Saint of the day and Feast days.

[odhiambo]

22 April

Today is also the Feast day of
Saint Adalbert of Praque
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint Adalbert
Bishop of Praque.

Adalbert was born in 956 into an illustrious family of Bohemia ( now in the Czech Republic). He descended from the princes of Bohemia. His given name was Voytech or Wojtech).
While still a child, it seems that he became very ill. His parents turned to the Virgin Mother for help, vowing to offer him to the priesthood if he would be cured. Their prayers were answered, and the boy recovered his health.
They sent their son to Magdeburg in Germany, to the Archbishop of Magdeburg, a saintly man. The archbishop saw to his overall education, but most especially his religious education. At his baptism (or confirmation, it is not clear which from my reading), he took the name of his teacher, Adalbert.
In 973 he was ordained priest by the Bishop of Prague.
After the death of his mentor, the Archbishop of Magdeburg, in 981, Adalbert, who was inclined to missionary work and clerical reform, returned to Prague.
In 982, when the Bishop of Prague also died, Adalbert was elected his successor. He was now 27 years old.
He entered Prague barefoot and was joyfully received by the people. The Diocese was in a deplorable situation. Some of its inhabitants were still idolaters, and many Catholics were well entrenched in shameful vices. St. Adalbert tried to correct them and to bring them to religion and piety, but his efforts proved fruitless.
With sadness, he asked permission from the Pope to leave the Episcopate and enter a monastery in Rome. The Pope granted him his wish.
After five years (8 years by other accounts), Pope John XV sent him back to Prague with the provision that he could again leave the Episcopate if the people were still not responsive to his counsel.
For the second time he was received joyfully, and the people promised to correct their wayward ways and leave their heathen practices. These hasty promises, however, were soon forgotten. Saint Adalbert determined to abandon them forever and return to his monastery. On his way back to Rome, he met with a great success in Hungary, where he converted many to Catholicism. After the ministry in Hungary, he went to preach the Good News to people living near the Baltic Sea, the people of Prussia. He converted some of the inhabitants of Danzig.
It was here that he and two companions were martyred by pagan priests in that region. When he received the first blow, he thanked God for giving him the opportunity to suffer for Him. Then the pagan priest leading the idolaters pierced his body with a two-headed lance, saying: “Be joyous, then, since you want nothing more than to suffer with your Christ.” It was April 23, 997.

Adalbert's body was immediately ransomed and buried in Gniezno cathedral (Poland). In the mid-11th century his body was moved to St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
He was canonized in 999.

Saint Adalbert,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

Saint Adalbert
Bishop of Praque.


It was here that he and two companions were martyred by pagan priests in that region. When he received the first blow, he thanked God for giving him the opportunity to suffer for Him. Then the pagan priest leading the idolaters pierced his body with a two-headed lance, saying: “Be joyous, then, since you want nothing more than to suffer with your Christ.” It was April 23, 997.

Must have been Holy Week, Just like now 

[odhiambo]

May 23
Today is Holy Saturday .

Jesus has been buried and His Body lies in the tomb.
His Soul , however, has gone elsewhere to free the souls of the righteous who had died before Him. We say in the Apostles' Creed that "He descended into hell":
after he was buried.
"Hell" here refers to the place of the dead in general, certainly not "Gehenna", the "Hell of the Lost," the eternal place of punishment for the damned, the place we usually refer to as simply "Hell" today. The word is used here in the loosest, earliest sense which includes Limbo, Purgatory and Gehena.
This used to worry me when I did not know any better.
Although tomorrow we rejoice in The Lord's Resurrection, today a great silence engulfs us all. Jesus Christ Our Lord, though innocent, was crucified because of my sins.

We adore you, O Christ and we praise you;
because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world. 

[odhiambo]

23 April

Today is also the Feast day of
Saint George
Among many other saints

[odhiambo]

Saint George.

George was born sometime between 275 AD and 285 AD most likely in Cappadocian, modern Turkey.
His father, Gerontius, was a Roman army official from Cappadocia , and his mother, Polychronia, was from Palestine. They were both Christians and from noble rank. George was therefore raised with Christian beliefs. His given name was Georgius (Latin) or Georgios (Greek), meaning "worker of the land". At the age of 14, his father died.He moved to Palestine with his mother, but a few years later, she too, died. (Other accounts give the names of his parents as Anastasius and Theobaste.).
Now aged about seventeen, and both his parents dead, George decided to go to Nicomedia, the imperial city of that time, and present himself to Emperor Diocletian to apply for a career as a soldier. Diocletian welcomed him with open arms, as he had known his father, Gerontius who had been one of his finest soldiers. By his late 20s, George was promoted to the rank of Tribune and stationed as an imperial guard of the Emperor at Nicomedia.

In the year AD 302, Diocletian issued an edict that every Christian soldier in the army should be arrested and every other soldier should offer a sacrifice to the Pagan gods. But George objected and with the courage of his faith approached the Emperor and objected to the ruling. Diocletian was upset, not wanting to lose his best tribune and the son of his best official, Gerontius. George loudly renounced the Emperor's edict, and in front of his fellow soldiers and tribunes he claimed himself to be a Christian and declared his worship of Jesus Christ. Diocletian attempted to convert George, even offering gifts of land, money and slaves if he made a sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Emperor made many offers, but George upheld his Faith.
Recognizing the futility of his efforts, Diocletian ordered that George be executed for his refusal to offer sacrifice to the Pagan gods. Before the execution George gave his wealth to the poor and prepared himself for the martyrdom.
He was put through various torture sessions, including laceration on a wheel of swords in which he was resuscitated three times. He was finally executed by decapitation before Nicomedia's city wall, on April 23, 303. This day is now known as Saint George's Day.

Witnessing his suffering, Empress Alexandra and Athanasius, a pagan priest, were converted to Christianity. They too, joined George in martyrdom. His body was returned to Lydda (in modern day Palestine) for burial, where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr.

St. George is usually depicted in liturgical art as a soldier on horseback killing a dragon with a lance.

[odhiambo]

The Legend of St. George and the Dragon

There are many versions of the story of St George slaying the dragon. Most agree on the following:

A town was terrorised by a dragon.
A young princess was offered to the dragon
When George heard about this he rode into the village
George slayed the dragon and rescued the princess
Enjoy the allegory of good triumphing against evil.

This legend originated in the East and was brought to the West by the Crusaders. According to the Golden Legend the story took place in a place called "Silene," in Libya.
St. George travelled for many months by land and sea until he came to Libya. Here he met a poor hermit who told him that everyone in that land was in great distress, for a dragon had long ravaged the country.
'Every day,' said the old man, 'he demands the sacrifice of a beautiful maiden and now all the young girls have been killed. The king's daughter alone remains, and unless we can find a knight who can slay the dragon she will be sacrificed tomorrow. The king of Egypt will give his daughter in marriage to the champion who overcomes this terrible monster.'

When St. George heard this story, he was determined to try and save the princess, so he rested that night in the hermit's hut, and at daybreak set out to the valley where the dragon lived. When he drew near he saw a little procession of women, headed by a beautiful girl dressed in pure Arabian silk. The princess Sabra was being led by her attendants to the place of death. The knight spurred his horse and overtook the ladies. He comforted them with brave words and persuaded the princess to return to the palace. Then he entered the valley.

As soon as the dragon saw him it rushed from its cave, roaring with a sound louder than thunder. Its head was immense and its tail fifty feet long. But St. George was not afraid. He struck the monster with his spear, hoping he would wound it.
The dragon's scales were so hard that the spear broke into a thousand pieces. and St. George fell from his horse. Fortunately he rolled under an enchanted orange tree against which poison could not prevail, so that the venomous dragon was unable to hurt him. Within a few minutes he had recovered his strength and was able to fight again.

He smote the beast with his sword, but the dragon poured poison on him and his armour split in two. Once more he refreshed himself from the orange tree and then, with his sword in his hand, he rushed at the dragon and pierced it under the wing where there were no scales, so that it fell dead at his feet..

Another version I liked better has Saint George and the Princess in a conversation when the dragon reared out of the lake. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, charged it on horseback with his lance and gave it a grievous wound. Then he called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash.
She and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptized, he would slay the dragon before them. The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease.

Now is isn’t that a befitting end ?

Traditionally, the sword with which St. George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, a name recalling the city of Ashkelon, Israel. From this tradition, the name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II ( so I understand) since St. George is the Patron Saint of England.

[Patricia]

 Are dragons real? 

[odhiambo]

Are dragons real? 

It is a legend Patricia 
Legends are full of fire breathers, flying horses and the like 

[Brigid]

Are dragons real? 

It is a legend Patricia 
Legends are full of fire breathers, flying horses and the like 

So's Revelation!

[odhiambo]

Are dragons real? 

It is a legend Patricia 
Legends are full of fire breathers, flying horses and the like 

So's Revelation!

You certainly have a point there Brigid save for the fact that The Book of Revelation was inspired by God.

[odhiambo]

May 24

Today is
Easter Sunday, 2011

Let us sing and give "praise to the risen Christ who is our life and whose triumph over death we proclaim to all the  world"
Alleluia!

[odhiambo]

24 April

Today is also the Feast day of
Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen
Among many other Saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen.

Also known as Mark Roy or Rey.
Saint Fidelis was born in Sigmaringen, Germany, in 1577 of noble parents, Johann and Genovefa Rey, and given the name Marcus.
As a youth, Marcus frequently received the Sacraments, visited the sick and the poor, and spent hours in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

He was well educated having studied law and philosophy at the University of Fribourg. As an undergraduate student, he did not drink wine and he wore a hair-shirt. He was known for his modesty, meekness, and chastity.

After attaining his “ doctor of laws “ degree, it seems that he taught law and philosophy at the same university for a while but ultimately joined the legal practice as an advocate at Colmar, in Alsace. He soon acquired a reputation because of his charity and the just way he conducted his affairs. . His charity procured him the surname of advocate for the poor or the poor man's lawyer. Marcus, watching some of his colleagues as they become involved in get- rich- quick schemes, was disgusted by the greed, corruption, and lack of interest in justice by his fellow lawyers. He abandoned law practice and, giving away all his worldly wealth to the poor, he joined the Capuchin Order in 1612. He was 35 years old at the time.
The Order, gave him the religious name of "Fidelis", which means Faithful.
After finishing his course of theology, St Fidelis started preaching and hearing confessions. His next appointment was as superior of a Capuchin Convent in a town in Austria. He was soon able to reform that town and the neighboring places, converting many Calvinists as well.
Then, a newly formed society, the Vatican Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, commissioned the Saint to preach among the Grisons in Switzerland. He was the first missionary that was sent into those parts after the locals had embraced Calvinism.
Fidelis was threatened but as is only to be expected, the threat to his life did not deter him.
On April 24, 1622, after receiving the Sacrament of Penance, he was saying Mass at a place called Grusch. At the end of his sermon, the Saint is reported to have suddenly stood still, with his eyes fixed on Heaven. He was in ecstasy.In a stance, the Saint foretold his death to those present.

"P. Fidelis, prope diem esca vermium" ("Father Fidelis, in days ahead to become food for worms").

After Mass, he and several companions traveled to a place called Seewis for another service. He was reportedly very happy
It was here that he was confronted by a number of Calvinist soldiers while he was alone. Here that he was murdered.
Thus, the Saint’s life ended.

He was beatified on 24 March 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII and canonized on
29 June 1746 by Pope Benedict XIV
Saint Fidelis,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

Quote:

Woe to me if I should prove myself but a halfhearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain.

-Saint Fidelis

[Patricia]

Woe to me if I should prove myself but a halfhearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain.

-Saint Fidelis