Saint of the day and Feast days - Part 2

[odhiambo]

March15

Today we remember
Saint Speciosus
Among many other Saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Speciosus
Benedictine monk
Speciosus was a wealthy land owner from Campania, Italy. He and his brother Gregory entered the famed monastery of Monte Cassino where they became monks. They received the habit from none other than Saint Benedict of Nursia. Speciosus later became a member of the monastery of Terracina.
He died in 555 at Capua, Italy.
Saint Speciosus
Pray for us!

[Shin]

St. Speciosus ora pro nobis!

Saints and saints! 

[odhiambo]

March 16
Today we remember
Saint Abraham Kidunaia
Among many other Saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Abraham Kidunaia
Hermit
Apostle of Edessa.
Abraham was a 6th century hermit born at Edessa, Mesopotamia. His parents, who were wealthy, arranged a marriage for him. Abraham fled from this marriage into the desert where he lived a celibate and hermitical life in a sealed cabin with just a single opening through which he received food. When his parents died, Abraham gave away his large inheritance to the poor.
When the Bishop of Edessa asked him to go and convert the pagans living at Beth Kiduna, near the city, Abraham reluctantly left his cabin. According to Dictionary of Saints by John J. Delaney, Abraham was ordained, then went to Beth Kiduna to preach. The pagans in the region persecuted him after he destroyed their idols. He was beaten up and driven away from the village but he returned and persisted in his mission until, after a few years, the town was converted to Christianity.
Abraham then returned to his cell where he remained until his death at the age of seventy..
Saint Abraham Kidunaia
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

March 17
Today we remember
Saint Paul of Cyprus
Among many other Saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Paul of Cyprus
Martyr.
Paul was a resident of Cyprus during the reign of the iconoclast emperor Constantine Copronymus. He was a monk. Because of his opposition to the iconoclasm of the Emperor, he was arraigned before the governor of the island. When he refused to desecrate a crucifix, he was tortured and then burned to death in 775.
Saint Paul of Cyprus,
Pray for us!

[Shin]

St. Paul of Cyprus pray for us!

And it is also after all, St. Patrick's day!

 

[Shin]

A Latin and English Edition of the Confession of St. Patrick is in the works for Saints' Books, I might add -- because it is not very long, this is possible.

I doubt it will be ready for today, but at least it is in the works. And the Confession and his other writings are widely available already thankfully.

'But after I came to Ireland -- every day I had to tend sheep, and many times a day I prayed -- the love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened. And my spirit was moved so that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as many in the night, and this even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountains; and I used to get up for prayer before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm, and there was no sloth in me -- as I now see, because the spirit within me was then fervent.'

St. Patrick

[Shin]

I was reading an article on St. Patrick and this excerpt caught my eye:

"Once the Saint had a great vision, in which the actual state and the future of the Church in Ireland were revealed to him. In the first place, he saw the whole land, as it were, like a great furnace whose flames reached to the sky. And he clearly heard the voice of an Angel saying, "Such is now - the state of Ireland in the sight of the Lord."

After a little time, instead of this far-spreading universal fire, he saw flaming mountains here and there over the land, then torches shining, succeeded by glimmering lights amidst an ever-increasing darkness. Last of all, he saw a few live coals buried and burning deep in the earth. Then an angelic voice was heard, saying that such should be the successive states of the Irish people in times that were coming

Then, with tears rolling down his cheeks, the Saint repeated many times those words of the Psalmist, "Will God then cast us off forever ? Or will He never more be favorable again? Or will He cut off His mercy forever from generation to generation? Or will God forget to show mercy? Or will He in anger close off His mercies?"

The Angel answered and told him to look to the north of the land, and that there he should see that the Hand of the Most High. The Saint lifted up his eyes, and, behold, a little light arose in Uladh (Ulster), which had struggled long in the darkness, until at length the whole island was filled with the brightness of its glory, and Ireland returned to its first state of all-pervading fire. (Acta SS., p. 575)."

[odhiambo]

Saint Patrick,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

St. Patrick’s Breastplate

I like this portion of the poem.
.....
I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s host to secure me
against snares of devils
against temptations of vices
against inclinations of nature
against everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and anear,
alone and in a crowd…..

[Shin]

Amen amen! I love this prayer!

[Bailey2]

Shin, I love that story. 

[odhiambo]

March 18
Today is the Memorial of
Saint Salvator of Horta
Among many other Saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Salvator of Horta
Salvator was born in 1520 at Santa Columba, Gerona, Spain. He was orphaned as a child and became a shoemaker. When he was twenty, he joined the Franciscans as a lay brother. in Barcelona. Salvator worked for msany years as a humble cook in the friary of Horta. He died in 1567 at the friary at Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. During his life, Salvator was known for his severe austerities and many miracles of healing.
He was beatified on 5 February 1606 by Pope Paul V and canonized on 17 April 1938 by Pope Pius XI.
Saint Salvator of Horta,
Pray for us!