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2nd February - Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. And when the day came fro them to be purified in keeping with the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord – observing what is written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord…Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to the restoration of Israel and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
Now, Master, you are letting your servant go in peace According to the Law given by God to Moses, "If a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a boy, she will be unclean for seven days, as in a state of pollution due to menstruation. On the eighth day, the child’s foreskin must be circumcised, and she will wait another thirty-three days for her blood to be purified. She will not touch anything consecrated nor go to the sanctuary until her time of purification is over." (Leviticus 12: 2-4). On the fortieth day, the mother has to appear at the temple and offer a lamb one year old as a holocaust and a pigeon or turtle dove as a sin offering. In the case of persons too poor to afford a lamb, it was enough to offer two turtledoves or two pigeons, one as a holocaust, the other as a sin offering. Because the child that Our Lady carried and had given birth to at Bethlehem was of the Holy Spirit this Law did not apply to her but, as with the Lord's baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist, we see in this action the total identification of the Divine Lord with His human nature and to leave for us an example of humility and obedience. As a weak and helpless infant the Lord is acknowledged and adored by Simeon and Anna, he does not hide himself from those who seek him with fervour, humility, simpleness and ardent love; for unless we come to him in this manner he will not manifest himself to us or communicate his graces to us. In Simeon we see a model of our own journey of faith that is brought to its completion when we, like Simeon, behold the Salvation of the world incarnate in Jesus Christ, The celebration of the feast is very ancient. Originally known as the "Hypapante", or "meeting", Egeria recounts it being observed in Jerusalem in c. 386 by a solemn procession from the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre to that of the Resurrection. The feast came to Rome in the second half of the seventh century and by the eighth century was known as the "Purification". It is also customary on this day to bless the candles that will be used during the various liturgies in church in the coming year. This may have arisen from the custom of carrying lighted tapers during the solemn procession that marked the observance of the feast and echo Simeon's acclamation of the infant Jesus as "a light of revelation for the gentiles". Butler has the following account: "The procession with lighted tapers on this day is mentioned by Pope Gelasius I (492-496), also by St. Ildefonsus, St. Eligius, St. Sophronius, Partirach of Jerusalem, St. Cyril of Alenxandria, &c., in their sermons on this festival. St. Bernard says, "This holy procession was first made by the virgin mother, St. Joseph, holy Simeon and Anna, to be afterward performed in all places and by every nation, with the exaltation of the whole earth, to honour this mystery." In his second sermon on this feast de describes it thus: "They walk two and two, holding in their hands candles lighted, not from the common fire, but from that which had been blessed in the church by the priests, and singing in the ways of the Lord, because great is his glory…"We "walk" while we sing to God, to denote that to stand still in the paths of virtue is to go back. The lights that we bear in our hands represent the divine fire of love with which our hearts ought to be inflamed, and which we are to offer to God without any mixture of strange fire, the fire of concupiscence, envy, ambition, or the love of creatures. We hold these lights in our hands to honour Christ, to acknowledge him as the "true light," whom they represent under this character…The candles likewise express that by faith his light shines in our souls, as also that we are to "prepare his way" by good works, by which we are to be "a light to" men. Lights are used by the church during the celebration of the divine mysteries, while the gospel is read, and the sacraments administered, on a motive of honour and respect. "Throughout all the churches of the East," says St. Jerome, "when the gospel is to be read, though to sun shines, torches are used, not to chase away any darkness, but for a sign of joy." " Almighty and ever living God, true and eternal light, pour out we beseech thee into the hearts of your faithful people the brilliance of perpetual light so that we may happily reach the light of your eternal glory. See also: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03245b.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candlemas https://catholicsaints.info/candlemas/ https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/purification.htm https://www.bartleby.com/210/2/021.html https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2014/01/feast-of-presentation-of-lord.html |
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3rd February - Optional memorial of St. Blaise, Bishop, Martyr. Born - Sebastea, historical Armenia Died - 316 AD Venerated in - Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion Feast - usually in January (date varies) (Armenian Apostolic), 3 February (Catholic, Anglican Communion), 11 February (Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic) Attributes - Wool comb, candles, tending a choking boy or animals Patronage - Animals, builders, drapers, choking, veterinarians, throats, infants, Bradford, Maratea, Italy, Sicily, Dubrovnik, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, Campanário, Madeira, Rubiera, Sebaste, Antique, stonecutters, carvers, wool workers, and ENT illnesses. One of the Fourteen Holy helpers, Blaise was believed to be bishop of Sebaste in Armenia and to have been put to death early in the fourth century under the Emperor Licinius and the prefect Aagricolaus. Almost nothing is known for certain about his life and there is no record of him being venerated in either the Eastern or the Western Church before the eighth century. According to, possibly legendary, lives of the eighth century he was the son of rich and noble Christians and is said to have hidden in a cave to escape persecution. Here he blessed sick and wounded animals. Once a woman brought him her son who was on the point of death because of a fishbone stuck in his throat, who Blaise healed. When Blaise was imprisoned the same woman brought him food and candles – on his feast day those suffering from throat diseases are blessed by the application of two candles to the throat, a practice that can be traced back to the twelfth century. Water with the blessing of St. Blaise is also given to sick cattle. According to legend he was torn with wool-combs (his iconographical symbol) before being beheaded – he is the patron of wool-combers. Canterbury claimed to have his relics and at least four miracles are recorded at his shrine, one dated 1451. Parson Woodforde described a procession in his honour in Norwich on the 24th of March 1783. Butler has the following account: "He was Bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia, and was crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Licinius in 316, by the command of Agricolaus, the governor of Cappadocia and the lesser Armenia. It is mentioned in the acts of St. Eustratius, who received the crown of martyrdom in the reign of Diocletian, and is honoured on the 13th of December, that St. Blaise, the Bishop of Sebaste, honourable received his relics, deposited them with those of St. Orestes, and punctually executed every article of the last will and testament of St. Eustratius. His festival is kept a holyday in the Greek church on the 11th of February. He is mentioned in the Western Martyrologies which bear the name of St. Jerome. Ado and Usuard, with several more ancient manuscript Martyrologies, quoted by Chatelin, place his name on the 15th. In the holy wars his relics were dispersed over the West, and his veneration was propagated by many miraculous cures, especially of sore throats. He is the principal patron of the commonwealth of Ragusa. No other reason than the great devotion of the people to this celebrated martyr of the church seems to have been the occasion to the woolcombers to choose him the titular patron of their profession, on which account his festival is still kept by them with solemn guild at Norwich. Perhaps also his country might in part determine them to this choice, for it seems that the first branch, or, at least, hint of this manufacture was borrowed from the remotest known countries of the East, as was that of silk; or the iron combs, with which he is said to have been tormented, gave occasion to this choice."
Blessing of St. Blaise: See also: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02592a.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Blaise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blessing_of_the_Throats https://catholicsaints.info/saint-blaise/ https://www.bartleby.com/210/2/031.html |
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3rd February – Optional Memorial of St. Ansgar, Bishop. Born - 8 September 801, Corbie Died - 3 February 865 (aged 63), Bremen Venerated in - Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism Feast - 3 February Attributes - Dressed in archbishop's attire with a model of the church Born in 801 near Amiens of a noble family Ansgar was educated at Corbie in Picardy where he became a monk later moving to Corvey in Wetphalia where he began his missionary work. Harold, the king of Denmark, who became a Christian while in exile, took Ansgar back with him when he returned to evangelise his people. After a missionary journey to Sweden he was appointed bishop of Hamburg in 832 and after the sack of the city by Vikings in 845, archbishop of both Hamburg and Bremen by Pope Nicholas I who also gave him jurisdiction over Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In his personal piety he often wore a hair shirt and lived on bread and water when his health allowed it however is most lasting achievements were as a Christian missionary to Denmark, whose patron he is, and in north Germany. Sweden relapsed into paganism and had to be re-evangelised by Sigfrid and others in the eleventh century. Ansgar died in 865 and was buried at Bremen. Butler has the following account: “He was a monk, first of Old Corbie in France, afterwards of Little Corbie in Saxony. Harold, or Heriold, prince of Denmark, having been baptized in the court of the emperor Lewis Debonnair, Anscharius preached the faith with great success, first to the Danes, afterwards to the Swedes, and lastly in the North of Germany. In 832, he was made archbishop of Hamburg, and legate of the holy see, by Pope Gregory IV. That city was burnt by an army of Normans, in 845. The saint continued to support his desolate churches, till, in 849, the see of Bremen becoming vacant, Pope Nicholas united it to that of Hamburg, and appointed him bishop of both. Denmark and Sweden had relapsed into idolatry, notwithstanding the labours of many apostolical missionaries from New Corbie, left there by our saint. His presence soon made the faith flourish again in Denmark, under the protection of King Horick. But in Sweden the superstitious King Olas cast lots whether he should be admitted or not. The saint, grieved to see the cause of God and religion committed to the cast of a die, recommended the issue to the care of heaven. The lot proved favourable, and the bishop converted many of the lower rank, and established many churches there, which he left under zealous pastors at his return to Bremen. He wore a rough hair shirt, and, whilst his health permitted him, contented himself with a small quantity of bread and water. He never undertook any thing without recommending it first to God by earnest prayer, and had an extraordinary talent for preaching. His charity to the poor had no bounds; he washed their feet, and waited on them at table. He ascribed it to his sins, that he never met with the glory of martyrdom in all that he had suffered for the faith. To excite himself to compunction and to the divine praise, he made a collection of pathetic sentences, some of which he placed at the end of each psalm; several of which are found in certain manuscript psalters, as Fleury takes notice. The learned Fabricius, in his Latin Library of the middle age, calls them an illustrious monument of the piety of this holy prelate. Saint Anscharius died at Bremen in the year 865, the sixty-seventh of his age, and thirty-fourth of his episcopal dignity; and was honoured with miracles. His name occurs in the Martyrologies soon after his death. In the German language he is called Saint Scharies, and his collegiate church of Bremen Sant-Scharies. That at Hamburg, which bore his name, has been converted by the Lutherans into an hospital for orphans. His name was rather Ansgar, as it is written in his own letter, and in a charter of Lewis Debonnaire. In this letter he attributes all the fruits and glory of the conversion of the Northern nations, to which he preached, to the zeal of that emperor and of Ebbo, archbishop of Rheims, without taking the least notice of himself or his own labours. The life of Saint Willehad, first bishop of Bremen, who died in 789 or 791, compiled by Saint Anscharius, is a judicious and elegant work, and the preface a masterpiece for that age. It is abridged and altered by Surius, but published entire at Cologne, in 1642; more correctly by Mabillon; and again by Fabricius, among the historians of Hamburg. Almighty and ever living God, through your will Bishop Saint Ansgar was sent to enlighten many peoples. Grant that, through his intercession, we may always walk in the light of your truth See also: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01544c.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansgar https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ansgar/ https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/anskar.asp https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2018/02/saint-ansgar-apostle-of-north.html |
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5th February - Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin, Martyr Born c. 231 Catania, Sicily Died c. 251 Catania, Sicily Attributes: shears, tongs, breasts on a plate Patronage Sicily: bellfounders; breast cancer; bakers; Catania, Sicily; against fire; earthquakes; eruptions of Mount Etna; fire; jewellers; martyrs; natural disasters; nurses; Palermo, Sicily; rape victims; San Marino; single laywomen; sterility; torture victims; volcanic eruptions; wet nurses; Zamarramala, Spain Little is known for certain about Agatha’s life, not even when she lived. According to tradition she was born at either Palermo or Catania in Sicily and was martyred at Catania. Legend has it that she was a wealthy girl who had vowed her virginity to Christ. The consul Quintinian invoked imperial edicts against Christians in an attempt to seduce her forcing her to be handed over to ‘Aphodisia’ who kept a brothel. She was tortured by rods, the rack and with fire before her breasts were cut off but she was miraculously healed by a vision of St. Peter. She died in prison as a result of the tortures she underwent. She is invoked against fire, particularly against the eruptions of Mount Etna, and also against diseases of the breast and she is also the patron of bell-founders. Her miraculous vision of St. Peter has led to her being venerated by popes down the centuries. The inclusion of her name in the canon of the Mass is attributed to Pope Gregory the Great. In about 500, Pope Symachus (498-514) built a church dedicated to St. Agatha on the Aurelian Way. Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) ordered that some of her relics be placed in the church of the monastery of St. Stephen on the island of Capri. The remainder of her relics remained at Catana and were later moved to Constantinople but were returned to Catana in 1127. Agatha's martyrdom is described in the following words in Butler's Lives of the Saints: " Quintinaus, a man of consular dignity, bent on gratifying both his lust and avarice, imagined he could easily compass his wicked designs on Agatha's person and estate by means of the emperor's edict against the Christians. He therefore caused her to be apprehended and brought before him at Catana. Seeing herself in the hands of the persecutors, she made this prayer, "Jesus Christ, Lord of all things, you see my heart, you know my desire - possess alone all that I am. I am your sheep, make me worthy to overcome the devil." She wept, and prayer for courage and strength all the way she went. On her appearance, Quintianus gave orders for her being put into the hands of Aphrodisia, a most wicked woman, who, with six daughters, all prostitutes, kept a common stew. The saint suffered in this infamous place assaults and stratagems against her virtue infinitely more terrible to her than any tortures or death itself. But placing her confidence in God, she never ceased with sighs and most earnest tears to implore his protection, and by it was an overmatch for all their hellish attempts the whole month she was there. Quintinaus, being informed of her constancy after thirty days ordered her to be brought before him. The virgin, in her first interrogatory, told him that to be a servant of Jesus Christ was the most illustrious and the true liberty. The judge, offended at her resolute answers, commanded her to be buffeted and led to prison. She entered it with great joy, recommending her future conflict to God. The next day she was arraigned a second time at the tribunal, and answered with equal constancy that Jesus Christ was her life and her salvation. Quintinuas then ordered her to be stretched on the rack, which torment was usually accompanied with stripes, the tearing of the sides with iron hooks, and burning then with torches or matches. The governor, enraged to see her to suffer al this with cheerfulness, commanded her breast to be tortured, and afterwards to be cut off. At which she made him this reproach: "Cruel tyrant, do you not blush to torture this part of my body, yoo that sucked the breasts of a woman yourself?" He remanded her to prison, with a severe order that neither salves nor food be allowed her. But God himself would be her physician, and the apostle St Peter in a vision comforted her, healed all her wounds, and filled her dungeon with a heavenly light. Quintinaus, four days after, not the least moved at the miraculous cure of her wounds, caused her to be racked naked over live coals mixed with broken potsherds. Being carried back to prison, she made this prayer: "Lord, my Creator, you have protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world, and given me the patience to suffer: receive now my soul." After which words she sweetly gave up the ghost." Almighty and ever living God we implore your compassion on us through the intercession of Saint Agatha who, by the courage of her martyrdom and the merits of her chastity found favour with you. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_of_Sicily https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/agatha.htm https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01203c.htm https://catholicsaints.info/saint-agatha-of-sicily/ |
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6th February - Memorial of St. Paul Miki, Japanese: パウロ三木, and Companions, Japanese: 日本二十六聖人, Martyrs Born - c. 1562 Settsu County, Japan Died - 5 February 1597 (aged 34–35) Nagasaki, Japan Beatified - 14 September 1627 by Pope Urban VIII Canonized - 8 June 1862 by Pope Pius IX Attributes - palm, cross, spear Patronage - Japan Japanese martyrs of the sixteenth century. Following on from the missionary work of St. Francis Xavier almost half a century previously the number of Christians in Japan increased. Incensed by this and by the boasting of a Spanish sea-captain, the Japanese ruler, Hideyoshi embarked on a policy of persecution which extended to the families of the victims. Paul Miki was a native Japanese of an aristocratic family, a priest of the Jesuit order and a notable preacher. His Companions, twenty-six in total, consisted of a religious and lay people from a variety of backgrounds and nationalities: two were Jesuit lay brothers, six Franciscans of whom four were Spanish, one from Bombay and one from Mexico City. With one exception, a Korean, the remainder were Japanese lay folk and included catechists, interpreters, a soldier, a physician as well as a number of children. The martyrs had part of their left ears cut off and displayed in various towns as a warning to other Christians. They were crucified in 1597 near Nagasaki being bound or chained to the crosses first before these were erected. Following their execution their clothes and their blood was treasured by their fellow Christians. They were canonised in 1862 by Pope Pius IX. Sadly, this did not end the persecution of Christians in Japan and some hundreds are known to have suffered in 1617, 1622, 1624, 1626, 1629 and 1632. Butler has the following account (original spellings retained): St. Francis Xavier arrived in Japan in 1549, baptized great numbers, and whole provinces received the faith. The great kings of Arima, Bungo and Omura sent a solemn embassy of obedience to Pope Gregory XIII in 1582; and in 1587 there were in Japan above two hundred thousand Christians, and among these several kings, princes and bronzes, but in 1588, Cambacunodo, the haughty emperor, having usurped the honours of a deity, commanded all the Jesuits to leave his dominions within six months: however, many remained there disguised. In 1592 the persecution was renewed, and several Japanese converts received the crown of martyrdom. The emperor Tagcosama, one of the proudest and most vicious of men, was worked up int a rage and jealousy by a suspicion suggested by certain European merchants desirous of the monopoly of this trade, that the view of the missionaries in preaching the Christian faith was to facilitate the conquest of their country by the Portugese or Spaniards. Three Jesuits and six Franciscans were crucified on a hill near Nangasaqui in 1597. The latter were partly Spaniards and partly Indian, and had at their head F. Peter Baptist, commissary of his order, a native of Avila, in Spain. As to the Jesuits, one was Paul Michi, a noble Japanese, and an eminent preacher, at that time thirty-three years old. The other two, John Gotto and James Kisai, were admitted into the Society in prison a little before they suffered. Several Japanese converts suffered with them. The martyrs were twenty-six in number, and among them, were three boys who used to serve the friars at mass; two of them were fifteen years of age, and the third only twelve, yet each showed great joy and constancy in their sufferings. Of these martyrs, twenty-four had been brought to Meaco, where only a part of their left ears was cut off, by a mitigation of the sentence, which had commanded the amputation of their noses and both ears. They were conducted through many towns and public places, their cheeks stained with blood, for a terror to others. When the twenty-six soldiers of Christ were arrived at the place of execution near Nangasaqui, they were allowed to make their confession to two Jesuits of the convent in that town, and being fastened to crosses by cords and chains about their arms and legs, and an iron collar about their necks, were raised into the air, the foot of the cross falling into a hole prepared for it in the ground. The crosses were planted in a row, about four feet asunder, and each martyr had an executioner near him with a spear ready to pierce his side; for such is the Japanese manner of execution. As soon as all the crosses were planted, the executioners lifted up their lances, and at a given signal, all pierced the martyrs almost in the same instant; upon which they expired, and went to receive the reward of their sufferings. Their blood and garments were procured by Christians, and miracles were wrought by them. Urban VIII ranked them among the martyrs, and they are honoured on the 5th of February [sic], the day of their triumph. Almighty and ever living God, we pray that through the intercession of Saint Paul Miki and his Companions we, as they, may hold firm with courage to the faith that we profess. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Miki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/26_Martyrs_of_Japan https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11755b.htm |