
 April . . . .172 
 
 Arabian Shamrock . . 139 
 
 Areopagites, The . . 437 
 
 Arian Doctrine . . 66, 169 
 
 " Heresy . . 28, 117 
 
 " Vandals . . .327 
 
 " Visigoths . . .118 
 
 Arians, The . . 108, 129 
 
 Arianism . . , .140 
 
 Arius, Promulgator of 
 
 Arianism . . 28, 117
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 537 
 
 Aries, See Burgundy Sec- 
 ond .... 
 Armagh, Book of . .139 
 Arthurs Seat, Edinburgh . 71 
 Ascension Day . . .231 
 " " Customs . 232 
 " " Vigil . . 242 
 Ash Wednesday . .115 
 Ass, The procession of the 1 57 
 Athanaric, King of Eastern 
 
 Goths , . . 407 
 August .... 349 
 Aurelius Prudentius, Poet 17 
 Authorities quoted . . 501 
 
 B 
 
 60 
 
 Bannockburn, Battle of 
 Barbarossa, Emperor of 
 
 Germany . . .185 
 Barefooted Friars, See 
 
 Friars 
 Basil II. (The Macedonian) 
 
 Emperor of the East . 34 
 
 Basilica Eudoxian . . 352 
 
 " Lateran John 358,480 
 
 " Liberian . . 358 
 
 " Pietro in Vinculo . 352 
 
 " Roman, The . . 357 
 
 Beads, Cuthberts (St.) . 397 
 
 Beatification . . .56 
 
 Benedictines . . .97 
 
 Berengarius III. 
 
 Margrave of Jurea . 24 
 Bernard (St) Writings of . 375 
 Bible, See Vulgate 
 
 " King James Author- 
 ized version of 81 
 
 Blanche, Queen of France 381 
 Black Friars, See Friars 
 Blessed Albert, The . .185 
 " Alexius Falconer!, The 106 
 " Barbadigo, Gregory 
 
 Lewis The . . . 290 
 
 " Eulychian, The . .1$ 
 
 " Pepin, The . . no 
 
 " Peter Damian, The . 113 
 
 Bobadillo, Alphonso . . 347 
 
 Bogoris, King of Bulgaria . 34 
 
 Bridewell .... 90 
 
 Brigitines, House of Sion 
 
 339. 442 
 
 Bruce, King of Scotland , 60 
 Brude, King of the Picts . 283 
 Burgundy, " The Second " 
 
 sometimes called Aries 24 
 
 Caedmon .... 101 
 Calvinists . . . .211 
 Candida Casa (The White 
 
 Church) . 409 et seq. 
 Candlemas . , .90 
 Canonization of Saints 56, 275 
 Carthage . . . .144 
 Catholic, Name first used . 327 
 Centurion, Who pierced our 
 
 Saviour's side . .135 
 Chapel, Derivation of name 482 
 Charlemagne, Emperor 51, 479 
 Charles I. King of England 87 
 Charles II. (The Bold) King 
 
 of Burgundy . . 24 
 Chelles, Royal Nunnery 
 
 475. 86
 
 538 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Childebert, King of Paris . 399 
 
 Childermas Day . . 44 
 
 Chosroes, King of Persia . 406 
 
 Christmas^. . . 37 et seq. 
 
 Christmas. Date Fixed , 191 
 
 Christian religion in Britain 317 
 
 Church St. Cloud . . 399 
 
 " Columbate (Scotland) 285 
 
 " Cluain Couairc Leins- 
 
 ter Ireland . . . 410 
 " St. Genevieve Paris . 52 
 " St. Giles London . 392 
 " St. Guduli . . 326 
 " John Lateran 358, 479, 480 
 " Lazarus . . , 334 
 " Mother of . . . 480 
 " Nativity Jerusalem . 227 
 " Nives (snow) The 
 
 Maria Ad . . . 358 
 
 " Oldest in the world . 227 
 
 " At Bethlehem . . 372 
 
 " Peter and Paul . 52, 489 
 
 Scotland, First Stone 
 
 Church . . . 409 
 Churching of Women . 91 
 Circumcision of Christ . 50 
 Clodomir of Orleans, Son 
 of Clovis I. King of 
 France . . . 399 
 Clog Almanacs (Introduc- 
 tory) ... Ill 
 Clonard, See Cluin-Irard 
 Clotaire, King of Soissons 399 
 Clovis I., King of France 
 
 52,96,435 
 
 Cluin-Irard . . ,19 
 Coenobiarch on Coenobite . 62 
 
 Coinage of Cleopatra . 67 
 
 " " Clovis II. and 
 Dagobert, Kings of 
 France . . . 6, 7 
 
 College of Borromeosat 
 
 Pavia .... 475 
 " Roman . . . 446 
 
 Common Book of Prayer 
 
 97, 337, 360 
 
 Conal, King of Scotch 
 
 Dalriadans . . .281 
 
 Conference at Carthage . 47 
 " " Hampton 
 
 Court . . . , 81 
 
 Congregation de Propro- 
 
 ganda ." . .211 
 " Sisters of Charity . 334 
 " Visitation of Virgin 
 Mary .... 376 
 
 Conrad, (The Salic) 
 
 Emperor . . .314 
 
 Conrad of Marpurg . . 491 
 
 Constantine, Emperor of 
 
 Rome (355) . . 23 
 
 Constantius (The Great) 
 Emperor, 48, 168, 370, et seq, 
 404 et seq. 
 
 Constantine (Copronymus) 133 
 
 Convent Aix . . . 345 
 " Barcelona . . 389 
 " Catharine (St) 
 Mt. Sinai . . . 499 
 " Fate (Ben-Fratelli) 334 
 " Lucy (St) .. .126 
 " Paolo (St) . . 366 
 " Sierra Morena . 497 
 
 Corfe Castle . . 140, 295
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 539 
 
 Corpus Christi Day . . 263 
 Council at Aries (353) . 66 
 " Beziers (356). . 66 
 " Caesarea (195) . 466 
 " Chalcedon (451) . 106 
 " Ephesus (431) .256 
 " Lateran (1179) . 486 
 " Lateran (1215) . 186 
 " Lyons (1274). . 105 
 " Nice (3 1 8) . . 28 
 " Nice (325), (Ecu- 
 menical . . 48, 165 
 Nice (806) . . 133 
 " Toledo (656) . 146 
 " Trent (1546). . 432 
 Cripplegate, See St Giles. 
 Cross Andrews (St) . . 5 
 " Ecclesiastic . . 182 
 " Elevation of . . 406 
 " Exaltation of . .186 
 " Invention of . 224, 404 
 " Pomme . . .165 
 " Resurrection . . 165 
 " St. Stephen's . . 353 
 " Symbolic . . . 204 
 " Triple . . .181 
 " Triumphant . . 165 
 Crown of St. Stephen . 393 
 Croyland Isle . . .191 
 Crucifix, The . . .151 
 Crusades, St. Louis . . 382 
 Culdees, The Scotch 130 et seq. 
 
 D 
 
 Dacia, Petrus de (Introduc- 
 tory) . . . .VIII 
 Dacian, Roman Emperor , 77 
 
 Dagobert, King of France no 
 Damian, Peter the Blessed 113 
 December .... 6 
 Decius, Persecutions of 28, 240 
 Dioclesian, Roman 
 
 Emperor . . .214 
 Distaff Day . . 57 
 
 Doctors of the Latin Church 1 32 
 .< Syriac Church 324 
 " " " Western 
 Church . . .127 
 Domitianus, Roman 
 
 Emperor . . .413 
 Donatus of Carthage .411 
 Donatus, Pagan Gramma- 
 rian .... 431 
 Doway, College of . .46 
 Dragon of St. George . 209 
 Druids . . . 138, 283 
 Durham Cathedral . . 395 
 
 E 
 
 Easter, 162 et seq., 166 et seq. 
 466 
 
 " English Customs . 167 
 " Emblems . . .165 
 " Octave . . .180 
 Edict of Severus . . 344 
 Egbert, King of Wessex . 328 
 Elizabeth, Queen of Portu- 
 gal .... 321 
 Elizabeth, Salutation of .315 
 Ember Days . . .253 
 Emblems of Apostles 
 
 150, 151 etseq. 
 " " Christ 151 et seq. 
 
 " " Easter . . 165 
 " " the Passion 151, 160
 
 540 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Epiphany . . 53, 54 et seq. 
 " Greater and Lesser . 55 
 Erasmus, Desiderius . . 465 
 Ethelred, King of Mercia . 190 
 Eudocia, Roman Empress 426 
 Eugenius IV., Pope . . 397 
 Eulychian, Pope . .15 
 Eustratius Proculus . .216 
 Eutychius of Puzzuoli .415 
 Eutycia, Mother of St. Lucy 20 
 Eutropia, sister of Nicasius 22 
 Exarch, a Viceroy . . 484 
 Exaroh, a Superior-General i r 
 Expiation, Preparation for 116 
 
 Faber, Peter. One of the 
 Founders of the Soci- 
 ety of Jesus . 8, 347 
 Father of the Gaulish 
 
 Church .... 482 
 
 Fathers Four Latin . . 384 
 
 " Mission . . . 334 
 
 Feast of All Saints 470 et seq. 
 
 " All Souls 472 et seq. 
 
 " Exaltation of the Cross 
 
 1 86 
 
 " Heart of Jesus . . 273 
 " Holy Angel Guan- 
 
 caus .... 435 
 " Holy Name of Jesus 71 
 " Ingathering . . 424 
 " Immaculate Concep- 
 tion . . . .15 
 " John the Baptist, De- 
 collation of . . . 387 
 " Kings ... 56 
 
 Feast of Madonna del Nive 
 
 (of Snow) . . .358 
 " Michael St. and All 
 
 Angels . . . 428 
 " Name of Jesus . . 360 
 " Nativity of Blessed 
 
 Virgin . 401 
 " St. Nicholas . .13 
 " Orthodoxy . . 101 
 " Our Lady of Mercy . 424 
 " Paschal . 163 et seq. 
 " of St. Paul. . . 80 
 " Presentation of B. 
 
 Virgin . . .493 
 " St. Raphael, Arch- 
 angel . . . 462 
 " Sacred Heart of Jesus 273 
 Festival of Harvest Home . 424 
 " " Holy Name of the 
 
 Virgin Mary . .401 
 " " Mid-summer, . 301 
 " " Miracles , . 325 
 " " the Mother of God 146 
 " " the Rosary . . 438 
 Friars, Barefooted Carmel- 
 ites . . . .497 
 " Black, of London, . 
 
 The . . . .436 
 
 " Carmelite, Old . . 497 
 
 " Five Minor, The . 69 
 
 " White, The . .186 
 
 Friesland . 147, 477 et seq. 
 
 Fontane, Tre, Rome .311 
 
 G 
 
 Gange Day . . . 228 
 Genseric, King of Arian 
 Vandals . .144, 327
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 541 
 
 Gibraltar, First name. 
 Glasgow, City of 
 Good Friday 
 Goths Arian 
 
 " Eastern . . 
 Gregory V. Pope 
 Guelph, The name . 
 
 H 
 
 133, 258 
 . 50 
 
 Hallowe'en . . . 468 
 Harvest Home . . . 424 
 Helena, Empress of the 
 
 East 224 et seq., 370 
 
 Henry III. of England 176, 489 
 " III. (The Black) of 
 
 Germany . '. .10 
 Heraclius . . . .47 
 Hereswith, Queen of East 
 
 Anglia . . .475 
 Heresy, Albigneses . . 356 
 " Arian (see Arius) 
 
 28, 117 
 
 " Early Church . .43 
 " Ebonites . .107 
 " Eutychian ". . 62 
 " Felix . . . 102 
 " ' Manes (Manichaen) 
 
 384 et seq. 
 
 " Montanus . . 206 
 " Monothelism . . 47 
 " Nazareans . . 107 
 " Pelagian 121, 184, 345 
 " Privatus . .75 
 
 " Sabellianism . .331 
 " Waldensian . . 356 
 Hermenegild, Prince of 
 
 Visigoths . . .118 
 
 Hermits of St. Austin . 413 
 Hildebald of Cologne . 1-47 
 Hildebrand, see Gregory V. 
 Hipparchus of Samosata 16 
 Holy Rood 405 et seq. 
 
 " Thursday . ,231 
 " Saturday . . .161 
 " Week . 157 et seq. 
 Homo Signorum (Intro- 
 ductory) . . VIII 
 Honorius II., Pope . . 373 
 Hospital of St. Bernard . 291 
 " Foundling . 334 
 
 " La Magdalen . 334 
 
 " Lepers . . 392 
 
 House of Brigitines . . 339 
 Sion . . . 339,442 
 
 Huguenots, Vindictive . 149 
 Huneric, African King of 
 
 Arian Vandals . . 370 
 Hypatia . . .83, 442 
 
 I 
 
 Iconoclasts . .3 
 
 Iconoclastic Bishops . .134 
 Immaculate Conception 
 
 14 et seq. 
 
 Innocents' Day . . .44 
 Innocent III. Pope . .176 
 Innocent VIII. Pope . . 174 
 Invention of the Cross 224, 404 
 Invention of St. Stephen's 
 
 Relics . . . 353 
 lona . . . . 281 
 
 Irish Martyrology . .131 
 Isdegerdes, Son of Sapor 
 
 III 170 
 
 Isle of Stags . . . 490
 
 542 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 January . . . .49 
 Jarchus Solomon, (Intro- 
 ductory) . . .VIII 
 Jesuits, See Society of 
 
 Jesus 
 
 Joan of Arc . . .56 
 Joseph of Arimathea, 248, 250 
 John, King of England . 74 
 John St., Decollation of 
 
 386 et seq. 
 
 Judas . . . .152 
 Julian, The Apostate 
 
 167 et seq., 386, 460 
 
 July 313 
 
 June 266 
 
 Justinus, (The Ancient) 
 Emperor . . .62 
 
 K 
 
 Kalendar Old and New 
 Styles . . . .49 
 
 Kalendars (Introductory) VII 
 
 Kildare, or Kil-dara, The 
 
 City of . . .90 
 
 Kirn, Scotch Harvest Home 
 
 424 
 
 Knights of the Holy Cru- 
 sades .... 492 
 
 Koran, The . .47 
 
 Labarum, The . . . 405 
 Lactantius, the Orator .411 
 Ladislas, King of Hungary 394 
 Lady Day .... 146 
 Lammas Day . . . 349 
 
 Lanfranc .... 205 
 Lateran, The . . . 480 
 Latin Fathers (The Four) 384 
 Latin Gate at Rome, The 42 
 Laura, A retreat and school 
 
 for novitiates . 11,240 
 Laurence, Legend of St. 21 
 Laynez, James . . . 347 
 Lazarites, Fathers of the 
 
 Mission . . . 334 
 Legend, Mohammedan . 343 
 Legion, The Happy . . 422 
 " Thebean 
 
 420 et seq. 
 
 " Thundering . .129 
 Leinster . . 410, 485 
 Lent '. . . .115 
 " Mid .... 143 
 Leo the Armenian . . 134 
 Leo III. (The Isaurian) 
 
 Emperor ... 3 
 Leo I. (The Great), Pope . 189 
 Leo IX., Pope . . . 200 
 Lewis, Landgrave of Thur- 
 
 ingia . . . .491 
 Lewis (le Debonnaire), Em- 
 peror . . . .51 
 Liberian, see Basilica 
 Lincoln Cathedral . . 488 
 Longinus the Centurion . 135 
 Lothaire, King of France . 24 
 Lothaire, King of Italy . 24 
 Louis IX., King of France 
 
 (St) . . . 328, 381 
 Louis XIII., King of France 94 
 Loyola, Founder of the So- 
 ciety of Jesus 8, 185, 347
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 543 
 
 Lucian, Priest of Palestine 41 
 Luivigild or Leogivild, 
 King of the Visigoths 
 
 I * 8, 193 
 
 M 
 
 Macarius of Jerusalem . 226 
 Maccabees, See Machabees 
 Machabees, The Seven 
 
 350 et seq. 
 Magdalene, Foundling 
 
 Hospital of Paris . 334 
 Magi, The Three Wise 
 
 Men . . 55 et seq. 
 Magi, The Druid . 283, 285 
 Mahomet, or Mahommed . 47 
 Mailros, See Melrose 
 Malcolm, King of Scotland 488 
 Malmsbury, William of, 
 
 Historian . . .141 
 Manichaens, The 384 et seq. 
 March .... 120 
 Mariners, See Patron Saints 
 Martiany, Dom, French 
 
 Benedictine . . 432 
 
 Martin, Legend of St. . 483 
 
 Martinmas Day. .- . 481 
 
 Martyrology-Irish . .131 
 
 Martyrs, Alexandrian .118 
 
 " Dioclesian . . 214 
 
 " England, The Proto 
 
 of .... 292 
 
 " Lyons . . . 268 
 
 " Nicomedian . .215 
 
 " Noble Army of . 378 
 
 " Samosata . .17 
 
 " Sebaste . . , .130 
 
 Martyrs Utican . . 380 
 Marcellus, The Archiman- 
 
 dite . . . .386 
 Margaret of Provence . 381 
 Mary. The Three . . 337 
 Mass, Gregorian . .150 
 The White . . 380 
 Maunday Thursday 1 58 et seq. 
 Maximian, Roman Em- 
 peror . , 16, 215, 336 
 
 May 220 
 
 Mell-Supper, Harvest 
 
 Home .... 424 
 Melrose Abbey, Old and 
 
 New . . . 142, 394 
 Meropius Philosopher of 
 
 Tyre .... 464 
 Michael (The Drunkard) 
 
 Emperor of the East . 33 
 Michaelmas Day . . 428 
 Mid-Lent .... 143 
 Mid-Summer . . . 301 
 Missionary, The t fi 
 
 Scotland . . . 280 
 Mohammedan Legends . 343 
 Monasteries . . . 276 
 Monastic, See Schools 
 Monasterium Magnum . 409 
 Monastery Andrew (St) 
 
 Rome . . . 398 
 " Bethlehem . . 432 
 " Beverly . . .231 
 " Bischafsheim . . 428 
 " Cassino . , . 143 
 " Cell-Comgall . . 236 
 " Chartreuse . . 489 
 " Chartreux . . 333
 
 544 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Monastery Citeaux (Cister- 
 cian) . . . .373 
 " Cloud (St) . . 399 
 " Conversano . . 205 
 " St. Cornelius . . 102 
 " Cropin . . .184 
 " Croyland . .191 
 " Ebba(St) . . 175 
 " Ely . . . 92, 299 
 " Eu ... 486 
 " George, Alga (St) . 397 
 " Glastonbury . . 250 
 Glendaloch . . 486 
 " Gill Abbey . . 425 
 " Gregory (St) . .481 
 " Heartea (Now Har- 
 
 tlepool, Eng.) . . 490 
 
 " House of Martin . 409 
 
 " lona . . . 281 
 
 " Jarrow . . .64 
 
 " Jouarre, St. Brie .476 
 
 " Kloster Studuim . 387 
 
 " Lindisfarne . . 447 
 
 " Lough Eric . .425 
 
 " Luxeuil . . .16 
 
 " Mailros . . . 395 
 
 " Mark (St) . . .173 
 
 41 Medina . . . 497 
 
 " Messina . . . 439 
 
 " Micy (Orleans) . . 476 
 
 " Minias (St) . . 325 
 
 " Mortuva . . .185 
 
 " Mount Serrat . . 346 
 
 " New Corbie . . 51 
 
 " Nisibis . . . 457 
 
 " Nogent . . . 399 
 
 " Perpetuus . . 332 
 
 Monastery Prestby . . 490 
 " Regular Canons of 
 
 St. Austin . . .253 
 " Reiz ... I 
 " Rippon . . . 477 
 " Rosnat . . .183 
 " Seine . . .102 
 " Sublaco . . . 439 
 " Trebuitz . . .455 
 " Utrecht . . .478 
 " Wastein . . . 442 
 " Wearmouth . 64, 447 
 " Werden . . . 147 
 " Whithorn . . 408 
 " Winburn . . 428 
 
 " Winchester (The 
 
 Old) . . . .329 
 " Witham, The first 
 
 Carthusian in England 489 
 
 Monks . . .19, 276 
 
 " Called Mourners . 189 
 
 " of Mt. Sinai . .170 
 
 Monogram Christ's 
 
 204, 359 et seq. 
 Monothelism, See Heresy, 
 Monte de Piete . . . 252 
 Monte Senario . . . 377 
 Moravian Bishops . . 34 
 Mother of Churches . . 480 
 Mothering Sunday . .143 
 Moors in Seville . . 69 
 Muilros see Melrose 
 
 N 
 
 Nathaniel, Supposed to be 
 same as St. Bartholo- 
 mew . . . . 379
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 545 
 
 Nativity of Christ 37 et seq. 
 " " Eve of . .35 
 " " John the Bap- 
 tist .... 299 
 " " Virgin Mary . 40x3 
 Nebridius, Treasurer of 
 
 Emperor Theodosius 25 
 New Style (Introductory) 
 
 XII . . . .49 
 New Years . . .50, 467 
 Nicene Creed . . .23 
 Nimbus, Cruciform . . 306 
 Nostrandum Michael, Al- 
 manac (Introductory) VIII 
 Novantse, Pictish tribe . 409 
 November . . . 470 
 
 Numa Pompilius, (Kalen- 
 
 dar) . . . .49 
 Nunnery, Barking, The 
 first Benedictine in 
 England . 446 et seq. 
 " Clare (St) . . 427 
 " Encarnacion . . 452 
 " Heartea . . . 490 
 " Mercia . . .92 
 " Mary (St) . . 457 
 
 " Royal at Chelles 86, 475 
 " Scornscheim . . 428 
 Nuns, Barefooted Carmel- 
 ites . . . . 452 
 " Benedictine . .123 
 " Capuchine . . 322 
 " Cistercian . .218 
 " Franciscan . . 366 
 " Hein, the first in North- 
 umberland . . . 490 
 ' Ursuline, The . . 459 
 
 O 
 
 Obelisk of Lateran . . 479 
 
 Octave of Christmas . . 50 
 
 " Epiphany . . 62 
 
 " Laurence (St) . 370 
 
 " Nativity of the 
 
 B. Virgin . . 407 
 October . . . 434 
 
 (Ecumenical Council 
 
 (Nice 325) . . 48 
 
 Olaus, King of Sweden . 104 
 Old Style, (Introductory) 
 
 XII. ..... .49 
 
 Order Augustine (St) 
 
 Third .... 442 
 
 " Barefooted Carmelites 
 
 452, 497 
 
 " Barefooted Friars -453 
 " Barefooted Trinitar- 
 ians . . . . 99 
 
 " Basil St) . . 32 
 
 " Benedictine . 97, 142 
 " Bennet (St) . . 325 
 " Black Friars . 357, 436 
 " Brigantines or Brigi- 
 
 tines . . . 339, 442 
 " Camaidoll . . 97 
 
 " Carmelites . .184 
 
 " Carmelites, See Bare- 
 footed 
 
 " Carmelites, Brothers 
 and Sisters of Strict 
 Observance . . .453 
 " Carthusians . . 332 
 " Carthusian Monks . 440 
 " Charity of .128
 
 546 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Order Cistercians . .217 
 " Congregation of the 
 
 Visitation . .85 
 
 " Dominic (St) . . 388 
 " Dominicans . . 357 
 " Francis (St) . . 328 
 " Francis (Third) . 427 
 " Franciscans, .210, 438 
 " Franciscan Friars . 204 
 " Franciscan Nuns . 366 
 " Friar Minors . . 438 
 " Gray Friars . .210 
 " Hermits of St. Aus- 
 tin .... 413 
 " Hermits of St. Jerom 
 
 268 
 
 " Holy Trinity. The 99 
 " James (St) . . .445 
 " James (St) Military 341 
 " Jesuits . . 347, 445 
 " Knights of St. George 208 
 " Mendicant Friars . 438 
 " Mercy, Of . .99 
 
 " Minims, Of . . 173 
 '* Mitigated Clares, 
 
 (Uroanists) . .126 
 " Nuns of the Annun- 
 ciation . . .94 
 " Oratorians . . 261 
 " Our Lady of Carmel . 497 
 " Our Lady of Mercy, 
 For the Redemption of 
 Captives . . . 389 
 " Passionists . . 303 
 " Penitents . . .126 
 " Poor Clares . 366,438 
 " Poor Regular Clerks 383 
 
 Order Red Cross . . 445 
 " Servants of Blessed 
 
 Virgin . . . 106 
 " Servites . . . 377 
 " Stifler der Pramon- 
 
 stratenser . . . 274 
 " Trinitarians . . 98 
 " Urseline Nuns . . 459 
 " Vallis Umbrosa . 325 
 " Visitation of Virgin 
 
 Mary . . . 376 
 
 " White Friars . .186 
 Organ Introduced into 
 
 Churches . . .188 
 Oster or Easter . . .164 
 Ostrogoths . . .118 
 Oswi, King of Northumber- 
 land . . . .64 
 Otho I. Emperor of Ger- 
 many . . .24 
 Otho II. Emperor of Ger- 
 many . . 25 
 
 Paintings. First used in 
 
 Churches in Britain 63, 447 
 Palms, Blessing of . .156 
 " Procession of .156 
 Sunday . . 155 
 " Sunday in Eng- 
 land . . . .157 
 Pantheon, The 52, 239, 470 
 Paschal Feast .163, et seq. 
 Passion, Emblem of 151, 
 
 i6oet seq. 
 " Week . . .150
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 547 
 
 Patriarch, of Monks . 70 
 
 Patrick, Confessions of St. 138 
 Metrical Life of St. 284 
 Patron Saints . 153 et seq. 
 " of Actors and Dan- 
 cers . . . 291 
 " " Architects . 30 
 
 " " Builders . . 30 
 " Cities . .153 
 
 " " Brussels . . 58 
 " " Boulogne . . 2 
 " " Cantania . . 95 
 " Chester . . 92 
 " " Florence . . 458 
 " " Leige . . 474 
 
 " Malta . . 94 
 
 " " Oxford . . 457 
 " Padua . 289, 441 
 " Paris ... 51 
 " Winchester . . 328 
 " " Venice . . 441 
 Patron of Countries . .153 
 " " Bohemia . . 291 
 " " East Indies . 9 
 " " France . . 443 
 " " Muscovy . . 340 
 " " Saxony . . 291 
 " Scotland . . 5 
 " " Sicily . . . 291 
 " " Wales . .120 
 Patron of Cooks . . 345 
 " Horses . . 367 
 " " Housewives . 345 
 " " Huntsmen and 
 
 Chase . . .473 
 " " Medicinal Springs 122 
 " " Music . . 495 
 
 Patron of Nurses ' . .153 
 Patron of Order of St. An- 
 drew's Cross in Russia 5 
 " " Order of Golden 
 
 Fleece . . . $ 
 Patron of Painters . . 458 
 " " Sailors and Mari- 
 ners . . 12, 195 
 " " School-boys . 12 
 " " Shepherds . 197 
 " " Women in child- 
 birth , . . .335 
 " " Theologians . 385 
 Patrophilis, Arian Bishop . 23 
 Paul (St) in England . 80, 8 1 
 Pawn-shop, The First . 252 
 Pentecost . . 162, 245 
 Pepin, King . . . 102 
 Peter's Chair, Rome 71 et seq. 
 " " Antioch . in 
 " Keys . . .309 
 Peter the Hermit . .61 
 Picts, Northern and South- 
 ern .... 410 
 Pillar Saints . . 18, 394 
 Pius V., Pope . . . 229 
 Pius X., Pope . .56 
 Plot, Dr. Robert (Introduc- 
 tory) . . . .IX 
 Plough Monday . . 63 
 Polycarp .... 364 
 Pope's Change of name, 
 
 The reason . . 305 
 Priestby or Prestby . . 490 
 Prince of Apostles . . 308 
 Ptolemy, Egyptian Astron- 
 omer (Introductory) . VII 
 Purgatory . . . 472
 
 548 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Purification of the Blessed 
 Virgin . . .90 
 
 Q 
 
 Quadragesima (Introduc- 
 tion) XIII ... 98 
 Quigrich of St. Fillan . 60 
 Quinquagesima Sunday . 97 
 Quodvultdeus, Bishop of 
 Carthage . . .144 
 
 R 
 
 Relics of St. Cuthbert . 395 
 " " Edward the Con- 
 fessor . . . 295 
 " " St. Stephen . 353 
 Resurrection . . . 162 
 Restoration of St. Peter's, 
 
 Rome. . . .332 
 Rheims, Seigeof . . 22 
 Rivers of Paradise . . 203 
 Robert, King of Paris . 427 
 Rock Day . . .57 
 
 Rocking . . . -57 
 Rodriguez, Simon, one of 
 
 the Founders of Jesuits 347 
 Rogation Days . . 227 
 
 Roman Basilica . . 357 
 Rosary, The . 438 et seq. 
 Runic, The word (Intro- 
 ductory) . . . X 
 
 Sabellianism, Heresy . 331 
 Sacred Animals of Mussel- 
 men .... 343 
 
 Saint, The Soldier . . 482 
 Saints and Saint Days . 181 
 Saints Canonized, named 
 in text. See page num- 
 bers following 
 
 St. Abdas . . .170 
 " Abraham . . .136 
 " Abus, see St. Eugenius 
 " Achilleus . . .238 
 " Adalard . . .51 
 " Adalbert . . . 393 
 " Adelaide, see St. Alice 
 " Adrian . . . 401 
 " Aebba . . . 175 
 " vEngus . . . 130 
 " Agapetus I., Pope .415 
 " Agapetus II., Pope . 24 
 " Agapius . . .372 
 " Agatha . 94 et seq. 
 " Agnes . 76 et seq. 
 " Aidan . . . 142 
 " Aiden . . . 490 
 
 " Alban, Proto-Martyr of 
 
 England . . . 292 
 " Alberic . . .218 
 " Albert . . .184 
 " Alexander, Patriarch of 
 
 Alexandria . .116 
 " Alexander I., Pope . 352 
 " Alexander V., Pope . 94 
 " Alexander . . 467 
 
 " Alexius . . .331 
 " Alice .... 24 
 " Alodia . . 459-60 
 " Alphege, see St. Elphege 
 " Alphonsus Turibius . 145
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 549 
 
 St. Ambrose of Milan 
 
 14, 177, 385 
 
 " Anacletus II., Pope . 373 
 " Anastasia . . .196 
 " Andrew, Apostle . . 4 
 " Angelonium and Com- 
 panions . . .435 
 " Anicetus, Pope . .198 
 " Anne, Mother of B. 
 
 Virgin Mary . . 341 
 " Anno . . . .10 
 " Anselm. . .15, 205 
 " Anthony . . 68 
 
 " Anthony of Padua . 288 
 " Anthony, Patriarch of 
 
 Monks in Egypt . . 70 
 " Antonio or Antony, see 
 
 St. Anthony 
 
 " Apollinaris . . . 339 
 " Apollonia . . .99 
 " Apollonius " the Apol- 
 ogist " .198 et seq. 
 " Asaph . . . .66 
 " Asterius . . . 467 
 " Athanasius 23, 222, et seq. 
 " Augustine of England 
 
 259 et seq. 
 " Augustine of Hippo 
 
 146, 156, 384 et seq. 
 " Auscarius . . .104 
 " Austin, see .St. Augus- 
 tine of Hippo 
 " Auxentius " of the 
 Mount," see St. Stephen 
 " Avus, see St. Euginius 
 " Bademus . . .188 
 " Balbina . . . 352 
 
 St. Barbatus or Barbas 
 
 107 et seq. 
 
 " Barnabas, Apostle . 286 
 " Barr .... 425 
 " Barr, see St. Finian 
 " Barsabias . . 4$8 
 " Bartholomew . . 379 
 " Basil the Great . 129, 289 
 " Basilissa . . 60, 196 
 " Bathildes, Queen of 
 
 France . . 86, 475 
 " Becan . .. . . 183 
 " Bede, Historian 261 et seq. 
 " Bees .... 491 
 " Benedict 142 et seq., 439 
 " Benedict of Anian . 102 
 " Benedict XL, Pope . 320 
 " Benedict Biscop 63, 447 
 " Bennet, see St. Benedict 
 
 Biscop 
 
 " Benezet . . .194 
 " Benjamin . 170 et seq. 
 " Bernard of Menthon . 291 
 " Bernard of Clairvaux 
 
 373 et seq. 
 
 " Bernardino of Siena . 252 
 " Bertille . . . 475 
 " Bibiana ... 7 
 " Blasius or Blase . . 93 
 " Bonaventure . . 328 
 " Boniface, Apostle of 
 
 Germany . . 27, 271 
 " Borromeo, see St. Charles 
 " Brendan . . 19, 243 
 " Brice, see St. Britius 
 " Bride, see St. Bridget 
 of Ireland
 
 550 
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Bridget of Ireland 89, 140 
 " Bridget of Sweden 339, 442 
 " Britius . . . .485 
 " Bruno, Apostle of 
 
 Russia . . . 294 
 " Bruno of Segni . . 332 
 " Bruno, Founder of Car- 
 thusian Monks . . 440 
 " Caesarius . . .471 
 " Caimach of Archaboe . 283 
 " Caius, Pope . . . 207 
 " Callistus . . . 450 
 " Calixtus, see St. Callistus 
 Canonization of Saints, 
 
 56, 275 
 St. Casimir, Prince of 
 
 Poland . . .124 
 
 " Catharine of Alex- 
 andria . . 498 et seq. 
 " Catharine of Siena 2 1 8 et seq. 
 " Ceadda, see St. Chad 
 " Cecilia . . 494 et seq. 
 " Celestine, Pope . .184 
 " Chad .... 122 
 " Charles Borromeo . 474 
 " Chromatius. . . 364 
 " Chrysogonus. . . 196 
 " Chrysostom . . .26 
 " Chrysostom. . . 89 
 " Chrysostom (John) 29, 82 
 " Chysostomus, see St. 
 
 Chrysostom 
 " Clara, see St. Clare 
 " Clare . . 365 et seq. 
 " Clare of Assisi . . 438 
 " Clement of Alexandria 
 
 114 
 
 St. Clement, Pope 495 et seq. 
 " Cletus, Pope . .214 
 " Clotilda . . .399 
 " Clotildis . . .269 
 '* Cloud .... 399 
 " Colette . . .126 
 " Columba 19, 140, 279 et seq. 
 " Columba, His Death . 286 
 " Columkille " the 
 
 Younger " . . .19 
 " Comgall . . .282 
 " Conon . . . .82 
 " Conrad . 499 et seq. 
 " Crescius . . . 304 
 " Crispin .... 462 
 " Crispianian . . . 462 
 " Cunegunda or Cune- 
 
 gundes . .122, 123 
 " Cuthbert . . . 142 
 " Cuthbert . . 394-5 
 " Cyprian . . .411 
 " Cyprian . . .425 
 " Cyriacus . . . 361 
 " Cyril . . . .83 
 " Cyril of Jerusalem . 140 
 " Cyril, Missionary . . 32 
 " Daniel the Stylite . .18 
 " David .... 340 
 " David of Wales 120 et seq. 
 " Deel, see St. Deicolus 
 " Deicolus . . .73 
 " Delphina . . . 426 
 " Deogratias . . 144, 5 
 " Denis .... 443 
 " Dennis. ... 7 
 " Didymus . . . 216 
 " Dionysius . . .23
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 St. Dionysius " the^Areopa- 
 
 gite " ... 437 
 
 " Dionysius, see St. Denis 
 " Dominic . 355 et seq. 
 " Dorotheus . . . 402 
 " Drugo, see St. Druon 
 " Druon .... 197 
 " Dunstan . 143, 201, 247 
 " Dunstan, Legends of 249 
 " Ebba, see St. Aebba 
 " Edmund . . . 487 
 " Edmund, King of East 
 
 Angles . . . 492 
 
 " Edward the Confessor 
 
 448 et seq. 
 
 " Edward, King'of Eng- 
 land .... 140 
 " Edward, Translation of 295 
 " Egbert .- . .477 
 " Eleuthenus . . . 344 
 " Eleutherius . . . 398 
 " Eligius 6 
 
 " Elizabeth of Hungary . 491 
 " Elizabeth of Portugal . 321 
 " Elphege . . . 200 
 " Elzear .... 426 
 " Ephrem . . . 322 
 " Epiphanius . . . 420 
 " Ere .... 243 
 " Erconwald . . . 446 
 " Ethelbert . . .251 
 " Ethelburge . . . 446 
 " Etheldreda . . 298, 454 
 " Eugenius . . . 327 
 " Euginius . . . 457 
 " Eulalia ... 17 
 " Eusebius . . . 368 
 
 Another St. Eusebius . 368 
 St. Eusebius of Samosata 296 
 " Eusebius of Vercelli . 23 
 " Eustathius . . . 331 
 " Euthymius . . . n 
 " Eutychian . . . 207 
 " Evaristus, Pope . . 463 
 " Evurchus, see Evurtius 
 " Evurtius . . . 398 
 " Fabian, Pope . . 74 
 " Faith .... 440 
 " Felan, see St. Fillan 
 " Felicitas' Sons . . 323 
 " Felix .... 252 
 " Felix I., Pope , . 264 
 " Ferdinand III., King of 
 
 Castile and Leon . 264 
 
 " Fidelis . . .210 
 
 " Fillan . . . .59 
 " Finan, see St. Finian 
 " Finbarr, see St. Barr 
 " Finian . . . . 19 
 " Finian .... 409 
 " Flavia Domitilla . . 238 
 " Flavian . . . 106 
 " Foelan, see St. Fillan 
 " Francis of Assisi 
 
 68, 365, 437 
 " Francis Borgia 
 
 444 et seq., 485 
 
 " Francis di Girolamo . 237 
 " Francis of Paula, 
 
 Founder of the Minims 173 
 " Francis of Sales 84, 376 
 " Francis " the Seraphic" 412 
 " Francis Xavier 8, 184, 347 
 " Frideswide , . . 457
 
 55 2 
 
 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Frumentius . 
 " Gabriel . 
 " Gall . 
 " Gamaliel 
 " Gamaliel 
 " Gelasinus 
 " Genevieve 
 " George . 
 '' Germanus 
 
 463-4 
 . 146, 430 
 
 453 
 . 41 
 . 355 
 . 383 
 51 et seq. 
 . 207 
 . 262 
 
 *' Gildas the Historian . 86 
 " Gildas the Wise . . 85 
 " Giles . 391 et seq. 
 
 " Godeschalc . . . 274 
 " Gontran . . . 149 
 " Gorgonius . . . 402 
 " Gregory II., Pope . 103 
 " Gregory X., Pope . 105 
 " Gregory I., the Great, 
 
 Pope . . 35, 131, 259 
 " Gregory Nazianzen . 235 
 " Gregory of Nyssa . 129 
 " Grimald . . .321 
 " Gudula . . 58 et seq. 
 " Guthlac . . .190 
 " Hedwiges . . . 454 
 " Helen . . . .48 
 " Helena, Empress 
 
 224, 370 et seq. 
 ". Henry .... 134 
 " Henry of Germany, 
 
 King of Rome . .123 
 " Hermenegild . .193 
 " Hilary . . . .66 
 " Hilary of Aries . . 229 
 " Hild, see St. Hilda 
 " Hilda . . . 101, 490 
 " Hippolytus . . 363, 367 
 
 St. Hippolytus . , 
 " Hliba, see St. David 
 " Homobonus . . 
 " Honoratus 
 " Hubert . . . 
 " Hugh of Grenoble 
 
 . 377 
 
 484, 5 
 i 
 
 .473 
 . 172 
 
 488, 9 
 . 369 
 . 62 
 
 " Hugh of Lincoln 
 " Hyacinth . 
 " Hyginus, Pope 
 
 " Ignatius . . .32 
 
 " Ignatius of Antioch . 88 
 
 " Ignatius Loyola 184, 346 
 
 " Innocent I., Pope . . 344 
 
 " Irenasus of Lyons . 305 
 
 " Irenasus of Sirmium . 145 
 
 Sant Isabel de Pez, see St . 
 Elizabeth of Portugal 
 
 St. Isidore . . . .156 
 
 " Itha, or Ita . . . 243 
 
 " James the Great . . 42 
 
 " James Intercisus . 2 
 
 " James the Less . . 220 
 
 " James Major . . 340 
 
 " James of Nisibis . . 324 
 
 " James of Sclavonia . 204 
 " Jane Frances de Chantal 
 
 375-6 
 
 " Jane, Queen of France 93 
 " Januarius . . 108, 415 
 " Jerom . . 57, 67, 430 
 " Joachim , . 342, 400 
 " Joan, see St. Jane, 
 
 Queen of France 
 " John the Baptist . . 43 
 " John the_Baptist, Decol- 
 
 lation of . . . 386 
 " John of Beverly . . 231
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 553 
 
 St. John Climacus . .169 
 " John Chrysostom, see 
 
 Chrysostom 
 
 " John of the Cross . 497 
 " John of Egypt . . 148 
 " John the Evangelist 
 
 41, 229 
 
 " John Francis Regis . 292 
 " John of God. . .127 
 " John Gualbert . . 324 
 " John Joseph of the 
 
 Cross .... 125 
 " John Lateran . . 479 
 " John at Latin Gate . 230 
 " John of Matha . . 98 
 " John Nepomucen . . 241 
 " John, Pope . . .261 
 " John of Rome, Martyr . 302 
 " John of Sahagun . . 287 
 " John the Silent . . 239 
 " Joseph Barsabas . . 336 
 " Joseph Calasanctus . 383 
 " Joseph, Husband of V. 
 
 Mary . . . .141 
 " Joseph, His Marriage . 141 
 " Jude .... 465 
 " Julia .... 254 
 " Julian . . . . 60 
 " Julian of Cilicia . .137 
 " Juliana . . . 294 
 " Julitta . '. . . 345 
 " Julius I., Pope . -191 
 " Justina . . . 425 
 " Justina of Padua and 
 
 Venice . . .441 
 
 " Justus . . . . 481 
 " Kenerin, see St. Kiaran 
 
 St. Kentigern . 65 et seq. 
 " Kiaran. . i24etseq. 
 " Kiaran .... 19 
 " Ladislas I., King of 
 
 Hungary . . . 304 
 " Lambert of Leige . 474 
 " Largus .... 361 
 " Laurence 
 
 21, 41, 78, 354, 361 et seq. 
 " Laurence of Dublin 485-6 
 " Laurence Justinian . 397 
 " Laynez, Second General 
 
 of Jesuits . . . 446 
 " Leander . . .117 
 " Leo IV., Pope . . 332 
 " Leocadia . . .17 
 " Leonard . . . 476 
 " Lewis Bertrand . 443-4 
 " Liberatus . . . 370 
 " Lioba ... . 427 
 " Louis IX., King of 
 
 France . . 328, 381 
 
 * Loyola, see St. Ignatius 
 
 Loyola 
 
 St. Lucia . . . .20 
 " Lucian .... 468 
 " Lucian of Antioch . 57 
 " Lucian of Beauvais . 58 
 " Lucifer of Cagliari . 23 
 " Lucius .... 456 
 " Lucius, Pope . . 352 
 " Lucy, see St. Lucia 
 " Ludger .... 147 
 " Luke, Evangelist . 455-6 
 SS. Machabees, The Seven 350 
 St. Mallou, see St. Malo 
 " Malo , .. . . 487
 
 554 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Mammertus . . 236 
 " Marcellianus . . 293 
 " Marcellinus, Pope . 214 
 " Marcellus, Pope . . 68 
 " Marcus . . . 293 
 " Margaret . . 334-5 
 " Margaret of Cortona . 112 
 " Margaret, Queen of 
 
 Scotland . . 286, 488 
 " Mark, Apostle and 
 
 Evangelist . .212 
 
 " Mark of Greece . .167 
 " Mark, Pope . .441 
 
 " Martha . . . 345 
 " Martin, Pope 483 et seq. 
 " Martin of Tours 
 
 7, 316, 409, 481 et seq. 
 " Mary of Egypt . 186-7 
 " Mary Egyptica, see St. 
 
 Mary of Egypt 
 " Mary, Niece of St. Abra- 
 ham . . . .136 
 " Mary Magdalene . 337 
 " Mathildas, see St. Maud 
 " Matthew, Apostle and 
 
 Evangelist 417 et seq. 
 
 " Matthias . . .114 
 " Maud, Queen of Ger- 
 many .... 134 
 " Maurice . . . 420 
 " Maximus i 
 
 " Maximus . . . 47 
 " Maximus of Provence 278 
 " Maximus of Turin . 302 
 " Maximus . . . 362 
 " Melchiades, Pope 17, 48 
 " Marcellinus, Pope . 68 
 
 St. Methodius . . 34, 422 
 
 " Michael and All Angels 428 
 
 " Michael, Apparition of 234 
 
 " Modwina . . .317 
 
 " Monica . . 228, 384 
 
 " Mungo, or Kentigern . 66 
 
 " Narcissus . . . 466 
 
 " Nemesion . . .27 
 
 " Nereus . . . 238 
 
 " Nicasius . . 22 
 
 " Nicephorus . .133 
 
 " Nicetas . . 407-8 
 
 " Nicholas of Myra 1 1 et seq. 
 
 " Nicodemus . 354, 355 
 
 " Nicodemus . . 407 
 
 " Ninian . 409 et seq. 
 
 " Norbert . . . 273 
 
 " Nunelo . 459 et seq. 
 
 " Odilo . . 50, 472 
 
 " Olmypias . . .25 
 
 " Olon, see St. Odilo 
 
 " Onesimus . . .105 
 
 " Optatus . . .271 
 
 " Owen .... 7 
 
 " Palladius . . 184, 318 
 
 " Pamphillus . . . 267 
 
 " Pancras . . . 237 
 
 " Pantaenus . . . 319 
 
 " Patrick 
 
 138 et seq., 184, 257 
 
 " Patrus, see St. Peter 
 
 " Paul, Apostle . . 310 
 
 " Paul, of the Cross . 303 
 
 " Paul, First Hermit . 67 
 
 " Paul of Rome, Martyr 302 
 
 " Paulinus . . . 297 
 
 " Pelagia . . . 442
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 555 
 
 St. Perpetua . .127 
 " Peter, Apostle 308 et seq. 
 " Peter ad Vincula . 351 
 " Peter Gonzales . .195 
 " Peter Nolaseo . . 99 
 " Peter of Pisa . . 268 
 " Petronilla . . .265 
 " Phillip, Apostle . . 220 
 " Philip Beniti or Benize 377 
 " Philip Neri . . 261 
 
 " Philogonius . . 28 
 
 " Phocas . . . 315 
 " Piran, see St. Kiaran 
 " Pius I., Pope . . 323 
 " Pius, Pope . 198, 200 
 
 " Placidus . . . 439 
 " Polycarp . . 81, 164 
 " Pothinus . . . 269 
 " Prassede . . .250 
 " Praxedis . . . 336 
 " Prisca . . . .72 
 " Proclus . . . 369 
 " Proclus of Constanti- 
 nople . . 461 
 " Procopius . . .321 
 " Procopius, King of Bo- 
 hemia .... 321 
 " Prosper of Aquitain . 302 
 " Provennilus . .415 
 " Ptolemy . . . 456 
 " Pudens . . . 250 
 " Pudenziana . .250 
 " Pulcehria . . . 403 
 " Quintin . . . 468 
 " Quirinus . . . 270 
 " Raphael . . 430, 462 
 " Raymund . 78 et seq. 
 
 St. Raymund Nonnatus 
 
 388 et seq. 
 
 " Regis, John Francis . 292 
 " Remigius 434 et seq. 489 
 " Restituta . . . 244 
 " Richard . . .176 
 " Richard, Anglo-Saxon 
 
 King .... 27 
 " Robert of Molesme 
 
 217 et seq. 
 
 " Romanus of Muscovy . 340 
 " Romanus, Roman Sol- 
 dier .... 361 
 " Romaric . .16 
 
 " Romaricus, see St. 
 
 Romaric 
 
 " Romuald . 96 et seq. 
 " Rose di Lima . . 388 
 " Sabas . . . 407 
 
 " Sadoth . . .109 
 " Sales, Francis of . 84 
 Santiago, see St. James 
 
 Major 
 
 St. Saturninus of Toulon . 4 
 " Scholastica . . .100 
 " Sebas . 10 
 
 " Sebastian . . .75 
 " Servulus . . -35 
 " Sigefride . . 104-5 
 " Silverius, Pope . . 296 
 " Simeon, see St. Simon 
 " Simeon Stylites . 18, 53 
 " Simeon Stylites the 
 
 Younger . . . 394 
 " Simon . . . 107 
 
 " Simon Stylites, see St. 
 Simeon Stylites
 
 556 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 St. Simon Zelotus . . 465 
 " Sinaragdus . , .361 
 " Sixtus I., Pope . .183 
 " Sixtus II., Pope . 359, 362 
 " Sixtus III., Pope . . 149 
 " Sixtus IV., Pope . . 69 
 " Sosius . . . 415 
 
 " Soter, Pope . . 206 
 " Stanislas Kostka . . 485 
 " Stephen of Citeaux . 200 
 " Stephen of Hungary 393-4 
 " Stephen, Invention of 
 
 Relics of ... 353 
 " Stephen, Pope . . 352 
 " Stephen, Proto-martyr 
 
 40, 41 
 
 " Stephen the Younger 2, 3 
 " Swithin . . . 328 
 " Sylvester . .48 
 
 " Teresa 450 et seq., 497 
 " Thaddaeus . . 465 
 
 " Theau ... 7 
 " Thecla 372, 422 et seq. 
 " Theobald . . .313 
 " Theodora . . .216 
 " Theodora . , . 352 
 " Theodora, Empress of 
 
 the East . . . 101 
 " Theodore . . . 414 
 " Theodoret 460 et seq. 
 
 ' Theodosius . . .62 
 " Theresa, see St. Teresa 
 " Thilchildes . . 476 
 
 " Thomas the Almoner 413 
 " Thomas of Aquino . 126 
 " Thomas a Becket 45 et seq. 
 " Thomas Cantelupe . 436 
 
 St. Thomas D i d y m u s, 
 
 Apostle . .29 et seq. 
 " Tiburtius . . . 364 
 " Tigernach . . .182 
 " Timothy . . . 372 
 " Timothy of Ephesus . 79 
 " Titus .... 53 
 " Tranquillinus . . 364 
 " Uriel . . . .430 
 " Ursula and Eleven 
 
 Thousand Virgins . 458 
 " Valentine . . .103 
 " Valeria . . . 293 
 " Vedast . . .96 
 " Veronica Guiliani . 322 
 " Veronica of Milan 64 et seq. 
 " Victor, Pope . . 344 
 " Victorinus . . . 472 
 " Vincent . 77 et seq. 
 " Vincent of Lerins . 255 
 " Vincent de Paul . . 333 
 " Vindemial . . . 327 
 " Vitalis . . . 293 
 " Vitus . . . 290-1 
 " Walburga . . 26, 27 
 " Wereburg . . .92 
 " Wilfrid . 122, 447, 477 
 " Willehad . . .478 
 " Willferder, see St. Wilfrid 
 " William of Bourges . 61 
 " William of York . 278 
 " Willibald . 26, 27, 320 
 " Willibrord . . . 477 
 " Winebald ... 26 
 " Wulstan . 73 et seq. 
 Xavier, see St. Francis 
 Xavier
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 557 
 
 St. Xystus, see St. Sixtus 
 
 II., Pope. 
 
 " Yvo .... 252 
 
 " Zeno . . . .191 
 
 " Zenobius . . . 458 
 
 " Zephrinus, Pope . . 382 
 
 " Zosimus . . 187-8 
 
 Sapor II., King of Persia . 170 
 
 Sapor III., King of Persia 170 
 
 Sapor's Persecutions 
 
 1 88 et seq. 362 
 Saturday before Septua- 
 
 gesima . . .96 
 
 Saturnalia, Roman 36 et seq. 
 Schism of Diosconis . 41 5 
 Schools and Colleges Mon- 
 astic 
 
 School at Acqs, Franciscan 333 
 
 " of Berytus . , 267 
 
 " at Charteaux . 441 
 
 " " Evesham . . 487 
 
 " of Gratinian and 
 
 Felin SS. . , . 474 
 
 " of Ireland . . 235 
 
 " at Mogbile . 280, 410 
 
 " Magnum Monaste- 
 
 rium of St. Ninian . 409 
 
 Scotland's First Missionary 280 
 
 September . . . 391 
 
 Septuagesima Sunday . 97 
 
 Seven Brothers, Martyrs . 323 
 
 Seven Martyrs, Samosata . 17 
 
 Seven Sleepers, The . 343 
 
 Sevigne", Mme. de . .375 
 
 Sexagesima Sunday . 97 
 
 Shamrock, The . 139, 257 
 
 Sibyls, The. Their connec- 
 tion with the Church 
 and Functions and 
 names . 416 et seq. 
 Simnel Cakes . . . 144 
 Sixtus IV., Pope . .174 
 Society of Jesus 9, 347, 445 
 Strathfillan, Scotland . 59 
 Styles of date Old and 
 
 New (Introductory) XII 
 Symbols . . . .192 
 " of Apostles . 305-6 
 " of Evangelists 
 
 202 et seq. 
 
 " " St. Mark . . 213 
 " " The Trinity 257 et seq. 
 
 Thebean Legion, The 
 
 420 et seq. 
 
 Theobald, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury . . 45 
 
 Theobald (Gregory X.) 
 Pope .... 105 
 
 Theodebert, King of Aus- 
 trasia . . , -473 
 
 Theodora, Empress . . 296 
 
 Theodorus, Doctrines and 
 
 Writings . . . 462 
 
 Theodosius, Emperor 178, 386 
 
 Theophilis . . . 466 
 
 Thundering Legion, The 
 
 127 et seq. 
 
 Tomb of Edward the Con- 
 fessor . 449 et seq. 
 
 Transfiguration, The . . 358
 
 558 SAINTS AND FESTIVALS 
 
 Translation, Relics of Ed- 
 ward the Confessor . 448 
 Tre Fontane, Rome . 312 
 Triads, The . . .121 
 Trinity Sunday . .256 
 Trinity, The . 257 et seq. 
 Tudivald, King of South- 
 ern Picts . . . 410 
 Turgot, Confessor of Queen 
 
 Margaret of Scotland 488 
 Twelfth Day ... 54 
 
 U 
 
 Urban, President of Pales- 
 tine .... 372 
 Ursuline Nuns . . 459 
 
 V 
 
 Valens, Emperor of the 
 
 East .... 407 
 Valeses, Emperor . , 386 
 Vatican, The . . . 489 
 Venus, Temple of . . 226 
 Veronica, (St) and our Sa- 
 viour . . . .65 
 Vera Iconica, The . . 65 
 Vespasius, Roman Em- 
 
 peror. . . .339 
 Victor, Roman Soldier, of 
 
 Marseilles . . . 336 
 Victor, Roman Soldier and 
 
 Martyr . . .422 
 
 Victorinus, Rhetorician . 431 
 
 Vigil of Agnes (St) , Eve . 75 
 
 " " All Saints 467 et seq. 
 
 " " Ascension, The . 242 
 
 " " Laurence (St) . 361 
 
 Virgin, Assumption of the 
 
 Blessed . . 368, etc. 
 " Nativity of the Blessed 
 
 400 
 " Presentation of the 
 
 Blessed . . . 493 
 " Purification of the 
 
 Blessed . . .90 
 " Visitation of the 
 
 Blessed . . .315 
 Visigoths, The ' . .118 
 Vulgate, The . . . 430 
 
 W 
 
 Well, Anthony's (St.) . 71 
 Well Dressing . . . 232 
 Westminster Abbey 448 et seq. 
 Whitikind, Duke . . 479 
 Whit-Sunday . . . 245 
 William of Malmsbury, 
 
 Historian . . . 202 
 William (Rufus), King of 
 
 England . 206, 488 
 
 Winchester, The City of . 328 
 Wise Men, Adoration of the 55 
 Wool-comb . . -93 
 Wulphere, King of Mercia 92 
 
 X 
 
 Xerophagie, The 
 Xistus, See Sixtus 
 
 .158 
 
 Yule .... 40 
 
 Z 
 
 Zeno, Emperor . . 240
 
 CENTRAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 University of California, San Diego 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 C, r P o 9 
 v? i_r (j 6 
 
 SEP 2 
 
 C139 
 
 UCSD Libr.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 001392239 8