Saint of the day and Feast days.

[Patricia]

St. Matthias pray for us!

[odhiambo]

May 15,

Today is the Feast day of
Saint Dymphna
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint Dymphna.
Martyr.

Saint Dymphna is known to us today because Pierre, a canon of the church of Saint Aubert at Cambrai, between 1238-47, decided to write her biography from the oral tradition that was present at the time.
According to the oral tradition as penned by Pierre, Dymphna was the daughter of a pagan King of Ireland named Damon and his beautiful and devoted wife. The wife was a Christian and so was Dymphna. Dymphna’s mother was of extraordinary beauty. She died when Dymphna was fourteen. Damon was devastated by his loss. He sent envoys throughout his own land and beyond, to find a woman of noble birth, resembling his late wife, who would be willing to marry him. None was found. He now turned his attention to his daughter who was a very beautiful girl and resembled her mother. Maddened by grief, Damon made improper advances to his daughter.This unfortunate occurrence resulted in Dymphna fleeing her home, in the company of her confessor, Saint Gerebernus, and two companions, to put distance between her and her father. They went to Antwerp, Belgium, to the village of Gheel. There, they settled near a Chapel, St. Martin’s Chapel and started a life like that of hermits.
Unfortunataly, they were hunted down by Damon. He commanded his servants to slay the priest and the other two companions. He commanded Dymphna to return to Ireland with him but when she refused, he drew his sword and struck off her head. She was just fifteen years old and the year was around 620.
The relics of the four martyrs were discovered at Gheel, near Amsterdam, in the thirteenth century , and many miracles were soon reported among those afflicted with epilepsy, insanity and possession. An asylum, built on the very spot of the discovery at Gheel, still stands and continues its work among the mentally ill.

Her canonization was Pre-Congregation
She is invoked against a host of problems including epilepsy and insanity.

Saint Dymphna,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

May 16

Today is the Feast day of
Saint John Nepomucene
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint John Nepomucene.

John was born in 1330 or 1340 at Nepomuc in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic. His given name was John Wolflin.
His parents were poor but pious people and the baby John was a blessing in answer to their prayers. To show their gratitude, his parents consecrated John to God. In his childhood too, he was sick and again his parents asked God to cure him, which He did.
John in time became a priest. He led a holy life as a priest and this led to his appointment as chaplain to the court of the Emperor Wenceslaus (King Wenceslaus IV.) where he converted many by his preaching and example.
Saint John was a confessor and counselor to the queen. King Wenceslaus IV was a very jealous man, no matter that his jealousy was completely unfounded. Saint John advised her to accept gladly this cross that the Lord had allowed.
The queen’s piety so inflamed the King‘s jealousy that he demanded to know the details of her confessions from the saint. When this yielded nothing, he threw John into a dungeon. That did not work either, so he promised him riches if he would yield, and threatened death if he refused. Saint John kept his peace, continuing to honor the seal of the confessional.

From .Lives of the Saints – May 16,
Saint John Nepomucene, we read:

“ He was racked and burnt with torches; but no words except the holy names of Jesus and Mary fell from his lips. At last set free, he spent time in preaching and preparing for the death he knew to be near.

On Ascension Eve, May 16th, Wenceslaus, after a final and fruitless attempt to alter the constancy of the faithful priest, ordered him to be cast into the river. That night the martyr’s hands and feet were bound, and he was thrown from the bridge of Prague into the Moldau River. Heavenly lights shining on the water and from under it, revealed the whereabouts of the body, which was soon buried with the honors due to a Saint”


Thus the saint died from drowning on 20 March 1393.
on this night of his death, seven stars hovered over the place where he drowned as mentioned in the excerpt above.
He was beatified on 31 May 1721 by Pope Innocent XIII and canonized on 19 March 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII.
He is the patron saint of confessors.His image has been used in art as a symbol of the sacrament of Confession.

He is invoked against floods and in other calamities.

Saint John Nepomucene,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

Today is also the Feast day of
Saint Simon Stock

[odhiambo]

Anyone knows anything about Saint Simon Stock?

[Patricia]

    Little is known of his early life. Legend says that at age twelve he began to live as a hermit in a hollow oak tree; the name Stock is believed derived from the old English for tree trunk. Itinerant preacher. Pilgrim to the Holy Lands, but left when invading Muslims chased out Christians. Joined the Carmelite Order soon after its arrival in England.

    Lived and studied for several years in Rome and Mount Carmel. Elected sixth general of the Carmelites in 1247 around age 82. Helped the Order spread through England, southern and western Europe. Founded houses in Cambridge, England in 1248, Oxford in 1253, Paris in 1260, and Bologna in 1260. Revised the Rule of the Order to make them mendicant friars instead of hermits.

    Regardless of these successes, the Order was oppressed on all sides, including by the clergy and other orders. The friars took their woes to their patroness, the Virgin Mary. Tradition says that in answer, she appeared to Simon bringing him the brown scapular of the Carmelites. "This shall be the privilege for you and for all the Carmelites," she told him, "that anyone dying in this habit shall be saved." On 13 January 1252 the Order received a letter of protection from Pope Innocent IV, protecting them from harassment.

[odhiambo]

    Little is known of his early life. Legend says that at age twelve he began to live as a hermit in a hollow oak tree;

Imagine leaving home at that age to live in the hollow of a tree.
In this day and age he would not be allowed.  There would be talks of being a minor, has not reached the age of reason, etc . The Government would soon step in.

Saint Simon Stock,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

 May 17

Today is the Feast day of
Saint Paschal Baylon
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint Paschal Baylon

Paschal was born in a little village in Aragon, Spain. He was born on Pentecost Sunday and Christened Paschal in honor of the Feast. His parents, Martin and Elizabeth were poor peasants but pious and raised their son in accordance with the Catholic Faith. Keep in mind that this was a bad time for the Church; the time of the Protestant Reformation when many Catholics left the Church. They were too poor to send their son to school but Paschal learnt to read and write through his own effort.
Even as a child, Paschal showed a marked devotion to the Holy Eucharist.
He worked as a shepherd for his father, performed miracles and distinguished himself for his austerity.
When he was around 22 years old, Paschal received a vision that told him to enter a nearby Franciscan Community. In obedience to the vision, he became a Franciscan lay brother of the strict Alcantarine Reform in 1564 and served mostly in the capacity of door keeper at various friaries in Spain.
Paschal loved the Blessed Sacrament. While on a mission to France in 1570, he so ardently defended the doctrine of the Real Presence against a Calvinist Preacher that he was all but lynched by a hostile mob.
 
Paschal died on 15 May 1592 on the feast of Pentecost,  at Villa Reale in Spain . He died of natural causes.
He was beatified on 29 October 1618 by Pope Paul V and canonized on 16 October 1690 by Pope Alexander VIII.
He is the patron of cooks
Eucharistic congresses and organizations and shepherds, and others.
 In art, he is represented by a man in adoration before a vision of the Host.
 
Saint Paschal Baylon,
 Pray for Us.
 

[odhiambo]

Saint Paschal had set himself the following code of conduct:


“1. I should think of myself as a rotting, smelling, dead person.

2. If anyone hurts me, I deserve it, because I am a sinner. They can tear out my eyes, cut off my ears and tongue, and injure my whole body.

3. I should not be angry if others think the same, about these two points. I should think it a favour, if I am told to do penance and make sacrifices.

4. If I get discouraged when doing penance or making sacrifices, I should think of Jesus who was innocent and suffered because He loved me.”

[Patricia]

The code of conduct reminds us that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. Not to be hurt and angry by the anger or petty behaviour of people around me, rather to accept it as penance and offer it up to God, to forgive the offender. ( Difficult  )

[odhiambo]

The code of conduct reminds us that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. Not to be hurt and angry by the anger or petty behaviour of people around me, rather to accept it as penance and offer it up to God, to forgive the offender. ( Difficult  )

What do you think of the first code Patricia.
I "should think of myself as a rotting, smelling, dead person."
We are the "Temple of the Lord",  body and soil, and we are to look on ourselfes as a masterpiece of Creation, how can we then,  still think of our body as rotting, smelling , dead person?

[Shin]

St. Paschal's day already! How time flies, I had completely lost track! I love his story!  

[Patricia]

What do you think of the first code Patricia.
I "should think of myself as a rotting, smelling, dead person."
We are the "Temple of the Lord",  body and soil, and we are to look on ourselfes as a masterpiece of Creation, how can we then,  still think of our body as rotting, smelling , dead person?

Its not that we consider our bodies disgusting, rather not  to look at it as something everlasting. The world places so much emphasis on the physical, but the saints remember that the body is just temporary and ultimately will be food for the worms ( Yuck! but true ). I have read in many Catholic books that in order to live a saintly life  one must always have the death of the body in mind, the grave that awaits.  In fact, I read in one of the books explicit description of what happens to the body as it decays. ( I'm not sure but it could be ' The Golden key to heaven' )  It gives the reader a jolt but is effective in remembering how transitory the physical body and all the things of the world are.